SECTION 229
(Khandava-Daha Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then Vibhatsu, invoking his excellent
weapons, prevented that shower of rain by Indra, by means of a shower of his
own weapons. And Arjuna soon covered the forest of Khandava with innumerable
arrows like the moon covering the atmosphere with a thick fog. When the sky
above that forest was thus covered with the arrows of Arjuna no living creature
could then escape from below. And it so happened that while that forest was
burning, Takshaka, the chief of the Nagas, was not there, having gone at that
time to the field of Kurukshetra. But Aswasena, the mighty son of Takshaka, was
there. He made great efforts to escape from that fire; but confined by Arjuna's
shafts he succeeded not in finding a way. It was then that his mother,
determined to save him by swallowing him first. His mother first swallowed his
head and then was swallowing his tail. And desirous of saving her son, the
sea-snake rose up from the earth while still employed in swallowing her son's
tail. But Arjuna as soon as he beheld her escaping severed her head from her
body by means of a sharp and keen-edged arrow. Indra saw all this, and desiring
to save his friend's son, Indra, by raising a violent wind, deprived Arjuna of
consciousness. During those few moments,
Aswasena succeeded in effecting his escape. Beholding that
manifestation of the power of illusion, and deceived by that snake, Arjuna was
much enraged. He forthwith cut every animal seeking to escape by the skies, into
two, three, or more pieces. And Vibhatsu in anger, and Agni, and Vasudeva also,
cursed the snake that had escaped so deceitfully, saying, 'Never shalt thou be
famous!' And Jishnu remembering the deception practised upon him, became angry,
and covering the firmament with a cloud
of arrows, sought to fight with him of a thousand eyes. Indra
also, seeing Arjuna in anger, sought to fight with him, and hurled his own
fierce weapons, covering the wide expanse of the firmament. Then the winds,
making a loud roar and agitating all the oceans, brought together masses of
clouds in the sky, charged with torrents of rain. Those masses of clouds began
to vomit thunder and terrible flashes of lightning charged with the
thunderclap. Then Arjuna possessing knowledge of means hurled the excellent
weapon called Vayavya with proper mantras to dispel those clouds. With that
weapon the energy and force those clouds were destroyed. And the torrents of
rain with which those clouds were charged were all dried up, and the lightning
that played amongst them was also destroyed. Within a moment the sky was
cleared of dust and darkness, and a delicious, cool breeze began to blow and
the disc of the sun resumed
its normal state. Then Agni, glad because none could baffle him,
assumed various forms, and sprinkled over with the fat exuded by the bodies of
creatures, blazed forth with all his flames, filling the universe with his
roar. Then numerous birds of the Garuda
tribe bearing excellent feathers, beholding that the forest was
protected by Krishna and Arjuna, descended filled with pride, from the upper
skies, desirous of striking those heroes with their thunderlike wings, beaks
and claws. Innumerable Nagas also, with faces emitting fire descending from high,
approached Arjuna, vomiting the most virulent poison all the while. Beholding
them approach, Arjuna cut them into pieces by means of arrows steeped in the
fire of his own wrath. Then those birds and snakes, deprived of life, fell into
the burning element below. And there came also, desirous of battle, innumerable
Asuras with Gandharvas and Yakshas and Rakshasas and Nagas sending forth
terrific yells. Armed with machines vomiting from their throats mouths? iron
balls and bullets, and catapults for propelling huge stones, and rockets, they
approached to strike Krishna and Partha, their energy and strength increased by
wrath. But though they rained a perfect shower of weapons, Vibhatsu, addressing
them reproachfully, struck off their heads with his own sharp arrows. Krishna,
also, made a great slaughter of the Daitya and the Danava with his discus. Many
Asuras of immeasurable might, pierced with Krishna's arrows and smitten with
the force of his discus, became motionless like waifs and strays stranded on the
bank by the violence of the waves. Then Sakra the lord of the celestials,
riding on his white elephant, rushed at those heroes, and taking up his
thunderbolt which could never go in vain, hurled it with great force. And Indra
said unto the gods, 'These two are slain.' Beholding the fierce thunderbolt
about to be hurled by their chief, the celestials all took up their respective
weapons. Yama, took up the death-dealing mace, and Kubera his spiked club, and
Varuna his noose and beautiful missile. And Skanda took up his long lance and
stood motionless like the mountain of Meru. The Aswins stood there with
resplendent plants in their hands. Dhatri stood, bow in hand, and Jaya with a
thick club. Tvashtri of great strength took up in wrath, a huge mountain and
Surya stood with a bright dart, and Mrityu with a battle-axe. Aryaman stalked
about with a terrible bludgeon furnished with sharp spikes, and Mitra stood
there with a discus sharp as a razor. And, Pusha and Bhaga and Savitri, in
wrath, rushed at Krishna and Partha with bows and scimitars in hand. And Rudras
and the Vasus, Maruts and the Viswedevas and the Sadhyas, all resplendent with their
own energy,--these and many other celestials, armed with various weapons rushed
against, Krishna and Partha, for smiting them down. Then were seen in that
great conflict wonderful portents all around robbing every creature of his
sense and resembling those that appeared at the time of the universal
dissolution. But Arjuna and Krishna, beholding Sakra and the other celestials
prepared for fight, calmly waited, bows in hands. Skilled in battle, those
heroes in wrath assailed the advancing host of celestials with their own
thunderlike arrows. The celestials repeatedly routed by Krishna and Arjuna, at
last left the field of battle for fear
and sought the protection of Indra. The Munis who were witnessing
the battle from the skies, beholding the celestials defeated by Madhava and Arjuna,
were filled with wonder. Sakra also repeatedly witnessing their prowess in
battle, became exceedingly gratified, and once more rushed to the assault. Indra
then caused a heavy shower of stones, desiring to ascertain the prowess of
Arjuna who was able to draw the bow even with his left hand. Arjuna, in great
wrath, dispelled with his arrows that thick shower. Then Indra beholding that shower
baffled, once more caused a thicker shower of stones. But Arjuna gratified his
father by baffling that shower also with his swift arrows. Then Sakra, desirous
of smiting down Arjuna, tore up with his hands a large peak from Mandara, with
tall trees on it, and hurled it against him. But Arjuna divided that mountain-peak
into a thousand pieces by his swift-going and fire-mouthed arrows. The
fragments of that mountain, in falling through the skies, looked as if the sun
and the moon and the planets, displaced from their positions fell down on
earth. That huge peak fell down upon that forest and by its fall killed
numerous living creatures that dwelt in Khandava.'"
No comments:
Post a Comment