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vaiśampāyana uvāca – vaiśampāyana continued:
babhūvuḥ tu yadoḥ putrāḥ paṣcha deva-suta upamāḥ |
sahasradaḥ payodaḥ ca kroṣṭā nīlo aṣjikaḥ tathā || 1-33-1
sahasradasya dāyādāḥ trayaḥ parama-dhārmikāḥ |
haihayaḥ ca hayaḥ caiva rājan veṇu-hayaḥ tathā || 1-33-2
haihayasya abhavat putro dharma-netra iti smṛtaḥ |
dharma-netrasya kārtaḥ tu sāhaṣjaḥ tasya ca ātmajaḥ || 1-33-3
sāhaṣjanī nāma purī yena rājṣā niveśitā |
yadu had five sons called sahasra-da, payoda, kroṣṭa, nīla and aṣjika, who are coequal to the sons of the celestials, of whom, oh, king janamejaya, sahasra-da had three pious sons called hiahaya, haya and venu-haya. Then, haihaya’s son is dharma-netra, whose son is kārta, who begot a son called sāhaṣja, the founder of a city named sāhaṣjani.
sāhaṣjasya tu dāyādo mahiṣmān nāma pārthivaḥ || 1-33-4
māhiṣmatī nāma purī yena rājṣā niveśitā |
āsīt māhiṣmataḥ putro bhadraśreṇyaḥ pratāpavān || 1-33-5
vārāṇasi adhipo rājā katithaḥ pūrvameva tu |
King mahiṣmān is the son of sāhaṣja, who founded the city of mahiṣmati. mahiṣmān’s son is the powerful bhadraśreṇya, who is the ruler of vārāṇasi... this I have recounted before...
bhadraśreṇyasya putrastu durdamo nāma viśrutaḥ || 1-33-6
durdamasya suto dhīmān kanako nāma vīryavān |
kanakasya tu dāyādāḥ catvāro loka viśrutāḥ || 1-33-7
kṛtavīryaḥ kṛtaujāścha kṛtavarmā tathaiva ca |
kṛtāgniḥ tu caturtho abūut kṛtavīryāt tathā arjunaḥ || 1-33-8
yaḥ tu bāhu sahasreṇa sapta dvīpa īśvaraḥ abhavat |
jigāya pṛthivīm eko rathen āditya varchasā || 1-33-9
bhadraśreṇyasya’s son is durdama and durdama’s son is kanaka who is very intelligent. kanaka had four sons well-known in the world, namely kṛta-vīrya, kṛta-auja, kṛta-varma and kṛta-agni... kṛta-vīrya begot a son named arjuna, aka kārtavīrya-arjuna... this kārtavīrya-arjuna endowed with a thousand arms became the emperor of the seven insular continents conquering all of them in a single chariot that is effulgent like the sun... there is a cause c*l*bre for this...
sa hi varṣa āyutaṁ taptvā tapaḥ parama dushcharam |
dattam ārādhayāmāsa kārtavīryo atri-saṁbhavam || 1-33-10
tasmai datto varān prādāt caturo bhūri-tejasaḥ |
pūrvaṁ bāhu-sahasraṁ tu prārthitaṁ su-mahad-varam || 1-33-11
a-dharme vartamānasya sadbhiḥ tatra nivāraṇam |
ugreṇa pṛthivīṁ jitvā sva-dharmeṇa anu-raṣjanam || 1-33-12
saṁgrāmān subahūn kṛtvā hatvā ca arīn sahasraśaḥ |
saṁgrāme vartamānasya vadhaṁ ca api adhikāt raṇe || 1-33-13
kārtavīrya-arjuna undertook an impossible ascesis for ten thousand years to please lord datta-ātreya, the son of atri mahāmuni, whereby he obtained the grace of datta-ātreya in four boons, which are: firstly, there should be palingenesis of his thousand arms in a given battle; secondly, during his tenure righteous people shall be able to snub unrighteousness, if it pops up, in order to avoid decadence to dharma – dharma-chyuti; thirdly, though he conquers the whole world with all his ferocity, his ruling the country should be pleasurable to all of his subjects; fourthly, though he conducts many a battle eliminating thousands of fierce enemies, his end should come at the hand of a warrior more powerful than himself, that too when engaged in a battle...
Thousand-arms to kārtavīrya-arjuna signify his ambidextrousness.
tasya bāhu sahasraṁ tu yudhyataḥ kila bhārata |
yogāt yogeshvarasya eva prādurbhavati māyayā || 1-33-14
O, janamejaya, the bhārata, accordingly any of his thousand arms, if lost in a given battle, used to magically crop up recurrently owing to his ascetic power... thus he did not loose any battle...
tena iyaṁ pṛthivī sarvā sapta dvīpā sa pattanā |
sa samudrā sa nagarā ugreṇa vidhinā jitā || 1-33-15
tena saptasu dvīpeṣu sapta yajṣa-śatāni vai |
prāptāni vidhinā rājṣā śrūyante janamejaya || 1-33-16
sarve yajṣā mahābāhoḥ tasya āsan bhūri dakṣiṇāḥ |
sarve kāṣchana yūpāḥ ca sarve kāṣchana vedayaḥ || 1-33-17
sarvair devair mahārājā vimānasthair alaṅkṛtāḥ |
gandharvair apsarobhishcha nityam eva upaśobhitāḥ || 1-33-18
That self-willed warrior has conquered all of this earth together with its continents, towns, cities, and oceans... and oh, janamejaya, we have heard that this king kārtavīrya-arjuna procedurally established seven yajṣa-śatānā-s, vedic ritual hubs, in seven continents, all of which are endowed with golden sacrificial posts and altars, i.e., flourishing on all occasions, with abundant largesse... while all gods hovered in their hovercrafts to observe those vedic rituals, gandharvā-s used to sing and apsarā-s used to promenade at those vedic ritual places...
yasya yajṣe jagau gāthāṁ gandharvo nāradaḥ tathā |
varī-dāsa ātmajo vidvān mahimnā tasya vismitaḥ || 1-33-19
Observing the Vedic rituals of this king, one gandharva called as nārada, the son of a gandharva called varī-dāsa, aka upabarhaṇa, is astonished and sung the glory of this king in this way:
nārada uvāca : nārada, the gandharva said:
na nūnaṁ kārtavīryasya gatiṁ yāsyānti pārthivāḥ |
yajṣaiḥ dānaiḥ tapobhiḥ vā vikrameṇa shrutena ca || 1-33-20
No king can attain the stature of kārtavīrya-arjuna in conducting Vedic rituals, making presents, or by his prowess and knowledge of scriptures...
sa hi saptasu dvīpeṣu khadgī charmī śarāsanī |
rathī dvīpān anucaran yogī saṁdṛśyate nṛbhiḥ || 1-33-21
He appeared like a yogi to people, even if he wielded numerous weapons in his numerous arms, like armour, sword and bow, when he made inroad into seven continents on his chariot....
a-naṣṭa-dravyatā caiva na shoko na ca vibhramaḥ |
prabhāveṇa mahārājṣaḥ prajā dharmeṇa rakṣataḥ || 1-33-22
On account of his righteously protecting none of his subjects suffered loss of wealth, grief or fluster...
paṣcāśīti sahasrāṇi varṣāṇāṁ vai narādhipaḥ |
sa sarva ratna bhāk saṁrāṭ cakravartī babhūva ha || 1-33-23
sa eva yajṣa pālo abhūt kṣetra-pālaḥ sa eva ca |
sa eva vṛṣṭyāṁ parjanyo yogitvāt arjuno'bhavat || 1-33-24
sa vai bāhu sahasreṇā jyā ghāta kaṭhinatvacā |
bhāti rashmi sahasreṇa śaradi iva divākaraḥ || 1-33-25
Endowed with all sorts of jewels and wealth, dhana-ratna-sampatti, he enjoyed the status of an emperor, or lord paramount, and ruled for eighty-five thousand years... he is both the officiator and the protector of vedic rituals, a rarity for a single person... this kārtavīrya-arjuna is approximated with the rain-god because the seasonality of rains is maintained in his regime, which is owing to his satisfying the gods with vedic rituals... with his thousand arms that are marked with the dents of bowstring, he shone forth like the thousand-rayed sun of autumn...
sa hi nāgān manuṣyeṣu māhiṣmatyāṁ mahādyutiḥ |
karkoṭaka sutāṣ jitvā puryāṁ tasyāṁ nyaveshayat || 1-33-26
On conquering karkoṭaka-nāgā-s, that highly effulgent king kārtavīrya-arjuna made them to hobnob with the humans in his city mahiṣmati...
sa vai vegaṁ samudrasya prāvṛṭ kāle aṁbuja-īkṣaṇaḥ |
krīḍan iva bhujod bhinnaṁ prati-srotaḥ cakāra ha || 1-33-27
luṇṭhitā krīḍitā tena phena-srak-dāma-mālinī |
calat ūrmi sahasreṇa śaṅkita abhyeti narmadā || 1-33-28
When that lotus-eyed king sported in seawater he used to balk the turbulence of ocean, and reverse the surge with the might of his shoulders, even in heavy rains; stilly ocean had to garland him with froth floating on its restive waters; seeing her lord, namely the ocean, in such a state of disquieted quietude, River ṇarmada used to doubt and rush towards him, only to garland kārtavīrya-arjuna sporting in there, with thousands of her ripples...
tasya bāhu-sahasreṇa kṣubhyamāṇe mahodadhau |
bhayāt ni-līnā niśceṣṭāḥ pātāla-sthā mahāsurāḥ || 1-33-29
When he used to storm-toss the mighty deep with his thousand arms in his swimming, the great asurā-s living in the nether region used to become apprehensively standstill...
cūrṇī kṛta mahā-vīchiṁ chala-mīna mahā-timim |
māruta āviddha phena ogham āvarta kṣobha duḥsaham || 1-33-30
prāvartayattadā rājā sahasreṇa ca bāhunā |
deva asura samākṣiptaḥ kṣīra udam iva mandaraḥ || 1-33-31
mandara kṣobha chakitā amṛta udbhava śaṅkitāḥ |
sahasa utpatitā bhītā bhīmaṁ dṛṣṭvā nṛpottamam || 1-33-32
natā nishchala mūrdhāno babhūvuḥ te mahoragāḥ |
sāyāhne kadalī khaṇḍaiḥ kaṁpitāḥ tasya vāyunā || 1-33-33
When he plunged into water to swim, which is much the same as the throwing of Mt. mandara into Milk Ocean at the time of churning ambrosia by gods and demons, foamy whirlpools of water are created... for aquatic beings those tidal-wave-paring plunges used to be unendurable, because, they used to smash giant fish, crocodiles and the like... everyone was dumfounded when a series of calamities have occurred in the first instance when Mt. mandara roiled Milk Ocean... likewise, everyone is dumbfounded now at the turbo-swimming, bāhu-mathanam, of this king apprehending some calamitous results... snakes entrench themselves when they open their hoods.... but now, seeing this turbosupercharger, the hoods of great serpents, though unfurled, are downcast and trembling, like the fluttering of banana leaves from an evening gust...
sa vai baddhvā dhanuḥ jyābhiḥ utsiktaṁ paṣchabhiḥ śaraiḥ |
laṅkeśaṁ mohayitvā tu sa-balaṁ rāvaṇaṁ balāt |
nirjitya eva sam-ānīya māhiṣmatyāṁ babandha tam || 1-33-34
śrutvā tu baddhaṁ paulastyaṁ rāvaṇaṁ tu arjunena tu |
tato gatvā pulastyaḥ tam arjunaṁ dadṛśe svayam |
mumocha rakṣaḥ paulastyaṁ pulastyena anu-yācitaḥ || 1-33-35
At one time kārtavīrya-arjuna vanquished rāvaṇa, the haughty king of lanka, along with his army just with his might; made him senseless with five arrows; bound him with bowstring; brought him to the city of mahiṣmati and kept him in prison... hearing that his son had been imprisoned, sage pulastya, father of rāvaṇa, went to see the king personally... then kārtavīrya-arjuna set rāvaṇa free as supplicated by his father, namely sage pulastya...
The reference in the stanza [raghuvamsham of kālidasa] is to the incident when Kārtavīrya Arjuna while enjoying a bath in the waters of the ṇarmada with the females of his harem obstructed the flow of the water of the river. Taking advantage of the bed thus left dry down below, Ravana commenced the worship of Shiva Linga there. When Kārtavīrya came out of the river the obstruction was suddenly removed and the flow washed Ravana with the Shiva Linga. Irritated at this Ravana challenged Kārtavīrya to a fight in which he [Ravana] was defeated and taken prisoner. At the intercession of Pulastya Ravana was set at liberty by Kārtavīrya. The Vayu Purana, however, says that Kārtavīrya invaded Lanka and there took Ravana prisoner. – K. M. Joglekar - raghuvamsham of kālidasa, 6thchapter.
yasya bāhu-sahasrasya babhūva jyā-tala-svanaḥ |
yuga-ante tu ambudasya eva sphuṭato hi aśaneḥ iva || 1-33-36
The twangs of his bow when drawn by his thousand arms are like the clapping of thunderbolts erupting from dark-clouds that emerge at the end of era...
aho bata mṛdhe vīryaṁ bhārgavasya yat acchinat |
rājṣo bāhu-sahasraṁ tu haimaṁ tāla vanaṁ yathā || 1-33-37
But, what an astounding valour of bhṛgu’s son, namely paraśu-rāma, in combats... he felled the thousand arms of kārtavīrya-arjuna that looked like golden palmgrove, and ended him in a combat... there is a reason for this...
tṛṣitena kadācit sa bhikṣitaḥ citrabhānunā |
sa bhikṣām adadāt vīraḥ sapta-dvīpān vibhāvasoḥ || 1-33-38
purāṇi grāma ghoṣāṁścha viṣayāṁścaiva sarvaśaḥ |
jajvāla tasya sarvāṇi citrabhānuḥ didhakṣayā || 1-33-39
sa tasya puruṣendrasya prabhāvena mahātmanaḥ |
dadāha kārtavīryasya śailāṁścaiva vanāni ca || 1-33-40
At certain time citra-bhanu, aka agni, Fire-god, stricken with thirst, begged for something from kārtavīrya-arjuna to quench his thirst. arjuna conferred on vibhavasu, aka agni, Fire-god, the seven insular continents, whereby the fire-god burnt down all the cities, villages, provinces, including mountains and forests.... fire-god could do all this only with the express permission of the noble souled arjuna...
sa śūnyam āśramaṁ ramyaṁ varuṇasya ātmajasya vai |
dadāha vanavad bhītaḥ citrabhānuḥ sa haihayaḥ || 1-33-41
yaṁ lebhe varuṇaḥ putraṁ purā bhāsvantam uttamam |
vasiṣṭhaṁ nāma sa muniḥ khyāta āpava iti uta || 1-33-42
But, in certain beautiful forest the son of rain-god, named as āpa, aka vaśiṣṭa is meditating... hence the fire-god could not enter a forest out of fear from sage āpa... fire-god returned to arjuna complaining that such and such forest is inaccessible... fearing the futility of his plighted word arjuna suicidally proceeded to that forest along with fire-god... taking advantage of the presence of arjuna, fire-god started to burn that forest rousing the wrath of āpava...
