The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Sabha Parva
Religion
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Sabha Parva
Epic literature, Sanskrit
"Narada said,--'O king of kings, I shall tell thee all that thou askest
me about Harischandra, I shall presently tell thee of his high
excellence. He was a powerful king, in fact, an emperor over all the
kings of the earth. Indeed, all the kings of the earth obeyed his sway.
O monarch, mounted alone upon a victorious car adorned with gold, that
king by the prowess of his weapons brought the whole earth with her
seven islands under his sway. And, O monarch, having subjugated the
whole earth with her mountains, forests, and woods, he made
preparations for the great sacrifice called the Rajasuya. And all the
kings of the earth brought at his command wealth unto that sacrifice.
All of them consented to become distributors of food and gifts unto the
Brahmanas that were fed on the occasion. At that sacrifice king
Harishchandra gave away unto all who asked, wealth that was five times
what each had solicited. At the conclusion of the sacrifice, the king
gratified the Brahmanas that came from various countries with large
presents of various kinds of wealth. The Brahmanas gratified with
various kinds of food and enjoyable articles, given away unto them to
the extent of their desires, and with the heaps of jewels distributed
amongst them, began to say,--"King Harischandra is superior to all
kings in energy and renown."--And know, O monarch, O bull of the
Bharata race, it was for this reason that Harischandra shone more
brightly than thousands of other kings. The powerful Harischandra
having concluded his great sacrifice, became installed, O king, in the
sovereignty of the earth and looked resplendent on his throne. O bull
of the Bharata race, all those monarchs that perform the sacrifice of
Rajasuya, (attaining to the region of Indra) pass their time in
felicity in Indra's company. And, O bull of the Bharata race, those
kings also that yield up their lives without turning their backs on the
field of battle attain to the mansion of Indra and live in joy with
him. Those again that yield up their bodies after severe ascetic
penances also attain to the same region and shine brightly there for
ages. O king of the Kuru race, O son of Kunti, thy father Pandu,
beholding the good fortune of Harischandra and wondering much thereat,
hath told thee something. Knowing that I was coming to the world of
men, he bowed unto me and said,--"Thou shouldst tell Yudhishthira, O
Rishi, that he can subjugate the whole Earth inasmuch as his brothers
are all obedient to him. And having done this let him commence the
grand sacrifice called Rajasuya. He is my son; if he performeth that
sacrifice, I may, like Harischandra, soon attain to the region of
Indra, and there in his Sabha pass countless years in continuous joy."
I told him in reply,--"O King, I shall tell thy son all this, if I go
to the world of man." I have now told thee what he said, O tiger among
men. Accomplish then, O son of Pandu, the desires of thy father. If
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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