The Mahabharata

by Bibek Debroy

  Chapter 1601(273)

  ‘Bhishma said, “O great king! In every way, that fever penetrated Vritra. Listen to the signs that then manifested themselves on his body. His mouth flamed and assumed a terrible form. He became extremely pale. His body trembled mightily and he began to breathe heavily. His body hair stood up and turned fierce. O great king! He sighed deeply. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! His memory assumed the form of an extremely terrible, fearful and inauspicious jackal, emerged from his mouth and fell down. Blazing and flaming meteors descended along his flanks. Vultures, herons and cranes emitted extremely hideous shrieks and happily circled around above Vritra. Stationed on his chariot in the battle, the god Shakra glanced towards Vritra and prepared to use the vajra. The great asura released a superhuman roar. O Indra among kings! Overwhelmed by that fierce fever, he yawned. While he was thus yawning, Shakra released the vajra. That extremely energetic vajra was like the fire of destruction. It swiftly brought down the giant form of the daitya Vritra. O bull among the Bharata lineage! On seeing that Vritra had been slain, the gods again roared in every direction. Having slain the danava, Vritra, the illustrious and immensely famous one659 entered heaven with the vajra, which was permeated by Vishnu.

  ‘“O Kouravya! At this, the sin of having killed a brahmana660 emerged from Vritra’s body. She was extremely terrible and horrible and caused fear to the worlds. Her teeth were fearsome. She was hideous and malformed, dark and tawny. Her hair stood up and her eyes were awful. O bull among the Bharata lineage! She was thin and wore a garland of skulls. O one who knows about dharma! She was attired in tattered rags and bark that were wet with blood. O Indra among kings! O supreme among the Bharata lineage! That terrible form emerged and searched for the wielder of the vajra. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! After some time, with the welfare of the worlds in mind, Vritra’s slayer was headed in the direction of heaven. On seeing that the immensely energetic Shakra was advancing, she seized Indra of the gods by the throat and adhered to him. The sin of having killed a brahmana generated great fear in him. He therefore entered the stalk of a lotus and spent many years there. O Kouravya! But the sin of having killed a brahmana still sought to pursue him. Grasped by her, he lost all his enterprise. Though Shakra made great efforts to rid himself of the sin of having killed a brahmana, Indra of the gods wasn’t able to shake her off. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Indra of the gods was seized by her. He went to the grandfather and bowed his head down before him. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! On knowing that Shakra had been seized by the sin of having killed a brahmana, Brahma began to think.

  ‘“O mighty-armed one! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In a reassuring and gentle voice, the grandfather spoke to the sin of having killed a brahmana. ‘O beautiful one! Do what is agreeable to me and free this Indra of the thirty gods. Tell me what I can do for you now. What is your desire?’

  ‘“The sin of having killed a brahmana replied, ‘O god! You are worshipped by the three worlds. You are the creator of the three worlds and you are pleased with me. You have thus done everything that I wish for. But decree an abode for me. It was for the sake of protecting the worlds that you laid down this rule.661 O god! This extremely great ordinance was laid down by you. O one who knows about dharma! O lord and master of all the worlds! Since you are pleased with me, I will leave Shakra. But decree an abode for me.’”

  ‘Bhishma said, “At this, the grandfather spoke to the sin of having killed a brahmana. He thought of a means so that the sin of having killed a brahmana might be removed from Shakra. Svayambhu thought of the great-souled Agni. He presented himself before Brahma and spoke these words. ‘O illustrious god! O scorcher of enemies! I have presented myself before you. O god! You should tell me about the task that I have to accomplish.’

  ‘“Brahma said, ‘I will divide the sin of having killed a brahmana into many parts. For the sake of saving Shakra, accept one-fourth of it from me.’

  ‘“Agni replied, ‘O Brahma! O lord! But think of a means whereby I shall also be saved. O one who is revered by the worlds! I wish to know the truth about how that will come about.’

  ‘“Brahma said, ‘There will be people who will be enveloped by tamas. When they approach your blazing form, they will not offer seeds, herbs and juices into the fire. O bearer of oblations! The sin of having killed a brahmana will then swiftly leave you and enter into them. Let your mental anxiety be dispelled.’”

  ‘Bhishma said, “Having been thus addressed by the grandfather, the illustrious lord who was the devourer of oblations662 accepted this. The grandfather summoned trees, herbs and grass. O great king! To accomplish the objective, he spoke to them along similar lines.663 O king! But the trees, herbs and grass were just as distressed as Agni and spoke to Brahma along similar lines. ‘O grandfather of the worlds! If we accept the sin of having killed a brahmana, what will become of us? We are naturally afflicted and you are oppressing us again. O god! We always have to endure heat, cold, rain and wind, not to speak of the cutting down and chopping that we are subjected to. On your command, we will accept the sin of having killed a brahmana. O lord of the three worlds! But while we accept it, please think of a means so that we may be saved.’

  ‘“Brahma said, ‘If there is a man who is confounded by tamas and indulges in cutting down and chopping on auspicious days, then it664 shall penetrate him.’”

  ‘Bhishma said, “Thus addressed by the great-souled Brahma, the trees, herbs and grass worshipped him. They quickly went to wherever they had come from. The god who was the grandfather of the worlds then summoned the apsaras. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He reassured them and spoke to them in gentle words. ‘O ones with supreme limbs! Indra has been overcome by the sin of having killed a brahmana. Instructed by me, accept one-fourth of that.’

  ‘“The apsaras replied, ‘O lord of the gods! On your instructions, we will make up our minds to accept it. O grandfather! But let us have an agreement. Think of a means to save us.’

  ‘“Brahma said, ‘Do not have any mental anxiety. If a person has intercourse with a woman who is menstruating, it will leave you and quickly go to him.’”

  ‘Bhishma said, “The large numbers of apsaras became cheerful at these words. O bull among the Bharata lineage! They went to their respective regions and pleasured there. The immensely ascetic god who was the creators of the three worlds then thought of the waters. When he thought of them and summoned them, all the waters appeared before the infinitely energetic Brahma. O king! They bowed down before the grandfather and spoke these words. ‘O god! O scorcher of enemies! On your instructions, we have thus arrived before you. O lord of the gods! O lord! Command us.’

  ‘“Brahma said, ‘Puruhuta665 is suffering from this great fear on Vritra’s account. Accept one-fourth of the disquiet that has come about because of killing a brahmana.’

  ‘“The waters replied, ‘O lord of the worlds! O master! It shall be as you say. But let us have an agreement that you will think of a means for saving us. You are the lord of the gods. You are the supreme preceptor of the entire universe. Who else can grant us favours? Therefore, free us of the hardship.’

  ‘“Brahma said, ‘There will be a man with limited intelligence and confused understanding. He will release phlegm, urine and excrement into the water. It666 will then swiftly leave you and begin to reside in him. You will be freed in this way. I am telling you this truthfully.’”

  ‘Bhishma said, “O Yudhishthira! Thus Indra of the gods was freed from the sin of having killed a brahmana. On the instructions of the god,667 it left him and went to the designated spots. O lord of men! In this way, Shakra was afflicted with the sin of having killed a brahmana. With the grandfather’s permission, he decided to perform a horse sacrifice. O great king! It has been heard that Vasava was tainted by the sin of having killed a brahmana, but obtained purification through performing the horse sacrifice. The god regained his prosperity and slew thousands of enemies. O lord of the earth! Vasava obtained a g
reat deal of delight. O Partha! Khurvundas668 were born from Vritra’s blood. That is the reason brahmanas and ascetics who have consecrated themselves do not eat these. In every situation, you must act so as to bring pleasure to brahmanas. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! They are said to be gods on earth. O Kouravya! In this way, Shakra used his subtle intelligence to decide in advance about means so that the infinitely energetic and great asura, Vritra, might be killed. O Kouravya! You will also be unvanquished on earth and be like the god Shatakratu, the slayer of enemies. If a person reads this divine account about Shakra, in the midst of brahmanas and on auspicious occasions, he will never be tainted by sin. This is the great and extraordinary account about Vritra’s encounter with Shakra. O son! I have recounted that deed to you. What else do you desire to hear now?”’

  Chapter 1602(274)

  ‘Yudhishthira said, “O grandfather! O immensely wise one! You are accomplished in all the sacred texts. From this account about the slaying of Vritra, a question has arisen in my mind. O lord of men! You have said that Vritra was confused by a fever. O unblemished one! He was then slain by Vasava with the vajra. O immensely wise one! Where did this fever manifest itself from? O lord! I wish to hear the details about the origin of this fever.”

