by Bibek Debroy
‘Surrounded by all his disciples, and with his son, Shringi, he 55 became filled with great curiosity. It was as if he was clad in a garment with erect body hair. 56 He asked, “Tell me the truth. What is the reason that you are able to speak? Whose curse has led to this perversity in your form and speech? You should tell me about this.” The birds replied, “There used to be an excellent sage, known as Vipulasvat. He had two sons, Sukrisha and Tumburu. We are the four sons of the self-controlled Sukrisha. We were always humble, faithful and submissive in our behaviour towards that rishi. He was devoted to performing austerities and controlled his senses. Depending on his wishes, we undertook whatever was needed to be done for him. We brought kindling, flowers and everything else required for subsistence. We thus resided in the grove there. At that time, the lord of the gods 57 assumed the form of a bird and arrived there. He was gigantic in size and his wings were broken. He was old in age and his eyes were coppery red. He seemed scared. The rishi possessed truth, purity, forgiveness, character, intelligence and generosity of mind. It was as if he wanted to test the best among rishis and curse us. The bird 58 said, ‘O Indra among brahmanas! I am overwhelmed by hunger. You should save me. I have come to you for food. O immensely fortunate one! Be an unmatched refuge for me. I was on the summit of Vindhya and was flung down by a gust of wind generated from the bird’s wing. 59 O immensely fortunate one! I fell down. I lost my senses and lay down on the ground for one week, having lost my memory. I remained there and regained my senses on the eighth day. Having regained my consciousness, I am filled with hunger and have come to you for refuge. I have lost all joy and desire to eat. My mind is afflicted. O one with a sparkling intelligence! Turn your unwavering intelligence towards the task of saving me. O brahmana rishi! Give me food to eat. I am unable to remain alive.’ Thus addressed, he replied to Indra, who was in the form of a bird. ‘For the sake of saving your life, I will give you the food that you desire.’ Having said this, the excellent brahmana spoke again. ‘What kind of food will I devise for you?’ He replied, ‘I obtain great satisfaction from the flesh of men.’ The rishi responded, ‘O one born from an egg! Your childhood has passed and so has your youth. Indeed, you are ripe in age now. At this time, all desires cease among men. Despite being aged in appearance, why are you so exceedingly cruel? Now that you are in the last stage of your life, why do you wish to eat human flesh? Those who are wicked in sentiments should never be given a chance to oppress. Or perhaps, what is the need for me to say anything? One must always give what has been promised. That is the way we think.’ Having said this, the Indra among brahmanas made up his mind. He quickly summoned us and praised our qualities. All of us stood there humbly, our hands faithfully joined in salutation. With a distressed heart, the sage spoke these extremely cruel words. ‘O best among brahmanas! 60 Free me and yourselves from the debt. O brahmanas! You are the best among my offspring and you are just like me. If you are of the view that I am your revered preceptor and your excellent father, then act in accordance with my words, without any deceit in your minds.’ While he spoke, all of us simultaneously honoured his words and responded, ‘What you tell us will certainly be done.’ The rishi said, ‘This bird is filled with hunger and thirst and has sought refuge with me. At least for some time, let him be satisfied with your flesh. Act quickly, so that his thirst is satisfied with your blood.’ At this, we were distressed and trembled in fear. We exclaimed, ‘O misery! O distress! This cannot be done by us. Which intelligent person will give up his own body for the sake of someone else’s body? If one destroys it, one not only destroys one’s own self, but one’s sons too. 61 A son repays the debts that are due to ancestors, gods and humans. 62 Notwithstanding this duty of a son, a son does not give up his body. Therefore, we will not do this, even if the ancients have practised it. If one is alive, one receives beneficial things. If one is alive, one can perform auspicious acts. When one dies, the body is destroyed and all dharma is extinguished. Therefore, those who know about dharma say that one must protect oneself in every possible way.’ Hearing our words, the sage blazed in rage. As if burning us down with his sight, he spoke to us again. ‘You will not act in accordance with the promise that I have made. Therefore, you will be scorched by my anger and will be born as inferior species.’ Having addressed us in this way, he spoke to the bird. ‘I will follow the sacred texts and perform my own funeral rites. O excellent among birds! After that, without any hesitation, eat me. I am offering my body to you as food. O foremost among those from the bird species! It is said that a brahmana possesses the traits of being a brahmana as long as he follows the truth. A brahmana obtains great merit through protecting the truth, not through sacrifices, receiving dakshina 63 or performing other rites.’ Hearing the rishi’s words, Shakra, in the form of a bird, was filled with surprise. He replied to the sage, ‘O Indra among brahmanas! Resort to yoga and give up your own body. O Indra among brahmanas! I never eat a being who is still alive.’ Hearing his words, the sage immersed himself in yoga. Having ascertained his intentions, Shakra assumed his own form again. ‘O Indra among brahmanas! You possess intelligence and you have used your intelligence to understand what must be understood. O unblemished one! With a desire to test you, I have committed this crime against you. O one with unblemished intelligence! Pardon me, or do whatever you desire. Since you sought to protect the truth of your words, I am extremely pleased with you. From today, you will possess a knowledge that is like that of Indra’s. There will be no obstruction in the path of your austerities and dharma.’ Having said this, Shakra departed, but our father, the great sage, was still full of anger. We bowed our heads down before him and said, ‘O father! O immensely intelligent one! We were terrified of dying. We are distressed. You should pardon us. We love our lives. We are devoted to something one should not be attached to—this mass of skin, bones and flesh, filled with pus and blood. O immensely fortunate one! We have heard how people are confounded by desire and anger and come under the strong subjugation of these sins. Wisdom is like a rampart and the bones are like giant pillars. The skin is like a large fortification that is plastered with flesh and blood. With sinews on every side and nine gates, it can make great efforts. 64 King Purusha, the possessor of consciousness, resides there. However, the two ministers, intelligence and the mind, act in opposite directions. Taking each other to be the enemy, they seek to destroy each other. There are four enemies who seek the king’s destruction—desire, anger, greed and confusion as the last enemy. When the king closes those nine gates, his forces are well-protected and there is no reason for fear. As long as there is no attachment, the enemy cannot overcome him. However, when the gates are open, he releases the enemy known as attachment, which then attacks the gates formed by the eyes. It courses everywhere and enters through five gates. 65 Following that path, three terrible enemies enter. 66 Entering through the gates known as the organs of sense, attachment forms an alliance with mind and the others. It becomes extremely difficult to bring the senses and the mind under subjugation. Having conquered the gates, it 67 destroys the ramparts. On seeing that the mind has been vanquished, the intelligence is instantly destroyed. He 68 is deprived of advisers. The citizens abandon him. The enemies search out weaknesses and the king desires to destroy himself. Attachment, confusion, greed and anger act in this way. They rage among evil-souled ones and destroy the memories of men. Anger results from attachment. Anger gives rise to greed. Confusion results from greed. Destruction of memory results from confusion. When memory is destroyed, intelligence is destroyed. 69 When intelligence is destroyed, the being is destroyed. In this way, when intelligence is destroyed, attachment and greed follow. We were greedy to remain alive. O excellent one! Show us your favours. O illustrious one! You have cursed us. Let it not work quite like that. O supreme among sages! Let us not proceed along the miserable path of darkness.’ 70 The rishi replied, ‘What I have said can never be false. O sons! Till today, none of my words have ever been rendered false. Shame on futile manliness. I think that
destiny alone is supreme. Because of its strength, without thinking, I have done what should not have been done. However, you bowed down before me and sought my favours. Therefore, even though you are born as inferior species, you will possess supreme knowledge. Knowledge will show you your paths and your miseries and sins will be cleansed. Your doubts will be dispelled because of my favours and you will obtain supreme success.’ In earlier times, under the subjugation of destiny, our illustrious father cursed us in this way. We have been born as this inferior species for a long period of time. We were born in the midst of the battle and have been nurtured by you. O best among brahmanas! Thus it was that we became birds. In this world, there is no one who is not bound down by destiny. Every kind of being is moved by fate.” Hearing their words, the illustrious sage, the immensely fortunate Shamika, spoke these words to the brahmanas who were near him. “In your presence, I said this earlier. O best among brahmanas! These are not ordinary birds. Since they did not die in the battle, they are superhuman.” With his permission, they went to the Vindhyas, best among peaks and full of trees and creepers. The great-souled one was delighted and allowed them to leave. Those virtuous birds remain there, on that mountain, even today. They are engaged in austerities and studies there, having made their minds up to meditate. Those sons of a sage became birds and a best among sages took good care of them. They are there, in a deep part of that excellent mountain, where the waters are extremely sacred. Controlling their minds, they reside on Vindhya’s slopes.’
