SECTION CIV
“Yudhishthira said, ‘O great saint! I am desirous of hearing in detail why it was that Vindhya, made senseless with wrath, suddenly began to increase his bulk.'”
“Lomasa said, ‘The sun between his rising and setting used to revolve round that monarch of mountains–the great Meru of golden lustre. And seeing this the mountain Vindhya spake to Surya saying, ‘As thou every day goest round Meru and honourest him by thy circumambulations, do thou even the same by me, O maker of light!’ Thus addressed, the sun replied to the great mountain, saying, ‘I do not of my own will honour this mountain by my circumambulations. By those who have built this universe hath that path been assigned to me.’ Thus addressed the mountain suddenly began to increase from wrath, desirous, O chastiser of foes, of obstructing the path of the Sun and the Moon.
And all the assembled gods came to Vindhya, the mighty king of mountains, and tried to dissuade him from his course. But he heeded not what they said. And then all the assembled gods went to the saint, living in the hermitage, engaged in the practice of austerities, and the very best of persons devoted to virtue; and stated all that happened to Agastya, possessed of exceeding marvellous power.
“The gods said, ‘This king of hills, Vindhya, giving way to wrath, is stopping the path of the Sun and the Moon, and also the course of the stars. O foremost of Brahmanas! O thou great in gifts! excepting thyself, there is none who can prevent him; therefore do thou make him desist.’ Hearing these words of the gods the Brahmana came to the mountain. And he with his wife, having arrived there, came near Vindhya and spake to him, saying, ‘O thou best of mountains! I wish to have a path given to me by thee, as, for some purpose, I shall have to go to the southern region. Until my return, do thou wait for me. And when I have returned, O king of mountains, thou mayst increase in bulk as much as thou pleasest.’ And, O slayer of foes! having made this compact with Vindhya up to the present day Varuna’s son doth not return from the southern region. Thus have I, asked by thee, narrated to thee why Vindhya doth not increase in bulk, by reason of the power of Agastya. Now, O king! hear how the Kalakeyas were killed by the gods, after they had obtained their prayer from Agastya.
“Having heard the words of the gods, Agastya, the son of Mitra, and Varuna, said, ‘Wherefore are ye come? What boon do ye solicit from me?’ Thus addressed by him, the deities then spake to the saint, saying, ‘This deed we ask thee to achieve, viz., to drink up the great ocean. O magnanimous (saint)! Then we shall be able to slay those enemies of the gods, known by the name of Kalakeyas, together with all their adherents.’ Having heard the words of the gods, the saint said, ‘Let it be so–I shall do even what ye desire, and that which will conduce to the great happiness of men.’
Having said this, he then proceeded to the ocean–the lord of rivers,–accompanied by sages, ripe in the practice of penances, and also by the deities, O thou who leadest an excellent life! And men and snakes, celestial choristers, Yakshas and Kinnaras followed the magnanimous saints,–desirous of witnessing that wonderful event. Then they came up all together near to the sea, of awful roar, dancing, as it were, with its billows, bounding with the breeze, and laughing with masses of froth, and stumbling at the caves, and thronged with diverse kinds of sharks, and frequented by flocks of various birds. And the deities accompanied by Agastya and celestial choristers and huge snakes and highly-gifted saints, approached the immense watery waste.”
SECTION CV
“Lomasa said, ‘That blessed saint, the son of Varuna, having reached the sea spake unto the assembled gods, and the saints gathered together, saying ‘I surely am going to drink up the ocean–that abode of the god of waters. Be ye quickly ready with those preparations which it devolves upon you to make.’ Having spoken these few words, the unswerving offspring of Mitra and Varuna, full of wrath, began to drink up the sea, while all the worlds stood observing (the deed). Then the gods, together with Indra, seeing how the sea was being drunk up, were struck with mighty amazement, and glorified him with laudatory words, saying, ‘Thou art our protector, and the Providence itself for men,–and also the creator of the worlds.
By thy favour the universe with its gods may possibly be saved from havoc.’ And the magnanimous one, glorified by the gods–while the musical instruments of celestial choristers were playing all round, and while celestial blossoms were showered upon him–rendered waterless the wide ocean. And seeing the wide ocean rendered devoid of water, the host of gods was exceedingly glad; and taking up choice weapons of celestial forge, fell to slaying the demons with courageous hearts,–And they, assailed by the magnanimous gods, of great strength, and swift of speed, and roaring loudly, were unable to withstand the onset of their fleet and valorous (foes)–those residents of the heavenly regions, O descendant of Bharata! And those demons, attacked by the gods, bellowing loudly, for a moment carried on terrible conflict. They had been in the first instance burnt by the force of penances performed by the saints, who had matured their selves; therefore, the demons, though they tried to the utmost, were at last slaughtered by the gods. And decked with brooches of gold, and bearing on their persons ear-rings and armlets, the demons, when slain, looked beautiful indeed, like palasa trees when full of blossoms.
Then, O best of men! a few–the remnant of those that were killed of the Kalakeya race, having rent asunder the goddess Earth, took refuge at the bottom of the nether regions. And the gods, when they saw that the demons were slain, with diverse speeches, glorified the mighty saint, and spake the following words. ‘O thou of mighty arms, by thy favour men have attained a mighty blessing, and the Kalakeyas, of ruthless strength have been killed by thy power, O creator of beings! Fill the sea (now), O mighty-armed one; give up again the water drunk up by thee.’ Thus addressed, the blessed and mighty saint replied, ‘That water in sooth hath been digested by me. Some other expedient, therefore, must be thought of by you, if ye desire to make endeavour to fill the ocean.’ Hearing this speech of that saint of matured soul, the assembled gods were struck with both wonder and sadness, O great king! And thereupon, having bidden adieu to each other, and bowed to the mighty saint all the born beings went their way. And the gods with Vishnu, came to Brahma. And having held consultation again, with the view of filling up the sea, they, with joined hands, spake about replenishing it.”
