by Bibek Debroy
Chapter 111
Vaishampayana said, ‘Krishna, the afflicter of enemies, thought that Jvara was dead. With the strength of his arms, he flung him down on the ground. However, as soon as he was released from the arms, he entered Krishna’s body. Krishna, infinite in his energy, could not free his body from his grasp. The infinitely energetic one was pervaded by Jvara. Krishna seemed to totter and repeatedly circled around on the ground. Krishna yawned. Yet again, he suffered severely. The body hair stood up on his body and he was overcome by sleep. Purushottama realized that Jvara had overcome him. He created another Jvara, so as to destroy the older Jvara. The infinitely energetic one struck Jvara in this way. At that time, an invisible voice was heard from the sky. “O Krishna! O mighty-armed one! O Krishna! O extender of the delight of the Yadu lineage! O unblemished one! You should not kill this Jvara. Instead, you should protect him.” Addressed in these words, Hari himself released him. Jvara said, “Let me be the only Jvara on this earth. O ornament of assemblies! Through your favours, let there be no other Jvara.” The illustrious one replied, “May you be happy. May you be the single Jvara in this world. The Jvara that was created by me will merge into me.” Jvara said, “I am blessed that you have shown me your favours. You have done something that is agreeable to me. O one who wields the chakra as a weapon! Command me. What will I do to ensure your pleasure?” The illustrious one replied, “In this great battle, both you and I only used the strength and valour of our arms as weapons. O Jvara! If a man bows down single-mindedly before me and reads this, he will be cured of all fever.” The great-souled Krishna himself addressed Jvara in this way. He bowed his head down before Krishna and left the field of battle.’
Chapter 112
Vaishampayana said, ‘Then those three, who were like fires, united and started to fight again.1078 They fought, stationed in that battle astride Vinata’s son. Those extremely strong ones showered down arrows and mangled all the armies. Extremely strong, Vinata’s son roared in that battle. The large army of the great-souled danavas was afflicted by the chakra, the plough and the shower of arrows and was enraged. Krishna’s arrows emitted fire and the blaze increased, like dead wood on fire is fanned by the wind and the feeding of kindling.1079 In the forefront of that battle, there were thousands of danavas. They were illuminated as they were burnt down by the rays, like the fire of destruction that comes at the end of a yuga. That large army of soldiers wielded many kinds of weapons and was routed. Bana restrained them and spoke these words. “Why have you become faint-hearted and overcome by fear? You have been born in the lineage of the daityas, yet you are running away from this great battle. You are capable of roaming around in the sky. Why are you fleeing, abandoning your armour, swords, clubs, spears, blades,1080 shields and battleaxes? You should show respect to your own kin and your residence in Hara’s company. You should not be distressed and flee. I am stationed here.” However, despite being addressed in these words, all the danavas were afflicted by fear. They did not listen, or even think about it. They ran away. However, there was some numbers of demons who were still left at the forefront of the army. These remnants again made up their mind to fight.
‘The valiant Kumbhanda was Bana’s friend and aide. On seeing that the army was shattered, he spoke these words. “Bana is stationed in the battle and so are Shankara and Guha.1081 Why are you overcome by fear and abandoning this battle?” The valiant Nandishvara1082 was stationed on his chariot. Rudra bit his lips and advanced towards where Hari was. His chariot was yoked to lions. It made a loud clatter and seemed to swallow up the sky. It looked like the moon on a full moon light, freed from the clouds. Hari was in the front, astride Vinata’s son. Angrily, Hara1083 pierced him with one hundred iron arrows. Hara, the slayer of enemies, afflicted him with these arrows. Angrily, Hari grasped the supreme parjanya weapon. Hundreds of thousands of arrows with drooping tufts were released and from all directions, they descended on Hara’s body. Rudra, supreme among those who are skilled in all weapons, became angry. He released the extremely terrible agneya weapon. It was extraordinary. From all directions, those four1084 were enveloped by these arrows and couldn’t be seen. Their bodies were mangled and they were burnt by the fire. The supreme among asuras roared like lions. Since Hari had been rendered invisible by the agneya weapon, they thought that he had been killed. However, the powerful Vasudeva, supreme among those who were accomplished in the use of all weapons, wished to destroy the enemy and picked up the varuna weapon. When the intelligent Vasudeva raised the varuna weapon, the agneya weapon was pacified by varuna’s energy. However, Bhava released four weapons that were like the fire that arrives at the time of the destruction of a yuga—paishacha, rakshasa, roudra and angiras. To counter these weapons, Vasudeva released vayavya, savitra, vasava and mohana. Keshava countered the four weapons with four of his. He then picked up the vaishnava weapon, which was like Death with a gaping mouth. When the vaishnava weapon was released, all the supreme ones among the asuras fled in different directions, their eyes confounded with terror. The world was immersed in darkness and Tryambaka seemed to blaze. Nandi and Rudra, on his chariot, could no longer be seen. The one with four faces1085 seized the arrow that had brought an end to Tripura. Because of his rage and strength, his form doubled in radiance. Desiring to unleash it, the three-eyed one affixed it to his bow. However, the great-souled Vasudeva, who knew the intention behind everything, discerned this. Therefore, Purushottama picked up the weapon known as jrimbhana. The immensely strong one acted swiftly and made Hara yawn.1086 He blew on his conch shell and extended the Sharnga bow. All the creatures who were present saw the god1087 yawn.
‘Guha was on a chariot and Kumbhanda steered the horses that were yoked to it.1088 He attacked Krishna, Bala and Pradyumna. With arrows marking their bodies, those three looked like fires. Though blood flowed from their limbs, they fought back against Guha. Those three were conversant with modes of fighting. They shot three supreme arrows that blazed in their energy—vayavya, agneya and parjanya. The great-souled one1089 wielded a radiant bow and his torrent of arrows blazed. He devoured that storm of arrows with the maya of his weapons. In the battle, Guha bit his lips. He picked up the weapon known as brahmashiras. It was like Death and was impossible to withstand. The brahmashiras was invoked and it was as resplendent as the one with one thousand rays.1090 It was fierce and supremely unassailable. It would ensure the destruction of the worlds. All the great beings fled in different directions. The valiant Keshava picked up the chakra that destroyed Keshi. It was capable of countering and destroying the energy of all weapons. The great-souled one’s chakra is famous in the worlds and cannot be countered. Through its energy, it made the brahmashiras weapon lose its lustre. It was like the giant solar disc losing its radiance because of clouds during the rainy season. The immensely energetic brahmashiras lost its valour and its radiance. At this, Guha was enraged. He seized a golden javelin that was like a giant meteor. It was as radiant as the fire that comes at the time of the destruction of a yuga. It was decorated with bells and garlands and he hurled this javelin. With a blazing mouth, that giant javelin seemed to yawn in the sky and descended, desiring to slay Krishna. All the immortals, with Indra at the forefront, were greatly distressed. They saw that blazing javelin and said that Krishna would be consumed. In the great battle, as the giant javelin approached, Krishna censured it with words of humkara and it fell down on the ground.1091 When the great javelin fell down on the ground, all the gods, with Vasava, uttered words of praise and roared like lions. When the gods roared, the powerful Vasudeva, the destroyer of all creatures, again picked up the chakra. As the infinitely energetic Krishna whirled the chakra around, the goddess Koutavi saw this.1092 She exclaimed, “Shame! Shame! Retreat! Retreat!” She stood in front of him.
‘At that time, there was the blaring of trumpets and the great beating of drums. As the daityas roared like lions, Bana attacked Krishna. In the battle, the bull among the Yadus saw that he was advancing. Accordingly, the infinitely energ
etic Krishna mounted Vinata’s son. Bana said, “Wait. Hold on. Before me, you will not escape with your life today. You will not be able to see Dvaraka and your well-wishers who reside in Dvaraka. O Madhava! You will not be able to see the trees with golden complexions at the tips. Urged by destiny, you will face me in this encounter. You will be overcome by me and die. In this battle, what will an eight-handed person do againt one with one thousand arms? O one with Garuda on his banner! Approach me and fight. In this battle today, I will vanquish you and your relatives. Slain in the city of Shonita, you will remember Dvaraka. Today, you will think my one thousand arms actually number one crore. They wield many kinds of weapons and are adorned in diverse kinds of armlets.” The torrent of his words roared, like the waters of the ocean. He roamed around, like the terrible waters when they are agitated by the wind. His eyes were full of anger. He was like a giant sun that had arisen for the destruction of the universe. The illustrious one replied, “O Bana! Why are you roaring? When brave ones are stationed in battle, they do not roar. Come and fight in this battle. Why are you roaring in this pointless way? O Diti’s descendant! Had encounters been won through words, you would have always triumphed. You have ranted a lot. O Bana! Come. Defeat me, or be vanquished and lie down on the ground, covering your face. O asura! Be miserable and lie down for a last time.”
‘Having spoken these words, in that battle, Krishna pierced him with a torrent of swift arrows that struck at his inner organs. They were invincible and blazed in their energy. However, Bana smiled and countered Krishna with a blazing shower of arrows. The extremely terrible encounter commenced. As the battle continued, the energetic one shrouded the revered Keshava with arrows, swords, maces, clubs, spears, javelins and spikes. The eight-armed one fought with the thousand-armed one. The wielder of the conch shell, chakra and mace fought with Bana. There was a supreme and divine weapon that had been created through great austerities. In any battle, it was impossible to withstand and could destroy all enemies. This had been created earlier by Brahma, and Bali’s son released this. All the directions were enveloped and the discs of all the luminous bodies lost their radiance. A terrible dust arose and nothing could be seen. The danavas honoured Bana and uttered words of praise. As the gods roamed around, they exclaimed, “Alas! Shame!” From the strength and force of that weapon, an extremely terrible shower of arrows rained down, resplendent and fierce in form and extremely swift. The wind stopped blowing. The clouds ceased to move. When that arrow was released, Keshava was consumed. However, Madhusudana picked up an extremely swift weapon, which was named parjanya. In the encounter, the illustrious one was like the Destroyer, Yama. Having invoked the parjanya weapon with a mantra, he pacified the danava’s weapon. All the large number of gods were delighted and cheered. O great king! When that weapon was destroyed, Diti’s son became senseless with rage. Keshava was on Garuda and he again enveloped him with clubs, javelins and spears. Keshava, the slayer of enemies, again swiftly repulsed all these showers of arrows. The mounts of the two, the god and the daitya, also fought with each other. In the encounter, Garuda fought with the peacock.1093 The peacock and Garuda angrily struck at each other with blows from wings and beaks, feet, nails and talons. The peacock blazed in energy. But Vinata’s son angrily seized him by the head and struck him with his beak. The immensely strong one struck him on his right wing. He repeatedly dealt fierce blows on his flanks with his feet. The immensely strong one quickly seized him and dragged him along. He became unconscious and fell down from the sky, like a mountain. When the peacock was brought down by the bird Garuda, Bana was without a protector. He became extremely anxious and began to think about what he should do.
‘Rudra got to know that Bana was distressed in his mind and extremely miserable in the battle. Anxious and miserable, the illustrious one thought about what he could do to offer protection. In a rumbling voice, Mahadeva spoke to Nandi. “O Nandikeshvara! Take this chariot and go where Bana is stationed in the battle. Take these large number of demons with you. My mind is awhirl. O son!1094 Go and use your powers to save Bana.” Nandi, supreme among charioteers, agreed and left on that chariot. He went to where Bana was and spoke these soft words to Bana. “O daitya! O immensely strong one! Swiftly ascend this chariot.” Thus addressed, he climbed onto Mahadeva’s chariot. The infinitely energetic one was astride Bhava’s chariot. He was supreme among those who were accomplished in the use of weapons and invoked the terrible and blazing weapon, brahmashiras. The extremely valiant Bana was angry and used this weapon. Brahmashiras blazed and the worlds were agitated. It had actually been created by the one who was born from a lotus1095 for the protection of the worlds. However, the powerful Krishna destroyed this weapon with his chakra and told Bana, who was unmatched in battle and famous and illustrious in the worlds, “O Bana! What did you boast about? Wasn’t that in vain? I am stationed before you in this battle. Be a man and fight with me. Earlier, there used to be an extremely strong person by the name of Kartavirya Arjuna. He possessed one thousand arms. However, in an encounter, he was defeated by the two-armed Rama.1096 Your arms were created because of your valour and you were insolent about them. In this field of battle, I will pacify your insolence with my chakra. Remain until I have destroyed the insolence that has been generated by your arms. In this field of battle, you will not escape from me today.” The tiger among men roared like a cloud at the end of the summer and seized the thousand-sided chakra, so as to pacify Bana’s arms, who was like an insect drawn to the flames. The chakra had been created by Prajapati and its energy blazed, like the moon. It was full of energy and extremely radiant, like the sun. His own body enveloped in energy, he stood in front of Bana. On seeing that the illustrious one was stationed in the field of battle, raising the chakra, Koutavi stationed herself in front of Vasudeva. Invisible to others, she shed her garments and stood before him again, naked. To save Bana, Vijaya1097 stationed herself there. The noble one, eyes coppery red and naked, again stationed herself in the battle. Intent on saving Bana, she spoke these words. “O god! Bana is unmatched in battle and you should not kill him.” The mighty-armed Krishna, supreme among strikers, became enraged. In the battle, he whirled around the supreme chakra and spoke to Bana. “On each occasion when you fight in this encounter, Koutavi is stationed in front of you. You seem to be incapable of fighting. Shame on your manliness.” Krishna was immensely strong and knew about supreme weapons. Saying this, he closed his eyes and hurled the chakra towards Bana. Vishnu’s weapon possessed an excellent nave. In the field of battle, it whirled around like a circle of fire and was so swift that it could not be seen. One by one, in the field of battle, the chakra sliced off Bana’s one thousand arms.1098 Torrents of blood started to flow from his body. With his arms severed, the giant asura looked like a mountain.