Site menu |
|
Login form |
|
Search |
|
Our poll |
|
Statistics |
Total online: 1 Guests: 1 Users: 0 |
|
Welcome, Guest · RSS |
2024-03-28, 4:15 PM |
|
Chapter 10: The
Battle
Between
the
Demigods
and
Vritrâsura
(1) The son of Vyâsa said: 'The Supreme Lord Hari, the
Original
Cause of the cosmic manifestation, after thus
having instructed Indra then disappeared from before the eyes
of the devoted. (2) When the son of Atharvâ
[Dadhîci], the saint, as was told was beseeched by the godly,
the great personality, slightly amused, with a smile said the
following oh son of Bharata. (3) 'Oh
souls of God, don't
you
know that
all embodied beings when
they die have to suffer an unbearable, intense pain that takes away
their
consciousness? (4) All
souls struggle to remain alive and the body they desired in this world
is very dear to them. Who would be
willing to give away his body, even to Lord Vishnu if He asked for it?'
(5) The gods said: 'What would there be too difficult oh
brahmin,
for
persons as great as your holiness, whose virtues are sung by all and
who are of mercy towards all? (6) People
running
after
their
self-interest
do
not
know
what
trouble
they
cause to other people. If
they would know they wouldn't make their demands. But if one [knows
about the misery of others and] is capable of giving, one won't say no
but comply.'
(7) The honorable saint said: 'Just to hear from you what would be the dharma [in this
matter], I was opposing you. I will give up this dear
body for you [though]. I sooner or later have to give it up anyway. (8) Anyone
who with the
impermanence of the body oh Lords, not full of mercy for each and all
endeavors for honorability and religious principles, is a person
pitiable even to the immobile
creatures
[like
the
tolerant
trees,
see
also
the S'rî
S'rî
Shadgosvâmî-ashthaka]! (9) By the meritorious ones of
renown this much
is recognized as the imperishable dharma: dharmic
is the soul who laments over the distress of other living beings and
feels happy upon their happiness. (10) Away
with the misery, away with the difficulty! Because a physical body can
perish any moment and be eaten by the jackals it wouldn't help [to hold
on to it], it is not there for myself - a mortal is there with his body
[in order to give his
life] for that
what is his own [for what he stands for] and for
the ones he knows
[his relatives and friends, see also S.B.
10.22: 35].'
(11) The son of Vyâsa said: 'Thus decided on the right
course of action Dadhîci, the son of Atharvâ, gave up his
body in sacrifice for the Supreme, the supreme Brahman, the
Supreme Personality [compare 1.13: 55]. (12) He as
a seer of the truth with his senses,
life air, mind and intelligence under control, absorbed in trance being situated in the
Supreme, was liberated from his
bondage and left the world no longer taking notice of his
material body [see also B.G.
8:
5]. (13-14)
King Indra thereafter took up the
thunderbolt that was created by Vis'vakarmâ, empowered
by
the
great
sage
[Dadhîci] and suffused with
the spiritual
strength of the Supreme Lord. Together riding out with all the other
gods while the munis offered
prayers, he gloriously
sat on the back of Gajendra [his elephant] to the apparent
pleasure of all the three worlds.
(15) Vritrâsura
surrounded
by
the
asura chiefs and commanders was with great
force attacked as the enemy oh King, just like it happened when Rudra
angrily attacked Antaka [Yamarâja]. (16) What
followed was a great and most ferocious battle between the sura,
the divine, and the asura, the demoniac hordes, which took
place at the bank of the [celestial] Narmadâ river at the onset
of the first millennium [the Vaivasvata-manvantara] of
Tretâ-yuga.
(17-18) Oh King, when
the demons headed by Vritrâsura were confronted with the
resplendent
opulence of Indra the Heavenly King with the thunderbolt and the
Rudras, Vasus, Âdityas, As'vins, Pitâs, Vahnis,
Maruts, Ribhus,
Sâdhyas and Vis'vadevas, they
couldn't bear the sight. (19-22) Namuci, S'ambara,
Anarvâ, Dvimûrdhâ, Rishabha, Asura, Hayagrîva,
S'ankus'irâ, Vipracitti, Ayomukha, Pulomâ,
Vrishaparvâ, Praheti, Heti and Utkala and the hundreds and
thousands of other Daityas, Danavas, Yakshas, Râkshasas and
others headed by Sumâli and Mâli who were all dressed up
with golden ornaments, drove back the front of Indra's army that even
for death itself was difficult to approach. Fearlessly the Asuras
furiously
roaring like lions thereupon pained their opponents with clubs, iron
studded
bludgeons, arrows, barbed missiles, mallets and lances. (23) The
chiefs of the divine forces were from all sides covered by a shower of arrows, spears,
axes, swords, s'ataghnîs
and bhus'undis [different
types
of
spiked
weapons]. (24) Like stars in the sky covered
by clouds, they couldn't be discerned any longer, completely covered as
they were
by the downpour of projectiles that from all sides in waves fell upon
them. (25) But the showers of arrows and other
weapons didn't reach the armies of the enlightened ones because the
demigods
quickly cut them midair into thousands of pieces. (26) Thereupon
running
out of arrows and weapons they showered a rain of mountain
peaks, trees and stones upon them that, as before, were fragmented by
the sura forces. (27) When the troops led by
Vritrâsura saw that their enemy fared quite well under
the load
of weapons and mantras and that none of them was harmed by the trees,
the
stones and the different mountain peaks either, they became very afraid
of Indra's soldiers. (28) All the daitya endeavors of time
and again waging against the demigods who enjoyed the favor of Krishna
were in vain, just as the rough words are of little men when they
abuse the great ones. (29) They
who were not of devotion unto the Lord,
upon seeing their endeavors fruitless, left defeated in their pride as
fighters the battlefield and gave up the fight that had just
begun. They whose power had been nullified abandoned the commander [Vritrâsura] who had inspired them.
(30) Vritra seeing
how the demons that followed him fled away and how his army was broken
and scared away, spoke as a broad-minded hero with a big grin as
follows. (31) Befitting time and
circumstances the hero of heroes expressed himself in words that were even attractive to
the
greatest minds: 'Oh Vipracitti, Namuci and Pulomâ!
Oh Maya, Anarvâ and S'ambara! Please listen to me. (32) All
who are born inevitably have to
face death, wherever they might exist in the universe. There is no way
to counter that in this world which offers someone the
opportunity to reach a better world and be glorious. Considering this
indeed to be the case, who wouldn't accept a suitable way to die? (33) There
are two approved ways to die with honor in this world, and both
are very rare. One is to be allowed to leave the body when one engaged
in yoga controlling the mind and senses concentrates on Brahman
[Paramâtma and Bhagavân],
and the other is to take the lead on the battlefield and never turn
one's back.'
|
|