|
Eleventh among the
Puranas, contains five parts. The first part contains a description of
the genesis, greatness of the dates and worship of Lord Vishnu, Shiva
and Surya. Second, third and fourth parts describe about the greatness
of Shiva, Vishnu and Surya respectively.
The fifth part contains a description of the heaven. Like other Puranas,
Bhavishya Purana also contains a description of the ancient kings and
Chandra and Surya dynasties. Interestingly, Bhavishya Purana contains a
description of a game that resembles modern chess to a great extent. In
all, the subject matter of Bhavishya Purana seems to be an attempt to
prove and establish the supremacy of Brahma.
The Bhavishya Purana
is an ancient text authored by Sri Vyasa Muni, the compiler of the Vedic
texts. It is listed among the eighteen major Puranas. Bhavishya means
"future" and Purana means "history", so the text's name would translate
literally as "The History of the Future". Though the text was written
many thousands of years before the recorded events took place, by the
power of his mystic vision, Sri Vyasa was able to accurately predict the
happenings of the modern times. One of the text's poetic styles is to
present the events as though they have already happened. This is a
common practice in Sanskrit poetry, and does not indicate that the book
was written in modern times. Modern scholars reject the contents of
Bhavishya Purana mostly on the grounds that its information is too
accurate. But we should ask ourselves: If there was an empowered saint,
who knew past, present and future, and if he chose to write a book named
"the History of the Future", shouldn't it contain accurate information
about the modern times, as the title suggests? We cannot disqualify it
simply because it speaks accurately of the British controlling India,
Hitler fighting the world, and Max Mueller misrepresenting the Vedic
teachings. "Veda" means knowledge, and the Vedic texts contain knowledge
of everything - past, present and future.
This Purana
consists of 7 chapters:
[From the
Pratisarga Parva, Chapters Four to Seven.]
Suta Goswami said:
Once upon a time in Hastinapura, Pradyota the son of Kshemaka was
leading an assembly and meanwhile the great sage Narada arrived there.
King Pradyota happily honored him. Having him seated on the seat the
sage told king Pradyota, "Your father was killed by the mlecchas,
therefore he attained Yamaloka or the hellish planet. If you perform a
‘mleccha-yajna’, then by the effect of this sacrifice your father will
attain the heavenly planets."
Hearing this king
Pradyota immediately called the best of the learned Brahmanas and
started ‘mleccha-yajna’ in Kuruksetra. They built a yajna-kunda which
was 16 yojanas in square (128 miles). They meditated on the demigods and
offered oblations of mlecchas. There are haras, hunas, barvaras,
gurundas, sakas, khasas, yavanas, pallavas, romajas and those who are
situated in different dvipas and in kamaru, china and the middle of the
ocean; all of them were called with the mantra and burnt to ashes. Then
he (the king) gave dakshina (donation) to the brahmanas and performed
abhiseka. As a result his father Kshemaka went to the heavenly planets.
After that he became famous everywhere as a mleccha-hanta or destroyer
of mlecchas. He ruled the earth for ten thousand years and went to
heaven. He had a son named Vedavan who ruled for two thousand years.
At that time the
Kali purusha prayed to Lord Narayana along with his wife. After sometime
the Lord apperared to him and said, "This age will be a good time for
you. I will fulfil your desire having various kinds of forms. There is a
couple named Adama and his wife Havyavati. They are born from
Vishnu-kardama and will increase the generations of mlecchas. Saying
this, the Lord disappeared. Having great joy the Kali purusha went to
Nilacha
Vyasa said: "Now
you hear the future story narrated by Suta Goswami. This is the full
story of of Kali-yuga, hearing this you will become satisfied."
In the eastern side
of Pradan city where there is a a big God-given forest, which is 16
square yojanas in size. The man named Adama was staying there under a
Papa-Vriksha or a sinful tree and was eager to see his wife Havyavati.
The Kali purusha quickly came there assuming the form of a serpent. He
cheated them and they disobeyed Lord Vishnu. The husband ate the
forbidden fruit of the sinful tree. They lived by eating air with the
leaves called udumbara. After they had sons and all of them became
mlecchas. Adama's duration of life was nine-hundred and thirty years. He
offered oblations with fruits and went to heaven with his wife. His son
was named Sveta-nama, and he lived nine-hundred and twelve years.
Sveta-nama's son was Anuta, who rulled one-hundred years less than his
father. His son Kinasa rulled as much as his grandfather. His son
Malahalla ruled eight-hundred ninety five years. His son Virada rulled
160 years. His son Hamuka was devoted to Lord Vishnu, and offering
oblations of fruits he achieved salvation. He ruled 365 years and went
to heaven with the same body being engaged in mleccha-dharma.
having good
behavior, wisdom, qualities like a brahmana and worship of God, these
things are called mleccha-dharma. The great souls have declared that the
dharma of the mleccha is devotion to God, worship of fire, nonviolence,
austerity and control of the senses. The son of Hamuka was Matocchila.
He ruled for 970 years. His son Lomaka ruled 777 years and went to
heaven. His son Nyuha (Noah) ruled for 500 years. He had three sons
named Sima, Sama and Bhava. Nyuha was a devotee of Lord Vishnu.
Once the Lord
appeared in his dream and said: “My dear Nyuha, please listen, there
will be devastation on the seventh day. Therefore, you have to be very
quick that you make a big boat and ride in it. O chief of the devotees,
you will be celebrated as a great king”.
