The Vishnu Purana

Book I

Chapter I

Invocation. Maitreya inquires of his teacher, Paráśara, the origin and nature of the universe. Paráśara performs a rite to destroy the demons: reproved by Vaśisht́ha, he desists: Pulastya appears, and bestows upon him divine knowledge: he repeats the Vishńu Puráńa. Vishńu the origin, existence, and end of all things.

OM! GLORY TO VÁSUDEVA¹.--Victory be to thee, Puńd́aríkáksha; adoration be to thee, Víswabhávana; glory be to thee, Hrishikeśa, Mahápurusha, and Púrvaja².

May that Vishńu, who is the existent, imperishable, Brahma, who is Íśwara³, who is spirit⁴; who with the three qualities⁵ is the cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; who is the parent of nature, intellect, and the other ingredients of the universe⁶; be to us the bestower of understanding, wealth, and final emancipation.

Having adored Vishńu⁷, the lord of all, and paid reverence to Brahmá and the rest⁸; having also saluted the spiritual preceptor⁹; I will narrate a Puráńa equal in sanctity to the Vedas.

Maitreya¹⁰, having saluted him reverentially, thus addressed Paráśara, the excellent sage, the grandson of Vaśisht́ha, who was versed in traditional history, and the Puráńas; who was acquainted with the Vedas, and the branches of science dependent upon them; and skilled in law and philosophy; and who had performed the morning rites of devotion.

Maitreya said, Master! I have been instructed by you in the whole of the Vedas, and in the institutes of law and of sacred science: through your favour, other men, even though they be my foes, cannot accuse me of having been remiss in the acquirement of knowledge. I am now desirous, oh thou who art profound in piety! to hear from thee, how this world was, and how in future it will be? what is its substance, oh Brahman, and whence proceeded animate and inanimate things? into what has it been resolved, and into what will its dissolution again occur? how were the elements manifested? whence proceeded the gods and other beings? what are the situation and extent of the oceans and the mountains, the earth, the sun, and the planets? what are the families of the gods and others, the Menus, the periods called Manwantaras, those termed Kalpas, and their subdivisions, and the four ages: the events that happen at the close of a Kalpa, and the terminations of the several ages¹¹: the histories, oh great Muni, of the gods, the sages, and kings; and how the Vedas were divided into branches (or schools), after they had been arranged by Vyása: the duties of the Brahmans, and the other tribes, as well as of those who pass through the different orders of life? All these things I wish to hear from you, grandson of Vaśisht́ha. Incline thy thoughts benevolently towards me, that I may, through thy favour, be informed of all I desire to know.

Paráśara replied, Well inquired, pious Maitreya. You recall to my recollection that which was of old narrated by my father's father, Vaśisht́ha. I had heard that my father had been devoured by a Rákshas employed by Viswámitra: violent anger seized me, and I commenced a sacrifice for the destruction of the Rákshasas: hundreds of them were reduced to ashes by the rite, when, as they were about to be entirely extirpated, my grandfather Vaśisht́ha thus spake to me: Enough, my child; let thy wrath be appeased: the Rákshasas are not culpable: thy father's death was the work of destiny. Anger is the passion of fools; it becometh not a wise man. By whom, it may be asked, is any one killed? Every man reaps the consequences of his own acts. Anger, my son, is the destruction of all that man obtains by arduous exertions, of fame, and of devout austerities; and prevents the attainment of heaven or of emancipation. The chief sages always shun wrath: he not thou, my child, subject to its influence. Let no more of these unoffending spirits of darkness be consumed. Mercy is the might of the righteous¹².

Being thus admonished by my venerable grandsire, I immediately desisted from the rite, in obedience to his injunctions, and Vaśisht́ha, the most excellent of sages, was content with me. Then arrived Pulastya, the son of Brahmá¹³, who was received by my grandfather with the customary marks of respect. The illustrious brother of Pulaha said to me; Since, in the violence of animosity, you have listened to the words of your progenitor, and have exercised clemency, therefore you shall become learned in every science: since you have forborne, even though incensed, to destroy my posterity, I will bestow upon you another boon, and, you shall become the author of a summary of the Puráńas¹⁴; you shall know the true nature of the deities, as it really is; and, whether engaged in religious rites, or abstaining from their performance¹⁵, your understanding, through my favour, shall be perfect, and exempt from). doubts. Then my grandsire Vaśisht́ha added; Whatever has been said to thee by Pulastya, shall assuredly come to pass.

Now truly all that was told me formerly by Vaśisht́ha, and by the wise Palastya, has been brought to my recollection by your questions, and I will relate to you the whole, even all you have asked. Listen to the complete compendium of the Pur pas, according to its tenour. The world was produced from Vishńu: it exists in him: he is the cause of its continuance and cessation: he is the world¹⁶.

Chapter II

Prayer of Paráśara to Vishńu. Successive narration of the Vishńu Puráńa. Explanation of Vásudeva: his existence before creation: his first manifestations. Description of Pradhána or the chief principle of things. Cosmogony. Of Prákrita, or material creation; of time; of the active cause. Developement of effects; Mahat; Ahankára; Tanmátras; elements; objects of sense; senses; of the mundane egg. Vishńu the same as Brahmá the creator; Vishńu the preserver; Rudra the destroyer.

PARÁŚARA said, Glory to the unchangeable, holy, eternal, supreme Vishńu, of one universal nature, the mighty over all: to him who is Hiranygarbha, Hari, and Śankara¹⁷, the creator, the preserver, and destroyer of the world: to Vásudeva, the liberator of his worshippers: to him, whose essence is both single and manifold; who is both subtile and corporeal, indiscrete and discrete: to Vishńu, the cause of final emancipation¹⁸, Glory to the supreme Vishńu, the cause of the creation, existence, and end of this world; who is the root of the world, and who consists of the world¹⁹.

Having glorified him who is the support of all things; who is the smallest of the small²⁰; who is in all created things; the unchanged, imperishable²¹ Purushottama²²; who is one with true wisdom, as truly known²³; eternal and incorrupt; and who is known through false appearances by the nature of visible objects²⁴: having bowed to Vishńu, the destroyer, and lord of creation and preservation; the ruler of the world; unborn, imperishable, undecaying: I will relate to you that which was originally imparted by the great father of all (Brahmá), in answer to the questions of Daksha and other venerable sages, and repeated by them to Purukutsa, a king who reigned on the banks of the Narmadá. It was next related by him to Sáraswata, and by Sáraswata to me²⁵.

Who can describe him who is not to be apprehended by the senses: who is the best of all things; the supreme soul, self-existent: who is devoid of all the distinguishing characteristics of complexion, caste, or the like; and is exempt front birth, vicissitude, death, or decay: who is always, and alone: who exists every where, and in whom all things here exist; and who is thence named Vásudeva²⁶? He is Brahma²⁷, supreme, lord, eternal, unborn, imperishable, undecaying; of one essence; ever pure as free from defects. He, that Brahma, was all things; comprehending in his own nature the indiscrete and discrete. He then existed in the forms of Purusha and of Kála. Purusha (spirit) is the first form, of the supreme; next proceeded two other forms, the discrete and indiscrete; and Kála (time) was the last. These four--Pradhána (primary or crude matter), Purusha (spirit), Vyakta (visible substance), and Kála (time)--the wise consider to be the pure and supreme condition of Vishńu²⁸. These four forms, in their due proportions, are the causes of the production of the phenomena of creation, preservation, and destruction. Vishńu being thus discrete and indiscrete substance, spirit, and time, sports like a playful boy, as you shall learn by listening to his frolics²⁹.

That chief principle (Pradhána), which is the indiscrete cause, is called by the sages also Prakriti (nature): it is subtile, uniform, and comprehends what is and what is not (or both causes and effects); is durable, self-sustained, illimitable, undecaying, and stable; devoid of sound or touch, and possessing neither colour nor form; endowed with the three qualities (in equilibrium); the mother of the world; without beginning; and that into which all that is produced is resolved³⁰. By that principle all things were invested in the period subsequent to the last dissolution of the universe, and prior to creation³¹. For Brahmans learned in the Vedas, and teaching truly their doctrines, explain such passages as the following as intending the production of the chief principle (Pradhána). "There was neither day nor night, nor sky nor earth, nor darkness nor light, nor any other thing, save only One, unapprehensible by intellect, or That which is Brahma and Pumán (spirit) and Pradhána (matter)³²." The two forms which are other than the essence of unmodified Vishńu, are Pradhána (matter) and Purusha (spirit); and his other form, by which those two are connected or separated, is called Kála (time)³³. When discrete substance is aggregated in crude nature, as in a foregone dissolution, that dissolution is termed elemental (Prákrita). The deity as Time is without beginning, and his end is not known; and from him the revolutions of creation, continuance, and dissolution unintermittingly succeed: for when, in the latter season, the equilibrium of the qualities (Pradhána) exists, and spirit (Pumán) is detached from matter, then the form of Vishńu which is Time abides³⁴. Then the supreme Brahma, the supreme soul, the substance of the world, the lord of all creatures, the universal soul, the supreme ruler, Hari, of his own will having entered into matter and spirit, agitated the mutable and immutable principles, the season of creation being arrived, in the same manner as fragrance affects the mind from its proximity merely, and not from any immediate operation upon mind itself: so the Supreme influenced the elements of creation³⁵. Purushottama is both the agitator and the thing to be agitated; being present in the essence of matter, both when it is contracted and expanded³⁶. Vishńu, supreme over the supreme, is of the nature of discrete forms in the atomic productions, Brahmá and the rest (gods, men, &c.)

Then from that equilibrium of the qualities (Pradhána), presided over by soul³⁷, proceeds the unequal developement of those qualities (constituting the principle Mahat or Intellect) at the time of creation³⁸. The Chief principle then invests that Great principle, Intellect, and it becomes threefold, as affected by the quality of goodness, foulness, or darkness, and invested by the Chief principle (matter) as seed is by its skin. From the Great principle (Mahat) Intellect, threefold Egotism, (Ahankára)³⁹, denominated Vaikaríka, 'pure;' Taijasa, 'passionate;' and Bhútádi, 'rudimental,'⁴⁰ is produced; the origin of the (subtile) elements, and of the organs of sense; invested, in consequence of its three qualities, by Intellect, as Intellect is by the Chief principle. Elementary Egotism then becoming productive, as the rudiment of sound, produced from it Ether, of which sound is the characteristic, investing it with its rudiment of sound. Ether becoming productive, engendered the rudiment of touch; whence originated strong wind, the property of which is touch; and Ether, with the rudiment of sound, enveloped the rudiment of touch. Then wind becoming productive, produced the rudiment of form (colour); whence light (or fire) proceeded, of which, form (colour) is the attribute; and the rudiment of touch enveloped the wind with the rudiment of colour. Light becoming productive, produced the rudiment of taste; whence proceed all juices in which flavour resides; and the rudiment of colour invested the juices with the rudiment of taste. The waters becoming productive, engendered the rudiment of smell; whence an aggregate (earth) originates, of which smell is the property⁴¹. In each several element resides its peculiar rudiment; thence the property of tanmátratá,⁴² (type or rudiment) is ascribed to these elements. Rudimental elements are not endowed with qualities, and therefore they are neither soothing, nor terrific, nor stupifying⁴³. This is the elemental creation, proceeding from the principle of egotism affected by the property of darkness. The organs of sense are said to be the passionate products of the same principle, affected by foulness; and the ten divinities⁴⁴ proceed from egotism affected by the principle of goodness; as does Mind, which is the eleventh. The organs of sense are ten: of the ten, five are the skin, eye, nose, tongue, and ear; the object of which, combined with Intellect, is the apprehension of sound and the rest: the organs of excretion and procreation, the hands, the feet, and the voice, form the other five; of which excretion, generation, manipulation, motion, and speaking, are the several acts.

Then, ether, air, light, water, and earth, severally united with the properties of sound and the rest, existed as distinguishable according to their qualities, as soothing, terrific, or stupifying; but possessing various energies, and being unconnected, they could not, without combination, create living beings, not having blended with each other. Having combined, therefore, with one another, they assumed, through their mutual association, the character of one mass of entire unity; and from the direction of spirit, with the acquiescence of the indiscrete Principle⁴⁵, Intellect and the rest, to the gross elements inclusive, formed an egg⁴⁶, which gradually expanded like a bubble of water. This vast egg, O sage, compounded of the elements, and resting on the waters, was the excellent natural abode of Vishńu in the form of Brahmá; and there Vishńu, the lord of the universe, whose essence is inscrutable, assumed a perceptible form, and even he himself abided in it in the character of Brahmá⁴⁷. Its womb, vast as the mountain Meru, was composed of the mountains; and the mighty oceans were the waters that filled its cavity. In that egg, O Brahman, were the continents and seas and mountains, the planets and divisions of the universe, the gods, the demons, and mankind. And this egg was externally invested by seven natural envelopes, or by water, air, fire, ether, and Ahankára the origin of the elements, each tenfold the extent of that which it invested; next came the principle of Intelligence; and, finally, the whole was surrounded by the indiscrete Principle: resembling thus the cocoa-nut, filled interiorly with pulp, and exteriorly covered by husk and rind.

Affecting then the quality of activity, Hari, the lord of all, himself becoming Brahmá, engaged in the creation of the universe. Vishńu with the quality of goodness, and of immeasurable power, preserves created things through successive ages, until the close of the period termed a Kalpa; when the same mighty deity, Janárddana⁴⁸, invested with the quality of darkness, assumes the awful form of Rudra, and swallows up the universe. Having thus devoured all things, and converted the world into one vast ocean, the Supreme reposes upon his mighty serpent couch amidst the deep: he awakes after a season, and again, as Brahmá, becomes the author of creation.

Thus the one only god, Janárddana, takes the designation of Brahmá, Vishńu, and Śiva, accordingly as he creates, preserves, or destroys⁴⁹. Vishńu as creator, creates himself; as preserver, preserves himself; as destroyer, destroys himself at the end of all things. This world of earth, air, fire, water, ether, the senses, and the mind; all that is termed spirit⁵⁰, that also is the lord of all elements, the universal form, and imperishable: hence he is the cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; and the subject of the vicissitudes inherent in elementary nature⁵¹. He is the object and author of creation: he preserves, destroys, and is preserved. He, Vishńu, as Brahmá, and as all other beings, is infinite form: he is the supreme, the giver of all good, the fountain of all happiness⁵².

Chapter III

Measure of time. Moments or Kásht́hás, &c.; day and night; fortnight, month, year, divine year: Yugas, or ages: Maháyuga, or great age: day of Brahmá: periods of the Manus: a Manwantara: night of Brahmá, and destruction of the world: a year of Brahmá: his life: a Kalpa: a Parárrdha: the past, or Pádma Kalpa: the present, or Váráha.

MAITREYA.--How can creative agency be attributed to that Brahma, who is without qualities, illimitable, pure, and free from imperfection?

PARÁŚARA.--The essential properties of existent things are objects of observation, of which no foreknowledge is attainable; and creation, and hundreds of properties, belong to Brahma, as inseparable parts of his essence, as heat, oh chief of sages, is inherent in fire⁵³. Hear then how the deity Náráyána, in the person of Brahmá, the great parent of the world, created all existent things.

Brahmá is said to be born: a familiar phrase, to signify his manifestation; and, as the peculiar measure of his presence, a hundred of his years is said to constitute his life: that period is also called Param, and the half of it, Parárddham⁵⁴. I have already declared to you, oh sinless Brahman, that Time is a form of Vishńu: hear now how it is applied to measure the duration of Brahmá, and of all other sentient beings, as well as of those which are unconscious, as the mountains, oceans, and the like.

Oh best of sages, fifteen twinklings of the eye make a Kásht́há; thirty Kásht́hás, one Kalá; and thirty Kalás, one Muhúrtta⁵⁵. Thirty Muhúrttas constitute a day and night of mortals: thirty such days make a month, divided into two half-months: six months form an Ayana (the period of the sun's progress north or south of the ecliptic): and two Ayanas compose a year. The southern Ayana is a night, and the northern a day of the gods. Twelve thousand divine years, each composed of (three hundred and sixty) such days, constitute the period of the four Yugas, or ages. They are thus distributed: the Krita age has four thousand divine years; the Tretá three thousand; the Dwápara two thousand; and the Kali age one thousand: so those acquainted with antiquity have declared. The period that precedes a Yuga is called a Sandhyá, and it is of as many hundred years as there are thousands in the Yuga: and the period that follows a Yuga, termed the Sandhyánsa, is of similar duration. The interval between the Sandhyá and the Sandhyánsa is the Yuga, denominated Krita, Tretá, &c. The Krita, Tretá, Dwápara, and Kali, constitute a great age, or aggregate of four ages: a thousand such aggregates are a day of Brahmá, and fourteen Menus reign within that term. Hear the division of time which they measure⁵⁶.

Seven Rishis, certain (secondary) divinities, Indra, Manu, and the kings his sons, are created and perish at one period⁵⁷; and the interval, called a Manwantara, is equal to seventy-one times the number of years contained in the four Yugas, with some additional years: this is the duration of the Manu, the (attendant) divinities, and the rest, which is equal to 852.000 divine years, or to 306.720.000 years of mortals, independent of the additional period⁵⁸. Fourteen times this period constitutes a Bráhma day, that is, a day of Brahmá; the term (Bráhma) being the derivative form. At the end of this day a dissolution of the universe occurs, when all the three worlds, earth, and the regions of space, are consumed with fire. The dwellers of Maharloka (the region inhabited by the saints who survive the world), distressed by the heat, repair then to Janaloka (the region of holy men after their decease). When the-three worlds are but one mighty ocean, Brahmá, who is one with Náráyańa, satiate with the demolition of the universe, sleeps upon his serpent-bed--contemplated, the lotus born, by the ascetic inhabitants of the Janaloka--for a night of equal duration with his day; at the close of which he creates anew. Of such days and nights is a year of Brahmá composed; and a hundred such years constitute his whole life⁵⁹. One Parárddha⁶⁰, or half his existence, has expired, terminating with the Mahá Kalpa⁶¹ called Pádma. The Kalpa (or day of Brahmá) termed Váráha is the first of the second period of Brahmá's existence.

Chapter IV

Náráyańa's appearance, in the beginning of the Kalpa, as the Varsha or boar: Prithiví (Earth) addresses him: he raises the world from beneath the waters: hymned by Sanandana and the Yogis. The earth floats on the ocean: divided into seven zones. The lower spheres of the universe restored. Creation renewed.

MAITREYA.--Tell me, mighty sage, how, in the commencement of the (present) Kalpa, Náráyańa, who is named Brahmá, created all existent things⁶².

PARÁŚARA.--In what manner the divine Brahmá, who is one with Náráyańa, created progeny, and is thence named the lord of progeny (Prajápati), the lord god, you shall hear.

At the close of the past (or Pádma) Kalpa, the divine Brahmá, endowed with the quality of goodness, awoke from his night of sleep, and beheld the universe void. He, the supreme Náráyańa, the incomprehensible, the sovereign of all creatures, invested with the form of Brahmá, the god without beginning, the creator of all things; of whom, with respect to his name Náráyańa, the god who has the form of Brahmá, the imperishable origin of the world, this verse is repeated, "The waters are called Nárá, because they were the offspring of Nara (the supreme spirit); and as in them his first (Ayana) progress (in the character of Brahmá) took place, he is thence named Náráyańa (he whose place of moving was the waters)⁶³." He, the lord, concluding that within the waters lay the earth, and being desirous to raise it up, created another form for that purpose; and as in preceding Kalpas he had assumed the shape of a fish or a tortoise, so in this he took the figure of a boar. Having adopted a form composed of the sacrifices of the Vedas⁶⁴, for the preservation of the whole earth, the eternal, supreme, and universal soul, the great progenitor of created beings, eulogized by Sanaka and the other saints who dwell in the sphere of holy men (Janaloka); he, the supporter of spiritual and material being, plunged into the ocean. The goddess Earth, beholding him thus descending to the subterrene regions, bowed in devout adoration, and thus glorified the god:--

Príthiví (Earth).--Hail to thee, who art all creatures; to thee, the holder of the mace and shell: elevate me now from this place, as thou hast upraised me in days of old. From thee have I proceeded; of thee do I consist; as do the skies, and all other existing things. Hail to thee, spirit of the supreme spirit; to thee, soul of soul; to thee, who art discrete and indiscrete matter; who art one with the elements and with time. Thou art the creator of all things, their preserver, and their destroyer, in the forms, oh lord, of Brahmá, Vishńu, and Rudra, at the seasons of creation, duration, and dissolution. When thou hast devoured all things, thou reposest on the ocean that sweeps over the world, meditated upon, oh Govinda, by the wise. No one knoweth thy true nature, and the gods adore thee only in the forms it bath pleased thee to assume. They who are desirous of final liberation, worship thee as the supreme Brahmá; and who that adores not Vásudeva, shall obtain emancipation? Whatever may be apprehended by the mind, whatever may be perceived by the senses, whatever may he discerned by the intellect, all is but a form of thee. I am of thee, upheld by thee; thou art my creator, and to thee I fly for refuge: hence, in this universe, Mádhaví (the bride of Mádhava or Vishńu) is my designation. Triumph to the essence of all wisdom, to the unchangeable, the imperishable: triumph to the eternal; to the indiscrete, to the essence of discrete things: to him who is both cause and effect; who is the universe; the sinless lord of sacrifice⁶⁵; triumph. Thou art sacrifice; thou art the oblation; thou art the mystic Omkára; thou art the sacrificial fires; thou art the Vedas, and their dependent sciences; thou art, Hari, the object of all worship⁶⁶. The sun, the stars, the planets, the whole world; all that is formless, or that has form; all that is visible, or invisible; all, Purushottama, that I have said, or left unsaid; all this, Supreme, thou art. Hail to thee, again and again! hail! all hail!

PARÁŚARA.--The auspicious supporter of the world, being thus hymned by the earth, emitted a low murmuring sound, like the chanting of the Sáma veda; and the mighty boar, whose eyes were like the lotus, and whose body, vast as the Níla mountain, was of the dark colour of the lotus leaves⁶⁷, uplifted upon his ample tusks the earth from the lowest regions. As he reared up his head, the waters shed from his brow purified the great sages, Sanandana and others, residing in the sphere of the saints. Through the indentations made by his hoofs, the waters rushed into the lower worlds with a thundering noise. Before his breath, the pious denizens of Janaloka were scattered, and the Munis sought for shelter amongst the bristles upon the scriptural body of the boar, trembling as he rose up, supporting the earth, and dripping with moisture. Then the great sages, Sanandana and the rest, residing continually in the sphere of saints, were inspired with delight, and bowing lowly they praised the stern-eyed upholder of the earth.

The Yogis.--Triumph, lord of lords supreme; Keśava, sovereign of the earth, the wielder of the mace, the shell, the discus, and the sword: cause of production, destruction, and existence. THOU ART, oh god: there is no other supreme condition, but thou. Thou, lord, art the person of sacrifice: for thy feet are the Vedas; thy tusks are the stake to which the victim is bound; in thy teeth are the offerings; thy mouth is the altar; thy tongue is the fire; and the hairs of thy body are the sacrificial grass. Thine eyes, oh omnipotent, are day and night; thy head is the seat of all, the place of Brahma; thy mane is all the hymns of the Vedas; thy nostrils are all oblations: oh thou, whose snout is the ladle of oblation; whose deep voice is the chanting of the Sáma veda; whose body is the hall of sacrifice; whose joints are the different ceremonies; and whose ears have the properties of both voluntary and obligatory rites⁶⁸: do thou, who art eternal, who art in size a mountain, be propitious. We acknowledge thee, who hast traversed the world, oh universal form, to be the beginning, the continuance, and the destruction of all things: thou art the supreme god. Have pity on us, oh lord of conscious and unconscious beings. The orb of the earth is seen seated on the tip of thy tusks, as if thou hadst been sporting amidst a lake where the lotus floats, and hadst borne away the leaves covered with soil. The space between heaven and earth is occupied by thy body, oh thou of unequalled glory, resplendent with the power of pervading the universe, oh lord, for the benefit of all. Thou art the aim of all: there is none other than thee, sovereign of the world: this is thy might, by which all things, fixed or movable, are pervaded. This form, which is now beheld, is thy form, as one essentially with wisdom. Those who have not practised devotion, conceive erroneously of the nature of the world. The ignorant, who do not perceive that this universe is of the nature of wisdom, and judge of it as an object of perception only, are lost in the ocean of spiritual ignorance. But they who know true wisdom, and whose minds are pure, behold this whole world as one with divine knowledge, as one with thee, oh god. Be favourable, oh universal spirit: raise up this earth, for the habitation of created beings. Inscrutable deity, whose eyes are like lotuses, give us felicity. Oh lord, thou art endowed with the quality of goodness: raise up, Govinda, this earth, for the general good. Grant us happiness, oh lotus-eyed. May this, thy activity in creation, be beneficial to the earth. Salutation to thee. Grant us happiness, oh lotus-eyed.

PARÁŚARA.--The supreme being thus eulogized, upholding the earth, raised it quickly, and placed it on the summit of the ocean, where it floats like a mighty vessel, and from its expansive surface does not sink beneath the waters. Then, having levelled the earth, the great eternal deity divided it into portions, by mountains: he who never wills in vain, created, by his irresistible power, those mountains again upon the earth which had been consumed at the destruction of the world. Having then divided the earth into seven great portions or continents, as it was before, he constructed in like manner the four (lower) spheres, earth, sky, heaven, and the sphere of the sages (Maharloka). Thus Hari, the four-faced god, invested with the quality of activity, and taking the form of Brahmá, accomplished the creation: but he (Brahmá) is only the instrumental cause of things to be created; the things that are capable of being created arise from nature as a common material cause: with exception of one instrumental cause alone, there is no need of any other cause, for (imperceptible) substance becomes perceptible substance according to the powers with which it is originally imbued⁶⁹.

Chapter V

Vishńu as Brahmá creates the world. General characteristics of creation. Brahmá meditates, and gives origin to, immovable things, animals, gods, men. Specific creation of nine kinds; Mahat, Tanmátra, Aindríya, inanimate objects, animals, gods, men, Anugraha, and Kaumára. More particular account of creation. Origin of different orders of beings from Brahmá's body under different conditions; and of the Vedas from his mouths. All things created again as they existed in a former Kalpa.

MAITREYA.--Now unfold to me, Brahman, how this deity created the gods, sages, progenitors, demons, men, animals, trees, and the rest, that abide on earth, in heaven, or in the waters: how Brahmá at creation made the world with the qualities, the characteristics, and the forms of things⁷⁰.

PARÁŚARA.--I will explain to you, Maitreya, listen attentively, how this deity, the lord of all, created the gods and other beings.

Whilst he (Brahmá) formerly, in the beginning of the Kalpas, was. meditating on creation, there appeared a creation beginning with ignorance, and consisting of darkness. From that great being appeared fivefold Ignorance, consisting of obscurity, illusion, extreme illusion, gloom, utter darkness⁷¹. The creation of the creator thus plunged in abstraction, was the fivefold (immovable) world, without intellect or reflection, void of perception or sensation, incapable of feeling, and destitute of motion⁷². Since immovable things were first created, this is called the first creation. Brahmá, beholding that it was defective, designed another; and whilst he thus meditated, the animal creation was manifested, to the products of which the term Tiryaksrotas is applied, from their nutriment following a winding course⁷³. These were called beasts, &c., and their characteristic was the quality of darkness, they being destitute of knowledge, uncontrolled in their conduct, and mistaking error for wisdom; being formed of egotism and self-esteem, labouring under the twenty-eight kinds of imperfection⁷⁴, manifesting inward sensations, and associating with each other (according to their kinds).

Beholding this creation also imperfect, Brahmá again meditated, and a third creation appeared, abounding with the quality of goodness, termed Úrddhasrotas⁷⁵. The beings thus produced in the Úrddhasrotas creation were endowed with pleasure and enjoyment, unencumbered internally or externally, and luminous within and without. This, termed the creation of immortals, was the third performance of Brahmá, who, although well pleased with it, still found it incompetent to fulfil his end. Continuing therefore his meditations, there sprang, in consequence of his infallible purpose, the creation termed Arváksrotas, from indiscrete nature. The products of this are termed Arváksrotasas⁷⁶, from the downward current (of their nutriment). They abound with the light of knowledge, but the qualities of darkness and of foulness predominate. Hence they are afflicted by evil, and are repeatedly impelled to action. They have knowledge both externally and internally, and are the instruments (of accomplishing the object of creation, the liberation of soul). These creatures were mankind.

I have thus explained to you, excellent Muni, six⁷⁷ creations. The first creation was that of Mahat or Intellect, which is also called the creation of Brahmá⁷⁸. The second was that of the rudimental principles (Tanmátras), thence termed the elemental creation (Bhúta serga). The third was the modified form of egotism, termed the organic creation, or creation of the senses (Aindríyaka). These three were the Prákrita creations, the developements of indiscrete nature, preceded by the indiscrete principle⁷⁹. The fourth or fundamental creation (of perceptible things) was that of inanimate bodies. The fifth, the Tairyag yonya creation, was that of animals. The sixth was the Úrddhasrotas creation, or that of the divinities. The creation of the Arváksrotas beings was the seventh, and was that of man. There is an eighth creation, termed Anugraha, which possesses both the qualities of goodness and darkness⁸⁰. Of these creations, five are secondary, and three are primary⁸¹. But there is a ninth, the Kaumára creation, which is both primary and secondary⁸². These are the nine creations of the great progenitor of all, and, both as primary and secondary, are the radical causes of the world, proceeding from the sovereign creator. What else dost thou desire to hear?

MAITREYA. Thou hast briefly related to me, Muni, the creation of the gods and other beings: I am desirous, chief of sages, to hear from thee a more ample account of their creation.

PARÁŚARA.--Created beings, although they are destroyed (in their individual forms) at the periods of dissolution, yet, being affected by the good or evil acts of former existence, they are never exempted from their consequences; and when Brahmá creates the world anew, they are the progeny of his will, in the fourfold condition of gods, men, animals, or inanimate things. Brahmá then, being desirous of creating the four orders of beings, termed gods, demons, progenitors, and men, collected his mind into itself⁸³. Whilst thus concentrated, the quality of darkness pervaded his body; and thence the demons (the Asuras) were first born, issuing from his thigh. Brahmá then abandoned that form which was, composed of the rudiment of darkness, and which, being deserted by him, became night. Continuing to create, but assuming a different. shape, he experienced pleasure; and thence from his mouth proceeded the gods, endowed with the quality of goodness. The form abandoned by him, became day, in which the good quality predominates; and hence by day the gods are most powerful, and by night the demons. He next adopted another person, in which the rudiment of goodness also prevailed; and thinking of himself, as the father of the world, the progenitors (the Pitris) were born from his side. The body, when he abandoned, it, became the Sandhyá (or evening twilight), the interval between day and night. Brahmá then assumed another person, pervaded by the quality of foulness; and from this, men, in whom foulness (or passion) predominates, were produced. Quickly abandoning that body, it became morning twilight, or the dawn. At the appearance of this light of day, men feel most vigour; while the progenitors are most powerful in the evening season. In this manner, Maitreya, Jyotsná (dawn), Rátri (night), Ahar (day), and Sandhyá (evening), are the four bodies of Brahmá invested by the three qualities⁸⁴.

Next from Brahmá, in a form composed of the quality of foulness, was produced hunger, of whom anger was born: and the god put forth in darkness beings emaciate with hunger, of hideous aspects, and with long beards. Those beings hastened to the deity. Such of them as exclaimed, Oh preserve us! were thence called Rákshasas⁸⁵: others, who cried out, Let us eat, were denominated from that expression Yakshas⁸⁶. Beholding them so disgusting, the hairs of Brahmá were shrivelled up, and first falling from his head, were again renewed upon it: from their falling they became serpents, called Sarpa from their creeping, and Ahi because they had deserted the head⁸⁷. The creator of the world, being incensed, then created fierce beings, who were denominated goblins, Bhútas, malignant fiends and eaters of flesh. The Gandharbas were next born, imbibing melody: drinking of the goddess of speech, they were born, and thence their appellation⁸⁸.

The divine Brahmá, influenced by their material energies, having created these beings, made others of his own will. Birds he formed from his vital vigour; sheep from his breast; goats from his mouth; kine from his belly and sides; and horses, elephants, Sarabhas, Gayals, deer, camels, mules, antelopes, and other animals, from his feet: whilst from the hairs of his body sprang herbs, roots, and fruits.

Brahmá having created, in the commencement of the Kalpa, various plants, employed them in sacrifices, in the beginning of the Tretá age. Animals were distinguished into two classes, domestic (village) and wild (forest): the first class contained the cow, the goat, the hog, the sheep, the horse, the ass, the mule: the latter, all beasts of prey, and many animals with cloven hoofs, the elephant, and the monkey. The fifth order were the birds; the sixth, aquatic animals; and the seventh, reptiles and insects⁸⁹.

From his eastern mouth Brahmá then created the Gayatrí metre, the Rig veda, the collection of hymns termed Trivrit, the Rathantara portion of the Sáma veda, and the Agnisht́oma sacrifice: from his southern mouth he created the Yajur veda, the Trisht́ubh metre, the collection of hymns called Panchadaśa, the Vrihat Sáma, and the portion of the Sáma veda termed Uktha: from his western mouth he created the Sáma veda, the Jayati metre, the collection of hymns termed Saptadaśa, the portion of the Sáma called Vairúpa, and the Atirátra sacrifice: and from his northern mouth he created the Ekavinsa collection of hymns, the At́harva veda, the Áptoryámá rite, the Anusht́ubh metre, and the Vairája portion of the Sáma veda⁹⁰.

In this manner all creatures, great or small, proceeded from his limbs. The great progenitor of the world having formed the gods, demons, and Pitris, created, in the commencement of the Kalpa, the Yakshas, Pisáchas (goblins), Gandharbas and the troops of Apsarasas the nymphs of heaven, Naras (centaurs, or beings with the limbs of horses and human bodies) and Kinnaras (beings with the heads of horses), Rákshasas, birds, beasts, deer, serpents, and all things permanent or transitory, movable or immovable. This did the divine Brahmá, the first creator and lord of all: and these things being created, discharged the same functions as they had fulfilled in a previous creation, whether malignant or benign, gentle or cruel, good or evil, true or false; and accordingly as they are actuated by such propensities will be their conduct.

And the creator displayed infinite variety in the objects of sense, in the properties of living things, and in the forms of bodies: he determined in the beginning, by the authority of the Vedas, the names and forms and functions of all creatures, and of the gods; and the names and appropriate offices of the Rishis, as they also are read in the Vedas. In like manner as the products of the seasons designate in periodical revolution the return of the same season, so do the same circumstances indicate the recurrence of the same Yuga, or age; and thus, in the beginning of each Kalpa, does Brahmá repeatedly create the world, possessing the power that is derived from the will to create, and assisted by the natural and essential faculty of the object to be created.

Chapter VI

Origin of the four castes: their primitive state. Progress of society. Different kinds of grain. Efficacy of sacrifice. Duties of men: regions assigned them after death.

MAITREYA.--Thou hast briefly noticed, illustrious sage, the creation termed Arváksrotas, or that of mankind: now explain to me more fully how Brahmá accomplished it; how he created the four different castes; what duties he assigned to the Brahmans and the rest⁹¹.

PARÁŚARA.--Formerly, oh best of Brahmans, when the truth-meditating Brahmá was desirous of creating the world, there sprang from his mouth beings especially endowed with the quality of goodness; others from his breast, pervaded by the quality of foulness; others from his thighs, in whom foulness and darkness prevailed; and others from his feet, in whom the quality of darkness predominated. These were, in succession, beings of the several castes, Brahmans, Kshetriyas, Vaisyas, and Śúdras, produced from the mouth, the breast, the thighs, and the feet of Brahmá⁹². These he created for the performance of sacrifices, the four castes being the fit instruments of their celebration. By sacrifices, oh thou who knowest the truth, the gods are nourished; and by the rain which they bestow, mankind are supported⁹³: and thus sacrifices, the source of happiness, are performed by pious men, attached to their duties, attentive to prescribed obligations, and walking in the paths of virtue. Men acquire (by them) heavenly fruition, or final felicity: they go, after death, to whatever sphere they aspire to, as the consequence of their human nature. The beings who were created by Brahmá, of these four castes, were at first endowed with righteousness and perfect faith; they abode wherever they pleased, unchecked by any impediment; their hearts were free from guile; they were pure, made free from soil, by observance of sacred institutes. In their sanctified minds Hari dwelt; and they were filled with perfect wisdom, by which they contemplated the glory of Vishńu⁹⁴. After a while (after the Tretá age had continued for some period), that portion of Hari which has been described as one with Kála (time) infused into created beings sin, as yet feeble though formidable, or passion and the like: the impediment of soul's liberation, the seed of iniquity, sprung from darkness and desire. The innate perfectness of human nature was then no more evolved: the eight kinds of perfection, Rasollásá and the rest, were impaired⁹⁵; and these being enfeebled, and sin gaining strength, mortals were afflicted with pain, arising from susceptibility to contrasts, as heat and cold, and the like. They therefore constructed places of refuge, protected by trees, by mountains, or by water; surrounded them by a ditch or a wall, and formed villages and cities; and in them erected appropriate dwellings, as defences against the sun and the cold⁹⁶. Having thus provided security against the weather, men next began to employ themselves in manual labour, as a means of livelihood, (and cultivated) the seventeen kinds of useful grain--rice, barley, wheat, millet, sesamum, panic, and various sorts of lentils, beans, and pease⁹⁷. These are the kinds cultivated for domestic use: but there are fourteen kinds which may be offered in sacrifice; they are, rice, barley, Másha, wheat, millet, and sesamum; Priyangu is the seventh, and kulattha, pulse, the eighth: the others are, Syámáka, a sort of panic; Nívára, uncultivated rice; Jarttila, wild sesamum; Gaveduká (coix); Markata, wild panic; and (a plant called) the seed or barley of the Bambu (Venu-yava). These, cultivated or wild, are the fourteen grains that were produced for purposes of offering in sacrifice; and sacrifice (the cause of rain) is their origin also: they again, with sacrifice, are the great cause of the perpetuation of the human race, as those understand who can discriminate cause and effect. Thence sacrifices were offered daily; the performance of which, oh best of Munis, is of essential service to mankind, and expiates the offences of those by whom they are observed. Those, however, in whose hearts the dross of sin derived from Time (Kála) was still more developed, assented not to sacrifices, but reviled both them and all that resulted from them, the gods, and the followers of the Vedas. Those abusers of the Vedas, of evil disposition and conduct, and seceders from the path of enjoined duties, were plunged in wickedness⁹⁸.

The means of subsistence having been provided for the beings he had created, Brahmá prescribed laws suited to their station and faculties, the duties of the several castes and orders⁹⁹, and the regions of those of the different castes who were observant of their duties. The heaven of the Pitris is the region of devout Brahmans. The sphere of Indra, of Kshetriyas who fly not from the field. The region of the winds is assigned to the Vaisyas who are diligent in their occupations and submissive. Śúdras are elevated to the sphere of the Gandharbas. Those Brahmans who lead religious lives go to the world of the eighty-eight thousand saints: and that of the seven Rishis is the seat of pious anchorets and hermits. The world of ancestors is that of respectable householders: and the region of Brahmá is the asylum of religious mendicants¹⁰⁰. The imperishable region of the Yogis is the highest seat of Vishńu, where they perpetually meditate upon the supreme being, with minds intent on him alone: the sphere where they reside, the gods themselves cannot behold. The sun, the moon, the planets, shall repeatedly be, and cease to be; but those who internally repeat the mystic adoration of the divinity, shall never know decay. For those who neglect their duties, who revile the Vedas, and obstruct religious rites, the places assigned after death are the terrific regions of darkness, of deep gloom, of fear, and of great terror; the fearful hell of sharp swords, the hell of scourges and of a waveless sea¹⁰¹.

Chapter VII

Creation continued. Production of the mind-born sons of Brahmá; of the Prajápatis; of Sanandana and others; of Rudra and the eleven Rudras; of the Manu Swáyambhuva, and his wife Śatarúpá; of their children. The daughters of Daksha, and their marriage to Dharma and others. The progeny of Disarms and Adharma. The perpetual succession of worlds, and different modes of mundane dissolution.

PARÁŚARA.--From Brahmá, continuing to meditate, were born mind-engendered progeny, with forms and faculties derived from his corporeal nature; embodied spirits, produced from the person of that all-wise deity. All these beings, front the gods to inanimate things, appeared as I have related to you¹⁰², being the abode of the three qualities: but as they did not multiply themselves, Brahmá created other mind-born sons, like himself; namely, Bhrigu, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Angiras, Maríchi, Daksha, Atri, and Vaśisht́ha: these are the nine Brahmas (or Brahma rishis) celebrated in the Puráńas¹⁰³. Sanandana and the other sons of Brahmá were previously created by him, but they were without desire or passion, inspired with holy wisdom, estranged from the universe, and undesirous of progeny. This when Brahmá perceived, he was filled with wrath capable of consuming the three worlds, the flame of which invested, like a garland, heaven, earth, and hell. Then from his forehead, darkened with angry frowns, sprang Rudra¹⁰⁴, radiant as the noon-tide sun, fierce, and of vast bulk, and of a figure which was half male, half female. Separate yourself, Brahmá said to him; and having so spoken, disappeared. Obedient to which command, Rudra became twofold, disjoining his male and female natures. His male being he again divided into eleven persons, of whom some were agreeable, some hideous, some fierce, some mild; and he multiplied his female nature manifold, of complexions black or white¹⁰⁵.

Then Brahmá¹⁰⁶ created himself the Manu Swáyambhuva, born of, and identical with, his original self, for the protection of created beings; and the female portion of himself he constituted Śatarúpá, whom austerity purified from the sin (of forbidden nuptials), and whom the divine Manu Swáyambhuva took to wife. From these two were born two sons, Priyavrata and Uttánapáda¹⁰⁷, and two daughters, named Prasúti and Ákúti, graced with loveliness and exalted merit¹⁰⁸. Prasúti he gave to Daksha, after giving Ákúti to the patriarch Ruchi¹⁰⁹, who espoused her. Ákúti bore to Ruchi twins, Yajna and Dakshiná¹¹⁰, who afterwards became husband and wife, and had twelve sons, the deities called Yámas¹¹¹, in the Manwantara of Swáyambhuva.

The patriarch Daksha had by Prasúti twenty-four daughters¹¹²: hear from me their names: Sraddhá (faith), Lakshmí (prosperity), Dhriti (steadiness), Tusht́i (resignation), Pusht́i (thriving), Medhá (intelligence), Kríyá (action, devotion), Buddhi (intellect), Lajjá (modesty), Vapu (body), Sánti (expiation), Siddhi (perfection), Kírtti (fame): these thirteen daughters of Daksha, Dharma (righteousness) took to wife. The other eleven bright-eyed and younger daughters of the patriarch were, Khyáti (celebrity), Sati (truth), Sambhúti (fitness), Smriti (memory), Príti (affection), Kshamá (patience), Sannati (humility), Anasúyá (charity), Úrjjá (energy), with Swáhá (offering), and Swadhá (oblation). These maidens were respectively wedded to the Munis, Bhrigu, Bhava, Maríchi, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Atri, and Vaśisht́ha; to Fire (Vahni), and to the Pitris (progenitors)¹¹³.

The progeny of Dharma by the daughters of Daksha were as follows: by Sraddhá he had Káma (desire); by Lakshmí, Darpa (pride); by Dhriti, Niyama (precept); by Tusht́i, Santosha (content); by Pusht́i, Lobha (cupidity); by Medhá, Sruta (sacred tradition); by Kriyá, Dańd́a, Naya, and Vinaya (correction, polity, and prudence); by Buddhi, Bodha (understanding); by Lajjá, Vinaya (good behaviour); by Vapu, Vyavasaya (perseverance). Sánti gave birth to Kshema (prosperity); Siddhi to Sukha (enjoyment); and Kírtti to Yasas (reputation¹¹⁴). These were the sons of Dharma; one of whom, Káma, had Hersha (joy) by his wife Nandi (delight).

The wife of Adharma¹¹⁵ (vice) was Hinsá (violence), on whom he begot a son Anrita (falsehood), and a daughter Nikriti (immorality): they intermarried, and had two sons, Bhaya (fear) and Naraka (hell); and twins to them, two daughters, Máyá (deceit) and Vedaná (torture), who became their wives. The son of Bhaya and Máyá was the destroyer of living creatures, or Mrityu (death); and Dukha (pain) was the offspring of Naraka and Vedaná. The children of Mrityu were Vyádhi (disease), Jará (decay), Soka (sorrow), Trishńa (greediness), and Krodha (wrath). These are all called the inflictors of misery, and are characterised as the progeny of Vice (Adharma). They are all without wives, without posterity, without the faculty to procreate; they are the terrific forms of Vishńu, and perpetually operate as causes of the destruction of this world. On the contrary, Daksha and the other Rishis, the elders of mankind, tend perpetually to influence its renovation: whilst the Manus and their sons, the heroes endowed with mighty power, and treading in the path of truth, as constantly contribute to its preservation.

MAITREYA.--Tell me, Bráhman, what is the essential nature of these revolutions, perpetual preservation, perpetual creation, and perpetual destruction.

PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual¹¹⁶: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns.

Chapter VIII

Origin of Rudra: his becoming eight Rudras: their wives and children. The posterity of Bhrigu. Account of Śrí in conjunction with Vishńu. Sacrifice of Daksha.

PARÁŚARA.--I have described to you, oh great Muni, the creation of Brahmá, in which the quality of darkness prevailed. I will now explain to you the creation of Rudra¹¹⁷.

In the beginning of the Kalpa, as Brahmá purposed to create a son, who should be like himself, a youth of a purple complexion¹¹⁸ appeared, crying with a low cry, and running about¹¹⁹. Brahmá, when he beheld him thus afflicted, said to him, "Why dost thou weep?" "Give me a name," replied the boy. "Rudra be thy name," rejoined the great father of all creatures: "be composed; desist from tears." But, thus addressed, the boy still wept seven times, and Brahmá therefore gave to him seven other denominations; and to these eight persons regions and wives and posterity belong. The eight manifestations, then, are named Rudra, Bhava, Śarva, Iśána, Paśupati, Bhíma, Ugra, and Mahádeva, which were given to them by their great progenitor. He also assigned to them their respective stations, the sun, water, earth, air, fire, ether, the ministrant Brahman, and the moon; for these are their several forms¹²⁰. The wives of the sun and the other manifestations, termed Rudra and the rest, were respectively, Suverchalá, Ushá, Vikesí, Sivá, Swáhá, Diśá, Díkshá, and Rohiní. Now hear an account of their progeny, by whose successive generations this world has been peopled. Their sons, then, were severally, Sanaiśchara (Saturn), Śukra (Venus), the fiery-bodied Mars, Manojava (Hanumán), Skanda, Swarga, Santána, and Budha (Mercury).

It was the Rudra of this description that married Satí, who abandoned her corporeal existence in consequence of the displeasure of Daksha¹²¹. She afterwards was the daughter of Himaván (the snowy mountains) by Mená; and in that character, as the only Umá, the mighty Bhava again married her¹²². The divinities Dhátá and Vidhátá were born to Bhrigu by Khyáti, as was a daughter, Śrí, the wife of Náráyańa, the god of gods¹²³.

MAITREYA.--It is commonly said that the goddess Śrí was born from the sea of milk, when it was churned for ambrosia; how then can you say that she was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyáti.

PARÁŚARA.--Śrí, the bride of Vishńu, the mother of the world, is eternal, imperishable; in like manner as he is all-pervading, so also is she, oh best of Brahmans, omnipresent. Vishńu is meaning; she is speech. Hari is polity (Naya); she is prudence (Níti). Vishńu is understanding; she is intellect. He is righteousness; she is devotion. He is the creator; she is creation. Śrí is the earth; Hari the support of it. The deity is content; the eternal Lakshmí is resignation. He is desire; Śrí is wish. He is sacrifice; she is sacrificial donation (Dakshiná). The goddess is the invocation which attends the oblation; Janárddana is the oblation. Lakshmí is the chamber where the females are present (at a religious ceremony); Madhusúdana the apartment of the males of the family. Lakshmí is the altar; Hari the stake (to which the victim is bound). Śrí is the fuel; Hari the holy grass (Kuśa). He is the personified Sáma veda; the goddess, lotus-throned, is the tone of its chanting. Lakshmí is the prayer of oblation (Swáhá); Vásudeva, the lord of the world, is the sacrificial fire. Saurí (Vishńu) is Śankara (Śiva); and Śrí is the bride of Śiva (Gaurí). Keśava, oh Maitreya, is the sun; and his radiance is the lotus-seated goddess. Vishńu is the tribe of progenitors (Pitrigana); Padma. is their bride (Swadhá), the eternal bestower of nutriment. Śrí is the heavens; Vishńu, who is one with all things, is wide extended space. The lord of Śrí is the moon; she is his unfading light. She is called the moving principle of the world; he, the wind which bloweth every where. Govinda is the ocean; Lakshmí its shore. Lakshmí is the consort of Indra (Indrání); Madhusúdana is Devendra. The holder of the discus (Vishńu) is Yama (the regent of Tartarus); the lotus-throned goddess is his dusky spouse (Dhúmorná). Śrí is wealth; Śridhara (Vishńu) is himself the god of riches (Kuvera). Lakshmí, illustrious Brahman, is Gaurí; and Keśava, is the deity of ocean (Varuna). Śrí is the host of heaven (Devasená); the deity of war, her lord, is Hari. The wielder of the mace is resistance; the power to oppose is Śrí. Lakshmí is the Kásht́há and the Kalá; Hari the Nimesha and the Muhúrtta. Lakshmí is the light; and Hari, who is all, and lord of all, the lamp. She, the mother of the world, is the creeping vine; and Vishńu the tree round which she clings. She is the night; the god who is armed with the mace and discus is the day. He, the bestower of blessings, is the bridegroom; the lotus-throned goddess is the bride. The god is one with all male--the goddess one with all female, rivers. The lotus-eyed deity is the standard; the goddess seated on a lotus the banner. Lakshmí is cupidity; Náráyańa, the master of the world, is covetousness. Oh thou who knowest what righteousness is, Govinda is love; and Lakshmí, his gentle spouse, is pleasure. But why thus diffusely enumerate their presence: it is enough to say, in a word, that of gods, animals, and men, Hari is all that is called male; Lakshmí is all that is termed female: there is nothing else than they.

Sacrifice of Daksha¹²⁴

(From the Váyu Puráńa)

"There was formerly a peak of Meru, named Sávitra, abounding with gems, radiant as the sun, and celebrated throughout the three worlds; of immense extent, and difficult of access, and an object of universal veneration. Upon that glorious eminence, rich with mineral treasures, as upon a splendid couch, the deity Śiva reclined, accompanied by the daughter of the sovereign of mountains, and attended by the mighty Ádityas, the powerful Vasus, and by the heavenly physicians, the sons of Aswiní; by Kuvera, surrounded by his train of Guhyakas, the lord of the Yakshas, who dwells on Kailása. There also was the great Muni Usanas: there, were Rishis of the first order, with Sanatkumára at their head; divine Rishis, preceded by Angiras; Viśwavasu, with his bands of heavenly choristers; the sages Nárada and Párvata; and innumerable troops of celestial nymphs. The breeze blew upon the mountain, bland, pure, and fragrant; and the trees were decorated with flowers, that blossomed in every season. The Vidyádharas and Siddhas, affluent in devotion, waited upon Mahádeva, the lord of living creatures; and many other beings, of various forms, did him homage. Rákshasas of terrific semblance, and Pisáchas of great strength, of different shapes and features, armed with various weapons, and blazing like fire, were delighted to be present, as the followers of the god. There stood the royal Nandí, high in the favour of his lord, armed with a fiery trident, shining with inherent lustre; and there the best of rivers, Gangá, the assemblage of all holy waters, stood adoring the mighty deity. Thus worshipped by all the most excellent of sages and of gods, abode the omnipotent and all-glorious Mahádeva.

"In former times, Daksha commenced a holy sacrifice on the side of Himaván, at the sacred spot Gangadwára, frequented by the Rishis. The gods, desirous of assisting at this solemn rite, came, with Indra at their head, to Mahádeva, and intimated their purpose; and having received his permission, departed in their splendid chariots to Gangadwára, as tradition reports¹²⁵. They found Daksha, the best of the devout, surrounded by the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the shade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether dwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached the patriarch with outward gestures of respect. The Ádityas, Vasus, Rudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with Jishńu, were present. The four classes of Pitris, Ushmapás, Somapás, Ájyapás, and Dhúmapás, or those who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of offerings, the Aswins and the progenitors, came along with Brahmá. Creatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or vegetation, came upon their invocation; as did all the gods, with their brides, who in their resplendent vehicles blazed like so many fires. Beholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhícha was filled with indignation, and observed, 'The man who worships what ought not to be worshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most assuredly, of heinous sin.' Then addressing Daksha, he said to him, 'Why do you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life (Paśubhartri)?' Daksha spake; 'I have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents, wearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms: I recognise no other Mahádeva.' Dadhícha spake; 'The invocation that is not addressed to Íśa, is, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons. Inasmuch as I behold no other divinity who is superior to Śankara, this sacrifice of Daksha will not be completed.' Daksha spake; I offer, in a golden cup, this entire oblation, which has been consecrated by many prayers, as an offering ever due to the unequalled Vishńu, the sovereign lord of all¹²⁶.'

"In the meanwhile, the virtuous daughter of the mountain king, observing the departure of the divinities, addressed her lord, the god of living beings, and said--Umá spake--'Whither, oh lord, have the gods, preceded by Indra, this day departed? Tell me truly, oh thou who knowest all truth, for a great doubt perplexes me.' Maheśwara spake; Illustrious goddess, the excellent patriarch Daksha celebrates the sacrifice of a horse, and thither the gods repair.' Deví spake; Why then, most mighty god, dost thou also not proceed to this solemnity? by what hinderance is thy progress thither impeded?' Maheśwara spake; 'This is the contrivance, mighty queen, of all the gods, that in all sacrifices no portion should be assigned to me. In consequence of an arrangement formerly devised, the gods allow me, of right, no participation of sacrificial offerings.' Deví spake; 'The lord god lives in all bodily forms, and his might is eminent through his superior faculties; he is unsurpassable, he is unapproachable, in splendour and glory and power. That such as he should be excluded from his share of oblations, fills me with deep sorrow, and a trembling, oh sinless, seizes upon my frame. Shall I now practise bounty, restraint, or penance, so that my lord, who is inconceivable, may obtain a share, a half or a third portion, of the sacrifice¹²⁷?'

"Then the mighty and incomprehensible deity, being pleased, said to his bride, thus agitated; and speaking; 'Slender-waisted queen of the gods, thou knowest not the purport of what thou sayest; but I know it, oh thou with large eyes, for the holy declare all things by meditation. By thy perplexity this day are all the gods, with Mahendra and all the three worlds, utterly confounded. In my sacrifice, those who worship me, repeat my praises, and chant the Rathantara song of the Sáma veda; my priests worship me in the sacrifice of true wisdom, where no officiating Brahman is needed; and in this they offer me my portion.' Deví spake; 'The lord is the root of all, and assuredly, in every assemblage of the female world, praises or hides himself at will.' Mahádeva spake; 'Queen of the gods, I praise not myself: approach, and behold whom I shall create for the purpose of claiming my share of the rite.'

"Having thus spoken to his beloved spouse, the mighty Maheśwara created from his mouth a being like the fire of fate; a divine being, with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet; wielding a thousand clubs, a thousand shafts; holding the shell, the discus, the mace, and bearing a blazing bow and battle-axe; fierce and terrific, shining with dreadful splendour, and decorated with the crescent moon; clothed in a tiger's skin, dripping with blood; having a capacious stomach, and a vast mouth, armed with formidable tusks: his ears were erect, his lips were pendulous, his tongue was lightning; his hand brandished the thunderbolt; flames streamed from his hair; a necklace of pearls wound round his neck; a garland of flame descended on his breast: radiant with lustre, he looked like the final fire that consumes the world. Four tremendous tusks projected from a mouth which extended from ear to ear: he was of vast bulk, vast strength, a mighty male and lord, the destroyer of the universe, and like a large fig-tree in circumference; shining like a hundred moons at once; fierce as the fire of love; having four heads, sharp white teeth, and of mighty fierceness, vigour, activity, and courage; glowing with the blaze of a thousand fiery suns at the end of the world; like a thousand undimmed moons: in bulk like Himádri, Kailása, or Meru, or Mandara, with all its gleaming herbs; bright as the sun of destruction at the end of ages; of irresistible prowess, and beautiful aspect; irascible, with lowering eyes, and a countenance burning like fire; clothed in the hide of the elephant and lion, and girt round with snakes; wearing a turban on his head, a moon on his brow; sometimes savage, sometimes mild; having a chaplet of many flowers on his head, anointed with various unguents, and adorned with different ornaments and many sorts of jewels; wearing a garland of heavenly Karnikára flowers, and rolling his eyes with rage. Sometimes he danced; sometimes he laughed aloud; sometimes he stood wrapt in meditation; sometimes he trampled upon the earth; sometimes he sang; sometimes he wept repeatedly: and he was endowed with the faculties of wisdom, dispassion, power, penance, truth, endurance, fortitude, dominion, and self-knowledge.

"This being, then, knelt down upon the ground, and raising his hands respectfully to his head, said to Mahádeva, 'Sovereign of the gods, command what it is that I must do for thee.' To which Maheśwara replied, Spoil the sacrifice of Daksha.' Then the mighty Vírabhadra, having heard the pleasure of his lord, bowed down his head to the feet of Prajápati; and starting like a lion loosed from bonds, despoiled the sacrifice of Daksha, knowing that the had been created by the displeasure of Deví. She too in her wrath, as the fearful goddess Rudrakálí, accompanied him, with all her train, to witness his deeds. Vírabhadra the fierce, abiding in the region of ghosts, is the minister of the anger of Deví. And he then created, from the pores of his skin, powerful demigods, the mighty attendants upon Rudra, of equal valour and strength, who started by hundreds and thousands into existence. Then a loud and confused clamour filled all the expanse of ether, and inspired the denizens of heaven with dread. The mountains tottered, and earth shook; the winds roared, and the depths of the sea were disturbed; the fires lost their radiance, and the sun grew pale; the planets of the firmament shone not, neither did the stars give light; the Rishis ceased their hymns, and gods and demons were mute; and thick darkness eclipsed the chariots of the skies¹²⁸.

"Then from the gloom emerged fearful and numerous forms, shouting the cry of battle; who instantly broke or overturned the sacrificial columns, trampled upon the altars, and danced amidst the oblations. Running wildly hither and thither, with the speed of wind, they tossed about the implements and vessels of sacrifice, which looked like stars precipitated from the heavens. The piles of food and beverage for the gods, which had been heaped up like mountains; the rivers of milk; the banks of curds and butter; the sands of honey and butter-milk and sugar; the mounds of condiments and spices of every flavour; the undulating knolls of flesh and other viands; the celestial liquors, pastes, and confections, which had been prepared; these the spirits of wrath devoured or defiled or scattered abroad. Then falling upon the host of the gods, these vast and resistless Rudras beat or terrified them, mocked and insulted the nymphs and goddesses, and quickly put an end to the rite, although defended by all the gods; being the ministers of Rudra's wrath, and similar to himself¹²⁹. Some then made a hideous clamour, whilst others fearfully shouted, when Yajna was decapitated. For the divine Yajna, the lord of sacrifice, then began to fly up to heaven, in the shape of a deer; and Vírabhadra, of immeasurable spirit, apprehending his power, cut off his vast head, after he had mounted into the sky¹³⁰. Daksha the patriarch, his sacrifice being destroyed, overcome with terror, and utterly broken in spirit, fell then upon the ground, where his head was spurned by the feet of the cruel Vírabhadra¹³¹. The thirty scores of sacred divinities were all presently bound, with a band of fire, by their lion-like foe; and they all then addressed him, crying, 'Oh Rudra, have mercy upon thy servants: oh lord, dismiss thine anger.' Thus spake Brahmá and the other gods, and the patriarch Daksha; and raising their hands, they said, 'Declare, mighty being, who thou art.' Vírabhadra said, 'I am not a god, nor an Áditya; nor am I come hither for enjoyment, nor curious to behold the chiefs of the divinities: know that I am come to destroy the sacrifice of Daksha, and that I am called Vírabhadra, the issue of the wrath of Rudra. Bhadrakálí also, who has sprung from the anger of Deví, is sent here by the god of gods to destroy this rite. Take refuge, king of kings, with him who is the lord of Umá; for better is the anger of Rudra than the blessings of other gods.'

"Having heard the words of Vírabhadra, the righteous Daksha propitiated the mighty god, the holder of the trident, Maheśwara. The hearth of sacrifice, deserted by the Brahmans, had been consumed; Yajna had been metamorphosed to an antelope; the fires of Rudra's wrath had been kindled; the attendants, wounded by the tridents of the servants of the god, were groaning with pain; the pieces of the uprooted sacrificial posts were scattered here and there; and the fragments of the meat-offerings were carried off by flights of hungry vultures, and herds of howling jackals. Suppressing his vital airs, and taking up a posture of meditation, the many-sighted victor of his foes, Daksha fixed his eyes every where upon his thoughts. Then the god of gods appeared from the altar, resplendent as a thousand suns, and smiled upon him, and said, 'Daksha, thy sacrifice has been destroyed through sacred knowledge: I am well pleased with thee:' and then he smiled again, and said, 'What shall I do for thee; declare, together with the preceptor of the gods.'

"Then Daksha, frightened, alarmed, and agitated, his eyes suffused with tears, raised his hands reverentially to his brow, and said, 'If, lord, thou art pleased; if I have found favour in thy sight; if I am to be the object of thy benevolence; if thou wilt confer upon me a boon, this is the blessing I solicit, that all these provisions for the solemn sacrifice, which have been collected with much trouble and during a long time, and which have now been eaten, drunk, devoured, burnt, broken, scattered abroad, may not have been prepared in vain.' 'So let it be,' replied Hara, the subduer of Indra. And thereupon Daksha knelt down upon the earth, and praised gratefully the author of righteousness, the three-eyed god Mahádeva, repeating the eight thousand names of the deity whose emblem is a bull."

Chapter IX

Legend of Lakshmí. Durvásas gives a garland to Indra: he treats it disrespectfully, and is cursed by the Muni. The power of the gods impaired: they are oppressed by the Dánavas, and have recourse to Vishńu. The churning of the ocean. Praises of Śrí.

PARÁŚARA.--But with respect to the question thou hast asked me, Maitreya, relating to the history of Śrí, hear from me the tale as it was told to me by Maríchi.

Durvásas, a portion of Śankara (Śiva)¹³², was wandering over the earth; when be beheld, in the hands of a nymph of air¹³³, a garland of flowers culled from the trees of heaven, the fragrant odour of which spread throughout the forest, and enraptured all who dwelt beneath its shade. The sage, who was then possessed by religious phrensy¹³⁴, when he beheld that garland, demanded it of the graceful and full-eyed nymph, who, bowing to him reverentially, immediately presented it to him. He, as one frantic, placed the chaplet upon his brow, and thus decorated resumed his path; when he beheld (Indra) the husband of Śachí, the ruler of the three worlds, approach, seated on his infuriated elephant Airávata, and attended by the gods. The phrensied sage, taking from his head the garland of flowers, amidst which the bees collected ambrosia, threw it to the king of the gods, who caught it, and suspended it on the brow of Airávata, where it shone like the river Jáhnaví, glittering on the dark summit of the mountain Kailása. The elephant, whose eyes were dim with inebriety, and attracted by the smell, took hold of the garland with his trunk, and cast it on the earth. That chief of sages, Durvásas, was highly incensed at this disrespectful treatment of his gift, and thus angrily addressed the sovereign of the immortals: "Inflated with the intoxication of power, Vásava, vile of spirit, thou art an idiot not to respect the garland I presented to thee, which was the dwelling of Fortune (Śrí). Thou hast not acknowledged it as a largess; thou hast not bowed thyself before me; thou hast not placed the wreath upon thy head, with thy countenance expanding with delight. Now, fool, for that thou hast not infinitely prized the garland that I gave thee, thy sovereignty over the three worlds shall be subverted. Thou confoundest me, Śakra, with other Brahmans, and hence I have suffered disrespect from thy arrogance: but in like manner as thou hast cast the garland I gave thee down on the ground, so shall thy dominion over the universe be whelmed in ruin. Thou hast offended one whose wrath is dreaded by all created things, king of the gods, even me, by thine excessive pride."

Descending hastily from his elephant, Mahendra endeavoured to appease the sinless Durvásas: but to the excuses and prostrations of the thousand-eyed, the Muni answered, "I am not of a compassionate heart, nor is forgiveness congenial to my nature. Other Munis may relent; but know me, Śakra, to be Durvásas. Thou hast in vain been rendered insolent by Gautama and others; for know me, Indra, to be Durvásas, whose nature is a stranger to remorse. Thou hast been flattered by Vaśisht́ha and other tender-hearted saints, whose loud praises (lave made thee so arrogant, that thou hast insulted me. But who is there in the universe that can behold my countenance, dark with frowns, and surrounded by my blazing hair, and not tremble? What need of words? I will not forgive, whatever semblance of humility thou mayest assume."

Having thus spoken, the Brahman went his way; and the king of the gods, remounting his elephant, returned to his capital Amarávati. Thenceforward, Maitreya, the three worlds and Śakra lost their vigour, and all vegetable products, plants, and herbs were withered and died; sacrifices were no longer offered; devout exercises no longer practised; men were no more addicted to charity, or any moral or religious obligation; all beings became devoid of steadiness¹³⁵; all the faculties of sense were obstructed by cupidity; and men's desires were excited by frivolous objects. Where there is energy, there is prosperity; and upon prosperity energy depends. How can those abandoned by prosperity be possessed of energy; and without energy, where is excellence? Without excellence there can be no vigour nor heroism amongst men: he who has neither courage nor strength, will be spurned by all: and he who is universally treated with disgrace, must suffer abasement of his intellectual faculties.

The three regions being thus wholly divested of prosperity, and deprived of energy, the Dánavas and sons of Diti, the enemies of the gods, who were incapable of steadiness, and agitated by ambition, put forth their strength against the gods. They engaged in war with the feeble and unfortunate divinities; and Indra and the rest, being overcome in fight, fled for refuge to Brahmá, preceded by the god of flame (Hutáśana). When the great father of the universe had heard all that had come to pass, he said to the deities, "Repair for protection to the god of high and low; the tamer of the demons; the causeless cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; the progenitor of the progenitors; the immortal, unconquerable Vishńu; the cause of matter and spirit, of his unengendered products; the remover of the grief of all who humble themselves before him: he will give you aid." Having thus spoken to the deities, Brahmá proceeded along with them to the northern shore of the sea of milk; and with reverential words thus prayed to the supreme Hari:--

"We glorify him who is all things; the lord supreme over all; unborn, imperishable; the protector of the mighty ones of creation; the unperceived, indivisible Náráyańa; the smallest of the smallest, the largest of the largest, of the elements; in whom are all things, from whom are all things; who was before existence; the god who is all beings; who is the end of ultimate objects; who is beyond final spirit, and is one with supreme soul; who is contemplated as the cause of final liberation by sages anxious to be free; in whom are not the qualities of goodness, foulness, or darkness, that belong to undeveloped nature. May that purest of all pure spirits this day be propitious to us. May that Hari be propitious to us, whose inherent might is not an object of the progressive chain of moments or of days, that make up time. May he who is called the supreme god, who is not in need of assistance, Hari, the soul of all embodied substance, be favourable unto us. May that Hari, who is both cause and effect; who is the cause of cause, the effect of effect; he who is the effect of successive effect; who is the effect of the effect of the effect himself; the product of the effect of the effect of the effect, or elemental substance; to him I bow¹³⁶. The cause of the cause; the cause of the cause of the cause; the cause of them all; to him I bow. To him who is the enjoyer and thing to be enjoyed; the creator and thing to be created; who is the agent and the effect; to that supreme being I bow. The infinite nature of Vishńu is pure, intelligent, perpetual, unborn, undecayable, inexhaustible, inscrutable, immutable; it is neither gross nor subtile, nor capable of being defined: to that ever holy nature of Vishńu I bow. To him whose faculty to create the universe abides in but a part of but the ten-millionth part of him; to him who is one with the inexhaustible supreme spirit, I bow: and to the glorious nature of the supreme Vishńu, which nor gods, nor sages, nor I, nor Śankara apprehend; that nature which the Yogis, after incessant effort, effacing both moral merit and demerit, behold to be contemplated in the mystical monosyllable Om: the supreme glory of Vishńu, who is the first of all; of whom, one only god, the triple energy is the same with Brahmá, Vishńu, and Śiva: oh lord of all, great soul of all, asylum of all, undecayable, have pity upon thy servants; oh Vishńu, be manifest unto us."

Paráśara continued.--The gods, having heard this prayer uttered by Brahmá, bowed down, and cried, "Be favourable to us; be present to our sight: we bow down to that glorious nature which the mighty Brahmá does not know; that which is thy nature, oh imperishable, in whom the universe abides." Then the gods having ended, Vrihaspati and the divine Rishis thus prayed: "We bow down to the being entitled to adoration; who is the first object of sacrifice; who was before the first of things; the creator of the creator of the world; the undefinable: oh lord of all that has been or is to be; imperishable type of sacrifice; have pity upon thy worshippers; appear to them, prostrate before thee. Here is Brahmá; here is Trilochana (the three-eyed Śiva), with the Rudras; Pushá, (the sun), with the Ádityas; and Fire, with all the mighty luminaries: here are the sons of Aswiní (the two Aswiní Kumáras), the Vasus and all the winds, the Sádhyas, the Viśwadevas, and Indra the king of the gods: all of whom bow lowly before thee: all the tribes of the immortals, vanquished by the demon host, have fled to thee for succour."

Thus prayed to, the supreme deity, the mighty holder of the conch and discus, shewed himself to them: and beholding the lord of gods, bearing a shell, a discus, and a mace, the assemblage of primeval form, and radiant with embodied light, Pitámahá and the other deities, their eyes moistened with rapture, first paid him homage, and then thus addressed him: "Repeated salutation to thee, who art indefinable: thou art Brahmá; thou art the wielder of the Pináka bow (Śiva); thou art Indra; thou art fire, air, the god of waters, the sun, the king of death (Yama), the Vasus, the Máruts (the winds), the Sádhyas, and Viśwadevas. This assembly of divinities, that now has come before thee, thou art; for, the creator of the world, thou art every where. Thou art the sacrifice, the prayer of oblation, the mystic syllable Om, the sovereign of all creatures: thou art all that is to be known, or to be unknown: oh universal soul, the whole world consists of thee. We, discomfited by the Daityas, have fled to thee, oh Vishńu, for refuge. Spirit of all, have compassion upon us; defend us with thy mighty power. There will be affliction, desire, trouble, and grief, until thy protection is obtained: but thou art the remover of all sins. Do thou then, oh pure of spirit, shew favour unto us, who have fled to thee: oh lord of all, protect us with thy great power, in union with the goddess who is thy strength¹³⁷." Hari, the creator of the universe, being thus prayed to by the prostrate divinities, smiled, and thus spake: "With renovated energy, oh gods, I will restore your strength. Do you act as I enjoin. Let all the gods, associated with the Asuras, cast all sorts of medicinal herbs into the sea of milk; and then taking the mountain Mandara for the churning-stick, the serpent Vásuki for the rope, churn the ocean together for ambrosia; depending upon my aid. To secure the assistance of the Daityas, you must be at peace with them, and engage to give them an equal portion of the fruit of your associated toil; promising them, that by drinking the Amrita that shall be produced from the agitated ocean, they shall become mighty and immortal. I will take care that the enemies of the gods shall not partake of the precious draught; that they shall share in the labour alone."

Being thus instructed by the god of gods, the divinities entered into alliance with the demons, and they jointly undertook the acquirement of the beverage of immortality. They collected various kinds of medicinal herbs, and cast them into the sea of milk, the waters of which were radiant as the thin and shining clouds of autumn. They then took the mountain Mandara for the staff; the serpent Vásuki for the cord; and commenced to churn the ocean for the Amrita. The assembled gods were stationed by Krishńa at the tail of the serpent; the Daityas and Dánavas at its head and neck. Scorched by the flames emitted from his inflated hood, the demons were shorn of their glory; whilst the clouds driven towards his tail by the breath of his mouth, refreshed the gods with revivifying showers. In the midst of the milky sea, Hari himself, in the form of a tortoise, served as a pivot for the mountain, as it was whirled around. The holder of the mace and discus was present in other forms amongst the gods and demons, and assisted to drag the monarch of the serpent race: and in another vast body he sat upon the summit of the mountain. With one portion of his energy, unseen by gods or demons, he sustained the serpent king; and with another, infused vigour into the gods.

From the ocean, thus churned by the gods and Dánavas, first uprose the cow Surabhi, the fountain of milk and curds, worshipped by the divinities, and beheld by them and their associates with minds disturbed, and eyes glistening with delight. Then, as the holy Siddhas in the sky wondered what this could be, appeared the goddess Váruní (the deity of wine), her eyes rolling with intoxication. Next, from the whirlpool of the deep, sprang the celestial Párijáta tree, the delight of the nymphs of heaven, perfuming the world with its blossoms. The troop of Ápsarasas, the nymphs of heaven, were then produced, of surprising loveliness, endowed with beauty and with taste. The cool-rayed moon next rose, and was seized by Mahádeva: and then poison was engendered from the sea, of which the snake gods (Nágas) took possession. Dhanwantari, robed in white, and bearing in his hand the cup of Amrita, next came forth: beholding which, the sons of Diti and of Danu, as well as the Munis, were filled with satisfaction and delight. Then, seated on a full-blown lotus, and holding a water-lily in her hand, the goddess Śrí, radiant with beauty, rose from the waves. The great sages, enraptured, hymned her with the song dedicated to her praise¹³⁸. Viśwavasu and other heavenly quiristers sang, and Ghritáchí and other celestial nymphs danced before her. Gangá and other holy streams attended for her ablutions; and the elephants of the skies, taking up their pure waters in vases of gold, poured them over the goddess, the queen of the universal world. The sea of milk in person presented her with a wreath of never-fading flowers; and the artist of the gods (Viswakermá) decorated her person with heavenly ornaments. Thus bathed, attired, and adorned, the goddess, in the view of the celestials, cast herself upon the breast of Hari; and there reclining, turned her eyes upon the deities, who were inspired with rapture by her gaze. Not so the Daityas, who, with Viprachitti at their head, were filled with indignation, as Vishńu turned away from them, and they were abandoned by the goddess of prosperity (Lakshmí.)

The powerful and indignant Daityas then forcibly seized the Amrita-cup, that was in the hand of Dhanwantari: but Vishńu, assuming a female form, fascinated and deluded them; and recovering the Amrita from them, delivered it to the gods. Śakra and the other deities quaffed the ambrosia. The incensed demons, grasping their weapons, fell upon them; but the gods, into whom the ambrosial draught had infused new vigour, defeated and put their host to flight, and they fled through the regions of space, and plunged into the subterraneous realms of Pátála. The gods thereat greatly rejoiced, did homage to the holder of the discus and mace, and resumed their reign in heaven. The sun shone with renovated splendour, and again discharged his appointed task; and the celestial luminaries again circled, oh best of Munis, in their respective orbits. Fire once more blazed aloft, beautiful in splendour; and the minds of all beings were animated by devotion. The three worlds again were rendered happy by prosperity; and Indra, the chief of the gods, was restored to power¹³⁹. Seated upon his throne, and once more in heaven, exercising sovereignty over the gods, Śakra thus eulogized the goddess who bears a lotus in her hand:--

"I bow down to Śrí, the mother of all beings, seated on her lotus throne, with eyes like full-blown lotuses, reclining on the breast of Vishńu. Thou art Siddhi (superhuman power): thou art Swadhá and Swáhá: thou art ambrosia (Sudhá), the purifier of the universe: thou art evening, night, and dawn: thou art power, faith, intellect: thou art the goddess of letters (Saraswatí). Thou, beautiful goddess, art knowledge of devotion, great knowledge, mystic knowledge, and spiritual knowledge¹⁴⁰; which confers eternal liberation. Thou art the science of reasoning, the three Vedas, the arts and sciences¹⁴¹: thou art moral and political science. The world is peopled by thee with pleasing or displeasing forms. Who else than thou, oh goddess, is seated on that person of the god of gods, the wielder of the mace, which is made up of sacrifice, and contemplated by holy ascetics? Abandoned by thee, the three worlds were on the brink of ruin; but they have been reanimated by thee. From thy propitious gaze, oh mighty goddess, men obtain wives, children, dwellings, friends, harvests, wealth. Health and strength, power, victory, happiness, are easy of attainment to those upon whom thou smilest. Thou art the mother of all beings, as the god of gods, Hari, is their father; and this world, whether animate or inanimate, is pervaded by thee and Vishńu. Oh thou who purifiest all things, forsake not our treasures, our granaries, our dwellings, our dependants, our persons, our wives: abandon not our children, our friends, our lineage, our jewels, oh thou who abidest on the bosom of the god of gods. They whom thou desertest are forsaken by truth, by purity, and goodness, by every amiable and excellent quality; whilst the base and worthless upon whom thou lookest favourably become immediately endowed with all excellent qualifications, with families, and with power. He on whom thy countenance is turned is honourable, amiable, prosperous, wise, and of exalted birth; a hero of irresistible prowess: but all his merits and his advantages are converted into worthlessness from whom, beloved of Vishńu, mother of the world, thou avertest thy face. The tongues of Brahmá, are unequal to celebrate thy excellence. Be propitious to me, oh goddess, lotus-eyed, and never forsake me more."

Being thus praised, the gratified Śrí, abiding in all creatures, and heard by all beings, replied to the god of a hundred rites (Śatakratu); "I am pleased, monarch of the gods, by thine adoration. Demand from me what thou desirest: I have come to fulfil thy wishes." "If, goddess," replied Indra, "thou wilt grant my prayers; if I am worthy of thy bounty; be this my first request, that the three worlds may never again be deprived of thy presence. My second supplication, daughter of ocean, is, that thou wilt not forsake him who shall celebrate thy praises in the words I have addressed to thee." "I will not abandon," the goddess answered, "the three worlds again: this thy first boon is granted; for I am gratified by thy praises: and further, I will never turn my face away from that mortal who morning and evening shall repeat the hymn with which thou hast addressed me."

Paráśara proceeded.--Thus, Maitreya, in former times the goddess Śrí conferred these boons upon the king of the gods, being pleased by his adorations; but her first birth was as the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyáti: it was at a subsequent period that she was produced from the sea, at the churning of the ocean by the demons and the gods, to obtain ambrosia¹⁴². For in like manner as the lord of the world, the god of gods, Janárddana, descends amongst mankind (in various shapes), so does his coadjutrix Śrí. Thus when Hari was born as a dwarf, the son of Adití, Lakshmí appeared from a lotus (as Padmá, or Kamalá); when he was born as Ráma, of the race of Bhrigu (or Paraśuráma), she was Dharańí; when he was Rághava (Rámachandra), she was Sítá; and when he was Krishńa, she became Rukminí. In the other descents of Vishńu, she is his associate. If he takes a celestial form, she appears as divine; if a mortal, she becomes a mortal too, transforming her own person agreeably to whatever character it pleases Vishńu to put on. Whosoever hears this account of the birth of Lakshmí, whosoever reads it, shall never lose the goddess Fortune from his dwelling for three generations; and misfortune, the fountain of strife, shall never enter into those houses in which the hymns to Śrí are repeated.

Thus, Brahman, have I narrated to thee, in answer to thy question, how Lakshmí, formerly the daughter of Bhrigu, sprang from the sea of milk; and misfortune shall never visit those amongst mankind who daily recite the praises of Lakshmí uttered by Indra, which are the origin and cause of all prosperity.

Chapter X

The descendants of the daughters of Daksha married to the Rishis.

MAITREYA.--Thou hast narrated to me, great Muni, all that I asked of thee: now resume the account of the creation subsequently to Bhrigu.

PARÁŚARA.--Lakshmí, the bride of Vishńu, was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyáti. They had also two sons, Dhátri and Vidhátri, who married the two daughters of the illustrious Meru, Áyati and Niryati; and had by them each a son, named Práńa and Mrikańd́a. The son of the latter was Márkańd́eya, from whom Vedaśiras was born¹⁴³. The son of Práńa was named Dyutimat, and his son was Rájavat; after whom, the race of Bhrigu became infinitely multiplied.

Sambhúti, the wife of Maríchi, gave birth to Paurnamása, whose sons were Virajas and Sarvaga. I shall hereafter notice his other descendants, when I give a more particular account of the race of Maríchi¹⁴⁴.

The wife of Angiras, Smriti, bore daughters named Siniválí, Kuhu, Ráká, and Anumati (phases of the moon¹⁴⁵). Anasúyá, the wife of Atri, was the mother of three sinless sons, Soma (the moon), Durvásas, and the ascetic Dattátreya¹⁴⁶. Pulastya had, by Príti, a son called in a former birth, or in the Swáyambhuva Manwantara, Dattoli, who is now known as the sage Agastya¹⁴⁷. Kshamá, the wife of the patriarch Pulaha, was the mother of three sons, Karmasa, Arvarívat, and Sahishńu¹⁴⁸. The wife of Kratu, Sannati, brought forth the sixty thousand Bálakhilyas, pigmy sages, no bigger than a joint of the thumb, chaste, pious, resplendent as the rays of the sun¹⁴⁹. Vaśisht́ha had seven sons by his wife Urjjá, Rajas, Gátra, Úrddhabáhu, Savana, Anagha, Sutapas, and Śukra, the seven pure sages¹⁵⁰. The Agni named Abhimání, who is the eldest born of Brahmá, had, by Swáhá, three sons of surpassing brilliancy, Pávaka, Pavamána, and Śuchi, who drinks up water: they had forty-five sons, who, with the original son of Brahmá and his three descendants, constitute the forty-nine fires¹⁵¹. The progenitors (Pitris), who, as I have mentioned, were created by Brahmá, were the Agnishwáttas and Varhishads; the former being devoid of, and the latter possessed of, fires¹⁵². By them, Swadhá had two daughters, Mená and Dháraní, who were both acquainted with theological truth, and both addicted to religious meditation; both accomplished in perfect wisdom, and adorned with all estimable qualities¹⁵³. Thus has been explained the progeny of the daughters of Daksha¹⁵⁴. He who with faith recapitulates the account, shall never want offspring.

Chapter XI

Legend of Dhruva, the son of Uttánapáda: he is unkindly treated by his father's second wife: applies to his mother: her advice: he resolves to engage in religious exercises: sees the seven Rishis, who recommend him to propitiate Vishńu.

PARÁŚARA continued.--I mentioned to you, that the Manu Swáyambhuva had two heroic and pious sons, Priyavrata and Uttánapáda. Of these two, the latter had a son whom he dearly loved, Uttama, by his favourite wife Suruchi. By his queen, named Suníti, to whom he was less attached, he also had a son, called Dhruva¹⁵⁵. Observing his brother Uttama on the lap of his father, as he was seated upon his throne, Dhruva was desirous of ascending to the same place; but as Suruchi was present, the Rája did not gratify the desire of his son, respectfully wishing to be taken on his father's knee. Beholding the child of her rival thus anxious to be placed on his father's lap, and her own son already seated there, Suruchi thus addressed the boy: "Why, child, do you vainly indulge in such presumptuous hopes? You are born from a different mother, and are no son of mine, that you should aspire inconsiderately to a station fit for the excellent Uttama alone. It is true you are the son of the Rája, but I have not given you birth. This regal throne, the seat of the king of kings, is suited to my son only; why should you aspire to its occupation? why idly cherish such lofty ambition, as if you were my son? do you forget that you are but the offspring of Suníti."

The boy, having heard the speech of his step-mother, quitted his father, and repaired in a passion to the apartment of his own mother; who, beholding him vexed, took him upon her lap, and, gently smiling, asked him what was the cause of his anger, who had displeased him, and if any one, forgetting the respect due to his father, had behaved ill to him. Dhruva, in reply, repeated to her all that the arrogant Suruchi had said to him in the presence of the king. Deeply distressed by the narrative of the boy, the humble Suníti, her eyes dimmed with tears, sighed, and said, "Suruchi has rightly spoken; thine, child, is an unhappy fate: those who are born to fortune are not liable to the insults of their rivals. Yet be not afflicted, my child, for who shall efface what thou hast formerly done, or shall assign to thee what thou hast left undone. The regal throne, the umbrella of royalty, horses and elephants, are his whose virtues have deserved them: remember this, my son, and be consoled. That the king favours Suruchi is the reward of her merits in a former existence. The name of wife alone belongs to such as I, who have not equal merit. Her son is the progeny of accumulated piety, and is born as Uttama: mine has been born as Dhruva, of inferior moral worth. Therefore, my son, it is not proper for you to grieve; a wise man will be contented with that degree which appertains to him: but if you continue to feel hurt at the words of Suruchi, endeavour to augment that religious merit which bestows all good; be amiable, be pious, be friendly, be assiduous in benevolence to all living creatures; for prosperity descends upon modest worth as water flows towards low ground."

Dhruva answered; "Mother, the words that you have addressed to me for my consolation find no place in a heart that contumely has broken. I will exert myself to obtain such elevated rank, that it shall be revered by the whole world. Though I be not born of Suruchi, the beloved of the king, you shall behold my glory, who am your son. Let Uttama my brother, her child, possess the throne given to him by my father; I wish for no other honours than such as my own actions shall acquire, such as even my father has not enjoyed."

Having thus spoken, Dhruva went forth from his mother's dwelling: he quitted the city, and entered an adjoining thicket, where he beheld seven Munis sitting upon hides of the black antelope, which they had taken from off their persons, and spread over the holy kusa grass. Saluting them reverentially, and bowing humbly before then, the prince said, "Behold in me, venerable men, the son of Uttánapáda, born of Suníti. Dissatisfied with the world, I appear before you." The Rishis replied; "The son of a king, and but four or five years of age, there can be no reason, child, why you should be dissatisfied with life; you cannot be in want of any thing whilst the king your father reigns; we cannot imagine that you suffer the pain of separation from the object of your affections; nor do we observe in your person any sign of disease. What is the cause of your discontent? Tell us, if it is known to yourself."

Dhruva then repeated to the Rishis what Suruchi had spoken to him; and when they had heard his story, they said to one another, "How surprising is the vehemence of the Kshetriya nature, that resentment is cherished even by a child, and he cannot efface from his mind the harsh speeches of a step-mother. Son of a Kshetriya, tell us, if it be agreeable to thee, what thou hast proposed, through dissatisfaction with the world, to accomplish. If thou wishest our aid in what thou hast to do, declare it freely, for we perceive that thou art desirous to speak."

Dhruva said; "Excellent sages, I wish not for riches, neither do I want dominion: I aspire to such a station as no one before me has attained. Tell me what I must do to effect this object; how I may reach an elevation superior to all other dignities." The Rishis severally thus replied.--Maríchi said; "The best of stations is not within the reach of men who fail to propitiate Govinda. Do thou, prince, worship the undecaying (Achyuta)." Atri said; "He with whom the first of spirits, Janárddana, is pleased, obtains imperishable dignity. I declare unto you the truth." Angiras said; "If you desire an exalted station, worship that Govinda in whom, immutable and undecaying, all that is, exists." Pulastya said; "He who adores the divine Hari, the supreme soul, supreme glory, who is the supreme Brahma, obtains what is difficult of attainment, eternal liberation." "When that Janárddana," observed Kratu, "who in sacrifices is the soul of sacrifice, and who in abstract contemplation is supreme spirit, is pleased, there is nothing man may not acquire." Pulaha said; "Indra, having worshipped" the lord of the world, obtained the dignity of king of the celestials. Do thou adore, pious youth, that Vishńu, the lord of sacrifice." "Any thing, child, that the mind covets," exclaimed Vaśisht́ha, "may be obtained by propitiating Vishńu, even though it he the station that is the most excellent in the three worlds."

Dhruva replied to them; "You have told me, humbly bending before you, what deity is to be propitiated: now inform me what prayer is to he meditated by me, that will offer him gratification. May the great Rishis, looking upon me with favour, instruct me how I am to propitiate the god." The Rishis answered; "Prince, thou deservest to hear how the adoration of Vishńu has been performed by those who have been devoted to his service. The mind must first be made to forsake all external impressions, and a man must then fix it steadily on that being in whom the world is. By him whose thoughts are thus concentrated on one only object, and wholly filled by it; whose spirit is firmly under control; the prayer that we shall repeat to thee is to be inaudibly recited: 'Om! glory to Vásudeva, whose essence is divine wisdom; whose form is inscrutable, or is manifest as Brahmá, Vishńu, and Śiva¹⁵⁶.' This prayer, which was formerly uttered by your grandsire, the Manu Swáyambhuva, and propitiated by which, Vishńu conferred upon him the prosperity he desired, and which was unequalled in the three worlds, is to be recited by thee. Do thou constantly repeat this prayer, for the gratification of Govinda."

Chapter XII

Dhruva commences a course of religious austerities. Unsuccessful attempts of Indra and his ministers to distract Dhruva's attention: they appeal to Vishńu, who allays their fears, and appears to Dhruva. Dhruva praises Vishńu, and is raised to the skies as the pole-star.

THE prince, having received these instructions, respectfully saluted the sages, and departed from the forest, fully confiding in the accomplishment of his purposes. He repaired to the holy place, on the banks of the Yamuná, called Madhu or Madhuvana, the grove of Madhu, after the demon of that name, who formerly abided there. Śatrughna (the younger brother of Ráma) having slain the Rákshas Lavańa, the son of Madhu, founded a city on the spot, which was named Mathurá. At this holy shrine, the purifier from all sin, which enjoyed the presence of the sanctifying god of gods, Dhruva performed penance, as enjoined by Maríchi and the sages: he contemplated Vishńu, the sovereign of all the gods, seated in himself. Whilst his mind was wholly absorbed in meditation, the mighty Hari, identical with all beings and with all natures, (took possession of his heart.) Vishńu being thus present in his mind, the earth, the supporter of elemental life, could not sustain the weight of the ascetic. As he stood upon his left foot, one hemisphere bent beneath him; and when he stood upon his right, the other half of the earth sank down. When he touched the earth with his toes, it shook with all its mountains, and the rivers and the seas were troubled, and the gods partook of the universal agitation.

The celestials called Yámas, being excessively alarmed, then took counsel with Indra how they should interrupt the devout exercises of Dhruva; and the divine beings termed Kushmáńd́as, in company with their king, commenced anxious efforts to distract his meditations. One, assuming the semblance of his mother Suníti, stood weeping before him, and calling in tender accents, "My son, my son, desist from destroying thy strength by this fearful penance. I have gained thee, my son, after much anxious hope: thou canst not have the cruelty to quit me, helpless, alone, and unprotected, on account of the unkindness of my rival. Thou art my only refuge; I have no hope but thou. What hast thou, a child but five years old, to do with rigorous penance? Desist from such fearful practices, that yield no beneficial fruit. First comes the season of youthful pastime; and when that is over, it is the time for study: then succeeds the period of worldly enjoyment; and lastly, that of austere devotion. This is thy season of pastime, my child. Hast thou engaged in these practices to put an end to thine existence? Thy chief duty is love for me: duties are according to time of life. Lose not thyself in bewildering error: desist from such unrighteous actions. If not, if thou wilt not desist from these austerities, I will terminate my life before thee."

But Dhruva, being wholly intent on seeing Vishńu, beheld not his mother weeping in his presence, and calling upon him; and the illusion, crying out, "Fly, fly, my child, the hideous spirits of ill are crowding into this dreadful forest with uplifted weapons," quickly disappeared. Then advanced frightful Rákshasas, wielding terrible arms, and with countenances emitting fiery flame; and nocturnal fiends thronged around the prince, uttering fearful noises, and whirling and tossing their threatening weapons. Hundreds of jackals, from whose mouths gushed flame¹⁵⁷ as they devoured their prey, were howling aloud, to appal the boy, wholly engrossed by meditation. The goblins called out, "Kill him, kill him; cut him to pieces; eat him, eat him;" and monsters, with the faces of lions and camels and crocodiles, roared and yelled with horrible cries, to terrify the prince. But all these uncouth spectres, appalling cries, and threatening weapons, made no impression upon his senses, whose mind was completely intent on Govinda. The son of the monarch of the earth, engrossed by one only idea, beheld uninterruptedly Vishńu seated in his soul, and saw no other object.

All their delusive stratagems being thus foiled, the gods were more perplexed than ever. Alarmed at their discomfiture, and afflicted by the devotions of the boy, they assembled and repaired for succour to Hari, the origin of the world, who is without beginning or end; and thus addressed him: "God of gods, sovereign of the world, god supreme, and infinite spirit, distressed by the austerities of Dhruva, we have come to thee for protection. As the moon increases in his orb day by day, so this youth advances incessantly towards superhuman power by his devotions. Terrified by the ascetic practices of the son of Uttánapáda, we have come to thee for succour. Do thou allay the fervour of his meditations. We know not to what station he aspires: to the throne of Indra, the regency of the solar or lunar sphere, or to the sovereignty of riches or of the deep. Have compassion on us, lord; remove this affliction from Our breasts; divert the son of Uttánapáda from persevering in his penance." Vishńu replied to the gods; "The lad desireth neither the rank of Indra, nor the solar orb, nor the sovereignty of wealth or of the ocean: all that he solicits, I will grant. Return therefore, deities, to your mansions as ye list, and be no more alarmed: I will put an end to the penance of the boy, whose mind is immersed in deep contemplation."

The gods, being thus pacified by the supreme, saluted him respectfully and retired, and, preceded by Indra, returned to their habitations: but Hari, who is all things, assuming a shape with four arms, proceeded to Dhruva, being pleased with his identity of nature, and thus addressed him: "Son of Uttánapáda, be prosperous. Contented with thy devotions, I, the giver of boons, am present. Demand what boon thou desirest. In that thou hast wholly disregarded external objects, and fixed thy thoughts on me, I am well pleased with thee. Ask, therefore, a suitable reward." The boy, hearing these words of the god of gods, opened his eyes, and beholding that Hari whom he had before seen in his meditations actually in his presence, bearing in his hands the shell, the discus, the mace, the bow, and scimetar, and crowned with a diadem, the bowed his head down to earth; the hair stood erect on his brow, and his heart was depressed with awe. He reflected how best he should offer thanks to the god of gods; what he could say in his adoration; what words were capable of expressing his praise: and being overwhelmed with perplexity, he had recourse for consolation to the deity. "If," he exclaimed, "the lord is contented with my devotions, let this be my reward, that I may know how to praise him as I wish. How can I, a child, pronounce his praises, whose abode is unknown to Brahmá and to others learned in the Vedas? My heart is overflowing with devotion to thee: oh lord, grant me the faculty worthily to lay mine adorations at thy feet."

Whilst lowly bowing, with his hands uplifted to his forehead, Govinda, the lord of the world, touched the son of Uttánapáda with the tip of his conch-shell, and immediately the royal youth, with a countenance sparkling with delight, praised respectfully the imperishable protector of living beings. "I venerate," exclaimed Dhruva, "him whose forms are earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, the first element (Ahankára), primeval nature, and the pure, subtile, all-pervading soul, that surpasses nature. Salutation to that spirit that is void of qualities; that is supreme over all the elements and all the objects of sense, over intellect, over nature and spirit. I have taken refuge with that pure form of thine, oh supreme, which is one with Brahma, which is spirit, which transcends all the world. Salutation to that form which, pervading and supporting all, is designated Brahma, unchangeable, and contemplated by religious sages. Thou art the male with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet, who traversest the universe, and passest ten inches beyond its contact¹⁵⁸. Whatever has been, or is to be, that, Purushottama, thou art. From thee sprang Virát, Swarát, Samrát, and Adhipurusha¹⁵⁹. The lower, and upper, and middle parts of the earth are not independent of thee: from thee is all this universe, all that has been, and that shall be: and all this world is in thee, assuming this universal form¹⁶⁰. From thee is sacrifice derived, and all oblations, and curds, and ghee, and animals of either class (domestic or wild). From thee the Rig-Veda, the Sáma, the metres of the Vedas, and the Yajur-Véda are born. Horses, and cows having teeth in one jaw only¹⁶¹, proceed from thee; and from thee come goats, sheep, deer. Brahmans sprang from thy mouth; warriors from thy arms; Vaisyas from thy thighs; and Śúdras from thy feet. From thine eyes come the sun; from thine ears, the wind; and from thy mind, the moon: the vital airs from thy central vein; and fire from thy mouth: the sky from thy navel; and heaven from thy head: the regions from thine ears; the earth from thy feet. All this world was derived from thee. As the wide-spreading Nyagrodha (Indian fig) tree is compressed in a small seed¹⁶², so, at the time of dissolution, the whole universe is comprehended in thee as its germ. As the Nyagrodha germinates from the seed, and becomes first a shoot, and then rises into loftiness, so the created world proceeds from thee, and expands into magnitude. As the bark and leaves of the Plantain tree are to be seen in its stem, so thou art the stem of the universe, and all things are visible in thee. The faculties of the intellect, that are the cause of pleasure and of pain, abide in thee as one with all existence; but the sources of pleasure and of pain, singly or blended, do not exist in thee, who art exempt from all qualities¹⁶³. Salutation to thee, the subtile rudiment, which, being single, becomes manifold, Salutation to thee, soul of existent things, identical with the great elements. Thou, imperishable, art beheld in spiritual knowledge as perceptible objects, as nature, as spirit, as the world, as Brahmá, as Manu, by internal contemplation. But thou art in all, the element of all; thou art all, assuming every form; all is from thee, and thou art from thyself. I salute thee, universal soul: glory be to thee. Thou art one with all things: oh lord of all, thou art present in all things. What can I say unto thee? thou knowest all that is in the heart, oh soul of all, sovereign lord of all creatures, origin of all things. Thou, who art all beings, knowest the desires of all creatures. The desire that I cherished has been gratified, lord, by thee: my devotions have been crowned with success, in that I have seen thee."

Vishńu said to Dhruva; "The object of thy devotions has in truth been attained, in that thou hast seen me; for the sight of me, young prince, is never unproductive. Ask therefore of me what boon thou desirest; for men in whose sight I appear obtain all their wishes." To this, Dhruva answered; "Lord god of all creatures, who abidest in the hearts of all, how should the wish that I cherish be unknown to thee? I will confess unto thee the hope that my presumptuous heart has entertained; a hope that it would be difficult to gratify, but that nothing is difficult when thou, creator of the world, art pleased. Through thy favour, Indra reigns over the three worlds. The sister-queen of my mother has said to me, loudly and arrogantly, 'The royal throne is not for one who is not born of me;' and I now solicit of the support of the universe an exalted station, superior to all others, and one that shall endure for ever." Vishńu said to him; "The station that thou askest thou shalt obtain; for I was satisfied with thee of old in a prior existence. Thou wast formerly a Brahman, whose thoughts were ever devoted to me, ever dutiful to thy parents, and observant of thy duties. In course of time a prince became thy friend, who was in the period of youth, indulged in all sensual pleasures, .and was of handsome appearance and elegant form. Beholding, in consequence of associating with him, his affluence, you formed the desire that you might be subsequently born as the son of a king; and, according to your wish, you obtained a princely birth in the illustrious mansion of Uttánapáda. But that which would have been thought a great boon by others, birth in the race of Swáyambhuva, you have not so considered, and therefore have propitiated me. The man who worships me obtains speedy liberation from life. What is heaven to one whose mind is fixed on me? A station shall be assigned to thee, Dhruva, above the three worlds¹⁶⁴; one in which thou shalt sustain the stars and the planets; a station above those of the sun, the moon, Mars, the son of Soma (Mercury), Venus, the son of Súrya (Saturn), and all the other constellations; above the regions of the seven Rishis, and the divinities who traverse the atmosphere¹⁶⁵. Some celestial beings endure for four ages; some for the reign of a Manu: to thee shall be granted the duration of a Kalpa. Thy mother Suníti, in the orb of a bright star, shall abide near thee for a similar term; and all those who, with minds attentive, shall glorify thee at dawn or at eventide, shall acquire exceeding religious merit.

Thus the sage Dhruva, having received a boon from Janárddana, the god of gods, and lord of the world, resides in an exalted station. Beholding his glory, Uśanas, the preceptor of the gods and demons, repeated these verses: "Wonderful is the efficacy of this penance, marvellous is its reward, that the seven Rishis should be preceded by Dhruva. This too is the pious Suníti, his parent, who is called Súnritá¹⁶⁶." Who can celebrate her greatness, who, having given birth to Dhruva, has become the asylum of the three worlds, enjoying to all future time an elevated station, a station eminent above all? He who shall worthily describe the ascent into the sky of Dhruva, for ever shall be freed from all sin, and enjoy the heaven of Indra. Whatever be his dignity, whether upon earth or in heaven, he shall never fall from it, but shall long enjoy life, possessed of every blessing¹⁶⁷.

Chapter XIII

Posterity of Dhruva. Legend of Veńa: his impiety: he is put to death by the Rishis. Anarchy ensues. The production of Nisháda and Prithu: the latter the first king. The origin of Súta and Mágadha: they enumerate the duties of kings. Prithu compels Earth to acknowledge his authority: he levels it: introduces cultivation: erects cities. Earth called after him Prithiví: typified as a cow.

PARÁŚARA.--The sons of Dhruva, by his wife Śambhu, were Bhavya and Slisht́i. Suchcháyá, the wife of the latter, was the mother of five virtuous sons, Ripu, Ripunjaya, Vipra, Vrikala, and Vrikatejas. The son of Ripu, by Vrihatí, was the illustrious Chakshusha, who begot the Manu Chákshusha on Pushkarińí, of the family of Varuńa, the daughter of the venerable patriarch Anarańya. The Manu had, by his wife Navalá, the daughter of the patriarch Vairája, ten noble sons, Uru, Pura, Satadyumna, Tapaswí, Satyavák, Kavi, Agnisht́oma, Atirátra, Sudyumna, and Abhimanyu. The wife of Uru, Ágneyí, bore six excellent sons, Anga, Sumanas, Swáti, Kratu, Angiras, and Śiva. Anga had, by his wife Suníthá, only one son, named Veńa, whose right arm was rubbed by the Rishis, for the purpose of producing from it progeny. From the arm of Veńa, thus rubbed, sprang a celebrated monarch, named Prithu, by whom, in olden time, the earth was milked for the advantage of mankind¹⁶⁸.

MAITREYA.--Best of Munis, tell me why was the right hand of Veńa rubbed by the holy sages, in consequence of which the heroic Prithu was produced.

PARÁŚARA.--Suníthá was originally the daughter of Mrityu, by whom she was given to Anga to wife. She bore him Veńa, who inherited the evil propensities of his maternal grandfather. When he was inaugurated by the Rishis monarch of the earth, he caused. it to be every where proclaimed, that no worship should be performed, no oblations offered, no gifts bestowed upon the Brahmans. "I, the king," said he, "am the lord of sacrifice; for who but I am entitled to the oblations." The Rishis, respectfully approaching the sovereign, addressed him in melodious accents, and said, "Gracious prince, we salute you; hear what we have to represent. For the preservation of your kingdom and your life, and for the benefit of all your subjects, permit us to worship Hari, the lord of all sacrifice, the god of gods, with solemn and protracted rites¹⁶⁹; a portion of the fruit of which will revert to you¹⁷⁰. Vishńu, the god of oblations, being propitiated with sacrifice by us, will grant you, oh king, all your desires. Those princes have all their wishes gratified, in whose realms Hari, the lord of sacrifice, is adored with sacrificial rites." "Who," exclaimed Veńa, "is superior to me? who besides me is entitled to worship? who is this Hari, whom you style the lord of sacrifice? Brahmá, Janárddana. Śambhu, Indra, Váyu, Ravi (the sun), Hutabhuk (fire), Varuńa, Dhátá, Púshá, (the sun), Bhúmi (earth), the lord of night (the moon); all these, and whatever other gods there be who listen to our vows; all these are present in the person of a king: the essence of a sovereign is all that is divine. Conscious of this, I have issued my commands, and look that you obey them. You are not to sacrifice, not to offer oblations, not to give alms. As the first duty of women is obedience to their lords, so observance of my orders is incumbent, holy men, on you." "Give command, great king," replied the Rishis, "that piety may suffer no decrease. All this world is but a transmutation of oblations; and if devotion be suppressed, the world is at an end." But Veńa was entreated in vain; and although this request was repeated by the sages, he refused to give the order they suggested. Then those pious Munis were filled with wrath, and cried out to each other, "Let this wicked wretch be slain. The impious man who has reviled the god of sacrifice who is without beginning or end, is not fit to reign over the earth." And they fell upon the king, and beat him with blades of holy grass, consecrated by prayer, and slew him, who had first been destroyed by his impiety towards god.

Afterwards the Munis beheld a great dust arise, and they said to the people who were nigh, "What is this?" and the people answered and said, "Now that the kingdom is without a king, the dishonest men have begun to seize the property of their neighbours. The great dust that you behold, excellent Munis, is raised by troops of clustering robbers, hastening to fall upon their prey." The sages, hearing this, consulted, and together rubbed the thigh of the king, who had left no offspring, to produce a son. From the thigh, thus rubbed, came forth a being of the complexion of a charred stake, with flattened features (like a negro), and of dwarfish stature. "What am I to do?" cried he eagerly to the Munis. "Sit down" (Nishida), said they; and thence his name was Nisháda. His descendants, the inhabitants of the Vindhya mountain, great Muni, are still called Nishádas, and are characterized by the exterior tokens of depravity¹⁷¹. By this means the wickedness of Versa was expelled; those Nishádas being born of his sins, and carrying them away. The Brahmans then proceeded to rub the right arm of the king, from which friction was engendered the illustrious son of Veńa, named Prithu, resplendent in person, as if the blazing deity of Fire bad been manifested.

There then fell from the sky the primitive bow (of Mahádeva) named Ajagava, and celestial arrows, and panoply from heaven. At the birth of Prithu all living creatures rejoiced; and Veńa, delivered by his being born from the hell named Put, ascended to the realms above. The seas and rivers, bringing jewels from their depths, and water to perform the ablutions of his installation, appeared. The great parent of all, Brahmá, with the gods and the descendants of Angiras (the fires), and with all things animate or inanimate, assembled and performed the ceremony of consecrating the son of Veńa. Beholding in his right hand the (mark of the) discus of Vishńu, Brahmá recognised a portion of that divinity in Prithu, and was much pleased; for the mark of Vishńu's discus is visible in the hand of one who is born to be a universal emperor¹⁷², one whose power is invincible even by the gods.

The mighty Prithu, the son of Veda, being thus invested with universal dominion by those who were skilled in the rite, soon removed the grievances of the people whom his father had oppressed, and from winning their affections he derived the title of Rája, or king¹⁷³. The waters became solid, when he traversed the ocean: the mountains opened him a path: his banner passed unbroken (through the forests): the earth needed not cultivation; and at a thought food was prepared: all kine were like the cow of plenty: honey was stored in every flower. At the sacrifice of the birth of Prithu, which was performed by Brahmá, the intelligent Súta (herald or bard) was produced, in the juice of the moon-plant, on the very birth-day¹⁷⁴: at that great sacrifice also was produced the accomplished Mágadha: and the holy sages said to these two persons, "Praise ye the king Prithu, the illustrious son of Veńa; for this is your especial function, and here is a fit subject for your praise." But they respectfully replied to the Brahmans, "We know not the acts of the new-born king of the earth; his merits are not understood by us; his fame is not spread abroad: inform us upon what subject we may dilate in his praise." "Praise the king," said the Rishis, "for the acts this heroic monarch will perform; praise him for the virtues he will display."

The king, hearing these words, was much pleased, and reflected that persons acquire commendation by virtuous actions, and that consequently his virtuous conduct would be the theme of the eulogium which the bards were about to pronounce: whatever merits, then, they should panegyrize in their encomium, he determined that he would endeavour to acquire; and if they should point out what faults ought to be avoided, he would try to shun them. He therefore listened attentively, as the sweet-voiced encomiasts celebrated the future virtues of Prithu, the enlightened son of Veńa.

"The king is a speaker of truth, bounteous, an observer of his promises; he is wise, benevolent, patient, valiant, and a terror to the wicked; he knows his duties; he acknowledges services; he is compassionate and kind-spoken; he respects the venerable; he performs sacrifices; he reverences the Brahmans; he cherishes the good; and in administering justice is indifferent to friend or foe."

The virtues thus celebrated by the Súta and the Magadhá were cherished in the remembrance of the Rája, and practised by him when occasion arose. Protecting this earth, the monarch performed many great sacrificial ceremonies, accompanied by liberal donations. His subjects soon approached him, suffering from the famine by which they were afflicted, as all the edible plants had perished during the season of anarchy. In reply to his question of the cause of their coming, they told him, that in the interval in which the earth was without a king all vegetable products had been withheld, and that consequently the people had perished. "Thou," said they, "art the bestower of subsistence to us; thou art appointed, by the creator, the protector of the people: grant us vegetables, the support of the lives of thy subjects, who are perishing with hunger."

On hearing this, Prithu took up his divine bow Ajagava, and his celestial arrows, and in great wrath marched forth to assail the Earth. Earth, assuming the figure of a cow, fled hastily from him, and traversed, through fear of the king, the regions of Brahmá and the heavenly spheres; but wherever went the supporter of living things, there she beheld Vaińya with uplifted weapons: at last, trembling with terror, and anxious to escape his arrows, the Earth addressed Prithu, the hero of resistless prowess. "Know you not, king of men," said the Earth, "the sin of killing a female, that you thus perseveringly seek to slay me." The prince replied; "When the happiness of many is secured by. the destruction of one malignant being, the death of that being is an act of virtue." "But," said the Earth, "if, in order to promote the welfare of your subjects, you put an end to me, whence, best of monarchs, will thy people derive their support." "Disobedient to my rule," rejoined Prithu, "if I destroy thee, I will support my people by the efficacy of my own devotions." Then the Earth, overcome with apprehension, and trembling in every limb, respectfully saluted the king, and thus spake: "All undertakings are successful, if suitable means of effecting them are employed. I will impart to you means of success, which you can make use of if you please. All vegetable products are old, and destroyed by me; but at your command I will restore them, as developed from my milk. Do you therefore, for the benefit of mankind, most virtuous of princes, give me that calf, by which I may be able to secrete milk. Make also all places level, so that I may cause my milk, the seed of all vegetation, to flow every where around."

Prithu accordingly uprooted the mountains, by hundreds and thousands, for myriads of leagues, and they were thenceforth piled upon one another. Before his time there were no defined boundaries of villages or towns, upon the irregular surface of the earth; there was no cultivation, no pasture, no agriculture, no highway for merchants: all these things (or all civilization) originated in the reign of Prithu. Where the ground was made level, the king induced his subjects to take up their abode. Before his time, also, the fruits and roots which constituted the food of the people were procured with great difficulty, all vegetables having been destroyed; and he therefore, having made Swáyambhuva Manu the calf¹⁷⁵, milked the Earth, and received the milk into his own hand, for the benefit of mankind. Thence proceeded all kinds of corn and vegetables upon which people subsist now and perpetually. By granting life to the Earth, Prithu was as her father, and she thence derived the patronymic appellation Prithiví (the daughter of Prithu). Then the gods, the sages, the demons, the Rákshasas, the Gandharbhas, Yakshas, Pitris, serpents, mountains, and trees, took a milking vessel suited to their kind, and milked the earth of appropriate milk, and the milker and the calf were both peculiar to their own species¹⁷⁶.

This Earth, the mother, the nurse, the receptacle, and nourisher of all existent things, was produced from the sole of the foot of Vishńu. And thus was born the mighty Prithu, the heroic son of Veńa, who was the lord of the earth, and who, from conciliating the affections of the people, was the first ruler to whom the title of Rája was ascribed. Whoever shall recite this story of the birth of Prithu, the son of Veńa, shall never suffer any retribution for the evil he may have committed: and such is the virtue of the tale of Prithu's birth, that those who hear it repeated shall be relieved from affliction¹⁷⁷.

Chapter XIV

Descendants of Prithu. Legend of the Prachetasas: they are desired by their father to multiply mankind, by worshipping Vishńu: they plunge into the sea, and meditate on and praise him: he appears, and grants their wishes.

PRITHU had two valiant sons, Antarddhi and Pálí¹⁷⁸. The son of Antarddhána, by his wife Sikhańd́ińí, was Havirdhána, to whom Dhishańá, a princess of the race of Agni, bore six sons, Práchínaverhis, Śukra, Gaya, Krishńa, Vraja, and Ajina¹⁷⁹. The first of these was a mighty prince and patriarch, by whom mankind was multiplied after the death of Havirdhána. He was called Práchínaverhis from his placing upon the earth the sacred grass, pointing to the east¹⁸⁰. At the termination of a rigid penance the married Savarńá, the daughter of the ocean, who had been previously betrothed to him, and who had by the king ten sons, who were all styled Prachetasas, and were skilled in military science: they all observed the same duties, practised religious austerities, and remained immersed in the bed of the sea for ten thousand years.

MAITREYA.--You can inform me, great sage, why the magnanimous Prachetasas engaged in penance in the waters of the sea.

PARÁŚARA.--The sons of Práchínaverhis were originally informed by their father, who had been appointed as a patriarch, and whose mind was intent on multiplying mankind, that the had been respectfully enjoined by Brahmá, the god of gods, to labour to this end, and that he had promised obedience: "now therefore," continued he, "do you, my sons, to oblige me, diligently promote the increase of the people, for the orders of the father of all creatures are entitled to respect." The sons of the king, having heard their father's words, replied, "So be it;" but they then inquired of him, as he could best explain it, by what means they might accomplish the augmentation of mankind. He said to them; "Whoever worships Vishńu, the bestower of good, attains undoubtedly the object of his desires: there is no other mode. What further can I tell you? Adore therefore Govinda, who is Hari, the lord of all beings, in order to effect the increase of the human race, if you wish to succeed. The eternal Purushottama is to be propitiated by him who wishes for virtue, wealth, enjoyment, or liberation. Adore him, the imperishable, by whom, when propitiated, the world was first created, and mankind will assuredly be multiplied."

Thus instructed by their father, the ten Prachetasas plunged into the depths of the ocean, and with minds wholly devoted to Náráyańa, the sovereign of the universe, who is beyond all worlds, were engrossed by religious austerity for ten thousand years: remaining there, they with fixed thoughts praised Hari, who, when propitiated, confers on those who praise him all that they desire.

MAITREYA.--The excellent praises that the Prachetasas addressed to Vishńu, whilst they stood in the deep, you, oh best of Munis, are qualified to repeat to me.

PARÁŚARA.--Hear, Maitreya, the hymn which the Prachetasas, as they stood in the waters of the sea, sang of old to Govinda, their nature being identified with him:--

"We bow to him whose glory is the perpetual theme of every speech; him first, him last; the supreme lord of the boundless world; who is primeval light; who is without his like; indivisible and infinite; the origin of all existent things, movable or stationary. To that supreme being who is one with time, whose first forms, though he be without form, are day and evening and night, be adoration. Glory to him, the life of all living things, who is the same with the moon, the receptacle of ambrosia, drunk daily by the gods and progenitors: to him who is one with the sun, the cause of heat and cold and rain, who dissipates the gloom, and illuminates the sky with his radiance: to him who is one with earth, all-pervading, and the asylum of smell and other objects of sense, supporting the whole world by its solidity. We adore that form of the deity Hari which is water, the womb of the world, the seed of all living beings. Glory to the mouth of the gods, the eater of the Havya; to the eater of the Kavya, the mouth of the progenitors; to Vishńu, who is identical with fire; to him who is one with air, the origin of ether, existing as the five vital airs in the body, causing constant vital action; to him who is identical with the atmosphere, pure, illimitable, shapeless, separating all creatures. Glory to Krishńa, who is Brahmá in the form of sensible objects, who is ever the direction of the faculties of sense. We offer salutation to that supreme Hari who is one with the senses, both subtle and substantial, the recipient of all impressions, the root of all knowledge: to the universal soul, who, as internal intellect, delivers the impressions received by the senses to soul: to him who has the properties of Prakriti; in whom, without end, rest all things; from whom all things proceed; and who is that into which all things resolve. We worship that Purushottoma, the god who is pure spirit, and who, without qualities, is ignorantly considered as endowed with qualities. We adore that supreme Brahma, the ultimate condition of Vishńu, unproductive, unborn, pure, void of qualities, and free from accidents; who is neither high nor low, neither bulky nor minute, has neither shape, nor colour, nor shadow, nor substance, nor affection, nor body; who is neither etherial nor susceptible of contact, smell, or taste; who has neither eyes, nor ears, nor motion, nor speech, nor breath, nor mind, nor name, nor race, nor enjoyment, nor splendour; who is without cause, without fear, without error, without fault, undecaying, immortal, free from passion, without sound, imperceptible, inactive, independent of place or time, detached from all investing properties; but (illusively) exercising irresistible might, and identified with all beings, dependent upon none. Glory to that nature of Vishńu which tongue can not tell, nor has eye beheld."

Thus glorifying Vishńu, and intent in meditation on him, the Prachetasas passed ten thousand years of austerity in the vast ocean; on which Hari, being pleased with them, appeared to them amidst the waters, of the complexion of the full-blown lotus leaf. Beholding him mounted on the king of birds, Garud́a, the Prachetasas bowed down their heads in devout homage; when Vishńu said to them, "Receive the boon you have desired; for I, the giver of good, am content with you, and am present." The Prachetasas replied to him with reverence, and told him that the cause of their devotions was the command of their father to effect the multiplication of mankind. The god, having accordingly granted to them the object of their prayers, disappeared, and they came up from the water.

Chapter XV

The world overrun with trees: they are destroyed by the Prachetasas. Soma pacifies them, and gives them Márishá to wife: her story: the daughter of the nymph Pramlochá. Legend of Kańd́u. Márishá's former history. Daksha the son of the Prachetasas: his different characters: his sons: his daughters: their marriages and progeny: allusion to Prahláda, his descendant.

WHILST the Prachetasas were thus absorbed in their devotions, the trees spread and overshadowed the unprotected earth, and the people perished: the winds could not blow; the sky was shut out by the forests; and mankind was unable to labour for ten thousand years. When the sages, coming forth from the deep, beheld this, they were angry, and, being incensed, wind and flame issued from their mouths. The strong wind tore up the trees by their roots, and left them sear and dry, and the fierce fire consumed them, and the forests were cleared away. When Soma (the moon), the sovereign of the vegetable world, beheld all except a few of the trees destroyed, he went to the patriarchs, the Prachetasas, and said, "Restrain your indignation, princes, and listen to me. I will form an alliance between you and the trees. Prescient of futurity, I have nourished with my rays this precious maiden, the daughter of the woods. She is called Márishá, and is assuredly the offspring of the trees. She shall be your bride, and the multiplier of the race of Dhruva. From a portion of your lustre and a portion of mine, oh mighty sages, the patriarch Daksha shall be born of her, who, endowed with a part of me, and composed of your vigour, shall be as resplendent as fire, and shall multiply the human race.

"There was formerly (said Soma) a sage named Kańd́u, eminent in holy wisdom, who practised pious austerities on the lovely borders of the Gomati river. The king of the gods sent the nymph Pramlochá to disturb his penance, and the sweet-smiling damsel diverted the sage from his devotions. They lived together, in the valley of Mandara, for a hundred and fifty years; during which, the mind of the Muni was wholly given up to enjoyment. At the expiration of this period the nymph requested his permission to return to heaven; but the Muni, still fondly attached to her, prevailed upon her to remain for some time longer; and the graceful damsel continued to reside for another hundred years, and delight the great sage by her fascinations. Then again she preferred her suit to be allowed to return to the abodes of the gods; and again the Muni desired her to remain. At the expiration of more than a century the nymph once more said to him, with a smiling countenance, 'Brahman, I depart;' but the Muni, detaining the fine-eyed damsel, replied, 'Nay, stay yet a little; you will go hence for a long period.' Afraid of incurring an imprecation, the graceful nymph continued with the sage for nearly two hundred years more, repeatedly asking his permission to go to the region of the king of the gods, but as often desired by him to remain. Dreading to be cursed by him, and excelling in amiable manners, well knowing also the pain that is inflicted by separation from an object of affection, she did not quit the Muni, whose mind, wholly subdued by love, became every day more strongly attached to her.

"On one occasion the sage was going forth from their cottage in a great hurry. The nymph asked him where he was going. 'The day,' he replied, 'is drawing fast to a close: I must perform the Sandhya worship, or a duty will be neglected.' The nymph smiled mirthfully as she rejoined, 'Why do you talk, grave sir, of this day drawing to a close: your day is a day of many years, a day that must be a marvel to all: explain what this means.' The Muni said, 'Fair damsel, you came to the river-side at dawn; I beheld you then, and you then entered my hermitage. It is now the revolution of evening, and the day is gone. What is the meaning of this laughter? Tell me the truth.' Pramlochá. answered, 'You say rightly,' venerable Brahman, 'that I came hither at morning dawn, but several hundred years have passed since the time of my arrival. This is the truth.' The Muni, on hearing this, was seized with astonishment, and asked her how long he had enjoyed her society: to which the nymph replied, that they had lived together nine hundred and seven years, six months, and three days. The Muni asked her if she spoke the truth, or if she was in jest; for it appeared to him that they had spent but one day together: to which Pramlochá replied, that she should not dare at any time to tell him who lived in the path of piety an untruth, but particularly when she had been enjoined by him to inform him what had passed.

"When the Muni, princes, had heard these words, and knew that it was the truth, he began to reproach himself bitterly, exclaiming, 'Fie, fie upon me; my penance has been interrupted; the treasure of the learned and the pious has been stolen from me; my judgment has been blinded: this woman has been created by some one to beguile me: Brahma is beyond the reach of those agitated by the waves of infirmity¹⁸¹. I had subdued my passions, and was about to attain divine knowledge. This was foreseen by him by whom this girl has been sent hither. Fie on the passion that has obstructed my devotions. All the austerities that would have led to acquisition of the wisdom of the Vedas have been rendered of no avail by passion that is the road to hell.' The pious sage, having thus reviled himself, turned to the nymph, who was sitting nigh, and said to her, 'Go, deceitful girl, whither thou wilt: thou hast performed the office assigned thee by the monarch of the gods, of disturbing my penance by thy fascinations. I will not reduce thee to ashes by the fire of my wrath. Seven paces together is sufficient for the friendship of the virtuous, but thou and I have dwelt together. And in truth what fault hast thou committed? why should I be wroth with thee? The sin is wholly mine, in that I could not subdue my passions: yet fie upon thee, who, to gain favour with Indra, hast disturbed my devotions; vile bundle of delusion.'

"Thus spoken to by the Muni, Pramlochá stood trembling, whilst big drops of perspiration started from every pore; till he angrily cried to her, 'Depart, begone.' She then, reproached by him, went forth from his dwelling, and, passing through the air, wiped the perspiration from her person with the leaves of the trees. The nymph went from tree to tree, and as with the dusky shoots that crowned their summits she dried her limbs, which were covered with moisture, the child she had conceived by the Rishi came forth from the pores of her skin in drops of perspiration. The trees received the living dews, and the winds collected them into one mass. "This," said Soma, "I matured by my rays, and gradually it increased in size, till the exhalation that had rested on the tree tops became the lovely girl named Márishá. The trees will give her to you, Prachetasas: let your indignation be appeased. She is the progeny of Kańd́u, the child of Pramlochá, the nursling of the trees, the daughter of the wind and of the moon. The holy Kańd́u, after the interruption of his pious exercises, went, excellent princes, to the region of Vishńu, termed Purushottama, where, Maitreya¹⁸², with his whole mind he devoted himself to the adoration of Hari; standing fixed, with uplifted arms, and repeating the prayers that comprehend the essence of divine truth¹⁸³."

The Prachetasas said, "We are desirous to hear the transcendental prayers, by inaudibly reciting which the pious Kańd́u propitiated Keśava." On which Soma repeated as follows: "'Vishńu is beyond the boundary of all things: he is the infinite: he is beyond that which is boundless: he is above all that is above: he exists as finite truth: he is the object of the Veda; the limit of elemental being; unappreciable by the senses; possessed of illimitable might: he is the cause of cause; the cause of the cause of cause; the cause of finite cause; and in effects, he, both as every object and agent, preserves the universe: he is Brahma the lord; Brahma all beings; Brahma the progenitor of all beings; the imperishable: he is the eternal, undecaying, unborn Brahma, incapable of increase or diminution: Purushottama is the everlasting, untreated, immutable Brahma. May the imperfections of my nature be annihilated through his favour.' Reciting this eulogium, the essence of divine truth, and propitiating Keśava, Kańd́u obtained final emancipation.

"Who Márishá was of old I will also relate to you, as the recital of her meritorious acts will be beneficial to you. She was the widow of a prince, and left childless at her husband's death: she therefore zealously worshipped Vishńu, who, being gratified by her adoration, appeared to her, and desired her to demand a boon; on which she revealed to him the wishes of her heart. 'I have been a widow, lord,' she exclaimed, 'even from my infancy, and my birth has been in vain: unfortunate have I been, and of little use, oh sovereign of the world. Now therefore I pray thee that in succeeding births I may have honourable husbands, and a son equal to a patriarch amongst men: may I be possessed of affluence and beauty: may I he pleasing in the sight of all: and may I be born out of the ordinary course. Grant these prayers, oh thou who art propitious to the devout.' Hrishikeśa, the god of gods, the supreme giver of all blessings, thus prayed to, raised her from her prostrate attitude, and said, 'In another life you shall have ten husbands of mighty prowess, and renowned for glorious acts; and you shall have a son magnanimous and valiant, distinguished by the rank of a patriarch, from whom the various races of men shall multiply, and by whose posterity the universe shall be filled. You, virtuous lady, shall be of marvellous birth, and you shall be endowed with grace and loveliness, delighting the hearts of men.' Thus having spoken, the deity disappeared, and the princess was accordingly afterwards born as Márishá, who is given to you for a wife¹⁸⁴."

Soma having concluded, the Prachetasas took Márishá, as he had enjoined them, righteously to wife, relinquishing their indignation against the trees: and upon her they begot the eminent patriarch Daksha, who had (in a former life) been born as the son of Brahmá¹⁸⁵. This great sage, for the furtherance of creation, and the increase of mankind, created progeny. Obeying the command of Brahmá, he made movable and immovable things, bipeds and quadrupeds; and subsequently, by his will, gave birth to females, ten of whom he bestowed on Dharma, thirteen on Kaśyapa, and twenty-seven, who regulate the course of time, on the moon¹⁸⁶. Of these, the gods, the Titans, the snake-gods, cattle, and birds, the singers and dancers of the courts of heaven, the spirits of evil, and other beings, were born. From that period forwards living creatures were engendered by sexual intercourse: before the time of Daksha they were variously propagated, by the will, by sight, by touch, and by the influence of religious austerities practised by devout sages and holy saints.

MAITREYA.--Daksha, as I have formerly heard, was born from the right thumb of Brahmá: tell me, great Muni, how he was regenerate as the son of the Prachetasas. Considerable perplexity also arises in my mind, how he, who, as the son of Márishá, was the grandson of Soma, could be also his father-in-law.

PARÁŚARA.--Birth and death are constant in all creatures: Rishis and sages, possessing divine vision, are not perplexed by this. Daksha and the other eminent Munis are present in every age, and in the interval of destruction cease to be¹⁸⁷: of this the wise man entertains no doubt. Amongst them of old there was neither senior nor junior; rigorous penance and acquired power were the sole causes of any difference of degree amongst these more than human beings.

MAITREYA.--Narrate to me, venerable Brahman, at length, the birth of the gods, Titans, Gandharbas, serpents, and goblins.

PARÁŚARA.--In what manner Daksha created living creatures, as commanded by Brahmá, you shall hear. In the first place he willed into existence the deities, the Rishis, the quiristers of heaven, the Titans, and the snake-gods. Finding that his will-born progeny did not multiply themselves, he determined, in order to secure their increase, to establish sexual intercourse as the means of multiplication. For this purpose he espoused Asikní, the daughter of the patriarch Vírańa¹⁸⁸, a damsel addicted to devout practices, the eminent supportress of the world. By her the great father of mankind begot five thousand mighty sons, through whom he expected the world should be peopled. Nárada, the divine Rishi, observing them desirous to multiply posterity, approached them, and addressed them in a friendly tone: "Illustrious Haryaswas, it is evident that your intention is to beget posterity; but first consider this: why should you, who, like fools, know not the middle, the height, and depth of the world¹⁸⁹, propagate offspring? When your intellect is no more obstructed by interval, height, or depth, then how, fools, shall ye not all behold the term of the universe?" Having heard the words of Nárada, the sons of Daksha dispersed themselves through the regions, and to the present day have not returned; as rivers that lose themselves in the ocean come back no more.

The Haryaswas having disappeared, the patriarch Daksha begot by the daughter of Vírańa a thousand other sons. They, who were named Savaláswas, were desirous of engendering posterity, but were dissuaded by Nárada in a similar manner. They said to one another, "What the Muni has observed is perfectly just. We must follow the path that our brothers have travelled, and when we have ascertained the extent of the universe, we will multiply our race." Accordingly they scattered themselves through the regions, and, like rivers flowing into the sea, they returned not again. Henceforth brother seeking for brother disappears, through ignorance of the products of the first principle of things. Daksha the patriarch, on finding that all these his sons had vanished, was incensed, and denounced an imprecation upon Nárada¹⁹⁰.

Then, Maitreya, the wise patriarch, it is handed down to us, being anxious to people the world, created sixty daughters of the daughter of Vírańá¹⁹¹; ten of whom he gave to Dharma, thirteen to Kaśyapa, and twenty-seven to Soma, four to Arisht́anemi, two to Bahuputra, two to Angiras, and two to Kriśáśwa. I will tell you their names. Arundhat́í, Vasu, Yámí, Lambá, Bhánú, Marutwatí, Sankalpa, Muhúrttá, Sádhyá, and Viśwá were the ten wives of Dharma¹⁹², and bore him the following progeny. The sons of Viśwá were the Viśwádevas¹⁹³; and the Sádhyas¹⁹⁴, those of Sádhyá. The Máruts, or winds, were the children of Marutwatí; the Vasus, of Vasu. The Bhánus (or suns) of Bhánu; and the deities presiding over moments, of Muhúrttá. Ghosha was the son of Lambá (an arc of the heavens); Nágavíthí (the milky way), the daughter of Yámí (night). The divisions of the earth were born of Arundhat́i; and Sankalpa (pious purpose), the soul of all, was the son of Sankalpá. The deities called Vasus, because, preceded by fire, they abound in splendour and might¹⁹⁵, are severally named Ápa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhava (fire), Anila (wind), Anala (fire), Pratyúsha (day-break), and Prabhása (light). The four sons of Ápa were Vaitańd́ya, Śrama (weariness), Sránta (fatigue), and Dhur (burthen). Kála (time), the cherisher of the world, was the son of Dhruva. The son of Soma was Varchas (light), who was the father of Varchaswí (radiance). Dhava had, by his wife Manohará (loveliness), Dravińa, Hutahavyaváha, Śiśira, Práńa, and Ramańa. The two sons of Anila (wind), by his wife Śivá, were Manojava (swift as thought) and Avijnátagati (untraceable motion). The son of Agni (fire), Kumára, was born in a clump of Śara reeds: his sons were Sákha, Visákha, Naigameya, and Prisht́haja. The offspring of the Krittikás was named Kártikeya. The son of Pratyúsha was the Rishi named Devala, who had two philosophic and intelligent sons¹⁹⁶. The sister of Váchaspati, lovely and virtuous, Yogasiddhá, who pervades the wholes world without being devoted to it, was the wife of Prabhása, the eighth of the Vasus, and bore to him the patriarch Viswakarmá, the author of a thousand arts, the mechanist of the gods, the fabricator of all ornaments, the chief of artists, the constructor of the self-moving chariots of the deities, and by whose skill men obtain subsistence. Ajaikapád, Ahirvradhna, and the wise Rudra Twasht́ri, were born; and the self-born son of Twashtri was also the celebrated Viśwarúpa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds, or Hara, Bahurúpa, Tryambaka, Aparájita, Vrishakapi, Sambhu, Kaparddí, Raivata, Mrigavyádha, Sarva, and Kapáli¹⁹⁷; but there are a hundred appellations of the immeasurably mighty Rudras¹⁹⁸.

The daughters of Daksha who were married to Kaśyapa were Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arisht́á, Surasá, Surabhi, Vinatá, Támrá, Krodhavaśá, Id́á, Khasá, Kadru, and Muni¹⁹⁹; whose progeny I will describe to you. There were twelve celebrated deities in a former Manwantara, called Tushitas²⁰⁰, who, upon the approach of the present period, or in the reign of the last Manu, Chákshusha, assembled, and said to one another, "Come, let us quickly enter into the womb of Adití, that we may be born in the next Manwantara, for thereby we shall again enjoy the rank of gods:" and accordingly they were born the sons of Kaśyapa, the son of Maríchi, by Adití, the daughter of Daksha; thence named the twelve Ádityas; whose appellations were respectively, Vishńu, Śakra, Áryaman, Dhútí, Twásht́ri, Púshan, Vivaswat, Savitri, Mitra, Varuńa, Anśa, and Bhaga²⁰¹. These, who in the Chákshusha Manwantara were the gods called Tushitas, were called the twelve Ádityas in the Manwantara of Vaivaśwata.

The twenty-seven daughters of the patriarch who became the virtuous wives of the moon were all known as the nymphs of the lunar constellations, which were called by their names, and had children who were brilliant through their great splendour²⁰². The wives of Arisht́anemi bore him sixteen children²⁰³. The daughters of Bahuputra were the four lightnings²⁰⁴. The excellent Pratyangirasa Richas were the children of Angiras²⁰⁵, descended from the holy sage: and the deified weapons of the gods²⁰⁶ were the progeny of Kriśáśwa.

These classes of thirty-three divinities²⁰⁷ are born again at the end of a thousand ages, according to their own pleasure; and their appearance and disappearance is here spoken of as birth and death: but, Maitreya, these divine personages exist age after age in the same manner as the sun sets and rises again.

It has been related to us, that Diti had two sons by Kaśyapa, named Hirańyakaśipu and the invincible Hirańyáksha: she had also a daughter, Sinká, the wife of Viprachitti. Hirańyakaśipu was the father of four mighty sons, Anuhláda, Hláda, the wise Prahláda, and the heroic Sanhláda, the augmentor of the Daitya race²⁰⁸. Amongst these, the illustrious Prahláda, looking on all things with indifference, devoted his whole faith to Janárddana. The flames that were lighted by the king of the Daityas consumed not him, in whose heart Vásudeva was cherished; and all the earth trembled when, bound with bonds, he moved amidst the waters of the ocean. His firm body, fortified by a mind engrossed by Achyuta, was unwounded by the weapons hurled on him by order of the Daitya monarch; and the serpents sent to destroy him breathed their venomous flames upon him in vain. Overwhelmed with rocks, he yet remained unhurt; for he never forgot Vishńu, and the recollection of the deity was his armour of proof. Hurled from on high by the king of the Daityas, residing in Swerga, earth received him unharmed. The wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself annihilated by him, in whom Madhusúdana was present. The fierce elephants of the spheres broke their tusks, and vailed their pride, against the firm breast which the lord of the Daityas had ordered them to assault. The ministrant priests of the monarch were baffled in all their rites for the destruction of one so steadily attached to Govinda: and the thousand delusions of the fraudulent Samvara, counteracted by the discus of Krishńa, were practised without success. The deadly poison administered by his father's officers he partook of unhesitatingly, and without its working any visible change; for he looked upon the world with mind undisturbed, and, full of benignity, regarded all things with equal affection, and as identical with himself. He was righteous; an inexhaustible mine of purity and truth; and an unfailing model for all pious men.

Chapter XVI

Inquiries of Maitreya respecting the history of Prahláda.

MAITREYA.--Venerable Muni, you have described to me the races of human beings, and the eternal Vishńu, the cause of this world; but who was this mighty Prahláda, of whom you have last spoken; whom fire could not burn; who died not, when pierced by weapons; at whose presence in the waters earth trembled, shaken by his movements, even though in bonds; and who, overwhelmed with rocks, remained unhurt. I am desirous to hear an account of the unequalled might of that sage worshipper of Vishńu, to whose marvellous history you have alluded. Why was he assailed by the weapons of the sons of Diti? why was so righteous a person thrown into the sea? wherefore was he overwhelmed with rocks? why bitten by venomous snakes? why hurled from the mountain crest? why cast into the flames? why was he made a mark for the tusks of the elephants of the spheres? wherefore was the blast of death directed against him by the enemies of the gods? why did the priests of the Daityas practise ceremonies for his destruction? why were the thousand illusions of Samvara exercised upon him? and for what purpose was deadly poison administered to him by the servants of the king, but which was innocuous as food to his sagacious son? All this I am anxious to hear: the history of the magnanimous Prahláda; a legend of great marvels. Not that it is a wonder that he should have been uninjured by the Daityas; for who can injure the man that fixes his whole heart on Vishńu? but it is strange that such inveterate hatred should have been shewn, by his own kin, to one so virtuous, so unweariedly occupied in worshipping Vishńu. You can explain to me for what reason the sons of Diti offered violence to one so pious, so illustrious, so attached to Vishńu, so free from guile. Generous enemies wage no war with such as he was, full of sanctity and every excellence; how should his own father thus behave towards him? Tell me therefore, most illustrious Muni, the whole story in detail: I wish to hear the entire narrative of the sovereign of the Daitya race.

Chapter XVII

Legend of Prahláda. Hirańyakaśipu, the sovereign of the universe: the gods dispersed or in servitude to him: Prahláda, his son, remains devoted to Vishńu: questioned by his father, he praises Vishńu: Hirańyakaśipu orders him to be put to death, but in vain: his repeated deliverance: he teaches his companions to adore Vishńu.?

PARÁŚARA.--Listen, Maitreya, to the story of the wise and magnanimous Prahláda, whose adventures are ever interesting and instructive. Hirańyakaśipu, the son of Diti, had formerly brought the three worlds under his authority, confiding in a boon bestowed upon him by Brahmá²⁰⁹. He had usurped the sovereignty of Indra, and exercised of himself the functions of the sun, of air, of the lord of waters, of fire, and of the moon. He himself was the god of riches; he was the judge of the dead; and he appropriated to himself, without reserve, all that was offered in sacrifice to the gods. The deities therefore, flying from their seats in heaven, wandered, through fear of the Daitya, upon the earth, disguised in mortal shapes. Having conquered the three worlds, he was inflated with pride, and, eulogized by the Gandharbas, enjoyed whatever he desired. The Gandharbas, the Siddhas, and the snake-gods all attended upon the mighty Hirańyakaśipu, as he sat at the banquet. The Siddhas delighted stood before him, some playing on musical instruments, some singing songs in his praise, and others shouting cries of victory; whilst the nymphs of heaven danced gracefully in the crystal palace, where the Asura with pleasure quaffed the inebriating cup.

The illustrious son of the Daitya king, Prahláda, being yet a boy, resided in the dwelling of his preceptor, where he read such writings as are studied in early years. On one occasion he came, accompanied by his teacher, to the court of his father, and bowed before his feet as he was drinking. Hirańyakaśipu desired his prostrate son to rise, and said to him, "Repeat, boy, in substance, and agreeably, what during the period of your studies you have acquired." "Hear, sire," replied Prahláda, "what in obedience to your commands I will repeat, the substance of all I have learned: listen attentively to that which wholly occupies my thoughts. I have learned to adore him who is without beginning, middle, or end, increase or diminution; the imperishable lord of the world, the universal cause of causes." On hearing these words, the sovereign of the Daityas, his eyes red with wrath, and lip swollen with indignation, turned to the preceptor of his son, and said, "Vile Brahman, what is this preposterous commendation of my foe, that, in disrespect to me, you have taught this boy to utter?" "King of the Daityas," replied the Guru, "it is not worthy of you to give way to passion: that which your son has uttered, he has not been taught by me." "By whom then," said Hirańyakaśipu to the lad, "by whom has this lesson, boy, been taught you? your teacher denies that it proceeds from him." "Vishńu, father," answered Prahláda, "is the instructor of the whole world: what else should any one teach or learn, save him the supreme spirit?" "Blockhead," exclaimed the king, "who is this Vishńu, whose name you thus reiterate so impertinently before me, who am the sovereign of the three worlds?" "The glory of Vishńu," replied Prahláda, "is to be meditated upon by the devout; it cannot be described: he is the supreme lord, who is all things, and from whom all things proceed." To this the king rejoined, "Are you desirous of death, fool, that you give the title of supreme lord to any one whilst I survive?" "Vishńu, who is Brahma," said Prahláda, "is the creator and protector, not of me alone, but of all human beings, and even, father, of you: he is the supreme lord of all. Why should you, sire, be offended?" Hirańyakaśipu then exclaimed, "What evil spirit has entered into the breast of this silly boy, that thus, like one possessed, he utters such profanity?" "Not into my heart alone," said Prahláda, "has Vishńu entered, but he pervades all the regions of the universe, and by his omnipresence influences the conduct of all beings, mine, fattier, and thine²¹⁰." "Away with the wretch!" cried the king; "take him to his preceptor's mansion. By whom could he have been instigated to repeat the lying praises of my foe?"

According to the commands of his father, Prahláda was conducted by the Daityas back to the house of his Guru; where, assiduous in attendance on his preceptor, he constantly improved in wisdom. After a considerable time had elapsed, the sovereign of the Asuras sent for him again; and on his arrival in his presence, desired him to recite some poetical composition. Prahláda immediately began, "May he from whom matter and soul originate, from whom all that moves or is unconscious proceeds, he who is the cause of all this creation, Vishńu, be favourable unto us!" On hearing which, Hirańyakaśipu exclaimed, "Kill the wretch! he is not fit to live, who is a traitor to his friends, a burning brand to his own race!" and his attendants, obedient to his orders, snatched up their weapons, and rushed in crowds upon Prahláda, to destroy him. The prince calmly looked upon them, and said, "Daityas, as truly as Vishńu is present in your weapons and in my body, so truly shall those weapons fail to harm me:" and accordingly, although struck heavily and repeatedly by hundreds of the Daityas, the prince felt not the least pain, and his strength was ever renewed. His father then endeavoured to persuade him to refrain from glorifying his enemy, and promised him immunity if the would not be so foolish as to persevere but Prahláda replied, that he felt no fear as long as his immortal guardian against all dangers was present in his mind, the recollection of whom was alone sufficient to dissipate all the perils consequent upon birth or human infirmities.

Hirańyakaśipu, highly exasperated, commanded the serpents to fall upon his disobedient and insane son, and bite him to death with their envenomed fangs: and thereupon the great snakes Kuhaka, Takshaka, and Andhaka, charged with fatal poison, bit the prince in every part of his body; but he, with thoughts immovably fixed on Krishńa, felt no pain from their wounds, being immersed in rapturous recollections of that divinity. Then the snakes cried to the king, and said, "Our fangs are broken; our jewelled crests are burst; there is fever in our, hoods, and fear in our hearts; but the skin of the youth is still unscathed: have recourse, monarch of the Daityas, to some other expedient." "Ho, elephants of the skies!" exclaimed the demon; "unite your tusks, and destroy this deserter from his father, and conspirer with my foes. It is thus that often our progeny are our destruction, as fire consumes the wood from which it springs." The young prince was then assailed by the elephants of the skies, as vast as mountain peaks; cast down upon the earth, and trampled on, and gored by their tusks: but he continued to call to mind Govinda, and the tusks of the elephants were blunted against his breast. "Behold," he said to his father, "the tusks of the elephants, as hard as adamant, are blunted; but this is not by any strength of mine: calling upon Janárddana is my defence against such fearful affliction."

Then said the king to his attendants, "Dismiss the elephants, and let fire consume him; and do thou, deity of the winds, blow up the fire, that this wicked wretch may be consumed." And the Dánavas piled a mighty heap of wood around the prince, and kindled a fire, to burn him, as their master had commanded. But Prahláda cried, "Father, this fire, though blown up by the winds, burneth me not; and all around I behold the face of the skies, cool and fragrant, with beds of lotus flowers."

Then the Brahmans who were the sons of Bhárgava, illustrious priests, and reciters of the Sáma-Veda, said to the king of the Daityas, "Sire, restrain your wrath against your own son. How should anger succeed in finding a place in heavenly mansions? As for this lad, we will be his instructors, and teach him obediently to labour for the destruction of your foes. Youth is the season, king, of many errors; and you should not therefore be relentlessly offended with a child. If he will not listen to us, and abandon the cause of Hari, we will adopt infallible measures to work his death." The king of the Daityas, thus solicited by the priests, commanded the prince to be liberated from the midst of the flames.

Again established in the dwelling of his preceptor, Prahláda gave lessons himself to the sons of the demons, in the intervals of his leisure. "Sons of the offspring of Diti," he was accustomed to say to them, "hear from me the supreme truth; nothing else is fit to be regarded; nothing, else here is an object to be coveted. Birth, infancy, and youth are the portion of all creatures; and then succeeds gradual and inevitable decay, terminating with all beings, children of the Daityas, in death: this is manifestly visible to all; to you as it is to me. That the dead are born again, and that it cannot be otherwise, the sacred texts are warrant: but production cannot be without a material cause; and as long as conception and parturition are the material causes of repeated birth, so long, be sure, is pain inseparable from every period of existence. The simpleton, in his inexperience, fancies that the alleviation of hunger, thirst, cold, and the like is pleasure; but of a truth it is pain; for suffering gives delight to those whose vision is darkened by delusion, as fatigue would be enjoyment to limbs that are incapable of motion²¹¹. This vile body is a compound of phlegm and other humours. Where are its beauty, grace, fragrance, or other estimable qualities? The fool that is fond of a body composed of flesh, blood, matter, ordure, urine, membrane, marrow, and bones, will be enamoured of hell. The agreeableness of fire is caused by cold; of water, by thirst; of food, by hunger: by other circumstances their contraries are equally agreeable²¹². The child of the Daitya who takes to himself a wife introduces only so much misery into his bosom; for as many as are the cherished affections of a living creature, so many are the thorns of anxiety implanted in his heart; and he who has large possessions in his house is haunted, wherever he goes, with the apprehension that they may be lost or burnt or stolen. Thus there is great pain in being born: for the dying man there are the tortures of the judge of the deceased, and of passing again into 'the womb. If you conclude that there is little enjoyment in the embryo state, you must then admit that the world is made up of pain. Verily I say unto you, that in this ocean of the world, this sea of many sorrows, Vishńu is your only hope. If ye say, you know nothing of this; 'we are children; embodied spirit in bodies is eternal; birth, youth, decay, are the properties of the body, not of the soul²¹³.' But it is in this way that we deceive ourselves. I am yet a child; but it is my purpose to exert myself when I am a youth. I am yet a youth; but when I become old I will do what is needful for the good of my soul. I am now old, and all my duties are to be fulfilled. How shall I, now that my faculties fail me, do what was left undone when my strength was unimpaired?' In this manner do men, whilst their minds are distracted by sensual pleasures, ever propose, and never attain final beatitude: they die thirsting²¹⁴. Devoted in childhood to play, and in youth to pleasure, ignorant and impotent they find that old age is come upon them. Therefore even in childhood let the embodied soul acquire discriminative wisdom, and, independent of the conditions of infancy, youth, or age, strive incessantly to be freed. This, then, is what I declare unto you; and since you know that it is not untrue, do you, out of regard to me, call to your minds Vishńu, the liberator from all bondage. What difficulty is there in thinking upon him, who, when remembered, bestows prosperity; and by recalling whom to memory, day and night, all sin is cleansed away? Let all your thoughts and affections be fixed on him, who is present in all beings, and you shall laugh at every care. The whole world is suffering under a triple affliction²¹⁵. 'What wise man would feel hatred towards beings who are objects of compassion? If fortune be propitious to them, and I am unable to partake of the like enjoyments, yet wherefore should I cherish malignity towards those who are more prosperous than myself: I should rather sympathise with their happiness; for the suppression of malignant feelings is of itself a reward²¹⁶. If beings are hostile, and indulge in hatred, they are objects of pity to the wise, as encompassed by profound delusion. These are the reasons for repressing hate, which are adapted to the capacities of those who see the deity distinct from his creatures. Hear, briefly, what influences those who have approached the truth. This whole world is but a manifestation of Vishńu, who is identical with all things; and it is therefore to be regarded by the wise as not differing from, but as the same with themselves. Let us therefore lay aside the angry passions of our race, and so strive that we obtain that perfect, pure, and eternal happiness, which shall be beyond the power of the elements or their deities, of fire, of the sun, of the moon, of wind, of Indra, of the regent of the sea; which shall be unmolested by spirits of air or earth; by Yakshas, Daityas, or their chiefs; by the serpent-gods or monstrous demigods of Swerga; which shall be uninterrupted by men or beasts, or by the infirmities of human nature; by bodily sickness and disease²¹⁷, or hatred, envy, malice, passion, or desire; which nothing shall molest, and which every one who fixes his whole heart on Keśava shall enjoy. Verily I say unto you, that you shall have no satisfaction in various revolutions through this treacherous world, but that you will obtain placidity for ever by propitiating Vishńu, whose adoration is perfect calm. What here is difficult of attainment, when he is pleased? Wealth, pleasure, virtue, are things of little moment. Precious is the fruit that you shall gather, be assured, from the exhaustless store of the tree of true wisdom."

Chapter XVIII

Hirańyakaśipu's reiterated attempts to destroy his son: their being always frustrated.

THE Dánavas, observing the conduct of Prahláda, reported it to the king, lest they should incur his displeasure. He sent for his cooks, and said to them, "My vile and unprincipled son is now teaching others his impious doctrines: be quick, and put an end to him. Let deadly poison be mixed up with all his viands, without his knowledge. Hesitate not, but destroy the wretch without delay." Accordingly they did so, and administered poison to the virtuous Prahláda, as his father had commanded them. Prahláda, repeating the name of the imperishable, ate and digested the food in which the deadly poison had been infused, and suffered no harm from it, either in body or mind, for it had been rendered innocuous by the name of the eternal. Beholding the strong poison digested, those who had prepared the food were filled with dismay, and hastened to the king, and fell down before him, and said, "King of the Daityas, the fearful poison given by us to your son has been digested by him along with his food, as if it were innocent. Hirańyakaśipu, on hearing this, exclaimed, "Hasten, hasten, ministrant priests of the Daitya race! instantly perform the rites that will effect his destruction!" Then the priests went to Prahláda, and, having repeated the hymns of the Sáma-Veda, said to him, as he respectfully hearkened, "Thou hast been born, prince, in the family of Brahmá, celebrated in the three worlds, the son of Hirańyakaśipu, the king of the Daityas; why shouldest thou acknowledge dependance upon the gods? why upon the eternal? Thy father is the stay of all the worlds, as thou thyself in turn shalt be. Desist, then, from celebrating the praises of an enemy; and remember, that of all venerable preceptors, a father is most venerable." Prahláda replied to them, "Illustrious Brahmans, it is true that the family of Maríchi is renowned in the three worlds; this cannot be denied: and I also admit, what is equally indisputable, that my father is mighty over the universe. There is no error, not the least, in what you have said, 'that a father is the most venerable of all holy teachers:' he is a venerable instructor, no doubt, and is ever to be devoutly reverenced. To all these things I have nothing to object; they find a ready assent in my mind: but when you say, 'Why should I depend upon the eternal?' who can give assent to this as right? the words are void of meaning." Having said thus much, he was silent a while, being restrained by respect to their sacred functions; but he was unable to repress his smiles, and again said, "What need is there of the eternal? excellent! What need of the eternal? admirable! most worthy of you who are my venerable preceptors! Hear what need there is of the eternal, if to hearken will not give you pain. The fourfold objects of men are said to be virtue, desire, wealth, final emancipation. Is he who is the source of all these of no avail? Virtue was derived from the eternal by Daksha, Maríchi, and other patriarchs; wealth has been obtained front him by others; and by others, the enjoyment of their desires: whilst those who, through true. wisdom and holy contemplation, have come to know his essence, have been released from their bondage, and have attained freedom from existence for ever. The glorification of Hari, attainable by unity, is the root of all riches, dignity, renown, wisdom, progeny, righteousness, and liberation. Virtue, wealth, desire, and even final freedom, Brahmans, are fruits bestowed by him. How then can it be said, 'What need is there of the eternal?' But enough of this: what occasion is there to say more? You are my venerable preceptors, and, speak ye good or evil, it is not for my weak judgment to decide." The priests said to him, "We preserved you, boy, when you were about to be consumed by fire, confiding that you would no longer eulogize your father's foes: we knew not how unwise you were: but if you will not desist from this infatuation at our advice, we shall even proceed to perform the rites that will inevitably destroy you." To this menace, Prahláda answered, "What living creature slays, or is slain? what living creature preserves, or is preserved? Each is his own destroyer or preserver, as he follows evil or good²¹⁸."

Thus spoken to by the youth, the priests of the Daitya sovereign were incensed, and instantly had recourse to magic incantations, by which a female form, enwreathed with fiery flame, was engendered: she was of fearful aspect, and the earth was parched beneath her tread, as she approached Prahláda, and smote him with a fiery trident on the breast. In vain! for the weapon fell, broken into a hundred pieces, upon the ground. Against the breast in which the imperishable Hari resides the thunderbolt would be shivered, much more should such a weapon be split in pieces. The magic being, then directed against the virtuous prince by the wicked priest, turned upon them, and, having quickly destroyed them, disappeared. But Prahláda, beholding them perish, hastily appealed to Krishńa, the eternal, for succour, and said, "Oh Janárddana! who art every where, the creator and substance of the world, preserve these Brahmans from this magical and insupportable fire. As thou art Vishńu, present in all creatures, and the protector of the world, so let these priests be restored to life. If, whilst devoted to the omnipresent Vishńu, I think no sinful resentment against my foes, let these priests be restored to life. If those who have come to slay me, those by whom poison was given me, the fire that would have burned, the elephants that would have crushed, and snakes that would have stung me, have been regarded by me as friends; if I have been unshaken in soul, and am without fault in thy sight; then, I implore thee, let these, the priests of the Asuras, be now restored to life." Thus having prayed, the Brahmans immediately rose up, uninjured and rejoicing; and bowing respectfully to Prahláda, they blessed him, and said, "Excellent prince, may thy days be many; irresistible be thy prowess; and power and wealth and posterity be thine." Having thus spoken, they withdrew, and went and told the king of the Daityas all that had passed.

Chapter XIX

Dialogue between Prahláda and his father: he is cast from the top of the palace unhurt: baffles the incantations of Samvara: he is thrown fettered into the sea: he praises Vishńu.

WHEN Hirańyakaśipu heard that the powerful incantations of his priests had been defeated, he sent for his son, and demanded of him the secret of his extraordinary might. "Prahláda," he said, "thou art possessed of marvellous powers; whence are they derived? are they the result of magic rites? or have they accompanied thee from birth?" Prahláda, thus interrogated, bowed down to his father's feet, and replied, "Whatever power I possess, father, is neither the result of magic rites, nor is it inseparable from my nature; it is no more than that which is possessed by all in whose hearts Achyuta abides. He who meditates not of wrong to others, but considers them as himself, is free from the effects of sin, inasmuch as the cause does not exist; but he who inflicts pain upon others, in act, thought, or speech, sows the seed of future birth, and the fruit that awaits him after birth is pain. I wish no evil to any, and do and speak no offence; for I behold Keśava in all beings, as in my own soul. Whence should corporeal or mental suffering or pain, inflicted by elements or the gods, affect me, whose heart is thoroughly purified by him? Love, then, for all creatures will be assiduously cherished by all those who are wise in the knowledge that Hari is all things."

When he had thus spoken, the Daitya monarch, his face darkened with fury, commanded his attendants to cast his son from the summit of the palace where he was sitting, and which was many Yojanas in height, down upon the tops of the mountains, where his body should be dashed to pieces against the rocks. Accordingly the Daityas hurled the boy down, and he fell cherishing Hari in his heart, and Earth, the nurse of all creatures, received him gently on her lap, thus entirely devoted to Keśava, the protector of the world.

Beholding him uninjured by the fall, and sound in every bone, Hirańyakaśipu addressed himself to Samvara, the mightiest of enchanters, and said to him, "This perverse boy is not to be destroyed by us: do you, who art potent in the arts of delusion, contrive some device for his destruction." Samvara replied, "I will destroy him: you shall behold, king of the Daityas, the power of delusion, the thousand and the myriad artifices that it can employ." Then the ignorant Asura Samvara practised subtile wiles for the extermination of the firm-minded Prahláda: but he, with a tranquil heart, and void of malice towards Samvara, directed his thoughts uninterruptedly to the destroyer of Madhu; by whom the excellent discus, the flaming Sudarsana, was dispatched to defend the youth; and the thousand devices of the evil-destinied Samvara were every one foiled by this defender of the prince. The king of the Daityas then commanded the withering wind to breathe its blighting blast upon his son: and, thus commanded, the wind immediately penetrated into his frame, cold, cutting, drying, and insufferable. Knowing that the wind had entered into his body, the Daitya boy applied his whole heart to the mighty upholder of the earth; and Janárddana, seated in his heart, waxed wroth, and drank up the fearful wind, which had thus hastened to its own annihilation.

When the devices of Samvara were all frustrated, and the blighting wind had perished, the prudent prince repaired to the residence of his preceptor. His teacher instructed him daily in the science of polity, as essential to the administration of government, and invented by Uśanas for the benefit of kings; and when he thought that the modest prince was well grounded in the principles of the science, he told the king that Prahláda was thoroughly conversant with the rules of government as laid down by the descendant of Bhrigu. Hirańyakaśipu therefore summoned the prince to his presence, and desired him to repeat what he had learned; how a king should conduct himself towards friends or foes; what measures he should adopt at the three periods (of advance, retrogression, or stagnation); how he should treat his councillors, his ministers, the officers of his government and of his household, his emissaries, his subjects, those of doubtful allegiance, and his foes; with whom should he contract alliance; with whom engage in war; what sort of fortress he should construct; how forest and mountain tribes should be reduced; how internal grievances should be rooted out: all this, and what else he had studied, the youth was commanded by his father to explain. To this, Prahláda having bowed affectionately and reverentially to the feet of the king, touched his forehead, and thus replied:--

"It is true that I have been instructed in all these matters by my venerable preceptor, and I have learnt them, but I cannot in all approve them. It is said that conciliation, gifts, punishment, and sowing dissension are the means of securing friends (or overcoming foes)²¹⁹; but I, father--be not angry--know neither friends nor foes; and where no object is to be accomplished, the means of effecting it are superfluous. It were idle to talk of friend or foe in Govinda, who is the supreme soul, lord of the world, consisting of the world, and who is identical with all beings. The divine Vishńu is in thee, father, in me, and in all every where else; and hence how can I speak of friend or foe, as distinct from myself? It is therefore waste of time to cultivate such tedious and unprofitable sciences, which are but false knowledge, and all our energies should be dedicated to the acquirement of true wisdom. The notion that ignorance is knowledge arises, father, from ignorance. Does not the child, king of the Asuras, imagine the fire-fly to be a spark of fire. That is active duty, which is not for our bondage; that is knowledge, which is for our liberation: all other duty is good only unto weariness; all other knowledge is only the cleverness of an artist. Knowing this, I look upon all such acquirement as profitless. That which is really profitable hear me, oh mighty monarch, thus prostrate before thee, proclaim. He who cares not for dominion, he who cares not for wealth, shall assuredly obtain both in a life to come. All men, illustrious prince, are toiling to be great; but the destinies of men, and not their own exertions, are the cause of greatness. Kingdoms are the gifts of fate, and are bestowed upon the stupid, the ignorant, the cowardly, and those to whom the science of government is unknown. Let him therefore who covets the goods of fortune be assiduous in the practice of virtue: let him who hopes for final liberation learn to look upon all things as equal and the same. Gods, men, animals, birds, reptiles, all are but forms of one eternal Vishńu, existing as it were detached from himself. By him who knows this, all the existing world, fixed or movable, is to be regarded as identical with himself, as proceeding alike from Vishńu, assuming a universal form. When this is known, the glorious god of all, who is without beginning or end, is pleased; and when he is pleased, there is an end of affliction."

On hearing this, Hirańyakaśipu started up from his throne in a fury, and spurned his son on the breast with his foot. Burning with rage, he wrung his hands, and exclaimed, "Ho Viprachitti! ho Ráhu! ho Bali²²⁰! bind him with strong bands²²¹, and cast him into the ocean, or all the regions, the Daityas and Dánavas, will become converts to the doctrines of this silly wretch. Repeatedly prohibited by us, he still persists in the praise of our enemies. Death is the just retribution of the disobedient." The Daityas accordingly bound the prince with strong bands, as their lord had commanded, and threw him into the sea. As he floated on the waters, the ocean was convulsed throughout its whole extent, and rose in mighty undulations, threatening to submerge the earth. This when Hirańyakaśipu observed, he commanded the Daityas to hurl rocks into the sea, and pile them closely on one another, burying beneath their incumbent mass him whom fire would not burn, nor weapons pierce, nor serpents bite; whom the pestilential gale could not blast, nor poison nor magic spirits nor incantations destroy; who fell from the loftiest heights unhurt; who foiled the elephants of the spheres: a son of depraved heart, whose life was a perpetual curse. "Here," he cried, "since he cannot die, here let him live for thousands of years at the bottom of the ocean, overwhelmed by mountains. Accordingly the Daityas and Dánavas hurled upon Prahláda, whilst in the great ocean, ponderous rocks, and piled them over him for many thousand miles: but he, still with mind undisturbed, thus offered daily praise to Vishńu, lying at the bottom of the sea, under the mountain heap. "Glory to thee, god of the lotus eye: glory to thee, most excellent of spiritual things: glory to thee, soul of all worlds: glory to thee, wielder of the sharp discus: glory to the best of Brahmans; to the friend of Brahmans and of kine; to Krishńa, the preserver of the world: to Govinda be glory. To him who, as Brahmá, creates the universe; who in its existence is its preserver; be praise. To thee, who at the end of the Kalpa takest the form of Rudra; to thee, who art triform; be adoration. Thou, Achyuta, art the gods, Yakshas, demons, saints, serpents, choristers and dancers of heaven, goblins, evil spirits, men, animals, birds, insects, reptiles, plants, and stones, earth, water, fire, sky, wind, sound, touch, taste, colour, flavour, mind, intellect, soul, time, and the qualities of nature: thou art all these, and the chief object of them all. Thou art knowledge and ignorance, truth and falsehood, poison and ambrosia. Thou art the performance and discontinuance of acts²²²: thou art the acts which the Vedas enjoin: thou art the enjoyer of the fruit of all acts, and the means by which they are accomplished. Thou, Vishńu, who art the soul of all, art the fruit of all acts of piety. Thy universal diffusion, indicating might and goodness, is in me, in others, in all creatures, in all worlds. Holy ascetics meditate on thee: pious priests sacrifice to thee. Thou alone, identical with the gods and the fathers of mankind, receivest burnt-offerings and oblations²²³. The universe is thy intellectual form²²⁴; whence proceeded thy subtile form, this world: thence art thou all subtile elements and elementary beings, and the subtile principle, that is called soul, within them. Hence the supreme soul of all objects, distinguished as subtile or gross, which is imperceptible, and which cannot be conceived, is even a form of thee. Glory be to thee, Purushottama; and glory to that imperishable form which, soul of all, is another manifestation²²⁵ of thy might, the asylum of all qualities, existing in all creatures. I salute her, the supreme goddess, who is beyond the senses; whom the mind, the tongue, cannot define; who is to be distinguished alone by the wisdom of the truly wise. Om! salutation to Vásudeva: to him who is the eternal lord; he from whom nothing is distinct; he who is distinct from all. Glory be to the great spirit again and again: to him who is without name or shape; who sole is to be known by adoration; whom, in the forms manifested in his descents upon earth, the dwellers in heaven adore; for they behold not his inscrutable nature. I glorify the supreme deity Vishńu, the universal witness, who seated internally, beholds the good and ill of all. Glory to that Vishńu from whom this world is not distinct. May he, ever to be meditated upon as the beginning of the universe, have compassion upon me: may he, the supporter of all, in whom every thing is warped and woven²²⁶, undecaying, imperishable, have compassion upon me. Glory, again and again, to that being to whom all returns, from whom all proceeds; who is all, and in whom all things are: to him whom I also am; for he is every where; and through whom all things are from me. I am all things: all things are in me, who am everlasting. I am undecayable, ever enduring, the receptacle of the spirit of the supreme. Brahma is my name; the supreme soul, that is before all things, that is after the end of all.

Chapter XX

Vishńu appears to Prahláda. Hirańyakaśipu relents, and is reconciled to his son: he is put to death by Vishńu as the Nrisinha. Prahláda becomes king of the Daityas: his posterity: fruit of hearing his story.

THUS meditating upon Vishńu, as identical with his own spirit, Prahláda became as one with him, and finally regarded himself as the divinity: he forgot entirely his own individuality, and was conscious of nothing else than his being the inexhaustible, eternal, supreme soul; and in consequence of the efficacy of this conviction of identity, the imperishable Vishńu, whose essence is wisdom, became present in his heart, which was wholly purified from sin. As soon as, through the force of his contemplation, Prahláda had become one with Vishńu, the bonds with which he was bound burst instantly asunder; the ocean was violently uplifted; and the monsters of the deep were alarmed; earth with all her forests and mountains trembled; and the prince, putting aside the rocks which the demons had piled Upon him, came forth from out the main. When he beheld the outer world again, and contemplated earth and heaven, he remembered who he was, and recognised himself to be Prahláda; and again he hymned Purushottama, who is without beginning or end; his mind being steadily and undeviatingly addressed to the object of his prayers, and his speech, thoughts, and acts being firmly under control. "Om! glory to the end of all: to thee, lord, who art subtile and substantial; mutable and immutable; perceptible and imperceptible; divisible and indivisible; indefinable and definable; the subject of attributes, and void of attributes; abiding in qualities, though they abide not in thee; morphous and amorphous; minute and vast; visible and invisible; hideousness and beauty; ignorance and wisdom; cause and effect; existence and non-existence; comprehending all that is good and evil; essence of perishable and imperishable elements; asylum of undeveloped rudiments. Oh thou who art both one and many, Vásudeva, first cause of all; glory be unto thee. Oh thou who art large and small, manifest and hidden; who art all beings, and art not all beings; and from whom, although distinct from universal cause, the universe proceeds: to thee, Purushottama, be all glory."

Whilst with mind intent on Vishńu, he thus pronounced his praises, the divinity, clad in yellow robes, suddenly appeared before him. Startled at the sight, with hesitating speech Prahláda pronounced repeated salutations to Vishńu, and said, "Oh thou who removest all worldly grief, Keśava, be propitious unto me; again sanctify me, Achyuta, by thy sight." The deity replied, "I am pleased with the faithful attachment thou hast shown to me: demand from me, Prahláda, whatever thou desirest." Prahláda replied, "In all the thousand births through which I may be doomed to pass, may my faith in thee, Achyuta, never know decay; may passion, as fixed as that which the worldly-minded feel for sensual pleasures, ever animate my heart, always devoted unto thee." Bhagaván answered, "Thou hast already devotion unto me, and ever shalt have it: now choose some boon, whatever is in thy wish." Prahláda then said, "I have been hated, for that I assiduously proclaimed thy praise: do thou, oh lord, pardon in my father this sin that he Bath committed. Weapons have been hurled against me; I have been thrown into the flames; I have been bitten by venomous snakes; and poison has been mixed with my food; I have been bound and cast into the sea; and heavy rocks have been heaped upon me: but all this, and whatever ill beside has been wrought against me; whatever wickedness has been done to me, because I put my faith in thee; all, through thy mercy, has been suffered by me unharmed: and do thou therefore free my father from this iniquity." To this application Vishńu replied, "All this shall be unto thee, through my favour: but I give thee another boon: demand it, son of the Asura." Prahláda answered and said, "All my desires, oh lord, have been fulfilled by the boon that thou hast granted, that my faith in thee shall never know decay. Wealth, virtue, love, are as nothing; for even liberation is in his reach whose faith is firm in thee, root of the universal world." Vishńu said, "Since thy heart is filled immovably with trust in me, thou shalt, through my blessing, attain freedom from existence." Thus saying, Vishńu vanished from his sight; and Prahláda repaired to his father, and bowed down before him. His father kissed him on the forehead²²⁷, and embraced him, and shed tears, and said, "Dost thou live, my son?" And the great Asura repented of his former cruelty, and treated him with kindness: and Prahláda, fulfilling his duties like any other youth, continued diligent in the service of his preceptor and his father. After his father had been put to death by Vishńu in the form of the man-lion²²⁸, Prahláda became the sovereign of the Daityas; and possessing the splendours of royalty consequent upon his piety, exercised extensive sway, and was blessed with a numerous progeny. At the expiration of an authority which was the reward of his meritorious acts, he was freed from the consequences of moral merit or demerit, and obtained, through meditation on the deity, final exemption from existence.

Such, Maitreya, was the Daitya Prahláda, the wise and faithful worshipper of Vishńu, of whom you wished to hear; and such was his miraculous power. Whoever listens to the history of Prahláda is immediately cleansed from his sins: the iniquities that he commits, by night or by day, shall be expiated by once hearing, or once reading, the history of Prahláda. The perusal of this history on the day of full moon, of new moon, or on the eighth or twelfth day of the lunation²²⁹, shall yield fruit equal to the donation of a cow²³⁰. As Vishńu protected Prahláda in all the calamities to which he was exposed, so shall the deity protect him who listens constantly to the tale²³¹.

Chapter XXI

Families of the Daityas. Descendants of Kaśyapa by Danu. Children of Kaśyapa by his other wives. Birth of the Márutas, the sons of Diti.

THE sons of Sanhráda, the son of Hirańyakaśipu, were Áyushmán, Śivi, and Váshkala²³². Prahláda had a son named Virochana; whose son was Bali, who had a hundred sons, of whom Báńa was the eldest²³³.

Hirańyáksha also had many sons, all of whom were Daityas of great prowess; Jharjhara, Śakuni, Bhútasantápana, Mahánábha, the mighty-armed and the valiant Táraka. These were the sons of Diti²³⁴.

The children of Kaśyapa by Danu were Dwimúrddhá, Śankara, Ayomukha, Śankuśiras, Kapila, Samvara, Ekachakra, and another mighty Táraka, Swarbhánu, Vrishaparvan, Puloman, and the powerful Viprachitti; these were the renowned Dánavas, or sons of Danu²³⁵.

Swarbhánu had a daughter named Prabhá²³⁶; and Śarmisht́há²³⁷ was the daughter of Vrishaparvan, as were Upadánaví and Hayaśirá²³⁸.

Vaiswánara²³⁹ had two daughters, Pulomá and Káliká, who were both married to Kaśyapa, and bore him sixty thousand distinguished Dánavas, called Paulomas and Kálakanjas²⁴⁰, who were powerful, ferocious, and cruel.

The sons of Viprachitti by Sinhiká (the sister of Hirańyakaśipu) were Vyanśa, Śalya the strong, Nabha the powerful, Vátápi, Namuchi, Ilwala, Khasrima, Anjaka, Naraka, and Kálanábha, the valiant Swarbhánu, and the mighty Vaktrayodhí²⁴¹. These were the most eminent Dánavas²⁴², through whom the race of Danu was multiplied by hundreds and thousands through succeeding generations.

In the family of the Daitya Prahláda, the Niváta Kavachas were born, whose spirits were purified by rigid austerity²⁴³.

Támrá (the wife of Kaśyapa) had six illustrious daughters, named Śukí, Śyení, Bhásí, Sugríví, Śuchi, and Gridhriká. Śukí gave birth to parrots, owls, and crows²⁴⁴; Śyení to hawks; Bhásí to kites; Gridhriká to vultures; Śuchi to water-fowl; Sugríví to horses, camels, and asses. Such were the progeny of Támrá.

Vinatá bore to Kaśyapa two celebrated sons, Garud́a and Aruńa: the former, also called Suparńa, was the king of the feathered tribes, and the remorseless enemy of the serpent race²⁴⁵.

The children of Surasá were a thousand mighty many-headed serpents, traversing the sky²⁴⁶.

The progeny of Kadru were a thousand powerful many-headed serpents, of immeasurable might, subject to Garud́a; the chief amongst whom were Śesha, Vásuki, Takshaka, Śankha, Śweta, Mahápadma, Kambala, Áswatara, Elápatra, Nága, Karkkota, Dhananjaya, and many other fierce and venomous serpents²⁴⁷.

The family of Krodhavasá were all sharp-toothed monsters²⁴⁸, whether on the earth, amongst the birds, or in the waters, that were devourers of flesh.

²⁴⁹ Surabhi was the mother of cows and buffaloes²⁵⁰: Irá, of trees and creeping plants and shrubs, and every kind of grass: Khasá, of the Rákshasas and Yakshas²⁵¹: Muni, of the Apsarasas²⁵²: and Arisht́á, of the illustrious Gandharbas.

These were the children of Kaśyapa, whether movable or stationary, whose descendants multiplied infinitely through successive generations²⁵³. This creation, oh Brahman, took place in the second or Swárochisha Manwantara. In the present or Vaivaswata Manwantara, Brahmá being engaged at the great sacrifice instituted by Varuńa, the creation of progeny, as it is called, occurred; for he begot, as his sons, the seven Rishis, who were formerly mind-engendered; and was himself the grand-sire of the Gandharbas, serpents, Dánavas, and gods²⁵⁴.

Diti, having lost her children, propitiated Kaśyapa; and the best of ascetics, being pleased with her, promised her a boon; on which she prayed for a son of irresistible prowess and valour, who should destroy Indra. The excellent Muni granted his wife the great gift she had solicited, but with one condition: "You shall bear a son," he said, "who shall slay Indra, if with thoughts wholly pious, and person entirely pure, you carefully carry the babe in your womb for a hundred years." Having thus said, Kaśyapa departed; and the dame conceived, and during gestation assiduously observed the rules of mental and personal purity. When the king of the immortals, learnt that Diti bore a son destined for his destruction, he came to her, and attended upon her with the utmost humility, watching for an opportunity to disappoint her intention. At last, in the last year of the century, the opportunity occurred. Diti retired one night to rest without performing the prescribed ablution of her feet, and fell asleep; on which the thunderer divided with his thunderbolt the embryo in her womb into seven portions. The child, thus mutilated, cried bitterly; and Indra repeatedly attempted to console and silence it, but in vain: on which the god, being incensed, again divided each of the seven portions into seven, and thus formed the swift-moving deities called Márutas (winds). They derived this appellation from the words with which Indra had addressed them (Má rodíh, 'Weep not'); and they became forty-nine subordinate divinities, the associates of the wielder of the thunderbolt²⁵⁵.

Chapter XXII

Dominion over different provinces of creation assigned to different beings. Universality of Vishńu. Four varieties of spiritual contemplation. Two conditions of spirit. The perceptible attributes of Vishńu types of his imperceptible properties. Vishńu every thing. Merit of hearing the first book of the Vishńu Puráńa.

WHEN Prithu was installed in the government of the earth, the great father of the spheres established sovereignties in other parts of the creation. Soma was appointed monarch of the stars and planets, of Brahmans and of plants, of sacrifices and of penance. Vaisravańa was made king over kings; and Varuńa, over the waters. Vishńu was the chief of the Ádityas; Pávaka, of the Vasus; Daksha, of the patriarchs; Vásava, of the winds. To Prahláda was assigned dominion over the Daityas and Dánavas; and Yama, the king of justice, was appointed the monarch of the Manes (Pitris). Airávata was made the king of elephants; Garud́a, of birds; Indra, of the gods. Uchchaiśravas was the chief of horses; Vrishabha, of kine. Śesha became the snake-king; the lion, the monarch of the beasts; and the sovereign of the trees was the holy fig-tree²⁵⁶. Having thus fixed the limits of each authority, the great progenitor Brahmá stationed rulers for the protection of the different quarters of the world: he made Sudhanwan, the son of the patriarch Viraja, the regent of the east; Sankhapáda, the son of the patriarch Kardama, of the south; the immortal Ketumat, the son of Rajas, regent of the west; and Hirańyaroman, the son of the patriarch Parjanya, regent of the north²⁵⁷. By these the whole earth, with its seven continents and its cities, is to the present day vigilantly protected, according to their several limits.

All these monarchs, and whatever others may be invested with authority by the mighty Vishńu, as instruments for the preservation of the world; all the kings who have been, and all who shall be; are all, most worthy Brahman, but portions of the universal Vishńu. The rulers of the gods, the rulers of the Daityas, the rulers of the Dánavas, and the rulers of all malignant spirits; the chief amongst beasts, amongst birds, amongst men, amongst serpents; the best of trees, of mountains, of planets; either those that now are, or that shall hereafter be, the most exalted of their kind; are but portions of the universal Vishńu. The power of protecting created things, the preservation of the world, resides with no other than Hari, the lord of all. He is the creator, who creates the world; he, the eternal, preserves it in its existence; and he, the destroyer, destroys it; invested severally with the attributes of foulness, goodness, and gloom. By a fourfold manifestation does Janárddana operate in creation, preservation, and destruction. In one portion, as Brahmá, the invisible assumes a visible form; in another portion he, as Maríchi and the rest, is the progenitor of all creatures; his third portion is time; his fourth is all beings: and thus he becomes quadruple in creation, invested with the quality of passion. In the preservation of the world he is, in one portion, Vishńu; in another portion he is Manu and the other patriarchs; he is time in a third; and all beings in a fourth portion: and thus, endowed with the property of goodness, Purushottama preserves the world. When he assumes the property of darkness, at the end of all things, the unborn deity becomes in one portion Rudra; in another, the destroying fire; in a third, time; and in a fourth, all beings: and thus, in a quadruple form, he is the destroyer of the world. This, Brahman, is the fourfold condition of the deity at all seasons.

Brahmá, Daksha, time, and all creatures are the four energies of Hari, which are the causes of creation. Vishńu, Manu and the rest, time, and all creatures are the four energies of Vishńu, which are the causes of duration. Rudra, the destroying fire, time, and all creatures are the four energies of Janárddana that are exerted for universal dissolution. In the beginning and the duration of the world, until the period of its end, creation is the work of Brahmá, the patriarchs, and living animals. Brahmá creates in the beginning; then the patriarchs beget progeny; and then animals incessantly multiply their kinds: but Brahmá is not the active agent in creation, independent of time; neither are the patriarchs, nor living animals. So, in the periods of creation and of dissolution, the four portions of the god of gods are equally essential. Whatever, oh Brahman, is engendered by any living being, the body of Hari is cooperative in the birth of that being; so whatever destroys any existing thing, movable or stationary, at any time, is the destroying form of Janárddana as Rudra. Thus Janárddana is the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer of the whole world--being threefold--in the several seasons of creation, preservation, and destruction, according to his assumption of the three qualities: but his highest glory²⁵⁸ is detached from all qualities; for the fourfold essence of the supreme spirit is composed of true wisdom, pervades all things, is only to be appreciated by itself, and admits of no similitude.

MAITREYA.--But, Muni, describe to me fully the four varieties of the condition of Brahma, and what is the supreme condition²⁵⁹.

PARÁŚARA.--That, Maitreya, which is the cause of a thing is called the means of effecting it; and that which it is the desire of the soul to accomplish is the thing to be effected. The operations of the Yogi who is desirous of liberation, as suppression of breath and the like, are his means: the end is the supreme Brahma, whence he returns to the world no more. Essentially connected with, and dependant upon, the means employed for emancipation by the Yogi, is discriminative knowledge; and this is the first variety of the condition of Brahma²⁶⁰. The second sort is the knowledge that is to be acquired by the Yogi whose end is escape from suffering, or eternal felicity. The third kind is the ascertainment of the identity of the end and the means, the rejection of the notion of duality. The last kind is the removal of whatever differences may have been conceived by the three first varieties of knowledge, and the consequent contemplation of the true essence of soul. The supreme condition of Vishńu, who is one with wisdom, is the knowledge of truth; which requires no exercise; which is not to be taught; which is internally diffused; which is unequalled; the object of which is self-illumination; which is simply existent, and is not to be defined; which is tranquil, fearless, pure; which is not the theme of reasoning; which stands in need of no support²⁶¹. Those Yogis who, by the annihilation of ignorance, are resolved into this fourfold Brahma, lose the seminal property, and can no longer germinate in the ploughed field of worldly existence. This is the supreme condition, that is called Vishńu, perfect, perpetual, universal, undecaying, entire, and uniform: and the Yogi who attains this supreme spirit (Brahma) returns not to life again; for there he is freed from the distinction of virtue and vice, from suffering, and from soil.

There are two states of this Brahma; one with, and one without shape; one perishable, and one imperishable; which are inherent in all beings. The imperishable is the supreme being; the perishable is all the world. The blaze of fire burning on one spot diffuses light and heat around; so the world is nothing more than the manifested energy of the supreme Brahma: and inasmuch, Maitreya, as the light and heat are stronger or feebler as we are near to the fire, or far off from it, so the energy of the supreme is more or less intense in the beings that are less or more remote from him. Brahma, Vishńu, and Śiva are the most powerful energies of god; next to them are the inferior deities, then the attendant spirits, then men, then animals, birds, insects, vegetables; each becoming more and more feeble as they are farther from their primitive source. In this way, illustrious Brahman, this whole world, although in essence imperishable and eternal, appears and disappears, as if it was subject to birth and death.

The supreme condition of Brahma, which is meditated by the Yogis in the commencement of their abstraction, as invested with form, is Vishńu, composed of all the divine energies, and the essence of Brahma, with whom the mystic union that is sought, and which is accompanied by suitable elements, is effected²⁶² by the devotee whose whole mind is addressed to that object. This Hari, who is the most immediate of all the energies of Brahma, is his embodied shape, composed entirely of his essence; and in him therefore is the whole world interwoven; and from him, and in him, is the universe; and he, the supreme lord of all, comprising all that is perishable and imperishable, bears upon him all material and spiritual existence, identified in nature with his ornaments and weapons.

MAITREYA.--Tell me in what manner Vishńu bears the whole world, abiding in his nature, characterised by ornaments and weapons.

PARÁŚARA.--Having offered salutation to the mighty and indescribable Vishńu, I repeat to you what was formerly related to me by Vaśisht́ha. The glorious Hari wears the pure soul of the world, undefiled, and void of qualities, as the Kaustubha gem. The chief principle of things (Pradhána) is seated on the eternal, as the Srivatsa mark. Intellect abides in Mádhava, in the form of his mace. The lord (Íśwara) supports egotism (Ahankára) in its twofold division, into elements and organs of sense, in the emblems of his conch-shell and his bow. In his hand Vishńu holds, in the form of his discus, the mind, whose thoughts (like the weapon) fly swifter than the winds. The necklace of the deity Vaijayantí, composed of five precious gems²⁶³, is the aggregate of the five elemental rudiments. Janárddana bears, in his numerous shafts, the faculties both of action and of perception. The bright sword of Achyuta is holy wisdom, concealed at some seasons in the scabbard of ignorance. In this manner soul, nature, intellect, egotism, the elements, the senses, mind, ignorance, and wisdom, are all assembled in the person of Hrishikeśa. Hari, in a delusive form, embodies the shapeless elements of the world, as his weapons and his ornaments, for the salvation of mankind²⁶⁴. Puńd́arikáksha, the lord of all, assumes nature, with all its products, soul and all the world. All that is wisdom, all that is ignorance, all that is, all that is not, all that is everlasting, is centred in the destroyer of Madhu, the lord of all creatures. The supreme, eternal Hari is time, with its divisions of seconds, minutes, days, months, seasons, and years: he is the seven worlds, the earth, the sky, heaven, the world of patriarchs, of sages, of saints, of truth: whose form is all worlds; first-born before all the first-born; the supporter of all beings, himself self-sustained: who exists in manifold forms, as gods, men, and animals; and is thence the sovereign lord of all, eternal: whose shape is all visible things; who is without shape or form: who is celebrated in the Vedanta as the Rich, Yajush, Sáma, and Atharva Vedas, inspired history, and sacred science. The Vedas, and their divisions; the institutes of Manu and other lawgivers; traditional scriptures, and religious manuals²⁶⁵; poems, and all that is said or sung; are the body of the mighty Vishńu, assuming the form of sound. All kinds of substances, with or without shape, here or elsewhere, are the body of Vishńu. I am Hari. All that I behold is Janárddana; cause and effect are from none other than him. The man who knows these truths shall never again experience the afflictions of worldly existence.

Thus, Brahman, has the first portion of this Puráńa been duly revealed to you: listening to which, expiates all offences. The man who hears this Puráńa obtains the fruit of bathing in the Pushkara lake²⁶⁶ for twelve years, in the month of Kártik. The gods bestow upon him who hears this work the dignity of a divine sage, of a patriarch, or of a spirit of heaven.

Footnotes

1. An address of this kind, to one or other Hindu divinity, usually introduces Sanscrit compositions, especially those considered sacred. The first term of this mantra or brief prayer, Om or Omkára, is well known as a combination of letters invested by Hindu mysticism with peculiar sanctity. In the Vedas it is said to comprehend all the gods; and in the Puráńas it is directed to be prefixed to all such formulæ as that of the text. Thus in the Uttara Khańd́a of the Pádma Puráńa: 'The syllable Om, the mysterious name, or Brahma, is the leader of all prayers: let it therefore, O lovely-faced, (Śiva addresses Durgá,) be employed in the beginning of all prayers:' According to the same authority, one of the mystical imports of the term is the collective enunciation of Vishńu expressed by A, of Srí his bride intimated by U, and of their joint worshipper designated by M. A whole chapter of the Váyu Puráńa is devoted to this term. A text of the Vedas is there cited: 'Om, the monosyllable Brahma;' the latter meaning either the Supreme Being or the Vedas collectively, of which this monosyllable is the type. It is also said to typify the three spheres of the world, the three holy fires, the three steps of Vishńu, &c.--Frequent meditation upon it, and repetition of it, ensure release from worldly existence. See also Manu, II. 76. Vásudeva, a name of Vishńu or Krishńa, is, according to its grammatical etymology, a patronymic derivative implying son of Vasudeva. The Vaishńava Puráńas, however, devise other explanations: see the next chapter, and again, b. VI. c. 5.

2. In this stanza occurs a series of the appellations of Vishńu: 1. Puńd́aríkáksha, having eyes like a lotus, or heart-pervading; or Puńd́aríka is explained supreme glory, and Aksha imperishable: the first is the most usual etymon. 2. Víswabhávana, the creator of the universe, or the cause of the existence of all things. 3. Hrishíkeśa, lord of the senses. 4. Mahá purusha, great or supreme spirit; purusha meaning that which abides or is quiescent in body (puri sété), 5. Púrvaja, produced or appearing before creation; the Orphic πρωτογόνος. In the fifth book, c. 18, Vishńu is described by five appellations, which are considered analogous to these; or, 1. Bhútátmá, one with created things, or Puńd́aríkáksha; 2. Pradhánátmá, one with crude nature, or Viśwabhávana; 3. Indriyátmá, one with the senses, or Hrishikeśa; 4. Paramátmá, supreme spirit, or Mahápurusha; and Átmá, soul; living soul, animating nature and existing before it, or Púrvaja.

3. Brahma, in the neuter form, is abstract supreme spirit; and Íśwara is the Deity in his active nature, he who is able to do or leave undone, or to do any thing in any other manner than that in which it is done.

4. Pumán which is the same with Purusha, incorporated spirit. By this and the two preceding terms also the commentator understands the text to signify that Vishńu is any form of spiritual being that is acknowledged by different philosophical systems, or that he is the Brahma of the Vedánta, the Íśwara of the Pátanjala, and the Purusha of the Sánkhya school.

5. The three qualities, to which we shall have further occasion to advert, are, Satya, goodness or purity, knowledge, quiescence; Rajas, foulness, passion, activity; and Tamas, darkness, ignorance, inertia.

