Adhyaya 36: Account of the Maṇija Kings and a Hymn to Govinda Leading to Liberation

Verse 1

महातपा उवाच । आदितरेतासु राजानो मणिजा ये प्रकीर्तिताः । कथयिष्यामि तान् राजन् यत्र जातोऽपि पार्थिव ॥ ३६.१ ॥

Mahātapā said: “O king, I shall recount those rulers—celebrated as the Maṇijā—among the descendants of Āditaretas, in the line wherein that sovereign too was born.”

Verse 2

योऽसौ सुप्रभानामासीत्त स त्वं राजन् कृते युगे । जातोऽसि नाम्ना विख्यातः प्रजापाल इति शोभनः ॥ ३६.२ ॥

O king, in the Kṛta Yuga you are that very one who was known as Suprabhā; now you have been born again and are renowned by the name “Prajāpāla,” O illustrious one.

Verse 3

शेषास्त्रेतायुगॆ राजन् भविष्यन्ति महाबलाः । यो दीप्ततेजा मणिजः स शान्तेति प्रकीर्तितः ॥ ३६.३ ॥

O king, the remaining ones will arise in the Tretā Yuga as men of great strength. He of blazing splendor, born of Maṇi, is proclaimed as “Śānti”.

Verse 4

सुरश्मिर्भविता राजा शशकर्णो महाबलः । शुभदर्शनः पाञ्चालो भविष्यति नराधिपः ॥ ३६.४ ॥

A king named Suraśmi will arise; another, Śaśakarṇa, of great strength; and the handsome Pāñcāla will become a ruler among men.

Verse 5

सुशान्तिरङ्गवंशे वै सुन्दरोऽप्यङ्ग इत्युत । सुन्दश्च मुचुकुन्दोऽभूत्सुद्युम्नस्तुर एव च ॥ ३६.५ ॥

Indeed, in the lineage of Aṅga there was Suśānti; and Sundara—also called Aṅga. And there were also Sunda and Muchukunda; likewise Sudyumna and Tura.

Verse 6

सुमनाः सोमदत्तस्तु शुभः संवरणोऽभवत् । सुशीलो वसुदानस्तु सुखदो सुपतिर्भवत् ॥ ३६.६ ॥

Sumanā, and indeed Somadatta, became Śubha and Saṃvaraṇa. Likewise, Suśīla and Vasudāna became known as Sukhada and Supati.

Verse 7

शम्भुः सेनापतिरभूत् सुकान्तो दशरथः स्मृतः । सोमोऽभूज्जनको राजा एते त्रेतायुगॆ नृप ॥ ३६.७ ॥

Śambhu became the commander of the army; Sukānta is remembered as Daśaratha. Soma became King Janaka—these were the rulers in the Tretā age.

Verse 8

सर्वे भूमिमिमां राजन् भुक्त्वा ते वसुधाधिपाः । इष्ट्वा च विविधैर्यज्ञैर्दिवं प्राप्स्यन्त्यसंशयम् ॥ ३६.८ ॥

O King, all those rulers of the earth—having enjoyed and governed this land, and having performed sacrifices of various kinds—will, without doubt, attain heaven.

Verse 9

श्रीवराह उवाच । एवं श्रुत्वा स राजर्षिर्ब्रह्मविद्याममृतं प्रभुः । आख्यानं परमं प्रीतस्तपश्चर्तुमियाद्वनम् ॥ ३६.९ ॥

Śrī Varāha said: Having thus heard, that royal sage—the capable lord—received the nectar-like knowledge of Brahman (brahma-vidyā). Delighted by the supreme account, he went to the forest to undertake ascetic practice (tapas).

Verse 10

ऋषिरध्यात्मयोगेन विहायेदं कलेवरम् । ब्रह्मभूतोऽभवद्धात्री हरौ लयमवाप च ॥ ३६.१० ॥

By means of inner spiritual discipline (adhyātma-yoga), the sage abandoned this bodily frame. Established in Brahman, he became Brahman; and Dhātrī, the Sustainer, likewise attained dissolution (laya) in Hari.

Verse 11

वृन्दावनं च राजा असौ तपोऽर्थं गतवान् प्रभुः । तत्र गोविन्दनामानं हरिं स्तोतुमथारभत् ॥ ३६.११ ॥

That king—an eminent lord—went to Vṛndāvana for the sake of austerity; there he began to hymn Hari, known by the name Govinda.

Verse 12

राजोवाच । नमामि देवं जगतां च मूर्तिं गोपेन्द्रमिन्द्रानुजमप्रमेयम् । संसारचक्रक्रमणैकदक्षं क्षितीधरं देववरं नमामि ॥ ३६.१२ ॥

The King said: “I bow to the God who is the embodied form of the worlds; to Gopendra, Indra’s younger brother, the immeasurable; to him who alone is supremely skilled in setting the wheel of saṃsāra in motion; to the bearer of the earth—to the most excellent among the gods I bow.”

Verse 13

भवोदधौ दुःखशतोर्मिभीमे जरावर्ते कृष्णपातालमूले । तदन्तमेको दधते सुखं मे नमोऽस्तु ते गोपतिरप्रमेय ॥ ३६.१३ ॥

In the ocean of becoming—terrifying with hundreds of waves of suffering—within the whirlpool of old age, at the root of the dark Pātāla, you alone establish its end and grant me well-being. Homage to you, O Gopati, immeasurable one.

Verse 14

व्याध्यादियुक्तः पुरुषैर्ग्रहैश्च सङ्घट्टमानं पुनरेव देव । नमोऽस्तु ते युद्धरते महात्मा जनार्दनो गोपतिरुग्रबाहुः ॥ ३६.१४ ॥

O god—when people afflicted with illness and similar troubles, and also beset by hostile forces, are once again being struck and overwhelmed—homage be to you, the battle-engaged great-souled one: Janārdana, protector of beings, Gopati with mighty arms.

Verse 15

त्वमुत्तमः सर्वविदां सुरेश त्वया ततं विश्वमिदं समस्तम् । गोपेन्द्र मां पाहि महानुभाव भवाद्भीतं तिग्मरथाङ्गपाणे ॥ ३६.१५ ॥

You are the foremost among all the wise, O Lord of the gods; by you this entire universe is pervaded in its totality. O Gopendra, protect me—O great-souled one—me who am afraid of worldly becoming, O bearer of the blazing discus in your hand.

Verse 16

परोऽसि देव प्रवरः सुराणां पुंसः स्वरूपोऽसि शशिप्रकाशः । हुताशवक्त्राच्युत तीव्रभाव गोपेन्द्र मां पाहि भवे पतन्तम् ॥ ३६.१६ ॥

O transcendent God, foremost among the gods, You are the true form of the Supreme Person, radiant like the moon. O Acyuta, whose mouth is like fire and whose power is fierce—O Gopendra, lord of the cowherds—protect me as I fall into the cycle of worldly becoming.

Verse 17

संसारचक्रक्रमणान्यनेका- न्याविर्भवन्त्यच्युत देहिनां यत् । त्वन्मायया मोहितानां सुरेश कस्ते मायां तरते द्वन्द्वधामा ॥ ३६.१७ ॥

O Acyuta, for embodied beings many ways of moving within the wheel of saṃsāra come to manifestation. O Lord of the gods, those deluded by Your māyā—who can cross beyond that māyā, the abode of dualities?

Verse 18

अगोत्रमस्पर्शमरूपगन्ध- मनामनिर्देशमजं वरेण्यम् । गोपेन्द्र त्वां यद्युपासन्ति धीराः- स्ते मुक्तिभाजो भवबन्धमुक्ताः ॥ ३६.१८ ॥

O Gopendra, if the steadfast wise worship You—who are beyond lineage, beyond touch, beyond form and scent, beyond mind and verbal designation, unborn and supremely worthy—then they become partakers of liberation, freed from the bondage of worldly becoming.

Verse 19

शब्दातिगं व्योमरूपं विमूर्त्तिं विकर्म्मिणां शुभभावं वरेण्यम् । चक्राब्जपाणिं तु तथोपचारादुक्तं पुराणे सततं नमामि ॥ ३६.१९ ॥

I continually bow, as declared in the Purāṇa and in accord with the prescribed rites of reverential offering, to the One who transcends sound, whose form is like the sky, who is without embodied form; who is the auspicious disposition for those engaged in ritual action, the most worthy of choice—whose hands bear the discus and the lotus.

Verse 20

त्रिविक्रमं क्रान्तजगत्त्रयं च चतुर्मूर्त्तिं विश्वगतां क्षितीशम् । शम्भुं विभुं भूतपतिं सुरेशं नमाम्यहं विष्णुमनन्तमूर्त्तिम् ॥ ३६.२० ॥

I bow to Viṣṇu of endless forms—Trivikrama, who has strode across the three worlds; the four-formed One, all-pervading, lord of the earth; the auspicious One, the sovereign, the lord of beings, and the lord of the gods.

Verse 21

त्वं देव सर्वाणि चराचराणि सृजस्यथो संहरसे त्वमेव । मां मुक्तिकामं नय देव शीघ्रं यस्मिन् गता योगिनो नापयान्ति ॥ ३६.२१ ॥

O Lord, you alone create all beings—moving and unmoving—and you alone draw them back again. Lead me swiftly, O God, who longs for liberation, to that state upon reaching which yogins do not return.

Verse 22

जयस्व गोविन्द महानुभाव जयस्व विष्णो जय पद्मनाभ । जयस्व सर्वज्ञ जयाप्रमेय जयस्व विश्वेश्वर विश्वमूर्ते ॥ ३६.२२ ॥

Victory to Govinda, O great-souled one; victory to Viṣṇu; victory to Padmanābha. Victory to the all-knowing; victory to the immeasurable; victory to the Lord of the universe, O one whose form is the universe.

Verse 23

श्रीवराह उवाच । एवं स्तुत्वा तदा राजा निधाय स्वं कलेवरम् । परमात्मनि गोविन्दे लयमागाच्छ शाश्वते ॥ ३६.२३ ॥

Śrī Varāha said: “Thus, after offering praise, the king laid down his own body and entered dissolution (mergence) into the eternal Govinda, the Supreme Self (Paramātman).”