by Bibek Debroy
‘The illustrious and self-creating one saw them stationed there, afflicted. The god was overcome with great compassion and addressed them in comforting words. Brahma said, “Alas! O best among the gods! You have committed an extremely inauspicious deed. The brahmana is controlled and the brahman is in him. Because of your prosperity, you did not honour him. O gods! You were prosperous and your own enemies were feeble. However, because of your ingratitude, you have been defeated by the enemy. O Maghavan! Look at your enemies. They decayed because they crossed their preceptor. But they are powerful now because they again faithfully worshipped Kavya. Those who follow that divine one from the Bhrigu lineage can take away my abode too. They have been instructed by the descendant of the Bhrigu lineage in accomplishing their objectives, and their intentions are not obvious. Why will they care for heaven? Lords of men who worship brahmanas, Govinda and cattle never face anything inauspicious. Therefore, quickly worship the brahmana Vishvarupa. He is the ascetic son of Tvashta and is self-controlled. When worshipped by you, he will accomplish your objectives, as long as you can forget his acts.” 494 O king! Thus advised by Brahma, they lost their anxiety.
‘They went to the rishi who was Tvashta’s son and embraced him. They said the following. The gods said, “May you be fortunate. We have come to your hermitage as guests. O son! 495 We are like your fathers and it is appropriate that you should accomplish our desire. O brahmana! The supreme dharma for a virtuous son is to serve his parents and this is especially true of one who is a brahmachari. A preceptor is the embodied form of the Vedas. A father is the embodied form of Prajapati. A brother is the embodied form of the lord of the Maruts. 496 A mother is the form of the earth. A sister is the embodied form of compassion. A guest is the embodied form of Dharma himself. A visitor is the embodied form of Agni. 497 All beings are the embodied form of the atman. Having been defeated by the enemy, your fathers are distressed and afflicted. O son! Using your austerities, you should follow our wishes and dispel these. You are a brahmana and the brahman is in you. We choose you as our teacher and preceptor. Through your energy, we will then be able to easily defeat our enemies. O brahmana! If one worships the feet of a younger person to accomplish an objective, that is not condemned. Learning is not determined on the basis of seniority in age alone.” The great ascetic was invited by the large number of gods to become their priest. Vishvarupa was delighted and addressed them in gentle words. Vishvarupa replied, “Those who know the good conduct of dharma have condemned this. 498 It diminishes the powers of brahmacharya. O lords! A person like me, who should be a disciple, has been requested by the lords of the worlds. Therefore, I cannot refuse. That is in my own selfish interest too. O lords! I survive on leftover grain and wealth is nothing to me. I have withdrawn from all virtuous rites. 499 O lords! How can I undertake the reprehensible task of becoming a priest? That only appeals to those who are evil in intelligence. Nevertheless, I cannot refuse that desired by my seniors. At the cost of my life and everything I possess, I will accomplish what you wish.” Vishvarupa, the great ascetic, promised them this. With supreme meditation, he performed the task of being a priest. The prosperity of the enemies of the gods was protected through the knowledge of Ushanas. Using the Vaishnava knowledge, the lord took it away and handed it over to the great Indra. This protected the one with one thousand eyes and the lord defeated the army of the asuras. Vishvarupa, generous in his intelligence, told the great Indra about this.’
Chapter 6(8)
The king said, ‘Protected by this, the one with one thousand eyes toyed with the enemy soldiers and vanquished them. He enjoyed the prosperity of the three worlds. O illustrious one! Tell me about this armour, which has Narayana inside it. 500 Protected by this, he defeated the enemy assassins in the battle.’
