Carrying the umbrella of Varuna, the jewel mountain and Hrishikesh with
his spouse on his back, Garuda went along lightly and sportively. When
Hari arrived at the gate of Swarga he blew his conch on which the
celestials came forward to meet him bearing respectful offerings. Having
received the homage of the celestials he proceeded to the palace of the
mother of gods whose turrets resembled the white clouds and found Aditi
there. Thereupon having bowed unto her along with the king of celestials
he conferred the pair of ear-rings upon her and related unto her the
destruction of the demon Naraka. Well-pleased, Aditi, the mother of Gods
with her thoughts wholly devoted unto Hari, the protector of the
universe, began to chant his glories:—"Salutation unto thee, O thou
having lotus eyes, who removest all fear of the devotees, who art
eternal, the soul of all creatures, the creator of all and identical
with all. Thou art at one with the three qualities and the creator of
mind, intellect and senses. Thou art beyond the three qualities, exempt
from contraries, pure, residing in the hearts of all; void of colour,
extension and every transient modification and uninfluenced by the
changes of birth and death and sleep and waking. Thou art evening, night
and day, earth, sky, air, water and fire, mind, intellect and
individuality. Thou art the agent of creation, preservation and
destruction and the lord over the agent—thou appearest in various forms
which are Brahmā, Vishnu and Siva—and thou art the master of all these
thy forms. Thou art Gods, Yakshas, Daityas, Rākshasas, Sidhas, Pannagas,
Kushmandas, Pisāchas, Gandharvas, men, animals, deer, elephants,
reptiles, trees, shrubs, creepers, climbers, and grasses—all things,
large, middling, and small, immense or minute; thou art all bodies
whatsoever composed of aggregated atoms. Those who are ignorant of thy
true nature cannot understand thy illusion—the fools (only) follow the
illusion and think 'this is mine'. O Lord, thy illusion is the mother of
the world—and the notions 'I am, this is mine' are but delusions. O
Lord, those men, who attentive to their duties, worship thee, obtain
salvation after traversing these illusions. Brahmā and all the
celestials, men and animals are alike enshrouded by the thick darkness
of delusion in the abyss of the illusions of Vishnu. This is also thy
delusion, O lord, that men having worshipped thee seek the gratification
of desires and their own preservation. That people having worshipped
thee desire for the total annihilation of themselves is but the outcome
of thy delusion. That I have worshipped thee for son and the destruction
of the enemies and not for salvation is also the result of thy
fascination. It is the fruit of the iniquitous acts of the impious (to
pray for vain things to one who is able to give better things) like
asking for a rag to cover nakedness from the tree that confers whatever
is solicited from it. Be propitious with me, O thou imperishable, who
hast deceived the whole universe with thy delusion. O lord of creatures,
do thou remove this ignorance of mine—the notion that I am wise;
salutation unto thee, the holder of discus; salutation unto thee the
wielder of bow; salutation unto thee, the holder of a club; salutation
unto thee, the holder of a conch. O god, I do perceive thy perceptible
form—but cannot perceive thy real form; do thou therefore be propitious
with me".
Parāçara said:—The mother of gods, having thus chanted the glories of
Vishnu, he smiling said:—"Thou art our mother, O goddess, be thou
propitious and confer upon me a boon".
Aditi said:—"So be it, ever as thou wilt; O foremost of men, as long as
shalt thou dwell in the land of mortals thou shalt be invincible by
celestials and demons". Thereupon Satyabhāmā, along with Sachi, bowed
unto Aditi again and again and said, "Be thou pleased". Whereto Aditi
replied saying:—"Fair-browed dame, by my favour thou shalt never
experience decrepitude or loss of beauty; thou shalt be of a blameless
person and asylum of all graces".
Parāçara said:—Being commanded by Aditi, the lord of the celestials duly
honored Janārddana. Thereupon Krishna, accompanied by Satyabhāmā beheld
Nandana and other pleasant gardens of the celestials. There Kesava, the
lord of the universe and the slayer of Kesi, saw Pārijāta, the favourite
of Sachi, having golden bark, young sprouting leaves of a copper colour
and bearing numerous fragrant clusters of flowers, and which was
produced when the ocean was churned for ambrosia. Beholding that tree, O
foremost of twice-born ones, Satyabhāmā said to Govinda. "Why should not
this celestial tree be taken to Dwārakā. If what you always say is true
that I am really dear to you then take this tree from here for the
gardens of my dwelling. O Krishna, you always say 'O Satya, neither
Rukmini nor Jāmbavati is beloved unto me like thee,' if this is true and
not mere flattery then let this Pārijāta be the ornament of my dwelling.
Wearing the flowers of this tree in the braids of my hair I wish to
appear graceful amidst my fellow queens".
Parāçara said:—Thus requested by Satyabhāmā Hari, smiled and taking the
Pārijāta plant placed it upon Garuda.
The guards said: "O Govinda, this tree belongs to Sachi, the queen of
the king of celestials; it is not becoming for thee to remove it. When
the ocean was churned by the celestials this tree was produced for the
purpose of providing Sachi with flowery ornaments; thou shalt not go
with it uncatched. This is the property of one whose countenance the
king of the celestials delights to look; it is out of ignorance that
thou dost attempt to take it—taking this no one shall be suffered to
depart in peace. Forsooth shall the celestial chief punish this
audacity; and when he shall take up his thunderbolt all the deities
shall follow him. O thou imperishable, it is not proper for thee, to
enter into conflict with all the divinities. The wise never undertake a
work that terminates fatally". The guards having said this Satyabhāmā
was greatly worked up with ire and said: "How does this Pārijāta belong
to Sachi? Who is Sakra, the lord of the celestials? If this had been
produced when the ocean was churned by the celestials then all have
equal right over it—why shall Vāsava alone possess it? O ye warders of
the garden, ambrosia, the moon and Lakshmi are the common properties of
all; so is this Pārijāta tree. If Sachi has taken possession of it
forcibly by the valour of her husband, do ye go and communicate unto her
that Satyabhāmā is taking it away and let not Sachi forgive her. Do ye
soon go to her and according to my instructions tell her that Satyabhāmā
has given vent to these proud words. 'If thou art dear unto thy husband,
if he is under thine control then let him take back the Pārijāta tree
which my husband is taking away. I know thy husband Sakra is the master
of the three worlds. Still being a mortal I take away this Panjata
tree.'"
Parāçara said:—Being thus accosted, the warders went to Sachi and
communicated unto her everything duly. And Sachi excited the lord of the
three worlds. Thereupon accompanied by the army of the celestials,
Indra, issued out to fight with Hari, in defence of the Pārijāta tree.
The celestials were armed with clubs, swords, maces and darts and Indra
wielded the thunderbolt. As soon as Govinda beheld the king of the
celestials proceeding against him mounted on his elephant attended by
the immortals he blew his shell so that all regions were filled with the
sound thereof and he smilingly showered myriads of shafts upon his
assailants. When the celestials saw that all the directions and
atmosphere were overspread with arrows they also in return hurled
numberless missiles. But all these, the slayer of Madhu, and the lord of
the three worlds, sundered easily into a thousand pieces with his
shafts. Garuda, the devourer of serpents, laid hold of the noose of the
king of seas and tore it to pieces with his beak as if it had been a
little snake. Devaki's son hurled his mace at the club of Yama and cast
it broken upon the ground; he sundered in pieces the litter of the lord
of riches with his discus; his eye-looks overclouded the radiance of the
sun; he cut Agni into a hundred parts with his shafts and scattered the
Vasus through the realms of the space; he sundered with his discus the
points of the tridents of the Rudras and cast themselves upon the earth;
and with the arrows shot from his bow he scattered the Sadhyas, Viswas,
Maruts and Gandharvas through the sky, like fleeces of cotton from the
pods of the Simal tree. Garuda also diligently plied his beak and wings
and bit and bruised and scratched the celestials who opposed his lord.
Like unto two heavy clouds showering raindrops the king of the
celestials and the slayer of Madhu overpowered each other with
numberless arrows. Garuda fought with Airavata in that conflict and
Janārddana engaged with his discus with all the celestials. When all
other weapons had been sundered into pieces Indra stood armed with his
thunderbolt and Krishna with the discus Sudarshana. Beholding them thus
ready for fight all the inhabitants of the three worlds, cried aloud
"Alas! Alas!" In vain did Indra hurl his bolt for Hari caught and
arrested it. He however, did not hurl his discus, but only called out to
Indra to stay. Beholding Indra disarmed and his elephant disabled by
Garuda and the deity about to fly away Satyabhāmā said to him:—"O king
of three worlds, it becomes not the husband of Sachi to run away. She
will approach you adorned with Pārijāta garlands. What shalt thou do
with the kingdom of heaven when no longer thou dost behold Sachi
approach thee, like before, embellished with Pārijāta garlands? Fly not
O Sakra; you must suffer shame, take the Pārijatā; let the celestials be
no longer annoyed. Worked up with the pride of her husband Sachi has not
welcomed me to her dwelling with her respectful presents. O king of the
celestials, I am a woman and therefore of light purpose and am anxious
of my husband's fame; for this I have instituted this fight with thee. I
do not require the Pārijatā any more. Why shall we steal another's
property? What female is not inflated with the pride of her husband? But
she is proud of her beauty".
Parāçara said:—Thus addressed by her the king of the celestials turned
back and said:—"O wrathful dame, thou shouldst not afflict thy friend
with further reproaches. I am not ashamed of being defeated by him who
is the author of the creation, preservation and destruction of the
world, who is the substance of all things, and in whom the universe
exists, without beginning or middle, and from whom and by whom at one
with all things, it proceeds and will cease to be. O goddess, what
disgrace it is to any one, to be vanquished by him who is the agent of
creation, preservation and destruction? His form, though infinitely
subtle, is the parent of all worlds and is known to those only by whom
all that may be known is known; who is capable of defeating the unborn,
unconstituted, eternal lord, who has, of his own accord, descended for
the behoof of the world?"