Canto Ten - Chapter 10

The noble king said: My lord, please tell us the reason for the curse upon those two. What condemned act had they performed, or what provoked the divine sage's anger?

Śrī Śuka said: The two proud sons of the lord of wealth were followers of Rudra. Overcome by intoxication, they sported beside the Mandākinī in a lovely garden near Kailāsa.

After drinking Varuṇī liquor, their eyes rolled with intoxication. Accompanied by women who sang after them, they wandered through the flowering grove.

They entered the Gaṅgā amid rows of lotus groves and played with young women like two bull elephants sporting with she-elephants.

O descendant of Kuru, the divine sage Nārada happened to come there. Seeing the two demigods, he understood that they were intoxicated.

When the naked women saw him, they became ashamed and, fearing a curse, quickly covered themselves with garments. But the two guhyakas remained naked.

Seeing the two sons of a demigod drunk with wine and blinded by the pride of wealth, Nārada decided to curse them for their own good and spoke as follows.

Śrī Nārada said: For one devoted to objects of enjoyment, no condition born of passion so completely destroys understanding as the arrogance of wealth and noble birth, in which women, gambling and liquor flourish.

Merciless, uncontrolled people kill animals while imagining that this perishable body will neither age nor die.

Though the body may now be called a god or a man, at the end it is called worms, excrement or ashes. One who harms living beings for its sake cannot know his own good, for such cruelty leads to hell.

To whom does the body belong: the provider of food, the giver of seed, the mother, the mother's father, the powerful master, the purchaser, the fire, or even the dog?

The body is shared by all these claimants and arises from and dissolves into the unmanifest. What wise person, other than one who has lost all goodness, would claim it as his own and kill living creatures for its sake?

For a corrupt person blinded by the pride of wealth, poverty is the finest eye-opening ointment. A poor person sees other beings most clearly by comparing their suffering with his own.

One whose body has been pierced by a thorn does not wish that pain upon another creature. Having recognized the equality of living beings through such signs, he differs from one who has never been pierced.

A poor person is free from egoistic rigidity and from every kind of intoxicated pride. Whatever hardship comes to him without his seeking it becomes his highest austerity.

The senses of a poor person, whose body is constantly weakened by hunger and who longs for food, gradually dry up; even the impulse toward violence withdraws.

Equal-sighted saints naturally associate with the poor. Through the company of the good, the poor person's craving is diminished, and he soon becomes purified.

Why should saints of even mind, who seek Mukunda's feet, attend upon wicked people swollen with wealth and pride and devoted to what is unreal?

Therefore I shall remove the dark pride of these two, who are intoxicated by sweet Varuṇī liquor and blinded by wealth, attached to women and unable to govern themselves.

Although they are sons of a guardian of the world, they are submerged in darkness and maddened beyond measure, unable even to recognize that they stand naked.

They therefore deserve to become motionless trees so that they will never act in this way again. Yet by my grace and favor, they will retain their memory even in that state.

After a hundred divine years have passed, they will attain the presence of Vāsudeva. Receiving devotion, they will then return to the heavenly world.

Śrī Śuka said: Having spoken thus, the divine sage departed for Nārāyaṇa's hermitage. Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva became the twin arjuna trees.

To make true the words of the sage, foremost among Bhagavān's devotees, Hari slowly approached the place where the twin arjuna trees stood.

He thought: "The divine sage is most dear to Me, and these two are sons of the lord of wealth. I shall therefore fulfill exactly what that great soul declared."

Kṛṣṇa went between the twin arjuna trees. As soon as He entered the gap, the mortar turned sideways and became lodged between them.

The child Dāmodara forcefully dragged the mortar behind Him. The roots anchoring the two trees were torn up, and their trunks, branches and leaves shook violently. With a tremendous crash, both trees fell.

Two perfected beings emerged there, illuminating the directions with supreme splendor like fires arisen from the trees. Free from passion, they bowed their heads to Kṛṣṇa, Lord of all worlds, folded their hands and spoke.

Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, great master of yoga, You are the original and Supreme Person. The brāhmaṇas know this manifest and unmanifest universe to be Your form.

You alone are the lord of the bodies, life-breaths, selves and senses of all beings. You are time itself, Bhagavān Viṣṇu, the imperishable ruler.

You are the great cosmic principle and subtle material nature composed of passion, goodness and darkness. You are also the witnessing Puruṣa, who knows every transformation in every field.

You cannot be grasped through the material transformations and qualities that can themselves be perceived. What person, enveloped by those qualities, can know You, who exist before them all?

Obeisance to You, Bhagavān Vāsudeva, the creator and the Absolute, whose majesty is concealed by the qualities through which You reveal Yourself.

Though bodiless, Your descents among embodied beings are recognized by their unequaled, unsurpassed powers, which remain unattached to material bodies.

You, the Lord of every blessing, have now descended through a partial manifestation for the welfare and flourishing of all the worlds.

Obeisance to the supremely benevolent and supremely auspicious Lord. Obeisance to peaceful Vāsudeva, Lord of the Yadus.

O all-pervading Lord, please permit us, Your servants and attendants, to depart. By the sage's grace, we have received Your divine audience.

May our speech recount Your qualities, our ears hear Your narrations, our hands perform Your service and our minds dwell upon Your feet. May our heads bow in remembrance to the world as Your dwelling, and may our eyes behold the saints, who are Your embodied forms.

Śrī Śuka said: Thus praised by the two, Bhagavān, Lord of Gokula, remained bound to the mortar with rope. Smiling, He addressed the two guhyakas.

Bhagavān said: I already knew all that the compassionate sage had done. Through his words, he cast you down from the pride that blinded you with wealth, and thereby bestowed his grace.

Seeing equal-hearted saints, especially those who have surrendered themselves to Me, cannot bind a person, just as the sight of the sun cannot bring darkness to the eyes.

Therefore return to your home, Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, with Me as your supreme goal. The highest devotion you desired has arisen within you, and you will not return to material birth.

Śrī Śuka said: Thus addressed, the two circumambulated Him and bowed again and again. Taking leave of the Lord still bound to the mortar, they departed toward the north.