SECTION –CCIII
(Markandeya-Samasya Parva Continued)
"Markandeya said, 'The illustrious Dhundhu,
O king, was the son of Madhu and Kaitabha, and possessed of great energy and
prowess, he underwent ascetic penances of great austerity and he stood erect on
one leg and reduced his body to a mass of only veins and arteries, and Brahma,
gratified with him, gave him a boon. And the boon he had asked of the lord
Prajapati was in these words, 'Let no one among the gods, the Danavas, the
Rakshas, the Snakes, the Gandharvas and the Rakshasas be capable of slaying me.
Even this is the boon that I ask of thee.' And the Grandsire replied unto him
saying, 'Let it be as thou wishest. Go thy way.' And thus addressed by the
Grandsire, the Danava placed the feet of the Deity on his head and having thus
touched with reverence the Deity's feet he went away and possessed of mighty
energy and prowess. Dhundhu, having obtained the boon hastily approached Vishnu
remembering the death of his father at the hands of that Deity, and the
wrathful Dhundhu having vanquished the gods with the Gandharvas began to
distress all the celestials with Vishnu at their head. And at last O bull of
the Bharata race, that wicked souled Asura arriving at a sea of sands known by
the name of Ujjalaka, began to distress to the utmost of his might the asylum of
Utanka. And endued with fierce energy, Dhundhu, the son of Madhu and Kaitabha,
lay in his subterranean cave underneath the sands in the observance of fierce
ascetic and severe austerities with the object of destroying the triple world,
and while the Asura lay breathing near the asylum of Utanka that Rishi
possessed of the splendour of fire, king Kualaswa with his troops, accompanied
by the Brahmana Utanka, as also by all his sons set out for that region, O bull
of the Bharata race! And after that grinder of foes, the royal Kuvalaswa, had
set out, accompanied by his twenty-one thousand sons all of whom were
exceedingly powerful, the illustrious Lord Vishnu filled him with his own
energy at the command of Utanka and impelled by the desire of benefiting the
triple world and while that invincible hero was proceeding on his way and loud
voice was heard in the sky repeating the words, 'This fortunate and unslayable
one will become the destroyer of Dhundhu to-day.' And the gods began to shower
upon him celestial flowers. And the celestial kettle drums began to sound their
music although none played upon them. And during the march of that wise one,
cool breezes began to blow and the chief of the celestials poured gentle
showers wetting the dust on the roads and, O Yudhishthira, the cars of the
celestials could be seen high over the spot where the mighty Asura Dhundhu was.
The gods and Gandharvas and great Rishis urged by curiosity, came there to
behold the encounter between Dhundhu and Kuvalaswa and, O thou of the Kuru
race, filled by Narayana with his own energy, king Kuvalaswa, aided by his
sons, soon surrounded that sea of sands and the king ordered that wilderness to
be excavated and after the king's sons had excavated that sea of sands for
seven days, they could see the mighty Asura Dhundhu. And, O bull of the Bharata
race, the huge body of that Asura lay within those sands, effulgent in its own
energy like the Sun himself. And Dhundhu, O king, was lying covering the
western region of the desert and surrounded on all sides by the sons of
Kuvalaswa, the Danava was assaulted with sharp-pointed shafts and maces and
heavy and short clubs and axes and clubs, with iron spikes and darts and bright
and keen-edged swords, and thus assaulted, the mighty Danava rose from his
recumbent posture in wrath. And enraged, the Asura began to swallow those
various weapons that were hurled at him and he vomited from his mouth fiery
flames like unto those of the fire called Samvarta that appeareth at the end of
the Yuga and by those flames of his, the Asura consumed all the sons of the
king and, O tiger among men, like the Lord Kapila of old consuming the sons of
king Sagara, the infuriated Asura overwhelming the triple world with the flames
vomited from his mouth, achieved that wonderful feat in a moment. And, O thou
best of the Bharatas, when all those sons of king Kuvalaswa were consumed by
the fire emitted by the Asura in wrath, the monarch, possessed as he was of
mighty energy, then approached the Danava who, like unto a second Kumbhakarna
of mighty energy, had come to the encounter after waking from his slumbers.
From the body of the king, O monarch, then began to flow a mighty and copious
stream of water and that stream soon extinguished, O king, the fiery flames
emitted by the Asura. And, O great king, the royal Kuvalaswa, filled with Yoga
force, having extinguished those flames by the water that issued from his body,
consumed that Daitya of wicked prowess with the celebrated weapon called Brahma
for relieving the triple world of its fears, and the royal sage Kuvalaswa,
having consumed that great Asura, that foe of the celestials and slayer of all
enemies, by means of that weapon became like unto a second chief of the triple
world and the high-souled king Kuvalaswa having slain the the Asura Dhundhu,
became from that time known by the name of Dhundhumara and from that time he
came to be regarded as invincible in battle, and the gods and the great Rishis
who had come to witness that encounter were so far gratified with him that they
addressed him saying, 'Ask thou a boon of us!' And thus solicited by the gods,
the king bowed to them and filled with joy, the king said unto them, with
joined hands these words, 'Let me be always able to give wealth unto superior
Brahmanas! Let me be invincible as regards all foes! Let there be friendship
between myself and Vishnu! Let me have no ill-feeling towards any creature! Let
my heart always turn to virtue! And let me (finally) dwell in heaven for ever!'
And the gods and the Rishis and Utanka, hearing this were exceedingly gratified
and all of them said, 'Let it be as thou wishest!' And, O king, having also
blessed him with many other speeches, the gods and the great Rishis then went
away to their respective abodes. And, O Yudhishthira, after the slaughter of
all his sons, king Kuvalaswa had still three sons left, and, O thou of the
Bharata race, they were called Dridaswa and Kapilaswa and Chandraswa. It is
from them, O king, that the illustrious line of kings belonging to Ikshvaku's race,
all possessed of immeasurable prowess, hath sprung.
"It was thus, O best of king, that that
great Daitya of the name Dhundhu, the son of Madhu and Kaitabha was slain by
Kuvalaswa and it was for this also that king came to be called by the name of
Dhundhumara. And indeed, the name he assumed was no empty one but was literally
true.
"I have now told thee all that thou hadst
asked me, viz., all about that person in consequence of whose act the story of
Dhundhu's death hath become famous. He that listeneth to this holy history
connected with the glory of Vishnu, becometh virtuous and obtaineth children.
By listening to this story on particular lunations, one becometh blessed with
long life and great good fortune. And freed from every anxiety one ceaseth to
have any fear of diseases."
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