Source
Texts:
Lord
Krishna Slays the Demon S'âlva
Text
1
S'rî
S'uka said: 'Touching water, fastening His armor and picking up
His bow He [Pradyumna] said to His charioteer: 'Take Me
to where the warrior Dyumân is.'
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: After refreshing Himself with
water, putting on His armor and picking up His bow, Lord
Pradyumna told His driver, "Take Me back to where the hero
Dyumân is standing."
Text
2
With
Dyumân devastating His troops struck the son of
Rukminî back with a smile, counterattacking with eight
nârâca arrows [iron types].
In
Pradyumna's absence, Dyumân had been devastating His
army, but now Pradyumna counterattacked Dyumân and,
smiling, pierced him with eight nârâca
arrows.
Text
3
He struck with
four for the four horses, one for the driver, with two for the
bow and flag and with one for his head.
With
four of these arrows He struck Dyumân's four horses,
with one arrow, his driver, with two more arrows, his bow
and chariot flag, and with the last arrow, Dyumân's
head.
Text
4
Gada,
Sâtyaki, Sâmba and others finished off the army of
the master of Saubha; all inside Saubha fell into the ocean
with their necks cut through.
Gada,
Sâtyaki, Sâmba and others began killing
S'âlva's army, and thus all the soldiers inside the
airship began falling into the ocean, their necks
severed.
Text
5
The
fight between the Yadus and the followers of S'âlva
striking one another, that was thus tumultuous and fearsome,
went on for twenty-seven days and nights.
As
the Yadus and S'âlva's followers thus went on
attacking one another, the tumultuous, fearsome battle
continued for twenty-seven days and nights.
Text
6-7:
Krishna
as called by the son of Dharma gone to Indraprastha [see
10.71]
then, with the râjasûya completed, S'is'upâla
being killed and noticing very bad omens, took leave of the
Kuru-elders, the sages and Prithâ and her sons, and went
to Dvârakâ.
Invited
by Yudhishthhira, the son of Dharma, Lord Krishna had gone
to Indraprastha. Now that the Râjasûya sacrifice
had been completed and S'is'upâla killed, the Lord
began to see inauspicious omens. So He took leave of the
Kuru elders and the great sages, and also of Prithâ
and her sons, and returned to Dvârakâ.
Text
8
He
said to Himself: 'With Me accompanied by My illustrious elder
brother coming to this place, may the kings siding with
S'is'upâla well be attacking My city.'
The
Lord said to Himself: Because I have come here with My
respected elder brother, kings partial to S'is'upâla
may well be attacking My capital city.
Text
9
Kes'ava,
when He saw king S'âlva's Saubha and the destruction
going on of all of His, arranged for the protection of the city
and said to Dâruka:
[S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî continued:] After He arrived at
Dvârakâ and saw how His people were threatened
with destruction, and also saw S'âlva and his Saubha
airship, Lord Kes'ava arranged for the city's defense and
then addressed Dâruka as follows.
Text
10
'Bring Me My
chariot, o driver, and quickly take me near S'alva; and mind,
don't fall victim getting bewildered of this lord of Saubha,
he's a great magician.'
[Lord
Krishna said:] O driver, quickly take My chariot near
S'âlva. This lord of Saubha is a powerful magician;
don't let him bewilder you.
Text
11
Thus commanded
taking control drove he forward the chariot and saw, [with
Him] entering there, each of His own men and the opposing
party the emblem [of Garuda].
Thus
ordered, Dâruka took command of the Lord's chariot and
drove forth. As the chariot entered the battlefield,
everyone there, both friend and foe, caught sight of the
emblem of Garuda.
Text
12
S'âlva,
as the master of a practically completely destroyed army seeing
Lord Krishna on the battlefield, hurled his spear with a scary
roar at Krishna's charioteer.
When
S'âlva, the master of a decimated army, saw Lord
Krishna approaching, he hurled his spear at the Lord's
charioteer. The spear roared frighteningly as it flew across
the battlefield.
Text
13
Flying
forward illumining all directions like it was a great meteor,
was it by Krishna midair swiftly cut in a hundred
pieces.
S'âlva's
hurtling spear lit up the whole sky like a mighty meteor,
but Lord S'auri tore the great weapon into hundreds of
pieces with His arrows.
Text
14
Like
the sun with its rays in the sky, pierced He him with six
penetrating arrows and the Saubha-fortress moving about with
torrents of them.
Lord
Krishna then pierced S'âlva with sixteen arrows and
struck the Saubha airship with a deluge of arrows as it
darted about the sky. Firing His arrows, the Lord appeared
like the sun flooding the heavens with its rays.
Text
15
But when
S'âlva struck S'auri's left arm, the arm with His bow,
fell, most amazingly, the S'ârnga from the hand of
S'ârngadhanvâ.
S'âlva
then managed to strike Lord Krishna's left arm, which held
His bow S'ârnga, and, amazingly, S'ârnga fell
from His hand.
Text
16
As from all
living beings witnessing arose a great cry of dismay, roared
the lord of Saubha, saying this to Janârdana:
Those
who witnessed this all cried out in dismay. Then the master
of Saubha roared loudly and addressed Lord
Janârdana.
Text
17-18
Since by You, o
fool, right from under our eyes the bride of Your brother
[nephew factually], a friend
[S'is'upâla], was stolen
[10.53]
and he, my friend thus, in his heedlessness by You within the
assembly was killed [10.74],
will You Yourself, so convinced of Your invincibility, today
with my sharp arrows be sent to the land of no return, if You
dare to stand in front of me!'
[S'âlva
said:] You fool! Because in our presence You kidnapped
the bride of our friend S'is'upâla, Your own cousin,
and because You later murdered him in the sacred assembly
while he was inattentive, today with my sharp arrows I will
send You to the land of no return! Though You think Yourself
invincible, I will kill You now if You dare stand before
me.
Text
19
The Supreme
Lord said: 'You, moron, boast in vain not seeing death at hand;
heroes rather demonstrate their prowess, they don't
prattle!'
The
Supreme Lord said: O dullard, you boast in vain, since you
fail to see death standing near you. Real heroes do not talk
much but rather show their prowess in action.
Text
20
Speaking
thus struck the Supreme Lord S'âlva infuriated with
frightening power and speed with His club on the collarbone so
that he trembling vomited blood.
Having
said this, the furious Lord swung His club with frightening
power and speed and hit S'âlva on the collarbone,
making him tremble and vomit blood.
Text
21
But
when the club was withdrawn had S'âlva disappeared and
came a moment later a man bowing his head before Krishna who
crying spoke the words: 'Mother Devakî has sent
me!
But
as soon as Lord Acyuta withdrew His club, S'âlva
disappeared from sight, and a moment later a man approached
the Lord. Bowing his head down to Him, he announced,
"Devakî has sent me," and, sobbing, spoke the
following words.
Text
22
Krishna, o
Krishna, o Mighty-armed One so affectionate with Your parents,
Your father has been captured and taken away by S'âlva,
like a butcher seizing a domestic animal.'
[The
man said:] O Krishna, Krishna, mighty-armed one, who are
so affectionate to Your parents! S'âlva has seized
Your father and taken him away, as a butcher leads an animal
to slaughter.
Text
23
Hearing these
disturbing words spoke Krishna, having assumed the nature of a
human being, out of love with compassion disconsolate, like He
was a normal man:
When
He heard this disturbing news, Lord Krishna, who was playing
the role of a mortal man, showed sorrow and compassion, and
out of love for His parents He spoke the following words
like an ordinary conditioned soul.
Text
24
'With
Balarâma never confounded, invincibly defeating sura and
asura, how could that petty S'âlva abduct My father; how
mighty fate is!'
[Lord
Krishna said:] Balarâma is ever vigilant, and no
demigod or demon can defeat Him. So how could this
insignificant S'âlva defeat Him and abduct My father?
Indeed, fate is all-powerful!
Text
25
With
Govinda speaking thus came the master of Saubha up to Krishna
as if he was leading Vasudeva and said he the
following:
After
Govinda spoke these words, the master of Saubha again
appeared, apparently leading Vasudeva before the Lord.
S'âlva then spoke as follows.
Text
26
'This
is the one who begot You and for whose sake You live in this
world; I'll kill him right before You; save him if You can, You
child!'
[S'âlva
said:] Here is Your dear father, who begot You and for
whose sake You are living in this world. I shall now kill
him before Your very eyes. Save him if You can,
weakling!
Text
27
The
magician thus vilifying cut off the head of
'Ânakadundubhi' and climbed, taking the head, in the
Saubha-vehicle hovering in the sky.
After
he had mocked the Lord in this way, the magician
S'âlva appeared to cut off Vasudeva's head with his
sword. Taking the head with him, he entered the Saubha
vehicle, which was hovering in the sky.
Text
28
Then,
though fully cognizant, for a moment being absorbed in the
normal keeping to His affection for the ones dear to Him,
recognized He, with His great powers of perception, that as the
demoniac illusory magic utilized by S'âlva to the designs
of Maya Dânava.
By
nature Lord Krishna is full in knowledge, and He possesses
unlimited powers of perception. Yet for a moment, out of
great affection for His loved ones, He remained absorbed in
the mood of an ordinary human being. He soon recalled,
however, that this was all a demoniac illusion engineered by
Maya Dânava and employed by S'âlva.
Text
29
Alert on the
battlefield, like in a dream seeing there nor the messenger nor
His father's body, and noticing His enemy sitting in his Saubha
moving through the sky, prepared Acyuta to kill
him.
Now
alert to the actual situation, Lord Acyuta saw before Him on
the battlefield neither the messenger nor His father's body.
It was as if He had awakened from a dream. Seeing His enemy
flying above Him in his Saubha plane, the Lord then prepared
to kill him.
Text
30
And
so is it said by some sages, o seer among the kings, who don't
reason correctly; they for sure are contradicted by their own
words if they fail to remember the way it is
[compare e.g.
10.3:
15-17;
10.11:
7;
10.12:
27;
10.31:
*;
10.33:
37;
10.37:
23;
10.38:
10;
10.50:
29;
10.52:
7 en
10.60:
58].
Such
is the account given by some sages, O wise King, but those
who speak in this illogical way are contradicting
themselves, having forgotten their own previous
statements.
Text
31
What of the
lamentation, bewilderment, affection or fear all born out of
ignorance, relative to the infinite perception, knowledge and
opulence of the Infinite One?
How
can lamentation, bewilderment, material affection or fear,
all born out of ignorance, be ascribed to the infinite
Supreme Lord, whose perception, knowledge and power are all
similarly infinite?
Text
32
He
by whose feet those harnessed by service in self-realization
dispel the misidentification to the beginningless Self and
attain in a personal relationship the eternal glory - how in
the world can there be bewilderment for
Him,
the
Supreme Destination of the Truthful?
By
virtue of self-realization fortified by service rendered to
His feet, devotees of the Lord dispel the bodily concept of
life, which has bewildered the soul since time immemorial.
Thus they attain eternal glory in His personal association.
How, then, can that Supreme Truth, the destination of all
genuine saints, be subject to illusion?
Text
33
As
S'âlva with great force was attacking Him with torrents
of weapons, pierced Lord Krishna unerring in His prowess, with
His arrows his armor, bow and crest-jewel and smashed He with
His club the Saubha-vehicle of His enemy.
While
S'âlva continued to hurl torrents of weapons at Him
with great force, Lord Krishna, whose prowess never fails,
shot His arrows at S'âlva, wounding him and shattering
his armor, bow and crest jewel. Then with His club the Lord
smashed His enemy's Saubha airship.
Text
34
Shattered
into thousands of pieces by the club wielded by Krishna's hand,
fell it into the water whereupon S'âlva abandoning it
standing on the ground took up his club and rushed forward in
attack of Acyuta.
Shattered
into thousands of pieces by Lord Krishna's club, the Saubha
airship plummeted into the water. S'âlva abandoned it,
stationed himself on the ground, took up his club and rushed
toward Lord Acyuta.
Text
35
Running
toward Him carrying his club was his arm severed with a bhalla
cutting arrow and held He, shining like a mountain against the
rising sun, in order to kill S'âlva next up His
disc-weapon that appeared exactly like the burst of light at
the end of time.
As
S'âlva rushed at Him, the Lord shot a bhalla dart and
cut off his arm that held the club. Having finally decided
to kill S'âlva, Krishna then raised His Sudars'ana
disc weapon, which resembled the sun at the time of
universal annihilation. The brilliantly shining Lord
appeared like the easternmost mountain bearing the rising
sun.
Text
36
With
it the Lord proceeded to remove the head of that master of
great magic, complete with earrings and crown, just like lord
Indra with his thunderbolt did with Vritrâsura [see
6.12];
to which from his men rose a loudly voiced 'Alas,
Alas!'.
Employing
His disc, Lord Hari removed that great magician's head with
its earrings and crown, just as Purandara had used his
thunderbolt to cut off Vritra's head. Seeing this, all of
S'âlva's followers cried out, "Alas, alas!"
Text
37
With
the sinner fallen and the Saubha-fortress destroyed by the
club, there sounded kettledrums in the sky, o King, played by
groups of demigods, while Dantavakra angry, out to revenge his
friends, ran forward.
With
the sinful S'âlva now dead and his Saubha airship
destroyed, the heavens resounded with kettledrums played by
groups of demigods. Then Dantavakra, wanting to avenge the
death of his friends, furiously attacked the Lord.
