Parva 3 Chapter 84: śrīkṛṣṇatapovarṇanam - kṛṣṇa's penance

vaiśampāyana said: (O janamejaya !) Then lord viṣṇu (kṛṣṇa) told the sages all about the incident with piśāca, the great soul, right from the beginning. tacchrutvā munayaḥ sarve vismayaṁ paramaṁ gatāḥ | aho'sya karmaṇaḥ pākastava saṁdarśanāditi ||3-84-2 Hearing about the incident, all the sages wondered the most. They said: Oh! The (wonderous) fruit of his deeds (became manifest), just by seeing you, etc. archito munibhiḥ sarvaiḥ prītaḥ prītimatāṁ priyaḥ | tataḥ prabhāte vimale sūrye cābhyudite sati ||3-84-3 kṛṣṇa, worshipped by all the sages, was pleased. The lord who is dear to those who please him, in the clear morning, as the sun rose up, āruhya garuḍaṁ viṣṇuryayau kailāsamuttamam | bhavadbhistatra gantavyamityuktvā munisattamān ||3-84-4 viṣṇu (kṛṣṇa), mounted garuḍa and proceeded towards the mountain kailāsa, the best, telling the sages that "you shall also proceed to kailāsa". yatra viśveśvarāḥ siddhāstapasyanti yatavratāḥ | yatra vaiśravaṇaḥ sākṣādupāste śaṅkaraṁ sadā ||3-84-5 Where the lords of the world, the siddha-s perform penances, observing vows, where, lord vaiśravaṇa (lord of wealth) himself performs the service of śaṅkara always, yatra tanmānanasaṁ nāma saro haṁsālayaṁ mahat | yatra bhṛṅgīriṭirdevamupāste śaṅkaraṁ shivam ||3-84-6 Where the great lake named mānasaṁ, the abode of swans, bhṛṅgīriṭi, serves on the auspicious lord śaṅkara who causes auspiciousness and prosperity, gāṇapatyamavāpyātha harapārśvacaraḥ sadā | yatra siṁhā varāhāścha dvipadvīpimṛgaiḥ saha ||3-84-7 where he stands always by the side of shiva, taking up the leadership of the gaṇa-s, along with lions, boars, and also elephants, tigers and deer, krīḍanti vanyaratayaḥ parasparahite ratāḥ | yatra nadyaḥ samutpannā gaṅgādyāḥ sāgaraṁgamāḥ ||3-84-8 where wild animals play with each other as they like, where the ocean-going rivers such as gaṅga originate, yatra viśveśvaraḥ śambhuracchinadbhrahmaṇaḥ śiraḥ | yatrotpannā mahāvetrā bhūtānāṁ daṇḍatāṁ yayuḥ ||3-84-9 where the lord of the world, the lord causing happiness (shambhu), cut off the head of brahma, where the great cane (Calamus Rotang) originated and became the staff of punishment of the beings, umayā yatra sahitaḥ śaṅkaro nīlalohitaḥ | ṛṣibhiḥ prārthitaḥ pūrvaṁ dadau yatra giriḥ sutām ||3-84-10 ṣaṅkarāya jagaddhātre śivāya jagatīpate | where lord śaṅkara who causes auspiciousness and prosperity, the lord with blue colour, stays with umā, where long ago, the giri (himālaya) gave the daughter, according to the prayers of sages, to lord śaṅkara who causes auspiciousness and prosperity, the protector of the universe, shiva, the lord of the universe. yatra lebhe hariścakramupāsya bahubhirdinaiḥ ||3-84-11 puṣkaraiḥ shatapatraishcha netreṇa ca jagatpatim | where hari (viṣṇu) obtained his cakra after serving the lord of the universe (shiva) for many days, with blue lotuses and lotuses with hundred petals and also with his eyes, guhāṁ yatra samāśritya krīḍante siddhakinnarāḥ ||3-84-12 priyābhiḥ saha modante pibante madhu chottamam | where, inside the caves, siddha-s and kinnara-s play and enjoy with their dear women, drinking the best, sweet honey, yamuddhṛtya bhujaiḥ sarvaiḥ paulastyo virarāma ha ||3-84-13 which the son of pulastya (rāvaṇa), lifted up with all his arms and withdrew, tamāruhya mahāśailaṁ devakīnandano hariḥ | mānasasyottaraṁ tīraṁ jagāma yadunandanaḥ ||3-84-14 climbing that great mountain, the son of devakī, hari (kṛṣṇa, viṣṇu), the son of yadu, reached the north bank of the lake mānasa. tapaśchartuṁ kila harirviṣṇuḥ sarveśvaraḥ śivaḥ | hari, viṣṇu (kṛṣṇa) wanted to perform penance to please the lord of all, lord shiva. jaṭī cīrī jagannātho mānuṣaṁ vapurāsthitaḥ ||3-84-15 