41 On hearing this, Krishna laughed and said: God of awesome powers. In the interests of peace, give me the cows.
42 Varuna said:
Formerly, god, I made an agreement with Bāna. How can I render that agreement worthless and act contrary to it? 43 I’ll never surrender the cows as long as I live, bull-eyed god. That’s the agreement I’ve made. So if you must take the cows, you’ll have to kill me first.*
44 When Varuna said this to him, the famous Mādhava simply gave up on the cows. He burst out laughing, and paid his respects to god Varuna. Then, in the company of Shakra and other immortals, he continued the journey towards Dvārakā. 45 The gods including the Maruts and the Sādhyas followed him there, winner of wars. He was the lord of the universe and the immutable origin of all creatures, 46 and the Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, and the two mighty Ashvins followed him as he approached in glory and triumph.
47 Even from a distance the bearer of the discus and mace saw that Dvārakā had garlands on its gates, and he gave a blast on Pānchajanya. 48 On hearing the noise of the retinue of gods and the sound of Pānchajanya, the whole of Dvāravatī became incredibly excited, 49 and the Yādavas paid homage to Krishna as he sat upon the son of Vinatā in supreme glory, looking like a pile of black kohl. 50 With seers, gods, light-elves, and celestial singers praising him on all sides, Govinda paused above Dvārakā, 51 and the finest companies of Dāshārhas witnessed the marvel of the great god and supreme person arriving home after defeating Bāna.
52 As soon as Krishna, the momentous great warrior of the Sātvatas, had landed, word went round among all of Dvārakā’s inhabitants. They said: 53 We’re blessed and we’re favoured, since we’re the ones that Janārdana, the long-armed lord of the world, protects and preserves. 54 After mounting upon the son of Vinatā and beating the unbeatable Bāna, the lotus-eyed man has returned, as if all he wants to do is bring joy to our hearts.
55 While Dvārakā’s inhabitants were saying such things, the gods, who had amazing chariots, entered Vāsudeva’s house, 56 and as they assembled, their various kinds of aerial chariots could be seen parked in the sky all around, 57 along with the lions, bulls, deer, elephants, horses, cranes, and peacocks that pulled them. Those aerial chariots could be seen shining there in their thousands.
58 The Rudras, Ādityas, and Vasus, the two Ashvins, the Sādhyas, and the other gods praised each member of the returning party in turn. 59 When they came to Vāsudeva they said: Ah! It’s a great marvel indeed that we have here.
60 Then the citizens honoured all the heaven-dwellers by sprinkling sandalwood powder and showering blossoms all over them. 61 Keeping their words and thoughts under control, all of Dvārakā’s inhabitants also honoured the heaven-dwellers by throwing grains of rice, and making deep bows, and burning incense.
62–64 Bold Vāsava embraced Āhuka’s son Ugrasena, Vasudeva, Sāmba the darling of the Yadus, Sātyaki, Ulmuka, and mighty Viprithu, and he kissed Andhaka and Shubhāksha on the head. Then he said to all the Sātvatas:
This man of yours, the delight of the Yadus, has applied himself in battle in glorious and manly fashion. 65 He’s returned to Dvārakā after defeating Bāna in battle in full view of Guha and the great god Rudra. 66 Hari here has returned to his own city after depleting the arms of that thousand-armed demon perfectly, and making him two-armed.
67 The purpose for which the great Krishna was born among human beings has been achieved in its entirety. Our sorrows have been lifted. 68 We shall enjoy ourselves drinking delicious liquor in great satisfaction, as we spend our time focusing relentlessly upon the pleasures of the senses. 69 Now that our sorrows have been laid to rest thanks to the arms of this great man, we immortals shall all gladly enjoy ourselves, every single one of us.
70 After saying this, and after embracing lotus-eyed Krishna, the smasher of citadels departed for heaven, surrounded by all the ranks of the immortals. As for Krishna, now that he was back in Dvārakā he enjoyed himself, surrounded by crowds of Yadus.
71 Hence, lord of the earth, Vishnu did indeed descend onto the earth and become famous as the son of Vasudeva and the prize of the Yadu clan, 72 and it’s for these reasons that the glorious lord was born from Devakī in the family of Vasudeva among the Vrishnis, which is what you asked me about.*73 After Nārada had completed his enquiries, I told you the answer in summary form.† Before that, Janamejaya, I told you all the details 74 about Vishnu in the tale of Mathurā, and whenever you’ve had any serious doubt I’ve told you what Vāsudeva did.
