The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
SECTION III.
CATALOGUE OF THE FORCES.
21. Now hear me relate to you, the forces on
the side of Padma, now
named Vidūratha, and the allied powers that
came to his side, from the
Central and Eastern districts.
22. There came the hardy warriors of Kosala
(Oudh) and Kāsi (Benares);
those of Magadha (Behar) and Utkala (Orissa),
situated in the east; and
the Mekhalas (of Vindhya range), the Karkars
(of Karnatic), and the
Madras (of Madura) in the south.
23. The chiefs of Hema (Imaus) and Rudras and
the Tāmraliptas (Tamils)
from the south; the Prāgjyotishas (of east
Assam), and the horse faced
Osmuks and Ambashtha cannibals.
24. Then there joined the Varna-koshthas and
Viswotras, and the eaters
of raw food and flesh and the fish eaters
(piscivori); and those with
faces like tigers, the Kiratas (Kirrhoids and
Kira-antis), with the
Sauviras and one legged people.
25. Next came the mountaineers of Mālyavāna,
Sibira and Anjanagiri; and
others having the ensigns of bulls and
lotuses, and the people of the
sun rising mountain (Udaya-giri) in the east.
26. Those that joined from the south east
(prāgdaxina), are the
following, namely; the Vindhyaris, the
Chedis, the Vatsas, the Dasārnas
(near the confluence of the ten streams); and
the Angas, Bangas and
Upabangas (of Upper and Lower Bengal).
27. They that met from the south were,
Kalingas and Pundras, the
Jatharas, Vidarbhas and the hill people (on
the Karnatic coast); the
Sabaras, the outcasted savages, the Karnas
and the Tripura people.
28. Those named Kantakas from their thorny
district, the unenlightened
Komalas (of Comilla?); the Karnas (Canarese),
the ﾁndhras, the Cholas
and the people on the borders of the
Charmanvati river.
29. The Kakos or bald-headed and bearded
people, and those of the
Hema-kuta hills; the frizzled and long necked
people, and the
inhabitants of Kishkindha and cocoa forests.
30. The princes that joined with Līlā's
husband from the south, were as
follows viz. the Vindhyans, the Kusumians (of
Patna), the Mahendras and
the Darduras, (of the hills of the same
names).
31. The Malays and the solar race, and the
Prince of the (33) united
states and the rich and united cities of
Avanti and Sāmbavati.
32. And those of Dasapura (or ten cities) of
Katha (Kota), Chakra,
Reshika Cutch and others, and the foresters
of Upagiri and Bhadragiri
hills.
33. The prince of Nagore and the chiefs of
Dandaka forest, and the joint
states of the people; the Sahas, Saivas, and
the hill people of the
Rishyamuka and Karkota and the Vimbila
foresters.
34. Then came the inhabitants from the banks
of Pampā, the Kerakas and
Karkaviras; with the Kherikas, Asikas and the
people of Dhrumapattana.
35. Next came the Kāsikas and Khallukas, the
Yadas and Tamraparnikas;
the Gonardas, the Kanakas and the people of
Dinapattam.
36. The Tamris (Tamils), Kadambharas,
Sahakāras and Enakas (or deer
hunters); the Vaitundas, Tumba-vanalas, and
those attired in deer and
elephant skins.
37. Then came the lotus-like Sibis and
Konkans and the inhabitants of
Chitrakuta mountains; with the people of
Karnata, the Mantas, Batakas
and those of Cattak.
38. The Andhras and Kola hill people (Koles),
the Avantis and Chedis;
with the Chandas and Devanakas and
Kraunchavahas.
39. At last came the people from the three
peaks of Chitrakūta
mountains, called the Silākhāra, Nanda
mardana and Malaya, which were
the seats of the guardian Bākshasas of Lankā.
40. Then those of the southwest where there
is the great realm of
Surāstra (Surat), with the kingdoms of Sindhu
(Sinde) Sauvira, Abhīra,
and Dravidas (in Deccan).
41. Also those of the districts of Kikata,
Siddha Khanda, and Kāliruha,
and the mount Hemagiri or golden hills and
the Raivataka range.
42. Then the warriors of Jaya Kachchha (the
victorious Cutch), and
Mayavara (Mewar); as also the Yavanas
(Ionians), the Bahlikas (Balkhs),
the Marganas (nomads), and the grey coloured
Tumbas (on the north).
43. Then there came Lahsa races and many hill
peoples, inhabiting the
borders of the sea (Caspian), forming the
limit of the dominion of
Līlā's husband (Hindu Government) on the
north.
44. Now know the names of the countries
belonging to the enemy in the
west, and of those composed of the following
mountain ranges, viz.
45. The mount Manimān and the Kurar-pana
hills, with the hillocks of
Vanorka, Megha-bhava, and the Chakra-vana
mountain.
46. There is the country of the five peoples
limiting the territory of
the Kāsa Brahmans, and after that the
Bhāraksha, the Pāraka and Sāntika
countries.
47. Thence stretch the countries of the
Saivyas, Amarakas, the Pachchyas
(Pāschātyas) and Guhutwas; and then the
Haihaya country, and those of
the Suhyas, Gayas and Tajikas and Hunas
(Huns).
48. Then along the side of some other
countries, there is the range of
Karka hills, inhabited by barbarous people,
devoid of caste, customs and
limits of moral duties.
49. Thence stretches a country hundreds of
leagues in length, to the
boundary mountain of Mahendra, abounding in
rich stones and gems.
50. After that stands the Aswa range with
hundreds of hills about it;
and extending to the dread ocean on the north
of the Pariyātra range.
(Paropamisus).
51. On the north western side, there are
countries beyond the boundary
mountains (of Asia), where Venupati was the
king of the land.
52. Then there are the countries of the
Phālgunakas and and Māndavayas
and many other peoples; and those of
Purukundas and Paras (Paris?) as
bright as the orb of the sun.
