Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (44 page)

‘Markandeya said, “They
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had an immensely energetic and immensely radiant son by the name of Dhundhu. He had great energy and valour and performed austerities. He stood on one leg and became so thin that he was held together by his veins. Brahma was pleased with him and gave him the boon that he asked for from that lord. He asked, ‘I should be incapable of being killed by gods, danavas, yakshas, serpents, gandharvas and rakshasas.’ The grandfather told him that it would be that way. Having been thus addressed, he touched his
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feet with his head and departed.

‘“Thus, after obtaining the boon, Dhundhu became immensely valorous and powerful. He remembered the killing of his fathers and went to Vishnu. The violent Dhundhu defeated all the gods and the gandharvas. He then began to cruelly oppress all the gods, together with Vishnu. O bull among the Bharata lineage! There is an ocean of sand known by the name of Ujjanaka. The evil-minded one went to that region. O lord! He oppressed, with all his strength, Utanka’s hermitage. He entered the interior of the earth and hid in the sand. Dhundhu, Madhu and Kaitabha’s fearful and powerful son, sought to obtain the strength of austerities, so that he could destroy the world. Near Utanka’s hermitage, his breath was flames of fire. At this time, King Kuvalashva went to Dhundhu’s residence, with his servants, soldiers and mounts. He was accompanied by his twenty-one thousand sons, the destroyers of enemies, and by Utanka. On Utanka’s request, the illustrious Vishnu injected the lord with his energy, for the welfare of the worlds. When the invincible one started out, a loud voice was heard from heaven. ‘This handsome one will become Dhundhumara.’ The gods showered down celestial flowers in all directions. The kettledrums of the gods began to sound on their own. While the wise one proceeded, a cool wind began to blow. The lord of the gods showered down, removing dust from the earth. O Yudhishthira! Just
above the spot where the great asura Dhundhu was, the vimanas of the gods appeared in the sky. The gods, together with the gandharvas and the maharshis, assembled, curious to witness the battle between Kuvalashva and Dhundhu.

‘“O Kouravya! Invigorated with Narayana’s energy, the king swiftly advanced in all the directions, together with his sons. King Kuvalashva had that ocean of sand dug up. When Kuvalashva’s sons dug up that ocean of sand, after seven days, they saw the immensely strong Dhundhu. O bull among the Bharata lineage! His terrible body was buried in the sand. It blazed like the energy of the sun. O great king! O tiger among kings! Dhundhu was asleep, covering the western direction with effulgence that was like the fire of destruction. Surrounded by his sons, Kuvalashva assaulted him with sharp arrows, clubs, maces, battleaxes, bludgeons and swords that were sharp and bright. Having been thus attacked, the immensely strong one was angered and arose. He wrathfully swallowed up the different types of weapons. He vomited flames from his mouth, like the fire of destruction. He burnt down all the sons of the king with his energy. O tiger among kings! In an instant, the angry one was about to consume the worlds with the flames issuing from his mouth, just as the lord Kapila had done earlier, when he had angrily burnt down the sons of Sagara.
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It was extremely wonderful. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! When they had been burnt down in this way, the immensely energetic King Kuvalashva approached the great-souled one, who was like Kumbhakarna awakened.
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O great king! O king! A great flow of water issued from the body of the king and this water doused the flames. Just as a practitioner of yoga uses yoga, the water pacified the flames. O best of the Bharata lineage! Then the king burnt down the cruel and powerful daitya with his brahmastra and ensured the welfare of all the worlds. Rajarshi Kuvalashva consumed the great asura with this weapon. That destroyer of enemies killed the enemy of the gods and became like the lord of the three worlds. From that day, he became known as Dhundhumara.

‘“Then the thirty gods, together with all the maharshis, were delighted. They wished to grant him a boon. O king! Extremely delighted, he joined his hands in salutation, prostrated himself and spoke these words. ‘Grant me the boon that I may donate my riches to the best of the brahmanas and that I may be invincible against my enemies. May I enjoy friendship with Vishnu and may I not exhibit enmity towards any being. May my mind always be devoted to dharma and may I have an eternal abode in heaven.’ The delighted gods, together with the rishis, the gandharvas and the intelligent Utanka, told the king that it would be that way. After pronouncing various other auspicious benedictions on the king, the gods and the maharshis returned to their abodes. O Yudhishthira! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The king had three sons left and their names were Dhridhashva, Kapilashva and Chandrashva. O king! The great-souled lineage of the Ikshvakus followed from them. O virtuous one! Thus did Kuvalashva kill the immensely valorous daitya Dhundhu, the son of Madhu and Kaitabha. From that day, King Kuvalashva has been known as Dhundhumara. Named thus, he became associated with many qualities. I have told you everything that you asked, famous as the account of Dhundhumara and his exploits. This sacred account is associated with Vishnu’s praise. The man who listens to this, has dharma in his soul and begets sons. By listening to it on full moon days or days of the new moon,
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one obtains a long life, becomes persevering, has no fear of disease and is devoid of afflictions.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘O best of the Bharata lineage! Then King Yudhishthira asked the immensely radiant Markandeya an extremely difficult question about dharma.

‘“O illustrious one!
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O brahmana! I wish to hear about the supreme greatness of women. Tell me the details about the subtleties of dharma. O brahmana rishi! O foremost one! The sun, the moon, the wind, the earth and the fire seem to be gods to me. O illustrious one! O great one! O descendant of the Bhrigu lineage! So are the father, the mother, the cow and whatever else has been ordained. All of these have to be revered as preceptors and I look upon devoted wives in the same way. It seems to me that devotion to husbands and serving them must be very difficult. O lord! If you so wish, please tell me about the greatness of devotion to husbands. O unblemished one! Restraining the senses and controlling the mind, it must be very difficult to continuously think of husbands as gods. O illustrious one! O lord! This seems to me to be extremely difficult. O brahmana! The serving of the father, the mother and the husband by women and the dharma of womanhood seem to be extremely terrible and difficult to me. O brahmana! Faithful women are always devoted in their conduct. But this must be difficult, as are acts towards the father and the mother. There are women who are devoted to one single person and speak the truth. They bear an embryo in the womb for a full ten months. What can be more wonderful than that? They bear great difficulties and immense pain. O lord! They give birth to sons after great pain. O supreme among brahmanas! Then they rear them with great affection. I also think that those who perform cruel deeds and are abhorred for that, but always continue to perform them, must find it very difficult. O brahmana! Tell me in detail about the dharma of kshatriyas. O brahmana! Dharma must be difficult for a cruel and evil-minded one. O illustrious one! You are supreme among those who know the answers to questions. O best among those of the Bhrigu lineage! O one who maintains good vows! I wish to hear the answer to my question.”

‘Markandeya replied, “O best among the Bharata lineage! Yes, I will tell you everything about this extremely difficult question of yours. Pay attention to my words. O son!
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Some hold the mother
to be superior, others the father.
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However, the mother performs the most difficult task, she propagates the species. Through austerities, worshipping the gods, endurance and resorting to magical spells, fathers desire sons. O brave one! After undergoing such great difficulties, one obtains a son, difficult to obtain, and one wonders about what this son will end up doing. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! A father and a mother wish for fame, deeds, wealth, prosperity, offspring and dharma for the son, a son who will make their desires successful and be devoted to dharma, one who will bring satisfaction to the father and the mother and will attain eternal fame and dharma in this world and the next. O Indra among kings! But a woman does not need sacrifices, funeral ceremonies or fasting. When she serves her husband, she obtains heaven. O king! O Yudhishthira! On this, listen attentively to the dharma of those who are devoted to their husbands.”’

‘Markandeya said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There was a foremost among brahmanas by the name of Koushika. He studied the Vedas and was rich in austerities. He was an ascetic and followed dharma in his conduct. That supreme among brahmanas studied the Vedas, together with the Angas and the Upanishads.
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One day, he was under a tree and was reciting the Vedas. A female crane was perched on the tree. At that time, it dropped some excrement on the brahmana. The brahmana was angered.
Overcome by anger, he directed a terrible stare at the crane and injured by the brahmana, it fell down on the ground. On seeing that the crane had fallen down, bereft of its senses, the brahmana was overcome by compassion and regret. ‘Overcome by the force of passion and hatred, I have done that which I should not have.’ Having uttered these words several times, the learned one went to a village to beg for alms.

‘“O bull among the Bharata lineage! He wandered around the pure households that were in the village. He finally entered a household that he had visited before. He asked, ‘Please give.’ And the lady replied, ‘Wait.’ O king! While the housewife was cleaning the vessel for giving alms, her husband suddenly returned home, extremely hungry. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! On seeing her husband, the devoted lady neglected the brahmana. She gave her husband water for washing the feet and the mouth and a seat. Then the dark-eyed one waited on her husband. She gave him tasty food to eat and spoke sweetly to him. O Yudhishthira! She always ate the food that had been left over by her husband. Always following her husband’s thoughts, she thought her husband to be a god. In deeds, thoughts or any other way, she did not act in contrary fashion. Her sentiments were always devoted towards serving her husband. She was faithful, pure and skilled. She strove for the welfare of the household. She always followed that which would ensure her husband’s welfare. She attended to gods, guests, servants, the father-in-law and the mother-in-law. She was always devoted to serving and was always in control of her senses. While the one with the beautiful eyes was thus tending to her husband, she noticed that the brahmana was standing there, wishing for alms. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! The faithful one was ashamed.

‘“The famous one emerged to give alms to the brahmana. The brahmana said, ‘O one with the beautiful limbs! What is the meaning of this? You asked me to wait. You requested me to wait and did not dispose of me first.’ O Indra among men! On seeing that the brahmana was burning in anger and flaming in his energy, the faithful one pacified him and spoke these words. ‘O brahmana! Please pardon me. My
husband is my greatest god. He had returned hungry and exhausted and I had served him first.’ The brahmana said, ‘Brahmanas are not superior and you make your husband to be superior. Though following the dharma of householders, you are insulting a brahmana. Even Indra bows down to such a one, not to speak of men on earth. O impudent one! Do you not know and have you not heard from the elders? Like a fire, a brahmana can burn down the entire earth.’

‘“The lady replied, ‘I am not insulting brahmanas. They are powerful and are the equals of the gods. O brahmana! O unblemished one! Please pardon my transgression. I know the energy of immensely fortunate and wise brahmanas. Through their anger, they made the waters of the ocean salty and undrinkable.
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I know of sages who are blazing ascetics and in control of their souls. The fire of their anger has still not been pacified in Dandaka.
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Because he oppressed brahmanas, the evil-minded cruel and great asura Vatapi was digested by the rishi Agastya.
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I have heard a lot about the influence of those who know the brahman. O brahmana! Their anger is extremely great. But so are the favours of those great-souled ones. O brahmana! O unblemished one! You should pardon this transgression of mine. O brahmana! The dharma that I must serve my husband is a pleasant one for me. Among all the gods, my husband is the supreme god. O supreme among brahmanas! I must particularly serve that dharma. O brahmana! Observe the fruits of my serving my husband. It is known to me that you burnt down a crane through your anger. O supreme among brahmanas! But anger is the enemy that resides in the bodies of men. The gods know him to be a brahmana who has discarded the delusion of anger, and he who speaks the truth and satisfies his preceptor. The gods know him to be a brahmana, who does not harm even when he has been harmed. The gods know him to be a brahmana, who is in control of his senses, is devoted to dharma,
is always engaged in studying, is pure and is in control of desire and anger. He who looks upon the world as his own self is intelligent and is learned in dharma. The gods know him to be a brahmana, who is devoted to all forms of dharma, who studies and teaches, who sacrifices and is a priest at the sacrifices of others. The gods know him to be a brahmana, who donates according to his capacity. The supreme among brahmanas who studies the Vedas is known as a brahmachari. He who studies without being distracted is known by the gods to be a brahmana. What ensures the welfare of brahmanas has been recounted—always speaking the truth and mentally not rejoicing in falsehood. O supreme among brahmanas! The eternal wealth of brahmanas is in studying, control of passions and restraint of the senses. Those who know dharma say that truth and uprightness are the supreme dharma. While eternal dharma is difficult to fathom, it is based on truth. The injunctions of the elders are that the proof of dharma is in the
shruti
s.
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O supreme among brahmanas! It is evident that dharma can be seen in many ways and that it is subtle. You are learned in dharma. You are devoted to studying and are pure. O illustrious one! In my view you do not know the true meaning of dharma. There is a hunter who lives in Mithila. He serves his father and his mother, he is truthful and is in control of his senses. He will tell you about dharma. O fortunate one! O supreme among brahmanas! If you desire, go there. O unblemished one! Please pardon everything that I may have spoken in excess. All the ones who are learned in dharma say that women must not be injured.’