Chapter 4
Markandeya said, ‘The birds, Drona’s sons, became learned in this way. They reside on Mount Vindhya. Go and ask them.’
Hearing the rishi Markandeya’s words, Jaimini went to the summit of Vindhya, where those virtuous birds dwelt. Approaching the place, he heard the sound of something being read. On hearing this, Jaimini was astounded and started to think. ‘This is a beautiful spot. Without any breaks, they have controlled their breathing. These excellent birds 71 are reciting clearly, without any faults. These sons of the sage have now been born as a different species and I think it is wonderful that Sarsavati 72 has not abandoned them. The large number of relatives and friends, and everyone else who is cherished at home—all these can abandon a person and go away. But Sarasvati does not go away.’ Thinking this, he entered the cavern in the mountain. Having entered, he saw those birds on a slab in the mountain. He saw that they were reading, their faces devoid of any blemishes. Overcoming both joy and sorrow, 73 he addressed all of them. ‘O best among birds! May you be fortunate. Know me to be Jaimini. I am Vyasa’s disciple and have come here, eager to see you. Do not be angry. Indeed, because your father was angry, you were cursed and obtained this state of being birds. But everything is driven by destiny. In a family that was wealthy and possessed many objects, some spirited people were born. When those objects were destroyed, those Indras among brahmanas were comforted by a Shabara. 74 Having given to others, some men subsequently become beggars. Having killed, some are themselves subsequently killed. Having brought others down, some are themselves subsequently brought down. Austerities are destroyed in this way. I have myself witnessed many such contrary indications. The universe is agitated by the dust of existence and non-existence. Thinking these things in your minds, you should not grieve. The fruit of knowledge is an ability to be indifferent to joy and misery.’ At this, all of them worshipped Jaimini with padya and arghya. 75 Asking about his welfare, they prostrated themselves before the great sage.
Vyasa’s disciple, the store of austerities, seated himself comfortably. The birds fanned him with their wings and removed his exhaustion. The birds then said, ‘We have lived good lives and our births have become successful today. We have seen your lotus feet, worshipped even by the gods. The fire resulting from our father’s anger rages in our bodies. O brahmana! However, the sight of you is like water that has quenched it. O brahmana! We hope that all the animals, birds, trees, creepers, shrubs, groves of bark and grass in your hermitage are well. Or perhaps by asking this, we have shown disrespect towards you. How can those who are with you not be well? Show us your favours and tell us the reason why you have come here. Your arrival is wonderful. It is like a companionship with the gods. What great good fortune has brought you into our range of vision?’
Jaimini replied, ‘O tigers among brahmanas! Listen to the reason behind my coming to this beautiful cavern in Vindhya, sprinkled with drops of water from the Reva. 76 I had some doubts about the sacred text of Bharata. 77 To ask about those, I first went to the great-souled Markandeya, the extender of the Bhrigu lineage. Despite asking him, I could not dispel my doubts about Bharata. When I asked him, he said, “The great-souled sons of Drona reside in the great mountain of Vindhya. They will tell you about the meaning in detail.” Urged by his words, I have come to this great mountain. Hear about everything from me. You should then explain it to me.’
The birds said, ‘If it is a subject we know about, we will make you hear it, without hesitation. Why will we not tell you what is within the purview of our intelligence? O supreme among brahmanas! The four Vedas, the Dharmashastras, all the Angas 78 and everything that is in conformity with the Vedas is within the range of our intelligence. However, despite this, we can’t quite promise you. Therefore, without any hesitation, tell us about the doubts in the Bharata. O one who knows about dharma! We will tell you. Otherwise, there will be confusion.’
Jaimini replied, ‘O ones without blemish! Hear about the subjects in Bharata that have led to my doubts. Having heard, you should explain them to me. Why did nirguna 79 Janardana assume a human form? Vasudeva is the support for everything. He is the cause behind all causes. How did Drupada’s daughter, Krishna, 80 alone become the wife of the five sons of Pandu? I have an extremely great doubt about this. The immensely strong Baladeva uses the plough as a weapon. How did he atone for the sin of killing a brahmana by going on a visit to the tirthas? Droupadi’s great-souled maharatha sons had the sons of Pandu as protectors. Like those without protectors, how could they have been killed even before they were married? These are all the doubts that I have about Bharata. Explain all these to me. Having attained my objective, I will then happily return to my own hermitage.’
The birds said, ‘We bow down to the immensely powerful Vishnu, the lord of the gods, the immeasurable being, the eternal and undecaying one, the one who exists in four forms, 81 the one who possesses the three gunas, 82 but is also devoid of gunas, the supreme, the greatest, the one who deserves to be worshipped, the one who is immortal, the one who is smaller than the minutest, the one who is greater than the greatest, the one who pervades the universe, the one without a beginning, the one who is the beginning of the universe, the one who represents appearance and disappearance, the one who possesses the attributes of being seen and not being seen, the one who is spoken of as the creator, the preserver and the destroyer; we meditate on and bow down to Brahma, the original god, the one who purifies the three worlds 83 by uttering the Rig and Sama hymns through his mouth; and we bow down before Ishana, who with a single arrow, destroyed the large number of asuras, who were creating obstructions to sacrifices. 84 We will completely explain the views of Vyasa, the performer of extraordinary deeds. For the sake of dharma and other objectives, he is the one who made Bharata manifest. The sages who know about the truth refer to water as Nara. Because that was his place of refuge earlier, he is known as Narayana. 85 The illustrious lord and god, Narayana, pervades everything. O brahmana! He is established in four forms. He is both saguna and nirguna. 86 One of his forms cannot be discerned. Those who are learned perceive it as white. Those who are supremely devoted to yoga see this form as one whose limbs are covered in garlands of flames. It is far and it is near. It has to be known as something that is beyond gunas. It is known as Vasudeva and it can be seen when one is devoid of any sense of ego. Its form and complexion are not real, but are fashioned out of one’s imagination. Its existence is always pure, established in an extremely consecrated way. The second f
orm of Shesha 87 holds up the earth on its hood, from below. It is spoken of as being characterized by tamas 88 and is one where there has been the use of an inferior species. The third form is devoted to the nurturing of subjects and acts accordingly. It should be known as one that is immersed in sattva. It is one that establishes dharma. The fourth form lies down in the water, using a serpent as a couch. Using the guna of rajas, it always indulges in creation. Hari’s third form is always devoted to protecting subjects. In this form, he always establishes dharma on earth. He also slays the asuras, the destroyers of dharma, when they arise. Devoted to protecting dharma, he saves the gods and other virtuous people. O Jaimini! Whenever there is a decline in dharma and a rise in adharma, he creates himself. 89 Earlier, assuming the form of a boar, 90 he parted the water with his snout and like a lotus, raised up the earth on a single tusk. Assuming the form of Narasimha, 91 he killed Hiranyakashipu and brought down other danavas, with Viprachitti at the forefront. There are vamana 92 and other incarnations we are not interested in enumerating. His latest avatara was the one in Mathura. 93 When he descends in a form that is full of sattva, he is known as Pradyumna and is engaged in the task of preservation. Depending on his wishes, Vasudeva always assumes divine, human and subhuman forms and thus accepts their corresponding natures. You have been told what the lord did, the tasks that needed to be accomplished. Next, listen to us again, about how Vishnu assumed a human form.’
