Mahabharata (English)

by Kisari Mohan Ganguli | 2,566,952 words | ISBN-10: 8121505933

The English translation of the Mahabharata is a large text describing ancient India. It is authored by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa and contains the records of ancient humans. Also, it documents the fate of the Kauravas and the Pandavas family. Another part of the large contents, deal with many philosophical dialogues such as the goals of life. Book...

Section CXXXIV

("Lomasa said, )

"Ashtavakra said,

'O king, O leader of fierce legions, in this assembly of monarchs of unrivalled power who have met together, I am unable to find out Vandin, chief of the controversialists. But I am searching for him, even as one does for a swan on a vast expanse of water. O Vandin, you regardest thyself as the foremost of controversialists.

When though will engage with me in staking, you will not be able to flow like the current of a river. I am like a full-flaming fire. Be silent before me, O Vandin! Do not awaken a sleeping tiger. Know that you shalt not escape unstung, after trampling on the head of a venomous snake, licking the corners of its mouth with its tongue, and who has been hurt by your foot.

That weak man who, in pride of strength, attempts to strike a blow at a mountain, only gets his hands and nails hurt, but no wound is left on the mountain itself. As the other mountains are inferior to the Mainaka, and as calves are inferior to the ox, so are all other kings of the earth inferior to the lord of Mithila. And as Indra is the foremost of celestials, and as the Ganga is the best of rivers, so you alone art, O king, the greatest of monarchs. O king, cause Vandin to be brought to my presence.'

"Lomasa said,

'Saying this, O Yudhishthira, wroth with Vandin, Ashtavakra thus thundered in the assembly, and addressed him in these words,

'Do you answer my questions, and I shall answer thine.'

Thereat Vandin said,

'One only fire blazes forth in various shapes; one only sun illumines this whole world; one only hero, Indra, the lord of celestials, destroyes enemies; and one only Yama is the sole lord of the Pitris.[1]

Ashtavakra said,

'The two friends, Indra and Agni, ever move together; the two celestial sages are Narada and Parvata; twins are the Asvinikumaras; two is the number of the wheels of a car; and it is as a couple that husband and wife live together, as ordained by the deity.'[2]

Vandin said,

'Three kinds of born beings are produced by acts; the three Vedas together perform the sacrifice, Vajapeya; at three different times, the Adhvaryus commence sacrificial rites; three is the number of words: and three also are the divine lights.'[3]

Ashtavakra said,

'Four are the Asramas of the Brahmanas; the four orders perform sacrifices; four are the cardinal points; four is the number of letters; and four also, as is ever known, are the legs of a cow.'[4]

Vandin said,

'Five is the number of fires; five are the feet of the metre called Punki; five are the sacrifices; five locks, it is said in the Vedas, are on the heads of the Apsaras; and five sacred rivers are known in the world.'[5]

Ashtavakra said.

’six cows, it is asserted by some, and paid as a gratuity on the occasion of establishing the sacred fire; six are the seasons belonging to the wheel of time; six is the number of the senses; six stars constitute the constellation Kirtika; and six, it is found in all the Vedas, is the number of the Sadyaska sacrifice.'[6]

Vandin said,

’seven is the number of the domesticated animals; seven are the wild animals; seven metres are used in completing a sacrifice; seven are the Rishis, seven forms of paying homage are extant (in the world); and seven, it is known, are the strings of the Vina.'[7]

Ashtavakra said,

'Eight are the bags containing a hundred fold; eight is the number of the legs of the Sarabha, which preys upon lions; eight Vasus, as we hear, are amongst the celestials; and eight are the angles of yupa (stake), in all sacrificial rites.'[8]

Vandin said,

'Nine is the number of the mantras used in kindling the fire in sacrifices to the Pitris; nine are the appointed functions in the processes of creation; nine letters compose the foot of the metre, Vrihati; and nine also is ever the number of the figures (in calculation).'[9]

Ashtavakra said,

'Ten is said to be the number of cardinal points, entering into the cognition of men in this world; ten times hundred make up a thousand; ten is the number of months, during which women bear; and ten are the teachers of true knowledge, and ten, the haters thereof, and ten again are those capable of learning it.'[10]

Vandin said,

'Eleven are the objects enjoyable by beings; eleven is the number of the yupas; eleven are the changes of the natural state pertaining to those having life; and eleven are the Rudras among the gods in heaven.'[11]

Ashtavakra said,

'Twelve months compose the year; twelve letters go to the composition of a foot of the metre called Jagati; twelve are the minor sacrifices; and twelve, according to the learned, is the number of the Adityas.'[12]

Vandin said,

'The thirteenth lunar day is considered the most auspicious; thirteen islands exist on earth.[13]

Lomasa said,

'Having proceeded thus far, Vandin stopped. Thereupon Ashtavakra supplied the latter half of the sloka.

Ashtavakra said,

'Thirteen sacrifices are presided over by Kesi; and thirteen are devoured by Atichandas, (the longer metres) of the Veda.[14] And seeing Ashtavakra speaking and the Suta’s son silent, and pensive, and with head downcast, the assembly broke into a long uproar. And when the tumult thus arose in the splendid sacrifice performed by king Janaka, the Brahmanas well pleased, and with joined hands, approached Ashtavakra, and began to pay him homage.'

"Thereupon Ashtavakra said,

'Before this, this man, defeating the Brahmanas in controversy, used to cast them into water. Let Vandin today meet with the same fate. Seize him and drown him in water.'

Vandin said.

'O Janaka, I am the son of king Varuna. Simultaneously with your sacrifice, there also has commenced a sacrifice extending over twelve years. It is for this that I have despatched the principal Brahmanas thither. They have gone to witness Varuna’s sacrifice. Lo! there they are returning. I pay homage to the worshipful Ashtavakra, by whose grace to-day I shall join him who has begot me.'

"Ashtavakra said,

'Defeating the Brahmanas either by words or subtlety. Vandin had cast them into the waters of the sea. (That Vedic truth which he had suppressed by false arguments), have I to-day rescued by dint of my intellect. Now let candid men judge. As Agni, who knows the character of both the good and the bad, leaves unscorched by his heat the bodies of those whose designs are honest, and is thus partial to them, so good men judge the assertions of boys, although lacking the power of speech, and are favourably disposed towards them.

O Janaka, you hearest my words as if you have been stupefied in consequence of having eaten the fruit of the Sleshmataki tree. Or flattery has robbed you of your sense, and for this it is that although pierced by my words as an elephant (by the hook), you hearest them not.'

"Janaka said,

'Listening to your words, I take them to be excellent and superhuman. Your form also stands manifest as superhuman. As you have to-day defeated Vandin in discussion, I place even him at your disposal.'

Ashtavakra said,

'O king, Vandin remaining alive, will not serve any purpose of mine. If his father be really Varuna, let him be drowned in the sea.'

Vandin said,

'I am King Varuna’s son. I have no fear (therefore) in being drowned. Even at this moment. Ashtavakra shall see his long-lost sire, Kahoda.'

"Lomasa said,

'Then rose before Janaka all the Brahmanas, after having been duly worshipped by the magnanimous Varuna. Kahoda said,

'It is for this, O Janaka, that men pray for sons, by performing meritorious acts. That in which I had failed has been achieved by my son. Weak persons may have sons endued with strength; dunces may have intelligent sons; and the illiterate may have sons possessed of learning.'

Vandin said,

'It is with your sharpened axe, O monarch, that even Yama severs the heads of foes. May prosperity attend you! In this sacrifice of king Janaka, the principal hymns relating to the Uktha rites are being chanted, and the Soma juice also is being adequately quaffed. And the gods themselves, in person, and with cheerful hearts, are accepting their sacred shares.'

"Lomasa said,

'When in enhanced splendour, the Brahmanas had risen up, Vandin, taking king Janaka’s permission, entered into the waters of the sea. And then Ashtavakra worshipped his father, and he himself also was worshipped by the Brahmanas. And having thus defeated the Suta’s son.[15] Ashtavakra returned to his own excellent hermitage, in company with his uncle.

Then in the presence of his mother, his father addressed him, saying,

'(O son), you speedily enter into this river, Samanga.'

And accordingly, he entered (into the water). (And as he plunged beneath the water), all his (crooked) limbs were immediately made straight. And from that day that river came to be called Samanga and she became invested with the virtues of purifying (sins). He that shall bathe in her, will be freed from his sins.

Therefore, O Yudhishthira, do you with your brothers and wife descend to the river, and perform your ablutions. O Kunti’s son, O scion of the Ajamidha race, living happily and cheerfully at this place together with your brothers and the Brahmanas, you will perform with me other acts of merit, being intent upon good deeds.'"

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ashtavakra comes to Janaka's sacrifice with the object of proving the unity of the Supreme Being. Vandin avails himself of various system of Philosophy to combat his opponent. He begins with the Buddhistic system. The form of the dialogue is unique in literature being that of enigmas and the latent meaning is in a queer way hid under the appearance of puerile and heterogeneous combinations of things.

Vandin opens the controversy by saying that as the number of each of these is one, so one only intellect is the lord, leader and guide of the senses.

[2]:

There is a Vedic revelation that two birds live together on a tree as friends--one of these eats the fruits and the other looks at the former. From this it is manifest that two are the lords, leaders, and guides of the senses. That there is a second faculty besides the intellect is also proved by the fact that in sleep when the intellect is inactive that faculty continues in action, for if it were not so we could not remember having slept, nor connect the state after awaking with that preceding sleep. Accordingly by citing the number two Ashtavakra assets that besides intellect there is another faculty--consciousness that these two are jointly the lords, leaders and guides of the senses and that they act together as Indra and Agni, etc.

[3]:

By citing the number three Vandin means to say that as it is Acts that produce the three kinds of born beings, etc., so Acts are supreme and that everything else be it intellect alone, or intellect and consciousness together is subservient to Acts.

[4]:

Ashtavakra here advances the thesis that even if Acts be supreme still when the (fourth) or Supreme Being becomes manifest to the soul, it stands in no further needs to Acts.

[5]:

By bringing in the quinquennial series, Vandin wishes to assert that the five senses are competent to cognise their respective objects and that besides these senses and their objects there is neither any other sense to perceive nor any other object of perception. He also cites the authority of the Veda according to which the Apsaras (or consciousness) have five "locks" on their hands--i.e., five objects of perception.

[6]:

Besides the five senses Ashtavakra contends for an additional sense namely the Mind and accordingly cites the number six.

[7]:

Vandin admits the existence of the six senses but says that the soul experiences happiness and misery through those as well as through the intellect.

[8]:

Ashtavakra advances an eighth element, namely, the knowledge of the ego.

[9]:

Each of the three qualities (existence, foulness and ignorance) of prakriti (the passive or material cause of the world) mixing with each of the three corresponding qualities of pradhana (the active or spiritual cause of the world) in various proportions produces the mundane order of things. Thus is proved the eternity of prakriti or nature and is also established the doctrine of duality.

[10]:

Prakriti does not really create. It is the Supreme Being who through the medium of illusion in contract with the ten organs (viz., the five locomotive organs and the five organs of sense) makes manifest the system of things. Prakriti therefore has no real existence--her existence is only apparent in the real existence of the soul.

[11]:

Yupas (stakes) mean here, feelings, etc, which keep men bound to the world. Rudras are those who makes others cry.

Vandin means to say that the soul is not essential free from the fetters of happiness and misery arising from the eleven objects of perception. In this world all men are subject to happiness and misery. We also hear that there are Rudras in heaven.

[12]:

The supreme soul unaffected by happiness and misery really exists--but His existence is not susceptible of being proved--nor can the ignorant ever perceive Him. Men attain that condition through these twelve, viz., virtue, true, self-restraint, penances, good-will, modesty, forgiveness, exemption from envy, sacrifice, charity, concentration and control over the senses.

[13]:

According to some, endeavours to attain emancipation can be successful not in this world but in the world of Brahma. Others say that to that end a special yoga is necessary. By bringing forward the objects numbering thirteen. Vandin advances the opinion that, virtue, etc., are not sufficient for purposes of emancipation but that suitable time and place are also essential.

[14]:

Ashtavakra concludes by citing the same number thirteen. The soul which is essentially unaffected, becomes subject to happiness and misery through, the thirteen, viz., the ten organs of locomotion and sense, and intellect mind and egoism. But Atichhanadas, i.e., those that have surmounted ignorance, namely, the twelve, virtue, etc. destroy those thirteen and that is emancipation.

[15]:

Su means excellent, and uta, sacrifice. The compound accordingly means,--performer of excellent sacrifice.

Conclusion:

This concludes Section CXXXIV of Book 3 (Vana Parva) of the Mahabharata, of which an English translation is presented on this page. This book is famous as one of the Itihasa, similair in content to the eighteen Puranas. Book 3 is one of the eighteen books comprising roughly 100,000 Sanskrit metrical verses.

FAQ (frequently asked questions):

Which keywords occur in Section CXXXIV of Book 3 of the Mahabharata?

The most relevant definitions are: Vandin, Ashtavakra, Brahmanas, Janaka, Lomasa, Varuna; since these occur the most in Book 3, Section CXXXIV. There are a total of 43 unique keywords found in this section mentioned 119 times.

What is the name of the Parva containing Section CXXXIV of Book 3?

Section CXXXIV is part of the Tirtha-yatra Parva which itself is a sub-section of Book 3 (Vana Parva). The Tirtha-yatra Parva contains a total of 101 sections while Book 3 contains a total of 13 such Parvas.

Can I buy a print edition of Section CXXXIV as contained in Book 3?

Yes! The print edition of the Mahabharata contains the English translation of Section CXXXIV of Book 3 and can be bought on the main page. The author is Kisari Mohan Ganguli and the latest edition (including Section CXXXIV) is from 2012.

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