The Hunter Sends Kaushika Home and Tells of His Former Birth

Verse 1 (3.218.1)

गुरू निवेद्य विप्राय तौ मातापितरावुभौ । पुनरेव स धर्मात्मा व्याधो ब्राह्मणमब्रवीत् ॥

gurū nivedya viprāya tau mātāpitarāvubhau | punareva sa dharmātmā vyādho brāhmaṇamabravīt

When the righteous hunter had presented both his elders, his mother and his father, to the brahmin, he spoke to the brahmin again.

Verse 2 (3.218.2)

प्रवृत्तचक्षुर्जातोस्मि संपश्य तपसो बलम् । यदर्थमुक्तोसि तया गच्छ त्वं मिथिलामिति ॥

pravṛttacakṣurjātosmi saṃpaśya tapaso balam | yadarthamuktosi tayā gaccha tvaṃ mithilāmiti

"See the power of austerity: my inner sight has been opened. That is why she told you, 'Go to Mithila' —

Note on the text: Speaker: the hunter's direct speech begins here (Wikisource carries the मार्कण्डेय heading of verse 1 on); assigned to the hunter, as in the critical edition, where verse 1 introduces his words.

Verse 3 (3.218.3)

पतिशुश्रूषपरया दान्तया सत्यशीलया । मिथिलायां वसन्व्याधः स ते धर्मान्प्रवक्ष्यति ॥

patiśuśrūṣaparayā dāntayā satyaśīlayā | mithilāyāṃ vasanvyādhaḥ sa te dharmānpravakṣyati

she who is devoted to serving her husband, self-restrained and true in conduct: 'A hunter living in Mithila will teach you the laws of dharma.'"

Verse 4 (3.218.4)

पतिव्रतायाः सत्यायाः शीलाढ्याया यतव्रत । संस्मृत्य वाक्यं धर्मज्ञ गुणवानसि मे मतः ॥

pativratāyāḥ satyāyāḥ śīlāḍhyāyā yatavrata | saṃsmṛtya vākyaṃ dharmajña guṇavānasi me mataḥ

"Keeper of vows, knower of dharma, when I recall the words of that truthful, faithful wife, rich in virtue, I hold you to be a man of true merit."

Verse 5 (3.218.5)

यत्तया त्वं द्विजश्रेष्ठ नियुक्तो मां प्रति प्रभो । दृष्टमेव तया सम्यगेकपत्न्या न संशयः ॥

yattayā tvaṃ dvijaśreṣṭha niyukto māṃ prati prabho | dṛṣṭameva tayā samyagekapatnyā na saṃśayaḥ

"Best of brahmins, my lord, in sending you to me that wife devoted to one husband certainly saw rightly; there is no doubt of it.

Verse 6 (3.218.6)

त्वदनुग्रहबुद्ध्या तु विप्रैतद्दर्शितं मया । वाक्यं च शृणु मे तात यत्ते वक्ष्ये हितं द्विज ॥

tvadanugrahabuddhyā tu vipraitaddarśitaṃ mayā | vākyaṃ ca śṛṇu me tāta yatte vakṣye hitaṃ dvija

It was from a wish to do you good, brahmin, that I showed you this. Now hear my words, dear friend; I shall tell you what is for your good, twice-born one.

Verse 7 (3.218.7)

त्वया न पूजिता माता पिता च द्विजसत्तम । अनिसृष्टोसि निष्क्रान्तो गृहात्ताभ्यामनिन्दित ॥

tvayā na pūjitā mātā pitā ca dvijasattama | anisṛṣṭosi niṣkrānto gṛhāttābhyāmanindita

You have not honoured your mother and father, best of brahmins. Blameless one, you left your home without their leave.

Note on the text: Corrected अनिनदित → अनिन्दित (misprint in Wikisource; broken conjunct, the critical edition reads anindita). न पूजिता is a recension variant of the critical edition's vinikṛtā and is kept.

Verse 8 (3.218.8)

वेदोच्चारणकार्यार्थमयुक्तं तत्त्वया कृतम् । तव शोकेन वृद्धौ तावन्धीभूतौ तपस्विनौ ॥

vedoccāraṇakāryārthamayuktaṃ tattvayā kṛtam | tava śokena vṛddhau tāvandhībhūtau tapasvinau

You did it for the sake of reciting the Veda, and it was not right. Grieving for you, those two aged ascetics have gone blind.

Note on the text: The two lines are the critical edition's 3.205.7ef and 3.205.8ab.

Verse 9 (3.218.9)

तौ प्रसादयितुं गच्छ मा त्वां धर्मोऽत्यगादयम् । तपस्वी त्वं महात्मा च धर्मे च निरतः सदा ॥

tau prasādayituṃ gaccha mā tvāṃ dharmo'tyagādayam | tapasvī tvaṃ mahātmā ca dharme ca nirataḥ sadā

Go and win their forgiveness, so that this dharma does not pass you by. You are an ascetic and a great soul, ever devoted to dharma —

Note on the text: The two lines are the critical edition's 3.205.8cd and 3.205.9ab; धर्मोऽत्यगादयम् is a recension variant of dharmo 'tyagān mahān.

Verse 10 (3.218.10)

सर्वमेतदपार्थं ते क्षिप्रं तौ संप्रसादय । तौ प्रसाद्य द्विजश्रेष्ठ यच्छ्रेयस्तदवाप्स्यसि ॥

sarvametadapārthaṃ te kṣipraṃ tau saṃprasādaya | tau prasādya dvijaśreṣṭha yacchreyastadavāpsyasi

yet all this is of no use to you. Quickly win back their favour. Once you have reconciled them, best of brahmins, you will gain whatever is good for you.

Note on the text: Removed stray wiki marks (backtick and quote) around the second line. The first line is the critical edition's 3.205.9cd; the second line is not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension; star passage 1042, after 3.205.9d, in the apparatus).

Verse 11 (3.218.11)

श्रद्दधस्व मम ब्रह्मन्नान्यथा कर्तुमर्हसि । गम्यतामद्यविप्रर्षे श्रेयस्ते कथयाम्यहम् ॥

śraddadhasva mama brahmannānyathā kartumarhasi | gamyatāmadyaviprarṣe śreyaste kathayāmyaham

Trust me, brahmin; you should not do otherwise. Go today, brahmin seer; I am telling you what is for your good."

Note on the text: Corrected यम्यताम् → गम्यताम् (misprint in Wikisource; wrong akshara, the critical edition reads gamyatām).

Verse 12 (3.218.12)

यदेतदुक्तं भवता सर्वं सत्यमसंशयम् । प्रीतोस्मि तव भद्रं ते धर्माचारगुणान्वित ॥

yadetaduktaṃ bhavatā sarvaṃ satyamasaṃśayam | prītosmi tava bhadraṃ te dharmācāraguṇānvita

"All that you have said is true beyond doubt. I am pleased with you; may good fortune be yours, you who are endowed with righteous conduct and virtue."

Verse 13 (3.218.13)

दैवतप्रतिमो हि त्वं यस्त्वं धर्ममनुव्रतः । पुराणं शाश्वतं दिव्यं दुष्प्रापमकृतात्मभिः ॥

daivatapratimo hi tvaṃ yastvaṃ dharmamanuvrataḥ | purāṇaṃ śāśvataṃ divyaṃ duṣprāpamakṛtātmabhiḥ

"You are like a god, for you follow dharma — the ancient, eternal, divine dharma that those without self-discipline can hardly attain.

Verse 14 (3.218.14)

मातापित्रोः सकाशं हि गत्वा त्वं द्विजसत्तम । अतन्द्रितः कुरु क्षिप्रं मातापित्रोर्हि पूजनम् । अतः परमहं धर्मं नान्यं पश्यामि कंचन ॥

mātāpitroḥ sakāśaṃ hi gatvā tvaṃ dvijasattama | atandritaḥ kuru kṣipraṃ mātāpitrorhi pūjanam | ataḥ paramahaṃ dharmaṃ nānyaṃ paśyāmi kaṃcana

Go to your mother and father, best of brahmins, and without delay, untiring, honour your mother and father. I see no dharma higher than this."

Note on the text: Separated run-together words गत्वात्वं → गत्वा त्वं and क्षिप्रंमातापित्रोर्हि → क्षिप्रं मातापित्रोर्हि (word-spacing slips in Wikisource). The first line is not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension; star passage 1043, after 3.205.12d, in the apparatus); the other two lines are 3.205.13.

Verse 15 (3.218.15)

इहाहमागतो दिष्ट्या दिष्ट्या मे संगतं त्वया । ईदृशा दुर्लभा लोके नरा धर्मप्रदर्शकाः ॥

ihāhamāgato diṣṭyā diṣṭyā me saṃgataṃ tvayā | īdṛśā durlabhā loke narā dharmapradarśakāḥ

"It is my good fortune that I came here, my good fortune that I met you. Men like you, who show the way of dharma, are rare in the world.

Verse 16 (3.218.16)

एको नरसहस्रेषु धर्मवान्विद्यते न वा । प्रीतोस्मि तव सत्येन भद्रं ते पुरुषर्षभ ॥

eko narasahasreṣu dharmavānvidyate na vā | prītosmi tava satyena bhadraṃ te puruṣarṣabha

Among thousands of men there may be one who is righteous, or there may be none. I am pleased with your truthfulness; may good fortune be yours, bull among men.

Note on the text: Corrected धर्मवानविद्यते → धर्मवान्विद्यते (misprint in Wikisource; the stray vowel turns विद्यते into अविद्यते and reverses the sense; the critical edition reads dharmavid vidyate) and separated एकोनरसहस्रेषु → एको नरसहस्रेषु and तवसत्येन → तव सत्येन (word-spacing slips). धर्मवान् and पुरुषर्षभ are recension variants of dharmavid and puruṣottama and are kept.

Verse 17 (3.218.17)

पतमानोऽद्यनरके भवताऽस्मि समुद्धृतः । भवितव्यमथैवं च यद्दृष्टोसि मयाऽनघ ॥

patamāno'dyanarake bhavatā'smi samuddhṛtaḥ | bhavitavyamathaivaṃ ca yaddṛṣṭosi mayā'nagha

I was falling into hell, and today you have lifted me out. It was destined to be so, since I have come to see you, sinless one.

Verse 18 (3.218.18)

राजा ययातिर्दौहित्रैः पतितस्तारितो यथा । सद्भिः पुरुषशार्दूल तथाऽहं भवता त्विह ॥

rājā yayātirdauhitraiḥ patitastārito yathā | sadbhiḥ puruṣaśārdūla tathā'haṃ bhavatā tviha

As King Yayati, when he fell, was saved by his virtuous daughter's sons, tiger among men, so have I been saved here by you.

Verse 19 (3.218.19)

मातापितृभ्यां शुश्रूषां करिष्ये वचनात्तव । नाकृतात्मा वेदयति धर्माधर्मविनिश्चयम् ॥

mātāpitṛbhyāṃ śuśrūṣāṃ kariṣye vacanāttava | nākṛtātmā vedayati dharmādharmaviniścayam

At your word I shall serve my mother and father. One whose self is not disciplined cannot discern what is dharma and what is not.

Verse 20 (3.218.20)

दुर्ज्ञेयः शाश्वतो धर्मः शूद्रयोनौ हि वर्तता । न त्वां शूद्रमहं मन्ये भवितव्यं हि कारणम् ॥

durjñeyaḥ śāśvato dharmaḥ śūdrayonau hi vartatā | na tvāṃ śūdramahaṃ manye bhavitavyaṃ hi kāraṇam

Eternal dharma is hard to know, yet it is found in one who lives in a shudra's birth. I do not regard you as a shudra; there must be some cause for this.

Verse 21 (3.218.21)

येन कर्मविशेषेण प्राप्तेयं शूद्रता त्वया । एतामिच्छामि विज्ञातुं तत्त्वेन तव शूद्रताम् । कामयानस्य मे शंस सर्वं त्वं प्रयतात्मवान् ॥

yena karmaviśeṣeṇa prāpteyaṃ śūdratā tvayā | etāmicchāmi vijñātuṃ tattvena tava śūdratām | kāmayānasya me śaṃsa sarvaṃ tvaṃ prayatātmavān

Through what particular deed did you come to this shudra state? I wish to know truly how you became a shudra. I ask it earnestly; tell me everything, you who are master of yourself."

Note on the text: Corrected कामयानस् → कामयानस्य (misprint in Wikisource; dropped akshara). The three lines are the critical edition's 3.205.19ef and 3.205.20; कर्मविशेषेण, तव शूद्रताम् and कामयानस्य मे शंस are recension variants and are kept.

Verse 22 (3.218.22)

अनतिक्रमणीया वै ब्राह्मणा मे द्विजोत्तम । शृणु सर्वमिदं वृत्तं पूर्वदेहे ममानघ ॥

anatikramaṇīyā vai brāhmaṇā me dvijottama | śṛṇu sarvamidaṃ vṛttaṃ pūrvadehe mamānagha

"Brahmins are not to be disregarded by me, best of the twice-born. Hear, sinless one, all that happened to me in my former body.

Note on the text: Speaker: Wikisource prints the heading as व्याघ उवाच (misprint for व्याध, the hunter); set to व्याध for verses 22–31.

Verse 23 (3.218.23)

अहं हि ब्राह्मणः पूर्वमासं द्विजवरात्मजः । वेदाध्यायी सुकुशलो वेदाङ्गानां च पारगः । आत्मदोषकृतैर्ब्रह्मन्नवस्थामाप्तवानिमाम् ॥

ahaṃ hi brāhmaṇaḥ pūrvamāsaṃ dvijavarātmajaḥ | vedādhyāyī sukuśalo vedāṅgānāṃ ca pāragaḥ | ātmadoṣakṛtairbrahmannavasthāmāptavānimām

In the past I was a brahmin, the son of an excellent brahmin, skilled in reciting the Veda and a master of the Vedangas. Through faults of my own, brahmin, I came to this condition.

Verse 24 (3.218.24)

कश्चिद्राजा मम सखा धनुर्वेदपरायणः । संसर्गाद्धनुषि श्रेष्ठस्ततोऽहमभवं द्विज ॥

kaścidrājā mama sakhā dhanurvedaparāyaṇaḥ | saṃsargāddhanuṣi śreṣṭhastato'hamabhavaṃ dvija

A certain king who was devoted to the science of archery was my friend. Through my association with him, brahmin, I too became excellent with the bow.

Verse 25 (3.218.25)

एतस्मिन्नेव काले तु मृगयां निर्गतो नृपः । सहितो योधमुख्यैश्च मन्त्रिभिश्च सुसंवृतः । ततोऽभ्यहन्मृगांस्तत्र सुबहूनाश्रमं प्रति ॥

etasminneva kāle tu mṛgayāṃ nirgato nṛpaḥ | sahito yodhamukhyaiśca mantribhiśca susaṃvṛtaḥ | tato'bhyahanmṛgāṃstatra subahūnāśramaṃ prati

At that very time the king went out hunting, with his chief warriors and surrounded by his ministers. There, near a hermitage, he killed a great many deer.

Note on the text: Corrected योधमुख्यैश् → योधमुख्यैश्च (misprint in Wikisource; dropped akshara, the critical edition reads yodhamukhyaiś ca).

Verse 26 (3.218.26)

अथ क्षिप्तः शरो घोरो मयापि द्विजसत्तम । ताडितश्च ऋषिस्तेन शरेणानतपर्वणा ॥

atha kṣiptaḥ śaro ghoro mayāpi dvijasattama | tāḍitaśca ṛṣistena śareṇānataparvaṇā

Then I too loosed a terrible arrow, best of brahmins, and a seer was struck by that smooth-jointed arrow.

Note on the text: Corrected ऋषिस्तन → ऋषिस्तेन (misprint in Wikisource; dropped vowel sign, the critical edition reads tena). ऋषिः is a recension variant of muniḥ and is kept.

Verse 27 (3.218.27)

भूमौ निपतितो ब्रह्मन्नुवाच प्रतिनादयन् । नापराध्याम्यहं किंचित्केन पापमिदं कृतम् ॥

bhūmau nipatito brahmannuvāca pratinādayan | nāparādhyāmyahaṃ kiṃcitkena pāpamidaṃ kṛtam

Fallen to the ground, brahmin, he cried out so that the place echoed: 'I have done no wrong at all; who has committed this sin?'

Verse 28 (3.218.28)

मन्वानस्तं मृगं चाहं संप्राप्तः सहसा मुनिम् । अपश्यं तमृषिं विद्धं शरेणानतपर्वणा । तमुग्रतपसं विप्रं निष्टनन्तं महीतले ॥

manvānastaṃ mṛgaṃ cāhaṃ saṃprāptaḥ sahasā munim | apaśyaṃ tamṛṣiṃ viddhaṃ śareṇānataparvaṇā | tamugratapasaṃ vipraṃ niṣṭanantaṃ mahītale

Thinking him a deer, I came up to the sage in haste, and I saw that seer pierced by the smooth-jointed arrow — that brahmin of fierce austerity, groaning on the ground.

Verse 29 (3.218.29)

अकार्यकरणाच्चापि भृशं मे व्यथितं मनः । अजानता कृतमिदं मयेत्यहमथाब्रुवम् ॥

akāryakaraṇāccāpi bhṛśaṃ me vyathitaṃ manaḥ | ajānatā kṛtamidaṃ mayetyahamathābruvam

My mind was sorely troubled at having done so wrong a deed, and I said, 'I did this without knowing.

Note on the text: Verses 29–30 together are the critical edition's three-line 3.205.28; Wikisource numbers its last line separately. मयेत्यहमथाब्रुवम् is a recension variant of mayety atha tam abruvam and is kept.

Verse 30 (3.218.30)

क्षन्तुमर्हसि मे सर्वमिति चोक्तो मया मुनिः ॥

kṣantumarhasi me sarvamiti cokto mayā muniḥ

Forgive me all of it' — so I said to the sage.

Note on the text: A single line in Wikisource, numbered as its own verse; it is the last line of the critical edition's 3.205.28 (which reads brahmann for सर्वम्).

Verse 31 (3.218.31)

ततः प्रत्यब्रवीद्वाक्यमृषिर्मां क्रोधमूर्च्छितः । व्याधस्त्वं भविता क्रूर शूद्रयोनाविति द्विज ॥

tataḥ pratyabravīdvākyamṛṣirmāṃ krodhamūrcchitaḥ | vyādhastvaṃ bhavitā krūra śūdrayonāviti dvija

Then the seer, beside himself with anger, answered me: 'Cruel man, you will be a hunter, born in a shudra's womb,' O brahmin."