MAHABHARATA Bk 13: Anusasana Parva – P2.3-Sec CLV

[Anne Terri]

"GOD'S LIVING BIBLE ---- THE THIRD TESTAMENT ----- RESEARCH LIBRARY" ©*
The Mahabharata
of
Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
Translated into English Prose from the Original Sanskrit Text
by
Kisari Mohan Ganguli
[1883-1896]

---

Book 13:
Anusasana Parva – ( P2.3-Sections CXVI-CLV )

SECTION CLV

"Bhishma said, "Thus addressed, king Arjuna remained silent. The god of wind once more spoke to him, 'Listen now, O king, to the story of the greatness of the Brahmana Agastya. Once on a time, the gods were

p. 362

subjugated by the Asuras upon which they became very cheerless. The sacrifices of the deities were all seized, and the Swadha of the Pitris was also misappropriated. Indeed, O Chief of the Haihayas, all the religious acts and observances of human beings also were suspended by the Danavas. Divested of their prosperity, the deities wandered over the earth as we have heard. One day, in course of their wandering they met Agastya of high vows, that Brahmana, O king, who was endued with great energy and splendour which was as blazing as that of the sun. Saluting him duly, the deities made the usual enquiries of politeness. They then, O King, said these words unto that high-souled one, 'We have been defeated by the Danavas in battle and have, therefore, fallen off from affluence and prosperity. Do thou, therefore, O foremost of ascetics, rescue us from this situation of great fear.' Thus informed of the plight to which the deities had been reduced, Agastya became highly incensed (with the Danavas). Possessed of great energy, he at once blazed forth like the all-consuming fire at the time of the universal dissolution. With the blazing rays that then emanated from the Rishi, the Danavas began to be burnt. Indeed, O king, thousands of them began to drop down from the sky. Burning with the energy of Agastya, the Danavas, abandoning both heaven and earth, fled towards the southern direction. At that time the Danava king Vali was performing a Horse-sacrifice in the nether regions. Those great Asuras who were with him in those regions or who were dwelling in the bowels of the earth, were not burnt. The deities, upon the destruction of their foes, then regained their own regions, their fears entirely dispelled. Encouraged by what he accomplished for them, they then solicited the Rishi to destroy those Asuras who had taken refuge within the bowels of the earth or in the nether regions. Thus solicited by the gods, Agastya replied unto them, saying, 'Yes, I am fully competent to consume those Asuras that are dwelling underneath the earth; but if I achieve such a feat, my penances will suffer a diminution. Hence, I shall not exert my power.' Even thus, O king, were the Danavas consumed by the illustrious Rishi with his own energy. Even thus did Agastya of cleansed soul, O monarch, accomplish that feat with the aid of his penances. O sinless one, even so was Agastya as described by me! Shall I continue? Or, will you say anything in reply? Is there any Kshatriya who is greater than Agastya?'

"Bhishma continued, 'Thus addressed, king Arjuna remained silent. The god of wind once more said, 'Hear, O king, one of the great feats of the illustrious Vasishtha. Once on a time the deities were engaged in performing a sacrifice on the shores of the lake Vaikhanasa. Knowing of his puissance, the sacrificing gods thought of Vasishtha and made him their priest in imagination. Meanwhile, seeing the gods reduced and emaciated in consequence of the Diksha they were undergoing, a race of Danavas, of the name of Khalins, of statures as gigantic as mountains, desired to slay them. Those amongst the Danavas that were either

p. 363

disabled or slain in the fight were plunged into the waters of the Manasa lake and in consequence of the boon of the Grandsire they instantly came back to vigour and life. Taking up huge and terrible mountain summits and maces and trees, they agitated the waters of the lake, causing them to swell up to the height of a hundred yojanas. They then ran against the deities numbering ten thousand. Afflicted by the Danavas, the gods then sought the protection of their chief, Vasava-Sakra, however, was soon afflicted by them. In his distress he sought the protection of Vasishtha. At this, the holy Rishi Vasishtha assured the deities, dispelling their fears. Understanding that the gods had become exceedingly cheerless, the ascetic did this through compassion. He put forth his energy and burnt, without any exertion, those Danavas called Khalins. Possessed of wealth of penances, the Rishi brought the River Ganga, who had gone to Kailasa, to that spot. Indeed, Ganga appeared, piercing through the waters of the lake. The lake was penetrated by that river. And as that celestial stream, piercing through the waters of the lake, appeared, it flowed on, under the name of Sarayu. The place whereon those Danavas fell came to be called after them. Even thus were the denizens of Heaven, with Indra at their head, rescued from great distress by Vasishtha, It was thus that those Danavas, who had received boons from Brahman, were slain by that high-souled Rishi. O sinless one, I have narrated to thee the feat which Vasishtha accomplished. Shall I go on? Or, will you say anything! Was there a Kshatriya who could be said to surpass the Brahmana Vasishtha?'

---

NEXT SECTION MAHABHARATA Bk 13: Anusasana Parva – P2.4 CLVI

THE MAHABHARATA of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

The Anusasana Parva, like the Santi Parva before it, is a long hiatus in the narrative of the Mahabharata. Set on the deathbed of Bhishma, the Anusasana Parva is a huge treasure-trove of Brahmanic lore which is obviously a later interpolation in the epic.
PRODUCTION NOTES: (1/12/2004) The printed edition we used divided this book into two parts. Note that each part's page numbering starts at page one, so if you cite a page number in this etext for some reason, you will also need to cite the part. --John Bruno Hare.

---

“God / Brahman Speaking To Anne Terri Through The Holy Spirit: This will be an ongoing endeavor, which will take many hours to build. I Begin this new section within The Third Testament - Research Library, to Bring forward one of the most important ancient texts of Hinduism, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa as translated into English from Sanskrit. by Kisari Mohan Ganguli [1883-1896] In doing so, I have Asked of Anne to begin advanced studies on this, for the purposes of future links with other Hindu Study Guides currently in process. It is important to note that
The Mahabharata was written between 540 and 300 B.C. Most credit has been given to Vyasa. The Bhagavad Gita appears in Book 6. .... Juliet Sutherland, Project Manager. at sacred-texts.com, 2003, has asked that the Attribution appear with this public domain work as it is written below. AMEN”

*© NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION
Scanned at sacred-texts.com, 2003. Proofed at Distributed Proofing, Juliet Sutherland, Project Manager. Additional proofing and formatting at sacred-texts.com, by J. B. Hare. This text is in the public domain. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact.