Srimad bhagavata Suta and the Other Sages Many years ago, some ...

Srimad bhagavataSuta and the Other SagesMany years ago, some sages (rishis) desired to go to heaven (svarga). They thereforebegan to perform a yajna (sacrifice) in a forest known as naimisharanya. The sacrificewas a difficult one, and all the assembled sages were resting, when Suta arrived on thescene. Suta was himself a sage and was the sage Romaharshana’s alternatively,Lomaharshana) son. Suta was also extremely learned in the Puranas and the shastras(sacred texts).The assembled sages welcomed Suta with offerings and said, Suta, not only are youlearned in the shastras and the Puranas, you have also interpreted them. This iskaliyuga, the last of the four eras when evil reigns supreme everywhere. People areno longer interested in righteousness. Moreover, men do not live for as long as theyused to earlier. They therefore have less time to devote to the hearing of the shastras.Tell us briefly, the essence of the shastras. Vishnu was born as Krishna, the son ofVasudeva and Devaki, to rid the world of evil. Who knows about Krishna more thanyou ? Tell us about Krishna and his exploits,

Suta was very happy that sages had asked him about Krishna. He began to tell thestory of the Bhagavata Purana.Vishnu’s twenty-four IncarnationsUsually, ten incarnations (avataras) of Vishnu are mentioned in the Puranas. TheBhagavata Purana however mentions twenty-four incarnations.Vishnu has an original form which cannot be normally seen. It has many legs, thighs,hands, mouths, eyes, ears and noses. It is from this original form that the incarnationsare created. And it was also from this form that Brahma was created.Vishnu’s first incarnation was as a celibate brahmana, the brahmanas being the firstof the four classes. The duties of brahmanas were to pray and devote themselves tothe study of the shastras.Vishnu’s second incarnation was a wild boar (varaha). In this form, he rescued theworld from the depths of the underworld.In his third incarnation, Vishnu adopted the form of the great sage Narada. AsNarada, he instructed men about the virtues of being devoted to Vishnu.In the fourth incarnation, Vishnu adopted the forms of two different sages. Theirnames were Nara and Narayana. These two sages performed very difficult tapasya(meditation).Vishnu’s fifth incarnation was also as a sage. This sage’s name was Kapila. Therewas another sage named Asuri. Kapila instructed Asuri about the school ofphilosophy that is known as samkhya darshana.In his sixth incarnation, Vishnu was born as the son of the sage of the sage Atri andhis wife Anusuya. The name that Vishnu adopted in this incarnation was Dattatreya.As Dattatreya, Vishnu instructed Alarka, Prahlada and others on the path to trueknowledge.The seventh incarnation took place during the rule of Svayambhuva Manu, the firstManu to rule over an era (manvantara). Vishnu was now born as the son of Ruchi andAkuti and his name was Yajna. Yajna held the title of Indra during the firstmanvantara.

Vishnu’s eighth incarnation was as Rishabha, the son of King Nabhi and QueenMaru. In this incarnation, he instructed even the most learned of scholars about thebest form of meditation.The ninth incarnation was as a king. In fact, the sages had asked that Vishnu mightbe born as a king. From the word for asking (prarthana), the king came to be calledPrithu and the earth is known as prithivi after king Prithu. Prithu milked the earth andobtained all the herbs and plants which were then handed over to humans.Vishnu’s tenth incarnation was as a fish (matsya). This took place during themanvantara that was known as chakshusha manvantara. At this time, the wholeworld was flooded with water. The Manu who ruled over this manvantara wasknown as Vaivasvata Manu. As a fish, Vishnu told Vaivasvata Manu to build a boatand save himself and the rest of humanity from the waters of the flood.The eleventh incarnation was at the time of the churning of the ocean (samudramanthana). Vishnu now adopted the form of a turtle (Kurma). The gods (devas) anddemons (asuras) churned the ocean with Mount Mandara as a churning rod. But thiswould not have been possible had there not been a base on which Mount Mandaracould rest. This base was provided by the back of the turtle. As the churning of theocean continued. Dhanvantari came out with a pot of amrita ( a life-giving drink) inhis hands. Dhanvantari was Vishnu’s twelfth incarnation. Dhanvantari was also theoriginator of all medical knowledge. Together with the gods, the demons also wanteda share of the amrita. But Vishnu adopted the form of a beautiful woman and socharmed the demons that they gladly parted with the amrita. This was Vishnu’sthirteenth incarnation.Hiranyakashipu later became the king of the demons and began to oppress the gods.So Hiranyakashipu had to be destroyed. Vishnu did this in his fourteenth incarnation,known as narasimha because the being was half-man and half-lion. This man-beasttore apart Hiranyakasipu’s breast with its claws.After Hiranyakashipu, Vali became the king of the demons and drove the gods out ofheaven. Vishnu’s fifteenth incarnation was that of a dwarf (vamana). The dwarfcame to Vali and desired that it might be granted as much of land as could beencompased in three of its steps. The generous Vali did not refuse. But the dwarfadopted a gigantic form and in three of its steps, it covered all the three worlds. ThusVali had to surrender heaven to the gods.There was once a time when the kings on earth became evil and began to ignore thebrahmanas. The kings were kshatriyas. The kshatriyas constituted the second of thefour classes and their primary duty was to bear arms and protect the world from evil.

When it was found that the kings had themselves became evil. Vishnu was born asParashurama. This was his sixteenth incarnation. Parashurama destroyed all thekshatriyas in the world twenty-one times, so that good might once again prevail.Thereafter, the seventeenth incarnation was born. This was Vedavyasa, the son ofParashara and Satyavati. Vedavyasa recompiled the sacred texts of the Vedas so thatthey might become more easily understandable to men. It was thus that there came tobe four Vedas. Vedavyasa’s real name was Krishna Dvaipayana. He came to beknown as Vedavyasa because he had divided the Vedas.The eighteenth incarnation was Rama, about whom you must have read in theRamayana. The nineteenth and twentieth incarnations were born as Yadavas. Theirnames are also familar to you, this time from the Mahabharata. The nineteenthincarnation was Baladeva or Balarama and the twentieth was Krishna.The twenty-first incarnation was Buddha, the originator of Buddhism. The twentyseondincarnation is yet to come. It will be Kalki, the son of a brahmana namedVishnuyasha. Kalki will arrive at the end of kaliyuga and destroy the evil of theworld. And a new righteous order will be established.Although the Bhagavata Purana had promised to talk about twenty-four avataras ofVishnu, it actually lists only twenty-two. It however points out that such incarnationsoccur whenever there is evil on earth and there is a need to destroy evil and establishrighteousness. Accordingly, there have been several incarnations.Vedavyasa and NaradaVedavyasa had a son named Shukadeva. Shukadeva was a great sage. He waslearned and free from all wordly illusions. But he never displayed his knowledge, sothat most people thought him to be ignorant and stupid.Vedavyasa divided the Vedas into four. These sacred texts came to be known as RigVeda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. Vedavyasa taught the four Vedasto four of his disciples. Paila was taught the Rig Veda. Vaishamapayana the YajurVeda, Jaimini the Sama Veda and Sumanta the Atharva Veda. The Puranas areknown as the fifth Veda. Vedavyasa later taught the Puranas to his discipleRomaharshana. And this Romaharshana was the father of Suta, the narrator of theBhagavata Purana.But despite having done all this work one the Vedas in addition to having composedthe Mahabharata, Vedavyasa was intensely dissatisfied. His hermitage (ashrama) wason the banks of the river Sarasvati. After having bathed in the river, Vedavyasa sat in

his hermitage and began to ponder about what he might do next. It was then that thesage narada arrived on the scene.Vedavyasa, asked Narada. Why are you looking so miserable? You haveaccomplished much that one ought to feel proud about.I don’t really know why I feel dissatisfied, replied Vedavyasa. You are all-knowing.Why don’t you tell me why I keep feeling discontented?That may be because you have spent too much time in describing dharma, that whichis righteous, said Narada. There descriptions are too impersonal. Most people needthat which is more personalised. Dry words of dharma do not mean very much. Thecause of dharma might have been better served had you described the exploits ofKrishna. That would have made it much more personal. Why don’t you do it? Youalone are capable of accomplishing a task like that.Thus encouraged by Narada. Vedavyasa composed the Bhagavata Purana andinitially taught it to his son Shukadeva.Ashvatthama’s PunishmentMany Kaurava and Pandava warriors died in the course of the Kurukshetra War.Towards the end of the war, Bhima and Duryodhana fought a duel and Bhima brokeDuryodhana’s thighs with a mace. Duryodhana lay there on the ground, defeated butnot yet dead. Ashvatthama had fought the war on Duryodhana’s side and was lookingfor a way to please the disconsolate Duryodhana. Droupadi had five sons, the sons ofthe five Pandavas. In the dead of the night, Ashvatthama entered the Pandava campand sliced off the heads of these five sons. He then brought them as gifts toDuryodhana.It was now Droupadi’s turn to be disconsolate and she demanded revenge. Arjunapromised her that he would bring her Ashvatthama’s head as atonement. He thereforehunted out Ashvatthama and challenged him to a duel.Ashvatthama let loose a terrible divine weapon known as brahmashira on Arjuna. Tocounteract it, Arjuna had to release a brahmashira weapon of his own. But these twodivine weapons threatened to burn up the entire world. And the sages asked the twowarriors to writhdraw their weapons. Arjuna did this easily, but Ashvatthama did notknow how to wirthdraw a brahmashira weapon, so the weapon was directed atUttara’s womb Uttara was Arjuna’s widowed daughter-in-law, his son Abhimanyuhaving died earlier in the course of the battle. Ashvatthama was captured andbrought to Droupadi by Arjuna. There it was decided that Ashvatthama should not be

killed. He was, after all, the son of Dronacharya, the teacher of the Pandavas.Ashvatthama used to wear a jewel (mani) on his head. This jewel was cut off andgiven to Droupadi and Ashvatthama was allowed to leave.But what was to happen to the brahmashira weapon that had been directed at Uttara’swomb? Uttara came running to Krishna for protection. And Krishna himself enteredthe womb and so protected the baby. This baby was Parikshit. Since the baby hadbeen protected by Vishnu in his form of Krishna, the brahmanas proposed that heshould be named Vishnurata, that is, protected by Vishnu. But the baby had metKrishna inside Uttara’s womb and had become devoted to Krishna. Whenever thechild met someone, he tested to see if the person he had just met was indeed theperson whom he had met inside the womb. The word for a test is pariksha. Thus itwas that Vishnurata came to be popularly known as Parikshit.Krishna’s Return to DvarakaYudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandava brothers, became king after the end of theKurushetra War. For some time, Krishna stayed in the capital city of Hastinapura.But thereafter, he had to return to Dvaraka, the capital of the Yadavas. Great was therejoicing in Dvaraka when Krishna returned. Musical instruments were played.Woman climbed up to the roofs to catch a glimpse of Krishna. The brahmanasblessed him as he walked down the streets. Before entering the city, Krishna blewloudly on his conch-shell.Dvaraka was a very pretty city. The trees bore all sorts of fruits and flowers. Thehouses had creepers on them. The ponds were gay with lotuses. Beautiful gardenswre scattered throughout the city. There were many gates, all of which weredecorated with pennants and flags. The shops and street were clean.Krishna had sixteen thousand wives. They were very glad that their husband hadcome back after such a long itme.Krishna’s Death and the Destructionof the YadavasAfter some time had passed, Arjuna went on a visit to Dvaraka. Months passed, butArjuna did not return. Meanwhile, Yudhishthira could see all sorts of ill omens inHastinapura. People became evil, the seasons did not arrive at their appointed times.Relatives fought with each other and friends became enemies. Yudhishthira becameseriosly worried and decided to send Bhima to Dvaraka to find out what washappening there. Why had Arjuna not come back despite the fact that seven monthshad elasped since his departure from Hastinapura?

never act like that in the future, he would also undergo penance (prayashchitta) for thesin.While the king was thus pondering, news was brought to him about the curse that hadbeen imposed on him. Parikshit bore this news with fortitude. He was prepared toatone for his sin. And if it was desined that he should die at the hands of takshaka,then so would it be. But prior to dying, he decided that his death should take place onthe banks of the holy river Ganga. And he would devote the seven days that were leftto him to the contemplation of Krishna.Parikshit therefore began a fast on the banks of the Ganga. He meditated and thoughtof Krishna. Many sages assembled to witness this wonderful spectacle The king wasdelighted that all the sages had come, because that meant that his last moments onearth were blessed. Parishit’s son Janmejaya had also come and Parishit handed overthe kingdom to his son. The gods and sages were delighted to see the calm withwhich Parikshit was facing up to his fate. Flowers were showered on the king’s headfrom heaven.At the time, Vedavyas’s son Shukadeva also arrived there. He was only sixteen yearsof age, but so holy that all the sages stood up to honour Shukadeva. Parikshit alsoworshipped Shukadeva and said , I am honoured that you have come here.Tell me what a man about to die should hear.And so began Shukadeva’s narrative.The Great Form of VishnuShukadeva said, Most people are ignorant. They are obsessed with material pursuits.They do not realize that all these are merely illusions (maya). True bliss comes fromknowing Vishnu. The Bhagavata Purana tells of Vishnu and I learnt the text from myfather Vyasadeva. You are devoted to Vishnu. So I will relate to you the BhagavataPurana.When death knocks at one’s door, one should forget about material pursuits. Oneshould go to a holy place and prepare to meditate. The best incantation (mantra) formeditation is that which goes by the name of omkara, the chanting of om repeatedly.This chanting calms the mind. The senses are controlled and one can contemplateGod. Yoga is the technique of uniting the human soul (atman) with the divine essence(brahman). And yogis are people who try to achieve this union. A yogi has to sit in aproper posture (asana) and has to control his breath in the process of meditation(pranayama). It helps to fix one’s mind on the great form of Vishnu.

Vishnu’s great form is everywhere. It is the beginning of the past, the present and thefuture. The form is shrouded in the five elements and the ego. But within the form isthe being who is the object of all yoga. The underworld rests at this being’s feet, theearth is near the thighs and the sky is at the navel. This great form of Vishnu isknown as vishvarupa. Near the breast of the being is heaven (svarloka or svarga),surrounded by all the stars. Higher up on the body are the higher regions. The entireuniverse is divided into fourteen regions (lokas). Seven of these form the underworldand their names are atala, vitala, sutala, talatala, mahatala, rasatala and patala. Sevenother lokas form the upper regions and their names are bhuloka, bhuvarloka, svarloka,maharloka, janaloka, tapoloka and satyaloka. Thus the being’s throat is maharloka,the mouth janaloka, the forehead tapoloka and the head satyaloka.Indra and the other gods are the arms of the being. The four directions are his ears.The two Ashvinis are his nose and his mouth is flaming fire itself. The sun isVishnu’s eyes, day and night are his eyelashes and his smile is maya. The oceansform his armpits, the mountains his bones, the rivers his veins and the trees are thehair on his body. The wind is Vishnu’s breath and the clouds are nothing but his hair.The brahmanas have a place near Vishnu’s mouth, the kshatriyas near his arms, thevaishyas (the third of the four classes) near his thighs and the shudras near his feet.This vishvarupa of Vishnu is everywhere. And it is this vishvarupa that one mustconcentrate on in the process of yoga.Having heard all this, Parikshit gave himself up to the contemplation of Vishnu. Heforgot his wife, sons, wealth, and kingdom. But he nevertheless wanted to knowmore about Krishna, Vishnu’s incarnation on earth. He asked Shukadeva to tell himabout Krishna. And this is what Shudadeva proceeded to do, beginning with the storyof the creation.CreationAlthough Brahma is regarded as the creator, Brahma himself owes his creation toVishnu. Vishnu created the three gunas (qualities) for the purposes of creation. Thesethree qualities are sattva guna, raja guna, and tama guna. Sattva guna relates toknowledge and is associated with the gods. Raja guna relates to activity and isassociated with the senses. Tama guna relates to matter and is associated with the fiveelements.In the beginning, there was only the great egg (brahmanda). For thousands andthousands of years the egg floated on the waters that were everywhere. Then a beingcame out of the egg. This was nothing but Vishnu’s great form. It had thousands ofthighs, legs, hands, breasts, faces and heads. The learned know that all the fourteenworlds were created from this great being. The seven lokas that constitute the

underworld were made out of the lower part of the body. And the seven lokas thatconstitute the upper regions were made out of the upper half of the body.This vishvarupa extends throughout the universe. It even extends beyond theuniverse. Nothing that was created is independent of this great being. Brahmahimself emerged from a lotus that sprouted from this great being’s navel. If Brahmabecame the creator of all living beings, it was only because of the blessings ofVishnu. And Shiva happens to be the destroyers also by Vishnu’s grace. In everycycle (kalpa), Vishnu first creates himself. Then he creates other beings, preservesthem and eventually destroys them.Uddhava and ViduraMany years ago, Vidura was once forced to leave his house.If you have read the Mahabharata, you will remember that Vidura was the youngerbrother of Dhritarashtra. And Dhritarashtra’s son Duryodhana was always trying tobring some harm to the Pandavas. He tried to burn them in the house of lac(jatugriha), he unfairly defeated Yudhishthra in a game of dice and he deprived thePandavas of the kingdom that was rightfully theirs. Dhritarashtra was so smitten bylove for his son that he never interfered, even though he realized that whatDuryodhana was doing was not quite right. Eventually, Vidura could bear it nolonger. He begged Dhritarashtra to forsake his son and return the kingdom toYudhishthira.Hearing this, Duryodhana lost his temper. Who has permitted this son of a slave-girlto enter the court premises?, he demanded to know. How dare Vidura insult the handthat feeds him? He behaves like an enemy. Banish him from the kingdom.It was indeed true that Vidura was the son of a slave-girl. But this did not mean thatDuryodhana had the right to insult someone who was his uncle. Vidura felt so hurtthat he resolved to leave Hastinapura. Having left he capital, Vidura visited manyplaces of pilgrimage. He travelled throughout the length and breadth ofBharatavarsha and finally came to the river Yamuna. On the banks of the Yamuna hemet Uddhava.Uddhava was Krishna’s close companion and friend and Vidura was delighted tohave met him. He enquired from Uddhava about the welfare of Krishna and the otherYadavas. At this, Uddhava remembered various childhood exploits of Krishna’s.Krishna’s Childhood

Uddhava had first met Krishna when he was only five years old. But even at thatearly age, he had become a close friend of Krishna’s and could not bear to parted fromhim. And together, the two friends had aged over the years. Now when Vidura askedhim about Krishna. Uddhava’s eyes glistened with tears.He said, I am sorry to tell you that the days of Krishna’s glory are now over. Cursedare the Yadavas for not recognizing while there was time that Krishna was Vishnu’savatara. They treated him like a mere human. There are only a few like you and mewho recognized Krishna for what he was. Alas, Krishna is no more. He is dead. Theworld no longer seems to be the same. Do you remeber his childhood deeds?The world was full of evil. And Brahma went and prayed to Vishnu that somethingmight be done about all this evil. Vishnu agreed to be born as the son of Vasudevaand Devaki. But Kamsa, the king of the Yadavas, had got to know that Vasudeva’sson would kill him. So he imprisoned Vasudeva’s son would kill him. So heimprisoned Vasudeva and Devaki. It was in Kamsa’s prison that Krishna was born.To save the newly born baby from Kamsa’s wrath, Vasudeva went and left babyKrishna with Nanda and his wife Yashoda. There Krishna was brought up as the sonof Nanda and Yashoda. Krishna’s elder brother was Baladeva, also born as anincarnation of Vishnu’s.For eleven years, the two brothers withheld from common knowledge their divinenature. They played with the cowherds along the banks of the river Yamuna andtended to the cattle. Krishna was particularly fond of playing the flute.Kamsa had got to know about Krishna and he sent many demons to try and killKrishna. But Krishna disposed of all these demons effortlessly. There was a hugesnake named Kaliya which was poisoning the water of the Yamuna. Cowherds andcattle died as a result of drinking this poisoned water. Krishna tamed Kaliya andmade the water of the Yamuna pure again. He also brought back to life the cowherdsand the cattle who had died.The cowherds had been in the habit of praying to Indra through a sacrificialceremony. Krishna put a stop to this sacrifice. This so angered Indra that he poureddown torrents and torrents of rain and threatened to destroy all the cowherds and theircattle. But Krishna lifted up a huge mountain known as govardhana with his finger.He held this aloft and all the cowherds and their cattle took shelter under thismountain. They were thus saved.Kamsa’s Death

Later on, Krishna came to Mathura. This city was Kamsa’s capital. He killed Kamsaand made Kamsa’s father Ugrasena the king of the Yadavas. He also freed hisparents, Vasudeva and Devaki, from Kamsa’s prison.Those who were devoted to Krishna attained true knowledge. And Uddhava askedVidhura to worship the sage Maitreya if he desired to attain this knowledge.MaitreyaThe sage Maitreya lived in Haridvara and it was there that Vidura met him.Vidura asked Maitreya, Our worldly life is such that no matter what one does, there isunhappiness all around. Tell me how Krishna can be worshipped so that one canconquer all this unhappiness.Maitreya told Vidura about the beginning of creation. Brahma emerged fromVishnu’s navel and began the task of creation. From the powers of his mind hecreated four sages whose names were Sanakaa, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara.But these sages did not seem to be at all interested in the process of creation and thismade Brahma very angry. From his furrowed brows there was born a son known asNilalohita, so named because he was partly blue (nila) and partly red (lohita) incolour. Nilalohita was the ancestor of all the gods.As soon as he was born, Nilalohita began to cry.Why are you crying?, asked Brahma.Because I have no name, replied the boy, Give me a name and tell me where I shouldstay.Brahma told the boy not to cry. From the word for crying (rud), he named the boyRudra. In additon, Brahma gave the boy eleven more names. These were Manyu,Manu, Mahinas, Mahan, Shiva, Ritadhvaja, Ugrareta, Bhava, Kala, Vamadeva andDhritavrata. Eleven wives named Dhi, Dhriti, Rasala, Uma, Nishut, Sarpi, Ila,Ambhika, Iravati, Svadha, and Diksha were earmarked for Rudra. Brahma alsodecided that Rudra’s habitat would be the heart, the life, the sky, the air, the fire, thewater, the earth, the sun, the moon, and all meditation.Brahma next asked Rudra to create more beings. The first Rudra created severalother Rudras. But all these creations were terrible and they proceeded to destroywhatever Brahma had so far created.

Brahma told Rudra, Please desist. Enough is enough. There is no need for you tocreate anything any more. Why don’t you go away and meditate?Thus instructed by Brahma, rudra went away to meditate. And with Rudra safely outof the way, Brahma could concentrate on the act of creation once more. Ten sonswere born to Brahma. Their names were Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha,Kratu, Bhrigu, Vashishtha, Daksha and Narada. Narada was born from Brahma’s lap,Daksha from his thumb, Vashishta from his breath of life, Bhrigu from his skin, Kratufrom his hands, Pulaha from his navel, Pulastya from his ears, Agnira from his mouth,Atri from his eyes and Marichi from his mind.Several sacred texts came out of Brahma’s mouth. These included the four Vedas(rig, sama, yajur, and atharva), and ayurveda (the art of medicine), dhanurveda (the artof fighting) and gandharvaveda (the art of singing). The Puranas also came out ofBrahma’s mouth and they came to be known as the fifth Veda.Finally Brahma split his own body into two. One part became male and the otherfemale. The man was called Svayambhuva Manu and the woman Shatarupa. Manuand Shatarupa had five children, two sons and three daughter. The sons werePriyavrata and Uttanapda and the daughters were Akuti, Devahuti, and Prasuti.The Boar IncarnationMaitreya continued with the story.Manu and Shatarupa touched Brahma’s feet. Lord, we have no place to live in, Theysaid. The whole world is full of water. The earth is submerged in water.Brahma found that this was indeed true and he wondered what might be done.Perhaps he should pray to Vishnu for deliverance. But while Brahma was thinking, aminute little boar came out from his nose. Within seconds, the boar grew and grewuntil it became as huge as an elephant. Brahma, the sages, and Manu marvelled to seethis wonderful sight. Who could this boar be?As they wondered, the boar began to roar. The wold shook with the sound of thisroaring. And everyone realized that the boar could be none other than Vishnu. Theystarted to pray to Vishnu. They chanted mantras (incantations) so that the boar mightbe pacified.The boar kept up into the sky. It hardened its body and the hair on its neck stood up.It struck the clouds with its hooves. The light from its eyes lit up the four directionsand its tusks glistened white. Glancing at the people who had assembled, the boar

entered the waters of the ocean. Like a mountain the boar’s body fell and the bed ofthe ocean was ripped apart. The waves rose up as if in protest. The boar went all theway down into the underworld and there it discovered the earth. It raised the earthwith its tusks and brought the earth up to where it should be. In the water there wasalso a daitya (demon) named Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha tried to fight the boar with amace, but was no match for Vishnu. Vishnu killed the demon with his sudarshanachakra (a weapon like a bladed discus).The sages prayed at this wonderous deed.But Vidura was not satisfied. Sage Maitreya, he said, you have been too brief. Whowas this Hiranyaksha who met Vishnu in the underworld?Maitreya then began to relate the story of Hiranyaksha.Daksha’ s daughter Diti was married to the sage Kashyapa., Kashyapa himself beingthe son of the sage Marichi. Kashyapa and Diti had two sons. Unfortunately, Diti hadhad the idea of having children when it was evening. The evening is not auspiciousfor such a task, since it is then that ghosts and demons wander around. The upshotwas that the two sons who were born were destined to be evil. They would oppressthe world. And it was also destined that they would be killed by Vishnu in two of hisincarnations. These two sons were Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu.But Kashyapa was a powerful sage. So he granted his wife the boon that one of theirgrandsons would be so righteous that he would be a model for everyone to follow.This grandson was Prahlada, who was always devoted to Vishnu.For a hundred years the two evil sons stayed in Diti’s womb without being born. Soevil were they that, even before they were born, the four directions became dark andthe sun and the moon faded. The gods were greatly alarmed at these developmentsand went to Brahma for a solution.Brahma said, Do not worry. All this has been ordained. Let me tell you about Jayand Vijaya.Once upon a time, several sages went to vaikunthaloka. This was the place whereVishnu lived. Vaikunthaloka was a beautiful place to behold. It was full ofwonderful gardens. The gardens had miraculous trees which yielded whatever fruitsor flowers one desired. The ponds were full of flowers. The gandharvas (singers ofheaven) and apsaras (dancers of heaven) were everywhere. All those who are devotedto Vishnu stay in vaikunthaloka. The evil can never go there. Vaikunthaloka is abetter place than even brahmaloka, Brahma’s residence.

The sages were very happy to have come to vaikunthaloka. They now desired to seeVishnu himself. They crossed six gates without difficulty and so arrived at theseventh, the gate they would have to cross before meeting Vishnu. But there weretwo sentries who stood guard at the seventh gate and they would not let the sagespass. They had maces in their hands and they threatened the sages with theseweapons.The sages felt insulted. They therefore cursed the two sentries that they would leavevaikunthaloka and be born on earth. The two sentries were named Jaya and Vijaya.And it was Jaya and Vijaya who were born as the two asuras (demons) Hiranyakshaand Hiranyakashipu.After the babies had spent a hundred years in Diti’s womb, they were born as a pairof twins. When they were born, there were ill omens all around. The earth shook andfires broke out everywhere. There were showers of meterors and thunder and comets.Terrible duststorms darkened the earth. Trees were uprooted in the storms andlightning split the sky. The clouds were so thick that the sun’s rays could not be seen.There were tidal waves in the sea. Donkeys brayed and owls hooted.The elder of the twins was named Hiranyaksha and the younger Hiranyakashipu.They became very powerful and strong. Hiranyaksha once arrived in heaven. He hadbecome invincible, thanks to a boon received from Brahma. He defeated Indra andthe other gods and expelled them from heaven. Having conquered heaven,Hiranyaksha decided to conquer the sea. The god of the ocean was Varuna, butVaruna’s army was no match for Hiranyaksha. Varuna’s palace was namedVibhavari. Hiranyaksha won over Vibhavari and began to live there.After some time, Hiranyaksha encountered Vishnu in the form of a boar in the water.He challenged the boar to a duel and hurled a mace at it. But Vishnu easily repelledthe mace. And he struck Hiranyaksha with his own mace. Thus they continued tofight for some time, striking each other with maces. Vishnu struck the asura on histhroat with the mace. But this did not affect Hiranyaksha. He counterattacked so hardthat Vishnu’s mace fell off from his hand. At this, Vishnu called for his sudarshanachakra. He repelled the various maces and spears that the asura hurled at him.Hiranyaksha now restored to maya, the art of creating illusions and hallucinations.He completely disappeared and made the whole world dark. And from the darkness,he began to fling down boulders and weapons. There seemed to be demonseverywhere. But when Vishnu flung his chakra, all this maya disappeared. And thechakra sliced off Hiranyaksha’s head.Having achieved his purpose, Vishnu gave up the form of a boar.

Kardama and DevahutiOne of Svayambhuva Manu’s daughters was Devahuti. She was married to the sageKardama. For ten thousand years Kardama performed very difficult tapasya(meditation) on the banks of the river Sarasvati. This meditation so pleased Vishnuthat he granted Kardama the boon that he himself would be born as the son ofKardama and Devahuti.But a special place needed to be designed for Vishnu to be born. With the powers ofhis tapasya, Kardama created a vimana ( a space-vehicle). This vimana wasbejewelled and richly decorated. It had many rooms inside it. For a hundred yearsKardama and Devahuti lived in this vimana and Devahuti gave birth to ninedaughters. Their names were Kala, Anasuya, Shraddha, Havirbhu, Gati, Kriya,Khyati, Arundhati, and Shanti. These nine daughters were married to the nine greatsages Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vashishtha and Atharva.Thereafter, Vishnu himself was born to Kardama and Devahuti as Kapila. Hispurpose was to teach men the intricacies of samkhya tattva, the theory of trueknowledge that showed the path to an union with the brahman.After Kapila was born, Kardama went off on a pilgrimage and Kapila was brought upby Devahuti. They lived in an ashrama (hermitage) named Vindusarovara.Once Devahuti went to her son and said, I am tired of this world. I am tired of itsillusions. Teach me true knowledge.Kapila taught his mother. And these teachings have come to be known as samkhyayoga. Yoga means union and is used in the sense of the human soul (atman) unitingwith the divine assence (brahman). This is what Kapila taught.Yoga conquers both happiness and unhappiness. The mind gets attached to materialpursuits and this is the main obstacle in the path. of yoga One has to free oneself fromthese attachments. This also requires the overcoming of one’s own ego. The mainpath to achieving this union with God is bhakti (devotion and faith). The brahman hasno traits, it cannot be described. It is not moved by any emotions. Those who do notrealize the identity of the atman with the brahman are destined to be born again andagain.The supreme knowledge that Kapila taught her, freed Devahuti from all hereillusions. She realized tha the body was nothing. True bliss was in yoga. She went toan ashrama on the banks of the river Sarasvati and there began to practice yoga. Shemeditated on the various forms of Lord Vishnu that Kapila had told her of. The place

where Devahuti performed tapasya has now become a famous place of pilgrimage. Itis known as siddhipada.The Daughters of ManuYou will recollect that Svayambhuva Manu had three daughters, Akuti, Devahuti andPrasuti. You have already heard Devahuti’s story.Akuti was married to the sage Ruchi and they had a son and a daughter. The son wasVishnu’s incarnation and was brought up by Svayambhuva Manu. The daughter wasnamed Dakshina. Dakshina married Vishnu himself and their twelve sons were thegods known as tushitas.Brahma’s son was Daksha and Daksha married Prasuti. They had sixteen daughters.Thirteen of these daughters were married to the god Dharma, one to the god Agni, oneto the ancestors and the last one to Shiva. One of Dharma’s wives was Murti and shegave birth to the two great sages, Nara and Narayana. Nara and Narayana wereincarnations of Vishnu. They were worshipped by everyone and went off to performtapasya on Mount Gandhamadana.You have been told that Shiva married one of Daksha’s daughters. Her name wasSati. She gave up her life because her husband was insulted. Thereby hangs a tale.Shiva and DakshaMany years ago, there was a yajna (sacrifice) at which all the gods and sages hadassembled. All the guests were seated, when Daksha suddenly arrived. Everyonestood up to honour Daksha, except Brahma and Shiva. Brahma had no reason to showDaksha respect; Daksha was after all his own son. But Daksha was greatly insulted atShiva’s ignoring him. Apart from anything else, Shiva also happened to be his sonin-law.Assembled guests, said Daksha, Please listen to what I have to say. This Shiva hasno sense of shame, he does not know how to honour his seniors. He is married to mydaughter Sati. Wouldn’t it have been proper of him to stand up and show me respect?It was stupid of me to marry my daughter to this useless fellow. His companions areghosts and demons. He frequents cremation grounds (shmashana) like a lunatic. Hisbody is smeared with ashes from dead bodies, he wears a garland of skulls and hedrinks all the time.Shiva continued to ignore Daksha and did not react at these angry words. ButDaksha’s ire had been roused and he cursed Shiva that, henceforth. Shiva would not

e entitiled to receive any offerings that were made to gods at yajnas. He then left theplace in a huff.Shiva’s main companion was Nandi. Nandi was incensed that Shiva should havebeen cursed and that the sages and the brahmanas should have kept quiet and notprotested. Nandi therefore cursed the sages and brahmanas that they would be bornagain and again on earth. They would have to work for a living and they would losesight of true knowledge and become addicted to material pursuits.Now it was the turn of the sage Bhrigu to get angry. He cursed all followers of Shivathat they would become addicted to drinking and would roam around with bodiessmeared with ashes and decorated with skulls. Their hair would always be matted.Shiva had been silent through all this pandemonium. But at all this general cursing,he collected his followers and companions and left the yajna.The yajna was performed in Shiva’s absence. This went on for a thousand years.Days passed. Daksha organized another yajna named vajapeya and did not inviteShiva or his followers. The yajna was successfully completed and this made Dakshaso arrogant that he decided to hold yet another yajna named brihaspatistava. Heinvited all the other gods and sages to this yajna, but did not invite Shiva and hisfollowers. The sacrifice was a tremendous success and people talked about iteverywhere. Some such people who had been to the yajna were conversing about itwhile travelling through the sky. Sati overhead their conversation. She also sawmany gandarva women going to attend the yajna in their vimanas. This excited Sati’scuriosity and she too wanted to go to her father’s sacrifice.She went to Shiva and said, Your father-in-law Daksha is organizeing a wonderfulsacrifice. Let us go there; all the other gods are going. I will get to meet my sisters, Ihave not met them for such a long time. Nor have I met my mother for ages. This is achance to talk to all one’s relatives. Let us go. Or at least, let me go. I know that wehave not received an invitation. But does one need an invitation to go to one’shusband, father or friends?Shiva reminded Sati of what Daksha had said earlier and asked her to desist. Shewould not be welcome there. For although she was Daksha’s own daughter, shehappened to be Shiva’s wife as well. But despite Shiva’s warning, Sati was adamant.She would go. So he sent several of his companions to accompany her.Sati arrived at Daksha’s sacrifice and found that the yajna had started. The gods andthe sages had arrived. The Vedas were being recited. But except for Sati’s mother

and sisters, no one dared to welcome her. Her father ignored her completely. Shealso noticed that, at the yajna, no provison had been made for Shiva’s share. Shivawas to be deprived.Sati told her father, I had not expected that you would stoop to such low levels. Whobut you would have insulted a person like Shiva? It is the duty of a pativrata (awoman who is devoted to her husband) to protest if her husband is being insulted.You have insulted my husband. I owe this body of mine to you, since you happen tobe my father. But I no longer wish to possess a body that is thus contaminated.Saying this, Sati sat down on the floor. She controlled her breath and brought thebreath of her life to the centre of her forehead. She thought of Shiva and exhaled thebreath of life. And her body was immediately consumed by fire. The assembledguests marvelled at this wonderful incident.Shiva had sent several companions with Sati. These companions now attackedDaksha and the guests. But amongst the guests was the powerful sage Bhrigu. Withhis powers, Bhrigu created thousands and thousands of gods (named ribhus) from thefire of the yajna. The ribhus soon put all Shiva’s companions to fight. Thesecompanions rushed back to Shiva and told him what had transpired.Shiva’s anger knew no bounds. He tore off a flaming hair from his head flung itdown on the ground with a thunderous laugh. From the hair was created a giganticbeing named Virabhadra. Virabhdra’s head touched the sky. He was as dark as theclouds. And he had a thousand arms and three eyes. A garland of skulls hung aroundhis neck and his hands held diverse weapons.Virabhadra stood before Shiva in all humility and asked, What are my orders?Shiva replied, I have given birth to you and you are invincible. Go and destroyDaksha and his yajna.Virabhadra took up a terrible trishula (trident) and rushed towards the place wherethe sacrifice was being held. He was accompanied by several other demons andghosts. Some of them broke down the pillars of Daksha’s house, others demolishedthe sacrificial pyre. The fire of the yajna was put out. Some demons chased the sagesand the gods were attacked by others. One of Shiva’s companions was namedManimana. He caught hold of the sage Bhrigu and tied him up. The gods who didnot flee were also tied up. Virabhadra himself imprisoned Daksha. He tore offBhrigu’s beard. And then he tried to slice off Daksha’s head with his sword. But hefound that this was very difficult to do. So Virabhadra dragged Daksha’s body to ascaffold that had been erected for sacrificing animals. He placed Daksha’s head on

the scaffold and cut it off with his sword. This severed head was flung into the fire.Having accomplished his purpose, Virabhadra returned to Shiva’s residence in MountKailasa.The gods fled in despair to Brahma and told him what had happened. Brahma’sreaction was that the gods had got what they deserved. They had no business to insultShiva or to be a party to such insults. Shiva was entitled to shares in all yajnas just asthe other gods were. Brahma therefore advised the gods to pray to Shiva. No one elsecould pacify Shiva’s anger.The gods went to Kailasa and began to pray to Shiva. They desired that Dakshamight be brought back to life, Bhrigu’s beard might sprout again, and the gods whohad injured might quickly be restored to good health. Shiva had cooled down by then,so that he was not averse to grantng these boons. But what was to be done aboutDaksha? His old head had been consumed by the fire. Shiva proposed the solutionthat the head of a goat might be stuck onto Daksha’s body. The gods and sagesreturned with Shiva to the place where the sacrifice was being held. Shiva stuck thegoat’s head onto Daksha’s body and Daksha was brought back to life. He beggedShiva for mercy and forgiveness.The yajna started afresh and this time Vishnu himself acted as the chief priest. As forSati, she was born again as the daughter of Himalaya and Menaka, and united onceagain with Shiva. But that is a different story.DhruvaSvayambhuva Manu had two sons named- Priyavarata and Uttanapada. Both of thembecame kings. King Uttanapada had two wives, Suniti and Suruchi. He wasextremely fond of Suruchi, but did not like Suniti all that much. Suruchi’s son wasUttama and Suniti’s son was Dhruva.One day, Uttama was sitting on his father’s lap and being fondled by him. Dhruvacame there and also wanted to sit on his father’s lap. But Suruchi said, What do youthink you are doing? The king’s lap and his throne are reseved for my son. You arenot my son. Go away. Go to your mother Suniti.Dhruva burst into tears at these harsh words. And so enamoured was the king ofSuruchi that he did not protest. The weeping Dhruva went to his own mother and wasconsoled by her.Suniti said, son, do not be unhappy. If Suruchi has sinned, she will have to pay forher sins in the future. Unfortunate are you that you are my son. We must be paying

for sins that we have committed earlier. Do not be sad. Pray to God, there lies truesalvation.Dhruva resolved to do this and left his father’s house. He was accosted by the sageNarada who told him that he was too small to be performing difficult tapasya. Thatwas meant for the sages. But Dhruva was insistent. Throught his tapasya he wishedto attain a position that had not been attained by any of his ancestors. This resolvepleased Narada no end. Narada advised Dhruva to go to the banks of the Yamuna to agrove named Madhuvana. He should there pray to Vishu. Narada also taught Dhruvaan incantation that he could use for this purpose. At this time, Dhruva was only fiveyears of age.Dhurva began his tapasya. For the first month, he ate only fruit once every threedays. The remaining days he fasted. In the second month he ate once every five days,once every nine days in the third month, and he lived only on air in the fourth month.Thus, five months passed. Dhruva stood there on one leg, praying. He saw nothingbut Vishnu everywhere. Eventually Vishnu was pleased and appeared beforeDhruva. When Vishnu offered to grant a boon. Dhruva desired that he might attain aposition that no one had reached even before.Vishnu carved out a place for Dhurva in the sky. No one had live there before. Thiswould be known as Dhruvaloka. Dhruva would become the pole star and all the otherstars would revolve around him. Dhruvaloka would not be destroyed at the end of akalpa (cycle) when everything else was destroyed. But all this would happen onlyafter Dhruva died. For the moment, Vishnu informed him that he should return to hisfather. For Dhruva was destined to rule as a king for thirty-six thousand years. Hisbrother Uttama would get lost while on a hunting expedition.Thanking Vishnu, Dhruva returned to his father’s kingdom. King Uttanapda wasvery happy to have him back, and Uttama and Dhruva embraced each other. The twoprinces grew up together. And When Uttanapada desired to retire to the forest, hehanded over the kingdom to Dhruva.Dhruva had two wives, Bhrami and Ila. Uttama never married. He went on a huntand was killed by a powerful yaksha in the forest. These yakshas were beings whowere the companions of Kubera, the god of wealth. Uttama’s mother, Suruchi, wentto look for her son in the forest and died there.When Dhruva learned that his brother had been killed by a yaksha, he was furious.He climbed onto his chariot and left for the abode of the yakshas to avenge hisbrother. The yakshas lived towards the north in a valley in the Himalayas. Dhruvafound their city and started to blow on his conch-shell, challenging the yakshas to a

fight. The yaksha soldiers attacked, but Dhruva pierced them with his arrows. Theyakshas brought millions of soldiers to bear on Dhruva and the king was completelysurrounded by his enemies. But he triumphed over them and killed many of themwith his weapons. The yakshas retaliated with the use of maya (the art of creatingillusions). Dhruva repelled the maya with a divine weapon known as narayanastra.Before the fight could progress further, several sages came to Dhruva. Why are youdoing this? they asked. Why are you killing innocent yakshas? That is a sin. Controlyour anger. Only one yaksha had killed your brother. Punish him, but why kill theothers? Besides, everyone’s destiny is ordained by Vishnu. He alone decides on whatis to happen. Your brother was destined to die. Why blame the poor yaksha? He wasonly the instrument.Dhruva realized the wisdom in these words and ceased to fight. Kubera himself cameto Dhruva and offered to grant him a boon. Dhruva wanted the boon that he mightalways remain devoted to Vishnu. The boon was granted and Dhruva returned to hiskingdom. He ruled well and performed many sacrifices. He ruled for thirty-sixthousand years.When he was tired of the material life, Dhruva handed over the kingdom to his sons.He retired to a hermitage named vadrikashrama to perform yoga. After some timehad passed, a vimana descended from the sky for Dhruva. Vishnu’s companionsNanda and Sunanada were in the vimana. They took Dhruva to the place that hadbeen reserved for him in the sky.If you look up at the sky at night, you will be able to see Dhruva.Vena and PrithuDhruva had a son named Utkala who was asked to become king after Dhruva left forthe forest. But Utkala was not interested in becoming a king, he was more concernedabout getting to know about the brahman. So the kingdom was handed over to hisyounger brother Vatsara.Vatsara’s descendant was king Vena. Vena was terrible, even as a prince. It wasreally Vena’s acts that drove Vena’s father Anga to the forest.In fact, King Anga had arranged for an ashvamedha yajna (horse sacrifice). Angasent several priests with invitations for the gods. But these invitationsnotwithstanding, the gods did not come to attend the sacrifice. Anga was puzzled.Had he committed a sin that the gods had refused to come? He was then told that thegods had not come because Anga did not yet have a son. It was imperative that Anga

perform a yajna so as to obtain a son. Anga did as he was told. He performed asacrifice and was given some rice pudding that his wife should have if they desired ason. Anga’s wife Sunitha had the rice pudding and gave birth to a son. This son wasVena.Sunitha’ s father was Mrityu and Mrityu was an evil person. But ever since an earlyage, Vena got attached to his maternal grandfather and picked up evil pursuits fromhim. He would go to the forest and unnecessarily kill deer. He killed those who cameto play with him. Things came to such a pass tha tpeople used to run away when theysaw Vena coming.Anga tried to discipline his son, but to no avail. Vena was beyond all control. Insheer desperation, Anga left the kingdom one night and left for the forest. No furthertrace could be found of him.A kingdom cannot function without a king. Vena was crowned the king. Althoughthe subjects were not at all keen that Vena should become the king, they had nochoice in the matter. When he became king. Vena’s oppression knew no bounds. Hestopped all yajnas in his kingdom. The sages realized that they had made a mistake.They had crowned Vena king to prevent the anarchy that would have resulted hadthere been no king. But what was happening was worse than anarchy.The sages went to Vena to try and persuade him to mend his ways. But Vena wouldhave none of it. He would not permit yajnas. Yajnas were meant for the gods. Butwhat need was there of gods when the people could pray to King Vena himself?Having realized that Vena was beyond redemption, the sages resolved to kill him.This they did with the power of their anger. But Vena had left no son. Who was tobecome king in his place? In the absence of a king, the kingdom degenerates. In thebrief period when there was no king, there were ill omens all around. All thieves tookover the kingdom since there was no protector of the people.Vena’s dead body had been preserved by his mother. The sages went to the deadbody and began to knead it. As a result of the kneading, a dwarf emerged from thedead king’s thighs. The dwarf was dark and his eyes were red. The dwarf asked,What shall I do?Sit, replied the sages.The word nishida means sit and so the dwarf came to be known as nishada. The eviltraits of Vena had entered the dwarf’s body. So the dwarf and his descendents werenot permitted to live inside the kingdom. They lived in the forest and became hunters.

