by Bibek Debroy
‘“Madhusudana also created day and night, the proper reckoning of time, forenoon and afternoon. Using his intelligence, he created clouds from the water and mobile and immobile objects. The immensely energetic one created the earth and its directions. O Yudhishthira! O bull among the Bharata lineage! The mighty-armed lord Krishna, Keshava, then again created one hundred brahmanas from his mouth, one hundred kshatriyas from his arms, one hundred vaishyas from his thighs and one hundred shudras from his feet. The immensely illustrious one thus created the four varnas. The lord made Dhata the supervisor of all beings.17 In those days, men could live for as long as they wished to and there was no fear on account of Yama. O bull among the Bharata lineage! At that time, offspring were generated from resolution alone and there was no need to resort to the dharma of sexual intercourse. O lord of men! During the period of treta yuga too, offspring resulted from resolution and there was no need for the dharma of sexual intercourse.18 O king! During dvapara, offspring were generated through the dharma of sexual intercourse. O king! In kali yuga, people began to live in pairs. O son! I have told you about the lord of all beings, the one who rules himself. O Kounteya! I will now tell you about the ones who cannot be controlled—all those who are born in the southern regions, the Talavaras, the Andhrakas, the Utsas, the Pulindas, the Shabaras, the Chuchupas and the Mandapas. I will also recount to you those born in the northern regions, the Younas, the Kambojas, the Gandharas, the Kiratas and the Barbaras. O son! These are the performers of wicked deeds and roam around on earth. O lord of men! They follow the dharma of dogs, crows, ravens and vultures. O son! They did not roam around on earth during krita yuga. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Such people originated during treta yuga. When that extremely terrible intervening period that comes at the end of a yuga arrived,19 the kings approached each other and began to fight. O best of the Kuru lineage! In this way, the great-souled one created everything. Devarshi Narada has spoken about the god as the creator of all the worlds. O lord of men! O mighty-armed one! O bull among the Bharata lineage! Narada thinks that Krishna is supreme and eternal. This is the nature of Keshava, for whom, truth is his valour. Pundarikaksha is not only a man. He is inconceivable.”’
Chapter 1529(201)
‘Yudhishthira asked, “O bull among the Bharata lineage! Who were the first Prajapatis? Who are the immensely fortunate rishis and what directions do they preside over?”
‘Bhishma replied, “O best among the Bharata lineage! I will tell you about what you have asked. Listen to the Prajapatis and the directions that each of them was said to preside over. There was the single, illustrious, original and eternal Svayambhu Brahma. The great-souled Svayambhu Brahma had seven sons—Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and the immensely illustrious Vasishtha, who was like Svayambhu himself. The Puranas refer to them as the seven brahmanas. These were the first. I will now tell you about all the other Prajapatis. In Atri’s lineage was born the illustrious, eternal and ancient Barhi, descended from Brahma himself. The ten Prachetas were descended from him and those ten only had a single son—the Prajapati named Daksha. In this world, Daksha is known by both the names. Marichi’s son, Kashyapa, is also known by two names. Some learned ones know him as Arishtanemi.20 The handsome and valiant Bhouma was born to Angiras. He performed worship for one thousand divine yugas. O lord! The illustrious Aryama and others were his sons. They are famous as ones who laid down ordinances and created beings. O one without decay! Shashabindu21 had ten thousand wives. Through each of them, he had one thousand sons. In this way, the great-souled one had one million sons. These sons did not allow anyone else to be a Prajapati. The ancient brahmanas addressed Shashabindu’s offspring by this name and from that great lineage of Prajapatis originated the Vrishni lineage. I have told you about the illustrious Prajapatis.
‘“I will now tell you about the gods who are the rulers of the three worlds—Bhaga, Amsha, Aryama, Mitra, Varuna, Savita, Dhata, the immensely strong Vivasvat, Pusha, Tvashta, Indra and Vishnu is said to be the twelfth. These twelve Adityas were descended from Kashyapa. Nasatya and Dasra are known as the two Ashvins. They were the sons of Martanda, the eighth of the Prajapatis.22 Tvashta had handsome and immensely illustrious sons—Vishvarupa, Aja-Ekapada, Ahi, Budha, Virupaksha, Raivata, Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka as the lord of the gods, Savitra, Jayanta and the unvanquished Pinaki.The immensely illustrious eight Vasus have already been mentioned earlier. At the time of Prajapati Manu, these were the different kinds of gods. At first, they were known as both gods and ancestors. Among the Siddhas and the Sadhyas, depending on conduct and beauty, there were different types. The Ribhus and Maruts are categories of gods. In this way, the Vishvadevas and the Ashvins are revered. The Adityas are kshatriyas and the Maruts are vaishyas. The Ashvins are held to be shudras and performed fierce austerities. The gods descended from Angiras have certainly been determined to be brahmanas. I have thus recounted the four varnas among all the gods. If a person gets up in the morning and recites the names of the gods, he is freed from all sins, regardless of whether they have been committed by him or by others.23 Yavakriti, Raibhya, Arvavasu, Paravasu, Oushija, Kakshivat and Bala were the sons of Angiras. O son! These, Kanva, the son of rishi Medhatithi, Barhishada and the saptarshis24 who created the three worlds are in the east. Unmucha, Vimucha, the valiant Svastyatreya, Pramucha, Idhmavaha, the illustrious Dridavrata and Agastya, the son of Mitra-Varuna—these brahmana rishis always resort to the southern direction. Rushadgu, Kavasha, Dhoumya, the valiant Parivyadha, the maharshis known as Ekata, Dvita and Trita and Atri’s son, the illustrious lord Sarasvata—these nine great-souled ones resort to the western direction. Atreya, Vasishtha, the great rishi Kashyapa, Goutama, Bharadvaja, Koushika Vishvamitra and Jamadagni, the great-souled and illustrious son of Richika—these seven resort to the northern direction. I have recounted to you the fiercely engertic ones in all the directions. These great-souled ones are the creators of beings and are witnesses. In this way, these great-souled ones are established in each of the directions. If one recites their names, one is freed from all sins. If a person seeks refuge in a direction that they preside over, he is freed from all sins and safely returns home.”’
Chapter 1530(202)
‘Yudhishthira said, “O grandfather! O immensely wise one! O one who has the valour of truth in battle! I wish to hear everything about lord Krishna, who is without decay. He has performed extremely great and energetic deeds in ancient times. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Accurately tell me everything about them. Why did Hari assume the form of an inferior species? What tasks did he accomplish? O grandfather! Tell me this.”
‘Bhishma replied, “Earlier, I went out on a hunt and went to Markandeya’s hermitage. There I saw many hermits seated, in their thousands. They honoured me by offering me madhuparka.25 Accepting that, I worshipped and honoured the rishis back in return. What I will recount was stated by maharshi Kashyapa there. It is divine and delights the mind. Listen attentively. In ancient times, the foremost danavas were full of anger and avarice. There were also hundreds of giant asuras, intoxicated by their strength, Naraka and the others. There were many other danavas too, invincible in battle. They could not tolerate the supreme prosperity of the gods. The gods and devarshis were oppressed by the danavas. O king! They could not find any peace and fled in different directions. The residents of heaven saw that the earth was in a miserable state. It was full of danavas who were terrible in form and were extremely strong. Afflicted by the load of that burden, it was miserable and submerged.26 The Adityas were terrified. They went to Brahma and said, ‘O Brahma! How will we continue to bear the depredations of the danavas?’ Svayambhu replied, ‘I have already ordained what needs to be done. They are powerful and intoxicated because of boons. Those stupid ones do not know that Vishnu, whose form cannot be seen, has assumed the form of a boar.27 That god cannot be assailed, even by all the immortals together. He will swiftly go to the spot where those worst among danavas are. Thousands of those terrible ones re
side inside the bowels of the earth. He will pacify them all.’ Hearing this, the supreme ones among the gods were delighted. The immensely energetic Vishnu assumed the form of a boar. He penetrated the nether regions and advanced against Diti’s offspring. On seeing that superhuman being, all the daityas united. Goaded by destiny, all of them advanced violently and encircled him. From every direction, they rushed against the boar and seized it. From every direction, they angrily tugged at the boar. The Indras among the danavas were gigantic in form. They were immensely valorous and full of strength. O lord! But they were not able to do anything at all. Those Indras among the danavas were then terrified and overcome by fear. Though there were thousands of them, they were full of doubt in their minds. The god of the gods is the soul of yoga and the charioteer of yoga. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! The illustrious one resorted to yoga. He emitted a mighty roar and agitated those daityas and danavas. The worlds and all the ten directions seemed to resound with these roars. At the sounds of those roars, all the worlds were agitated. The directions, and all the gods, with Shakra28 at the forefront, were frightened. The entire universe was severely afflicted and became immobile. Mobile and immobile objects were confused by that roar. All the danavas were terrified by that noise. They lost their lives and fell down, confused by Vishnu’s energy. Those who hated the thirty gods sought refuge in rasatala.29 But the boar tore into them with his hooves and mangled their flesh, fat and bones. Because of that great roar, he came to be known as Sanatana.30 He is Padmanabha,31 the great yogi, the preceptor of all beings and the king of all beings. All the large number of gods went to the grandfather and asked, ‘O lord! O god! Who is roaring like this? We cannot understand this. Who is this? Whom does this roar belong to? It has paralysed the universe.’ At that time, Vishnu was in his form of a boar and the maharshis praised the great god. The grandfather replied, ‘He has slain the lords among the danavas. He is great in his form and great in his strength. This god is the great yogi. He is the soul of all beings and the creator of all beings. He is the yogi who is the lord of all beings. He is the womb. He is the atman. Be steady. He is Krishna, the destroyer of all sins. He is the immensely radiant one and has accomplished a task that others would have found impossible to undertake. He has now returned to his own atman. He is immensely fortunate and immensely radiant. He is Padmanabha, the great yogi. He is the soul of all beings and the creator of all beings. O supreme among the gods! You should not be tormented. Nor should you be frightened, or grieve. He is the one who ordains. He is the creator. He is time, the destroyer of everything. He is the one who holds up the worlds. He is the great-souled one who emitted the roar. He is the immensely fortunate one, revered by the worlds. He is Achyuta Pundarikaksha,32 the origin of all beings.”“
Chapter 1531(203)
‘Yudhishthira said, “O father!33 O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Tell me about the supreme yoga of moksha. O supreme among eloquent ones! I wish to know the truth about this.”
‘Bhishma replied, “In this connection, an ancient history is recounted about a conversation on moksha between a preceptor and a disciple. There was a supreme brahmana rishi who was a preceptor. His disciple was extremely intelligent and desirous of welfare. While the preceptor was seated, the disciple controlled himself and touched his feet. With hands joined in salutation, he said, ‘O illustrious one! I have a great doubt in my mind. If you are satisfied with my worship, you should explain this. Where have I come from? Where have you come from? What happens thereafter? Tell me accurately. O supreme among brahmanas! If all beings are the same and if their driving force is the same, why are their origin and destruction so different from each other? There are also detailed words in the Vedas about different kinds of people.34 You know the truth about this and you should explain all this to me.’
‘“The preceptor said, ‘O disciple! O immensely wise one! Listen to the supreme mystery about the brahman, described in the sacred texts. This is adhyatma and represents wealth for all beings. Vasudeva is everything in the universe. He is the mouth of the brahman. He is truthfulness, generosity, sacrifices, renunciation, self-control and uprightness. He is the eternal Purusha. Those who know the Vedas know him as Vishnu. He is the cause of creation and destruction. He is the eternal brahman, who is not manifest. That brahman was born in the Vrishni lineage. Listen to the history. Brahmanas should hear this from brahmanas and kings from kshatriyas. This is about the greatness of the god of the gods, the infinitely energetic Vishnu. You should hear about the supreme Varshneya, since that will ensure your welfare. He is the wheel of time. He is without beginning and without end. His signs are both existence and non-existence. He is the one who makes all beings in the three worlds revolve on the wheel. He is Akshara.35 He is Avyakta.36 He is Amrita.37 He is the eternal brahman. Keshava is spoken of as a tiger among men and a bull among men. The supreme and undecaying one created the ancestors, the gods, the rishis, the yakshas,38 the danavas, the serpents, the asuras and human beings. In that way, the lord created the sacred texts of the Vedas and the eternal dharma of the worlds. Having destroyed everything, at the beginning of a new yuga, he creates nature.39 As seasons with their many different signs and forms progressively come into being, these are also seen at the end of Brahma’s night. Through the progress of time, different yugas come into being. For the advance of the worlds, different kinds of knowledge are also decreed. At the end of a yuga, the Vedas and the histories also disappear. However, having obtained Svayambhu’s prior permission, the maharshis get them back through their austerities. The illustrious Brihaspati knew about the Vedas and the Vedangas.40 For the sake of the universe and for the welfare of the universe, Bhargava obtained the sacred texts about good policy.41 Narada accepted the knowledge about gandharva42and Bharadvaja about bows.43 Gargya learnt about the conduct of the devarshis and Krishnatreya about medicine. There were many others who were learned and spoke about nyaya,44 tantra, reasoning and the sacred texts. Let him45 be worshipped through good conduct.’ ‘“Neither the gods nor the rishis were capacble of comprehending the supreme brahman. The illustrious lord, Dhata Narayana, was the only one who comprehended him. From Narayana, the large numbers of rishis, the foremost among the gods and the asuras and the ancient rajarshis got to know about the supreme one, who is the medication for all misery. With the appropriate cause, prakriti always brings forth, urged by the sentiments of purusha, and the entire universe begins to whirl around.46 This is like thousands of lamps being lit from another lamp. In that way, prakriti creates many other things, but is not exhausted. Though it is not manifest, it creates intelligence and ego, which lead to acts. Space results from ego and wind results from space. Energy results from wind. Water results from energy and the earth is created from water. These are the eight foundations of prakriti and the universe is established on these.47 The five senses of knowledge, the five organs of action, the five objects of the senses and the mind, as the sixteenth, result from transformations of these. The ears, the skin, the eyes, the tongue and the nose are the five senses. The feet, the anus, the genitals, the mouth and the hands are the five organs of action. Sound, touch, form, taste and smell are what are to be known and pervade the consciousness, the mind going everywhere. It48 knows taste through the tongue and is said to become words. United with the senses, the mind is engaged in everything. In their various forms, these sixteen should be known as divinities. They bring about knowledge within the body and are worshipped by those who know about worshipping. The tongue represents the qualities of water, smell the qualities of the earth, hearing the qualities of sound49 and touch the qualities of the wind. This is always known to be the case with all beings. It is said that the mind is the quality of existence. Existence arises from that which is not manifest. Those who are intelligent know that it50 is there in all beings, as the soul of beings. Its attributes are borne by the entire universe, by mobile and immobile objects. The blazing radiance of that god is said to be the supreme objective. This sacred city with nine gates51 possess
es all these characteristics. The great atman pervades and lies down inside and is known as purusha. It is without decay. It is immortal. It knows about what is manifest and also about what is not manifest. It is pervasive, with qualities, and subtle. It is the refuge of all beings and their qualities. A lamp shows whether a person is small or large. In that way, in all creatures, one can know the purusha through the knowledge of the atman. It is the one who knows what is to be known. It is the one who hears and sees. It is the reason behind this body. It is the doer of all the deeds. There is fire in wood, but it cannot be seen if the wood is cut. In that way, the atman is inside the body, but it can only be seen through yoga. The river has water and there are rays attached to the sun. In that way, it52 goes where the body goes. Where there is the body, the soul is there. When a person dreams, the atman and the five senses leave the body. Like that, when the body is cast aside,53 the atman departs and obtains another. It is bound down by its earlier acts and obtains the consequences of those acts. The powerful force of its own deeds conveys it elsewhere. Having left one body, it obtains another body and another one after that. I will now tell you about how beings naturally follow their own acts.”’