Chapter 5
The birds said, ‘O brahmana! In earlier times, when Indra killed Tvashta’s son, he was overwhelmed by the sin of killing a brahmana and his energy suffered greatly. 94 Because of his wicked conduct, Shakra’s energy entered Dharma. With his energy having left for Dharma, Shakra lost all his energy. Hearing that his son had been killed, Prajapati 95 Tvashta was enraged. He tore off a lock of his hair and uttered these words. “Today, let the three worlds and the gods witness my valour. Let the evil-minded chastiser of Paka, the slayer of a brahmana, also witness it. When my son was engaged in his own tasks, he brought him down.” His eyes were red with rage. Saying this, he offered that lock of hair as an oblation into the fire. The great asura Vritra arose, garlanded in flames. He was gigantic in size. His teeth were large and his complexion was like that of a mass of collyrium. Invigorated by Tvashta’s energy, Indra’s enemy was immeasurable in his soul. From one day to another day, the immensely strong one grew by the length of a bow. Shakra saw that the great asura, Vritra, was meant for his destruction. Afflicted by fear, he dispatched the saptarshis 96 to bring about an alliance. The rishis were engaged in the welfare of all creatures. Hence, happy in their minds, they brought about an agreement between him and Vritra. However, though the agreement existed, Shakra violated it and killed him. The sin of Vritra’s death diminished his strength. That strength was dislodged from Indra’s body and entered the air, the divinity of strength, who pervades everything, even though he cannot be seen. After this, the Indra of the gods assumed Goutama’s form and violated Ahalya. 97 At this, his beauty vanished. The beauty of the limbs and divisions of his body were extremely captivating, but it abandoned the wicked Indra of the gods and went to the Nasatyas. 98 The lord of the gods was deprived of dharma and energy. He lost his strength and beauty. Knowing this, the daityas sought to vanquish him. O great sage! Desiring to defeat Indra of the gods, the extremely strong daityas were born in the lineages of noble and prominent kings. On one such occasion, the earth suffered because of her burdens and went to the summit of Mount Meru, where the residents of heaven were. Suffering because of the burden, she told them that the cause of her hardship was the sons of Danu and the daityas. “These asuras, extensive in their energy, have been slain by you. But all of them have been born in the world of humans, in the houses of kings. There are many akshouhinis. 99 Suffering from the burden, I am sinking downwards. O gods! Therefore, act so that I can obtain peace.” Using parts of their energy, the gods thus descended from heaven to earth, for the sake of ensuring the welfare of subjects and removing the earth’s burden. There was the energy that had been released from Indra’s body. Using this, Dharma was himself born through Kunti, as the greatly energetic King Yudhishthira. Pavana 100 released his strength and gave birth to Bhima. Partha Dhananjaya was born from Shakra’s energy. The two extremely radiant twins, 101 who were like Shakra in form, were born through Madri. The illustrious Shatakratu thus descended in five forms. 102 His immensely fortunate wife, Krishna, 103 was born from the fire. Krishna was only Shakra’s wife and not that of anyone else. The lords of yoga can assume many different bodies. You have thus been told how five came to have a single wife. Now hear about why Baladeva went to the Sarasvati.’
