Canto C - The Fourteen Manvantaras concluded

Agni pleased with the hymn granted Śānti two boons; namely, the fire was re-kindled; and Bhūti obtained a son who will be the Manu Bhautya, and became gentle to all.—Agni also blessed the hymn. —The gods, ṛṣis and kings in the Bhautya manvantara are named.—The merits obtained by hearing about the manvantaras are proclaimed.

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

Being thus hymned by him the adorable Fire thereupon appeared before him there, encircled with a halo of flame, O muni. Aud the god who abounds in light, pleased ^[1] indeed with that hymn, O brahman, spoke with a voice as deep as a thunder-cloud’s to Śānti who fell prostrate before him.

Agni spoke:

Well pleased am I with thee, O brāhman, for the praise which thou hast offered in faith. I grant thee a boon; choose what thou desirest.

Śānti spoke:

O adorable god, I have accomplished my object inasmuch as I see thee in bodily shape; nevertheless deign to hear me who bow to thee in faith. My guru has gone from the hermitage to his brother’s sacrifice, O god, and when he shall return to the hermitage may he see the sacrificial altar^[2] with thee for its master. The sacrificial altar that has been forsaken by thee through my transgression, O Fire, may the brāhman see that now presided over by thee as before! And if thou shewest me grace in any other way, O god, then let my guru who is sonless obtain a distinguished son. And as my guru will display friendliness to his son, so may his mind become gentle towards to all beings. And whoever shall praise thee^[3] with this hymn, whereby thou art pleased with me, O changeless god, mayest thou whom I have propitiated bestow a boon on him!

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

On hearing this his speech, Agni, being highly conciliated with the hymn and with his devotion to his guru, spoke to that best of brāhmans.

Agni spoke:

Inasmuch as thou hast asked, O brāhman, for two boons on thy guru’s behalf and not for thyself, therefore I am exceedingly pleased with thee, O great muni. All this shall happen to thy guru, which thou hast prayed for—he shall he friendly to all beings and shall have a son. The son shall be the lord of a manvantara, by name Bhautya, great in strength, great in valour, great in knowledge, O thou who praisest thy guru.^[4]

And whoever with composed mind shall praise me with this hymn, all his desire shall come to pass and he shall have merit. At sacrifices, on festival days, at places of pilgrimage, at sacrifices, at oblations to the gods, and at ceremonies let a man read this sublime hymn, which yields nourishment to me, to attain unto righteousness. This sublime hymn, which yields pleasure to me, when heard once, O brāhman, shall without doubt destroy sin committed by day and night. This hymn when heard shall at once quell the faults and other defects that attend improper oblations and times, and the faults which are committed by unworthy men also who have made such mistakes. This hymn of praise to me, when heard by mortals at full-moon, at new-moon and on other sacred festivals, shall destroy sin.

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

Having spoken thus, adorable Agni became invisible forthwith, while he indeed looked on, O muni, just as the flame upon a lamp expires. And when Agni had departed, Śānti, with mind fully satisfied and with the hair of his body standing erect with gladness, entered the guru’s hermitage. There he saw the fire blazing brightly on the guru’s sacrificial altar as before; thereat he felt an intense joy.

At this moment the guru also of that high-souled disciple returned from his younger brother’s sacrifice to his own hermitage; and before him the disciple paid respectful salutation to his feet. And the guru, after accepting the seat and worship offered, said to him then—“My son, I feel exceeding loving-kindness to thee and to other creatures also. I know not what this is; if thou knowest, my son, tell this quickly unto me.” Thereupon the brāhman Śanti declares all that, namely, the extinction of the fire and the other incidents, to his teacher truly, O great muni. On hearing it the guru with eyes moist through affection embraced him, and gave the disciple the Vedas and Aṅgas and Upāṅgas, O great muni.

A son was born to Bhūti, the Manu named Bhautya. Hear from me of the gods, ṛṣis and kings in his manvantara, namely, those who shall belong to that future Manu, while I declare them at length; and who shall be the lord of the gods in the time of that Manu famous for his deeds. Both the Cākṣuṣas and the Kaniṣṭhas, the Pavitras and the Bhrājiras, and the Dhārāvṛkas—these shall be the five classes of gods according to tradition. Śuci shall be the Indra of those gods then, great in strength, great in valour, endowed with all an Indra’s qualities. And Agnīdhra, and Agnibāhu, Śuci and Mukta, Mādhava, Śukra and Ajita— these seven shall be the ṛṣis then according to tradition. Guru, Gabhīra, and Bradhna, Bharata and Anugraha, and Strīmānin^[5] and Pratīra, Viṣṇu and Saṅktandana,^[6] Tejasvin and Subala—these shall be the Manu Bhautya’s sons. I have declared this fourteenth manvantara to thee.

After hearing of the manvantaras thus in order, O best of munis, a man obtains merit, and a diminished succession.^[7] By listening to the first manvantara a man obtains righteousness. By listening to Śvārociṣa’s period he gains all his desires. He obtains wealth from listening to Auttami’s story, and acquires knowledge in hearing the story of Tāmasa; and when Raivata is heard about, he finds intelligence and a handsome wife. Perfect health accrues to men when Cākṣuṣa is heard of, and strength when Vaivasvata is heard of, and virtuous sons and grandsons when the Sun’s son Sāvarṇika is heard of. A man obtains greatness of soul when BrahmaSāvarṇa is heard of, a bright intellect when Dharma-Sāvarṇika is heard of, victory when Rudra-Sāvarṇika is heard of. A man becomes the chief of his kindred and is endowed with good qualities, when Dakṣa-Sāvarṇika is heard of; he makes his enemies’ power small^[8] after hearing of Raucya, O best of men. He acquires the favour of the gods when the Bhautya manvantara is heard of, and also obtains the sacred fire and sons endowed with good qualities. And whoever listens to all the manvantaras in regular order, O best of munis, hearken to his supreme reward also. After hearing of the gods, ṛṣis, Indras, Manus, their sons the kings, and their genealogies therein, he is delivered from all his sins. And the other gods, ṛṣis, Indras and kings who rule over those manvantaras are pleased with him, and when pleased they bestow a bright intellect. Having obtained then a bright intellect and having performed a splendid deed, he attains a splendid course as long as the fourteen Indras continue.^[9] May all the seasons be salubrious; may all the planets be benign! Assuredly they are so, when he has listened to the ordinance of the manvantaras in their order.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

For prīta-stotreṇa read prītaḥ stotreṇa?

[2]:

For dhiṣṭyam read dhiṣṇyam as in the Bombay edition, here and in the next verse and verse 21. In the next verse dhiṣṇya is treated as a neater noun, but the dictionary gives dhiṣṇya, masc. only, this meaning.

[3]:

For paśyatām read yaś ca tvām with the Bombay edition.

[4]:

Guru-stava. This is better than reading it gurus tava.

[5]:

Śrīmānin in the Bombay edition is better.

[6]:

Saṅkrandana in the Bombay edition.

[7]:

Of future births?

[8]:

Ni-śātayati; not in dictionary.

[9]:

For catur-daśaḥ read catur-āaśa with the Bombay edition.