34 - Battle with Kartavirya 

Narayana said - After finishing the morning routine Parashurama summoned his people for consultation and sent a messenger to Kartavirya. 

The messengers went to Kartavirya who was surrounded by his courtiers and spoke to him. 

The messengers said - "O lord, Bhrugu has arrived on the bank of river Narmada and is currently resting under the banyan tree. Therefore, you go to him for a fight. He has resolved to rid the earth of the Kshtriyas twenty-one times." 

Thus speaking the messengers of Parashurama returned to his master, on the other hand the king adorned himself with kavacha and got ready to go to the battle field. 

Finding Kartavirya moving out for waging a war, his queen named Manorama prevented him from going. She called him before herself and embraced him. 

О sage, finding Manorama there, the face of the king was delighted. He started speaking out his mind to her in the court itself. 

Kartavirya said - О damsel, Parashurama, the son of Jamadagni is challenging me who has arrived at the bed of the river Narmada together with all his brothers. 

By achieving the weapons, mantra and kavacha from Shiva he has resolved to rid the earth of the Kshatriyas twenty-one times. 

Because of this, I fell panicky in my mind and my mind is disturbed; my left limbs are fluttering again and again. О dear one, I have seen a dream recently which I am going to speak out to you. 

I found myself soaked in oil, mounted on a donkey, wearing a garland of shoe flower, applying red sandal-paste on the body, wearing red garments and ornaments of iron. Besides I found myself playing on a heap of coal, playing and laughing at the same time. 

Applying fire on my body wearing a garland of shoe flower, I found the sun and the moon absent from the sky, while the evening was becoming red. 

I found the ladies with dishevelled hair, whose noses were cut-off, wearing red garments and the widows laughing loudly. 

O goddess, there were arrows without fire, the pyre was filled with ashes, the raining of ashes and the rain of blood and pyre. 

I found goddess earth infatuated with tala trees. The bones were spread over the surface of the earth, besides the skulls without hair and nails. I found the mountains of salt, heaps of small shells and caves filled with oil and powder, in the dream at night. 

I also found the trees of Ashoka, Nerium, Odorum, trees blossoming, the tala trees laden with fruits and the fruits falling from the trees.  The vase filled with water had fallen from my hand and had broken, which was witnessed by me. I also found the moon and the stars falling from the sky.

I found the disk of the sun falling from the sky, the falling comets besides the eclipse of the sun and the moon. 

I found a person of gigantic proportion with a horrible look who was terribly hungry, naked and fearful in appearance approaching me. This is what I had seen in the dream. A twelve-year-old woman clad in all the garments adorned with all the ornaments left my place getting annoyed, such a dream had been witnessed by me during the night. 

She was saying, "O king you permit me, I intend to leave your place and go to the forest.  You tell me." Getting filled with grief I saw this dream during the night. 

The Brahmanas, the ascetics and the teachers were also pronouncing curse on me getting annoyed. The figures painted on the walls were dancing. This is what I had seen. 

 The unstable cows, vultures, clothes, herd of buffaloes were seen by me during the night. 

О goddess, I found the oil-man moving the oil-mill and various naked men were approaching me holding sticks in their hands. 

I found all the singers of my house dancing.  Then I found a marriage being performed delightfully in my house.

The people were moving about holding the hair of one another. I also found crows and dogs during the night. 

О beautiful lady, I witness a pickaxe, pinda, a dead body in the cremation ground, besides red and white garments. 

O beautiful one, I saw during the night a lady clad in black garments having a black complexion, appearing nude and having dishevelled hair. She was embracing me being a widow. 

O dear one, the barber was removing my beard and moustaches besides the hair of my chest and had the wounds of nails.

О beautiful one, I found the potter’s wheel moving besides a string of leather in heaps. 

О chaste lady, I found that with the movement of a strong wind, a fallen dry tree had stood erect and the trunk was moving without the head. 

О best of the lady, I found a well-made garland of skulls which was moving with the terrific winds and whose tongue was protruding. 

During the night I also saw that the goblins with dishevelled hair were inhaling fire flames and were frightening me at same time. 

Burnt creatures, the burnt trees, the humans suffering from ailments besides the deformed Shudra woman also appeared before one. 

I also saw during the night, the mountains, the houses and trees suddenly falling with the attack of vajra again and again. 

I saw during the night, that in every house, the dogs and jackals were crying, while roaming about in all the directions. 

I also saw during the night heads placed on earth and the legs held in the sky. They had dishevelled hair and were roaming about naked. 

Finding the people crying in the villages and those having deformed bodies besides the cries of the gods, woke me up in the morning. You tell me what is the remedy for this at the moment." 

On hearing the words of the king, Manorama spoke in a choked voice. 

Manorama said - О best of the kings, О lord, you are the best among the kings. You are dearer to me than my life and are the lord of my life; you listen to me my beneficial words. Lord Jamadagni is quite valorous and happens to be the amsha of Narayana. He also happens to be the pupil of Shiva who is the destroyer of the universe. 

He has taken a resolve to rid the earth of Kshatriya twenty-one times. Therefore, you discard the idea of fighting against Parashurama.

You are considered to be a great warrior after defeating Ravana. In fact, О lord, you have not defeated him but he has been defeated because of his own sins. 

Because the one who does not protect dharma, who can protect him on the earth? Such a person is himself destroyed by his own actions and seems to be dead while still alive. 

The one who is a witness to the good and bad deeds, the religious deeds, the soul of everyone and resides in the hearts of everyone, you are unable to realise his worth because of your ignorance. 

О king, for the religious people, the son, the wife and all the pleasures are perishable like the bubbles of water; therefore, the ascetics and noble persons considering the universe to be like a dream, always devote themselves to dharma and perform tapas with great devotion. 

You have forgotten the divine knowledge imparted to you by Dattatreya; otherwise how could you involve yourself in the killing of a Brahmana? You had gone for the sake of pleasure. 

The one who insults the teacher, the Brahmana and the gods, the gods get annoyed with him and he is approached by misfortune pretty fast. 

О king, you remember the lotus-like feet of Dattatreya because of which the obstructions are removed by the reciting of the name of the teacher with devotion. 

Adoring the same teacher, you take refuge with Bhrugu. A Kshatriya never meets with any harm when he adores the gods and the Brahmanas. 

О lord of the earth, the king happens to be the servant of the Brahmanas, Vaishya happens to be the servant of the king and the Shudra happens to be the servant of everyone and more so of a Brahmana. 

By taking refuge with the Kshatriya, he meets with disgrace but by taking refuge with the teacher, the gods and Brahmanas, one achieves great glory. 

О best of the kings, the Brahmanas are considered to be better than the gods. Therefore, you serve them because at the pleasure of the Brahmanas all the gods also get pleased. Thus, the immensely chaste lady made the king to understand everything and took him in her lap.  She then started crying looking at his face, she again said, "O lord, you wait for a while; have a bath I shall serve you the food of your liking. 

О beautiful one, I shall adorn your body with sandal-paste, aguru, kasthuri, camphor, saffron. 

О lord, you take your seat on the lion-throne for a moment and be seated on my breast for a moment. I would like to see you on the flowery bed in the court. 

Because, О king, for the chaste ladies the husband is dearer to them than hundreds of their sons. This has been ordained by the lord himself in the Vedas. 

On hearing the words of Manorama the most intelligent king tried to convince the queen and said to her. 

Kartavirya said - О damsels, I have listened to all your words. The court does not take seriously the words of the people who are in grief. 

О beautiful one, the pleasure, the pain, fear, grief, quarrel and love, appear only according it is time above the time and to time alone that gives them their due importance. The time is death and rebirth. The time also creates the universe and also destroys it. 

The time preserves it and Janardana himself is the form of time. Lord Krishna happens to be the death for the time, the creator of the creator, the killer of the killer, the preserver of the preserver and the one who performs the deeds. He alone becoming the form of the deeds provides the result of all the deeds. О chaste lady, who can kill anyone without the influence of deeds, by his command the creator creates the universe, the destroyer destroys it and the preserver preserves the universe. By whose command the wind getting terrified, always blows and death prevails everywhere and the sun bums, the god of death goes on roaming about getting everyone terrified, all the immovable things remain static and the movable things move on endlessly. The trees blossom with fruits and flowers and according to time they also dry up. They also grow up at the command of time, at the command of the time the universe appears and then disappears, the humans move according to the will of the time and nothing is possible on their own will. 

Lord Parashurama is the amsha of Narayana and the great warrior, he has already taken a vow to rid the earth of the Kshatriyas twenty-one times which cannot be otherwise. Therefore, О chaste lady, I am bound to meet my death at his hands and I am sure of this. 

Being well aware of the future, how can I take refuge with him, because for the glorious people disgrace is worse than death. 

Thus, speaking the king got ready for proceeding to the battle field. He started the playing of war-bands and also have the welfare song recited. 

His army consisted of a hundred crore of kings; three lakhs of great kings accompanied by great warriors and hundred Akshuhini army; including elephants, horses, foot soldiers and - innumerable chariots. He intended to move on with the entire army. But in the meantime, Manorama wearing a smile on her face prevented him from moving forward and take away the infallible kavacha, the arrow and the bow.

She took him to the pleasure house and embraced him, kissing his face again and again.