Parva 1 Chapter 46: daitya parājaya - of demons’ defeat

Saying delightedly ‘so be it’ to raingod varuṇa, the king and benefactor of all gods, indra, first of all bade the moongod, soma, whose weapons are just gelid-beams, to charge the demons in battle, saying this to moongod… śakra uvāca: indra said to moon: gaccha soma sahāyatvaṁ kuru pāśa-dharasya vai | asurāṇāṁ vināśāya jayāya ca divaukasām ||1-46-2 “soma,” indra said to moon in a war-warm-up mood, “join hands with the wielder of noose, raingod varuṇa, in destroying demons and for the victory to the inhabitants of the sky… tvam apratima vīryaḥ ca jyotiṣāṁ ca īśvareśvaraḥ | tvat mayaṁ sarva-lokānāṁ rasaṁ rasa-vido viduḥ ||1-46-3 You are gifted with incomparable energy, the lord of all the luminous bodies, and scholars with know-how of essential nature know that you are the real essence for living imbued in all the worlds… kṣaya-vṛddhī tava avyakte sāgarasya iva maṇḍale | pari-vartasi ahorātraṁ kālaṁ jagati yojayan ||1-46-4 A regularly correlative waxing and waning, or ebbing and tiding are manifest in you and in ocean, while you two are capable of recouping the waned and ebbed portion of yours… as such, you joins hands with ocean god varuṇa to combat demons… because you spin day and night you are a calibrator for time measurement… loka-chcāyāmayaṁ lakṣma tava aṅke śaśa-saṁjṣitam | na viduḥ soma-deva api ye ca nakṣatra yoginaḥ ||1-46-5 Your polished surface is marked with a silhouette of world evocative of a hare, and even the astrologers, who are experts in the science of stars, are nescient of its factuality… tvam āditya pathāt ūrdhvaṁ jyotiṣāṁ ca upari sthitaḥ | tamaśchotsārya vapuṣā bhāsayasi akhilaṁ jagat ||1-46-6 Abiding above the solar path and other luminous bodies you dispel gloom and brighten the entire world with your body and beams… śveta-bhānuḥ hima-tanuḥ jyotiṣām-adhipaḥ śaśī | abda-kṛt kāla-yoga-ātmā Ijyo yajṣa-raso avyayaḥ ||1-46-7 Argentine-beamed, silverthaw-bodied, constellations-convoker, hare-bannered, year-maker, soul-of-timescale, much- sought-after-god, quintessence-of-soma-factor-in-rituals, eternal-entity… oṣadhi-īśaḥ kriyā-yoniḥ ambho-yoniḥ an-uṣṇa-bhāk | śīta-aṁśuḥ amṛta-ādhāraḥ chapalaḥ śveta-vāhanaḥ ||1-46-8 Medicne-lord, measure-for-ritual-events, fount-for-ritual-water, heatless-candent, cold-rayed, cornerstone-of-ambrosia, mercurial-natured, vehicle-silvery… tvam kāntiḥ kānta-vapuṣāṁ tvaṁ somaḥ soma-vṛttinām | saumyaḥ tvaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ timira-ghnaḥ tvam ṛkṣa-rāṭ ||1-46-9 You are lambency, enviable by you conformation, elixir of life, and the life of those who depend on your elixir, soma-rasa, namely soma-jīvikā-s, i.e., gods who are the sippers of soma… your charm charms in every charming object, dispeller of darkness for every being, and you are the star-lord… tat gaccha tvaṁ saha anena varuṇena varūthinā | shamayasva āsurīṁ māyāṁ yayā dahyāma saṁgara ||1-46-10 Such as you are you charge with your array accompanying raingod varuṇa, and quench this factitious fire with which we are being burnt…” so said indra to soma… soma uvāca : soma replied yat māṁ vadasi yuddha arthe devarāja jagatpate | eṣa varṣāmi śiśiraṁ daitya māyā pakarṣaṇam ||1-46-11 etān mat śīta-nirdagdhān pashya tvaṁ hima-veṣṭitān | vi-māyān vi-madān caiva dānavān tvaṁ mahā-mṛdhe ||1-46-12 “With which confidence you are asking me to combat the whirlfire that I will keep up by just storming icestorms on demons that repulses this fictional whirlfire… you may behold how demons will be divested of their wizardry and haughtiness when burnt with my chill and covered with sleet…” so