VISHNU PURAN BOOK. V. CHAP. XXIV. XXV. XXVI

 

VISHNU PURAN BOOK. V. CHAP. XXIV. XXV. XXVI

 

Muchukunda goes to perform penance. Krishna takes the army and treasures of Kalayavana, and repairs with them to Dwaraka. Balarama visits Vraja: inquiries of its inhabitants after Krishna.

 

THUS praised by the wise Muchukunda, the sovereign of all things, the eternal lord, Hari, said to him, "Go to whatever celestial regions you wish, lord of men, possessed of might irresistible, honoured by my favour. When you have fully enjoyed all heavenly pleasures, you shall be born in a distinguished family, retaining the recollection of your former births; and you shall finally obtain emancipation." Having heard this promise, and prostrated himself before Achyuta, the lord of the world, Muchukunda, went forth from the cave, and beholding men of diminutive stature, now first knew that the Kali age had arrived. The king therefore departed to Gandhamadana, the shrine of Naranarayana, to perform penance.

 

Krishna having by this stratagem destroyed his enemy, returned to Mathura, and took captive his army, rich in horses, elephants and cars, which he conducted to Dwaraka, and delivered to Ugrasena, and the Yadu race was relieved from all fear of invasion. Baladeva, when hostilities had entirely ceased, being desirous of seeing his kinsmen, went to Nanda's cow-pens, and there again conversed with the herdsmen and their females, with affection and respect. By some, the elders, he was embraced; others, the juniors, he embraced; and with those of his own age, male or female, he talked and laughed. The cowherds made many kind speeches to Halayudha; but some of the Gopis spoke to him with the affectation of anger, or with feelings of jealousy, as they inquired after the loves of Krishna with the women of Mathura. "Is all well with the fickle and inconstant Krishna?" said they: "Does the volatile swain, the friend of an instant, amuse the women of the city by laughing at our rustic efforts (to please him)? Does he ever think of us, singing in chorus to his songs? Will he not come here once again to see his mother? But why talk of these things? it is a different tale to tell for him without us, and for us without him. Father, mother, brother, husband, kin, what have we not abandoned for his sake? but he is a monument of ingratitude. Yet tell us, does not Krishna talk of coming here? Falsehood is never, O Krishna, to be uttered by thee. Verily this is Damodara, this is Govinda, who has given up his heart to the damsels of the city, who has no longer any regard for us, but looks upon us with disdain." So saying, the Gopis, whose minds were fixed on Krishna, addressed Rama in his place, calling him Damodara and Govinda, and laughed and were merry; and Rama consoled them by communicating to them agreeable, modest, affectionate, and gentle messages from Krishna. With the cowherds he talked mirthfully, as he had been wont to do, and rambled along with them over the lands of Vraja [*1].

 

Footnotes

 

^570:1 This visit of Balarama to Vraja is placed by the Hari Vans'a anterior to the fall of Mathura; by the Bhagavata, long subsequent to the establishment of the Yadus at Dwaraka.

 

 

CHAP. XXV.

 

Balarama finds wine in the hollow of a tree; becomes inebriated; commands the Yamuna to come to him, and on her refusal drags her out of her course: Lakshmi gives him ornaments and a dress: he returns to Dwaraka, and marries Revati.

 

WHILST the mighty S'esha [*1], the upholder of the globe, was thus engaged in wandering amidst the forests with the herdsmen, in the disguise of a mortal--having rendered great services to earth, and still considering what more was to be achieved--Varuna, in order to provide for his recreation, said to his wife Varuni (the goddess of wine), "Thou, Madira, art ever acceptable to the powerful Ananta; go therefore, auspicious and kind goddess, and promote his enjoyments." Obeying these commands, Varuni went and established herself in the hollow of a Kadamba tree in the woods of Vrindavana. Baladeva, roaming about, came there, and smelling the pleasant fragrance of liquor, resumed his ancient passion for strong drink. The holder of the ploughshare observing the vinous drops distilling from the Kadamba tree, was much delighted, and gathered and quaffed them [*2] along with the herdsmen and the Gopis, whilst those who were skilful with voice and lute celebrated him in their songs. Being inebriated with the wine, and the drops of perspiration standing like pearls upon his limbs, he called out, not knowing what he said, "Come hither, Yamuna river, I want to bathe." The river, disregarding the words of a drunken man, came not at his bidding: on which Rama in a rage took up his ploughshare, which he plunged into her bank, and dragged her to him, calling out, "Will you not come, you jade? will you not come? Now go where you please (if you can)." Thus saying, he compelled the dark river to quit its ordinary course, and follow him whithersoever he wandered through the wood. Assuming a mortal figure, the Yamuna, with distracted looks, approached Balabhadra, and entreated him to pardon her, and let her go: but he replied, "I will drag you with my ploughshare in a thousand directions, since you contemn my prowess and strength." At last, however, appeased by her reiterated prayers, he let her go, after she had watered all the country [*3]. When he had bathed, the goddess of beauty, Lakshmi, came and gave him a beautiful lotus to place in one ear, and an earring for the other; a fresh necklace of lotus flowers, sent by Varuna; and garments of a dark blue colour, as costly as the wealth of the ocean: and thus decorated with a lotus in one ear, a ring in the other, dressed in blue garments, and wearing a garland, Balarama appeared united with loveliness. Thus decorated, Rama sported two months in Vraja, and then returned to Dwaraka, where the married Revati, the daughter of king Raivata, by whom he had two sons, Nishatha and Ulmuka [*4].

