Matsya Purana — Chapter 41

MtP 41.1

कतरस्त्वेतयोः पूर्वं देवानामेति सात्म्यताम् उभयोर्धावतो राजन् सूर्यचन्द्रमसोरिव

katarastvetayoḥ pūrvaṃ devānāmeti sātmyatām ubhayordhāvato rājan sūryacandramasoriva

But which of these two comes first to identity with the gods, O king, when both are running (their course) like the sun and the moon?

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

MtP 41.2

अनिकेतगृहस्थेषु कामवृत्तेषु संयतः ग्राम एव चरन्भिक्षुस् तयोः पूर्वतरं गतः

aniketagṛhastheṣu kāmavṛtteṣu saṃyataḥ grāma eva caranbhikṣus tayoḥ pūrvataraṃ gataḥ

The self-restrained mendicant who, houseless, wanders in the very village among householders given over to desire — of those two, he is the one who has gone further ahead.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.3

अप्राप्यं दीर्घमायुश्च यः प्राप्तो विकृतिं चरेत् तप्येत यदि तत्कृत्वा चरेत्सोग्रं तपस्ततः

aprāpyaṃ dīrghamāyuśca yaḥ prāpto vikṛtiṃ caret tapyeta yadi tatkṛtvā caretsograṃ tapastataḥ

— tr. refused: cyber

MtP 41.4

यद्वै नृशंसं तदपत् ह्यमाहुर् यः सेवते धर्ममनर्थबुद्धिः असावनीशः स तथैव राजंस् तदार्जवं स समाधिस्तदार्यम्

yadvai nṛśaṃsaṃ tadapat hyamāhur yaḥ sevate dharmamanarthabuddhiḥ asāvanīśaḥ sa tathaiva rājaṃs tadārjavaṃ sa samādhistadāryam

What is cruel, that they call unwholesome; and he who practices dharma without a mind set on gain — he, O king, is not (his own) master, and (yet) just that is uprightness, that is composure, that is noble.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.5

केनाद्य त्वं तु प्रहितो ऽसि राजन् युवा स्रग्वी दर्शनीयः सुवर्चाः कुत आगतः कतमस्यां दिशि त्वमुताहोस्वित्पार्थिवस्थानम् अस्ति

kenādya tvaṃ tu prahito 'si rājan yuvā sragvī darśanīyaḥ suvarcāḥ kuta āgataḥ katamasyāṃ diśi tvamutāhosvitpārthivasthānam asti

By whom have you been sent forth today, O king — young, garlanded, handsome, of fine radiance? Whence have you come, and in which direction (do you go)? Or is there some place of yours on earth?

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

MtP 41.6

इमं भौमं नरकं क्षीणपुण्यः प्रवेष्टुम् ऊर्वीं गगनाद्विप्रकीर्णः उक्त्वाहं वः प्रपतिष्याम्य् अनन्तरं त्वरन्त्वमी ब्रह्मणो लोकपा ये

imaṃ bhaumaṃ narakaṃ kṣīṇapuṇyaḥ praveṣṭum ūrvīṃ gaganādviprakīrṇaḥ uktvāhaṃ vaḥ prapatiṣyāmy anantaraṃ tvarantvamī brahmaṇo lokapā ye

With my merit exhausted, (I am) cast down from the sky to enter this earthly hell, the ground. Having said this to you, I shall fall straightway; let those be quick, the world-guardians of Brahmā.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.7

सतां सकाशे तु वृतः प्रपातस् ते सङ्गता गुणवन्तस्तु सर्वे शक्राच्च लब्धो हि वरो मयैष पतिष्यता भूमितलं नरेन्द्र

satāṃ sakāśe tu vṛtaḥ prapātas te saṅgatā guṇavantastu sarve śakrācca labdho hi varo mayaiṣa patiṣyatā bhūmitalaṃ narendra

But in the presence of good men my fall has been chosen; you have all met (me here) and all are possessed of virtue. For this boon was obtained by me from Śakra, as I was about to fall to the surface of the earth, O lord of men.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.8

पृच्छामि त्वां प्रपतन्तं प्रपातं यदि लोकाः पार्थिव सन्ति मे ऽत्र यद्यन्तरिक्षे यदि वा दिवि श्रिताः क्षेत्रज्ञं त्वां तस्य धर्मस्य मन्ये

pṛcchāmi tvāṃ prapatantaṃ prapātaṃ yadi lokāḥ pārthiva santi me 'tra yadyantarikṣe yadi vā divi śritāḥ kṣetrajñaṃ tvāṃ tasya dharmasya manye

I ask you, who are falling the fall: if there are worlds for me here, O prince, whether resting in the mid-air or in heaven — I consider you one who knows the field of that dharma.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

MtP 41.9

यावत्पृथिव्यां विहितं गवाश्वं सहारण्यैः पशुभिः पक्षिभिश्च तावल्लोका दिवि ते संस्थिता वै तथा विजानीहि नरेन्द्रसिंह

yāvatpṛthivyāṃ vihitaṃ gavāśvaṃ sahāraṇyaiḥ paśubhiḥ pakṣibhiśca tāvallokā divi te saṃsthitā vai tathā vijānīhi narendrasiṃha

As many cattle and horses as are appointed on the earth, together with the wild beasts and the birds — that many worlds of yours stand established in heaven; know it so, O lion among kings.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

MtP 41.10

तांस्ते ददामि मा प्रपत प्रपातं ये मे लोका दिवि राजेन्द्र सन्ति यद्यन्तरिक्षे यदि वा दिवि श्रितास्तानाक्रम क्षिप्रममित्रहाऽथसि

tāṃste dadāmi mā prapata prapātaṃ ye me lokā divi rājendra santi yadyantarikṣe yadi vā divi śritāstānākrama kṣipramamitrahā'thasi

