The Mahabharata
Book 1: Adi Parva
Kisari Mohan Ganguli, tr.
[1883-1896]
SECTION XXVI
(Astika Parva continued)
"Sauti said, 'And then Indra, the king of gods, having the best of horses for
his bearer, thus adored by Kadru, covered the entire firmament with masses
of blue clouds. And he commanded the clouds, saying, Pour ye, your vivifying and
blessed drops!' And those clouds, luminous with lightning, and incessantly roaring
against each other in the welkin, poured abundant water. And the sky, in consequence
of those wonderful and terribly-roaring clouds that were incessantly begetting
vast quantities of water, looked as if the end of Yuga had come. And in consequence
of the myriads of waves caused in the falling torrents, the deep roar of the clouds,
the flashes of lightning, the violence of the wind, and the general agitation,
the sky looked as if dancing in madness. The sky became overcast, and the rays
of the Sun and the Moon totally disappeared in consequence of that incessant downpour.
"And upon Indra's causing that downpour, the Nagas became exceedingly delighted.
And the Earth was filled with water all around. And the cool, clear water reached
even the nether regions. And there were countless waves of water all over the
Earth. And the snakes with their mother reached (in safety) the island called
Ramaniyaka."
And so ends the twenty-sixth section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.
