Mahabharata: Volume 4 (22 page)

‘Shalya said, “Then all the rishis and all the gods said, ‘Nahusha is majestic. Let us appoint him king of the gods and the lord of the thirty gods.’ All of them went to him and said, ‘O lord of the earth! Be our king.’ O king! Nahusha thought about his own welfare and told the gods and the masses of rishis, accompanied by the ancestors, ‘I am weak. I am incapable of protecting you. It is a
powerful one who should be the king. Shakra was always powerful.’ All the gods, with the rishis at the forefront, again told him, ‘You will be endowed with the power of our austerities. Protect the kingdom of heaven. There is no doubt that we are terribly afraid of each other.
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O Indra among kings! Be our king in heaven. You will absorb the energy of gods, danavas, yakshas, rishis, rakshasas, gandharvas and all beings as soon as you behold them. You will then be powerful. Always placing dharma at the forefront, be the lord of all the worlds and the herdsman of the brahmarshis and gods in heaven.’ Having obtained this extremely rare boon, he became the king in heaven.

‘“He had always had dharma in his soul. But he now became addicted to desire. Nahusha, the king of the gods, sported in many different ways in all the gardens of the gods, in the grove of Nandana,
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in Kailasa on the slopes of the Himalayas, on the mountains Mandara, Shveta, Sahya, Mahendra and Malaya and in oceans and rivers, surrounded by apsaras and the maidens of the gods. He listened to many kinds of celestial accounts, pleasant to the ear, and to all kinds of musical instruments and songs with sweet sounds. Vishvavasu,
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Narada, masses of gandharvas and apsaras and the six seasons in personified form, waited upon the Indra of the gods. A fragrant breeze blew—pleasant, charming and cool.

‘“While the great-souled Nahusha was sporting in this way, his eyes fell upon the goddess who was Shakra’s beloved queen. On seeing her, the evil-souled one spoke to all his courtiers. ‘Why doesn’t the goddess who is Indra’s queen serve me? I am Indra of the gods now. I am also the lord of the worlds. Let Shachi swiftly come to my abode today.’ On hearing these words, the goddess was distraught and told Brihaspati, ‘O brahmana! Protect me from Nahusha. I am seeking refuge with you. O brahmana! You have always told me that I bear all the auspicious marks. You have spoken of me as the beloved of the king of the gods, deserving of happiness, and as one
who will never be a widow. I will be the wife of one and will be devoted to my husband. Let those words that you have spoken to me earlier, come true. O illustrious one! O lord! What you have said earlier has never been false. O supreme among brahmanas! Therefore, ensure that what you have said comes true.’ At this, Brihaspati told Indrani,
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who was confounded with fear, ‘O goddess! What I have told you will certainly come true. You will soon see Indra, king of the gods, return here. I tell you truthfully that you have nothing to fear from Nahusha. In a short while, I will unite you with Shakra again.’ Nahusha heard that Indrani had gone and sought refuge with Brihaspati Angirasa.
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The king was enraged.”’

‘Shalya said, “On seeing that Nahusha was enraged, the gods, with the rishis at the forefront, went and told Nahusha, the king of the gods, whose visage was terrible. ‘O king of the gods! Conquer your anger. O lord! The universe, with all its asuras, gandharvas, kinnaras and giant serpents, is terrified at your wrath. O virtuous one! Conquer this anger. Those who are like you are never enraged. That goddess is the wife of another. O lord of the gods! Be pacified. Turn your mind away from the sin of molesting another one’s wife. O fortunate one! You are the king of the gods. You should protect the subjects in accordance with dharma.’ He was addressed in this way, but did not accept these words. He was deluded by desire. Then the lord of the gods spoke to the gods about Indra. ‘The illustrious Ahalya was the wife of a rishi. But Indra had raped her earlier, while her husband was still alive.
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Why did you
not restrain him then? In earlier times, Indra performed many cruel deeds. He acted against dharma and resorted to deceit. Why did you not restrain him then? Let the goddess serve me. That will be the best for her. And that will always ensure welfare for the gods too.’ The gods replied, ‘O lord of heaven! We will bring Indrani here, as you wish. O brave one! O lord of the gods! Conquer your anger and be pleased.’ O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having said this, the gods, together with the rishis, went to Brihaspati and told Indrani the inauspicious words. ‘We know that Indrani has sought refuge in your abode and that you have granted her freedom from fear. O Indra among brahmanas! O supreme among
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s! O greatly radiant one! The gods, together with the gandharvas and the rishis, seek your favours. Let Indrani be handed over to Nahusha. Nahusha is the greatly radiant king of the gods and is superior to Indra. Let this one with the excellent complexion and with the excellent thighs accept him as her husband.’ Having been thus addressed, the goddess shed loud tears.

‘“She was miserable and weeping and spoke these words to Brihaspati. ‘I do not wish to have Nahusha as my husband and give up my lord. O brahmana! I have sought refuge with you. Save me from this great calamity.’ Brihaspati replied, ‘It is certain that I will not give up Indrani, who has sought refuge with me. She follows dharma. Her conduct is in accordance with dharma. O unblemished one! I will not give you up. I do not wish to perform an act that should not be done, especially because I am a brahmana. I have heard about dharma. I am truthful in my conduct. I know the injunctions of dharma. I will not do this. O supreme among the gods! Depart. In these matters, Brahma recounted a song in earlier times. Listen to it. “He who hands over to the enemy someone who has sought refuge, his seed will not grow at the time of sowing. His rains will not shower at the time of rains. When he wishes for protection, he will not receive it. That insensate one will have a barren harvest. That one, whose mind has been deluded, will be dislodged from the world of heaven. The gods refuse to accept the offerings of one who gives away a frightened one who has sought
succour. His offspring will perish before the right time. His ancestors will always discard him. If one hands over a frightened one who has sought succour to the enemy, the gods and Indra hurl their vajra at him.” Knowing this, I will not hand over Shachi Indrani, who is famous in the world as Shakra’s beloved wife. O best among the gods! What is good for her will also be good for me. Let us act according to that. I will not give Shachi away.’ Then the gods told their preceptor, who was supreme in the Angirasa lineage, ‘O Brihaspati! You advise us about the best course of action.’ Brihaspati replied, ‘Let this beautiful goddess ask for some time from Nahusha. I think this will ensure Indrani’s welfare and ours too. Time brings many impediments. It is time which leads to another time. Because of the boon he has obtained, Nahusha is insolent and powerful.’ When he had spoken thus, the gods were delighted and told him, ‘O brahmana! What you have spoken is for the welfare of all the denizens of heaven. O best of brahmanas! Let us seek the favours of this goddess.’ Then all the gods, with Agni at the forefront, anxious to ensure the welfare of all the worlds, told Indrani, ‘You bear the entire universe, with everything that is immobile and mobile. You are true and devoted to one husband. Go to Nahusha. That lord of the earth, Nahusha, who lusts after you, will soon be destroyed. Shakra will become the lord of the gods again.’ Having thus decided on a course of action that would ensure success, Indrani went to Nahusha, whose visage was terrible.

‘“She was bashful. Having beheld her in her youth and beauty, the evil-souled Nahusha was delighted. He lost his senses because of desire.”’

‘Shalya said, “Having seen her, Nahusha, king of the gods, addressed her thus. ‘O one with the beautiful smiles! I am Indra of the three worlds. O one with the beautiful thighs! O one
with the beautiful complexion! Serve me as your husband.’ Having been thus addressed by Nahusha, the goddess, who was devoted to her husband, trembled in fear, like a plantain tree during a storm. She joined her hands in salutation and bowed her head before Brahma. She told Nahusha, king of the gods whose visage was terrible, ‘O lord of the gods! I am asking for some time from you. I do not know where Shakra is. I do not know where he has gone. O lord! Let me try to ascertain the truth. Alternatively, if this cannot be found out, I will serve you. I am telling you this truthfully.’ Having been thus addressed by Indrani, Nahusha was delighted. Nahusha replied, ‘O one with the beautiful hips! It will be as you say. Once you have got to know, your task is to come here. Remember the truth you have sworn.’ Thus given permission by Nahusha, the beautiful one departed. The ascetic one went to Brihaspati’s abode.

‘“O supreme among kings! On hearing her words, the gods, with Agni at the forefront, began to consult about what might be done for the sake of Shakra. They went and met Vishnu, the god of the gods and anxious, the ones who were eloquent with words addressed these words to the lord Vishnu. ‘Shakra, the lord of the masses of gods, has been burdened because he has killed a brahmana.
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O lord of the gods! You are our refuge. O lord! You were there before the universe was created. You assumed the form of Vishnu for the sake of protecting all beings. When Vasava slew Vritra through your valour, he was burdened because he had killed a brahmana. O supreme among the masses of gods! You decide on a way for him to be freed.’ Having heard the words of the gods, Vishnu replied, ‘Let Shakra offer a sacrifice to me. I will purify the wielder of the vajra. Having worshipped me, let the chastiser of Paka perform a holy horse sacrifice. Without any fear, he will then become Indra of the gods again. The evil-minded Nahusha will ensure his destruction through his own deeds. O gods! You must be patient and endure him for some time.’ Having heard the pure and true words of Vishnu,
which were like amrita, all the masses of gods, the preceptors
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and the gods went to the region where Shakra had hidden himself, anxious with fear.

‘“Then the great-souled and great Indra performed the extremely great horse sacrifice. O king! This was for the sake of purifying him from the taint of killing a brahmana. O Yudhishthira! He distributed the killing of a brahmana over trees, rivers, mountains, the earth and women.
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With it having been thrown out and distributed among beings, the lord of the gods was cleansed of his fever. Vasava’s soul became pure and he assumed his earlier form. The slayer of Bala saw that Nahusha was not going to move from his position. Having obtained the boon, he was now unassailable, because he had absorbed the energy of all beings. Therefore, the god who was Shachi’s husband vanished again. Waiting for the appropriate time, he remained invisible to all beings. When Shakra seemed to have been destroyed, Shachi was immersed in grief. In great misery, the goddess began to lament. ‘Alas, Shakra! If I have ever given, if I have ever received gifts, if my seniors have been satisfied with me, if there is any truth in me, I will only have one husband. I am bowing down before this divine and auspicious goddess Night, which has now embarked on a northern course.
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May my wishes be fulfilled.’ When Night arrived, the goddess worshipped her. Because of her devotion to her husband and because of her truthfulness, Upashruti
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appeared before her. The goddess asked Upashruti, ‘Show me the region where the king of the gods is. Use the truth to show me the truth.’”’

‘Shalya said, “On seeing that the goddess
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was endowed with youth and beauty, thus did Upashruti appear before the beautiful and virtuous one. Indrani was delighted and showing her homage, said, ‘O one with the beautiful face! I wish to know who you are. Tell me.’ Upashruti replied, ‘O goddess! I am Upashruti. Since I am satisfied with your truthfulness, I have shown myself before you. You are devoted to your husband. You have restraint and are self-controlled. I will show you Shakra, the god who killed Vritra. O fortunate one! Follow me quickly and you will be able to see that supreme among gods.’ As the goddess
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went on ahead, Indrani followed her. Having traversed many forests of the gods and many mountains, she crossed the Himalayas and went to its northern slopes. She came to an ocean that was many yojanas wide. She then went to a large island that was covered with many trees and creepers. She saw a divine lake there, populated by many kinds of birds. It was pure and a hundred yojanas broad, with a similar length. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Thousands of divine lotuses bloomed there, with five colours, and bees buzzed around. She broke the stalk of a lotus and entered with her.
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She saw Shatakratu, who had also entered there. On seeing her lord in that extremely tiny form, the goddess and Upashruti also assumed extremely tiny forms.

‘“Indrani praised Indra for the famous deeds he had performed earlier. Having been thus praised, the god Purandara told Shachi, ‘Why have you come here and how did you get to know that I was here?’ She then told him about what Nahusha had tried to do. ‘When he became the Indra of the three worlds, he became insolent because of his valour. O Shatakratu! Having become insolent, the evil-souled one asked me to serve him. That evil one has granted me some time. O lord! If you do not save me, he will bring me under his powers.
O Shakra! I am tormented because of this and have come to you. O mighty-armed one! Destroy that terrible Nahusha. His mind is set on evil. You are the destroyer of daityas and danavas. Reveal your own self. O lord! Regain your own energy. Rule the kingdom of the gods.’”’

‘Shalya said, “Having been thus addressed by Shachi, the illustrious one replied, ‘This is not the time for valour. Nahusha is superior in strength. O beautiful one! The rishis have made his powers increase because of the oblations he has offered to the gods and the ancestors.
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O goddess! I will indicate a course of action and you should carry it out. You must carry this task out in secrecy. O beautiful one! You must not talk about it in any way. O slender-waisted one! Go to Nahusha and tell him when you are alone, “O lord of the universe! Come to me in a celestial vehicle that is borne by the rishis. I will then happily come under your control.” Tell him this.’ Thus addressed by the king of the gods, his lotus-eyed wife told him that it would be this way. She went to Nahusha. When Nahusha saw her, he was surprised and spoke these words. ‘O one with the beautiful thighs! You are welcome. O sweet-smiling one! What can I do for you? I am devoted to you. Love me. O fortunate one! O spirited one! What task do you wish me to perform for you? Do not be shy. O slender-waisted one! You should have trust in me. O goddess! I truthfully swear that I will do whatever you ask me to.’ Indrani replied, ‘O lord of the universe! I am waiting out the time that you have granted to me. O lord of the gods! After that, you will become my husband. There is a task that I desire in my heart. O king of the gods! Think about it. O king! I will tell you about it,
provided that you do what brings me pleasure. Out of love, I am speaking these words to you. If you carry them out, I will come under your control. As his vehicles, Indra possessed horse, elephants and chariots. O lord of the gods! I desire a vehicle from you that has not existed earlier, one that Vishnu, Rudra, the asuras or the rakshasas do not possess. O great king! O lord! Let all the rishis bear you together on a palanquin. O king! That will bring me pleasure. You should not be the equal of the asuras or the gods. With your valour, you should grasp all their energy by glancing at them. O brave one! No one will be able to stand before you.’