SECTION CCXI
(Rajya-labha Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Hearing these words of Yudhishthira, Narada replied,
'O son of Pritha, listen with your brothers to me as I recite this old
story, O Yudhishthira, exactly as everything happened. In olden days, a
mighty Daitya named Nikumbha, endued with great energy and strength was
born in the race of the great Asura, Hiranyakasipu. Unto this Nikumbha,
were born two sons called Sunda and Upasunda. Both of them were mighty
Asuras endued with great energy and terrible prowess. The brothers were
both fierce and possessed of wicked hearts. And those Daityas were both
of the same resolution, and ever engaged in achieving the same tasks and
ends. They were ever sharers with each other in happiness as well as in
woe. Each speaking and doing what was agreeable to the other, the
brothers never were unless they were together, and never went anywhere
unless together. Of exactly the same disposition and habits, they seemed
to be one individual divided into two parts. Endued with great energy and
ever of the same resolution in everything they undertook, the brothers
gradually grew up. Always entertaining the same purpose, desirous of
subjugating the three worlds, the brothers, after due initiation, went to
the mountains of Vindhya. And severe were the ascetic penances they
performed there. Exhausted with hunger and thirst, with matted locks on
their heads and attired in barks of trees, they acquired sufficient
ascetic merit at length. Besmearing themselves with dirt from head to
foot, living upon air alone, standing on their toes, they threw pieces of
the flesh of their bodies into the fire. Their arms upraised, and eye
fixed, long was the period for which they observed their vows. And during
the course of their ascetic penances, a wonderful incident occurred
there. For the mountains of Vindhya, heated for a long course of years by
the power of their ascetic austerities, began to emit vapour from every
part of their bodies. And beholding the severity of their austerities,
the celestials became alarmed. The gods began to cause numerous
obstructions to impede the progress of their asceticism. The celestials
repeatedly tempted the brothers by means of every precious possession and
the most beautiful girls. The brothers broke not their vows. Then the
celestials once more manifested, before the illustrious brothers, their
powers of illusion. For it seemed their sisters, mothers, wives, and
other relatives, with disordered hair and ornaments and robes, were
running towards them in terror, pursued and struck by a Rakshasa with a
lance in hand. And it seemed that the women implored the help of the
brothers crying, 'O save us!' But all this went for nothing, for firmly
wedded thereto, the brothers did not still break their vows. And when it
was found that all this produced not the slightest impression on any of
the two, both the women and the Rakshasa vanished from sight. At last the
Grandsire himself, the Supreme Lord ever seeking the welfare of all, came
unto those great Asuras and asked them to solicit the boon they desired.
Then the brothers Sunda and Upasunda, both of great prowess, beholding
the Grandsire, rose from their seats and waited with joined palms. And
the brothers both said unto the God, 'O Grandsire, if you hast been
pleased with these our ascetic austerities, and art, O lord, propitious
unto us, then let us have knowledge of all weapons and of all powers of
illusion. Let us be endued with great strength, and let us be able to
assume any form at will. And last of all, let us also be immortal.'
Hearing these words of theirs, Brahman said, 'Except the immortality you
ask for, you shall be given all that you desire. Solicit you some form of
death by which you may still be equal unto the immortals. And since you
have undergone these severe ascetic austerities from desire of
sovereignty alone I cannot confer on you the boon of immortality. You
have performed your ascetic penances even for the subjugation of the
three worlds. It is for this, O mighty Daityas, that I cannot grant you
what you desire.'
"Narada continued, 'Hearing these words of Brahman, Sunda and Upasunda
said, 'O Grandsire, let us have no fear then from any created thing,
mobile or immobile, in the three worlds, except only from each other!'
The Grandsire then said, 'I grant you what you have asked for, even this
your desire'. And granting them this boon, the Grandsire made them desist
from their asceticism, and returned to his own region. Then the brothers,
those mighty Daityas, having received those several boons became
incapable of being slain by anybody in the universe. They then returned
to their own abode. All their friends and relatives, beholding those
Daityas of great intelligence, crowned with success in the matter of the
boons they had obtained, became exceedingly glad. And Sunda and Upasunda
then cut off their matted locks and wore coronets on their heads. Attired
in costly robes and ornaments, they looked exceedingly handsome. They
caused the moon to rise over their city every night even out of his
season. And friends and relatives gave themselves up to joy and merriment
with happy hearts. Eat, feed, give, make merry, sing, drink--these were
the sounds heard everyday in every house. And here and there arose loud
uproars of hilarity mixed with clappings of hands which filled the whole
city of the Daityas, who being capable of assuming any form at will, were
engaged in every kind of amusement and sport and scarcely noticed the
flight of time, even regarding a whole year as a single day.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 1 : UPA-PARVA 211 ---------------------
