अमृतादपि मिष्टा ते वाणी सूत रसात्मिका । न तृप्यामो वयं सर्वे सुधया च यथामराः
Your speech, O Suta, is sweeter than nectar, full of flavor; we all never tire of it, just as the gods never tire of ambrosia.
सूत उवाच शृणुध्वं मुनयः सर्वे कथां दिव्यां मनोरमाम् । वक्ष्याम्यहं यथाबुद्ध्या श्रुतां व्यासवरोत्तमात्
Suta said: Listen, O sages, to this divine and delightful tale; I shall tell it as I have heard it from the noble Vyasa, to the best of my understanding.
गुरोस्तु दयिता भार्या तारा नामेति विश्रुता । रूपयौवनयुक्ता सा चार्वङ्गी मदविह्वला
The beloved wife of the guru, famed as Tara, was endowed with beauty and youth, graceful in form, and intoxicated with passion.
गतैकदा विधोर्धाम यजमानस्य भामिनी । दृष्टा च शशिनात्यर्थं रूपयौवनशालिनी
Once, that radiant lady went to the abode of the Moon, the sacrificer; she was seen by the Moon, resplendent with beauty and youth.
कामातुरस्तदा जातः शशी शशिमुखीं प्रति । सापि वीक्ष्य विधुं कामं जाता मदनपीडिता
Then the Moon became overwhelmed with desire for her, the moon-faced one; and she, seeing the Moon, was likewise afflicted by love.
तावन्योन्यं प्रेमयुक्तौ स्मरार्तौ च बभूवतुः । तारा शशी मदोन्मत्तौ कामबाणप्रपीडितौ
The two, filled with love for each other and tormented by passion, Tara and the Moon, maddened by desire, were both pierced by love's arrows.
रेमाते मदमत्तौ तौ परस्परस्पृहान्वितौ । दिनानि कतिचित्तत्र जातानि रममाणयोः
Those two, intoxicated with passion and mutually desiring each other, spent several days there, delighting in each other's company.
बृहस्पतिस्तु दुःखार्तस्तारामानयितुं गृहम् । प्रेषयामास शिष्यं तु नायाता सा वशीकृता
Bṛhaspati, afflicted with sorrow, sent his disciple to bring Tārā home; but she, having been enchanted, did not return.
पुनः पुनर्यदा शिष्यं परावर्तत चन्द्रमाः । बृहस्पतिस्तदा क्रुद्धो जगाम स्वयमेव हि
When the disciple repeatedly returned without her, Bṛhaspati, angered, went himself.
गत्वा सोमगृहं तत्र वाचस्पतिरुदारधीः । उवाच शशिनं क्रुद्धः स्मयमानं मदान्वितम्
Arriving at Soma's house, the noble-minded Bṛhaspati, enraged, spoke to the smiling, intoxicated Moon.
किं कृतं किल शीतांशो कर्म धर्मविगर्हितम् । रक्षिता मम भार्येयं सुन्दरी केन हेतुना
"O Moon, what is this deed you have done, so condemned by righteousness? For what reason have you taken my wife, whom I was protecting?"
तव देव गुरुश्चाहं यजमानोऽसि सर्वथा । गुरुभार्या कथं मूढ भुक्ता किं रक्षिताथवा
"I am your guru, O god, and you are always the sacrificer; how, O fool, have you enjoyed your teacher's wife, or was she protected by you?"
ब्रह्महा हेमहारी च सुरापो गुरुतल्पगः । महापातकिनो ह्येते तत्संसर्गी च पञ्चमः
"A slayer of a Brāhmaṇa, a thief of gold, a drinker of liquor, one who violates the teacher's bed—these are great sinners, and one who associates with them is the fifth."
महापातकयुक्तस्त्वं दुराचारोऽतिगर्हितः । न देवसदनार्होऽसि यदि भुक्तेयमङ्गना
"You are engaged in a great sin, of wicked conduct and utterly condemned; you are not fit for the abode of the gods if you have enjoyed this woman."
मुञ्चेमामसितापाङ्गीं नयामि सदनं मम । नोचेद्वक्ष्यामि दुष्टात्मन् गुरुदारापहारिणम्
"Release this dark-eyed woman, let me take her to my house; otherwise, I will declare you, O wicked one, as a thief of your guru's wife."
