Parva 1 Chapter 44: deva senā varṇanam - about army of gods

You have thus heard of the arrangement of the daitya array in the war between the gods and demons, O boy, now hear an account of the arrangement of army of gods which is nothing else than the army of viṣṇu... ādityā vasavo rudrā ashvinau ca mahābalau | sa balāḥ sa anugāḥ caiva saṁnahyanta yathā balam ||1-44-2 puruhūtaḥ tu purato loka-pālaḥ sahasra-dṛk || grāmaṇīḥ sarva devānam āruroha sura-dviṣam ||1-44-3 While the twelve ādityā-s, eight vasu-s, eleven rudrā-s and the two highly powerful ashvini-gods have taken charge of their respective soldiers and followers... the commander of the whole celestial army, the thousand-eyed patriarch of gods, namely indra, is in the van of army astride his elephant airavata... savye ca asya rāthaḥ pārṣve pakṣi-pravara-vegavāṇ | su-cāru cakra charaṇo hema vajra pariṣkṛtaḥ || 1-44-4 deva gandharva yakṣa oghaiḥ anuyātaḥ sahasraśaḥ | dīptimadbhiḥ sadasyaiḥ ca brahma-rṣibhiḥ abhiṣṭutaḥ ||1-44-5 While his chariot, quick in coursing like garuḍa, legged with quickest wheels and carved with gold and diamonds is kept ready on his left; while thousands of streams of gods, gandharvā-s, and yakśā-s following him; while the self-effulgent brahma-sages of his court began to sing his praise... vajra visphūrjita uddhūtaiḥ vidyut indra-āyudha anvitaiḥ | gupto balāhaka gaṇaiḥ kāma-gaiḥ iva parvataiḥ ||1-44-6 While the evanescent streaks of lightning sprinting from his weapon Thunderbolt formed into a protective electric reticulation around him; while he is enswathed in a host of black-clouds and all are moving together like the flying-mountains... samārūḍhaḥ sa bhagavān paryeti maghavā gajam | havirdhāneṣu gāyanti viprāḥ soma-makhe sthitāḥ ||1-44-7 svarge śakra anuyāneṣu deva tūrya ninādiṣu | indraṁ samupanṛtyanti shatasho hi apsarogaṇāḥ ||1-44-8 While that god indra started riding on elephant the Vedic scholars conducting soma rituals at that time started to sing vedic chants suffixed with swāhā wording... while the celestials sounded bugles and thousands of apsara dancers performed the auspicious promenading before him... ketunā vaṁśa jātena rājamāno yathā raviḥ | yukto hari sahasreṇa mano māruta raṁhasā ||1-44-9 sa syandana varo bhāti yukto mātalinā tadā | kṛtsnaḥ parivṛto meruḥ bhāskarasya iva tejasā ||1-44-10 While the ensign of indra fluttered high on the chariot, which is yoked with a thousand horses and which can cruise with the speed of mind or air, that chariot glistened forth like the sun, whereby that best chariot, which is kept ready on his left beside airāvata elephant on which he is presently riding, with its charioteer mātali ready at the reins, appeared as if it is Mt. meru enveloped with the resplendence of the sun... With such and such entourage indra, the commander of gods, set out for the battle with demons... These four foots can be pulled up and placed next to 1-44-5. Verses from 2 to 10 have ekānvayam. yamaḥ tu daṇḍam udyamya kāla-yuktaṁ ca mudgaram | tasthau sura gaṇa ānīke daityān nādena bhīṣayan ||1-44-11 Brandishing his staff and mace that houses the death-bringing-goddess - kāla-yuktaṁ – mṛtyu devatā yuktam - maraṇa prāpikayā devatāyā yuktam; stood in the midst of the celestial army terrifying demons with his war-whooping. God yama is said to have come to war with