The sages continued to knead the dead body’s arms, and a son and a daughteremerged. The sages were now content, for they realized that the son, Prithu, was anincarnation of Vishnu. And the daughter, Archi, was an incarnation of the goddessLakshmi. Prithu married Archi and was crowned king.Prithu was a good king.But at that time, there were no foodgrains available on the earth and people werestarving. They went to Prithu and said, Save us. The earth has swallowed the seedsof all foodgrains and herbs and crops do not grow. Please do something to prevent thefamine.Prithu fixed an arrow to his bow and decided to let it loose at the earth. But the earthstarted to run away and Prithu followed after her with the arrow in his bow. The earthcould not outdistance Prithu. Finally she said, Please do not destroy me. If I amdestroyed, where will you and your subjects live? I will grant whatever it is that youwish for.Prithu asked her to restore the foodgrains and the herbs. The earth adopted the formof a cow and Prithu milked from her the goodrains and the herbs. It is after Prithu thatthe earth is known as prithivi.Prithu resolved to conduct a hundred ashvamedha yajnas. This disturbed Indra, theking of the gods. Indra had himself performed a hundred ashvamedha yajnas and thusobtained for himself the title of Shatakratu. Now Prithu was about to equal his glory.Indra become jealous. A horse is an essential component of the sacrifice and when noone was noticing, Indra stole the sacrificial horse.This was noticed by the sage Atri and he pointed it out to Prithu’s son. Prithu’s sonchased Indra and brought the horse back. But Indra stole the horse yet again, and yetagain Prithu’s son bought it back. Prithu was greatly angered at the disturbance thatIndra was causing and decided to kill Indra. Brahma however convinced Prithu thatthe killing of Indra was not advisable. Indra was after all the king of gods. Prithu had alreadysuccessfully completed ninety-nine ashvamedha yajnas and how did it matter whetherthe hundredth one was completed or not? Posterity would remember Prithu as a fargreater person than Indra. Prithu listened to Brahma and became friends with Indra.Prithu was given advice by four brahnmarshis (sages). He ruled according to thisadvice. And after many years, he handed over the kingdom to his sons and went tothe forest to do tapasya. When he died, he was taken to vishuloka or vaikunthaloka,

the abode of Vishnu. Prithu’s wife Archi immolated herself on her husband’s funeralpyre and was also taken to vishnuloka.The Prachetas and PuranjanaAmongst Prithu’s descendants there was a king named Prachinavarhi. This king hadten sons who were known as the Prachetas.Once, the Prachetas were journeying westwards to perform tapasya inside the ocean.On their way, they came to a huge lake. Fishes were playing in the water and manylotuses had bloomed on the lake. Musical instruments were being played on theshores of the lake. The Prachetas were amazed to find that Shiva and his companionswere bathing in the lake. Shiva gave the Prachetas a lot of good advice. And thePrachetas spent ten thousand years under the water, performing tapasya.Meanwhile, Narada came to visit king Prachinavarhi. The king worshipped Naradaand said, I am to attached to wordly pursuits. Give me some advice so that I may befreed of these illusions.I will tell you the story of Puranjana, replied Narada.There used to be a king named Puranjana. He had only one friend, but no one knewwhat the friend’s name was.Puranjana was looking for a place where he might live on earth. But no place that hesaw appealed to him. His search for a proper residence eventually brought him to thefoot of the Himalayas and there he discovered a beautiful city. The city was full ofgroves and houses. It had moats and walls around it.The houses were bright with jewels. And the doors and windows were made of goldand silver. Wild beasts roamed inside the city, but they had forgotten their cruelnatures.In the city Puranjana discovered a beautiful woman guarded by ten bodyguards. Asnake with five hoods also protected her.Who are you?, asked Puranjana. And who are these ten guards and the snake whofollow you around?Puranjana wanted to marry the woman and the woman readily agreed. She said thatPuranjana could live in the city for a hundred years and be her husband.Puranjana married the woman and forgot about everything else. He did not go on

hunts lest his wife be offended . He forgot all sense of night and day. He had elevenhundred sons and a hundred and ten daughters. But slowly Puranjana grew old. Thepleasures that he had earlier enjoyed no longer appealed to him. And his ownkingdom Panchala had also been conquered by his enemies.When the king died, he was taken to hell and spent a hundred yars there. While hewas in hell, he thought of his wife all the time. And since he kept thinking about awoman all the time, he was born as woman in his next life. Born as the daughter ofthe king of Vidarbha, he was married to King Malayadhvaja. They had seven sonsand one daughter.King Malayadhvaja ruled for a long time and then handed over the kingdom to hissons. He went to meditate in the forest and his wife accompanied him. For ahundred years Malayadhvaja meditated. But then he died and his wife was struckwith grief. She decided that she would immolate herself on her husband’s funeralpyre. But just as she was about to do so, a brahmana arrived on the scene.What are you doing?, asked the brahmana. Who are you sorrowing for ? What is thisman to you? For that matter, who are you ? Don’t you recognize me? I am yourfriend from you earlier life, when you were Puranajana. You had gone off to a city inthe Himalayas and had forgotten all about me. Forget material pursuits and realizetrue knowledge. You are neither Puranajana nor are you Malayadhvaja’s wife. Youare your atman. Understand this and be free of all illusions.Prachinvarni understood the message that was latent in Narada’s story . He went tothe sage Kapila’s hermitage to meditate. Meanwhile, his sons the Prachetas hadsucceeded in their tapasya. Vishnu had appeared before them. They married awoman named Marisha and had many children.Priyavrata and His DescendantsPriyavrata had no real desire to be king, he was not interested in worldy matters. Buthis father Svayambhuva Manu, his teacher Brahma, and the sage Narada convincedhim that there was nothing wrong in becoming a king. This did not necessarily meanthat the one would get tied down by the illusions of the world. So Priyavrata didbecome king. He married Vahirshmati.The sun goes around the world in his chariot. When the sun is on the other side ofthe world, it is night. But Priyavrata was quite upset that night should occur. Whycould it not always be day? One night, he decided that he would drive his flamingchariot around the world so that night might disappear. And when the king was doingthis, he looked like a second sun. Seven times he drove his chariot around Mount

Sumeru. The wheels of his chariot gouged the earth and created the seven oceans.These seven oceans surround the seven regions (dvipas) of the earth. The names ofthese dvipas are Jambhu, Plaksha, Shalmali, Kusha, Krouncha, Shaka and Pushkara.These seven dvipas Priyavarata left to his seven sons Agnidhra, Idhnajihva,Yajnavahu, Hiranyareta, Ghrita-prishtha, Medhatithi and Vitihotra.Agnidhra ruled over Jambu dvipa. Agnidhra had no sons. He went to MountMandara and started to pray to Brahma that he might have a son. Brahma knew whatAgnidhra wanted and so he sent an apsara named Purvachitti to Agnidhra. She was sobeautiful that Agnidhra’s meditation was disturbed.Who are you?, he asked. Are you an illusion? If you are not, please marry me.Purvachitti married Agnidhra and they had nine sons whose names were Nabhi,Kimpurusha, Harivarsha, Ilavrita, Ramyaka, Kuru, Hiranmaya, Bhadrashva andKetumala. After Agnidhra died, the nine sons split up Jambu dvipa into nine differentregions (varshas). Each ruled over one region and the region took on the name of itsruler.Nabhi’s son was Rishabha and Rishabha was devoted to Vishnu. He married Indra’sdaughter Jayanti and they had a hundred sons. The eldest was called Bharata and it isafter him that this land came to be known as Bharatavarsha. Rishabha gave his sons alot of learned advice so that they might not get bogged down by the illusions of theworld. When Rishabha died, Bharata became king.BharataBharata’s queen was named Panchajani, Bharata ruled well. He performed manyyajnas. When he had ruled for many years, he handed over the kingdom to his sonsand became a hermit. He lived alone in an ashrama on the banks of the river Gandakiand prayed to Vishnu for enlightenment.One day a deer came to drink water from the river. Just as the deer was drinkingwater, a lion roared nearby and the deer was frightened. She jumped into the water ofthe river and delivered a baby there. The baby deer was carried away by the currentof the river. And the mother deer managed to clamber up on to the bank, but died offright and exhaustion.Bharata saw what had happened. He jumped into the water and rescued the babydeer. He brought it home to his hermitage and began to rear it. Slowly he gotattached to the deer, so much so that he forgot all about his meditation. He wouldstart to worry if he did not see the deer for a while. Had it been attacked by a jackal or

some other wild beast? Even when he died, he kept thinking of the deer.Since he had been thinking of a deer at the time of his death, Bharata was born as adeer in his next life. But he was born a jatismara, that is, he could remember theincidents of his earlier life. He realized that he had dislodged from the path of yogathrough his own mistakes. He therefore came back to his earlier ashrama and livedthere. When the deer died, Bharata was reborn as the son of a brahmana.As a brahama, Bharata continued to be a jatismara. He realized that humanrelationsips were transient and did not wish to get attached to them. He pretended tobe mad, stupid, deaf and dumb so that no one might mix with him. When Bharata’sparents died, his brothers began to treat him rather shabbily.They gave him the worst of food to eat. But Bharata could not care less. He ate onlyto survive, not to satify his senses. He was strong of health and slept on the ground.A piece of cloth sufficed as clothing for him, and he never bathed. Other peoplestarted to treat him as an outcast.There was a leader of the shudras who wished to make a human sacrifice to thegoddess Kali. He had captured a man for this purpose, but, in the dead of the night,the prisoner escaped. The shudras had to find another person for the sacrifice, andthey found Bharata sitting in a field. They captured him and brought him to theirleader. Bharata was fed, bathed and dressed in new clothes. The shudra priest thenraised his sword to sacrifice Bharata to the goddess. But Kali could not bear this totake place. She came out of her image and she and her companions killed all theshudras. Bharata was nonchalant. He returned to his field.One day, king Rahugana was passing. He ruled over the kingdoms of Sindhu andSoubira. The king was riding a palanquin and the palanquin needed one more bearer.The king’s servants found Bharata and brought him to the king. Bharata seemed tostrong and healthy enough. He was therefore made to bear the planaquin with theother beares.But Bharata could not keep pace with the other bearers. He stepped very carefully sothat he might not step on living beings such as insects and kill them. The result wasthat the palanquin did not move smoothly. This irritated the king and, when hescolded the bearers,they pointed out that it was Bharata who was responsible.Rahugana shouted at Bharata.Are you tired?, he asked. Have you travelled a long distance? Or is it that you areweak? You look strong enough to me.

Bharata merely smiled. I am not tired, he replied. Nor have I travelled a longdistance. I am neither weak nor strong. I am my atman. How can the atman be tired,weak or strong? How can it travel a long distance?The king was amazed at these words of wisdom. He fell down at Bharata’s feet andbegged that he might be forgiven. He wished to learn more words of wisdom fromBharata. Bharata taught Rahugana about the brahman and about the indentity of theatman and the brahman. He told the king that the physical body was only transitory.It was the atman that was permanent. Life was like a forest with the dangers ofillusions and material attachments everywhere. The learned knew how to stepcarefully so as to avoid these pitfalls.Thus it was that King Rahugana learnt true knowledge from Bharata.GeographyYou have already been told that the earth is divided? into seven regions (dvipas).Jambu dvipa is snaped like the leaf of lotus and there are nine regions (varshas) withinJambu dvipa. Ilavrita varsha is in the centre and Mount Sumeru is right in the middleof Ilavrita varsha. On the peak of Mount Sumeru is Brahma’s famous city.Bharatavarsha is the most sacred of the varshas.HellsThere are several different hells (naraka). Each naraka is earmarked for a specificsort of sin. All the hells are located below the underworld. Some people say thatthere are twenty-eight different hells. It is Yama, the god of Death, who decideswhich hell a sinner should go to.A thief goes to tamisra naraka and is made to suffer hunger and thirst there. A personwho is violent is sent to rourava. Rourava narka is populated by snake-like beingsknown as ruru, that is the reason why this naraka is called rourava. The rurus practiseviolence on the sinner, in proportion to the sins that he had committed on earth. Asinner who does harm to a brahmana is sent to kalasurtra and burnt there. Those whooppose the Vedas are taken to asipatravana and whipped. Asi is a sword and partrameans a leaf. Asipatra is the blade of a sword. Vana means forest. Asipatravananaraka is full of palm trees that have leaves as sharp as the blade of a sword. If onetries to run away from the whipping, one’s flesh is torn to bits by the sharp leaves ofthe palm trees.Those who punish the innocent are sent to shukaramukha and bitten by bed-bugs.Sinners who eat without offering food to gods, brahmanas or guests, go to krimibhoja

and are eaten by worms. An arsonist or a poisoner is torn to bits by seven hundredand twenty dogs. A bearer of false wintess is flung down repeatedly from mountaintops. A brahmana who drinks is forced to drink molten iron. A miser goes tosuchimukha. There Yama’s servants drive a needle-and-thread through his body.Those who perform good deeds go to svarga. Each individual has an account of thestore of merit (punya) and sins (papa) committed by him. Punya is rewarded inheaven and pap has to be paid for in hell. When the account of punya or papa is partlycleared, individuals are born again in order to clear any portion of punya or papa thatmay remain.AjamilaBut without waiting for naraka, a sinner can make atonement for his sins(prayashchitta). The best form of prayashchitta is to call upon Vishnu. There is, forexample, the story of Ajamila.In the land of Kanyakubja there lived a brahmana named Ajamila. His wife was awoman of lowly caste and she persuaded Ajamila to perform all sorts of evil deeds.He gambled and cheated and stole. Ajamala lived for eighty years and he had tensons. The youngest was named Narayana and he was his father’s darling.The time came for Ajamila to die. Three terrible messengers of Yama came to takeAjamila to naraka. Their faces were fierce and they held nooses in their hands.Ajamila did not realize what was happening. He was still thinking of his youngest sonand he called out, Narayana, Narayana. But Narayana is also Vishnu’s name and atthese words, Vishnu servants appeared.The tussle began between Yama’s messengers and Vishnu’s servants. Yama’smessengers wanted to take Ajamila to naraka but Vishnu’s servants would not letthem do this. They maintained that since Ajamila had called upon Narayana (Vishnu)before his death, all his sins had been pardoned. Finally both parties left and Ajamilawas allowed to live for some more time. He had now become penitent for his deedsand he spent the remaining part of his life in performing tapasya. When he died,Vishnu’s servants took him to vishnuloka.Indra and VritraOnce upon a time, Indra was seated on his throne and the other gods were all seatedaround him. The gandharvas were singing and the apsaras were dancing.

The guru (teacher) of the devas (gods) was Brihaspati. Brihaspati came to theassembly. But so engrossed was Indra in the singing and the dancing that heneglected to stand up and honour Brihaspati. At this, Brihaspati felt insulted and leftthe assembly. Indra immediately realized what had happened and decided to hunt outBrihaspati and beg forgiveness. But the guru was not going to let Indra get away soeasily. Using his powers of maya, he simply vanished. Indra searched and searched,but could not find Brihaspati.The asuras had got to know that the devas were now without a guru. They thoughtthat this was the opportune moment to attack. With their guru Shukracharya’spermission, they attacked the gods and drove them away. The gods went running toBrahma.Brahma said, All this has happened because you insulted your guru. You havebecome weak because you have no guru. You need a guru. Go and pray to the sageVishvarupa, the son of Tvashta. He will find a way out.Now Tvashta had married Rachana, who was a daitya woman. So Vishvarupa was anephew of the daityas (demons) and it was inconceivable that he would help the devasin their fight with the asuras or daityas. But when the devas prayed to himVishvarupa could not refuse. He became the priest of the gods and thanks to hisadvice, the gods succeeded in defeating the demons.Vishvarupa had three heads. He used one for eating, the second for drinking wineand the third for drinking the juice of the soma herb. Indra was never very sure ofVishvarupa. He was after all related to the daityas; he might be helping themsecretly. When he got the chance, Indra cut off all three of Vishvarupa’s heads. Thesevered heads became three types of birds.Tvashta was furious that Indra had killed Vishvarupa. He performed a yajna andwished that an enemy of Indra’s might be born out of the flames. A terrible asuracame out of the fire and rapidly began to grow. He was as dark as a mountain and hiseyes burnt like the midday sun. The asura held a trident in his hand. The earth shookwhen he roared and danced. His mouth was as huge as a cave, and when he openedhis mouth, it seemed as if he would swallow up all the three worlds and everythingthat was in them. People began to flee. This giant asura was known as Vritra. Thegods came and attacked Vritra with many weapons, but he simply swallowed up theweapons.The gods didn’t know what to do. They began to pray to Vishnu. Vishnu appearedbefore them and said, Go to the sage Dadhichi. His body is strong and hard frommany years of tapasya. Ask him for his body and he will not refuse. A weapon

named vajra will be made from Dadhichi’s bones. And Indra will kill Vritra with thevajra.Dadhichi did not refuse when the gods asked him for his body. For the mere physicalbody was nothing. It was the atman that was everything. Vishvakarma, the architectof the gods, fashioned the vajra out of the sage’s bones. And armed with vajra, Indraclimbed onto his elephant Airavta and attacked Vritra and the other demons. Theother gods also came along to help Indra and a terrible war raged between the godsand the demons. The sky was littered with weapons which were being hurled around.There were so many arrows flying around that the sky could not be seen.The demons began to flee. Vritra tried to restrain them. Cowards, he said. Why areyou running away ? Everyone who is born has to die. It is better to die a gloriousdeath on the battlefield than do die as a coward. Come back.But the asura soldiers did not listen. Vritra continued to fight alone. He crushed thegods under his feet. Indra hurled a mace at Vritra, but Vritra caught the mace in hishand and struck Indra’s elephant. Airavata on the head with the mace. The elephantretreated and started to vomit blood. Vritra could have attacked Indra, then, but hepermitted him to rest. When Indra had rested, they began to fight again.Vritra said, I will try to kill you with my trident and avenge Vishvarupa’s death. Butsince you have been blessed by Vishnu, you will in all probability kill me with yourvajra. Who can win without Vishnu’s support?The demon hurled the trident at Indra, but Indra cut it up with his vajra. And with thevajra he next sliced off Vritra’s right hand. But Vritra took up a club in his left handand hit Indra so hard that the vajra was dislodged from Indra’s hand. It lay there onthe ground and Indra was too ashamed to pick it up.Come on, Indra, said Vritra. Pick up the vajra and kill me. Don’t waste time. I ameager to die and meet Vishnu.Saying this, Vritra picked up another club in his left hand. But this time Indra slicedoff Vritra’s left hand with his vajra. Vritra opened his mouth wide and tried toswallow up Indra and Airavata. And before he could do anything, Indra realized thathe was inside Vritra’s stomach. But he cut open Vritra’s stomach with the vajra andthen sliced off Vritra’s head as well. Vritra’s body was so thick that it took threehundred and sixty days for the entire head to be severed.The gods were delighted. But Indra was still not at peace with himself. Vritra hadbeen a brahmana and Indra had committed the sin of killing a brahmana. The sin

followed him around wherever he went. Finally Indra went and hid in manasasarovara lake. He hid inside the stem of a lotus flower in the lake and stayed there forthousands and thousands of years. While Indra was away, King Nahusha ruled asIndra. But eventually, the severity of the sin was diminished, Indra returned andperformed an ashvamedha yajna as complete atonement for the sin.ChitraketuKing Parikshit heard the story of Indra and Vritra from the sage Shukadeva. AndParishit was puzzled. How can an asura like Vritra have become devoted to Vishnu?Shukadeva told him the story of Chitraketu.Many years ago, in the kingdom of Shurasena and in the city of Mathura, a kingnamed Chitraketu used to rule. The king had many wives. But he was sad because hedid not have a son. The sage Angira came to visit him once and the king told the sageabout his misery. Angira decided that a yajna had to be performed so that Chitraketumight have a son. The eldest of Chitraketu’s wives was named Kritadyuti and the ricepudding that came out of the sacrifice was fed to her. In due course, a son was indeedborn and everyone rejoiced.Chitraketu was delighted. He loved his son. And he seemed to love Kritadyuti evenmore now that she had given birth to a boy. The other queens felt slighted andbecamed jealous. They fed the boy poison and the boy died.Chitraketu and Kritadyuti went mad with grief. To hide their crime, the other queensalso pretended to weep. The sages Angira and Narada came to comfort Chitraketu.They said, There is no need to sorrow. Who are you sorrowing for? What is this boyto you? He was nothing to you in your earlier life. People are born again and again.Again and again they adopt physcial bodies. But these are temporary, nothing butillusions. Your son’s atman has not been killed. To think otherwise is to be ignorant.To convince Chitraketu, Narada used his powers to bring back the atman of the deadprince. He told the atman, of the dead prince. He told the atman, Come and enter thebody of the dead prince. You still have some life left as the prince. Live for somemore time. Enjoy your father’s property and be king after him.The atman replied, Which life, which father and what property? I have lived manytimes. I have had many lives and many fathers. Which body are you talking about?These words convinced the relatives. They gave up their sorrowing and performedthe last rites for the dead prince. The queens who had posioned him became penitent.

As penance for their sin, they did prayashchitta on the banks of the river Yamuna.Chitraketu himself performed tapasya. And through the powers that he acquired, hegot to meet Vishnu. He spread the knowledge of Vishnu everywhere and this inflatedhis ego no end.On one occasion he even insulted Shiva and Parvati. Shiva ignored the insult, butParvati cursed Chitraketu that he would be born as an asura. It was he who had beenborn as Vritra. Ths explains his devotion to Vishnu.Diti’s ChildrenThe sage Kashyapa married Diti and Aditi. Diti’s children were known as the daityasand Aditi’s children were the adityas or devas.Diti was very upset that Indra and the other gods kept killing her children. Sheresolved to have a son who would kill Indra. Accordingly, she started to serve herhusband really well. The sage Kashyapa was pleased and asked her, what boon doyou desire?Diti replied, Give me a son who will kill Indra. Kashyapa was in a fix. He said, Allright. You will have to perform certain rites for a year. If you do them for an entireyear, you will have a son who will kill Indra. But if you stop before a year, the sonwho will be born will become a friend of the gods.Diti agreed to this condition. The rites included the avoidance of thrity-one acts thatwere prohibited, such as lying or cursing. It was also forbidden to go to sleep withoutwashing one’s feet. Indra had got to know about his aunt’s desire and he was alwayshanging around, waiting for a chance to bring his aunt’s wishes to nought. But hepretended to serve Diti faithfully.Once Diti was very tired and went to sleep without washing her feet. Indra saw hischance. He entered Didi’s womb and sliced up the baby who was there into sevenparts with his vajra. These parts began to cry and Indra said, ma ruda. That is, don’tcry. He then cut up each of the seven parts into seven parts again. There were thusforty-nine parts and they asked, You are my cousin. Why are you killing us?I shall not kill, replied Indra. You will be called the maruts and you will be myfriends and companions.These maruts became gods. And Diti was so happy to see them that she forgaveIndra all his crimes.

Hiranyakashipu and PrahladaYou probably remember that Vishnu adopted the form of a boar to kill the asuraHiranyaksha. And that Hiranyaksha had a brother named Hiranyakshipu.Hiranyakashipu was furious to learn of his brother’s death. He resolved to killVishnu. He called all the asuras together and asked them to stop all yanas and Vedarecitals on earth. The asuras did as they had been told and religious ceremonies onearth came to an end. The gods were oppressed and fled from heaven.Hiranyakashipu consoled his mother and nephews and asked them not to sorrow. Hewould avenge his brother.Hiranyakashipu wished to become invincible. He therefore started to perform verydifficult tapasya. He stood on the tips of his toes and raised his arms up. In thatpositon he began to meditate. His hair grew matted and the termites built a hill allaround his body. For a hundred years Hiranyakashipu meditated thus, without foodand water.Finally Brahma appeared before him and agreed to grant him a boon.Grant me the boon that I may not be killed by any being of your creation, saidHiranyakashipu. That I may not killed during night or day and that I may not bekilled by man or beast, in the sky or on earth. Make me invincible from all weapons.And grant me the boon that devas or asuras may do me no harm.Brahma granted Hiranyakashipu this rarest of rare boons. Rendered invincible,Hiranyakashipu conquered the three worlds. He drove Indra out of heaven and ruledthere instead. The gods sought refuge with Vishnu. Vishnu asked them to be patient.He told them that he himself would kill Hiranyakashipu, when that asura started tooppress his own son Prahlada.Apart from Prahlada, Hiranyakashipu had three other sons. But Prahlada, was anexception. He was devoted to Vishnu and thought of Vishnu all the time.Shukracharya was the teacher of the asuras. And Shukracharya had two sons namedShanda and Amarka. These two began to teach Prahlada and his brothers. But nomatter what they taught, Prahlada continued to talk about Vishnu. At firstHiranyakashipu thought that this was childish foolishness and would pass away. Butit did not. Prahlada continued to be devoted to Vishnu.Hiranyakashipu did not wish to have such a son. He instructed his servants to killPrahlada. The asuras struck Prahlada with spears. But since Prahlada was protected

y Vishnu, the spears did him no harm. Elephants were let loose on the prince.Snakes were made to bite him. He was thrown down from mountain tops. He wasfed poison. He was thrown into the water. But nothing happened to Prahlada.Prahlada was then kept imprisoned for a while and he spent the time in instructing theother asura children on the virtues of being devoted to Vishnu. He told them how hehad become devoted to Vishnu.When Hiranyakshipu was away on his tapasya, the gods attacked the demons anddefeatd them. Indra abducted Prahlada’s mother. But Narada convinced Indra thatthis abduction was a sin. Prahlada’s mother was released and taken to Narada’shermitage. Prahlada was still in the womb then and he listened to the words ofwisdom that Narada taught his mother. It was this knowledge that he stillremembered. The asura children started to get converted as a result of Prahlada’steachings and Hiranyakashipu was not prepared to tolerate this. He had Prahladabrought before him again.Who protects you every time I try to kill you?, he asked Prahlada.Vishnu, was the answer.Vishnu, exclaimed Hiranyakashipu. Where is Vishnu?He is everywhere, replied his son.Everywhere?, asked Hiranyakashipu. He pointed to a crystal pillar and said, IsVishnu inside this pillar? See, I am striking this pillar. Where is Vishnu?Hiranyakashipu struck the pillar with a blow his fists. A terrible sound was thenheard from inside the pillar. A being came out from inside the pillar. It was neitherman or beast, it was half-man and half-lion. This was the narasimha avatara ofVishnu. Narasimha’s eyes were like molten gold. A golden mane hung around hisface. His teeth were as sharp as swords. His claws were exceedingly sharp.Hiranyakashipu attacked narasimha with a mace. But narasimha caught the asura upin his arms. He effortlessly flung aside the sword and the shield that Hiranyakashipuhad grasped. He placed the demon across his thighs and tore apart his breast with theclaws. He then killed many of the other asuras.Prahlada came up to narasimha and worshipped him. Narasimha offered to grant hima boon and Prahlada wanted the boon that his father’s sins might be forgiven. Thisboon Vishnu granted.

Prahlada became the king of the asuras and he ruled well according tot he dictates ofdharma (righteousness).DharmaThere are four classes (varna) and each class has to act according to what isprescribed for it. The brahmanas should study and perform religious rites. Thekshatriyas have to protect the world. Agriculture and trade is for the vaishyas. Andthe shudras should serve the other three classes.There are also four ashramas (stages of life) prescribed by dharma. The first is that ofbrahmacharya or celibate studenthood. The second is garhasthya or the householderstage. The third is vanaprastha or the forest-dwelling stage. And the last is sannyasaor the hermit stage.ManvantarasEach manvantara is an era. Fourteen such manvantaras constitute a kalpa (cycle).The universe is destroyed at the end of each kalpa. A Manu rules over eachmanvantara and the title of Indra, or king of the gods, is held by different individualsin different manvantaras.In the present cycle, six manvantaras have passed. The first Manu was SvayambhuvaManu. The second Manu was Svarochisha, the third Uttama, the fourth Tamasa, thefifth Raivata, the sixth Chakshusha and the seventh Shraddhadeva. It is the seventhmanvantara that is now going on. There will be seven more manvantaras before theuniverse is destroyed. The eighth Manu will be Savarni, the ninth Dakshasavarni, thetenth Brahmasavarni, the eleventh Dharmasavarni, the twelfth Rudrasavarni, thethirteenth Devasavarni and the fourteenth Indrasavarni.In each manvantara it is the duty of the ruling Manu to uphold the dharma of the fourclasses and the four stages of life.The Elephant’s StoryThere was a beautiful mountain named Trikuta. The waves of the ocean lapped at thefoot of Trikuta. There were thick forests on the mountain. And in the forests therelived a king of elephants. He ruled over all the other elephants in the herd.Once that elephant came to bathe in a lake where a crocodile lived. The crocodilecaught hold of the elephant’s leg. Try as he might, the elephant could not freehimself. Nor were the other elephants in a position to help. The elephant and the

crocodile struggled for a thousand years. When a thousand years over, the elephantbegan to tire, although the crocodile’s strength was still undiminished.The elephant started to pray to Vishnu. Vishnu appeared and cut off the crocodile’smouth with his sudarshana chakra. Strange as it may seem, the crocodile thenadopted the form of a gandharva. His name was Huhu. He had been cursed by a sagethat he would become a crocodile. And the sage had told him that he would be freedfrom the curse by Vishnu. That had now happened. In fact, the elephant had earlieralso been a king named Indradyumna. And he had been cursed by a sage that hewould be born as an elephant. Indradyumna too was freed from his curse and becameVishnu’s companion.Thus Vishnu saves whoever prays to him.The Churning of the OceanMany years ago, the churning of the ocean (samudra manthana) took place.The devas and the asuras were always fighting with each other. But Vishnu advisedthe devas to have a temporary truce with the asuras. The two sides should gettogether and churn the ocean. Amrita ( a life-giving drink) would emerge from theocean and make the gods strong. Vishnu would ensure that the demons would not geta share of the amrita.The king of the demons then was Vali. Indra met Vali to try and persuade him that atruce should be called and that they should churn the ocean together. The demonsagreed, they too wanted the amrita. Mount Mandara was to be the churning rod, sothe gods and the demons grasped the mountain and dragged it to the ocean. Vasuki,the king of the snakes, was promised some amrita and he agreed to be the rope for thechurning. The demons grasped Vasuk’s mouth. The gods grasped his tail. And sothe churning began. Vishnu adopted the form of a turtle and the back of the turtleconstituted the base on which Mount Mandara could rest.The first object that emerged from the ocean was a terrible poison known ashalahala. What was to be done about his poison? It would destroy the world. Thegods and the demons went to Shiva and begged him to rescue them. And Shiva drankup the poison. Nothing happened to Shiva, except that his throat became blue. He istherefore known as Nilakantha, blue of throat. A little bit of poison was howeverspilled on the ground. The scorpions, the snakes and poisonous herbs obtained theirpoison from this.

