Book 1/Chapter 11/Verse 1-86
On the birth of Buddha
1-86. The Risis said :-- “O Sûta! Who is that King Pururavâ? and who is the Deva
girl Urvas'î? And how did that
high-souled King Pururavâ come into trouble? O son of Lomaharsana! Kindly describe now all these to me. We are now desirous to hear sweet words from
the lotus of your mouth. O Sûta! Your words are sweeter and more full of juice
than nectar even; so we are not satiated by hearing them as gods are not
satiated with the drink of nectar.”
Hearing this Sûta said :-- O Munis! I am now telling you, as far as my
intelligence goes, what I heard from the mouth of S'rî Vyâsa. Now hear that beautiful divine incident.
Once on a time the exceedingly beautiful
dear wife of Brihaspati, named Târâ, full of youth and beauty, of the most
beautiful limbs and intoxicated with pride went to the house of Chandra Deva
(the Moon), the yajamân (Employer of priest Brihaspati at any sacrifice) of
Brihaspati. Seeing Târâ of beautiful
face like Moon, the Moon became very passionate; Târâ also fell amorous at the
sight of Moon. Thus both of them became
very much passionately attached to each other. Then they, the Moon and Târâ, being smitten by
the arrows of Cupid and intoxicated with amorous passions began their sexual
intercourse with reciprocal feelings of passionate love.
Some days passed in this state.
Brihaspati, then, being distressed with the pang of separation from his wife,
sent his pupil to bring back Târâ; but Târâ was then submissive of Chandra and therefore
refused to come. Brihaspati sent over
and over again his pupil and when Chandra Deva returned the messenger,
Brihaspati became very angry and went personally to Chandra's house and spoke
angrily to the Moon who was puffed up with arrogance and somewhat smiling :-- “O
Moon! Why are you committing this vicious act, contrary to Dharma? Why are you keeping my beautiful wife in your
house? I am your Guru; you are my
client; O stupid! why are you enjoying your Guru's wife and keeping her in
custody in your house? Do you not know
that he who kills a Brâhman, who steals gold, who drinks, who goes to wife of
one's Guru are Mahâpâtakis (great sinners) and those who keep company of these
are the fifth Mahâpâtakis? Therefore, if
you had enjoyed my wife, you are exceedingly vicious, blameable and a
Mahâpâtaki (great sinner); you are not fit to live amongst the Devas. O wicked one! Now I say that even now you better forsake
Târâ, who is of a blue colour and whose look is askance; I won't go from here
without having Târâ. And if you do not give
back Târâ, then you are certainly with her and undoubtedly I will curse you.
When Brihaspati said so, Chandra, the
husband of Rohinî, spoke to his Guru Deva, who was very angry, sorry and
afflicted at the separation from his beloved wife, thus :-- In this world, the
Brâhmins that know the Dharma S'âstras, that are devoid of anger, are fit to be
worshipped; and those that are not so, they are objects of disrespect and not
to be worshipped by all for their anger. O sinless one! The beautiful one will surely go to your house;
what harm is there to you, if she waits here for a few days? She is staying here of her own accord to
enjoy pleasures and will go back of her own will. One word more :-- You gave out before this
opinion of the Dharma S'âstras that as a Brâhman though guilty of committing
vicious deeds, becomes pure again by the practice of Karmas as enjoined in the
Vedas, so a woman, too, though guilty of adultery, becomes pure again when she
is again in the period of her menstruation. At these words of Chandra Deva, Brihaspati,
the Guru of the Devas, became exceedingly sorry and anxious and went back
immediately to his own house, with a grievous heart, full of amorous feelings.
After staying in his own house for some
days Brihaspati, worn out with anxiety, came again quickly to the house of
Chandra; but, no sooner he was to enter the gate, he was stopped by the
door-keepers; he became very angry and stopped at the gate way. And when he saw that Chandra did not make his
appearance, he became exceedingly angry and thought :-- “Oh! What a wonder is
this? this irreligious Chandra, being my disciple, has done this vicious act
and took by violence the wife of his Guru, who is reckoned as the mother; and I
will now teach him a good lesson.”
Standing on the entrance gate way Brihaspati
began to speak aloud :-- “O stupid, vicious, vilest of the Devas! Why do you now sleep in your inner room? Do
return quickly my wife; else I will curse you at once. In case you do not bring me back my wife at
once, I will now reduce you to ashes.”
Hearing these foul words of Brihaspati, Chandra
Deva the king of the Dvijas, quickly came out of the house and said smiling :--
“O Brâhmin! Why are you spending your
stock of words for nothing? That all-auspicious
lady, of a blue colour and looking askance, is not fit for you; therefore take
another comparatively uglier woman for your use. Exceedingly youthful and lovely woman like her
is not fit for a beggar's house. O
stupid one! I see, you don't know anything about the Kâma S'âstra (the book
that dwells on amorous passion); those wise men who are skilled in this S'âstra
assign for the women, their lovers equivalent to their beauty in matters of
amorous dealings. So, O stupid man! go
away wherever you like. I won't give you
back your wife. Do whatever lies in your
power. I won't return your wife. When
you have become passionate, your curse won't affect me in any way. This I say finally unto you :-- “O Guru! I
will not give you back your wife; do what you wish.” Thus spoken by Chandra, Brihaspati became vary
anxious and angry; he then went away quickly to the Indra's house.
Seeing Guru Deva morose and sorry, the
very liberal minded Indra Deva worshipped him duly with pâdya, arghya, and
Âchamanîya and asked :-- “O highly fortunate one! Why do you look so anxious? O great Muni! Why are you grievous and sorry? You are my Guru; is it that you are insulted
by any one in my kingdom; say freely. All
the Regents of the several quarters (the Lokapâlas) and all the Deva armies are
under your command. Brahmâ, Visnu, and
Mahes'var and other Devas are ready to lend you every assistance, no doubt. So say what is the cause of your anxiety?” Hearing these words of
Indra, Brihaspati said :-- “Chandra has
stolen my beautiful-eyed wife. I asked for her, again and again, but that
wicked soul is not returning me my wife at all. O Lord of the Devas! What am I to do now? You are my help and guide. O S'atakratu! You are the lord of the Devas; therefore I
pray to you with a very grievous heart, help me in this matter.” Hearing this, Indra said :-- “O knower of
Dharma! Do not be sorry. O Suvrata!
I am your servant. O highly intelligent one! Surely I will bring you back your wife. I will send a messenger and even then if
Chandra, mad with pride, do not return your wife, I will wage war with him and
fight against him, with all our Deva armies.” Thus consoling Brihaspati, Indra sent a very
clever man, who was a good speaker and wonderful in his capabilities, to Chandra.
The clever and wise messenger went to
the Chandra Loka (the region of the Moon) and spoke to Chandra, the husband of
Rohinî, thus :-- “O Mahâbhâga! Indra has
sent me to you to communicate his message to you.
So, O intelligent one! I will tell you what he has ordered me; hear.”
He said :-- “O highly fortunate one! You know well Dharma and Nîti S'âstra (the
science of morals); the more so, because the virtuous Maharsi Atri is your
father. Therefore, O Suvrata! You ought not to commit such blameable act. See, all beings should protect their own wives
always without remaining idle to the best of their powers; therefore, no doubt,
quarrels would ensue necessarily on that point. O Sudhânidhi! as far as this point of protecting
one's wife is concerned, your Guru Deva ought also to do his best. You ought to consider all persons like your
own self.
O Sudhâkara! You have got twenty-eight exceedingly
beautiful wives, who are the daughters of Daksa; why then do you desire to
enjoy the wife of your Guru? The beautiful
Apsarâs (celestial nymphs) Menakâ and others are always residing in the Heavens;
you can enjoy them to your heart's content; leave off the wife of your Guru.
In case any powerful man commits an
unworthy act out of egoism, the illiterate ones would follow them; so the
Dharma will decline. Therefore, O highly
lucky one! Do such as does not lead, for
nothing, quarrels amongst the gods and leave your Guru's wife, even beautiful.”
Hearing these words from the messenger,
the Moon (Chandra Deva) became somewhat angry and, making gestures, replied to
the messenger, as if to Indra, thus :-- O
mighty armed one! As you yourself are
the lord of the Devas and the knower of Dharma, so your priest, too, has become
like you; the head of both of you are the same.
You will find many that can show their learning and give advice to
others, but you will find always very rare such persons as will act themselves
to their own advices when occasion arises and wants them to fulfil their own
words. O Lord of the Devas! All the persons take the opinion of the S'âstras
framed by Brihaspati then why the quarrel would ensue with me and the Devas
when I an enjoying, according to his dictates, a woman who is herself willing? See also, that the rule in this world is might
is right; all things go to the powerful man who can take by force; nothing
falls to the lot of the weak; moreover this woman is mine and that woman is of
another, this false notion comes to those whose brains are weak. When Târâ, is so much attached to me and is not
at all attached to Brihaspati, the above rule applicable to me all the more;
how then can I quit the lady so much attached to me, according to the laws of
Dharma and the morals? You can see also,
that happiness reigns in that family where the wife is according to the will of
the husband; how, then, can the household happiness exist when the lady of the
house is always dissatisfied? Therefore the household happiness of the Guru is
impossible as Târâ is dissatified with Brihaspati since he enjoyed the wife of
his younger brother Samvarta. Then the result comes to this, O thousand eyed one!
How have you come to be thousand eyed! However that may be, you are the lord
of the Devas; you can do whatever you
like. O messenger! go and tell your lord
of the Devas all that I have spoken; I will not return by any means that
beautiful Târâ.
When Chandra spoke thus, the messenger
went back to Indra and communicated to him all that Chandra Deva had spoken. Hearing this, Indra became angry and ordered
all the Deva forces to be ready at once. Hearing this news of war, S'ukrâchârya, out of
enmity to Brihaspati, went to Chandra and spoke thus :-- “O highly intelligent
one! never return Târâ; in case if war
ensues between you and Indra, I will help
you by my Mantra-S'akti.” On the other hand,
Bhagavân S'ankara, hearing of the vicious act of Chandra's, taking his Guru's wife,
and knowing that S'ukrachârya was the enemy of Brihaspati, came to the assistance
of the Devas. The great war, then,
ensued between the Devas like the terrific war of Târakâsura; it continued for
many years.
Then the grandfather Brahma, seeing the
great havoc in the lives of the Devas and Asuras, came there on his vâhan
Hamsa, to secure peace and talked to Chandra :-- “Quit the Guru's wife; if not,
I will call Visnu and destroy all of you party.” He also desisted the son of Bhrigu,
S'ukrâcharya, saying :-- “O highly intelligent one! why has this wicked idea
possessed your mind? Is it due to the bad association?” Then S'ukrâchârya also told Chandra, the lord
of the medicinal plants, not to wage war and said :-- “Better quit you now the
Guru's wife. Your father Maharsi Atri
has sent me to you for this purpose.” Chandra, then, hearing the strange words
of S'ukrâchârya, returned to Brihaspati his wife Târâ, though she was not
satisfied with him and became herself pregnant.
Brihaspati returned with joy to his house,
accompanied by his wife; the Devas and Dânavas
went away to their respective places. Brahmâ went to Brahmaloka and S'ankara went to
Kailâs'a.
Brihaspati began to pass his time happily
with his beautiful wife; Some days went away when the wife of Brihaspati, Târâ,
gave birth to an all-auspicious son, having all the qualities of Chandra, on an
auspicious day and under the influence of an auspicious star; seeing this
new-born child, Brihaspati gladly performed the natal ceremonies of the child. Hearing that a son is born to him, Chandra
sent a messenger to Brihaspati saying that “That the child is not his; but it
is born out of the semen of mine; why, then, have you performed the natal
ceremonies out of your own will?” Hearing
these words of Chandra's messenger, Brihaspati said :-- “No, this child is
mine, no doubt, as he
resembles quite like me.” When Brihaspati said this, war again ensued. The Devas and Dânavas met each other again in
battle field; and councils of war were held. Then, for the preservation of peace, Prajâpati
Brahmâ went there; and before all desisted the Devas; and Dânavas, mad for war,
and ready to fight against each other. Brahmâ, then, asked Târâ :-- “O
auspicious one! say truly whose child is this? O beautiful one! if you say truly, then this
war resulting in the loss of so many lives, will cease.” The handsome Târâ, looking askance, lowered
her head with shame and gently spoke to Brahmâ :-- “This is the Chandra's child”
and went inside. Chandra Deva, then,
became very glad and took the child, put down its name as Budha and carried it,
to his own house. Bhagavân Brahmâ, Indra and the other Devas went back to their
respective places. All the spectators
went also to their own places whence they came. O Munis! I have now described the birth of Budha, as
the son of Chandra and in the womb of Brihaspati's wife, as I heard it from the
mouth of Vyâsa Deva, the son of Satyavatî.
Thus ends the eleventh chapter of the 1st
Skandha on the birth of Budha in the Mahâpurâna S'rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of
18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâs.
Source: Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by Swami Vijnanananda
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