Chapter 191
Janamejaya said, “It behoveth thee to narrate to me in full the greatnessof the Brahmanas even as the mighty ascetic Markandeya had expounded itto the sons of Pandu.”
“Vaisampayana said, ‘The eldest son of Pandu had asked Markandeya saying,’It behoveth thee to expound to me the greatness of Brahmanas.’Markandeya answered him saying, ‘Hear, O king, about the behaviour ofBrahmanas in days of old.’
“And Markandeya continued, ‘There was a king, by name Parikshit inAyodhya and belonging to the race of Ikshvaku. And once upon a timeParikshit went a-hunting. And as he was riding alone on a horse chasingdeer, the animal led him to a great distance (from the habitations ofmen). And fatigued by the distance he had ridden and afflicted withhunger and thirst he beheld in that part of the country whither he hadbeen led, a dark and dense forest, and the king, beholding that forest,entered it and seeing a delightful tank within the forest, both the riderand the horse bathed in it, and refreshed by the bath and placing beforehis horse some stalks and fibres of the lotus, the king sat by the sideof the tank. And while he was lying by the side of the tank, he heardcertain sweet strains of music, and hearing those strains, he reflected,’I do not see here the foot-prints of men. Whose and whence then thesestrains?’ And the king soon beheld a maiden of great beauty gatheringflowers singing all the while, and the maiden soon came before the king,and the king thereupon asked her, ‘Blessed one, who art thou and whose?’And she replied, ‘I am a maiden.’ And the king said, ‘I ask thee to bemine.’ And the maiden answered, ‘Give me a pledge, for then only I can bethine, else not.’ And the king then asked about the pledge and the girlanswered. ‘Thou wilt never make me cast my eyes on water’, and the kingsaying, ‘So be it,’ married her, and king Parikshit having married hersported (with her) in great joy, and sat with her in silence, and whilethe king was staying there, his troops reached the spot, and those troopsbeholding the monarch stood surrounding him, and cheered by the presenceof troops, the king entered a handsome vehicle accompanied by his (newly)wedded wife. And having arrived at his capital he began to live with herin privacy. And persons that were even near enough to the king could notobtain any interview with him and the minister-in-chief enquired of thosefemales that waited upon the king, asking, ‘What do ye do here?’ Andthose women replied, ‘We behold here a female of unrivalled beauty. Andthe king sporteth with her, having married her with a pledge that hewould never show her water.’ And hearing those words, theminister-in-chief caused an artificial forest to be created, consistingof many trees with abundant flowers and fruits, and he caused to beexcavated within that forest and towards one of its sides a large tank,placed in a secluded spot and full of water that was sweet as Amrita. Thetank was well covered with a net of pearls. Approaching the king one dayin private, he addressed the king saying, ‘This is a fine forest withoutwater. Sport thou here joyfully!’ And the king at those words of hisminister entered that forest with that adorable wife of his, and the kingsported with her in that delightful forest, and afflicted with hunger andthirst and fatigued and spent, the king beheld a bower of Madhavicreepers[48] and entering that bower with his dear one, the king beheld atank full of water that was transparent and bright as nectar, andbeholding that tank, the king sat on its bank with her and the king toldhis adorable wife, ‘Cheerfully do thou plunge into this water!’ And she,hearing those words plunged into the tank. But having plunged into thewater she appeared not above the surface, and as the king searched, hefailed to discover any trace of her. And the king ordered the waters ofthe tank to be baled out, and thereupon he beheld a frog sitting at themouth of a hole, and the king was enraged at this and promulgated anorder saying, ‘Let frogs be slaughtered everywhere in my dominions!Whoever wishes to have an interview with me must come before me with atribute of dead frogs.’ And accordingly when frogs began to be terriblyslaughtered, the affrighted frogs represented all that had happened untotheir king, and the king of the frogs assuming the garb of an asceticcame before the king Parikshit, and having approached the monarch, hesaid, ‘O king, give not thyself up to wrath! Be inclined to grace. Itbehoveth thee not to slay the innocent frogs.’ Here occurs a couple ofSlokas. (They are these):–‘O thou of unfading glory, slay not the frogs!Pacify thy wrath! The prosperity and ascetic merits of those that havetheir souls steeped in ignorance suffer diminution! Pledge thyself not tobe angry with the frogs! What need hast thou to commit such sin! Whatpurpose will be served by slaying the frogs!’ Then king Parikshit whosesoul was filled with woe on account of the death of her that was dear tohim, answered the chief of the frogs who had spoken to him thus, ‘I willnot forgive the frogs. On the other hand, I will slay them. By thesewicked wretches hath my dear one been swallowed up. The frogs, therefore,always deserve to be killed by me. It behoveth thee not, O learned one,to intercede on their behalf.’ And hearing these words of Parikshit, theking of the frogs with his senses and mind much pained said, ‘Be inclinedto grace, O king! I am the king of the frogs by name Ayu. She who was thywife is my daughter of the name of Susobhana. This, indeed, is aninstance of her bad conduct. Before this, many kings were deceived byher.’ The king thereupon said to him, ‘I desire to have her. Let her begranted to me by thee!’ The king of the frogs thereupon bestowed hisdaughter upon Parikshit, and addressing her said, ‘Wait upon and servethe king.’ And having spoken these words to his daughter, he alsoaddressed her in wrath saying, ‘Since thou hast deceived many Kings forthis untruthful behaviour of thine, thy offspring will provedisrespectful to Brahmanas!’ But having obtained her, the king becamedeeply enamoured of her in consequence of her companionable virtues, andfeeling that he had, as it were, obtained the sovereignty of the threeworlds, he bowed down to the king of the frogs and reverenced him in dueform and then with utterance choked in joy and tears said, ‘I have beenfavoured indeed!’ And the king of the frogs obtaining the leave of hisdaughter, returned to the place from which he had come and some timeafter the king begot three sons upon her and those sons were named Salaand Dala and Vala, and some time after, their father, installing theeldest of them of all on the throne and setting his heart on asceticism,retired into the forest. One day Sala while out a-hunting, beheld a deerand pursued it, on his car, and the prince said to his charioteer, ‘Drivethou fast.’ And the charioteer, thus addressed, replied unto the king,saying, ‘Do not entertain such a purpose. This deer is incapable of beingcaught by thee. If indeed Vami horses had been yoked to thy car, thencouldst thou have taken it.’ Thereupon the king addressed his charioteer,saying, ‘Tell me all about Vami horses, otherwise I will slay thee,’ Thusaddressed the charioteer became dreadfully alarmed and he was afraid ofthe king and also of Vamadeva’s curse and told not the king anything andthe king then lifting up his scimitar said to him, ‘Tell me soon, else Iwill slay thee.’ At last afraid of the king, the charioteer said, ‘TheVami horses are those belonging to Vamadeva; they are fleet as the mind.’And unto his charioteer who had said so, the king said, ‘Repair thou tothe asylum of Vamadeva.’ And reaching the asylum of Vamadeva the kingsaid unto that Rishi, ‘O holy one, a deer struck by me is flying away. Itbehoveth thee to make it capable of being seized by me by granting me thypair of Vami horses.’ The Rishi then answered him saying, ‘I give thee mypair of Vami horses. But after accomplishing thy object, my Vami pair youshould soon return.’ The king then taking those steeds and obtaining theleave of the Rishi pursued the deer, having yoked the Vami pair unto hiscar, and after he had left the asylum he spoke unto his charioteersaying, ‘These jewels of steeds the Brahmanas do not deserve to possess.These should not be returned to Vamadeva.’ Having said this and seizedthe deer he returned to his capital and placed those steeds within theinner apartments of the palace.
“Meanwhile the Rishi reflected, ‘The prince is young. Having obtained anexcellent pair of animals, he is sporting with it in joy withoutreturning it to me. Alas, what a pity it is!’ And reflecting in thisstrain, the Rishi said unto a disciple of his, after the expiration of amonth, ‘Go, O Atreya, and say to the king that if he has done with theVami steeds, he should return them unto thy preceptor.’ And the discipleAtreya, thereupon, repairing to the king, spoke unto him as instructed,and the king replied saying, ‘This pair of steeds deserves to be owned bykings. The Brahmanas do not deserve to possess jewels of such value. Whatbusiness have Brahmanas with horses? Return thou contentedly!’ AndAtreya, thus addressed by the king, returned and told his preceptor allthat had happened, and hearing this sad intelligence, Vamadeva’s heartwas filled with wrath, and repairing in person to the king he asked himfor his steeds, and the king refused to give the Rishi what the latterasked, and Vamadeva said, ‘O lord of earth, give me thou my Vami horses.By them hast thou accomplished a task which was almost incapable of beingaccomplished by thee. By transgressing the practices of Brahmanas andKshatriyas, subject not thyself, O king, to death by means of theterrible noose of Varuna.’ And hearing this, the king answered, ‘OVamadeva, this couple of excellent well-trained, and docile bulls are fitanimals for Brahmanas. O great Rishi, (take them and) go with themwherever thou likest. Indeed, the very Vedas carry persons like thee.’Then Vamadeva said, ‘O king, the Vedas do, indeed, carry persons like us.But that is in the world hereafter. In this world, however, O king,animals like these carry me and persons like me as also all others.’ Atthis the king answered, ‘Let four assess carry thee, or four mules of thebest kind, or even four steeds endued with the speed of the wind. Go thouwith these. This pair of Vami horses, however, deserves to be owned byKshatriyas. Know thou, therefore, that these are not thine.’ At this,Vamadeva said, ‘O king, terrible vows have been ordained for theBrahmanas. If I have lived in their observance, let four fierce andmighty Rakshasas of terrible mien and iron bodies, commanded by me,pursue thee with desire of slaying, and carry thee on their sharp lances,having cut up thy body into four parts.’ Hearing this, the king said,’Let those, O Vamadeva, that know thee as a Brahmana that in thought,word, and deed, is desirous of taking life, at my command, armed withbright lances and swords prostrate thee with thy disciples before me.’Then Vamadeva answered, ‘O king, having obtained these my Vami steeds,thou hadst said, ‘I will return them.’ Therefore, give me back my Vamisteeds, so thou mayst be able to protect thy life.’ Hearing this, theking said, ‘Pursuit of deer hath not been ordained for the Brahmanas. Ido punish thee, however, for thy untruthfulness. From this day, too,obeying all thy commands I will, O Brahmana, attain to regions of bliss.’Vamadeva then said, ‘A Brahmana cannot be punished in thought, word ordeed. That learned person who by ascetic austerities succeedeth inknowing a Brahmana to be so, faileth not to attain to prominence in thisworld.’
“Markandeya continued, ‘After Vamadeva had said this, there arose, Oking, (four) Rakshasas of terrible mien, and as they, with lances intheir hands, approached the king for slaying him, the latter cried aloud,saying, ‘If, O Brahmana, all the descendants of Ikshvaku’s race, if (mybrother) Dala, if all these Vaisyas acknowledge my sway, then I will notyield up the Vami steeds to Vamadeva, for these men can never bevirtuous.’ And while he was uttering those words, those Rakshasas slewhim, and the lord of earth was soon prostrated on the ground. And theIkshvakus, learning that their king had been slain, installed Dala on thethrone, and the Brahmana Vamadeva thereupon going to the kingdom (of theIkshvakus), addressed the new monarch, saying, ‘O king, it hath beendeclared in all the sacred books that persons should give away untoBrahmanas. If thou fearest sin, O king, give me now the Vami steedswithout delay.’ And hearing these words of Vamadeva, the king in angerspoke unto his charioteer, saying, ‘Bring me an arrow from those I havekept, which is handsome to behold and tempered with poison, so thatpierced by it Vamadeva may lie prostrate in pain, torn by the dogs.’Hearing this, Vamadeva answered, ‘I know, O king, that thou hast a son often years of age, called Senajita, begotten upon thy queen. Urged by myword, slay thou that dear boy of thine without delay by means of thyfrightful arrows!’
“Markandeya continued, ‘At these words of Vamadeva, O king, that arrow offierce energy, shot by the monarch, slew the prince in the innerapartments, and hearing this, Dala said there and then, ‘Ye people ofIkshvaku’s race, I will do ye good. I shall slay this Brahmana today,grinding him with force. Bring me another arrow of fierce energy. Yelords of earth, behold my prowess now.’ And at these words of Dala,Vamadeva said, ‘This arrow of terrible mien and tempered with poison,that thou aimest at me, thou shall not, O ruler of men, be able to aimnor even to shoot.’ And thereupon the king said, ‘Ye men of Ikshvaku’srace, behold me incapable of shooting the arrow that hath been taken upby me. I fail to compass the death of this Brahmana. Let Vamadeva who isblessed with a long life live.’ Then Vamadeva said, ‘Touching thy queenwith this arrow, thou mayst purge thyself of the sin (of attempting totake the life of a Brahmana).’ And king Dala did as he was directed andthe queen then addressed the Muni, and said, ‘O Vamadeva, let me be ableto duly instruct this wretched husband of mine from day to day, impartingunto him words of happy import; and let me always wait upon and serve theBrahmanas, and by this acquire, O Brahmana, the sacred regionshereafter.’ And hearing these words of the queen, Vamadeva said, ‘O thouof beautiful eyes, thou hast saved this royal race. Beg thou anincomparable boon. I will grant thee whatever thou mayst ask. And, O thoufaultless one, rule thou, O princess, these thy kinsmen and this greatkingdom of the Ikshvakus!’ And hearing these words of Vamadeva theprincess said, ‘This, O holy one, is the boon I seek, viz., that myhusband may now be freed from his sin, and that thou mayst be employed inthinking of the weal of his son and kinsmen. This is the boon that I ask,O thou foremost of Brahmanas!’
“Markandeya continued, ‘Hearing these words of the queen, that Muni, Othou foremost of the Kuru race, said, ‘So be it.’ And thereupon king Dalabecame highly glad and gave unto the Muni his Vami steeds, having boweddown unto him with reverence!'”
