Brahma Purana — Chapter 52
BrP 52.1
आसीत् कल्पे मुनिश्रेष्ठाः संप्रवृत्ते महाक्षये नष्टे ऽर्कचन्द्रे पवने नष्टे स्थावरजङ्गमे ॥
āsīt kalpe muniśreṣṭhāḥ saṃpravṛtte mahākṣaye naṣṭe 'rkacandre pavane naṣṭe sthāvarajaṅgame //
There was, best of sages, in a (former) aeon, when the great destruction had set in, when sun and moon had perished, and the wind, and the standing and moving (beings) had perished—
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.2
उदिते प्रलयादित्ये प्रचण्डे घनगर्जिते विद्युदुत्पातसंघातैः संभग्ने तरुपर्वते ॥
udite pralayāditye pracaṇḍe ghanagarjite vidyudutpātasaṃghātaiḥ saṃbhagne taruparvate //
when the sun of the dissolution had risen, fierce, amid the thundering of clouds, when trees and mountains were shattered by the masses of lightning-portents—
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.3
लोके च संहृते सर्वे महदुल्कानिबर्हणे शुष्केषु सर्वतोयेषु सरःसु च सरित्सु च ॥
loke ca saṃhṛte sarve mahadulkānibarhaṇe śuṣkeṣu sarvatoyeṣu saraḥsu ca saritsu ca //
and when the whole world was gathered up in the destruction by great meteors, when all the waters, the lakes and the rivers, had dried up—
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.4
ततः संवर्तको वह्निर् वायुना सह भो द्विजाः लोकं तु प्राविशत् सर्वम् आदित्यैर् उपशोभितम् ॥
tataḥ saṃvartako vahnir vāyunā saha bho dvijāḥ lokaṃ tu prāviśat sarvam ādityair upaśobhitam //
then, O twice-born, the fire Saṃvartaka, together with the wind, entered the whole world, which was made bright by the (many) suns.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.5
पश्चात् स पृथिवीं भित्त्वा प्रविश्य च रसातलम् देवदानवयक्षाणां भयं जनयते महत् ॥
paścāt sa pṛthivīṃ bhittvā praviśya ca rasātalam devadānavayakṣāṇāṃ bhayaṃ janayate mahat //
Afterward it, splitting the earth and entering Rasātala, produced great fear in gods, dānavas and yakṣas.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.6
निर्दहन् नागलोकं च यच् च किंचित् क्षिताव् इह अधस्तान् मुनिशार्दूलाः सर्वं नाशयते क्षणात् ॥
nirdahan nāgalokaṃ ca yac ca kiṃcit kṣitāv iha adhastān muniśārdūlāḥ sarvaṃ nāśayate kṣaṇāt //
Burning up the world of the serpents too, and whatever there is here on the earth and below it, O tigers among sages, (it) destroys everything in an instant.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.7
ततो योजनविंशानां सहस्राणि शतानि च निर्दहत्य् आशुगो वायुः स च संवर्तको ऽनलः ॥
tato yojanaviṃśānāṃ sahasrāṇi śatāni ca nirdahaty āśugo vāyuḥ sa ca saṃvartako 'nalaḥ //
Then the swift-moving wind, and that fire of dissolution, burns up thousands and hundreds of twenty leagues (of space).