yatra āpavaḥ tu taṁ krodhāt śaptavān arjunaṁ vibhuḥ |
yasmāt na varjitam idaṁ vanaṁ te mama haihaya || 1-33-43
tasmāt te duṣkaraṁ karma kṛtam anyo haniṣyati |
rāmo nāma mahābāhuḥ jāmadagnyaḥ pratāpavān || 1-33-44
cittvā bāhu sahasraṁ te pramathya tarasā balī |
tapasvī brāhmaṇaḥ ca tvāṁ vadhiṣyati sa bhārgavaḥ || 1-33-45
Then, seeing arjuna behind the back of arson, sage āpa cursed him saying, “wherefore you have not let my hermitage unburnt, you, haihaya, therefore you have committed an infraction... for which you are destined to meet your end at the hand of someone else other than me... one called rāma, aka paraśurāma, an ascetic brāhamaṇa of bhārgava lineage and the mighty armed son of sage jāmadagni, on agonising you with his might, and on sundering your thousand arms, will exterminate you...”
vaiśampāyana uvāca : vaiśampāyana continued:
anaṣṭa dravyatā yasya babhūva amitra-karshana |
prabhāvena narendrasya prajā dharmeṇa rakṣataḥ || 1-33-46
rāmāt tataḥ asya mṛtyuḥ vai tasya śāpāt muneḥ nṛpa |
varaḥ caiva hi kauravya svayam eva vṛtaḥ purā || 1-33-47
O king, O subduer of enemies, on account of the imprecation of the ascetic āpava, king kārtavīrya-arjuna, under whose righteous rule even his subjects did not lose anything, met with his death at the hand of paraśu-rāma... in fact, oh, descendant of kuru, he himself prayed to lord datatreya for this boon...
tasya putra shatasya āsan paṣcha śeṣā mahātmanaḥ |
kṛta astrā balinaḥ śūrā dharmātmāno yaśasvinaḥ || 1-33-48
śūrasenaḥ ca śūraḥ ca dhṛṣṭa uktaḥ kṛṣṇa eva ca |
jaya-dhvajaḥ ca nāmnā āsīt āvantyo nṛpatir mahān || 1-33-49
kārtavīryasya tanayā vīryavanto mahārathāḥ |
jayadhvajasya putraḥ tu tālajaṅgho mahābalaḥ || 1-33-50
tasya putrāḥ śataṁ khyātāḥ tālajaṅghā iti śrutāḥ |
Amongst the hundred sons of that high-souled kārtavīrya-arjuna only five survived him. They were all powerful, heroic, virtuous and intelligent, and were proficient in the use of weapons. They were śūrasena, śūra, dhṛṣṭa, kṛṣṇa and jaya-dhvaja; all these sons of arjuna are powerful, and mighty chariot-warriors... jaya-dhvaja became the king of avanti and begot a highly powerful son called tālajaṅgha, who begot a hundred sons, who are collectively called as tālajaṅghās... thus we have heard...
teṣāṁ kule mahārāja haihayānāṁ mahātmanām || 1-33-51
vītihotrāḥ sujātāḥ ca bhojāḥ ca avantayaḥ smṛtāḥ |
tauṇḍikerā iti khyātāḥ tālajaṅghāḥ tathaiva ca || 1-33-52
bharatāḥ ca sutā jātā bahutvāt na anukīrtitāḥ |
There emerged great kshatriya-s dynasts in the line haihaya-s, like vītihotrā-s, sujātā-s, bhojā-s, avantī-s, tauṇḍikerā-s, likewise tālajaṅghā-s and bharatās... bharatā-s dynasts are numerous; hence they are not recounted now...
vṛṣa prabhṛtayo rājan yādavāḥ pūrṇa-karmiṇaḥ || 1-33-53
vṛṣo vaṁśa dharaḥ tatra tasya putro abhavat madhuḥ |
madhoḥ putra śataṁ tu āsīt vṛṣaṇaḥ tasya vaṁśa bhāk || 1-33-54
vṛṣaṇāt vṛṣṇayaḥ sarve madhoḥ tu mādhavāḥ smṛtāḥ |
yādavā yadunā ca agre nirucyante ca haihayāḥ || 1-33-55
The pious vṛṣa and others, O king, are born in the line of yudu... of them vṛṣa is the fount of three dynasties... vṛṣa’s son is madhu who had a hundred sons of whom vṛṣaṇa is the one who perpetuated the vṛṣaṇi race...
