Parva 1 Chapter 41: viṣṇu avatāra varṇanam - incarnations of Vishnu

Weighty are the questions that you have put regarding śrīhari, the holder of śārṅga bow... however, I shall now describe the glory of viṣṇu according as my ability... fortunately your mind is bent upon listening to Vishnu's prowess, so now you may hear as I describe the divineness of viṣṇu... sahasra akṣaṁ sahsra asyaṁ sahasra bhujam avyayam | sahsra śirasaṁ devaṁ sahsra karam avyayam ||1-41-3 sahsra jihvaṁ bhāsvantaṁ sahsra mukuṭaṁ prabhum | sahsra daṁ sahsra ādiṁ sahsra bhujam avyayam ||1-41-4 The scholars in the Vedic lore describe him as having umpteen numbers of eyes, faces, feet, heads, mouths, tongues, arms and crowns; as eternal, self-effulgent, a giver of umpteen presents... and as an imperishable – avyayam; as well as an immutable – avyayam – entity... savanaṁ havanaṁ caiva havyaṁ hotāram eva ca | pātrāṇi ca pavitrāṇi vediṁ dīkṣāṁ caruṁ sruvam ||1-41-5 sruk somaṁ śūrpa musalaṁ prokṣaṇaṁ dakṣiṇa ayanam | adhvaryuṁ sāma-gaṁ vipraṁ sadsyaṁ sadanaṁ sadaḥ ||1-41-6 yūpaṁ samit kuśaṁ darvīṁ chamasa ulūkhalāni ca | prāgvaṁśaṁ yajṣa-bhūmiṁ ca hotāraṁ chayanaṁ ca yat ||1-41-7 hrasvāni ati-pramāṇāni carāṇi sthāvarāṇi ca | prāyaḥ-chittāni ca arthaṁ ca sthaṇḍilāni kuśān tathā ||1-41-8 mantraṁ yajṣa-vahaṁ vahniṁ bhāgaṁ bhāga-vahaṁ ca yat | agre-bhujaṁ soma-bhujaṁ ghṛta-archiṣam udāyudham ||1-41-9 āhur veda-vido viprā yaṁ yajṣe śāśvataṁ vibhum | He is: savana= particular time for particular rite; havana= particular deed in rituals; havyaṁ= material oblated; hotā= ritual-owner; pātrāṇi= sacred places of ritual spread with kusha grass; pavitrāṇi= straining vessel; vedi= altar; dīkṣā= ritual vow; caru= plates; sruva= wooden pestle; sruk= ladles; soma= soma creeper’s juice; śūrpa= winnowing flat baskets; musalaṁ = grinding wooden shaft; prokṣaṇaṁ= vessels of anointment; dakṣiṇa= donations; ayanam= havis, oblated material; yūpaṁ= sacrificial post; samit= firewood; kuśaṁ= sacred grass; darvīṁ= leafy bowls; chamasa= wooden beakers; ulūkhalāni= wooden mortars, grinders; prāk-vaṁśaṁ= sacred fore ground; yajṣa-bhūmi= ritual place; hotāraṁ= ritwik-s, officiators; chayanaṁ= level squares piece of ground made of bricks prepared for a sacrifice; hrasvāni= short; ati-pramāṇāni= huge; carāṇi sthāvarāṇi= movement places, sheds; prāyaḥ-chittāni= atonements; arthaṁ = fruits of action, heavens etc; sthaṇḍilāni= offertory grain; kusha= sacred grass; mantraṁ= chanted hymn; yajṣa-vahaṁ vahniṁ= ritual-carrier-fire, fire that carries sacrificial offerings; bhāgaṁ= apportions; bhāga-vahaṁ= gāyatri etc metres; agre-bhujaṁ= primary haulage of offered items by fire on his shoulders to respective gods; soma-bhujaṁ= nectarean haulage of offertories - names of fire; ghṛta-archiṣam= oblation of ghee into fire; udāyudham= udayanīyam= another kind of fire-haulage... why one or two items of ritual, every bit of vedic ritual is hari, so say the scholars in vedas... tasya viṣṇoḥ sura-īśasya śrīvatsāṅkasya dhimataḥ ||1-41-10 prādurbhāva sahasrāṇi atītāni na saṁśayaḥ | bhūyaḥ caiva bhaviṣyanti iti evam āha prajāpatiḥ ||1-41-11 yat pṛcchasi mahārāja puṇyāṁ divyāṁ kathāṁ śubhām | yat arthaṁ bhagavān viṣṇuḥ suresho ripu-sūdanaḥ | deva-lokaṁ samutsṛjya vasudeva-kule abhavat ||1-41-12 tat te ahaṁ saṁpravakṣyāmi śṛṇu sarvam aśeṣataḥ | vāsudevasya māhātmyaṁ caritaṁ ca mahādyuteḥ ||1-41-13 hita arthaṁ sura-martyānāṁ lokānāṁ prabhavāya ca | bahuśaḥ sarva-bhūta-ātmā prādurbhavati kāryataḥ ||1-41-14 That intelligent Lord of gods, Vishnu, having the emblem of śrīvatsa-jewel on his breast, incarnated himself in thousands of forms, and thousands of his incarnations shall take place in future, so said brahma. O great king, I shall describe at length, as accosted by you, the sacred and celestial theme, why the divine lord Vishnu, the king of gods and the slayer of his enemies, took his birth leaving the celestial region, in the family of vasu-deva. For accomplishment of the well-being of the gods and humans, which in turn is the prosperity of total worlds, and for accomplishment of such a deed, that supreme-soul of all beings went through various incarnations... prādurbhāvān ca vakṣyāmi puṇyān divya guṇair yutān | cāndasībhir udārābhiḥ śrutibhiḥ samalaṅkṛtān ||1-41-15 śuchiḥ prayata-vāgbhūtvā nibodha janamejaya | idaṁ purāṇaṁ paramaṁ puṇyaṁ vedaishcha saṁmitam ||1-41-16 hanta te kathayiṣyāmi viṣṇor divyāṁ kathāṁ śṛṇu | yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānirbhavati bhārata | dharmasaṁsthāpanārthāya tadā saṁbhavati prabhuḥ ||1-41-17 I shall describe the sacred and celestial incarnations of the lord fraught with many virtues that have been recorded in metres and great śrutis. Purifying yourself and controlling your speech, listen to them, O janamejaya. This highly sacred purāṇā is equal to the Vedas. Hear, I shall describe this celestial story of Vishnu... O bharata, whenever virtue suffers deterioration the lord takes an incarnation to resuscitate it... tasya hi ekā mahārāja mūrtiḥ bhavati sattama | nityaṁ diviṣṭhā yā rājan tapaḥ charati dushcharam ||1-41-18 dvitīyā ca asya shayane nidrā-yogam upāyayau | prajā saṁhāra sarga arthaṁ kim adhyātma vicintakam ||1-41-19 viṣṇu in one aspect that partakes of sattva guṇa, the quality of goodness, will be constantly practising supreme ascesis abiding in his own abode vaikuṇṭha... in another aspect he will be reposing enswathed in a yogic sleep... during this period of his yogic slumber he thinks objectively as to how the universe can be dissolved, as to how creation can be brought out afresh... and the universe gets dissolved in him when he goes into yogic trance... suptvā yuga sahasraṁ sa prādurbhavati kāryataḥ | pūrṇe yuga sahasre tu devadevo jagatpatiḥ ||1-41-20 On reposing for a thousand eras, he restarts the work of creation afresh... then he manifests himself as: pitāmaho loka-pālāḥ candra ādityau hutāśanaḥ | brahmā ca kapilaḥ caiva parameṣṭhī tathaiva ca ||1-41-21 devāḥ sapta-rṣayaḥ caiva tryaṁbakaḥ ca mahāyaśāḥ | vāyuḥ samudrāḥ śailāḥ ca tasya dehaṁ samāśritāḥ ||1-41-22 sanatkumāraḥ ca mahānubhāvo manuḥ mahātmā bhagavān prajākaraḥ | purāṇa-devo atha purāṇi cakre pradīpta vaiśvānara tulya tejāḥ ||1-41-23 The grandfather brahma, presiding deities of directions and inter-directions, moon and sun, fire, kapila, parameṣṭhi, gods, seven-sages, the highly illustrious three-eyed god shiva, air, oceans and mountains... and he manifests as sanatkumāra, and as manu, the progenitor of mankind... all these are so far existing in his very form, which form will always be effulgent like vedic-ritual fire... thus he created all, himself entering into them all... tat sṛṣtvā tadeva anuprāviśat.... yena ca arṇava-madhyasthau naṣṭe sthāvarajaṅgame | naṣṭe deva asura gaṇe pranaṣṭa uraga rākṣase ||1-41-24 yoddhu-kāmau sudurdharṣau dānavau madhu kaiṭabhau | hatau prabhavatā tena tayor dattva amitaṁ varam ||1-41-25 When the world is dissolved purging all the mobile and sessile, gods, demons, reptiles, ogres, two unassailable demons named madhu and kaiṭabha hid themselves under deep waters planning to wage war against śrīhari... whereupon śrīhari confronted and eliminated them conferring the boon of final liberation on them... purā kamala-nābhasya svapataḥ sāgara aṁbhasi | puṣkare yatra saṁbhūtā devāḥ sa ṛṣi ganāḥ purā ||1-41-26 eṣa pauṣkarako nāma prādurbhāvo mahātmanaḥ | purāṇe kathyate yatra vedaḥ shruti samāhitaḥ ||1-41-27 The gods and sages are termed as puṣkarā-s because they are manifest from brahma, who manifested from the golden lotus with thousand petals, which in turn is a manifest from the naval of kamala-nābha, say śrīhari, while he is reposing on the oceanic waters... this is how the purāṇā-s, that echo the teachings of veda-s and shruti-s, tell us... yajṣa varāha avatāram : incarnation of sacred boar vārāhaḥ tu śruti-mukhaḥ prādurbhāvo mahātmanaḥ | yatra viṣṇuḥ suraśreṣṭho vārāhaṁ rūpam āsthitaḥ | mahīṁ sāgara paryantāṁ sa shaila vana kānanām ||1-41-28 Next, let us take up the incarnation of śrīhari as sacred boar, as has been recorded in vedas... viṣṇu, the foremost of the celestials, assumed the form of a sacred-boar and raised the earth with his tusks when earth with her forests and mountains sank in the deluging waters... whereby the physique of that sacred boar is likened to vedic rituals, yajṣā-s, and viṣṇu in boar’s form is called yajṣa varāha mūrthi, and these are the coordinates: veda-pādo yūpa-daṁṣṭraḥ kratu-dantaḥ chitī-mukhaḥ | agni-jihvo darbha-romā brahma-śīrṣo mahātapāḥ ||1-41-29 aho-rātrā-īkṣaṇo divyo vedāṅga-śruti-bhūṣaṇaḥ | ājya-nāsaḥ sruvā-tuṇḍaḥ sāma-ghoṣa-svano mahān ||1-41-30 dharma-satya-mayaḥ śrīmān krama-vikrama-satkṛtaḥ | prāyaśchitta-nakho dhīraḥ paśu-jānuḥ mahābhujāḥ ||1-41-31 udgātra-nto homa-linṅgaḥ phala-bīja-mahauṣadhiḥ | vāyv-antarātmā mantra-sphigvikṛtaḥ soma śoṇitaḥ ||1-41-32 vedi-skandho havir-gandho havya-kavya ati-vegavān | prāgvaṁśa-kāyo dyutimān nānā dīkṣā abhirācitaḥ ||1-41-33 dakṣiṇā-hṛdayo yogī mahā-satramayo mahān | upākarma oṣṭha-ruchakaḥ pravargya āvarta-bhūṣaṇāḥ ||1-41-34 nānā cando-gati-patho guhya upaniṣad āsanaḥ | cāyā-patnī-sahāyo vai meru-śṛṇga iva ucchritaḥ ||1-41-35 veda-pāda= 4 veda-s are boar’s four feet; yūpa-daṁṣṭra= columns of rituals are its fangs; kratu-danta= rituals its teeth; chitī-mukha= fireplace its face; agni-jihva= fire its tongue; darbha-roma= sacred grass its bodily hair; brahma-śīrṣa= head is brahma; aho-rātrā-īkṣaṇa= day and night are its eyes; divyo vedāṅga-śruti-bhūṣaṇa= divine ancillaries of veda-s and scriptures are its ornaments; ājya-nāsa= oblational ghee is its nose; sruvā-tuṇḍa= oblational vessels are its snout; sāma-ghoṣa-svana= chanting of sama veda is its sound; dharma-satya-maya= boar is an embodiment of virtue and truth, like total vedic ritual; krama-vikrama-satkṛta= knower of the line of actions; prāyaśchitta-nakha= atonements its nails; paśu-jānu= its thighs and knees are sacrificial animals; udgātr anto homa-linṅgaḥ phala-bīja-mahauṣadhiḥ= while udgāta, homa-s etc of the ritual are the fruits, seeds and herbs of yajṣa, they are denominative of boar’s testicles – phala= testicles, bīja- semen, auṣadhi= life-enrichers, progeny; vāyv-antarātmā= air its inner soul; mantra-sphigvikṛta= trunk is hymnal centre – mantra sthānīyam; soma śoṇita= soma juice is its blood; vedi-skandha= fire altar is its nape of the neck; havir-gandha= oblational fragrance is its smell-faculty; havya-kavya ati-vegavān= havyā-s and kavyā-s are its fast pace; prāgvaṁśa-kāya= prāgvaṁśam of ritual is its body; dyutimān nānā dīkṣā abhirācita= various ritual vows are its effulgence; dakṣiṇā-hṛdaya= donations in rituals are its heart; upākarma oṣṭha= ancillary rituals are its lips; ruchakaḥ pravargya āvarta-bhūṣaṇa= pravarga etc procedures are its beautiful adornments; nānā Chando-gati-patha= numerous meters are its get going; guhya upaniṣad Asana= unrevealable upanishad-s are its seat; cāyā-patnī-sahāya = its own shadow is his wife – because yajṣa is not for the wifeless; meru-śṛṇga iva ucchrita= like an immense yajṣa his form is loftiest like the peak of Mt. meru. mahīṁ sāgara paryantāṁ sa shaila vana kānanām | eka arṇava jale bhraṣṭām eka arṇava gatāṁ prabhuḥ ||1-41-36 daṁṣṭrayā yaḥ samuddhṛtya lokānāṁ hita-kāmyayā | sahasra-śīrṣo devādiścakāra pṛthivīṁ punaḥ ||1-41-37 evaṁ yajṣa-varāheṇa bhūtvā bhūta-hita-arthinā | uddhṛtā pṛhivī sarvā sāgara aṁbu dharā purā ||1-41-38 Thus the thousand-headed god viṣṇu re-established the earth together with its mountains, forests and hinterlands, upraising it from the abyss with his fangs from the diluvial sheet of water under which she is submersed, which he has done on becoming a sacred-boar for the benefit of all living beings... nara-siṁha avatāram - man-lion incarnation: vārāha eṣa kathito nārasiṁham ataḥ śṛṇu | yatra bhūtvā mṛga indreṇa hiraṇyakaśipur hataḥ ||1-41-39 That being the legend of boar-incarnation, now listen to an account of his man-lion incarnation where assuming the form of a man-lion he eliminate the demon named hiraṇya- kashipu... purā kṛta yuge rājan sura-ariḥ bala darpitaḥ | daityānām-ādi-purṣaḥ cacāra tapa uttamam ||1-41-40 daśa varṣa sahasrāṇi śatāni daśa paṣcha ca | jala upavāsa nirataḥ sthāna mauna dṛḍha-vrataḥ ||1-41-41 tataḥ śama-damābhyāṁ ca brahmacharyeṇa ca anagha | brahmā prīto'bhavat tasya tapasā niyamena ca ||1-41-42 taṁ vai svayaṁbhūḥ bhagavān svayam āgatya bhūpate | vimānena arka-varṇena haṁsa-yuktena bhāsvatā ||1-41-43 ādityair vasubhiḥ sādhyair marudbhir daivataiḥ saha | rudraiḥ viśvasahāyaiḥ ca yakṣa rākṣasa kinnaraiḥ ||1-41-44 diśābhiḥ vidiśābhiḥ ca nadībhiḥ sāgaraiḥ tathā | nakṣatraiḥ ca muhūrtaiḥ ca khe-charaiḥ ca mahā-grahaiḥ ||1-41-45 deva-rṣibhiḥ tapo-vṛddhaiḥ siddhaiḥ sapta-rṣibhiḥ tathā | rāja-rṣibhiḥ puṇyatamaiḥ gandharvaiḥ ca apsaro-gaṇaiḥ ||1-41-46 chara-achara-guruḥ śrīmān vṛtaḥ sarvaiḥ suraiḥ tathā | brahmā brahma-vidāṁ śreṣṭho daityaṁ vacanam abravīt |1-41-47 prīto'smi tava bhaktasya tapasā anena suvrata | varaṁ varaya bhadraṁ te yatha iṣṭaṁ kāmam āpnuhi ||1-41-48 once in kṛta yuga, the golden age, oh king janamejaya, the first of the daityā-s born is one called hiraṇya-kaśipu, a staunch antagonist of gods... he undertook a most severe ascesis engaging himself in the vow of silence, self-control, equanimity of mind, observance of rules, the vow of celibacy and he steadfastly carried it on subsisting just on water of water for eleven thousand and five hundred years... Thereupon, oh, sinless janamejaya, pleased with his ascesis and observances, the self-sprung divinity, brahma, arrived there in his effulgent sun-like chariot drawn by swans, encircled by other divinities like ādityā-s, vasū-s, sādhyā-s, marut-s, gods, universal helpers rudrā-s, Rishi-s, yakśā-s, rākṣasa-s, kinnara-s, rivers, oceans, stars, muhurtā-s, skywalkers, planets, celestial saints, old ascetics, siddhā-s, the seven-sages, royal saints and apsarā-s and the like... brahma then said to hiraṇya-kaśipu, the daitya, "O you of firm vows... I am pleased with the ascesis of yours as a devotee of mine... you may now pray for a boon and you will get whatever you want... may you fare well... hiraṇyakaśipuḥ uvāca : hiraṇyakaśipuḥ asked: na deva asura gandharvā na yakṣa uraga rākṣasāḥ | na mānuṣāḥ piśāśāḥ ca nihanyur māṁ kathaṁchana ||1-41-49 ṛṣayo vā na māṁ śāpaiḥ kruddhā lokapitāmaha | śapeyuḥ tapasā yuktā varam etaṁ vṛṇomi aham ||1-41-50 na śastreṇa na ca astreṇa giriṇā pādapena vā | na śuṣkeṇa na ca ārdreṇa syāt na ca anyena me vadhaḥ ||1-41-51 O grand sire, I pray for a boon of deathlessness by gods, asurā-s, gandharvā-s, yakṣā-s, uragā-s, rākṣasā-s, piśāśā-s or humans... I pray for a boon that no execratory conflagration of sages shall touch me, as they are wonted to hurl curses wrathfully... incidentally, weapons, mountains, trees, dry or wet articles or any other instruments shall not bring about my destruction. pāṇi prahāreṇa ekena sa-bhṛtya-bala-vāhanam | yaḥ māṁ nāśayituṁ śktaḥ sa me mṛtyur bhaviṣyati ||1-41-52 If ever my end comes, let it come through some living soul that is capable of felling me along with my aides, army and vehicles just with a single stroke of bare hand... bhaveyam aham eva arkaḥ somo vāyur hutāśanaḥ | salilaṁ ca antarikṣaṁ ca nakṣtrāṇi disho daśa ||1-41-53 ahaṁ krodhaḥ ca kāmaḥ ca varuṇo vāsavo yamaḥ | dhanadaḥ ca dhana-adhyakṣo yakṣaḥ kiṁpuruṣa adhipaḥ ||1-41-54 The sun, moon, air, fire, water, firmament, constellations, ten cardinals, anger, desire, varuṇa-raingod, indra, yama-timegod... further, kubera, the wealth distributing god and also the king of the yakśā-s and kimpuruśā-s – shall come under my thumb... brahma uvāca: brahma said: evam uktaḥ tu daityena svayaṁbhūḥ bhagavān tadā | uvāca daitya rājaṁ taṁ prahasan nṛpasattama ||1-41-55 ete divyā varāḥ tāta mayā dattāḥ tava adbhutāḥ | sarvān kāmān imāṁ tāta prāpsyasi tvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ ||1-41-56 evam uktvā tu bhagavāṣ jagāma ākāśam eva hi | vairājaṁ brahma-sadanaṁ brahma-rṣi-gaṇa sevitam ||1-41-57 O emperor janamejaya, when the king of daitya-s hiraṇya-kaśipu addressed the self-sprung god brahma, that god smilingly said to him, “I confer upon you these most wonderful and celestial boons with which you will attain all the desired-for objects of yours... no doubt about it...” and having said this the divine grandfather brahma repaired skyward to his abode accompanied by the celestials and sages that have come there as his entourage... tato devāḥ ca nāgāḥ ca gandharvā munayaḥ tathā | vara-pradānaṁ śrutvā te pitāmaham upasthitāh ||1-41-58 vibhuṁ vijṣāpayāmāsur devā indra-purogamāḥ || 1-41-59 On hearing about the grant of boons to hiraṇya-kaśipu, then the gods, nāgā-s, gandharvā-s, sages et al have rushed to brahma, and they appealed to him keeping indra in the forefront... devā ūcuḥ : gds appealed: vareṇa anena bhagavan bādhayiṣyati naḥ asuraḥ | tataḥ prasīda bhagavan vadha api asya vichintyatām ||1-41-60 bhagavān sarvabhūtānāṁ svayaṁbhūrādikṛdvibhuḥ | sraṣṭā ca havya kavyānām avyaktaḥ prakṛtir dhruvaḥ ||1-41-61 sarva-loka-hitaṁ vākyaṁ śrutvā devaḥ prajāpatiḥ | provāca bhagavān vākyaṁ sarvān deva-gaṇāṁ tadā ||1-41-62 Gods said to brahma, “Oh, god, with the boons you bestowed on him that demon will now start to persecute us... nevertheless, now a thought may be given to finish him off...” hearing their appeal for the well-being of all worlds, then brahma addressed all the hosts of gods... avaśyaṁ tridaśāḥ tena prāptavyaṁ tapasaḥ phalam | tapaso ante asya bhagavān vadhaṁ viṣṇuḥ kariṣyati ||1-41-63 etat śrutvā surāḥ sarve vākyam paṅkaja-saṁbhavāt | svāni sthānāni divyāni jagmuḥ te vai mudānvitāḥ ||1-41-64 “Oh, gods, gods should not be supposititious, isn’t it... hence, that hiraṇya-kaśipu should necessarily get boons at the end of his severe ascesis... god viṣṇu will take care of ending that demon and his activity as and when the result of ascesis - tapaḥ phalam –wanes out...” so said brahma to all gods... hearing this placation gods happily returned to their own places... labdha mātre vare ca api sarvāḥ saḥ abādhata prajāḥ | hiraṇyakaśipur daityo vara-dānena darpitaḥ ||1-41-65 āśrameṣu mahābhāgān munīn vai śaṁsitavratān | satya-dharma-ratān dāntān purā dharṣitavān tu saḥ ||1-41-66 devān tri-bhuvanasthāṁ tu parājitya mahāsuraḥ | trai-lokyaṁ vasham ānīya svarge vasati dānavaḥ |1-41-67 yadā vara-mada-unmatto nyavasat dānavo bhuvi | yajṣiyān kṛtavān daityān devān caiva api a-yajṣiyān ||1-41-68 ādityāḥ ca tato rudrā vishve ca marutaḥ tathā | śaraṇyaṁ śaraṇaṁ viṣṇum upājagmur mahābalam ||1-41-69 veda-yajṣamayaṁ brahma brahma-devaṁ sanātanam | bhūtaṁ bhavyaṁ bhaviṣyaṁ ca prabhuṁ loka-namaskṛtam | nārāyaṇaṁ vibhuṁ devāḥ-śaraṇaṁ śaraṇāgatāḥ ||1-41-70 With the potentiality of boons he obtained, hiraṇya-kaśipu started to tyrannise one and all... tormenting those sages that are busy in pious works and mortifications without recourse to any other pleasure, and those that are abiding by truth and virtue, and hermitages... defeating all the gods available in all the three worlds, and holding sway on all of them, that demon used to stay high in heaven... when that demon maddened with boon stayed on earth, he bid to perform vedic-rituals propitiating demons, but not gods, whereby gods did not get their share of offertories in rituals and remained foodless... whereupon ādityā-s, rudrā-s, maruta-s et al gods sought the shelter of nārāyaṇa, the ultimate shelter for one and all... devā ūcuḥ: gods appealed to viṣṇu: trāyasva naḥ adya deva īśa hiraṇyakaśipoḥ bhayāt | tvaṁ hi naḥ paramo dhātā brahmādīnāṁ surottama ||1-41-71 tvam hi naḥ paramo devaḥ tvaṁ hi naḥ paramo guruḥ | utphulla aṁbuja-patra-akṣaḥ śatru-pakṣa-bhayaṅkaraḥ | kṣayāya diti-vaṁśasya śaraṇyaḥ tvaṁ bhavasva naḥ ||1-41-72 “Oh, god nārāyaṇa, save us now from the scare of hiraṇya-kaśipu... do something to give us shelter from him as well as to eradicate the progeny of lady diti, namely the demons...” so said gods to lord viṣṇu after eulogising him... viṣṇuḥ uvāca: viṣṇu said: bhayaṁ tyajadhvam amarā hi abhayaṁ vaḥ dadāmi aham | tathaivaṁ tridivaṁ devāḥ prati-patsyatha mā ciram ||1-41-73 eṣa taṁ sa-gaṇaṁ daityaṁ vara-dānena darpitam | avadhyam amara indrāṇāṁ dānavaṁ taṁ nihanmi aham ||1-41-74 Then viṣṇu said to gods, “fear no more... oh, gods... I promise you safety... soon you will regain your heaven, to boot... I will slay that demon along with his followers because he is maddened with his boon and rendered unslayable even for a best god...” vaiśaṁpāyana uvāca= vaiśampāyana continued: evam uktvā sa bhagavān visṛjya tri-daśa-īśvarān | hiraṇyakśipo rājann ājagāma hariḥ sabhām ||1-41-75 narasya kṛtvā ardha-tanuṁ siṁhasya-ardha-tanuṁ prabhuḥ | nāra-siṁheṇa vapuṣā pāṇiṁ saṁspṛśya pāṇinā ||1-41-76 jīmūta-ghana-saṁkāśo jīmūta-ghana-niḥsvanaḥ | jīmūta-ghana-dīpta ojā jīmūta iva vegavān ||1-41-77 daityaṁ saḥ atibalaṁ dīptaṁ dṛpta-śārdūla-vikramam | dṛptaiḥ daitya-gaṇaiḥ guptaṁ hatavān eka pāṇinā ||1-41-78 Saying so the god viṣṇu left the celestials and came to the court of hiraṇya-kaśipu donning a form composed of a lion in upper-body and of a human in the lower-body; then, squeezing his own palms as with the praxis of a wrestler, he agilely moved thereabout like a dark cloud, he looked like a dark cloud, hummed like a black cloud, suspired like a dark cloud, cast the radiance of his vigour like a black cloud... and finally he gave a single-handed-single-punch to hiraṇya-kaśipu, who is haughtily beaming so-far with a might comparable to the might of a haughty tiger, and who has been protected so-far by equally swollen-headed daitya stooges... thus that nara-simha felled the demon hiraṇya-kaśipu... vāmana avatāram : incarnation of dwarifish boy: nṛsiṁha eṣa kathito bhūyo ayaṁ vāmano aparaḥ | yatra vāmanam āśṛtya rūpaṁ daitya vināśa-kṛt ||1-41-79 baleḥ balavato yajṣe balinā viṣṇunā purā | vikramaiḥ tribhiḥ akṣobhyāḥ kṣobhitāḥ te mahāsurāḥ |1-41-80 This being the account of narashimha avatāra, man-lion incarnation, next let us take up his vāmana avatāra, dwarf boy’s incarnation, in which form he vanquished all the daityās... in the days of yore, when the emperor bali undertook a mammoth vedic-ritual, the powerful viṣṇu took three strides and rampaged the triad of worlds, in which situation all the great asurā-s have become frenzied... Some of the many demons who tried to beleaguer śrīhari at that time are as below: viprachittiḥ śibiḥ śaṅkurayaḥ śaṅkustathaiva ca | ayaḥśirā śaṁkuśirā hayagrīvaḥ ca vīryavān || 1-41-81 vegavān ketumān ugraḥ soma-vyagro mahāsuraḥ | puṣkaraḥ puṣkalaḥ caiva vepanaḥ ca mahārathaḥ ||1-41-82 bṛhat-kīrtiḥ mahā-jihvaḥ sa-aśvaḥ ashva0patiḥ eva ca | prahlādaḥ aśva-śirāḥ kuṁbhaḥ saṁ-hrādo gagana-priyaḥ | anu-hrādo hari harau varāhaḥ śaṅkaro rujaḥ ||1-41-83 śarabhaḥ śalabhaḥ caiva kupanaḥ kopanaḥ krathaḥ | bṛhat-kīrtiḥ mahā-jihvaḥ śaṅku-karṇo mahā-svanaḥ ||1-41-84 dīrgha-jihvo arka-nayano mṛdu-cāpo mṛdu-priyaḥ | vāyuḥ yaviṣṭho namuchiḥ śaṁbaro vi-jvaro mahān || 1-41-85 candra-hantā krodha-hantā krodha-vardhana eva ca | kālakaḥ kālakeyaḥ ca vṛtraḥ krodho virochanaḥ ||1-41-86 gariṣṭhaḥ ca variṣṭhaḥ ca pra-lamba narakā vubhau | indra-tāpana vātāpī ketumān bala-darpitaḥ || 1-41-87 asi-lomā pulomā ca vāk-kalaḥ pramado madaḥ | sva-sṛmaḥ kāla-vadanaḥ karālāḥ kaiśikaḥ śaraḥ ||1-41-88 eka-akṣaḥ candra-hā rāhuḥ saṁ-hrādaḥ sṛmaraḥ svanaḥ | Demon vi-prachitti, shibi, śaṅku-raya, śaṅku, ayaḥ-śira, śaṁku-śira, mighty haya-grīva... a speedster named ketumān, ugra, a great demon soma-vyagra, puṣkara, puṣkala, vepana, the great chariot-fighter... bṛhat-kīrti, mahā-jihva, and a horse mounted demon ashva-pati, prahlāda, ashva-shira, kuṁbha, saṁ-hrāda, gagana-priya, anu-hrāda, hari, hara, varāha, śaṅkara, ruja... sharabha, shalabha, kupana, kopana, kratha, bṛhat-kīrti, mahā-jihva, śaṅku-karṇa, mahā-svana... dīrgha-jihva, arka-nayana, mṛdu-cāpa, mṛdu-priya, vāyu, yaviṣṭha, namuchi, śaṁbara, vi-jvara... candra-hanta, krodha-hanta, krodha-vardhana, kālaka, kālakeya, vṛtra, krodha, virochana... gariṣṭha, variṣṭha, pra-lamba, naraka, indra-tāpana, vātāpi, ketumān, bala-darpita, aka bala-abhimāni... asi-loma, puloma, vāk-kalaha, pramada, mada, sva-sṛma, kāla-vadana, karāla, kaishika, shara, eka-akṣa, candra-hā, rāhu, saṁ-hrāda, sṛmara, and svana... And they attacked śrīhari wielding the following weapons: śata-ghnī cakra-hastāḥ ca tathā parigha pāṇayaḥ ||1-41-89 mahā-śilā-praharaṇāḥ śūla-hastāḥ ca dānavāḥ | aśva-yantra-āyudha-upetā bhiṇḍi-pāla-āyudhāḥ tathā ||1-4-90 śūla-ulūkhala-hastāḥ ca paraśva-dhadharāḥ tathā | pāśa mudgara hastā vai tathā mudgala pāṇayaḥ ||1-41-91 shata-ghni= weapon kills a hundred foes at a time– now named for a canon; cakra-hastāḥ= disks in hands; parigha-pāṇayaḥ= bludgeons in hand; mahā-śilā-praharaṇāḥ= catapults throwing massive stones; śūla-hastāḥ= spears in hand; aśva-yantra-āyudha = horse-like machines [may be robots]; bhiṇḍi-pāla-āyudhāḥ= weapons called bhiṇḍi-pāla; śūla= tridents; ulūkhala= pestle-like weapons; parashva= axes; pāśa= nooses; mudgara= batterers; mudgala= shillelagh-like weapons... nānā praharaṇā ghorā nānā veṣā mahājavāḥ | Thus wielded numerous and horrible weapons... and changed their guise to look as: kūrmakukkuṭavaktrāścha śaśolūkamukhāstathā ||1-41-92 khara uṣṭra vadanāḥ caiva varāha vadanāḥ tathā | bhīmā makara vaktrāḥ ca kroṣṭu vaktrāḥ ca dānavāḥ | ākhu dardura vaktrāḥ ca ghorā vṛka mukhāḥ tathā ||1-41-93 mārjāra gaja vaktrāḥ ca mahā vaktrāḥ tatha apare | nakra meṣa ānanā śūrā go aja mahiṣa ānanāḥ ||1-41-94 godhā shalyaka vaktrāḥ ca krauṣcha vaktrāḥ ca dānavāḥ | garuḍa ānanāḥ khaḍga-mukhā mayūra vadanāḥ tathā ||1-41-95 kūrma= tortoise; kukkuṭa= cock; vaktrāḥ= faced demons; shashi= hare; ulūka= owl; mukhāḥ= faced; khara= ass; uṣṭra vadanāḥ = camel faced ones; varāha-vadanāḥ= boar-faced demons; bhīmā makara-vaktrāḥ = mighty, crocodile, faced ones; kroṣṭu vaktrāḥ= jackal faced ones; Akhu= mouse; dardura=tortoise; vaktrāḥ= faced ones; vṛka mukhāḥ= fox faced ones; mārjāra= cat; gaja= elephant; vaktrāḥ= faced ones; mahā vaktrāḥ= bizarre faced ones; nakra= ewe faced ones; meṣa ānanā= ram faced ones; go= cow faced; aja= goat faced; mahiṣa ānanāḥ= buffalo faced ones; godhā= mongoose faced; shalyaka vaktrāḥ = porcupine faced ones; krauṣcha vaktrāḥ= heron faced ones; garuḍa ānanāḥ= eagle faced; khaḍga-mukhā= rhinoceros faced ones; mayūra vadanāḥ= peacock faced ones. gajendra-charma-vasanāḥ tathā kṛṣṇa ajina aṁbarāḥ | cīra-saṁvṛta-dehāḥ ca tathā valkala vāsasaḥ | uṣṇīṣiṇo mukuṭinaḥ tathā kuṇḍalino asurāḥ ||1-41-96 kirīṭino laṁba-śikhāḥ kambu-grīvāḥ su-varchasaḥ | nānā veṣa dharā daityā nānā mālya anulepanāḥ ||1-41-97 svāni āyudhāni saṁgṛhya pradīptāni ati tejasā | krama-māṇaṁ hṛṣīkeśam upāvartanta sarvaśaḥ ||1-41-98 With regard to their dressing pattern, some are clad in elephant-skins, some in antelope skin, some have ordinary clothing around their bodies, while others have jute cloths, some wearing half-crowns, some wearing ear-rings, some wearing crowns, some with long tufts of lair, some with conch-like necks... thus a numberless daityā-s, wearing various dresses, adorned with diverse garlands and taking up their burning weapons, the powerful hṛṣīkeśa surrounded of all sides, while that hṛṣīkeśa is taking strides on three worlds... pra-mathya sarvān daiteyān pāda hasta talaiḥ prabhuḥ | rūpaṁ kṛtvā mahā-bhīmaṁ jahāra āśu sa medinīm ||1-41-99 tasya vikramato bhūmiṁ candra ādityau stana antare | nabhaḥ prakramamāṇasya nābhyāṁ kila samāsthitau ||1-41-100 paraṁ prakramamāṇasya jānu deshe sthitau ubhau | viṣṇoḥ atula-vīryasya vadanti evaṁ dvijātayaḥ ||1-41-101 hṛtvā sa pṝthivīṁ kṛtsnāṁ jitvā ca asura-puṅgavān | dadau śakrāya tridivaṁ viṣṇuḥ balavatāṁ varaḥ ||1-41-102 That being so, when śrīhari enlarged his body and placed first footstep on the earth making it a pebble encased under the hollow of his foot, then the sun and the moon seemed slithering to his breast level; when he placed second footstep in the sky shrouding all heavens, then the sun and moon seemed to be further foundering to his naval level; and when he grew his body further and placed his third footstep enshrouding the triad of worlds, then the sun and moon seemed to have slipped to his knee level... this is how scholars of yore say about the illimitable expansile nature of viṣṇu – vyāpakatvāt viṣṇuḥ... thus conquering all demons viṣṇu retrieved the earth and heaven, and proffered heaven to indra... eṣa te vāmano nāma prādurbhāvo mahātmanaḥ | veda-vidbhiḥ dvijaiḥ evaṁ kathyate vaiṣṇavaṁ yaśaḥ ||1-41-103 Thus have I described the dwarf-boy incarnation of viṣṇu to you, which the vedic-scholars of yore narrate as the magnificence of viṣṇu... dattātreya avatāra – incarnation as dattātreya bhūyo bhūta-ātmano viṣṇoḥ prādurbhāvo mahātmanaḥ | dattātreya iti khyātaḥ kṣamayā parayā yutaḥ ||1-41-104 tena naṣṭeṣu vedeṣu prakriyāsu makheṣu ca | cātur-varṇye tu saṁkīrṇe dharme śithilatāṁ gate ||1-41-105 abhivardhati ca a-dharme satye naṣṭe a-nṛte sthite | prajāsu śīryamāṇāsu dharme ca a-kulatāṁ gate ||1-41-106 saha-yajṣa-kriyā vedāḥ prati-ānītā hi tena vai | cātur-varnyam a-saṁkīrṇaṁ kṛtaṁ tena mahātmanā ||1-41-107 At another time, viṣṇu, the soul of all, incarnated himself as the highly forgiving datta-ātreya. When the veda-s disappeared, religious works and Vedic rituals slackened, four-caste system became hotchpotch, when dharma is collapsing and a-dharma is on the rise, when truth is lost and untruth flourished, when all people are about to face a cultural perish, when dharma is floundering in the morass of a-dharma, lord dattātreya re-established the four Vedas with their rituals, and re-categorised the four caste system, as well... tena haihaya rājasya kārtavīryasya dhīmataḥ | vara-dena varo datto dattātreyeṇa dhīmatā ||1-41-108 etat bāhū-dvayaṁ yat te mṛdhe mama kṛte anagha | śatāni daśa bāhūnāṁ bhaviṣyanti na saṁśayaḥ ||1-1-109 pālayiṣyasi kṛtsnāṁ ca vasudhāṁ vasudhādhipa | dur-nirīkṣyo ari-vṛndānāṁ dharma-jṣaḥ ca bhaviṣyasi ||1-41-110 Further, this boon-giving, intelligent dattātreya conferred a boon on the haihaya king kārtavirya, saying: °'O king, these your two arms, by the power of my boon, shall be thousand-fold in a given battle... O lord of the earth, you will rule over the entire earth, besides, you will be abiding in dharma... your enemies cannot look at you gloweringly..." eṣa te vaiṣṇavaḥ śrīmān prādurbhāvo adbhutaḥ śubhaḥ | kathito vai mahārāja yathā shrutam ariṁdama | bhūyaṭ ca jāmadagnyo ayaṁ prādurbhāvo mahātmanaḥ ||1-41-111 O slayer of enemies, janamejaya, I have described to you the most wonderful and auspicious incarnation of Vishnu as I have heard... the great lord viṣṇu next incarnated himself as paraśu-rāma, the son of sage jamadagni... yatra bāhu-sahasreṇa vismitaṁ dur-jayaṁ raṇe | rāmaḥ arjunam anīka-sthaṁ jaghāna nṛpatiṁ prabhuḥ ||1-41-112 When kārtavīrya-arjuna made the people to stand astonished at his thousand arms, with which arms he stood unvanquished in battles, this paraśu-rāma eliminated such a mega-king when that king is in the midst of his soldiery... rathasthaṁ pārthivaṁ rāmaḥ pātayitvā arjunaṁ yudhi | dharṣayitvā yathā kāmaṁ krośamānaṁ ca megha-vat ||1-41-113 kṛtsnaṁ bāhu-sahasraṁ ca ciccheda bhṛgunandanaḥ | parashvadhena dīptena jṣātibhiḥ sahitasya vai ||1-41-114 kīrṇā kṣatriya koṭībhiḥ meru mandara bhūṣaṇā | triḥ-sapta-kṛtvaḥ pṝthivī tena niḥ-kṣatriyā kṛtā ||1-41-115 Hauling the king Arjuna from his chariot onto earth, taunting him at will, chopping his thousand arms with his ruthless axe, paraśu-rāma hacked him to death, throughout which process king kārtavīrya had been bellowing like a cloud... later, paraśu-rāma eliminating all the kinsmen of kārtavīrya, he also eliminated hosts of kshatriya-s who have been sprawling so far on Mt. meru and Mt. mandara as if caparisoning those mountains... thus, he has undertaken the elimination kshatriya-s from the face of the earth in twenty-one rounds, and he achieved it... kṛtvā niḥkṣatriyāṁ caiva bhārgavaḥ sumahātapāḥ | sarva pāpa vināśāya vāji-medhena ca iṣṭavān ||1-41-116 tasmin yajṣe mahā-dāne dakṣiṇāṁ bhṛgunandanaḥ | mārīcāya dadau prītaḥ kaśyapāya vasuṁdharām ||1-41-117 vāruṇām turagāṣ śīghrān rathaṁ ca rathināṁ varaḥ | hiraṇyam akṣayaṁ dhenūr gajendrān ca mahāmanāḥ | dadau tasmin mahā-yajṣe vāji-medhe mahāyaśāḥ ||1-41-118 On divesting the earth of the kshatriya-s, the great ascetic parasu-rāma, the son of bRhigu, undertook the performance of a horse-sacrifice for the expiation of all his sins... in that sacrifice consisting of profuse gifts, that highly liberal and illustrious paraśu-rāma, the foremost of chariot-warriors, made presents of quick-coursing horses, chariots, endless gold, kine and elephants... he also gifted the earth to marīchi's son kāśyapa-prajāpati with a great delight... hence, mother earth is also termed as kāśyapi... adya api ca hita-arthāya lokānāṁ bhṛgunandanaḥ | charamāṇaḥ tapo-dīptaṁ jāmadagnyaḥ punaḥ punaḥ | tiṣṭhate deva-vat dhīmān mahendre parvata uttame ||1-41-119 eṣa viṣṇoḥ sureshasya śāśvatasya avyasya ca | jāmadagnya iti khyātaḥ prādurbhāvo mahātmanaḥ ||1-41-120 On his becoming ciranjīvi – never perishing entity – paraśu-rāma is frequently moving in all the three worlds for the welfare of one and all with a bodily glow of his utmost ascesis, even today... that courageous one abides on the most excellent Mt. mahendra like a titular god... this is how the lord of gods, viṣṇu, an everlasting, imperishable, eternal entity, incarnated as paraśu-rāma, the son of sage jamadagni... rāma avatāram – rāma incarnation: caturviṁśe yuge cāpi viśvāmitra puraḥsaraḥ | rājṣo daśarathasya atha putraḥ padma-āyata-īkṣaṇaḥ ||1-41-121 kṛtvā ātmānaṁ mahābāhuḥ caturdhā prabhuḥ īśvaraḥ | loke rāma iti khyātaḥ tejasā bhāskara-upamaḥ ||1-41-122 prasādana-arthaṁ lokasya rakṣasāṁ nidhanāya ca | dharmasya ca vivṛddhi-arthaṁ jajṣe tatra mahāyaśāḥ ||1-41-123 tam api āhuḥ manuṣya-indraṁ sarva-bhūta-pateḥ-tanum | In kṛta era belonging to the twenty-fourth mahā-yuga, the lotus-petal eyed viṣṇu, keeping sage viśvamitra as helmsman and making himself fourfold personalities, incarnated as the son of king daśa-ratha, where the other three personalities are bharata, lakshmana, and shatrughna, ramified as his brothers... and with a resplendence like that of the sun he that lord, controller, and ambidextrous viṣṇu is celebrated in this world by his name rāma... and they say, that indra-like protector among humans and the lord of all beings, namely viṣṇu incarnated as rāma, took this incarnation only to perpetuate world, to destroy demons and to stand up for virtue... yasmai dattāni ca astrāṇi viśvāmitreṇa dhīmatā ||1-41-124 vadha-arthaṁ deva-śatrūṇāṁ durdharāṇi suraiḥ api | yajṣa-vighna-karo yena munīnāṁ bhāvitātmanām ||1-41-125 Such as he is sage viśvamitra endowed him with many missiles for the destruction of the enemies of the gods, namely demons, who at that time are hindering the vedic-rituals of the self-controlled ascetics, and who have become unmanageable even unto those gods... This legend of rāma is ekānvayam, to be told in a single go. But here it is segregated for reading convenience. mārīchaḥ ca subāhuḥ ca balena balināṁ varau | nihatau ca nirāśau ca kṛtau tena mahātmanā ||1-41-126 At the outset, that exalted soul rāma, on eliminating demon subāhu trounced his brother demon mārīcha and made him hopeless of further malice, when he in his adolescence stood guard to the Vedic ritual of his mentor viśvamitra... vartamāne makhe yena janakasya mahātmanaḥ | bhagnaṁ māheśvaraṁ cāpaṁ krīḍatā līlayā purā ||1-41-127 Later, he snapped the bow of maheshvara when he visited the Vedic ritual of the high-souled king janaka, effortlessly and sportily... yaḥ samāḥ sarva-dharma-jṣaḥ catur-daśa vane avasat | lakṣmaṇa anucharo rāmaḥ sarva-bhūta-hite rataḥ ||1-41-128 rūpiṇī yasya pārśvasthā sīta iti prathitā janaiḥ | pūrvochitā tasya lakṣmīḥ bhartāram anugacchati ||1-41-129 He who is interested in the well being all creatures, that rāma lived in forests for fourteen years attended by his brother lakshmana... he is also accompanied to forests by his beautiful wife, who is prominent among public as lady sīta, and who ever-abides herself at his side as his lakshmi, in the compose of goddess lakshmi with god viṣṇu... caturdaśa tapaḥ taptvā vane varṣāṇi rāghavaḥ | janasthāne vasan kāryaṁ tridaśānāṁ cakāra ha | sītāyāḥ padam anvicchan lakṣmaṇa anucharo vibhuḥ ||1-41-130 virādhaṁ ca kabandhaṁ ca rākṣasau bhīma-vikramau | jaghāna puruṣavyāghrau gandharvau śāpa-vīkṣitau ||1-41-131 hutāśana arka indu taḍit ghana ābhaiḥ pratapta jāmbū-nada citra-puṅkhaiḥ | mahendra vajra-aśani-tulya-sāraiḥ śaraiḥ śarīreṇa vi-yojitau balāt ||1-41-132 That rāghava lived in forests for fourteen years as if forest-living is his severe ascesis, and while in a place called janasthāna in those forests he embarked on to accomplish the work of the gods, namely demolition of demon-seminary... and while searching for route by which his wife sīta is abducted, he slew two accursed gandharva-s metamorphosed as most mighty demons, namely virādha and kabandha, forcibly detaching their lives from bodies with his arrows finned with highly refined golden handles and amazing fins, which are conformable to blazing fire, scorching sun, freezing moon, deadening lightning etc, and hurtling like the thunderbolts of indra... sugrīvasya kṛte yena vānara indro mahābalaḥ | vālī vinihato yuddhe sugrīvaḥ ca abhiṣechitaḥ ||1-41-133 As promised to sugrīva, rāma anointed him in that kingdom on eliminating his brother vāli in a confrontation... deva asura gaṇānāṁ hi yakṣa gandharva bhoginām | a-vadhyaṁ rākṣasa-indraṁ taṁ rāvaṇaṁ yudhi durjayam ||1-41-134 yuktaṁ rākṣkasa koṭībhiḥ nīla-aṣjana-chaya-upamam | trailokya rāvaṇaṁ ghoraṁ rāvaṇaṁ rākṣasa īśvaram ||1-41-135 dur-jayaṁ dur-dharaṁ dṛptaṁ śārḍūla sama vikramam | dur-nirīkṣyaṁ sura-gaṇaiḥ vara-dānena darpitam ||1-41-136 jaghāna sachivaiḥ sārdhaṁ sa-sainyaṁ rāvaṇaṁ yudhi | mahā abhra-ghana-saṁkāśaṁ mahā-kāyaṁ mahā-balam ||1-41-137 tam āgas-kāriṇam ghoraṁ paulastyam yudhi dur-jayam | sa-bhrātṛ putra sachivaṁ sa-sainyaṁ krūra-nischayam ||1-41-138 rāvaṇaṁ nijaghāna āśu rāmo bhūta-patiḥ purā | rāma eliminated rāvaṇa, the king of the rākśasās... where that rāvaṇa loomed as an unconquerable demon, who on obtaining a boon from brahma became interminable for the hosts of gods, or asurā-s, or yakṣa-s, or gandharva-s, or reptiles and the like; who looks like a heap of mascara, a persecutor of all worlds, whose hum itself is dreadful, who is fenced with millions of demon-stooges; who is an invincible, unbearable, self-conceited demon; at whom even the celestials cannot stare; whose onslaught will be impetuous like that a mauling tiger; who looks like a massive black cloud; whose body is colossal and whose might is surpassing; an evildoer; hell-bent on undertaking atrocities... and rāma eliminated such a rāvaṇa along with all his sons, brothers, ministers, and army in a battle... madhoḥ ca tanayo dṛpto lavaṇo nama dānavaḥ ||1-41-139 hato madhu-vane vīro vara-dṛpto mahāsuraḥ | samare yuddha-śauṇḍena tatha ca anye api rākṣasāḥ ||1-41-140 Later, rāma eliminated a demon called lavaṇa-asura, who is a son of a demon called madhu, in a place called madhu-vana, who happens to be a self-conceited demon owing to a boon... like this rāma eliminated many other demons that are experts in combats... etāni kṛtvā karmāṇi rāmo dharma-bhṛtāṁ varaḥ | daśa aśvamedhāṣ jārūthyān ājahāra nirargalān ||1-41-141 na aśrūyanta aśubhā vāco na akulaṁ māruto vavau | na vitta-haraṇaṁ tu āsīt rāme rājyaṁ praśāsati ||1-41-142 paryadevan na vidhavā na anarthāḥ ca abhavan tadā | sarvam āsīt jagat dāntam rāme rājyaṁ praśāsati ||1-41-143 na prāṇināṁ bhayaṁ cāpi jala anila nighāta jam | na ca sma vṛddhā bālānāṁ preta-kāryāṇi kurvate ||1-41-144 brahma paryacharat kṣatraṁ viśaḥ kṣatram anuvratāḥ | śūdrāḥ caiva hi varṇāṁ strīṣ śuṣrūṣanti an-ahaṁkṛtāḥ | nāryo na ati acaran bhartṝn bhāryāṁ na ati-acharat patiḥ ||1-41-145 sarvam āsīt jagat dāntaṁ nir-dasyuḥ abhavat mahī | rāma eko'bhavat bhartā rāmaḥ pālayita abhavat ||1-41-146 āyur varṣa-sahasrāṇi tathā putra sahasriṇaḥ | a-rogāḥ prāṇinaḥ ca asan rāme rājyaṁ praśāsati ||1-41-147 devatānām ṛṣīṇāṁ ca manuṣyāṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ | pṛthivyāṁ samavāyo'bhūt rāme rājyaṁ praśāsati ||1-41-148 On eliminating demons on earth rāma performed ten praiseworthy horse rituals... during the regime of rāma, not a single inauspicious sound is heard, hostile winds did not blow, nobody lost his property, no widow bewailed, nobody met with misfortune and the whole world enjoyed peace at that time... Creatures had no fear from floods or tempests; the aged people had not performed the obsequies of the younger. The kshatriya-s used to serve the brāhmaṇa-s, the vaishya-s used to follow the kshatriya-s, and the śūdrā-s, divested of pride, used to serve the other three castes... the women never disregarded their husbands, and the husbands never ill-treated their wives... the whole world freed from robbers is in peace. rāma alone is the lord and protector of all. During rāma’s rule people lived for a thousand years and had a thousand sons and no creature suffered from any disease, and the gods, Rishi-s and men freely intermingled in the world when rāma ruled over it... gāthā api atra gāyanti ye purāṇa-vido janāḥ | rāme nibaddha-tattva-arthā māhātmyaṁ tasya dhīmataḥ || 1-41-149 śyāmo yuvā lohita-akṣo dīpta-āsyo mita-bhāṣitā | ājānubāhuḥ sumukhaḥ siṁha-skandho mahā-bhujaḥ ||1-41-150 daśa varṣasahasrāṇi daśa varṣaśatāni ca | ayodhya adhipatir bhūtvā rāmo rājyam akārayat ||1-41-151 ṛk sāma yajuṣāṁ ghoṣo jyā-ghoṣaḥ ca mahātmanaḥ | avyuccinno abhavat rājye dīyatāṁ bhujyatām iti ||1-41-152 sattvavān guṇasaṁpanno dīpyamānaḥ sva-tejasā | ati-candraṁ ca sūryaṁ ca rāmo dāśarathir babhau ||1-4-153 Ije kratu-śataiḥ puṇyaiḥ samāpta vara-dakṣinṇaiḥ | hitvā ayodhyāṁ divaṁ yāto rāghavaḥ sa mahābalaḥ ||1-41-154 evam eṣā mahābāhuḥ ikṣvāku kula nandanaḥ | rāvaṇaṁ sa-gaṇaṁ hatvā divam ācakrame prabhuḥ ||1-41-155 Scholars well-read in the purāṇā-s, who consider rāma as the source of all truths, have sung this hymn in honour of that intelligent one... "rāma, the king of ayodhya, had a blue-black hue, black eyes, nectarine speech, and shinning face; arms extending up to his knees he has a beautiful countenance and leonine shoulders. That high-souled king rāma ruled the kingdom for eleven thousand years, in which kingdom the chanting of the Rik, yajur and sāma Vedas is continually heard, along with the twang of bows, together with encouraging the utterances like: make gifts to people... feast the people with finest viands..." The energetic and accomplished son of daśaratha, namely rāma, shinning in his own effulgence, surpassed even the sun and the moon in his lustre. Having celebrated hundreds of holy sacrifices with perfect and most excellent gifts the highly powerful rāghava left ayodhya and repaired to the celestial region Having thus brought about the destruction of demon rāvaṇa with all his kinsmen, the omniscient and mighty-armed rāma, the descendant of ikśvāku dynasty, returned to the region of the celestials... Having thus brought about the destruction of demon rāvaṇa with all his kinsmen, the omniscient and mighty-armed rāma, the descendant of ikśvāju-s, returned to the region of the celestials... vaiśaṁpāyana uvāca : vaiśampāyana continued: aparaḥ keshavasya ayaṁ prādurbhāvo mahātmanaḥ | vikhyāto māthure kalpe sarva-loka-hitāya vai ||1-41-156 yatra śālvaṁ ca maindaṁ ca dvividaṁ kaṁsam eva ca | ariṣṭam ṛṣabhaṁ keśiṁ pūtanāṁ daitya dārikām ||1-41-157 nāgaṁ kuvalaya-pīḍaṁ cāṇūraṁ muṣṭikaṁ tathā | daityān mānuṣa dehasthān sūdayāmāsa vīryavān ||1-41-158 cinnaṁ bāhu-sahasraṁ ca bāṇasya adbhuta karmaṇaḥ | narakasya hataḥ saṁkhye yavanaḥ ca mahābalaḥ ||1-41-159 hṛtāni ca mahī-pānāṁ sarva-ratnāni tejasā | durācārāḥ ca nihatāḥ pārthivāḥ ca mahītale ||1-41-160 Next is the famous incarnation of viṣṇu as keshava, aka kṛṣṇa, in the city of mathura for the behoof of mankind, in which that mighty keshava eliminated some demons and demonic kings like: śālva, mainda, dvivida, kaṁsa, ariṣṭa, ṛṣabha, keshi, a maidservant of demons called pūtana, a serpent called kālīya, an elephant named kuvalaya-pīḍa, two wrestlers named cāṇūra and muṣṭika... keshava slew one demon named bāṇa-asura, after chopping off his thousand arms; he also eliminated a demon called naraka-asura, and an invader called kāla-yavana together with their forces while battling with them... navame dvāpare viṣṇuḥ aṣṭāviṁśe purā abhavat | vedavyāsaḥ tathā jajṣe jātūkarṇya puraḥsaraḥ ||1-41-161 eko vedaḥ caturdhā tu kṛtaḥ tena mahātmanā | janito bhārato vaṁśaḥ satyavatyāḥ sutena ca ||1-41-162 After the ninth incarnation of viṣṇu, the lord having sent beforehand sage jātūkarna to study veda-s and purāṇā-s, took his birth as sage veda-vyāsa in the twenty-eighth dvāpara era, to segregate one veda in four sections, and even to categorise purāṇā-s, for easy comprehensibility... This sage veda-vyāsa, engendered by lady satyavati, is the originator for the dynasty of bhāratās... Here the matsya and kūrma avatārā-s are suggested – navame avatāre – etat ca atra anuktābhyām api, matsya kūrmābhyām saha jṣeyam... vedavyāso api daśamo jaṣe... buddha avatāram cannot be counted in the ten avatārā-s of viṣṇu, because it is a-vaidikam. If dattātreya is removed from the list of ‘ten’ incarnations, then vedavyāsa is to be included in it. The word daśa in daśa avatārā-s is indicative of ‘many’ as in ‘sahasra’ śīrśya puruṣaḥ... and viṣṇu got many more incarnations than the usually listed ten, like mohini in mohini-bhasmāsura, or nectar distributing apsara, or sage kapila, or hayagrīva etc. ete loka-hitārthāya prādurbhāvā mahātmanaḥ | atītāḥ kathitā rājan kathyante ca pi an-āgatāḥ ||1-4-163 Described are the incarnations of viṣṇu in the past, oh king, undertaken for the behoof of mankind, now I shall now present an account of the future incarnations... kalkiḥ viṣṇū-yaśā nāma śaṁbhalaṁ grāmake dvijaḥ | sarva-loka-hitārthāya bhūyaḥ ca utpatsyate prabhuḥ ||1-4-164 daśamo bhāvya-saṁpanno yājṣavalkya puraḥsaraḥ | After the tenth incarnation –ekādaśo, daśame atīte – viṣṇu is going to appear as kalki in the house of a brāhmaṇa by name vishnu-yasha in a remote village called shambhala for the well-being of mankind... before that, he sends sage yājṣavalka and other sages to engage themselves in the refutation of kśaṇika-vāda- bhāvya-saṁpannā-s, or as a matter of fact, any other kinds of materialism – pāṣaṇḍa, vitaṇḍa- vādā-s – because they always harp on atheistic theories... this is to make the ritualism to prevail over all other the isms... kṣapayitvā ca tān sarvān bhāvina-arthena choditān ||1-4-165 gaṅgā-yamunayoḥ madhye niṣṭhāṁ prāpsyati sa-anugaḥ | Later, on eradicating all those that are clinging to materialism or its other shades - bhāvina-arthena choditān – viṣṇu will relinquish his kalki incarnation at the medial province of the rivers ganga and yamuna... tataḥ kule vyatīte tu sa-amātye saha-sainikam ||1-4-166 nṛpeṣu atha pranaṣṭeṣu tadā tu apragrahāḥ prajāḥ | rakṣaṇe vinivṛtte ca hatvā ca anyonyam Ahave ||1-4-167 paraspara hṛta svāḥ ca nirākrandāḥ su-duḥkhitāḥ | evaṁ kaṣṭam anuprāptāḥ kali-sandhya-aṁśakaṁ tadā ||1-4-168 prajāḥ kṣayaṁ prayāsyanti sārdhaṁ kali-yugena ha | Later, in the wee years of kali-yuga, when verboten occurs in families as one will be hijacking other man’s wife; when all the kings will be destroying mutually together with their ministers and soldiers; when there will be none to look after the people because the powers that be eases out; when one will always be at feud and larceny with the other; when all will be put to stress and strain, then the kali-yuga comes to an end havocking all the people... kṣīṇe kaliyuge tasmin tataḥ kṛta-yugaṁ punaḥ | prapatsyate yathā nyāyaṁ svabhāvāt eva nānyathā ||-4-169 After the termination of the kali-yuga the satya-yuga will again appear in due order. This is the outcome of the natural sequence and there can no perversion of it. ete ca anye ca bahavo divyā deva-guṇaiḥ yutāḥ | prādurbhāvāḥ purāṇeṣu gīyante brahma-vādibhiḥ ||1-41-170 yatra devā api muhyanti prādurbhāva anukīrtane | purāṇaṁ vartate yatra veda-śruti-samāhitam ||1-31-171 etat uddeśa-mātreṇa prādurbhāva anukīrtanam | kīrtitaṁ kīrtanīyasya sarva-loka-guroḥ prabhoḥ ||1-41-172 prīyante pitaraḥ tasya prādurbhāva anukīrtanāt | viṣṇoḥ atula-vīryasya yaḥ śṛṇoti kṛtāṣjaliḥ ||1-41-173 etāḥ tu yogeshvara yoga-māyāḥ śrutvā naro mucyati sarva-pāpaiḥ | ṛddhiṁ samṛddhiṁ vipuln ca bhogān prāpnoti sarvaṁ bhagavat-prasādāt || 1-41-174 The sages conversant with the knowledge of brahma have recorded these and various other incarnations of god with divine attributes in purāṇā-s, by the chanting of which even the gods are charmed... this eulogizing of incarnations commensurate with the teachings of shruti-s and purāṇās... if anyone recapitulates these legends, of viṣṇu of unlimited power, by listening or by reciting, then his ancestral manes of will be delighted with adjoined palms... further, by listening to the illusive sports of viṣṇu, the lord of yogic power, everyone is freed from all his sins and he acquires virtue, prosperity, wealth and various objects of enjoyment, by the favour of that lord viṣṇu... --o)0(o-- iti śrīmanmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi prādurbhāva anusaṅgraho nāma – yadvā - viṣṇu avatāra varṇanam nāma - ekacatvāriṁśo'dhyāyaḥ Thus, this is the forty-first chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating the incarnations of Vishnu, in general.