Somaka Shares His Priest's Hell

Verse 1 (3.129.1)

ब्रह्मन्यद्यद्यथा कार्यं तत्कुरुष्व तथातथा । पुत्रकामतया सर्वंकरिष्यामि वचस्तव ॥

brahmanyadyadyathā kāryaṃ tatkuruṣva tathātathā | putrakāmatayā sarvaṃkariṣyāmi vacastava

Somaka said: Brahmin, whatever has to be done, in whatever way, do it just so. Out of my longing for sons I will do everything you say.

Verse 2 (3.129.2)

ततः स याजयामास सोमकं तेन जन्तुना । मातरस्तु बलात्पुत्रमपाकार्षुः कृपान्विताः ॥

tataḥ sa yājayāmāsa somakaṃ tena jantunā | mātarastu balātputramapākārṣuḥ kṛpānvitāḥ

Lomasha said: Then the priest had Somaka sacrifice with Jantu. But the mothers, full of pity, dragged the son away by force.

Note on the text: Corrected बलातपुत्रम् → बलात्पुत्रम् (misprint in Wikisource; the virama was dropped; the critical edition reads balāt putram).

Verse 3 (3.129.3)

हा हताः स्मेति वाशन्त्यस्तीव्रशोकसमाहताः । तं मातरः प्रत्यकर्षन्गृहीत्वा दक्षिणे करे ॥

hā hatāḥ smeti vāśantyastīvraśokasamāhatāḥ | taṃ mātaraḥ pratyakarṣangṛhītvā dakṣiṇe kare

Crying "Alas, we are lost!", struck down by bitter grief, the mothers seized him by the right hand and pulled him back.

Note on the text: Corrected प्त्यकर्षन् → प्रत्यकर्षन् (misprint in Wikisource; the र was dropped; the critical edition reads pratyakarṣan). Corresponds to 3.128.3a–c of the critical edition.

Verse 4 (3.129.4)

सव्ये पाणौ गृहीत्वा तु याजकोपि स्म कर्षति । कुररीणामिवार्तानामपाकृष्य तु तं सुतम् ॥

savye pāṇau gṛhītvā tu yājakopi sma karṣati | kurarīṇāmivārtānāmapākṛṣya tu taṃ sutam

The officiating priest seized his left hand and pulled too. Dragging the son away from the mothers, who wailed like ospreys,

Note on the text: Line 1 is 3.128.3e and line 2 is 3.128.4a of the critical edition.

Verse 5 (3.129.5)

विशस्य चैनं विधिवद्वपामस्य जुहाव सः । वपायां हूयमानायां गन्धमाघ्राय मातरः ॥

viśasya cainaṃ vidhivadvapāmasya juhāva saḥ | vapāyāṃ hūyamānāyāṃ gandhamāghrāya mātaraḥ

he cut him open according to the rite and offered his omentum. As the omentum was being offered, the mothers caught its smell

Note on the text: Line 1 is 3.128.4c and line 2 is 3.128.5a of the critical edition.

Verse 6 (3.129.6)

आर्ता निपेतुः सहसा पृथिव्यां कुरुनन्दन । सर्वाश्च गर्भानलभंस्ततस्ताः पार्थिवाङ्गनाः ॥

ārtā nipetuḥ sahasā pṛthivyāṃ kurunandana | sarvāśca garbhānalabhaṃstatastāḥ pārthivāṅganāḥ

and, overcome, fell suddenly to the ground, delight of the Kurus. And all the king's wives conceived.

Note on the text: Corrected गर्भानलबंस् → गर्भानलभंस् (misprint in Wikisource; ब for भ; the critical edition reads garbhān alabhaṃs). Corresponds to 3.128.5c–e of the critical edition.

Verse 7 (3.129.7)

ततो दशसु मासेषु सोमकस्य विशांपते । जज्ञे पुत्रशतं पूर्णं तासु सर्वासु भारत ॥

tato daśasu māseṣu somakasya viśāṃpate | jajñe putraśataṃ pūrṇaṃ tāsu sarvāsu bhārata

Then, after ten months, lord of the people, a full hundred sons were born to Somaka from all of them, Bharata.

Verse 8 (3.129.8)

जन्तुर्ज्येष्ठः समभवज्जनित्र्यामेव पूर्ववत् । स तासामिष्ट एवासीन्न तथाऽन्ये निजाः सुताः ॥

janturjyeṣṭhaḥ samabhavajjanitryāmeva pūrvavat | sa tāsāmiṣṭa evāsīnna tathā'nye nijāḥ sutāḥ

Jantu was born the eldest, from his own mother as before. He was the one they all loved most, more than their own sons.

Verse 9 (3.129.9)

तच्च लक्षणमस्यासीत्सौवर्णं पार्श्व उत्तरे । तस्मिन्पुत्रशते चाग्र्यः स बभूव गुणैरपि ॥

tacca lakṣaṇamasyāsītsauvarṇaṃ pārśva uttare | tasminputraśate cāgryaḥ sa babhūva guṇairapi

He had the golden mark on his left side, and among the hundred sons he was also the foremost in virtues.

Verse 10 (3.129.10)

ततः स लोकमगमत्सोमकस्य गुरुः परम् । अन्वक्षमेव पश्चात्तु सोमकोप्यगमत्परम् ॥

tataḥ sa lokamagamatsomakasya guruḥ param | anvakṣameva paścāttu somakopyagamatparam

Then Somaka's preceptor went to the other world, and soon after him Somaka too went to the other world.

Verse 11 (3.129.11)

अथ तं नरके घोरे पच्यमानं ददर्श सः । तमपृच्छत्किमर्थं त्वं नरके पच्यसे द्विज ॥

atha taṃ narake ghore pacyamānaṃ dadarśa saḥ | tamapṛcchatkimarthaṃ tvaṃ narake pacyase dvija

There he saw him being roasted in a terrible hell, and asked him, "Why are you being roasted in hell, brahmin?"

Verse 12 (3.129.12)

तमब्रवीद्गुरुः सोऽथ पच्यमानोऽग्निना भृशम् । त्वं मया याजितो राजंस्तस्येदं कर्मणः फलम् ॥

tamabravīdguruḥ so'tha pacyamāno'gninā bhṛśam | tvaṃ mayā yājito rājaṃstasyedaṃ karmaṇaḥ phalam

The preceptor, cruelly scorched by the fire, then told him, "I had you perform that sacrifice, O king; this is the fruit of that act."

Verse 13 (3.129.13)

एतच्छ्रुत्वा स राजर्षिर्धर्मराजमथाब्रवीत् । अहमत्र प्रवेक्ष्यामि मुच्यतां मम याजकः ॥

etacchrutvā sa rājarṣirdharmarājamathābravīt | ahamatra pravekṣyāmi mucyatāṃ mama yājakaḥ

Hearing this, the royal sage said to Dharmaraja: "I will go in here; let my officiating priest be released.

Note on the text: Corresponds to 3.128.12a–c of the critical edition.

Verse 14 (3.129.14)

मत्कृते हि महाभागः पच्यते नरकाग्निना । सोहमात्मानमाधास्ये नरके मुच्यतां गुरुः ॥

matkṛte hi mahābhāgaḥ pacyate narakāgninā | sohamātmānamādhāsye narake mucyatāṃ guruḥ

"For it is because of me that this noble man is roasting in the fire of hell. I will place myself in hell; let my preceptor be set free."

Note on the text: Removed stray wiki quote marks (` '). Line 1 is 3.128.12e; line 2 is not in the critical edition's constituted text and appears in the apparatus as 3.128.12f*626.

Verse 15 (3.129.15)

नान्यः कर्तुः फलं राजन्नुपभुङ्क्ते कदाचन । इमानि तव दृश्यन्ते फलानि वदतांवर ॥

nānyaḥ kartuḥ phalaṃ rājannupabhuṅkte kadācana | imāni tava dṛśyante phalāni vadatāṃvara

Dharma said: No one ever enjoys the fruit of another's deed, O king. These, best of speakers, are your own rewards that you see before you.

Note on the text: Corrected नान्य → नान्यः (misprint in Wikisource; the visarga was dropped; the critical edition reads nānyaḥ).

Verse 16 (3.129.16)

पुण्यान्न कामये लोकानृतेऽहं ब्रह्मवादिनम् । इच्छाम्यहमनेनैव सह वस्तुं सुरालये ॥

puṇyānna kāmaye lokānṛte'haṃ brahmavādinam | icchāmyahamanenaiva saha vastuṃ surālaye

Somaka said: I do not want the holy worlds without this knower of the Veda. I wish to live with him alone, whether in the home of the gods

Note on the text: Corrected इच्छाम्यहमननैव → इच्छाम्यहमनेनैव (misprint in Wikisource; the vowel sign was dropped; the critical edition reads anenaiva).

Verse 17 (3.129.17)

नरके वा धर्मराज कर्मणाऽस्य समो ह्यहम् । पुण्यापुण्यफलं देव सममस्त्वावयोरिदम् ॥

narake vā dharmarāja karmaṇā'sya samo hyaham | puṇyāpuṇyaphalaṃ deva samamastvāvayoridam

or in hell, Dharmaraja; for in this deed I am his equal. Let the fruit of merit and of sin, O god, be the same for the two of us.

Verse 18 (3.129.18)

यद्येवमीप्सितं राजन्भुङ्क्ष्वास्य सहितः फलम् । तुल्यकालं सहानेन पश्चात्प्राप्स्यसि सद्गतिम् ॥

yadyevamīpsitaṃ rājanbhuṅkṣvāsya sahitaḥ phalam | tulyakālaṃ sahānena paścātprāpsyasi sadgatim

Dharmaraja said: If that is what you want, O king, then share his fruit with him for the same length of time. Afterwards you will reach the good state.

Note on the text: Corrected भुङ्खास्य → भुङ्क्ष्वास्य (misprint in Wikisource; a broken conjunct; the critical edition reads bhuṅkṣvāsya).

Verse 19 (3.129.19)

स चकार तथा सर्वं राजा राजीवलोचनः । क्षीणपापश्च तस्मात्स विमुक्तो गुरुणा सह ॥

sa cakāra tathā sarvaṃ rājā rājīvalocanaḥ | kṣīṇapāpaśca tasmātsa vimukto guruṇā saha

Lomasha said: The lotus-eyed king did all of this, and when his sins were spent he was released from there together with his preceptor.

Note on the text: Line 1 is 3.128.17a; line 2 is not in the critical edition's constituted text and appears in the apparatus as 3.128.17b*629.

Verse 20 (3.129.20)

लेभे कामाञ्शुभान्राजन्कर्मणा निर्जितान्स्वयम् । सह तेनैव विप्रेण गुरुणा स गुरुप्रियः ॥

lebhe kāmāñśubhānrājankarmaṇā nirjitānsvayam | saha tenaiva vipreṇa guruṇā sa gurupriyaḥ

Then, O king, together with that same brahmin, his preceptor, the king who loved his teacher gained the bright joys he had won by his own deeds.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a variant of 3.128.17c and line 2 is 3.128.17e of the critical edition.

Verse 21 (3.129.21)

एष तस्याश्रमः पुण्यो य एषोग्रे विराजते । क्षान्त उष्यात्र षड्रात्रं प्राप्नोति सुगतिं नरः ॥

eṣa tasyāśramaḥ puṇyo ya eṣogre virājate | kṣānta uṣyātra ṣaḍrātraṃ prāpnoti sugatiṃ naraḥ

This is his holy hermitage, the one that shines there ahead. A man who stays here six nights in patience reaches a good state.

Verse 22 (3.129.22)

एतस्मिन्नपि राजेन्द्र वत्स्यामो विगतज्वराः । षड्रात्रं नियतात्मानः सज्जीभव कुरूद्वह ॥

etasminnapi rājendra vatsyāmo vigatajvarāḥ | ṣaḍrātraṃ niyatātmānaḥ sajjībhava kurūdvaha

Here too, lord of kings, we will stay six nights, free from care and self-restrained. Make yourself ready, pride of the Kurus.

Note on the text: Removed a stray nukta from स़ज्जीभव → सज्जीभव (misprint in Wikisource; the critical edition reads sajjībhava).