‘“O king! I then saw Indra’s chariot arrive. It was yoked to tawny horses. It was divine, magical and sacred and was driven by Matali. The lokapalas having left, Matali told me, ‘O immensely radiant one! Shakra, the king of the gods, wishes to see you. O mighty-armed one! First attain perfection. Then perform supreme deeds. Behold the regions earned by those with pure deeds. Go to heaven in your physical body.’ At Matali’s words, I took my leave of Shaishira mountain. Circumambulating, I ascended that supreme chariot. Matali, expansive in generosity and an expert about horses, drove those steeds in the proper fashion, with the speed of the mind and the wind. O king! On seeing me seated steadily though the chariot was swinging, the charioteer was surprised and wonderingly said, ‘Today, this seems to me to be wonderful and extraordinary. You are seated in this divine chariot, but have not moved even a foot. O bull among the Bharata lineage! When the horses make their first movements, I have noticed that even the king of the gods loses his balance. O extender of the Kuru lineage! But you are seated in this fashion, though the chariot is swinging. It seems to me that your powers have surpassed those of Shakra.’ O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having said this, Matali soared up into the sky and lovingly showed me Nandana and many other groves of the gods. I saw Shakra’s abode of Amaravati. It was adorned with divine trees that yielded every object of desire and jewels. The sun did not light it up. No chill or heat was felt there. O king! There was no fatigue, dust, mud, darkness or old age. No sorrow, misery or pallor could be noticed there. O great king! O oppressor of enemies! There was no weariness among the inhabitants of heaven. O lord of the earth! There was no anger or greed, nor anything inauspicious. Beings in the abodes of the gods are always satisfied and happy. There are always flowers and fruit in trees that are green with foliage. There are many ponds full of lotuses and sougandhika flowers. The breeze is cool, fragrant, refreshing and pure there. There are many jewels everywhere and the ground is strewn with flowers. There are many beautiful animals and birds, with sweet voices. Many immortals can be seen, riding their vimanas. I saw the Vasus, the Rudras, the Sadhyas, the masses of Maruts, the Adityas and the Ashvins and offered homage to all of them. They gave me their blessings for valour, fame, energy, strength, the learning of weapons and victory in battle.
‘“I then entered that beautiful city, worshipped by gods and gandharvas. Hands joined in salutation, I stood before the king of the gods, the one with a thousand eyes. Shakra, supreme among generous ones, was delighted and offered me half of his throne. O one who is generous with gifts! Then Vasava honoured me and touched my body. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! For the sake of weapons and learning, I began to dwell in heaven, together with the gods and the gandharvas. O king! Vishvavasu’s178 son Chitrasena became my friend and he taught me everything that the gandharvas knew. O king! Having obtained the weapons and having been honoured, I lived there happily in Shakra’s abode, getting everything that I wished for. I heard the sounds of songs and the splendid sounds of many musical instruments. O scorcher of enemies! I witnessed the dancing of the best of the apsaras. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Without ignoring those, which I learnt properly, I specially devoted my attention to learning about weapons. At that, the thousand-eyed lord was satisfied with my wishes. O king! In this way, the period of my residence in heaven passed.”’
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‘Arjuna said, “When I was skilled in weapons and had obtained his confidence, Harivahana179 touched my head with his hands and spoke these words. ‘Today, the masses of gods are incapable of vanquishing you in battle, not to speak of humans of the world who have not perfected their souls. You are immeasurable and unassailable. You are also incomparable in battle.’ Then, with his body hair standing up, the god again said, ‘O brave one! There will be no one who will be your match in fighting with weapons. You are never distracted. You are skilled. You are truthful and in control of your senses. You are like a brahmana. You are skilled in the usage of weapons. O extender of the Kuru lineage! You have obtained ten weapons and five.180 O Partha! Know that you have no equal in all the five ways. O Dhananjaya! You know how to employ, restrain, return, pacify and counteract them.181 You know everything about atonement and repulsion. O scorcher of enemies! The time has now come for you to pay your preceptor’s fees. Promise to pay it and then I will tell you what you have to do.’ O king! At that, I spoke these words to the king of the gods. ‘If it is in my power to do it, then consider it done.’ O king! Bala and Vritra’s slayer smiled and told me, ‘There is nothing in the three worlds that is impossible for you. The danavas named nivatakavachas are my enemies. They live in an inaccessible spot, along the shores of the ocean. They are thirty million in number and they are identical in form, strength and radiance. O Kounteya! Destroy them there. That will be the preceptor’s fee.’ He gave me the immensely radiant and divine chariot, driven by Matali. It was yoked to horses that had hair as beautiful as the feathers of peacocks. He tied an excellent diadem on my head. He gave me ornaments for the body, similar to those he himself wore and this supreme, beautiful and impenetrable armour, pleasant to the touch. I strung Gandiva with this string that does not decay.
‘“I then set out on that resplendent chariot, on which, in earlier times, the lord of the gods vanquished Bali, Virochana’s son. All the gods were alerted by the roar. O lord of the earth! Thinking me to be the king of the gods, they assembled and having seen me, asked, ‘O Phalguna! What will you do?’ I then told them exactly what had occurred and said, ‘I will do this in battle. I am departing to kill the nivatakavachas. O immensely fortunate ones! O unblemished ones! O pure ones! Give me your blessings.’ They were as satisfied and pleased with me as the god Purandara. ‘Ascended on this chariot, Maghavan vanquished in battle Shambara, Namuchi, Bala, Vritra, Prahlada and Naraka. On this chariot, Maghavan vanquished in battle many thousands, prayutas and arbudas of daityas.182 O Kounteya! You will also vanquish the nivatakavachas in battle and show your prowess, just as the self-controlled Maghavan did earlier. Here is the supreme conch shell with which you will conquer the danavas. Using this, the great-souled Shakra conquered the worlds.’183 The gods gave me Devadatta,184 obtained from the waters, and I accepted it. Then, for the sake of victory, the immortals praised me. Desiring to fight, I left for the terrible abode of the danavas, with the conch shell, armour and arrows, having grasped the bow firmly.”’
463(166)
‘Arjuna said, “Wherever I went, I was praised by the maharshis. Then I beheld the terrible ocean, the eternal lord of the waters. Towering waves could be seen there, full of foam, dashing against each other and scattering, like moving mountains. There were thousands of boats, laden with gems, in every direction. Timingilas,185 tortoises, whales and crocodiles could be seen, immersed in the water like mountains. Thousands of conch shells could be seen in every direction, immersed in the water. They looked like stars in the night, covered by thin clouds. Thousands of gems floated in heaps. A terrible wind whirled over this and it was extraordinary. I crossed over that supreme and extremely forceful storehouse of waters and drew near to the city of the daityas. I saw it, infested with danavas. Matali swiftly descended on to the ground. He drove on to the city, filling it with the roar of the chariot. On hearing the roar of the chariot, like the sound of thunder in the sky, the danavas took me to be the king of the gods and were anxious. Their minds trembled. All of them stood there, holding arrows and bows, spears, swords, battleaxes, clubs and maces in their hands. Their minds trembling with fear, the danavas closed the gates. They arranged for the protection of the city and nothing could be seen.
‘“I took out the conch shell Devadatta, whose sound is great. Circling around the city of the asuras, I blew gently on it. That sound echoed everywhere and seemed to stupefy the sky. On hearing this, the immensely mighty beings trembled and hid themselves. Then all the nivatakavachas, Diti’s sons, appeared everywhere. They were clad in different kinds of armour and had many different weapons in their hands. There w
ere gigantic iron lances, clubs, maces, spears and the wheels of chariots in their hands. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were shataghnis,186 catapults and brilliantly ornamented swords. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Then, thinking about the route the chariot should take, Matali drove the horses along level ground. Because of the swift speed that he made the horses adopt, I could see nothing and it seemed to me to be extraordinary. Then the many martial danavas adopted distorted voices and shapes. That great sound made hundreds and thousands of fishes die, suddenly floating up in the sky, like mountains. With great force, the danavas rushed towards me. They discharged hundreds and thousands of sharp arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! For the sake of the death of the nivatakavachas, a great and terrible fight occurred between them and me. Devarshis, masses of rishis among the danavas, brahmarshis and siddhas assembled to witness that great battle. Hoping for victory, the hermits praised me with eloquent and sweet voices, just as they praised Indra at the time of tarakamaya.”’187
464(167)
‘Arjuna said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Grasping weapons in order to do battle, all the nivatakavachas rushed towards me. With angry yells, those maharathas obstructed the path of my chariot. They surrounded me from all directions and enveloped me with a shower of arrows. Other immensely valorous ones grasped lances and spears in their hands. They used lances and catapults on me. A great shower of lances, clubs and javelins was continuously hurled and descended on my chariot. Other nivatakavachas rushed at me in battle. They were armed with sharp weapons and missiles. They were terrible and skilled in fighting, like death. I sliced them down in battle with many swift and straight arrows released from Gandiva and pierced each of them with ten.188 Those arrows used by me, sharpened on stone, drove all of them back. Those horses were swiftly driven by Matali and as fleet as the wind, performed many manoeuvres of the chariot. The skilled Matali trampled many of Diti’s sons. Hundreds and hundreds of tawny horses were yoked to that great chariot. But in Matali’s hands, there seemed to be only a few. Through the hooves, the terrible noise of the chariot and my bows, hundreds of asuras were slain. Others, grasping their bows even when they were dead, and with their charioteers killed, were carried away on horses. Those who were skilled in fighting covered all the directions. With all these weapons, my mind was distressed.
‘“But Matali’s valour seemed supremely extraordinary to me. He guided the swift horses lightly. O king! With light hands, I cut down hundreds and thousands of asuras in that battle, together with their weapons. O slayer of enemies! The brave Matali, Shakra’s charioteer, was pleased when I roamed around in these endeavours. Some were crushed by the horses, others by the chariot. Some died. Others gave up fighting. In that battle, other nivatakavachas challenged me and attacked me from all sides with great showers of arrows. With light arrows that had been invoked with the brahmastra weapon, I consumed them in hundreds and thousands. Those angry and gigantic asuras were oppressed by me. They oppressed me with a shower of arrows, spears and swords. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! I then picked up the beloved weapon of the king of the gods, named madhava. It possessed supreme energy. Through the energy of that weapon, I sliced into a hundred pieces the swords, tridents and javelins that they hurled at me in their thousands. Having angrily sliced their weapons, I pierced each of them with ten arrows. The great arrows that were unleashed from Gandiva in that battle were like swarms of bees and Matali praised them. They also covered me with many arrows, as innumerable as locusts. But I powerfully repulsed them with my arrows. Being struck, the nivatakavachas again surrounded me from all directions, with a great shower of arrows. But I repulsed them with thousands of flaming, supreme and swift arrows that were capable of countering arrows. Like water draining from the peak of a mountain during the rainy season, blood began to flow from their mangled bodies. Pierced by the swift and straight-travelling arrows, with an impact like that of Indra’s vajra, the danavas became extremely anxious. Their bodies were cut into a hundred pieces. Their weapons lost their energy. The nivatakavachas then began to fight me with the powers of maya.”’189
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‘Arjuna said, “Then a mighty shower of rocks appeared in all the directions. Those terrible rocks, as large as mountain, oppressed me grievously. But in that battle, with swift arrows that were like the vajra and were discharged from Indra’s weapon, I shattered them into a hundred splinters. When the rocks were shattered, there was a fire and those splintered rocks fell into it like sparks. When that shower of rocks was dissipated, there was a great shower of water. It poured down on me in flows that were as large as axles.190 The shower descending from the sky, in thousands of powerful streams, enveloped the sky and the directions everywhere. Nothing could be seen because of the downpour of water, the roar of the wind and the roars of the daityas. The water covered everything between heaven and earth. Descending continuously on earth, that torrent confounded me. At that, I discharged the terrible, flaming and divine weapon named vishoshana,191 obtained from Indra, and this dried the water up. O one who is deserving of honour! When the shower of rocks was destroyed by me and the shower of water dried up, the danavas used maya to unleash wind and fire. I destroyed all the fire with a weapon named salila.192 I countered the force of the wind through a great weapon named shaila.193 O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When that had been countered, the danavas, indomitable in battle, resorted to many types of maya and yoga. There was a great shower that made one’s body hair stand up, consisting of terrible weapons, fire, wind and rocks. That shower, created through maya, oppressed me in battle. A terrible darkness then manifested itself in every direction.
‘“When the world was completely immersed in that terrible and dense darkness, the horses drew back and Matali tumbled forward. The golden whip fell down from his hand, onto the ground. O bull among the Bharata lineage! He repeatedly cried out, ‘Where are you?’ When he had lost his senses in this way, a terrible fear overcame me. Trembling and bereft of his senses, he told me, ‘O Partha! O unblemished one! In earlier times, there was a terrible war between the gods and the demons for the sake of amrita. I witnessed it. There was a terrible and great battle for the slaying of Shambara194 and I was the charioteer of the king of the gods then too. Like that, I drove the steeds at the killing of Vritra. I also witnessed the terrible and great battle for Virochana’s son.195 O Pandava! I have seen those terrible and great battles. But never before have I lost my senses. It must certainly have been determined by the grandfather196 that all beings will be destroyed. But for the destruction of the universe, I can find no other reason for this battle.’ On hearing these words of his, and pacifying myself in my own mind, I got ready to confound this great strength of maya of the danavas.
‘“I told the terrified Matali, ‘Behold the strength of my arms, the might of my weapons and those of this bow Gandiva. O charioteer! Do not be scared. Be steady. With the maya of my weapons, I will now counter this terrible maya and repulse this terrible darkness.’ O lord of men! Having said this, I unleashed the maya of my weapons for the welfare of the thirty gods, capable of deluding all beings. That maya having been dispelled, the lords of the asuras, infinitely energetic, again unleashed many different types of maya. It was suddenly light. Suddenly everything was immersed in darkness. The world could sometimes not be seen. Sometimes it was immersed in the water. When it was light, in that battle which made one’s body hair stand up, Matali drove the chariot, yoked to horses that were handled well. Then the terrible nivatakavachas rushed towards me. Whenever I saw an opening, I sent them to Yama’s abode. In that battle, for the destruction of the nivatakavachas, suddenly I could not see any of the danavas. They had covered themselves with maya.”’
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‘Arjuna said, “Invisible, the daityas fought me with maya. With the power of invisible weapons, I continued to fight with them. The shafted arrows from Gandiva, empowered with mantras, sliced off their heads, wherever they were. At that, thus killed by me
in battle, the nivatakavachas suddenly withdrew their maya and retreated into their city again. The daityas having fled and everything visible again, I saw the dead danavas there, in hundreds and thousands. There were shattered weapons and ornaments. Heaps of dead bodies and armour could be seen. There was no room for the horses to move their feet. They197 suddenly rose up and took to the sky. Invisible, the nivatakavachas covered the entire sky and showered down large rocks. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Other terrible danavas entered the interiors of the earth and restrained the feet of the horses and the wheels of the chariot. While engaged in the fight, they seized the tawny horses and the chariot and covered me, ascended on the chariot, in every direction with rocks. Because of the rocks that covered me, and because of the others that kept falling, the entire region where we were stationed looked like a cave. I was sorely oppressed, being enveloped with rocks. The horses had been restrained. On noticing that I was scared, Matali said, ‘O Arjuna! O Arjuna! Do not be frightened. Discharge the vajra weapon.’ O lord of men! On hearing these words of his, I unleashed the vajra weapon, the vajra that is loved by the king of the gods. I resorted to an immobile spot and invoked Gandiva with the mantra. I discharged sharp iron arrows that had the force of the vajra. Having been discharged from the vajra, those arrows became like the vajra themselves. They penetrated all the maya of the nivatakavachas. Struck by the vajras, those danavas clung to one another and fell down on the ground, like mountains. The arrows hunted out the danavas who had entered the interiors of the earth and had seized the horses and the chariot, and dispatched them to Yama’s abode. That place was littered with the corpses of mountainous nivatakavachas, as if strewn with mountains. It was extraordinary that the horses, the chariot, Matali or I did not suffer any injury.
Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) Page 26
