SRIMAD MAHABHARATA - SABHA PARVA - LOKAPALA SABHAKHAYANA (UPA) PARVA - CHAPTER 10 - THE KUBERA SABHA
“Naarada said ‘Possessed
of great splendour, the Sabha of Vaishravana, O king (Yudhishthira), is a hundred yojanas in length and seventy yojanas in breadth. It was
built, O king (Yudhishthira), by
Vaishravana himself using his Tapas. Possessing the splendour of the peaks of
Kailaasa, that Sabha eclipses by its own the brilliance of Chandra himself.
Supported by Guhyakas, that Sabha seems to be attached to the sky. Of divine
make, it is rendered extremely beautiful with high chambers of gold. Extremely
delightful and rendered fragrant with divine perfumes, it is multi-coloured
with numberless costly jewels. Resembling the peaks of a mass of white clouds,
it seems to be floating in the air. Painted with colours of divine gold, it
seems to be decorated with streaks of lightning.
“Within that Sabha sits
on an excellent seat bright as Surya and covered with divine carpets and
furnished with a handsome footstool, king Vaishravana of agreeable person,
attired in excellent garments, adorned with costly ornaments and ear-rings of
great brilliance, surrounded by his thousand wives. Delicious and cooling
breezes murmuring through forests of tall Mandaaraas, and bearing fragrance of
extensive plantations of jasmine, as also of the lotuses on the bosom of the
river Alaka and of the Nandana-gardens, always minister to the pleasure of the
King of the Yakshaas.
“O king (Yudhishthira), there Devas with the Gandharvas surrounded by various tribes (Gana
in Sanskrit) of Apsaras, sing in chorus
notes of celestial sweetness. Misrakeshi, Rambhaa, Chitrasena, Suchismitaa; Chaarunetraa,
Ghrutaachi, Menakaa, Punjikasthala; Vishwaachi, Sahajanyaa, Pramlochaa, Urvashi,
Ira; Vargaa, Saurabheyi, Sameechi, Budbudaa, Lata – these and a thousand other
Apsaras and Gandharvas, all well-skilled in music and dance, attend upon the
lord of treasures (Kubera).
“That sabha, always
filled with the notes of instrumental and vocal music, as also with the sounds
of dance of various tribes (Gana in Sanskrit) of Gandharvas,
and Apsaras has become extremely charming and delicious. The Gandharvas called
Kinnaraas, and others called Naraas, Manibhadra, Dhanada, Shwetabhadra and
Guhyaka; Kasherakaa, Gandakandu, and the mighty Pradyota; Kustumburu, Pishaachaa,
Gajakarnaa, Vishaalaka, Varaaha-Karna, Saandroshta, Phalabhaksha, Phalodaka; Angachooda,
Shikhaavartaa, Hemanetra, Vibhishana, Pushpaanana, Pingalaka, Shonitoda, Pravaalaka;
Vrukshavaasya-niketa, and Chiravasaa – these O Bharata (Yudhishthira), and many other Yakshaas by hundred and thousands
always wait upon Kubera.
“The goddess Lakshmi
always stays there, also Kubera’s son Nalakubera. Myself and many others like
myself often travel there. Many Brahmarishis and Devarishis also travel there
often. Many Raakshasaas, and many Gandharvas, besides those that have been
named, wait upon the worship, in that sabha, the illustrious lord of all
treasures (Kubera).
“O tiger among kings (Yudhishthira), the illustrious husband of Uma and lord of created things, the
three-eyed Mahadeva (Lord Shiva),
the wielder of Trishul and the slayer of the Asura called Bhaganetra, the
mighty Deva of the fierce bow, surrounded by multitudes of spirits (Bhoota
in Sanskrit) in their hundreds and
thousands, some of dwarfish stature, some of fierce face, some hunch-backed,
some of blood-red eyes, some of frightful yells, some feeding upon fat and
flesh, and some terrible to see, but all armed with various weapons and endued
with the speed of wind, with Devi (Paarvati) ever cheerful and knowing no fatigue, always wait here upon their
friend Kubera, the lord of treasures.
“Hundreds of Gandharva
chiefs, with cheerful hearts and attired in their respective robes and Vishwavasu,
Haha and Huhu; Tumburu, Parvatta, Sailusha; Chitrasena skilled in music and
also Chitraratha – these and innumerable Gandharvas worship the lord of
treasures (Kubera). Chakradhamaa, the chief of the
Vidyadharas, with his followers, waits in that sabha upon the lord of
treasures. Kinnaraas by hundreds and innumerable kings with Bhagadatta as their
chief, and Druma, the chief of the Kimpurushaas, and Mahendra, the chief of the
Raakshasaas, and Gandhamadana accompanied by many Yakshaas and Gandharvas and
many Raakshasaas wait upon the lord of treasures.
“The Dharmic Vibhishana
(Raavana’s brother) also worships there his elder brother the
lord Kubera. The mountains of Himavat, Paripatra, Vindhya, Kailaasa, Mandara,
Malaya, Durdura, Mahendra, Gandhamadana, Indrakila, Sunava, and Eastern and the
Western hills – these and many other mountains, in their personified forms,
with Meru standing before all, wait upon and worship the illustrious lord of
treasures.
“The illustrious
Nandiswaraas, Mahakala, and many spirits with arrowy ears and sharp-pointed
mouths, Kaksha, Kuthimukha, Danti, and Vijaya of great merit of Tapas, and the
mighty white bull of (Lord)
Shiva roaring deep, all wait in that sabha.
Besides these many other Raakshasaas and Pishaachaas worship Kubera in that sabha.
The son of Pulastya (Kubera)
formerly used always to worship in all the modes and sit, with permission
obtained, beside the Deva Deva, (Lord) Shiva,
the creator of the three worlds, that supreme Deity surrounded by His
attendants. One day the noble Bhava (Lord Shiva) made friendship with Kuvera. From that time, O king (Yudhishthira), Mahadeva (Lord Shiva) always sits on the sabha of His friend,
the lord of treasures. Those best of all jewels, those princes of all gems in
the three worlds, viz., Shankha and Padma, in their personified forms, accompanied
by all the jewels of the earth (also in their personified forms) worship Kubera.
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