The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CXI.
THE FLIGHT OF THE SOLDIERS ON ALL SIDES.
Argument:--Description of the Discomfiture of the Royal
army, and
their use of pneumatic arms.
Vasishtha continued:--Thus the war waged with the
fury of the four elements, in their mutual conflict on
the last doomsday of the world; and the forces on all
sides,
were falling and flying in numbers in and about the
battle
field.
2. The sky was filled with the stridor of the four fold
noise
of drums and conch-shells; and the rattling of arrows and
clattering of arms on all sides.
3. The furious warriors were violently dashing on one
another, and their steel armours were clashing against
each
other, and splitting in twain with clattering noise.
4. The files of the royal forces, were broken in the
warfare;
they fell fainting in the field, and were lopped off as
leaves and plants, and mown down as straws and grass[**.]
5. At this time the trumpets announced the
advanced[**advance] of
king, with a peal that filled the quarters of the sky;
and the
cannons thundered with a treble roar, resounding with
uproar
of the kapa or doomsday clouds.
6. They rent[**=print] asunder at the same time, the
sides of the
highest hill and mountains; and split in twain, the rocky
shores and banks every where.
7. The king then issued forth to all the four sides, in
the
four fold or four parted form of himself; like the four
regents of
the four quarters of the sky, or like the four arms of
Náráyana,
stretching to so many sides of heaven.
8. Being then followed by his fourfold forces, (composed
of
horse, elephants, war-cars and foot soldiers); he then
rushed
out of the confines of his city of palaces, and marched
to the
open fields lying out of the town.
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9. He saw the thinness of his own army, and the strong
armament of his enemies all around; and heard their loud
clamour all about, like the wild roar of the surrounding
sea.
10. Flights of arrows flying thickly through the air,
appeared
as sharks floating in the sea; and the bodies of
elephants,
moving in the wide battle field, seemed as the huge waves
of
the ocean.
11. The moving battalions wheeling circular bodies,
seemed
as the whirling eddies in the sea; and the coursing
chariots
with their waving flags, appeared as the sailing ships
with
their unfurled sails.
12. The uplifted umbrellas were as the foams of the sea,
and the neighing of horses, likened the frothing of
whales.
The glaring of shining weapons, appeared as the flaring
of
falling rain under the sunshine.
13. The moving elephants and sweeping horses, seemed as
the huge surges and swelling waves of the sea; and the
dark
Dravidian barbarians gabbled, like the gurgling bubbles
of sea
waters.
14. The big elephants with their towering and lowering
bodies, seemed as they were mounting on dismounting from
the
heights of mountains, and breaking their hollow caves,
howling
with the rustling winds.
15. The battle field looked like the vast expanse of
water,
in which the slain horses and elephants seemed to be
swimming
as fragments of floating rocks, and where the moving
legions,
appeared as the rolling waves of the sea.
16. The field presented the dismal appearance of an
untimely
dissolution; appeared as an ocean of blood, stretching to
the
borders of the visible horizon.
17[**.] The fragments of the shining weapons, showed
themselves
as the sparkling gems in the womb of the sea; and the
movement of forces, resembled the casting of ballast
stones
into it?
18. The falling weapons, were as showers of gems and snow
from above; and presented the appearance of evening
clouds
in some place, and of fleecy vapours in another.
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19. Beholding the ocean like the battalion of the enemy,
the king thought of swallowing it up, as the sage Agastya
had
sucked in the ocean; and with this intent, he remembered
his
airy instument[**instrument], which he thought to employ
on this
occasion;
(and which would disperse the cloud of the hostile force
like
the wind).
20. He got the airy instrument, and aimed it at all
sides;
as when the god Siva had set the arrow to his bow on
mount
Meru, to slay the demon Tripura. (This passage shows the
slaughter of Tripura, when the Indo-Aryans had their
habitation
on Meru or the polar mountains).
21. He bowed to his god Agni-[**--]Ignis, and let fly his
mighty
missile with all his might; in order to repel the raging
fire,
and preserve his own forces from destruction.
22. He hurled his airy bolt, together with its
accompaniment
of the cloudy arms; both to drive off as well as to set
down the fire of the enemy.
23. These arms being propelled from his octuple cross
bow,
burst forth into a thousand dire weapons, which ran to
and
filled all the four sides or quarters of the sky.
24. Then there issued forth from these, an abundance of
darts and arrows; and currents of iron spears and
tridents; and
volleys of shots and rockets.
25. There were torrents of missiles and mallets, as well
as
currents of discs and battle axes.
26. There were streams of iron clubs, crows and lances;
and
floods of bhindipalas or short arrows thrown from the
hand or
through tubes; and also swashes of spring nets, and air
instruments
of incredible velocity.
27. There was an effusion of fire bolts, and a profluence
of
lightnings, as also showers of fallings shorts, and scuds
of flying
swords and sabres.
28. There were falls of iron arrows, and javelins and
spears
of great force and strength; and purling of huge snakes,
that
were found in mountain caves, and grew there for ages.
29. It was in no time[**space added], that the force of
these flying arms,
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blasted the ocean of the hostile forces; which fled in
full haste
and hurry in all directions, as heaps of ashes before the
hurricane
and whirlwind.
30. The thunder showers of arms, and the driving rain of
weapons, were driven away by the impetuous winds; and
invading
hosts hurried to all sides, as the torrent of a river
breaks
its embankment, and overflows on the land in the rains.
31. The four bodies of troops (consisting of horse,
elephant,
chariots and foot-soldiers), fled vanquished from the
field to the
four directions; just as the mountain cataracts
precipitate on
all sides during the rains.
32. The lofty flags and their posts, were torn and broken
and hurled down as large trees by storm; and the forest
of
uplifted swords were broken to pieces, and scattered like
the
petals of mariche flowers over the ground.
33. The sturdy bodies of stout soldiers, were rolling as
stones on the ground, and besmeared with blood gushing out
of
their wounds; while the groans of their agony, broke down
the
stoutest hearts.
34. Large elephants rolled upon the ground with their
elevated tusks rising as trees; and roared aloud with
their
crackling sounds, vying with thunder claps and roaring
clouds.
35. The clashing of the weapons against one another, was
as the crashing of the branches of trees against each
other;
and the horses clashing on one another, sounded as the
clashing
of waves of the sea.
36. The crackling of war cars and their huge wheels,
sounded
as the rattling of the hail storm on high; and the
mingled
noise of the clashing of carriages, horse, elephants and
foot-soldiers,
sounded as the crashing of stones.
37. The harsh sound of war hoops and shouts, was loud on
all sides; and cries of dying soldiers, crying "we
die, we are
slain," swelled in the air all around.
38. The army appeared as a sea, and their march was as
the
whirling of an eddy with its gurgling sound; and the
blood-*
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*shed on their bodies, exhibited the roseate hue of the
evening
sky.
39. The waving weapons, appeared as a lowering cloud
moving upon the shore; and the ground besmeared in blood
seemed as the fragment of a purple cloud.
40. The lancers, mace bearers and spearmen, seemed to
bear the tall tala trees in their hands; while the
cowardly
crowds of men, were seen to cry aloud like the timid deer
in
the plain.
41. The dead bodies of horses, elephants and warriors,
lay
prostrate on the ground liken the fallen leaves of trees;
and
the rotten flesh and fat of the bruised carcasses, were
trodden
down to mud and mire in the field.
42. Their bones were pounded to dust under the hoofs of
the horses; and the concussion of wood and stones under
the
driving winds, raised a rattling sound all around.
43. The clouds of dooms-day were roaring, and the winds
of
desolation were blowing; the rains of the last day were
falling,
and the thunders of destruction were clapping all about.
44. The surface of the ground was all muddy and miry, and
the face of the land was flooded all over; the air was
chill and
bleak, and the sky was drizzling through all its pores.
45. The huts and hamlets, and the towns and villages,
were
all in a blaze; and the people and their cattle, with all
the
horses and elephants, were in full cry and loud uproar.
46. The earth and heaven, resounded with the rolling of
chariots and rumbling of clouds; and the four quarters of
heaven, reverberated to the twanging of his four fold bow
on
all the four sides.
47. The forky lightnings were playing, by the friction
and
clashing of the clouds; and showers of arrows and
missiles fell
profusely from them, with the thunder bolts of maces, and
darts
of spears.
48. The armies of the invading chiefs, fled in confusion
from all the four sides of the field; and the flying
forces fell in
numbers like swarms of ants and troops[**=print] of gnats
and flies.
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49. The myrmidons of the bordering tribes, were burnt
amidst the conflagration of fiery arms; and were pierced
by the
fiery weapons, falling like thunderbolts upon them, from
the
darkened sky. The flying forces resembled the marine
animals
of the deep, which being disturbed by the perturbed
waters of
the sea, plunge at last into the submarine fire.
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CHAPTER CXII.
FLIGHT OF THE FOREIGN FOES.
Argument.--Account of the routed soldiers, and the names
of their
countries and places of retreat.
Vasishtha continued:--The Chedis of Deccan, who were
as thickly crowded as the sandal wood of their country,
and girt with girdles resembling the snakes about those
trees,
were felled by the battle axes, and driven afar to the
southern
main-[**--]the Indian Ocean.
2. The Persians flew as the flying leaves of trees, and
striking
against one another in their madness, fell like the
vanjula
leaves in the forest.
3. Then the demon-like[**hyphen added] Darads, who dwell
in the
caverns
of the distant Dardura mountains, were pierced in their
breasts,
and fled from the field with their heart rending sorrow.
(The
Dardui is a people of Afganistan[**Afghanistan]).
4. The winds blew away the clouds of weapons, which
poured down torrents of missible[**missile] arms, that
shattered the
armours of the warriors, and glittered like curling
lighnings[**lightnings].
5. The elephants falling upon one another, pierced their
bodies and gored each other to death with their tusks;
and
became heaps of flesh, similar to the lumps of food with
which
they filled their bellies.
6. Another people of the same country, and of the Raivata
mountains, who were flying from the field by night; were
waylaid
by the horrid Pisáchas, that tore their bodies and
devoured
them with voracity.
7. Those that fled to the tala, and tamala forests, and
to
the old woods on the bank of the dasárná river; were
caught
by lions and tigers crouching in them; and were throttled
to
death under their feet.
8. The yovanas living on the coasts of the western ocean,
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and those in the land of cocoanut trees; were caught and
devoured by sharks, in the course of their flight.
9. The sákas or scythians[**Scythians] being unable to
endure the
impulse, of the black iron arrows for a moment fled to
all directions;
and the Rumatha people were blown away and broken
down, like the lotus bed by the blowing winds.
10. The routed enemy flying to the Mahendra mountain,
covered its three peaks with their armours of black mail,
and
made them appear as mantled by the sable clouds of the
rainy
weather.
11. The legions of these hostile forces, being broken
down
by the arms of the king, like the large mines of god,
were
first plundered of their raiments by the highway robbers,
and
then killed and devoured by the nocternal[**nocturnal]
cannibals and
hobgoblins of the desert.
12. The surface of the land was converted to the face of
the sky; by the broken fragments of weapons glistering on
like the stars of heaven twinkling in myriads above.
13. The caverns of the earth, resounding to the noise of
the
clouds above, appeared as a grand orchestra, sounding the
victory
of the king both in earth and heaven.
14. The peoples inhabiting the islands, lost their lives
under the whirling disks; as the dwelling in the watery
marshes perish on dried lands for want of rain.
15. The vanquished islanders fled to the sahya[**Sahya]
mountains,
and having halted there for a weak[**week], departed
slowly to the
respective places.
