Dravyānayana

Dravyānayana means the fetching of wealth. In the Aśvamedhika Parva of the Mahābhārata, Vyāsa urges Yudhishṭhira toward the Aśvamedha mahāyajña (great horse sacrifice). After the great war the earth itself was poor in wealth. So the Pāṇḍavas turned to the vast treasure that King Marutta, son of Avīkshita, had buried in the Himālaya at the end of his own yajña ages before.

This account, from Chapters 63 to 65 of the Aśvamedhika Parva, tells of the Pāṇḍavas’ journey to the mountain, their honouring of Rudra, Kubera and the yakshas who guarded the hoard, the digging itself, and the carrying of the treasure back to Hastināpura to pay for the coming sacrifice.

The council (Chapter 63)

Kṛshṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa had foretold a great-souled grandson for Kuntī and Uttarā, and had urged Yudhishṭhira toward the Aśvamedha. Yudhishṭhira then gathered his brothers and put the question to them. The earth had become poor in wealth after the war’s destruction. Vyāsa had spoken of the treasure that King Marutta, son of Avīkshita, had left buried in the earth at the end of his yajña. Should they try to bring it back?

Bhīma answered with folded hands: “The word Vyāsa has spoken about fetching the wealth is pleasing to me. If we can get Āvīkshita’s [Marutta’s] wealth, our purpose, O Mahārāja, is as good as done. Let us bow to that great master of the mountain, honour Kapardin [Śiva] as is due, and go to bring that wealth. May it be well with you.”

Arjuna and the other brothers agreed. The Pāṇḍavas took leave of Dhṛtarāshtra and Gāndhārī, who were still full of grief for their sons, and of Kuntī. They set out with their army under a good star and on a good day. First they had the brāhmaṇas perform svasti-vācana (the spoken blessing), and they honoured Maheśvara with modakas (sweet dumplings), pāyasa (milk pudding), meat and cakes. Yuyutsu stayed behind at Hastināpura to serve Dhṛtarāshtra and Kuntī.

The journey and the night of preparation (Chapter 64)

The Pāṇḍava host set out while the citizens rejoiced. They crossed lakes, rivers, forests and groves until Yudhishṭhira reached the mountain where the treasure lay hidden. They made camp on a level and auspicious spot.

Dhaumya, who is described here as learned in the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, was placed at the head of the assembled brāhmaṇas. Together with the king he performed the śānti-karma (rite of peace) without any fault in the rules. A maṇḍapa (pavilion) was built with six main roadways and nine divisions (shaṭpatha, navasaṃkhyāna). Room was prepared even for the army’s great tusked elephants.

The king asked the brāhmaṇas about the time. They replied that the day and star were already auspicious for the work, and they asked the Pāṇḍavas to keep an upavāsa (a fast on water alone) that night. The king and his brothers did so. They sat through the night on spread kuśa grass, like sacrificial fires themselves, and listened to the learned brāhmaṇas until the pure dawn came.

The bali offerings and the digging (Chapter 65)

At dawn the brāhmaṇas told Yudhishṭhira that a bali (offering) must first be made to the great three-eyed Deva, Maheśvara, before the work could begin. Yudhishṭhira arranged the bali by the rules. Havya purified with ghee was offered into the fire with mantras. Then the purohita offered bali with flowers, modakas, pāyasa and meat.

Next, bali was given to the kiṅkaras (attendant spirits), to Kubera the king of the yakshas, to Maṇibhadra, and to the other yakshas and the bhūta-patis (lords of spirits). The offerings were puḻagam (a rice-and-lentil preparation), meat, sesame, tarpaṇas (water offerings) and pots of cooked rice. Yudhishṭhira gave thousands of cows to brāhmaṇas and made a special bali to the bhūtas who wander by night. The maṇḍapa of the great Deva, full of incense and flowers, shone with splendour.

The king honoured Rudra and the gaṇas of pramathas in every way. He then placed Bhagavān Vyāsa before him and went toward the place of the hidden treasure. He bowed to Dhanādhyaksha, Kubera the master of wealth, and honoured him with many kinds of flowers, appūpas (cakes) and puḻagam. He honoured the guardians of the treasure, the śaṅkha and the other nidhis (treasures) and their nidhi-pālaka brāhmaṇas, and had svasti-vācana performed. Dharmarāja was strengthened and steadied by the tejas (radiance) born of their puṇyāha-ghosha (the chant of an auspicious day). Then he had the treasure-site dug up.

The digging brought out a great hoard. There were vessels of every kind for serving food, jars, golden tumblers, cauldrons, ewers and countless other fine vessels. There were also the great karapuṭa baskets in which such loads are carried, slung over the backs of camels and other beasts, and bound and weighed by the tulārtha measure.

The text records the treasure by the weight carried by camels, by carts or bullocks, and by elephants: eight thousand, sixteen thousand and twenty-four thousand gold units per load, by the traditional count. It names six thousand hundred-thousand camels’ worth, twice that number of horses, and hundreds of thousands of elephants, she-elephants, carts and chariots. Besides these, an uncounted number of donkeys and porters were put to work carrying it away.

Yudhishṭhira loaded the wealth onto every kind of carrier. He honoured Mahādeva again and set out for Hastināpura. He took leave of Dvaipāyana and halted to rest after every gavyūti (about two kośa) of the road. The great army laboured under the weight of the treasure, yet it delighted the Kuru people as it came toward the city.

When the Pāṇḍavas returned with this treasure, Vāsudeva and the Vṛshṇis arrived separately at Hastināpura. They found that Uttarā’s child, Parīkshit, had just been born. This is told in Chapter 66.

The same treasure as in the Saṃvarta-Maruttīya account

This is the same hoard that King Marutta buried at the end of the famous yajña he performed with the ṛshi Saṃvarta as his purohita. Bṛhaspati had refused that office because of Indra’s displeasure.

The Aśvamedhika Parva itself tells that earlier yajña, a few chapters before the present account, as the Saṃvarta-Maruttīya ākhyāna (Chapters 3 to 10). Vyāsa tells it to Yudhishṭhira to justify and fund the coming Aśvamedha.

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa tells the same conflict in its own telling. In it Marutta chooses śaraṇāgata-dharma (the dharma of protecting one who has taken refuge) over his father Avīkshita’s command to give up Saṃvarta. Both texts agree that this is the wealth Marutta left buried after his yajña.

The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa has a related account of Saṃvarta hiding at Vārāṇasī from Marutta’s constant pursuit.

Chapters 63 to 65 do not name Saṃvarta. They name the treasure as belonging to “Āvīkshita”, the son of Avīkshita, that is, Marutta. This shows that the Pāṇḍavas’ journey was for this same hoard.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 63–65
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 3–10 (the Saṃvarta-Maruttīya ākhyāna)
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 66 (the birth of Parīkshit)
• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (Marutta’s account)
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa (Saṃvarta at Vārāṇasī)