Chapter 74 - The Fight between Krishna and Indra

1-2. Vaishampayana said:—Here the highly energetic Vishnu, a moment after sun rise, went to the Raivataka mountain, under the pretext of hunting, taking up, O descendant of the Kurus, that foremost of men Satyaki on his car and telling Pradyumna "Follow me".

3-4. On having reached the Raivataka mountain, that divine one thus spoke to Daruka:—"O Daruka, take charge of my chariot and wait here tending and grooming the horses for this half of the day; O foremost of charioteers, I shall re-enter Dvarka on this very car".

5. Having thus delivered his command, that illustrious and intelligent god, of immeasurable prowess, rode on the back of Garuda, being accompanied by Satyaki.

6. O descendant of the Kurus, that slayer of his foes Pradyumna followed Krishna from behind on a separate car capable of coursing on hills.

7. Within the twinkle of an eye the intelligent Hari arrived at the pleasure park of the gods, the Nandana forest, with a view to carry away the Parijata from there.

8. There in the garden of gods, the illustrious Adhokshaja saw hosts of celestial warriors, indomitable, courageous and armed with various weapons.

9. That refuge of the pious, the mighty Krishna uprooted the Parijata tree and placed it on the back of Garuda even before their eyes.

10. Thereupon, O Bharata, the Parijata, having embodied itself, approached (with prayer) Kesava and Garuda, that king of birds.

11. The tree Parijata was consoled by the high souled Kesava and was told—"Do you not fear, O tree".

12. Then assuring himself that the tree Parijata was securely placed (on the bird’s back), Adhokshaja began to go round that best of strong-holds, the abode of the gods.

13. Meanwhile the keepers of the garden of gods, had run to Mahendra and informed him saying—"that the most excellent of trees, the Parijata, is being carried away.".

14. Thereupon the subduer of Paka (Indra) came out mounted on Airavata being followed from behind by Jayanta on a car.

15. Then beholding that slayer of his foes Vasudeva, who had by that time reached the Eastern gate, Indra said—"O slayer of Madhu, what is this going on".

16. Thereupon Kesava, seated on the back of Garuda, saluted Sakra with his head and said:—"I am only taking away this excellent tree for a ceremonious observance of your sister-in-law".

17. Sakra replied saying,—"O lotus-eyed one, you should not take away this tree, O infallible one, without challenging me to fight.

18. O mighty armed Kesava, deal you the first blow on me; and let your promise be fulfilled by your hurling the Koumodaki mace at me".

19. Thereupon, O Bharata, Krishna began to pierce the excellent elephant of the king of the celestials, with sharp arrows fierce like thunder itself.

20. Then with excellent arrows of heavenly make, the wielder of the thunder-bolt began to pierce Garuda; and he soon succeeded in cutting off all the arrows of the light-handed Kesava.

21. Madhava cut off all those arrows which the lord of the gods shot; and smiling, the slayer of Vala and Vritra severed those shot by Madhava.

22. Then, O delighter of the Karus, at the sound of Mahendra’s bow and at the twang of the Sranga bow, the inhabitants of heaven swooned away.

23. When the fight was thus raging between them the highly powerful Jayanta tried to remove the Parijata tree from the back of Garuda.

24. Thereupon the slayer of Kamsa said to Pradyumna "Prevent him (from taking away the Parijata)"; and instantly the highly powerful son of Rukshmini opposed him (firmly).

25. Then Jayanta, seated on his chariot, that foremost of victorious persons, began to pierce with sharp arrows smilingly the son of Rukshmini on all parts of his body.

26. The lotus-eyed god Cupid on the other hand, seated on his chariot, pierced the son of Indra, with arrows looking like snakes.

27. O delighter of the Karus, then a fierce combat raged between the heroic Jayanta and the son of Rukshmini.

28. Then those two mighty heroes, the sons of Upendra and Mahendra, the foremost of the wielders of weapons, used offensive and defensive weapons against each other.

29. The gods, the sages, the Siddhas and the Charnas, all beheld that fierce combat being much struck with wonder.

30. O delighter of the Kurus, meanwhile, a messenger of the gods, named Pravara, of great strength, tried to take away the Parijata from the back of Garuda.

31. O descendant of the Kurus, this Pravara was the friend of the ruler of the gods; he was accomplished in the use of mighty weapons and able to subdue all his foes; he was incapable of being slain by virtue of a boon obtained from Brahma.

32. Formerly he was a Brahmana inhabiting the Jamva Island, whence through the merit of religious penances, he attained to heaven, and there O ruler of men, he earned the friendship of the slayer of Vala by virtue of his own powers.

33. On beholding him advance, Krishna told Satyaki;—"O Satyaki, even from this place do you oppose Pravara with your arrows.

34. You shalt not, O Satyaki, shoot fierce arrows at him and his Brahmanical fickleness should be put up with by all means".

35. Thereafter the mighty-armed Pravara, that foremost of twice born ones, pierced Satyaki who was seated on Garuda with a group of sixty sharp arrows.

36. Thereupon, O king, the grandson of Sini, that foremost of warriors, cut off the bow of Pravara with which he was shooting the arrows, and spoke these words to him. "

37. You are not to be slain being a Brahmana; go and pursue your own mode of life;twice-born sages, even if they offend, are incapable of being slain by the Yadavas".

38. O delighter of the Kurus,—Pravara then thus smilingly replied to him—"O foremost of human heroes, you needst not be forgiving; fight the battle with all your might.

39. I am the disciple of Jamadagni’s son Rama, and my name is Pravara. I enjoy the friendship of the illustrious Sakra.

40. The gods here do not desire to join in the fray out of regard for the slayer of Madhu; but O Madhava, I shall to-day pay off the debt of friendship I owe to Indra, (by slaying his adversary)".

41. Then O king, a fearful battle raged between them, as that foremost of men, the grandson of Sini, and the best of the twice-born one, shot at each other weapons of divine make.

42. Then as the battle between those high-souled ones progressed, the sky began to tremble and the mountains were highly agitated.

43. Here on the other hand, neither the son of Krishna was able to overpower that foremost of all wielders of weapons the son of Indra, nor was this latter able to defeat that best of heroes, the illustrious and heroic son of Krishna.

44. O best of men, then those two foremost of heroes, each desirous of winning victory over the other, fought on exclaiming—strike, 'hold,’ &c..

45. The powerful son of Saci then, O king, challenging the son of the wielder of the Sranga bow (Krishna) struck him with a weapon of heavenly make.

46. The son of Krishna, then with an arrowy net woven with sharp shafts, stopped the fight of that blazing darts. This appeared wonderful.

47. But, O descendant of the Kurus, that blazing weapon, dreadful and destructive of the Danavas, after a moment’s pause, fell upon the top of the car of the son of Rukshmini.

48. The car of the illustrious Pradyumna was burnt down by that weapon but it could not, O ruler of men, consume the son of Rukshmini,

49. for O Lord of men, fire, although tremendous, cannot burn another fire. Thereafter the mighty-armed son of Rukshmini extricated himself from the burning chariot.

50. Then the son of Narayana, that best of car-warriors, being deprived of his car, stationed himself in the heaven with bow in hand and thus addressed Jayanta. "

51. O son of Mahendra,—I am incapable of being slain by the weapon of divine make that you didst hurl at me and by hundreds of such weapons.

52. Try your best and display to-day all learning and knowledge; but, O son of an immortal, there is none that can overpower me in battle.

53. When armed with weapons you didst come out in your car, I was a little afraid; but now having seen your prowess in battle I do not fear you the least,.

54. As you shalt no longer be able to touch this Parijata tree with your hands, content thyself with its thought in your mind.

55. Of the illusive chariot that you have burnt down with the flame of your weapon, I can create thousands through the virtue of my illusive powers".

56. Thus spoken to the highly powerful Jayanta, with great force, shot a fierce weapon obtained by him through his austere penances.

57. Pradyumna opposed that weapon of tremendous force with a net-work of arrows; the son of Indra next shot another four arrows.

58. And those weapons, O Bharata, chocked all the quarters of the heavens; then with another set of five arrows, he completely covered the son of Rukshmini on the sky.

59. Arrows like blazing fire and dreadful weapons, all, that the foremost of the immortals showered on Pradyumna, fell from all sides.

60. All those weapons and arrows the son of Krishna checked by a group of his own arrows; and he then also pierced Jayanta with other sharp arrows.

61. Then the immortals of holy deeds, beholding the firmness and light-handedness of the high-souled Pradyumna, exclaimed out in joy.

62. The heroic descendant of Sini also, O Bharata, cut off the bow-string and the finger-protector of Pravara with a sharp arrow.

63. The latter then grasped another mighty bow of excellent make, which was given to him by Mahendra and whose twang resembled the sound of thunder.

64. Then with that mighty bow, that foremost of twice-born ones, that heroic Pravara began to shoot arrows of diverse sorts, bright and effulgent like rays of the sun.

65. He cut off the beautiful bow of the mighty grandson of Sini and pierced him on all parts of his body, with numerous shafts.

66. Thereupon, O delighter of the Kurus, the grandson of Sini took up another bow capable of withstanding much force; and that intelligent one then sorely pierced Pravara in that battle.

67. They cut off each other’s armours with sharp shafts; and with arrows capable of penetrating to the very heart they mutilated each other’s flesh.

68. Then again the heroic Pravara severed, in twain, the bow of Satyaki with eight whetted shafts and pierced him with three more.

69. When Satyaki thought of taking up another bow, that twice-born one, of great light-handedness, struck him with a mace that could be hurled at the foe.

70. Thereupon Satyaki, with a smile, took up his sword and buckler and that intelligent one did not take up his bow as he was sorely wounded with the bow. But the brave Pravara cut off the sword and buckler shooting a full hundred arrows.

71. Thereupon Pradyumna, beholding that delighter of the Yadus, namely Satyaki disarmed, gave him another sword bright like the cloudless sky.

72. But Pravara, with a smile, cut off even that sword with a sharp Valla, when it was in the grasp of its owner.

73. Thereupon with sharp straight arrows he began to mutilate Satyaki’s skin; and that twice born one, struck on the breast with a lance, shouted out in joy.

74. Then finding him over-powered Pravara approached Garuda on his car with a view to take away the Parijata from his back

75. Thereupon Garuda struck him with his wings so vehemently that he, with his car, fell full four miles back and there fainted away.

76. O king! Jayanta then hastened to pick up the Brahmana who was thus hurled back, and taking him up on his car cheered him.

77. On the other hand, Pradyaumna consoled and cheered up his uncle the grandson of Sini who was fainting and falling down over and over and embraced him (in order to infuse strength into him).

78. The slayer of Madhu then touched Satyaki with his right hand; and instantly at the touch the latter was free from pain and distress.

79. Then Pradyumna and Satyaki—the two foremost of warriors, placed themselves on the right and left side of Parijata respectively (in order to protect it).

80. On the other hand, O Bharata, the high-souled Mahendra beholding Jayanta and Pravara returning to the fight on the same chariot, smilingly said to them:—"

81. Never and under no circumstances go near Garuda, the king of the feathery creation; the son of Vinata is immensely mighty.

82. Do you both place yourselves armed on my left and right side and behold me fight (with Krishna)".

33. Thus spoken to, those two heroes placed themselves on both sides of Sakra and witnessed the fighting between Indra and Janarddana.

84. Indra then pierced Garuda on all parts of his body with arrows and mighty weapons of excellent make, whose sound resembled the rumble of thunder.

85. But the highly powerful son of Vinata, that heroic subduer of his foes, without paying the least heed to those arrows, flew swiftly towards the elephant of Sakra.

86. Then those two mighty highly powerful, courageous and indomitable bird and elephant began to fight with tremendous fierceness.

87. Emitting loud roars that king of elephants Airavata then began to wound the enemy of the snakes with his tusks, trunk and head.

88. The son of Vinata, of fierce strength, on the other hand attacked the elephant of Indra, with his sharp claws and strokes of wing.

89. Within a moment the fight between the bird and the elephant grew dreadful, so much so as to strike terror into heart of the onlookers, and to cause astonishment to the whole universe.

90. Thereafter O Bharata, Garuda, of mighty strength, struck Airavata on the head with his fierce claws furnished with fearful talons.

91. Afflicted sorely with the wound, O Janamajaya, the elephant fell from the heights of heaven on the top of that best of mountains the Parijatra that exists on this island of ours.

92. But as he fell, the mighty Sakra did not leave her, out of pity, friendliness and of his promise made before.

93. The infallible and mighty Krishna, of supreme intelligence, followed him on Garuda carrying the Parijata, tree. The slayer of Krita was thus born down to the Parijatra mountain.

94. Then when Airavata regained strength, the battle between Krishna and Indra once more raged fiercely.

95. They shot at each other gem-bedecked arrows resembling snakes in shape and carefully tempered and whetted on stone,

96. O king, thereafter the wielder of the bolt of heaven hurled at Garuda, Airavata’s enemy, his thunder again and again with great noise.

97. But that foremost of all beings possessed of prowess, that king of the birds incapable of being slain by any one, patiently endured all those strokes of thunder.

93. But each time out of regard for the bolt of heaven and for his brother the heavenly king Sakra, the king of birds plucked a feather from his wing.

99. O king, the mountain Parijatra then sank down under the weight of Garuda, and trembling in all parts it went inside the earth.

100. It emitted sweet sound in order to show respect for Krishna and Adokshaja then beheld only a very small part of it above the earth.

101. Thereupon forsaking it, he roared into the heaven, on the back of Garuda; and that creator of every thing and the protector of the worlds thereupon thus spoke to Pradyumna:—"

102. With the help of my energy do you, O mighty-armed one, repair to Dvarka and bring my chariot with Daruka without delay.

103. O bestower of honor, you should inform Valabhadra and the ruler of the Kukuras, that to-morrow after having defeated Indra, I will return to Dvarka".

104. Thereupon saying "So be it" in reply to his father, the virtuous and powerful Pradyumna went to Dvarka, and spoke to Ugrasena and Valabhadra the words of his father’s.

105. Thereafter, O Bharata, within a hour he came back to the scene of fight riding on Krishna’s car accompanied by Daruka.