Harivamsha

by Bibek Debroy

  Chapter 2

  Vaishampayana said, ‘After having completed the mental creation, Prajapati became Purusha. As his wife, he obtained Shatarupa, who was not born from a womb.26 O great king. Shatarupa was created in accordance with dharma and in her greatness, she pervaded heaven. For ten thousand years, she tormented herself through extremely difficult austerities. Because of those blazing austerities, she obtained Purusha as her husband. O son! This Purusha is spoken of as Svayambhuva Manu. Seventy-one yugas are said to constitute one manvantara.27 Through Vairaja Purusha, Shatarupa had a son named Vira. Through Vira, Kamya28 had sons named Priyavrata and Uttanapada. O mighty-armed one! Kamya was the daughter of Kardama Prajapati.29 Kamya had four sons named Samrat, Kukshi, Virat and Prabhu. Atri Prajapati accepted Uttanapada as his son. Through Sunrita,30 Uttanapada had four sons. Sunrita possessed excellent hips and was famous. She was Dharma’s daughter. Following dharma, the auspicious one became Dhruva’s mother. Through Sunrita, Uttanapada Prajapati had sons named Dhruva, Kirtimat, Apyayasmat and Ayaspati. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O great king! Dhruva desired extremely great fame and tormented himself through austerities for three thousand divine years. Delighted, the lord Brahma granted him a spot that is like his own. The Prajapati does not move and is stationed in front of the saptarshis.31 On seeing his pride, prosperity and greatness, Ushanas, the preceptor of the gods and the asuras,32 composed a shloka. “Wonderful are his austerities and valour. Wonderful is his learning. Wonderful are his vows.” That is why Dhruva is stationed ahead of the saptarshis. Dhruva’s wife, Shambhu, gave birth to sons named Shlishti and Manya. Shlishti’s wife, Succhaya, gave birth to five unblemished sons—Ripu, Ripunjaya, Vipra, Vrikala and Vrikatejasa. Ripu’s wife, Brihati, gave birth to Chakshusha and he possessed every kind of energy. Through Pushkarini, Virana’s daughter, Chakshusha had a son named Chakshusha Manu. This great-souled Prajapati was thus descended from Virana’s lineage. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! Through Nangala, who was the daughter of Vairaja Prajapati, this Manu had ten immensely energetic sons—Uru, Puru, Shatadyumna, Tapasvi, Satyavit, Kavi, Agnishtut, Atiratra, Sudyumna as the ninth and Abhimanyu as the tenth. These were Nangala’s immensely energetic sons. Through Agni’s daughter, Uru had six extremely radiant sons—Anga, Sumanasa, Khyati, Kratu, Angiras and Shiva. Through Sunitha, Anga had a single son named Vena. Vena enraged all the great beings because of his oppressions. For the sake of offspring, the rishis kneaded his right arm.33 When the rishis kneaded his right arm, a great son was born. On seeing him, the sages exclaimed, “This immensely energetic one will delight the subjects. He will obtain great fame.” When he was born, he wielded a bow and was clad in armour. He was full of energy and seemed to burn everything down. Vena’s son, Prithu,34 protected everything and was the first of the kshatriyas. This lord of the earth consecrated himself for a royal sacrifice.35 Accomplished bards and minstrels were generated from this sacrifice. O great king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Desiring to ensure subsistence for the subjects, with the gods and the large numbers of rishis, he milked the earth to obtain crops.36 Using their own respective vessels, the ancestors, the danavas, the gandharvas, large numbers of apsaras, the snakes, other sacred creatures, the herbs and the mountains also milked the earth. Having obtained their desired milk, they were able to sustain their lives. Prithu had two sons named Antardhi and Palina and they were knowledgeable about dharma. Through Antardhi, his wife, Shikhandini, had a son named Havirdhana. Agni’s daughter was Dhishna. Through Havirdhana, she had six sons—Prachinabarhi, Shukra, Gaya, Krishna, Vraja and Ajina. The illustrious Prachinabarhi was a great Prajapati. O great king! He made the subjects prosper, just as Havirdhana had. O Janamejaya! As long as Prachinabarhi remained on earth, prachinagra kusha covered the surface of the earth.37 After performing great austerities, the lord and king obtained the ocean’s daughter, Savarna, as a wife. Through Savarna, the ocean’s daughter, Prachinabarhi obtained ten sons. All of them were known as Prachetas and they were accomplished in dhanurveda.38 All of them tormented themselves through great austerities and observed the same kind of dharma, immersed in the water of the ocean for ten thousand years. When the Prachetas were engaged in these austerities, the earth was no longer protected and became covered with trees. Consequently, the subjects were destroyed. The trees rose up into the sky and the wind was incapable of blowing. For ten thousand years, the subjects found it impossible to move. Realizing this, all the Prachetas resorted to their austerities and released wind and fire from their mouths. That wind uprooted and dried the trees. The terrible fire burnt them down. In this way, the trees were destroyed. On discerning that the trees were destroyed, but some branches were still left, the powerful king Soma39 approached and said, “O kings! O all of you who are descended from Prachinabarhi! Restrain your anger. You have made the earth bereft of trees. Pacify the fire and the wind now. This beautiful maiden is the daughter of the trees and is a source of riches. O sons!40 Knowing what the future holds, I have borne her in my womb. This maiden is named Marisha and she has been fashioned from the trees. O immensely fortunate ones! She will be your wife and will extend Soma’s lineage. Using half of your energy and half of my energy, she will give birth to a learned son named Daksha Prajapati. Through your energy and my energy, he will be like a fire generated from a fire and will again populate what has been burnt down with subjects.” The Prachetas agreed to Soma’s words. They withdrew their rage from the trees and following dharma, accepted Marisha as a wife. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Through part of Soma and the ten Prachetas, Marisha gave birth to the greatly energetic Prajapati Daksha. To extend Soma’s lineage, he had sons and created mobile and immobile objects, bipeds and quadrupeds. After this, through his mental powers, Daksha created women. He bestowed ten of these daughters on Soma and thirteen on Kashyapa. The lord bestowed the remainder, known as nakshatras, on King Soma. The gods, birds, cattle, serpents, daityas, danavas, gandharvas, apsaras and all the other species were born from these.41 O Indra among kings! Since then, offspring have resulted from sexual intercourse. The earlier creation is said to be one that resulted from resolution, sight and touch.’42

