Canto CXV - Nābhāga’s exploits (continued)

Suprabhā continues her story to Nābhāga—That Pramati reduced Nala to ashes, and, on Sudeva’s imploring pardon, mitigated the curse on Sudeva, with the promise that he should regain his kṣatriya-hood—Also that she had been the daughter of the royal ṛṣi Suratha, and had been cursed by Agastya to be born a vaiśya woman temporarily.

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

After imprecating the curse on him then, Pramati, the descendant of Bhṛgu, enraged and burning up, as it were, the three worlds by reason of his wrath, spoke to Nala, O dvija;—“Inasmuch as thou, Sir, intoxicated with lust, forcibly seizest my wife here in my hermitage, become thou therefor ashes forthwith.” And then immediately as he uttered that speech, Nala, consumed by the fire that sprang from the ṛṣi’s body, became forthwith a heap of ashes.

On seeing that ṛṣi’s power then Sudeva sobered thereat, bending himself in reverence, said thus—“Grant pardon! grant pardon! Let that which I have spoken,^[1] adorable sir, a thing disordered by reason of intoxication through drinking spirituous liquor, be pardoned; be thou gracious; let this curse be turned aside!” Being thus propitiated by him, Pramati, the descendant of Bhṛgu, whose anger had passed off when Nala was burnt up, replied with mind devoid of strong feeling;—“The word which I have uttered shall not be otherwise; nevertheless being gracious I will do thee a supreme favour. Thou, sir, shalt be a vaiśya by race—of this there can be no doubt; thou, a kṣatriya, shalt be a vaiśya soon in the very next birth. When a kṣatriya’s son shall seize thy daughter by force, thou being seized by one of thy own race shalt then become^[2] a kṣatriya again, O vaiśya.” Thus that Sudeva as a vaiśya became my father, O king.

Hear also, illustrious sir, all the story^[3] who I am. There was of yore a royal ṛṣi named Suratha on mount Gandhamādana, who practised austerities, restricted his food, abandoned worldly associations, and abode in the forest. On his seeing then a mainā^[4] fallen from a hawk’s beak to the ground, compassion sprang up within that high-souled ṛṣi, and he swooned therewith; then when the swoon passed off, I was produced from his body, and seeing me he took me with a loving mind. “Because she has been born from me, while I was overcome with compassion, she shall therefore be known by the name Kṛpāvatī”^[5]—so said he, my lord. Thereafter growing up in his hermitage, I used to wander day and night through the woods also with my girl-companions of the same age. Then the muni Agastya’s brother, who was known as Āgastya,^[6] while seeking for forest-products in" the forest, was angered by my girl-companions and cursed me; and I said—“No offence have I committed against thee, O best of dvijas; why because of an offence by other girls hast thou cursed me?”

The ṛṣi spoke:

“By reason of contact with the bad even that which is not bad becomes bad, just as a jar containing the five substances obtained from cows^[7] becomes spoilt if a drop of spirituous liquor falls into it. Since thou hast fallen prostrate and propitiated me by declaring ‘I am not bad,’ hear therefore what^[8] favour I will do to thee, O maiden. When, being born in a vaiśya family, thou shalt admonish thy husband^[9] to undertake kingly rule, thou shalt then fully recover the remembrance of this existence; and thou shalt resume thy kṣatriya caste along with thy husband and shalt obtain heavenly pleasures. Go now, let fear depart from thee!”

Thus was I cursed formerly by that great ṛṣi, O king of kings; and my father was thus cursed by Pramati formerly. So thou art not a vaiśya, O king; nor was my father a vaiśya; nor indeed am I;^[10] how dost thou, who art not degraded, become degraded in marrying me who am not degraded?

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

For yad uktavāṃs tvam, read yad uktavāṃs tvām as in the Poona edition and the commentator says aham must be understood.

[2]:

For bhaviṣyati read bhaviṣyasi.

[3]:

For tvat-sarvam read tat sarvam.

[4]:

Śārikā, a bird.

[5]:

“Full of compassion.”

[6]:

Or Agastya.

[7]:

Milk, cheese, butter, urine and dung.

[8]:

For śṛṇuyāt read śṛṇu yat, as in the Poona edition.

[9]:

Tvam putram, “thou shalt admonish thy son, &c.,” is the reading in the Calcutta and Poona editions, but the latter in its Corrigenda alters it to sva-patim, and I have followed this.

[10]:

Na tvaṃ hi is the reading in the editions, but is incorrect. I venture to amend it to na tv-aham, and have translated it accordingly. Another emendation is to read sa for na, and then the meaning of these and the following words would be—

“How indeed dost thou, who art such and who art undegraded, become degraded in marrying me who am undegraded?”