16. Many took shelter in the Gandhamadana mountains,
while multitudes of them resorted to the Punnága forests;
and
the retreating Gandharas[**Gandharvas] became refugees in
the
sancturies[**sanctuaries] of
the Vidyadhara[**Vidyádhara] maidens.
17. The huns, chins and Kiratas, had their heads struck
off by the flying discuses of the king; and these were
blown
away by the opposite winds, like lotus flowers by the
blast.
18. The Nilipa people, remained as firm as trees in a
forest,
and as fixed in their places as thorns on stalks and
brambles.
19. The beautiful pastures of antelopes, the woodlands
and
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hilly tracts on all sides; were desolated by showers of
weapons,
and the rush and crush of the forces.
20. The thorny deserts became the asylum of robbers,
after they deserted their habitations to be over grown by
thorns and thisles[**thistles].
21. The Persians who were abundant in number, got over
to the other side of the sea (the Persian gulph); and
were
blown away by the hurricane, like stars blasted by the
storm
of final desolation.
22. The winds blew as on the last day of destruction, and
broke down the woods and forests all about; and disturbed
the sea by shaking its hidden rocks below.
23. The dirty waters of the deep, rose on high with a
gurgling
noise; and the sky was invisible owing to the clouds of
weapons, which obscured its face on all sides.
24. The howling winds, raised a clapping and flapping
sound
all about; and there fell showers of snow also, which
flowed
on earth, like the waters of the sea.
25. The charioteers of Vidura country, fell down from
their
cars, with the loud noise of waves; and were driven to
fall into
the waters of the lake, like bees from lotuses.
26. The routed foot soldiers who were as numerous as the
dust of the earth, and well armed from head to foot; were
yet
so overpowered under the showers of darts and discs, that
they
were blinded by the tears of their eyes, and disabled to
beat
their retreat. (i. e. They were as dust, set down by the
showers of darts from above, and tears of their eyes
below).
27. The Huns were buried with their heads and heels, in
their flight over the sandy deserts of the north; and
others
were as muddied as the dirty iron, by their being
fastened in
the miry shores of nothern[**northern] seas. (The huns
had been the
progenitors of the present Hungarians, residing beyond
the
Baltic. They are said to have been as dark complexioned
as
their cognate Dravidians of Deccan in Southean[**Southern]
India).
28. The sáks (saccae[**=print] or
scythians[**Scythians]), were driven to
cassia
forest on the bank of the eastern main; there they were
con-*
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*fined for some time, and then released without being
despatched
to the regions of death.
29. The Madrasees were repulsed to the Mahendra
mountains,
whence they lightly alighted on the ground as if fallen
from heaven; and there they were protected by the great
sages,
who preserved them there with tender care as they bear
for the
stags of their hermitage.
30. The fugitives flying to the refuge of the
sahya[**Sahya] mountains,
found in lieu of their imminent destruction, in the
subterranean
cell, the two fold gain of their present and future
good therein. Thus it comes to pass that, many times good
issues out of evil, where it was least expected. (We know
not
what were the two great gains made at this place,
expect[**except] it be
made to mean, that the hidden cell of sahya or patience
is the
door to prosperity and success).
31. The soldiers flying to Dasárná at the confluence of
the
ten rivers, fell into the Dardura forest like the fallen
leaves of
trees; and there they lay dead all about by eating the
poisonous
fruits thereof.
32. The Haihayas that fled to Himalayas[**Himálayas],
drank the juice
of Visalya-karani or pain killing plants by mistake; and
became
thereby as volant [**violent?--P2: No!--volant correct]
as Vidyádharas,
and flew to their
country.
33. And then the people of Bengal, who are as weak as
faded flowers, showed the backs to the field, and fled to
their
homes; from which they dare not stir even to this day,
but
remain as Pisáchas all along.
34. But the people of Anga or Behar[**Bihar], that live
upon the
fruits of their country; are as strong as Vidyádharas,
and
sport with their mates, as if it were in heavenly bliss.
35. The Persians being worsted in their bodies, fell into
the tala and tamala forests; whereby drinking their
intoxicating
extracts, they became as giddy as drunken men. (The
addictedness of Persians to their delicious drinks, is
well known
in their Ána Cronatics[**Chronicles?]).
36. The light and swift mettled elephants of the swarthy
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[** unclear portions of the page compared to print]
Kalingas, pushed against their four fold armies in the
field
of battle, where all lay slain in promiscuous heaps.
37. The salwas passing under the arrows and stones of the
enemy, fell into the waters which girt their city,
wherein they
perished with the whole of their hosts, that are still
lying there-[**--]in
the form of heap of rocks.
38. There were numbers of hosts, that fled to different
countries in all directions; and many that were driven to
the
distant seas, where they were all drowned and dead, and
borne
away by the waves.
39. But who can count the countless hosts, that fled to
and lay dead and unnoticed in every part of the wide
earth
and sea, on the fields and plains, in forests and woods,
on
land and water, on mountains and dales, on shores and
coasts
and on the hills and cliffs. So there is nobody who can
tell what
numbers of living beings are dying every moment, in their
homes[**=print] and abodes in cities and villages, in caves
and dens,
and every where in the world.
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CHAPTER CXII[**typo for CXIII].
DESCRIPTION OF THE OCEAN.
Argument:--Relation of the cessation of arms, and
description of
majestic ocean.
Vasishtha continued:--The hostile forces of the enemies
thus flying on all sides, were pursued to a great
distance by the four forms of Vihaschit[**Vipaschit] as
said before.
2. These four forms of almighty power, and of one soul
and mind; went on conquering the four regions on every
side,
with one intent and purpose.
3. They chased the retreating enemies without giving them
any respite, to the shores of the seas on all sides; as
the currents
of rivers keep on their course without intermission, to
the coast
of the far distant ocean.
4. This long course of the royal forces, as well as of
the
enemies, soon put an end to all their provisions and
ammunitions,
and all their resources and strength were exhausted at
last, as a rill[**?--P2:OK] is lost under the sands ere
it reaches the lake.
