Chapter 79

“Sanjaya said, ‘Then Partha, with a cheerful soul and joined hands andeyes expanded (in wonder), gazed at the god having the bull for his markand who was the receptacle of every energy. And he beheld the offeringshe made every night to Vasudeva lying by the side of the Three-eyeddeity. The son of Pandu then, mentally worshipping both Krishna andSarva, said unto the latter, ‘I desire (to obtain) the celestial weapon.’Hearing these words of Partha desiring the boon he sought, god Sivasmilingly said unto Vasudeva and Arjuna, ‘Welcome to you, ye foremost ofmen! I know the wish cherished by you, and the business for which youhave come here. I will give you what you wish. There is a celestial lakefull of Amrita, not far from this place, ye slayers of foes! There werekept some time back, that celestial bow and arrow of mine. With them Islew in battle all the enemies of the gods. Bring hither, ye Krishna,that excellent bow with arrow fixed on it.’ Hearing these words of Siva,Vasudava with Arjuna answered, ‘So be it.’ And then accompanied by allthe attendants of Siva, those two heroes set out for that celestial lakewhich possessed hundreds of heavenly wonders, that sacred lake, capableof granting every object, which the god, having the bull for his mark,had indicated to them, And unto that lake, the Rishis Nara and Narayana(viz., Arjuna and Vasudeva) went fearlessly. And having reached thatlake, bright as the disc of the sun, Arjuna and Achyuta beheld within itswaters a terrible snake. And they beheld there another foremost ofsnakes, that had a thousand heads. And possessed of the effulgence offire, that snake was vomiting fierce flames. Then Krishna and Parthahaving touched water, joined their hands, and approached those snakes,having bowed unto the god having the bull for his mark. And as theyapproached the snakes, conversant as they were with the Vedas, theyuttered the hundred stanzas of the Veda, to the praise of Rudra, bowingthe while with their sincere souls unto Bhava of immeasurable power. Thenthose two terrible snakes, in consequence of the power of thoseadorations to Rudra, abandoned their snake-forms and assumed the forms ofa foe-killing bow and arrow. Gratified (with what they saw), Krishna andArjuna then seized that bow and arrow of great effulgence. And thosehigh-souled heroes then brought them away and gave them unto theillustrious Mahadeva. Then from one of the sides of Siva’s body therecame out a Brahmacharin of tawny eyes. And he seemed to be the refuge ofasceticism. Of blue throat and red locks, he was endued with great might.Taking up that best of bows that Brahmacharin stood placing (both the bowand his feet properly). And fixing the arrow on the bowstring, he beganto stretch the latter duly. Beholding the manner of his seizing thehandle of the bow and drawing the string and placing of his feet, andhearing also the Mantras uttered by Bhava, the son of Pandu, ofinconceivable prowess, learnt everything duly. The mighty and puissantBrahmacharin then sped that arrow to that same lake. And he once morethrew that bow also in that self-same lake. Then Arjuna of good memoryknowing that Bhava was gratified with him, and remembering also the boonthe latter had given him in the forest, and the sight also he gave him ofhis person, mentally entertained the desire, ‘Let all this becomeproductive of fruit!’ Understanding this to be his wish, Bhava, gratifiedwith him, gave him the boon. And the god also granted him the terriblePasupata weapon and the accomplishment of his vow. Then having thus oncemore obtained the Pasupata weapon from the supreme god, the invincibleArjuna, with hair standing on end, regarded his business to be alreadyachieved. Then Arjuna and Krishna filled with joy, paid their adorationsunto the great god by bowing their heads. And permitted by Bhava bothArjuna and Kesava, those two heroes, almost immediately came back totheir own camp, filled with transports of delight. Indeed, their joy wasas great as that of Indra and Vishnu when those two gods, desirous ofslaying Jambha, obtained the permission of Bhava that slayer of greatAsuras.'”