Arjuna and the Hunter 3
English (machine translation) 3
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3.1
Then [he saw the sage] who seemed tall with upsurging streams of rays, charming like the rays of the autumn moon, / bearing a darkish lustre and tawny matted locks, like a raincloud endowed with lightning;
3.2
Bearing the complete fortune of serenity through a bodily excellence transcending mortals, / forcibly implanting a tender affection even in the hearts of strangers.
3.3
Making the disposition of the inner mind serene through his unarrogant demeanor, / as if he were conversing with a glance filled with sweet and deep trust,
3.4
the son of Dharma, wishing to learn the reason for his arrival, / addressed the sage seated comfortably, the origin of the sin-dispelling scriptures bound to righteousness:
3.5
"Inaccessible to those who have not amassed merit, shaking off defilement and yielding fruit, / this blessing of seeing you is like rain from a cloudless sky.
3.6
Today the sacrificial rites grant all wishes; now the brāhmaṇas' blessings are true; / across rebirths in these worlds, today I have become a vessel of high honor, since you have arrived.
3.7
It attracts royal fortune, wards off sins, pours forth well-being, and extends fame: / what does the unfailing vision of you, a teacher of the world like the Self-born, not bestow?
3.8
Even when the cool-rayed moon sheds its beams, my restless eye finds no rest; / but in your presence, my heart, freed from the sorrow of separation from kinsmen, seems to breathe again.
3.9
Curiosity in asking questions has no basis, dependent upon us—how much less in those free of desires! / Even so, the desire to hear your auspicious speech makes me speak out."
3.10
When the king, lofty in mind, had spoken these words pleasant in their fine expression, / concentrating his thoughts on attaining victory, Dvaipāyana addressed him with these noble words:
3.11
"For mortals desiring to amass great prosperity in both worlds, adorned with renown, / an equal attitude toward kinsmen is revered, especially for those whose wealth is austerity.
3.12
Nevertheless, O king, my submissive heart has been humbled by the stream of your virtues; / for even those free of desire who possess liberation feel partiality toward the noble.
3.13
Are you not sons of that king? Or do you not surpass Suyodhana in virtues? / He who abandoned you has either succumbed to force, or desire for worldly objects breeds delusion in vain.
3.14
Why should the attainment of goals not abandon him who rests in doubt on Karṇa and the rest? / For association with the wicked creates obstacles to victory, seats of crushing calamities.
3.15
While the host of enemies has fallen from the path, you, bearing the yoke of righteousness for so long, / have displayed, even in adversity, a supreme, unbroken, beautiful love for virtues.
3.16
Having brought about their own ruin through deceit against you whose sole conduct is peace, / your enemies have made manifest the essence of your intellect and character, as though doing you a favor.
3.17
The earth must be won by your prowess, yet the enemy is superior in valor, divine weapons, and strength; / therefore, an undertaking must be made for supreme excellence, for the fortune of victory in battle depends on excellence.
3.18
He whose guru is the son of Jamadagni, the slayer twenty-one times over of the lords of the earth, / repulsed by valor, learned then that excellence depends on its vessel.
3.19
Against whom, as if Death himself had suffered humiliation and were afflicted with shame at his lack of mastery, / that Bhīṣma, brandishing his bow in battle, whose mind would he not make completely prone to fear?
3.20
Discharging flights of arrows in battle against you, ablaze with rage, who could withstand your guru, / like the fire of destruction at the world’s end, wishing to devour the world with flickering tips of tongues of flame?
3.21
Beholding the son of Rādhā, whose firmness is cast off in fury, who has propitiated the son of Jamadagni, / even Death would violently feel partiality for unprecedented terrors.
3.22
That spell, through which the ape-bannered hero, having obtained the means and practicing austerity most difficult to endure, / will acquire hard-to-attain valor and eradicate them—
3.23
to grant that spell of abundant radiance, fit for giving, which pleases the deities / so that those of great majesty may attain greatness, I have come, like success itself embodied."
3.24
Respecting the words of Ajātaśatru, who had said to him, "Go, accomplish it," / Jiṣṇu approached him, full of grace, bowing in modest discipline as if living as his disciple.
3.25
Then the spell, issuing from the great sage's mouth bright as the disc of the sun at the dawn of day, / pure as a spark of fire, entered the face of the son of Pṛthā as radiance enters a blossoming lotus.
3.26
And through the power of his austerity, he forthwith imparted that yoga to him, the most worthy vessel, / by which, when illumination into the truths was wrought for him, his eye seemed to open after a long time.
3.27
Holding an appearance promising immense gain, worthy of his inner mind, / the sage, intending to commission him in meditative absorption through austerity for the dawn of victory, spoke thus:
3.28
"With energy augmented by this yoga, yielding your place to no other, / practicing the conduct of sages through repetition of mantras, fasts, and ritual ablutions, take up your weapons.
3.29
Where you will perform austerities most difficult to endure to please the mountain-breaker, / to that mountain, a charming heap of stones, this Guhyaka will lead you in an instant."
3.30
As the great sage spoke thus to the son of Mahendra, he vanished; / the attendant of the king of kings stood in his visible place, as if obeying his command.
3.31
Having made his bow, that Guhyaka, addressed in gentle words, felt affection for Jiṣṇu / and attained serenity as if in friendship; for union with the virtuous swiftly inspires trust.
3.32
Then, as darkness slowly falls upon the groves of Mount Sumeru when abandoned by the hot-rayed sun for his rising, / sorrow, finding its birth in grief, slowly enveloped the sons of Pāṇḍu of great splendor.
3.33
Impelled by actions resolved without doubt, and divided as it was gathered together by love, / even that excessive burden of grief was thought light by their minds, as though from equal sharing.
3.34
Through firmness, through trust in the great sage, through sharp righteous wrath born of the enemy, / and knowing the prowess in the son of Maghavan, grief found no place among them.
3.35
Abandoning far behind those four of abundant majesty, as darkness leaves the watches of the day, / that distress gathered into a single mass and fell upon Kṛṣṇā, as night falls upon darkness.
3.36
Tearful, resembling lotuses troubled by a frost line, fearing the break of an auspicious omen, / she could not bear to close her eyes, even though her emotion was unconcealed in her gaze.
3.37
Enchanting with the nectar of unfeigned love, offered by the lovely woman, captivating to the sight, / that gaze the son of Indra drank in eagerly with the cupped hands of a serene mind, like provisions for the journey.
3.38
Deprived of serenity through the collapse of firmness, like a summer river [muddied] by a wild elephant, / her throat choked by the rising of suppressed tears, the princess spoke with difficulty thus:
3.39
Wishing to rescue our fortune, which is sunk in the mire of our enemies' dwelling / like the fortune of all living beings, / do not be exceedingly disheartened without us, O foe to distress, until the success of your austerities.
3.40
For those who are intent on zealous effort, free from longing, / whether to win renown, or through desire for happiness, or to transcend the ordinary run of mortals, / success approaches their lap, as if full of longing herself.
3.41
Robbing the kṣatriya order—appointed by the Creator to protect the world—of its winning might, / destroying its proud self-respect, dear as its very life, whose sole business is victory, / and robbing the spirited of their pride;
3.42
Offered by close kin with downcast faces out of shame, / accepted with difficulty by kings doubting it, / as if gathering back your renown that was spread over the earth like a canopy, scattered to all directions;
3.43
Stifling indignation at feats of valor, / producing a false conviction, / causing the future length of our prospects to diminish, / like the remnant of the day diminishing the duration of the sun’s rays;
3.44
That insult, which was violently inflicted on us by our foes, / which can neither be remembered nor endured, / damp though drying up, will make my heart raw again without you.
3.45
Overcome by unbearable distress born of wounded pride, / like an elephant from the breaking of its tusks, / with your immense brilliance obscured by the splendor of your enemies, / like the beginning of the day veiled by autumn clouds;
3.46
Barely shining through weapons that seem sluggish out of shame due to inaction, / resembling an ocean whose waters are depleted by the ruin of fame, / you have assumed, as it were, an altered form.
3.47
Scattered with the dust of Duḥśāsana's wrath, like masters of fortune rendered futile, / having the essence of your valor mocked by my locks of hair: / are you truly that same Dhanaṃjaya?
3.48
He is a kṣatriya who is capable of protecting the virtuous; that is a bow which has power in action: / bearing both of these, if the undertaking bears no fruit, / one renders them like words marred by lack of grammatical polish.
3.49
Devoid of vigor, existing only in our presence, / waiting upon the prosperity brought about by you, / sharing our sorrow, as it were, O Pārtha, / your virtues assume our very likeness.
3.50
Tossed aside through negligence by foes, / like a lion whose mane is uncut by elephants, / this heavy yoke has fallen upon you because of your fitness, / as the splendor of day falls on the hot-rayed sun with brilliance.
3.51
He who by his actions makes the esteem / exceeding that of all others meaningful, / when the leadership of men is discussed in assemblies, / an ordinal number never merely serves to complete his count.
3.52
O Pārtha, when evils befall loved ones without remedy, / the mind falls into deep anguish at the thought of them; / as you set forth for victory, / may Maghavan bring about the destruction of those evils.
3.53
Do not wander alone for long in carelessness, / even while residing in an uncrowded and auspicious region; / for the minds of those impaired by malice and passion / go astray even toward the virtuous.
3.54
Therefore, swiftly carrying out the word of the great seer, / bring our wishes to fruition; / when you return, having achieved your purpose, / I desire to embrace you firmly to my breasts.
3.55
Having received that speech uttered by Yājñasenī, / which revived and laid bare the insults, / he blazed up exceedingly, / like the hot-rayed sun reaching the northern quarter.
3.56
Then, as if seeing his enemies before him, / with the host of weapons strapped on by the family priest, / though handsome, he assumed a terrifying form, / like a mantra that has turned into a destructive rite.
3.57
He took up his bow whose drawing could not be resisted by foes / and whose work was the famous sound of its bowstring, / and two great quivers joined with sharp swords, / which had never entered the sight of enemies.
3.58
Repeatedly concealing the scars made by Indra's weapon with his own brilliance, / as if with renown, / and donning his jeweled armor, / he seemed like the luminous space between heaven and earth.
3.59
Setting out on the auspicious mountain path / shown by the servant of the moon-crested god, / for a moment he entered into the hearts / of the ascetics whose eyes were filled with tears.
3.60
Then the quarters of the sky echoed the divine sound of drums; in the sky, Lakṣmī spread forth with showers of celestial flowers; / and the ocean, with its arms of restless shore-breaking waves, embraced the trembling earth, / as if intending to tell her glad tidings.
Commentaries (2)
- Traisargika — Citrabhānu, Sanskrit
- Ghaṇṭāpatha — Mallinātha Sūri, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Kirātārjunīya — Bhāravi, Sanskrit