TEXT 1
TEXT
sri-suka uvaca
harito rohita-sutas
campas tasmad vinirmita
campapuri sudevo ‘to
vijayo yasya catmajah
Sukadeva Gosvami continued: The son of Rohita was Harita, and Harita’s
son was Campa, who constructed the town of Campapuri. The son of Campa
was Sudeva, and his son was Vijaya.
TEXT 2
TEXT
bharukas tat-sutas tasmad
vrkas tasyapi bahukah
so ‘ribhir hrta-bhu raja
sabharyo vanam avisat
The son of Vijaya was Bharuka, Bharuka’s son was Vrka, and Vrka’s son
was Bahuka. The enemies of King Bahuka took away all his possessions, and
therefore the King entered the order of vanaprastha and went to the
forest with his wife.
TEXT 3
TEXT
vrddham tam pancatam praptam
mahisy anumarisyati
aurvena janatatmanam
prajavantam nivarita
Bahuka died when he was old, and one of his wives wanted to die with
him, following the sati rite. At that time, however, Aurva Muni, knowing
her to be pregnant, forbade her to die.
TEXT 4
TEXT
ajnayasyai sapatnibhir
garo datto ‘ndhasa saha
saha tenaiva sanjatah
sagarakhyo maha-yasah
sagaras cakravarty asit
sagaro yat-sutaih krtah
Knowing that she was pregnant, the co-wives of the wife of Bahuka
conspired to give her poison with her food, but it did not act. Instead,
the son was born along with the poison. Therefore he became famous as
Sagara [“one who is born with poison”]. Sagara later became the emperor.
The place known as Gangasagara was excavated by his sons.
TEXTS 5-6
TEXT
yas talajanghan yavanan
chakan haihaya-barbaran
navadhid guru-vakyena
cakre vikrta-vesinah
mundan chmasru-dharan kamscin
mukta-kesardha-munditan
anantar-vasasah kamscid
abahir-vasaso ‘paran
Sagara Maharaja, following the order of his spiritual master, Aurva,
did not kill the uncivilized men like the Talajanghas, Yavanas, Sakas,
Haihayas and Barbaras. Instead, some of them he made dress awkwardly,
some of them he shaved clean but allowed to wear mustaches, some of them
he left wearing loose hair, some he half shaved, some he left without
underwear, and some without external garments. Thus these different clans
were made to dress differently, but King Sagara did not kill them.
TEXT 7
TEXT
so ‘svamedhair ayajata
sarva-veda-suratmakam
aurvopadista-yogena
harim atmanam isvaram
tasyotsrstam pasum yajne
jaharasvam purandarah
Following the instructions of the great sage Aurva, Sagara Maharaja
performed asvamedha sacrifices and thus satisfied the Supreme Lord, who
is the supreme controller, the Supersoul of all learned scholars, and the
knower of all Vedic knowledge, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But
Indra, the King of heaven, stole the horse meant to be offered at the
sacrifice.
TEXT 8
TEXT
sumatyas tanaya drptah
pitur adesa-karinah
hayam anvesamanas te
samantan nyakhanan mahim
[King Sagara had two wives, Sumati and Kesini.] The sons of Sumati,
who were very proud of their prowess and influence, following the order
of their father, searched for the lost horse. While doing so, they dug
into the earth very extensively.
TEXTS 9-10
TEXT
prag-udicyam disi hayam
dadrsuh kapilantike
esa vaji-haras caura
aste milita-locanah
hanyatam hanyatam papa
iti sasti-sahasrinah
udayudha abhiyayur
unmimesa tada munih
Thereafter, in the northeastern direction, they saw the horse near the
asrama of Kapila Muni. “Here is the man who has stolen the horse,” they
said. “He is staying there with closed eyes. Certainly he is very sinful.
Kill him! Kill him!” Shouting like this, the sons of Sagara, sixty
thousand all together, raised their weapons. When they approached the
sage, the sage opened His eyes.
TEXT 11
TEXT
sva-sariragnina tavan
mahendra-hrta-cetasah
mahad-vyatikrama-hata
bhasmasad abhavan ksanat
By the influence of Indra, the King of heaven, the sons of Sagara had
lost their intelligence and disrespected a great personality.