Shri-Shuka replied, ‘Once Tvashta’s son had been chosen as the priest, the great Indra asked him about this. This is the armour that goes by Narayana’s name. Hear it single-mindedly. Vishvarupa said, “A person must wash his hands and feet and perform the ablutions. He must wear a ring made out of kusha grass and be seated, facing the north. Controlling his speech, he must purify his limbs with the two mantras. 501 When there is fear, he must don this supreme armour of Narayana’s—the two feet, the two knees, the two thighs, the stomach, the heart, the chest, the mouth and head progressively. 502 Beginning, with Oum, the apportioning is thus in this way. Oum namo Narayanaya is then repeated in the reverse order. Thereafter, using the knowledge of the twelve aksharas, he must perform kara-nyasa. 503 Oum comes at the beginning and it ends with ‘ya’. It starts with the index finger and ends with the joints of the thumbs. 504 Oum must be deposited in the heart, ‘vi’ in the crown of the head, ‘sha’ in the middle of the eyebrows and ‘na’ in the tuft of hair on the head. 505 ‘Ve’ is deposited in the two eyes and ‘na’ in all the joints of the body. ‘Ma’ is thought of as a weapon and a learned person thus becomes a personified form of the mantra—Oum Vishnave namah. The visarga sign, ending with phat, must be invoked in all the directions. 506 He must meditate on the supreme atman, the one who should be meditated upon and the one who possesses the six potencies. 507 He must then chant a mantra that is the embodied form of knowledge, energy and austerities. 508 ‘Oum. May Hari bestow protection on me from all sides. He has placed his lotus feet on the back of the Indra among birds. He possesses eight arms that hold the conch shell, the discus, the shield, the sword, the mace, arrows, the bow and the noose. He possesses the eight powers. 509 In the form of a fish, may he protect me in the waters from large numbers of aquatic creatures and Varuna’s noose. He used his maya to assume the form of a vamana brahmana. May he protect me on the land in this form. As Trivikrama, may the one whose form is the universe protect me in the sky. In his form of Nrisimha, the destroyer of asura hordes, may the lord protect me in impenetrable places, forests and the forefront of the battle. When he uttered his loud and great roar, it echoed in all the directions and the embryos were dislodged. 510 The sacrifice is his form. May he protect me along roads. 511 As varaha, 512 he raised the earth up on his own tusks. May Rama 513 protect me on the summits of mountains. With Lakshmana, may Bharata’s elder brother 514 protect me in foreign lands. May Narayana protect me from all kinds of terrible adharma and distractions. May Nara protect me from pride. May Datta, the lord of yoga, protect me from deviations in the path of yoga. May Kapila, the lord of gunas, protect me from the bondage of karma. May Sanatkumara protect me from the god of love. May Hayashirsha protect me from ignoring gods along the road. May the noble devarshi 515 protect me from transgressions in worshipping the great being. In his form of the turtle, may Hari protect me from all kinds of hell. May the illustrious Dhanvantari protect me from eating undesirable food. May Rishabha, who conquered his atman, protect me from fear on account of the opposite sentiments. May Yajna protect me from hardship brought about by other people. In his form of the Indra among serpents, may Bala protect me from the krodhavashas. 516 May the illustrious Dvaipayana protect me against ignorance. May Buddha protect me against distractions caused by large numbers of heretics. May Kalki protect me from the impurities of the age known as kali yuga. He has descended in this form for the sake of protecting dharma. With his club, may Keshava protect me in the morning. 517 May Govinda, holding the flute, protect me during sangava. 518 May Narayana raise his spear and protect me in the forenoon. May Vishnu, with the weapon to destroy enemies in his hand, protect me at midday. May Madhusudana, with the fierce bow, protect me in the afternoon. May Madhava, with the three forms 519 protect me in the evening. May Hrishikesha protect me during the first part of the night. May Padmanabha protect me during the second part of the night and at midnight. May the lord, the abode of the shrivatsa mark, protect me during the latter part of the night. May the lord Janardana, the wielder of the sword, protect me just before dawn. May Damodara protect me during the morning sandhya. May the illustrious Vishveshvara, whose form is time, protect me just before morning. His sharp-edged chakra is like the fire of destruct
ion that comes at the end of a yuga. Invoked by the illustrious one, it rages around in every direction. Please swiftly burn down all the enemy soldiers who deserve to be burnt down, just as the fire, with the wind as a friend, does to dry grass. O club! You have sparks of fire and are like the vajra to the touch. You are loved by the invincible one. Crush down those who should be crushed down. Pulverize the kushmandas, vainayakas, yakshas, rakshasas, bhutas and grahas. 520 Pulverize the enemy. O conch shell! When blown by Krishna, your blare is terrible and makes the hearts of enemies tremble. Drive away yatudhanas, pramathas, pretas, matrikas, pishachas and evil brahmanas who are malevolent in their glances. 521 O supreme sword that is sharp at the edges! The lord will use you against my enemy soldiers. Cut them. Sever them. O shield with the mark of one hundred moons! Cover the eyes of the wicked enemies. Take away their evil eyesight. Evil planets, meteors, human beings, reptiles, fanged creatures, bhutas and sin cause us fear. By chanting the names and forms of the illustrious one, let all these head instantly towards their destruction. They are impediments in the way of our well-being. The illustrious Garuda is a lord who is praised in hymns and metres. Through the chanting of Vishvaksena’s names, let him protect us from all kinds of hardships. Let Hari’s names, forms and weapons protect us from all catastrophes. Let his ornaments, in the form of his companions, protect our intelligence, senses and the breath of life. The illustrious one is indeed everything that is manifest and is not manifest. Because of this truth, let everything that causes us harm head towards destruction. For those who have identified themselves with his atman, there is no difference between their own selves and he himself. Because of his own maya, his ornaments, weapons and different kinds of signs possess the powers. This is the true understanding of the illustrious and omniscient Hari. He goes everywhere. He is everywhere. Through his own forms, let him protect all of us. He is the illustrious Narasimha, who is inside and outside. He is in the sub-directions, the directions, above, below and everywhere around. Through his roar, let him destroy all the fear in the worlds. Through his own energy, let him envelope all the different kinds of powers.” O Maghavan! I have described the armour that has Narayana inside it. Armed by it, you will easily vanquish the leaders of the asuras. If a person wears it, he is instantly freed from all fear that results from anything he sees with his eyes or touches with his feet. If a person bears this knowledge, he does not suffer any fear from any direction—from kings, bandits, evil planets, or physical or mental diseases. In ancient times, a brahmana named Koushika mastered this. Using the path of yoga, he cast off his life in the desert regions. Chitraratha, the lord of the gandharvas, surrounded by women, once travelled in a vimana, over the spot where the brahmana had died. He instantly fell down from the vimana in the sky, with his head facing downwards. He was astounded. Heeding the words of the Valakhilyas, he collected the bones and immersed them in the Sarasvati, which flows in an eastern direction. After this, he bathed and returned to his own abode. Faced with danger, if a person hears this and faithfully remembers it, he is freed from all kinds of fear and all beings bow down before him. Shatakratu obtained this knowledge from Vishvarupa. Having vanquished the asuras in a battle, he enjoyed the prosperity of the three worlds.’
Chapter 6(9)
Shri-Shuka said, ‘O descendant of the Bharata lineage! We have heard that Vishvarupa possessed three heads—one for drinking soma, one for drinking liquor and one for eating food. O king! It said that at the time of sacrifices, he openly gave shares to the gods and the ancestors who were divinities, to the loud and gentle chanting of mantras. However, he was tied in bonds of affection towards his mother. 522 Therefore, at the time of performing sacrifices, he covertly secreted a share and conveyed this share to the asuras. The lord of the gods noticed this disrespect towards the god and the violation of dharma. Scared, 523 in his rage, he swiftly severed his heads. The head that drank soma became a kapinjala. The head that drank liquor became a kalavinka. The head that ate food became a tittiri. 524 With cupped hands, the lord accepted the sin of killing a brahmana. To purify himself, at the end of a year, Hari 525 divided the elements of this sin into four parts and distributed it among the earth, water, trees and women. The earth accepted a fourth part because of the boon that ditches dug on earth will be filled up. 526 The sin of killing a brahmana is seen on earth in the form of the deserts. Trees accepted a fourth part because of the boon that severed branches will grow again. The sin of killing a brahmana is seen in the trees in the form of the sap. Women accepted a fourth part because of the boon that they would always experience desire. 527 This sin is seen in them every month, in the form of the menstrual discharge. Water accepted one fourth of the impurity because of the boon that it would increase the volume of a substance into which it was mixed. It is seen in water in the form of foam and froth and this must be collected and flung away.
‘When his son was killed, Tvashta offered oblations for the sake of generating Indra’s enemy. “O Indra’s enemy! Grow in strength and quickly kill the enemy.” A being, terrible in form, arose from the southern part of the sacrificial fire. He was like Death. It seemed to the worlds that the end of the yuga had arrived. Every day, on all sides, he increased by the length of an arrow’s flight. His appearance was like that of a burnt mountain. His complexion was like that of a mass of evening clouds. His hair and beard were like molten copper. His eyes were as fierce as the midday sun. With his blazing trident, he seemed to pierce the space between heaven and earth. When he danced or roared, the earth quaked because of his feet. His mouth was as deep as a cave and he seemed to drink up the sky. He seemed to lick the stars with his tongue and devour the three worlds. With a large array of terrible teeth, he yawned repeatedly. On seeing this, all beings were terrified and fled in the ten directions. This form was manifested because of Tvashta’s austerities and he seemed to envelop the worlds. The wicked and extremely terrible one was therefore known as Vritra. 528 Along with their followers, the bulls among the gods rushed forward to kill him, using their own respective divine astras and shastras. 529 However, he swallowed them all up. All of them were astounded and surprised at this. They lost their energy. They controlled themselves and approached the supreme and original being. The gods said, “The three worlds, consisting of wind, space, fire, water and land, and all of us, Brahma and the others, are terrified. We render offerings to the one, of whom, even Death is frightened. We seek refuge with him. He is never surprised. He is always completely satisfied with his own achievements. He is tranquil and serene. If a foolish person wishes to be protected by anyone else, he will be like a person who tries to cross an ocean by using a dog’s tail. 530 Manu tied his boat, in the form of the earth, to his horn, when he assumed the form of an aquatic creature, and crossed what was extremely difficult to traverse. 531 He will certainly deliver us dependents from this limitless fear on account of Tvashta’s son. In ancient times, Svayambhu was alone on his lotus seat and the flood of water was filled with turbulent waves, created by loud and terrible winds. He almost fell down. However, he was saved from that fear by him. Let him convey us to a safe shore. He is the lone lord who controls us through his maya. He created us and we undertake creation in the universe. He is stationed in front of us, but we cannot discern his signs. We are proud because we think of ourselves as independent lords. When we are severely afflicted, using his own maya, from one yuga to another yuga, he always assumes avataras in the form of gods, rishis, men and subhuman species and saves us. All of us approach that god and seek refuge with him. He is the divinity who is there in our atmans. He is supreme and foremost, the great being. The universe is his manifestation. He is the one with whom one should seek refuge. The great-souled one always confers well-being on those who are devoted to him.” O great king! He was worshipped by the gods in this way.
‘Holding a conch shell, chakra and a club, he manifested himself inside their hearts. He was served and worshipped by sixteen attendants who were just like him in appearance, but were without shrivatsa an
d Koustubha. His eyes were like blooming autumn lotuses. On seeing him, their hearts were flooded with delight. O king! They prostrated themselves on the ground, like rods. Rising gradually, they worshipped him. The gods said, “We bow down before the one who is the seed of sacrifices. We bow down before the one who is time. We bow down before the one who wields the chakra. We bow down before the one who is addressed through auspicious names. You are the controller and the destination of the three. 532 You are the supreme refuge. O controller! Anyone born after the original creation is incapable of comprehending you. Oum. We bow down before the illustrious Narayana. O Vasudeva! O original being! O great being! O immensely glorious one! O supremely auspicious one! O supreme benediction! O supremely compassionate one! O absolute one! O support of the universe! O sole protector of the worlds! O lord of everything! O Lakshmi’s lord! Paramahamsas wander around. They immerse their atmans in the yoga of meditation and worship the supreme one. When they are completely purified, he manifests himself before them. They follow the dharma of paramahamsas. The door of darkness is closed and consciousness is revealed to them. In the world of their atmans, they themselves obtain you and experience their own bliss from you. Your pastimes are extremely difficult to understand. You are not dependent on anyone for support. You do not possess a material body. You do not expect any cooperation from us. There are no transformations in your atman. You are nirguna. But you create the gunas and preserve and destroy them. Do you exist in this material world? 533 It is created on the basis of the gunas and one descends into it. Is this under a superior person’s control or is this because of one’s own inauspicious deeds? Are you responsible for the fruits of good deeds? Should one accept them and be satisfied with them? The effects of good conduct also pass. You are said to be an impartial witness. We certainly do not understand all this. But since the illustrious one possesses an aggregate of an infinite number of qualities, there is no contradiction between the two. The lord’s greatness is unfathomable. Modern debates, disputes, assertions, suggestions of proof, ill-informed arguments and references to sacred texts are used by agitated minds that resort to dogmatic theories and controversies. You are beyond the range of disputes and everything based on maya. You are absolute and are hidden inside this maya that you create. It is impossible to distinguish the difference between the two propositions and your true nature is independent of both of them. Depending on one’s intelligence, a piece of rope can seem to be a snake. Like that, depending on whether a person’s intelligence is balanced or prejudiced, you appear before them. He is indeed in every object and he is the substance of every object. He is the lord of everything. He is the cause behind all the causes that exist in the universe. His atman is present in everything and his illumination is manifest in all the gunas. He is the only thing that remains. 534 Indeed, his glory is an ocean of amrita. Even if a person tastes a drop of that only once, an incessant stream of bliss flows in his mind. He forgets everything that he has seen or heard and no reflection is left of the material objects of pleasure. Such great devotees are single-mindedly devoted to the illustrious one alone. He is the beloved well-wisher of all beings. He is in all atmans. O Madhu’s destroyer! Their minds are completely and continuously immersed in you. They are accomplished in determining what is best for them. You are a beloved well-wisher, whom they love as much as their own selves. How can such virtuous people give up service at your lotus feet and again return to this cycle of samsara? You yourself are the foundation of the three worlds. You are Trivikrama. You are Trinayana. 535 You are regarded as the most beautiful in the three worlds. Indeed, the offspring of Diti, Danu and the other species are also manifestations of your power. This is not the time for their endeavours to flourish. O wielder of the rod! Using your own maya, depending on the nature of the offence, you levy the rod of punishment by assuming the forms of gods, men, animals, mixed beings 536 or aquatic creatures. O illustrious one! In this way, if you so think, kill Tvashta’s son. We depend on you. O father of our father! O Hari! We are prostrate before you. Our hearts are bound in love towards you and we meditate on your lotus feet. By revealing your signs to us, you have accepted us as your own. Glance towards us with your bright, pleasant, smiling and soothing looks, tinged with compassion. The sweet words that emerge from your mouth are like drops of amrita. O loved one! You should pacify the torment that is there in our hearts. O illustrious one! Using your divine maya, you amuse yourself and are the cause behind the creation, preservation and destruction of the entire universe. You are inside the hearts of the large number of living beings and outside too. You are the brahman and your own atman manifests itself in other forms. Pradhana is your form. Depending on the place, time, body, status and specifics, you are the cause. You are the experience and the one who experiences. You are a witness to every kind of thought. Your body is like the sky. You are yourself the supreme brahman, the paramatman. In this world, how can we inform you about our specific requirements? That will be like sparks of fire illuminating the fire. O illustrious one! Therefore, you should yourself think about what should be done for us. You are the supreme preceptor and we have sought the shade of your feet, which are like lotuses with a hundred petals. There are many kinds of hardships and exertions in samsara and you relieve them for those who seek refuge with you. So that our wishes can be satisfied, we have resorted to you. O lord! Therefore, slay Tvashta’s son. He is devouring the three worlds. O Krishna! He has devoured our energy, our astras and weapons. 537 O hamsa! O one who resides in the core of the heart! O witness! O Krishna! O immensely famous one! O one who has no beginning! O treasure for the virtuous! For those who seek you out as a destination, you are the ultimate and supreme goal and the object of all exertions. O Hari! We bow down before you.” O king! Hari was thus lovingly worshipped by the gods. He heard their praises and was pleased. He replied.