  Janamejaya asked, ‘You have earlier spoken about the creation of the gods, the danavas, the gandharvas, the serpents, the rakshasas and the great-souled Daksha. O unblemished one! You have said that Daksha was born from Brahma’s toe.43 How could the great ascetic again have been born as a son of the Prachetas? O brahmana! I have a doubt about this and you should explain it to me. He was Soma’s grandson.44 How did he become his father-in-law?’

  Vaishampayana replied, ‘O descendant of the Bharata lineage! For all creatures, birth and destruction are perennial. Rishis and learned people are not confused on this account. O king! Daksha and all the others are born in every yuga and again die in every yuga. The learned are not confused on this account. O lord of men! Who was elder and who was younger was not determined by who was born first. Austerities were supreme and power was the determining factor. A person who knows about Daksha’s creation of mobile and immobile objects obtains offspring, traverses everything and attains greatness in the world of heaven.’

  Chapter 3

  Janamejaya said, ‘O Vaishampayana! Tell me in detail about the creation of gods, danavas, gandharvas, serpents and rakshasas.’

  Vaishampayana replied, ‘O lord of the earth! Svayambhu first instructed Daksha that he should create subjects and he then created beings. Listen. The lord initially created rishis, gods, gandharvas, asuras and rakshasas through his mental powers. However, despite his efforts, the subjects did not proliferate. Prajapati again thought about the creation of subjects. He decided to create diverse kinds of subjects by resorting to the dharma of sexual intercourse. He thus accepted Prajapati Virana’s daughter, Asikni, as his wife. She was full of extremely great austerities and was capable of sustaining the worlds. Thus, five thousand valiant sons were born through Daksha Prajapati and Virana’s daughter, Asikni. On seeing those extremely fo
rtunate offspring prosper, devarshi Narada, agreeable in speech, spoke to them. This was like a curse on their own selves and they were destroyed.45 Through Daksha’s daughter, the supreme lord46 had earlier been born as one of Kashyapa’s foremost sons. But the sage was now scared that Daksha would curse him. The great lord, Narada, had already been born earlier. However, the supreme devarshi was again born through Asikni, Virana’s daughter. The bull among sages was born again and he was just like his father.47 Daksha had sons who were famous as Haryashva.48 There is no doubt that they became detached in every kind of way and were destroyed. The infinitely valorous Daksha prepared to destroy him.49 With the maharshis leading the way, the great lord50 restrained him. The great lord brought about a pact with Daksha and said, “Through my daughter, Narada will become your son.” The supreme lord bestowed his beloved daughter on Daksha and because of the fear of a curse, the rishi Narada was born through her.’

  Janamejaya asked, ‘How were Prajapati’s sons destroyed by maharshi Narada? O foremost among brahmanas! I wish to hear the truth about this.’

  Vaishampayana replied, ‘Daksha’s sons, the Haryashvas, were immensely valorous and were about to create offspring. Narada appeared before them and said, “You are foolish. You do not know the inside of the earth and what is above it and below it. How can you create subjects?” On hearing these words, they left in all the directions. They have still not returned, like rivers that head to the ocean. When the Haryashvas were destroyed, the lord Daksha, the son of Prachetas, again had one thousand sons through Virana’s daughter. They were the Shabalashvas and they too wished to have offspring. O son! However, Narada urged them with the words that he had spoken earlier. All of them spoke to each other. “The great rishi has spoken appropriately. There is no doubt that we must follow in the footsteps of our brothers. Once we know the measurements of the earth, we can happily create subjects.” They also departed along those paths, in all the directions. They have still not returned, like rivers that head to the ocean. O king! O lord! Since then, whenever a brother sets out to search for a brother, he is destroyed. There is no need to reflect on this. Daksha Prajapati got to know that his sons had been destroyed. Through Virana’s daughter, Daksha again had sixty daughters. This is what we have heard. He gave ten to Dharma, thirteen to Kashyapa, twenty-seven to Soma, four to Arishtanemi, two to Bahuputra, two to Angiras and two to the learned Bhrishashva.51 O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Arundhati, Vasu, Jami, Lamba, Bhanu, Marutvati, Samkalpa, Muhurta, Sadhya and Vishva—these are the ten who were the wives of Dharma. Listen to the names of their offspring. It is said that the Vishvadevas were born from Vishva, the Sadhyas from Sadhya, the Marutvans from Marutvati and the Vasus from Vasu. O son! The Bhanus were born from Bhanu and Muhurta and others from Muhurta. The Ghoshas were born from Lamba and Nagavithi from Jami. Every object on earth was born from Arundhati. All of these beings were born through mental resolution alone.

  ‘O king! The wives of Soma were also bestowed on him by Daksha, the son of Prachetas. All these stellar bodies are known by the names of nakshatras.52 Within the category of divinities, there are other gods who are foremost among radiant ones. I will tell you in detail about the eight who are famous as Vasus. Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhasa—these are said to be the names of the Vasus. Apa’s sons were Vaitandya, Shrama, Shanta and Muni. Dhruva’s son was the illustrious Kala, who controls the worlds. Soma’s son was the illustrious Varcha and all rays originate with him. Dhara’s sons were Dravina and Hutahavyavaha. Through Manohara,53 he had sons named Shishira, Prana and Ramana. Anila’s wife was Shiva and through her, Anila had two sons named Purojava and Avijnatagati. Agni’s54 son was Kumara, who prospered through rearing in a clump of reeds.55 Shakha, Vishakha and Naigamesha followed him.56 Since he was the offspring of the Krittikas, he is known as Kartikeya. Pratyusha’s son is known to be the rishi named Devala. Devala had two learned and forgiving sons. Brihaspati’s sister was a beautiful lady who practised brahmacharya. She became successful through yoga and roamed around the entire universe, bereft of attachment. She became the wife of the eighth Vasu, Prabhasa. The immensely fortunate Prajapati Vishvakarma was born from her. He was the creator of thousands of works of artisanship and was the architect of the gods. He was supreme among artisans and created all their ornaments. He also constructed all the vimanas57 for the gods. Men who earn a living through artisanship follow that great-souled one. There were Ajaikapada, Ahibudhnya, Tvashta and the valiant Rudra.58 Tvashta had an immensely illustrious and handsome son named Vishvarupa. Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Aparajita, Vrishakapi, Shambhu, Kapardi and Raivata—these are said to be the eleven Rudras and they are the lords of the three worlds.59 Hundreds of infinitely energetic Rudras have been named.

