Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts)

by Debroy, Bibek

  Vaishampayana said, ‘Together with his brothers, the best of men bathed in Payoshni. Together with his brothers, the unblemished and energetic one went to Mount Vaidurya and the great river Narmada. O lord of the earth! In each place, the illustrious rishi Lomasha recounted for him the names of all the beautiful tirthas. As it pleased him and as it suited him, together with his brothers, he went to them one by one, donating riches in thousands to the brahmanas.

  ‘Lomasha said, “O Kounteya! On seeing Mount Vaidurya and descending into the Narmada, one attains the world of the gods and that of the kings. O best of men! This is the union of treta and dvapara. O Kounteya! Once one has reached this spot, one is cleansed of all sins. O son! This is the place of Sharyati’s sacrifice, where the Ashvins drank soma in person, with Koushika.546 The immensely ascetic Bhargava, the lord Chyavana, was angry with the great Indra and paralysed Vasava in his anger. He also obtained the princess Sukanya as his wife.”

  ‘Yudhishthira asked, “How did the illustrious one paralyse the chastiser of Paka? For what reason was the great ascetic Bhargava angered? O brahmana! Why were the Nasatyas547 made to become drinkers of soma? O illustrious one! Tell me all this exactly as it happened.”’

  419(122)

  ‘Lomasha said, “Maharshi Bhrigu had a son by the name of Bhargava Chyavana. This immensely radiant one performed austerities near this lake. O Pandava! That immensely energetic one established himself like a pillar in this spot for the brave. O lord of the earth! He remained in the same spot for a very long period of time. O king! After a long period of time, the rishi was covered by an anthill and that was covered with creepers. This was coverd by ants. Thus that intelligent one became like a mound of earth on every side. O king! He continued with his austerities inside that anthill.

  ‘“After a long period of time, a king named Sharyati came to amuse himself in that beautiful and supreme lake. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were four thousand women with him, ones he had married. There was also a daughter named Sukanya and her brows were beautiful. Surrounded by her friends and adorned in diverse ornaments, she roamed around and approached Bhargava’s anthill. On seeing the beautiful trees there, the one with the beautiful teeth began to roam around, surrounded by her friends. She was beautiful, young and intoxicated with pangs of love. She broke off the branches of the trees in the forest, burdened with heavy blossoms. The wise Bhargava saw her alone, when she was without her friends. Like a flash of lighning, he saw her clad in a single piece of garment and adorned in her ornaments. On seeing her roaming in the forest alone, the supremely radiant brahmarshi, endowed with the strength of austerities, was stirred by desire. He spoke to the fortunate one in his broken voice, but she could not hear him. Then Sukanya saw Bhargava’s eyes through the anthill. Because of her curiosity, she was deluded of her intelligence. Exclaiming, ‘What is this!’ she pierced the eyes with a thorn.

  ‘“He was easily stirred to great rage and when his eyes had been pierced, he was angered. He cursed Sharyati’s soldiers that all their bowel and bladder movements should cease. On seeing that the bowel and bladder movements of his soldiers had stopped, the king was saddened and asked, ‘The great-souled Bhargava is old and is especially prone to anger. He is always engaged in austerities. Who has injured him today, knowingly or unknowingly? Tell me the truth immediately.’ At that, all the soldiers replied, ‘We do not know of any injury. Do what you wish and find out through some other means.’ Then the king himself used conciliation and threats. He asked his group of well-wishers, but they did not know anything. On seeing her father saddened and his soldiers oppressed by distress, Sukanya then said, ‘When I was roaming, I saw some shining being inside the anthill. I thought that it was a firefly and I pierced it.’ Having heard this, Sharyati immediately went to the anthill. He saw Bhargava there, aged in austerities and aged in age. Joining his hands in salutation, the lord of the earth prayed for his soldiers. ‘Please pardon what that girl did to you out of ignorance.’ Bhargava Chyavana then told the lord of the earth, ‘She is beautiful and generous. But she has been overcome by grief and delusion. O king! Give your daughter to me as a wife. O lord of the earth! I tell you truly that only then will I pardon.’ On hearing the rishi’s words, Sharyati did not hesitate at all. He gave his daughter to the great-souled Chyavana.

  ‘“After having married the maiden, Chyavana became pacified. Having obtained the favours, the king returned, together with the soldiers. The unblemished Sukanya obtained the ascetic as her husband. She always tended to him lovingly and observed the rules of austerities. The one with the beautiful face, devoid of discontentment, served the fire and the guests and swiftly began to worship Chyavana.”’

  420(123)

  ‘Lomasha said, “O king! After some time, the gods who were the two Ashvins saw Sukanya. She had just bathed and was naked. On seeing the beautiful limbs of the one who was like the daughter of the king of the gods, the Nasatyas, the Ashvins, came to her and said, ‘O one with the beautiful thighs! Whose are you? What are you doing in this forest? O fortunate one! We wish to know about you. O beautiful one! Therefore, tell us.’ At that, Sukanya covered herself and told the best of the gods, ‘I am Sharyati’s daughter. I am Chyavana’s wife and property.’ The Ashvins laughed and again told her, ‘O fortunate one! Why has your father bestowed someone like you on a man who has already finished his travels?548 O timid one! You are radiant in this forest like a flash of lightning. O beautiful one! We have not seen someone equal to you even among the gods. If you are adorned with every ornament and attired in excellent garments, you will dazzle even more with your unblemished limbs, and not smeared in dirt like this. Why does someone like you serve a husband who is overcome with age? O beautiful one! Love and desire have deserted him. O one with the sweet smiles! He is not capable of protecting you and sustaining you. Therefore, give up Chyavana. Therefore, accept one of us as your husband. You are like one born from a divine womb. Do not waste your youth.’ Having been thus addressed, Sukanya again told the gods, ‘I am devoted to my husband Chyavana. Do not have any doubts about that.’ They again told her, ‘We are the physicians of the gods. We will make your husband young and beautiful. Then choose a husband from the three of us. O one with the beautiful face! Tell him about this arrangement and bring him here.’ O king! At these words, she went to Bhrigu’s son and reported this to him. On hearing this, Chyavana told his wife that they should act in that way.

  ‘“On obtaining her husband’s permission, she said that the act should be done. On hearing her words that the act should be done, the Ashvins said that her husband should immerse himself in the water. Desirous of becoming handsome, Chyavana swiftly entered the water. O king! O lord! The Ashvins also entered the lake. After an instant had passed, all of them climbed out of the lake. All of them were young and divine in beauty, with dazzling earrings. All of them were equal in beauty, bringing delight to the mind. Then all of them told her together, ‘O fortunate one! O blessed one! O beautiful one! Choose one of us for your husband, whomsoever you desire. O one with the beautiful features! Choose whichever one is desired by you.’ On seeing all of them standing there, equal in beauty, the lady chose with her own mind and intelligence and chose her own husband.

  ‘“Having obtained a wife and the youthful beauty that he desired, Chyavana happily spoke these words to the greatly energetic Nasatyas. ‘You have endowed an aged one with youthful beauty and I have also obtained this lady as my wife. I am pleased with you because you have made me young and I give you the right to drink soma, even in the presence of the king of the gods. I tell you this truthfully.’ Having heard this, the two happily returned to heaven. Chyavana and Sukanya sported themselves, like the gods.”’

  421(124)

  ‘Lomasha said, “On learning that Chyavana had become young, Sharyati was delighted and came with his soldiers to visit Bhargava in his hermitage. He saw Chyavana and Sukanya, beautiful like the children of the gods. King Sharyati was as delighted as if he had won
the entire earth. With his wife, the lord of the earth was received with honour by the rishi. The king seated himself with the fortunate one549 and began to converse about weighty matters. Then Bhargava told the king in a conciliatory tone. ‘O king! I will perform a sacrifice for you. Arrange for the ingredients.’ Sharyati, lord of the earth, was extremely delighted at this. O great king! He welcomed Chyavana’s words.

  ‘“On an auspicious day for the sacrifice, Sharyati constructed an excellent sacrificial ground and filled it with every desirable object. O king! It was there that Bhargava Chyavana performed a sacrifice. Hear about the extraordinary events that occurred there. Chyavana grasped a cup of soma then, so as to offer it to the divine Ashvins. But when he was about to offer the cup, Indra restrained him. Indra said, ‘In my view, these two Nasatyas are unworthy of being offered soma. They are the physicians of the gods and their acts make them unworthy of worship.’ Chyavana replied, ‘They are great in powers. They are great in soul. They are wealthy in beauty and riches. O Maghavan! They have made me young, like the ageless gods. Together with you and the other gods, why should they be unworthy of receiving offerings? O lord of the gods! O Purandara! Know that the Ashvins are also gods.’ Indra said, ‘These two are physicians and nothing but servants. They can adopt any form they desire. They roam the world of the mortals. How can they be deserving of soma?’ Despite Vasava repeating these words, Bhargava paid no heed to Shakra’s words and grasped the cup. On seeing that he was about to offer a share of the excellent soma to the Ashvins, the god, who was the destroyer of Bala, spoke these words. ‘If you willingly grasp the soma and offer it to them, I will hurl my vajra, supreme and terrible in form, at you.’ Having been thus addressed, Bhargava smiled and looked at Indra. Following the procedure, he grasped some excellent soma and offered it to the Ashvins.

  ‘“Then Shachi’s husband hurled the vajra, terrible in form, at him. Just as he was about to hurl it, Bhargava paralysed his arm. Having paralysed him, Chyavana uttered mantras and made offerings to the fire. Having succeeded in his objective, the greatly energetic one was about to cause violence to the god. Having decided this, with the strength of his austerities, the sage created a gigantic asura by the name of Mada,550 great in valour and immense in form. His body was incapable of being measured by the gods or the demons. His mouth was terrible. It was gigantic and full of sharp teeth. One of the jaws rested on earth and the other stretched up to heaven. He had four fangs that extended for ten thousand yojanas. His other fangs extended for ten yojanas. They had forms like walls and looked like the tips of spears. His arms were like mountains and each was ten thousand yojanas long. His eyes resembled the sun and the moon. His mouth looked like death. He licked his mouth with his darting tongue, as fickle as lightning. His mouth was agape and his sight terrifying, as if he was about to swallow up the earth by force. In great rage, he rushed at Shatakratu, as if to devour him. The world resounded from the noise of his great and terrible roar.”’

  422(125)

  ‘Lomasha said, “On seeing Mada, terrible of face and with a gaping mouth like that of death himself, approach with the intention of devouring him, the god Shatakratu licked the corners of his mouth in fear. His arm was paralysed. Oppressed by fear, the king of the gods told Chyavana, ‘O Bhargava! From today, the Ashvins will be deserving of soma. O brahmana! I truthfully give you my word. You do not undertake an endeavour that is unsuccessful. Your words are the supreme law. O brahmarshi! I know that you never act out of falsehood. You have decided today that these Ashvins are deserving of soma offerings. O Bhargava! I engineered this to ensure that the power of your valour might spread once more and so that the fame of Sukanya and her father might spread in the world. Therefore, show your favours to me. Let it be as you wish.’ At these words of Shakra, the great-souled Bhargava’s wrath was swiftly appeased and he set Purandara free.

  ‘“The valorous one divided Mada and distributed him in drinks, women, gambling and hunting, in which, it had earlier been created again and again. Having thus thrown Mada away, he satisfied Indra with soma and also the Ashvins, together with the other gods. Having performed the sacrifice for the king, the supreme among eloquent ones became famous in the worlds because of his valour and sported with his beloved Sukanya in the forest.

  ‘“O king! His lake shines there, noisy with birds. Together with your brothers, you must offer oblations to the ancestors and the gods there. O protector of the earth! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having seen this and Sikataksha, you should go to the Saindhava forest and see the streams there. O great king! You should touch the water at all the pushkaras.551 There is Mount Archika, inhabited by the learned. It is always full of fruit and always has flowing streams. The winds make it the supreme of regions. O Yudhishthira! There are many hundreds of sanctuaries constructed by the thirty gods there. This is the moon’s tirtha, worshipped by the rishis, the vaikhanasa rishis and the valakhilyas. There are three sacred peaks and three springs. You can circumambulate them one by one and perform your ablutions, as you desire. O Kounteya! O lord of men! Shantanu, Shunaka and both Nara and Narayana obtained the eternal regions here. O Yudhishthira! The gods and the ancestors always sleep with the maharshis on Mount Archika and perform austerities there. Worship them. O lord of the earth! The rishis prepared the charu there. There is also Yamuna with the eternal currents, where Krishna engaged in austerities. O destroyer of enemies. The twins, Bhimasena, Krishna and we—all of us will go there together, lean and extremely ascetic. O lord of men! This is Indra’s sacred stream. Dhata, Vidhata and Varuna ascended upwards there.552 O king! They dwelt here, forgiving and engaging in supreme dharma. This pure mountain is appropriate for those who are friendly and of upright minds. O king! Here is the Yamuna, frequented by masses of rajarshis. O king! Many sacrifices have been performed here. It is holy and banishes fear of sin. O Kounteya! The great archer, King Mandhata, himself performed a sacrifice here and so did Somaka Sahadeva, supreme among those who gave.”’

  423(126)

  ‘Yudhishthira asked, “Mandhata was a tiger among kings, famous in the three worlds. O great brahmana! How was that supreme of kings, the son of Yuvanashva, born? How did that infinitely radiant one attain the supreme objective? The three worlds were as much under his control as under the great-souled Vishnu. I wish to hear about the character of that wise one. He was as resplendent as Shakra. How did he obtain the name of Mandhata? How was the one with unmatched valour born? You are a skilled one.”553

  ‘Lomasha said, “O king! Listen attentively to how that great-souled king came to obtain the name of Mandhata, recounted in the worlds. There was a lord of the earth named Yuvanashva, in the lineage of Ikshvaku. The protector of the earth performed many sacrifices and gave away a lot of stipends. The foremost among those who uphold dharma performed one thousand horse sacrifices and many other sacrifices, in which, there were many stipends. But the rajarshi, great in his soul and firm in his vows, had no sons. He entrusted the kingdom to his ministers and lived permanently in the forest. Contemplating his own soul, he engaged in the rules laid down in the sacred texts.

  ‘“Once, his heart was dry with thirst and he entered Bhrigu’s hermitage. O Indra among kings! On that night, the great-souled maharshi, who was Bhrigu’s son, performed a sacrifice so that Soudyumni554 might obtain a son. Mantras were recited over water and a large pot was filled with this. O Indra among kings! It had been established there earlier, so that his wife might drink it and give birth to a son who was Shakra’s equal. The maharshis had placed the pot on the altar. Exhausted as a result of staying up at night, they had gone to sleep. Soudyumni passed them. The king’s throat was parched from thirst and he was desperate for a drink. He was exhausted. On entering the hermitage, he asked for a drink. Because he was tired, his throat was dry and no one heard him. His tone was like a bird’s notes. On seeing the pot filled with water, the king swiftly ran towards it. Having drunk the cold water, the intelligent king’s thirst was quenched and he was happy. He threw
the rest of the water away and slept.

  ‘“Later, the rishis awoke, along with the lord of men. On seeing that the pot was empty of water, all of them assembled together and asked, ‘Who has done this?’ Yuvanashva truthfully replied, ‘It was I.’ The illustrious Bhargava then said, ‘This was not right. After austerities, this water had been collected for the sake of your son. O rajarshi! I performed terrible austerities in the name of the brahman, so that you might have an immensely strong and valorous son and passed it on.555 He would have been immensely strong and immensely valorous and would have been full of the power of austerities. His valour would have been such that he would even have sent Shakra to Yama’s abode. O king! These were the rituals through which the water had been prepared by me. O king! Your drinking the water today is not an act that should have been done. But it is now impossible to reverse the deed that has been done. What you have done must certainly have been decreed by destiny. Because you were thirsty, you drank water that had been sanctified with rites and mantras. O great king! That water was infused with my power and austerities. Therefore, you will yourself give birth to a son with these characteristics. We will perform the rites and sacrifices for you so that this supremely extraordinary event may occur and a valorous son, the equal of Shakra, is born.’ Then one hundred years passed. The left side of the great-souled king was rent asunder and a son emerged, extremely energetic like the sun. But Yuvanashva, the lord of men, did not die and this was certainly extraordinary.

  ‘“The immensely energetic Shakra came there to see him and Shakra inserted his own forefinger into the child’s mouth. The wielder of the vajra said, ‘He will suck me.’ Then Indra and the other gods named him Mandhata.556 O protector of the earth! Having sucked the forefinger offered by Shakra, the child grew to thirteen cubits.557 O great king! The knowledge of the Vedas, together with that of dhanurveda and that of all the divine weapons, appeared before this lord at the instant that he thought about them. The bow named Ajagava, arrows made of horn and impenetrable armour instantly followed his commands. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Maghavan Shakra himself instated him. He conquered the three worlds with his dharma, like Vishnu in his valour.558 The great-souled one’s realm559 was unobstructed. Gems flowed to the rajarshi of their own accord. O lord of the earth! This earth, with all its riches, belonged to him. He performed many varied sacrifices and gave away abundant stipends. O king! Having erected many sanctuaries in accordance and acquired abundant dharma, that immensely energetic and greatly radiant one obtained half of Shakra’s kingdom. In a single day, the wise one, always with dharma, brought the entire earth, with all its habitations and stores of jewels, under his control. O great king! The four corners of the earth are covered with his sacrificial grounds, where he performed sacrifices with donations. There is no spot that was not covered. O great king! It is said that the great-souled one gave brahmanas ten thousand padmas560 of cattle. When there was a drought for twelve years, the great-souled one made it rain, so that the crops might grow, while the one with the vajra in his hand,561 looked on. The great king of Gandhara was born in the lunar dynasty. But with a roar like that of the giant clouds, he killed him with his sharp arrows.562 O king! The great-souled one subjugated the four types of beings. Through his austerities and energy, he established the worlds. This is the place where he, as radiant as the sun, offered sacrifices to the gods. Behold this sacred region, in the middle of Kurukshetra. O protector of the earth! I have narrated to you everything about the great character of Mandhata and his wonderful birth, about which you had asked me.”’