The Mahabharata
Book 1: Adi Parva
Kisari Mohan Ganguli, tr.
[1883-1896]
SECTION XXI
(Astika Parva continued)
"Sauti said. 'Then when the night had passed away and the sun had risen in
the morning, O thou whose wealth is asceticism, the two sisters Kadru and Vinata,
having laid a wager about slavery, went with haste and impatience to view the
steed Uchchaishravas from a near point. On their way they saw the Ocean, that
receptacle of waters, vast and deep, rolling and tremendously roaring, full of
fishes large enough to swallow the whale, and abounding with huge makaras and
creatures of various forms by thousands, and rendered inaccessible by the presence
of other terrible, monster-shaped, dark, and fierce aquatic animals, abounding
with tortoises and crocodiles, the mine of all kinds of gems, the home of Varuna
(the water-God), the excellent and beautiful residence of the Nagas, the lord
of all rivers, the abode of the subterranean fire, the friend (or asylum) of the
Asuras, the terror of all creatures, the grand reservoir of water, and ever immutable.
It is holy, beneficial to the gods, and is the great source of nectar; without
limits, inconceivable, sacred, and highly wonderful. It is dark, terrible with
the sound of aquatic creatures, tremendously roaring, and full of deep whirl-pools.
It is an object of terror to all creatures. Moved by the winds blowing from its
shores and heaving high, agitated and disturbed, it seems to dance everywhere
with uplifted hands represented by its surges. Full of swelling billows caused
by the waxing and waning of the moon the parent of Vasudeva's great conch called
Panchajanya, the great mine of gems, its waters were formerly disturbed in consequence
of the agitation caused within them by the Lord Govinda of immeasurable prowess
when he had assumed the form of a wild boar for raising the (submerged) Earth.
Its bottom, lower than the nether regions, the vow observing regenerate Rishi
Atri could not fathom after (toiling for) a hundred years. It becomes the bed
of the lotus-naveled Vishnu when at the termination of every Yuga that deity of
immeasurable power enjoys yoga-nidra, the deep sleep under the spell of spiritual
meditation. It is the refuge of Mainaka fearful of falling thunder, and the retreat
of the Asuras overcome in fierce encounters. It offers water as sacrificial butter
to the blazing fire issuing from the mouth of Varava (the Ocean-mare). It is fathomless
and without limits, vast and immeasurable, and the lord of rivers.
"And they saw that unto it rushed mighty rivers by thousands with proud gait,
like amorous competitors, each eager for meeting it, forestalling the others.
And they saw that it was always full, and always dancing in its waves. And they
saw that it was deep and abounding with fierce whales and makaras. And it resounded
constantly with the terrible sounds of aquatic creatures. And they saw that it
was vast, and wide as the expanse of space, unfathomable, and limitless, and the
grand reservoir of water.'"
And so ends the twenty-first section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.
