Yadhavabhydhaya-chapter16

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Chapter 16- Destroying Narakasura

 

After Krishna returned to Dvaraka, Indra came on his celestial elephant Airavatha to Dvaraka to see Krishna. (Desika describes Airavatha in 18 slokas.)

 

Indra stopped his elephant and his retinue at the gate and went into the residence of Krishna by walking. When Krishna honoured him in a fitting manner Indra informed Krishna about the atrocities of Narakasura, who was came out of the earth, Bhoodevi, when the Lord took Varahavathara, and hence even more terrible that Hiranyaksha and Hiranya kasipu. The vajra of Indra was powerless in front of him and so was the weapons of all the eight Dikpalakas, Agni, Varuna, and the rest. He defeated all of them except Rudra, perhaps thinking that he was only a hermit and did not deserve notice. He confiscated the umbrella and the jewelled mount of Indra and the earrings made of precious gems of Adhithi, mother of devas and at that particular time wished to take away the Airavatha. Not only that but he had carried away sixteen thousand and hundred damsels born of devas, kings and asuras. Indra told Krishna that by killing Naraka he will reduce the burden of the earth by half. Krishna reassured Indra and thought of his celestial carrier-bird, Garuda, who came immediately.

 

Desika describes Garuda by eleven slokas.

 

Garuda was adorned by garlands of snakes. The sound of his wings seemed to created the Vedas,the golden hue of his body along with that of the Sun made the directions golden, and he looked like the dusk at the time of deluge accompanied by lightning. His body was shining with the gems at the head of the snakes which were resembling Adhisesha and his chest covered the whole sky. His big shoulders looked like the Manthara mountain with the snakes on both sides. He was wearing red garment and stood in front of Krishna with his usual pose of one knee bent and the other straight he seemed to perform a kind of dance.

 

vapushA bhakthinamreNa Dheeronnatha maheeyasA

SAnthaveerAdhbhutha rasAn samAhathyeva sampathan

(Yad.61)

 

moorthimAn iva samrambho roopavAn iva mAruthah

tharangAn pakshatheekrthya samkshiptha iva sAgarah

(Yad.62)

 

Garuda was humble with devotion but very lofty and magestic and demonstrated the rasa of SAntha, veera and adhbhutha.

 

He seemed to be the personification of energy, the physical form of the wind and the sea in contracted form with its waves as wings.

 

When Krishna made arrangements to start for the fight with Naraka, Garuda patted his shoulders and shook his wings which appeared to Desika as though he is fanning the Vedas which were oppressed by the heat of those who contested the scriptures, thus proving himself as the kavithArkika simha.

 

Garuda raised victory slogans to Krishna who mounted him with Sathyabhama who did not want to be parted from him and advanced towards PrAgjyothishapura , the capital of Naraka after sending Indra back with encouraging words.

 

To indicate the speed of Garuda, Desika says that the yadhavas in DvAraka and the asuras in PrAgjyothishapura witnessed the starting of Krishna and his arrival at the same time, meaning that no time lapsed between the two acts.

 

Krishna destroyed the demon Mura , Panchajana and the 7000 sons of Mura with one flinging of the charka.

 

Describing Naraka coming out of his city Desika shines as a vedantacharya and kavitharkika kesari.

 

abhimAnodhithavyakthih ahamkAra iva ulbaNah

mahatho dhaithyanagarAth niragAth narakAsurah(Yas.16-78)

 

Naraka looked like the manifestation of ahamkara rising out of arrogance emerging out of the great mahath, city of his, as the ahankara thathva evolving out of the mahath thathva, born out of prakrthi. The implication is that the destruction of Naraka is symbolic of the destruction of ahamkara, the impediment to realization of truth.

 

The asuras surrounding Naraka are compared to those who contest the Vedas and hence become associates to the one who is banned by the Vedas.

 

Tham asthramAyAbhyaDhikAh dhAnavAh paryavarayan

Prakatacchanna koutilyAh pAshandam iva haithukAh (Yad.16-79)

 

Desika describes the battle by 27 slokas.

The dust that was raised by the four kinds af army, ratha gaja, thuraga. padhathi, that is, chariots, elephants, cavalry and soldiers, completely cut off the vision as in a being, whose rajoguna is uppermost of the other two and Satthva and thamas become powerless.Here there is pun on the word rajas which means both rajoguna and dust. Also rajas denotes rakshasas.

There was a torrential shower of arrows from the asuras, like the clouds concealing all the directions pouring water on the sea. But Desika says that the Lord was not at all affected just like His own devotees who are not affected by any calamity. From the bow of the Lord, Sarnga, arrows flowed as cataracts from the mountain and cut the sea of the army of the enemies into two. None witnessed the act of Krishna fixing the arrows in his bow but only saw the fall of the arrows on the asura army.

 

svabhAva niyathasthatra parabhADhAbhilAshiNAM

prayAsah suraSathrooNAm jAThyuttharam ivAbhavath

(Yad.16-95)

 

The efforts of the asuras to hurt others recoiled on them, says Desika, like the argument in a debate called jAthyutthara. When an opponent gives a reply as criticism against his opponent and it becomes applicable to his side as well it is called jAthuttharam.

 

visanDhivigrahAh kshipthayAnAsanasamASrayAh

dhvaiDheebhAva srjo yoDhA dhurhnayasThA ivAbhavan

(Yad.16-97)

 

Desika compares the army of the asuras to the polity which has gone awry. The six limbs of statesmanship are sanDhi, peace-making, vigraha, fighting, yAna, marching against the enemy,Asanam, cease-fire, samASraya, have allies and dhvaiDheebhAva, creating rift between friends. The asuras were visanDhivigrahAh, broken-limbed, (sandhis the joint of the body and vigraha means body), also meaning going against sandhi and vigraha. kshipthayAnAsanasamASrayAh, given up, (kshiptha,) the movements of going, yAna, Asana, sitting and samASraya, leaning against etc. They were cut into two and hence dhvaiDheebhAvasrjah, created two halves of themselves. The word srj also means abandon and hence they are compared to those who have given up dhvaiDheebhAva. Further the asuras were compared to yogis because their fighting was anaghavyavasAya, fruitful because of their sincerity to serve their master.The effort of yogi ia also fruitful since it secured him moksha. The asuras are termed asangathyakthavarshmaNah as they were prepared to lay down their lives and hence given up attachment of their body, like the yogis. Their gathi or movement was in one direction only ,that is to give up their life without returning back to their abode like the gathi of a yogi which is that of no return to this world again, aparAvarthana.

 

The next sloka shows Desika to be well versed in astrology also. He compares Naraka to Angaraka,Mars, who was also supposed to be bhouma, the son of the goddess of earth.Naraka was having vakravrtthi, crooked conduct like Angaraka who was known to have vakravrtthi, that is, terrible powers like Saturn. Naraka became saruDhira, covered with blood and hence lohithAnga, red-limbed while Angaraka was also called RuDhira, the word being split as sa he, Angaraka, was ruDhira, called Rudhira and lohithanga, possessed of red body. The similarity is not finished yet. Desika says ,

 

prApya yAdhavbhAsvantham mooDah sambhavath kramAth

(Yad.16-103

 

Naraka moving close to Krishna(yadhava), who was like the Sun, bhAsvan, became mooDa, not knowing what to do like Angaraka nearing the Sun loses his luster and vanishes, the word mooda is used in the sense of becoming extinct.

 

Krishna cut off his head like that of Rahu. Desika here uses the term ramApathi to denote Krishna implying that He was the same Narayana who cut off the head of Rahu. Naraka was nisargathamah, full of thamoguna by nature, nisarga, and of jihmagathi, crooked conduct as Rahu, who was called Thamas and has crooked movement being a snake.

 

The chopped head of Naraka fell on the lap of Bhoodevi, his mother. Bhoodevi praised the Lord thus:

 

Aham asmi vibhoothisthe bhoothaDhathree thvayADhrthA

aSeshADharam ekam thvAm anADhAram aDHeeyathe

 

(Yad.16-112)

 

"I am included among Your manifestations. I support all beings, being supported by You. The Vedas praise You who is the substratum of all while You need no support.

 

Thisrubhih shakthibhih uktham shAdguNyapraThithodhayam

aDhirAjam aSeshasya jagadhuh thvAm jithAhitham

 

(Yad.16-113)

 

You are deemed as the king of kings, with Your three shakthis, namely, Lakshmi, Bhoo and NeeLa, with the six aspects of Lordship, (jnana bala aisvarya veerya shakthi thejas-the six qualities that are known as bhagas that go to make BhagavAn) as the three shakthis of a king, utsaha, prabhu and manthra shakthis, that is Lordly power, good council of ministers and powerful army, and the six limbs of statesmanship."

 

Bhoodevi further praise the Lord that His virtues are like the milky ocean even a drop of which cannot be tasted by all beings with all their faces. The world is a garden created by Him dividing it into movables and immovables and He alone can protect it. The beings bound by the three gunas as by three ropes, (guna means rope as well as the three attributes of satthva, rajas and thamas) can be released only by the Lord.

 

The next verse is steeped in bhakthi and reminds the lines in Mukundamala by Kulasekhara, `thvathbrthyabrthya parichAraka bhrthya bhrthya bhrthyasya bhrthya ithi mAm smara lokanATha.' meaning, "Oh the Lord of the universe, remember me as the servant of your servant of your servant" etc. to the seventh degree, probably to deote the seven times seven lives to come.

 

The sloka of Desika goes like this:

 

Yasya thavm yasya hrdhyastheyasyAsou thasya yasthayA

nATha thvathpadham Aryhya na punah thaih nivrthyathe

 

(Yad.16-119)

 

The one to whom You are dear, the one who is dear to You, the one to whom he is dear, continuing like this, all these attain Your abode never to return to earth. That is the devotee of the Lord, the devotee of the devotee and those who are graced by them are all blessed to attain moksha.

 

The next sloka is also of the same texture of bhakthi and reminds the one in KamasikAshtaka by Desika himself.

 

Kasthavth angeekrtham hanthA kasthrAtha thvath jighAmsitham

Nihanthi pAthi cha ekasthvam svena viSvam pareNa vA

 

(Yad.16-121)

 

Who can kill the one who is accepted by You and who can prtect one whois abandoned by You? You alone destroy as well as protect the universe by yourself or through others.

 

The parallel sloka in kAmAsikAshtakam is,

 

Thvayi rakshathi rakshakaih kim anyaih

Thvayi cha arakshathi rakshakaih kim anyaih

Ithi nischithaDheeh SrayAmi nithyam

Nrhare vegavatheethatASrayam thvAm

 

Where is the need of other protectors when you are there protecting us and what is the use of other protectors when you forsake us. With this firm thought I resort to You, Oh Nrhari, who resides on the bank of Vegavathi river.

 

Bhoodevi said that she had no attachment towards Naraka in particular as all beings are her children only. Moreover he was created buy the Lord and now annihilated by the Lord Himself which is his good fortune.

 

The Lord has no enemies, said Bhoodevi but those who torment his devotees he destroys as it is His duty to protect the devotees. All beings and even the unicverse itself is subjected to destruction at one time or other and hence there is no cause for sorrow.

 

Then Bhoodevi gave back the earrings of Adhithi taken away by Naraka and bid adieu to Krishna after having the assurance that Naraka will get salvation.

 

Then Krishna entered the city of Naraka and accepted the 16100 damsels who on seeing Krishna wished to marry only him. He sent them to Dvaraka and later married them there.

 

He last sloka is full of poetic beauty.

 

Udhgamya dhurgajalaDherudhayAdhrikalpam

Thungam vihangamapathim thvarayA aDhirohan

ullAsahethurabhavath yadhuveerabhAsvAn

vimAnikapraNayineevadhanAmbujAnAm

 

Krishna, the Sun, rose from the fort of Naraka as from the eastern mountain and traveling on the back of Garuda, made the lotuses of the faces of Apsara damsels blossom.