Then he made a
strong boat which was 300 feet long, 50 feet wide and 30 feet high. It
was beautiful and all the living entities could take shelter in it. He
then himself rode in it, engaged in meditating on Lord Vishnu.
Lord Indra called
the devastating cloud named Sambartaka and poured heavy rain
continuously for 40 days. The whole earth, Bharat-varsa, had merged in
the water and four oceans came up together. Only Visala or Badarikasrama
was not submerged. There were 80,000 great transcendentalists in Visala
who joined with king Nyuha and his family. All of them were saved and
everything else was destroyed.
At that time all
the sages praised the eternal energy of Lord Vishnu. Being pleased by
the prayers of the sages, the Vishnu-maya reduced the waters of
devastation. After one year gradually the earth become visible. Under
the hill there is a place named Sisina and the king was situated in that
place with his other people. When the water completely dried up, king
Nyuha came back to his place.
Suta Goswami
continued: The mleccha, king Nyuha became attached to Lord Vishnu and as
a result Lord Vishnu increased his generation. Then he created a
language fit for the mlecchas, unfavorable to the Vedas. He named it as
brahmi-bhasha, or brahmi language, full of bad words, for increasing the
degradation of Kali-yuga. The Lord who is Himself the master of
intelligence gave this language to Nyuha. Nyuha named his tree sons
opposite. They were known as Sima, Hama, Yakuta and also Yakuta, Sapta
putra, Jumara and Majuya. The name of their countries were known as
Madi, Yunana, Stuvaloma, Tasa and Tirasa.
Hama who was the
second son of his father, had four sons know as Kusa, Misra, Kuja and
Kanaam. Kusa had six sons - Havila, Sarva, Toragama, Savatika, NimaruhaI
and Mahavala. Their sons were known as Kamala, Sinara and Uraka. And
their countries names are Akvada, Bavuna and Rasana.
After telling this
story Suta Goswami influenced by Yoga-nidra entered mystic slumber. He
woke up after two thousand years and thereupon he said: “Now I’m going
to say about the generation of Sima. Because he was the first son of his
father he became the king. This mleccha king ruled over the country for
500 years. His son Arkansoda ruled for 434 years. His son Sihla ruled
for 460 years. His son Iratasya ruled the same length as his father. His
son Phataja ruled for 240 years. His son Rau ruled for 237 years. His
son Juja ruled the same length as his father. His son Nahura ruled for
160 years, and he destroyed his many inimical kings. His son Tahara
ruled the same length as his father. He had three sons: Avirama, Nahura
and Harana. Thus I have explained the generation of mlecchas with the
indication of their names only. The mleccha language is considered the
lowest language because it bears the curse of goddess Sarasvati. Thus I
have summarily narrated the rise of the mlecchas in Kali-yuga.
Sanskrt is the
language by which the whole Bharata-Varsa is being praised and
glorified. The same language, after going to another country became the
mleccha language and mlecchas took advantage of it.
After hearing all
this, the sages situated in Badarikashrama, worshipped Lord
Nara-Narayana and meditated upon them for 200 years. When they woke up
from their meditation, they inquired from their teacher Suta Goswami:
“O disciple of Sri
Vyasa, you are so fortunate and greatly intelligent, may you live long.
Now please tell us who is the king at the present time?"
Suta Goswami said:
“At the present time, the Kali-yuga has already passed its 3000 years.
Now the king Sankha is ruling the earth and in the mleccha countries the
king named Sakapat is ruling. Please hear about how they came up."
When the Kali-yuga
passed 2000 years, the dynasty of mlecchas increased. They created many
paths to grow and gradually the whole earth become full of mlecchas. The
spiritual master and teacher of the mlecchas was named Musa. He was
residing on the bank of the river Sarasvati, and he spread his doctrince
throughout the whole world. As soon as Kali-yuga started, the devotion
to the Lord and the language of the Vedas were destroyed. There are four
kinds of mleccha languages: Vraja-bhasa, Maharastri, Yavani and
Garundika. In this way there are four million kinds of other languages.
For example:
paniyam (water) is called pani, bubhuksa-hunger is called bhukh.
Paniyam-drinking is called papadi and bhojanam-eating si called
kakkanam. Isti is called suddharava, istini is called masapavani, ahuti
is called aju and dadati is called dadhati. The word pitri is called
paitara and bhrata is bather and also pati. This is the yavani lanugage
in which the asva is called aspa, Janu is jainu and sapta-sindhu is
called sapta-hindu.
Now you hear about
Gurundika language. Ravi-vara (the first day of the week) is called
sunday, phalguna and chaitra months are called pharvari (February).
Sasti is called sixty, these kinds of examples are there.
Crime is becoming
prominent in the holy place of Sapta-puri. Gradually the people of
Aryavata are becoming theives, hunters, bhillas and fools. The followers
of mleccha-dharma in foreign countries are intelligent and having good
qualities, whereas the people of Aryavarta are bereft of good qualities.
Thus the ruling of mlecchas is also in Bharata (India) and its islands.
Knowing all this, O great and intelligent sage, you should just perform
the devotional service to Lord Hari.
The great sage
Saunaka inquired: “Please tell us, what was the reason that the mlecchas
did not arrive in Brahmavarta.
