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Pauṇḍraka, the False Vāsudeva
Содержание книги
- said:] In my dream I saw a certain man who had a darkblue complexion, lotus eyes, yellow garments and mighty arms. He was the kind who touches women’s hearts.
- Citralekhā said: I will remove your distress. If He is to be found
- Very agitated to hear of his daughter’s corruption, Bāṇāsura rushed at once to the maidens’ quarters. There he saw the pride of the Yadus, Aniruddha.
- Lord Kṛṣṇa Fights with Bāṇāsura
- ukadeva Gosvāmī said: O descendant of Bharata, the relatives of Aniruddha, not seeing Him return, continued to lament as the four rainy months passed.
- Lord Balarāma fought with Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa, Sāmba with Bāṇa’s son, and Sātyaki with Bāṇa.
- Lord Kārtikeya was distressed by the flood of Pradyumna’s arrows raining down from all sides, and thus he fled the battlefield on his peacock as blood poured from his limbs.
- Excited to a frenzy by the fighting, Bāṇa simultaneously pulled taut all the strings of his five hundred bows and fixed two arrows on each string.
- As Bāṇa continued hurling weapons at Him, the Supreme Lord began using His razor-sharp cakra to cut off Bāṇāsura’s arms as if they were tree branches.
- One who has attained this human form of life as a gift from God, yet who fails to control his senses and honor Your feet, is surely to be pitied, for he is only cheating himself.
- That mortal who rejects You—his true Self, dearmost friend, and Lord—for the sake of sense objects, whose nature is just the opposite, refuses nectar and instead consumes poison.
- The Supreme Lord said: My dear lord, for your pleasure We must certainly do what you have requested of Us. I fully agree with your conclusion.
- I will not kill this demonic son of Vairocani, for I gave Prahlāda Mahārāja the benediction that I would not kill any of his descendants.
- Whoever rises early in the morning and remembers Lord Kṛṣṇa’s victory in His battle with Lord Śiva will never experience defeat.
- The lotus-eyed Supreme Lord, maintainer of the universe, went to the well and saw the lizard. Then with His left hand He easily lifted it out.
- King Nṛga said: I am a king known as Nṛga, the son of Ikṣvāku. Perhaps, Lord, You have heard of me when lists of charitable men were recited.
- I replied, “First, my lord, let me suffer my sinful reactions,” and Yamarāja said, “Then fall!” At once I fell, and while falling I saw myself becoming a lizard, O master.
- Whether it be his own gift or someone else’s, a person who steals a brāhmaṇa’s property will take birth as a worm in feces for sixty thousand years.
- I do not desire brāhmaṇas’ wealth. Those who lust after it become short-lived and are defeated. They lose their kingdoms and become snakes, who trouble others.
- Having thus instructed the residents of Dvārakā, Lord Mukunda, purifier of all the worlds, entered His palace.
- The cowherds said:] O Rāma, are all our relatives doing well? And Rāma, do all of you, with your wives and children, still remember us?
- Sent by the demigod Varuṇa, the divine Vāruṇī liquor flowed from a tree hollow and made the entire forest even more fragrant with its sweet aroma.
- The wind carried to Balarāma the fragrance of that flood of sweet liquor, and when He smelled it He went [to the tree]. There He and His female companions drank.
- The Lord played in the water to His full satisfaction, and when He came out Goddess Kānti presented Him with blue garments, precious ornaments and a brilliant necklace.
- Thus for Lord Balarāma all the nights passed like a single night as He enjoyed in Vraja, His mind enchanted by the exquisite charm and beauty of Vraja’s young ladies.
- Pauṇḍraka, the False Vāsudeva
- Arriving in Dvārakā, the messenger found lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa in His royal assembly and relayed the King’s message to that almighty Lord.
- ukadeva Gosvāmī said: King Ugrasena and the other members of the assembly laughed loudly when they heard this vain boasting of unintelligent Pauṇḍraka.
- Upon observing Lord Kṛṣṇa’s preparations for battle, the mighty warrior Pauṇḍraka quickly went out of the city with two full military divisions.
- Lord Kṛṣṇa then addressed Pauṇḍraka: My dear Pauṇḍraka, the very weapons you spoke of through your messenger, I now release unto you.
- On legs as tall as palm trees, the monster raced toward Dvārakā in the company of ghostly spirits, shaking the ground and burning the world in all directions.
- Any mortal who recounts this heroic pastime of Lord Uttamaḥ-śloka’s, or who simply hears it attentively, will become freed from all sins.
- Lord Balarāma Slays Dvivida Gorilla
- To avenge the death of his friend [Naraka], the ape Dvivida ravaged the land, setting fires that burned cities, villages, mines and cowherd dwellings.
- The mischievous ape climbed a tree branch and then revealed his presence by shaking the trees and making the sound kilakilā.
