The Markandeya Purana

by Bibek Debroy

  ‘“King Vikranta performed all the samskaras that should be performed for a royal son. Following the norms, his father gave him the name of Ananda. Vikranta, the lord of men, was filled with great delight. When the upanayana ceremony had been performed, the guru told the prince, ‘You should first go and prostrate yourself before your mother.’ Hearing his guru’s words, he laughed and spoke. Ananda asked, ‘Which mother shall I show obeisance to, the one who gave me birth, or the one who reared me?’ The guru responded, ‘O immensely fortunate one! The mother who gave you birth is Jaruja’s daughter. She is known by the name of Haimini and she is the chief among Vikranta’s queens.’ Ananda said, ‘She is the mother of Chaitra, who resides in the village of Vishala and is the son of Bodha, a foremost brahmana. She gave birth to him. I have been born from someone else.’ The guru asked, ‘O Ananda! Where have you come from? Who is the Chaitra you have spoken about? It is evident that there is a great difficulty. Where were you born? What are you saying?’ Ananda replied, ‘O brahmana! I was born in the house of the Kshatriya Anamitra, through his wife Giribhadra. 745 Jataharini abducted me. She left me here and seized Haimini’s son. She then took him to the house of Bodha, foremost among brahmanas and devoured the son who had been born in the home of the brahmana Bodha. Haimini’s son is there, initiated into the samskaras of brahmanas. O immensely fortunate one! Because of my samskara, you are my guru and I must follow your commands. O guru! But which mother shall I go to?’ The guru said, ‘O child! This is an extremely intricate and grave difficulty. I do not know at all. My mind is whirling around in confusion.’ Ananda asked, ‘When the universe is established in this way, how can there be a reason for confusion? O brahmana rishi! Who is whose son? Who is whose relative? All these human relationships begin with birth. O brahmana! With death, all relationships with others are terminated. These relationships with others originate here, with birth. These are severed with the end of the body. That is the way of everything. Therefore, I say—while I am in samsara, who is a relative? Who is a permenant friend? Why is your intelligence confounded? In this birth itself, I have had two fathers and two mothers. What can be more wonderful in this act of taking birth? I will now perform austerities. From Vishala village, please have the king’s son, Chaitra, brought here.’ The king, his wife and relatives were amazed at this. Withdrawing all sense of ownership in him, he gave him permission to leave for the forest. He brought his son Chaitra and made him fit for the kingdom. He honoured the brahmana who had reared him, taking him to be his own son.

  ‘“Though he was a mere child, Ananda engaged in austerities in the great forest. He sought to destroy all the karma that was an impediment in the path towards emancipation. While he was performing austerities, the god Prajapati spoke to him. ‘O child! Why are you tormenting yourself through these fierce austerities? Tell me.’ Ananda replied, ‘O illustrious one! I am performing austerities so that I can purify myself. I am eager to destroy all the karma that creates bonds.’ Brahma said, ‘Only those who have no rights are fit for emancipation, not those who engage in karma. You have rights over other creatures. Nevertheless, you desire emancipation. You will be the sixth Manu. Go and act accordingly. Enough of austerities for the sake of obtaining emancipation.’ When Brahma spoke in this way, the immensely intelligent one agreed to this. He ceased the austerities that turned him away from karma. When he had stopped the austerities, Brahma addressed him as Chakshusha, the name that he had been known by earlier. He became famous as Chakshusha Manu. He married Vidarbha, the daughter of King Ugra. Through her, he had famous and valiant sons. O brahmana! Hear about the gods, rishis, Indra and sons during his manvantara. One category of gods was named Apyas and there were eight in this category. O brahmana! They were famous for their deeds and they ate the oblations offered at sacrifices. They were famous for their strength and valour and because of their resplendent halos, they were difficult to look at. A second category of gods was known as Prasutas and there were eight in this category too. In that way, there was another category of gods known as Bhavyas and they were also eight in number. A fourth category of gods was Yuthagas and this also numbered eight. O brahmana! In this manvantara, there was a fifth category of gods known as Lekhas and they subsisted on amrita. Their lord performed one hundred sacrifices. This Indra was known as Manojava and he had a share in sacrificial offerings. Sumedha, Viraja, Havishmat, Unnata, Madhu, Atinama and Sahishnu—these were the saptarshis. The lords of the earth were Chakshusha Manu’s extremely strong sons—Uru, Puru and Shatadyumna being the foremost. O brahmana! I have thus told you about the sixth manvantara and about Chakshusha’s birth and conduct. The Manu who is now present is named Vaivasvata. I will tell you about the gods and others in this seventh manvantara. Listen. If an intelligent person chants about Chakshusha manvantara, or hears about it, he obtains sons, women, freedom from disease, happiness and prosperity on earth.”’

  Chapter 74

  ‘Markandeya said, “Martanda Ravi’s wife was Vishvakarma’s daughter. The immensely fortunate one’s name was Samjna and through her, Bhanu had a son. 746 The illustrious one obtained fame as a Manu and he was accomplished in all forms of knowledge. Since he was Vivasvat’s son, he was known as Vaivasvata. Whenever Samjna saw Ravi, she used to close her eyes. At this, Arka addressed her in cruel words. ‘O foolish one! Since you close your eyes on seeing me, you will give birth to Yama, the one who restrains subjects.’ Hearing this, the eyes of the goddess were filled with fear and they flickered. Seeing that her eyes were agitated, Ravi spoke to her yet again. ‘Now your eyes have become agitated on seeing me. Therefore, you will give birth to the Vilola river.’ 747 Thus cursed by her husband, Samjna gave birth to Yama and the famous and great river, Yamuna. In great misery, the beautiful Samjna had tolerated Ravi’s energy. However, unable to tolerate this energy, she started to think. ‘What will I do? Where will I go? Where can I go and get some relief? How is it possible for my husband, Arka, to not fall prey to rage?’ Prajapati’s 748 daughter thought thus, in many different kinds of ways. The immensely fortunate one then thought of taking refuge with her father. The illustrious one made up her mind to go to her father’s house. But from her own body, loved by Ravi, she fashioned Chhaya. 749 She told her, ‘Remain in Bhanu’s house, as if you are me. Behave properly towards Ravi and towards my offspring. Even if you are asked, you should not speak about my departure. “I am the one who is named Samjna.” Address him in these words.’ Chhaya replied, ‘O queen! I will do what you have said, but only as long as I am not cursed, or dragged by my hair. If I am cursed or dragged by the hair, I will recount the facts.’ Having been thus addressed, the goddess went to her father’s house.

  ‘“There, she saw that Tvashta 750 had cleansed all his sins through austerities. Vishvakarma honoured her with a great deal of respect. The unblemished one remained in her father’s house for some time. Thereafter, though she hadn’t lived there for a long time, her father spoke to the one with the beautiful limbs. But before that, he praised his daughter and spoke to her with a great deal of love and respect. ‘O child! When I see you, even a large number of days seem to pass like half a muhurta. However, dharma may suffer. If a woman lives with her relatives for a long time, that is not regarded as praiseworthy. It is the wish of relatives that women should reside in the houses of their husbands. In particular, you have been married to Surya, the lord of the three worlds. O daughter! It is not proper for you to live in your father’s house for a long time. Therefore, go to your husband’s house. I am pleased with you and am honouring you. O fortunate one! Come again and see me.’ O sage! Thus addressed by her father, she agreed. Having worshipped her father, she went to Uttarakuru. She was scared and did not wish to face Surya’s heat and radiance. Assuming the form of a mare, she performed austerities there.

  ‘“Taking the second Samjna to be the real one, through her, the lord of the day 751 had two sons and a beautiful daughter. Chhaya-Samjna was excessively affectionate towards her two sons and daughter, but did not l
ove Samjna’s two sons and daughter to the same degree. 752 There were differences in rearing them and in the objects of pleasure that were given to them. Manu was not agitated by this. Indeed, Manu tolerated this. However, Yama could not tolerate it. In his rage, he raised his foot, so as to kick her. But he forgave her and did not let his foot strike her body. O brahmana! Nevertheless, in rage, Chhaya-Samjna cursed Yama. Her lips quivered a little and her delicate hands shook. ‘I am your father’s wife and should be respected. But you have sought to strike me with your foot. Therefore, that foot of yours will fall down on the ground today.’ Hearing the curse his mother had invoked on him, Yama was filled with fear. Scared, he approached his father and prostrated himself before him. Yama said, ‘O father! This is a great wonder and I have never seen anything like this before. A mother has cast aside her affection and has invoked a curse on her son. Just as Manu says, I do not think she is our mother. Even if a son doesn’t possess the qualities, a mother is never bereft of qualities.’ Hearing Yama’s words, the illustrious dispeller of darkness summoned Chhaya-Samjna and asked, ‘Where has she gone?’ She replied, ‘O Vibhavasu! 753 I am Samjna, Tvashta’s daughter. I am your wife and these offspring have been born through me.’ Vivasvat questioned her several times, but she did not tell him. Angry, the sun god got ready to curse her. Thereupon, she told Vivasvat exactly what had happened. Knowing the truth, the illustrious one went to Tvashta’s house. The sun god is worshipped by the three worlds. Since the sun god had himself come to his house, Tvashta honoured him with great devotion. Asked about Samjna, Vishvakarma told him, ‘She had come to my house, but I sent her back to you.’ The sun god meditated and saw her, roaming around in Uttarakuru in the form of a mare and performing austerities. The sun god discerned the reason behind her austerities. ‘May my husband have a gentle body and auspicious form.’ O brahmana! At this, the sun god spoke to Samjna’s father. ‘Reduce my fierce energy a bit.’ Ravi takes an entire year to revolve. Vishvakarma placed him on his wheel and reduced his energy somewhat, while the gods uttered words of praise.”’

  Chapter 75

  ‘Markandeya said, “After this, all the assembled gods and the divine rishis used words of praise to show honour to Ravi, revered by the three worlds. The gods said, ‘We bow down to the one whose form is the hymns of the Rig Veda. We bow down to the one whose form is the hymns of the Sama Veda. We bow down to the one whose form is the hymns of the Yajur Veda. We bow down to the one whose resplendence is in the hymns. We bow down to the one who alone is the reservoir of knowledge, the one who destroys darkness. Your form is pure radiance. Your atman is pure and sparkling. You are the one who holds the chakra, the conch shell, the Sharnga bow and the lotus. We bow down to the refuge. You are the best. You are the one to be worshipped. You are the supreme paramatman. We bow down to the one who is the origin of the universe, the embodied form of the atman. You are the origin behind all creation. For those whose intelligence has knowledge, you are faith. We bow down to the one whose form is Surya. We bow down to the one whose form is light. We bow down to Bhaskara. 754 We bow down to the one who creates day. We bow down to the one who causes night. We bow down to the one who causes sandhya and moonlight. You are the illustrious one. You are the one who makes the entire universe whirl around. You are the one who makes the entire universe, with its mobile and immobile objects, revolve. By being touched with your rays, everything becomes pure. It is through the touch of your rays that water and everything else becomes pure. Without you, oblations and other acts of dharma bring no benefit. Without being united with your rays, none of this exists in the universe. You are all the hymns of the Rig Veda. You are all the hymns of the Yajur Veda. All the hymns of the Sama Veda descend from your body. O lord of the universe! You are full of the hymns of the Rig Veda. You are full of the hymns of the Yajur Veda. You are full of the hymns of the Sama Veda. O lord! Therefore, all three are in you. You are Brahma’s form. You are supreme. You are also what is not supreme. You are embodied and you are not embodied. You are established in your subtle and gross forms. You are in the form of nimesha and kashtha. You are in the form of time. You are the form of destruction. Be pleased. Through your own wishes, reduce the energy of your own form.’ This supreme and beautiful hymn should only be heard by men who are full of faith. A guru must only reveal it to someone who becomes a disciple and meditates. The undecaying one was thus praised by the gods and the divine rishis. He shed a bit from the mass of his rays. The energy that consisted of hymns from the Rig Veda became the earth. The energy that consisted of hymns from the Yajur Veda became the firmament. Ravi’s energy that consisted of hymns from the Sama Veda became heaven. Tvashta shaved off fifteen parts of his energy. 755 With these, Tvashta fashioned Sharva’s trident, Vishnu’s chakra, extremely terrible javelins for the Vasus, the fire god’s spear, Dhanada’s palanquin and other fierce weapons for asuras, yakshas and vidyadharas. Vishvakarma did that and the radiant and illustrious lord only retained one-sixteenth of his original lustre. Vishvakarma shaved off fifteen parts of the energy.

