SECTION –CLXXVIII
(Tirtha-yatra Parva Continued)
Vaisampayana continued, "And the powerful
Bhimasena, having thus come under the power of the snake, thought of its mighty
and wonderful prowess; and said unto it, 'Be thou pleased to tell me, O snake,
who thou art. And, O foremost of reptiles, what wilt thou do with me? I am
Bhimasena, the son of Pandu, and next by birth to Yudhishthira the just. And
endued as I am with the strength of ten thousand elephants, how hast thou been
able to overpower me? In fight have been encountered and slain by me
innumerable lions, and tigers, and buffaloes, and elephants. And, O best of
serpents, mighty Rakshasas and Pisachas, and Nagas, are unable to stand the
force of my arms. Art thou possessed of any magic, or hast thou received any
boon, that although exerting myself, I have been overcome by thee? Now I have
been convinced that the strength of men is false, for, O serpent, by thee hath
such mighty strength of men been baffled.'
Vaisampayana continued, "When the heroic
Bhima of noble deed had said this, the snake caught him, and coiled him all
round with his body, having thus subdued that mighty-aimed one, and freed his
plump arms alone, the serpent spake these words, 'By good fortune it is that,
myself being hungry, after long time the gods have to-day destined thee for my
food; for life is dear unto every embodied being, I should relate unto thee the
way in which I have come by this snake form. Hear, O best of the pious, I have
fallen into this plight on account of the wrath of the Maharhis. Now desirous
of getting rid of the curse, I will narrate unto thee all about it. Thou hast,
no doubt, heard of the royal sage, Nahusha. He was the son of Ayu, and the
perpetuator of the line of thy ancestors. Even I am that one. For having
affronted the Brahmanas I, by (virtue of) Agastya's malediction, have come by
this condition. Thou art my agnate, and lovely to behold,--so thou shouldst not
be slain by me,--yet I shall to-day devour thee! Do thou behold the
dispensation of Destiny! And be it a buffalo, or an elephant, none coming
within my reach at the sixth division of the day, can, O best of men, escape.
And, O best of the Kurus, thou hast not been taken by an animal of the lower
order, having strength alone,--but this (hath been so) by reason only of the
boon I have received. As I was falling rapidly from Sakra's throne placed on
the front of his palace, I spake unto that worshipful sage (Agastya), 'Do thou
free me from this curse.' Thereat filled with compassion, that energetic one said
unto me, 'O king, thou shall be freed after the lapse of some time.' Then I
fell to the earth (as a snake); but my recollection (of former life) did not
renounce me. And although it be so ancient, I still recollect all that was
said. And the sage said unto me, That person who conversant with the relation
subsisting between the soul and the Supreme Being, shall be able to answer the
questions put by thee, shall deliver thee. And, O king, taken by thee, strong
beings superior to thee, shall immediately lose their strength, I heard these
words of those compassionate ones, who felt attached unto me. And then the
Brahmanas vanished. Thus, O highly effulgent one, having become a serpent, I,
doing exceedingly sinful acts, live in unclean hell, in expectation of the
(appointed) time.' The mighty-armed Bhimasena addressed the serpent, saying, 'I
am not angry, O mighty snake,--nor do I blame myself. Since in regard to
happiness and misery, men sometimes possess the power of bringing and
dismissing them, and sometimes do not. Therefore one should not fret one's
mind. Who can baffle destiny by self-exertion? I deem destiny to be supreme,
and self-exertion to be of no avail. Smitten with the stroke of destiny, the prowess
of my arms lost, behold me to-day fallen unto this condition without palpable
cause. But to-day I do not so much grieve for my own self being slain, as I do
for my brothers deprived of their kingdom, and exiled into the forest. This
Himalaya is inaccessible, and abounds with Yakshas and the Rakshasas, And
searching about for me, they will be distracted. And hearing that I have been
killed, (my brothers) will forego all exertion, for, firm in promise, they have
hitherto been controlled by my harsh speech, I being desirous of gaining the
kingdom. Or the intelligent Arjuna (alone), being versed in every lore, and
incapable of being overcome by gods and Rakshasas and Gandharvas, will not be
afflicted with grief. That mighty-armed and exceedingly powerful one is able
single-handed to speedily pull down from his place even the celestials. What
shall I say of the deceitfully gambling son of Dhritarashtra, detested of all
men, and filled with haughtiness and ignorance! And I also grieve for my poor
mother, affectionate to her sons, who is ever solicitous for our greatness in a
large measure than is attained by our enemies. O serpent, the desire that
forlorn one had in me will all be fruitless in consequence of my destruction.
And gifted with manliness, the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, following their
elder brother (me), and always protected by the strength of my arms, will,
owing to my destruction, be depressed and deprived of their prowess, and
stricken with grief. This is what I think.' In this way Vrikodara lamented
profusely. And being bound by the body of the snake, he could not exert
himself.
"On the other hand, Kunti's son,
Yudhishthira, (seeing) and reflecting on dreadful ill omens, became alarmed.
Terrified by the blaze of the points of the horizon, jackals stationing
themselves on the right of that hermitage, set up frightful and inauspicious
yells. And ugly Vartikas as of dreadful sight, having one wing, one eye, and
one leg, were seen to vomit blood, facing the sun. And the wind began to blow
dryly, and violently, attracting grits. And to the right all the beasts and
birds began to cry. And in the rear the black crows cried, 'Go!' 'Go!' And
momentarily his (Yudhishthira's) right arm began to twitch, and his chest and
left leg shook (of themselves). And indicating evil his left eye contracted
spasmodically. Thereupon, O Bharata, the intelligent Yudhishthira the just,
inferring some great calamity (to be imminent), asked Draupadi, saying, 'Where
is Bhima?' Thereat Panchali said that Vrikodara had long gone out. Hearing
this, that mighty-armed king set out with Dhaumya, after having said unto
Dhananjaya, "Thou shouldst protect Draupadi.' And he also directed Nakula
and Sahadeva to protect the Brahmanas. And issuing from the hermitage that lord,
Kunti's son, following the footprints of Bhimasena, began to search for him in
that mighty forest. And on coming to the east, he found mighty leaders of
elephant-herds (slain) and saw the earth marked with Bhima's (foot-prints).
Then seeing thousands of deer and hundreds of lions lying in the forest, the
king ascertained his course. And on the way were scattered trees pulled down by
the wind caused by the thighs of that hero endued with the speed of the wind as
he rushed after the deer. And proceeding, guided by those marks, to a spot
filled with dry winds and abounding in leafless vegetables, brackish and devoid
of water, covered with thorny plants and scattered over with gravel, stumps and
shrubs and difficult of access and uneven and dangerous, he saw in a mountain
cavern his younger brother motionless, caught in the folds of that foremost of
snakes."
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