Parva 2 Chapter 62: baladevamāhātmyam - the greatness of baladeva

king (janamejaya) said: O brahmin sage ( vaiśampāyana ) ! I wish to hear once again about the greatness of baladeva (balarāma ) of great intellect, the one who remains (śeṣa), who carries the earth. atīva baladevaṁ taṁ tejorāśimanirjitam | kathayanti mahātmānaṁ ye purāṇavido janāḥ ||2-62-2 baladeva (balarāma) is highly splendorous. He cannot be conquered. The people who are experts of ancient history (purāṇa) say that he is a great soul. tasya karmāṇyahaṁ vipra śrotumicchāmi tattvataḥ | anantaṁ yaṁ vidurnāgamādidevaṁ nageshvaram ||2-62-3 O brahmin! (vaiśampāyana!) I wish to hear about his deeds as per the truth. He is without an end, the prime god, the lord of serpents and the lord of people. vaiśampāyana uvāca purāṇe nāgarājo'sau paṭhyate dharaṇīdharaḥ | śeṣastejonidhiḥ śrīmānakampyaḥ puruṣottamaḥ ||2-62-4 vaiśampāyana said (O janamejaya!) In the ancient history, baladeva is the king of serpents who carries the earth. He is the one who remains or is left (śeṣa), the treasure of splendour, auspicious and one who cannot be moved by anyone and the best among men. yogācāryo mahāvīryo devamantramukho balī | jarāsaṁdhaṁ gadāyuddhe jitavānyo na cāvadhīt ||2-62-5 He is the teacher of yoga and greatly valiant. He is the face of the sacred words of the deva-s and powerful. He conquered jarāsaṁdha in the battle of maces, but he did not kill him (jarāsaṁdha). bahavashcaiva rājānaḥ prathitāḥ pṛthivītale | anvayurmāgadhaṁ sarve te cāpi vijitā raṇe ||2-62-6 Many kings who are famous on the face of earth arrived, following jarāsaṁdha. balarāma conquered all of them in the battle. nāgāyutabalaprāṇo bhīmo bhīmaparākramaḥ | asakṛdbaladevena bāhuyuddhe parājitaḥ ||2-62-7 baladeva (balarāma) defeated bhīma (son of pāṇḍu) who has the power of thousands of elephants and who is greatly valiant, many times in the fight with bare arms (without any weapons). duryodhanasya kanyāṁ tu haramāṇo nyagṛhyata | sāmbo jāmbavatīputro nagare nāgasāhvaye ||2-62-8 While he was carrying the daughter of duryodhana, sāmba, the son of jāmbavatī (and kṛṣṇa) was bound (tied up) in the city of nāga (hastinapura). rājabhiḥ sarvato ruddhe haramāṇo balātkila | tadupashrutya saṁruddhamājagāma mahābalaḥ ||2-62-9 He (sāmba) was tied up by all the kings while he was forcefully carrying (the maiden). Hearing this, the highly powerful (balarāma) became angry and he reached there. rāmastasya tu mokṣārthamāgato nālabhaccha tam | tatashchukrodha balavānadbhutaṁ cākaronmahat ||2-62-10 (bala)rāma went there to get him released. He was unable to do so. The powerful (bala)rāma became angry and performed a great wonder. anivāryamabhedyaṁ ca divyamapratimaṁ bale | lāṅgalāstraṁ samudyamya brahmamantrābhimantritam ||2-62-11 Holding the plough which is unconquerable, unbreakable, divine and unequalled in power, in his hand, balarāma chanted the sacred words of brahma. prākāravapre vinyasya purasya ca mahādyutiḥ | prakṣeptumaicchadgaṅgāyāṁ nagaraṁ kauravasya tat ||2-62-12 The one with high splendour pressed the plough against the fort of the city and began to push the city of kaurava-s into the river gaṅgā. tadvighūrṇitamālakṣya puraṁ duryodhano nṛpaḥ | sāmbaṁ niryātayāmāsa sabhāryaṁ tasya dhīmataḥ ||2-62-13 Seeing that the city is moved, king duryodhana brought sāmba along with his wife (duryodhana's daughter) and presented them to balarāma. dadau śiśyaṁ tadātmānaṁ rāmasya sumahātmanaḥ | gadāyuddhe kurupatiṁ śiṣyaṁ jagrāha tam ca saḥ ||2-62-14 The great soul balarāma gave himself to his disciple (duryodhana). He accepted the kuru king (duryodhana) as his disciple in the fight with maces. tataḥ prabhṛti rājendra purametadvighūrṇitam | āvarjitamivābhāti gaṅgāmabhimukhaṁ nṛpa ||2-62-15 O the lord of kings (janamejaya! (vaiśampāyana continued), the city which was moved, O king (janamejaya), became as inclined towards the river gaṅgā. idamatyadbhutaṁ karma rāmasya kathitaṁ bhuvi | bhāṇḍīre kathitaṁ rājanyatkṛtaṁ śauriṇā purā ||2-62-16 This great wonderful deed of balarāma is told on the earth. O king (janamejaya)! (vaiśampāyana said) the deeds performed earlier in bhāṇḍīra by the son of śūra (balarāma) are also told likewise. pralambaṁ muṣṭinaikena yajjaghāna halāyudhaḥ | The one having plough as weapon (balarāma) killed pralamba with a single blow of his fist. dhenukaṁ tu mahāvīryaṁ cikṣepa nagamūrdhani | sa gatāyuḥ papātorvyāṁ daityo gardabharūpadhṛk |2-62-17 He threw the greatly valiant dhenuka on to the top of a tree. That daitya, in the form of an ass, fell down on earth losing his life. lavaṇajalagamā mahānadī drutajalavegataraṅgamālinī | nagaramabhimukhaṁ yadā hṛtā halavidhṛtā yamunā yamasvasā ||2-62-18 That great river which goes to the salty water (sea), yamunā, sister of yama (god of death), with water flowing fast and decorated with the garland of waves, dragged by the plough of balarāma, started flowing towards the city. (Note 1) baladevasya māhātmyametatte kathitaṁ mayā | anantasyāprameyasya śeṣasya dharaṇībhṛtaḥ ||2-62-19 (O janamejaya! vaiśampāyana continued) I have told you about the greatness of baladeva(rāma), the valiancy of the one without an end, one who is unequalled, one who remains and one who holds the earth. iti purushavarasya lāṅgale- rbahuvidhamuttamamanyadeva ca | yadakathitamihādya karma te tadupalabhasva purāṇavistarāt ||2-62-20 There are many other best deeds performed by the best of men, one who holds the plough. As the ancient history is told in detail, you will know about them in due course of time. iti śrimahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe viṣṇuparvaṇi baladevamāhātmye dviṣaṣṭitamo'dyāyaḥ Thus this is the sixtysecond chapter of viṣṇuparava, harivaṁśa, khila of mahābhārata, the greatness of baladeva. Note 1: yamunā (kalindī), the daughter of sun, is also the sister of yama, the god of death. See chapter 9, harivamshaparva: ādityo janayāmāsa kanyāṁ dvau ca prajāpatī || 1-9-7 manurvaivasvataḥ pūrvaṁ śrāddhadevaḥ prajāpatiḥ | yamashcha yamunā caiva yamajau sambabhūvatuḥ || 1-9-8 nīlakaṇṭha commentary athādhyāye ṣaṣṭitame dyadhike'sminnirūpyate | baladevasya māhātmyaṁ bhūri bhāgyavatāṁ priyam || 1 || · 2-62-1 bhūya iti || · 2-62-7 bhīmo bhīmasenaḥ || · 2-62-8 nyagṛhyata gṛhītaḥ kauravairiti śeṣaḥ || iti harivaṁśe viṣṇuparvaṇi ṭīkāyāṁ dviṣaṣṭitamo'dhyāyaḥ || Note : verse 10, line 2: mahat is misspelt as maham