VISHNU PURANA.- BOOK I. CHAP. 1. to 10

 

 

VISHNU PURANA.- BOOK I.

 BOOK I., CONTENTS., BOOK I.

 

CHAP. I.--Invocation. Maitreya inquires of his teacher, Paras'ara, the origin and nature of the universe. Paras'ara performs a rite to destroy the demons: reproved by Vas'ishtha, he desists: Pulastya appears, and bestows upon him divine knowledge: he repeats the Vishnu Purana. Vishnu the origin, existence, and end of all things.

 

CHAP. II.--Prayer of Paras'ara to Vishnu. Successive narration of the Vishnu Purana. Explanation of Vasudeva: his existence before creation: his first manifestations. Description of Pradhana, or the chief principle of things. Cosmogony. Of Prakrita, or material creation; of time; of the active cause. Development of effects; Mahat; Ahankara; Tanmatras; elements; objects of sense; senses; of the mundane egg. Vishnu the same as Brahma the creator; Vishnu the preserver; Rudra the destroyer.

 

CHAP. III.--Measure of time. Moments or Kashthas, &c.; day and night, fortnight, month, year, divine year: Yugas, or ages: Mahayuga, or great age: day of Brahma: periods of the Manus: a Manwantara: night of Brahma, and destruction of the world: a year of Brahma: his life: a Kalpa: a Pararddha: the past, or Padma Kalpa: the present, or Varaha.

 

CHAP. IV.--Narayana's appearance, in the beginning of the Kalpa, as the Varaha or boar: Prithivi (Earth) addresses him: he raises the world from beneath the waters: hymned by Sanandana and the Yogis. The earth floats on the ocean: divided into seven zones. The lower spheres of the universe restored. Creation renewed.

 

CHAP. V.--Vishnu as Brahma creates the world. General characteristics of creation. Brahma meditates, and gives origin to immovable things, animals, gods, men. Specific creation of nine kinds; Mahat, Tanmatra, Aindriya, inanimate objects, animals, gods, men, Anugraha, and Kaumara. More particular account of creation. Origin of different orders of beings from Brahma's body under different conditions; and of the Vedas from his mouths. All things created again as they existed in a former Kalpa.

 

CHAP. VI.--Origin of the four castes: their primitive state. Progress of society. Different kinds of grain. Efficacy of sacrifice. Duties of men: regions. assigned them after death.

 

CHAP. VII.--Creation continued. Production of the mind-born sons of Brahma; of the Prajapatis; of Sanandana and others; of Rudra and the eleven Rudras; of the Manu Swayambhuva, and his wife S'atarupa; of their children, The daughters of Daksha, and their marriage to Dharma and others. The progeny of Dharma and Adharma. The perpetual succession of worlds, and different modes of mundane dissolution.

 

CHAP. VIII.--Origin of Rudra: his becoming eight Rudras: their wives and children. The posterity of Bhrigu. Account of S'ri in conjunction with Vishnu. (Sacrifice of Daksha.)

 

CHAP. IX.--Legend of Lakshmi. Durvasas gives a garland to Indra: he treats it disrespectfully, and is cursed by the Muni. The power of the gods impaired: they are oppressed by the Danavas, and have recourse to Vishnu. The churning of the ocean. Praises of S'ri.

 

CHAP. X.--The descendants of the daughters of Daksha married to the Rishis.

CHAP. 1. to 10

 

Invocation. Maitreya inquires of his teacher, Paras'ara, the origin and nature of the universe. Paras'ara performs a rite to destroy the demons: reproved by Vas'ishtha, he desists: Pulastya appears, and bestows upon him divine knowledge: he repeats the Vishnu Purana. Vishnu the origin, existence, and end of all things.

 

OM! GLORY TO VASUDEVA. --Victory be to thee, Pundarikaksha; adoration be to thee, Viswabhavana; glory be to thee, Hrishikes'a, Mahapurusha, and Purvaja [*2].

 

May that Vishnu, who is the existent, imperishable, Brahma, who is Is'wara, who is spirit; who with the three qualities is the cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; who is the parent of nature, intellect, and the other ingredients of the universe; be to us the bestower of understanding, wealth, and final emancipation.

 

Having adored Vishnu, the lord of all, and paid reverence to Brahma and the rest; having also saluted the spiritual preceptor; I will narrate a Purana equal in sanctity to the Vedas.

 

Maitreya, having saluted him reverentially, thus addressed Paras'ara, the excellent sage, the grandson of Vas'ishtha, who was versed in traditional history, and the Puranas; who was acquainted with the Vedas, and the branches of science dependent upon them; and skilled in law and philosophy; and who had performed the morning rites of devotion.

 

Maitreya said, Master! I have been instructed by you in the whole of the Vedas, and in the institutes of law and of sacred science: through your favour, other men, even though they be my foes, cannot accuse me of having been remiss in the acquirement of knowledge. I am now desirous, oh thou who art profound in piety! to hear from thee, how this world was, and how in future it will be? what is its substance, oh Brahman, and whence proceeded animate and inanimate things? into what has it been resolved, and into what will its dissolution again occur? how were the elements manifested? whence proceeded the gods and other beings? what are the situation and extent of the oceans and the mountains, the earth, the sun, and the planets? what are the families of the gods and others, the Menus, the periods called Manwantaras, those termed Kalpas, and their subdivisions, and the four ages: the events that happen at the close of a Kalpa, and the terminations of the several ages: the histories, oh great Muni, of the gods, the sages, and kings; and how the Vedas were divided into branches (or schools), after they had been arranged by Vyasa: the duties of the Brahmans, and the other tribes, as well as of those who pass through the different orders of life? All these things I wish to hear from you, grandson of Vas'ishtha. Incline thy thoughts benevolently towards me, that I may, through thy favour, be informed of all I desire to know.

 

Paras'ara replied, Well inquired, pious Maitreya. You recall to my recollection that which was of old narrated by my father's father, Vas'ishtha. I had heard that my father had been devoured by a Rakshas employed by Viswamitra: violent anger seized me, and I commenced a sacrifice for the destruction of the Rakshasas: hundreds of them were reduced to ashes by the rite, when, as they were about to be entirely extirpated, my grandfather Vas'ishtha thus spake to me: Enough, my child; let thy wrath be appeased: the Rakshasas are not culpable: thy father's death was the work of destiny. Anger is the passion of fools; it becometh not a wise man. By whom, it may be asked, is any one killed? Every man reaps the consequences of his own acts. Anger, my son, is the destruction of all that man obtains by arduous exertions, of fame, and of devout austerities; and prevents the attainment of heaven or of emancipation. The chief sages always shun wrath: he not thou, my child, subject to its influence. Let no more of these unoffending spirits of darkness be consumed. Mercy is the might of the righteous.

 

Being thus admonished by my venerable grandsire, I immediately desisted from the rite, in obedience to his injunctions, and Vas'ishtha, the most excellent of sages, was content with me. Then arrived Pulastya, the son of Brahma [*13], who was received by my grandfather with the customary marks of respect. The illustrious brother of Pulaha said to me; Since, in the violence of animosity, you have listened to the words of your progenitor, and have exercised clemency, therefore you shall become learned in every science: since you have forborne, even though incensed, to destroy my posterity, I will bestow upon you another boon, and, you shall become the author of a summary of the Puranas; you shall know the true nature of the deities, as it really is; and, whether engaged in religious rites, or abstaining from their performance [*15], your understanding, through my favour, shall be perfect, and exempt from). doubts. Then my grandsire Vas'ishtha added; Whatever has been said to thee by Pulastya, shall assuredly come to pass.

 

Now truly all that was told me formerly by Vas'ishtha, and by the wise Palastya, has been brought to my recollection by your questions, and I will relate to you the whole, even all you have asked. Listen to the complete compendium of the Pur pas, according to its tenour. The world was produced from Vishnu: it exists in him: he is the cause of its continuance and cessation: he is the world.

 

CHAP. II.

 

Prayer of Paras'ara to Vishnu. Successive narration of the Vishnu Purana. Explanation of Vasudeva: his existence before creation: his first manifestations. Description of Pradhana or the chief principle of things. Cosmogony. Of Prakrita, or material creation; of time; of the active cause. Developement of effects; Mahat; Ahankara; Tanmatras; elements; objects of sense; senses; of the mundane egg. Vishnu the same as Brahma the creator; Vishnu the preserver; Rudra the destroyer.

 

PARAS'ARA said, Glory to the unchangeable, holy, eternal, supreme Vishnu, of one universal nature, the mighty over all: to him who is Hiranygarbha, Hari, and S'ankara, the creator, the preserver, and destroyer of the world: to Vasudeva, the liberator of his worshippers: to him, whose essence is both single and manifold; who is both subtile and corporeal, indiscrete and discrete: to Vishnu, the cause of final emancipation, Glory to the supreme Vishnu, the cause of the creation, existence, and end of this world; who is the root of the world, and who consists of the world.

 

Having glorified him who is the support of all things; who is the smallest of the small; who is in all created things; the unchanged, imperishable Purushottama; who is one with true wisdom, as truly known; eternal and incorrupt; and who is known through false appearances by the nature of visible objects: having bowed to Vishnu, the destroyer, and lord of creation and preservation; the ruler of the world; unborn, imperishable, undecaying: I will relate to you that which was originally imparted by the great father of all (Brahma), in answer to the questions of Daksha and other venerable sages, and repeated by them to Purukutsa, a king who reigned on the banks of the Narmada. It was next related by him to Saraswata, and by Saraswata to me.

 

Who can describe him who is not to be apprehended by the senses: who is the best of all things; the supreme soul, self-existent: who is devoid of all the distinguishing characteristics of complexion, caste, or the like; and is exempt front birth, vicissitude, death, or decay: who is always, and alone: who exists everywhere, and in whom all things here exist; and who is thence named Vasudeva? He is Brahma, supreme, lord, eternal, unborn, imperishable, undecaying; of one essence; ever pure as free from defects. He, that Brahma, was all things; comprehending in his own nature the indiscrete and discrete. He then existed in the forms of Purusha and of Kala. Purusha (spirit) is the first form, of the supreme; next proceeded two other forms, the discrete and indiscrete; and Kala (time) was the last. These four--Pradhana (primary or crude matter), Purusha (spirit), Vyakta (visible substance), and Kala (time)--the wise consider to be the pure and supreme condition of Vishnu. These four forms, in their due proportions, are the causes of the production of the phenomena of creation, preservation, and destruction. Vishnu being thus discrete and indiscrete substance, spirit, and time, sports like a playful boy, as you shall learn by listening to his frolics.

 

That chief principle (Pradhana), which is the indiscrete cause, is called by the sages also Prakriti (nature): it is subtile, uniform, and comprehends what is and what is not (or both causes and effects); is durable, self-sustained, illimitable, undecaying, and stable; devoid of sound or touch, and possessing neither colour nor form; endowed with the three qualities (in equilibrium); the mother of the world; without beginning; and that into which all that is produced is resolved. By that principle all things were invested in the period subsequent to the last dissolution of the universe, and prior to creation [*15]. For Brahmans learned in the Vedas, and teaching truly their doctrines, explain such passages as the following as intending the production of the chief principle (Pradhana). "There was neither day nor night, nor sky nor earth, nor darkness nor light, nor any other thing, save only One, unapprehensible by intellect, or That which is Brahma and Puman (spirit) and Pradhana (matter)." The two forms which are other than the essence of unmodified Vishnu, are Pradhana (matter) and Purusha (spirit); and his other form, by which those two are connected or separated, is called Kala (time). When discrete substance is aggregated in crude nature, as in a foregone dissolution, that dissolution is termed elemental (Prakrita). The deity as Time is without beginning, and his end is not known; and from him the revolutions of creation, continuance, and dissolution unintermittingly succeed: for when, in the latter season, the equilibrium of the qualities (Pradhana) exists, and spirit (Puman) is detached from matter, then the form of Vishnu which is Time abides. Then the supreme Brahma, the supreme soul, the substance of the world, the lord of all creatures, the universal soul, the supreme ruler, Hari, of his own will having entered into matter and spirit, agitated the mutable and immutable principles, the season of creation being arrived, in the same manner as fragrance affects the mind from its proximity merely, and not from any immediate operation upon mind itself: so the Supreme influenced the elements of creation. Purushottama is both the agitator and the thing to be agitated; being present in the essence of matter, both when it is contracted and expanded. Vishnu, supreme over the supreme, is of the nature of discrete forms in the atomic productions, Brahma and the rest (gods, men, &c.)

 

Then from that equilibrium of the qualities (Pradhana), presided over by soul, proceeds the unequal developement of those qualities (constituting the principal Mahat or Intellect) at the time of creation. The Chief principle then invests that Great principle, Intellect, and it becomes threefold, as affected by the quality of goodness, foulness, or darkness, and invested by the Chief principle (matter) as seed is by its skin. From the Great principle (Mahat) Intellect, threefold Egotism, (Ahankara), denominated Vaikarika, 'pure;' Taijasa, 'passionate;' and Bhutadi, 'rudimental,' is produced; the origin of the (subtile) elements, and of the organs of sense; invested, in consequence of its three qualities, by Intellect, as Intellect is by the Chief principle. Elementary Egotism then becoming productive, as the rudiment of sound, produced from it Ether, of which sound is the characteristic, investing it with its rudiment of sound. Ether becoming productive, engendered the rudiment of touch; whence originated strong wind, the property of which is touch; and Ether, with the rudiment of sound, enveloped the rudiment of touch. Then wind becoming productive, produced the rudiment of form (colour); whence light (or fire) proceeded, of which, form (colour) is the attribute; and the rudiment of touch enveloped the wind with the rudiment of colour. Light becoming productive, produced the rudiment of taste; whence proceed all juices in which flavour resides; and the rudiment of colour invested the juices with the rudiment of taste. The waters becoming productive, engendered the rudiment of smell; whence an aggregate (earth) originates, of which smell is the property. In each several elements resides its peculiar rudiment; thence the property of tanmatrata, (type or rudiment) is ascribed to these elements. Rudimental elements are not endowed with qualities, and therefore they are neither soothing, nor terrific, nor stupefying. This is the elemental creation, proceeding from the principle of egotism affected by the property of darkness. The organs of sense are said to be the passionate products of the same principle, affected by foulness; and the ten divinities proceed from egotism affected by the principle of goodness; as does Mind, which is the eleventh. The organs of sense are ten: of the ten, five are the skin, eye, nose, tongue, and ear; the object of which, combined with Intellect, is the apprehension of sound and the rest: the organs of excretion and procreation, the hands, the feet, and the voice, form the other five; of which excretion, generation, manipulation, motion, and speaking, are the several acts.

 

Then, ether, air, light, water, and earth, severally united with the properties of sound and the rest, existed as distinguishable according to their qualities, as soothing, terrific, or stupefying; but possessing various energies, and being unconnected, they could not, without combination, create living beings, not having blended with each other. Having combined, therefore, with one another, they assumed, through their mutual association, the character of one mass of entire unity; and from the direction of spirit, with the acquiescence of the indiscrete Principle, Intellect and the rest, to the gross elements inclusive, formed an egg, which gradually expanded like a bubble of water. This vast egg, O sage, compounded of the elements, and resting on the waters, was the excellent natural abode of Vishnu in the form of Brahma; and there Vishnu, the lord of the universe, whose essence is inscrutable, assumed a perceptible form, and even he himself abided in it in the character of Brahma. Its womb, vast as the mountain Meru, was composed of the mountains; and the mighty oceans were the waters that filled its cavity. In that egg, O Brahman, were the continents and seas and mountains, the planets and divisions of the universe, the gods, the demons, and mankind. And this egg was externally invested by seven natural envelopes, or by water, air, fire, ether, and Ahankara the origin of the elements, each tenfold the extent of that which it invested; next came the principle of Intelligence; and, finally, the whole was surrounded by the indiscrete Principle: resembling thus the cocoa-nut, filled interiorly with pulp, and exteriorly covered by husk and rind.

 

Affecting then the quality of activity, Hari, the lord of all, himself becoming Brahma, engaged in the creation of the universe. Vishnu with the quality of goodness, and of immeasurable power, preserves created things through successive ages, until the close of the period termed a Kalpa; when the same mighty deity, Janarddana, invested with the quality of darkness, assumes the awful form of Rudra, and swallows up the universe. Having thus devoured all things, and converted the world into one vast ocean, the Supreme reposes upon his mighty serpent couch amidst the deep: he awakes after a season, and again, as Brahma, becomes the author of creation.

 

Thus the one only god, Janarddana, takes the designation of Brahma, Vishnu, and S'iva, accordingly as he creates, preserves, or destroys.

 

Vishnu as creator, creates himself; as preserver, preserves himself; as destroyer, destroys himself at the end of all things. This world of earth, air, fire, water, ether, the senses, and the mind; all that is termed spirit [*34], that also is the lord of all elements, the universal form, and imperishable: hence he is the cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; and the subject of the vicissitudes inherent in elementary nature. He is the object and author of creation: he preserves, destroys, and is preserved. He, Vishnu, as Brahma, and as all other beings, is infinite form: he is the supreme, the giver of all good, the fountain of all happiness.

CHAP. III.

 

Measure of time. Moments or Kashthas, &c.; day and night; fortnight, month, year, divine year: Yugas, or ages: Mahayuga, or great age: day of Brahma: periods of the Manus: a Manwantara: night of Brahma, and destruction of the world: a year of Brahma: his life: a Kalpa: a Pararrdha: the past, or Padma Kalpa: the present, or Varaha.

 

MAITREYA.--How can creative agency be attributed to that Brahma, who is without qualities, illimitable, pure, and free from imperfection?

 

PARAS'ARA.--The essential properties of existent things are objects of observation, of which no foreknowledge is attainable; and creation, and hundreds of properties, belong to Brahma, as inseparable parts of his essence, as heat, oh chief of sages, is inherent in fire. Hear then how the deity Narayana, in the person of Brahma, the great parent of the world, created all existent things.

 

Brahma is said to be born: a familiar phrase, to signify his manifestation; and, as the peculiar measure of his presence, a hundred of his years is said to constitute his life: that period is also called Param, and the half of it, Pararddham. I have already declared to you, oh sinless Brahman, that Time is a form of Vishnu: hear now how it is applied to measure the duration of Brahma, and of all other sentient beings, as well as of those which are unconscious, as the mountains, oceans, and the like.

 

Oh best of sages, fifteen twinklings of the eye make a Kashtha; thirty Kashthas, one Kala; and thirty Kalas, one Muhurtta. Thirty Muhurttas constitute a day and night of mortals: thirty such days make a month, divided into two half-months: six months form an Ayana (the period of the sun's progress north or south of the ecliptic): and two Ayanas compose a year. The southern Ayana is a night, and the northern a day of the gods. Twelve thousand divine years, each composed of (three hundred and sixty) such days, constitute the period of the four Yugas, or ages. They are thus distributed: the Krita age has four thousand divine years; the Treta three thousand; the Dwapara two thousand; and the Kali age one thousand: so those acquainted with antiquity have declared. The period that precedes a Yuga is called a Sandhya, and it is of as many hundred years as there are thousands in the Yuga: and the period that follows a Yuga, termed the Sandhyansa, is of similar duration. The interval between the Sandhya and the Sandhyansa is the Yuga, denominated Krita, Treta, &c. The Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali, constitute a great age, or aggregate of four ages: a thousand such aggregates are a day of Brahma, and fourteen Menus reign within that term. Hear the division of time which they measure.

 

Seven Rishis, certain (secondary) divinities, Indra, Manu, and the kings his sons, are created and perish at one period; and the interval, called a Manwantara, is equal to seventy-one times the number of years contained in the four Yugas, with some additional years: this is the duration of the Manu, the (attendant) divinities, and the rest, which is equal to 852.000 divine years, or to 306.720.000 years of mortals, independent of the additional period. Fourteen times this period constitutes a Brahma Day, that is, a day of Brahma; the term (Brahma) being the derivative form. At the end of this day a dissolution of the universe occurs, when all the three worlds, earth, and the regions of space, are consumed with fire. The dwellers of Maharloka (the region inhabited by the saints who survive the world), distressed by the heat, repair then to Janaloka (the region of holy men after their decease). When the-three worlds are but one mighty ocean, Brahma, who is one with Narayana, satiate with the demolition of the universe, sleeps upon his serpent-bed--contemplated, the lotus born, by the ascetic inhabitants of the Janaloka--for a night of equal duration with his day; at the close of which he creates anew. Of such days and nights is a year of Brahma composed; and a hundred such years constitute his whole life. One Pararddha, or half his existence, has expired, terminating with the Maha Kalpa  called Padma. The Kalpa (or day of Brahma) termed Varaha is the first of the second period of Brahma's existence.

 

CHAP. IV.

 

Narayana's appearance, in the beginning of the Kalpa, as the Varsha or boar: Prithivi (Earth) addresses him: he raises the world from beneath the waters: hymned by Sanandana and the Yogis. The earth floats on the ocean: divided into seven zones. The lower spheres of the universe restored. Creation renewed.

 

MAITREYA.--Tell me, mighty sage, how, in the commencement of the (present) Kalpa, Narayana, who is named Brahma, created all existent things.

 

PARAS'ARA.--In what manner the divine Brahma, who is one with Narayana, created progeny, and is thence named the lord of progeny (Prajapati), the lord god, you shall hear.

 

At the close of the past (or Padma) Kalpa, the divine Brahma, endowed with the quality of goodness, awoke from his night of sleep, and beheld the universe void. He, the supreme Narayana, the incomprehensible, the sovereign of all creatures, invested with the form of Brahma, the god without beginning, the creator of all things; of whom, with respect to his name Narayana, the god who has the form of Brahma, the imperishable origin of the world, this verse is repeated, "The waters are called Nara, because they were the offspring of Nara (the supreme spirit); and as in them his first (Ayana) progress (in the character of Brahma) took place, he is thence named Narayana (he whose place of moving was the waters)." He, the lord, concluding that within the waters lay the earth, and being desirous to raise it up, created another form for that purpose; and as in preceding Kalpas he had assumed the shape of a fish or a tortoise, so in this he took the figure of a boar. Having adopted a form composed of the sacrifices of the Vedas, for the preservation of the whole earth, the eternal, supreme, and universal soul, the great progenitor of created beings, eulogized by Sanaka and the other saints who dwell in the sphere of holy men (Janaloka); he, the supporter of spiritual and material being, plunged into the ocean. The goddess Earth, beholding him thus descending to the subterrene regions, bowed in devout adoration, and thus glorified the god:-- Prithivi (Earth).--Hail to thee, who art all creatures; to thee, the holder of the mace and shell: elevate me now from this place, as thou hast upraised me in days of old. From thee have I proceeded; of thee do I consist; as do the skies, and all other existing things. Hail to thee, spirit of the supreme spirit; to thee, soul of soul; to thee, who art discrete and indiscrete matter; who art one with the elements and with time. Thou art the creator of all things, their preserver, and their destroyer, in the forms, oh lord, of Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra, at the seasons of creation, duration, and dissolution. When thou hast devoured all things, thou reposest on the ocean that sweeps over the world, meditated upon, oh Govinda, by the wise. No one knoweth thy true nature, and the gods adore thee only in the forms it bath pleased thee to assume. They who are desirous of final liberation, worship thee as the supreme Brahma; and who that adores not Vasudeva, shall obtain emancipation? Whatever may be apprehended by the mind, whatever may be perceived by the senses, whatever may he discerned by the intellect, all is but a form of thee. I am of thee, upheld by thee; thou art my creator, and to thee I fly for refuge: hence, in this universe, Madhavi (the bride of Madhava or Vishnu) is my designation. Triumph to the essence of all wisdom, to the unchangeable, the imperishable: triumph to the eternal; to the indiscrete, to the essence of discrete things: to him who is both cause and effect; who is the universe; the sinless lord of sacrifice; triumph. Thou art sacrifice; thou art the oblation; thou art the mystic Omkara; thou art the sacrificial fires; thou art the Vedas, and their dependent sciences; thou art, Hari, the object of all worship. The sun, the stars, the planets, the whole world; all that is formless, or that has form; all that is visible, or invisible; all, Purushottama, that I have said, or left unsaid; all this, Supreme, thou art. Hail to thee, again and again! hail! all hail!

 

PARAS'ARA.--The auspicious supporter of the world, being thus hymned by the earth, emitted a low murmuring sound, like the chanting of the Sama veda; and the mighty boar, whose eyes were like the lotus, and whose body, vast as the Nila mountain, was of the dark colour of the lotus leaves [*6], uplifted upon his ample tusks the earth from the lowest regions. As he reared up his head, the waters shed from his brow purified the great sages, Sanandana and others, residing in the sphere of the saints. Through the indentations made by his hoofs, the waters rushed into the lower worlds with a thundering noise. Before his breath, the pious denizens of Janaloka were scattered, and the Munis sought for shelter amongst the bristles upon the scriptural body of the boar, trembling as he rose up, supporting the earth, and dripping with moisture. Then the great sages, Sanandana and the rest, residing continually in the sphere of saints, were inspired with delight, and bowing lowly they praised the stern-eyed upholder of the earth.

 

The Yogis.--Triumph, lord of lords supreme; Kes'ava, sovereign of the earth, the wielder of the mace, the shell, the discus, and the sword: cause of production, destruction, and existence. THOU ART, oh god: there is no other supreme condition, but thou. Thou, lord, art the person of sacrifice: for thy feet are the Vedas; thy tusks are the stake to which the victim is bound; in thy teeth are the offerings; thy mouth is the altar; thy tongue is the fire; and the hairs of thy body are the sacrificial grass. Thine eyes, oh omnipotent, are day and night; thy head is the seat of all, the place of Brahma; thy mane is all the hymns of the Vedas; thy nostrils are all oblations: oh thou, whose snout is the ladle of oblation; whose deep voice is the chanting of the Sama veda; whose body is the hall of sacrifice; whose joints are the different ceremonies; and whose ears have the properties of both voluntary and obligatory rites: do thou, who art eternal, who art in size a mountain, be propitious. We acknowledge thee, who hast traversed the world, oh universal form, to be the beginning, the continuance, and the destruction of all things: thou art the supreme god. Have pity on us, oh lord of conscious and unconscious beings. The orb of the earth is seen seated on the tip of thy tusks, as if thou hadst been sporting amidst a lake where the lotus floats, and hadst borne away the leaves covered with soil. The space between heaven and earth is occupied by thy body, oh thou of unequalled glory, resplendent with the power of pervading the universe, oh lord, for the benefit of all. Thou art the aim of all: there is none other than thee, sovereign of the world: this is thy might, by which all things, fixed or movable, are pervaded. This form, which is now beheld, is thy form, as one essentially with wisdom. Those who have not practised devotion, conceive erroneously of the nature of the world. The ignorant, who do not perceive that this universe is of the nature of wisdom, and judge of it as an object of perception only, are lost in the ocean of spiritual ignorance. But they who know true wisdom, and whose minds are pure, behold this whole world as one with divine knowledge, as one with thee, oh god. Be favourable, oh universal spirit: raise up this earth, for the habitation of created beings. Inscrutable deity, whose eyes are like lotuses, give us felicity. Oh lord, thou art endowed with the quality of goodness: raise up, Govinda, this earth, for the general good. Grant us happiness, oh lotus-eyed. May this, thy activity in creation, be beneficial to the earth. Salutation to thee. Grant us happiness, oh lotus-eyed.

 

PARAS'ARA.--The supreme being thus eulogized, upholding the earth, raised it quickly, and placed it on the summit of the ocean, where it floats like a mighty vessel, and from its expansive surface does not sink beneath the waters. Then, having levelled the earth, the great eternal deity divided it into portions, by mountains: he who never wills in vain, created, by his irresistible power, those mountains again upon the earth which had been consumed at the destruction of the world. Having then divided the earth into seven great portions or continents, as it was before, he constructed in like manner the four (lower) spheres, earth, sky, heaven, and the sphere of the sages (Maharloka). Thus Hari, the four-faced god, invested with the quality of activity, and taking the form of Brahma, accomplished the creation: but he (Brahma) is only the instrumental cause of things to be created; the things that are capable of being created arise from nature as a common material cause: with exception of one instrumental cause alone, there is no need of any other cause, for (imperceptible) substance becomes perceptible substance according to the powers with which it is originally imbued.

 

CHAP. V.

 

Vishnu as Brahma creates the world. General characteristics of creation. Brahma meditates, and gives origin to, immovable things, animals, gods, men. Specific creation of nine kinds; Mahat, Tanmatra, Aindriya, inanimate objects, animals, gods, men, Anugraha, and Kaumara. More particular account of creation. Origin of different orders of beings from Brahma's body under different conditions; and of the Vedas from his mouths. All things created again as they existed in a former Kalpa.

 

MAITREYA.--Now unfold to me, Brahman, how this deity created the gods, sages, progenitors, demons, men, animals, trees, and the rest, that abide on earth, in heaven, or in the waters: how Brahma at creation made the world with the qualities, the characteristics, and the forms of things.

 

PARAS'ARA.--I will explain to you, Maitreya, listen attentively, how this deity, the lord of all, created the gods and other beings.

 

Whilst he (Brahma) formerly, in the beginning of the Kalpas, was. meditating on creation, there appeared a creation beginning with ignorance, and consisting of darkness. From that great being appeared fivefold Ignorance, consisting of obscurity, illusion, extreme illusion, gloom, utter darkness. The creation of the creator thus plunged in abstraction, was the fivefold (immovable) world, without intellect or reflection, void of perception or sensation, incapable of feeling, and destitute of motion. Since immovable things were first created, this is called the first creation. Brahma, beholding that it was defective, designed another; and whilst he thus meditated, the animal creation was manifested, to the products of which the term Tiryaksrotas is applied, from their nutriment following a winding course. These were called beasts, &c., and their characteristic was the quality of darkness, they being destitute of knowledge, uncontrolled in their conduct, and mistaking error for wisdom; being formed of egotism and self-esteem, labouring under the twenty-eight kinds of imperfection, manifesting inward sensations, and associating with each other (according to their kinds).

 

Beholding this creation also imperfect, Brahma again meditated, and a third creation appeared, abounding with the quality of goodness, termed Urddhasrotas. The beings thus produced in the Urddhasrotas creation were endowed with pleasure and enjoyment, unencumbered internally or externally, and luminous within and without. This, termed the creation of immortals, was the third performance of Brahma, who, although well pleased with it, still found it incompetent to fulfil his end. Continuing therefore his meditations, there sprang, in consequence of his infallible purpose, the creation termed Arvaksrotas, from indiscrete nature. The products of this are termed Arvaksrotasas, from the downward current (of their nutriment). They abound with the light of knowledge, but the qualities of darkness and of foulness predominate. Hence they are afflicted by evil, and are repeatedly impelled to action. They have knowledge both externally and internally, and are the instruments (of accomplishing the object of creation, the liberation of soul). These creatures were mankind.

 

I have thus explained to you, excellent Muni, six  creations. The first creation was that of Mahat or Intellect, which is also called the creation of Brahma. The second was that of the rudimental principles (Tanmatras), thence termed the elemental creation (Bhuta serga). The third was the modified form of egotism, termed the organic creation, or creation of the senses (Aindriyaka). These three were the Prakrita creations, the developements of indiscrete nature, preceded by the indiscrete principle. The fourth or fundamental creation (of perceptible things) was that of inanimate bodies. The fifth, the Tairyag yonya creation, was that of animals. The sixth was the Urddhasrotas creation, or that of the divinities. The creation of the Arvaksrotas beings was the seventh, and was that of man. There is an eighth creation, termed Anugraha, which possesses both the qualities of goodness and darkness. Of these creations, five are secondary, and three are primary. But there is a ninth, the Kaumara creation, which is both primary and secondary. These are the nine creations of the great progenitor of all, and, both as primary and secondary, are the radical causes of the world, proceeding from the sovereign creator. What else dost thou desire to hear?

 

MAITREYA. Thou hast briefly related to me, Muni, the creation of the gods and other beings: I am desirous, chief of sages, to hear from thee a more ample account of their creation.

 

PARAS'ARA.--Created beings, although they are destroyed (in their individual forms) at the periods of dissolution, yet, being affected by the good or evil acts of former existence, they are never exempted from their consequences; and when Brahma creates the world anew, they are the progeny of his will, in the fourfold condition of gods, men, animals, or inanimate things. Brahma then, being desirous of creating the four orders of beings, termed gods, demons, progenitors, and men, collected his mind into itself. Whilst thus concentrated, the quality of darkness pervaded his body; and thence the demons (the Asuras) were first born, issuing from his thigh. Brahma then abandoned that form which was, composed of the rudiment of darkness, and which, being deserted by him, became night. Continuing to create, but assuming a different. shape, he experienced pleasure; and thence from his mouth proceeded the gods, endowed with the quality of goodness. The form abandoned by him, became day, in which the good quality predominates; and hence by day the gods are most powerful, and by night the demons. He next adopted another person, in which the rudiment of goodness also prevailed; and thinking of himself, as the father of the world, the progenitors (the Pitris) were born from his side. The body, when he abandoned, it, became the Sandhya (or evening twilight), the interval between day and night. Brahma then assumed another person, pervaded by the quality of foulness; and from this, men, in whom foulness (or passion) predominates, were produced. Quickly abandoning that body, it became morning twilight, or the dawn. At the appearance of this light of day, men feel most vigour; while the progenitors are most powerful in the evening season. In this manner, Maitreya, Jyotsna (dawn), Ratri (night), Ahar (day), and Sandhya (evening), are the four bodies of Brahma invested by the three qualities.

 

Next from Brahma, in a form composed of the quality of foulness, was produced hunger, of whom anger was born: and the god put forth in darkness beings emaciate with hunger, of hideous aspects, and with long beards. Those beings hastened to the deity. Such of them as exclaimed, Oh preserve us! were thence called Rakshasas: others, who cried out, Let us eat, were denominated from that expression Yakshas. Beholding them so disgusting, the hairs of Brahma were shrivelled up, and first falling from his head, were again renewed upon it: from their falling they became serpents, called Sarpa from their creeping, and Ahi because they had deserted the head. The creator of the world, being incensed, then created fierce beings, who were denominated goblins, Bhutas, malignant fiends and eaters of flesh. The Gandharbas were next born, imbibing melody: drinking of the goddess of speech, they were born, and thence their appellation.

 

The divine Brahma, influenced by their material energies, having created these beings, made others of his own will. Birds he formed from his vital vigour; sheep from his breast; goats from his mouth; kine from his belly and sides; and horses, elephants, Sarabhas, Gayals, deer, camels, mules, antelopes, and other animals, from his feet: whilst from the hairs of his body sprang herbs, roots, and fruits.

 

Brahma having created, in the commencement of the Kalpa, various plants, employed them in sacrifices, in the beginning of the Treta age. Animals were distinguished into two classes, domestic (village) and wild (forest): the first class contained the cow, the goat, the hog, the sheep, the horse, the ass, the mule: the latter, all beasts of prey, and many animals with cloven hoofs, the elephant, and the monkey. The fifth order were the birds; the sixth, aquatic animals; and the seventh, reptiles and insects.

 

   From his eastern mouth Brahma then created the Gayatri metre, the Rig veda, the collection of hymns termed Trivrit, the Rathantara portion of the Sama veda, and the Agnishtoma sacrifice: from his southern mouth he created the Yajur veda, the Trishtubh metre, the collection of hymns called Panchadas'a, the Vrihat Sama, and the portion of the Sama veda termed Uktha: from his western mouth he created the Sama veda, the Jayati metre, the collection of hymns termed Saptadas'a, the portion of the Sama called Vairupa, and the Atiratra sacrifice: and from his northern mouth he created the Ekavinsa collection of hymns, the Atharva veda, the Aptoryama rite, the Anushtubh metre, and the Vairaja portion of the Sama veda.

 

In this manner all creatures, great or small, proceeded from his limbs. The great progenitor of the world having formed the gods, demons, and Pitris, created, in the commencement of the Kalpa, the Yakshas, Pisachas (goblins), Gandharbas and the troops of Apsarasas the nymphs of heaven, Naras (centaurs, or beings with the limbs of horses and human bodies) and Kinnaras (beings with the heads of horses), Rakshasas, birds, beasts, deer, serpents, and all things permanent or transitory, movable or immovable. This did the divine Brahma, the first creator and lord of all: and these things being created, discharged the same functions as they had fulfilled in a previous creation, whether malignant or benign, gentle or cruel, good or evil, true or false; and accordingly as they are actuated by such propensities will be their conduct.

 

And the creator displayed infinite variety in the objects of sense, in the properties of living things, and in the forms of bodies: he determined in the beginning, by the authority of the Vedas, the names and forms and functions of all creatures, and of the gods; and the names and appropriate offices of the Rishis, as they also are read in the Vedas. In like manner as the products of the seasons designate in periodical revolution the return of the same season, so do the same circumstances indicate the recurrence of the same Yuga, or age; and thus, in the beginning of each Kalpa, does Brahma repeatedly create the world, possessing the power that is derived from the will to create, and assisted by the natural and essential faculty of the object to be created.

 

CHAP. VI.

 

Origin of the four castes: their primitive state. Progress of society. Different kinds of grain. Efficacy of sacrifice. Duties of men: regions assigned them after death.

 

MAITREYA.--Thou hast briefly noticed, illustrious sage, the creation termed Arvaksrotas, or that of mankind: now explain to me more fully how Brahma accomplished it; how he created the four different castes; what duties he assigned to the Brahmans and the rest.

 

PARAS'ARA.--Formerly, oh best of Brahmans, when the truth-meditating Brahma was desirous of creating the world, there sprang from his mouth beings especially endowed with the quality of goodness; others from his breast, pervaded by the quality of foulness; others from his thighs, in whom foulness and darkness prevailed; and others from his feet, in whom the quality of darkness predominated. These were, in succession, beings of the several castes, Brahmans, Kshetriyas, Vaisyas, and S'udras, produced from the mouth, the breast, the thighs, and the feet of Brahma. These he created for the performance of sacrifices, the four castes being the fit instruments of their celebration. By sacrifices, oh thou who knowest the truth, the gods are nourished; and by the rain which they bestow, mankind are supported [*3]: and thus sacrifices, the source of happiness, are performed by pious men, attached to their duties, attentive to prescribed obligations, and walking in the paths of virtue. Men acquire (by them) heavenly fruition, or final felicity: they go, after death, to whatever sphere they aspire to, as the consequence of their human nature. The beings who were created by Brahma, of these four castes, were at first endowed with righteousness and perfect faith; they abode wherever they pleased, unchecked by any impediment; their hearts were free from guile; they were pure, made free from soil, by observance of sacred institutes. In their sanctified minds Hari dwelt; and they were filled with perfect wisdom, by which they contemplated the glory of Vishnu [*4]. After a while (after the Treta age had continued for some period), that portion of Hari which has been described as one with Kala (time) infused into created beings sin, as yet feeble though formidable, or passion and the like: the impediment of soul's liberation, the seed of iniquity, sprung from darkness and desire. The innate perfectness of human nature was then no more evolved: the eight kinds of perfection, Rasollasa and the rest, were impaired; and these being enfeebled, and sin gaining strength, mortals were afflicted with pain, arising from susceptibility to contrasts, as heat and cold, and the like. They therefore constructed places of refuge, protected by trees, by mountains, or by water; surrounded them by a ditch or a wall, and formed villages and cities; and in them erected appropriate dwellings, as defences against the sun and the cold. Having thus provided security against the weather, men next began to employ themselves in manual labour, as a means of livelihood, (and cultivated) the seventeen kinds of useful grain--rice, barley, wheat, millet, sesamum, panic, and various sorts of lentils, beans, and peas. These are the kinds cultivated for domestic use: but there are fourteen kinds which may be offered in sacrifice; they are, rice, barley, Masha, wheat, millet, and sesamum; Priyangu is the seventh, and kulattha, pulse, the eighth: the others are, Syamaka, a sort of panic; Nivara, uncultivated rice; Jarttila, wild sesamum; Gaveduka (coix); Markata, wild panic; and (a plant called) the seed or barley of the Bambu (Venu-yava). These, cultivated or wild, are the fourteen grains that were produced for purposes of offering in sacrifice; and sacrifice (the cause of rain) is their origin also: they again, with sacrifice, are the great cause of the perpetuation of the human race, as those understand who can discriminate cause and effect. Thence sacrifices were offered daily; the performance of which, oh best of Munis, is of essential service to mankind, and expiates the offences of those by whom they are observed. Those, however, in whose hearts the dross of sin derived from Time (Kala) was still more developed, assented not to sacrifices, but reviled both them and all that resulted from them, the gods, and the followers of the Vedas. Those abusers of the Vedas, of evil disposition and conduct, and seceders from the path of enjoined duties, were plunged in wickedness.

 

The means of subsistence having been provided for the beings he had created, Brahma prescribed laws suited to their station and faculties, the duties of the several castes and orders [*9], and the regions of those of the different castes who were observant of their duties. The heaven of the Pitris is the region of devout Brahmans. The sphere of Indra, of Kshetriyas who fly not from the field. The region of the winds is assigned to the Vaisyas who are diligent in their occupations and submissive. S'udras are elevated to the sphere of the Gandharbas. Those Brahmans who lead religious lives go to the world of the eighty-eight thousand saints: and that of the seven Rishis is the seat of pious anchorets and hermits. The world of ancestors is that of respectable householders: and the region of Brahma is the asylum of religious mendicants. The imperishable region of the Yogis is the highest seat of Vishnu, where they perpetually meditate upon the supreme being, with minds intent on him alone: the sphere where they reside, the gods themselves cannot behold. The sun, the moon, the planets, shall repeatedly be, and cease to be; but those who internally repeat the mystic adoration of the divinity, shall never know decay. For those who neglect their duties, who revile the Vedas, and obstruct religious rites, the places assigned after death are the terrific regions of darkness, of deep gloom, of fear, and of great terror; the fearful hell of sharp swords, the hell of scourges and of a waveless sea. 

 

CHAP. VII.

 

Creation continued. Production of the mind-born sons of Brahma; of the Prajapatis; of Sanandana and others; of Rudra and the eleven Rudras; of the Manu Swayambhuva, and his wife S'atarupa; of their children. The daughters of Daksha, and their marriage to Dharma and others. The progeny of Disarms and Adharma. The perpetual succession of worlds, and different modes of mundane dissolution.

 

PARAS'ARA.--From Brahma, continuing to meditate, were born mind-engendered progeny, with forms and faculties derived from his corporeal nature; embodied spirits, produced from the person of that all-wise deity. All these beings, front the gods to inanimate things, appeared as I have related to you, being the abode of the three qualities: but as they did not multiply themselves, Brahma created other mind-born sons, like himself; namely, Bhrigu, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Angiras, Marichi, Daksha, Atri, and Vas'ishtha: these are the nine Brahmas (or Brahma rishis) celebrated in the Puranas. Sanandana and the other sons of Brahma were previously created by him, but they were without desire or passion, inspired with holy wisdom, estranged from the universe, and undesirous of progeny. This when Brahma perceived, he was filled with wrath capable of consuming the three worlds, the flame of which invested, like a garland, heaven, earth, and hell. Then from his forehead, darkened with angry frowns, sprang Rudra, radiant as the noon-tide sun, fierce, and of vast bulk, and of a figure which was half male, half female. Separate yourself, Brahma said to him; and having so spoken, disappeared. Obedient to which command, Rudra became twofold, disjoining his male and female natures. His male being he again divided into eleven persons, of whom some were agreeable, some hideous, some fierce, some mild; and he multiplied his female nature manifold, of complexions black or white.

 

Then Brahma created himself the Manu Swayambhuva, born of, and identical with, his original self, for the protection of created beings; and the female portion of himself he constituted S'atarupa, whom austerity purified from the sin (of forbidden nuptials), and whom the divine Manu Swayambhuva took to wife. From these two were born two sons, Priyavrata and Uttanapada, and two daughters, named Prasuti and Akuti, graced with loveliness and exalted merit. Prasuti he gave to Daksha, after giving Akuti to the patriarch Ruchi, who espoused her. Akuti bore to Ruchi twins, Yajna and Dakshina, who afterwards became husband and wife, and had twelve sons, the deities called Yamas, in the Manwantara of Swayambhuva.

 

The patriarch Daksha had by Prasuti twenty-four daughters [*11]: hear from me their names: Sraddha (faith), Lakshmi (prosperity), Dhriti (steadiness), Tushti (resignation), Pushti (thriving), Medha (intelligence), Kriya (action, devotion), Buddhi (intellect), Lajja (modesty), Vapu (body), Santi (expiation), Siddhi (perfection), Kirtti (fame): these thirteen daughters of Daksha, Dharma (righteousness) took to wife. The other eleven bright-eyed and younger daughters of the patriarch were, Khyati (celebrity), Sati (truth), Sambhuti (fitness), Smriti (memory), Priti (affection), Kshama (patience), Sannati (humility), Anasuya (charity), Urjja (energy), with Swaha (offering), and Swadha (oblation). These maidens were respectively wedded to the Munis, Bhrigu, Bhava, Marichi, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Atri, and Vas'ishtha; to Fire (Vahni), and to the Pitris (progenitors)

 

The progeny of Dharma by the daughters of Daksha were as follows: by Sraddha he had Kama (desire); by Lakshmi, Darpa (pride); by Dhriti, Niyama (precept); by Tushti, Santosha (content); by Pushti, Lobha (cupidity); by Medha, Sruta (sacred tradition); by Kriya, Danda, Naya, and Vinaya (correction, polity, and prudence); by Buddhi, Bodha (understanding); by Lajja, Vinaya (good behaviour); by Vapu, Vyavasaya (perseverance). Santi gave birth to Kshema (prosperity); Siddhi to Sukha (enjoyment); and Kirtti to Yasas (reputation [*13]). These were the sons of Dharma; one of whom, Kama, had Hersha (joy) by his wife Nandi (delight).

 

The wife of Adharma (vice) was Hinsa (violence), on whom he begot a son Anrita (falsehood), and a daughter Nikriti (immorality): they intermarried, and had two sons, Bhaya (fear) and Naraka (hell); and twins to them, two daughters, Maya (deceit) and Vedana (torture), who became their wives. The son of Bhaya and Maya was the destroyer of living creatures, or Mrityu (death); and Dukha (pain) was the offspring of Naraka and Vedana. The children of Mrityu were Vyadhi (disease), Jara (decay), Soka (sorrow), Trishna (greediness), and Krodha (wrath). These are all called the inflictors of misery, and are characterised as the progeny of Vice (Adharma). They are all without wives, without posterity, without the faculty to procreate; they are the terrific forms of Vishnu, and perpetually operate as causes of the destruction of this world. On the contrary, Daksha and the other Rishis, the elders of mankind, tend perpetually to influence its renovation: whilst the Manus and their sons, the heroes endowed with mighty power, and treading in the path of truth, as constantly contribute to its preservation.

 

MAITREYA.--Tell me, Brahman, what is the essential nature of these revolutions, perpetual preservation, perpetual creation, and perpetual destruction.

 

PARAS'ARA.--Madhusudana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prakritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Brahma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prakrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puranas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishnu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishnu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns.

 

CHAP. VIII.

 

Origin of Rudra: his becoming eight Rudras: their wives and children. The posterity of Bhrigu. Account of S'ri in conjunction with Vishnu. Sacrifice of Daksha.

 

PARAS'ARA.--I have described to you, oh great Muni, the creation of Brahma, in which the quality of darkness prevailed. I will now explain to you the creation of Rudra.

 

In the beginning of the Kalpa, as Brahma purposed to create a son, who should be like himself, a youth of a purple complexion [*2] appeared, crying with a low cry, and running about [*3]. Brahma, when he beheld him thus afflicted, said to him, "Why dost thou weep?" "Give me a name," replied the boy. "Rudra be thy name," rejoined the great father of all creatures: "be composed; desist from tears." But, thus addressed, the boy still wept seven times, and Brahma therefore gave to him seven other denominations; and to these eight persons regions and wives and posterity belong. The eight manifestations, then, are named Rudra, Bhava, S'arva, Is'ana, Pas'upati, Bhima, Ugra, and Mahadeva, which were given to them by their great progenitor. He also assigned to them their respective stations, the sun, water, earth, air, fire, ether, the ministrant Brahman, and the moon; for these are their several forms. The wives of the sun and the other manifestations, termed Rudra and the rest, were respectively, Suverchala, Usha, Vikesi, Siva, Swaha, Dis'a, Diksha, and Rohini. Now hear an account of their progeny, by whose successive generations this world has been peopled. Their sons, then, were severally, Sanais'chara (Saturn), S'ukra (Venus), the fiery-bodied Mars, Manojava (Hanuman), Skanda, Swarga, Santana, and Budha (Mercury).

 

It was the Rudra of this description that married Sati, who abandoned her corporeal existence in consequence of the displeasure of Daksha. She afterwards was the daughter of Himavan (the snowy mountains) by Mena; and in that character, as the only Uma, the mighty Bhava again married her. The divinities Dhata and Vidhata were born to Bhrigu by Khyati, as was a daughter, S'ri, the wife of Narayana, the god of gods.

 

MAITREYA.--It is commonly said that the goddess S'ri was born from the sea of milk, when it was churned for ambrosia; how then can you say that she was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyati.

 

PARAS'ARA.--S'ri, the bride of Vishnu, the mother of the world, is eternal, imperishable; in like manner as he is all-pervading, so also is she, oh best of Brahmans, omnipresent. Vishnu is meaning; she is speech. Hari is polity (Naya); she is prudence (Niti). Vishnu is understanding; she is intellect. He is righteousness; she is devotion. He is the creator; she is creation. S'ri is the earth; Hari the support of it. The deity is content; the eternal Lakshmi is resignation. He is desire; S'ri is wish. He is sacrifice; she is sacrificial donation (Dakshina). The goddess is the invocation which attends the oblation; Janarddana is the oblation. Lakshmi is the chamber where the females are present (at a religious ceremony); Madhusudana the apartment of the males of the family. Lakshmi is the altar; Hari the stake (to which the victim is bound). S'ri is the fuel; Hari the holy grass (Kus'a). He is the personified Sama veda; the goddess, lotus-throned, is the tone of its chanting. Lakshmi is the prayer of oblation (Swaha); Vasudeva, the lord of the world, is the sacrificial fire. Sauri (Vishnu) is S'ankara (S'iva); and S'ri is the bride of S'iva (Gauri). Kes'ava, oh Maitreya, is the sun; and his radiance is the lotus-seated goddess. Vishnu is the tribe of progenitors (Pitrigana); Padma. is their bride (Swadha), the eternal bestower of nutriment. S'ri is the heavens; Vishnu, who is one with all things, is wide extended space. The lord of S'ri is the moon; she is his unfading light. She is called the moving principle of the world; he, the wind which bloweth everywhere. Govinda is the ocean; Lakshmi its shore. Lakshmi is the consort of Indra (Indrani); Madhusudana is Devendra. The holder of the discus (Vishnu) is Yama (the regent of Tartarus); the lotus-throned goddess is his dusky spouse (Dhumorna). S'ri is wealth; S'ridhara (Vishnu) is himself the god of riches (Kuvera). Lakshmi, illustrious Brahman, is Gauri; and Kes'ava, is the deity of ocean (Varuna). S'ri is the host of heaven (Devasena); the deity of war, her lord, is Hari. The wielder of the mace is resistance; the power to oppose is S'ri. Lakshmi is the Kashtha and the Kala; Hari the Nimesha and the Muhurtta. Lakshmi is the light; and Hari, who is all, and lord of all, the lamp. She, the mother of the world, is the creeping vine; and Vishnu the tree round which she clings. She is the night; the god who is armed with the mace and discus is the day. He, the bestower of blessings, is the bridegroom; the lotus-throned goddess is the bride.

 

The god is one with all male--the goddess one with all female, rivers. The lotus-eyed deity is the standard; the goddess seated on a lotus the banner. Lakshmi is cupidity; Narayana, the master of the world, is covetousness. Oh thou who knowest what righteousness is, Govinda is love; and Lakshmi, his gentle spouse, is pleasure. But why thus diffusely enumerate their presence: it is enough to say, in a word, that of gods, animals, and men, Hari is all that is called male; Lakshmi is all that is termed female: there is nothing else than they.

 

SACRIFICE OF DAKSHA.

 

(From the Vayu Purana.)

 

"There was formerly a peak of Meru, named Savitra, abounding with gems, radiant as the sun, and celebrated throughout the three worlds; of immense extent, and difficult of access, and an object of universal veneration. Upon that glorious eminence, rich with mineral treasures, as upon a splendid couch, the deity S'iva reclined, accompanied by the daughter of the sovereign of mountains, and attended by the mighty Adityas, the powerful Vasus, and by the heavenly physicians, the sons of Aswini; by Kuvera, surrounded by his train of Guhyakas, the lord of the Yakshas, who dwells on Kailasa. There also was the great Muni Usanas: there, were Rishis of the first order, with Sanatkumara at their head; divine Rishis, preceded by Angiras; Vis'wavasu, with his bands of heavenly choristers; the sages Narada and Parvata; and innumerable troops of celestial nymphs. The breeze blew upon the mountain, bland, pure, and fragrant; and the trees were decorated with flowers, that blossomed in every season. The Vidyadharas and Siddhas, affluent in devotion, waited upon Mahadeva, the lord of living creatures; and many other beings, of various forms, did him homage. Rakshasas of terrific semblance, and Pisachas of great strength, of different shapes and features, armed with various weapons, and blazing like fire, were delighted to be present, as the followers of the god. There stood the royal Nandi, high in the favour of his lord, armed with a fiery trident, shining with inherent lustre; and there the best of rivers, Ganga, the assemblage of all holy waters, stood adoring the mighty deity. Thus worshipped by all the most excellent of sages and of gods, abode the omnipotent and all-glorious Mahadeva.

 

"In former times, Daksha commenced a holy sacrifice on the side of Himavan, at the sacred spot Gangadwara, frequented by the Rishis. The gods, desirous of assisting at this solemn rite, came, with Indra at their head, to Mahadeva, and intimated their purpose; and having received his permission, departed in their splendid chariots to Gangadwara, as tradition reports. They found Daksha, the best of the devout, surrounded by the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the shade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether dwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached the patriarch with outward gestures of respect. The Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with Jishnu, were present. The four classes of Pitris, Ushmapas, Somapas, Ajyapas, and Dhumapas, or those who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of offerings, the Aswins and the progenitors, came along with Brahma. Creatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or vegetation, came upon their invocation; as did all the gods, with their brides, who in their resplendent vehicles blazed like so many fires. Beholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhicha was filled with indignation, and observed, 'The man who worships what ought not to be worshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most assuredly, of heinous sin.' Then addressing Daksha, he said to him, 'Why do you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life (Pas'ubhartri)?' Daksha spake; 'I have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents, wearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms: I recognise no other Mahadeva.' Dadhicha spake; 'The invocation that is not addressed to Is'a, is, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons. Inasmuch as I behold no other divinity who is superior to S'ankara, this sacrifice of Daksha will not be completed.' Daksha spake; I offer, in a golden cup, this entire oblation, which has been consecrated by many prayers, as an offering ever due to the unequalled Vishnu, the sovereign lord of all.

 

"In the meanwhile, the virtuous daughter of the mountain king, observing the departure of the divinities, addressed her lord, the god of living beings, and said--Uma spake--'Whither, oh lord, have the gods, preceded by Indra, this day departed? Tell me truly, oh thou who knowest all truth, for a great doubt perplexes me.' Mahes'wara spake; Illustrious goddess, the excellent patriarch Daksha celebrates the sacrifice of a horse, and thither the gods repair.' Devi spake; Why then, most mighty god, dost thou also not proceed to this solemnity? by what hinderance is thy progress thither impeded?' Mahes'wara spake; 'This is the contrivance, mighty queen, of all the gods, that in all sacrifices no portion should be assigned to me. In consequence of an arrangement formerly devised, the gods allow me, of right, no participation of offerings.' Devi spake; 'The lord god lives in all bodily forms, and his might is eminent through his superior faculties; he is unsurpassable, he is unapproachable, in splendour and glory and power. That such as he should be excluded from his share of oblations, fills me with deep sorrow, and a trembling, oh sinless, seizes upon my frame. Shall I now practise bounty, restraint, or penance, so that my lord, who is inconceivable, may obtain a share, a half or a third portion, of the sacrifice?'

 

"Then the mighty and incomprehensible deity, being pleased, said to his bride, thus agitated; and speaking; 'Slender-waisted queen of the gods, thou knowest not the purport of what thou sayest; but I know it, oh thou with large eyes, for the holy declare all things by meditation. By thy perplexity this day are all the gods, with Mahendra and all the three worlds, utterly confounded. In my sacrifice, those who worship me, repeat my praises, and chant the Rathantara song of the Sama veda; my priests worship me in the sacrifice of true wisdom, where no officiating Brahman is needed; and in this they offer me my portion.' Devi spake; 'The lord is the root of all, and assuredly, in every assemblage of the female world, praises or hides himself at will.' Mahadeva spake; 'Queen of the gods, I praise not myself: approach, and behold whom I shall create for the purpose of claiming my share of the rite.'

 

"Having thus spoken to his beloved spouse, the mighty Mahes'wara created from his mouth a being like the fire of fate; a divine being, with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet; wielding a thousand clubs, a thousand shafts; holding the shell, the discus, the mace, and bearing a blazing bow and battle-axe; fierce and terrific, shining with dreadful splendour, and decorated with the crescent moon; clothed in a tiger's skin, dripping with blood; having a capacious stomach, and a vast mouth, armed with formidable tusks: his ears were erect, his lips were pendulous, his tongue was lightning; his hand brandished the thunderbolt; flames streamed from his hair; a necklace of pearls wound round his neck; a garland of flame descended on his breast: radiant with lustre, he looked like the final fire that consumes the world. Four tremendous tusks projected from a mouth which extended from ear to ear: he was of vast bulk, vast strength, a mighty male and lord, the destroyer of the universe, and like a large fig-tree in circumference; shining like a hundred moons at once; fierce as the fire of love; having four heads, sharp white teeth, and of mighty fierceness, vigour, activity, and courage; glowing with the blaze of a thousand fiery suns at the end of the world; like a thousand undimmed moons: in bulk like Himadri, Kailasa, or Meru, or Mandara, with all its gleaming herbs; bright as the sun of destruction at the end of ages; of irresistible prowess, and beautiful aspect; irascible, with lowering eyes, and a countenance burning like fire; clothed in the hide of the elephant and lion, and girt round with snakes; wearing a turban on his head, a moon on his brow; sometimes savage, sometimes mild; having a chaplet of many flowers on his head, anointed with various unguents, and adorned with different ornaments and many sorts of jewels; wearing a garland of heavenly Karnikara flowers, and rolling his eyes with rage. Sometimes he danced; sometimes he laughed aloud; sometimes he stood wrapt in meditation; sometimes he trampled upon the earth; sometimes he sang; sometimes he wept repeatedly: and he was endowed with the faculties of wisdom, dispassion, power, penance, truth, endurance, fortitude, dominion, and self-knowledge.

 

"This being, then, knelt down upon the ground, and raising his hands respectfully to his head, said to Mahadeva, 'Sovereign of the gods, command what it is that I must do for thee.' To which Mahes'wara replied, Spoil the sacrifice of Daksha.' Then the mighty Virabhadra, having heard the pleasure of his lord, bowed down his head to the feet of Prajapati; and starting like a lion loosed from bonds, despoiled the sacrifice of Daksha, knowing that the had been created by the displeasure of Devi. She too in her wrath, as the fearful goddess Rudrakali, accompanied him, with all her train, to witness his deeds. Virabhadra the fierce, abiding in the region of ghosts, is the minister of the anger of Devi. And he then created, from the pores of his skin, powerful demigods, the mighty attendants upon Rudra, of equal valour and strength, who started by hundreds and thousands into existence. Then a loud and confused clamour filled all the expanse of ether, and inspired the denizens of heaven with dread. The mountains tottered, and earth shook; the winds roared, and the depths of the sea were disturbed; the fires lost their radiance, and the sun grew pale; the planets of the firmament shone not, neither did the stars give light; the Rishis ceased their hymns, and gods and demons were mute; and thick darkness eclipsed the chariots of the skies.

 

"Then from the gloom emerged fearful and numerous forms, shouting the cry of battle; who instantly broke or overturned the sacrificial columns, trampled upon the altars, and danced amidst the oblations. Running wildly hither and thither, with the speed of wind, they tossed about the implements and vessels of sacrifice, which looked like stars precipitated from the heavens. The piles of food and beverage for the gods, which had been heaped up like mountains; the rivers of milk; the banks of curds and butter; the sands of honey and butter-milk and sugar; the mounds of condiments and spices of every flavour; the undulating knolls of flesh and other viands; the celestial liquors, pastes, and confections, which had been prepared; these the spirits of wrath devoured or defiled or scattered abroad. Then falling upon the host of the gods, these vast and resistless Rudras beat or terrified them, mocked and insulted the nymphs and goddesses, and quickly put an end to the rite, although defended by all the gods; being the ministers of Rudra's wrath, and similar to himself [*6]. Some then made a hideous clamour, whilst others fearfully shouted, when Yajna was decapitated. For the divine Yajna, the lord of sacrifice, then began to fly up to heaven, in the shape of a deer; and Virabhadra, of immeasurable spirit, apprehending his power, cut off his vast head, after he had mounted into the sky. Daksha the patriarch, his sacrifice being destroyed, overcome with terror, and utterly broken in spirit, fell then upon the ground, where his head was spurned by the feet of the cruel Virabhadra. The thirty scores of sacred divinities were all presently bound, with a band of fire, by their lion-like foe; and they all then addressed him, crying, 'Oh Rudra, have mercy upon thy servants: oh lord, dismiss thine anger.' Thus spake Brahma and the other gods, and the patriarch Daksha; and raising their hands, they said, 'Declare, mighty being, who thou art.' Virabhadra said, 'I am not a god, nor an Aditya; nor am I come hither for enjoyment, nor curious to behold the chiefs of the divinities: know that I am come to destroy the sacrifice of Daksha, and that I am called Virabhadra, the issue of the wrath of Rudra. Bhadrakali also, who has sprung from the anger of Devi, is sent here by the god of gods to destroy this rite. Take refuge, king of kings, with him who is the lord of Uma; for better is the anger of Rudra than the blessings of other gods.'

 

"Having heard the words of Virabhadra, the righteous Daksha propitiated the mighty god, the holder of the trident, Mahes'wara. The hearth of sacrifice, deserted by the Brahmans, had been consumed; Yajna had been metamorphosed to an antelope; the fires of Rudra's wrath had been kindled; the attendants, wounded by the tridents of the servants of the god, were groaning with pain; the pieces of the uprooted sacrificial posts were scattered here and there; and the fragments of the meat-offerings were carried off by flights of hungry vultures, and herds of howling jackals. Suppressing his vital airs, and taking up a posture of meditation, the many-sighted victor of his foes, Daksha fixed his eyes everywhere upon his thoughts. Then the god of gods appeared from the altar, resplendent as a thousand suns, and smiled upon him, and said, 'Daksha, thy sacrifice has been destroyed through sacred knowledge: I am well pleased with thee:' and then he smiled again, and said, 'What shall I do for thee; declare, together with the preceptor of the gods.'

 

"Then Daksha, frightened, alarmed, and agitated, his eyes suffused with tears, raised his hands reverentially to his brow, and said, 'If, lord, thou art pleased; if I have found favour in thy sight; if I am to be the object of thy benevolence; if thou wilt confer upon me a boon, this is the blessing I solicit, that all these provisions for the solemn sacrifice, which have been collected with much trouble and during a long time, and which have now been eaten, drunk, devoured, burnt, broken, scattered abroad, may not have been prepared in vain.' 'So let it be,' replied Hara, the subduer of Indra. And thereupon Daksha knelt down upon the earth, and praised gratefully the author of righteousness, the three-eyed god Mahadeva, repeating the eight thousand names of the deity whose emblem is a bull."

 

CHAP. IX.

 

Legend of Lakshmi. Durvasas gives a garland to Indra: he treats it disrespectfully, and is cursed by the Muni. The power of the gods impaired: they are oppressed by the Danavas, and have recourse to Vishnu. The churning of the ocean. Praises of S'ri.

 

PARAS'ARA.--But with respect to the question thou hast asked me, Maitreya, relating to the history of S'ri, hear from me the tale as it was told to me by Marichi.

 

Durvasas, a portion of S'ankara (S'iva), was wandering over the earth; when be beheld, in the hands of a nymph of air, a garland of flowers culled from the trees of heaven, the fragrant odour of which spread throughout the forest, and enraptured all who dwelt beneath its shade. The sage, who was then possessed by religious phrensy, when he beheld that garland, demanded it of the graceful and full-eyed nymph, who, bowing to him reverentially, immediately presented it to him. He, as one frantic, placed the chaplet upon his brow, and thus decorated resumed his path; when he beheld (Indra) the husband of S'achi, the ruler of the three worlds, approach, seated on his infuriated elephant Airavata, and attended by the gods. The phrensied sage, taking from his head the garland of flowers, amidst which the bees collected ambrosia, threw it to the king of the gods, who caught it, and suspended it on the brow of Airavata, where it shone like the river Jahnavi, glittering on the dark summit of the mountain Kailasa. The elephant, whose eyes were dim with inebriety, and attracted by the smell, took hold of the garland with his trunk, and cast it on the earth. That chief of sages, Durvasas, was highly incensed at this disrespectful treatment of his gift, and thus angrily addressed the sovereign of the immortals: "Inflated with the intoxication of power, Vasava, vile of spirit, thou art an idiot not to respect the garland I presented to thee, which was the dwelling of Fortune (S'ri). Thou hast not acknowledged it as a largess; thou hast not bowed thyself before me; thou hast not placed the wreath upon thy head, with thy countenance expanding with delight. Now, fool, for that thou hast not infinitely prized the garland that I gave thee, thy sovereignty over the three worlds shall be subverted. Thou confoundest me, S'akra, with other Brahmans, and hence I have suffered disrespect from thy arrogance: but in like manner as thou hast cast the garland I gave thee down on the ground, so shall thy dominion over the universe be whelmed in ruin. Thou hast offended one whose wrath is dreaded by all created things, king of the gods, even me, by thine excessive pride."

 

Descending hastily from his elephant, Mahendra endeavoured to appease the sinless Durvasas: but to the excuses and prostrations of the thousand-eyed, the Muni answered, "I am not of a compassionate heart, nor is forgiveness congenial to my nature. Other Munis may relent; but know me, S'akra, to be Durvasas. Thou hast in vain been rendered insolent by Gautama and others; for know me, Indra, to be Durvasas, whose nature is a stranger to remorse. Thou hast been flattered by Vas'ishtha and other tender-hearted saints, whose loud praises (lave made thee so arrogant, that thou hast insulted me. But who is there in the universe that can behold my countenance, dark with frowns, and surrounded by my blazing hair, and not tremble? What need of words? I will not forgive, whatever semblance of humility thou mayest assume."

 

Having thus spoken, the Brahman went his way; and the king of the gods, remounting his elephant, returned to his capital Amaravati. Thenceforward, Maitreya, the three worlds and S'akra lost their vigour, and all vegetable products, plants, and herbs were withered and died; sacrifices were no longer offered; devout exercises no longer practised; men were no more addicted to charity, or any moral or religious obligation; all beings became devoid of steadiness; all the faculties of sense were obstructed by cupidity; and men's desires were excited by frivolous objects. Where there is energy, there is prosperity; and upon prosperity energy depends. How can those abandoned by prosperity be possessed of energy; and without energy, where is excellence? Without excellence there can be no vigour nor heroism amongst men: he who has neither courage nor strength, will be spurned by all: and he who is universally treated with disgrace, must suffer abasement of his intellectual faculties.

 

The three regions being thus wholly divested of prosperity, and deprived of energy, the Danavas and sons of Diti, the enemies of the gods, who were incapable of steadiness, and agitated by ambition, put forth their strength against the gods. They engaged in war with the feeble and unfortunate divinities; and Indra and the rest, being overcome in fight, fled for refuge to Brahma, preceded by the god of flame (Hutas'ana). When the great father of the universe had heard all that had come to pass, he said to the deities, "Repair for protection to the god of high and low; the tamer of the demons; the causeless cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; the progenitor of the progenitors; the immortal, unconquerable Vishnu; the cause of matter and spirit, of his unengendered products; the remover of the grief of all who humble themselves before him: he will give you aid." Having thus spoken to the deities, Brahma proceeded along with them to the northern shore of the sea of milk; and with reverential words thus prayed to the supreme Hari:--

 

"We glorify him who is all things; the lord supreme over all; unborn, imperishable; the protector of the mighty ones of creation; the unperceived, indivisible Narayana; the smallest of the smallest, the largest of the largest, of the elements; in whom are all things, from whom are all things; who was before existence; the god who is all beings; who is the end of ultimate objects; who is beyond final spirit, and is one with supreme soul; who is contemplated as the cause of final liberation by sages anxious to be free; in whom are not the qualities of goodness, foulness, or darkness, that belong to undeveloped nature. May that purest of all pure spirits this day be propitious to us. May that Hari be propitious to us, who’s inherent might is not an object of the progressive chain of moments or of days, that make up time. May he who is called the supreme god, who is not in need of assistance, Hari, the soul of all embodied substance, be favourable unto us. May that Hari, who is both cause and effect; who is the cause of cause, the effect of effect; he who is the effect of successive effect; who is the effect of the effect of the effect himself; the product of the effect of the effect of the effect, or elemental substance; to him I bow. The cause of the cause; the cause of the cause of the cause; the cause of them all; to him I bow. To him who is the enjoyer and thing to be enjoyed; the creator and thing to be created; who is the agent and the effect; to that supreme being I bow. The infinite nature of Vishnu is pure, intelligent, perpetual, unborn, undecidable, inexhaustible, inscrutable, immutable; it is neither gross nor substile, nor capable of being defined: to that ever holy nature of Vishnu I bow. To him whose faculty to create the universe abides in but a part of but the ten-millionth part of him; to him who is one with the inexhaustible supreme spirit, I bow: and to the glorious nature of the supreme Vishnu, which nor gods, nor sages, nor I, nor S'ankara apprehend; that nature which the Yogis, after incessant effort, effacing both moral merit and demerit, behold to be contemplated in the mystical monosyllable Om: the supreme glory of Vishnu, who is the first of all; of whom, one only god, the triple energy is the same with Brahma, Vishnu, and S'iva: oh lord of all, great soul of all, asylum of all, undecayable, have pity upon thy servants; oh Vishnu, be manifest unto us."

 

Paras'ara continued. -- The gods, having heard this prayer uttered by Brahma, bowed down, and cried, "Be favourable to us; be present to our sight: we bow down to that glorious nature which the mighty Brahma does not know; that which is thy nature, oh imperishable, in whom the universe abides." Then the gods having ended, Vrihaspati and the divine Rishis thus prayed: "We bow down to the being entitled to adoration; who is the first object of sacrifice; who was before the first of things; the creator of the creator of the world; the undefinable: oh lord of all that has been or is to be; imperishable type of sacrifice; have pity upon thy worshippers; appear to them, prostrate before thee. Here is Brahma; here is Trilochana (the three-eyed S'iva), with the Rudras; Pusha, (the sun), with the Adityas; and Fire, with all the mighty luminaries: here are the sons of Aswini (the two Aswini Kumaras), the Vasus and all the winds, the Sadhyas, the Vis'wadevas, and Indra the king of the gods: all of whom bow lowly before thee: all the tribes of the immortals, vanquished by the demon host, have fled to thee for succour."

 

Thus prayed to, the supreme deity, the mighty holder of the conch and discus, shewed himself to them: and beholding the lord of gods, bearing a shell, a discus, and a mace, the assemblage of primeval form, and radiant with embodied light, Pitamaha and the other deities, their eyes moistened with rapture, first paid him homage, and then thus addressed him: "Repeated salutation to thee, who art indefinable: thou art Brahma; thou art the wielder of the Pinaka bow (S'iva); thou art Indra; thou art fire, air, the god of waters, the sun, the king of death (Yama), the Vasus, the Maruts (the winds), the Sadhyas, and Vis'wadevas. This assembly of divinities, that now has come before thee, thou art; for, the creator of the world, thou art everywhere. Thou art the sacrifice, the prayer of oblation, the mystic syllable Om, the sovereign of all creatures: thou art all that is to be known, or to be unknown: oh universal soul, the whole world consists of thee. We, discomfited by the Daityas, have fled to thee, oh Vishnu, for refuge. Spirit of all, have compassion upon us; defend us with thy mighty power. There will be affliction, desire, trouble, and grief, until thy protection is obtained: but thou art the remover of all sins. Do thou then, oh pure of spirit, shew favour unto us, who have fled to thee: oh lord of all, protect us with thy great power, in union with the goddess who is thy strength [*6]." Hari, the creator of the universe, being thus prayed to by the prostrate divinities, smiled, and thus spake: "With renovated energy, oh gods, I will restore your strength. Do you act as I enjoin? Let all the gods, associated with the Asuras, cast all sorts of medicinal herbs into the sea of milk; and then taking the mountain Mandara for the churning-stick, the serpent Vasuki for the rope, churn the ocean together for ambrosia; depending upon my aid. To secure the assistance of the Daityas, you must be at peace with them, and engage to give them an equal portion of the fruit of your associated toil; promising them, that by drinking the Amrita that shall be produced from the agitated ocean, they shall become mighty and immortal. I will take care that the enemies of the gods shall not partake of the precious draught; that they shall share in the labour alone."

 

Being thus instructed by the god of gods, the divinities entered into alliance with the demons, and they jointly undertook the acquirement of the beverage of immortality. They collected various kinds of medicinal herbs, and cast them into the sea of milk, the waters of which were radiant as the thin and shining clouds of autumn. They then took the mountain Mandara for the staff; the serpent Vasuki for the cord; and commenced to churn the ocean for the Amrita. The assembled gods were stationed by Krishna at the tail of the serpent; the Daityas and Danavas at its head and neck. Scorched by the flames emitted from his inflated hood, the demons were shorn of their glory; whilst the clouds driven towards his tail by the breath of his mouth, refreshed the gods with revivifying showers. In the midst of the milky sea, Hari himself, in the form of a tortoise, served as a pivot for the mountain, as it was whirled around. The holder of the mace and discus was present in other forms amongst the gods and demons, and assisted to drag the monarch of the serpent race: and in another vast body he sat upon the summit of the mountain. With one portion of his energy, unseen by gods or demons, he sustained the serpent king; and with another, infused vigour into the gods.

 

From the ocean, thus churned by the gods and Danavas, first uprose the cow Surabhi, the fountain of milk and curds, worshipped by the divinities, and beheld by them and their associates with minds disturbed, and eyes glistening with delight. Then, as the holy Siddhas in the sky wondered what this could be, appeared the goddess Varuni (the deity of wine), her eyes rolling with intoxication. Next, from the whirlpool of the deep, sprang the celestial Parijata tree, the delight of the nymphs of heaven, perfuming the world with its blossoms. The troop of Apsarasas, the nymphs of heaven, were then produced, of surprising loveliness, endowed with beauty and with taste. The cool-rayed moon next rose, and was seized by Mahadeva: and then poison was engendered from the sea, of which the snake gods (Nagas) took possession. Dhanwantari, robed in white, and bearing in his hand the cup of Amrita, next came forth: beholding which, the sons of Diti and of Danu, as well as the Munis, were filled with satisfaction and delight. Then, seated on a full-blown lotus, and holding a water-lily in her hand, the goddess S'ri, radiant with beauty, rose from the waves. The great sages, enraptured, hymned her with the song dedicated to her praise. Vis'wavasu and other heavenly quiristers sang, and Ghritachi and other celestial nymphs danced before her. Ganga and other holy streams attended for her ablutions; and the elephants of the skies, taking up their pure waters in vases of gold, poured them over the goddess, the queen of the universal world. The sea of milk in person presented her with a wreath of never-fading flowers; and the artist of the gods (Viswakerma) decorated her person with heavenly ornaments. Thus bathed, attired, and adorned, the goddess, in the view of the celestials, cast herself upon the breast of Hari; and there reclining, turned her eyes upon the deities, who were inspired with rapture by her gaze. Not so the Daityas, who, with Viprachitti at their head, were filled with indignation, as Vishnu turned away from them, and they were abandoned by the goddess of prosperity (Lakshmi.)

 

The powerful and indignant Daityas then forcibly seized the Amrita-cup, that was in the hand of Dhanwantari: but Vishnu, assuming a female form, fascinated and deluded them; and recovering the Amrita from them, delivered it to the gods. S'akra and the other deities quaffed the ambrosia. The incensed demons, grasping their weapons, fell upon them; but the gods, into whom the ambrosial draught had infused new vigour, defeated and put their host to flight, and they fled through the regions of space, and plunged into the subterraneous realms of Patala. The gods thereat greatly rejoiced, did homage to the holder of the discus and mace, and resumed their reign in heaven. The sun shone with renovated splendour, and again discharged his appointed task; and the celestial luminaries again circled, oh best of Munis, in their respective orbits. Fire once more blazed aloft, beautiful in splendour; and the minds of all beings were animated by devotion. The three worlds again were rendered happy by prosperity; and Indra, the chief of the gods, was restored to power. Seated upon his throne, and once more in heaven, exercising sovereignty over the gods, S'akra thus eulogized the goddess who bears a lotus in her hand:--

 

"I bow down to S'ri, the mother of all beings, seated on her lotus throne, with eyes like full-blown lotuses, reclining on the breast of Vishnu. Thou art Siddhi (superhuman power): thou art Swadha and Swaha: thou art ambrosia (Sudha), the purifier of the universe: thou art evening, night, and dawn: thou art power, faith, intellect: thou art the goddess of letters (Saraswati). Thou, beautiful goddess, art knowledge of devotion, great knowledge, mystic knowledge, and spiritual knowledge; which confers eternal liberation. Thou art the science of reasoning, the three Vedas, the arts and sciences: thou art moral and political science. The world is peopled by thee with pleasing or displeasing forms. Who else than thou, oh goddess, is seated on that person of the god of gods, the wielder of the mace, which is made up of sacrifice, and contemplated by holy ascetics? Abandoned by thee, the three worlds were on the brink of ruin; but they have been reanimated by thee. From thy propitious gaze, oh mighty goddess, men obtain wives, children, dwellings, friends, harvests, wealth. Health and strength, power, victory, happiness, are easy of attainment to those upon whom thou smilest. Thou art the mother of all beings, as the god of gods, Hari, is their father; and this world, whether animate or inanimate, is pervaded by thee and Vishnu. Oh thou who purifiest all things, forsake not our treasures, our granaries, our dwellings, our dependants, our persons, our wives: abandon not our children, our friends, our lineage, our jewels, oh thou who abidest on the bosom of the god of gods. They whom thou desertest are forsaken by truth, by purity, and goodness, by every amiable and excellent quality; whilst the base and worthless upon whom thou lookest favourably become immediately endowed with all excellent qualifications, with families, and with power. He on whom thy countenance is turned is honourable, amiable, prosperous, wise, and of exalted birth; a hero of irresistible prowess: but all his merits and his advantages are converted into worthlessness from whom, beloved of Vishnu, mother of the world, thou avertest thy face. The tongues of Brahma, are unequal to celebrate thy excellence. Be propitious to me, oh goddess, lotus-eyed, and never forsake me more."

 

Being thus praised, the gratified S'ri, abiding in all creatures, and heard by all beings, replied to the god of a hundred rites (S'atakratu); "I am pleased, monarch of the gods, by thine adoration. Demand from me what thou desirest: I have come to fulfil thy wishes." "If, goddess," replied Indra, "thou wilt grant my prayers; if I am worthy of thy bounty; be this my first request, that the three worlds may never again be deprived of thy presence. My second supplication, daughter of ocean, is, that thou wilt not forsake him who shall celebrate thy praises in the words I have addressed to thee." "I will not abandon," the goddess answered, "the three worlds again: this thy first boon is granted; for I am gratified by thy praises: and further, I will never turn my face away from that mortal who morning and evening shall repeat the hymn with which thou hast addressed me."

 

Paras'ara proceeded.--Thus, Maitreya, in former times the goddess S'ri conferred these boons upon the king of the gods, being pleased by his adorations; but her first birth was as the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyati: it was at a subsequent period that she was produced from the sea, at the churning of the ocean by the demons and the gods, to obtain ambrosia. For in like manner as the lord of the world, the god of gods, Janarddana, descends amongst mankind (in various shapes), so does his coadjutrix S'ri. Thus when Hari was born as a dwarf, the son of Aditi, Lakshmi appeared from a lotus (as Padma, or Kamala); when he was born as Rama, of the race of Bhrigu (or Paras'urama), she was Dharani; when he was Raghava (Ramachandra), she was Sita; and when he was Krishna, she became Rukmini. In the other descents of Vishnu, she is his associate. If he takes a celestial form, she appears as divine; if a mortal, she becomes a mortal too, transforming her own person agreeably to whatever character it pleases Vishnu to put on. Whosoever hears this account of the birth of Lakshmi, whosoever reads it, shall never lose the goddess Fortune from his dwelling for three generations; and misfortune, the fountain of strife, shall never enter into those houses in which the hymns to S'ri are repeated.

 

Thus, Brahman, have I narrated to thee, in answer to thy question, how Lakshmi, formerly the daughter of Bhrigu, sprang from the sea of milk; and misfortune shall never visit those amongst mankind who daily recite the praises of Lakshmi uttered by Indra, which are the origin and cause of all prosperity.

 

CHAP. X.

 

The descendants of the daughters of Daksha married to the Rishis.

 

MAITREYA.--Thou hast narrated to me, great Muni, all that I asked of thee: now resume the account of the creation subsequently to Bhrigu.

 

PARAS'ARA.--Lakshmi, the bride of Vishnu, was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyati. They had also two sons, Dhatri and Vidhatri, who married the two daughters of the illustrious Meru, Ayati and Niryati; and had by them each a son, named Prana and Mrikanda. The son of the latter was Markandeya, from whom Vedas'iras was born. The son of Prana was named Dyutimat, and his son was Rajavat; after whom, the race of Bhrigu became infinitely multiplied.

 

Sambhuti, the wife of Marichi, gave birth to Paurnamasa, whose sons were Virajas and Sarvaga. I shall hereafter notice his other descendants, when I give a more particular account of the race of Marichi.

 

The wife of Angiras, Smriti, bore daughters named Sinivali, Kuhu, Raka, and Anumati (phases of the moon. Anasuya, the wife of Atri, was the mother of three sinless sons, Soma (the moon), Durvasas, and the ascetic Dattatreya. Pulastya had, by Priti, a son called in a former birth, or in the Swayambhuva Manwantara, Dattoli, who is now known as the sage Agastya. Kshama, the wife of the patriarch Pulaha, was the mother of three sons, Karmasa, Arvarivat, and Sahishnu. The wife of Kratu, Sannati, brought forth the sixty thousand Balakhilyas, pigmy sages, no bigger than a joint of the thumb, chaste, pious, resplendent as the rays of the sun. Vas'ishtha had seven sons by his wife Urjja, Rajas, Gatra, Urddhabahu, Savana, Anagha, Sutapas, and S'ukra, the seven pure sages. The Agni named Abhimani, who is the eldest born of Brahma, had, by Swaha, three sons of surpassing brilliancy, Pavaka, Pavamana, and S'uchi, who drinks up water: they had forty-five sons, who, with the original son of Brahma and his three descendants, constitute the forty-nine fires. The progenitors (Pitris), who, as I have mentioned, were created by Brahma, were the Agnishwattas and Varhishads; the former being devoid of, and the latter possessed of, fires. By them, Swadha had two daughters, Mena and Dharani, who were both acquainted with theological truth, and both addicted to religious meditation; both accomplished in perfect wisdom, and adorned with all estimable qualities. Thus has been explained the progeny of the daughters of Daksha. He who with faith recapitulates the account, shall never want offspring.

Synopsis of the Vishnu Purana

Introduction of All Puranas

CHARACTER-BUILDING.

SELF-DE-HYPNOTISATION.

THE ROLE OF PRAYER. = THOUGHT: CREATIVE AND EXHAUSTIVE. MEDITATION EXERCISE.  

HIGHER REASON AND JUDGMENT= CONQUEST OF FEAR.

THE GREAT EGOIST--BALI

QUEEN CHUNDALAI, THE GREAT YOGIN

CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

THE WAY TO BLESSED LIBERATION

MUDRAS MOVE THE KUNDALINI

LOCATION OF KUNDALINI

SAMADHI YOGA

THE POWER OF DHARANA, DHIYANA, AND SAMYAMA YOGA.

THE POWER OF THE PRANAYAMA YOGA.

INTRODUCTION

KUNDALINI, THE MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE.

TO THE KUNDALINI—THE MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE.

Yoga Vashist part-1 -or- Heaven Found   by   Rishi Singh Gherwal   

Shakti and Shâkta -by Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe),

Mahanirvana Tantra- All- Chapter  -1 Questions relating to the Liberation of Beings

Mahanirvana Tantra

Tantra of the Great Liberation

Translated by Arthur Avalon

(Sir John Woodroffe)

Introduction and Preface

CONCLUSION.

THE VAMPIRE'S ELEVENTH STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S TENTH STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S NINTH STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S EIGHTH STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S SEVENTH STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S SIXTH STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S FIFTH STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S FOURTH STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S THIRD STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S SECOND STORY.

THE VAMPIRE'S FIRST STORY.

श्वेतकेतु और उद्दालक, उपनिषद की कहानी, छान्द्योग्यापनिषद, GVB THE UNIVERSITY OF VEDA

यजुर्वेद मंत्रा हिन्दी व्याख्या सहित, प्रथम अध्याय 1-10, GVB THE UIVERSITY OF VEDA

उषस्ति की कठिनाई, उपनिषद की कहानी, आपदकालेमर्यादानास्ति, _4 -GVB the uiversity of veda

वैराग्यशतकम्, योगी भर्तृहरिकृत, संस्कृत काव्य, हिन्दी व्याख्या, भाग-1, gvb the university of Veda

G.V.B. THE UNIVERSITY OF VEDA ON YOU TUBE

इसे भी पढ़े- इन्द्र औ वृत्त युद्ध- भिष्म का युधिष्ठिर को उपदेश

इसे भी पढ़े - भाग- ब्रह्मचर्य वैभव

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