Chapter 270

Vaisampayana said, “Jayadratha flying for his life upon beholding thosetwo brothers with upraised arms, was sorely grieved and bolted off withspeed and coolness. But the mighty and indignant Bhimasena, descendingfrom his chariot, ran after him thus fleeing, and seized him by the hairof his head. And holding him high up in the air, Bhima thrust him on theground with violence. And seizing the prince by the head, he knocked himabout. And when the wretch recovered consciousness, he groaned aloud andwanted to get up on his legs. But that hero endued with mighty armskicked him on the head. And Bhima pressed him on the breast with hisknees as well as with his fists. And the prince thus belaboured, soonbecame insensible. Then Falguna dissuaded the wrathful Bhimasena frominflicting further chastisement on the prince, by reminding him of whatYudhishthira had said regarding (their sister) Dussala. But Bhimareplied, saying, ‘This sinful wretch hath done a cruel injury to Krishna,who never can bear such treatment. He, therefore, deserveth to die athands! But what can I do? The king is always overflowing with mercy, andthou, too, art constantly putting obstacles in my way from a childishsense of virtue!’ Having said these words, Vrikodara, with hiscrescent-shaped arrow, shaved the hair of the prince’s head, heaving fivetufts in as many places. Jayadratha uttered not a word at this. ThenVrikodara, addressing the foe said, ‘If thou wishest to live, listen tome. O fool! I shall tell thee the means to attain that wish! In publicassemblies and in open courts thou must say,–I am the slave of thePandavas.–on this condition alone, I will pardon thee thy life! This isthe customary rule of conquest on the field of battle.’ Thus addressedand treated, king Jayadratha said to the mighty and fierce warrior whoalways looked awful, ‘Be it so!’ And he was trembling and senseless andbegrimed with dust. Then Arjuna and Vrikodara, securing him with chains,thrust him into a chariot. And Bhima, himself mounting that chariot, andaccompanied by Arjuna, drove towards the hermitage. And approachingYudhishthira seated there, he placed Jayadratha in that condition beforethe king. And the king, smiling, told him to set the Sindhu prince atliberty. Then Bhima said unto the king, ‘Do thou tell Draupadi that thiswretch hath become the slave of the Pandavas.’ Then his eldest brothersaid unto him affectionately, ‘If thou hast any regard for us, do thouset this wretch at liberty!’ And Draupadi too, reading the king’s mind,said, ‘Let him off! He hath become a slave of the king’s and thou, too,hast disfigured him by leaving five tufts of hair on his head.’ Then thatcrest-fallen prince, having obtained his liberty, approached kingYudhishthira and bowed down unto him. And seeing those Munis there, hesaluted them also. Then the kind-hearted king Yudhishthira, the son ofDharma, beholding Jayadratha in that condition, almost supported byArjuna, said unto him, ‘Thou art a free man now; I emancipate thee! Nowgo away and be careful not to do such thing again; shame to thee! Thouhadst intended to take away a lady by violence, even though thou art somean and powerless! What other wretch save thee would think of actingthus?” Then that foremost king of Bharata’s race eyed with pity thatperpetrator of wicked deeds, and believing that he had lost his senses,said, ‘Mayst thy heart grow in virtue! Never set thy heart again onimmoral deeds! Thou mayst depart in peace now with thy charioteers,cavalry and infantry.’ Thus addressed by Yudhishthira, the prince, OBharata, was overpowered with shame, and bending down his head, hesilently and sorrowfully wended his way to the place where the Gangadebouches on the plains. And imploring the protection of the god of threeeyes, the consort of Uma, he did severe penance at that place. And thethree-eyed god, pleased with his austerities deigned to accept hisofferings in person. And he also granted him a boon! Do thou listen, Omonarch, how the prince received that boon! Jayadratha, addressing thatgod, asked the boon, ‘May I be able to defeat in battle all the five sonsof Pandu on their chariots!’ The god, however, told him ‘This cannot be.’And Maheswara said, ‘None can slay or conquer them in battle. SaveArjuna, however, thou shall be able to only check them (once) on thefield of battle! The heroic Arjuna, with mighty arms, is the godincarnate styled Nara. He practised austerities of old in the Vadariforest. The God Narayana is his friend. Therefore, he is unconquerable ofthe very gods. I myself have given him the celestial weapon calledPasupata. From the regents also of all the ten cardinal points, he hasacquired the thunder-bolt and other mighty weapons. And the great godVishnu who is the Infinite Spirit, the Lord Preceptor of all the gods, isthe Supreme Being without attributes, and the Soul of the Universe, andexisteth pervading the whole creation. At the termination of a cycle ofages, assuming the shape of the all-consuming fire, he consumed the wholeUniverse with mountains and seas and islands and hills and woods andforests. And after the destruction of the Naga world also in thesubterranean regions in the same way, vast masses of many-coloured andloud-pealing clouds, with streaks of lightning, spreading along theentire welkin, had appeared on high. Then pouring down water in torrentsthick as axles of cars, and filling the space everywhere, theseextinguishing that all-consuming fire! When at the close of four thousandYugas the Earth thus became flooded with water, like one vast sea, andall mobile creatures were hushed in death, and the sun and the moon andthe winds were all destroyed, and the Universe was devoid of planets andstars, the Supreme Being called Narayana, unknowable by the senses,adorned with a thousand heads and as many eyes and legs, became desirousof rest. And the serpent Sesha, looking terrible with his thousand hoods,and shining with the splendour of ten thousand suns, and white as theKunda flower or the moon or a string of pearls, or the white lotus, ormilk, or the fibres of a lotus stalk, served for his conch. And thatadorable and omnipotent God thus slept on the bosom of the