(Indralokagamana Parva)
Vaisampayana said, “After the Lokapalas had gone away, Arjuna--that
slayer of all foes--began to think, O monarch, of the car of Indra! And
as Gudakesa gifted with great intelligence was thinking of it, the car
endued with great effulgence and guided by Matali, came dividing the
clouds and illuminating the firmament and filling the entire welkin with
its rattle deep as the roar of mighty masses of clouds. Swords, and
missiles of terrible forms and maces of frightful description, and winged
darts of celestials splendour and lightnings of the brightest effulgence,
and thunderbolts, and propellors furnished with wheels and worked with
atmosphere expansion and producing sounds loud as the roar of great
masses of clouds, were on that car. And there were also on that car
fierce and huge-bodied Nagas with fiery mouths, and heaps of stones white
as the fleecy clouds. And the car was drawn by ten thousands of horses of
golden hue, endued with the speed of the wind. And furnished with prowess
of illusion, the car was drawn with such speed that the eye could hardly
mark its progress. And Arjuna saw on that car the flag-staff called
Vaijayanta, of blazing effulgence, resembling in hue the emerald or the
dark-blue lotus, and decked with golden ornaments and straight as the
bamboo. And beholding a charioteer decked in gold seated on that car, the
mighty-armed son of Pritha regarded it as belonging to the celestials.
And while Arjuna was occupied with his thoughts regarding the car, the
charioteer Matali, bending himself after descending from the car,
addressed him, saying, ‘O lucky son of Sakra! Sakra himself wisheth to
see thee. Ascend thou without loss of time this car that hath been sent
by Indra. The chief of the immortals, thy father--that god of a hundred
sacrifices--hath commanded me, saying, ‘Bring the son of Kunti hither.
Let the gods behold him.’ And Sankara himself, surrounded by the
celestials and Rishis and Gandharvas and Apsaras, waiteth to behold thee.
At the command of the chastiser of Paka, therefore, ascend thou with me
from this to the region of the celestials. Thou wilt return after
obtaining weapons.’”
“Arjuna replied, ‘O Matali, mount thou without loss of time this
excellent car, a car that cannot be attained even by hundreds of Rajasuya
and horse sacrifices. Even kings of great prosperity who have performed
great sacrifices distinguished by large gifts (to Brahmanas), even gods
and Danavas are not competent to ride this car. He that hath not ascetic
merit is not competent to even see or touch this car, far less to ride on
it. O blessed one, after thou hast ascended, it, and after the horses
have become still, I will ascend it, like a virtuous man stepping into
the high-road of honesty.’”
Vaisampayana continued, “Matali, the charioteer of Sakra, hearing these
words of Arjuna, soon mounted the car and controlled the horses. Arjuna
then, with a cheerful heart, purified himself by a bath in the Ganges.
And the son of Kunti then duly repeated (inaudibly) his customary
prayers. He then, duly and according to the ordinance, gratified the
Pitris with oblations of water. And, lastly, he commenced to invoke the
Mandara--that king of mountains--saying, ‘O mountain, thou art ever the
refuge of holy, heaven-seeking Munis of virtuous conduct and behaviour.
It is through thy grace, O mountain, that Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and
Vaisyas attain heaven, and their anxieties gone, sport with the
celestials. O king of mountains, O mountain, thou art the asylum of
Munis, and thou holdest on thy breast numerous sacred shrines. Happily
have I dwelt on thy heights. I leave thee now, bidding thee farewell. Oft
have I seen thy tablelands and bowers, thy springs and brooks, and the
sacred shrines on thy breast. I have also eaten the savoury fruits
growing on thee, and have slated my thirst with draughts of perfumed
water oozing from the body. I have also drunk the water of thy springs,
sweet as amrita itself. O mountain, as a child sleepeth happily on the
lap of his father, so have I, O king of mountains, O excellent one,
sported on thy breast, echoing with the notes of Apsaras and the chanting
of the Vedas. O mountain, every day have I lived happily on thy
tablelands.’ Thus having bidden farewell to the mountain, that slayer of
hostile heroes--Arjuna--blazing like the Sun himself, ascended the
celestial car. And the Kuru prince gifted with great intelligence, with a
glad heart, coursed through the firmament on that celestial car effulgent
as the sun and of extra-ordinary achievements. And after he had become
invisible to the mortals of the earth, he beheld thousands of cars of
extra-ordinary beauty. And in that region there was no sun or moon or
fire to give light, but it blazed in light of its own, generated by
virtue of ascetic merit. And those brilliant regions that are seen from
the earth in the form of stars, like lamps (in the sky)--so small in
consequence of their distance, though very large--were beheld by the son
of Pandu, stationed in their respective places, full of beauty and
effulgence and blazing with splendour all their own. And there he beheld
royal sages crowned with ascetic success, and heroes who had yielded up
their lives in battle, and those that had acquired heaven by their
ascetic austerities, by hundreds upon hundreds. And there were also
Gandharvas, of bodies blazing like the sun, by thousands upon thousands,
as also Guhyakas and Rishis and numerous tribes of Apsaras. And beholding
those self-effulgent regions, Phalguna became filled with wonder, and
made enquiries of Matali. And Matali also gladly replied unto him,
saying, ‘These, O son of Pritha, are virtuous persons stationed in their
respective places. It is these whom thou hast seen, O exalted one, as
stars, from the earth.’ Then Arjuna saw standing at the gates (Indra’s
region) the handsome and ever victorious elephant--Airavata--furnished
with four tusks, and resembling the mountain of Kailasa with its summits.
And coursing along that path of the Siddhas, that foremost of the Kurus
and the son of Pandu, sat in beauty like Mandhata--that best of kings.
Endued with eyes like lotus leaves, he passed through the region set
apart for virtuous kings. And the celebrated Arjuna having thus passed
through successive regions of heaven at last beheld Amaravati, the city
of Indra.”