The churning continued and a cow named Surabhi came out. This was a kamadhenu,that is, it yielded whatever one desired. The sages took this cow to brahmaloka.Then a handsome white horse named Ucchaihshrava emerged and was given to Vali.Next came Airavata, the king of the elephants, and sixteen other elephants. And whatshould emerge next but a beautiful jewel named koustubha? Vishnu accepted this asan adornment for his breast. The parijata tree followed; it was placed in Indra’sgarden. It was a kapavriksha, that is, it produced whatever one desired. The apsarasemerged next. They wore golden jewellery and beautiful clothes.The goddess Lakshmi came out after this. Her appearance lit up the world. She wasso attractive that the gods, the demons and the humans all wanted to possess her. Thesages anointed her with sacred water. The ocean gave her clothes, Varuna gave her agarland, Vishvakarma jewellery and Brahma a lotus. Lakshmi looked for a perfectbeing to whom she could belong. The only perfect being was Vishnu and Lakshmitherefore married Vishnu.The goddess of wine is Varuni. She followed Lakshmi out of the ocean. She wasgiven to the demons.Then Dhanvantari emerged. He held the pot of amrita in his hands. Dhanvantrariwas the originator of all medicine. The demons immediately snatched the pot ofamrita and ran away with it. The gods became despondent, but Vishnu createdillusions so that the asuras fell to fighting amongst themselves over the amrita.Meanwhile, Vishnu adopted the form of a beautiful woman and the asuras also beganto fight over who should marry this woman. They asked the woman to divide theamrita for them.Of course, Vishnu did no such thing. He gave the amrita to the devas, but not to theasuras. The demons were cheated. The only demon who managed to get a littleamrita was Rahu. He was however caught while he was in the act of swallowing theamrita. Vishnu cut of Rahu’s head with his chakra. The amrita never entered Rahus’body. But since Rahu’s head had tasted the amrita, it had become immortal. Brahamatherefore converted the head into a planet.The demons had by now realized the fraud. They attacked the gods with all sorts ofweapons. But the gods had drunk the amrita and become strengthened. After aprolonged battle, they defeated the demons.ValiShukracharya was the teacher for the asuras. Shukracharya performed a yajna namedvishvajita for Vali and the asura king became invincible. He attacked Indra and the

other gods and drove them out of heaven. He became the ruler of the three worlds andperformed a hundred ashvamedha sacrifices in celebration.Aditi was unhappy to see her children suffer thus. She performed tapasya so thatVishnu might be born as her son and defeat Vali. The tapasya was successful andVishnu was born as the son of Kashyapa and Aditi. The son was a dwarf (vamana)and this was therefore known as the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu.Vali was performing an ashvamedha sacrifice. The sacrifice was being held on thebanks of the Narmada river and Vali had announced that, on the occasion, he wouldnot refuse a boon to anyone. The dwarf went to the sacrifice.What is your desire?, Vali asked of the dwarf.Nothing very much, replied the dwarf. Only as much of land as can be covered bythree of my steps.Agreed, said Vali.Shukracharya had seen through Vishnu’s game and he tried to restrain Vali. But Valiwould not listen to his teacher. He would not go back on his word.The dwarf started to grow in size. It became gigantic. With one step it covered theearth, with the second it covered heaven, and with the third and final step it coveredall the other lokas. Vali had nowhere left to go but to the underworld.The Fish AvataraMany years ago there was a flood when the world was immersed in water. Brahmahad been sleeping then, and seizing the opportuntiy, a demon named Hayagriva stolethe sacred Vedas. That was the time when Vishnu adopted the fish (matsya)incarnation.There used to be a king named Satyavrata. He was performing tapasya in the watersof the river Kritamala. Suddenly he noticed a very small fish swimming in the waterin the palm of his hands. Satyavrata was about to throw the fish into the water, but thefish spoke out.Don’t throw me back into the river, it said. I am scared of being eaten up by theanimals that live in the water.

Satyavrata placed the fish in a pot and brought it home to his hermitage. Within anight the fish grew so big that it could no longer be kept inside the pot. Satyavrataplaced the fish inside a vat, but in matter of seconds, the fish became too big for thevat. Satyavrata put it inside a pond, but the fish became too big for the pond as well.Satyavrata took the fish to a lake, but even the lake proved to be too small.Finally Satyavrata took it to the ocean and prepared to release it there.Don’t release me in the ocean, said the fish. I am scared of the animals that live inthe ocean.By now, Satyavrata had realized that this was no ordinary fish. Who are you?, heasked. Why are you deluding me? You must be the Lord Vishnu.The fish told him that it was indeed Lord Vishnu. It also told him that seven dayslater, there would be a flood that would swallow up the three lokas of bhuloka,bhuvarloka, and svarloka. A huge boat would then arrive before Satyavrata. And theking should climb onto the boat with all beings, the seven great sages (saptarshis) andfoodgrains. The fish would also arrive and Satyavrat should tie the boat to the fish’shorn with the great snake Vasuki as a rope. In that manner, Satyavrata would besaved from the havoc of the flood.Having said all this, the fish disappeared. But everything happened just as the fishhad said it would. While they floated on the water, the fish recited the Matsya Puranato Satyavrata. King Satyavrata later became Vaivasvata Manu.In this form of a fish, Vishnu also killed the demon Hayagriva and retrieved theVedas.The Sons of Vaivasvata ManuVaivasvata Manu had no sons. His wife was named Shraddha. Because they had noson, husband and wife decided to perform a sacrifice. Shraddha wanted a daughterand she instructed the priest accordingly. A daughter named Ila was born from thesacrifice. But Manu was unhappy because he had wanted a son.Manu’s guru was the sage Vashishtha and Vashishtha was exceedingly powerful.When Manu complained to his teacher, Vashishtha used his powers to transform Ilainto a son named Sudyumna. In fact, Sudyumna or Ila alternated between being aman and a woman for stretches of one month at a time. When Ila was a woman, thesage Budha married her and they had a son named Pururava. And when Sudyumnawas a man, he had three sons named Utkala, Gaya and Vimala.

Manu was not satisfied. He wished that he might have a proper son and he prayed fora hundred years that this might happen. Ten sons were born to him and their nameswre Ikshvaku, Nriga, Sharyati, Dishta, Dhrishta, Karusha, Narishyanta, Prishadhra,Nabhaga and Kavi.Prishadhra’s guru asked him to look after the cows. Prishadhra stayed awake at nightto do this. One night it was raining. A tiger came and entered the cowshed. The cowran thither and thither in fright and the tiger caught a cow. Prishadhra came runningto see what was happening. In the darkness Parishadhra mistook a cow for the tigerand killed it. His teacher was furious at this mistake and cursed Prishadhra that,henceforth, he would live like a shudra. Prishadhra did not have any children.The youngest son Kavi did not marry either. He went off to the forest to performmeditation. But all the others had several children.Sukanaya and ChyavanaSharyati’s daughter was Sukanaya. She was very pretty and her eyes were like thepetals of lotus flowers.Once Sharyati and Sukanya went to the forest to visit the hermitage of the sageChyavana. The princess and her friends went around picking flowers. Sukanayasuddenly came across a termite hill. There were two holes in the hill which shonewith a peculiar light. She inserted a thorn into the two holes and was amazed to seeblood ooze out. She had not realized that it was the sage Chyavana who was insidethe hill and whom she had succeeded in blinding.To appease the sage, Sharyati married Sukanaya to him.After some time the two Ashvinis came to visit the hermitage. They were twins andwere also the physicians of the goods. Chyavana promised them a share in thecoveted juice of the soma herb and persuaded them to treat him so that he mightbecome handsome. The ashvinis asked Chyavana to bathe in a lake and the sagebecame exceedingly handsome.AmbarishaKing Ambarisha was descended from Nabhaga. He rules over the entire world andpossessed all the riches that one might desire. But Ambarisha was not reallyinterested in all this. His mind was devoted to Vishnu. He and his wife decided toperform a special religous rite. At the end of the ceremony, they were to fast for three

nights. And if the ceremony was to be properly conducted, they should eat as soon asthe three nights were over.While all this was going on, the sage Durvasa arrived. Ambarisha worshipped himand asked him to partake of some food. Durvasa agreed, but wanted to have a bathfirst. Time passed and the sage did not return. Ambarisha was in a dilemma. Hecould not eat before his guest. And he had to eat since the three nights were over. Ifthe auspicious moment passed, the entire ceremony would be wasted. Not knowningwhat to do, Ambarisha drank soem water as a compromise.Durvasa returned and immediately realized that Ambarisha had drunk some water.The sage was hot-tempered and his anger was easily aroused. He tore off a hair andflung it down on the ground. This created a demon which advanced with a sword tokill Ambarisha. Bu Ambarisha was devoted to Vishnu. So Vishnu’s sudarshanachakra arrived and estroyed the demon. The chakra then started to pursue Durvasa.Wherever Durvasa fled, the chakra followed. Finally Durvasa went to vishnuloka andfell at Vishnu’s feet. But Vishnu told him to go to Ambarisha instead.Still pursued by the chakra, Durvasa went to Ambarisha and begged for mercy.Ambarisha pacified the chakra.Ikshvaku’s SonIkshvaku had a hundred sons, the chief among them being Vikukshi, Nimi andDandaka.Once Ikshvaku was performing a funeral ceremony. He called Vikukshi to him andsaid, Go and get some meat from the forest.Vikukshi went to the forest and killed many animals. But he was exhausted as aresult of all this exertion and ate the meat of a rabbit. The rest of the meat he broughthome to his father. And Ikshvaku gave the meat to the sage Vashishtha so that thefunderal ceremony might be performed But Vashishtha said that the meat was taintedand could not be used for the ceremony. It had already been eaten. When Ikshvakufound out from his son what had happened, he banished Vikukshi from the kingdom.After Ikshvaku died, Vikukshi returned and became king. His son Puranjaya wasalso known as Indravaha or Kakutstha. The reason for this was as follows.Once there was fight between the gods and the demons and the gods cravedPuranjaya’s help. Puranjaya agreed on condition that he could ride into battle perchedon Indra’s shoulders. Puranjaya fought so bravely that the demons were defeated.

Sagara and the Descent of GangaAmongst Ikshvaku’s descendants was King Sagara. Sagara had once performed anashvamedha yajna. But Indra came and stole the sacrificial horse.Sagara had two wives, Sumati and Keshini. Sumati had sixty thousand sons andKeshini one. When the horse could not be found, Sagara sent Sumati’s sixty thousandsons to look for it. The sons looked for the horse everywhere and finally found it inthe hermitage of the sage Kapila. The mischievous Indra had hidden it there. ButSagara’s sons did not know that Indra was responsible. They concluded that Kapilawas the thief and attacked him. But such was the power of Kapila’s rage that all sixtythousand sons were burnt into ashes.Keshini’s son was Asamanjasa and Asamanjasa’s son was Amshumana. When thesixty thousand sons did not return, Sagara sent Amshumana to look for his uncles andthe lost horse. Amshumana discovered the horse in the sage Kapila’s ashrama. Butbeing different from his uncles, he began to pray to the sage.Kapila said, Amshumana, take the horse. Your uncles are here, burnt into ashes.Thee is no way to rescue them except through the waters of the river Ganga.Amshumana returned with the horse and the sacrifice was completed. Amshumanaperformed a lot of tapasya so that the river Ganga might be brought down to earth.But he was unsuccessful. Nor did his son Dilipa succeed.Dilipa’s son was Bhagiratha and Bhagiratha performed such difficult tapasya that theriver Ganga agreed to grant him a boon. Bhagiratha told her what he desired.But, asked Ganga, When I descend to earth, who will break my fall? If no one does,I will go straight through the earth and land up in the underworld.Bhagiratha prayed to Shiva and persuaded him to break Ganga’s fall. Shiva held heron his head before releasing her to the earth. Bhagiratha led Ganga to where hisancestors’ ashes were. And at the touch of the sacred water, they were purifed andtaken up to heaven.Rama of Ramayana fame was also descended from Ikshvaku’s line.Chandra VamshaBrihaspati was the guru of the devas and his wife was Tara. Soma was the sageAtri’s son.

Soma abducted Tara and although Brihaspati asked him to return his wife, Somarefused. A war then started between the gods and the demons. The gods fought onBrihaspati’s side and the demons on Soma’s. Soma finally returned Tara. But Somaand Tara had by then got a son. This son was named Budha and he was very wise.You already know that Pururava was Budha and Ila’s son.Once Pururava met the beautiful apsara Urvashi. They married and lived togetherhappily for many years. Their sons were Ayu, Shrutany, Satyayu, Aya, Vijaya andJaya.Gadhi was descended from Vijaya, Gadhi had a daughter named Satyavati. Abrahmana named Richika wished to marry Satyavati. But Gadhi did not think thatRichika was the right sort of husband for Satyavati. So he said, I need a bride price.Bring me a thousand horses. Each horse should be as white as the moon and have oneblack ear.This seemed to be an impossible task, but Richika managed to get such horses fromVaruna. He thus married Satyavati.Both Satyavati and Satyavati’s mother (Richika’s mother-in-law) wished to have sonsand Richika arranged a sacrifice. He obtained two bowls of rice pudding from thesacrifice and gave one to his wife and the other to his mother-in-law to eat. Theywould then bear sons. Since he himself was a brahmana, Richika had ensured thatSatyavati’s rice pudding was such that their son would be brahmana-like. And sincehis father-in-law was a kshatriya, he had ensured that this mother-in-law’s ricepudding was such that her son would be kshatriya-like.But Satyavati’s mother thought that her son-in-law might have given the better ricepudding to her daughter. So she persuaded Satyavati to exchange bowls.When Richika found out what had happened, he told Satyavati, You shouldn’t havedone that. Now your son will behave like a kshatriya.I don’t want a son like a kshatriya, replied Satyavati. Can’t you do something so thatmy grandson is like that? Let my son be like a brahmana.Richika agreed. Richika and Satyavati’s son was Jamadagni and Jamadagni marriedRenuka. Jamadagni and Renuka had several sons, the youngest of whom wasParashurama.Parashurama

Arjuna was the king of the Haihaya kingdom. He was so blessed by the sageDattatreya so that he had a thousand arms and was formidable in battle.Arjuna had gone on a hunt and arrived at Jamadagni’s hermitage. The sageJamadagni had a kamadhenu, that is, a cow that gave whatever one wanted. The cowproduced whatever was needed for feeding Arjuna and his many followers. Arjunatook a liking to the cow and tried to forcibly take it away. Jamadagni did not protest.Parashurama was away at that time. He returned and learnt of Arjuna’s deed. Hetook up his weapons and went to the king’s capital. There he killed all of Arjuna’ssoldiers. Arjuna himself came out to fight. Since he possessed a thousand arms, hewielded five hundred bows at a time. But Parashurama destroyed all these bows. Hethen killed Arjuna and Arjuna’s ten thousand sons fled from the field of battle.Parashurama returned with the cow. However, Jamadagni was not happy. Son, youhave committed a crime, he said. You should not have killed a king, that is a sin.You need to perform penanace. Go away for a year and visit all the places ofpilgrimage.Parashurama did as his father bid him.Jamadagni’s wife Renuka had misbehaved with him once. Thereupon, Jamadagnihad requested his sons to kill their mother. The only son who had agreed to do so wasParashurama. He had killed his mother and also his brothers for having disobeyedtheir father. Jamadagni had been so pleased at his son’s obedience that he had wantedto grant Parashurama a boon. Parashurma had wanted the boon that his dead motherand brothers might come to life again and this had been granted.While Parashurama was away, the ten thousand sons of Arjuna came and attacked thehermitage. They killed Jamadagni. So angry was Parashurama at this dastardly act ofthe kshatriyas that he killed all the kshatriyas in the world with his axe (parashu).Twenty-one time he rid the world of all the kshatriyas. Near the battlefield ofKurukshetra there are nine lakes. These lakes had been formed with the blood of allthe dead kshatriyas.Parashurama has now given up violence and lives on Mount Mahendra. He isbelieved to be immortal.YayatiPururava also had a son named Ayu. From Ayu was descended Yayati. Yayati hadtwo wives, Devayani and Sharmishtha. Devayani was Shukracharya’s daughter; you

probably remember that Shukracharya was the teacher of the asuras. The king of theasuras was Vrishaparva and Sharmishtha was Vrishaparva’s daughter.Sharmishtha and Devayani used to be friends. They had gone to a lake to bathe andhad taken off their clothes. When they were hurriedly putting on the clothes afterbathing. Sharmishtha put on Devayani’s clothes by mistake. Devayani did not likethis at all.How dare Sharmishtha do this? she asked. My father is her father’s teacher. Howdare an inferior wear a superior’s clothes?Who is inferior and who is superior?, replied Sharmishtha. My father is the king.You people get to eat because of my father’s generosity.Saying this, Sharmishtha threw Devayani into a well that was nearby and returnedhome. King Yayati happened to be passing. When he came to drink water at the well,he discovered Devayani. Yayati took out Devayani from the well and she fell in lovewith her benefactor. Yayati agreed to marry her.Devayani returned home and told her father how she had been treated bySharmishtha. Shukracharya was greatly saddened to hear this and decided to leave theasuras. But Vrishaparva fell at his guru’s feet and begged for mercy. Shukracharyaagreed to stay on the condition that Sharmishtha became Devayani’s maid.Yayati married both Devayani and Sharmishtha. Devayani’s sons were Yadu andTurvasu, and Sharmishtha’s sons were Druhyu, Anu and Puru.After several years had passed, Yayati became old. But his taste for worldlypleasures had still not passed. So he called his sons to him and asked them to take hisold age from him. He wanted their youth instead. All the sons except Puru took onhis father’s old age. After a thousand years had passed. Yayati got tired of worldlypleasures. He returned the youth to Puru and took back his old age.Parikshit was descended from Puru. And the Yadavas were descended from Yadu.Dushmanta and ShakuntalaOne of Parikshit’s ancestors was King Dushmanta. Dushmanta had once gone on ahunt. Wandering around in the forest, he came to the hermitage of the sage Kanva.There he met a beautiful woman and fell in love with her.Beautiful lady, he asked, Who are you? I am smitten with love for you.

