I’ll tell you the truth, blameless Bhīshma. Listen carefully. 3 For I too became long-lived due to my father’s kindness, my lord,* and in a former world I attained great fame simply because of my devotion to the ancestors.
4 I ascended Mount Meru and performed fearsome austerities for the duration of an entire age lasting many thousands of years. 5 And on one occasion I saw a great flying chariot, lighting up the sky with its fiery energy and approaching from north of the mountain. 6 I also saw a person the size of a thumb reclining in it, blazing with energy, like a fire placed on a fire. 7 So I paid my respects to the lord who was resting in the chariot, bowed my head to him, and welcomed him with water for his mouth and water for his feet. 8 And I asked that exalted one: What should we call you, my lord? For in my estimation, you’re a deity of the gods.
9 Blameless Bhīshma. With a slight smile that soul of virtue said to me: You don’t recognise me because you haven’t done your austerities well enough.
10 Then in the twinkling of an eye he’d changed size and was as large as could be, and I’d never before seen such a handsome man anywhere.
11 Sanatkumāra said:
Know, my lord, that I’m Brahmā’s eldest mind-born son. I was produced from the potency of his privations, and I’m composed of Nārāyana’s qualities. 12 I’m the one known as Sanatkumāra even in the Vedas of old, Bhārgava. If you please, what wish shall I grant you?
13 Although the other sons of Brahmā are younger than me, seven of those brothers are inviolable and their lineages secure. 14 Kratu, Vasishtha, Pulaha, Pulastya, Atri, and Angiras* sustain the three worlds, and they’re honoured by the gods and the Dānavas. 15 But our practice is that of renouncers, great sage.† We elevate ourselves into the self, and we let desire and the duty of procreation take place elsewhere.
16 I’m still just as I was when I was created. Know that I’m young (kumāra), and that’s why my name was fixed as Sanatkumāra Forever-Young. 17 Your austerities were done in devotion to me, and because you longed for the sight of me, you’ve seen this form of mine for yourself. What wish shall I grant you?
18 After the eternal one said this, I replied to him. His lordship had been gratified, Bhārata, and had given me his permission, 19 and so I asked the eternal one about the aforementioned matter. And after I’d questioned him about the origin of the ancestors and the rewards of the ancestral rite, the lord of the gods resolved my doubts, blameless Bhīshma. 20 During the course of our conversation that lasted many years, he said to me with joy in his heart:
Brahmin seer, I’m growing fond of you. Hear the truth about the whole matter.
21 When Brahmā created the gods, Bhārgava, he thought they would make offerings to him. But they rejected him and, seeking rewards, they made offerings to themselves. 22 So Brahmā cursed them to be stupid. Witless and ignorant, they didn’t understand anything, and so the world went awry.
23 In due course, for the good of the worlds, they all bowed down and petitioned the Grandfather. The lord said to them: 24 You made a mistake, so now you must make amends. Question your children, and you’ll get knowledge from them.
25 Unhappily, in the hope of making amends, they questioned their children. And their self-controlled children said to them: 26 Wise people who know their duty recommend always making amends for what’s been thought, said, or done. For they see how things really are.
27 When the heavenly gods had recovered their senses and knew the true meaning of making amends, their children said to them: Run along then, children.
28 Well, the gods felt insulted by what their children had said, and they went to the Grandfather to get the matter resolved. 29 And that god said to them:
All of you are teachers of the Veda. It follows that what your children have said to you is how it is, and not otherwise. 30 Since you built their bodies you’ll be their gods, but those who impart knowledge to you must be your parents, no doubt about it. 31 So you should consider yourselves and your children to be each other’s parents—the gods and the ancestors. Take note of it, heavenly gods.
32 Then the heavenly gods came back and spoke with their children. Brahmā had resolved their problem, and they all made friends with each other. The gods said:
33 You’ve taught us, so you are indeed our parents. What is your desire, you who know what’s right? What wish shall we grant you? For what you said was how it is, and not otherwise. 34 Because you called us children, you’ll be the ancestors, no doubt about it.
35 And in future, if a person performs any rites without having first made faithful offerings to the ancestors, then that person’s reward for those rites will be transferred instead to monsters, Dānavas, and snakes. 36 But when the ancestors are nourished by ancestral offerings, they’ll make the undying moon wax. You’re the ones who’ll be nourishing it every time, 37 and when it’s nourished as a result of the ancestral offerings, the moon will nourish the world—the oceans, mountains, and forests, filled with creatures mobile and immobile.
38 The ancestors will always grant prosperity and posterity for people who perform ancestral rites wishing for prosperity. 39 Fathers and grandfathers who are honoured with the ancestral offering will always nurture those—wherever they may live—who offer the three morsels at the ancestral rite by name and by lineage.
40 These words must come true today, residents of heaven. We’re all both children and parents to each other.
41 Sanatkumāra said:
The ancestors are gods, and likewise the gods are ancestors, for the gods and the ancestors are each other’s parents.
13. The Seven Kinds of Ancestors
1 Mārkandeya said:
That’s what the luminous Lord Sanatkumāra, the god of gods, told me. And I questioned the changeless god again. 2 I asked that supreme and holy immortal what I wasn’t sure about, tamer of the foe. Hear it from me, son of Gangā, in its entirety, from the beginning, with nothing left out: 3 how many kinds of ancestors there really are, and in what world those groups of gods live—the supreme gods, who make the moon wax.
4 Sanatkumāra said:
Supreme mutterer of prayers. There are known to be seven kinds of ancestor in heaven. Four have bodily forms, and three are formless. 5 Listen as I tell of their heavens and their origins, and as I give details of their powers and greatness, great ascetic.
6 Of those kinds, the three highest ones have bodies that are made out of their lawful deeds. Listen as I tell of their names and heavens.
7 In the heavens called the Eternal heavens live brilliant ancestors of a formless kind. They’re the sons of patriarch 8 Vairāja, supreme brahmin, and they’re called the Vairājas. The companies of gods make offerings to them, using a well-regulated rite. 9 Such ancestors as stray from their yoga after reaching the Eternal heavens are born again after a thousand ages have elapsed, as teachers of the Veda. 10 They regain their memory, regain the supreme sānkhya-yoga, and as perfected saints they reach a yogic state that’s rare in the world of rebirth. 11 These are the ancestors who nourish the moon by the power of their yoga alone, and they always help yogis to do their yoga, my boy. 12 For this reason, supreme brahmin, offering to the ancestors is incumbent upon yogis, and is surely the first and most important duty of those who drink soma.
13 These ancestors, the Vairājas, had a mind-born daughter called Menā. She was the principal wife of the great Himālaya mountain, and Mount Maināka is said to be her son. 14 Maināka’s son was the great and glorious mountain called Krauncha: beautiful, supremely rugged, and covered with all manner of precious stones.
15 Himālaya the king of mountains also had three daughters from Menā: Aparnā No-Leaf, Ekaparnā One-Leaf, and the third was Ekapātalā, One-Trumpet-Flower. 16 While pursuing immense austerities that even the gods and the Dānavas would find difficult, those three heated up* the stationary and moving worlds. 17 Ekaparnā ate meals of one leaf, and Ekapātalā’s portion was one bloom from a trumpet-flower tree. 18 Aparnā was the one who ate nothing, but her mother,
suffering because of maternal love, forbade her, objecting that she mustn’t (u mā). 19 After her mother had said that to her, the beautiful goddess, the doer of difficult deeds, became known in the three worlds as exactly that: Umā.
20 All three sisters possessed the power of yoga and mortified their bodies. All were teachers of the Veda, and all observed chastity. 21 Lovely Umā was the eldest and the best of them. She possessed the power of protracted yoga, and she married the great god Shiva. 22 Ekaparnā was given away to a wise yoga master: she was the wife of the great Asita Devala, great brahmin. 23 And you should also know that Ekapātalā was the wife of Jaigīshavya.* So those two distinguished women both married yoga masters too.
24 The heavens that are called the Somapada heavens are the ones where the sons of Marīchi live as ancestors in the sky. They’re sustained by the gods as well. Known as the Agnishvāttas, they’re all immeasurably powerful.
25 Their mind-born daughter was a river called Achhodā. The heavenly lake called Achhoda came from her. 26 She saw a man called Vasu travelling through the sky. It was the famous son of Āyu known by the name of Vasu, and she wished he were her father. 27 Her yoga was spoiled when she indulged in desire and wished she had a different father, and because of that mental aberration, she lost her rank.
28 She was expelled from heaven. And while she was falling, she saw three flying chariots the size of specks of dust, and in them she saw her ancestors, 29 miniscule and indistinct, like fires placed within fires. As she fell headlong, in her distress she asked them for help. 30 She was in mid-air, and they told her not to be afraid. Then, using sad words, she won the sympathy of those ancestors of hers. 31 To the girl who had lost her glory because of her transgression, the ancestors said:
You with your bright smile. It’s your own fault that you’ve lost your glory and are falling. 32 The fact is that when deities do deeds in heaven in their divine bodies, they experience the consequences of their deeds down here, in the same bodies. 33 For deities, actions come to fruition straight away, but for humans, they do so after death. So, daughter, after you’ve died down here, you’ll get the reward for your austerities.
34 After the ancestors told her this, she again won the sympathy of those ancestors of hers. They felt sorry for her, and so after meditating, they did her a favour. 35 They divined what was inevitably going to happen, and they told her the substance of it. They said:
You’ll become a child, the daughter of Vasu, that king. And after having been a mere daughter, you’ll regain your own hard-won heavens once more. 36 You’ll give birth to a brahmin, the son of Parāshara. That brahmin seer will divide the one Veda into four. 37 And you’ll give birth to two sons of Shantanu Mahābhisha, two boosters of his fame: Vichitravīrya wise in duty, and mighty Chitrāngada. 38 After producing those sons, you’ll attain to the heavens once again. But because you transgressed against your parents, your birth will be a lowly one. 39 You’ll be the daughter of the aforementioned king, by Adrikā. But you’ll be born from the womb of a fish, in the twenty-eighth dvāpara age.
40 Then, after being told this, she was born from the womb of a fish, as Satyavatī the fishergirl, the peerless daughter of that King Vasu.
41 The heavens called the Baibhrāja heavens, which shine handsome in the sky, are the ones where the ancestors known by the name of Barhishads live in the sky. 42 They’re sustained by all the companies of Dānavas, the dark-elves, light-elves, and monsters, the snakes, the serpents, and the great birds. And their power is immense. 43 Eminent, august, ascetic, and full of fiery energy, they’re the mighty offspring of the patriarch Pulastya.
44 Their mind-born daughter is called by the name of Pīvarī. She’s a supreme pillar of virtue, and during the dvāpara age she’ll be born as yoga incarnate, as the wife of yoga incarnate, and as the mother of yoga incarnate. 45 In that age, a great ascetic will be born in Parāshara’s lineage by the name of Shuka. A great yogi, a brahmin bull begotten by Vyāsa upon a fire-stick, he’ll burn like a smokeless fire. 46 Upon Pīvarī, that daughter of the ancestors, he’ll beget a daughter and four sons, powerful masters of yoga: 47 Krishna, Gaura, Prabhu, Shambhu, and the girl, Kritvī, who will become Anuha’s queen and Brahmadatta’s mother. 48 After siring these disciplined exponents of yoga, that great and dutiful yogi will then go to the abode of those who are free of rebirth.
49 Sage, the formless ancestors have bodies that are made out of their lawful deeds, and they’re where the tale that links to the Vrishni and Andhaka family begins.*
50 I’ve spoken of these three kinds of ancestors. Now hear from me about the other four. The ones I’ll now describe, supreme brahmin, are of course the ones that are known to have forms. They’re produced by the call of svadhā, and sired by the poetry of the fire poet.†
51 The ancestors called the Sukālas are descendants of the patriarch Vasishtha. They enjoy themselves in divine heavens that shine with light, Bhārgava, and that contain everything one could wish for. These ancestors are sustained by the brahmins. 52 Their mind-born daughter was known in heaven by the name of Gau, and she was given away into your own lineage, brahmin—as Shukra’s wife. 53 Known as Ekashringā the Unicorn, she enhanced the reputation of the Sādhya gods. Then she returned to the Marīchigarbha heavens and settled there.
54 The sons of Angiras, who used to be fostered by the Sādhya gods, are sustained by kshatriya communities, my boy, for the sake of rewards. 55 Their mind-born daughter was known by the name of Yashodā. She was the wife of Vishvamahat—that is, the daughter-in-law of Vriddhasharman—and the mother of the great royal seer Dilīpa, my boy. 56 The great seers once sang lyrics when they were satisfied at a rite of his. That was in the age of the gods, my boy, at a grand horse-sacrifice festival. 57 The people who heard the story of the birth of Agni the fire god the way the great Shāndilya told it there, and who then watched attentively as noble and truthful Dilīpa presided over his rite, all went to heaven.
58 The ancestors called the Susvadhās are great brahmin bulls. They’re descendants of patriarch Kardama, who was begotten by Pulaha. 59 They live in the sky and fly around in the heavens of Do-as-you-Please, and they’re sustained by vaishya communities, my boy, for the sake of rewards. 60 Their mind-born daughter was known by the name of Virajā. She was Yayāti’s mother and Nahusha’s wife, brahmin.
61 I’ve described three of the kinds of ancestors produced by the call of svadhā. So now hear from me about the fourth: the Somapas, of course—sons of the fire poet, 62 sons of the golden source. Shūdras sustain them. The heavens in the sky where they live are called the Mānasa heavens. 63 And their mind-born daughter was Narmadā, the superb river who travels through the southern region,* refreshing creatures. She was Purukutsa’s wife and Trasaddasyu’s mother.
64 It’s in order to make the ancestors accessible, my boy, that in age after age, after proper behaviour has died out, Manu the patriarch re-establishes the ancestral rites. 65 Because of that, and because his particular duty also includes the initial creation of all the ancestors, they call him the god of ancestral rites, supreme brahmin.
66 When a dish that’s made of or decorated with silver is given for all the ancestors at an ancestral rite, preceded by the call of svadhā, it really satisfies them. 67–68 The person who nourishes the moon, and the fire, and Manu Vaivasvata, and who makes the offering into the fire for the sun’s progress north (or, in the absence of a fire, into water instead), and who then faithfully gratifies the ancestors, is gratified by the ancestors in turn. The ancestors bestow prosperity, and also plentiful progeny, heaven, rude health, and whatever else one might wish for.
69 Duty towards the ancestors is even more important than duty towards the gods, sage. For the ancestors were formerly known as the nourishment of the gods.*70 They’re swift with their favour and devoid of anger, they’re the supreme nourishment of the people, and they’re always dependable with their favour. You’ll have to pay them homage, Bhārgava.
71 You’re devoted to the ancestors
and devoted to the honest, brahmin seer, no doubt about it. So today I’ll bestow what’s best for you. See the truth for yourself. 72 For I also grant you divine vision and understanding, impeccable one. Observe this sequence of births attentively, Mārkandeya, 73 for neither the celestial yogic state nor the higher method of the ancestors can be seen with eyes of flesh, not even by a master like you.
74 Sanatkumāra the lord of the gods said that, and then as I stood before him he gave me vision and understanding such as even the gods can hardly get. Then, burning like a second fire, he travelled off to his chosen destination. 75 Best of the Kurus, hear what I perceived through the god’s favour, difficult though it is for earthly humans to understand.
14. Yoga Lost and Regained
1 Mārkandeya said:
In a former age, my boy, there were some brahmins, sons of Bharadvāja. They got into the habit of yoga, but then they lost it through misconduct. 2 On the shore of the long dark Lake Mānasa, the Lake of the Mind, they became corrupted. They lost concentration and strayed from the habit of yoga. 3 In their confusion they considered their whole project lost, as if it had sunk into the water. And they all succumbed to the law of time without having perfected their yoga.
4 Despite having fallen away from their yoga, they then spent a very long time among the gods. Then, bull among men, they were born in Kurukshetra as sons of Kaushika.
5 Doing their duty to their ancestors but wrongly, with violence, those fallen ones will have a further birth after that, of a lowly kind. 6 But the ancestors will be kindly disposed towards them because of what they did in their earlier birth, and so, as they obtain this and that unfortunate birth, they’ll do so with their memories intact. 7 They’ll always be attentive and do their duty, and so, as a result of their own behaviour, they’ll regain brahminhood once more. 8 And so they’ll again return to the yoga habit that they had in their earlier birth, and after attaining still more success, they’ll reach the eternal station.
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