राम

Bhaviṣya-parva

Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 118

51 versesThe Text Speaks of Itself

Synopsis

The closing adhyāya. Vaiśampāyana finishes the story for Janamejaya. "As a cup of nectar, as moonlight, was the sage's speech to those who heard it." Then the text turns its gaze on itself. Whoever studies this ancient tale of great souls, it promises, attains unwavering wisdom. Reciters become long-lived; the childless find children; the defeated find victory; brahmin, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra each receive their portion. "Let him wander the earth free of every attachment, passion-less." The Haripāṭh's only named scripture closes by handing its promise to any listener who will carry it.

First-pass synopsis; pending review by a Sanskritist.

Verse 1

इत्य् एवम् आश्वासयतो राजानं जनमेजयम् अतीतानागतं वाक्यम् ऋषेः परिषदा श्रुतम्

ity evam āśvāsayato rājānaṃ janamejayam atītānāgataṃ vākyam ṛṣeḥ pariṣadā śrutam

Verse 2

अमृतस्येव चास्वादः प्रभा चन्द्रमसो यथा अतर्पयत तच् छोत्रं महर्षेर् वाङ्मयो रसः

amṛtasyeva cāsvādaḥ prabhā candramaso yathā atarpayata tac chotraṃ maharṣer vāṅmayo rasaḥ

Verse 3

धर्मार्थकामसंयुक्तं करुणं वीरहर्षणम् रमणीयं तद् आख्यानं कृत्स्नं परिषदा श्रुतम्

dharmārthakāmasaṃyuktaṃ karuṇaṃ vīraharṣaṇam ramaṇīyaṃ tad ākhyānaṃ kṛtsnaṃ pariṣadā śrutam

Verse 4

केचिद् अश्रूणि मुमुचुः श्रुत्वा दध्युस् तथापरे इतिहासं तम् ऋषिणा पाराशर्येण दर्शितम्

kecid aśrūṇi mumucuḥ śrutvā dadhyus tathāpare itihāsaṃ tam ṛṣiṇā pārāśaryeṇa darśitam

Verse 5

अतीतानागतं यद् वै मुनिनोक्तं द्विजर्षभ सदस्यान्तो ऽभ्यनुज्ञाय कृत्वा चापि प्रदक्षिणम् पुनर् द्रक्ष्याम इत्य् उक्त्वा जगाम भगवान् ऋषिः

atītānāgataṃ yad vai muninoktaṃ dvijarṣabha sadasyānto 'bhyanujñāya kṛtvā cāpi pradakṣiṇam punar drakṣyāma ity uktvā jagāma bhagavān ṛṣiḥ

Verse 6

अनुजग्मुस् ततः सर्वे प्रयान्तम् ऋषिसत्तमम् लोके प्रवदतां श्रेष्ठं शिष्टाः सर्वे तपोधनाः

anujagmus tataḥ sarve prayāntam ṛṣisattamam loke pravadatāṃ śreṣṭhaṃ śiṣṭāḥ sarve tapodhanāḥ

Verse 7

याते भगवति व्यासे विप्राः सह महर्षिभिः ऋत्विजः पार्थिवाश् चैव प्रतिजग्मुर् यथागतम्

yāte bhagavati vyāse viprāḥ saha maharṣibhiḥ ṛtvijaḥ pārthivāś caiva pratijagmur yathāgatam

Verse 8

पन्नगानां सुघोराणां कृत्वा तां वैरयातनाम् जगाम रोषम् उत्सृत्य राजा विषम् इवोरगः

pannagānāṃ sughorāṇāṃ kṛtvā tāṃ vairayātanām jagāma roṣam utsṛtya rājā viṣam ivoragaḥ

Verse 9

होत्राग्निदीप्तशिरसं परित्राय च तक्षकम् आस्तीको ऽप्य् आश्रमपदं जगाम च महामुनिः

hotrāgnidīptaśirasaṃ paritrāya ca takṣakam āstīko 'py āśramapadaṃ jagāma ca mahāmuniḥ

Verse 10

राजापि हास्तिनपुरं प्रविवेश जनावृतः अन्वशासच् च मुदितस् तदा प्रमुदिताः प्रजाः

rājāpi hāstinapuraṃ praviveśa janāvṛtaḥ anvaśāsac ca muditas tadā pramuditāḥ prajāḥ

Verse 11

कस्यचित् त्व् अथ कालस्य स राजा जनमेजयः दीक्षितो वाजिमेधाय विधिवद् भूरिदक्षिणः

kasyacit tv atha kālasya sa rājā janamejayaḥ dīkṣito vājimedhāya vidhivad bhūridakṣiṇaḥ

