The Second Book. Chapter 3
The Second Book
Chapter Iii
On The Description Of The Curse On Gang, Mahbhisa And Vasus
p. 84
1-8. The Risis said :-- "O Sinless Sta! You have described to us in detail the birth of Vysa, of unrivalled fire, and of Satyavat; but we have one great doubt in our minds though, O Knower of Dharma! which is not being removed by your words. O Sinless one! First, as regards the mother of Vysa, the all auspicious Satyavat, we have this doubt how she came to be united to the virtuous Santanu? The king Santanu, of the family of Puru is a greatly religious man; how could he have married Satyavat knowing her to be a fisherman's daughter and born of a low family? Now say who was the first wife of Santanu and how Bhsma, the intelligent son of Santanu came to be born of the parts of Vasu? O Sta! You have told before that Bhsma, of indomitable valour, made the Satyavat's son, the brave Chitrngada, king; and subsequent to his death made his younger brother Vichtravrya king. But when the elder brother Bhsma, the greatly religious and beautiful was present, how was it that Chitrngada and Vichtravrya having been installed by Bhsma himself could have reigned."
9-12. Again on the demise of Vichtravrya, Satyavat became very much grieved and got two sons born of her two son's wives by Vedavysa? How can we explain this fact? Why did she do this? Why did she not give to Bhsma the kingdom? Why did Bhsma not marry? And how was it that the elder brother Vysa Deva, of indomitable valour, did such an irreligious act as to beget two (Goloka) sons from the wives of the brothers? Vysa composed the Purnas and knew everything of religion; how then did he go to other's wives, especially, of his brother's wives?
13-14. O Sta! Why did Vysa Deva do such a hateful act, in spite of his being a Muni? The actions of Vedas are inferred from their subsequent good conducts; how can this act of Vysa be calculated as one amongst them? O Intelligent one! You are the disciple of Vysa; therefore you are the best man to solve our doubts. We all of this Dharmakshettra Naimisranya are very eager to hear this.
15-39. At this Sta said :-- In ancient days there reigned a king named Mahbhisa, in the family of Iksku endowed with all the qualities of a great king; he was the foremost of all the kings, truthful and religious. That highly intelligent king performed thousand horse-sacrifices (Asva
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medhas) one hundred Vjapeya sacrifices and thereby satisfied Indra, the king of the Devas and went to Heavens. Once, on an occasion, that king went to the abode of Brahm; the other gods also went there to serve Prajpati. The great river, Gang Dev, too, assuming the feminine form, went to Brahm to serve him. Now, in the interval, violent winds arose and the clothing of Gang Dev went off; at this the Devas did not look at her; rather kept their faces downwards; but the king Mahbhisa continued gazing at her. Gang also came to know the king and that he had become attached to her. Brahm, seeing that both of them are love-stricken and are shameless, became angry and cursed them immediately :-- O king! you better take your birth again in the human world and practise great meritorious deeds and come again to this Heaven. Thus saying, Brahm looked at Gang, who was attached to the king, and addressed her :-- "You too better go to the human world and become his wife." Both of them, the king as well as Gang, came out of Brahm's abode, very much grieved in their hearts. The king Mahbhisa thought of coming to this world and reflected on the kings ther and settled to make the king Pratpa of Puru's family his father. At this time the eight Vasus with their wives wandering in various places and enjoying as they liked came to the hermitage of Vas'istha. Amongst the aforesaid eight Vasus Prithu and others, one Vasu Dyau's wife seeing Nandini, the sacrificial cow (Kmadhenu) of Vas'istha asked her husband :-- "Whose is this excellent cow that I see? Vasu then replied as follows :-- " O Beautiful one! This is Vas'istha's cow. Whoever, be he a man or woman drinks her milk gets his longevity extended to ten thousand years and his youth never ends." Hearing this, the Vasu's wife said :-- "There is a very beautiful comrade (Sakh) of mine, the daughter of the Rajars-Us'na in the world, of auspicious qualities. O Mahbhga! Kindly bring to me from Vas'istha's hermitage that auspicious sacrificial milch cow Nandini together with her calf that yields all desires; my Sakh will then drink her milk and be thereby free from disease, old age and become the chief amongst all mankind. Hearing thus, his wife's word, the Vasu Dyau, though sinless, stole away together with Prithu and the other Vasus the cow Nandini in utter defiance to the self-controlled Muni Vas'istha. When the cow Nandini had been stolen, the great ascetic Vas'istha came quickly to the hermitage with Abundance of fruits.
The ascetic Muni Vas'istha, not finding, in his hermitage, his cow with her calf, searched for her in many forests and caves; but he, the son of Varuna, could not find out his cow even after prolonged searches; he, then, took recourse to meditation and came to know that the Vasus had stolen the cow and became angry. He expressed :-- "When the Vasus have stolen this my cow in utter defiance to my self, they must be born
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amongst men." When the religious Varuna's son Vas'istha thus cursed the Vasus, they became very sorry and absent-minded; all of them went to Vas'istha's hermitage and saw him there; they began to supplicate him as much as they could; and took refuge under him. Seeing the Vasus standing before him in an extremely distressed condition, the virtuous Muni Vas'istha said :-- "You all will be free from the curse within one year; but the Vasu Dyau will dwell amongst men for a long, long period as he had stolen direct my Nandini with her calf."
40-60. While the Vasus, thus cursed, were returning, they saw on the way the chief river Gang Dev also cursed and therefore distressed; all of them bowed down to her simultaneously and said: "O Dev! A serious thought is troubling our minds, how can we, who live on nectar, take our birth in human wombs; so, O best river! You better be a woman and give birth to us. O Sinless one! You better be the wife of the sage King Santanu and no sooner we be born of your womb, kindly throw us in the river Gang (your water). If you do thus, O Gang we will certainly be freed of our curse." Gang Dev replied "Well; that will be." Thus spoken, the Vasus went to their respective places; and Gang Dev, too, thinking on the subject again and again, went out of that place. At this time Mahbhisa became born as a son of the king Pratpa and became known as Santanu. He was exceedingly religious and true to his promise. One day while the King Pratpa was praising the Srya Dev (the sun) of unequalled energy, Gang Dev assumed an extraordinarily beautiful feminine form and came out of the waters and sat on the right thigh, resembling like a sl tree, of the king Pratpa. The sage king Pratp spoke out to the lady sitting on his right thigh, thus :-- "O beautiful faced one! Why, unasked, have you sat on my auspicious right thigh?" The lovely Gang then replied :-- "Hear why I have sat here. O best of Kurus! O king! Becoming attached to you, I have sat on your thigh; so please accept me." At this the king Pratpa spoke to the beautiful lady, full of youth and beauty, "I never go, simply out of passion to another's wife. There is another point; you have sat on my right thigh; that is the seat of sons and son's wives; so, when my desired son will be born, you will then, be my son's wife. And certainly, by your good will, my son will be born." The lady, of divine form, said, Well; that will be done! and went away. The king returned to his palace, thinking of the lady. After some time, he had A son born to him and when the son attained his teens, the king desired to lead a forest life and communicated this matter to his son. He said also, if the aforesaid beautifully smiling girl comes to you to marry, then marry her. And I am also ordering you not to question her anything "who are you" and so forth. If you take her as your legal wife, you will certainly be happy. Thus
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saying to his son, the king Pratpa handed over all his kingdom to his son and gladly retired into the forest. The king practised tapasy in the forest and worshipped Ambik; on quitting his mortal coil, he went by his sheer merit to the Heavens. The highly energetic king Santanu, on getting his kingdom, began to administer justice according to the laws of Dharma and governed his subjects.
Thus ends the third Chapter of the Second Skandha on the description of the curse on Gang, Mahbhisa and Vasus in the Mhapurnam Sr Mad Dev Bhgavatam of 18,000 verses.
Chapter Iii
On The Description Of The Curse On Gang, Mahbhisa And Vasus
p. 84
1-8. The Risis said :-- "O Sinless Sta! You have described to us in detail the birth of Vysa, of unrivalled fire, and of Satyavat; but we have one great doubt in our minds though, O Knower of Dharma! which is not being removed by your words. O Sinless one! First, as regards the mother of Vysa, the all auspicious Satyavat, we have this doubt how she came to be united to the virtuous Santanu? The king Santanu, of the family of Puru is a greatly religious man; how could he have married Satyavat knowing her to be a fisherman's daughter and born of a low family? Now say who was the first wife of Santanu and how Bhsma, the intelligent son of Santanu came to be born of the parts of Vasu? O Sta! You have told before that Bhsma, of indomitable valour, made the Satyavat's son, the brave Chitrngada, king; and subsequent to his death made his younger brother Vichtravrya king. But when the elder brother Bhsma, the greatly religious and beautiful was present, how was it that Chitrngada and Vichtravrya having been installed by Bhsma himself could have reigned."
9-12. Again on the demise of Vichtravrya, Satyavat became very much grieved and got two sons born of her two son's wives by Vedavysa? How can we explain this fact? Why did she do this? Why did she not give to Bhsma the kingdom? Why did Bhsma not marry? And how was it that the elder brother Vysa Deva, of indomitable valour, did such an irreligious act as to beget two (Goloka) sons from the wives of the brothers? Vysa composed the Purnas and knew everything of religion; how then did he go to other's wives, especially, of his brother's wives?
13-14. O Sta! Why did Vysa Deva do such a hateful act, in spite of his being a Muni? The actions of Vedas are inferred from their subsequent good conducts; how can this act of Vysa be calculated as one amongst them? O Intelligent one! You are the disciple of Vysa; therefore you are the best man to solve our doubts. We all of this Dharmakshettra Naimisranya are very eager to hear this.
15-39. At this Sta said :-- In ancient days there reigned a king named Mahbhisa, in the family of Iksku endowed with all the qualities of a great king; he was the foremost of all the kings, truthful and religious. That highly intelligent king performed thousand horse-sacrifices (Asva
p. 85
medhas) one hundred Vjapeya sacrifices and thereby satisfied Indra, the king of the Devas and went to Heavens. Once, on an occasion, that king went to the abode of Brahm; the other gods also went there to serve Prajpati. The great river, Gang Dev, too, assuming the feminine form, went to Brahm to serve him. Now, in the interval, violent winds arose and the clothing of Gang Dev went off; at this the Devas did not look at her; rather kept their faces downwards; but the king Mahbhisa continued gazing at her. Gang also came to know the king and that he had become attached to her. Brahm, seeing that both of them are love-stricken and are shameless, became angry and cursed them immediately :-- O king! you better take your birth again in the human world and practise great meritorious deeds and come again to this Heaven. Thus saying, Brahm looked at Gang, who was attached to the king, and addressed her :-- "You too better go to the human world and become his wife." Both of them, the king as well as Gang, came out of Brahm's abode, very much grieved in their hearts. The king Mahbhisa thought of coming to this world and reflected on the kings ther and settled to make the king Pratpa of Puru's family his father. At this time the eight Vasus with their wives wandering in various places and enjoying as they liked came to the hermitage of Vas'istha. Amongst the aforesaid eight Vasus Prithu and others, one Vasu Dyau's wife seeing Nandini, the sacrificial cow (Kmadhenu) of Vas'istha asked her husband :-- "Whose is this excellent cow that I see? Vasu then replied as follows :-- " O Beautiful one! This is Vas'istha's cow. Whoever, be he a man or woman drinks her milk gets his longevity extended to ten thousand years and his youth never ends." Hearing this, the Vasu's wife said :-- "There is a very beautiful comrade (Sakh) of mine, the daughter of the Rajars-Us'na in the world, of auspicious qualities. O Mahbhga! Kindly bring to me from Vas'istha's hermitage that auspicious sacrificial milch cow Nandini together with her calf that yields all desires; my Sakh will then drink her milk and be thereby free from disease, old age and become the chief amongst all mankind. Hearing thus, his wife's word, the Vasu Dyau, though sinless, stole away together with Prithu and the other Vasus the cow Nandini in utter defiance to the self-controlled Muni Vas'istha. When the cow Nandini had been stolen, the great ascetic Vas'istha came quickly to the hermitage with Abundance of fruits.
The ascetic Muni Vas'istha, not finding, in his hermitage, his cow with her calf, searched for her in many forests and caves; but he, the son of Varuna, could not find out his cow even after prolonged searches; he, then, took recourse to meditation and came to know that the Vasus had stolen the cow and became angry. He expressed :-- "When the Vasus have stolen this my cow in utter defiance to my self, they must be born
p. 86
amongst men." When the religious Varuna's son Vas'istha thus cursed the Vasus, they became very sorry and absent-minded; all of them went to Vas'istha's hermitage and saw him there; they began to supplicate him as much as they could; and took refuge under him. Seeing the Vasus standing before him in an extremely distressed condition, the virtuous Muni Vas'istha said :-- "You all will be free from the curse within one year; but the Vasu Dyau will dwell amongst men for a long, long period as he had stolen direct my Nandini with her calf."
40-60. While the Vasus, thus cursed, were returning, they saw on the way the chief river Gang Dev also cursed and therefore distressed; all of them bowed down to her simultaneously and said: "O Dev! A serious thought is troubling our minds, how can we, who live on nectar, take our birth in human wombs; so, O best river! You better be a woman and give birth to us. O Sinless one! You better be the wife of the sage King Santanu and no sooner we be born of your womb, kindly throw us in the river Gang (your water). If you do thus, O Gang we will certainly be freed of our curse." Gang Dev replied "Well; that will be." Thus spoken, the Vasus went to their respective places; and Gang Dev, too, thinking on the subject again and again, went out of that place. At this time Mahbhisa became born as a son of the king Pratpa and became known as Santanu. He was exceedingly religious and true to his promise. One day while the King Pratpa was praising the Srya Dev (the sun) of unequalled energy, Gang Dev assumed an extraordinarily beautiful feminine form and came out of the waters and sat on the right thigh, resembling like a sl tree, of the king Pratpa. The sage king Pratp spoke out to the lady sitting on his right thigh, thus :-- "O beautiful faced one! Why, unasked, have you sat on my auspicious right thigh?" The lovely Gang then replied :-- "Hear why I have sat here. O best of Kurus! O king! Becoming attached to you, I have sat on your thigh; so please accept me." At this the king Pratpa spoke to the beautiful lady, full of youth and beauty, "I never go, simply out of passion to another's wife. There is another point; you have sat on my right thigh; that is the seat of sons and son's wives; so, when my desired son will be born, you will then, be my son's wife. And certainly, by your good will, my son will be born." The lady, of divine form, said, Well; that will be done! and went away. The king returned to his palace, thinking of the lady. After some time, he had A son born to him and when the son attained his teens, the king desired to lead a forest life and communicated this matter to his son. He said also, if the aforesaid beautifully smiling girl comes to you to marry, then marry her. And I am also ordering you not to question her anything "who are you" and so forth. If you take her as your legal wife, you will certainly be happy. Thus
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saying to his son, the king Pratpa handed over all his kingdom to his son and gladly retired into the forest. The king practised tapasy in the forest and worshipped Ambik; on quitting his mortal coil, he went by his sheer merit to the Heavens. The highly energetic king Santanu, on getting his kingdom, began to administer justice according to the laws of Dharma and governed his subjects.
Thus ends the third Chapter of the Second Skandha on the description of the curse on Gang, Mahbhisa and Vasus in the Mhapurnam Sr Mad Dev Bhgavatam of 18,000 verses.