Those I give to you — do not fall the fall! Whatever worlds of mine are in heaven, O chief of kings, whether resting in the mid-air or in heaven, step onto them quickly, O slayer of foes.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

MtP 41.11

नास्मद्विधो ऽब्राह्मणो ब्रह्मविच्च प्रतिग्रहे वर्तते राजमुख्य यथा प्रदेयं सततं द्विजेभ्यस् तदा ददे पूर्वम् अहं नरेन्द्र

nāsmadvidho 'brāhmaṇo brahmavicca pratigrahe vartate rājamukhya yathā pradeyaṃ satataṃ dvijebhyas tadā dade pūrvam ahaṃ narendra

One of our sort, no non-brahmin, and one who knows the Veda, does not engage in accepting gifts, O foremost of kings; as it is to be given, always, to the twice-born, so did I formerly give, O lord of men.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.12

नाब्राह्मणः कृपणो जातु जीवेद् यद्यपि स्याद्ब्राह्मणी वीरपत्नी सो ऽहं यदेवाकृतपूर्वं चरेयं विवित्समानः किमु तत्र साधुः

nābrāhmaṇaḥ kṛpaṇo jātu jīved yadyapi syādbrāhmaṇī vīrapatnī so 'haṃ yadevākṛtapūrvaṃ careyaṃ vivitsamānaḥ kimu tatra sādhuḥ

A non-brahmin should never live meanly, even if his wife were a brahmin woman, a hero's wife. Should I, being such a one, out of a wish to find out, do what was never done before — what good is there in that?

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.13

पृच्छामि त्वां स्पृहणीयरूप प्रतर्दनो ऽहं यदि मे सन्ति लोकाः यद्यन्तरिक्षे यदि वा दिवि श्रुताः क्षेत्रज्ञं त्वां तस्य धर्मस्य मन्ये

pṛcchāmi tvāṃ spṛhaṇīyarūpa pratardano 'haṃ yadi me santi lokāḥ yadyantarikṣe yadi vā divi śrutāḥ kṣetrajñaṃ tvāṃ tasya dharmasya manye

I, Pratardana, ask you, O you of enviable form: if there are worlds for me, whether resting in the mid-air or heard of in heaven — I consider you one who knows the field of that dharma.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

MtP 41.14

सन्ति लोका बहवस्ते नरेन्द्र अप्येकैकं सप्त शतान्यहानि मधुच्युतो घृतवन्तो विशोकास् तेनान्तवन्तः प्रतिपालयन्ति

santi lokā bahavaste narendra apyekaikaṃ sapta śatānyahāni madhucyuto ghṛtavanto viśokās tenāntavantaḥ pratipālayanti

There are many worlds of yours, O lord of men; each single one of them for seven hundred days; they drip honey, they are full of ghee, free of sorrow — thus, being finite, they await (you).

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.15

तांस्ते ददामि पतमानस्य राजन् ये मे लोकास्तव ते वै भवन्तु यद्यन्तरिक्षे यदि वा दिवि श्रितास् तानाक्रम क्षिप्रमपेतमोहः

tāṃste dadāmi patamānasya rājan ye me lokāstava te vai bhavantu yadyantarikṣe yadi vā divi śritās tānākrama kṣipramapetamohaḥ

Those I give to you as you fall, O king; let those worlds of mine be yours — whether resting in the mid-air or in heaven, step onto them quickly, your delusion gone.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

MtP 41.16

नु तुल्यतेजाः सुकृतं हि कामये योगक्षेमं पार्थिवात्पार्थिवः सन् दैवादेशादापदं प्राप्य विद्वांश् चरेन्नृशंसं हि न जातु राजा

nu tulyatejāḥ sukṛtaṃ hi kāmaye yogakṣemaṃ pārthivātpārthivaḥ san daivādeśādāpadaṃ prāpya vidvāṃś carennṛśaṃsaṃ hi na jātu rājā

(I,) of equal splendour, indeed desire well-earned security and welfare (not) from another king, being myself a king; a wise man, having met with calamity by the ordinance of fate, should still act — for a king never acts basely.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.17

धर्म्यं मार्गं चिन्तयानो यशस्यं कुर्यात्तपो धर्ममवेक्षमाणः न मद्विधो धर्मबुद्धिर्हि राजा ह्य् एवं कुर्यात्कृपणं मां यथात्थ

dharmyaṃ mārgaṃ cintayāno yaśasyaṃ kuryāttapo dharmamavekṣamāṇaḥ na madvidho dharmabuddhirhi rājā hy evaṃ kuryātkṛpaṇaṃ māṃ yathāttha

Pondering the righteous, glory-bringing path, he should practise austerity, looking to dharma. A king of my sort, whose mind is on dharma, would not act thus — as you say, calling me wretched.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

MtP 41.18

कुर्यामपूर्वं न कृतं यदन्यैर् विवित्समानः किम् उ तत्र साधुः ब्रुवाणमेवं नृपतिं ययातिं नृपोत्तमो वसुमानब्रवीत् तम्

kuryāmapūrvaṃ na kṛtaṃ yadanyair vivitsamānaḥ kim u tatra sādhuḥ bruvāṇamevaṃ nṛpatiṃ yayātiṃ nṛpottamo vasumānabravīt tam

Should I do what is unprecedented, not done by others, out of a wish to find out — what good is there in that? To King Yayāti speaking thus, Vasumān, best of kings, said this.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition