Chapter 3: Uparicara Vasu, Girikā and Adrikā; Satyavatī and the birth of Dvaipāyana.

Uparichara Vasu receives Cedi at Indra's direction

Vaiśampāyana said:

[PV-KDV:01_006_1] (Bharata)

There was a king named Uparicara, a ruler ever devoted to righteousness. Once he resolved to go hunting. (BORI: 1-057-1)

[PV-KDV:01_006_2] (Bharata)

On Indra’s advice, King Vasu, the delight of the Pauravas, took possession of the lovely land of Cedi, which was worthy of acquisition. (BORI: 1-057-2)

[PV-KDV:01_006_3] (Bharata)

The thunderbolt-wielding god himself came in person to that king, who was living in a hermitage with his weapons laid aside, devoted to austerities. (BORI: 1-057-3)

[PV-KDV:01_006_4] (Bharata)

Uparichara receives a divine aerial chariot, an unfading victory garland tand a bamboo staff from Indra

Thinking, “This king deserves Indra’s sovereignty because of his austerities,” Indra himself gently persuaded the king to abandon them. (BORI: 1-057-4)

[PV-KDV:01_006_5] (Bharata)

Indra said:

[PV-KDV:01_006_6] (Bharata)

Do not let this dharma fall into confusion on earth, lord of the earth. Protect it, for when upheld, dharma sustains the entire world. (BORI: 1-057-5)

[PV-KDV:01_006_7] (Bharata)

Ever steadfast and composed, uphold the dharma that benefits the world. Then, devoted to dharma, you will attain the eternal blessed worlds. (BORI: 1-057-6)

[PV-KDV:01_006_8] (Bharata)

Dwelling on earth, become the beloved friend of me who dwell in heaven, and inhabit, O king, that land which is the earth’s udder. (BORI: 1-057-7)

[PV-KDV:01_006_9] (Bharata)

A great crystal aerial chariot, divine and fit for the gods’ use, will come to you in the sky as my gift. (BORI: 1-057-13)

[PV-KDV:01_006_15] (Bharata)

You alone among all mortals will travel aloft in that finest of aerial chariots, like a god in bodily form. (BORI: 1-057-14)

[PV-KDV:01_006_16] (Bharata)

I give you this garland of victory, whose lotuses never fade; in battle it will protect you from being wounded by weapons. (BORI: 1-057-15)

[PV-KDV:01_006_17] (Bharata)

This itself will be your emblem here, O king—renowned as Indra’s Garland, auspicious, peerless, and magnificent. (BORI: 1-057-16)

[PV-KDV:01_006_18] (Bharata)

Vaiśampāyana said:

[PV-KDV:01_006_19] (Bharata)

The slayer of Vritra also gave him a bamboo staff, intended to grant wishes and protect the virtuous. (BORI: 1-057-17)

[PV-KDV:01_006_20] (Bharata)

Then the king of the Cedis, adorned with the ornaments Indra had given him, boarded the celestial chariot bestowed by Indra and departed for his city. (KUMB: 1-64-19)

[PV-KDV:01_006_21] (Bharata)

Vasu installs his five sons as rulers of separate kingdoms and, dwelling in Indra’s celestial palace among Gandharvas and Apsarases, comes to be known as Uparicara

He had five sons of immense valor and immeasurable might, and the emperor installed them as rulers in different kingdoms. (BORI: 1-057-28)

[PV-KDV:01_006_32] (Bharata)

the renowned great chariot-warrior Bṛhadratha, king of Magadha; Pratyagraha; Kuśāmba, whom they call Maṇivāhana; Macchilla; and Yadu, the unconquered prince. (BORI: 1-057-29)

[PV-KDV:01_006_33] (Bharata)

These, O king, were the sons of that immensely powerful royal seer. The five sons of Vasu, all kings, established lands and cities bearing their own names, and each founded an enduring dynasty. (BORI: 1-057-30)

[PV-KDV:01_006_34] (Bharata)

Gandharvas and Apsarases attended that great-hearted king as he dwelt in Indra’s crystal palace in the sky. His name then became renowned as King Uparicara. (BORI: 1-057-31)

[PV-KDV:01_006_35] (Bharata)

Vasu strikes Mount Kolāhala, frees the river Śuktimatī, receives her twin children, appoints the son commander, and marries the daughter Girikā.

It is said that Mount Kolāhala, endowed with consciousness and impelled by desire, blocked the river Śuktimatī, which flowed past his city. (BORI: 1-057-32)

[PV-KDV:01_006_36] (Bharata)

But Vasu struck Mount Kolāhala with his foot, and through the opening made by that blow, the river flowed out. (BORI: 1-057-33)

[PV-KDV:01_006_37] (Bharata)

The mountain himself fathered twins by that river. Pleased to have been freed from him, the river presented them to the king. (BORI: 1-057-34)

[PV-KDV:01_006_38] (Bharata)

Vasu, that best of royal sages and bestower of wealth, made the male who had been born there, a subduer of enemies, his commander; and the king made the maiden Girikā his beloved wife. (BORI: 1-057-35)

[PV-KDV:01_006_39] (Bharata)

Vasu’s seed falls into the Yamunā; Adrikā bears twins, ending her curse. Vasu accepts the boy, while the fish-smelling girl is given to the fisherman.

At the proper time, Vasu’s wife Girika, moved by desire, informed him that her fertile season had arrived; she had bathed and was pure for the begetting of a son. (BORI: 1-057-36)

[PV-KDV:01_006_40] (Bharata)

That day his ancestors, pleased with him—the best of kings and foremost of the wise—said, “Kill the deer.” (BORI: 1-057-37)

[PV-KDV:01_006_41] (Bharata)

Without disobeying that command of his fathers, the king went hunting, filled with desire and thinking of Girikā, who was exceedingly beautiful, like another Śrī in person. (BORI: 1-057-38)

[PV-KDV:01_006_42] (Bharata)

As he roamed through the lovely forest, his semen was discharged; and as soon as it had spilled, the king, with a leaf from a tree… (BORI: 1-057-39)

[PV-KDV:01_006_43] (Bharata)

He caught it. “May my semen not be shed in vain, and may my wife’s fertile season not prove fruitless”—the lord… (BORI: 1-057-40)

[PV-KDV:01_006_44] (Bharata)

The king, best of kings, having reflected thus and considered the matter again and again, and knowing that his seed could not be fruitless… (BORI: 1-057-41)

[PV-KDV:01_006_45] (Bharata)

Seeing that it was time to send his semen to the queen, he consecrated it with a spell. Then, noticing a swift-flying hawk nearby, he—versed in the subtleties of dharma and artha—said to it: (BORI: 1-057-42)

[PV-KDV:01_006_46] (Bharata)

Gentle one, as a favor to me, carry this seed of mine to my home. Give it quickly to Girikā, for today is her fertile period. (BORI: 1-057-43)

[PV-KDV:01_006_47] (Bharata)

Then the swift hawk took it, flew up at once, and sped away at full speed. (BORI: 1-057-44)

[PV-KDV:01_006_48] (Bharata)

Then another hawk saw that hawk approaching and immediately attacked him, suspecting as soon as he saw him that he was carrying food. (BORI: 1-057-45)

[PV-KDV:01_006_49] (Bharata)

The two birds then fought with their beaks in the sky. As they fought, the semen fell into the waters of the Yamuna. (BORI: 1-057-46)

[PV-KDV:01_006_50] (Bharata)

There, a foremost Apsaras named Adrikā, who had assumed the form of a fish because of Brahmā’s curse, lived in the Yamunā. (BORI: 1-057-47)

[PV-KDV:01_006_51] (Bharata)

Then Adrika, in the form of a fish, swiftly approached and swallowed Vasu’s seed, which had fallen from the hawk’s talons. (BORI: 1-057-48)

[PV-KDV:01_006_52] (Bharata)

Once, fishermen caught that fish. When the tenth month had arrived, O best of the Bharatas, they drew from her belly a human female and male. (BORI: 1-057-49)

[PV-KDV:01_006_53] (Bharata)

Considering this a marvel, they reported it to the king: “O king, these two human beings were born in the body of the fish.” (BORI: 1-057-50)

[PV-KDV:01_006_54] (Bharata)

King Uparicara then took the male of the two. He became a king named Matsya, righteous and true to his word. (BORI: 1-057-51)

[PV-KDV:01_006_55] (Bharata)

That apsara was freed from her curse in an instant, as the Lord had previously told her: “Fair one, once you have entered an animal womb and given birth to two human children, you will be released from the curse.” (BORI: 1-057-52)

[PV-KDV:01_006_56] (Bharata)

Then, after giving birth to the two when she was cut open by the fisherman, she cast off her fish form, assumed a divine form, and, as a splendid Apsaras, departed along the path of the Siddhas, seers, and Charanas. (BORI: 1-057-53)

[PV-KDV:01_006_57] (Bharata)

The girl, that fish’s daughter, smelled of fish. Endowed with beauty and noble character and possessed of every virtue, she was then given by the king to a fisherman with the words, “Let her be yours.” (BORI: 1-057-54)

[PV-KDV:01_006_58] (Bharata)

That fair-smiling girl was named Satyavati, but because she lived with a fisherman, she smelled of fish for some time. (BORI: 1-057-55)

[PV-KDV:01_006_59] (Bharata)

Parāśara unites with Satyavatī, restores her virginity, grants fragrance, and fathers Dvaipāyana.

As she plied her father’s boat upon the water in order to serve him, Parashara saw her while journeying among the sacred fords on pilgrimage. (BORI: 1-057-56)

[PV-KDV:01_006_60] (Bharata)

As soon as he saw her—exceptionally beautiful, lovely to behold, and desired even by the Siddhas—that intelligent and learned foremost of sages, intent on his purpose, desired the maiden Vāsavī. (BORI: 1-057-57)

[PV-KDV:01_006_61] (Bharata)

She said, “Look, venerable sir, at the seers standing on both banks. How can we unite while they can see us?” (BORI: 1-057-58)

[PV-KDV:01_006_62] (Bharata)

Thus addressed by her, the divine and mighty lord created a mist, by which that entire region became as though shrouded in darkness. (BORI: 1-057-59)

[PV-KDV:01_006_63] (Bharata)

Then, seeing the mist created by the great sage, the high-minded maiden, astonished and embarrassed, said to him: (BORI: 1-057-60)

[PV-KDV:01_006_64] (Bharata)

Know, holy sir, that I am a maiden, always subject to my father’s will. Through union with you, sinless one, my maidenhood would be defiled. (BORI: 1-057-61)

[PV-KDV:01_006_65] (Bharata)

And if my maidenhood is violated, how shall I be able to return home, best of Brahmins? Yet, wise one, I cannot bear to remain in the house. Consider this, venerable sir, and then do what is appropriate. (BORI: 1-057-62)

[PV-KDV:01_006_66] (Bharata)

Pleased with her after she had spoken thus, the excellent sage said, “Once you have granted my desire, you will be a maiden again.” (BORI: 1-057-63)

[PV-KDV:01_006_67] (Bharata)

Choose a boon, timid girl—whatever you desire, radiant lady. For never before, pure-smiling one, has my favor been in vain. (BORI: 1-057-64)

[PV-KDV:01_006_68] (Bharata)

Thus addressed, she chose as her boon an exquisite fragrance for her body, and the blessed lord granted her what her heart desired. (BORI: 1-057-65)

[PV-KDV:01_006_69] (Bharata)

Then, delighted at having received the boon and adorned with the charms of womanhood, she united with the sage of wondrous deeds. (BORI: 1-057-66)

[PV-KDV:01_006_70] (Bharata)

Because of this, she became renowned on earth by the name Gandhavatī; people on earth could smell her fragrance from a yojana away. (BORI: 1-057-67)

[PV-KDV:01_006_71] (Bharata)

Thus she became widely known by the name Yojanagandhā. The blessed Parāśara then returned to his own dwelling. (BORI: 1-057-68)

[PV-KDV:01_006_72] (Bharata)

Thus delighted, Satyavatī, having received the unsurpassed boon and united with Parāśara, immediately gave birth to the child she had conceived. On an island in the Yamunā, that mighty son of Parāśara was born. (BORI: 1-057-69)

[PV-KDV:01_006_73] (Bharata)

After attending upon his mother, he set his mind on asceticism. He also said, “Whenever you remember me, I shall appear to help with your tasks.” (BORI: 1-057-70)

[PV-KDV:01_006_74] (Bharata)

Thus Dvaipayana was born to Satyavati by Parashara. Since he was left as an infant on an island, he came to be called Dvaipayana. (BORI: 1-057-71)

[PV-KDV:01_006_75] (Bharata)

Then Satyavatī, delighted, returned to her dwelling. People on earth could smell her fragrance from a yojana away. (KUMB: 1-64अ-83)

[PV-KDV:01_006_76] (Bharata)

The king of the fishermen inhaled that scent with delight. “They call you Matsyagandhā; how is it, child, that you are fragrant?” (KUMB: 1-64अ-84)

[PV-KDV:01_006_77] (Bharata)

Who removed your fishy odor and gave you this fragrance? The greatly wise son of Śakti, known as Parāśara… (KUMB: 1-64अ-85)

[PV-KDV:01_006_78] (Bharata)

Seeing me skillfully ferrying the boat, he removed my fish smell and gave me a fragrance that carried for a yojana. (KUMB: 1-64अ-86)

[PV-KDV:01_006_79] (Bharata)

Seeing the sage’s favor, the people were delighted. This is how I acquired my fragrance, so you should not be angry. (KUMB: 1-64अ-87)

[PV-KDV:01_006_80] (Bharata)