deep,enveloping all space with nocturnal gloom. And when his creative facultywas excited, he awoke and found the Universe denuded of everything. Inthis connection, the following sloka is recited respecting the meaning ofNarayana. “Water was created by (the Rishi) Nara, and it formed hiscorpus; therefore do we hear it styled as Nara. And because it formed hisAyana (resting-place) therefore is he known as Narayana.” As soon as thateverlasting Being was engaged in meditation for the re-creation of theUniverse, a lotus flower instantaneously came into existence from hisnavel, and the four-faced Brahma came out of that navel-lotus. And thenthe Grandsire of all creatures, seating himself on that flower andfinding that the whole Universe was a blank, created in his own likeness,and from his will, the (nine) great Rishis, Marichi and others. And thesein their turn observing the same thing, completed the creation, bycreating Yakshas, Rakshas, Pisachas, reptiles, men, and all mobile andimmobile creatures. The Supreme Spirit hath three conditions. In the formof Brahma, he is the Creator, and in the form of Vishnu he is thePreserver, and in his form as Rudra, he is the Destroyer of the Universe!O king of Sindhu, hast thou not heard of the wonderful achievements ofVishnu, described to thee by the Munis and the Brahmanas learned in theVedas? When the world was thus reduced to one vast sea of water, withonly the heavens above, the Lord, like a fire-fly at night-time duringthe rainy season, moved about hither and thither in search of stableground, with the view of rehabilitating his creation, and became desirousof raising the Earth submerged in water. What shape shall I take torescue the Earth from this flood?–So thinking and contemplating withdivine insight, he bethought himself of the shape of a wild boar fond ofsporting in water. And assuming the shape of a sacrificial boar shiningwith effulgence and instinct with the Vedas and ten Yojanas in length,with pointed tusks and a complexion like dark clouds, and with a bodyhuge as a mountain, and roaring like a conglomeration of clouds, the Lordplunged into the waters, and lifted up the Earth with one of his tusks,and replaced it in its proper sphere. At another time, the mighty Lord,assuming a wonderful form with a body half lion, half man, and squeezinghis hands, repaired to the court of the ruler of the Daityas. Thatprogenitor of the Daityas, the son of Diti, who was the enemy of the(gods), beholding the Lord’s peculiar form, burst out into passion andhis eyes became inflamed with rage. And Hiranya-Kasipu, the war-like sonof Diti and the enemy of the gods, adorned with garlands and looking likea mass of dark clouds, taking up his trident in hand and roaring like theclouds, rushed on that being half lion, half man. Then that powerful kingof wild beasts, half man, half lion, taking a leap in the air, instantlyrent the Daitya in twain by means of his sharp claws. And the adorablelotus-eyed Lord of great effulgence, having thus slain the Daitya kingfor the well-being of all creatures, again took his birth in the womb ofAditi as son of Kasyapa. And at the expiration of a thousand years shewas delivered of that superhuman conception. And then was born thatBeing, of the hue of rain-charged clouds with bright eyes and of dwarfishstature. He had the ascetic’s staff and water-pot in hand, and was markedwith the emblem of a curl of hair on the breast. And that adorable Beingwore matted locks and the sacrificial thread, and he was stout andhandsome and resplendent with lustre. And that Being, arriving at thesacrificial enclosure of Vali, king of the Danavas, entered thesacrificial assembly with the aid of Vrihaspati. And beholding thatdwarf-bodied Being, Vali was well-pleased and said unto him, ‘I am gladto see thee, O Brahmana! Say what is it that thou wantest from me!’ Thusaddressed by Vali, the dwarf-god replied with a smile, saying, ‘So be it!Do thou, lord of the Danavas, give me three paces of ground!’ And Valicontented to give what that Brahmana of infinite power had asked. Andwhile measuring with his paces the space he sought. Hari assumed awonderful and extraordinary form. And with only three paces he instantlycovered this illimitable world. And then that everlasting God, Vishnu,gave it away unto Indra. This history which has just been related tothee, is celebrated as the ‘Incarnation of the Dwarf’, And from him, allthe gods had their being, and after him the world is said to beVaishnava, or pervaded by Vishnu. And for the destruction of the wickedand the preservation of religion, even He hath taken his birth among menin the race of the Yadus. And the adorable Vishnu is styled Krishna.These, O king of Sindhu, are the achievements of the Lord whom all theworlds worship and whom the learned describe as without beginning andwithout end, unborn and Divine! They call Him, the unconquerable Krishnawith conchshell, discus and mace, and adorned with the emblem of a curlof hair, Divine, clad in silken robes of yellow hue, and the best ofthose versed in the art of war. Arjuna is protected by Krishna thepossessor of these attributes. That glorious and lotus-eyed Being ofinfinite power, that slayer of hostile heroes, riding in the same chariotwith Pritha’s son, protecteth him! He is, therefore, invincible; the verygods cannot resist his power, still less can one with human attributesvanquish the son of Pritha in battle! Therefore, O king, thou must lethim alone! Thou shalt, however, be able to vanquish for a single dayonly, the rest of Yudhishthira’s forces along with thine enemies–thefour sons of Pandu!”

Vaisampayana continued, “Having said these words unto that prince, theadorable Hara of three eyes, the destroyer of all sins, the consort ofUma, and lord of wild beasts, the destroyer of (Daksha’s) sacrifice, theslayer of Tripura and He that had plucked out the eyes of Bhaga,surrounded by his dwarfish and hunch-backed and terrible followers havingfrightful eyes and ears and uplifted arms, vanished, O tiger among kings,from that place with his consort Uma! And the wicked Jayadratha alsoreturned home, and the sons of Pandu continued to dwell in the forest ofKamyaka.”