मधुकैटभयोर्युद्धोद्योगवर्णनम् ऋषय ऊचुः सौम्य यच्च त्वया प्रोक्तं शौरेर्युद्धं महार्णवे । मधुकैटभयोः सार्धं पञ्चवर्षसहस्रकम्
Description of the battle and preparations of Madhu and Kaitabha. The sages said: Gentle one, what you have told about the battle of Shauri in the great ocean, together with Madhu and Kaitabha, lasted five thousand years.
कस्मात्तौ दानवौ जातौ तस्मिन्नेकार्णवे जले । महावीर्यो दुराधर्षौ देवैरपि सुदुर्जयौ
Why were those two Danavas born in that single ocean of water, possessing great strength, difficult to overcome, and even very hard for the gods to defeat?
कथं तावसुरौ जातौ कथं च हरिणा हतौ । तदाचक्ष्व महाप्राज्ञ चरितं परमाद्भुतम्
How were those two Asuras born, and how were they slain by Hari? Tell us, O greatly wise one, this most wondrous tale.
श्रोतुकामा वयं सर्वे त्वं वक्ता च बहुश्रुतः । दैवाच्चात्रैव संजातः संयोगश्च तथावयोः
We all wish to hear; you are the speaker and well-versed. By fate, this union has occurred, as has our meeting with you.
मूर्खेण सह संयोगो विषादपि सुदुर्जरः । विज्ञेन सह संयोगः सुधारससमः स्मृतः
Union with a fool is harder than poison; union with the wise is remembered as being like the essence of nectar.
जीवन्ति पशवः सर्वे खादन्ति मेहयन्ति च । जानन्ति विषयाकारं व्यवायसुखमद्भुतम्
All animals live, eat, and defecate; they know the forms of sense objects and the wondrous pleasure of intercourse.
न तेषां सदसज्ज्ञानं विवेको न च मोक्षदः । पशुभिस्ते समा ज्ञेया येषां न श्रवणादरः
Those who have no discernment of real and unreal, no discrimination, and no liberation—know them to be like animals, those who have no reverence for hearing.
मृगाद्याः पशवः केचिज्जानन्ति श्रावणं सुखम् । अश्रोत्राः फणिनश्चैव मुमुहुर्नादपानतः
Some animals, such as deer and others, know the pleasure of hearing; but serpents, lacking ears, are deprived of the joy of sound.
पञ्चानामिन्द्रियाणां वै शुभे श्रवणदर्शने । श्रवणाद्वस्तुविज्ञानं दर्शनाच्चित्तरञ्जनम्
Of the five senses, hearing and sight are considered auspicious; through hearing comes knowledge of things, and through sight, delight of the mind.
श्रवणं त्रिविधं प्रोक्तं सात्त्विकं राजसं तथा । तामसं च महाभाग सुज्ञोक्तं निश्चयान्वितम्
Hearing is said to be of three kinds: sāttvika, rājasika, and tāmasika, O noble one, as explained by the wise with certainty.
सात्त्विकं वेदशास्त्रादि साहित्यं चैव राजसम् । तामसं युद्धवार्ता च परदोषप्रकाशनम्
Sāttvika hearing is of the Vedas, scriptures, and similar; rājasika is of literature; tāmasika is talk of war and exposing the faults of others.
सात्त्विकं त्रिविधं प्रोक्तं प्रज्ञावद्भिश्च पण्डितैः । उत्तमं मध्यमं चैव तथैवाधममित्युत
Sāttvika is also said to be threefold by the learned and wise: superior, middling, and inferior.
उत्तमं मोक्षफलदं स्वर्गदं मध्यमं तथा । अधमं भोगदं प्रोक्तं निर्णीय विदितं बुधैः
Superior gives the fruit of liberation, middling gives heaven, and inferior is said to give enjoyment—thus determined and known by the wise.
साहित्यं चैव त्रिविधं स्वीयायां चोत्तमं स्मृतम् । मध्यमं वारयोषायां परोढायां तथाधमम्
Literature too is threefold: one's own is considered superior, that of a courtesan is middling, and that of another's wife is inferior.
तामसं त्रिविधं ज्ञेयं विद्वद्भिः शास्त्रदर्शिभिः । आततायिनियुद्धं यत्तदुत्तममुदाहृतम्
Tāmasika is to be known as threefold by those learned in scripture: fighting with aggressors is called superior.
मध्यमं चापि विद्वेषात्पाण्डवानां तथारिभिः । अधमं निर्निमित्तं तु विवादे कलहे तथा
Middling is fighting out of enmity, as with the Pāṇḍavas and their foes; inferior is quarrelling and conflict without cause.
तदत्र श्रवणं मुख्यं पुराणस्य महामते । बुद्धिप्रवर्धनं पुण्यं ततः पापप्रणाशनम्
Therefore, O wise one, hearing the Purāṇa is foremost; it increases understanding, brings merit, and destroys sin.
तदाख्याहि महाबुद्धे कथां पौराणिकीं शुभाम् । श्रुतां द्वैपायनात्पूर्वं सर्वार्थस्य प्रसाधिनीम्
So, O greatly intelligent one, narrate the auspicious Purāṇic tale, as you heard it before from Vyāsa, which brings about all good.
सूत उवाच यूयं धन्या महाभागा धन्योऽहं पृथिवीतले । येषां श्रवणबुद्धिश्च ममापि कथने किल
Sūta said: You are blessed, O noble ones, and I am blessed on this earth, for you have the desire to hear and I the opportunity to speak.
पुरा चैकार्णवे जाते विलीने भुवनत्रये । शेषपर्यङ्कसुप्ते च देवदेवे जनार्दने
Long ago, when the three worlds were dissolved in the one ocean, and Janārdana, Lord of the gods, lay asleep on the serpent-bed,
विष्णुकर्णमलोद्भूतौ दानवौ मधुकैटभौ । महाबलौ च तौ दैत्यौ विवृद्धौ सागरे जले
From the earwax of Viṣṇu arose the two Dānavas, Madhu and Kaiṭabha, great in might, who grew in the waters of the ocean.
क्रीडमानौ स्थितौ तत्र विचरन्तावितस्ततः । तावेकदा महाकायौ क्रीडासक्तौ महार्णवे
There, those two, of great bodies, remained playing and wandering in the vast ocean, absorbed in their sport.
चिन्तामवापतुश्चित्ते भ्रातराविव संस्थितौ । नाकारणं भवेत्कार्यं सर्वत्रैषा परम्परा
Then, like brothers, they came to ponder in their minds: 'Nothing happens without cause; this is the universal rule.'
आधेयं तु विनाधारं न तिष्ठति कथञ्चन । आधाराधेयभावस्तु भाति नो चित्तगोचरः
Without a support, the supported cannot exist in any way; the relationship of support and supported does not appear to the mind.
क्व तिष्ठति जलं चेदं सुखरूपं सुविस्तरम् । केन सृष्टं कथं जातं मग्नावावाञ्जले स्थितौ
Where does this pleasant, expansive water exist? By whom was it created, and how did it come to be? Immersed in it, how do we remain afloat?
आवां वा कथमुत्पन्नौ केन वोत्पादितावुभौ । पितरौ क्वेति विज्ञानं नास्ति कामं तथावयोः
And how were we two born, and by whom were both of us produced? Where are our parents? We truly have no knowledge of this.
सूत उवाच एवं कामयमानौ तौ जग्मतुर्न विनिश्चयम् । उवाच कैटभस्तत्र मधुं पार्श्वे स्थितं जले
Sūta said: Thus, as the two desired to know, they could not reach a conclusion. Then, there, Kaiṭabha spoke to Madhu, who was standing nearby in the water.
कैटभ उवाच मधो वामत्र सलिले स्थातुं शक्तिर्महाबला । वर्तते भ्रातरचला कारणं सा हि मे मता
Kaiṭabha said: Madhu, in this water, the power to remain is due to a great and unshakable force. Brother, that is what I consider to be the cause.
तया ततमिदं तोयं तदाधारं च तिष्ठति । सा एव परमा देवी कारणञ्च तथावयोः
By her this water is pervaded, and she is its support. She alone is the supreme Goddess and likewise the cause of us both.
एवं विबुध्यमानौ तौ चिन्ताविष्टौ यदासुरौ । तदाकाशे श्रुतं ताभ्यां वाग्बीजं सुमनोहरम्
As those two demons thus became aware, filled with thought, at that moment they heard in the sky a seed-syllable, most delightful to the mind.