Book Iv. Legend Of Para'sur'ama
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
Legend Of Paraurma.
(From the Mahbhrata.)
"Jamadagni (the son of Richka 15) was a pious sage, who by the fervour of his devotions, whilst engaged in holy study, obtained entire possession of the Vedas. Having gone to king Prasenajit, he demanded in marriage his daughter Renuk, and the king gave her unto him. The descendant of Bhrigu conducted the princess to his hermitage, and dwelt with her there, and she was contented to partake in his ascetic life. They had four sons, and then a fifth, who was Jmadagnya, the last but not the least of the brethren, Once when her sons were all absent, to gather the fruits on which they fed, Renuk, who was exact in the discharge of all her duties, went forth to bathe. On her way to the stream she beheld Chitraratha, the prince of Mrittikvat, with a garland of lotuses on his neck, sporting with his queen in the water, and she felt envious of their felicity. Defiled by unworthy thoughts, wetted but not purified by the stream, she returned disquieted to the hermitage, and her husband perceived her agitation. Beholding her fallen from perfection, and shorn of the lustre of her sanctity, Jamadagni reproved her, and was exceeding wroth. Upon this there came her sons from the wood, first the eldest, Rumanwat, then Sushena, then Vasu, and then Viwavasu; and each, as he entered, was successively commanded by his father to put his mother to death; but amazed, and influenced by natural affection, neither of them made any reply: therefore Jamadagni was angry, and cursed them, and they became as idiots, and lost all
p. 402
understanding, and were like unto beasts or birds. Lastly, Rma returned to the hermitage, when the mighty and holy Jamadagni said unto him, 'Kill thy mother, who has sinned; and do it, son, without repining.' Rma accordingly took up his axe, and struck off his mother's head; whereupon the wrath of the illustrious and mighty Jamadagni was assuaged, and he was pleased with his son, and said, 'Since thou hast obeyed my commands, and done what was hard to be performed, demand from me whatever blessings thou wilt, and thy desires shall be all fulfilled.' Then Rma begged of his father these boons; the restoration of his mother to life, with forgetfulness of her having been slain, and purification from all defilement; the return of his brothers to their natural condition; and, for himself, invincibility in single combat, and length of days: and all these did his father bestow.
"It happened on one occasion, that, during the absence of the Rishi's sons, the mighty monarch Krttavrya, the sovereign of the Haihaya tribe, endowed by the favour of Datttreya with a thousand arms, and a golden chariot that went wheresoever he willed it to go, came to the hermitage 16 of Jamadagni, where the wife of the sage received him with all proper respect. The king, inflated with the pride of valour, made no return to her hospitality, but carried off with him by violence the calf of the milch cow of the sacred oblation 17, and cast down the tall trees surrounding the hermitage. When Rma returned, his father told him what had chanced, and he saw the cow in affliction, and he was filled with wrath. Taking up his splendid bow 18, Bhrgava, the slayer of hostile heroes, assailed Krttavrya, who had now become subject to
p. 403
the power of death, and overthrew him in battle. With sharp arrows Rma cut off his thousand arms, and the king perished. The sons of Krttavrya, to revenge his death, attacked the hermitage of Jamadagni, when Rma was away, and slew the pious and unresisting sage, who called repeatedly, but fruitlessly, upon his valiant son. They then departed; and when Rma returned, bearing fuel from the thickets, he found his father lifeless, and thus bewailed his unmerited fate: 'Father, in resentment of my actions have you been murdered by wretches as foolish as they are base! by the sons of Krttavrya are you struck down, as a deer in the forest by the huntsman's shafts! Ill have you deserved such a death; you who have ever trodden the path of virtue, and never offered wrong to any created thing! How great is the crime that they have committed, in slaying with their deadly shafts an old man like you, wholly occupied with pious cares, and engaging not in strife! Much have they to boast of to their fellows and their friends, that they have shamelessly slain a solitary hermit, incapable of contending in arms!' Thus lamenting, bitterly and repeatedly, Rma performed his father's last obsequies, and lighted his funeral pile. He then made a vow that he would extirpate the whole Kshatriya race. In fulfilment of this purpose he took up his arms, and with remorseless and fatal rage singly destroyed in fight the sons of Krttavrya; and after them, whatever Kshatriyas he encountered, Rma, the first of warriors, likewise slew. Thrice seven times did the clear the earth of the Kshatriya caste 19; and he filled with their blood the five large lakes of Samanta-panchaka, from which he offered libations to the race of Bhrigu. There did he behold his sire again, and the son of Richka beheld his son, and told him what to do. Offering a solemn sacrifice to the king of the gods, Jmadagnya presented the earth to the ministering priests. To Kayapa he gave the altar made of gold, ten fathoms in length, and nine in height 20. With the permission of Kayapa, the Brahmans divided it in pieces amongst them, and they were thence
