MAHABHARATA BK 14 – Aswamedha-Aswamedhika Parva (Sec VIII)

[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]

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The Mahabharata Book 14:
Aswamedha Parva (Sections I-XCII)

SECTION VIII

"Samvarta said, "There is a peak named Munjaban on the summits of the Himalaya mountains, where the adorable Lord of Uma (Mahadeva) is constantly engaged in austere devotional exercises. There the mighty and worshipful god of great puissance, accompanied by his consort Uma, and armed with his trident, surrounded by wild goblins of many sorts, pursuing his random wish or fancy, constantly resides in the shade of giant forest trees, or in the caves, or on the rugged peaks of the great mountain. And there the Rudras, the Saddhyas, Viswedevas, the Vasus, Yama, Varuna, and Kuvera with all his attendants, and the spirits and goblins, and the two Aswins, the Gandharvas, the Apsaras, the Yakshas, as also the celestial sages, the Sun-gods, as well as the gods presiding over the winds, and evil spirits of all sorts, worship the high-souled lord of Uma, possessed of diverse characteristics. And there, O king, the adorable god sports with the wild and playful followers of Kuvera, possessed of weird and ghostly appearances. Glowing with its own splendour, that mountain looks resplendent as the morning sun. And no creature with his natural eyes made of flesh, can ever ascertain its shape or configuration, and neither heat nor cold prevails there, nor doth the sun shine nor do the winds blow. And, O king, neither doth senility nor hunger, nor thirst, nor death, nor fear afflict any one at that place. And, O foremost of conquerors, on all sides of that mountain, there exist mines of gold, resplendent as the rays of the sun. And O king, the attendants of Kuvera, desirous of doing good to him, protect these mines of gold from intruders, with uplifted arms. Hie thee thither, and appease that adorable god who is known by the names of Sarva, Bedha, Rudra, Sitikantha, Surapa, Suvarcha, Kapardi, Karala, Haryyaksha, Varada, Tryaksha, Pushnodantabhid, Vamana, Siva, Yamya, Avyaktarupa, Sadvritta, Sankara, Kshemya, Harikesa, Sthanu, Purusha, Harinetra, Munda, Krishna, Uttarana, Bhaskara, Sutirtha, Devadeva, Ranha, Ushnishi, Suvaktra, Sahasraksha, Midhvan, Girisa, Prasanta, Yata, Chiravasa, Vilwadanda, Siddha, Sarvadandadhara, Mriga, Vyadha,

p. 11

[paragraph continues] Mahan, Dhanesa, Bhava, Vara, Somavaktra, Siddhamantra, Chakshu, Hiranyavahu, Ugra, Dikpati, Lelihana, Goshtha, Shiddhamantra, Vrishnu, Pasupati, Bhutapati, Vrisha, Matribhakta, Senani, Madhyama, Sruvahasta, Yati, Dhanwi, Bhargava, Aja, Krishnanetra, Virupaksha, Tikshnadanshtra, Tikshna, Vaiswanaramukha, Mahadyuti, Ananga, Sarva, Dikpati, Bilohita, Dipta, Diptaksha, Mahauja, Vasuretas, Suvapu, Prithu, Kritivasa, Kapalmali, Suvarnamukuta, Mahadeva, Krishna, Tryamvaka, Anagha, Krodhana, Nrisansa, Mridu, Vahusali, Dandi, Taptatapa, Akrurakarma, Sahasrasira, Sahasra-charana, Swadha-swarupa, Vahurupa, Danshtri, Pinaki, Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Avyaya, Trisulahasta, Varada, Tryamvaka, Bhuvaneswara, Tripuraghna, Trinayana, Trilokesa, Mahanja, Sarvabhuta-prabhava, Sarvabhuta-dharana, Dharanidhara, Isana, Sankara, Sarva, Siva, Visveswara, Bhava, Umapati, Pasupati, Viswarupa, Maheswara, Virupaksha, Dasabhuja, Vrishavadhwaja, Ugra, Sthanu, Siva, Rudra, Sarva, Girisa, Iswara, Sitakantha, Aja, Sukra, Prithu, Prithuhara, Vara, Viswarupa, Virupaksha, Vahurupa, Umapati, Anangangahara, Hara, Saranya, Mahadeva, Chaturmukha. There bowing unto that deity, must thou crave his protection. And thus, O prince, making thy submission to that high-souled Mahadeva of great energy, shalt thou acquire that gold. And the men who go there thus, succeed in obtaining the gold. Thus instructed, Marutta, the son of Karandhama, did as he was advised. And made superhuman arrangements for the performance of his sacrifice. And artisans manufactured vessels of gold for that sacrifice. And Vrihaspati too, hearing of the prosperity of Marutta, eclipsing that of the gods, became greatly grieved at heart, and distressed at the thought that his rival Samvarta should become prosperous, became sick at heart, and the glow of his complexion left him, and his frame became emaciated. And when the lord of the gods came to know that Vrihaspati was much aggrieved, he went to him attended by the Immortals and addressed him thus."

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NEXT SECTION IX

Contents of The Mahabharata Book 14
Ashvamedhika Parva (The Book of the Horse Sacrifice)

The royal ceremony of the Ashvamedha (Horse sacrifice) conducted by Yudhishthira. The world conquest by Arjuna. The Anugita is told by Krishna to Arjuna.

WIKIPEDIA

THE MAHABHARATA of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

This book, one of the concluding portions of the Mahabharata, is notable for several reasons.
The first is a long interposed section of Upanishadic material, known the as Anugita. This occupies a large part of this book; Arjuna asks Krishna to repeat his battlefield discourse (the Bhaghavad Gita in Book 6). What follows is a somewhat disjointed metaphysical treatise which was probably composed at a much later date than the main narrative. This has also been translated in the Sacred Books of the East by Telang.

Following the Anugita is the story of Utanka, a disciple of Krishna who undergoes a fairy-tale-like journey involving a cannibal king, magic earrings and a journey to the underworld.

Finally there is the story of the great Horse Sacrifice of Yudhishthira, which resumes the main narrative of the Mahabharata. The Horse Sacrifice was the premiere ceremony of the Yajur-Veda, a scapegoat-like expiatory ritual of unmatched extravagance. A magnificent wild black horse is set loose from Hastinapur, the Kuru capital. In hot pursuit is the Kuru army, let by Arjuna. They must follow this horse, wherever it may lead. They are required to engage in ritual combat with the Kshatria (military caste) of whatever territory it enters, without killing the leader of the opposing force. Then they invite the trespassed nation to the sacrifice. In the course of this journey they settle some old scores.

The horse returns to the capital city, and the ritual starts; amidst a pavilion of pure gold the horse is sacrificed. However, at the last moment, a mongoose with a gold head pops out of the ground and states that the Horse Sacrifice is of less meaning than a Brahman who sacrificed a handful of barley during a famine. With this bizarre anticlimax the book--and possibly the original narrative of the Mahabharata--ends.

--John Bruno Hare, January 16, 2004.

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.

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“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.