4 The Vidarbhan lady, Rukmin’s daughter, was called Shubhāngī. Beautiful and dignified, she was famous across the land. 5 And when all the august princes were assembled, the Vidarbhan lady chose Pradyumna, the ruin of his rivals. 6 For Keshava’s young son was skilled with every weapon, solid as a lion, and peerless on earth for his looks, 7 and the princess, who was blessed with youth, beauty, and virtue, had fallen in love with him as if she were Nādāyanī Indrasenā.†
8 When the bridegroom-choice festival was over, the kings returned to their own towns. Pradyumna took the Vidarbhan lady and returned to Dvārakā.
9 She bore him a son named Aniruddha the Unconfined, who was like the child of a god. He mastered the martial arts, the Veda, and the Shāstras on policy, and no one on earth could match up to his behaviour.
10 When Aniruddha came of age, your majesty, Rukminī asked for one of Rukmin’s granddaughters, to be his wife. She looked like a gold ornament (rukma), and she was called Rukmavatī. 11 Because of Aniruddha’s virtues, and as a favour to Rukminī’s son Pradyumna, and because of the pressure from Rukminī herself, King Rukmin decided to give Rukmavatī away to Aniruddha. 12 Although the king was still feuding with Krishna, he set their rivalry aside and happily announced that he would give her away, Janamejaya.
13 Keshava travelled to Vidarbha along with Rukminī, their children, and Sankarshana, accompanied by some other Vrishnis and an army. 14 Rukmin had invited all the kings who were his relations or allies, and they all came. 15 Then, at an auspicious phase of the moon, while the moon was passing through an approved constellation, your majesty, there was a great celebration in honour of Aniruddha’s wedding. 16 When Aniruddha took the Vidarbhan lady’s hand, Bhārata, the Vrishnis there were as happy as the gods are when they’re being worshipped.
17 Then the king of the Ashmakas, clever Venudāri, Aksha, Shrutarvan, Chānūra, Kratha’s descendant Amshumat, 18 Jayatsena, the mighty overlord of the Kalingans, majestic King Pāndya, and the chief of the Rishīkas 19 held council together, and after that all those prosperous southern kings approached Lord Rukmin in private and said: 20 You’re skilled at dice, and we want to play. That man Rāma is fond of gambling, but he’s no good with the dice. 21 With you leading us, we’d like to defeat him.*
When he heard this, the great warrior Rukmin gave his approval for a dicing match.
22 Excited, they entered a handsome gold-pillared assembly hall. It had been sprinkled with sandal water, and its playing area had been decorated with flowers. 23 They all entered it wearing white garlands and unguents, and then they sat themselves down on golden seats, eager for victory.
24 Baladeva was challenged by gamblers expert in dicing. Thrilled, he said: Yes indeed, let’s play together. Lay a stake!
25 Intending to defeat him by dubious means, the southern kings brought thousands of jewels, pearls, and gold coins there. 26 Then the dice game began. It put an end to their idleness. It was a terrible source of strife, and it led to a cull of fools.
27 When he played against Rukmin, Baladeva set the starting stake at ten thousand gold coins. 28 But although Baladeva the great warrior did his best, Rukmin beat him, and he beat him in the same way repeatedly, again and again. 29 Rukmin kept on beating Keshava’s elder brother until he took the great man’s stake of ten million gold coins.
30 Now the swindler was thrilled, and he told Baladeva he’d been beaten. Laughing and boasting, he insulted Rāma the club-fighter, saying: 31 This glorious and invincible Baladeva is an ignorant idiot! He’s lost more gold to me than you can count, in a dice match.
32 When the king of Kalinga heard this, it was his turn to be thrilled. He laughed and laughed, showing his teeth.
At that, Halāyudha became angry. 33 He listened to the speech that Rukmin made about his defeat, and as Bhīshmaka’s son punished him with those stinging words, he relished his rage. Even so, knowing what was proper, he subdued that rage. 34 Rohinī ’s mighty son was angry, he’d been offended, but he resolutely mastered his mind. Then he said:
35 I have one more stake, of a hundred billion. Accept it, your majesty. Throw the dice, the black and red dice, in this unsullied place.
36 That’s how Rohinī ’s son gave his challenge to Rukmin.
Rukmin said nothing.
Baladeva spoke again: I mean it.
37 So, prickling with anticipation, King Rukmin threw the dice, and when the four-spotted dice stopped moving, the king had been beaten 38 by Baladeva fair and square.
Then he told Bala that according to the rules, Bala hadn’t actually won.
