And awfully difficult task again was that sojourn of thine,–the period of concealment,–which task also thou hast performed, O descendant of Bharata; for one pulled down from a throne it is nothing but hardship that awaits him. O king, where is there any happiness for him! O afflicter of thy foes, in compensation for all this vast misery wrought by Dhritarashtra’s son, thou wilt attain to proportional happiness after having killed thy foes, O great king, O lord of men, the ways of the world are known to thee. Therefore, O my son, thou art never guided by avarice in any of thy dealings. O descendant of Bharata, do thou treat on the foot-prints of ancient saintly kings. My son, Yudhishthira, be steady in the path of liberality, and self-abnegation, and truth. And, O royal Yudhishthira, mercy and self control, and truth and universal sympathy, and everything wonderful in this world, are to be found in thee. Thou art mild, munificent, religious, and liberal, and thou regardest virtue as the highest good. O king, many are the rules of virtue that prevail amongst men, and all those are known to thee. O my son, O afflicter of foes, thou knowest in fact everything relating to this world. O king, O best of Bharata’s race, how lucky it is that thou hast come out of this difficulty of thine. How lucky, O king, O foremost of monarchs, O lord, it is that I see thee, so virtuous a soul, a treasure-house of righteousness, freed with thy followers from this.’
“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Then, O descendant of Bharata, the king spoke of his meeting with Duryodhana and gave a detailed account regarding that promise of his and that boon granted by himself. And Yudhishthira said, O valiant king, it has been well-done by thee that being pleased at heart thou hast plighted thy truth to Duryodhana. But good betide thee, O ruler of the earth, I ask thee to do one thing only. O king, O best of men, thou wilt have to do it solely for my sake, though it may not be proper to be done. O valiant one, hear what I submit to thee. O great king, thou art equal to Krishna on the field of battle. When, O best of kings, the single combat between Karna and Arjuna will take place, I have no doubt thou wilt have to drive Karna’s car. On that occasion, if thou art inclined to do good to me, thou must protect Arjuna. O king, thou must likewise so act that the Suta’s son Karna may be dispirited and the victory may be ours.
Improper it no doubt is; but, O my uncle, for all that thou must do it. Salya said, ‘Good betide thee. Listen, O son of Panda. Thou tellest me to so act that the vile son of the Suta may be dispirited in fight. To be sure, I shall be his charioteer’ on the field, for he always considers me equal to Krishna.
O tiger like descendant of Kuru, I shall certainly speak to him, when desirous of fighting on the field of battle, words contradictory and fraught with harm to him, so that bereft of pride and valour, he may be easily slain by his antagonist. This I tell thee truly. Asked by thee to do it, this I am determined to do, O my son. Whatever else I may be able to bring about, I shall do for thy good. Whatever troubles were suffered by thee together with Draupadi on the occasion of the game at dice, the rude inhuman words uttered by the Suta’s son, the misery inflicted by the Asura Jata and by Kichaka, O illustrious one, all the miseries experienced by Draupadi, like those formerly experienced by Damayanti,–will all, O hero, end in joy.
Thou shouldst not be aggrieved at this; for Destiny is all powerful in this world; and, O Yudhishthira, high-minded persons have to endure miseries of various kinds, nay, even the gods themselves, O king, have suffered misfortunes. O king, O descendant of Bharata, it is narrated that the high-minded Indra, the chief of the celestials, had to endure together with his wife very great misery, indeed.’
SECTION IX
“Yudhishthira said, ‘O foremost of monarchs, I wish to know how it was that great and unparalleled misery had to be endured by the illustrious Indra together with his queen.’
“Salya said, ‘Listen, O king, to me as I relate this ancient story of the events of former days,–how, O descendant of Bharata, misery befell Indra and his wife. Once Twashtri, the lord of creatures and the foremost of celestials, was engaged in practising rigid austerities. And it is said that from antipathy to Indra he created a son having three heads. And that being of universal form possessed of great lustre hankered after Indra’s seat. And possessed of those three awful faces resembling the sun, the moon, and the fire, he read the Vedas with one mouth, drank wine with another, and looked with the third as if he would absorb all the cardinal points.
And given to the practice of austerities, and mild being and self-controlled, he was intent upon a life of religious practices and austerities. And his practice of austerities, O subduer of foes, was rigid and terrible and of an exceedingly severe character. And beholding the austerities, courage, and truthfulness of this one possessed of immeasurable energy, Indra became anxious, fearing lest that being should take his place. And Indra reflected, ‘How may he be made to addict himself to sensual enjoyments; how may he be made to cease his practice of such rigid austerities? For were the three-headed being to wax strong, he would absorb the whole universe.’ And it was thus that Indra pondered in his mind; and, O best of Bharata’s race, endued with intelligence, he ordered the celestial nymphs to tempt the son of Twashtri.
And he commanded them, saying, ‘Be quick, and go without delay, and so tempt him that the three-headed being may plunge himself into sensual enjoyment to the utmost extent. Furnished with captivating hips, array yourselves in voluptuous attires, and decking yourselves in charming necklaces, do ye display gestures and blandishments of love. Endued with loveliness, do ye tempt him and alleviate my dread. I feel restless in my heart, O lovely damsels. Avert ye, ladies, this awful peril that hangs over me. Good betide you.’
“Then the nymphs said, ‘O Indra, O slayer of Vala, we shall so endeavour to allure him that thou wilt have nothing to fear at his hands. That very receptacle of austerities, sitting now as if scorching everything with his eyes, O god, we are going together to tempt. We shall try to bring him under our control, and to put an end to your fears.’
“Salya continued, ‘Commanded by Indra, they then went to the three-headed being. And arriving there, those lovely damsels tempted him with various gestures of love, displaying their fine figures. But engaged in the practice of exceedingly severe austerities, although he looked at them, yet he was not influenced by desire. Of subdued senses he was like the ocean, full to the brim, in gravity. And the nymphs after having tried their best, came back to Indra. And they all with joined hands spoke to the lord of the celestials, saying, ‘O, that unapproachable being is incapable of being disturbed by us. O highly gifted being, thou mayst do what now may seem proper to thee.’ The high-minded Indra honoured the nymphs and then dismissed them reflecting, O Yudhishthira, solely upon other means of destroying his foe. And endued with intelligence, he fixed upon a contrivance for destroying the three-headed being. And he said, ‘Let me today hurt my thunderbolt at him.
By this means he will speedily be killed. Even a strong person should not overlook a rising foe, contemptible though he may be.’ And thus reflecting upon the lessons inculcated in treatises of learning, he was firmly resolved upon slaying that being. Then Indra, enraged, hurled at the three-headed being his thunderbolt which looked like fire and was terrible to behold, and which inspired dread. And forcibly struck by that thunderbolt, he was slain and fell down, as falls on the earth the loosened summit of a hill. And beholding him slain by the thunderbolt, and lying down huge as a hill, the chief of the celestials found no peace, and felt as if scorched by the effulgent appearance of the dead; for though slain, he had a blazing and effulgent appearance and looked like one alive. And, strange to say, though lifeless, his heads seemed to be alive as they were beheld lying low on the field.
