Book I. Chapter X
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 82
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.
Parara.--Lakshm, the bride of Vishnu, was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyti. They had also two sons, Dhtri and Vidhtri, who married the two daughters of the illustrious Meru, yati and Niryati; and had by them each a son, named Prna and Mrikanda. The son of the latter was Mrkandeya, from whom Vedairas was born 1. The son of Prna was named Dyutimat, and his son was Rjavat; after whom, the race of Bhrigu became infinitely multiplied.
Sambhti, the wife of Marchi, gave birth to Paurnamsa, whose sons were Virajas and Sarvaga. I shall hereafter notice his other descendants, when I give a more particular account of the race of Marchi 2.
The wife of Angiras, Smriti, bore daughters named Sinivl, Kuhu,
p. 83
[paragraph continues] Rk, and Anumati (phases of the moon 3). Anasy, the wife of Atri, was the mother of three sinless sons, Soma (the moon), Durvsas, and the ascetic Datttreya 4. Pulastya had, by Prti, a son called in a former birth, or in the Swyambhuva Manwantara, Dattoli, who is now known as the sage Agastya 5. Ksham, the wife of the patriarch Pulaha, was the mother of three sons, Karmasa, Arvarvat, and Sahishnu 6. The wife of Kratu, Sannati, brought forth the sixty thousand Blakhilyas, pigmy sages, no bigger than a joint of the thumb, chaste, pious, resplendent as the rays of the sun 7. Vaishtha had seven sons by his wife Urjj, Rajas, Gtra, rddhabhu, Savana, Anagha, Sutapas, and ukra, the seven pure sages 8. The Agni named Abhimn, who is the eldest born of
p. 84
[paragraph continues] Brahm, had, by Swh, three sons of surpassing brilliancy, Pvaka, Pavamna, and uchi, who drinks up water: they had forty-five sons, who, with the original son of Brahm and his three descendants, constitute the forty-nine fires 9. The progenitors (Pitris), who, as I have mentioned, were created by Brahm, were the Agnishwttas and Varhishads; the former being devoid of, and the latter possessed of, fires 10. By them, Swadh had two daughters, Men and Dhran, who were both acquainted with theological truth, and both addicted to religious meditation; both accomplished in perfect wisdom, and adorned with all estimable qualities 11. Thus has been explained the progeny of the
p. 85
daughters of Daksha 12. He who with faith recapitulates the account, shall never want offspring.
Footnotes
82:1 The commentator interprets the text ### to refer to Prna: 'Vedairas was born the son of Prna.' So the Bhgavata has ###. The Linga, the Vyu, and Mrkandeya, however, confirm our reading of the text, making Vedairas the son of Mrkandeya. Prna, or, as read in the two former, Pndu, was married to Pundark, and had by her Dyutimat, whose sons were Srijvana and Asruta or Asrutavrana. Mrikanda (also read Mrikandu) married Manaswin, and had Mrkandeya, whose son, by Murddhany, was Vedairas: he married Pvar, and had many children, who constituted the family, or Brahmanical tribe, of Bhrgavas, sons of Bhrigu. The most celebrated of these was Uanas, the preceptor of the Daityas, who, according to the Bhgavata, was the son of Vedairas; but the Vyu makes him the son of Bhrigu by Paulom, and born at a different period.
82:2 Alluding especially to Kayapa, the son of Marchi, of whose posterity a full detail is subsequently given. The Bhgavata adds a daughter, Devakuly; and the Vyu and Linga, four daughters, Tushti, Pushti, Twish, and Apachiti. The latter inserts the grandsons of Paurnamsa. Virajas, married to Gaur, has Sudhman, a Lokapla, or ruler of the east quarter; and Parvasa (quasi Sarvaga) has, by Parvas, Yajnavma and Kayata, who were both founders of Gotras, or families. The names of all these occur in different forms in different Mss.
83:3 The Bhgavata adds, that in the Swrochisha Manwantara the sages Uttathya and Vrihaspati were also sons of Angiras; and the Vyu, &c. specify Agni and Krttimat as the sons of the patriarch in the first Manwantara. Agni, married to Sadwat, has Parjanya, married to Marchi; and their son is Hiranyaroman, a Lokapla. Krttimat has, by Dhenuk, two sons, Charishnu and Dhritimat.
83:4 The Bhgavata gives an account of Atri's penance, by which the three gods, Brahm, Vishnu, and iva, were propitiated, and became, in portions of themselves, severally his sons, Soma, Datta, and Durvsas. The Vyu has a totally different series, or five sons, Satyanetra, Havya, pomurtti, Sani, and Soma; and one daughter, Sruti, who became the wife of Kardama.
83:5 The text would seem to imply that he was called Agastya in a former Manwantara, but the commentator explains it as above. The Bhgavata calls the wife of Pulastya, Havirbh, whose sons were the Muni Agastya, called in a former birth Dahrgni or Jathargni, and Visravas. The latter had by Ilavil, the deity of wealth, Kuvera; and by Kesin, the Rkshasas Rvana, Kumbhakarna, and Vibhshana. The Vyu specifies three sons of Pulastya, Dattoli, Vedabhu, and Vinta; and one daughter, Sadwat, married (see note 3) to Agni.
83:6 The Bhgavata reads Karmareshtha, Varyas, and Sahishnu. The Vyu and Linga have Kardama and Ambarsha in place of the two first, and add Vanakapvat and a daughter, Pvar, married to Vedairas (see note 1). Kardama married ruti (note 4), and had by her Sankhapda, one of the Lokaplas, and a daughter, Kmy, married to Priyavrata (note 6, p. 53). Vana-kapvat, also read Dhana-k. and Ghana-k., had a son, Sahishnu, married to Yasodhar, and they were the parents of Kmadeva.
83:7 The different authorities agree in this place. The Vyu adds two daughters, Puny and Sumat, married to Yajnavma (see note 2).
83:8 The Bhgavata has an entirely different set of names, or Chitraketu, Surochish, Virajas, Mitra, Ulwana, Vasubhridyna, and p. 84 Dyumat. It also specifies Saktri and others, as the issue of a different marriage. The Vyu and Linga have the same sons as in our text, reading Putra and Hasta in place of Gtra: they add a daughter, Pundarik, married to Pandu (see note 1). The eldest son, according to the Vyu, espoused a daughter of Mrkandeya, and had by her the Lokapla of the west, Ketumat. The seven sons of Vaishtha are termed in the text the seven Rishis, appearing in that character in the third Manwantara.
84:9 The eldest son of Brahm, according to the commentator, upon the authority of the Vedas. The Vyu P. enters into a very long detail of the names and places of the whole forty-nine fires. According to that, also, Pvaka is electric or Vaidynta fire; Pavamna is that produced by friction, or Nirmathya; and uchi is solar, Saura, fire. Pavamna was the parent of Kavyavhana, the fire of the Pitris; uchi of Havyavhana, the fire of the gods; and Pavamna of Saharaksha, the fire of the Asuras. The Bhgavata explains these different fires to be so many appellations of fire employed in the invocations with which different oblations to fire are offered in the ritual of the Vedas: ### explained by the commentator, ###.
84:10 According to the commentator, this distinction is derived from the Vedas. The first class, or Agnishwttas, consists of those householders who, when alive, did not maintain their domestic fires, nor offer burnt-sacrifices: the second, of those who kept up the household flame, and presented oblations with fire. Manu calls these Agnidagdhas and the reverse, which Sir W. Jones renders, 'consumable by fire,' &c. Kullka Bhatta gives no explanation of them. The Bhgavata adds other classes of Pitris; or, the jyapas, drinkers of ghee;' and Somaps, drinkers of the acid juice.' The commentator, explaining the meaning of the terms Sgnayas and Angnyas, has, ### which might be understood to signify, that the Pitris who are 'without fire' are those to whom oblations are not offered; and those 'with fire' are they to whom oblations are presented.
84:11 The Vyu carries this genealogy forward. Dhran was married to Meru, and p. 85 had by him Mandara and three daughters, Niyati, yati, and Vel: the two first were married to Dhtri and Vidhtri (p. 81). Vel was the wife of Samudra, by whom she had Smudr, married to Prachnavarhish, and the mother of the ten Prachetasas, the fathers of Daksha, as subsequently narrated. Men was married to Himvat, and was the mother of Mainka, and of Gang, and of Prvati or Um.
85:12 No notice is here taken of Sati, married to Bhava, as is intimated in c. 8 (p. 59), when describing the Rudras. Of these genealogies the fullest and apparently the oldest account is given in the Vyu P.: as far as that of our text extends, the two nearly agree, allowing for differences of appellation originating in inaccurate transcription, the names frequently varying in different copies of the same work, leaving it doubtful which reading should be preferred. The Bhgavata, as observed above (p. 54. n. 12), has created some further perplexity by substituting, as the wives of the patriarchs, the daughters of Kardama for those of Daksha. Of the general statement it may be observed, that although in some respects allegorical, as in the names of the wives of the Rishis (p. 54); and in others astronomical, as in the denominations of the daughters of Anginas (p. 82); yet it seems probable that it is not altogether fabulous, but that the persons in some instances had a real existence, the genealogies originating in imperfectly preserved traditions of the families of the first teachers of the Hindu religion, and of the descent of individuals who took an active share in its propagation.
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 82
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.
Parara.--Lakshm, the bride of Vishnu, was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyti. They had also two sons, Dhtri and Vidhtri, who married the two daughters of the illustrious Meru, yati and Niryati; and had by them each a son, named Prna and Mrikanda. The son of the latter was Mrkandeya, from whom Vedairas was born 1. The son of Prna was named Dyutimat, and his son was Rjavat; after whom, the race of Bhrigu became infinitely multiplied.
Sambhti, the wife of Marchi, gave birth to Paurnamsa, whose sons were Virajas and Sarvaga. I shall hereafter notice his other descendants, when I give a more particular account of the race of Marchi 2.
The wife of Angiras, Smriti, bore daughters named Sinivl, Kuhu,
p. 83
[paragraph continues] Rk, and Anumati (phases of the moon 3). Anasy, the wife of Atri, was the mother of three sinless sons, Soma (the moon), Durvsas, and the ascetic Datttreya 4. Pulastya had, by Prti, a son called in a former birth, or in the Swyambhuva Manwantara, Dattoli, who is now known as the sage Agastya 5. Ksham, the wife of the patriarch Pulaha, was the mother of three sons, Karmasa, Arvarvat, and Sahishnu 6. The wife of Kratu, Sannati, brought forth the sixty thousand Blakhilyas, pigmy sages, no bigger than a joint of the thumb, chaste, pious, resplendent as the rays of the sun 7. Vaishtha had seven sons by his wife Urjj, Rajas, Gtra, rddhabhu, Savana, Anagha, Sutapas, and ukra, the seven pure sages 8. The Agni named Abhimn, who is the eldest born of
p. 84
[paragraph continues] Brahm, had, by Swh, three sons of surpassing brilliancy, Pvaka, Pavamna, and uchi, who drinks up water: they had forty-five sons, who, with the original son of Brahm and his three descendants, constitute the forty-nine fires 9. The progenitors (Pitris), who, as I have mentioned, were created by Brahm, were the Agnishwttas and Varhishads; the former being devoid of, and the latter possessed of, fires 10. By them, Swadh had two daughters, Men and Dhran, who were both acquainted with theological truth, and both addicted to religious meditation; both accomplished in perfect wisdom, and adorned with all estimable qualities 11. Thus has been explained the progeny of the
p. 85
daughters of Daksha 12. He who with faith recapitulates the account, shall never want offspring.
Footnotes
82:1 The commentator interprets the text ### to refer to Prna: 'Vedairas was born the son of Prna.' So the Bhgavata has ###. The Linga, the Vyu, and Mrkandeya, however, confirm our reading of the text, making Vedairas the son of Mrkandeya. Prna, or, as read in the two former, Pndu, was married to Pundark, and had by her Dyutimat, whose sons were Srijvana and Asruta or Asrutavrana. Mrikanda (also read Mrikandu) married Manaswin, and had Mrkandeya, whose son, by Murddhany, was Vedairas: he married Pvar, and had many children, who constituted the family, or Brahmanical tribe, of Bhrgavas, sons of Bhrigu. The most celebrated of these was Uanas, the preceptor of the Daityas, who, according to the Bhgavata, was the son of Vedairas; but the Vyu makes him the son of Bhrigu by Paulom, and born at a different period.
82:2 Alluding especially to Kayapa, the son of Marchi, of whose posterity a full detail is subsequently given. The Bhgavata adds a daughter, Devakuly; and the Vyu and Linga, four daughters, Tushti, Pushti, Twish, and Apachiti. The latter inserts the grandsons of Paurnamsa. Virajas, married to Gaur, has Sudhman, a Lokapla, or ruler of the east quarter; and Parvasa (quasi Sarvaga) has, by Parvas, Yajnavma and Kayata, who were both founders of Gotras, or families. The names of all these occur in different forms in different Mss.
83:3 The Bhgavata adds, that in the Swrochisha Manwantara the sages Uttathya and Vrihaspati were also sons of Angiras; and the Vyu, &c. specify Agni and Krttimat as the sons of the patriarch in the first Manwantara. Agni, married to Sadwat, has Parjanya, married to Marchi; and their son is Hiranyaroman, a Lokapla. Krttimat has, by Dhenuk, two sons, Charishnu and Dhritimat.
83:4 The Bhgavata gives an account of Atri's penance, by which the three gods, Brahm, Vishnu, and iva, were propitiated, and became, in portions of themselves, severally his sons, Soma, Datta, and Durvsas. The Vyu has a totally different series, or five sons, Satyanetra, Havya, pomurtti, Sani, and Soma; and one daughter, Sruti, who became the wife of Kardama.
83:5 The text would seem to imply that he was called Agastya in a former Manwantara, but the commentator explains it as above. The Bhgavata calls the wife of Pulastya, Havirbh, whose sons were the Muni Agastya, called in a former birth Dahrgni or Jathargni, and Visravas. The latter had by Ilavil, the deity of wealth, Kuvera; and by Kesin, the Rkshasas Rvana, Kumbhakarna, and Vibhshana. The Vyu specifies three sons of Pulastya, Dattoli, Vedabhu, and Vinta; and one daughter, Sadwat, married (see note 3) to Agni.
83:6 The Bhgavata reads Karmareshtha, Varyas, and Sahishnu. The Vyu and Linga have Kardama and Ambarsha in place of the two first, and add Vanakapvat and a daughter, Pvar, married to Vedairas (see note 1). Kardama married ruti (note 4), and had by her Sankhapda, one of the Lokaplas, and a daughter, Kmy, married to Priyavrata (note 6, p. 53). Vana-kapvat, also read Dhana-k. and Ghana-k., had a son, Sahishnu, married to Yasodhar, and they were the parents of Kmadeva.
83:7 The different authorities agree in this place. The Vyu adds two daughters, Puny and Sumat, married to Yajnavma (see note 2).
83:8 The Bhgavata has an entirely different set of names, or Chitraketu, Surochish, Virajas, Mitra, Ulwana, Vasubhridyna, and p. 84 Dyumat. It also specifies Saktri and others, as the issue of a different marriage. The Vyu and Linga have the same sons as in our text, reading Putra and Hasta in place of Gtra: they add a daughter, Pundarik, married to Pandu (see note 1). The eldest son, according to the Vyu, espoused a daughter of Mrkandeya, and had by her the Lokapla of the west, Ketumat. The seven sons of Vaishtha are termed in the text the seven Rishis, appearing in that character in the third Manwantara.
84:9 The eldest son of Brahm, according to the commentator, upon the authority of the Vedas. The Vyu P. enters into a very long detail of the names and places of the whole forty-nine fires. According to that, also, Pvaka is electric or Vaidynta fire; Pavamna is that produced by friction, or Nirmathya; and uchi is solar, Saura, fire. Pavamna was the parent of Kavyavhana, the fire of the Pitris; uchi of Havyavhana, the fire of the gods; and Pavamna of Saharaksha, the fire of the Asuras. The Bhgavata explains these different fires to be so many appellations of fire employed in the invocations with which different oblations to fire are offered in the ritual of the Vedas: ### explained by the commentator, ###.
84:10 According to the commentator, this distinction is derived from the Vedas. The first class, or Agnishwttas, consists of those householders who, when alive, did not maintain their domestic fires, nor offer burnt-sacrifices: the second, of those who kept up the household flame, and presented oblations with fire. Manu calls these Agnidagdhas and the reverse, which Sir W. Jones renders, 'consumable by fire,' &c. Kullka Bhatta gives no explanation of them. The Bhgavata adds other classes of Pitris; or, the jyapas, drinkers of ghee;' and Somaps, drinkers of the acid juice.' The commentator, explaining the meaning of the terms Sgnayas and Angnyas, has, ### which might be understood to signify, that the Pitris who are 'without fire' are those to whom oblations are not offered; and those 'with fire' are they to whom oblations are presented.
84:11 The Vyu carries this genealogy forward. Dhran was married to Meru, and p. 85 had by him Mandara and three daughters, Niyati, yati, and Vel: the two first were married to Dhtri and Vidhtri (p. 81). Vel was the wife of Samudra, by whom she had Smudr, married to Prachnavarhish, and the mother of the ten Prachetasas, the fathers of Daksha, as subsequently narrated. Men was married to Himvat, and was the mother of Mainka, and of Gang, and of Prvati or Um.
85:12 No notice is here taken of Sati, married to Bhava, as is intimated in c. 8 (p. 59), when describing the Rudras. Of these genealogies the fullest and apparently the oldest account is given in the Vyu P.: as far as that of our text extends, the two nearly agree, allowing for differences of appellation originating in inaccurate transcription, the names frequently varying in different copies of the same work, leaving it doubtful which reading should be preferred. The Bhgavata, as observed above (p. 54. n. 12), has created some further perplexity by substituting, as the wives of the patriarchs, the daughters of Kardama for those of Daksha. Of the general statement it may be observed, that although in some respects allegorical, as in the names of the wives of the Rishis (p. 54); and in others astronomical, as in the denominations of the daughters of Anginas (p. 82); yet it seems probable that it is not altogether fabulous, but that the persons in some instances had a real existence, the genealogies originating in imperfectly preserved traditions of the families of the first teachers of the Hindu religion, and of the descent of individuals who took an active share in its propagation.