Baladeva resolutely mastered his mind and said nothing, but Rukmin smiled and said to him: I’ve beaten you.
39 When Baladeva heard the king speak those lying words he was filled with anger once again, but he said nothing in reply.
40 Then an incorporeal voice spoke up in deep tones, and it made the great man Baladeva even more angry. It said—and what it said was true:
Glorious Bala has won fair and square. 41 Even if Rukmin said nothing to accept the final stake verbally, he accepted it in the act, because he must have mentally accepted it before he threw the dice. That’s the rule that must be followed.
42 When he heard this true and well-spoken speech from the sky, mighty Sankarshana stood up, and he used his golden thigh to throw Rukminī’s elder brother to the ground. 43 In that fight Rāma the bull of the Yadus was furious, and he violently assaulted that spitter of spiteful speech, using the gaming-board. 44 Then the angry man moved on, and in his fury he knocked the king of Kalinga’s teeth out. He roared like a lion. He drew his sword and menaced the kings. 45 Sankarshana the supreme strongman pulled up one of the hall’s golden pillars, and then he emerged from the door of the hall dragging the pillar along like a bull elephant would, terrifying the Krathas and Kaishikas.
46 After the bull of the Yādavas had killed Rukmin, that expert in dubious means, and after he’d terrified all of his enemies just as a lion terrifies small beasts, 47 Rāma went back to his own tent. And when he was surrounded by his own people he told Krishna everything, just as it had happened. 48 Krishna didn’t say anything to glorious Rāma on that occasion. He restrained himself, but he shed tears of rage. 49 Earlier, Vāsudeva had deliberately not killed that killer of enemy braves, that king as powerful as thunderbolt-wielding Indra. But now he’d been killed at a gambling party, by a gaming-board thrown from Rāma’s hands.
50 Bhīshmaka’s son was a king of great stature. He was trained by Druma and the Bhārgava,* and he was surely a match for Druma and the Bhārgava. When he was killed, 51 when that ritually observant expert in war was struck down in action, all the Vrishnis and Andhakas were heartbroken.
52 I’ve told you the whole thing, bull of the Bhāratas: how Rukmin died, and how his quarrel with the Vrishnis arose. 53 As for the Vrishnis, your majesty, they took all the treasure, put their trust in Rāma and Krishna, and returned to the city of Dvāravatī.
90. The Greatness of Baladeva
1 Janamejaya said:
Brahmin seer, I would like to hear more about the greatness of the wise Baladeva, who is Shesha, the supporter of the supporting earth. 2 For the people who know the old stories describe that great man as immensely strong, an invincible mass of splendour, 3 and they know him as the serpent Ananta, a powerful and primordial god. Brahmin, I would like to hear the truth about his deeds.
4 Vaishampāyana said:
In the old stories he’s said to be the glorious serpent-king Shesha the Remainder, the ultimate person, the hoard of splendour, the unshakeable supporter of the supporting earth, 5 the powerful teacher of yogis, and the strong strongman strong in strength. He defeated Jarāsandha in a mace-duel but didn’t kill him. 6 Many of the earth’s kings followed the Magadhan into battle, your majesty, and they, too, were defeated in battle. 7 On several occasions Baladeva even prevailed in bare-arm combat against Bhīma the Terrific, whose courage was terrific and who had the strength of ten thousand elephants.
; 8 Jāmbavatī’s son Sāmba was captured in the town named after the elephant,* while he was trying to abduct Duryodhana’s daughter. 9 When Rāma Halāyudha heard about it he was furious and went to rescue him, but then when he got there he couldn’t get him back. So the strongman lost his temper and performed a great miracle. 10 The strongman raised his weapon—the irresistible, unbreakable, incomparable, celestial plough, consecrated by Brahmā’s staff— 11 and aimed it at the town’s rampart wall. The strongman wanted to throw the Kaurava’s town into the River Gangā. 12 But when King Duryodhana noticed that the town was shaking, he returned Sāmba to the wise Rāma, along with his wife. 13 Then the king of the Kurus offered himself to Rāma as a student of mace-combat, and noble Rāma accepted him.†
14 Ever since then, supreme king, that shaken city has looked as if it’s leaning over towards the Gangā, your majesty. 15 This deed of Rāma’s was an extremely miraculous one, and it’s celebrated across the earth.
Under the Bhāndīra Tree, your majesty, they tell of what Shūra’s grandson did before that: 16 Halāyudha killed Pralamba with one fist, and he tossed the massive Dhenuka into the top of a tree.
17 The great river was heading for the salty sea
crowned with waves and streams of swift water
when Yama’s sister Yamunā was dragged by the plough
and fetched to face the town.
18 This chapter that I’ve narrated for you is called the Greatness of Baladeva—the greatness of the immeasurable and illustrious Shesha Ananta.
19 The man with the plough, the best of men,
did manifold other great deeds too.
The ones I haven’t mentioned to you here today
you must extract from old story collections.
The Naraka Episode
91. The Killing of Naraka
1 Janamejaya said:
After Rukmin had been killed and brave and strong-armed Vishnu had returned to Dvārakā, tell me what he did next, great sage.
2 Vaishampāyana said:
Brave Lord Vishnu, the darling of all the Yādavas, entered the city surrounded by the rest of the group, and then he made an inspection of Dvārakā. 3 The lotus-eyed god took stock of the various jewels and treasures they’d brought back with them, and he gave suitable rewards to the Nairrita demons who’d carried them. 4 There were some powerful Daitya and Dānava demons who, emboldened by having their wishes granted, had been making mischief there in the city, but the strong-armed god killed them.
5 At around that time, there was a certain Dānava who was causing trouble. His name was Naraka Bhauma—Hell, Son of Earth. He was a great enemy of the king of the gods, and he struck fear into the ranks of the gods. 6 He settled in Prāgjyotisha Mūrtilinga, oppressed all the deities, and made problems for the people and the seers.
7 Bhauma raped Tvashtri’s shapely fourteen-year-old daughter Kasheru. He overpowered her in the form of an elephant. 8 After Naraka the lord of Prāgjyotisha had forced himself upon the voluptuous girl, he felt as if his troubles and sorrows were over, and in his delusion he made an announcement:
9 Whatever various jewels there are among gods and humans, and whatever treasures are held by the whole broad earth, or in the seas, 10 from today onwards all the combined Nairrita demons and the Daityas and Dānavas will fetch them here just for me.
11 In this way, Bhauma then collected prize jewels and various robes. But he didn’t make use of them.
12 Mighty Naraka abducted daughters of light-elves, of gods, and of humans, as well as seven companies of celestial nymphs. 13 There were fourteen thousand and twenty-one hundred of them, all avowed to the path of the virtuous, their hair in single plaits.*14 Bhauma happily built them Jewel Mountain, a splendid fortress in Alakā, near Mura’s realm. 15 There they were guarded and visited by the lord of Prāgjyotisha, by ten of Mura’s sons, and by the principal Nairrita demons.
16 The great demon Naraka had had a wish granted, and he was as deluded as can be. The great demon molested Aditi for the sake of her earrings. 17 That was a terrible deed that no one from any of the categories of demon had ever done before, but the great demon did it.
18 His mother was the broad earth goddess, his town was Prāgjyotisha, and his four battle-crazed border-guards were 19 Hayagrīva Horse-Neck, Nisunda, brave Panchajana,* and the great demon Mura, whose wish for one thousand sons had been granted. 20 Together with his ghastly monsters, Naraka blocked off the path that leads to the gods, and he stood there striking fear into people who’d done virtuous deeds.
21 It was for the sake of Naraka’s death that strong-armed Janārdana, the bearer of conch, discus, mace, and sword, was born to Vasudeva and Devakī among the Vrishnis. 22 And it was as a means to that same end that the gods had provided Dvārakā as a home for that supreme person whose brilliance was celebrated across the world.
23 Surrounded by the great restless ocean and decorated by five hills, the city of Dvārakā was even more delightful than Vāsava’s dwelling. 24 In that city that looked like a city of the gods, there was an assembly hall one full yojana wide that had golden archways and was famous by the name of Sudāshārhī.†25 Guided by Rāma and Krishna, all the Vrishnis and Andhakas used to sit there and look after all their worldly affairs.
26 One time, bull of the Bhāratas, while they were all sitting there, a divinely scented breeze blew, and a shower of petals fell. 27 A short while later there was a cry of joy accompanied by a blaze of light in the sky, and then, standing on the ground 28 at the centre of the brightness, mounted on a white elephant and surrounded by all the companies of the gods, Vāsava appeared.
29 Rāma, Krishna, and the king, together with the crowds of Vrishnis and Andhakas, came out to meet and pay their respects to the illustrious king of the gods. 30 He quickly descended from the elephant and embraced Janārdana, and then he embraced Baladeva and King Ugrasena the son of Āhuka, and then he embraced other Vrishnis, in accordance with their rank and their age. 31 After Rāma and Krishna had honoured him he entered the handsome hall, and when he was gracing the hall and his seat within it, the king of the gods accepted the guest-offering in the proper fashion, beginning with the offering of water. 32 Then, as he touched his younger brother’s handsome face with his hand, majestic Vāsava said gently to him:
33 Devakī’s son Madhusūdana, bane of your foes. Listen to my request, which is the reason why I’ve come to you today. 34 A son of Diti, a Nairrita demon named Naraka, has become arrogant after Brahmā granted him his wish, and in his folly he’s stolen Aditi’s earrings. 35 He’s always doing what’s hateful to the gods and seers, and he’s even on the lookout for your weakness. Kill that wicked man! 36 Garuda here will take you to him—Vinatā’s ultra-brilliant son will fly where you like and be as brave as you like. 37 Naraka Bhauma can’t be killed by any other being, but you’ll be able to kill that wicked demon and come straight back.
38 After the king of the gods had said that to him, strong-armed and lotus-eyed Keshava promised to destroy Naraka, 39 and then the bearer of conch, discus, mace, and sword departed with Shakra. Taking Satyabhāmā with him, he mounted onto Garuda, 40 and as the Yadu lions watched, the mighty man and Vāsava ascended onto the shoulders of each of the seven winds in turn.*41 Shakra was on the Indra of elephants and Janārdana was on Garuda, and when they got further away they looked like the sun and the moon. 42 Then, as the light-elves and celestial nymphs praised them up in the sky, Mādhava and Shakra gradually disappeared from view.
43 Having fulfilled his task, Vāsava the king of the gods went back to his own home. Krishna headed for Prāgjyotisha. 44 He killed the best of Naraka’s mighty monster hordes, and then he spotted the six thousand razor-edged snares that Mura had set. 45 He cut down all those snares and killed Mura and his sons, and then he crossed rocky mountains and felled Nisunda, who had spent a thousand years single-handedly harassing all the gods.
46 The battle that took place was like the battle between gods and demons, bull of the Bhāratas. It was a terri
ble battle featuring all manner of weapons. 47 Mounted upon Garuda, the strong-armed man hammered the great demons with great arrows of many colours,† fired from his Shārnga bow. 48 The Dānavas who encountered Janārdana on that occasion were destroyed: they were smashed up by his great plough, or cut down by his arrows or sword. 49 Some Dānavas fell out of the sky, burned by the fire of his discus. Some landed close to him, their faces twisted in death.
50 Irrepressible and infinitely brilliant, the darling of all the Yādavas killed the fearsome great demon Hayagrīva Horse-Neck. 51 In Alakā, within Lohitaganga, Devakī’s holy son the supreme person killed the wicked Virūpāksha. 52 He slew eight hundred thousand Dānavas including Naraka’s terrible great demon Panchajana, and then the enemy-burning man-tiger charged towards Prāgjyotisha.
53 He reached the town called Prāgjyotisha, which was shining with splendour in its own way, and then there was a great battle there. 54 He fought a really vicious battle there, against Naraka. I’m going to tell you all about it, and you must listen to every word I say.
55 Just as Madhu once fought with the supreme person, Madhusūdana the Slayer of Madhu, so magnificent Naraka, who terrified the ranks of the gods, fought with him now. 56 Madhusūdana the man with the vicious discus fought with Naraka for an hour, and then he cut him in half with his blazing discus. 57 The discus cut his body in two like a saw cutting a mountain peak in two. His body fell to the earth, 58 and when the earth saw her fallen son she took the earrings and approached Govinda. She said:
59 You were the one who gave him to me, Govinda, and you were the one who took him away. Here are the earrings, god. Take care of his children.
92. The Return of the Earrings
1 Vaishampāyana said:
After he’d killed Naraka Bhauma, Vāsava’s younger brother Vishnu, whose power matches Vāsava’s, found Naraka’s palace. 2 Then Janārdana discovered Naraka’s treasury. He found untold wealth, and all kinds of jewels. 3 He found gemstones, pearls, corals, masses of cat’s-eye gems, heaps of gold, and hoards of diamonds. 4 He found items made of River Jambū gold, items made of River Shatakumbhā gold, items that shone like blazing fires, and items that shone like the cool-rayed moon. He found valuable couches and thrones. 5 He also found a large and beautiful golden parasol that looked like the cool-rayed moon and was like a cloud that showered down 6 a hundred thousand streams of bright gold. We’ve heard it said that Naraka stole this parasol from Varuna some time earlier.
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