Parva 3 Chapter 103: vaiśampāyanaṁ prati janamejayapraśnaḥ - janamejaya's query to vaiśampāyana

janamejaya said: O the best among the twice borns! (O vaiśampāyana!) O the one with the wealth of penance! I wish to hear the history of the one who holds the conch, cakra and the mace (viṣṇu), again, in detail. na hi te tṛptirastīha śṛṇvataḥ kaiśavīṁ kathām | ko nu nāma harerviṣṇordevadevasya cakriṇaḥ ||3-103-2 śṛṇvaṁstathā ramanvāpi tṛptiṁ yāti divāniśam | I am not yet satisfied here by hearing the story of keshava (kṛṣṇa). Who will be satisfied by hearing the story of the Lord of gods, hari, viṣṇu, the one who holds the cakra, enjoying it during the day and night? (Who do not want to hear the story of kṛṣṇa day and night?) puruṣārtho'yamevaiko yatkathāśravaṇaṁ hareḥ ||3-103-3 The hearing the story of hari (viṣṇu, kṛṣṇa) is considered as the only purpose of life. kathamāsījjagaddhetorhaṁsasya ḍimbhakasya ca | samitiḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ sadā vismayadāyiṇī ||3-103-4 How did the battle between the source of universe (kṛṣṇa) and haṁsa and ḍimbhaka, providing wonder to all beings, take place? (See Translator's Note (1)) vicakrasya kathaṁ yuddhaṁ dānavasya mahātmanaḥ | sa tayormitratāṁ yāta ityevamanuśuśruma ||3-103-5 How did the battle with the great soul, the son of danu, vicakra occur? We have heard that he (vicakra) was a friend of both (haṁsa and ḍimbhaka). (See Translator's Note (2)) tau sutau vīryasaṁpannau śiṣyau bhṛgusutasya ha | sarvāstrakuśalau vīrau harerlabdhavarau kila ||3-103-6 Both of the sons were enriched with valiance and they were disciples of the son of bhṛgu. Both were experts in using all weapons and had obtained boons from hara (shiva). saṅgrāmaḥ sumahānāsīdityuktaṁ bhavatā purā | tayoshcha nṛpayorvipra keshavasya jagatpateḥ ||3-103-7 O the best among brahmins! You said before that a great battle had taken place between those kings (haṁsa and ḍimbhaka) and the Lord of the universe, keshava (kṛṣṇa). kasya putrau samutpannau yathābhūdvigraho mahān | Whose sons are they? How did the great battle occur? aṣṭāśītisahasrāṇi dānavānāṁ tarasvinām ||3-103-8 balānyatha vicakrasya śitaśūladharāṇi ca | Asanyuddhe mahārāja dānavasya mahātmanaḥ ||3-103-9 yadūnāmantaraṁ prepsuryadūnāṁ yuddhakāṅkṣayā | O great lord! (vaiśampāyana! janamejaya continued: We have heard that) The son of danu, the great soul, vicakra had an army of eighty-eight thousand powerful demon soldiers holding sharp spears, having the desire to fight and create differences among the sons of yadu. devāsure mahāyuddhe devāṣjayati durdharaḥ | tadvadhārthaṁ sadā yatnamakarochcaiva keśavaḥ ||3-103-10 (We have heard that) The one who is difficult to conquer in the battle (vicakra) conquered the deva-s in the great deva - demon battle. keshava (kṛṣṇa) always made efforts to kill him. iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe bhaviṣyaparvaṇi haṁsaḍimbhakopākhyāne janamejayavākyetryadhikaśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ This is the one hundred and third chapter of bhaviṣyaparva, harivamsha, khila of mahābhārata, in the episode of haṁsa and ḍimbhaka, janamejaya's query to vaiśampāyana Translator's Note (1): After hearing the pauṇḍraka vāsudeva episode, now janamejaya recalls vaisampāyaya mentioning the deaths of hamsa and ḍimbhaka (spelled in BORI CE as Dibhaka) in Sabha Parva of Mahabharata and now wishes to hear that episode in detail. In Sabha Parva, chapter 14, while motivating yudhiṣṭhira to eliminate jarāsandha, kṛṣṇa says: 02013034a bhaye tu samupakrānte jarāsaṁdhe samudyate 02013034c mantro'yaṁ mantrito rājan kulairaṣṭādaśāvaraiḥ 02013035a anāramanto nighnanto mahāstraiḥ śataghātibhiḥ 02013035c na hanyāma vayaṁ tasya tribhirvarṣazatairbalam 02013036a tasya hyamarasaṁkāśau balena balināṁ varau 02013036c nāmabhyāṁ haṁsaḍibhakāvityāstāṁ yodhasattamau 02013037a tāvubhau sahitau vīrau jarāsaṁdhaścha vīryavān 02013037c trayastrayāṇāṁ lokānāṁ paryāptā iti me matiḥ 02013038a na hi kevalamasmākaṁ yāvanto'nye ca pārthivāḥ 02013038c tathaiva teṣām āsīccha buddhirbuddhimatāṁ vara 02013039a atha haṁsa iti khyātaḥ kaśchidāsīn mahān nṛpaḥ 02013039c sa cānyaiḥ sahito rājan saṁgrāme'ṣṭādaśāvaraiḥ 02013040a hato haṁsa iti proktam atha kenāpi bhārata 02013040c tacchrutvā Dibhako rājan yamunāmbhasyamajjata 02013041a vinā haṁsena loke'smin nāhaṁ jīvitumutsahe 02013041c ityetāṁ matimāsthāya Dibhako nidhanaṁ gataḥ 02013042a tathā tu ḍibhakaṁ śrutvā haṁsaḥ parapuraṁjayaḥ 02013042c prapede yamunāmeva so'pi tasyāṁ nyamajjata Ourselves consisting of the eighteen younger branches of the Yadavas arrived at the conclusion that even if we struck our enemies continually with excellent weapons capable of taking the lives of the foes, we should still be unable to do anything unto him even in three hundred years. He hath two friends that are like unto the immortals, and in point of strength the foremost of all men endued with might. They are called Hansa and Dimvaka who are both incapable of being slain by weapons. The mighty Jarasandha, being united with them, becomes incapable, I think, of being vanquished by even the three worlds. O thou foremost of all intelligent men, this is not our opinion alone but all other kings also are of the same mind. There lived, O monarch, a king of the name of Hansa, who was slain by Rama (Valadeva) after a battle of eighteen days. But, O Bharata, hearing people say that Hansa had been killed, Dimvaka, O king, thought that he could not live without Hansa. He accordingly jumped into the waters of the Yamuna and killed himself. Afterwards when Hansa, the subjugator of hostile heroes, heard that Dimvaka, had killed himself, he went to the Yamuna and jumped into its waters. (Translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguly) Translator's Note (2): Recalling what vaiśampāyana mentioned in viṣṇuparva, chapter 115, vāsudevaparākramavarṇanam (vāsudeva's valour), yadūnāmantaraprepsurvicakro dānavo hataḥ janamejaya also wants to hear in detail the killing of vicakra by kṛṣṇa. nīlakaṇṭha commentary · 3-103-1 bhūya iti || iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe bhaviṣyaparvaṇi ṭīkāyāṁ haṁsaḍimbakopākhyāne tryadhikaśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