100 - The Fourteen Manv-antaras concluded, 

         Agni pleased with the hymn granted Shanti two boons; namely, the fire was re-hindled; and Bhuti obtained a son who will be the Manu Bhautya, and became gentle to all. —Agni also blessed the hymn. —The gods, rishis and Kings in the Bhautya manv-antara are named. —The merits obtained by hearing about the manv-antaras are proclaimed. 

Markandeya spoke:

1 Being tlius hymned by him the adorable Fire thereupon appeared before him there, encircled with a halo of flame,

2 O muni. And the god who abounds in light, pleased †† indeed with that hymn, brahman, spote -with a voice as deep as a thunder-cloud’s to Shanti who fell prostrate before him. 

†† For prita-stotrena read pritah stotrena?

Agni spoke:

3 Well pleased am I with thee, O brahman, for the praise which thou hast offered in faith. I grant thee a boon; choose what thou desirest. 

Sh’anti spoke:

4 adorable god, I have accomplished my object inasmuch as I see thee in bodily shape; nevertheless, deign to hear me

5 who bow to thee in faith. My guru has gone from the hermitage to his brother’s sacriiice, O god, and when he shall return to the hermitage may he see the sacrificial altar*

* For dhishtyam read dhishnyam as in the Bombay edition, here and in the next verse and verse 21. In the next verse dhishnya is treated as a neater noun, but the dictionary gives dhishnya, masc. only, this meaning.

6 with thee for its master. The sacrificial altar that has been forsaken by thee through my transgression, O Fire, may the

7 brahman see that now presided over by thee as before! And if thou shewest me grace ia any other way, O god, then let

8 my guru who is sonless obtain a distinguished son. And as my guru will display friendliness to his son, so may his mind

9 become gentle towards to all beings. And whoever shall praise thee † with this hymn, whereby thou art pleased with me, O changeless god, mayest thou whom I have propitiated bestow a boon on him! 

† For pasyatam read yash ch’a tvam with the Bombay edition.

Markandeya spoke:

10 On hearing this his speech, Agni, being highly conciliated with the hymn and with his devotion to his guru, spoke to that best of brahmans. 

Agni spoke:

11 Inasmuch as thou hast asked, O brahman, for two boons on thy guru’s behalf and not for thyself, therefore I am

12 exceedingly pleased with thee, O great muni. All this shall happen to thy guru which thou hast prayed for—he shall be

13 friendly to all beings and shall have a son. The son shall be the lord of a manv-antara, by name Bhautya, great in strength, great in valour, great in knowledge, O thou who praisest thy guru.* 

* Guru-stava, This is better than reading it gurus tava.

14 And whoever with composed mind shall praise rae with this hymn, all his desire shall come to pass and he shall

15 have merit. At sacrifices, on festival days, at places of pilgrimage, at sacrifices, at oblations to the gods, and at ceremonies let a man read this sublime hymn, which yields

16 nourishment to me, to attain unto righteousness. This sublime hymn, which yields pleasure to me, when heard once, O brahman, shall without doubt destroy sin committed by

17 day and night. This hymn when heard shall at once quell the faults and other defects that attend improper oblations and times, and the faults which are committed by unworthy

18 men also who have made such mistakes. This hymn of praise to me, when heard by mortals at full-moon, at new-moon and on other sacred festivals, shall destroy sin. 

Markandeya spoke:

19 Having spoken thus, adorable Agni became invisible forth with, while he indeed looked on, O muni, just as the flame

20 upon a lamp expires. And when Agni had departed, Sh’anti, with mind fully satisfied and with the hair of his body standing erect with gladness, entered the guru’s hermitage.

21 There he saw the fire blazing brightly on the guru’s sacrificial altar as before; thereat he felt an intense joy. 

22 At this moment the gttru also of that high-souled disciple returned from his younger brother’s sacrifice to his own

23 hermitage; and before him the disciple paid respectful salutation to his feet. And the guru, after accepting the seat 

24 and worship offered, said to him then— “My son, I feel exceeding loving-kindness to thee and to other creatures also. I know not what this is; if thou knowest, my son, tell this

25 quickly unto me.” Thereupon the brahman Shanti declares all that, namely, the extinction of the fire and the other

26 incidents, to his teacher truly, O great muni. On hearing it the guru with eyes moist through affection embraced him, and gave the disciple the Vedas and Angas and Upangas, O great muni. 

27 A son was born to Bhuti, the Manu named Bhautya. Hear from me of the gods, rishis and kings in his manv-antara,

28 namely, those who shall belong to that future Manu, while I declare them at length; and who shall be the lord of the

29 gods in the time of that Manu famous for his deeds. Both the Ch’akshushas and the Kanishthas, the Pavitras and the Bhrajiras, and the Dharavrikas—these shall be the five

30 classes of gods according to tradition. Sh’uchi shall be the Indra of those gods then, great in strength, great in valour,

31 endowed with all an Indra’s qualities. And Agnidhra, and Agni-bahu, Sh’uchi and Mukta, Madhava, Sh’ukra and Ajita - these seven shall be the rishis then according to tradition.

32 Guru, Gabhira, and Bradhna, Bharata and Anugraha, and

33 Strimanin * and Pratira, Vishnu and Sanktandana,† Tejasvin and Subala—these shall be the Manu Bhautya’s sons. I have declared this fourteenth manv-antara to thee.

* Sh’rimanin in the Bombay edition is better. 

†San-krandana in the Bombay edition. 

34 After hearing of the manv-antaras thus in order, O best of munis, a man obtains merit, and a diminished succession. ††

†† Of future births?

 35 By listening to the first manv-antara a man obtains righteousness. By listening to Sh’varochisha’s period he

36 gains all his desires. He obtains wealth from listening to Auttami’s story, and acquires knowledge in hearing the story of Tamasa; and when Raivata is heard about, he finds

37 intelligence and a handsome wife. Perfect health accrues to men when Ch’akshusha is heard of, and strength when Vaivasvata is heard of, and virtuous sons and grandsons

38 when the Sun’s son Savarnika is heard of. A man obtains greatness of soul when Brahma- Savarna is heard of, a bright intellect when Dharma-Savarnika is heard of, victory when 

39 Rudra-Savarnika is heard of. A man becomes the chief of his kindred and is endowed with good qualities, when Daksha Savarnika is heard of; he makes his enemies’ power small *

* Ni-shatayati; not in dictionary. 

40 after hearing of Rauchya, best of men. He acquires the favour of the gods when the Bhautya manv-antara is heard of, and also obtains the sacred fire and sons endowed with 

41 good qualities and whoever listens to all the manv-antaras in regular order, best of munis, hearken to his supreme

42 reward also. After hearing of the gods, rishis, Indras, Manus, their sons the kings, and their genealogies therein, he is

43 delivered from all his sins. And the other gods, rishis, Indras and kings who rule over those manv-antaras are pleased with him, and when pleased they bestow a bright

44 intellect. Having obtained then a bright intellect and having performed a splendid deed, he attains a splendid course as long

45 as the fourteen Indras continue.† May all the seasons be salubrious; may all the planets be benign! Assuredly they are so, when he has listened to the ordinance of the manv-antaras in their order. 

† For ch’atur-dashah read ch’atur-dasha with the Bombay edition.