Mahabharata – 134

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

Janamejaya said  --- Oh great sage Vaisampyana! I am eager to listen the birth story & character of great Bharata.Also I am interested to listen  the story of Shakuntala.How did the king of great prowess Dushmanta receive Shakuntala?

Once upon a time the king Dushmanta set out for hunting accompanied with horses,elephants & bare foot soldiers.In course of his hunting venture he entered into a very beautiful forest that reminds of the garden of Indra.

The forest was filled up with  various trees.There were ups downs in the forest due to the falling stones from the mountain. The forest was spread over many yojanas & was filled with fierce animals like tigers & lions. There were deer also. The king with his followers & cars agitated the forest by slaying different animals.He killed numerous tigers by flinging sharp arrows. He used to injure long distant animals by arrows & by sword the near ones.The mighty hero master in club fight roaming around here & there also killed a few deer by his lance. Using all kinds of  weapons he slayed numerous animals & birds there. Then the lions left the forest.Because of the killing of the group leader the other  deer became frightened & making a noise they tried to leave the forest.A few of them were thirsty & fainted near the dry pond.And the hungry tiger like people started eating them.Some soldiers used to cook them properly in the forest after dressing them suitably.Some mighty elephants injured  all over the body left the forest with great speed.The elephants pested many peoples while running away.The king slayed the lions & the sky was filled with arrows looking like cloud.And the forest gradually was filled up with dead animals. The king having slayed numerous animals entered into another forest.The mighty king was thirsty & hungry. He reached to a lonesome plain at the end of that forest. Crossing that lonesome end of the forest he reached some other forest. And there were hermitages of the sages. Cool breeze was blowing filled with sounds of different animals.Birds were singing sweetly. Peacocks were screaming. The forest was also filled up with sweet notes of cuckoos. There were numerous plants & bees were roaming around under the shed of the trees. The shed of the trees was very pleasant. And beneath the trees beautiful green grasses shone. The forest was beautiful. All the trees in that forest were either with fruits or with flowers. No one of the plants was with thorns or without bees. The flowery plants decked the forest in all the season filled up with sweet songs of the different birds. The king holding his bow entered that forest. Tall flowering plants wafted by the mild breeze rained flowers on the head of the king. Many branches of the trees bent down due to the weight of the sky facing flowers. The bees were roaming there for the honey. The king was very pleased with the environment. The Siddhas,the scops,  Apsaras,Hanumans,Kinnars used to roam around there.The scented sweet breeze carrying the pollen grains prevailed there making the environment ideal for making love.King Dushnanta observed the rainbow like tall & beautiful forest beside the river.He also observed an excellent ashrama in that forest.The birds were flying there without any fear.A large number of trees were in that Ashrama.The sacrificial fire was blazing. The self restrained Valakhilya sages & other sages were roaming around.There was a good number of sacrificial altars which were covered by flowers.That ashram was on the bank of a pure & crystal clear river.The river was long & wide. Many birds wre flying there. The sages were going & coming for taking bath. The tiger & ferocious animals were living in peace with goats, cows & lamb there. The mighty king reached near the excellent ashrama which was like Devaloka or the abode of gods .He saw the sacred river Malini was flowing through the base of the ashrama. Malini the river was as if playing the role of the mother for the birds, trees & animals there. In the water of the river ducks were playing.The foams that were carried away along the current of the river likened flowers.On the river bank in some places kinnars were living or monkeys along with tigers,bears,virulant snakes & elephants gambolled.The air was filled up with the sound of vedas. On this bank of the river Malini the ashrama of the great sage Kanva was situated.