p. 404
called Khandavyana Brahmans. Having given the earth to Kayapa, the hero of immeasurable prowess retired to the Mahendra mountain, where he still resides: and in this manner was there enmity between him and the race of Kshatriyas, and thus was the whole earth conquered by Rma 21."
"The son of Viswmitra was unahephas, the descendant of Bhrigu, given by the gods, and thence named Devarta 22. Viswmitra had
p. 405
other sons also, amongst whom the most celebrated were Madhuchhandas, Kritajaya, Devadeva, Ashtaka, Kachchapa, and Hrita; these founded many families, all of whom were known by the name of Kauikas, and intermarried with the families of various Rishis 23.
Footnotes
401:15 The circumstances of Richka's marriage, and the birth of Jamadagni and Viwmitra, are told much in the same manner as in our text both in the Mahbhrata and Bhgavata.
402:16 In the beginning of the legend occurs the account of Krttavryrjuna, with the addition that he oppressed both men and gods. The latter applying to Vishnu for succour, he descended to earth, and was born as Paraurma, for the especial purpose of putting the Haihaya king to death.
402:17 In the Rjadharma the sons of the king carry off the calf. The Bhgavata makes the king seize upon the cow, by whose aid Jamadagni had previously entertained Arjuna and all his train: borrowing, no doubt, these embellishments from the similar legend of Vaishtha and Viwmitra, related in the Rmyana.
402:18 The characteristic weapon of Rma is however an axe (parau), whence his name Rma, 'with the axe.' It was given to him by iva, whom the hero propitiated on mount Gandhamdana. He at the same time received instruction in the use of weapons generally, and the art of war. Rja Dharma.
403:19 This more than 'thrice slaying of the slain' is explained in the Rjadharma to mean, that he killed the men of so many generations, as fast as they grew up to adolescence.
403:20 It is sometimes read Narotsedha, 'as high as a man.'
404:21 The story, as told in the Rjadharma section, adds, that when Rma had given the earth to Kayapa, the latter desired him to depart, as there was no dwelling for him in it, and to repair to the seashore of the south, where Ocean made for him (or relinquished to him) the maritime district named rpraka. The traditions of the Peninsula ascribe the formation of the coast of Malabar to this origin, and relate that Paraurma compelled the ocean to retire, and introduced Brahmans and colonists from the north into Kerala or Malabar. According to some accounts he stood on the promontory of Dilli, and shot his arrows to the south, over the site of Kerala. It seems likely that we have proof of the local legend being at least as old as the beginning of the Christian era, as the mons Pyrrhus of Ptolemy is probably the mountain of Parau or Paraurma. See Catalogue of Mackenzie Collection, Introd. p. xcv. and vol. II. p. 74. The Rjadharma also gives an account of the Kshatriyas who escaped even the thrice seven times repeated destruction of their race. Some of the Haihayas were concealed by the earth as women; the son of Viduratha, of the race of Puru, was preserved in the Riksha mountain, where he was nourished by the bears; Sarvakarman, the son of Saudsa, was saved by Parara, performing the offices of a dra; Gopati, son of ivi, was nourished by cows in the forests; Vatsa, the son of Pratarddana, was concealed amongst the calves in a cow-pen; the son of Deviratha was secreted by Gautama on the banks of the Ganges; Vrihadratha was preserved in Gridhrakta; and descendants of Marutta were saved by the ocean. From these the lines of kings were continued; but it does not appear from the ordinary lists that they were ever interrupted. This legend however, as well as that of the Rmyana, b. I. c. 52, no doubt intimates a violent and protracted struggle between the Brahmans and Kshatriyas for supreme domination in India, as indeed the text of the Mahbhrata more plainly denotes, as Earth is made to say to Kayapa, 'The fathers and grandfathers of these Kshatriyas have been killed by the remorseless Rma in warfare on my account.'
