(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 celestial 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 thy 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."