Suta Goswami said:
That was by the influence of goddess Sarasvati that they could not enter
that place. By the order of the demigods, when the Kali-yuga pursued his
1,000 years, a brahmana named Kasyapa come down to earth from the
heavenly planets with his wife Aryavatil. They had ten spotless sons who
are known by the names: Upadhayaya, Diksita, Pathaka, Sukla, Misra,
Agnihotri, Dvi-vedi, Tri-vedi, Catur-vedi and Pandey. Among them was the
learned one full of knowledge. He went to Kashmir and worshipped goddess
Sarasvati with red flowers, red akshata (rice), incense, lamps, naivedya
(food offerings) and puspanjali (flower offerings). To please her he
praised her with some prayers, asking her for better knowledge of Sankrt
to put mlecchas into illusion. Being pleased by his prayers she
remainded situated in his mind and blessed him with knowledge. Then the
sage went to the country known as Misra and put all the mlecchas into
illusion by the greace of goddess Sarasvati.
Then he made 10,000
people as dvijas or twice born brahmanas; he made 2,000 people into
vaishyas; and the rest of them as shudras. He came back with them and
staying in Arya-desha (India) he engaged in the activites of the sages.
They were known as Aryans and by the grace of goddess Sarasvati their
generation gradually increased upto 4 million, both the men and women
with their sons and grandsons. Their king, Kasyapa muni, ruled the earth
for 120 years.
There were 8,000
sudras in the county known as Rajputra (Rajput) and their king was
Arya-prithu. His son was Magadha. The sage made him a king and left.
Saunaka inquired:
"O disciple of Vyasa, O Lomaharsana, please tell us who were the kings
to rule the earth in Kali-yuga, after Magadha?"
Suta Goswami said:
When king Magadha, the son of Kasyapa was ruling the earth, he
remembered his father's administration and he separated the Arya-desha
(India) into many states. The state which is on the eastern side of
Pancala is known as Magadha, the state of Kalinga is on the east-south
side, the state of Avanta is in the south, Amarta-desha is to the
south-west, Sindhu-desha is on the western side, Kaikaya is to the
north-west, Madra-desha is in the north, and Koninda-desha is to the
north-east. These states are named according to his sons' names. After
performing a sacrifice he gave the states to his sons. Lord Balabhadra
became pleased with his sacrifice, and Sisunaga appeared from the
sacrifice as his son. He ruled for 100 years and his son Kakavarma ruled
for 90 years. His son Kshemadharma ruled for 80 years and his son ruled
for 70 years. His son Vedamisra ruled for 60 years. His son Ajata-nipu
ruled for 50 years. His son Darbhaka ruled for 40 years, his son
Udayasva ruled for 30 years, his son Nanda-Vardhana ruled for 20 years,
his son Nanda-suta, who was born from the womb of a sudri or a low class
lady, also ruled for 20 years. His son Pranancala ruled for 10 years.
His son Parananda also ruled 10 years. His son Samananda ruled for 20
years. His son Priyananta ruled for 20 years, his son Devananda also
ruled for 20 years. his son Yajna-bhanga ruled for 10 years. His son
Mauryananda ruled for 10 years. And his son Mahananda fuled for 10
years.
At this time Lord
Hari was remembered by Kali. At that time the great and famous Gautama,
the son of Kasyapa introduced the Buddhist religion, and attained Lord
Hari in Pattana.
Gautama ruled over
10 years. From him Shakya muni was born, who ruled 20 years. His son
Shuddhodana ruled 30 years. His son Shakyasimha became the king on
Satadri after 2000 years and he ruled for 60 years, by which time all
the people were Buddhists. This was the first position of Kali-yuga and
the Vedic religion was destroyed.
If Lord Vishnu
becomes a king then all the people would follow Him. The activities of
the world are carried out by the prowess of Lord Vishnu. He is the
master of maya or the illusory energy and whoever takes shelter of that
Lord Hari, though he may be a sinful and abominable person, will become
liberated.
Buddha-simha was
born from Shakyasimha and he ruled for only 30 years. Buddha-simha’s son
was Chandra-gupta, who married with a daughter of Suluva, the Yavana
king of Pausasa. Thus he mixed the Buddhists and yavanas. He ruled for
60 years. From him Vindusara was born and ruled for the same number of
years as his father. His son was Ashoka. At this time the best of the
brahmanas, Kanyakubja, performed sacrifice on the top of a mountain
named Arbuda. By the influence of Vedic mantras, four Kshatriyas
appeared form the yajna. Among these four Pramara was samavedi,
Chapahani was yajurvedi, Shukla was trivedi and Pariharaka was the
Atharvavedi. They were accustomed to ride on elephants. They kept Ashoka
under their control and annihilated all the Buddhists. It is said there
were 4 million Buddhists and all of them were killed by uncommon
weapons. After that Pramara became king in Avanta and he constructed a
large city called Ambavati for his happiness. It was as big as 4 yojanas
or about 32 miles.
Then Suta Goswami
said: "My dear brahmanas I’m being influenced by yoga-nidra, therefore,
please go to your respective ashramas and meditate on Lord Vishnu."
