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This Purana is
basically a preaching to the sage Vashishth by Agni. In his turn,
Vashishth narrated it to Vyasaji, who related it to Sutji. Ultimately,
Sutji narrated Agni Purana to an assembly of the sages in Naimisharanya.
Starting chapters of the Purana describe about various incarnations of
Lord, including Rama and Krishna. Other chapters describe about
religious rituals especially those related to the worship of Lord Shiva.
Many chapters have description about the earth, stars and constellations
as well as the duties of the kings.
This Purana
consists of 9 chapters:
In the forest that
is known as Naimisharanya, Shounaka and the other rishis (sages) were
performing a yajna (sacrifice) dedicated to the Lord Vishnu. Suta had
also come there, on his way to a pilgrimage.
The sages told
Suta, “We have welcomed you. Now describe to us that which makes men
all-knowing. Describe to us that which is the most sacred in the whole
world”.
Suta replied,
“Vishnu is the essence of everything. I went to a hermitage named
Vadrika with Shuka, Paila and other sages and met Vyasadeva there.
Vyasadeva described to me that which he had learnt from the great sage
Vashishtha, Vashishtha having learnt it from the god Agni himself. The
Agni Purana is sacred because it tells us about the essence of the
brahman (the divine essence). I learnt all this from Vyasadeva and I
will now tell you all that I have learnt.”
Avataras (Avatars)
Do you know what an
avatara is? An avatara is an incarnation and means that a god adopts a
human form to be born on earth. Why do gods do this. The purpose is to
destroy evil on earth and establish righteousness. Vishnu is regarded as
the preserver of the universe and it is therefore Vishnu’s incarnations
that one encounters most often. Vishnu has already had nine such
incarnations and the tenth and final incarnation is due in the future.
These ten incarnations of Vishnu are as follows.
(1) Matsya avatara
or fish incarnation
(2) Kurma avatara
or turtle incarnation
(3) Varaha avatara
or boar incarnation
(4) Narasimha
avatara - an incarnation in the form of a being who was half-man and
half-lion.
(5) Vamana avatara
or dwarf incarnation
(6) Parashurama
(7) Rama
(8) Krishna
(9) Buddha
(10) Kalki - this
is the incarnation that is yet to come.
The Agni Purana now
describes these ten incarnations.
This Chapter
contains 7 Sections.
Agni told
Vashishtha the story of the fish incarnation.
Many years ago, the
whole world was destroyed. The destruction in fact extended to all the
three lokas (Worlds) of bhuloka, bhuvarloka and svarloka. Bhuloka is the
earth, svarloka or svarga is heaven and bhuvarloka is a region between
the earth and heaven. All there worlds were flooded with water.
Vaivasvata Manu was
the son of the sun-god. He had spent ten thousand years in prayers and
tapasya (meditation) in the hermitage vadrika. This hermitage was on the
banks of the river Kritamala.
Once Manu came to
the river to perform his ablutions. He immersed his hands in the water
to get some water for his ablutions. When he raised them, he found that
there was a small fish swimming in the water in the cup of his hands.
Manu was about to
throw the fish back into the water when the fish said, “Don’t throw me
back. I am scared of alligators and crocodiles and big fishes. Save me.”
Manu found an
earthen pot in which he could keep the fish. But soon the fish became
too big for the pot and Manu had to find a larger vessel in which the
fish might be kept. But the fish became too big for this vessel as well
and Manu had to transfer the fish to a take. But the fish grew and grew
and became too large for the lake. So Manu transferred the fish to the
ocean. In the ocean, the fish grew until it became gigantic.
By now, Manu’s
wonder knew no bounds. He said, “Who are you? You must be the Lord
Vishnu, I bow down before you. Tell me, why are you tantalising me in
the form of a fish?”
The fish replied,
“I have to punish the evil and protect the good. Seven days from now,
the ocean will flood the entire world and all beings will be destroyed.
But since you have saved me, I will save you. When the world is flooded,
a boat will arrive here. Take the saptarshis (seven sages) with that
boat. Don’t forget to take the seeds of foodgrains with you. I will
arrive and you will then fasten the boat to my horn with a huge snake.”
Saying this, the
fish disappeared.
Everything happened
as the fish had promised it would. The ocean became turbulent and Manu
climbed into the boat. He tied the boat to the huge horn that the fish
had. He prayed to the fish and the fish related the Matsya Purana to
him. Eventually, when the water receded, the boat was anchored to the
topmost peak of the Himalayas. And living beings were created once
again.
A danava (demon)
named Hayagriva had stolen the sacred texts of the Vedas and the
knowledge of the brahman. In his form of a fish, Vishnu also killed
Hayagriva and recovered the Vedas.
Many years ago
there was a war between the devas (gods) and the daityas (demons) and
the gods lost this war. They prayed to Vishnu to rescue them from the
oppression of the demons. Vishnu told Brahma and the other gods that
they should have a temporary truce with the demons. The two sides should
get together to churn the ocean. Vishnu would ensure that the devas
benefited more from this churning of the ocean than the daityas did.
The truce was
agreed upon and the two sides got ready to churn the ocean. The mountain
Mandara was used as a churning rod and great sake Vasuki as the rope for
churning. The devas grasped Vasuki’s tail and the daityas grasped
Vasuki’s head. But as the churning began, the mountain Mandara which had
no base, started to get immersed in the ocean. What was to be done? Lord
Vishnu came to the rescue. He adopted the form of a turtle and the peak
was balanced on the turtle’s back.
As the churning
continued, terrible poison named kalkuta emerged from the depths of the
ocean and was swallowed by Shiva. Shiva’s throat became blue from this
poison and he is therefore known as Nilakantha, blue of throat. The
goddess Varuni, the goddess of wine (sura), came out next. The gods
readily accepted her and thus they came to be known as suras. But the
demons rejected Varuni and were therefore known as asuras. She was
followed by the Parijata tree, a beautiful tree that came to occupy the
pride of place in Indra’s garden. A jewel named koustubha emerged and
was accepted by Vishnu as his adornment. Three wonderful animals came
out next - the cow Kapila, the horse Ucchaishrava and the elephant
Airavata. They were followed by the apsaras, beautiful women who became
the dancers of heaven. They were known as apsaras because they emerged
from ap (water). The goddess Lakshmi or Shri came out next and was
united with Vishnu.
Finally,
Dhanvantari emerged with a pot of amrita (the life - giving drink) in
his hands. Dhanvantari was the originator of medicine (ayurveda). The
daityas led by Jambha gave half of the amrita to the devas and departed
with the remaining half.
But Vishnu quickly
adopted the form of a beautiful woman. So beautiful was the woman that
the demons were charmed. “Pretty lady,” they said. “ take the amrita and
serve it to us. Marry us.” Vishnu accepted the amrita, but he had no
intention of giving it to the demons. He served it to the gods instead.
There was only one demon who was somewhat clever. His name was Rahu. He
adopted the form of Chandra, the moon-god, and succeeded in drinking
some of the amrita. The sun-god and the moon-god noticed what was
happening and reported it to Vishnu. Vishnu thereupon cut off Rahu’s
head with a sword.
But Rahu had drunk
the amrita, so he could not die. He prayed to Vishnu and Vishnu granted
him a boon. The boon was that occasionally Rahu would be permitted to
swallow up the sun and the complained about him. You can see this
happening at the time of the solar and the lunar eclipses. People who
give alms during such eclipses are blessed.
The gods obtained
the amrita and the demons did not. Thus, the gods became more powerful
than the demons. They defeated the demons and regained heaven.
Vishnu’s next
incarnation was in the form of a boar.
The sage Kashyapa
and his wife Diti had a son named Hiranyaksha. became the king of the
asuras. Hiranyaksha’s meditation pleased Brahma and Brahma granted him
the boon that he would be invincible in battle. Thus armed. Hiranyaksha
went out to fight with the devas. He comprehensively defeated the gods
and conquered heaven. He also defeated Varuna, the god of the ocean.
Thus, Hiranyaksha became the king of the heaven, the earth and the
underworld.
But the asura was
not particularly fond of the earth. He himself had begun to live in
Varuna’s palace under the ocean. So he hurled the earth into the depths
of the ocean.
The gods went to
Vishnu and prayed that something might be done about Hiranyaksha. They
wished to be restored to heaven and they wished that the earth might be
brought back from the depths of the ocean. In response to these prayers,
Vishnu adopted the form of a boar and entered the ocean. Who should he
meet there but Hiranyaksha himself?
Hiranyaksha of
course did not know that this boar was none other than Vishnu. He
thought that it was an ordinary boar and attacked it. The two fought for
many years. But finally, Hiranyaksha was gored to death by the boar’s
tusks. The boar raised the earth up once again with its tusks.
Vishnu thus saved
the gods and the principles of righteousness or dharma.
Hiranyaksha had a
brother named Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu was furious to learn that
his brother had been killed and the resolved to kill Vishnu. But this
could not be done unless h e himself became powerful land invincible.
Hiranyakashipu, therefore, began to pray to Brahma through difficult
meditation. Brahma was pleased at these prayers and offered to grant a
boon.
“I want to be
invincible,” said Hiranyakashipu. “Please grant me the boon that I may
not be killed by night or day; that I may not be killed by man or beast;
and that I may not be killed in the sky, the water or the earth.”
Brahma granted the
desired boon. And Hiranyakashipu was happy. He thought that he had taken
care of all possible eventualities. And since he had become so powerful,
he conquered all the three worlds and kicked the gods out to heaven.
Hiranyakashipu had
a son named Prahlada. You no doubt remember that Hiranyakashipu had
resolved to kill Vishnu. But strangely enough, Prahlada became devoted
to Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu tried to persuade his son. That did not work.
He tried to kill his son. That too did not work since each time, Vishnu
intervened to save Prahlada.
Meanwhile, the gods
had been driven off from heaven. They had also been deprived of their
shares in yajanas by Hiranyakashipu. These shares now went only to the
asura king. In desperation, they went and prayed to Vishnu and Vishnu
promised them that he would find a solution.
One day,
Hiranyakashipu called Prahlada to him. “How is it that you escaped each
time I tried to kill you?”, he asked.
“Because Vishnu
saved me,” replied Prahlada. “Vishnu is everywhere.”
“What do you mean
everywhere?”, retorted Hiranyakashipu. He pointed to a crystal pillar
inside the palace and asked, “Is Vishnu inside this pillar as well?”
“Yes,” replied
Prahlada.
“Very well then. I
am going to kick the pillar,” said Hiranyakashipu.
When Hiranyakashipu
kicked the pillar, it broke into two. And from inside the pillar, Vishnu
emerged in his form of half-man and half-lion. He caught hold of
Hiranyakashipu and placed the demon across his thighs. And with his
claws, he tore apart the demon’s chest and so killed him. Brahma’s boon
had been that Hiranyakashipu would not be killed by man or beast. But
then narasimha was neither man nor beast it was half-man and half-beast.
The boon had said that the asura would not be killed in the sky, the
water or the earth. But Hiranyakashipu was killed on Vishnu’s thighs,
which were not the sky. The water or the earth. And finally, the noon
had promised that Hiranyakashipu would not be killed by night or day.
Since the incident took place in the evening, it was not night or day.
After
Hiranyakashipu died, the gods were restored to their rightful places.
Vishnu's made Prahlada the king of the asuras.
Prahlada’s grandson
was Vali and Vali became very powerful. When he was the king of the
asuras, there was a war between the devas and the asuras. The gods were
defeated and were driven off from svarga. As always, the gods fled to
Vishnu and began to pray to him to save them. Vishnu assured the gods
that he would do something about Vali.
Accordingly, Vishnu
was born as the son of Aditi and Kashyapa. The son was a dwarf.
King Vali had
arranged for a huge sacrifice and had announced that, on the occasion of
the sacrifice, he would not refuse anyone a boon. The dwarf arrived at
this sacrifice and began to recite the Veda’s. Vali was so pleased at
this that he offered the dwarf a bon. Vali’s guru(teacher) was
Shukracharya and Shukracharya thought that there was something fishy
about the way the dwarf had arrived. So he tried to restrain Vali.
“No,” said Vali. “I
have offered a boon and I shall stick to my word.” What boon do you
desire? I will give whatever you want.”
Before a boon was
actually granted, a small rite had to be performed with holy water.
Shukracharya was still trying to do his best to prevent the boon from
being given. So he entered the vessel in which the holy water was kept
to seal the mouth of the vessel and prevent the water from being taken
out. To get at the holy water, the vessel was pierced with a straw. This
straw also pierced one of Shukracharya’s eyes. Ever since that day, the
preceptor of the demons has been one eyed.
“Give me as much of
land as may be covered in three of my steps,” said the dwarf. “I need
this as dakshina (fee) for my guru.”
Vali agreed. But
the dwarf adopted a gigantic form. With one step he covered bhuloka.
With another step he covered bhuvarloka. And with the last step he
covered svarloka. The three worlds were thus lost to Vali and Vishnu
returned them to Indra. Vali had no option but to go down to the
underworld (patala). But so pleased was Vishnu at Vali’s generosity that
he granted the asura the boon that he would bear the title of Indra in
the future.
The kshatriyas were
the second of the four classes. It was their job to wear arms and
protect the world. And rule. The brahmanas were the first of the four
classes. It was their job to pray, study the sacred texts and perform
religious rites. But the kshatriyas became very insolent and began to
oppress the world and the brahmanas. Vishnu was then born as the son of
the sage Jamadagni and his wife Renuka. Since this was the line of the
sage Bhrigu, Parashurama was also called Bhargava. Parashurama’s mission
was to protect the brahmanas and teach a lesson to the kshatriyas.
