Parva 1 Chapter 48: kālanemi vadhaḥ - eimination of kāla-nemi

He who is unendowed with five graces of nārāyaṇa that have underpinning from none other than nārāyaṇa, viz. adherence to vedic canons, righteousness, forbearance, truthfulness and prosperity, owing to his own cross-grained deeds, that demon kāla-nemi rushed to the fore of nārāyaṇa in vaikuṇṭha, with ferocity and irritation for not having atleast one of those five factors, namely the mercurial śrī, prosperity… sa dadarsha suparṇasthaṁ śaṅkha cakra gadā dharam | dānavānāṁ vināśāya bhrāmayantaṁ gadāṁ śubhām || 1-48-3 sa-jala-ambhodaḥ sadṛśaṁ vidyut sadṛśa-vāsasam | svārūḍhaṁ svarṇa-patra-āḍhyaṁ śikhinaṁ kāśyapaṁ khagam || 1-48-4 Arriving in vaikuṇṭha demon kāla-nemi has seen viṣṇu mounted on golden-winged eagle vehicle garuḍa; wielding conch, disc and brandished a mace for the annihilation of demons; looking like a cloud thick with water; sparkles of his ochery silks simulate sparks of electricity; beneath whom the skywalker and the eagle-son of sage kāśyapa, namely garuḍa, is pluming his head feathers, and letting his golden wings grow far and wide… dṛṣtvā daitya vināśāya raṇe svastham avasthitam | dānavo viṣṇum a-kṣobhyaṁ babhāṣe kṣubdha mānasaḥ || 1-48-5 Beholding the irrepressible viṣṇu stationed in his own place awaiting the destruction of demons in a given battle, demon kāla-nemi, soliloquised this with a flustered heart: ayaṁ sa ripuḥ asmākaṁ pūrveṣāṁ dānava-rṣiṇām | arṇava āvāsinaḥ caiva madhoḥ vai kaiṭabhasya ca ||1-48-6 ayaṁ sa vigrahaḥ asmākam a-śāmyaḥ kila kathyate | yena naḥ samyugeṣu ādyā bahavo dānavā hatāḥ ||1-48-7 ayaṁ sa nirghṛṇo yuddhe astrī bāla nir-apatrapaḥ | yena dānava nārīṇāṁ sīmanta uddharaṇaṁ kṛtam ||1-48-8 This one is our enemy, a perpetual enemy right from our forefathers, even an enemy of earliest known demons living underwater, namely madhu and kaiṭabha; This one is that challenger with whom, they say, a confrontation is unslakeable – a-śyāmya, such as he is he eliminated many of our demons inveigling them to warfield… This one is that merciless one in battles, diversely weaponed, shamelessly presumptuous like a boy, and who wiped off the vermilion powder from the parting of female demons’ combed hair– sīmanta sindūram… ayaṁ sa viṣṇuḥ devānāṁ vaikuṇṭhaḥ ca divaukasām | anantaḥ bhoginām apsu svayaṁ-bhūḥ ca svayam-bhuvaḥ ||1-48-9 This one is that viṣṇu among all the sons of lady aditi, who eventually became gods; this is the dweller of vaikuṇṭha as the other celestials like vasu-s, rudra-s, marut-s et al hypothesize him; This is the one that has eternal serpent which carries world on its hood, namely ananta, or ādi-śeṣa, as his bed; this one is waters and this is the one who is afloat on seawater – a self-created creator of creator brahma… ayaṁ sa nātho devānām asmākaṁ vi-priye sthitaḥ | asya krodhena mahatā hiraṇyakaśipuḥ hataḥ ||1-48-10 This one is that God Almighty of all gods and this one alone is the standing vitriol of ours; this one’s high fury caused the death of my father, demon haraṇya-kaśipu… asyaḥ cāyāṁ samāsādya devā makha-mukhe sthitāḥ | ājyaṁ maharṣibhiḥ dattam ashnuvanti tridhā hutam ||1-48-11 This one is that god under whose shadow other gods are thriving at the interface of Vedic ritual, namely the ritual fire, and they are subsisting on the oblations offered by great sages in usual trifurcated rituals like – nitya, naimittika, kāmya karma-s – just at his grace… ayam sa nidhane hetuḥ sarveṣāṁ deva-vidviṣām | yasya tejāḥ praviṣṭāni kulāni asmākam āhave ||1-48-12 This one is that god who is the root cause of destruction of all the god-hating demons; as soon as his disc called sudarshana enters our demons camp in any given war it becomes his elemental force in eradicating us… ayaṁ sa kila yuddheṣu sura-arthe tyakta jīvitaḥ | savituḥ tejasā tulyaṁ charkraṁ kṣipati śatruṣu ||1-48-13 This one is that god who risks his life, they say, to protect gods; this one is that lone god who launches that particular disc sudarshana that is akin to solar disc in conflagration… ayaṁ sa kālo daityānāṁ kāla-bhūte mayi sthite | ati-krāntasya kālasya phalaṁ prāpsyati durmatiḥ ||1-48-14 This one is that god of fatality unto demons, but now I am his fatality because I am standing up to his authority; if this invidious god oversteps his bounds he will reap the fruit of it… diṣṭya idānīṁ samakṣaṁ me viṣṇuḥ eṣa samāgataḥ | adya mat bāṇa niṣpiṣṭo mām eva praṇamiṣyati ||1-4-15 This one is that god viṣṇu who by mere chance is available in my fore… now, will he truckle to me by my valour… else, will he get battered with my arrows… which one he prefers… yāsyāmi apachitiṁ diṣṭyā pūrveṣām adya saṁyuge | imaṁ nārāyaṇaṁ hatvā dānavānāṁ bhayāvaham ||1-48-16 kṣipram eva vadhiṣyāmi raṇe nārāyaṇa āśritān | jāti-antara-gataḥ api eṣa mṛdhe bādhati dānavān ||1-48-17 Now, I will take pleasure in avenging the butchery of my ancestors by slaying this dread of demons called nārāyaṇa in a combat, whereby I can in a trice eradicate his followers in a battle… this god is always warring and torturing demons even if he has taken trans-demonical emergence where there is no premonish of cousinly rivalry, wherefore he should be neutralised… eṣaḥ ananthaḥ purā bhūtvā padma-nābha iti smṝtaḥ | jaghāna eka ārṇave ghore tau ubhau madhu-kaiṭabhau | vi-niveshya svake ūrau nihatau dānaveśvarau ||1-48-18 This one is that interminable god previously renowned as a god with lotus-navel who eliminated two glorious demons madhu and kaiṭabha that went underwater, when whole universe became one sheet of water, just by placing them within his knee-joints… dvidhā bhūtaṁ vapuḥ kṛtvā siṁha-ardhaṁ nara-saṁsthitam | pitaraṁ me jaghāna eko hiraṇyakaśipuṁ purā ||1-48-19 This one is that god who on assuming half-lion and half-man physique singly killed my father hiraṇya-kaśipu in the days of yore… śubhaṁ garbham adhatte imam aditiḥ devata-araṇiḥ | yajṣa kāle baleḥ yaḥ vai kṛtvā vāmana rūpatām | trīṇ lokān ājahāra ekaḥ kramamāṇaḥ tribhiḥ kramaiḥ ||1-48-20 This one is that god whom the auspicious lady aditi once conceived, as if she is a celestial wood-stick wishing to produce fire, and delivered as a dwarf-boy, who at a time when emperor bali is conducting a vedic ritual singly appropriated all the three worlds, taking just three strides… bhūyaḥ tu idānīṁ samare saṁprāpte tārakāmaye | mayā saha samāgamya saha devaiḥ vinaṅkṣyati ||1-48-21 This one is that god who chanced before me in starwars, and now in an encounter with me he vanisheth along with all gods…” so said kāla-nemi to himself, but audible to viṣṇu… vin-aṅkṣyati is not vināśam, but a disappearance; the demon thinks that viṣṇu will perish; but the author says that viṣṇu will disappear for the time being only to resurface continuing the long drawn animosity between gods and demons, so it is ‘vanisheth’ with two meanings. sa evam uktvā bahudhā kṣipan nārāyaṇaṁ raṇe | vāgbhiḥ a-prati-rūpābhiḥ yuddham eva abhyarochayat ||1-48-22 kṣipyamāṇaḥ asurendreṇa na cukopa gadādharaḥ | kṣamā-balena mahatā sa-smitaṁ vākyam abravīt ||1-48-23 Thus kāla-nemi dashed so many verbal-arrows at nārāyaṇa that are incomparably insolent and that are expressive of his warmongering, the mace-wielding god nārāyaṇa remained even-tempered with his sublime forbearance – kṣamā guṇa – and spoke to that demon in this way: alpa-darpa-balo daitya sthitaḥ krodhāt asat vadan | hataḥ tvam ātmano doṣaiḥ kṣamāṁ yaḥ atītya bhāṣase ||1-48-24 adhamaḥ tvaṁ mama mataḥ dhik etat tava vāk-balam | na tatra puruṣāḥ santi yatra garjanti yoṣitah ||1-48-25 ahaṁ tvāṁ daitya paśyāmi pūrveṣāṁ mārga-gāminam | prajāpati kṛtaṁ setum kaḥ bhittvā svastimān bhavet ||1-48-26 adya tvāṁ nāśayiṣyāmi deva-vyāpāra-kārakam | sveṣu sveṣu ca sthāneṣu sthāpayiṣyāmi devatāḥ ||1-48-27 “Limited is thy prideful strength, oh, daitya kāla-nemi, yet thou furiously speakest a specious rant… slain thou art, for thou goest over the threshold of tolerance with flaws in thy heart… thou art a wretch, methinks, thus fie on thy vaunting words… thine roaring is behovely amongst females than males… I behold thee, oh daitya, too willing to tread the path of thy predecessors… who liveth peacefully on rending a tideline that prajāpati has ordained… I shall now eliminate thee that thwarted the activity of gods, restoring celestials to their respective positions…” so said viṣṇu to kāla-nemi… vaiśaṁpāyana uvāca : vaiśampāyana continued narration evaṁ bruvati tat vākyaṁ mṛdhe śrīvatsa-dhāriṇi | jahāsa dānavaḥ krodhāt hastān cakre ca sāyudhān ||1-48-28 sa bāhu-śatam udyamya sarva astra-grahaṇaṁ raṇe | krodhāt dvi-guṇa-rakta-akṣo viṣṇuṁ vakṣasya tāḍayat ||1-48-29 When nārāyaṇa had said this to demon kāla-nemi in battle, that demon furiously laughed off, filled his hands with various weapons, raised those hundred hands that are gripping various weapons, and with his eyes doubly bloodshot, he smote śrīhari on chest at a place where that god is sporting a mark called śrīvatsa… dānavāḥ cāpi samare maya tāra purogamāḥ | udyata’yudha nistriṁśā dṛṣṭvā viṣṇum atha adravan ||1-48-30 sa tāḍyamāno ati-balaiḥ daityaiḥ sarva āyudha udyataiḥ | na cacāla hariḥ yuddhe kampyamāna iva achalaḥ ||1-48-31 On seeing lonely viṣṇu unaided by other gods, other dānavā-s headed by maya end tāraka rushed towards him with upraised weapons… although the highly powerful daityā-s assailed him armed with various weapons god śrīhari remained unshaken in the battle like a mountain when midgets rattle it… samsaktaḥ ca suparṇena kālanemī mahāsuraḥ | sarva-prāṇena mahatīṁ gadām udyamya bāhubhiḥ ||1-48-32 mumocha jvalitāṁ ghorāṁ saṁrabdho garuḍa upari | karmaṇā tena daityasya viṣṇuḥ vismayam āgataḥ ||1-4-33 When kāla-nemi grappled with the golden-winged garuḍa to futility, he resorted to a mammoth mace, consolidating all his life-force he twirled it overhead and released that dreadful and blazing mace on that eagle, while viṣṇu watched all this astonishing at the impudence of that demon… yadā tasya suparṇasya patitā mūrdhni sā gadā | tat āgamat padā bhūmiṁ pakṣī vyathita vigrahaḥ ||1-48-34 suprṇaṁ vyathitaṁ dṛṣṭvā kṣataṁ ca vapuḥ ātmanaḥ | krodhāt saṁrakta nayano vaikuṇṭhaḥ cakram Adade ||1-48-35 When that club fell on the head of that king of birds, suparṇa, that eagle crash-landed and hopped on earth with a wounded body. Beholding wounded suparṇa, viṣṇu felt that his own body is scathed, then that dweller of vaikuṇṭha took up his discus with eyes reddened in anger… vyavardhata ca vegena suparṇena samaṁ prabhuḥ | bhujāḥ ca asya vyavardhanta vyāpnuvanto disho daśa ||1-48-36 sa diśaḥ pradiśaḥ caiva khaṁ ca gāṁ caiva pūrayan | vavṛdhe sa punar lokān krāntu kāma iva ojasā ||1-48-37 Then that lord viṣṇu grew highly impetuous along with suparṇa who by now is redeemed and carrying viṣṇu. viṣṇu’s arms multiplied covering and filling up all the ten quarters, the ethereal region and the earth, as his physique increased, and he seemed to tread all the worlds again as he has done in dwarf-boy incarnation… taṁ jayāya surendrāṇāṁ vardhamānaṁ nabhaḥ tale | ṛṣayaḥ saha gandharvaiḥ tuṣṭuvuḥ madhusūdanam ||1-48-38 The sages along with the gandharvā-s began to chant the glories of madhusudana who had then assumed a huge proportion in the sky for the victory of the gods… sa dyāṁ kirīṭena likhan sa abhram ambaram ambaraiḥ | padbhyām ākramya vasudhāṁ diśaḥ prachcādya bāhubhiḥ ||1-48-39 His crown scribing on the sky like a scribe-awl, his cloths scraping clouded sky, his feet covering the earth, his arms shrouding the sky śrīhari stood there ringing his sudarshana disc on the forefinger of right hand… sūryasya raśmi-tulya-ābhaṁ sahasrāram ari- kṣayam | dīpta agni sadṛśaṁ ghoraṁ darśanīyaṁ sudarshanam ||1-48-40 Whirling that disc which in effulgence is like sun, with thousand-sprockets, an enemy-neutraliser, deadly like inferno, yet magnificent for a look… From here to verse 45 it is ekanvayam – verses in one go. suvarṇa nemi paryantaṁ vajra-nābhaṁ bhayāvaham | medo majja asthi rudhiraiḥ digdhaṁ dānava saṁbhavaiḥ ||1-48-41 Entirely golden from hub to periphery, diamonded at hub, calamitous, daubed with fat, marrow, calcific materials of bones and blood of demons when they are periodically sliced… advitīyaṁ prahāreśu kṣura-paryanta-maṇḍalam | srak-dāma-māla-vitataṁ kāma-gam kāma-rūpiṇam ||1-48-42 Second to none in impaction, razor-sharp from edge to hub, propulsive circularly like a garland of fire when one firebrand, flaming-ball is swung circularly –triggerer-target-back to triggerer propulsion – will be like a garland without the evidence of string, and which propels at the wish of its triggerer… Firebrand – alāta cakram - lost its original value of brandished fire, or swinging fire ball, or flaming brand etc, on assuming a low quality meaning - a cause of trouble. svayaṁ svayaṁbhuvā sṛṣṭaṁ bhaya-daṁ sarva-vidviṣām | maharṣi-roṣaiḥ āviṣṭaṁ nityam Ahava darpitam ||1-48-43 That disc is a personal creation of brahma, a terror to the enemies, infallible since swaddled in the wrath of sages, always haughty on the battlefield… kṣepaṇāt yasya muhyanti lokāḥ sa sthāṇu-jaṅgamāḥ | kravyādāni ca bhūtāni tṛptiṁ yānti mahā Ahave ||1-48-44 By activating which in a given war all the worlds with sessile and mobile beings will become insensate, whereby carnivores can satisfyingly make a feast-day… tam apratima-karmāṇaṁ samānaṁ sūrya-varchasā | cakram udyamya samare krodha dīpto gadādharaḥ ||1-48-45 Such a disc of incomparable operations, equalling the blaze of sun has been upraised by śrīhari, spinning on his right forefinger, in all his fury in that combat… saṁmuṣṇan dānavaṁ tejaḥ samare svena tejasā | ciccheda bāhuṁ cakreṇa śrīdharaḥ kālaneminaḥ ||1-48-46 Then wiping out the gumption of the demon kāla-nemi with his own śrīdhara, aka viṣṇu with his disc severed the hundred arms of kāla-nemi… tat ca vaktra-śataṁ ghoraṁ sa agni-cūrṇa aṭṭahāsinam | tasya