CHAPTER CXXXIII.Story of the Wonderful Carcass.
Argument:—Description of a carcass falling from above, and covering the whole surface of the Earth.
Argument:—Description of a carcass falling from above, and covering the whole surface of the Earth.
Vipaschitsaid:—I saw another great wonder, in some part of some other world, which I will now rehearse unto you; it was a horrible sight that attends on sin, and which I had to see by my blind attachment to ignorance.
2. There is somewhere amidst the vast vacuum, a wonderfully bright sphere, which is quite impassable by you; it is situated in a vacuity like this of ours, and so different from it, as a city in dream differs from one in sight. (Because the romantic view of the vision is not realizable to ocular sight).
3. As I saw rambling in that sphere, in search of the object that I have in my heart, and looking to all sides of the void; I saw a huge and unmoving shadow, like that of a body of locusts spread over the earth.
4. I saw astonished at the sight, and cast my eyes on all sides to see what it was; I came to find the mountainous form of a man, falling fast from the sky; and hurling down like a whirlpool upon the earth.
5. Who can be this person? said I, is it the lord Virát with his mountainous body, or a mountain falling from the clouds? It fills the sky and the whole space of heaven, and hides the light of the day under its all developing shadow?
6. As I saw pondering in me what might this portent mean; (as whether it was the figure of Virát or the form of Brahmá himself); I saw soon after, the bulky body of the sun falling down from heaven, it seemed to be hurled down by the hurricane of desolation and dashing with a hideous crash against the backbone or great belt of the mundane egg of Brahmá.
7. Soon as this hideous and prodigious body, fell down uponthe earth, it filled its whole surface, and covered the face of the seven continents and oceans.
8. I dreaded my imminent destruction, together with that of whole earth under its blow; and determined to enter into the ever burning fire by my side.
9. Then the lord fire—the source of vedas, and my adored divinity in a hundred repeated births, appeared manifest before me in his cooling moon-like form, and said, fear not, no evil will betide thee.
10. I then addressed the god, saying: be victorious, O my lord and adored one in repeated births; save me from this untimely desolation, which is now impending on all.
11. Thus invoked by me, the god responded again saying the same words: “Fear thou not, but rise, O sinless one, and follow me to my region of the empyrean”.
12. Saying so, he made me sit on the back of his parrot, and flew with me up to heaven; by burning athwart a part of the falling body.
13. Getting to the upper sky, I found the body as if it were made of wood, and it was this which struck so much terror below, as it is attended with the falling of a portent—a comet or meteor from above.
14. Then as it felt down in full force, the earth shook beneath its weight, with all trembling waters and tottering mountains, and shaking woods and forests. The mountains burst forth in cataracts, which overflowed on the land, and bored it to horrible holes.
15. The earth groaned from her bowels, and the sky roared on all its four sides; the heavens resounded to the roar, and mountains growled with the fearful howling of all beings, as at the approach of their last doom.
16. The earth groaned under the burden, and all the quarters trembled with fear; the vacuum was filled with the echo of cries rising from the earth, and theGaruda-eagles were on their flight through fear.
17. There arose a harsh and hideous uproar on high, from the loud bursting of the mountains below; and like the crashingand clattering of the dark and dense clouds of deluge, when they are shattered and scattered, by the blasts of diluvian winds.
18. The earth trembled and roared at the impetuous fall of the hideous carcass, and the resounding sky re-bellowed to the sound from its hundred mouths; the mountains burst out on all sides, and their falling fragments and pinnacles, were hurried headlong, and buried underneath the ground.
19. Its fall was as the breaking down of a mountain pinnacle or fragment, smashing the tops of the lower hills, rending and splitting the ground, and levelling all things on earth with the dust.
20. It perturbed the waters of the deep, and hurled down the hills to the ground; it crushed all living beings, and gave ample range to the sport of the agents of destruction (the Rudras).
21. The falling of the sun upon the earth, and his hiding the face of the continents under him; the crushing of mountains and the breaking down of towering cities.
22. The celestials saw all these from above this earth, which forms one half of the mundane egg, turning to a vacuum form; (i.e.vanishing into the air).
23. As I was looking on that mountainous body of flesh, (i.e.the huge carcass); I observed that the ample space of all the seven continents of the earth was not enough to contain this single body.
24. Seeing this, I applied to the good grace of the god of fire; and asked him saying, Lord what is this and what does it mean.
25. Why did the sun also fall down from heaven, along with that corpse; and how is it that the space of the whole earth and all its oceans, has not sufficient room to compass it?
26. The God of fire replied:—Hold your patience, my son, for a while, until this portentous event passes away; when I will explain this marvellous matter fully to you.
27. Soon as the God had said these words, there flocked an assemblage of the celestials all around us; and it consisted of allkinds of beings that are born and move about in the aerial regions.
28. There were the siddhas, sadhyas, Apsaras, Daityas, Gandharvas and Kinnaras among them; together with the Munis, Rishis, yakshas and Patres, Matres and the gods also with them.
29. All these celestials then, bowed down their heads in veneration; and all joined with their prostrate bodies to praise the dark goddess of Night, who is the refuge and resort of all.
30. The celestials said:—May that goddess protect us her protégés, who is immaculate and incomparable, and has the grey braids of Brahmá’s hairs, tied at the top of herkhattangaensign, and the heads of the slain Daityas, strung to the neck-chain hanging on her breast; who wears the feathers ofGarudaon her head, and who after devouring the world, drinks off the deep also at the end.