There was a king
named Kartavirya who had received all sorts of boons from the sage
Dattatreya. Thanks to these boons, Kartavirya had a thousand arms and
conquered and ruled over the entire world.
One day, Kartavirya
went on a hunt to the forest. He was very tired after the hunt and was
invited by the sage Jamadagni had a kamadhenu cow. This meant that the
cow produced whatever its owner desired. Jamadagni used the kamadhenu to
treat Kartavirya and all his soldiers to a sumptuous feast.
Kartavirya was so
enamoured of the kamadhenu that he asked the sage to give it to him. But
Jamadagni refused. Kartavirya then abducted the cow by force and a war
started between Kartavirya and Parashurama. In this war, Parashurama cut
off Kartavirya’s head with his axe (parashu) and brought the kamadhenu
back to the hermitage.
After some time,
Parashurama was away when Kartavirya’s sons arrived at the ashrama and
killed Jamadagni. On the death of his father, Parashurama’s anger was
aroused. He killed all he kshatriyas in the world twenty-one times. On
the plains of Kurukshetra, he built five wells which were filled with
the blood of kshatriyas. Eventually, Parashurama handed over the world
to Kashyapa and went and lived on Mount Mahendra.
Brahma came out of
Vishnu’s navel. Brahma’s son was Marichi’s son Kashyapa, Kashyapa’s son
Surya, Surya’s son Vaivasvata Manu, Manu’s son Ikshvaku, Ikskhvakku’s
son Kakutstha, Kakutstha’s son Raghu, Raghu’s son Aja, Aja’s son
Dasharatha, Dasharatha’s sons were Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and
Shatrughna. Since Rama was descended from Kakutstha and Raghu, he was
also called Kakutstha and Raghava. Since his father’s name was
Dasharatha, he was also called Dasharathi. Rama’s story belongs to the
solar line (surya vansha), since one of his ancestors was Surya.
Vishnu himself
wished to destroy Ravana and the other rakshasas (demons). He therefore
divided himself into four parts and was born as Rams, Bharata, Lakshmana
and Shatrughna. Rama was Koushalya’s son, Bharata Kaikeyi’s. Lakshmana
and Shartrughna were the sons of Sumitra.
The sage
Vishvamitra came to Dasharatha and pleaded for Rama’s help in defeating
the rakshasas who were disturbing his yajanas. Rama killed these demons
and Vishvamitra was so pleased that he taught Rama the use of all divine
weapons. Rama broke a bow of Shiv’s that had been in the possession of
the king of Mithila, Janaka. This was the task that had been appointed
for marrying Sita, Janaka’s daughter. Rama married Sita, Lakshmana
married urmila, Bharata married Mandavi and Shatrughna married
Shrutakirti. On the way back to Ayodhya, Rama also beat Parashurama in a
duel.
Dasharatha resolved
that Rama should be made yuvaraja, that is, the heir apparent to the
kingdom.
But Kaikeyi had a
servant named Manthara who plotted otherwise. When he was young, Rama
had pulled at Manthara’s feet and ever since that day, Manthara had not
been kindly towards Rama. She reminded Kaikeyi of the two; boons that
had been promised to her by King Dasharatha. Years ago, the gods had
been fighting with the demon Shambara and had asked Dasharatha for his
help. In fighting with Shambara, Dasharatha had been injured. He had
been nursed back to health by Kaikeyi. Dasharatha had promised two boons
to Kaikeyi as a reward and Manthara’s suggestion was that Kaikeyi should
now ask for these two boons. By the first boon Rama would be banished to
the forest for fourteen years and by the second boon Bharata would
become yuvaraja.
Kaikeyi listened to
Manthara. At Manthara’s instance, she asked for these two boons.
Dasharatha was very angry, but Rama insisted that he would indeed go to
the forest for fourteen years. Rama, Lakshmana and Sita first went to
the banks of the river Tamasa. From there they went to the kingdom of
Guha, the king of the hunters (nishadas). They crossed the river Jahnavi
and arrived in Prayaga, where the sage Bharadvaja had his hermitage.
Their final destination was the mountain range of Chitrakuta, on the
banks of the river Mandakini.
Meanwhile, back
home in Ayodhaya, King Dasharatha who could not bear to be parted from
Rama, died. Bharata and Shatrughna had gone on a visit to their uncle’s
house and were recalled. But Bharatha refused to be king. He went to the
forest to try and persuade Rama to return, but Rama insisted that he
would not return before the fourteen years were over. So Bharata brought
back Rama’s sandals. He placed these sandals on the throne as a token of
Rama’s kingship. And he began to rule the kingdom in Rama’s name from
Nandigrama, rather than from Ayodhya.
Rama, Lakshmana and
Sita then went to the forest that is known as the Dandaka forest,
dandakaranya. This forest was on the banks of the river Godavari and
there was a beautiful lgrove inside the forest known as Panchavati. They
built a hut there and resolved to live there.
There was a
rakshasa woman named Shurpanakha. She happened to come to the place
where Rama Lakshmana and Sita had built their hut. Shurpanakha liked
Rama so much that she wanted to marry Rama and eat up Lakshmana and
Sita. But Lakshmana cut off Shurpanakha’s nose and ears with his sword.
Shurpanakha fled to
brother Khara and demanded revenge. Khara and fourteen thousand other
demons (rakshasas) attacked Rama, but they were all killed by Rama.
Shurpanakha then went to her other brother Ravana, the king of Lanka.
Ravana asked the
rakshasa Maricha to adopt the form of a golden deer and roam around in
front of Rama’s hut. Sita was so charmed by the deer that she asked Rama
to capture it for her. Rama was long in returning and Lakshmana went to
look for him. Taking advantage of Rama and Lakshmana’s absence, Ravana
kidnapped Sita. Jatayu, the king of the birds, did try to stop Ravana,
but he met his death at Ravana’s hands.
Rama and Lakshmana
were greatly distressed to find Sita missing and they looked for her
everywhere. Rama made friends with the monkey Sugriva. He killed
Sugriva’s brother Bali and made Sugriva the king of monkeys. The monkeys
were sent off in all the four directions to look for Sita.
The monkeys who had
gone towards the south learnt that Sita was in Lanka, across the ocean.
One of these monkeys was Hanumana. Hanumana leapt over the ocean and
arrived in Lanka. He discovered the lonesome Sita in a grove of ashoka
trees, the ashokavana. Hanumana introduced himself and assured Sita that
he would soon be back with Rama. Hanumana caused some general havoc in
Lanka and was captured by Meghnada or Indrajit, Ravana’s son. Ravana
ordered that Hanumana’s tail should be set on fire. But Hanumana used
his burning tail to set fire to all the houses of Lanka. He then
returned to Rama with the news that Sita had been found.
Rama, Lakshmana and
the army of monkeys arrived at the shores of the ocean. There they built
a bridge over the ocean so that they could cross over into Lanka. There
was a terrible war in which Rama killed the giant Kumbhakarna, Ravana’s
brother. Lakshmana killed Indrajit. Rama killed Ravana with a powerful
divine weapon, the brahmastra.
The fourteen years
were by now over and Rama, Lakshmana and Sita returned to Ayodhya. There
Rama was crowned king and he treated his subjects as his own sons. He
punished the wicked and followed the path of dharma. During Rama’s rule
there was no shortage of foodgrains anywhere and the people were
righteous. No one died an untimely death.
On Rama’s
instructions, Shatrughna killed the asura Lavana and built the city of
Mathura in the place where Lavana’s kingdom had been. Bharata was sent
by Rama to kill a wicked gandharva, a singer of heaven named Shailusha,
who lived on the banks of the river Indus with his sons. Bharata killed
them and built two cities there, Takshashila and Pushkaravati. In
Takshashila Bharata established his son Ataksha as king and in
Pushkaravati he made his son pushkara the king. Rama and Sita had two
sons named Kusha and Lava. Rama ruled for eleven thousand years before
he died.
This is the story
of the Ramayana as recounted in the Agni Purana. It was written by the
sage Valmiki after he had heard the story from the sage Narada.
Rama was the
seventh avatara of Vishnu, Krishna was the eighth.
This Chapter
contains 2 Sections.
As you have already
been told, Brahma emerged from Vishnu’s navel. Brahma’s son was Atri,
Atri’s son Soma, Soma’s son Pururava, Pururava’s son Ayu, Ayu’s son
Nahusha and Nahushja’s son Yayati. Yayati had two wives, Devayani and
Sharmishtha. Devayani had two sons, Yadu and Turvusu. And Sharmishtha
had three sons, Druhya, Anu and Puru. The descendants of Yadu were known
as the Yadavas.
Vasudeva was a
Yadava. His wife was Devaki. Vishnu was born as sthe son of Vasudeva and
Devaki in order to remove the wicked from the world. The seventh son of
Vasudeva and Devaki was Baladeva. And the eight son was Krishna himself.
Krishna was born in the month of Bhadra in the thick of the night.
Scared that the wicked Kakmsa might kill the newly born child, Vasudeva
left him with Yashoda, the wife of Nanda.
Nanda was the king
of the cowherds and he brought up Baladeva and Krishna. Kamsa sent a
rakshasa woman named Putana to kill Krishna but Krishna killed her
instead. In Vrindavana, Krishna subdued the terrible snake known as
Kaliya. He killed several other rakshasas named Arishta, Vrishabha,
Keshi, Dhenuka and Gardhabha and made the country safe from the
attacksof these demons. He also stopped the worship of Indra. This led
to a fight between Indra and Krishna, Indra tried to destroy the
inhabitants of Gokula by sending down torrents of rain. But Krishna held
aloft the mountain Govardhana and saved the inhabitants of Gokula.
Kamsa’s capital was
in Mathura, Baladeva and Krishna went there. Kamsa let loose a mad
elephant named Kuvalayapida on Krishna. But Krishna killed Kuvalayapida.
Baladeva and Krishna also killed two strong wrestlers, Chanura and
Mushtika, whom Kamsa had instructed to kill Baladeva and Krishna.
Finally, Krishna killed Kamsa and made Ugrasena the king.
Kamsa was
Jarasandha’s son-in-law and Jarasandha became furious when he learnt of
Kamsa’s death. He attacked the Yadavas and laid siege to the city of
Mathura. After a prolonged war, Krishna managed to defeat Jarasandha.
Krishna also defeated another evil king named Poundraka. On Krishna’s
instructions, the Yadavas built the beautiful city of Dvaraka or
Dvaravati. The Yadavas began to live in Dvaraka.
There was an asura
named Naraka who was killed by Krishna. Naraka had imprisoned sixteen
thousand daughters of the devas, gandharvas and yakshas (guards of
Heaven’s treasury). These women were freed by Krishna and Krishna
married all of them. Amongst Krishna’s other exploits were defeating the
daitya Panchajana, killing Kalayavna, seizing the parijata tree from
Indra and bringing back to life the sage Sandipani’s dead son.
Krishna had several
sons. Shamba was born of Krishna’s wife Jambavati and Pradyumna was born
of Krishna’s wife Rukmini. As soon as Pradyumna was born, he was
abducted by the asura Shambara. Shambara threw the baby into the sea,
but a fish swallowed the baby. A fisherman caught the fish and brought
it to Shambara’s house. When the fish’s stomach was cut open, the baby
came out. There was a woman named Mayavati who lived in Shambara’s house
and Shambara handed over baby Pradyumna to Mayavati so that he might be
brought up well. When he grew up, Pradyumna killed Shambara and married
Mayavati. They returned to dvaraka and Krishna was very happy to see his
lost son.
Pradyumma and
Mayavati had a son named Aniruddha. Aniruddha secretly married Usha, the
daughter of King Vana, Vana himself being the son of Vali. Vana’s
capital was in a city named Shonitapura. Vana had pleased Shiva through
hard and difficult tapasya, so that sometimes he was called the son of
Shiva. Vana loved to fight and he had wanted a boon from Shiva that he
might get the chance to fight with someone who was his equal in battle.
A flag with a peacock on it used to fly from the ramparts of Vana’s
palace. Shiva told him the day this flag fell down. Vana’s desire for
with an equal would be satisfied.
With the help of a
friend of Usha’s, Anuruddha and Usha used to meet secretly in Vana’s
palace. Vana’s guards informed him about this and there was a fierce
battle between Vana and Aniruddha At the same time, the flag with the
peacock on it fell down. Krishna got to know from Narada about the fight
between Vana and Aniruddha and he, Baladeva and Pradyumna arrived in
Vana’s capital. Shiva came to fight on Vana’s side, accompanied by Nandi
and Skanda or Kartikeya. But after a duel that lasted for a long time,
Krishna triumphed over these enemies. Krishna’s arrows also cut off the
thousand arms that Vana had. But at Shiva’s request, Krishna spared
Vana’s life and gave two arms with which to make do.
All of these
stories about Krishna are related in detail in the Harivamsha. The Agni
Purana merely gives a brief summary of the Harivamsha. But stories about
Krishna, the eight avatara of Vishnu, also crop up in the Mahabharata.
The Agni Purana, therefore, next summarises the Mahabharata.
The Pandavas were
merely a pretext. Krishna used the Pandavas to rid the world of evil
men.
