Canto Ten - Chapter 79

Śrī Śuka said: When the next sacred lunar day arrived, O King, a fierce wind arose, showering dust everywhere and bearing the terrible stench of pus.

Then Balvala created a rain composed of impure substances over the sacrificial enclosure, and he appeared there carrying a trident.

The Lord saw his immense body, dark as a mass of split collyrium, his hair and beard the color of molten copper, and his face made fierce by fangs and knitted brows.

Rāma called to mind His pestle, which tears apart enemy armies, and His plow, which subdues demons. They immediately appeared before Him.

With the tip of His plow, Bala angrily dragged the sky-roaming Balvala down and struck that enemy of the brāhmaṇas on the head with His pestle.

His forehead split open and blood pouring forth, Balvala fell upon the earth with a cry of agony, like a crimson mountain struck by a thunderbolt.

The greatly fortunate sages praised Rāma, offered Him unfailing blessings, and ceremonially bathed Him, just as the gods had consecrated Indra after he slew Vṛtra.

They gave Rāma a Vaijayantī garland of unfading lotuses, the abode of beauty, together with two celestial garments and divine ornaments.

Then, with their permission and accompanied by brāhmaṇas, He went to the Kauśikī, bathed, and proceeded to the lake from which the Sarayū flows.

Traveling downstream along the Sarayū, He reached Prayāga. After bathing and satisfying the gods and others, He went to the hermitage of Pulaha.

He bathed in the Gomatī, Gaṇḍakī, Vipāśā, and Śoṇa, then went to Gayā, worshiped the ancestors, and visited the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the ocean.

After bathing at Mount Mahendra, He saw and saluted Paraśurāma. He then visited the sevenfold Godāvarī, the Veṇā, the Pampā, and the Bhīmarathī.

Rāma visited Skanda and then went to Śrīśaila, the abode of Giriśa. In the Draviḍa country, the Lord saw the supremely sacred Veṅkaṭa hill.

He visited the Kāma-koṣṇī, the city of Kāñcī, the Kāverī, foremost of rivers, and the supremely sacred place called Śrī Raṅga, where Hari is eternally present.

He went to Ṛṣabhādri, a holy place of Hari, and to southern Mathurā, and then reached the ocean bridge, which destroys the gravest sins.

There Halāyudha gave ten thousand cows to the brāhmaṇas. He then visited the Kṛtamālā, the Tāmraparṇī, and the Malaya range, one of the great ancestral mountains.

There He bowed to the seated sage Agastya and offered salutations. Blessed and given leave by the sage, He went to the southern ocean, where He saw the goddess Durgā known as Kanyā.

Then He reached the excellent sacred places Phālguna and Pañcāpsarasa, where Viṣṇu is present. After bathing there, He donated ten thousand cows.

The Lord next traveled through Kerala and Trigarta and visited the sacred place of Śiva called Gokarṇa, where Dhūrjaṭi is perpetually present.

After seeing the goddess Āryā Dvaipāyanī, Bala went to Śūrpāraka. He bathed in the Tāpī, Payoṣṇī, and Nirvindhyā and then entered the Daṇḍaka forest.

From there He went to the Revā, where the city Māhiṣmatī stands. After bathing at Manu-tīrtha, He returned once more to Prabhāsa.

Hearing the brāhmaṇas recount how all the kings had been killed in the war between the Kurus and Pāṇḍavas, He considered the earth's burden removed.

Desiring to prevent the destruction of Bhīma and Duryodhana as they fought one another with maces, the joy of the Yadus went to the battlefield.

Seeing Him, Yudhiṣṭhira, the twins, Kṛṣṇa, and Arjuna bowed respectfully and then remained silent, wondering what He intended to say and why He had come.

Seeing the two furious warriors, maces in hand, moving through intricate maneuvers in their desire for victory, He addressed them.

'O King and O Vṛkodara, you are both heroic and equal in power. I consider one of you superior in physical strength and the other superior in training.

'Since your prowess is equal, victory for either one of you cannot be foreseen. Therefore stop this fruitless battle.'

Bound by deep hostility, they did not accept His words, though those words were meaningful and beneficial. Each continued remembering the other's harsh insults and wrongs.

Recognizing the course ordained by destiny, Rāma went to Dvāravatī, where Ugrasena and His other delighted relatives came to greet Him.

When He returned to Naimiṣa, the sages joyfully engaged Him in sacrificial rites. He is the very embodiment of sacrifice, encompasses every sacrifice, and had withdrawn from all conflict.

The almighty Lord imparted to them pure spiritual knowledge, by which they understood the universe to rest within the Self and the Self to pervade the universe.

Having bathed with His wife at the sacrifice's conclusion, surrounded by relatives, kinsmen, and friends, dressed in fine garments and beautifully adorned, He shone like the moon amid its own rays.

Indeed, the immeasurable Ananta, mighty Balarāma, who appears among mortals through His divine power, performs countless deeds of this kind.

Whoever remembers morning and evening the deeds of Rāma, whose acts are wondrous, becomes dear to the infinite Lord Viṣṇu.