Mahabharata Vol. 1 (Penguin Translated Texts) (32 page)

Vaishampayana said, ‘King Pratipa was always devoted to the welfare of all beings. He spent many years in meditation, on the banks of the Ganga. Then Ganga assumed the form of a woman
who was beautiful and had all the qualities. She arose from the waters in this desirable form. The rajarshi was studying.

‘This divine and intelligent one with a beautiful face came and sat on his right thigh, which was like a
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tree. Pratipa, lord of the earth, asked the intelligent one, “O fortunate one! What can I do to bring you pleasure? What is your desire?” The lady said, “O king! O best of the Kurus! I desire you. I offer myself. Accept me and love me in return. Those who are wise always consider evil the act of refusing a woman who is full of desire.” Pratipa replied, “O beautiful one! Out of desire, I can never go to another man’s wife or to one who is not equal to me in varna. O fortunate one! Know that this is the vow I have taken for the sake of dharma.” The lady said, “I am never undesirable. I am never one with whom union is forbidden. I am never malignant. I am a divine lady and supreme in beauty. O king! Love me, as I wish to love you.” Pratipa replied, “I must refrain from doing what brings you pleasure. I have taken a vow and if I break it, dharma will bring about my destruction. O beautiful lady! You have seated yourself on my right thigh. O timid one! That is the seat earmarked for daughters and daughters-in-law. The left is the seat for the woman one finds pleasure with. But you have rejected it. O beautiful one! Therefore, I cannot satisfy desire with you. O fortunate one! I accept you for my son. Be my daughter-in-law. The left thigh is for the wife, but you have not accepted that.” The lady said, “O one who is learned in dharma! Let it be as you say. Let me be united with your son. Out of my love for you, I will love the famous Bharata lineage. Your dynasty is the refuge of all the kings on earth. Even if I take 100 years, I will not be able to recount the qualities of this dynasty, whose fame and righteousness is supreme. But he must not know my high birth. Nor must he ever question what I do. Living with your son in this way, I will make him happy and bring about his welfare. Because of his sons, his righteous conduct and his merits, your son will attain heaven.” O king! Having said this, she disappeared.

‘The king waited for his son to be born and for the promise to be fulfilled. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! Meanwhile, Pratipa,
bull among the Kshatriyas, performed austerities with his wife, so as to obtain a son. Though they were old, a son was born to them and this son was Mahabhisha. He was known as Shantanu, because he was born when his father had controlled his senses.
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Remebering that the eternal worlds can only be conquered through one’s own deeds, Shantanu, supreme of the Kuru lineage, devoted himself to sacred conduct. When his son Shantanu became a youth, Pratipa told him, “O Shantanu! Earlier, a lady had approached me for your welfare. O son! If that divine and beautiful lady comes to you in secret and desires you so as to obtain offspring, you must not question her about who she is and who she belongs to. O unblemished one! You must not question any of her acts. I tell you that you must love her as she loves you.” Having thus commanded his son and instated him on the throne, King Pratipa departed for the forest.

‘King Shantanu was intelligent and became a famous archer on earth. He loved hunting and spent a lot of time in the forest. Once, that best of kings killed many deer and buffaloes. Wandering alone along the banks of the Ganga, he came to a place frequented by the siddhas and the charanas. One day, the king saw there a supreme woman, dazzling in her beauty like the lotus-seated Shri
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herself. Her body was faultless and her teeth were beautiful. She was adorned with divine ornaments. She was alone and she wore sheer garments that were as beautiful as the filaments of a lotus. The king was astounded at the beauty of her form and the hair on his body stood up in rapture. The lord of men gazed at her with his eyes, but was not satisfied. On seeing the radiant king move around, she also felt love and affection for him and the wanton one wasn’t satisfied. The king then addressed her in a gentle voice. “O beautiful one! O one with the slender waist! Are you from the race of gods, demons, gandharvas, apsaras, yakshas or pannagas, or are you human? You
seem to be born of the gods. Whoever you are, please be my wife.” Hearing these soft words from the smiling king, that unblemished one remembered the promise she had made to the vasus. She spoke to the king, gladdening his heart with her words. “O lord of the earth! I will be your queen and will obey your words. O king! But you must not interfere in my acts, regardless of whether they please or displease you. You must never try to stop me or speak to me harshly. O king! As long as you act in the way I have asked you to, I will be with you. But I will certainly leave you whenever you try to stop me or speak to me harshly.” The best of the Bharata lineage agreed. At that, the lady was delighted to have obtained that supreme of kings as her husband.”

‘Having obtained her, Shantanu was also delighted. He pleasured with her as he desired and remembering the promise, refrained from asking her anything. The lord of the earth was extremely pleased with her conduct, beauty, generosity, qualities and secret art of love. The divine Ganga, who courses the three worlds, assumed a beautiful and radiant human form and lived happily as an obedient wife to Shantanu, that lion among kings. He was as radiant as the king of the gods himself and his love waxed, as his fortune did. She pleased the king with her skilled love making, intelligence, coquetry and demeanour and the king loved her as much as she did. The king was so addicted to desire and the qualities of his supreme wife that many years, seasons and months passed by without him being aware. When the lord of men thus united with her when desire seized them, eight sons were borne by her, each resembling a god. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! As soon as each son was born, one after another, she flung them into the waters of the Ganga, saying, “This is for your own good.” This did not please King Shantanu. But the lord of the earth did not dare to utter a word, for fear of losing her.

‘When the eighth son was born and she seemed to be smiling, the king, who desired a son, miserably told her, “Do not kill him. Who are you? Who do you belong to? Why do you kill your sons? As a murderer of your sons, you are committing a great sin. O evil one! Do not commit sin. Desist.” Ganga replied, “Since you desire a son, I will not kill this son. You will become the supreme father of a son.
But following our agreement, my stay here has come to an end. I am Ganga, the daughter of Jahnu and worshipped by large numbers of maharshis. I have lived with you so far to accomplish the wishes of the gods. These were the eight vasus, immensely fortunate and immensely energetic gods. As a result of a curse imposed by Vashishtha, they had to be born in human form. There was no better father than you on earth and no human mother in this world who could equal me. Therefore, I assumed human form to become their mother. By becoming the father of the eight vasus, you have conquered the eternal worlds. My agreement with the divine vasus was that I should free them from their human birth as soon as each was born. I have thus freed them from the curse imposed by the great-souled Apava.
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Be fortunate. I must leave now. Rear this son. He will be rigid in his vows. My promise to the vasus that I would live with you is over. Let this son, born from me, be known as Gangadatta.’
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‘Shantanu said, “Who was Apava? What evil act was committed by the vasus that they were all cursed to be born in human wombs? What has this son Gangadatta done that he must now live among men? The vasus are lords of all the worlds. O Jahnavi!
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Why were they born among men? Tell me everything.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Having been thus addressed, the divine goddess Jahnavi Ganga addressed her husband King Shantanu, bull among men.

‘Ganga said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Varuna once had a son—the sage Vashishtha, later famous as Apava. His holy hermitage was along the side of Meru, the king of the mountains. It was populated with deer and birds and was always covered with
flowers. O best of the Bharata lineage! Varuna’s son, supreme among those who perform sacred deeds, performed austerities in that forest, which had a plentiful supply of tasty roots, fruit and water. Daksha had a proud daughter named Surabhi. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Through Kashyapa, that goddess gave birth to a cow for the welfare of that entire world. This supreme cow was capable of fulfilling every desire. Varuna’s righteous son obtained this cow for the sake of performing sacrifices and the cow lived in that forest, populated by sages. Fearlessly, she grazed in those sacred and lovely woods. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Once, all the divine vasus, with Prithu at their head, came to visit that forest, frequented by the gods and the devarshis. With their wives, they roamed in the forest and made love in its lovely mountains and woods. O you who are as valorous as Vasava
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himself! A slender-waisted wife of one of the vasus saw the supreme cow, which belonged to the sage Vashishtha and was capable of fulfilling every desire, roaming in the forest. She was amazed at its conduct, power and riches and showed it to Dyou,
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who had eyes like those of a bull.

‘“The cow was well fed and yielded plenty of milk. It had a beautiful tail and handsome face. It had all the qualities and was supreme in its conduct. O lord of kings! O descendant of the Puru lineage! So great were its qualities that the vasu’s wife showed it to the vasu. O you who are like the king of elephants! O you who are like Indra in valour! Dyou saw that cow, with its beauty and qualities. O king! He then told the goddess, ‘O goddess with the dark eyes! O one with the beautiful hips! O one with slender waist! This supreme cow belongs to the rishi who is Varuna’s son. He is the owner of this supreme forest. A person who drinks this cow’s tasty milk will live for 10,000 years with undiminished youth.’ O supreme among kings! When that slender-waisted goddess of unblemished form heard these words, she told her husband, whose energy was radiant. ‘I have a friend in this world of men and she is the daughter of a king. Her name is Jinavati and she is young and beautiful. She is the daughter
of rajarshi Ushinara, who is truthful and intelligent. This daughter is famous in the world of men because of the wealth of her beauty. O immensely fortunate one! I wish to obtain this cow and its calf for her. O best of the gods! O one who increases good deeds! Please bring them quickly. O one who grants pride! On drinking the milk, my friend will be the only one in the world of men to be freed from age and disease. O immensely fortunate one! O unblemished one! Please do this for me. There is no other pleasure that would please me more.’ Hearing the words of the goddess, Dyou wished to please her and stole the cow with the help of Prithu and his other brothers. O king! Instructed by his lotus-eyed wife, Dyou did not think about the great ascetic powers of the rishi who owned her. He failed to consider that the stealing of the cow would lead to his downfall.

‘“In the evening, Varuna’s son returned to the hermitage with the fruit he had collected. He did not see the cow and her calf in that supreme wood. Then the one blessed with the power of austerities looked for her in the forest. But though he searched, the sage could not find her. Through his divine sight, he then found that she had been stolen by the vasus. His anger arose and he cursed the vasus. ‘Because the vasus have stolen my cow which yields sweet milk and has a handsome tail, there is no doubt that they will all be born as men.’ O bull among the Bharata lineage! Thus did the illustrious Apava, supreme among sages, curse the vasus in his anger. Having cursed them, the illustrious one returned to his austerities. O king! Thus, in his wrath, did the one blessed with the power of austerities curse the eight vasus. The rishi was immensely powerful and knew the nature of the brahman. As soon as they knew that they had been cursed by the rishi, the gods went to the hermitage of the great-souled one. O bull among kings! The vasus tried to pacify the rishi. O tiger among men! But they failed to obtain the grace of Apava, who was learned in all dharma and was supreme among rishis. The righteous sage said, ‘O Dhara! You and the other vasus have been cursed. But you will all be freed from your curse within a year. But Dyou is the one whose act has led to your being cursed by me. Because of his own deeds, he will have to live in the world of men for a long time. Though uttered in anger, my words cannot amount to a
falsehood. However, the great-souled one
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will not have offspring in the world of men. He will be devoted to dharma and will be skilled in the usage of all weapons. He will be engaged in doing that which brings his father pleasure and he will forsake pleasure with women.’ Having addressed all the vasus in this way, the great rishi went away. And all the vasus then came to me together.

‘“O king! They craved a boon from me. ‘O Ganga! As soon as each one of us is born, you should yourself throw us into the water.’ O supreme among kings! I agreed and acted accordingly, in order to free them from a life in the world of men, a consequence of the curse. O best of kings! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O king! Dyou alone will have to live in the world of men for a long time, because of the rishi’s curse.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Having completed the account, the goddess immediately vanished. Taking her son with her, she went away to wherever she wished to go. That son of Shantanu came to be known under two names—Devavrata and Gangeya. He surpassed Shantanu in all his qualities. With sorrow in his heart, Shantanu then returned to his own capital. I will now recount for you Shantanu’s many qualities and the great fortune of this famous king, who was from the Bharata lineage and whose illustrious history is known as the Mahabharata.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘King Shantanu was intelligent and was honoured by the gods and the rajarshis. He was devoted to dharma and was famous in all the worlds for being righteous and truthful. Shantanu, bull among men, always displayed self-control, generosity, forgiveness, forbearance, resoluteness, supreme energy and great nobility. The king had all these qualities and was also skilled in dharma and artha. He was the protector of the Bharata
lineage and all righteous people. His neck was like a conch shell, his shoulders were broad and his strength was like that of a mad elephant. For him, dharma was superior to kama and artha. O bull among men! On seeing that he was devoted to dharma and supreme in the practice of all forms of dharma, all the kings instated him as the king of kings. With that lord of the Bharata lineage as their protector, all the kings on earth were freed from sorrow, fear and anxiety and awoke every morning from sweet dreams. When the world was ruled by kings led by Shantanu, all the varnas followed rules that served the cause of the brahman. Brahmanas were served by Kshatriyas, Kshatriyas were served by Vaishyas. Devoted to Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, Shudras served the Vaishyas. Shantanu lived in Hastinapura, the beautiful capital of the Kurus. He ruled over the entire earth, right up to the boundaries of the oceans. He was devoted to truth and learned in dharma, an equal of the king of the gods. He attained great fortune through the dharma of generosity and austerities. He was free of anger and hatred. He was as pleasant as Soma.
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He was as energetic as the sun and his speed was like that of Vayu. He was like Yama in anger and like the earth in his patience. O king! When Shantanu ruled the earth, no animals, boars and birds suffered pointless death. Brahmana dharma was always followed in Shantanu’s kingdom. He treated all beings equally, without desire and anger. Sacrifices were performed for the worship of gods, rishis and the ancestors. But no being was deprived of its life, other than in accordance with dharma. The king was like a father to those who were miserable, to those who were without a protector and to animals. During the reign of that best of the Kuru lineage, the king of kings, words were embedded in truth and the mind was embedded in generosity and dharma.