VISHNU PURAN BOOK. V. CHAP. XXXI. XXXII.XXXIII

 

VISHNU PURAN BOOK. V. CHAP. XXXI. XXXII.XXXIII

 

Krishna, with Indra's consent, takes the Parijata tree to Dwaraka; marries the princesses rescued from Naraka.

 

KES'AVA, being thus eulogized by the king of the gods, smiled, and spake gravely to him in reply. "Thou art Indra," said he, "the king of the celestials: we are but mortals, O lord of the world: thou must pardon therefore the offence that I have committed. Let this Parijata tree be taken to its appropriate situation. I removed it in compliance with the words of Satya. Receive back also this your thunderbolt, cast at me; for this is your proper weapon, the destroyer of your foes." Indra answered and said, "Thou beguilest us, O lord, in calling thyself a mortal; but we know thee to be the lord, although not endowed with subtlety of discernment. Thou art that thou art, engaged in the active preservation of the earth; thou extractest the thorns implanted in her bosom, destroyer of the demon race. Let this Parijata tree be transferred to Dwaraka, and it shall remain upon earth as long as thou abidest in the world of mortals." Hari, having assented to the proposal of Indra, returned to earth, hymned by attendant sages, saints, and quiristers of heaven.

 

When Krishna arrived over Dwaraka, he blew his shell, and delighted all the inhabitants with the sound. Then alighting from Garuda, he proceeded with Satyabhama to her garden, and there planted the great Parijata tree, the smell of which perfumed the earth for three furlongs, and an approach to which enabled every one to recollect the events of a prior existence; so that, on beholding their faces in that tree, all the Yadavas contemplated themselves in their (original) celestial forms. Then Krishna took possession of the wealth, elephants, horses, and women, which he had recovered from Naraka, and which had been brought to Dwaraka by the servants of the demon; and at an auspicious season he espoused all the maidens whom Naraka had carried off from their friends; at one and the same moment he received the hands of all of them, according to the ritual, in separate mansions. Sixteen thousand and one hundred was the number of the maidens, and into so many different forms did the foe of Madhu multiply himself; so that every one of the damsels thought that he had wedded her in his single person; and the creator of the world, Hari, the assumer of universal shape, abode severally in the dwelling of each of these his wives.

 

 

 

CHAP. XXXII.

 

Children of Krishna. Usha, the daughter of Bana, sees Aniruddha in a dream, and becomes enamoured of him.

 

PARAS'ARA.--I have enumerated to you Pradyumna and the other sons of Rukmini. Satyabhama bore Bhanu and Bhairika. The sons of Rohini were Diptimat, Tamrapakshi, and others. The powerful S'amba and other sons were born of Jambavati. Bhadravinda and other valiant youths were the sons of Nagnajiti. S'aivya (or Mitravinda) had several sons, of whom Sangramajit was the chief. Vrika and others were begotten by Hari on Madri. Lakshmana had Gatravat and others: and S'ruta and others were the sons of Kalindi [*1]. Krishna had sons also by his other wives, in all one hundred and eighty thousand. The eldest of the whole was Pradyumna, the son of Rukmini: his son was Aniruddha, from whom Vraja was born: his mother was Usha, the daughter of Bana, and grand-daughter of Bali, whom Aniruddha won in war. On that occasion a fierce battle took place between Hari and S'ankara, in which the thousand arms of Bana were lopped away by the discus of the former.

 

MAITREYA.--HOW happened it, venerable Brahman, that a contest on account of Usha arose between S'iva and Krishna? and in what manner did Hari cut off the thousand arms of Bana? This, illustrious sir, thou art able to narrate.

 

PARAS'ARA.--Usha, the daughter of Bana, having seen Parvati sporting with her lord, S'ambhu, was inspired with a wish for similar dalliance. The beautiful Gauri, who knows the hearts of all, said to Usha, "Do not grieve; you shall have a husband." "But when will this be?" thought Usha to herself, "or who will be my lord?" On which Parvati continued; "He who shall appear to you, princess, in a dream on the twelfth lunation of the light half of Vais'akha, he will be your husband." Accordingly, as the goddess had foretold, on that lunar day a youth appeared to Usha in a dream, of whose person she became enamoured. When she woke, and no longer perceived him, she was overcome with sorrow, and, unrestrained by modesty, demanded of her companion whither he had gone. The companion and friend of the princess was Chitralekha, the daughter of Kubhanda, the minister of Bana. "Of whom do you speak?" inquired she of Usha. But the princess, recollecting herself, was ashamed, and remained silent. At length, however, Chitralekha conciliated her confidence, and she related to her what had passed, and what the goddess had foretold; and she requested her friend to devise some means of uniting her with the person whom she had beheld in her dream.

 

Chitralekha then delineated the most eminent gods, demons, spirits, and mortals, and shewed them to Usha. Putting aside the portraits of gods, spirits, snake-gods, and demons, the princess selected those of mortals, and amongst them the heroes of the races of Andhaka and Vrishni. When she came to the likenesses of Krishna and Rama, she was confused with shame; from the portrait of Pradyumna she modestly averted her eyes; but the moment she beheld the picture of his son, the object of her passion, her eyes wide expanded, and all her bashfulness was discarded. "This is he! this is he!" said she to Chitralekha; and her friend, who was endowed with magic power, bade her be of good cheer, and set off through the air to Dwaraka.

 

Footnotes

 

^591:1 The Bhagavata says, each of his eight queens had ten sons, and gives the ten names of each set, with one or two exceptions.

 

 

 

CHAP. XXXIII.

 

Bana solicits S'iva for war: finds Aniruddha in the palace, and makes him prisoner. Krishna, Balarama, and Pradyumna come to his rescue S'iva and Skanda aid Bana: the former is disabled; the latter put to flight. Bana encounters Krishna, who cuts off all his arms, and is about to put him to death. S'iva intercedes, and Krishna a spares his life. Vishnu and S'iva are the same.

 

BEFORE this took place, Bana had been engaged in the adoration of the three-eyed god, and had thus prayed to him: "I am humiliated, O lord, by the possession of a thousand arms in a state of peace; let some hostilities ensue, in which I may derive some advantage from their possession. Without war, what is the use of these arms? they are but a burden to me." S'ankara replied, "When thy peacock banner shall be broken, thou shalt have war, the delight of the evil spirits that feast on the flesh of man." Bana, pleased by this promise, proffered his thanks to S'ambhu, and returned to his palace, where he found his standard broken; at which his joy was increased.

 

At that time the nymph Chitralekha returned from Dwaraka, and by the exercise of her magic power brought Aniruddha along with her. The guards of the inner apartments discovering him there with Usha, reported it to the king who immediately sent a body of his followers to seize the prince; but the valiant youth, taking up an iron club, slew his assailants: on which Bana mounted his car, advanced against him, and endeavoured to put him to death. Finding, however, that Aniruddha was not to be subdued by prowess, he followed the counsel of his minister, and brought his magical faculties into the conflict, by which he succeeded in capturing the Yadu prince, and binding him in serpent bonds.

 

When Aniruddha was missed from Dwaravati, and the Yadavas were inquiring of one another whither he had gone, Narada came to them, and told them that he was the prisoner of Bana, having been conveyed by a female, possessed of magic faculties, to S'onitapura [*1] When they heard this, they were satisfied; for they had imagined he had been taken away by the gods (in reprisal for the Parijata tree). Krishna therefore immediately summoned Garuda, who came with a wish; and mounting upon him, along with Bala and Pradyumna, he set off for the city of Bana. On their approach to the city they were opposed by the spirits who attend on Rudra, but these were soon destroyed by Hari, and he and his companions reached the vicinity of the town. Here mighty Fever, an emanation from Mahes'wara, having three feet and three heads [*2], fought desperately with Vishnu in defence of Bana. Baladeva, upon whom his ashes were scattered, was seized with burning heat, and his eyelids trembled: but he obtained relief by clinging to the body of Krishna. Contending thus with the divine holder of the bow, the Fever emanating from S'iva was quickly expelled from the person of Krishna by Fever which he himself engendered. Brahma beholding the impersonated malady bewildered by the beating inflicted by the arms of the deity, entreated the latter to desist; and the foe of Madhu refrained, and absorbed into himself the fever he had created. The rival Fever then departed, saying to Krishna, "Those men who call to memory the combat between us shall be ever exempt from febrile disease."

 

