Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (17 page)

Vaishampayana said, ‘O Janamejaya! Then the Pandava left Koushiki and one after another, went to all the other sacred places. O king! He went to the ocean, to the confluence of the Ganga. He performed his ablutions in the middle of the five hundred rivers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Then, together with his brothers, the brave lord of the earth travelled along the shores of the ocean towards Kalinga.

‘Lomasha said, “O Kounteya! This is Kalinga, where the river Vaitarani flows. Here, under the refuge of the gods, Dharma performed sacrifices. This is the northern bank, always frequented by brahmanas and inhabited by rishis. It is a sacrificial ground that has been made beautiful by a mountain. In ancient times, other rishis have also performed sacrifices here and gone to heaven along the route followed by the gods. O Indra among kings! This is the place where Rudra grasped the sacrificial animal.
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O Indra among men! Rudra grasped the animal and said, ‘This is my share.’ O bull among the Bharata lineage! When the animal was stolen, the gods told him, ‘Do not covet the property of others. Do not destroy all dharma.’
Later, they praised Rudra with sweet words. They satisfied him with a sacrifice and showed him honour. Then, discarding the animal, he followed the path traversed by the gods. O Yudhishthira! Listen to what is said about Rudra. ‘As a result of their fear of Rudra, the gods resolved that the supreme share of everything that was not stale would always be set apart for him. A man who touches the water here, while reciting this verse, has the route of the gods as his path and sees it with his eyes.’”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Then all the immensely fortunate Pandavas, together with Droupadi, descended into Vaitarani and offered oblations to the ancestors. Yudhishthira said, “O Lomasha! O illustrious one! O one rich in austerities! Behold. As soon as I have bathed in this river, I have gone beyond what is human. O follower of good vows! Through your grace, I can see all the worlds. This is the sound of the great-souled hermits, as they recite their prayers.”

‘Lomasha replied, “O Yudhishthira! O lord of the earth! Keep quiet. The sound that you hear is at a distance of three hundred thousand yojanas. O king! The beautiful forest that manifests itself here belongs to the one who created himself.
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O Kounteya! The powerful Vishvakarma performed a sacrifice here. At that sacrifice, the one who created himself gave the earth, with all its mountains, forests and regions, as a stipend to the great-souled Kashyapa. O Kounteya! As soon as she had been given away, the earth became dejected. In anger, she spoke to the illustrious lord of the worlds. ‘O illustrious one! You should not have given me away to a mere mortal. Your giving me away will be unsuccessful. I will go to rasatala.’
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O lord of the earth! On seeing that the earth was dejected, the illustrious rishi Kashyapa pacified her. O Pandava! She was satisfied by his austerities and once again emerged from the water, establishing herself as an altar. O king! You can see it there, with all the signs of an altar. O great king! Ascend it, and you will be extremely valorous. As you ascend it today, I will myself pronounce the benediction. O Ajamidha! As soon as it is touched by a mortal, this altar immerses
itself in the ocean again. ‘Agni, Mitra, the womb, the water, the goddess, Vishnu’s seed, the navel of amrita.’
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O Pandava! Having recited these truthful words, swiftly climb up onto the altar.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘When the benediction had been pronounced on him, the great-souled Yudhishthira went into the ocean. When he had done all that he had been asked, he went to Mahendra and spent the night there.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘After the lord of the earth had spent a night there, he, together with his brothers, showed the best of homage to the ascetics. Lomasha told him the names of all the ascetics who were there—the Bhrigus, the Angirases, the Vasishthas and the Kashyapas. On meeting them, the rajarshi
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greeted them, with his hands joined in salutation. He then asked Akritavarna, the valorous follower of Rama,
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“When will the illustrious Bhargava Rama show himself to the ascetics? On that occasion, I also wish to see Bhargava.” Akritavarna replied, “Rama knows everything in his soul and your arrival is already known to him. The ascetics see Rama on the fourteenth and the eighth lunar day. When this night is over, it will be the fourteenth lunar day.” Yudhishthira said, “You are a follower of the immensely strong and valorous son of Jamadagni. Earlier, you have yourself witnessed all his deeds. Therefore, tell us today how Rama vanquished all the kshatriyas in battle. Tell us everything about how he did it and the reasons.”

‘Akritavarna said, “There was an immensely strong and great king in Kanyakubja. He was famous in the world as Gadhi. He went to dwell in the forest. While he lived in the forest, a daughter was born to him and she was like an apsara. O descendant of the Bharata
lineage! Bhargava Richika wished to marry her. Then the king told the brahmana of the rigid vows, ‘There is a custom in our lineage, one that has been established since ancient times. O supreme among brahmanas! Know that a thousand swift and white horses must be given as a bride price and that they must each possess one black ear. O illustrious one! O Bhargava! But you cannot be asked to give this. My daughter should be given to a great-souled one like you.’ Richika replied, ‘I will give you one thousand swift and white horses, each with one black ear. Let your daughter become my wife.’ O king! Having promised this, he
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told Varuna, ‘As a bride price, give me one thousand swift and white horses, each with one black ear.’ Varuna then gave him one thousand horses. The place from where the horses arose is famous as the tirtha of horses. In Kanyakubja, on the banks of the Ganga, Gadhi then bestowed his daughter Satyavati on him and all the gods were present there. Having obtained one thousand horses, having seen the inhabitants of heaven and having obtained a wife according to dharma, Richika, supreme among brahmanas, pleasured with the slender-waisted maiden as he desired.

‘“O king! When the marriage was over, the supreme of the Bhrigus came to see his son, together with his wife. Having seen them, he was delighted. When the elder was seated, worshipped by the masses of gods, husband and wife joined their hands in salutation and worshipped him. Then the illustrious Bhrigu was delighted and told his daughter-in-law, ‘O fortunate one! Ask for a boon. I will grant what you wish for.’ She pleased the elder for the sake of a son, for herself and for her mother. And he showed her his favours. Bhrigu said, ‘At the time of your seasons, you and your mother must bathe and observe the ritual for having a son. Then you must embrace separate trees—she an
asvattha
and you an udumbura.’
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O king! But when they embraced the trees, they got them mixed up.
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When Bhrigu returned one day, he realized the mix-up. The immensely
energetic Bhrigu then told his daughter-in-law Satyavati, ‘Your son will be a brahmana who will live the life of a kshatriya and your mother’s great son will be a kshatriya who will live the life of a brahmana. His valour will be great and he will tread the path of the righteous.’ But she sought her father-in-law’s favours again and again. ‘Let my son not be like this. I desire that my grandson should be like this.’ O Pandava! He brought her satisfaction and said that it would be that way. When the time came, her son Jamadagni was born. He was energetic and radiant and was loved by the Bhargavas. O Pandava! The energetic one grew and surpassed many rishis in his knowledge of the Vedas. O bull among the Bharata lineage! He was as brilliant as the sun and the knowledge of weapons was revealed to him, together with that of the four types of weapons.”’
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‘Akritavarna said, “The immensely austere Jamadagni devoted himself to the study of the Vedas. Through his austerities, he brought the gods under his control. O king! He went to King Prasenjit and asked for Renuka, and the king gave her to him. When he obtained Renuka as his wife, the descendant of the Bhargava lineage returned to his hermitage and with her aid, engaged in austerities again. Four sons were born from her and Rama was the fifth. But though he was the youngest, Rama was superior to the others.

‘“Once, when her sons had gone to gather fruit, Renuka, rigid in her vows, went to have a bath. She saw the king of Marttikavata
there, Chitraratha by name. On seeing the prosperous king, garlanded with lotuses, sporting in the water with his wives, Renuka was filled with desire. Because of this unchaste behaviour, she lost her senses and moistened herself. Frightened, she returned to the hermitage. But her husband got to know. He saw that she had been dislodged from her constancy and that she had lost the beauty of purity. The immensely energetic and valorous one reproached her with words of ‘Shame!’ Then Jamadagni’s eldest son, with the name of Rumanvat, arrived—and then Sushena, Vasu and Vishvavasu, one by one. One after another, the illustrious one asked them to kill their mother. But because they were deluded and had lost their senses, they said nothing in reply. He then cursed them in great anger. As a result of the curse, they swiftly lost their minds and began to follow the conduct of animals or birds, or that of inanimate objects.

‘“Rama, the destroyer of enemy warriors, entered the hermitage last. The great ascetic Jamadagni told him in great anger, ‘O son! Kill your evil mother, without any compassion.’ At that, Rama grasped his axe and sliced off his mother’s head. O great king! The anger of the great-souled Jamadagni was suddenly appeased. He said in a pleasant voice, ‘O son! At my words, you have performed a difficult feat. O one learned in dharma! Ask for anything you desire, as many wishes as may be there in your heart.’ Thereupon, he asked that his mother might live again, that he should not retain any memory of the slaying, that he should not be touched by the sin, that his brothers might return to their natural state, that he might be unrivalled in battle and that he should have a long life. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The great ascetic Jamadagni granted him everything that he wished for.

‘“O lord! One day, when the sons had gone out as before, the brave Kartavirya, the king of the region along the shore, arrived. When he came to the hermitage, he was shown homage by the rishi’s wife. But insolent from the madness of battle, he did not accept this homage. He destroyed the hermitage. Through force, he carried off the sacrificial cow’s calf, though it kept crying. He tore down all the
large trees. When Rama returned, his father himself told him what had happened. On seeing the cow weeping, Rama was overcome with great anger. In great wrath, he rushed towards Kartavirya. Bhargava, the destroyer of enemy warriors, bravely engaged him in battle. O king! He grasped his beautiful bow and with his sharp arrows, sliced off his one thousand arms,
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each of which was like a club. Arjuna’s heirs
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became very angry at Rama. When Rama was not in the hermitage, they rushed at Jamadagni. They killed the immensely valorous ascetic, who refused to fight and unprotected, kept calling out for Rama. O Yudhishthira! Having pierced Jamadagni with their arrows, Kartavirya’s sons, the destroyers of enemies, departed. When they had gone away and Jamadagni had died, the descendant of the Bhargava lineage returned to the hermitage with firewood. The brave one saw that his father had been overcome by death. He was miserable and lamented the one who had not deserved to meet this fate.”’

‘“Rama said, ‘O father! It is because of my sins that you have been killed, like a deer in the forest, by the arrows of those mean and foolish wretches, Kartavirya’s heirs. O father! You were learned in dharma. You were always steady in the path of the righteous. You did not cause harm to any beings. How did you deserve a death like this? You were aged and you were unwilling to fight. You were established in your austerities. What sins they must have committed when they killed you with hundreds of sharp arrows. How can they tell their advisers and well-wishers that they have killed a virtuous man who was unwilling to fight?”’

‘Akritavarna said, “O king! Thus did he lament in piteous tones and in many ways. Then the immensely ascetic one performed all the funereal rites for his father. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Rama, the vanquisher of enemy cities, then burnt his father in a fire and swore that he would destroy all kshatriyas. Extremely wrathful, immensely strong in battle and valorous, he then grasped his weapons. Alone, like the god of death, he killed Kartavirya’s sons. O bull among the kshatriya lineage! He then killed all the kshatriyas who were their followers. Rama, supreme among those who wield arms, destroyed them all. That lord removed kshatriyas from the earth twenty-one times. He built five lakes of blood in Samantapanchaka. The extender of the Bhrigu lineage offered oblations to his ancestors there.

‘“Then Richika appeared before Rama in person and restrained him. Then Jamadagni’s powerful son performed a great sacrifice. He satisfied the king of the gods and gave the earth to the officiating priests. O lord of the earth! He constructed a golden altar that was ten
vyama
s
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long and nine in height and gave it to the great-souled Kashyapa. O king! With Kashyapa’s permission, the brahmanas divided it into many pieces and they
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thus came to be known as Khandavayanas. Having given the earth to the great-souled Kashyapa,
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the infinitely valorous one began to live on Mahendra, the king of the mountains. Thus did enmity arise between him and the kshatriyas of this world. The entire earth was conquered by Rama, whose energy is infinite.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘On the fourteenth lunar day, at the appropriate time, the great-souled Rama showed himself to the brahmanas and to Dharmaraja, together with his younger brothers. The Indra among kings worshipped the lord, together with his brothers. The supreme of kings offered the highest homage to the brahmanas. Having worshipped Jamadagni’s son and having been honoured in return, the lord spent a night on Mahendra and then left for a southern direction.’