- Mighty Dvivida also came forward to do battle. Uprooting a śāla tree with one hand, he rushed toward Balarāma and struck Him on the head with the tree trunk.
- Thus fighting the Lord, who again and again demolished the trees He was attacked with, Dvivida kept on uprooting trees from all sides until the forest was left treeless.
- The furious Lord of the Yādavas then threw aside His club and plow and with His bare hands hammered a blow upon Dvivida’s collarbone. The ape collapsed, vomiting blood.
- The angry Kurus said: This ill-behaved boy has offended us, forcibly kidnapping our unmarried daughter against her will.
- Seeing Duryodhana and his companions rushing toward him, Sāmba, the great chariot-fighter, took up his splendid bow and stood alone like a lion.
- But they forced him down from his chariot, and thereupon four of them struck his four horses, one of them struck down his chariot driver, and another broke his bow.
- Upon arriving at Hastināpura, Lord Balarāma remained in a garden outside the city and sent Uddhava ahead to probe King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s intentions.
- The Kuru nobles said:] Oh, how amazing this is! The force of time is indeed insurmountable: a lowly shoe now wants to climb on the head that bears the royal crown.
- Only because we looked the other way could they enjoy the pair of yak-tail fans and the conchshell, white umbrella, throne, and royal bed.
- How would even Indra dare usurp anything that Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Arjuna or the other Kurus have not given him? It would be like a lamb claiming the lion’s kill.
- Today I shall rid the earth of the Kauravas!” declared the furious Balarāma. Thus He took His plow weapon and rose up as if to set the three worlds ablaze.
- The Lord angrily dug up Hastināpura with the tip of His plow and began to drag it, intending to cast the entire city into the Ganges.
- The Kauravas said:] O Rāma, Rāma, foundation of everything! We know nothing of Your power. Please excuse our offense, for we are ignorant and misguided.
- We bow down to You, O Soul of all beings, O wielder of all potencies, O tireless maker of the universe! Offering You obeisances, we take shelter of You.
- Even today the city of Hastināpura is visibly elevated on its southern side along the Ganges, thus showing the signs of Lord Balarāma’s prowess.
Chapter Sixty-six
Pauṇḍraka, the False Vāsudeva
|| 10.66.1 ||
śrī-śuka uvāca
nanda-vrajaṁ gate rāme karūṣādhipatir nṛpa
vāsudevo ’ham ity ajño dūtaṁ kṛṣṇāya prāhiṇot
TRANSLATION
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, while Lord Balarāma was away visiting Nanda’s village of Vraja, the ruler of Karūṣa, foolishly thinking “I am the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva,” sent a messenger to Lord Kṛṣṇa.
COMMENTARY
In this chapter, Pauṇḍraka, the king of Karūṣa, show his powers in the name of Vāsudeva to cheat the people and sends a messenger to Dvārakā. Kṛṣṇa then annihilates Pauṇḍraka, kills his friend and his friend’s son, and burns down the city of Kāśī with His disc.
Since Balarāma had gone to Vraja, Pauṇḍraka stupidly thought that Kṛṣṇa would be alone and therefore easy to challenge. Thus he dared to send the Lord his crazy message, “I am Vāsudeva.”
|| 10.66.2 ||
tvaṁ vāsudevo bhagavān avatīṛno jagat-patiḥ
iti prastobhito bālair mena ātmānam acyutam
TRANSLATION
Pauṇḍraka was emboldened by the flattery of childish men, who told him, “You are Vāsudeva, the Supreme Lord and master of the universe, who have now descended to the earth.” Thus he imagined himself to be the infallible Personality of Godhead.
COMMENTARY
Pauṇḍraka foolishly accepted the flattery (prastobhitaḥ) of ignorant persons, and thus considered himself the Supreme Lord.
|| 10.66.3 ||
dūtaṁ ca prāhiṇon mandaḥ kṛṣṇāyāvyakta-vartmane
dvārakāyāṁ yathā bālo nṛpo bāla-kṛto ’budhaḥ
TRANSLATION
Thus slow-witted King Pauṇḍraka sent a messenger to the inscrutable Lord Kṛṣṇa at Dvārakā. Pauṇḍraka was acting just like an unintelligent child whom other children are pretending is a king.
COMMENTARY
The reason Śukadeva Gosvāmī repeats here for the second time that Pauṇḍraka sent a message to Śrī Kṛṣṇa is that the great sage was astonished at Pauṇḍraka’s extreme foolishness. Pauṇḍraka was just like a child who is imagined to be a king by other children while playing.
|| 10.66.4 ||
dūtas tu dvārakām etya sabhāyām āsthitaṁ prabhum
kṛṣṇaṁ kamala-patrākṣaṁ rāja-sandeśam abravīt
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