Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (34 page)

‘“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

‘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 Shambara
¹⁹⁴
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 grandfather
¹⁹⁶
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.”’

‘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. They
¹⁹⁷
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.

‘“O king! Matali smiled and told me, ‘O Arjuna! The valour exhibited by you is not seen even among the gods.’ With masses of asuras having been slain, their wives began to lament in the city, like cranes during the autumn. Accompanied by Matali, I entered the city, terrifying the nivatakavacha women with the roar of the chariot. On seeing the tens of thousands of horses, like peacocks, and the chariot that blazed like the sun, masses of women began to flee. The sounds that those terrified women made with their ornaments was like that of hail descending on a mountain. The frightened daitya women entered their houses, made of gold and decorated with many beautiful gems. On seeing that supreme and wonderful city, superior to the city of the gods, I asked Matali, ‘Why do the gods not live in this wonderful place? I think that it surpasses Purandara’s city.’ Matali replied, ‘O Partha! This was earlier the city of the gods. But the gods were expelled from here by the nivatakavachas. They obtained the grandfather’s favours through great and terrible austerities and obtained the boon that they should live here, free from all fear of the gods in battle. Then Shakra resorted to the illustrious one who creates himself
¹⁹⁸
and said, “O illustrious one! Bearing our welfare in mind, you decide what is appropriate in this case.” The illustrious one told Vasava what had been destined in this matter. “O slayer of Vritra! You yourself
will assume another body and kill them.”
¹⁹⁹
Therefore, Shakra gave you weapons for their destruction. Even the gods could not kill the ones you have now slain. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! You arrived here when the time was right for their end and you have accomplished the task. O Indra among men! Mahendra conferred on you the supreme power of those supreme weapons for the destruction of the danavas.’ Having killed the danavas and entering their city, I returned to the abode of the gods, together with Matali.”’

‘Arjuna said, “While I was returning, I saw another great city. It was divine, as resplendent as the fire and the sun, and it could roam as it wished. It had trees that were covered with jewels, with colourful birds that had sweet voices. It was inhabited by Poulamas and Kalakeyas who were always happy.
²⁰⁰
It was impregnable, with turrets, entrances and four gates. It was covered with jewels everywhere and was celestial and wonderful to see. There were trees with flowers and fruit, covered everywhere with divine gems. There were extremely beautiful celestial birds. It was filled everywhere with asuras who were always happy, armed with weapons like spears, swords, clubs, bows and maces in their hands. O king! On seeing this extraordinary city of the daityas, I asked Matali, ‘What is this that I see here?’

‘“Matali replied, ‘There was once a daitya lady named Puloma and another great asura lady named Kalaka. They observed supreme austerities for one thousand celestial years. When they had completed the austerities, the one who created himself
²⁰¹
granted them a boon. O Indra among kings! They chose the boon that their sons should
not suffer much and should be incapable of being killed by the gods, the rakshasas and the serpents. This beautiful city that roams in the sky is the result of those good deeds. It is full of jewels everywhere and is incapable of being conquered even by the gods, the yakshas, the masses of gandharvas, the serpents, the asuras and the rakshasas. It contains all the objects of desire and qualities and is devoid of sorrow and disease. O best of the Bharata lineage! This was created for the Kalakeyas by Brahma. This is the divine city that is roaming around in the sky, avoided by the immortals. O brave one! It is inhabited by the Poulama and Kalakeya danavas. This great city is known by the name of Hiranyapura.
²⁰²
It is protected by the great Kalakeya and Poulama asuras. They are always happy there and cannot be killed by all the gods. O Indra among kings! They always live here happily, devoid of anxiety and with nothing left to ask for. It was earlier destined by Brahma that they would die at the hands of a human.’”

‘Arjuna said, “O lord! Having learnt that they could not be slain by the gods and the asuras, I happily told Matali, ‘Go swiftly to that city. I will use my weapons to destroy those who hate the thirty gods. There are no evil haters of the gods who do not deserve to be slain by me.’ In that divine chariot, yoked to tawny horses, Matali swiftly conveyed me to the city of Hiranyapura. On seeing me, Diti’s sons, adorned in colourful garments and ornaments, mounted their chariots and hastened at great speed. The chiefs of the danavas, terrible in valour, angrily attacked me with darts,
²⁰³
iron arrows, missiles,
²⁰⁴
spears, cudgels and clubs. I warded off this great shower of weapons. O king! Resorting to the strength of my knowledge, I unleashed a great shower of arrows. In that battle, I confounded all of them through the course of my chariot. Completely confounded, the danavas fell down on one another. They were so confounded that they rushed at each other. I sliced off their heads with hundreds
of blazing arrows. Thus slaughtered by me, the daityas resorted to their city again. Using the power of maya that danavas possess, they rose up into the sky with their city. I restrained them with a great shower of arrows. I blocked the path of the daityas and restrained their movement. But the daityas were supported by their boon. With ease, that celestial city, divine in radiance and capable of going anywhere at will, remained suspended in the sky. It would suddenly plunge into the ground, then be established up in the sky again. It would swiftly adopt a diagonal movement and immerse itself in the waters. O lord of men! That giant city, capable of going anywhere at will, was like Amaravati. I attacked it with many types of weapons. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Then I subdued the daityas, together with the city, with a net of arrows invoked with divine weapons. O king! It was wounded through the straight and iron arrows shot by me. The city of the asuras was destroyed and fell down on the ground. O king! Pierced by my iron arrows, as swift as the vajra, and driven by destiny, the asuras roamed around. Matali swiftly descended on the ground in that chariot, as radiant as the sun, as if taking a forward leap. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Wishing to fight with me, those indomitable ones surrounded me with sixty thousand chariots. But I destroyed them with sharp arrows that had feathers of vultures as plumes. Thus vanquished in battle, they retreated like the waves of the ocean. Thinking that no man was capable of defeating them in battle, I discharged all my other weapons, one after the other.
²⁰⁵
But slowly, my divine weapons, and the thousands of chariots of those skilled warriors, neutralized each other. The maharathas roamed around, in different manoeuvres of their chariots. They could be seen in hundreds and thousands. They were adorned in colourful crowns and garlands for the head and dazzling armour and flags. With many beautiful ornaments, they delighted my mind.