Mahabharata Bk 14 – Aswamedha-Anugita Parva (Sec XXVII)
Jul 22, 2018 9:21:20 GMT 1
Post by Anne Terri on Jul 22, 2018 9:21:20 GMT 1
"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]
The Mahabharata Book 14:
Aswamedha Parva (Sections I-XCII)
Anugita Parva
Aswamedha Parva (Sections I-XCII)
Anugita Parva
SECTION XXVII
"The Brahmana said, 'Having crossed that impassable fastness (the world) which has purposes for its gadflies and mosquitoes, grief and joy for its cold and heat, heedlessness for its blinding darkness, cupidity and diseases for its reptiles, wealth for its one danger on the road, and lust and wrath its robbers, I have entered the extensive forest of (Brahman)'.
"The wife of the Brahmana said, 'Where is that foremost, O thou of great
p. 48
wisdom? What are its trees? What its rivers? What its mountains and hills? How far is that forest?'
"The Brahmana said, 'There exists nothing that is separate from it. There is nothing more delightful than it. There is nothing that is unseparated from it. There is nothing more afflicting than it. There is nothing smaller than that. There is nothing vaster than that. There is nothing minuter than that. There is no happiness that can resemble it. Regenerate persons, entering into it, at once transcend both joy and sorrow. They (then) never stand in fear of any creature, nor does any creature stand in fear of them. In that forest are seven large trees, seven fruits, and seven guests. There are seven hermitages, seven (forms of) Yoga concentration, and seven (forms) of initiation. Even this a description of that forest. 1 The trees which stand filling that forest, produce excellent flowers and fruits of five colours. The trees which stand there filling that forest, produce flowers and fruits that are of excellent colours and that are, besides, of two kinds. The trees which stand there filling that forest, produce flowers and fruits that are endued with fragrance and that are, besides, of two colours. The trees which stand there filling that forest, produce flowers and fruits that are possessed of fragrance and that are, besides, of one colour. The two trees which stand filling that forest, produce many flowers and fruits that are of unmanifest colours. There is one fire here, possessed of a good mind. That is connected with Brahmana. The five senses are the fuel here. The seven forms of Emancipation flowing from them are the seven forms of Initiation. The qualities are the fruits, and the guests eat those fruits. There, in diverse places, the great Rishis accept hospitality. When they, having been worshipped, become annihilated, then another forest shines forth. In that forest, Intelligence is the tree; Emancipation is the fruit; Tranquillity is the shade of which it is possessed. It has knowledge for its resting house, contentment for its water, and the Kshetrajna for its sun. Its end cannot be ascertained upwards, downwards, or horizontally. Seven females always dwell there, with faces downwards, possessed of effulgence, and endued with the cause of generations. They take up all the different tastes from all creatures, even as inconstancy sucks up truth. In that itself dwell, and from that emerge, the seven Rishis who are crowned with ascetic success, with those seven having Vasishtha for their foremost. Glory, effulgence, greatness, enlightenment, victory, perfection, and energy, these seven always follow this same like rays following the sun. Hills and mountains also exist there, collected together; and rivers and streams bearing waters in their course, waters that are born of Brahma. And there happens a confluence also of streams in the secluded spot for sacrifice. Thence those that are contented with their own souls proceed to the Grandsire. Those whose wishes have been reduced, whose wishes have
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been directed to excellent vows, and whose sins have been burnt off by penances, merging themselves in their souls, succeed in attaining to Brahman. Tranquillity is praised by those who are conversant with the forest of knowledge. Keeping that forest in view, they take birth so as not to lose courage. Even such is that sacred forest that is understood by Brahmanas, and understanding it, they live (in accordance with the ordinance), directed by the Kshetrajna.'"
Footnotes
48:1 The seven large trees are the five senses, the mind, and the understanding. The fruits are the pleasures and pains derived from or through them. The guests are the powers of each sense, for it is they that receive those pleasures and pains. The hermitages are those very trees under which the guests take shelter. The seven forms of Yoga are the extinctions of the seven senses. The seven forms of initiation are the repudiation, one after another, of the actions of the seven senses.
NEXT SECTION XXVIII
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.
“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.
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.