Reading section 31

Parāçara said Having replied to the Earth saying "so be it" the lord, who is the substance of all creatures, took various jewels from Naraka's abode. Having entered the female apartment the highly powerful Krishna saw sixteen thousand and one hundred damsels. He also found in the palace sixteen thousand huge elephants each having four tusks, twenty-one lakhs of horses of Kāmboja and other excellent breeds. All those Govinda sent to Dwārakā in charge of the servants of Naraka. Thereupon he placed Varuna's umbrella and the golden mountain on Garuda's back, And having ascended with Satyabhāmā he repaired to the city of celestials to restore to Aditi her ear-rings.

SECTION XXX.

Carrying the umbrella of Varuna, the jewel mountain and Hrishikesh with his spouse on his back, Garuda went along lightly and sportively. When Hari arrived at the gate of Swarga he blew his conch on which the celestials came forward to meet him bearing respectful offerings. Having received the homage of the celestials he proceeded to the palace of the mother of gods whose turrets resembled the white clouds and found Aditi there. Thereupon having bowed unto her along with the king of celestials he conferred the pair of ear-rings upon her and related unto her the destruction of the demon Naraka. Well-pleased, Aditi, the mother of Gods with her thoughts wholly devoted unto Hari, the protector of the universe, began to chant his glories:—"Salutation unto thee, O thou having lotus eyes, who removest all fear of the devotees, who art eternal, the soul of all creatures, the creator of all and identical with all. Thou art at one with the three qualities and the creator of mind, intellect and senses. Thou art beyond the three qualities, exempt from contraries, pure, residing in the hearts of all; void of colour, extension and every transient modification and uninfluenced by the changes of birth and death and sleep and waking. Thou art evening, night and day, earth, sky, air, water and fire, mind, intellect and individuality. Thou art the agent of creation, preservation and destruction and the lord over the agent—thou appearest in various forms which are Brahmā, Vishnu and Siva—and thou art the master of all these thy forms. Thou art Gods, Yakshas, Daityas, Rākshasas, Sidhas, Pannagas, Kushmandas, Pisāchas, Gandharvas, men, animals, deer, elephants, reptiles, trees, shrubs, creepers, climbers, and grasses—all things, large, middling, and small, immense or minute; thou art all bodies whatsoever composed of aggregated atoms. Those who are ignorant of thy true nature cannot understand thy illusion—the fools (only) follow the illusion and think 'this is mine'. O Lord, thy illusion is the mother of the world—and the notions 'I am, this is mine' are but delusions. O Lord, those men, who attentive to their duties, worship thee, obtain salvation after traversing these illusions. Brahmā and all the celestials, men and animals are alike enshrouded by the thick darkness of delusion in the abyss of the illusions of Vishnu. This is also thy delusion, O lord, that men having worshipped thee seek the gratification of desires and their own preservation. That people having worshipped thee desire for the total annihilation of themselves is but the outcome of thy delusion. That I have worshipped thee for son and the destruction of the enemies and not for salvation is also the result of thy fascination. It is the fruit of the iniquitous acts of the impious (to pray for vain things to one who is able to give better things) like asking for a rag to cover nakedness from the tree that confers whatever is solicited from it. Be propitious with me, O thou imperishable, who hast deceived the whole universe with thy delusion. O lord of creatures, do thou remove this ignorance of mine—the notion that I am wise; salutation unto thee, the holder of discus; salutation unto thee the wielder of bow; salutation unto thee, the holder of a club; salutation unto thee, the holder of a conch. O god, I do perceive thy perceptible form—but cannot perceive thy real form; do thou therefore be propitious with me".

Parāçara said:—The mother of gods, having thus chanted the glories of Vishnu, he smiling said:—"Thou art our mother, O goddess, be thou propitious and confer upon me a boon".

Aditi said:—"So be it, ever as thou wilt; O foremost of men, as long as shalt thou dwell in the land of mortals thou shalt be invincible by celestials and demons". Thereupon Satyabhāmā, along with Sachi, bowed unto Aditi again and again and said, "Be thou pleased". Whereto Aditi replied saying:—"Fair-browed dame, by my favour thou shalt never experience decrepitude or loss of beauty; thou shalt be of a blameless person and asylum of all graces".

Parāçara said:—Being commanded by Aditi, the lord of the celestials duly honored Janārddana. Thereupon Krishna, accompanied by Satyabhāmā beheld Nandana and other pleasant gardens of the celestials. There Kesava, the lord of the universe and the slayer of Kesi, saw Pārijāta, the favourite of Sachi, having golden bark, young sprouting leaves of a copper colour and bearing numerous fragrant clusters of flowers, and which was produced when the ocean was churned for ambrosia. Beholding that tree, O foremost of twice-born ones, Satyabhāmā said to Govinda. "Why should not this celestial tree be taken to Dwārakā. If what you always say is true that I am really dear to you then take this tree from here for the gardens of my dwelling. O Krishna, you always say 'O Satya, neither Rukmini nor Jāmbavati is beloved unto me like thee,' if this is true and not mere flattery then let this Pārijāta be the ornament of my dwelling. Wearing the flowers of this tree in the braids of my hair I wish to appear graceful amidst my fellow queens".

Parāçara said:—Thus requested by Satyabhāmā Hari, smiled and taking the Pārijāta plant placed it upon Garuda.

The guards said: "O Govinda, this tree belongs to Sachi, the queen of the king of celestials; it is not becoming for thee to remove it. When the ocean was churned by the celestials this tree was produced for the purpose of providing Sachi with flowery ornaments; thou shalt not go with it uncatched. This is the property of one whose countenance the king of the celestials delights to look; it is out of ignorance that thou dost attempt to take it—taking this no one shall be suffered to depart in peace. Forsooth shall the celestial chief punish this audacity; and when he shall take up his thunderbolt all the deities shall follow him. O thou imperishable, it is not proper for thee, to enter into conflict with all the divinities. The wise never undertake a work that terminates fatally". The guards having said this Satyabhāmā was greatly worked up with ire and said: "How does this Pārijāta belong to Sachi? Who is Sakra, the lord of the celestials? If this had been produced when the ocean was churned by the celestials then all have equal right over it—why shall Vāsava alone possess it? O ye warders of the garden, ambrosia, the moon and Lakshmi are the common properties of all; so is this Pārijāta tree. If Sachi has taken possession of it forcibly by the valour of her husband, do ye go and communicate unto her that Satyabhāmā is taking it away and let not Sachi forgive her. Do ye soon go to her and according to my instructions tell her that Satyabhāmā has given vent to these proud words. 'If thou art dear unto thy husband, if he is under thine control then let him take back the Pārijāta tree which my husband is taking away. I know thy husband Sakra is the master of the three worlds. Still being a mortal I take away this Panjata tree.'"

Parāçara said:—Being thus accosted, the warders went to Sachi and communicated unto her everything duly. And Sachi excited the lord of the three worlds. Thereupon accompanied by the army of the celestials, Indra, issued out to fight with Hari, in defence of the Pārijāta tree. The celestials were armed with clubs, swords, maces and darts and Indra wielded the thunderbolt. As soon as Govinda beheld the king of the celestials proceeding against him mounted on his elephant attended by the immortals he blew his shell so that all regions were filled with the sound thereof and he smilingly showered myriads of shafts upon his assailants. When the celestials saw that all the directions and atmosphere were overspread with arrows they also in return hurled numberless missiles. But all these, the slayer of Madhu, and the lord of the three worlds, sundered easily into a thousand pieces with his shafts. Garuda, the devourer of serpents, laid hold of the noose of the king of seas and tore it to pieces with his beak as if it had been a little snake. Devaki's son hurled his mace at the club of Yama and cast it broken upon the ground; he sundered in pieces the litter of the lord of riches with his discus; his eye-looks overclouded the radiance of the sun; he cut Agni into a hundred parts with his shafts and scattered the Vasus through the realms of the space; he sundered with his discus the points of the tridents of the Rudras and cast themselves upon the earth; and with the arrows shot from his bow he scattered the Sadhyas, Viswas, Maruts and Gandharvas through the sky, like fleeces of cotton from the pods of the Simal tree. Garuda also diligently plied his beak and wings and bit and bruised and scratched the celestials who opposed his lord. Like unto two heavy clouds showering raindrops the king of the celestials and the slayer of Madhu overpowered each other with numberless arrows. Garuda fought with Airavata in that conflict and Janārddana engaged with his discus with all the celestials. When all other weapons had been sundered into pieces Indra stood armed with his thunderbolt and Krishna with the discus Sudarshana. Beholding them thus ready for fight all the inhabitants of the three worlds, cried aloud "Alas! Alas!" In vain did Indra hurl his bolt for Hari caught and arrested it. He however, did not hurl his discus, but only called out to Indra to stay. Beholding Indra disarmed and his elephant disabled by Garuda and the deity about to fly away Satyabhāmā said to him:—"O king of three worlds, it becomes not the husband of Sachi to run away. She will approach you adorned with Pārijāta garlands. What shalt thou do with the kingdom of heaven when no longer thou dost behold Sachi approach thee, like before, embellished with Pārijāta garlands? Fly not O Sakra; you must suffer shame, take the Pārijatā; let the celestials be no longer annoyed. Worked up with the pride of her husband Sachi has not welcomed me to her dwelling with her respectful presents. O king of the celestials, I am a woman and therefore of light purpose and am anxious of my husband's fame; for this I have instituted this fight with thee. I do not require the Pārijatā any more. Why shall we steal another's property? What female is not inflated with the pride of her husband? But she is proud of her beauty".

Parāçara said:—Thus addressed by her the king of the celestials turned back and said:—"O wrathful dame, thou shouldst not afflict thy friend with further reproaches. I am not ashamed of being defeated by him who is the author of the creation, preservation and destruction of the world, who is the substance of all things, and in whom the universe exists, without beginning or middle, and from whom and by whom at one with all things, it proceeds and will cease to be. O goddess, what disgrace it is to any one, to be vanquished by him who is the agent of creation, preservation and destruction? His form, though infinitely subtle, is the parent of all worlds and is known to those only by whom all that may be known is known; who is capable of defeating the unborn, unconstituted, eternal lord, who has, of his own accord, descended for the behoof of the world?"

SECTION XXXI.

Thus chanted by the king of the celestials, Kesava smiled and replied gravely saying:—"Thou art, O Indra, the king of the celestials: we are mere mortals, O king of the universe. Thou must therefore forgive me, for the offence I have committed. Let this Pārijatā tree be taken to its proper place. I remove it to satisfy Satya's desire. Take back also this thy thunderbolt which thou didst hurl at me; for this is your proper weapon—O slayer of thy enemies". Whereto Indra replied, saying:—"O lord, thou dost beguile us in calling thyself mortal. We are endowed with subtlety of discernment and therefore know thee as gifted with six qualities. Whoever thou mayst be, O slayer of thine enemies, thou art engaged in the active preservation of earth and thou removest the thorns implanted in her bosom. O Krishna, do thou take this Pārijatā tree to the city of Dwārakā and when thou shalt renounce this land of mortals it shall no longer remain on earth".

Parāçara said:—Having agreed to the proposal of the king of the celestials Hari returned to earth eulogised by attendant sages, saints and quiristers of heaven.

When Krishna arrived over the city of Dwārakā he blew his conch and delighted the inhabitants with the sound. Thereupon alighting from Garuda he proceeded with Satyabhāmā to her garden, and there planted the great Pārijāta tree the smell of which extended over the earth for three furlongs and an approach to which enabled every one to recollect the events of a pristine existence. And beholding their faces in that tree the Yadavas know themselves in their (original) celestial forms. Then Krishna took possession of wealth, elephants, horses and men which he had recovered from Naraka and which had brought to Dwārakā by the servants of the demon; and at an auspicious hour he married all the maidens whom Naraka had carried off from their friends; and simultaneously at the same time in different mansions he received the hands the damsels. The number of the maidens was sixteen thousand and one hundred and in so many forms did the slayer of Madhu appear, so that every one of them thought that he had wedded her in his single person. Hari the creator of the world and the assumer of the universal shape lived severally in the mansion of each of these his wives.

SECTION XXXII.

Parāçara said:—I have enumerated to you Pradyumna and other sons begotten on Rukmini by Krishna. Satyabhāmā bore Bhanu and Bhairika. The sons of Rohini were Diptimat, Tamrepakshi and others; Jamvabati gave birth to the powerful Samba and other sons. Bhadravinda and other valiant youths were the sons of Nagnajiti. Saivya bore several sons of whom Sangramajit was the chief. Vikra and others were begotten by Hari on Madri. Lakshmanā gave birth to Gatravat and others; and Sruta and others were the sons of Kālindi. Besides Krishna had sons by his other wives, in all one hundred and eighty thousand. The eldest of the whole was Pradyumna, the son of Rukmini; his son was Aniruddha, whose son was Vraja; his mother was Ushā, the daughter of Bāna the grand daughter of Bāli, whom Aniruddha won in war. On that occasion a dreadful onset endued between Hari and Sankara in which the thousand arms of Bāna were cut off by the discus of the former.

Maitreya said: How is it, O venerable Brahman, that a contest took place, on account of Ushā, between Siva and Krishna? And in what manner did Hari cut off the thousand arms of Bāna? I am stricken with curiosity to hear this story of Hari—do thou, O venerable Sir, relate this.

Parāçara said: Having seen Pārvati dallying with her lord Sambhu, Ushā, the daughter of Bāna, was inspired with a similar desire. The charming Gauri, knowing the hearts of all, said to her:—"Do not grieve; you shall have a husband". "But when will this be and who shall be my husband?" thought Ushā within herself, on which Pārvati said:—"He who shall appear to you, princess, in a dream, on the twelfth lunation of the light half of Vaishāk, shall be your lord". Accordingly, in consonance with the goddess' foretelling a youth appeared in dream to Ushā on that lunar day, of whom she became enamoured. When she got up and no longer saw him she was distressed with grief and not caring for modesty asked of her companion whither he had gone. This companion and friend of the princess was Chitralekha, the daughter of Kubandha, the minister of Bāna. She said to Ushā "of whom do you speak?" But ashamed she did not reply. However gaining her confidence Chitralekha heard from her everything. And again Ushā requested her who had been informed of all, to devise means by which she might be united with the person whom she had beheld in dream.

Parāçara said:—Thereupon Chitralekha painted the figures of the most eminent celestials, demons, spirits and mortals and showed them to Ushā. Putting aside the likenesses of celestials, spirits, snake-gods and demons, the princess selected those of mortals and amongst them the heroes of the races of Andhaka and Vrishni. And when she found the portraits she was bewildered by shame; then she took her eyes away with shame from the portrait of Pradyumna. But as soon as she saw the picture of his son, the object of her passions, she set aside all bashfulness and with wide expanded eyes, cried aloud, "This is he! this is he!" Her friend, who was gifted with magic power, requested her to be cheerful and started for Dwārakā through the air.

SECTION XXXIII.

Parāçara said:—Before this, once Bāna prayed to the three-eyed deity saying "O lord I am humiliated by the possession of a thousand arms; let some conflict take place in which I may make use of my arms. Without any war what is the use of these arms; they are but a burden to me".

Sankara said:—"When this peacock banner shall be broken thou shalt have war, the delight of the evil spirits that live on human flesh". Thereupon pleased and bowing unto Sankara he returned to his house where he found the standard broken which increased his joy.

At that time the foremost of Apsaras, Chitralekha, came back from Dwārakā and by virtue of her magic powers brought Aniruddha with her. Finding him there with Ushā, the warders of the inner apartments reported it to the king, who immediately sent a number of his retinue to seize the prince. But taking up an iron club the powerful youth killed all his adversaries. Thereat Bāna ascended his chariot, proceeded against him and tried to kill him. Finding however that Aniruddha was not to be vanquished by power he followed the counsel of his minister and brought his magical faculties into the conflict, by which he succeeded in capturing the Yadu prince and binding him in serpent bonds.

