213.1 Arjuna pacifies an agitated Krishna,telling his feats in past lives
Hearing that the Pandavas had been banished, the Bhojas, the Vrishnis, and the Andhakas went to those heroes residing in affliction in the great forest. And the consanguineous relatives of Panchala, and Dhrishtaketu the king of Chedi, and those celebrated and powerful brothers-- the Kaikeyas, their hearts fired with wrath, went to the forest to see the sons of Pritha. Reproaching the sons of Dhritarashtra, they said "What should we do?" Those bulls of the Kshatriya race, with Vasudeva at their head, sat themselves down round Yudhishthira the just. Respectfully saluting that foremost of the Kurus, Kesava mournfully said "The earth shall drink the blood of Duryodhana and Karna, of Dussasana and the wicked Sakuni! Slaying these in battle and defeating their followers , along with their royal allies, we will install Yudhishthira the just on the throne! The wicked deserve to be slain! Surely this is eternal morality"
When Janardana had thus got into a passion on account of the wrongs done to Pritha's sons,, and seemed bent upon consuming ail created things, Arjuna exerted himself to pacify him. And beholding Kesava angry, Falguna began to recite the feats achieved in his former lives by that soul of all things, himself immeasurable, the eternal one, of infinite energy, the lord of Prajapati himself, the supreme ruler of the worlds, Vishnu of profound wisdom! Arjuna said "In days of old, you, O Krishna, had wandered on the Gandhamadana mountains for ten thousand years as a Muni having his home where evening fell! Living upon water alone, you had, in days of old, O Krishna, also dwelt for full eleven thousand years by the lake of Pushkara! And, O slayer of Madhu, with arms upraised and standing on one leg, you had passed a hundred years on the high hills of Vadari, living all the while upon air! And leaving aside your upper garment, with body emaciated and looking like a bundle of veins, you had lived on the banks of the Saraswati, employed in your sacrifice extending for twelve years! And, O Krishna of mighty energy, in observance of your vow you had stood on one leg for the length of a thousand years of the celestials, on the plains of Prabhasa which it behoves the virtuous to visit! Vyasa hath told me that you are the cause of the creation and its course! And, O Kesava, the lord of Kshetra, you are the mover of all minds, and the beginning and end of all things! All asceticism rests in you, and you too are the embodiment of all sacrifices, and the eternal one! Slaying the Asura Naraka, offspring of the Earth-first begotten, you had obtained his ear rings, and performed, O Krishna, the first horse-sacrifice (offering up that Asura as the sacrificial horse)! And, O bull of all the worlds, having performed that feat, you have become victorious over all! you had slain all the Daityas and Danavas mustered in battle, and giving the lord of Sachi (Indra) the sovereignty of the universe, you have, O Kesava of mighty arms, taken your birth among men! O slayer of all foes, having floated on the primordial waters, you subsequently became Hari, and Brahma and Surya and Dharma, and Dhatri and Yama and Anala and Vasu, and Vaisravana, and Rudra, and Kala and the firmament the earth, and the ten directions! Thyself increate, you are the lord of the mobile and the immobile universe, the Creator of all, O you foremost of all existences! In the forest of Chitraratha you did, gratify with your sacrifice the chief of all the gods, the highest of the high! O Janardana, at each sacrifice you didst offer, according to shares, gold by hundreds and thousands. And becoming the son of Aditi, you have been known as the younger brother of Indra! And, even while a child you didst, O Krishna, in consequence of your energy, fill by three steps only the heaven, the firmament, and the earth! And, O you soul of all covering the heaven and the firmament (while you wert thus transformed), you didst dwell in the body of the sun and afflict him with your own splendour! And, O exalted one, in your incarnations on those thousand occasions, you had slain, O Krishna, sinful Asuras by hundreds! By destroying the Mauravas and the Pashas, and slaying Nisunda and Naraka. you have again rendered safe the road to Pragjyotisha! you have slain Ahvriti at Jaruthi, and Kratha and Sisupala with his adherents, and Jarasandha and Saivya and Satadhanwan! And on your car roaring like unto clouds and effulgent like the sun, you didst obtain for your queen the daughter of Bhoja, defeating Rukmi in battle! you didst in fury slay Indradyumna and the Yavana called Kaseruman! And slaying Salwa the lord of Saubha, you didst destroy that city of Saubha itself! These have all been slain in battle;
Listen to me as I speak of others also slain by you! At Iravati you have slain king Bhoja equal unto Karttavirya in battle, and both Gopati and Talaketu also have been slain by you! And, O Janardana, you have also appropriated unto thyself the sacred city of Dwarka, abounding in wealth and agreeable unto the Rishis themselves, and you will submerge it at the end within the ocean! O slayer of Madhu, how can crookedness be in you, devoid as you are, of anger and envy and untruth and cruelty? O you who know no deterioration, all the Rishis, coming unto you seated in your glory on the sacrificial ground, seek protection of you! And you stay at the end of the Yuga, contracting all things and withdrawing this universe into your own self, O you of the Vrishni race, at the beginning of the Yuga, there sprang from your lotus-like navel, Brahma himself, and lord of all mobile and immobile things, and whose is this entire universe! When the dreadful Danavas Madhu and Kaitava were bent on slaying Brahma, beholding their impious endeavour you were angry, and from your forehead, O Hari, sprang Sambhu, the holder of the trident. Thus these two foremost of the deities have sprung from your body in order to do your work! Even Narada it was who has told me this! O Narayana,in the forest of Chaitraratha, you celebrated with plentiful gifts a grand sacrifice consisting of a multitude of rites! O God, the deeds you have performed while still a boy, having recourse to your might and aided by Baladeva, have never been done by others, nor are they capable of being achieved by others in the future! you did even dwell in Kailasa, accompanied by Brahmanas!"
Having addressed Krishna thus, the illustrious Pandava, who was the soul of Krishna, became dumb, when Janardana replied saying "you are mine and I am yours, while all that is mine is yours also! He that hates you hates me as well, and he that follows you follows me! You are Nara and I am Narayana or Hari! We are the Rishis Nara and Narayana born in the world of men for a special purpose. O Partha, you are from me and I am from you! no one can understand the difference that is between us!"
When Janardana had thus got into a passion on account of the wrongs done to Pritha's sons,, and seemed bent upon consuming ail created things, Arjuna exerted himself to pacify him. And beholding Kesava angry, Falguna began to recite the feats achieved in his former lives by that soul of all things, himself immeasurable, the eternal one, of infinite energy, the lord of Prajapati himself, the supreme ruler of the worlds, Vishnu of profound wisdom! Arjuna said "In days of old, you, O Krishna, had wandered on the Gandhamadana mountains for ten thousand years as a Muni having his home where evening fell! Living upon water alone, you had, in days of old, O Krishna, also dwelt for full eleven thousand years by the lake of Pushkara! And, O slayer of Madhu, with arms upraised and standing on one leg, you had passed a hundred years on the high hills of Vadari, living all the while upon air! And leaving aside your upper garment, with body emaciated and looking like a bundle of veins, you had lived on the banks of the Saraswati, employed in your sacrifice extending for twelve years! And, O Krishna of mighty energy, in observance of your vow you had stood on one leg for the length of a thousand years of the celestials, on the plains of Prabhasa which it behoves the virtuous to visit! Vyasa hath told me that you are the cause of the creation and its course! And, O Kesava, the lord of Kshetra, you are the mover of all minds, and the beginning and end of all things! All asceticism rests in you, and you too are the embodiment of all sacrifices, and the eternal one! Slaying the Asura Naraka, offspring of the Earth-first begotten, you had obtained his ear rings, and performed, O Krishna, the first horse-sacrifice (offering up that Asura as the sacrificial horse)! And, O bull of all the worlds, having performed that feat, you have become victorious over all! you had slain all the Daityas and Danavas mustered in battle, and giving the lord of Sachi (Indra) the sovereignty of the universe, you have, O Kesava of mighty arms, taken your birth among men! O slayer of all foes, having floated on the primordial waters, you subsequently became Hari, and Brahma and Surya and Dharma, and Dhatri and Yama and Anala and Vasu, and Vaisravana, and Rudra, and Kala and the firmament the earth, and the ten directions! Thyself increate, you are the lord of the mobile and the immobile universe, the Creator of all, O you foremost of all existences! In the forest of Chitraratha you did, gratify with your sacrifice the chief of all the gods, the highest of the high! O Janardana, at each sacrifice you didst offer, according to shares, gold by hundreds and thousands. And becoming the son of Aditi, you have been known as the younger brother of Indra! And, even while a child you didst, O Krishna, in consequence of your energy, fill by three steps only the heaven, the firmament, and the earth! And, O you soul of all covering the heaven and the firmament (while you wert thus transformed), you didst dwell in the body of the sun and afflict him with your own splendour! And, O exalted one, in your incarnations on those thousand occasions, you had slain, O Krishna, sinful Asuras by hundreds! By destroying the Mauravas and the Pashas, and slaying Nisunda and Naraka. you have again rendered safe the road to Pragjyotisha! you have slain Ahvriti at Jaruthi, and Kratha and Sisupala with his adherents, and Jarasandha and Saivya and Satadhanwan! And on your car roaring like unto clouds and effulgent like the sun, you didst obtain for your queen the daughter of Bhoja, defeating Rukmi in battle! you didst in fury slay Indradyumna and the Yavana called Kaseruman! And slaying Salwa the lord of Saubha, you didst destroy that city of Saubha itself! These have all been slain in battle;
Listen to me as I speak of others also slain by you! At Iravati you have slain king Bhoja equal unto Karttavirya in battle, and both Gopati and Talaketu also have been slain by you! And, O Janardana, you have also appropriated unto thyself the sacred city of Dwarka, abounding in wealth and agreeable unto the Rishis themselves, and you will submerge it at the end within the ocean! O slayer of Madhu, how can crookedness be in you, devoid as you are, of anger and envy and untruth and cruelty? O you who know no deterioration, all the Rishis, coming unto you seated in your glory on the sacrificial ground, seek protection of you! And you stay at the end of the Yuga, contracting all things and withdrawing this universe into your own self, O you of the Vrishni race, at the beginning of the Yuga, there sprang from your lotus-like navel, Brahma himself, and lord of all mobile and immobile things, and whose is this entire universe! When the dreadful Danavas Madhu and Kaitava were bent on slaying Brahma, beholding their impious endeavour you were angry, and from your forehead, O Hari, sprang Sambhu, the holder of the trident. Thus these two foremost of the deities have sprung from your body in order to do your work! Even Narada it was who has told me this! O Narayana,in the forest of Chaitraratha, you celebrated with plentiful gifts a grand sacrifice consisting of a multitude of rites! O God, the deeds you have performed while still a boy, having recourse to your might and aided by Baladeva, have never been done by others, nor are they capable of being achieved by others in the future! you did even dwell in Kailasa, accompanied by Brahmanas!"
Having addressed Krishna thus, the illustrious Pandava, who was the soul of Krishna, became dumb, when Janardana replied saying "you are mine and I am yours, while all that is mine is yours also! He that hates you hates me as well, and he that follows you follows me! You are Nara and I am Narayana or Hari! We are the Rishis Nara and Narayana born in the world of men for a special purpose. O Partha, you are from me and I am from you! no one can understand the difference that is between us!"