Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (62 page)

‘When he entered the hermitage, he saw that the seats and the pots were strewn around. Markandeya and the other brahmanas had been dispersed. The assembled brahmanas had been lamenting over Droupadi and the immensely wise one met them, together with his wife and brothers. On seeing that the king had returned and Droupadi had been brought back again, after the defeat of Sindhu and Souvira, they were delighted. Surrounded by them, the king seated himself there. The radiant Krishna entered the hermitage with the twins.

‘On learning that the enemy had travelled only one krosha, Bhima and Arjuna spurred their horses and swiftly rushed after him. Manly Arjuna performed an extraordinary act. He killed Saindhava’s horses from a distance that was one krosha away. He possessed divine weapons and he wasn’t disturbed in times of difficulty. He performed this difficult task with arrows that had mantras invoked over them. Then the brave Bhima and Dhananjaya rushed at the terrified and solitary Saindhava, who had lost his horses and was disturbed in his senses. Saindhava saw that his horses had been killed and was extremely miserable. Dhananjaya had performed an extremely valorous task.
He
³⁸
made up his mind to run away towards the forest. But seeing that he was running away, mighty-armed Phalguna followed him and spoke these words. “With such valour, how did you think of abducting a woman by force? O prince! Turn around. Flight does not become you. Leaving your followers in the midst of an enemy, how can you run away?” But though addressed by Partha,
³⁹
Saindhava did not turn around. The strong Bhima suddenly rushed at him, exclaiming, “Stay! Stay!” “Don’t kill him,” responded the compassionate Partha.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘On seeing the two brothers raise their weapons, Jayadratha was extremely miserable. He wished to live and fled swiftly. But the powerful Bhimasena descended from his chariot and chased the one who was running away. He angrily grasped him by the hair on his head. Raising him up, he angrily crushed him down on the ground. Then grasping the king by the neck, he thrashed him. When he had regained his senses, he expressed a desire to rise up. But the mighty-armed one kicked him in the head with his feet. Bhima struck him with his thighs and his fists. Oppressed by these blows, the king lost consciousness. But Phalguna restrained the angry Bhimasena, saying, “O Kourava! For Duhshala’s sake, remember what the king
⁴⁰
has said.” Bhimasena replied, “This wicked and stupid one does not deserve to be alive. This worst of men has oppressed Krishna, who did not deserve it. How can I possibly do what the compassionate king has said? Out of your childish intelligence, you are also always trying to restrain me.” Having said this, with an arrow that had a head shaped like a half-moon, Vrikodara shaved off his head until there were five tufts of hair left,
⁴¹
though he
⁴²
said
nothing. Vrikodara then told the king, “O stupid one! If you wish to remain alive, listen to what I am telling you. In public gatherings and assemblies, you must say that you are our slave. I will then grant you your life. This is known to be the custom of the victorious.” King Jayadratha was scared for his life and agreed. He told Bhima, tiger among men and one who makes the field of battle beautiful, that it would be this way.

‘Partha Vrikodara then bound him so that he could not move and placed the unconscious one, dirty with dust, on his chariot. Following Partha’s
⁴³
request, he placed him on the chariot and went to the centre of the hermitage, where Yudhishthira was seated. Bhima displayed Jayadratha, who was in that state. On seeing him in that state, the king
⁴⁴
laughed and said, “Set him free.” Bhima told the king, “Tell Droupadi that this evil-minded one has become a slave of the sons of Pandu.” Then the eldest brother affectionately replied, “If you have any respect for me, act so as to set him free.” Glancing at Yudhishthira, Droupadi also told Bhima, “Set the king’s slave free, the one you have shaved with five tufts left.” The king was freed and he showed his respects to Yudhishthira. In bewilderment, the king
⁴⁵
honoured all the sages who were there. On seeing Jayadratha held up by Savyasachi, the compassionate King Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, said, “You are free. Go as a free man. But do not act in this way again. Shame on you. You lusted after a woman. You are mean and your companions are mean. Who but the worst of men can act in this fashion?” Though he was the performer of an evil act, on seeing him bereft of his senses, the king who was the foremost of the Bharatas, was moved by compassion. “May dharma increase in your intelligence. May your mind never turn towards adharma again. O Jayadratha! Go in peace, with your horses, your chariots and your infantry.” Being thus addressed, he was ashamed. He lowered his face a little and was silent.

‘O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Stricken with grief, the king went to Gangadvara and sought refuge with the god
Virupaksha,
⁴⁶
Uma’s consort. He performed great austerities and pleased Vrishadhvaja. Pleased with him, the three-eyed one accepted his sacrifices in person. The god granted him a boon and he accepted it. Listen to it. “May I be able to vanquish the five Pandavas, on their chariots, in battle.” Thus spoke the king to the god and the god replied, “No. They are invincible in battle and cannot be killed in battle. But you will be able to restrain them, except for the mighty-armed Arjuna, whom even the gods find impossible to assail. He is foremost among those who are skilled in the use of weapons. He is protected by Krishna, known as the one who cannot be vanquished, and who holds the conch shell, the chakra and the mace.” Having been told this, the king went to his own abode. The Pandavas continued to live in Kamyaka forest.’

Janamejaya asked, ‘After they had suffered incomparable miseries because Krishna had been abducted, what did the Pandavas, tigers among men, do?’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Having freed Krishna and vanquished Jayadratha, Dharmaraja Yudhishthira sat down with the masses of sages. In the midst of those maharshis, who listened and lamented, the descendant of the Pandu lineage spoke these words to Markandeya. “O illustrious one! I think that time, and destiny created by the gods, is inevitable for all beings and cannot be transgressed. Our wife is learned about dharma and conducts herself according to dharma. How can she have been touched in this way, like a false allegation of theft against a pure one? She has never committed an evil deed. She has never committed an act that can be censured. Droupadi has always practised the greatest form of dharma among brahmanas. The foolish King Jayadratha abducted her by force. Because of that abduction
of her, he had the hair on his head shaved off. He was defeated in battle, with all his companions. It is true that we have got her back after killing the Saindhava forces. But the act of abduction, while we were distracted, has sullied us. This life in the forest is full of misery. We sustain ourselves through hunting. This means that those who live in the forest cause violence to those of the deer family. This exile has been brought about by relatives who resorted to falsehood. Is there any other man who is more unfortunate than I? Have you seen, or heard of, any such one earlier?”’

‘Markandeya said, “O bull among the Bharata lineage! Rama confronted incomparable misery. His wife, Janaki,
⁴⁷
was forcibly abducted by a rakshasa. Having swiftly killed the vulture Jatayu by resorting to maya, Ravana, Indra of the rakshasas, abducted her from the hermitage, travelling through the sky. Resorting to the strength of Sugriva, Rama bound a bridge over the ocean, burnt Lanka with his sharp arrows, and obtained her back.”

‘Yudhishthira asked, “In what lineage was Rama born? What was his valour? How gallant was he? Whose son was Ravana and what was his enmity with him? O illustrious one! Please tell me all this in detail. I wish to hear Rama’s account, the one whose deeds were unsullied.”

‘Markandeya said, “In the lineage of Ikshvaku, there was a great king by the name of Aja. His son was Dasharatha, pure and always devoted to learning. He had four sons who were learned in dharma and artha—Rama, Lakshmana, Shatrughna and the immensely strong Bharata. Rama’s mother was Koushalya and Bharata’s was Kaikeyi. Lakshmana and Shatrughna, scorchers of enemies, were the sons of Sumitra. O lord! Janaka was the king of Videha and his daughter was Sita. Tvashtra
⁴⁸
himself created her, so that she might be Rama’s
beloved queen. I have thus recounted to you the births of Rama and Sita. O lord of men! I will now tell you about Ravana’s birth. Ravana’s great grandfather was the god Prajapati
⁴⁹
himself, the self-creating great ascetic and the lord of all the worlds. He had a beloved son named Pulastya, born through his mental powers. Through a cow, that lord had a son by the name of Vaishravana. But he abandoned his father and went to his grandfather. O king! His father was angered at this. He created another self, based on his own self. In great wrath, the brahmana created Vishrava from half of himself, so that Vaishravana could be countered. But delighted, the grandfather conferred immortality on Vaishravana. He also made him lord of riches and a guardian of the worlds. He was given friendship with Ishana and a son named Nalakubara. His capital became Lanka, inhabited by masses of rakshasas.”’
⁵⁰