I am Shakuntala, the woman replied. I am the daughter of Vishvamitra and theapsara Menaka. The sage Kanva has brought me up.Dushmanta married Shakuntala. He promised to come back for her and left for thecapital. But once he was in the capital, he completely forgot about Shakuntala.Meanwhile, Shakuntala gave birth to a boy and his name was Bharata.But eventually Dushmanta accepted Shakuntala and Bharata as his wife and son.Bharata ruled after Dushmanta and became a powerful king. He performed fifty-fiveashvamedha yajnas. He rules for twenty-seven thousand years.The Building of DvarakaKamsa was so much of an oppressor that Krishna was forced to kill him. Kamsa hadtwo wives named Asti and Prapti and they were the daughters of Jarasandha, the kingof Magadha. Jarasandha was very angry to learn that his son-in-law had been killedand he resolved to kill all the Yadavas. He raised an army that was twenty-onebattalions (akshouhimi) strong and laid siege to the city of Mathura. Mathura wassurrounded from all sides by Jarasandha’s army.The Yadavas came out to fight and, led by Balarama and Krishna, defeatedJarasandha. But Jarasandha came back again with an army. Again he was defeated.This went on. Seventeen times Jarasandha lost and seventeen times he retired toMagadha. He then began to raise an army for the eighteenth time.Meanwhile, the Yadavas were faced with another enemy. This was in the form of aking named Kalayavana who was about to attack Mathura.Krishna realized that the Yadavas needed a stronger and more fortified captial if theywere to face up to enemies from two directions. A beautiful city was accordinglybuilt on the shores of the ocean. It had wide roads and magnificent houses. Moreimportantly, it was much better protected than the city of Mathura. This new city wasDvaraka or Dvaravati.KalayavanaKrishna now decided to do something about Kalayavana. He came alone to whereKalayavana was. And seeing Krishna , Kalayavana wanted to attack him. ButKrishna began to run and Kalayavana followed him. Krishna began to run andKalayavana followed him. Krishna had a plan. He led Kalayavana to a cave in themountainside.

It was dark inside the cave and Kalayavana could not see very well. In the dim lighthe saw a man sleeping inside the cave. Kalyavana thought that it had to be Krishnaand kicked the body. But the sleeper was not Krishna. It was a person namedMuchukunda. He had been sleeping for many years and had been woken up byKalayavana. He realized that his person had woken him up from his sleep and helooked angrily at Kalayavana. Kalayavana was burnt to ashes from the blaze of thisanger. How did this come about?Muchukunda was a king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. The gods were busy fighting withthe demons and needed some aid. Muchukunda fought on the side of the gods formany years. But eventually the gods obtained a general in the form of the godkartikeya and no longer needed Muchukunda.So they told Muchukunda, King, you have fought with the demons for many yearsand have successfully protected us. You have given up all wordly pleasures. But weno longer need your services. What do you propose to do? So many years havepassed that all your friends, relatives and subjects on earth are now dead. Ask forwhatever boon you desire.Muchukunda replied, I am tired after fighting for so many years. I feel like having along sleep. Please grant me the boon that whoever wakes me up will burn to ashes bymy wrath.Rukmini and RukmiThere was a king named Bhishmaka who rules over the kingdom of Vidarbha. Theking had five sons and a daughter. The eldest son was Rukmi and the daugter wasRukmini.Rukmini had heard of Krishna’s prowess and other qualitites, and wished to marryhim. Her father was not averse to such an alliance. But Rukmi hated Krishna andrefused to accept such a marriage. He wished to get his sister married off toShishupala, the king of the kingdom of Chedi.Rukmini sent a brahmana as emissary to Krishna. Through the brahmana Rukminisaid, My marriage has been fixed for the day after tomorrow and I am to be married toShishupala. I want to marry you instead. Please come and abduct me. Tomorrow Ishall go to visit the temple of the goddess Parvati. This is outside the city. Pleasecome and abduct me then.Krishna came to Kundina, the capital of the kingdom of Vidarbha. Shishupala alsocame there with a large number of companions and many gifts for Bhishmaka.

Bhishmaka made separate lodging arrangements for Shishupala and Krishna.Balarama and several other Yadavas had also followed Krishna to Kundina.When Rukmini went to visit the temple, Krishna abducted her. The many other kingswho had asembled could not look on in wonder. When they recovered from theshock, they attacked Krishna. But the Yadavas easily repelled these eneemies.Witnessing the defeat of his allies, Rukmi entered the fray with his own army. I willnot return to Kundina without killing Krishna and rescuing Rukmini, he resolved.But Krishna destroyed all Rukmi’s arrows and other weapons. He was about to killRukmi with a sword. Rukmini intervened. He is my brother, she said, Please sparehim.Krishna agreed. But Rukmi had resolved that he would not return to Kundinawithout killing Krishna and rescuing Rukmini. What was going to happen to thatoath? Instead of returning to Kundina. Rukmi began to live in a city namedBhojakata.Krishna brought Rukmini back to Dvaraka and married her there. Their son wasPradyumna. When Pradyumna was only ten days old, an asura named Shambarakidnapped the baby and threw it into the ocean. There, the baby was swallowed by abig fish. The fish was caught by a fisherman and he brought the fish as a gift toShambara. Shambara sent the fish to his kitchen and when his cooks cut open thefish’s stomach, they discovered the baby inside. In Shambara’s household there liveda woman named Mayavati. Shambara handed over the baby to Mayavati to rear.When Pradyumna grew up, Mayavati told him the story of his being kidnapped.Pradyumna challenged Shambara to a duel and killed the asura. He then marriedMayavati and returned to Dvaraka.The Symantaka JewelThere was a Yadava named Satrajit. He was devoted to the sun god, Surya. Suryawas pleased with Satrajit and gave him a wonderful jewel named symantaka. Thejewel shone like the sun itself. Satrajit used to wear the jewel around his neck. Andsuch were the wonderful properities of the jewel that all disease and famine vanishedfrom the Yadava kingdom.It was Krishna’s opinion that the jewel should rightfully be in the possession ofUgrasena, the king of the Yadavas. But Satrajit refused to part withthe jewel.

Satrajit’s brother was Prasenjit and Prasenjit borrowed the jewel from his brother. Hethen went tothe forest on a hunt and was killed by a lion. The lion was in turn killedby the bear Jambavana. Jambavana brought the jewel home to his cave and gave it tohis son to play with. Meanwhile Prasenjit’s dead body was discovered and Satrajitconcluded that it was Krishna who had killed his brother and stolen the jewel. Thisrumour quickly spread amongst the Yadavas.To vindicate his reputation, Krishna went to the forest to try and find out what hadhappened. He followed the trail to Jambavan’s cave and a terrible fight waged foreighteen days and nights between Jambavana and Krishna. Jambavana finallyaccepted defeat. He not only returned Symantaka to Krishna, but also married hisdaughter Jambavati to him. When Krishna returned the jewel to Satrajit, Satrajit wasashamed that he had suspected Krishna in the first place. As atonement, he gave hisdaughter Satyabhama in marriage to Krishna.There were three other Yadavas who had wanted to marry Satyabhama. Their nameswere Akrura, Kritavarma and Shatadhanva. They were not at all happy thatSatyabhama had been married off to Krishna. Akrura and Kritavarma advisedShatadhanva to kill Satrajit. Shatadhanva did this and stole the symantaka jewel. Butknowing that Balarama and Krishna would exact revenge for this deed, he fled fromDvaraka. He however left the jewel with Akrura.Balarma and Krishna pursued Shatadhanva and Krishna killed the murderer. Butthey could find no trace of the jewel. Akrura of course kept his possession of thejewel a complete secret.But Akrura and Kritavarma were not at all sure that their complicity in the crimewould not be detected. They therefore left Dvarka. And immediately disease anddrought became rampant in the city. From this, Krishna deduced that the jewel musthave been in Akrura’s possession. He brought Akrura back to Dvaraka and persuadedhim to confess that the jewel was indeed in his possession.NarakasuraA demon named Narakasura ruled in the city of Pragjyotishapura. He was the son ofthe earth (prithivi). The demon wa so strong that he drove Indra out of heaven andstole Indra’s umbrella and earrings. Indra went and complained to Krishna.The city of Pragjyotishapura was very difficult to enter. It was surrounded bymountains on all sides and there were forts on the mountains. A demon named Muraguarded the city. But Krishna destroyed the mountains and the forts with his mace.

He then killed Mura with his sudarshana chakra. Mura’s seven sons were also killedby Krishna.Narakasura now ascended an elephant and came to fight with Krishna. But he metthe same fate as Mura. Krishna retrieved and returned Indra’s umbrella and earrings.Narakasura had imprisoned sixteen thousand princesses. Krishna freed them, hadthem brought back to Dvaraka, and married them all.Rukmi’s DeathRukmi, as you probably remember, had begun to live in the city of Bhojakata.Rukmi’s daughter was Rukmavati and she was married to Krishna’s son Pradyumna.Pradyumna and Rukmavati had a son named Aniruddha. Aniruddha got married toRukmi’s grand-daughter Rochana.On the occasion of Aniruddha and Rochana’s marriage, Balarama, Krishna and theother Yadavas came to Bhojakata. Balarama was very fond of playing dice and sowas Rukmi. They began to have a game. Balarama first placed a hundred goldencoins as a bet and lost. He then staked a thousand golden coins and lost again. Notcontent, Balarama now placed ten thousand golden coins as a bet. Rukmi won yetagain. Finally, Balarama staked a lakh of golden coins. This time Balarama won.But the evil Rukmi denied that Balarama had won and insisted that it was he who hadwon. This so angered Balarama that he killed Rukmi with a club.VanaVali used to be the king of the asuras. Vali had a hundred sons. The eldest wasnamed Vana. Vana was devoted to Shiva and he ruled in the city of Shonitapura.Vana had pleased Shiva so much that Shiva had agreed to be the guardian ofShonitapura.Vana had a daughter named Usha. Usha dreamt of Aniruddha and fell in love withhim. But she did not know who Aniruddha was, she did not know his name.However, Usha had a friend named Chitralekha who was very good at drawingportraits. Chitralekha drew the portraits of gods, gandharvas, asuras, yakshas and menand Usha identified Aniruddha as the person she had fallen in love with. But howwere Aniruddha and Usha to meet?

It was again Chitralekha who found the solution. She brought Aniruddha fromDvaraka and he and Usha were secretly married. But Vana’s guards discovered whatwas happening and went and reported this to the asura king.Vana came to Usha’s palace and discovered Aniruddha there. Although Aniruddhafought as best as he could, he was defeated and imprisoned by Vana. News ofAniruddha’s imprisonment reached Dvaraka and the Yadavas attacked Shonitapura.Vana came out to fight. And because of his pledge to be a guardian of the city, Shivaalso fought on Vana’s side. Kartikeya had also come to fight on the side of his father,Shiva. A miraculous battle ensured. Kartikeya was defeated by Pradyumna andShiva by Krishna. Vana was also defeated by Krishna. But thanks to Shiva’spleading on behalf of the asura, Krishna spared Vana’s life.The Yadavas returned to Dvaraka with Aniruddha and Usha.Poundraka and the King of KashiA king named Poundraka used to rule in the kingdom of Karusha. This king was soinsolent that he sent a messenger and challenged Krishna to a fight. But havingchallenged Krishna, he went and began to live with his friend, the king of Kashi.This, Krishna was not going to ignore. He came to Kashi to accept the challenge.Poundraka had with him an army that was two battalions (akshouhini) strong. ButKrishna decimated this army and killed Poundraka with his chakra. The king of Kashibegan to fight in order to avenge his friend. But Krishna used the chakra to kill himas well. In the process , the king’s head was carried into the city by a strong wind.Having disposed of the challenge, Krishna returned to Dvaraka.The prince of Kashi was Sudakshina. Sudakshina saw his father’s severed head andthirsted for revenge. He performed a yajna and started to pray to Shiva. Shiva wassatisfied with the prayers. What boon do you desire?, he asked Sudakshina.Please grant me the boon that I may kill my father’s murder, replied the prince.Shiva assented. The fire of this yajna will go together with my companions, theghosts, and do the needful, said Shiva. But take care that the fire is not directed at abrahmana. If it is, the consequences will be dreadful.The fire adopted the form of a demon with a trident in its hand. It then headedtowards Dvaraka. But Krishna’s sudarshana chakra repelled the fire. It drove the fireback to Kashi, where the fire consumed Sudkshina and all his priests.

SambaSamba was the son of Krishna and JambavatiLakshmana was Duryodhana’s daughter.Lakshmana’s svayamvara (ceremony at which a bride chooses her husband) had beenarranged, but Samba came to the assembly and abducted Lakshmana. At this theKauravas were angered. They attacked Samba and imprisoned him.The Yadavas prepared to fight with the Kauravas. But since the Yadavas and theKauravas had close ties, Balarama thought that he would try peaceful means first. Hecame to Hastinapura and requested that Samba be released. The Kauravas were in nomood to listen. They regarded the Yadavas as belonging to an inferior race and theywere certainly not going to listen to Balarama.Balarama felt insulted. He always carried a plough with him. He grasped the city ofHastinapura with his plough and prepared to hurl it into the river Ganga. The citywhirled round and round and the Kauravas relaized their mistake. They fell atBalarama’s feet and begged for mercy. Samba was released and Duryodhana gavetwelve hundred elephants, one lakh twelve hundred horses, sixty thousand chariotsand one thousand maids as gifts.Balarama, Samba and Lakshmana returned to Dvaraka.Jarasandha’s DeathKrishna went on a visit to Indraprastha, Yudhishthira’s captial, and the Pandavaswere delighted to see him.Yudhishthira told Krishna, I am thinking of performing a rajasuya yajna (royalsacrifice). What is your opinion?I think that’s a very good idea, replied Krishna. Defeat all the kings on earth. Butremember that you will not be able to complete your sacrifice until Jarasandha iskilled.The Pandava brothers started out on their conquest. Sahadeva headed south, Nakulawest, Arjuna north and Bhima east. After all the other kings were defeated, Bhima,Arjun and Krishna disguised themselves as brahmanas and went to Jarasandha’skingdom. They met Jarasandha and said, We have come a long distance. Grant usour desire.

