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This Purana
consists of 16 chapters:
Once Jaimini, a
disciple of sage Vedavyasa expressed his curiosity before Markandeya- 'O
Lord! In the great epic Mahabharat, which was created by Vedavyasa,
description of Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha appears to be intertwined
at times and at other times, it appears to be separate from one another.
Vedavyasa had described the norms, the stages and the means to perform
the duties in all the four stages. This epic contains cryptic knowledge
of Vedas. Hence O great sage! I have approached you in order to grasp
the full knowledge contained in Mahabharat with your help. Why did Lord
take human incarnation even though He is the cause of the origin,
perpetuation and destruction of the universe? How did Draupadi become
the wife of five Pandavas? How did Balaram expiate for the sin of
killing a Brahmin? How did Draupadi's sons give up their lives? Kindly
narrate all these things in detail. '
Markandeya says- 'O
Muni ! Presently I am engaged in evening worship. Hence I do not have
time to narrate these things in detail. But I am telling you about the
birds which will narrate you the entire content of Mahabharat. Those
birds will also remove all your doubts. Sons of the great bird Drona-
Pingaksha, Vibodha, Suputra, Sumuk etc. stay in the caves among the
hills of Vindhyachal. They are proficient in Vedas. Go and ask them,
they will remove all your doubts.'
Markandeya's words
surprised Jaimini. To confirm, he asked again- 'It is surprising that
the birds could narrate the content of Mahabharat just like human
beings. It is even more surprising that they are proficient in Vedas
knowledge, which is even rare to find among humans. Kindly tell me how
did they come to acquire such profound knowledge despite having being
born in the form of birds. Why do you call them as the sons of Drona?'
Markandeya says-
'Long ago, a strange event took place in Nandanvan involving Indra,
Devrishi Narad and some of the elves. One day, Indra was enjoying his
time in the Nandanvan forest along with his elves. At the same time
Narad also arrived there. Indra welcomed and offered him a seat. The
elves also greeted Narad. Indra then said- 'Munivar! Tell me what you
desire now? If you desire to listen to a song, should I order the
Gandharvas or if you wish to watch the dance, should I order one of my
elves, Menka, Rambha, Mishrakeshi or Urvashi? Any of these four can
perform a seducing dance before you.'
Narad expressed his
desire to watch the dance of an elf, who was superior in beauty to the
other elves. This led to a row among the elves. Each one of them was
proud of her beauty and talent. Narad then advised them to test their
beauty by breaking sage Durvaasa's penance who was at that time staying
on a hilltop. All the elves expressed their inability to perform this
task successfully. Only an elf named Vapu, driven by her haughtiness
accepted to break the penance of sage Durvaasa.
Accordingly she
reached the hill where Durvaasa was staying and began to sing an
infatuating song in her sweet voice. Very soon, the song began to show
its effect on Durvaasa. Attracted by the sweet voice, Durvaasa went in
search of the origin of the voice and found Vapu singing at a distance.
Durvaasa understood that the elf had come to break his penance. Angrily,
he cursed the elf that she would take birth in the lineage of the birds
for sixteen years, she would not bear a child and ultimately would be
killed by a weapon to regain her heavenly abode. After saying this, sage
Durvaasa migrated to Akashganga.
This chapter
contains 9 sections.
Markandeya says -
'In the lineage of the avian King Garud, there were two brothers- Kank
and Kandhar. One day, Kank visited Kailash Parbat where a demon
Vidrayudrup, who was a slave of Kuber, was enjoying privacy with his
wife and drinking wine. Seeing Kank, the demon showed his displeasure at
his arrival at an improper time. But Kank boldly asserted his right on
the mountain as according to him, it belonged to all. The infuriated
demon decapitated Kank with his sword.
Hearing the news of
his brother's killing, Kandhar resolved to kill the demon. After
performing the last rites of his brother, he also arrived on the
mountain where the demon Vidrayudrup was still drinking wine with his
wife. The demon lost his temper again. Kandhar then challenged the demon
to have a fight with him. A fierce battle ensued between them.
Ultimately, Kandhar killed the demon. The demon's wife- Madanika finding
herself in a helpless situation accepted Kandhar as her husband. Thus,
Kandhar returned to his palace with a newly found wife. Madanika was in
fact the daughter of Menka, the elf and could change her guise at will.
After marrying Kandhar, she took the guise of the bird. The bird
Madanika was born as elf - Vapu in her next birth due to the curse of
sage Durvaasa. Kandhar named her Taarkshi.
A Brahmin named
Mandapal had four sons. Drona was the youngest among them and proficient
in scriptures, Vedas etc. Kandhar married his daughter, Taarkshi to
Drona. After their marriage, Drona and Taarkshi were spending their time
happily. Taarkshi conceived during the same time when the battle of
Mahabharat was going on. As destiny would have it, Taarkshi flew over
the battlefield where she saw Arjuna and Bhagdatt, the king of
Pragjyotishpur, fighting valiantly against each other. Accidentally an
arrow aimed at Bhagdatt went in the direction of Taarkshi and struck her
in the abdomen and tore it apart. As a result of this, four eggs fell on
the ground. At the same time, a huge bell fell from Supratik's neck, the
elephant of Bhagdatt, and covered the eggs safely.
After the battle of
Mahabharat was over, a sage Shami visited the battlefield. There he
happened to spot the bell and heard faint chirping coming from
underneath the bell. The sage removed the bell and discovered four
wingless chicks beneath it. Surprisingly he said to his disciples-
'Look! Falling of these eggs and getting safely covered by the bell
simultaneously shows that these chicks are no ordinary birds.' Then he
instructed his disciples to carry the eggs to the hermitage and keep it
securely at a place safe from predators. The disciples did as told.
Sage Shami
thereafter began to foster the chicks in his hermitage. With time, the
chicks grew feathers and began to fly here and there. But every time the
birds went out, they returned to the hermitage by evening. The birds
also gained Vedic knowledge by hearing the discourses, which sage Shami
used to give daily to his disciples.
One day, when sage
Shami was preaching his disciples, the birds arrived there and said- 'O
great sage! You are like our father because you have protected us. You
are our teacher also because we have gained knowledge from you. Now we
have grown up, kindly tell us what should we do?'. The birds speaking
like learned people amazed the sage as well as his disciple.
He asked the birds-
'Tell us, how did you speak so clearly and is there any curse behind
your present condition?'. The birds replied- 'O sage! Long ago, there
used to live a sage, Vipulasvan. He had two sons- Sukrish and Tumbaru.
In our previous birth, we were the sons of Sukrish. When our father and
uncle performed Yagya, we brought them all the required materials. One
day, Indra arrived at our hermitage disguised as an aged bird. The aged
bird was starving, hence we requested our father to provide him with
some food. Upon enquiring by our father, the bird expressed his desire
to eat human flesh. Our father tried to dissuade the bird but it did not
give up its insistence. Then our father called us and said that he had
promised the bird to feed it with human flesh. So, we were asked to
donate our body in order to satisfy the bird's hunger. But being
frightened, we expressed our inability to meet the demand of the
starving bird. This infuriated our father for we were violating his
promise that he had made to the bird. He then cursed us to take birth as
birds in our next life and himself got ready to donate his body. As our
father was breathing his last, Indra resumed his real self and said- 'O
great sage! I took this guise only to test your character. Kindly
forgive me and tell me what you desire now?' Indra blessed our father to
have divine knowledge and penance free from all obstacles. Thereafter we
also fell at our father's feet and begged for his pardon. We requested
him to take back his words but he said that his words would not go
futile. But still he blessed us to have supreme knowledge even in the
form of birds.'
Concluding their
talk, the birds said- 'O lord! Thus controlled by destiny, our father
cursed us. After sometime, we took birth in bird form in the battlefield
where you found us and fostered us in your hermitage. Now we are strong
enough to fly long distances. So kindly free us from your obligation.'
Hearing the words
of the birds, sage Shami said to his disciples- 'Look! I had already
told you that these birds were no ordinary creatures. They even survived
the battle of Mahabharat. It shows their greatness.' Then sage Shami
granted them permission to migrate to the Vindhyachal. The birds decided
to pass their time by studying the Vedas and doing penance as long as
they stayed there.
Sage Jaimini
reached Vindhyachal and arrived before the birds as per Markandeya's
instructions. He said- 'O birds! I am Jaimini, the disciple of
Vedavyasa. I have come here with a desire to have your glimpse.' The
birds welcomed him saying- 'It is our great fortune that you have
arrived here. Your arrival has made us feel as if God himself has
arrived.' Jaimini said- 'O learned birds! Kindly listen to the purpose
of my visit. Sage Markandeya instructed me to come here and see you. You
kindly answer my questions that I have in the context of Mahabharat.'
The birds assured him of every possible explanation as per their
knowledge. Sage Jaimini proceeded- 'Why did Lord take human incarnation
even though He is the cause of the origin, perpetuation and destruction
of the universe? How did Draupadi come to be the queen of five Pandavas?
How did Balaram expiate for the sin of killing a Brahmin? How were
Draupadi's sons attain martyrdom? Kindly narrate all these things in
detail.'
The birds say- 'The
omnipotent, omniscient and the omnipresent Almighty God is worshipped
even by the deities. We salute that Lord Vishnu who is the originator of
this universe and who pervades everywhere. We salute Brahma from whose
four mouths, the Vedas appeared and sanctified all the three worlds. We
bow down at the feet of Mahadev. Those sages who have metaphysical
knowledge assert that Narayan exists in four forms, which are both
tangible and intangible. His first form is Vasudev, appearance of who is
more imaginative in nature. This form exists everywhere and in every
ages.
The second form of
Narayan is the one that bears the earth on his head. This form of god is
known as Shesh. Being Taamasi in nature, this form has taken a serpent
incarnation. The third form of God exhibits his divine power and plays.
It fosters all the creatures, protects religion, and is known as
Pradyumna. Yet another form of God known as Aniruddh rests on the
serpent's bed in the abysmal depth of water. It carries out the task of
creation.
The third form of God destroys
the irreligious demons. In the past, this same form rescued the earth
from the abyss in the incarnation of a boar (Varaha avatar) and killed
the demon King Hiranyakashipu in the form of Narsimha (lion face with
human body). This same form of God has appeared now in Lord Krishna's
incarnation.
The birds say-
'Frightened by the severe penance of Trishira, Indra killed him to
protect his authority and power. But the sin of killing a Brahmin took
away Indra's radiance. Trishira was the son of Twashta. Twashta became
furious at his son's death. He plucked one strand of hair from his
hair-lock and offered it in the sacrificial fire. This resulted into the
creation of a formidable and strong demon named Vritrasur. This demon
was created with the objective of killing Indra.
Learning about the
birth of Vritrasur, Indra sent Saptarishis as emissaries to work out a
pact with the demon. The Saptarishis effected a friendship between Indra
and Vritrasur. But Indra had other ideas. He took Vritrasur by surprise
and killed him. This deceitful action of Indra further enraged the clans
of the demons. Soon the atrocities of the demons increased to unbearable
limits. Even Prithvi felt unable to bear the burden of their atrocities.
She approached the deities and requested them to get her rid of the
burden.
Thus, to relieve
Prithvi of her burden, the deities began to take incarnation on earth.
Dharma and Vayu implanted Indra's radiance in the womb of Kunti. This
resulted in the birth of Yudhishthir and Bheema. Then Indra himself
produced Arjuna from Kunti. Nakul and Sahadev were born because of
Indra's radiance implanted by Ashwini kumars in the womb of Madri. Thus
all the five Pandavas originated from the same source even though they
appeared as distinct entities, whereas Draupadi was none other than
Shuchi, the wife of Indra, produced from the altar in Drupad's palace.
In human incarnation, Draupadi got five Pandavas as her husband.
Shri Krishna's
brother Balaram had remained impartial in the battle of Mahabharat.
Instead of championing the cause either for the Pandavas or for the
Kauravas, he had preferred to go on a pilgrimage. His wife Revati also
accompanied him on this pilgrimage. Once while travelling, Balaram drank
toddy and entered a beautiful garden known as Raivat. Taking a stroll,
Balaram and Revati then reached a hut.
In the hut, many
Brahmins were sitting and listening to Sutaji's oration. When the
Brahmins saw Balaram, they stood up and felicitated him. Only Sutaji did
not stand up. Balaram felt insulted and at once killed him. When Balaram
regained his composure after the intoxication receded, he felt guilty
for his deed. His belief that killing of Suta would enable him to attain
a place in Brahma loka proved to be based on false notion as the
Brahmins had shunned him for his deed.
After Balaram
realised his folly, he began to curse himself and resolved to observe a
twelve-year long fast in order to expiate for his sin. Thereafter,
Balaram migrated to a place of pilgrimage known as Pratiloma Saraswati
to carry out his expiation.
In Treta Yug, there
was a king named Harishchandra. Once he was hunting in the Mahabaahu
forest when suddenly, he heard loud cries of a woman- 'Save me! Save
me!' It was followed by the cries of many women. Hearing those cries,
King Harishchandra shouted loudly- 'Don't be afraid' and dashed in the
direction of the cries. The cries however were an illusion created by
Vighnaraj, the lord of the obstacles. At that time when King
Harishchandra heard those cries, sage Vishwamitra was observing severe
penance in the forest. In order to test Harishchandra's virtuosity,
Vighnaraj entered his body. As soon as Vighnaraj entered Harishchandra's
body, Harishchandra lost his temper and began to abuse Vishwamitra,
which enraged him. His anger destroyed all the knowledge, he had
acquired due to his severe penance. Seeing the angry Vishwamitra, King
Harishchandra began to shiver. With folded hands, he begged
Vishwamitra's pardon. He said- 'O great sage! It is my duty to protect
the subjects. Kindly forgive me. Your wrath could greatly affect the
performance of my duties as a king. Vishwamitra said- 'O king! If you
are a true follower of religion, tell me, who should be given a
donation? Who should be protected and who should be fought with?'
Harishchandra answered- 'O great penancer! Donations should be made only
to such a Brahmin who indulges in fast and religious actions. Protection
should be extended to those who are afraid and battle should be fought
with enemies.'
Vishwamitra said-
'If you are a religious king, give me Dakshina (donation) as I am a
Brahmin seeking salvation.' Harishchandra said- 'Tell me your desire. I
am ready to grant it. Vishwamitra said- 'O king! Just presume that I
have received whatever you would donate me. Now, give me Dakshina for
the Rajsuya Yagya.'
Harishchandra said-
'Ask me whatever you wish to have as the Dakshina of Rajsuya Yagya.'
Vishwamitra said- 'O king! Give me all you have except your own body,
your wife and child.' Feeling pleased, King Harishchandra granted what
Vishwamitra desired. Vishwamitra said- 'O king! Tell me, who is the lord
of your kingdom?' Harishchandra said- 'Since the moment I have presented
this kingdom to you, you are its master.' Vishwamitra said- 'If I am the
master of this kingdom, what are you doing here? Leave at once! But
before leaving, remove all your clothes, ornaments and other royal
insignia and go out wearing tree's bark only.'
Thus after losing
his kingdom, King Harishchandra got ready to leave with his wife Shaivya
and son Rohit. Vishwamitra then intercepted him and said- 'Where are you
going without paying a Dakshina for Rajsuya Yagya. Harishchandra said-
'O lord! I have donated my whole kingdom. Now only our bodies remain
with us. What can I give you now?' Vishwamitra said- 'You cannot leave
without paying a Dakshina because you have promised me.' Harishchandra
said- 'Don't be angry, O Brahmin! I have nothing at present in my
position but I will definitely pay you your Dakshina in due time.'
Vishwamitra said angrily- 'Specify the time period within which you will
give me my Dakshina or else be ready to get cursed by me.' Harishchandra
said- 'I will pay the Dakshina within a month.' Thereafter,
Harishchandra started to live in seclusion with his wife and children.
Seeing the king's pitiable condition, his entire subjects began to
follow him. Seeing their condition, Harishchandra halted and took a look
on his subjects. At the same time, sage Vishwamitra also arrived there
and began to curse Harishchandra for having attachment towards his
subjects. Hearing the harsh words of Vishwamitra, Harishchandra left the
kingdom with his wife Shaivya and son Rohit. To drive the king away as
soon as possible, Vishwamitra began to beat the queen's back with a
stick.
Vishwamitra's abhorrent action
enraged the five guardian deities of the directions and they condemned
him. Enraged Vishwamitra cursed them- 'O sinners! Go and take birth as
human beings.' This curse of Vishwamitra frightened the deities. They
begged his pardon. Pleased by their prayers, Vishwamitra said- 'My words
cannot be undone. But despite having incarnation of human beings, you
will remain bachelors throughout your life. You will never feel
attachment and allurement for anybody.' Thus due to Vishwamitra's curse,
those five guardian deities took birth as the five sons of Draupadi.
Dronacharya's son, Ashwatthama, ultimately killed them.
After being thrown
out from his kingdom by Vishwamitra, Harishchandra reached the holy town
of Varanasi, which was an abode of Lord Mahadev. There Harishchandra saw
Vishwamitra standing before him. Vishwamitra said- 'A month has been
completed now. Now, give me my Dakshina.' Harishchandra said- 'There is
still half an hour in the completion of this month. Please wait. I will
give your Dakshina.' Vishwamitra said- 'I will come after half an hour.'
Saying this, Vishwamitra departed.
When Vishwamitra
left, Harishchandra started to worry as to what would happen to him in
his next birth if he did not keep his promise made to a Brahmin. Seeing
him perplexed, queen Shaivya tried to console him. She said- 'Man
requires a wife only to produce a child. Now we already have a child-
Rohit. Hence I am no longer useful for you. You sell me and pay the
acquired wealth as Dakshina to the Brahmin.' Harishchandra fainted after
hearing his wife's words. The queen began to wail at her husband's
condition. Thus wailing, the queen also fell unconscious. The little
Rohit also felt perplexed by his parent's condition. He began to cry- 'O
father! O mother! I am hungry. Give me food.' At the same time,
Vishwamitra arrived there in the guise of Kaal. After sprinkling water
on Harishchandra's face, he made him conscious and said- 'O king! Get up
and pay my Dakshina. Your sorrows will increase if you do not fulfil
your promise.'
Harishchandra was
regaining his consciousness slowly but seeing Vishwamitra he fainted
once again. This further enraged Vishwamitra. He said- 'O king! If you
have even slightest of respect for Dharma, give my Dakshina at once. I
will wait till evening and curse you if you fail to pay my Dakshina.'
Saying this Vishwamitra departed. The fear of the curse began to
terrorise Harishchandra. Meanwhile the queen also regained
consciousness. She once again insisted to sell her in order to pay the
Dakshina. This time, Harishchandra accepted her proposal and took the
queen to the township. There addressing the crowd, he said- 'O dear
citizens, kindly listen to me. I am selling my wife who is dearer to me
than my own life. Anybody interested in buying her, please do so before
evening.' An old Brahmin stepped forward from the crowd and said- 'I
will buy her.' Hearing his words, Harishchandra became extremely sad
that he could not even utter a word. The Brahmin then stuffed the money
in the bark clothes of Harishchandra and began to drag the queen by her
hair. The boy Rohit began to cry holding the hem of her mother. Seeing
the condition of her son, the queen requested the Brahmin- 'O Arya!
Kindly let me see the face of my child for once.' Then the queen turned
towards Rohit and said- 'O son! Your mother is no longer free now. She
has become a slave. Do not touch me because I have become an
untouchable.'
Then the old
Brahmin began to forcibly drag the queen with him. Rohit also followed
them crying loudly for his mother. The old Brahmin angrily kicked him.
But still the boy did not give up following them. At last, the queen
requested the Brahmin- 'O lord! I will not be able to serve you without
my son. So kindly buy him also.' Hearing the words of the queen, the
Brahmin once again stuffed some more money in the clothes of
Harishchandra and tied the boy with the queen and began to drag both of
them. Meanwhile Vishwamitra also appeared there and demanded the
Dakshina. Harishchandra gave him all the money he had got from selling
his wife and son. Seeing that amount of money, Vishwamitra boiled with
anger and said- 'O wretched among the Kshatriyas! You call this small
amount of money as Dakshina! Now look at the powers of my penance.'
Harishchandra trembled with fear and said- 'O lord! Please wait a little
more.' Vishwamitra said- 'Now only, a quarter of the day remains. I will
wait only for this period and not more.' Saying this, Vishwamitra went
away. With stooped face, Harishchandra once again said addressing the
crowd- 'Now I am available for sale. Whoever wishes to buy me, please
come forward before sunset.' Dharma in the guise of a Chandaal stepped
forward from the crowd. He had a huge stinking body. He said- 'I will
buy you.' Harishchandra asked- 'Who are you?' The Chandaal said- 'I am a
Chandaal. My name is Praveer and I am the resident of this very town.'
Harishchandra thought- 'It is better to accept the curse than accepting
the slavery of a Chandaal.' At the same time, Vishwamitra also arrived
there and said angrily- 'This Chandaal is ready to pay you a lot of
money. Why don't you then pay my Dakshina?' Harishchandra said- 'O lord!
I am born in Suryavansh. Accepting the slavery of a Chandaal causes
great pain for me. I have no money now. Since now onwards, I will be
your slave and do whatever you will ask me to do.' Vishwamitra said- 'If
you are my slave and ready to obey me, then I sell you to this Chandaal
for 1000 gold coins. Go and become his slave.' The Chandaal then
presented many villages that were spread over an area of 100 Yojans to
Vishwamitra and tying Harishchandra with a rope dragged him to his town.
In the Chandaal's
house, Harishchandra contemplated- 'The queen must be thinking that I
would soon get her freed from the slavery of the old Brahmin after
paying his dues. But she does not know that I myself have become the
slave of a Chandaal.' After a few days, the Chandaal appointed
Harishchandra as the supervisor of the cremation place and instructed
him to be there present all the time and to cremate each dead body only
after thorough investigation. He also instructed him to collect the toll
for cremating every dead body and divide it in such a way that one sixth
part of the toll goes to the king and from the remaining five parts,
three parts should be reserved for him he should take only the remaining
two parts as his remuneration. Since that day, Harishchandra began to
live in the cremation ground. He always remembered the glorious days of
his kingdom, his queen and his son. He had great regret that just
because of the anger of Vishwamitra, he lost everything. Very soon, his
new found occupation began to show on his appearance. His hair grew long
and was unkempt, his body dry and stinking. In this guise, he began to
roam in the cremation ground always carrying a stick in his hand. His
whole day passed in the assessment of the cremation toll and its
division among the various claimants. He had lost his mental stature as
he even forgot the count of the days and could not distinguish between
the day and night.
One day, a snake
bit Rohit as a result of which, he died. Shaivya brought Rohit, crying
and wailing to the cremation ground. Even in the unkempt guise, she
recognised Harishchandra. Hearing her wailing, Harishchandra went near
her expecting to get the clothes of the deceased. There he saw a woman
carrying a dead boy wrapped in a black cloth. He could not recognise
queen Shaivya but the royal appearance of the boy forced him to think-
'To which royal family did this unfortunate boy belong to? How pitiable,
the cruel Kaal did not even spare this boy. My son Rohit would have
attained the same age by now.' His silence further hurt the queen who
said- 'O lord! O king! How come, you have been living here without
caring for your wife and son? We have already lost our kingdom. Now, we
have lost our son also. O destiny! Did you not destroy everything of
Harishchandra?' Harishchandra began to think who that woman could be and
who that dead boy was? 'Isn't she my wife?' Thus recognising his wife
and dead son, Harishchandra began to cry loudly and fainted. The queen
after seeing her husband's condition fainted too. After sometime both of
them regained their consciousness. Then the king took the dead boy in
his lap and once again fainted. Queen Shaivya began to wonder why
Harishchandra was staying in the cremation ground. For a moment, she
forgot her sorrow and began to look at her fainted husband. Then she
noticed the stick in Harishchandra's hand. Usually Chandaals used to
carry that kind of stick. She became dejected with the thought that she
had become the wife of a Chandaal. She then began to curse the destiny
and began to wail embracing King Harishchandra and said- 'O king! I
don't know whether I am dreaming or it is a reality. I have lost the
power of thinking.'
Hearing the words
of the queen, the king opened his eyes and narrated the whole events
that led to his becoming a Chandaal. Then the queen narrated her
experiences and how their son Rohit died because of snakebite.
Harishchandra fell on the ground and began to hug his dead son. He was
wailing- 'How unfortunate I am that even my wishes are not under my
control. Without the permission of the Chandaal, I cannot even commit
self-immolation. But now, I will not differentiate between the sin and
virtuosity. I will destroy my body in the pyre of my son.' The queen
said- 'O king! I am also unable to bear the burden of sorrows. I will
also commit immolation with you. Then all three of us will stay unitedly
in the heaven. It won't matter to us even if we suffer the tortures of
hell.' Then the king arranged a huge pyre and put his dead son on it.
With the queen, he began to pray to God. Just then all the deities
arrived there led by Dharma. Sage Vishwamitra also accompanied them.
They praised Harishchandra. Then Dharma, Indra and Vishwamitra came
closer to the king.
Dharma said- 'O
king! You have satisfied me with your merits like patience, endurance,
truthfulness etc.' Indra said- 'Harishchandra, you are very fortunate.
You have won our hearts along with your wife and son. You have even won
the heaven with your action. I invite you to stay in heaven along with
your wife and son.' Then Indra sprinkled ambrosia on the dead Rohit.
Rohit got up and sat up in no time. Harishchandra, his wife and son
Rohit were clad in divine clothes and garlands. Indra invited them to
stay in the heaven forever but Harishchandra said- 'O king of the
deities! Without the permission of this Chandaal, I cannot go anywhere.
' Dharma said- 'O
king! I had learnt in advance about the miseries you would suffer in
future. That's why I took the guise of a Chandaal and showed you all the
grotesque action.' Indra once again invited them to heaven but once
again, Harishchandra refused saying that in Koshal, people must have
been living mournfully in his absence. 'I cannot leave them in that
pitiable condition to enjoy the comforts of the heaven', said
Harishchandra. Then, Indra, Dharma and Vishwamitra led Harishchandra to
Ayodhya, the capital of Koshal. There they carried out the coronation of
Rohit. Thereafter, they took Harishchandra and his queen Shaivya to the
heaven.
The birds say- O
great sage Jaimini! When, King Harishchandra attained his heavenly
abode, their family priest, sage Vashishta re-emerged from water. He
came to know about the entire development. He was angry at Vishwamitra's
stubbornness. He at once cursed Vishwamitra to become a stork.
On the other hand
Vishwamitra cursed Vashishta to become a partridge. Thus both of them
turned into birds and began to fight. Their fight caused great panic all
around. At last accompanied by the deities, Brahma himself arrived at
the scene and dissuaded the birds from fighting. But Brahma could not
convince them and they continued to fight.
Brahma then
destroyed their avian appearances and both the sages regained their
original form. Their enemity too ended at the same time. Brahma
explained to them that Vishwamitra had not done any harm to
Harishchandra. In fact he had felicitated Harishchandra's ascend to the
heaven. Both the sages felt ashamed and they embraced each other before
leaving for their respective hermitages.
Jaimini says- O
great birds, how does a living being take birth? How does it grow in the
womb bearing all the pain? How does it grow after taking birth? What
happens to the soul after death? How does it experience the fruits of
his Karmas? The greatest surprise is how does a little foetus survive in
the womb. Kindly clear all these doubts.
Birds say- Once
upon a time, a Brahmin lived along with his son- Sumati. One day, the
Brahmin instructed Sumati to study Vedas under the tutelage of a teacher
and himself went to the forest to attain Brahmagyan- the knowledge which
frees the soul from transmigration. But due to his laziness, Sumati did
not pay heed to his father. When his father repeated his instruction, he
simply laughed and said- 'O father! I know everything. I have studied
all the Vedas in my various births. I have experienced the darkness of
mother's belly for many times. I have suffered thousand kinds of
diseases in my previous lives. I have experienced the authority as well
as slavery in my previous births. I had killed as well as got killed by
others. Hence, I feel, I have all the knowledge and I am sure that I
will definitely attain Brahmapad.' Sumati's father was pleased at his
son's claims and asked him how he attained such virtuosity.
Sumati said- 'O
father! I was a Brahmin in my previous birth. I had attained the
designation of Acharya. After sometime, I became a recluse. I was
blessed with an extraordinary memory, which I retained even after my
death. This is the reason why I remember the self knowledge attained in
my previous birth. With the support of this knowledge and religious
virtues, I will attempt to attain salvation. Tell me what you expect
from me. I will try to fulfil your expectations.' The Brahmin then asked
many questions related to life and death. Sumati explained those queries
thus:
Those who never
tell a lie, who have faith and devotion, only such people die
peacefully. Whoever's mind is free from the evils like Kama, Krodh,
Moha, Dwesh etc. (lust, anger, affection, jealousy etc.) and who are
altruistic in nature and make donations liberally die in peace. Those
who lack these virtues suffer great pain at the time of death. As soon
as such people sight Yamadoot they begin to cry and call their
relatives. But their relatives do not understand their calls. Then the
dying person turns away his eyes and grasps for breath. He feels great
pain when his soul leaves his body. Even after death, sufferings of such
people do not end. They have to undergo scores of tortures in hell.
Those who donate umbrella, shoes, clothes and cereals attain heaven. The
sinners on the other hand pass through different hells and take birth as
inferior creature in their next lives. After continuous transmigration
through lower life forms, these sinners once again take birth as human
beings but are imperfect. They remain dwarf, hunched or have any other
deformity. Then they pass through all the four castes- Shudra, Vaishya,
Kshatriya and Brahmin classes. As their action improves, they might even
attain the position of Indra.'
This chapter
contains 4 sections.
The Brahmin says- O
son! Describe in detail about hell.
Sumati says- O
father! Yamadoots carry and lynch those people who eat inedible things,
who deceive and dishonour their friends, who indulge in illicit
relationships, who desert their wife, and who destroy public properties
like garden, water sources etc. Yamadoots tie hands and legs of such
people and throw them into the fire. On their way to hell, such people
are bitten by crows, storks, wolves, vultures etc. They stay in the
inferno for thousand years.
Then they are
shifted to another hell named Tama, which is always shrouded in
darkness. Sinners who kill the cows and their brothers are thrown into
this hell. They panic due to darkness and extreme cold. They get nothing
to eat and drink. Moreover, chilling winds aggravates their miseries by
making their bones stiff. These sinners then drink their own blood and
eat their own flesh. They stay there until all their sins have been
attenuated completely.
Then they are
thrown into yet another hell named Nikrintan, which revolves like the
wheel of a potter. Hoisting the sinners on the wheel, Yamadoots cut
their organs but still their sufferings do not end because the cut
organs rejoin and get cut repeatedly. This continues for thousand of
years. Then the sinners are put in Aprathisth hell where they experience
unbearable sorrow and miseries. The sinners are then put in Chakrasankar
hell where they are tormented with wheels and huge bells. They are
disembowelled and their eyes are also pricked. The sinners have to pass
through different hells namely Asipatra, Taptakumbha and Lohakumbha.
Sumati says- I was
born in a Vaishya family, seven births before this present one. In that
birth, I once prevented cows from drinking water. As a result of this
sin, I was thrown in the hell named Daarun where I spent one hundred
years without a drop of water.
Suddenly one day,
cool pleasant wind began to blow, its cool touch gave some relief to me.
I saw that a Yamadoot was guiding a gentle looking man. Besides me, all
the inmates of the hell felt extreme joy by the sight of that gentleman.
The gentleman was asking that Yamadoot as to why he was being taken to
the hell. From the words of that gentleman, it appeared that he was a
renowned scholar. That man was in fact the ruler of a kingdom named
Videha and was popular as the fosterer of his subjects.
Thus asked by the
gentleman, Yamadoots replied politely- 'O king! You once deliberately
prevented your wife Pivari from conceiving because you were more
attracted to your second wife- Sushobhana. It is because of that action
that you have been brought here to undergo severe torture.' The
religious minded king said- ' I am willing to go where ever you want to
take me, but before doing that I would like to have answers to my
questions. I see many people undergoing severe tortures in this hell.
Big and frightening crows prick their eyes. Tell me, for what sin they
are facing such tortures.'
Yamadoot said- 'O
king! Humans suffer or enjoy according to their Karmas. The effect of
their Karmas diminishes in proportion to their sufferings. These crows
are pricking the eyes of such people who had seduced other women and
deceitfully acquired others' wealth. These people will suffer for the
same number of years as their eyes blinked during the leering. These
crows prick the tongues of those people who had criticised Vedas,
deities, Brahmins and teachers. Those who caused differences between
friends, husband-wives, father and sons and relatives, or killed the
performer of the Yagyas are suffering under the saw. Those who insulted
their parents and teachers have been thrown in the pit of pus, faeces
and other excretions with their head down. Those who had food before
offering it to the deities, guests, servants, father and elders, fire
and birds, stay in a pit of pus.
Iron nails are
hammered into the ears of those people who gleefully heard the criticism
of creatures, deities, Brahmins and Vedas. Those who remarried their
daughters to another person despite her former husband being alive are
cut into pieces and thrown into saline river. Those who betrayed their
friends are tied tightly with a rope. Worms, scorpion, crows and owls
then bite their bodies. Those who enjoyed carnal intimacy during daytime
or had illicit relations with women are hammered with nails to a prickly
Bombax tree. Those who insulted Vedas and fire are thrown from the lofty
peaks of mountain. O king! Those who steal gold, those who kill Brahmin,
those who drink wine and those who rape the wife of their teacher are
burnt in fire.'
Yamadoot says- As a
result of accepting money from a degraded person, a Brahmin takes birth
as an ass. A Brahmin who carries out Yagya for a degraded person takes
birth as worm after undergoing severe sufferings in different types of
hell. A person takes birth as an ass or an inferior bird as a result of
abusing his parents. A person who does not worship his tutelary god
before eating takes birth as a monkey. Traitors take birth as fish.
Those who steal cereals take birth as mice.
A Shudra, who
manages to establish intimacy with a Brahmin woman, takes birth as a
worm. Similarly, killers of woman and children also take birth as worms.
Ungrateful people take birth as worm, insects, grasshoppers, scorpion,
crows etc. Encroacher of land takes birth as grass shrubs, creepers and
inferior trees. Butchers who kill bulls take birth as eunuchs. Thus a
person has to face the result of his Karma according to the gravity of
his sins.
Sumati says- As
Yamadoot began to push the king ahead, all the creatures in hell gave a
loud cry- 'O king! Please stay here for few more moments. The wind that
blows towards us after touching your body gives us immense joy. This
wind has ended our sufferings and pains. Have pity on us.' The king
asked the Yamadoot- 'Why are these people so joyous by my presence?
Yamadoot said- 'O king! Initially, you used to sustain your body by the
leftovers of the deities, ancestors, guests and ascetics. This is the
reason why the wind that blows touching your body causing such pleasure
to these people.
' The king said-
'If I can eliminate the sufferings of these sinners merely by standing
here, I will definitely stay here.' Yamadoot said- 'No, you cannot stay
here. It is a place for the sinners only. Come with us. You will have to
enjoy the pleasure of your pious action.' The king said- 'No, I will not
go anywhere leaving these poor people in this pitiable condition.'
Yamadoot said- 'O king! Look, Dharma and Indra have themselves arrived
to escort you to the heaven.
' Dharma said- 'O
king! You have worshipped me. Hence follow me to the heaven.' The king
replied- 'No, I will not go anywhere leaving these thousands of people
in the hell.' Indra said- 'Everyone has to taste the fruits of his
Karmas. You cannot help them.' The king said- 'O Indra! Tell me, how
virtuous was I in my previous life?' Dharma said- ' Though your pious
actions are fathomless, be sure that their significance are not much
than drops of water in an ocean, the stars in the sky. The kindness you
have shown towards these sinners has further enhanced your virtuosity.'
The king said- 'If it is so, may all these people be released from their
sufferings by the virtue of my good Karmas.' Indra said- 'O king! By
your words, your pious action has increased like the height of the
mountain and these sinners have also been released from their
sufferings.'
This chapter
contains 9 sections.
Brahmin says- O
son! Tell me, what should I do now?
Sumati says- Now,
you should become a Vanprasthi and lead a life of a Bhikshu by having
control over your senses. You will attain that rare Yoga, which helps a
man to unite with the almighty after freeing him from the cycles of
birth, death and re-birth.
Brahmin says- O
son! Now explain to me about this Yoga, which bestows liberation to a
man.
Sumati says- I am
now describing to you, the same text related with Yoga that was once
narrated by Dattatreya to Alark.
The Brahmin asked
Sumati- Who was Dattatreya's father? How did he acquire the knowledge of
Yoga? Who was Alark?
Sumati says- In
ancient Pratisthanpur (modern Paithan) there lived a Brahmin. He was
inflicted by leprosy because of the sins he had committed in his
previous birth. The Brahmin was very short-tempered and used to scoff at
his wife frequently. But his wife was very chaste in character and
worshipped him like a deity. One day, the Brahmin ordered his wife to
carry him to the prostitute's house, as he had become too weak and
feeble. Being chaste, the wife collected some money and began to carry
the Brahmin on her shoulders to the home of the prostitute. On their
way, they reached a place where sage Maandavya was hanged but still was
alive. In the darkness, the woman could not see the things clearly and
the Brahmin who was riding her shoulders happened to touch the sage. The
sage cursed angrily that whoever had touched him would die before
sunrise. Hearing the words of the sage, the Brahmin's wife thundered
that there would be no sunrise tomorrow.
Words of the woman
came to be true as next morning, the Sun did not rise. Thus the whole
world was shrouded in darkness as a result of which, the deities became
worried. The deities apprehended that without the occurrence of sunrise,
the whole universe might be destroyed. They were also worried that
without the differentiation of day and night, how could the months be
calculated and the seasons known. Even the calculation of year would be
impossible. The chastity of Brahmins wife had forced even the mighty sun
to eschew its daily routine. As a result of this, religious activities
like Havan, Yagya etc. also came to a halt. Seeing them perplexed,
Brahma advised the deities to eulogise Ansuya, the wife of sage Atri.
All the deities then pleased Ansuya who assured them to convince the
wife of the Brahmin to retract her words. After that, Ansuya reached the
Brahmin's hut and said to his wife- 'O fortunate one! May you always
serve your husband with full dedication. A chaste woman enjoys half the
virtues of her husband, which he earns by his religious activities.'
Brahmini said- 'I
am blessed today that the deities have at last glanced at me. Now, tell
me, what should I do?' Ansuya said- 'O Saadhvi! In the absence of the
day, all the religious activities have ceased to exist. The world is on
the verge of extinction. Only your wish can protect the world from
imminent calamity. Hence, be pleased now and allow the Sun to rise as
usual.' Brahmini said- 'O fortunate one! Sage Maandavya had cursed that
my husband would die with sunrise. I cannot afford to lose my husband.'
Ansuya said- 'Don't worry, O chaste woman! I will resurrect your
husband. So, kindly allow the Sun to rise now.'
Then, Ansuya
invoked the Sun by offering water as an oblation. However, the
leper-inflicted Brahmin died as soon as the Sun rose. Then by the powers
of her penance, Ansuya resurrected the Brahmin and transformed him into
a disease-free handsome young man. She also blessed the couple to live
for hundred years. The deities were pleased with Ansuya and asked her to
seek a boon. Ansuya expressed her desire to give birth to the trinity of
Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh as her sons. The trinity blessed her with this
boon. In due course of time, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh took birth as
Chandrama, Dattatreya and Durvaasa from Ansuya.
Sumati says- O
father! After the demise of Kaartaveerya, his ministers and priests
decided to crown his son Arjun as their new king. But Arjun refused
saying that he would not become the king unless and until he had
attained the status of a Yogi. Sage Garg then advised Arjun to worship
Dattatreya who had helped the deities to reunite after the defeat of the
demons.
Afterwards, Arjun
migrated to Dattatreya's hermitage and began to worship and serve him.
Pleased by his penance and service, Dattatreya asked Arjun to seek a
boon. Arjun said- 'O lord! Kindly bless me with such a power, which
enables me to perform my duties as a king in a just manner. May nobody
match me in war and may I have one thousand arms. I wish to get killed
only by such a person who is more virtuous than me and may I guide the
people towards the right path. May nobody in my kingdom remain poor and
may my devotion for your lotus feet be eternal.' Dattatreya said- 'O
son! All of your wishes shall come true. With my blessings, you shall
rule over all the four directions.' Then, Dattatreya crowned Arjun as
the king. Large number of people witnessed his crowning ceremony. Soon
after becoming the king, Kaar taveerya Arjun ordered that nobody in his
kingdom should wield a weapon except him.
Sumati says- O
father! Now listen to the tale of a Brahmin named Alark. Long ago, there
lived a king named Shatrujit who had a meritorious son, Ritudhwaj.
Prince Ritudhwaj had many friends with whom he used to play with. In
course of time, two sons of Ashwatar, the king of Nagas became his
friends in the guise of Brahmin boys. Both of them were young and
good-looking. Both of them used to pass the entire day in the company of
Ritudhwaj. They would return to their abode in Paatal loka only at
night. On being enquired by their father, they revealed the reason about
their late arrival at home. They said- 'O father! Up there on the land,
there is a prince named Ritudhwaj. He is the son of King Shatrujit. He
is very handsome, gentle, brave, truthful, knowledgeous and meritorious.
We enjoy his company.' Ashwatar said- 'Prince Ritudhwaj is really
blessed for even the meritorious people like you praise him. But have
you done anything to make him happy?' His sons asked- 'What can we do
for his pleasure? We find ourselves incapable of pleasing such a person
whose riches are even rare for Paatal loka.' Ashwatar said- 'Even then,
I wish to hear about the characteristics of your new friend.'
The sons said- O
father! Once the prince narrated us a tale, we are going to relate it
now. A Brahmin named Gaalav lived in King Shatrujit's kingdom. One day,
he arrived in the court of the king riding on a horse and said- 'O king!
For the past many months, a wretched demon has been tormenting me and
causing severe disturbances in my daily rituals. He is capable of taking
any guise at will. Disguising as an elephant, lion, tiger, wolf and many
other wild animals, he terrorises me. It has become very difficult for
me to do my meditation. One day in my frustration, I let out a deep
sigh. As soon as I did so, this divine horse descended from the sky. I
heard a heavenly voice, which said- 'O Brahmin! This horse is capable of
circumambulating the entire earth without getting tired. It can climb
lofty mountains effortlessly and can also run in all the three worlds
with the same speed. Hence, this horse shall be renowned as Kuvalaya.
Riding it, the son of King Shatrujit will kill the demon that torments
you day and night. 'O king! That is the reason that I have arrived in
your court with this horse. Kindly accept it and instruct your son to
ride it and kill the demon.' King Shatrujit saw his son Ritudhwaj off
with the Brahmin riding that divine horse.
Prince Ritudhwaj
stayed in the hermitage of sage Gaalav and helped him to perform his
Yagyas without any problem by clearing all the minor obstacles. The
demons were not aware of his arrival in the hermitage. One day, a demon
arrived in the hermitage disguised as a wild boar and began to rub his
bushy head against the body of sage Gaalav. Seeing this, his disciples
began to scream. Prince Ritudhwaj at once rode the horse and wielding a
weapon dashed after the boar. The prince injured the boar with an arrow,
which was sickle-shaped. The demons fled from the scene. Prince
Ritudhwaj followed the boar everywhere it went on the mountains, in the
forests and on the riverbank. He was determined to slay the demon that
had been disturbing the sage for long. Ultimately, the boar jumped into
a pit. Ritudhwaj also followed it but could not see the boar anywhere in
the pit. Instead he saw a beautiful town which could have matched even
the abode of Indra. He entered the town where he saw an extremely pretty
girl who was walking briskly. Ritudhwaj tried to know about her
destination but she ignored him and climbed the stairs of a palace.
Ritudhwaj also followed her and in the palace, he saw a beautiful girl
sitting on a bedstead. As soon as the girl saw him, she fainted. Her
beauty attracted even Ritudhwaj. He assured her that there was nothing
to be afraid about. Then the same girl whom Ritudhwaj had sighted
earlier came there and began to fan the fainted lady. The prince
enquired about the reason of her unconsciousness. But the girl did not
say anything. Instead she whispered something in the ears of her friend
who then said- 'O stranger! This is the daughter of Vishwavasu, the king
of Gandharvas. Her name is Madalasa. One day, while she was playing in
her garden, a demon Paatalketu abducted her. Since then she stays here
in his captivity. On the coming thirteenth day of this month that demon
will marry her. But he doesn't deserve to be her husband. Yesterday, she
was ready to commit suicide but the cow Surabhi, assured her that a man
from the earth would come and kill the demon. Only he would be suitable
for my friend. I am her friend. My name is Kundala. I am the daughter of
Vindhyavan and wife of Pushkarmali. My husband had been killed by the
demon Shumbh. Since then I have been touring various places of
pilgrimage in order to receive salvation. That wretched Paatalketu had
taken the guise of a boar but a brave man has injured him with his
arrow. I have arrived here only to investigate who is that man. Do not
worry about my friend's unconsciousness. She has fainted because of your
infatuating handsomeness. She has begun to love you but her problem is
that only that man can marry her who has injured the boar. This thought
has caused her to lose her consciousness. Now reveal your identity.'
Ritudhwaj said- 'I
am the son of King Shatrujit. I have been staying in the hermitage of
sage Gaalav to protect the sages. Just a few days back, a boar arrived
in the hermitage and began to torment the sages. I have injured that
boar with my arrow. Now I have arrived here following that boar and
happened to see you.'
Hearing the words
of Ritudhwaj, Madalasa felt shy as well as extreme joy. Kundala then
said to her friend- 'The prince speaks the truth. Words of Surabhi
cannot go wrong.' She then said to Ritudhwaj- 'O brave man! Doubtlessly
you have killed the demon, Paatalketu. My friend Madalasa is blessed
now. Now its your duty to marry my friend and take her home as your
bride.' Ritudhwaj said- 'How can I marry your friend without the
permission of my father. I am still not fully independent.' Kundala
said- 'Please do not say this. My friend is a divine beauty. Marry her
right now.' Prince Ritudhwaj then agreed to marry Madalasa then and
there. Madalasa happily remembered their family priest Tumbaru who
arrived there instantaneously. In the presence of sacred fire, Tumbaru
carried out the rituals of marriage and tied them in nuptial knot.
Thereafter blessing the newly wed couple, Tumbaru and Kundala took to
their respective paths.
On the other hand,
when Ritudhwaj and Madalasa started off riding the horse, Kuvalaya,
demons' army surrounded them. A fierce battle followed. In no time,
prince Ritudhwaj slayed the entire army and reached his kingdom. There
he narrated the whole incident to his father Shatrujit. King Shatrujit
felt very much pleased by the prowess of his son and blessed them
heartily. Thereafter, Ritudhwaj came to his palace with his wife
Madalasa. They then began to live happily.
The newly-wed
couple had hardly spent few months together when King Shatrujit once
again instructed Ritudhwaj to travel across the entire earth and see
whether the Brahmins were performing their religious duties without any
obstacles. Ritudhwaj obeyed the dictates of his father. He used to scale
vast distances for the whole day and returned to his wife only at night.
One day he noticed that a sage was staying at the bank of river Yamuna.
He was in fact Taalketu, the younger brother of Paatalketu. But the
prince could not recognise him. That sage approached Ritudhwaj and
requested him to extend his protection over his hermitage, as he was
about to start Yagyas. He also begged for the precious necklace of the
prince on the pretext that he had nothing to pay as Dakshina. The
gullible prince gave his necklace to the sage. Then instructing the
prince to guard the hermitage and promising to return soon, the sage
left.
In fact, the sage
who was actually a demon arrived in the court of King Shatrujit.
Madalasa was also present in the court. He said- 'Prince Ritudhwaj
sacrificed his life fighting with the demon while protecting my
hermitage. Before his death, he gave me his necklace. His horse has been
captured by the demon. I have brought this necklace to you to inform you
about that sad incident.' After giving the necklace to Madalasa, the
demon returned to the hermitage.
Hearing the news of
her husband's death, Madalasa also gave up her life. Mourning soon
enveloped the entire palace. Seeing the death of his daughter-in-law,
Madalasa, King Shatrujit was in a dilemma as for whose death should he
mourn. A little contemplation led him to the conclusion that it would be
futile to mourn his son- Ritudhwaj's death because he had died for a
noble cause. But his daughter-in-law had followed the steps of her
husband, so her death should be mourned for. The queen also supported
the king. Thereafter the king performed the last rites of both of them.
When Taalketu
returned to his hermitage, he found Ritudhwaj still standing alert. In a
sweet tone, Taalketu said- 'I am obliged by you, O prince! Staying here
with unwavering mind, you have executed my desired task. I have met my
objective, so you may go now.' Prince Ritudhwaj then returned to his
palace riding his horse.
When prince
Ritudhwaj reached the capital, everyone expressed his pleasure with
surprise. Ritudhwaj met everyone happily and went to the palace of his
parents. Though the king and the queen blessed him but sad expression on
their face surprised the prince. Upon enquiry, the king related the
entire incident and also how his wife Madalasa had died. The news of
Madalsa's death shocked Ritudhwaj. Then consoled by his parents and
friends, prince Ritudhwaj carried out the necessary consecrations to
pacify the soul of his dead wife. He had decided never to marry again.
The sons of the
Naag said- 'O father! Now prince Ritudhwaj lives like an ascetic. He
never casts his eyes on women and only indulges in playing with people
of his age. Hence all we can do for him is to keep him happy.'
Hearing the entire
tale, Naagraj fell in deep thought. After sometime he said to his sons
with a laughter- 'O sons! Now I will do such a thing that will bring
back the smile of Ritudhwaj.' Saying this, Naagraj Ashwatar reached
Plakshaavataran, a place of pilgrimage at the foothills of Himalayas
along with his brother Kambal. There they began to do severe penance to
please Goddess Saraswati. At last, Saraswati appeared before them and
asked them to seek a boon. Ashwatar requested her to bless both of them
with a sweet and melodious voice. After granting them this boon, Goddess
Saraswati disappeared. By her blessings, Ashwatar and his brother,
Kambal became famous singers. Then they began worshipping Lord Shiva
singing sweet and melodious hymns. Pleased by their prayers, Lord
Shankar also asked them to seek a boon. At that Ashwatar said- 'O lord!
I wish that Ritudhwaj's wife Madalasa takes birth as my daughter.' Lord
Shankar said- 'With my blessings, your wish shall come true. During the
Shraadh period, you yourself take the middle portion of the Pind (food
offered to dead ancestors) and contemplating on me, offer oblations to
your ancestors. Madalasa will emerge from your 'middle-hood'.
Bowing before Lord
Shiva thereafter, both the brothers returned to their kingdom in Paatal
loka. Ashwatar organised a Shraadh in the same way as told by the Lord
and consumed the middle portion of the food offered to the ancestors.
Then contemplating on the desired object, he let out a deep sigh.
Instantaneously, Madalasa emerged from his 'middle-hood'. Ashwatar did
not reveal this fact to anybody and made adequate arrangements so that
she could live in secrecy.
Thereafter one day,
he instructed his sons to bring their friend Ritudhwaj to the palace.
Both the sons once again joined the company of Ritudhwaj. One day while
playing, they insisted him to visit their palace. The prince gladly
accompanied them. In Paatal loka, he was amazed to see his Brahmin
friends getting transformed into serpents. They took Ritudhwaj through
the streets and lanes of their kingdom. Ultimately they reached the
palace of Ashwatar. Introducing Ritudhwaj, the serpent princes said- 'O
father! This is our brave friend, Ritudhwaj.' Ritudhwaj greeted Ashwatar
respectfully and received his blessings. Ashwatar said to him- 'Long
live O prince! My sons always sing praise of your divine virtues. I
request you to stay with us for a few months and enjoy the pleasures of
Paatal loka.'
Ritudhwaj stayed in
the palace of Ashwatar. Naagraj did his best to keep Ritudhwaj happy and
forget the sorrow of his wife's separation. During his stay, Ashwatar
tried many times to coax Ritudhwaj into revealing his heartiest desire.
But every time Ritudhwaj intelligently avoided the topic. Once, King
Ashwatar, in Ritudhwaj's presence, asked his sons what should be done to
please him. They informed the king that nothing less than Madalasa would
please the prince most and that the prince was eager to see his deceased
wife once more.
Prince Ritudhwaj
also said shyly that he would be greatly obliged if Naagraj could help
him to have a sight of his deceased wife. Ashwatar said- 'O son! If you
wish to see the illusion, come on, have a sight of your deceased wife.'
Saying this, Naagraj called Madalasa who was staying secretly in his
palace and asked Ritudhwaj- 'Take a good look, O son, if she is your
wife.' Seeing his wife before him, the prince fainted. When he regained
his consciousness, he stepped forward to touch her but Ashwatar stopped
him cautioning that she was not real but illusionary and would vanish as
soon as he touched her.
Hearing this,
Ritudhwaj once again lost his consciousness. When he regained his
consciousness, he uttered nothing but 'She's mine! She's mine!' Seeing
the pitiable condition of the prince, Naagraj revealed the whole story
of Madalsa's resurrection. Ritudhwaj became extremely joyous after
re-uniting with his wife. Then he contemplated on his divine horse as a
result of which, it appeared within a moment. Riding the horse, prince
Ritudhwaj returned to his kingdom with his wife Madalasa.
After returning to
his father's kingdom, Ritudhwaj narrated the whole incident to his
parents of how he regained Madalasa. Then they began to live happily.
After many years, King Shatrujit crowned Ritudhwaj as the king. After
King Ritudhwaj's accession to the throne, Madalasa gave birth to her
first son. Ritudhwaj named the child as Vikrant. After sometime,
Madalasa gave birth to her second son whom Ritudhwaj named as Subahu.
Subsequently, their third son was born and named Shatrumardan. After the
naming ceremony of the third son, Madalasa could not help laughing, as
she was very amused by such a name given to her son. The metaphysical
knowledge, which Madalasa gave to her three sons, had helped them to
become ascetics. When their fourth son was born, the king sought her
approval on the name being given to him. This made the queen laugh. The
king asked her to name the child. Madalasa named this child as Alark.
Hearing the name,
the king ridiculed its relevance. Madalasa said that the names have
significance only for worldly matters. She also reminded the king about
the futility of the names given to their previous children. As Madalasa
began to preach her fourth son about the metaphysics, the king stopped
her by saying that she had already preached all the three sons on the
path of renunciation. He requested her to spare the fourth child so that
he could grow up and become the king one-day. Madalasa then blessed her
son- 'You are blessed my son because you will rule the earth without
obstacles. Now cultivate in your heart the desire to do well to others.
Never caste your eyes on women other than your wife. Always contemplate
on Murari to destroy the evil thoughts in your heart.'
Madalasa used to
preach the little prince while played. When Alark attained boyhood, he
asked- 'O mother! What should I do in order to mastery over physical and
metaphysical matters? How can I serve my subjects in the best possible
way?'
Madalasa said-
'Looking after the welfare of the subjects religiously is the supreme
duty of a king. He should always be alert against the activities of his
enemies. With the help of spies, the king should keep a watch on the
activities of his minister so that he could not make friends with the
enemies. It is unwise for the king to trust everybody but under certain
circumstances, he may trust even his enemies. A king must control his
lust but at the same time, he should make efforts to increase the
boundaries of his kingdom. Surrendering to sensual comfort is like death
for a king. A king should appear as all pervasive and omnipresent.
Fostering the subjects with total righteousness enhances the wisdom of
the king.'
This chapter
contains 2 sections.
Alark says- 'Tell
me about the duties of the different classes and stages of life.'
Madalasa says-
'Donation, study and Yagya, these three are the religion of a Brahmin.
Performing Yagya for others, teaching and accepting donation are the
three vocations of Brahmin. Donation, study and Yagya are also the
religious duties of Kshatriyas. Protection of land and using weapons are
vocation for Kshatriyas. Religious duties of a Vaishya are also same
like that of the Brahmins such as donation, study and Yagya. For a
living, Vaishya may take up animal rearing, agriculture and trade as
profession. Serving all these three above mentioned castes as well as
making donations and performing Yagya are the religious duties of a
Shudra. Tilling the earth, serving Brahmins, feeding animals, selling
and purchasing items are professions of a Shudra. A person belonging to
Dwij class may relatively enjoy freedom until his sacred thread ceremony
has not been performed. After the sacred thread ceremony, he should come
to stay at the home of his teacher and observe celibacy strictly while
studying scriptures. There he is expected to serve the Guru sincerely.
At the completion of education, he should pay Dakshina to his Guru. He
may get married and start the second stage of his life that is
Grihasthashram. He should then subsequently opt for Vanprastha and
Sanyaas respectively.
After the
completion of education and paying all the dues, the disciple is ready
to start second stage of his life that is Grihasthashram. For this he
should first find a suitable girl from his caste and get married.
Grihasthashram is considered as the best stage of life. It is in itself
a complete Yagya. As a householder, he is expected to foster those who
are dependent on him. During this stage of his life, he should earn his
livelihood by occupations ascribed for his caste. He should please the
deities by performing Yagyas, his ancestors by making oblations,
Prajapatis by producing children, spectres by offering sacrifices of
cereals and society by showering love. Even the ascetic and celibates
depend on married people for their daily bread. Hence married life or
Grihasthashram is stated to be superior among all the Ashrams.
A Grihastha must
welcome and treat even his unexpected guests with great warmth. A
householder who fails to satisfy his guest never succeeds in religious
matters. The Yagyas that are offered in such households go futile. Hence
it is not proper for the householder to show ego and abuse a guest
otherwise he will have to expiate for it later.
When the children
of the householder grow up and his body becomes senile, he should go to
the forest after relinquishing the world. There, he should pass his time
by indulging himself in austerities and religious activities. This stage
is known as Vanprasthashram and is most necessary for the sanctification
of his soul. This stage is followed by Sanyaasashram- the stage, which
requires complete renunciation, celibacy, control of senses and anger
etc. The virtues like truthfulness, sanctity, non-violence, tolerance,
forgiveness, kindness, generosity and contentment are the religious
merits applicable to all the Ashrams equally. Those who abide by their
religion stay in the abode of Brahmaji till the reign of fourteen
Indras. The king punishes those who violate this religious code. If the
king doesn't punish them, he is himself destroyed. Hence a king must
first of all abide by the duties as prescribed for different Ashrams in
his life and only then he has the right to punish those people who
violate these dictates. '
Alark says- What
are the duties of a married man by discharging which he becomes free
from all kinds of bondage and attains salvation. Kindly tell me about
these things.
Madalasa says- O
son! Those people who discharge their duties as a householder by
fostering all the living beings attain to the heaven automatically. All
the living creatures of the world including the deities and the dead
ancestors are dependent on their nurturing on the householder. They
always look at the face of the married man for their living. In fact,
Grihasthashram can be compared to a cow that fosters others with her
milk. All the four Vedas are present in this 'cow' that is
Grihasthashram. Entire universe is reflected in this Ashram.
Daily after the
bath in the morning, a Grihastha must perform oblations to the deities,
to the sages, Prajapati and ancestors by offering water to them. Then he
should perform a Yagya and offer cereals in the sacrificial fire. There
are certain places in the house, which are reserved for specific deities
and where offerings are made to them. Sacrifice to Brahmaji should be
offered in the central part of the home, to Vishwadeva in the eastern
side of the home, to Dhanvantari in the northern side, to Indra again in
the eastern side, to Yama in the southern side, to Varun in the western
side and to Soma in the northern side of the home. At the threshold of
the house, sacrifice should be offered to Dhaata and Vidhaata. One must
sit facing the south while offering sacrifice to his dead ancestors. For
the dogs and birds, sacrifices should be given on the ground in the
morning and evening. At the arrival of a guest, a Grihastha must worship
him by offering water, cereals, flowers etc. as per his financial
condition. If possible, a Grihastha should feed one or more Brahmins in
order to pacify his ancestors. He should give alms to a beggar and a
celibate. Without giving alms, a Grihastha must not proceed to dine. He
should also feed starving and diseased people first. Such kind of living
definitely benefits a Grihastha.
This chapter
contains 4 sections.
Madalasa says- O
son! A Grihastha has three kinds of duties- regular, causal and a
combination of both. Rituals, which are connected with oblations and
carried out daily, are called regular duties. Rituals and consecrations
performed at the birth of a child are called causal duties. Yearly
performance of Shraadh for the dead ancestors is a combination of
regular and causal duties. Now listen about the causal duties.
At the time of a
child's birth, different kinds of rituals and consecrations are carried
out in the household. During the time of marriage ceremony also, many
more rituals are carried out. At the time of marriage however,
performance of the Shraadh named Naandimukh is a must. During the
Shraadh, the host should sit facing the north or the east and offer a
loaf made of barley flour and yoghurt. Then he should circumambulate
around two Brahmins and worship them.
Rituals and Shraadh
carried out in the household after the occurrence of any death in the
household comes under the category of causal duties. During the Shraadh
period, all kinds of sacred activities are forbidden. Only the use of
Kusha grass is permitted. Donation of 'Pind' comprising of barley flour,
yoghurt, honey etc. is made for only one time to pacify the soul of the
dead person. Then oblation of water with sesame seeds should be offered
in the name of the dead person. This ritual should continue for a year-
once every month. After a year, Shraadh is organised in which one, three
or five Brahmins are fed. Thereafter, every year, during the darker
phase of Ashwin month, a Shraadh should be carried out for the dead
ancestors. This ritual is a combination of regular and causal duties.
Sages have made
provision for appeasement of dead ancestors up to the last seven
generations. Cereals, which the people offer in the name of their dead
ancestors, pacify those souls who stay in Pishaach Yoni. Water falling
on the earth at the time of wringing the clothes after one's bath
pacifies those souls, who have taken the form of vegetation after their
death. Water falling during the bath satisfies those souls who have
attained the status of deities. Cereals that fall during the lifting of
Pind satisfy those souls who are in lower life forms. The cereals that
scatter here and there and swept aside satisfy souls of those people,
who had died in their childhood before the accomplishment of any
consecration. The waste water falling down while Brahmin washes his
hands after dining and pacifies all the other souls.
Every month, during
the waning phase of the Moon or on the day of Amavasya, Shraadh should
be carried out. Besides it, eighth day of darker phase in the month of
Paush is also good for carrying out Shraadh. If a virtuous Brahmin is
available, time of solar and lunar eclipses is also good for Shraadh.
The time when the Sun crosses the equator during its northward and
southward journey is also good for Shraadh. Apart from these above
mentioned situations, one can also organise Shraadh in the following
circumstances- at the time of great calamity, availability of items
suitable for Shraadh, after a nightmare, during the period of birth
Nakshatra and during the period of unfavourable stars etc. On the first
day of the Shraadh, a virtuous Brahmin should be invited while the host
must observe total restraint. It is said that such a man, who indulges
in sexual intercourse on the same day after carrying out Shraadh or
eating food of Shraadh, causes his dead ancestors to sleep in semen for
one month. Ancestors of such a man, who performs Shraadh immediately
after having a sexual intercourse, drink urine and semen for one month.
Hence a virtuous Brahmin, whom the host is intending to feed, should be
informed about the Shraadh one day earlier in advance. If a Brahmin is
not available, a true celibate can be fed on the day of Shraadh.
After the Brahmin
has carried out all the necessary rituals, Havan, oblation etc., he must
be formally insisted to dine. All kinds of edible items that a Brahmin
may wish to eat should be offered. While reciting the Rakshodhn mantra,
grains of sesame and mustard should be scattered on the ground. After
the Brahmin has dined, he should be offered with water to wash his hands
and some cereals that should be scattered on the ground with his
permission. Then sitting on the seat of Kusha grass, the host should
offer a Pind made of sesame seeds, barley flour, sugar, ghee etc. An
oblation of water should follow it. At the end, the Brahmin should be
seen off with proper Dakshina. Only then the host is free to dine
himself along with other invited guests and family members.
Madalasa says- O
son! I am now narrating about the do's and don'ts to be followed during
Shraadh. Many kinds of edible items can be offered in the Shraadh. These
include cereals like barley, wheat, rice, millet, corn, etc., fish,
flesh of deer, rabbit, bird, wild boar, goat and Neelgai (antelope). All
these kinds of items are capable of pacifying the soul of dead ancestors
for different period of time depending on the nature of offerings being
made. Likewise cereals offered in sacred fire cause satisfaction for one
month. Fish causes satisfaction for two months. Flesh of deer causes
satisfaction for three months. Flesh of rabbit causes satisfaction for
four months. Flesh of bird causes satisfaction for five months. Flesh of
wild boar causes satisfaction for six months. Flesh of goat causes
satisfaction for seven months. Flesh of different types of deer and
antelope causes satisfaction for eight, nine and ten months
respectively.
Food items made of
cow's milk and ghee and kheer cause satisfaction to the dead ancestors
for one year. Different varieties of rice, barley, millet, wheat,
sesame, moong dal, mustard etc. are extremely satisfying food for the
ancestors. Different types of pulses and corn can also be offered. Use
of garlic, carrot, onion, radish, refined salt, red gum, gourd etc. is
prohibited. Water that is stinking, frothy, stale or otherwise incapable
of quenching a cow's thirst should also be discarded. Milk of doe,
camel, goat, buffalo and other one-hoof animals, yak and such a cow that
was milked for the past ten days is also forbidden for use in Shraadh.
Soil that is infested with insects, dry, baked with fire, stinking or
collected from an unholy place should not be used. Similarly, such
people who are violent, wretched, killers of Brahmins, impotent or have
fiendish characters should not be involved in the Shraadh. Cocks and
pigs should also be kept away from the place of Shraadh. This is the
reason why sesame seeds are scattered at the site of Shraadh secretly.
The host must not see a woman in menses. It is also not necessary to
feed a host of Brahmins. Instead it is sufficient to feed only one
meritorious Brahmin with complete devotion and respect. It is enough to
appease the dead ancestors. Appeasement of ancestors automatically lead
to appeasement of the deities, planets, Nakshatras and all whose
blessings can transform the living condition of the person.
Madalasa says-
Shraadh can be performed on any day during the dark lunar phase in the
Hindu month of Ashwin i.e. from the first day to the Amavasya.
Performing of Shraadh on any of these days brings the following
benefits- Performing Shraadh on the first day or Pratipada brings
monetary gain. Shraadh performed on the second day brings prosperity,
Shraadh performed on the third day blesses the performer with a boon.
Performing Shraadh on the fourth day leads to the destruction of
enemies. Performing Shraadh on the fifth day gives benefit from a woman;
Shraadh performed on the sixth day helps a man to acquire respect in the
society. Shraadh performed on the seventh day makes the performer an
able leader; Shraadh performed on the eighth day enhances the
intelligence. Shraadh performed on the ninth day brings the company of
the attractive women. Shraadh performed on the tenth day leads to the
fulfilment of all the desires. Performing Shraadh on the eleventh day
helps him to attain the knowledge of Vedas. Shraadh performed on the
twelfth day makes the performer victorious. Shraadh performed on the
thirteenth day leads to long life and luxuries. Shraadh performed on the
fourteenth day and Amavasya lead to the fulfilment of all the desires.
Fruits of Shraadh
performed during different Nakshatras:
NAKSHATRA RESULT:
KRITIKA Abode in
heaven
ROHINI Increase in
progeny
MRIGSHIRA
Radiance
ARDRA Bravery
PUNARVASU Increase
in land property
PUSHYA Improvement
in health
ASHLESHA Sons
MAGHA Help from
relatives
PURVAPHALGUNI Good
fortune
UTTARAPHALGUNI
Increase in the virtues
HASTA Increase in
greatness
CHITRA Beauty and
handsome personality
SWATI Increase in
trade
VISHAAKHA Increase
in progeny and fulfilment of desires
ANURADHA Respect
JYESHTHA
Dominance
MOOLA Disease-free
life
PURVAASARHA
Popularity
UTTARASARHA
Freedom from sorrows
SHRAVAN Attainment
of auspicious abode
DHANISHTHA Immense
wealth
ABHIJIT Knowledge
of Vedas
ABHIJIT Knowledge
of medical science
SHATABHISHA
Increase in animal wealth
PURVABHADRAPAD
Increase in knowledge and cattle
UTTARABHADRAPAD
Receiving of precious metals like gold and silver
REVATI Receiving
of horses
ASHWINI Increase
in average life
BHARANI Prosperity
and increase in comforts
Madalasa says- O
son! Now, I will tell you the do's and don'ts for healthy living. Stale
cereals, oil and fats stored over a prolonged period of time, items
prepared from wheat and barley and food items which is not prepared from
pure ghee or milk should not be consumed. Flesh of turtle, porcupine
etc. is worth eating whereas flesh of village pigs and cocks should not
be consumed. Brahmin can eat flesh offered to him in a Shraadh. Things
like conch, stone, gold, pearl etc. are purified simply by washing in
water. Cereals either touched or washed by unwarranted people is not fit
for any purpose. Flesh of animals killed by Chandaal or killed for the
purpose of oblation in Shraadh is also considered pure. Seat, bed,
vehicle, boat, grass, rays of the Sun and Moon and air are naturally
pure things. Touch by a woman who is in her menses, dog, jackal, a
mother who has recently given birth to a child, a Chandaal, carriers of
the brier etc. is defiling in nature. A person however can become pure
once again by taking bath if touched by any of these people and animals.
One should not neglect the appearance of blood and cough. Excretions and
water collected after washing the feet should be thrown out of the home
at once. Getting touched by the people who criticize deities, ancestors,
Yagya, mantra etc. is also defiling. Sighting of the Sun however
purifies the defiled person.
Duties of the
woman: Different male and female deities dwell at the threshold of the
home. Hence this portion of the home should be worshipped properly
everyday. At dawn, the threshold should not be left vacant or it may
have adverse effect on one's lineage. The whole area inside the home
should be plastered with cow dung daily or washed with pure water. All
these activities should be carried out by the better half of the
householder. Those women, who prepare food during the last quarter of
the night, suffer from infertility in future births. Those women, who do
not sweep their home in the evening, remain unmarried and are bereft of
wealth in future births. Such women also lose their wealth, life-span
and reputation. Kicking the following things like broom, hearth and
mortar etc. or touching them with feet also leads to the loss of progeny
and wealth.
The householder
should not use broken seat, board and black blanket for sitting purpose.
He should not comb his hair while facing south. Those who do not dine,
perform Havan or make donations at the appropriate time are no better
than eunuchs. Those who shun these activities despite having wealth are
worse than mice. Those who do not respect the deities, teachers, wife of
the teacher, cow, Brahmin etc. are boycotted by the society. Naked are
those who are devoid of Vedas, other religious scriptures and rituals.
Such a house is really contemptible, which is boycotted by the Brahmins
and where daily routines are not followed regularly.
After birth or
death in the family, a Brahmin becomes purified in ten days. During this
period of ten days, he should avoid all the religious activities. In
similar conditions, a Kshatriya gets purified in twelve days after a
birth or death in his family, a Vaishya in fifteen days and a Shudra in
one month. Dead body of a person should be cremated outside the
boundaries of the village. His family members should offer oblation of
water to pacify his soul on the first, fourth, seventh and ninth days
after the cremation. Ashes should be collected from the fourth day. In
case of deaths caused by a snake bite or poisoning family members may
get purified after a day. There is no impurity in case of the death of a
child, an immigrant and the one who has renounced everything. Even their
cremation is not carried out nor oblation of water is made.
If one more death
occurs in the family while the mourning period of the earlier death is
still continuing, impurity of the second death lasts as long as that of
the first one. Similar rules are applied to the impurity caused by the
birth. Thus abiding by these norms, the householder can easily attain
the four objectives of life that is Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha.
This chapter
contains 9 sections.
After reaching
youth-hood, Prince Alark got married. By that time, his father King
Ritudhwaj had also grown old. Hence before Grihastha, he crowned his son
as the new king. At the time of crowning, queen Madalasa presented him a
ring and said -
'O son! This ring
contains a note which will teach you on how a king should administer the
kingdom.' Saying this, Madalasa blessed Alark and left the palace with
her husband Ritudhwaj to spend their lives in the forest.
After his accession
to the throne, King Alark ruled justly. In due course of time, he got
many sons. He followed the dictates of Dharma, Arth and Kama while
ruling his kingdom. Inspite of enjoying all the luxuries, Alark still
could not experience bliss and felt as if he was missing something in
his life. Very soon, Subahu came to learn about the royal luxuries of
his brother Alark and got tempted to enjoy the same luxuries. To attain
his objective, Subahu took the help of the king of Kashi. The king of
Kashi sent an envoy to Alark with a message to give the kingdom to
Subahu, which Alark refused. Instead, he sent a reply that the request
must be made by Subahu himself. 'I will not give him my kingdom out of
fear of war,' said Alark. But Subahu did not pay heed and with the help
of the king of Kashi, launched a massive attack on his kingdom and
conquered it. Now Alark's days of sorrow had begun.
He then remembered
the ring presented by his mother Madalasa. He opened the ring and found
a letter in it. The letter said- 'When you lose your everything, give up
the company of your present advisors and join the company of learned
sages.' This message made Alark to pine for the company of the learned
sages. Very soon, he went to the refuge of Dattatreya and requested him
to remove his miseries. Dattatreya assured him of removing his miseries
at once but before doing that, he wanted to know the reasons for his
miseries. Alark said- 'I do not long for pleasures but my elder brother
wants to grab my kingdom.'
Alark says- 'O
lord! With the arising of disenchantment in my heart, I have no miseries
now. Only those people feel drowned in the ocean of miseries who are
attached to worldly things. A man feels all kinds of sorrows due to his
attachments towards the luxuries in which his mind indulges. Now neither
sorrow nor joy can affect me.'
Dattatreya says- 'O
king! Whatever you said is correct. Attachment is the cause of both
sorrow and happiness. It is because of the knowledge I gave to you that
the 'mist of attachment' has disappeared from your heart. A small sprout
of ego ultimately develops into a huge tree of ignorance. Affection is
the trunk of this tree. Home and family are the branches and wife and
children are the leaves of this tree. Wealth and cereals are the flowers
and happiness and sorrow are the fruits of this tree. Relation that
emerges out of affection is the canopy of this tree. This tree grows day
by day and obscures the path of liberation. This tree is full of desires
and those who sit under the lee of this tree can never attain salvation.
Hence felling of this tree is of foremost importance for a person
desirous of attaining 'Brahmajitva.'
Dattatreya says- O
king! With the attainment of knowledge, people come to conjugate with
the Supreme Almighty and which results into dispersion of their
ignorance. To attain Moksha, it is necessary for a man to shun
attachment first of all. Only after that, he will become free from
sorrows. When he becomes free from sorrow, he unites with the supreme
almighty. This phenomenon is known as Yoga. Unification with the supreme
almighty enables a man to attain knowledge and finally Moksha
(salvation). It is therefore essential for the all those seeking
salvation that first of all they should renounce affection and
attachment for the worldly objects including their near and dear ones.
Knowledge and
renunciation are nothing but two sides of the same coin and one is
necessary to give rise to the other. Home is nothing but the place for
staying, food is nothing but the energy required sustaining our body and
knowledge is nothing but an aid to attain salvation. Anything that
caused obstacles in the way of salvation is ignorance. A living being is
bound to receive the fruits of action no matter whether they are good or
bad. Hence one should carry out his duties without bothering for the
results. With the attenuation of the results of the action performed in
the previous births, a living being becomes free from the cycles of life
and death. With the attainment of Yoga, Yogis take refuge in none other
than Brahma. But the path of attaining Yoga is indeed difficult, if not
impossible. One has to conquer his soul first of all because the soul
itself is regarded as invincible. Control of physical impurities with
the help of Pranayam, sins by determination, lust by self-restrains and
contemplation on God are the ways to conquer the soul.
Dattatreya
says-During the process of conquering the soul, different kinds of
allurements begins to divert the mind of the Yogis. It is imperative for
the Yogi to keep his mind busy by observing fast, worshipping and
contemplating in God. It is the duty of the Yogi to always contemplate
on God, only then he can seek solace in Him. Thus, after controlling his
senses, a Yogi ought to eat and sleep less, attain unification with the
Supreme Being. O king! A Yogi unifies with Brahma once his physical and
mental faults are removed. Then, he never separates from the Supreme
Being.
Alark says- O lord,
now kindly narrate about the daily routine, a Yogi should abide by in
order to preserve his piousness.
Dattatreya says- O
king! Respect and insult are the two reasons for love and hatred. Yogis
attain perfection by understanding insult as respect and vice versa. A
Yogi should therefore never attend social functions like Shraadh,
marriage ceremonies or other festivities. He should not accept the
hospitality of others and should shun unnecessary journeys. A Yogi
should seek alms only after the householder and his family has dined. A
Yogi should accept alms only from those households whose inmates are
gentle, religious and free from blemishes and should accept things like
whey, milk, fruits, edible roots, gram flour etc. Before going to dine,
a Yogi should offer his food to the deities reciting he following
mantras-
PRANANYAY SWAHA
AAPANAY SWAHA
SAMANAY SWAHA
UDANAY SWAHA
VYANAY SWAHA
After reciting
these mantras one by one and offering food to the deities who are
present in his body as different forms of air, the Yogi may now proceed
to dine.
Control of senses
and greed, celibacy, renunciation and non-violence are the five
resolutions of a Yogi. Control of anger, service to the Guru, sanctity,
eating less and studying Vedas regularly are the five norms for a Yogi.
A Yogi must practice meditation at a desolate place, forest, cave or
peak of a mountain. A true celibate has full control over his speech,
mind and action. Iron and gold have equal worth in his eye; he loves no
one and hates no one.
Dattatreya says-
Those Yogis who abide by their resolution are never degraded from their
supreme position. Such Yogis always recite Om while contemplating on the
eternal God. 'A', 'U' and 'M', these three syllables constitute the body
OM or AUM. These three syllables represent the virtues (gunas) of Sata,
Tama and Raja respectively. Thus, by contemplating on God and reciting
Om, a Yogi ultimately achieves unification with that eternal spirit. But
there are still some disastrous traps that a Yogi should guard himself
against, otherwise his entire penance might turn futile at the time of
death. Hence every Yogi must be aware of these disastrous traps.
Dattatreya says- A
person who is unable to see the path of the deities, or the heavenly
bodies like- Dhruv, Shukra (Venus), Soma (Moon), or his own shadow or
Goddess Arundhati, must understand that his death is near. For those
people to whom, the Sun appears without radiance but fire appears as the
Sun, die within eleven months. Sighting of gold and silver in urine or
stools signifies death within ten months. Those who see ghosts,
Gandharvas and gold tree in the dreams live for nine months only. Those
who become fat or thin suddenly live for eight months more. Those Yogis
whose heels appear cracked while walking on sand or mud die within seven
months. Getting perched on the body by volatile birds like vulture,
pigeon, owl, crow etc. indicates that the concerned person will live for
only six months. Those who see their shadow in opposite direction live
for four or five months more only. Those who sight lightning without
clouds or rainbow during the night time, in their dream live for two or
three months more. Those who cannot see their reflection in ghee, oil,
water and mirror die within a month. A person whose body smells like a
cadaver die within fifteen days. Those whose hands and feet remain dry
even after taking bath and dry even after taking light refreshments live
only for ten days. Those who sight hair, cinders, ash, snakes and dried
rivers in the dream, die on the eleventh day. Those who feel hungry even
after eating to their fill also die soon.
O king! There are
many more disastrous symptoms that indicate death. A Yogi must always be
alert regarding these signs. Whenever a Yogi perceives the appearance of
all or some of these disastrous symptoms, he must at once take to Yoga
to minimise the effects.
Brahmagyan- A Yogi
experiences extreme joy when he meditates while doing Yoga. Only then
can he experience Brahma. Physical body is ephemeral; hence a true Yogi
does not mourn over the loss of physical body. Hence, a Yogi must train
his mind in Yoga ignoring sorrow or affection. This is indeed a
difficult task to achieve.
Alark says- O
Brahmin! By your blessings, my ignorance has ended. Now I will do
everything so that ignorance does not grip me once again.
Then taking
Dattatreya's permission, Alark went back to the king of Kashi and said-
'O king! You have a desire for the kingdom, so take this kingdom and
enjoy its luxuries yourself or give it to Subahu.' The king of Kashi
asked Alark as to why he was renouncing the kingdom without fighting a
war. He also tried to instigate Alark by saying that his conduct did not
suit the Kshatriyas. Alark said- 'Only Brahma is truth, all the other
things are false. Now controlling my senses, I will attain perfection in
Yoga.'
Words of Alark
pleased the king of Kashi. Even, Subahu got up gladly and after
embracing Alark said to the king of Kashi- "O king, I had taken your
refuge to win the kingdom. Now, I have got it without fighting a war and
without a drop of blood being shed. But, I am leaving now, renouncing
everything."
The king of Kashi
said- "Subahu, why had you taken refuge in me? What have you received
now?"
Subahu said- "O
king! My younger brother Alark had been so far indulging in luxuries
despite having metaphysical knowledge. He was in fact experiencing
miseries in his household. When the miseries cross all limits, only then
renunciation arises in the mind, as is the case with Alark. That was why
I had taken your refuge. My job is finished now. So I am leaving to
attain perfection in Yoga. O king, I regard those people who ignore
their near and dear ones in their miseries as heartless.
Such people are
degraded from their position of Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha and are
criticised everywhere."
The king of Kashi
said- "O Subahu, You have salved your brother Alark. Now kindly salve me
also."
Subahu said-
"Attainment of Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha are the four major
objectives for the attainment of which humans have been created. You
have already attained Dharma, Artha and Kama. Only Moksha remains to be
attained now. 'It is mine', 'It is me' etc. are expressions of ego.
Guarding the self from these thoughts is the true knowledge. A man must
know 'What is to be known? 'Who is to know?' and 'Who is he?' A
knowledge of these automatically leads to the knowledge of all." Saying
these words, Subahu left the palace.
The king of Kashi
too returned to his kingdom. Alark crowned his elder son as the new king
and he began to practice Yoga in a forest. After many years of rigorous
practice, Alark attained salvation and his abode in Brahma loka.
The Brahmin's son
said- "O father! Now you too must take refuge in Yoga in order to attain
Brahma. I too will try to attain salvation."
The birds say- "O
Brahmin! Thus the father and son began their penance and attained
salvation.
This chapter
contains 8 sections.
Jaimini thanked the
birds for enlightening him with self-knowledge. But he was still not
satisfied. There were many questions to which he had no answers. He
asked the birds-
'How did this
universe come into being? What will happen to it during the time of
final annihilation? How did the deities, the sages, the ancestors and
the living creatures originate? How did the Manvantaras arrive? I am
anxious to know about all these things.'
The birds replied-
'O Jaimini! We salute the same Jagannath who creates in the form of lord
Brahma, nurtures the world as Lord Vishnu and ultimately annihilates the
world as Lord Shiva in his most terrifying form. We will now reveal the
knowledge which was once narrated by sage Markandeya.'
The birds then
narrated the following tale as was originally told by sage Markandeya.
'In the beginning of creation, as soon as lord Brahma manifested
himself, all the four Vedas and eighteen Puranas came out from his four
mouths. Lord Brahma then created the Saptarishis merely by wishing, who
took all the Vedas and Puranas in their possession.'
'Later on, sage
Chyavan got the Puranas from one of the Saptarishis- sage Bhrigu and
read out its contents to the assembled sages. The sages then retold the
Puranas to Daksha. Daksha narrated the contents of the Puranas to me
(Markandeya). The virtues of listening to Puranas are capable of
destroying all sins of a man. Now I am going to reveal to you that
secret knowledge of Purana as was told to me by Daksha.'
'Brahma- the cause
and effect of everything pervades the universe even after the final
annihilation. All the three gunas are present in him. When the time is
appropriate for commencing the process of creation, the whole atmosphere
is covered by the great element (Mahatatva), which itself comprises of
the three basic gunas- Satva (pure), Rajas (semi-pure) and Taamas
(dark).'
'Ego manifests
itself from the great element (Mahatatva). Even the ego remains covered
by the great element. The ego then creates 'Shabda tanmatra' (subtle
forms of matter related with sound). The sky which symbolizes the Shabda
(sound) is created from this very Shabda tanmatra.'
'The ego then
covers the whole sky. After that Sparsh tanmatra (subtle forms of matter
related with touch) comes into being. Air, which signifies the quality
of touch, then comes into being. After the creation of air, light is
created without which the forms and appearance cannot be perceived.'
'The deformity of
life results into the creation of Rasa matra. From this very Rasa matra,
water comes into being. The water is enveloped by the Roop matra (subtle
forms of appearance). The water then gets deformed and as a result
Gandha matra comes into being, from which the earth is created. All the
worlds are established in this earth.'
'First of all, the
gunas enter into the atoms and create the seven basic elements which are
a must for procreation. The seven basic elements then establish
themselves in Purusha and Prakriti. The union of Purusha and Prakriti
results into the creation of egg. This egg keeps expanding in its size
while being in water.'
'Lord Brahma who is
also known as Kshetragya and who is also the creator of all the souls
dwells in that egg.' The same Brahma pervades all the three worlds. All
the creatures of the world including the deities, demons and human
beings along with islands, mountains, oceans, air and sky etc. are
present inside the egg.'
'The Mother Nature
along with the great element covers this egg. This way, the seven
natural coverings envelop the egg. Beyond the Prakriti (nature) is
established the Purusha (Almighty).'
'Now I am going to
reveal the identity of Brahma to you. Just as drops of water fall down
from the body of a wet man immersed in water, in the same way, Lord
Brahma too discards off the egg in the end. The nature is nothing else
but Kshetra (space, area) and Brahma is also known as Kshetragya. This
way, the whole creation came into being just like lightning.
Kraustuki said-
'Tell me! O lord! How were the living beings created as the period of
final annihilation was approaching its end.'
Markandeya replied-
'When the nature establishes herself in the soul of the Purusha (supreme
Almighty), all the created matter gets annihilated. Prakriti and Purusha
are established in the mode of parallelism. During that period, Satva
and Tama become neutrally balanced. Even the quality of Rajas
establishes itself within the qualities of Satva and Tama.'
'The life span of
Brahma consists of Dwiparardha. The day and night of Brahma are of equal
duration. Brahma is the origin of this universe. He is the inconceivable
soul- the supreme lord and the cause of all the events. He is beyond the
reach of activities. He enters into Prakriti and Purusha- excites both
of them to get unified. When Prakriti gets excited, the Supreme Lord
manifests Himself in the egg as Brahma. He then commences his creation.
The same Brahma attains the form of Vishnu due to the effect of his
Satva guna and nurtures the whole creation. Under the influence of Tamo
guna, He attains the form of Rudra and finally annihilates the whole
creation. He then goes into hibernation.'
'This way, the same
Almighty God in his three different forms of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh
performs his duties of creation, nurturing and annihilation
respectively. The life span of Brahma consists of one hundred years. The
division of time is as follows- One Kashtha consists of fifteen
Nimeshas. One Kala consists of thirty Kashthas whereas thirty Kalas make
one Muhurta. One day and night of this material world consists of thirty
Muhurtas. Thirty days and nights are equivalent to one month or two
fortnights (Pakshas).'
'Six months make
one Ayan. Two Ayans make a year. A day and night of the deities are
equivalent to one year of this material world. Similarly twelve thousand
years of the deities make the four Yugas. Satya Yuga consists of the
four thousand years of the deities. Treta Yuga consists of three
thousand years of the deities. Dwapar Yuga consists of two thousand
years of the deities whereas Kali Yuga consists of one thousand years of
the deities. Similarly Sandhya (evening) period of Satya Yuga consists
of four hundred years and Sandhyansh (part of evening) consists of the
same period that is four hundred years. Thus the total number of years
that Satya Yuga has come up to 4000+400+400= 4800 years. In the same
way, the Sandhya and Sandhyansh of Treta Yuga consist of 300 years each.
Thus, the total number of years in Treta Yuga comes up to 3000+300+300=
3600 years. Sandhya and Sandhyansh period of Dwapar Yuga is of 200 years
each. Thus the total number of years in Dwapar Yuga comes up to
2000+200+200= 2400 years. Sandhya and Sandhyansh period of Kali Yuga are
of 100 years each. Thus the total number of years in Kali Yuga comes up
to 1000+100+100= 1200 years.
A day of Brahma
consists of thousand times of the twelve thousand years of the deities.
Fourteen Manus appear in succession during the whole day of Brahma. Each
Manavantar comprises of a Manu and his progenies, Indra and the other
deities, Saptarishis ganas and Nripati ganas etc.
A Manavantar
consists of seventy-one Chatur Yugas. On the basis of the years of this
material world, a Manavantar consists of 30,67,20,000 years or 8,52,000
years of the deities. A Brahma's day consists of 4,29,40,00,000 years of
this world or 1,19,28,000 years of the deities. The dissolution, which
occurs at the end of the day of Brahma, is also known as causal
dissolution (Naimittik Pralay). During the time of causal dissolution,
all the residents of Bhur, Bhuva and Swarga lokas temporarily go to
Mahar loka. The residents of Mahar loka shift their base to Jana loka.
The entire universe is submerged in the ocean during the time of causal
dissolution and this is the time for Brahma to take rest i.e. at night.
Brahma starts his creation at the end of the night. This way, after the
completion of three hundred and sixty years of Brahma, his one-year is
complete. One hundred such years of Brahma make one Para and five
hundred such years make one Parardha. One Parardha of Brahma has already
passed at the end of which Padrama Mahakalpa occurred. The present
period, which falls under the second Parardha, is also known as Varaha
Kalpa.
Kraustuki asked
curiously- 'Tell me how Brahma did his creations?'
Markandeya replied-
'When Brahma got up from his sleep after the end of dissolution (Pralay)
named Padrama, he found a void all around himself. He remembered
Narayana who is also known by the name of Nastanu i.e. one who dwells in
water. Narayana was engrossed in his eternal sleep. After waking up, he
rescued the earth, submerged in the ocean just like he had done in the
previous Kalpas by taking the forms of a boar, a fish and tortoise etc.
But even after the earth was brought up from the seabed and was
established above the ocean, it was still swinging like a boat. Narayana
then created the mountains to stop the earth from swinging. But the
mountains were burnt down by Agni (fire) named Samvartak. The mountains
submerged into the ocean. The mountains after having displaced the water
had become fixed at their respective places. Therefore, Narayana divided
the whole earth into seven islands and created the four lokas just like
before. After that, five Avidyas came into being. This way, the whole
creation established themselves in five ways. The whole creation was
hidden in darkness till this period. After this, Narayana created the
ignorant animals, which symbolised the Tamo guna. After the animals the
deities who symbolised the Satva guna were created.'
'Brahma was
extremely satisfied by the creations of Narayana. But he was desirous of
creating even more superior creatures. As a result a group of Sadhakas
named Arvaksrota came into being. These Sadhakas were humans who
possessed Rajo guna. The fifth creation of Anugraha was itself
sub-divided into four parts- Viparyaya, Siddhi, Shanti and Shrishti. The
sixth creation was of those special people who had the knowledge of past
and present events. These people had wives, enjoyed life in a balanced
way but were of evil nature. These people were known as Bhutadik.'
'The first creation
was related with the manifestation of lord Brahma himself. This great
creation was known as the Maha Shrishti. The second creation related
with the part of Brahma is called Bhutsarga. The third creation is
called Prakrit and which consists of creatures possessing intelligence
and flawed sensual perceptions. The fourth creation consists of the
Sthawars who are unable to move (e.g. Vegetation). The fifth creation
consists of four-footed animals. The sixth creation consists of the
deities whereas the seventh creation that of human beings which
originates from Arvaksrota. The eighth creation is known as Anugraha.
The ninth creation of Brahmaji is known as Prakrit (natural) and Vikari
(flawed). These are the nine types of creation of Brahma. The root
causes of this universe are Prakrit and Vikari.'
Kraustuki then
asked Markandeya about the origin of the deities. Markandeya replied-
'With the objective of creating the deities, demons, ancestors and human
beings, Brahma abandoned the part of his physical body in the ocean. The
demons originated from the thighs of his abandoned body. Lord Brahma
blessed the demons with physical bodies, which were Taamasik in nature.
This part of Brahma's body became famous as Ratri (night). After that
Brahma created the deities from his mouth with the help of Satva guna.
The deities were given pure bodies. This part of Brahma's body which was
Saatvik (pure) in nature became famous as day.'
'After this, Brahma
acquired another physical body and created the ancestors. After creating
the ancestors, he abandoned his body, which transformed itself in the
evening. Brahmaji then acquired another body, which was affluent of
Rajas qualities and thus was created human being. He again abandoned his
body and from it was created Jyotsna- the transition period of day and
night.'
'Jyotsna, evening
and day contain the quality of Satva in themselves. Night has the
quality of Taamas in itself. The deities, demons and human beings are
most powerful during the day, night and Jyotsna period respectively. The
ancestors are most powerful and invincible during the evening time.'
'Brahma then
created creatures who had moustaches and beard on their face. Some
creatures among them started attacking the others. Those who were being
attacked and pleaded 'save us' were called the Rakshasas (demons). The
attackers who thundered 'we would devour you up' were known as Yakshas
(celestial beings).
'Brahma was very
displeased by their tantrums. Some of his hair fell down on earth and
thus were created the snakes. The flesh-eating Ganas were next to be
created. These Ganas were extremely volatile in nature. After that,
Brahma created the Gandharvas.'
'This way after
having created these eight types of divine creation, Brahma created all
the animals and birds from his body. He created the goat from his mouth,
lamb from his heart, cow from his stomach and back, animals like horse,
elephant, donkey, rabbit, deer, camel and mule were created by Brahma
from both his legs. Variety of vegetation and medicinal plants were
created from the hair of his body.' 'Brahma then created the following
things from the first of his four mouths- Gayatri, Tri- rik, tri- vrit,
Saam, Rathantar and Agnishtom. From his mouth facing south, he created
Yajuh, Traishtumchhand, Panchadasha-stom, Vrihatsaam and Uktha. From his
mouth facing west, he created Shaam, Jagatichhand, Panchadasha-stom,
Vairoop and Atiraatra. From his mouth facing north, he created
twenty-one Atharva, Aaptoryaam, Aanushtubha and Vairaaj.'
'In the beginning
of Kalpa, Brahma created the natural things like lightning, Vajra,
cloud, rainbow and birds. After that he created the deities etc. He then
created stable things like mountains, living creatures that could move,
demons, birds, animals and snakes etc. All these living creatures take
birth and re-births, reap the fruits of the past Karmas done in their
previous life. This is the way Brahma had done creation at the end of
the dissolution period.'
Markandeya says-
Brahma created one thousand couples from his mouth in the beginning of
creation. These couples were radiant and possessed virtuous qualities
(Saatvik). Once again, Brahmaji created one thousand couples from his
chest but this time they possessed the quality of Rajas. This phenomenon
was repeated for the second time and once again one thousand couples
manifested themselves from his chest. These couples were both Rajas as
well as Taamasik by nature. At last Brahma created one thousand more
couples from both his legs. These couples were completely Taamasik by
nature. The couples started copulating and this process has been
continuing since then.' 'Brahma now became worried as to how to
accommodate such a large number of people. Initially, these people used
to roam about every where, as there were no permanent residences to
accomodate them. At the arrival of Treta Yuga, they developed attachment
and started living in houses. Subsequently they started living in
various types of abodes- Pura, village, Dronimukha, Shakhanagar,
Kharvatak, Drami, Gram and Sanghosh etc.'
Markandeya says-
'Brahma on seeing that inspite of all his creations the population was
not increasing, he decided to create his Manasputras. These Manasputras
were created merely by his wish. Their names were Bhrigu, Pulastya,
Pulaha, Kratu, Angira, Marichi, Daksha, Atri and Vashishta. After this,
he first created the ferocious Rudra and then Sankalpa and Dharma. But
all these people were very virtuous, knowledgeable and unaffected by
worldly desires. They showed their disinclination towards the purpose
for which they have been created by Brahma i.e. increasing the
population. Brahma became very furious in his anger and created an
entity whose half portion resembled a man's body while the remaining
half resembled that of a woman.
Brahma instructed
that entity to bisect his body into two distinct forms of a man and a
woman. The entity followed Brahma's instruction and this way Swayambhu
Manu and Shatrupa came into being. Manu accepted Shatrupa as his wife.
Two sons were born to them- Priyavrata and Uttanpada. Apart from these
two sons, two daughters were also born to them- Akuti and Prasuti.
Prasuti was married to Daksha while Akuti was married to Ruchi.
Twenty-four daughters were born to Daksha and Prasuti out of which
thirteen of them were married to Dharma. The remaining eleven daughters
were married to sages like Bhrigu, Mahadev, Marichi, Angira, Atri etc.'
'Dharma fathered
Kama from Shraddha. Shri gave birth to Darpa, Dhriti and Niyama. Tushti
gave birth to Santosh, Pushti to Lobha, Medha to Shrut, Kriya to Dand,
Buddhi to Bodh, Lajja to Vinay, Vapra to Vyavasaay, Shanti to Kshema,
Siddhi to Sukh and Kirti gave birth to Yash. Kama, the son of Dharma was
the father of Atihrishta.'
'Himsa- the wife of
Adharma gave birth to Anrita. Anrita was married to Nirriti. Two sons
named Narak and Bhaya and two daughters named Maya and Vedana were born
to them.'
'Maya gave birth to
Mrityu, whereas Dukha was born as a result of Narak's marriage with
Vedana. Five children were born to Mrityu- Vyadhi, Jara, Shoka, Trishna
and Krodha. All of them were very irreligious by nature and they never
got an opportunity get married and have progenies.'
'Mrityu's wife-
Nirriti is also known by the name of Alakshmi. Altogether fourteen sons
were born to them. All these fourteen sons of Mrityu dwell in the organs
of human beings, during the time of destruction. Out of these fourteen
sons, ten dwell in the sense organs of human beings and the eleventh son
dwells in the mind. They influence the sense organs and the mind of a
man in a negative way by means of attachment and anger. The twelfth son
exists in the form of arrogance. The thirteenth son- Apar adversely
affects the intelligence of a man.
The fourteenth son-
Duhsah resides in the house of males. Duhsah is naked, always hungry,
his mouth facing downwards and caws like the crow.
Markandeya says-
'Nirmashti, the wife of Duhsah was the daughter of Yama. Altogether
sixteen children were born to Duhsah and Nirmashti. Out of them eight
were sons and the remaining eight were daughters. The name of the sons
were- Dantakrishti, Tathokti, Parivarta, Angadhruka, Shakuni, Ganda,
Pranrati, Garbhaha and Sasyaha while the names of the daughters were
Niyojika, Virodhini, Swayamaharini, Bhramani, Rituharika, Smritihara,
Beejhara and Vidveshini. Dantakrishti causes the teeth of the child to
make a grinding sound. Tathokti is commonly used while men are
conversing by saying, 'So be it' (TATHASTU). Parivarta becomes happy by
establishing an alien foetus in the womb of women. Angadhruka causes the
organs of human beings to throb and enables him to express the emotions
of joy and sorrow. Shakuni resides in the bodies of birds like crow and
animals like dog or fox.'
'Ganda destroys all
the virtues. Garbhaha destroys the foetus in the womb of a woman while
Sasyaha destroys all kinds of wealth.'
'Among the
daughters, Niyojika encourages a man to have illicit relationship and
also to steal the wealth of others. Virodhini causes differences between
husband and wife and also among the family members. Swayamaharini
destroys the prosperity of a man. Bhramani causes restlessness and anger
in the heart of a man living at one place for a long time. Rituharika
destroys the menstrual cycle of women. Smritiharika causes loss of
memory. Beejhara destroys the sexual powers of a man and woman. Dweshini
causes jealousy in the heart of a man and woman. Altogether 38 children
were born to all the 16 children of Duhsah and Nirmashti. All of them
were wicked and caused miseries to people.'
Markandeya says-
'Now I am going to tell you about Rudrasarga. One of the eight sons of
Brahma started wailing after being created from his (Brahma) body.
Brahma asked him as to why he was crying. The crying child requested
Brahma to give him a name. Brahma named him as Rudra since he was
wailing at the time of his birth. But even after getting his name, the
child's wailing did not stop. He wailed for seven times and as a result
seven more children were manifested from his cries. Brahma named these
seven children as Bhava, Sharva, Ishaan, Pashupati, Bheem, Ugra and
Mahadev. He also gave them abodes so that they could live. The following
eight things respectively symbolize the forms of all these eight rudras-
Sun, water, earth, fire, air, sky, Dikshit Brahmin and Soma. All these
eight rudras were also given their respective wives who were Suvarchala,
Uma, Vikeshi, Swadha, Swaha, Dik, Diksha and Rohini.'
'The eight sons of
all the eight rudras are Shanaishwar, Shukra, Lohitaang, Manojav, Skand,
Sarg, Santaan and Buddh respectively.'
'Rudra had accepted
Sati as his wife. Sati gave up her life because her father Daksha had
shown disrespect to her husband- Rudra. Sati took her second birth as
Parvati, the daughter of Himavaan. Mainak was her brother. Bhava married
Parvati. Khyaati was Bhrigu's wife. They had two children- Dhata and
Vidhaata. Lakshmi was the consort of Narayana. Meru had two daughters-
Aayati and Niyati. Both of them were married to Dhata and Vidhaata
respectively. Each one of them had two sons. Aayati had named her son as
Pran while Niyati named her son as Mrikandu. The same Mrikandu is my
(Markandeya) father. My mother's name is Manaswini and my son's name is
Vedashira.'
'Sambhuti- the wife
of Marichi gave birth to Paurnmaas. Smriti- the wife of Marichi gave
birth to four daughters- Siniwali, Kuhu, Raka and Anumati.' 'Ansuya, the
wife of sage Atri gave birth to three sons- Soma, Durvaasa and
Dattatreya. Dutt and Dambholi were born to Preeti, the wife of Pulastya.
He became famous as Agastya during the time of Swayambhuva Manavantar.'
'Three sons-
Kardam, Arvaveera and Sahishnu were born to Kshama, the wife of Pulaha.
Sannati, the wife of Ritu gave birth to 60,000 Balkhilyaganas. Urja- the
wife of Vashishta gave birth to seven sons- Raja, Gatra, Urdhwabahu,
Sabal, Anagh, Sutapa and Shukra. These seven are famous as the
Saptarishis.'
'Agni was married
to Swaha. Three sons were born to them- Paavak, Pavaman and Shuchi.'
This chapter
contains 10 sections.
This Section
contains 6 sub-sections.
Markandeya says-
'Swayambhuva Manu had ten sons. He had divided the whole earth into
seven continents. In the beginning of Treta Yuga, the sons of Priyavrata
had done the same. Prajavati- the daughter of Kardam Prajapati had ten
sons and two daughters from Priyavrata. Names of these ten sons were-
Agnighna, Medhatithi, Vayushmaan, Jyotishmaan, Dyutimaan, Bhatya, Savan,
Medha, Agnibaahu and Mitra. Among all these ten sons, the last three
never ruled any kingdom.
The remaining seven
sons were made the rulers of all the seven continents by Priyavrata.
Agnighna was made the ruler of Jambudweep, Medhatithi that of
Plakshdweep. Vayushmaan was given Shaalmalidweep whereas Jyotishmaan was
made the ruler of Kushdweep. Similarly, Dyutimaan was given Kraunchdweep
to rule while Bhatya was given Shaakdweep. The seventh son, Savan was
made the ruler of Pushkardweep. Savan had two sons- Medhaavi and
Dhaataki. Savan sub-divided the Pushkardweep into two parts and each
part was given to each of the sons. Bhatya had seven sons- Jalad, Kumar,
Sukumar, Marnaavak, Kushottar, Medhaavi and Mahadrum. Bhatya too
sub-divided the Shaakdweep into seven parts and distributed them among
all his sons. Similarly, Dyutimaan too had seven sons to whom were
distributed his kingdom Kraunchdweep after sub-dividing it into seven
parts. Jyotishmaan, Vayushmaan and Medhatithi made their respective sons
the rulers after giving them kingdoms. Agnighna was the ruler of
Jambudweep. He had nine sons. His kingdom was equally distributed among
all of them. Naabhi- the son of Agnighna was the father of Rishabh.
Bharat was the son of Rishabh. Bharat was given the southern part of
Rishabh's kingdom. Our country is named after Bharat.'
Markandeya says
that the total area of Jambudweep comprises of one lakh Yojan while the
area of Plakshdweep is twice the area of Jambudweep i.e. two lakh
Yojans. Similarly, Shaalmali is twice the area of Plaksh while Kusha is
twice the area of Shaalmali. The area of Kraunchdweep is twice the area
of Kushdweep whereas the area of Shaakdweep is twice the area of
Kraunchdweep.
The island of
Pushkar is twice the area of Shaak. Seven mountains are situated in all
these seven islands. They are Himavaan, Hemkut, Rishabh, Meru, Neel,
Shwet and Shringi. Ilavrit is situated in the middle of six mountains,
which themselves are situated in the middle of the ocean surrounding all
the seven islands named earlier. Sumeru Mountain is situated in the
central part of Ilavrit. People belonging to all the four castes-
Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra reside in Ilavrit.
Just above Ilavrit
are the dwelling places of Lokpals like Indra etc. Lord Brahma's
assembly is situated at the center. Beneath Ilavrit are situated the
four mountains- Mandaar, Gandhmaadan, Vipul and Supaarshva. These four
mountains are situated in each of the four directions. The Great
Mountain Nishadh is situated towards the west of Meru, while the Great
Mountain Pariyatra is situated just behind it. Towards the south of Meru
are situated the great mountains, Kailash and Himavaan. The mountains
Shringvaan and Jaarudhi are situated towards the north of Meru Mountain.
River Jambu flows all around the Meru Mountain in a circular path.
Markandeya says-
'River Ganga originates from a place named Dhruvaadhar. This particular
place is related with Narayana. River Ganga, then falls on the Sumeru
Mountain and gets distributed into four main streams. One of these
streams flows towards Chaitrartha forest. The name of this particular
stream is Sita. The same Sita Ganga enters into the Varunoda reservoir
and from there, it moves towards the ocean and again changes its course
to get submerge into that stream of Ganga, which has fallen on the
Gandhmaadan Mountain and which is known as Alaknanda. Alaknanda after
submerging into Mansarovar subsequently entered the Mahadri Himalaya
where Lord Shankar held her in His locks of hair. He released river
Ganga only at the request of sage Bhagirath.
After being
released, river Ganga got sub-divided into seven streams and ultimately,
all those seven streams submerged into the ocean. The stream of Ganga
which originates from the west of Sumeru Mountain is known as Suchakshu.
This stream gets submerged in the ocean towards the south, after passing
through many mountains. The fourth stream reaches Savita forest after
passing through two mountains- Suparshu and Meru. This particular stream
is famously known as Bhadrasoma. Bhadrasoma Ganga ultimately get
submerged into the ocean after passing through mountains like Shankhkoot
and Vrishabh etc.
Kraustuki asked
Markandeya- 'O lord! Please describe about Bharatvarsha.' Markandeya
replied- 'Bharatvarsha is surrounded by oceans on all its three sides.
People living towards the east of Bharatvarsha are known as Kiraat while
people living towards the west are called Yavan. The central part of
Bharatvarsha is inhabited by all the four castes- Brahmin, Kshatriya,
Vaishya and Shudra. The seven mountains are situated in the central part
of Bharatvarsha. They are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahaya, Shaktimaan, Riksh,
Vindhya and Pariyatra. There are thousands of hills situated in the
vicinity of these seven mountains. The central part of Bharatvarsha is
sub-divided into Janpadas. The residents of these Janpadas are known as
Mlechha and Arya. All the major rivers of Bharatvarsha like Ganga,
Saraswati, Sindhu, Chandrabhaaga, Yamuna, Shatadru, Vitastaa, Irawati,
Gomti, Vipaasha and Gandki etc. originate from the mountains situated in
the central parts. The names of the prominent Janpadas situated in the
central part of Bharatvarsha are Matsya, Ashwakoot, Kulya, Kuntal,
Kashi, Koshal, Arbuda, Kalinga, Malak, Vrik etc. River Godavari flows
towards the north of Sahya Mountain.
A city named
Govardhan is situated near this mountain. Some other prominent places
situated in the vicinity of this mountain are Bahalik, Vaataghaan, Aamir
and Kaaltoyak. Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudras live in the following
states- Shudra, Pahalav, Charmakhandika, Gandhaar, Yavan, Sindhu,
Sauveer, Bhadrak, Shatadruj, Paarad and Kekaya. The following states are
situated in the north of Bharatvarsha- Taamas, Hansmarg, Kashmir,
Shulik, Kuhak, Urna, Darva etc. States like Abhrarak, Mudgarak,
Antagiri, Plawang, Mal, Daamal, Vartik, Uttarbrahma, Praagjyotish,
Madra, Videha, Tamraliptak, Malla and Magadh are situated in the east of
Bharatvarsha. States situated in the south of Bharatvarsha are Paandya,
Kerala, Chola, Maharashtra, Maahishik, Kalinga and Aamir. These are the
Janpadas where Shabar live.'
'Janpadas situated
in the west of Bharatvarsha are Suryarak, Kaalibala, Durg, Kaha, Pulind,
Toshal and Koshal etc. Bharatvarsha is the only country in the whole
world where all the four Yugas- Satya, Treta, Dwapar, and Kali occur in
a cyclic way. Bharatvarsha is the root of all forms of divinity where
deities reside and almighty God takes incarnation.'
Kraustuki asked
Markandeya- 'O lord! How does Shri Hari live in the form of a tortoise?'
Markandeya replied-
'Shri Hari in the form of a tortoise sits facing east. States situated
in the central portion of his body are Vedi, Madra, Maandavya, Shaalva,
Khaasa, Saraswat, Matsya etc. States which are situated in the mouth of
the tortoise are Vrishadhwaj, Anjan, Kasha, Magadh, Praagjyotish,
Mithila, Koshal etc. In the right foot of the tortoise are situated
states like Kalinga, Banga etc. Vindhya Mountain is also situated in the
right foot. States which are situated in the tail of the tortoise are
Manimegha, Kshuradri, Khanj, Konkan, Panchmad, Vaman, Sharkar, Chulik,
Ashwakesha etc. Mandakya, Chandarwar, Ashwa, Kaland, Ghor, Ghuratwadi
are the states that are situated in the left foot of the tortoise.
Janpadas like Kailash, Himalaya, Kraunch, Kaikaya, Takshashila, Gandhar,
Kharas, Yaudheya and Rajanya etc. are situated in the left side of the
tortoise's abdomen.'
Narayana in the
form of tortoise is that inconceivable soul in which reside all the
lords of deities and constellations.
Markandeya says-
'Bhadraashva Varsh is situated towards the east of the great mountain
Devakut. Five more mountains are situated within its area- Kauranj,
Shwetaparna, Neela, Shaiwaal and Parnashaalagra. Bhadraashva consists of
thousands of Janpadas. Numerous rivers like Sita, Shankhavali, Bhadra
and Chakravarta flows there. People living in Bhadraashva Varsh are full
of radiance and they live for 1000 years. Narayana dwells in Bhadraashva
in his incarnation of Hayagreev.'
'Now I am going to
tell about Ketumaal Varsh which has seven mountains within its area-
Vishaal, Kambal, Krishna, Jayant, Hariparvat, Vishoka, and Vardhamaan.
There are thousands of smaller hills apart from these seven major
mountains where people live. The names of the rivers flowing at Ketumaal
Varsh are Vankshuyama, Swakambha, Amogha, Kamini, Shyama etc. Narayana
dwells in Ketumaal Varsh in his incarnation of a boar (Varaha).'
'Now listen about
Uttarkurudesha. There are thousands of trees, which are fruit laden in
all the seasons. Apparels are made from the bark of the trees and
ornaments from its fruits. After being degraded, the residents of
Devaloka take birth here. Uttarkuru has two mountains- Chandrakant and
Suryakant. The river- Bhadrasoma flows between these two mountains.
Narayana in his incarnation of Matsya (fish) lives at Uttarkuru.
Chandradweep and Bhadradweep are the two famous islands situated at
Uttarkuru.'
Markandeya says-
'The people residing in Kimpurush Varsh enjoy a long life. They live for
10,000 years. They are never bothered by any kind of disease or sorrow.
Just behind Kimpurush Varsh is situated Hari Varsh. The residents of
Hari Varsh enjoy an eternally youthful life because of the sugarcane
juice they intake. Meru Varsh, which is situated near Hari Varsh, is
also known as Ilavrit. It is devoid of the light of the Sun but gets
sufficient light from the radiant Sumeru Mountain. It is so bright that
even the Sun gets overshadowed. People living in Meru Varsh enjoy a very
long life for 30,000 years. Similarly people living in Ramyak Varsh
sustain themselves by drinking fruit juice. They live for 10,000 years.
Hiranyamay Varsh is situated towards the north of Ramyak Varsh where the
river Hiranvati flows. The residents of Hiranyamay are powerful, rich
and handsome in appearance.
This Section
contains 6 sub-sections.
Conversation
between the Brahmin and Varudhini:
Kraustuki asked
Markandeya- 'O great sage! Now tell me something about Swarochish
Manavantar?'
Markandeya replied-
'Once upon a time, there lived a Brahmin at the bank of river Varuna.
One day, a guest arrived at his place. The Brahmin treated his guest
with due respect. After formal introduction, the Brahmin became aware
that his guest was not an ordinary person. He had travelled around the
world with the help of some special mantras he knew and medicinal herbs,
which he had in his possession. The Brahmin was quite impressed. He too
wanted to see the whole earth. He requested his guest to give the mantra
and the medicinal herb so that he could travel around the world just
like him. The guest applied some medicinal solution on his legs. After
this the Brahmin went to see the Himalaya Mountain. While wandering
there, the solution, which had been applied on his legs, got washed
away. As a result, he now became immobile. He started looking all around
himself. He found numerous Apsaras entertaining the Kinnars, Gandharvas
and deities. The Brahmin was very much pleased to see the happy
atmosphere prevailing all around Himalaya. He thought of going back to
his place but was unsuccessful, as the medicinal solution had been
washed. He became very sad. An Apsara by the name of Varudhini saw him
in a miserable condition. She became infatuated by him. When she went
near him, he asked- 'Who are you? Who is your husband? What are you
doing here?'
After this, he
narrated his own story and said- 'I had come from Aruna nagar to see the
Himalaya. But I am unable to return home as the medicinal solution,
which was applied on my legs has been washed. Varudhini told the Brahmin
that she was an Apsara. She also expressed her deep love towards the
Brahmin. She requested the Brahmin to stay there and not to go back
home. She assured him if he did, as per her instructions then he would
enjoy an eternal youth. He would never become old. Varudhini forcibly
tried to embrace the Brahmin. This made the Brahmin very angry.
He said-
'Varudhini! The sacred scriptures prohibit a Brahmin from indulging in
sensual pleasures because it gives sorrow not only in this world but
also after his death.' But Varudhini was not satisfied by his answers.
She threatened to give up her life if the Brahmin did not marry her. The
Brahmin did not agree. The Brahmin purified himself by performing
Aachaman and began worshipping Agni. He said- 'O Agni! You are the root
cause of all Karmas. The deities bless us with rain only after you are
pleased. O Agni! I need your blessings. I want to go back home.'
Markandeya says-
'Agni became pleased by the Brahmin's devotion. Agni entered into his
body. The Brahmin's body illuminated due to Agni's radiance. When
Varudhini saw this, she was fascinated by the Brahmin's appearance. The
Brahmin proceeded towards his home. Feeling helpless, Varudhini cursed
her fate.'
Varudhini had once
insulted a Gandharva named Kali sometime in the past. Chancing upon the
opportunity, Kali went to Varudhini take his revenge. He had disguised
himself as a Brahmin. When she saw him, she said- 'I need your
protection if you heed to my request then you will certainly attain
virtuosity. Kali did not want her to know about his real identity, so he
replied- 'If you really want my protection, then you must have your eyes
closed while having copulation.' Varudhini agreed.
In due course of
time, Varudhini became pregnant. She gave birth to a child who was named
Swarochi. The child was extra-ordinary. In a very short time, he became
proficient in all the scriptures. One day, young Swarochi saw a
terrified girl near the Mandaar Mountain. When the girl saw Swarochi,
she pleaded for help. Swarochi assured her and asked about her identity.
She said- 'My name is Manorama. Once I had made fun of a sage who was
doing penance near the Kailash Mountain. At that time, two of my
companions- Vibhaavari and Kalavati were also present with me. The sage
cursed all three of us. Vibhaavari and Kalavati got inflicted with
leprosy and tuberculosis due to his curse. Even I was not spared. I am
being chased by a ferocious demon since then. I need your protection
from that demon. I am giving you this very powerful weapon with which
you can successfully kill the demon.'
Swarochi took the
weapon. During the conversation between Swarochi and Manorama, a demon
arrived just then. The demon wanted to devour Manorama. Swarochi was
confused, as he did not want the sage's curse to go futile. He allowed
the demon to get hold of Manorama, who then started wailing. Hearing her
wail, Swarochi thought of killing the demon. Becoming afraid, the demon
released Manorama from his clutches and pleaded Swarochi to spare his
life. He then narrated his own story. He said- 'You have rescued me from
sage Brahmamitra's curse. Actually, my name is Indivaraaksha. I had
requested Brahmamitra to teach him the nuances of Ayurveda, which he
refused. I decided to learn Ayurveda while sage Brahmamitra taught his
disciples by hiding myself. One day, the sage came to know of this. He
cursed me to become a demon. I begged for his forgiveness. He said-
'Whatever I have said will definitely come true. You will certainly
become a demon. After becoming a demon, you will try to devour your own
daughter but would regain your original form of Gandharva due to the
touch of Astraanal weapon with which you would be attacked. O great
soul! Since you have liberated me from the curse, therefore, I hand over
this girl to you. Accept her as your wife. I will also bestow the
knowledge of Ayurveda, which I had learnt from sage Brahmamitra.'
Manorama requested
Swarochi to cure her companions from the diseases they were suffering
from. Swarochi assured Manorama that he would certainly cure her
companions with the help of Ayurveda, which the demon had taught him.
Both Swarochi and Manorama got married. Swarochi then went to her
companions and cured them from their diseases.
Markandeya says-
'After getting cured from their respective diseases, both the companions
of Manorama expressed their gratitude to Swarochi. Swarochi married both
Vibhaavari as well as Kalavati. To show her gratitude, Vibhaavari taught
Swarochi, a special art that helped him to understand the language of
all the living creatures. Kalavati on the other hand while narrating her
tale, said- 'A demon named Ali had asked my hand in marriage from my
father but my father refused. The demon got angry and killed my father.
I wanted to commit suicide but Sati; the wife of Shambhu prevented me
from doing so by saying- ' You would be fortunate to become a wife of
great soul Swarochi.'
Markandeya says-
After getting married, Swarochi started living happily along with all
his three wives at Malaya Mountain. One day, impressed by the mutual
love, Swarochi and his wives had for each other, a female ruddy goose
told another one- 'Very rarely are found such couples who have love for
each other.' But the other female ruddy goose did not agree. She
replied- 'You are wrong. Swarochi is not a blessed man. Actually, he
deceives all of his three wives. Even his love for all the three wives
is varied. When one wife is desirous of his love, he embraces the other
wife. So where is the question of having mutual love for one another? In
comparison, my husband and I are blessed because we have mutual love and
respect for each other.'
Swarochi, who was
listening to their conversation, realised how true the ruddy goose was.
But still, he did not change his ways and continued to live with his
wives for 100 years.
One day while
wandering, Swarochi saw a deer surrounded by a herd of doe. One of the
doe on having a desire to copulate with the deer started sniffing him in
anticipation. But the deer became angry and said- 'Do you think I am as
shameless as Swarochi? A man, who is sought by numerous beauties, his
condition becomes laughable. Not only does the daily routine of such a
man gets disturbed, but also his behaviour is never fair towards his
wives.'
Markandeya says-
'Swarochi became very sad after hearing the deer's utterances. He
realised how lowly and mean he had become. He decided to renounce life
after abandoning his wives. But this did not happen because as soon as
he met them, he forgot everything about renunciation. He continued to
live with his wives. In due course of time, Swarochi begot three sons-
Vijay, Merunand and Prabhaav. Swarochi ordered the construction of three
cities for his sons, which he donated to each of them. The city situated
towards the east was given to Vijay while the city situated towards the
north named Nandvati was given to Merunand. The city named Taal, which
was situated in the south, was given to Prabhaav.
Swarochi then lived
happily with his wives. One day, Swarochi had gone for hunting. He saw a
wild boar and adjusted his arrow on the bowstring to kill it. Just then,
a doe arrived and requested him to kill her instead of killing that
boar. She said- 'Kill me with your arrow so that I get liberated from my
sorrows. I don't want to live because I have become infatuated with such
a 'person' whose heart lies somewhere else. My aspirations remain
unfulfilled. So death is my only refuge.'
Swarochi was very
much amazed. He asked- 'Who is that fellow?' The doe replied- 'It is
nobody than you.' Swarochi was puzzled, 'How can this be? I am a man
whereas you are an animal.' The doe then requested Swarochi to embrace
her, which Swarochi agreed to do. As soon as Swarochi embraced that doe,
she got transformed into a beautiful lady. Swarochi was very much
astonished but the doe said that- 'Don't get puzzled. I am the presiding
deity of this forest. I have come to seek your help on the request of
the deities. It is your duty to help me in giving birth to a son named
Manu. Swarochi married her and in course of time, she gave birth to a
son. The whole atmosphere became joyous and happy at the birth of that
child. Gandharvas started singing songs and the Apsaras danced. The
deities showered flowers from heaven. The child was so radiant that all
the four directions became illuminated by his brilliance. Swarochi named
this child as Dyutimaan. This child was later on also known as
Swarochish, the son of Swarochi.
One day, while
wandering, Swarochi saw a swan who was telling his wife- 'Now, we have
become old, so what is the use of remaining attached to each other. Its
time, we must seriously start thinking of renouncing life.' But his wife
said- 'This world is meant for enjoying sensual pleasures. Even the
Brahmins perform Yagyas with that purpose in their mind. All the
virtuous people indulge in virtuous activities with the sole desire of
experiencing the pleasures of life. How come the idea of renunciation
has entered your mind?' The swan replied- 'One who is not attracted
towards sensual pleasures is totally devoted to God. One who is attached
by worldly matters can never reach God. Have you not seen the state of
Swarochi? How can he be liberated from the sorrows of the world if he is
not even willing to shun the attachments? I am not like Swarochi. I know
that after enjoying a fully satisfied life, this is the time to renounce
everything.' After hearing this, Swarochi was very much ashamed of
himself. He decided to do penance. His wives also accompanied him. All
of them ultimately went to heaven by the virtue of their penance.
Markandeya says-
'During this Swarochish Manavantar, Indra was famously known as
Vipaschit. The other deities were known as Paaraavat and Tushit. The
names of the Saptarishis who lived during this Manavantar were Urja,
Stamb, Pran, Dutt, Ali, Rishabh, Nischar and Arvaveera. Swarochish Manu
had seven sons who were very mighty and brave. Chaitra and Kimpurush
were two of them. The descendants of Swarochish ruled the earth till the
end of this Manavantar.
Kraustuki asked- 'O
lord! Tell me about the treasures of this world.'
Markandeya replied-
'Goddess Lakshmi is the presiding deity of learning (Vidya) called
Padmini. After getting perfection in this Vidya, a man becomes the
master of eight types of treasures- Padma, Mahapadma, Makar, Kacchupp,
Mukunda, Nandak, Neel and Shankh. The treasure called Padma is pure in
nature. A man who becomes the master of this treasure mainly deals in
things like gold and silver etc. Not only he, but also his descendants
derive benefits from this particular treasure. A person who is the
master of Mahapadma deals in things like pearls, corals etc. This
particular treasure does not abandon a man till his seventh generation.
The treasure called Makar is Taamasik in nature. A man who is the master
of this particular treasure is basically Taamasik by nature. Such a man
has mastery in handling over various weapons like swords, bows and
arrows etc. This particular wealth remains with a man only for one
generation. The treasure called Kacchupp is also Taamasik in nature. A
master of this particular treasure enjoys all the pleasure of this world
and he does not trust any person easily. This treasure also remains with
a man only for one generation. The treasure called Mukunda comprises of
Rajas quality. A master of this treasure becomes proficient in four
types of musical instruments like Veena, Venu, Mridang etc. Such a man
earns lot of money by exhibiting his art. The treasure called Nandak is
a combination of Rajas and Taamas qualities. A man who gets influences
by this treasure becomes immobile. Such a man deals in things like
metals, jewels, cereals etc. The master of this treasure is very
benevolent and kind hearted. This particular treasure remains with a man
till the seventh generation. The treasure called Neel is also a
combination of Rajas and Satva qualities. A master of this treasure
deals in things like clothes, cotton, pearls, fruits, flowers and things
made from wood. This particular treasure remains with a man till three
generations. A possessor of this treasure is a great social worker and
constructs bridge, ponds etc. The treasure called Shankh comprises of
Rajas and Taamas qualities. Only one person can master this particular
treasure. Such a man enjoys good food and is fond of wearing expensive
clothes. Normally, this type of man does not give shelter to other
people and is constantly thinking of his own betterment. '
This Section
contains 5 sub-sections:
Kraustuki says- 'O
lord! Now tell me about the Auttam Manavantar.'
Markandeya replied-
'Uttanpada and Suruchi had a son named Uttam. Uttam was married to
Bahula. Bahula did not love Uttam and always showed disrespect towards
him. One day, while both of them were sitting in the court, watching the
proceedings, Uttam offered a betel leaf to Bahula which she refused,
King Uttam felt dishonoured. He ordered his attendant to abandon the
queen in the forest. Bahula too was very happy, thinking that now she
will not have to be in the company of Uttam. This way, Bahula was taken
to the forest.
One day, a sad
Brahmin came to Uttam and said- 'O king! Somebody has abducted my wife.
I need your help in finding out my lost wife. Uttam asked the Brahmin
about the nature, physical construction and about the age of his wife.
The Brahmin revealed all the facts related with his wife. The king was
not impressed. The facts, which the Brahmin had furnished, went to prove
that his wife was not a chaste lady. The king expressed his view about
his wife in so many words. He said- 'What is the use of having such a
wicked wife? Forget about her. I will give you another one with all the
good qualities.' The Brahmin replied- 'O king! It is one's duty to
protect one's wife no matter how wicked she may be. By protecting your
wife, your children also get protected. A man who does not protect his
wife, has a son of hybrid class. His ancestors are degraded from the
heaven because of such type of sons. I am not able to perform my
religious obligations because of the absence of my wife. O king! Please
help me.'
While searching the
Brahmin's wife, King Uttam saw a sage at a secluded place. When the sage
saw King Uttam, he wanted to offer some Ardhya (some type of offering)
to him, which his disciples prohibited him from doing. Then, the sage
changed his mind and offered his seat to the king. The king asked about
the reason why he changed his mind of offering the Ardhya. The sage
replied- 'Though you are the descendant of Swayambhu Manu, but since you
have committed a grave sin by abandoning your wife, I decided that you
are not fit to be offered the Ardhya. No matter how mean your wife is,
it is your duty to protect her at all costs.' King Uttam was very
ashamed of himself. He asked the sage about the whereabouts of the
Brahmin's wife. The sage replied- 'His wife has been abducted by the
demon, Balaak- the son of Adri. He has kept her in the forest called
Utpalaavat. Go and help the Brahmin to meet his wife so that he doesn't
commit a grave sin like you.
Markandeya says-
'When King Uttam reached Utpalaavat forest, he saw a woman eating a
Shriphal fruit. The king asked that woman whether she was the wife of
that Brahmin- Susharma. The woman replied in the affirmative and said-
'The demon abducted me while I was sleeping. Since that day, he has kept
me here. I am very afraid of that demon.' The king then asked the woman
about the demon's whereabouts. The woman pointed towards the direction
of the demon's path. The king went in that direction.
When the demon saw
the king approaching him, he bowed down in reverence and said- 'O king!
What can I do for you?' The king asked- 'Why have you abducted the wife
of this Brahmin.' The demon replied- 'I am not the demon who devours
human beings. I devour their 'flaws'. I have many beautiful wives. So
where is the need of aspiring for another woman? Actually, the Brahmin
is a very learned man and has mastered the mantras. By chanting
Rakshodna mantras during oblations, he has increased my hunger by making
incantations. Therefore, I have abducted his wife to prevent him from
accomplishing any Yagya.'
The king became
very sad. He thought- 'What a grave sin I have committed by abandoning
my wife! Earlier, that sage too did not find me fit for giving Ardhya.
Now, this demon is also aware of the importance of one's wife in
religious ceremonies. How cruel I have been to my wife.' The demon told
the king- 'O king! What should I do for you?' The king replied- 'Devour
the flaws of this woman so that she becomes humble. After that, carry
her back home. The demon acted as per the instructions of King Uttam. As
a result, the Brahmin's wife became very humble. She said to the king-
'It seems, there is no fault of this demon. Perhaps, I must have caused
separation between a husband and wife, in my previous life and for that
very reason, I was forced to suffer this separation with my husband in
this present life. The demon said- 'O king! What else do you want from
me? The king said- 'You must be present before me whenever I remember
you.' The demon agreed. He carried the Brahmin's wife to her home.
Markandeya says-
'King Uttam wondered as to what should he do to get liberated from the
sins of abandoning his wife. He requested the sage to help him in this
regard. The sage informed the king that his wife was living at Ranatal.
The king of the serpents- Kapotak is looking after her. Kapotak has a
daughter named Nanda. Being concerned about her mother's future, Nanda
had hidden your wife. The sage became very furious and cursed her. As a
result, she became dumb. Uttam, your wife was always a chaste woman. It
was only due to evil influences of the planets that she was not paying
adequate attention to you. Now, you should go and take her back to your
home. Uttam returned back to his palace.'
Markandeya says-
'Uttam met the Brahmin and told him that now as he had reunited with his
wife, it was now his turn to help him (king) to re-unite with his wife.
The Brahmin assured Uttam that he would perform a Yagya named
Mitravinda, which would help him to achieve his goal. He requested Uttam
to bring his wife so that the Yagya could be performed. Uttam remembered
Nisachar, a demon and requested him to bring his wife. Nisachar went to
Pataal loka and brought his wife. The queen was very happy to see her
husband once again. She requested him to cure Nanda who had become dumb
for no fault of hers. Saraswat Japa was chanted to cure Nanda. When
Nanda regained her voice, she came to the oblation site and after
embracing the queen, blessed her by saying that she would become a proud
mother of a very famous son named Manu. After that, she went back to
Pataal loka. In due course of time, the queen gave birth to a son who
was named Auttam by the sages. '
Markandeya says- 'O
sage! The following Ganas who reigned during Auttam Manavantar are very
famous. They are the first Gana- Swadhama. The second Gana- Satya was
related with the deities. The third Gana was Shiva, the fourth was named
Pratardan and the fifth Gana was Vashvarti. Each of the Ganas are the
master of twelve deities. Indra by the name of Sushaanti rules all the
three worlds by the virtue of accomplishing one hundred Ashwamedha
Yagyas. He along with Shiva and Satya etc. bestows peace to the world.
The descendants of Auttam ruled the whole earth for the full period of
Auttam Manavantar. The Saptarishis during this Auttam Manavantar were
the sons of sage Mahatapa. The description of this third Manavantar is
now complete. Now I am going to tell you about the fourth Manavantar,
which is also known as Taamas Manavantar. '
Markandeya says-
'There used to live a king named Swarashtra. The deity Surya had blessed
him with a long life. The king had one hundred wives, but they were not
as lucky as he was as far as enjoying a long life was concerned. One by
one, all of them died. A king from the neighbouring state named Vimard
defeated him in a battle. After being defeated, Swarashtra went at the
bank of river Vitastaa and started doing penance.
One day, it rained
heavily and the king was swept by the ferocious current. The drowning
king saw a doe and held her tail to save his life. The doe told the king
that she was aware about the lust of the king. She also told her that
her pregnancy was causing hindrance in making love. The king was amazed.
He asked as to how she could speak like a human being despite of being
an animal. The doe replied that she was his most beloved queen Mahishi
in her previous life. She had killed a pair of deer while they were
making love. The doe had died but the deer survived. He had cursed her
to become a doe in her next life. The deer also revealed to the queen
that she would give birth to the mighty Lola. The same Lola would later
on become famous as Manu after defeating his father's enemies. The king
was very pleased at this. In due course of time, the doe gave birth to a
son after which she went to the heaven. The sages named the son Taamas.
When Taamas became young, he did penance to please Surya. Surya gave him
many weapons by the help of which Taamas was able to defeat all his
enemies. He brought all the enemies in front of his father but
Swarashtra forgave everybody. He gave his kingdom to Taamas.
Markandeya says-
'Taamas ruled over the whole earth. Four types of deities were famous
during this Manavantar- Satya Gana, Sudhi Gana, Surup Gana and Hari
Gana. Indra was known as Shikhi during this Manavantar. The names of
these Saptarishis who lived during this Manavantar were Jyotirdharma,
Prithu, Kaavya, Chaitra, Agni, Balak and Peevar. The sons of Taamas Manu
were very mighty. Their names were Nar, Kshanti, Shant, Daant, Jahnu and
Jangha etc.
Markandeya says-
'Now I am going to tell you about Raivat Manu. His father was Ritvaak.
Raivat was born in Revati Nakshatra. Later on, he became infamous for
his loose character. His father was very worried about him. Ritvaak
asked sage Garg as to how such a mean child had been born to him. Sage
Garg replied- 'The negative qualities of your son is due to his birth in
Revati Nakshatra. Ritvaak became very furious with Revati Nakshatra and
cursed it as a result of which, Revati Nakshatra fell down on Kumud
Mountain.
All the four
directions became illuminated and a reservoir was created. A girl
manifested from that reservoir. A sage named Pramuchi brought that girl
to his hermitage and named her as Revati. When the girl became young,
the sage was very worried about her marriage. One day, Hutaashan
revealed to him that she would get married to Durgam, the eldest son of
Swayambhu Manu. One day Durgam arrived at Pramuchi's hermitage. He saw
Revati and asked her- 'O beautiful lady! Can you tell me where sage
Pramuchi is? I have come here to pay my obeisance to him. At that time,
sage Pramuchi was busy performing his Yagya. Hearing his voice, he came
out. Seeing Durgam at his hermitage, he instructed his disciple, Gautam
to bring Ardhya for him. The sage said- 'Durgam is not only a king but
also my son-in-law.' Durgam was very surprised at what sage Pramuchi had
said. He asked sage Pramuchi as to how could he be his son-in-law and
who was his wife? The sage replied- 'Your wife is none other than the
girl whom you met sometime earlier. Her name is Revati. Then the sage
narrated the whole story how sage Garg had prophesised about Revati's
marriage with Durgam.' Durgam started contemplating on this peculiar
situation.
Sage Pramuchi
started to make arrangements for the marriage. When Revati saw the
arrangements being made for her marriage, she requested him to get her
married in Revati Nakshatra. Sage Pramuchi revealed to her that this
particular Nakshatra did not exist in the sky any more. Revati then
requested him to establish this Nakshatra in the sky. Sage Pramuchi
re-established Revati Nakshatra in the sky by the help of his divine
powers. Thus, Revati and Durgam got married. After getting married,
Durgam requested the sage to bless him with a mighty son. Sage Pramuchi
blessed him. After sometime, Revati gave birth to Raivat Manu. Raivat
Manu was proficient in all the scriptures. The chief Ganas of Raivat
Manavantar were Sumedha, Bhupati, Vaikunth and Amitabhaichar. There were
fourteen deities present in each of the Ganas. The presiding deity of
these deities was Indra by the name of Vibhu. The Saptarishis present
during this Manavantar were Hiranyaroma, Vedshri, Urdhvabaahu, Vedbaahu,
Sudhaama, Mahamuni, Paryanya and Vashishta. Raivat Manu had four sons-
Balabandhu, Mahaveerya, Suyastanya and Satyak.
Chaakshush had
manifested from the eye (Chakshu) of Lord Brahma in his previous birth.
For this reason, he was known as Chaakshush. Chaakshush was born to
Anmitra and Giribhadra. After taking birth, he was abducted by
Jaathaarini and exchanged with the son of King Vikrant who was sleeping
besides his mother. Being unaware of this event, Vikrant considered him
as his own son and named him as Anand. When Anand grew up, once, his
Guru instructed him to make salutations to his mother. Anand replied-
"To whom should I make salutations? The one who has given birth to me or
to the one who has brought me up and nurtured me? The Guru was surprised
by his reply. He said- "O son! Haimini, the wife of Vikrant has given
birth to you and so, she is your mother. But Anand replied back- "This
woman is not my mother. I have taken birth from somebody else's womb.
This woman is the mother of Chaitra. I am the son of Anmitra and
Giribhadra. Jaathaarini had abducted me and brought me here. She had
also carried Chaitra to Punarva's place and kept him over there.
Jaathaarini had devoured the son of Punarva. Now tell me, who is my
mother and to whom should I make salutations?" The Guru became confused,
so were the king and the queen. Anand went to the forest and started
doing penance. Prajapati became pleased by his tremendous penance and
appeared before him. He said- "O son! What makes you undertake such a
severe penance? Anand replied- "O lord! I am doing this penance with the
purpose of becoming free from all the bondage of my Karma and to purify
myself. Brahmaji said- "Only the mortal men are fit to become liberated
because they are bound by their Karmas but you being a virtuous person
are not bound by your Karmas. With my blessings, you would become the
sixth Manu. There is no need for you to do penance. Lord Brahma named
him as Chaakshush. Later on, he became famous as Chaakshush Manu. When
Chaakshush Manu attained marriageable age, he married Vidarbha, the
daughter of Ugra. Markandeya says- "Aapya was the most prominent Gana of
Chaakshush Manavantar. He was the master of eight deities. The second
Gana was called Prasoot. He too was the master of eight deities.
Similarly, there were two more Ganas- Bhatyakhya and Uthaga. Each of
them was the master of eight deities. The presiding deity of these
deities was Indra by the name of Manojav. The Saptarishis present during
this Manavantar were Sumedha, Viraja, Havishmaan, Unnat, Madhu, Ati and
Sahishnu. Chaakshush had many mighty sons like Uru, Kuru, Shatadryumna
etc. Now I am going to tell you about the seventh Manu who was called
Vaivasvat."
The Birth of
Ashwini Kumars and Revant:
Markandeya says-
'The Manu of Vaivasvat Manavantar was famously known as Vaivasvat as he
was the son of Vivasvaan (Surya). Surya was married to Sangya- the
daughter of Vishwakarma. Although, she had borne two sons (Vaivasvat and
Yama) and a daughter (Yami) from Surya, yet the radiance of Surya was
too much for her to bear. So, one day, she created a shadow identity of
herself and requested it to act as if she was the real Sangya. She said
to the shadow- 'As long as your identity remains unknown, I would not
reveal myself.'
After this Sangya
went back to her father's home and ultimately to Uttarkuru where she
started doing penance in the guise of a mare. Surya on the other hand
was not aware of Sangya's doings. In due course of time, the shadow of
Sangya gave birth to many children. Though she loved her own children,
she never had the same attitude towards the three sons of Sangya. Seeing
her discriminatory attitude, Yama tried to kick her with his leg. The
shadow of Sangya became furious. She cursed Yama's leg to get severed
from his body. Yama became very scared. He went to his father Surya
accompanied by Vaivasvat and Yami.
He told Surya- 'A
mother can never curse her own child. So, this woman is certainly not
our mother because she has cursed me.' Surya called the shadow of Sangya
and asked about her true identity but Sangya's shadow kept mum. Seeing
her quiet, Surya became very angry and he held her by her hair and was
just about to curse her when, out of fear, she revealed the whole story.
Surya went to the place of his father-in-law, Vishwakarma and asked
about Sangya. Vishwakarma feigned ignorance. He said- 'She did come but
she had returned to your place after staying here for a while.'
Vishwakarma knew the reason why Sangya had abandoned her husband. So, he
subdued the radiance of Surya.
This Section
contains 13 sub-sections.
Kraustuki says- 'O
revered sage! You have already enlightened me by revealing the names of
seven different Manus of each Manavantar. You have also told me about
the deities, the kings and the sages who existed during each Manavantar.
Now, I am curious to know about the seven Manus, the deities and the
sages of this Kalpa.'
Markandeya says-
'Saavarni, the son of Sangya's shadow would be the eighth Manu. The
Saptarishis of Saavarni Manavantar would be Rama, Vyasa, Gaalav,
Diptimaan, Krip, Rishyashring and Drauni (Ashwatthama). The three main
categories of deities existing during this Manavantar would be Sutapa,
Amitabh and Mukhya. Each of them is the master of 20 Ganas. Among these,
the Ganas- Prabhakar, Prabhas, Dathita, Dharma, Tejah, Rashmi and
Vakratu come under the authority of the deity, Sutapa. Similarly, the
deity Amitabh is the master of the Ganas like Prabhu, Vibhu and Vibhaas
etc. The deity Mukhya is the lord of Ganas like Dama, Daant, Rit, Soma
and Vint. All of them are the offspring of sage Kashyap. They will
become famous as the deities of Saavarni Manavantar. Bali, the son of
Virochan would hold the post of Indra during this Manavantar. Virja,
Arvaveera, Nirmoha, Satyavaak, Kriti and Vishnu will be the sons of
Saavarni Manu.'
Markandeya says-
'King Surath was the descendant of Chaitra. He was defeated in the
battle against King Kolvidhvansi. All his wealth was deceitfully taken
over by his cunning ministers. King Surath fled to the forest to save
his life where he met a sage named Medha. He stayed with him at his
hermitage but after a while, the thought of his lost kingdom began to
torment him. One day, while he was roaming near the hermitage, he met a
Vaishya named Samadhi. Samadhi narrated his woeful story as to how his
sons had driven him out of his home after taking all his wealth. But
inspite of this, his love for them remained intact. Both Surath and
Samadhi went to sage Medha and told him that- 'Inspite of our miserable
condition, we are unable to understand why we still have affection and
love for our near and dear ones even though they have cheated us.' Sage
Medha replied- 'O king! Due to the illusions of this world, human beings
are deeply influenced by attachments. So, there is nothing to be amazed.
Goddess Mahamaaya influences the mind of each human being. She does not
spare even the most learned one. When she becomes pleased, she bestows
liberation.' The king asked- 'Who is this Mahamaaya? Please tell us
about her.'
Sage Medha then
told them about Mahamaaya- 'O king! Goddess Mahamaaya is beyond the
reach of origin and destruction. When the whole earth was submerged in
water at the end of the Kalpa, Lord Vishnu took refuge of Yoganidra.
While He was sleeping, two demons, Madhu and Kaitabh manifested from the
wax of his ears. The demons wanted to attack Brahma. Lord Brahma got
scared and sought help from Goddess Nidra. She manifested from the body
of Lord Vishnu and appeared before Lord Brahma. Lord Vishnu woke up from
his sleep. He saw that the demons were trying to kill Lord Brahma. He
fought with both the demons for 5,000 years. Goddess Mahamaaya
influenced the demons' minds as a result of which, they asked some boons
from Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu granted the boons to them and said- 'Both
of you will get killed by me.' The demons said- 'We are ready to get
killed on the condition that you kill us only in such a place where
there is no water.' As the whole earth was submerged in water, so the
demons thought that Lord Vishnu would not be able to get a base to kill
them. But Lord Vishnu severed their heads after making them sit on His
thighs.
Markandeya says-
'During ancient times, the deities and the demons fought a fierce battle
which lasted for a hundred years. The deities were defeated in this
battle. Mahishasura drove out the deities from heaven and ascended the
throne of Indra. The defeated deities went to seek the help of Lord
Brahma, Vishnu and Mahadev. They narrated their woeful tale to all the
three deities. Brahma, Vishnu and Mahadev became furious at the demons'
cruelty. A powerful effulgence appeared from the mouth of Brahma, Vishnu
and Mahadev. Similar effulgence appeared from the bodies of all the
deities. The super effulgence was created from the unison of all these
effulgence and a Goddess manifested from it. The deities were very
pleased. All the deities presented their weapons to the Goddess. After
this, they hailed her name in a loud voice by chanting- 'Victory be to
her.' The Goddess laughed loudly. Her laughter shook the whole earth
violently.
When Mahishasura
heard her laughter, he proceeded towards her accompanied by a huge army.
When he reached there, he was amazed at the appearance of the goddess.
He attacked her with his army, which boasted of mighty warriors like
Chaamar, Chikshur, Udagra, Asilom, Mahaahanu, Vaashkal, Parivaarit,
Vidaal and Kaal. These demons had dangerous weapons like Tomar, Shakti,
axe, mace etc. One by one, the Goddess destroyed all the demons' weapons
and launched an attack on them. The deep exhalations made during the
battle resulted into the creation of numerous Ganas. These Ganas joined
the Goddess in the battle. Ultimately, the Goddess succeeded in killing
all the demons.
The battlefield was
covered by demons' corpses as well as carcasses of elephants and horses.
The deities were pleased by the outcome of this battle.
Markandeya says-
'After the killing of Mahishasura, all the deities including Indra
eulogised Goddess Bhagwati and said- 'We make salutations to her who has
manifested herself as a result of the unison of the powers of all the
deities, one who is revered by all the deities and the sages. May she
bless us. We make salutations to that Goddess whose powers are
indescribable even by Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. O goddess! Please
nurture the whole world with your love and care. We find ourselves
incapable of describing your grandeur and magnificence.'
Goddess Bhagwati
became very pleased with their devotion and asked them to demand any
boon. But the deities replied- 'O goddess! By killing Mahishasura, you
have already fulfilled our aspirations. If you really want to bless us,
then please appear before us at the time of our need. The goddess
blessed them by saying- 'So be it'.
Markandeya says-
'Now, I am going to tell you how Goddess Bhagwati protected the deities
by killing the demons- Shumbh and Nishumbh.'
Markandeya says-
'During ancient times, the demons- Shumbh and Nishumbh had captured all
the three worlds after defeating the deities. The deities went to
Goddess Parvati and eulogised her by saying- 'O goddess! You had
promised us that you would come to our help at the time of our need. The
time has arrived.'
As the deities were
busy eulogising Goddess Parvati, she was preparing to go for her bath.
She came near the deities and asked them as to who were they eulogising.
Suddenly, a divine entity manifested from her body and answered on
behalf of the deities- 'These deities are eulogising me.' This divine
entity was none other than Goddess Shivaa. As Shivaa had manifested from
the cell (Koshika) of Parvati's body, she was also known as Kaushiki.
Kaushiki possessed divine beauty. The demons, Chand and Mund happened to
see her.
Both of them went
to Shumbh and described to him about Kaushiki's beauty. Shumbh wanted to
marry her. He sent a messenger named Sugreev to Kaushiki to inform her
about his intentions. Sugreev went to Kaushiki and said- 'You are so
beautiful. You are fit to marry a mighty demon king like Shumbh who
rules over all the three worlds.'
The goddess laughed
and said- 'O messenger! I am ready to marry Shumbh or Nishumbh because I
know they are very powerful but there is one problem. As I have taken a
vow that I would marry only such a person who defeats me in a battle.'
The messenger replied- 'O beautiful lady! How can you fight the mighty
Shumbh who has defeated even the deities and who is the master of all
the three worlds?' Sugreev made persistent requests but the goddess
refused to go along with him. She instructed him to inform Shumbh and
Nishumbh about her vow.
Markandeya says-
'Sugreev went back to Shumbh and narrated the whole story. Shumbh became
very furious and instructed Dhumralochan to bring her by force.
Dhumralochan went to Goddess Bhagwati accompanied by 60,000 demons.
Initially, he requested her to come along with him. He also threatened
to take her forcibly if she did not accept her proposal. Goddess
Bhagwati refused to go along with him. Dhumralochan angrily ran towards
her. The Goddess made a loud roar as a result of which, Dhumralochan's
body was reduced to ashes. After his death, Dhumralochan's army attacked
Goddess Bhagwati. The mount of the Goddess- Simha killed all the demons.
When Shumbh got the news of Dhumralochan's death, his anger knew no
bounds. He instructed Chand and Mund to go and bring Goddess Bhagwati
after capturing her.
Chand and Mund
proceeded with a huge army. At that time, Goddess Bhagwati had
positioned herself at the peak of Himachal Mountain. She was mounted on
the back of Simha and was smiling sweetly. Chand and Mund tried to
enslave her but suddenly, Goddess Kali appeared from her mouth and
ferociously attacked the demons. She devoured some of them and killed
the rest. After seeing his huge army vanquished, Chand angrily ran
towards Goddess Kali. Mund attacked her with a range of arrows, which
infuriated Goddess Kali and she pulled Chand by his hair and severed his
head by a sword. Seeing him fall to the ground, Mund ran towards Goddess
Kali but even he was killed. The rest of the army retreated. After
killing Chand and Mund, Goddess Kali told Goddess Bhagwati- 'I have done
my duty. I have killed Chand and Mund. Now you should do the same by
killing Shumbh and Nishumbh.' Goddess Bhagwati replied- 'Since you have
killed the demons, Chand and Mund from now onwards, you will also become
famous as Chandika.'
Markandeya says-
'When Shumbh got the news of Chand and Mund' s death, he became very
furious. He proceeded to fight Goddess Bhagwati accompanied by numerous
mighty warriors like Udayudh, Kambu, Kotiveerya, Dhumravanshajaat,
Kaalak, Kaalkeya etc. When Goddess Chandika saw them coming, she made a
loud sound by pulling the bowstring. The demons came near and surrounded
Goddess Chandika and Goddess Bhagwati from all the sides. Lord Brahma,
Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu became anxious. They created divine entities
with the help of effulgence emanating from their bodies. These divine
entities resembled Goddess Chandika. They instructed these divine
entities to kill all the demons. Goddess Chandika requested Lord Shiva
to approach Shumbh and Nishumbh as her messenger and inform him that
they should either take refuge in the Paatal loka or be ready to die.
Lord Mahadev went to the place where Katyayani was fighting the demons.
The demons attacked her with different weapons but Chandika gave them a
befitting reply. Unable to face the assault of the goddesses, the demons
started fleeing. Seeing this, Raktabeej came forward to fight. Raktabeej
was blessed with a boon that was if a single drop of his blood fell on
the ground, this drop would create another form of his. This way, in a
very short time, thousands of Raktabeejas covered the battlefield. The
deities became afraid.
Seeing the
frightened deities, Bhagwati said to Kali- 'O Chamunda! Open your mouth
and drink each drop of blood coming out from the injuries of Raktabeej.'
After saying this, Goddess Bhagwati attacked Raktabeej with her trident.
Goddess Kali drank all the blood coming out from his wound. At last,
Raktabeej was killed. The deities were pleased. Goddess Kali started to
dance with ferocity due to the intoxication caused by drinking of the
blood.
Markandeya says-
'When Shumbh and Nishumbh heard about Raktabeej's death, they were
infuriated. Nishumbh attacked the goddess with a huge army. Shumbh
attacked from the other side. In the fierce battle, Goddess Bhagwati
broke the sword as well as the shield of Nishumbh. Nishumbh then
attacked Goddess Bhagwati with his weapon- Shakti. Goddess Bhagwati
broke it with her Chakra. At last, she attacked him with her arrows at
him and as a result, Nishumbh got injured and fell. '
When Shumbh saw
Nishumbh, injured and unconscious, he ran towards Goddess Bhagwati to
kill her. Goddess Bhagwati blew her conch and made a thunderous noise by
pulling the bowstring. Shumbh released the dangerous weapon- Ugradipti
in the direction of Goddess Bhagwati. But her weapon Maholkanaamni
destroyed it. Shumbh thundered loudly and attacked Goddess Bhagwati with
a volley of arrows but none could cause any harm to her. Finally,
Goddess Bhagwati attacked Shumbh with her trident. Shumbh fell down
unconscious. After sometime, he regained his consciousness and attacked
Goddess Bhagwati with his arrows. But she destroyed all the arrows. In
the meantime, Nishumbh had regained his consciousness. He got up and
attacked Goddess Bhagwati with his trident. In the end, Goddess Bhagwati
killed Nishumbh by piercing her trident in his heart. As Nishumbh was
dying, an another demon manifested from his body. Even he was killed by
her. Her mount Simha devoured all the dead demons.
Markandeya says-
'Shumbh became angry at the death of his brother- Nishumbh. He furiously
told the goddess- 'O wicked lady! Do not be proud of your strength
borrowed from others.' Goddess Bhagwati replied- 'O wicked demon! I am
the only power of this whole universe. I am the origin of cause and
effect. Look! All the divinities are entering into my body.'
The next moment,
all the divine entities, which had earlier manifested from the bodies of
the deities united with the goddess. Now, the goddess was alone. A
tremendous battle was fought between Goddess Bhagwati and Shumbh. Ambika
attacked him with numerous divine weapons. But, Shumbh neutralised her
attack with his own weapons.
Shumbh covered the
whole body of Goddess Bhagwati with his arrows. She broke his bow. After
this, Shumbh attacked her with his weapon named Shakti, which was broken
into pieces by her Chakra. Now, Shumbh took out his sword and attacked
her with it. She broke his shield and sword with her arrows. Shumbh then
attacked her with his mace. Even his mace was broken into pieces.
Shumbh had no more
weapons left with him. He attacked the goddess on her breast with his
clenched fist. She slapped him on his face because of which he fell
down. The next moment, he got up and manifested himself in the sky. Now,
a tremendous duel was fought between them in the sky.
In the end, she
dashed him on the ground and pierced the trident in his heart. Shumbh
was instantly killed. After the killing of Shumbh, all the deities
became pleased. The Gandharvas and the deities rejoiced. The Apsaras
danced. The whole atmosphere echoed with the sound- 'SHANTI SHANTI' (Let
there be peace).
Markandeya says-
After goddess Bhagwati had killed Shumbh, all the deities under the
leadership of Indra and Agni started eulogising her- 'O Goddess! Be
pleased up on us! Protect the whole world, as you are the goddess of
this whole universe. You appear in the form of this earth- the base on
which everything is situated. Your light illuminates all the living
creatures. You are the only power through which creation, nurturing and
annihilation takes place. You are the Brahmani, Maheshwari and the
Kaumari. We salute you because you have protected us from the terror of
the demons. We need your protection from all the calamities of this
world.'
Goddess Bhagwati
was extremely pleased by their eulogy. She asked them for any wish. The
deities said- 'O Akhileshwari! We need your protection. Clear all the
obstacles from our path. Eliminate our enemies.'
Goddess Bhagwati
replied- 'During Vaivasvat Manavantar, I will take incarnation from
Yashoda's womb- the wife of Nand, to kill the demons Shumbh and
Nishumbh. After that, I will kill the demon- Vaiprachit in my most
aggressive form. One hundred years later, I will manifest myself and
would be known as Satakshi because of my hundred eyes. My next
incarnation would be known as Shakambhari because I would nurture the
whole world during the period of drought. I will kill the demon Durgam
during that drought period. I will kill the demon Arun- the tormentor of
all the three worlds by appearing in the form of a bee. Due to this, I
will be known as Bhramari. I will take incarnations every time the
demons torment the world.
Goddess Bhagwati
says- I will clear all the obstacles from the path of such a man who
worships me. A devotee who listens to the great tales of how I killed
Mahishasura, Shumbh and Nishumbh, on the eighth, ninth and fourteenth
days of any month, would be liberated from all sins and poverty. He
would become free from fear. A devotee must listen to my divine tales
during all the religious ceremonies like making sacrifice, worship and
performing Yagya. By doing this, all his enemies will be eliminated. A
man who remembers me when faced with dangerous situation remains
protected by me.'
After blessing the
deities, Goddess Bhagwati disappeared from their sight. All the demons,
which had survived after the killings of Shumbh and Nishumbh, went to
the nether world to save their lives.
The sage says- 'O
king! I have described in detail about the greatness of Goddess Bhagwati
who is the creator of this universe. She is the one who bestows the
knowledge of self to us. She is the Maya (illusion) by whom the whole
world is influenced. You must take her refuge. You can achieve all the
pleasures of this world, heaven, as well as liberation.'
King Surath and the
Vaishya went to do their penance. While doing their penance, they
chanted the mantras of Devi Sukta. They made an earthen idol of Bhagwati
and worshipped it by offering flowers, Dhup etc. They did an austere
penance for three years implying various modes of worship. Sometimes,
they observed fast, the other time, they offered their own blood to
please Goddess Bhagwati. At last, the goddess was pleased and appeared
before them. She said- 'I am pleased with both of you. I will fulfil
whatever you wish.'
King Surath sought
her blessings in regaining his kingdom from the clutches of his enemies.
He also requested her to bless him with an undivided kingdom in his next
life. The Vaishya requested her to make him free from all kinds of
attachments. Goddess Bhagwati said- 'O king! Very soon, you will be able
to regain your whole kingdom from your enemies. In your next birth, you
would be born as Saavarni Manu, the son of Surya. You will also attain
self-knowledge and become free from all kinds of attachments.' After
blessing both of them, Goddess Bhagwati disappeared.
Markandeya says- 'O
great sage! Now I am going to tell you about the Manavantar of Saavarn,
which will be the ninth Manavantar. Saavarn was the son of Daksha.
During this Manavantar, there will be three prominent groups (Ganas) of
deities. Each group would comprise of twelve deities. During this
Manavantar, Indra would be known as Adbhut. The names of the Saptarishis
of this Manavantar would be Medhatithi, Vasu, Satya, Jyotishmaan,
Dyutimaan, Sabal and Hatyavaahan. Saavarn will have eight sons-
Dhrishtketu, Barhaketu, Panchahasta, Niraamay, Prithushravah,
Achishmaan, Bhuridruymna and Bhrihadmay.'
The tenth
Manavantar will be named after the tenth Manasputra of Lord Brahma.
During this Manavantar, the names of two prominent groups of deities
will be Sukhasin and Niruddha. The total population during this
Manavantar will be hundred people. The total number of deities during
this Manavantar will also be of the same number. The name of Indra
during this tenth Manavantar would be Shanti and the names of the
Saptarishis during this tenth Manavantar would be Aapomurti, Havishmaan,
Sukrit, Satya, Naabhaag, Apratim and Vashishta. The tenth Manu would
have ten sons- Sukshetra, Uttamoja, Bhurishen, Veeryavaan, Shataanik,
Vrishabh, Anmitra, Jayadrath, Bhuridruymna and Suparva.
The eleventh
Manavantar will be named after Saavarn, the son of Dharma. During this
Manavantar, there will be three prominent groups of deities- Vihangam,
Kaamag and Nirmaanpati. Each group would comprise of 30 deities. Indra
would be known by the name of Vrishakhya. The name of the Saptarishis of
this Manavantar would be Havishmaan, Varishtha, Nischar, Anagh, Vishti,
Agnidev etc. The eleventh Manu would have six sons- Sarvatrag, Susharma,
Devaneek, Purudwaha, Hemdhanva and Dhridhayu.
The twelfth
Manavantar will be named after Saavarn, the son of Rudra. The names of
the five prominent groups of deities of this Manavantar will be
Sudharma, Sumana, Harit, Rohit and Suvarn. Each group will comprise of
ten deities. During this Manavantar, Indra would be known by the name of
Kratadhaama. The names of the Saptarishis during this Manavantar would
be Dyuti, Tapasvi, Sutava, Tapomurti, Taponidhi, Taporati and Tapodhiti.
The Manu of this Manavantar would have six sons- Devavaan, Upadev,
Devashrestha, Vidurath, Mitravaan and Mitravinda.
Rauchya would be
the Manu during the thirteen Manavantar. Three prominent groups of
deities would be Sudharma, Sukarma and Susharma. During this Manavantar,
Indra would be known by the name of Divaspati. The name of the
Saptarishis of this Manavantar will be Dhritimaan, Avyay, Tatvadarshi,
Nirutsuk, Nirmoha, Sutapa and Nishkamp. During this Manavantar, Manu
would have eight sons- Chitrasen, Vichitra, Niyati, Nirbhay, Dhridh,
Sunetra, Kshatrabuddhi and Suvrat.
This Section
contains 4 sub-sections.
Markandeya says-
'As soon as the ancestors departed, a beautiful Apsara came near Ruchi.
Her name was Pramlocha. She said to him- 'O great sage! I have a
daughter named Maalini. The name of my husband is Pushkar. I want to get
her betrothed to you. Please accept her as your wife. In course of time,
she would give birth to Manu.
Ruchi accepted her
proposal. Ruchi married Maalini in the presence of sages. In course of
time, Maalini gave birth to a son who was named Rauchya. Rauchya
Manavantar was named after him.
Markandeya says-
'During ancient times, the ancestors of Ruchi were not pleased by his
unmarried status. He was a sage of high degree and used to have food
once a day. The ancestors asked him- 'O son! Why didn't you get married?
Grihasthashram holds a very important place in the life of a man. It is
only after paying his three debts (rina) that a man is entitled to
become a householder. All your efforts in paying off your debts towards
the deities and ancestors are useless unless you are married. Your
aspirations of attaining the supreme abode would go in vain unless you
have become a father.'
Ruchi replied-
'Getting married is the root cause of all sorrows. It also obstructs the
upward spiritual movement of a man. That is why I am not having any
interest in getting married. Having self control helps a man to attain
salvation.'
The ancestors said-
'The path you have chosen would never lead you towards salvation. A man
reaps the fruits of his Karmas committed in his previous lives in the
form of happiness and sorrow. An intelligent man must act in such a
manner that his soul remains aloof from his Karmas.'
Ruchi replied- 'The
path of actions (Karma) has been described as an Avidya in the Vedas.
Why are you pushing me towards that path?' The ancestors replied- 'It is
true what you have said. But at the same time, it can be proved wrong by
one's Karmas because Karmas are the means by which a man attains
self-knowledge. Your belief that your actions are purifying your soul is
based on false notions. Actually, by not doing your Karma, you are only
torturing your soul. Karma is very beneficial for a man's upliftment.
So, you must get married to enjoy a blissful life.'
Ruchi replied- 'O
great ancestors! Who will give his daughter to a poor and an old man
like me?' The ancestors warned Ruchi that if he went against their
wishes, he would face degradation in every sphere of his life. After
saying this, the ancestors disappeared.
Markandeya says-
'After the departure of his ancestors, Ruchi started wandering here and
there in his restlessness. After sometime, when he regained his
composure, he decided to do penance to please Lord Brahma. His penance
continued for one hundred years. After the accomplishment of his
penance, Lord Brahma appeared before him and asked what he desired.
Ruchi expressed his desire of getting married as per the aspirations of
his ancestors. Lord Brahma blessed him and also instructed Ruchi to
eulogise his ancestors so that his wishes could be fulfilled.'
Ruchi eulogised his
ancestors by chanting Stotras- 'I make salutations to my ancestors who
preside over the ceremony of Shraadh, who are pacified even by the
deities, by the chanting of Swaha, made during the ceremony of Shraadh.
I make salutations to my ancestors who dwell in the space and in the
heaven. May my ancestors accept the offerings, which I am making in the
form of flowers, cereals, water, Dhup etc.'
Markandeya says-
'Hardly had Ruchi accomplished his eulogy of the ancestors, a very
bright effulgence appeared in front of him, who were in fact his
ancestors. They said- 'Demand any boon.' Ruchi replied- 'Lord Brahma has
instructed me to enhance the process of creation. So I need a wife for
that purpose. The ancestors said- 'Here at this very place, you will
find a very beautiful wife. She would give birth to Rauchya. You too
would become very famous as Prajapati because of your numerous sons and
you will attain salvation in the end.'
After blessing
Ruchi, the ancestors departed for heaven.
This Section
contains 1 sub-section.
Markandeya says-
'Now I am going to tell you about the origin of Bhautya Manavantar. Sage
Angira had a disciple named Bhuti. He was short tempered in nature and
used to curse anybody at the earliest opportunity. Everybody including
the deities like Indra, Vayu, Surya etc. were scared of him. Nobody went
against his wishes and followed his commands.'
Bhuti had no
children and commenced a rigorous penance to achieve one. But still, his
aspiration remained unfulfilled. He decided to quit doing penance. His
brother named Suvarcha invited him to the Yagya he was performing. Bhuti
left the hermitage after entrusting his disciple- Shanti to look after
its affairs.
Shanti tried his
best to perform his duties according to the instructions of his teacher-
Bhuti. Yet, one day, the sacrificial fire got extinguished somehow.
Shanti became scared at the prospect of facing his preceptor's wrath. He
was certain of being cursed by Bhuti. Finding no other option, he went
to Agni named Jaativeda and sought his help. He tried to please him by
chanting Agni Stotra. He eulogised Agni in many ways. He said- 'O Agni!
The first of all creations, I need your blessings. Without you, the
Yagya cannot be performed. All the Vedas are full of praise for you. The
deities as well as the demons try to pacify you by making offerings to
you.'
The deity Agni
became extremely pleased by Shanti's eulogy and appeared before him. He
asked Shanti to express his desire. Shanti requested Agni to re-ignite
the sacrificial fire, which had gone off, so that he does not have to
face the wrath of his Guru. He then requested Agni to bless his Guru
with a son having all the good qualities. Agni was very much pleased by
Shanti's devotion towards his Guru. He said- 'Your Guru Bhuti would have
a son named Bhautya after whom the Manavantar would be named.' After
blessing him, Agni disappeared.
Shanti returned to
his hermitage and was very pleased to see the sacrificial fire burning.
In the meantime, his Guru Bhuti arrived. His Guru was very pleased with
the sincerity of Shanti with which he performed his duties in his
absence. Bhuti said- 'O son! I don't understand the reason why my heart
is overwhelmed with love. Love is alien to my nature. If you are
cognisant of the reason, please tell me.' Then Shanti narrated the whole
story. Bhuti was very pleased by his devotion. He taught all the Vedas
to Shanti.
In course of time,
Bhautya was born to him. He was the Manu of the Bhautya Manavantar.
During this Manavantar, there would be five prominent groups of deities-
Chaakshush, Kanishth, Pavitra, Bhrajir and Dharavrit. During this
Manavantar, Indra would be known as Shuchi. The names of the Saptarishis
would be Agnigh, Agnibaahu, Suchi, Mukt, Maadhav, Shukra and Ajit.
Bhautya Manu would have ten sons- Guh, Gambhir, Brahna, Bharat,
Anugraha, Shrimaani, Prateer, Vishnu, Sankraman and Subal. A man who
listens to the tales of all the fourteen Manvantaras is not only blessed
but becomes liberated from all his sins.
Lord Brahma had
created Daksha from the thumb of his right hand. Daksha's wife was
created from the thumb of Brahma's left hand. Daksha had a daughter
named Aditi. Maartandadev was the son of Aditi and his father was
Kashyap.
Kraustuki asked- 'O
lord! Tell me the reason why Vivasvaan Surya took birth as the son of
Kashyap.'
Markandeya says-
'During the initial phase of creation, when nothing existed, except a
large egg. Lord Brahma manifested inside that egg. Subsequently, he came
out from that egg. At that time, a loud sound of OM came out from his
mouth. From this sound of Omkar, were created Bhur, Bhuvah and in the
end Swah. These three mystic words are the forms of Surya. After that,
three more mystic words were created- Mahah, Jan and Tapah, each of the
former word being grosser than the latter one. In the end, the word
Satya was created, which was the grossest of all. These seven mystic
words related with the Omkar illustrate the gross and the subtle forms
of Vivasvaan.
This chapter
contains 6 sections.
Markandeya says-
'After Brahma came out from that egg, Rigveda manifested from his first
mouth. From the mouth facing south, manifested the Yajurveda. After
that, Samaveda manifested from his mouth facing west. In the end,
Atharvaveda came out from the mouth facing north. The Rigveda symbolises
the Rajo Guna while the Yajurveda symbolises the Satva Guna. Samaveda
comprises of Tamo Guna whereas Atharvaveda is the mixture of Satva and
Tamo Guna. The manifestation of the Vedas had illuminated the whole
atmosphere. But the manifestation of Omkar overlapped their radiance and
covered all the Vedas.
At last, the
radiance of the Vedas got united with that of the Omkar. The Rigveda
symbolises the form of Brahma during the period of creation while
Yajurveda symbolises Lord Vishnu during the whole period of nurturing.
Samaveda is symbolical of Rudra at the time of annihilation.
Markandeya says-
'In the beginning of the creation, Surya shed unbearable amount of heat.
This made the process of creation very difficult. Lord Brahma became
worried. He thought- 'Due to the extreme heat of the Sun, all the water
on this earth is getting evaporated. If this continues to happen then
how would the creatures survive?'
Lord Brahma
eulogised Surya to please him. He said- 'I make salutations to Surya who
is the object of contemplation of great sages, who is the source of all
energy. O Surya! It is only because of you that I can create, nurture
and annihilate. You are the protector of this universe created from the
Panchatatvas. Please subdue your radiance so that I can commence my
creation.'
Vivasvaan Surya
became very pleased by Brahma's eulogy and subdued his radiance. Thus,
it became possible for Lord Brahma to begin his creation. He created the
deities, demons, human beings, animals, vegetation etc. in the same way
as he had done in earlier Kalpas.
Markandeya says-
'Lord Brahma, after having created the universe divided the earth into
various islands. He also created the oceans and the mountains. Marichi,
the son of Brahma was the father of Kashyap. Kashyap was married to the
ten daughters of Daksha. He had numerous sons from them like the
deities, the demons and many creatures like reptiles. Aditi was the
mother of the deities, Diti of the demons, Danu of the Daanavas
(monsters). Vinata gave birth to Garud and Arun. Ravasa was the mother
of Yakshas and the Rakshasas, Kadru of the Nagas. Muni was the mother of
Gandharvas. Krodha was the mother of Kulyaava Ganas, Rishta of Apsaras.
Ira was the mother of the elephants and Taamra was the mother of Shyeni.
Ila gave birth to all the vegetation while Pradha gave birth to the
insects. The earth was inhabited with the progenies of Aditi's sons.
Lord Brahma had
made the deities masters of all the three worlds. This decision of
Brahma had made the Daityas, Daanavas and Rakshasas very angry. They got
united and started causing obstacles in the path of the deities. A great
battle was fought between the deities and the demons in which the
deities were defeated. Aditi, the mother of the deities became very sad.
She did a rigorous penance to please the Sun god. She observed fasts and
eulogised the Sun god for most of her time. At last, the Sun god
appeared before her but she could not bear his radiance which was so
powerful that she could not even open her eyes. She requested him to
subdue his power so that she could see him.
Markandeya says-
'After being pleased by the eulogy of Aditi, the Sun shed its radiance
and became sombre. Now, Aditi could see him. She said- 'O lord! Be
pleased upon me. The Daityas and the Daanavas have captured all the
three worlds from my sons. I request you to take birth as my son and
defeat the demons.'
The Sun god agreed
to take birth as her son. In course of time, Aditi became pregnant. She
engaged herself in religious activities so that she could become a
mother of a virtuous child. Seeing his pregnant wife observing fasts,
Kashyap became very angry. He said- 'It is not proper for a pregnant
woman to observe fast as it may prove to be harmful to the foetus. Why
are you trying to destroy it?' Aditi replied- 'I am not trying to
destroy my foetus. After taking birth, our child will destroy our
enemies.'
In her anger, Aditi
released her foetus. Kashyap started chanting the mantras of Rigveda. In
a very short time, her child came out from that foetus. A heavenly voice
was heard which said- 'O sage! Since you have called this foetus,
Maarit, therefore your son would be famously known as Maartand.' After
the birth of Maartand, the morale of the deities was boosted up. Indra
challenged the demons. A tremendous battle ensued between both the
sides. Maartand glanced towards the demons as a result of which they
were charred to death. The deities were pleased and eulogised Maartand.
At last, the deities regained their territories they had lost to the
demons.
Markandeya says-
'Vishwakarma had married his daughter Sangya to the Sun-god. But being
unable to face the unbearable radiance of the Sun, she went to do
penance after instructing her shadow to perform the duties of an ideal
wife on her behalf. Ultimately, she returned back to her husband only
after Vishwakarma had subdued the radiance of the Sun god. Vishwakarma
then eulogised the Sun god by saying- I make salutations to the Sun god
whose existence is beneficial for the whole universe. I make salutations
to one whose own origin remains a mystery and who enables our eyes to
see. I make salutations to the Sun god who destroys the darkness and who
lightens up the whole world.'
Kraustuki says- 'O
lord! Enlighten us on the greatness of Bhaskar.'
Markandeya replied-
'There was a king named Rajyavardhan. His subjects were very happy and
satisfied under his rule. They were free from all the diseases.
Rajyavardhan ruled for 7,000 long years. His wife was Maanini. One day,
while Maanini was applying oil on his head, she saw a grey hair. She
became very sad and started crying. A drop of tear fell on the king. He
asked the queen as to why she was crying. The queen told him about the
reason. The king laughingly said- 'I am fully satisfied by my rule of
7,000 years. The grey hair on my head is an indication that I must now
abandon my worldly life and become a recluse. This would be more
appropriate for me.'
When his subjects
came to know about his decision, they became sad. But nothing could make
the king change his mind. He decided to become a recluse after
appointing his son as his successor. The king called the astrologers for
consultation. The astrologers advised the king to change his mind. But
Rajyavardhan did not listen to them.
At last, his
subjects decided to eulogise the Sun god and demand a long life for
their king. All of them started worshipping the Sun god. A Gandharva
whose name was Sudama appeared before them and instructed them to go to
a forest named GuhaVishaal and continue their penance. All of them went
to the forest as per the instruction of the Gandharva. There was a
beautiful temple of Lord Bhaskar in the forest. They worshipped Surya
and eulogised him. Their worship continued for three months after which
the Sun god became pleased and appeared before them. Lord Bhaskar asked
them to demand any boon. He said- 'O Brahmin! Demand anything you wish.'
All of them said- 'O lord! If you are really pleased with us, then bless
our King Rajyavardhan with a long life. Please bless him with an eternal
youth and a life free from all the deities. We want our king to live for
10,000 years. The Sun god blessed them by saying- 'So be it'.
After receiving the
boons, all of them came to the king's palace and narrated the whole
story. The queen was very pleased but the king was worried. The queen
was surprised at the king's sadness even after getting such good news.
The king replied- 'What is the use of remaining alive for 10,000 years?
You won't be alive then. Will I be able to enjoy my life in your
absence? Will not the deaths of my sons, my grandsons and my near and
dear ones make me sad? The boon of myself enjoying life for 10,000 years
will actually prove to be a curse.'
The queen sadly
said- 'Whatever you have said is true. I could not understand this fact
because of my ignorance. Now, you must do your duty, as the boon of the
Sun god is not going to go in vain. The king decided to go to the
Mountain- Prabhriti and do penance. He wanted to receive a boon from Sun
god, which enabled all his subjects and his relatives to remain alive as
long as he lived. The queen also decided to move along with the king.
Both of them did an austere penance. The Sun god appeared before them
and blessed them. Thus, Rajyavardhan lived for 10,000 years along with
his subjects.
Markandeya says-
'Maartandadev had a son named Manu. The seventh Manavantar in which we
are living is named after him. Manu had many sons among whom Narishyant,
Naabhaag, Prishadhna and Drisht were the rulers of different kingdoms.
Manu had performed a special Yagya named Mitravarun with the desire of
having more sons. But after the Yagya, a daughter was born to him and
who was named Ila. Manu then requested Mitravarun to transform that girl
into a boy, if he was really pleased with him. Both the deities blessed
Manu and instantly that girl was transformed into a boy. He was named
Sudryumna.
One day, Sudryumna
had gone to the forest for hunting. Incidentally, because of the wrath
of Goddess Parvati, he again got transformed into a lady. At that time,
he was married to Buddh and a son named Pururava was born to them. Later
on, he regained his body of the male. This time, he became the father of
Utkal, Vinay and Gaya. All these three sons were very just rulers.
Pururava was made the king of Pratisthanpur.
This chapter
contains 10 sections.
King Prishadhna was
the son of Manu. One day, he had gone to the forest on a hunting spree.
He killed a cow by mistake. This cow belonged to an Agnihotri Brahmin
who was performing a Yagya. The Brahmin became very furious and cursed
Prishadhna to become a Shudra. King Prishadhna too became angry and he
wanted to retaliate. He took some water in his hand and was just about
to curse the Brahmin, just then the Brahmin's father Mauli arrived. He
warned both of them against cursing each other. He said- 'Anger
decreases the life span of a man. It also destroys the knowledge and
makes a man, a destitute. An angry person can neither be virtuous nor he
can accumulate wealth. Even if the king had killed the cow deliberately,
he is worthy of being shown compassion. But if he has committed this sin
out of his ignorance, then certainly, he is not fit to be cursed.
Therefore, O son! Don't curse the king. The cow must have died because
of her own past Karmas.'
King Prishadhna
made salutations to the Agnihotri Brahmin and said in a loud voice- 'Be
pleased on me. I did not kill the cow deliberately. It only happened by
mistake. The Brahmin replied- 'O king! I have never spoken a lie in my
life. Even my curse which I have given to you will not go in vain.' Sage
Mauli took his son to his hermitage. In course of time, Prishadhna
became a Shudra due to the curse.
Markandeya says-
'Naabhaag was the son of King Dishta. One day, he saw a beautiful woman
who was the daughter of a Vaishya. He was very enchanted by her beauty
and wanted to marry her. He went to the Vaishya and expressed his
desire. The Vaishya was terrified at the prospect of facing the wrath of
the king. He said- 'You belong to a royal family whereas I am a poor
man. There is no match between both of us. Why do you insist on marrying
my daughter?'
Naabhaag was not
amused at the Vaishya's reply. He threatened to give up his life if he
was not married. The Vaishya went to the king and narrated the whole
story. The king consulted his ministers and the Brahmins. The Brahmin
said- 'Prince Naabhaag should first marry a woman within his own caste,
only then he can marry the Vaishya's daughter otherwise he would be
committing a grave sin.
Naabhaag was not
satisfied by the Brahmins' decision. He decided to forcibly abduct the
Vaishya's daughter. The Vaishya went to the king and sought his help.
The king gave death punishment to Naabhaag. Hearing of this punishment,
Naabhaag went into hiding. The royal army went in search of him and
finally found him. Then a tough battle was fought and ultimately,
Naabhaag was victorious. The king himself came forward to fight with
Naabhaag. As the battle was going on, sage Naarad appeared and requested
the king to stop fighting. He said- 'O king! Please stop this battle.
Being a Kshatriya, it is not proper for you to fight a battle with a
Vaishya, which your son has become after abducting a Vaishya girl. He is
not entitled to fight with you.'
Markandeya says-
'The king stopped fighting at the request of Naarad. Naabhaag married
the Vaishya girl. After the marriage, the king ordered Naabhaag to
follow a Vaishya's occupation. Naabhaag got engaged in activities like
animal husbandry and agriculture. With the passage of time, a son was
born and who was named Bhalandan. When he grew up, his mother entrusted
him the job of looking after the cows. Bhalandan knew nothing about the
job he was entrusted with. He went to sage Neep and told his problem.
Sage Neep understood everything and taught him the nuances of handling
various weapons as a result of which, he became a master in this art.
After this, Bhalandan went to Vasuraat, the son of Pitravya and demanded
his share in the kingdom of his great-grandfather. Vasuraat refused to
give anything by saying- 'Being the son of a Vaishya, you are not
entitled to become a king.' Bhalandan became very angry and attacked
Vasuraat with a huge army. In this battle, Vasuraat was defeated. Now,
Bhalandan had control over the entire earth. He returned to his father,
Naabhaag in order to hand over the reign of the kingdom, he had won in
the battle. But Naabhaag refused to take anything by saying - 'I have
been cursed by my father to become a Vaishya. I cannot go against his
wishes by taking over the responsibility of a king as this would disturb
the peace of my ancestors who are in heaven and even I would not attain
liberation. The second thing is that you have won this kingdom by your
power and strength. It will not be proper for me to rule over this
kingdom.'
Suprabha, the wife
of Naabhaag was listening to their conversation. She could not stop
laughing. She said- 'You are not a Vaishya, because I too belong to a
Kshatriya family. During ancient times, a king named Sudev had a friend-
Nala. One day both of them went to the forest to hunt. In the forest,
Nala saw sage Pramati's wife and became enchanted by her immense beauty.
He wanted to marry he and tried to forcibly abduct her. Being a chaste
woman, Pramati's wife started shouting for help. Sage Pramati heard her
screams and arrived at the site. He became enraged when he saw Nala
trying to abduct his wife and King Sudev doing nothing to protect her.
Pramati requested King Sudev to protect his wife from Nala. King Sudev
lied to sage Pramati about his caste, to help his friend- Nala. He said-
'I cannot help you because I am a Vaishya. You must go to any Kshatriya
to take help. Sage Pramati was exasperated. He fumed- 'You will
certainly become a Vaishya as you have lied to me about your caste.'
Markandeya says-
'The king stopped fighting at the request of Naarad. Naabhaag married
the Vaishya girl. After the marriage, the king ordered Naabhaag to
follow a Vaishya's occupation. Naabhaag got engaged in activities like
animal husbandry and agriculture. With the passage of time, a son was
born and who was named Bhalandan. When he grew up, his mother entrusted
him the job of looking after the cows. Bhalandan knew nothing about the
job he was entrusted with. He went to sage Neep and told his problem.
Sage Neep understood everything and taught him the nuances of handling
various weapons as a result of which, he became a master in this art.
After this,
Bhalandan went to Vasuraat, the son of Pitravya and demanded his share
in the kingdom of his great-grandfather. Vasuraat refused to give
anything by saying- 'Being the son of a Vaishya, you are not entitled to
become a king.' Bhalandan became very angry and attacked Vasuraat with a
huge army. In this battle, Vasuraat was defeated. Now, Bhalandan had
control over the entire earth. He returned to his father, Naabhaag in
order to hand over the reign of the kingdom, he had won in the battle.
But Naabhaag refused to take anything by saying - 'I have been cursed by
my father to become a Vaishya. I cannot go against his wishes by taking
over the responsibility of a king as this would disturb the peace of my
ancestors who are in heaven and even I would not attain liberation. The
second thing is that you have won this kingdom by your power and
strength. It will not be proper for me to rule over this kingdom.'
Suprabha, the wife
of Naabhaag was listening to their conversation. She could not stop
laughing. She said- 'You are not a Vaishya, because I too belong to a
Kshatriya family. During ancient times, a king named Sudev had a friend-
Nala. One day both of them went to the forest to hunt. In the forest,
Nala saw sage Pramati's wife and became enchanted by her immense beauty.
He wanted to marry he and tried to forcibly abduct her. Being a chaste
woman, Pramati's wife started shouting for help. Sage Pramati heard her
screams and arrived at the site. He became enraged when he saw Nala
trying to abduct his wife and King Sudev doing nothing to protect her.
Pramati requested King Sudev to protect his wife from Nala. King Sudev
lied to sage Pramati about his caste, to help his friend- Nala. He said-
'I cannot help you because I am a Vaishya. You must go to any Kshatriya
to take help. Sage Pramati was exasperated. He fumed- 'You will
certainly become a Vaishya as you have lied to me about your caste.'
Naabhaag told his
wife- 'I would never accept the kingdom for the second time, which I had
relinquished at the instruction of my father. He then instructed his son
to rule over the kingdom he had won. Following his father's
instructions, Bhalandan started ruling over his kingdom. Later on, he
got married and begot a son named Vatsapri. Vatsapri was married to
Saunanda when he attained youth-hood. Vatsapri married her after killing
the demon Kujrimbha.
There was a king
named Vidurath. He had two sons whose names were Suniti and Sumati. One
day, while Vidurath was having his usual walk, he saw a large pit. He
became very curious. Just then, a sage arrived at the scene whose name
was Suvrat. Pointing his finger towards the pit, the king asked Suvrat
as to what it was. The sage said- 'A demon by the name of Kujrimbha
lives inside this pit. He controls all the events, which occur on this
earth and in heaven. He possesses a mace called Sunand and which was
made by Vishwakarma. This large pit which you see is the result of the
assault, he made with his mace. This demon is very cruel and wicked. He
torments the deities and destroys the oblation sites of the sages. There
is one very peculiar characteristic related with his mace. The mace
would become powerless if touched by a woman. But this is only a
temporary change because it regains its power the next day. But this
fact is unknown to the demon. After saying this, sage Suvrat went on his
way.
King Vidurath
returned to his palace and consulted his ministers. His daughter,
Mudaavati was listening to their conversation. One day, the demon
abducted Mudaavati. The king sent both his sons accompanied by a huge
army to bring her back but the demon defeated them. The king made a
declaration that he will marry his daughter to anybody who brings back
his daughter and sons from the clutches of the demon.
Hearing his
declaration, Vatsapri came to Vidurath and said- 'Give me your
permission. I will bring back your daughter and your sons after
releasing them from the clutches of the demon.' Vidurath gave the
permission. Vatsapri entered into the nether land through that large
pit. A tremendous battle ensued between him and the demon. This battle
continued for three days. On the final day of the battle, the demon
tried to take the help of his mace and went to grab hold of it. But
sensing that the demon was going to pick up the mace, she immediately
touched the mace as a result of which it became powerless. Being unaware
of this happening, the demon attacked Vatsapri with that powerless mace.
But he could not harm Vatsapri. Ultimately, Vatsapri was successful in
killing the demon.
Vatsapri released
all three of them- Suniti, Sumati and Mudaavati from the demon's
captivity and brought them back to the king's palace. After the death of
the demon, Sheshnaag acquired the mace. Mudaavati's name was later
changed to Sunanda, after that mace. King Vidurath became very pleased
and married Mudaavati to Vatsapri.
Markandeya says-
'Sunanda gave birth to 12 sons. Their names were Pranshu, Praveer,
Shoor, Suchakra, Vikram, Krama, Bala, Balaak, Chand, Prachand, Suvikram
and Swarup. After growing up, Pranshu became the king. Pranshu had a son
named Prajaati. Prajaati had five sons among whom Khanitra was one of
them. Khanitra became a mighty king and was very famous for his
religiousness and virtuosity. He distributed the kingdoms among his
brothers. Shauri was made the king of the eastern region, Udavasu of the
southern region, Muni of the western region while Mahaarathi was made
the king of northern region.
One day, a minister
of Shauri, Vishwavedi instigated him against his brother Khanitra by
saying- 'O king! You must try to capture your brother's kingdom as your
kingdom is too small for your descendants to rule over. A time may come
when your descendants would be forced to choose agriculture as their
occupation because the continuous distribution of your kingdom among
your progenies would leave almost nothing for them.'
Shauri said- 'My
brother is so kind to me. Why should I cheat him like that?' The
minister said- 'The duty of the king is only to look after the kingdom's
interest. The relation should not come in the way.' At last, the
minister was successful in convincing him. After sometime, the wicked
minister also influenced the rest of his brothers. Ultimately, King
Khanitra was left all alone as all of his ministers and even his sons
were misguided by Vishwavedi. Vishwavedi appointed four priests of
Khanitra as the supervisor of Yagyas. One day, while the priests were
performing Yagya, four ogresses appeared from the sacrificial fire and
tried to attack King Khanitra. But they could not harm him because of
his virtuous character. They then turned towards Vishwavedi and the
priests and killed all of them. Thus, Vishwavedi bore the fruits of evil
deeds.
Markandeya says-
'People present at the oblation site were shocked to see the dead bodies
of Vishwavedi and the four priests. When Khanitra got this news, he too
was shocked. Khanitra went to Vashishta and asked him the reason about
the deaths of his brother's minister and the four priests. Vashishta
revealed the conspiracy hatched by Vishwavedi to kill him (Khanitra).
Khanitra in a sad
tone, said- 'Shame on me as I have been the cause of the death of the
Brahmins. Had I not taken birth as a human being, my brother's priests
won't have died. I am the real culprit. What should I do now? Where
should I go? The remorseful Khanitra decided to relinquish his kingdom
and go to the forest to do penance so that, he could get liberated from
the grave sins of causing death to the Brahmins. He went to the forest
accompanied by his three queens after appointing his son Kshup as the
king. He did a severe penance for 350 years. After that, he died because
of his bad health. All the three queens died too and went to heaven
along with him.
Markandeya says-
'King Kshup ruled justly in the same way as his father Khanitra did.
Kshup's wife was Pramatha. They had a son who was handsome and mighty.
He had defeated all the kings and annexed their kingdom. He was married
to Nandini, the princess of Vidarbha. Nandini gave birth to a son who
was named Vivinsha. Vivinsha was a very mighty king. During his reign,
the earth had become very populated. The enemies of King Vivinsha were
very afraid of him but his subjects were satisfied by his just rule.
King Vivinsha had performed numerous Yagyas and after ruling for a long
time, he attained martyrdom while fighting a battle.
Markandeya says-
'Khaninetra was the son of King Vivinsha. He was very brave and valiant.
The Gandharvas had proclaimed that no one could match Khaninetra's
benevolence, who had donated the whole earth after accomplishing 10,000
Yagyas. Khaninetra had given so much wealth as donations to the Brahmins
that there was no need for them to take donations for the rest of their
lives.
Khaninetra was
sonless. One day, he went to the forest to hunt an animal for
sacrificial purpose needed during Pitra Yagya. The performance of this
Yagya was supposed to bless him with a son. In the forest, he saw a deer
that was cognisant of his desire. The deer requested him by saying- 'O
king! You can get my flesh by killing me.' The king was very amazed. He
asked the deer as to why it was willing to get sacrificed. The deer
replied- 'O king! I don't have any offspring. For this reason, I
consider my life as useless.' While the conversation was going on
between the king and the deer, another deer came near them and expressed
his desire to get sacrificed by saying- 'O king! Please kill me and get
the flesh because the flesh of this sonless deer would be of no help to
you.' The king was astonished. He asked the second deer as to why he was
willing to die. The second deer replied- 'O king! I have numerous sons
and daughters and this worries me a lot. Whenever my children go out in
search of food, I become very anxious till they have returned to me
safely. This way, I pass the whole day and night in anxiety.
The king was very
confused. He said- 'I don't know who is superior between a sonless
person and a person who doesn't have any son. Although I needed the
flesh for the accomplishment of Pitra Yagya but now after meeting both
of you, I have become confused. It is true that a man has to face all
kinds of sorrows because of their children but yet, a sonless man is not
complete and remains indebted. So, I have decided to get a son by doing
a penance just like my predecessors did in the past.'
Markandeya says-
'King Khaninetra went at the bank of the river Gomti and started doing a
severe penance to please Indra. After being pleased by his devotion and
eulogy, Indra appeared before him. He said to Khaninetra- 'O king! I am
very much pleased by your devotion. Demand anything you wish.' The king
replied- 'O lord! If you are really pleased with me, then bless me with
a religious and virtuous son because I am a sonless person.' Indra
blessed him by saying- 'So be it' and then disappeared.
Khaninetra returned
to his palace. In course of time, a son was born to him. He named the
child Balaashva. When Balaashva grew up, he became the king after the
death of his father. He annexed many kingdoms after defeating his
enemies and imposed taxes on them. After sometime, his enemies not only
stopped paying him the taxes but also regrouped themselves and
recaptured their lost territories. Balaashva had become weak due to the
constant battles. He had only the capital city in his possession and had
lost the other territories. One day, his enemies surrounded his capital.
Balaashva became restless as he would be no match for his enemies. In a
sorrowful mood, he heaved deeply covering his face by both his hands.
The exhaled air resulted into the manifestation of numerous valiant
fighters, chariots, elephants and horses. Very soon, this huge army
covered the whole area.
This army battled
under the leadership of Balaashva. Ultimately, the enemies were
defeated. Later on, King Balaashva became famous as Karandham because of
the huge army, which had manifested from between both the trembling
hands of Balaashva.
This chapter
contains 6 sections.
Markandeya says-
'Shubhvrata- the daughter of Veeryachandra had decided to marry
Karandham. A son was born to them who was named as Aveekshit. The
astrologers had predicted a very bright future for him. Aveekshit learnt
lessons in handling all kinds of weapons from the son of Kanva. In a
very short time, he attained mastery in the art of weaponry. Vara,
Gauri, Subhadra, Nibha, Lilavati, Manyavati and Kumridwati had chosen
Aveekshit as their husband in a Swayamvara. Aveekshit had also forcibly
married numerous other women.
Once, a Swayamvara
was conducted in the palace of the king of Vishaal for his daughter-
Sudati Vaishaalini. Aveekshit was present in the Swayamvara. But Sudati
due to her arrogant nature did not choose Aveekshit as her husband.
Hence, he forcibly abducted her by defeating the other kings. The fact
that a single man had defeated all of them had made the other kings
ashamed of themselves. All of them decided to fight Aveekshit unitedly.
They picked up their arms and marched towards Aveekshit with a huge
army.
Markandeya says- 'A
ferocious battle ensued between Aveekshit's army and the other kings.
Both sides fought bravely and Aveekshit managed to kill many of the
kings but was outnumbered and got severely wounded. Aveekshit was
finally made captive. Aveekshit and Sudati Vaishaalini were brought to
the king of Vishaal. The king instructed Sudati Vaishaalini to choose
any king as her husband but she refused this offer. The king then
requested his astrologer to choose an auspicious day for her marriage.
The astrologer said to the king- 'O king! The present time is not
auspicious for marriage but don't worry, very soon, the princess would
get married at the advent of the most auspicious moment.'
When king Karandham
came to know about his son's defeat and captivity, he consulted his
friends. All of them decided to attack the kingdom of Vishaal and
release Aveekshit from captivity.
Karandham marched
towards the kingdom of Vishaal followed by a huge army. A tremendous
battle was fought which continued for three days. Karandham became
victorious in this battle. At last, Aveekshit was rescued from his
captivity.
King Vishaal
decided to marry his daughter with Aveekshit but Aveekshit was
disillusioned with life. He said to Vishaal- 'I can never accept such a
woman as my wife who has witnessed my defeat. I have decided to renounce
life. So, it would be better if you marry your daughter with somebody
else.'
King Vishaal asked
his daughter to choose any other king as her husband as Aveekshit was
not willing to marry her.
But the princess
wanted to marry Aveekshit and believed that he still remained an
undefeated king because he had fought single-handedly with all the
kings. He was defeated only because of unfair means adopted by his
jealous rivals in the battle.
'I shall accept
only Aveekshit as my husband otherwise I shall remain unmarried', said
the princess. King Karandham requested his son to marry the princess but
Aveekshit turned down even his father's request. Seeing the futility of
his advice, Karandham returned to his kingdom. Aveekshit too went along
with him.
Sudati Vaishaalini
went in the forest to do penance. She observed a fast for three months.
She became very weak but still continued with her penance.
The deities felt
sorry at her condition. They sent an envoy to persuade her to
discontinue with her penance. The envoy requested her to stop torturing
herself. 'You would be a mother of a Chakravarti king who would be
mighty and powerful', said the envoy.
Sudati Vaishaalini
said- 'How can I become a mother without a husband? I have decided that
nobody except Aveekshit will be my husband. But he has turned down my
proposal. So, I have vowed to remain unmarried in this life.'
The envoy said- 'O
great soul! I have been asked not to reveal much. You must take care of
your health. Due to the virtues of your penance, you will certainly
become a mother.' Sudati following her instructions and broke her fast.
Markandeya says-
'Once, Veera- the wife of King Karandham and mother of Aveekshit had
taken a vow to accomplish a very arduous penance. But this could only be
accomplished with Karandham's and Aveekshit's assistance. Karandham had
assured her that he would provide all the wealth required for the
accomplishment of that austerity while Aveekshit had assured her of
physical help.
Veera commenced her
arduous austerity named 'Kimichhak Vrata'. This particular Vrata had a
peculiar characteristic and that was- any demand made during the course
of the Vrata, ought to be fulfilled at any cost failing which meant
forfeiting all the virtues of this arduous austerity.
King Karandham was
consulting his minister about the means that would change Aveekshit's
decision regarding his marriage. The ministers said that as Karandham
had become old, there was an urgent need for his successor. The question
was that who would become king after Aveekshit as he had decided to
remain unmarried. This thought was tormenting all of them.
Suddenly, King
Karandham heard the priest who was assisting queen Veera in the
accomplishment of the Kimichhak Vrata, telling somebody- 'The queen is
busy performing the Kimichhak Vrata. What is your demand? I promise, it
will be fulfilled by the queen no matter how extraordinary it may be.'
Aveekshit too
arrived at the scene. He promised that their demands would be met
without delay as it was obligatory for the success of Kimichhak Vrata,
which his mother was performing. Seeing the time as opportune, King
Karandham said before the people could say anything- 'O son! I have a
demand. Promise me that you will fulfil it.'
Aveekshit gave his
word. The king said that he aspired for a grandson but this was
impossible unless he (Aveekshit) got married. Initially, Aveekshit tried
to convince Karandham that it was an impossible task as he had vowed to
remain a celibate but ultimately he had to change his mind to honour his
words.
Markandeya says-
'Once, Aveekshit had gone for a hunt in the forest when suddenly, he
heard a female voice shouting for help. He proceeded in the direction of
the voice.
After reaching
there, he saw Danu's (a demon) son Dhridhakesha, holding a lady by her
hair. The woman was crying- 'I am the wife of Aveekshit. This wicked
demon is trying to abduct me.'
Aveekshit was
surprised as to how could the lady claim that she was his wife. He
apprehended that it must be the illusionary tactics of the demon to trap
him. But despite his apprehensions, he went near the wailing woman to
release her from the clutches of that demon. He warned the demon of dire
consequences if he did not release her. The demon left the woman and
attacked Aveekshit. A tremendous duel was fought. In the end, Aveekshit
severed the head of that demon.
The deities were
very pleased at Dhridhakesha's death. They praised Aveekshit for his
bravery. They asked him to demand any boon.
Aveekshit demanded
a valiant son for himself as per the aspirations of his father-
Karandham. The deities said- 'You would get your son from this very
woman, you have rescued. The child would become a very mighty king after
growing up.'
Being unaware of
the real identity of Vaishaalini, he told the deities- 'I had vowed to
remain a bachelor but changed my decision only due to the word I had
given to my father. But I cannot marry this woman because by doing so, I
would be breaching the trust of that woman who wanted to marry me and
who had rejected everybody for my sake.'
The deities then
revealed to him that this lady was none other than Vaishaalini whom he
was talking about. 'She had done a severe penance to be your wife.'
After saying this, the deities disappeared.
Vaishaalini
requested him to accept her as his wife. 'You have rescued me from this
demon. I offer myself to you', said Vaishaalini.
Markandeya says-
'After Vaishaalini had finished her lines, Aveekshit told her that he
was forced to abandon her in the past after getting defeated but once
again, he had regained her after defeating the demon. Both of them
decided to get married in the forest itself.'
'Right then, a
Gandharva- Tanaya arrived there accompanied by many Apsaras and revealed
to Aveekshit that Vaishaalini was his daughter in her previous birth.
'Because of the curse given to her by sage Agastya, she was born to the
king of Vishaal. Now you must accept her as your wife.'
Aveekshit married
Vaishaalini under the supervision of Tumbaru- the priest of the
Gandharvas. Both of them then accompanied the Gandharvas to the
Gandharva loka. There, Vaishaalini gave birth to a son. Knowing about
the feats, the child would accomplish in future, the Gandharvas
celebrated his birth ceremony with great fanfare. After the birth
ceremony, while Tumbaru was eulogising the child, everybody heard a
heavenly voice, which said- 'This child will become famous as Marut; he
will become the ruler of all the Mahipals.'
Everybody was
extremely satisfied by this forecast.
This chapter
contains 5 sections.
Markandeya says-
'After Vaishaalini had finished her lines, Aveekshit told her that he
was forced to abandon her in the past after getting defeated but once
again, he had regained her after defeating the demon. Both of them
decided to get married in the forest itself.'
'Right then, a
Gandharva- Tanaya arrived there accompanied by many Apsaras and revealed
to Aveekshit that Vaishaalini was his daughter in her previous birth.
'Because of the curse given to her by sage Agastya, she was born to the
king of Vishaal. Now you must accept her as your wife.'
Aveekshit married
Vaishaalini under the supervision of Tumbaru- the priest of the
Gandharvas. Both of them then accompanied the Gandharvas to the
Gandharva loka. There, Vaishaalini gave birth to a son. Knowing about
the feats, the child would accomplish in future, the Gandharvas
celebrated his birth ceremony with great fanfare. After the birth
ceremony, while Tumbaru was eulogising the child, everybody heard a
heavenly voice, which said- 'This child will become famous as Marut; he
will become the ruler of all the Mahipals.'
Everybody was
extremely satisfied by this forecast.
Markandeya says-
'After the birth of Marut, Aveekshit accompanied by Vaishaalini returned
to his father's palace. After making salutations to his father, he kept
the new born baby in his lap and told him that he had kept his word.
Karandham became very pleased after seeing his grandson.'
'In course of time,
Marut grew up. He had mastered all the scriptures. He was also
proficient in handling all kinds of weapons. There was nobody like him.'
'Karandham had
become old. He decided to go to the forest after making Aveekshit the
king but Aveekshit was not interested in becoming a king. He too wanted
to go to the forest. He said- 'The shame of the defeat still remains
there. How can a person, who was not able to protect himself, protect
his subjects.'
Karandham tried his
best to convince him to become his successor but Aveekshit was firm in
his resolve Finding no other option, Marut was made the king.
Marut went to the
forest and did penance for 1,000 years. His wife did the same and went
to live in sage Bhargava's hermitage.
Kraustuki asks
Markandeya- 'O lord! We want to know more about Marut.'
Markandeya says-
'After becoming the king, Marut started ruling in a just manner. He
performed many Yagyas under the supervision of numerous 'Yagyikas' and
esteemed priests. Angira's son-Samvart and Brihaspati's brother were his
chief priests under whose supervision, the Yagyas used to be performed.
Samvart had brought the peak of Munjavaan Mountain after uprooting it,
for Marut. King Marut's palace and the sacred oblation site were
constructed on this very mountain peak.'
One day, a hermit
said to Marut- 'Your grandmother Veera is very tormented by the
nuisance, the serpents are creating around the sacred oblation site. She
is very displeased by your negligence. The serpents have bitten seven
sons of a sage and have also polluted the water of the sacred pond. The
sages have started making offerings to the serpents to please them,
instead of paying attention on the performance of the Yagyas. Although
the sages are capable of destroying the serpents, yet they have decided
against doing so as this is not their job. This is the job of a king. A
king should be aware of each and every event taking place in his
kingdom. You are not aware of the misdeeds of the serpents because you
don't have any detective to keep you informed of such events. Being a
king, it is your duty to protect your subjects by punishing the wrong
doers. If you don't do this then you will become a sinner. O king! Your
grandmother is very much concerned about your negligent attitude and
wants you to act in a way befitting a king.'
Markandeya says-
'Marut was ashamed after hearing the sage's words. He cursed himself for
his negligence. He picked up his bow and arrows in anger and went to the
oblation site. When he reached there, he saw the dead bodies of seven
hermits lying on the ground. Being enraged, he picked up his most
devastating weapon named Samvartak. The serpents became terrified as the
tremendous amount of heat generated by this weapon had started to burn
them. Unable to bear the tremendous heat caused by the weapon, the
serpents took the refuge of Bhamini (Vaishaalini)- the mother of Marut.'
'Sometime in the
past, Vaishaalini had promised to protect the serpents when in danger.
Vaishaalini requested her husband- Aveekshit to persuade Marut against
killing the serpents. Aveekshit told her that the intensity of Marut's
anger was a result of the grave sins committed by the serpents. 'But for
your sake, I will request him to pardon the serpents- If he still does
not agree to stop killing the serpents then I will have no option but to
destroy his weapon- Samvartak.'
After saying this,
Aveekshit picked up his bow and arrows and went to the oblation site
accompanied by his wife.
Markandeya says-
'When Aveekshit reached the oblation site, he found that the whole
atmosphere was ablaze by the tremendous heat generated by Marut's
weapon, Samvartak. He requested Marut to drop his weapon but Marut
refused by saying- 'O father! These serpents are the culprits. They have
killed the hermit's sons. They have also polluted the reservoir and
caused obstacles in the accomplishment of oblation-rituals. I am never
going to forgive them.
Aveekshit told
Marut that the serpents had taken his refuge and hence he should forgive
them to protect the honour of his father's promise. When Marut did not
listen, Aveekshit picked up his weapon 'Kaal' to kill him. Marut
enquired from him as to why he was trying to kill his own son, who was
just performing his duty of protecting the oblation site from the
serpents. Aveekshit replied that he too was duty bound to protect the
serpents that had taken his refuge.
When the sages saw
both father and son were bent on killing each other, they intervened and
advised them against killing each other. Right then, a sage came with
the news that the serpents had agreed to make all the dead sons of the
hermit, alive.
Thus, all the dead
sons of the hermits became alive and once again, the father and son were
prevented from killing each other.
From then onwards,
Marut took proper care while ruling his kingdom. Later on, he married
Sukesha- the daughter of Kekaya, Saindhavi- the daughter of Sindhuraaj,
Vayushmati- the daughter of Chediraaj etc. He had eighteen sons from his
wives among whom, Narishyant was the eldest.
This chapter
contains 2 sections.
Markandeya says-
'Among the eighteen sons of Marut, Narishyant was the eldest. Marut
ruled over his kingdom for 70,015 years after which Narishyant succeeded
him as the king. Marut went to the forest to do penance. After becoming
the king, Narishyant decided to perform a grand Yagya, the like of which
had never been accomplished by his ancestors. Narishyant made such huge
donations to the Brahmins that it was more than enough for their future
generations to come.
Once, Narishyant
decided to organise another Yagya grander than the earlier one. But no
priest was found to supervise it. At his repeated requests, some
Brahmins agreed to supervise the Yagya. But this particular Yagya was
unique of its kind because the Brahmins played the part of host as well
as that of priests. The Brahmins made donations to the Brahmins who were
acting as priests. In this grand Yagya, crores of Yagyas were performed
in all the directions of the earth at one time. This grand Yagya was
possible only because of the wealth donated to the Brahmins by King
Narishyant. Narishyant was such a religious and virtuous king.
Narishyant felt
joyous that due to his donations, the Brahmins had become wealthy and at
the same time, he was also sad that his desire of performing a grand
Yagya was not going to be accomplished as the Brahmins no longer needed
donations.
Markandeya says-
Dama was the son of Narishyant. His mother was Indrasena- the daughter
of Babhru. He became the master in archery under the tutelage of
Vrishparva. He also learnt the nuances of handling other kinds of
weapons under the guidance of Dundubhi. He learnt the scriptures from
sage Shakti and the art of yoga from Aashartishen.
Sumana, the
daughter of King Charusharma had chosen Dama as her husband in a
Swayamvara. But Mahanand, Vayushmaan and Mahadhanu did not like her
decision, as they too wanted to marry her. All three of them decided to
abduct her by force and marry who ever among them she decided to marry
with. Their evil intentions were corroborated by the friends of Dama.
Thus, all three of them abducted Sumana. Dama became angry. He asked all
the kings who were present in the Swayamvara- 'Tell me whether
Swayamvara is religious or irreligious?'
One of the kings
said that certainly a Swayamvara is religious and only Dama has the
right to marry Sumana as she had herself chosen him. But some other
kings supported Dama's opponents. They said- 'Raakshas Vivaaha is the
norm prevalent among people possessing arms. Only such a person has a
right to marry Sumana who has defeated his rivals.'
Dama became furious
with them. He knew that they were saying such things out of jealousy.
But still he decided to accept their proposal. He threw an open
challenge by saying- 'Anybody who wants to die may abduct my wife in
front of my eyes.'
A tremendous battle
was fought between Dama and his opponents.
At first, Mahanand
came forward to fight him with a sword in his hand. Dama showered a
volley of arrows at him. All the arrows were neutralised by Mahanand.
After that, Mahanand jumped and climbed on the chariot of Dama. Dama
severed his head. After the killing of Mahanand, Vayushmaan came forward
to fight Dama but his sword was broken into two pieces by the assault of
Dama. Dama then killed his charioteer. After that, Vayushmaan picked up
his spiked mace but Dama destroyed even this mace. In the battle,
Vayushmaan got injured and fell on the ground. Vayushmaan quit the idea
of fighting. Seeing him reluctant to fight, Dama spared his life.
At last,
Charusharma married his daughter Sumana with Dama. After staying for
some days at his father-in-law's place, Dama returned home accompanied
by his wife- Sumana.
Markandeya says-
'When the newly married couple- Dama and Sumana returned to the capital,
King Narishyant was extremely pleased. King Narishyant after knowing
about the brave deeds of his son was very proud of him. As he had become
old, he appointed Dama as his successor and he went in the forest to do
penance accompanied by his wife- Indrasena.
Once, Vayushmaan
came in the same forest where King Narishyant was doing his penance.
After seeing Narishyant and his wife, he enquired as to, who they were.
But King Narishyant did not give any reply as he was observing a Mauna
Vrata. Somehow, Vayushmaan came to know about his identity that he was
none other than the father of his bitter enemy- Dama. He felt that this
was the most opportune moment for him to take his revenge and killed
Narishyant. Indrasena on seeing her dead husband, started to wail. All
the sages and hermits who were doing penance in that forest arrived
there and started cursing Vayushmaan for the grave sin he had committed.
Indrasena requested one of the sages to go and inform Dama about his
father's death. She said- 'Go and tell him that his father Narishyant
has been killed by Vayushmaan while he was doing penance. Now, it was
his duty to avenge his father's death.' After saying this, Indrasena
committed Sati by jumping into the burning pyre of her husband.
This chapter
contains 2 sections.
Markandeya says-
'When Dama came to know about his father's death, he became extremely
furious. Although he was very patient by nature but still the news of
his father's death made him restless. He thought- 'Shame on me. Inspite
of myself being alive, the wicked Vayushmaan had killed my father. I
have failed in my duty. Being a king, it is my duty to punish the wicked
people and protect the virtuous ones. But my enemy is still alive after
committing a heinous crime. Now, I will perform my father's Tarpan only
with the blood of Vayushmaan. If I fail in doing this, then I would give
up my life by jumping into the fire. I will not only kill Vayushmaan but
also his whole family. Whoever tries to help him will be put to death.
Even if the deities, Yama or Kuber try to help him, they will get
destroyed.'
Markandeya says-
'When Dama came to know about his father's death, he became extremely
furious. Although he was very patient by nature but still the news of
his father's death made him restless. He thought- 'Shame on me. Inspite
of myself being alive, the wicked Vayushmaan had killed my father. I
have failed in my duty. Being a king, it is my duty to punish the wicked
people and protect the virtuous ones. But my enemy is still alive after
committing a heinous crime. Now, I will perform my father's Tarpan only
with the blood of Vayushmaan. If I fail in doing this, then I would give
up my life by jumping into the fire. I will not only kill Vayushmaan but
also his whole family. Whoever tries to help him will be put to death.
Even if the deities, Yama or Kuber try to help him, they will get
destroyed.'
The birds said- 'O
Jaimini! This was the way, sage Markandeya had narrated the divine tales
to Kraustuki. A person who either studies this Puraan or listens to it
achieves great accomplishment. All his desires are fulfilled and he
enjoys a long life. He becomes free from all his sins. Markandeya Puraan
is the seventh among all the eighteen Puraans. Listening to it helps a
man to atone for all the sins committed during the period of one hundred
crore Kalpas. The virtues attained by listening to Markandeya Puraan are
equivalent to the virtues attained by making donations at Pushkar or by
studying all the Vedas.'
Jaimini replied- 'O
birds! You have enlightened my mind by narrating the tales of Markandeya
Puraan and have made it free from all sorts of confusion. May the
almighty God bless you, may you enjoy a long life free from all the
diseases.'
Saying like this, Jaimini went
back to his hermitage.
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Markandeya Purana (Original Sanskrit Text)