"'Yudhishthira said, "O grandsire, thou art possessed of great wisdom and
thoroughly conversant with every branch of learning. From this very
narrative of the slaughter of Vritra the wish has arisen in my mind of
asking thee a question. Thou hast said, O ruler of men, that Vritra was
(first) stupefied by Fever, and that then, O sinless one, he was slain by
Vasava with the thunderbolt. How did this Fever, O thou of great wisdom,
arise? O lord, I desire to hear in detail of the origin of Fever."
"'Bhishma said, "Listen, O king, to the origin, celebrated over all the
world, of Fever. I shall speak in detail on this topic, fully explaining
how Fever first sprang into existence, O Bharata! In days of yore, O
monarch, there was a summit, named Savitri, of the mountains of Meru.
Worshipped by all the worlds, it was endued with great splendour and
adorned with every kind of jewels and gems. That summit was immeasurable
in extent and thither no one could go.[1398] On that mountain summit the
divine Mahadeva used to sit in splendour as if on a bed-stead adorned
with gold. The daughter of the king of mountains, sitting by his side,
shone in brilliance.[1399] The high-souled deities, the Vasus of
immeasurable energy, the high-souled Aswins, those foremost of
physicians, and king Vaisravana waited upon by many a Guhyaka,--that lord
of the Yakshas, endued with prosperity and puissance, and having his
abode on the summit of Kailasa,--all waited upon the highsouled Mahadeva.
And the great sage Usanas, and the foremost of Rishis having Sanatkumara
for their first, and the other celestial Rishis headed by Angiras, and
the Gandharva Viswavasu, and Narada and Parvata, and the diverse tribes
of Apsaras, all came there to wait upon the Master of the universe. A
pure and auspicious breeze, bearing diverse kinds of perfumes, blew
there. The trees that stood there were adorned with the flowers of every
season. A large number of Vidyadharas and Siddhas and ascetics too, O
Bharata, repaired thither for waiting upon Mahadeva, the Lord of all
creatures. Many ghostly beings, also, of diverse forms and aspects, and
many dreadful Rakshasas and mighty Pisachas, of diverse aspects, mad with
joy, and armed with diverse kinds of uplifted weapons, forming the train
of Mahadeva, were there, every one of whom resembled a blazing fire in
energy. The illustrious Nandi stood there at the command of the great
god, blazing with his own energy and armed with a lance that resembled a
flame of fire. Ganga also, that foremost of all Rivers and born of all
sacred waters in the universe, waited there in her embodied form, O son
of Kuru's race, upon that illustrious deity. Thus adored by the celestial
Rishis and the gods, the illustrious Mahadeva of immeasurable energy
dwelt on that summit of Meru.
"'"After some time had passed away, the Prajapati Daksha[1400] commenced to
perform a Sacrifice according to the ancient rites (laid down in the
Vedas). Unto the Sacrifice of Daksha, all the deities headed by Sakra,
assembling together, resolved to repair. It hath been heard by us that
the high-souled deities, with the permission of Mahadeva, mounted their
celestial cars resembling the fire or the Sun in splendour, and proceeded
to that spot (on the Himavat) whence the Ganges is said to issue.
Beholding the deities depart, the excellent daughter of the king of
mountains, addressed her divine spouse, viz., the Lord of all creatures,
and said, 'O illustrious one, whither are those deities headed by Sakra
going? O thou that art conversant with the truth, tell me truly, for a
great doubt has filled my mind.'
"'"Maheswara said, 'O lady that art highly blessed, the excellent Prajapati
Daksha is adoring the gods in a Horse-sacrifice. These denizens of heaven
are proceeding even thither.'
"'"Uma said, 'Why, O Mahadeva, dost thou not proceed to that Sacrifice?
What objection is there of thy going to that place?'
"'"Maheswara said, 'O highly blessed lady, the deities in days of yore made
an arrangement in consequence of which no share was assigned to me of
offerings in all Sacrifices. Agreeably to the course that was sanctioned
in consequence of that arrangement, O thou of the fairest complexion, the
deities do not give me, following the old custom, any share of the
sacrificial offerings.'
"'"Uma said, O illustrious one, among all beings thou art the foremost in
puissance. In merit, in energy, in fame, and in prosperity, thou yieldest
to none, and thou art, indeed, superior to all. In consequence, however,
of this disability in respect of a share (in the Sacrificial offerings) I
am filled with great grief, O sinless one, and a tremor overtakes me from
head to foot.'"
"'Bhishma continued, "The goddess (Parvati), having said these words unto
her divine spouse, the Lord of all creatures, O monarch, remained silent,
her heart burning the while in grief. Then Mahadeva, understanding what
was in her heart and what her thoughts were (for wiping off that
disgrace), addressed Nandi, saying, 'Wait here (by the goddess).'
