Sahadeva

“ Beholding Sahadeva in that plight, the valiant Bhima, filled with rage, O Bharata, held the whole Kuru army in check. With his cloth-yard shaft he pierced hundreds and thousands of hostile warriors, and having pierced them so, that chastiser of foes uttered a leonine roar. Frightened at that roar, all the followers of Shakuni, with their steeds and elephants, precipitately fled away in fear. Beholding them broken, king Duryodhana said unto them, "Stop, ye Kshatriyas, unacquainted with morality! Fight! What is the use of flight? ”

“ And that hero skilled in weapons and possessed of intelligence and wisdom, and intent on doing what is agreeable to the son of Dharma, that favourite and youngest born of the Pandavas, is my husband Sahadeva! Heroic, intelligent, wise and ever wrathful there is not another man equal unto him in intelligence or in eloquence amid assemblies of the wise. Dearer to Kunti than her own soul, he is always mindful of the duties of Kshatriyas, and would much sooner rush into fire or sacrifice his own life than say anything that is opposed to religion and morals. ”

“ And Arjuna also, desirous of capturing the Sauvira king, slew five hundred brave mountaineers fighting in the van of the Sindhu army. And in that encounter, the king himself slew in the twinkling of an eye, a hundred of the best warriors of the Sauviras. And Nakula too, sword in hand, jumping out of his chariot, scattered in a moment, like a tiller sowing seeds, the heads of the combatants fighting in the rear. And Sahadeva from his chariot began to fell with his iron shafts, many warriors fighting on elephants, like birds dropped from the boughs of a tree. ”

“ Pursuing him for a while, the son of Radha, O bull of Bharata’s race, smilingly addressed Sahadeva and said these cruel words, “Do not, O hero, fight in battle with those that are superior to thee. Fight with thy equals, O son of Madri! Do not mistrust my words.” Then touching him with the horn of his bow, he once more said, “Yonder, Arjuna is fighting resolutely with the Kurus in battle. Go there, O son of Madri, or return home if thou likest.” Having said those words, Karna, that foremost of car-warriors, smilingly proceeded on his car against the troops of the king of the Panchalas. ”

“ The mighty-armed son of the Wind-god may not be far away; and on Bhima coming up at the next moment, the Rakshasa will not live.’ O king, staring at the Rakshasa bereft of sense, Sahadeva addressed Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, saying, ‘What can be more meritorious for a Kshatriya than to fall in fight, or defeat a foe? O repressor of foes, we will fight and either this one will slay us, or we shall slay him, O mighty-armed one. Verily this is the place and time. O king. And, O thou of unfailing prowess, the time hath come for the display of our Kshatriya virtue. ”

“ Thy behest is not conformable to virtue. That is the path followed by the sinful. Thou shouldst wed first, then the strong-armed Bhima of inconceivable feats, then myself, then Nakula, and last of all, Sahadeva endued with great activity. Both Vrikodara and myself, and the twins and this maiden also, all await, O monarch, thy commands. When such is the state of things, do that, after reflection, which would be proper, and conformable to virtue, and productive of fame, and beneficial unto the king of Panchala. All of us are obedient to thee. ”

“ After Sahadeva had said this, eloquent Nakula then said these words, ‘He that in years, in knowledge of scriptures, in perseverance, in family and birth, is respectable; he that is endued with modesty, strength, and prosperity; he that is well-versed in all branches of learning; he that studied the science of weapons (with the sage Bharadwaja) ; he who is irresistible and firmly devoted to truth; he that always challenges Drona and mighty Bhishma; he that belongs to one of the foremost of royal houses ”

“ And at last, after Agni had disappeared, king Nila came there, and at the command of that deity, worshipped with due rites Sahadeva, that tiger among men—that master of battle. And Sahadeva accepted that worship and made him pay tribute. And having brought king Nila under his sway thus, the victorious son of Madri then went further towards the south. The long-armed hero then brought the king of Tripura of immeasurable energy under his sway. And next turning his forces against the Paurava kingdom, he vanquished and reduced to subjection the monarch thereof. ”

“ With that handsome hero, that unrivalled bowman, that son of Madri, O Kauravya, the Pandavas will fight against you. He who vanquished in battle the warriors of Kasi, Anga, and Kalinga,—with that Sahadeva will the Pandavas encounter you in battle. He, who in energy hath for his equals only four men on earth, viz., Aswatthaman and Dhrishtaketu and Rukmi and Pradyumna,—with that Sahadeva, youngest in years, that hero among men, that gladdener of Madri’s heart, with him, O King, will you have a destructive battle. ”

“ Simultaneously with these words of king Yudhisthira the just, Sahadeva that foremost of warriors, having accomplished everything, represented the matter to the king. And Dwaipayana, O king, then appointed as sacrificial priests exalted Brahmanas that were like the Vedas themselves in embodied forms. The son of Satyavati became himself the Brahma of that sacrifice. And that bull of the Dhananjaya race, Susaman, became the chanter of the Vedic (Sama) hymns. Yajnavalkya devoted to Brahma became the Adhyaryu, and Paila—the son of Vasu and Dhaumya became the Hotris. ”

“ And Sahadeva and the king (Yudhishthira) have made signs clearly testifying to their intentions. Having ascended their cars that are full of all kinds of arms, they are whipping their horses (for going to Khandava soon) and assembling their forces. Persecuted thus by us they are incapable of forgiving us those injuries. Who is there among them that will forgive that insult to Draupadi? Blest be thou. We will again gamble with the son of Pandu for sending them to exile. O bull among men, we are competent to bring them thus under our sway. ”

“ Following as he did that horse, the diadem-decked Arjuna also turned his face towards the Kuru capital. Wandering at his will, the steed then came to the city of Rajagriha. Beholding him arrived within his dominion, O monarch, the heroic son of Sahadeva, observant of Kshatriya duties, challenged him to battle. Coming out of his city, Meghasandhi, mounted on his car and equipt with bow and arrows and leathern fence, rushed towards Dhananjaya who was on foot. ”

“ Then that foremost of strong persons, the mighty-armed Bhimasena endued with great strength encouraging the king greatly, spake these words, ‘Looking up to thy face (for permission) , the wielder of the Gandiva, acting according to his sense of duty hath not yet, O king, shown any rashness! And although fully able to destroy the foe, Nakula and Sahadeva of dreadful prowess have been ever prevented by me! Never shall we swerve from that in which thou wilt engage us! Do thou tell us what is to be done! We shall speedily conquer our enemies! ”

“ And the wise Sahadeva administered justice impartially. And Nakula behaved towards all with humility that was natural to him. Owing to all this, the kingdom became free from disputes and fear of every kind. ”

“ And he begat upon her a son named Abhimanyu endued with all accomplishments and dear to Vasudeva himself. And Nakula obtaining for his wife Karenumati, the princess of Chedi, begat upon her a son named Niramitra. And Sahadeva also married Vijaya, the daughter of Dyutimat, the king of Madra, obtaining her in a self-choice ceremony and begat upon her a son named Suhotra. And Bhimasena had some time before begat upon Hidimva a son named Ghatotkacha. These are the eleven sons of the Pandavas. Amongst them all, Abhimanyu was the perpetuator of the family. ”

“ Thus he prayed to the goddess, and with difficulty went off to sleep, and in the night he saw a woman come out of the inner cell of the temple; that woman of heavenly beauty came up to him, and said with a compassionate manner, " Do not fear. Śaktideva, no harm shall happen to you. The sons of that fisher-king have a sister named Vindumatí, that maiden shall see you in the morning and claim you for a husband, and you must agree to that, she will bring about your deliverance: and she is not of the fisher-caste: for she is a celestial female degraded in consequence of a curse." ”

“ Then a divine voice from heaven delighted the king who was tortured with the fire of separation, as the rain-drops delight the peacock when afflicted with the heat, uttering these words— "Thy curse is at an end, O king, and that wife of thine Mrigávatí is residing in the hermitage of Jamadagni together with thy son." Then that day at last came to an end, though made long by anxious expectation, and on the morrow that king Sahasránika, making the Śavara show him the way, set out with his army for that hermitage on the eastern mountain, in order quickly to recover his beloved wife. ”

“ I am a Bráhman of the name of Śaktideva from the city of Vardhamána; and I am bound to visit the City of Gold, and because I do not know where it is, I have for a long time wandered far over the earth; then I gathered from a speech of Dírghatapas' that it was probably in an island, so I set out to find Satyavrata the king of the fishermen, who lives in the island of Utsthala, in order to learn its whereabouts, but on the way I suffered shipwreck, and so having been whelmed in the sea and swallowed by a fish, I have been brought here now. ”

“ So lot us even consume these unlucky bodies in the fire, before we also are imprisoned, or experience some other insult at the bands of our enemy."
When Svayamprabhá's daughters said this to her, she answered them, " Wait a while, my daughters, we shall regain our former glory. For I know that, while I was engaged in austerities, the god Śiva said to me in a dream, My child, be of good courage; thy husband shall recover bis kingdom, and the princes Muktáphaladhvaja and Malayadhvaja shall be the husbands of thy two daughters. And do not suppose that they are men ”

“ Why, my lord, as the king called Sátaváhana ?" Then Gunádhya said, Listen, I will tell you the reason. There was a king of great power named Dvipikarni. He had a wife named Śaktimati, whom he valued more than life, and once upon a time a snake bit her as she was sleeping in the garden. Thereupon she died, and that king thinking only of her, though he had no son, took a vow of perpetual chastity. Then once upon a time the god of the moony crest said to him in a dream — " While wandering in the forest thou shalt behold a boy mounted on a lion, take him and go home, he shall he thy son." ”

“ When they reached the temple, Sattvavara was put down by his father from his shoulder, and, though he was a boy, being a store-house of courage, he bowed before the goddess, and addressed this petition to her: "Goddess, may our lord's life be saved by the offering of my head ! And may the king Vikramatunga rule the earth without an enemy to oppose him !" When the boy said this, Víravara exclaimed, " Bravo ! my son!" And drawing his sword, he cut off his son's head, and offered it to the goddess Durgá, saying, " May the king be prosperous !" ”

“ Rise up, king, there shall be born to thee a heroic son that shall uphold thy race. And thou shalt also obtain by the favour of Gaurí, a glorious daughter who is destined to be the queen of that treasure-house of glory, Naraváhanadatta, your future emperor." When Śiva had said this, he disappeared, and Hemaprabha woke up, delighted, at the close of night. And by telling his dream he gladdened his wife Alankáraprabhá, who had been told the same by Gaurí in a dream, and dwelt on the agreement of the two visions. ”

“ Thus reflecting, and meditating upon fitting time and place, the minister Yaugandharáyana went to his house, after taking a ceremonious farewell of the king.
The king too went to the queen Vásavadattá, who had assumed to welcome him a manner which concealed her real feelings, and thus spoke to her to console her: " Why do I speak? you know well, gazelle-eyed one, that your love is my life, even as the water is of the lotus. Could I bear even to mention the name of another woman? But Kalingasená came to my house of her own impetuous motion. ”

“ Śiva, pleased with the asceticism of Padmaśekhara, has promised that be shall have a son-in-law who shall slay Vidyuddhvaja. So we shall eventually see an end put to his crimes; in the meanwhile I am despondent, dwelling here in misery on account of my having fallen from my high position. So devise, holy sir, some expedient that will operate quickly." When the adviser of the gods heard this speech of Indra's, he said to him; " It is true that that enemy of ours has nearly exhausted his asceticism by his crimes; so now we have an opportunity of exerting ourselves against him. ”

“ When Nandin had said this, Naraváhanadatta began a severe course of penance there, living on air and meditating on the god Śiva and the goddess Párvatí.
And the adorable god Śiva, pleased with his asceticism, granted him a vision of himself, and accompanied by the goddess, thus spake to the prince, as he bent before him, " Become now emperor over all the Vidyádharas, and let all the most transcendent sciences be immediately revealed to thee ! By my favour thou shalt become invincible by thy enemies, and, as thou shalt be proof against cut or thrust, thou shalt slay all thy foes. ”