Chapter 33

“‘Duryodhana said, “Listen, once more, O ruler of the Madras, to what Iwill say unto thee, about what happened, O lord, in the battle betweenthe gods and the Asuras in days of yore. The great rishi Markandeyanarrated it to my sire. I will now recite it without leaving outanything, O best of royal sages. Listen to that account confidingly andwithout mistrusting it at all. Between the gods and the Asuras, eachdesirous of vanquishing the other, there happened a great battle, O king,which had Taraka for its evil (root). It hath been heard by us that theDaityas were defeated by the gods. Upon the defeat of the Daityas, thethree sons of Taraka, named Tarakaksha, Kamalaksha and Vidyunmalin, Oking, practising the austerest penances, lived in the observance of highvows. By those penances they emaciated their bodies, O scorcher of foes.In consequence of their self-restraint, their penances, their vows andcontemplation, the boongiving Grandsire became gratified with them andgave them boons. Unitedly they solicited the Grandsire of all the worlds,O king, for the boon of immunity from death at the hands of all Creaturesof all times. The divine Lord and Master of all the worlds said untothem, ‘There is nothing like immunity from death at the hands of allcreatures. Therefore, ye Asuras, abstain from such a prayer. Solicit someother boon that may seem desirable to you.’ When all of them, O king,having settled it amongst themselves after long and repeated conferences,bowed to the great Master of all the worlds and said these words, ‘O god,O Grandsire, give us this boon. Residing in three cities, we will roveover this Earth, with thy grace ever before us. After a 1,000 years then,we will come together, and our three cities also, O sinless one, willbecome united into one. That foremost one amongst the gods who will, withone shaft, pierce those three cities united into one, will, O lord, bethe cause of our destruction.’ Saying unto them, ‘Let it be so,’ that godascended to heaven. Those Asuras then, filled with joy at having obtainedthose boons and having settled it among themselves about the constructionof the three cities, selected for the purpose the great Asura Maya, thecelestial artificer, knowing no fatigue or decay, and worshipped by allthe daityas and danavas. Then Maya, of great intelligence, by the aid ofhis own ascetic merit, constructed three cities, one of which was ofgold, another of silver, and the third of black iron. The golden city wasset in heaven, the silver city in the welkin, and the iron city was seton the Earth, all in such a way as to revolve in a circle, O lord ofEarth. Each of those cities measured a hundred yojanas in breadth and ahundred in length. And they consisted of houses and mansions and loftywalls and porches. And though teeming with lordly palaces close to eachother, yet the streets were wide and spacious. And they were adorned withdiverse mansions and gate-ways. Each of those cities, again, O monarch,had a separate king. The beautiful city of gold belonged to theillustrious Tarakaksha: the silver city to Kamalaksha, and the iron oneto Vidyunmalin. Those three Daitya kings, soon assailing the three worldswith their energy, continued to dwell and reign, and began to say, ‘Whois he called the Creator?’ Unto those foremost of Danavas having noheroes equal to them, came from every side millions upon millions, ofproud and flesh-eating Danavas who had before been defeated by thecelestials, and who now settled in the three cities, desirous of greatprosperity. Unto all of them thus united, Maya became the supplier ofevery thing they wanted. Relying upon him, all of them resided there, inperfect fearlessness. Whoever amongst those residing in the triple citywished for any object in his heart had his wish fulfilled by Maya aidedby the latter’s powers of illusion. Tarakaksha had a heroic and mightyson named Hari. He underwent the austerest of penances, upon which theGrandsire became gratified with him. When the god was gratified, Harisolicited a boon of him, saying, ‘Let a lake start into existence in ourcity, such that persons, slain by means of weapons, may, when thrown intoit, come out with life, and with redoubled strength.’ Obtaining thisboon, the heroic Hari, son of Tarakaksha, created a lake, O lord, in hiscity, that was capable of reviving the dead. In whatever form andwhatever guise a Daitya might have been slain, if thrown into that lake,he was restored to life, in the self-same form and guise. Obtaining alivethe slain among them, the Daityas began to afflict the three worlds.Crowned with success by means of austere penances, those enhancers of thefears of the gods sustained, O king, no diminution in battle. Stupefiedthen by covetousness and folly, and deprived of their senses, all of thembegan to shamelessly exterminate the cities and towns established allover the universe. Filled with pride at the boons they had received, anddriving before them, at all times and from all places, the gods withtheir attendants, they roamed at will over celestial forests and otherrealms dear to the denizens of heaven and the delightful and sacredasylums of rishis. And the wicked Danavas ceased to show any respect foranybody. While the worlds were thus afflicted, Sakra, surrounded by theMaruts, battled against the three cities by hurling his thunder upon themfrom every side. When, however, Purandra failed to pierce those citiesmade impenetrable, O king, by the Creator with his boons, the chief ofcelestials, filled with fear, and leaving those cities, repaired withthose very gods to that chastiser of foes, viz., the Grandsire, forrepresenting unto him the oppressions committed by the Asuras.Representing everything and bowing with their heads unto him, they askedthe divine Grandsire the means by which the triple city could bedestroyed. The illustrious Deity, hearing the words of Indra, told thegods, ‘He that is an offender against you offends against me also. TheAsuras are all of wicked souls and always hate the gods. They that givepain to you always offend against me. I am impartial to all creatures.There is no doubt in this. For all that, however, they that areunrighteous should be slain. This is my fixed vow. Those three forts areto be pierced with one shaft. By no other means can their destruction beeffected. None else, save Sthanu, is competent to pierce them with oneshaft. Ye Adityas, select Sthanu, otherwise called Ishana and Jishnu, whois never fatigued with work, as your warrior. It is he that will destroythose asuras.’ Hearing these words of his, the gods with Sakra at theirhead, making Brahman take their lead, sought the protection of the Deityhaving the bull for his mark. Those righteous ones accompanied by rishisdevoted to the severest penances and uttering the eternal words of theVedas, sought Bhava with their whole soul. And they praised, O king, inthe high words of the Vedas, that dispeller of fears in all situations offear that Universal Soul, that Supreme Soul, that One by whom All this ispervaded with his Soul. Then the gods who, by special penances, hadlearnt to still all the functions of his Soul and to withdraw Soul fromMatter,–they who had their soul always under control–beheld him, calledIshana,–that lord of Uma, that mass of energy, that is, who hath noequal in the universe, that source (of everything), that sinless Self.Though that Deity is one they had imagined him to be of various forms.Beholding in that high-souled one those diverse forms that each hadindividually conceived in own heart, all of them became filled withwonder. Beholding that Unborn one, that Lord of the universe, to be theembodiment of all creatures, the gods and the regenerate Rishis, alltouched the Earth with their heads. Saluting them with the word ‘Welcome’and raising them from their bent attitudes, the illustrious Sankaraaddressed them smilingly, saying, ‘Tell us the object of your visit.’Commanded by the Three-eyed god, their hearts became easy. They then saidthese words unto him, ‘Our repeated salutations to thee, O Lord.Salutations to thee that art the source of all the gods, to thee that artarmed with the bow, to thee that art full of wrath. Salutations to theethat hadst destroyed the sacrifice of that lord of creatures (viz.,Daksha) to thee that art adored by all the lords of creatures.Salutations to thee that art always praised, to thee that deservest to bepraised, to thee that art Death’s self. Salutations to thee that art red,to thee that art fierce, to thee that art blue-throated, to thee that artarmed with the trident, to thee that art incapable of being baffled, tothee that hast eyes as beautiful as those of the gazelle, to thee thatfightest with the foremost of weapons, to thee that deservest all praise,to thee that art pure, to thee that art destruction’s self, to thee thatart the destroyer; to thee that art irresistible, to thee that artBrahman, to thee that leadest the life of a brahmacari; to thee that artIshana; to thee that art immeasurable, to thee that art the greatcontroller, to thee that art robed in tatters; to thee that art everengaged in penances, to thee that art tawny, to thee that art observantof vows, to thee that art robed in animal skins; to thee that art thesire of Kumara, to thee that art three-eyed, to thee that art armed withthe foremost of weapons, to thee that destroyest the afflictions of allthat seek thy shelter, to thee that destroyest all haters of brahmanas,to thee that art the lord of all trees, the lord of all men, the lord ofall kine, and ever the lord of sacrifices. Salutations to thee that artalways at the head of troops, to thee that art three-eyed, to thee thatart endued with fierce energy. We devote ourselves to thee in thought,word and deed. Be gracious unto us.’ Gratified with these adorations, theholy one, saluting them with the word ‘Welcome’ said unto them, ‘Let yourfears be dispelled. Say, what we are to do for you?'”‘”