his uncountable disease-battalion, namely aparimita vyādhi parivāram. caturbhiḥ sāgaraiḥ gupto lelihānaiḥ ca pannagaiḥ | śaṅkha mukta aṅgada dharo bibhrat toya mayaṁ vapuḥ ||1-44-12 He who is shielded by four oceans, whom serpents lick caressingly, rather, serpents lick their lips over him, i.e., they take delight in him, because both are subterranean beings... and he who is adorned with bicep-lets of pure conch and pristine pearls, and who dons a body wholly aggregate of waters... From here to verse 15 it is ekānvayam. kāla-pāśaṁ samāvidhya hayaiḥ śaśi-kara-upamaiḥ | vāyu Irita jala udgāraiḥ kurvan līlāḥ sahasraśaḥ ||1-44-13 He, whose horses are silvern like moonbeams, and who sported in a thousand ways with white-horses and whitecaps, say waves and wavelets, fluttered by air-god; he is now brandishing his weapon called kāla-pāśa, a noose... pāṇḍura uddhūta vasanaḥ pravāla rucira aṅgadaḥ | maṇi-śyāma uttama vapuḥ hāra bhārāḥ pita udaraḥ ||1-44-14 His raiment is whitely white, bicep-lets coral, body sapphirine, and his belly is bearing the burden of pendants dangling on it – his belly is loaded with pearls, corals, sapphires, conches etc – so to speak... varuṇaḥ pāśa bhṛt madhye deva ānīkasya tasthivān | yuddha velām abhilaṣan bhinna vela iva arṇavaḥ ||1-44-15 Such as he is that varuṇa, the god of waters, is now in the midst of gods’ army wielding a noose, appearing ready to infringe the norms of battle as with an ocean ever ready to sprit beyond the shoreline... yakṣa rākṣasa sainyena guhyakānāṁ gaṇaḥ api | maṇi-śyāma-uttama vapuḥ kubero nara-vāhanaḥ ||1-44-16 yuktaḥ ca śaṅkha padmābhyāṁ nidhīnām adhipaḥ prabhuḥ | rājarāja iśvaraḥ śrīmān gadā-pāṇiḥ adṛśyata ||1-44-17 vimāna-yodhī dhana-daḥ vimāne puṣpake sthitaḥ | sa rājarājaḥ shuśubhe yuddha arthī naravāhanaḥ | prekṣyamāṇaḥ śiva-sakhaḥ sākṣāt iva śivaḥ svayaṁ ||1-44-18 Supported by the armies of yakṣa, rākṣasa, and guhyakā-s there came god kubera, the lord of wealth-management, whose vehicle is humankind, who presides over treasures in the formation of conch shells and lotuses... this wealth-giving god being an air-fighter he is now in an aircraft called puṣpaka-vimāna, wielding a mace; this god being the dear friend of god shiva, now looked exactly like shiva himself, in all his eagerness to fight back demons... pūrvaṁ pakṣaṁ sahasrākṣaḥ pitṛ-rājaḥ tu dakṣiṇam | varuṇaḥ paśchimaṁ pakṣam uttaram nara-vāhanaḥ ||1-44-19 caturṣu yuktāḥ catvāro lokpālā bala utkaṭāḥ | svāsu dikṣu abhyarakṣan vai tasya deva-balasya ha ||1-44-20 The four mighty regents of four quarters of universe protected the four sides of the celestial army, viz., thousand-eyed indra protecting the eastern wing; lord of ancestral manes, yama, protecting southern wing; lord of waters, varuṇa, protecting western wing; human-rider kubera protecting northern wing, by keeping a vigilant watch over their respective quarters... sūryaḥ sapta ashva-yuktena rathena ambara-gāminā | śriyā jājvalyamānena dīpyamānaiḥ ca raśmibhiḥ ||1-44-21 udaya astamayaṁ cakre meru paryanta gāminā | tri-diva dvāra chkreṇa tapatā lokam avyayam ||1-44-22 sahasra rashmi yuktena bhrājamānaḥ sva-tejasā | cacāra madhye devānāṁ dvā-daśa ātmā dineśvaraḥ ||1-44-23 The sungod, sūrya, encharioted in a seven-steed skywalking chariot, blazing with his own effulgent sunrays that keep everything