Parva 3 Chapter 105: haṁsaḍimbhakayorvaralābhaḥ - hamsa and ḍimbhaka obtain boons

vaiśampāyana said: O the best among kings! (O janamejaya!) haṁsa having great intellect as well as ḍimbhaka, who were parts of the soul of śaṅkara, the auspicious lord who provides prosperity, decided in their minds to perform penance. gatvā tu himavatpārśvaṁ tapaścakraturaṣjasā | uddhishya śaṅkaraṁ śarvaṁ nīlagrīvamumāpatim ||3-105-2 They proceeded to the side of himālaya mountains and immediately started their penance to please the auspicious lord, śaṅkara, who provides prosperity, sharva, the lord with blue neck, the lord of umā. vīryāstre caiva nau syātāmityādhāya tu mānase | ekāgrau prayatau bhūtvā vāyvambuprāśinau nṛpa ||3-105-3 Deciding in their minds that they should obtain powerful arrows, O king (janamejaya! vaiśampāyana continued), both of them keeping their minds focused, performed penance, consuming only water and air (observing fast). namaste devadeveti śaṅkareti divāniśam | hara sharva śivānanda nīlagrīva umāpate ||3-105-4 During the day and night, they chanted "We bow to the lord of gods, the auspicious lord śaṅkara, who provides prosperity" and repeated the names of shiva: hara, sharva, śivānanda, the lord with blue neck, the lord of umā, vṛṣadhvaja virūpākṣa haryakṣa jagatāṁ pate | bhaktapriya girīśeśa vāsudeva śivācyuta ||3-105-5 the lord having bull as his flag, the lord having a third eye, the lord with yellow eyes (harykṣa), the lord of the universe, the lord who likes his devotees, the lord of the mountain, lord who manifests in all beings, shiva, lord having no fall, sadyojāta mahādeva devadeva guhāśaya | bhūtabhāvana devesha praṇavātmansadāśiva ||3-105-6 sadyojāta (shiva), the great lord, the lord of gods, guhāśaya, the lord who is concerned with the welfare of all beings, the lord of gods, the lord whose soul is praṇava (auṁ), the lord who is eternally auspicious. ityādināmabhirnityaṁ stuvantau śaṅkaraṁ bhavam | hṛdi kṛtvā virūpākṣaṁ tapastepaturaṣjasā ||3-105-7 They praised bhava, the auspicious lord, reciting these names always and performed the penance meditating on the lord having the third eye, in their mind. nirmamau nirahaṅkārau maunavratasamāsthitau | varṣāṇīha tadā rājanpaṣcha cakraturojasā ||3-105-8 Abandoning the feeling of owning and the feeling of ego, O king, (janamejaya! vaiśampāyana continued), they performed the penance energetically for five years. tataḥ prīto'bhavaccharvastābhyāṁ saṁyamanena ca | sa dadau darśanaṁ naijaṁ vyāghracharmadharo haraḥ ||3-105-9 triyakṣaḥ śaṅkaraḥ śarvaḥ śūlapāṇirumāpatiḥ | Due to their self control as well as their penance, sharva (shiva) became pleased with them. Lord hara (shiva), the lord of the three vedas, the lord of sacrifices (see nīlakaṇṭha commentary), sharva, the lord who holds the trident, the lord of umā appeared before them, wearing the tiger skin. agrataḥ saṁsthitaṁ śarvaṁ candrārdhakṛtaśekharam | tau dṛṣṭvā prītamanasau namascakraturaṣjasā ||3-105-10 Both of them (haṁsa and ḍimbhaka) saw sharva (shiva) standing before them, wearing the half moon on his head. Becoming pleased in their minds, they bowed to lord shiva immediately. śrībhagavānuvāca varaṁ varaya bhadraṁ vāṁ yathechcā vāṁ tathāstu vai | tāvūchatustadā rājanprītastvaṁ bhagavanyadi ||3-105-11 The auspicious lord said: Accept a boon. Let there be good to you. What you desire will happen. O king! (O janamejaya! vaiśampāyana continued) Then they said: O lord! If you are pleased with us, devāsurachamūmukhyairyakṣagandharvadānavaiḥ | āvāmajayyau sarvātmanneṣa nau prathamo varaḥ ||3-105-12 O the soul of all! We shall not be conquered by all of the gods, demons, the chief of their armies, yakṣa-s, gandharva-s and the sons of danu. This shall be our first boon. dvitīyo nau virūpākṣa raudrāstrāṇāṁcha saṅgrahaḥ | māheśvaraṁ tathā raudramastraṁ brahmaśiro mahat ||3-105-13 O the lord having the third eye! Our second boon shall be a collection of terrible weapons such as the terrible maheśvaraṁ (the weapon of the great lord), the great weapon of brahmashira (the weapon of head of brahma), abhedhyaṁ kavacaṁ divyamacchedyaṁ cāpi kārmukam | paraśuṁ ca tathā sharva sadā rakṣārhameva ca ||3-105-14 sahāyau dvau mahādeva bhūtau yuddhe hi gacchatām | a divine shield which can not be split as well as a bow that can not be broken and an axe. O sharva (shiva), O great lord ! There shall always be two bhūta-s each to protect as well as help us in the battle. evamastviti devesha āha bhṛṅgiriṭī haraḥ ||3-105-15 kuṇḍodaraṁ virūpākṣaṁ sarvaprāṇihite ratam | The lord of gods, hara said, "let it be so". Then, the lord told his bhūta-s, bhṛṅgi, riṭi, kuṇḍodara and virūpākṣa who are interested in the benefit of all beings: yuvāmatha ca bhūteśau sahāyau satataṁ raṇe ||3-105-16 saṅgrāmaṁ gacchatāṁ ghorametayorbalaśālinoḥ | Now, you who are the lords of bhuta-s shall always assist these two powerful valiants (haṁsa and ḍimbhaka) in terrible battles. ityuktvā bhagavāṣcharvastatraivāntaradhīyata ||3-105-17 Saying this, lord sharva (shiva) disappeared from there. tatastau vīryasaṁpannau haṁso ḍimbhaka eva ca | kṛtāstrau śastrasaṁpannau cāpinau vīryavattarau ||3-105-18 Then haṁsa and ḍimbhaka became endowed with valiance. They became expert bowmen. They became enriched with weapons and bows. They became the best in valiance. Amuktakavacau vīrāvajayyau devadānavaiḥ | atyantabhaktau deveshe śaṅkare nīlalohite ||3-105-19 Having the divine shield which can not be split, the valiants became un-conquerable by the gods and sons of danu. They had highest devotion to the lord of gods, the auspicious lord who provides prosperity, the blue and red coloured lord. nityotsavakarau deve bhasmoddhūlanaśobhinau | kṛtatripuṇḍrako nityaṁ jaṭāyuktaśirodharau ||3-105-20 They celebrated the lord's festival daily. They dazzled, smearing the ashes on their bodies. They smeared three lines of ashes on their forehead daily and had locks in their hair. rudrākṣārpitasarvāṅgau vyāghracharmāmbarāvṛtau | They wore rudrākśa on all their limbs and their bodies were covered with the tiger skin. namaḥ śivāya śāntāya mahādevāya dhīmate ||3-105-21 ityadibhirmahādevaṁ stuvantau nāmabhiḥ shivam | They always praised the great lord shiva by reciting the names of shiva: We bow to shiva. We bow to the lord of peace. We bow to the great lord having high intellect. sākṣādiva mahādevau rejaturjaladhāriṇau ||3-105-22 The brothers, holding water for worshipping shiva, dazzled like the real great lord, shiva. tataḥ svabhavanaṁ gatvā pituḥ pādāvagṛhyatām | pitushcha sakhyurbalinau mātuścha charaṇau tadā ||3-105-23 Then the powerful valiants went to their home and worshipped the feet of their father (king brahmadatta), father's friend (mitrasaha) and the mothers. janārdano'pi dharmātmā kālena mahatā nṛpa | vidyāpāraṁ mahābuddhiryuktenāsāvupeyivān ||3-105-24 O king! (janamejaya! vaiśampāyana continued) As for janārdana, the one with the righteous soul, with the passage of time, he became one of great intellect and an expert of knowledge. sa ca viṣṇuṁ hriṣīkeśaṁ pītakauśeyavāsasam | brahmatattvaparo nityamupāste vijitendriyaḥ ||3-105-25 He, fixed in the principles of brahma, conquering his senses, worshipped viṣṇu, the lord of senses, wearing yellow clothes, daily. haṁsaścha ḍimbhakashcaiva kṛtadārau babhūvatuḥ | janardano'pi dharmātmā kṛtadāro babhūva ha ||3-105-26 Afterwards, haṁsa and ḍimbhaka married. janārdana, the one having righteous soul also married. sarve te yajṣaniratāḥ paṣchayajṣaparāstathā | svadāraniratāḥ sarve guruśuśruṣaṇe ratāḥ | All of them were engaged in performing sacrifices and offered the five sacrifices (See translator's Note). All of them were with their wives and were engaged in looking after their preceptors. dharma eva paraṁ śreya iti te menire nṛpa ||3-105-27 O king! (janamejaya! vaiśampāyana continued) All of them considered that doing one's duty is the cause for progress. iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe bhaviṣyaparvaṇi haṁsaḍimbhakopākhyāne paṣcādhikaśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ This is the one hundred and fifth chapter of bhaviṣyaparva, harivaṁśa, khila of mahābhārata, hamsa and ḍimbhaka obtain boons Translator's Note: One who is in the stage of householder in his life (gṛhasthāśrami) is supposed to conduct five essential sacrifices (paṣchamahāyajṣa): devayajṣa, brahmayajṣa, pitṛyajṣa, manuṣyayajṣa and bhūtayajṣa. See for example, bṛhadāraṇyaka upaniṣad, adhyāya 1, brāhmaṇa 4, mantra 16. nīlakaṇṭha commentary · 3-105-7 haṁsaścheti || · 3-105-10 triyakṣaḥ tribhirvedaiḥ ijyata iti triyakṣaḥ yajṣeśaḥ | · 3-105-11 varaya varayatam || · 3-105-15 bhṛṅgiriṭī bhṛṅgi riṭi ca || · 3-105-23 piturbrahmadattasya sakhyuḥ mitrasahasya || iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe bhaviṣyaparvaṇi ṭīkāyāṁ paṣcādikaśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ ||