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achieved by that Rishi who subsisted upon fruits only! I have thus narrated to thee, in detail, the feat of the high-souled Atri. |
Shall I go on! Or, will you say anything? Is there a Kshatriya that is superior to this regenerate Rishi?' |
"Thus addressed, Arjuna remained silent. The god of wind once more spake unto him, 'Hear, O king, the feat achieved by the |
high-souled Chyavana (in days of old). Having passed his promise to the twin Aswins, Chyavana addressed the chastiser of |
Paka, saying, 'Do thou make the Aswins drinkers of Soma with all other deities!' |
"Indra said, 'The Aswins have been cast away by us. How then, can they be admitted into the sacrificial circle for drinking |
Soma with the others? They are not numbered with the deities. Do not, therefore, tell us so! O thou of great vows, we do not |
wish to drink Soma in the company of the As wins. Whatever other behest thou mayst be pleased to utter, O learned Brahmana, |
we are ready to accomplish.' |
"Chyavana said, 'The twin Aswins shall drink Soma with all of you! Both of them are gods, O chief of the deities, for they are |
the sons of Surya. Let the gods do what I have said. By acting according to those words, the gods will reap great advantage. By |
acting otherwise, evil will overtake them.' |
"Indra said, 'I shall not, O foremost of regenerate persons, drink Soma with the Aswins! Let others drink with them as they |
please! As regards myself, I dare not do it.' |
"Chyavana said, 'If, O slayer of Vala, thou wilt not obey my words, thou shalt, this very day, drink Soma with them in |
sacrifice, compelled by me! |
"The god of wind said, 'Then Chyavana, taking the Aswins with him, commenced a great religious rite for their benefit. The |
gods all became stupefied by Chyavana with his Mantras. Beholding that feat commenced by Chyavana, Indra became |
incensed with wrath. Taking up a huge mountain he ran against that Rishi. The chief of the deities was also armed with the |
thunderbolt. Then the illustrious Chyavana, endued with penances, cast an angry glance upon Indra as he advanced. Throwing |
a little water at him, he paralysed the chief of the deities with his thunderbolt and mountain. As the result of the religious rite he |
had commenced, he created a terrible Asura hostile to Indra. Made of the libations he had poured on the sacred fire, that Asura |
was called Mada, of mouth gaping wide. Even such was the Asura that the great ascetic created with the aid of Mantras. There |
were a thousand teeth in his mouth, extending for a hundred yojanas. Of terrible mien, his fangs were two hundred yojanas in |
length. One of his cheeks rested on the earth and the other touched the heavens. Indeed, all the gods with Vasava seemed to |
stand at the root of that great Asura's tongue, even as fishes when they enter into the wide open mouth of a leviathan. While |
standing within the mouth of Mada, the gods held a quick consultation and then addressing Indra, said, 'Do thou soon bend thy |
head in reverence unto this regenerate personage! Freed from every scruple, we shall drink Soma with the Aswins in our |
company! Then Sakra, bowing down his head unto Chyavana, obeyed his behest. Even thus did Chyavana make the Aswins |
drinkers of Soma with the other gods. Calling back Mada, the Rishi then assigned him the acts he was to do. That Mada was |
commanded to take up his residence in dice, in hunting, in drinking, and in women. Hence, O king, those men that betake |
themselves to these, meet with destruction, without doubt. Hence, one should always cast off these faults to a great distance. |
Thus, O king, I have narrated to thee the feat achieved by Chyavana. Shall I go on? Or, will you say anything in reply? Is there |
a Kshatriya that is higher than the Brahmana Chyavana?'" |
SECTION CLVII |
"Bhishma said, 'Hearing these words of the god of wind, Arjuna remained silent. At this, the god of wind once more addressed |
him, saying, 'When the denizens of heaven, with Indra at their head, found themselves within the mouth of the Asura Mada, at |
that time Chyavana took away from them the earth. Deprived previously of heaven and now shorn of the earth also, the gods |
became very cheerless. Indeed, those high-souled ones, afflicted with grief, then threw themselves unreservedly upon the |
Grandsire's protection.' |
"The gods said, 'O thou that art adored by all creatures of the universe, the earth has been taken away from us by Chyavana, |
while we have been deprived of heaven by the Kapas, O puissant one!' |
"Brahmana said, 'Ye denizens of heaven, do you, with Indra at your head, repair quickly and seek the protection of the |
Brahmanas. By gratifying them you will succeed in regaining both the regions as before.' Thus instructed by the Grandsire, the |
deities repaired to the Brahmanas and became suppliants for their protection. The Brahmanas replied, enquiring, 'Whom shall |
we subjugate?' Thus asked, the deities said unto them, 'Do ye subjugate the Kapas.' The Brahmanas then said, 'Bringing them |
down on the earth first, we shall speedily subjugate them.' After this, the Brahmanas commenced a rite having for its object the |
destruction of the Kapas. As soon as this was heard of by the Kapas, they immediately despatched a messenger of theirs, |
named Dhanin, unto those Brahmanas. Dhanin, coming to them as they sat on the earth, thus delivered to them the message of |
the Kapas. The Kapas are even like you all! (They are not inferior to any of you). Hence, what will be the effect of these rites |
which you seem to be bent upon achieving? All of them are well-conversant with the Vedas and possessed of wisdom. All of |
them are mindful of sacrifices. All of them have Truth for their vow, and for these reasons all of them are regarded as equal to |
great Rishis. The goddess of Prosperity sports among them, and they, in their turn, support her with reverence. They never |
indulge in acts of fruitless congress with their wives, and they never eat the flesh of such animals as have not been killed in |
sacrifices. They pour libations on the blazing sacrificial fire (every day) and 'are obedient to the behests of their preceptors and |
seniors. All of them are of souls under perfect control, and never take any food without dividing it duly among their children. |
They always proceed on cars and other vehicles together (without any of them riding his own vehicle while others journey on |
foot). They never indulge in acts of congress with their spouses when the latter are in midst of their functional period. They all |
act in such a way as to attain to regions of felicity hereafter. Indeed, they are always righteous in their deeds. When women |
quick with child or old men have not eaten, they never eat anything themselves. They never indulge in play or sports of any |
kind in the forenoon. They never sleep during the day. When the Kapas have these and many other virtues and |
accomplishments, why, indeed, would you seek to subjugate them? You should abstain from the endeavour! Verily, by such |
abstention ye would achieve what is for your good.' |
"The Brahmanas said, 'Oh, we shall subjugate the Kapas! In this matter, we art one with the deities. Hence, the Kapas deserve |
slaughter at your hands. As regards Dhanin, he should return whence he came! After this, Dhanin, returning to the Kapas, said |
unto them, 'The Brahmanas are not disposed to do you any good! 'Hearing this, all the Kapas took up their weapons and |
proceeded towards the Brahmanas. The Brahmanas, beholding the Kapas advancing against them with the standards of their |
cars upraised, forthwith created certain blazing fires for the destruction of the Kapas. Those eternal fires, created with the aid of |
Vedic Mantras, having effected the destruction of the Kapas, began to shine in the firmament like so many (golden) clouds. |
The gods, having assembled together in battle, slew many of the Danavas. They did not know at that time that it was the |
Brahmanas who had effected their destruction. Then Narada of great energy, coming there, O king, informed the deities how |
their foes; the Kapas, had been really slain by the Brahmanas of mighty energy (and not by deities themselves). Hearing these |
words of Narada, the denizens of heaven became highly gratified. They also applauded those regenerate allies of theirs that |
were possessed of great fame. The energy and prowess of the deities then began to increase, and worshipped in all the worlds, |
they acquired also the boon of immortality!' After the god of wind had said these words, king Arjuna worshipped him duly and |
addressing him answered in these words, 'Hear, O mighty armed monarch, what Arjuna said.' |
"Arjuna said, O puissant god, always and by all means do I live for the Brahmanas! Devoted to them, I worship them always! |
Through the grace of Dattatreya I have obtained this might of mine! Through his grace have I been able to accomplish great |
feats in the world and achieve high merit! Oh, I have, with attention, heard of the achievements, O god of the wind, of the |
Brahmanas with all their interesting details as recited by thee truly.' |
"The god of wind said, 'Do thou protect and cherish the Brahmanas, in the exercise of those Kshatriya duties which are thine by |
birth. Do thou protect them even as thou protectest thy own senses! There is danger to thee from the race of Bhrigu! All that, |
however, will take place on a distant day.'" |
SECTION CLVIII |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Thou always worshippest, O king, Brahmanas of praiseworthy, vows. Whatever, however is that fruit |
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