Adhyaya 44
The Deeds of Sukalā in the Vena Narrative: Battle, Liberation of the Boar-King, and Gandharva-Kingship
After his army is routed by a powerful boar-leader, the king is seized by wrath and advances with bow and a time-like arrow. Kolavara, the swift and fierce boar-king, disrupts the assault; the king’s horse is distressed and falls, and the battle shifts into a chariot encounter. Roaring, the boar-chief strikes down Kośala’s troops left without chariots, until the righteous King Hita finally kills him with a mace. At death the boar-king attains Hari’s abode, and the devas honor him with showers of flowers, sandal and saffron rain, and celestial rejoicing. Then his transformed divine form, four-armed, appears; he ascends in a vimāna, revered by Indra. Casting off the former body, he becomes king of the Gandharvas—signifying liberation and exaltation, divinely affirmed as the dharmic culmination of his deeds.
Shlokas
Verse 1
चतुश्चत्वारिंशत्तमोऽध्यायः । सुकलोवाच । स्वसैन्यं दुर्धरं दृष्ट्वा निर्जितं दुर्धरेण तम् । चुकोप भूपतिः क्रूरं दुःसहं शूकरं प्रति
Sukala said: Seeing his own formidable army defeated by that mighty one, the king became enraged—cruelly—toward the unbearable boar.
Verse 2
धनुरादाय वेगेन बाणं कालानलोपमम् । तस्याभिमुखमेवासौ हयेनाभिससार सः
Seizing his bow, he swiftly took up an arrow like the fire of Time itself; and, facing him directly, he charged forward on horseback.
Verse 3
स यदा नृपतिं हयपृष्ठगतं वरपौरुषयुक्तममित्रहणम् । परिपश्यति शूकरयूथपतिः प्रगतोभिमुखं रणभूमितले
When the leader of the boar-herd sees the king—mounted on horseback, endowed with excellent valor, a slayer of foes—advancing straight toward him on the battlefield,
Verse 4
निशितेन शरेण हतो हि यदा नृपतेर्हयपादतले प्रगतः । तमिहैव विलंघ्य च वेगमनाः प्रखरेण जवेन च कोलवरः
When he was struck down by a sharp arrow as he had come beneath the king’s horse’s hoof, Kolavara—his mind fixed on speed—leapt right over him and rushed on with fierce swiftness.
Verse 5
व्यथितस्तुरगः सकिरिःकिटिना न हि याति क्षितौ स हि विद्धगतिः । तुरगः पतितो भुवि तुंडहतो लघुस्यंदनमेव गतो नृपतिः
The horse, distressed by the kiriḥkiṭi, could no longer move upon the ground, for its course had been struck and impeded. The horse fell to the earth, beaten at the muzzle; and the king went on only with the light chariot.
Verse 6
स हि गर्जति शूकरजातिरवैरथसंस्थितकोशल येन जवैः । गदया निहतः किल भूपतिना रणमध्यगतः स हि यूथपतिः
That leader of the herd—born among boars—roars loudly. With swift charges he struck down Kośala’s forces that stood without chariots; and in the midst of the battle, he was indeed slain by the king with a mace.
Verse 7
परित्यज्य तनुं च स्वकां हि तदा गत एव हरेर्गृहमेव वरम्
Casting off his own body, he indeed went to Hari’s abode—truly the highest and best destination.
Verse 8
कृत्वा हि युद्धं समरे हितेन राज्ञा समं शूकरराजराजः । पपात भूमौ च हतो यदा तु ववर्षिरे देववराः सुपुष्पैः
After waging battle on the battlefield with the righteous king Hita, the king of boars fell to the ground, slain; then the best of the gods showered him with beautiful flowers.
Verse 9
तस्योर्ध्वगः पुष्पचयः सुजातः संतानकानामिव सौरभश्च । सकुंकुमैश्चंदनवृष्टिमेव कुर्वंति देवाः परितुष्यमाणाः
From there a well-formed heap of flowers rose upward, fragrant like the blossoms of the saṃtānaka tree; and the gods, delighted, poured down a rain of sandalwood mixed with saffron.
Verse 10
विमृश्यमानः स हि तेन राज्ञा चतुर्भुजः सोपि बभूव राजन् । दिव्यांबरोभूषणदिव्यरूपः स्वतेजसा भाति दिवाकरो यथा
As he was contemplated by that king, he too became four-armed, O king—clad in divine garments, adorned with celestial ornaments, and of a radiant divine form—shining by his own splendor like the sun.
Verse 11
दिव्येन यानेन दिवं गतो यदा सुपूज्यमानः सुरराजदेवैः । गंधर्वराजः स बभूव भूयः पूर्वं स्वकं कायमिहैव हित्वा
When he went to heaven in a divine aerial car, being highly honored by Indra and the gods, he once again became the king of the Gandharvas—having first cast off his former body right here.
Verse 44
इति श्रीपद्मपुराणे भूमिखंडे वेनोपाख्याने सुकलाचरित्रे । चतुश्चत्वारिंशत्तमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the forty-fourth chapter in the Bhūmi-khaṇḍa of the Śrī Padma Purāṇa, within the narrative of Vena, describing the life and deeds of Sukalā.