Consequently, fire emanated from their own bodies, and they were
immediately burned to ashes.
TEXT 12
TEXT
na sadhu-vado muni-kopa-bharjita
nrpendra-putra iti sattva-dhamani
katham tamo rosamayam vibhavyate
jagat-pavitratmani khe rajo bhuvah
It is sometimes argued that the sons of King Sagara were burned to
ashes by the fire emanating from the eyes of Kapila Muni. This statement,
however, is not approved by great learned persons, for Kapila Muni’s body
is completely in the mode of goodness and therefore cannot manifest the
mode of ignorance in the form of anger, just as the pure sky cannot be
polluted by the dust of the earth.
TEXT 13
TEXT
yasyerita sankhyamayi drdheha naur
yaya mumuksus tarate duratyayam
bhavarnavam mrtyu-patham vipascitah
paratma-bhutasya katham prthan-matih
Kapila Muni enunciated in this material world the Sankhya philosophy,
which is a strong boat with which to cross over the ocean of nescience.
Indeed, a person eager to cross the ocean of the material world may take
shelter of this philosophy. In such a greatly learned person, situated on
the elevated platform of transcendence, how can there be any distinction
between enemy and friend?
TEXT 14
TEXT
yo ‘samanjasa ity uktah
sa kesinya nrpatmajah
tasya putro ‘msuman nama
pitamaha-hite ratah
Among the sons of Sagara Maharaja was one named Asamanjasa, who was
born from the King’s second wife, Kesini. The son of Asamanjasa was known
as Amsuman, and he was always engaged in working for the good of Sagara
Maharaja, his grandfather.
TEXTS 15-16
TEXT
asamanjasa atmanam
darsayann asamanjasam
jati-smarah pura sangad
yogi yogad vicalitah
acaran garhitam loke
jnatinam karma vipriyam
sarayvam kridato balan
prasyad udvejayan janam
Formerly, in his previous birth, Asamanjasa had been a great mystic
yogi, but by bad association he had fallen from his exalted position.
Now, in this life, he was born in a royal family and was a jati-smara;
that is, he had the special advantage of being able to remember his past
birth. Nonetheless, he wanted to display himself as a miscreant, and
therefore he would do things that were abominable in the eyes of the
public and unfavorable to his relatives. He would disturb the boys
sporting in the River Sarayu by throwing them into the depths of the
water.
TEXT 17
TEXT
evam vrttah parityaktah
pitra sneham apohya vai
yogaisvaryena balams tan
darsayitva tato yayau
Because Asamanjasa engaged in such abominable activities, his father
gave up affection for him and had him exiled. Then Asamanjasa exhibited
his mystic power by reviving the boys and showing them to the King and
their parents. After this, Asamanjasa left Ayodhya.
TEXT 18
TEXT
ayodhya-vasinah sarve
balakan punar agatan
drstva visismire rajan
raja capy anvatapyata
O King Pariksit, when all the inhabitants of Ayodhya saw that their
boys had come back to life, they were astounded, and King Sagara greatly
lamented the absence of his son.
TEXT 19
TEXT
amsumams codito rajna
turaganvesane yayau
pitrvya-khatanupatham
bhasmanti dadrse hayam
Thereafter, Amsuman, the grandson of Maharaja Sagara, was ordered by
the King to search for the horse. Following the same path traversed by
his uncles, Amsuman gradually reached the stack of ashes and found the
horse nearby.
TEXT 20
TEXT
tatrasinam munim viksya
kapilakhyam adhoksajam
astaut samahita-manah
pranjalih pranato mahan
The great Amsuman saw the sage named Kapila, the saint who is an
incarnation of Visnu, sitting there by the horse. Amsuman offered Him
respectful obeisances, folded his hands and offered Him prayers with
great attention.
TEXT 21
TEXT
amsuman uvaca
na pasyati tvam param atmano ‘jano
na budhyate ‘dyapi samadhi-yuktibhih
kuto ‘pare tasya manah-sarira-dhivisarga-
srsta vayam aprakasah
Amsuman said: My Lord, even Lord Brahma is to this very day unable to
understand Your position, which is far beyond himself, either by
meditation or by mental speculation. So what to speak of others like us,
who have been created by Brahma in various forms as demigods, animals,
human beings, birds and beasts? We are completely in ignorance.
