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atha chatuḥpaṣcāśattamo'dhyāyaḥ 54
vaiśaṁpāyana uvāca : vaiśampāyana continued
kṛta-kārye gate kāle jagatī iāṁ ca yathānayam |
aṁśa avataraṇe vṛtte surāṇāṁ bhārate kule|| 1-54-1
bhāge avatīrṇe dharmasya śakrasya pavanasya ca |
aśvinoḥ deva-bhiṣajoḥ bhāge vai bhāskarasya ca || 1-54-2
pūrvam eva avani gate bhāge deva-purodhasaḥ |
vasūnām aṣṭame bhāge prāk eva dharaṇīṁ gate || 1-54-3
mṛtyoḥ bhāge kṣiti gate kaleḥ bhāge tathaiva ca |
bhāge śukrasya somasya varuṇasya ca gāṁ gate|| 1-54-4
śaṁkarasya gate bhāge mitrasya dhana-dasya ca |
gandharva uraga yakṣāṇāṁ bhāga aṁśeṣu gateṣu ca || 1-54-5
bhāgeṣu eteṣu gaganāt avatīrṇeṣu medinīm |
tiṣṭhan nārāyaṇasya aṁśe nāradaḥ sam-adṛśyata|| 1-54-6
When mother earth departed taking assurance from brahma, the gods emulously incarnated on earth in and around the dynasty of bharatā-s… among whom some of the gods and their replicas on earth are like this: dharma – yudhiṣṭhira; indra- arjuna; vāyu- bhīmasena; celestial physicians ashvini-twins - nakula, sahadeva; sūrya – karṇa; deva-purodhasa- gods’ priest - bṛhaspati; vasūnām aṣṭame - eight one among eight vasu-gods - bhīṣma; mṛtyu-deva – vidura; kali- duryodhana; śukra – bhūriśrava; soma – abhimanyu; varuṇa- parṇāśa’s son śrutāyutha; śaṁkara – aśvatthāma; mitra – kaṇika; dhana-da – kubera, rather a prot*g* of kubera – dhṛtarāṣtra; from gandharvā-s – devaka, ugrasena, duśśāsana et al…
Such as they are, those gods have descended on earth from sky, retaining a tinge of their respective godhood… the Divine sage nārada while going on the sky observed them and felt the lack of viṣṇu’s participation among them on earth…
jvalita agni pratīkāśo bāla arka sadṛśa īkṣaṇaḥ |
savya apavṛttaṁ vipulaṁ jaṭā maṇḍalam udvahan || 1-54-7
candra aṁśu shukle vasane vasāno rukma bhūṣitaḥ |
vīṇāṁ gṛhītvā mahatīṁ kakṣāsaktāṁ sakhīm iva || 1-54-8
kṛṣṇa ajina uttara asaṅgo hema yajṣa upavītavān |
daṇḍī kamaṇḍalu dharaḥ sākṣāt śakra iva aparaḥ || 1-54-9
While checking up those gods and their incarnations from sky, nārada looked like an effulgent sacred-fire, eyes resembled the rising sun, bearing a huge and all-spreading matted hair combed to right side… with a raiment white as the rays of the moon, body adorned with golden ornaments, carrying his string instrument vīṇa called mahatī hanging onto his flank like a dear friend… sporting black deer skin as upper cloth and golden sacred thread, handling a baton of monks, and a handheld water-pot… with this get up he looked most like another indra peering at earth for a check up…
bhettā jagati guhyānāṁ vigrahāṇāṁ graha upamaḥ |
gātā caturṇāṁ vedānām udgātā prathama ṛtvijām |
maharṣi vigraha rucir vidvān gāndharva kovidaḥ || 1-54-10
vairi-keli-kilo vipro brāhmaḥ kaliḥ iva aparaḥ |
deva gandharva lokānām ādi-vaktā mahāmuniḥ || 1-54-11
He who is a scare to worlds for his stealthy operations; because he sows dissentions he is comparable to a bad planet for its negative influence causing conflicts, where actions of both this sage and that planet will result in happy endings – example, bad period of ṣaturn will bring some good at the end; the chanter of the four Vedas; first udgāta and first Ritwik in the vedic rituals of gods; a saint interested in creating disputes for the good of society; a scholar and a music maestro; a brāhamaṇa who amuses when opposing factions come into conflict – vairi- enemies; kelyā- by warring; kilaḥ- as in kila kila ravam, or svanam the onomatopoeic sound for happiness– he amuses – as if he is another kali-puruṣa of kali era, which he is not in actuality; a principal orator in the worlds of gods and gandharvā-s, above all a great saint…