said moon to indra… vaiśaṁpāyana uvāca : vaiśampāyana continued: tataḥ hima-karaḥ utsṛṣṭāḥ su-bāṣpā hima-vṛṣṭayaḥ | veṣṭayanti sma tān ghorān daityān megha-gaṇā iva ||1-46-13 Then dew-maker moon hurled sleetstorms mixed with raindrops and snow that spiralled round the deadly demons like cloudcovers… tau pāśa śukla-aṁśu dharau varuṇa indū mahā-raṇe | jaghnatur hima-pātaiḥ ca pāta-ghātaiḥ ca dānavān ||1-46-14 Those two, the raingod - the wilder of noose; and the moongod - the wielder of moonbeams; started striking the demons with snowfalls and rainfalls… dvau aṁbu-nāthau samare tau pāśa-hima-yodhinau | mṛdhe ceratur ambhobhiḥ kṣubdhau iva mahārṇavau ||1-46-15 Those two lords of water, battlers with noose and snow, began to range like two swelling oceans deluging the battlefield… tābhyām āplāvitaṁ sainyaṁ tat dānavam adṛśyata | jagat saṁvartaka aṁbodhaiḥ pravṛṣṭaiḥ iva saṁvṛtam ||1-46-16x As with the world going into oblivion when buried under the clouds of ravage at era-ending, the army of demons fell into oblivion when raingod and moongod inundated with rainstorms… tau udyata aṁśu pāśau dvau śaśāṅka varuṇau raṇe | śamayāmāsatur māyāṁ devau daiteya nirmitām ||1-46-17 Mooongod and raingod have quickly deescalated the demon-crafted eidolonic fire just wielding moonbeams and noose… śīta-aṁśu jala nirdagdhāḥ pāśaiḥ ca prasitā raṇe | na śekuḥ chalituṁ daityā vi-śiraskā iva adrayaḥ||1-46-18 Set afire with cool-beams and water, and noose making them immobile, the daityā-s are anchored like foundered headless-mountains… śītāṁśu nihatāḥ te tu petur daityā hima arditāḥ | hima prāvṛta sarvāṅgā nir-ūṣmāṇa iva agnayaḥ ||1-46-19 Some hit with cold-beams, some quashed with chilliness, some with all limbs snowed up, some squelched, started falling like down-furled heatless fire… teṣāṁ tu divi daityānāṁ viparīta-prabhāṇi ca | vimānāni vicitrāṇi nipatanti utpatanti ca ||1-46-20 High, wide, and handsome chariots of demons that are so far hustly-bustly on the sky teeter-tottered in there… tān pāśa-hasta grathitāṣ chcāditān hima-raśminā | mayo dadarsha māyāvī dānavān divi dānavaḥ || 1-46-21 On observing the sore straits of his troopers, where some fettered with the noose of raingod and some flaked with snow-flakes, dānava māya could notice the fade of phantastic fire… then he embarked on another phantasm, māyā-parvata-māya, a trick with tricksy-mountains… sa śilā-jāla-vitatāṁ gaṇḍa-śaila-aṭṭahāsinīm | pādapa utkaṭa-kūṭa-agrāṁ kandara ākīrṇa kānanām ||1-46-22 In that trick demon māya spun off spanning ranges of mountains with rocky crags and cliffs, peaks thick with thickets of gigantic trees, mountainsides spread with yawning caves and fusty forests… siṁha vyāghra gaja ākīrṇāṁ nadantīm iva yūthapaiḥ | īhā-mṛga gaṇa ākīrṇāṁ pavana āghūrṇita drumām ||1-46-23 With sprawling lions, tigers and elephants, and uproarious with roaring soldiery - yūthapā-s = māyā-yoddhā-s; further, those mountains are infested with hosts of - īhā-mṛga gaṇā-s – AI creatures, automated monsters, robots, and cybots etc. while the wind-hit trees are swaying, uprooting and falling distantly on targets… nirmitāṁ svena putreṇa krauṣchena divi kāma-gām | prasṛtāṁ pārvatīṁ māyāṁ sasṛje dānava uttamaḥ ||1-46-24 Demon māya has now released this phantastic mountain-trick, while his own son demon krauṣcha, who has devised the whole gamut of this trick, is meandering on the sky at will, supervising the functionality of this phantasm… sa aśma śabdaiḥ śilā varṣaiḥ saṁpatadbhiḥ ca pādapaiḥ | nijaghne deva saṅghān tān dānavān cāpi ajīvayat ||1-46-25 naiśākarī vāruṇī ca māya antar dadhataḥ tataḥ | aśmabhiḥ ca āyasa-ghanaiḥ kiran