After the
completion of 2,000 years, Suta Goswami said: When the kali-yuga had
passed his 3,710 years, at that time the king was Pramara who rulled 6
years, from him Mahamada was born. He ruled 3 years and his son Devapi
did the same. His son Devaduta also did the same. From him
Gandharva-sena was born, who went to the forest after ruling for over 50
years and having given his kingdom to his son Shankha. Shankha ruled for
over 30 years. Lord Indra sent a heavenly girl to Gandharva-sena named
Viramati. A jewel like son was born form her womb. At the time of his
birth, there were flowers raining from the sky, many auspicious
instruments were played and the wind was blowing pleasingly. The name of
the baby was Siva-drishti, who later left for the jungle with his
disciples. After 20 years he became perfect in Karma-yoga. When
kali-yuga copmleted 3,000 years, the terrible symptoms of kali had
appeared. That baby took birth in the secret place of Kailasa, by the
benediction of Lord Shiva, to destroy the shakas and to increase the
Arya-dharma or the Vedic reigion. His father Gandharva-sena named his
son as Vikramaditya and become happy. This child was very intelligent
and very pleasing to his parents. When he was 5 years old, he left for
the forest to perform austerities and he continued it upto 12 years.
After 12 years he went to the holy city named Ambavati with all the
opulence and accepted the transcendental throne sent by Lord Shiva. For
his security goddess Parvati created a Vetala (a king of ghosts) and
sent it to king Vikramaditya’s palace. Once the powerful king went to
the temple of Lord Shiva named as Mahakaleshvara, who is the chief of
the devas, and who has a bow named Pinaka. There he worshipped Lord
Shiva. In that place he built a religious council hall with the pillars
made of various metals and decorated with many kinds of jewels and
covered with so many plants and creepers and flowers. In that hall he
kept a celestial throne. He invited the foremost brahmanas who are
well-versed in Vedic knowledge, worshipped them with proper hospitality
and heard many religious histories from them. After that one demigod
named Vitala come there having a form of a brahmana. Glorifying and
blessing the king, he sat down on the seat and said: O master of this
earthly planet, king Vikramaditya, if you are very eager to hear them I
will describe the stories and histories to you.
Thus ends the
seventh chapter of the Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purana.
[From the third
part of the Pratisarga Parva.]
Shri Suta Gosvami
said: In the dynasty of king Shalivahana, there were ten kings who went
to the heavenly planets after ruling for over 500 years. Then gradually
the morality declined on the earth. At that time Bhojaraja was the tenth
of the kings on the earth. When he saw that the moral law of conduct was
declining he went to conquer all the directions of his country with
ten-thousand soldiers commanded by Kalidasa. He crossed the river
Sindhu and conquered over the gandharas, mlecchas, shakas, kasmiris,
naravas and sathas. He punished them and collected a large ammount of
wealth. Then the king went along with Mahamada (Mohammad), the preceptor
of mleccha-dharma, and his followers to the great god, Lord Shiva,
situated in the desert. He bathed Lord Shiva with Ganges water and
worshipped him in his mind with pancagavya (milk, ghee, yoghurt, cow
dung, and cow urine) and sandalwood paste, etc. After he offered some
prayers and pleased him.
Suta Goswami said:
After hearing the king’s prayers, Lord Shiva said: O king Bhojaraja, you
should go to the place called Mahakakshvara, that land is called Vahika
and now is being contaminated by the mlecchas. In that terrible country
there no longer exists dharma. There was a mystic demon named Tripura,
whom I have already burnt to ashes, he has come again by the order of
Bali. He has no origin but he achieved a benediction from me. His name
is Mahaoda and his deeds are like that of a ghost. Therefore, O king,
you should not go to this land of the evil ghost. By my mercy your
intelligence will be purified. Hearing this the king came back to his
country and Mahamada came with them to the bank of the river Sindhu. He
was expert in expanding illusion, so he said to the king very
pleasingly: O great king, your god has become my servant. Just see, as
he eats my remnants, so I will show you. The king became surprised when
he saw this just before them. Then in anger Kalidasa rebuked Mahamada,
“O rascal, you have created an illusion to bewilder the king, I will
kill you, you are the lowest..."
[...]
That city is known
as their site of pilgrimage, a place which was Madina or free from
intoxication. Having a form of a ghost (Bhuta), the expert illusionist
Mahamada appeared at night in front of king Bhojaraja and said: O king,
your religion is of course known as the best religion among all. Still I
am going to establish a terrible and demoniac religion by the order of
the Lord. The symptoms of my followers will be that they first of all
will cut their genitals, have no shikha, but having beard, be wicked,
make noise loudly and eat everything. They should eat animals without
performing any rituals. This is my opinion. They will perform
purificatory act with the musala or a pestle as you purify your things
with kusha. Therefore, they will be known as musalman, the corrupters of
religion. Thus the demoniac religion will be founded by me. After having
heard all this the king came back to his palace and that ghost went back
to his place.
The intelligent
king, Bhojaraj established the language of Sanskrit in three varnas -
the brahmanas, kshatriyas and vaisyas - and for the shudras he
established prakrita-bhasha, the ordinary language spoken by common men.
After ruling his kingdom for 50 years, he went to the heavenly planet.
The moral laws established by him were honored even by the demigods. The
arya-varta, the pious land is situated between Vindhyacala and Himacala
or the mountains known as Vindhya and Himalaya. The Aryans reside there,
but varna-sankaras reside on the lower part of Vindhya. The musalman
people were kept on the other side of the river Sindhu.
On the island of
Barbara, Tusha and many others also the followers of Isamsiha were also
situated as they were managed by a king or demigods.
[From the 29th
chapter of the Pratisarga Parva.]
