Chapter 21
“Sauti said. ‘Then when the night had passed away and the sun had risenin the morning, O thou whose wealth is asceticism, the two sisters Kadruand Vinata, having laid a wager about slavery, went with haste andimpatience to view the steed Uchchaishravas from a near point.
On theirway they saw the Ocean, that receptacle of waters, vast and deep, rollingand tremendously roaring, full of fishes large enough to swallow thewhale, and abounding with huge makaras and creatures of various forms bythousands, and rendered inaccessible by the presence of other terrible,monster-shaped, dark, and fierce aquatic animals, abounding withtortoises and crocodiles, the mine of all kinds of gems, the home ofVaruna (the water-God), the excellent and beautiful residence of theNagas, the lord of all rivers, the abode of the subterranean fire, thefriend (or asylum) of the Asuras, the terror of all creatures, the grandreservoir of water, and ever immutable. It is holy, beneficial to thegods, and is the great source of nectar; without limits, inconceivable,sacred, and highly wonderful. It is dark, terrible with the sound ofaquatic creatures, tremendously roaring, and full of deep whirl-pools. Itis an object of terror to all creatures. Moved by the winds blowing fromits shores and heaving high, agitated and disturbed, it seems to danceeverywhere with uplifted hands represented by its surges. Full ofswelling billows caused by the waxing and waning of the moon the parentof Vasudeva’s great conch called Panchajanya, the great mine of gems, itswaters were formerly disturbed in consequence of the agitation causedwithin them by the Lord Govinda of immeasurable prowess when he hadassumed the form of a wild boar for raising the (submerged) Earth. Itsbottom, lower than the nether regions, the vow observing regenerate RishiAtri could not fathom after (toiling for) a hundred years. It becomes thebed of the lotus-naveled Vishnu when at the termination of every Yugathat deity of immeasurable power enjoys yoga-nidra, the deep sleep underthe spell of spiritual meditation. It is the refuge of Mainaka fearful offalling thunder, and the retreat of the Asuras overcome in fierceencounters. It offers water as sacrificial butter to the blazing fireissuing from the mouth of Varava (the Ocean-mare). It is fathomless andwithout limits, vast and immeasurable, and the lord of rivers.
“And they saw that unto it rushed mighty rivers by thousands with proudgait, like amorous competitors, each eager for meeting it, forestallingthe others. And they saw that it was always full, and always dancing inits waves. And they saw that it was deep and abounding with fierce whalesand makaras. And it resounded constantly with the terrible sounds ofaquatic creatures. And they saw that it was vast, and wide as the expanseof space, unfathomable, and limitless, and the grand reservoir of water.'”
And so ends the twenty-first section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.
