Krishna's Lineage
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22 It hadn’t taken long for both Rāma and Krishna to attain supremacy over the whole world’s bow-wielders in the use of every missile, and in combat with mace and club. 23 So the wise Krishna presented the delighted Sāndīpani with his son, who was the same age as when he’d been lost, and with the jewels. 24 When Sāndīpani of Kāshi had been reunited with his long-lost son he rejoiced, praising Rāma and Keshava, your majesty. 25 Then, having learned their missiles, Vasudeva’s two brave and disciplined sons took their leave of their guru and returned to Mathurā.
26 Led by Ugrasena, all the Yādavas and their children, with joy in their hearts, came out to meet the two Yadu darlings. 27 The whole town turned out—the guilds, citizens, ministers, and priests, even the young and the old— 28 and played musical instruments and praised Janārdana. The streets sparkled on all sides, festooned with flags. 29 All the palace women were thrilled and delighted, and when Govinda arrived they were looking particularly magnificent, as if they were at the Indra festival. 30 Along the royal roads joyful praise-singers delighted the Yādavas by singing songs that were prefaced by hymns and prayers: 31 The world-famous brothers Govinda and Rāma have arrived! Everyone must have fun with their relatives in their own town, untroubled.
32 No one there in Mathurā was downcast, dirty, or distracted when Govinda arrived, your majesty. 33 Birds sang sweetly, cattle, horses, and elephants were happy, and all groups of men and women enjoyed peace of mind. 34 Benign breezes blew, the ten directions were free of dust, and all the deities in the temples were delighted. 35 When Janārdana entered the town, the world showed all the signs it used to show during the krita age. 36 It was a sweet and sacred occasion as Govinda, the destroyer of his foes, entered the town of Mathurā on a chariot drawn by bay horses. 37 As he entered lovely Mathurā the ranks of the Yadus followed Upendra, the tamer of his foes, like ranks of gods following Shakra.
38 Then, their faces full of excitement, the two darlings of the Yadus entered Vasudeva’s house, like the moon and sun setting behind a mountain. 39 Vasudeva’s sons, the two prize Yadus, set their weapons down in their own house and enjoyed themselves as they pleased. 40 Having become Ugrasena’s subjects, the two of them, made from one mould with their handsome faces, enjoyed themselves like this for some time.
80. Mathurā Besieged
1 Vaishampāyana said:
In due course the majestic King Jarāsandha, ruler of Girivraja, heard that Kamsa had been killed. 2 He was furious, and, wanting to destroy the Yadus and avenge Kamsa, he arrived, surrounded by a massive army of six divisions.*
3 King Jarāsandha of Magadha was the son of Brihadratha, your majesty. He had two beautiful daughters named Asti and Prāpti, both of whom had bulging breasts and buttocks, and he’d given them to Kamsa as wives. 4 King Kamsa, the ruler of the Shūrasena country, had been delighted with them, and with Jarāsandha to depend upon he had imprisoned his own father, Ugrasena the son of Āhuka, and had stopped caring about the Yādavas, just as you’ve repeatedly heard.†5 Vasudeva by contrast had high standards in the matter of doing one’s duty to one’s relatives, and he had always made sure that Ugrasena was all right, even though Kamsa had never forgiven him for it. 6 Then, after wicked Kamsa had been killed, Ugrasena paid homage to Rāma and Krishna, and, surrounded by the Bhojas, Vrishnis, and Andhakas, he became king. 7 And at that point, out of love for his dear daughters who were two of the brave man’s wives, the mighty King Jarāsandha made all necessary preparations, marched on Mathurā, and attacked the Yadus in fury.
8 Jarāsandha’s combined allies—his friends, his relatives, and the kings who bowed down before his brilliance— 9 had all followed him, surrounded by their mustered armies. There were great archers of great potency on Jarāsandha’s side: 10 Dantavaktra of the Kārūshas, and the valiant king of Chedi, and the king of Kalinga, and the Paundra who’s the pick of the powerful; and Āhriti the Kaishika, and King Bhīshmaka; 11 Bhīshmaka’s son Rukmin, a superb archer who’d always pitted his prowess against that of Vāsudeva and Arjuna; 12 Venudāri, Shrutarvan, Kratha’s descendant Amshumat, and the mighty king of the Angas, and the leader of the Vangas; 13 the king of Kosala, the king of Kāshi, the leader of the Dashārnas, the bold lord of the Suhmakas, the chief of the Videhas, 14 the mighty king of the Madras, the lord of the Trigartas, and bold King Shālva; powerful Darada, 15 and the chief of the barbarian Yavanas, and manly Bhagadatta, and the king of the Sauvīras and the king of the Shibis, and the Pāndya supreme among the strong, and Subala the king of Gāndhāra, and mighty Nagnajit. 16 These and other great and mighty warrior-kings followed Jarāsandha in making hostilities against Janārdana. 17 They occupied the Shūrasena lands rich in firewood and pasture, they surrounded Mathurā with their armies, and they stayed there, besieging her.