Therefore, how can we know You, who are the Transcendence?
TEXT 22
TEXT
ye deha-bhajas tri-guna-pradhana
gunan vipasyanty uta va tamas ca
yan-mayaya mohita-cetasas tvam
viduh sva-samstham na bahih-prakasah
My Lord, You are fully situated in everyone’s heart, but the living
entities, covered by the material body, cannot see You, for they are
influenced by the external energy, conducted by the three modes of
material nature. Their intelligence being covered by sattva-guna, rajoguna
and tamo-guna, they can see only the actions and reactions of these
three modes of material nature. Because of the actions and reactions of
the mode of ignorance, whether the living entities are awake or sleeping,
they can see only the workings of material nature; they cannot see Your
Lordship.
TEXT 23
TEXT
tam tvam aham jnana-ghanam svabhavapradhvasta-
maya-guna-bheda-mohaih
sanandanadyair munibhir vibhavyam
katham vimudhah paribhavayami
O my Lord, sages freed from the influence of the three modes of
material nature–sages such as the four Kumaras [Sanat, Sanaka, Sanandana
and Sanatana]–are able to think of You, who are concentrated knowledge.
But how can an ignorant person like me think of You?
TEXT 24
TEXT
prasanta maya-guna-karma-lingam
anama-rupam sad-asad-vimuktam
jnanopadesaya grhita-deham
namamahe tvam purusam puranam
O completely peaceful Lord, although material nature, fruitive
activities and their consequent material names and forms are Your
creation, You are unaffected by them. Therefore, Your transcendental name
is different from material names, and Your form is different from
material forms. You assume a form resembling a material body just to give
us instructions like those of Bhagavad-gita, but actually You are the
supreme original person. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto
You.
TEXT 25
TEXT
tvan-maya-racite loke
vastu-buddhya grhadisu
bhramanti kama-lobhersyamoha-
vibhranta-cetasah
O my Lord, those whose hearts are bewildered by the influence of lust,
greed, envy and illusion are interested only in false hearth and home in
this world created by Your maya. Attached to home, wife and children,
they wander in this material world perpetually.
TEXT 26
TEXT
adya nah sarva-bhutatman
kama-karmendriyasayah
moha-paso drdhas chinno
bhagavams tava darsanat
O Supersoul of all living entities, O Personality of Godhead, simply
by seeing You I have now been freed from all lusty desires, which are the
root cause of insurmountable illusion and bondage in the material world.
TEXT 27
TEXT
sri-suka uvaca
ittham gitanubhavas tam
bhagavan kapilo munih
amsumantam uvacedam
anugrahya dhiya nrpa
O King Pariksit, when Amsuman had glorified the Lord in this way, the
great sage Kapila, the powerful incarnation of Visnu, being very merciful
to him, explained to him the path of knowledge.
TEXT 28
TEXT
sri-bhagavan uvaca
asvo ‘yam niyatam vatsa
pitamaha-pasus tava
ime ca pitaro dagdha
gangambho ‘rhanti netarat
The Personality of Godhead said: My dear Amsuman, here is the animal
sought by your grandfather for sacrifice. Please take it. As for your
forefathers, who have been burnt to ashes, they can be delivered only by
Ganges water, and not by any other means.
TEXT 29
TEXT
tam parikramya sirasa
prasadya hayam anayat
sagaras tena pasuna
yajna-sesam samapayat
Thereafter, Amsuman circumambulated Kapila Muni and offered Him
respectful obeisances, bowing his head. After fully satisfying Him in
this way, Amsuman brought back the horse meant for sacrifice, and with
this horse Maharaja Sagara performed the remaining ritualistic
ceremonies.
TEXT 30
TEXT
rajyam amsumate nyasya
nihsprho mukta-bandhanah
aurvopadista-margena
lebhe gatim anuttamam
After delivering charge of his kingdom to Amsuman and thus being freed
from all material anxiety and bondage, Sagara Maharaja, following the
means instructed by Aurva Muni, achieved the supreme destination.
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