Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (21 page)

‘“O descendant of the Kuru lineage! When I recited this genealogy, listen to what a pishacha woman, adorned with
ulukhala
s,
⁵⁷²
once said. ‘Eat curds in Yugandhara.
⁵⁷³
Spend the night in Achyutasthala.
Then bathe in Bhutilaya and dwell there with your sons. After having spent one night there, if you stay for a second night, then the deeds of the day will be different from the deeds of the night.’
⁵⁷⁴
O supreme among the Bharata lineage! O Kounteya! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Therefore, we will stay here tonight. This is Kurukshetra’s gate. O king! It is here that King Yayati Nahusha performed sacrifices where many jewels were given away, and Indra was delighted. This is Plakshavatarana, the supreme tirtha on the Yamuna. The learned ones say that it is the gate to the vault of heaven. The supreme rishis performed sarasvata sacrifices here. O son! With their sacrificial stakes and mortars, they then went to take their final baths. Following dharma, King Bharata performed a horse sacrifice right here and let loose a black sacrificial steed to roam the earth. It was here that Marutta, tiger among men, performed a supreme sacrifice and seated himself, protected by Samvarta, foremost among devarshis. O Indra among kings! Bathe here and you will be able to see all the worlds. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having touched the water here, you will be cleansed of all evil deeds.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Having bathed there with his brothers and having been worshipped by the great rishis, the foremost among the Pandavas then spoke these words to Lomasha. “I can see all the worlds through my austerities. O one for whom truth is valour! From here, I can also see the foremost among the Pandavas,
⁵⁷⁵
with his white steeds.” Lomasha replied, “O mighty-armed one! That is true. Thus do the great rishis see. Look at the sacred Sarasvati, crowded by those for whom she is a refuge. O best of men! By bathing here, you will be cleansed of all sins. The celestial rishis performed the sarasvata sacrifice here. O Kounteya! So did the rishis and the rajarshis. This is Prajapati’s altar, extending five yojanas in every direction. This is the field of the great-souled sacrificer Kuru.”’
⁵⁷⁶

‘Lomasha said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! If mortals perform austerities here, they go to heaven. O king! Men who desire to die, come here by the thousands. In ancient times, a benediction was pronounced by Daksha when he sacrificed here. ‘The men who die here will have conquered heaven.’ This is the sacred, divine and flowing river Sarasvati. O lord of the earth! This is Sarasvati’s Vinashana. This is the gate to the land of the nishadas. O brave one! It is out of hatred for them that the Sarasvati enters the earth, so that the nishadas may not know her. This is Chamasodbheda,
⁵⁷⁷
where the Sarasvati can be seen. All the sacred and divine rivers that go towards the ocean merge into her here. O destroyer of enemies! This is the great tirtha known as Sindhu, where Lopamudra went to Agastya and accepted him for her husband. O one who shines like the sun! This is the dazzling tirtha of Prabhasa. This is sacred and holy, the cleanser of sin, and is favoured by Indra. The supreme tirtha by the name of Vishnupada can be seen there. Here is the extremely sacred and beautiful river Vipasha.
⁵⁷⁸
Because of sorrow for his sons, the illustrious rishi Vasishtha tied himself up and threw himself down, arising again, freed of his bonds.
⁵⁷⁹

‘“O destroyer of enemies! Behold, with your brothers, the region of Kashmira,
⁵⁸⁰
sacred in every way and frequented by maharshis. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! It is here that a conversation took place between all the rishis from the northern region, Nahusha,
⁵⁸¹
Agni and Kashyapa. O great king! The gate to Manasa
⁵⁸²
is evident
here. In the midst of this mountain, the illustrious Rama
⁵⁸³
created a region for the rainwater to flow. This is the renowned Vatikashanda, where valour comes from truth. It is to the north of Videha and its gate cannot be breached. This is the auspicious place named Ujjanaka, where sacrifices of barley were made and where the illustrious rishi Vasishtha lived with Arundhati. This is the lake named Kushavan, where there are one trillion
⁵⁸⁴
beds of kusha grass. Rukimini’s
⁵⁸⁵
hermitage is here and she conquered her anger and found peace here. O Pandava! O great king! You have heard of the great mountain Bhrigutunga, where meditations assemble. You will see it and the rivers Jala and Upajala, near the Yamuna. Performing a sacrifice there, Ushinara surpassed Vasava. O lord of the earth! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! To know whether the king was an equal of the gods, Vasava and Agni came there. To test the great-souled Ushinara and desirous of granting him a boon, Indra became a hawk and Agni became a dove and came to his sacrifice. As a result of fear from the hawk, the dove alighted on the king’s thigh, seeking refuge there. O king! Oppressed by fear, it nestled there.”’

‘“The hawk said, ‘All the kings of the earth say that you have dharma in your soul. Why do you therefore perform a deed that is against all dharma? O king! I am suffering from hunger and this is my decreed food. Do not protect it out of avarice for dharma. Otherwise, you will discard dharma.’

‘“The king replied, ‘O great bird! This bird is terrified out of fear for you and has sought shelter. To protect its life, it has sought
refuge with me. O hawk! Do you not see that it is supreme
adharma
for me to give up this dove, which has sought refuge from fear? O hawk! It can be seen that this dove is agitated and trembling. It has come to me for its life. Giving it up merits condemnation.’

‘“The hawk said, ‘O lord of the earth! All beings sustain themselves through food. They prosper through food and live because of food. One can live for many nights after giving up objects that are difficult to discard. But one cannot live for a long time after giving up food. O lord of the earth! If I am deprived of my food, my life will give up my body and tread the path from which one does not return.
⁵⁸⁶
O one with dharma in your soul! After my death, my son and wife will perish. While protecting the dove, you are not protecting many lives. Dharma that stands in the way of another dharma is not dharma at all. It is evil dharma. O one for whom valour is based on truth! Dharma that does not conflict with anything is the right dharma. O lord of the earth! When there is a conflict, you must decide in accordance with what is important and what is unimportant. That should be dharma where there is no conflict. O king! After measuring the important with the unimportant and determining what constitutes dharma, and what does not constitute dharma, you must decide that to be dharma which is weightier and act accordingly.’

‘“The king replied, ‘O supreme bird! Your words seem to bring much welfare. Are you Suparna,
⁵⁸⁷
king of the birds? There is no doubt that you are conversant with dharma. You have spoken many attractive words, full of dharma. I do not see anything that is not evident to you. Then how can you think it virtuous to discard someone who has sought refuge? O bird! All your efforts are to get food. You are capable of appeasing your hunger through other food, that which is more plentiful. For your sake, I will now cook whatever you desire—cow, bull, boar, deer or buffalo.’

‘“The hawk said, ‘O great king! I do not desire a boar, a bull, a deer or anything else. I do not eat them. What use are they to me now? O bull among the kshatriyas! O protector of the earth! Give up the food that has been earmarked for me by destiny. Release the dove. It is the eternal rule that hawks eat doves. O king! Not knowing a plantain tree, do not climb it.’
⁵⁸⁸

‘“The king replied, ‘O one who is worshipped by masses of birds! Rule over this prosperous kingdom of Shibi. O hawk! Alternatively, I will give you everything that you desire. O hawk! But I will not give up the bird that has sought refuge with me. O supreme bird! Tell me what deed I must perform so that you give this up. I will not give up this small bird.’

‘“The hawk said, ‘O Ushinara! O lord of men! If you have so much affection for the dove, then cut some flesh from your body and weigh it, so that it is equal to the dove. O king! When your flesh is equal to the dove, you can give it to me and I will find satisfaction.’

‘“The king replied, ‘O hawk! I think this request of yours is a favour. I will right now give you an equal amount of my own flesh.’”

‘Lomasha said, “O Kounteya! The king was learned in supreme dharma. The illustrious one cut his own flesh and weighed it against the dove. When he found that the dove was heavier than this flesh, King Ushinara again cut some more flesh and gave it. Thus, there was no more flesh left to weigh against the dove. Having given up all the flesh, he himself ascended the scales.”

‘“The hawk said, ‘O one learned in dharma! I am Indra and that dove is the bearer of the sacrificial offerings.
⁵⁸⁹
We came to your sacrificial grounds to test you about dharma. O lord of the earth! This deed of yours, your cutting off flesh from your body, will be resplendent in the world. O king! As long as men talk in this world, so long will your eternal deed be established in this world.’”

‘Lomasha said, “O Pandava! Behold the seat of that great-souled king. It is sacred and the cleanser of all sins. Look at it with me. O king! It is here that the gods and the eternal sages are always seen by brahmanas, who are great-souled and performers of holy deeds.”’

‘Lomasha said, “O Indra among men! Behold the sacred hermitage of Shvetaketu, the son of Uddalaka, whose fame as a knower of mantras was recounted on earth. It always has trees full of fruit. Shvetaketu saw Sarasvati herself there, in her human form. When Sarasvati appeared, Shvetaketu told her, ‘Give me the power of speech.’ O king! At that time, Ashtavakra, the son of Kahoda, and Shvetaketu, the son of Uddalaka, were the foremost among those who knew the brahman and were uncle and nephew. Uncle and nephew, the illustrious brahmanas, went to the sacrifice of King Videha, lord of earth. They vanquished the immeasurable Bandi in a debate.”

‘Yudhishthira asked, “What was the power of the brahmana who thus vanquished Bandi? Why was he born as Ashtavakra? O Lomasha! Tell me everything accurately.”

‘Lomasha replied, “Uddalaka had a self-controlled disciple. O king! He was known by the name of Kahoda. He served his preceptor and was devoted to him. He studied for a long time. There were many brahmanas who served as disciples. But the preceptor knew him to be the one. He gave him all his knowledge and his daughter Sujata as a wife. She conceived and the child, who was radiant as the fire, spoke to his studious father. ‘You have studied all night. O father! But you are not right.’ The maharshi was insulted among his own students. He cursed the child who was still inside the womb. ‘Since you spoke while you were still inside, you will be crooked in
eight ways.’ He was born exactly as had been spoken and this maharshi became famous as Ashtavakra.
⁵⁹⁰
His maternal uncle was Shvetaketu, who was equal to him in age. While her son grew inside her, Sujata was extremely distressed. She was poor and desired riches. In a conciliatory tone, she privately spoke to her husband. ‘O maharshi! What will we do without riches? The tenth month is upon me. You have no riches. Once the delivery takes place, how will we overcome the calamity that confronts us?’ Having been thus addressed by his wife, Kahoda went to Janaka for riches. Bandi was skilled in debate. The brahmana was defeated by him and drowned in the waters.

‘“Uddalaka got to know that he had been defeated by a suta
⁵⁹¹
and had drowned in the waters. He told Sujata, ‘This must be kept a secret from Ashtavakra.’ She kept this secret extremely well. When he was born, the brahmana heard nothing and thought that Uddalaka was his father and Shvetaketu was his brother. When Ashtavakra was twelve years old, Shvetaketu saw him seated on his father’s lap.
⁵⁹²
He grasped him by the hand and told the weeping one, ‘This is not your father’s lap.’ These harsh words pierced his heart and remained there, making him extremely unhappy. Weeping, he went home and asked his mother, ‘Where is my father?’ Sujata was extremely distressed. Scared of being cursed, she told him everything. Having got to know everything from his mother, the brahmana
⁵⁹³
spoke to Shvetaketu. ‘Let us go to King Janaka’s sacrifice. It has been heard that his sacrifice has many extraordinary things. We will hear debates among the brahmanas. We will also eat excellent food. We will become wiser. The chants of the brahman are auspicious and pacifying.’ Thus, the maternal uncle and nephew went to King Janaka’s prosperous sacrifice. Ashtavakra encountered
the king on the road and was restrained.
⁵⁹⁴
He spoke these words to him.”’
⁵⁹⁵

‘“Ashtavakra said, ‘The road belongs to a blind one. The road belongs to a deaf one. The road belongs to a woman. The road belongs to a bearer of loads. The road belongs to a king. But when a brahmana is encountered on the way, the road must belong to the brahmana.’

‘“The king replied, ‘Then I now give up this road to you. Travel whichever way you desire. There is no fire that is a minor one.
⁵⁹⁶
Even Indra always bows down before brahmanas.’

‘“Ashtavakra said, ‘O son!
⁵⁹⁷
We have come to see the sacrifice. Our curiousity cannot be greater. We have come as guests. Let us enter. O gatekeeper! We are waiting for your command. We wish to see the sacrifice of Indradyumna’s son.
⁵⁹⁸
We wish to see and speak to King Janaka. O gatekeeper! We are being consumed with anger and let that not cause affliction to you.’

‘“The gatekeeper said, ‘We are bound by the commands of Bandi. “Listen to the words I utter.
⁵⁹⁹
No brahmanas who are children will
be allowed entry. Only the old and the learned, the best of brahmanas will be allowed to enter.”’