Vaisampayana said, “Having, O great king, heard from the illustrious
Markandeya the history of the attainment of heaven by the royal sage
Indradyumna, Yudhishthira, that bull of the Bharata race, once more asked
that sinless Muni endued with great ascetic merit and long life, saying,
‘Thou knowest, O virtuous one, the entire host of the gods, the Danavas,
and the Rakshasas. Thou art acquainted also with various royal
genealogies and many eternal lines of Rishis! O best of Brahmanas, there
is nothing in this world that thou dost not know! Thou knowest also, O
Muni, many delightful stories about men, Snakes and Rakshasas; about
gods, Gandharvas, and Yakshas, and about Kinnaras and Apsaras! I desire
now to hear from thee, O best of Brahmanas, as to why Kuvalaswa--that
unvanquished king of Ikshavaku’s race changed his name, assuming another,
viz., Dhundhumara. O thou best of Bhrigu’s line, I desire to know in
detail why the name of Kuvalaswa of great intelligence underwent such a
change!’”
Vaisampayana continued, “Thus addressed by Yudhishthira, the great Muni
Markandeya, O Bharata, then began the history of Dhundhumara!”
Markandeya said, ‘O royal Yudhishthira, listen to me, I will tell thee
all! The story of Dhundhumara is a moral one. Listen to it then! Listen
now, O king, to the story of how the royal Kuvalaswa of Ikshvaku’s race
came to be known as Dhundhumara. O son, O Bharata, there was a celebrated
Rishi of the name of Utanka and, O thou of the Kuru race, Utanka had his
hermitage in a delightful wilderness. And, O great king, the Rishi Utanka
underwent ascetic austerities of the severest kind and the lord Utanka
underwent those penances for numberless years with the object of
obtaining the favours of Vishnu, and gratified with his penances that
illustrious Lord presented himself before Utanka. And beholding the
Deity, the Rishi in all humility began to gratify him with many hymns,
and Utanka said, ‘O thou of great effulgence all creatures with the gods,
Asuras and human beings, all things that are mobile or immobile, even
Brahma himself, the Vedas, and all things that are capable of being
known, have, O lord, been created by thee! The firmament is thy head, O
god, and the sun and the moon are thy eyes! And, O Unfading One, the
winds are thy breath and fire thy energy! The directions of the horizon
constitute thy arms and the great ocean thy stomach! And, O god, the
hills and mountains constitute thy thigh and the sky thy hips, O slayer
of Madhu! The earth constitutes thy feet, and the plants the bristles on
thy body. And, O lord, Indra and Soma and Agni and Varuna, indeed all the
gods, the Asuras and the great Snakes all wait upon thee with humility,
adoring thee with various hymns! O Lord of the Universe, created things
are pervaded by thee. The great Rishis of high energy and ever plunged in
ascetic meditation, always adore thee. When thou art gratified, the
universe is in peace. And when thou art angry, terror pervadeth every
soul. Thou art, O Lord, the great dispeller of all terrors and thou art
the One Supreme Male Being! Thou art the cause of happiness of both gods
and human beings! And, O Lord, by three steps of thine thou didst cover
the three worlds! And it was by thee that the Asuras in the height of
their power were destroyed! It is owing to thy prowess, O God, that the
celestials obtained peace and happiness and, O thou of great effulgence,
it was the anger that destroyed hundred great Daitya chiefs. Thou art the
Creator and destroyer of all creatures in the world. It is by adoring
thee that the gods have obtained happiness. It was thus, O Yudhishthira,
that the high-souled Utanka praised the Lord of the senses. And Vishnu,
therefore, said unto Utanka, ‘I am gratified with thee. Ask thou the boon
that thou desirest.’ And Utanka said, ‘This indeed hath, been a great
boon to me, in that I have been able to behold Hari, that eternal Being,
that divine Creator, that Lord of the universe!” Thus addressed Vishnu
said, ‘I am gratified with this absence of all desires on thy pail and
with thy devotion, O thou best of men! But, O Brahmanas, O regenerate
one, thou shouldst of a certainty accept some boon from me! Thus
requested by Hari to accept a boon Utanka then, O thou best of Bharatas,
with joined hands begged a boon saying, ‘O illustrious one, O thou of
eyes like lotus leaves, if thou hast been gratified with me, then let my
heart always rest on virtue, truth, and self-content. And, O Lord, let my
heart always turn to thee in devotion.’ And hearing these words of
Utanka, the holy one said, ‘O regenerate one, all this shall happen to
thee through my grace. And there will also appear in thee a yoga power
endued with which thou shalt achieve a great thing for the dwellers of
Heaven, as also for the triple world. Even now a great Asura of the name
of Dhundhu is undergoing ascetic penances of fierce austerity with the
object of destroying the triple world. Hear now as to who will slay that
Asura. O son, there will appear a king of invincible energy and great
prowess and he will be born in the race of Ikshvaku and will be known by
the name of Vrihadaswa who will have a son of the name of Kuvalaswa
endued with great holiness and self-control and celebrity. And that best
of kings will be furnished with yoga power springing from me and urged
and commended by thee, O regenerate Rishi, that king will be the slayer
of the Asura Dhundhu.’ And having said these words unto that Brahmana,
Vishnu disappeared there and then.”