Long ago in the
country known as Citrartha, the inhabitants of the heavenly planets used
to come to play during the time of autumn. One day a heavenly apsara
know as Manjughosha came to that place where the sage Shuka was
residing. Seeing this beautiful boy, she tried to attract him while
singing and dancing, being overwhelmed by lusty desires. She praised him
with a beautiful prayer holding her hands and bowing down. Somehow, she
pleased the muni. Then the glorious Shuka, hearing this auspicious
prayer asked her to request a benediction. Manjughosha humbly said: ”O
lord, you are the protector of those who came to your shelter, therefore
I’m at your shelter, please become my husband”. The sage accepted her
and after some time they produced a son named ‘Muni’ who performed
austerity very strictly upto 12 years. He married the daughter of
Svarnadeva, the god of gold. They gave birth to a daughter named
Kinnari. She was very young and beautiful. She performed austerity to
please Lord Shiva, and as a benediction lord Shiva intrusted her to a
sober sage Makaranda.
Then her father,
Muni, asked lord Shiva to bless her, so that they will successfully make
progress in this world.
Lord Shiva said:
Upto 30 years you will enjoy your country in the middle of the earth,
then it will be destroyed. After hearing this Muni went to his place
with Makaranda and resided there. As soon as the 29th year started the
battle took place among those kings who took birth as the incarnations
of the associates of Krishna. Bauddha, the lord of nyuhas (the lessened
people) attacked the beautiful city of Netrapala, thinking that this
city is wonderfully decorated with various kinds of jewels. The powerful
king Bauddha-simha who had seven-million soldiers, fought with those
kings who had only three million soldiers. The fight went on terribly
between the armies for seven days and nights. The great powerful kings,
who killed all the inimical armies protected by Baudha-simha, were
Yoga-simha, Bhoga-simha and Vijaya.
After that more
Buddhists came from the countries known as Shyama and Japaka, and all of
them were magicians. Again they had a large battle which lasted for one
month. Then Netrasimha arrived with seven million soldiers protected by
eight generals, for the destruction of the Buddhists. Being afraid, all
the Buddhists left India completely and went to China to continue the
war from there. The opposite army also continued following them. When
they arrived on the bank of the Huha river, it was the month of Magh,
the second half part of the month of January, the fight took place
again. There were one million soldiers each from the countries of Syama
and Japaka, and ten million soldiers from China assembled for a fight.
On the other side, Krishnamsa, Deva, Netrapala, Mandalika, Dhanyapada,
Lallasimha, Talana and Jana nayaka were the generals, each of them
having one million soldiers. There was a terrible battle between the
Buddhists and the Aryans. In that war seven million Buddhists, and two
million Aryans were killed. Being afraid the Buddhists ran away from the
battle and went to their home to produce a wooden army with the help of
a machinery arrangement. They made ten-thousand elephants (made out of
wood) along with warriors, one million horses, one thousand buffaloes,
one thousand hogs, one thousand tigers, one thousand swans, and seven
thousand camels. All these creatures had wooden warriors on their back.
Thus with the wooden army which was 125,000 in number, they killed two
million soldiers protected by Krishnamsas. Seeing this wonder Jayanta,
the expert fighter shot fire arrows toward the wooden armies, so that
they were immediately destroyed, being burnt to ashes. Only three
million kshatriyas (warriors) were left, and they glorified the
proficient warrior Jayanta again and again. Then the Buddhists from
China, made a twenty thousand strong iron horse calvary and sent them to
fight. The powerful warrior Yogasimha, riding on an elephant held the
bow and arrows in his hands and shot to the neck of the iron warriors.
Being afflicted by the arrows of Yogasimha five thousand soldiers were
killed. Seeing this, Bauddhasimha made an iron tiger and sent it to
Yogasimha. By the attack of that iron tiger the brave Yogasimha was
finally killed, and then Bhogasimha riding on a horse, went to fight
with the tiger. He killed the tiger by throwing a missile, and roared
loudly. Then a lion was sent to him by Bauddhasimha and thus he
(Bhogasimha) was killed by a lion. When the son of Swarna-vati (Jayanta)
saw that his maternal uncles were already dead, he rode on a powerful
horse and went to Bauddhasimha. He took illusory arrows and put the
opposite army into delusion along with Bauddhasimha. He captured
ten-thousand kings including Bauddhasimha, and returned to Krishnamsas
having destroyed the mechanical armies.
Then all of them
happily went to the city and forcibly “looted” the wealth from the
palace, which was very opulent, and came back the fort of the king.
Jayanta came and released Bauddhasimha. After being released he offered
his daughter Padmaja to Jayanta and also offered 100,000,000 golden
coins for the pleasure of his in law. After that all the Buddhists made
their vows there itself saying “We will never go to Arya-desa to invade
the country.” Then they offered their homage and left. They went to
Netrapala with their three million remaining soldiers.
[From the 31st
chapter of the Pratisarga Parva.]
Suta Goswami said:
The great powerful king of Madrakesa worshipped the mendicants of the
heavenly planets (the Asvini kumaras) for five years and after having
received a benediction from them he produced ten sons and one beautiful
young daughter named Kantinati. King Madraka invited Maharaj Suryavarna
(the present king of Hastinapura), and gave his daughter to him with
proper conduct.
Having accepted the
new wife, Suryavarna quickly returned to his home with his army. There
was a mystic demon named Karbura, the son of Bigbhisana, when he saw
Kantimati the daughter of king Madrakesa, he came there and kidnapped
her in their presence and went to a mountain called Sahyadri. Seeing
this incident Mahiraja became very upset and lamented again and again.
Mahiraja came to Hastinapura and sent a message to Krishnamsa. He
explained everything to him and immediately with five hundred warriors
Krishnamsa went to Sahyadri mountain and said fearlessly: “O best of the
demons, please listen. Your father Bibhishana is a great devotoee, and
you are the dear son of him, therefore, you should not act in this
manner (sinfully) which is the cause of the destruction of family. Do
you remember, long ago mother Sita was kidnapped by Ravana and what
happened to him?”
The rakshasa said,
"Previously she was the daughter of a Gandharva and my beloved wife, but
because of a curse by a sage she took birth on the earthly planet.
Therefore, feeling her separation I went to Madrakesa. Although I stayed
there so many days, being afraid of the king I could not kidnap her. Now
she is in my control, but if you defeat me in battle you can take her
back. Then Krishnamsa started fighting with him with a sword and it went
on for seven nights. Finally he defeated the rakshasa, and with
Kantimati came back to Delhi to see Mahiraja. The king (Mahiraja)
offered 10,000,000 golden coins to the great Krishnamsa. Then he came to
Pramdavana, or the forest called Pramoda, with his friends.
Suta Goswami said:
There was a powerful king named Purnamala in Pattana. He worshipped the
Vasus for five years and received a benediction from them. By their
blessings he had ten sons and a daughter named Vidyun mala. For the
marriage of his daughter he invited king Mahiraja and with seven million
soldiers he gave his daughter to the son of Mahiraja (Bhima).
Bhima came back
happily to his home (Hastinapura) with his beautiful wife. Then the king
of paisaca-dasa, Sahoda, came with ten-thousand mlecchas to get
Vidyunmala. They came to Kurukshetra by the order of Bali, the grandson
of Prahlada Maharaja. They broke the deities of gods, killed so many
cows and in the places of sacred water they put cow-blood. Sahoda, the
mleccha king, wrote a letter and sent it to Mahiraja. King Mahiraja
answered: "O mleccha king, you are the master of the mlecchasi, why are
you worried about Vidyunmala? You should know that I’m the one who can
shoot arrows just by hearing a sound and I’m the central point of the
country of the thieves."
Then the king went
to Kurukshetra with three million soldiers. There was a large, terrible
fight between them. At night in the month of Jesta (July), Bali Maharaja
came from Patala, the lowest region with ten-thousand demons and killed
the soldiers of the king very quickly, eating them again and again. The
king, being afraid took shelter of goddess Sarasvati. After that
immediately Krishnamsas arrived and killed the ten-thousand demons. They
came to Bali, the lord of the demons, and pleased him with their words.
Then Baliraja said:
I’m very pleased with you, now you can ask for any benediction.
They said: These
demons should never come to Aryadesha (India) with you, all of you
should stay always in mleccha-desha and eat the followers of
mleccha-dharma.
Baliraja became
upset hearing these fearful, terrible words.
Then Krishnamsa
said: as long as I’m in this world you should simply stay in your home,
after that you come here and do whatever you like”.
Hearing this the
mleccha king Sahoda went back to Rasatala, the sixth lowest region of
demons.
[From Pratisarga
Parva, 4th Part, Chapter 6.]
The sage (Saunka)
said: “O great fortunate one, you know everything please tell us about
the kings who came after Mahiraja.
Suta Goswami said:
The ghostly Kutukoddina, with human nature, was situated in the kingdom
of Delhi. The best king Bhapasena, the grandson of Virasena was situated
in the beautiful city of Aligarh. This city was protected by yadavas.
Kutukaddin with ten-thousand warriors went there and defeated him and
returned to Delhi. Then so many kings form other countries came there
and defeated him and rejected him from their countries. When Shahoddina
heard this, he came to Delhi, conquered the kings and broke all the
deities. After that so many mlecchas came from all sides and ruled the
kingdom for 5, 6 or 7 years. They had destroyed the places of pilgrimage
and the temples, therefore as a reaction they become short-lived. From
today, the mleccha kings will continue for a hundred years, therefore O
sages, you should quickly go to Vishala (Badarikashrama) with me.
Then all the sages sadly left
this place (Naimisaranya) and went to Vishala, the best of the Himalayas
and meditated upon Lord Hari, being in samadhi (trance). And after a
hundred years all of them attained the kingdom of God.
[From the 7th
chapter of the Pratisarga Parva.]
The sun god, being
pleased by the praise of the demigods, said: By the order of the Lord
Krishna, Sudarshana will take birth in the Dvapara-yuga, and will be
known as Nimbaditya (Nimbarka). He will be able to remove the
declination of religious principles.
Suta Goswami said:
Now you hear about the pastimes of the great Nimbarka. Lord Krishna
personally ordered him to appear on the auspicious bank of Narmada
river, which flows to the southern side of mountain Meru. That state is
known as Tailanga, the place used by the devarsis, the godly sages.
Lord Krishna said:
"You receive knowledge from devarsi Narada and establish the true
principles of religion. You should remain in Mathura, Naimisaranya and
Dvaraka."