Verse 12

संज्ञप्तम् अश्वं तत्रास्य देवी काश्या वपुष्टमा संविवेशोपगम्याथ विधिदृष्टेन कर्मणा

saṃjñaptam aśvaṃ tatrāsya devī kāśyā vapuṣṭamā saṃviveśopagamyātha vidhidṛṣṭena karmaṇā

Verse 13

तां तु सर्वानवद्याङ्गीं चकमे वासवस् तदा संज्ञप्तम् अश्वं आविश्य तया मिश्रीबभूव सः

tāṃ tu sarvānavadyāṅgīṃ cakame vāsavas tadā saṃjñaptam aśvaṃ āviśya tayā miśrībabhūva saḥ

Verse 14

तस्मिन् विकारे जनिते विदित्वा तत्त्वतश् च तत् असंज्ञप्तो ऽयम् अश्वस् ते ध्वंसेत्य् अध्वर्युम् अब्रवीत्

tasmin vikāre janite viditvā tattvataś ca tat asaṃjñapto 'yam aśvas te dhvaṃsety adhvaryum abravīt

Verse 15

अध्वर्युर् ज्ञानसंपन्नस् तदिन्द्रस्य विचेष्टितम् कथयामास राजर्षेः शशाप स पुरंदरम्

adhvaryur jñānasaṃpannas tadindrasya viceṣṭitam kathayāmāsa rājarṣeḥ śaśāpa sa puraṃdaram

Verse 16

यद्य् अस्ति मे यज्ञफलं तपो वा रक्षतः प्रजाः फलेन तेन सर्वेण ब्रवीमि श्रूयताम् इदम्

yady asti me yajñaphalaṃ tapo vā rakṣataḥ prajāḥ phalena tena sarveṇa bravīmi śrūyatām idam

Verse 17

अद्यप्रभृति देवेन्द्रम् अजितेन्द्रियम् अस्थिरम् क्षत्रिया वाजिमेधेन न यक्ष्यन्तीति शौनक

adyaprabhṛti devendram ajitendriyam asthiram kṣatriyā vājimedhena na yakṣyantīti śaunaka

Verse 18

ऋत्विजश् चाब्रवीत् क्रुद्धः स राजा जनमेजयः दौर्बल्यं भवताम् एतद् यद् अयं धर्षितः क्रतुः

ṛtvijaś cābravīt kruddhaḥ sa rājā janamejayaḥ daurbalyaṃ bhavatām etad yad ayaṃ dharṣitaḥ kratuḥ

Verse 19

विषये मे न वस्तव्यं ध्वंसध्वं सह बान्धवैः इत्य् उक्तास् तत्यजुर् विप्रास् तं नृपं जातमन्यवः

viṣaye me na vastavyaṃ dhvaṃsadhvaṃ saha bāndhavaiḥ ity uktās tatyajur viprās taṃ nṛpaṃ jātamanyavaḥ

Verse 20

अमर्षाद् अन्वशासच् च पत्नीशालागताः स्त्रियः राजा परमधर्मज्ञस् तदासौ जनमेजयः असतीं वपुष्टमाम् एतां निर्वासयत मे गृहात् यया मे चरणो मूर्ध्नि भस्मरेणूषितः कृतः

amarṣād anvaśāsac ca patnīśālāgatāḥ striyaḥ rājā paramadharmajñas tadāsau janamejayaḥ asatīṃ vapuṣṭamām etāṃ nirvāsayata me gṛhāt yayā me caraṇo mūrdhni bhasmareṇūṣitaḥ kṛtaḥ

Verse 21

शौण्डीर्यं मे ऽनया भग्नं यशो मानश् च दूषितः नैनां द्रष्टुम् अपीच्छामि परिक्लिष्टाम् इव स्रजम्

śauṇḍīryaṃ me 'nayā bhagnaṃ yaśo mānaś ca dūṣitaḥ naināṃ draṣṭum apīcchāmi parikliṣṭām iva srajam

Verse 22

न स्वादु सो ऽश्नाति नरः सुखं स्वपिति वा रहः अन्वास्ते यः प्रियां भार्यां परेण मृदिताम् इह

na svādu so 'śnāti naraḥ sukhaṃ svapiti vā rahaḥ anvāste yaḥ priyāṃ bhāryāṃ pareṇa mṛditām iha

Verse 23

पुनर् नैवोपभुञ्जन्ति श्वावलीढं हविर् यथा एवम् उच्चैः प्रभाषन्तं क्रुद्धं पारिक्षितं नृपम् गन्धर्वराजः प्रोवाच विश्वावसुर् इदं वाचः

punar naivopabhuñjanti śvāvalīḍhaṃ havir yathā evam uccaiḥ prabhāṣantaṃ kruddhaṃ pārikṣitaṃ nṛpam gandharvarājaḥ provāca viśvāvasur idaṃ vācaḥ

Verse 24

त्रियज्ञशतयज्वानं वासवस् त्वां न मृष्यति न दुष्यतीयं पत्नी ते विहितेयं वपुष्टमा

triyajñaśatayajvānaṃ vāsavas tvāṃ na mṛṣyati na duṣyatīyaṃ patnī te vihiteyaṃ vapuṣṭamā

Verse 25

रम्भा नामाप्सरा देवी काशिराजसुता मता सैषा योषिद्वरा राजन् रत्नभूतानुभूयताम्

rambhā nāmāpsarā devī kāśirājasutā matā saiṣā yoṣidvarā rājan ratnabhūtānubhūyatām

Verse 26

यज्ञे विवरम् आसाद्य विघ्नम् इन्द्रेण ते कृतम् यज्वा ह्य् असि कुरुश्रेष्ठ समृद्ध्या वासवोपमः

yajñe vivaram āsādya vighnam indreṇa te kṛtam yajvā hy asi kuruśreṣṭha samṛddhyā vāsavopamaḥ

Verse 27

बिभेत्य् अभिभवाच् छक्रस् तव क्रतुफलैर् नृप तस्माद् आवर्तितश् चैव क्रतुर् इन्द्रेण ते विभो

bibhety abhibhavāc chakras tava kratuphalair nṛpa tasmād āvartitaś caiva kratur indreṇa te vibho

Verse 28

मायैषा वासवेनेह प्रयुक्ता विघ्नम् इच्छता यज्ञे विवरम् आसाद्य संज्ञप्तं दृश्य वाजिनम् रतिम् इन्द्रेण रम्भायां मन्यसे यां वपुष्टमाम्

māyaiṣā vāsaveneha prayuktā vighnam icchatā yajñe vivaram āsādya saṃjñaptaṃ dṛśya vājinam ratim indreṇa rambhāyāṃ manyase yāṃ vapuṣṭamām

Verse 29

अथ ते गुरवः शप्तास् त्रियज्ञशतयाजिनः भ्रंशितस् त्वं च विप्राश् च फलाद् इन्द्रसमाद् इह त्वत्तश् चैव सुदुर्धर्षात् त्रियज्ञशतयाजिनः

atha te guravaḥ śaptās triyajñaśatayājinaḥ bhraṃśitas tvaṃ ca viprāś ca phalād indrasamād iha tvattaś caiva sudurdharṣāt triyajñaśatayājinaḥ

Verse 30

बिभेति हि सदा त्वत्तो ब्राह्मणेभ्यो ऽपि वासवः एकेन वै तद् उभयं तीर्णं शक्रेण मायया

bibheti hi sadā tvatto brāhmaṇebhyo 'pi vāsavaḥ ekena vai tad ubhayaṃ tīrṇaṃ śakreṇa māyayā

Verse 31

स एष सुमहातेजा विजिगीषुः पुरंदरः कथम् अन्यैर् अनाचीर्णं नप्तुर् दारान् अतिक्रमेत्

sa eṣa sumahātejā vijigīṣuḥ puraṃdaraḥ katham anyair anācīrṇaṃ naptur dārān atikramet

Verse 32

यथैव हि परा बुद्धिः परो धर्मः परो दमः यथैव परमैश्वर्यं कीर्तिश् च हरिवाहने तथैव तव दुर्धर्ष त्रियज्ञशतयाजिनः

yathaiva hi parā buddhiḥ paro dharmaḥ paro damaḥ yathaiva paramaiśvaryaṃ kīrtiś ca harivāhane tathaiva tava durdharṣa triyajñaśatayājinaḥ

Verse 33

मा वासवं मा च गुरुम् आत्माणं मा वपुष्तमाम् गच्छ दोषेण कालो हि सर्वथा दुरतिक्रमः

mā vāsavaṃ mā ca gurum ātmāṇaṃ mā vapuṣtamām gaccha doṣeṇa kālo hi sarvathā duratikramaḥ

Verse 34

ऐश्वर्येणाश्वम् आविश्य देवेन्द्रेणाभिरोषितः आनुकूल्येन देवस्य वर्तितव्यं सुखार्थिना

aiśvaryeṇāśvam āviśya devendreṇābhiroṣitaḥ ānukūlyena devasya vartitavyaṃ sukhārthinā

