Harivamsha 34

English (machine translation) 34

Language: English

34.1

Vaiśaṃpāyana said:
You have heard in detail of the Daitya army in the conflict, dear one;
now hear the vast assembly of the entire army of the gods belonging to Viṣṇu.

34.2

The Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, and the two mighty Aśvins, / with their armies and followers, armed themselves in due order.

34.3

In front, Puruhūta, the thousand-eyed guardian of the world, / the leader of all the gods, mounted the celestial elephant.

34.4

At his left side was a chariot with the speed of the foremost bird, / with beautiful wheels and undercarriage, adorned with gold and diamonds,

34.5

followed by thousands of hosts of gods, gandharvas, and yakṣas, / and praised by radiant assembly members and divine seers.

34.6

Protected by clouds rumbling with thunderbolts and flashing with lightning and rainbows, / it looked like mountains moving at will.

34.7

Mounted on which elephant the lord Maghavat goes round, / while brahmins standing before the sacrifice chant offerings at the altars.

34.8

In heaven, as Śakra is attended and divine instruments sound, / hundreds of hosts of apsarases dance around Indra.

34.9

Shining like the sun with his staff banner, / yoked to a thousand horses swift as thought and wind,

34.10

that best of chariots shone, driven by Mātali, / like the whole of Meru enveloped by the brilliance of the sun.

34.11

Yama, however, raising his staff and his club joined with Time, / stood in the army of the gods, terrifying the Daityas with his roar.

34.12

Protected by the four oceans and darting-tongued serpents, / wearing armlets of conch and pearl, bearing a watery form,

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with a body immaculate like conch and pearls, this lord of the waters had become cool.

34.13

Brandishing the nooses of death, with horses resembling rays of the moon, / spouting water driven by the wind, performing thousands of sports,

34.14

wearing fluttering white garments, with radiant coral armlets, / his excellent body dark as a jewel, his belly laden with heavy necklaces,

Varuṇa, bearer of the noose, stood in the midst of the divine army. / Varuṇa, holding the noose in hand, stood in the army of the gods, / eager for the moment of battle like an ocean overflowing its shores.

34.16

Surrounded by an army of yakṣas and rākṣasas, and hosts of guhyakas, / his excellent body dark as a jewel, Kubera, who rides upon men, / accompanied by Śaṅkha and Padma, the powerful lord of treasures, / the glorious king of kings, was seen with mace in hand.

34.17

Fighting from an aerial chariot, the giver of wealth stood in the Puṣpaka chariot; / that king of kings shone, riding upon men, eager for battle, / the friend of Śiva looking on like Śiva himself in person,

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clad in silken robes, auspicious in person, bearing Śiva’s very form.

34.18

The thousand-eyed god took the eastern flank, and the king of the ancestors the southern; / Varuṇa held the western flank, and the rider of men the northern.

34.19

Assigned to the four quarters, the four world-guardians, violent in strength, / guarded their respective directions for that divine army.

34.20

The Sun, with his sky-faring chariot yoked to seven horses, / blazing with majesty and radiant with rays,

34.21

with wheels traversing sunrise and sunset, traveling to the limits of Meru, / adorning the gateway of heaven, scorching the imperishable world,

34.22

endowed with a thousand rays, shining with brilliance, / the twelve-souled lord of the day moved in the midst of the gods.

34.23

Soma of the cool rays shone in his chariot with white horses, / inundating the world with beams filled with snowy waters.

34.24

Him, followed by conjunctions of constellations, the cool-rayed lord of brahmins, / his body marked with the shadow of a hare, the destruction of nocturnal darkness,

34.25

the impeller of celestial lights in the sky, the taster of essences, the lord, / the protector of herbs, and the receptacle of nectar,

34.26

the first portion of the universe, gentle, an essence made of cool moisture— / the Dānavas saw Soma standing with snow as his weapon.

34.27

He who is the breath of all beings, divided fivefold in humans, / residing in the seven courses, supported and moved through the three worlds.

34.28

He whom they call the driver of fire, the all-originating sovereign, / whose source, set in the seven notes, is proclaimed in hymns,

34.29

whom they call the supreme element, whom they call bodiless, / whom they call sky-going, swift-moving, the origin of sound—

34.30

that Wind, the life of all beings, exalted by his own majesty, / blew adversely, accompanied by clouds, afflicting the Daityas.

34.31

The Maruts, gods, and gandharvas, together with hosts of vidyādharas, / sported with gleaming swords that resembled sloughed snakes,

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and with yakṣas of vast coils, serpents, and garuḍas.

34.32

Discharging fierce, wrathful venom, / acting as arrows for the kings of the gods, the lords of serpents ranged the sky with open mouths.

34.33

And the mountains, with rocky peaks and trees of a hundred branches, / approached the hosts of gods to strike the Dānava army.

34.34

That god Hṛṣīkeśa, lotus-naveled Trivikrama, / fire-pathed, resembling the end of an era, lord of the whole universe,

34.35

ocean-born, slayer of Madhu, consumer of oblations honored in sacrifices, / the inner self of earth, water, and sky, dark, peacemaker, slayer of foes,

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the womb of the universe, the seed of the universe, the teacher of the universe, noble-minded—

34.36

he, the bearer of discus and club, raised his foe-slaying discus of supreme brilliance / against the Asura army, like the sun rising in fire, / like the orb of the sun rising surrounded by a halo.

34.37

Grasping with his left hand the great club / that destroys all Asuras, black in body, bringing death to the enemy,

34.38

the illustrious lord, who has the enemy of serpents on his banner, / held blazing weapons, beginning with the Śārṅga bow, in his remaining arms.

34.39

He mounted the son of Kaśyapa, the bird who feeds on snakes, / descending faster than the wind, churning the firmament,

34.40

resplendent with the lord of serpents placed in his mouth, / standing tall like Mount Mandara when released after the churning for nectar,

34.41

whose prowess had been seen hundreds of times in clashes between gods and asuras, / marked by Mahendra with his thunderbolt for the sake of nectar,

34.42

crested, crowned, adorned with glowing earrings, / clothed in variegated plumage, resembling a mountain rich in ores,

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with a sharp beak and fierce talons, agitated with flapping wings,

34.43

bearing upon his broad breast a luminous gem-jewel / bright as the cool-rayed moon and entwined by the body of a serpent,

34.44

covering the sky in play with both beautiful-feathered wings, / like two rainclouds with rainbows at the end of an era,

34.45

adorned with blue, red, and yellow banners, / covered in the guise of standard, the abode of a massive body.

34.46

The glorious Hari mounted the younger brother of Aruṇa in battle; / standing invincible in combat, surveying the army of the Daityas, / [he, who was himself] fair-winged with his own body, [mounted] the fair-winged best of sky-farers.

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Consuming [them with his gaze], he stood in the army of the gods, terrifying the Daityas greatly.

34.47

The hosts of the gods and the attentive sages followed him, / and praised the mace-bearer with words that were supreme mantras:

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"Homage to you, Hṛṣīkeśa! Slay the army of the Daityas, all-pervading lord!

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Homage to you of three forms, whose self is Hari, Brahmā, and Śiva!

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Homage to him whose form is the threefold knowledge, who is the Ṛg, Sāman, and Yajus! Homage!

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Homage to him to be contemplated by yogins, who grants yoga to them!

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Homage to him free from discursive thought, homage to him whose form is pure consciousness!

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And he whom the wise proclaim to be the splendor composed of knowledge,

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to that Lord of the World we bow. Slay the hosts of the Daityas, Hari!

34.47x501-8

"Indeed, O god, we are not able to praise you even in hundreds of years;
2
no indeed, O god, Lord of the Universe! Be victorious, O Puruṣottama!"
3
Having heard the speech thus spoken, Hari prepared to depart.
4
Firmly embraced by Vaiśravaṇa, preceded by Vaivasvata,
surrounded by the Lord of the Waters, adorned by the King of the Gods,
5
pure with the radiances of the moon, stationed for battle,
he set out along the propitious path of the gods, having the splendour of the blazing sun,
its roar stirred up by the wind, with blazing oblations to the fire.
6
Encompassed by the splendour of Viṣṇu, victorious, enduring, and radiant,
the powerful army, stirred up, assembled for battle.
7
Angiras spoke there in praise: "May there be welfare for the gods!";
praising the gods there, Āṅgirasa said, "May there be welfare!";
Uśanas spoke the words: "May there be welfare for the Daityas!";
8
and Uśanas also uttered the phrase: "Welfare to the Daityas!"
9
Vaiśaṃpāyana said:
Then a tumultuous conflict arose between those two armies,
of the gods and the asuras, each desiring victory over the other.
10
He who is composed of all gods and who is composed of all dharma—
11
by the splendour of that Viṣṇu, the lord of the gods, the gods were sustained.
12
Accompanied by their forces and followed by their retinues, the thirty [gods], fierce with passion,
13
swiftly advanced indeed with violent speed to strike down the Dānava army.
14
Ready with various weapons, the Dānavas met in battle together
with the gods, fighting like mountains against mountains.
15
Joined by the gods and asuras, that battle appeared extraordinary,
infused with dharma and adharma, with arrogance and with modesty.
16
Then, with chariots ablaze and mounts driven forward,
and with men bearing swords in their hands leaping into the sky on every side,
17
with maces being hurled and arrows sent flying,
with bows being drawn and clubs being struck down,
18
that battle, filled with gods and Dānavas, became terrifying,
generating terror for the world, resembling the dissolution at the end of a yuga.
19
With iron clubs released from their own hands and with rapidly hurled mountains,
the Dānavas struck the gods in battle, who were led by Indra.
20
Being struck by the powerful Dānavas boasting of their triumphs,
the gods, dejected in mind, suffered distress in that great conflict.
21
Crushed by networks of missiles, their heads shattered by iron clubs,
their chests broken by the sons of Diti, they vomited much blood from their wounds.
22
Bound with snares of cords and rendered powerless by arrows,
entering the illusion of the Dānavas, they were unable to move.
23
Stunned as it were, assuming the appearance of lifeless beings,
that army of the gods was rendered with useless weapons by the asuras.
24
Tearing away the snares of illusion and cutting those arrows with his vajra,
Śakra of the many eyes entered the terrifying army of the Daityas.
25
Having struck down the Daityas in the vanguard, he then turned that great Dānava army
into darkness with a net of darkness-producing missiles.
26
Overcome by terrible darkness through the splendour of Puruhūta,
they did not perceive one another, nor the gods, nor the mounts.
27
Freed from the snares of illusion, the best of the gods, exerting their efforts,
felled the bodies of the hosts of Daityas that were turned to darkness.
28
Overthrown, senseless, and blackened in complexion by the darkness,
those hosts of Dānavas fell down like mountains whose wings had been severed.
29
With the Daitya lords packed densely, like an ocean of darkness,
that Dānava dwelling of the gods appeared as if turned into gloom.
30
Then Maya produced a great illusion, dispelling that darkness,
which brought forth the radiance seen at the end of a yuga, created by the Aurva fire.
31
That illusion devised by Maya burned up all the darkness,
and the Daityas, possessing bodies like the sun, immediately rose up in the battle.
32
Encountering the fire of Aurva and being scorched, the denizens of heaven
retreated to the realm of the moon, a lake of cool-rayed water.
33
Being scorched by the Aurva fire, their lustre lost,
the afflicted gods, seeking refuge, reported it to the bearer of the vajra.
34
When the army was torched by illusion and scorched by the Dānavas,
Varuṇa, urged by the King of the Gods, spoke these words:
35
"Formerly, O Śakra, the glorious Aurva, born of a brahmin seer,
who was equal to Brahmā in virtues, performed terrifying ascetic heat.
36
As he scorched the imperishable universe with ascetic heat like the sun,
hosts of sages and gods along with divine seers approached him.
37
And formerly Hiraṇyakaśipu, the Dānava ruler of Dānavas,
made a representation to that seer of supreme splendour.
38
The brahmin seers said to him words accompanied by dharma:
'O holy one, among the lineages of seers, this family has its roots severed.
39
You are alone and childless, and no offspring exists for the lineage;
having undertaken a vow of lifelong celibacy, you merely pursue suffering.
40
O brahmin, many lineages of self-controlled sages
stand reduced to single bodies, isolated without offspring.
41
When they are surviving though virtually destroyed, there is no purpose for you in this;
but you are the foremost in ascetic heat, equal in radiance to Prajāpati.
42
Therefore, proceed to perpetuate your lineage; expand yourself by yourself!
Imparting your own powerful energy, create indeed a second body.'
43
Thus spoken to by the sages, that sage, struck in his mind,
reproached those hosts of seers and spoke these words:
44
'As this eternal dharma was ordained of old for sages,
who follow the practices of seers, living on wild roots and fruit,
45
for a brahmin born of the womb of brahman and walking in the path of the self,
well-observed chaste studentship can shake even Brahmā.
46
Three are the livelihoods of twice-born men who live in the householder stage;
but our livelihood is the forest, as dwellers in forest hermitages.
47
Those who feed on water, feed on air, use teeth as a mortar,
crush grain with stones, and perform ten, five, or seven austerities—
48
these men, abiding in ascetic heat, through vows very hard to perform,
honouring chaste studentship above all, seek the highest goal.
49
From chaste studentship, the brahminhood of a brahmin is established;
so speak the people in the other world who know chaste studentship.
50
In chaste studentship rests steadfastness; in chaste studentship rests ascetic heat;
those brahmins who are steadfast in chaste studentship dwell in heaven.
51
There is no accomplishment without yoga; there is no fame without accomplishment;
there is no root of fame in the world, no ascetic heat higher than chaste studentship.'

Linked texts (1)

Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit