SB 9.1.1: King Parīkṣit said: My lord, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, you have elaborately described all the periods of the various Manus and, within those periods, the wonderful activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has unlimited potency. I am fortunate to have heard all of this from you.
SB 9.1.2-3: Satyavrata, the saintly king of Draviḍadeśa who received spiritual knowledge at the end of the last millennium by the grace of the Supreme, later became Vaivasvata Manu, the son of Vivasvān, in the next manvantara [period of Manu]. I have received this knowledge from you. I also understand that such kings as Ikṣvāku were his sons, as you have already explained.
SB 9.1.4: O greatly fortunate Śukadeva Gosvāmī, O great brāhmaṇa, kindly describe to us separately the dynasties and characteristics of all those kings, for we are always eager to hear such topics from you.
SB 9.1.5: Kindly tell us about the abilities of all the celebrated kings born in the dynasty of Vaivasvata Manu, including those who have already passed, those who may appear in the future, and those who exist at present.
SB 9.1.6: Sūta Gosvāmī said: When Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the greatest knower of religious principles, was thus requested by Mahārāja Parīkṣit in the assembly of all the scholars learned in Vedic knowledge, he then proceeded to speak.
SB 9.1.7: Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: O King, subduer of your enemies, now hear from me in great detail about the dynasty of Manu. I shall explain as much as possible, although one could not say everything about it, even in hundreds of years.
SB 9.1.8: The transcendental Supreme Person, the Supersoul of all living entities, who are in different statuses of life, high and low, existed at the end of the millennium, when neither this manifested cosmos nor anything else but Him existed.
SB 9.1.9: O King Parīkṣit, from the navel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead was generated a golden lotus, on which the four-faced Lord Brahmā took his birth.
SB 9.1.10: From the mind of Lord Brahmā, Marīci took birth, and from the semen of Marīci, Kaśyapa appeared from the womb of the daughter of Dakṣa Mahārāja. From Kaśyapa, by the womb of Aditi, Vivasvān took birth.
SB 9.1.11-12: O King, best of the Bhārata dynasty, from Vivasvān, by the womb of Saḿjñā, Śrāddhadeva Manu was born. Śrāddhadeva Manu, having conquered his senses, begot ten sons in the womb of his wife, Śraddhā. The names of these sons were Ikṣvāku, Nṛga, Śaryāti, Diṣṭa, Dhṛṣṭa, Karūṣaka, Nariṣyanta, Pṛṣadhra, Nabhaga and Kavi.
SB 9.1.13: Manu at first had no sons. Therefore, in order to get a son for him, the great saint Vasiṣṭha, who was very powerful in spiritual knowledge, performed a sacrifice to satisfy the demigods Mitra and Varuṇa.
SB 9.1.14: During that sacrifice, Śraddhā, Manu's wife, who was observing the vow of subsisting only by drinking milk, approached the priest offering the sacrifice, offered obeisances to him and begged for a daughter.
SB 9.1.15: Told by the chief priest "Now offer oblations," the person in charge of oblations took clarified butter to offer. He then remembered the request of Manu's wife and performed the sacrifice while chanting the word "vaṣaṭ."
SB 9.1.16: Manu had begun that sacrifice for the sake of getting a son, but because the priest was diverted by the request of Manu's wife, a daughter named Ilā was born. Upon seeing the daughter, Manu was not very satisfied. Thus he spoke to his guru, Vasiṣṭha, as follows.
SB 9.1.17: My lord, all of you are expert in chanting the Vedic mantras. How then has the result been opposite to the one desired? This is a matter for lamentation. There should not have been such a reversal of the results of the Vedic mantras.
SB 9.1.18: You are all self-controlled, well balanced in mind, and aware of the Absolute Truth. And because of austerities and penances you are completely cleansed of all material contamination. Your words, like those of the demigods, are never baffled. Then how is it possible that your determination has failed?
SB 9.1.19: The most powerful great-grandfather Vasiṣṭha, after hearing these words of Manu, understood the discrepancy on the part of the priest. Thus he spoke as follows to the son of the sun-god.
SB 9.1.20: This discrepancy in the objective is due to your priest's deviation from the original purpose. However, by my own prowess I shall give you a good son.
SB 9.1.21: Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King Parīkṣit, after the most famous and powerful Vasiṣṭha made this decision, he offered prayers to the Supreme Person, Viṣṇu, to transform Ilā into a male.
SB 9.1.22: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, being pleased with Vasiṣṭha, gave him the benediction he desired. Thus Ilā was transformed into a very fine male named Sudyumna.
SB 9.1.23-24: O King Parīkṣit, that hero Sudyumna, accompanied by a few ministers and associates and riding on a horse brought from Sindhupradeśa, once went into the forest to hunt. He wore armor and was decorated with bows and arrows, and he was very beautiful. While following the animals and killing them, he reached the northern part of the forest.
SB 9.1.25: There in the north, at the bottom of Mount Meru, is a forest known as Sukumāra where Lord Śiva always enjoys with Umā. Sudyumna entered that forest.
SB 9.1.26: O King Parīkṣit, as soon as Sudyumna, who was expert in subduing enemies, entered the forest, he saw himself transformed into a female and his horse transformed into a mare.
SB 9.1.27: When his followers also saw their identities transformed and their sex reversed, they were all very morose and just looked at one another.
SB 9.1.28: Mahārāja Parīkṣit said: O most powerful brāhmaṇa, why was this place so empowered, and who made it so powerful? Kindly answer this question, for I am very eager to hear about this.
SB 9.1.29: Śukadeva Gosvāmī answered: Great saintly persons who strictly observed the spiritual rules and regulations and whose own effulgence dissipated all the darkness of all directions once came to see Lord Śiva in that forest.
SB 9.1.30: When the goddess Ambikā saw the great saintly persons, she was very much ashamed because at that time she was naked. She immediately got up from the lap of her husband and tried to cover her breast.
SB 9.1.31: Seeing Lord Śiva and Pārvatī engaged in sexual affairs, all the great saintly persons immediately desisted from going further and departed for the āśrama of Nara-Nārāyaṇa.
SB 9.1.32: Thereupon, just to please his wife, Lord Śiva said, "Any male entering this place shall immediately become a female!"
SB 9.1.33: Since that time, no male had entered that forest. But now King Sudyumna, having been transformed into a female, began to walk with his associates from one forest to another.
SB 9.1.34: Sudyumna had been transformed into the best of beautiful women who excite sexual desire and was surrounded by other women. Upon seeing this beautiful woman loitering near his āśrama, Budha, the son of the moon, immediately desired to enjoy her.
SB 9.1.35: The beautiful woman also desired to accept Budha, the son of the king of the moon, as her husband. Thus Budha begot in her womb a son named Purūravā.
SB 9.1.36: I heard from reliable sources that King Sudyumna, the son of Manu, having thus achieved femininity, remembered his familial spiritual master, Vasiṣṭha.
SB 9.1.37: Upon seeing Sudyumna's deplorable condition, Vasiṣṭha was very much aggrieved. Desiring for Sudyumna to regain his maleness, Vasiṣṭha again began to worship Lord Śańkara [Śiva].
SB 9.1.38-39: O King Parīkṣit, Lord Śiva was pleased with Vasiṣṭha. Therefore, to satisfy him and to keep his own word to Pārvatī, Lord Śiva said to that saintly person, "Your disciple Sudyumna may remain a male for one month and a female for the next. In this way he may rule the world as he likes."
SB 9.1.40: Thus being favored by the spiritual master, according to the words of Lord Śiva, Sudyumna regained his desired maleness every alternate month and in this way ruled the kingdom, although the citizens were not satisfied with this.
SB 9.1.41: O King, Sudyumna had three very pious sons, named Utkala, Gaya and Vimala, who became the kings of the Dakṣiṇā-patha.
SB 9.1.42: Thereafter, when the time was ripe, when Sudyumna, the king of the world, was sufficiently old, he delivered the entire kingdom to his son Purūravā and entered the forest.
gopa's corner:
dandavat pranams! Today were are doing two chapters and then we will be all caught up for a while. This is a very unusual story and it appears that the essence of it is that the soul does not identify with the material body. So it should not seem too unnatural that King Sudyumna could change from male to female. This is a useful lesson when we are trying to understand that we are not the body.
Our acaryas and vaisnavas tell us that the soul is feminine in nature. Feminine nature is more inclined to serve than the male nature and the soul's sole intention is to serve the Supreme Soul. :) !!! ys, gopanandini dasi
Canto 9: Liberation Chapter 2: The Dynasties of the Sons of Manu
SB 9.2.1: Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thereafter, when his son Sudyumna had thus gone to the forest to accept the order of vānaprastha, Vaivasvata Manu [Śrāddhadeva], being desirous of getting more sons, performed severe austerities on the bank of the Yamunā for one hundred years.
SB 9.2.2: Then, because of this desire for sons, the Manu known as Śrāddhadeva worshiped the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of the demigods. Thus he got ten sons exactly like himself. Among them all, Ikṣvāku was the eldest.
SB 9.2.3: Among these sons, Pṛṣadhra, following the order of his spiritual master, was engaged as a protector of cows. He would stand all night with a sword to give the cows protection.
SB 9.2.4: Once at night, while it was raining, a tiger entered the land of the cowshed. Upon seeing the tiger, all the cows, who were lying down, got up in fear and scattered here and there on the land.
SB 9.2.5-6: When the very strong tiger seized the cow, the cow screamed in distress and fear, and Pṛṣadhra, hearing the screaming, immediately followed the sound. He took up his sword, but because the stars were covered by clouds, he mistook the cow for the tiger and mistakenly cut off the cows' head with great force.
SB 9.2.7: Because the tiger's ear had been cut by the edge of the sword, the tiger was very afraid, and it fled from that place, while bleeding on the street.
SB 9.2.8: In the morning, when Pṛṣadhra, who was quite able to subdue his enemy, saw that he had killed the cow although at night he thought he had killed the tiger, he was very unhappy.
SB 9.2.9: Although Pṛṣadhra had committed the sin unknowingly, his family priest, Vasiṣṭha, cursed him, saying, "In your next life you shall not be able to become a kṣatriya. Instead, you shall take birth as a śūdra because of killing the cow."
SB 9.2.10: When the hero Pṛṣadhra was thus cursed by his spiritual master, he accepted the curse with folded hands. Then, having controlled his senses, he took the vow of brahmacarya, which is approved by all great sages.
SB 9.2.11-13: Thereafter, Pṛṣadhra gained relief from all responsibilities, became peaceful in mind, and established control over all his senses. Being unaffected by material conditions, being pleased with whatever was available by the grace of the Lord to maintain body and soul together, and being equal toward everyone, he gave full attention to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, who is the transcendental Supersoul, free from material contamination. Thus Pṛṣadhra, fully satisfied in pure knowledge, always keeping his mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, achieved pure devotional service to the Lord and began traveling all over the world, without affection for material activities, as if he were deaf, dumb and blind.
SB 9.2.14: With this attitude, Pṛṣadhra became a great saint, and when he entered the forest and saw a blazing forest fire, he took this opportunity to burn his body in the fire. Thus he achieved the transcendental, spiritual world.
SB 9.2.15: Being reluctant to accept material enjoyment, Manu's youngest son, whose name was Kavi, gave up the kingdom before attaining full youth. Accompanied by his friends, he went to the forest, always thinking of the self-effulgent Supreme Personality of Godhead within the core of his heart. Thus he attained perfection.
SB 9.2.16: From Karūṣa, another son of Manu, came the Kārūṣa dynasty, a family of kṣatriyas. The Kārūṣa kṣatriyas were the kings of the northern direction. They were celebrated protectors of brahminical culture and were all firmly religious.
SB 9.2.17: From the son of Manu named Dhṛṣṭa came a kṣatriya caste called Dhārṣṭa, whose members achieved the position of brāhmaṇas in this world. Then, from the son of Manu named Nṛga came Sumati. From Sumati came Bhūtajyoti, and from Bhūtajyoti came Vasu.
SB 9.2.18: The son of Vasu was Pratīka, whose son was Oghavān. Oghavān's son was also known as Oghavān, and his daughter was Oghavatī. Sudarśana married that daughter.
SB 9.2.19: From Nariṣyanta came a son named Citrasena and from him a son named Ṛkṣa. From Ṛkṣa came Mīḍhvān, from Mīḍhvān came Pūrṇa, and from Pūrṇa came Indrasena.
SB 9.2.20: From Indrasena came Vītihotra, from Vītihotra came Satyaśravā, from Satyaśravā came the son named Uruśravā, and from Uruśravā came Devadatta.
SB 9.2.21: From Devadatta came a son known as Agniveśya, who was the fire-god Agni himself. This son, who was a celebrated saint, was well known as Kānīna and Jātūkarṇya.
SB 9.2.22: O King, from Agniveśya came a brahminical dynasty known as Āgniveśyāyana. Now that I have described the descendants of Nariṣyanta, let me describe the descendants of Diṣṭa. Please hear from me.
SB 9.2.23-24: Diṣṭa had a son by the name Nābhāga. This Nābhāga, who was different from the Nābhāga described later, became a vaiśya by occupational duty. The son of Nābhāga was known as Bhalandana, the son of Bhalandana was Vatsaprīti, and his son was Prāḿśu. Prāḿśu's son was Pramati, Pramati's son was Khanitra, Khanitra's son was Cākṣuṣa, and his son was Viviḿśati.
SB 9.2.25: The son of Viviḿśati was Rambha, whose son was the great and religious King Khanīnetra. O King, the son of Khanīnetra was King Karandhama.
SB 9.2.26: From Karandhama came a son named Avīkṣit, and from Avīkṣit a son named Marutta, who was the emperor. The great mystic Saḿvarta, the son of Ańgirā, engaged Marutta in performing a sacrifice [yajña].
SB 9.2.27: The sacrificial paraphernalia of King Marutta was extremely beautiful, for everything was made of gold. Indeed, no other sacrifice could compare to his.
SB 9.2.28: In that sacrifice, King Indra became intoxicated by drinking a large quantity of soma-rasa. The brāhmaṇas received ample contributions, and therefore they were satisfied. For that sacrifice, the various demigods who control the winds offered foodstuffs, and the Viśvedevas were members of the assembly.
SB 9.2.29: Marutta's son was Dama, Dama's son was Rājyavardhana, Rājyavardhana's son was Sudhṛti, and his son was Nara.
SB 9.2.30: The son of Nara was Kevala, and his son was Dhundhumān, whose son was Vegavān. Vegavān's son was Budha, and Budha's son was Tṛṇabindu, who became the king of this earth.
SB 9.2.31: The best of the Apsarās, the highly qualified girl named Alambuṣā, accepted the similarly qualified Tṛṇabindu as her husband. She gave birth to a few sons and a daughter known as Ilavilā.
SB 9.2.32: After the great saint Viśravā, the master of mystic yoga, received absolute knowledge from his father, he begot in the womb of Ilavilā the greatly celebrated son known as Kuvera, the giver of money.
SB 9.2.33: Tṛṇabindu had three sons, named Viśāla, Śūnyabandhu and Dhūmraketu. Among these three, Viśāla created a dynasty and constructed a palace called Vaiśālī.
SB 9.2.34: The son of Viśāla was known as Hemacandra, his son was Dhūmrākṣa, and his son was Saḿyama, whose sons were Devaja and Kṛśāśva.
SB 9.2.35-36: The son of Kṛśāśva was Somadatta, who performed aśvamedha sacrifices and thus satisfied the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. By worshiping the Supreme Lord, he achieved the most exalted post, a residence on the planet to which great mystic yogīs are elevated. The son of Somadatta was Sumati, whose son was Janamejaya. All these kings appearing in the dynasty of Viśāla properly maintained the celebrated position of King Tṛṇabindu.
gopa's corner:
dandavat pranams! Now we are really caught up! We can go back to one ch. a day! And now we are on 9th Canto. We have really come a long way! Soon we will dive into the divine Vraja Lila pastimes and all the wonderful pastimes in 10th Canto. Nobody will say that we have jumped to 10th Canto as we have faithfully made our way, one ch. a day, kind of...
So in this ch. there is a wonderful teaching. Even though Prsadra messed up, he hadn't meant to kill the cow, his Guru cursed him but he didn't have to go to hell. He became a pure devotee and went to the Spiritual World and never saw hell as his guru had ordained.
This is cool. And Srila Prabhupada says in one purport here that this shows that Vasista Muni was influenced by tamo guna or he would have helped his disciple nullify his accident rather than attempt to punish. This sets a precedent. ys, gopanandini dasi
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