text stringlengths 0 182 |
|---|
great powers whom thou hast begotten upon Rukmini?--Thus addressed by the princess, I replied unto her of slender waist,-- |
Let me have thy permission (to leave thee for some time), O queen. I shall certainly obey thy behest. She answered me, |
saying,--Go, and may success and prosperity always attend thee. Let Brahma and Siva and Kasyapa, the Rivers, those deities |
that preside over the mind, the soil, all deciduous herbs, those Chhandas (Rhymes) that are regarded as bearers of the libations |
poured in sacrifices, the Rishis, Earth, the Oceans, the sacrificial presents, those syllables that are uttered for completing the |
cadences of Samans, the Rikshas, the Pitris, the Planets, the spouses of the deities, the celestial maidens, the celestial mothers, |
the great cycles, kine, Chandramas, Savitri, Agni, Savitri, the knowledge of the Vedas, the seasons, the year, small and big |
divisions of time, e.g., the Kshanas, the Labas, the Muhurtas, the Nimeshas, and the Yugas in succession, protect thee, O |
Yadava, and keep thee in happiness, wherever thou mayst stay. Let no danger overtake thee on thy way, and let no |
heedlessness be thine, O sinless one.--Thus blessed by her, I took her leave, bidding farewell unto the daughter of the prince of |
apes. Repairing then into the presence of that foremost of men, viz., my father, of my mother, of the king, and of Ahuka, I |
informed them of what the daughter of the prince of the Vidyadharas, in great affliction, had said unto me. Bidding them |
farewell with a sorrowful heart, I then repaired to Gada and to Rama of great might. These two cheerfully addressed me |
saying,--Let thy penances increase without any obstruction.--Having obtained the permission of all of them, I thought of |
Garuda. He immediately came to me and bore me to Himavat (at my bidding). Arrived at Himavat, I dismissed him. There on |
that foremost of mountains, I beheld many wonderful sights. I saw an excellent, wonderful, and agreeable retreat for the |
practice of penances. That delightful retreat was owned by the high-souled Upamanyu who was a descendant of Vyaghrapada. |
That retreat is applauded and reverenced by the deities and the Gandharvas, and seemed to be covered with Vedic beauty. It |
was adorned with Dhavas and Kakubhas and Kadamvas and Cocas, with Kuruvakas and Ketakas and Jamvus and Patalas, with |
banians and Varunakas and Vatsanabhas and Vilwas, with Saralas and Kapitthas and Piyalas and Salas and palmyras with |
Vadaris and Kundas and Punnagas and Asokas and Amras and Kovidaras and Champakas and Panasas, and with diverse other |
trees endued with fruits and flowers. And that retreat was also decked with the straight stems of the Musa Supienta.[37] Truly, |
that asylum was adorned with diverse other kinds of trees and with diverse kinds of fruits forming the food of diverse kinds of |
birds. Heaps of ashes (of sacrificial fires) were thrown in proper places all around, which added to the beauty of the scene. It |
abounded with Rurus and apes and tigers and lions and leopards, with deer of diverse species and peacocks, and with cats and |
snakes. Indeed, large numbers of other animals also were seen there, as also buffaloes and bears. Delicious breezes constantly |
blew bearing the melodious strains of celestial nymphs. The babblings of mountain rivulets and springs, the sweet notes of |
winged choristers, the gruntings of elephants, the delicious stains of Kinnaras, and the auspicious voice of ascetics singing the |
Samans, O hero, and diverse other kinds of music, rendered that retreat extremely charming. The very imagination cannot |
conceive another retreat as delightful as the one I beheld. There were also large houses in that asylum, intended for keeping the |
sacred fire, and covered all over with flowering creepers. It was adorned with the river Ganga of clear and sacred water. |
Indeed, the daughter of Jahnu always remained there. It was decked also with many ascetics who were the foremost of all |
righteous persons, who were endued with high souls, and who resembled fire itself in energy.[38] Some of those ascetics |
subsisted upon air and some upon water, some were devoted to Japa or the silent recitation of sacred Mantras, and some were |
engaged in cleansing their souls by practising the virtues of compassion while some amongst them were Yogins devoted to the |
abstraction of Yoga-meditation. Some amongst them subsisted upon smoke only, and some subsisted upon fire, and some upon |
milk. Thus was that retreat adorned with many foremost of regenerate persons. And some there were amongst them that had |
taken the vow of eating and drinking like kine,--that is, by giving up the use of the hands at once. And some used only two |
pieces of stone for husking their grain, and some used their teeth only for that purpose. And some subsisted by drinking only |
the rays of the moon, and some by drinking only froth. And some had betaken themselves to vow of living like deer.[39] And |
some there were that lived upon the fruits of the Ficus religiosa, and some that used to live upon water. And some dressed |
themselves in rags and some in animal skins and some in barks of trees. Indeed, I beheld diverse ascetics of the foremost order |
observing these and other painful vows. I desired then to enter that asylum. Verily, that asylum was honoured and adored by |
the deities and all high-souled beings, by Siva and others, O Bharata, and by all creatures of righteous acts. Thus addressed, it |
stood in all its beauty on the breast of Himavat, like the lunar disc in the firmament. The mongoose sported there with the |
snake, and the tiger with the deer, like friends, forgetting their natural enmity, in consequence of the energy of those ascetics of |
blazing penances and for their proximity to these high-souled ones. In that foremost of asylums, which was delightful to all |
creatures, inhabited by many foremost of Brahmanas fully conversant with the Vedas and their branches, and by many high- |
souled Rishis celebrated for the difficult vows they observed, I saw, as soon as I entered, a puissant Rishi with matted locks on |
head and dressed in rags, who seemed to blaze forth like fire with his penances and energy. Waited upon by his disciples and |
possessed of tranquil soul, that foremost of Brahmanas was young in aspect. His name was Upamanyu. Unto me who bowed |
unto him with a nod of the head, he said,--Welcome art thou, O thou of eyes like lotus petals. Today, by this visit of thine, we |
see that our penances have borne fruit. Thou art worthy of our adoration, but thou adorest us still. Thou art worthy of being |
seen, but thou desirest to see me.--Joining my hands I addressed him the usual enquiries respecting the well-being of the |
animals and birds that resided in his asylum, of the progress of his righteousness, and of his disciples. The illustrious |
Upamanyu then addressed me in words that were exceedingly sweet and delightful,--Thou shalt, O Krishna, obtain without |
doubt a son like unto thyself. Betaking thyself to severe penances, do thou gratify Isana, the Lord of all creatures. That divine |
Master, O Adhokshaja, sporteth here with his spouse by his side. O Janarddana, it was here that the deities with all the Rishis, |
in days of yore, gratified that foremost of deities by their penances and Brahmacharyya and truth and self-restraint, and |
succeeded in obtaining the fruition of many high desires. That illustrious god is verily the vast receptacle of all energies and |
penances. Projecting into existence and withdrawing once more unto himself all things fraught with good and evil, that |
inconceivable Deity whom thou seekest, O destroyer of foes, lives here with his spouse. He who took his birth as the Danava |
named Hiranyakashipu, whose strength was so great that he could shake the very mountains of Meru, succeeded in obtaining |
from Mahadeva the puissance belonging to all the deities and enjoyed it for ten millions of years. He who was the foremost of |
all his sons and who was celebrated by the name of Mandara, succeeded, through the boon he had obtained from Mahadeva, in |
fighting Sakra for a million of years. The terrible discus of Vishnu and the thunderbolt of Indra were both unable to make the |
slightest impression, O Kesava, in days of yore, upon the body of that great cause of universal affliction.[40] The discus which |
thou bearest, O sinless one, was given unto thee by Mahadeva after he had slain a Daitya that was proud of his strength and |
used to live within the waters. That discus, blazing with energy and like unto fire, was created by the great god having for his |
device the bull. Wonderful and irresistible in energy it was given unto thee by that illustrious god. In consequence of its blazing |
energy it was incapable of being gazed at by any person save Siva the wielder of Pinaka. It was for this reason that Bhava |
(Siva) bestowed upon it the name of Sudarsana. From that time the name Sudarsana came to be current in all the worlds. Even |
the weapon, O Kesava, failed to make the slightest impression on the body of Hiranyakashipu's son Mandara, that appeared |
like an evil planet in the three worlds. Hundreds of Chakras like thine and thunderbolts like that of Sakra, could not inflict a |
scratch on the body of that evil planet endued with great might, who had obtained a boon from Mahadeva. Afflicted by the |
mighty Mandara, the deities fought hard against him and his associates, all of whom had obtained boons from Mahadeva. |
Gratified with another Danava named Vidyutprabha, Mahadeva granted to him the sovereignty of the three worlds. That |
Danava remained the sovereign of the three worlds for a hundred thousand years. And Mahadeva said unto him,--Thou shalt |
become one of my attendants.--Indeed, the puissant Lord further bestowed upon him the boon of a hundred millions of |
children. The Master without birth, of all creatures further gave the Danava the region known by the name of Kusadwipa for |
his kingdom. Another great Asura, of the name of Satamukha, was created by Brahma. For a hundred years he poured on' the |
sacrificial fire (as offerings unto Mahadeva) the flesh of his own body. Gratified with such penances, Sankara said unto him,-- |
What can I do for thee?--Satamukha replied unto him, saying,--O thou that art most wonderful, let me have the power of |
creating new creatures and animals. Give also unto me, O foremost of all deities, eternal power.--The puissant lord, thus |
addressed by him, said unto him,--So be it.--The Self-born Brahma, concentrating his mind in Yoga,[41] in days of yore, made |
a sacrifice for three hundred years, with the object of obtaining children. Mahadeva granted him a thousand sons possessed of |
qualifications commensurate with the merits of the sacrifice. Without doubt, thou knowest, O Krishna, the lord of Yoga, him |
that is, who is sung by the deities. The Rishi known by the name of Yajnavalkya is exceedingly virtuous. By adoring Mahadeva |
he has acquired great fame. The great ascetic who is Parasara's son, viz., Vyasa, of soul set on Yoga, has obtained great |
celebrity by adoring Sankara. The Valikhilyas were on a former occasion disregarded by Maghavat. Filled with wrath at this, |
they gratified the illustrious Rudra. That lord of the universe, that foremost one of all the deities, thus gratified by the |
Valikhilyas, said unto them,--Ye shall succeed by your penances in creating a bird that will rob Indra of the Amrita. Through |
the wrath of Mahadeva on a former occasion, all the waters disappeared. The deities gratified him by performing a sacrifice |
called Saptakapala, and caused, through his grace, other waters to flow into the worlds. Verily, when the three-eyed deity |
became gratified, water once more appeared in the world. The wife of Atri, who was conversant with the Vedas, abandoned her |
husband in a huff and said,--I shall no longer live in subjection to that ascetic.--Having said these words, she sought the |
protection of Mahadeva. Through fear of her lord, Atri, passed three hundred years, abstaining from all food. And all this time |
she slept on wooden clubs for the purpose of gratifying Bhava. The great deity then appeared unto her and then smilingly |
addressed her, saying--Thou shalt obtain a son. And thou shalt get that son without the need of a husband, simply through the |
grace of Rudra. Without doubt that son, born in the race of his father, shall become celebrated for his worth, and assume a |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.