You have already
learnt that one of Yayati’s sons was Puru. In Puru’s line were born
Bharata and Kuru. One of Kuru’s descendants was the king Shantanu.
Shantanu married Ganga and Bhishma was born from this marriage.
But Shantanu also
married Satyavati and had two more sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya.
Bhishma never married. Chitrangada died young. When Vichitravirya grew
up, Bhishma defeated the king of Kashi and brought two of the king’s
daughters, Ambika and Ambalika, as brides for Vichitravirya.
Vichitravirya as also quite young when he died of tuberculosis.
Since Vichitravirya
had left no children, Vyasadeva was brought to Hastinapura. Vyasadeva
and Ambalika had a son named Dhritarashtra and Vyasadeva and Ambalika
had a son named Pandu. Dhritarashtra married Gandhari and they had a
hundred sons, of whom the most important was Duryodhana. Pandu had two
wives, Kunti and Madri. Kunti’s sons were Yudhishthira, Bhima and Arjuna
and Madri’s sons were Nakula and Sahadeva. But Yudhishthira was really
the son of the god Dharma and not Pandu’s son. Similarly, Bhima was the
son of the god Pavana, Arjuna the son of Indra and Nakula and Sahadeva
the sons of the two Ashvinis. Earlier, Kunti had a son named Karna from
the sun-god.
This was before she
had god married to Pandu. Karna became a friend of Duryodhana’s. Because
of a curse imposed on him by a sage, Pandu died in the forest.
Duryodhana tried
his best to kill the Pandavas. He set fire to a house of lac (jatugriha)
in which Kunti and the five Pandavas were staying. But the Pandavas were
saved and fled to a city named Ekachakra. There they lived, disguised as
brahmanas. In Ekachakra, they destroyed a rakshasa named Vaka. They then
won the hand of the daughter of the king of Panchala. Her name was
Droupadi and all five Pandava brothers married her. When Duryodhana
learnt that the Pandavas were alive, he handed over half the kingdom to
them.
Meanwhile, the
forest Khandava had to be burnt and Krishna and Arjuna did this
together. Krishna had befriended Arjuna. When Arjuna successfully
defeated the god Agni at the burning of the Khandava forest, Agni gave
him several divine weapons. Arjuna had also obtained divine weapons from
his guru Dronacharya.
On the Pandava
side, Yudhishthira had become king. The Pandavas organised a rajasuya
yajna (royal sacrifice) in which they conquered several kingdoms and
accumulated lot of wealth. This made Duryodhana envious.
He arranged a game
of dice (aksha) between Yudhishthira and Duryodhana’s uncle Shakuni.
Shakuni did not play fairly and Yudhishthira lost the game. As penalty
for the loss, the Pandavas were to spend twelve years in the forest and
one additional year without being detected. Droupadi went with them to
the forest, as did the Pandava’s priest, Dhoumya.
After the twelve
years were over, the Pandavas came to the kingdom of King Virata where
they proposed to spend the additional year that had to be spent in
disguises. Yudhishthira pretended to be a brahmana, Bhima a cook, Arjuna
a dancer, Nakula and Sahadeva stable-hands. Droupadi became the queen’s
maid. The queen’s brother Kichaka tried to molest Droupadi, but was
killed by Bhima. When the year was over, the Kauravas attacked King
Virata to rob him of his cattle. But Arjuna defeated all the Kauravas
and saved Virata’s cattle After this success, the identity of the
Pandavas could no longer be kept a secret. But thankfully, the one year
during which identities had to be kept a secret, was over.
King Virata’s
daughter Uttara was married to Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son. Abhimanyu’s
mother was Subhadra, whom Arjuna had married. Subhadra also happened to
be Krishna’s sister.
The Pandavas now
demanded their rightful share of the kingdom, but Duryodhana refused. A
war was imminent. A huge battalion of soldiers was known as an
akshouhini. Duryodhana collected eleven akshouhinis for the war and
Yudhishthira collected seven. Krishna was sent as a messenger to
Duryodhana to try and preserve the peace. Krishna told Duryodhana that
the Pandavas would be satisfied with a mere five villages. Duryodhana
refused to give them even this without a fight.
So the armies
gathered for a war on the plains of Kurukshetra. Noticing that elders
and relatives like Bhishma and Dronacharya were fighting on the side of
the Kaurvas, Arjuna was reluctant to fight. But Krishna gave Arjuna
lessons which have come down to us as the Gita. He taught there was no
reason for sorrow if Bhishma or Dronacharya died, that was only a death
of their physical bodies. The true identity of a person was his atman
(soul) which never died, but passed from one body to another. True bliss
was obtained when the atman united with the brahman (divine essence) or
paramatman (supreme soul). This was always the goal of a yogi, that is,
a person who sought union with god.
Thus instructed by
Krishna, Arjuna started to fight. With the help of Shikhandi, he
defeated Bhishma. This happened on the tenth day of the fighting.
Bhishma did not however die. He had earlier received the boon that he
would only die when he actually wished to do so. For many days, he lay
there in the battlefield on a bed of arrows. After Bhishma’s defeat,
Dronacharya became the general on the Pandava side. Dronaharya killed
Virata, Drupada and several other kings and soldiers on the Pandava
side. Dhrishtadyumna also killed many Kaurava soldiers. On the fifteenth
day of the fighting, a rumour gained currency that Ashvatthama,
Dronacharya’s son, had been killed. Dronacharya abandoned his weapons on
hearing this bad news and Dhrishtadyumna faced no problems in killing
him. Karna now became the Kaurava general and lasted for two and a half
days before he was killed by Arjuna. Shalya was the last Kaurava
general. He fought for only half a day and was killed by Yudhishthira.
Bhima and
Duryodhana fought the last duel of the war with maces. Bhima broke
Duryodhana’s thighs and killed him. Ashvatthama had been fuming ever
since his father Dronacharya had been killed by unfair means. In the
dead of the night, he entered the Pandava camp where he killed
Dhrishtadyumna and the five sons of Droupadi. Droupadi was disconsolate
and demanded revenge. Arjuna and Ashvatthama let loose divine weapons at
each other. Since this might destroy the world, they were asked to
withdraw these weapons. Arjuna could withdraw his weapon, but
Ashvatthama could not. Ashvatthama’s weapon killed the baby that was in
Uttara’s womb, but when the dead baby was born, Krishna brought it back
to life. This baby was Parikshita.
Many kings and
soldiers died in the course of the Kurukshetra war. The only ones left
alive were Kritvarma, Kripacharya and Ashvatthama on the Kaurava side
and Pandava side. After the war was over, Bhishma taught Yudhishthira
the duties of king. It was only after this that he died.
As a king,
Yudhishthira performed many yajnas and gave a lot of to brahmanas. When
Yudhishthira learnt that the Yadvas had been destroyed, he no longer
wished to rule. He handed over the kingdom to Parikshita and the
Pandavas left on a pilgrimage, in the course of which they died.
It was Krishna who
had used the Pandavas as a tool to rid the world of evil kings and
establish the good ones. Realising that the Yadavas were also evil,
Krishna also ensured that the Yadavas would be destroyed. He then gave
up his life at the place of pilgrimage that is known as Prabhasa. After
Krishna died, the city of Dvarka was swallowed up by the sea.
This was the story
of the eighth avatara of Vishnu.
This Chapter
contains 2 Sections.
The ninth avatara
of Vishnu was Buddha and the tenth will be Kalki.
Many years ago,
there was a war between the devas and the asuras in which the demons
managed to defeat the gods. The gods went running to Vishnu for
protection and Vishnu told them that Mayamoha would be born as Buddha,
the son of Shuddhodana. Such were the illusions that Buddha created,
that the asuras left the path indicated by the Vedas and became
Buddhists. These dastardly creatures performed ceremonies that were a
sure ticket to naraka. Towards the end of the Kali era, all people will
be dastardly. They will oppose the Vedas, become robbers and will be
concerned only with wealth. The disbelievers will then become kings and
these kings will also be cannibals.
Much later, Kalki
will be born on earth as the son of Vishnuyasha. He will take up arms to
destroy these disbelievers. Kalki’s priest will be the sage Yajnavalkya.
The norms of he four classes (varna) and the four stages of life
(ashrama) will be established yet again. People will honour the sacred
texts and become righteous. It will then be time for the dawn of a new
satya yuga, a fresh period of righteousness.
In every cycle
(kalpa) and in every era (manvantara) Vishnu is thus born in various
forms. It is a sacred duty to listen to the stories of the ten avataras.
The listener attains his desires and goes to heaven.
Agni next told
Vashishtha the history of creation.
Vishnu is the Lord
of creation, preservation and destruction. Before creation, it was only
the brahman that was everywhere. There was no day, night or sky.
First Vishnu
created the waters. And in the waters he sowed the seeds of brahmanda.
the great egg. From this seed there developed a golden egg which began
to float on the waters. From the egg Brahma created himself. Since he
created himself (svayam sambhuta), Brahma is also known as Svayambhu.
Having created himself, Brahma stayed inside the egg for an entire year.
And at the end of the year, he split the egg into two. One part of the
egg formed the heaven, the other the earth. And in between the two parts
of the egg, Brahma created the sky.
Brahma next
established the earth on the waters and made the ten directions. He
created time, lightning, thunder, clouds, rain bows, words and anger. To
ensure that yajnas could be performed, texts of the Rig Veda, the Yajur
Veda and the Sama Veda emerged from his body. Holy people use the Vedas
to perform Ceremonies meant for the gods.
From the powers of
his mind, Brahma created seven sons. Their names were Marichi, Atri,
Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha Kratu and Vashishtha.
Prithu is
recognised as the first king Prithu was descended from Dhruva. And
Prithu’s father Vena was also a king. But Vena was an evil king; he was
simply not interested in protecting his subjects. The sages therefore
killed Vena with a straw and after Vena had died, they began to knead
the dead body’s right hand and it was thus that Prithu emerged. He wore
armour and carried bow and arrows when he was born. He ruled well, as
per the dictates of dharma. He looked upon all his subjects as his own
sons. From Prithu the earth came to be known as prithivi.
This Chapter
contains 4 Sections.
The Agni purana
next has several chapters on how to pray and on how to build temples and
idols. The Techniques of praying to Vishnu , Shiva, Surya and the other
gods and goddesses are described, including the special mantras
(incantations)that must be used so as to please specific gods and there
are prescribed forms for such bathing as well.
A Person who builds
temples is blessed. Even if one merely thinks of building temples, the
sins of a hundred lives are forgiven. A builder of a single temple goes
to heaven (svarga). A builder of five to shivaloka, a builder of eight
vishnuloka and a builder of sixteen temples is freed from the shackles
of being born again and again. What is the point of earning money if one
does not build temples? Money is also meant to be donated as alms to
brahmanas, but the punya or merit earned from building a temple is
greater than the punya earned from donating alms. The merit earned by
builder of temples is greatest for a golden temple, lesser for a stone
temple, still lesser for a wooden temple and least from earthen Temple.
More punya is
acquired from building an idol than from building a temple. Idols of
gods and goddesses should always be set up so that they face the city;
they should not face away from the city. The easy is for Brahma’s.
Vishnu idol can be setup anywhere at all.
Different idols of
Vishnu must have different forms. Consider, for example, idols or images
of the ten incarnations of Vishnu. The matsya (fish) avatara must
naturally look like a fish and the kurma (turtle) avatara must look like
a turtle. But the varaha (boar) avatara will four arms like a man and
will hold a gada (mace), a padma (lotus flower), a shankha (conch shell)
and a chakra (bladed discuss) in these four arms. The narasimha avatara
should have two arms holding a chakra and a gada and should wear a
garland. The vamana (dwarf) avatara should hold an umbrella and a stick
in his two hands. Parashurama will have four hands with a bow. arrows, a
sword and an axe in these hands. Rama’s image can have either two arms
or four. If there are four arms, the four hands will hold a bow, arrows,
a conch shell and a chakra. Balarama’s image may also have either four
arms or two. If there are two arms, the four arms the hands will hold a
plough, a conch shell, a club and a chakra. Buddha’s image should have a
calm appearance. It should be seated on a lotus. The ears should be
elongated Kalka’s image is that of a brahmana, seated on a horse and
holding a bow and arrows, a conch shell, a sword and a chakra.
Krishna’s image may
be either two-armed or four-armed. Three of the four arms will hold a
gada, a chakra and a shankha. The fourth palm will be opened out in the
act of granting a boon. On either side of Krishna’s image, there will be
images of Brahma and Shiva. Brahma has four faces and four arms and the
image should have a pronounced rides a swan . On either side of Brahma’s
image, there will be images of Sarasvati and Savitri.
Vishnu’s image has
eight arms. Seven of the arms hold a sword, a mace, arrow, a bow, a
shield, a chakra and a conch shell. The eighth palm is spread out as if
Vishnu is granting a boon. Vishnu should be shown riding on Garuda.
Garuda will also have eight arms. To the right of Vishnu’s image, there
should be images of Lakshmi and Sarasvati, Lakshmi holding a lotus and
Sarasvati holding a veena (a musical instrument). There has also got to
be and image of Vishnu exhibiting his universal form (vishvarupa). The
Vishavrupa image has four heads and twenty arms.
Chandi’s image has
twenty arms. The ten arms on the right hold a spear, a sword, a shakti
(a small spear), a chakra, a pasha (noose), a shield, a drum and any two
other weapons. The ten arms on the left hold snakes a rod, an axe, an
amkusha (used for driving elephants), a bow, a bell, a flag, a mace a
mirror and a cub. In front of Chandi’s image there will be the image of
a buffalo with its head cut off. The image of an asura will be shown
emerging from the body of the buffalo. The demon’s hair, eyes and
garland will be red in colour. It will be shown to be vomiting blood and
it will hold weapons in its hand, The demon’s neck will be on the lion
and her left leg will be on the demon’s back Images of Chandi may
sometimes also have ten sixteen or eighteen arms.
Shiva’s image
(linga) may be made out of earth, wood, iron, jewels, gold, silver,
copper, bronze or mercury.
A visit to a place
of pilgrimage (tirtha) brings the same punya that is obtained from
performing a yajna. It is because people had not gone on pilgrimages or
donated gold and cows in their earlier lives that they were born poor in
their next lives.
The best place of
pilgrimage is Pushkara, Brahma, other gods and sages who wish to go to
heaven live there. The best time to go to Pushkara is in the month of
Kartika. In Pushkara itself there are two other places of pilgrimage
known as Jambumarga and Tandulikashrama.
It is difficult to
go to Pushkara. But there are several other tirthas as well. One such is
Kurukshetra, where Vishnu and the other gods keep on coming. The river
Sarasvati flows near Kurukshetra. If one bathes in the Sarasvati, one
attains brahmaloka.
Any region through
which the river Ganga flows also becomes a tirtha. Even if one sees the
Ganga, the punya of per forming yajnas is attained. A person who bears
earth from the bed of the Ganga on his head is freed of all sins.
Prayaga is another
famous place of pilgrimage. Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and the other gods,
gandharvas, apsaras and the sages are always there in Prayaga. This is
because the two holy rivers, Ganga and Yamuna, come together in Prayaga.
There are many tirthas inside Prayaga itself. The sages have said that,
in the month of Magha, if one bathes for three days in Prayaga, that is
better than donating crores and crores of cows. If one donates alms in
Prayaga, one goes to svarga and is born as a king in one’s next life. If
one dies in Prayaga, one goes straight to vishnuloka.
Shiva himself had
told Parvati that Varanasi was a very holy tirtha and that Shiva never
left the city. Varanasi is so named because it is located at the
junction of two rivers, Varana and Asi. Varanasi is also known as Kashi.
The river Narmada
is also sacred.
There may be
several holy tirthas, but Gaya is the holiest of them all. A demon named
Gayasura once started to perform and such were the powers of his tapasya
that the gods began to suffer. They went to Vishnu and asked him to save
them Vishnu agreed and appeared before Gayasura. “Accept a boon,” said
Vishnu.
“Grant me the boon
that I may become the most sacred of all tirthas,” replied the daitya.
The boon was
granted and Gayasura disappeared. The gods returned to svarga, but felt
that the earth seemed to be deserted now that Gayasura had disappeared.
Vishnu then instructed Brahma and the other gods to perform a sacrifice.
He also asked them to go to Gayasura and ask for his body so that the
sacrifice might be performed on it. Gayasura readily agreed, and as soon
as he agreed, his head fell off from the body, Brahma then proceeded to
perform the sacrifice on Gayasura’s headless body. But as soon as the
sacrifice started, the body began to shake. This meant that the
sacrifice could not be properly performed and a solution had to be
found. The solution was that the gods should all enter a stone which
would be placed on Gayasura’s body so that the body would not shake. The
sacrifice could then be performed. Vishnu himself also entered the
stone. It is because the gods and Vishnu are always there in Gaya that
Gaya is sacred.
In fact, there is a
story behind this stones as well.
The sage Marichi
was Brahma’s son and had married Dharmavrata. One day, Marichi went to
the forest to collect wood and flowers and returned extremely tired. He
called Dharmavrata and said, “I am very tired. Today you must wash my
feet for me.”
Dharmavrata began
to wash Marichi’s feet when Brahma suddenly arrived. Dharmavrata did not
know what to do. Should she finish washing her husband’s feet? Or should
she first attend to Brahma, since Brahma-was Marichi’s father? She
decided to attend to Brahma first. At this Marichi became very angry and
cursed Dharmavrata that she would turn into a stone. Dharmavrata was
greatly distressed at being cursed for what she thought had not been a
fault at all. So she performed tapasya for many years. When Vishnu and
the other gods were pleased at Dharmavrata’s meditation, they appeared
and offered to grant her a boon.
Dharmavrata wished
that the curse imposed on her by Marichi might be waived. The gods
explained that this was impossible, since Marichi was a very powerful
sage. What they would however, do was to make Dharmavrata a very holy
stone desired even by the gods. The gods promised to be always inside
this stone. It was this stone that was placed on Gayasura’s body.
Once the sacrifice
was over, Gayasura himself desired a boon from the gods and the gods
granted him that Gaya would become the most sacred of all tirthas. It
was in Gaya that the Pandavas had prayed to Vishnu.
The world is
divided into seven regions (dvipas). Their names are Jambu, Plaksha,
Shalmali, Kusha, Krouncha, Shaka, and Pushkara. The seven dvipas are
surrounded by seven oceans and the names of these oceans are Lavana,
Ikshu, Sura, Sarpih, Dadhi, Dugdha and Jala.
Right in the centre
of Jambudvipa is Mount Meru. Mountains named Himavana, Hemakuta and
Nishada are to the south of Meru and mountains named Nila, shveta and
Shringi are to the north of Meru. Jambudvipa is known by that name as
there are a large number of jambu (jamun) trees in this area. On the top
Mount Meru is Brahma’s famous city.
Under the earth is
the underworld. This too, consists of seven regions and their names are
Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatsala and Patala. The
daityas and the danavas live in the underworld. Vishnu is also there in
the underworld, in his form of the great snake Shesha. The snake Shesha
holds up the earth on its hood.
That part of the
sky which is lit up by sun-rays is known as Nabha. Above the earth is
the sun, above the sun the moon, above the moon the stars, above the
stars Mercury, above Mercury Venus, above Venus Jupiter and above
Jupiter the constellation of the Great Bear (saptarshimandala). Beyond
this constellation is the world of Dhruva.
The Agni Purana
next gives a lot of information on astrology. It states when marriages
should take place and when they should not. For example, marriages are
never to be held in the months of Chaitra and Pousha or under the signs
of Libra or Gemini. If one is going on a trip, then Friday is the best
day to start on. Medicine should not be taken if one of the nakshatras
(stars) Pushya, Hasta, Jyeshtha, Shravana or Ashvini is not in the sky.
If one wishes to have a bath after recovering from an illness, then
Saturday is the best day for such a bath.
The first time a
child’s head is shaved should never be on Tuesday or a Saturday. Ears
should be pierced on Wednesday or Thursday. New clothes should not first
be worn on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. A new house should not be
entered into the months of Chaitra, Jyeshtha, Bhadra, Ashvina, Pousha or
Magha. It is best to reap grain on a Wednesday.
This Chapter
contains 4 Sections.
Each manvantara
(era) is rule over by a Manu.
The first Manu was
Svayambhuva. Shatakratu held the title of Indra during this manvantara.
The second Manu was
Svarochisha. Vipashchita held the title of Indra during this manvantara.
Third Manu was
Uttama and Sushanti was Indra then.
The fourth Manu was
tapasa and Shikhi held the title of Indra then.
The fifth Manu was
Raivata and Vitatha was Indra then.
The title of Indra
was held by Manojava during the sixth manvantara, the Manu being
Chakhusha.
Next came
Shraddhadeva, the seventh Manu Purandara being the Indra.
The eighth Manu’s
name is Savarni and the eighth Indra’s Vali. The eighth manvantara has
not yet come.
The ninth Manu will
be Dakshasavarni and the ninth Indra wil be Adbhuta.
During the tenth
manvantara, the Manu will be Brahmasavarni and the title of Indra will
be held by Shanti.
During the rule of
the eleventh Manu Dharmasavarni, the Indra will be Gana.
The twelfth Manu
will be Rudrasavarni and the twelfth Indra will be Ritadhama.
Rouchya will be the
thirteenth Manu and Divaspati will be the thirteenth Indra.
The fourteenth Manu
will be Bhoutya and the title of Indra will then be held by Shuchi.
During each of
Brahma’s days, there are fourteen such manvantaras. After that comes
Brahma’s night, when all these living beings are destroyed.
All the Manus
practised the precepts of dharma (righteousness). This meant
non-violence, truthfulness, piety, going on pilgrimages donating alms,
serving devas and brahmanas, tolerance of all religions and the
following of the sacred texts. It also meant the practice of the system
of the four classes (varna) and the four stages in life (ashrama).
The four varnas are
brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras. Performing sacrifices,
donating alms and studying the Vedas are duties that brahmanas,
kshatriyas and vaishyas must perform. In addition, the kshatriyas must
protect the good and punish the evil. The vaishyas must take care of
trade, agriculture and animal husbandry. The duties of shudras are to
serve the brahmanas and artisanship. When brahmanas take up the upavita,
the sacred thread that is the mark of the first three classes, it is
like a second birth for them. So brahmanas are known as dvijas(born
twice).
An anuloma marriage
is a marriage where the husband is from a higher class than the wife.
The offspring of such a marriage belong to the mothers class. A
pratiloma marriage is a marriage where the wife is from a higher class
than the husband. Chandalas were born this way from brahmana women,
Sutas from kshatriya women, Devalas from vaishya women, Pukkashas from
kshatriya women and Magadhas from vaishya women. Chandalas are
executioneers, Sutas charioteers, Devalas guards, Pukkashas hunters and
Magadhas bards. Chandalas should live outside the villages and should
not touch those belonging to any other class.
The best name for a
brahmana is that which ends in Sharma. Similarly, the best name for a
kshatriya ends in Varma, for a vaishya in Gupta and for a shudra in
Dasa. The sacred thread ceremony is to be held at the age of eight years
for brahmanas, eleven years for kshatriyas and twelve years for
vaishyas. No sacred a thread ceremony should be held beyond sixteen
years of age.
The first stage in
life is that of brahmacharya (studenthood). A student should never eat
honey or meat and should never indulge in singing or dancing. He should
completely give up violence and speaking to women. His duties are to
discuss the shastras (holy texts) and associate with learned men. Apart
from that, he will meditate in solitude on the true nature of the
brahman.
The next stage of
life is that of garhasthya (household stage). A brahmana may have four
wives, a kshatriya three, a vaishya two and a shudra only one. The
husband and the wife should be from the same varna. Marriage across
varna is to be avoided. A woman can marry again provided that her
husband has disappeared, is dead. has become a hermit or is such a
sinner that he is expelled from his own varna. If her husband dies, a
widow is permitted to marry her late husband’s younger brother.
A householder
should get up at dawn and pray to the gods. He should always bathe in
the morning. He should not talk impolitely. He should not bite his
nails. He should not laugh at those who are inferior. And he should
never reside in a place where there is no king, no doctor or no river.
He must not insult his elders. He should never criticise the Vedas, the
shastras, the devas, the sages and the king. And he must never travel
without a light at night.
The third ashrama
is vanaprastha (forest - dwelling stage). Such a person should always
sleep on the ground and wear skins as clothes. He should wear his hair
matted and give up the company of other people. He has to serve gods and
guests and live on fruit and roots.
In the final stage
of life (sannyasa) a person becomes a hermit. In this ashrama, a person
attains true knowledge and is completely freed. But he should become a
hermit only when he is convinced that he has completely lost all
interest in material pursuits. Such a person is not affected by birth or
death. He realises that the physical body is transient, that it is of no
concern at all. It is the knowledge of the atman (soul) that is the best
form of knowledge. When one gains this knowledge, one realises the
identification of the atman with the brahman, one understands that the
brahman is everywhere.
If one commits a
sin, one has to atone for it. This is known as prayashchitta. If one
does not atone for the sins that one has committed, it is the king’s
duty to punish the sinner.
If one drinks from
a well where the dead body of an animal has been floating, one has to
fast for three days. The worst possible sins are the killing of
brahmana, the drinking of wine and theft. Other sins are criticising the
Vedas, the bearing of false witness, killing a friend, killing a cow,
forsaking one’s parents or sons, the selling of ponds, murder, lying,
killing animals and the cutting down of green trees for fodder.
A killer of a
brahmana has to build a hut in the forest and live there for twelve
years. He has to beg for a living and give up all that he possesses to
another brahmana. A killer of cows has to live on just coarse grain for
a month. He has to live with cattle and follow them around during the
day. All his possessions have to be given up to a brahmana and he has to
bathe in cow’s urine for two months.
If a brahmana
steals gold, he should go and report his crime to the king. The king
will then hit him with a club and this will be the brahmana’s
prayashchitta.
The sin of killing
kshatriya is one-fourth the sin of killing a brahmana. If one kills a
vaishya, the sin is one-eighth the sin of killing a brahmana. And if one
kills a shudra, the sin is one-sixteenth of the sin of killing a
brahmana. Killing a cat, a mongoose, a frog, a dog, a lizard or a crow
is as sinful as killing a shudra.
Depending on the
tithi (lunar day), the day of the week, the nakshatras (stars), the
month, the season and the position of the sun, certain specific
religious rites and ceremonies have to be performed. These are known as
vratas.
The first day of
the lunar fortnight is known as pratipada. The day of pratipada in the
months of Kartika, Ashvina and Chaitra are Brahma’s tithis. It is then
that the worship of Brahma must be done.
On the second day
of the lunar fortnight (dvitiya), one should eat only flowers and pray
to the two Ashvinis. this makes the supplicant handsome and lucky.
Shuklapaksha is that lunar fortnight in which the moon waxes and
Shuklapaksha dvitiya in the month of Kartika is earmarked for the
worship of Yama. If one performs this vrata, one does not have to go to
naraka (hell). This is also the day for praying to Balarama and Krishna.
It was on the third
day of the lunar fortnight (tritiya), in shuklapaksha and in the month
of Chaitra, that Shiva married Parvati or Gouri. Rites performed on this
day are thus known as gourivrata. Shiva and Parvati have to be given
offerings of fruit. The eight names of Parvati have to be recited. These
are Lalita, Vijaya, Bhadra Bhavani, Kumuda, Shiva, Vasudevi and Gouri.
Chaturthi vrata is
performed on the fourth day of the lunar fortnight, is shuklapaksha and
in the month of Magha. This is the day for worshipping the common gods
(gana devata). The offerings on this occasion are to be wine and
fragrant perfumes.
On the fifth day of
the lunar fortnight, one performs panchami vrata. This grants good
health and takes care of bad omens. Particularly auspicious for panchami
vrata are the shuklapakshas in the months of Shravana, Bhadra, Ashvina
and Kartika.
On the sixth day of
the lunar fortnight one performs shashthi vrata. One has to live only on
fruit and if one performs this vrata, the fruits of any action that one
performs live forever. Shashthi vrata should be observed especially in
the months of Kartika and Bhadra.
Surya is to be
worshipped on the seventh (saptami) day of the lunar fortnight. If
saptami vrata is observed in shuklapaksha, all sorrow disappears. Sins
are stoned for and all one’s desires are attained. Women who have no
children can have sons if they observe these rites.
The eight day of
the lunar fortnight (ashtami) is very significant. Krishna was born on
this tithi in the month of Bhadra when the nakshatra Rohini was in the
sky. Ashtami is therefore auspicious in the month of Bhadra. If one
fasts on that day and prays to Krishna, the sins of one’s earlier seven
lives are atoned for. But this vrata is to be observed in krishnapaksha
and not in shuklapaksha, since Krishna was born in Krishnapaksha.
Together with Krishna, Rohini and the moon, Devaki, Vasudeva, Yashoda,
Nanda and Balarama are also to be worshipped on the occasion. Since
Krishna took birth (janma) on this ashtami tithi, this particular day is
known as janmashtami.
The eighth day of
the lunar fortnight can be important even if it is not the month of
Bhadra. For example, the eighth day of the lunar fortnight might be a
Wednesday (budha vara) in both shuklapaksha and krishnapaksha.
Irrespective of the month, such an ashtami is important and is known as
budhashtami. On that day one has to live only on molasses and rice and
perform the vrata.
There used to be a
brahamana named Dhira whose wife was named Rambha. Dhira’s son was
Koushika, his daughter was Vijaya and Dhira’s bull was named Dhanada.
Koushika would go with the other cowherds to graze the bull. Once when
Koushika was having a bath in the river Bhagirathi and the bull was
grazing, some thieves came and stole the bull. Koushika and his sister
Vijaya looked everywhere for it, but could not find it. In searching for
the bull, they came to a lake where some women were bathing in the
course of performing a vrata. Brother and sister were tired and hungry
and they craved for some food. The women agreed to give them food, but
only after Koushika and Vijaya had also performed the budhashtami vrata.
And as soon as Koushika perfomed the ritual, the bull was miraculously
returned to him. Such were the powers of the vrata that Koushika could
get his sister Vijaya married off to Yama and himself became the king of
Ayodhya. After their parents Dhira and Rambha had died, Vijaya
discovered that her father and mother were in naraka. When she asked
Yama as to how her parents might be delivered from naraka, Yama told her
that Koushika and Vijaya should perform budhashtami vrata again. And
immediately after they did so, the parents attained svarga.
The ninth day of
the lunar fortnight is navami and navami in shuklapaksha, especially in
the month of Ashvina, is earmarked for the worship of Gouri. An animal
has to be sacrificed and offered to the goddess on this occasion.
The brahmanas
become all powerful if they observe dashami vrata on the tenth day of
the lunar fortnight and donate ten cows. The eleventh day of the lunar
fortnight (ekadashi) is for fasting. It is also the tithi for praying to
Vishnu. The observance of ekadashi vrata grants sons and wealth and
atones for one’s sins.
The twelfth day of
the lunar fortnight is dvadashi. Any dvadashi in shuklapaksha is
auspicious for worshipping Vishnu. Duadashi in the month of Bhadra is
for praying to cows and calves and in the month of Chaitra it is for
praying to the god of love (Madana). If one observes dvadashi for an
entire year, one never has to go to naraka. An especially good
conjunction is dvadashi in shuklapaksha in the month of Bhadra when the
nakshatra Shravana is in the sky. if one fasts and observes a vrata
then, one earns greater punya than from bathing in the confluence of
sacred rivers. If Budha (Mercury) is also in the sky, the punya is
multiplied severalfold.
Trayodashi vrata is
on the thirteenth day of the lunar fortnight and this ritual was first
performed by the god of lover when he wanted to please Shiva. This is
the tithi on which Shiva is worshipped. In the month of Ashvina, Indra
is also revered on this tithi. And in the month of Chaitra, the god of
love is worshipped in shuklapaksha on the same tithi.
The fourteenth day
of the lunar fortnight (chaturdashi) is also earmarked for Shiva,
particularly in the month of Kartika. One fasts and donates to brahmanas
and thereby attains svarga. The chaturdashi in krishnapaksha that comes
between the months of Magha and Falguna is known as Shivaratri. Then one
has to fast and stay awake the whole night. Earlier, there used to be an
evil hunter named Sundarasena. But because he performed a vrata on
Shivaratri, all his sins were forgiven.
This Chapter
contains 4 Sections.
If one worships
Vishnu with flowers, one never goes to hell.
There are several
such hells. Although people do not wish to die, they are bound to die
once their predestined time span on earth has been exhausted. One then
has to pay for whatever sins one might have committed. The sinners
suffer and those who have performed good deeds are naturally rewarded.
There are in fact two gates that lead into Yama’s abode. The good are
brought by yamadutas (Yama’s servants) through the western gate and are
then taken to svarga. Yama’s servants bring the evil to him through the
southern gate and Yama then despatches them to the various hells.
If one kills a cow,
one has to spend one lakh years in a naraka known as mahavicha. If one
kills a brahmana or steals land, there is a burning naraka named
Amakumbha that one goes to. There one suffers till the day when the
world is destroyed. A killer of women, children or old men stays in
Rourava naraka for the span of fourteen manavantaras. An arsonist is
sent to Maharourava and burnt there for an entire kalpa. A thief goes to
Tamisra, were he is continuously pierced with spears by Yama’s servants
for several kalpas. After that, a thief is taken to Mahatamisra to be
bitten by snakes and insects.
If you kill you
father or mother, you will be sent to the hell Asipatravana. There you
will be continuously sliced into pieces with swords. If you burn someone
to death, you will go to Karambhavaluka where you will be placed on
burning sands.
A person who eats
sweets alone goes to Kakola and is fed only worms. A person who does not
perform yajnas goes to Kuttala and is fed blood. An oppressor is sent to
Tailapaka and is crushed like an oilseed there. A liar is sent to the
naraka named Mahapata. There are several other narakas for those who
encourage inter-class marriages, those who kill animals, those who cut
trees, those who eat too much meat, those who criticise the Vedas, those
who bear also witness and those who criticise their teachers.
Giving alms is
extremely important as means for achieving punya. Alms always have to be
donated when one goes to visit a temple or a place of pilgrimage. The
giver must always face the east and the receiver must always face the
north when alms are being given. Such donations have to be made after
one has had a bath.
The best objects
for donations are gold, horses, oilseeds, snakes, maids, chariots,
trees, houses, daughters and cows. If one promises to give something but
later goes back on one’s promise, one is sure to be destroyed. It should
be remembered that the entire object of donation alms is lost if one
expects gratitude or friendship in return. It is better to give
something to a brother than to a daughter, it is better to give to a
father than to a mother.
The entire concept
of donation alms is different in the four different eras. In satya yuga,
the giver went out in search of recipient to whom he could give
something. In treta yuga, the recipient had to come to the giver’s house
before he would be given anything. In dvapara yuga, the giver never gave
anything without being asked for it by the recipient. And in kali yuga,
the giver gives only to those who are servile to him.
Gayatri mantra is a
very powerful incantation.
The human body has
many veins. Out of these, ten veins are important and their names are
Ida, Pingala, Sushumna, Gandhari, Hastijihva, Pritha, Yasha, Alambusha,
Huha and Shankhini. These veins bear the breath of life. The breath of
life is called prana vayu. Apart from prana vayu, nine other major
breaths course through the human body. Their names are Apana, Samana,
Udana, Vyana, Naga, Kurma, Krikara, Devadatta and Dhananjaya.
Gayatri is a
goddess worshipped even by Vishnu and Shiva. This goddess is there
everywhere, even in every individual’s heart in the form of a swan.
Gayatri mantra is an incantation to the goddess. If one chants the
mantra seven times, one’s sins are forgiven. Chanting it then times
means that one attains svarga. To attain worlds (lokas) which are even
more desirable than svarga, one has to chant gayatri mantra twenty
times. If one chants the mantra a hundred and eight times, one does not
have to be born again. The severest of sins, like killing cows,
brahmanas or parents, are forgiven if one chants the mantra a thousand
times. Gayatri mantra has always to be preceded by the chanting of the
sacred syllable Om.
The king’s duties
are many. He has to punish his enemies, ensure the prosperity of his
subjects and arrange that his kingdom is ruled well. He has to protect
the sages who perform tapasya inside the boundaries of his kingdom.
A king should
appoint a wise brahmana as his priest. His ministers should also be wise
and his queen should be a woman who follows the path of dharma. When a
king dies, time must not be wasted. The priest must immediately find an
auspicious occasion so that a new king can be appointed and crowned. A
kingdom can never be without a king.
Before the
coronation, a prospective king has to purify himself by rubbing his body
with mud. Mud from a mountain peak is used for the ears, form a Krishna
temple for the face, from an Indra temple for the back, form a palace
for the chest, mud raised by an elephant’s tusks for the right hand, mud
raised by a bull’s horns for the left hand, mud from a yajna for the
things and from a cowshed for the feet. After the king has thus rubbed
himself with different forms of mud and purified himself, he is ready to
be anointed. Four types of ministers will appoint him. Brahmana
ministers with golden vessels full of clarified butter will stand of the
eastern side. Kshatriya ministers with silver vessels full of sweet and
thickened milk will stand on the eastern side. Vaishya ministers with
copper vessels full of curds will stand on the western side. And shudra
ministers with earthen vessels full of water will stand on the northern
side. The priests will then use material from all four directions to
anoint the king. Water from all the places of pilgrimage will be poured
on the king’s head and throat. There must be songs and musical
instruments must be played.
The king will next
pray to Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and the other gods. He will look at a
mirror, some clarified butter and the various signs of good omen that
have been placed all around. The king will then be crowned and
introduced to his ministers, advisers and guards. The priest will be
given cows, goats, buffaloes and houses by the king. He will also bow
before the brahmanas. After all these ceremonies have been completed, he
truly becomes the king. He circles the fire, touches his guru’s feet and
with all his soldiers, goes out on a procession through the streets so
that his subjects can see him. At that time, the king must be seated
either on an elephant or a horse. After the procession is over, the king
may return to his palace.
The king has to
appoint many officials. The general has got to be a brahmana or a
kshatriya. The charioteer must know about horses and elephants, and
treasurer must be familiar with different jewels. There has to be a
doctor, a keeper of elephants, a keeper of horses, a captain for the
palace and another captain for looking after the women of the royal
household. Each person must be appointed to the job which suits his
expertise and temperament best.
Anyone thus
appointed by a king has to stick to certain rules. He must always obey
the king’s orders and must never do anything that is contrary to the
king’s commands. In public he must always say pleasant things to the
king. If there are any unpleasant utterances to be made, they have to be
made in a private audience with the king. Those who serve the king must
not be thieves, nor must they ever insult the king. They will not dress
like the king, nor will they become too intimate with the king. They
must not divulge royal secrets.
For a fort, the
king should choose a place that cannot readily be attacked by enemies.
The king must ensure that the gods are worshipped, the subjects are
protected and the evil are punished. He should never steal form the
temples, instead he should build temples and set up idols of the gods
there. The brahmanas must also be protected and the king has to make
sure that no brahmanas are killed in his kingdom. For a queen, he has to
choose a woman who subscribes to these beliefs.
The king will
appoint an official to look after every ten villages and another
official to look after every hundred villages. Spies must be appointed
to find out all that is going no in the kingdom. The king is entitled to
one-sixth of all the punya that accrues in his kingdom through his
subjects. But he is also credited with one-sixth of all the sins that
are committed in his kingdom. The taxes will be levied as per the
dictates of the sacred texts. From whatever is received as taxes, half
will go into the royal treasury and the remaining half will be
distributed amongst the brahmanas. If there is a liar, the king will
impose a penalty on him to the extent of one-eighth of the liar’s total
wealth. If the owner of any property is not known, the king will keep
the property is not known, the king will keep the property is safe
custody for a period of three years. Once the owner is identified within
a period of three years, he can claim the property. But beyond three
years, the becomes entitled to the property.
