Chapter 63: The Fever in Conflict and Bâna Defeated

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus not seeing Aniruddha, o son of Bharata, passed His relatives in constant lamentation the four months of the rainy season. (2) Hearing from Nârada the news of what He had done and that He had been captured, went the Vrishnis, who had Krishna as their worshipable deity, to S'onitapura. (3-4) The best of the Sâtvatas knowing Pradyumna, Yuyudhâna [Sâtyaki], Gada, Sâmba, and Sârana; Nanda, Upananda, Bhadra and others, assembled under the lead of Râma and Krishna with twelve akshauhinîs and besieged on all sides Bâna's city completely. (5) Seeing the city gardens, the city walls and watchtowers ravaged appeared he, fuming with anger, on the scene to meet them with an army just as big. (6) Bhagavân S'iva appeared from the city on the back of Nandi, his bull, together with his son [Kârtikeya, his general] and was accompanied by the Pramathas [his different mystic attendants] to fight against Râma and Krishna at the side of Bâna. (7) What took place, o King, was a tumultuous, astonishing and hair-raising fight of Krishna against S'ankara and Pradyumna against Kârtikeya. (8) Kumbhânda and Kûpakarna had a fight with Balarâma, Sâmba with the son of Bâna and Sâtyaki with Bâna himself. (9) Headed by Lord Brahmâ came to witness in their celestial vehicles the leaders of the godly, the sages, the perfected and the venerable; the singers and dancing girls of heaven as well as the spirits. (10-11) Discharging sharp-pointed arrows from His bow, the S'ârnga, drove S'auri [Krishna] away the Bhûtas [spirits of the dead], the Pramathas [mystic spirits], the Guhyakas [the wealth-keepers of Kuvera], the Dâkinîs [female imps of Kâlî] the Yâtudhânas [practicioners of black magic], Vetâlas [vampires], the Vinâyakas [demons of education, distracters, humiliaters], the Pretas [ghosts, hobgoblins], the Mâtâs [demoniac mothers], the Pis'âcas [child-demons], the Kushmândas [meditation-disturbers, diseasing demons] and the Brahmâ-râkshasas [fallen brahmins as in 9.9: 25] who followed S'ankara. (12) The holder of the trident [Pinâkî or S'iva] using different types of weapons against the Wielder of S'ârnga saw them neutralized with befitting counterweapons; they couldn't daunt the Carrier of S'ârnga. (13) He used a brahmâstra against a brahmâstra, a mountain-weapon against a wind-weapon, a rain-weapon against a fire-weapon and His nârâyanâstra [His personal weapon] against S'iva's [personal] pâs'upatâstra [the 'beaststrap'-weapon]. (14) Then bewildering lord S'iva making him yawn with a yawning weapon, struck S'auri Bâna's army with His sword, club and arrows. (15) Kârtikeya distressed by Pradyumna's arrows raining from all sides, fled on his peakcock-carrier from the battlefield, with blood streaming from his limbs. (16) Kumbhânda and Kûpakarna tormented by the club [of Râma] fell and their armies, whose leaders were killed, fled in all directions.

(17) Bâna seeing his troops torn apart, left Sâtyaki whom he was fighting aside, crossed with his chariot the battlefield and most furiously attacked Krishna. (18) Bâna, in a frenzy because of the fighting, with fixing two arrows on each, simultaneously bent the complete of his fivehundred bows. (19) These bows were by Bhagavân all at once split and after hitting the chariot, the horses and the charioteer, blew He His conchshell. (20) [then] Hoping to save her son's life, positioned his mother, named Kotharâ, herself naked, with her hair loosened, in front of Krishna. (21) When Lord Gadâgraja then turned His face away not to look at the naked woman, took Bâna without his chariot and with his bow broken, the opportunity to escape into the city. (22) But with S'iva's followers driven away rushed Jvara, the [personification of S'iva's hot] fever with three heads and three feet, forward to the descendant of Dâs'arha like setting fire to the ten directions [see *]. (23) Lord Nârâyana, seeing him, thereupon released His fever [of extreme cold instead] so that the two Jvaras of Mâhes'vara and Vishnu came to fight each other. (24) The one of Mâhes'vara had to cry out in pain being tormented by the force of the one of Vishnu and not finding a safe refuge anywhere started Mâhes'vara's Jvara thirsting for protection next devout to praise Hrishîkes'a with folded hands. (25) The Jvara said: 'I bow down to You, the Supreme Lord Unlimited in His Potencies, the Soul of All of Pure Conciousness, the Cause to the totality of the universe it's creation, dissolution and maintenance; You the Absolute Truth of Perfect Peace to whom the Vedas indirectly refer. (26) I approach You for Your being the negation of this mâyâ of Time, fate, the workload of karma, the propensities to it, the subtle elements, the field that is the body, the life-air, the sense of I, the transformations [the eleven senses] and the aggregate of all of this [as the subtle body, the linga], that is there in a constant flow of seed and sprout. (27) You with various intentions indeed are there to take up missions of divine engagement [lîlâs] to maintain the godly, the sages, and the codes of conduct in the world and put to death the ones who left the path and live by violence; Your incarnating like this is there to relieve the earth of its burden [see also B.G. 9: 29 and 4: 8]. (28) I am tormented by this most terrible fever of Your power that unbearably cold yet is burning, for indeed, as long as the embodied souls do not serve the soles of Your feet must they suffer, continually being bound in desires.'

(29) The Supreme Lord said: 'O three-headed one, I am satisfied with you, may your fear raised by My fever leave you; for anyone who remembers our conversation will there be no reason to fear you.'

(30) Thus addressed bowed the Mâhes'vara's Jvara down to Acyuta and went away, but Bâna, riding his chariot, came forward with the intent to fight Janârdana. (31) Thereupon, o King, with his thousand arms carrying numerous weapons, released the demon, fuming of anger, arrows at Him whose Weapon was the Cakra. (32) Of him, over and over hurling weapons, cut the Supreme Lord with the razor-sharp edge of His disc the arms as if they were the branches of a tree. (33) As Bâna's arms were being severed, approached the great lord Bhava [- of existence, S'iva] out of compassion for his devotee and spoke he to the Wielder of the Disc. (34) S'rî Rudra said: 'You alone are the Absolute Truth, the Light of the Supreme hidden in the lingual expressions of the Absolute [of the Veda]; they whose hearts are spotless see You, pure as the blue sky. (35-36) You with the atmosphere as Your navel, fire as Your face, water as Your semen, heaven as Your head, the directions as Your sense of hearing, the earth as Your foot, the moon as Your mind; whose sight is the sun, whose awareness of Self I am, with the ocean as Your abdomen and Indra as Your arm; You with the plants as the hair on Your body, the clouds as the hair on Your head, with Viriñca as Your intelligence, with the Prajâpati as Your genitals, whose heart is the religion; Your good self indeed art the Purusha from whom all the worlds originated. (37) You of an unbounded glory are in this descend there to defend the dharma to the benefit of the Complete of the Living Being and we all manifest and develop enlightened by You the seven worlds [see dvîpa]. (38) You are the Original Supreme Person without a second, the Transcendental Self-manifesting Cause without a prior cause, the Ruler; yet are You, for the sake of the full manifestation of Your qualities, just as well perceived in the various transformations [of the different lifeforms, gods and avatâras] of Your illusory potency. (39) Just as the sun in its own shade hidden from sight illumines the forms visible, do You, o All-mighty One, similarly self-luminous, illumine the qualities of the covering modes of matter for the beings with these qualities. (40) Those who, fully entangled in their respect for their children, wife, a home and so on, in their intelligence are bewildered by mâyâ do, in the ocean of misery, [alternately] rise to the surface and sink [again, see B.G. 9: 21]. (41) By the grace of God attaining this human world is he, who uncontrolled in his senses is not willing to honor Your feet, lamentable as he is indeed someone who fools himself. (42) The mortal being who in opposition for the sake of the sense-objects rejects You, his True Self and dearmost Guide, eats the poison and avoids the nectar. (43) I, Brahmâ as well as the demigods and the sages have a consciousness that is pure in wholeheartedly being surrendered to You, the Master, the dearmost Self. (44) Let us be of worship for the Godhead of You, the cause of the rise, the maintenance and the demise of the Living Being that is the Universe; He who perfectly in peace equipoised is the unique, unequalled Friend, True Self and worshipable Lord of all the worlds and all the souls, and the shelter for putting an end to a material life. (45) This one [Bâna] is my favored and dearest follower, by me awarded with fearlessness, o Lord, please grant him Your grace therefore, the way You were also of mercy with the master of the Daityas [Prahlâda].'

(46) The Supreme Lord said: 'What you've told us, o great lord, We'll do, I fully concur with that what you determined to be your pleasure. (47) He, this son of Virocana [Bali], will be spared by Me, for I gave Prahlâda the benediction: 'Your descendants will not be killed by Me' [see 7.10: 21]. (48) To subdue his pride were his arms severed by Me and was the huge military force slain which had become a burden to the earth. (49) The Asura left with four of his arms, will, not aging and being immortal, of you be a principal associate who has nothing to fear on any account.'

(50) Thus attaining freedom from fear bowed the Asura his head down to Krishna, placed he the son of Pradyumna with His wife on His chariot and led he them forward. (51) He [Krishna] putting Him and His wife, ornamented and with fine clothes, in front, then with the permission of S'iva left, being surrounded by an akshauhinî. (52) Entering His capital fully decorated with flags, arches of victory and with the streets and crossroads sprinkled, was He respectfully with the resounding of conchshells, side drums and kettledrums welcomed by the people of the city, His relatives and the twiceborn. (53) For the one who, rising at dawn, remembers thus the victory of Krishna in the battle with S'ankara, will there be no defeat.'