404:22 The story of unahephas is told by different authorities, with several variations. As the author of various ktas in the Rich, he is called the son of Ajigartta. The Rmyana makes him the middle son of the sage Richka, sold to Ambarsha, king of Ayodhy, by his parents, to be a victim in a human sacrifice offered p. 405 by that prince. He is set at liberty by Viwmitra, but it is not added that he was adopted. The Bhgavata concurs in the adoption, but makes unahephas the son of Viwmitra's sister, by Ajigartta of the line of Bhrigu, and states his being purchased as a victim for the sacrifice of Harichandra (see n. 9. p. 372). The Vyu makes him a son of Richka, but alludes to his being the victim at Harichandra's sacrifice. According to the Rmyana, Viswmitra called upon his sons to take the place of unahephas, and on their refusing, degraded them to the condition of Chndlas. The Bhgavata says, that fifty only of the hundred sons of Viswmitra were expelled their tribe, for refusing to acknowledge unahephas or Devarta as their elder brother. The others consented; and the Bhgavata expresses this; 'They said to the elder, profoundly versed in the Mantras, We are your followers:' as the commentator; ###. The Rmyana also observes, that unahephas, when bound, praised Indra with Richas or hymns of the Rig-veda. The origin of the story therefore, whatever may be its correct version, must be referred to the Vedas; and it evidently alludes to some innovation in the ritual, adopted by a part only of the Kauika families of Brahmans.
405:23 The Bhgavata says one hundred sons, besides Devarta and others, as Ashtaka, Hrita, &c. Much longer lists of names are given in the Vyu, Bhgavata, Brhma, and Hari V. The two latter specify the mothers. Thus Devaravas, Kati (the founder of the Ktyyanas), and Hiranyksha were sons of ilavat; Renuka, Glava, Sankriti, Mudgala, Madhuchchandas, and Devala were sons of Renu; and Ashtaka, Kachchhapa, and Hrita were the sons of Drishadvat. The same works enumerate the Gotras, the families or tribes of the Kauika Brahmans: these are, Prthivas, Devartas, Yjnawalkyas, Smarshanas, dumbaras, Dumlnas, Tarakyanas, Munchtas, Lohitas, Renus, Karishus, Babhrus, Pninas, Dhynajypyas, ylantas, Hiranykshas, ankus, Glavas, Yamadtas, Devalas, lankyanas, Bshkalas, Dadativdaras, auratas, aindhavyanas, Nishntas, Chunchulas, lankrityas, Sankrityas, Vdaranyas, and an infinity of others, multiplied by intermarriages with other tribes, and who, according to the Vyu, were originally of the regal caste, like Viswmitra; but, like him, obtained Brahmanhood through devotion. Now these Gotras, or some of them at least, no doubt existed, partaking more of the character of schools of doctrine, but in which teachers and scholars were very likely to have become of one family by intermarrying; and the whole, as well as their original founder, imply the interference of the Kshatriya caste with the Brahmanical monopoly of religious instruction and composition.