The property rights
of any minor orphan are to be protected by the king. If there is a theft
in the kingdom, the king must immediately replace what has been stolen
with wealth taken from his own royal treasury. If the thief is caught
and the stolen goods recovered, they are used to replenish the treasury.
One-twentieth of profits made form trade are to be paid to the king as
taxes. One-fifth or one-sixth of foodgrains are to be paid as taxes. One
day every month, craftsmen will work free of charge for the king. They
will only be gives food from the royal kitchen.
The king has to pay
proper attention to the princes. They have to be taught four types of
shastras. The first is dharma shastra, which teaches what is right and
what is wrong. The second is artha shastra, economics. The third is
dhanurveda, the art of fighting. And the last subject that has to be
taught to princes is shilpa, arts and crafts. The king has to assign
bodyguards to take care of the princes. He must ensure that the princes
associate with honourable and learned people and not with undesirable
characters. In instances where the princes do not grow up properly
despite the king’s best efforts, the king is free to keep them
imprisoned. But they should be comfortable in the prison and should not
be made to suffer there.
The king should
give up hunting, drinking and the playing of dice. He must not
unnecessarily waste time in travelling around. He must first win over
his servants through his behaviour and then do the same for his
subjects. It is only after this has been achieved that he attains a
position to conquer his enemies through the use of arms. Anyone who
brings harm to the kingdom must immediately be killed. If the king
delays in doing that which has to be done, the purpose of the action is
completely lost. Nor must the king inform others in advance about what
is going to be done. No one must get to know about the king’s intended
actions. Once the actions have been completed, the fruits of the actions
performed are information enough for everyone to see. This does not mean
that the king will not consult his ministers. Of course he will, that is
why they are ministers. Before sleeping or eating, the king must check
whether the bed or the food is safe.
There were seven
techniques that kings were supposed to use in ruling their kingdoms.
These were known as sama, dana, danda, bheda, maya, upeksha and
indrajala. Of these, the first four are the most famous. Sama means the
art of gentle persuasion. Dana means the usage of donations or money to
achieve one’s purpose. Danda is punishment. And bheda is the art of
aggravating dissension amongst parties opposed to each other. Maya means
to use illusions or deceit and upeksha is to deliberately ignore people
so as to achieve one’s purpose. Indrajala literally means jugglery. In
this context, it would mean to perform a balancing act amongst opposing
pulls and opposing parties.
What sort of
punishment the king should mete out is also laid down. If anyone lies
and says that his possessions have been stolen, he is to be fined an
amount equal in value to that of the possessions which have supposedly
been stolen. A brahmana who bears false witness is to be banished from
the kingdom. A person who kills cows, elephants, horses or camels will
have a leg or a hand cut off. A thief who steals gold or silver or an
abductor of women will be executed. Execution is also prescribed in
cases of arson and poisoning. A wife who does not obey her husband shall
be torn to death by dogs. A woman who does not obey her husband or
brahmanas may also have her nose, ears or arms chopped off. She will
when be set astride a cow and banished from the kingdom.
This Chapter
contains 4 Sections.
Some dreams are bad
omens. In fact, they are nightmares. Examples are: dreams about grass or
trees growing on one’s body, dreams in which the dreamer is
shaven-headed or is wearing shabby clothes or dreams in which one is
falling form above. It is also bad to dream of marriages, singing, the
killing of snakes and the killing of chandalas or animals. If you dream
that you are drinking oil or eating bird meat, that is also a bad omen.
Other examples are: where the dreamer dreams that he is playing with
monkeys or chandalas, when he dreams that devas, brahmanas, the king or
the guru is angry or when he dreams that his house had collapsed.
Remedies have to be
found if one dreams such evil dreams. Brahmanas have to be worshipped, a
yajna has to be performed and the dreamer has to pray to Vishnu, Shiva,
Brahma, Ganesha or Surya. Dreams dreamt in the first quarter of one’s
sleep normally come true over the next one year. Dreams from the second
quarter come true over the next six months and dreams from the third
quarter over the next three months. Dreams from the last quarter come
true over the next fortnight and dreams dreamt right at dawn come true
within the next ten days. If one first dreams a good dream and then an
evil one, it is the evil dream the will come true. Therefore, if one
dreams a good dream, one should not sleep anymore. One should
immediately arise.
There are many
dreams that are good dreams. For example, dreams that involve mountains,
palaces or snakes. Or the dreamer might dream that he is riding on a
horse or a bull. It is also good to dream of white flowers in the sky or
to see trees in a dream. Especially good dreams are those of the
dreamer’s possessing many arms or many heads or of grass and bushes
sprouting form his navel. What if you dream of wearing white garlands or
clothes? That too is good. If you dream of eclipses of the sun, the moon
or the stars, by all means rejoice. And if in a dream you see that you
have caught hold of the enemy’s flag, that surely means that you will
triumph over the enemy. And if you actually dream of defeating the
enemy, the interpretation is clear enough.
Strangely enough, a
dream where the dreamer sees that he is eating rice pudding is a good
dream. As is the case with dreams of drinking wine or blood. Or even of
eating wet meat. A clear sky in a dream is good. Dreaming of milking a
cow or a buffalo with one’s own mouth is also good. The dream continues
to be a good one if one dreams of milking a lioness or a she-elephant
thus. Other dreams which have good interpretations are, for example,
dreams of the dreamer’s receiving blessings form devas or brahmanas or
of being anointed with water.
The dreamer who
dreams of his coronation is blessed. And he is doubly blessed if he
dreams that his head has been cut off or that he has died or even that
his house has been burnt down. The relatives of such a dreamer increase
in number and he also prospers. It is good to dream of musical
instruments being played. Or of riding a bull or climbing a tree. Wet
clothes, trees laden with fruit and clear blue skies in dreams are
especially good.
If one is about to
go out of the house, one should take care of any bad omens that there
might be. Such bad omens are cotton, dried grass, cowdung, coal,
molasses, leather, hair, a lunatic, a chandala, a widow, a dead body,
ashes, bones and a broken vessel. If one comes across these as one is
about to leave, one should not start without pacifying the elements
through prayers to Vishnu. The sound of musical instruments is not an
auspicious sound at the beginning of a journey. If the means of
transport by which one is travelling breaks down, that too, is a bad
omen. If weapons break, perhaps you should postpone the journey. The
same is the case if an umbrella held over one’s head happens to fall. If
one hits one’s head against the lintel of the door as one is about too
cross the threshold, prayers are again indicated. And never call back
someone who has just left. That is a bad omen and bodes ill for the
success of the journey.
There are good
omens for a departure and if one sees these good omens, the journey is
bound to be successful. Good omens are white flowers, full vessels,
meat, distant noises, an old goat, a cow, a horse, an elephant, fire,
gold silver, a sword, an umbrella, fruit, clarified butter, curds, a
conch shell, sugarcane, the sound of thunder, lightning and a dead body
with no one crying over it.
Omens are important
even if one is not going on a journey. A peacock crying on the left
means that something is going to be stolen. If a donkey brays with a
broken voice, that is good omen and something good will happen. If a
boar or a buffalo crosses over from the left to the right, that is a
good omen. But if they cross over from the right to the left, that is a
bad omen. One’s desires will be attained if horses, tigers, lions, cats
or donkeys cross over from the right to the left. jackals, moles,
lizards, pigs and cuckoos are good omens or the left and monkeys are
good omens on the right. If a jackal calls once, twice, thrice or four
times, that is a good omen. It is a bad omen if a jackal calls five or
six times. It is a very good omen if a jackal calls seven times.
If crows caw on the
left of an army, the soldiers will not be able to win. If a crow can be
seen near the door a house, this means that there will soon be a guest.
A crow looking at the sum with one eye signifies great danger. A crow
covered with mud means the attainment of one’s desires. A dog barking
inside the house leads to the death of the householders. A person whose
left limbs are sniffed by a dog, will attain riches. If the right limbs
are sniffed, there will be danger. A dog blocking one’s path signifies
theft. A dog with a bone or a rope in its mouth means the loss of
property. But it is a good omen to see a dog with meat in its mouth.
Cows mooing
irregularly mean threats to the master of the house. If this happens at
night, there will be a theft or a death in the house. If the cows have
horns that are wet or daubed with mud, that is a good sign for the
householders. A cow that plays with cranes or doves is bound to die. A
cow that licks its feet is also destined to die. If an elephant strikes
its right foot with its left, that is a good sign. Prosperity comes if
an elephant rubs its right tusk with its foot.
There is great
danger if an umbrella falls just as one is about to leave on a trip.
Journeys are to be avoided if the stars are not favourable.
Once a king decides
to go out to battle, seven days are needed for preliminaries. On the
first day, Vishnu, Shiva and Ganesha have to be worshipped. On the
second day the dikpalas (guardians of all the directions) are
worshipped, the Rudras on the third day, the planets and the stars on
the fourth day and the two Ashvinis and the rivers on the fifth day. On
the sixth day, the king has ceremonial bath in honour of the victory
that is to come. And on the seventh day, the king leaves to do battle.
Prior to the
marching, the army must always assemble to the east of the capital city.
The start of the march must be accompanied with the playing of musical
instruments. Once the army has begun to march, it must never look back.
After having travelled for a couple of miles, it must stop to rest any
pray to the gods and the brahmanas.
The king must never
directly fight. Because if the king is killed, the battle is lost. The
king must be right behind his army, not too far away from it. An
elephant will be guarded by four chariots, a chariot by four horses and
a horse by four infantrymen. The infantry will also be at the front of
army, followed by archers and then by the horses. The chariots and the
elephants come last of all. The cowards in the army must not be in the
front, they must be at the back. The front is for the brave soldiers. To
the extent possible, one should fight with the sun behind one’s army.
If a soldier dies
in the course of battle, he goes straight to heaven. The blood of brave
men wash away all sins. To be struck with a weapon is better than to
perform many sacrifices. A person who flees form the field of battle
performs a sin that is worse than that of killing a brahmana.
The fight should be
between equals. Those who are running away should not be killed. Nor
should spectators and those who are unarmed be killed. An enemy captured
in battle should not be kept imprisoned. He should be released and
treated like a son.
Rama had once
taught Lakshmana about the duties of a king. The Agni Purana now relates
these precepts of Rama’s.
The duties of king
are fourfold. Firstly, he has to earn wealth. Secondly, he has to
increase it. Thirdly, he has to protect it. And fourthly and finally, he
has to donate it. The king must also be polite and politeness comes
through the conquering of the senses. The king must be humble. The
senses are like mad elephants. If the senses are pampered, like mad
elephants, they trample politeness and humility underfoot.
The king must also
be non-violent, truthful, clean and forgiving. He should take care to
observe all the rituals. He should give food to those who are poor, he
should protect those who seek royal protection. He should always use
words that are pleasant to hear. The body is here today and gone
tomorrow. Stupid is the king who deviates form the path of righteousness
to give pleasure to a body that is transient. The curses of unhappy
people are enough to bring down a king.
There is only one
difference between gods and animals. Gods use pleasant word, while
animals use rough words. The king must use pleasant words like a god.
And he must use pleasant words not only for those who are his friends or
are good, but also for those who are his enemies or are evil. With
obeisance the king pleases his guru, with good behaviour the righteous,
with duties the gods, with live the servants and with alms those who are
inferior.
The kingdom has
seven components. These are the king, the ministers, the friends, the
treasury, the army, the forts and the state itself. Of these, the most
important is the state and it has to be preserved at all costs. The king
must be extremely careful in the choice of the ministers and the royal
priest. The king must not choose or consult ministers who are stupid.
The king’s signs
are his golden rod or sceptre and an umbrella that is held over his
head. The umbrella should be made of the feathers of swans, peacocks or
cranes, but the feathers of different types of birds should not be mixed
in the same umbrella. The throne should be made of wood and should be
embellished with gold. A bow can be made of iron, horn or wood. The best
bow is one that extends over four armlengths. The king can spend upto
one year’s tax revenue on armaments and flags.
This Chapter
contains 6 Sections.
The section on
Dhanurveda is on arms and weapons.
There are five
types of weapons that are used in war. The first category is that of
yantramukta weapons, released from a machine (yantra). This machine may
be a launcher or even a bow. The second category is that of panimukta
weapons, weapons that are flung by the hand (pani). Examples are spears
and stones. The third category is known as muktasandharita. These are
weapons that can be flung and also withdrawn. The fourth category
consists of weapons like swords that are never released from the hand
during battle.
These are known as
amukta weapons. And the last category of weapons consists of brute force
and strength. This is of use in bouts of wrestling.
The best form of
fighting is that with bows and arrows. Next comes fighting with spears,
followed by fighting with swords. Wrestling is the worst form of
fighting.
Before aiming, the
bow (dhanusha) should be held with the arch pointing down towards the
earth. The arrow (vana) should be placed against the bow with the head
pointing down. The bow should now be raised and the lower end of the bow
should be in line with the archer’s navel. The quiver should be at the
back. Before releasing the arrow, the bow should be held firm with the
left hand and the arrow with the fingers of the right hand. The string
of the bow should be pulled back such that the tassel of the arrow is
between the archer’s ear and right eye. The body should not be bent when
one is releasing an arrow. Nor should on get excited. The archer has to
be still as a pillar. The target has to be in line with the left fist
and the archer’s posture has to be like that of a triangle. It is best
to pull back the string of the bow upto the right ear.
A noose (pasha) is
ten arms in length, with both ends of the weapon being circular. The
main body of the weapon is made of rope. There are eleven different ways
in which a noose may be held. A noose must always be flung with the
right hand.
A sword (asi) must
hang to the left of the waist. When a sword is to be taken out, the
scabbard should be grasped in the left hand and the sword should be
taken out with the right hand. There are thirty-two different way in
which a sword and a shield may be held.
What happens to a
person’s debts when he dies? If he does not have any sons, the person
who inherits the property also inherits the debts and had to pay them
off. If there is a son, the son pays the debts off. But a woman is not
to be held responsible for debts contracted by her husband or her son.
Nor is a man responsible for debts contracted by his wife or son.
Exceptions are instances where a husband and a wife contract a debt
jointly.
If there are no
witnesses to a contracted debt but the king feels that the debt was
indeed contracted, the king must arrange for the debt to be repaid
within a period of sixty-four days. In cases of a dispute, the person
who brings a false suit will be punished by the king. And a false
witness will be given twice the punishment that is meted out to the one
who brings a false suit. A brahmana who bears false witness will be
banished from the kingdom. A person who agrees to be a witness, but
later withdraws, will be punished eight times as much as the bringer of
the false suit. A brahmana who does this will be banished from the
kingdom.
It is better that
the details of a debt contracted be written down, with the names of the
two parties and the witnesses clearly indicated. If the debtor pays in
instalments, the details of all such payments must be recorded on the
written document. Debts made in the presence of witnesses should also be
repaid in the presence of witnesses. If a witness has to take an oath,
the oath should be administered after cotton, fire, water or poison has
been placed on the head of the witness.
Fire or water can
be used to find out if a person is lying or not. If fire is used, seven
banyan leaves are placed on the accused’s hand. A red hop lump of iron
is then placed on the hand and the accused had to go around a fire seven
times. If it is found that the hand has not been burnt, the person has
been telling the truth. And if the hand has been burnt, he had been
lying. Similarly, an accused person can be immersed in the water and if
he does not drown, he has been telling the truth. Alternatively, the
accused can be made to drink poison. If the poison does him no harm, he
is truthful.
If the father makes
a will, the property will be divided amongst the sons in accordance with
the provisions of the will. But if all the sons get an equal share of
the property, the wife should also be given an equal share, otherwise,
the father can leave all his property to the eldest son. The sons and
the father obtain equal shares to any property or debt that has been
left by the grandfather. But the sons are not necessarily entitled to
any property that has not been left by the grandfather, but been earned
by father. If a son is born after the property has been divided, he too
will be entitled to an equal share of any property left by the
grandfather. Daughters are not entitled to property. But sons who have
go married will use one-fourth of their inherited property to get their
sisters married.
The Agni Purana now
describes the benefits of giving alms along with the purans. The puranas
are to be donated together with cows. And in talking of the mahapuranas,
the Agni Purana also mentions most of their length, in terms of the
number of shlokas (couplets) that each has. This is worth stating.
The Brahma Purana -
twenty-five thousand
The Padma Purana -
twelve thousand
The Vishnu Purana -
thirteen thousand
The Vayu Purana -
fourteen thousand
The Bhagavata
Purana - eighteen thousand
The Narada Purana -
twenty-five thousand
The Markandeya
Purana - nine thousand
The Agni Purana -
twelve thousand
The Brahmavaivarta
Purana - eighteen thousand
The Linga Purana -
eleven thousand
The Varaha Purana -
fourteen thousand
The Skanda Purana -
eighty-four thousand
The Vamana Purana -
ten thousand
The Kurma purana -
eight thousand
The Matsya Purana -
thirteen thousand
The Garuda Purana -
eight thousand
The Brahmanda
Purana - twelve thousand
The only mahapurana
which is missing from the above list is the Bhavishya Purana. You now
have a pretty good idea of how long the Puranas are. The Skaknda Purana
is the longest and the Kurma and Garuda Puranas the shortest. But
unfortunately, the numbers in the Agni Purana are not terribly accurate.
The Padma Purana has fifty-five thousand couplets and not twelve as
stated. The Varaha Purana has twenty-four thousands couplets and not
fourteen thousand. The Agni Purana itself has slightly over fifteen
thousand couplets land not twelve thousand. But at least you have some
approximate idea about the lengths of the various Puranas.
The Brahama Purana
is to be given in the month of Vaishakha. The Padma Purana is to be
donated in the month of Jyaishtha. The Vishnu Purana is to be donated in
the month of Ashada and the Vayu Purana in the month of Shravana. The
Bhagavata Purana is to be given in the month of Bhadra, the Narada
Purana in the month of Ashvina, the Markandeya Purana in the month of
Kartika, the Agni Purana in the month of Margashirsha and the Bhavishya
Purana in the month of Pousha. The Brahmavaivarta Purana in the month of
Pousha. The Brahmavaivarta Purana is for the month of Magha, the Linga
Purana for the month of Falguna and the Varaha Purana for the month of
Chaitra.
The Skanda Purana
is to be given to brahmanas. The Vamana Purana is to be given in the
autumn. The Kurma Purana is to be given together with a golden urn. The
Matsya Purana is to be donated together with a golden swan. The
Brahmanda Purana is to be given to brahmanas.
Great benefits are
also to be derived from hearing the Puranas recited. The reciter has to
be given alms and the brahmanas must be given cows, rice and land at the
time of the recitation. If one arranges for a recitation of the Puranas,
one lives long, stays healthy and attains heaven.
Brahma was born
from Vishnu’s navel. Brahma’s son was Marichi, Marichi’s son Kashyapa
and Kakshyapa’s son Vivasvana. From this line was descended Pururava and
Pururava’s descendants were the kings of the surya (solar) dynasty.
Brahma also had a
son named Atri and Atri had a son named Soma. Soma performed a rajasuya
yajna (royal sacrifice). Having performed the sacrifice, Soma became the
ruler of all the worlds. This made him very arrogant and he abducted the
sage Brihaspati’s wife Tara. This led to a terrible war between the
devas and the asuras. Tara was eventually restored to Brihaspati, but
Soma and Tara had a son named Budha. From Budha were descended the kings
of the chandra (lunar) dynasty.
There were twelve
major wars between the devas and the asuras. The first of these was
known as the Narasimha War. This took place when Hiranyakashipu was the
king of the asuras. Vishnu adopted the form of Narsismha and killed
Hiranyakashipu. He then made Prahlada the king of the demons. The second
war was the Vamana war and it took place when Vali was the king of the
demons. Vishnu adopted the form of a dwarf (vamana) to subjugate the
demons. The third war was the Varaha war and this took place when
Hiranyaksha was the king of the demons. Vishnu adopted the form of a
wild boar (varaha) and killed Hiranyaksha. The fourth war was the
Amritamanthana war and this took place over the manthana (churning) of
the ocean for amrita (nectar).
The fifth war
between the devas and the asuras took place over the abduction of Tara
and this came to be known as the Tarakamaya war. The sixth war was known
as the Ajivaka War. The seventh war took place when Tripura led the
asuras and this was known as the Tripuraghatana war. It was Shiva who
killed the demon Tripura in this war. The eighth war, the Andhaka war,
took place when Andhaka led the asuras. It was Vishnu who engineered
that Andhaka be killed when Andhaka expressed a desire to abduct Shiva’s
wife.
The ninth war was
known as Vritrasamhara and took place when Vritra led the demons. The
tenth war was simply known as Jita. In this war, Vishnu killed Shalva
and the other demons, and Parashurama killed the evil kshatriyas. The
eleventh war was known as Halahala. An asura named Halahala (poison) had
invaded Shiva’s body and flooded it with poison. But Vishnu managed to
destroy the demon. In the twelfth war, known as Kolahala, Vishnu
destroyed an asura named Kolahala (tumult).
Dhanvantari was the
physician of the gods and he taught Sushruta the art of ayurveda
(medicine). The Agni Purana now describes what the sage Ssushruta had
learnt, that is, the treatment for various diseases. This does not
simply mean the treatment of human illnesses. There is a section known
as vriksha ayurveda, which describes what trees are to be planted where.
It describes how a garden is to be constructed and maintained.
The chapters on
medicine also describe the treatment of elephants, horses and cattle.
The mantras (incantations) which are the remedy for snake poison are
also related.
Thereafter, the
Agni Purana has many chapters on literature and grammar.
It describes the
different types of chhanda (metres) that are used in poetry.
Next it discusses
the alphabet. There are sixty-four letters (varna) in the alphabet, of
which twenty-one are vowels (svara varna). There are three tones (svara)
in which the letters of the alphabet may be uttered. Their names are
udatta, anudatta and svarita. There are eight places from which the
letters may be pronounced. These are the chest, the throat, the head,
the back of the tongue, the teeth, the nose, the lips and the palate.
Pronunciations should be clear and audible. They should not be nasal and
mumbled.
The Agni Purana
then discusses the alamkaras (rhetoric) that are used in poetry and
plays. Poetry is entirely different from the shastras (sacred texts) and
itihasa (history). The sacred texts are full of words and historical
texts are full of narrations of incidents that took place. But that does
not constitute poetry. Real men are difficult to find on this earth.
Amongst these real men, it is difficult to find men who are learned.
Amongst the learned men, it is not easy to find some who have a poetic
sense. And amongst those who have poetic sense, it is difficult to find
a few who can compose poetry. Poetry is impossible without a knowledge
of the rules of poetry and even more important, without a sense of
feeling.
Sanskrit is the
language of the gods. The language of humans is Prakrita. Poetry can be
either in Sanskrit or in Prakrita. There are three types of poetry.
These are gadya (prose), padya (poetry) or mishra (a mixture of the
two). Genuine poetry is, however, only padya
Gadya can be of
three types-churnaka, utkalika and vrittagandhi. Churnaka prose is easy
on the ears, it has very few compouond words. Utkalika prose is hard on
the ears, it is full of compound words. Vrittagandhi prose is some where
between churnaka and utkalika.
An epic must always
be split up into sections (sarga). It has to be written in Sanskrit,
although some mixture of Sanskrit words with Prakrita ones is
permissible. The theme of an epic must always be good and historical
elements may be introduced if the author so desires.
Literature is
useless without the flavour of sentiments (rasa). There are nine
sentiments that are used. The first is hasya (humour). The second is
karuna rasa (pathos). The third is roudra rasa (that which is wrathful
and awe-inspiring). The fourth is vira rasa (heroic themes). The fifth
is bhayanaka rasa (horror). The sixth is bibhatsa rasa (vulgar and
obscene themes). The seventh is adbhuta rasa (that which is strange).
The eighth is shanta rasa (placidity). And the ninth is shringara rasa
(amorous themes).
But the sentiments
must be used with feeling. Without feeling, all literature becomes
mediocre. Particularly in a play, sentiments can be supplemented with
skills (kalal). These skills are normally associated with women and
there are sixty-four of them. The more important ones are singing,
playing musical instruments, dancing, acting, drawing, making garlands,
sewing, hairdressing and using magic.
Grammatical rules
of sandhi and samasa (rules for forming compound words) are next
described. The difference between the two is that in sandhi, the two
words that are being joined retain their original senses in the compound
word. The case of samasa is different. Sandhi occurs when two varnas
(letters) met. Samasa is a condensation or conversion of two or more
words into one. Sandhi does not create any new word. Samasa leads to the
formation of a third word which refers to something related to but
distinct from either or any of the words combined. Pita (yellow) and
ambara (cloth) combined by way of sandhi are pronounced pitambara and
mean cloth that is yellow. The same two words combined by way of samasa
result in the third word pitambara which means “the one dressed in
yellow”, that is, Krishna.
There are several
possible declensions of words, depending on the vachana and the
vibhakti. The vachana refers to the number. Eka-vachana is when there is
only one (phalam, a fruit) dvi-vachana when there are two (phale, two
fruits) and vahu-vachana when there are more than two (phalani, more
than two fruits). There are three genders, pumlinga (masculine),
strilinga (feminine) and klivalinga (neuter). Deva, asura, Vishnu are,
for example, masculine in gender. Devi, Kalika or maya are feminine.
Pushpa (flower) or phala (fruit) are neuter.
There are six
karakas (cases) and seven vibhaktis (case-endings). The agent who
performs the action indicated by the kriya (verb), is the kartri or
doer. To the kartri karaka or Nominative Case, the prathama vibhakti or
first case-ending is attached. The object of the action is karma and to
the karma karaka or objective Case, the second (dvitiya) case-ending is
attached. The means or instruments by which the action is performed
takes on the karana karaka or Instrumental Cases and the third (tritiya)
case-ending. When a gift is given irrevocably, the recipient takes on
the sampradana karaka or Dative Case and the case-ending in question is
the fourth (chaturthi). That which is the source of something takes on
the apadana karaka or Ablative Case and the fifth (panchami)
case-ending. When there is a relation of possessions, the possessor
takes on the shashthi vibhakti (sixth case-ending). There is no
counterpart of the possessive Case of English grammar because the
relation of possession is not directly related to the verb (kriya) and
therefore to the doer (karaka). In case of the location in which the
action takes place, the karaka is adhikarana (Locative Case) and the
case-ending the seventh (saptami).
This Chapter
contains 5 Sections.
Periodically
pralayas (destructions) take place. A destruction comes at the end of
four thousand yugas on earth. For a hundred years there are no rains and
there is widespread drought. Thereafter, Vishnu uses the rays of the sun
to drink and dry up all the waters that there are on earth. Seven
different suns appear in the sky and they burn up the three worlds of
heaven, the earth and the underworld. The earth becomes as flat as the
back of a turtle. The breath of the great snake (Shesha) also serves to
burn up the three worlds.
After the three
worlds have been burnt up, dark clouds full of thunder and lightning
appear in the sky. For a hundred years it continue to rain. The rain
puts out the fires that have been raging. From Vishnu’s breath are
created tremendous winds and these drive away the clouds. But there is
water everywhere. And Vishnu sleeps on these waters. For an entire kalpa
he sleeps. The sages then pray to Vishnu for the three worlds to be
created yet again.
When human beings
die, their physical bodies are given up. But they acquire new bodies
that are known as ativahika bodies. In these bodies, they are brought to
Yama’s abode by Yama’s servants. Living beings other than human are not
brought to Yama. Yama then decides whether the dead person should go to
heaven or to hell. After he has served his time in heaven or in hell, he
is born again. Yama further decides what living being the person should
be born as, depending on the actions in his past life. And so the cycle
of birth death and rebirth goes on and on.
Since he keeps
tally of all good deeds and all sins, Yama is also known as the god
Dharma. Those who have done good deeds are rewaraded by Yama and those
who have committed sins are punished. Chitragupta is Yama’s accountant,
he keeps the account of all punya and papa.
There are
twenty-eight circles of hells with many hells located in each circle. A
sinner may have to go to more than one hell depending on the sins that
he has committed. Some sinners are boiled in oil, others are pierced
with spears and still others are whipped. Some sinners are fed heated
iron balls, others are fed blood and rubbish. There are also machines
for torturing sinners. Terrible birds eat up some sinners. Other sinners
have their heads cut off.
When it is time to
be reborn, the killer of a brahamana is born as a deer, dog, pig or
camel. A drunkard is born as a donkey. A stealer of gold is born as a
worm or an insect. A killer of a brahmana may also suffer from
tuberculosis. a drunkard will have teeth like a dog and a stealer of
gold will malformed nails. A stealer of food is born dumb. A person who
has stolen the property of brahmanas is born as a rakshasa and lives
alone in the forest. A stealer of fragrant scents is born as a mole. One
who steals foodgrains is born as a rat. One who steals animals is born
as a goat, one who steals milk as cow, one who steals fruit as monkey
and one who steals meat as a vulture. A stealer of clothes is born as a
crane and a stealer of salt as a cricket.
Yoga is the way to
circumvent the miseries of life. True knowledge is that which informs
one about the true nature of brahman or paramatman. The atman or
jivatman is that which characterises an individual. Yoga means union, it
is the union of the jivatman with the paramatman. Yoga concentrates
one’s mind on the paramatman.
The first
prerequisites of yoga is non-violence. A non-violent person is always
righteous. The second requirement of yoga is truthfulness. The third
prerequisite is celibacy. The fourth is controlling one’s senses and the
last is the worship of god. One who practices yoga should not go around
collecting material possessions. A piece of cloth, a covering against
the cold, and a pair of sandals are possessions enough for him.
Before meditating
on the true nature of the paramatman, one has to seat oneself in a
proper asana (posture). The piece of cloth on which one is to sit should
be placed in a clean place. One sits on such a seat and tries to purify
one’s atman by controlling one’s mind and senses through yoga. The head
and the neck should be held straight up, motionless. The point of vision
should be directed towards the tip of one’s nose. One should not look in
any direction. The arms should lightly rest on the folded thighs and the
right hand should be placed, palm upwards, on the left palm. Padmasana
(lotus position) is one such recommended posture.
The breath of life
(prana vayu) has to be controlled. This process of control is known as
pranayama. A finger is placed on the nose when the breath is being
exhaled. The entire breath should be exhaled from the body. Since
rechana means exhalation, this process of control is known as rechaka.
When the breath is inhaled, the inhalation should be such that it fills
the entire body. Since puraka literally means ‘that which fills’, this
process of control is known as puraka. When the breath is neither being
exhaled nor inhaled, one sits completely still like a kumbha (pot) and
this is known as kumbhaka. Pranayama makes one healthy, swift,
enthusiastic, strong and collected. Since the senses are controlled, one
goes to heaven and avoids going to hell. Material pursuits are like the
strong current of a river. The atman drowns in it.
Pranayama alone is
not enough. It has to be supplemented with dhyana of japa (meditation
and contemplation). One contemplates the true nature of the paramatman.
The body is like a chariot. The senses are its horses, the mind is the
charioteer and pranayama is the bridle. An individual who dies while
performing dhyana is immediately assimilated with Vishnu.
Dhyana involve four
different things, all of which must be in complete harmony. The first is
the meditator, the second is the act of meditating, the third is the
object that one is meditating upon and the fourth is the reason why one
is performing the mediation. One does not have to; sit in a rigid
posture for dhyana to be possible. It can be done while one is walking,
sitting or even sleeping. The important aspect is to establish the
object of one’s meditation in one’s heart.
There are different
ways of establishing one’s concentration. As an object of meditation,
one can meditate on three concentric circles which are black, red and
white. In the centre of the circles is a divine lotus. The lotus has
eight petals. One thinks that detachment is the stem of the lotus and
praying to Vishnu its stamen. Right in the centre of the lotus is a pure
spark of fire and that is the paramatman. Alternatively, one can
visualise the paramatman in a blaze of light, in the centre of the
lotus. Dhyana is far far superior to any yajna that one might perform.
One particular form
of deep and intense meditation is known as samadhi. The meditator is
then completely still, as calm as the ocean. He loses all track of the
outside world. He does not hear, smell, see or touch. His mind has no
wishes and feels nothing. He is completely united with god. Such a
meditator automatically gets to know all the knowledge that can be
gleaned from the Vedas or the shastras. He can obtain all the material
possessions that he wants, but he regards them all as no more important
than a blade of grass.
Such a meditator
attains supreme knowledge. If you look at various pots full of water,
you will find that the same sky is reflected in them all. Supreme
knowledge tells one that, exactly similarly, it is the same atman that
is everywhere. It is the atman which is the same as the paramatman, it
is this atman that is in the water, in energy, in water, in the earth
and in metals. The atman is everywhere.
Brahma jnana is the
knowledge of brahman. This knowledge, which gives the ultimate bliss, is
nothing but the sense that the individual atman is identical with the
universal brahman or paramtman. The physical body is not the atman. Nor
are the senses the atman. The mind or intelligence is not the atman.
Life itself is not the atman.
The atman is
different from all the objects that have been mentioned above. The atman
is in an individual’s heart. It sees everything and senses everything,
but is different from the physical body. It is this that sages
contemplate when they meditate. The sky was created from the brahman,
from the sky came wind, from wind fire, from fire water, from water the
earth and from the earth the five elements. One has to meditate on the
physical body gradually disappearing and merging into the brahman.
The brahman is neither true nor
untrue. It has neither form nor is it without form. The brahman has
several parts, but at the same time it is an integral whole. The brahman
cannot be described. It cannot be achieved through the power of action.
The brahman is always pure. It has no ties and it is the true form of
happiness. What is required is the sense that it is I, the individual,
who am the brahman. I am nothing but the atman and the atman is nothing
but the brahman. This sense is true knowledge. The brahman is the Lord
who is the origin of everything and the individual is part of the
brahman. It is this knowledge that frees one from the ties of the world
and this is what brahman jnana is all about.
The brahman is not
the earth; it is beyond the earth. The brahman is not the wind, nor is
it the sky. The brahman has no beginning; it is independent of all
action. The brahman is huge; it is everywhere. The brahman not only has
no form, it is beyond all form. The brahman cannot be heard. It cannot
be touched. The brahman has neither intelligence nor mind. It has no
sense of ego or vanity. It does not have life, birth, old age or death.
The brahman is
neither happy nor unhappy. It does not feel hungry or thirsty. It cannot
be measured. At the same time, it is both nothing and everything.
Life has five
possible ends. By performing yajnas one can attain heaven. By performing
tapasya one can become an ascetic. By performing actions one can attain
brahmaloka. By detachment from material pursuits (vairagya) one can
merge oneself into nature. And by true knowledge the individual gets
absorbed into the divine essence. This is known as kaivalya. Detachment
means to withdraw oneself from the effects of all actions. And knowledge
means the knowledge that the atman is no different from the brahman.
This is known as jnana yoga (the yoga of knowledge).
There are few
people who attain this knowledge. One of those was Bharata. Bharata had
done a lot he became very attached to a deer and when he died, he died
thinking of the deer. The result was that in his next life, Bharata was
born as a deer. But the deer happened to be a jatismara, that is, it
remembered its earlier life. The deer eventually died and Bharata was
again born as jatismara human.
The king of Soubira
was once travelling on a palanquin and he wanted someone who would bear
his palanquin free of charge. The king’s servants caught hold of Bharata
to bear the palanquin. But Bharata moved slowly and could not keep up
with the other bearers. The palanquin did not progress and the king
asked Bharata. “Why are you so tired? You have not been bearing my
palanquin for long. Can’t you some toil? You look fairly strong to me.”
Bharata replied, “I
am not strong. Nor am I bearing your palanquin. I am not tired. nor am I
lazy. I am my atman and feet are and my body is balanced on my thighs.
My shoulders are on my body and your palanquin rests on my shoulders.
But I am not my feet, thighs, body or shoulders. I am the atman. The
atman is not carrying you. So why do you say that I am beating you?”
Bharata then
instructed the king on the mysteries of true knowledge. The atman was
pure, ever-lasting, calm, without traits and beyond natural
characteristics. Since the atman had no traits and since an individual
was the atman and not the body, it was meaningless to say that an
individual was strong or weak. The physical body was made of the
elements and so was the palanquin. What was the point therefore in
saying that the physical body was bearing the palanquin?
Heating these words
of wisdom, the king fell at Bharata’s feet. “Forgive me,” he said, “and
let go of the palanquin, Who are you?”
“Who am I?”, asked
Bharata. “That is not a question that can easily be answered.”
The king answered,
“I fail to understand. Surely the form in which you are now existing is
who you are.”
“No,” said Bharata.
“I am the atman and the atman is the same as the paramatman. The
paramatman is everywhere and therefore, the atman is also everywhere. I
am everywhere. I am in all physical bodies. It is meaningless to ask who
you are and who I am. We are all one and the same. Wood has come from
the trees and this palanquin is made of wood. But is the palanquin wood
or tree? When you ride on the palanquin, does anyone say that you are
riding on a tree? Men, women, cows, horses, elephants, birds and trees,
these are all meaningless names. They are all illusions. Everything is
one and the same. I am everywhere. If there had been a place or an
object where I do not exist, I could have everywhere, I do not know how
to answer your question. Tell me king, are you your head or your
stomach? Or is all of it, you? But then, what will you call that which
is distinct from your physical body? Think about what I have said.”
Bharata’s words
were so profound that the king immediately accepted Bharata as a
teacher. And Bharata told the king the story of Ribhu and Nidagha.
The sage Ribhu was
Brahma’s son. He was also extremely learned. Nidagha was Ribu’s
disciple. After Ribhu had taught Nidagha what there was to be taught,
Nidagha went to the city to see how Nidagha was getting on. Nidagha
worshiped his teacher and gave him all sorts of things to eat. After
Ribhu had eaten, Nidagha asked him, “Are you satisfied?”
“What do you
mean?”, asked Ribhu. “The question of satisfaction would have arisen had
I been hungry or thirsty. I am my atman and the atman is always
satisfied. So what is the brahman that is omnipresent and so are you.
You are not distinct from me, we are both part of the same whole. I came
to teach you this knowledge. Now that you have learnt that the brahman
is everywhere, let me leave.”
After another
thousand years had passed, Ribhu came to the city again and discovered
that Nidagha no longer lived in the city. He had begun to live on the
outskirts of the city.
“Why have you given
up living in the city?”, Ribhu asked Nidagha.
“Because I do not
like to live in the city, where there is a king, “ replied Nidagha.
“Who is the king
?”. asked Ribhu. “Point him out to me in this procession that is
passing. And point out to me the subjects.”
Nidagha said, “The
king is the one who is as tall as a mountain peak. He is the one who is
riding the elephant. The ones who are walking are the subjects.”
“What do you
mean?”, asked Ribhu. “The brahman is in the king and the brahman is in
the elephant. How do you distinguish one from the other, how do you say
that one is riding the other? Is the king the physical body or the atman
and is the elephant the physical body or the atman? Who is riding on
whom? I do not understand.”
This knowledge,
that the atman is the same as the brahman, is known as advaita (unified)
brahma-jnana. Ribhu taught this to the king of Soubira. This is the
knowledge that all elements are one and the same. It is only those who
suffer from illusions who think that different elements and different
beings have different identities.
Krishna had taught
Arjuna the lessons of the Gita on the plains of Kurukshetra. The Agni
Purana now relates the essence of the Gita .
If physical body is
alive, that is no reason for rejoicing. Just as, if the physical body is
dead, that is no reason for mourning. The atman does not die. It does
not decay, it cannot be destroyed and it is immortal. The atman does not
warrant any tears that might be shed over it. people who are addicted to
sensual pleasures cannot realise this. The person who is addicted to the
atman alone has no desire for anything else. He had no action to
perform. He had neither gains nor losses. The knowledge of this is like
a raft that rescues one from the flood of illusions.
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