5. The king beheld his forces and those of his enemies,
to
be as exhausted at the end; as the merits and demerits of
a
man are lost up on his ultimate liberation.
6. The weapons ceased to fly about, as if they were at
rest
after they had done their part in the sky; and as the
flames of
fire subside of themselves, for want of fuel and the
combustibles.
7. The horses and elephants went under their shelters,
and
the weapons stuck to trees and rocks; and they seemed to
fall
fast asleep, like birds upon their spray at night fall.
8. As the waves cease to roll in a dried up channel, and
the snows to fall under the clouded sky; and as the
clouds fly
before the storm, and the fragrance of flowers is borne
away
by the wind.
9. So the flying weapons were submerged like fishes,
under
the falling showers of rain; and the dripping drops of
darts,
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were thwarted by the thickening showers of snow; (i. e.
the
dropping arrows were driven away, by the drifts of snow),
10. The sky was cleared of the whirling disks, that were
hurled by hundreds, and hurtling in the hazy atmosphere;
and
it got a clean sweep of the gathering clouds, that were
soaring
up in surges, and pouring down in floods of rain.
11. The firmament presented the appearance of an immense
ocean, composed of the limpid fuel of the vast void; and
containing
the sparkling gems of the stars in its bosom, and the
burning submarine fire of the sun in the midst of it.
12. The great vacuum appeared as extensive and deep,
and as bright and serene, and devoid of the dust of rajas
or
pride, as the minds of great men; (which are of equal
extent
and depth of knowledge &c[**.]).
13. They then beheld the oceans, lying as junior brothers
of the skies; being of equal extent and clearness, and
stretching
to the utmost limits of the horizon.
14. These with their deep sounding waves and foaming
froths, are as gratifying to the minds of people; as the
roaring
clouds with their showers of snow, are ravishing of human
hearts.
15. They having fallen down from high heaven, and
stretching
wide their huge bodies on the earth below; seem to be
rolling grieviously[**grievously] on the ground, with
their deep groanings
and breathings, and raising up their billowy arms, in
order to
lift themselves on high.
16. They are gross and dull bodies, yet full of force and
motion, and though they are mute and dumb, yet full of
noise
and howling in their hollow cavities; they are full of
dreadful
whirpools[**whirlpools], as is this world with all its
dizzy rounds.
17. The gems sparkling on the banks, add to the
brightness
of the sun beams (in the morning); and the winds blowing
in the conch shells, resound all along the coast.
18. Here the huge waves are growling, like the big clouds
roaring loudly on high; and the circling eddies are
whirling
around, as the shattered corallines were scattered along.
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19. The hoarse snorting of sharks and whales, is howling
in the bosom of the deep; and the lashing of the waters
by
their tails, sounded as the splashing of the oars of
vessels in
them.
20. Here are the horrid sharks and alligators, devouring
the
fleecy mermaids and marine men in numbers; and a thousand
suns shining in their reflexions on the rising waves.
21. Here are seen fleets of ships floating on the surface
of
the waters, and rising aloft on the tops of the
tops[**delete 'of the tops'] of
the waves;
and driven forward by the blowing winds, howling horribly
through the furling sails and cracking cordage.
22. The ocean with his hundreds of arms of the heaving
waves, handles the orbs of the sun and moon; and displays
varieties of sparkling gem, with reflexions of their
beams in
them.
23. Here were the shoals of snarks, skimming over the
foaming main; and there were the water spouts, rising
like
columns of elephants[**elephants'] trunks to the skies,
and representing a
forest of bamboos.
24. In some places, the rippling waves were gliding, like
curling creepers, with hairy tufts and frothy blossoms on
them;
and in others, little rocks resembling the backs of
elephants
and bearing the vernal flowers, were scattered in the
midst of
the waters.
25. Some where were the heaps of froth and frost and
hills
of ice bergs, resembling the edifices of the gods and
demigods;
and else where were the groups of sparkling little
billows, that
laughed to scorn the clusters of shining stars in the
skies,[**.]
26. Here are branches (chains) of rocks concealed in its
depth,
like little gnats hidden in the hollows underneath the
ground; and there are the huge surges, which make pigmies
and dwarfs of the high hills on earth.
27. Its coasts are spread over with sparkling gems, like
beds of gemming sprouts and shoots of flowers on the
ground
(or) as the ground strewn over with the germinating
shoots
and sprouts of gemming blossom); while the glistening
pearls
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bursting out of their silvery shells sparkle amidst the
spreading
sands.
28[**.] The sea seems to weave a vest of silken stuff,
with its
fleecy waves; and decking it with all its floating gems
and
pearls; while the rivers flowing into it from all
directions, serve
to colour it with their various waters.
29. The coasts studded with gems and pearls of various
hues, display as it were the beams of a hundred moons, in
the
versicoloured[**=print] nails of its feet.
30. The shadows of the beachening [**?] tali forests,
falling on
the swelling waves of the sea, were imbued with the hues
of
the marine gems; and appeared as moving arbours with
their
variegated foliage, fruits and flowers.
31. There are seen the shadows of sundry fruit trees,
reflected
in the waters gliding below; and as rising up and falling
down with their reflexions in the moving waves and
billows.
The false and falling shadows, gathered numbers of marine
beasts
under them, for gorging the falling fruits. (This is
persuing[**pursuing]
a shadow).
32. Again the greedy fishes were collected some where,
and
leaping to catch the birds that were sitting on the fruit
trees,
and seen in their reflexions on the waves.
33. Here are seen many sea monsters also, that break the
embankments, and rove about at random in the watery maze,
as birds fly freely in the vacuous air.
34. The ocean being a formless deep, bears the image of
the three worlds impressed on its bosom; it bears also
the
imago of the pure vacuum in itself, as it bore the image
of
Náráyana in its breast.
35. Its great depth, clearness and immeasurable extent,
gives it the appearance of the majestic firmament, which
is
reflected in its bosom, as it were imprest upon it.
36. It bears the reflexion of the sky and of the flying
birds
thereof, as if they were the images of acquatic[**aquatic]
fowls swimming
on its surface, or resembled the black bees[**space
added] fluttering
about its lotus like waves.
37. Its boisterous waves are borne to the skies by the
vio-*
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[** png 057-062 compared to print]
lent winds, and washing the welkin's face with their
briny
sprays; and the deep sounding main, resounding from its
hollow
rocks, is roaring aloud like the diluvian clods.
38. The gurgling noise of the whirlpools, resembles the
loud
thunder claps of heaven; and the submarine fire is
sometimes
seen to burst out of the deep, like the latent flame of
Agastya,[**Agatsya]
that consumed the waters of the main.
39. The watery maze presents the picture of a vast
wilderness, with its waves as the waving trees; the
billows
as its branch boughs, its surfs as blossms[**blossoms],
and the foams
and froths as flowers.
40. The high heaving surges with the shoals of fishes
skimming and skipping upon them; appear as fragments of
the
sky fallen below, and carried away by the gliding waters.
41. Thus the hostile forces were driven afar to the
shores
of the salt seas; extending far and wide and bounding the
earth on every side; while the lofty mountains rising to
the
skies with there[**their] verdant tops, intercepted the
sight on all sides.
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CHAPTER CXIV.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROSPECTS ALL-AROUND.
Argument:--Description of the forest trees, the hills and
seas, the forest
and hill peoples, and clouds on high.
Vasishtha continued:--Then the royal army beheld
whatever there was on sides of them; namely, the
forests and hills, the seas and the clouds, and the
foresters and
hill people, and the trees of the forest.
2. They said;[**:] behold, O lord, that high hill, which
lifts its
lofty top to the sky, and invites the clouds to settle
upon it;
while its midmost part is the region of the winds, and
the
base is composed of hard and rugged stones.
3. See, O lord, how they abound with fruit trees of
various kinds, and the groves whose fragrance is wafted
around
by the gentle winds.
4. The sea breaks down the peninsulas with its battering
breakers, and disperses the stones of the rocks on its
banks; it
shatters the bordering forests with its wavy axes, and
scatters
their fruits and flowers all over the waters. (The gloss
explains the peninsula to mean the maritimelands[**2
words] of
madras[**Madras]).
5. Behold the sea--[**-]breeze wafting away the clouds,
settling
on the tops of mountains, by the sufflation of the leafy
boughs
of trees dancing over them; in the manner of men, blowing
away the smoke with their fans.
6. Here are arbours on its coasts, like the trees in the
garden
of paradise; whose branches are as white as the
conch-*shells
growing in the full-moon-tide, and whose fruits are as
bright as the disk of the moon.
7. Lo, these trees with their spouses of the creepers,
are
honouring you with offerings of gemming flowers, from the
rosy palms of their rubicund leaves.
8. There is the Rikshabana rock, howling as a ferocious
bear; and devouring the huge sharks and swallowing the
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swelling waves, in its cavern like mouth, and under its
stony
teeth.
9. The Mahendra mountain with loud uproar, growls at the
roaring clouds (moving below its height); as the stronger
champion hurls defience[**defiance] against his weaker
rival.
10. There the enraged Malaya mount lifts his lofty head,
decorated with forests of the sandal wood; and threatens
the
loud ocean below, rolling with its outstretched arms of
the
waves on the shore.
11. The ocean rolling incessantly, with its gemming waves
on all sides; is looked upon by the celestials from high,
as if
he bore away the treasured gems of the earth.
12. The wild hillocks, with woods and ruddy rocks on the
tops, and waving with the wafting gales; appeared as huge
serpents, creeping with their cresent[**crescent] gems,
and inhaling the
breeze.
13. There were the huge sharks and elephants, moving and
grappling with each other upon the surges; and this sight
delights
the minds of men, as that of a rainy and light cloud
opposing and pursuing one another.
14. There is an elephant fallen in a
whirlfool[**whirlpool], and being
unable
to raise itself from the same, it lefts[**left] its
probocis[**proboscis] on
the
water, and dies with sputtering the water from snout on
all
sides.
15. The high hills as well as the low seas, are all
equally
filled with living beings; and as the oceans abound with
aquatic animate, so are all lands and islands full of
living
beings.
16. The sea like the earth and all the worlds, are full
of
whirlpools and revolutions of things, and all these are
mere
falsities, that are taken for and viewed as realities.
17. The ocean bears in its bosom the liquid waves, which
are inert in themseleves[**themselves], and yet appearing
to be in
continual
motion; so Brahma contains the innumerable worlds, which
seem to be solid without any substantiality in them. (The
worlds are as empty and unstable waves).
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18. It was at the churning of the ocean, by the gods and
giants of yore; that it was despoiled of all its bright
and hidden
treasures, which have since fallen to the lot of Indra
and the
Gods.
19. It has therefore adopted to wear on its breast, the
reflexions of the greatest and brightest lights of
heaven, as its
false and fictitious ornaments. These are seen even from
the
nether worlds, and of these no one can deprive it.
20. Among the shining sun is one, whose image it bears
in its bosom, with equal splendour as it is in heaven.
This
bright gem is daily deposited as a deposit in the western
main,
to give its light to the nether world. It is called the
gem of
day [Sanskrit: dinamani], because it makes day wherever
it shines.
21. There is a confluence of all the waters from all
sides to
it, and assemblage of them in its reservoir, gives it the
clamorous
sound, as it is heard in the of[**typo: extra
"of"] crowds of men in a mixed
processions.[**either delete 'a' or plural 's']
22. Here is a continued conflict of the marine monsters
in
their mutual contentions, as there is a jostling of the
currents
and torrents of the waters of rivers and seas, at the
mouths of
gulfs and bays.
23. There the large whales are rolling and dancing on
the rising waves; and spurting forth spouts of water from
their mouth; and these shedding showers of pearls, are
borne
aloft and scattered about by the blowing winds.
24. The streams of water, flowing like strings of pearl,
and
bearing the bubbles resembling brilliant pearls (abdas)
amidst
them; adorn the breast of the ocean as necklaces, and
whistling
by their concussion.
25. The sea winds serve to refresh the spirits of the
siddha
and sádhya classes of spirits, that dwell in their abodes
of the
caverns of Mahendra mountains; and traverse the howling
regions of the sounding main.
26. Again the winds exhaled from the caves of the
Mahendra mountains, are gently shaking the woods growing
upon it, and stretching a cloud of flowers over its table
lands.
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27. Here is the mount gandha-madana, full of mango and
kadamba trees; and there the fragments of clouds, are
seen to
enter into its caves like stags, with their eyes flashing
as
lightnings.
28. The winds issuing from the valleys of Himalaya
mountains,
and passing through the encircling bowers of creeping
plants, are scattering the clouds of heaven, and breaking
the
breakers of the sea.
29. The winds of the gandha-madana mountain, are exhaling
the fragrance of the kadamba flowers growing upon it;
and ruffling the surface of the sea with curling waves.
30. After twisting the fleecy clouds, in the form of the
curling locks of hair, on the pinnacles of Alaka (the
residence
of Kabera [**Kubera]); the winds are passing by the
alleys of the gandhamadana
groves, and forming cloud or canopy of flowers at
this place.
31. Here the odoriferous airs, bearing the sweet burthen
of fragrant flowers and gums, and moistened by the
admixture
of icy showers, are creeping slowly admidst[**amidst] the
alleys.
32. Lo there the nalikera creepers, diffusing their
sourish
scent to the breezes, which being acidulated by their
sourness,
are turning towards the regions of Persia.
33. Here the winds are wafting the odours, of the flowery
forests of Ísana on the Kailasa mountain; and there they
are
breathing with the perfume of the lotuses of the mountain
lakes; and blowing away the camphor-white (fleecy) clouds
from the face of the sky.
34. The fluid ichor which flows from the frontal
proboscis
of elephants, is dried and stiffened by the breezes
issuing out
of the caverns of the Vindhya mountain.
35. The females of the savara foresters, covering their
bodies with the dry leaves of trees, and accompanied by
their
swarthy males, in leafy apparel, have been making a town
of
their jungle, by exterpating[**extirpating] the wild
animals, with their iron
arrows.
36. Behold, great lord, these seas and mountains, these
forests and rivers, and these clouds on all sides, look
as if they
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are all smiling under your auspices, as under the
brightness of
sun-beams.
37. Here they also describe the flowery beds, of the
Vidyádhari wood nymphs; and their sports, (which omitted
on-account[**on account] of their uselessness).
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CHAPTER CV.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
Argumen[**Argument]:--Description of the hills[**space
added] and
forests, rivers and other objects
on all sides.
The Royal companions related:--Here[**Hear?], O high
minded lord!
the kinnara females from their abodes of leafy bowers,
where
they enjoy themselves with singing their songs; and the
kinnaras also being enrapt with the music, listen to it
attentively
by forgetting their business of the day.
2. There are the Himalaya[**Himálaya], Malaya, Vindhya,
Krauncha,
Mahendra, mandara[**Mandara], Dardura and other
mountains; which
from
their distant view, appear to the sight of the observer,
to be
clothed in robes of hoary clouds, and seen as heaps of
stones
covered with the dry leaves of trees.
3. Those distant and indistinct chains of boundary
mountains,
appear to stretch themselves like the walls of cities;
and
those rivers which are seen to fall into the ocean with
their
gurgling noise; appear as the woof and texture threads
of the broad sheet of waters of the ocean.
4. The ten sides of the sky, which are spread over the
tops
of mountains; appear as the royal consorts, looking on
thee
from their lofty edifices, and smiling gladly at thy
success.
The many coloured and roaring clouds in the sky,
resembling
the variegated birds of air, warbling their notes on
high; and
the rows of trees which are dropping down the showers of
flowers from high, appear as the arms of heavenly nymphs,
shedding their blessings upon thy head with their hands.
5. The high hills overgrown with rows of trees, and
stretching all along the sea shore; appear as a ramparts;
and
these being beaten by the surges, seem as mere moss
gathered
on the coast.
6. O! the extensive, all sustaining and wondrous body of
the ocean, that supported the body of Hari sleeping upon
it;
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contained the unrighteous creation at the great deluge,
and it
covered all the mountains and rocks and the submarine
fire
under it.
7. There is the nothern[**northern] ocean, to which the
Jamburiver[**
added hyphen],
pours all the gold of the meru[**Meru] or polar mountain,
and it
contains numerous cities and forests and mountains and
countries.
It washes the face of the sky and all its lights, and is
therefore adored by gods as well as men.
8. Here is this polar mountain, reaching to the solar
sphere,
and presenting the trees on its top as its
cloud-capt[**hyphen added]
head[**space added]; may
the earth extending to this mountain be thine, and may
not this
mount which hides the sun under its coulds[**clouds],
obstruct the
extension
of thy realm.
9. Here is this Malaya mount on the south, growing the
fragrant sandal wood, which converts all other woods to
its
nature. Its sweet paste decorates the persons of gods,
men
and demons, and is put as a spot on the forehead like the
frontal eye [**[of]] Siva; and is sprinkled over the body
belike the
bedewed persons of females with sweat.
10. The waves of the ocean are continually laving the
coast, overgrown with forests of the sandal wood, and
encircled
by folds of snakes; while the woodland nymphs wandering
on this mount, throw a lustre about it by the beauty of
their persons.
11. Here is the hill called Krauncha, with its groves
resonant
with the cooing of cuckoos; and its rugged caves and
rivers resounding harshly to one another; while the
bamboos
are crackling with their mutual friction, and the
humble[**bumble?] bees
have been humming about; among these is heard the
warbling
of emigrating cranes on high, and the loud screams of
peacocks, which are terrific to the serpent tribe.
12. Behold here, O great lord, the sport of woodland
nymphs, in the groves of their soft leafy bowers; and
listen to
the tinkling sound of their bracelets, which are so sweet
to the
ears of hearers.
13. There behold the drizzling ichor[**?--P2:OK], exuding
from the
foreheads of elephant, and the swarming bees giddy with
the
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drink; which has made the sea to melt in tears, on
account of
its being slighted by them,[**.]
14. Lo there the fair moon, with his train of fairy
stars,
sporting in their reflextions[**reflexions], in the lap
of his sire the milky
ocean, from which it was churned as its butter or froth.
15. See there the tender creepers, dancing merrily on the
table-lands of the malaya[**Malaya] mountain; displaying
their red
petals as the palms of their hands, and winking with
their eyes
formed of fluttering bees. The blooming flowers bespeak
their
vernal festivity, and the warbling cuckoos fill the
groves with
their festive music.
16. Here the rain-drops produce the pearly substance of
vansa-lochana, in the hollows of bamboos; and the
gaja-mati
or frontal pearl, in the skull of elephants; and large
pearls in
the womb of pearl-shells. So the words of the wise, are
productive
of unlike effects in different persons.
17. So the gems are productive of various effects,
according
as they are produced in varied forms in different
receptacles;
as in men and stones, in seas and forests, in frogs,
clouds and
elephants. They gladden and distract the mind, cause fear
and error, fever and death, and many other preternatural
and
supernatural effects.
18. Lo here the city smiling under the rising moon, and
singing in praise of that ambrosial luminary, through all
its
windows, doorways and openings, as it were from the
mouths
of its females; and responsive to his eulogy sang by the
Mandara
mountain, from the many mouths of its caves and
coverns[**caverns], and
the pipes of hallow bamboos.
19. The wondering women of the siddhas, behold with their
astonished and uplifted faces and eyes, a large body of
cloud
borne away by the winds; and dubitate[**OK] in their
minds, whether
it is a mountain peak carried away by the winds, or is
it[**it is] a
forest of the snowy mountain flying upward in the air, or
is it[**it is]
a column to measure the distance of the earth and sky, or
a
balance to weigh there[**their] weight.
20. See the moorlands at the foot of the
Mandra[**Mandara] mountain,
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how cool they are with the cooling breezes wafting the
coldness
of the waves of Ganges; and see its footlands inhabited
by the fair Vidyádhara tribe; and behold its flowery
woodlands
all around, overtopped by shady clouds of flowers above.
21. See the forests and groves and the hursts[**ok]
spread there
abouts, with the huts and hamlets and habitations of men
scattered therein. Look at the holy shirnes[**shrines],
and the sacred
brooks and fountains lying in them, the very sight of
which,
disperses our woes, poverty and iniquities.
22. Mountain craigs[**crags?] and ridges, overhung on all
sides of
the horizon; the dales and caverns, and the groves and
grottos,
are overshadowed by clouds; the limpid lakes, resemble
the
clear firmament; such sights are sure to melt away masses
of
our crimes.
23. Lo here my lord, the ravines of the Malaya mountain,
redolent with the odour of the aromatic sandal wood; and
there
the Vindhyan hills, abounding with infuriate elephants;
the
Kailasa[**Kailása] mount yielding the best kind of gold,
in its olden
laureate lore; and the mount Mahendra, fraught with its
mineral ore (aguru-[**--]agalochum[**agallochum]); the
summits of the
snowy
mountain are plenteous, with the best kind of horses and
medicinal plants; thus while every places[**place]
[**[is]] found to
abound
with richest productions of nature, why does man set to
repine
in his time worn cell, like an old and blind mouse in its
dirty
hole.
24. Behold the dark and rainy cloud on high, appearing as
another world, to submerge the earth under its flood; and
threatening it with its flashing and forky lightnings,
and gliding
as frisky shrimp fishes in the etherial ocean.
25. Oh! the bleak rainy winds, blowing with the keen icy
blasts of frozen snows, poured down profusely by the raging
rainy clouds on high. They are now howling aloud in the
air,
and now chilling the blood, and shaking the body with
horripilation.[**ok]
26. Oh! the cold winds of winter are blowing, in their
course with the dark clouds of heaven; and scattering
cluster
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[** unclear portions of the page compared to print]
of flowers, from the twigs and branches of trees. And
there are
the drizzling rain drops dropping in showers, amidst the
thick
forests, redolent[**?--P2:OK/SOED] with the odours of
kadamba
blossoms.
27. There the winds are bearing the fragrance of the
breaths of languid females, as if it were the celestial
odour of
ambrosia, stolen by and borne on the wings of zephyr.
28. Here the gentle breezes are breathing, with the
breath
of the new blown lilies and lotuses of the lake, and
sweeping
their tender odours to the land; and the blasts are
bursting the
flakes of the folded clouds, and wafting the perfumes
from the
gardens and groves.
29. Yonder the mild airs are lulling our toils, cooled by
their contact with the evening clouds of heaven; and
resembling
the vassal florists, perfumed all over in their culling
the
flowers from the royal gardens.
30. Some of these are perfumed with the odours of
different
flowers, and others with the fragrance of lilies and
lotuses; in
some places they are scattering showers of blossoms, and
shedding
the dust of flowers at others. Some where the air is
blowing from the hoary mountain of frost, and at others
from
those of blue, black and red minerals.
31. The sun is scattering his rays, as firebrands in some
places, and these are spreading a conflagration with loud
cluttering
in the woods, like the riotous rabble in a country.
32. The winds like wicked attendants on the sun, are
spreading the conflagration caused by the solar rays; and
carry
their clattering noise afar.
33. The cooling winds blowing from the woods, and bedewed
by the gentle beams of the moon, or moistened by the
watery
particles of heaving waves; though cheering to the souls
of others, appear yet as fiery hot to
separted[**separated] lovers.
34. Lo here, O lord! how the savara women, on the low
lands of the eastern main, are covered in their rude and
rough
leafy garments, and wearing their sounding bracelets of
brass;
and see how they are strutting about, in the giddiness of
their
prime youth.
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35. See how these newly loving lasses, are clinging round
the bodies of their mates, for fear of darkness of the
approaching
night; in the manner of timid snakes twining about the
trunk of sandal wood trees.
36. Struck with fear by the alarm, givin[**given] by the
sounding
bell at day break; the loving consort leans on the bosom
of her
lover, as the darkness lingers in the enclosed room.
37. There is a furze of kinsuka flowers, blooming as
firebrands,
on the border of the southern sea, which is continually
washing them with lavations of its waves, as if it wanted
to
extinguish them.
38. The winds are wafting their fuming farina, which are
flying upwards like mists of hazy clouds to heaven; the
flowers
are falling about like flames of fire, and the birds and
black bees[**hyphen
replaced by space]
are hovering over them as extinguished cinders of fire.
39. Behold there on the other side, the real flashes of
living wild fire, blazing in the forests on the east; and
to
their flames are borne above the mountain tops, by the
flying
winds of the air.
40. See the slow moving clouds, shrouding the lowlands
lying at the foot of the krauncha[**Krauncha] mountain;
and observe the
crowding peacocks dancing under them, and screaming
aloud with their grave and shrill cries to the clouds. Lo
there
the gusts of rain-winds rising high, and blowing the fruits
and
flowers and leaves of trees afar on all sides.
41. Behold the sun setting mountain in the west, with its
thousand peaks of glittering gold; shining amidst the
dusky
hue of the evening sky; and the sloping sun descending
below
in his chariot whirling down with its rattling wheels in
the
rustling of evening winds. (But the solar car is a
velocipedes
with a single wheel only).
42. The moon that rises upon the eastern mount of Meru
like a full blown flower, in order to give light to the
darkened
mansion of this world; is itself accompanied by it black
spots,
sitting as black bees[**hyphen replaced by space] upon
the blossom.
Hence there is no
good thing in this perverted world, which is free from
its
fault and frailty.
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43. The moon light is shining like the laughter of the
god Rudra, amidst his dome of the triple world; or it is
as the
white wash of the great hall of the universe, or it
likens the
milky fluid of the milky ocean of the sky.
44. Look on all sides of the sky, tinged with the evening
twilight, and the variegated hues of mountain tops; and
filled with the milky beams of the moon, that was churned
out
by the mount Mandara from the milky ocean.
45. Look there, O incomparable lord! those hosts of
Guhyka ghosts, that are as hideous as the large tála or
palm
trees; and also those puny Vetala younglings are pouring
upon
the ill-fated[**hyphen added] dominions of the Hunas; and
devouring
troubled
inhabitants at night.
46. The face of the moon shines brightly like the
beauteous
face of a fairy, so long as it does not appear out of its
mansion at night; but it is shorn of its beams, and
appears as
a piece of fleecy cloud, by its appearance at day light;
as the
fairy face becomes disgraced, by appearing out of the
inner
apartment.
47. Look at the lofty peaks of the snowy mountain,
covered
with the fair vesture of the bright moon beams; and see
its craigs washed by floods of the falling Ganges; behold
its
head capped by perpetual snows, and begrit[**begirt] by
creepers of
snowy whiteness.
48. Behold there Mandara mountain touching the sky, and
crowning the forest with its lofty ridges; here the winds
are
wafting the cradle chimes of Apsara nymphs, and there the
mountainous mines gemming in various hues.
49. See the high hills all around, abounding with
blooming
flowers like offerings to the gods; see the thickening
clouds
round their loins, and resounding hoarsely within their
hollows, while the starry heaven shines over their heads.
50. There is the Kailasa[**Kailása] mountain on the
north, vying with
firmament in its brightness; below it there is the
hermitage
of skanda[**Skanda], and the moon shines in her
brilliance above.
51. Lo, the god Indra has let loose his winds, to break the
-----File:
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branches of trees, and demolish the huts on the ground,
the
fragments of which they have been carrying afar.
52. The winds are wafting the profuse fragrance of
flowers
after the rains, and filling the nostrils of men with
their
ordours[**odours]; while the flights of bees are floating
as clouds in the
azure sky.
53. Methinks the goddess Flora has chosen for her abode,
the blooming flowers in the forests; limpid waters in the
marshy
grounds, and in villages abounding in fruitful trees, and
flourishing fields.
54. The windows are overgrown with creeping plants in the
rains, and the house tops are decarated[**decorated] with
the flowers of
the
climbing creepers upon them. The ground is strewn over
with
the dropping flowers up to the heels, and the breezes are
blowing
the dust of the flowers all about. All these have made
the woodlands the seats of the sylvan gods.
55. The rains have converted the rustic village, to a
romantic paradise or fairy land; by the blooming champaka
flowers, the swinging of the rural nymphs in their
cradles, of
creepers, by the warbling of birds and gurgling of
water-falls,
the blossoming of the tall palm trees in the skirts; the
tender
creepers blooming with clusters of snow white blossom,
the
dancing of peacoks[**peacocks] on the tops of houses, and
the borders
shaded by the sal trees; and the rainy clouds hanging
over
the village and the bordering hills.
56. Again the soft and sweet breathing breezes, the variegated
leaves of the plants and creepers, the verdure of the
village, the cries of cranes and other fowels[**fowls],
and the wild notes
of the foresters; these together with the jollity of the
swains,
and the merriment of the pastoral people, over their plenty
of
milk, curd, butter and ghee, and their glee in their
peaceful
abodes, add a charm to this hilly tract.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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