विष्णुपुराणम् — द्वितीयांशे त्रयोदशोऽध्यायः | viṣṇupurāṇam

मैत्रेय उवाच ।

भगवन्सम्यगाख्यातं यत्पृष्टोसि मया किल ।
भूसमुद्रादिसरितां संस्थानं ग्रहसं स्थितिः ॥

Summary AI O Venerable One, you have thoroughly explained everything I asked regarding the structure of the earth, oceans, and rivers, as well as the positions of the planets.

२.१३.२

विष्ण्वाधारं यथा चैतत्त्रैलोक्यं समवस्थितम् ।
परमार्थस्तु ते प्रोक्तो यथाज्ञानं प्रधानतः ॥

Summary AI You have explained how this triple world is situated with Viṣṇu as its foundation, and you have primarily described the ultimate reality according to knowledge.

२.१३.३

यत्त्वेतद्भगवानाह भरतस्य महीपतेः ।
श्रोतुमिच्छमि चरितं तन्ममाख्यातुमर्हसि ॥

Summary AI I wish to hear the life story of King Bharata, which you briefly mentioned. Please be so kind as to narrate it to me.

२.१३.४

भरतः स महीपालः सालग्रामे ऽवसत्किल ।
योगयुक्तः समाधाय वासुदेवे सदा मनः ॥

Summary AI That protector of the earth, Bharata, lived in Sālagrāma, remaining united in yoga while always fixing his mind upon Vāsudeva.

२.१३.५

पुण्येदेशप्रभावेन ध्यायतश्च सदा हरिम् ।
कथं तु नाभवन्मुक्तिर्यदभूत्स द्विजः पुनः ॥

Summary AI Despite meditating on Hari constantly and the power of that sacred place, why did he not attain liberation, and why was he reborn as a brāhmaṇa?

२.१३.६

विप्रत्वे च कृतं तेन यद्भूयः सुमहात्मना ।
भरतेन मुनिश्रेष्ठ तत्सर्वं वक्तुमर्हसि ॥

Summary AI O best of sages, please tell me everything that was done by the great-souled Bharata once he was reborn in the status of a brāhmaṇa.

श्रीपराशर उवाच ।

२.१३.७

सालग्रामे महाभागो भगवन्न्यस्तमानसः ।
स उवास चिरं कालं मैत्रेय पृतिवीपतिः ॥

Summary AI O Maitreya, that illustrious king, having surrendered his mind to the Lord, resided in Sālagrāma for a long time.

२.१३.८

अहिंसादिष्वशेषेषु गुणेषु गुणिनां वरः ।
अवाप परमां काष्ठां मनसश्चापि संयमे ॥

Summary AI Best among the virtuous, he attained the highest perfection in all qualities such as non-violence (ahiṃsā) and in the control of the mind.

२.१३.९

यज्ञेशाच्युत गोविन्द माधवानन्त केशव ।
कृष्ण विष्णो हृषीकेश वासुदेव नमोस्तु ते ॥

Summary AI O Lord of sacrifice, O Acyuta, Govinda, Mādhava, Ananta, Keśava, Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, Hṛṣīkeśa, and Vāsudeva, salutations be unto You!

२.१३.१०

इति राजाह भरतो हरेर्नामानि केवलम् ।
नान्यज्जगाद मैत्रेय किञ्चित्स्वप्रान्तरेपि च ।
एतत्पदन्तदर्थं च विना नान्यदचिन्तयत् ॥

Summary AI O Maitreya, King Bharata uttered only these names of Hari; even in his dreams, he spoke of nothing else and thought of nothing but these words and their meaning.

२.१३.११

समित्पुष्पकुशादानं चक्रे देवक्रियाकृते ।
नान्यानि चक्रे कर्माणि निःसङ्गो योगतापसः ॥

Summary AI Detached and practicing yoga through austerity, he only collected sacrificial wood, flowers, and kuśa grass for divine worship, performing no other actions.

