text stringlengths 0 182 |
|---|
in joy and will do so for ever. Verily, the Rishis and the deities, only when they are endued with me, have success. Ye kine, |
those beings meet with destruction into whom I do not enter. Religion, wealth, and pleasure, only when endued with me, |
become sources of happiness. Ye kine who are givers of happiness, know that I am possessed of even such energy! I wish to |
always reside in every one of you. Repairing to your presence, I solicit you. Be all of you endued with Sri. |
"The kine said, 'Thou art fickle and restless. Thou sufferest thyself to be enjoyed by many persons. We do not desire to have |
thee. Blessed be thou, go wheresoever thou pleasest. As regards ourselves, all of us are possessed of good forms. What need |
have we with thee? Go wheresoever thou likest. Thou hast already (by answering our questions) gratified us exceedingly.' |
"Sri said, 'Is it proper with you, ye kine that you do not welcome me? I am difficult of being attained. Why then do you not |
accept me? It seems, ye creatures of excellent vows, that the popular proverb is true, viz., that it is certain that when one come |
to another of one's own accord and without being sought, one meets with disregard. The Gods, the Danavas, the Gandharvas, |
the Pisachas, the Uragas, the Rakshasas and human beings succeed in obtaining me only after undergoing the severest |
austerities. You who have such energy, do ye take me. Ye amiable ones, I am never disregarded by any one in the three worlds |
of mobile and immobile creatures.' |
"The kine said, 'We do not disregard thee, O goddess. We do not show thee a slight! Thou art fickle and of a very restless heart. |
It is for this only that we take leave of thee. What need of much talk? Do thou go wheresoever thou choosest. All of us are |
endued with excellent forms. What need have we with thee, O sinless one?' |
"Sri said, 'Ye givers of honours, cast off by you in this way, I shall certainly be an object of disregard with all the world. Do ye |
show me grace. Ye are all highly blessed. Ye are ever ready to grant protection unto those that seek your protection. I have |
come to you soliciting your protection. I have no fault. Do you rescue me (from this situation). Know that I shall always be |
devoted to you. I am desirous of residing in any parts, however repulsive, of your bodies. Indeed, I wish to reside in even your |
rectum. Ye sinless ones, I do not see that ye have any part in your bodies that may be regarded as repulsive, for ye are sacred, |
and sanctifying, and highly blessed. Do ye, however, grant my prayer. Do ye tell me in which part, of your bodies I shall take |
up my residence.' |
"Bhishma continued, 'Thus addressed by Sri, the kine, always auspicious and inclined to kindness unto all who are devoted to |
them, took counsel with one another, and then addressing Sri, and unto her, O king, these words.' |
"The kine said, 'O thou of great fame, it is certainly desirable that we should honour thee. Do thou live in our urine and dung. |
Both these are sacred, O auspicious goddess! |
"Sri said, 'By good luck, ye have shown me much grace implying your desire to favour me. Let it be even as ye say! Blessed be |
ye all, I have really been honoured by you, ye givers of happiness! |
"Bhishma continued, 'Having, O Bharata, made this compact with the kine, Sri, there and then, in the very sight of those kine, |
rendered herself invisible. I have thus told thee, O son, the glory of the dung of kine, I shall once again discourse to thee on the |
glory of kine. Do thou listen to me." |
SECTION LXXXIII |
"Bhishma said, 'They who make gifts of kine, and who subsist upon the remnants of things offered as libations on the sacred |
fire, are regarded, O Yudhishthira, as always performing sacrifices of every kind. No sacrifice can be performed without the aid |
of curds and ghee. The very character as sacrifice which sacrifices have, depends upon ghee. Hence ghee (or, the cow from |
which it is produced) is regarded as the very root of sacrifice. Of all kinds of gifts, the gift of kine is applauded as the highest. |
Kine are the foremost of all things. Themselves sacred, they are the best of cleansers and sanctifiers. People should cherish |
kine for obtaining prosperity and even peace. The milk, curds, and ghee that kine yield are capable of cleansing one from every |
kind of sin. Kine are said to represent the highest energy both in this world and the world that is above. There is nothing that is |
more sacred or sanctifying than kine, O chief of Bharata's race. In this connection is recited the ancient narrative, O |
Yudhishthira, of the discourse between the Grandsire and the chief of celestials. After the Daityas had been defeated and Sakra |
had become the lord of the three worlds all creatures grew in prosperity and became devoted to the true religion. Then, on one |
occasion, the Rishis, the Gandharvas, the Kinnaras, the Uragas, the Rakshasas, the Deities, the Asuras, the winged creatures |
and the Prajapatis, O thou of Kuru's race, all assembled together and adored the Grandsire. There were Narada and Parvata and |
Viswavasu and Haha-Huhu, who sang in celestial strains for adoring that puissant lord of all creatures. The deity of wind bore |
thither the fragrance of celestial flowers. The Seasons also, in their embodied forms, bore the perfumes of flowers peculiar to |
each, unto that conclave of celestials, that gathering of all creatures of the universe, where celestial maidens danced and sang in |
accompaniment with celestial music. In the midst of that assembly, Indra, saluting the Lord of all the deities and bowing his |
head unto him with reverence, asked him, saying, 'I desire, O Grandsire, to know why the region of kine is higher, O holy one, |
than the region of the deities themselves who are the lords of all the worlds. What austerities, what Brahmacharya, O lord, did |
kine perform in consequence of which they are able to reside happily in a region that is even above that of the deities?' Thus |
addressed by Indra, Brahman said unto the slayer of Vala, 'Thou hast always, O slayer of Vala, disregarded kine. Hence, thou |
art not acquainted with the glorious pre-eminence of kine. Listen now to me, O puissant one, as I explain to thee the high |
energy and glorious pre-eminence of kine, O chief of the celestials! Kine have been said to be the limbs of sacrifice. They |
represent sacrifice itself, O Vasava! Without them, there can be no sacrifice. With their milk and the Havi produced therefrom, |
they uphold all creatures. Their male calves are engaged in assisting at tillage and thereby produce diverse kinds of paddy and |
other seeds. From them flow sacrifices and Havya and Kavya, and milk and curds and ghee. Hence, O chief of the deities, kine |
are sacred. Afflicted by hunger and thirst, they bear diverse burdens. Kine support the Munis. They uphold all creatures by |
diverse acts, O Vasava, kine are guileless in their behaviour. In consequence of such behaviour and of many well-performed |
acts, they are enabled to live always in regions that are even above ours. I have thus explained to thee today, O thou of a |
hundred sacrifices, the reason, O Sakra of kine residing in a place that is high above that of the deities. Kine obtained many |
excellent forms, O Vasava, and are themselves givers of boons (to others). They are called Surabhis. Of sacred deeds and |
endued with many auspicious indications, they are highly sanctifying Listen to me also, O slayer of Vala, as I tell thee in detail |
the reason why kine,--the offspring of Surabhi,--have descended on the earth, O best of the deities. In day of yore, O son, when |
in the Devayuga the high soused Danavas became lords of the three world, Aditi underwent the severest austerities and got |
Vishnu within her womb (as the reward thereof). Verify, O chief of the celestials, she had stood upon one leg for many long |
years, desirous of having a son.[382] Beholding the great goddess Aditi thus undergoing the severest austerities, the daughter |
of Daksha, viz., the illustrious Surabhi, herself devoted to righteousness, similarly underwent very severe austerities upon the |
breast of the delightful mountains of Kailasa that are resorted to by both the deities and the Gandharvas. Established on the |
highest Yoga she also stood upon one leg for eleven thousand years. The deities with the Rishis and the great Nagas all became |
scorched with the severity of her penances. Repairing thither with me, all of them began to adore that auspicious goddess. I |
then addressed that goddess endued with penances and said, 'O goddess, O thou of faultless conduct, for what purpose, dost |
thou undergo such severe austerities. O highly blessed one, I am gratified with thy penances, O beautiful one! Do thou, O |
goddess, solicit what boon thou desirest. I shall grant thee whatever thou mayst ask.' Even these were my words unto her, O |
Purandara. Thus addressed by me, Surabhi answered me, saying, 'I have no need, O Grandsire, of boons. Even this, O sinless |
one, is a great boon to me that thou hast been gratified with me.' Unto the illustrious Surabhi, O chief of the celestials who said |
so unto me, O lord of Sachi, I answered even in these words, O foremost of the deities, viz., 'O goddess, at this exhibition of |
thy freedom from cupidity and desire and at these penances of thine, O thou of beautiful face, I have been exceedingly |
gratified. I, therefore, grant thee the boon of immortality. Thou shalt dwell in a region that is higher than the three worlds, |
through my grace. That region shall be known to all by the name of Goloka. Thy offspring, ever engaged in doing good acts, |
will reside in the world of men. In fact, O highly blessed one, thy daughters will reside there. All kinds of enjoyment, celestial |
and human, that thou mayst think of, will immediately be thine. Whatever happiness exists in Heaven, will also be thine, O |
blessed one.' The regions, O thou of a hundred eyes, that are Surabhi's are endued with means for the gratification of every |
wish. Neither Death, nor Decrepitude, nor fire, can overcome its denizens. No ill luck, O Vasava, exists there. Many delightful |
woods, and delightful ornaments and objects of beauty may be seen there. There many beautiful cars, all excellently equipped, |
which move at the will of the rider, may be seen, O Vasava, O thou of eyes like lotus-petals, it is only by Brahmacharya, by |
penances, by Truth, by self-restraint, by gifts, by diverse kinds of righteous deeds, by sojourns to sacred waters, in fact, by |
severe austerities and righteous acts well-performed, that one can attain to Goloka. Thou hast asked me, O Sakra, and I have |
answered the in full, O slayer of Asuras, thou shouldst never disregard kine.' |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.