The Vishnu Purana - 1882
With the Commentary of Śrīdhara Svāmin
Edited by Jibananda Vidyasagara
Saraswati Press · Calcutta · 1882 · First Edition
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 1, invocation and the commentator’s introduction, p. 1 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
[Purāṇa verse] Victory is yours, O lotus-eyed one! Homage to you, O maker of the universe! Homage be to you, O Hṛṣīkeśa, O Great Person, O first-born! (1)
[End of the Purāṇa verse. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
I bow to the blessed Bindumādhava, whose form is supreme bliss, to Speech, to Viśveśvara, to the Gaṅgā, and to the sages headed by Parāśara. (1) Having clearly examined the commentary composed by the illustrious Citsukha, chief of yogins, and following its path, [a commentary] easy to understand and concise, named Ātmaprakāśa, an exposition of the essence of the holy Viṣṇu Purāṇa, the ascetic Śrīdhara- svāmin, a bee at the lotus-feet of his true teacher, will duly compose, for the purifying of his own understanding. (2) The commentaries on the holy Viṣṇu Purāṇa, very brief and very long, of the ancients having been looked at, this commentary on it, of middle length, is made. (3) The subject that is intended in this [work], in the form of a salutation to it, the sage sets down as the benediction, made with a mantra that is an upaniṣad. (4) "jitaṃ te": In that book, in the first chapter, by Maitreya to Parāśara, twenty-two questions are put, to set the Purāṇa in motion. Here, indeed, since the Purāṇas are in their nature the Lord's out-breath and so rooted in the Veda, and [as works] of the more re- cent Vyāsa, Vasiṣṭha, Parāśara and the rest have the form of smṛti, their authority and useful- ness simply cannot be denied. And the commentaries on them, by dispelling the false appearance of this or that meaning and being devoted to bringing each meaning to light, have their use. Though it is no different in being a Purāṇa, because its narratives are brief, and because it repeatedly teaches the oneness of the world, the individual self and the supreme Self, it is to this very Purāṇa that the engagement of seekers of liberation is most fitting; so this one alone is explained. And in it, creation, re-creation, …
THE VIṢṆU PURĀṆA
The Viṣṇu Purāṇa begins by presenting Viṣṇu as the divine source behind the cosmos. Then, it explores the origin and artifice of the universe, the beings who inhabit it, and the vast cycles of creation.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 1, the opening stanza and its commentary, p. 2 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
[Purāṇa text: first half of the verse, in large type] He who is the real, the imperishable, Brahman, who is the Lord, the Person, [in whom are] the surge of the qualities, creation, continuance, time and dissolution …
[The half-verse ends here; below the rule the commentary begins, in mid-sentence]
… the setting forth of the lineages, the Manu-periods and the dynastic histories and, by setting these aside, of liberation. Of right con- duct, the terrestrial globe, the tale of Bharata and the like, the description, whether directly or indirectly, in liberation alone is to be seen to have its use. "Puṇḍarīkākṣa": he reaches the lotus called the heart, that is, pervades it, and so is called thus. Or: he whose two eyes are like two lotuses. Here whiteness is not what is meant, since eyes excel precisely by redness. [Or: he by whom,] in order to worship Śiva, an eye was made a lotus; or, "puṇḍarīka is the supreme abode, akṣa is called the undecaying", by the derivation stated in the verse beginning so; or "Puṇḍarīkākṣa" is simply a vocative. "Te" is a genitive of relation: "victory be yours" is the sense. Or else te [means] "by you": it has been conquered, that is, you stand in supremacy over all. By this an obeisance is implied. "Viśva- bhāvana!": O producer of the universe! [Hṛṣīkeśa:] O lord of the hṛṣīkas, the senses! because he is the cause of their activity and cessation: "the breath of breath, and the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, they who know", so says scripture. "Mahāpuruṣa" is [said] to exclude the individual soul. And his greatness [follows] from scripture such as "two birds, companions, friends", and from his eternally free nature as well. He is "puruṣa", however, from lying in the city, the body. The reason for his being producer of the universe: "Pūrvaja": because he was manifest of himself before creation, [and so] not dependent on another, or because the others depend on him. Objection: since auspiciousness is secured by a single obeisance, enough of many obei- sances. If this is said, no: because this treatise is a means to the highest good, many obstacles being to be expected, an abundance of auspicious acts is necessary. Or else, by the five epithets beginning "Puṇḍarīkākṣa", "You are the self of the elements, and the self of the senses, and the self of primal matter; the self and the supreme self: you, one, stand fivefold", as said in the fifth Part, the five-selved Hari is declared. There, "Puṇḍarīkākṣa" is the self of the elements, "Viśvabhāvana" the self of primal matter, "Hṛṣīkeśa" the self of the senses, "Mahāpuruṣa" the supreme self, and by "Pūrvaja" the self is expressed. || 1 || To set out the connection and the purpose, which move a hearer to engage, he says "sadakṣara- m" and so on. He, the very well-known Viṣṇu, pervading by nature, in respect of place, time and own form [un]limit…
THE COSMIC CYCLE OF CREATION AND DISSOLUTION
Before explaining the processes of creation and dissolution, the opening establishes the reality from which they originate. The universe is shown as dependent on an “imperishable” source (Viṣṇu) that exists beyond the changes within creation.
It is described as a cyclical reality that continuously arises from, and is ultimately withdrawn back into Viṣṇu. In The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky compares this process to breathing.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 14–15, p. 12 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
All this was that very [Brahman], having the nature of the manifest and the unmanifest, and likewise it stood in the form of Puruṣa and in the form of Time. (14) The first form of the supreme Brahman is Puruṣa, O twice-born; the manifest and the unmanifest are likewise two further forms, and Time is another. (15)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
… "iti"; "vai" means "as is well known"; so he is called Vāsudeva by the wise: that is the meaning. From "dwelling" and from "causing to dwell" he is vāsu; from "shining" he is deva; he is vāsu and deva, so Vāsudeva. "From causing to dwell and from shining they therefore know him as Vāsudeva": this, in the Mokṣadharma, is the etymology. (12) He says that he himself is called Brahman by the Upaniṣadic teachers: "tad brahma…" The supreme Self, marked by the absence of form, colour and so on and by the absence of birth and so on, is himself called both Vāsudeva and Brahman. It is not a different entity, since the defining marks do not differ: with this intention he restates that very definition: "supreme, eternal" and so on. What is to be discarded is ignorance and its effects; because these are absent, "stainless". So it is said in the Bhāgavata: "The knowers of reality call reality that which is non-dual knowledge; it is named Brahman, Paramātman, Bhagavān." ([13]) Having thus set out the pure nature of Brahman, he now [states] of this same [Brahman], made manifest through its own māyā in four forms beginning with the manifest, that it is the material and efficient cause of the whole world: "tad eva". That very Brahman is all this, Brahman [is] the whole aggregate of the world. Of what kind? "Having the nature of the manifest and unmanifest": the manifest is Mahat and the rest, the unmanifest is Pradhāna; having their nature; in that form existing; and likewise existing in the form of Puruṣa and the form of Time. (14) The four- fold manner of origin he states: "parasya…". The doer of the seeing and so on, stated in scripture such as "He saw", "He desired", namely Puruṣa, is the first form of the supreme Brahman. And so it will be said in another Purāṇa: "To him who, though one, enjoys the qualities in many ways, who though pure seems impure through the divisions of embodied forms, who is endowed with knowledge and makes the glory of all beings: homage to that ever-imperishable Puruṣa." The one that comes directly after that same pure Brahman is Puruṣa: that is its meaning. And so in the Nāradīya Tantra: "Of Viṣṇu there are three forms called Puruṣa, they know: the first is the creator of Mahat, the second, in the cosmic egg, [abiding]; the third abides in all beings; knowing these, one is freed." Bhāga-…
BRAHMAN AND ITS FOUR FORMS
The commentary names the supreme Self Vāsudeva and holds him to be the stainless Brahman of the Upaniṣads. This Brahman is declared to be the whole world, standing in four forms: Puruṣa first, then the manifest, the unmanifest and Time. The commentary makes it both the material and the efficient cause of the world.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 16–19, p. 13 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
That which is beyond primal matter, spirit, the manifest and time, which the wise see as pure: that is the highest state of Viṣṇu. (16) Primal matter, spirit, the manifest and time, each taken separately, are [his] forms, the causes of the appearance and coming into being of maintenance, creation and end. (17) Viṣṇu is the manifest, likewise the unmanifest, spirit, and time too. Hear of his activity, which is like that of a child at play. (18) The unmanifest cause, which the best of sages call pradhāna and subtle prakṛti: eternal, of the nature of being and non-being. (19)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
…[in the Bhāga]vata too: "By the working of time, into māyā made of the qualities, Adhokṣaja, through the spirit that is his own self, the potent one placed his seed; from that arose the principle mahat", and so on. The manifest and the unmanifest are likewise two further forms: the unmanifest, which is to be glanced upon by the spirit, and the manifest born from it. These are two further distinct forms. Because [these] are inert, time is likewise another form; because it sets them all in motion, it is mentioned last. (15) Having stated the forms of the supreme Brahman, to rule out the consequence that they are what is to be sought, he says "pradhāna…": what the wise see, that alone is Viṣṇu's highest form; that is the meaning. (16) "Then what purpose do the forms beginning with pradhāna serve?" To this he says "pradhāna…": the forms beginning with pradhāna are the causes of the manifestation and coming into being of the world's maintenance, creation and destruction. Vyakti means becoming manifest, appearing; sadbhāva means origination; the causes of these are what bring them about. How "separately"? "Fourfold in creation, fourfold he stands in maintenance; and at the end Janārdana, fourfold, brings about dissolution. Brahmā, Dakṣa and the rest, time, and likewise all creatures; Viṣṇu, Manu and the rest, time…": by the passage beginning so, in the manner of division to be described below. (17) "But why does Viṣṇu, having become fourfold in this way, engage in creation and the rest?" To this he says "vyaktaṃ viṣṇuḥ…": that Viṣṇu takes the form of the manifest and the rest, know that to be like the activity of a child at play. As it is said, "but [it is] mere play, as in the world." (18) Now, about to set out that same fourfold form in detail, he first sets out pradhāna, in five [verses] beginning "avyaktam". What is unmanifest, that the best of sages call the cause, pradhāna and prakṛti. "Eternal": always of one form…
THE PRINCIPLES OF CREATION
Chapter two depicts creation as the emergence of pre-existing cosmic principles through divisions rather than an act that starts from emptiness. Nature, spirit, and time provide the conditions through which the universe manifests.
