05.101

Nārada said:

This city, named Bhogavati, is governed by Vasuki; it is as splendid as Amaravati, the lofty city of the lord of the gods. (5-101-1)

This is Śeṣa, the serpent who always stands here, by whom the earth is ever supported through the ascetic power and great might of that foremost being. (5-101-2)

Shesha is of the appearance of a white mass, adorned with various ornaments, bearing a thousand heads, flame-tongued, and immensely strong. (5-101-3)

Here dwell the nāgas, children of Surasā, adorned with diverse forms and various ornaments, free from distress. (5-101-4)

All of them are naturally fierce and powerful, marked with jewels, svastikas, and wheels, bearing the symbol of a waterpot, and numbering in the thousands. (5-101-5)

Some of them had a thousand heads, some had five hundred faces, others had a hundred heads, and some even had three heads. (5-101-6)

Some had two or five heads, some had seven faces; they had immense coils and massive bodies, these serpents whose forms resembled mountains. (5-101-7)

Here there are many thousands, tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of nāgas of a single lineage; but listen from me to the most eminent among them. (5-101-8)

Vasuki, Takshaka, Karkotaka and Dhananjaya, Kaliya, Nahusha, and both Kambala and Ashvatara. (5-101-9)

Bāhyakuṇḍa, Maṇi, Nāga, likewise Āpūraṇa, Khaga, Vāmana, Ilapatra, Kukura, and Kukuṇa as well. (5-101-10)

Āryaka, Nandaka, Kalashapota and Potaka, Kailasaka, Pinjaraka, Nāga, and also Airavata. (5-101-11)

Sumanomukha, Dadhimukha, Shankha, Nanda and Upananda, Apta, Kotanaka, and also Shikhin and Nishthurika. (5-101-12)

Tittiri, Hastibhadra, Kumuda, Malyapindaka, the two Padmas, Pundarika, Pushpa, and Mudgaraparnaka. (5-101-13)

Karavīra, Pīṭharaka, Saṃvṛtta, Vṛtta also, and Piṇḍāra, Bilvapatra, Mūṣikāda, and Śirīṣaka. (5-101-14)

Dilīpa, Śaṅkhaśīrṣa, Jyotiṣka, then Aparājita, Kauravya, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Kumāra, and Kuśaka also. (5-101-15)

Viraja, Dharana, Subahu, Mukhara, Jaya, Badhira, Andha, Vikunda, Virasa, and Suras as well. (5-101-16)

These and many others are known as the sons of Kaśyapa. Mātali, look—if any one among these pleases you, make your choice. (5-101-17)

Kaṇva said:

But Mātali alone, always watching closely and quite unperturbed, seemed pleased as he asked Nārada there. (5-101-18)

Who is this brilliant, handsome youth standing before Kauravya and Aryaka, the delight of his family? (5-101-19)

Who is his father, and who is his mother? Of which fortunate lineage does he belong, and in whose line does this great man stand out like a banner? (5-101-20)

O divine sage, by his attentive observation, composure, appearance, and age, the excellent husband of Guṇakeśī entered my mind. (5-101-21)

Seeing Mātali pleased at the sight of Sumukha, he then informed him of Sumukha's greatness, birth, and deeds. (5-101-22)

Sumukha, a serpent king named so, born in the family of Airavata, is regarded as Aryaka’s grandson and as Vāmana’s daughter’s son. (5-101-23)

O Mātali, his father was the nāga named Cikura, who was soon killed by the son of Vinatā. (5-101-24)

Then Mātali, his mind delighted, said these words to Nārada: "Dear one, this excellent serpent is pleasing to me as a son-in-law." (5-101-25)

Let effort be made here, for I am truly pleased with him, O sage, to give the beloved daughter of the lord of serpents to him. (5-101-26)