SECTION X
"Narada said,--'Possessed of great splendour, the assembly house of
Vaisravana, O king, is a hundred yojanas in length and seventy yojanas in
breadth. It was built, O king, by Vaisravana himself using his ascetic
power. Possessing the splendour of the peaks of Kailasa, that mansion
eclipses by its own the brilliance of the Moon himself. Supported by
Guhyakas, that mansion seems to be attached to the firmament. Of
celestial make, it is rendered extremely handsome with high chambers of
gold. Extremely delightful and rendered fragrant with celestial perfumes,
it is variegated with numberless costly jewels. Resembling the peaks of a
mass of white clouds, it seems to be floating in the air. Painted with
colours of celestial gold, it seems to be decked with streaks of
lightning. Within that mansion sitteth on an excellent seat bright as the
sun and covered with celestial carpets and furnished with a handsome
footstool, king Vaisravana of agreeable person, attired in excellent
robes and adorned with costly ornaments and ear-rings of great
brilliance, surrounded by his thousand wives. Delicious and cooling
breezes murmuring through forests of tall Mandaras, and bearing fragrance
of extensive plantations of jasmine, as also of the lotuses on the bosom
of the river Alaka and of the Nandana-gardens, always minister to the
pleasure of the King of the Yakshas. There the deities with the
Gandharvas surrounded by various tribes of Apsaras, sing in chorus, O
king, notes of celestial sweetness. Misrakesi and Rambha, and Chitrasena,
and Suchismita; and Charunetra, and Gritachi and Menaka, and
Punjikasthala; and Viswachi Sahajanya, and Pramlocha and Urvasi and Ira,
and Varga and Sauraveyi, and Samichi, and Vududa, and Lata--these and a
thousand other Apsaras and Gandharvas, all well-skilled in music and
dance, attend upon Kuvera, the lord of treasures. And that mansion,
always filled with the notes of instrumental and vocal music, as also
with the sounds of dance of various tribes of Gandharvas, and Apsaras
hath become extremely charming and delicious. The Gandharvas called
Kinnaras, and others called Naras, and Manibhadra, and Dhanada, and
Swetabhadra and Guhyaka; Kaseraka, Gandakandu, and the mighty Pradyota;
Kustumvuru, Pisacha, Gajakarna, and Visalaka, Varaha-Karna, Tamraushtica,
Falkaksha, and Falodaka; Hansachuda, Sikhavarta, Vibhishana, Pushpanana,
Pingalaka, Sonitoda and Pravalaka; Vrikshavaspa-niketa, and
Chiravasas--these O Bharata, and many other Yakshas by hundred and
thousands always wait upon Kuvera. The goddess Lakshmi always stayeth
there, also Kuvera's son Nalakuvera. Myself and many others like myself
often repair thither. Many Brahmana Rishis and celestial Rishis also
repair there often. Many Rakshasas, and many Gandharvas, besides those
that have been named, wait upon the worship, in that mansion, the
illustrious lord of all treasures. And, O tiger among kings, the
illustrious husband of Uma and lord of created things, the three-eyed
Mahadeva, the wielder of the trident and the slayer of the Asura called
Bhaga-netra, the mighty god of the fierce bow, surrounded by multitudes
of spirits in their hundreds and thousands, some of dwarfish stature,
some of fierce visage, some hunch-backed, some of blood-red eyes, some of
frightful yells, some feeding upon fat and flesh, and some terrible to
behold, but all armed with various weapons and endued with the speed of
wind, with the goddess (Parvati) ever cheerful and knowing no fatigue,
always waiteth here upon their friend Kuvera, the lord of treasures. And
hundreds of Gandharva chiefs, with cheerful hearts and attired in their
respective robes and Viswavasu, and Haha and Huhu; and Tumvuru and
Parvatta, and Sailusha; and Chitrasena skilled in music and also
Chitraratha,--these and innumerable Gandharvas worship the lord of
treasures. And Chakradhaman, the chief of the Vidyadharas, with his
followers, waiteth in that mansion upon the lord of treasures. And
Kinnaras by hundreds and innumerable kings with Bhagadatta as their
chief, and Druma, the chief of the Kimpurushas, and Mahendra, the chief
of the Rakshasas, and Gandhamadana accompanied by many Yakshas and
Gandharvas and many Rakshasas wait upon the lord of treasures. The
virtuous Vibhishana also worshippeth there his elder brother the lord
Kuvera (Croesus). The mountains of Himavat, Paripatra, Vindhya, Kailasa,
Mandara, Malaya, Durdura, Mahendra, Gandhamadana, Indrakila, Sunava, and
Eastern and the Western hills--these and many other mountains, in their
personified forms, with Meru standing before all, wait upon and worship
the illustrious lord of treasures. The illustrious Nandiswaras, and
Mahakala, and many spirits with arrowy ears and sharp-pointed mouths,
Kaksha, Kuthimukha, Danti, and Vijaya of great ascetic merit, and the
mighty white bull of Siva roaring deep, all wait in that mansion. Besides
these many other Rakshasas and Pisachas (devils) worship Kuvera in that
assembly house. The son of Pulastya (Kuvera) formerly used always to
worship in all the modes and sit, with permission obtained, beside the
god of gods, Siva, the creator of the three worlds, that supreme Deity
surrounded by his attendants. One day the exalted Bhava (Siva) made
friendship with Kuvera. From that time, O king, Mahadeva always sitteth
on the mansion of his friend, the lord of treasures. Those best of all
jewels, those princes of all gems in the three worlds, viz., Sankha and
Padma, in their personified forms, accompanied by all the jewels of the
earth (also in their personified forms) worship Kuvera."
"This delightful assembly house of Kuvera that I have seen, attached to
the firmament and capable of moving along it, is such, O king. Listen now
to the Sabha I describe unto thee, belonging to Brahma the Grandsire."
--------------------END OF PARVA 2 : UPA-PARVA 10 ---------------------
