Book I. Chapter Xv
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
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Chap. Xv.
The world overrun with trees: they are destroyed by the Prachetasas. Soma pacifies them, and gives them Mrish to wife: her story: the daughter of the nymph Pramloch. Legend of Kandu. Mrish's former history. Daksha the son of the Prachetasas: his different characters: his sons: his daughters: their marriages and progeny: allusion to Prahlda, his descendant.
Whilst the Prachetasas were thus absorbed in their devotions, the trees spread and overshadowed the unprotected earth, and the people perished: the winds could not blow; the sky was shut out by the forests; and mankind was unable to labour for ten thousand years. When the sages, coming forth from the deep, beheld this, they were angry, and, being incensed, wind and flame issued from their mouths. The strong wind tore up the trees by their roots, and left them sear and dry, and the fierce fire consumed them, and the forests were cleared away. When Soma (the moon), the sovereign of the vegetable world, beheld all except a few of the trees destroyed, he went to the patriarchs, the Prachetasas, and said, "Restrain your indignation, princes, and listen to me. I will form an alliance between you and the trees. Prescient of futurity, I have nourished with my rays this precious maiden, the daughter of the woods. She is called Mrish, and is assuredly the offspring of the trees. She shall be your bride, and the multiplier of the race of Dhruva. From a portion of your lustre and a portion of mine, oh mighty sages, the patriarch Daksha shall be born of her, who, endowed with a part of me, and composed of your vigour, shall be as resplendent as fire, and shall multiply the human race.
"There was formerly (said Soma) a sage named Kandu, eminent in holy wisdom, who practised pious austerities on the lovely borders of the Gomati river. The king of the gods sent the nymph Pramloch to disturb his penance, and the sweet-smiling damsel diverted the sage from his devotions. They lived together, in the valley of Mandara, for a hundred and fifty years; during which, the mind of the Muni was wholly given up to enjoyment. At the expiration of this period the
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nymph requested his permission to return to heaven; but the Muni, still fondly attached to her, prevailed upon her to remain for some time longer; and the graceful damsel continued to reside for another hundred years, and delight the great sage by her fascinations. Then again she preferred her suit to be allowed to return to the abodes of the gods; and again the Muni desired her to remain. At the expiration of more than a century the nymph once more said to him, with a smiling countenance, 'Brahman, I depart;' but the Muni, detaining the fine-eyed damsel, replied, 'Nay, stay yet a little; you will go hence for a long period.' Afraid of incurring an imprecation, the graceful nymph continued with the sage for nearly two hundred years more, repeatedly asking his permission to go to the region of the king of the gods, but as often desired by him to remain. Dreading to be cursed by him, and excelling in amiable manners, well knowing also the pain that is inflicted by separation from an object of affection, she did not quit the Muni, whose mind, wholly subdued by love, became every day more strongly attached to her.
"On one occasion the sage was going forth from their cottage in a great hurry. The nymph asked him where he was going. 'The day,' he replied, 'is drawing fast to a close: I must perform the Sandhya worship, or a duty will be neglected.' The nymph smiled mirthfully as she rejoined, 'Why do you talk, grave sir, of this day drawing to a close: your day is a day of many years, a day that must be a marvel to all: explain what this means.' The Muni said, 'Fair damsel, you came to the river-side at dawn; I beheld you then, and you then entered my hermitage. It is now the revolution of evening, and the day is gone. What is the meaning of this laughter? Tell me the truth.' Pramloch. answered, 'You say rightly,' venerable Brahman, 'that I came hither at morning dawn, but several hundred years have passed since the time of my arrival. This is the truth.' The Muni, on hearing this, was seized with astonishment, and asked her how long he had enjoyed her society: to which the nymph replied, that they had lived together nine hundred and seven years, six months, and three days. The Muni asked her if she spoke the truth, or if she was in jest; for it appeared to him that
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they had spent but one day together: to which Pramloch replied, that she should not dare at any time to tell him who lived in the path of piety an untruth, but particularly when she had been enjoined by him to inform him what had passed.
"When the Muni, princes, had heard these words, and knew that it was the truth, he began to reproach himself bitterly, exclaiming, 'Fie, fie upon me; my penance has been interrupted; the treasure of the learned and the pious has been stolen from me; my judgment has been blinded: this woman has been created by some one to beguile me: Brahma is beyond the reach of those agitated by the waves of infirmity 1. I had subdued my passions, and was about to attain divine knowledge. This was foreseen by him by whom this girl has been sent hither. Fie on the passion that has obstructed my devotions. All the austerities that would have led to acquisition of the wisdom of the Vedas have been rendered of no avail by passion that is the road to hell.' The pious sage, having thus reviled himself, turned to the nymph, who was sitting nigh, and said to her, 'Go, deceitful girl, whither thou wilt: thou hast performed the office assigned thee by the monarch of the gods, of disturbing my penance by thy fascinations. I will not reduce thee to ashes by the fire of my wrath. Seven paces together is sufficient for the friendship of the virtuous, but thou and I have dwelt together. And in truth what fault hast thou committed? why should I be wroth with thee? The sin is wholly mine, in that I could not subdue my passions: yet fie upon thee, who, to gain favour with Indra, hast disturbed my devotions; vile bundle of delusion.'
"Thus spoken to by the Muni, Pramloch stood trembling, whilst big drops of perspiration started from every pore; till he angrily cried to her, 'Depart, begone.' She then, reproached by him, went forth from his dwelling, and, passing through the air, wiped the perspiration from her person with the leaves of the trees. The nymph went from tree to tree, and as with the dusky shoots that crowned their summits she dried her limbs, which were covered with moisture, the child she had conceived by
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the Rishi came forth from the pores of her skin in drops of perspiration. The trees received the living dews, and the winds collected them into one mass. "This," said Soma, "I matured by my rays, and gradually it increased in size, till the exhalation that had rested on the tree tops became the lovely girl named Mrish. The trees will give her to you, Prachetasas: let your indignation be appeased. She is the progeny of Kandu, the child of Pramloch, the nursling of the trees, the daughter of the wind and of the moon. The holy Kandu, after the interruption of his pious exercises, went, excellent princes, to the region of Vishnu, termed Purushottama, where, Maitreya 2, with his whole mind he devoted himself to the adoration of Hari; standing fixed, with uplifted arms, and repeating the prayers that comprehend the essence of divine truth 3."
The Prachetasas said, "We are desirous to hear the transcendental
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prayers, by inaudibly reciting which the pious Kandu propitiated Keava." On which Soma repeated as follows: "'Vishnu is beyond the boundary of all things: he is the infinite: he is beyond that which is boundless: he is above all that is above: he exists as finite truth: he is the object of the Veda; the limit of elemental being; unappreciable by the senses; possessed of illimitable might: he is the cause of cause; the cause of the cause of cause; the cause of finite cause; and in effects, he, both as every object and agent, preserves the universe: he is Brahma the lord; Brahma all beings; Brahma the progenitor of all beings; the imperishable: he is the eternal, undecaying, unborn Brahma, incapable of increase or diminution: Purushottama is the everlasting, untreated, immutable Brahma. May the imperfections of my nature be annihilated through his favour.' Reciting this eulogium, the essence of divine truth, and propitiating Keava, Kandu obtained final emancipation.
"Who Mrish was of old I will also relate to you, as the recital of her meritorious acts will be beneficial to you. She was the widow of a prince, and left childless at her husband's death: she therefore zealously worshipped Vishnu, who, being gratified by her adoration, appeared to her, and desired her to demand a boon; on which she revealed to him the wishes of her heart. 'I have been a widow, lord,' she exclaimed, 'even from my infancy, and my birth has been in vain: unfortunate have I been, and of little use, oh sovereign of the world. Now therefore I pray thee that in succeeding births I may have honourable husbands, and a son equal to a patriarch amongst men: may I be possessed of affluence and beauty: may I he pleasing in the sight of all: and may I be born out of the ordinary course. Grant these prayers, oh thou who art propitious to the devout.' Hrishikea, the god of gods, the supreme giver of all blessings, thus prayed to, raised her from her prostrate attitude, and said, 'In another life you shall have ten husbands of mighty prowess, and renowned for glorious acts; and you shall have a son magnanimous and valiant, distinguished by the rank of a patriarch, from whom the various races of men shall multiply, and by whose posterity the universe shall be filled. You, virtuous lady, shall be of marvellous birth, and you shall be endowed with grace and loveliness, delighting the
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hearts of men.' Thus having spoken, the deity disappeared, and the princess was accordingly afterwards born as Mrish, who is given to you for a wife 4."
Soma having concluded, the Prachetasas took Mrish, as he had enjoined them, righteously to wife, relinquishing their indignation against the trees: and upon her they begot the eminent patriarch Daksha, who had (in a former life) been born as the son of Brahm 5. This great sage, for the furtherance of creation, and the increase of mankind, created progeny. Obeying the command of Brahm, he made movable and immovable things, bipeds and quadrupeds; and subsequently, by his will, gave birth to females, ten of whom he bestowed on Dharma, thirteen on Kayapa, and twenty-seven, who regulate the course of time, on the moon 6. Of these, the gods, the Titans, the snake-gods, cattle, and birds, the singers and dancers of the courts of heaven, the spirits of evil, and other beings, were born. From that period forwards living creatures
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were engendered by sexual intercourse: before the time of Daksha they were variously propagated, by the will, by sight, by touch, and by the influence of religious austerities practised by devout sages and holy saints.
Maitreya.--Daksha, as I have formerly heard, was born from the right thumb of Brahm: tell me, great Muni, how he was regenerate as the son of the Prachetasas. Considerable perplexity also arises in my mind, how he, who, as the son of Mrish, was the grandson of Soma, could be also his father-in-law.
Parara.--Birth and death are constant in all creatures: Rishis and sages, possessing divine vision, are not perplexed by this. Daksha and the other eminent Munis are present in every age, and in the interval of destruction cease to be 7: of this the wise man entertains no doubt. Amongst them of old there was neither senior nor junior; rigorous penance and acquired power were the sole causes of any difference of degree amongst these more than human beings.
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Maitreya.--Narrate to me, venerable Brahman, at length, the birth of the gods, Titans, Gandharbas, serpents, and goblins.
Parara.--In what manner Daksha created living creatures, as commanded by Brahm, you shall hear. In the first place he willed into existence the deities, the Rishis, the quiristers of heaven, the Titans, and the snake-gods. Finding that his will-born progeny did not multiply themselves, he determined, in order to secure their increase, to establish sexual intercourse as the means of multiplication. For this purpose he espoused Asikn, the daughter of the patriarch Vrana 8, a damsel addicted to devout practices, the eminent supportress of the world. By her the great father of mankind begot five thousand mighty sons, through whom he expected the world should be peopled. Nrada, the divine Rishi, observing them desirous to multiply posterity, approached them, and addressed them in a friendly tone: "Illustrious Haryaswas, it is evident that your intention is to beget posterity; but first consider this: why should you, who, like fools, know not the middle, the height, and depth of the world 9, propagate offspring? When your intellect is no more obstructed by interval, height, or depth, then how, fools, shall ye not all behold the term of the universe?" Having heard the words of Nrada, the sons of Daksha dispersed themselves through the regions, and to the present day have not returned; as rivers that lose themselves in the ocean come back no more.
The Haryaswas having disappeared, the patriarch Daksha begot by the daughter of Vrana a thousand other sons. They, who were named Savalswas, were desirous of engendering posterity, but were dissuaded by Nrada in a similar manner. They said to one another, "What the Muni has observed is perfectly just. We must follow the path that our
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brothers have travelled, and when we have ascertained the extent of the universe, we will multiply our race." Accordingly they scattered themselves through the regions, and, like rivers flowing into the sea, they returned not again. Henceforth brother seeking for brother disappears, through ignorance of the products of the first principle of things. Daksha the patriarch, on finding that all these his sons had vanished, was incensed, and denounced an imprecation upon Nrada 10.
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Then, Maitreya, the wise patriarch, it is handed down to us, being anxious to people the world, created sixty daughters of the daughter of Vran 11; ten of whom he gave to Dharma, thirteen to Kayapa, and twenty-seven to Soma, four to Arishtanemi, two to Bahuputra, two to Angiras, and two to Kriwa. I will tell you their names. Arundhat, Vasu, Ym, Lamb, Bhn, Marutwat, Sankalpa, Muhrtt, Sdhy, and Viw were the ten wives of Dharma 12, and bore him the following
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progeny. The sons of Viw were the Viwdevas 13; and the Sdhyas 14, those of Sdhy. The Mruts, or winds, were the children of Marutwat; the Vasus, of Vasu. The Bhnus (or suns) of Bhnu; and the deities presiding over moments, of Muhrtt. Ghosha was the son of Lamb (an arc of the heavens); Ngavth (the milky way), the daughter of Ym (night). The divisions of the earth were born of Arundhati; and Sankalpa (pious purpose), the soul of all, was the son of Sankalp. The deities called Vasus, because, preceded by fire, they abound in splendour and might 15, are severally named pa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhava (fire), Anila (wind), Anala (fire), Pratysha (day-break), and Prabhsa (light). The four sons of pa were Vaitandya, rama (weariness), Srnta (fatigue), and Dhur (burthen). Kla (time), the cherisher of the world, was the son of Dhruva. The son of Soma was Varchas (light), who was the father of Varchasw (radiance). Dhava had, by his wife Manohar (loveliness), Dravina, Hutahavyavha, iira, Prna, and Ramana. The two sons of Anila (wind), by his wife iv, were Manojava (swift as thought) and Avijntagati (untraceable motion). The son of Agni (fire), Kumra, was born in a clump of ara reeds: his sons were Skha, Viskha, Naigameya, and Prishthaja. The offspring of the Krittiks was named Krtikeya. The son of Pratysha was the Rishi named Devala, who had two philosophic and intelligent sons 16. The sister of Vchaspati, lovely and virtuous, Yogasiddh, who pervades the wholes world without
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being devoted to it, was the wife of Prabhsa, the eighth of the Vasus, and bore to him the patriarch Viswakarm, the author of a thousand arts, the mechanist of the gods, the fabricator of all ornaments, the chief of artists, the constructor of the self-moving chariots of the deities, and by whose skill men obtain subsistence. Ajaikapd, Ahirvradhna, and the wise Rudra Twashtri, were born; and the self-born son of Twashtri was also the celebrated Viwarpa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds, or Hara, Bahurpa, Tryambaka, Aparjita, Vrishakapi, Sambhu, Kapardd, Raivata, Mrigavydha, Sarva, and Kapli 17; but there are a hundred appellations of the immeasurably mighty Rudras 18.
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The daughters of Daksha who were married to Kayapa were Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arisht, Suras, Surabhi, Vinat, Tmr, Krodhava, Id, Khas, Kadru, and Muni 19; whose progeny I will describe to you. There were twelve celebrated deities in a former Manwantara, called Tushitas 20, who, upon the approach of the present period, or in the reign of the last Manu, Chkshusha, assembled, and said to one another, "Come, let us quickly enter into the womb of Adit, that we may be born in the next Manwantara, for thereby we shall again enjoy the rank of gods:" and accordingly they were born the sons of Kayapa, the son of Marchi, by Adit, the daughter of Daksha; thence named the twelve dityas; whose appellations were respectively, Vishnu, akra, ryaman, Dht, Twshtri, Pshan, Vivaswat, Savitri, Mitra, Varuna, Ana, and Bhaga 21. These, who in the Chkshusha Manwantara were the gods called Tushitas, were called the twelve dityas in the Manwantara of Vaivawata.
The twenty-seven daughters of the patriarch who became the virtuous wives of the moon were all known as the nymphs of the lunar constellations,
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which were called by their names, and had children who were brilliant through their great splendour 22. The wives of Arishtanemi bore him sixteen children 23. The daughters of Bahuputra were the four lightnings 24. The excellent Pratyangirasa Richas were the children of Angiras 25, descended from the holy sage: and the deified weapons of the gods 26 were the progeny of Kriwa.
These classes of thirty-three divinities 27 are born again at the end of a thousand ages, according to their own pleasure; and their appearance and disappearance is here spoken of as birth and death: but, Maitreya, these divine personages exist age after age in the same manner as the sun sets and rises again.
It has been related to us, that Diti had two sons by Kayapa, named Hiranyakaipu and the invincible Hiranyksha: she had also a daughter,
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[paragraph continues] Sink, the wife of Viprachitti. Hiranyakaipu was the father of four mighty sons, Anuhlda, Hlda, the wise Prahlda, and the heroic Sanhlda, the augmentor of the Daitya race 28. Amongst these, the illustrious Prahlda, looking on all things with indifference, devoted his whole faith to Janrddana. The flames that were lighted by the king of the Daityas consumed not him, in whose heart Vsudeva was cherished; and all the earth trembled when, bound with bonds, he moved amidst the waters of the ocean. His firm body, fortified by a mind engrossed by Achyuta, was unwounded by the weapons hurled on him by order of the Daitya monarch; and the serpents sent to destroy him breathed their venomous flames upon him in vain. Overwhelmed with rocks, he yet remained unhurt; for he never forgot Vishnu, and the recollection of the deity was his armour of proof. Hurled from on high by the king of the Daityas, residing in Swerga, earth received him unharmed. The wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself annihilated by him, in whom Madhusdana was present. The fierce elephants of the spheres broke their tusks, and vailed their pride, against the firm breast which the lord of the Daityas had ordered them to assault. The ministrant priests of the monarch were baffled in all their rites for the destruction of one so steadily attached to Govinda: and the thousand delusions of the fraudulent Samvara, counteracted by the discus of Krishna, were practised without success. The deadly poison administered by his father's officers he partook of unhesitatingly, and without its working any visible change; for he looked upon the world with mind undisturbed, and, full of benignity, regarded all things with equal affection, and as identical with himself. He was righteous; an inexhaustible mine of purity and truth; and an unfailing model for all pious men.
Footnotes
112:1 Or, 'immersed in the six rmis'; explained hunger, thirst, sorrow, stupefaction, decay, and death.
113:2 There is some confusion here in regard to the person addressed, but the context shews that the insertion of Maitreya's name is an inadvertence, and that the passage is a continuation of Soma's speech to the Prachetasas.
113:3 The phrase is 'made up of the farther boundary of Brahma;' implying either 'comprehending the supreme, or Brahma, and transcendental wisdom, Pra;' or, consisting of the farthest limits (Pra) or truths of the Vedas or Brahma;' that is, being the essence of the Vednta philosophy. The hymn that follows is in fact a mantra or mystical prayer, commencing with the reiteration of the word Para and Pra; as, ###. Para means 'supreme, infinite; and Pra, 'the farther bank or limit,' the point that is to be attained by crossing a river or sea, or figuratively the world or existence. Vishnu, then, is Para, that which nothing surpasses; and Pra, the end or object of existence: he is Apra pra, the farthest bound of that which is illimitable, or space and time: he is Param parebhyah, above or beyond the highest, being beyond or superior to all the elements: he is Paramrtha rp, or identical with final truth, or knowledge of soul: he is Brahma pra, the object or essence of spiritual wisdom. Paraprabhta is said to imply the farther limit (Pra) of rudimental matter (Para). He is Para, or chief Parnam, of those objects which are beyond the senses: and he is Prapra, or the boundary of boundaries; that is, he is the comprehensive in-vesture of, and exterior to, those limits by which soul is confined; he is free from all incumbrance or impediment. The passage may be interpreted in different ways, according to the ingenuity with which the riddle is read.
115:4 This part of the legend is peculiar to our text, and the whole story of Mrish's birth is nowhere else so fully detailed. The penance of the Prachetasas, and its consequences, are related in the Agni, Bhgavata, Matsya, Padma, Vyu, and Brhma Purnas, and allusion is briefly made to Mrish's birth. Her origin from Kandu and Pramloch is narrated in a different place in the Brhma Purna, where the austerities of Kandu, and the necessity for their interruption, are described. The story, from that authority, was translated by the late Professor Chezy, and is published in the first number of the Journal Asiatique.
115:5 The second birth of Daksha, and his share in the peopling of the earth, is narrated in most of the Purnas in a similar manner. It is perhaps the original legend, for Daksha seems to be an irregular adjunct to the Prajpatis, or mind-born sons of Brahm (see p. 49. n. 2); and the allegorical nature of his posterity in that character (p. 54) intimates a more recent origin. Nor does that series of descendants apparently occur in the Mahbhrata, although the existence of two Dakshas is especially remarked there (Moksha Dh.). In the di Parva, which seems to be the freest from subsequent improvements, the Daksha noticed is the son of the Prachetasas. The incompatibility of the two accounts is reconciled by referring the two Dakshas to different Manwantaras. The Daksha who proceeded from Brahm as a Prajpati being born in the first, or Swyambhuva, and the son of the Prachetasas in the Chkshusha Manwantara. The latter however, as descended from Uttnapda, should belong to the first period also. It is evident that great confusion has been made by the Purnas in Daksha's history.
115:6 That is, they are the Nakshatras, or lunar asterisms.
116:7 'They are removed', which the commentator explains by 'are absorbed, as if they were fast asleep;' but in every age or Yuga, according to the text--in every Manwantara, according to the comment--the Rishis reappear, the circumstances of their origin only being varied. Daksha therefore, as remarked in the preceding note, is the son of Brahm in one period, the son of the Prachetasas in another. So Soma, in the Swyambhuva Manwantara, was born as the son of Atri; in the Chkshusha, he was produced by churning the ocean. The words of our text occur in the Hari Vana, with an unimportant variation: 'Birth and obstruction are constant in all beings, but Rishis and those men who are wise are not perplexed by this;' that is, not, as rendered above, by the alternation of life and death; but, according to the commentator on the Hari Vana, by a very different matter, the prohibition of unlawful marriages. Utpatti, 'birth of progeny,' is the result of their will; Nirodha, 'obstruction,' is the law prohibiting the intermarriage of persons connected by the offering of the funeral cake; to which Rishis and sages are not subject, either from their matrimonial unions being merely platonic, or from the bad example set by Brahm, who, according to the Vedas, approached his own daughter; we have already had occasion to advert to (p. 51. n. 5). The explanation of the text, however, given by the commentator appears forced, and less natural than the interpretation preferred above.
117:8 This is the usual account of Daksha's marriage, and is that of the Mahbhrata, Adi P. (p. 113), and of the Brhma Purna, which the Hari Vana, in the first part, repeats. In another portion, the Pushkara Mhtmya, however, Daksha, it is said, converts half himself into a female, by whom he begets the daughters presently to be noticed: ###. This seems to be merely a new edition of an old story.
117:9 The commentator explains it to mean the origin, duration, and termination of subtile rudimental body; but the Padma and Linga P. distinctly express it, 'the extent of the earth.'
118:10 Nrada's interference, and the fruitless generation of the first progeny of Daksha, is an old legend. The Mahbhrata (di P. p. 113) notices only one set of sons, who, it is said, obtained Moksha, or liberation, through Nreda's teaching them the Snkhya philosophy. The Brhma, Matsya, Vyu, Linga, Padma, Agni, and Bhgavata Purnas tell the story much as in the text, and not unfrequently in the same words. In general they merely refer to the imprecation denounced upon Nrada, as above. The Bhgavata specifies the imprecation to be perpetual peripateticism. Daksha says to him, 'There shall not be a resting-place for thee in all these regions.' The Krma repeats the imprecation merely to the effect that Nrada shall perish, and gives no legend. In the Brahma Vaivartta, Nrada is cursed by Brahm, on a similar occasion, to become the chief of the Gandharbas, whence his musical propensities: but the Bhgavata, VI. 7, has the reverse of this legend, and makes him first a Gandharba, then a dra, then the son of Brahm. The Brhma P., and after it the Hari Vana and the Vyu P., have a different and not very intelligible story. Daksha, being about to pronounce an imprecation upon Nrada, was appeased by Brahm and the Rishis, and it was agreed between them that Nrada should be again born, as the son of Kayapa, by one of Daksha's daughters. This seems to be the gist of the legend, but it is very confusedly told. The version of the Brhma P., which is the same as that of Hari Vana, may be thus rendered: "The smooth-speaking Nrada addressed the sons of Daksha for their destruction and his own; for the Muni Kayapa begot him as a son, who was the son of Brahm, on the daughter of Daksha, through fear of the latter's imprecation. He was formerly the son of Parameshth (Brahm), and the excellent sage Kayapa next begot him, as if he were his father, on Asikn, the daughter of Vrana. Whilst he was engaged in beguiling the sons of the patriarch, Daksha, of resistless power, determined on his destruction; but he was solicited by Brahm, in the presence of the great sages, and it was agreed between them that Nrada, the son of Brahm, should be born of a daughter of Daksha. Consequently Daksha gave his daughter to Parameshth, and by her was Nrada born." Now several difficulties occur here. Asikn is the wife, not the daughter, of Daksha; but this may be a blunder of the compiler, for in the parallel passage of the Vyu no name occurs. In the next place, who is this daughter? for, as we shall see, the progeny of all Daksha's daughters are fully detailed, and in no p. 119 authority consulted is Nrada mentioned as the son of either of them, or as the son of Kayapa. Daksha, too, gives his daughter, not to Kayapa, but to Parameshth, or Brahm. The commentator on the Hari Vana solves this by saying he gives her to Brahm for Kayapa. The same bargain is noticed in the Vyu, but Nrada is also said there to be adopted by Kayapa. Again, however, it gives Daksha's imprecation in the same words as the Hari Vana; a passage, by the way, omitted in the Brhma: 'Nrada, perish (in your present form), and take up your abode in the womb.' Whatever may be the original of this legend, it is evidently imperfectly given by the authorities here cited. The French translation of the passage in the Hari Vana can scarcely be admitted as correct: assuredly is not 'le Devarchi Dakcha, epoux d'Asikn, fille de Virna, fut l'aeul de cet illustri mouni ainsi rgnr.' ### is more consistently said by the commentator to mean Kayapa. The Vyu P. in another part, a description of the different orders of Rishis, states that the Devarshis Parvata and Nreda were sons of Kayapa: In the account of Krttavrya, in the Brhma P. and Hari Vana, Nrada is introduced as a Gandharba, the son of Varidsa; being the same, according to the commentator on the latter, as the Gandharba elsewhere called Upavarhana.
119:11 The prior specification (p. 115) was fifty. The Mahbhrata, Adi P. 113, and, again, Moksha Dharma, has the same number. The Bhgavata, Krma, Padma, Linga, and Vyu P. state sixty. The former is perhaps the original, as the fullest and most consistent details relate to them and their posterity.
119:12 This is the usual list of Dharma's wives. The Bhgavata substitutes Kakud for Arundhat. The Padma P., Matsya P., and Hari Vana contain two different account of Daksha's descendants: the first agrees with our text; the second, which is supposed to occur in the Padma Kalpa, is somewhat varied, particularly as to the wives of Dharma, who are said to be five. The nomenclature varies, or,
Padma P.
Hari Vana.
Matsya.
Lakshm
Lakshm
Lakshm
Saraswat
Krtt
Saraswat
Gang
Sdhy
Sdhy
Viwe
Viw
Viwe
Svitr
Marutwat
Urjjaswat.
There is evident inaccuracy in all the copies, and the names may in some instances be erroneous. From the succeeding enumeration of their descendants, it appears that Kma was the son of Lakshm; the p. 120 Sdhyas, of Sdhy; the Viwdevas, of Viw; the Mruts, of Marutwat; and the Vasus, of Dev, who may be either the Saraswat or Svitr of the previous enumeration.
120:13 The Viwdevas are a class of gods to whom sacrifices should be offered daily. Manu, Iii. 121. They are named in some of the Purnas, as the Vyu and Matsya: the former specifying ten; the latter, twelve.
120:14 The Sdhyas, according to the Vyu, are the personified rites and prayers of the Vedas, born of the metres, and partakers of the sacrifices. The same work names twelve, which are all names of sacrifices and formul, as Dara, Paurnamsa, Vrihadawa, Rathantara, &c. The Matsya P., Padma P., and Hari V. have a different set of seventeen appellations, apparently of arbitrary selection, as Bhava, Prabhava, a, Aruni, &c.
120:15 Or, according to the Padma P., because they are always present in light, or luminous irradiation.
120:16 The Vyu supplies their names, Kshamvartta (patient) and Manaswin (wise).
121:17 The passage is, ### Whose sons they are does not appear; the object being, according to the comment, to specify only the eleven divisions or modifications of the youngest Rudra, Twashta.' We have, however, an unusual variety of reading here in two copies of the comment: 'The eleven Rudras, in whom the family of Twashtri (a synonyme, it may be observed, sometimes of Viswakarm) is included, were born. The enumeration of the Rudras ends with Aparjita, of whom Tryambaka is the epithet.' Accordingly the three last names in all the other copies of the text are omitted in these two; their places being supplied by the three first, two of whom are always named in the lists of the Rudras. According to the Vyu and Brhma P. the Rudras are the children of Kayapa by Surabhi: the Bhgavata makes them the progeny of Bhta and Sarp: the Matsya, Padma, and Hari V., in the second series, the offspring of Surabhi by Brahm. The names in three of the Paurnic authorities run thus:
Vyu.
Matsya.
Bhgavata.
Ajaikapd
Ajaikapd
Ajaikapd
Ahirvradhna
Ahirvradhna
Ahirvradhna
Hara
Hama
Ugra
Nirrita
Nirritti
Bhma
wara
Pingala
Vma
Bhuvana
Dahana
Mahn
Angraka
Aparjita
Bahurpa
Arddhaketu
Mrigavydha
Vrishakapi
Mrityu
Senn
Aja
Sarpa
Sajja
Bhava
Kapl
Kapl
Raivata.
[paragraph continues] The Brhma or Hari V., the Padma, the Linga, and the Lexicons have a different reading from all, as in that of Jatdhara they are Ajaikapad, Ahivradhna, Virpaksha, Surewara, Jayanta, Bahurpaka, Tryambaka, Aparjita, Vaivawata, vitra, and Hara. The variety seems to proceed from the writers applying to the Rudras, as they may legitimately do, different appellations of the common prototype, or synonymes of Rudra or iva, selected at will from his thousand and eight names, according to the Linga P.
121:18 The posterity of Daksha's daughters p. 122 by Dharma are clearly allegorical personifications chiefly of two classes, one consisting of astronomical phenomena, and the other of portions or subjects of the ritual of the Vedas.
122:19 There is some, though not much, variation in these names in different Purnas. The Bhgavata has Saram, Kashtha, and Timi, the parents severally of canine animals, beasts with uncloven hoofs, and fishes, in place of Vinat, Khas, and Kadru; disposing of the first and last differently. The Vyu has Prav in place of Arisht, and Anyush or Danyush for Suras. The Padma P., second series, substitutes Kl, Anyush, Sinhik, Pich, Vch for Arishta, Suras, Surabhi, Tmr, and Muni; and omits Id and Khas. In the Uttara Khanda of the same, Kayapa's wives are said to be but four, Aditi, Diti, Kadru, and Vinat.
122:20 In the sixth reign, or that of Chkshusha Manu, according to the text; but in book III. ch. 1. the Tushitas are the gods of the second or Swrochisha Manwantara. The Vyu has a much more complete legend than any other Pura on this subject. In the beginning of the Kalpa twelve gods, named Jayas, were created by Brahm, as his deputies and assistants in the creation. They, lost in meditation, neglected his commands; on which he cursed them to be repeatedly born in each Manwantara till the seventh. They were accordingly, in the several successive Manwantaras, Ajitas, Tushitas, Satyas, Haris, Vaikunthas, Sdhyas, and dityas. Our authority and some others, as the Brhma, have apparently intended to refer to this account, but have confused the order of the series.
122:21 p. 123 The Purnas that contain this genealogy agree tolerably well in these names. The Bhgavata adds many details regarding some of the dityas and their descendants.
123:22 The Nakshatra Yoginis, or chief stars of the lunar mansions, or asterisms in the moon's path.
123:23 None of the authorities are more specific on the subject of Arishtanemis' progeny. In the Mahbhrata this is said to be another name of Kayapa. The Bhgavata substitutes Trksha for this personage, said by the commentator to be likewise another name of Kayapa. His wives are, Kadru, Vinat, Patangi, and Ymin, mothers of snakes, birds, grasshoppers, and locusts.
123:24 Enumerated in astrological works as brown, red, yellow, and white; portending severally wind, heat, rain, famine.
123:25 The Richas, or verses, thirty-five in number, addressed to presiding divinities, denominated Pratyangirasas. The Bhgavata calls the wives of Anginas, Swadh and Sat, and makes them the mothers of the Pitris and the Atharvan Veda severally.
123:26 The astra devatas, 'gods of the divine weapons;' a hundred are enumerated in the Rmyana, and they are there termed the sons of Kriwa by Jay and Vijay, daughters of the Prajpati; that is, of Daksha. The Bhgavata terms the two wives of Kriwa, Archish (flame) and Dhishan; the former is the mother of Dhmaketu (comet); the latter, of four sages, Devala, Vedairas, Vayuna, and Manu. The allegorical origin of the weapons is undoubtedly the more ancient.
123:27 This number is founded upon a text of the Vedas, which to the eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, and twelve dityas, adds Prajpati, either Brahm or Daksha, and Vashatkra, 'deified oblation.' They have the epithet Chhandaj, as born in different Manwantaras, of their own will.
124:28 The Purnas generally concur in this genealogy, reading sometimes Anuhrda, Hrda, &c. for Anuhlda and the rest. Although placed second in the order of Kayapa's descendants, the Daityas are in fact the elder branch. Thus the Mahbhrata, Moksha Dherma, calls Diti the senior wife of Kayapa: and the Vyu terms Hiranyakaipu and Hiranyksha the eldest of all the sons of that patriarch. "Titan and his enormous brood" were "heaven's first born."
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
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Chap. Xv.
The world overrun with trees: they are destroyed by the Prachetasas. Soma pacifies them, and gives them Mrish to wife: her story: the daughter of the nymph Pramloch. Legend of Kandu. Mrish's former history. Daksha the son of the Prachetasas: his different characters: his sons: his daughters: their marriages and progeny: allusion to Prahlda, his descendant.
Whilst the Prachetasas were thus absorbed in their devotions, the trees spread and overshadowed the unprotected earth, and the people perished: the winds could not blow; the sky was shut out by the forests; and mankind was unable to labour for ten thousand years. When the sages, coming forth from the deep, beheld this, they were angry, and, being incensed, wind and flame issued from their mouths. The strong wind tore up the trees by their roots, and left them sear and dry, and the fierce fire consumed them, and the forests were cleared away. When Soma (the moon), the sovereign of the vegetable world, beheld all except a few of the trees destroyed, he went to the patriarchs, the Prachetasas, and said, "Restrain your indignation, princes, and listen to me. I will form an alliance between you and the trees. Prescient of futurity, I have nourished with my rays this precious maiden, the daughter of the woods. She is called Mrish, and is assuredly the offspring of the trees. She shall be your bride, and the multiplier of the race of Dhruva. From a portion of your lustre and a portion of mine, oh mighty sages, the patriarch Daksha shall be born of her, who, endowed with a part of me, and composed of your vigour, shall be as resplendent as fire, and shall multiply the human race.
"There was formerly (said Soma) a sage named Kandu, eminent in holy wisdom, who practised pious austerities on the lovely borders of the Gomati river. The king of the gods sent the nymph Pramloch to disturb his penance, and the sweet-smiling damsel diverted the sage from his devotions. They lived together, in the valley of Mandara, for a hundred and fifty years; during which, the mind of the Muni was wholly given up to enjoyment. At the expiration of this period the
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nymph requested his permission to return to heaven; but the Muni, still fondly attached to her, prevailed upon her to remain for some time longer; and the graceful damsel continued to reside for another hundred years, and delight the great sage by her fascinations. Then again she preferred her suit to be allowed to return to the abodes of the gods; and again the Muni desired her to remain. At the expiration of more than a century the nymph once more said to him, with a smiling countenance, 'Brahman, I depart;' but the Muni, detaining the fine-eyed damsel, replied, 'Nay, stay yet a little; you will go hence for a long period.' Afraid of incurring an imprecation, the graceful nymph continued with the sage for nearly two hundred years more, repeatedly asking his permission to go to the region of the king of the gods, but as often desired by him to remain. Dreading to be cursed by him, and excelling in amiable manners, well knowing also the pain that is inflicted by separation from an object of affection, she did not quit the Muni, whose mind, wholly subdued by love, became every day more strongly attached to her.
"On one occasion the sage was going forth from their cottage in a great hurry. The nymph asked him where he was going. 'The day,' he replied, 'is drawing fast to a close: I must perform the Sandhya worship, or a duty will be neglected.' The nymph smiled mirthfully as she rejoined, 'Why do you talk, grave sir, of this day drawing to a close: your day is a day of many years, a day that must be a marvel to all: explain what this means.' The Muni said, 'Fair damsel, you came to the river-side at dawn; I beheld you then, and you then entered my hermitage. It is now the revolution of evening, and the day is gone. What is the meaning of this laughter? Tell me the truth.' Pramloch. answered, 'You say rightly,' venerable Brahman, 'that I came hither at morning dawn, but several hundred years have passed since the time of my arrival. This is the truth.' The Muni, on hearing this, was seized with astonishment, and asked her how long he had enjoyed her society: to which the nymph replied, that they had lived together nine hundred and seven years, six months, and three days. The Muni asked her if she spoke the truth, or if she was in jest; for it appeared to him that
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they had spent but one day together: to which Pramloch replied, that she should not dare at any time to tell him who lived in the path of piety an untruth, but particularly when she had been enjoined by him to inform him what had passed.
"When the Muni, princes, had heard these words, and knew that it was the truth, he began to reproach himself bitterly, exclaiming, 'Fie, fie upon me; my penance has been interrupted; the treasure of the learned and the pious has been stolen from me; my judgment has been blinded: this woman has been created by some one to beguile me: Brahma is beyond the reach of those agitated by the waves of infirmity 1. I had subdued my passions, and was about to attain divine knowledge. This was foreseen by him by whom this girl has been sent hither. Fie on the passion that has obstructed my devotions. All the austerities that would have led to acquisition of the wisdom of the Vedas have been rendered of no avail by passion that is the road to hell.' The pious sage, having thus reviled himself, turned to the nymph, who was sitting nigh, and said to her, 'Go, deceitful girl, whither thou wilt: thou hast performed the office assigned thee by the monarch of the gods, of disturbing my penance by thy fascinations. I will not reduce thee to ashes by the fire of my wrath. Seven paces together is sufficient for the friendship of the virtuous, but thou and I have dwelt together. And in truth what fault hast thou committed? why should I be wroth with thee? The sin is wholly mine, in that I could not subdue my passions: yet fie upon thee, who, to gain favour with Indra, hast disturbed my devotions; vile bundle of delusion.'
"Thus spoken to by the Muni, Pramloch stood trembling, whilst big drops of perspiration started from every pore; till he angrily cried to her, 'Depart, begone.' She then, reproached by him, went forth from his dwelling, and, passing through the air, wiped the perspiration from her person with the leaves of the trees. The nymph went from tree to tree, and as with the dusky shoots that crowned their summits she dried her limbs, which were covered with moisture, the child she had conceived by
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the Rishi came forth from the pores of her skin in drops of perspiration. The trees received the living dews, and the winds collected them into one mass. "This," said Soma, "I matured by my rays, and gradually it increased in size, till the exhalation that had rested on the tree tops became the lovely girl named Mrish. The trees will give her to you, Prachetasas: let your indignation be appeased. She is the progeny of Kandu, the child of Pramloch, the nursling of the trees, the daughter of the wind and of the moon. The holy Kandu, after the interruption of his pious exercises, went, excellent princes, to the region of Vishnu, termed Purushottama, where, Maitreya 2, with his whole mind he devoted himself to the adoration of Hari; standing fixed, with uplifted arms, and repeating the prayers that comprehend the essence of divine truth 3."
The Prachetasas said, "We are desirous to hear the transcendental
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prayers, by inaudibly reciting which the pious Kandu propitiated Keava." On which Soma repeated as follows: "'Vishnu is beyond the boundary of all things: he is the infinite: he is beyond that which is boundless: he is above all that is above: he exists as finite truth: he is the object of the Veda; the limit of elemental being; unappreciable by the senses; possessed of illimitable might: he is the cause of cause; the cause of the cause of cause; the cause of finite cause; and in effects, he, both as every object and agent, preserves the universe: he is Brahma the lord; Brahma all beings; Brahma the progenitor of all beings; the imperishable: he is the eternal, undecaying, unborn Brahma, incapable of increase or diminution: Purushottama is the everlasting, untreated, immutable Brahma. May the imperfections of my nature be annihilated through his favour.' Reciting this eulogium, the essence of divine truth, and propitiating Keava, Kandu obtained final emancipation.
"Who Mrish was of old I will also relate to you, as the recital of her meritorious acts will be beneficial to you. She was the widow of a prince, and left childless at her husband's death: she therefore zealously worshipped Vishnu, who, being gratified by her adoration, appeared to her, and desired her to demand a boon; on which she revealed to him the wishes of her heart. 'I have been a widow, lord,' she exclaimed, 'even from my infancy, and my birth has been in vain: unfortunate have I been, and of little use, oh sovereign of the world. Now therefore I pray thee that in succeeding births I may have honourable husbands, and a son equal to a patriarch amongst men: may I be possessed of affluence and beauty: may I he pleasing in the sight of all: and may I be born out of the ordinary course. Grant these prayers, oh thou who art propitious to the devout.' Hrishikea, the god of gods, the supreme giver of all blessings, thus prayed to, raised her from her prostrate attitude, and said, 'In another life you shall have ten husbands of mighty prowess, and renowned for glorious acts; and you shall have a son magnanimous and valiant, distinguished by the rank of a patriarch, from whom the various races of men shall multiply, and by whose posterity the universe shall be filled. You, virtuous lady, shall be of marvellous birth, and you shall be endowed with grace and loveliness, delighting the
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hearts of men.' Thus having spoken, the deity disappeared, and the princess was accordingly afterwards born as Mrish, who is given to you for a wife 4."
Soma having concluded, the Prachetasas took Mrish, as he had enjoined them, righteously to wife, relinquishing their indignation against the trees: and upon her they begot the eminent patriarch Daksha, who had (in a former life) been born as the son of Brahm 5. This great sage, for the furtherance of creation, and the increase of mankind, created progeny. Obeying the command of Brahm, he made movable and immovable things, bipeds and quadrupeds; and subsequently, by his will, gave birth to females, ten of whom he bestowed on Dharma, thirteen on Kayapa, and twenty-seven, who regulate the course of time, on the moon 6. Of these, the gods, the Titans, the snake-gods, cattle, and birds, the singers and dancers of the courts of heaven, the spirits of evil, and other beings, were born. From that period forwards living creatures
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were engendered by sexual intercourse: before the time of Daksha they were variously propagated, by the will, by sight, by touch, and by the influence of religious austerities practised by devout sages and holy saints.
Maitreya.--Daksha, as I have formerly heard, was born from the right thumb of Brahm: tell me, great Muni, how he was regenerate as the son of the Prachetasas. Considerable perplexity also arises in my mind, how he, who, as the son of Mrish, was the grandson of Soma, could be also his father-in-law.
Parara.--Birth and death are constant in all creatures: Rishis and sages, possessing divine vision, are not perplexed by this. Daksha and the other eminent Munis are present in every age, and in the interval of destruction cease to be 7: of this the wise man entertains no doubt. Amongst them of old there was neither senior nor junior; rigorous penance and acquired power were the sole causes of any difference of degree amongst these more than human beings.
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Maitreya.--Narrate to me, venerable Brahman, at length, the birth of the gods, Titans, Gandharbas, serpents, and goblins.
Parara.--In what manner Daksha created living creatures, as commanded by Brahm, you shall hear. In the first place he willed into existence the deities, the Rishis, the quiristers of heaven, the Titans, and the snake-gods. Finding that his will-born progeny did not multiply themselves, he determined, in order to secure their increase, to establish sexual intercourse as the means of multiplication. For this purpose he espoused Asikn, the daughter of the patriarch Vrana 8, a damsel addicted to devout practices, the eminent supportress of the world. By her the great father of mankind begot five thousand mighty sons, through whom he expected the world should be peopled. Nrada, the divine Rishi, observing them desirous to multiply posterity, approached them, and addressed them in a friendly tone: "Illustrious Haryaswas, it is evident that your intention is to beget posterity; but first consider this: why should you, who, like fools, know not the middle, the height, and depth of the world 9, propagate offspring? When your intellect is no more obstructed by interval, height, or depth, then how, fools, shall ye not all behold the term of the universe?" Having heard the words of Nrada, the sons of Daksha dispersed themselves through the regions, and to the present day have not returned; as rivers that lose themselves in the ocean come back no more.
The Haryaswas having disappeared, the patriarch Daksha begot by the daughter of Vrana a thousand other sons. They, who were named Savalswas, were desirous of engendering posterity, but were dissuaded by Nrada in a similar manner. They said to one another, "What the Muni has observed is perfectly just. We must follow the path that our
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brothers have travelled, and when we have ascertained the extent of the universe, we will multiply our race." Accordingly they scattered themselves through the regions, and, like rivers flowing into the sea, they returned not again. Henceforth brother seeking for brother disappears, through ignorance of the products of the first principle of things. Daksha the patriarch, on finding that all these his sons had vanished, was incensed, and denounced an imprecation upon Nrada 10.
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Then, Maitreya, the wise patriarch, it is handed down to us, being anxious to people the world, created sixty daughters of the daughter of Vran 11; ten of whom he gave to Dharma, thirteen to Kayapa, and twenty-seven to Soma, four to Arishtanemi, two to Bahuputra, two to Angiras, and two to Kriwa. I will tell you their names. Arundhat, Vasu, Ym, Lamb, Bhn, Marutwat, Sankalpa, Muhrtt, Sdhy, and Viw were the ten wives of Dharma 12, and bore him the following
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progeny. The sons of Viw were the Viwdevas 13; and the Sdhyas 14, those of Sdhy. The Mruts, or winds, were the children of Marutwat; the Vasus, of Vasu. The Bhnus (or suns) of Bhnu; and the deities presiding over moments, of Muhrtt. Ghosha was the son of Lamb (an arc of the heavens); Ngavth (the milky way), the daughter of Ym (night). The divisions of the earth were born of Arundhati; and Sankalpa (pious purpose), the soul of all, was the son of Sankalp. The deities called Vasus, because, preceded by fire, they abound in splendour and might 15, are severally named pa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhava (fire), Anila (wind), Anala (fire), Pratysha (day-break), and Prabhsa (light). The four sons of pa were Vaitandya, rama (weariness), Srnta (fatigue), and Dhur (burthen). Kla (time), the cherisher of the world, was the son of Dhruva. The son of Soma was Varchas (light), who was the father of Varchasw (radiance). Dhava had, by his wife Manohar (loveliness), Dravina, Hutahavyavha, iira, Prna, and Ramana. The two sons of Anila (wind), by his wife iv, were Manojava (swift as thought) and Avijntagati (untraceable motion). The son of Agni (fire), Kumra, was born in a clump of ara reeds: his sons were Skha, Viskha, Naigameya, and Prishthaja. The offspring of the Krittiks was named Krtikeya. The son of Pratysha was the Rishi named Devala, who had two philosophic and intelligent sons 16. The sister of Vchaspati, lovely and virtuous, Yogasiddh, who pervades the wholes world without
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being devoted to it, was the wife of Prabhsa, the eighth of the Vasus, and bore to him the patriarch Viswakarm, the author of a thousand arts, the mechanist of the gods, the fabricator of all ornaments, the chief of artists, the constructor of the self-moving chariots of the deities, and by whose skill men obtain subsistence. Ajaikapd, Ahirvradhna, and the wise Rudra Twashtri, were born; and the self-born son of Twashtri was also the celebrated Viwarpa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds, or Hara, Bahurpa, Tryambaka, Aparjita, Vrishakapi, Sambhu, Kapardd, Raivata, Mrigavydha, Sarva, and Kapli 17; but there are a hundred appellations of the immeasurably mighty Rudras 18.
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The daughters of Daksha who were married to Kayapa were Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arisht, Suras, Surabhi, Vinat, Tmr, Krodhava, Id, Khas, Kadru, and Muni 19; whose progeny I will describe to you. There were twelve celebrated deities in a former Manwantara, called Tushitas 20, who, upon the approach of the present period, or in the reign of the last Manu, Chkshusha, assembled, and said to one another, "Come, let us quickly enter into the womb of Adit, that we may be born in the next Manwantara, for thereby we shall again enjoy the rank of gods:" and accordingly they were born the sons of Kayapa, the son of Marchi, by Adit, the daughter of Daksha; thence named the twelve dityas; whose appellations were respectively, Vishnu, akra, ryaman, Dht, Twshtri, Pshan, Vivaswat, Savitri, Mitra, Varuna, Ana, and Bhaga 21. These, who in the Chkshusha Manwantara were the gods called Tushitas, were called the twelve dityas in the Manwantara of Vaivawata.
The twenty-seven daughters of the patriarch who became the virtuous wives of the moon were all known as the nymphs of the lunar constellations,
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which were called by their names, and had children who were brilliant through their great splendour 22. The wives of Arishtanemi bore him sixteen children 23. The daughters of Bahuputra were the four lightnings 24. The excellent Pratyangirasa Richas were the children of Angiras 25, descended from the holy sage: and the deified weapons of the gods 26 were the progeny of Kriwa.
These classes of thirty-three divinities 27 are born again at the end of a thousand ages, according to their own pleasure; and their appearance and disappearance is here spoken of as birth and death: but, Maitreya, these divine personages exist age after age in the same manner as the sun sets and rises again.
It has been related to us, that Diti had two sons by Kayapa, named Hiranyakaipu and the invincible Hiranyksha: she had also a daughter,
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[paragraph continues] Sink, the wife of Viprachitti. Hiranyakaipu was the father of four mighty sons, Anuhlda, Hlda, the wise Prahlda, and the heroic Sanhlda, the augmentor of the Daitya race 28. Amongst these, the illustrious Prahlda, looking on all things with indifference, devoted his whole faith to Janrddana. The flames that were lighted by the king of the Daityas consumed not him, in whose heart Vsudeva was cherished; and all the earth trembled when, bound with bonds, he moved amidst the waters of the ocean. His firm body, fortified by a mind engrossed by Achyuta, was unwounded by the weapons hurled on him by order of the Daitya monarch; and the serpents sent to destroy him breathed their venomous flames upon him in vain. Overwhelmed with rocks, he yet remained unhurt; for he never forgot Vishnu, and the recollection of the deity was his armour of proof. Hurled from on high by the king of the Daityas, residing in Swerga, earth received him unharmed. The wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself annihilated by him, in whom Madhusdana was present. The fierce elephants of the spheres broke their tusks, and vailed their pride, against the firm breast which the lord of the Daityas had ordered them to assault. The ministrant priests of the monarch were baffled in all their rites for the destruction of one so steadily attached to Govinda: and the thousand delusions of the fraudulent Samvara, counteracted by the discus of Krishna, were practised without success. The deadly poison administered by his father's officers he partook of unhesitatingly, and without its working any visible change; for he looked upon the world with mind undisturbed, and, full of benignity, regarded all things with equal affection, and as identical with himself. He was righteous; an inexhaustible mine of purity and truth; and an unfailing model for all pious men.
Footnotes
112:1 Or, 'immersed in the six rmis'; explained hunger, thirst, sorrow, stupefaction, decay, and death.
113:2 There is some confusion here in regard to the person addressed, but the context shews that the insertion of Maitreya's name is an inadvertence, and that the passage is a continuation of Soma's speech to the Prachetasas.
113:3 The phrase is 'made up of the farther boundary of Brahma;' implying either 'comprehending the supreme, or Brahma, and transcendental wisdom, Pra;' or, consisting of the farthest limits (Pra) or truths of the Vedas or Brahma;' that is, being the essence of the Vednta philosophy. The hymn that follows is in fact a mantra or mystical prayer, commencing with the reiteration of the word Para and Pra; as, ###. Para means 'supreme, infinite; and Pra, 'the farther bank or limit,' the point that is to be attained by crossing a river or sea, or figuratively the world or existence. Vishnu, then, is Para, that which nothing surpasses; and Pra, the end or object of existence: he is Apra pra, the farthest bound of that which is illimitable, or space and time: he is Param parebhyah, above or beyond the highest, being beyond or superior to all the elements: he is Paramrtha rp, or identical with final truth, or knowledge of soul: he is Brahma pra, the object or essence of spiritual wisdom. Paraprabhta is said to imply the farther limit (Pra) of rudimental matter (Para). He is Para, or chief Parnam, of those objects which are beyond the senses: and he is Prapra, or the boundary of boundaries; that is, he is the comprehensive in-vesture of, and exterior to, those limits by which soul is confined; he is free from all incumbrance or impediment. The passage may be interpreted in different ways, according to the ingenuity with which the riddle is read.
115:4 This part of the legend is peculiar to our text, and the whole story of Mrish's birth is nowhere else so fully detailed. The penance of the Prachetasas, and its consequences, are related in the Agni, Bhgavata, Matsya, Padma, Vyu, and Brhma Purnas, and allusion is briefly made to Mrish's birth. Her origin from Kandu and Pramloch is narrated in a different place in the Brhma Purna, where the austerities of Kandu, and the necessity for their interruption, are described. The story, from that authority, was translated by the late Professor Chezy, and is published in the first number of the Journal Asiatique.
115:5 The second birth of Daksha, and his share in the peopling of the earth, is narrated in most of the Purnas in a similar manner. It is perhaps the original legend, for Daksha seems to be an irregular adjunct to the Prajpatis, or mind-born sons of Brahm (see p. 49. n. 2); and the allegorical nature of his posterity in that character (p. 54) intimates a more recent origin. Nor does that series of descendants apparently occur in the Mahbhrata, although the existence of two Dakshas is especially remarked there (Moksha Dh.). In the di Parva, which seems to be the freest from subsequent improvements, the Daksha noticed is the son of the Prachetasas. The incompatibility of the two accounts is reconciled by referring the two Dakshas to different Manwantaras. The Daksha who proceeded from Brahm as a Prajpati being born in the first, or Swyambhuva, and the son of the Prachetasas in the Chkshusha Manwantara. The latter however, as descended from Uttnapda, should belong to the first period also. It is evident that great confusion has been made by the Purnas in Daksha's history.
115:6 That is, they are the Nakshatras, or lunar asterisms.
116:7 'They are removed', which the commentator explains by 'are absorbed, as if they were fast asleep;' but in every age or Yuga, according to the text--in every Manwantara, according to the comment--the Rishis reappear, the circumstances of their origin only being varied. Daksha therefore, as remarked in the preceding note, is the son of Brahm in one period, the son of the Prachetasas in another. So Soma, in the Swyambhuva Manwantara, was born as the son of Atri; in the Chkshusha, he was produced by churning the ocean. The words of our text occur in the Hari Vana, with an unimportant variation: 'Birth and obstruction are constant in all beings, but Rishis and those men who are wise are not perplexed by this;' that is, not, as rendered above, by the alternation of life and death; but, according to the commentator on the Hari Vana, by a very different matter, the prohibition of unlawful marriages. Utpatti, 'birth of progeny,' is the result of their will; Nirodha, 'obstruction,' is the law prohibiting the intermarriage of persons connected by the offering of the funeral cake; to which Rishis and sages are not subject, either from their matrimonial unions being merely platonic, or from the bad example set by Brahm, who, according to the Vedas, approached his own daughter; we have already had occasion to advert to (p. 51. n. 5). The explanation of the text, however, given by the commentator appears forced, and less natural than the interpretation preferred above.
117:8 This is the usual account of Daksha's marriage, and is that of the Mahbhrata, Adi P. (p. 113), and of the Brhma Purna, which the Hari Vana, in the first part, repeats. In another portion, the Pushkara Mhtmya, however, Daksha, it is said, converts half himself into a female, by whom he begets the daughters presently to be noticed: ###. This seems to be merely a new edition of an old story.
117:9 The commentator explains it to mean the origin, duration, and termination of subtile rudimental body; but the Padma and Linga P. distinctly express it, 'the extent of the earth.'
118:10 Nrada's interference, and the fruitless generation of the first progeny of Daksha, is an old legend. The Mahbhrata (di P. p. 113) notices only one set of sons, who, it is said, obtained Moksha, or liberation, through Nreda's teaching them the Snkhya philosophy. The Brhma, Matsya, Vyu, Linga, Padma, Agni, and Bhgavata Purnas tell the story much as in the text, and not unfrequently in the same words. In general they merely refer to the imprecation denounced upon Nrada, as above. The Bhgavata specifies the imprecation to be perpetual peripateticism. Daksha says to him, 'There shall not be a resting-place for thee in all these regions.' The Krma repeats the imprecation merely to the effect that Nrada shall perish, and gives no legend. In the Brahma Vaivartta, Nrada is cursed by Brahm, on a similar occasion, to become the chief of the Gandharbas, whence his musical propensities: but the Bhgavata, VI. 7, has the reverse of this legend, and makes him first a Gandharba, then a dra, then the son of Brahm. The Brhma P., and after it the Hari Vana and the Vyu P., have a different and not very intelligible story. Daksha, being about to pronounce an imprecation upon Nrada, was appeased by Brahm and the Rishis, and it was agreed between them that Nrada should be again born, as the son of Kayapa, by one of Daksha's daughters. This seems to be the gist of the legend, but it is very confusedly told. The version of the Brhma P., which is the same as that of Hari Vana, may be thus rendered: "The smooth-speaking Nrada addressed the sons of Daksha for their destruction and his own; for the Muni Kayapa begot him as a son, who was the son of Brahm, on the daughter of Daksha, through fear of the latter's imprecation. He was formerly the son of Parameshth (Brahm), and the excellent sage Kayapa next begot him, as if he were his father, on Asikn, the daughter of Vrana. Whilst he was engaged in beguiling the sons of the patriarch, Daksha, of resistless power, determined on his destruction; but he was solicited by Brahm, in the presence of the great sages, and it was agreed between them that Nrada, the son of Brahm, should be born of a daughter of Daksha. Consequently Daksha gave his daughter to Parameshth, and by her was Nrada born." Now several difficulties occur here. Asikn is the wife, not the daughter, of Daksha; but this may be a blunder of the compiler, for in the parallel passage of the Vyu no name occurs. In the next place, who is this daughter? for, as we shall see, the progeny of all Daksha's daughters are fully detailed, and in no p. 119 authority consulted is Nrada mentioned as the son of either of them, or as the son of Kayapa. Daksha, too, gives his daughter, not to Kayapa, but to Parameshth, or Brahm. The commentator on the Hari Vana solves this by saying he gives her to Brahm for Kayapa. The same bargain is noticed in the Vyu, but Nrada is also said there to be adopted by Kayapa. Again, however, it gives Daksha's imprecation in the same words as the Hari Vana; a passage, by the way, omitted in the Brhma: 'Nrada, perish (in your present form), and take up your abode in the womb.' Whatever may be the original of this legend, it is evidently imperfectly given by the authorities here cited. The French translation of the passage in the Hari Vana can scarcely be admitted as correct: assuredly is not 'le Devarchi Dakcha, epoux d'Asikn, fille de Virna, fut l'aeul de cet illustri mouni ainsi rgnr.' ### is more consistently said by the commentator to mean Kayapa. The Vyu P. in another part, a description of the different orders of Rishis, states that the Devarshis Parvata and Nreda were sons of Kayapa: In the account of Krttavrya, in the Brhma P. and Hari Vana, Nrada is introduced as a Gandharba, the son of Varidsa; being the same, according to the commentator on the latter, as the Gandharba elsewhere called Upavarhana.
119:11 The prior specification (p. 115) was fifty. The Mahbhrata, Adi P. 113, and, again, Moksha Dharma, has the same number. The Bhgavata, Krma, Padma, Linga, and Vyu P. state sixty. The former is perhaps the original, as the fullest and most consistent details relate to them and their posterity.
119:12 This is the usual list of Dharma's wives. The Bhgavata substitutes Kakud for Arundhat. The Padma P., Matsya P., and Hari Vana contain two different account of Daksha's descendants: the first agrees with our text; the second, which is supposed to occur in the Padma Kalpa, is somewhat varied, particularly as to the wives of Dharma, who are said to be five. The nomenclature varies, or,
Padma P.
Hari Vana.
Matsya.
Lakshm
Lakshm
Lakshm
Saraswat
Krtt
Saraswat
Gang
Sdhy
Sdhy
Viwe
Viw
Viwe
Svitr
Marutwat
Urjjaswat.
There is evident inaccuracy in all the copies, and the names may in some instances be erroneous. From the succeeding enumeration of their descendants, it appears that Kma was the son of Lakshm; the p. 120 Sdhyas, of Sdhy; the Viwdevas, of Viw; the Mruts, of Marutwat; and the Vasus, of Dev, who may be either the Saraswat or Svitr of the previous enumeration.
120:13 The Viwdevas are a class of gods to whom sacrifices should be offered daily. Manu, Iii. 121. They are named in some of the Purnas, as the Vyu and Matsya: the former specifying ten; the latter, twelve.
120:14 The Sdhyas, according to the Vyu, are the personified rites and prayers of the Vedas, born of the metres, and partakers of the sacrifices. The same work names twelve, which are all names of sacrifices and formul, as Dara, Paurnamsa, Vrihadawa, Rathantara, &c. The Matsya P., Padma P., and Hari V. have a different set of seventeen appellations, apparently of arbitrary selection, as Bhava, Prabhava, a, Aruni, &c.
120:15 Or, according to the Padma P., because they are always present in light, or luminous irradiation.
120:16 The Vyu supplies their names, Kshamvartta (patient) and Manaswin (wise).
121:17 The passage is, ### Whose sons they are does not appear; the object being, according to the comment, to specify only the eleven divisions or modifications of the youngest Rudra, Twashta.' We have, however, an unusual variety of reading here in two copies of the comment: 'The eleven Rudras, in whom the family of Twashtri (a synonyme, it may be observed, sometimes of Viswakarm) is included, were born. The enumeration of the Rudras ends with Aparjita, of whom Tryambaka is the epithet.' Accordingly the three last names in all the other copies of the text are omitted in these two; their places being supplied by the three first, two of whom are always named in the lists of the Rudras. According to the Vyu and Brhma P. the Rudras are the children of Kayapa by Surabhi: the Bhgavata makes them the progeny of Bhta and Sarp: the Matsya, Padma, and Hari V., in the second series, the offspring of Surabhi by Brahm. The names in three of the Paurnic authorities run thus:
Vyu.
Matsya.
Bhgavata.
Ajaikapd
Ajaikapd
Ajaikapd
Ahirvradhna
Ahirvradhna
Ahirvradhna
Hara
Hama
Ugra
Nirrita
Nirritti
Bhma
wara
Pingala
Vma
Bhuvana
Dahana
Mahn
Angraka
Aparjita
Bahurpa
Arddhaketu
Mrigavydha
Vrishakapi
Mrityu
Senn
Aja
Sarpa
Sajja
Bhava
Kapl
Kapl
Raivata.
[paragraph continues] The Brhma or Hari V., the Padma, the Linga, and the Lexicons have a different reading from all, as in that of Jatdhara they are Ajaikapad, Ahivradhna, Virpaksha, Surewara, Jayanta, Bahurpaka, Tryambaka, Aparjita, Vaivawata, vitra, and Hara. The variety seems to proceed from the writers applying to the Rudras, as they may legitimately do, different appellations of the common prototype, or synonymes of Rudra or iva, selected at will from his thousand and eight names, according to the Linga P.
121:18 The posterity of Daksha's daughters p. 122 by Dharma are clearly allegorical personifications chiefly of two classes, one consisting of astronomical phenomena, and the other of portions or subjects of the ritual of the Vedas.
122:19 There is some, though not much, variation in these names in different Purnas. The Bhgavata has Saram, Kashtha, and Timi, the parents severally of canine animals, beasts with uncloven hoofs, and fishes, in place of Vinat, Khas, and Kadru; disposing of the first and last differently. The Vyu has Prav in place of Arisht, and Anyush or Danyush for Suras. The Padma P., second series, substitutes Kl, Anyush, Sinhik, Pich, Vch for Arishta, Suras, Surabhi, Tmr, and Muni; and omits Id and Khas. In the Uttara Khanda of the same, Kayapa's wives are said to be but four, Aditi, Diti, Kadru, and Vinat.
122:20 In the sixth reign, or that of Chkshusha Manu, according to the text; but in book III. ch. 1. the Tushitas are the gods of the second or Swrochisha Manwantara. The Vyu has a much more complete legend than any other Pura on this subject. In the beginning of the Kalpa twelve gods, named Jayas, were created by Brahm, as his deputies and assistants in the creation. They, lost in meditation, neglected his commands; on which he cursed them to be repeatedly born in each Manwantara till the seventh. They were accordingly, in the several successive Manwantaras, Ajitas, Tushitas, Satyas, Haris, Vaikunthas, Sdhyas, and dityas. Our authority and some others, as the Brhma, have apparently intended to refer to this account, but have confused the order of the series.
122:21 p. 123 The Purnas that contain this genealogy agree tolerably well in these names. The Bhgavata adds many details regarding some of the dityas and their descendants.
123:22 The Nakshatra Yoginis, or chief stars of the lunar mansions, or asterisms in the moon's path.
123:23 None of the authorities are more specific on the subject of Arishtanemis' progeny. In the Mahbhrata this is said to be another name of Kayapa. The Bhgavata substitutes Trksha for this personage, said by the commentator to be likewise another name of Kayapa. His wives are, Kadru, Vinat, Patangi, and Ymin, mothers of snakes, birds, grasshoppers, and locusts.
123:24 Enumerated in astrological works as brown, red, yellow, and white; portending severally wind, heat, rain, famine.
123:25 The Richas, or verses, thirty-five in number, addressed to presiding divinities, denominated Pratyangirasas. The Bhgavata calls the wives of Anginas, Swadh and Sat, and makes them the mothers of the Pitris and the Atharvan Veda severally.
123:26 The astra devatas, 'gods of the divine weapons;' a hundred are enumerated in the Rmyana, and they are there termed the sons of Kriwa by Jay and Vijay, daughters of the Prajpati; that is, of Daksha. The Bhgavata terms the two wives of Kriwa, Archish (flame) and Dhishan; the former is the mother of Dhmaketu (comet); the latter, of four sages, Devala, Vedairas, Vayuna, and Manu. The allegorical origin of the weapons is undoubtedly the more ancient.
123:27 This number is founded upon a text of the Vedas, which to the eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, and twelve dityas, adds Prajpati, either Brahm or Daksha, and Vashatkra, 'deified oblation.' They have the epithet Chhandaj, as born in different Manwantaras, of their own will.
124:28 The Purnas generally concur in this genealogy, reading sometimes Anuhrda, Hrda, &c. for Anuhlda and the rest. Although placed second in the order of Kayapa's descendants, the Daityas are in fact the elder branch. Thus the Mahbhrata, Moksha Dherma, calls Diti the senior wife of Kayapa: and the Vyu terms Hiranyakaipu and Hiranyksha the eldest of all the sons of that patriarch. "Titan and his enormous brood" were "heaven's first born."