81. Battle against Jarāsandha
1 Vaishampāyana said:
All the Vrishnis followed Janārdana into one of Mathurā’s parks and looked out over the encamped kings. 2 Krishna’s heart leaped with excitement, and he said to Rāma:
Well! The business of the gods is hurrying on, no doubt about it. 3 For this visitor is King Jarāsandha, as indicated by the standard-tops of his wind-swift chariots. 4 These pale projecting parasols that shine like moons belong to men who seek to triumph, brother. 5 Ah, the beautiful bright rows of raised parasols on the chariots of the kings come towards us like skeins of geese in the sky. 6 King Jarāsandha, the lord of the earth, has arrived just in time. He’s our first battle-guest, the touchstone of our combat. 7 Now that the lord of the earth has arrived, brother, the two of us must stand together. We must assess the extent of his army and prepare for the onset of battle.
8 After saying that, Krishna scrutinised the assembled army. He was confident and looking forward to battle: he wanted to fight Jarāsandha. 9 And as the eternal prize of the Yadus surveyed all the kings, that knower of all secrets made a speech in his mind, from himself to himself:
10 These kings are standing on the royal road and conducting themselves as the Shāstras prescribe, but they’re going to launch their own destruction here. 11 In fact I think these bulls among kings have already been consecrated by Death, for their bodies have also been seen heading into heaven. 12 The jewel-bearing earth came up to heaven because in her own domain she’s exhausted by her burden. The earth is oppressed by the numerous armies of these great kings, and covered by strong kingdoms without any gaps in between. 13 But in a very short time now the face of the earth will be emptied, when the hordes of kings are destroyed in their hundreds.*
14 So Jarāsandha, the glorious lord of all the earth’s rulers, was angry. He was followed by many thousands of kings, 15 and by large, tough, swift horses with well-polished tack, harnessed to war-chariots that ran smoothly in all the right places, 16 and by elephants that looked like rainclouds, with great big bells, and golden girdles round their middles, and elephant-drivers mounted on top of them, experienced and wise in war, 17 and by well-seated horsemen who were looking on at the ready, mounted on prancing horses that looked like clouds, and by foot-soldiers who seemed to be billowing, 18 foot-soldiers holding their swords and shields aloft, their clothes flapping, standing together numbering in the thousands, like rearing snakes.
19 Thus the mighty and resolute King Jarāsandha had arrived with combatants of all four divisions, and they quivered like rainclouds. 20 With his chariots rumbling like stormclouds, his elephants growling with musth,† his horses neighing, and his infantry murmuring, 21 the king and his army looked like the ocean, and filled the parklands around the town with noise in every direction. 22 The army of kings looked like an army of clouds, packed with proud warriors and resounding with claps and shouts. 23 Its chariots jostled together like winds, its elephants were like rainclouds, its horses were graced with great speed, and its foot-soldiers were like birds. 24 And when they were all completely mixed up, in its chaos of chariots and musth elephants it looked just like an army of thunderclouds over the ocean at the end of the hot season.
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nbsp; 25 All the kings accompanying Jarāsandha surrounded the town with their armies and made camp. 26 After the camp had been pitched, the troops looked as beautiful as the great ocean looks at full tide at the end of the bright fortnight. 27 Then, at the proper time, after night had passed, the kings arose and, longing for battle, they assembled with a view to rising up against the town. 28 The kings encamped along the Yamunā came together and deliberated, eager for the moment of battle.
29 The noise that the kings made was so loud that it sounded like the noise of the ocean overflowing at the end of the age. 30 By royal command, the kings’ elders went around asking for silence, wearing turbans and cuirasses and carrying maces in their hands. 31 When the army was still and quiet, it looked like a great quiet ocean whose crocodiles and fish were hiding. 32 When the great restless ocean of an army was still and quiet as if it were under a spell, Jarāsandha made a grand speech, as if he were Brihaspati. He said:
33 The kings’ armies must attack rapidly and surround the town with a flood of people on all sides. 34 Use boulder-catapults and throwing-hammers. Train your bows upwards—and your arrows and javelins too, of course. 35 Break the town open quickly using spades and all kinds of axes, and position kings wise in the ways of war close by. 36 From today onwards, my troops must besiege the town. There should be so many arrows that not even the air can get past them! 37 Station kings at positions around the town, according to my instructions. The town must be breached as soon as possible, in several different places.
38 The Madra, the king of Kalinga, Chekitāna and Bāhlika, Gonarda the king of Kashmir, the king of the Kārūshas, 39 Druma the wild-elf, and Dāmana of the mountains: these must quickly raise the town’s western gate.
40 The Paurava, Venudāri, the king of Vidarbha, Somaka, Rukmin the chief of the Bhojas, Sūryāksha the Mālava, 41 Vinda and Anuvinda the pair from Avanti, brave Dantavaktra, the son of Chhagala, Purumitra, King Virāta, 42 the king of Kaushāmbī, the king of the Mālavas, Shatadhanvan, Vidūratha, Bhūrishravas, the Trigarta, Bāna, and the prince of the Punjab: 43 these kings are as hard as diamonds and can breach any fortress. They must attack the town’s northern gate and batter it down.
44 The gambler’s son Ulūka, the brave son of Amshumat, Ekalavya, Brihatkshatra, Kshatradharman, Jayadratha, 45 Uttamaujas, Shalya, the Kauravas and Kaikayas, Vāmadeva of Vidishā, Sāketa, and Sinīpati: 46 as for you, your responsibility must be the town’s eastern gate. Attack it quickly, like winds attacking clouds.
47 United and in full armour, myself, Darada, and the Chedi king must take charge of the town’s southern gate. 48 Thus, surrounded by soldiers on all sides, the town must soon suffer trouble as tumultuous as the strike of a thunderbolt. 49 Mace-warriors must break the town open with maces, club-warriors must do it with clubs, and other types of warrior must do it with their various weapons. 50 But you rulers of the jewel-bearing earth must level the whole town to the ground this very day, crowded as it is with wicked hordes!
51 After he’d organised his army of four divisions, Jarāsandha was ready, and then, together with all the kings, the angry man attacked the Yadus. The Dāshārha warriors arrayed their own forces and came to meet him, 52 and the battle that then took place between them was as terrible as the battle between gods and demons. It was a battle of the few against the many, a twisted cluster of elephants and chariots.
53 The army of champions was perturbed to see Vasudeva’s two sons come out of the town, and its animals were scared and stunned. 54 Mounted on chariots and wearing armour, those two Yādavas careered around there like two furious sea-monsters churning up the ocean.
55 As the two Yādavas entered into battle, an excellent idea occurred to them: the retrieval of their ancient weapons. 56 There, in the tumult of battle, their shining celestial weapons fell out of the sky, licking their lips. Huge, solid, 57 strong, and animate, they were extremely keen to eat royal flesh in battle, and they were followed by scavengers. 58 They wore armour as well as celestial wreaths and garlands, and they lit up the ten directions with their brilliance, frightening the birds.
59 The plough called Samvartaka, Saunanda the club, Shārnga the finest of bows, and Kaumodakī the mace: 60 these four powers are Vishnu’s weapons, and they descended for the two Yādavas in the great battle. 61 Rāma first grabbed the plough that looked like it was his attribute, as it slunk around on the battlefield like a snake, complete with celestial garlands. 62 Then, using his left hand, that glorious champion of the Sātvatas grabbed the prize club Saunanda, which would bring misery to his foes. 63–64 As for the hero Vishnu, whose mission was the talk of the gods and whose eyes were like night-flowering water-lilies (kumuda): he grabbed the bow known by the name of Shārnga, the bow that rumbles like a stormcloud, a sight to behold in all the worlds. And the mace called Kaumodakī stuck fast in his other hand.
65 With those weapons, the two heroes Rāma and Govinda were a match for their enemies in battle. They looked like Vishnu’s body in plain view. 66 Clutching their weapons, the two heroes were like two bold gods taking vengeance on their enemies. They were differentiated as elder and younger brothers called Rāma and Govinda, but each of them was composed of the other.
67 Lifting up his plough that was as dangerous as a snake lord, brave Rāma moved through the battle in a fury, as if he were the god Death coming for his foes. 68 While he destroyed swathes of the august kshatriyas’ chariots, he also made his anger bear fruit among their elephants and horses. 69 Rāma was brilliant as he destroyed elephants in that battle, tossing them aside with the plough and battering them with club-strikes. It was as if he were destroying mountains.
70 While Rāma continued to cause damage to kshatriya bulls in battle, the wounded battle-heroes made their way to where Jarāsandha was. 71 Jarāsandha stuck to the kshatriya code and said to them:
This behaviour of yours is disgraceful behaviour for a kshatriya in battle. It’s cowardly. 72 The wise declare that killing an unborn child is unacceptable by comparing it to running away without one’s chariot after turning tail in battle. 73 What is there that you have to retreat from, afraid? This is disgraceful behaviour for a kshatriya. Attack immediately, on my command, until I’ve banished this pair of cowherds to Yama’s domain in battle!
74 So, at Jarāsandha’s command, all the kshatriyas carried on fighting, excitedly shooting their webs of arrows. 75 With their horses that wore crowns of gold, their chariots that rumbled like stormclouds, their elephants that looked like rainclouds controlled by drivers, 76 and with their armour and their swords, their weaponry, standards, and flags, their well-strung bows, their well-stocked quivers, their spears, 77 and their enormous parasols, all the rulers of the earth, perched on swift chariots and fanned by fine chowries, advanced and distinguished themselves in battle. 78 They were lovers of war and serious fighters, and they plunged in on their chariots, with heavy maces and throwing-hammers.
79 Then Krishna, mounted on a prize chariot flying the eagle standard, attacked Jarāsandha. He hit him with eight arrows 80 in the battle, and he hit his charioteer with five sharp arrows, and he also heroically killed his opponent’s horses.
81 The great warrior Chitrasena and Āhriti the Kaishika army commander realised that Jarāsandha was in trouble, and the two of them pelted Krishna with arrows. 82 As the battle raged, the Kaishika hit Baladeva with three arrows one after another, but Baladeva smashed his bow into two pieces with a bear-headed arrow, and quickly afflicted his enemies with showers of arrows. 83 Chitrasena was furious and hit him with nine arrows, the Kaishika hit him with five, and Jarāsandha hit him with seven.
84 Janārdana repelled the three of them using iron arrows three after three, and Baladeva repelled them using sharp arrows five after five. 85 Then Baladeva heroically broke Chitrasena’s chariot-pole in battle, and smashed his bow into two pieces with a bear-headed arrow. 86 His bow broken and his chariot gone, Chitrasena heroically seized his mace and charged forward in great fury, wanting to destroy Rāma the club-fighter.
87 Rāma wanted to kill Chitrasena and was about to shoot iron arrows at him, but mighty Jarāsandha smashed his bow. In his fury the master of Magadha also used his mace to kill Rāma’s horses. 88 Rāma grabbed his club and charged at Jarāsandha, and the two of them fought, each trying to kill the other . . .
89 In this way, surrounded by his great army, the mighty Jarāsandha fought with the Bhojas led by Rāma and Krishna.
90 The racket that erupted from the two armies was like the great roar of the rolling ocean, 91 your majesty. Thousands of conch shells roared out in each army, as did flutes, kettledrums, and mridangas. 92 Everywhere was a tumult of howls, crashes, and cries, and dust flew, thrown up by horse-hooves and wheel-rims. 93 The warriors stood there yelling at each other, their bows in their hands, their great weapons eager for action, 94 and then they fearlessly crashed together—thousands of chariot-warriors, cavalry, infantry, and powerful elephants. 95 The Vrishnis and Jarāsandha’s warriors set no store by their lives, and the fighting between them was raucous and savage.
96 Then, with Baladeva leading them, Shini, Anādhrishti, Babhru, Viprithu, and Āhuka’s son Ugrasena, armed with half the army, 97 attacked the right-hand flank of the enemy army, mighty Bhārata, which was protected by Jarāsandha and the king of Chedi, 98 and by the powerful kings from the north—Shalya, Shālva, and so on.
At the same time, firing downpours of arrows and setting no store whatsoever by their lives, 99 Agāvaha, Prithu, Kahva, Shatadyumna, and Vidūratha, with Hrishīkesha leading them, and armed with half the army, 100 attacked the part of the enemy army that was protected by Bhīshmaka and the illustrious Rukmin, and by the eastern and southern kings, who were braver and stronger than they looked.