61 - The return of Tara to Bruhaspati and the birth of Budha 

Narada said - О lord, what happened between the gods and the demons thereafter? You please reveal the secret to me since I am getting very anxious. 

Narayana said - Brahma went to the abode of Shukra which had many Mandapas bedecked with jewels. 

Fifty crores of disciples, well-versed in Brahmana, surrounded him and his fort was surrounded by seven moats. 

Hundred crores of demons protected the fort and the fort has the boundary walls bedecked with several of gems. 

Reaching there Brahma, the creator of the universe, found Shukra, the son of Bhrugu who was seated on the gem-studded lion-throne being adored by the sages. 

He was reciting the name of Krishna, the eternal Brahmana, the great soul and the great lord. He had the lustre of crores of suns and the divine lustre illumining him. 

О Narada, Brahma was delighted at finding his grandson so illustrious. He developed a feeling that his sons and grandsons are all graceful. 

As soon as Shukra found Brahma the creator of the universe he got up at once and feeling terrified stood before him with folded hands and bowed to him in reverence. 

Не adored him with sixteen types of offerings and with his mind filled with devotion he started offering prayers to him on his arrival. Indeed, he bestowed intelligence and mantra besides fortune since he had been the one who granted the reward of one’s own deeds. Indeed, he was the best of all in the universe. 

Brahma the lord of the universe felt extremely satisfied with the prayer of Shukra and he then addressed the court of Shukra. 

Shukra offered him the best seat of lion-throne bowing his head. This lion-throne was quite beautiful and illumining, which was built by Vis’hvakarma. О sage, Shukra after bowing in reverence to Brahma also bowed in reverence to Kumara, Sanaka, Kratu, Vasistha, Marichi, Sananda, Sanatana, Kapila, Panchasikha, Vodhu, Angira, Dhanna, myself (Narayana) and Nara with devotion folding his hands.

The religious-minded Shukra adored all of them, offering them the gem-studded lion thrones. Thereafter Shukra, the son of Diti, and the other sages with a delightful mind bowed in reverence to Brahma. 

Thereafter, after welcoming all, Shukra with folded hands and eyes filled with tears, getting emotional, started speaking with great humility. 

Shukra said - Today my life has met with success; my birth has been successful because all of you with Brahma have arrived here. 

Besides his son Sanatana and others have also arrived here with their smiling faces. It appears as if lord Krishna himself has arrived here. 

In order to grace a child like me, all of you have arrived here and I welcome you. It is just a fallacy to enquire about the welfare of the people who are self-engrossed in their own soul. You have arrived here in order to purify me. You kindly tell me what I can do for you? 

Brahma said - I was feeling anxious because of my separation from you for long. I have come to meet my grandson like you, because the separation from a son and a grandson is extremely painful. 

О best of the sages, are you quite well. Are your sons, wives, Dharma and tapas going on well? 

I pray that you remain devoted to lord Krishna and your devotion towards your teacher may continue as ever. 

Because to adore one’s teacher and the family gods is the cause of all the welfares and destroys sins, disease and grief, bestowing merit, pleasure and welfare. 

With the pleasure of the teacher, the family gods of a person also remain happy and with the pleasure of the family god, all the gods remain happy. 

The sinners with whom the Brahmanas and the gods get angry, they cannot remain without blemish and have to face obstructions at every step.

О son, you are devoted to lord Krishna, who is beyond- Prakruti and is the soul of all men, formless and remains happy with your adoration. I am the creator of the universe and also your teacher. I am quite happy with you and with my pleasure the lord also feels happy. 

О intelligent one, the reason for my arrival at present is somewhat different, about which I am going to tell you, you listen to me. I have been deputed by the gods and lord Shiva. Bruhaspati happens to be the Guruputra of Shiva whose chaste wife Tara has been abducted by Chandrama, who has taken refuge with you. 

O son, because of this lord Shiva, Dharma, Surya, Indra, Ananta, Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Dikpalas, lords of the quarters are arriving here for a battle. The army comprises of three crores of gods, Nagas, Kimpurushas, Yakshas, demons, Guhyakas, Goblins, Bhutas and Pretas besides Kushmandas, Brahmarakshasas, Brahmanas Kiratas, Gandharvas getting well-prepared and are currently lodged on the sea-shore. But in this war-like situation, I have been declared as a mediator, Therefore, either you return Tara or be prepared for a war or otherwise you disown Chandrama totally. 

Shukra said - Let the gods who are desirous of a war arrive here. Leaving Shiva, who happens to be the great teacher of all, I can fight with everyone. 

The demons said - Shiva is adorable by the gods and the demons alike. Dharma is the witness of all the deeds and you are the great grandfather. We consider all other gods like straw. Therefore, О teacher of the universe, you go and tell them that they can come and fight with us. 

О lord, in case Shiva arrives here to display compassion on Bruhaspati, who happens to be his Guruputra, he will first use Agneyastra and then start the fight. 

Brahma said - О son, he is Kalagni and the destroyer of the universe. As such he happens to be foremost of all the valorous people. Therefore, who can fight with him. 

The mother of the universe is associated with him, who holds a sword and skull-vase. Who would like to fight with the terrific one? 

Who would fight with the goddess of a thousand arms who is adorned with the garland of skulls and has a yojana-long mouth which is ten yojanas wide? She has seven fangs like the tala trees which are horrible. She often moves around. 

The terrible looking attendants of Shiva also accompany her which include the horrible Bhairava, Nandi who roars in the battle field, besides Virabhadra and other ganas who are extremely valorous, possessing great prowess and have the lutsre of crores of suns. There is the thousand headed Sesa accompanying her, whose hoods are studded with gems and they hold them on the head like the sea-same seed. No warrior can equate them. 

О son, Shiva the killer of Tripura and from whom the Kalagni-rudra emanates, who destroys the world and the trident beaters serve him. Besides the horrible Pashupata weapon can reduce the entire universe to ashes. How can the demons stand before it?

The glorious Shamkhachuda was destroyed with the trident of Shiva      though he happened to be the associate of lord Krishna known by the name of Sudhama and bore the lustre of three crores of sun, extremely astonishing and wore the kavacha of Radha round his neck and was the lord of all the demons. Lord Vishnu who happens to be the killer of Shamkhachuda and Madhukaitabha was himself coming from Sveta-dvipa. 

Thus speaking in the court of Shukra, Brahma the creator of the universe kept quiet. Thereafter the king of Danvas spoke smilingly. 

Prahlada said - О creator of the universe, you happen to be the oldest lord of the universe. You are adorable by all and are the lord of all. Therefore, what could I speak before you? 

The one who had killed Hiranyakas'hipu and Madhukaitabha, the one in whom lord Krishna appears with all the rays, the one who happens to be the soul of everyone, his Sudarshana-Chakra which is unbearable always protects us. О Vidhata, neither Shiva is more powerful than the same, nor the Pas'hupata weapon. Kali, Sesha and Rudra also cannot face it. 

О lord of the universe, the one in whose hair pit the entire universe is lodged, the one who is the base of all, the one who is toughest of all. 

Lord Virat happens to be the sixteenth ray of the same. Neither Ananta is stronger than the same nor is Kali superior to it. 

Let all the gods come and fight with us because I am not afraid of the arrows of Shiva or his Pashupata weapon. 

О Prajapati I bow in reverence to Shiva who is the form of welfare. I bow in reverence to serpent Ananta and the noble Vaishnavas. 

О lord, because of the grace of all, I am fearless and quite healthy; I don’t possess any strength of my own and whatever I possess belongs to the lord. 

In the earlier times, my father was killed because of his own sin of denouncing Vishnu. Shamkhachuda was killed because of his own stubbornness and the Madhukaitabha were destroyed because of their own arrogance. Tripura happened to be our servant and he could not be counted as a great warrior; still he was killed at the hand of Mahadeva, mounted on a chariot when he was incited by lord Shiva. 

О Narada, Prahlada the best of the demons kept quite after speaking all this. Thereafter Brahma the creator of the universe started speaking again. 

Brahma said - О son, a war between the demons and the gods will doom destruction on both the sides, Therefore, you better act with love which is the root cause of all welfares. 

О king mind it, that I have come as a beggar to you inspite of being Brahma and Therefore, you give away Tara to me in charity because by disappointing a beggar, a householder attracts all sins. 

Sanatkumara said - О best of the kings, you are the lion among the races of the demons and the gods; Therefore, you protect your glory. The one at whose door Brahma comes as a beggar who could equate him in glory? 

Sanatana said - Brahma, Shiva and other gods could not conquer you because of you being virtuous and noble and a Vaishnava also being protected by the Chakra of lord Krishna. 

Sanatana said - The one who adores lord Krishna who is beyond Prakruti and has a teacher like Vaishnava Shukra, who can over-power such a great king. 

Sanaka said - No one can defeat a meritorious person. The sinner is over-powered because the lamp of virtues cannot be extinguished with the wind of illusion. 

 The sage said - О virtues king, you hand over Tara and Chandrama to the teacher Bruhaspati. I pray you again and again and preserve your glory for all times to come. 

Prahlada said - When the lord of all is present there, none of his attendants can occupy that position, nor could anyone else give the consent. You better tell all these words to Shukra who is the best of noble people. The teacher happens to be the lord of the noble disciples and he is always equated with the lord. In earlier times I entrusted all my riches and fortunes to my teacher. 

We are the servants of our teacher, who feeds us because the same disciples meet with welfare who obeys the command of the teacher.

О sage, on hearing the words of Prahlada, he prayed to Shukra. Thereafter Shukra returned Tara and the sinful Chandrama to them. 

Shukra handing over Tara and Chandrama touched the feet of Brahma and bowed in reverence to all the sages, finally retiring to his own place. 

Prahlada also bowed in reverence to Brahma together with all his courtiers and offered salutations to all the sages, who finally left for their abodes. 

О sage, Brahma looked at Tara, who was lowering her head in shame and was pregnant at the same time. She touched the feet of Brahma. She was crying also. 

Thereafter finding Chandrama offering salutations to him, the merciful Brahma lifted him up and made him sit in his lap and then spoke to Tara who had lost all her glory. Brahma said: "O Tara, don’t be afraid of me." With my boon you will regain the fortunes of your husband. 

Because a helpless and weak lady if over powered by a strong man cannot be termed as unchaste and does not fall from her dharma. She is purified by her repentance and she cannot be treated as degraded because of the advances of a sinner. 

On the other hand, the one who, becoming passionate, goes to another man for the sake of pleasure and enjoys his company, her mind cannot be purified even with repentance. Therefore, she is considered as a discarded woman by her husband. 

She will remain in the kumbhipaka hell till the duration of the life of the sun and the moon. Her food is to be discarded like refuse and the water like urine and her mere touch showers all sins on a person. 

Therefore, the noble people are prohibited from taking food and water from such a degraded woman. О daughter, you tell me who has made you pregnant. You better go back to Bruhaspati. 

O virtuous lady, you shed away the shame because everything that has happened is due to the earlier deeds. On hearing the words of Brahma, the chaste lady spoke to him, "O father, I am pregnant by Chandrama and I am accordingly maintaining the same. О Prajapati, at the time when I was captured by this degraded Chandrama, all the people are witnesses to me. Saying this, Tara produced a child which was having the lustre of gold. 

The child which was having the divine lustre was carried by Chandrama in his lap. He then bowed in reverence to Brahma and went back to his abode. Thereafter, Brahma entrusted Tara to Bruhaspati and offering protection, the gods made them proceed to their respective abodes together with Shiva and Dharma. The gods too retired to their respective abodes together with Bruhaspati. 

The teacher Bruhaspati was very much delighted in getting back Tara the lady of his life. Thus the child born from the womb of Tara was given the name Budha. О Brahmana, this son of Chandrama in due course of time became a powerful planet. The same Budha once spotted Chitra in the secluded forest who was born from the Apsara Ghrutachi from the seed of Kubera. She had beautiful eyes like lotus flowers and was full of youth at the age of sixteen. Budha accepted her as his wife by means of the Gandharva marriage. 

He enjoyed her company in seclusion impregnating her. Because of this a king named Chaitra was born out of Chitra. 

The religious king mled over the land of seven islands. During his rule there were a hundred streams of ghee, a hundred steams of curd, a hundred streams of milk, sixteen streams of honey and ten streams of oil. In his kitchen sweets were made with sugar of a lakh of heaps, including sweet balls, five crores of meat preparations and other varieties of food, daily. О sage, the Brahmanas and others enjoy the treasures of these streams daily. Thus the king during his life time regularly gave away in charity a lakh of cows, a lakh of gems, a hundred lakhs of ornaments, a lakh of fine garments and gem-studded ornaments, to the Brahmanas. In due course of time, a son named Adhiratha was born to Chaitra. 

A son named Suratha was born to him who was a Chakravarti king, who received divine knowledge from Medhas, the best of the sages and adorned Vishnumaya in the sacred land of Bharata. The great intellectual performed a great piija in the winter Navaratras, on the bank of the river.

О best of the sages Viradha, the king of the Kalinga country, happened to be the best of the kings. He had a son named Drumina who was a great yogi and intellectual. 

The great intellectual Vaishnava Drumina went to Puskara-kshetra and performed severe tapas there, as a result of which a son named Samadhi was born to him, who happened to be the best of the intellectuals and the Vaishnavas. His wicked son and the wife drove the king out of the house, who used to give away in charity a crore of gold coins daily before sipping the water. Thereafter, he was redeemed after adoring Vishnumaya. 

О sage, thus the king got back his kingdom and he ruled without interruption. In due course of time he became a Manu who was addressed as such by Brahma the creator of the universe.