Mahabharata Vol. 1 (Penguin Translated Texts) (51 page)

‘“Vashishtha, the best of Brahmanas and always devoted to the truth, agreed to the desires of the great archer, the king. O king of men! After some time, Vashishtha, accompanied by the one without blame,
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went to his capital, famous in this world as Ayodhya. In great joy, all the people came out to welcome the great-souled and sinless one,
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like gods welcome their chief. Accompanied by the great-souled Vashishtha, the king of men soon entered his auspicious city. O king! The citizens of Ayodhya saw him, like the sun rising in Pushya.
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The king, the most fortunate among those who are blessed with fortune, filled Ayodhya, like the cool moon which fills the skies when it rises in the autumn. His mind was gladdened when he saw that supreme of cities, with its streets clean and washed, adorned with
flags and pennants. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! That city was full of people who were happy and well fed. It looked as radiant as Amaravati
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in Indra’s presence.

‘“After the rajarshi had entered the best of cities, the queen came to Vashishtha at the king’s command. When the season was right, maharshi Vashishtha, the rishi who always obtained the best share, united with her, in accordance with the divine rites laid down by the gods. Thereafter, when the queen conceived through him, the best of sages received salutations from the king and returned to his hermitage. When she had carried the embryo for a long time, the famous lady split her womb open with a stone. O bull among men! After twelve years, rajarshi Ashmaka was born, the one who founded the city of Potana.”’

‘The gandharva said, “O king! Living in the hermitage, Adrishyanti gave birth to a son who was the extender of Shakti’s lineage and was like a second Shakti. O best of the Bharata lineage! The best of the sages, the illustrious one, himself performed the prescribed birth ceremonies of his grandson. Because the sage Vashishtha had resolved to kill himself, but refrained from doing so when he heard of the son in the womb, he was known in the world by the name of Parashara.
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From the date of his birth, that virtuous one knew Vashishtha to be his father and behaved towards him like a father. O Kaunteya! O scorcher of enemies! When the child addressed the Brahmana rishi Vashishtha as ‘father’ in front of his mother Adrishyanti, she heard the sweet word, so full of meaning, uttered by him. Adrishyanti spoke to him with tears in her eyes. ‘O son! Do not use the word father. The great sage is not your father. O son! Your father was devoured by a rakshasa in the deep forest. O innocent
son! The one you think of as your father is not your father. The illustrious one is the father of your famous father.’ Having been thus addressed, the best of rishis
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was grief-stricken, because he always spoke the truth. The great-souled one resolved to destroy all the worlds. On seeing him thus resolved, the great-souled Vashishtha, great in austerities, gave reasons for refraining. Hear them.

‘“Vashishtha said, ‘There was a great king known by the name of Kritavirya. In this world, that bull among kings had as his priest the Bhrigus, learned in the Vedas. At the end of his soma sacrifice, the king gratified those who are the first receivers of offerings
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with many presents of grain and riches. When that tiger among men had ascended to heaven, there came a time when his descendants were in need of riches. O son! Knowing that the Bhrigus were affluent, those kings went to the best of the Bhrigus, in the disguise of beggars, to ask for riches. To save their indestructible riches, some of the Bhrigus buried them in the ground. Fearing danger from the Kshatriyas, others gave away their riches to Brahmanas. O son! Some of the Bhrigus gave them as much of riches as they wanted, thinking that some other use might be found for the Kshatriyas.

‘“‘O son! Then one day, some of the Kshatriyas, according to their wishes, dug up the ground in the dwelling place of the Bhrigus and discovered a treasure. All the bulls among the Kshatriyas, who were assembled there, saw the treasure. Thereafter, angry and contemptuous, those supreme archers shot down the Bhrigus with their sharp arrows, though they craved for mercy. They travelled all over the earth, killing even children in wombs. O son! When they were killed in this way, many Bhrigu wives fled in fear and sought refuge in the mountains of the Himalayas.

‘“‘Among them was a lady with beautiful thighs. She resolved to perpetuate her husband’s race and kept her immensely energetic embryo hidden in her thigh, so that it might not be discovered. But the Kshatriyas discovered the Brahmana lady, who blazed in her radiance. Then the child appeared, tearing her thigh open and
blinding the eyes of the Kshatriyas like the midday sun. Thereupon, deprived of their eyesight, the Kshatriyas began to wander around in the difficult passes of the mountain. Frustrated in their desire and frightened, those bulls among the Kshatriyas sought refuge with that unblemished Brahmana lady, so that their eyesight might be restored. They were out of their minds with pain. They had lost their eyesight and were like a fire that has been put out. Those Kshatriyas spoke to the lady. “O illustrious lady! Through your grace, may the Kshatriyas regain their eyesight. All of us will depart from here with our evil deeds. You and your son should show us mercy. You should save these kings by restoring their eyesight to them.”’”’

‘“‘The Brahmana woman said, “O sons! I have not robbed you of your eyesight. Nor am I angry with you. It is the Bhargava who has been born from my thigh who is angry with you. O sons! There is no doubt that your eyesight has been taken away by this great-souled one, whose anger has been aroused on remembering that you had killed his relatives. O sons! When you destroyed even the Bhrigu sons in the wombs, I carried this child in my thigh for 100 years so that he might do that which is good for the Bhrigu lineage. All the Vedas, including their six angas, came to him when he was in the womb. Angry at the killing of his fathers, he certainly wishes to kill you. It is through his divine radiance that your eyesight has been destroyed. O sons! Pray to Ourva, this supreme son of mine. If he is placated through your homage, he may restore your eyesight.”’

‘“Vashishtha said, ‘Having been thus addressed, all the kings addressed the son who had been born from her thigh and begged him for mercy. He was merciful. Since that supreme Brahmana rishi was born after splitting open the thigh, he came to be known in the worlds by the name of Ourva. Regaining their eyesight, the kings returned. But the Bhargava sage decided to bring about the destruction of the entire world. O son! That great-souled one decided to bring
about the destruction of all the worlds. In order to bring honour to the Bhrigus, that descendant of the Bhrigu lineage engaged in great austerities, so as to bring about the destruction of all the worlds. Through his great and severe austerities, he burnt the worlds with the gods, the asuras and men, and gratified his ancestors. On learning what the descendant of the lineage was planning to do, the ancestors descended from their world and told him, “O Ourva! O son! We have witnessed the power of your severe austerities. Have mercy for the worlds and control your anger. O son! The self-controlled Bhrigus weren’t powerless. Nor were they indifferent to slaughter at the hands of the violent Kshatriyas. O son! When we got tired of our long lives, we ourselves wished for our deaths at the hands of the Kshatriyas. The riches that were buried in the ground in the dwelling place of the Bhrigus were placed there with the intention of angering the Kshatriyas and creating enmity with them. O bull among the twice-born! What use are riches to us when we wish to attain heaven? O son! When we found that death was completely unable to overcome all of us, we thought this would be the most pleasant way. O son! Those who kill themselves never attain the best worlds. Remembering that, we did not kill ourselves with our own hands. O son! That which you desire does not please us at all. Therefore, control your mind and refrain from this evil destruction of all the worlds. O son! None of the Kshatriyas in the seven worlds
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has offended or harmed our austerities. Win over the anger that has arisen in you.”’”’

‘“‘Ourva said, “O ancestors! In anger, I took a vow that all the worlds would be destroyed and that cannot go in vain. Because I cannot be one whose anger and vows come to
nothing. Without a doubt, my anger will consume me, the way fire consumes dry kindling.
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When anger arises from a reason that is just, a man who suppresses it cannot properly safeguard the three goals.
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Anger has the purpose of restraining the evil and protecting the good. Kings who wish to conquer heaven use their anger for a just cause. I was lying unborn inside my mother’s thigh; I heard cries when my mothers of the Bhrigu lineage were slaughtered by the Kshatriyas. O ancestors! When those worst of the Kshatriyas slaughtered the Bhrigus, including those in wombs and the worlds ignored this, anger entered my heart. My mothers, heavy in their wombs, and my fathers were frightened, but did not find a protector in all the worlds. When the women of the Bhrigu lineage did not find a single protector, my fortunate mother hid me in one of her thighs. If there is one who punishes crimes in the worlds, no one in the worlds will dare to commit a crime. But if a crime doesn’t find a punisher, many in the worlds will commit crimes. A man who has the power to punish a crime and doesn’t do so, despite knowing that a crime has been committed, is himself tainted by the deed, even if he is the lord. The kings and others were capable of protecting my fathers, but failed to do so. Giving themselves up to the pleasures of life, they neglected their duties. Therefore, I have justifiable reason to be angry with the worlds and am now their lord. Yet, I am not capable of disobeying your instructions, even though I am capable of punishing a crime. By refraining from doing so, I will once again encourage the spread of evil in the worlds. The anger of my rage wishes to consume the worlds. If I suppress it with my own powers, it will consume me with its energy. O lords! I know that you always strive for the welfare of the worlds. Therefore, instruct me on what is best for the worlds and for me.”

‘“‘The ancestors said, “This fire that is born from your anger wishes to consume the worlds. Cast it into the waters and be fortunate, because the worlds are established on water. Every juice consists of water. Indeed, the entire universe is made out of water. O best of the twice-born! Therefore, release your anger into the water. O Brahmana!
If you so desire, let the anger of your fire be in the great ocean. Let it consume the water, because we have heard that the worlds are made out of water. O unblemished one! In this way, your vow will remain true and the worlds, with their gods, will not be destroyed.”’

‘“Vashishtha said, ‘Thereupon, Ourva hurled the fire of his anger into Varuna’s territory and the fire consumes the waters of the great ocean. Those who are learned in the Vedas know that it has assumed the form of a large horse’s head,
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which spouts fire from the mouth and consumes the waters of the great ocean. O Parashara! You are the foremost among those who are wise. You are familiar with the higher dharma. Be blessed and refrain from destroying the worlds.’”’

‘The gandharva said, “Having been thus addressed by the great-souled Vashishtha, the Brahmana rishi
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controlled his anger, which would have destroyed all the worlds. But the immensely energetic Parashara, Shakti’s son and chief among those who were learned in the Vedas, performed a rakshasa sacrifice. Remembering Shakti’s slaughter, the great sage began to consume rakshasas, old and young, in that sacrifice. Not wishing to restrain him from this second vow, Vashishtha did not prevent him from destroying the rakshasas. The great sage sat at that sacrifice, with three blazing fires in front of him. He himself looked like a fourth fire. Many were the offerings that were poured at this radiant sacrifice and the sky was lit up, like the sun emerging from behind the clouds. Vashishtha and the other sages regarded the sage, blazing with his own radiance, like a second sun. Thereupon, the great and noble-minded sage Atri
came to that place, wishing to put an end to the sacrifice, a task that would have been impossible for anyone else to accomplish.

‘“O destroyer of enemies! Pulastya, Pulaha and Kratu also came to that great sacrifice, since they also desired that the rakshasas should live. O bull of the Bharata lineage! O Partha! On seeing that many rakshasas had already been killed, Pulastya spoke to Parashara, that chastiser of enemies. ‘O son! Do you find no obstructions in the way of this sacrifice? O son! Do you find pleasure in killing all these rakshasas, who are ignorant and innocent?
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O Parashara! You are foremost among those who drink the soma juice. You should not destroy all my progeny in this way. You are a virtuous man. You should not think that the path of adharma will be good for you. King Kalmashapada himself wishes to ascend to heaven. Shakti’s younger brothers, sons of the great sage Vashishtha, are now enjoying great happiness in the company of the gods. O son! O hermit! All this was known to the great sage Vashishtha, including the destruction of the rakshasas. O Vashishtha’s descendant! You have only been an instrument in this sacrifice. Be fortunate and give up this sacrifice. Let it come to an end now.’ Having been thus addressed by Pulastya and the wise Vashishtha, Shakti’s son Parashara brought an end to the sacrifice. The sage threw away the fire that had been lit for the rakshasa sacrifice into the great forest that was to the north of the Himalayas. Even today, the fire is always visible there in all the seasons, consuming rakshasas, trees and rocks.”’

‘Arjuna said, “Why did King Kalmashapada himself call and instruct his wife to go to his preceptor, supreme among those who are learned in the Vedas? Why did the great-souled maharshi Vashishtha, who knew the path of supreme dharma, agree to go to a
woman who was forbidden? Why were these acts done earlier? I wish to know. Tell me in detail.”