Canto 9 - Chapter 4: The stories of Nabhaga and King Ambariṣa

Discourse IV

The stories of Nābhāga and King Ambariṣa

Śrī Śuka resumed: A son of Nābhāga (another son of Vaivaswata Manu) was Nābhāga, to whom, the youngest (of his brothers) and (most) learned—(just) returned (from the house of his preceptor after an unusually long period) as a religious student—his (elder) brothers assigned (the maintenance of their (aged) father (Nābhāga) for his share of the ancestral property (which they had already divided among themselves, leaving nothing for Nābhāga, who they thought would remain a lifelong celibate). (1)
"Brothers, what have you set apart for me ?" (he said.) "We (hereby) allot our father to you," (they replied). (Nābhāga then approached his father and said,) "The elder brothers have given you as my share, O dear father !" "Pay no heed to their word, dear child !" (he replied). (2)
"These (neighbouring) Brāhmaṇas, scions of the sage Aṅgirā, are performing at present a (big) sacrifice. Coming (however) to the ritualistic course for every sixth day, the wise ones commit errors in that course, my learned son ! (3)
Teach those noble souls a couple of Sūktas (hymns) in propitiation of (the gods called) the Viśwedevas. While ascending to heaven (on the completion of the sacrifice) they will bestow on you (all) their wealth that may be left after the sacrifice. Therefore, approach them." Then he did in the same way as he was told and the (said) Brāhmaṇas rose to heaven having bestowed on him whatever was left after the sacrifice. (4-5)

Coming up from the north, a certain dark-looking person (who was no other than Rudra, the god of destruction) said to Nābhāga while he was about to appropriate that wealth, "(All) this wealth left on the sacrificial grounds is mine." (6)

Nābhāga (the scion of Vaivaswata Manu) thereupon returned:—"This is mine, (inasmuch as it has been) vouchsafed to me by the sages (who performed this sacrifice)." "Let our question be referred to your father !" (Rudra rejoined.) Nābhāga (approached and) asked his father (Nabhaga) accordingly. (7)
(Nabhaga said,) "At some sacrifice (performed of yore by Dakṣa a lord of created beings) the sages determined everything left on the sacrificial grounds as a share meant for Rudra; hence that god deserves all that wealth." (8)
(Returning and) bowing low to Rudra, Nābhāga said, "The wealth left on the sacrificial grounds is undoubtedly yours, O lord: so says my father, O holy one! With my head bent low (therefore) I pray for Your grace (apologize to You)." (9)
"Since your father", (replied Rudra), "has spoken what is right and you too have uttered the truth, I (hereby) impart to you, the seer of Vedic Mantras, knowledge which is the same as the eternal Brahma (the Absolute). (10)
(Please also) accept (for your subsistence) the wealth left after the sacrifice as a gift from Me." Saying so, Lord Rudra, who is (so) fond of truth, disappeared. (11)
He who with a fully concentrated mind reverently remembers (mentally repeats) this story (both) morning and evening becomes a learned man as well as a knower of (the meaning of) Vedic Mantras and attains his goal (in the shape of final beatitude or God-Realization). (12)
From (the loins of) Nābhāga sprang up Ambariṣa, an eminent devotee of the Lord and (highly) virtuous (too), on whom even the punishment (in the form of the magical fire known as the Kṛtyā) inflicted by a Brāhmaṇa (the sage Durvāsā)—a punishment that was not frustrated anywhere before—had no effect. (13)

The king (Parikṣit) submitted : I long to hear the story of that royal sage, (so) full of wisdom, against whom the scourge fully released by a Brāhmaṇa—which is (so) difficult to avert—did not prove effectual. (14)

Śrī Śuka replied : Having inherited (the dominion of) the (entire) globe with its seven divisions (Dwīpas) and (alongwith it) an inexhaustible store of wealth and unequalled power and luxuries, the highly blessed Ambariṣa regarded all that as equal in value to (no more valuable than) objects seen in a dream—even though it was most difficult to attain in the eyes of men (of the world—knowing as he did the perishableness of (all) wealth, through which man falls a prey to infatuation. (15-16)
He had attained that supreme devotion to Lord Vāsudeva and His pious devotees by virtue of which (all) this (untold) wealth was regarded by him as (no better than) a clod of earth. (17)
He fixed his mind exclusively on the lotus-feet of Lord Viṣṇu (the Enchanter of all); he employed his words (eloquence) in recounting the virtues of Lord Vaikuṇṭha, his hands in sweeping the temple of Śrī Hari and so on, (and) his auditory sense in hearing the excellent stories of the immortal Lord. (18)
He employed his eyes in seeing the idols and temples of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the Bestower of Liberation) and his tactile sense (pervading all the parts of his body) in touching the limbs of His servants (devotees); he devoted his olfactory sense to the fragrance of the blessed Tulasi leaves derived from (the contact of) His lotus-feet and his sense of taste to the food etc., offered to Him. (19)
(Nay,) he employed his feet in repairing on foot to the tracts of land (Mathurā and so on) consecrated to Śrī Hari and his head in bowing to the feet of Lord Viṣṇu (the Controller of our senses) and coveted the offerings (such as wreaths of flowers, sandal-paste, scents and dainties) made to the Lord not with a desire to gratify his senses (only) but with a view to (attaining) His service (as a token of His grace). And he did all this (merely) in order that attachment may be conceived (in his mind) for the servants (devotees) of Lord Viṣṇu (enjoying excellent renown). (20)
Thus resigning from day to day all his round of duties to the supreme Lord, who is above (all) sense-perception and whose worship excels all other sacred observances, and practising devotion to Him with his entire being, he ruled the earth, it is said, as instructed by Brāhmaṇas (like the sage Vasiṣṭha) devoted to Him. (21)
He propitiated the almighty Lord presiding over sacrifices through (a number of) horse-sacrifices conducted by Vasiṣṭha, Asita, Gautama and other sages in a desert land facing the stream of the Saraswati river—sacrifices that had all their limbs as well as sacrificial fees (paid to the priests and other Brāhmaṇas) supplemented by abundant riches. (22)
In his sacrifices the superintending priests as well as the priests officiating at the sacrifice and other men (assembled there), who were (all) richly dressed (and adorned too) and were gazing with unwinking eyes* (in wonder), looked alike in appearance with the gods (present there). (23)
(Even) the celestial region, beloved of immortals, was never solicited by his men (much less by the king himself—), who (constantly) heard and chanted the stories of Lord Viṣṇu (of excellent renown). (24)
(Nay,) pleasures of sense which were not easily attainable even to the Siddhas (a class of demigods endowed with mystic powers from their very birth) did not delight the aforesaid men—who (always) perceived Lord Mukunda in their heart—eclipsed as they were by the bliss of Self-Realization (enjoyed by them). (25)
Thus propitiating Śrī Hari through the practice of Devotion coupled with asceticism, as well as through (the performance of) his (sacred) duties, the aforesaid king gradually gave up all attachments. (26)
With respect to his houses, wife, children and (other) relations, excellent elephants, chariots, horses and foot-soldiers, inexhaustible (store of) jewels, ornaments and weapons etc., as well as regarding his endless treasuries he developed the notion that they were (all) unreal. (27)
Pleased with his exclusive devotion and love, Śrī Hari delivered to him His own discus (Sudarśana), the terror of His adversaries and the protector of his servants.(28)

• The gods too are believed to possess eyes which never wink.

Intending to please ( the all-enchanting) Lord Viṣṇu, the heroic king (Ambarīṣa) undertook (in right earnest) alongwith his wife, who had a similar disposition, a vow to fast on every Dwādaśī (the twelfth day of either fortnight of a lunar month) for a whole year.* (29)
On one Dwādaśī day (the day following the fast) during the month of Kārtika, the king, who had duly fasted for three (previous) nights† and bathed in the river Kālindi (Yamunā), worshipped Śrī Hari in the (sacred) forest of Madhuvana (on the site of which was built the city of Mathurā later on). (30)
Having bathed Lord Viṣṇu (the Ruler even of Brahmā and Śiva) according to the procedure (laid down in the scriptures) for a royal bath, requiring a rich variety of accessories (such as sandal-paste and flowers for scenting the water with), he worshipped Him with his mind absorbed in Him by offering raiment and ornaments as well as sandal-paste, flowers, water for washing the hands with and other articles of worship, and (similarly) honoured with reverence the highly blessed (devoted) Brāhmaṇas even though they had (all) their objects accomplished (and thus did not seek any honour). (31-32)
He (then) gifted so pious Brāhmaṇas and sent to their houses sixty crores of cows endowed with (abundant) milk, good disposition, young age and a good appearance and accompanied by their calves and (necessary) appendages (which are usually given alongwith a cow, such as a vessel for holding milk while milking a cow) and which had their horns plated with gold and hoofs with silver and were covered with excellent pieces of cloth. He first gave the Brāhmaṇas delicious and most excellent food to eat and, permitted by them, when they had received all their desired objects (such as presents of money), he set about concluding the fast (by taking his meal). That very moment there appeared before him an unexpected guest in the person of no less a personage than the glorious sage Durvāsā. (33—35)

• Although every Vaiṣṇava or votary of the Lord Viṣṇu is enjoined to fast on the eleventh day of either fortnight of each lunar month throughout his life, Ambariṣa obviously took this vow for a period of one year only and that too in Madhuvana in order to impress on the people the advisability of fasting on this day.
  † Anyone observing a fast on the Ekādaśī day is expected to have one meal only on the preceding as well as on the the following day and to observe a total fast, abstaining from all food and drink including water, on the Ekādaśī. It is in this sense alone that King Ambariṣa should be taken to have fasted on three consecutive nights.

(Putting off his meal,) the king honoured the newcomer by rising from his seat, offering a (high) seat and other articles of worship and, approaching (bowing at) the soles of his feet, prayed him to dine. (36)
Having gladly accepted his prayer, the sage went (out) to finish his routine work (for midday, viz., bathing and devotions) and, fixing his mind on the Infinite, plunged into the sacred water of the Kālindi (for a bath). (37)
Since (only) half a Muhūrta (or twenty-four minutes) was left of the twelfth day (and it was necessary to conclude the fast during the hours of the Dwādaśī itself), Ambariṣa (who knew what was right) began to deliberate with the Brāhmaṇas on the question of concluding the fast in the face of such a moral crisis (conflict of duties). (38)
(He said:) "Since there is sin in showing disrespect to a Brāhmaṇa (by inviting him to a dinner in the first instance and then taking one's meal before feeding him) and there is (also) sin in not concluding one's fast (for the Ekādaśī day) within (the hours of) the (following) Dwādaśī, pray, tell me a course of action consequent upon which good may betide me and sin may not touch me. (39)
(Then, arriving at a conclusion in consultation with the Brāhmaṇas, he said to himself,) Since to take water—so declare the Brāhmaṇas—that is as good as taking food (for the purpose of breaking one's fast) and at the same time it is no eating, hence I shall break my fast with water alone." (40)
Having thus taken water and contemplating on the immortal Lord with his mind, that royal sage (Ambariṣa) only awaited, O jewel of the Kurus, the return of the Brāhmaṇa (the sage Durvāsā). (41)
Having gone through his (midday) routine, the sage Durvāsā (too) returned (in the meanwhile) from the bank of the Yamunā and, (even when) greeted by the king, came to know his act (of drinking water) by intuition. (42)
With (all) his limbs shaking through rage and with a face (looking) curved due to a frown, the sage, who was (feeling) extremely hungry too, spoke (as follows) with reference to the emperor, who stood with joined palms (before the sage):—(43)
'Oh, look at the violation of Dharma (the principles of righteousness) on the part of this cruel monarch, intoxicated with fortune and lacking in devotion to Lord Viṣṇu, and looking upon himself as all-powerful, in that having invited me, arrived (at his door) as a newcomer, to accept his hospitality, has broken his fast without offering food to me! (Turning to the king himself,) I shall forthwith show you as such the consequences (of your unrighteous act)." (44-45)
Speaking thus and pulling a matted lock (from his head), the sage, who was inflamed with anger, created by means of it a female evil spirit (Kṛtyā), akin to the fire seen at the time of universal dissolution, in order to get rid of Ambariṣa. (46)
Though clearly perceiving her overhead, emitting flames and rushing (toward him), sword in hand, making the earth quake under her feet, the emperor did not stir from his place. (47)
Already* told off by Lord Viṣṇu (the supreme Person), the universal Spirit, for the protection of His devotee (King Ambariṣa), the discus (Sudarśana) burnt the aforesaid Kṛtyā (even) as fire would burn an angry serpent. (48)
Frightened to see over his head the discus rushing towards himself (after burning the Kṛtyā) and his own endeavour (to kill Ambariṣa) infructuous, the sage rad in his anxiety to save his life in different directions. (49)
Sudarśana (the discus of the Lord) pursued him (even) as a wild fire with its flames thrown upwards (by the wind) would chase a serpent. Observing the discus close upon his heels as aforesaid, the sage fled in his eagerness to enter a cave of Mount Meru. (50)
(Flying in this way) Durvāsā betook himself to (all) the quarters, the sky (the aerial region), (the various parts of) the terrestrial world, the subterranean regions, the (seven) oceans, the (different) spheres as well as their guardians and heaven (too). (But) Whithersoever he fled, he saw (at his back) in each such region the formidable Sudarśana. (51)
When (however) no protector was found by him anywhere, he got frightened at heart and, seeking an asylum, approached the glorious Brahmā (the creator) and prayed (as follows): "O maker (of the universe), O Brahmā (the self born), protect me from the might (in the form of the discus) of Lord Viṣṇu (who is conquered by none)." (52)