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.8
सदेवासुरगन्धर्वं सयक्षोरगराक्षसम् ततो दहति संदीप्तः सर्वम् एव जगत् प्रभुः ॥
sadevāsuragandharvaṃ sayakṣoragarākṣasam tato dahati saṃdīptaḥ sarvam eva jagat prabhuḥ //
Then that blazing lord burns the whole world, with its gods, asuras and gandharvas, with its yakṣas, serpents and rākṣasas.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.9
प्रदीप्तो ऽसौ महारौद्रः कल्पाग्निर् इति संश्रुतः महाज्वालो महार्चिष्मान् संप्रदीप्तमहास्वनः ॥
pradīpto 'sau mahāraudraḥ kalpāgnir iti saṃśrutaḥ mahājvālo mahārciṣmān saṃpradīptamahāsvanaḥ //
That blazing, greatly terrible (fire) is known as the kalpa-fire, with vast flames, with vast rays, blazing forth with a mighty roar.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.10
सूर्यकोटिप्रतीकाशो ज्वलन्न् इव स तेजसा त्रैलोक्यं चादहत् तूर्णं ससुरासुरमानुषम् ॥
sūryakoṭipratīkāśo jvalann iva sa tejasā trailokyaṃ cādahat tūrṇaṃ sasurāsuramānuṣam //
Resembling ten million suns, as if flaming with its splendour, it swiftly burned up the three worlds with their gods, asuras and men.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.11
एवंविधे महाघोरे महाप्रलयदारुणे ऋषिः परमधर्मात्मा ध्यानयोगपरो ऽभवत् ॥
evaṃvidhe mahāghore mahāpralayadāruṇe ṛṣiḥ paramadharmātmā dhyānayogaparo 'bhavat //
In such a very dreadful (time), terrible with the great dissolution, the sage, whose nature was supreme righteousness, became devoted to the yoga of meditation.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.12
एकः संतिष्ठते विप्रा मार्कण्डेयेति विश्रुतः मोहपाशैर् निबद्धो ऽसौ क्षुत्तृष्णाकुलितेन्द्रियाः ॥
ekaḥ saṃtiṣṭhate viprā mārkaṇḍeyeti viśrutaḥ mohapāśair nibaddho 'sau kṣuttṛṣṇākulitendriyāḥ //
He alone remains, O brahmins, the one renowned as Mārkaṇḍeya; (yet) he was bound by the nooses of delusion, his senses distressed by hunger and thirst.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.13
स दृष्ट्वा तं महावह्निं शुष्ककण्ठौष्ठतालुकः तृष्णार्तः प्रस्खलन् विप्रास् तदासौ भयविह्वलः ॥
sa dṛṣṭvā taṃ mahāvahniṃ śuṣkakaṇṭhauṣṭhatālukaḥ tṛṣṇārtaḥ praskhalan viprās tadāsau bhayavihvalaḥ //
Seeing that great fire, his throat, lips and palate dry, tormented by thirst, stumbling, O brahmins, he was then overcome with fear.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.14
बभ्राम पृथिवीं सर्वां कांदिशीको विचेतनः त्रातारं नाधिगच्छन् वै इतश् चेतश् च धावति ॥
babhrāma pṛthivīṃ sarvāṃ kāṃdiśīko vicetanaḥ trātāraṃ nādhigacchan vai itaś cetaś ca dhāvati //
He wandered over the whole earth, fleeing in panic, senseless; finding no protector, he runs this way and that.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.15
न लेभे च तदा शर्म यत्र विश्राम्यता द्विजाः करोमि किं न जानामि यस्याहं शरणं व्रजे ॥
na lebhe ca tadā śarma yatra viśrāmyatā dvijāḥ karomi kiṃ na jānāmi yasyāhaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraje //
And he found then no shelter where he might rest, O twice-born ones: "What am I to do? I do not know whose refuge I should go to.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.16
कथं पश्यामि तं देवं पुरुषेशं सनातनम् इति संचिन्तयन् देवम् एकाग्रेण सनातनम् ॥
kathaṃ paśyāmi taṃ devaṃ puruṣeśaṃ sanātanam iti saṃcintayan devam ekāgreṇa sanātanam //
How may I see that god, the eternal lord of beings?" — thus thinking with single-minded (concentration) on the eternal god,
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.17
प्राप्तवांस् तत् पदं दिव्यं महाप्रलयकारणम् पुरुषेशम् इति ख्यातं वटराजं सनातनम् ॥
prāptavāṃs tat padaṃ divyaṃ mahāpralayakāraṇam puruṣeśam iti khyātaṃ vaṭarājaṃ sanātanam //
he reached that divine place, the cause of the great dissolution, known as the lord of beings, the eternal king of banyans.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.18
त्वरायुक्तो मुनिश् चासौ न्यग्रोधस्यान्तिकं ययौ आसाद्य तं मुनिश्रेष्ठास् तस्य मूले समाविशत् ॥
tvarāyukto muniś cāsau nyagrodhasyāntikaṃ yayau āsādya taṃ muniśreṣṭhās tasya mūle samāviśat //
And that sage, filled with haste, went into the presence of the banyan; reaching it, O best of sages, he settled at its root.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 52.19
न कालाग्निभयं तत्र न चाङ्गारप्रवर्षणम् न संवर्तागमस् तत्र न च वज्राशनिस् तथा ॥
na kālāgnibhayaṃ tatra na cāṅgārapravarṣaṇam na saṃvartāgamas tatra na ca vajrāśanis tathā //
There was no fear of the fire of time there, no downpour of embers, no coming of the destroying wind there, nor the thunderbolt-stroke.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition