Chapter 4: Satî Quits her Body
(1) S'rî Maitreya said: 'After saying this much about the [possible] end of his wife's physical existence, Lord S'iva fell silent. Since she from S'iva understood that she had the choice between being anxious to see her relatives and being afraid to meet her relatives, she was in doubt whether she should go or not. (2) Denied in her desire to see her relatives she felt very sorry and shed tears in her affliction. Trembling she angrily looked at her Bhava, the unequaled one, as if she wanted to burn him. (3) Breathing heavily she walked away from him, the saintly one so dear to her to whom she out of love had given half of her body. Being upset because of the grief and anger in her heart she, with her intelligence clouded by her female nature, left for the house of her father. (4) Rapidly leaving on her own accord, Satî was quickly followed by the thousands of associates and Yakshas of the three eyed one [Lord S'iva] who were headed by Manimân and Mada. Not afraid [to leave S'iva behind] they had put the bull Nandî in front. (5) Having placed her on the decorated bull they took along her pet bird, ball, mirror, lotus flower, white umbrella, mosquito net, garlands and other stuff, being accompanied by the music of drums, conch shells and flutes. (6) She [thus] entered the sacrificial arena where, with the help of sacrificial animals, pots, clay, wood, iron, gold, grass and skins to sit upon and in the presence of the great sages and authorities, the sacrifice was performed all around graced by the sounds of Vedic hymns. (7) But when she arrived there she was, out of fear for the performer of the sacrifice [Daksha], not respected by anyone with a welcome, except of course for her own sisters and mother who embraced her with reverence, gladdened faces and throats choked by tears of affection. (8) But Satî, not being welcomed by her father, did not respond to the reverence shown with the greetings of her sisters, mother and aunts who with due respect properly informed her and offered her gifts and a seat. (9) Realizing that her father with no oblations for S'iva, out of contempt for the godhead, had not invited the mighty one for the assembly of the sacrifice, Satî got very angry with a furious look as if she wanted to burn the fourteen worlds with her eyes. (10) The goddess [next] for everyone present to hear began to condemn with words filled with anger the opponents of S'iva who were so proud of their troublesome sacrifices, meanwhile ordering his Bhûtas to hold back, who stood prepared to attack. (11) The goddess said: 'No one in this world is his [S'iva's] rival, his enemy or [particularly] dear to him. Who else but you [oh father] would be envious of him, he, the most beloved being in the universe, who is free from all enmity? (12) Unlike you, oh twice-born one, he does not find fault in the qualities of those who seek the truth. He rather promotes any little good he finds in others. And now you are finding fault with him, the greatest of all persons! (13) It is not very surprising, this constant deriding of glorious persons by those who take the transient body for the true self. It is an ugly evil to be envious with great personalities, examples by the dust of whose feet one - to one's fortune - sees one's fire tempered. (14) Persons who only once from their heart pronounce the two syllables of his name, see their sinful activities immediately defeated. That S'iva, whose order is never neglected and who is of an impeccable renown, you now strangely envy. (15) Engaged at his lotus feet the higher personalities exercise their bee-like minds aspiring the nectar of transcendental bliss, while he for the common man is the one sought for fulfilling all desires. That you, of all people, now have to be against him, the friend of all living entities in all the three worlds! 
(16) Do you really think that others than you, like Brahmâ and his brahmins, are not familiar with the inauspicious call of him who is associated with the demons and who, with his scattered, matted hair, is garlanded with skulls and is smeared with the ashes of the crematorium? Yet they take on their heads the flowers that fell from the feet of him who is called S'iva or auspicious! (17) When one is confronted with people who irresponsibly blaspheme the controller of the religion, one should block one's ears and walk away, if nothing else can be done. But if one can do something, one should by force cut out the tongue of the vilifying blasphemer and next give up one's life. That is the way to deal with such matters! (18) Therefore I shall no longer bear this body I received from you who blasphemed S'iva ['with the dark neck']. To purify oneself from mistakenly having eaten poisonous food it is best to vomit, so one says. (19) Elevated transcendentalists who enjoy their lives do not always follow the rules and regulations of the Vedas, the ways of the gods differ from those of man. Therefore a man should not criticize another man [like S'iva] by the standard of his own unique sense of duty [see also B.G. 18: 47]. (20) In truth the Vedas distinguish between activities performed in attachment and activities performed in detachment [pravritti and nivritti dharma]. On the basis of these two characteristics of dharma one therefore has two choices. To be of both at the same time is contradictory and thus it can happen that none of these activities satisfies a transcendentalist. (21) Oh father, the ways we follow are not your ways, they are not recommended by those who, satisfied by the food of the sacrifice, follow the ritual path and thus get their fill. They constitute the path of the fully renounced souls who follow the non-manifest form of sacrificing. (22) With your offenses against S'iva and denial of this body that was produced from your body, I say: enough is enough! I am ashamed to have taken this contemptible birth. What a shame it is to be related by birth to a bad person, to someone who is an offender of great personalities. (23) Because of the family tie I have with you it makes me very sad when my great Lord S'iva calls me 'daughter of Daksha'. All my joy and smiles vanish immediately when he does so. Therefore I will give up this bag of bones that was produced from your body.'
(24) Maitreya said: 'Oh annihilator of the enemy, speaking thus to Daksha in the arena of sacrifice, she sat down in silence on the ground with her face to the north. After touching water she, dressed in saffron garments, then closed her eyes to find absorption in the process of yoga. (25) Balancing the inward and outward going breath she, the blameless one, in the control of her yogic posture with intelligence directed her life air upward. She raised it gradually up from the navel cakra to the heart, from the heart to the windpipe and from the throat to the place between her eyebrows. (26) In her desire to give it up because of her anger towards Daksha, she who time and again full of respect sat on the lap of the most worshipful one of all saints, thus by the exercise of her own will focussed on the air and fire within her body. (27) When she meditating right there within her mind saw nothing but the nectarean lotus feet of her husband, the supreme spiritual teacher of the universe, and was freed from all impurities, soon the body of Satî was ablaze because of the fire that originated from her absorption.
(28) From the side of those who witnessed it a loudly, in the sky and on the earth reverberating, wondrous tumult originated: 'Ohhh..., alas Satî, the beloved goddess of the most respectable demigod, has given up her life in anger about Daksha. (29) Oh, just see the great soullessness of him, the Prajâpati from whom all the generations sprang. Because of his disrespect she voluntarily gave up her body, she, his own daughter Satî worthy of our repeated respect. (30) He so hard-hearted and unworthy of the brahminical status, will gain extensive ill fame in the world because he in his offenses, as an enemy of Lord S'iva, could not prevent his own daughter from preparing herself for death!' (31) While the people thus were talking among themselves after having witnessed the wondrous death of Satî, the attendants of S'iva stood up with their weapons lifted in order to kill Daksha. (32) But as soon as he saw them approaching Bhrigu quickly offered oblations in the southern fire and recited hymns from the Yajur Veda to ward off the destroyers of a sacrifice. (33) From the oblations being offered by Bhrigu, the demigods named the Ribhus, who by dint of the moon [Soma] and by penance had achieved great strength, manifested by the thousands. (34) All the ghosts and Guhyakas [guardians of S'iva] were attacked by them with pieces of firewood from the fire. Thus [being haunted] by the glow of sheer brahminical power, they fled in all directions.'
(16) Do you really think that others than you, like Brahmâ and his brahmins, are not familiar with the inauspicious call of him who is associated with the demons and who, with his scattered, matted hair, is garlanded with skulls and is smeared with the ashes of the crematorium? Yet they take on their heads the flowers that fell from the feet of him who is called S'iva or auspicious! (17) When one is confronted with people who irresponsibly blaspheme the controller of the religion, one should block one's ears and walk away, if nothing else can be done. But if one can do something, one should by force cut out the tongue of the vilifying blasphemer and next give up one's life. That is the way to deal with such matters! (18) Therefore I shall no longer bear this body I received from you who blasphemed S'iva ['with the dark neck']. To purify oneself from mistakenly having eaten poisonous food it is best to vomit, so one says. (19) Elevated transcendentalists who enjoy their lives do not always follow the rules and regulations of the Vedas, the ways of the gods differ from those of man. Therefore a man should not criticize another man [like S'iva] by the standard of his own unique sense of duty [see also B.G. 18: 47]. (20) In truth the Vedas distinguish between activities performed in attachment and activities performed in detachment [pravritti and nivritti dharma]. On the basis of these two characteristics of dharma one therefore has two choices. To be of both at the same time is contradictory and thus it can happen that none of these activities satisfies a transcendentalist. (21) Oh father, the ways we follow are not your ways, they are not recommended by those who, satisfied by the food of the sacrifice, follow the ritual path and thus get their fill. They constitute the path of the fully renounced souls who follow the non-manifest form of sacrificing. (22) With your offenses against S'iva and denial of this body that was produced from your body, I say: enough is enough! I am ashamed to have taken this contemptible birth. What a shame it is to be related by birth to a bad person, to someone who is an offender of great personalities. (23) Because of the family tie I have with you it makes me very sad when my great Lord S'iva calls me 'daughter of Daksha'. All my joy and smiles vanish immediately when he does so. Therefore I will give up this bag of bones that was produced from your body.'(24) Maitreya said: 'Oh annihilator of the enemy, speaking thus to Daksha in the arena of sacrifice, she sat down in silence on the ground with her face to the north. After touching water she, dressed in saffron garments, then closed her eyes to find absorption in the process of yoga. (25) Balancing the inward and outward going breath she, the blameless one, in the control of her yogic posture with intelligence directed her life air upward. She raised it gradually up from the navel cakra to the heart, from the heart to the windpipe and from the throat to the place between her eyebrows. (26) In her desire to give it up because of her anger towards Daksha, she who time and again full of respect sat on the lap of the most worshipful one of all saints, thus by the exercise of her own will focussed on the air and fire within her body. (27) When she meditating right there within her mind saw nothing but the nectarean lotus feet of her husband, the supreme spiritual teacher of the universe, and was freed from all impurities, soon the body of Satî was ablaze because of the fire that originated from her absorption.
(28) From the side of those who witnessed it a loudly, in the sky and on the earth reverberating, wondrous tumult originated: 'Ohhh..., alas Satî, the beloved goddess of the most respectable demigod, has given up her life in anger about Daksha. (29) Oh, just see the great soullessness of him, the Prajâpati from whom all the generations sprang. Because of his disrespect she voluntarily gave up her body, she, his own daughter Satî worthy of our repeated respect. (30) He so hard-hearted and unworthy of the brahminical status, will gain extensive ill fame in the world because he in his offenses, as an enemy of Lord S'iva, could not prevent his own daughter from preparing herself for death!' (31) While the people thus were talking among themselves after having witnessed the wondrous death of Satî, the attendants of S'iva stood up with their weapons lifted in order to kill Daksha. (32) But as soon as he saw them approaching Bhrigu quickly offered oblations in the southern fire and recited hymns from the Yajur Veda to ward off the destroyers of a sacrifice. (33) From the oblations being offered by Bhrigu, the demigods named the Ribhus, who by dint of the moon [Soma] and by penance had achieved great strength, manifested by the thousands. (34) All the ghosts and Guhyakas [guardians of S'iva] were attacked by them with pieces of firewood from the fire. Thus [being haunted] by the glow of sheer brahminical power, they fled in all directions.'