Next Vishnu overcame and demolished the five fires [*3], and with perfect ease annihilated the army of the Danavas. Then the son of Bali (Bana), with the whole of the Daitya host, assisted by S'ankara and Kartikeya, fought with S'auri. A fierce combat took place between Hari and S'ankara; all the regions shook, scorched by their flaming weapons, and the celestials felt assured that the end of the universe was at hand. Govinda, with the weapon of yawning, set S'ankara a-gape; and then the demons and the demigods attendant upon S'iva were destroyed on every side; for Hara, overcome with incessant gaping, sat down in his car, and was unable longer to contend with Krishna, whom no acts affect. The deity of war, Kartikeya, wounded in the arm by Garuda, struck by the weapons of Pradyumna, and disarmed by the shout of Hari, took to flight. Bana, when he saw S'ankara disabled, the Daityas destroyed, Guha fled, and S'iva's followers slain, advanced on his vast car, the horses of which were harnessed by Nandis'a, to encounter Krishna and his associates Bala and Pradyumna. The valiant Balabhadra, attacking the host of Bana, wounded them in many ways with his arrows, and put them to a shameful rout; and their sovereign beheld them dragged about by Rama with his ploughshare, or beaten by him with his club, or pierced by Krishna with his arrows: he therefore attacked Krishna, and a fight took place between them: they cast at each other fiery shafts, that pierced through their armour; but Krishna intercepted with his arrows those of Bana, and cut them to pieces. Bana nevertheless wounded Kes'ava, and the wielder of the discus wounded Bana; and both desirous of victory, and seeking enraged the death of his antagonist, hurled various missiles at each other. When an infinite number of arrows had been cut to pieces, and the weapons began to be exhausted, Krishna resolved to put Bana to death. The destroyer of the demon host therefore took up his discus Sudars'ana, blazing with the radiance of a hundred suns. As he was in the act of casting it, the mystical goddess Kotavi, the magic lore of the demons, stood naked before him [*4]. Seeing her before him, Krishna, with unclosed eyes, cast Sudars'ana, to cut off the arms of Bana. The discus, dreaded in its flight by the whole of the weapons of the demons, lopped off successively the numerous arms of the Asura. Beholding Krishna with the discus again in his hand, and preparing to launch it once more, for the total demolition of Bana, the foe of Tripura (S'iva) respectfully addressed him. The husband of Uma, seeing the blood streaming from the dissevered arms of Bana, approached Govinda, to solicit a suspension of hostilities, and said to him, "Krishna, Krishna, lord of the world, I know thee, first of spirits, the supreme lord, infinite felicity, without beginning or end, and beyond all things. This sport of universal being, in which thou takest the persons of god, animals, and men, is a subordinate attribute of thy energy. Be propitious therefore, O lord, unto me. I have given Bana assurance of safety; do not thou falsify that which I have spoken. He has grown old in devotion to me; let him not incur thy displeasure. The Daitya has received a boon from me, and therefore I deprecate thy wrath." When he had concluded, Govinda, dismissing his resentment against the Asura, looked graciously on the lord of Uma, the wielder of the trident, and said to him, "Since you, S'ankara, have given a boon unto Bana, let him live: from respect to your promises, my discus is arrested: the assurance of safety granted by you is granted also by me. You are fit to apprehend that you are not distinct from me. That which I am, thou art; and that also is this world, with its gods, demons, and mankind. Men contemplate distinctions, because they are stupified by ignorance." So saying, Krishna went to the place where the son of Pradyumna was confined. The snakes that bound him were destroyed, being blasted by the breath of Garuda: and Krishna, placing him, along with his wife, upon the celestial bird, returned with Pradyumna and Rama to Dwaraka [*4].

 

Footnotes

 

^593:1 The synonymes of S'onitapura in the Trikanda S'esha are Devikota, Banapur, Kotivarsham, and Ushavana. The first is usually considered to be the modern Devicotta in the Carnatic, which is commonly believed to be the scene of Bana's defeat. The name, however, occurs in other parts of India; in the Dekhin, on [p. 594] the banks of the Godavari, according to Wilford the capital of Munja (As. Res. IX. 199); and in Asam, near Gwalpara, as the city of the Daityas. As. Res. XIV. 443 Hamilton notices the remains of a city so called in Dinajpur. In the Kalika P., Bana is described as the friend, and apparently neighbour, of Naraka, king of Pragjyotish or Asam.

 

^594:2 Alluding to the three stages of febrile paroxysms, or to the recurrence of tertian ague. A contest with this enemy, in the course of military operations, is an allegory which the British armies in India too often illustrate.

 

^594:3 The Ahavaniya, Garhapatya, Dakshina, Sabhya, and Avasathya, are the five fires; of which the three first have a religious, and the other two a secular character. The first is a fire prepared for oblations at an occasional sacrifice: the second is the household fire, to be perpetually maintained: the third is a sacrificial fire, in the centre of the other two, and placed to the south: the Sabhya is a fire lighted to warm a party: and the Avasatthya the common domestic or culinary fire. Manu, III. too, 185, and Kulluka Bhatta's explanation.

 

^595:4 Kotavi is said to be an eighth portion of Rudrani, and the tutelary goddess of the Daityas, composed of incantations. The Hari V. calls her also Lamba, and intimates her being the mother of Bana, and as identical with Durga. The word in the lexicons designates a naked woman, and is thence applicable to Durga, in some of her forms.

 

^596:4 There can be little doubt that this legend describes a serious struggle between the S'aivas and Vaishnavas, in which the latter, according to their own report, were victorious; and the S'aivas, although they attempt to make out a sort of compromise between Rudra and Krishna, are obliged to admit his having the worst of the conflict, and his inability to protect his votary. The Bhagavata tells the story much as the text. The Hari V. amplifies even more than usual, the narrative occupying nearly seventy pages of the French translation. The legend is to be found to the same purport, but in various degrees of detail, in the Agni P., Kurma P., Padma P. (Uttara Khanda), Vamana P., and Brahma Vaivartta P. (Krishna Janma Khanda).

 

    

The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson,