El Devi Bhagavatam

12. The well wishers should manifest in themselves the Sattva qualities, control the Râjasic qualities, and destroy the Tâmasic qualities.

13. These three qualities are always found to remain intermingled with another, and each of them has always an inherent tendency to overcome the others; and therefore they are always, as it were, at war with another. They never have a separate existence from one another.

14. Never is found anywhere only one Sattva quality to the exclusion of others, the Rajas and Tamas; similar is the case with the Rajas or Tamas. They remain intermingled and depend on one another.

15. O Nârada! Now hear, in detail, which two qualities remain in twins, knowing which, one is freed from this ocean of the transmigration of existence.

16. I have realised these; therefore you ought not to have any uncertainties on these points. The reality of these is especially felt, when it is really understood and when its effects begin to manifest themselves.

17. O high-minded! No one is able to realise these at once; it requires be heard, and then meditated upon. It also depends on one's natural capability and merits, due to the past actions.

18-21. Suppose one hears of the sacred places of pilgrimages and is filled with the Râjasic devotion. He goes out to those places and sees what he had heard before. There he performs his ablutions, makes offerings and the Râjasic gifts, stays there for some time; but all this he does under the influence of the Râjasic quality. And when he returns home, he finds himself not free from lust, anger, love and hatred; he remains the same that he was before. Therefore, in this case, O Nârada! man hears but he does not realise the purifying effects of those holy places. O best of Munis! And when he does not find any benefit from the holy place of pilgrimage, it is equivalent to his not at all hearing of the place.

22. O best of Munis! The effect of visiting the sacred places of pilgrimages is then said to accrue to any individual, when he becomes freed from his sins, just as the fruit of cultivating fields is then said to occur, when the cultivator gets the ripened harvest out of his labour and enjoys the produce of his fields.

23. O Nârada! Lust, anger, covetousness, delusion, thirst, hatred, love, vanity, malice, jealousy, non-forgiveness, unrest all these indicate that there is sin; and until these are purged out of one's body and mind,

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man lives in sin. If the visiting of the sacred places of pilgrimages does not enable one to overcome the above passions, then the labours in going to those places are in vain, i.e., those labours merely are the results just as the toil only undergone by the cultivator is his only result, and is not met with any reward when there is no harvest at all.

24-28. Lo! The cultivator takes hard labour to clear his fields and cultivate the hard soil; he then sows the valuable seeds, because this is considered as doing good. Next, in expectation of the harvest, he undergoes a good deal of pains, day and night, to protect his fields and goes down to sleep, in the cold season, in the forest surrounded by tigers and other dangerous animals; but alas! locusts coming eat away and destroy all the crops, to the utter disappointment of the cultivator. All his labours are spent in vain. So, O Nârada! The labour taken by one in going to the holy places yields pains, and pains only, instead of success and happiness.

29-32. When the Sattva quality grows in abundance, as a consequence of reading the Vedânta and the other S'âstras, dispassion comes towards the Râjasic and the Tâmasic qualities and things, and the Sattva quality overpowers the Rajas and Tamas. Similarly when the Râjasic quality grows in abundance, as a natural consequence of greed and avarice, then it overpowers Sattva and Tamas; so, by delusion, when the Tâmasic quality grows in abundance, it overpowers the Sattva and the Râjasic qualities. O Nârada! I will now speak to you, in detail, about the overpowering of these qualities by one another.

33-35. When the Sattva quality grows in preponderance, the mind rests in religious ideas and things; it no more thinks of those external things, the products of the Rajas and Tamas qualities. Rather it wants to enjoy the Sâttvic things; wealth, religious affairs, sacrifices that can be acquired or performed without any trouble. Then that individual yearns after salvation and renounces his pursuits after the Râjasic and Tâmasic objects.

36. Thus, O Nârada! first try to conquer the Rajas and then the Tamas; then the Sattva becomes pure.

37. When the Râjasic quality grows in preponderance, the individual imbibes the Râjasic faith, abandons his own Sanâtan Dharma (settled eternal religion) and practises against his religious instructions.

38. Under the Râjasic propensities, one is eager to amass wealth and enjoy the Râjasic things. The Rajas drives away the Sattva and curbs the Tamas.

39-41. Nârada! So when the Tâmasic quality grows in preponderance,

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the faith in the Vedas and in the religious S'âstras entirely disappears. Imbibing the Tâmasic faith, the individual squanders away his wealth and is always engaged in quarrels, and party feelings, envy, violence and never enjoys peace. The individual with the Tâmasic quality in excess overpowers the Râjasic and Sâttvic qualities and becomes angry, wicked, and a great cheat and does everything as he likes, without any regard to his superiors.