The dynasts of haihayā-s are variously called; vṛṣaṇa’s dynasts are called as vṛṣaṇi-s; madhu’s dynasts as mādhavā-s; thus, yadu’s dynasts have become yādavā-s in a collective way... all stemming from haihayās...
After narrating about the dynasty of the first son of yadu, namely sahasra-da, a giver in thousand ways, now the dynasty of second son, namely payoda, is taken up. payaḥ+da = water, giver; cloud; so also, the word vṛṣaṇi is from the word varṣaṇa= raining; atra payoda eva varṣaṇāt hetoḥ vṛṣa shabdena ucyate.
śūrāḥ ca śūra-vīrāḥ ca śūrasenāḥ tathā Anagha |
śūrasena iti khyātaḥ tasya desho mahātmanaḥ || 1-33-56
There is a subset of yādavā-s called śūra-senā-s, who are valorous, valiantly heroic; their province is called after them, śūra-sena-deśam...
na tasya vitta nāśo'sti naṣṭaṁ prati labhet ca saḥ |
kārtavīryasya yo janma kīrtayet iha nityaśaḥ || 1-33-57
He, who in this world recounts daily the birth of kārtavīrya-arjuna, does not lose his property. And even if he loses it he acquires it again...
ete yayāti putrāṇāṁ paṣcha vaṁśā viśāṁpate |
kīrtitā loka vīrāṇāṁ ye lokān dhārayanti vai |
bhūtānīva mahārāja paṣcha sthāvarajaṅgamān || 1-33-58
śrutvā paṣcha visargaṁ tu rājā dharmārthakovidaḥ |
vaśī bhavati paṣcānām ātmajānāṁ tatheśvaraḥ || 1-33-59
labhet paṣcha varāṁścaiva durlabhān iha laukikān |
āyuḥ kīrtiṁ tathā putrān aiśvaryaṁ bhūmim eva ca |
dhāraṇāt śravaṇāt caiva paṣcha vargasya bhārata || 1-33-60
O king, thus I have described the families of the five heroic sons of yayāti, celebrated in the world. They are like the five subtle elements preserving the mobile and sessile creation. Anyone well read in the Vedas and other religious scriptures, becomes the master of five senses and god-like and obtains the five boons which are otherwise difficult to get in this world, if he listens to the various episodes of these five kings. By listening to an account of the families of these five kings one acquires longevity, great renown, riches, sons, power and prosperity......
kroṣṭoḥ tu śṛṇu rājendra vaṁśam uttama pauruṣam |
yadoḥ vaṁśa-dharasya atha yajvanaḥ puṇya-karmaṇaḥ || 1-33-61
kroṣṭur hi vaṁśaṁ śrutvemaṁ sarva pāpaiḥ pramucyate |
yasya anvavāy ajo viṣṇuḥ hariḥ vṛṣṇi kula udvahaḥ || 1-33-62
Now, O king, listen about the most excellent and powerful dynasty of kroṣṭu, the third son of yadu, from among his five sons called sahasra-da, payoda, kroṣṭa, nīla and aṣjika... kroṣṭu is the commemorator of yadu’s dynasty, who conducted several vedic rituals, and commendable for his pietistic deeds... by hearing of an account of kroṣṭu’s dynasty a man is freed from all his sins, because this dynasty has begotten the begetter of whole universe, namely viṣṇuḥ, śrī-hari...
--o)0(o--
iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi yaduvaṁśavarṇanaṁ nāma
[kārtavīrya utpattiḥ ca] trayastriṁśo'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, this is the thirty-third chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating yadu dynasty and the emergence of kārtavīrya-arjuna.