Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (16 page)

‘“At that time, there was a lord of Anga famous by the name of Lomapada and he was Dasharatha’s friend. It has been heard that,
driven by desire, he committed falsehoods on brahmanas. That lord of the earth was then abandoned by brahmanas. Without a priest, the king acted as he willed. The one with the thousand eyes
⁴⁵⁶
stopped showering and the subjects suffered. The lord of the earth asked wise brahmanas, full of austerities, who were capable of making the lord of the gods shower again. ‘How will Parjanya
⁴⁵⁷
rain again? Show me a way.’ Thus asked, each of those wise ones expressed his own view. But one supreme sage among them told the king, ‘O Indra among kings! The brahmanas are angry with you. Find a way to appease them. O king! Fetch the sage’s son Rishyashringa. He lives in the forest, immersed in virtue, and is inexperienced about the female sex. O king! If that great ascetic comes to your territory, I have no doubt that Parjanya will immediately shower rain.’ On hearing these words, the king performed deeds to cleanse his soul. He went away and returned only when the brahmanas had been appeased. On hearing that the king had returned, the subjects received him back. Then the lord of Anga summoned his advisers, who were wise in offering counsel. He consulted so that endeavours might be made to bring Rishyashringa. With the aid of his advisers, who were learned in the sacred texts, skilled in the ways of artha and knowledgeable about policy, the unblemished one thought of a method.

‘“The lord of the earth summoned the foremost of courtesans. The king told the courtesans, who were skilled in everything, ‘O beautiful ones! Find out some means of bringing the rishi’s son Rishyashringa to my territory. Tempt him and gain his confidence.’ Those women were scared out of fear for the king’s curse. They turned pale, lost their senses and said that the task was impossible. But there was one among them who was old and she told the king, ‘O great king! I will attempt to bring the one with the ascetic riches here. But you will have to ask for some objects of desire that I have in mind. I will then be able to tempt the rishi’s son Rishyashringa.’ The king ordered that everything she wished for should be obtained. He gave her a lot of riches and many gems. O lord of the earth! She took
several women with her, endowed with youth and beauty. Then she swiftly went to the forest.”’

‘Lomasha said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! To ensure the success of the king’s objective, she contructed a hermitage on a boat—both because the king ordered it and because it fitted with her own wishes. It was beautifully adorned with many artificial trees with flowers and fruit. It had many bowers and creepers that yielded succulent fruit to satisfy every desire. She made it extremely beautiful and enticing. That hermitage on a boat was beautiful, extraordinary and an unsurpassed sight. Then she moored the boat a short distance away from Kashyapa’s hermitage. She sent out some men to survey the area frequented by the sage. Deciding on a course of action and perceiving a chance, the courtesan summoned her daughter, who possessed great intelligence, and sent her to Kashyapa’s son. That skilled one went to the hermitage and approached the rishi’s son, who was always engaged in austerities.

‘“The courtesan said, ‘O sage! Is everything well with the ascetics here? Are there plenty of roots and fruit? Do you find pleasure in this hermitage? I have come here to visit you. Are the austerities of the ascetics increasing? I hope your father has not diminished in energy. O brahmana! I hope he is pleased with you. O Rishyashringa! Are you able to pursue your studies?’

‘“Rishyashringa replied, ‘You shine with radiance like the light. I think that you are worthy of showing obeisance. I will give you water to wash your feet, and according to dharma, fruits and roots to satisfy your desires. Please be seated on this mat made of kusha grass, covered with black antelope skin and made comfortable. Where is your hermitage? O brahmana! What is the name of the vow that you are observing, like a god?’

‘“The courtesan said, ‘O son of Kashyapa! My beautiful hermitage is three yojanas away, on the other side of the mountain. My dharma is not to accept obeisance. Nor do I touch water to wash my feet.’

‘“Rishyashringa replied, ‘I will give you ripe fruit,
bhalla
s,
⁴⁵⁸
amlaka
s,
⁴⁵⁹
parushaka
s,
⁴⁶⁰
inguda
s,
⁴⁶¹
dhanvana
s
⁴⁶²
and
priyala
s
⁴⁶³
to satisfy your desires.’”

‘Lomasha said, “But having discarded all of these, she gave him extremely expensive food. This was beautiful to look at and extremely tasteful and they were very pleasurable to Rishyashringa. She gave him fragrant garlands and radiant and colourful garments and the best of drinks. Then she played, laughed and amused herself. She played at his side with a ball, like a flowering creeper that was moving around. She touched his body with hers and embraced Rishyashringa again and again. She bent the branches and plucked the flowers from trees like
sarja
s,
⁴⁶⁴
ashokas and
tilaka
s.
⁴⁶⁵
Then, as if without shame, and overcome with liquour, she tempted the maharshi’s son. Having seen the change in Rishyashringa, she pressed him again and again with her body. Then, pretending that the time for agnihotra had come, she slowly went away, casting backward glances. At her departure, Rishyashringa was overcome with desire and lost his senses. Because of his feelings for her, he felt emptiness. He sighed again and again in distress.

‘“At that instant, Kashyapa Vibhandaka appeared. His eyes were tawny, like a lion’s. He was covered with body hair, up to the tips of his nails. He possessed learning, conduct and meditative faculties. He approached and saw his seated son, alone, immersed in thought, and with his mind disturbed. His eyes were raised up and he sighed repeatedly. Vibhandaka told his dejected son, ‘O son! Why has wood
for the sacrificial kindling not been brought? Have you still not performed agnihotra today? Have the sacrificial ladles been cleaned? Have you brought out the sacrificial cow and her calf today? O son! You do not seem as you used to be. You are immersed in thought and have lost your senses. Why are you so dejected today? I am asking you. Who came here today?’”’

‘“Rishyashringa replied, ‘A brahmachari came. He had matted hair and he was intelligent. He wasn’t too short and he wasn’t too tall. His complexion was golden. His eyes were long, like lotuses. He was radiant, like a son of the gods. His prosperous form was as radiant as the sun. His eyes were beautiful and black and white, like those of chakora birds. His matted hair was blue, clear, fragrant and extremely long, and braided with golden thread. Like lightning blazing in the sky, there were two receptacles under his throat. There were two balls under his throat.
⁴⁶⁶
They had no hair on them and were extremely beautiful. His waist was thin around the navel. But his hips were expansive. Like mine, a girdle blazed from under his garment. But his was made of gold. That apart, there was an extraordinary sight—a tinkling sound emerged from his feet.
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Ornaments with a similar sound were also tied to his wrists. They were like this string of rosaries, but made a musical sound. They made a sound whenever he moved, like intoxicated swans in a pond. His garments were extraordinary to see. They were not like mine, but were beautiful. His face was also an extraordinary sight. His words brought gladness to the heart. His speech was like that of male cuckoos. When I heard it, it saddened the innermost parts of my heart. During the spring months, the forest is fragrant when fanned by the wind. O father! Like that, there was a supreme and
sacred fragrance when the wind fanned him. His matted hair was tied neatly and arranged so that it divided his forehead into two equal halves. His ears seemed to be surrounded by circles.
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They were coloured and beautiful of form. He held something that looked like a beautiful circular fruit
⁴⁶⁹
in his right hand. It bounced repeatedly on the ground and rose up again, in an extraordinary way. He hit it and whirled around. His body was like a tree stirred by the wind. O father! On seeing that son of the immortals, my joy became supreme and desire was born in me. He embraced my body repeatedly. He grasped me by my matted hair and lowered my mouth. He placed his mouth on my mouth and uttered a sound that brought great pleasure to me. He did not desire water for washing the feet, or the fruits that I had brought. He told me that those were the vows followed by him. He gave me other novel types of fruit. I tasted all the fruits he gave me. These are not as succulent as those. They did not have skins like these have. Nor did they have seeds like ours. The generous one gave me liquids to drink. They were extremely fine in flavour. As soon as I drank them, great pleasure engulfed me and the ground seemed to move. These are the beautiful and fragrant garlands that he tied up with silken threads. Having scattered them here, he left for his own hermitage, blazing in austerities. I have lost my senses at his departure. My body seems to be burning. I wish to go to him immediately. I wish that he should always roam around here. O father! I shall go to him this very instant. Please tell me the name of the vow observed by him. I wish to observe it, together with him. I wish to observe the severe and austere rites practised by him.’”’

‘“Vibhandaka said, ‘O son! These are rakshasas. They roam around in their extraordinary forms. They are unsurpassed
in beauty and are extremely terrible. They always endeavour to create obstacles in the way of austerities. O son! They assume beautiful forms. They assume different forms to tempt. Those terrible deeds are used to dislodge the sages of the forest from the happiness of their worlds. Sages who are in control of their souls never serve them, particularly if they desire the worlds of the virtuous. O one who doesn’t perform evil acts! Those ones of evil deeds find delight in obstructing ascetics and destroying their austerities. O son! Those liquids are for those who aren’t virtuous. They are wine and desired by evil ones. These garlands, coloured, bright and fragrant, are not regarded by the learned as fit for sages.’”

‘Lomasha said, “Having restrained his son and told him that these were rakshasas, Vibhandaka went out to search for her. After searching for three days, he failed to find her, and returned to his hermitage. When Kashyapa again went out to gather fruit, as was the practice for hermits, the courtesan again returned to tempt the sage Rishyashringa. As soon as he saw her, Rishyashringa was delighted. His mind was deluded and he told her, ‘Let us go to your hermitage before my father returns.’ O king! Then she tempted Kashyapa’s only son into the boat and unmoored it. She tempted him through various means and brought him to the king of Anga. That extremely beautiful boat was moored within sight of a hermitage. A beautiful wood was created near the bank and named Rajashrama.
⁴⁷⁰
The king brought Vibhandaka’s only son and lodged him in the inner quarters. And he suddenly saw the god
⁴⁷¹
showering rain, until the world was full and flooded with water. His wishes fulfilled, Lomapada bestowed his daughter Shanta on Rishyashringa. To counter the wrath,
⁴⁷²
he instructed cattle to be placed on the roads and the land tilled. Along the road that Vibhandaka would follow, the king placed many animals and warriors to look after the animals. ‘When maharshi Vibhandaka arrives in search of his son and asks you, you must join your hands in salutation and tell him, “O maharshi! These animals
and this tilled land belong to your son. What can we do to please you? All of us are your servants and await your command.”’
⁴⁷³
Meanwhile, after gathering roots and fruit, the sage who was exceedingly wrathful returned to his hermitage. He searched for his son and on not finding him there, became extremely angry. Rent asunder by rage, he suspected that this was the work of the king.

‘“Deciding that he would burn up the king of Anga and all his possessions, he left for Champa.
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Exhausted and hungry, Kashyapa arrived at settlements that were prosperous with cattle. He was honoured by the herdsmen in accordance with the prescribed rites, as if he was a king, and spent the night there. Having received great homage from them, he asked them, ‘O pleasant ones! Whose servants are you?’ All of them respectfully told him, ‘All these riches belong to your son.’ He was thus worshipped in region after region and heard similar pleasant words. Thus, his anger was greatly appeased and in a happy frame of mind, he approached the city of the king of Anga. He was worshipped by that bull among men. He saw his son, like Indra in heaven. He also saw his daughter-in-law Shanta there, looking like a flash of lightning. Having seen the villages, the settlements of cattle, his son and Shanta, his extreme anger was pacified. O Indra among men! Vibhandaka showed his supreme favours to that lord of the earth. The maharshi, as resplendent as the sun and the fire, left his son there and told him, ‘Having done everything that pleases the king, you will return to the forest once a son has been born.’ Rishyashringa acted according to his words. He returned to where his father was. Shanta tended to him,
⁴⁷⁵
like the devoted Rohini attends on the moon in the sky, like the fortunate Arundhati waits on Vasishtha, like Damayanti on Nala and like Shachi on the wielder of the vajra.
⁴⁷⁶
O Ajamidha!
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Like Nadayani Indrasena was always
obedient to Mudgala,
⁴⁷⁸
thus was Shanta towards Rishyashringa in the forest. O Indra among men! Driven by love, she tended to him. That sacred hermitage is radiant here. The great lake, site of sacred deeds, is radiant here. O king! Having bathed here and purifying yourself, you will accomplish all your deeds and then go on to other tirthas.”’