Pradhāna, Puruṣa, Vyakta, and Kāla are presented as forms of the same supreme reality, Viṣṇu. Each describes that reality in a different aspect:
Pradhāna: primordial, unmanifested nature Puruṣa: conscious spirit Vyakta: the manifest world Kāla: time
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 24–27, p. 15 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
For those two, other than the essential nature of Viṣṇu, the Supreme, are two forms, Primary Matter (pradhāna) and Spirit (puruṣa), O brahmin. By another [form] of his alone those two are held [together] and separated; the form by which [this is done], O twice-born, is the one named Time. (24) Because the manifest [world] rested in Primal Nature (prakṛti) at the past dissolution, therefore this reabsorption (pratisañcara) is called "of Nature" (prākṛta). (25) The lord Time is without beginning; no end of him, O twice-born, is found. Hence these (creation, continuance and the final restraint) are uninterrupted. (26) Then, in that equilibrium of the qualities, with Spirit standing apart, …
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
… existed at the dissolution. And so scripture: "Then there was neither the non-existent nor the existent," and so on. (23) He explains the nature of Time with the four [quarters] beginning "viṣṇoḥ". From the essential nature of the supreme, unconditioned Viṣṇu, those two forms mentioned before, namely Primary Matter and Spirit, are "other", that is, different in character, made by māyā. "te 'nye" is an archaic (ārṣa) sandhi. Of that Viṣṇu alone, by another form, those two forms are "held", that is, joined at the time of creation, and separated at the time of dissolution. Or else: "held", that is, kept, at the time of dissolution in such a way that the two stay separated, because, were the two not disjoined, it would follow that there is no dissolution. This is that other form named Time. (24) He establishes the separating of Nature and Spirit by [Viṣṇu in] the form of Time, by means of the designation "pratisañcara", with "prakṛtau". The mention of "past" serves to indicate every dissolution. "In the past dissolution, yat", that is, because the universe was settled, that is merged, in Nature. Therefore, from the universe's passing back into Nature, this great dissolution is called prākṛta. And this, by the disjunction of Nature and Spirit, comes about; such is the sense. (25) And that Time exists at the dissolution being plain, he states that it has neither beginning nor end, with "anādiḥ". Here the impossibility of otherwise accounting for the effect he puts forward as proof, with "avyucchinnāḥ". "tataḥ", from that cause, these, creation, continuance and final restraint, that is, creation, and continuance, and at its end restraint, are unbroken, unceasing in the manner of a stream. (26) "tataḥ", from that cause; "in that", in the dissolution; "guṇasāmye", in Primary Matter; and Spirit separately, disjoin[ed] …
TIME, THE FORM THAT JOINS AND SEPARATES
Primal matter and spirit are distinct from Viṣṇu’s own nature. A further form of his, Time, joins them at creation and parts them at dissolution, and the dissolution into Nature is therefore called prākṛta. Time has neither beginning nor end, so creation, continuance and dissolution follow one another without a break.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 27–31, p. 16 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
… that [form] of Viṣṇu, whose form is the very nature of Time, O Maitreya, abides. (27) Then that supreme Brahman, the Supreme Self, who consists of the world, the all-pervading, lord of all beings, self of all, the Supreme Lord, (28) Hari, having entered by his own will into Pradhāna (primal matter) and also into Puruṣa (spirit), set them in agitation when the time of creation had arrived, the perishable and the imperishable. (29) Just as a fragrance, by its mere nearness, comes to stir the mind, and not by being an agent acting [upon it], so [does] that Supreme Lord. (30) He alone is the one who agitates, O Brahmin, and he, the Supreme Person, is also the one agitated. …
STIRRED BY NEARNESS ALONE
When the time of creation comes, Hari enters primal matter and spirit by his own will and sets them in agitation. His presence alone disturbs their balance, as a fragrance stirs the mind by mere nearness without acting upon it. He is both the one who agitates and the one agitated.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 31–34, p. 17 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Through contraction and expansion he abides also in the state of Pradhāna (primal matter). (31) And so too by the forms of the modifications and of the atoms, by the forms of Brahmā and the rest, and likewise as having manifest form, [is] Viṣṇu, the lord of all lords. (32) Then, O sage, from that equilibrium of the qualities, presided over by the knower of the field, [comes] the arising of the manifestation of the qualities at the time of creation, O best of the twice-born. (33) The Pradhāna-principle enveloped that Mahat (the Great principle) which had arisen. Mahat is threefold: of sattva, of rajas and of tamas. [It is] covered all over by the Pradhāna-principle, as a seed is by its skin. (34)
CREATION BEGINS — THE UNMANIFEST BECOMES MANIFEST
The principles introduced above now begin to act. Pradhāna remains unmanifested until the supreme Lord's presence disturbs its balance. From that moment, the cosmos begins to unfold.
Puruṣa (Viṣṇu in his supreme cosmic form) then enters the developing universe, bringing the process from its unmanifested state toward visible existence.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 35–41, p. 18 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
“From the transformation of that [principle] arose the great element of ether (ākāśa), whose characteristic is sound. From ether, through further transformation, arose air (vāyu), whose nature is motion and touch. From air, again transformed, arose fire (tejas), whose quality is form and which is perceived through sight. From fire, through transformation, arose water (apas), whose characteristic is taste. From water arose earth (pṛthivī), whose quality is smell. Thus these elements, beginning with ether, arise in sequence through the modifications of nature.”
THE ELEMENTS AND THE SENSES
The manuscript describes how elements emerge with their unique qualities. Sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell appear in sequence as creation unfolds.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 42–53, p. 19 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
The subtle elements are without distinction, and so they are called "the undistinguished". They are neither calm, nor fierce, nor dull, and they have no distinguishing qualities. (42) This creation of the elements and subtle elements comes from the dark (tāmasa) ego-principle (ahaṅkāra). The senses are said to come from the fiery (taijasa) one, and the ten gods from the modified (vaikārika) one. (43) Mind is the eleventh. Here the gods are known as vaikārika. Skin, eye, nose, tongue, and ear as the fifth are joined with the intellect so as to grasp sound and the other sense-objects, O twice-born! (44) Anus, genitals, the two hands, the two feet, and speech as the fifth, O Maitreya: their work is said to be excretion, craft, movement and speech. (45) Space, wind, fire, water, and earth likewise are joined with sound and the other qualities, each one more than the one before, O brahman! (46) They are calm, fierce and dull, and so they are called "the distinguished" (viśeṣa). (47) Having various powers and existing apart, without combining they could not create beings, since they had not come wholly together. (48) They came into union with one another, each resting on the others, and, marked as one mass, they reached complete unity. (49) Because the Person (puruṣa) presides over them, and through the favour of primal matter (pradhāna), they, from the Great (mahat) down to the distinguished elements, produce an egg. (50) That egg grew step by step, round like a bubble on water. The great egg, formed from the elements and lying on the water, O wise one, was the highest natural (prākṛta) dwelling of Viṣṇu in the form of Brahmā. (51) There the lord of the world, unmanifest in his own nature, took a manifest form: Viṣṇu himself was present there in the form of Brahmā. (52) Meru was its amnion (inner membrane), and the mountains were its chorion (outer membrane).