42. Nârada! Thus you see that, of these three qualities, no one can remain entirely alone, free from the other qualities. These remain always in twos or threes.

43-44. The Sattva can never exist without the Rajas; the Rajas can never exist without the Tamas; and these two qualities can never exist without Tamas. Again Tamas cannot exist without Rajas and Sattva. These qualities act and react always in twos or threes.

45-47. They never exist separately; they live in pairs or threes and are the originators of each other; these qualities are of the nature of procreating things; in other words, Sattva originates the Rajas or Tamas; again the Rajas originates sometimes Sattva and Tamas. Again the Tamas sometimes originates Sattva and Rajas. Thus they generate each other as the earthen pots and earth are their mutual causes.

48-49. Deva Datta, Visnu Mitra, and Yajña Datta these three united perform any action, so these three qualities united reside in the buddhi (intellect) of the Jîvas and generate their sense perceptions.

Just as the husband and wife get into a couple, the qualities get into couples.

50. The Sattva with Rajas forms the couple Rajas Sattva; so Sattva Rajas forms another couple, where the Sattva predominates. So Sattva end Rajas forms each with Tamas the other couples.

51. Nârada said! O Dvaipâyana! Hearing thus about these three qualities from my father, I asked him again these questions.

Thus ends the eighth chapter of the Mahâ Purânam S'rîmad Devî Bhâgavatam containing the description of the Gunas, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Third Book: Chapter 9

THE THIRD BOOK

Chapter IX

On the characteristics of the Gunas

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1-2. Nârada said :-- Father! You have described to me the characteristic of the three qualities; though I have drunk the sweet juice from your lotus like mouth, still I am not quite satisfied. Kindly describe to me, in detail, in due order, how I can recognise clearly the three qualities so that I can get the highest peace of mind.

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3. Vyâsa said :-- O King! The Creator of the world, Brahmâ, originated from the Rajo Guna, asked by his high minded son Nârada, began to speak in the following terms.

4. O Nârada! I myself do not possess fully the complete knowledge of the three qualities; but, as far as I know, I am telling that to you.

5. The pure Sattva quality is not found alone to exist anywhere; it manifests itself always, in mixed condition, in combination with the other qualities.

6-9. As a beautiful woman, well decorated with ornaments and endowed with amorous gestures, gives delight, on the one hand, to her husband, father, mother and friends; and, on the other hand, becomes a source of pain and delusion to her rival wives, so the Sattva quality, personified as a beautiful woman, engenders the Sâttvic happiness of the mind to some individual, at one time, and at another time becomes a source of pain to the same individual (or at one and the same time becomes a source of happiness to one and a source of pain to another.) Thus the Rajas or the Tamas quality, personified respectively as a beautiful woman becomes a source of pain or delusion to an individual at one time, and at another time, a source of happiness to the same man. So it is easily seen that one quality cannot remain single; it remains in union with the other qualities.

Note :-- It is very possible that a man, possessing the Sâttvic quality at any time, can be said not to possess only the Sâttvic quality but also the Rajas and the Tamas to a certain degree. At any subsequent time the Rajas might get preponderance, and that man may be in circumstances requiring money or so forth; but, due to his Sattva quality before hand he did not collect money and therefore he feels pain afterwards. So with the Rajas. Or it may be thus :-- Suppose an earning member is Sâttvic. He earns just sufficient to meet his wants. But his family members require more money, for they are Râjasic. Therefore the earning member is happy for his Sâttvic quality; but the other members are unhappy for his Sâttvic quality. A man is, as it were, wedded to the three wives, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.

10. O Nârada! When the three qualities remain each in their own real natures, then the effects produced by them also remain always the same; no changes are perceived owing to the difference of time or person. But when they get combined, then each of them produces effects sometimes counter to their natures.

11-13. A young beautiful woman, shy, modest and of sweet qualities, well versed in her religious learning, and full of good behaviour, skilled in love practices and full of sweet sentiments becomes a source of loving delight

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to her beloved and also a source of pain to her rival wives so each of the three qualities assume no doubt, different aspects according to differences in time and in the nature of the person.

O Nârada! As one woman gives pain and delusion to her rival wives and gives pleasure to her husband and friends, so the Sattva quality, when perverted, gives pain and delusion to the persons.

14-19. As the police sepoys and constables are, on the one hand, delight to the saints, troubled by thieves, and, on the other hand, sources of pain and confusion to the thieves and robbers; again as the heavy shower of rain in a pitch dark night, in the rainy season, when the sky over clouded, and when there are flashes of lightning and thunder, is on the one hand, a source of highest delight to a farmer, who has all seeds and necessary things and implements, and, on the other hand is a source of pain to the unfortunate householder, whose house is not yet completely thatched with grass or who has not been able to collect his beams and grass for necessary roofing, and a source of utter bewildering confusion to the young woman, whose husband is abroad expected back at that time, so the three Gunas produce contrary results when perverted by contact with the remaining Gunas, instead what they would have produced, had they not been perverted so.

20-25. O Child! Again I speak to you of the characteristics of the the Gunas. The Sattva guna is pure, clear, illumining, light (not heavy) white. When the senses, eyes, etc., and the limbs are felt very light (without any heaviness) and the heart and brain clear, when there is dispassion towards the Râjasic and the Tâmasic enjoyments, know then that the Sattva quality has grown in preponderance in a body. When there is a tendency to yawn, when there is rigidity and suppression of the functions of faculties and when one feels drowsiness, consider that the Râjasic quality has gone to excess. Again, when one seeks after quarrels and goes to another village, one is always restless and ready to fight, when one feels heaviness in body, as if wrapped by a very heavy darkness, when one's limbs and senses are heavy and obscure, when one's mind is vacant, and when one does not like to go to sleep, know that the Tamas has increased too much, Nârada!

26. Nârada said :-- O Father! You have described the different characteristics of the three Gunas; but I cannot understand how they act all in conjunction?

27. As those who are enemies to one another do not work united, so these Gunas, of opposite characteristics, are enemies, as it were, to one another; how can, then, they act in unison? Kindly explain this to me.

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28-30. Brahmâ said :-- O Nârada! The three Gunas may be likened to a lamp. As a lamp manifests a certain object, so these three qualities united do manifest or reveal a certain thing. See the wick, oil, and flame are all of different characteristics; though the oil goes against fire, still it unites with the fire. The oil, wick and fire though running against each other, all these united, serve the one common purpose of illumining, revealing a certain object.

31. So, O Nârada! All the three qualities, though of contrary natures, go to prove the same thing.

Nârada said :-- O Son of Satyavatî! The lotus born Brahmâ thus described the three qualities, as born of Prakriti; and they are the causes of this Universe. What I heard of you about the nature of Prakriti, I have now described before you.

32. Vyâsa said :-- O King! What you asked me, I asked before the same to Nârada and he described thus (as I told you above) to me about the characteristics and the effects of the three Gunas in regular order and in detail.

33. O King! Wherever in the S’âstras whatever is said, the essence of all that is this -- that the Highest Energy, the Supreme Force, the Great Goddess who is pervading the Universe, is always with qualities and without qualities, according to the differences in the manifestation. This Supreme Force is to be worshipped with the highest devotion.

34. The Brahmân, the Purusa (the Supporter, the Ultimate Substratum) the Highest Energy considered as the Male Principle though It is Undecaying, Supreme and Full, is still without any desires or emotions. It is not able to accomplish any action (without the help of its inherent force); this Mahâmâyâ, the Supreme Force is doing all the functions, real and unreal, of the universe.

35-37. Brahmâ, Visnu, Rudra, the Sun, Moon, Indra, the twin Asvins, the Vasus, Visvakarmâ, Kuvera, Varuna, Fire, Air, Pûsâ, the Sadânan, and Ganesa all are united with S’akti and can do their respective functions; else they are unable to move themselves. Therefore O king! Know that Supreme Goddess Mahâmâyâ as the cause of this Universe.

38. O Lord of men! You worship this Goddess, perform sacrifices in honour of Her and worship Her with the highest devotion.

39. O king! That Mahâmâyâ is Mahâ Laksmî, She is Mahâ Kâlî, She is Mahâ Sarasvatî; She is the Goddess of all the bhûtas and She is the Cause of all causes.

40. That all peaceful, easily worshipped and the ocean of mercy, when

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worshipped, fulfills all the desires of Her devotees; what to say, the mere utterance of Her name is sufficient for the granting of the desires.

41. In days of yore Brahmâ, Visnu, Mahes'vara and all the Devas and many other self controlled ascetics worshipped Her to attain liberation.

42. O king! What shall I speak now about Her more than this :-- If one takes Her name even with indistinctness, She grants the desired purposes, even if they are quite unattainable.

43. In the midst of forest, on the sight of tigers and other ferocious animals, if one becoming afraid, cries aloud Her seed mantra (twice) “Ai, Ai” without the Vindu (incorrectly) instead of “Aim, Aim” She grants immediately his desires.

44-45. O best of kings! There is an example of Satyavrata on this point. That the mere utterance of the name of Bhagavatî gives unforeseen results, has been witnessed by us and other high minded Munis. Also in the assembly of the Brâmanas I have heard fully many sages quoting in detail many instances on the above point.

46-47. O king! There was a Brahmân, named Satyavrata, quite illiterate, a thorough block-head. Once he heard the letter “Ai, Ai” being uttered by a pig; and in course of a talk he himself uttered incidentally that letter and thereby became the one of the best Pundits.

N. B. – “Aim” is the seed mantra of Sarasvatî, the Goddess of learning.

48. The Goddess Devî, the Ocean of mercy, hearing the letter “Ai” being pronounced by that Brahmin, became very glad and made him the best of the poets.

Here ends the Ninth Chapter of the 3rd Skandha on the characteristics of the Gunas in S’rîmad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Third Book: Chapter 10

THE THIRD BOOK

Chapter X

On the story of Satyavrata

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1. Janamejaya said :-- O Maharsi! Who was Satyavrata, the Brâhmin whose name you have just taken? In what country was he born? Of what nature was he? Please describe all these to me and satisfy my curiosity?

2. How did he hear that sound “Ai”; how did he repeat that word? How came out the success to him, that illiterate Brâhman, at that very instant?

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3. And how is it that that Great Goddess, who is omniscient and omnipresent, was pleased with him, kindly describe this interesting incident in detail.

4. Sûta said :-- Vyâsa, the son of Satyavatî, thus asked by the king, addressed in the following pure, sweet, and highly liberal words.

5. Vyâsa said :-- Hear, O king! You are the best and foremost in the Kuru clan; what I before heard in the assembly of the Munis, I am now relating that ancient story, highly beneficial to you.

6. O best of the Kurus! Once in my peregrinations in the holy places of pilgrimages, I came to the Naimisâranya forest, that highly sacred place frequented by the Munis.

7-8. That time there were staying Sanaka, Sanâtana and the other sons of Brâhma who were liberated while living. I went there and bowed down to the Munis and took my seat. Then the religious conversations ensued there in the assembly, when the great sage Maharsi Jamadagni began to question the Munis in the following terms :--

9. O high-minded excellent ascetics and Munis! There has arisen a great doubt in my mind; I am desirous to have that doubt solved in this assembly of the Maharsis.

10-12. O all-knowing Maharsis that have fulfilled your vows! O Givers of one's honour! Now my question is this :-- Of the following Devas Brâhma, Visnu, Rudra, Indra, Varuna, Fire, Kuvera, Wind, Visvakarmâ, Kârtikeya, Ganesa, the Sun, the two As'vins, Bhaga, Pûsâ, Moon, and the other planets, who is the first and best to be worshipped, that can easily be served; who is very quickly satisfied and grants the desired boons; kindly tell me this as early as possible.

13. Thus questioned by the Muni Jamadagni, Maharsi Lomas'a, one in the assembly, spoke :-- O Jamadagni! Hear in reply to your question.

14-15. The Goddess of Energy is the best of the Devas, most excellent and highest to be worshipped. Those who want welfare, they ought to worship this Supreme Force. She is the Parâ Prakriti, the Highest Nature, the Brâhma, conditioned by Mâyâ (Time, space, and causation). She grants all the desires, does good to all, pervades everywhere, and is the Mother of Brâhma and the other high souled Devas. She is the First Prakriti, and is the Root of this gigantic Tree of Universe.

16. If any one calls the Devî in remembrance or distinctly utters Her Name, She fulfills all the desires of the human beings. If anybody worships Her, She is at once filled with mercy and becomes ready to grant boons.

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17. O Munis! How, once on a time, at Brâhmin, uttering one letter of Her mystical mantra, obtained Her Grace, I am now describing that most auspicious history before you. Be pleased to hear.

18. Once on a time, there lived in the country of Kosala,* a famous Brâhmin, named Deva Datta. He had no issues and therefore started duly according to the prescribed rules a sacrifice called Puttresti for the sake of obtaining children.

*Kosala is a country situated, according to Râmâyana, along the banks of the Sarayû (or Gogrâ). It was divided into Uttara-Kosala and Dakshina Kosala. The former is also called Ganda and it must have therefore signified the country, north of Ayodhyâ comprising Gonda and Bahraich. Aja and Dasaratha, etc., are said to have ruled over the province. At the time of Râma's death, his two sons Kusa and Lava reigned respectively at Kusâvati in Southern Kosala in the defiles of the Vindhyas and at Srâvasti in northern Kosala.

19-20. On the banks of the Tamasâ river, the Brâhmin erected a temporary building (or an open shade) for performing the ceremony, and there built an altar and invited the Brâhmins, versed in the Vedas, and clever in performing sacrificial rites. There he placed the fire and began to perform according to the strict rules, the Puttresti sacrifice.

21-22. In that sacrifice, Suhotra, the best of the Munis acted the part of Brâhma (1); Yâjñyavalkya acted the part of Adhvaryu (2); Brihaspati, that of Hotâ (3); Paila, that of Prastotâ (4); Govila, that of Udgâtâ (6); and the other Munis acted as assistants. These all were duly paid their remunerations.

(1) One of the four priests employed at a Soma sacrifice as a superintendent.

(2) Any officiating priest technically distinguished from Hotri, Udgâtri and Brâhman. His duty was to measure the ground, build the altar, prepare sacrificial vessels, to fetch wood and water, light the fire, bring the animal and immolate it and while doing this to repeat the Yajurveda.

(3) A sacrificing priest who offers the oblations. Or one who recites the prayers of the Rigveda at a sacrifice.

(5) One of the four principal priests at a sacrifice, one who chants the hymns of the Sâmaveda.

23-24. The Hotâ Govila, the excellent reciter of the Sâma hymns, began to sing in accented tones called svarita (the accents are three Udâtta, Anudâtta and Svarita) and the Rathantara Sâma in 7 tunes.

Then he began to draw breath frequently; and consequently there was a break in time in the accent of Govila. Seeing this, Deva Datta was angry and immediately said to Govila.

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25. Well, Govila, you are the foremost of the Munis and still you are doing your work like a quite illiterate man. I fear obstacles may arise in the getting of my son in this my sacrifice of Puttresti.

26. Govila then became much enraged and told Deva Datta “your son will be illiterate, hypocrite, and dumb.”

27. Behold! Every being is subject to breathing and respiring; it is very hard to control them; there is no fault of mine in the accents of my songs being thus broken; it is strange that you, being intelligent, cannot understand this.

28. Being afraid to hear the curse from Govila, Deva Datta became very sorry and said “O Muni! I have done no serious offence; why are you so offended without any cause. See! The Munis are void of anger and they always give delight to others.”

29-30. O best of Brâhmans! My offence is very trifling; why have you inflicted on me so severe a curse? I was already under the mental agony, since I had no issues; and now you have made me suffer move pain.

31. For the Vedic Pundits declare that it is better not to have any son than to have an illiterate stupid son; the more so, when a Brâhmin's son is illiterate, he is blamed by one and all.

32. An illiterate son is like a S’ûdra or a beast; he is unfit for any action. O Brâhmin! What shall I do with an illiterate son?

33. An illiterate Brâhmin is like a S’ûdra; consequently not an object to be engaged in any act of worship or of gifts, he is not deserving to do any action.

34. A Brâhman, bereft of the knowledge of the Vedas, living in a country is treated as a S’ûdra by the king of the place and is liable to pay taxes.

35. Whoever wants to have any fruit in any action will never invite an illiterate Brâhmin to take his seat in the ceremony relating to the Pitris or the Devas.

36. The king will consider an illiterate Brâhmin as if a S’ûdra and will never engage him in any religious ceremony but will order him to do the work of a farmer in cultivating fields.

37. Rather to perform the funeral ceremonies by erecting a Kus'abata than to engage an illiterate Brâhmin for the purpose.

38. One should give food to an illiterate Brâhmin just sufficient to fill his belly and no more. If he does not do that, the giver and especially the receiver are subject to go down to hell.

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39. Fie to a kingdom where honour is shown to the illiterate stupid Brâhmanas.

40. Where no difference is observed when seats, worship and gift are given to various persons, sages should draw their inference how the literate and illiterate persons are treated there.

41. When the illiterate fools become haughty, when they are paid honours and gifts, the literary persons should never dwell there.