Brahmā observed : After a period of two Parārdhas, when the pastime (of the Lord in the shape of creation etc., of the universe) is over, my sphere alongwith (the rest of) the universe will surely vanish as a result of the mere contraction of brows on the part of the Lord in the form of the Time-Spirit, eager to burn away (all) this (objective universe). (53)
Myself, Lord Śiva (the source of the universe) and others with Dakṣa and Bhr̥gu at their head—the foremost of Prajāpatis (lords of created beings), Bhūtapatis (the lords of ghosts and other evil spirits) and the chief of the gods (such as Indra)—we all submissively obey His Law, beneficial to the (whole) world, as a burden placed on our head. (Hence we are unable to protect you against His wrath). (54)
(Thus) refused by Brahmā (the creator) and scorched by Sudarśana (the discus of Lord Viṣṇu), the sage Durvāsā sought as his shelter Lord Śiva (the Destroyer of the universe), who lives on Mount Kailāsa. (55)

Śrī Rudra remarked : "We have no power, O dear son, over the infinite (all-pervading) Supreme, in whom indeed other universes too—as vast as this—forming the body of Jivas (embodied souls) in the person of Brahmā (the birthless creator) appear in thousands at the appointed time (the time of creation) and (then) cease (merge in Him at the time of final dissolution)—universes in which we (Brahmā and Myself) are being tossed about (like tiny insects). (56)
Myself, the sages Sanatkumāra and Nārada, the glorious Brahmā (the creator), Lord Kapila, the sages Apāntaratama and Devala, Dharma (the god of piety), the sage Āsuri and other omniscient lords of Siddhas (inspired seers) headed by the sage Marīci—we are all unable to penetrate (the veil of) His Māyā (deluding potency), enveloped as we are by that Māyā. (57-58)
Since this is a weapon of that Lord of the universe and therefore hard to resist for us, (please) seek Him alone as Your protector. (I am sure) Śrī Hari will bring you security." (59)
Having no hope (of help from any other quarter) left, the sage Durvāsā went from there to the Lord's (own) realm, called Vaikuṇṭha, in which resides Lord Viṣṇu (the Abode of Śrī) alongwith (His divine Spouse) Śrī (the goddess of fortune). (60)
Being scorched by the fire of Sudarśana (the missile of Lord Viṣṇu, who is conquered by none), the sage fell shuddering at the soles of the Lord's feet and said, "O immortal and infinite Lord, sought for by the righteous, O Protector of the universe, (kindly) do protect me, an offender (that I am). (61)
An offence has been committed by me against those beloved of You, ignorant as I was of Your supreme glory. (Pray,) wipe off that sin, O Director (of the universe)! By the (very utterance of Your Name even a denizen of hell gets liberated." (62)

The glorious Lord said: My heart having been (completely) taken possession of by My pious devotees, I am really subject to the control of such devotees like one who is not self-dependent, O Brāhmaṇa. And I am the (only) beloved of My devotees. (63)
As apart from My pious devotees, to whom I am the highest goal, I covet neither Myself nor Goddess Śrī (My Consort), who is eternal (like Myself), O holy sage! (64)
How dare I forsake them who, having renounced (all attachments for) their wife, house, children and relations, (nay,) their (very) life and wealth and (their welfare in) this and the other world, have sought Me as their protector? (65)
Pious souls who have fastened their heart on Me and look upon all with the same eye enthral Me by (their) devotion (even) as virtuous ladies enthral their virtuous husband. (66)
(Feeling) sated through Devotion, they do not desire even the four types of final beatitude, beginning with Sālokya or residence in the same heaven with the Lord (the other three types being Sāmīpya or close proximity with the Lord, Sārūpya or similarity of form with the Lord and Sāyujya or absorption into the Lord), though attained (actually) through service rendered to Me. How (then) can they covet anything else (such as the position of Indra) which is subject to the ravages of Time? (67)
Pious souls (devotees) are My (very) heart (most beloved of Me), while I am the (very) heart (the most beloved) of the righteous. They do not cognize anything else (dearer) than Me nor do I know in the least anyone else (dearer) than them. (68)
I shall (however) point out to you a means of escape (from this calamity), O Durvāsā! (Please) hear it Seek him alone because of whom this violence perpetrated by you has actually (recoiled on you and thus) proved to be an act of self-immolation. Force employed against the righteous brings harm to the striker (himself). (69)
Asceticism and worship (offered to a deity) are both conducive to the highest good (final beatitude) for Brāhmaṇas (endowed with humility and other virtues). In the case (however) of a doer who is lacking in modesty, those very practices lead to contrary results (prove harmful). (70)
Therefore, O Brāhmaṇa, may good betide you; approach King Ambariṣa (the son of Nābhāga) and seek the forgiveness of that highly blessed soul. Then (alone) will peace (of mind) come (to you). (71)

Thus ends the fourth discourse, forming part of the story of Ambariṣa, in Book Nine of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhitā.