SECTION XV.Parāçara said,—When the Prachetas were thus engaged in devout exercises the earth was covered with huge trees and the subjects suffered decease. The welkin being obstructed with the branches of trees, the wind did not blow for ten thousand years and the mankind did not labour. And when the Prachetas came out of the water they were greatly inflamed with ire beholding the earth, and wind and flame issued out of their mouths. The wind uprooted all the trees and left them sear and dry and the fierce fire consumed and thus the earth was cleared off the forests. Beholding all the trees thus destroyed and only few left, their king Soma approached those princes and said,—"Renounce your ire, O princes, and hear what I say; I shall bring about peace between you and the trees. This precious and beautiful maiden, sprung from the trees, has been nourished by me with my rays who am cognizant of futurity. Her name is Marishā and she has sprung from the trees. That lucky damsel shall be your wife and the multiplier of the family of Dhruva. From half of your lustre and half of mine, the learned and the great Patriarch Daksha shall be begotten on her; your lustre as well as mine being conjoined in him he shall be effulgent like fire and multiply the human race. There lived in the days of yore an ascetic named Kandu—the foremost of those conversant with the Vedas. He engaged in an austere devotion on the picturesque bank of the river Gomati. To obstruct his devotion a highly beautiful nymph named Pramlocha was despatched by the king of the celestials. And being thus engaged, the sweet-smiling nymph diverted the sage from the practice of his pious austerities. Being thus diverted he lived with her for a hundred and fifty years at the valley of the mount Mandāra, his mind being wholly given up to worldly enjoyment. Once on a time the damsel said to the high-souled Rishi,—'O Brahman, I desire to go to the abode of the celestials—do thou, with a delighted countenance, grant me the permission'. Being thus addressed by her, the ascetic, solely attached to her, replied,—'O fair lady, do thou stay a few days more with me'. Being thus requested by him that damsel of a slender person, enjoyed earthly pleasures in the company of that high-souled ascetic, for more than a hundred years. And being again accosted by her with 'O lord! allow me to return to the abode of the celestials' he again requested her to stay a few more with him. After the expiration of another hundred years the beautiful damsel, with a smile of love, again said,—'I shall now go to the abode of the celestials, O Brāhman'. Being thus addressed the ascetic, detaining the fair-eyed damsel, said,—'Stay a little more, thou shalt depart for a long time'. Afraid of incurring an imprecation the graceful nymph lived with the ascetic for nearly two hundred years more. The high-souled sage was repeatedly asked by the nymph to allow her to repair to the abode of the lord of the celestials and she was as often desired by him to remain. Afraid of his curse, excelling in amiable manners and knowing full well the pain consequent upon the separation from an object of love she did not quit the ascetic, who, enjoying in her company day and night and having his mind possessed by cupid, became fully attached unto her. Once while he was speedily issuing out of the cottage the nymph said to him. 'Where are you going?' Whereto he replied, 'O damsel, the day is fast approaching its close, I must perform my evening ablutions or else I shall neglect a duty'. Thereupon smiling, she, delightedly, said to the sage,—'O thou conversant with all religions, why dost thou talk of to-day approaching its close? Is thy day, O Brāhman, the aggregate of many hundred years? Shall it not create astonishment in other? Do thou tell me'. The ascetic said,—'O fair damsel, you came to the riverside this morning—I saw you there and brought you to my hermitage. The day has passed and the evening has well-nigh arrived. Tell me in sooth what the truth is'. The (nymph) Pramlocha said,—'True it is, O Brāhman, that I came here at dawn. It is not false—but after that hundreds of years have flown away'. Thereupon, the sage, stricken with fear, asked that nymph, having expansive eyes, saying,—'Tell me how many years I have spent in enjoyment with you'. Pramlocha said,—'You have spent nine hundred and seven years six months and three days'. The ascetic again said,—'No more of laughter, O fair nymph, tell me the truth; methinks I have spent one day in your company'. To which Pramlocha replied: 'O venerable sage why shall I speak untruth unto thee since I have been specially requested by thee to-day to speak the truth'. Soma said,—O Princes, when the sage had heard these words and thought them to be true he began to reproach himself exclaming, 'O fie, fie upon me; my penance has been obstructed—the wealth of those who are cognizant of Brahmā, has been stolen; my judgement has been blinded; by whom women have been created to beguile mankind? O fie upon that passion by which my self-control has been stolen whereby I, was about to attain the knowledge of Brahmā who is above the reach of those who are immersed in the six waves—namely, hunger, thirst, sorrow, stupification, decay and death. By this evil company, which is the road to hell all my austerities, leading to the acquisition of the wisdom of the Vedas, have been obstructed'. Having thus reviled himself the pious sage spoke to the nymph, who was near him, saying,—'Go where dost thou wish, O vile nymph—thou hast performed that for which thou hast been enjoyned by the lord of the celestials—thou hast obstructed my penances with thy fascinations. I do not reduce thee to ashes with the fierce fire of my rage. Seven paces together are quite sufficient for the friendship of the pious, and thou and I have lived together for a pretty long time. Or what for is thy folly—and why should I be offended with thee—verily this is an outcome of my own folly since I have not been able to control my passions. O fie on hated thee, the box of fascinations, who, to win favour with Sakra, has disturbed my devotion'. Soma said,—While the sage spoke thus to the nymph she perspired and stood trembling. Thereupon, the foremost of ascetics again said angrily to her, thus trembling and with drops of perspiration issuing from every pore—'Depart! Depart'. Being thus remonstrated with by that sage she issued out of the hermitage and began to wend her way by the welkin, rubbing the perspiration with the leaves of the trees. She went forth from tree to tree rubbing her limbs and the perspiration with the durky shoots. And the child, she had conceived by the sage, came out from the pores of her skin, in drops of perspiration. The trees received those drops and the wind collected them. I protected it with my rays till it increased in size gradually. Because she sprang from the drops on the tops of the trees that fair damsel was called Mārisha; the trees will give her to thee—let your anger be appeased. She is Kandu's child—she was sprung from the trees—she is my offspring as well as that of the wind—and she is also the daughter Pramlocha. And the great sage, Kandu, on the wane of his devotion, repaired to the region of Vishnu called Purushottama, O Maitreya. And there he, O princes, devoted himself, with his whole mind to the adoration of Vishnu and engaged in theYoga, with uplifted hands and uttering the prayers comprehending the supreme truths of the Vedas". The Prachetasas said,—"We wish to hear of the excellent prayers of the sage, by which Kandu engaged in devotion and in the adoration of Keshava". On which Soma repeated them:—"'Vishnu is beyond the limit of all earthly things, he is the infinite; through him we may get at the other end of the limitless deep—the earth: he is above all that is above; he is the finite truth; he is worthy of being approached by those who are conversant with the Vedas; the limit of elemental being; above the perception of the senses and the protectors (the divinities who protect the creation). He is the cause of cause; the cause of the cause in cause; the cause of finite cause; and in effects he, both as every object and agent, preserves the creation. He is Brahmā the lord; Brahmā all beings; Brahmā the creator of the human race; the undecaying, imperishable and eternal; he is spread all over the earth, unborn, incapable of increase or diminution. Purushottama, is the eternal, unborn, immutable Brahmā. May he annihilate the infirmities of my nature'. Repeating those prayers, comprehending the essence of divine truth and propitiating Keshava the ascetic attained to the final emancipation. I shall now describe to you what Mārisha was in her previous birth—for a recital of her glorious acts will be of immense benefit to you. O princes, she was in her previous birth a queen, and was left childless at her husband's death; and she therefore propitiated Vishnu with zealous devotion. Thus pleased with her devotion Vishnu appeared to her in person and said,—'Do thou beg of me a boon'. Whereto she replied communicating her desire,—'O lord of earth—I am a widow from my childhood—unfortunate as I am, in vain is my birth on this earth. Do thou so favour me, that I may be blessed with a good husband in every birth and a son equal to a patriarch amongst men; I may be possessed of beauty and wealth and may be pleasing unto all—that I may be born out of the ordinary course'. Hrishikesha, the lord of the celestials, the giver of all boons thus prayed to, raised her from her prostrate attitude and said,—'In one birth you shall have ten husbands of great prowess whose fame shall spread far and wide. And O fair damsel, you shall have a great son gifted with mighty prowess and all the accomplishments that are to be seen in the great Patriarch. The supremacy of his family shall be established all over the universe and the three worlds shall be filled with his descendants. And you, by my favour, shall be of marvellous birth, chaste, endowed with grace and loveliness and delightful to men'. Having thus spoken to that fair damsel, having spacious eyes, the Deity disappeared and the princess, was accordingly born as Mārisha, who is given to you for a wife, Princes". Parāçara said:—Thereupon renouncing their ire against the trees at the words of Soma, the Prachetas took Mārisha righteously to wife. And the Ten Prachetas begot on Mārisha the eminent Patriarch, Daksha, who had (in a former birth) been born as the son of