42. The wealth of the wicked goes to the enjoyments of the bad persons; for the Nim trees, though abounding richly in fruits, are enjoyed only by crows.

43. Again, on the other hand, if the Brâhmins, versed in the Vedas, study the Vedas even after they have taken their food, still his father and forefathers are happy and play cheerfully in their heavens.

44. Therefore O Govîla! You being the foremost of the Brâhmin who are versed in the Vedas, what have you said just now? See in this world, death is rather to be preferred then to have an illiterate son. How is it, then, that you have cursed me that I would get an illiterate son, when you are the best one, highly qualified with knowledge.

45. O high minded one! You are capable to relieve the distressed; I am bowing down to your feet; shew your mercy and re-consider your curse.

46. Lomas'a said :-- O Munis! Devadatta, saying these words, fell prostrate at his feet and began to eulogise him in very pitiful words, being very much grieved and with tears in his eyes.

47. Seeing him thus distressed, Govila was moved with pity. The persons that are noble have their anger satiated after a short while; the anger of the ignoble lasts for a long time.

48. The water is naturally cool; but it gets hot in contact with fire heat; and no sooner the heat is drawn away, water gets again cooled quickly.

49. The merciful Govila then addressed the distressed Devadatta “your son though at first illiterate, will afterwards be very learned.”

50. The Brâhmin Devadatta was very glad on getting this boon; then completing the sacrifice, rewarded the Brâhmins with their due dakshinâs and dismissed them.

51. In due course of time, his fair chaste wife Rohinî, like the asterism Rohinî became pregnant.

52. Devadatta performed the Garbhâdhân (1) and Pumsavan (2) ceremonies and other purificatory rites duly.

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53. He performed the Sîmantonnayana ceremony according to rules and considered his Puttrvesti sacrifice successful and made various offerings to the Brâhmins.

N. B. -- (1) One of the Samskâras, purificatory ceremonies, performed after menstruation to ensure or facilitate conception (this ceremony legalises in a religious sense the consummation of marriage).

(2) It is a ceremony performed on a woman's perceiving the first signs of a living conception, with a view to the birth of a son.

(3) “Parting of the hair” one of the twelve Samskâras or purificatory rites observed by women in the fourth, sixth, or eighth month of their pregnancy.

54-55. In the auspicious lagna when Rohinî asterism was present and in the auspicious day, his wife Rohinî gave birth to a male child. Devadatta performed the nativities of the new born child and saw its face. Next that knower of the Purânas, Devadatta kept the name of the child as Utathya.

56. When the son was eight years old, Devadatta performed the Upanayana (thread) ceremony duly.

57-58. Next the child was made to accept the vow of Brâhmachâri; and Devadatta made him study the Vedas; but the child could not pronounce a single word and used to sit simply like a stupid boy. Though tried in various ways to read and write, that wicked boy never paid the slightest attention, simply sat idly. Seeing this, his father was very sorry and much grieved.

59. Thus twelve years passed. Yet the boy could not learn how to perform his Sandhyâ Bandanâ duly.

60. The rumour went abroad that Utathya, the son of Devadatta turned out very illiterate. All the Brâhmanas, ascetics, and other persons came to learn this fact.

61. Wherever Utathya used to go in any forest on hermitage, the people used to laugh at him, ridiculed his father and mother and began to chide that illiterate son.

62. Thus blamed by father, mother and all other persons, dispassion occupied the heart of Utathya.

63. Once when rebuked by his father and mother that it was better to have a blind and lame son instead of an illiterate brute, Utathya took recourse to renunciation and went to a dense forest.

64-65. On the banks of the Ganges in a beautiful spot free from obstacles, he built a beautiful hut and began to subsist on the roots and

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fruits of the forest and with collected mind. Having made the excellent vow “I will never speak untruth” and holding the vow of celibacy, he lived in that beautiful hermitage.

Thus ends the 10th chapter in the 3rd Skandha of S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa relating to the story of Satyavrata.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Third Book: Chapter 11

THE THIRD BOOK

Chapter XI

On the merits of the Devî in the story of Satyavrata

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1-5. Lomas’a said :-- O Munis! Utatthya, the son of Devadatta, was quite ignorant of anything of the Vedas, Japam (muttering of mantra), meditation of the deity, worship of the Devas, Âsana (Posture), Prânâyâma (withholding the breath by way of religious austerity), Pratyâhâra (restraint of mind), Bhûtas’uddhi (purification of the elements of the body by respiratory attraction and replacement), mantra (a mystical formula regarding some deity), Kîlaka (chanting of a mantra to serve as a pin of protection), Gâyattrî (the famous mantra of the Brâhmins), Saucha (cleanliness, external and internal), rules how to bathe, Âchamana (sipping of water and reciting mantrams before worship), Prânâgnihotra (offering of oblations to the fire of Prâna or to the fire of life), the offering of a sacrifice, hospitality, Sandhyâ (the morning, mid-day or evening prayer), collecting fuels for oblations, and offering of oblations. Daily he rose in the morning and somehow rinsed his mouth and washed his teeth and bathed in the Ganges river without any mantrams (like a Sûdra).

6. That stupid fellow ate indiscriminately, did not know what to eat and what not to eat. During the mid-day he collected the fruits from the forest and used to eat them.

7. But he always spoke truth while he stayed there; never did he say any untruth. The people of that place, seeing this, named him Satyatapâ.

8-9. That Utatthya did no good or bad to anybody; he slept peacefully and blissfully; but be used to think when he would die; thus his troubles would be ended; he felt that the life of an illiterate Brâhman is a curse; his death would be a better alternative.

10. He used to think thus :-- Fate has made me a fool; I do not find any other cause for it. Oh! I got the exceedingly good birth amongst men; but all this has been rendered in vain by Fate.

11. Oh! As a fair woman, if barren, a cow if giving no milk, and a tree without any fruits are all useless, so Fate has rendered my life, too, quite useless.

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12. Why am I cursing Fate? This is all the fruits of my past Karma. In my previous life I never wrote a book and presented to a good Brâhmin; hence I am illiterate in this birth.

13. In my former birth I did not impart any knowledge to my favourite pupils; hence I am wicked and a cursed Brâhmin in this birth.

14. I never performed any religious asceticism in any holy place, I did not serve the saints, I never worshipped the Brâhmins with any offerings. For all these reasons I am now born of perverted intellect in the present birth.

15. Many a son of the Munis have learnt the meanings of the Vedas and the S’âstras; and I am whiling away my time thus in a quite illiterate condition by some wretched combinations of incidents.

16. I do not know how to perform Tapasyâ; what is the use, then, of my attempting to do so? I am of very bad luck, and thus my good resolve will not be crowned with success.

17. I consider Fate to be the strongest of all; Fie on one’s own prowess! For actions done with effort and hard labour are frustrated entirely by Fate.

18. Time can never be overstepped; See! Brahmâ, Visnu, Rudra, Indra, and others are all under the influence of the Great Time.

19. O Risis! Thus arguing in his mind, that Brâhmin son Utatthya stayed there in that hermitage on the bank of the holy Ganges.

20. And gradually he became thoroughly unattached to all the things and, being peaceful, passed away his time in that forest without any habitations and men, with great difficulty.

21. Thus passed away fourteen years in that forest where the Ganges was flowing. Still he did not learn how to worship the Supreme Deity, how to make Japam, nor did he learn any mantrams. Simply he lived there and whiled away his time.

22. People surrounding that place knew this much only of him that this Muni spoke truth only and hence his name was Satyavrata. This one name made him celebrated that he is Satyavrata; never did he say any untruth.

23. Once on a time, a hunter named Nisâda, exceedingly clever in hunting, came accidentally with bows and arms in his hands, while hunting a deer in that wide forest. He looked like a second God of Death (Yama) and seemed to be very cruel.

24. That savage mountaineer, drawing his bow so as to touch the ear, pierced a boar with his sharp arrows. The boar, being very much terrified, fled with enormous rapidity to the Muni Satyavrata.

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25. On seeing the distressed condition of the boar trembling with fear and his body besmeared with blood, the Muni was moved with mercy.

26. While the boar, pierced with arrows and besmeared with blood, was running away in front of him, mercy took possession of the Muni, therefore the Muni began to tremble and agreeably to the human nature exclaimed “Ai” “Ai” (go to that direction), the seed mantram of the Goddess of learning with “m” left out (Aim, Aim).

27. That illiterate Brâhmin son never heard before that “Ai” was the seed mantram of the Sarasvatî Devî; nor did he come to know of it by any other means. Accidentally it came out of his mouth, and he uttered. And afterwards that Mahâtmâ seeing the boar's distressed condition was merged in deep sorrow.

28. The boar entered trembling into the Muni's hermitage very much distracted and being very much pained with arrows. Being unable to find any other way the boar hid himself in the dense bushes.

29. Instantly there appeared then, before the Muni, the terrible savage hunter, like a second God of Death, with string stretched to his ear, in pursuit of that boar.

30-33. On seeing the Muni Satyavrata sitting there alone and silent on the Kus’a grass seat, the hunter bowed down to him and asked “O Brâhmin! Whither has that boar gone. I know very well everything about you that you never speak untruth; therefore I am enquiring about the boar pierced by my arrows. My family members are all very hungry; and to feed them, I am come out in this hunting. This is the living, ordained by the Fate; I have got no other means of maintaining the livelihood of my family. This I speak truly to you; whether it is bad or good, I will have to maintain my family with it. O Brâhman! You are famous as Satyavrata; my family members are starving; kindly reply quickly where that boar has gone?”

34. Thus asked by the hunter, the Mahâtmâ Satyavrata was merged in an ocean of doubt; he began to argue “If I say I have not seen the boar then my vow to speak the truth will certainly be broken.

35. The boar struck with arrows has gone this way, it is true. How can I tell a lie? Again this man is hungry and is therefore asking, he will instantly kill the boar no sooner he finds him. How then can I speak truth?

36. Where speaking out the truth causes injury and the loss of lives, that truth is no truth at all; moreover, even untruth, when tempered with mercy for the welfare of others, is recognised as truth. Really speaking, whatever

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leads to the welfare of all the beings in this world, that is truth; and every thing else is not truth.

37. O Jamadagni! Thus placed between the horns of a religious dilemma what shall I do now so as to meet both the ends -- to save the life of the boar, to do the welfare, as well as not to speak untruth.”

38. When Satyavrata saw the boar wounded by the arrow of the hunter, he, moved with pity, uttered the seed mantra of the Goddess of Learning; and now that most auspicious Goddess, on account of his uttering Her seed mantram, was very pleased and gave him the knowledge, difficult to be attained otherwise.

39. The door of all his knowledge opened out at once, and he became at once instantly the seer, the poet like the ancient Muni Vâlmikî.

40. Then that religiously disposed, merciful Brâhman, aiming at Truth, addressed that hunter before him with bows in his arms, thus :--

41. That force which sees (as witness) never speaks; and that force which speaks, never sees. O hunter! Why are you asking me repeatedly, impelled by your own selfish desire?

42. The hunter, the killer of the animals, on hearing this was disappointed in the matter of finding out the boar and went back to his home.

43. That Brâhmin turned out a poet like Varuna and he became celebrated as Satyavrata, the speaker of truth, in all the worlds.

44. He began to recite the Satyavrata mantram duly, and, by its influence, became a Pundit, rivalled by none in this world.

45. During every festival the Brâhmans chanted his praise and the Munis used to narrate his story in detail.

46. On hearing his fame spreading all around, his father Devadatta who forsook him before, recalled him to his hermitage and took him again in his family with great honour and affection.

47. Therefore O King! You should always worship and serve that Great Goddess, the Prime Energy, the Cause of all this Universe.

48. O King! With due Vedic rites you perform that sacrifice to that Goddess which will surely yield results at all times and all desires. I already spoke to you about this.

49. That Great Goddess is known as Kâmadâ (the giver of all desires); for She grants all desires when men with devotion remember Her, worship Her, take Her name, meditate Her and eulogise Her.

50-56. O King! The wise sages ought to see the persons diseased, distressed, hungry, those without any wealth, the hypocrite, the cheat, the afflicted,

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the sensual, the covetous, the incapable, always suffering from mental troubles; again those who are wealthy with their children and grand-children, prosperous, healthy, with enjoyments, versed in the Vedas, literary, kings, heroes, those who command over many, those attended with relations and kinsmen and endowed with all good qualities; and then judge for themselves that those people did not worship the Goddess and therefore they were sufferers and these people worshipped the Goddess and hence they were happy in this world.

57. Vyâsa said :-- Thus I heard from the mouth of Lomas'a Muni, in assembly of the sages, the good merits of the Great Goddess.

58. O King! Consider all these and you will find that the Highest Goddess, the Bhâgavatî is to be worshipped always with devotion and unselfish love.

Here ends the Eleventh Chapter on the merits of the Devî in the story of Satyavrata in the Third Skandha of the Mahâ Purânam S'rî mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Third Book: Chapter 12

THE THIRD BOOK

Chapter XII

On the Ambâ Yajña rules

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