इत्येवं भाषमाणं तमुवाच रोहिणीपतिः । गुरुं क्रोधसमायुक्तं कान्ताविरहदुःखितम्
As he was speaking thus, the lord of Rohiṇī replied to the guru, who was filled with anger and distressed by separation from his beloved.
इन्दुरुवाच क्रोधात्ते तु दुराराध्या ब्राह्मणाः क्रोधवर्जिताः । पूजार्हा धर्मशास्त्रज्ञा वर्जनीयास्ततोऽन्यथा
The Moon said: "Because of your anger, Brāhmaṇas are difficult to please; they are worthy of worship, versed in the law, and must be avoided if otherwise."
आगमिष्यति सा कामं गृहं ते वरवर्णिनी । अत्रैव संस्थिता बाला का ते हानिरिहानघ
"She, the beautiful one, will come to your house as she wishes; she is merely staying here, still a girl—what harm is there to you here, O sinless one?"
इच्छया संस्थिता चात्र सुखकामार्थिनी हि सा । दिनानि कतिचित्स्थित्वा स्वेच्छया चागमिष्यति
"She remains here of her own will, desiring pleasure; after staying a few days, she will return as she wishes."
त्वयैवोदाहृतं पूर्वं धर्मशास्त्रमतं तथा । न स्त्री दुष्यति चारेण न विप्रो वेदकर्मणा
"You yourself have previously stated the doctrine of the law: a woman is not defiled by wandering, nor a Brāhmaṇa by Vedic rites."
इत्युक्तः शशिना तत्र गुरुरत्यन्तदुःखितः । जगाम स्वगृहं तूर्णं चिन्ताविष्टः स्मरातुरः
Thus addressed by the Moon, the guru, overwhelmed with grief, quickly returned to his own house, absorbed in anxious thoughts and stricken by love.
दिनानि कतिचित्तत्र स्थित्वा चिन्तातुरो गुरुः । ययावथ गृहं तस्य त्वरितश्चौषधीपतेः
After spending a few days there, the guru, tormented by worry, hurried to the house of the lord of medicines.
स्थितः क्षत्रा निषिद्धोऽसौ द्वारदेशे रुषान्वितः । नाजगाम शशी तत्र चुकोपाति बृहस्पतिः
He stood there, forbidden by the kṣatriyas, at the entrance, filled with anger; the Moon did not come out, and Bṛhaspati became even more enraged.
अयं मे शिष्यतां यातो गुरुपत्नीं तु मातरम् । जग्राह बलतोऽधर्मी शिक्षणीयो मयाधुना
"This one, who has become my disciple, has forcibly taken my guru's wife, my mother; now he must be disciplined by me, for he is unrighteous."
उवाच वाचं कोपात्तु द्वारदेशस्थितो बहिः । किं शेषे भवने मन्द पापाचार सुराधम
Standing outside at the doorway, he spoke in anger: 'Why do you remain in the house, fool, wicked one, lowest of the gods?'
देहि मे कामिनीं शीघ्रं नोचेच्छापं ददाम्यहम् । करोमि भस्मसान्नूनं न ददासि प्रियां मम
Give me my beloved woman at once, or else I will curse you; if you do not give me my dear one, I will surely reduce you to ashes.
सूत उवाच क्रूराणि चैवमादीनि भाषणानि बृहस्पतेः । श्रुत्वा द्विजपतिः शीघ्रं निर्गतः सदनाद्बहिः
The bard said: Hearing these and other cruel words from Brihaspati, the lord of the twice-born quickly left the house in haste.
तमुवाच हसन्सोमः किमिदं बहु भाषसे । न ते योग्यासितापाङ्गी सर्वलक्षणसंयुता
Soma, laughing, said to him: 'Why do you speak so much? That dark-eyed, perfectly endowed woman is not suitable for you.'
कुरूपां च स्वसदृशीं गृहाणान्यां स्त्रियं द्विज । भिक्षुकस्य गृहे योग्या नेदृशी वरवर्णिनी
Take another woman, one who is ugly and like yourself, O twice-born; such a beauty is not fit for a beggar's house.
रतिः स्वसदृशे कान्ते नार्याः किल निगद्यते । त्वं न जानासि मन्दात्मन् कामशास्त्रविनिर्णयम्
It is said that pleasure is with a beloved who is one's equal, O woman; you do not understand, dull-minded one, the decision of the science of love.