Verse 35

दुस्तरं प्रतिकूलं हि प्रतिस्रोत इवाम्भसः स्त्रीरत्नम् उपभुङ्क्ष्वेमाम् अपापां विगतज्वरः

dustaraṃ pratikūlaṃ hi pratisrota ivāmbhasaḥ strīratnam upabhuṅkṣvemām apāpāṃ vigatajvaraḥ

Verse 36

अपापास् त्यज्यमाना वै शपेयुर् अपि योषितः अदुष्टास् तु स्त्रियो राजन् दिव्यास् तु सविशेषतः

apāpās tyajyamānā vai śapeyur api yoṣitaḥ aduṣṭās tu striyo rājan divyās tu saviśeṣataḥ

Verse 37

भानोः प्रभा शिखा वह्नेर् वेदीहोत्रे तथाहुतिः परामृष्टाप्य् असंरक्ता नोपदुष्यन्ति योषितः

bhānoḥ prabhā śikhā vahner vedīhotre tathāhutiḥ parāmṛṣṭāpy asaṃraktā nopaduṣyanti yoṣitaḥ

Verse 38

ग्राह्या लालयितव्याश् च पूज्याश् च सततं बुधैः शीलवत्यो नमस्कार्याः पूज्याः स्त्रिय इव स्त्रियः

grāhyā lālayitavyāś ca pūjyāś ca satataṃ budhaiḥ śīlavatyo namaskāryāḥ pūjyāḥ striya iva striyaḥ

Verse 39

एवं स विश्वावसुनानुनीतः प्रसादम् आगम्य वपुष्टमायाम् चकार मिथ्याव्यतिशङ्कितात्मा शान्तिं परां तत्र स धर्मजुष्टाम्

evaṃ sa viśvāvasunānunītaḥ prasādam āgamya vapuṣṭamāyām cakāra mithyāvyatiśaṅkitātmā śāntiṃ parāṃ tatra sa dharmajuṣṭām

Verse 40

श्रमम् अभिविनिवर्त्य मानसं स समभिलषज्जनमेजयो यशः स्वम् विषयम् अनुशशास धर्मबुद्धिर् मुदितमना रमयन् वपुष्टमां ताम्

śramam abhivinivartya mānasaṃ sa samabhilaṣajjanamejayo yaśaḥ svam viṣayam anuśaśāsa dharmabuddhir muditamanā ramayan vapuṣṭamāṃ tām

Verse 41

न च विरमति विप्रपूजनान् न च विनिवर्तति यज्ञशीलनात् न च विषयपरिरक्षणाच् च्युतो ऽसौ न च परिगर्हति वपुष्टमां च

na ca viramati viprapūjanān na ca vinivartati yajñaśīlanāt na ca viṣayaparirakṣaṇāc cyuto 'sau na ca parigarhati vapuṣṭamāṃ ca

Verse 42

विधिविहितम् अशक्यम् अन्यथा हि कर्तुम् यद् ऋषिर् अचिन्त्यतपाः पुराब्रवीत् सः न च तद् अशक्यम् अन्यथा हि कर्तुम् इति नरपतिर् आत्मवांस् तदासौ तद् अनुविचिन्त्य बभूव वीतमन्युः

vidhivihitam aśakyam anyathā hi kartum yad ṛṣir acintyatapāḥ purābravīt saḥ na ca tad aśakyam anyathā hi kartum iti narapatir ātmavāṃs tadāsau tad anuvicintya babhūva vītamanyuḥ

'What is ordained is not otherwise to be made; so said the sage of inconceivable austerity long ago — and that cannot be made otherwise.' So that king, self-possessed, thinking it over, became free of wrath.

Verse 43

इति नृपतिर् अदीनविक्रमस् तद् अनुविचिन्त्य बभूव निर्वृतः इदं महाकाव्यम् ऋषेर् महात्मनः पठन् नृणां पूज्यतमो भवेन् नरः प्रकृष्टम् आयुः समवाप्य दुर्लभं लभेत सर्वज्ञफलं च केवलम्

iti nṛpatir adīnavikramas tad anuvicintya babhūva nirvṛtaḥ idaṃ mahākāvyam ṛṣer mahātmanaḥ paṭhan nṛṇāṃ pūjyatamo bhaven naraḥ prakṛṣṭam āyuḥ samavāpya durlabhaṃ labheta sarvajñaphalaṃ ca kevalam

Thus the undaunted king, having reflected on what had been said, was at peace. Whoever recites this great poem of the noble sage becomes most worthy of honor among men; he obtains the rare prolonged life, and attains the sole fruit of omniscience.

Verse 44

शतक्रतोः कल्मषविप्रमोक्षणं पठन् इदम् मुच्यति कल्मषान् नरः तथैव कामान् विविधान् समश्नुते समाप्तकामश् च चिराय नन्दति

śatakratoḥ kalmaṣavipramokṣaṇaṃ paṭhan idam mucyati kalmaṣān naraḥ tathaiva kāmān vividhān samaśnute samāptakāmaś ca cirāya nandati

Reciting this, which releases from the sin of a hundred sacrifices, a person is released from his own sin. So too he enjoys desires of every kind, and with his desires fulfilled he rejoices long.

Verse 45

यथा हि पुष्पप्रभवं फलं द्रुमात् ततः प्रजायन्ति पुनश् च पादपाः तथा महर्षिप्रभवा इमा गिरः प्रवर्धयन्ते तम् ऋषिं प्रवर्तिताः

yathā hi puṣpaprabhavaṃ phalaṃ drumāt tataḥ prajāyanti punaś ca pādapāḥ tathā maharṣiprabhavā imā giraḥ pravardhayante tam ṛṣiṃ pravartitāḥ

Just as flowering fruit comes forth from a tree, and from that fruit new trees are born, so these speeches, born of the great sage, increase the sage by whom they have been set in motion.

Verse 46

पुत्रान् अपुत्रो लभते सुवर्चसश् च्युतः पुनर् विन्दति चात्मनः स्थितिम् व्याधिं न चाप्नोति चिरं च बन्धनं क्रियां च पुण्यां लभते गुणान्वितः

putrān aputro labhate suvarcasaś cyutaḥ punar vindati cātmanaḥ sthitim vyādhiṃ na cāpnoti ciraṃ ca bandhanaṃ kriyāṃ ca puṇyāṃ labhate guṇānvitaḥ

The childless obtains children; the fallen, of good splendor, regains his station; he does not get long disease or bondage, and he, endowed with virtues, obtains meritorious action.

Verse 47

पतिम् उपलभते च सत्सु कन्या श्रवणम् उपेत्य शुभा मुनेस् तु वाचः जनयति च सुतान् गुणैर् उपेतान् रिपुजनमर्दनवीर्यशालिनश् च

patim upalabhate ca satsu kanyā śravaṇam upetya śubhā munes tu vācaḥ janayati ca sutān guṇair upetān ripujanamardanavīryaśālinaś ca

A maiden obtains a husband among the good. Auspicious, coming to the hearing of the sage's speech, she gives birth to virtuous sons who crush enemy hosts in valor.

Verse 48

विजयति वसुधां च क्षत्रवृत्तिर् धनम् अतुलं लभते द्विषज्जयं च विपुलम् अपि धनं लभेच् च वैश्यः सुगतिम् इयाच् छ्रवणाच् च शूद्रजातिः

vijayati vasudhāṃ ca kṣatravṛttir dhanam atulaṃ labhate dviṣajjayaṃ ca vipulam api dhanaṃ labhec ca vaiśyaḥ sugatim iyāc chravaṇāc ca śūdrajātiḥ

And the Kṣatriya-caste conquers the earth, obtains wealth beyond measure, and victory over foes; the Vaiśya gains vast wealth also; the Śūdra-born attains good destiny merely by hearing.

Verse 49

पुराणम् एतच् चरितं महात्मनाम् अधीत्य बुद्धिं लभते च नैष्ठिकीम् विहाय दुःखानि विमुक्तसङ्गः स वीतरागो विचरेद् वसुंधराम्

purāṇam etac caritaṃ mahātmanām adhītya buddhiṃ labhate ca naiṣṭhikīm vihāya duḥkhāni vimuktasaṅgaḥ sa vītarāgo vicared vasuṃdharām

Whoever studies this ancient tale of great souls attains an unwavering wisdom; leaving all sorrows behind, loosed from every attachment, free of passion, let him wander the earth.

HV 118.49. The phala-śruti at the heart of Jñāneśvar's reference in Haripāṭh 18.1. Naiṣṭhikī buddhi, vimukta-saṅga, vīta-rāga: three stages of the same saturation.

Verse 50

इत्य् एतद् आख्यानम् उदाहृतं वः प्रतिस्मरन्तो द्विजमण्डलेषु स्थैर्येण जातेन पुनः स्मरन्तः सुखं भवन्तो विचरन्तु लोकम्

ity etad ākhyānam udāhṛtaṃ vaḥ pratismaranto dvijamaṇḍaleṣu sthairyeṇa jātena punaḥ smarantaḥ sukhaṃ bhavanto vicarantu lokam

'This ancient tale has been told to you. Calling it to mind in the circles of the twice-born, remembering again with the steadiness that has arisen, move happily through the world.'

Verse 51

इति चरितम् इदं महात्मनाम् ऋषिकृतम् अद्भुतवीर्यकर्मणाम् कथितम् इदं हि समासविस्तरैः किम् अपरम् इच्छसि किं ब्रवीमि ते

iti caritam idaṃ mahātmanām ṛṣikṛtam adbhutavīryakarmaṇām kathitam idaṃ hi samāsavistaraiḥ kim aparam icchasi kiṃ bravīmi te

'Thus has been told this story of great souls, sage-made, of wondrous valor and action — told here in brief and in full. What more do you wish? What shall I say to you?'

Verse commentary

The Text Speaks of Itself

फलश्रुति

Verses 43, 44, 49, 50: the phala-śruti that closes the whole Harivaṃśa and that Jñāneśvar invokes at Haripāṭh 18.1. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

The last verses of the Harivaṃśa are the text looking back at its own readers. For a hundred and eighteen adhyāyas the Purāṇa has done one thing: it has told. Now, at the end, it stops telling stories and starts making a promise. Whoever recites this, whoever hears this, whoever gives this as a gift, receives not merit alone but a transformation of being: an unwavering wisdom, freedom from sorrow, release from attachment, a mind without passion wandering the earth. The phala-śruti is the hinge on which Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh 18.1 swings. When he pairs the Harivaṃśa-Purāṇa with Hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana and says the devotee knows no other goodness, he is translating this Sanskrit promise into Marathi. The verses below are where the Sanskrit makes that promise to its own reader.

HV 118.43

इति नृपतिर् अदीनविक्रमस् तद् अनुविचिन्त्य बभूव निर्वृतः । इदं महाकाव्यम् ऋषेर् महात्मनः पठन् नृणां पूज्यतमो भवेन् नरः । प्रकृष्टम् आयुः समवाप्य दुर्लभं लभेत सर्वज्ञफलं च केवलम् ॥

iti nṛpatir adīnavikramas tad anuvicintya babhūva nirvṛtaḥ | idaṃ mahākāvyam ṛṣer mahātmanaḥ paṭhan nṛṇāṃ pūjyatamo bhaven naraḥ | prakṛṣṭam āyuḥ samavāpya durlabhaṃ labheta sarvajñaphalaṃ ca kevalam

Thus the undaunted king, having reflected on what had been said, was at peace. Whoever recites this great poem of the noble sage becomes most worthy of honor among men; he obtains the rare prolonged life, and attains the sole fruit of omniscience.

The Living Words

The verse opens with a micro-scene: the king falls silent. *Adīna-vikramaḥ*, undaunted in his own strength, *anuvicintya*, having thought the matter through, *babhūva nirvṛtaḥ*, becomes still. The stillness is the reader's signal. The telling is over. What follows is now directed outward. *Idaṃ mahākāvyam* — this great poem. *Ṛṣer mahātmanaḥ* — of the great-souled sage. The ascription is deliberate; the text is not offering itself as anonymous lore but as Vyāsa's own. *Paṭhan* — merely by reciting. The promise is not for one who performs ritual but for one who turns the page and speaks the words aloud. *Pūjyatamo bhaven naraḥ* — he becomes the most worthy of honor. Not venerable; most venerable. *Prakṛṣṭam āyuḥ*, the heightened lifespan, is the first and smallest gift. *Sarvajña-phalaṃ ca kevalam*, the pure fruit of omniscience, is the last and largest. What lies between is given by the chapter's eight closing verses, one class of being at a time.

The Heart of It

Note the verb the text uses for the reader: *paṭhan*. Not *jānan* (knowing), not *anuṣṭhayan* (performing), but *paṭhan*, reciting. The Harivaṃśa does not ask you to understand it. It asks you to put it through your mouth. The same verb, in the same voice, is what Jñāneśvar commands in the very first line of the Haripāṭh: *hari mukheṃ mhaṇā*, say Hari with the mouth. Recitation is the practice; comprehension is the fruit, and the fruit comes on its own. The verse admits this quietly by making the mouth, not the mind, the locus of merit. It is why the Harivaṃśa has always been a living scripture in households where the finer points of Sanskrit grammar were never discussed. The hāni-āyuṣ-phala, the long-life fruit, is the gift to the body; the sarvajña-phala, the omniscience fruit, is the gift to the being that outlasts it. Both come by the same act of speaking.

HV 118.44

शतक्रतोः कल्मषविप्रमोक्षणं पठन् इदम् मुच्यति कल्मषान् नरः । तथैव कामान् विविधान् समश्नुते समाप्तकामश् च चिराय नन्दति ॥

śatakratoḥ kalmaṣavipramokṣaṇaṃ paṭhan idam mucyati kalmaṣān naraḥ | tathaiva kāmān vividhān samaśnute samāptakāmaś ca cirāya nandati

Reciting this which releases from the sin of a hundred sacrifices, a person is released from his own sin. So too he enjoys desires of every kind, and with his desires fulfilled he rejoices long.

The Living Words

The verse trades in two registers at once. The first half is a release-verse: *paṭhan idam mucyati kalmaṣāt*. *Kalmaṣa* is not ordinary wrongdoing; it is the specific weight of ritual impurity, the sort that would normally require expiation. The Indra-precedent of *śatakratu* makes the scale visible: if the king of the gods needed a hundred sacrifices to cross out his own *kalmaṣa*, the reciter of the Harivaṃśa crosses it in a single paṭhana. The second half moves from release to enjoyment: *kāmān vividhān samaśnute*, he enjoys the various desires; and then, strikingly, *samāpta-kāmaḥ*, his desires completed, he rejoices long. Not 'he loses desire'; 'his desires are fulfilled,' and the joy that follows is a joy no longer driven by need.

The Heart of It

Scripture that promises both *mokṣa* and *kāma* in the same breath is often suspect; the two are supposed to pull in opposite directions. The Harivaṃśa's phala-śruti moves with calm exactness between them. The release is from *kalmaṣa*, not from existence; the fulfillment is of *kāma*, which having been fulfilled no longer tyrannizes. The word *samāpta-kāmaḥ*, 'desires-completed,' is a portrait of the devotee Jñāneśvar names: the one who, having been saturated in the Harivaṃśa and the Hari-nāma, knows no other goodness. The verse describes exactly this saturation. The world's pleasures are not denied. They are brought to rest. The *cirāya nandati*, 'he rejoices long,' is not a future heaven; it is the present tense of a life no longer pushed by what it lacks.

HV 118.49

पुराणम् एतच् चरितं महात्मनाम् अधीत्य बुद्धिं लभते च नैष्ठिकीम् । विहाय दुःखानि विमुक्तसङ्गः स वीतरागो विचरेद् वसुंधराम् ॥

purāṇam etac caritaṃ mahātmanām adhītya buddhiṃ labhate ca naiṣṭhikīm | vihāya duḥkhāni vimuktasaṅgaḥ sa vītarāgo vicared vasuṃdharām

Whoever studies this ancient tale of great souls attains an unwavering wisdom; leaving all sorrows behind, loosed from every attachment, free of passion, let him wander the earth.

The Living Words

Three nouns are stacked as stages of one movement. *Naiṣṭhikī buddhi* is the wisdom that stays, the conviction that does not waver with circumstance; this is the first fruit of *adhyayana*, of study. *Vimukta-saṅga* is its consequence: once the wisdom has stabilized, the attachments that used to hold drop away, because the things they were attached to are now seen in their place. *Vīta-rāga* is the final word: not repression of passion but absence of the pull that passion exerts. The verb *vicared* is the verse's gift: a free, not a withdrawn, motion. *Vasuṃdharām*, the earth; the wanderer is not removed from the world. He walks upon it, changed.

The Heart of It

This is the verse Jñāneśvar has in view when he writes the opening line of Haripāṭh 18.1. *Harivaṃśa-Purāṇa harināma-saṅkīrtana* pairs two practices; *hariviṇa saujanya neṇe kāhī*, 'he knows no other goodness apart from Hari,' names their joint effect. The Sanskrit names the same effect in three clearer words. The one who studies the Harivaṃśa does not lose the world. He loses the mechanism by which the world agitated him. *Duḥkha* is left behind because duḥkha, on examination, is always attached to something. *Saṅga* is dropped because attachments no longer stay lit when their fuel is gone. *Rāga* fades because there is nothing in the field that calls it into motion. What remains is *vasuṃdharā*, the wide earth, and a figure walking upon it. The Harivaṃśa's final image of the reader is not a figure seated in samādhi. It is a figure walking free.