‘Markandeya said, “The sage Vishrava was born from half of Pulastya’s body, out of his anger. He glanced at Vaishravana with great anger. O king! But on knowing that his father was extremely angry with him, Kubera, lord of the rakshasas, always tried to please him. Living in Lanka, the lord of the yakshas,
⁵¹
Naravahana, sent three rakshasis to serve his father. O tiger among the Bharata lineage!
They were always ready to satisfy the great-souled rishi and were skilled in dancing and singing. O lord of the earth! Their names were Pushpotkata, Raka and Malini. O king! They were slender of waist and rivalled each other in trying to do their best. Being pleased with them, the great-souled lord granted them boons. As they desired, he gave each of them a son, equal to a guardian of the world. Pushpotkata gave birth to two sons who were the lords of the rakshasas—Kumbhakarna and Dashagriva,
⁵²
unmatched on earth in strength. Malini gave birth to a single son named Vibhishana. Raka gave birth to twins—Khara and Shurpanakha. Vibhishana surpassed all of them in beauty. He was immensely fortunate and always performed rites of dharma. Dashagriva was the eldest of them all and was a bull among the rakshasas. He was immensely energetic, immensely valorous, immensely spirited and brave. Kumbhakarna surpassed all of them in strength. He was a terrible stalker of the night and was frightening in battle because of his skills of maya. Khara was powerful in the use of the bow, hated brahmanas and ate raw flesh. The terrible Shurpanakha always used to obstruct religious rites. All of those brave ones were learned in the Vedas and all of them were good in the observance of their vows. They lived with their father on Mount Gandhamadana.

‘“They saw Vaishravana Naravahana there. He was seated with his father and possessed great prosperity. Jealousy was born in them and they resolved to perform austerities. They pleased Brahma with terrible austerities. Dashagriva stood on one foot for a thousand years. He controlled himself and lived on the wind, amidst five fires.
⁵³
Kumbhakarna lay down on the ground, controlled in his food and controlled in his vows. The wise and generous Vibhishana fasted and meditated, surviving on one dry leaf and performing severe austerities throughout the period. With delighted minds, Khara and Shurpanakha served them and protected them, while they tormented themselves with austerities. When one thousand years had passed, the invincible
Dashanana
⁵⁴
cut off one of his heads and offered it into the fire and the lord of the universe was pleased at this. Brahma then went there himself and asked them to refrain from austerities.

‘“He tempted each of them separately with a boon. Brahma said, ‘O sons! Stop! I am pleased with you. Ask for boons, except for immortality, and I will give you whatever you ask for. All the heads that you have offered into the fire out of your great desire, will be reunited with your body according to your wishes.
⁵⁵
There will be no disfigurement of your body and you will be able to assume any form that you desire. There is no doubt that you will be able to vanquish your enemies in battle.’ Ravana replied, ‘May I never suffer defeat at the hands of gandharvas, gods, asuras, yakshas, rakshasas, serpents, kinnaras and demons.’
⁵⁶
Brahma said, ‘You will have no fear from all those you have mentioned, but for man. O fortunate one! This is the way I have ordained it.’ At these words, Dashagriva was satisfied. Because of his evil intelligence, the man-eating one ignored men. In the same way, the great grandfather addressed Kumbhakarna. But since his reasoning was clouded by darkness, he asked for a long period of sleep. Granting this, he repeatedly spoke to Vibhishana, ‘O son! Ask for a boon. I am pleased with you.’ Vibhishana replied, ‘May my mind not turn towards adharma, even in times of supreme difficulty. O illustrious one! The brahmastra weapon cannot be instructed. May it become manifest in me.’ Brahma said, ‘O destroyer of enemies! Though you have been born in a rakshasa womb, your intelligence does not turn towards adharma. I am granting you immortality.’ O lord of the earth! Having obtained this boon, rakshasa Dashagriva defeated the lord of riches
⁵⁷
in battle and won Lanka from him.

‘“The illustrious one left Lanka and went to Gandhamadana, followed by the gandharvas, the yakshas, the rakshasas and the
kimpurushas. Ravana fought and won the Pushpaka vimana from him. Then Vaishravana cursed him. ‘This will not bear you. It will carry the one who will kill you in battle. Since you have treated your elder
⁵⁸
with contempt, you will soon perish.’ O great king! Vibhishana, with dharma in his soul, followed him,
⁵⁹
united with great prosperity. The illustrious lord of the riches was satisfied with his younger brother. The wise one made him the general of the armies of both the yakshas and the rakshasas. All the immensely strong and man-eating rakshasas and pishachas assembled together and instated Dashanana as the king. Dashagriva could assume any form at will and travel through the sky. Intoxicated with his strength, he attacked the daityas and the gods and robbed them of their jewels. Because he made the worlds scream, he came to be known as Ravana.
⁶⁰
Dashagriva, with strength at will, caused fear among the gods.”’