The Mahabharata

by Bibek Debroy

  ‘Vyasa said, “O lord of the earth! Everything in the world that possesses a body is made out of the five elements. This creation results from the lord’s intelligence. The great god and lord, Narayana, is the creator of the universe. He is in the atmans of all beings. He is the granter of boons. He is with qualities and without qualities. O supreme among kings! It is the unmanifest one who brings about the destruction of beings. Listen. First, the earth was submerged in water and everything was one large ocean. Water merged into light and light merged into the wind. The wind merged into space and space merged into the mind. Mind merged into the manifest1300 and the manifest merged into the unmanifest.1301 The unmanifest merged into Purusha and Purusha merged into the one who pervaded everything.1302 There was darkness everywhere and nothing could be seen. The brahman arose from the darkness. He created himself from that foundation of darkness. With the desire to create the universe, he assumed the form of Purusha. This form is known as Aniruddha and is also known as Pradhana. O supreme among kings! He is also known as the manifest and as a combination of the three qualities. With knowledge as his companion, the lord is also known as Vishvaksena or Hari. Immersed in yoga, he slept on the waters. He thought of creating the universe, with wonderful and diverse attributes. While thinking of creation, he remembered his own great qualities. Consciousness was generated then and this was the auspicious and four-faced Brahma. The illustrious Hiranyagarbha is the grandfather of all the worlds. He possessed eyes that are like a lotus and he emerged from a lotus that was in Aniruddha.1303 The eternal and radiant one was seated on the flower with the one thousand petals. Wishing to create the worlds, the lord looked at the water that was on all sides. Basing himself on sattva, Parameshthi created the different categories of beings. Before this, Narayana had placed two drops of water, invested with excellent qualities, into the petals of the lotus, which were as bright as the rays of the sun. The illustrious Achyuta is without beginning and without end. He looked at those two drops of water. One of these was beautiful and radiant and looked like honey. On Narayana’s instructions, Madhu, based on tamas qualities, was generated from this.1304 The other drop was hard, and Kaitabha, based on rajas qualities, was generated from this. With the qualities of tamas and rajas, these two superior ones advanced. They were powerful and held clubs in their hands. They roamed around inside the stalk of the lotus. Inside the lotus, they saw the infinitely radiant Brahma. He was engaged in creating the first forms of the four beautiful Vedas. The supreme asuras saw the forms of the Vedas. While Brahma looked on, they violently seized the Vedas. Having seized the eternal Vedas, the best among the danavas quickly entered the nether regions, inside the waters of the great ocean.

  ‘“When the Vedas were stolen, Brahma was immersed in grief. Deprived of the Vedas, he spoke these words to the lord. ‘The Vedas are my supreme sight. The Vedas are my supreme strength. The Vedas are my supreme refuge. The Vedas are the supreme brahman. All my Vedas have been stolen by the powerful danavas. With the Vedas having been stolen, the world is enveloped in darkness. Without the Vedas, how will I engage in the task of creating the worlds? I am suffering from a great grief because my Vedas have been stolen. My heart is afflicted and I am consumed by a great misery. Who will raise me from this ocean of grief into which I have been submerged? Who will save the destroyed Vedas and do something agreeable for me?’ O supreme among kings! These were the words that Brahma spoke. O supreme among intelligent ones! The intelligent one thought of some hymns in praise of Hari. Joining his hands in salutation, the lord bowed down and approached the supreme one. He chanted, ‘I bow down before you. You are Brahma’s heart. I bow down before you. You were created before me. You are the origin of the worlds. You are the best in the universe. You are the lord who is the store of sankhya and yoga. You are the creator of the manifest and the unmanifest. You are established on the path of tranquility. You are the enjoyer of the universe. You are inside all creatures. You are without birth. I have been generated through your favours. O Svayambhu! You are the abode of the worlds. My first birth, honoured by all the brahmanas, was from your mind. My ancient and second birth was from your eyes. It is through your favours that my great and third birth occurred from your speech. O lord! It is the truth that my fourth birth was from your ears. O one without decay! It is the truth that my fifth birth was from your nose. It is true that you thought of my sixth birth from an egg. O infinitely powerful lord! This, my seventh birth, has happened from a lotus. O one who is devoid of the three qualities! From one cycle of creation to another cycle of creation, I have been your son. You are famous as Pundarikaksha. You are Pradhana, who has thought of the qualities. You are the natural lord. You are Svayambhu and Purushottama. I have been created by you and the Vedas are my eyes. The Vedas, which are my eyes, have been stolen. Though I have been born, I am blind. Please awake. Give my eyes back to me. I am dear to you. You are dear to me.’ The illustrious Purusha, who faces every direction, was thus praised.

  ‘“To accomplish the task of recovering the Vedas, he raised himself from his sleep. Using his powers, he assumed a second form. He assumed a form with an excellent nose and it was as radiant as the moon. The lord who is the abode of all the Vedas assumed the auspicious form of Hayashira. The firmament, with its nakshatras and stars, became his head. His long and flowing hair was as radiant as the rays of the sun. The sky and the nether regions constituted his ears. The earth was his forehead. The sacred and great rivers, Ganga and Sarasvati, were his eyebrows. The sun and the moon were his eyes. The evening was said to be his nose. The syllable ‘Om’ was his mind and the lightning was his tongue. O king! The ancestors, who drink soma, were known as his teeth. Goloka and Brahmaloka1305 became the great-souled one’s lips. O king! The terrible night of universal destruction, which is beyond the three qualities, became his neck. He created this form of Hayashira and it was covered with many kinds of other forms. The god who was the lord of the universe disappeared and penetrated the nether regions. Having entered the water, he resorted to supreme yoga. Using accomplished techniques of pronunciation, he uttered the syllable ‘Om’. This sound was pleasant in every way and echoed everywhere. It possessed all the beneficial qualities and reverberated in the nether regions. Having decided to come back for the Vedas, the asuras flung them down into the nether regions and swiftly proceeded to the spot where the sound was coming from. O king! Meanwhile, Hari, the god who was in the form of Hayashira, picked up all the Vedas from the nether regions. He gave them back to Brahma and assumed his natural form again. Hayashira was the abode of the Vedas and he established this form of Hayashira in the north-eastern parts of the great ocean. O king! The danavas, Madhu and Kaitabha, could not find anyone and quickly returned to the spot. However, they found that the place where they had flung the Vedas was empty. Those two supremely powerful ones resorted to great speed. They quickly raised themselves from the nether regions and saw the lord Purusha, who had originally created them. He was based in the form of Aniruddha and he was as pure in complexion as the fair moon. The valiant one had again resorted to yoga and was sleeping on the waters. He had manifested himself in this form and was sleeping on the waters. He was sleeping on the hood of a serpent1306 and seemed to be enveloped in a covering of flames. The beautiful lord was full of sattva and without any blemish. On seeing him, the Indras among the danavas laughed loudly. Full of rajas and tamas, they said, ‘This Purusha is fair and he is lying down, immersed in sleep. There is no doubt that he is the one who has stolen the Vedas from the nether regions. Whom does he belong to? Who is he? Who belongs to him? Why is he sleeping on a snake?’ While they were speaking in this way, Hari was awakened. The god Purushottama realized that they wished to fight with him. He saw that the two Indras among rakshasas had made up their minds to fight. A battle commenced between them on one side and Narayana on the other. Madhu and Kaitabha were full of rajas and tamas. To please Brahma, Madhusudana slew them.1307 Purushottama quickly killed the ones who had stolen the Vedas and dispelled Brahma’s
grief. Brahma was again revered and surrounded by the Vedas that had been stolen. Without any sense of ownership, he created the worlds, with their mobile and immobile objects. He1308 gave the grandfather the powerful intelligence required for the creation of the worlds. Having given this to the god, Hari went away. It is thus that Hari assumed the form of Hayashira and killed the two danavas. He assumed that form so that the dharma of pravritti could be propagated again. Thus did the immensely fortunate Hari assume the form of Hayashira. This form of the lord who grants boons is regarded as the most ancient. If a brahmana always hears it, or recites it, his studies will never be destroyed. Using fierce austerities, the rishi Panchala worshipped the god who assumed the form of Hayashira and learnt shiksha, following the path instructed by Rama. O king! I have recounted the story of Hayashira to you. This is an ancient account that is in conformity with the Vedas and you had asked me about it. To accomplish different kinds of tasks, the god assumes different kinds of forms. Using his atman, the god creates himself and performs those different tasks.

  ‘“He is the store of the Vedas. He is prosperous. He is the store of austerities. The powerful lord Hari is yoga, sankhya and the brahman. Narayana is the supreme Vedas. The sacrifices constitute Narayana’s atman. Narayana represents supreme austerities. Narayana is the supreme objective. Narayana is the supreme truth. Amrita is Narayana’s atman. Naryana is the supreme dharma and from this, it is extremely rare to return.1309 Dharma with the characteristics of pravritti has Narayana as its soul. Scent, said to be the best attribute of the earth, has Narayana as its soul. O king! Taste, the quality of water, has Narayana as its soul. Form, the quality of light, is said to have Narayana as its soul. Touch, the quality of the wind, is said to have Narayana as its soul. Sound, resulting from space, also has Narayana as its soul. Mind, with the quality of the unmanifest,1310 has Narayana as its soul. Time, computed through the measurement of the stellar bodies, is nothing but the supreme Narayana. The supreme Narayana is the deities of Kirti, Shri and Lakshmi.1311 Sankhya and yoga are the supreme Narayana and they have Narayana as their soul. He is the cause as Purusha. He is also the cause as Pradhana. All deeds are in his nature. He is the cause behind the gods. He is enumerated as the five kinds of causes.1312 Hari is there in all devotion. He is the truth that the curious ones seek. He is the reason that faces all the directions. He is the single truth. He is the great yogi. He is the lord Hari Narayana. He is the one Brahma, the worlds, the great-souled rishis, the practitioners of sankhya and yoga and the ascetics seek to know. The learned ones know of him as Keshava. Everything that is done in all the worlds for the sake of gods and ancestors, the donations that are given, the great austerities that are observed—all these have the lord Vishnu as their refuge. He has determined the ordinances for these. He resides in all creatures and is said to be Vasudeva.1313 He is eternal. He is the supreme maharshi. He possesses the greatest power. He is beyond qualities. He is without the three qualities. When the occasion arises, he acts so as to quickly bring about a union of the qualities. The great-souled ones cannot comprehend his progress. No one can see his movements. Maharshis who are restrained and possess knowledge in their atmans always see the Purusha, who is beyond the qualities.”’

  Chapter 1664(336)

  Janamejaya said, ‘The illustrious Hari is affectionate towards all beings who are single-minded in their devotion to him. The illustrious one himself accepts offerings made according to the ordinances. There are people who have burnt up the kindling,1314 are free of good and bad deeds and have followed the instructions that have progressively been passed down.1315 They advance towards the fourth objective of Purushottama.1316 Those single-minded ones go to the supreme objective. There is no doubt that the dharma of being single-minded is the best and is loved by Narayana. They do not have to pass through the other three, but directly go to the undecaying Hari. There are brahmanas who study the Vedas and the Upanishads properly, following the strictures and observing the dharma of ascetics. I know that men who are single-minded in their devotion are superior to them. Was it a god or a rishi who first propounded this kind of dharma? O lord! When did this single-minded mode of worship develop? Please dispel my doubt about this. My curiosity is great.’

  Vaishampayana replied, ‘The armies of the Kurus and the Pandavas were arrayed in the battle. When Arjuna was distracted, the illustrious one himself sung about this, about the ends that are obtained and the ends that are not obtained.1317 I have told you about this earlier. This dharma is deep and is difficult for those who have not cleansed their souls to comprehend. This is in conformity with the Sama Veda and was thought of in the first yuga.1318 O king! It was sustained by the lord Narayana himself. O great king! Partha asked the immensely fortunate Narada about the purport of this, in the midst of the rishis and in the hearing of Krishna and Bhishma. O supreme among kings! My preceptor heard what was said.1319 He heard what Narada said. O lord of the earth! Brahma was born through Narayana’s mental powers and heard what emerged from Narayana’s mouth. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Following dharma, Narayana himself performed the divine rites that any father should. The rishis who subsist on foam then obtained the dharma. The Vaikhanasas obtained the dharma from those who lived on foam. Soma obtained it from the Vaikhanasas. But it then disappeared again. O king! Brahma had a second birth from the eyes.1320 Then, the grandfather obtained and learned this dharma from Soma. O king! He gave this, which has Narayana as its soul, to Rudra. O king! In that ancient krita yuga, Rudra immersed himself in yoga and taught this dharma to all the Valakhilya rishis. However, because of the god’s1321 maya, it disappeared again. Brahma had a third birth from his1322 great speech. O king! The dharma was again generated from Narayana himself. A rishi named Suparna obtained it from Purushottama and tormented himself with austerities, following self-restraint and rituals. Suparna followed this supreme dharma thrice a day. Because of this, on earth, he came to be known as Trisouparna.1323 These are read when one studies the Rig Veda and the vows to be followed are extremely difficult. O best among men! From Suparna, this eternal dharma was obtained by the wind god, who is known as the one who sustains life in the universe. Vayu gave it to the rishis who only subsist on leftovers. The great ocean obtained the supreme dharma from them. However, it disappeared again and merged into Narayana. The great-souled one, Brahma, was again born from his ear.1324 O tiger among men! I will tell you what happened. Listen. The god, Hari Narayana, himself thought of creating the universe. The lord, who is the creator of everything in the universe, thought of a being. When he thought of this, the being, his son, emerged from his ears. The lord of the universe spoke to Brahma, the creator of different categories of subjects. “O son! Create. Create everyone from your mouths and feet. O one who is excellent in vows! I will do what is beneficial for you. I will give you the strength and the energy. Also receive this dharma from me. It is known as satvata. Use it to create and establish all the rites of krita yuga.” At this, Brahma bowed down before the god Harimedha. He eagerly accepted the dharma, with its mysteries and collections and groups of Aranyakas. These arose from Narayana’s mouth. With infinite energy, he instructed this dharma to Brahma and said, “You know about the dharma of krita yuga, which has the traits of being without desire and without deeds.” Having said this, he1325 departed to beyond tamas, to the place where the unmanifest is established. Then, Brahma, the god who grants boons and is the grandfather of the worlds, created all the worlds, with their mobile and immobile objects. That is how the first sacred krita yuga commenced. The dharma of satvata pervaded everything in the world. Brahma, the creator of the various worlds, used that original dharma to worship the lord Hari Narayana, the lord of the gods. For the welfare of the worlds and for the sake of establishing this dharma, he then taught it to Svarochisha Manu.1326 O king! In ancient times, Svarochisha, the lord and protector of all the worlds, himself carefully taught it to his son, Shankhapada. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Shankhapada taught it to his son Sudharma, the prot
ector of the directions. When treta yuga commenced, it1327 disappeared again. O supreme among kings! Then, in ancient times, Brahma was born from the nose. In Brahma’s presence, the lord and god, the lotus-eyed Hari Narayana, himself chanted this dharma. O king! The illustrious Sanatkumara studied it. O tiger among the Kuru lineage! From Sanatkumara, at the beginning of krita yuga, Prajapati Virana obtained this dharma and studied it. Having studied it, Virana gave it to the intelligent Rouchya and Rouchya gave it to his son Shudra, who was excellent in his vows and great in his intelligence. He gave it to Kukshi, who protected the directions.1328 However, the dharma that arose from Narayana’s mouth vanished again. Brahma was again born as Hari’s son, from an egg and this dharma arose again, from Narayana’s mouth. O king! Brahma received it, and following the instructions, applied it. O king! He taught it to the sages named Barhishada.1329 A brahmana who knew about the Sama Veda obtained it from the Barhishadas. His name was Jyeshtha and because of this, he came to be known as Jyeshtha Hari, the follower of the Sama vows. King Avikampana obtained it from Jyeshtha. O king! Then the dharma that had been received from the lord Hari disappeared again. O king! Brahma had a seventh birth from the lotus and Narayana himself spoke to him about this dharma. At the beginning of the yuga, the sacred grandfather was the upholder of the worlds. In those ancient times, the grandfather gave this dharma to Daksha. O supreme among kings! Daksha gave it to Aditya, who was the eldest of his grandsons through his daughters and was also older than Savitri. Vivasvat obtained it from him.1330 At the beginning of treta yuga, Vivasvat gave it to Manu. For the prosperity of the worlds, Manu gave it to his son, Ikshvaku. When Ikshvaku spoke about it, it spread in all the worlds. O king! At the end of the destruction, it will again merge into Narayana. O supreme among kings! This is the dharma that is practised by the mendicants. With the collection of the ordinances, it has been recounted in Hari Gita.1331 O king! Narada obtained this dharma, with its mysteries and its collections, from the protector of the worlds himself. O king! These are the origins of this great and eternal dharma. It is difficult to comprehend and it is difficult to practise. It is always sustained by those with sattva. Those who know about dharma appropriately apply it in their deeds. This dharma is without violence and it pleases the lord Hari. Some worship him in one form and some in two forms.1332 He is sometimes enumerated in three forms.1333 He is sometimes seen in four forms.1334 Hari is kshetrajna. He is without a sense of ownership and he is without parts. He is the atman in all beings and is beyond the five elements. O king! He is spoken of as the mind that controls the five senses. He is the intelligent one who ordains the worlds. He is the creator of the worlds. He is not the doer. But he is also the doer. He is the cause and the effect. O king! He is the immutable Purusha, who sports as he wills. O supreme among kings! I have spoken to you about the dharma of single-minded devotion. It is difficult for those with unclean souls to understand. I have obtained it through my preceptor’s favours. O king! Men who are single-minded in their devotion are difficult to find. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! Had the worlds been full of many such people, who are non-violent and devoted to their atmans, engaged in the welfare of beings, then it would have been krita yuga. People would have been free of desire and freed from rites. O lord of the earth! This is what the illustrious Vyasa, my preceptor, the one who knows about dharma, and supreme among brahmanas, told Dharmaraja. O king! This was in the hearing of the rishis and of Krishna and Bhishma. He had earlier been told this by Narada, the immensely ascetic one. Narayana is the god who is the supreme brahman. He is immutable and fair in complexion, with the radiance of the moon. Those who are single-minded go to him.’