ablaze, gyred afore the gateway of heaven like a spinning fire ball – alāta cakram – by scorching worlds unendingly; causing rapid dawns and dusks by cursorily spinning round the Mt. meru in an on-again-off-again manner, that twelve-souled daymaker moved among the hosts of gods glowing with his own refulgence and shedding thousands of his shafts... somaḥ śveta hayaiḥ bhāti syandane śīta-raśmi-vān | hima-toya-prapūrṇa abhirbhābhirā hlādayaṣ jagat ||1-44-24 tam ṛkṣa yoga anugataṁ śiśira-aṁśuṁ dvija-īśvaram | jagat cāya aṅkita tanuṁ naishasya tamasaḥ kṣayam ||1-44-25 jyotiṣām īśvaraṁ vyomni rasānāṁ rasanaṁ prabhum | auṣadhīnāṁ paritrāṇam nidhānam amṛtasya ca ||1-44-26 jagataḥ prathamaṁ bhāgaṁ saumyaṁ śītamayaṁ rasam | dadṝśuḥ dānavāḥ somaṁ hima praharaṇa sthitam ||1-44-27 The moongod, soma, the possessor of cool moonshine has come to battlefield now, encharioted on a chariot harnessed with white horses, delighting the world with his cool and damp beams... him, who is in a cluster of stars; endowed with cool beams; presiding deity of the brāhmaṇa-s; whose body is marked by a shadow of the earth; a dispeller of the nocturnal darkness; a lord of all luminous bodies in the sky; pith of all essences; protector of all herbs; a repository of nectar; the first source of food to the world; a gentle one; with refreshing essence – and the dānavā-s saw such a soma, the moon, hovering on the battlefield ready to hurl his mesmerising moonbeams with which the hotheads of dānavā-s can be cooled and the war eschewed... yaḥ prāṇaḥ sarva bhūtānāṁ paṅcha-dhā bhidyate nṛṣu | sapta-skandha-gato lokān trīn dadhāra chara-acarān ||1-44-28 yam āhur agneḥ yantāraṁ sarva prabhavam īśvaram | sapta-svara-gatā yasya yoniḥ gītiḥ udīryate ||1-44-29 yaṁ vadanti uttamam bhūtam yaṁ vadanti a-śarīriṇam | yam āhur ākāśa-gamaṁ śīghra-gaṁ śabda-yoni-jam ||1-44-30 sa vāyuḥ sarva-bhūta-āyuḥ uddhataḥ svena tejasā | vavau pravyathayan daityān prati-lomaḥ sa toyadaḥ ||1-44-31 He who diversifying himself in fivefold, viz. prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, udāna, samāna airs, abides in every living being as its life-force; further, he who shoulders the responsibility to undergo sevenfold diversification in another context, namely āvāha, pravāha etc airs to sustain the three worlds consisting of mobile and sessile... of whom, they say, the controller of fire; an all pervading entity; whose provenance is in the seven musical notes with which notes alone singing is feasible... of whom, they say, the subtlest element, a bodiless entity, a spacewalker, transits impetuously and produced by the production of sound in space - śabda tanmātra gatam; ākāśa jam... such as he is that vital-air of everyone, namely vāyu, airgod, self-energetically started to give cyclonic gusts – pratiloma - along with waterspouts, whirlwinds, twisters, typhoon etc just to demoralise the daityā forces... The provenance – yoni; where the word yoni is śabda sthāna vāci – as in mantra varṇa: yoniṣṭa indra niṣade akārī... maruto deva gandharvā vidyādhara gaṇaiḥ saha | chikrīḍuḥ asibhiḥ śubhraiḥ nirmuktaiḥ iva pannagaiḥ ||1-44-32 The marut-s, wind-gods, in league with gods, gandharvā-s and vidyadharā-s, began to sport with their naked swords that looked like serpents just out of their snake-pits... sṛjantaḥ sarpa-patayaḥ tīvraṁ rośamayaṁ viṣam | śara-bhūtāḥ surendrāṇāṁ cherur vyātta mukhā divi ||1-44-33 Lordly serpants spreading on the sky with mouths agape looked like just darted darts of gods and they rancorously spewed venom on demons... parvatāḥ tu śilā-śṛṅgaiḥ śata-śākhaiḥ ca pādapaiḥ | upatasthuḥ sura-gaṇān prahartuṁ dānavaṁ balam ||1-44-34 And the mountains carting precipices and trees that are with numerous boughs have come and stood at the defensive end of gods, ready to sling their own assaults and batteries... yaḥ sa devo hṛṣīkeśaḥ padma-nābhaḥ tri-vikramaḥ | kṛṣṇa-vartmā yuga-anta Abho viśvasya jagataḥ prabhuḥ ||1-44-35 And then, he who is highly illustrious hṛṣīkeśa, with a lotus in his navel, who strode trinal world in three strides, effulgently blue-black like the era-ending smokily fire, cause and lord of the macrocosm and microcosm, as well... samudra-yoniḥ madhu-hā havya-bhuk kratu-satkṛtaḥ | bhūḥ āpo vyoma bhūta-ātmā samaḥ śānti karaḥ ari-hā ||1-44-36 He, who has primordial-waters as his provenance, eliminator of demon madhu, receiver of oblational offertories; one who is hallowed through Vedic rituals – yajṣa puruṣa; who is identical with earth, water and ether, who is at one with all the five-elements – panchabhūta-ātma; endower of peace and equanimity of mind, and the destroys enemies... jagat yoniḥ jagat bījo jagat-guruḥ udāra-dhīḥ | sa arkam agnim iva udyantam udyamya uttama-tejasam || 1-44-37 ari-ghnam amara-ānīke cakraṁ cakra-gadā-dharaḥ | sa parīveṣam udyantaṁ savitur maṇḍalaṁ yathā ||1-44-38 He, who is the source and seed of the universe, who is the preceptor of the world, magnanimous at heart - that śrīhari came up in the midst of the celestial army upcasting his unique refulgence prefatorily, which aureole looked like the fused flare of sun and fire, and that wielder of disc and mace, śrīhari, rose up like the sun blazing in his sphere, presently brandishing his mace – bhrāmayamāṇāyāḥ gadāyāḥ – pariveṣasya upama - and spinning his enemy-eliminating disc... savyena ālambya mahatīṁ sarva asura vināśinīm | kareṇa kālīṁ vapuṣā śatru-kāla-pradāṁ gadām | śeṣaiḥ bhujaiḥ pradīptāni bhujaga-ari-dhvajaḥ prabhuḥ || 1-44-39 dadhāra āyudha-jālāni śārṅga ādīni mahā-yaśāḥ | Wielding his massive mace called kaumodaki in the lower right hand, which black-bodied mace is a devastator and the endower of end-time to enemies; and wielding many other weapons like his bow śāraṅga etc with his other hands, that highly glorious śrīhari, whose flag is marked with the enemy of serpents, namely garuḍa, appeared there... Finishing line: mounted on his eagle-vehicle garuḍa... this is predicated in verse śrīmān... āruhya 1-44-47. sa kaśyapaḥ sva ātma-bhavaṁ dvijaṁ bhujaga-bhojanam ||1-44-40 pavana adhika saṁpātaṁ gagana kṣobhaṇaṁ kha-gam | bhujaga-indreṇa vadane niviṣṭena virājitam ||1-44-41 He who is the son of sage kāśyapa, a bird sustaining on serpents, a skywalker speedier than wind in his scoop and upsetting the skies, in whose beak a just caught mighty serpent will be squirming, at any given time... amṛta āraṁbha nirmuktaṁ mandara adrim iva ucchritam | deva asura vimardeṣu shatasho drṛṣṭa vikramam ||1-44-42 Which bird is gigantic like Mt. mandara that was set free after the churning of the ocean for ambrosia; which bird has displayed his prowess hundreds of times in the encounters between