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
Legend Of Paraurma.
(From the Mahbhrata.)
"Jamadagni (the son of Richka 15) was a pious sage, who by the fervour of his devotions, whilst engaged in holy study, obtained entire possession of the Vedas. Having gone to king Prasenajit, he demanded in marriage his daughter Renuk, and the king gave her unto him. The descendant of Bhrigu conducted the princess to his hermitage, and dwelt with her there, and she was contented to partake in his ascetic life. They had four sons, and then a fifth, who was Jmadagnya, the last but not the least of the brethren, Once when her sons were all absent, to gather the fruits on which they fed, Renuk, who was exact in the discharge of all her duties, went forth to bathe. On her way to the stream she beheld Chitraratha, the prince of Mrittikvat, with a garland of lotuses on his neck, sporting with his queen in the water, and she felt envious of their felicity. Defiled by unworthy thoughts, wetted but not purified by the stream, she returned disquieted to the hermitage, and her husband perceived her agitation. Beholding her fallen from perfection, and shorn of the lustre of her sanctity, Jamadagni reproved her, and was exceeding wroth. Upon this there came her sons from the wood, first the eldest, Rumanwat, then Sushena, then Vasu, and then Viwavasu; and each, as he entered, was successively commanded by his father to put his mother to death; but amazed, and influenced by natural affection, neither of them made any reply: therefore Jamadagni was angry, and cursed them, and they became as idiots, and lost all
p. 402
understanding, and were like unto beasts or birds. Lastly, Rma returned to the hermitage, when the mighty and holy Jamadagni said unto him, 'Kill thy mother, who has sinned; and do it, son, without repining.' Rma accordingly took up his axe, and struck off his mother's head; whereupon the wrath of the illustrious and mighty Jamadagni was assuaged, and he was pleased with his son, and said, 'Since thou hast obeyed my commands, and done what was hard to be performed, demand from me whatever blessings thou wilt, and thy desires shall be all fulfilled.' Then Rma begged of his father these boons; the restoration of his mother to life, with forgetfulness of her having been slain, and purification from all defilement; the return of his brothers to their natural condition; and, for himself, invincibility in single combat, and length of days: and all these did his father bestow.
"It happened on one occasion, that, during the absence of the Rishi's sons, the mighty monarch Krttavrya, the sovereign of the Haihaya tribe, endowed by the favour of Datttreya with a thousand arms, and a golden chariot that went wheresoever he willed it to go, came to the hermitage 16 of Jamadagni, where the wife of the sage received him with all proper respect. The king, inflated with the pride of valour, made no return to her hospitality, but carried off with him by violence the calf of the milch cow of the sacred oblation 17, and cast down the tall trees surrounding the hermitage. When Rma returned, his father told him what had chanced, and he saw the cow in affliction, and he was filled with wrath. Taking up his splendid bow 18, Bhrgava, the slayer of hostile heroes, assailed Krttavrya, who had now become subject to
p. 403
the power of death, and overthrew him in battle. With sharp arrows Rma cut off his thousand arms, and the king perished. The sons of Krttavrya, to revenge his death, attacked the hermitage of Jamadagni, when Rma was away, and slew the pious and unresisting sage, who called repeatedly, but fruitlessly, upon his valiant son. They then departed; and when Rma returned, bearing fuel from the thickets, he found his father lifeless, and thus bewailed his unmerited fate: 'Father, in resentment of my actions have you been murdered by wretches as foolish as they are base! by the sons of Krttavrya are you struck down, as a deer in the forest by the huntsman's shafts! Ill have you deserved such a death; you who have ever trodden the path of virtue, and never offered wrong to any created thing! How great is the crime that they have committed, in slaying with their deadly shafts an old man like you, wholly occupied with pious cares, and engaging not in strife! Much have they to boast of to their fellows and their friends, that they have shamelessly slain a solitary hermit, incapable of contending in arms!' Thus lamenting, bitterly and repeatedly, Rma performed his father's last obsequies, and lighted his funeral pile. He then made a vow that he would extirpate the whole Kshatriya race. In fulfilment of this purpose he took up his arms, and with remorseless and fatal rage singly destroyed in fight the sons of Krttavrya; and after them, whatever Kshatriyas he encountered, Rma, the first of warriors, likewise slew. Thrice seven times did the clear the earth of the Kshatriya caste 19; and he filled with their blood the five large lakes of Samanta-panchaka, from which he offered libations to the race of Bhrigu. There did he behold his sire again, and the son of Richka beheld his son, and told him what to do. Offering a solemn sacrifice to the king of the gods, Jmadagnya presented the earth to the ministering priests. To Kayapa he gave the altar made of gold, ten fathoms in length, and nine in height 20. With the permission of Kayapa, the Brahmans divided it in pieces amongst them, and they were thence
p. 404
called Khandavyana Brahmans. Having given the earth to Kayapa, the hero of immeasurable prowess retired to the Mahendra mountain, where he still resides: and in this manner was there enmity between him and the race of Kshatriyas, and thus was the whole earth conquered by Rma 21."
"The son of Viswmitra was unahephas, the descendant of Bhrigu, given by the gods, and thence named Devarta 22. Viswmitra had
p. 405
other sons also, amongst whom the most celebrated were Madhuchhandas, Kritajaya, Devadeva, Ashtaka, Kachchapa, and Hrita; these founded many families, all of whom were known by the name of Kauikas, and intermarried with the families of various Rishis 23.
Footnotes
401:15 The circumstances of Richka's marriage, and the birth of Jamadagni and Viwmitra, are told much in the same manner as in our text both in the Mahbhrata and Bhgavata.
402:16 In the beginning of the legend occurs the account of Krttavryrjuna, with the addition that he oppressed both men and gods. The latter applying to Vishnu for succour, he descended to earth, and was born as Paraurma, for the especial purpose of putting the Haihaya king to death.
402:17 In the Rjadharma the sons of the king carry off the calf. The Bhgavata makes the king seize upon the cow, by whose aid Jamadagni had previously entertained Arjuna and all his train: borrowing, no doubt, these embellishments from the similar legend of Vaishtha and Viwmitra, related in the Rmyana.
402:18 The characteristic weapon of Rma is however an axe (parau), whence his name Rma, 'with the axe.' It was given to him by iva, whom the hero propitiated on mount Gandhamdana. He at the same time received instruction in the use of weapons generally, and the art of war. Rja Dharma.
403:19 This more than 'thrice slaying of the slain' is explained in the Rjadharma to mean, that he killed the men of so many generations, as fast as they grew up to adolescence.
403:20 It is sometimes read Narotsedha, 'as high as a man.'
404:21 The story, as told in the Rjadharma section, adds, that when Rma had given the earth to Kayapa, the latter desired him to depart, as there was no dwelling for him in it, and to repair to the seashore of the south, where Ocean made for him (or relinquished to him) the maritime district named rpraka. The traditions of the Peninsula ascribe the formation of the coast of Malabar to this origin, and relate that Paraurma compelled the ocean to retire, and introduced Brahmans and colonists from the north into Kerala or Malabar. According to some accounts he stood on the promontory of Dilli, and shot his arrows to the south, over the site of Kerala. It seems likely that we have proof of the local legend being at least as old as the beginning of the Christian era, as the mons Pyrrhus of Ptolemy is probably the mountain of Parau or Paraurma. See Catalogue of Mackenzie Collection, Introd. p. xcv. and vol. II. p. 74. The Rjadharma also gives an account of the Kshatriyas who escaped even the thrice seven times repeated destruction of their race. Some of the Haihayas were concealed by the earth as women; the son of Viduratha, of the race of Puru, was preserved in the Riksha mountain, where he was nourished by the bears; Sarvakarman, the son of Saudsa, was saved by Parara, performing the offices of a dra; Gopati, son of ivi, was nourished by cows in the forests; Vatsa, the son of Pratarddana, was concealed amongst the calves in a cow-pen; the son of Deviratha was secreted by Gautama on the banks of the Ganges; Vrihadratha was preserved in Gridhrakta; and descendants of Marutta were saved by the ocean. From these the lines of kings were continued; but it does not appear from the ordinary lists that they were ever interrupted. This legend however, as well as that of the Rmyana, b. I. c. 52, no doubt intimates a violent and protracted struggle between the Brahmans and Kshatriyas for supreme domination in India, as indeed the text of the Mahbhrata more plainly denotes, as Earth is made to say to Kayapa, 'The fathers and grandfathers of these Kshatriyas have been killed by the remorseless Rma in warfare on my account.'
404:22 The story of unahephas is told by different authorities, with several variations. As the author of various ktas in the Rich, he is called the son of Ajigartta. The Rmyana makes him the middle son of the sage Richka, sold to Ambarsha, king of Ayodhy, by his parents, to be a victim in a human sacrifice offered p. 405 by that prince. He is set at liberty by Viwmitra, but it is not added that he was adopted. The Bhgavata concurs in the adoption, but makes unahephas the son of Viwmitra's sister, by Ajigartta of the line of Bhrigu, and states his being purchased as a victim for the sacrifice of Harichandra (see n. 9. p. 372). The Vyu makes him a son of Richka, but alludes to his being the victim at Harichandra's sacrifice. According to the Rmyana, Viswmitra called upon his sons to take the place of unahephas, and on their refusing, degraded them to the condition of Chndlas. The Bhgavata says, that fifty only of the hundred sons of Viswmitra were expelled their tribe, for refusing to acknowledge unahephas or Devarta as their elder brother. The others consented; and the Bhgavata expresses this; 'They said to the elder, profoundly versed in the Mantras, We are your followers:' as the commentator; ###. The Rmyana also observes, that unahephas, when bound, praised Indra with Richas or hymns of the Rig-veda. The origin of the story therefore, whatever may be its correct version, must be referred to the Vedas; and it evidently alludes to some innovation in the ritual, adopted by a part only of the Kauika families of Brahmans.
405:23 The Bhgavata says one hundred sons, besides Devarta and others, as Ashtaka, Hrita, &c. Much longer lists of names are given in the Vyu, Bhgavata, Brhma, and Hari V. The two latter specify the mothers. Thus Devaravas, Kati (the founder of the Ktyyanas), and Hiranyksha were sons of ilavat; Renuka, Glava, Sankriti, Mudgala, Madhuchchandas, and Devala were sons of Renu; and Ashtaka, Kachchhapa, and Hrita were the sons of Drishadvat. The same works enumerate the Gotras, the families or tribes of the Kauika Brahmans: these are, Prthivas, Devartas, Yjnawalkyas, Smarshanas, dumbaras, Dumlnas, Tarakyanas, Munchtas, Lohitas, Renus, Karishus, Babhrus, Pninas, Dhynajypyas, ylantas, Hiranykshas, ankus, Glavas, Yamadtas, Devalas, lankyanas, Bshkalas, Dadativdaras, auratas, aindhavyanas, Nishntas, Chunchulas, lankrityas, Sankrityas, Vdaranyas, and an infinity of others, multiplied by intermarriages with other tribes, and who, according to the Vyu, were originally of the regal caste, like Viswmitra; but, like him, obtained Brahmanhood through devotion. Now these Gotras, or some of them at least, no doubt existed, partaking more of the character of schools of doctrine, but in which teachers and scholars were very likely to have become of one family by intermarrying; and the whole, as well as their original founder, imply the interference of the Kshatriya caste with the Brahmanical monopoly of religious instruction and composition.
