Mahabharata: Volume 4 (23 page)

‘“Having been thus addressed, Nahusha was extremely delighted. The Indra of the gods spoke these words to the unblemished one. ‘O one whose complexion is beautiful! You have spoken about an extraordinary vehicle. O goddess! I have taken a strong fancy towards it. O one with the beautiful face! I am under your powers. One who makes the sages carry his vehicle cannot be weak in strength. I am a powerful ascetic. I am the lord of the past, the present and the future. When I am angry, the universe ceases to exist. Everything is vested in me—the gods, the danavas, the gandharvas, the kinnaras, the serpents and the rakshasas. O sweet-smiling one! All the worlds are not enough to counter my anger. I take the energy from anyone I look at with my eyes. O goddess! There is no doubt that I will act in accordance with your words. The seven rishis
⁹⁴
will bear me and all the brahmarshis. O beautiful one! Behold my greatness and my prosperity.’ Having spoken thus, he gave the goddess with the beautiful face permission to leave.

‘“He did not possess the qualities of a brahmana. He was powerful and intoxicated. He was insolent because of the boon. He yoked the rishis, who were established in the rules, to his celestial vehicle. That evil-souled one was overcome by desire and made the rishis bear him. Having been dismissed by Nahusha, she told Brihaspati, ‘Only
a little bit of the time that Nahusha granted me is left. Hunt out Shakra quickly. I love him and show me compassion.’ The illustrious Brihaspati told her, ‘It will be this way. O goddess! You have no reason to fear the evil-minded Nahusha. He will not last for a long time. That worst of men has been destroyed. He is ignorant of dharma. O beautiful one! He has made the maharshis carry him and has been slain.
⁹⁵
I will offer oblations for the destruction of that evil-minded one. I will go to Shakra. O fortunate one! Do not be afraid.’ Having kindled a fire in accordance with the prescribed rites, the immensely energetic Brihaspati offered oblations to discover where the king of the gods was. The illustrious god of the fire himself appeared. He adopted the extraordinary form of a woman and suddenly disappeared. With the speed of the mind, he searched the directions, the sub-directions, the mountains, the forests, the earth and the sky, and returned within a brief moment to Brihaspati. Agni said, ‘O Brihaspati! I cannot see the king of the gods anywhere. Only the waters remain to be searched and I am incapable of entering the waters. O brahmana! I have no means of going there. What else can I do for you?’ Having been thus addressed, the preceptor of the gods said, ‘O greatly resplendent one! Enter.’ Agni replied, ‘I cannot enter the waters. That will be my destruction. I am seeking refuge with you. O immensely radiant one! Be pacified. The fire arose from the waters,
⁹⁶
kshatriyas from brahmanas and iron from stone. Their energy goes everywhere, but is pacified if they return to their wombs.’”’

‘“Brihaspati said, ‘O Agni! You are the mouth of all the gods. You carry the oblations. You are inside all beings
⁹⁷
and
roam around like a secret witness. The wise ones have spoken of you as one, and again as three.
⁹⁸
O bearer of oblations!
⁹⁹
Without you, the universe is instantly destroyed. Having bowed down before you, the brahmanas go to whatever eternal destinations they have won because of their own deeds, together with their wives and their sons. You are the bearer of oblations. You are the supreme oblation. You are worshipped at sacrifices. You are the supreme sacrifice. O bearer of oblations! Having created the three worlds, you become the kindling and cook them when the time has come.
¹⁰⁰
You gave birth to this entire universe. O Agni! You are the foremost reason for its establishment again. O Agni! You are the source of all water. You are the blazing lightning. The flames that issue from you burn all beings. Water is based on you. Everything is this entire universe is based on you. O purifying one! There is nothing in the three worlds that is not known to you. Everyone loves one’s womb, so enter the water without any fear.
¹⁰¹
I will make you grow with my eternal brahmana mantras.’”

‘Shalya said, “Having been thus praised by the illustrious and supreme sage Brihaspati, the bearer of oblations spoke these supreme words. ‘I tell you truthfully that I will show Shakra to you.’ The fire entered the water, with its oceans and ponds. It went to the lake where Shatakratu was secretly hidden. O bull among the Bharata lineage! He searched through the lotuses and found Indra of the gods in the middle of a stalk. He returned quickly and told Brihaspati, ‘The lord is hidden inside the stalk of a lotus, in a very tiny form.’ With all the gods, rishis and gandharvas, Brihaspati went there and propitiated the slayer of Bala because of his earlier deeds. ‘O Shakra! You killed the great and terrible asura named Namuchi, and Shambara and Bala, both of whom were terrible in valour. O
Shatakratu! Grow and destroy all the enemies. O wielder of the vajra! Arise and see the gods and the rishis who have come. O great Indra! O lord! You saved the world by killing the danavas. You used the foam of the waters, strengthened through Vishnu’s energy, to slay Vritra earlier. O king of the gods! O lord of the universe! You are worshipped by all beings. You are the one who should be worshipped. There is no other being in the world who is your equal. O Shakra! You sustain all the beings. You ensured the greatness of the gods. Save the world of the gods. O great Indra! Increase in strength.’ When he had been thus propitiated, he slowly grew. He assumed his own form and became endowed with strength. The god asked his preceptor Brihaspati, who was standing before him, ‘What task remains? The great asura who was the son of Tvashtra has been killed and so has the extremely gigantic Vritra who wished to devour the world.’
¹⁰²
Brihaspati replied, ‘The human King Nahusha has obtained the kingdom of the gods through the energy of the gods and the masses of rishis. He is grievously oppressing all of us.’ Indra asked, ‘How did Nahusha obtain the kingdom of the gods, difficult to attain? O Brihaspati! What austerities did he possess and what was his valour?’

‘“Brihaspati said, ‘The frightened gods wished for a Shakra, after you had given up the position of the great Indra. All the gods, the ancestors, the rishis and the masses of gandharvas then assembled. O Shakra! They went and told Nahusha, “Be our king and the herdsman of the universe.” Nahusha replied, “I do not have the capacity. You must make me increase through the energy of your austerities.” The gods acted in accordance with these words. He became a king with terrible valour. Having obtained the kingdom of the three worlds, that evil-souled one makes the ascetics bear him throughout the world. There is poison in his extremely terrible eyesight and it robs the energy. Nahusha must never look at you. All the gods are frightened of Nahusha. They roam in secret, so that he may not look at them.’”

‘Shalya said, “Thus spoke the best of the Angirasa lineage, Brihaspati. At that time, Kubera, guardian of the world, and the ancient Vaivasvata Yama, and the gods Soma and Varuna also arrived. When they arrived, they told the great Indra. ‘It is extremely fortunate that the son of Tvashtra and Vritra have been slain. It is extremely fortunate that you are hale and unhurt. O Shakra! We see that your enemies have been killed.’ Shakra then replied in the appropriate way and incited them against Nahusha. ‘Nahusha, the king of the gods, is terrible in form. Therefore, you must assist me against him.’ They said, ‘Nahusha is terrible in form. O god! There is poison in his eyes and we are frightened of him. O king! O Shakra! If you truly vanquish Nahusha, we should also be entitled to our share.’
¹⁰³
Indra replied, ‘It shall be that way. The lord of the waters,
¹⁰⁴
Kubera and Yama will also be instated with me. Uniting today, we will vanquish the enemy Nahusha, whose eyesight is terrible.’ Then the flaming fire told Shakra, ‘Give me a share also and I will render you assistance.’ Shakra said, ‘You will also get a share. In great sacrifices, there will be one share for Indra and Agni together.’
¹⁰⁵
Having thought about this, the illustrious and great Indra, the chastiser of Paka, made Kubera the lord of all the yakshas and riches, Vaivasvata of the ancestors and Varuna of the waters. With due honours, Shakra, the granter of boons, gave them these lordships.”’

‘Shalya said, “When the intelligent king of the gods was thinking about a means for killing Nahusha, together with the guardians
of the world,
¹⁰⁶
the illustrious ascetic Agastya appeared. He showed homage to Indra of the gods and said, ‘It is fortunate that you have gained in strength. Vishvarupa
¹⁰⁷
has been destroyed and the asura Vritra has been slain. O Purandara! It is through good fortune too that Nahusha has been dislodged from the kingdom of the gods. O destroyer of Bala! It is through good fortune that I look upon you now.’ Indra replied, ‘O maharshi! Welcome. I am happy to see you. Please accept from me water for washing the feet, water for washing the mouth, the cow and the arghya.’
¹⁰⁸
Having been thus honoured, that supreme of sages, bull among brahmanas, seated himself and the lord of the gods happily asked him, ‘O illustrious one! O supreme among brahmanas! I wish to hear from you how Nahusha, whose mind was set on evil, has been dislodged from heaven.’

‘“Agastya said, ‘O Shakra! Listen to the pleasant news of how the evil-souled and evil-acting King Nahusha, insolent because of his strength, has been dislodged from heaven. The immensely fortunate devarshis and the unblemished brahmarshis were exhausted at having to bear the evil-acting Nahusha. O god! O supreme among victorious ones! They posed a question to Nahusha. “Brahma has chanted mantras that should be used when cows are sprinkled.
¹⁰⁹
Are these accurate?” O Vasava! This is the question they asked. Nahusha’s senses were confounded because of darkness and he replied in the negative. The rishis said, “You are engaged in adharma. You do not know dharma. For us, they are accurate, because the maharshis have uttered them earlier.” O Vasava! While he was arguing with the sages, oppressed by adharma, this man touched my head with his foot.
¹¹⁰
O consort of Shachi! Because of this, he lost his energy and his prosperity. I told the anxious one who was oppressed by
fear, “This was undertaken by Brahma earlier and was observed by the brahmarshis.
¹¹¹
They should not be censured and you have censured them. You have touched my head with your foot. O stupid one! The rishis are like Brahma and are unassailable. You have made them carry around your vehicle. Therefore, you will lose your brilliance and will be dislodged from heaven. O evil one! With all your merits exhausted, you will be dislodged and will descend on earth. You will roam for ten thousand years in the form of a giant serpent. After this period is over, you will return again to heaven.” O destroyer of enemies! Thus, the evil-souled one was dislodged from the kingdom of heaven. O Shakra! It is through good fortune that the thorn of brahmanas has been uprooted and we are flourishing. O consort of Shachi! Return to heaven and protect the worlds. Conquer your senses and conquer your enemies. Be praised by the maharshis.’”

‘Shalya said, “The gods, surrounded by the masses of maharshis, were extremely satisfied. So were the ancestors, the yakshas, the serpents, the rakshasas, the gandharvas, the maidens of the gods and all the masses of apsaras. O lord of the earth! All the lakes, rivers, mountains and oceans approached and said, ‘O destroyer of enemies!
¹¹²
It is through good fortune that you are flourishing. It is through good fortune that the evil Nahusha has been dislodged by the wise Agastya. It is through good fortune that the one who was evil in his conduct has become a snake on the face of the earth.’”’

‘Shalya said, “Then Shakra was praised by the masses of gandharvas and apsaras. He ascended Airavata, the king of elephants, who possessed all the auspicious marks. The immensely
energetic god of the fire was there, maharshi Brihaspati, Yama, Varuna and Kubera, lord of riches. Surrounded by all the gods, gandharvas and apsaras, Shakra, the destroyer of Vritra, went to the three worlds. Having been united with the great Indrani, Shatakratu, the king of the gods, was supremely delighted and began to rule as the king of the gods.

‘“The illustrious Angira
¹¹³
appeared. He honoured Indra of the gods with mantras from Atharva Veda and he bestowed a boon on Atharva Angirasa.
¹¹⁴
‘This Veda will be known by the name of Atharva Angirasa. For example, you will also obtain a share in the sacrifice.’
¹¹⁵
O great king! Having thus honoured the illustrious Atharva Angirasa, Shatakratu, the king of the gods, gave him permission to leave. Indra honoured the thirty gods and the rishis, rich in austerities. O king! He happily ruled over the subjects, in accordance with dharma. Such were the difficulties confronted by Indra, together with his wife. With a desire to kill his enemies, he lived in disguise.

‘“O Indra among kings! You should not be angry because you confronted difficulties in the great forest, together with Droupadi and your great-souled brothers. O Indra among kings! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O descendant of the Kourava lineage! You will also regain your kingdom, the way Shakra obtained it after killing Vritra. The evil-acting Nahusha was evil in intelligence and hated brahmanas. Because of Agastya’s curse, he was destroyed for an eternal period of time. O destroyer of enemies! This will also happen to your evil-souled enemies. Karna, Duryodhana and the others will
soon confront their destruction. O brave one! O lord! With your brothers and Droupadi, you will then enjoy the earth, up to the frontiers of the ocean. This is the account of Shakra’s victory, equal in importance to the Vedas. It should be heard by a king who wishes for victory. O supreme among victorious ones! It is for that reason that I have recounted it, for the sake of your victory. O Yudhishthira! Great-souled ones are strengthened when they are praised. O great-souled Yudhishthira! Because of Duryodhana’s crimes and the strength of Bhima and Arjuna, the defeat of the kshatriyas will occur. He who always reads this account of Indra’s victory, has his soul cleansed and having won heaven, rejoices in the afterlife. That man does not have any fear from enemies and he is never without sons. He never confronts a calamity. He always has a long life. He is triumphant everywhere and is never vanquished.”’