Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (20 page)

‘“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.”’

‘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 Soudyumni
⁵⁵⁴
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 realm
⁵⁵⁹
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
padma
s
⁵⁶⁰
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.”’

‘Yudhishthira asked, “O supreme among eloquent ones! What was the valour of King Somaka? I wish to hear accurately about his deeds and his powers.”

‘Lomasha said, “O Yudhishthira! There was a king named Somaka, devoted to dharma. O king! He had one hundred wives, all equal to one another. Though he made great efforts, a son was not born to the lord of the earth, despite a long period of time having passed. One day, after he had grown old and continued to make efforts, a son named Jantu was born to him from those one hundred wives. O lord of the earth! When he was born, all those mothers surrounded him and always gave him everything that might bring him pleasure. One day, an ant bit Jantu on his hips and the child cried out in pain at this bite. Then all the mothers were extremely distressed. They surrounded Jantu and raised a great lamentation. The lord of the earth suddenly heard these loud cries, while he was seated in the midst of his advisers and priests. The king sent for news about what had occurred and the steward brought him news about what had happened to his son. Somaka swiftly arose with his advisers and went to the inner quarters. The chastiser of enemies consoled his son. Having consoled his son, the king emerged from the inner quarters. O king! He sat down with his advisers and priests.

‘“Somaka said, ‘Shame on having a single son. It is better to have none. All beings are always prone to distress and a single son is cause for misery. O brahmana! O lord!
⁵⁶³
I examined these one hundred wives and married them for the sake of obtaining sons. But they did not produce offspring. As I endeavoured with all of them, somehow this single son named Jantu was born. What can be greater misery than that? O supreme among brahmanas! My time has passed and so has that of my wives.
⁵⁶⁴
Their lives are dependent on this single son and that is also the way for me. Isn’t there some ceremony or deed, large, small or difficult, so that I can obtain one hundred sons?’ The officiating priest replied, ‘There is such a deed, so as to obtain one hundred sons. O Somaka! If you can perform it, I will explain it to you.’ Somaka said, ‘Whether it is a good deed or a bad one, if it can get me one hundred sons, know that I will perform it. O illustrious one! Explain it to me.’ The officiating priest replied, ‘O king! I will perform the rite and you will sacrifice Jantu. Then, within a short while, one hundred fortunate sons will be born. When he is offered in the sacrifice, his mothers will inhale the smoke and all of them will give birth to extremely valorous sons. Jantu will also be born as your son from the same woman. A golden mark will be seen on his left side.’”’

‘“Somaka said, ‘O brahmana! Whatever needs to be done, in whichever way, let it be done accordingly. In a desire to obtain sons, I will do everything that you ask me to.’”

‘Lomasha said, “Then Somaka peformed a sacrifice and offered Jantu. Out of affection for their son, the mothers forcibly tugged at him and cried out, ‘Alas! We are dead!’ Overcome with great distress,
the mothers grasped him by his right hand. But the officiating priest grasped him by the left hand and pulled. As they screamed like female ospreys, he dragged their son away. Following the prescribed rites, he offered him as an oblation into the fire. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! As the offering was made, the distressed mothers inhaled the smoke and suddenly fell down on the ground. All the king’s women then conceived. O lord of the earth! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! After ten months had passed, a total of one hundred sons were born to all of them and Somaka. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Jantu was the eldest and he was born to his former mother. They loved him more than their own sons. He had the golden mark on his left side. Among those one hundred sons, he was the best in terms of qualities.

‘“Then Somaka’s preceptor
⁵⁶⁵
went to the supreme world and after some time had passed, Somaka also followed him there. He saw him
⁵⁶⁶
being cooked in a terrible hell and asked, ‘O brahmana! Why are you being cooked in this hell?’ Then the preceptor, who was being cooked in terrible fires, told him, ‘O king! I sacrificed for your sake and these are the fruits of that deed.’ Having heard this, the rajarshi told Dharmaraja,
⁵⁶⁷
‘I will enter this place. Set my priest free. This immensely fortunate one is being cooked in the fires of hell because of my deed.’ Dharma replied, ‘O king! No one ever obtains the fruits of someone else’s action. O supreme among givers! Behold! Your fruits are there.’ Somaka said, ‘Without this one, learned about the brahman, I do not desire these sacred worlds. I only desire to dwell with him, be it in the abode of the gods, or in hell. O Dharmaraja! My deed is identical with his. O god! Therefore, the merits or the demerits should be equal.’ Dharma replied, ‘O king! If that is your desire, then suffer those fruits with him, for an equal length of time. Later, you will obtain the objective of the virtuous.’ Then the lotus-eyed king did all that. He was the beloved of his preceptor. Together with his brahmana preceptor, and by virtue of his own deeds, he again
obtained the radiant worlds. This is his sacred hermitage, radiant before us. A man who controls himself and spends six nights here, obtains the end of the virtuous. O Indra among kings! O extender of the Kuru lineage! Devoid of fever, and controlling our souls, we must spend six nights here. Ready yourself.”’

‘Lomasha said, “O king! It is said that Prajapati himself sacrificed here in ancient times. That sacrifice, named
ishtikrita
, lasted for one thousand years. Ambarisha, the son of Nabhaga, performed a sacrifice on the banks of the Yamuna. Through his sacrifices and austerities, he attained the supreme objective. This is the region where King Nahusha
⁵⁶⁸
performed an extremely holy sacrifice and gave away ten padmas to the assisting priests. O Kounteya! The immensely energetic Yayati was a universal emperor who rivalled Shakra. Behold his sacrificial ground there. See how the ground is spiked with many different kinds of sacrificial altars and seems to sink down, under the weight of Yayati’s sacrificial deeds. Here is a
shami
tree
⁵⁶⁹
with a single leaf. There is a supreme sanctuary. Behold Rama’s
⁵⁷⁰
lake. Behold Narayana’s hermitage. O lord of the earth! This is the path followed by Richika’s immensely energetic son
⁵⁷¹
when he traversed the earth, immersed in yoga, on the banks of the stream Roupya.