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मौसलपर्वन् (mausalaparvan)

 
Monier Williams Cologne
English
मौसल—पर्वन्
n.
 ‘Musala-section’,
N.
 of the 16th book of the Mahā-bhārata (so called after the self-slaughter in a club-fight of Kṛṣṇa's family, the Yādavas, through the curse of some Brāhmans,
IW.
 374).
Mahabharata
English
[Mausalaparvan]
(“the section relating to the battle with clubs, ” the 16th of the great and the 98th of the minor parvans of Mhbhr.
cf. Mausala). § 793: Vaiśampāyana said: When the 36th year [after the great battle]
was reached, Yudhishṭhira beheld many unusual portents (specification). A little while afterwards he heard of the wholesale carnage of the Vṛshṇis in a battle with clubs, where only Kṛshṇa and Rāma had escaped with life
he summoned his brothers and took counsel with them
they were filled with grief
the death of Kṛshṇa they could not believe. Janamejaya inquired about the particulars of the destruction of the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas. Vaiśampāyana said: **When the 36th year…(cf. above). Asked by Janamejaya, cursed by whom the Vṛshṇis, etc. (), met with destruction, Vaiśampāyana said: Sāraṇa, etc., saw Viśvāmitra, Kaṇva, and Nārada arrived at Dvārakā
they disguised Śāmba as a woman, calling her the wife of Babhru, and asked the ascetics what [sort of child]
this one would bring forth. The ascetics answered: “This Śāmba will bring forth a terrible iron club for the destruction of the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas, except Rāma (who will enter the ocean) and Kṛshṇa (whom Jarā will pierce while lying on the ground).” Then they went to Kṛshṇa. Informed of what had taken place, Kṛshṇa summoned all the Vṛshṇis and told them of it, but did not try to annul the curse. The next day Śāmba actually brought forth an iron club. The fact was reported to the king [Ugrasena], who caused it to be reduced into powder and thrown into the sea. At the command of Āhuka, etc. (), the manufacture of spirits was forbidden among all the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas, under the penance of being impaled alive with all one's kinsmen. All the citizens (knowing that it was the command of Rāma also) bound themselves by the rule (XVI,
1). [The embodied form of]
Time every day wandered about their houses, like a man of terrible and fierce aspect, bald head, black and tawny of complexion
they shot innumerable arrows at him, without being able to pierce him. Also other dreadful portents of calamity were daily seen by the Vṛshṇis throughout the city (description). They showed disregard for brahmans, P., and D., etc., except Rāma and Kṛshṇa, etc. When the Pāñcajanya was blown in their houses, asses brayed aloud from every direction. Kṛshṇa, seeing that the day of the new moon coincided with the 13th [and 14th]
lunation, summoned the Yādavas and said: The 14th lunation has been made the 15th by Rāhu once more, as at the time of the great battle of the Bharatas (v. the note of PCR. on p. 5). He understood that the 36th year had come according to the curse of Gāndhārī, and that the omens were similar to those which Yudhishṭhira had noticed when the two armies were arrayed in order of battle. He endeavoured to bring about those occurrences which would make Gāndhārī's words true. He commanded the Vṛshṇis to make a pilgrimage to some sacred water, and caused the messengers to proclaim a journey to the sea-coast (XVI, 2). At that time the Vṛshṇi ladies dreamt every night that a black woman with white teeth, entering their abodes, laughed aloud and ran through Dvārakā stealing [from them]
the men dreamt of vultures that devoured the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas in the houses and firechambers
their ornaments, etc., were taken away by Rā. The iron discus of Kṛshṇa, given by Agni, with a nave of adamant, ascended to heaven. Kṛshṇa's chariot was dragged away by his four steeds over the ocean
Kṛshṇa's and Baladeva's standards (resp. Garuḍa and a palmyra), which were reverently worshipped by those two heroes, were taken away by Aps., who day and night called upon the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas to set out on a pilgrimage to some sacred water. They prepared various kinds of edibles and spirits, and set out to Prabhāsa. Uddhava took leave of them and Kṛshṇa before departing [from the world]. The Vṛshṇis, mixing with spirits the food that had been cooked for the brahmans, gave it to apes, and began revels with drinking, so also Rāma, etc. ()
Yuyudhāna blamed Kṛtavarman for the nightly slaughter, and was applauded by Pradyumna, but was rebuked by Kṛtavarman with having killed Bhūriśravas while sitting in prāya
Kṛshṇa cast an angry glance [at Kṛtavarman], and Sātyaki informed him of the story of the gem Syamantaka, which was Satrājit's
Satyabhāmā, weeping, approached Kṛshṇa, and sitting on his lap enhanced his anger
Sātyaki swore that he would cause Kṛtavarman to follow the five sons of Draupadī, etc (), whom he had slain with the help of Aśvatthāman, and he severed his head in the very sight of Kṛshṇa, and began to strike down others
Kṛshṇa rushed forward to prevent him from doing further mischief, and the Bhojas and Andhakas all assailed him
Kṛshṇa did not interfere
they struck Yuyudhāna with the pots from which they had been eating
Pradyumna rushed forward to rescue Yuyudhāna
they were both slain. Kṛshṇa in wrath took up a handful of erakā grass, which became a terrible iron club, with which Kṛshṇa slew all that came before him. The Andhakas, etc. (), also took up blades of the erakā grass, which were converted into iron clubs, and struck one another in consequence of the curse of the brahmans
son killed father and vice versa, inebriated with spirits. Beholding that Śāmba, etc. (), were slain, Kṛshṇa exterminated the Vṛshṇis and the Andhakas. Babhru and Dāruka told him now to go to Rāma (XVI, 3). Dāruka, Kṛshṇa, and Babhru, seeking Rāma, saw him sitting thoughtfully, reclining his back against a tree. Kṛshṇa sent Dāruka to inform Arjuna and tell him to come quickly, and he also dispatched Babhru to protect the ladies against robbers
but as soon as Babhru had proceeded to a distance, an iron club attached to the mallet of a hunter came and slew him. Kṛshṇa then, entering Dvāravatī, told his father to protect the ladies till Arjuna came, saying that he would practise penances with Rāma. When he came to Rāma, the latter had applied himself to yoga, and from his mouth issued a huge white Nāga with 1, 000 heads and red eyes, who proceeded to the ocean, and was received by the ocean and many celestial snakes (and many sacred rivers): Karkoṭaka, etc. (). After Rāma's death Kṛshṇa wandered for some time, and then sat down, thinking of Gāndhārī (§ 619) and Durvāsas (§ 773c), and the destruction of the Vṛshṇis, Andhakas, and Kurus, whence he concluded that the hour [of his death]
had come
he then restrained his senses [in yoga]
though he was the Supreme Deity, he wished to die in order to dispel all doubts, etc., and to make the words of Durvāsas true. The hunter Jarā, mistaking Kṛshṇa for a deer, pierced him at the heel with an arrow
coming up, he beheld a man dressed in yellow robes, rapt in yoga, with many arms
he became filled with fear
Kṛshṇa comforted him and then ascended upwards, and was received in heaven by Indra, etc. () (XVI, 4). Meanwhile Dāruka came and informed the Pāṇḍavas of the slaughter of the Vṛshṇis, etc. (). Arjuna with Dāruka proceeded to Dvārakā
when Kṛshṇa's 16, 000 wives saw Arjuna, they uttered a loud cry
the city seemed to Arjuna to be the fierce river Vaitaraṇī
Arjuna, Satyā (the daughter of Satrājit), and Rukmiṇī fell down and wailed
then praising Kṛshṇa and comforting the ladies, Arjuna went to Vasudeva (XVI, 5), whom he found lying on the ground and burning with grief
Vasudeva lamented () and said he would die by abstaining from food (XVI, 6). Arjuna said that the hour had come for the Pāṇḍavas also for departing [from the world]
()
he would, however, first remove to Indraprastha the women, the children, and the aged of the Vṛshṇis. Saying to Dāruka that he wished to see the chief officers of the Vṛshṇis, Arjuna entered the hall of the Yādavas called Sudharmā, where he said to the citizens and ministers that he would take away with him the remnants of the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas, as the sea would soon engulf the city
Vajra would be their king at Indraprastha
they would set out on the seventh day at sunrise. Arjuna passed that night in the mansion of Kṛshṇa. At dawn Vasudeva by yoga attained to the highest goal
the ladies were in despair. His four wives, Devakī, Bhadrā, Rohiṇī, and Madirā, ascended the funeral pyre, and attained to the regions of Vasudeva. When Arjuna had caused Vasudeva and his four wives to be burnt (under immense tokens of sympathy from the women), the boys (headed by Vajra) and the ladies offered oblations of water to Vasudeva. Then Arjuna visited the spot where the Vṛshṇis had been killed and caused the last rites to be performed, and caused Rāma and Kṛshṇa to be cremated. On the seventh day he set out, mounting his chariot, with the ladies and children, the Yādava troops, and other inhabitants, with Kṛshṇa's 16, 000 wives and Vajra
they numbered many millions in all. Then the ocean flooded Dvārakā. They proceeded in slow marches. When they had planted their encampment at Pañcanada, the Ābhīras (Mlecchas) conspired to rob the cavalcade. Arjuna succeeded only with great difficulty in stringing his bow
his celestial weapons would not come to his mind
the Vṛshṇi warriors failed to rescue the women, who were snatched away by the robbers
Arjuna's shafts soon became exhausted
formerly they had been inexhaustible. Arjuna became very cheerless
he escorted the remnant of the cavalcade to Kurukshetra
he established the son of Kṛtavarman in the city of Mārttikāvata with the remnant of the women of the Bhoja king
the remainder, with children and old men and women, at Indraprastha, with Vajra as their ruler
the son of Yuyudhāna (with old men, etc.) on the banks of the Sarasvatī
the widows of Akrūra, notwithstanding the entreaties of Vajra, entered the woods
Rukmiṇī, etc. (), ascended the funeral pyre
Satyabhāmā and the other wives of Kṛshṇa entered the woods in order to practise penances in the contemplation of Hari
going beyond Himavat, they took up their abode in Kalāpa-grāma. Then Arjuna entered the retreat of Vyāsa (XVI, 7). Asked by Vyāsa (“Hast thou been sprinkled with water from anybody's nails or hair, etc.?”), Arjuna informed him of what had passed () (“500, 000 warriors have thus been laid down”). Vyāsa said that the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas had been consumed by the brahman's curse
it was destiny: “Kṛshṇa, as also the Pāṇḍavas, have finished their work
the time has come for your departure from the world, ” etc. (). Arjuna entered Hāstinapura and informed Yudhishṭhira of what had taken place (XVI, 8).