the gods and demons... mahendreṇa amṛtasya arthe vajreṇa kṛta-lakṣaṇam | śikhinaṁ cūḍinaṁ caiva tapta kuṇḍala bhūṣaṇam | vicitra pakṣa vasanaṁ dhātumantam iva achalam ||1-44-43 Whose body is marked with a mark of Thunderbolt when indra hurled at him while this bird is trying to embezzle ambrosia from heaven; which bird has plumery, diadem and shinning ear-hangings; whose raiment is his own wings; and who looks like a mountain impregnated with ores... sphīta kroḍa avalambena śītāṁśu sama tejasā| bhogi-bhoga-avasaktena maṇi-ratnena bhāsvatā ||1-44-44 He whose ample chest sparkles like the twinkles of moonbeams, because the brilliant gems so far stuck on the hoods of serpents are now stuck in the feathers of chest when he stuck them with his beak – hence, no more chest ornaments are called for... pakṣābhyāṁ cāru patrābhyām āvṛtya divi līlayā | yugānte sa indra-cāpābhyāṁ toyadābhyām iva ambaram ||1-44-45 He who spreads his two beautiful wings like two massive clouds with two rainbows turned up at era-ending when he sportively hovers on the sky... nīla lohita pītābhiḥ patākābhiḥ alaṁkṛtam | ketu veṣa praticchannaṁ mahākāya niketanam ||1-44-46 Though he is decorated with blue-black,red,and yellow flags, he dons the role of the standard of viṣṇu by way of his colossal body... aruṇa-avarajaṁ śrīmān āruhya samare hariḥ | sa devaḥ svena vapuṣā suparṇaṁ khechara-uttamam ||1-44-47 Mounting such and such divine eagle, garuḍa, the top speeded-skyflier, fleetest winged bird, and who incidentally is the brother of aruṇa, the non-stop charioteer-god of sungod, that glorious god viṣṇu came dazzling with his own wartime physique, which otherwise is untypical for him... tam anvayur deva gaṇā munayaḥ ca tapodhanāḥ | gīrbhiḥ parama mantra abhistuṣṭuvuḥ ca gadā-dharam ||1-44-48 tat vaiśravaṇa saṁśliṣṭaṁ vaivasvata puraḥsaram | vārirāja parikṣiptaṁ deva-rāja-virājitam ||1-44-49 candra-prabhābhir-vimalaṁ yuddhāya samupasthitam | pavana āviddha nirghoṣaṁ saṁpradīpta hutāśanam ||1-44-50 viṣṇor jiṣṇoḥ sahiṣṇoḥcha bhrājiṣṇoḥ tejasā vṛtam | balaṁ balavad udbhūtaṁ yuddhāya samavartata ||1-44-51 While the hosts of gods followed viṣṇu to battle; while great ascetics sang the glories of gadā-dhara, the mace-wielder, with excellent hymns and chants... While vaiśravaṇa, aka kubera set out with army; vaivasvata, aka yama is in the van; while the king of gods, namely indra is moving closely guarded; when unblemished moonshine is spreading; when airgod is war-blaring; when the firegod is ready to incinerate... Then viṣṇu embracing his other attributes like jiṣṇutvam- victorious nature; sahiṣṇutvam- forbearance; bhrājiṣṇutvam – self- refulgence, and the ike, moved ahead for war with army of gods which has esprit de corps... svastyaḥ tu devebhya iti stutvā tatra aṅgira abravīt | svastyaḥ tu devebhya iti uśanā vākyam Adade ||1-44-52 That being so, the preceptor of gods, sage aṅgira, aka sage bṛhaspati prayed, “Let devā-s be the victors...”; sage śukra, the preceptor of the daityā-s, on his part prayed, “Let daityā-s be the victors...” --o)0(o-- iti śrīmanmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi āścarya-tārakāmaye - yadvā - deva senā varṇanam nāma - catuścatvāriṁśo'dhyāyaḥ Thus, this is the forty-fourth chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating the army of gods. --o)0(o--