Chapter 3 - Indra’s Fear

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Vyāsa said:

1. O tiger among kings, may this story be heard. On hearing this auspicious legend of hoary past, one is undoubtedly absolved of all sins.

2. Once Dharmarāja performed a penance that could be hardly performed even by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśa and others. He bore with patience heavy downpour of rains, scorching heat of the sun etc.

3-12. It was in the first Tretāyuga that he performed this penance, O king, for a period of thirty thousand years. He was seated at the root of an Aśoka tree in the middle of the forest. He was steady and motionless. All his bones were intertwined with dry sinews. His blood was sucked up by millions of ants and other worms of the anthill (that grew around him?). The bones were bereft of flesh. The body of the sage was motionless like a crystalline stone. It was resplendent like a conch, Kunda flower, the moon, snow, the Mahāśaṅkha (treasure of Kubera). His life was sustained only due to his inherent vitality. It was as though he was protected by his own destiny to live long. Indeed the fact that he was alive was indicated by the movement of his breath in exhalation and inhalation. The winking movement indicated the existence of life. The reddish brown tinge of the glittering eyes brightened the faces of the quarters. The forest region became faded as though kissed by a forest fire in the form of the fiery flames of his penance. The trees around were given a fresh lease of life by a downpour of nectar when the Śānti rites were performed by him and the holy water thereof was poured down. It was as though penance itself had assumed human form and begun to perform penance. It had entertained a sort of devotion without a specific form and free from any ulterior motive. He was surrounded by many fawns that wandered in groups. He was well protected by the animals of the forest, though they were terrifying due to their ferocious faces and roaring sound.

On seeing that formidable sage of this sort, gods including Indra approached Mahādeva, the bestower of freedom from fear to all. All those gods including Brahmā went to Kailāsa where Lord Śiva was seated in the shade of a Pārijāta tree along with Umā and where he used to be engaged in meditation.

13. Nandī, Bhṛṅgī, Mahākāla and other members of the great host of Gaṇas, Lord Skanda and Gaṇeśa (leader of the Gaṇas) and others were also present there.

The Devas including Brahmā stationed themselves in their respective places.

Brahmā said:^[1]

14. Obeisance to you of infinite forms, O Nīlakaṇṭha. Bow to you (O Lord) of uncomprehended form, who are immortal and stand supreme in your Absoluteness.

15. Repeated obeisance to you whose nature even the Devas do not understand. Obeisance to that Soul of Consciousness whom no words can (adequately) praise.

16. Obeisance to that glorious Brahman whom the Yogins visualise in the inner space of their heart in the form of a brilliant splendour while they are motionless during their contemplation.

17. Obeisance to that Kāla who is beyond all Time, who is the Supreme Puruṣa of his own will. Obeisance to the lord of the form of the three Guṇas, who has the form of Prakṛti.

18. Obeisance to the Lord who is Viṣṇu in his Sattva aspect, Brahmā in his Rajas aspect and Rudra in his Tamas aspect, the Lord who is the cause of the creation, sustenance and destruction (of the universe).

19. Obeisance to the lord in the form of the intellect, who has the form of the Ego in three phases (according to the three Guṇas), who has the form of the five Tanmātras (the subtle elements), and who is in the form of the Prakṛti.

20. Repeated obeisance to the lord in his own form, who is of the nature of the five cognitive organs and who has the five forms of the elements like the Earth etc. Obeisance to you who are of the nature of the objects of sense.

21. Bow to the lord in the form of the Cosmic Egg; obeisance to the lord immanent therein. Obeisance to you of the form of the universe, both modern and ancient.

22. Obeisance to the lord of evanescent and permanent forms, to the lord of the existent as well as of the non-existent. Hail to thee, O lord of that form that is manifested through your own will with compassion for your devotees.

23. The Vedas are your breath exhaled and the Veda constitutes the entire universe. All the living beings constitute your feet and the firmament is your head.

24. The space issued forth from your navel; the realm of vegetation forms your hairs; the moon is born of your mind, O Lord, and the Sun from your eyes.

25. O Lord, you are all; everything is in you and whatever is praiseworthy (and the praise itself) are you alone. O Lord, the entire visible world is fit to be inhabited by you. Obeisance, obeisance to you again and again.

26-27. Having eulogized the Great Lord thus, all of them prostrated on the ground (in the process of obeisance) like a piece of log. The Lord then said:

Śaṃbhu, the great Lord said:

I am here to bestow boons; what do you wish? How is it that all the Devas with Bṛhaspati as their leader are anxious? O Brahmā, tell me the reason for your misery.

Brahmā said:

28. O Nīlakaṇṭha, the great lord, the bestower of freedom from fear, the destroyer of miseries, listen to our misery that I am going to narrate to you.

29. Dharmarāja, the righteous soul, performed a very difficult penance. I do not know what he wishes, maybe the most excellent position among the gods.

30. Hence, all those with Indra as their leader are frightened by his penance. For a long time, his mind has been dedicated unto your feet. O Lord of Devas, make him rise up (and ask him) whatever that Dharmarāja may be craving for.

Īśvara said:

31-33. There need be no fear from Dharma on your part. I am speaking the truth.

Thereupon all those Devas, the dwellers of heaven, stood up, circumambulated Rudra and bowed to him again and again. Accompanied by Indra, all those dwellers of heaven returned from Kailāsa and went to their respective places quickly.

34. Indra, the supreme lord of all powers, went to Sudharmā. He could get no sleep, no happiness, no tranquillity.

35-36. Then the lord and consort of Śacī became extremely worried and thought thus: ‘I am faced with a great trouble. It is for usurping my place that he is performing this excessively difficult penance.’ He called all the Devas together and spoke these words:

Indra said:

37. May all the Devas listen to the cause of my grief. Does Yama crave for what has been acquired by me with very great difficulty?

Looking at all the Devas, Bṛhaspati spoke thus:

Bṛhaspati said:

38. O Dwellers of Heaven, haven’t you the ability to put up obstacles in his penance? May Urvaśī and others be sent for and deputed there.

39. He went to every door in order to call them. Fetching them he reached the Assembly Hall quickly.

40-43. When they came, Indra spoke: “A very important work has fallen to our share. May all of you hasten to the Dharmāraṇya forest where Dharmarāja has been performing a penance very difficult to be performed. By means of your seductive charms, smiles and glances, songs and dances tempt that sage who is performing penance so that he may have a great fall from the high pedestal of penance.”

On hearing these words of their lord, the groups of celestial damsels consulted one another. Urvaśī, the foremost among the celestial damsels, set off to Dharmāraṇya.

44-47. Devas eulogized her. They showered her with flowers. With the bands of Devas and Brāhmaṇas eulogizing her, Urvaśī started for the extremely sacred forest with great pleasure—the forest that was full of Bilva, Khadira and Arka trees as well as Kapittha and Dhava (Anogeissus latifolia) trees. No sun shone there. It was fully enveloped in darkness. It extended to many Yojanas. It was desolate. It was full of lions and such other wild and ferocious animals; it was covered with many trees in full bloom and splendid green grass.

48. The vast forest was reverberating with the sweet chirping sound of birds, rich with the cooing of male cuckoos and a continuous noise created by crickets.

49. It was covered with full-grown trees with extensive pleasant shade. The whole surface of the region was covered with trees and excellent splendour.

50. In that forest, there was no tree without flowers or fruits. None of them was thorny. There was no tree not crowded with bees.

51. All the trees were profusely bedecked with flowers echoing with the chirping sounds of birds. The forest was covered with trees bearing the flowers of all seasons and having pleasing shades.

52. Trees with branches burdened with flowers were blown over by the wind. They shed beautiful and variegated shower of flowers all round.

53. Well-developed trees scraping the sky and full of fragrant flowers shone there, with birds of sweet voice.

54. Bees of sweet sound in their eagerness to get honey perched themselves on the tender sprouts and clustering flowers and hummed sweetly.

55-58. While seeing many regions beautified with fragrant sprouts, abounding with many grottos and bowers that delighted everyone’s mind there, she became extremely delighted. That forest shone much due to the fully blossomed trees with their intertwining branches appearing like the flagposts of mighty Indra.

The gentle wind that wafted the pollen dusts of the flowers was pleasingly cool and fragrant. Thus she saw then a forest endowed with such qualities as these.

There she saw the holy river Yamunā too that originated from the Sun.

59-62. There she saw a very excellent and pleasing hermitage surrounded by sages and Vālakhilyas.

(It was surrounded by) naked sages imbibing the smoke from many receptacles of fire that were suspended from the branches of trees. Wild animals became gentle as domestic pets.

There (giving up their natural animosity) cats became of Sāttvic nature with mice, mongooses with serpents, and lions with fawns of the deer. They played with each other as if they were brothers (born of the same mother). God Indra saw that forest from a distance and spoke:

Indra said:

63-67. This Dharmarāja is engaged in a fierce penance. He is an aspirant for my kingdom. Hence your endeavour must be centred here. All of you create obstacles in his penance. That is my command. All of you do go there.

On hearing the words of Indra, Urvaśī, Tilottamā, Sukeśī, Mañjughoṣā, Ghṛtācī, Menakā, Viśvācī, Raṃbhā, Pramlocā, Cārubhāṣiṇī (‘Sweet-voiced one’), Pūrvacitti, Surūpā (of exquisite form) and Anumlocā, Yaśasvinī (of great renown)—these and many others who were present there glanced at one another with fear and suspicion and thought thus: ‘Yama and Indra—both these are your ultimate resort.’

68-69. Thinking thus in diverse ways, O Bhārata (descendant of Bharata), (there was) the most excellent one among those celestial damsels, named Vardhanī who was bedecked in all ornaments. She spoke to Urvaśī, “O lady of auspicious countenance, why do you worry?” “In order to realize the aims and aspirations of the Devas, O Chastiser of Pāka, I shall so endeavour with the strength of my beauty as well as magical powers, that the duty (Dharma) of my class is carried out.”

Indra said:

70-75. Excellent! O glorious Vardhanī, O virtuous one, O gentle lady, hurry up. O lady of slender belly, accomplish our task. O lady of excellent eyebrows, no one other than you is capable of protecting (the interest of) the brave ones.

Saying “So it shall be”, she went to that place where Dharmarāja was present, making her form attractive to mind by bedecking it with valuable ornaments. She was beautified with saffron, eye-lotions and ornaments. Besides flowers and garments, she dazzled brilliantly with tinkling ornaments round her waist and anklets in both the feet. She had many varieties of ornaments. She had applied sandal-paste upon her body. The auspicious lady wore many flower garlands and was clad in silken garments. Taking up a beautiful Vīṇā in her hand, the lady beautiful in every limb, performed an exquisite dance consisting of three varieties.

76-77. The sound of the Vīṇā blended sweetly with the loud and sweet sound of the flute. The modulation and intonation of the musical sound mingled sweetly with the twang of the stringed instruments. Although Lord Dharmarāja had perfect control over himself, O Prince, he became agitated in mind and disturbed.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

78-80. O holy Brāhmaṇa, foremost among those who have realised Brahman, it is really surprising to note how there came a break in the penance of one who had realized Brahman. The earth is established in Dharma; the heaven, the nether worlds, the moon, the sun, the waters, the wind, the fire, nay the entire world is established in Dharma. O lord, how did he get upset? Tell me the truth.

Vyāsa said:

81. The downfall of the courageous is the cause of a fall in the real hell. The Yonikuṇḍa (i.e. the pit of the vaginal canal) is like the hell Kuṃbhīpāka on the earth.

82-83. Women bind tightly even lofty-minded persons by means of ropes in the form of their loving glances. They are, as it were, beaten senseless by means of big batons in the form of their breasts. Rendering them senseless, they quickly make them fall in hell, O excellent king. Woman has been created thus as the stupefier and enticer of all beings.

84-87. As long as the amorous woman is not present to direct view like a trapping net, so long there can be steadiness of the mind, learning and truthful nature, even in the case of broadminded persons.

As long as one does not see face to face a fickle-minded fawneyed damsel, so long there can be progress of penance, liberal-mindedness, sympathetic attitude, control of the senses, adherence to learning and steadfastness of holy rites, as well as general purity, and right behaviour.

As long as one is not fettered and toppled by means of the noose in the form of an amorous woman, so long there can be veneration for mother, father, brother or friends, and the sense of shame and fear and the ability to keep up good conduct are manifested and knowledge, wisdom, liberal-mindedness and power have their hold.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The eulogy of Śiva in vv 14-25 represents Śiva as the Upaniṣadic Brahman. Hence the description of his Cosmic Form.