Summoning all his Yoga force, that Lord of all lords of Yoga, that god of
gods, that wielder of Pinaka, possessed of mighty energy, quickly
proceeded to the place (where Daksha was sacrificing) accompanied by all
his terrible followers and destroyed that Sacrifice. Amongst these
followers of his, some uttered loud cries, and some laughed terribly, and
some, O king, extinguished the (Sacrificial) fires with blood; and some,
possessed of awful faces, pulling up the sacrificial stakes, began to
whirl them. Others began to devour those that were ministering to the
Sacrifice. Then that sacrifice, thus afflicted on every side, assumed the
form of a deer and sought to fly away through the skies. Ascertaining
that the Sacrifice was running away in that form, the puissant Mahadeva
began to pursue him with bow and arrow. In consequence of the wrath that
then filled the heart of that foremost of all gods, possessed of
immeasurable energy, a dreadful drop of sweat appeared on his forehead.
When that drop of sweat fell down on the earth, there forthwith appeared
a blazing fire resembling the (all-destructive) conflagration that
appears at the end of a Yuga. From that fire issued a dreadful being, O
monarch, of very short stature, possessed of blood-red eyes and a green
beard. His body was covered entirely with hair like a hawk's or an owl's
and his hair stood erect. Of dreadful aspect, his complexion was dark and
his attire blood-red. Like a fire burning a heap of dry grass or straw,
that Being of great energy quickly consumed the embodied form of
Sacrifice. Having accomplished that feat, he then rushed towards the
deities and the Rishis that had assembled there. The deities, filled with
fear, fled in all directions. In consequence of that Being's tread, the
earth, O monarch began to tremble.[1401] Exclamations of Oh and Alas
arose throughout the universe. Marking this, the puissant Grandsire,
showing himself unto Mahadeva, addressed him in the following words.
"'"Brahman said, 'O puissant one, the deities will henceforth yield thee a
share of the sacrificial offerings! O Lord of all the deities, let this
wrath of thine be withdrawn by thee! O scorcher of foes, there, those
gods, and the Rishis, in consequence of thy wrath, O Mahadeva, have
become exceedingly agitated. This Being also, that hath sprung from thy
sweat, O foremost of gods, shall wander among creatures, O
righteous-souled one, under the name of Fever. O puissant one, if the
energy of this Being remains all collected together, then the entire
earth herself will not be able to bear him. Let him, therefore, be
distributed into many parts.' When Brahman had said these words, and when
his proper share was appointed of the sacrificial offerings, Mahadeva
replied unto the Grandsire of great energy, saying, 'So be it.' Indeed,
the wielder of Pinaka, viz., Bhava, smiled a little and became filled
with joy. And he accepted the share that the Grandsire appointed of the
offerings in sacrifices. Conversant with the properties of everything,
Mahadeva then distributed Fever into many portions, for the peace of all
creatures. Listen, O son, as to how he did this. The heat that is
perceptible in the heads of elephants, the bitumen of mountains,[1402]
the moss that floats on water, the slough of snakes, the sores that
appear in the hoofs of bulls, the sterile tracts of earth that are full
of saline matter, the dullness of vision of all animals, the diseases
that appear in the throats of horses, the crests appearing on the heads
of peacocks, the eye-disease of the koel,[1403] each of these was named
Fever by the high-souled Mahadeva. This is what has been heard by us. The
liver-disease also of sheep, and the hiccup of parrots are also each
known as forms of Fever. To this must be added the toil that tigers
undergo, for that also, O righteous king, is known as a form of Fever.
Besides these, O Bharata, amongst men, Fever enters all bodies at the
time of birth, of death, and on other occasions. This then that is called
Fever is known to be the dreadful energy of Maheswara. He is endued with
authority over all creatures and should, therefore, be held in respect
and worshipped by all. It was by him that Vritra, that foremost of
virtuous persons, was overtaken when he yawned. It was then that Sakra
hurled his thunderbolt at him. Thunderbolt, penetrating the body of
Vritra, O Bharata, divided him in twain. Divided in twain by the
thunderbolt, the mighty Asura possessed of great Yoga powers, proceeded
to the region of Vishnu of immeasurable energy. It was in consequence of
his devotion to Vishnu that he had succeeded in overwhelming the whole
universe. And it was in consequence of his devotion to Vishnu that he
ascended, when slain, to the region of Vishnu. Thus, O son, adverting to
the story of Vritra have I recited to thee the narrative in detail of
Fever. Upon what else shall I speak to thee? That man who will read this
account of the origin of Fever with close attention and cheerful heart
shall become free from disease and shall always have happiness for his
share. Filled with gladness, he shall have all the wishes accomplished
upon which he may set his heart."'"