river. 1* Accordingly, the intelligent Akrúra bathed, and rinsed his mouth; and then, entering the stream, he stood meditating upon the supreme being.† But he beheld (mentally,) Balabhadra, having a thousand hooded heads, a garland of jasmine-flowers, and large red eyes, attended by Vásuki, § Rambha,|| and other mighty serpents, T praised by the Gandharvas, decorated with wild flowers, wearing dark-coloured garments, crowned with a chaplet ** of lotoses, ornamented with brilliant ear-rings, inebriate, and standing at the bottom of the river, in the water. On his lap he also 1 The noonday prayer, or Sandhya. 2 3 ' By his Dhyana, or force of meditation, in which it is attempted to bring before the mind's eye some definite form of the object of adoration. In this case, Akrúra is compelled to see a form he did not anticipate. The Hari Vamsa, †† very clumsily, sets him to meditate upon the serpent Sesha, which spoils the story; intended, as that is, to exhibit the identity of Balaráma and Krishna with the Supreme. ++ 3 Balarama was, thus, visible in his real character of Śesha, ‡‡the chief of serpents, the couch of Vishnu, and supporter of the world. * • अथाह कृष्णमक्रूरो भवद्भ्यां तावदास्यताम् । The Yamuna is here called Kálindi. To translate Brahma. * उन्निद्रपद्मपचारुणेक्षणम् । § See Vol. II., p. 74. See Vol. II., p. 287, note *. thus turns out to be correct. ¶ Pavanáśin. **Avatamsaka. ++ Chapter XCIII. The conjecture which I there ventured ++ See Vol. II., pp. 74 and 85, and p. 211, note 1; also, Vol. III., pp. 30, 31. ++ beheld, at his ease,* Krishna, of the complexion of a cloud,1 with full and coppery eyes, having an elegant form, and four hands, armed with the discus and other weapons, wearing yellow clothes, decorated with manycoloured flowers, and appearing like a cloud embellished with streams of lightning and the bow of Indra.† His breast was marked with the celestial sign; his arms were radiant with bracelets; a diadem shone on his brow; § and he wore a white lotos for his crest.|| He was attended by Sanandana¶ and other holy sages, who, fixing their eyes upon the tips of their noses, were absorbed in profound meditation.** When Akrúra beheld Balarámatt and Krishna in this situation, he was much amazed, and wondered how they could so quickly have got there from the chariot. He wished to ask them this; but Janárdana deprived him of the faculty of speech, at the moment. Ascending, then, from the water, he repaired to the car; and there he found them both, (quietly) seated, in the same human persons as before. Plunging, again, into the water, there he again beheld them, hymned, as before, 1 Or, rather, he beheld Ghanaśyáma,—an appellation of Krishna, who is so called from being as black (śyáma) as a cloud (ghana). * Aklishta. Sakra, in the original. To render śrivatsa. Vide supra, p. 5. $ श्रीवत्सवचसं चारुकेयूरमुकुटोळ्वलम् । Avatamsaka. ¶ See Vol. II., p. 226; and p. 227, note 1. सनन्दनाद्यैर्मुनिभिः सिद्धयोगैरकल्मषैः । + The Sanskrit has Bala. by the Gandharvas, saints,* sages,† and serpents. Apprehending, therefore, their real character, he thus eulogized the eternal deity, who consists of true knowledge:: "Salutation to thee, who art uniform and manifold, all-pervading, supreme spirit, of inconceivable glory, and who art simple existence!§ Salutation to thee, O inscrutable, who art truth, and the essence of oblations! Salutation to thee, O lord, whose nature is unknown, who art beyond primeval matter, who existest in five forms, T as one with the elements, with the faculties, ** with matter, with the living soul, with supreme spirit!++ Show favour (to me), O soul of the universe, essence of all things, perishable or eternal, whether addressed by the designation of Brahmá, Vishnu, Śiva, or the like. I adore thee, O god,# whose nature is indescribable, whose purposes are inscrutable, whose name, even, is unknown; §§ for the at * Muni. + Siddha. + तुष्टाव सर्वविज्ञानमयमच्युतमीश्वरम् । || Havis. सन्मात्ररूपिणेऽचिन्त्यमहिम्ने परमात्मने । See Vol. I., p. 2, note 1, where this passage is referred to and enlarged on. ** Indriya. ++ Atman and paramátman. The first is the same as jivátman. See Vol. IV.. p. 253, note *. ++Parameswara. $$ अनाख्येयाभिधान | Abhidhāna here takes the place of the more ordinary náman, the term rendered “appellation", just below. See Vol. IV., p. 346, supplement to p. 267, note *. tributes of appellation or kind* are not applicable to to thee, who art THAT,1 the supreme Brahma, eternal, unchangeable, uncreated. But, as the accomplishment of our objects cannot be attained except through some specific form, thou art termed, by us, Krishna, Achyuta, Ananta, or Vishnu. § Thou, unborn (divinity), art all the objects of these impersonations; thou art the gods, and all other beings; thou art the whole world; thou art all. Soul of the universe, thou art exempt from change; and there is nothing except thee in all this existence. Thou art Brahmá, Pasupati, Aryaman,|| Dhátŕi, and Vidhátŕi; ¶ thou art Indra,** air, fire, the regent of the waters, the god of wealth, ‡‡ and judge of the dead; §§ and thou, although but one, presidest over the world, with various energies addressed to various purposes. Thou, identical with the solar ray, createst the universe; all elementary substance is 1 Tad, 'that'; all that is, or that can be conceived. * It should seem, from a collation of passages, that játi, the expression here used, is synonymous with rúpa. Do náman and játi signify 'genus' and 'species'? See Vol. II., p. 328, text and note; and p. 337, supplementary note to p. 59, l. 8. † Aja. * कल्पनामृते । $ ततः कृष्णाच्युतानन्त विष्णु संज्ञाभिरीड्य से । Corrected from "Aryaman". ¶ Dhátŕi and Viðhátŕi are said to be Brahma as protector and creator. See Colebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. I., p. 191. In lieu of Dhátŕi, some MSS. yield Vishnu. ** To represent tridaśapati, 'lord of the gods.' + Toyesa; Varuna, to-wit. #Dhana-pati; namely, Kubera. §§ The original yields Antaka, who is one with Yama. See Vol. II., p. 216, note 1. composed of thy qualities; and thy supreme form is denoted by the imperishable term SAT (existence). To him who is one with true knowledge; who is, and is not, perceptible, I bow. Glory be to him, the lord Vasudeva, to Sankarshana, to Pradyumna, and to Aniruddha!"1 * 1 Akrúra's piety is, here, prophetic: the son and grandson of Krishna (see Vol. IV., p. 112,) are not yet born. But this is the Vaishnava style of addressing Krishna, or Vishnu, as identical with four Vyúhas,-arrangements' or 'dispositions',-Krishna, Balarama, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha. † See the Asiatic Researches, Vol. XVI., p. 35.‡ In this, as in several other places, the Vishnu Puráňa differs from some of the other narratives of Krishna, by the length and character of the prayers addressed to Vishnu. The Hari Vamsa, for instance, here has no prayer or panegyric at all; the Bhagavata inserts one. * Sat and asat, 'real' and 'unreal'. † Ratnagarbha, one of the commentators on the Vishnu-puráňa, refers, to a similar purport, to the Mahábhárata. The passage intended is, apparently, in the Śánti-parvan,—śl. 12888, et seq. Or Professor Wilson's collected Works, Vol. I., p. 45. |