Harivamsha 38

English (machine translation) 38

Language: English

38.1

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: / Five did not attend upon him because of his perverse action: / the Veda, dharma, patience, truth, and Śrī who takes refuge in Nārāyaṇa.

38.2

Because of their absence, the enraged lord of dānavas, / seeking the realm of Viṣṇu, went into the presence of Nārāyaṇa.

38.3

He saw him mounted on the fine-winged bird, bearing the conch, discus, and mace, / whirling his splendid mace for the destruction of the dānavas,

38.4

resembling a water-laden cloud, clothed like lightning, / well-mounted on the crested bird of Kāśyapa, rich in golden wings.

38.5

Seeing Viṣṇu, unshakeable and standing calm in battle for the destruction of the daityas, / the dānava, agitated in mind, spoke:

38.6

'This is that enemy of our ancestors, the dānava seers, / and of Madhu and Kaiṭabha who dwelt in the ocean!

38.7

This is that bodily enemy of ours, said to be unappeasable, / by whom many of our dānavas have been slain in battles today!

38.8

This is that ruthless one in battle, shameless before women and children, / by whom the hair-partings of the dānava women have been stripped!

38.9

This is that Viṣṇu of the gods and Vaikuṇṭha of the celestials, / Ananta of the serpents in the waters, and the Self-born among self-born beings!

38.10

This is that master of the gods who is to be dragged down by us; / having incurred his wrath, Hiraṇyakaśipu was slain!

38.11

Taking refuge in his shade, the gods stationed at the opening of the sacrifice / consume the clarified butter offered threefold by the great seers!

38.12

This is that cause of destruction of all the enemies of the daityas; / into his discus our lineages have entered in battle!

38.13

This is he who, having cast off his life for the sake of the gods in battles, / hurls at his enemies a discus equal to the splendor of the sun!

38.14

This is that Time of the daityas; but with me standing as the embodiment of Time, / the evil-minded one will reap the fruit of the time that has passed!

38.15

Fortunately, this Viṣṇu has now come before my very eyes! / Crushed by my arrows today, he will bow down before me alone!

38.16

Fortunately, I shall repay the debt of my ancestors in battle today / by slaying this Nārāyaṇa who brings terror to the dānavas!

38.17

I will quickly slay Nārāyaṇa in battle with arrows; / for entering various forms, he torments the dānavas in combat!

38.18

He, having become the Destroyer in the past, known as Lotus-navel, / slew both Madhu and Kaiṭabha in the dreadful single ocean,

38.18x521

the two lords of dānavas, having laid them across his own thighs!

38.19

Having made his body into two halves, half-lion and stationed as a man, / he alone formerly slew my father Hiraṇyakaśipu!

38.20

Aditi, the mother of the gods, bore him as an auspicious embryo; / assuming the form of a dwarf at the time of Bali's sacrifice, / striding with three strides, he seized the three worlds!

38.21

Now once again, as the war over Tārakā has arrived, / encountering me, he will perish along with the gods!'

38.22

Having spoken thus, insulting Nārāyaṇa in many ways in battle / with improper words, he took delight only in battle.

38.23

Being reviled by the lord of asuras, the wielder of the mace did not get angry; / with a mind full of the power of forbearance, he said these words with a smile:

38.24

'Enough of the strength born of pride, O daitya! Firm is the strength born of my wrath. / You are undone by the faults born of pride, you who speak transgressing forbearance!

38.25

I consider you vile! Fie upon this strength of your speech! / Real men do not exist where women roar!

38.26

I see you, O daitya, treading the path of your ancestors; / having broken the barrier set by Prajāpati, who could go forth safely?

38.27

Today I will destroy you, who cause obstruction to the gods, / and I will establish the divinities in their respective places!'

38.28

While the bearer of the Śrīvatsa was speaking these words in combat, / the dānava laughed out of anger and armed his hands with weapons.

38.29

Raising a hundred arms capable of seizing all weapons in battle, / with eyes red as blood out of wrath, he struck Viṣṇu on the chest.

38.30

And the dānavas, led by Maya and Tāra,
with raised weapons and swords, all charged at Viṣṇu.

38.31

Struck by those extraordinarily strong daityas with all their weapons raised,
Hari did not waver in battle, like an unshakeable mountain.

38.32

Grappling with Suparṇa, the great asura Kālanemi,
lifting a huge club with his arms using all his strength,
enraged, hurled it blazing and terrible upon Garuḍa.

Viṣṇu was amazed by that deed of the daitya.
Struck by it, that bird staggered again and again;
strengthened in might by Hari, he did not lose consciousness,
though that club had fallen directly upon Suparṇa's head.

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Then, his body afflicted with pain, the bird came down to the ground on foot.

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Then with clods of earth, spear-stones, and thunderbolt weapons,

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they struck Viṣṇu in battle, the cowherd in the great conflict.

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As he spun and reeled around, the gods offered a hymn of praise:

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“Victory, O God, mighty-armed one, destroyer of Madhu and Kaiṭabha!

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Tearer of Hiraṇyakaśipu’s chest with plow-like claws!”

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And Viṣṇu rose up from the battle, praised of old by the immortals.

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Believing Viṣṇu to be slain, the dānava blew his conch.

38.33x525-8

And beating the mṛdaṅga drums threefold there, the great asuras

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danced to the rhythm; it shone like a great festival.

38.34

Seeing Suparṇa afflicted and his own body wounded,
his eyes reddened with rage, Vaikuṇṭha took up his discus.

38.35

And the Lord grew swiftly in size along with Suparṇa,
and his arms expanded, pervading the ten directions.

38.36

Filling the cardinal and intermediate directions, the sky and the earth,
he grew, as if wishing to stride across the worlds once more with his splendor.

38.37

As he grew in the vault of heaven for the victory of the lords of the gods,
the seers together with the gandharvas praised the slayer of Madhu:

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“Homage be to you, Lord of the gods of gods, bearer of conch, discus, and club!

38.37x526-2

O Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa, Hṛṣīkeśa, slay the mighty daitya!

38.37x526-3

Homage to you, Virūpākṣa, Lord of the universe, [form] of Śaṅkara!

38.37x526-4

Protect all of us; slay the mighty daitya!”

38.38

Touching heaven with his diadem, grazing the cloudy sky with his garments,
striding over the earth with his two feet, covering the directions with his arms,

38.39

he [raised] that Sudarśana, brilliant as the sun’s rays, thousand-spoked, destroyer of foes,
resembling a blazing fire, terrible, magnificent to behold,

38.40

rimmed with golden dust, with a vajra hub, fearsome,
smeared with the fat, bones, marrow, and blood sprung from dānavas,

38.41

unrivaled in striking, with a razor-sharp circular rim,
adorned with garlands and wreaths, moving at will, changing form at will,

38.42

fashioned by the Self-born himself, striking terror into all enemies,
infused with the wrath of great seers, ever proud in battle,

38.43

at whose hurling the worlds of moving and unmoving beings faint,
and flesh-eating creatures attain satisfaction in great combat.

38.44

Raising in battle that [discus] of matchless deeds, equal to the sun’s brilliance,
the club-bearer, blazing with rage,

38.45

robbing the dānava of his splendor in the battle by his own majesty,
Śrīdhara severed Kālanemi’s arms with the discus.

38.46

And that terrible hundred faces, which gave a horse-laugh raining fiery powder—
Hari violently crushed them with the discus of that daitya.

38.47

With his arms severed and headless, the dānava did not tremble;
standing in battle as a headless trunk, like a branchless tree.

38.48

Spreading his mighty wings and matching the speed of the wind,
Garuḍa struck down Kālanemi with his breast.

38.49

That headless, branchless body of his, whirling down from the sky,
fell, abandoning heaven, shaking the surface of the earth.

38.50

When that daitya had fallen, the gods together with the hosts of seers then
assembled and worshipped Vaikuṇṭha, crying, “Well done! Well done!”

38.51

As for the other daityas of demonstrated prowess in battle,
they were all enveloped by his arms and could not move in the fray.

38.52

He seized some by the hair, throttled some by the neck,
split open the face of another, and grasped some around the middle.

38.53

Consumed by the club and the discus, their vital essence and life-breaths gone,
all their limbs shattered, they tumbled from the sky down to the surface of the earth.

38.54

When all those daityas had been slain, the Supreme Puruṣa,
having performed Śakra’s pleasure and accomplished his task, the club-bearer stood still.

38.55

When that crushing tumult in the Tārakāmaya war had ceased,
Brahmā, the Grandfather of the worlds, swiftly came to that place.

38.56

Together with all the brahmin seers, the gandharvas, and the hosts of apsarases,
the god of gods, honoring the god Hari, spoke these words:

38.57

“A great deed has been done, O God; the thorn of the gods has been extracted.
By this slaying of the daityas, we too are completely satisfied.

38.58

This great asura Kālanemi who has been slain by you, O Viṣṇu—
you alone were his slayer in combat; no one else could be.

38.59

Overpowering the gods and the worlds with their moving and unmoving beings,
making slaughter among the seers, he even roared defiance at me.

38.60

Therefore I am highly pleased by this fierce deed of yours,
in that this Kālanemi, resembling Death itself, has been struck down.

38.61

Therefore come—fortune be yours!—let us go to supreme heaven;
the brahmin seers abiding there, assembled in their hall, await you.

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I and the great seers there, O best of speakers,

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will honor you duly with divine praises, O Acyuta.

38.62

And what boon shall I give you, O best of boon-receivers?
Among the gods as well as the daityas, you yourself are the giver of boons.

38.63

Hand over this prosperous threefold world, its thorns eradicated,
in this very battle, O Viṣṇu, to the high-souled Śakra.”

38.64

Thus addressed by the blessed Brahmā, the Lord Hari
spoke to all the gods, headed by Śakra, with an auspicious voice:

38.65

“Let all the gods listen, as many as have gathered together,
the gods paying close attention, putting Puraṃdara at their head.

38.66

In this battle of ours, all the dānavas led by Kālanemi have been slain,
endowed with valor, even mightier than Śakra.

38.67

In this great tumult, only two escaped:
the lord of daityas, the son of Virocana, and the great planet Svarbhānu.”

38.68

Therefore let Śakra dwell in his cherished direction, and Varuṇa likewise; / let Yama protect the southern quarter, and the lord of wealth the northern.

38.69

Let the moon traverse time properly together with the asterisms; / let the sun follow the year which begins with the seasons, along with its solstices.

38.70

Let the portions of clarified butter proceed, honoured by the assembly; / let the fires be offered oblations by the priests according to the ritual seen in the Veda.

38.71

And let the gods with offerings and burnt oblations, the great seers with Vedic study, / and the ancestors with the śrāddha, reach satisfaction at their pleasure.

38.72

Let the wind move staying in its course; let the fire blaze threefold;
and let the three varnas satisfy the three worlds with qualities born of themselves.

38.73

Let the sacrifices proceed with twice-born [priests] fit for consecration,
and let sacrificial gifts be given as prescribed to all who perform long sacrifices.

38.74

And let the sun with rays, the moon with waters, and the wind with life-breaths among living beings
proceed, satisfying [them] with auspicious and gentle deeds.

38.75

In due order, as is proper, O Mahendra, let all the water-bearing rivers,
mothers of the three worlds, flow to the ocean.

38.76

Cast off your fear of the Daityas; attain peace, O gods!
May it be well with you; I shall go to the eternal world of Brahmā.

38.77

In your own home or in heaven, or especially in battle,
you should never be trustful, for the Dānavas are always vile.

38.78

They strike at weaknesses, and their conduct is never reliable;
whereas you are gentle and straight, and your mind is upright.

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But to those very evil-minded ones who harbor wicked intent against you

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and act improperly, O gods, I shall bring delusion.

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And when an unbearable danger from the Dānavas arises,

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then having come quickly, I shall grant you freedom from fear thereafter."

38.79

Having spoken thus to the hosts of gods, Viṣṇu of true prowess,
possessing great renown, went together with Brahmā to the world of Brahmā.

38.80

This was the wonder that occurred in the Tārakāmaya battle
between the Dānavas and Viṣṇu, about which you asked me.

Linked texts (1)

Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit