223.1 Indra's car arrives
After the Lokapalas had gone away, Arjuna began to think 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 sky 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.
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 wishes to see you. Ascend you without loss of time this car that hath been sent by Indra. The chief of the immortals, your 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, waits to behold you. At the command of Indra, therefore, ascend with me without loss of time from this to the region of the celestials. you will return after obtaining weapons."
Arjuna replied "O Matali, you mount 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 has not ascetic merit is not competent to even see or touch this car, far less to ride on it. O blessed one, after you have ascended, it, and after the horses have become still, I will ascend it, like a virtuous man stepping into the high-road of honesty"
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 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, you are ever the refuge of holy, heaven-seeking Munis of virtuous conduct and behaviour. It is through your grace,that Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas attain heaven, and their anxieties gone, sport with the celestials.you are the asylum of Munis, and you holdest on your breast numerous sacred shrines. Happily have I dwelt on your heights. I leave you now, bidding you farewell. Oft have I seen your tablelands and bowers, your springs and brooks, and the sacred shrines on your breast. I have also eaten the savoury fruits growing on you, and have slated my thirst with draughts of perfumed water oozing from the body. I have also drunk the water of your springs, sweet as amrita itself. O mountain, as a child sleeps happily on the lap of his father, so have I sported on your breast, echoing with the notes of Apsaras and the chanting of the Vedas.Every day have I lived happily on your tablelands."
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 wishes to see you. Ascend you without loss of time this car that hath been sent by Indra. The chief of the immortals, your 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, waits to behold you. At the command of Indra, therefore, ascend with me without loss of time from this to the region of the celestials. you will return after obtaining weapons."
Arjuna replied "O Matali, you mount 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 has not ascetic merit is not competent to even see or touch this car, far less to ride on it. O blessed one, after you have ascended, it, and after the horses have become still, I will ascend it, like a virtuous man stepping into the high-road of honesty"
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 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, you are ever the refuge of holy, heaven-seeking Munis of virtuous conduct and behaviour. It is through your grace,that Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas attain heaven, and their anxieties gone, sport with the celestials.you are the asylum of Munis, and you holdest on your breast numerous sacred shrines. Happily have I dwelt on your heights. I leave you now, bidding you farewell. Oft have I seen your tablelands and bowers, your springs and brooks, and the sacred shrines on your breast. I have also eaten the savoury fruits growing on you, and have slated my thirst with draughts of perfumed water oozing from the body. I have also drunk the water of your springs, sweet as amrita itself. O mountain, as a child sleeps happily on the lap of his father, so have I sported on your breast, echoing with the notes of Apsaras and the chanting of the Vedas.Every day have I lived happily on your tablelands."