२.१३.१२

जगाम सोभिषेकार्थमेकदा तु महानदीम् ।
सस्नौ तत्र तदा चक्रे स्नानस्यानन्तरक्रियाः ॥

Summary AI Once, he went to a great river to bathe; he took his bath and then performed the subsequent rituals following the ablution.

२.१३.१३

अथाजगाम तत्तीरं जलं पातुं पिपासिता ।
आसन्नप्रसवा ब्रह्मन्नेकैव हरिणी वनात् ॥

Summary AI O Sage, then a thirsty doe, who was nearing the time of delivery, came alone from the forest to that riverbank to drink water.

२.१३.१४

ततः समभवत्तत्र पीतप्राये जले तथा ।
सिंहस्य नादः सुमहान्सर्वप्राणिभयङ्करः ॥

Summary AI Then, while she was almost finished drinking the water, there arose a terrifying and great roar of a lion, which strikes fear into all living beings.

२.१३.१५

ततः सा सहसा त्रासादाप्लुता निम्नगातटम् ।
अत्युच्चारोहणेनास्या नद्यां गर्भः पपात ह ॥

Summary AI Terrified, she suddenly leaped toward the riverbank; because of her high jump, her fetus fell into the river.

२.१३.१६

तमूह्यमानं वेगेन वीचिमालापरिप्लुतम् ।
जग्राह स नृपो गर्भात्पतितं मृगपोतकम् ॥

Summary AI That king caught the young fawn, which had fallen from the womb and was being carried away by the current, tossed by the garlands of waves.

२.१३.१७

गर्भप्रच्युतिदोषेण प्रोत्तुङ्गाक्रमणेन च ।
मैत्रेय सापि हरिणी पपात च ममार च ॥

Summary AI O Maitreya, due to the trauma of the miscarriage and the strenuous leap, that doe also fell and died.

२.१३.१८

हरिणीं तां विलोक्याथ विपन्नां तृपतापसः ।
मृगपोतं समादाय निजमाश्रममागतः ॥

Summary AI Seeing the doe dead, the royal ascetic took the young fawn and returned to his own hermitage.

२.१३.१९

चकारानुदिनं चासौ मृगपोतस्य वै नृपः ।
पोषणं पुष्यमाणश्च स तेन ववृधे मुने ॥

Summary AI O Sage, the king nurtured the young fawn daily, and being thus nourished by him, the fawn grew.

२.१३.२०

चचाराश्रमपर्यन्ते तृणानि गहनेषु सः ।
द्वरं गत्वा च शार्दुलत्रासादभ्याययौ पुनः ॥

Summary AI It grazed on grass in the thickets around the hermitage; whenever it wandered far, it would return out of fear of tigers.

२.१३.२१

प्रातर्गत्वातिदूरं च सायमायात्यथाश्रमम् ।
पुनश्च भरतस्यभूदाश्रमस्योटजाजिरे ॥

Summary AI Having traveled very far in the morning and returning to the hermitage in the evening, the deer would again be present in the courtyard of Bharata’s thatched hut.

२.१३.२२

तस्य तस्मिन्मृगे दूरसमीपपरिवर्तिनि ।
आसीच्चेतः समासक्तं न ययावन्यतो द्विज ॥

Summary AI O twice-born Maitreya, Bharata’s mind was so deeply attached to that deer—whether it was roaming far or staying near—that it never turned toward anything else.

२.१३.२३

विमुक्तराज्यतनयः प्रोज्झिताशेषबान्धवः ।
ममत्वं स चकारोच्चैस्तस्मिन्हरिणबालके ॥

Summary AI The king, who had renounced his kingdom and son and abandoned all his relatives, developed an intense sense of possessiveness toward that young fawn.

२.१३.२४

किं वृकैर्भक्षितो व्यघ्रैः किं सिंहेन निपातितः ।
चिरायमाणे निष्क्रान्ते तस्यासीदिति मानसम् ॥

Summary AI Whenever the deer went out and was delayed, his mind would be filled with anxiety, wondering if it had been eaten by wolves or tigers, or slain by a lion.

