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THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀŅA
To the place of execution, in accord with his [purpose of] de-
stroying the entire family of his relative."
May Katyayani (Candi) make successful your acts!
291
Notes. 1. The events narrated in this stanza are doubtless to be referred
to the following story given in the Harivamsa, 2. 1-4 (ed. Nārāyaṇātmaja
Vinayakarāya, Bombay, 1891; cf. Engl. transl. by M. N. Dutt, p. 244-259,
Calcutta, 1897), in the Vişnu Purana, 5. 1-3 (Wilson, vol. 4, p. 245-271),
and referred to in Mahabharata, 4. 6. 1-3: Kamsa was king of Mathura,
and the sage Närada had foretold that the eighth child of Kamsa's aunt
(or, cousin) Devaki should kill Kamsa. By divine appointment, this
eighth child was to be an incarnation of Vişnu (Kṛṣṇa). Kamsa, having
heard the prophecy, had the children of Devaki put to death as soon as
they were born, and in this way the first seven were disposed of. But
Vişnu, who was destined to be the eighth, arranged for his own preserva-
tion in the following manner. He ordained that Nidrā (whom the context
shows to be identical with Durga or Candi) should be born of Yaśodā,
wife of Kamsa's herdsman, the same night on which he himself was to
be born of Devaki. Vasudeva, the husband of Devaki, managed, under
cover of the darkness, to exchange the two babes, taking Kṛṣṇa to Yaśodā,
and bringing back the girl child Candi to the bed of his wife Devaki.
Kamsa was informed by Vasudeva, who was under obligation by promise
to announce the birth of every child of Devaki, that a girl child had been .
born, and that he was earnestly begged by the parents of the infant to
spare its life. This, however, Kamsa refused to do, and seizing the babe
by its foot, he dashed out its brains against a stone. Then, instantly, the
goddess rose from the ground, full-grown and in full panoply, and after
telling Kamsa that his crime in killing her should be expiated by his own
death, she mounted up to the sky. Stanzas 45 and 54 of the Candidataka
contain further reference to this same anecdote, as does also Mayura's
stanza entitled 'The Dream of Kṛṣṇa,' translated above, p. 241.
2. Lit.
vyasta means 'scattered'; it is glossed by vikala, 'maimed'; I have ren-
dered by 'crushed.' 3. The idea perhaps is that Candi, though but an
infant, was nevertheless a goddess, and therefore of weight sufficient to
crush a mortal hand; or perhaps the hand was symbolically crushed, looking
forward to the time when Kamsa would be wholly crushed by the weight
of her anger, in accord with her prophecy that he should atone for her
murder with his own death (see note 1). 4. For the story of the growth
of the Vindhya, see stanza 17, note 2. 5. He carried the infant as easily
as one would carry a spear. 6. The Pinus Devadaru or Deodar (also
Avaria Longifolia and Erythrosylon Sideroxyloides); so Monier-Williams,
Skt.-Engl. Dict. s.v. devadaru. 7. Devaki, whose children Kamsa had
been killing, was his father's sister (or, his cousin), and so his relative.
8. It is noteworthy that this stanza contains no mention of Mahişa, and
the same is true of stanzas 45, 49, 54 and 71. The meter of this stanza is
śārdalavikrīḍita.
To the place of execution, in accord with his [purpose of] de-
stroying the entire family of his relative."
May Katyayani (Candi) make successful your acts!
291
Notes. 1. The events narrated in this stanza are doubtless to be referred
to the following story given in the Harivamsa, 2. 1-4 (ed. Nārāyaṇātmaja
Vinayakarāya, Bombay, 1891; cf. Engl. transl. by M. N. Dutt, p. 244-259,
Calcutta, 1897), in the Vişnu Purana, 5. 1-3 (Wilson, vol. 4, p. 245-271),
and referred to in Mahabharata, 4. 6. 1-3: Kamsa was king of Mathura,
and the sage Närada had foretold that the eighth child of Kamsa's aunt
(or, cousin) Devaki should kill Kamsa. By divine appointment, this
eighth child was to be an incarnation of Vişnu (Kṛṣṇa). Kamsa, having
heard the prophecy, had the children of Devaki put to death as soon as
they were born, and in this way the first seven were disposed of. But
Vişnu, who was destined to be the eighth, arranged for his own preserva-
tion in the following manner. He ordained that Nidrā (whom the context
shows to be identical with Durga or Candi) should be born of Yaśodā,
wife of Kamsa's herdsman, the same night on which he himself was to
be born of Devaki. Vasudeva, the husband of Devaki, managed, under
cover of the darkness, to exchange the two babes, taking Kṛṣṇa to Yaśodā,
and bringing back the girl child Candi to the bed of his wife Devaki.
Kamsa was informed by Vasudeva, who was under obligation by promise
to announce the birth of every child of Devaki, that a girl child had been .
born, and that he was earnestly begged by the parents of the infant to
spare its life. This, however, Kamsa refused to do, and seizing the babe
by its foot, he dashed out its brains against a stone. Then, instantly, the
goddess rose from the ground, full-grown and in full panoply, and after
telling Kamsa that his crime in killing her should be expiated by his own
death, she mounted up to the sky. Stanzas 45 and 54 of the Candidataka
contain further reference to this same anecdote, as does also Mayura's
stanza entitled 'The Dream of Kṛṣṇa,' translated above, p. 241.
2. Lit.
vyasta means 'scattered'; it is glossed by vikala, 'maimed'; I have ren-
dered by 'crushed.' 3. The idea perhaps is that Candi, though but an
infant, was nevertheless a goddess, and therefore of weight sufficient to
crush a mortal hand; or perhaps the hand was symbolically crushed, looking
forward to the time when Kamsa would be wholly crushed by the weight
of her anger, in accord with her prophecy that he should atone for her
murder with his own death (see note 1). 4. For the story of the growth
of the Vindhya, see stanza 17, note 2. 5. He carried the infant as easily
as one would carry a spear. 6. The Pinus Devadaru or Deodar (also
Avaria Longifolia and Erythrosylon Sideroxyloides); so Monier-Williams,
Skt.-Engl. Dict. s.v. devadaru. 7. Devaki, whose children Kamsa had
been killing, was his father's sister (or, his cousin), and so his relative.
8. It is noteworthy that this stanza contains no mention of Mahişa, and
the same is true of stanzas 45, 49, 54 and 71. The meter of this stanza is
śārdalavikrīḍita.