  ‘O lord of the worlds! Hear the names of the offspring of Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinata, Tamra, Krodhavasha, Ira, Kadru and Muni.60 In an earlier manvantara, there were twelve excellent and supreme gods and they were named the Tushitas. When that immensely illustrious and former chakshusha manvantara was over and they realized that vaivasvata manvantara was about to present itself, for the welfare of all the worlds, they met and spoke to each other. “Come. Let us swiftly enter the goddess Aditi. It will be best if we are born in the next manvantara.” At the end of chakshusha manvantara, all of them mentally spoke to each other in this way. They were born through Marichi’s son, Kashyapa, and Daksha’s daughter, Aditi. In this way, Vishnu, Shakra, Aryama, Dhata, Tvashta, Pusha, Vivasvat, Savita, Mitra, Varuna, Amsha and the infinitely energetic Bhaga were born again. These are known as the twelve Adityas. In the former chakshusha manvantara, the gods were the Tushitas. In vaivasvata manvantara, they are known as the twelve Adityas. Soma’s twenty-seven wives have been spoken about and they were good in their vows. They had blazing and infinitely energetic offspring. Through his wives, Arishtanemi had six sons. The learned Bahuputra had four sons known as Vidyut. The best hymns of the Rig Veda, honoured by brahmarshis, were generated from Angiras. The sons of devarshi Bhrishashva were the weapons of the gods. O son! In this way, because of their wishes, after thousands of yugas, the thirty-three gods are born again.61 O Indra among kings! This is said to be the nature of their creation and destruction. O Kouravya! Just as the sun rises and sets, from one yuga to another yuga, the gods are also destroyed and created. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In addition to Aditi, we have heard that through Diti, Kashyapa had two sons, Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. There was also a daughter named Simhika and she married Viprachitti. Hiranyakashipu had four renowned and energetic sons—Anuhlada, Hlada, the valiant Prahlada and Samhlada as the fourth. Hlada’s son was Hlada.62 Hlada had Ayu, Shiva and Kala as sons. Prahlada had a son named Virochana and Bali was born through Virochana. O lord of men! Bali had one hundred sons. Of these, Bana was the eldest. The others were Dhritarashtra, Surya, Chandrama, Chandratapana, Kumbhanama, Gardabhaksha, Kukshi and others. The eldest Bana, was extremely strong and was devoted to Pashupati.63 In an earlier era, Bana gratified the lord who is Uma’s consort. He desired the boon that he might always find pleasure by his64 side. Hiranyaksha had five learned and extremely strong sons—Jharjhara, Shakuni, Bhutasamtapana, the valiant Mahanabha and Kalanabha. Danu had one hundred brave and fierce sons. They were devoted to austerities and extremely valorous. Hear the names of the foremost—Dvimurdha, Shakuni, Shankushira, Vibhu, Ayomukha, Shambara, Kapila, Vamana, Marichi, Maghavan, Ida, Gargashira, Vikshobhana, Ketu, Ketuvirya, Shatahrada, Indrajit, Sarvajit, Vajranabha, the mighty-armed Ekachakra, the immensely strong Taraka, Vaishvanara, Puloma, Vidravana, Mahashira, Svarbhanu, Vrishaparva and the valiant Viprachitti. All of these were Danu’s sons and they were born through Kashyapa. The immensely strong Viprachitti was the foremost among the danavas.65 Svarbhanu had a daughter named Prabha and Puloma a daughter named Shachi. Upadanavi, Hayashira and Sharmishtha were the daughters of Vrishaparva. Both Puloma66 and Kalaka were the daughters of Vaishvanara. Those great-spirited ones67 were marrie
d to Marichi’s son68 and they had many offspring. Through them, Marichi’s son, the great ascetic, had sixty thousand supreme danavas as sons. The danavas known as the Poulamas and Kalakeyas were immensely strong. They resided in Hiranyapura and because of the favours of the grandfather, could not be slain by the gods. They were killed by Savyasachi.69 Other than this, through Simhika, Viprachitti had immensely brave and extremely fierce danavas as his sons. They were fierce in their valour and were born through a union between a daitya and a danava.70 Thirteen greatly strong ones are known as Saimhikeyas71—Vyanga, the powerful Shalya, Bala, Mahabala, Vatapi, Namuchi, Ilvala, Khasrima, Anjika, Naraka, Kalanabha, Saramana and the valiant Sharakalpa. These best among danavas extended Danu’s lineage. They had hundreds and thousands of sons and grandsons. The daityas known as the Nivatakavachas were born in Samhlada’s lineage. They cleansed their souls and were extremely great in their austerities.