२.१३.२५

एषा वसुमती तस्य ।
खुराग्रक्षतकर्बुरा ॥

Summary AI This earth is variegated, marked everywhere by the impressions made by the tips of that deer's hooves.

२.१३.२६

प्रीतये मम जातोसौ क्व ममैणकबालकः ।
विषामाग्रोण मद्बाहुं कण्डूयनपरो हि सः ।
क्षेमेणाभ्यागतोरण्यादपि मां सुखयिष्यति ॥

Summary AI Bharata thought, "He was born for my pleasure; where is my little fawn? He used to scratch my arm with the tips of his horns. Returning safely from the forest, he will surely delight me."

२.१३.२७

एते लूनशिखास्तस्य दशनैरचिरोद्गतैः ।
कुशाः काशा विराजन्ते बटवः सामागा इव ॥

Summary AI These kuśa and kāśa grasses, with their tips nipped by the deer's newly sprouted teeth, appear like young students who sing the Sāmaveda.

२.१३.२८

इत्थं चिरगते तस्मिन्स चक्रे मानसं मुनिः ।
प्रीतिप्रसन्नवदनः पार्श्वस्थे चाभवन्मृगे ॥

Summary AI Thus the sage would ponder when the deer was away for a long time, and his face would beam with affection whenever the animal was by his side.

२.१३.२९

समाधिभङ्गस्तस्यासीत्तन्मयत्वादृतात्मनः ।
सन्त्यक्तराज्यभोगर्धिस्वजनस्यापि भूपतेः ॥

Summary AI Though the king had abandoned his kingdom, enjoyments, prosperity, and kin, his meditation was interrupted because his heart was entirely absorbed in the deer.

२.१३.३०

चपलं चपले तस्मिन्दूरगं दूरगामिनि ।
मृगपोते ऽभवच्चित्तं स्तैर्यवत्तस्य भूपतेः ॥

Summary AI The mind of that king, though naturally stable, became restless when the fawn was restless and wandered far whenever the fawn strayed away.

२.१३.३१

कालेन गच्छता सो ऽथ कालं चक्रे महीपतिः ।
पितेव सास्त्रं पुत्रेण मृगपोतेन वीक्षितः ॥

Summary AI In the course of time, the king met his death, watched by the young deer with tearful eyes as if by a grieving son.

२.१३.३२

मृगमेव तदाद्राक्षीत्त्यजन्प्राणानसावपि ।
तन्मयत्वेन मैत्रेय नान्यत्किञ्चिदचिन्तयत् ॥

Summary AI O Maitreya, even while giving up his life, the king gazed only at the deer and, being completely absorbed in it, thought of nothing else.

२.१३.३३

ततश्च तत्कालकृतां भावनां प्राप्य तादृशीम् ।
जम्बूमार्गे महारण्ये जातो जातिस्मरोमृगः ॥

Summary AI Consequently, due to the nature of his thoughts at the moment of death, he was reborn as a deer in the great forest of Jambūmārga, yet he retained the memory of his past life.

२.१३.३४

जातिस्मरत्वदुद्विग्नः संसारस्य द्विजोत्तम ।
विहाय मातरं भूयः सालग्राममुपाययो ॥

Summary AI O best of the twice-born, distressed by the cycle of worldly existence because he remembered his previous birth, he left his mother and returned to Śālagrāma.

२.१३.३५

शुष्कैस्तृणैस्तथा पर्णैः स कुर्वन्नात्मपोषणम् ।
मृगत्वहेतुभूतस्य कर्मणो निष्कृतिं ययौ ॥

Summary AI Sustaining himself only on dry grass and leaves, he eventually attained expiation from the karma that had caused his birth as a deer.

२.१३.३६

तत्र चोत्सृष्टदेहो ऽसौ जज्ञे जातिस्मरो द्विजः ।
सदाचारवतांशुद्धे योगिनां प्रवरे कुले ॥

Summary AI Having discarded that body, he was reborn as a twice-born man with the memory of his past lives in a pure and eminent family of virtuous yogis.

२.१३.३७

सर्वविज्ञानसंपन्नः सर्वशास्त्रर्थतत्त्ववित् ।
अपश्यत्य च मैत्रेय आत्मानं प्रकृतेः परम् ॥

Summary AI O Maitreya, endowed with all knowledge and knowing the essence of all scriptures, he perceived the ātman as distinct from and beyond prakṛti.

२.१३.३८

आत्मनो ऽधिगतज्ञानो देवादीनि महामुने ।
सर्वभूतान्यभेदेन स ददर्श तदात्मनः ॥

Summary AI O great sage, having attained knowledge of the Self, he viewed all beings—from the gods down to all other creatures—as non-different from his own Self.

२.१३.३९

न पपाठ गुरुप्रोक्तं कृतोपनयनः श्रुतिम् ।
न ददर्श च कर्माणि शास्त्राणि जगृहे न च ॥

Summary AI Even after his sacred thread ceremony, he did not recite the Vedas taught by his teacher, did not perform rituals, and did not take up the study of scriptures.

२.१३.४०

उक्तोपि बहुशः किञ्चिज्जडवाक्यमभाषत ।
तदप्यसंस्कारगुणं ग्राम्यवाक्योक्तिसंश्रितम् ॥

Summary AI Although spoken to many times, he uttered only a few incoherent words, which were devoid of refinement and resembled the speech of the uncultured.

२.१३.४१

अपध्वस्तवपुः सो ऽपि मलिनाम्बरग्द्विजः ।
क्लिन्नदन्तान्तरः सर्वैः परिभूतः स नागरैः ॥

Summary AI Even that brāhmaṇa, with a neglected body, wearing soiled clothes, and having grime between his teeth, was humiliated by all the city dwellers.

२.१३.४२

संमाननापरां हानिं योगर्धः कुरुते यतः ।
जनेनावमतो योगी योगसिद्धं च विन्दति ॥

Summary AI Since respect causes great harm to the prosperity of yoga, a yogī who is disregarded by people attains the perfection of yoga.

२.१३.४३

तस्माच्चरेत वै योगी सतां धर्ममदूषयन् ।
जना यथा वमन्येरन्गच्छेयुर्नैव सङ्गतिम् ॥

Summary AI Therefore, a yogī should conduct himself without violating the path of the righteous, such that people might despise him and never seek his company.

२.१३.४४

हिरण्यगर्भवचनं विचिन्त्येत्थं महामतिः ।
आत्मानं दर्शयामास जडोन्मत्ताकृतिं जने ॥

Summary AI Thinking thus upon the words of Hiraṇyagarbha, the highly intelligent one showed himself to the public in the form of a dull-witted and insane person.

२.१३.४५

भुक्ते कुल्माषवाट्यादिशाकं वन्यं फलं कणान् ।
यद्यदाप्नोति सुबहु तदत्ते कालसंयमम् ॥

Summary AI He ate whatever he obtained in abundance, whether it was boiled rice, wild vegetables, forest fruits, or grains, without any restriction on time.

२.१३.४६

पितर्युपरते सो ऽथ भ्रातृभ्रातृव्यबान्धवैः ।
कारितः क्षेत्रकर्मादिकदन्नाहारपोषितः ॥

Summary AI After his father passed away, he was forced by his brothers, nephews, and relatives to work in the fields, and was nourished only with poor-quality food.

२.१३.४७

समाक्षपीनावयवो जडकारी च कर्मणि ।
सर्वलोकोपकरणं बभूवाहारचेतनः ॥

Summary AI Possessing well-proportioned and stout limbs but acting sluggishly in work, he, whose consciousness was focused only on food, became a tool for all people.

२.१३.४८

तं तादृशमसंस्कारं विप्राकृतिविचेष्टितम् ।
क्षत्तासौवीरराजस्य काल्यै पशुमकल्पयत् ॥

Summary AI The steward of the King of Sauvīra selected him—unrefined and behaving like a brāhmaṇa only in appearance—as a sacrificial animal for Goddess Kālī.

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