Lord Sudarshana
accepted the order of Lord Krishna sarying, "Yes," and appeared on the
earth to fulfill the desires of the devotees. There was a broad-minded
holy brahmana living in the auspicious state of Tailanga. His name was
Aruna and was well versed in the Vedas and Vedangas. His wife was known
as Jayanti. They were living an austere life like the sages. The
brilliant luster of Sudarshana suddenly entered in the heart of Jayanti,
and by that luster she looked brilliant like the moon. When the time
arrived with all auspiciousness and good qualities, in Gaura paksha
purnima of Kartika month, Vrisha rasi, the moon in Krittika, the five
grahas (planets) situated in higher places, in the evening at the time
of sunset, in Masa-lagna, the Lord of the universe (Sudarshana), who
engaged the whole universe in Vedic religion, appeared from mother
Jayanti (as Nimbarka).
One day Lord Brahma
went to Nimbarka’s ashrama just before the sunset and said: O brahmana,
I’m very hungry, as long as the sun is in the sky, please give me
something to eat. (I will not eat after the sun sets). The brahmana
(Nimbarka) gave him food and while he was eating the sun went down. Then
the brahmana by his power kept a sudarshana on a nimbe tree. Lord Brahma
wondered seeing that sunlike shine and paid his obeisances to the
brahmana by lying flat on the ground. Pleased with his austerity Lord
Brahma said: Excellent. You will become famous on this earth, and you
will be known as Nimbaditya (Nimbarka - One who made the sun appear from
a Neem tree).
[From the 7th
chapter of the Pratisarga Parva.]
Brihaspati said:
Long ago, during the age of treta, O Indra, there was a brahmana named
Shakrasharma, in Ayodhya. He worshipped demigods such as the Asvini
Kumaras, Rudras, Vasus, and Surya with the mantras mentioned in the
Yajur-veda. After worshipping, he satisfied them by offering oblations
every day. Thus being pleased with his worship all the 330 million
demigods awarded him all desired objects and even the rarest things. By
the benediction of the demigods the brahmana lived on this earth for
ten-thousand years without getting old and having no disturbance. After
leaving his body he become the Sun-god and predominated the sun planet
for one hundred thousand years, before going to Brahmaloka. He spent
eight thousand celestial years for visiting the higher planets and then
returned to the sun planet.
Hearing this, Lord
Indra with his sober intelligence began to worship the sun-god along
with other demigods in the month of June-July. On the purnima, the full
moon day, the sun-god came down to the earth and said to demigods: I
will take birth in Kali-yuga in Vrindavana and this brahmana will
execute favorable acts for the demigods. He will be born as a son of
Madhava, named Madhu and follow the Vedic path.
Suta Gosvami said:
Saying this the sun-god created a light from his body and sent it to
Vrindavana. Attracting all the irreligious people with pleasing speech
he gave them Vaishnavi-shakti or the spiritual energy of Lord Vishnu,
the bestower of enjoyment and liberation. Thus he become famous, known
as Madhvacarya.
Jiva said: In the
age of Dvapara, there was a brahmana named Megha Sharma. He was very
much religious, intelligent, learned and a follower of the Vedic path.
He was engaged in farming, and with the ten percent profit from farming
he was worshipping the demigods every day with devotion. Once there was
no rain during the administration of Maharaja Shantanu for five years,
but the farm of Megha sharma was about four miles wider and was watered
by rain. Naturally the grain-rate increased and Megha sharma became rich
by taking advantage of the scarcity. Other people being so distressed
took shelter of the king. The king called Megha sharma and said: O great
brahmana, I offer my obeisances unto you, please became my Guru and
guide us, so that we can be free from the scarcity.
Megha sharma said:
when the month of Shravana (July-August) starts, you should call twelve
Vedic brahmanas to chant one-hundred thousand times the mantra of the
sun-god with the proper mind. Then on the full moon day (purnima) offer
one tenth the number of oblations in the sacrificial fire, through the
brahmanas. If you could do this as mentioned, you will become free from
anxiety. So the king performed accordingly and fed all the brahmanas,
then the sun-god being pleased by this poured heavy rain on the earth
from all sides. After this king Shantanu, engaged in performing
Surya-vrata and become a greatly pious person. Whoever he touched with
his hand immediately turned to a young man. By the mercy of the sun-god,
Meghasarma lived for five-hundred years, being freed from old age, and
then went to sun-planet. After 100,000 years he will attain Brahmaloka.
While he was speaking thus, sun-god revealed his identity to Jiva and
went to Prayaga (Allahabad) and being in a happy mood he said to the
demigods: “In kali-yuga, when the mlecchas will be ruling the kingdom, I
will come to Vrindavana and preach for the mission of the Devas."
Suta said: Then the
sun-god descended in Vrindavana as a son of Deva-sharma, named Sridhara.
He studied Srimad Bhagavatam very deeply and a great commentary on it
which is known as Sridhar-bhasya, the commentary of Sridhara.
Brihaspati said:
Long ago there was a brahmana named Heli, in the beautiful city
Pampapura. He was a worshipper of the sun-god and he knew the 64 arts.
He avoided the mood of accepting dakshina (donations) and he became an
artist, having established a workshop for clothes, paintings, pictures,
metal statues etc. He spent five thousand coins to establish it.
Whatever profit he made he used for worshipping the sun-god in the month
of Magha (January-February) by performing sacrifices. Thus the sun-god
Vishvakarma (the architect of the gods) became pleased with this
sacrifice and descended on the top of a big pillar in Pampasarovara, the
lake named Pampa, having a brilliant shining form. At the noon time,
Heli offered food to the sun-god according to his desire. In this way he
satisfied the three worlds. After leaving his body he entered into the
sun-planet. Therefore O king of devas you may worship the sun-god, he
will help you.