devagaṇān raṇe ||1-46-26 While supervising demon krauṣcha assaulted gods with sonorous fizzing of rocks, storms of stones, plunging of trees, and by strewing iron clouds and rocks on the hosts of gods on the battle-field… simultaneously he re-animated demons making the illusion spun by raingod futile and dissipated… sa ashma saṅghāta viṣamā druma parvata saṅkaṭā | abhavat ghora saṣcārā pṛthivī parvataiḥ iva ||1-46-27 The earth, already uneven with a collection of mountains and thick trees, is further covered with mountains and trees fallen on earth as relics of that war, with which the earth has become impassable, even to gods if they would like to hide on earth, whereby they are stranded in mid sky… na a-nāhato aśmabhiḥ kashchit śilābhiḥ ca atha tāḍitaḥ | na a-niruddho druma-gaṇaiḥ devo adṛśyata saṁyuge ||1-46-28 tat apabhraṣṭa dhanuṣaṁ bhagna praharaṇāvilam | niṣ-prayatnaṁ sura ānīkaṁ varjayitvā gadādharam ||1-46-29 On the gods side none appeared unhurt with rocks, none looked unscathed with boulders, and none seemed to be unhindered with hosts of trees – indicating the complete rout of gods every god is wielding a broken bow or smashed weapon, whereby gods’ army became effete to fight anymore – excepting the mace wielding god śrīhari… sa hi yuddha-gataḥ śrīmān Isho na sma vyakampata | sahiṣṇutvāt jagat-svāmī na chukrodha gadādharaḥ ||1-46-30 Although the glorious one and the lord of the universe, gadā-dhara, aka viṣṇu, is available on the battlefield from the start, he is unperturbed and unexcited with anger on account of his compos mentis – sahiṣṇutvam… kāla-jṣaḥ kāla-megha-ābhaḥ samaikṣat kālam Ahave | deva asura vimardaṁ sa draṣṭukāmo janārdanaḥ ||1-46-31 Wishful to see the mutual onslaught of gods and demons, thereby to assess their strengths and weaknesses, he who resembles a black-cloud arriving at the era-end, and who is conversant with timing of events, that god janārdana, aka viṣṇu, waited for the proper time to enter into the picture of battle… tato bhagavatā ādiṣtaḥ raṇe pāvaka mārutau | śamana arthaṁ pravṛddhāyā māyāyā maya sṛṣṭayā ||1-46-32 Thereupon entering on proper time viṣṇu ordered the firegod and airgod to deal with the phantastic-mountain-combat created by maya-asura in that war… tataḥ pravṛddhau anyonyaṁ pravṛddhau jvāla-vāhinau | coditau viṣṇu vākyena tāṁ māyāṁ vyapakarṣatām ||1-46-33 Then firegod and airgod who for themselves are the illimitable entities have now joined hands to become a two-in-one preponderance at the behest of viṣṇu to drag-anchor the magic-mountain-sortie from field… tābhyām udbhrānta vegābhyāṁ pravṛddhābhyāṁ mahā-āhave | dagdhā sā pārvatī-māyā bhasmībhūtā nanāśa ha ||1-46-34 That tempestuous pair of rain and fire gods became impetuous in that great battle and on burning down the mountain-phantasy, reduced it ashes and thus eradicated it… saḥ anilo anala saṁyuktaḥ saḥ analḥ ca anila ākulaḥ | daitya senāṁ dadahatur yugānteṣu iva mūrcchitau ||1-46-35 Air infused with fire and fire suffused with air, and undergoing an ictus of era-ending anger, as it were, that twosome airfire has incinerated the demonic army … vāyuḥ pradhāvitaḥ tatra paścāt agniḥ ca mārutāt | ceratur dānava ānīke krīḍantau an ala anilau ||1-46-36 Fire zagged there to where the air zipped which seemed like a hit-and-miss sport of those two gods played overhead while the demons underneath this zigzag burned down… bhasma-avayava-bhūteṣu prapatatsu ut-patatsu ca | dānaveṣu vinaṣṭeṣu kṛta karmaṇi pāvake ||1-46-37 vāta-skandha-apaviddheṣu vimāneṣu samantataḥ | māyā-bandhe vinirvṛtte stūyamāne gadādhare ||1-46-38 Firegod felt accomplished in his work when the limbs of some dānavā-s are charmed, some fell down, some trying to rise but turning head over heels, while some completely ruined… when airgod shouldered every aircraft of demons down everybody felt that they are relived of the magical spell created by demons, and started eulogising śrīhari… niṣ-prayatneṣu daityeṣu trai-lokye mukta-bandhane | saṁprahṛṣṭeṣu deveṣu sādhu sādhu iti sarvaśaḥ ||1-46-39 When the daityā-s remained unventuresome, hitherto laid harpy-deterrents in three worlds became null, and the gods everywhere delightedly said ‘excellent, superb, splendid…’ jaye daśa-śata-akṣasya mayasya ca parājaye | dikṣu sarvāsu śuddhāsu pravṛtte dharma-saṁstare ||1-46-40 When indra achieved victory and demon maya met with discomfiture, all the quarters became clear and Vedic rituals recommenced… apāvṛtte candra-pathe ayanasthe divākare | prakṛtistheṣu lokeṣu nṛṣu cāritra-bandhuṣu ||1-46-41 The path of the moon cleared up, the sun placed in his path, all the elements restored to their natural order and men, fond of good conduct, functioned at ease… a-bhinna-bandhane mṛtyau hūyamāne hutāśane | yajṣa bhāgiṣu deveṣu svarga-arthaṁ darshayatsu ca ||1-46-42 Death so far constrained to cause timely deaths is now unconstrained and he is not causing untimely deaths – a-kāla mṛtyu-s, vedic-litany to firegod resumed, and the gods regularly receiving the shares of fire-oblations have reassumed a regular ushership to heaven for the oblators… loka-pāleṣu sarveṣu dikṣu saṁyānavartiṣu | bhāve tapasi śuddhānām abhāve duṣṭa-karmiṇām ||1-46-43 The presiding deities of tend directions, dik-pālakā-s, are guarding them fairly unhindered to wend their way in their jurisdictions; saintly people have revived their ascesis unhampered by the transgressors… deva-pakṣe pramudite daitya-pakṣe viṣīdati | tri-pāda-vigrahe dharme adharme pāda-vigrahe ||1-46-44 At that time gods bloc is jubilant while demons camp despaired; dharma is tripodal while a-dharma is a monopod… a-pāvṛte mahā-dvāre vartamāne ca sat-pathe | sva-dharmastheṣu varṇeṣu loke'smin āśrameṣu ca ||1-46-45 prajā-rakṣaṇa-yukteṣu bhrājamāneṣu rājasu | gīyamānāsu gāthāsu deva saṁstavana ādiṣu ||1-46-46 The empyreal gates – moksha kavāṭā-s, are wide open while people started to trek on the avenue of virtue; people in this world stood firm with their caste-bound duties, or hermitage bound missions… The ongoing trend of kings bracing the protection of people has picked up from where it has been left off… everywhere eulogies and legends in praise of gods became audible again… praśānta-kaluṣe loke śānte tapasi dārune | agni mārutayoḥ tasmin nyvṛtte saṁgrāma karmaṇi ||1-46-47 tanmayā vimalā lokāḥ tābhyāṁ jaya kṛta priyāḥ | Seeing the world with silenced vice and nullified ultra-ascesis with parlous outcome, then firegod and airgod have beaten a retreat from further warring, for which the people at large, rather mother earth, smiled her gratitude at fire and air gods since some of her burden is doffed with war, and sung praise-songs for them… pūrva-deva bhayaṁ śrutvā māruta-agni kṛtaṁ mahat || kālanemiḥ iti khyāto dānavaḥ pratyadṛśyata ||1-46-48 On hearing about the terror experienced by the opposers of gods - pūrva-devā-s - namely daityā-s, caused to the maximum by firegod and airgod, a demon renowned as kāla-nemi appeared on the battlefield… bhāskara ākāra mukuṭaḥ śiṣjita ābharaṇa aṅgadaḥ | mandara achala saṁkāśo mahārajata saṁvṛtaḥ ||1-46-49 Appearing mountainous like Mt. mandara, with an equally lofty crown in the shape of solar disc, adorned with jingling ornaments, mighty biceps bedecked with prestigious bicep-lets, whole body enswathed with