THE SUBTLE ELEMENTS AND THE COSMIC EGG
The modified aspect of the ego-principle yields the ten gods and mind. The elements could create nothing apart, so they combine into one mass and, with spirit presiding and primal matter favouring them, form an egg that grows like a bubble on water and lies upon it. Within it Viṣṇu takes manifest form as Brahmā; Meru is its inner membrane and the mountains its outer one.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 53–59, p. 20 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
… and the oceans were the waters of the womb of that very great-souled one. (53) With its mountains, continents and oceans, and with its luminaries, the whole assemblage of the worlds came to be within that egg, O brahmin, together with gods, demons and men. (54) By water, fire, wind and ether, and then, on the outside, by the origin of the elements (bhūtādi), the egg was enveloped, each tenfold [the one before]; and the origin of the elements likewise by the Great (mahat). (55) And the Great, together with all of these, is enveloped by the Unmanifest, O brahmin. By these seven envelopes, made of primal nature, the egg is enclosed, as the seed within the coconut fruit is by its outer husks. (56) There, taking on the quality of passion (rajas), Hari himself, lord of the universe, having become Brahmā, sets about the creation of this world. (57) And what has been created he protects, age after age, for as long as the ordering of the kalpa lasts, as the blessed Viṣṇu, partaker of goodness (sattva), of immeasurable prowess. (58) And at the end of the kalpa, with darkness (tamas) predominant, Janārdana, in the form of Rudra, …
THE EGG AND ITS SEVEN ENVELOPES
The whole world, with its luminaries, gods, demons and men, lies within the egg. Like a coconut seed in its husks, the egg is wrapped in seven envelopes of primal nature, each ten times the one before. Taking on passion, Hari becomes Brahmā and creates; as Viṣṇu, in goodness, he protects the world through the kalpa, and at its end, in darkness, he becomes Rudra.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 2, vv. 59–65, p. 21 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
… O Maitreya, he, exceedingly terrible, devours all beings. (59) Having devoured the beings, when the world has been [made] a single ocean, the Supreme Lord lies on the couch that is the serpent. (60) And, awakened, he again performs creation, bearing the form of Brahmā. (61) Because he effects creation, continuance and end, [the designation] consisting of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, that designation he takes on, the Blessed One, Janārdana, who is one alone. (62) As creator he creates himself; and as Viṣṇu he protects [himself as] what is to be protected; and at the end he is withdrawn, and the Lord is himself the withdrawer. (63) Earth, the waters, and likewise fire, wind and space, all the senses and the inner organ, and what is called puruṣa: whatever the world is, (64) that is he alone, since he, the imperishable, is lord of all beings and has the form of all; hence creation and the rest, located in beings, serves him alone. (65)
THE FORMATION OF THE UNIVERSE
After describing the elements and their qualities, the text moves into the formation of the organized universe. Those elements combine to form the “cosmic egg,” giving the emerging cosmos its first organized form.
The supreme Lord enters it, and from him arises Brahmā, who begins the creation of the worlds and living beings.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapters 2–3, ch. 2 v. 66 and ch. 3 vv. 1–2, p. 22 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
He alone is what is created, and he is the maker of creation; he alone protects and devours, and is protected. Through the states of Brahmā and the rest he has every form: Viṣṇu, the most excellent, the giver of boons, the one to be chosen. (66) The third chapter. Maitreya said: Of that which is without qualities, immeasurable, pure and of stainless nature, how is agency in creation and the rest admitted of Brahman? (1) Parāśara said: The powers of all things are objects of a knowledge beyond reasoning; and since that is so, those powers of being, creation and the rest, belong to Brahman, O best of ascetics, as heat belongs to fire. (2)
… because it is the unfolding of his glory alone; just as what the officiating priests do benefits the sacrificer alone, so too [here], since through those he employs it is the unfolding of his glory alone; that is the meaning. (65) The stated oneness of creator, created and the rest he sums up, stating the intended point: "He alone" etc. "Devours and": from the word "and", he is also devoured. "Through the states of Brahmā and the rest", as maker of creation and the rest, he "has every form", that is, the form of creator and so on. Hence Viṣṇu alone is "most excellent": the greatest, the best, the highest reality, that is to say. And he is "giver of boons", "to be chosen", i.e. worthy of choice, because his nature is supreme bliss. (66) Brahman's agency in creation and the rest having thus been stated, he raises a doubt about it: "Of that which is without qualities" etc. [That is,] of what is devoid of the qualities sattva and the rest. "Immeasurable": not [delimited] by place, time and so on. ["Pure":] bodiless, or else without any co-operating factor. "Of stainless nature": [free of] the latent traces of merit and sin, or else free of passion and the like. How is agency in creation and the rest accepted of a Brahman of this kind? For in the world, in the case of pots and the like, agency and so on are seen only in one of the opposite character; that is the meaning. (1) He answers with "The powers…", in a verse and a half. For in the world, of all things, gems, spells and the rest, the powers [are] "objects of a knowledge beyond reasoning": [a knowledge] that is unthinkable, [that does not bear reasoning], …
HOW THE QUALITYLESS CREATES
Chapter two ends by identifying maker and made: Viṣṇu is at once the creator and what is created, the protector and what is protected. Chapter three opens with the objection this invites. Maitreya asks how a Brahman without qualities, immeasurable and pure, can act in creation at all. Parāśara answers that the powers of things lie beyond reasoning, and that creation belongs to Brahman as heat belongs to fire. The commentary sharpens the difficulty: in ordinary experience, as with the making of a pot, agency is seen only in beings of the opposite kind.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 3, vv. 3–5, p. 23 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Learn, then, how the Blessed Lord proceeds in creation. (3) The Lord called Nārāyaṇa, [as] Brahmā, grandfather of the worlds, is said to be "born", O wise one, though eternal, only figuratively. (4) By his own measure his life is held to be a hundred years. That is called "para", and half of it is termed "parārdha". (5)
… [a knowledge] whose warrant is that the effect cannot otherwise be explained; they are the objects of that. Or else: "inconceivable" [means] impossible to think out through alternatives such as "different" or "not different"; they are objects only of knowledge by presumption. Since this is so, Brahman too has those [powers] of that kind, "creation and the rest", i.e. of creation and so on the causes; "powers of being", powers established by its own nature, certainly exist, like fire's power of burning and the like. Hence, though devoid of qualities and so on, because it has inconceivable power, Brahman's being the agent of creation and the rest is coherent: that is the meaning. And scripture: "Of him there is neither effect nor instrument found; none is seen equal to him or greater. His supreme power is heard to be manifold indeed, and natural to him is the working of knowledge and strength." "Know māyā to be Nature, and the wielder of māyā to be the Great Lord", and so on. Or the construction is this: of all existing things there certainly are powers that are objects of an inconceivable knowledge, like fire's power of heat. But Brahman's powers are of its very nature, not different from its own essence: "His supreme power is manifold indeed, so it is heard", and so on, from scripture. Hence, unlike fire's heat [which is checked] by gems, spells and the like, it cannot by anything be obstructed. For that very reason his lordship is unchecked. And so scripture: "This Self is the controller of all, the ruler of all, the overlord of all", and so on. By addressing him as "best of ascetics" he hints that there is a certain power of austerity, known by oneself. Since this is so, creation and the rest come about from Brahman as cause; there is [no] incoherence here at all: that is the meaning. (2) Having thus established that Brahman is the agent of creation and the rest, the Brahmā-creation in hand he resumes, saying "Learn, then …". (3) But if it is the one called Nārāyaṇa himself who is Brahmā, how then do scriptures such as "Hiraṇyagarbha came forth in the beginning" state his origination? To that he says "born". "Figuratively": by his own will even a manifestation resembles an origination. (4) He states the measure of his life, which is likewise only figurative.
THE BIRTH OF BRAHMĀ, A FIGURE OF SPEECH
The account of Brahmā’s creation resumes with a qualification. Brahmā, grandfather of the worlds, is Nārāyaṇa himself and eternal, and is said to be born only figuratively; the commentary explains that a manifestation by his own will resembles an origin. His life is set at a hundred years by his own measure, a span called para, with half of it the parārdha. Most of the page is commentary completing the previous answer. Fire’s heat can be checked by gems and spells, whereas Brahman’s powers belong to its very nature and cannot be obstructed by anything.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 3, vv. 10–16, p. 25 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
By thousands of divine years, [the set] named Kṛta, Tretā and the rest, the four ages, by twelve [thousand]; learn from me its division. (10) Four, three, two and one, in the Kṛta and the rest in due order, are the thousands of divine years in the ages, say those who know the past. (11) A twilight of as many hundreds is said to precede each; and the twilight-portion, equal to it, is what immediately follows the age. (12) The time between the twilight and the twilight-portion, O best of sages, is to be known as the age, named Kṛta, Tretā and so on. (13) Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali are the four ages; a thousand of these is called a day of Brahmā, O sage. (14) In a day of Brahmā, O brahmin, there are fourteen Manus; hear their measure as fixed by time. (15) The seven seers, the gods, Śakra, Manu and the kings his sons are created at one time and [withdrawn], as before. (16)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
… "year", so it is to be understood. ([9]) With those years he states the measure of the four ages: "By divine…". The construction is "the four ages, by twelve thousand divine years". (10) In due order: in the Kṛta age four thousand, in the Tretā three, in the Dvāpara two thousand, in the Kali one thousand. (11) "Of that measure": the measure of those thousands, namely four, three, two and one, as stated; measured by hundreds of that same number, the age's [preceding] twilight is so called. Just as much is the twilight-portion, the term for what follows the age. And this has been said in the settling of the duties of the ages. And so Śuka: "The time that lies between the [twilight and] twilight-portion, numbering in hundreds …, that alone the knowers call the age, in which dharma is ordained." (12) Thus the ages have ten thousand years, and of the twilights and twilight-portions that come before and after them by their hundreds, two thousand; so it is established that the four ages are twelve thousand years. (14) To state the measure of a Manu-period he says "Of Brahmā…". (16) The kings are his sons themselves. …
THE FOUR AGES AND THE DAY OF BRAHMĀ
The four ages together last twelve thousand divine years, from four thousand for the Kṛta down to one thousand for the Kali, and each is framed by twilights of as many centuries. A thousand such cycles make a day of Brahmā. Fourteen Manus fall within that day, and each is created together with the seven seers, the gods and Indra.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 3, vv. 17–20, p. 26 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Seventy-one caturyugas (four-age cycles), with something over, are reckoned as a manvantara, the period of a Manu and of the gods and the rest, O best of men. (17) In divine reckoning its course is eight hundred thousand and fifty-two thousand more besides. (18) Thirty full crores, counted in number, O twice-born, and sixty-seven niyutas besides, O great sage, and twenty thousand: this period, without the surplus, is the count of a manvantara in human years, O twice-born. (19) This period taken fourteen times is called a day of Brahmā. At its end comes the dissolution called brāhma, the "occasional" one. (20)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
…for they are created at one time: they are made holders of office, and those withdrawn are made officeless. That is the sense. (17) On "sādhikā" there are verses: "With forty-two joined, a hundred more as well: five thousand divine years, ten months, eight days, a quarter-part, two muhūrtas, eight kalās too, seventeen kāṣṭhās and two nimeṣas after that, and a seventh part of one divine nimeṣa is meant. In human years eighteen and a half lakhs, then a thousand joined with twenty-eight, and four hundred years together with six months joined with twenty-four days-and-nights; twelve nāḍīs, as many kāṣṭhās (?) after that, twenty-five kāṣṭhās, and ten nimeṣas with a little over." That is: when Brahmā's day, which measures a thousand caturyugas, is divided fourteen ways, each share is seventy-one caturyugas. What is left over is a fourteenth of the remaining six caturyugas, as calculated, in excess of seventy-one in each manvantara: that is the sense. "And of the gods and the rest": the Seven Seers, the gods, Śakra: those office-holders of the manvantara named before. (17) He counts that same manvantara-time in divine years: "aṣṭau" and so on. (18) The same he counts in human years in two verses, "triṃśat koṭyaḥ" and so on. Niyutas are lakhs; "without the surplus" means without the extra time stated before. (19) "Brāhmo naimittikaḥ" …
THE LENGTH OF A MANVANTARA
Each Manu’s period lasts seventy-one cycles of the four ages and a little more: 852,000 divine years, or 306,720,000 human years without the surplus. The commentary works the surplus out to a fraction of an eye-blink. Fourteen such periods make a day of Brahmā, ended by the dissolution called brāhma, the “occasional” one.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 3, vv. 21–25, p. 27 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
For then the whole threefold world, Bhūr, Bhuvar and the rest, is burned. The dwellers in Maharloka, tormented by the heat, go to Janaloka. (21) When the three worlds are one ocean, Brahmā, whose self is Nārāyaṇa, lies on the serpent-couch, swollen from swallowing the three worlds. (22) The lotus-born god, meditated on by the yogins dwelling in Janaloka, [sleeps through] that night of equal length, and at its end creation begins again. (23) In this way [is reckoned] a year of Brahmā, and in this way a hundred years. A hundred years is the full lifespan of that great one. (24) One parārdha of Brahmā's life has passed, O sinless one. At its end there was a great kalpa called the Pādma. Of the second parārdha, the one now running, O twice-born, this kalpa, the Vārāha, is declared the first. (25)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
The dissolution (pratisañcara) caused by Brahmā's sleep is pralaya. (20) "Bhūrbhuvādikam" is a seer's [irregular] sandhi. (21) Bhogī is Śeṣa; he is the couch; lying on it, he sleeps. In the reading "trailokya- jñānabṛṃhita", [it means] filled out by souls made of knowledge of the three worlds. In the reading "trailokya- grāsabṛṃhita", the sense is: his bliss of Brahman made full by swallowing the manifest world. (22) "Meditated on by those in Jana[loka]", because at that time even the Maharloka dwellers have gone there. "Tat- pramāṇām": he sleeps without a break through that night, which measures a day of Brahmā. (23) "Evaṃ tu": from such days and nights, by reckoning fortnights, months and so on, a year [is made]. (24) "Mahākalpa": though only an intermediate kalpa, through features such as the appearance of the lotus (puṣkara) it has greatness, and so "great kalpa" it is called. (25)
THE COSMIC MEASURE OF TIME
This passage discusses the enormous spans of time that govern creation. It describes the ages as part of repeating cycles that extend beyond human existence and into the length of Brahmā’s cosmic activity.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 4, vv. 7–12, p. 29 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Knowing that the earth lay within the waters, when the world was a single ocean, the Lord, by inference, the Lord of creatures, wishing to raise her up, (7) made himself another body; as formerly, at the beginnings of the ages, [he took] that of the fish, the tortoise and the rest, so he assumed the body of a boar. (8) A form made of the Vedas and of sacrifice, for the upholding of the whole world, he stood in it, firm of self, the self of all, the supreme self, the Lord of creatures. (9) Praised by the perfected ones dwelling in Janaloka, Sanaka and the others, he then entered the water, he who is his own support, the bearer of the earth. (10) Seeing him then come to the floor of Pātāla, the goddess Earth, bowing down, bent low in devotion, praised him. (11) Earth said: Homage to you who are all beings, to you, O bearer of conch and mace! Lift me up from here today; from you I arose of old. (12)
"… he dwelt [in those waters] he had himself created for a thousand years; hence his name Nārāyaṇa, since the waters are sprung from the Person." (6) What then? To this he says, with the two [verses] beginning "toyāntaḥ", less a quarter: Having seen a lotus leaf upon the water, from inferring that it has a support, knowing the earth to be within the water and wishing to raise her, Nārāyaṇa made another body, fit for raising her: such is the construction. (7) Just as formerly the body of fish, tortoise and so on, at the beginnings of the ages, he made for this or that purpose, so [now]. And thus the śruti: "He saw a lotus leaf; standing [there] he thought: there is indeed that on which this rests." "And he, having made the form of a boar, plunged down; he reached the earth [below]" and so on. And then, having assumed the boar body, he entered the water: thus it is construed with the following [verse]. (8) He assumed a form made of Veda and sacrifice because he stands for the upholding of the whole world, the world's continuance depending on Veda and sacrifice. (9) (10) Then Vasundharā, the presiding goddess of it, praised him. (11) "From this floor of Pātāla lift me up; from you as cause I …
THE EARTH AS THE FOUNDATION OF LIFE
The following text presents the Earth as an active part of the created order. After beings and their ancestors emerged, the Earth becomes the place where life is established and sustained.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 4, vv. 20–26, p. 31 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
"...and that is why this world calls me Mādhavī." (20) Victory to you, made of all knowledge! Victory, imperishable one, made of the gross! Victory, endless one! Victory, unmanifest one! Victory, you who are made of the manifest, O Lord! (21) Self of the higher and the lower, Self of all, victory! O sinless lord of sacrifice! You are the sacrifice, the cry vaṣaṭ, the syllable Om, the fires. (22) You are the Vedas, you their auxiliary sciences, you the Person of sacrifice, O Hari! The sun and the other planets, the stars, the lunar mansions, the whole world, (23) the embodied and the unembodied, the unseen and the solid, O highest Person, whatever I have said here and whatever I have not said, O supreme Lord: all that is you. Homage to you, again and again homage, homage! (24) Parāśara said: Praised in this way by the Earth, the Upholder of the earth, the glorious one, whose voice was the sound of the Sāman chant, roared a deep rumbling roar. (25) Then the Great Boar, his eyes like open lotuses, lifted the earth on his tusk and, dark as a blue lotus petal, rose from Rasātala like a great dark mountain. (26)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
For these reasons, from then on this world calls me Mādhavī, that is, yours. (20) (21) "Parāpara" means cause and effect, or high and low. "Tadātman" means you whose form is that. "Yajñapati" means giver of the fruit of sacrifice. "Vaṣaṭkāra" means the mantra "vaṣaṭ", or what it denotes. (22) "Yajñapuruṣa" means the embodiment of sacrifice, or the one worshipped by sacrifice. "Tārāḥ" means Aśvinī and the rest; the others are the nakṣatras, or the reverse, since both usages are found. (23) "Mūrta" means … [compacted] substance, or the solid. "Adṛśya" means not perceptible. "Bhūyo bhūyaḥ" is for emphasis or respect. (24) He whose sound is the very tone of the Sāman, now taking on the boar form, roared "parigharghara", [imitating its kind?]; "jagarja" means he gave voice. (25) "Samutkṣipya" means having raised up. "Sphuṭa" means blown open: he whose eyes are like open lotuses. "Utpalapatrasannibha" …
THE BOAR LIFTS THE EARTH
The Earth ends her hymn by declaring the sacrifice, the Vedas, the sun, planets and stars, and the whole world to be the Lord. The Boar answers with a deep roar in the tone of the Sāman chant. He lifts the earth on his tusk and rises from the underworld Rasātala like a great dark mountain.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 4, vv. 27–31, p. 32 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
As he rose, struck by the wind of his mouth, the water of that flood, those who dwell in Janaloka, it washed indeed, those of great splendour, the sages, Sanandana and the rest, free of stain. (27) The waters go, where it was torn by the tips of his hooves, down into Rasātala, with a continuous roar. Flung by the wind of his breath, they move farther off, the Siddhas who dwell always in Jana[loka]. (28) As that Great Boar rose, his belly wet with water, bearing up the earth, and shook his body made of the Veda, the sages lodged among his bristles resort there. (29) Him they praised, their minds filled with joy, the yogins who dwell in the world of Jana, Sanandana and the others, necks bowed in obeisance, [praised] the earth-bearer whose gaze was most steady and uplifted. (30) "Triumph, supreme lord of lords, Keśava, master, bearer of mace and conch, of sword and discus! You alone are the cause of birth, destruction and continuance, the ruler; nothing else is; and [you are] that which is the highest state." (31)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
… breath. (26) Though those sages were stainless, it washed them thoroughly, that is, made them exceedingly pure. In the other reading too the sense is the same. (27) By the Boar's hoof- tip Rasātala being torn, split open, the waters through that opening downward go. How? "With a stream of sound made": so that there is a roar. In the reading ending in the locative the sense is: they go down into that Rasātala in which a stream of sound is made. By the wind of his breath "flung", thrown. "In Jana": in Janaloka. (28) "vigṛhya" (in that reading): having grasped firmly. "The sages among the bristles": because the bristles extend as far as Janaloka; that is the idea. (29) "Those whose mind is pervaded, filled, with joy." … unperturbed, and he is also "of uplifted gaze", of raised glance: him. "dhīrataro…- -kṣaṇam": in that reading the sense is "of fearless, [noble] gaze". (30) "Of the lords": of Brahmā and the rest, "supreme lord!", because you alone are the cause of the world's birth and the rest, and the "ruler", the controller.
THE SAGES PRAISE THE RISING BOAR
As the Boar rises, water driven by his breath washes Sanandana and the other sages of Janaloka, then pours back with a roar into Rasātala. When he shakes his body of the Veda, the sages are lodged in his bristles, which the commentary says reach as far as Janaloka. From there they hail Keśava as the sole cause of the world’s birth, continuance and end.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 4, vv. 44–50, p. 36 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
"…may this come to pass. Homage to you. Grant us peace, O lotus-eyed one!" (44) Parāśara said: Praised in this way, the Supreme Self, the upholder of the earth, quickly lifted up the earth and set it down on the great ocean. (45) It rests on top of that ocean like a huge ship, and because its body is spread so wide, the earth does not sink. (46) Then he made the earth level and heaped up mountains on it, each in its place, the Blessed One, the beginningless Supreme Lord. (47) All the mountains on the earth's surface that had been burnt in the former creation he created again by his unfailing power, he whose wishes never fail. (48) Then he divided the land into seven continents, as they should be, and arranged the four worlds, Bhūr and the rest, as before. (49) Then that god, taking the form of Brahmā and filled with rajas, the Blessed Hari, bearing four faces, carried out creation. (50)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
…-kāra is itself our happiness, and that alone is what we ask for, as you yourself know": so again they address him. "Abjalocana": he whose eye, that is his sight, is on the lotus of the heart. O witness of the heart! That is the meaning. (44) (45) "Vitatatvāt" means "because it is spread out". "Saṃplava" means sinking. It does not go under. (46) "Yathāvibhāgam" means "each in its place". (47) "Amoghavāñchitaḥ" means one whose resolve comes true. (48) "Yathātatham" means "properly". "The four worlds, Bhūr and the rest": as before, he arranged them, that is, he created them by resolve alone. Bhūr and the rest together with Pātāla make a group of four. Or else: because Maharloka too, left empty by the heat of the fire from Saṅkarṣaṇa's mouth, is as good as destroyed, "four worlds" is said. So scripture says: "Sun and moon the Creator fashioned as before, and heaven and earth and the mid-air, then svar." Since heaven is named separately, the word "svar" is taken to mean Maharloka. (49) So, in this way, the acts of Hari in his boar form, from raising the earth to arranging the worlds, have been told. Next, by that very one …
THE RAISING OF THE EARTH
The introduction of the boar form of the Lord and the raising of the Earth from the waters. The creation account depicts the Earth submerged beneath the primordial waters until the Lord lifts it from its depths and establishes the world.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 5, vv. 2–6, p. 38 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
"What qualities, what form and what nature the world had, O twice-born, which Brahmā created at the start of creation: tell me that truly." (2) Parāśara said: "Maitreya, I shall tell it; listen with full attention to how that god, the Lord, created all beings, gods first among them. (3) As he thought about creation at the beginnings of the kalpas, as before, a creation not preceded by awareness appeared, made of darkness. (4) Darkness, delusion, great delusion, gloom, and the one called blind [gloom]: this five-jointed Ignorance appeared from the great-souled one. (5) As he meditated, a creation without awakening stood in five forms, unlit outside and in, closed in on itself, of the nature of trees and mountains." (6)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
…them. (1) "Yadguṇam" etc.: the qualities are sattva and the rest; the nature is being calm, being fierce and so on; the form is the shape, two-footed, four-footed and so on; "of whatever qualities, nature and shape" is the meaning. (2, 3) Without Ignorance, souls in the created bodies could not be agents and enjoyers and so on, so he first states how Ignorance appeared: "sṛṣṭim" etc. "Abuddhipūrvaka[ḥ]": made through inattention; "tamomayaḥ": having the form of the workings of Ignorance. (4) He states this: "tamaḥ" etc. "Called blind" means blind gloom. "Five-jointed": she whose particular workings are five. Of these, darkness is taking the not-self, the body and so on, for the self; delusion is, towards what is connected with it, sons and so on, the notion … "… I am"; great delusion is the craving to enjoy sound and the other objects; gloom is, when that is thwarted, anger; blind gloom is, from fear of loss and the like, a constant clinging to protecting it. These five errors are called "afflictions" in Patañjali: "Ignorance, I-am-ness, passion, aversion and clinging are the five afflictions." (5) So, Ignorance having thus arisen, he first states the creation of the unmoving, wholly made of darkness: "pañcadhā" etc., in a verse and a half. As he meditated on creation, a creation "nagātmaka", that is, in the form of the unmoving, stood in five forms: "trees, shrubs, creepers, climbing plants, and all the kinds of grass", so fivefold …
THE CREATION BORN OF IGNORANCE
Asked what kind of world Brahmā made, Parāśara begins with darkness. As Brahmā meditates, Ignorance appears in five forms, which the commentary matches with the five afflictions of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra. The first beings share its nature: trees and mountains, unlit within and without.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 5, vv. 7–10, p. 39 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Because the mountains are called 'chief', this is the chief creation. Seeing that this creation was ineffective, he thought again of another. (7) As he meditated, the 'horizontal-stream' creation came forth. Because it moves horizontally, it is therefore called 'horizontal stream'. (8) They are known as cattle and the like, mostly made of darkness, without understanding, taking the wrong path, and in ignorance thinking themselves wise. (9) Egoistic, self-conceited, made up of the twenty-eight disabilities, all of them lit within, and veiled from one another. (10)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
… it arose in five kinds: that is the meaning. Its general mark: 'un- awakened': without the reflection 'who am I?'; outwardly toward sound and the other objects, and inwardly toward pleasure and the like, 'unlit', without knowledge; 'closed in self', dull by nature. (6) Like the face, the first creation of Brahmā arises, so the mountains, the unmoving things, are 'chief'. For this reason, although the mountains are unmoving, because the Boar made them before Brahmā's creation, the [entry of the self / entry of Brahmā] … : so it is said. Or else: the mountains' immobility is adventitious, caused by the cutting-off of their wings, not natural; so there is no entry of the self. Out of [dis]satisfaction with the chief creation, as he meditated on another creation, a somewhat higher creation, the horizontal one, arose: so he says in the three and a half verses beginning 'taṃ dṛṣṭvā'. 'Ineffective': lacking any striving toward the aims of human life. Having seen it, another creation 'he thought of': 'amanyata' means he meditated. The reading 'amanyata paraṃ punaḥ' is the correct one. (7) 'Horizontal stream came forth': … . 'Because it moves horizontally': the one whose conduct, its livelihood, is carried on (?) by moving horizontally for food. (8) 'Cattle and the like': 'the like' takes in birds and so on. Their mark: 'mostly darkness', darkness predominant. 'Without understanding': lacking reflection. So scripture says: 'Of the other beasts, hunger and thirst alone are their knowledge; they do not speak what is known, do not see what is known, do not know tomorrow, nor this world and the next.' 'Taking the wrong path': following the wrong road, without telling apart what may and may not be eaten, whom one may and may not approach, and the like: that is the meaning. 'In ignorance': in false knowledge, thinking they have right knowledge. (9) 'Egoistic': those whose acts are done with ego, they …
THE UNMOVING AND THE ANIMAL CREATIONS
The mountains give the first creation its name, the “chief” one, and the commentary suggests their stillness began when their wings were cut off. Finding this creation useless, Brahmā meditates again and the animals appear. Darkness rules them: they lack understanding, think themselves wise and are veiled from one another.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 5, vv. 11–15, p. 41 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Judging that one too unfit for his purpose, as he meditated another then arose: the third, "whose stream runs upward"; of the quality of goodness, it proceeded upward. (11) They abound in pleasure and delight, and are unveiled without and within, luminous without and within; they are remembered as those born of the upward stream. (12) This third [creation], of him whose mind was satisfied, is remembered as the creation of the gods. When that creation was accomplished, Brahmā then felt delight. (13) Then he meditated on another, a highest creation that would serve his purpose, having recognised those sprung from the "principal" creation and the rest as unfit. (14) As he so meditated, he whose meditation comes true, then there came forth from the unmanifest the "downward-streamed", which was fit for the purpose. (15)
… [are] domestic. As it is said: "The cow, the goat, the buffalo, the black antelope, the boar, the gayal, the ruru deer: these are the cloven-hoofed beasts, and the sheep and the camel, O best of men. The ass, the horse, the mule, the gaura, the śarabha and the yak likewise: these are the single-hoofed. O Kṣattar, hear the five-clawed beasts: the dog, the jackal, the wolf, the tiger, the cat, the hare and the porcupine, the lion, the monkey, the elephant, the tortoise, the monitor lizard, and the crocodile and the rest." (10) Because he was not satisfied with the animal creation, as he meditated again the creation of the gods arose: this he states in three [verses] beginning "tam api". "Upward": above, wholly outside the body, is the "stream", that is the taking of food, of the one so called; for satisfaction comes from the mere sight of nectar. And so scripture: "Truly the gods neither eat nor drink; having only looked upon this nectar they are satisfied". "Sāttvikordhvam": so that what belongs to goodness (pleasure, light and the like) was "upward", that is predominant, thus it proceeded. (11) He states just that with "te". "Pleasure" is what arises from contact of the senses with their objects; "delight" is the joy caused by it. Those in whom, through the predominance of goodness, pleasure and delight abound are so called. (12) (14) "Of him whose meditation comes true": of him whose resolve is true; or, of him whose habit is meditation on the Lord. "From the unmanifest": this applies equally to the principal and the other creations, since for them too no other cause is stated. And so the Vāyu [Purāṇa]: "From the unmanifest is born for him whatever he wishes with his mind. Because of [its] being brought under control …
THE UPWARD AND DOWNWARD STREAMS
This page holds an earlier stage of the creation of beings. Dissatisfied with the animal creation, Brahmā meditates and a third arises, called upward-streamed: the gods, luminous within and without and abounding in pleasure. The commentary explains the name by their nourishment, since they are satisfied by the mere sight of nectar. He delights in them, yet still judges the earlier creations unfit for his purpose and meditates again. From the unmanifest there comes forth the downward-streamed creation, the one that is fit. Tradition identifies it with humankind, though the page stops before saying so.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 5, vv. 24–29, p. 44 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Maitreya said: “You have described the creation of the gods and others in brief, O sage. I wish to hear it in detail from you, O best of sages.” Parāśara said: “Those [beings] were formed according to the actions previously performed, both good and evil. They were also bound by their respective natures, and at the dissolution they were withdrawn.” “The creations beginning with the gods and extending to the immovable beings are fourfold. Brahmā, while creating, produced these from himself.” “Then, desiring to create the four kinds of beings—gods, Asuras, Pitṛs, and humans—the lord of creatures entered into his own nature.” “When the lord of creatures undertook creation, tamas became predominant in him. From this [state] the Asuras were first produced.”
BRAHMĀ’S CREATED BEINGS
The text introduces Brahmā’s initial acts of creation, describing the emergence of various beings from his body after the universe is formed.
KARMA AND THE CYCLE OF TIME
Karma is introduced and carries forward into the creation of beings, relating their new existence to what came before. The passage then moves into the astral rhythm of day and night, extending creation into the ordering of time.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 5, vv. 30–35, p. 45 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
“The body consisting of that darkness was then abandoned by him. It became night.” “Those who arose, with sattva predominant, from the mouth of Brahmā, O twice-born one, were the gods.” “That body too was abandoned by him, and it became day. Thus the Asuras are active by night, while the gods are active by day.” “He then took another body consisting predominantly of sattva. From that body the Pitṛs were produced.” “Having abandoned that body, the lord made it twilight, standing between day and night.” “He then took another body consisting predominantly of rajas. From that body humans were produced.” “He abandoned that body also, and it became the dawn-light.”
THE CREATION OF HUMANITY
The account now connects directly with humanity. Brahmā creates various levels of beings through successive forms. Humans originate from a form governed by rajas; activity, passion, and motion.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 7, vv. 1–5, p. 58 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Parāśara said: Then, as he meditated, mind-born offspring were born to him, together with the effects and instruments that arose from his body. (1) Embodied souls came forth from the limbs of that wise one. All those came forth whom I spoke of before, (2) from the gods down to unmoving things, standing in the realm of the three guṇas. In this way moving and unmoving beings were created. (3) When those offspring of the wise one did not multiply, he created other mind-born sons like himself: (4) Bhṛgu, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Aṅgiras, Marīci, Dakṣa, Atri and Vasiṣṭha, also mind-born. (5)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
About to describe creation by sexual birth, he states a particular point about the mind-made bodily creation described before, in the three verses beginning "tataḥ". Because it states a point not stated before, "tataḥ" introduces it as if it were a new creation. An objection is raised here: by mind alone, by mere intention, without the elements as material, how can bodies made of elements be born, or how, from an inert body, can conscious beings be born? To this he says "taccharīra": from the body of that Brahmā arose the effects (bodies) and the instruments (senses), and with mind as efficient cause the mind-born offspring were born. The elements in Brahmā's body are themselves the material cause of their bodies: that is the meaning. (1) Likewise, of that wise one, the conscious collective soul, Brahmā, through bodies arising even from his inert limbs, by his mere intention, with latent impressions awakened, the individual embodied souls came forth, that is, became manifest. He names them in "te sarve" (2, 3). He gives the purpose of sexual creation in "yadāsya". "Did not multiply" means they did not increase as sons, grandsons and so on. "Then others", who were to start sexual creation …
BRAHMĀ’S MIND-BORN SONS
Chapter seven returns to creation by thought. The commentary makes the elements of Brahmā’s own body the material of his mind-born offspring, and his mind their efficient cause. When they do not multiply, he creates nine mind-born sons like himself, among them Bhṛgu, Marīci, Dakṣa and Vasiṣṭha, to begin creation by sexual birth.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 7, vv. 6–12, p. 59 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
These are settled in the Purāṇa as the "nine Brahmās". And Sanandana and the others, whom the Creator made earlier, (6) did not attach themselves to the worlds; they had no interest in offspring. For all of them had gained knowledge and were free of passion and envy. (7) While they were thus indifferent to creating the world, in the great-souled Brahmā there arose a great anger, able to burn the three worlds. (8) Lit up by the garlands of flame that sprang from his anger the whole of the three worlds then became, all of it, O sage. (9) From his forehead, knotted with a frown and blazing with anger, Rudra then sprang forth, bright as the midday sun, (10) half woman and half man in body, fierce, of immense body. "Divide yourself," Brahmā said to him, and then vanished. (11) So addressed, he made himself twofold, womanhood and manhood, and split the manhood tenfold and also into one (eleven). (12)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
… he created [Bhṛgu] and the others (4, 5). What was said as "like himself" he shows that same thing under the name "Brahmā": "nine Brahmās". The creation of Rudra from anger and, [in the same place], the creation of Manu: to tell these he shows the cause of Brahmā's anger, saying "Sanandana and the others" (6). "Āgatajñāna" means they had obtained knowledge. In another reading, knowledge even of things not yet come (7). "Thus": while they were indifferent to creating offspring, in the great-souled one, engaged in extending creation, namely Brahmā, anger arose (8). [The construction is that] by the garlands of flames that sprang from that Brahmā's anger the three worlds were lit up all round: that is the construction. (9, 10) He whose body is, in two halves, woman and man. "Pracaṇḍa": exceedingly wrathful. "Divide yourself", that is, your body in the form of woman and man: "make it separate." Having said this to him he disappeared (11, 12). "With gentle and fierce [forms]" is the explanation of just this …
THE BIRTH OF RUDRA
Sanandana and the others, created earlier and free of passion, hold aloof from the world. Their indifference rouses in Brahmā an anger able to burn the three worlds. From his frowning forehead springs Rudra, half woman and half man, who at Brahmā’s command separates female from male and splits the male into eleven.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 8, vv. 25–32, p. 69 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
“Yama is directly the discus-bearer; Dhūmorṇā is Kamalālayā. Ṛddhi is Śrī; the god who bears Śrī is himself the lord of wealth. Gaurī is Lakṣmī, greatly blessed; Keśava is Varuṇa himself. Śrī is Devasenā, O best of Brahmins; Hari is the commander of the divine host. Avastambha is the mace-bearing Lord; Śakti is Lakṣmī, O best of the twice-born. Kāṣṭhā is Lakṣmī; he is the nimeṣa, the muhūrta, and she is the kalā. Moonlight is Lakṣmī; he is the lamp; all is Hari, the Lord of all. The Mother of the universe, Śrī, has become a creeper; Viṣṇu is established as the tree. Night is Śrī; day is the god who bears the discus and mace. He is the giver of boons, he is the boon; Viṣṇu is the bridegroom, and the bride dwells in the lotus-grove. Bhagavān is in the form of a river, and Śrī is established in the form of a river. The lotus-eyed one is the standard, and Kamalālayā is the banner. Lakṣmī is craving; the Lord of the world is greed, the supreme Nārāyaṇa. Rati is love, and [he is] attachment; O Maitreya, Lakṣmī is Govinda. And what need is there to say much more? In brief, this is said: Among gods, animals, and human beings, Hari bears the masculine name and Śrī the feminine name; there is no other distinction between the two.”
THE GODS AS COSMIC PRINCIPLES
A complex system of divine identities is defined. Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī appear through other gods. The final verses extend these connections to human and animal life, as well as to masculine and feminine, as expressions of the same divine reality.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Chapter 12, vv. 94–100, p. 113 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
“…Your mother Sunīti also, O child, will become a star in a celestial vehicle and will dwell beside you.
And those people who, with collected minds, remember you morning and evening— great merit will arise for them.”
Parāśara said: “Thus, in the beginning of the world, having received a boon from Janārdana, the God of gods, Dhruva obtained his station and remains there, O wise one. Seeing the greatness of his achievement,
Uśanas, the teacher of the gods and Asuras, spoke this verse: ‘Oh, the power of his austerity! Oh, the fruit of his austerity! The Seven Ṛṣis stand having Dhruva before them. And Dhruva’s mother, named Sunīti, [also attained an exalted place]. Who on earth is capable of describing his greatness?
He attained the supreme, enduring station, a support of the three worlds…’”
SUNĪTI’S CELESTIAL VEHICLE
In the story of Dhruva, his mother Sunīti becomes a star and travels beside him through the heavens in a celestial vehicle.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book II, Chapter 8, vv. 1–3, after the close of Chapter 7, p. 266 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Parāśara said: The chariot of the Sun is nine thousand yojanas [in extent]. Its pole is likewise twice that, O best of sages. ॥2॥ Its axle is one and a half koṭis, with seven niyutas more, in yojanas; upon it the wheel is fixed. ॥3॥”
THE SUN TRAVELS ON A CELESTIAL CHARIOT
The Purāṇa describes the Sun as traveling in a ratha — a chariot or vehicle — whose dimensions are given in yojanas. Its structure is treated physically: the vehicle has a pole, an axle, and a wheel, each with specific measurements.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book II, Chapter 8, vv. 4–6, p. 267 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
“Within that [wheel] are five spokes, and three naves; the imperishable wheel of Time is fixed there. ॥4॥”
THE COMMENTATOR’S NOTE (reported by Wilson, 1840)
The year is established there as the form of that wheel; the two solstices are its two halves, and the six seasons its rims.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book II, Chapter 8, v. 7 and the first half of v. 8, p. 268 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
The horses are the seven metres. Hear their names from me: Gāyatrī, Bṛhatī, Uṣṇih, Jagatī and Triṣṭubh, Anuṣṭubh and Paṅkti. These metres are said to be the horses of the Sun. (7) On Mount Mānasottara, to the east, is the city of Vāsava (Indra).
THE SUN’S WHEEL OF TIME
The description of the Sun’s vehicle continues to connect its physical structure with the divisions of time. The chariot is drawn by seven horses, identified with the sacred metres, which carry the Sun on its celestial course.
CELESTIAL WARS & WEAPONS
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book V, Chapter 23, vv. 21–28, p. 721 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
For he had gone to the war of gods and demons, and after conquering the great demons, overcome by sleep, he chose from the gods the boon of sleep for a very long time. (21) And the gods told him: "Whoever wakes you from your sleep will at once be turned to ashes by a fire born from your body." (22) Having burned that wicked one in this way, and seeing the Slayer of Madhu, he said, "Who are you?" He answered: "I was born in the lineage of the Moon, the son of Vasudeva, sprung from the line of Yadu." (23) Then Mucukunda remembered the words of the elder Garga. Remembering them, he bowed down before Hari, lord of all beings, and said: "You are known to me. You are a portion of Viṣṇu, the supreme Lord. (24) Long ago Garga said that in the twenty-eighth age, at the end of the Dvāpara, Hari would be born in the line of Yadu. (25) You are he who has come, no doubt of it, to do good to mortals. For I cannot bear your very great splendour. (26) And your voice is deeper than the roar of a rain-laden cloud, and the earth bows down, pressed by your feet. (27) In the great war of gods and demons, the great warriors in the demon army could not bear my splendour, yet I cannot bear yours." (28)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
[Verses 18–19.] "tatkrodhajena" means: by the fire born of his own body, kindled by that anger. (20) … "…a task": with this intent he speaks the two verses beginning "sa hi". (21) "Hari's birth will take place": Garga told me this. (25) "You are that Hari of whom Garga spoke… …alone": being sure of this, he speaks the two and a half verses beginning "tathā hi". (26) "For you … those who have taken refuge…
WAR OF THE GODS
In the story of King Mucukunda, he is said to have fought alongside the gods in their great war against the Asuras, defeating powerful enemies on their behalf. Exhausted after the conflict, he received an extraordinary boon from the gods: prolonged sleep, protected by a lethal power within his own body. Anyone who awakened him would be consumed immediately by fire.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book V, Chapter 23, vv. 38–45, p. 723 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
… wives, servants, and the objects of sense beginning with sound, O Lord, (38) all this I took hold of, O Imperishable One, believing it to be happiness; in its outcome, O Lord, that very thing became torment for me. (39) Even this host of the gods, O Protector, having reached this world of the gods, came to want help from me. Where, then, is lasting peace? (40) Without worshipping you, the source and resting-place of all the worlds, by whom, O Supreme Lord, is lasting peace attained? (41) Men whose minds are bewildered by your māyā, having undergone the torments of birth, death, old age and the rest, behold the face of the king of the dead. (42) Then, in the hells, a most dreadful [suffering], born of their own deeds, men obtain suffering, [those who do not know] your true nature. (43) I, wholly given over to the objects of sense, deluded by your māyā, wander inside the pit of 'mine-ness' and pride, O Supreme Lord. (44) I, being such, have come for refuge to you, the boundless Lord worthy of praise, the supreme state, apart from which there is nothing, my mind scorched by the burning weariness of worldly existence, longing for nirvāṇa, the abode of those who are fully ripened. (45)
[Here the Purāṇa verses end. Below the printed rule the commentary begins.]
