The Skanda Purana

by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words

This page describes The Victories of Jalandhara which is chapter 15 of the English translation of the Skanda Purana, the largest of the eighteen Mahapuranas, preserving the ancient Indian society and Hindu traditions in an encyclopedic format, detailling on topics such as dharma (virtous lifestyle), cosmogony (creation of the universe), mythology (itihasa), genealogy (vamsha) etc. This is the fifteenth chapter of the Karttikamasa-mahatmya of the Vaishnava-khanda of the Skanda Purana.

Chapter 15 - The Victories of Jalandhara

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Nārada said:

1. Daityas who had been formerly defeated by Devas and who had been staying in the nether worlds came without any fear whatsoever to the earth and resorted to him.

2. Once, on seeing Rāhu with his head cut, that king of Daityas asked Śukra about the cause of his head being cut off.

3. He told him the detailed story of the churning of the Ocean, the fact that all jewels were taken away by Devas and the defeat of the Daityas etc.

4. On hearing about the churning of his father (i.e. Ocean), he became furious with eyes turned red. He sent Ghasmara as his messenger to the presence of Śakra.

5. The messenger went to heaven and entered the excellent (Assembly of Indra called) Sudharmā. With his head raised up (with self-respect) the messenger spoke to Devendra the following wonderful words.

Ghasmara said:

6. Jalandhara, the son of the Ocean, is the lord of all the Daitya-folks. I am sent by him as his messenger. Hear what he says:

7. “Why was my father, the Ocean, churned by you with a mountain? All the jewels had been carried away (by you). Return all those things to me immediately.”

8. On hearing these words of the messenger the Lord of Devas became surprised. Moved by fear as well as anger, he spoke to the terrible Ghasmara:

Indra said:

9-10. Listen, O messenger, why the Ocean was churned by me formerly. The Mountains who were afraid of me were kept by him within his bowels. Other enemies too of mine, Daityas, were accorded shelter by him formerly. Hence, what came out of him has been taken away by me.

11. Śaṅkha too, a son of the Ocean, became inimical to Devas formerly. He was killed by my younger brother (Viṣṇu) and he entered the bowels of the Ocean for good.

12a. Therefore, go and tell him everything about the cause of the churning (of the Ocean).

Nārada said:

12b. Thus the messenger who was sent back by Indra went to the earth.

13. Then he told the Daitya all these words. On hearing them the Daitya became furious. His lips throbbed due to anger.

14. Accompanied by the army of Daityas, he went to heaven in order to fight. Then in that war the destruction of Devas and Dānavas was excessive.

15. Bhārgava (i.e. Śukra) resuscitated all those Daityas who died in the war there by means of his Vidyā (secret formula) named Mṛtajīvanī (‘enlivener of the dead’) and with water drops charged with Mantras.

16. Aṅgiras (i.e. Bṛhaspati) acquired divine medicinal herbs from the Droṇa mountain[1] frequently and resuscitated the Devas who were killed in the war.

17. On seeing that the (resuscitated) Devas were coming up again in the battle, Jalandhara became furious and he spoke these words to Bhārgava:

Jalandhara said:

18. How is it that the Devas killed by me in the battle rise up again? It is well-known that your Vidyā named Sañjīvinī is not known to others.

Śukra said:

19. Aṅgiras brings divine herbs from the Droṇa mountain and resuscitates the Suras. Hence you remove the Droṇa mountain quickly.

Nārada said:

20. On being told thus, the Lord of Daityas carried the Droṇa mountain and cast it into the ocean. Then he returned to the battlefield quickly.

21. On seeing the Devas being killed, Guru (i.e. Bṛhaspati) went to the Droṇa mountain but the preceptor who was honoured by the Suras could not find the important mountain there.

22. On coming to know that the Droṇa mountain had been taken away by the Daitya, Dhiṣaṇa (Bṛhaspati) became frightened. He came to the battleground and spoke from a distance with all his body gasping for breath:

23. “Run away from the battle, O Devas. This (Daitya) cannot be vanquished because he is born of a part of Rudra. Remember the act of Śakra (such as striking the Bhīma Puruṣa with Vajra).”

24. On hearing his words the Devas became alarmed. On being killed and hit by the Daitya they ran to all the ten directions.

25. On seeing that the Devas had been routed by the Daityas, the son of the Ocean entered Amarāvatī to the accompaniment of the victorious sounds of conchs and Bherī drums.

26. When the Daitya entered the city, the Devas with Śakra as their leader went to the cave of the Meru mountain and stayed there. They were excessively harassed by the Daityas.

27. Then the Asura employed Śuṃbha and other excellent Daityas severally in all the offices of Indra and others. Then he himself went to the cave of the Meru mountain.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Droṇa: Identified with Mt. Doonagiri in Kumaun (De 58, 110). Local tradition in Satara District (Maharashtra) believes that the Jaraṇḍā hill in that District is a part of Droṇagiri.

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