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Mahābhārata The History of the Great India
<< 120 Maya's Construction >>
 |  | At Indraprastha, the Asura built an incomparable assembly hall blazing with jewels and divine glory. Its fame spread throughout the three worlds.
| | | Maya then presented the excellent club to Bhimasena, and he gave the superlative conch shell named Devadatta to Arjuna.
| | | The assembly hall extended to a circumference of 10,000 kiskus* and had treelike columns of solid gold. The brilliant body of the capitol hall was as supremely radiant as the body of fire, or of the sun or moon. Shining with divine luster, the celestial edifice glowed and blazed, its effulgence defeating the sparkling radiance of the sun.
| | | Long and wide, standing erect and covering the sky like a vast cloud shrouding a mountain, the sinless mansion, flawless and gleaming, dispelled the fatigue of all who entered its chambers. Fashioned of the best materials, garlanded with surrounding walls studded with jewels, and stocked with gems and many riches, it appeared to be handsomely crafted by the cosmic builder, Visvakarma, for not even the Sudharma hall of Dvaraka or the mansion of Brahma could match the beauty of the unique structure Asura Maya had created.
| | | Maya instructed eight thousand Raksasas, known as the Kinkaras, to carefully guard the building and provide transportation for its construction. Those terrifying servants had powerful, gigantic bodies and could fly in outer space. Their eyes were blood-red and tawny, their ears were shaped like seashells, and they bore weapons.
| | | Within the royal hall, Maya fashioned a unique lotus pond, in which the spreading lotus petals were made of cat's-eye gems and the lotus stalks of other jewels. The pond was perfumed by sweet-scented lotuses and lilies; it was busy with flocks of birds, lush with blossoming flowers, and brightly painted with turtles and fish. Wide, comfortable stairways led bathers into its waters, which were crystal clear and plentiful in all seasons, and heavenly breezes stirred the delicate pearl-drop blossoms that gathered on the surface. Some kings who approached that lake filled with heaps of gems could not understand that it was a lake—although they saw it right before their eyes—and they fell into its waters.
| | | Nearby the assembly hall were giant, ever-flowering trees with bluish bark, refreshing shade, and enchanting shape. All about were very fragrant forests adorned with lotuses, swans, ducks, and cakra birds.
| | | The wind picked up the fragrance from the flowers growing profusely on the land and water and carried the sweet scents to the Pandavas for their pleasure. It took Maya about fourteen months to make the assembly hall, and then he presented his exquisite creation to Yudhisthira, who was celebrated as Dharmaraja, the king of virtue.
| | | * 10,000 cubits, or approximately 5,000 yards or meters.
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