Chapter 200

Vaisampayana said, “Having, O great king, heard from the illustriousMarkandeya the history of the attainment of heaven by the royal sageIndradyumna, Yudhishthira, that bull of the Bharata race, once more askedthat sinless Muni endued with great ascetic merit and long life, saying,’Thou knowest, O virtuous one, the entire host of the gods, the Danavas,and the Rakshasas. Thou art acquainted also with various royalgenealogies and many eternal lines of Rishis! O best of Brahmanas, thereis nothing in this world that thou dost not know! Thou knowest also, OMuni, many delightful stories about men, Snakes and Rakshasas; aboutgods, Gandharvas, and Yakshas, and about Kinnaras and Apsaras! I desirenow to hear from thee, O best of Brahmanas, as to why Kuvalaswa–thatunvanquished king of Ikshavaku’s race changed his name, assuming another,viz., Dhundhumara. O thou best of Bhrigu’s line, I desire to know indetail why the name of Kuvalaswa of great intelligence underwent such achange!'”

Vaisampayana continued, “Thus addressed by Yudhishthira, the great MuniMarkandeya, O Bharata, then began the history of Dhundhumara!”

Markandeya said, ‘O royal Yudhishthira, listen to me, I will tell theeall! The story of Dhundhumara is a moral one. Listen to it then! Listennow, O king, to the story of how the royal Kuvalaswa of Ikshvaku’s racecame to be known as Dhundhumara. O son, O Bharata, there was a celebratedRishi of the name of Utanka and, O thou of the Kuru race, Utanka had hishermitage in a delightful wilderness. And, O great king, the Rishi Utankaunderwent ascetic austerities of the severest kind and the lord Utankaunderwent those penances for numberless years with the object ofobtaining the favours of Vishnu, and gratified with his penances thatillustrious Lord presented himself before Utanka. And beholding theDeity, the Rishi in all humility began to gratify him with many hymns,and Utanka said, ‘O thou of great effulgence all creatures with the gods,Asuras and human beings, all things that are mobile or immobile, evenBrahma himself, the Vedas, and all things that are capable of beingknown, have, O lord, been created by thee! The firmament is thy head, Ogod, and the sun and the moon are thy eyes! And, O Unfading One, thewinds are thy breath and fire thy energy! The directions of the horizonconstitute thy arms and the great ocean thy stomach! And, O god, thehills and mountains constitute thy thigh and the sky thy hips, O slayerof Madhu! The earth constitutes thy feet, and the plants the bristles onthy body. And, O lord, Indra and Soma and Agni and Varuna, indeed all thegods, the Asuras and the great Snakes all wait upon thee with humility,adoring thee with various hymns! O Lord of the Universe, created thingsare pervaded by thee. The great Rishis of high energy and ever plunged inascetic meditation, always adore thee. When thou art gratified, theuniverse is in peace. And when thou art angry, terror pervadeth everysoul. Thou art, O Lord, the great dispeller of all terrors and thou artthe One Supreme Male Being! Thou art the cause of happiness of both godsand human beings! And, O Lord, by three steps of thine thou didst coverthe three worlds! And it was by thee that the Asuras in the height oftheir power were destroyed! It is owing to thy prowess, O God, that thecelestials obtained peace and happiness and, O thou of great effulgence,it was the anger that destroyed hundred great Daitya chiefs. Thou art theCreator and destroyer of all creatures in the world. It is by adoringthee that the gods have obtained happiness. It was thus, O Yudhishthira,that the high-souled Utanka praised the Lord of the senses. And Vishnu,therefore, said unto Utanka, ‘I am gratified with thee. Ask thou the boonthat thou desirest.’ And Utanka said, ‘This indeed hath, been a greatboon to me, in that I have been able to behold Hari, that eternal Being,that divine Creator, that Lord of the universe!” Thus addressed Vishnusaid, ‘I am gratified with this absence of all desires on thy pail andwith thy devotion, O thou best of men! But, O Brahmanas, O regenerateone, thou shouldst of a certainty accept some boon from me! Thusrequested by Hari to accept a boon Utanka then, O thou best of Bharatas,with joined hands begged a boon saying, ‘O illustrious one, O thou ofeyes like lotus leaves, if thou hast been gratified with me, then let myheart always rest on virtue, truth, and self-content. And, O Lord, let myheart always turn to thee in devotion.’ And hearing these words ofUtanka, the holy one said, ‘O regenerate one, all this shall happen tothee through my grace. And there will also appear in thee a yoga powerendued with which thou shalt achieve a great thing for the dwellers ofHeaven, as also for the triple world. Even now a great Asura of the nameof Dhundhu is undergoing ascetic penances of fierce austerity with theobject of destroying the triple world. Hear now as to who will slay thatAsura. O son, there will appear a king of invincible energy and greatprowess and he will be born in the race of Ikshvaku and will be known bythe name of Vrihadaswa who will have a son of the name of Kuvalaswaendued with great holiness and self-control and celebrity. And that bestof kings will be furnished with yoga power springing from me and urgedand commended by thee, O regenerate Rishi, that king will be the slayerof the Asura Dhundhu.’ And having said these words unto that Brahmana,Vishnu disappeared there and then.”