The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section 211

Section CCXI. *( Rajya-lava Parva continued.* ) Vaisampayana said, "Hearing these words of Yudhish-thira, Narada replied, 'O son of Prithā, with thy brothers listen to me as I recite this old story, O Yudhish-thira, exactly as everything happened! In olden days, a mighty Daitya of name Nikumbha, endued with great energy and strength, was born in the race of the great Asura, Hiranya-kashipu. Unto this Nikumbha were born two sons named Sunda and Upasunda. And both of them were mighty Asuras endued with great energy and terrible prowess. And the brothers were both fierce and possessed wicked hearts. And these Daityas were both of the same resolution, and ever engaged in achieving the same tasks and ends. And they were ever sharers with each other in happiness as well as in woe. And each speaking and doing what was agreeable to the other, the brothers never ate unless they were together and never went anywhere unless together. Of exactly the same disposition and habits, they seemed to be one individual divided into two parts. And endued with great energy and ever of the same resolution in everything they undertook, the brothers after due initiation, went to the mountains of Vindhya. And wending there, severe were the ascetic penances they performed. And exhausted with hunger and thirst, with matter locks on their heads and attired in barks of trees, long was the time after which they acquired sufficient ascetic merit. Besmearing themselves with dirt from head to foot, living upon air alone, standing on their toes, they offered pieces of the flesh of their bodies into the fire. With arms upraised, and eye-lids fixed, long was the period for which they observed their vows. And during the course of their ascetic penances, a wonderful incident happened there. For the mountains of Vindhya, heated for a long course of years by the power of their ascetic austerities, began to emit vapours from every part of their body. And beholding the severity of their austerities, the celestials became alarmed. And the gods began to offer numerous obstructions for impeding the progress of their asceticism. And the celestials repeatedly tempted the brothers by means of every precious possession and the most beautiful girls. But firmly wedded thereto, the brothers broke not their vows. Then the celestials once more manifested, before the illustrious brothers, their powers of illusion. For it seemed their sisters, mothers, wives, and other relatives, with dishevelled hair and ornaments and robes, were running towards them in terror, pursued and struck down by a Rakshasa with a lance in hand. And it seemed that the women implored the help of the brothers, crying. *O save us*! But all this went for nothing, for firmly wedded thereto, the brothers did not still break their vows. And when it was found that all this produced not the slightest impression on any of the two, both the women and the Rakshasa vanished from sight. At last the Grand-sire himself, the Supreme lord ever seeking the welfare of all, came unto those great Asuras and asked them to solicit the boon they desired. Then the brothers Sunda and Upsunda, both of great prowess, beholding the Grand-sire, rose from their seats and waited with joined hands. And the brothers both said unto the god,—O Grand-sire, if thou hast been pleased with these our ascetic austerieties, and art, O lord, propitious unto us, then let us have knowledge of all weapons and of all powers of illusion! Let us be endued with great strength, and let us be able to assume every form at will! And last of all, let us also be immortal! Hearing these words of theirs, Brhamā said,—Except the immortality ye ask for, ye shall even be all that ye desire! Solicit ye some form of death by which ye may still be equal unto the immortals! And since ye have undergone these severe ascetic austerities from desire of sovereignty alone, I cannot confer on ye the boon of immortality! Ye have performed your ascetic penances even for the subjugation of the three-worlds. It is for this, O mighty Daityas, that I cannot grant ye what ye desire!—' "Narada continued, 'Hearing these words of Brahmā, Sunda and Upasunda said, 'O Grand-sire, let us have no fear then from any created thing, mobile or immobile, in the three worlds, except only from each other!—The Grand-sire then said,—I grant ye what ye have asked and said, even this your desire!—And granting them this boon, the Grand-sire made them desist from their asceticism, and returned to his own region. And the brothers—those mighty Daityas—having received those several boons, became incapable of being slain by anybody in the universe. And they then returned to their own abode. And all their friends and relatives, beholding those Daityas of great intelligence, crowned with success in the matter of the boons they had obtained, became exceedingly glad. And Sunda and Upasunda then cut off their matted locks and wore coronets on their heads. And attired in costly robes and ornaments, they looked exceedingly handsome. And they caused the moon to rise over their city every night even out of his season. And their friends and relatives gave themselves up to joy and merriment with happy hearts. And *Eat*, *Feed*, *Give*, *Make merry*, *Sing*, *Drink*, were the sounds heard every day in every house. And here and there arose loud uproars of hilarity mixed with clappings of hand, which filled the whole city of the Daityas. And the Daityas, capable of assuming any form at will, engaged in every kind of amusement and sport and scarcely noticed the flight of time, even regarding a whole year as a single day.'" Thus ends the two hundred and eleventh Section in the Rājyalāva of the Adi Parva.