Reading section 10

Beholding the earth about to be submerged by the great ocean, Hiranyakashipu again said to the Daityas,—"O ye descendants of Diti! Do ye bury this wicked boy in the deep with rocks. Fire did not burn him; the weapons did not hurt him; the serpents could not bite him; nor the withering blast, poison, and the magical incantations bring about his destruction. He baffled the illusions (of Samvara), fell unhurt from the loftiest mountains, foiled the elephants of the skies. He is a wicked boy and his life is a perpetual source of miseries. Let him be buried down with rocks into the deep. If he remains in that wise for a thousand years he may lose his life". Thereupon the Daityas and Dānavas, attacking Prahlāda in the mighty deep with rocks, covered thousands of yojanas therewith. And lying at the bed of the deep covered with racks, the high-minded Prahlāda, offered thus; with undisturbed mind, his praise to the undecaying:—"Salutation unto thee, O Pundarikāsha, salutation unto thee, O thou excellent Puhusha! Salutation unto thee, O thou the soul of all worlds! Salutation unto thee, O thou the wielder of sharp discus! Salutation unto the best of Brāhmanas! to the friend of Brāhmanas and of kine! to Krishna, the benefactor of the world and salutation to Govinda! Salutation to him, who as Brahmā creates the universe and who, being existent all over, preserves it. Salutation to thee, who dost at the end of Kalpa assume the form of Rudra, and who art tri-form. Thou art, Achyuta, the cause of gods, Yakhas, Asuras, Siddhas, serpents, choristers, dancers, goblins, demons, men, beasts, birds, insects, reptiles, plants, and stones, earth, fire, water, sky, wind, sound, touch, taste, colour, flavour, mind, intellect, soul, time, and the properties of nature; and these are all manifestations of thine. Thou art knowledge and ignorance, thou art truth and untruth; thou art poison and nectar; thou art the performance and continuance of acts and thou art the actions laid down in the Vedas. Thou art the enjoyer of the fruits of all actions and the means for effecting them. Thou, Vishnu, who art all, art the fruit of all acts of piety. Thou art in me, in others and spread all over the vast universe. Thy universal manifestation indicates might and goodness. O lord. The ascetics meditate upon thee, the priests offer sacrifice to thee. Thou, identical with progenitors and celestials, receivest burnt-offerings and oblations. The universe is a huge manifestation of thine; the world is lesser than that, O lord; and lesser than that are all the subtile elements and elementary being and thy subtlest form is the subtile principle within them that is called soul. Thou hast in thee a supreme soul, better than this soul and beyond the perception of all subtile elements and which cannot be conceived. Glory be to that Purusottam form of thine. And salutation be to that imperishable form of thine, O lord of gods, which is the soul of all creatures, another manifestation of thy might and which is the refuge of all qualities. I bow unto that supreme goddess who is beyond the perception of senses, the description of the tongue and mind and who is to be distinguished only by the wisdom of the truly wise. Salutation unto the Great God Vāsudeva, who is not separate from any thing and at the same time separate from all. Salutation again and again to that Great Spirit who has neither name nor form and whose existence can only be perceived. Salutation unto that Great Spirit, whose

incarnate forms on earth the deities adore, being unable to behold his true form. Salutation unto that Great God Vishnu, the witness of all, who being present in all minds, beholds the good and evil of all. Salutation unto that Vishnu, from whom this world is not distinct. May He, who is the object of the world's meditation, its beginning, and who is undecaying, be propitiated with me. May that Hari have compassion upon me, who is the stay of all, in whom the universe is warped and woven and who is imperishable and undecaying. Salutation again and again unto Vishnu, in whom all things exist, from whom all things proceed and who is the supporter of all. Salutation to him who also am I, and who is everywhere and through whom all things are from me. I am all things and all things are from me who am eternal. I am undecaying eternal, the asylum of the supreme spirit. Brahmā is my appellation that is at the beginning and end of all things".

SECTION XX.

Parāçara said:—O twice-born! Thus meditating upon Vishnu as identical with himself he attained to that unification, which is desired by all and regarded him as the undecaying divinity. He forgot his individuality and was not conscious of anything. And he thought that he himself was the endless, undecaying supreme soul. And on account of this efficient notion of identity, the undecaying Vishnu, whose essence is wisdom, appeared in his mind which was wholly purified from sin. When the Asura Prahlāda had become identified with Vishnu by virtue of contemplation all the bonds were at once severed, as soon as he shook. The mighty deep rose up in waves and the monsters therein were terrified. And the earth trembled with all her mountains and forests. And throwing aside the pile of rocks that were placed by the Daityas on his breast, the high-minded Prahlāda came out of waters. And beholding the outer world, earth and heaven, he remembered who he was and knew himself to be Prahlāda. And again the wise boy, with his mind solely devoted to him and controlling his mind and speech, sang the glory of that excellent Purusha who is without beginning: Prahlāda said,—"Salutation unto thee who art the true wisdom, who art subtile and substantial, mutable and immutable, perceptible and unperceptible, who art with form and without it, indescribable and describable. Thou art the asylum of all attributes; thou art without qualities and with them; thou art with shape and without it; thou art minute and vast; visible and invisible; thou art hideousness and beauty; O undecaying Hari! thou art wisdom and ignorance. Thou art cause and effect; existence and non-existence; thou dost comprise all that is good and evil; thou art the substance of all perishable and imperishable elements and the refuge of all undeveloped rudiments. Salutation unto thee who art both one and many, Vāsudeva and the first cause of all. Salutation unto that excellent Purusha, who is both large and small, manifest and hidden, who is present in all beings and not, and from whom proceeds the universe although distinct from universal cause". Parāçara said:—While with his mind thus devoted to Vishnu Prahlāda chanted his praises; the Great Hari, clad in yellow suddenly appeared before him. Beholding him, he respectfully rose and with hesitating speech exclaimed repeatedly "Glory unto Vishnu" and said,—"O thou who removest the affliction of thy followers, O Keshava, do thou be propitious unto me. Do thou again purify me, O eternal god, with thy sight". The Deity replied,—"I am propitiated with thee for thy unshaken devotion unto me. Ask of me, Prahlāda, whatever thou wishest". Prahlāda said,—"My faith in thee may never suffer decrease in all the thousand births through which I may be doomed to pass. May my devotion unto thee be as firm as the attachment cherished by the ignorant people towards all worldly objects". The Deity replied,—"Thou hast already devotion unto me—and it shall ever be the same; but do thou beg of me a boon, O Prahlāda, whatever thou wishest". Prahlāda said,—"My father has treated me malignantly for proclaiming thy praises. O lord, do thou remove the sin he hath thus committed. He assailed me with weapons—he had me thrown into fire, bitten by the serpents, had poison mixed up with my viands, had me cast into the deep in bonds, and buried down with rocks and many other ills he had wrought against me out of malice for being devoted unto thee. May my father, O lord, by thy mercy,

be speedily relieved of the sin he hath thus committed". The Deity replied,—"Prahlāda, all this shall be accomplished by my mercy. I wish to confer upon thee another boon, O son of Asura, do thou beg it". Prahlāda said,—"All my desires, O lord, have been fulfilled by the boon thou hast conferred upon me, that my faith in thee may never suffer decrease. What to speak of wealth, virtue or desire, even emancipation is in his hands who has firm devotion in thee, the root of the universal world". The Deity said,—"As unshaken is thy devotion unto me thou shalt by my mercy obtain final emancipation from existence". Parāçara said:—Having said this Vishnu disappeared from his sight, O Maitreya and Prahlāda again went to his father and bowed down before him. Having smelt his forehead, embraced him and shed tears, the father said, "Dost thou live my child?" The Great Asura treated him with kindness and repented for his past actions. And Prahlāda, conversant with piety, attended diligently upon his father and preceptor. After his father had been slain by Vishnu in the form of the man-lion, he became, O Maitreya, the sovereign of the Daityas. And obtaining the splendours of royalty on account of piety, he came by immense wealth and was blessed, with a numerous progeny. At the expiration of the regal power and freed from the consequences of moral merit or demerit, he obtained, by virtue of his meditation of the deity final emancipation from future births. So powerful was the wise Daitya Prahlāda devoted to Vishnu, O Maitreya, about whom you asked me. Whoever listens to the story of Prahlāda, is speedily freed from all sins. Forsooth a man is released from the iniquities he commits day and night by once hearing or reading the history of Prahlāda. The reading of this history, on the day of full-moon, of new-moon or in the eighth and twelfth days of the lunar half month, shall offer fruit tantamount to the gift of a cow, O twice born one. As Hari protected Prahlāda in all his calamities so he shall protect him who constantly listens to his history.

SECTION XXI.

Parāçara said:—The sons of Sanglhada were Ayushman Sivi and Vashkala. The son of Prahlāda was named Virochana, whose son was Vali who had a hundred sons of whom Vāna was the eldest, O great Muni.

All the sons of Hiranyaksha were also gifted with great prowess—Jharjhara, Sakuni, Bhutasantāpana, Mahānābha, Mahābāhu and Kālanābhan.[230]

Dahu had many sons—Dwimurddha, Sankara, Ayomukha, Sankusiras, Kapila, Samvara, Ekachakra, Mahābāhu, the mighty Tāraka, Swarbhānu, Vrishaparvan, Pulomon and the mighty Viprachiti: these were the powerful and renowned sons Danu.

Swarbhanu had a daughter named Prabhā and Sarmisthā was the daughter of Vrishaparvan who had two other daughters named Upadānavi and Hayasirā.

The two daughters of Vaiswanara were named Pulomā and Kālikā who were both married to Kasyapa and bore him sixty thousand celebrated Dānavas called Paulomas and Kālakanjas, who were mighty, dreadful and cruel.

Viprachiti begot on Sinhikā several sons named—Vyansa, Salya the strong, Nabha the powerful, Vātāpi, Namuchi, Hwala, Khasrima, Anjaka, Naraka, Kālanābha, the Valiant, Swarbhānu and the mighty Vaktrayodhi. These were the most eminent Dānavas who multiplied the race of Danu. Their children and grand children were by hundreds and thousands.

In the family of the Daitya Prahlāda, the Nivāta Kavachas were born, who were greatly purified by rigid austerities.

Six daughters, gifted with great energy, were born to Tāmra—named Suki, Syeni, Bhāsi, Sugrivi, Suchi, and Gridhrikā. Suki gave birth to parrots, owls, and crows, Syeni to hawks, Bhāsi to kites; Gridhrika to vultures, Suchi to water-fowl; Sugrivi to horses, camels and asses. These were the offsprings of Tāmra.

Vānati had two well-known sons, named Garuda and Varuna; the former also called Superna was the lord of the feathered tribes and the dreadful enemy of the serpents.

The offsprings of Surasā were a thousand powerful many-headed serpents coursing the welkin.

Kadru had also a thousand powerful sons of unmitigated prowess—all subject to Garuda and many-headed. The most celebrated amongst them were, Sesha, Vāsuki, Takshaka, Sankha, Sweta, Mahāpadma, Kumbala, Aswatara, Elapatra, Nāga, Karkkota, Dhananyaya, and many other deadly and poisonous serpents.

Krodas gave birth to highly powerful monsters and Suravi gave birth to cows and buffaloes. Irā was the mother of trees and creeping plants and shrubs and every kind of grass: Khāsa of the Rākshasas and Yakshas: Muni of Apsaras and Aristha of the celebrated Gandharvas.

These were the offsprings of Kasyapa whether moveable or stationary; their children and grand children multiplied by hundreds and thousands. Such was the creation, O Brahmana, in the Swarochisa (or the second) Manwantara. In the present or Viavaswata Manwantara Brahmā being engaged in sacrifices undertaken by Varuna I shall describe to you the manner in which the progeny multiplied. The great Patriarch begot as his sons the seven Rishis, who were in the days of yore, engendered by his mind.

O best of ascetics, when there was a quarrel amongst the Gandharvas, serpents, Dānavas and gods, Diti, having lost all her children, propitiated Kasyapa, Being perfectly adored by her, Kasyapa, the foremost of the ascetics, promised her a boon and Diti prayed for it in the shape of a valiant son capable of destroying Indra, O excellent Muni, he granted his spouse that boon. And having granted her that boon Kasyapa said—"You shall give birth to a son who shall destroy Sakra, if with pious thoughts and a pure body, you carry the babe in your womb for a hundred years". Having said this the ascetic Kasyapa remained with her and she conceived being perfectly pure. Knowing that this conception was for his own destruction, Indra the lord of immortals, came to her and attended upon her with humility. And the slayer of Pāka wanted there to thwart her intention. At last in the last year of the century he found out an opportunity. Diti, without washing her feet, went to bed. And when she was asleep the wielder of the thunder-bolt entered into her womb and severed the embryo into seven pieces.

The child, thus severed, cried out bitterly in the womb but Sakra again and again said "Do not cry". The embryo was thus cut into seven portions, and Indra, wroth again, cut each portion into seven pieces with his thunder-bolt. From these originated the swift-coursing deities called Maruts (winds.) They got this name from the words with which Indra had addressed the embryo (Ma—rooda—do not cry) and became forty-nine divinities, the assistants of the wielder of the thunder bolt.

SECTION XXII.

Parāçara said:—When Pritha was installed on the throne by the great Rishis the great Patriarch by and by conferred kingdoms upon other kings. He bestowed upon the moon the sovereignty of stars, planets, twice-born ones, grass, creeping plants sacrifices and penances. Vaisravana was made king over kings, and Varuna was made lord of waters. Vishnu was made the king of Adityas and Pāvaka of Vasus. Daksha was made the lord of Patriarchs and Vāsava of Maruts. And he conferred the sovereignty ®f Daityas and Dānavas upon Prāhlada. And Yama, the king of justice, was made the king of the manes (Pitris). Airāvata was made the king of many elephants, Garuda of birds, Vāsava of the celestials. Uchaisravas was made the king of horses and Vrishabba of kine. Shesha became the king of serpents, the lion, the monarch of the beasts and the holy fig-tree the king of the trees. Having thus divided the kingdom the great Patriarch Brahmā appointed divinities to protect the different quarters: he made Sudhanwan, the son of the patriarch Viraja, the protector of the east; Sankhapada the son of the patriarch Kardama, of the south; the immortal Ketumat, the son of Rajas, protector of the west and Hiranyaroman the son of the patriarch Parjanya, protector of the north. By these the whole earth, with its even islands and cities, was righteously governed, each confining himself to his own limit.

All these and others appointed to govern the creation are but persons of the Great Vishnu, O foremost of Munis, All the kings who have been and who shall be, O foremost of twice-born ones, are the portions of Vishnu. The lords of celestials, the kings of the Daityas, the sovereigns of the Dānavas, the rulers of the demons, the kings of the beasts, birds, men, serpents, Nagas, the best of trees, of mountains, of planets—those that were, those that are, and those that shall be, are but portions of Vishnu who is identical with the universe. None else is capable of protecting the world, but Hari, the lord of all. O greatly wise ascetic, the essence of the universal creation exists in him and none else. The eternal Vishnu invested respectively with the qualities of foulness, goodness, and darkness, creates the universe, preserves it and destroys it. By a four-fold manifestation of himself he creates the world and in the same way preserves and destroys it. In one manifestation as Brahmā, the invisible (Vishnu) assumes a visible shape; in his second manifestation, he appears as the patriarch Marichi and others; Kāla is the third manifestation and all other beings constitute his fourth manifestation. Thus he becomes four-fold in his creation invested with the quality of goodness. The Deity in one portion as Vishnu, preserves the creation; in his second portion he assumes the shape of Manu and others; in his third portion he assumes the shape of time, and in his fourth portion he assumes the shape of all beings. And thus invested with the quality of goodness, the excellent Purusha preserves the universe. And invested with the quality of darkness at the end of creation the un-born Deity, in one portion, assumes the form of Rudra. In another portion he assumes the shape of fire—in another he assumes the shape of time, and in his fourth portion he assumes the shape of all beings. And thus in his four-fold form he is the destroyer of the universe. This is the four-fold division of the Deity, O Brahman, at all seasons.

Brahmā, Daksha, time and all beings, are the energies of the Great Hari, which are the causes of creation. Vishnu, Manu, time and all beings are energies, O twice-born one, of Vishnu, which are the causes of preservation. Rudra, Antaka, time and all other creatures are the energies of Janārddana that are intended for universal dissolution. In the beginning of the creation, till the hour of dissolution, Brahmā, the patriarchs and all other animals, are engaged with the work of creation. At first Brahmā created the universe, then Marichi and others were engaged in multiplying the race and then the other animals multiply it every moment. O twice born one, Brahmā cannot create the universe unless the proper time comes, and Marichi and other patriarchs as well as other animals, independent of time, cannot help the creation. Thus at the time of creation as well as that of dissolution the four-fold divisions of the Great Deity are equally essential, O Maitreya. Whatever is generated by any living being, O twice-born one—the agent is considered as a portion of Hari. And whatever destroys any living being, moveable or immoveable, is considered as the destroying portion of Janārddana as Rudra. In this wise Janārddana is the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe. And assuming three qualities he is three-fold—in creation, preservation and destruction—but his true form is void of these qualities. And the four-fold manifestation of the Deity comprises true wisdom, pervades the universe, and does not admit of any similitude. Maitreya said:—"Describe to me, in sooth, O Muni, how could the supreme condition of the Deity admit of four varieties?" Parāçara said:—O Maitreya, that which is called the cause of a thing is the means of accomplishing it; and what is the desire of the soul to accomplish is the thing accomplished. The suspension of breath and the like operations, of the Yogi who is intent upon obtaining final emancipation, are his means and the end is the supreme Brahma from whom he does not return to the world. O Muni, the means, adopted for liberation by the ascetic, is the discriminative knowledge and this is the first variety of the condition of Brahma, O great Muni, the second portion is the knowledge that is to be obtained by the ascetics for liberation from suffering. By the third sort, they arrive at the knowledge of the identity of the end and the means and the rejection of the idea of duality. The last sort is the removal of whatever differences may have been formed regarding the three first varieties of knowledge and the necessary contemplation of the true essence of soul. The highest condition of Vishnu, who is identical with wisdom, is the knowledge of the truth. This knowledge requires no exercise, is not to be taught, is spread all over, admits of no comparison with anything, which does not require any other thing to explain it, which is itself existent and docs not require any explanation, which is calm, fearless and pure, which is not the subject of reasoning and does not require any support. And this knowledge is the excellent condition of Vishnu. O twice-born one, these ascetics, who, by the destruction of ignorance, emerge themselves in this knowledge of Brahma, lose the semenial property and do not germinate in the field of worldly existence.[231] That which is the excellent condition of Vishnu is pure, eternal, universal, undecaying and uniform. And the ascetic who obtains this supreme condition of Brahma is not

required to be born again, for he is freed from the distinction of virtue and vice and suffering.

There are two states of Brahma—one with shape and the other without it—one perishable and the other imperishable. These two states are manifest everywhere. As the blaze of fire, at one place, spreads light and heat all around so this vast universe is nothing but the manifestation of the energy of the undecaying and eternal Brahma. And as the light and heat are stronger or feebler proportionate to the distance of the spot, so the energy of Brahma is more or less manifest in beings as they are more or less remote from him. O Brāhman, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are the most powerful energies of Brahma: next to them, O Maitreya, are the inferior celestials—next to them are the patriarch Daksha and others—next to them, men, beasts, birds and serpents and then the trees and plants each growing feebler proportionate to their distance from the Supreme God. In this way, the world, although eternal and indestructable, appears and disappears as if being subject to birth and death.

The all-powerful Vishnu is but the manifestation of Brahma. He being invested with form, the Yogis worship him at the very commencement. And the great ascetics, with their minds unagitated, in whose minds exists great spirit of devotion with the object to be meditated upon and along with the means for effecting it, endeavour to bring about mystic union with him. O great Muni, Hari is the most powerful of all the energies of Brahma, because he is the most immediate. And he is an embodiment of Brahma because he is composed entirely of his essence. In him the whole universe is interwoven—from him and in him is the universe, O Muni. Vishnu, the lord of the universe containing all that is destructable and indestructable, holds the creation material and spiritual with his ornaments and weapons.

Maitreya said:—"Do thou relate to me how does the great God Vishnu hold the universe with his ornaments and weapons".

Parāçara said:—Having bowed down unto the mighty and indescribable Vishnu I shall relate to you what was formerly described by Vasishtha, The Great Hari holds the pure soul of the world uncontaminated and divested of qualities like the Kaustava gem. The undecaying holds Pakriti as Srivatsa mark and intellect exists in Mādhava in the shape of his mace. The lord holds the two-folded divisions of egotism namely into elements and organs of sense in the shape of his conch-shell and bow. He holds in his hand, in the shape of discus, mind which is the strength of all and excels wind in its flight. The necklace, of the holder of mace, namely Vaijayenti, contains five precious gems (pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire and diamond) being the emblems of the five elemental rudiments. Janārddana holds the faculties of action and perception in the shape of numerous shafts. The holy wisdom is the bright sword of Achyuta concealed sometimes in the scabbard of ignorance. In this wise, O Maitreya, Hrishikesha is the refuge of soul, nature, intellect, egotism, the elements, the senses, mind, ignorance and wisdom. And although Hari is without any shape, yet, he, for the behoof of mankind, in his dillusive form, embodies the elements of the world as his weapons and ornaments. Then the lotus-eyed deity, the lord of the universe, holds the nature and the universes. O Maitreya, true wisdom, ignorance, all that is transient, all that is everlasting, exist in the slayer of Madhu, the lord of all creatures. The time with its division of seconds, minutes, days, months, seasons, and years, is but the manifestation of the Great Hari. O Great Muni, the seven worlds, the earth the sky, the heaven, the world of Patriarchs, of sages, of saints, of truth are but diverse manifestations of his. His form is the whole universe; he is first born before all the first-born. He is the refuge of ail being; he is himself self-sustained; his various forms are celestials, men and animals. Therefore he is the supreme lord of all; eternal; he has a visible shape and is without it He is known in the Vedanta as the Rich, Yajush, Sāma and Atharva Vedas, history and sacred science. The Vedas with their manifold divisions, the institutes of Manu and the writings of other law-givers, sacred lores and their translations, poems and all that is said or sung are bodily forms of that Great Vishnu in the shape of sound. All kinds of things with or without form—here or elsewhere are the body of Vishnu. I am Hari; all this is Janārddana, cause and effect proceed from none else but him. He, who is cognizant of these truths, shall never be subject to the afflictions of worldly existence.