Brahmā. O thou of great mind, for the multiplication of creation and increase of his own race this eminent Daksha created progeny. Obeying the mandate of Brahmā for the furtherance of creation he made moveable and immoveable things, bipeds and quadrupeds. Having created (that) by his will he created females out of which ten were conferred on Dharma, thirteen on Kasyapa and twenty-seven who regulate the course of time on the Moon, And from them were produced the gods, the demons, the snake-gods, cows, birds, singers, the spirits of evil and others. Thenceforth creatures were produced by sexual intercourse. O Maitreya—before that they were generated, by the by sight, by touch and by the influence of austerities practised by the ascetics of accomplished piety. Maitreya said:—"O great ascetic, Daksha, as I am informed, was born from the right thumb of Brahmā: tell how he was born again as the son of Ten Prachetas. Another great doubt exists in my mind O Brahmā that how could he, who was the grandson of Soma, be also his father-in-law". Parisara said:—O thou of great piety, birth and death are constant in all creatures. Rishis having divine vision do not wonder at it. Daksha and other eminent ascetics take birth in every age and they again cease to be: the learned are not perplexed by it. O foremost of the twice-born ones, in the days of yore there was neither senior nor junior (by age); asceticism and spiritual power were the sole causes of being considered as senior. Maitreya said:—"O Brāhman, do thou relate at length, the origin of the gods, demons, Gandharvas, serpents and goblins". Parāçara said:—Do thou hear, O thou of a high-mind, how commanded by Brahmā, Daksha created living creatures. At first Daksha created his will-born progeny—the deities, the Rishis, the Gandharvas, the demons and the snake-gods. When he found, O twice-born one, that his mind-born progeny did not multiply he began to meditate upon some other means of increasing the living creatures, Then desirous of multiplying the race by means of sexual intercourse he married the daughter of the Patriarch Veerana by name Ashikni who was devotee! to austerities and the eminent supportress of the world. And the energetic Patriarch for the multiplication of the progeny begot on Ashikni the daughter of Veerana, five thousand sons. And beholding them desirous of multiplying the race, the divine ascetic Nārada approaching them addressed them with sweet words—Nārada said,—"O ye highly powerful Haryaswas, it is evident that you intend multiplying the progeny—do ye hear this: you like ignorant people, do know not the middle, the height and the depth of the world: how would you propagate progeny then? Your understanding is not hindered by interval, height or depth, why do ye not O fools, behold the end of the universe?" Parāçara said—Having heard these words they repaired to various quarters and have not returned as yet as the rivers lose themselves in the ocean (and do not come back).The Haryaswas having gone away the Patriarch Daksha again begot a thousand sons upon the daughter of Beerana. And, they, who were named Savalaswas, were desirous of multiplying mankind and they were again addressed by Nārada, Brāhmana, with the words mentioned before. They said to one another,—"What the Muni had said is perfectly true. We must follow the path wended by our brothers: there is not the least doubt about it. And ascertaining the extent of the universe we will multiply our race". They also went to various quarters by the path (followed by their brothers) and have not returned like rivers flowing into the deep. Thenceforth, O twice-born one, a brother searching after a brother, is generally lost: the wise do not resort to such actions. Finding that all his sons had disappeared the eminent Patriarch Daksha was worked with ire and imprecated Nārada. We have heard, O Maitreya, that thereupon the learned Pratriarch Daksha, desirous to multiply the race begot upon the daughter of Veerana sixty daughters. Of whom he gave ten to Dharma, thirteen to Kasyapa, twenty-seven to Soma, four to Arishtanemi, two to Bahuputra, two to Angiras and two to the learned Krisaswa. Do thou hear their names from me. Arundnati, Vasu, Yami, Lamba, Bhami, Marutwati, Sankalpa, Muhurtta, Sadhya and Viswa were the ten wives of Dharma. I will mention their offspring. Viswadevas[226]were the sons of Viswa and the Sadhyas[227]were the sons of Sadhya. The Maruts or Winds were the offspring of Marutwati and the Vasus of Vasu. The Bhānus (or suns) were the sons of Bhānu and the deities governing the moments of Muhurtta, Ghosa was born of Lamba and Nāgabithi[228]was born of Yāmi (night). And all the objects of the world were born of Arundhuti and Sankalpa (pious determination) was the son of Sankalpa. I shall mention at length the particulars of the eight Vasus who abound in effulgence and night. They are Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhāsha. The sons of Apa were Vaitandya, Srama (weariness) Srānta (fatigue) and Dhur, and the son of Dhruva was the great Kāla (Time) the cherisher of the world. The son of Soma was Varchas (light) by whom was generated Varchaswi (radiance). And Dhara had, by his wife Monohora, Dravina, Hutaravyavaha, Sisira, Prāna and Ramana. Anila's wife was Siva; and he had by her two sons—Monojova (swift as thought) and Avijnātagati (unknowable motion), The son of Agni—Kumara, was born in a clump of Sara reeds, whose sons were Sākha, Visākha, Naigameya and Prishthaja. The son of Kritikas was named Kartikeya. The son of Pratyushwa was the great ascetic Duvala who had two intelligent and philosophic sons. The great ascetic Vrihaspati had a sister who was the foremost of the females, virtuous and of accomplished asceticism. Without beings attached to the world she travelled all over the world. She became the spouse of Pravasha the eighth Vasu. Of her was born the noble Patriarch Viswakarma the author of a thousand arts, the architect of the celestials, the inventor of all ornaments and the foremost of the artists. He constructed the chariots of all the deities; and by the skill of that high-souled one, people obtain subsistence. He had four sons whose names hear from me. They were Ayaikapad, Ahirvradhna, Twashtri and Rudra and they were all wise. And the self-born son of Twashtri was also the famous Viswarupa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds—Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Aparajitā, Vrishahapi, Sambhu, Kaparddi, Raivata, Mrigavyadha, Sarava and Kapāli; but there are a hundred names of the Rudras of unmitigated prowess.[226]A class of deities to whom daily offerings are to be made.[227]Are the personifications of Vedic rites and prayers.[228]The milky way.Kashyapa married the thirteen daughters of Daksha namely Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinatā, Tāmrā, Krodha, Vasa, Idā, Khasā, Kadru and Muni. I will describe their progeny to you. There were twelve well-known celestials in a former Manwantara, named Tushitas, who, on the approach of the present Manwantara and at the end of the reign of Manu Chakhusha assembled and said to one another,—"O deities, let us all speedily enter into the womb of Aditi that we may be born in the next Manwantara for we shall thereby be again crowned with blessings". Having said this they at the end of the reign of Manu Chakshusha were born the sons of Kashyapa, the son of Mārichi by Aditi the daughter of Daksha. Of them were born first Vishnu and Sakra and the Aryaman, Dhuti, Twashtri, Pushan, Vivaswat, Sāvitri, Mitra, Varunā, Ansa and Bhaga. These who, in the reign of Chākshusha Manu were Tushitas, were called the twelve Adityas in the Manwāntara of Vaivaswata. The twenty-seven virtuous daughters of the Patriarch who were married to the Moon were all well-known as the nymphs of the lunar constellations after their names; they had children of unmitigated effulgence. The wives of Arishthanemi bore sixteen children. The daughters of the learned Bahaputra were the four lightnings. The excellent Paratyangirasa Richas were born from the wives of Angiras and the celestial weapons were the children of the Rishi Krishaswa. These deities take their birth once after the expiry of a thousandyugas; they are thirty-three in number and their appearance and disappearance is here spoken of as birth and death and O Maitreya these divinities appear and disappear, age after age as the sun sets and rises again.It is said that Kashyapa begat on Diti two sons—One was named Hiranyakashipu and the other was named Hiranyaksha and both of them were invincible. She had also a daughter named Sinhika who was married to Biprachitwa. Hiranyakashipu had four highly effulgent sons—named Anuhlāda Hlāda, Prahlāda and Sanhlāda;—they were all highly intelligent, powerful and the multiplier of the Daitya race. O noble sage, amongst these, Prahlāda, looking impartially on all things, devoted his whole faith to Janārddana. O twice-born one, the flames lighted by the king of Daityas did not consume him in whose heart Vasudeva was present. The whole earth shook, when bound with ropes, he moved in the midst of the water of the deep. Having his mind entirely engrossed by Achuta his body firm as the rock was not assailed by the diverse weapons hurled on him by the order of the king of Daityas. And the venomous snakes could not destroy him (even). And he remembering the excellent Purusha and protected by the recollection of Vishnu as his armour he did not renounce his life albeit overwhelmed with rocks. The earth received the high-minded (Prahlāda) when he was hurled from on high by the king of Daityas residing in Swerga. The slayer of Madhu being present in his mind, the wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself destroyed. Being ordered by the lord of Daityas the maddened elephants of the spheres broke their trunks and baffled their pride against his firm breast. The rites of the priests of the Daitya monarch were useless to bring about the destruction of one who was attached to Govinda. The thousand illusions of the illusive Samvara were baffled by the discus of Krishna. The poison offered by the cooks, at the command of the king of Daityas, could not produce any change upon the intelligent (Prahlāda) void of pride, who unhesitatingly partook that. He looked impartially upon the world and all creatures, was full of kindness and regarded all things equally and as identical with himself. He was pious and an inexhaustible mine of purity and truth and a model for all pious men.