 

Footnotes

 

^571:1 The great serpent, of whom Balarama is an incarnation.

 

^571:2 There is no vinous exudation from the Kadamba tree (Nauclea Kadamba), but its flowers are said to yield a spirit by distillation; whence Kadambari is one of the synonymes of wine, or spiritous . The grammarians, however, also derive the word from some legend, stating it to be so called because it was produced from the hollow of a Kadamba tree on the Gomantha mountain. The Hari Vans'a, which alone makes the Gomantha mountain the scene of an exploit of Krishna and Rama, makes no mention of this origin of wine; and the Bhagavata merely says that Varuni took up her abode in the hollow of a tree. There must be some other authority therefore for this story.

 

^572:3 The Bhagavata and Hari Vans'a repeat this story; the latter very imperfectly; the former adds, that the Yamuna is still to be seen following the course along which she was dragged by Balarama. The legend probably alludes to the construction of canals from the Jumna, for the purposes of irrigation; and the works of the Mohammedans in this way, which are well known, were no doubt preceded by similar canals dug by order of Hindu princes.

 

 

    

 

CHAP. XXVI.

 

Krishna carries off Rukmini: the princes who come to rescue her repulsed by Balarama. Rukmin overthrown, but spared by Krishna, founds Bhojakata. Pradyumna born of Rukmini.

 

BHISHMAKA was king of Vidarbha, residing at Kundina [*1]. He had a son named Rukmin, and a beautiful daughter termed Rukmini. Krishna fell in love with the latter, and solicited her in marriage; but her brother who hated Krishna, would not assent to the espousals. At the suggestion of Jarasandha, and with the concurrence of his son, the powerful sovereign Bhishmaka affianced Rukmini to S'is'upala. In order to celebrate the nuptials, Jarasandha and other princes, the friends of S'is'upala, assembled in the capital of Vidarbha; and Krishna, attended by Balabhadra and many other Yadavas, also went to Kundina to witness the wedding. When there, Hari contrived, on the eve of the nuptials, to carry off the princess [*2], leaving Rama and his kinsmen to sustain the weight of his enemies. Paundraka, the illustrious Dantavakra, Viduratha, S'is'upala, Jarasandha, S'alya, and other kings, indignant at the insult, exerted themselves to kill Krishna, but were repelled by Balarama and the Yadavas. Rukmin, vowing that he would never enter Kundina again until he had slain Kes'ava in fight, pursued and overtook him. In the combat that ensued, Krishna destroyed with his discus, as if in sport, the host of Rukmin, with all its horse, and elephants, and foot, and chariots, and overthrew him, and hurled him on the ground, and would have put him to death, but was withheld by the entreaties of Rukmini. "He is my only brother," she exclaimed, "and must not be slain by thee: restrain your wrath, O divine lord, and give me my brother in charity." Thus addressed by her, Krishna, whom no acts affect, spared Rukmin [*3]; and he (in pursuance of his vow) founded the city Bhojakata [*4], and ever afterwards dwelt therein. After the defeat of Rukmin, Krishna married Rukmini in due form, having first made her his own by the Rakshasa ritual [*5]. She bore him the gallant Pradyumna, a portion of the deity of love. The demon Sambara carried him off, but he slew the demon.

 

Footnotes

 

^573:1 Vidarbha is the country of Berar, and the name remains in the present city of Beder: the capital however, Kundinapur, is commonly identified with a place called Kundapur, about forty miles north-east of Amaravati (in Berar).

 

^573:2 When she had gone forth from the city to worship Ambika: Bhagavata. Indrani, the wife of Indra: Hari Vans'a. Our text tells the circumstance more concisely than the others.

 

^574:3 After depriving him of his eyebrows and hair. In the Bhagavata, Balarama also interferes in favour of Rukmin, and reproves Krishna for disfiguring him.

 

^574:4 Of course this was somewhere in the neighbourhood of Kundina or Vidarbha, and is usually supposed to be situated on the Narmada.

 

^574:5 That is, by violence: thus Manu; "The seizure of a maiden by force, whilst she weeps and calls for assistance, after her kinsmen and friends have been slain in battle, or wounded, and their houses broken open, is the marriage called Rakshasa." III. 33. According to the Bhagavata, Rukmini sends to invite Krishna to carry her off, and instructs him how to proceed.

 

    

The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson,