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2024-03-29, 5:17 PM |
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Chapter 86: Arjuna Kidnaps Subhadrâ, and
Krishna Instructs Bahulas'va and S'rutadeva
(1) The honorable king (Parîkchit) said: 'O brahmin, we'd
like to know how she who is my grandmother, the sister of Krishna and
Râma [Subhadrâ,
see 9.24: 53-55], got
married to Arjuna.'
(2-3) S'rî S'uka said: 'Arjuna, the great lord,
gone on a pilgrimage to Prabhâsa, heard as he wandered the earth
that Râma intended to give his maternal cousin away to Duryodhana
and to no one else, and so went he, desirous of her, to
Dvârakâ disguised as a renunciate with a tridanda [*]. (4) Determined to fulfill his purpose, resided he
there during the months of the rainy season and was he [according the
custom] honored by the citizens and by Râma without them being
aware who he was. (5) One day invited as a guest was he brought to
Balarâma's house where He faithfully presented him a meal. (6) When he there, with
eyes blossoming of happiness, saw the wonderful girl who enchanted
heroes, put he, smitten, his mind on her. (7) She also seeing him who stole each woman's
heart, fixed her heart and eyes upon him as she with desire gave him a
bashful smile and look. (8) Thinking of nothing but her awaiting the right opportunity
could Arjuna, with his heart trembling of the strongest desire, find no
peace. (9) When during an
important religious festival she rode out of the fortress in a chariot,
seized the mighty warrior the girl who had stolen his heart. That took
place with the consent of her parents [see 1o.1: 56] and Krishna. (10) Standing on the chariot raising his bow drove
he, like the king of the animals claiming his share, back the heroes
and guards who, while her relatives were shouting in anger, tried to
stop him. (11) Hearing this was
Râma as disturbed as the ocean is during a badly aspected moon
[astrological conjunction or opposition]. Lord Krishna and His family
had to grasp Him respectfully by His feet in order to pacify Him. (12) He thereupon was
pleased to sent presents of great value, elephants and horses and male
and female servants as a wedding gift for the groom and bride.'
(13) S'rî S'uka continued: 'Of Lord Krishna
there was S'rutadeva, one of the best among the twice-born, known for
his fullness of realization - his serenity, learning and freedom from
sense gratification - in exclusive devotion to Krishna. (14) He, as a householder
dwelling in Mithilâ in the kingdom of Videha, carried out his
obligations unconcerned about what came to him for his sustenance. (15) Day by day doing his
duties as required was he happy with just that - and nothing more -
what he by providence acquired as his share for his sober maintenance. (16) The ruler of that
kingdom from the line of King Mithilâ [Janaka] was known by the name of Bahulâs'va
and was likewise selfless minded, my dearest. They were both equally
dear to Acyuta. (17) Pleased with the two of them mounted the Supreme Lord His
chariot that was brought by Dâruka, and mounting together with a
group of sages went the Master to Videha. (18) Along came Nârada, Vâmadeva,
Atri, Krishna Dvaipâyana Vyâsa, Paras'urâma, Asita,
Aruni, I [S'uka], Brihaspati, Kanva, Maitreya and Cyavana and others. (19) Everywhere He came
approached the citizens and villagers carrying arghya
[offerings of water] to greet Him who was as the risen sun surrounded
by the planets. (20) In Ânarta [where Dvârakâ is], Dhanva [the
desert region], Kuru-jângala [Thaneswar and Kurukshetra], Kanka,
Matsya [Jaipur and Aloyar], Pañcâla [the Ganges region],
Kunti, Madhu, Kekaya [northeast Punjab], Kos'ala [from
Kâs'î to the Himalayas], Arna [east of Mithilâ] and
in many other kingdoms, drank the men and women with their eyes in the
lotus face that was so generous with His smiles and affectionate
glances, o King. (21) The Spiritual Master of the Three Worlds put an end to the
blindness of their eyes by bestowing upon them the fearlessness of the
spiritual vision. As He thus by and by reached Videha, heard He how by
the God-conscious and the commoners His glories were sung, the glories
that eradicate all misfortune and purify every corner of the universe. (22) The moment the
villagers and citizens heard that Acyuta had arrived, o King, came they
joyfully forward to greet Him with offerings in their hands. (23) Seeing Him Who is
Praised in the Verses, bowed they with their faces and hearts
blossoming of love down with their joined palms held to their heads, as
they also did before the sages they only knew from hearsay. (24) Each of the kings of
Mithilâ and S'rutadeva prostrated at the feet supposing that the
Spiritual Master of the Universe had arrived to be of mercy for
especially him. (25) Bahulâs'va and S'rutadeva simultaneously joining their
palms, then invited the Descendant of Das'ârha and the twice-born
to be their guests. (26) The Supreme Lord eager to please the two of them accepted
their offer by entering each his house without them knowing that of
each other [He did so at the same time in vaibhava-prakâs'a]. (27-29) The descendent of Janaka [Bahulas'va] who
later that day saw them, fatigued, coming from a distance to his house,
mindfully brought out fine seats for them so that they could
comfortably sit. Overjoyed at heart with intense devotion and eyes
clouded with tears bowed he down to wash those feet of which the water
is able to purify the entire world. Together with his family taking it
on his head, honored he the Lords [and sages] with sandalwood paste,
garlands, clothing, jewelry, incense, lamps, arghya, cows and
bulls. (30) When they had eaten
their fill, said he while happily massaging the feet of Vishnu on his
lap, in order to please them in a gentle voice slowly the following.
(31) S'rî Bahulâs'va said: 'You indeed
the Self-illumined Witness and Soul of All Created Beings, o Almighty
One, have now become visible to us who are remembering Your lotus feet.
(32) To be true to the
statement You made that 'No one, not even Ananta, S'rî or the
Unborn Brahmâ is as dear to Me as the unalloyed devotee', have
You appeared before our eyes [see also 7.7: 51-52, 10.9:
20-21, 10.47:
58-63]. (33) What person knowing
this would abandon Your lotus feet when You give Yourself to sages who
are peaceful from not striving for possessions? (34) Descending in the
Yadu dynasty for the sake of those who are caught in worldly love [samsâra]
have You, to put a stop to it, disseminated Your fame which removes the
sins of the three worlds. (35) All glories to You Krishna, the Supreme Lord
ever fresh in His intelligence, to Nara-Nârâyana, the One perfect of peace in undergoing the
austerities. (36) Please o Omnipresent
One, dwell, joined by the twice-born, for a few days in our home and
sanctify with the dust of Your feet this dynasty of Nimi.'
(37) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus invited by the
king stayed the Supreme Lord and Maintainer of the Entire World there
and thus brought good fortune to the men and women of Mithilâ. (38) S'rutadeva, just as
Bahulas'va receiving Krishna in his house, bowed down to the sages to
the occasion of which he in delight danced with waving clothes. (39) He made them sit on
mats of darbha grass which were brought, greeted them with words of
welcome and washed next pleased together with his wife their feet. (40) With the water
sprinkled he, overjoyed of having all his desires fulfilled, most
piously himself, his house and his family. (41) With offerings of fruits, aromatic root [us'îra],
pure nectarean sweet water, fragrant clay, tulsî leaves, kus'a grass and lotus flowers honored he them with
all items of worship available and with food conducive to the mood of
goodness [see B.G. 17: 8]. (42) He wondered: 'How could it happen that I who fell down in
the blind well of family life, may enjoy this association with Krishna
and these godly people in whom He resides; it is indeed the dust of
their feet that constitutes the dignity of all holy places.' (43) With them
comfortably seated and having proven the hospitality, spoke S'rutadeva,
as his wife, relatives and children were sitting close, while he
massaged His feet.
(44) S'rutadeva said: 'It is not for the first time
that we see the Supreme Personality present before us; in fact is that
happening ever since He, creating this universe with His energies,
entered it in His own state of [transcendental] being [as an avatâra].
(45) He enters this world
the way a sleeping person appears in his own dream: alone with his mind
creates he by his own imagination a separate world. (46) You appear within
the hearts of those people who with a pure mind again and again hear
about You, speak of You, glorify You, worship You and converse about
You. (47) Even though You're
situated in the heart are You far removed from minds agitated by
material affairs, and even though one can't get hold of You by one's
own powers, are You near to those who appreciate Your qualities [see
also B.G. 7: 25].
(48) Let there be my
obeisances unto You, the Supersoul from whom we know the Absolute of
the Truth, the One who [as the Time] calls for the death of the
conditioned soul; the One who assumes forms that have a cause [the
universe] and do not have a cause [the transcendental], and thus
[respectively] obstructs matters and [then again descending for Your
devotees] broadens the outlook by Your own deluding potency. (49) You as that
Supersoul, please command us Your servants. What o God should we do?
Oh, having this of You, Your good Self, visible before our eyes is what
puts an end to the troubles of humanity!'
(50) S'rî S'uka said: 'Having heard what he thus said to Him,
spoke the Supreme Lord, the Destroyer of the Distress of the
Surrendered, to him with a broad smile taking his hand into His. (51) The Supreme Lord
said: 'O brahmin, you should know that these sages came along for the
purpose of blessing you; wandering with Me, they purify all the worlds
with the dust of their feet. (52) The deities, pilgrimage sites and sacred
rivers being visited, being touched and being worshiped purify
gradually, but by the glance of the one who is the most worshipable is
that all attained at the same time [see also 4.30: 37, 7.9:
44, 10.9: 21, 10.84: 11]. (53) A brahmin is by birth the best of all living beings, and
what more wouldn't he mean to Me when he by his austerity, his learning
and his contentment is endowed with a
grip on the time [of this age
of Kali, see also ** and kâla]! (54) This four-armed form is not as dear to Me as
a brahmin is; a man of [brahminical] learning comprises all the Vedas
indeed the way I comprise all the gods [see also 10.84:
12]. (55) Those who corrupted
in their intelligence fail to understand it this way, behave in neglect
enviously towards the man of [brahminical] learning, their guru, Me
factually, their very self, while they do regard the visible form of an
idol worthy of worship. (56) The moving and nonmoving of this universe as
well as the elementary categories basic to it are by man of learning of
respect for Me kept in mind as being My forms [see also B.G.
5: 18]. (57) Therefore o brahmin
just worship, with the same faith you have in Me, these brahmin seers,
and thus will you directly be of worship for Me, not by any other way
as [e.g. offering] vast riches [and such].'
(58) S'rî S'ûka said: 'He as also the
king of Mithilâ who were thus instructed by the Lord, attained by
the single-minded devotion for Krishna and His company of most exalted
twice-born ones, the transcendental destination. (59) The Supreme Lord of
Devotion for His Own Devotees, thus staying and teaching the two
devotees the path of the truthful [***],
o King, then returned to Dvârakâ.'
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