CHAPTER CXLIII
(THE HISTORY OF THE ASURA ANDHAKA)
Janamejaya said:—O foremost of Munis, O Vaishampayana, I have listened to an account of the spoliation of Shatpura. Do you now describe the destruction of Andhaka mentioned by you before. O foremost of speakers, I am also very anxious to hear of an account of Bhānumati's being carried away and of the destruction of Nikumbha (1-2).
Vaishampāyana said:–In the days of yore when all her sons had been slain by the Divine Lord Vishnu, Diti, with ascetic penances, worshipped Marichi's son Kashyapa. O descendant of Bharata, pleased with her penances, service, help and beauty the foremost of Munis, Kashyapa, said to her having asceticism for wealth:—"O fair one, O religious lady, I have been pleased with you. Pray for a boon" (3-5).
Diti said:—O lord, O foremost of the pious, the gods have killed my sons and I have none at present. I pray for such a son of incomparable prowess whom the gods will not be able to kill (6).
Kashyapa said:—O goddess, O daughter of Daksha, O you having lotus eyes, I have no influence over Rudra, forsooth your soon will not be killed by any other god save him. Your son shall have to protect himself from Rudra (7-8).
O descendant of Kuru, thereupon the truthful Kashyapa touched, with his fingers, the belly of that goddess. She gave birth to a son having a thousand arms, thousand heads, two thousand legs, and two thousand eyes. O descendant of Bharata, because he used to go about like a blind man, people of that province called him by the name of Andhaka. O Janamejaya, considering himself as above death, that Daitya used to oppress all and carry away by force their jewels. Having carried them away by force the highly proud Andhaka, a terror to all the worlds, compelled the Apsaras to live in his own house. Out of foolishness, that son of Diti, bent upon committing sin, used to steal other's wives and jewels (9-14).
O descendant of Bharata, once on a time that oppresser of all, with his own followers the Asuras, prepared himself for conquering the three worlds. Hearing it the Lord Sakra said to his father Kashyapa:—"O foremost of Munis, Andhaka is doing all this. O lord, command me what I should do. O Muni, how shall I suffer such oppressions of my younger brother? And how shall I strike the dear son of my step mother? O Sire, if the son of this worshipful mother be killed by me forsooth she will be worked up with anger" (15–18).
Hearing the words of the king of gods the great Muni Kashyapa said:—"May good betide you, O lord of the celestials; I shall prevent him by all means."
Thereupon O descendant of Bharata, Diti and Kashyapa, with great difficulty, desisted Andhaka from conquering the three worlds (19-20). Although thus prevented that wicked-souled one began to oppress the immortals and the other inhabitants of the celestial region by various means (21). The wicked-minded demon uprooted the trees of the forest and spoiled the gardens. O descendant of Bharata, even before the very presence of the gods, that Dānava, elated with the pride of his strength, took away the charioteers and horses of Indra and the celestial elephants, of the quarters. That thorn of the gods used to throw obstacles in the way of those men who wanted to propitiate the gods with Yajnas (22–24). O king, in fear of Andhaka and the obstruction of Yajnas, the sacrificers stopped the performance of sacrifies and the ascetics gave up the practice of bare austerities. At his command the wind blew, the sun gave its rays and the moon appeared and disappeared with stars. In fear of the highly dreadful and wicked Andhaka, elated with the pride of his strength, the cars of the sky-rangers could not freely pass in the welkin (25–27). O hero! O upholder of the Kuru race, thus in fear of the highly terrible Andhaka the world was divorced from Om and Vashatkar[1] (28). Once on a time the sinful demon devastated the provinces of Uttarakura, Bhadrāswa, Ketumāl and Jamvudwipa. What more, although capable, the gods, Danavas and other creatures used to show him respect (29–30).
[1] All the religious ceremonies were stopped.
O foremost of the pious, oppressed by Andhaka the Brahmavadins unitedly concerted measures for his destruction. Amongst them the intelligent Vrihaspati said:—"Save Rudra, no body will be able to kill him, for, at the time of conferring the boon the intelligent Kashyapa said to Aditi 'I shall not be able to protect your son against Rudra (31-33).' We should now find out the means by which the eternal Sarva, the benefactor of all, may be informed of the trouble of all the creatures (34). If the powerful, Divine Lord Bhava, the refuge of the pious, be informed of our object he will surely remove the misery of the world, for to save the pious especially the Brāhmanas from the wicked is the work of Bhava, the god of gods, and the preceptor of the world (35–36). Let us go and seek the help of the best of the twice-born Nārada. He is a friend of Mahadeva, and will point out to us an expedient." Hearing the words of Vrihaspati the ascetics saw Nārada the foremost of the celestial saints in the sky (37-38). Worshipping him duly and welcoming him the gods said:—"O celestial saint, O lord, O pious Rishi, go speedily to Kailāsha and speak to the great god Hara, for the destruction of Andhaka." They said this to Nārada for their own safety. He too said "So be it" (39–40).
After the departure of the Rishis the learned Muni Nārada thought over this matter in his mind and arrived at a conclusion. For seeing the god of gods, Siva, the divine Muni repaired to the garden Mandāra where he always lived (41–42). O descendant of Bharata, having lived in Sulapani’s (Siva's) charming garden of Mandāra for one night, he, with the permission of Vrishadhwaja, took a well-set garland of Mandara flowers, the best of all sweet-scented articles and another of Santānaka flowers and set out for the city of the celestials. O king, having placed that highly fragrant garland around his neck Nārada went where the wicked-souled Andhaka, proud of his strength, was (43–46). Seeing that garland of Santānaka flowers and smelling its sweet fragrance Andhaka asked him:—"O great Muni, having asceticism for your wealth, where have you got these beautiful flowers which are always carrying such a beautiful scent and colour? They have, by all means, excelled the Santānaka flowers of the celestial region. Where do they grow and who is their owner? O Muni, whom the gods entertain as their guest, if you have respect for me tell me all this" (47-49).
O descendant of Bharata, hearing this that foremost of Munis, Narada, having tapas for his jems, held him by the hand and said:—"O hero, these flowers grow in the charming forest situated on that best of mountains Mandāra. They are the creation of the trident-handed deity (50–51). The ghostly attendants of the great Mahādeva guard that forest. So without his permission no body can enter there. Those goblins put on various dresses, use diverse weapons, are dreadful and unapproachable. On account of their being protected well by Mahādeva they are unslayable by all creatures. In that garden of Mandāra Hara, the soul and protector of all, and followed by goblins, always plays there with the goddess Umā (52–54). O you born in the race of Kashyapa, if one adores Hara, the lord of the three worlds with particular hard austerities he obtains the Mandāra flowers. These trees, beloved of Hara, confer jewels of women, other precious stones and all sorts of desired-for objects (55–56). O you of incomparable prowess, that forest of trees, where no misery prevails, is self effulgent. The sun or the moon does not pour its rays there. O you of great strength, amongst those huge trees some give scents, some water and some various fragrant raiments. They also pour various desired-for edibles and drinks. O sinless hero, know it for certain that in that Mandāra forest no body experiences thirst, hunger or fatigue. What more, even in hundred years cannot be described the virtues, superior to those of the celestial region even, which those trees possess. O foremost of the sons of Diti, he, who lives there even for a day, acquires victory over all superior to that of Mahādeva even. There is no doubt about it. In my opinion that region had been selected before the creation of the world, as the heaven of heaven and happiness of happiness (57-63)"
Source: https://archive.org/details/AProseEnglishTranslationOfHarivamsh
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