When, O great king! Urjoon having made this compact, had thus spoken, the brahmin was satisfied, and went to his home; afterwards when the child was about to be born, the brahmin came to Urjoon, who rose up and went with him, taking his bow and arrows and having gone to the brahmin’s house, so thatched it with arrows, that even air could not have access between the arrows, and he began to walk round the house himself in every direction, with his bow and arrows in his hand.
Having proceeded thus far in the narrative, Shree Shookdeo Jee said to the Raja Pureechit,—O great king! Urjoon formed many plans for saving the child, but it was not saved. On another day he was weeping at the time of the child’s expected birth; on that day the child did not even breathe, but came forth dead from the womb. Urjoon having heard of the child having come forth dead was ashamed, and went to Shree Krishnù Chund, and the brahmin went after him; the brahmin came crying, and began to say, “Urjoon! a curse is upon thee, and thy life for showing thy face in the world, after having spoken falsely; O eunuch! if you could not save my child from death, why did you make an agreement to do so, and to bring and show me my other deceased sons, if you could not save this one?”
On hearing these words, O great king! Urjoon rose up, and taking his bow and arrows, went thence, to the capital of Jum to Dhurumraj, who stood up on seeing him, and joining his hands, and eulogizing Urjoon, said,—“O great king! for what reason have you come here?” Urjoon replied, “I have come to take away with me the sons of a certain brahmin.” Dhurumraj said “Those children are not here.” When Dhurumraj had thus spoken, Urjoon departed thence, and wandered over all places, but did not find the brahmin’s children. At length, he came to the city of Dwarka in a state of grief and regret; and, having erected a funeral pile, prepared to be burnt upon it with his bow and arrows having then lighted the pile, when Urjoon was about to sit down upon it, Shree Moorari, the destroyer of pride, came, and laid hold of his hand, and said laughing, “Urjoon! do not burn thyself, I will fulfil thy compact, and will bring that brahmin’s sons from whatever place they may be in.” The lord of the three worlds having thus spoken and ascended his chariot, went to the eastward, taking Urjoon with him; and, having crossed the seven seas, arrived at the mountainous belt, bounding the world. Having on arrival there descended from the chariot, they entered a very dark cave. Then Shree Krishnù Chund Jee gave an order to the quoit Soodursun, who, having created a light, equal to the splendour of hundred million of suns, went in advance of Krishnù and dispelled the great darkness from before him. Having left the darkness they proceeded a short distance, and then they went into water; there were great waves into which they entered, shutting their eyes, Krishnù and Urjoon swam to the abode of the king of the serpent race, who upholds the world.
Having opened their eyes on going there, they beheld a large, long, broad, lofty, very elegant golden house, covered with jewels; and there, upon the head of the king of the serpent race was an ornamented throne, upon which, in the form of a black cloud, of an elegant shape, with a moon-like body, eyes like the lotus, wearing a diadem and ear-rings, dressed in yellow, with a yellow silken cloth bound on him, having on a garland of flowers reaching to his feet, and a necklace of pearls, the lord himself of a fascinating appearance dwelt; and Bruhmù, Roodrù, Indrù and all the gods standing up in his presence, were glorifying him.
O great king! having beheld this handsome figure, Urjoon and Shree Krishnù Chund Jee went into the presence of the lord; and, having performed obeisance, and joined their hands, mentioned all the reasons of their journey. On hearing their speech the lord had all the brahmin’s children brought there, and given to them; and Urjoon was delighted at seeing and receiving them. Then the lord said, “You are both portions of my body, behold Huri and Urjoon to whom my heart desires; you went upon the earth to remove its burthens, and have conferred great happiness on holy and virtuous men; you have destroyed all the demons and evil spirits, and adjusted the affairs of gods, men and sages; you both are parts of me; your business has been accomplished.” Having thus spoken, Bhugwan allowed Urjoon and Shree Krishnù Jee to take leave, who came to the city, bringing the children with them; and the brahmin received his children; there were rejoicings and festivities in every house.
Having recited thus much, Shree Shookdeo Jee said to Raja Pureechit,—O great king! whoever shall hear this story, and reflect upon it, his sons shall be prosperous.