6. Pradhánabuddhyádisú. This predicate of the Deity distinguishes most of the Puráńas from several of the philosophical systems, which maintain, as did the earliest Grecian systems of cosmogony, the eternal and independent existence of the first principle of things, as nature, matter, or chaos. Accordingly, the commentator notices the objection. Pradhána being without beginning, it is said how can Vishńu be its parent? To which he replies, that this is not so, for in a period of worldly destruction (Pralaya), when the Creator desists from creating, nothing is generated by virtue of any other energy or parent. Or, if this be not satisfactory, then the text may be understood to imply that intellect (Buddhi) &c. are formed through the materiality of crude nature, or Pradhána.

7. Vishńu is commonly derived in the Puráńas from the root Vis, to enter, entering into, or pervading the universe, agreeably to the text of the Vedas, 'Having created that (world), he then afterwards enters into it;' being, as our comment observes, undistinguished by place, time, or property. According to the Mátsya P. the name alludes to his entering into the mundane egg: according to the Padma P., to his entering into or combining with Prakriti, as Purusha or spirit. In the Moksha Dharma of the Mahábhárata, s. 165, the word is derived from the root ví, signifying motion, pervasion, production, radiance; or, irregularly, from krama, to go with the particle vi, implying, variously, prefixed.

8. Brahmá and the rest is said to apply to the series of teachers through whom this Puráńa was transmitted from its first reputed author, Brahmá, to its actual narrator, the sage Paráśara. See also b. VI. c. 8.

9. The Guru, or spiritual preceptor, is said to be Kapila or Sáraswata; the latter is included in the series of teachers of the Puráńa. Paráśara must be considered also as a disciple of Kapila, as a teacher of the Sánkhya philosophy.

10. Maitreya is the disciple of Paráśara, who relates the Vishńu Puráńa to him; he is also one of the chief interlocutors in the Bhágavata, and is introduced in the Mahábhárata (Vana Parva, s. 10.) as a great Rishi, or sage, who denounces Duryodhana's death. In the Bhágavata he is also termed Kausháravi, or the son of Kusharava.

11. One copy reads Yuga dherma, the duties peculiar to the four ages, or their characteristic properties, instead of Yugánta.

12. Sacrifice of Paráśara. The story of Paráśara's birth is narrated in detail in the Mahábhárata (Ádi Parva, s. 176). King Kalmáshapáda meeting with Sakti, the son of Vaśisht́ha, in a narrow path in a thicket, desired him to stand out of his way. The sage refused: on which the Rája beat him with his whip, and Sakti cursed him to become a Rákshas, a man-devouring spirit. The Rája in this transformation killed and ate its author, or Sakti, together with all the other sons of Vaśisht́ha. Sakti left his wife Adriśyantí pregnant, and she gave birth to Paráśara, who was brought up by p. 5 his grandfather. When he grew up, and was informed of his father's death, he instituted a sacrifice for the destruction of all the Rákshasas; but was dissuaded from its completion by Vaśisht́ha and other sages or Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, and Kratu. The Mahábhárata adds, that when he desisted from the rite, he scattered the remaining sacrificial fire upon the northern face of the Himálaya mountain, where it still blazes forth at the phases of the moon, consuming Rákshasas, forests, and mountains. The legend alludes possibly to some transhimalayan volcano. The transformation of Kalmáshapáda is ascribed in other places to a different cause; but he is every where regarded as the devourer of Sakti or Saktri, as the name also occurs. The story is told in the Linga Puráńa (Púrvárddha, s. 64) in the same manner, with the addition, conformably to the Saiva tendency of that work, that Paráśara begins his sacrifice by propitiating Mahádeva. Vaśisht́ha's dissuasion, and Pulastya's appearance, are given in the very words of our text; and the story concludes, 'thus through the favour of Pulastya and of the wise Vaśisht́ha, Paráśara composed the Vaishńava (Vishńu) Puráńa, containing ten thousand stanzas, and being the third of the Puráńa compilations' (Puráńasanhitá). The Bhágavata (b. III. s. 8) also alludes, though obscurely, to this legend. In recapitulating the succession of the narrators of part of the Bhágavata, Maitreya states that this first Puráńa was communicated to him by his Guru Paráśara, as he had been desired by Pulastya: i. e. according to the commentator, agreeably to the boon given by Pulastya to Paráśara, saying, You shall be a narrator of Puráńas;. The Mahábhárata makes no mention of the communication of this faculty to Paráśara by Pulastya; and as the Bhágavata could not derive this particular from that source, it here most probably refers unavowedly, as the Linga does avowedly, to the Vishńu Puráńa.

13. Pulastya, as will be presently seen, is one of the Rishis, who were the mind-born sons of Brahmá. Pulaha, who is here also named, is another. Pulastya is considered as the ancestor of the Rákshasas, as he is the father of Visravas, the father of Rávana and his brethren. Uttara Rámáyańa. Mahábhárata, Vana Parva, s. 272. Pádma Pur. Linga Pur. s. 63.

14. Puráńa sanhitá kerttá Bhaván bha p. 6 vishyati. You shall be a maker of the Sanhitá, or compendium of the Puráńas, or of the Vishńu Puráńa, considered as a summary or compendium of Pauranic traditions. In either sense it is incompatible with the general attribution of all the Puráńas to Vyása.

15. Whether performing the usual ceremonies of the Brahmans, or leading a life of devotion and penance, which supersedes the necessity of rites and sacrifices.

16. These are, in fact, the brief replies to Maitreya's six questions (p. 3), or, How was the world created? By Vishńu. How will it be? At the periods of dissolution it will be in Vishńu. Whence proceeded animate and inanimate things? From Vishńu. Of what is the substance of the world? Vishńu. Into what has it been, and will it again he, resolved? Vishńu. He is therefore both the instrumental and material cause of the universe. 'The answer to the "whence" replies to the query as to the instrumental cause: "He is the world" replies to the inquiry as to the material cause.' 'And by this explanation of the agency of the materiality, &c. of Vishńu, as regards the universe, (it follows that) all will be produced from, and all will repose in him.' We have here precisely the τὸ πᾶν of the Orphic doctrines, and we might fancy that Brucker was translating a passage from a Puráńa when he describes them in these words: "Continuisse Jovem (lege Vishnum) sive summum ortum in se omnia, omnibus ortum ex se dedisse, omnia ex se genuisse, et ex sua produxisse essentia. Spiritum esse universi qui omnia regit vivificat estque; ex quibus necessario sequitur omnia in eum reditura." Hist. Philos. I. 388. Jamblichus and Proclus also testify that the Pythagorean doctrines of the origin of the material world from the Deity, and its identity with him, were much the same. Cudworth, l. c. p. 348.

17. The three hypostases of Vishńu. Hirańyagarbha is a name of Brahmá; he who was born from the golden egg. Hari is Vishńu, and Śankara Siva. The Vishńu who is the subject of our text is the supreme being in all these three divinities or hypostases, in his different characters of creator, preserver and destroyer. Thus in the Márkańd́eya: 'Accordingly, as the primal all-pervading spirit is distinguished by attributes in creation and the rest, so he obtains the denomination of Brahmá, Vishńu, and Śiva. In the capacity of Brahmá he creates the worlds; in that of Rudra he destroys them; in that of Vishńu he is quiescent. These are the three Avasthás (ht. hypostases) of the self-born. Brahmá is the quality of activity; Rudra that of darkness; Vishńu, the lord of the world, is goodness: so, therefore, the three gods are the three qualities. They are ever combined with, and dependent upon one another; and they are never for an instant separate; they never quit each other.' The notion is one common to all antiquity, although less philosophically conceived, or perhaps less distinctly expressed, in the passages which have come down to us. The τρεῖς ἀρχικὰς ὑποστάσεις of Plato are said by Cudworth (I. 111), upon the authority of Plotinus, to be an ancient doctrine, παλαιὰ δόξα: and he also observes, "Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Plato have all of them asserted a trinity of divine hypostases; and as they unquestionably derived much of their doctrine from the Egyptians, it may reasonably be suspected that the Egyptians did the like before them." As however the Grecian accounts, and those of the Egyptians, are much more perplexed and unsatisfactory than those of the Hindus, it is most probable that we find amongst them the doctrine in its most original as well as most methodical and significant form.

18. This address to Vishńu pursues the notion that he, as the supreme being, is one, whilst he is all: he is Avikára, not subject to change; Sadaikarúpa, one invariable nature: he is the liberator (tára), or he who bears mortals across the ocean of existence: he is both single and manifold (ekánekarúpa): and he is the indiscrete (avyakta) cause of the world, as well as the discrete (vyakta) effect; or the invisible cause, and visible creation.

19. Jaganmaya, made up, or consisting substantially of the world. Maya is an affix denoting 'made' or 'consisting of,' as Kásht́ha maya, 'made of wood.' The world is therefore not regarded by the Pauranics as an emanation or an illusion, but as consubstantial with its first cause.

20. Ańíyánsam ańíyasám, 'the most atomic of the atomic;' alluding to the atomic theory of the Nyáya or logical school.

21. Or Achyuta; a common name of Vishńu, from a, privative, and chyuta, fallen; according to our comment, 'he who does not perish with created things.' The Mahábhárata interprets it in one place to mean, 'he who is not distinct from final emancipation;' and in another to signify, 'exempt from decay'. A commentator on the Káśikhańd́a of the Skánda Puráńa explains it, 'he who never declines (or varies) from his own proper nature.'

22. This is another common title of Vishńu, implying supreme, best (Uttama), spirit (Purusha), or male, or sacrifice, or, according to the Mahábh. Moksha Dharma, whatever sense Purusha may bear.

23. Paramárthatas, 'by or through the real object, or sense; through actual truth.'

24. Bhránti derśanatas, 'false appearances,' in opposition to actual truth. 'By the nature of visible objects': Artha is explained by driśya, 'visible;' swarúpena 'by the nature of:' that is, visible objects are not what they seem to be, independent existences; they are essentially one with their original source: and knowledge of their true nature or relation to Vishńu, is knowledge of Vishńu himself. This is not the doctrine of Máyá, or the influence of illusion, which alone, according to Vedánta idealism, constitutes belief in the existence of matter: a doctrine foreign to most of the Puráńas, and first introduced amongst them apparently by the Bhágavata.

25. A different and more detailed account of the transmission of the Vishńu Puráńa is given in the last book, c. 8.

26. The ordinary derivation of Vásudeva has been noticed above (p. 1): here it is derived from Vas, 'to dwell,' from Vishńu's abiding in all things, and all in him. The Mahábhárata explains Vásu in the same manner, and Deva to signify radiant, shining: 'He causes all things to dwell in him, and he abides in all; whence he is named Vásu: being resplendent as the sun, he is called Deva: and he who is both these, is denominated Vásudeva.' See also b. VI. c. 5.

27. The commentator argues that Vásudeva must be the Brahma, or supreme being, of the Vedas, because the same circumstances are predicated of both, as eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence, &c.; but he does not adduce any scriptural text with the name Vásudeva.

28. Time is not usually enumerated in the Puráńas as an element of the first cause, but the Padma P. and the Bhágavata p. 10 agree with the Vishńu in including it. It appears to have been regarded at an earlier date as an independent cause: the commentator on the Moksha Dherma cites a passage from the Vedas, which he understands to allude to the different theories of the cause of creation. Time, inherent nature, consequence of acts, self-will, elementary atoms, matter, and spirit, asserted severally by the Astrologers, the Buddhists, the Mimánsakas, the Jains, the Logicians, the Sánkhyas, and the Vedántis. Κρόνος was also one of the first generated agents in creation, according to the Orphic theogony.

29. The creation of the world is very commonly considered to be the Lilá, sport or amusement, of the Supreme Being.

30. The attributes of Pradhána, the chief (principle or element), here specified, conform generally to those ascribed to it by the Sánkhya philosophy (Sánkhya Káriká, p. 16, &c.), although some of them are incompatible with its origin from a first cause. In the Sánkhya this incongruity does not occur; for there Pradhána is independent, and coordinate with primary spirit. The Puráńas give rise to the inconsistency by a lax use of both philosophical and pantheistical expressions. The most incongruous epithets in our text are however explained away in the comment. Thus nitya, 'eternal,' is said to mean 'uniform, not liable to increase or diminution:' Sadasadátmaka, 'comprehending what is and what is not,' means 'having the power of both cause and effect', as proceeding from Vishńu, and as giving origin to material things. Anádi, 'without beginning,' means 'without birth', not being engendered by any created thing, but proceeding immediately from the first cause. 'The mother,' or literally the womb of the world', means the passive agent in creation,' operated on or influenced by the active will of the Creator. The first part of the passage in the text is a favourite one with several of. the Puráńas, but they modify it and apply it after their own fashion. In the Vishńu the original is ###, rendered as above. The Váyu, Brahmánda, and p. 11 Kúrmma Puráńas have 'The indiscrete cause, which is uniform, and both cause and effect, and whom those who are acquainted with first principles call Pradhána and Prakriti--is the uncognizable Brahma, who was before all.' But the application of two synonymes of Prakriti to Brahma seems unnecessary at least. The Brahmá P. corrects the reading apparently: the first line is as before; the second is, ###. The passage is placed absolutely; 'There was an indiscrete cause eternal, and cause and effect, which was both matter and spirit (Pradhána and Purusha), from which this world was made. Instead of 'such' or this,' some copies read 'from which Íśwara or god (the active deity or Brahmá) made the world.' The Hari Vanśa has the same reading, except in the last term, which it makes ### that is, according to the commentator, the world, which is Íśwara, was made.' The same authority explains this indiscrete cause, avyakta kárana, to denote Brahmá, the creator an identification very unusual, if not inaccurate, and possibly founded on misapprehension of what is stated by the Bhavishya P.: 'That male or spirit which is endowed with that which is the indiscrete cause, &c. is known in the world as Brahmá: he being in the egg, &c.' The passage is precisely the same in Manu, I, 11; except that we have 'visrishta' instead of 'viśisht́ha:' the latter is a questionable reading, and is probably wrong: the sense of the latter is, detached; and the whole means very consistently, 'embodied spirit detached from the indiscrete cause of the world is known as Brahmá.' The Padma P. inserts the first line, ### &c., but has 'Which creates undoubtedly Mahat and the other qualities' assigning the first epithets, therefore, as the Vishńu does, to Prakriti only. The Linga also refers the expression to Prakriti alone, but makes it a secondary cause: 'An indiscrete cause, which those acquainted with first principles call Pradhána and Prakriti, proceeded from that Íśwara (Śiva).' This passage is one of very many instances in which expressions are common to several Puráńas that seem to be borrowed from one another, or from some common source older than any of them, especially in this instance, as the same text occurs in Manu.

31. The expression of the text is rather obscure; 'All was pervaded (or comprehended) by that chief principle before (recreation), after the (last) destruction.' The ellipses are filled up by the commentator. This, he adds, is to be regarded as the state of things at a Mahá Pralaya, or total dissolution; leaving, therefore, crude matter, nature, or chaos, as a coexistent element with the Supreme. This, which is conformable to the philosophical doctrine, is not however that of the Puráńas in general, nor p. 12 that of our text, which states (b. VI. c. 4), that at a Prákrita, or elementary dissolution, Pradhána itself merges into the deity. Neither is it apparently the doctrine of the Vedas, although their language is somewhat equivocal.

32. The metre here is one common to the Vedas, Trishtubh, but in other respects the language is not characteristic of those compositions. The purport of the passage is rendered somewhat doubtful by its close, and by the explanation of the commentator. The former is, 'One Pradhánika Brahma Spirit: THAT, was. The commentator explains Pradhánika, Pradhána eva, the same word as Pradhána; but it is a derivative word, which may be used attributively, implying 'having, or conjoined with, Pradhána.' The commentator, however, interprets it as the substantive; for he adds, 'There was Pradhána and Brahma and Spirit; this triad was at the period of dissolution.' He evidently, however, understands their conjoint existence as one only; for he continues, 'So, according to the Vedas, then there was neither the existent (invisible cause, or matter) nor the non-existent (visible effect, or creation),' meaning that there was only One Being, in whom matter and its modifications were all comprehended.

33. Or it might be rendered, 'Those two other forms (which proceed) from his supreme nature;' that is, from the nature of Vishńu, when he is Nirupádhi, or without adventitious attributes: ### 'other' (###); the commentator states they are other or separate from Vishńu only through Máyá, illusion,' but here implying false notion;' the elements of creation being in essence one with Vishńu, though in existence detached and different.

34. Pradhána, when unmodified, is, according to the Sánkhyas and Pauráńics, nothing more than the three qualities in equilibrio, or goodness, foulness, and darkness neutralising each other; (Sánkhya p. 13 Káriká, p. 52;) so in the Matsya P.: ###. This state is synonymous with the non-evolution of material products, or with dissolution; implying, however, separate existence, and detached from spirit This being the case, it is asked who. should sustain matter and spirit whilst separate, or renew their combination so as to renovate creation? It is answered, Time, which is when every thing else is not; and which, at the end of a certain interval, unites Matter, Pradhána, and Purusha, and produces creation. Conceptions of this kind are evidently comprised in the Orphic triad, or the ancient notion of the cooperation of three such principles in creation; as Phanes or Eros, which is the Hindu spirit or Purusha; Chaos, matter or Pradhána; and Chronos, or Kála, time.

35. Pradhána is styled Vyaya 'that which may be expended;' or Parińámin, 'which may be modified:' and Purusha is called Avyaya, 'inconsumable; or apariná.min, 'immutable.' The expressions 'having entered into,' and 'agitated,' recall the mode in which divine intelligence, mens, νοῦς, was conceived by the ancients to operate upon matter:
Φρὴν . . . φροντίσι κόσμον ἃπαντα . . . . καταΐσσουσα θόησιν: or as in a more familiar passage; Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem et magno se corpore miscet: or perhaps it more closely approximates to the Phœnician cosmogony, in which a spirit mixing with its own principles gives rise to creation. Brucker, I. 240. As presently explained, the mixture is not mechanical; it is an influence or effect exerted upon intermediate agents, which produce effects; as perfumes do not delight the mind by actual contact, but by the impression they make upon the sense of smelling, which communicates it to the mind. The entrance of the supreme Vishńu into spirit as well as matter is less intelligible than the view elsewhere taken of it, as the infusion of spirit, identified with the Supreme, into Prakriti or matter alone. Thus in the Padma Puráńa: 'He who is called the male (spirit) of Prakriti, is here named Achyuta; and that same divine Vishńu entered into Prakriti.' So the Vrihat Naradiya: 'The lord of the world, who is called Purusha, producing agitation in Prakriti.' From the notion of influence or agitation produced on matter through or with spirit, the abuse of personification led to actual or vicarious admixture. Thus the Bhágavata, identifying Máyá with Prakriti, has, p. 14 'Through the operation of time, the Mighty One, who is present to the pure, implanted a seed in Máyá endowed with qualities, as Purusha, which is one with himself.' B. III. s.5. And the Bhavishya: 'Some learned men say, that the Supreme Being, desirous to create beings, creates in the commencement of the Kalpa a body of soul (or an incorporeal substance); which soul created by him enters into Prakriti; and Prakriti being thereby agitated, creates many material elements.' But these may be regarded as notions of a later date. In the Mahábhárata the first cause is declared to be 'Intellectual,' who creates by his mind or will: The first (Being) is called Mánasa (intellectual), and is so celebrated by great sages: he is God, without beginning or end, indivisible, immortal, undecaying.' And again: 'The Intellectual created many kinds of creatures by his mind.'

36. Contraction, Sankocha, is explained by Sámya, sameness or equilibrium of the three qualities, or inert Pradhána: and Expansion, Vikáśa, is the destruction of this equipoise, by previous agitation and consequent developement of material products.

37. The term here is Kshetrajna, 'embodied spirit,' or that which knows the kshetra or 'body;' implying the combination of spirit with form or matter, for the purpose of creating.

38. The first product of Pradhána sensible to divine, though not to mere human organs, is, both according to the Sánkhya and Pauráńic doctrines, the principle called Mahat, literally 'the Great,' explained in other places, as in our text, 'the production of the manifestation of the qualities:' or, as in the Váyu, ###. We have in the same Puráńa, as well as in the Brahmáńd́a and Linga, a number of synonymes for this term, as, ###. They are also explained, though not very distinctly, to the following purport: "Manas is that which considers the consequences of acts to all creatures, and provides for their happiness. Mahat, the Great principle, is so termed from being the first of the created principles, and from its extension being greater than that of the rest. Mati is that which discriminates and distinguishes objects preparatory to their fruition by Soul. Brahmá implies that which effects the developement and augmentation of created things. Pur p. 15 is that by which the concurrence of nature occupies and fills all bodies. Buddhi is that which communicates to soul the knowledge of good and evil. Khyáti is the means of individual fruition, or the faculty of discriminating objects by appropriate designations, and the like. Íśwara is that which knows all things as if they were present. Prajná is that by which the properties of things are known. Chiti is that by which the consequences of acts and species of knowledge are selected for the use of soul. Smriti is the faculty of recognising all things, past, present, or to come. Samvit is that in which all things are found or known, and which is found or known in all things: and Vipura is that which is free from the effects of contrarieties, as of knowledge and ignorance, and the like. Mahat is also called Íśwara, from its exercising supremacy over all things; Bháva, from its elementary existence; Eka, or 'the one,' from its singleness; Purusha, from its abiding within the body; and from its being ungenerated it is called Swayambhu." Now in this nomenclature we have chiefly two sets of words; one, as Manas, Buddhi, Mati, signifying mind, intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, design; and the other, as Brahmá, Íśwara, &c., denoting an active creator and ruler of the universe: as the Váyu adds, 'Mahat, impelled by the desire to create, causes various creation:' and the Mahábhárata has, 'Mahat created Ahankára.' The Puráńas generally employ the same expression, attributing to Mahat or Intelligence the 'act of creating. Mahat is therefore the divine mind in creative operation, the νοῦς ὁ διακόσμων τε καὶ πάντων ἀίτιος of Anaxagoras; an ordering and disposing mind, which was the cause of all things: The word itself suggests some relationship to the Phœnician Mot, which, like Mahat, was the first product of the mixture of spirit and matter, and the first rudiment of creation: "Ex connexione autem ejus spiritus prodiit mot . . . hinc seminium omnis creaturæ et omnium rerum creatio." Brucker, I. 240. Mot, it is true, . appears to be a purely material substance, whilst Mahat is an incorporeal substance; but they agree in their place in the cosmogony, and are something alike in name. How far also the Phœnician system has been accurately described, is matter of uncertainty. See Sánkhya Káriká, p. 83.

39. The sense of Ahankára cannot be very well rendered by any European term. It means the principle of individual existence, that which appropriates perceptions, and on which depend the notions, I think, I feel, I am. It might be expressed by the proposition of Descartes reversed; "Sum, ergo cogito, sentio," &c. The equivalent employed by Mr. Colebrooke, egotism, has the advantage of an analogous etymology, Ahankára being derived from Aham, 'I;' as in the Hari Vanśa: 'He (Brahmá), oh Bhárata, said, I will create creatures.' See also S. Káriká, p. 91.

40. These three varieties of Ahankára are also described in the Sánkhya Káriká, p. 92. Vaikárika, that which is productive, or susceptible of production, is the same as the Sátwika, or that which is combined with the property of goodness. Taijasa Ahankára is that which is endowed with Tejas, heat' or energy,' in consequence of its having the property of Rajas, 'passion' or 'activity;' and the third kind, Bhútádi, or 'elementary,' is the Támasa, or has the property of darkness. From the first kind proceed the senses; from the last, the rudimental unconscious elements; both kinds, which are equally of themselves inert, being rendered productive by the cooperation of the second, the energetic or active modification of Ahankára, which is therefore said to be the origin of both the senses and the elements.

41. The successive series of rudiments and elements, and their respectively engendering the rudiments and elements next in order, occur in most of the Puráńas, in nearly the same words. The Vrihannáradiya P. observes, 'They (the elements) in successive order acquire the property of causality one to the other.' The order is also the same; or, ether (ákás), wind or air (váyu), fire or light (tejas), water and earth; except in one passage of the Mahábhárata (Moksha Dherma, C. 9), where it is ether, water, fire, air, earth. The order of Empedocles was ether, fire, earth, water, air. Cudworth, I. 97. The investment (ávarańa) of each element by its own rudiment, and of each rudiment by its preceding gross and rudimental elements, is also met with in most of the chief Puráńas, as the Váyu, Padma, Linga, and Bhágavata; and traces p. 17 of it are found amongst the ancient cosmogonists; for Anaximander supposed, that when the world was made, a certain sphere or flame of fire, separated from matter (the Infinite), encompassed the air, which invested the earth as the bark does a tree:' Κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου ἀποκριθῆναι, καί τινα ἑκ τούτου φλογὸς σπαῖραν περιφυῆναι τῷ περὶ τὴν γῆν ἄερι, ὡς τῷ δένδρῳ φλοιόν. Euseb. Pr, I. 15. Some of the Puráńas, as the Matsya, Váyu, Linga, Bhágavata, and Márkańd́eya, add a description of a participation of properties amongst the elements, which is rather Vedánta than Sánkhya. According to this notion, the elements add to their characteristic properties those of the elements which precede them. Ákas has the single property of sound: air has those of touch and sound: fire has colour, touch, and sound: water has taste, colour, touch, and sound: and earth has smell and the rest, thus having five properties: or, as the Linga P. describes the series, ###.

42. Tanmátra, 'rudiment' or 'type,' from Tad, 'that,' for Tasmin, 'in that' gross element, and mátrá, 'subtile or rudimental form'. The rudiments are also the characteristic properties of the elements: as the Bhágavata; 'The rudiment of it (ether) is also its quality, sound; as a common designation may denote both a person who sees an object, and the object which is to be seen: that is, according to the commentator, suppose a person behind a wall called aloud, "An elephant! an elephant!" the term would equally indicate that an elephant was visible, and that somebody saw it. Bhag. II. 5.

43. The properties here alluded to are not those of goodness &c., but other properties assigned to perceptible objects by the Sánkhya doctrines, or Śánti, 'placidity;' Ghoratá, 'terror;' and Moha, 'dulness' or 'stupefaction.' S. Káriká, V.38. p, 119.

44. The Bhágavata, which gives a similar statement of the origin of the elements, senses, and divinities, specifies the last to be Diś (space), air, the sun, Prachetas, the Aswins, fire, Indra, Upendra, Mitra, and Ka or Prajápati, presiding over the senses, according to the comment, or severally over the ear, skin, eye, tongue, nose, speech, hands, feet, and excretory and generative organs. Bhag. II. 5. 31.

45. Avyaktánugraheńa. The expression is something equivocal, as Avyakta may here apply either to the First Cause or to matter. In either case the notion is the same, and the aggregation of the elements is the effect of the presidence of spirit, without any active interference of the indiscrete principle. The Avyakta is passive in the evolution and combination of Mahat and the rest. Pradhána is, no doubt, intended, but its identification with the Supreme is also implied. The term Anugraha may also refer to a classification of the order of creation, which will be again adverted to.

46. It is impossible not to refer this notion to the same origin as the widely diffused opinion of antiquity, of the first manifestation of the world in the form of an egg. "It seems to have been a favourite symbol, and very ancient, and we find it adopted among many nations." Bryant, III. 165. Traces of it occur amongst the Syrians, Persians, and Egyptians; and besides the Orphic egg amongst the Greeks, and that described by Aristophanes, Τέκτεν πρώτιστον ὑπηνέμιον νὺξ ἡ μελανόπτερος ὠόν part of the ceremony in the Dionysiaca and other mysteries consisted of the consecration of an egg; by which, according to Porphyry, was signified the world: Ἑρμηνεὺει δὲ τὸ ὠὸν τὸν κόσμον. Whether this egg typified the ark, as Bryant and Faber suppose, is not material to the proof of the antiquity and wide diffusion of the belief that the world in the beginning existed in such a figure. A similar account of the first aggregation of the elements in the form of an egg is given in all the Puráńas, with the usual epithet Haima or Hiranya, 'golden,' as it occurs in Manu, I. 9.

47. Here is another analogy to the doctrines of antiquity relating to the mundane egg: and as the first visible male being, who, as we shall hereafter see, united in himself the nature of either sex, abode in the egg, and issued from it; so "this firstborn of the world, whom they represented under two shapes and characters, and who sprung from the mundane egg, was the person from whom the mortals and immortals were derived. He was the same as Dionusus, whom they styled, πρωτόγονον διφνῆ τρίγονον Βακχεῖον Ἄνακτα Ἄγριον ἀρρητὸν κρύφιον δικέρωτα δίμοφον:" or, with the omission of one epithet, , ###.

48. Janárddana is derived from Jana, 'men,' and Arddana, 'worship;' 'the object of adoration to mankind.'

49. This is the invariable doctrine of the Puráńas, diversified only according to the p. 20 individual divinity to whom they ascribe identity with Paramátmá or Parameśwara. In our text this is Vishńu: in the Śaiva Puráńas, as in the Linga, it is Śiva: in the Brahma-vaivartta it is Krishńa. The identification of one of the hypostases with the common source of the triad was an incongruity not unknown to other theogonies; for Cneph, amongst the Egyptians, appears on the one hand to have been identified with the Supreme Being, the indivisible unity, whilst on the other he is confounded with both Emeph and Ptha, the second and third persons of the triad of hypostases. Cudworth, I. 4. 18.

50. 'The world that is termed spirit;' explained by the commentator, 'which indeed bears the appellation spirit;' conformably to the text of the Vedas, 'this universe is indeed spirit.' This is rather Vedánta than Sánkhya, and appears to deny the existence of matter: and so it does as an independent existence; for the origin and end of infinite substance is the Deity or universal spirit: but it does not therefore imply the non-existence of the world as real substance.

51. Vishńu is both Bhúteśa, 'lord of the elements,' or of created things, and Viśwarúpa, 'universal substance:' he is therefore, as one with sensible things, subject to his own control.

52. Vareńya, 'most excellent;' being the same, according to the commentator, with supreme felicity.

53. Agency depends upon the Rája guna, the quality of foulness or passion, which is an imperfection. Perfect being is void of all qualities, and is therefore inert: Omnis enim per se divom natura necesse est Immortali ævo summa cum pace fruatur: but if inert for ever, creation could not occur. The objection is rather evaded than answered. The ascribing to Brahma of innumerable and unappreciable properties is supported by the commentator with vague and scarcely applicable texts of the Vedas. 'In him there is neither instrument nor effect: his like, his superior, is nowhere seen.' 'That supreme soul is the subjugator of all, the ruler of all, the sovereign of all.' In various places of the Vedas also it is said that his power is supreme, and that wisdom, power, and action are his essential properties. The origin of creation is also imputed in the Vedas to the rise of will or desire in the Supreme: 'He wished I may become manifold, I may create creatures.' The Bhágavata expresses the same doctrine: 'The Supreme Being was before all things alone, the soul and lord of spiritual substance: in consequence of his own will he is secondarily defined, as if of various minds.' This will however, in the mysticism of the Bhágavata, is personified as Máyá: 'She (that desire) was the energy of the Supreme, who was contemplating (the untreated world); and by her, whose name is Máyá, the Lord made the universe.' This, which was at first a mere poetical personification of the divine will, came, in such works as the Bhágavata, to denote a female divinity, coequal and coeternal with the First Cause. It may be doubted if the Vedas authorize such a mystification, and no very decided vestige of it occurs in the Vishńu Puráńa.

