Vaishampayana said, "After all the troops had been slain during the hour
of sleep by those three car-warriors, king Yudhishthira in great grief
said these words unto him of Dasharha's race: How, O Krishna, could my
sons, all of whom were mighty car-warriors, be slaughtered by the sinful
and wretched Ashvatthama of no great skill in battle? How also could
Drona's son slay the children of Drupada, all of whom were accomplished
in weapons, possessed of great prowess, and capable of battling with
hundreds of thousands of foes? How could he slay that foremost of
car-warriors, Dhrishtadyumna, before whom the great bowman Drona himself
could not appear? What act was done by the preceptor's son, O bull among
men, in consequence of which he succeeded in slaying, single-handed, all
our men in battle?'
The holy one said, "Verily, Drona's son had sought the aid of that
highest of all the gods, the eternal Mahadeva. It was for this that he
succeeded in slaying, single-handed, so large a number of warriors. If
Mahadeva be gratified, he can bestow even immortality. Girisha can give
such valour as will succeed in checking Indra himself. I know Mahadeva
truly, O bull of Bharata's race! I know also his various acts of old. He,
O Bharata, is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all creatures.
This entire universe acts and moves through his energy.
The puissant Grandsire, desirous of creating living creatures, saw Rudra;
and the Grandsire asked him, saying, "Create living creatures without
delay!" Thus asked, Rudra of tawny locks, saying, "So be it!" plunged
into the water and practised austerities for a long time, inasmuch as he
was sensible of the defects of living creatures. Having waited in
expectation of Rudra for a very long time, the Grandsire, by a fiat of
his will, invoked into existence another being for making him the creator
of all kinds of living things. Beholding Girisha plunged into the waters,
this (second) being said unto his sire, "If there be no being born before
me, then I will create living creatures!" His sire replied unto him,
saying, "There is no other first-born being besides thee! This Sthanu has
plunged into the water! Go and create living creatures, without any
anxiety!"
That being then created many living creatures, having Daksha for their
first, who created all these creatures of four kinds. As soon, however,
as they were created, they ran O king, towards their sire, afflicted with
hunger and desirous of devouring him. The second being whom Brahma had
created, thereupon ran towards him, desirous of protection from his own
offspring. And he said unto the Grandsire, "O illustrious one, protect me
from these, and let these creatures have their food assigned unto them!"
Then the Grandsire assigned herbs and plants and other vegetables as
their food, and unto those that were strong he assigned the weaker
creatures as the means of sustenance. Their sustenance having been thus
assigned, the newly-created creatures all went away to regions they
desired, and cheerfully multiplied by union with their respective species.
After the creatures had multiplied and the Grandsire had become well
pleased, the first-born rose from the water and beheld the living
creation. He saw that diverse kinds of creatures had been created and
that they had multiplied by their own energy. At this sight, Rudra became
angry and caused his procreative limb to disappear in the bowels of the
Earth. The unfading Brahma, soothing him by soft words, said unto him, "O
Sharva, what wert thou doing so long within the water? For what reason,
also hast thou caused thy limb of generation to disappear in the bowels
of the Earth?" Thus questioned, that lord of the universe wrathfully
answered the lord Brahman, "Somebody else has created all these
creatures! What purpose then would be served by this limb of mine? I have
by my austerities, O Grandsire, created food for all these creatures.
These herbs and plants also will multiply like those that will subsist
upon them!" Having said these words, Bhava went away, in cheerlessness
and rage, to the foot of the Menjavat mountains for practising severer
austerities."