Shree Shookdeo Jeesaid,—O great king! Shree Krishnù Chund constantly dwelt in the city of Dwarka, where increase and plenty flourished in the houses of all the descendants of Judoo; the men and women were decorated with jewels and ornaments, and had a lively appearance; they applied scents, sandal and perfumes to their bodies; the mahajuns had places cleanly swept and sprinkled with water in the markets, roads and cross-roads, where traders of different countries brought all kinds of articles of merchandize for sale. Here and there the inhabitants of the city amused themselves. In different places brahmins read the Vedas, and in every house persons recited the Pooranùs; holy and virtuous men sung the praises of Huri during the eight watches. Charioteers brought chariots, horses and bullocks, harnessed to the royal gate. Brave, bold, resolute, powerful descendants of Judoo in chariots and carriages, and mounted on elephants and horses came to pay their respects to the Raja. Persons of skill amused him by dancing, singing and playing upon musical instruments. Bards and panegyrists received elephants, horses, dresses, arms, grain, money and golden ornaments, studded with jewels, for celebrating his renown.
Having narrated thus much, Shree Shookdeo Jee said to the Raja, O great king! whilst Raja Oogursen engaged thus in various diversions in the metropolis of his empire, Shree Krishnù Chund, the root of joy, constantly amused himself with his sixteen thousand one hundred and eight wives. Sometimes the wives being overcome by their passion, made a figure in the likeness of Krishnù; and sometimes Huri, powerless from love, dressed his wives; and the sports and diversions they carried on together cannot be described. I cannot speak of them, they required to be seen. Shookdeo Jee after this said,—O great king! one night Shree Krishnù Chund was amusing himself with his women, when the celestial musicians and choristers, having beheld the various pastimes and diversions of Krishnù, played upon lutes, timbrels, pipes and kettle-drums, and sang of his excellent attributes; there was an harmonious concert, when, upon a thought occurring to Krishnù, whilst engaged in diversion, he took them all with him, and went to the banks of a tank, and going into the water began to sport and carry on pastimes in it; after this, his wives, whilst thus amusing themselves in the water, were overjoyed with love for Krishnù, and forgetting every thing, said, on seeing a ruddy goose and its mate, calling out to each other from opposite sides of the tank, “O Chukwee! why do you call out mournfully, and not sleep during the night, whilst separated from your mate? You call upon him in a very troubled and restless manner, you discourse of your beloved to us, we have become Krishnù’s slave girls.” Having thus spoken they went on. They then began to say to the sea, “O sea! thou who heavest deep sighs and remainest awake day and night, art thou afflicted at being separated from any one or grieved for the loss of thy fourteen jewels?” They then addressed the moon, “O moon! why dost thou continue emaciated and in low spirits, what! hast thou consumption, that thy form diminishes and increases daily, and thy body and mind are fascinated, as ours are on beholding Shree Krishnù Chund.”
Having recited thus much Shree Shookdeo Jee said to the Raja,—O great king! the women, in like manner, addressed all kinds of speeches to the air, clouds, cuckoos, hills, rivers and geese. Afterwards all his wives diverted themselves with Shree Krishnù Chund, and constantly attended upon him and sang of his excellences, and obtained whatever they desired and Krishnù carried on his domestic affairs in the manner prescribed for all virtuous house-keeper.
O great king! the sixteen thousand one hundred and eight wives of Shree Krishnù Chund whom I mentioned before, had each ten sons and one daughter, and their progeny was numberless, I have not the power to describe it; but I know so much, that there were three crores, eighty-eight thousand one hundred schools for instructing the offspring of Shree Krishnù Chund and the same number of schoolmasters. None of Shree Krishnù Chund’s sons or grandsons was deficient in beauty, strength, physical power, wealth or moral and religious merit, each one excelled and surpassed the other, how shall I attempt to describe them? The sage proceeded to say, O great king! I have sung of the games of Bruj and Dwarka, which confer pleasure upon all. Whoever shall sing of them with affection, shall undoubtedly obtain supreme and eternal happiness, and salvation. Whatever benefit is derived from religious penance, sacrifice, gifts, fasting, pilgrimage and bathing at holy places, the same benefit is derived from hearing, and reciting the history of Huri.
THE END.
ThePrem Sagur(“Ocean of Love”) is Lallu Lal’s Hindi translation of Chaturbhuja Misra’s Braj Bhasa translation of the tenth chapter of the SanskritBhagavata Purana. It recounts the legends of Krishna, the hero identified as an incarnation of Vishnu.
The D’Rozario & Co. reprint (Calcutta, 1863), the Edward Eastwick translation (Stephen Austin, London, 1851), and Pincott/Eastwick edition (Archibald Constable & Co., London, 1897) were consulted for some of the changes listed below.
Minor spelling inconsistencies (coss/koss, ecstacy/ecstasy, etc.), obsolete spellings (noctural (nocturnal), staid (stayed), etc.), and phonetic variants of names (Krishnù/Krishnu/Krishnú, etc.) have been preserved.
Also, the number of Krishna’s wives varies between 16,100, 16,108, and 16,800.
Alterations to the text:
Add TOC.
Fix some quotation mark pairings and nestings. Note: the narrator’s dialogue is oftennotinside quotation marks.
[Chapter I]
“4. Whilst the Raja Pureechit was drowned in this sea of” delete4..
(“O son! what is this thou hast done why have you pronounced a curse on the Raja, under whose government we lived at ease; not a bird, nor a beast even was afflicted.) Add question mark afterdoneand change the semicolon to a question mark.
(to say, “O abode of compassion you have shown great mercy in) add exclamation mark aftercompassion.
Change “how their pride broughtKawun and Koonbhkurunto such destruction” toRawun and Koombhkurun.
“you destroyed the great demon,Kawun: and whenever devils” toRawun.
[Chapter II]
“On the hearing this, the Raja Pureechit said to Shookdeo” delete the firstthe.
[Chapter III]
“joining its hands, came before him Vishnù said to it” add period afterhim.
[Chapter VI]
“the lucky moment, and exact, ray of light, and having considered” delete the comma afterexact.
“on their foreheads, and given them pawn, (betleleaf,) dismissed” tobetel.
“the lines of fate cannotheeffaced by one. For this reason” tobe.
[Chapter X]
“went and saved the milk;WhilstKrishnù, having broken the vessels” towhilst.
[Chapter XII]
“of the trees falling, exactly as they hadoccured” tooccurred.
[Chapter XIII]
“Brother! this is some veryfrighfulcave, do not let us go inside” tofrightful.
[Chapter XIV]
“Brothers! this is a nice place, why needWego farther?” towe.
[Chapter XVI]
“ShreeShoodeosaid,—O great king! when Shree Krishnù” toShookdeo.
“of a kudum tree, placing, his head on the thigh of a companion.” Delete the second comma.
[Chapter XXIV]
(where the wives were cooking, andsaid them, “Shree Krishnù has) tosaid to them.
[Chapter XXXI]
(began to say,—“Tell me friend! where has Mohun gone) add comma afterme.
[Chapter XXXVII]
(touch other persons.”Krihsnùreplied, “I will summon all the) toKrishnù.
“and thecowherdessessand cowherds, to celebrate with songs” tocowherdesses.
[Chapter XLVI]
“We will accomplish, whatever you may order us to perform.” Delete the comma.
“First of all send an invitation to all theirbrethen” tobrethren.
“there is a demon, namedSunkasoor, in the form of a shell” toSunkhasoor.
[Chapter XLVII]
“I will give an account now how ShreeKishnùChund brought” toKrishnù.
(whether they still continued to love him Nund added, “Give me) add period afterhim.
“although other beesbuzover it during the whole night” tobuzz.
[Chapter L]
“O lord of the earth! when ShreeKhrishnùJee heard these words” toKrishnù.
[Chapter LI]
“the descendants of Judoo with you,proctectthe fort.” toprotect.
[Chapter LII]
(be released from it.” Shree Krishnù Jee; said, “Listen,) delete the semicolon.
[Chapter LIII]
“There is a saying, that it most fitting to contract marriages” addisafterit.
“RajaRheekmukwas at first very sad, when he heard these” toBheekmuk.
“Rookum has given thee to Sissoopal; and now Rookmunee, you have become a queen.” add comma afternow.
“pillars formed of sproutingplaintainwere fixed in the earth” toplantain.
[Chapter LIV]
“ShreeKishnùChund, having thus inspired the brahmin” toKrishnù.
“to receive them: and having, met the bridegroom with great honour” delete the comma.
“for the reception of thebridegroonand his train, entertained” tobridegroom.
[Chapter LV]
(performing the ceremony “Arta,”showerddown flowers) toshowered.
“where RajasOorgursen, Soorsen, Basoodeo and all the grandees” toOogursen.
[Chapter LVII]
“conferring happiness and wealth;Worshipit continually,” toworship.
“and suffering greatafflction, they began to weep and lament” toaffliction.
(explained all his anxieties to his wife His wife said, “O husband!) add period after the firstwife.
[Chapter LVIII]
“went thence to Akroor, joining his hands bowing his head,” add comma afterhands.
“and came to Shree Krishnù Chund, theextirpaterof grief” toextirpator.
“and there was abundance All the distress and want that had been” add period afterabundance.
[Chapter LX]
“Tell me what answer I am to take back from you to thisrequst” torequest.
“he ate up all thesweatmeatsand other confections” tosweetmeats.
[Chapter LXI]
“abandoning your worship,medidation, prayers, penance and guidance” tomeditation.
[Chapter LXIII]
(at hearing Banasoor, thus address him, and began to say himself, “I granted) delete the first comma and addtoaftersay.
“ShreeKrishuù, will descend upon the earth in the family of Judoo” toKrishnù.
(Chitrekha replied, “How shall he escape me?”Chitrekaproceeded to) toChitrekha.
[Chapter LXIV]
“Banasoor worshipping calling to mind, and meditating upon Shree Muhadeo Jee” add comma afterworshipping.
[Chapter LXV]
“as to reckon the number of cows RajaNaruggave away” toNurug.
[Chapter LXVI]
“all the cowherds’chidrencame running out, when they saw the flag” tochildren.
“all the materials, necessary for the festival were immediately produced.” Delete the comma.
[Chapter LXIX]
“and all theKuoruvùsrose haughtily and went to their homes” toKouruvùs.
[Chapter LXXII]
“came Shree Krishnù Chund Jee;Whereverthey encamped, a handsome” towherever.
[Chapter LXXIII]
(I have still one desire.” Krishnù enquired, “Whatit is?”) tois it.
“the world has been deceived by your delusive power you behave towards us as a mortal” add exclamation mark afterpower.
“the money you have given me to whom shall I go now, and ask for more?” add comma afterme.
“my business is to keep watch in acemetry, and to receive a tax” tocemetery.
“and died from excess of the hungerhet henendured, and afterwards” tohe then.
[Chapter LXXV]
“Do not use youramrsagainst him, stand here and look on” toarms.
[Chapter LXXVI]
“clearing away what food was left, and thetreachers, formed of leaves” totrenchers.
“on the contrary, their character wasenchanced” toenhanced.
[Chapter LXXVII]
“when Shree Krishnù Chund and Bulram Jee were athustinapoor” toHustinapoor.
“he constantly rose up andeata handful of sand; and performed difficult penance” toate.
[Chapter LXXVIII]
“this man is without goodqualites, avaricious and proud” toqualities.
[Chapter LXXIX]
“O great king! when Sounuk and all the saints, and sages having received Bulram Jee’s order” delete the comma aftersaints.
[Chapter LXXX]
“and he had nothing to eat, One day Soodama’s wife being” change the comma to a period.
[Chapter LXXXII]
“and Renookacame stoodnear her husband’s body, she rolled upon the ground” tocame and stood.
“I have had nocontroulin these matters, the condition or” tocontrol.
[Chapter LXXXIII]
“O great king! listen, whilst Igavean account of the conversations” togive.
[Chapter LXXXV]
(Krishnù enquired, “What it was?” Dewukee Jee replied, “Son! grief) toWhat is that.
“when theinhabitatnsheard this, there was joy throughout the city” toinhabitants.
[Chapter LXXXVI]
“explained to Buldeo all thesecreetsconnected with the carrying off Soobhudra” tosecrets.
“having beheld the sincere faith of of those two worshippers” delete oneof.
[Chapter LXXXVII]
“for this reason, that onedietyis both without, and with passions” todeity.
“when fourteen worlds became thesemblenceof water” tosemblance.
“and that on whatsidesoeverwe look, there you are presented” toside soever.
[Chapter LXXXIX]
“prepared to be burnt upon it with his bow andarowshaving then” toarrows.
“upon the head of the king of the serpentfacewas an ornamented throne” torace.
“flowers reaching to his feet, and apearl of necklace” tonecklace of pearls.
[Chapter XC]
“holy and virtuous men sung, the praises of Huri during the eight watches” delete the comma.
“surpassed the other, how shall I attempt to describe them.” change period to question mark.
“Whatever benefit is derived from, religious penance, sacrifice, gifts, fasting, pilgrimage” delete comma afterfrom.
[End of text]