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‘Lomasha said, “O Yudhishthira! Now listen to what Dhananjaya has said. ‘O one rich in austerities!366 Make my brother Yudhishthira devote himself to the prosperity dharma brings. You know about the supreme dharma and about austerities. You also know about the eternal dharma that brings prosperity to kings. You also know about other supreme things through which men are purified. Therefore, bestow on the Pandava the merits that come through tirthas. Act with your entire mind in a way such that the king visits tirthas and gives away cattle there.’ This is what Vijaya367 told me. ‘Protected by you, let him go to all the tirthas. You should protect him from rakshasas in difficult and uneven terrain. O supreme among brahmanas! Just as Dadhicha protected Indra of the gods and Angiras the sun,368 protect the Kounteyas from rakshasas. There are many evil rakshasas who are the equal of mountains. If you protect the Kounteyas, they will not be able to attack them.’ On Indra’s word and appointed by Arjuna, I will travel with you and protect you from fear. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! I have visited the tirthas twice earlier. With you, I will visit them for the third time. O Yudhishthira! O great king! Manu and other rajarshis, the performers of good deeds, have visited the tirthas, the dispellers of all fear. O Kouravya! Liars, those whose souls are not controlled, ignorant ones and the performers of evil acts do not bathe in tirthas, nor do men whose minds are crooked. But your mind has always been devoted to dharma. You are always learned in dharma, you are devoted to the truth. There is no doubt that you will be freed from all that is evil. O Kounteya! O Pandava! You will become like King Bhagiratha, like King Gaya and like Yayati.”
‘Yudhishthira replied, “I am so overcome with delight that I cannot find words to answer. There is no one greater than one whom the king of gods remembers. Who can be greater than one who has your company, whose brother is Dhananjaya and who is remembered by Vasava? O lord! You have spoken to me about visiting the tirthas. I had already made up my mind, after Dhoumya’s words. O brahmana! Whenever you make up your mind about visiting the tirthas, it is my certain resolution that I will also go to the tirthas.”’
Vaishampayana said, ‘Lomasha then spoke to the Pandava, who had already made up his mind. “O great king! Travel light. If you travel light, it will be easier to go.”
‘Yudhishthira replied, “Let the brahmanas and ascetics who live on alms return, and the citizens who have followed me out of loyalty for their king. Let them go to the great king Dhritarashtra. In due time, he will give them their due allowances, those that they have been used to. If that lord of men does not give it, out of affection for us and to ensure our welfare, Panchala369 will give it.”’
Vaishampayana said, ‘Burdened with great grief, the citizens left for the city of the elephant,370 as did the brahmanas and the ascetics. Out of love for Dharmaraja, the king who was Ambika’s son371 received them and gave them riches in the prescribed way. The king who was Kunti’s son lived happily in Kamyaka for three nights, with Lomasha and a few brahmanas.’
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Vaishampayana said, ‘O king! On seeing that Kounteya was about to leave, the brahmanas who still resided in the forest went to him and spoke to him. “O king! You are going to the sacred tirthas with your brothers and with the great-souled devarshi Lomasha. O great king! O Pandava! O Kourava! Please take us with you. Without you, we will never be able to visit them. O lord of men! They are uneven and difficult of access and are frequented by predatory beasts. Men in small groups cannot go to those tirthas. Your brothers are brave and are always skilled in the use of bows. Under the protection of you valiant ones, we will be able to go there. O protector of the earth! O lord of the earth! Through your favours, we will also obtain the auspicious fruits of tirthas and vows. O king! Protected by your prowess, we will become pure by bathing in those tirthas and cleansed of sin by visiting those tirthas. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! By bathing in those tirthas, you will also obtain the rare worlds obtained by King Kartavirya, rajarshi Ashtaka, Lomapada and the brave king and emperor, Bharata. O lord of the earth! We wish to go with you and see Prabhasa and the other tirthas, mountains like Mahendra, rivers like Ganga and giant trees like Plaksha. O lord of men! If you have any love for brahmanas, then swiftly do what we are asking you to. This will bring about your welfare. O mighty-armed one! The tirthas are infested by rakshasas, who always bring impediments in the way of austerities. Protect us from them. O lord of men! Visit the tirthas that have been described by Dhoumya, the wise Narada and the great ascetic devarshi Lomasha. Visit them all in the prescribed way. Protected by Lomasha and accompanied by us, be cleansed of all sin.” Having been thus worshipped by them, his eyes filled with tears of joy.
‘The bull among the Pandavas was surrounded by Bhimasena and his other brothers. He told all the rishis, “So shall it be.” With Lomasha’s permission and that of the priest Dhoumya’s, the best of the Pandavas, self-controlled, made up his mind to leave, with his brothers and with Droupadi, unblemished of form. At that time, the immensely fortunate Vyasa, Narada and Parvata, all of them extremely intelligent, appeared before the Pandava in Kamyaka, desirious of seeing him. King Yudhishthira worshipped them in accordance with the proper rites. When they had been worshipped, the immensely fortunate ones spoke to Yudhishthira. “O Yudhishthira! O twins! O Bhima! Banish all that is evil from your minds. Be clean and pure and go to the tirthas. The brahmanas have said that control of the body is the vow for humans. The brahmanas say that purification of the mind and the intelligence is the vow for gods. O lord of men! A mind that is clean is enough for brave ones. Therefore, bear friendship in your minds and purified, go to the tirthas. Use your mental powers to purify and control your bodies through vows. Resort to the vows of the gods and you will obtain the fruits that have been recounted.” The Pandavas and Krishna promised that it would be this way. Their journey was blessed by all the sages, divine and human. O Indra among kings! They then touched Lomasha’s feet and those of Dvaipayana, Narada and devarshi Parvata. Accompanied by Dhoumya and other denizens of the forest, the brave ones departed when the full moon night of Margashirsha372 was over and Pushya373 was in the ascendant. They were attired in tough bark and deerskin. Their hair was matted. Clad in impenetrable armour, they set out to visit the tirthas. They were accompanied by Indrasena and the other servants and had fourteen chariots. There were other attendants in charge of the food. O Janamejaya! With weapons, with swords tied and with quivers and arrows, the brave Pandavas set out, their faces towards the east.’
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‘Yudhishthira said, “O supreme among devarshis! I do not think myself to be without qualities. But yet I am tormented by miseries, like no other king. O Lomasha! I think that my enemies do not possess any qualities. Nor do they follow dharma. Why do they then prosper in this world?”
‘Lomasha replied, “O king! O Partha! You should never grieve that those who do not follow dharma achieve prosperity because they do not follow dharma. A man may be seen to prosper, attain fortune and triumph over his enemies, though he does not follow dharma, but will be destroyed, down to his roots. O lord of the earth! I have seen many daityas and danavas prosper, though they do not follow dharma. But decay finally overcomes them. O lord! I have witnessed all this earlier, in the era of the gods. The gods found delight in dharma, but the asuras gave up dharma. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The gods visited the tirthas, but the asuras did not. As a result of not following dharma, they were first filled with insolence. Insolence gave birth to vanity and vanity gave birth to anger. Anger resulted in a lack of shame and shamelessness destroyed their conduct. Because of their shamelessness, because of their lack of modesty, because of their evil conduct and because of their worthless vows, forgiveness, prosperity and dharma soon abandoned them. O king! Prosperity went to the gods and ill fortune went to the asuras. When ill fortune overwhelmed them, they lost their senses because of insolence. Dissension possessed the daityas and the danavas. O Kounteya! Overwhelmed by ill fortune and dissension and ove
rtaken by insolence, the danavas lost all their rites and intelligence. Overwhelmed by insolence, they soon confronted destruction. Overcome by infamy, the daityas were soon completely destroyed. But the gods went to oceans, rivers and lakes. They followed dharma and visited other purifying places. O Pandava! They observed austerities and sacrifices and gave gifts and benedictions. They discarded all sin and ensured their welfare. Thus, they were generous and always observed rites. They went to the tirthas. Therefore, they obtained supreme prosperity. O Indra among kings! Like that, you will also bathe in the tirthas with your younger brothers. You will also regain prosperity. That is the eternal path. O lord of the earth! Just as King Nriga, Shibi and Oushinara, Bhagiratha, Vasumana, Gaya, Puru and Pururava were purified, through always observing austerities, touching water and visiting tirthas and seeing great-souled ones, you will also obtain fame and pure riches. O Indra among kings! Like that, you will also obtain great prosperity. Like Ikshvaku with his sons, subjects and relatives, like Muchukunda, Mandhata and King Marutta obtained pure fame, like the gods with their power of austerities, like the devarshis, you will also obtain it. But the sons of Dhritarashtra are enslaved by insolence and delusion. There is no doubt that they will soon be destroyed like the daityas.”’
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Vaishampayana said, ‘O protector of the earth! Then those heroes, with the others,374 lived here and there, and eventually arrived at the Naimisha forest. O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The Pandavas performed their ablutions at the sacred tirtha of Gomati and donated cattle and riches. The Kouravas repeatedly satisfied the gods, the ancestors and the brahmanas at Kanya tirtha, Ashva tirtha375 and Gava tirtha.376 O lord of the earth! After staying in Valakoti on Mount Vrishaprastha, all the Pandavas bathed in Bahuda. O lord of the earth! They offered sacrifices to the gods in Prayaga, the sacrificial ground of the gods. Devoted to the truth, they cleaned their bodies and performed supreme austerities at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna. Having been cleansed of sin, those great-souled ones gave a lot of riches to brahmanas. O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Together with the brahmanas, those sons of Pandu then went to Prajapati’s377 altar, frequented by ascetics. The brave ones lived there, performing supreme austerities. They always satisfied the brahmanas with offerings obtained from the forest. They then went to Mahidhara, worshipped by rajarshi Gaya, unrivalled in radiance, learned in dharma and the performer of pure deeds. The lake Gayashira is there and the sacred Mahanadi. The extremely sacred and supreme Brahmasara378 is there, frequented by rishis. There the illustrious Agastya went to Vaivasvata.379 O king! That is where eternal Dharma himself lived. O lord of the earth! All the rivers originate from there. That is where Mahadeva, the wielder of the pinaka, is always present.380 The great Akshayavata is there and the Pandavas performed chaturmasya381 and the great sacrifice of the rishis there. Hundreds of brahmanas, rich in austerities, came there and performed the chaturmasya sacrifice in accordance with the rites laid down by the rishis. The learned brahmanas, learned in the Vedas and always devoted to austerities, talked about sacred accounts, while they were seated in the sacrificial ground of those great-souled ones.
‘O king! There was a brahmana named Shamatha. He was learned and immersed in vows and celibate. He spoke about Gaya, the son of Amurtarayas. “O descendant of the Bharata lineage!382 Gaya, the son of Amurtarayas, is supreme among rajarshis. Listen to me as I recount his virtuous deeds. O king! His sacrifice had a lot of food and a lot of stipends. There were mountains of food, in hundreds and thousands. There were several hundred rivers of ghee and curd. There were thousands of flows of rich condiments. O king! Day after day, they were given to those who asked for them. The brahmanas ate special food that was cooked well. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When the time came for distributing gifts, the sound of the brahman rose up to heaven. Nothing could be heard but for the sound of the brahman. O king! The sacred sound travelled through the earth, the sky and the firmament and filled them and it was extraordinary. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Satisfied with the pure food and drink, men sung a verse that radiated in every region. ‘Who is there among beings who still wishes to eat at Gaya’s sacrifice? There are still twenty-five mountains of food left. No men earlier, nor men hereafter, will do what the immensely radiant rajarshi Gaya did at this sacrifice. The gods have been extremely satisfied by the offerings tendered by Gaya. They will never be able to accept anything offered by others.’ O descendant of the Kuru lineage! Many such verses were sung at the sacrifice of the great-souled one, near the banks of the lake.”’
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Vaishampayana said, ‘Then King Kounteya, the giver of many gifts, departed. He went to Agastya’s hermitage and lived in Durjaya. The king asked Lomasha, supreme among eloquent ones, “Why was Vatapi immolated by Agastya here? What was the power of that daitya, killer of humans? What excited the anger of that great-souled one?”
‘Lomasha replied, “O descendant of the Kourava lineage! There was once a daitya named Ilvala. In earlier times, he lived in the city of Manimati and Vatapi was his younger brother. That son of Diti once spoke to a brahmana who had the power of austerities. ‘O illustrious one! Grant me a son who is Indra’s equal.’ Since the brahmana did not give him a son who was Vasava’s equal, the asura became extremely angry with the brahmana. If he383 summoned with his words anyone who had gone to Vaivasvata’s384 world, that person would regain his body and be seen to be alive. He changed the asura Vatapi and cooked him well. He fed this to the brahmana and summoned him385 back. O lord of the earth! O king! The great asura Vatapi smilingly ripped the brahmana’s side apart and emerged. O king! He thus fed brahmanas again and again. The evil-minded daitya Ilvala caused violence to them.
‘“At that time, the illustrious Agastya saw his ancestors hanging in a cave, with their faces downwards. He asked them, ‘Why are you hanging upside down like this?’ The ones learned in the nature of the brahman replied, ‘For the sake of offspring.’ They told him, ‘We are your ancestors. We have reached this cave and are hanging upside down for the sake of offspring. O Agastya! If you give birth to excellent offspring for our sake, we will be freed from this hell. O son! You will also attain the supreme objective.’ The energetic one, always devoted to the dharma of truth, told them, ‘O forefathers! I will do what you desire. Remove the fever from your minds.’ Then the illustrious rishi began to think about offspring. He could not see a fit enough lady in whom he could procreate himself.386 He then chose those limbs from different beings that are regarded as unsurpassed. Collecting those limbs, he created a supreme woman. Having created her for himself, the immensely ascetic sage gave her to the king of Vidarbha, who was desirous of offspring.387 The immensely fortunate one was born there, as radiant as lightning. She grew and her face was beautiful, her body was handsome. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! As soon as she was born, on seeing her, the king of Vidarbha was delighted and announced this to the brahmanas. O lord of the earth! All those brahmanas blessed her. The brahmanas gave her the name of Lopamudra. O great king! She grew up and her beauty was supreme. She swiftly grew, like a lotus in the water, or the auspicious crest of a fire. O Indra among kings! When she attained her youth, one hundred maidens adorned with ornaments and one hundred female servants served the beautiful one, attending to her instructions. O lord! Surrounded by the one hundred female servants and in the midst of the one hundred maidens, that energetic maiden blazed like Rohini388 in the sky. When she attained her youth, though she was good in conduct and manners, no man asked for her hand, out of fear for the great-souled one.389 The truthful maiden surpassed the apsaras in her beauty. She satisfied her father and her relatives with her good conduct. On seeing that Vidarbha’s daughter was accomplished and had attained her youth, the father began to think in his mind, ‘To whom shall I give my daughter?’”’
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‘Lomasha said, “When Agastya thought that she had become capable of leading a householder’s life, he went to Vidarbha, lo
rd of the earth and said, ‘O king! I have decided to be a householder for the sake of a son. O lord of the earth! I am asking for Lopamudra. Bestow her on me.’ Having been thus addressed by the sage, the lord of the earth lost his senses. He was incapable of refusing and he was unwilling to give. The lord of the earth went to his wife and told her, ‘The maharshi is full of valour. If angered, the flames of his curse will consume us.’ At that time, on seeing the lord of the earth and his wife thus miserable, Lopamudra went to them and spoke these words. ‘O lord of the earth! You should not be miserable on my account. O father! Bestow me on Agastya and save yourself.’ O lord of the earth! On hearing his daughter’s words, the king bestowed Lopamudra, in accordance with the appropriate rites, on the great-souled Agastya.
‘“Having obtained Lopamudra as his wife, Agastya told her, ‘Throw away those expensive garments and ornaments.’ The long-eyed one’s thighs were like those of Rambha.390 The garments were beautiful to see, expensive and fine. But at that, she discarded them. She donned bark and skins and rags. The long-eyed one became an equal in her vows. On going to Gangadvara, together with the wife who was devoted to him, the illustrious one, supreme among rishis, undertook severe austerities. She then served her husband with love and respect. The illustrious Agastya also exhibited great affection towards his wife. O lord of the earth! Thus, a lot of time passed. One day, the illustrious rishi saw Lopamudra after a bath. She was radiant in her austerities. He was pleased with her servitude, her purity and her self-control. He was pleased with her loveliness and her beauty and summoned her for intercourse.
Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) Page 9