saḥ nārado'tha brahmarṣir brahma loka charo'vyayaḥ |
sthito deva sabhā madhye saṁrabdho viṣṇum abravīt || 1-54-12
Such as he is that immortal sage nārada went to the abode of brahma where viṣṇu is still there, and said this in a perturbed manner to viṣṇu in the midst of the assembled gods…
aṁśa avataraṇaṁ viṣṇor yat idaṁ tridaśaiḥ kṛtam |
kṣaya arthaṁ pṛthivi-indrāṇāṁ sarvam etat a-kāraṇam || 1-54 13
“O viṣṇu, all this incarnations undertaken by the celestials for the destruction of the kings seems to be inefficacious…
yat etat pārthivaṁ kṣatraṁ sthitaṁ tvayi yat īśvara |
nṛ-nārāyaṇa yukto ayaṁ kārya arthaḥ pratibhāti me || 1-54-14
“Because you are the supreme lord the kshatriya-hood of kings of earth abides in you alone… unless nara and nārāyaṇa commingle and bestir themselves, the purpose of this task remains unfinished… this is how I envisage…
na yuktaṁ jānatā deva tvayā tatva-artha-darśinā |
deva-deva pṛthivi arthe prayoktuṁ kāryami idṛśam || 1-54-15
O god of gods, knowing fully well about the pros and cons of the task on hand, sending gods alone to earth, while you stay behind , is unbefitting on your part…
tvaṁ hi cakṣuṣmatāṁ cakṣuḥ ślāghyaḥ prabhavatāṁ prabhuḥ |
śreṣṭho yogavatāṁ yogī gatir gatimatām api || 1-54-16
You are the vision of the ingenious; most praiseworthy; lord of efficacious; supreme god; the foremost of the yogis, and the refuge of all…
deva bhāgāṅ gatān dṛṣṭvā kiṁ tvaṁ sarva-āśrayo vibhuḥ |
vasuṁdharāyāḥ sāhya artham aṁśaṁ svaṁ na anuyuṣjase || 1-54-17
Though you are in the know of the incarnations of other gods on earth, why not make your own incarnation in league with them for the sake of succouring earth…
tvayā sa-nātha devāṁśā tvat mayā tvat parāyaṇāḥ |
jagatyāṁ saṁchariṣyanti kāryāt kārya antaraṁ gatāḥ || 1-54-18
tat ahaṁ tvarayā viṣṇo prāptaḥ sura sabhām imām |
tava saṁchodanārthaṁ vai śṛṇu ca api atra kāraṇam || 1-54-19
With you as their lord these god-incarnates will be spanning on earth accomplishing mission after mission there… being a devotee of yours, I have therefore hastened to the presence of these assembled gods, just to implore upon you to proceed there… O viṣṇu; hear the reason thereof…
ye tvayā nihatā daityāḥ saṁgrāme tārakāmaye |
teṣāṁ śṛṇu gatiṁ viṣṇo ye gatāḥ pṛthivī-talam || 1-54-20
Oh, viṣṇu, hear about some those daityā-s who amongst many that had been slain by thee in the war, for which war tāraka-asura was the responsible, and about those demons that have gone to the surface of earth as a result of that war…
purī pṛthivyāṁ muditā mathurā nāmataḥ śrutā |
niviṣṭā yamunā tīre sphītā janapada āyutā || 1-54-21
madhuḥ nāma mahān āsīt dānavo yudhi durjayaḥ |
trāsanaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ balena mahatānvitaḥ || 1-54-22
tasya tatra mahat ca āsīt mahā-pādapa-saṁkulam |
ghoraṁ madhu-vanaṁ nāma yatra asau nyavasat purā || 1-54-23
