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some high Mantras. By his Yoga-power, even thus did that Brahmana stupefy the king. In a moment that delightful wood, |
those bevies of Apsaras, those bands of Gandharvas, those beautiful trees,--all disappeared. The bank of the Ganga became as |
silent as usual, and presented the old aspect of its being covered with Kusa grass and ant-hills. King Kusika with his wife |
having beheld that highly wonderful sight and its quick disappearance also, became filled with amazement. With a delighted |
heart, the monarch addressed his wife and said unto her, 'Behold, O amiable one, the various agreeable scenes and sights, |
occurring nowhere else, which we two have just witnessed! All this is due to the grace of Bhrigu's son and the puissance of his |
penances. By penances all that becomes attainable which one cherishes in one's imagination. Penances are superior to even the |
sovereignty over the three worlds. By penances well-performed, emancipation itself may be achieved. Behold, the puissance of |
the high-souled and celestial Rishi Chyavana derived from his penances. He can, at his pleasure, create even other worlds (than |
those which exist). Only Brahmanas are born in this world to attain to speech and understanding and acts that are sacred. Who |
else than Chyavana could do all this? Sovereignty may be acquired with ease. But the status of a Brahmana is not so attainable. |
It was through the puissance of a Brahmana that we were harnessed to a car like well-broken animals!' These reflections that |
passed through the king's brain became known to Chyavana. Ascertaining the king's thoughts, the Rishi addressed him and |
said, 'Come hither quickly!' Thus addressed, the king and the queen approached the great ascetic, and, bending their heads, they |
worshipped him who deserved worship. Uttering a benediction upon the monarch, the Rishi, possessed of great intelligence, O |
chief of men, comforted the king and said, 'Sit down on that seat!' After this, O monarch, the son of Bhrigu, without guile or |
insincerity of any kind, gratified the king with many soft words, and then said, 'O king, thou hast completely subjugated the |
five organs of action and the five organs of knowledge with the mind as their sixth. Thou hast for this come out unscathed from |
the fiery ordeal I had prepared for thee. I have been properly honoured and adored, O son, by thee, O foremost of all persons |
possessed of speech. Thou hast no sin, not even a minute one, in thee! Give me leave, O king, for I shall now proceed to the |
place I came from. I have been exceedingly pleased with thee, O monarch! Do thou accept the boon I am ready to give.' |
"Kusika said, 'In thy presence, O holy one, I have stayed like one staying in the midst of a fire. That I have not yet, O chief of |
Bhrigu's race been consumed, is sufficient! Even this is the highest boon that has been obtained, O delighter of Bhrigu! That |
thou hast been gratified by me, O Brahmana, and that I have succeeded in rescuing my race from destruction, O sinless one, |
constitute in my case the best boons. This I regard, O learned Brahmana, as a distinct evidence of thy grace. The end of my life |
has been accomplished. Even this is what I regard the very end of my sovereignty. Even this is the highest fruit of my |
penances![311] If, O learned Brahmana, thou hast been pleased with me, O delighter of Bhrigu, then do thou expound some |
doubts which are in my mind!' |
SECTION LV |
"Chyavana said, 'Do thou accept a boon from me. Do thou also, O chief of men, tell me what the doubt is that is in thy mind. I |
shall certainly accomplish all thy purposes.' |
"Kusika said, 'If thou hast been gratified by me, O holy one, do thou then, O son of Bhrigu, tell me thy object in residing in my |
palace for sometime, for I desire to hear it. What was thy object in sleeping on the bed I assigned thee for one and twenty days |
continuously, without changing sides? O foremost of ascetics, what also was thy object, again, in going out of the room without |
speaking a single word? Why didst thou, again, without any ostensible reason, make thyself invisible, and once more become |
visible? Why, O learned Brahmana, didst thou again, lay thyself down on the bed and sleep as before for one and twenty days? |
For what reason didst thou go out after thou wert rubbed by us with oil in view of thy bath? Why also, after having caused |
diverse kinds of food in my palace to be collected, didst thou consume them with the aid of fire? What was the cause of thy |
sudden journey through my city on the car? What object hadst thou in view in giving away so much wealth? What was thy |
motive in showing us the wonders of the forest created by the Yoga-puissance? What indeed was thy motive for showing, O |
great ascetic, so many palatial mansions made of gold and so many bedsteads supported on posts of jewels, and gems? Why |
also did all these wonders vanish from our sight? I wish to hear the cause of all this. In thinking of all these acts of thine, O |
perpetuator of Bhrigu's race, I became stupefied repeatedly. I fail to find what the certain motive was which influenced thee! O |
thou, that art endued with wealth of penances, I wish to hear the truth about all those acts of thine in detail.' |
"Chyavana said, 'Listen to me as I tell thee in detail the reasons which had impelled me in all these acts of mine. Asked by thee, |
O monarch, I cannot refuse to enlighten thee. In days past, on one occasion, when the deities had assembled together, the |
Grandsire Brahman said some words I heard them, O king, and shall presently repeat them to thee.' In consequence of a |
contention between Brahmana and Kshatriya energy, there will occur an intermixture in my race.[312] Thy grandson, O king, |
will become endued with great energy and puissance. Hearing this, I came hither, resolved to exterminate thy race. Indeed, I |
came, O Kusika, seeking the utter extermination of thy race,--in fact, for consuming into ashes all thy descendants. Impelled by |
this motive I came to thy palace, O monarch, and said unto thee, 'I shall observe some vow. Do thou attend upon me and serve |
me dutifully. While residing, however, in thy house I failed to find any laches in thee. It is for that reason, O royal sage, that |
thou art still alive, for otherwise thou wouldst have by this time been numbered with the dead. It was with this resolution that I |
slept for one and twenty days in the hope that somebody would awake me before I arose of my own accord. Thou, however, |
with thy wife, didst not awaken me. Even then, O best of kings, I became pleased with thee. Rising from my bed I went out of |
the chamber without accosting any of you. I did this, O monarch, in the hope that thou wouldst ask me and thus I would have |
an opportunity of cursing thee. I then made myself invisible, and again showed myself in the room of thy palace, and, once |
more betaking myself to Yoga, slept for one and twenty days. The motive that impelled me was this. Worn out with toil and |
hunger you two would be angry with me and do what would be unpleasant to me. It was from this intention that I caused |
thyself and thy spouse to be afflicted with hunger. In thy heart however, O king, the slightest feeling of wrath or vexation did |
not rise. For this, O monarch, I became highly delighted with thee. When I caused diverse kinds of food to be brought and then |
set fire to them, I hoped that thyself with thy wife wouldst give way to wrath at the sight. Even that act however, of mine was |
tolerated by thee. I then ascended the car, O monarch, and addressed thee, saying, 'Do thou with thy wife bear me.' Thou didst |
what I bade, without the least scruple, O king! I became filled with delight at this. The gifts of wealth I made could not provoke |
thy anger. Pleased with thee, O king, I created with the aid of my Yoga puissance that forest which thyself with thy wife didst |
behold here. Listen, O monarch, to the object I had. For gratifying thee and thy queen I caused thee to have a glimpse of |
heaven. All those things which thou hast seen in these woods, O monarch, are a foretaste of heaven. O best of kings, for a little |
while I caused thee and thy spouse to behold, in even your earthly bodies, some sights of heaven. All this was done for |
showing the puissance of penances and the reward that is in store for righteousness. The desire that arose in thy heart, O |
monarch, at the sight of those delightful objects, is known to me. Thou becamest desirous of obtaining the status of a Brahmana |
and the merit of penances, O lord of Earth, disregarding the sovereignty of the earth, nay, the sovereignty of very heaven! That |
Which thou thoughtest, O king, was even this. The status of a Brahmana is exceedingly difficult to obtain; after becoming a |
Brahmana, it is exceedingly difficult to obtain the status of a Rishi; for even a Rishi it is difficult to become an ascetic! I tell |
thee that thy desire will be gratified. From thee, O Kusika, will spring a Brahmana, who shall be called after thy name. The |
person that will be the third in descent from thee shall attain to the status of a Brahmana. Through the energy of the Bhrigus, |
thy grandson, O monarch, will be an ascetic endued with the splendour of fire. He shall always strike all men, indeed, the |
inhabitants of the three worlds, with fear. I tell thee the truth. O royal sage, do thou accept the boon that is now in thy mind. I |
shall soon set out on a tour to all the sacred waters. Time is expiring.' |
"Kusika said, 'Even this, O great ascetic, is a high boon, in my case, for thou hast been gratified by me. Let that take place |
which thou hast said. Let my grandson become a Brahmana, O sinless one! Indeed, let the status of Brahmanahood attach to |
my race, O holy one. This is the boon I ask for. I desire to once more ask thee in detail, O holy one! In what way, O delighter |
of Bhrigu, will the status of Brahmanahood attach to my race? Who will be my friend? Who will have my affection and |
respect?'"[313] |
SECTION LVI |
"Chyavana said, 'I should certainly, O chief of men, tell you everything about the circumstance for which, O monarch, I came |
hither for exterminating thy race. This is well-known, O king, that the Kshatriyas should always have the assistance of the sons |
of Bhrigu in the matter of sacrifices. Through an irresistible decree of Destiny, the Kshatriyas and the Bhargavas will fall out. |
The Kshatriyas, O king, will slay the descendants of Bhrigu. Afflicted by an ordinance of fate, they will exterminate the race of |
Bhrigu, not sparing even infants in their mothers' wombs. There will then spring in Bhrigu's race a Rishi of the name of Urva. |
Endued with great energy, he will in splendour certainly resemble fire or the sun. He will cherish such wrath (upon hearing of |
the extermination of his race) as will be sufficient to consume the three worlds. He will be competent to reduce the whole earth |
with all her mountains and forests into ashes. For a little while he will quell the flames of that fiery rage, throwing it into the |
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