high silver gear… śata-praharaṇa-udagraḥ śata-bāhuḥ śata-ānanaḥ | śata-śīrṣā sthitaḥ śrīmāṣ śata-śṛṅga iva achalaḥ ||1-46-50 With a hundred arms upraised to strike in hundred ways, that glorious hundred-faced demon stood like a hundred-peaked-mountain spanning his hundred heads… kakṣe mahati saṁvṛddho hima-anta iva pāvakaḥ ||1-46-51 dhūmra kesho harit cmashrur daṁṣṭrā-loṣṭa-puṭa ānanaḥ | trai-lokya antara vistāro dhārayan vipulaṁ vapuḥ ||1-46-52 Sporting a coppery hair akin to fire that burns summertime dry grass, and a greenish beard, faces with teeth jutting out of lips, his body seemed to be jutting into the interstices of all the three worlds… such is his lofty look… bāhubhiḥ tulayan vyoma kṣipan padbhyāṁ mahīdharān | Irayan mukha niḥśvāsaiḥ vṛṣṭimanto balāhakāḥ ||1-46-53 His arms appeared to be maintaining equiponderance of skies, his feet footballing mountains, and suspires shoving black-clouds to smithereens… tiryak-āyata-rakta-akṣaṁ mandara udagra varchasam | didhakṣantam iva āyāntaṁ sarvān devag aṇan mṛdhe ||1-46-54 Swerving his broad bloodshot eyes all over, standing upright with upsurged fervour like lofty Mt. mandara, he readied himself in battlefield to put whichever host of gods that comes first in eyeshot distance to torch… tarjayantaṁ sura-gaṇān cādayantaṁ disho daśa | saṁvarta-kāle kṣudhitaṁ dṛptaṁ mṛtyum iva utthitam ||1-46-55 Terrorising hosts of gods, pervading all ten directions, he looked to have risen as an overbearing and overwrought Death appearing at era-endings… su-talena ucchritavatā vipula aṅguli parvaṇā | mālya-ābharaṇa-pūrṇena kiṣchit chalita varmaṇā ||1-46-56 ucchritena agra hastena dakṣiṇena vapuṣmatā | dānavān deva-nihatān uttiṣṭhadhvam iti bruvan ||1-46-57 Raising his right hand showing his palm as a sign of assurance – abhaya hastam – stretching long fingers, full with garlands and ornaments on his body, with a little disordered armour, yet a wonder to have a look, addressed the demons routed by gods, “Get up, stand up, never give up the fight…” taṁ kālanemiṁ samare dviṣatāṁ kāla sannibham | vīkṣanti sma surāḥ sarve bhaya viklava mānasāḥ ||1-46-58 Seeing such a demon kāla-nemi on the battlefield, one who is like Death himself unto his enemies, the hearts of celestials wobbled with fear… taṁ sma vīkṣanti bhūtāni kramantaṁ kālaneminam | tri-vikramaṁ vikrmantaṁ nārāyaṇam iva aparam ||1-46-59 On seeing his long strides other beings mistook demon kāla-nemi for the god nārāyaṇa dawned afresh as another trivikrama… saḥ ucchrayan prathamaṁ pādaṁ māruta āghūrṇita ambaraḥ | prākrāmat asuro yuddhe trāsayan sarva devatāḥ ||1-46-60 When that asura kāla-nemi put his best foot forward on the battlefield as war-tramping, for which stamping the airgod could shove his loincloth a little aside, which terrorised all the gods since it indicated that he is primed up for a fresh war – yuddhonmukhata… sa mayena asura-indreṇa pariṣvaktaḥ kraman raṇe | kalanemiḥ babhau daityaḥ sa viṣṇuḥ iva mandaraḥ ||1-46-61 And when demon kāla-nemi strutted on battlefield clipping demon maya he shone forth like viṣṇu walking with Mt. mandara… atha vi-vyathire devāḥ sarve śakra-purogamāḥ | dṛṣṭvā kālam iva āyāntaṁ kālanemiṁ bhayāvaham ||1-46-62 Thereupon beholding the dreadful demon kāla-nemi approach like death himself all the gods headed by indra have undergone a macabre eeriness… --o)0(o-- iti śrīmanmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi kālanemi prakramaṇe ṣaḍcatvāriṁśo'dhyāyaḥ Thus, this is the forty-sixth chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating the defeat of demons and the entrance of demon kāla-nemi into god-demon war. --o)0(o--