Harivamsha 61

English (machine translation) 61

Language: English

61.1

Vaiśaṃpāyana said:
When his festival was thwarted, Śakra, the enraged lord of the gods, / then addressed the host of cloud-gatherers named Saṃvartaka:

61.2

"Ho, elephants among clouds, listen to my words, / if you are to do what is pleasing to me, prioritizing devotion to your king!

61.3

These cowherds, Nandagopa and the rest, gone to Vṛndāvana, / devoted to Dāmodara, hold enmity toward my festival.

61.4

Their supreme livelihood, on account of which they are called 'cowherds'— / let those cows be afflicted for seven nights with rains and winds!

61.5

And I myself, mounted upon Airāvata, will unleash / terrible waters, rain, and wind blazing like the thunderbolt."

61.6

"Smitten by you with fierce rain and roaming wind, / those cows together with the pasture will give up their lives on earth."

61.7

Thus the lord, the slayer of Pāka, commanded all the clouds, / when his order was set aside by Kṛṣṇa.

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When the festival was thwarted by command of Viṣṇu, the slayer of Pāka—

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Then those dark clouds, roaring terribly, bringing fright, / covered the sky on all sides like mountains.

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Flashing with bursts of lightning, adorned with Indra's rainbow, / those clouds then shrouded the sky in darkness.

61.10

Clustered like elephants, some shining like makaras, / other bull-like clouds wandered through the sky like serpents.

61.11

Interlocked with one another's forms, resembling ten thousand herds of elephants, / covering the expanse of the sky, they brought on a massive day of foul weather.

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Thick as men's arms, elephant trunks, and bamboo stems on every side, / continually on every flank, thick as large serpents and thighs, / with streams of such forms the rain-clouds poured down.

61.13

To mortal eyes it seemed as though an ocean had climbed into the sky— / unfordable, boundless, bottomless, an immense stormy darkness.

61.14

Birds did not fly, kinds of wild beasts fled, / as the clouds, resembling mountains, roared everywhere in the sky.

61.15

As the sky grew dreadful with clouds that seemed to sleep the sun and moon, / under the excessive rain the world's appearance was disfigured.

61.16

Stripped of its luster by massed clouds, its planets and stars invisible, / deprived of the rays of sun and moon, the sky became utterly dark.

61.17

Whirled in all directions by the wind linked with clouds, / by water released from clouds and repeatedly loosed, / the earth there appeared entirely made of water on all sides.

61.18

Peacocks shrieked there, cuckoos gave small cries, / the rivers rose in flood, and frogs leapt about in the inundation.

61.19

At the thundering of the clouds and the roar of the rain-god, / the grasses trembled with the trees, as if intimidated.

61.20

"The end of time has arrived for the worlds, and earth has become one vast ocean!" / so cried the cowherd folk, afflicted with dread.

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Severely battered by that torrential downpour of portentous rain,

crying out with bellows of lowing, the cows did not move, as if paralyzed; / their flanks and ears unmoving, their hooves and mouths helpless, / their hair bristling, their bodies wet, their bellies and udders emaciated.

61.22

Some exhausted ones gave up their breath, some fell sick, / some cows collapsed along with their calves, terrified by the spray.

61.23

Some mother cows stood shielding their calves with their bellies, / turning away, their thighs weary, without food, hollow-bellied.

61.24

Afflicted, trembling, overcome by the rain, the cows fell down; / and the young calves, lifting their faces and looking up at Dāmodara, / seemed to cry to Kṛṣṇa in agony with their plaintive faces, saying: "Save us!"

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"Behold the agony of the cows, O mighty-armed one, how utterly distressed they are!"

61.25

Seeing that slaughter of the cows and their terror born of the storm's arrival, / and seeing the cowherds with drooping faces, Kṛṣṇa brought forth his wrath.

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And [seeing] the cows in extreme distress,

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the glorious one, his eyes red with fury,

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"Oh, the insolence of the king of the gods, now showing contempt for me!

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He has wrought the destruction of the cows, and likewise of the cowherds!"

61.26

Having pondered in anger, he who speaks kindly said to himself within his heart: / "A remedy for the cows has been found."

61.27

"Today, having uprooted this mountain together with its woodlands and forests, / I will fashion a shelter hard to shake, to protect the cows from the rain.

61.28

This mountain held by me, resembling an underground house, / will protect the cows along with the settlement, and it will be subject to my will."

61.29

Having so resolved, Viṣṇu of unfailing prowess, / speaking thus, took mount Govardhana with one hand / and held it in play, as a child might hold a mushroom. / Wishing to display the power of his arms, Kṛṣṇa, like another mountain, / uprooted that nearby mountain with both arms.

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Together with its roots, boughs, and shoulders, that great mountain trembled.

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Struck by continuous showers, the mountain seemed alive, breathing heavily.

61.30

Held aloft by his left hand, meeting the clouds, / the mountain became a dwelling there through its house-like splendor.

61.31

As that mountain was being uprooted from the earth, on its slopes / loosened crags stirred and tumbled down together with trees.

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Intending to protect the wealth of cattle, Viṣṇu, lord of cows, Hari of the cowherds,

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Govinda, standing amidst the cows, protecting the cowherds together with Gokula,

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Viṣṇu preserved the herd of cattle while lifting up the mountain.

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Astonishing the cowherds, Hari, as a cowherd, stood in the cattle path,

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assuming his primeval form, the sovereign lord of the worlds.

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Govinda rendered futile the intent of the wielder of the thunderbolt.

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Whose body had traversed the sky with this mountain Govardhana,

61.32

with peaks swaying and sinking on all sides, / with summits sustained and lifted high, the immovable [mountain] became sky-faring.

61.33

With surging cascades on its flanks, uniting with masses of clouds, / its heaps of stones splitting apart, the earth-bearing mountain trembled.

61.34

Neither the poured-out clouds, nor the mountain raining stones, / nor the swirling wind, nor even the wandering lightning— / overcome by Viṣṇu's splendor, their forms could not be seen, / and the people could perceive only the form of that roaring wind.

61.35

With clouds clinging to its peaks and equipped with streams of water, / the mountain, its peacocks running wild, appeared blended together [with them].

61.36

"This mountain has taken flight with wings!"—so vidyādharas, uragas, / gandharvas, and seers uttered in melodious voices.

61.37

Placed upon Kṛṣṇa's palm, its base loosed from the surface of the earth, / it poured forth streams of gold, collyrium, and silver.

61.38

Some peaks of that mountain were as if covered, some half-scattered, / and some had entered into the clouds.

61.39

From the trees shaken by the trembling mountain, / flowers of many kinds scattered down on the ground in all directions.

61.40

Emerging with broad hoods and adorned with half-svastikas, / wrathful lords of the two-tongued serpents moved everywhere in the sky.

61.41

Flocks of birds fell into distress from the rain and terror; / flying up again and again from the sky, they tumbled down headlong.

61.42

And enraged lions gleamed like rain-laden clouds; / the best of tigers roared like churning jars.

61.43

With its rugged parts made level and its level parts made wholly impassable, / that mountain with its inverted body appeared truly delightful.

61.44

As it was rained upon by those clouds, its appearance became indeed / like that of Tripura suspended in the sky when halted by Rudra.

61.45

Held aloft then by the staff-like arm of Kṛṣṇa, / covered by a canopy of dark clouds, that mountain-umbrella shone forth.

61.46

Seeming to dream with the clouds, its cave-mouths closed, / the mountain in the sky appeared as if asleep upon Kṛṣṇa's arm as a pillow.

61.47

With trees devoid of bird-calls and woods devoid of peacock-cries, / that mountain surrounded by peaks seemed to be without support.

61.48

With its slopes overturned, whirling and shaking, / the forests and peaks of the mountain seemed as if fever-stricken.

61.49

Reaching its summits, the clouds borne by the wind, / urged on by Mahendra, released inexhaustible water.

61.50

Hanging upon the tip of Kṛṣṇa's arm, shrouded in clouds, the mountain / shone like a realm mounted upon an [executioner's] wheel, oppressed by a king.

61.51

That mass of clouds stood enclosing the mountain, / just as a flourishing, great territory surrounds a city.

61.52

Setting that mountain upon his hand and balancing it with a smile, / the protector of the cowherds, standing like Prajāpati, spoke:

61.53

"This mountain-dwelling, impossible even for the gods, has been made by me through divine power / as a shelter from the wind for the cattle, O cowherds.

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You need have no fear here of its falling from my hand.

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Enough of fear from the wind and rain! Protection from that has been provided for you.

61.54

Let the herds of cows quickly enter here for peace, / and dwell at ease in places shielded from the wind, / each settlement, each herd, and according to their strength, in comfort.

61.55

Let this place be divided, which has been made a shelter against rain; / this vast space has been created by me by uprooting the mountain. / Having divided yourselves herd by herd, dwell here, O best of cowherds! / With a measure of five krosas and a vast width of one krosa, / it is capable of swallowing even the three worlds, how much more the cattle-station?"

Linked texts (1)

Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit