Book Ii. Chapter V
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 204
Chap. V.
Of the seven regions of Ptla, below the earth. Nrada's praises of Ptla. Account of the serpent esha. First teacher of astronomy and astrology.
Parara.--The extent of the surface of the earth has been thus described to you, Maitreya. Its depth below the surface is said to be seventy thousand Yojanas, each of the seven regions of Ptla extending downwards ten thousand. These seven, worthy Muni, are called Atala, Vitala, Nitala, Gabhastimat, Mahtala, Sutala, and Ptla 1. Their soil is severally white, black, purple, yellow, sandy, stony, and of gold. They are embellished with magnificent palaces, in which dwell numerous Dnavas, Daityas, Yakshas, and great snake-gods. The Muni Nrada, after his return from those regions to the skies 2, declared amongst the celestials that Ptla was much more delightful than Indra's heaven. "What," exclaimed the sage, "can be compared to Ptla, where the Ngas are decorated with brilliant and beautiful and pleasure-shedding jewels? who will not delight in Ptla, where the lovely daughters of the Daityas and Dnavas wander about, fascinating even the most austere; where the rays of the sun diffuse light, and not heat, by day; and where the moon shines by night for illumination, not for cold; where the sons of Danu, happy in the enjoyment of delicious viands and strong wines, know not how time passes? There are beautiful groves and streams and lakes where the lotus blows; and the skies are resonant with the Kol's song. Splendid ornaments, fragrant perfumes, rich unguents, the blended music of the lute and pipe and tabor; these and many other enjoyments are the common portion of the Dnavas, Daityas, and snake-gods, who inhabit the regions of Ptla 3."
p. 205
Below the seven Ptlas is the form of Vishnu, proceeding from the quality of darkness, which is called esha 4, the excellencies of which neither Daityas nor Dnavas can fully enumerate. This being is called Ananta by the spirits of heaven, and is worshipped by sages and by gods. He has a thousand heads, which are embellished with the pure and visible mystic sign 5: and the thousand jewels in his crests give light to all the regions. For the benefit of the world he: deprives the Asuras of their strength. He rolls his eyes fiercely, as if intoxicated. He wears a single ear-ring, a diadem, and wreath upon each brow; and shines like the white mountains topped with flame. He is clothed in purple raiment, and ornamented with a white necklace, and looks like another Kailsa, with the heavenly Gang flowing down its precipices. In one hand he holds a plough, and in the other a pestle; and he is attended by Vrun (the goddess of wine), who is his own embodied radiance. From his mouths, at the end of the Kalpa, proceeds the venomed fire that, impersonated as Rudra, who is one with Balarma, devours the three worlds.
p. 206
esha bears the entire world, like a diadem, upon his head, and he is the foundation on which the seven Ptlas rest. His power, his glory, his form, his nature, cannot be described, cannot he comprehended by the gods themselves. Who shall recount his might, who wears this whole earth, like a garland of flowers, tinged of a purple dye by the radiance of the jewels of his crests. When Ananta, his eyes rolling with intoxication, yawns, then earth, with all her woods, and mountains, and seas, and rivers, trembles. Gandharbas, Apsarasas, Siddhas, Kinnaras, Uragas, and Chranas are unequal to hymn his praises, and therefore he is called the infinite (Ananta), the imperishable. The sandal paste, that is ground by the wives of the snake-gods, is scattered abroad by his breath, and sheds perfume around the skies.
The ancient sage Garga 6, having propitiated esha, acquired from him a knowledge of the principles of astronomical science, of the planets, and of the good and evil denoted by the aspects of the heavens.
The earth, sustained upon the head of this sovereign serpent, supports in its turn the garland of the spheres, along with their inhabitants, men, demons, and gods.
Footnotes
204:1 In the Bhgavata and Padma P. they are named Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Taltala, Mahtala, Rastala, and Ptla. The Vyu has Rastala, Sutala, Vitala, Gabhastala, Mahtala, rtala, and Ptla. There are other varieties.
204:2 Allusion is here made, perhaps, to the description given in the Mahbhrata, Udyoga Parva, p. 218, of Nrada's and Mtali's visit to Ptla. Several of the particulars there given are not noticed in the Purnas.
204:3 There is no very copious description of Ptla in any of the Purnas. The most circumstantial are those of the Vyu and Bhgavata: the latter has been repeated, p. 205 with some additions, in the first chapters of the Ptla Khanda of the Padma Purna. The Mahbhrata and these two Purnas assign different divisions to the Dnavas, Daityas, and Ngas; placing Vsuki and the other Nga chiefs in the lowest: but the Vyu has the cities of the principal Daityas and Ngas in each; as in the first, those of the Daitya Namuchi, and serpent Klya; in the second, of Hayagrva and Takshaka; in the third, of Prahlda and Hemaka; in the fourth, of Klanemi and Vainateya; in the fifth, of Hiranyksha and Kirmra; and in the sixth, of Pulomn and Vsuki: besides others. Bali the Daitya is the sovereign of Ptla, according to this authority. The Mahbhrata places Vsuki in Rastala, and calls his capital Bhogavat. The regions of Ptla, and their inhabitants, are oftener the subjects of profane, than of sacred fiction, in consequence of the frequent intercourse between mortal heroes and the Nga-kanys, or serpent-nymphs. A considerable section of the Vrihat Kath, the Sryaprabh lambaka, consists of adventures and events in this subterraneous world.
205:4 esha is commonly described as being in this situation: he is the great serpent on which Vishnu sleeps during the intervals of creation, and upon whose numerous heads the world is supported. The Purnas, making him one with Balarma or Sankarshana, who is an impersonation or incarnation of esha, blend the attributes of the serpent and the demigod in their description.
205:5 With the Swastika, a particular diagram used in mystical ceremonies.
206:6 One of the oldest writers on astronomy amongst the Hindus. According to Mr. Bentley, his Sanhit dates 548 B. C. (Ancient Astron. of the Hindus, p. 59.)
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 204
Chap. V.
Of the seven regions of Ptla, below the earth. Nrada's praises of Ptla. Account of the serpent esha. First teacher of astronomy and astrology.
Parara.--The extent of the surface of the earth has been thus described to you, Maitreya. Its depth below the surface is said to be seventy thousand Yojanas, each of the seven regions of Ptla extending downwards ten thousand. These seven, worthy Muni, are called Atala, Vitala, Nitala, Gabhastimat, Mahtala, Sutala, and Ptla 1. Their soil is severally white, black, purple, yellow, sandy, stony, and of gold. They are embellished with magnificent palaces, in which dwell numerous Dnavas, Daityas, Yakshas, and great snake-gods. The Muni Nrada, after his return from those regions to the skies 2, declared amongst the celestials that Ptla was much more delightful than Indra's heaven. "What," exclaimed the sage, "can be compared to Ptla, where the Ngas are decorated with brilliant and beautiful and pleasure-shedding jewels? who will not delight in Ptla, where the lovely daughters of the Daityas and Dnavas wander about, fascinating even the most austere; where the rays of the sun diffuse light, and not heat, by day; and where the moon shines by night for illumination, not for cold; where the sons of Danu, happy in the enjoyment of delicious viands and strong wines, know not how time passes? There are beautiful groves and streams and lakes where the lotus blows; and the skies are resonant with the Kol's song. Splendid ornaments, fragrant perfumes, rich unguents, the blended music of the lute and pipe and tabor; these and many other enjoyments are the common portion of the Dnavas, Daityas, and snake-gods, who inhabit the regions of Ptla 3."
p. 205
Below the seven Ptlas is the form of Vishnu, proceeding from the quality of darkness, which is called esha 4, the excellencies of which neither Daityas nor Dnavas can fully enumerate. This being is called Ananta by the spirits of heaven, and is worshipped by sages and by gods. He has a thousand heads, which are embellished with the pure and visible mystic sign 5: and the thousand jewels in his crests give light to all the regions. For the benefit of the world he: deprives the Asuras of their strength. He rolls his eyes fiercely, as if intoxicated. He wears a single ear-ring, a diadem, and wreath upon each brow; and shines like the white mountains topped with flame. He is clothed in purple raiment, and ornamented with a white necklace, and looks like another Kailsa, with the heavenly Gang flowing down its precipices. In one hand he holds a plough, and in the other a pestle; and he is attended by Vrun (the goddess of wine), who is his own embodied radiance. From his mouths, at the end of the Kalpa, proceeds the venomed fire that, impersonated as Rudra, who is one with Balarma, devours the three worlds.
p. 206
esha bears the entire world, like a diadem, upon his head, and he is the foundation on which the seven Ptlas rest. His power, his glory, his form, his nature, cannot be described, cannot he comprehended by the gods themselves. Who shall recount his might, who wears this whole earth, like a garland of flowers, tinged of a purple dye by the radiance of the jewels of his crests. When Ananta, his eyes rolling with intoxication, yawns, then earth, with all her woods, and mountains, and seas, and rivers, trembles. Gandharbas, Apsarasas, Siddhas, Kinnaras, Uragas, and Chranas are unequal to hymn his praises, and therefore he is called the infinite (Ananta), the imperishable. The sandal paste, that is ground by the wives of the snake-gods, is scattered abroad by his breath, and sheds perfume around the skies.
The ancient sage Garga 6, having propitiated esha, acquired from him a knowledge of the principles of astronomical science, of the planets, and of the good and evil denoted by the aspects of the heavens.
The earth, sustained upon the head of this sovereign serpent, supports in its turn the garland of the spheres, along with their inhabitants, men, demons, and gods.
Footnotes
204:1 In the Bhgavata and Padma P. they are named Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Taltala, Mahtala, Rastala, and Ptla. The Vyu has Rastala, Sutala, Vitala, Gabhastala, Mahtala, rtala, and Ptla. There are other varieties.
204:2 Allusion is here made, perhaps, to the description given in the Mahbhrata, Udyoga Parva, p. 218, of Nrada's and Mtali's visit to Ptla. Several of the particulars there given are not noticed in the Purnas.
204:3 There is no very copious description of Ptla in any of the Purnas. The most circumstantial are those of the Vyu and Bhgavata: the latter has been repeated, p. 205 with some additions, in the first chapters of the Ptla Khanda of the Padma Purna. The Mahbhrata and these two Purnas assign different divisions to the Dnavas, Daityas, and Ngas; placing Vsuki and the other Nga chiefs in the lowest: but the Vyu has the cities of the principal Daityas and Ngas in each; as in the first, those of the Daitya Namuchi, and serpent Klya; in the second, of Hayagrva and Takshaka; in the third, of Prahlda and Hemaka; in the fourth, of Klanemi and Vainateya; in the fifth, of Hiranyksha and Kirmra; and in the sixth, of Pulomn and Vsuki: besides others. Bali the Daitya is the sovereign of Ptla, according to this authority. The Mahbhrata places Vsuki in Rastala, and calls his capital Bhogavat. The regions of Ptla, and their inhabitants, are oftener the subjects of profane, than of sacred fiction, in consequence of the frequent intercourse between mortal heroes and the Nga-kanys, or serpent-nymphs. A considerable section of the Vrihat Kath, the Sryaprabh lambaka, consists of adventures and events in this subterraneous world.
205:4 esha is commonly described as being in this situation: he is the great serpent on which Vishnu sleeps during the intervals of creation, and upon whose numerous heads the world is supported. The Purnas, making him one with Balarma or Sankarshana, who is an impersonation or incarnation of esha, blend the attributes of the serpent and the demigod in their description.
205:5 With the Swastika, a particular diagram used in mystical ceremonies.
206:6 One of the oldest writers on astronomy amongst the Hindus. According to Mr. Bentley, his Sanhit dates 548 B. C. (Ancient Astron. of the Hindus, p. 59.)