'By me sufferings alone were taken hold of in the belief that they were happiness.' (3…) (4…) 'Then, in the hells, born of their own acts': suffering produced by their [own] karma they obtain, not knowing your true nature. (43) 'Mine-ness', and the pride caused by it: that itself is the pit; in the midst of it I wander. (44) 'Supreme state' … because nothing exists that is distinct from you; to you, being such. 'In the abode of the ripened': in nirvāṇa, the resort of yogins who have come to full maturity. (45)
NO LASTING PEACE AMONG THE GODS
Mucukunda’s praise of Kṛṣṇa ends in renunciation. What he took for happiness became torment, and even the gods in their heaven came to need his help, so no peace lasts without worshipping Kṛṣṇa. Scorched by worldly existence, Mucukunda takes refuge in him, longing for nirvāṇa.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book V, Chapter 30, vv. 33–42, p. 748 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
"If that word of yours is true, 'Satyā is exceedingly dear to me', then let this tree be taken away for the garden of my house. (33) 'Neither Jāmbavatī nor Rukmiṇī is so dear to me as you are, Satyā': this kind thing you have said, Kṛṣṇa, more than once. (34) If that is true, Govinda, and was not said by you out of mere courtesy, then let this Pārijāta be the ornament of my house. (35) Wearing a spray of Pārijāta blossom in the mass of my hair, I wish to shine in the midst of my co-wives." (36) Parāśara said: Thus addressed, Hari laughed and set this Pārijāta upon Garuḍa; the keepers of the grove said to him: (37) "Ho! Śacī is the queen of the king of the gods; the Pārijāta, which is her property, this tree, Govinda, you ought not to carry off. (38) For Śacī's adornment, by the gods at the churning for the nectar it was brought forth; you will not get away safe once you have taken it. (39) She whose face the king of the gods watches: her property you seek out of folly; for who could take it and go off safe? (40) Assuredly, Kṛṣṇa, the lord of the gods will proceed to requital for this, and the immortals will follow Śakra, his hand raised with the thunderbolt. (41) [So] enough, Acyuta, of conflict between you and all the gods; the wise do not commend a deed that is bitter in its ripening." (42) … "niḥkuṭārthāya" means "for a house-garden". ([33], [34], [35].) "keśa- pakṣeṇa" means "with an abundant mass of hair". ([36].) "[Out of eagerness (?)] women do not recognise what brings harm", thus …
THE GODS TURN AGAINST ONE ANOTHER
In the story of Kṛṣṇa and the celestial Pārijāta tree, Kṛṣṇa removes the tree from the gods’ own Nandana grove and departs through the heavenly realm upon Garuḍa. Indra refuses to permit it. He confronts Kṛṣṇa with the divine host at his side, while Kṛṣṇa rejects Indra’s exclusive claim to the tree and warns him to stand down.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book V, Chapter 30, vv. 43–52, p. 749 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
When they had spoken thus, Satyabhāmā, exceedingly [angry], said to them: "What is Śacī to the Pārijāta, or who is Śakra, overlord of the gods? (43) If this one, common to all the worlds, at the churning for the nectar arose, then why, O gods, does Vāsava alone [take] it? (44) As the nectar, as the moon, as Śrī, O guardians of the grove, are common to the whole world, so too is the Pārijāta tree. (45) Since Śacī, greatly proud of her husband's arm, [keeps it to herself], then let it be told — enough of forbearance — Satyā is having the tree carried off. (46) And go quickly and let my word be told to Paulomī: Satyabhāmā says this, in syllables swollen with exceeding pride: (47) 'If you are your husband's beloved, if your husband is obedient to you, then have my husband stopped as he carries off the tree. (48) I know your husband Śakra; I know him, the lord of heaven. Even so I, a mortal woman, am having this Pārijāta of yours carried off.'" (49) Parāśara said: Thus addressed, the guards went and told Śacī just as it had been spoken. And Śacī roused her husband, the overlord of the gods. (50) Then, surrounded by the armies of all the gods, against Hari Indra set out to fight for the sake of the Pārijāta, O twice-born! (51) Then, with iron bars, swords, maces and spears as their choice weapons, the gods stood ready, while Śakra stood with the thunderbolt in his hand. (52)
… (39) (40) "Will go to requital": will take countermeasures. (41) "Bitter in its ripening": bringing harm in its outcome. (42) (47) … "bring about the stopping." (48) (51) "Ready": armed. (52)
A MORTAL WOMAN’S CHALLENGE TO THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN
Satyabhāmā answers the keepers herself. The tree arose at the churning for the nectar and, like the nectar, the moon and Śrī, is common to all the worlds, so Indra has no sole claim to it. She sends them to Śacī with a taunt: if her husband truly obeys her, let her have him stop Kṛṣṇa, for a mortal woman is carrying off her tree. The guards deliver the message and Śacī rouses Indra, who sets out against Hari with the armies of the gods, thunderbolt in hand.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book V, Chapter 30, vv. 53–62, p. 750 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Then Govinda, seeing, mounted on the king of elephants, Śakra with his retinue of gods, drawn up for battle, (53) sounded a blast on his conch, filling the quarters with the sound, and let fly a host of arrows, thousands and tens of thousands in number. (54) Then, seeing the quarters and the sky covered with hundreds of arrows, all the Thirty [gods] let fly missiles and [divine] weapons in great number. (55) Each single missile and weapon loosed by the gods, into a thousand pieces the Lord of the worlds, Madhusūdana, cut as if in play. (56) The noose of the King of the Waters the Serpent-eater [Garuḍa] dragged to himself and tore to pieces with his beak, like the body of a young snake. (57) The staff hurled by Yama, shattered by a cast of his mace, the Blessed One, Devakī's son, made fall to the earth. (58) And the litter of the Lord of Wealth, with his discus, into bits small as sesame seeds, the Mighty One Śauri made; and the Sun, merely looked at with a glance, he made bereft of its splendour. (59) Agni was reduced to a hundred pieces by his arrows; the Vasus were put to flight to the quarters; the Rudras, their trident-points cut off by the discus, were felled to the ground. (60) The Sādhyas, the Maruts and the Viśve[devas], and the Gandharvas too, by the arrows sent from the Śārṅga bow, were flung through the sky like the down of the silk-cotton tree. (61) Garutmat also, with his beak, with his wings, with [the points of] his claws, ranged about devouring, striking and tearing the gods. (62)
Commentary below the rule: (5…) "Astra" is a weapon consecrated by a mantra; "śastra" is any other. (55, 56) "cañcvā": with the beak. (57, 60) "astāḥ": thrown off. (61) With the mouth devouring; with the wings striking; with the claw-tips tearing. (62)
DIVINE WEAPONS
The confrontation in heaven evolves to open warfare. Indra advances with the assembled gods, and “divine weapons” are exchanged against Kṛṣṇa and his allies. The battle expands among the celestial hosts until Indra deploys the vajra — his thunderbolt weapon — against Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Sanskrit, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book V, Chapter 30, vv. 63–72, p. 751 · Vidyāsāgara, 1882
Then with thousands of arrows the lord of the gods and Madhusūdana rained upon one another, like two clouds with their torrents. (63) Garuḍa fought with Airāvata there in the battle; and Janārdana fought with all the gods and with Śakra. (64) When all the arrows had been cut down, and the weapons and missiles too, in haste Vāsava seized the thunderbolt, and Kṛṣṇa the discus Sudarśana. (65) Then all the three worlds raised a cry of alarm, O best of the twice-born, on seeing the king of the gods and Janārdana holding thunderbolt and discus. (66) Then the blessed Hari caught the thunderbolt hurled by Indra; and he did not let fly the discus, and said, "Stand, stand!" (67) To the lord of the gods, his thunderbolt lost, his mount wounded by Garuḍa, the hero, bent on flight, Satyabhāmā said: (68) "Lord of the three worlds! Flight does [not] befit the husband of Śacī. Śacī, decked in the full array of Pārijāta garlands, will attend upon you. (69) What kind of kingship over the gods is yours, when, bright with Pārijāta garlands, you do not see Śacī coming to you in affection as before? (70) Enough of going away, Śakra; you ought not to feel shame. Let this Pārijāta be taken away; let the gods be free of distress. (71) Puffed up with pride in her husband, Śacī did not receive me with respectful courtesy when I came to her house. (72)
THE WEAPONS REVEALED
The celestial battle now brings its opposing weapons into clear view. All three worlds cried out in alarm at the sight of their divine weapons. Kṛṣṇa ultimately intercepts Indra’s thunderbolt without releasing his own discus, bringing the confrontation to a decisive end.