There is a delightful city on earth renowned by its name mathura, situated on the bank of River yamuna which is hemmed in with many prosperous provinces, but which is controlled by a dānava named madhu, who is irrepressible in battles, highly powerful and a terror to all creatures… he has a vast and dreadful forest thick with trees named after himself as madhu-vana, where this dānava used to live formerly…
tasya putro mahān āsīt lavaṇo nāma dānavaḥ |
trāsanaḥ sarva bhūtānāṁ mahā bala parākramaḥ || 1-54-24
sa tatra dānavaḥ krīḍan varṣa pūgān anekaśaḥ |
sa daivata-gaṇan lokān udvāsayati darpitaḥ || 1-54-25
A dānava named lavaṇa is the so of dānava madhu, who with his might and valour used to terrorise all creatures… sporting there for many years, that dānava lavaṇa, elated with pride used todisplace hosts of gods and others…
ayodhyāyām ayodhyāyāṁ rāme dāśarathau sthite |
rājyaṁ śāsati dharmajṣe rākṣasānāṁ bhayāvahe || 1-54-26
sadānavo bala-ślāghī ghoraṁ vanam upāśritaḥ |
preṣayāmāsa rāmāya dūtaṁ paruṣa-vādinam || 1-54-27
When rāma the son of daśaratha, a righteous one and a terror to all demons, is ruling the unassailable ayodhya, this dreadful demon renowned for his might, namely lavaṇa-asura, himself living in that forest madhu-vana, despatched a harsh-speeched messenger to rāma in ayodhya, who spoke like and ambassador-at-worst to rāma in this way:
viṣaya āsanna-bhūto asmi tava rāma ripuḥ ca ha |
na ca sāmantam icchanti rājāno bala-darpitam || 1-54-28
rājṣā rājya-vratasthena prajānāṁ hita-kāmyayā |
jetavyā ripavaḥ sarve sphītaṁ viṣayam-icchatā || 1-54-29
abhiṣeka-ārdra-keśena rājṣā raṣjana-kāmyayā |
jetavyān īndriyāṇi ādau tat jaye hi dhruvo jayaḥ || 1-54-30
samyak vartitu-kāmyasya viśeṣeṇa mahīpateḥ |
na yānām upadeshena na asti loka samo guruḥ|| 1-54-31
vyasaneṣu jaghanyasya dharma-madhyasya dhīmataḥ |
phala-jyeṣṭhasya nṛpateḥ nāsti sāmanta-jaṁ bhayam || 1-54-32
"Are you ignorant of the fact, oh rāma, that kings prideful of their own might, like myself, do not wish to become vassals of some others… if not, how is it that you have not launched any offensive on me, lavaṇa-asura, an enemy of yours living in the flanks of your province…
Are you ignorant of the fact that if a king is an observer of true kingcraft, and wishes to multiply his territories and riches, should always defeat his enemies… after all, a true kingship is for true well-being of subjects, isn’t it… but, you don’t possess either…
Are you ignorant of the fact that it is not just enough for a king to wet the head hair with the water of anointment, but he should conquer five senses temporising under that head hair, conquering which one become a real conqueror…
Are you ignorant of the fact that a self-taught person, especially a king like me, does not need another preceptor, where the world and worldly experiences themselves work as a teacher for him…
Are you ignorant of the fact that if a king who turns his back to vices, keeps dharma in bull's-eye, more so an intelligent one, and the one that reaps a best fruit… he will not have any scare from liege-kings… if not, you appear to be contrariwise, because you are unbothered of me…
sahajaiḥ bādhyate sarvaḥ pravṛddhaiḥ indriyāribhiḥ |
a-mitrāṇāṁ priya-karaiḥ mohaiḥ a-dhṛtiḥ īśvaraḥ || 1-54-33
Infirm kings are distressed by all sorts of naturals – senses, where these so-called senses by throwing you in to illusion, render help to your unfriendly…
yat tvayā strī kṛte mohāt sagaṇo rāvaṇo hataḥ |
na etat aupayikaṁ manye mahat vai karma kutsitam || 1-54-34
You have eliminated rāvaṇa alongwith his forces just on account of your delusory attachment to a female, say your so-called wife… I deem this action of yours is most unbefitting and despicable, because your senses have thrown you also into such a delusion…
vana-vāsa pravṛttena yat tvayā vrata-śālinā |
prahṛtaṁ rākṣasa ānīke na eva dṛṣṭaḥ satāṁ vidhiḥ || 1-54-35
You have started out to stay in forests like an ascetic, yet killed armies and armies of demons, that too, in a place where bloodshed is contraindicated to eremitical practises… such a misdemeanant like you is unbeknownst among righteous lot…
satām a-krodha-jo dharmaḥ śubhāṁ nayati sadgatim |
yat tvayā nihatā mohāt dūṣitāḥ ca āśrama aukasaḥ || 1-54-36
Virtue, begotten of forbearance, takes the pious to an auspicious and righteous station… but your action in eliminating so many by abusing the sacredness of forest dwellers, either hermits or animals who thrive on their own, will take you otherwhere…
sa eṣa rāvaṇo dhanyo yaḥ tvayā vrata-cāriṇā |
strī nimitte hato yuddhe grāmyān dharmān avekṣatā || 1-54-37
One ignoble fellow flouting vow of hermits felled another ignominious fellow avowed to abduct other’s wives… actions of both the boorish fellows are commensurable, one killed for a woman, and the other died for a woman… thus rāvaṇa is blessed…
yadi te nihataḥ saṁkhye durbuddhir a-jitendriyaḥ |
yuddhyasva adya mayā sārdhaṁ mṛdhe yadi asi vīryavān || 1-54-38
If you count on your paltry victory on rāvaṇa, I must say that he fell owing to his dirty-mind and uncontrolled sense pleasure, resulting in an inglorious victory to you… be that as it may, if you have guts, now you fight with me to learn how defeat tastes…” This is how the messenger of demon madhu delivered message to rāma.
tasya dūtasya tat śrutvā bhāṣitaṁ tattva-vādinaḥ |
dhairyāt a-saṁbhrānta vapuḥ sa-smitaṁ rāghavo'bravīt|| 1-54-39
On hearing those words of that messenger, rāma, smilingly said this to him with a self-contained posture…
asat etat tvayā dūta bhāṣitaṁ tasya gauravāt |
yat māṁ kṣipasi doṣeṇa veda-ātmānaṁ ca su-sthiram || 1-54-40
What all you have said, it is untrue, oh, messenger, with respect to the mission I undertook at that time… and you are doltishly casting aspersions against someone who is steadfast in vedic way of life…
yadi ahaṁ tat pathe mūḍho yadi vā rāvaṇo hataḥ |
yadi vā me hṛtā bhāryā kā tatra pari-devanā || 1-54-41
What for you are raising a rumpus if I am off the track stupidly, if rāvana is slain, if my wife is abducted, tangentially…
na vāṅ-mātreṇa duṣyanti sādhavaḥ sat-pathe sthitāḥ |
jāgarti ca yathā devaḥ sadā satsu itareṣu ca || 1-54-42
High-minded people do not conduct verbal warfare with the high-minded, like the God who always equilibrates virtuous and wicked…
kṛtaṁ dūtena yat kāryaṁ gaccha tvaṁ dūta mā ciram |
na ātma ślāghiṣu nīcheṣu praharanti iha mat vidhāḥ || 1-54-43
Your errand is over and you may go now without delay… persons like me will not hurt the self-flattering small-minded people…
ayaṁ mama anujo bhrātā śatrughnaḥ śatru-tāpanaḥ |
tasya daityasya durbuddher mṛdhe prati-kariṣyati || 1-54-44
Here is my younger brother shatrughna, the repressor of enemies in battle, who is enough to take on that wicked-minded demon lavaṇa…” rāma said so to the messenger.
evam uktaḥ sa dūtaḥ tu yayau saumitriṇā saha |
anujṣāto narendreṇa rāghaveṇa mahātmanā || 1-54-45
sa śīghra-yānaḥ saṁprāptaḥ tat dānava puraṁ mahat |
cakre niveśaṁ saumitriḥ vana-ante yuddha lālasaḥ || 1-54-46
When king rāghava-rāma spoke to him and permitted dismissal of audience to him, that messenger gaining access to a speeding chariot, while shatrughna shepherding him, returned to his place… reaching the city of demon lavaṇa, namely mathura, the son of lady sumitra, namely shatrughna, pitched his tent at the fringes of forest, madhu-vana, keen to wage a war…
tato dūtasya vacanāt sa daityaḥ krodha mūrcchitaḥ |
pṛṣṭhataḥ tat vanaṁ kṛtvā yuddhāya abhim-ukhaḥ sthitaḥ || 1-54-47
Thereupon hearing the words of that messenger the demon lavaṇa went into a fit of anger, penetrated into the thick of forest madhu-vana from his city’s end, scurried to the other end and stood facing the camp of shatrughna, drawing his sword against shatrughna…
tat yuddham abhavat ghoraṁ saumitreḥ dānavasya ca |
ubhayoḥ eva balinoḥ śūrayo raṇa-mūrdhani || 1-54-48
Then there took place a terrible encounter between shatrughna and lavaṇa-asura, where both warriors are unyieldingly mighty and valiant in the vanguard of war…
tau śaraiḥ sādhu nishitair anyonyam abhijaghnatuḥ |
na ca tau yuddha vaimukhyaṁ śramaṁ vā api upajagmatuḥ || 1-54-49
Even if both of them struck each other with sharpened arrows none among the two is fatigued or baulked from fighting…
atha saumitriṇā bāṇaiḥ pīḍito dānavo yudhi |
tataḥ sa śūla-rahitaḥ paryahīyata dānavaḥ || 1-54-50
When shatrughna utterly assailed him in that encounter that dānava lavaṇa-asura met with discomfiture because he did not have his favourite weapon, jaya-śūlam, victorious-trident, with him…
sa gṛhītva aṅkuśaṁ caiva devair datta-varaṁ raṇe |
karṣaṇaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ lavaṇo virarāsa ha || 1-54-51
śiro-dharāyāṁ jagrāha saḥ aṅkuśena chakarṣa ha |
praveshayitum Arabdho lavaṇo rāghava anujam || 1-54-52
sa rukma-tsarum udyamya śatrughnaḥ khaḍgam uttamam |
śiraḥ ciccheda khaḍgena lavaṇasya mahāmṛdhe || 1-54-53
Afterwards taking up an ankhusham, a celestial goad, a god-given weapon capable of grinding all creatures, lavaṇa-asura emitted a blaring war cry… then that asura caught the limb that bears the head, namely the throat of shatrughna – shiras dharāyāṁ – started to gore – praveshayitum ārabdhavān - that throat with his newly wielded goad… and then shatrughna taking up a most excellent dagger with golden handle forthwith severed the head of that lavaṇa-asura in that confrontation…
sa hatvā dānavaṁ saṁkhye saumitrir mitra-vatsalaḥ |
tat vanaṁ tasya daityasya ciccheda astreṇa buddhimān || 1-54-54
On finishing off demon lavaṇa-asura in that battle, shatrughna, the delight of his friends, started deforestation of madhu-vana with a weapon, say with some tackle…
This is a said-unsaid situation. shatrughna wielding one weapon does not clear a demon’s forest, all by himself, keeping his soldiers in tent. Because weapon is said in singular we have to take it as some equipment of deforestation. Further, this lavaṇa-asura sṁhāram is said as management of saline water as potable water, one among many social works of rāma rājyam.