  ‘Bhishma replied, “O king! Listen to the origins of this fever. It is an account that is famous in the worlds. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! I will tell you in detail about how this came about. O great king! In ancient times, there was a summit in Meru that was famous in the three worlds. It was named Savitra. It was resplendent and was decorated with every kind of jewel. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! It was immeasurable and no one in the worlds could approach it. There was a bed on the slope of that mountain, adorned with gold and minerals. The dazzling god669 was seated there. The shining daughter of the king of the mountains670 was always seated by his side. The great-souled and immensely energetic gods, the Vasus, were also there and so were the great-souled Ashvins, supreme among physicians. King Vaishravana671 was also there, served by the guhyakas.672 He was the prosperous master and lord of the yakshas and Kailasa was his abode. There were the devarshis, with Angiras as the foremost. The gandharva Vishvavasu was there and Narada and Parvata. A large number of apsaras gathered there. An auspicious, sacred and pleasant breeze blew there, with many kinds of scents. In every direction, there were giant and blossoming trees. There were vidyadharas and ascetics who were stores of austerities. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All of them worshipped Mahadeva Pashupati. O great king! There were many kinds of creatures, with diverse forms. There were extremely terrible rakshasas and immensely powerful pishachas. They were cheerful, with many kinds of forms, and they wielded diverse kinds of weapons. There were the companions of the god there, like the fire in their forms. The illustrious Nandi was there, ready to follow the instructions of the god. He wielded a flaming and blazing spear, resplendent in its own energy. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! Ganga, supreme among rivers, was there, the source of all the waters in the tirthas. In that form, she worshipped the god. Thus worshipped by the gods and the rishis, the illustrious and extremely fortunate god, Mahadeva, was established there.

  ‘“After some time passed, Prajapati Daksha673 followed the ancient rites and decided to perform a sacrifice. All the gods, with Shakra at the forefront, made up their minds to go to the sacrifice. Those great-souled ones ascended blazing celestial vehicles that were like the fire in complexion. It has been heard that they took the god’s permission and went to Gangadvara.674 On seeing that the gods had left, the virtuous daughter of the Himalayas spoke these words to her husband, the god Pashupati. ‘O illustrious one! Where are the gods, with Shakra at the forefront, going? O one who knows about the truth! Tell me the truth about this. I have a great doubt on this account.’

  ‘“Maheshvara replied, ‘O immensely fortunate one! Daksha is the supreme lord of beings. He is performing a horse sacrifice and the residents of heaven are going there.’

  ‘“Uma asked, ‘O immensely fortunate one! Why are you not going to the sacrifice? Is there any reason preventing you from going there?’

  ‘“Maheshvara replied, ‘O immensely fortunate one! All the gods determined that I should not have a share in any of the sacrifices. O supreme among beautiful ones! That is the method that they had decided on earlier. And following that dharma, the gods do not give me a share in sacrifices.’

  ‘“Uma said, ‘O illustrious one! Among all beings, you are the supreme in qualities. In your energy, fame and prosperity, you cannot be vanquished and cannot be assailed. O immensely fortunate one! I am extremely miserable at this obstruction to you obtaining a share. O unblemished one! I am trembling.’”

  ‘Bhishma said, “Having been thus addressed by the goddess, the god Pashupati, her husband, was silent. O king! His senses began to burn. He realized what was in the mind of the goddess and the desire of her heart. He summoned Nandi and asked him to wait there. The lord of all the lords of yoga resorted to the strength of his yoga. The god of the gods, the wielder of Pinaka, went to the sacrifice with his extremely energetic and terrible followers and destroyed it. Some of them675 roared, others laughed. O king! Others extinguished the fire with blood. Some, with malformed faces, uprooted the sacrificial stakes and whirled them around. There were others who devoured the attendants with their mouths. O king! In every direction, the sacrifice was destroyed. It assumed the form of a deer and fled through the sky. But realizing that the sacrifice was running away in that form, the lord seized a bow and arrow and pursued it. The infinitely energetic lord of the gods was overcome by rage and a terrible drop of sweat manifested itself on his forehead and fell down on the ground. From that, an extremely large fire resulted and it was like the fire of destruction. O bull among men! A man was born from that. He was short and his eyes were extremely red. He was dreadful and his beard was green. His hair stood up. He was covered with hair, like a hawk or an owl. He was horrible and dark in complexion. He was attired in red garments. That greatly spirited being destroyed the sacrifice, like a fire consuming deadwood. All the gods were terrified and fled in the ten directions. O lord of the earth! That man began to roam around everywhere on earth. O king! O bull among the Bharata lineage! Woes of lamentation, frightful to the worlds, arose. The grandfather manifested himself before Mahadeva and said, ‘O lord! From now on, all the gods will give you a share in the sacrifices. O lord of all the gods! Withdraw the destruction that you have wrought. O scorcher of enemies! O Mahadeva! Because of your rage, all the gods and the rishis are finding it impossible to obtain peace. O supreme among gods! There is this man who has been born from your sweat. O one who knows about dharma! In the form of fever, let him wander around the worlds. O lord! If all of this energy is concentrated, the entire earth will not be able to bear it. Let it be divided into fragments and let there be safety.’ The god was thus addressed by Brahma, who also decreed shares for him. He agreed to what the illustrious and infinitely energetic Brahma had said. The wielder of Pinaka was filled with great delight and smiled. Bhava accepted the share that Brahma had spoken about.

  ‘“For the sake of peace for all beings, the one who knew about all forms of dharma divided the fever into many parts. O son! Listen to how he did this. O one who knows about dharma! The heat that is in the heads of elephants, in the bitumen in mountains, in the hornwort plants that float around in the water, in the cast-off skins of snakes, in diseases in the hooves of cattle, in sterile spots on the surface of the earth, in the dullness of sight of animals, in diseases that are in the throats of horses, in the crests of peacocks and in the eye diseases of cuckoos—the great-souled one decreed all these to be fever. We have heard all this and about the diseases that goats have in their livers and the hiccups that parrots suffer from. All of these are said to be fever. O one who knows about dharma! The exhaustion in tigers is said to be fever. O one who knows about dharma! There is also something known as fever among men. It penetrates men at the time of birth, death, an
d in the middle. This is Maheshvara’s energy, known as extremely terrible fever. The lord of all beings must be worshipped and revered. When Vritra yawned, it is he who penetrated that supreme among the upholders of dharma. It was thus that Shakra could release his vajra at him. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The vajra penetrated Vritra and shattered him. The great asura and great yogi was splintered by the vajra. He went to the infinitely energetic Vishnu’s supreme region. Earlier, it was because of his devotion to Vishnu that he obtained the entire universe. Having been slain in the battle, he obtained Vishnu’s region. O son! I have told you in detail about the great fever that Vritra was overwhelmed by. What else do you wish me to tell you? A man who is extremely controlled and reads this account about the origin of the fever with a cheerful mind, is freed from all disease. He is happy and full of delight. He obtains all the desires that are there in his mind.”’

  Chapter 1603(275)

  ‘Yudhishthira asked, “O grandfather! Creatures are always terrified of sorrow and misery and death. O grandfather! Tell me how both of these can be prevented.”

  ‘Bhishma replied, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In this connection, there is an ancient history about a conversation between Narada and Samanga.

  ‘“Narada said, ‘You bow down with your chest and cross with your arms.676 You are always cheerful and are seen to be without sorrow. One cannot discern the slightest bit of anxiety in you. You are always content and satisfied and seem to be like a child in your endeavours.’

  ‘“Samanga replied, ‘O one who grants honours! I know the truth about the past, the present and the future. Since I know the truth about these, I am never distressed. I also know about how exertions result and their fruits. There are many different kinds of fruits. Therefore, I am never distressed. O Narada! Behold. Those who are unfathomable in destitution, those who are not healthy and those who are blind and dumb are also alive. They are seen to live. It has been ordained that the residents of heaven should have no disease in their limbs. The strong and the weak are also thus created.677 A person who rules over thousands is alive. A person who rules over hundreds is also alive. There are others who sustain themselves only on vegetables. Behold. I am also alive. O Narada! I do not grieve. What use do I have for dharma or deeds? One comes under the control of happiness that results from deeds and it is only misery that grows. When a person realizes that wisdom is actually the foundation of all the gratification of the senses, such a man is said to be wise. The senses cause confusion and sorrow. If a person is confounded because of the senses, such a person cannot obtain wisdom. A foolish person also suffers from pride and delusion. There is no world here, or in the hereafter, for a foolish person. Misery does not last forever. Any happiness obtained is also not eternal. Since I know that everything created is always changeable, a person like me never suffers from fever. I do not care for objects of desire or the happiness that results from possessions. Nor do I think about any unhappiness that may befall. I am controlled and do not desire the possessions of others. I do not bother about what has not been obtained. Nor do I find delight in what has been obtained. I am not delighted at obtaining a great deal of riches. Nor am I distressed if riches are destroyed. Relatives, riches, noble birth, learning, mantras and valour are incapable of saving one from miseries and they have to be tolerated. Good conduct alone can bring peace in the world hereafter. If a person does not possess intelligence or yoga, he cannot obtain happiness. There cannot be any happiness without both fortitude and the abandoning of misery. Anything that brings delight is pleasant. But delight also increases pride. Pride leads to hell. That is the reason I have discarded these. Sorrow and fear cause delusion and so do pleasure and pain. I may move around in my body. But I look upon all these as an indifferent witness. I have abandoned all desire for riches. I am bereft of sorrow and bereft of fever. I roam around the entire earth, having discarded thirst and confusion. There is no death. There is no adharma. Where will greed come from? I have drunk amrita. I have no fear in this world and in the next. Because of the great and undecaying austerities that I have performed, I have got to know the brahman. O Narada! Having obtained that, there is no grief that can constrain me.’”’