Mahabharata Bk 14 – Aswamedha-Anugita Parva (Sec LXXXIX)
Aug 7, 2018 11:46:41 GMT 1
Post by Anne Terri on Aug 7, 2018 11:46:41 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 LXXXIX
"Vaisampayana said, 'Having cooked, according to due rites, the other excellent animals that were sacrificed, the priests then sacrificed, agreeably to the injunctions of the scriptures, that steed (which had wandered over the whole world). After cutting that horse into pieces, conformably to scriptural directions, they caused Draupadi of great intelligence, who was possessed of the three requisites of mantras, things, and devotion, to sit near the divided animal. The Brahmanas then with cool minds, taking up the marrow of that steed, cooked it duly, O chief of Bharata's race. King Yudhishthira the just, with all his younger brothers, then smelled, agreeably to the scriptures, the smoke, capable of cleansing one from every sin, of the marrow that was thus cooked. The remaining limbs, O king, of that horse, were poured into the fire by the sixteen sacrificial priests possessed of great wisdom. Having thus completed the sacrifice of that monarch, who was endued with the energy of Sakra himself, the illustrious Vyasa with his disciples eulogised the king greatly. Then Yudhishthira gave away unto the Brahmanas a thousand crores of golden nishkas, and unto Vyasa he gave away the whole Earth. Satyavati's son Vyasa, having accepted the Earth, addressed that foremost one of Bharata's race, viz., king Yudhishthira the just, and said, 'O best of kings, the Earth which thou hast given me I return unto thee. Do thou give me the purchasing value, for Brahmanas are desirous of wealth (and have no use with the Earth).' The high-souled Yudhishthira of great intelligence staying with his brothers in the midst of the kings invited to his sacrifice, said unto those Brahmanas, The 'Dakshina ordained in the scriptures for the great Horse-sacrifice is the Earth. Hence, I have given away unto the sacrificial priests the Earth conquered by Arjuna. Ye foremost of Brahmanas, I shall enter the woods. Do ye divide the Earth among yourselves. Indeed, do you divide the Earth into four parts according to what is done in the Chaturhotra sacrifice. Ye best of regenerate ones I do not desire to appropriate what now belongs to the Brahmanas. Even this, ye learned Brahmanas, has been the intention always cherished by myself and my brothers.' When the king said these words,
p. 154
his brothers and Draupadi also said, 'Yes, it is even so.' Great was the sensation created by this announcement. Then, O Bharata, an invisible voice was heard in the welkin, saying,--'Excellent, Excellent!' The murmurs also of crowds of Brahmanas as they spoke arose. The Island-born Krishna, highly applauding him, once more addressed Yudhishthira, in the presence of the Brahmanas, saying, 'The Earth has been given by thee to me. I, however, give her back to thee. Do thou give unto these Brahmanas gold. Let the Earth be thine.' Then Vasudeva, addressing king Yudhishthira the just, said, 'It behoveth thee to do as thou art bid by the illustrious Vyasa.' Thus addressed, the foremost one of Kuru's race, along with all his brothers, became glad of soul, and gave away millions of golden coins, in fact, trebling the Dakshina ordained for the Horse-sacrifice. No other king will be able to accomplish what the Kuru king accomplished on that occasion after the manner of Marutta. Accepting that wealth, the Island-born sage, Krishna, of great learning, gave it unto the sacrificial priests, dividing it into four parts. Having paid that wealth as the price of the Earth, Yudhishthira, cleansed of his sins and assured of Heaven rejoiced with his brothers. The sacrificial priests, having got that unlimited quantity of wealth, distributed it among the Brahmanas gladly and according to the desire of each recipient. The Brahmanas also divided amongst themselves, agreeably to Yudhishthira's permission, the diverse ornaments of gold that were in the sacrificial compound, including the triumphal arches, the stakes, the jars, and diverse kinds of vessels. After the Brahmanas had taken as much as they desired, the wealth that remained was taken away by Kshatriyas and Vaisyas and Sudras and diverse tribes of Mlechechas. Thus gratified with presents by king Yudhishthira of great intelligence, the Brahmanas, filled with joy, returned to their respective abodes. The holy and illustrious Vyasa respectfully presented his own share, which was very large, of that gold unto Kunti. Receiving that gift of affection from her father-in-law, Pritha became glad of heart and devoted it to the accomplishment of diverge acts of merit. King Yudhishthira, having bathed at the conclusion of his sacrifice and become cleansed of all his sins, shone in the midst of his brothers, honoured by all, like the chief of the celestials in the midst of the denizens of Heaven. The sons of Pandu, surrounded by the assembled kings, looked as beautiful, O king, as the planets in the midst of the stars. Unto those kings they made presents of various jewels and gems, and elephants and horses and ornaments of gold, and female slaves and cloths and large measures of gold. Indeed, Pritha's son by distributing that untold wealth among the invited monarchs, shone, O king, like Vaisravana, the lord of treasures. Summoning next the heroic king Vabhruvahana, Yudhishthira gave unto him diverse kinds of wealth in profusion and gave him permission to return home. The son of Pandu, for gratifying his sister Dussala, established her infant grandson in his paternal kingdom. The Kuru king Yudhishthira, having a full control over his senses, then dismissed the assembled kings all of whom had been properly classed and honoured by him. 1 The illustrious
p. 155
son of Pandu, that chastiser of foes, then duly worshipped the high-souled Govinda and Valadeva of great might, and the thousands of other Vrishni heroes having Pradyumna for their first. Assisted by his brothers, he then dismissed them for returning to Dwaraka. Even thus was celebrated that sacrifice of king Yudhishthira the just, which was distinguished by a profuse abundance of food and wealth and jewels and gems, and oceans of wines of different kinds. There were lakes whose mire consisted of ghee, and mountains of food. There were also, O chief of Bharata's race, miry rivers made of drinks having the six kinds of taste. Of men employed in making and eating the sweetmeats called Khandavaragas, and of animals slain for food, there was no end. 1 The vast space abounded with men inebriated with wine, and with young ladies filled with joy. The extensive grounds constantly echoed with the sounds of drums and the blare of conches. With all these, the sacrifice became exceedingly delightful. 'Let agreeable things be given away,'--'Let agreeable food be eaten,'--these were the sounds that were repeatedly heard day and night in that sacrifice. It was like a great festival, full of rejoicing and contented men. People of diverse realms speak of that sacrifice to this day. Having showered wealth in torrents, and diverse objects of desire, and jewels and gems, and drinks of various kinds, the foremost one of Bharata's race, cleansed of all his sins, and his purpose fulfilled, entered his capital. '"
Footnotes
154:1 Suvibhaktan implies that they were properly classed or grouped so that there was no dispute or dissatisfaction among them regarding questions of precedence.
NEXT SECTION XC
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.