by Bibek Debroy
‘Vidura said, “The maximum lifespans for ancestors, gods and humans has been determined. 897 Please tell me about the progress of those who are outside the kalpa. 898 O illustrious one! You certainly know about the progress of the illustrious one. Persevering ones who possess the insight of yoga can see everything in the universe.”
‘Maitreya replied, “The four yugas are krita, treta, dvapara and kali. The duration has been carefully determined as twelve thousand years of the gods. 899 Being with krita, the progressive duration is four thousand, three thousand, two thousand and one thousand years. Twice that number is again added, but in hundreds of years. The intervening period is known as sandhya and amsha and the duration is in hundreds of years. Those who know about the truth have determined the dharma for each specific yuga. In krita, humans nurtured dharma with all of its four feet. But in the other yugas, as adharma flourished, one foot was progressively diminished. 900 Outside the three worlds, one thousand yugas 901 is one of Brahma’s days. O son! That is also the duration of the night and the creator of the universe sleeps during this period. When the night is over, the creation of the worlds proceeds afresh, from the beginning. Fourteen Manus exist during one of the illustrious one’s days. 902 Each Manu respectively enjoys a period that is a little more than seventy-one. 903 In every manvantara, there are lineages of men, rishis, gods, saptarshis and gandharvas, in due order. Simultaneously, there are lords of the gods and those who follow them. 904 During each of Brahma’s days, the three worlds, which circle around, are created. Depending on their deeds, they are born as inferior species, humans, ancestors and gods. In each manvantara, the illustrious one manifests sattva in his different forms, such as Manu and the others. Thus Purusha preserves the universe which has been created. He then resorts only to tamas and withdraws all his powers. Everything comes under the subjugation of time and there is silence at the end of the day. The three worlds, the earth and the others, vanish into that darkness. They are completely enveloped in that night, without the existence of the sun and the moon. The powerful fire that emerges from Samkarshana burns down the three worlds. Bhrigu and the others are afflicted by the heat and go to janaloka from maharloka. At the end of the kalpa, the three worlds are deluged by the waters. There is a violent turbulence in that flood and terrible waves because of the fierce winds. Hari lies down in those waters, on the couch that is Ananta. Praised by the residents of janaloka, his eyes are closed in his sleep of yoga. These are the signs of time, with these kinds of night and day. One’s maximum lifespan of one hundred years comes to an end. 905 Half of his 906 lifespan is known as parardha. The first parardha has passed and the subsequent parardha is passing now. At the time of the previous parardha, there was the great kalpa known as Brahma-kalpa. Brahma was born then and he was known as Shabda-Brahma. At the end of that kalpa, there was the kalpa known as Padma-kalpa. This was because the cosmic lotus was generated out of the waters in Hari’s navel. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! This kalpa of the second parardha 907 is famous as Varaha-kalpa, because Hari assumed the form of a boar. The duration of two parardhas is measured as the blinking of the eye. 908 He is the infinite one who is not manifest. He is the one who does not change and has no beginning. He is the atman of the universe. The period from a paramanu to the end of the two parardhas is controlled by the lord of time, who has power over all those who pride themselves on their habitations. However, this lord 909 has no control over the supreme one. This cosmic egg is united with transformations and their various manifestations. On the outside, it extends for fifty crore. 910 Each sheath 911 is ten times larger than the preceding one. When they enter together, they are like a paramanu. 912 Crores of other such universes are seen to be inside him. This is said to be the brahman, who is without decay. He is the original cause behind all causes. This is the supreme abode of Vishnu. He is himself the great-souled Purusha.”’
