Dharmadatta's Boon and the Prophecy of Dasharatha

Verse 1 (padma.6.107.1)

धर्मदत्त उवाच। विलयं यांति पापानि तीर्थदानव्रतादिभिः । प्रेतदेहस्थितायास्ते तेषु नैवाधिकारिता

dharmadatta uvāca vilayaṁ yāṁti pāpāni tīrthadānavratādibhiḥ pretadehasthitāyāste teṣu naivādhikāritā

Dharmadatta said: Sins are destroyed through pilgrimage, gift-giving, vows, and the like, but you, established in a preta's body, have no claim upon these.

Verse 2 (padma.6.107.2)

त्वद्ग्लानिदर्शनादस्मात्खिन्नं च मम मानसम् । नैव निर्वृतिमायाति त्वामनुद्धृत्य दुःखिताम्

tvadglānidarśanādasmātkhinnaṁ ca mama mānasam naiva nirvṛtimāyāti tvāmanuddhṛtya duḥkhitām

Seeing this wretched state of yours, my mind has become distressed. I shall find no peace without redeeming you from your sorrow.

Verse 3 (padma.6.107.3)

पातकं च तवात्युग्रं योनित्रयविपाकदम् । नैवान्यैः क्षीयते पुण्यैः प्रेतत्वं चातिगर्हितम्

pātakaṁ ca tavātyugraṁ yonitrayavipākadam naivānyaiḥ kṣīyate puṇyaiḥ pretatvaṁ cātigarhitam

Your sin is exceedingly severe, having yielded the fruit of three degraded wombs; and this most reproachable state of being a preta is not destroyed by ordinary merits.

Verse 4 (padma.6.107.4)

तस्मादाजन्मजनितं यन्मया कार्तिकव्रतम् । तत्पुण्यस्यार्द्धभागेन सद्गतिं त्वमवाप्नुहि

tasmādājanmajanitaṁ yanmayā kārtikavratam tatpuṇyasyārddhabhāgena sadgatiṁ tvamavāpnuhi

Therefore, from the merit of the Kartika vow that I have kept from birth, take half its share, and thereby attain a blessed state.

Verse 5 (padma.6.107.5)

कार्तिकव्रतपुण्येन न साम्यं यांति सर्वथा । यज्ञदानानि तीर्थानि व्रतान्यपि यतो ध्रुवम्

kārtikavratapuṇyena na sāmyaṁ yāṁti sarvathā yajñadānāni tīrthāni vratānyapi yato dhruvam

For sacrifices, gifts, pilgrimages, and other vows can never, in any way, equal the merit of the Kartika vow.

Verse 6 (padma.6.107.6)

नारद उवाच। इत्युक्त्वा धर्मदत्तोऽसौ यावत्तामभ्यषेचयत् । तुलसीमिश्रतोयेन श्रावयन्द्वादशाक्षरम्

nārada uvāca ityuktvā dharmadatto'sau yāvattāmabhyaṣecayat tulasīmiśratoyena śrāvayandvādaśākṣaram

Narada said: Having said this, Dharmadatta, reciting the twelve-syllabled mantra, sprinkled her with water mixed with tulasi.

Verse 7 (padma.6.107.7)

तावत्प्रेतत्वनिर्मुक्ता ज्वलदग्निशिखोपमा । दिव्यवपुर्धरा जाता लावण्याद्भासिता दिशः

tāvatpretatvanirmuktā jvaladagniśikhopamā divyavapurdharā jātā lāvaṇyādbhāsitā diśaḥ

At that very moment, freed from her preta-existence, she became radiant as a blazing flame, took on a divine form, and her beauty lit up all directions.

Verse 8 (padma.6.107.8)

ततः सा दंडवद्भूमौ प्रणनामाथ तं द्विजम् । उवाच च तदा वाक्यं हर्षगद्गदभाषिणी

tataḥ sā daṁḍavadbhūmau praṇanāmātha taṁ dvijam uvāca ca tadā vākyaṁ harṣagadgadabhāṣiṇī

Then, prostrating flat upon the ground, she bowed to that brahmin, and, her voice choked with joy, spoke these words.

Verse 9 (padma.6.107.9)

कलहोवाच। त्वत्प्रसादाद्दिवजश्रेष्ठ विमुक्ता निरयादहम् । पापाब्धौ मञ्जमानायास्त्वं नो भूतोऽसि मे ध्रुवम्

kalahovāca tvatprasādāddivajaśreṣṭha vimuktā nirayādaham pāpābdhau mañjamānāyāstvaṁ no bhūto'si me dhruvam

Kalaha said: 'O best of brahmins, by your grace I have been freed from hell. For me, drowning in the ocean of sin, you have surely become like a boat.'

Verse 10 (padma.6.107.10)

नारद उवाच। इत्थं सा वदती विप्रं ददर्शायातमंबरात् । विमानं भास्वरं युक्तं विष्णुरूपधरैर्गणैः

nārada uvāca itthaṁ sā vadatī vipraṁ dadarśāyātamaṁbarāt vimānaṁ bhāsvaraṁ yuktaṁ viṣṇurūpadharairgaṇaiḥ

Narada said: While speaking thus to the brahmin, she saw a radiant celestial chariot descending from the sky, attended by servants bearing the very form of Vishnu.

Verse 11 (padma.6.107.11)

अथ सा तद्विमानाग्र्यद्वास्थाभ्यामधिरोहिता । पुण्यशीलसुशीलाभ्यामप्सरोगणसेवितम्

atha sā tadvimānāgryadvāsthābhyāmadhirohitā puṇyaśīlasuśīlābhyāmapsarogaṇasevitam

Then the two doorkeepers of that excellent chariot, named Punyashila and Sushila, helped her aboard it, attended by troops of apsarases.

Verse 12 (padma.6.107.12)

तद्विमानं तदापश्यद्धर्मदत्तः सविस्मयः । पपात दंडवद्भूमौ दृष्ट्वा तौ पुण्यरूपिणौ

tadvimānaṁ tadāpaśyaddharmadattaḥ savismayaḥ papāta daṁḍavadbhūmau dṛṣṭvā tau puṇyarūpiṇau

Dharmadatta too beheld that chariot with astonishment. Seeing those two beings of merit-embodied form, he fell prostrate upon the ground.

Verse 13 (padma.6.107.13)

पुण्यशीलसुशीलौ तमुत्थाप्य प्रणतं द्विजम् । अभ्यनंदयतां वाक्यमूचतुर्द्धर्मशालिनौ

puṇyaśīlasuśīlau tamutthāpya praṇataṁ dvijam abhyanaṁdayatāṁ vākyamūcaturddharmaśālinau

Punyashila and Sushila, raising up that prostrate brahmin, greeted him, and those two, endowed with virtue, spoke these words.

Verse 14 (padma.6.107.14)

गणा ऊचतुः । साधुसाधु द्विजश्रेष्ठ यस्त्वं विष्णुरतः सदा । दीनानुकंपी धर्मज्ञो विष्णुव्रतपरायणः

gaṇā ūcatuḥ sādhusādhu dvijaśreṣṭha yastvaṁ viṣṇurataḥ sadā dīnānukaṁpī dharmajño viṣṇuvrataparāyaṇaḥ

The attendants said: 'Well done, well done, O best of brahmins, you who are ever devoted to Vishnu, compassionate to the wretched, learned in dharma, and devoted to the Vishnu vow —'

Verse 15 (padma.6.107.15)

आजन्मसच्छुभं ह्येतद्यत्त्वया कार्त्तिकव्रतम् । कृतं तस्यार्द्धदानेन यदस्याः पूर्वसंचितम्

ājanmasacchubhaṁ hyetadyattvayā kārttikavratam kṛtaṁ tasyārddhadānena yadasyāḥ pūrvasaṁcitam

'— this excellent and auspicious Kartika vow which you have kept since birth; by the gift of half its merit, whatever sin this woman had accumulated in the past —'

Verse 16 (padma.6.107.16)

जन्मांतरशतोद्भूतं पापं तद्विलयं गतम् । हरिजागरणाद्यैश्च विमानमिदमागमत्

janmāṁtaraśatodbhūtaṁ pāpaṁ tadvilayaṁ gatam harijāgaraṇādyaiśca vimānamidamāgamat

'— that sin, arisen across hundreds of births, has been destroyed. Because of Hari's vigil and the like, this very chariot has come.'

Verse 17 (padma.6.107.17)

वैकुण्ठभवनं विष्णोः सान्निध्यं च स्वरूपता । ते धन्याः कृतकृत्यास्ते तेषां च सफलो भवः

vaikuṇṭhabhavanaṁ viṣṇoḥ sānnidhyaṁ ca svarūpatā te dhanyāḥ kṛtakṛtyāste teṣāṁ ca saphalo bhavaḥ

'The abode of Vaikuntha, closeness to Vishnu, and the attainment of his very form — blessed are they, fulfilled are they, and their existence bears fruit —'

Verse 18 (padma.6.107.18)

यैर्भक्त्याराधितो विष्णुर्धर्मदत्तत्वया यथा । सम्यगाराधितो विष्णुः किं न यच्छति देहिनाम्

yairbhaktyārādhito viṣṇurdharmadattatvayā yathā samyagārādhito viṣṇuḥ kiṁ na yacchati dehinām

'— by whom Vishnu has been worshipped with devotion, as you, O Dharmadatta, have worshipped him. What does Vishnu, when duly worshipped, fail to grant to embodied beings?'

Verse 19 (padma.6.107.19)

औत्तानचरणिर्येन ध्रुवत्वे स्थापितः पुरा । यन्नामस्मरणादेव देहिनो यांति सद्गतिम्

auttānacaraṇiryena dhruvatve sthāpitaḥ purā yannāmasmaraṇādeva dehino yāṁti sadgatim

'He who once established the son of Uttanapada (Dhruva) in the pole-star position; by the mere remembrance of whose name embodied beings attain a blessed state.'

Verse 20 (padma.6.107.20)

ग्राहगृहीतो नागेंद्रो यन्नामस्मरणात्पुरा । विमुक्तः सन्निधिं प्राप्तो जातो यो जयसंज्ञकः

grāhagṛhīto nāgeṁdro yannāmasmaraṇātpurā vimuktaḥ sannidhiṁ prāpto jāto yo jayasaṁjñakaḥ

'He by the mere remembrance of whose name the elephant-king, seized by the crocodile, was long ago freed, and, attaining his closeness, became known by the name Jaya.'

Verse 21 (padma.6.107.21)

अतस्त्वयार्चितो विष्णुः स्वसान्निध्यं प्रदास्यति । बहून्यब्दसहस्राणि भार्याद्वययुतस्य ते

atastvayārcito viṣṇuḥ svasānnidhyaṁ pradāsyati bahūnyabdasahasrāṇi bhāryādvayayutasya te

'Therefore Vishnu, worshipped by you, shall grant you his own closeness, for many thousands of years, together with your two wives.'

Verse 22 (padma.6.107.22)

ततः पुण्यक्षये जाते यदा यास्यसि भूतले । सूर्यवंशोद्भवो राजा विख्यातस्त्वं भविष्यसि

tataḥ puṇyakṣaye jāte yadā yāsyasi bhūtale sūryavaṁśodbhavo rājā vikhyātastvaṁ bhaviṣyasi

'Then, when your merit is exhausted and you go down to the earth, you shall become a renowned king, born in the solar dynasty.'

Verse 23 (padma.6.107.23)

नाम्ना दशरथस्तत्र भार्याद्वययुतः पुनः । तृतीयं यानया चापि याते पुण्यार्द्धभागिनी

nāmnā daśarathastatra bhāryādvayayutaḥ punaḥ tṛtīyaṁ yānayā cāpi yāte puṇyārddhabhāginī

'There you shall be renowned by the name Dasharatha, again with two wives; and as a third wife, she too, sharing in half your merit, shall go with you.'

Verse 24 (padma.6.107.24)

तत्रापि तव सान्निध्यं विष्णुर्यास्यति भूतले । आत्मानं तव पुत्रत्वे प्रकल्प्यामरकार्यकृत्

tatrāpi tava sānnidhyaṁ viṣṇuryāsyati bhūtale ātmānaṁ tava putratve prakalpyāmarakāryakṛt

'There too Vishnu shall come to the earth in your close presence, establishing himself as your very son, in order to accomplish the work of the gods.'

Verse 25 (padma.6.107.25)

तवाजन्मव्रतादस्माद्विष्णुसंतुष्टिकारकात् । न यज्ञा न च दानानि न तीर्थान्यधिकानि ते

tavājanmavratādasmādviṣṇusaṁtuṣṭikārakāt na yajñā na ca dānāni na tīrthānyadhikāni te

'Beyond this vow of yours, kept since birth, which brings satisfaction to Vishnu, no sacrifices, no gifts, no pilgrimages are greater for you.'

Verse 26 (padma.6.107.26)

धन्योऽसि विप्रप्रयतस्त्वयैतद्व्रतं कृतं तुष्टिकरं जगद्गुरोः । यदर्धभागाच्च फलान्मुरारेः प्रणीयतेस्माभिरियं सलोकताम्

dhanyo'si vipraprayatastvayaitadvrataṁ kṛtaṁ tuṣṭikaraṁ jagadguroḥ yadardhabhāgācca phalānmurāreḥ praṇīyatesmābhiriyaṁ salokatām

O pure-minded brahmin, blessed are you, who have performed this vow that satisfies the world-teacher. By the half-portion of Murari's (Vishnu's) fruit, this woman is now being conducted by us to his very own world.