  ‘“After this, Bhanu assumed the form of a horse and went to the Uttarakuru region. He saw Samjna there, in the form of a mare. On seeing him approach, she suspected that this was someone else’s husband. 756 Intent on protecting her rear, she faced him when she approached. They united with each other by joining their noses. As a result, through the mare’s nose, Nasatya and Dasra were born as sons. From the rest of the semen, a son named Revanta was born, holding a sword and a shield and clad in armour. He was born astride a horse, with a quiver full of arrows. Thereafter, Bhanu displayed his unmatched form. On seeing his own form, she happily assumed her own form. He honoured her and brought her to his hermitage. Bhaskara, the one who steals water, brought his own loving wife, Samjna, back. The eldest among her sons was Vaivasvata Manu. The second son was Yama. Because of the curse, he came to possess insight about dharma. His father himself devised a means for bringing an end to the curse. ‘The worms will take flesh from his foot and fall down on the ground.’ Since he possessed insight about dharma and was impartial between friend and enemy, the dispeller of darkness appointed him lord of the southern direction. 757 River Yamuna started to flow within the Kalinda region. The great-souled father made the two Ashvins 758 physicians of the gods. Revanta was appointed the lord of the guhyakas. Now hear about how Chhaya-Samjna’s sons were engaged. The eldest of Chhaya-Samjna’s sons was just like the eldest, the Manu. Therefore, this son of Ravi’s was given the name of Savarnika. 759 He will be the Manu when Bali becomes Indra. The father appointed the son in the middle, Shanaishchara, as a planet. 760 The third, the daughter, was Tapati. Through King Samvarana, she had a son named Kuru. 761 I will now tell you about the seventh manvantara, that of Vaivasvata. I will tell you about his sons, the kings, the rishis, the gods and the lord of the gods.”’

  Chapter 76

  ‘Markandeya said, “The eight categories of gods are said to be the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Sadhyas, Vishvadevas, the large number of Marus, the Bhrigus and the Angirases. The Adityas, Vasus and Rudras are known as the sons of Kashyapa. The Sadhyas, Vasus 762 and Vishvadevas—these three categories are the sons of Dharma. The gods who are the Bhrigus are the sons of Bhrigu and the gods who are the Angirases are the sons of Angiras. But right now, the lord of this category is known as Maricha. 763 The great-souled Urjjasvi is Indra and he enjoys a share in sacrifices. There were Indras of the gods in the past, there are Indras now and there will be Indras in the future. All of them are known to possess similar characteristics. All of them possess one thousand eyes. All of them wield the vajra and all of them are the destroyers of enemy cities. All of them are munificent and like bulls. All of them ride tusked elephants. All of them are performers of one hundred sacrifices. All of them overcome creatures with their energy. All of them are pure and place dharma at the forefront. They thus possess the traits of lordship. They are the protectors of the past, the present and the future. O brahmana! Hear about the three worlds. The earth is know
n as bhuloka. The firmament is held to be bhuvarloka. Heaven is said to be svarloka. These are said to be the three worlds. Atri, Vasishtha, the great rishi Kashyapa, Goutama, Bharadvaja, Koushika Vishvamitra and the illustrious Jamadagni, the son of the great-souled Richika—these are said to be the seven sages in this manvantara. The nine sons of Vaivasvata Manu are said to be Ikshvaku, Nabhaga, Dhrishta, Sharyati, Narishyanta, Nabghaga-dishta, Karusha, Prishadhra and Vasuman, famous in the worlds. O brahmana! I have spoken to you about Vaisvasvata manvantara. O excellent one! If a man hears this, or reads it, he is instantly cleansed from all sins and obtains great merits.”’