Suta said: Lord
Indra hearing this from his guru, began to worship the sun-god
Visvakarma along with other demigods. Thus being pleased with their
worship Tvashta (Visvakarma) said: O gods, please listen to my words, I
will appear in a village named Bilvagram in Bengal, and I will be the
poet known as Jayadeva, the compiler of Nirukti. Saying this the sun-god
went to Bengal and took birth in the house of a brahmana named Kanduke.
When he was just five years old, he was engaged in the service of his
parents and continued for twelve years. After sometime his parents left
their body and Jayadeva did all the final ceremonies (Shraddha) in Gaya.
Being satisfied they went to heaven. Then Jayadeva lived in a jungle as
a detached brahmana.
At the age of
twenty three, a brahmana (someone) offered his beautiful daughter to
Lord Jagannatha. At the end of his worship the eternal Lord Aniruddha,
having the form of Darubrahma, directly spoke thus: “O Satyavrata,
please listen to Me, it is my order that you offer your daughter
Padmavati to Jayadeva because he is the body of Mine, or he is as good
as Me.” Then he found the detached brahmana (Jayadeva) and leaving his
daughter in front of him, he went to his home. Padmavati served her
husband for so many years accepting him as a beautiful and learned one.
Jayadeva compiled a book known as Nirukta, the Vedic vocabulary, one of
the six Vedangas. There were five kinds of Niruktas, but in Kali-yuga
they were destroyed by the evil people and Prakrit-bhasha or the
illiterate language was established. For the sake of the demigods,
Panini the author of Ashtadhyayi grammar, overtook them and established
the pure Sanskrit languagae.
Once the evil
minded Kali situated in the hearts of thieves, plundered all the money
of the brahmana Jayadeva which was given to him by the king. Following
this they cut both his hands and legs and went home leaving Padmavati
aside. Jaydeva was thrown into a ditch. Padmavati took him out cried and
lamented again and again seeing the situation of her husband.
One day, when the
king Dharmapala was out hunting. He saw the sage Jayadeva without hands
and feet and asked: “Who put you in such a condition?”
Jayadeva answered:
“No one put me in this condition, O king. It is due to my previous
activities that I am suffering now in this abominable condition."
Having heard this
statement, the religious king put the brahmana on a palanquin along with
his wife and brought them to his palace. The king built a dharma-shala,
religious institution, after receiving instructions from Jayadeva.
One day those same
thieves, dressed as Vaishnavas came to the king and said: “We are very
much expert in the scriptures and therefore we have come to you. O best
of the kings, Lord Vishnu, while being in the stone (Shalagrama) eats
food cooked by us everyday with love. If you don’t believe us, you can
see this right here.”
Saying thus the
slaves of kali by their power showed the king a four handed form of Lord
Vishnu eating. Being struck with wonder, king Dharmapala said to
Jayadeva: “O my gurudeva, some vaishnavas, the devotees of Lord Vishnu
have come to my palace, and they have shown me the Lord before my very
eyes, therefore please come quickly."
The theives saw
Jayadeva and became struck with wonder. They said to the king in a
joking mood: “O king, this brahmana was a cook in the palace of the king
of Gaudadesa (Bengal). Once he became very much greedy for money and he
mixed some poison in the food and offered it to a king. When the king
come to know about it he ordered him to be crucified. Then we came to
him (Jayadeva), and knowing him to be an offender, we instructed him in
the Vedic knowledge. Then the king refused to crucify him, but he cut
off his hands and legs. At that time the king became our disciple,
having been enlightened by us.”
While they were
speaking thus, the earth broke in two and those thieves fell within the
earth, being sent to the lowest hell known as patala-loka. Jayadeva
began to cry to the thieves and while he was crying his hands and legs
appeared to be as they were. Then he explained to the bewildered king
what had happened. The king became very happy after hearing everything
from him. Jayadeva wrote a song called Gita-Govinda, the song sung for
the pleasure of Lord Govinda. The king read the song and attained
liberation. “O brahmanas, thus I have narrated the birth story of
Jayadeva, now you listen about how the Supreme Lord appeared as Sri
Krishna Chaitanya ."
[From Pratisarga
Parva, 4th Part, Chapter 6.]
The sage (Saunka)
said: “O great fortunate one, you know everything please tell us about
the kings who came after Mahiraja.
Suta Goswami said:
The ghostly Kutukoddina, with human nature, was situated in the kingdom
of Delhi. The best king Bhapasena, the grandson of Virasena was situated
in the beautiful city of Aligarh. This city was protected by yadavas.
Kutukaddin with ten-thousand warriors went there and defeated him and
returned to Delhi. Then so many kings form other countries came there
and defeated him and rejected him from their countries. When Shahoddina
heard this, he came to Delhi, conquered the kings and broke all the
deities. After that so many mlecchas came from all sides and ruled the
kingdom for 5, 6 or 7 years. They had destroyed the places of pilgrimage
and the temples, therefore as a reaction they become short-lived. From
today, the mleccha kings will continue for a hundred years, therefore O
sages, you should quickly go to Vishala (Badarikashrama) with me.
Then all the sages
sadly left this place (Naimisaranya) and went to Vishala, the best of
the Himalayas and meditated upon Lord Hari, being in samadhi (trance).
And after a hundred years all of them attained the kingdom of God.
|
Bhavishya Purana (Original Sanskrit Text)