Chapter 3(12)
‘Maitreya said, “O Kshatta! The paramatman’s manifestation as time and his greatness have thus been described to you. Now understand from me about Vedagarbha’s 913 creation. He first created the various kinds of conduct associated with ignorance—andha-tamisra, tamisra, mahamoha and moha. 914 On seeing that this creation was wicked, Brahma was not proud of himself. He purified his mind by meditating on the illustrious one and created again. The one who was self-created created the sages Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara. However, they were not interested in action and held up their seed. The self-created one spoke to his sons. ‘O sons! Generate offspring.’ But being devoted to Vasudeva and the dharma of emancipation, they were not interested in this. His sons disregarded him and refused his instructions. An intolerable rage was generated in him and he tried to control this. Though Prajapati used his intelligence to try and control it, it emerged from between his eyebrows. From this anger, a child who was blue and red 915 was instantly born. The illustrious Bhava, who preceded the gods, started to weep. ‘O creator! O preceptor of the universe! Give me a name and a place to reside in.’ The illustrious one who was born from the lotus honoured these words. He assured him in comforting words and replied, ‘Do not cry. I will do so. O best among the gods! Since you have cried like an anxious child, subjects will address you by the name of Rudra. 916 I have already thought of places for you to reside in—the heart, the senses, the breath of life, the sky, the wind, fire, water, the earth, the sun, the moon and austerities. Manyu, Manu, Mahinasa, Mahan, Shiva, Ritadhvaja, Ugrareta, Bhava, Kala, Vamadeva and Dhritavrata. 917 O Rudra! Your wives are Rudranis and they are Dhi, Vritti, Ushana, Uma, Niyut, Sarpi, Ila, Ambika, Iravati, Sudha and Diksha. Accept these names and places. With your wives, as a lord, create a large number of offspring.’ The illustrious Nilalohita was thus instructed by his own preceptor. He created offspring who were like him in spirit, form and nature. In every direction, the fierce offspring created by Rudra were about to devour the universe. Witnessing these innumerable hordes, Prajapati was scared. He said, ‘O supreme among the gods! Enough. There is no need to create subjects who are like this. Along with me, their blazing eyes are burning down the directions. O fortunate one! Resort to austerities that bring happiness to all creatures. It is only through austerities that you will be able to create a universe that is just like what it used to be before. It is only through austerities that a man can obtain the supreme light that is Adhokshaja. He resides in the hearts of all beings.’ Addressed in these words by the one who created himself, he circumambulated the lord and agreed. He entered the forest to perform austerities. While thinking about creation, because he possessed the powers of the illustrious one, he 918 had ten sons, who would be responsible for populating the worlds—Marichi, Atri, Angiras, 919 Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vasishtha, Daksha and Narada as the tenth. Narada was born from Svayambhu’s lap, Daksha from the thumb, Vasishtha was born from the breath of life, Bhrigu from the skin, Kratu from the hand, Pulaha from the navel, the rishi Pulastya from the ears, Angiras from the mouth, Atri from the eyes and Marichi was born from the mind. Dharma was born from the right breast, where Narayana himself resides. Adharma was generated from the back and Death, fearful to the worlds, results from him. Desire was from the heart, anger from the eyebrows, avarice from between the lips, speech from the mouth, the rivers from the penis and Nirriti, the source of all sin, from the anus. Kardama, the lord who was Devahuti’s husband, was born from his shadow. The entire universe resulted from the mind and body of the creator of the universe. O Kshatta! He had a beautiful daughter, the goddess of speech, who was not interested in desire. However, we have heard that she captivated Svayambhu’s mind and he was driven by desire. The sons saw that their father had made up his mind to perform an act of adharma. With Marichi at the forefront, these sages sought to respectfully dissuade him. ‘What you are trying to do now has not been done by anyone else before, 920 nor will it ever be attempted by anyone else hereafter. O lord! You are not controlling your desire and wish to have intercourse with your own daughter. O preceptor of the univ
erse! You are energetic, but such acts are not applauded through excellent shlokas. People who follow such conduct are not among those who deserve to find peace. We bow down before the illustrious one. All this is in his atman and he manifested everything through his own radiance. He is the one who can save dharma.’ He saw his sons, the Prajapatis, speaking in this way before him. The lord of all these Prajapatis 921 was ashamed and gave up his own body, which was accepted by the directions. An extremely terrible mist developed, known as darkness. Once, when the one with the four faces was meditating about creation, and about how all the assembled worlds should be as they had been earlier, the Vedas manifested themselves. The four kinds of officiating priests, the Upavedas, the four feet of dharma and the conduct in the four ashramas also manifested themselves.”
‘Vidura said, “O store of austerities! The Vedas manifested themselves from the mouths of the creator of the universe. Tell me about what the god created from where.”
‘Maitreya replied, “The Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Vedas, the sacred texts, 922 oblations, chants of praise and rites of atonement were progressively generated from the face that was towards the front. He progressively also created Ayurveda, Dhanurveda, Gandharva-veda and the Vedas that are about architecture and sculpture also from the face that was towards the front. The lord who had insight about everything created the fifth Veda of Itihasa and Puranas from all his mouths. Shodashi, uktha, purishi, agnistuta, 923 aptyorama, atiratra, vajapeya and gosava 924 were created from the face that was towards the front. He created dharma’s feet in the form of knowledge, donations, austerities and truth. He created the different kinds of ashramas, along with the conduct that should be followed in each of them—savitra, prajapatya, brahma and brihat; 925 varta, sanchaya, shalina and shila-unccha for householders; 926 for the forest, vaikhanasa, valakhilya, audumbura and phenapa; 927 in renunciation, kutichaka, bahvoda, hamsa and nishkriya. 928 Rules of logic, the three objectives, 929 norms for subsistence, the rules for punishment and the vyahritis were manifested. 930 Pranava 931 was manifested from his heart. The metres Ushnik, Gayatri, Trishtubh, Anushtubh, Jagati, Pankti and Brihati were respectively manifested from the lord Prajapati’s body hair, skin, flesh, muscles, bones, marrow and breath of life. The consonants are said to be the being’s sense organs and the vowels are his body. 932 The sibilant letters 933 are the strength of his atman. The seven notes of music resulted from Prajapati’s pastimes. Shabda-Brahma is the illustrious one’s atman and this atman is beyond the conceptions of being manifest and not being manifest. Brahma is his complete manifestation and is invested with many kinds of powers. Later, assuming another body, 934 he turned his mind to the task of creation. The rishis possessed a great deal of valour. But despite this, creation was limited. O Kourava! Having discerned this in his mind, he started to think again. ‘This is extraordinary. Though I am always extending myself everywhere, yet, there aren’t enough subjects. It is certain that destiny is causing the obstruction.’ While he was thus engaged and thinking about destiny, Ka saw his body divide itself into two parts. This was known as Kaya. From these two divided forms, a couple was generated. The male part became the self-ruling Svayambhuva Manu. The female part became Shatarupa and she was the queen of the great-souled one. Following the dharma of sexual intercourse, they started to increase subjects. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He had five children through Shatarupa. The sons were Priyavrata and Uttanapada. The three daughters were Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti. He bestowed Akuti in marriage on Ruchi, the one in the middle 935 on Kardama and Prasuti on Daksha. The universe was populated in this way.”’
Chapter 3(13)
‘Shri-Shuka said, “O king! After hearing these extremely pure words from the sage, Kouravya, who loved to hear about Vasudeva’s account, asked him again.
‘“Vidura asked, ‘The emperor Svayambhuva was Svayambhuva’s beloved son. 936 O sage! What did he do after having obtained a beloved wife? O excellent one! He was the first king and a royal sage. I am full of respect. Tell me about his conduct and about his resorting to Vishvaksena as a refuge. There are those who hold Mukunda’s lotus feet in their hearts. The act of listening to their complete qualities is praised by the wise ones as yielding fruits equal to those obtained by men who study the sacred texts with a great deal of time and effort.’”
‘Shri-Shuka continued, “Vidura humbly requested this, as if he had used the feet of the one with one thousand heads 937 as a pillow. Asked to recite the illustrious one’s account, the sage’s body hair stood up. Urged in this way, he started to speak.
‘“Maitreya said, ‘Syavambhuva Manu was born, along with his own wife. He joined his hands in salutation, bowed his head before Vedagarbha and said, “You alone are the father who has given birth to all beings and has given them a means of subsistence. Therefore, how can we subjects serve you? Command me. I am bowing down before you. O revered one! Depending on my capacity, what will I do, so that my fame spreads everywhere in this world and so that I obtain a proper destination in the world hereafter?” Brahma replied, “O son! I am pleased with you. With a pure heart, you have rendered yourself to me and have asked for instructions. O brave one! This is the kind of conduct that one should exhibit towards a senior. If one does this without distraction and to the best of one’s capacity, the senior must gladly accept this, without any malice. Through her, have children who are like your own self in qualities. Follow dharma and rule the earth. Use sacrifices to worship Purusha. O king! The greatest service to me will come about through protecting the subjects. If you are a protector of the subjects, the illustrious Hrishikesha will be satisfied with you. The illustrious Janardana represents the limbs of the sacrifice. If he is not satisfied with a person, that person’s efforts are in vain and he shows disrespect to his own atman.” Manu answered, “O destroyer of sins! O illustrious one! I will abide by your instructions. O lord! Tell me about a place where I, and my offspring, can reside. The earth, the habitation of all beings, is submerged in this great mass of water. O god! Arrange for some efforts so that this goddess can be raised up.” Parameshthi also saw that the earth was submerged in water. “How can it be raised up?” He thought about this for a long time. “While I was creating, the earth was flooded by water and sank down to rasatala. What can we, engaged in the act of creation, possibly do? I was born from the lord’s heart. Let him instruct me.” O unblemished one! While he was thinking in this way, a boar emerged from his nostril and it was the size of a thumb. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! While he looked on, an extraordinary wonder occurred. Stationed in the sky, in an instant, it 938 increased to the size of an elephant. With the brahmanas, Marichi as the foremost, the Kumaras 939 and Manu, on seeing the form of the boar, he began to debate in many kinds of ways. “What is the spirit that is pretending to be a boar in the sky? It is extremely wonderful that it should have emerged from my nose. When it emerged, it was seen to be as small as a thumb. In an instant, it has become as large as a boulder. Is it the illustrious lord of sacrifices who is agitating my mind in this way?” In this way, while Brahma debated it with his sons, the illustrious Purusha, the lord of sacrifices and as large as a mountain, roared. Lord Hari delighted Brahma and the excellent brahmanas with his roar, which echoed in all the directions. They heard that tumultuous roar, which dispelled all their exhaustion. He had used his maya to adopt the form of the boar. The sages who were residents of janaloka, tapoloka and satyaloka praised him with sacred chants from the three. 940 His form is expounded in the Vedas and it is his qualities that are extolled in the form of the brahman and the devotees chanted this. Knowing this, out of compassion for those gods, he entered the water, sporting like a gigantic elephant. He traversed the sky, with the stiff hair on his tail raised up. The hair on his back quivered. Struck by his hooves, the clouds were dispelled. His tusks were white and his eyes were radiant and shining. The illustrious one is the saviour of the earth. He searched out the earth with his sense of smell. Though his body was the sacrifice, he assumed th
e form of a boar with terrible tusks. The brahmanas were praising him and he gently glanced towards them, entering the water. His body was as hard as a mountain made out of diamonds. As he fell into the water with great force, spreading out his arms, turbulent waves were created. The lofty waves were like arms stretched out in suffering, screaming, “O lord of sacrifices! Save me.” His hooves were as sharp as razors and he clove through the waters with these. The lord of sacrifices 941 went to the furthest limits of the waters. He saw the earth, the abode of all creatures, sleeping there, as it used to do earlier. 942 He raised it up himself. He raised the submerged earth up on his own tusks and appeared in a resplendent form in the waters. 943 A daitya, invincible in valour, rushed towards him, wielding a club. 944 However, his blazing rage was like the weapon with the excellent nave. 945 Toying with him in the water like a lion, he killed this obstruction. His cheeks became red from the clotted blood, as if an Indra among elephants had been digging up the earth 946 with its tusks. His complexion was as blue as a tamala tree. His white tusks were curved and sporting like an elephant, he raised the earth up on his tusks. With Virinchi at the forefront, they understood that he was the lord. They joined their hands in salutation and chanted hymns from the Vedas to pray to him.