आश्वमेधिक पर्व — (क्रमशः) मरुत्त र बृहस्पतिको कथा

The power of Brahmanas is, indeed great and there are more powerful than Brahmanas, but I can never bear patiently the insolent pride of Avikshita's son, and so shall I grind him with my thunderbolt.

Therefore, O Dhritarashtra, according to my direction go to king Marutta, attended by Samvarta, and deliver this now to him-do you, O prince, accept Brihaspati as your spiritual preceptor, as otherwise, I shall strike you with my dreadful thunderbolt.' do you

Vyasa said Then Dhritarashtra went to that monarch's court and delivered this news to him from Vasava.

Dhritarashtra said O king, know that I am Dhritarashtra the Gandharva, come here with the object of delivering to you the message of Indra, do you, O foremost of kings, listen to the words which the great lord of all the worlds meant for you, that one of incomprehensible deeds (Indra) only said this much do you accept Brihaspati as your officiating priest for the sacrifice, or if you do not comply with my request. I shall strike you with my dreadful thunderbolt.

Marutta said-You, O Purandara, the Vishvadevas, the Vasus and the Ashvins you all know, that, in this world there is no escape for the results of playing false to a friend, it is a great sin like that of Brahminicide.

Let Brihaspati (therefore) officiate as priest to that Mahendra the supreme Deva (god), the highest one holding the thunderbolt, and, O prince, Samvarta will act as my priest, as neither his (Indra's) words, nor thine commend themselves to me.

The Gandharva said Do you, O foremost of kings, listen to the terrible war-cry, of Vasava roaring in the sky, assuredly and openly will Mahendra hurl his thunderbolt at you, do you, therefore, think of your well-being, for this is the time to do it.

Vyasa said Thus addressed by Dhritarashtra, and hearing the of Vasava, the king communicated this news to Samvarta firm in devotion and the highest of all virtuous men. roar

Marutta said Indeed this rain cloud floating in the air, indicates that Indra must be near at present, therefore, O prince of Brahmanas, I seek shelter from you, do you, O best of Brahmanas remove this fear of Indra from my mind.

The Holder of the Thunderbolt is coming encompassing the ten directions of space with his dreadful and super-human refulgence and my assistants at this sacrificial assembly have been filled with fear.

O foremost of kings, your fear of Shakra will soon be removed, and I shall soon remove this terrible pain by means of my magic (incantation), be calm and have no fear of being overpowered by Indra.

You have nothing to fear from the God of a Hundred Sacrifices, I shall use my staying charms, O king, and the weapons of all the gods will avail them not.

Let the lightning flash in all the directions, and the winds entering into the clouds pour down rain in the midst of the forests, and the water deluge the heavens and the flashes of lightning that are seen will avail not, you have nothing to fcar, let Vasava pour down the rains and plat his terrific thunderbolt where he will, floating among the masses of (clouds) for your destruction, for the god Vahni (Agni) will protect you in every way, and make you attain all the objects of your desire.

This dreadful crash of the thunderbolt together with the roaring of the winds, seem dreadful to my ears and my heart is stricken again and again, O Brahmana, and my peace of mind is gone at present.

Samvarta said O king, the fear in your mind from this terrible thunderbolt will leave you immediately. I shall remove the thunder by the help of the winds, and setting aside all fear from your mind, do you accept a boon from me according to your heart's desire, and I shall do it for you.

Marutta said-I wish, O Brahmana, that Indra all of a sudden should come bodily at this sacrifice, and accept the oblation offered to him, and that all the other celestials also come and take their appointed shares of the offerings and accepts the libations of Soma offered to them.

I have, by the power of my incantations, attracted Indra bodily to this sacrifice. See, O king, Indra coming with his horses, and adored by the other celestials hastening to this sacrifice.

Then the King of the Celestials attended by the other deities and riding in his chariot drawn by the most excellent horses, approached the sacrificial altar of that son of Avikshit and drank the Soma libations of that peerless king.

And king Marutta with his priest rose to receive Indra coming with the host of celestials and well-pleased in mind, he welcomed the King of Deities with due and foremost honours according to the Shastras.

Welcome to you, O Indra, by your presence here, I learned one, this sacrifice has been made grand, O destroyer of Vala, and Vritra, do you, again, drink this Soma juice produced by me today.

Marutta said-Do you look with kindness upon me, I bow to you, O Indra, by your presence, my sacrifice has been perfected, and my life too blessed with good results. O Surendra, this excellent Brahmana, the younger brother of Brihaspati is engaged in celebrating my sacrifices.

Indra said I know your priest, this highly energetic ascetic, the younger brother of Brihaspati, at whose invitation I have come to this sacrifice, I am, o king, well-pleased with you, and my anger against you is gone.

If, O King of the Celestials, you are pleased with us, do you yourself give all the directions for this sacrifice, and, O Surendra, yourself ordain the sacrificial portions (for the gods), so that, O god, all the world may know that it has been done by you.

Vyasa said Thus addressed by the son of Angira, Shakra himself gave directions to all the celestials to erect the hall of assembly, and a thousand well-furnished excellent rooms loO king grand as in a canvass and quickly to complete the staircase massive and durable, for the ascent of the Gandharvas and Apsaras and to furnish that portion of the sacrificial ground reserved for the dance of the Apsaras, like the palace of Indra in the celestial region.

o king, thus directed, the renowned denizens of heaven quickly carried out the directions of Shakra. And then, O king, Indra well-pleased and worshipped, thus said to king Marutta, O prince, by associating with you at this sacrifice, your ancestors who have gone before you, as well as the other celestials have been highly pleased and accepted the oblations offered by you.

And now, O king, let the foremost of twiceborn ones, offer on the sacrificial altar a red bull belonging to the Fire-God and a sacred and duly consecrated blue bull with variegated skin, belonging to the Vishvedevas.

Then, O king, the sacrificial ceremony grew in splendour, wherein the celestials themselves collected the food, and Shakra the King of the a Celestials, possessed of horse, and adored by the Brahmanas, become all assistant at the sacrifice.

And then the great Samvarta ascending the altar, and loO king radiant as the second embodiment of the Burning Fire, loudly addressing the celestials with satisfaction, offered oblations of clarified butter to the fire with incantation of the sacred hymns.

And then the Destroyer of Vala first drank the Soma juice, and then the assembly of other celestials who drank Soma, and then in happiness and with the king's permission they returned home well-pleased and delighted.

Then that king, the destroyer of his enemies, with a delighted heart, placed heaps of gold on various spots, and distributing the immense riches to the Brahmanas, he looked glorious like Kubera the King of Riches.

And with a pleased heart, the king filled his treasury with different kinds of wealth, and with the permission of his spiritual preceptor he returned (to his kingdom) and continued to rule the entire kingdom extending to the limits of the sea.

So virtuous in this world was that king, at whose sacrifice such an enormous quantity of gold was collected, and now, O prince you must collect that gold and adoring the gods with due rites, do you celebrate this sacrifice.

Vaishmpayana said Then the Pandava prince Yudhishthira was delighted on hearing this speech of the son of Satyavati (Vyasa), and desirous of celebrating his sacrifice with those riches, he consulted again and again with his ministers.