Jarasandha recognized them to be kshatriyas disguised as brahmanas. Neverthelesshe replied, You have come to me as brahmanas. I will grant you what you want.What is your desire?A duel, said Bhima, Arjuna and Krishna. Choose any one of us and fight with him.All right, replied Jarasandha. But I will not fight with Krishna. He is a coward.Threatened with my invasion, he fled from Mathura to Dvaraka. Nor will I fight withArjuna. He is younger than me and not quite strong enough. I shall fight with Bhima.The duel was arranged and Bhima and Jarasandha began to fight with maces. Themaces clashed against each other and broke into many pieces. The warriors thenstarted to wrestle. The noise was like that of two mad elephants fighting . Fortwenty-seven days they fought. They fought during the day and behaved as friendsduring the night.Bhima could not kill Jarasandha. But Krishna knew Jarasandha’s history. KingVrihadratha’s wife had given birth to two lumps of meat and thrown them away indisgust. These were discovered by a rakshasa (demon) woman named Jara. Shejoined the lumps together and produced a baby. Since sandhi means uniting or puttingtogether, the baby came to be known as Jarasandha, or one who has been put togetherby Jara.On the twenty-eighth day of the duel, Krishna advised Bhima to grasp Jarasandha’slegs in his two hands and then tear him apart. And is precisley how Bhima killedJarasandha.Jarasandha’s son Sahadeva was crowned the king of Magadha. Jarasandha hadimprisoned twenty thousand and eight hundred kings. These kings were released.Shishupala’s DeathMany kings and sages assembled on the occasion of Yudhishthira’s royal sacrifice.But ignoring everyone else, the first offering of the sacrifice was given to Krishna.This angered Shishupala. What utter nonsense, he said. Why should Krishna begiven the first offering? This is like giving a cake to a crow. Everyone knows that theYadavas are an inferior race. There are individuals assembled here who are moredeserving than Krishna.

The Pandavas took up their weapons to fight with Shishupala and Shishupala too tookup his weapons. But Krishna restrained the Pandavas and cut off Shishupala’s headwith his sudarshana chakra.Shalva’s DeathShalva was Shishupala’s friend. He resolved to kill the Yadavas and started toperform tapasya. He prayed to Shiva and each day, he ate only a fistful of dust. Foran entire year Shalva prayed to Shiva. Finally Shiva was pleased and appeared beforeShalva.What boon do you want?, he asked Shalva.Please give me a vimana (space vehicle) that I can fight the Yadava’s with. AnsweredShalva.Shiva instructed the danava (demon) Maya to construct such a viman for Shalva. Thevimana was named Soubha and it was made completely of iron. Armed with thisvimana, Shalva attacked Dvaraka and showered down weapons from the sky on thecity. Dvaraka’s ramparts and gardens were destroyed.Pradyumna and Shalva fought a wonderful duel with all sorts of divine weapons.Krishna was away at that time. When he returned, he found the battle raging. Thefight was now on between Krishna and Shalva. Arrows clashed against arrows, macesagainst maces. At long last, Krishna smashed the vimana with his mace. He thenkilled Shalva with his chakra.Balarama’s PenanceAt the time of these Kurukshetra War, Balarama did not want to take sides . Hepreferred to remain neutral. He therefore went on a pilgrimage and came to a placenamed Prabhasa. He then arrived at the river Sarasvati. After doing a circuit ofseveral places of pilgrimage along the river, he reached the forest known asnaimisharanya.The sages had arranged for a sacrificein the forest and the sacrifice was to go on fortwelve years. All the sages got up to honour Balarama. The only one who remainedseated was Romaharshana, Vyasadeva’s disciple. Balarama lost his temper at this.He killed Romaharshana.

The sages exclaimed, Balarama, you have done a terrible thing. He did not get upbecause that was part of the sacrificed ceremony. You must perform penance.Balarama agreed. The sages first asked him to kill a demon named Valvala who wasin the habit of disturbing their sacrifice. They then asked Balarama to go on apilgrimage for the period of one year. Next day Valvala arrived as was his wont. AndBalarama killed the demon with a club. He then traversed the length and breath of thecountry on his pilgrimage.ShridamaThere used to be a brahmana named Shridama. When young, he and Krishna hadstudied under the same guru and the two had been friends . Now Krishna was inDvaraka and Shridama was exceedingly poor. He and his wife had no clothes towear, nor food to eat.One day Shridama’s wife said, Krishna is your friend. He is very rich. Why don’tyou go to him and ask him for some help? I am sure that he will not refuse you.Why not?, thought Shridama. At least, I shall get a chance to meet Krishna afterages. But what will I take as a present for him?’The brahmana and his wife were so poor that they had no money to buy gifts. Allthey could manage were two handful of fried rice. This gift the brahmana wrapped upin a piece of cloth and left Dvaraka.Shridama met Krishna in Dvaraka and Krishna embraced him warmly. They got totalking about old times.Krishna asked, Shridama, what have you brought me as a present?The brahmana was so ashamed of the two handfuls of fried rice that he kept quiet.But Krishna hunted out the piece of cloth and ate the fried rice to his heart’s content.Shridama spent the night in Krishna’s house and felt as if he had gone to heaven. Hewas given wonderful food to eat and wonderful clothes to wear. But he could notbring himself to ask anything of Krishna. Next morning, he left for his own dwelling.Krishna, however had got to know what Shridama had wanted without Shridama’sasking for it. When the brahmana arrived home, he discovered a beautiful temple andlarge gardens and ponds there. There were maids and servants. What is all this?,

wondered Shridama, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. His wife emerged, wearinghandsome clothes.The brahmana and his wife realized that all this was due to Krishna’s grace. Theylived happily ever after.Shiva’s ProblemBrahma, Vishnu and Shiva had powers of granting boons and levying curses.Brahma and Shiva were in the habit of granting boons and levying curses, but Vishnuwas never so indiscriminate. Once Shiva landed himself in a pretty mess.There was an asura named Vrika. He met the sage Narada and wanted to know who,out of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, was pleased most easily.Shiva, replied the sage.Vrika went to a place of pilgrimage named Kedara and started his tapasya. First hetried to burn parts of his body. He continued to do this for seven days, but Shiva didnot appear. He then decided to slice his head into two with an axe. ImmediatelyShiva appered and restrained the asura.What do you want?, asked Shiva.Please grant me the boon that if I put my hand on anyone’s head, the person willimmediately die. Answered the asura.Shiva granted the boon. But Vrika wanted to try out the boon on Shiva himself.Once Shiva was dead, he thought that he could marry Parvati. Shiva started to run infear and the demon followed. No one knew what to do until Vishnu came to therescue.Vishnu disgused himself and appeared before Vrika. What is the matter?, he asked.The asura told him the story.Shiva, exclaimed Vishnu. Who believes in Shiva and his boons? They are all lies,they never come true. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you put your ahnd on yourown head and see? Nothing will happen.The stupid asura did as Vishnu had him to do and, of course, died. Shiva wasprofundly relieved.

The TestThe sages once wanted to find out who was supreme in the Trinity of Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva. They sent Brhrigu to conduct an experiment.Bhrigu was also Brahma’s son. He first went to visit Brahma, but did not bow downbefore him. Brahma’s anger was aroused, but since Bhrigu happened to be his son, hecontrolled his temper.Bhrigu next went to Kailasa to visit Shiva. Shiva got up to embrace him but Bhrigustarted to shout at Shiva. This so angered Shiva that he took up his trident to killBhrigu. Parvati, however, managed to calm Shiva down.Bhrigu now went to Vaikuntha and discovered that Vishnu was sleeping. He kickedthe sleeping Vishnu on his chest. Vishnu woke up and said, Brahmana, I am gratifiedthat you have come to visit me. Are you well? Stay here for a while and be myguest. Your kick has freed me from all my sins. From now on I shall bear the markof your feet on my chest.When Brhrigu reported the result of his experiment, the sages concluded that Vishnuwas the supreme god of the Trinity.The Curse on the YadavasThere was a place of pilgrimage known as Pindaraka. One day, several Yadavayouths were playing there when a group of sages arrived. The youths dressed upSamba as a woman and brought him to the sages. Sages, they said, You knoweverything. Please tell us whether this woman will indeed give birth to a son.The sages saw through the game and were very annoyed. Stupid young men, theyreplied, Samba will give birth to a club and that club will lead to the destruction fo allthe Yadavas.When the sages went away, the Yadavas discovered a club (mushala) inside Samba’sclothing. Fearing the consequences of what they had done, they took the club home toDvaraka and related the incident to king Ugrasena. The king ordered that the ironclub should be pulverised into dust and the dust scattered in the waters of the ocean.A small piece of the club did not get pulverised.

This was swallowed by a fish and the fish was later caught by a fishermen. Throughhim, the small piece of iron went into the possession of a hunter named Jara who usedit to fashion a head for his arrow.The remaining iron dust was brought to the beach by the waves of the ocean. There,the dust developed into reeds.Meanwhile, all sorts of ill omens were witnessed. There were earthquakes and thesun looked blurred. Krishna called the Yadavas to him and said, I do not like all theseomens. Perhaps it is no longer safe to live in Dvaraka. Send the old men, women andchildren to the tirtha (place of pilgrimage) Shankhoddhara. And let all of us go to thetirtha Prabhasa. We will purify ourselves there and worship the gods.The Yadavas crossed the ocean in boats and arrived at Prabhasa. They arranged forthe require sacrifices. But destiny cannot be avoided. They got to drinking a lot ofwine and lost all control of their senses. They began to fight amongst themselves andkill each other with weapons. When the weapons were exhausted, the Yadavasplucked the reeds from the beach and began to fight with those. In their hands, thereeds hardened into rods of iron. Thus it was that the Yadavas were destroyed.Balarama went to the shores of the great ocean. He gave up his life there throughyoga.The sorrowful Krishna sat under a banyan tree and meditated. Jara, the hunter, wassearching for a deer that he might kill. Through the thick foliage he saw Krishna’s feetand thought that they were the ears of a deer. He therefore let loose an arrow. Andwhen he came to see if his arrow had found its mark, he discovered that he had shotKrishna by mistake.Jara fell down at Krishna’s feet and begged for mercy. Krishna readily pardonedhim. It was after all no fault of the hunter. It had all been decreed by fate.Krishna gave up his mortal body and ascended to heaven. As soon as Krishna died,all of Dvaraka, with the exception of Krishna’s own dwelling, was flooded by theocean.GurusSeveral years ago, Yadu, the ancestor of these Yadavas, met a learned young man.Where did you learn all this?, he asked the young man. Who is your guru?

You don’t need any special guru, was the answer. Look at the earth (prithivi). She iscontinually hurt by the footsteps of all living beings, yet she forgives them all. Fromthe earth one can learn the art of forgiving. Look at the air (vayu). It fills all livingbeings with life, but does not get attached to any of them. From the air one can learndetachment. Look at the sky (akasha). It is not stirred by the clouds that movedacross it. From the sky the atman can learn how no to get stirred by the senses. Lookat the water (jala). It cleans everything. From the water one can learn the virtue ofpurification. Look at the fire (agni), it adopts so many different forms. One learnsthat, like the fire, the paramatman (divine soul) can adopt many different forms. Lookat the moon (chandra). It seems to wax and wane, but nothing actually happens to it.From the moon you can learn that nothing actually happens to the atman. Theappearances that mislead one are all illusions. Look at the sun (surya). It evaporatesthe water in the summer, but returns it in the monsoon. Like the sun, the learnedreturn the gratifications of the senses and do not retain them.There are many gurus like these. One can learn from several places. There does notnecessarily have to be a formal teacher.The Story of the BrahmanaIn the land of Malava there used to be a very wealthy brahmana. He had made a lotof money from agriculture and trade. He had become addicted to material pursuitsand was also a miser. He never helped any of his relatives.Eventually the brahmana exhausted most of his wealth, and thieves stole theremainder. The brahmana began to think about what he had done with his life andrealized that he had made a mistake. Material possessions wre nothing. Thebrahmana therefore became a hermit.He begged food for a living. He controlled his senses. And he started on apilgrimage of the world. Thieves stole whatever meagre belongings the brahmanasstill had, others stole whatever little food he had begged. But the brahmana did notprotest. He had even given up all conversation.The bramana’s attempt was successful and he obtained true knowledge. One has tobe like that brahmanas if one wishes to realize the nature of the brahman.Future Dynasties and KaliyugaWhen Krishna died, the kali era started

Parikshit had heard the story of the Bhagavata Purana from the sage Shukadeva. Henow asked the sage the names of the kings who would rule in kaliyuga.The first dynasty to rule would be the Pradyota dynasty. There would be five kingsin this dynasty and they would rule for a hundred and thirty-eight years. Then theShishunaga dynasty would take over. The ten kings of this dynasty would rule forthree hundred and sixty years. A shudra named Mahapadma or Nanda would becomeking next. The Nanda dynasty would rule for a hundred years. Thereafter, Nandaand his eight sons would be destroyed by a brahmana named Chanakya and Chanakyawould make Chandragupta the king. This would be the Mourya dynasty and the tenkings fo this dynasty would rule for a hundred and thirty-seven years.The last king of the Mourya dynasty, Vrihadratha, would be killed by his generalPushyamitra. This would establish the Shunga dynasty and the ten kings of thisdynasty would rule for more than a hundred years. Then the Kanva dynasty wouldrule for three hundred and forty-five years. Next would follow thirty kings of theAndhra dynasty who would reign for four hundred and fifty-six years. Many otherdynasties and many other kings would rule. But the country would be splintered. Thekings would all be evil.Evil is a characteristic of kaliyuga. Wealth is everything to people and righteousliving has no value. Might becomes right. Trade means cheating. In the courts thepoor obtain no justice. People sport long hair. Nepotism and corruption prevail. Thekings are thieves and robbers. Cows are as small as goats and trees are as small asbushes. Famine and starvation prevail everywhere.But Kalki will arrive to put an end to kaliyuga and establish a new satyayauga. Hewill be born in a village named Shambhala, as the son of the brahmana Vishnuyasha.Shukadeva also informed Parikshit that one thousand, one hundred, and fifteen yearswould elapse from the date of Parikshits’s birth tothe date of Mahapadma Nanda’scoronation.The SnakeYou must have forgotten by now that Parikshit had been cursed that he would bebitten to death by a snake named takshaka.Having heard the Bhagavata Purana. Parikshit worshipped Shukadeva. He told thesage that he was no longer frightened of being bitten to death by a snake. He hadlearnt the nature of the atman and the brahman. When Shukadeva left, Parikshit sat

down and began to meditate. Takshaka disguised himself as a brahman in order to getnear the king. He then bit the king and Parikshit died.Parikshit’s son Janmejaya was furious. He resolved to perform a snake sacrifice(sarpa yajna) at which all the snakes would be killed. They would be consumed in thefire of the yajna. Takshaka fled to Indra for protection.Janmejaya finally stopped the sacrifice when Brihaspati interceded on behalf of thesnakes.Virtues of the Bhagavata PuranaThe Bhagavata Purana is the most sacred of the Puranas. It is to other Puranas whatthe Ganga is to rivers, Vishnu to gods and the city of Kashi to tirthas. Those who aredevoted to Vishnu love this Purana. It is a text that should be studied, heard andcontemplated with great care. In the month of Bhadra it should be placed on a goldenthrone and donated. The person who does this acquires everlasting punya. The otherPuranas are appreciated only by those who do not know about the Bhagavata Purana.After having read the Purana, we bow down in obeisance before the great LordVishnu