daityasya cakreṇa pramamātha balāt hariḥ ||1-48-47 Further, śrīhari with that disc sudarshana rived the hundred macabre heads of that demon kāla-nemi that have stentorian laughs like the blaring trebuchets, or catapults that launch glaring fireballs – golaka utkśepaṇa yantrā-s; teṣām mahā śabdaḥ… sa ccinna bāhuḥ vi-śirā na prākampata dānavaḥ | kabandho avasthitaḥ saṁkhye vi-śākha iva pādapaḥ ||1-48-48 Although his arms are chopped off and his heads are cut off, that dānava kāla-nemi did not flinch the least but still stood in the battle like the trunk of a tree shorn of all its branches… taṁ vitatya mahā-pakṣau vāyoḥ kṛtvā samaṁ javam | urasā pātayāmāsa garuḍaḥ kālaneminam || 1-48-49 sa tasya deho vi-mukho vi-śākhaḥ khāt paribhraman | nipapāta divaṁ tyaktvā shobhayan dharaṇī-talam ||1-48-50 Spreading both of his sweeping wings, assuming the speed of a tempest, garuḍa with a single bump of his chest knocked kāla-nemi down… felling that faceless, armless truck of that demon so far vaulting on the sky onto earth in one fell swoop… tasmin nipatite daitye devāḥ sa rṣigaṇāḥ tadā | sādhu sādhu iti vaikuṇṭhaṁ sametāḥ pratyapūjayan ||1-48-51 When that daitya kāla-nemi is thus eliminated all the gods with sages began to praise nārāyaṇa saying “Good Lord! Good heavens!” apare ye tu daityā vai yuddhe duṣṭa-parākramāḥ | te sarve bāhubhiḥ vyāptā na śekuḥ chalituṁ raṇe ||1-48-52 Other atrocious demons available on battlefield are blockaded with the far-reaching arms of śrīhari and held at bay… kāṁśchit keśeṣu jagrāha kāṁśchit kaṇṭhe abhyapīḍayat | pāṭayat kasyachit vaktraṁ madhye kāṁśchit atha agrahīt ||1-48-53 te gadā cakra nirdagdhā gata-sattvā gata-āsavaḥ | gaganāt bhraṣṭa sarva aṅgā nipetur dharaṇītale ||1-48-54 Catching some of the residual daityā-s by their hair nārāyaṇa eliminated some by throttling their throats, some by decapitating and some by dissevering their midriffs… when hit with club and discus of śrīhari some demons are completely destroyed, some deprived of their energy and liveliness, limbs of some mutilated… and they all fell from sky onto the earth in such a condition… teṣu sarveṣu daityeṣu hateṣu puruṣottamaḥ | tasthau śakra-priyaṁ kṛtvā kṛta-karmā gadādharaḥ ||1-48-55 tasmin vimarde nirvṛtte saṁgrāme tārakāmaye | taṁ desham ājagām āśu brahmā lokapitāmahaḥ ||1-48-56 sarvair brahmarṣibhiḥ sārdhaṁ gandharvaiḥ sāpsara gaṇaiḥ | devadevo hariṁ devaṁ pūjayan vākyam abravīt ||1-48-57 When all the demons are wiped out, nārāyaṇa stood there concluding that his mission and a deed to indra’s liking is accomplished… when that dreadful war with demon tāraka is subdued and completed brahma came there post haste along with sages, gandharvā-s and scores of apsara-s ad said this to viṣṇu worshipfully… brahma uvāca; brahma said: kṛtaṁ deva mahat-karma surāṇāṁ shalyam uddhṛtam | vadhena anena daityānāṁ vayaṁ hi paritoṣitāḥ ||1-48-58 “Oh, god, you have achieved a great mission of gods and a thorn in gods’ side is removed… indeed, we all are heartily pleased with the destruction of all the demons… yaḥ ayaṁ hataḥ tvayā viṣṇo kālanemī mahāsuraḥ | tvam ekaḥ asya mṛdhe hantā na anyaḥ kashchana vidyate ||1-48-59 You are the only destroyer of this kāla-nemi whom you have just slain in battle… save thee; there is none else capable of it… eṣa devān paribhavan lokāḥ ca sa chara acarān | ṛṣīṇāṁ kadanaṁ kṛtvā mām api prati-garjati ||1-48-60 Offering an affront to all gods, all worlds together with their mobile and sessile creatures this dānava not only set sages at naught but used to rage and rail against me… tat anena tava ugreṇa parituṣṭo asmi karmaṇā | yat dayaṁ kāla-tulya-ābhaḥ kālanemī nipātitaḥ ||1-48-61 Such a demon kāla-nemi whose sheen matches the gloss of deathly Time has been eliminated by you, for which I am highly pleased… tat āgacchasva bhadraṁ te gachcāma divam uttamam | brahma-rṣayaḥ tvāṁ tatra sthāḥ pratīkṣante sadogatāḥ ||1-48-62 Mayst thou fare well; may I invite you to the most excellent celestial region of mine, brama-loka, where the brahma-sages, the members of my aseembly, are waiting for thee… ahaṁ maharṣayaḥ caiva tatra tvāṁ vadatāṁ vara | vidhivat ca archayiṣyāmaḥ gīrbhir divyābhir achyuta ||1-48-63 There, oh, achyuta, oh, foremost of speakers, I along with other sages shall worship you with heavenly hymns… kiṁ ca ahaṁ tava dāsyāmi varaṁ vara-bhṛtāṁ vara | sureṣu api sa-daityeṣu varāṇāṁ varado bhavān ||1-48-64 “Poor me, oh god, how canst I fulfil thy will, for thou thyself art the foremost conferrer of favours, either on gods or on demons? niryāta etat trai-lokyaṁ sphītaṁ nihata kaṇṭakam | asminn eva mṛdhe viṣṇo śakrāya sumahātmane ||1-48-65 May I ask you now to return the prosperous triad of worlds to high-souled indra since the thorns called demons are prised out in this war…?” so said brahma to viṣṇu. evam ukto bhagavatā brahmaṇā hariḥ avyayaḥ | devān śakra mukhān sarvān uvāca śubhayā girā ||1-48-66 Thus addressed by god brahma, śrīhari said to gods through their mouthpiece, namely indra, in these auspicious words… viṣṇuḥ uvāca : viṣṇu said: śrūyatāṁ tridaśāḥ sarve yāvanto atra samāgatāḥ | śravaṇa-avahitaiḥ-dehaiḥ puraskritya purandaram ||1-48-67 asmin naḥ samare sarve kālanemi-mukhā hatāḥ | dānavā vikrama upetāḥ śakrāt api mahattarāḥ ||1-48-68 “Listen attentively, all of you gods assembled here headed by indra, we have slain all valorous dānavā-s that are superior even to the king of gods himself, and that are operating under the steersmanship of demon kāla-nemi in this battle… tasmin mahati saṁkrande dvau eva tu vinissṛtau | vairochanaḥ ca daitya-indraḥ svarbhānuḥ ca mahāgrahaḥ ||1-48-69 But, somehow two demons made their getaway in this terrible encounter, one is the son of virochana, namely emperor-demon bali, and the other is the capacious planetomorphic rāhu, the eclipser… hence, you gods have to remain vigilant about them… tat iṣṭāṁ bhajatāṁ shakro diśaṁ varuna eva ca | yāmyāṁ yamaḥ pālayatām uttarāṁ ca dhanādhipaḥ ||1-48-70 Let now indra, the king of gods and raingod varuṇa repair to their wished-for regions; let yama, the timegod occupy the south, while kubera, the king of wealth-management protect the north… ṛkṣaiḥ saha yathā yogaṁ kāle charatu candramāḥ | abdaṁ catur-mukhaṁ sūryo bhajatām ayanaiḥ saha ||1-48-71 As before let moon seasonally unite with stars, let the sun united with equinoctial points cause years with four faces, where each face is a season… ājya-bhāgāḥ pravartantāṁ sadasyaiḥ abhipūjitāḥ | hūyantām agnayo vipraiḥ veda-dṛṣṭena karmaṇā ||1-48-72 dānaiḥ ca bali homena svādhyāyena maharṣayaḥ | śrāddhena pitaraḥ caiva tṛptiṁ yāntu yathā purā ||1-48-73 Let apportionment of offertories recommence while brāhmaṇa-s rekindle the ritual fire according to the canons of scriptures, and while sages hallow it… that done, let the gods attain gratification from doles, sacrificial oblations and offertories; sages from the self-study of Vedas; manes from beatification, as is