The Reign of King Dushyanta

Verse 1 (1.89.1)

भगवन्विस्तरेणेह भरतस्य महात्मनः । जन्म कर्म च शुश्रूषोस्तन्मे शंसितुमर्हसि ॥

bhagavanvistareṇeha bharatasya mahātmanaḥ | janma karma ca śuśrūṣostanme śaṃsitumarhasi

Holy one, I long to hear of the birth and the deeds of the great-souled Bharata. Please tell them to me here in full.

Note on the text: Corrected सुश्रूषोः → शुश्रूषोः (misprint in Wikisource; स for श, as in the critical edition's śuśrūṣuḥ). Not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition gives this question only in its apparatus, after 1.62.2.

Verse 2 (1.89.2)

पौरवाणां वंशकरो दुष्यन्तो नाम वीर्यवान् । पृथिव्याश्चतुरन्ताया गोप्ता भरतसत्तम ॥

pauravāṇāṃ vaṃśakaro duṣyanto nāma vīryavān | pṛthivyāścaturantāyā goptā bharatasattama

There was a valiant king named Dushyanta, the founder of the Paurava line, O best of the Bharatas, the protector of the earth to its four borders.

Verse 3 (1.89.3)

चतुर्भागं भुवः कृत्स्नं यो भुङ्क्ते मनुजेश्वरः । समुद्रावरणांश्चापि देशान्स समितिंजयः ॥

caturbhāgaṃ bhuvaḥ kṛtsnaṃ yo bhuṅkte manujeśvaraḥ | samudrāvaraṇāṃścāpi deśānsa samitiṃjayaḥ

That lord of men, victorious in battle, enjoyed all four quarters of the earth entire, and the lands bounded by the sea as well.

Verse 4 (1.89.4)

आम्लेच्छावधिकान्सर्वान्स भुङ्क्ते रिपुमर्दनः । रत्नाकरसमुद्रान्तांश्चातुर्वर्ण्यजनावृतान् ॥

āmlecchāvadhikānsarvānsa bhuṅkte ripumardanaḥ | ratnākarasamudrāntāṃścāturvarṇyajanāvṛtān

That crusher of foes ruled all the lands, reaching to the borders of the barbarians and stretching to the ocean, the mine of gems, and peopled by all four classes.

Verse 5 (1.89.5)

न वर्णसङ्करकरो न कृष्याकरकृज्जनः । न पापकृत्कश्चिदासीत्तस्मिन्राजनि शासति ॥

na varṇasaṅkarakaro na kṛṣyākarakṛjjanaḥ | na pāpakṛtkaścidāsīttasminrājani śāsati

While that king ruled, no one brought about a mixing of the classes, no one had to toil at farming or in the mines, and no one did evil.

Verse 6 (1.89.6)

धर्मे रतिं सेवमाना धर्मार्थावभिपेदिरे । तदा नरा नरव्याघ्र तस्मिञ्जनपदेश्वरे ॥

dharme ratiṃ sevamānā dharmārthāvabhipedire | tadā narā naravyāghra tasmiñjanapadeśvare

Taking delight in dharma, O tiger among men, the people of that time attained both dharma and prosperity under that lord of the land.

Verse 7 (1.89.7)

नासीच्चोरभयं तात न क्षुधाभयमण्वपि । नासीद्व्याधिभयं चापि तस्मिञ्जनपदेश्वरे ॥

nāsīccorabhayaṃ tāta na kṣudhābhayamaṇvapi | nāsīdvyādhibhayaṃ cāpi tasmiñjanapadeśvare

Under that lord of the land, my son, there was no fear of thieves, not the least fear of hunger, and no fear of disease either.

Verse 8 (1.89.8)

स्वधर्मै रेमिरे वर्णा दैवे कर्मणि निःस्पृहाः । तमाश्रित्य महीपालमासंश्चैवाकुतोभयाः ॥

svadharmai remire varṇā daive karmaṇi niḥspṛhāḥ | tamāśritya mahīpālamāsaṃścaivākutobhayāḥ

The classes delighted in their own duties and performed the sacred rites without craving reward; sheltered by that protector of the earth, they lived without fear from any quarter.

Verse 9 (1.89.9)

कालवर्षी च पर्जन्यः सस्यानि रसवन्ति च । सर्वरत्नसमृद्धा च मही पशुमती तथा ॥

kālavarṣī ca parjanyaḥ sasyāni rasavanti ca | sarvaratnasamṛddhā ca mahī paśumatī tathā

The rain-cloud poured its rain in due season, the crops were full of sap, and the earth abounded in every kind of treasure and in cattle.

Verse 10 (1.89.10)

स्वकर्मनिरता विप्रा नानृतं तेषु विद्यते । स चाद्भुतमहावीर्यो वज्रसंहननो युवा ॥

svakarmaniratā viprā nānṛtaṃ teṣu vidyate | sa cādbhutamahāvīryo vajrasaṃhanano yuvā

The brahmins were devoted to their own duties, and there was no falsehood among them. And the king was young, of wondrous valour, with a frame as hard as the thunderbolt.

Note on the text: The first line (स्वकर्मनिरता विप्राः…) is not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension); the second line = 1.62.11a.

Verse 11 (1.89.11)

उद्यम्य मन्दरं दोर्भ्यां वहेत्सवनकाननम् । चतुष्पथगदायुद्धे सर्वप्रहरणेषु च ॥

udyamya mandaraṃ dorbhyāṃ vahetsavanakānanam | catuṣpathagadāyuddhe sarvapraharaṇeṣu ca

He could lift Mount Mandara in his two arms and carry it off with its woods and forests. In the fourfold art of fighting with the mace, and with every kind of weapon,

Note on the text: Lines correspond to 1.62.11c and 1.62.12a of the critical edition, the second in a variant form (Wikisource divides the verses differently).

Verse 12 (1.89.12)

नागपृष्ठेऽश्वपृष्ठे च बभूव परिनिष्ठितः । बले विष्णुसमश्चासीत्तेजसा भास्करोपमः ॥

nāgapṛṣṭhe'śvapṛṣṭhe ca babhūva pariniṣṭhitaḥ | bale viṣṇusamaścāsīttejasā bhāskaropamaḥ

and in fighting from the back of an elephant or of a horse, he was fully accomplished. In strength he was the equal of Vishnu, in splendour like the sun;

Note on the text: Corrected परिनिष्ठतः → परिनिष्ठितः (misprint in Wikisource; dropped vowel sign ि, as in the critical edition's pariniṣṭhitaḥ). Lines correspond to 1.62.12c and 1.62.13a of the critical edition (Wikisource divides the verses differently).

Verse 13 (1.89.13)

अक्षोभ्यत्वेऽर्णवसमः सहिष्णुत्वे धरासमः । संमतः स महीपालः प्रसन्नपुरराष्ट्रवान् ॥

akṣobhyatve'rṇavasamaḥ sahiṣṇutve dharāsamaḥ | saṃmataḥ sa mahīpālaḥ prasannapurarāṣṭravān

unshakeable as the ocean, enduring as the earth. That protector of the earth was esteemed by all, and his city and kingdom were content.

Note on the text: Lines correspond to 1.62.13c and 1.62.14a of the critical edition (Wikisource divides the verses differently).

Verse 14 (1.89.14)

भूयो धर्मपरैर्भावैर्मुदितं जनमादिशत् ॥

bhūyo dharmaparairbhāvairmuditaṃ janamādiśat

With a mind ever more bent on dharma, he governed a people who lived in joy.

Note on the text: A single line, as in Wikisource; it corresponds to 1.62.14c of the critical edition, in a variant form.