Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (33 page)

‘Arjuna said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Through the favours of the great-souled Tryambaka, the god of the gods, I happily spent the night there. When the night had passed and I had completed the morning rituals, I saw the best of brahmanas whom I had met earlier. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! I told him everything that had happened and my meeting with the illustrious Mahadeva. O Indra among kings! That supreme of brahmanas then happily told me, ‘You have seen Mahadeva in a way that no one else has. O unblemished one! You will see Vaivasvata
¹⁷¹
and all the other lords of the worlds. You will see Indra of the gods and he will give you weapons.’ O king! Having said this, he embraced me again and again. Then that brahmana, who was like the sun, went where he desired.

‘“O destroyer of your enemies! In the afternoon of that day, a pure breeze began to blow and it seemed to make the world new again. Near me, at the foot of Shaishira mountain, divine, fragrant and fresh flowers appeared. The sound of delightful and divine musical instruments was heard on all sides, together with chants in praise of Indra. Masses of apsaras and gandharvas began to sing various songs in front of the god of the gods. Masses of Maruts
¹⁷²
arrived in celestial vehicles, together with Mahendra’s followers and those who live in his abode. Marutvan, accompanied by Shachi, arrived in ornamented chariots yoked to tawny horses, together with all the other immortals. O king! At that instant, Naravahana Kubera, supreme in prosperity, appeared before me. I saw Yama established in the southern direction and Varuna and the king of the gods, each
established in one’s respective place. O great king! That bull among the gods then spoke to me in comforting words. ‘O Savyasachi!
¹⁷³
Look at all of us lokapalas established here. You have seen Shankara to accomplish a task for the gods. You will receive weapons from all of us who are around here.’ O lord! I then purified and prostrated myself before those best of the gods. In accordance with the prescribed rites, I received those powerful weapons.
¹⁷⁴
O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O destroyer of enemies! Having obtained the weapons, I obtained leave of the gods. Then all the gods returned the way they had come.

‘“Maghavan, lord of the gods, ascended his splendid chariot. The illustrious one, the destroyer of the enemies of the gods, smiled and spoke these words. ‘O Dhananjaya! I had known you even before you arrived here. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Later, I will reveal myself to you.
¹⁷⁵
O Pandava! You have earlier bathed in the tirthas. You have earlier tormented yourself with great austerities. You will therefore go to heaven. You will have to practise supremely terrible austerities again.’ Then the illustrious one recounted all the austerities that would have to be performed. ‘On my instructions, Matali will take you to the world of the thirty gods. You are already well known to the gods and the great-souled sages.’ At this, I told Shakra, ‘O illustrious one! Please show your favours to me. O lord of the thirty gods! I seek you as my preceptor, so that I may learn about weapons from you.’ Indra replied, ‘O son! O scorcher of enemies! You will perform terrible deeds. The reason for which you wish to acquire weapons will be satisfied.’ Then I said, ‘O slayer of enemies! I will never use those celestial weapons against humans, except to ward off their weapons. O lord of the gods! Therefore, give me those divine weapons. O bull among the gods! I will later obtain the worlds that weapons can attain.’ Indra replied, ‘O Dhananjaya! I uttered those words in
order to test you. Your words are worthy of someone who is my son. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O extender of the Kuru lineage! Go to my abode and learn all the weapons there—those of Vayu, Agni, Varuna, the masses of Maruts, of the Sadhyas, the grandfather,
¹⁷⁶
the gandharvas, the serpents and the rakshasas, those of Vishnu, the nairritas
¹⁷⁷
and my own.’ Having spoken those words to me, Shakra disappeared.

‘“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’s
¹⁷⁸
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.”’

‘Arjuna said, “When I was skilled in weapons and had obtained his confidence, Harivahana
¹⁷⁹
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,
prayuta
s and
arbuda
s 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.”’

‘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.
Timingila
s,
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 were gigantic iron lances, clubs, maces, spears and the wheels of chariots in their hands. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were
shataghni
s,
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

‘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.