their wont… vāyuḥ charatu mārgasthaḥ tridhā dīpyatu pāvakaḥ | trayo varṇāḥ ca lokān trīn vardhayantu ātmajaiḥ guṇaiḥ ||1-48-74 Let the wind blow in its own course, let domestic-ritual-fire be enkindled in its three-fold forms, and let the three social orders, by their natural qualities, bring about the gratification to the world… kratavaḥ saṁpravartantāṁ dīkṣaṇīyaiḥ dvijātibhiḥ | dakṣiṇāḥ ca upavartantāṁ yathā arhaṁ sarva-satriṇām ||1-48-75 Let sacrifices be undertaken by the brāhmaṇa-s who are worthy of performing initiatory rites and let proper gifts be distributed as befitting in all sacrifices… gāḥ ca sūryo rasān somo vāyuḥ prāṇān ca prāṇiṣu | tarpayantaḥ pravartantāṁ śivaiḥ saumyaiḥ ca karmabhiḥ ||1-48-76 Let the sun afford gratification to all the eyes, let moon afford delight to all the essential fluids, let air delight the vital breaths to all beings, because sun, moon, and air are - netra, rasa, prāṇa swarūpā-s – epitomes of sight, pith and lifeforce; as such, let these three sun, moon, and air be slacked in first instance with auspicious and humble oblations whereby individual beings get slacked in give-and-take syndrome… yathāvat anupūrvyeṇa mahendra salila udbhavāḥ | trai-lokya-mātaraḥ sarvāḥ sāgaraṁ yāntu nimna-gāḥ ||1-48-77 Let all the declivitous rivers, the good mothers of the triadic world, spouting from great mountains glide to sea as usual and non-stop… daityebhyaḥ tyajyatāṁ bhīḥ ca śāntiṁ vrajata devatāḥ | svasti vaḥ astu gamiṣyāmi brahma-lokaṁ sanātanam ||1-48-78 Let gods cast off all fear of dānavā-s and let them enjoy peace. May you fare well… ye gods, I repair to the eternal abode of brahma… svagṝhe sarva-loke vā saṁgrāme vā viśeṣataḥ | viśrambhaḥ vaḥ na mantavyaḥ nityaṁ kṣudrā hi dānavāḥ ||1-48-79 Either in your own houses, or in heaven, or on battlefields especially you gods should not think that you are invulnerable, for demons are knavish… chidreṣu praharanti ete na ca eṣāṁ saṁsthitiḥ dhruvā | saumyānām ṛjubhāvānāṁ bhavatāṁ ca Arjave matiḥ ||1-48-80 They strike people as soon as they find a weak point; impermanent and slippery is their modus vivendi or operandi… hence, you should be vigilant for you gods are all gentle, simple and idyllic-minded… ahaṁ tu duṣṭa-bhāvānāṁ yuṣmāsu su-dur-ātmanām | asaṁyak vartamānānāṁ mohaṁ dāsyāmi devatāḥ ||1-48-81 O gods, I will always traumatize that evil-minded entity that nurtures an ill-will towards you… yadā ca su-durādharṣaṁ dānavebhyo bhayaṁ bhavet | tadā samupagaṁi āśu vidhāsye vaḥ tataḥ abhayam ||1-48-82 Whenever you experience a dreadful fear from the dānavā-s, I will immediately come to your rescue… I promise…” so said viṣṇu to all gods. vaiśaṁpāyana uvāca : vaiśampāyana continued: evam uktvā sura-gaṇān viṣṇuḥ satya-parākramaḥ | jagāma brahmanā sārdhaṁ brahma-lokaṁ mahāyaśāḥ ||1-48-83 On addressing the gods that magnificent nārāyaṇa, whose prowess is truth, went to the abode of brahma along with brahma… etat āścaryam abhavat saṁgrāme tārakāmaye | dānavānāṁ ca viṣṇoḥ ca yat māṁ tvaṁ paripṛcchasi ||1-48-84 O, janamejaya this is the marvellous event about which you asked me to detail, occurred during the battling of demons spearheaded by tāraka when they confronted viṣṇu… --o)0(o-- iti śrīmanmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi kālanemivadhe aṣṭacatvāriṁśo'dhyāyaḥ Thus, this is the forty-eight chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating the elimination of demon kāla-nemi in starwars --o)0(o--