When Aniruddha was found missing from Dwārāvati and the Yādavas were inquiring of one another whither he had gone, Nārada came and communicated unto them that he was a prisoner of Bāna having been taken by a female by virtue of her magical abilities to Sonitpura. When they heard that he had been taken to Sonitpura, by a damsel, conversant with magical powers, they did not place confidence in his words. Thereupon Krishna thought of Garuda who immediately arrived there. And mounting upon him along with Bala and Pradyumna he started for the city of Bāna. On their approach to the city they were opposed by the attendant spirits of Rudra; but they were soon slain by Hari and he and his companions entered the city. Thereupon mighty fever, an emanation of Maheshwara, having three feet and three heads, fought desperately with the holder of conch in defence of Bāna. Baladeva, upon whom his ashes were scattered, was seized with burning heat and his eye-lids trembled—but he obtained relief by clinging to the body of Krishna. Thereupon fighting with the holder of bow, the fever, emanating from Siva, was soon driven out from Krishna's person by the fever engendered by himself; Beholding the Saiva fever bewildered by the strokes of the arms of Krishna, Brahmā, the patriarch of the deities, entreated him to desist, upon which the slayer of Madhu refrained and absorbed into himself the fever he had created. The rival fever then went away saying to Krishna; "Those men who shall recollect the fight between us shall be freed from febrile disease".

Thereupon Vishnu overcame and destroyed the five fires and with perfect ease slew the Dānavas. Then the son of Bali, with the entire Daitya army, aided by Sankara and Kartikeya fought with Krishna. A dreadful battle ensued between Hari and Sankara. Scorched by their burning weapons, all the regions trembled and the celestials thought for certain that the end of the universe was at hand. With the weapon of Yawning Krishna set Sankara agape; then the attendant demons and demi-gods attendant upon Siva were slain on all sides, for Hara, overcome with incessant gaping, sat down in his car and was unable to fight with Krishna any longer, who is above the influence of any acts. The deity of war Kartikeya, wounded in the arm by Garuda, struck by the weapons of Pradyumna and disarmed by the shout of Hari, fled away. Beholding Sankara disabled, the demons slain, Guha fled and Siva's attendants destroyed, Bāna proceeded in his huge car, the steeds of which were harnessed by Nandisha, to fight with Hari and his associates Bala and Pradyumna. Attacking the army of Bāna, the valiant Balabhadra wounded them in diverse ways with his shafts and put them to a shameful confusion. And their king saw them dragged about by Rāma with his ploughshare or beaten by him with his mace and pierced by Krishna with his shafts; he therefore attacked Krishna and a fight took place between them; they hurled at each other burning arrows that pierced through their armour; but Krishna intercepted with his arrows those of Bāna and sundered them into pieces. Bāna however wounded Kesava and the wielder of the discus wounded Bāna; and both of them, desirous of victory and endeavouring angrily to bring about the death of his antagonist, hurled diverse missiles at each other. When a number of weapons had been sundered into pieces and the weapons began to be exhausted, Krishna determined to slay Bāna. Thereupon the destroyer of the demons took up his discus Sudarshana shining with the radiance of a hundred suns. As he was about to meet it the mystical goddess of Kotair, the magic lore of the demons, stood naked before him. Beholding her before him, Krishna, with open eyes, cast Sudarshana to cut off the arms of Bāna. The discus lopped off successively the numberless arms of Bāna which proved useless the missiles discharged by the celestials. When the slayer of Madhu again took in his hand the discus, after ten thousand arms had been sundered, for the total destruction of Bāna the destroyer of Tripura came to know it. Beholding blood gushing out from the dissevered arms of Bāna the husband of Umā approached Govinda and requested him to put off his hostilities, said:—"O Krishna, the lord of the universe, I know thee, the excellent Purusha, the supreme lord, the infinite felicity without beginning or end and beyond all things. This sport of universal being in which thou assumest the person of god, animals and men is a subordinate attribute of thy energy. Be propitious, therefore O lord, unto me. I have given Bāna assurance of safety, do not thou falsify my words. O thou eternal, this Bāna has grown old under my protection, let him not incur thy displeasure. I conferred a boon on this Daitya and therefore I am begging thy forgiveness".

Being thus addressed, Govinda, dismissing his resentment against the Asura, smilingly said to Umā's lord, the holder of trident "O Sankara, let this Bāna, the king of demons draw his breath since thou hast conferred a boon upon him; to honour thy words, I withhold my discus; the assurance of safety given by thee, is also given by me. Do not consider me as distinct from thee. The celestials, Asuras and men and the whole universe are not distinct from us. Those who have been possessed by ignorance consider me as separate from thee".

Having said this Krishna went to where Aniruddha was; and the snakes that bound him were destroyed by the breath of Govinda. And placing him along with his wife upon the celestial bird, Krishna with Pradyumna and Rāma returned to Dwārakā.