चेटिकोवाच । स्वामिन्केनापि चौरेण मम स्वामी हतो निशि । स्नुषाया भूषणं नीतं दुकूलानि च सर्वशः
The maidservant said: My master was killed at night by a thief; the ornaments of the daughter-in-law and all the fine garments were taken.
स मृतः पतितो भूमौ हर्म्यस्योपरि तिष्ठति । तस्य माता वधूश्चैव भ्रातरश्च तदंतिके
He lies dead, fallen on the ground, on the upper floor of the mansion; his mother, wife, and brothers are there beside him.
विलपंति महाशोकसागरे पतिता गुरो । नारद उवाच- इत्याकर्ण्य परिव्राट्स वचनं चेटिकोदितम्
They are lamenting, plunged in a great ocean of grief, O guru; Nārada said: Hearing the words spoken by the maidservant—
आरुह्य हर्म्यमद्राक्षीदात्मांते वासिनं मृतम् । तदंतिके समालोक्य बंधूनां क्रंदतो भृशम्
Ascending the mansion, the wandering ascetic saw the dead householder; seeing the relatives there, weeping greatly nearby.
उद्धरिष्यन्निदं धीरः शोकाब्धेस्तानुवाच ह । वेदायन उवाच- देहमुद्दिश्य वात्मानं शोकोऽयं क्रियते त्वया
Desiring to lift them from this ocean of sorrow, the wise one spoke: Vedāyana said—This grief you feel is for the self, thinking of the body.
मातः कथय सत्यं मे नोभयोर्युज्यते हि सः । देहोऽयं भूतसंघातः प्रारब्धेः समुपार्जितः
Mother, tell me truly: it does not apply to either. This body is a collection of elements, brought about by past actions.
तेषु क्षीणेषु भूतानां पृथक्त्वमुपजायते । यदेकीभवनं तेषां कर्मभिर्जन्म तन्नृणाम्
When those elements are exhausted, their separation arises; their coming together by actions is what is called birth for people.
तन्नाशे तत्पृथक्त्वं च तदेव मरणं स्मृतम् । एक्यं पृथक्त्वं भूतानां कर्मार्धा नेयतो? बुधैः
When that dissolves, their separation is what is called death; the union and separation of elements is thus explained by the wise.
अतो देहे न कर्तव्यः शोकः परवशे जडे । अनाद्यविद्यया जीवे दृष्टे मरणजन्मनी
Therefore, one should not grieve for the body, which is inert and subject to others; for, due to beginningless ignorance, the living being perceives birth and death.
देहस्यात्मन्यहं बुद्ध्या मन्यते नहि तत्र ते । तन्निवृत्तौ स तद्ब्रह्म यच्छुद्धं रूपवर्जितम्
By the thought 'I am this body,' one mistakes the body for the self, but that is not your true nature; when that ceases, one attains that Brahman, which is pure and formless.
स्वप्रकाशं जगद्धेतु हेत्वतीतं गुणोर्जितम् । नित्यं विज्ञानमानंद स्वभासा भासयज्जगत्
It is self-luminous, the cause of the world, beyond cause, endowed with qualities; eternal, knowledge, bliss, illuminating the world by its own light.
न जिह्वा लेढि तच्चक्षुर्न पश्यति शृणोति न । श्रुतिर्जिघ्रति न घ्राणं न त्वक्स्पृशति कर्हिचित्
The tongue does not taste it, the eye does not see it, nor does the ear hear it; the ear does not smell it, nor does the nose, nor does the skin ever touch it.
अतीतमिंद्रियेभ्यस्तत्स्वप्रकाशकमात्मदृक् । अविषयं मनोदूरं बुद्धेरपि न गोचरम्
It is beyond the senses, self-revealing, the seer of the self; not an object, beyond the mind, not within the grasp of the intellect.
तस्यावताररूपाणि शुद्धसत्वानि देवताः । सेवंते तन्न जानंति रूपं यत्सदसत्परम्
Its incarnations are the pure-natured deities; they serve it, but do not know its form, which is beyond both existence and non-existence.
एवं स्वरूपमात्मा यस्तं समुद्दिश्य कः कुधीः । क्रोधं कुर्याद्यतस्तस्य नोत्पत्तिर्नैव संक्षयः
Thus, who with a misguided mind would become angry, aiming at that true self, whose origin and destruction do not exist?
इति श्रीपाद्मेमहापुराणे पचंपंचाशत्साहस्र्यां संहितायामुत्तरखंडे कालिंदीमाहात्म्ये नवाधिकद्विशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the two hundred and ninth chapter in the section on the greatness of the Kālindī, in the Uttara-khaṇḍa of the glorious Padma Mahāpurāṇa, in the compendium of fifty-five thousand verses.
नारद उवाच- एवं प्रबोध्य तान्सर्वान्वचोभिः पारमार्थिकैः । स हंसः कारयामास क्रियास्तस्यात्मसंभवाः
Nārada said—Thus, having instructed them all with words of ultimate truth, that swan caused them to perform rites connected to the self.
अंतर्वत्नी मुकुंदस्य निर्बंधं कुर्वती वधूः । अनुगंतुं स्वभर्तारं विदुषा तेन वारिता
The wife of Mukunda, who was pregnant, wished to follow her husband, but was restrained by that wise one.
तस्यास्थीनि समादाय तेन सन्यासिना समम् । तद्भ्राता प्रययौ गंगाजले पातयितुं नृप
Taking her bones, together with that renunciant, her brother set out, O king, to cast them into the waters of the Gaṅgā.
विप्रसन्यासिनौ तौ हि कतिभिर्वासरैर्नृप । सार्थलोकवशात्प्राप्तौ इंद्रप्रस्थेऽत्र सत्पदे
Those two, the brāhmaṇa and the renunciant, after a few days, O king, by the will of fate, arrived at the sacred place Indraprastha.
इंद्रप्रस्थांतरावर्तिन्येषा या कोशला नृप । अत्र सुप्तौ निशायां तौ यमुनातीरभूतले
This is the Kośalā, O king, which flows near Indraprastha; there, on the ground by the bank of the Yamunā, the two slept at night.
आत्मनोरुभयोर्मध्ये न्यस्यास्थिपटसंपुटम् । मार्गखेदपरिक्रांतौ दशां सौषुप्तिकीं गतौ
Placing the bundle of bones between themselves, weary from their journey, they fell into deep sleep.
निशीथेऽथ प्रसुप्तेषु सार्थलोकेषु कश्चन । एकः श्वा तत्र संप्राप्तः पक्वान्नादि जिहीर्षया
Then, at midnight, when all the travelers were asleep, a certain dog arrived there, desiring to eat cooked food.
बभ्राम सर्वशिविरे जिघ्रन्पाकस्थलीं मुहुः । भाजनानि लिहन्मूर्ध्नि क्व च दंडाहतिं सहन्
He wandered throughout the entire camp, repeatedly sniffing the cooking pots, licking the vessels, and enduring blows to his head in some places.
केनचित्ताडितो मूर्ध्नि निशब्दं विद्रुतस्ततः । प्रतिचक्रुमशक्तस्तु स्त्रीजितः स्वस्त्रिया यथा
Struck on the head by someone, he silently fled, unable to retaliate, like a man subdued by his own wife.
यत्रावकंडितः स श्वा दंडग्रावेष्टकादिभिः । पुनर्विवेश तत्रैव सान्नपात्रलिलिप्सया
Where the dog had been beaten with sticks, clods, and the like, he again entered there, driven by the desire for food and vessels.
भोगेच्छया यथा वेश्या स्नेहवान्निर्द्धनो जनः । भ्रमन्नेवं स चात्रापि यत्र सुप्तौ हि तावुभौ
Wandering about with the desire for enjoyment, just as a destitute man seeks affection from a courtesan, so too did he roam, until he found the two sleeping.
सारमेयस्तयोर्मध्याज्जह्रे स पटसंपुटम् । नीत्वा स कियतीं भूमिं दंतैस्तत्पटसंपुटम्
The dog took the bundle of cloth from between the two, and, carrying it some distance, held it in his teeth.
विदार्यास्थीनि तत्स्थानि निर्मांसान्यवलोक्य सः । एतस्याः कोशलायास्तु जलमध्ये समाक्षिपत्
Tearing open the bones found within, and seeing them devoid of flesh, he cast them into the water of that river.
क्षिप्तमात्रेषु तेनास्थिष्वेतदंबुनि भूपते । दिव्यं विमानमास्थाय मुकुंदोऽत्र समागतः
As soon as those bones were thrown into the water by him, O King, Mukunda arrived there, riding a divine aerial chariot.