cittvā vanaṁ tat saumitriḥ niveśaṁ saḥ abhyarochayat |
bhavāya tasya deshasya puryāḥ parama-dharma-vit || 1-54-55
On deforesting that forest madhu-vana shatrughna built a city there for the well-being of that province and he himself desired to live in that city…
tasmin madhu vana sthāne mathurā nāma sā purī |
shatrughnena purā sṛṣṭā hatvā taṁ dānavaṁ raṇe || 1-54-56
In place of madhu-vana which so far yielded forest liquor to demons, a city has come up with its name as mathura, madhu – sweetness; ra – giver; a city that endows honey-like sweet life to its indwellers… thus that city arranged by shatrughna in the olden days on eliminating the demon in battle is resplendent with these amenities and conveniences:
sā purī parama udārā sā-aṭṭa-prākāra-toraṇā |
sphītā rāṣṭra samākīrṇā samṛddha bala vāhanā || 1-54-57
That most gracious lady called mathura city is ornamented with eight-dimensional walls – aṣṭha prākārā-s - with bastions and victory archers… she is plumpy with highly rich provinces abounding with people and abounding in produce, forces, and vehicles…
udyāna-vana saṁpannā su-sīmā su-pratiṣṭhitā |
prāṁśu-prākāra-vasanā parikha-ākula-mekhalā || 1-54-58
Rich gardens are her flowery adornments, well laid and established town-planning is her symmetrical physique … her wraparound is a high walled compound-wall, and her cincture is a curvy moat around the castle…
cayā aṭṭālaka keyūrā prāsāda vara kuṇḍalā |
su-saṁvṛta dvāra-vatī catvāra udgāra hāsinī || 1-54-59
a-roga vīra-puruṣā hasti ashva ratha saṁkulā |
ardha-candra-pratīkāśā yamunā tīra śobhitā || 1-54-60
puṇyā paṇa-vatī durgā ratna saṁchaya garvitā |
kṣetrāṇi sasyavanti asyāḥ kāle devaḥ ca varṣati || 1-54-61
nara-nārī pramuditā sā purī sma prakāśate |
Skyscrapers are her keyūrā-s, upper-arm ornaments, while domes on those scrapers are her ear-hangings… she who is embodied with easy ingresses and egresses has crossroads for her smiles… with the bustle of healthy and valiant heroes, elephants, horses and chariots she is blushy… like a curvy lady she is crescentic, and like a damsel dangling feet in a rill she sits on the riverbank of yamuna… synergetic in business she has market places, impregnable in treasuring she is proud of her collection of gems and jewels… her arable lands brimming with yield, because indra causes seasonable rains, because she is – puṇyā -a merited one… she whose inmates, wither men or women, thrive in a convivial atmosphere, that damsel called mathura city shines forth with these fineries….
niviṣṭa viṣayaḥ caiva śūrasenaḥ tato'bhavat || 1-54-62
tasyāṁ puryāṁ mahāvīryo rājā bhoja kula udvahaḥ |
ugrasena iti khyāto mahā-sena parākramaḥ || 1-54-63
The highly powerful king sūrasena, aka ugr-asena, born in the dynasty bhojā-s, a resident of a province of that city, ruled from that city with his valour and mighty army…
tasya putratvamāpanno yaḥ asau viṣṇo tvayā hataḥ |
kālanemir mahā-daityaḥ saṁgrāme tārakāmaye || 1-54-64
kaṁso nāma viśāla akṣo bhoja-vaṁśa-vivardhanaḥ |
rājā pṛthivyāṁ vikhyātaḥ simha vispaṣṭa vikramaḥ || 1-54-65
"He, whom you have eliminated in the battle with tāraka-asura, oh Vishnu, that kāla-nemi has become the son of this ugrasena… that daitya kāla-nemi took birth as a scion of the bhoja lineage, namely as king kaṁsa, who treads like a lion and who is famous in the world for his wide-eyed suspicion - viśāla akṣa…
rājṣāṁ bhayaṅkaro ghoraḥ śaṅkanīyo mahīkṣitām |
bhayadaḥ sarva bhūtānāṁ sat-pathāt bāhyatāṁ gataḥ || 1-54-66
Because he is a terroriser of all the kings, all king are incredulous of him… because he swerved off from the path of righteousness all creatures have a dread for him…
dāruṇa abhi-niveshena dāruṇena antara-ātmanā |
yuktaḥ tena eva darpeṇa prajānāṁ roma-harṣaṇaḥ || 1-54-67
By his nature he is highly ruthless because he inherited a merciless soul… he is hair-raising to his subjects because he is self-assertively commandeering…
na rāja-dharma abhirato na ātma-pakṣa-sukhāvahaḥ |
na ātma-rājye priyakaraḥ chaṇḍaḥ kara-ruciḥ sadā || 1-54-68
That despot kaṁsa never glories in kingcraft, never keeps his own men happy, never keeps his own kingdom alive, but he is evermore an arm-twister...
sa kaṁsaḥ tatra sambhūtaḥ tvayā yuddhe parājitaḥ |
kravya-ādo bādhate lokān āsureṇa antarātmanā || 1-54-69
Such as he is that kaṁsa is the morphogenesis of that demon kāla-nemi whom you have defeated in starwars, wherefore this kaṁsa puts people to torture with a demonic inner-soul, in a fiendish manner worse than that of raw-flesh-eaters, namely rākśasā-s…
yāḥ api asau haya-vikrānto haya-grīva iti smṛtaḥ |
keśī nāma hayo jātaḥ sa tasya eva jaghanya-jaḥ || 1-54-70
sa duṣṭo heṣitapaṭuḥ kesarī nir-ava-grahaḥ |
vṛndāvane vasati eko nṛṇāṁ māṁsāni bhakṣayan || 1-54-71
Further, another demon named keshi is there who is modelled after a horse, and he conducts himself as the younger brother of kaṁsa… this horse-like keshi is the transmutation of a demon named haya-grīva, named so because his charge is like that of a horse… thus this evil-minded keshi featuring the horse-factor of original dānava haya-grīva roams lonely in brindāvana, wearing a large mane of an untrappable lion, but neighing like a horse, and subsisting on human flesh…
ariṣṭo bali-putraḥ ca kakudmī vṛṣa rūpa dhṛk |
gavām aritvam āpannaḥ kāma-rūpī mahāsuraḥ || 1-54-72
Emperor bali's son ariṣṭa is transmogrified as a demonic bull with high hump – kakudmi – whom we call vṛṣabha-asura, a guise-changer at will, that great demon in the form of an ox betrayed an unsuspected streak of animus at cows…
riṣṭo nāma diteḥ putro variṣṭho dānaveṣu yaḥ |
sa kuṣjaratvam āpanno daityaḥ kaṁsasya vāhanaḥ || 1-54-73
Lady diti's son riṣṭa, the foremost one among dānavā-s, assumed the form of an elephant and became the elephant-vehicle of kaṁsa…
lambo nāma iti vikhyāto yaḥ asau daityeṣu darpitaḥ |
pralambo nāma daityaḥ asau vaṭaṁ bhāṇḍīram āśritaḥ || 1-54-74
One demon renowned as laṁba took the form of a pensile catcher of prey with his name pra-laṁba, dangles from a banyan tree in the woods of bhāṇḍīra, bhāṇḍīra-vana, to rope in his prey…
khara iti ucyate daityo dhenukaḥ saḥ asurottamaḥ |
ghoraṁ tāla-vanaṁ daityaḥ charati udvāsayan prajāḥ || 1-54-75
Another demon who is called as khara took the form of cow-demon named dhenuka-asura... this dreadful demon wandering in palmgroves wreak havoc on the people coming there…
vārāhaḥ ca kiśoraḥ ca dānavau yau mahābalau |
mallau raṅga gatau tau tu jātau cāṇūra muṣṭikau || 1-54-76
Two more foremost dānavās by name varāha and kishora took the form of two incredible court-wrestlers of kaṁsa, namely cāṇūra and muṣṭika…
yau tau mayaḥ ca tāraḥ ca dānavau dānavāntaka |
prāgjyotiṣe tau bhaumasya narakasya pure ratau || 1-54-77
.ṭwo more dānavas namely maya and tāraka are luxuriating in the city prāgjyotiṣa-puram, the capital of naraka-asura, the son of bhūmi, the mother earth…
ete daityā vinihatāḥ tvayā viṣṇo nirākṛtāḥ |
mānuṣaṁ vapur āsthāya bādhante bhuvi mānuṣān || 1-54-78
tvat kathā dveṣiṇaḥ sarve tvat bhaktān ghnanti mānuṣān |
tava prasādāt teṣāṁ vai dānavānāṁ kṣayo bhavet|| 1-54-79
These are some of the demons whom you have defeated and relegated, now assuming human bodies they are oppressing the people of the world… they despise your lore and destroy your human votaries… they are eradicable if only you intervene... In heaven they are afraid of thee, in ocean they are afraid of thee and even on earth they afraid of thee. There is no other source of fear to them
tvattaḥ te bibhyati divi tvatto bibhyati sāgare |
pṛtivyāṁ tava bibhyanti na anyataḥ tu kadācana || 1-54-80
durvṛttasya hatasya api tvayā na anyena śrīdhara |
divaḥ chyutasya daityasya gatir bhavati medinī || 1-54-81
vyutthitasya ca medinyāṁ hatasya nṛ-śarīriṇaḥ |
durlabhaṁ svarga gamanaṁ tvayi jāgrati keshava || 1-54-82
Instinctively they have a fear for you, though they make false pretences… they are afraid of you in heaven when you won starwars… they are afraid of you in ocean when you upraised earth from deluge… they are afraid of you since day one of your human, or semi-human incarnations like rāma, paraśu-rāma, nara-simha etc… oh, śīdhara, if someone has to initiate their extinction it is none else than you, because they fear none else than you… offhand, whenever you jettisoned them from heaven, their beaten track has been towards earth alone… even if those demons are brought to ruin on battlefields when they are in human forms one earth, and start raising up to heaven from earth after their death on battlefield, like any other warriors getting – vīra-maraṇam – heaven-bound heroic death, it will be impossible for the demons to reach heaven – when you are there on earth – because you alone are capable to plunge them to nether-worlds down below the earth…
tat āgaccha svayaṁ viṣṇo gachcāmaḥ pṛthivī-talam |
dānavānāṁ vināśāya visṛja ātmānam ātmanā|| 1-54-83
Therefore, oh, viṣṇu, please come to earth… let us all go to earth… let another incarnation of yours be brought into play for the eradication of demons…
mūrtayo hi tava a-vyaktā dṛśya a-dṛśyāḥ surottamaiḥ |
tāsu sṛṣṭāḥ tvayā devāḥ saṁbhaviṣyanti bhūtale || 1-54-84
Your forms are protean, mutable, and fugacious… unseen even if seen, seen even if unseen… gods have emerged from this dualised emtity of yours – dvayī bhāva, dvaitam, or viśiṣṭha advaitam – call what you may; and created on this pattern and released by you, gods are coming to earth in their respective incarnations, who with manifest / unmaifest nature of yours at their backdrop, are enigmatically unrecognizable for the demons…
tava avataraṇe viṣṇo kaṁsaḥ sa vi-naśiṣyati |
setsyate ca sa kāryārtho yasya arthe bhūmiḥ āgatā || 1-54-85
tvaṁ bhārate kārya-guruḥ tvaṁ cakṣuḥ tvaṁ parāyaṇam |
tat āgaccha hṛṣīkeśa kṣitau tāṣ jahi dānavān || 1-54-86
kaṁsa gets eliminated only if you incarnate on earth… then the objective of mother earth in her going over here will also be fulfilled… you are the mastermind to wangle a stable existence of the land of bharata, time after time… hence oh, hṛṣīkeśa, please come to earth to slay those wicked dānavā-s…
--o)0(o--
iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi
nāradavākye chatuḥpaṣcāśattamo'dhyāyaḥ
Thus, this is the fifty-fourth chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating nārada’s appeal to viṣṇu.