Mahabharata Vol. 2 (Penguin Translated Texts) (33 page)

This section has 1150 shlokas and thirty chapters.

Chapter 310(13): 120 shlokas
Chapter 311(14): 17 shlokas
Chapter 312(15): 22 shlokas
Chapter 313(16): 23 shlokas
Chapter 314(17): 33 shlokas
Chapter 315(18): 24 shlokas
Chapter 316(19): 33 shlokas
Chapter 317(20): 27 shlokas
Chapter 318(21): 38 shlokas
Chapter 319(22): 30 shlokas
Chapter 320(23): 51 shlokas
Chapter 321(24): 16 shlokas
Chapter 322(25): 26 shlokas
Chapter 323(26): 18 shlokas
Chapter 324(27): 25 shlokas
Chapter 325(28): 37 shlokas
Chapter 326(29): 35 shlokas
Chapter 327(30): 50 shlokas
Chapter 328(31): 42 shlokas
Chapter 329(32): 40 shlokas
Chapter 330(33): 58 shlokas
Chapter 331(34): 85 shlokas
Chapter 332(35): 21 shlokas
Chapter 333(36): 34 shlokas
Chapter 334(37): 41 shlokas
Chapter 335(38): 45 shlokas
Chapter 336(39): 30 shlokas
Chapter 337(40): 61 shlokas
Chapter 338(41): 26 shlokas
Chapter 339(42): 42 shlokas

Kiratas, as mentioned earlier, are mountain-dwellers who make a living through hunting. This section is so named because Shiva assumed the form of a kirata and fought with Arjuna.

Vaishampayana said, ‘On hearing that the Pandavas were tormented by misery, the Bhojas, the Vrishnis and the Andhakas assembled together and went to them in the great forest. The heirs of Panchala,
¹
Dhrishtaketu the king of Chedi and the extremely valorous Kekaya brothers, famous in the world, went to meet the Parthas in the forest, full of anger and intolerance. They censured the sons of Dhritarashtra and asked, “What will we do?” All those bulls among the kshatriyas placed Vasudeva at their forefront. They surrounded Dharmaraja Yudhishthira and seated themselves around him. Vasudeva said, “The earth will drink the blood of Duryodhana, Karna, the evil-souled Shakuni and Duhshasana as the fourth. After that, all of us will instate Dharmaraja Yudhishthira. Those deceitful ones deserve to be slain. This is eternal dharma.” Out of his preference for the Parthas, Janardana was angered. Since it seemed as though he would burn down all beings, Arjuna pacified him. On witnessing Keshava’s
²
rage, Phalguna
³
recited the deeds the great-souled one had performed in his earlier bodies.
⁴

‘He is the one whose deeds are true, the man who cannot be measured, but whose energy is truly infinite. He is the lord of the Prajapatis and the intelligent Vishnu, lord of the worlds. Arjuna said, “O Krishna! In ancient times, you roamed in Mount Gandhamadana for ten thousand years, as a sage who had no abode.
⁵
O Krishna! In ancient times, you lived in the region of Pushkara for eleven thousand years, surviving on water alone. O Madhusudana! With your arms raised, standing on one leg and surviving only on air you spent one
hundred years in the vast region of Badari.
⁶
O Krishna! You took off your upper garments and you were so thin that you seemed to be held by your veins. You lived on the banks of the Sarasvati for the sacrifice that went on for twelve years. O Krishna! O immensely energetic one! You went to the sacred pilgrimage of Prabhasa, known to all pure ones, and stood there on one leg for one thousand divine years, practising austerities and observing rites. O Keshava! You are the supreme soul of all beings, their beginning and their end. O Krishna! You are the store of all austerities and sacrifices and you are the eternal one. O Krishna! You killed Naraka, famous as Bhoumya, the one with the earrings.
⁷
You performed the first horse sacrifice. O bull among all the worlds! Having accomplished this deed, you became victorious over all the worlds. When all the daityas and danavas assembled together, you killed them in battle. O mighty-armed Keshava! You then gave lordship over everything to Shachi’s husband.
⁸
You then manifested yourself in the world of men. O scorcher of enemies! You were Narayana and then you became Hari.
⁹
You then became Brahma, Soma,
¹⁰
Surya, Dharma, Dhata,
¹¹
Yama, Anala,
¹²
Vayu,
¹³
Vaishravana,
¹⁴
Rudra, Kala,
¹⁵
the sky, the earth and the directions. You are without birth. You are the preceptor of everything
that moves and is still. You are the creator. You are the supreme being. O Krishna! You are the original god. In the forest of Chitraratha, you performed the
turayana
sacrifice
¹⁶
and other sacrifices, donating large amounts of alms. You have great energy. O Janardana! At each sacrifice, you apportioned out one hundred times, according to the share, a hundred thousand gold pieces. O beloved of the Yadavas!
¹⁷
You have been Aditi’s son. O illustrious one! You are now famous as Vishnu, Indra’s younger brother.
¹⁸
O scorcher of enemies! O Krishna! While you were only a child, you used your energy to cover heaven, sky and earth in three steps.
¹⁹
You have attained heaven. You ride the sky seated in the sun’s chariot. You are the soul of all beings. Through your radiance, you are brighter than the sun. The Mouravas and the Pashas have been destroyed.
²⁰
Nisunda and Naraka have been killed and the road to the city of Pragjyotisha has become safe again. Ahuti was killed at Jaruthi. Kratha, Shishupala and his followers, Bhimasena,
²¹
Shaibya and Shatadhanva have been conquered. Your chariot is as resplendent as the sun and roars like the cloud. Riding on that, you defeated Rukmi in battle and obtained your queen from the Bhojas.
²²
In your anger, you killed Indradyumna and the yavana Kasheruman. You have killed Shalva, the lord of Soubha, and you brought down Soubha itself. On the banks of the Iravati, you killed Bhoja, who was
the equal of Kartavirya in battle. You also killed Gopati and Talaketu. O Janardana! You journeyed to the ocean and made Dvaraka, sacred, prosperous and loved by the rishis, your own.
²³
O Madhusudana! O Dasharha!
²⁴
You show no anger, no jealousy and no falsehood. No cruelty or crookedness is established in you. O Achyuta!
²⁵
You are seated in the centre of the mind, radiant in your own energy. The rishis come to you there and ask for freedom from fear.
²⁶
O Madhusudana! You gather up all beings at the end of a yuga.
²⁷
O scorcher of enemies! You withdraw the entire universe into yourself and remain alone. No other one in the past has performed such deeds, nor will they in the future. O immensely radiant god! Such are the deeds you performed even when a child. O Pundarikaksha! Such are the deeds you performed with Baladeva’s help. You lived in the abode of Vairaja
²⁸
with Brahma himself.” Having thus spoken, the great-souled Pandava, who was like Krishna’s soul himself, fell silent.

‘Janardana then spoke to Partha, “You are mine and I am yours. All that is mine is yours too. He who hates you also hates me. He who follows you also follows me. O invincible one! You are Nara and I am Hari Narayana. We are the rishis Nara and Narayana, born from that world in this world. O Partha! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! You are no other than I. I am no other than you. O bull among the Bharata lineage! No one can know any difference that exists between us.” In that assembly of warriors, the kings became agitated. Panchali, surrounded by her valiant brothers, with Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront, went to Pundarikaksha, who was seated with the Yadavas. Krishna
²⁹
sought refuge with the one who is all refuge and uttered these words.

‘“It has been said that when all the beings were first created, you were the only Prajapati.
³⁰
Asita–Devala have said that you are the creator of all beings. O invincible one! O Madhusudana! You are Vishnu. You are the sacrifice. You are the sacrificer. You are the one for whom sacrifices are performed. Jamadagni’s son
³¹
has said this. O supreme being! The rishis have said that you are forgiveness and the truth. Kashyapa has said that you are the sacrifice born from the truth. Narada has said that you are the supreme lord of the Sadhyas and the gods. O lord of prosperity! You are the creator of the worlds and you are the lord of the worlds. O lord! The sky is covered with your head and the earth with your feet. You are the stomach of all these worlds and you are the eternal being. You are the supreme one among all the rishis who burn with learning and austerities, who have purified their souls with asceticism and who have become content through contemplating their own souls. O supreme being! You are the refuge of all the rajarshis, the performers of pure deeds who withdraw from the field of battle
³²
and who have the knowledge of every dharma. You are the lord. You are omnipresent. You are the soul of all beings. You are the earth. You are eternal. The rulers of all the worlds, the stars, the ten directions, the sky, the moon, the sun and the worlds are all established in you. O mighty-armed one! The mortality of all beings, the immortality of the dwellers of heaven and all the deeds of the worlds are established in you. O Madhusudana! Because of my love for you, I will tell you the account of my sorrows. You are the lord of all beings, be they divine or human. O Krishna! O lord! I am a wife to the Parthas. I am your friend. I am Dhrishtadyumna’s sister. How could someone like me be dragged to the sabha? I was then in the dharma of women.
³³
I was trembling. I was stained with blood. I was clad in a single garment. I was miserable. But I was dragged into that assembly of Kurus. On seeing me in that sabha, in the middle of all those kings, stained in my menses, those
evil-minded sons of Dhritarashtra laughed at me. O Madhusudana! They wished to enjoy me like a slave girl, when the sons of Pandu, the Panchalas and the Vrishnis were still alive. O Krishna! According to dharma, am I not the daughter-in-law of both Bhishma and Dhritarashtra? But I was forcibly made a slave. The Pandavas may be extremely strong and supreme in war. But I censure them. They looked on when their famous wife, according to dharma, was molested. O Janardana! Shame on Bhimasena’s strength! Shame on Partha’s Gandiva! Both of them allowed me to be oppressed by insignificant ones. The eternal path of dharma is always followed by the righteous ones. The husband, however weak he may be, must protect his wife. When the wife is protected, the offspring are protected. When the offspring are protected, one’s own soul is protected. One’s own self is born in one’s wife and that is the reason she is called
jaya
.
³⁴
A wife should also protect her husband because he is born in her womb. The Pandavas never abandon someone who has sought refuge, but they abandoned me when I sought refuge. Five immensely energetic sons have been born to me from my husbands. O Janardana! For their sake too, I should have been rescued. Prativindhya was born from Yudhishthira, Sutasoma was born from Vrikodara, Shrutakirti was born from Arjuna, Shatanika was born from Nakula and Shrutakarma was born from the youngest.
³⁵
All of them derive valour from the truth. O Krishna! They are maharathas like Pradyumna and you. They are supreme archers. Enemies cannot vanquish them in battle. Why did they tolerate the weak sons of Dhritarashtra? Having been deprived of their kingdom in violation of dharma, all of them became slaves, when, in my menses, I was dragged into the sabha in a single garment. O Madhusudana! Even when strung, the Gandiva cannot be handled by anyone other than Bhima, Arjuna and you. O Krishna! Shame on Bhimasena’s strength and shame on Partha’s Gandiva, if Duryodhana lives for more than an instant! O Madhusudana! A long time ago, when they were but children engaged in studying and observance of rites, he threw the
non-violent ones and their mother out of the kingdom. It was that evil one who mixed freshly collected, hair raising and virulent poison in Bhimasena’s food. O Janardana! O supreme being! O mighty-armed one! He digested it with his food and without any effects, because his time had not ended. O Krishna! Vrikodara was safely asleep in Pramanakoti. It was he
³⁶
who tied him up, flung him into the Ganga and went away. Though fettered, the mighty-armed and immensely strong Kounteya Bhimasena tore off his bonds and arose from the water. O Krishna! It was he
³⁷
who caused virulent serpents to bite him
³⁸
all over his body when he slept, but that destroyer of enemies did not die. On waking up, Kounteya killed all the serpents and he killed his
³⁹
favourite charioteer with the back of his hand. Once again, when they were asleep and unconscious with the arya lady
⁴⁰
in Varanavata, he
⁴¹
tried to burn them. Who could have acted in this way? It was then that the frightened and weeping arya lady, greatly oppressed and surrounded by flames, told the Pandavas, ‘I am slain. How will we find peace from the flames today? Without a protector, I will perish with my young sons.’ The mighty-armed Bhima Vrikodara’s valour is like the force of the wind. He comforted the arya lady and his brothers. ‘I will rise up like the bird Garuda, Vinata’s son and supreme among birds. I will fly up and we need not be afraid.’ He took up the arya lady on his left lap and the king
⁴²
on his right. He took the twins on his shoulder and Bibhatsu on his back. Grasping all of them, the valorous one suddenly arose with force and the powerful one freed the arya lady and his brothers from the fire. Setting out in the night with their mother, all those famous ones arrived in the great forest, near the forest that was Hidimba’s. They were tired and extremely unhappy and fell asleep with their mother. When they
were asleep, a rakshasa woman named Hidimba arrived.
⁴³
That fortunate one firmly placed Bhima’s feet on her lap and happily caressed them with her soft hands. The broad-souled and strong Bhima, whose valour is his truth, then woke up and asked, ‘O unblemished one! What do you desire here?’ Having heard this conversation, the worst of rakshasas arrived. He was terrible to look at, his form was terrible and he let loose a loud roar. ‘O Hidimba! Whom are you talking to? Bring him to me and I will eat him up. Do not delay.’ But she was moved by compassion in her heart. The intelligent and unblemished lady felt pity. Then the man-eating terrible rakshasa uttered fearful roars and with great force, rushed at Bhimasena. Angered, the immensely strong rakshasa grasped Bhimasena’s hand with his own hand and with great force. Making his hand as firm as Indra’s thunder, like the vajra, he suddenly struck Bhimasena with his hand. His hand having been seized by the rakshasa’s hand, the mighty-armed Vrikodara could not bear it and became angry. Then a terrible fight waged between Bhima and Hidimba. They were both skilled in the use of all weapons and this was as terrible as that between Vritra and Vasava.
⁴⁴
Having killed Hidimba, Bhima left with his brothers, placing Hidimba
⁴⁵
at the forefront. Ghatotkacha was born from her. Then, accompanied by their mother and surrounded by many brahmanas, those famous ones went towards Ekachakra. On this journey, Vyasa, always devoted to their welfare, was their adviser. The Pandavas, rigid in their vows, arrived in Ekachakra. There they killed an immensely strong maneater named Baka, who was as strong as Hidimba. Having killed him, Bhima, supreme among warriors, went with his brothers to Drupada’s capital. O Krishna! While he lived there, Savyasachi won me, just as you yourself won Bhishmaka’s daughter Rukmini. O Madhusudana! Partha won me at that svayamvara, achieving a great deed that others
found extremely difficult. O Krishna! We have thus suffered many difficulties and are miserable and extremely unhappy. We have Dhoumya at the forefront, but we are without the arya lady.
⁴⁶
They have the valour of lions and are greater than others in courage. Why do they ignore me when I am oppressed by inferiors? I have suffered such miseries at the hands of those who are weak, evil and the performers of evil deeds. I have burnt for a long time. I was born in a great lineage through divine destiny. I am the beloved wife of the Pandavas. I am the daughter-in-law of the great-souled Pandu. O Krishna! O Madhusudana! I am supreme among chaste ones. But I was seized by my hair, while the five who are like Indras looked on.”’