The lord of the universe was having twisted locks of hair. Taking the body of man, he was wearing bark strips. tapase dhṛtachittastu shuchau bhūmāvupāviśat | avaruhya tato yānādgaruḍādvedasaṁmitāt ||3-84-16 Alighting from his vehicle, garuḍa, established by the veda-s and fixing his mind on penance, the lord sat on the clean place. dvādaśābdaṁ tapaśchartuṁ mano dadhne tato hariḥ | phālgunena tu māsena samārebhe jagatpatiḥ ||3-84-17 Then hari (viṣṇu, kṛṣṇa) decided in his mind to perform penance for two and ten (twelve) years. The lord of the universe began his penance in the month of phālguna (February- March). śākabhakṣo kṛtajapo vedādhyayanatatparaḥ | kimuddishya jagannāthastapaścharati mānavaḥ ||3-84-18 taṁ na vidmo yathākāmaṁ durjṣeyeśvaracintanā | The lord of the universe performed penance, eating vegetables, chanting, and immersed in the study of vedas. It was not known why he was performing penance as a man. The lord's thinking is difficult (for others) to know. tapasyati tadā viṣṇau parvate bhūtasevite ||3-84-19 garuḍaḥ kashyapasuta indhanāni samācinot | homārthaṁ vāsudevasya charatastapa uttamam ||3-84-20 While viṣṇu (kṛṣṇa) was performing penance on the mountain (kailāsa) served by bhūta-s, the son of kashyapa, garuḍa, gathered the firewood for the sacrificial fire for vāsudeva (kṛṣṇa) who was performing the best penance. cakrarājo'tha puṣpāṇi saṣchinoti tadā hareḥ | dikṣu sarvāsu sarvatra rarakṣa jaladastadā ||3-84-21 The king of cakra-s (sudarshana) then gathered the flowers for hari (viṣṇu, kṛṣṇa). Then the conch (pāṣchajanya ), obtained from the waters (of the ocean) protected all directions (during the penance). khaḍga āhṛtya yatnena kuśānsubahuśastadā | gadā kaumodakī caiva paricaryāṁ cakāra ha ||3-84-22 The sword (of kṛṣṇa) then gathered many kusha grass (for the penance ) with effort. The mace, kaumodakī performed service (during the penance). dhanuḥpravaramatyugraṁ śārṅgaṁ dānavabhīṣaṇam | sthitaṁ hi puratastasya yatheṣṭaṁ bhṛtyavatsvayam ||3-84-23 The chief among the bows, the highly powerful śārṅgaṁ, fearful for the sons of danu stood in front of kṛṣṇa as a servant to his like. juhoti bhagavānviṣṇuredhobhirbahubhiḥ sadā | ājyādibhistadā havyairagniṁ saṁpūjya mādhavaḥ ||3-84-24 saptārchiṣaḥ samāptiṁ ca samastavyastataḥ kṛtī | Lord viṣṇu (kṛṣṇa), mādhava, lighted the firewood and worshipped the fire god by pouring clarified butter and many other offerings to the fire performing the sacrifice in a brief as well as detailed manner and completing the same. ekasminnekadā māse bhuṣjāno niyatātmavān ||3-84-25 kṛṣṇa, the one with controlled soul performed the penance, eating food once a day for the first month. dvitīye tvatha paryāye bhuṣjannekena keśavaḥ | ekasminvatsare bhuṣjaṁstathaivaikena kenachit ||3-84-26 From the second month onwards, keshava ate during every alternate months. Then he performed penance by eating only once in an year some time. samāpya tattapaḥ sarvamevameva jagatpatiḥ | dvādaśābde tathā pūrṇaṁ ūnamāse jagatpatiḥ ||3-84-27 juhvannagniṁ samāsthāya paṭhanmantraṁ janārdanaḥ | Completing all those penances in this way, the lord of the world, at the time when one month is required to complete twelve years, janārdana (kṛṣṇa) performed the fire sacrifice, reciting the mantras. āraṇyakaṁ paṭhanviṣṇuḥ sākṣātsarveśvaro hariḥ | Aste dhyānaparastatra paṭhanpraṇavamuttamam ||3-84-28 Lord viṣṇu (kṛṣṇa), hari, the real lord of all, reciting āraṇyaka, performed meditation, by reciting the praṇava mantra, the best. iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe bhaviṣyaparvaṇi kailāsayātrāyāṁ kṛṣṇatapovarṇane caturaśītitamo'dhyāyaḥ This is the eighty-fourth chapter of bhaviṣyaparva, harivaṁśa, khila of mahabhārata, in kalāsayātra, kṛṣṇa's penance