Post by madanmohandas on Sept 27, 2019 14:15:07 GMT -6
The Slaying of Madhu and Kaitabha
(Extracted from the Narasimha Purana)
Markendeya said;
O mighty king! I shall now unto you
Describe the incarnations of Vishnu,
The god of gods who wields a discus bright,
Who grants remission of all sin outright.
I shall relate how Hari, in the form
Of a big fish, restored to the self-born
The Vedic texts that had from him been ta'en;
How wicked Madhu and Kaitabh were slain.
The diverse incarnations to unfold,
Cannot exhaustively by me be told,
But somewhat of Achyuta's playful sport,
To you I will reiterate in short.
In antique times when this old world was new,
When the supreme and almighty Vishnu,
Upon the coils of Shesha did recline,
He slumbered in his mystic sleep divine.
Now while that god of gods who wields the bow,
Was slumbering, out of his ears did flow
Two drops of perspiration, which became
O king! Madhu and Kaitabha by name.
A pair of mighty bodies did arise,
Of mighty strength, of mighty enterprise,
Endued with indefatigable might,
In combat their adversaries to smite.
Meantime, while Achyuta was slumbering,
From his deep naval orifice did spring,
A lotus flower wherefrom did emerge,
Brahma, the self-born god and demiurge.
Vishnu commissioned him to venture on
The generation of the creation,
Which to the lotus-born he did explain,
According as the Vedic texts ordain.
Thereafter, while the Four-faced, steeped in thought,
Of how the world and creatures would be wrought,
The mighty Madhu and Kaitabh arrived,
Who had to steal the Vedic texts contrived;
Those wicked ones, O king, commit the theft,
And leave Brahma of knowledge quite bereft.
Now when the lotus-born, O king, had found
He was deprived of that wisdom profound,
Wherewith he was the world to generate;
He fell into a miserable state,
And in the deepest anxiety thrown,
He, in loud lamentation made his moan,
" O how shall I create the world? and how
Fill all that world with living creatures now?
That knowledge which the lord had given me,
I now no longer have, and do not see
How to proceed in this calamity!"
Tormented thus, the Grand sire of the world,
Was in distress and consternation hurled.
He tried by recollection to secure
That Vedic wisdom, but met with failure;
And when he saw no means to ease his care,
Unto the primal being made his prayer;
Again with concentrated effort he
Made panegyrics of high dignity,
Replete with scripture's meaning and the sense,
In words like these of rarest eloquence.
Brahma said;
"Om, hail to him the source of Vedic lore,
The fount of wisdom, and the boundless store
Of intuition, and from whom proceeds
The rules ordained for practicing good deeds.
Hail thee! knowledge's repository!
The master of divine Saraswati!
All hail to the omniscient, all hail!
All hail, all hail to thee, ineffable.
Thou formless art, although possessed of form,
Which to the parts of sacrifice conform.
All hail to thee, the form of Sama chants,
Which to the worshipper all welfare grants;
Perpetual embodiment of truth,
Strong armed and of unconditional ruth.
The god of gods, lord, and immutable,
All comprehending and perceiving all;
Of that rare wisdom and creative art,
Which thou hadst taught, again to me impart.”
Markandeya said;
The bearer of the discus, conch, and mace,
Appeared in order to confer his grace,
And said to Brahma, " Be thou of good cheer,
Receive again true wisdom, have no fear.”
Consoling Brahma thus, he then began
The restoration of wisdom to plan,
And by what means he might the task pursue,
How Madhu and Kaitabh he might subdue.
For he, Janardan, was fully aware,
And sought to bate the demons in their lair;
And so this mighty deed to accomplish,
He took the form of a gigantic fish;
Of mighty prowess, and of mighty strength,
And many leagues, O king of men, in length.
Then through the cosmic waters he did lunge,
And did down to the nether regions plunge;
Causing a great convulsion in the deep;
Then cast a spell of stupor and of sleep
On Madhu and Kaitabha, and deceived
Both of them, and the Vedic texts retrieved.
The holy sages praised him for this deed,
Whereafter Madhusudan did proceed
To Brahma's world, and to him did restore
That Vedic knowledge, as it was before.
Abandoning the fish-form he assumed,
O king, his wonted shape he then resumed.
Hari in mystic slumber did recline
Again, upon the serpent bed divine;
And having thus the world's welfare secured,
The wrath of Madhu and Kaitabh incurred.
Thereafter, as wore off the magic spell,
Madhu and Kaitabha with rage did swell;
They ventured forth to search the region round,
And the immortal god recumbent found.
"This is the cunning god", the demons said,
"Who magic spells of slumber on us shed,
And boldly stole the Vedic texts away,
Thence to the hands of Brahma did convey;
And though he dares us proudly to enrage,
He slumbers here, reclining like a sage."
Thus having spoke, that fierce and mighty pair,
Madhu and Kaitabha. O king, did dare
To rudely waken Keshav with abuse
From his sweet slumber, and sought to induce
The lord in battle with them to engage,
And challenged him to combat, full of rage.
That god of gods, the supreme god, O king,
Rose up and fitted to his bow the string,
And answered their affront with, "very well",
And blew a mighty blast on his conch shell;
The deafening sound whereat fills all the sky,
And thus their challenge Madhav does defy.
Thereon, O king, those two mighty heroes,
Had also stretched the strings upon their bows;
A fearsome conflict thereon did ensue
'Twixt Madhu and Kaitabh against Vishnu.
Krishna to this expedient did resort,
To make the slaying of these two his sport.
Sometime an equal combat they maintain,
And volleys of sharp arrows fall like rain;
But every shaft that from their weapons fell,
Krishna with his own missiles did repel,
And intercept each arrow which they sent,
Until their store of weapons was all spent.
Now with his pond'rous bow, carved out of horn,
He fixed a deadly shaft, with playful scorn,
A rain of arrows on his foemen shed,
Whereon Madhu and Kaitabha fell dead.
He molded from their fat this earthly ball,
Therefore, the earth as Medidni we call.
The Vedic texts Krishna kindly restored
Unto the creator their rightful lord,
Who then embarked on creation once more,
And filled the world with creatures as before.
O king, whoever hears or daily reads,
The wondrous narratives of Vishnu's deeds,
Becomes a holy, learned man, and wise,
And soars beyond the moon above the skies.
Finis