53. Then the races of Vanmilas and Nalinas
and the Dirghas; who are so
called, from their tall statures and long
arms and hairs. Then there are
the Rangas (Red men), Stānikas with protuberant
breasts, and the Guruhas
and Chaluhas.
54. After that is the kingdom of women (ruled
by a queen), where they
feed upon bullocks and heifers. Now about the
Himālayas and its hills in
the north (of India):—
55. These are the Krauncha and Madhumān hills;
and the Kailāsa, Vasumān
and the Sumeru peaks; at the foot of which
are the people, known under
many names.
56. Beside these there met the warlike tribes
of India consisting of the
Madrawars, Malavas and Sura-senas. The
Rajputs of the race of Arjuna,
the Trigartas and the one legged people and
Khudras.
57. There were the Abalas, Prakhalas, and
Sakas (Saccae or Scythians).
The Khemadhūrtas, the Dasadhanas, the
Gavāsanas and Dandahanas (club
fighters).
58. The Dhānadas and Sarakas and Bātadhānas
also, with the islanders and
Gāndhāras and Avanti warriors of Malwa.
59. The warlike Takshasilas (Taxilas), the
Bīlavas, Godhanas and the
renowned warriors of Pushkara (Pokhra).
60. Then there were the Tīkshas and
Kālavaras, and the inhabitants of
the cities of Kāhaka and Surabhūti likewise.
61. There were the people of the Ratikādarsa
and Antarādarsa also; and
the Pingalas, the Pandyas, Yamanas and
Yātudhānas Rākshasas too.
62. There were also the races of men, known
as Hematālas and Osmuks,
together with the hilly tribes, inhabiting
the Himalaya, Vasumān,
Krauncha and Kailasa mountains.
63. Hear me now relate to you the peoples
that came from the north east
quarter, which extends a hundred and eighty
leagues in its
circumference.
64. There came also the Kalutas and
Brahmaputras, the Kunidas and
Khudinas, with the warlike Malavas and the
champions of the Randhra and
forest states.
65. Then there were the Kedavas and
Sinhaputras of dwarfish statures;
the Sabas (Sabae or Sabians?), the Kaccaes,
the Pahlavis (ancient
Persians), the Kamiras and the Daradas (the
present Darduis or Himalayan
hills).
66. There were also the people of Abhisa, the
Jarvakas, the Pulolas and
Kuves; the Kirātas and Yamupatas, together
with the poor and rich people
of desert lands and tracts of gold.
67. Thus Līlā saw in one view, the residences
of the devas; the forest
lands and the earth in all their beauty. She
saw all the seats of
opulence (viswavasus), and the edifices with
which they were adorned;
she beheld the summit of Kailāsa, and the
delightful groves at its foot,
and the level lands traversed by the aerial
cars of Vidyādhara and
celestial beings.[21]
[21] It was easy for the lively Līlā, to
learn about these peoples and
their native lands in her lonely Yoga
meditation, by the help of the
goddess of learning; but it is hard for us to
identify them without
subjecting ourselves to a long labour of
love, which is a sort of Yoga
also, called vidya Yoga, or intense application and self devotion to
learning.
CHAPTER XXXVII
CATALOGUE OF THE FORCES CONTINUED.[22]
[22] Note. It is not easy to say, whether
this continuation and lengthy
description of the warfare, is Vasishtha's or
Vālmīki's own making; both
of them being well acquainted with military
tactics: the former having
been the general of King Sudāsa against the
Persians, and the latter the
epic poet of Rāma's wars with Rāvana in the
celebrated Ramāyana.
These descriptions are left out in the
vernacular translations of this
work as entirely useless in Yoga philosophy,
without minding, that they
formed the preliminary step to Rāma's
military education, which he was
soon after called to complete under the
guidance of Viswāmitra in the
hermitage.
Vasishtha said:—Thus the ravaging war was
making a rapid end of men,
horse, elephants and all; and the bravos
coming foremost in the combat,
fell in equal numbers on both sides.
2. These (as named before), and many others
were reduced to dust and
ashes; and the bravery of the brave, served
but to send them like poor
moths to the fire and flame of destruction.
3. Know now the names of the central
districts, not yet mentioned by me,
that sent their warriors to the field, in
favour of the consort prince
of Līlā.
4. These were the inland forces of Sursena
(Muttra), the Gudas
(Gaudas?), and the Asganas (?); the
Madhymikas and they that dwell under
sunlight (the tropics).
5. The Sālukas and Kodmals, and Pippalāyanas;
the Māndavyas, Pandyans,
Sugrīvas and Gurjars.
6. The Pāriyātras, Kurashtras, Yamunas and
Udumvaras; the Raj-waras, the
Ujjainas, the Kālkotas (Calicuts) and the
Mathuras (of Muttra).
7. The Pānchālas (Pānjābis), the Northern and
Southern Dharmakshetras;
the Kurukshetriyas, Pānchālakas and
Sāraswatas.
8. The line of war chariots from Avanti,
being opposed by the arms of
the warriors of the Kunta and Panchanada
districts, fell in fighting by
the sides of the hills.
9. Those arrayed in silken attire, being
dismantled by the enemy, fell
upon the ground, and were trodden down by the
elephants.
10. The bravadoes of Daspura, being hacked in
their breasts and
shoulders by the hostile weapons, were
pursued by the Banabhuma
warriors, and driven to the distant pool.
11. The Sāntikas being ripped in their
bellies, lay dead and motionless
in naked field, and wrapped in their mangled
entrails, which were torn
and devoured by the voracious Pisāchas at
night.
12. There the veteran and vociferous warriors
of Bhadrasiri, who were
well skilled in the battle field, drove the
Amargas to the ditch, as
they drive the tortoises to their pits.
13. The Haihayas were driving the Dandakas,
who like fleet stags were
flying with the swiftness of winds, and all
gushing in blood by the
pointed and piercing arrows of the enemy.
14. The Daradas were gored by the tusks of
the elephants of their
enemies, and were borne away in floods of
their blood, like the broken
branches of trees.
15. The Chīnas (Chinese) were mangled in
their bodies by darts and
arrows, and cast their tortured bodies in the
water, as a burden they
could no longer support.
16. The Asūras, pierced in their necks by the
flying lances of the
Karnatic lancers, fled in all directions like
the faggots of fire, or as
the flying meteors of heaven.
17. The Sākas and Dāsakas were fighting
together, by holding down one
another by the hair on their heads, as if the
whales and elephants were
struggling mutually from their respective
elements.
18. The flying cowards were entrapped in the
snares cast by the Dasārna
warriors, as dolphins hiding under the reeds,
are dragged out by nets on
the blood-red shore.
19. The lifted swords and pikes of the Tongas
(Tonguise), destroyed the
Gurjara (Guzrati) force by hundreds, and
these like razors balded the
heads (i. e. made widows) of hundreds of Gurjara women. (It is their
custom to remain bald-headed in widowhood).
20. The lustre of the lifted weapons of the
warriors, illumined the land
as by flashes of lighting; and the clouds of
arrows were raining like
showers of rain in the forest.
21. The flight of the crowbars (bhusundis),
which untimely obscured the
orb of the sun, affrighted the Abhīra
(cowherd) warriors with the dread
of an eclipse, and overtook them by surprise,
as when they are pursued
by a gang of plunderers of their cattle.
22. The handsome gold collared army of the
Tāmras or tawny coloured
soldiers, were dragged by the Gauda warriors,
as captors snatch their
fair captives by the hair.
23. The Tongons were beset by the Kanasas,
like cranes by vultures with
their blazing weapons, destroying elephants
and breaking the discuses in
war.
24. The rumbling noise (gudugudurava), raised
by the whirling of cudgels
by the Gauda gladiators, frightened the Gāndhāras
to a degree, that they
were driven like a drove of beasts, or as the
dreading Drāvīdas from the
field.
25. The host of the Sāka or Scythian
warriors, pouring as a blue torrent
from the azure sky, appeared by their sable
garb as the mist of night,
approaching before their white robed foes of
the Persians.
26. The crowded array of lifted arms in the
clear and bright atmosphere,
appeared as a thick forest under the milk
white ocean of frost, that
shrouds the mountainous region of Mandāra.
27. The flights of arrows which seemed as
fragments of clouds in the air
from below, appeared as waves of the sea,
when viewed by the celestials
from above.
28. The air appeared as a forest thickly
beset by the trees of spears
and lances, with the arrows flying as birds
and bees; and innumerable
umbrellas, with their gold and silver
mountings, appearing as so many
moons and stars in the sky.
29. The Kekayas made loud shouts, like the
war hoops of drunken
soldiers, and the Kankas covered the field
like a flight of cranes, and
the sky was filled with dust over their
heads.
30. The Kirāta army made a purling noise
(kulakula) like the effeminate
voice of women; causing the lusty Angas to
rush upon them with their
furious roar.
31. The Kāsas (Khasias) covering their bodies
with kusa grass (in
their grassy garbs), appeared as birds with
feathers, and raised clouds
of dust by flapping their feathered arms.
32. The giddy warriors of Narmada's coasts,
came rushing in the field
unarmed with their weapons, and began to
fleer and flout and move about
in their merry mood.
33. The low statured Sālwas came with the
jingling bells of their waist
bands, flinging their arrows in the air, and
darting showers of their
darts around.
34. The soldiers of Sibi were pierced with
the spears hurled by the
Kuntas. They fell as dead bodies in the
field, but their spirits fled to
heaven in the form of Vidyādharas.
35. The Pāndu-nagaras were laid groveling on
the ground in their quick
march, by the mighty and light footed army,
who had taken possession of
the field.
36. The big Pāncha-nadas (Punjabis), and the
furious warriors of Kāsi
(Benares), crushed the bodies of stalwart
warriors with their lances and
cudgels, as elephants crush the mighty trees
under their feet and tusks.
37. The Burmese and Vatsenis were cut down on
the ground by the disks of
the Nīpas (Nepalese); and the Sahyas were
sawn down with saws as
withered trees.
38. The heads of the white Kākas
(Caucasians), were lopped off with
sharp axes; and their neighbouring prince of
the Bhadras was burnt down
by the fiery arrows (fire arms).
39. The Matangajas (of Elephanta) fell under
the hands of Kāshthayodhas
(of Katiawar), as old unchained elephants
falling in the miry pit; and
others that came to fight, fell as dry fuel
into the blazing fire.
40. The Mitragartas falling into the hands of
the Trigartas, were
scattered about as straws in the field, and
having their heads struck
off in their flight, they entered the
infernal regions of death.
41. The weak Vanila force, falling into the
hands of the Magadha army,
resembling a sea gently shaken by the breeze,
went down in the sands, as
lean and aged elephants.
42. The Chedis lost their lines in fighting
with the Tongans, and lay
withered in the field of battle, as flowers
when scattered in the
plains, fade away under the shining sun.
43. The Kosalas were unable to withstand the
war cry of the deadly
Pauravas, and were discomfited by showers of
their clubs, and missile
arrows and darts.
44. Those that were pierced by pikes and
spears, became as coral plants
red with blood all over their bodies, and
thus besmeared in bloodshed,
they fled to the sheltering hills like red
hot suns to the setting
mountains (astāchala).
45. The flight of arrows and weapons borne
away by the rapid winds,
moved about in the air as fragments of
clouds, with a swarm of black
bees hovering under them.
46. The flying arrows seemed as showering
clouds, and their feathers
appeared as the woolly breed; their reedy
shafts seeming as trees, were
roving with the roar of elephants.
47. The wild elephants and people of the
plains, were all torn to pieces
like bits of torn linen.
48. War chariots with their broken wheels,
fell into the pits like the
broken crags of mountains, and the enemy
stood upon their tops as a
thick mist or cloud.
49. The multitude of stalwart warriors
meeting in the field, had given
it the appearance of a forest of tāla and tamāla trees;
but their
hands being lopped off by weapons, they made
it appear as a mountainous
wood, with its clumps of tapering pine trees.
50. The youthful damsels of Paradise were
filled with joy and glee, to
find the groves of their native hill (Meru),
full of the brave champions
(fallen in the field).
51. The forest of the army howled in a
tremendous roar, until it was
burnt down by the all devouring fire of the
enemy.
52. Hacked by the Pisāchas (Assamese), and
snatched of their weapons by
the Bhutas (Bhoteas), the Dasārnās (at the
confluence of the ten streams
of Vindhya) threw off their staffs, and fled
as a herd of heifers
(nikuchya karnidhavati—bolted with their broken staves. Pānini).
53. The Kāsias were eager to despoil the
tinsels from the dead bodies of
the chiefs by their valour, as the summer
heat robs the beauty of
lotuses in a drying pool.
54. The Tushākas were beset by the Mesalas,
with their darts, spears and
mallets; and the sly Katakas were defeated
and driven away by the
Narakas in battle.
55. The Kauntas were surrounded by Prastha
warriors, and were defeated
like good people by the treachery of the
wily.
56. The elephant drivers, that struck off the
heads of their hosts in a
trice, were pursued by the harpooners, and
fled with their severed
heads, as they do with the lotus-flowers
plucked by their hands.
57. The Sāraswatas fought on both sides with
one another until it was
evening, and yet no party was the looser or
gainer, as in a learned
discussion between pandits and among lawyers.
58. The puny and short statured Deccanese,
being driven back by the
Rākshas of Lanka, redoubled their attack on
them, as the smothering fire
is rekindled by fuel.
59. What more shall I relate Rāma about this
war, which baffles the
attempt of the serpent Vāsuki even, to give a
full description of it
with his hundred tongues and mouths.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
CESSATION OF THE WAR.
Vasishtha continued:—Now as the war was
waging fiercely, with mingled
shouts on both sides, the sun shrouded his
burnished armour under the
mist of darkness, and was about to set.
2. The waters of the limpid streams glided
with the showers of stones
flung by the forces, and falling on the
fading clusters of lotuses
growing in them.
3. Flashes of fire glittered in the sky, by
the clashing of the shafts
and darts below; and waves of arrows were
seen, now approaching nigh and
now receding at a distance.
4. Severed heads like loose lotuses, floated
and whirled in the
whirlpools of blood below, and the sea of
heaven was filled with flying
weapons, moving as marine animals above.
5. The rustling of the breeze and the
whistling of the overshadowing
clouds of weapons, frightened the aerial
Siddhas and sylvan apes, with
the fear of an approaching rain.
6. The day declined after it had run its
course of the eight watches
(Yāmārdhas), and assumed the graceful
countenance of a hero, returning
in glory, after he has fought his battle.
7. The army like the day, declined in
splendour, being battered in its
cavalry, and shattered in its force of
elephants.
8. Then the commanders of the armies, in
concert with the ministers of
war, sent envoys to the hostile parties for a
truce to the fighting.
9. Both parties agreed to the armistice,
seeing how much they were
harassed in the engagement; and the soldiers
with one voice, gave their
assent to it.
10. They hoisted their soaring banners of
truce on the pinnacles of the
highest chariots (rathas); and a crier on
each side, mounted over one,
to give proclamation to the armies below.
11. They furled the white flags on all sides,
which like so many moons
in the gloom of night, proclaimed peace on
earth by cessation from
contention.
12. Then the drums sent their loud peals
around, which were resounded by
roarings of the clouds (Pushkarāvartas) above
and all about.
13. The flights of arrows and weapons, that
had been raging as fire in
the atmosphere, now began to fall in
torrents, like the currents of the
lake Mansaravara on the ground below.
14. The hands and arms of the warriors were
now at rest like their feet;
as the shaking of trees and the surges of the
sea are at an end after
the earthquake is over.
15. The two armies now went their own ways
from the field of battle, as
the arms of the sea run into the land in
different directions.
16. The armies being at rest, there was an
end of all agitation in the
field; as the waves of the ocean are lulled
to rest, on its calm after a
storm (literally, after its churning by the
Mandara mountain).
17. It became in an instant as dreadful as
the dismal womb of death
(Pūtanā); and as deep and dark as the hollow
pit of the sea, after its
waters were sucked up by Agastya (the sun).
18. It was full of the dead bodies of men and
beasts, and flowed in
floods of purpling blood; it was resonant
with the sounds of insects,
like a heath with the humming of beetles.
19. The gory bodies were gushing with blood,
and gurgling as the waves
of the sea; and the cries of the wounded who
wished to live, pierced the
ears, and throbbed the heart strings of the
living.
20. The dead and wounded weltering side by
side in streams of blood,
made the living think the dead as still alive
like themselves.
21. Big elephants lying dead in piles in the
field appeared as fragments
of clouds, and the heaps of broken chariots
seemed as a forest dispersed
by the storm.
22. Streams of blood were running with the
dead bodies of horses and
elephants, and heaps of arrows and spears and
mattocks and mallets,
flowing together with broken swords and
missiles.
23. Horses were lying girt in their halters
and harnesses, and the
soldiers wrapt in their mails and armours;
and flags and flappers and
turbans and helmets lay scattered in the
field.
24. The winds were rustling in the orifice of
the quivers, like the
hissing of arrowy snakes, or as the whistling
of the breeze in the holes
of bamboo trees; and the Pisāchas were
rolling on beds of dead bodies,
as upon their beddings of straws.
25. The gold chains of the helmets and the
head ornaments of the fallen
soldiers, glittered with the various colours
of the rainbow, and greedy
dogs and jackals were tearing the entrails of
the dead like long ropes
or strings.
26. The wounded were gnashing their teeth in
the field of blood, like
the croaking of frogs in the miry pool of
blood.
27. Those clad in party coloured coats with a
hundred spots on them, had
now their arms and thighs gushing in a
hundred streams of blood.
28. The friends of the dead and wounded, were
wailing bitterly over
their bodies; lying amidst the heaps of
arrows and weapons, the broken
cars and the scattered trappings of horses
and elephants, which had
covered the land.
29. Headless trunks of the goblins were
dancing about with their
uplifted arms touching the sky; and the stink
of the carrion, fat and
blood, filled the nostrils with nausea.
30. Elephants and horses of noble breed, lay
dead and others gasping
with their mouths gaping upwards; and the
dashing of the waving streams
of blood, beat as loud as drums against their
rock-like bodies.
31. The blood gushing out of the pores of the
wounded horses and
elephants, ran like that of a wounded whale
into a hundred streams. And
the blood spouting from the mouths of the
dying soldiers flowed into a
hundred channels.
32. Those who were pierced with arrows in
their eyes and mouths, were
uttering an inaudible voice in their last
gasp of death; and those
pierced in their bellies, had their bowels
gushing out with a horrible
stench; while the ground was reddened with
thickened blood issuing out
of the wounds.
33. Half dead elephants grasped the headless
trunks with their uplifted
trunks (proboscis), while the loose horses
and elephants, that had lost
their riders, were trampling over the dead
bodies at random.
34. The weeping, crying and tottering wives
of the fallen soldiers, fell
upon their dead bodies weltering in blood,
and embracing them fast by
their necks, made an end of themselves with
the same weapons.
35. Bodies of soldiers were sent with their
guides on the way, to fetch
the dead bodies from the field; and the hands
of their lively
companions, were busily employed in dragging
the dead.
36. The field had become a wide river running
with waves of blood, and
breaking into a hundred whirling streams,
carrying the severed heads, as
lotuses swimming in them, and the torn braids
of hair floating as bushes
on them.
37. Men were busy to extract the weapons from
the bodies of the wounded,
who lamented loudly on account of their dying
in a foreign land, and
losing their arms and armours and horses and
elephants in the field.
38. The dying souls remembered their sons and
parents, their dear ones
and their adored deities, and called out by
their names; and began to
sigh and sob with heart-rending heigh-hos and
alacks.
39. The brave that died cursed their fates,
and those falling in their
fighting with elephants, blamed the unkind
gods they had adored in vain.
40. The cowards fearing to be killed betook
themselves to base flight;
but the dauntless brave stepped forward
amidst the whirlpools of blood.
41. Some suffering under the agony of arrows
piercing their mortal
parts, thought upon the sins of their past
lives, that had brought this
pain upon them; while the blood sucking
Vetālas, advanced with their
horrid mouths for drinking the blood of the
headless trunks (Kabandhas).
42. The floating flags and umbrellas and
flappers, seemed as white
lotuses in the lake of blood below, while the
evening stretched her
train of stars like red lotuses in the
etherial sea above.
43. The battle field presented the appearance
of an eighth sea of blood;
the rathas or warcars forming its rocks, and
their wheels its
whirlpools; the flags being its foam and
froth, and the white flappers
as its bubbles. (There are seven seas only on
record).
44. The field of blood with the scattered
cars, appeared as a track of
land plunged in mud and mire, and covered
over with woods broken down
and blown away by a hurricane.
45. It was as desolate as a country burnt
down by a conflagration, and
as the dry bed of the sea sucked up by the
sage Agastya (the sun). It
was as a district devastated by a sweeping
flood.
46. It was filled with heaps of weapons, as
high as the bodies of big
elephants lying dead about the ground.
47. The lances which were carried down by the
streams of blood, were as
big as the palm trees growing on the summits
of mountains. (Compare the
description in Ossian's poems).
48. The weapons sticking in the bodies of the
elephants, seemed as the
shining flowers growing on verdant trees: and
the entrails torn and
borne up by vultures, spread a fretted
network in the sky.
49. The lances fixed beside the streams of
blood, were as a woody forest
on the bank of a river; and the flags
floating on the surface, appeared
as a bush of lotuses in the liquid blood.
50. Dead bodies of men were drawn up by their
friends, from the bloody
pool in which they were drowned, and the
embedded bodies of big
elephants were marked by men by the jutting
weapons sticking in them.
51. The trunks of trees which had their
branches lopped off by the
weapons, appeared as the headless bodies of
slain soldiers, and the
floating carcasses of elephants seemed as so
many boats swimming in the
sea of blood.
52. The white garments that were swept down
by the current, seemed as
the froth of the pool of blood, and were
picked up by the servants sent
to search them out.
53. The demoniac bodies of headless soldiers,
were rising and falling in
the field, and hurling large wheels and disks
upon the flying army on
all sides.
54. The dying warriors were frothing forth
floods of blood from their
throats, and stones stained with blood were
inviting the greedy vultures
to devour them.
55. Then there were groups of Sutāla, Vetāla
and Uttāla demons dancing
their war dance about the field, and whirling
the rafts of the broken
cars upon the flying soldiers on all sides.
56. The stir and last gasp of those that were
yet alive, were fearful to
behold, and the faces of the dying and the
dead that were covered in
dust and blood, were pitiful to the beholder.
57. The devouring dogs and ravenous ravens
beheld the last gasp of the
dying with pity; while the feeders on
carrions were howling and fighting
on their common carcass, till many of them
became dead bodies by their
mutual fighting.
58. Now I have described the sea of blood,
which flowed fast with the
gore of unnumbered hosts of horses, elephants
and camels, and of
warriors and their leaders, and multitudes of
cars, and war chariots;
but it became a pleasure garden to the god of
death, delighting in his
bed of bloodshed, and grove of the weapons
beset all around.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLEFIELD INFESTED BY
NOCTURNAL FIENDS.
Now the blood-red sun set down in the west,
like a hero red with blood;
and hid his lustre, which was dimmed by the
brightness of the weapons of
war in the western main.
2. The sky which had reflected the blood-red
flush of the field of
blood, was now dimmed by the setting of the
glorious sun, and darkened
by the veil of evening.
3. Thick darkness overspread the face of
heaven and earth like the
waters of the great deluge, and there
appeared a body of ghosts
(Vetālas), dancing in a ring and clapping
their hands.
4. The face of the day like that of an
elephant, being besmeared with
the blackness of night fall, was again
painted by the light of evening
with the pearly spots of stars on the cheeks.
5. The busy buzz of Creation being silent in
the dead darkness of night,
like the humming of bees over the surface of
the waters, the hearts of
men were closed in sleep as in death, like
the petals of the lotus at
night.
6. The birds lay with their folded wings and
fallen crests in their
nests, as the dead bodies were lying in the
field, covered with their
wounds and weapons.
7. Then the fair moonbeams shone above, and
the white lotuses were blown
below; the hearts of men were gladdened, and
the victors felt joyous in
themselves.
8. The ruddy evening assumed the shape of the
blood-red sea of battle,
and the fluttering bees now hid themselves
like the faces of the fallen
soldiers.
9. There was an etherial lake above spangled
with stars like the white
lotuses on high; and here was the earthly
lake below, beset by lotuses
resembling the stars of heaven.
10. The bodies that were thought to be lost
in darkness, were now
recovered in light, as the gems hid under the
water, are found scattered
about in moonlight.
11. The battlefield was filled by the Vetāla
demons, howling with their
hideous cry; while bodies of vultures, crows
and owls, were tearing the
carcasses and sporting with the skeletons.
12. Then blazed the funeral piles as brightly
as the starry frame on
high, and the fire consumed the dead bodies
together with their bones
and raiments.
13. The fire burnt the bodies with their
bones to ashes, after which it
extinguished itself as if sated with plenty.
The female fiends now began
to sport in the water.
14. There arose a mingled cry of dogs and
crows, of Yakshas and Vetālas,
with the clapping of their hands; and bodies
of ghosts were moving about
as woods and forests.
15. The Dākinis (Dāyinis) were eager to steal
away the flesh and fat
from the piles, and the Pisāchas delighted in
sucking the blood and the
flesh and bones of the dead.
16. The demons were now looking and now
lurking about the funeral piles,
and the Rākshasas that rushed in, bore away
the carcasses on their
shoulders.
17. There came also bodies of ferocious
Kumbhāndas, and big Dāmaras,
uttering their barbarous cries of chumchum, and hovering over the
fumes of fat and flesh in the shapes of
clouds.
18. Bodies of Vetālas stood in the streams of
blood like earthly beings,
and snatched the skeletons with hideous
cries.
19. The Vetāla younglings slept in the bellies
and chests of the
elephants, and the Rākshasas were drinking
their fill in the bloody
field.
20. The giddy Vetālas fought with one another
with the lighted faggots
of the piles, and the winds were wafting the
stench of the putrid
carcasses on all sides.
21. The female fiends (Rūpikās), filled the
baskets of their bellies
with carrion, with a rat-a-tat (ratarata)
noise; and the Yaksha
cannibals were snatching the half-burnt
carcasses from the funeral
piles, as their roasted meat and dainty food
(S. kali A. Kul).
22. Aerial imps (khagas) attacked the dead
bodies of the big Bangas and
black Kalingas, and flouted about with their
open mouths, emitting the
blaze of falling meteors.
23. The Vetāla goblins fell down in the dark
and discoloured blood-pits,
lying hid in the midst of the heaps of dead
bodies; while the Pisācha
ogres and the leaders of Yogini sprites,
laughed at them for their false
step (vetāla).
24. The pulling of the entrails
(antras-ānts), vibrated as by striking
the strings of wired instruments (tantras—or
tānts); and the ghosts of
men that had become fiends from their
fiendish desires, fell fighting
with one another.
25. Valiant soldiers were affrighted at the
sight of the spectres
(Rūpīkās); and the obsequies were disturbed
by the Vetāla and Rākshasa
goblins.
26. The hobgoblins of the night,
(nisācharas), got frightened at the
fall of the carcasses from the shoulders of
the elves (Rūpīkās), who
were carrying them aloft in the air; where
they were waylaid by a throng
of ghostly demons (bhūta-sankata).
27. Many dying bodies, that were lifted aloft
with labour by the bogies
(Dānas), were let to fall down dead on the
ground, being found unfit for
their food.
28. Pieces of blood-red flesh, fallen from
the fiery jaws of jackals,
resembled clusters of asoka flowers, strewn all around the funeral
ground.
29. Vetāla urchins were busy in putting on
the scattered heads over the
headless bodies of kabandhas (acephali); and
bodies of Yaksha, Raksha
and Pisācha ogres, were flashing as
firebrands in the sky.
30. At last a thick cloud of darkness,
covered the face or the sky, and
the view of the hills and valleys, gardens
and groves, was hid under an
impenetrable gloom. The infernal spirits got
loose from their dismal
abodes, and ranged and ravaged at large over the
field, as a hurricane
under the vault of heaven.
CHAPTER XL.
REFLECTIONS ON HUMAN LIFE AND MIND.
Vasishtha related:—The nocturnal fiends were
thus infesting the gloomy
field, and the myrmidons of death (Yama),
roaming about it as marauders
in the day time.
2. The naked and fleeting ghosts, were
revelling on their provision of
carrion in their nightly abode, and under the
canopy of thick darkness,
which was likely to be laid hold upon under
the clutches of one's hand
(hasta-grāhya).
3. It was in the still hour of the gloomy
night, when the host of heaven
seemed to be fast bound in sleep, that a
sadness stole in upon the mind
of Līlā's magnanimous husband (the
belligerent prince Vidūratha by
name).
4. He thought about what was to be done on
the next morning, in council
with his Counsellors; and then went to his
bed, which was as white as
moonlight, and as cold as frost. (A cold bed
in the east vs. a warm
one in the west).
5. His lotus-eyes were closed in sleep for a
while in his royal camp,
which was as white as the moonbeams, and
covered by the cold dews of
night.
6. Then the two ladies, issued forth from
their vacuous abode, and
entered the tent through a crevice, as the
air penetrates into the heart
and amidst an unblown bud of flower.
7. Rāma asked:—How is it possible sir, that
the gross bodies of the
goddesses, with their limited dimensions,
could enter the tent through
one of its holes, as small as the pore of a
piece of cloth?
8. Vasishtha answered saying that:—Whoso
mistakes himself to be
composed of a material body, it is no way
possible for him to enter a
small hole with that gross body of his.
9. But he who thinks himself to be pent up in
his corporeal body as in a
cage, and obstructed by it in his flight, and
does not believe himself
to fill his frame, or to be measured by its
length; but has the true
notion of his inward subtle spirit, it is no
way impossible for him to
have his passage any where he pleases to go.
10. He who perceives his original spiritual
state, as forming the better
half of his body, may pass as a spirit
through a chink; but whoso relies
in his subsequent half of the material body,
cannot go beyond it in the
form of his intellect.
11. As the air never rises upward, nor the
flame of fire ever goes
downward; so it is the nature of the spirit
to rise upward, as that of
the body to go down; but the intellect is
made to turn in the way in
which it is trained.
12. As the man sitting in the shade, has no
notion of the feeling of
heat or warmth; so one man has no idea of the
knowledge or thoughts of
another person.
13. As is one's knowledge so is his thought,
and such is the mode of his
life; it is only by means of ardent practice
(of yoga and learning),
that the mind is turned to the right course.
14. As one's belief of a snake in a rope, is
removed by the conviction
of his error; so are the bent of the mind and
course of conduct in life,
changed from wrong to right by the knowledge
of truth.
15. It is one's knowledge that gives rise to
his thoughts, and the
thoughts that direct his pursuits in life:
this is a truth known even to
the young and to every man of sense.
16. Now then the soul that resembles a being
seen in a dream or formed
in fancy, and which is of the nature of air
and vacuum, is never liable
to be obstructed any where in its course:
(for who can constrain the
flight of his imagination?).
17. There is an intellectual body, which all
living beings possess in
every place. It is known both by
consciousness, as well as the feelings
of our hearts.
18. It is by the divine will, that the
intellect rises and sets by
turns. At first it was produced in its
natural, simple and intellectual
form, and then being invested with a material
body, it makes together
an unity of the person out of the duality (of
its material and
immaterial essences).
19. Now you must know the triple vacuity,
composed of the three airy
substances—the spirit, mind and space, to be
one and the same thing,
(all the three being equally all pervasive);
but not so their receptacle
(of the material body), which has no
pervasion.
20. Know this intellectual body of beings, to
be like the air, present
with every thing and every where (over which
it extends and which it
grasps in itself); just as your desire of
knowing extends over all
things in all places, and presents them all
to your knowledge.
21. It abides in the smallest particles, and
reaches to the spheres of
heavens, (which it grasps within itself): it
reposes in the cells of
flowers, and delights in the leaves of trees.
(i. e. It stretches over
all these things in its knowledge of them).
22. It delights in hills and dales, and
dances over the waves of the
oceans; it rides over the clouds, and falls
down in the showers of rain
and hailstones of heaven.
23. It moves at pleasure in the vast
firmament, and penetrates through
the solid mountains. Its body bears no break
in it, and is as minute as
an atom.
24. Yet it becomes as big as a mountain
lifting its head to heaven, and
as large as the earth, which is the fixed and
firm support of all
things. It views the inside and outside of
every thing, and bears the
forests like hairs on its body.
25. It extends in the form of the sky, and
contains millions of worlds
in itself; it identifies itself with the
ocean, and transforms its
whirlpools to spots upon its person.
26. It is of the nature of an uninterrupted
understanding, ever calm and
serene in its aspect; it is possessed of its
intellectual form, from
before the creation of the visible world, and
being all comprehensive as
vacuity itself, it is conversant with the
natures of all beings.
27. It is an unreality as the appearance of
water in the mirage, but
manifests itself as a reality to the
understanding by its intelligence.
Without this (intellection), the intellectual
man is a nil as the son of
a barren woman, and a blank as the figure of
a body seen in a dream.
28. Rāma asked:—How is that mind to which you
attribute so many powers,
and what is that again which you say to be
nothing? Why is it no
reality, and as something distinct from all
what we see?
29. Vasishtha replied:—All individual minds
are indued with these
faculties, except all such individualities,
whose minds are engrossed
with the error (of the reality) of the outer
world.
30. All the worlds are either of a longer or
shorter duration, and they
appear and disappear at times; some of these
vanish in a moment, and
others endure to the end of a Kalpa. But it is not so with the mind,
whose progress I will now relate to you.
31. There is an insensibility which overtakes
every man before his
death; this is the darkness of his
dissolution (mahā-pralaya-yāminī).
32. After the shocks of delirium and death
are over, the spiritual part
of every man, is regenerated anew in a
different form, as if it was
roused from a state of trance, reverie or
swoon; (the three states of
insensibility—avidyā-trayam).
33. And as the spirit of God, assumes his triune form with the persons
of Brahmā and Virāt, after the dissolution of
the world for its
recreation; so every person receives the
triplicate form of his
spiritual, intellectual and corporeal beings,
after the termination of
his life by death.
34. Rāma said:—As we believe ourselves to be
reproduced after death by
reason of our reminiscence; so must we
understand the recreation of all
bodies in the world by the same cause. Hence
there is nothing uncaused
in it (as it was said with regard to the
unproduced Brahmā and others).
35. Vasishtha replied:—The gods Hari, Hara
and others, having obtained
their disembodied liberation or videha-mukti, (i. e. the final
extinction of their bodies, their minds and
spirit as in nirvāna), at
the universal dissolution, could not retain
their reminiscence to cause
their regeneration.
36. But human beings having both their
spiritual and intellectual bodies
entire at their death, do not lose their
remembrance of the past, nor
can they have their final liberation like
Brahmā, unless they obtain
their disembodied state, which is possible to
all in this life or
hereafter, by the edification of their souls,
through yoga meditation
alone.
37. The birth and death of all other beings
like yourself, are caused by
their reminiscence, and for want of their
disembodied liberation or
eternal salvation.
38. The living soul retains its consciousness
within itself, after its
pangs of death are over; but remains in its
state of insensibility by
virtue of its own nature (called pradhāna).
39. The universal vacuum is called nature
(prakriti). It is the
reflexion of the invisible divine mind (chit
prativimbam); and is the
parent of all that is dull or moving
(Jadā-Jada), which are so produced
by cause of their reminiscence or its absence
(sansmriti and asmriti);
the former causing the regeneration of living
beings, and the latter its
cessation as in inert matter.
40. As the living principle or animal life
begins to have its
understanding (bodha), it is called mahat or an intelligent being,
which is possessed of its consciousness
(ahankāra). It has then the
organs of perception and conception, added to
it from their elements
(tanmātras) residing in the vacuous ether.
41. This minutely intelligent substance, is
next joined with the five
internal senses, which form its body, and
which is otherwise called its
spiritual body (ātivahika or lingadeha).
42. This spiritual being by its long
association with the external
senses, comes to believe itself as a sensible
being; and then by
imagining to have the sensible form, it finds
itself invested with a
material body (ādhibhautika-deha) as
beautiful as that of a lotus.
43. Then seated in the embryo, it reposes in
a certain position for
sometime, and inflated itself like the air,
until it is fully expanded.
44. It then thinks itself to be fully developed
in the womb, as a man
dreams of a fairy form in his sleep, and
believes this illusion as a
reality.
45. He then views the outer world, where he
is born to die, just as one
visits a land where he is destined to meet
his death; and there remains
to relish its enjoyments, as prepared for
him.
46. But the spiritual man soon perceives
every thing as pure vacuum, and
that his own body and this world are but
illusions and vain vacuities.
47. He perceives the gods, and human
habitations, the hills and the
heavens resplendent with the sun and stars,
to be no more than abodes of
disease and debility, decay and ultimate
death and destruction.
48. He sees nothing but a sad change in the
natures of things, and all
that is movable or immovable, great or small,
together with the seas,
hills and rivers and peoples of this earth
and the days and nights, are
all subject to decay sooner or later.
49. The knowledge that I am born here of this
father, and that this is
my mother, these my treasures, and such are
my hopes and expectations,
is as false as empty air.
50. That these are my merits and these my
demerits, and these the
desires that I had at heart; that I was a boy
and am now young; are the
airy thoughts of the hollow mind.
51. This world resembles a forest, where every
being is like a detached
arbor; the sable clouds are its leaves, and
the stars its full blown
flowers.
52. The walking men are as its restless deer,
and the aerial gods and
demons its birds of the air; the broad day
light is the flying dust of
its flowers, and the dark night the deep
covert of its grove.
53. The seas are like its rills and
fountains, and the eight boundary
mountains as its artificial hills; the mind
is the great tank in it,
containing the weeds and shrubs of human
thoughts in abundance.
54. Wherever a man dies, he is instantly
changed to this state, and
views the same things every where; and every
one thus rises and falls
incessantly, like the leaves of trees in this
forest of the world.
55. Millions of Brahmās, Rudras, Indras,
Maruts, Vishnus and Suns,
together with unnumbered mountains and seas,
continents and islands,
have appeared and disappeared in the eternal
course of the world.
56. Thus no one can count the numbers of
beings that have passed away,
are passing and shall have to pass hereafter,
nor such as are in
existence and have to become extinct in the
unfathomable eternity of
Brahma.
57. Hence it is impossible to comprehend the
stupendous fabric of the
universe any how except in the mind, which is
as spacious as the
infinite space itself, and as variable as the
course of events in the
world.
58. The mind is the vacuous sphere of the
intellect, and the infinite
sphere of the intellect, is the seat of the
Supreme.
59. Now know the whirlpool and waves of the
sea to be of the same
element, as the sea in which they rise and
fall, though they are not of
the same durable nature as the sea water, by
reason of their
evanescence. So the phenomena are the same
with the Noumena, though none
of these is a reality.
60. The etherial sphere of heaven, is but a
reflexion of the
intellectual sphere of the Divine mind, and
the bright orbs of the
firmament, are as gems in the bosom of
Brahma. Its concavity is the cave
of the mind of the Eternal One.
61. The world according to the sense in which
I take it, as the seat of
God, is highly interesting, but not so in
your sense of its being a
sober reality. So the meaning of the words
"I and thou," refers
according to me to the intellectual spirit,
and according to you to the
living soul and body.
62. Hence Līlā and Sarasvatī, being in their
vacuous intellectual
bodies, were led by the pure desire of their
souls, to every place
without any obstruction or interruption.
63. The intellectual spirit has the power, to
present itself wherever it
likes, on earth or in the sky, and before
objects known or unknown and
wished to be known by it. It was by this
power that they could enter
into the tent of the prince.
64. The intellect has its way to all places
and things, over which it
exercises its powers of observation, reflection
and reasoning to their
full extent. This is known as the spiritual
and unconfined body
(ﾁtivāhika), whose course cannot be
obstructed by any restriction
whatever.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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