75 Krishna and no one else is the marvel, and his presence was a marvel, and in all the tales about marvels there’s no marvel that doesn’t come from Vishnu. 76 Among those who are blessed he alone is the blessed one, and the one who blesses, and the one who nurtures the blessed. Even among the gods and Daityas there’s no one more blessed than lofty Krishna. 77 He is the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Ashvins, and the Maruts. He is the sky, the earth, and the directions. He is water and light, 78 he is the arranger and the disposer, and also Time the destroyer. He is truth, propriety, austerity, and the eternal brahman. He is the universe. Bow down to him, Bhārata. The lord of the gods is everything.
79 So I’ve told you about the battle against Bāna, and about the greatness of Keshava. Merely by dint of having heard them, your lineage will endure like no other. 80 No injustice will befall a person who thinks about the superb battle against Bāna, and the greatness of Keshava.
81 Janamejaya my boy, the rite has now been completed.‡ While you’ve been asking me questions, I’ve celebrated the career of Vishnu for you in its entirety. 82 If a person thinks about this whole Book of the Marvel,§ your majesty, then they’ll have a long life and nothing bad will ever happen to them.
83 The storyteller said:
In this way, brahmin bulls,* by the time King Janamejaya son of Parikshit had listened to Vaishampāyana’s narration of the Harivamsha, he’d been purified.
84 So, Shaunaka, I’ve now narrated all the lineages for you, in brief and also in detail. What shall I narrate for you next?
* * *
* The River Gangā has a path through each of the three worlds.
* Kamsa’s father Ugrasena is the brother of Devakī’s father Devaka (Hv 27.25–29 above).
* Each lunar month consists of two fortnights, the bright fortnight when the moon is waxing, and the dark fortnight when the moon is waning.
* Because of their peculiarly rough surface-texture, incident water removes all dust and dirt from lotus leaves and petals.
† Indra is sometimes called Kaushika (though he is not mentioned at Hv 23.82–94 above).
* Rohinī is the star Aldebaran, and the moon’s favourite wife. See Mbh 9.34.40–74.
* Devakī suggests that this female child poses no threat to Kamsa and should be spared.
* This seems to be a good omen.
* This could be an origin myth for the Milky Way, as per the similar story in Latin literature.
* The sacred thread is worn by male members of the brahmin, kshatriya, and vaishya classes who have been initiated into the Vedic educational community. Sankarshana and Krishna will not reach that stage until Hv 79 below; but they do carry rope.
* Arachnids of the Trombidiidae family, also known as red velvet mites.
* In this verse Baladeva refers to Vishnu’s seasonal slumbers; see Hv 40.23–25 above.
* Musth is a periodic condition of male elephants during which they become extremely irritable, agitated, and aggressive, and temporin oozes from their temples.
† For the palm tree on Baladeva’s standard, see Hv 70.17 below.
* For Vishnu’s seasonal sleep, see again Hv 40.23–25 above.
* The crested cuckoo is a migrant visitor and normally a harbinger of the monsoon. It is said to drink only rainwater, on the wing.
* Mountains used to have wings, to which the clouds are here compared. See again Hv 35.16 above, and the footnote there.
* Rudra pierced the triple city of the
demons with one arrow, as narrated at Mbh 7.173.52–58.
* The month of Tishya includes parts of December and January.
† The demon Bala, mentioned at Hv 3.77 above.
* Perhaps this refers to Brahmā’s role in Vishnu’s descent. See Hv 41, 43, and 45 above, and vv. 21–22 below.
* Despite the list given at Hv 3.50–51 above, Indra is generally presented as Vishnu’s older brother. Compare Hv 30.19 and 32.5 above; also Mbh 1.59.14–16 and 1.60.35.
* Here Trishanku and Agastya are, respectively, the constellation of the Southern Cross, and the star Canopus. For Trishanku in the sky, see Rāmāyana 1.56–59.
* The universal sovereign is Yudhishthira, who achieves that status by means of the rājasūya rite which Krishna encourages and enables (Mbh 2.12–42).
† This seems to be a reference to the Bhagavad-Gītā, where Krishna ensures that Arjuna will fight.
* Arjuna and Krishna were formerly the seers Nara and Nārāyana; see e.g. Mbh 3.41.1–2.
† See again v. 43 above.
‡ Pāndu shot a mating stag, but it was actually a powerful seer in the form of a stag, who cursed him to die in the act of love (Mbh 1.109)—which he later did (1.116.1–13).
* The triple set consists of propriety, prosperity, and pleasure; see Hv 30.9 above.
* Kamsa attributes to Krishna some deeds that Vaishampāyana attributes to Baladeva. For the killing of Dhenuka and Pralamba, see Hv 57–58 above, and Hv 90.16 below.
* See the footnote to Hv 61.44 above.
† See Mbh 1.71. Kacha became Shukra’s disciple (and the object of Shukra’s daughter’s affections) in order to learn the resuscitation spell through which the demons were prospering against the gods. After learning the spell, Kacha first used it to revive Shukra.
‡ For Vishnu as Akūpāra (the tortoise) and as the woman (Mohinī), see the story of the churning of the ocean, Mbh 1.15–17.
* For the four methods, see Hv 15.48–52 above.
* For this pun, compare Hv 5.24 above.
* Svātī is the star Arcturus.
* Because of a curse, Kalmāshapāda lived for twelve years as a cannibal in the forest. See Hv 10.70 above, and the footnote there.
* For the combination of fire and soma, compare Hv 30.42–45; 39.11; 113.33.
* In Indian culture cowdung is used as an auspicious cleaning and purifying agent, and as fuel. In the context of wrestling it is also used to facilitate grip; see Hv 75.11 and 19 below.
* Saubha is a city in the sky. Its ruler is usually said to be Shālva; see below, Hv 97.6; 105.13; 109.40.
* She didn’t exactly ask him this, but this would be the normal way in which ‘Who are you?’ (v. 20 above) would be understood.
† Ugrasena’s field is his wife; see the footnote to Hv 23.120 above.
* According to Bhīshma at Mbh 12.102.5, bare-arm combat is the specialised form of combat for warriors from Mathurā.
† Andhra is the name of the community to which both Chānūra and Mushtika belong.
* That is, like a shooting star. These were considered to be souls returning from heaven for rebirth on earth.
* For this last comment, compare Hv 47.56 above.
* Perhaps chariots, cavalry, elephants, and infantry (see Hv 78.22 above, etc.).
* Normally an army has four divisions (Hv 78.22 above, etc.). Siege engines are probably the fifth here (compare Mbh 12.104.37), and supply vehicles perhaps the sixth.
† Janamejaya first heard about Kamsa’s alliance with Jarāsandha at Mbh 2.13.29–33.
* Krishna is thinking of the war at Kurukshetra.
† In Sanskrit poetry, when elephants are mentioned in contexts which stress their fearsome destructive potential, they are usually said to be in musth, though it would in fact be impossible to use an elephant for military purposes during its musth period.
* The passage Hv 81.96–104 sets up the expectation of battle on two fronts but overtakes it with a description of battle on three fronts.
* The story of Gārgya and Kālayavana has already been told briefly at Hv 25.8–16 above.
* For Muchukunda, see Hv 9.83–85 above. See also Mbh 12.75.
* The size of creatures decreases with each successive cosmic age. See Mbh 3.148.7.
* Muchukunda’s story resembles that of Raivata told at Hv 9.25–28 above.
* This initial procedure is a standard feature of Indian building protocol. Specific deities are installed in specific sectors of a ground-plan that is made up of a centre and two concentric squares.
* For the story of Raivata and Revatī, see Hv 9.24–35 above.
* Jyāmagha, to be precise; see Hv 26.11–19 above.
† According to legend, the brahmin Agastya civilised the south. See Mbh 3.102.
‡ Druma is a wild-elf; see Hv 81.39 above.
* For this King Vasu, see Hv 13.25–40 and 22.13 above. For Vasu and Girivraja, see Rāmāyana 1.31.1–8.
† See vv. 20–21 above: Vasudeva’s sister Shrutashravā is Shishupāla’s mother.
* For this vow and a brief summary of what follows, see also Mbh 5.155.11–16.
* Her father was a bear; see again Hv 28.15–29 above.
† Nādāyanī Indrasenā is famous for her great love for her husband; see Mbh 3.113.24 and 4.20.8.
* This plan to beat Baladeva at dice is similar to Duryodhana’s plan to use his skilled uncle Shakuni to beat Yudhishthira at dice (Mbh 2.44–67).
* See Hv 87.13 above. The Bhārgava is the famous martial-arts teacher Rāma Jāmadagnya.
* Hāstinapura, the Town of the Elephant, is the Kauravas’ capital.
† Compare Hv 29.28 above, where Baladeva is said to have been Duryodhana’s mace-tutor while living in Mithilā.
* The single plait is a symbol of a woman’s chastity.
* In his whale form the demon Panchajana was killed by Krishna at Hv 79.14–16 above.
† The Sudharma Hall (see Hv 86.63–73 above) has seemingly been renamed the Sudāshārhī hall after being relocated to Dvārakā.
* For an account of the seven winds, see Mbh 12.315.31–53.
† Krishna’s bow has the same name as the typically very colourful bee-eater bird, and this description gives the impression that these arrows are fletched with bee-eater feathers.
* For this name, see Hv 50 above, and Hv 96.30–32 below.
* Vasudeva’s wives are Rohinī (his first and thus senior wife, Hv 25.1) and the seven daughters of Devaka (Hv 27.26–27).
† See Hv 47–48 above. The image presented in this paragraph, of a woman flanked by two men, is known from small sculptured icons found in the Mathurā region and dated to the early centuries ce.
* Compare Kamsa’s statement at Hv 65.28 above, and the footnote there.
† This attempt to capture Krishna was not mentioned previously, although wolves were used to scare the cowherders to a new location (Hv 52). Sunāman is Kamsa’s brother, killed by Baladeva at Hv 76.45.
* Perhaps Nārada here addresses King Ugrasena in particular among the Yādavas.
* For the killing of Shālva and the destruction of his city Saubha, see Mbh 3.21–23.
* For this deed, see Hv 31.68–92 above.
† For this story, see Hv 106–13 below.
* This refers back to Hv 88.34–42 and 93.39–51. At Hv 28.32–34 Krishna is said to have married Satyabhāmā, Dridhavratā, and Padmāvatī, all three of them Satrājit’s daughters.
* For Upāsanga (Akrūra’s brother), see Hv 28.39 above.
† This paragraph can explain the fact that elsewhere this Paundra is also called Vāsudeva; see Hv 87.4 and 87.27 above. At Mbh 2.13.17–19, in contrast, Paundra’s name Vāsudeva seems to be a misappropriated title, rather than indicating descent from Vasudeva.
‡ Jaras, Old Age, is the hunter who occasions Krishna’s death by shooting an arrow into the sole of his foot (Mbh 16.5.20).
§ For Anamitra and Shini, see Hv 24.24 above; for Anamitra, see also Hv 28.10–11.
&nbs
p; ** See Hv 98.5 above.
* Shiva famously used the fire of his austerities to incinerate Kāma, the god of love, who was thereafter known as the bodiless god (see e.g. Kumārasambhava 3). Many Vaishnavite sources explicitly identify Pradyumna as Kāma reborn.
* Nārada seemingly refers to himself in the third person here.
* The current manifestations of the gods are prompted by the earth: see Hv 41–43 above. Of the other manifestations mentioned in Hv 30, the boar and dwarf manifestations (vv. 21–30, 68–92) are for the good of the earth in particular.
* This may play on Brihadāranyaka Upanishad 3.9.21, where it is said that the gifts for the priests are the foundation of the sacrifice.
† This is the dialogical setting mentioned at Hv 11.6 and used for Hv 11–19 above. The reference to the kings is slightly hyperbolic, since almost all of them were killed in the Kurukshetra war. Arjuna has witnessed Krishna’s full glory at Bhagavad-Gītā 11 (Mbh 6.33), so he is a suitable narrator.
* Arjuna addresses Krishna here, apparently referring to himself in the third person.
* This last detail is not mentioned when the event is narrated in Hv 91 above; but compare Hv 106.23–26 below for the connection between the demons and the waters.
† Vāsava is defeated in other versions, but not in the one narrated at Hv 92.62–68 above.
* Krishna promised Shishupāla’s mother (his own aunt) that he would pardon a hundred of Shishupāla’s transgressions. See Mbh 2.40.22 for this promise, 2.42.7–11 for a list of some of Shishupāla’s transgressions, and 2.42.21–29 for his death.
† For differing perspectives on King Hayagrīva (who is not to be confused with the demon of the same name), see Mbh 5.72.11–17 and 12.25.22–33.
‡ Jarāsandha had imprisoned 86 kings and planned to sacrifice them (Mbh 2.14.19).
§ Krishna’s visits to the exiled Pāndavas are narrated at Mbh 3.13–23, 118–20, and 180–224.
** This took place some years earlier, as narrated at Mbh 1.214–25. Krishna and Arjuna burned the Khāndava Forest down together.
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