Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 2 Chapter 7:1-8

Book 2: Chapter 7

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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 2: Chapter 7: Verses 1-8
The stories of the Lord's sportful descents

Brahma continued : When the infinite Lord assumed the form of the divine Boar, representing all kinds of sacrifices, and determined to lift the earth (from the bottom of the ocean), Hiranyaksa (the very first progeny of Diti) came upon Him (for an encounter) inside that great ocean and the Lord tore him to death with His tusks even as Indra (the wielder of the thunderbolt) clipped the wings of the mountains. Next He was born as the son of Ruci ( who belonged to the class known as the Prajapatis or lords of created beings) and his wife Akuti ( a daughter of the very first Manu Swayambhuva) under the name of Suyajna (who held the position of Indra in the first, i.e., Swayambhuva Manvantara), and begot through His Consort, Daksina, a group of gods who bore the title of Suyama. When (as Indra) He relieved the great affliction of all the three worlds, He was renamed by Swayambhuva (His maternal grandfather) as Hari (the Reliever of distress). Again He was born, 0 Narada, as the son of Kardama (another Prajapati) and his wife Devahuti (under the name of Kapila) with nine sisters, and imparted to His mother the Knowledge of the spirit, by means of which she wiped off in the course of that very life the dirt of attachment to the world of matter, which had polluted her heart, and attained to the state of Kapila (i.e., final beatitude). Pleased with the sage Atri (one of the seven sages who held the office of the Saptarsis during the first Manvantara and was so-called because he had transcended the three Gunas or modes of Prakrti), who sought from Him a son, He said, "I have given Myself as a son to you l" That is why the Lord became known by the name of Datta[1] (when He was born as a son of Atri). Purified in body by the dust of His lotus-feet, Yadu, Sahasrabahu (who was born in the clan of Ksatriyas bearing the title of'Haihaya' ) and other kings realized the twofold consummation of Yoga (in the shape of enjoyment and liberation). At the dawn of creation I (Brahma) practised austerity for the purpose of creating the various worlds. As a result of that penance of mine the eternal Lord appeared in the form of the four brothers (Sanatkumara, Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanatana), all of whom bear the word 'Sana' as a part of their names, and fully expounded in the present Kalpa the truth of the Spirit, which had been lost during the Dissolution at the end of the preceding Kalpa, and which the sages forthwith perceived in their heart (as a result of that exposition). Of Murti, a daughter of Daksa and the wife of Dharma (the god of virtue), He was born as the twin sages Narayana and Nara, who were unequalled in the glory of their austere penance. The celestial nymphs who accompanied the god of love as his army to conquer them beheld there other nymphs, as charming as themselves, evolved by dint of their Yogic power, and could not violate the sanctity of their vow. Pious souls (like Lord Siva) may burn down the god of love with their angry look; but they cannot burn anger, which they find too much to endure and which burns their own self. Such anger is afraid to enter the pure heart of the divine sages Nara and Narayana; how, then, could lust ever penetrate their mind ? Pierced by the shaft-like words of his step-mother (Suruci) in the presence of his royal father (king Uttanapada), Dhruva, who was yet a child, betook himself to the woods to practise austere penance. Pleased with the praises that he uttered, the Lord bestowed upon him an eternal abode (in the shape of the polar star) which celestial sages extol (to this day) while coursing round it both up and down.

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References

  1. 'Datta' is a passive past particle from the root 'Da' (to give) and therefore means " Given"

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