Harivamsha 73
English (machine translation) 73
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73.1
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: / Then Kaṃsa spoke to the chief mahout who made his living with elephants: / 'Let the elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa stand at the entrance of the arena:
73.2
[Kuvalayāpīḍa] is powerful, his eyes rolling with rut, fickle, furious toward men, / with temples overflowing with rut, fierce, enraged at rival elephants.
73.3
He must be urged on by you against those two forest-dwellers, / the base sons of Vasudeva, so that their lives may be ended.
73.4
And if by you and the lordly elephant those two who live among cattle / should be slain in the arena, I would see them laid low.
73.5
Then, seeing the two fallen, Vasudeva, along with his kinsmen, / his root severed, without support, will perish along with his wife.
73.6
And these foolish Yādavas, all devoted to Kṛṣṇa, / with their hopes shattered, will perish upon seeing Kṛṣṇa brought down.
73.7
Having slain these two by the lordly elephant, or by the wrestlers, or by myself, / and having rid the city of Yādavas, I shall roam at ease.
73.8
Even my father, who is the leader of the Yādava family, is abandoned by me, / and the rest of the Yādavas, who take Kṛṣṇa's side, are also abandoned by me.
73.9
For I was not born of Ugrasena who desired a son, / of a mortal of little prowess, as Nārada told me:
73.10
My mother, during her menstrual period, went with women / out of curiosity for the forest to see the mountain named Suyāmuna.
73.11
There on the delightful slopes with their lovely trees, / she roamed on mountain peaks, in caves, and along rivers,
73.12
listening to sweet singing of Kiṃnaras echoing in response, / words that arouse desire and bring pleasure to the ear.
73.13
Hearing again and again the cries of peacocks / and the cooing of birds, she felt the desire natural to women.
73.14
At that moment, a wind coming from the rows of forest trees, / pleasing, rich with the fragrance of flowers, blew, awakening desire.
73.15
And the kadamba trees, adorned with bees, shaken by the wind / and stimulated by the continuous rain-showers, released an intense fragrance.
73.16
The kesara trees rained showers of flowers, awakening passion; / the nīpa trees, bearing bristling flowers, shone like lamps.
73.17
The earth, covered with fresh grass and adorned with cochineal insects, / like a maiden in her youth, wore a seasonal form [extending to] the sky.
73.18
Then the lord of Saubha, the glorious Dānava named Drumila, / in the guise of Ugrasena, assaulted my mother.
73.19
Her heart tender toward her husband, she approached him with affection, / but later became suspicious upon seeing his gravity.”
73.20
Standing up in fear, she said to him: 'You are surely not my husband! / Who are you of deformed appearance by whom I have been defiled?
73.21
This vow of fidelity to one husband has been ruined by you, / having assumed my husband's form, vile one, through a vile act!
73.22
What will my enraged kinsmen say to me, a polluter of the family? / Censured, rejected by my husband's folk, how shall I live?
73.23
Fie on you, such an intolerant scoundrel of low breed with aroused senses, / untrustworthy, of short life, a violator of another's wife!'
73.24
Reproached, that Dānava, incensed with anger, said to her as she clung [to him]: / "I indeed am Drumila by name, the mighty lord of Saubha."
73.25
Why do you revile me as sinful, foolish woman who fancy yourself wise, / clinging to a human husband of deficient strength and valor?'
73.26
"Women are not corrupted by infidelity, O proud woman!
Indeed, human women in particular do not have an intellect measuring so much."
73.27
"For it is heard that many women, through lapses of infidelity,
have given birth to sons equal to gods, of boundless prowess."
73.28
"You, exceedingly devoted to your husband's dharma in this world, a virtuous woman,
pure, shaking your hair, say whatever you wish."
73.29
"And as to your asking me, 'Whose are you?', O woman of passionate beauty,
a son of yours will be born named Kaṃsa, the destroyer of foes."
73.30
Becoming angry once again and censuring his boon,
the afflicted queen spoke to the wicked-speaking Dānava:
73.31
"Fie upon your conduct, you of very evil conduct, who censure all women!
There are women of vile conduct, and there are women faithful to their husbands."
73.32
"Those women who are heard to have only one husband, foremost among them Arundhatī—
by them all three worlds are upheld, O defiler of your family!"
73.33
"The son who has been granted by you to me, the destroyer of proper conduct—
he is not esteemed by me; listen also to what is said:"
73.34
"A man, imperishable, will be born in my husband's lineage, O vile one!
He will be your death, and also [the death] of the son granted by you."
73.35
Addressed thus, Drumila went into the sky
in that very foremost divine chariot that moved unobstructed;
and my wretched mother went to the city that very day.
73.35x822-1
Having spoken thus to me, the blessed Nārada, the best of sages,
73.35x822-2
blazing with the power of his ascetic heat, burning like fire itself directly seen,
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playing his lute, resonant with the seven musical notes,
73.35x822-4
singing along the path of the visible heavens, went into the presence of Brahmā.
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"Hear this, O mahout! Comprehend my words:"
73.35x822-6
"The truth was spoken by the wise Nārada, the knower of the three times."
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"I [excel] in strength, in vigor, in statecraft, and in modesty;"
73.35x822-8
"in might, in valor, in fiery splendor, and in prowess;"
73.35x822-9
"and in truthfulness and in generosity there is no other man like me."
73.35x822-10
"Knowing myself in full, I place faith in his word."
73.36
"Thus I am a son born of the wife of Ugrasena, O elephant-driver!
Abandoned by father and mother, I have established myself by my own splendor."
73.37
"I was hated by both of them, and especially by my kinsmen.
Therefore, having caused those two sinful cowherds to be killed by the elephant,
and having bound my father, I stand on the throne through my greater strength.
I shall kill these [others] as well, having slain both cowherds."
73.38
"Therefore go, mounting the elephant, with hook, lance, and javelin;
stand firm, O mahout, at the arena gate—do not delay!"
73.38x825
"And seeing the two cowherds arrive, kill them both!"
Linked texts (1)
- Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit