The Gods Take Counsel on Mount Meru

Verse 1 (1.17.1)

एतस्मिन्नेव काले तु भगिन्यौ ते तपोधन । अपश्यतां समायान्तमुच्चैः श्रवसमन्तिकात् ॥

etasminneva kāle tu bhaginyau te tapodhana | apaśyatāṃ samāyāntamuccaiḥ śravasamantikāt

At that very time, O you who are rich in austerity, the two sisters saw Uchchaihshravas coming near:

Verse 2 (1.17.2)

यं तु देवगणाः सर्वे हृष्टरूपमपूजयन् । मथ्यमानेऽमृते जातमश्वरत्नमनुत्तमम् ॥

yaṃ tu devagaṇāḥ sarve hṛṣṭarūpamapūjayan | mathyamāne'mṛte jātamaśvaratnamanuttamam

the peerless jewel among horses, born when the nectar was being churned, whom all the hosts of the gods honoured with delight;

Verse 3 (1.17.3)

अमोघबलमश्वानामुत्तमं जविनां वरम् । श्रीमन्तमजरं दिव्यं सर्वलक्षणपूजितम् ॥

amoghabalamaśvānāmuttamaṃ javināṃ varam | śrīmantamajaraṃ divyaṃ sarvalakṣaṇapūjitam

of unfailing strength, the finest of horses, the best of the swift; glorious, ageless, divine, and honoured for every auspicious mark.

Verse 4 (1.17.4)

कथं तदमृतं देवैर्मथितं क्व च शंस मे । कारणं चात्र मथने संजातममृतात्परम् । यत्र जज्ञे महावीर्यः सोऽश्वराजो महाद्युतिः ॥

kathaṃ tadamṛtaṃ devairmathitaṃ kva ca śaṃsa me | kāraṇaṃ cātra mathane saṃjātamamṛtātparam | yatra jajñe mahāvīryaḥ so'śvarājo mahādyutiḥ

Tell me: how did the gods churn the nectar, and where? What was the reason for the churning, and what arose there besides the nectar? Where was that mighty and splendid king of horses born?

Note on the text: Removed stray wiki marks (` and ।।'). Aligned by hand with 1.15.4 of the critical edition; the middle line is not in it (found in the vulgate recension).

Verse 5 (1.17.5)

ज्वलन्तमचलं मेरुं तेजोराशिमनुत्तमम् । आक्षिपन्तं प्रभां भानोः स्वशृङ्गैः काञ्चनोज्ज्वलैः ॥

jvalantamacalaṃ meruṃ tejorāśimanuttamam | ākṣipantaṃ prabhāṃ bhānoḥ svaśṛṅgaiḥ kāñcanojjvalaiḥ

There is Meru, the blazing mountain, an unrivalled mass of splendour, whose gleaming golden peaks cast back the light of the sun;

Verse 6 (1.17.6)

कनकाभरणं चित्रं देवगन्धर्वसेवितम् । अप्रमेयमनाधृष्यमधर्मबहुलैर्जनैः ॥

kanakābharaṇaṃ citraṃ devagandharvasevitam | aprameyamanādhṛṣyamadharmabahulairjanaiḥ

adorned with gold and many-hued, the haunt of gods and gandharvas, immeasurable, and beyond the reach of those given to unrighteousness;

Verse 7 (1.17.7)

व्यालैरावारितं घोरैर्दिव्यौषधिविदीपितम् । नाकमावृत्य तिष्ठन्तमुच्छ्रयेण महागिरिम् ॥

vyālairāvāritaṃ ghorairdivyauṣadhividīpitam | nākamāvṛtya tiṣṭhantamucchrayeṇa mahāgirim

guarded by fearsome serpents and lit by divine herbs, a great mountain that stands covering the vault of heaven with its height;

Verse 8 (1.17.8)

अगम्यं मनसाप्यन्यैर्नदीवृक्षसमन्वितम् । नानापतगसङ्घैश्च नादितं सुमनोहरैः ॥

agamyaṃ manasāpyanyairnadīvṛkṣasamanvitam | nānāpatagasaṅghaiśca nāditaṃ sumanoharaiḥ

which others cannot reach even in thought, full of rivers and trees, and ringing with the lovely calls of many kinds of birds.

Verse 9 (1.17.9)

तस्य शृङ्गमुपारुह्य बहुरत्नाचितं शुभम् । अनन्तकल्पमद्वन्द्वं सुराः सर्वे महौजसः ॥

tasya śṛṅgamupāruhya bahuratnācitaṃ śubham | anantakalpamadvandvaṃ surāḥ sarve mahaujasaḥ

Climbing its fair peak, studded with many jewels, boundless and without equal, all the gods of great might,

Verse 10 (1.17.10)

ते मन्त्रयितुमारब्धास्तत्रासीना दिवौकसः । अमृताय समागम्य तपोनियमसंयुताः ॥

te mantrayitumārabdhāstatrāsīnā divaukasaḥ | amṛtāya samāgamya taponiyamasaṃyutāḥ

the dwellers in heaven, devoted to austerity and discipline, sat there together and began to take counsel about the nectar.

Verse 11 (1.17.11)

तत्र नारायणो देवो ब्रह्माणमिदमब्रवीत् । चिन्तयत्सु सुरेष्वेवं मन्त्रयत्सु च सर्वशः ॥

tatra nārāyaṇo devo brahmāṇamidamabravīt | cintayatsu sureṣvevaṃ mantrayatsu ca sarvaśaḥ

While the gods were thus pondering and consulting on every side, the god Narayana said this to Brahma:

Verse 12 (1.17.12)

देवैरसुरसङ्घैश्च मथ्यतां कलशोदधिः । भविष्यत्यमृतं तत्र मथ्यमाने महोदधौ ॥

devairasurasaṅghaiśca mathyatāṃ kalaśodadhiḥ | bhaviṣyatyamṛtaṃ tatra mathyamāne mahodadhau

'Let the ocean, that great vessel, be churned by the gods and the hosts of asuras together. When the great ocean is churned, the nectar will appear in it.

Verse 13 (1.17.13)

सर्वौषधीः समावाप्य सर्वरत्नानि चैव ह । मन्थध्वमुदधिं देवा वेत्स्यध्वममृतं ततः ॥

sarvauṣadhīḥ samāvāpya sarvaratnāni caiva ha | manthadhvamudadhiṃ devā vetsyadhvamamṛtaṃ tataḥ

Cast in all the herbs and all the jewels, O gods, and churn the ocean; then you will gain the nectar.'

Note on the text: Corrected मन्थध्वयुदधिं → मन्थध्वमुदधिं (misprint in Wikisource; य for म, as in the critical edition).