SECTION XV.Parāçara said,—When the Prachetas were thus engaged in devout exercises the earth was covered with huge trees and the subjects suffered decease. The welkin being obstructed with the branches of trees, the wind did not blow for ten thousand years and the mankind did not labour. And when the Prachetas came out of the water they were greatly inflamed with ire beholding the earth, and wind and flame issued out of their mouths. The wind uprooted all the trees and left them sear and dry and the fierce fire consumed and thus the earth was cleared off the forests. Beholding all the trees thus destroyed and only few left, their king Soma approached those princes and said,—"Renounce your ire, O princes, and hear what I say; I shall bring about peace between you and the trees. This precious and beautiful maiden, sprung from the trees, has been nourished by me with my rays who am cognizant of futurity. Her name is Marishā and she has sprung from the trees. That lucky damsel shall be your wife and the multiplier of the family of Dhruva. From half of your lustre and half of mine, the learned and the great Patriarch Daksha shall be begotten on her; your lustre as well as mine being conjoined in him he shall be effulgent like fire and multiply the human race. There lived in the days of yore an ascetic named Kandu—the foremost of those conversant with the Vedas. He engaged in an austere devotion on the picturesque bank of the river Gomati. To obstruct his devotion a highly beautiful nymph named Pramlocha was despatched by the king of the celestials. And being thus engaged, the sweet-smiling nymph diverted the sage from the practice of his pious austerities. Being thus diverted he lived with her for a hundred and fifty years at the valley of the mount Mandāra, his mind being wholly given up to worldly enjoyment. Once on a time the damsel said to the high-souled Rishi,—'O Brahman, I desire to go to the abode of the celestials—do thou, with a delighted countenance, grant me the permission'. Being thus addressed by her, the ascetic, solely attached to her, replied,—'O fair lady, do thou stay a few days more with me'. Being thus requested by him that damsel of a slender person, enjoyed earthly pleasures in the company of that high-souled ascetic, for more than a hundred years. And being again accosted by her with 'O lord! allow me to return to the abode of the celestials' he again requested her to stay a few more with him. After the expiration of another hundred years the beautiful damsel, with a smile of love, again said,—'I shall now go to the abode of the celestials, O Brāhman'. Being thus addressed the ascetic, detaining the fair-eyed damsel, said,—'Stay a little more, thou shalt depart for a long time'. Afraid of incurring an imprecation the graceful nymph lived with the ascetic for nearly two hundred years more. The high-souled sage was repeatedly asked by the nymph to allow her to repair to the abode of the lord of the celestials and she was as often desired by him to remain. Afraid of his curse, excelling in amiable manners and knowing full well the pain consequent upon the separation from an object of love she did not quit the ascetic, who, enjoying in her company day and night and having his mind possessed by cupid, became fully attached unto her. Once while he was speedily issuing out of the cottage the nymph said to him. 'Where are you going?' Whereto he replied, 'O damsel, the day is fast approaching its close, I must perform my evening ablutions or else I shall neglect a duty'. Thereupon smiling, she, delightedly, said to the sage,—'O thou conversant with all religions, why dost thou talk of to-day approaching its close? Is thy day, O Brāhman, the aggregate of many hundred years? Shall it not create astonishment in other? Do thou tell me'. The ascetic said,—'O fair damsel, you came to the riverside this morning—I saw you there and brought you to my hermitage. The day has passed and the evening has well-nigh arrived. Tell me in sooth what the truth is'. The (nymph) Pramlocha said,—'True it is, O Brāhman, that I came here at dawn. It is not false—but after that hundreds of years have flown away'. Thereupon, the sage, stricken with fear, asked that nymph, having expansive eyes, saying,—'Tell me how many years I have spent in enjoyment with you'. Pramlocha said,—'You have spent nine hundred and seven years six months and three days'. The ascetic again said,—'No more of laughter, O fair nymph, tell me the truth; methinks I have spent one day in your company'. To which Pramlocha replied: 'O venerable sage why shall I speak untruth unto thee since I have been specially requested by thee to-day to speak the truth'. Soma said,—O Princes, when the sage had heard these words and thought them to be true he began to reproach himself exclaming, 'O fie, fie upon me; my penance has been obstructed—the wealth of those who are cognizant of Brahmā, has been stolen; my judgement has been blinded; by whom women have been created to beguile mankind? O fie upon that passion by which my self-control has been stolen whereby I, was about to attain the knowledge of Brahmā who is above the reach of those who are immersed in the six waves—namely, hunger, thirst, sorrow, stupification, decay and death. By this evil company, which is the road to hell all my austerities, leading to the acquisition of the wisdom of the Vedas, have been obstructed'. Having thus reviled himself the pious sage spoke to the nymph, who was near him, saying,—'Go where dost thou wish, O vile nymph—thou hast performed that for which thou hast been enjoyned by the lord of the celestials—thou hast obstructed my penances with thy fascinations. I do not reduce thee to ashes with the fierce fire of my rage. Seven paces together are quite sufficient for the friendship of the pious, and thou and I have lived together for a pretty long time. Or what for is thy folly—and why should I be offended with thee—verily this is an outcome of my own folly since I have not been able to control my passions. O fie on hated thee, the box of fascinations, who, to win favour with Sakra, has disturbed my devotion'. Soma said,—While the sage spoke thus to the nymph she perspired and stood trembling. Thereupon, the foremost of ascetics again said angrily to her, thus trembling and with drops of perspiration issuing from every pore—'Depart! Depart'. Being thus remonstrated with by that sage she issued out of the hermitage and began to wend her way by the welkin, rubbing the perspiration with the leaves of the trees. She went forth from tree to tree rubbing her limbs and the perspiration with the durky shoots. And the child, she had conceived by the sage, came out from the pores of her skin, in drops of perspiration. The trees received those drops and the wind collected them. I protected it with my rays till it increased in size gradually. Because she sprang from the drops on the tops of the trees that fair damsel was called Mārisha; the trees will give her to thee—let your anger be appeased. She is Kandu's child—she was sprung from the trees—she is my offspring as well as that of the wind—and she is also the daughter Pramlocha. And the great sage, Kandu, on the wane of his devotion, repaired to the region of Vishnu called Purushottama, O Maitreya. And there he, O princes, devoted himself, with his whole mind to the adoration of Vishnu and engaged in theYoga, with uplifted hands and uttering the prayers comprehending the supreme truths of the Vedas". The Prachetasas said,—"We wish to hear of the excellent prayers of the sage, by which Kandu engaged in devotion and in the adoration of Keshava". On which Soma repeated them:—"'Vishnu is beyond the limit of all earthly things, he is the infinite; through him we may get at the other end of the limitless deep—the earth: he is above all that is above; he is the finite truth; he is worthy of being approached by those who are conversant with the Vedas; the limit of elemental being; above the perception of the senses and the protectors (the divinities who protect the creation). He is the cause of cause; the cause of the cause in cause; the cause of finite cause; and in effects he, both as every object and agent, preserves the creation. He is Brahmā the lord; Brahmā all beings; Brahmā the creator of the human race; the undecaying, imperishable and eternal; he is spread all over the earth, unborn, incapable of increase or diminution. Purushottama, is the eternal, unborn, immutable Brahmā. May he annihilate the infirmities of my nature'. Repeating those prayers, comprehending the essence of divine truth and propitiating Keshava the ascetic attained to the final emancipation. I shall now describe to you what Mārisha was in her previous birth—for a recital of her glorious acts will be of immense benefit to you. O princes, she was in her previous birth a queen, and was left childless at her husband's death; and she therefore propitiated Vishnu with zealous devotion. Thus pleased with her devotion Vishnu appeared to her in person and said,—'Do thou beg of me a boon'. Whereto she replied communicating her desire,—'O lord of earth—I am a widow from my childhood—unfortunate as I am, in vain is my birth on this earth. Do thou so favour me, that I may be blessed with a good husband in every birth and a son equal to a patriarch amongst men; I may be possessed of beauty and wealth and may be pleasing unto all—that I may be born out of the ordinary course'. Hrishikesha, the lord of the celestials, the giver of all boons thus prayed to, raised her from her prostrate attitude and said,—'In one birth you shall have ten husbands of great prowess whose fame shall spread far and wide. And O fair damsel, you shall have a great son gifted with mighty prowess and all the accomplishments that are to be seen in the great Patriarch. The supremacy of his family shall be established all over the universe and the three worlds shall be filled with his descendants. And you, by my favour, shall be of marvellous birth, chaste, endowed with grace and loveliness and delightful to men'. Having thus spoken to that fair damsel, having spacious eyes, the Deity disappeared and the princess, was accordingly born as Mārisha, who is given to you for a wife, Princes". Parāçara said:—Thereupon renouncing their ire against the trees at the words of Soma, the Prachetas took Mārisha righteously to wife. And the Ten Prachetas begot on Mārisha the eminent Patriarch, Daksha, who had (in a former birth) been born as the son of Brahmā. O thou of great mind, for the multiplication of creation and increase of his own race this eminent Daksha created progeny. Obeying the mandate of Brahmā for the furtherance of creation he made moveable and immoveable things, bipeds and quadrupeds. Having created (that) by his will he created females out of which ten were conferred on Dharma, thirteen on Kasyapa and twenty-seven who regulate the course of time on the Moon, And from them were produced the gods, the demons, the snake-gods, cows, birds, singers, the spirits of evil and others. Thenceforth creatures were produced by sexual intercourse. O Maitreya—before that they were generated, by the by sight, by touch and by the influence of austerities practised by the ascetics of accomplished piety. Maitreya said:—"O great ascetic, Daksha, as I am informed, was born from the right thumb of Brahmā: tell how he was born again as the son of Ten Prachetas. Another great doubt exists in my mind O Brahmā that how could he, who was the grandson of Soma, be also his father-in-law". Parisara said:—O thou of great piety, birth and death are constant in all creatures. Rishis having divine vision do not wonder at it. Daksha and other eminent ascetics take birth in every age and they again cease to be: the learned are not perplexed by it. O foremost of the twice-born ones, in the days of yore there was neither senior nor junior (by age); asceticism and spiritual power were the sole causes of being considered as senior. Maitreya said:—"O Brāhman, do thou relate at length, the origin of the gods, demons, Gandharvas, serpents and goblins". Parāçara said:—Do thou hear, O thou of a high-mind, how commanded by Brahmā, Daksha created living creatures. At first Daksha created his will-born progeny—the deities, the Rishis, the Gandharvas, the demons and the snake-gods. When he found, O twice-born one, that his mind-born progeny did not multiply he began to meditate upon some other means of increasing the living creatures, Then desirous of multiplying the race by means of sexual intercourse he married the daughter of the Patriarch Veerana by name Ashikni who was devotee! to austerities and the eminent supportress of the world. And the energetic Patriarch for the multiplication of the progeny begot on Ashikni the daughter of Veerana, five thousand sons. And beholding them desirous of multiplying the race, the divine ascetic Nārada approaching them addressed them with sweet words—Nārada said,—"O ye highly powerful Haryaswas, it is evident that you intend multiplying the progeny—do ye hear this: you like ignorant people, do know not the middle, the height and the depth of the world: how would you propagate progeny then? Your understanding is not hindered by interval, height or depth, why do ye not O fools, behold the end of the universe?" Parāçara said—Having heard these words they repaired to various quarters and have not returned as yet as the rivers lose themselves in the ocean (and do not come back).The Haryaswas having gone away the Patriarch Daksha again begot a thousand sons upon the daughter of Beerana. And, they, who were named Savalaswas, were desirous of multiplying mankind and they were again addressed by Nārada, Brāhmana, with the words mentioned before. They said to one another,—"What the Muni had said is perfectly true. We must follow the path wended by our brothers: there is not the least doubt about it. And ascertaining the extent of the universe we will multiply our race". They also went to various quarters by the path (followed by their brothers) and have not returned like rivers flowing into the deep. Thenceforth, O twice-born one, a brother searching after a brother, is generally lost: the wise do not resort to such actions. Finding that all his sons had disappeared the eminent Patriarch Daksha was worked with ire and imprecated Nārada. We have heard, O Maitreya, that thereupon the learned Pratriarch Daksha, desirous to multiply the race begot upon the daughter of Veerana sixty daughters. Of whom he gave ten to Dharma, thirteen to Kasyapa, twenty-seven to Soma, four to Arishtanemi, two to Bahuputra, two to Angiras and two to the learned Krisaswa. Do thou hear their names from me. Arundnati, Vasu, Yami, Lamba, Bhami, Marutwati, Sankalpa, Muhurtta, Sadhya and Viswa were the ten wives of Dharma. I will mention their offspring. Viswadevas[226]were the sons of Viswa and the Sadhyas[227]were the sons of Sadhya. The Maruts or Winds were the offspring of Marutwati and the Vasus of Vasu. The Bhānus (or suns) were the sons of Bhānu and the deities governing the moments of Muhurtta, Ghosa was born of Lamba and Nāgabithi[228]was born of Yāmi (night). And all the objects of the world were born of Arundhuti and Sankalpa (pious determination) was the son of Sankalpa. I shall mention at length the particulars of the eight Vasus who abound in effulgence and night. They are Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhāsha. The sons of Apa were Vaitandya, Srama (weariness) Srānta (fatigue) and Dhur, and the son of Dhruva was the great Kāla (Time) the cherisher of the world. The son of Soma was Varchas (light) by whom was generated Varchaswi (radiance). And Dhara had, by his wife Monohora, Dravina, Hutaravyavaha, Sisira, Prāna and Ramana. Anila's wife was Siva; and he had by her two sons—Monojova (swift as thought) and Avijnātagati (unknowable motion), The son of Agni—Kumara, was born in a clump of Sara reeds, whose sons were Sākha, Visākha, Naigameya and Prishthaja. The son of Kritikas was named Kartikeya. The son of Pratyushwa was the great ascetic Duvala who had two intelligent and philosophic sons. The great ascetic Vrihaspati had a sister who was the foremost of the females, virtuous and of accomplished asceticism. Without beings attached to the world she travelled all over the world. She became the spouse of Pravasha the eighth Vasu. Of her was born the noble Patriarch Viswakarma the author of a thousand arts, the architect of the celestials, the inventor of all ornaments and the foremost of the artists. He constructed the chariots of all the deities; and by the skill of that high-souled one, people obtain subsistence. He had four sons whose names hear from me. They were Ayaikapad, Ahirvradhna, Twashtri and Rudra and they were all wise. And the self-born son of Twashtri was also the famous Viswarupa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds—Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Aparajitā, Vrishahapi, Sambhu, Kaparddi, Raivata, Mrigavyadha, Sarava and Kapāli; but there are a hundred names of the Rudras of unmitigated prowess.[226]A class of deities to whom daily offerings are to be made.[227]Are the personifications of Vedic rites and prayers.[228]The milky way.Kashyapa married the thirteen daughters of Daksha namely Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinatā, Tāmrā, Krodha, Vasa, Idā, Khasā, Kadru and Muni. I will describe their progeny to you. There were twelve well-known celestials in a former Manwantara, named Tushitas, who, on the approach of the present Manwantara and at the end of the reign of Manu Chakhusha assembled and said to one another,—"O deities, let us all speedily enter into the womb of Aditi that we may be born in the next Manwantara for we shall thereby be again crowned with blessings". Having said this they at the end of the reign of Manu Chakshusha were born the sons of Kashyapa, the son of Mārichi by Aditi the daughter of Daksha. Of them were born first Vishnu and Sakra and the Aryaman, Dhuti, Twashtri, Pushan, Vivaswat, Sāvitri, Mitra, Varunā, Ansa and Bhaga. These who, in the reign of Chākshusha Manu were Tushitas, were called the twelve Adityas in the Manwāntara of Vaivaswata. The twenty-seven virtuous daughters of the Patriarch who were married to the Moon were all well-known as the nymphs of the lunar constellations after their names; they had children of unmitigated effulgence. The wives of Arishthanemi bore sixteen children. The daughters of the learned Bahaputra were the four lightnings. The excellent Paratyangirasa Richas were born from the wives of Angiras and the celestial weapons were the children of the Rishi Krishaswa. These deities take their birth once after the expiry of a thousandyugas; they are thirty-three in number and their appearance and disappearance is here spoken of as birth and death and O Maitreya these divinities appear and disappear, age after age as the sun sets and rises again.It is said that Kashyapa begat on Diti two sons—One was named Hiranyakashipu and the other was named Hiranyaksha and both of them were invincible. She had also a daughter named Sinhika who was married to Biprachitwa. Hiranyakashipu had four highly effulgent sons—named Anuhlāda Hlāda, Prahlāda and Sanhlāda;—they were all highly intelligent, powerful and the multiplier of the Daitya race. O noble sage, amongst these, Prahlāda, looking impartially on all things, devoted his whole faith to Janārddana. O twice-born one, the flames lighted by the king of Daityas did not consume him in whose heart Vasudeva was present. The whole earth shook, when bound with ropes, he moved in the midst of the water of the deep. Having his mind entirely engrossed by Achuta his body firm as the rock was not assailed by the diverse weapons hurled on him by the order of the king of Daityas. And the venomous snakes could not destroy him (even). And he remembering the excellent Purusha and protected by the recollection of Vishnu as his armour he did not renounce his life albeit overwhelmed with rocks. The earth received the high-minded (Prahlāda) when he was hurled from on high by the king of Daityas residing in Swerga. The slayer of Madhu being present in his mind, the wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself destroyed. Being ordered by the lord of Daityas the maddened elephants of the spheres broke their trunks and baffled their pride against his firm breast. The rites of the priests of the Daitya monarch were useless to bring about the destruction of one who was attached to Govinda. The thousand illusions of the illusive Samvara were baffled by the discus of Krishna. The poison offered by the cooks, at the command of the king of Daityas, could not produce any change upon the intelligent (Prahlāda) void of pride, who unhesitatingly partook that. He looked impartially upon the world and all creatures, was full of kindness and regarded all things equally and as identical with himself. He was pious and an inexhaustible mine of purity and truth and a model for all pious men.
SECTION XV.Parāçara said,—When the Prachetas were thus engaged in devout exercises the earth was covered with huge trees and the subjects suffered decease. The welkin being obstructed with the branches of trees, the wind did not blow for ten thousand years and the mankind did not labour. And when the Prachetas came out of the water they were greatly inflamed with ire beholding the earth, and wind and flame issued out of their mouths. The wind uprooted all the trees and left them sear and dry and the fierce fire consumed and thus the earth was cleared off the forests. Beholding all the trees thus destroyed and only few left, their king Soma approached those princes and said,—"Renounce your ire, O princes, and hear what I say; I shall bring about peace between you and the trees. This precious and beautiful maiden, sprung from the trees, has been nourished by me with my rays who am cognizant of futurity. Her name is Marishā and she has sprung from the trees. That lucky damsel shall be your wife and the multiplier of the family of Dhruva. From half of your lustre and half of mine, the learned and the great Patriarch Daksha shall be begotten on her; your lustre as well as mine being conjoined in him he shall be effulgent like fire and multiply the human race. There lived in the days of yore an ascetic named Kandu—the foremost of those conversant with the Vedas. He engaged in an austere devotion on the picturesque bank of the river Gomati. To obstruct his devotion a highly beautiful nymph named Pramlocha was despatched by the king of the celestials. And being thus engaged, the sweet-smiling nymph diverted the sage from the practice of his pious austerities. Being thus diverted he lived with her for a hundred and fifty years at the valley of the mount Mandāra, his mind being wholly given up to worldly enjoyment. Once on a time the damsel said to the high-souled Rishi,—'O Brahman, I desire to go to the abode of the celestials—do thou, with a delighted countenance, grant me the permission'. Being thus addressed by her, the ascetic, solely attached to her, replied,—'O fair lady, do thou stay a few days more with me'. Being thus requested by him that damsel of a slender person, enjoyed earthly pleasures in the company of that high-souled ascetic, for more than a hundred years. And being again accosted by her with 'O lord! allow me to return to the abode of the celestials' he again requested her to stay a few more with him. After the expiration of another hundred years the beautiful damsel, with a smile of love, again said,—'I shall now go to the abode of the celestials, O Brāhman'. Being thus addressed the ascetic, detaining the fair-eyed damsel, said,—'Stay a little more, thou shalt depart for a long time'. Afraid of incurring an imprecation the graceful nymph lived with the ascetic for nearly two hundred years more. The high-souled sage was repeatedly asked by the nymph to allow her to repair to the abode of the lord of the celestials and she was as often desired by him to remain. Afraid of his curse, excelling in amiable manners and knowing full well the pain consequent upon the separation from an object of love she did not quit the ascetic, who, enjoying in her company day and night and having his mind possessed by cupid, became fully attached unto her. Once while he was speedily issuing out of the cottage the nymph said to him. 'Where are you going?' Whereto he replied, 'O damsel, the day is fast approaching its close, I must perform my evening ablutions or else I shall neglect a duty'. Thereupon smiling, she, delightedly, said to the sage,—'O thou conversant with all religions, why dost thou talk of to-day approaching its close? Is thy day, O Brāhman, the aggregate of many hundred years? Shall it not create astonishment in other? Do thou tell me'. The ascetic said,—'O fair damsel, you came to the riverside this morning—I saw you there and brought you to my hermitage. The day has passed and the evening has well-nigh arrived. Tell me in sooth what the truth is'. The (nymph) Pramlocha said,—'True it is, O Brāhman, that I came here at dawn. It is not false—but after that hundreds of years have flown away'. Thereupon, the sage, stricken with fear, asked that nymph, having expansive eyes, saying,—'Tell me how many years I have spent in enjoyment with you'. Pramlocha said,—'You have spent nine hundred and seven years six months and three days'. The ascetic again said,—'No more of laughter, O fair nymph, tell me the truth; methinks I have spent one day in your company'. To which Pramlocha replied: 'O venerable sage why shall I speak untruth unto thee since I have been specially requested by thee to-day to speak the truth'. Soma said,—O Princes, when the sage had heard these words and thought them to be true he began to reproach himself exclaming, 'O fie, fie upon me; my penance has been obstructed—the wealth of those who are cognizant of Brahmā, has been stolen; my judgement has been blinded; by whom women have been created to beguile mankind? O fie upon that passion by which my self-control has been stolen whereby I, was about to attain the knowledge of Brahmā who is above the reach of those who are immersed in the six waves—namely, hunger, thirst, sorrow, stupification, decay and death. By this evil company, which is the road to hell all my austerities, leading to the acquisition of the wisdom of the Vedas, have been obstructed'. Having thus reviled himself the pious sage spoke to the nymph, who was near him, saying,—'Go where dost thou wish, O vile nymph—thou hast performed that for which thou hast been enjoyned by the lord of the celestials—thou hast obstructed my penances with thy fascinations. I do not reduce thee to ashes with the fierce fire of my rage. Seven paces together are quite sufficient for the friendship of the pious, and thou and I have lived together for a pretty long time. Or what for is thy folly—and why should I be offended with thee—verily this is an outcome of my own folly since I have not been able to control my passions. O fie on hated thee, the box of fascinations, who, to win favour with Sakra, has disturbed my devotion'. Soma said,—While the sage spoke thus to the nymph she perspired and stood trembling. Thereupon, the foremost of ascetics again said angrily to her, thus trembling and with drops of perspiration issuing from every pore—'Depart! Depart'. Being thus remonstrated with by that sage she issued out of the hermitage and began to wend her way by the welkin, rubbing the perspiration with the leaves of the trees. She went forth from tree to tree rubbing her limbs and the perspiration with the durky shoots. And the child, she had conceived by the sage, came out from the pores of her skin, in drops of perspiration. The trees received those drops and the wind collected them. I protected it with my rays till it increased in size gradually. Because she sprang from the drops on the tops of the trees that fair damsel was called Mārisha; the trees will give her to thee—let your anger be appeased. She is Kandu's child—she was sprung from the trees—she is my offspring as well as that of the wind—and she is also the daughter Pramlocha. And the great sage, Kandu, on the wane of his devotion, repaired to the region of Vishnu called Purushottama, O Maitreya. And there he, O princes, devoted himself, with his whole mind to the adoration of Vishnu and engaged in theYoga, with uplifted hands and uttering the prayers comprehending the supreme truths of the Vedas". The Prachetasas said,—"We wish to hear of the excellent prayers of the sage, by which Kandu engaged in devotion and in the adoration of Keshava". On which Soma repeated them:—"'Vishnu is beyond the limit of all earthly things, he is the infinite; through him we may get at the other end of the limitless deep—the earth: he is above all that is above; he is the finite truth; he is worthy of being approached by those who are conversant with the Vedas; the limit of elemental being; above the perception of the senses and the protectors (the divinities who protect the creation). He is the cause of cause; the cause of the cause in cause; the cause of finite cause; and in effects he, both as every object and agent, preserves the creation. He is Brahmā the lord; Brahmā all beings; Brahmā the creator of the human race; the undecaying, imperishable and eternal; he is spread all over the earth, unborn, incapable of increase or diminution. Purushottama, is the eternal, unborn, immutable Brahmā. May he annihilate the infirmities of my nature'. Repeating those prayers, comprehending the essence of divine truth and propitiating Keshava the ascetic attained to the final emancipation. I shall now describe to you what Mārisha was in her previous birth—for a recital of her glorious acts will be of immense benefit to you. O princes, she was in her previous birth a queen, and was left childless at her husband's death; and she therefore propitiated Vishnu with zealous devotion. Thus pleased with her devotion Vishnu appeared to her in person and said,—'Do thou beg of me a boon'. Whereto she replied communicating her desire,—'O lord of earth—I am a widow from my childhood—unfortunate as I am, in vain is my birth on this earth. Do thou so favour me, that I may be blessed with a good husband in every birth and a son equal to a patriarch amongst men; I may be possessed of beauty and wealth and may be pleasing unto all—that I may be born out of the ordinary course'. Hrishikesha, the lord of the celestials, the giver of all boons thus prayed to, raised her from her prostrate attitude and said,—'In one birth you shall have ten husbands of great prowess whose fame shall spread far and wide. And O fair damsel, you shall have a great son gifted with mighty prowess and all the accomplishments that are to be seen in the great Patriarch. The supremacy of his family shall be established all over the universe and the three worlds shall be filled with his descendants. And you, by my favour, shall be of marvellous birth, chaste, endowed with grace and loveliness and delightful to men'. Having thus spoken to that fair damsel, having spacious eyes, the Deity disappeared and the princess, was accordingly born as Mārisha, who is given to you for a wife, Princes". Parāçara said:—Thereupon renouncing their ire against the trees at the words of Soma, the Prachetas took Mārisha righteously to wife. And the Ten Prachetas begot on Mārisha the eminent Patriarch, Daksha, who had (in a former birth) been born as the son of Brahmā. O thou of great mind, for the multiplication of creation and increase of his own race this eminent Daksha created progeny. Obeying the mandate of Brahmā for the furtherance of creation he made moveable and immoveable things, bipeds and quadrupeds. Having created (that) by his will he created females out of which ten were conferred on Dharma, thirteen on Kasyapa and twenty-seven who regulate the course of time on the Moon, And from them were produced the gods, the demons, the snake-gods, cows, birds, singers, the spirits of evil and others. Thenceforth creatures were produced by sexual intercourse. O Maitreya—before that they were generated, by the by sight, by touch and by the influence of austerities practised by the ascetics of accomplished piety. Maitreya said:—"O great ascetic, Daksha, as I am informed, was born from the right thumb of Brahmā: tell how he was born again as the son of Ten Prachetas. Another great doubt exists in my mind O Brahmā that how could he, who was the grandson of Soma, be also his father-in-law". Parisara said:—O thou of great piety, birth and death are constant in all creatures. Rishis having divine vision do not wonder at it. Daksha and other eminent ascetics take birth in every age and they again cease to be: the learned are not perplexed by it. O foremost of the twice-born ones, in the days of yore there was neither senior nor junior (by age); asceticism and spiritual power were the sole causes of being considered as senior. Maitreya said:—"O Brāhman, do thou relate at length, the origin of the gods, demons, Gandharvas, serpents and goblins". Parāçara said:—Do thou hear, O thou of a high-mind, how commanded by Brahmā, Daksha created living creatures. At first Daksha created his will-born progeny—the deities, the Rishis, the Gandharvas, the demons and the snake-gods. When he found, O twice-born one, that his mind-born progeny did not multiply he began to meditate upon some other means of increasing the living creatures, Then desirous of multiplying the race by means of sexual intercourse he married the daughter of the Patriarch Veerana by name Ashikni who was devotee! to austerities and the eminent supportress of the world. And the energetic Patriarch for the multiplication of the progeny begot on Ashikni the daughter of Veerana, five thousand sons. And beholding them desirous of multiplying the race, the divine ascetic Nārada approaching them addressed them with sweet words—Nārada said,—"O ye highly powerful Haryaswas, it is evident that you intend multiplying the progeny—do ye hear this: you like ignorant people, do know not the middle, the height and the depth of the world: how would you propagate progeny then? Your understanding is not hindered by interval, height or depth, why do ye not O fools, behold the end of the universe?" Parāçara said—Having heard these words they repaired to various quarters and have not returned as yet as the rivers lose themselves in the ocean (and do not come back).The Haryaswas having gone away the Patriarch Daksha again begot a thousand sons upon the daughter of Beerana. And, they, who were named Savalaswas, were desirous of multiplying mankind and they were again addressed by Nārada, Brāhmana, with the words mentioned before. They said to one another,—"What the Muni had said is perfectly true. We must follow the path wended by our brothers: there is not the least doubt about it. And ascertaining the extent of the universe we will multiply our race". They also went to various quarters by the path (followed by their brothers) and have not returned like rivers flowing into the deep. Thenceforth, O twice-born one, a brother searching after a brother, is generally lost: the wise do not resort to such actions. Finding that all his sons had disappeared the eminent Patriarch Daksha was worked with ire and imprecated Nārada. We have heard, O Maitreya, that thereupon the learned Pratriarch Daksha, desirous to multiply the race begot upon the daughter of Veerana sixty daughters. Of whom he gave ten to Dharma, thirteen to Kasyapa, twenty-seven to Soma, four to Arishtanemi, two to Bahuputra, two to Angiras and two to the learned Krisaswa. Do thou hear their names from me. Arundnati, Vasu, Yami, Lamba, Bhami, Marutwati, Sankalpa, Muhurtta, Sadhya and Viswa were the ten wives of Dharma. I will mention their offspring. Viswadevas[226]were the sons of Viswa and the Sadhyas[227]were the sons of Sadhya. The Maruts or Winds were the offspring of Marutwati and the Vasus of Vasu. The Bhānus (or suns) were the sons of Bhānu and the deities governing the moments of Muhurtta, Ghosa was born of Lamba and Nāgabithi[228]was born of Yāmi (night). And all the objects of the world were born of Arundhuti and Sankalpa (pious determination) was the son of Sankalpa. I shall mention at length the particulars of the eight Vasus who abound in effulgence and night. They are Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhāsha. The sons of Apa were Vaitandya, Srama (weariness) Srānta (fatigue) and Dhur, and the son of Dhruva was the great Kāla (Time) the cherisher of the world. The son of Soma was Varchas (light) by whom was generated Varchaswi (radiance). And Dhara had, by his wife Monohora, Dravina, Hutaravyavaha, Sisira, Prāna and Ramana. Anila's wife was Siva; and he had by her two sons—Monojova (swift as thought) and Avijnātagati (unknowable motion), The son of Agni—Kumara, was born in a clump of Sara reeds, whose sons were Sākha, Visākha, Naigameya and Prishthaja. The son of Kritikas was named Kartikeya. The son of Pratyushwa was the great ascetic Duvala who had two intelligent and philosophic sons. The great ascetic Vrihaspati had a sister who was the foremost of the females, virtuous and of accomplished asceticism. Without beings attached to the world she travelled all over the world. She became the spouse of Pravasha the eighth Vasu. Of her was born the noble Patriarch Viswakarma the author of a thousand arts, the architect of the celestials, the inventor of all ornaments and the foremost of the artists. He constructed the chariots of all the deities; and by the skill of that high-souled one, people obtain subsistence. He had four sons whose names hear from me. They were Ayaikapad, Ahirvradhna, Twashtri and Rudra and they were all wise. And the self-born son of Twashtri was also the famous Viswarupa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds—Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Aparajitā, Vrishahapi, Sambhu, Kaparddi, Raivata, Mrigavyadha, Sarava and Kapāli; but there are a hundred names of the Rudras of unmitigated prowess.[226]A class of deities to whom daily offerings are to be made.[227]Are the personifications of Vedic rites and prayers.[228]The milky way.Kashyapa married the thirteen daughters of Daksha namely Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinatā, Tāmrā, Krodha, Vasa, Idā, Khasā, Kadru and Muni. I will describe their progeny to you. There were twelve well-known celestials in a former Manwantara, named Tushitas, who, on the approach of the present Manwantara and at the end of the reign of Manu Chakhusha assembled and said to one another,—"O deities, let us all speedily enter into the womb of Aditi that we may be born in the next Manwantara for we shall thereby be again crowned with blessings". Having said this they at the end of the reign of Manu Chakshusha were born the sons of Kashyapa, the son of Mārichi by Aditi the daughter of Daksha. Of them were born first Vishnu and Sakra and the Aryaman, Dhuti, Twashtri, Pushan, Vivaswat, Sāvitri, Mitra, Varunā, Ansa and Bhaga. These who, in the reign of Chākshusha Manu were Tushitas, were called the twelve Adityas in the Manwāntara of Vaivaswata. The twenty-seven virtuous daughters of the Patriarch who were married to the Moon were all well-known as the nymphs of the lunar constellations after their names; they had children of unmitigated effulgence. The wives of Arishthanemi bore sixteen children. The daughters of the learned Bahaputra were the four lightnings. The excellent Paratyangirasa Richas were born from the wives of Angiras and the celestial weapons were the children of the Rishi Krishaswa. These deities take their birth once after the expiry of a thousandyugas; they are thirty-three in number and their appearance and disappearance is here spoken of as birth and death and O Maitreya these divinities appear and disappear, age after age as the sun sets and rises again.It is said that Kashyapa begat on Diti two sons—One was named Hiranyakashipu and the other was named Hiranyaksha and both of them were invincible. She had also a daughter named Sinhika who was married to Biprachitwa. Hiranyakashipu had four highly effulgent sons—named Anuhlāda Hlāda, Prahlāda and Sanhlāda;—they were all highly intelligent, powerful and the multiplier of the Daitya race. O noble sage, amongst these, Prahlāda, looking impartially on all things, devoted his whole faith to Janārddana. O twice-born one, the flames lighted by the king of Daityas did not consume him in whose heart Vasudeva was present. The whole earth shook, when bound with ropes, he moved in the midst of the water of the deep. Having his mind entirely engrossed by Achuta his body firm as the rock was not assailed by the diverse weapons hurled on him by the order of the king of Daityas. And the venomous snakes could not destroy him (even). And he remembering the excellent Purusha and protected by the recollection of Vishnu as his armour he did not renounce his life albeit overwhelmed with rocks. The earth received the high-minded (Prahlāda) when he was hurled from on high by the king of Daityas residing in Swerga. The slayer of Madhu being present in his mind, the wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself destroyed. Being ordered by the lord of Daityas the maddened elephants of the spheres broke their trunks and baffled their pride against his firm breast. The rites of the priests of the Daitya monarch were useless to bring about the destruction of one who was attached to Govinda. The thousand illusions of the illusive Samvara were baffled by the discus of Krishna. The poison offered by the cooks, at the command of the king of Daityas, could not produce any change upon the intelligent (Prahlāda) void of pride, who unhesitatingly partook that. He looked impartially upon the world and all creatures, was full of kindness and regarded all things equally and as identical with himself. He was pious and an inexhaustible mine of purity and truth and a model for all pious men.
Parāçara said,—When the Prachetas were thus engaged in devout exercises the earth was covered with huge trees and the subjects suffered decease. The welkin being obstructed with the branches of trees, the wind did not blow for ten thousand years and the mankind did not labour. And when the Prachetas came out of the water they were greatly inflamed with ire beholding the earth, and wind and flame issued out of their mouths. The wind uprooted all the trees and left them sear and dry and the fierce fire consumed and thus the earth was cleared off the forests. Beholding all the trees thus destroyed and only few left, their king Soma approached those princes and said,—"Renounce your ire, O princes, and hear what I say; I shall bring about peace between you and the trees. This precious and beautiful maiden, sprung from the trees, has been nourished by me with my rays who am cognizant of futurity. Her name is Marishā and she has sprung from the trees. That lucky damsel shall be your wife and the multiplier of the family of Dhruva. From half of your lustre and half of mine, the learned and the great Patriarch Daksha shall be begotten on her; your lustre as well as mine being conjoined in him he shall be effulgent like fire and multiply the human race. There lived in the days of yore an ascetic named Kandu—the foremost of those conversant with the Vedas. He engaged in an austere devotion on the picturesque bank of the river Gomati. To obstruct his devotion a highly beautiful nymph named Pramlocha was despatched by the king of the celestials. And being thus engaged, the sweet-smiling nymph diverted the sage from the practice of his pious austerities. Being thus diverted he lived with her for a hundred and fifty years at the valley of the mount Mandāra, his mind being wholly given up to worldly enjoyment. Once on a time the damsel said to the high-souled Rishi,—'O Brahman, I desire to go to the abode of the celestials—do thou, with a delighted countenance, grant me the permission'. Being thus addressed by her, the ascetic, solely attached to her, replied,—'O fair lady, do thou stay a few days more with me'. Being thus requested by him that damsel of a slender person, enjoyed earthly pleasures in the company of that high-souled ascetic, for more than a hundred years. And being again accosted by her with 'O lord! allow me to return to the abode of the celestials' he again requested her to stay a few more with him. After the expiration of another hundred years the beautiful damsel, with a smile of love, again said,—'I shall now go to the abode of the celestials, O Brāhman'. Being thus addressed the ascetic, detaining the fair-eyed damsel, said,—'Stay a little more, thou shalt depart for a long time'. Afraid of incurring an imprecation the graceful nymph lived with the ascetic for nearly two hundred years more. The high-souled sage was repeatedly asked by the nymph to allow her to repair to the abode of the lord of the celestials and she was as often desired by him to remain. Afraid of his curse, excelling in amiable manners and knowing full well the pain consequent upon the separation from an object of love she did not quit the ascetic, who, enjoying in her company day and night and having his mind possessed by cupid, became fully attached unto her. Once while he was speedily issuing out of the cottage the nymph said to him. 'Where are you going?' Whereto he replied, 'O damsel, the day is fast approaching its close, I must perform my evening ablutions or else I shall neglect a duty'. Thereupon smiling, she, delightedly, said to the sage,—'O thou conversant with all religions, why dost thou talk of to-day approaching its close? Is thy day, O Brāhman, the aggregate of many hundred years? Shall it not create astonishment in other? Do thou tell me'. The ascetic said,—'O fair damsel, you came to the riverside this morning—I saw you there and brought you to my hermitage. The day has passed and the evening has well-nigh arrived. Tell me in sooth what the truth is'. The (nymph) Pramlocha said,—'True it is, O Brāhman, that I came here at dawn. It is not false—but after that hundreds of years have flown away'. Thereupon, the sage, stricken with fear, asked that nymph, having expansive eyes, saying,—'Tell me how many years I have spent in enjoyment with you'. Pramlocha said,—'You have spent nine hundred and seven years six months and three days'. The ascetic again said,—'No more of laughter, O fair nymph, tell me the truth; methinks I have spent one day in your company'. To which Pramlocha replied: 'O venerable sage why shall I speak untruth unto thee since I have been specially requested by thee to-day to speak the truth'. Soma said,—O Princes, when the sage had heard these words and thought them to be true he began to reproach himself exclaming, 'O fie, fie upon me; my penance has been obstructed—the wealth of those who are cognizant of Brahmā, has been stolen; my judgement has been blinded; by whom women have been created to beguile mankind? O fie upon that passion by which my self-control has been stolen whereby I, was about to attain the knowledge of Brahmā who is above the reach of those who are immersed in the six waves—namely, hunger, thirst, sorrow, stupification, decay and death. By this evil company, which is the road to hell all my austerities, leading to the acquisition of the wisdom of the Vedas, have been obstructed'. Having thus reviled himself the pious sage spoke to the nymph, who was near him, saying,—'Go where dost thou wish, O vile nymph—thou hast performed that for which thou hast been enjoyned by the lord of the celestials—thou hast obstructed my penances with thy fascinations. I do not reduce thee to ashes with the fierce fire of my rage. Seven paces together are quite sufficient for the friendship of the pious, and thou and I have lived together for a pretty long time. Or what for is thy folly—and why should I be offended with thee—verily this is an outcome of my own folly since I have not been able to control my passions. O fie on hated thee, the box of fascinations, who, to win favour with Sakra, has disturbed my devotion'. Soma said,—While the sage spoke thus to the nymph she perspired and stood trembling. Thereupon, the foremost of ascetics again said angrily to her, thus trembling and with drops of perspiration issuing from every pore—'Depart! Depart'. Being thus remonstrated with by that sage she issued out of the hermitage and began to wend her way by the welkin, rubbing the perspiration with the leaves of the trees. She went forth from tree to tree rubbing her limbs and the perspiration with the durky shoots. And the child, she had conceived by the sage, came out from the pores of her skin, in drops of perspiration. The trees received those drops and the wind collected them. I protected it with my rays till it increased in size gradually. Because she sprang from the drops on the tops of the trees that fair damsel was called Mārisha; the trees will give her to thee—let your anger be appeased. She is Kandu's child—she was sprung from the trees—she is my offspring as well as that of the wind—and she is also the daughter Pramlocha. And the great sage, Kandu, on the wane of his devotion, repaired to the region of Vishnu called Purushottama, O Maitreya. And there he, O princes, devoted himself, with his whole mind to the adoration of Vishnu and engaged in theYoga, with uplifted hands and uttering the prayers comprehending the supreme truths of the Vedas". The Prachetasas said,—"We wish to hear of the excellent prayers of the sage, by which Kandu engaged in devotion and in the adoration of Keshava". On which Soma repeated them:—"'Vishnu is beyond the limit of all earthly things, he is the infinite; through him we may get at the other end of the limitless deep—the earth: he is above all that is above; he is the finite truth; he is worthy of being approached by those who are conversant with the Vedas; the limit of elemental being; above the perception of the senses and the protectors (the divinities who protect the creation). He is the cause of cause; the cause of the cause in cause; the cause of finite cause; and in effects he, both as every object and agent, preserves the creation. He is Brahmā the lord; Brahmā all beings; Brahmā the creator of the human race; the undecaying, imperishable and eternal; he is spread all over the earth, unborn, incapable of increase or diminution. Purushottama, is the eternal, unborn, immutable Brahmā. May he annihilate the infirmities of my nature'. Repeating those prayers, comprehending the essence of divine truth and propitiating Keshava the ascetic attained to the final emancipation. I shall now describe to you what Mārisha was in her previous birth—for a recital of her glorious acts will be of immense benefit to you. O princes, she was in her previous birth a queen, and was left childless at her husband's death; and she therefore propitiated Vishnu with zealous devotion. Thus pleased with her devotion Vishnu appeared to her in person and said,—'Do thou beg of me a boon'. Whereto she replied communicating her desire,—'O lord of earth—I am a widow from my childhood—unfortunate as I am, in vain is my birth on this earth. Do thou so favour me, that I may be blessed with a good husband in every birth and a son equal to a patriarch amongst men; I may be possessed of beauty and wealth and may be pleasing unto all—that I may be born out of the ordinary course'. Hrishikesha, the lord of the celestials, the giver of all boons thus prayed to, raised her from her prostrate attitude and said,—'In one birth you shall have ten husbands of great prowess whose fame shall spread far and wide. And O fair damsel, you shall have a great son gifted with mighty prowess and all the accomplishments that are to be seen in the great Patriarch. The supremacy of his family shall be established all over the universe and the three worlds shall be filled with his descendants. And you, by my favour, shall be of marvellous birth, chaste, endowed with grace and loveliness and delightful to men'. Having thus spoken to that fair damsel, having spacious eyes, the Deity disappeared and the princess, was accordingly born as Mārisha, who is given to you for a wife, Princes". Parāçara said:—Thereupon renouncing their ire against the trees at the words of Soma, the Prachetas took Mārisha righteously to wife. And the Ten Prachetas begot on Mārisha the eminent Patriarch, Daksha, who had (in a former birth) been born as the son of Brahmā. O thou of great mind, for the multiplication of creation and increase of his own race this eminent Daksha created progeny. Obeying the mandate of Brahmā for the furtherance of creation he made moveable and immoveable things, bipeds and quadrupeds. Having created (that) by his will he created females out of which ten were conferred on Dharma, thirteen on Kasyapa and twenty-seven who regulate the course of time on the Moon, And from them were produced the gods, the demons, the snake-gods, cows, birds, singers, the spirits of evil and others. Thenceforth creatures were produced by sexual intercourse. O Maitreya—before that they were generated, by the by sight, by touch and by the influence of austerities practised by the ascetics of accomplished piety. Maitreya said:—"O great ascetic, Daksha, as I am informed, was born from the right thumb of Brahmā: tell how he was born again as the son of Ten Prachetas. Another great doubt exists in my mind O Brahmā that how could he, who was the grandson of Soma, be also his father-in-law". Parisara said:—O thou of great piety, birth and death are constant in all creatures. Rishis having divine vision do not wonder at it. Daksha and other eminent ascetics take birth in every age and they again cease to be: the learned are not perplexed by it. O foremost of the twice-born ones, in the days of yore there was neither senior nor junior (by age); asceticism and spiritual power were the sole causes of being considered as senior. Maitreya said:—"O Brāhman, do thou relate at length, the origin of the gods, demons, Gandharvas, serpents and goblins". Parāçara said:—Do thou hear, O thou of a high-mind, how commanded by Brahmā, Daksha created living creatures. At first Daksha created his will-born progeny—the deities, the Rishis, the Gandharvas, the demons and the snake-gods. When he found, O twice-born one, that his mind-born progeny did not multiply he began to meditate upon some other means of increasing the living creatures, Then desirous of multiplying the race by means of sexual intercourse he married the daughter of the Patriarch Veerana by name Ashikni who was devotee! to austerities and the eminent supportress of the world. And the energetic Patriarch for the multiplication of the progeny begot on Ashikni the daughter of Veerana, five thousand sons. And beholding them desirous of multiplying the race, the divine ascetic Nārada approaching them addressed them with sweet words—Nārada said,—"O ye highly powerful Haryaswas, it is evident that you intend multiplying the progeny—do ye hear this: you like ignorant people, do know not the middle, the height and the depth of the world: how would you propagate progeny then? Your understanding is not hindered by interval, height or depth, why do ye not O fools, behold the end of the universe?" Parāçara said—Having heard these words they repaired to various quarters and have not returned as yet as the rivers lose themselves in the ocean (and do not come back).
The Haryaswas having gone away the Patriarch Daksha again begot a thousand sons upon the daughter of Beerana. And, they, who were named Savalaswas, were desirous of multiplying mankind and they were again addressed by Nārada, Brāhmana, with the words mentioned before. They said to one another,—"What the Muni had said is perfectly true. We must follow the path wended by our brothers: there is not the least doubt about it. And ascertaining the extent of the universe we will multiply our race". They also went to various quarters by the path (followed by their brothers) and have not returned like rivers flowing into the deep. Thenceforth, O twice-born one, a brother searching after a brother, is generally lost: the wise do not resort to such actions. Finding that all his sons had disappeared the eminent Patriarch Daksha was worked with ire and imprecated Nārada. We have heard, O Maitreya, that thereupon the learned Pratriarch Daksha, desirous to multiply the race begot upon the daughter of Veerana sixty daughters. Of whom he gave ten to Dharma, thirteen to Kasyapa, twenty-seven to Soma, four to Arishtanemi, two to Bahuputra, two to Angiras and two to the learned Krisaswa. Do thou hear their names from me. Arundnati, Vasu, Yami, Lamba, Bhami, Marutwati, Sankalpa, Muhurtta, Sadhya and Viswa were the ten wives of Dharma. I will mention their offspring. Viswadevas[226]were the sons of Viswa and the Sadhyas[227]were the sons of Sadhya. The Maruts or Winds were the offspring of Marutwati and the Vasus of Vasu. The Bhānus (or suns) were the sons of Bhānu and the deities governing the moments of Muhurtta, Ghosa was born of Lamba and Nāgabithi[228]was born of Yāmi (night). And all the objects of the world were born of Arundhuti and Sankalpa (pious determination) was the son of Sankalpa. I shall mention at length the particulars of the eight Vasus who abound in effulgence and night. They are Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhāsha. The sons of Apa were Vaitandya, Srama (weariness) Srānta (fatigue) and Dhur, and the son of Dhruva was the great Kāla (Time) the cherisher of the world. The son of Soma was Varchas (light) by whom was generated Varchaswi (radiance). And Dhara had, by his wife Monohora, Dravina, Hutaravyavaha, Sisira, Prāna and Ramana. Anila's wife was Siva; and he had by her two sons—Monojova (swift as thought) and Avijnātagati (unknowable motion), The son of Agni—Kumara, was born in a clump of Sara reeds, whose sons were Sākha, Visākha, Naigameya and Prishthaja. The son of Kritikas was named Kartikeya. The son of Pratyushwa was the great ascetic Duvala who had two intelligent and philosophic sons. The great ascetic Vrihaspati had a sister who was the foremost of the females, virtuous and of accomplished asceticism. Without beings attached to the world she travelled all over the world. She became the spouse of Pravasha the eighth Vasu. Of her was born the noble Patriarch Viswakarma the author of a thousand arts, the architect of the celestials, the inventor of all ornaments and the foremost of the artists. He constructed the chariots of all the deities; and by the skill of that high-souled one, people obtain subsistence. He had four sons whose names hear from me. They were Ayaikapad, Ahirvradhna, Twashtri and Rudra and they were all wise. And the self-born son of Twashtri was also the famous Viswarupa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds—Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Aparajitā, Vrishahapi, Sambhu, Kaparddi, Raivata, Mrigavyadha, Sarava and Kapāli; but there are a hundred names of the Rudras of unmitigated prowess.
Kashyapa married the thirteen daughters of Daksha namely Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinatā, Tāmrā, Krodha, Vasa, Idā, Khasā, Kadru and Muni. I will describe their progeny to you. There were twelve well-known celestials in a former Manwantara, named Tushitas, who, on the approach of the present Manwantara and at the end of the reign of Manu Chakhusha assembled and said to one another,—"O deities, let us all speedily enter into the womb of Aditi that we may be born in the next Manwantara for we shall thereby be again crowned with blessings". Having said this they at the end of the reign of Manu Chakshusha were born the sons of Kashyapa, the son of Mārichi by Aditi the daughter of Daksha. Of them were born first Vishnu and Sakra and the Aryaman, Dhuti, Twashtri, Pushan, Vivaswat, Sāvitri, Mitra, Varunā, Ansa and Bhaga. These who, in the reign of Chākshusha Manu were Tushitas, were called the twelve Adityas in the Manwāntara of Vaivaswata. The twenty-seven virtuous daughters of the Patriarch who were married to the Moon were all well-known as the nymphs of the lunar constellations after their names; they had children of unmitigated effulgence. The wives of Arishthanemi bore sixteen children. The daughters of the learned Bahaputra were the four lightnings. The excellent Paratyangirasa Richas were born from the wives of Angiras and the celestial weapons were the children of the Rishi Krishaswa. These deities take their birth once after the expiry of a thousandyugas; they are thirty-three in number and their appearance and disappearance is here spoken of as birth and death and O Maitreya these divinities appear and disappear, age after age as the sun sets and rises again.
It is said that Kashyapa begat on Diti two sons—One was named Hiranyakashipu and the other was named Hiranyaksha and both of them were invincible. She had also a daughter named Sinhika who was married to Biprachitwa. Hiranyakashipu had four highly effulgent sons—named Anuhlāda Hlāda, Prahlāda and Sanhlāda;—they were all highly intelligent, powerful and the multiplier of the Daitya race. O noble sage, amongst these, Prahlāda, looking impartially on all things, devoted his whole faith to Janārddana. O twice-born one, the flames lighted by the king of Daityas did not consume him in whose heart Vasudeva was present. The whole earth shook, when bound with ropes, he moved in the midst of the water of the deep. Having his mind entirely engrossed by Achuta his body firm as the rock was not assailed by the diverse weapons hurled on him by the order of the king of Daityas. And the venomous snakes could not destroy him (even). And he remembering the excellent Purusha and protected by the recollection of Vishnu as his armour he did not renounce his life albeit overwhelmed with rocks. The earth received the high-minded (Prahlāda) when he was hurled from on high by the king of Daityas residing in Swerga. The slayer of Madhu being present in his mind, the wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself destroyed. Being ordered by the lord of Daityas the maddened elephants of the spheres broke their trunks and baffled their pride against his firm breast. The rites of the priests of the Daitya monarch were useless to bring about the destruction of one who was attached to Govinda. The thousand illusions of the illusive Samvara were baffled by the discus of Krishna. The poison offered by the cooks, at the command of the king of Daityas, could not produce any change upon the intelligent (Prahlāda) void of pride, who unhesitatingly partook that. He looked impartially upon the world and all creatures, was full of kindness and regarded all things equally and as identical with himself. He was pious and an inexhaustible mine of purity and truth and a model for all pious men.