HV 118.50

इत्य् एतद् आख्यानम् उदाहृतं वः प्रतिस्मरन्तो द्विजमण्डलेषु । स्थैर्येण जातेन पुनः स्मरन्तः सुखं भवन्तो विचरन्तु लोकम् ॥

ity etad ākhyānam udāhṛtaṃ vaḥ pratismaranto dvijamaṇḍaleṣu | sthairyeṇa jātena punaḥ smarantaḥ sukhaṃ bhavanto vicarantu lokam

This story has been told to you. Calling it to mind in the circles of the twice-born, remembering again with the steadiness that has arisen, move happily through the world.

The Living Words

The verse ends the telling with an instruction to the listeners. Three verbs govern what they are to do: *pratismaranto*, recalling; *smarantaḥ*, remembering; *vicarantu*, move. The doubling of the memory-verbs is deliberate. *Pratismaranto* names the social memory: in assemblies of the twice-born, bring the story back. *Smarantaḥ* names the interior memory: with the steadiness that has now arisen, remember again, inwardly. *Vicarantu lokam*, move through the world — the same *vicared* as the previous verse, now in the imperative. What the previous verse described as the mature state of the reader, this verse prescribes as the listener's action.

The Heart of It

The Purāṇa closes not with a metaphysical climax but with a practical instruction. Remember this in the circles of the twice-born: recite it together, keep it alive in community. Remember this inwardly, with the steadiness that has grown in you: let it do its work in private. Then move happily through the world. The Harivaṃśa does not ask its reader to leave the world. It asks for *sukhaṃ vicarantu*, a happy movement through the very earth that was the site of all its stories. The Haripāṭh's final register is the same. Nāma-smaraṇa is the interior half; saṅkīrtana is the social half; and the walking, morning to morning, across ordinary ground, is both of them together. The text ends by pointing its reader back into the world it has given him new eyes for.

Thread

Across the four closing verses one pattern: recitation → release → fulfillment → happy motion. The text names its own reader in each verse: paṭhan (reciting), labhate (attaining), adhyayanāt (studying), smarantaḥ (remembering). Each verb is a practice the reader can begin without qualification. Each fruit is a transformation of being rather than an acquired object. The Harivaṃśa's last word to the reader is not doctrine; it is permission. Recite. Walk.

Echo in the saints

The Varkari tradition reads this phala-śruti as the scripture's most direct translation of its own purpose. Jñāneśvar makes the translation explicit in Haripāṭh 18.1 by pairing the Harivaṃśa-Purāṇa and the singing of the Name: both, in his hearing, issue in the 'knowing no other goodness' that the Sanskrit calls naiṣṭhikī buddhi, vimukta-saṅga, vīta-rāga. Tukaram's insistence that the Name does the work of every yajña is the same claim 118.44 makes about this text: recitation releases śatakratu-merit's-worth of kalmaṣa. Eknath's domestic reading of Purāṇa, his gift of the story to every listener regardless of caste, is the social half of 118.50's pratismaranto dvijamaṇḍaleṣu, broadened by a saint who read the Sanskrit's meaning rather than its sociology. In every case the movement is the same: from the mouth reciting, into the heart that stabilizes, out into the world on foot.

Scripture references

DirectHaripāṭh, Abhaṅga 18, verse 1

Jñāneśvar's verse is a Marathi restatement of this Sanskrit phala-śruti.

हरिवंशपुराण हरिनाम संकीर्तन । हरिविण सौजन्य नेणे काही ॥

harivaṃśapurāṇa harināma saṃkīrtana | hariviṇa saujanya neṇe kāhī

The Harivaṃśa-Purāṇa, and the singing of Hari's name. Apart from Hari, he knows no other goodness.

Jñāneśvar names the Harivaṃśa by title and pairs it with harināma-saṅkīrtana. The 'no other goodness' he promises is this phala-śruti's naiṣṭhikī buddhi, vimukta-saṅga, vīta-rāga.

EchoesBhagavad Gītā 16.1

Fearlessness, purity, steadfastness in knowledge-yoga as the first of the divine qualities.

अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिः ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः ।

abhayaṃ sattva-saṃśuddhiḥ jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ

Fearlessness, purity of being, steadfastness in the yoga of knowledge.

The Gītā's vyavasthiti is cognate with the Harivaṃśa's naiṣṭhikī: settled-ness in wisdom. Reading the Harivaṃśa produces the Gītā's first daiva quality.

Vulgate additions for this adhyāya

5 sections of Appendix I attach here. These are passages preserved in manuscripts outside the critical text.

BORI critical edition, ed. P. L. Vaidya (1969). Digital text from the GRETIL Zurich constituted text. Distributed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.