The Markandeya Purana

by Bibek Debroy

  ‘“Once, handsome in his gait, he was roaming around Mount Mandara. On the slope of the mountain, he saw a maiden who was afflicted by fear. On seeing him, she exclaimed, ‘Save me.’ Her eyes were distraught with fear and the great-souled and brave one responded, ‘Do not be scared. What is the matter?’ She sighed and answered in a stuttering voice that choked with tears. The maiden said, ‘I am the daughter of vidyadhara Indivara. I am known by the name of Manorama and am Marudhanva’s daughter. 690 Vibhavari, the daughter of vidyadhara Mandara, is my friend. Kalavati, the daughter of the sage Para, is another friend. With those two friends, I went to the excellent slopes of Kailasa. There, I saw a sage who was exceedingly lean in form. Exhausted from hunger, his throat was wasted. He was without energy and the pupils of his eyes were deeply embedded into the sockets. When I laughed at him, he angrily cursed me. His voice quavered and his lips trembled a little. ‘O ignoble and wicked woman! You have laughed at an ascetic. Therefore, very soon, a rakshasa will overcome you.’ When he cursed me in this way, my two friends censured the sage. ‘Shame on your status of being a brahmana. Since you do not possess forgiveness, all these austerities will be destroyed. You are haggard not because of your austerities, but because of your great intolerance. A brahmana’s wealth is in forgiveness. His austerities are the control of rage.’ When he heard this, the extremely radiant one cursed them too. One of them would have leprosy in her limbs and the other one would suffer from consumption. As soon as he said this, that is exactly what happened to them. ‘A gigantic rakshasa is pursuing me and is following in my footsteps. Can you not hear the loud sound? He is roaring nearby. He is not letting me go. This is the third day that he is pursuing me. I will now confer on you the supreme among all weapons. It strikes at the heart. O immensely intelligent one! I will bestow it on you. Save me from the rakshasa. In the beginning, Rudra, the wielder of the Pinaka bow, himself conferred it on Svayambhuva. Svayambhuva gave it to Vasishtha, 691 the most noble among the Siddhas. He gave it to Chitrayudha, my mother’s father. As a wedding gift, it was given to my father by his father-in-law himself. O brave one! When I was a child, I learnt it from my father. This is the essence of all weapons and it can destroy all enemies. Therefore, quickly accept it. All weapons seek a refuge in it. Slay the evil-souled rakshasa as soon as he approaches.’ When he agreed to this, she touched water and gave him the essence of all weapons. 692 She taught him the secrets of releasing it and withdrawing it.

  ‘“Meanwhile, the rakshasa, terrible in appearance, quickly approached near. It roared extremely loudly and shouted, ‘When you are overwhelmed by me, how can you be saved? Come to me swiftly. I will devour you.’ Svarochisha saw it approach, saying this. He thought, ‘If the rakshasa seizes her, the great sage’s words will come true.’ It approached and quickly seized her. The slender-waisted one lamented piteously, ‘Save me. Save me.’ At this, Svarochisha was overcome by rage. Without blinking, he fixed his glance on the rakshasa and aimed the fierce and extremely dreadful weapon. 693 Overwhelmed by this, the roamer in the night released her and said, ‘Please show me your favours and pacify the weapon. Listen to me. O immensely radiant one! Free me from the extremely terrible and fierce curse invoked on me by the intelligent Brahmamitra. O immensely fortunate one! There is no one else who can do me a greater favour. I am suffering a great deal from this great curse. Save me.’ Svarochisha asked, ‘Why did the great-souled sage, Brahmamitra, curse you? Earlier, what is the nature of the curse he invoked on you?’ The rakshasa replied, ‘After having comprehended the thirteen branches of Atharva Veda, 694 the brahmana Brahmamitra studied the eight different branches of Ayurveda. 695 I am known as Indivaraksha 696 and my father is Nalanabha, the wielder of a sword who is the lord of the vidyadharas. I had earlier requested the sage Brahmamitra that the illustrious one should bestow on me the complete knowledge of Ayurveda. O brave one! Though I prostrated myself and humbly requested him, he did not bestow on me the essence of the knowledge of Ayurveda. O unblemished one! While he was instructing his disciples, I hid myself and by overhearing, learnt the essence of the knowledge of Ayurveda. Within eight months, I mastered the complete knowledge. Because I was happy, I laughed repeatedly. The sage discerned the reason behind my laughter and was filled with rage. His throat quivered and he addressed me in harsh words. “O evil-minded one! You remained hidden like a rakshasa and mastered this knowledge. You showed me dishonour and laughed. O evil one! Therefore there is no doubt that within seven nights, because of my curse, you will become a malformed and terrible rakshasa.” When he said this, I prostrated myself and gratified him with gifts. The brahmana immediately became mild of manner and spoke to me again. “O gandharva! What I have spoken will come true. It cannot but be otherwise. However, having become a rakshasa, you will again get back your own form. Having lost your memory, you will angrily try to eat your own offspring. Because of the fire of a weapon, you will then cease to be a roamer in the night. You will again regain your senses and get back your own form. That is when you will get back your own station and name in the world of the gandharvas.” O immensely fortunate one! You have now saved me from that great fear of remaining a roamer in the night. O brave one! Seek a boon from me. I am bestowing this daughter of mine on you. Accept her as your wife. I will also bestow on you the knowledge of the eight branches of Ayurveda, which I obtained from the sage. O immensely wise one! Accept it.’ He said this and bestowed the knowledge. He blazed in his divine garments. His garlands and ornaments were divine and he got back his old form. As he got ready to bestow the knowledge and the maiden, the maiden spoke to her father, who had got back his own form. ‘As soon as I saw this great-souled one, I fell in love with him. In addition, he has done us a special favour. But what about my two friends? Because of me, they are suffering. Therefore, I do not desire to enjoy myself with him. Even a man is incapable of acting in such a cruel way. How can a woman, who is naturally mild, do this? O father! Those two maidens are suffering on my account. O father! Therefore, with them, I will also suffer from the fire of grief.’ Svarochisha said, ‘Through the powers of Ayurveda, your two friends will become as good as new. O slender-waisted one! Hence, do not suffer from this great misery.’ At this, following the norms, the father himself bestowed his daughter. On the mountain, Svarochisha married the one with the beautiful eyes. Having bestowed his beautiful daughter and comforted her, the gandharva used a divine mode 697 to return to his own city. With his slender-limbed wife, he went to the grove where the two maidens were suffering on account of their curse. The unvanquished Svarochisha knew the truth about how to counter diseases through herbs and juices. He made their bodies hale. Thus, those beautiful and auspicious maidens were cured of their diseases and began to roam around the mountain, illuminating all the directions with their own radiance.”’

  Chapter 61

  ‘Markandeya said, “Having been cured of her disease, the maiden was delighted and addressed Svarochisha in these words. ‘O lord! Listen to my words. I am the daughter of vidyadhara Mandara and am known by the name of Vibhavari. You have done me a great favour. Therefore, I desire to give myself to you. Accept me. I will confer on you a knowledge so that you can understand the speech of all creatures. Show me your favours.’ Thus addressed, Svarochisha, who knew about dharma, agreed to this. After this, the second maiden addressed him in these words. ‘My father observed brahmacharya when he was young. He is a brahmana rishi and his name is Para. The extremely fortunate one is accomplished in the Vedas and the Vedangas. There was a time, during spring, when the beautiful calls of male cuckoos could be heard. At that time, the apsara known as Punjikasthala arrived there. At this, the bull of a sage became helpless with desire. As a result of their intercourse, I was born on that great mountain. My mother left me in that deserted forest and went away. The infant was left alone on the slope of the mountain and the place was full of carnivorous and predatory creatures. O excellent one! I drank the kalas of the moon and started to grow, from one day to another day. However, I
did not decay when the moon waned. Therefore, my great-souled father accepted me and gave me the name of Kalavati. I was pure-souled and a gandharva sought me. But though beseeched, my great-souled father did not bestow me on him. At this, when he was asleep, my father was killed by that enemy of the gods. Desolate and suffering from great despair, I was about to kill myself. But I was restrained by Sati, Shambhu’s wife, who is true to her pledges. “O one with the excellent eyebrows! Do not grieve. You will have an immensely fortunate husband. His name will be Svarochisha and your son will be a Manu. The nidhis 698 will honour you and obey all your commands. O auspicious one! They will give you all the riches that you wish for. O child! This will happen through the powers of the knowledge named Padmini, 699 worshipped by Mahapadma and the others. Accept this from me.” Sati, Daksha’s daughter, devoted to the truth, said this. O Svarochisha! You must be that person. The goddess couldn’t have said something untrue. I am conferring my life, that knowledge and my body on you. Accept me. Show me your favours with a pleasant face.’ He agreed to what the maiden Kalavati had said. With a pleasant glance, he assented to what Vibhavari and Kalavati had said. The immensely radiant one accepted their hands. The trumpets of the gods were sounded. The apsaras danced.”’

  Chapter 62

  ‘Markandeya said, “As radiant as the immortals, he enjoyed himself with his wives on that Indra among mountains, among the beautiful groves and springs. Under the control of Padmini, the nidhis brought all the objects of pleasure, jewels and the sweetest of honey. As was desired, they brought garlands, garments, ornaments, fragrances, unguents and sparkling and golden seats. O immensely fortunate one! There were golden pots and vessels and many beds with celestial spreads. Radiant in his own resplendence, he amused himself with them on that supreme mountain, filled with divine perfumes. With him, they also obtained supreme pleasure. They sported on that store of rocks, as if it was heaven. A female kalahamsa 700 spoke to a female chakravaka who was in the water. At the sight of their delightful relationship, it was itself filled with desire. ‘If a person enjoys the desired pleasure with his beloved when he is young, he is blessed and has acquired great merits. There are many praiseworthy and young men whose wives are not extremely beautiful. In the world, there are few instances where the husband and the wife are equally beautiful. In some cases, the husband loves his beloved. In other cases, the wife loves her beloved. Among a couple, mutual love is extremely rare. This man is desired by his beloved and he is blessed. The wife is desired by her beloved and she is blessed too. It is the mutual love that leads to the blessing.’ Hearing the words of the female kalahamsa, the mind of the female chakravaka was not greatly impressed. She replied, ‘He is not blessed. He should be ashamed. When the other wives are present, he enjoys himself with one wife. His mind is not completely in any of them. O friend! The mind can be completely devoted to only one person. How can he be extremely devoted to all his wives? They do not love their husband. Nor does the husband love them. This is mere amusement, just as one amuses oneself with any companion. If they really love their husband, why do they not give up their lives? When he is embracing one wife, he is thinking of the other wives. Having been bought with the price of the knowledge being given, he is just like a servant. Love cannot be equally divided. O female kalahamsa! My husband is blessed and I am blessed, since our hearts are firmly fixed on one person alone. In this world, when a man has many wives, that leads to both good and bad. The objects in the home, food, seats and ornaments are divided unequally and this inequality leads to great sin. The senior takes herself to be the junior, the junior takes herself to be the senior. Just as the best objects are to be given to the preceptor and oblations are to be offered into the fire, the nitya and naimittika rites must be performed with a single wife. If a man acts in a contrary way, he suffers from a sin.’ The unvanquished Svarochisha could understand the speech of all creatures. Hearing these words, he was ashamed and thought, ‘This is both true and false.’ He found his pleasure on that great mountain for one hundred years. While he amused himself in various directions, he saw a deer in front of him. The deer’s hide was glossy and its body was plump. It was surrounded by does which were just like it in appearance and it was the rutting season. Attracted by the scent, 701 the does started to smell the buck and the buck said, ‘This is enough. If you are going to abandon shame, go somewhere else. O beautiful-eyed doe! I am not Svarochisha and my conduct is not like his. There are many who are as shameless as him. Go to them. If a woman loves many men, people laugh at her. That is also the case when a man looks at many women with eyes of desire. Every day, his rites of dharma are destroyed. While engaged in intercourse with one wife, he is attached to the other wives. Such a person is wicked in conduct and turns himself away from the world hereafter. O fortunate one! Desire such a person. I am not like Svarochisha.’”’

  Chapter 63

  ‘Markandeya continued, “Hearing the way the doe was repulsed by the buck, Svarochisha thought that he had fallen down. O supreme among sages! He made up his mind to abandon his wives. He had been censured by the female chakravaka and the deer and he had seen how the buck had behaved. However, as soon as he met his wives, the detachment was flung away and desire increased in his mind. Therefore, he enjoyed himself for six hundred years. Nevertheless, Svarochisha’s intelligence was generous. Though he enjoyed those objects of pleasure with them, he did not act contrary to dharma and observed all the rites of dharma. Through them, Svarochisha had three sons—Vijaya, Merunanda and the immensely strong Prabhava. Indivara’s daughter, Manorama, gave birth to Vijaya. Vibhavari gave birth to Merunanda and Kalavati gave birth to Prabhava. The knowledge named Padmini could provide all the objects of pleasure. Through its powers, the father constructed three cities. In the east, on the supreme mountain of Kamarupa, he constructed the excellent city of Vijaya and gave it to his son Vijaya. In the north, he constructed the city known as Nandavati, garlanded with extremely high ramparts, and gave it to Merunanda. Kalavati’s son, Prabhava, was established in the city known as Tala, located in dakshinapatha. The bull among men thus established his sons in those cities. O brahmana! After this, he amused himself with his wives on the agreeable slopes of the mountains.

  ‘“Once, with a desire to sport, he went to the forest, wielding a bow. He saw a boar in the distance and drew his bow. At this, a doe approached and repeatedly spoke to him. ‘Show me your favours. Shoot your arrow at me. What will be accomplished by killing it? Quickly bring me down instead. If your arrow brings me down, I will be freed from my miseries.’ Svarochisha replied, ‘I do not see any signs of disease on your body. What is the reason why you desire that I should take away your life?’ The doe said, ‘I have given my love to one whose mind is attached to another. Without him, death is my medication. What else can be done?’ Svarochisha replied, ‘O timid one! Who does not desire you? Who are you in love with?’ The doe said, ‘O fortunate one! It is you I desire. You have taken my mind away. That is the reason I have chosen death. Use your arrow to bring me down.’ Svarochisha replied, ‘You are a doe whose eyes flicker. I am in the form of a man. How can there be intercourse between the two of us?’ The doe said, ‘If your heart is in me, embrace me. If your mind thinks that this is wicked, I will do whatever you wish for. No matter what form you are in, I will be greatly honoured.’ At this, Svarochisha embraced the doe. Thus embraced, she instantly assumed a divine form. Extremely surprised, he asked, ‘Who are you?’ In a voice that stuttered because of love and shame, she said, ‘I am the divinity who presides over this forest and I have been entreated by the gods. O immensely intelligent one! Through you, I will give birth to a Manu. I love you and my son will rule over bhuloka. Through you, I will have such a son. I have reported the words of the gods to you.’ Through her, he had a son who possessed all the auspicious signs. He was as energetic as his own self and he was born that very instant. As soon as he was born, the musical instruments of the gods were sounded. The lords of the gandharvas sang and large numbers of ap
saras danced. The clouds sprinkled him with water. In every direction, the rishis, stores of austerities, and the gods showered down flowers. On seeing his energy, his father himself gave him a name. He was radiant and his energy illuminated the directions. Therefore, the extremely strong and powerful son was named Dyutimat. 702 Since he was the son of Svarochisha, he was also known as Svarochisha. 703

  ‘“Once, he was roaming around on the beautiful mountains and springs. Svarochisha 704 saw a swan, along with its wife. The female swan repeatedly spoke about her desire for him. But the male swan said, ‘Restrain yourself. You have pleasured with me for a long time. Why should one seek pleasure all the time? Our old age is near. O one who roams in the water! For both you and me, it is the time to renounce.’ The female swan answered, ‘When can there be a time not to seek pleasure? The entire universe is based on pleasure. Even brahmanas who are controlled in their souls undertake sacrifices and rites for the sake of objects of pleasure. Those who are discriminating hanker for objects of pleasure, seen and unseen. There are those who donate and perform auspicious acts of dharma. Why don’t you desire pleasure? The fruit of human exertion is pleasure. This is true of discriminating people who have controlled their souls. Why should this not apply to inferior species?’ The male swan said, ‘If the mind is attracted towards pleasure, the intelligence never turns towards the supreme objective, especially if one is attached to relatives. Sons, friends and wives make a creature suffer. This is like a wild elephant that is destroyed by sinking into a pond full of mire. O fortunate one! Can you not see what attachment has done to Svarochisha? Since his childhood, because of attachment to desire, he has been submerged in the watery mire of affection. In youth, he was excessively attached to his wives, now to his sons and grandsons. Since the mind of Svarochisha is thus submerged, how can he be saved? O one who roams in the water! Unlike Svarochisha, I am not under the control of women. I possess discrimination. Therefore, I have now withdrawn myself from seeking pleasure.’ Having heard the bird’s words, Svarochisha was filled with anxiety. Taking his wives with him, he went to a hermitage to perform austerities. Broad in his intelligence, with them, he tormented himself through fierce austerities there. Withdrawing himself from all sins, he went to the sparkling worlds.”’