54. This term is also applied to a different and still more protracted period. See b. VI. C. 3.

55. The last proportion is rather obscurely expressed: 'Thirty of them (Kalás) are the rule for the Muhúrtta.' The commentator says it means that thirty Kalás make a Ghatiká (or Ghari), and two Ghatikás a Muhúrtta; but his explanation is gratuitous, and is at variance with more explicit passages elsewhere; as in the Matsya: 'A Muhúrtta is thirty Kalás.' In these divisions of the twenty-four hours the Kúrma, Márkańd́eya, Matsya, Váyu, and Linga Puráńas exactly agree with our authority. In Manu, I. 64, we have the same computation, with a difference in the first article, eighteen Nimeshas being one Kasht́há. The Bhavishya P. follows Manu in that respect, and agrees in the rest with the Padma, which has,
15 Nimeshas = 1 Kásht́há
30 Kásht́hás = 1 Kalá
30 Kalás = 1 Kshańa
12 Kshańas =1 Muhúrtta
30 Muhúrttas = 1 day and night.
In the Mahábhárata, Moksha Dherma, it is said that thirty Kalás and one-tenth, or, according to the commentator, thirty Kalás and three Kásht́hás, make a Muhúrtta. A still greater variety, however, occurs in the Bhágavata and in the Brahma Vaivartta P. These have,
2 Paramáńus = 1 Ańu
3 Ańus = 1 Trasareńu
3 Trasareńus = 1 Truti
100 Trutis = 1 Vedha
3 Vedhas = 1 Lava
3 Lavas = 1 Nimesha
3 Nimeshas = 1 Kshańa
5 Kshańas = 1 Kásht́há
15 Kásht́hás = 1 Laghu
15 Laghus = 1 Náriká
2 Nárikás = 1 Muhúrtta
6 or 7 Nárikás = 1 Yama, or watch of the day or night.
Allusions to this or either of the preceding computations, or to any other, have not been found in either of the other Puráńas: p. 23 yet the work of Gopála Bhat́t́a, from which Mr. Colebrooke states he derived his information on the subject of Indian weights and measures (A. R. 5. 105), the Sankhya Parimáńa, cites the Varáha P. for a peculiar computation, and quotes another from the Bhavishya, different from that which occurs in the first chapter of that work, to which we have referred. The principle of the calculation adopted by the astronomical works is different: it is, 6 respirations (Práńa) = 1 Vikalá; 60 Vikalás = 1 Dańd́a; 60 Dańd́as =1 sydereal day. The Nimesha, which is the base of one of the Pauráńic modes, is a twinkle of the eye of a man at rest; whilst the Paramáńu, which is the origin of the other, and apparently more modern system, considering the works in which it occurs, is the time taken by a Paramáńu, or mote in the sunbeam, to pass through a crevice in a shutter. Some indications of this calculation being in common currency, occur in the Hindustani terms Reńu (Trasareńu) and Lamhu (Laghu) in Indian horometry (A. R. 5. 81); whilst the more ordinary system seems derived from the astronomical works, being 60 Tilas = 1 Vipala; 60 Vipalas = 1 Pala; 60 Palas = 1 Dańd́a or Ghari. Ibid.

56. These calculations of time are found in most of the Puráńas, with some additions occasionally, of no importance, as that of the year of the seven Rishis, 3030 mortal years, and the year of Dhruva, 9090 such years, in the Linga P. In all essential points the computations accord, and the scheme, extravagant as it may appear, seems to admit of easy explanation. We have, in the first place, a computation of the years of the gods in the four ages, or,
Krita Yuga 4000
Sandhyá 400
Sandhyánsa 400
4800
Tretá Yuga 3000
Sandhyá 300
Sandhyánsa 300
3600
Dwápara Yuga 2000
Sandhyá 200
Sandhyánsa 200
2400
Kali Yuga 1000
Sandhyá 100
Sandhyánsa 100
1200
12000.
If these divine years are converted into years of mortals, by multiplying them by 360, a year of men being a day of the gods, we obtain the years of which the Yugas of mortals are respectively said to consist:
4800 x 360 = 1.728.000
3600 x 360 = 1.296.000
2400 x 360 = 864.000
1200 x 360 = 432.000
4.320.000 a Maháyuga.
So that these periods resolve themselves into very simple elements: the notion of four ages in a deteriorating series expressed by descending arithmetical progression, as 4, 3, 2, 5; the conversion of units into thousands; and the mythological fiction, that these were divine years, each composed of 360 years of men. It does not seem necessary to refer the invention to any astronomical computations, or to any attempt to represent actual chronology.

57. The details of these, as occurring in each Manwantara, are given in the third book, c. 1 and 2.

58. 'One and seventy enumerations of the four ages, with a surplus.' A similar reading occurs in several other Puráńas, but none of them state of what the surplus or addition consists; but it is, in fact, the number of years required to reconcile two computations of the Kalpa. The most simple, and probably the original calculation of a Kalpa, is its being 1000 great ages, or ages of the gods: ### Bhavishya P. Then 4.320.000 years, or a divine age, x 1000 = 4320.000.000 years, or a day or night of Brahmá,. But a day of Brahmá is also seventy-one times a great age multiplied by fourteen: 4.320.000 x 71 x 14= 4.294.080.000, or less than the preceding by 25.920.000; and it is to make up for this deficiency that a certain number of years must be added to the computation by Manwantaras. According to the Súrya Siddhánta, as cited by Mr. Davis (A. R. 2. 231), this addition consists of a Sandhi to each Manwantara, equal to the Satya age, or 5.728.000 years; and one similar Sandhi at the commencement of the Kalpa: thus 4.320.000 x 71 = 306.720.000 + 1.728.000 = 308.448.000 x 14 = 4318.272.000 + 1.728.000 = 4320.000.000. The Pauranics, however, omit the Sandhi of the Kalpa, and add the whole compensation to the Manwantaras. The amount of this in whole numbers is 1.851.428 in each Manwantara, or 4.320.000 x 71= 306.720.000 + 1.851.428 = 308.571.428 x 14 = 4319.999.992; leaving a very small inferiority to the result of the calculation of a Kalpa by a thousand great ages. To provide for this deficiency, indeed, very minute subdivisions are admitted into the calculation; and the commentator on our text says, that the additional years, if of gods, are 5142 years, 10 months, 8 days, 4 watches, 2 Muhúrttas, 8 Kalás, 17 Kásht́hás, 2 Nimeshas, and 1/7th; if of mortals, 1.851.428 years, 6 months, 24 days, 12 Náris, 12 Kalás, 25 Kásht́has, and 10 Nimeshas. It will be observed, that in the Kalpa we have the regular descending series 4, 3, 2, with cyphers multiplied ad libitum.

59. The Brahma Vaivartta says 108 years, but this is unusual. Brahmá's life is but a Nimesha of Krishńa, according to that work; a Nimesha of Śiva, according to the Saiva Puráńa.

60. In the last book the Parárddha occurs as a very different measure of time, but it is employed here in its ordinary acceptation.

61. In theory the Kalpas are infinite; as the Bhavishya: 'Excellent sages, thousands of millions of Kalpas have passed, and as many are to come.' In the Linga Puráńa, and others of the Saiva division, above thirty Kalpas are named, and some account given of several, but they are evidently sectarial embellishments. The only Kalpas usually specified are those which follow in the text: the one which was the last, or the Pádma, and the present p. 26 or Váráha. The first is also commonly called the Bráhma; but the Bhágavata distinguishes the Bráhma, considering it to be the first of Brahmá's life, whilst the Pádma was the last of the first Parárddha. The terms Maná, or great Kalpa, applied to the Padma, is attached to it only in a general sense; or, according to the commentator, because it comprises, as a minor Kalpa, that in which Brahmá was born from a lotus. Properly, a great Kalpa is not a day, but a life of Brahmá; as in the Brahma Vaivartta: 'Chronologers compute a Kalpa by the life of Brahmá. Minor Kalpas, as Samvartta and the rest, are numerous.' Minor Kalpas here denote every period of destruction, or those in which the Samvartta wind, or other destructive agents, operate. Several other computations of time are found in different Puráńas, but it will be sufficient to notice one which occurs in the Hari Vanśa, as it is peculiar, and because it is not quite correctly given in M. Langlois' translation. It is the calculation of the Mánava time, or time of a Menu.
10 divine years = a day and night of a Menu.
10 Mánava days = his fortnight.
10 Mánava fortn. = his month.
12 Mánava months = his season.
6 Mánava seasons = his year.
Accordingly the commentator says 72000 divine years make up his year. The French translation has, "dix années des dieux font un jour de Menu; dix jours des dieux font un pakcha de Menu," &c. The error lies in the expression "jours des dieux," and is evidently a mere inadvertence; for if ten years make a day, ten days can scarcely make a fortnight.

62. This creation is of the secondary order, or Pratiserga; water, and even the earth, being in existence, and consequently having been preceded by the creation of Mahat and the elements. It is also a different Pratiserga from that described by Manu, in which Swayambhu first creates the waters, then the egg: one of the simplest forms, and perhaps therefore one of the earliest in which the tradition occurs.

63. This is the well known verse of Menu, I. 8, rendered by Sir Wm. Jones, "The waters are called Nárá, because they were the production of Nara, or 'the spirit' of God; and since they were his first Ayana, or place of motion, he thence is named Náráyańa, or 'moving on the waters.'" Now although there can be little doubt that this tradition is in substance the same as that of Genesis, the language of the translation is perhaps more scriptural than is quite warranted. The waters, it is said in the text of Manu, were the progeny of Nara, which Kullúka Bhat́t́a explains Paramátmá, the supreme soul; that is, they were the first productions of God in creation. Ayana, instead of 'place of motion,' is explained by Ásraya, place of abiding.' Náráyańa means, therefore, he whose place of abiding was the deep. The verse occurs in several of the Puráńas, in general in nearly the same words, and almost always as a quotation, as in our text The Linga, Váyu, and Márkańd́eya Puráńas, citing the same, have a somewhat different reading; or, 'Ápa (is the same as) Nárá, or bodies (Tanava); such, we have heard (from the Vedas), is the meaning of Apa. He who sleeps in them, is thence called Náráyańa.' The ordinary sense of Tanu is either 'minute' or 'body,' nor does it occur amongst the synonymes of water in the Nirukta of the Vedas. It may perhaps be intended to say, that Nárá or Apa has the meaning of 'bodily forms,' in which spirit is enshrined, and of which the waters, with Vishńu resting upon them, are a type; for there is much mysticism in the Puráńas in which the passage thus occurs. Even in them, however, it is introduced in the usual manner, by describing the world as water alone, and Vishńu reposing upon the deep: ### Váyu P. The Bhágavata has evidently attempted to explain the ancient text: 'When the embodied god in the beginning divided the mundane egg, and issued forth, then, requiring an abiding-place, he created the waters: the pure created the pure. In them, his own created, he abode for a thousand years, and thence received the name of Náráyańa: the waters being the product of the embodied deity:' i. e. they were the product of Nara or Vishńu, as the first male or Virát, and were therefore termed Nára: and from there being his Ayana or Sthána, his 'abiding place,' comes his epithet of Náráyańa.

64. The Varáha form was chosen, says the Váyu P., because it is an animal delighting to sport in water, but it is described in many Puráńas, as it is in the Vishńu, as a type of the ritual of the Vedas, as we shall have further occasion to remark. The elevation of the earth from beneath the ocean in this form, was, therefore, probably at first an allegorical representation of the extrication of the world from a deluge of iniquity by the rites of religion. Geologists may perhaps suspect, in the original and unmystified tradition, an allusion to a geological fact, or the existence of lacustrine mammalia in the early periods of the earth.

65. Yajnapati, 'the bestower of the beneficial results of sacrifices.'

66. Yajnapurusha, 'the male or soul of sacrifice;' explained by Yajnamúrtti, 'the form or personification of sacrifice;' or Yajnárádhya 'he who is to be propitiated by it.'

67. Varáha Avatára. The description of the figure of the boar is much more particularly detailed in other Puráńas. As in the Váyu: "The boar was ten Yojanas in breadth, a thousand Yojanas high; of the colour of a dark cloud; and his roar was like thunder; his bulk was vast as a mountain; his tusks were white, sharp, and fearful; fire flashed from his eyes like lightning, and he was radiant as the sun; his shoulders were round, flit, and large; he strode along like a powerful lion; his haunches were fat, his loins were slender, and his body was smooth and beautiful." The Matsya P. describes the Varáha in the same words, with one or two unimportant varieties. The Bhágavata indulges in that amplification which marks its more recent composition, and describes the Varáha as issuing from the nostrils of Brahmá, at first of the size of the thumb, or an inch long, and presently increasing to the stature of an elephant. That work also subjoins a legend of the death of the demon Hiranyáksha, who in a preceding existence was one of Vishńu's doorkeepers, at his palace in Vaikuntha. Having refused admission to a party of Munis, they cursed him, and he was in consequence born as one of the sons of Diti. When the earth, oppressed by the weight of the mountains, sunk down into the waters, Vishńu was beheld in the subterrene regions, or Rasátala, by Hiranyáksha in the act of carrying it off. The demon claimed the earth, and defied Vishńu to combat; and a conflict took place, in which Hiranyáksha was slain. This legend has not been met with in any other Puráńa, and certainly does not occur in the chief of them, any more than in our text. In the Moksha Dherma of the Mahábhárata, e.35, Vishńu destroys the demons in the form of the Varáha, but no particular individual is specified, nor does the elevation of the earth depend upon their discomfiture. The Káliká Upapuráńa has an absurd legend of a conflict between Śiva as a Sarabha, a fabulous animal, and Vishńu as the Varáha, in which the latter suffers himself and his offspring begotten upon earth to be slain.

68. This, which is nothing more than the developement of the notion that the Varáha incarnation typifies the ritual of the Vedas, is repeated in most of the Puráńas in the same or nearly the same words.

69. This seems equivalent to the ancient notion of a plastic nature: "All parts of matter, by reason of a certain life in them, being supposed able to form themselves artificially and methodically to the greatest advantage of their present respective capabilities." This, which Cudworth (c. III.) calls hylozoism, is not incompatible with an active creator: "not that he should, αὐτουργεῖν ἅπαντα, set his own hand to every work, which, as Aristotle says, would be, ἀπρεπὲς τῷ θεῷ, unbecoming God; but, as in the case of Brahmá and other subordinate agents, that they should occasion the various developments of crude nature to take place, by supplying that will, of which nature itself is incapable. Action being once instituted by an instrumental medium, or by the will of an intellectual agent, it is continued by powers or a vitality inherent in nature or the matter of creation itself. The efficiency of such subordinate causes was advocated by Plato, Aristotle, and others; and the opinion of Zeno, as stated by Laertius, might be taken for a translation of some such passage as that in our text: Ἔστι δὲ φύσις ἕξις ἐξ αὐτῆς κινουμένη κατὰ σπερματικοὺς λόγους, ἀποτελοῦσά τε καὶ συνέχουσα τὰ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἐν ὡριοσμένοις χρόνοις, καὶ τοιαῦτα δρῶσα ἀφ᾽ οἵων ἀπεκρίθη· 'Nature is a habit moved from itself, according to seminal principles; perfecting and containing those several things which in determinate times are produced from it, and acting agreeably to that from which it was secreted.' Intell. System, I. 328. 'So the commentator illustrates our text by observing that the cause of the budding of rice is in its own seed, and its developement is from itself; though its growth takes place only at a determinate season, in consequence of the instrumental agency of the rain.

70. The terms here employed are for qualities, Gunas; which, as we have already noticed, are those of goodness, foulness, and darkness. The characteristics, or Swabhávas, are the inherent properties of the qualities, by which they act, as, soothing, terrific, or stupifying: and the forms, Swarúpas, are the distinctions of biped, quadruped, brute, bird, fish, and the like.

71. Or Tamas, Moha, Mahámoha, Tamisra, Andhatamisra; they are the five kinds of obstruction, viparyyaya, of soul's liberation, according to the Sánkhya: they are explained to be, 1. The belief of material substance being the same with spirit; 2. Notion of property or possession, and consequent attachment to objects, as children and the like, as being one's own; 3. Addiction to the enjoyments of sense; 4. Impatience or wrath; and 5. Fear of privation or death. They are called in the Pátanjala philosophy, the five afflictions, Kleśa, but are similarly explained by Avidyá, 'ignorance;' Asmitá, 'selfishness,' literally 'I-am-ness;' Rága 'love;' Dwesha, 'hatred;' and Abhiniveśa, 'dread of temporal suffering.' Sánkhya Káriká, p. 148-150. This creation by Brahmá in the Váráha Kalpa begins in the same way, and in the same words, in most of the Puráńas. The Bhágavata reverses the order of these five products, and gives them, Andhatamisra, Tamisra, Mahámoha, Moha, and Tamas; a variation obviously more immethodical than the usual reading of the text, and adopted, no doubt, merely for the sake of giving the passage an air of originality.

72. This is not to be confounded with elementary creation, although the description would very well apply to that of crude nature, or Pradhána; but, as will be seen presently, we have here to do with final productions, or the forms in which the previously created elements and faculties are more or less perfectly aggregated. The first class of these forms is here said to be immovable things; that is, the mineral and vegetable kingdoms; for the solid earth, with its mountains and rivers and seas, was already prepared for their reception. The 'fivefold' immovable creation is indeed, according to the comment, restricted to vegetables, five orders of which are enumerated, or, 1. trees; 2. shrubs; 3. climbing plants; 4. creepers; and 5. grasses.

73. Tiryak, 'crooked;' and Srotas, 'a canal.'

74. Twenty-eight kinds of Badhas, which in the Sánkhya system mean disabilities, as defects of the senses, blindness, deafness, &c.; and defects of intellect, discontent, ignorance, and the like. S. Káriká, p. 148, 151. In place of Badha, however, the more usual reading, as in the Bhágavata, Váráha, and Márkańd́eya Puráńas, is Vidha, 'kind,' 'sort,' as ###, implying twenty-eight sorts of animals. These are thus specified in the Bhágavata, III. 10: Six kinds have single hoofs, nine have double or cloven hoofs, and thirteen have five claws or nails instead of hoofs. The first are the horse, the mule, the ass, the yak, the sarabha, and the gaura, or white deer. The second are the cow, the goat, the buffalo, the hog, the gayal, the black deer, the antelope, the camel, and the sheep. The last are the dog, shacal, wolf, tiger, cat, hare, porcupine, lion, monkey, elephant, tortoise, lizard, and alligator.

75. Úrddha, 'above,' and Srotas, as before; their nourishment being derived from the exterior, not from the interior of the body: according to the commentator; ### as a text of the Vedas has it; 'Through satiety derived from even beholding ambrosia.'

76. Arvák, 'downwards,' and Srotas, 'canal.'

77. This reckoning is not very easily reconciled with the creations described; for, as presently enumerated, the stages of creation are seven. The commentator, however, considers the Úrddhasrotas creation, or that of the superhuman beings, to be the same with that of the Indriyas, or senses over which they preside; by which the number is reduced to six.

78. This creation being the work of the supreme spirit, ### according to the commentator; or it might have been understood to mean, that Brahmá was then created, being, as we have seen, identified with Mahat, 'active intelligence,' or the operating will of the Supreme. See p. 15, note 23.

79. The text is, ### which is, as rendered in the text, 'creation preceded by, or beginning with Buddhi, intelligence.' The rules of euphony would however admit of a mute negative being inserted, or 'preceded by ignorance;' that is, by the chief principle, crude nature or Pradhána, which is one with ignorance: but this seems to depend on notions of a later date, and more partial adoption, than those generally prevailing in our authority; and the first reading therefore has been preferred. It is also to be observed, that the first unintellectual creation was that of immovable objects (as in p. 35), the original of which is, ### and all ambiguity of construction is avoided. The reading is also established by the text of the Linga Puráńa, which enumerates the different series of creation in the words of the Vishńu, except in this passage, which is there transposed, with a slight variation of the reading. Instead of ### it is ### 'The first creation was that of Mahat: Intellect being the first in manifestation.' The reading of the Váyu P. is still more tautological, but confirms that here preferred: See also n. 12.

80. The Anugraha creation, of which no notice has been found in the Mahábhárata, seems to have been borrowed from the Sánkhya philosophy. It is more particularly described in the Padma, Márkańd́eya, Linga, and Matsya Puráńas; as, 'The fifth is the Anugraha creation, which is subdivided into four kinds; by obstruction, disability, perfectness, and acquiescence.' This is the Pratyaya sarga, or intellectual creation, of the Sánkhyas (S. Káriká, v. 46. p.146); the creation of which we have a notion, or to which we give assent (Anugraha), in contradistinction to organic creation, or that existence of which we have sensible perception. In its specific subdivisions it is the notion of certain inseparable properties in the four different orders of beings: obstruction or stolidity in inanimate things; inability or imperfection in animals; perfectibility in man; and acquiescence or tranquil enjoyment in gods. So also the Váyu P.: ###

81. Or Vaikrita, derived mediately from the first principle, through its Vikritis, 'productions' or 'developements;' and Prákrita, derived more immediately from the chief principle itself. Mahat and the two forms of Ahankára, or the rudimental elements and the senses, constitute the latter class; inanimate beings, &c. compose the former: or the latter are considered as the work of p. 38 Brahmá, whilst the three first are evolved from Pradhána. So the Váyu: 'The three creations beginning with Intelligence are elemental; but the six creations which proceed from the series of which Intellect is the first are the work of Brahmá'.

82. We must have recourse here also to other Puráńas, for the elucidation of this term. The Kaumára creation is the creation of Rudra or Nílalohita, a form of Śiva, by Brahmá, which is subsequently described in our text, and of certain other mind-born sons of Brahmá, of whose birth the Vishńu P. gives no further account: they are elsewhere termed Sanatkumára, Sananda, Sanaka, and Sanátana, with sometimes a fifth, Ribhu, added. These, declining to create progeny, remained, as the name of the first implies, ever boys, kumáras; that is, ever pure and innocent; whence their creation is called the Kaumára. Thus the Váyu: ###. And the Linga has, 'Being ever as he was born, he is here called a youth; and hence his name is well known as Sanatkumára.' This authority makes Sanatkumára and Ribhu the two first born of all, whilst the text of the Hari Vanśa limits the primogeniture to Sanatkumára. In another place, however, it enumerates apparently six, or the above four with Sana and either. Ribhu or another Sanátana; for the passage is corrupt. The French translation ascribes a share in creation to Sanatkumára: 'Les sept Prajapatis, Roudra, Scanda, et Sanatkaumára, se mirent a produire les etres repandant partout l’inepuisable energie de dieu.' The original is, Sankshipya is not 'repandant,' but 'restraining;' and Tisht́hatah being in the dual number, relates of course to only two of the series. The correct rendering is, 'These seven (Prajápatis) created progeny, and so did Rudra; but Skanda and Sanatkumára, restraining their power, abstained (from creation).' So the commentator: ###. These sages, however, live as long as Brahmá, and they are only created by him in the first Kalpa, although their generation is very commonly, but inconsistently, introduced in the Váráha or Pádma Kalpas. This creation, says the text, is both primary (Prákrita) and secondary (Vaikrita). It is the latter, according to the commentator, as regards the origin of these saints from Brahmá: it is the former as affects Rudra, who, though proceeding from Brahmá, in a certain form was in essence equally an immediate production of the first principle. These notions, the birth of Rudra and the saints, seem to have been borrowed from the Saivas, and to have been awkwardly engrafted upon the Vaishńava system. Sanatkumára and his brethren are always described in the Saiva Puráńas as Yogis: as the Kúrma, after enumerating them, adds, 'These five, oh Brahmans, were Yogis, p. 39 who acquired entire exemption from passion:' and the Hari Vanśa, although rather Vaishńava than Saiva, observes, that the Yogis celebrate these six, along with Kapila, in Yoga works. The idea seems to have been amplified also in the Saiva works; for the Linga P. describes the repeated birth of Śiva, or Vámadeva, as a Kumára, or boy, from Brahmá, in each Kalpa, who again becomes four. Thus in the twenty-ninth Kalpa Swetalohita is the Kumára, and he becomes Sananda, Nandana, Viswananda, Upanandana; all of a white complexion: in the thirtieth the Kumára becomes Virajas, Viváhu, Visoka, Víswabhávana; all of a red colour: in the thirty-first he becomes four youths of a yellow colour: and in the thirty-second the four Kumáras were black. All these are, no doubt, comparatively recent additions to the original notion of the birth of Rudra and the Kumáras; itself obviously a sectarial innovation upon the primitive doctrine of the birth of the Prajápatis, or will-born sons of Brahmá.

83. These reiterated, and not always very congruous accounts of the creation are explained by the Puráńas as referring to different Kalpas, or renovations of the world, and therefore involving no incompatibility. A better reason for their appearance is the probability that they have been borrowed from different original authorities. The account that follows is evidently modified by the Yogi Saivas, by its general mysticism, and by the expressions with which it begins: 'Collecting his mind into itself,' according to the comment, is the performance of the Yoga (Yúyuje). The term Ambhánsi, lit. 'waters,' for the four orders of beings, gods, demons, men, and Pitris, is also a peculiar, and probably mystic term. The commentator says it occurs in the Vedas as a synonyme of gods. The Váyu Puráńa derives it from 'to shine,' because the different orders of beings shine or flourish severally by moonlight, night, day, and twilight: &c.

84. This account is given in several other Puráńas: in the Kúrma with more simplicity; in the Padma, Linga, and Váyu with more detail. The Bhágavata, as usual, amplifies still more copiously, and mixes up much absurdity with the account. Thus the person of Sandhyá, 'evening twilight,' is thus described: "She appeared with eyes rolling with passion, whilst her lotus-like feet sounded with tinkling ornaments: a muslin vest depended from her waist, secured by a golden zone: her breasts were protuberant, and close together; her nose was elegant; her tongue beautiful; her face was bright with smiles, and she modestly concealed it with the skirts of her robe; whilst the dark curls clustered round her brow." The Asuras address her, and win her to become their bride. To the four forms of our text, the same work adds, Tandrí, 'sloth;' Jrimbhiká, 'yawning;' Nidrá, 'sleep;' Unmáda, 'insanity;' Antarddhána, 'disappearance;' Pratibimba, 'reflexion;' which become the property of Pisáchas, Kinnaras, Bhútas, Gandherbas, Vidyádharas, Sádhyas, Pitris, and Menus. The notions of night, day, twilight, and moonlight being derived from Brahmá, seem to have originated with the Vedas. Thus the commentator on the Bhágavata p. 41 observes, 'That which was his body, and was left, was darkness: this is the Śruti.' All the authorities place night before day, and the Asuras or Titans before the gods, in the order of appearance; as did Hesiod and other ancient theogonists.

85. From Raksha, 'to preserve'

86. From Yaksha, 'to eat'

87. From Srip, serpo, 'to creep,' and from Há, 'to abandon.'

88. Gám dhayantah, 'drinking speech.'

89. This and the preceding enumeration of the origin of vegetables and animals occurs in several Puráńas, precisely in the same words. The Linga adds a specification of the Aranya, or wild animals, which are said to be the buffalo, gayal, bear, monkey, sarabha, wolf, and lion.

90. This specification of the parts of the Vedas that proceed from Brahmá occurs, in the same words, in the Váyu, Linga, Kúrma, Padma, and Márkańd́eya Puráńas. The Bhágavata offers some important varieties: "From his eastern and other mouths he created the Rich, Yajush, Sáma, and Atharvan vedas; the Śastra, or 'the unuttered incantation;' Ijyá, 'oblation;' Stuti and Stoma, 'prayers' and 'hymns;' and Práyaśchitta, 'expiation' or 'sacred philosophy' (Bráhma): also the Vedas of medicine, arms, music, and mechanics; and the Itihásas and Puráńas, which are a fifth Veda: also the portions of the Vedas called Sorasi, Uktha, Puríshi, 'Agnisht́ut, Áptoryámá, Atirátra, Vájapeya, Gosava; the four parts of virtue, purity, liberality, piety, and truth; the orders of life, and their institutes and different religious rites and professions; and the sciences of logic, ethics, and polity. The mystic words and monosyllable proceeded from his heart; the metre Ushnih from the hairs of his body; Gayatrí from his skin; Trisht́ubh from his flesh; Anusht́ubh from his tendons; Jagati from his bones; Pankti from his marrow; Vrihati from his breath. The consonants were his life; the vowels his body; the sibilants his senses; the semivowels his vigour." This mysticism, although perhaps expanded and amplified by the Pauráńics, appears to originate with the Vedas: as in the text, 'The metre was of the tendons.' The different portions of the Vedas specified in the text are yet, for the most part, uninvestigated.

91. The creation of mankind here described is rather out of its place, as it precedes the birth of the Prajápatis, or their progenitors: but this want of method is common to the Puráńas, and is evidence of their being compilations from various sources.

92. This original of the four castes is given in Manu, and in most of the Puráńas. We shall see, however, that the distinctions are subsequently ascribed to voluntary election, to accident, or to positive institutions.

93. According to Manu, oblations ascend to and nourish the sun; whence the rain falls upon earth, and causes the growth of corn: burnt-offerings are therefore the final causes of the support of mankind.

94. This description of a pure race of beings is not of general occurrence in the Puráńas. It seems here to be abridged from a much more detailed account in the Brahmáńd́a, Váyu, and Márkańd́eya Puráńas. In those works Brahmá is said to create, in the beginning of the Kalpa, a thousand pairs of each of the four classes of mankind, who enjoy perfect happiness during the Krita age, and only gradually become subject to infirmities as the Tretá or second age advances.

95. These eight perfections, or Siddhis, are not the supernatural faculties obtained by the performance of the Yoga. They are described, the commentator says, in the Skánda and other works; and from them he extracts their description: 1. Rasollásá, the spontaneous or prompt evolution of the juices of the body, independently of nutriment from without: 2. Tripti, mental satisfaction, or freedom from sensual desire: 3. Sámya, sameness of degree: 4. Tulyatá, similarity of life, form, and feature: 5. Visoká, exemption alike from infirmity or grief: 6. Consummation of penance and meditation, by attainment of true knowledge: 7. The power of going every where at will: 8. The faculty of reposing at any time or in any place. These attributes are alluded to, though obscurely, in the Váyu, and are partly specified in the Márkańd́eya Puráńa.

96. In the other three Puráńas, in which this legend has been found, the different kinds of inhabited places are specified and introduced by a series of land measures. Thus the Márkańd́eya states, that 10 Paramáńus = 1 Parasúkshma; 10 Parasúkshmas = 1 Trasareńu; 10 Trasareńus = 1 particle of dust, or Mahírajas; 10 Mahírajasas = 1 Bálágra, 'hair's point;' 10 Bálágras = 1 Likhyá; 10 Likhyás= 1 Yúka; to Yúkas = 1 heart of barley (Yavodara); 10 Yavodaras = 1 grain of barley of middle size; 10 barley grains = 1 finger, or inch; 6 fingers = a Pada, or foot (the breadth of it); 2 Padas = 1 Vitasti, or span; 2 spans = 1 Hasta, or cubit; 4 Hastas = a Dhanu, a Danda, or staff, or 2 Nárikás; 2000 Dhanus = a Gavyúti; 4 Gavyútis = a Yojana. The measurement of the Brahmáńd́a is less detailed. A span from the thumb to the first finger is a Pradeśa; to the middle finger, a Nála; to the third finger, a Gokerna; and to the little finger, a Vitasti, which is equal to twelve Angulas, or fingers; understanding thereby, according to the Váyu, a joint of the finger; according to other authorities, it is the breadth of the thumb at the tip. (A. R. 5. 104.) The Váyu, giving similar measurements upon the authority of Manu, although such a statement does not occur in the Manu Sanhitá, adds, that 21 fingers= 1 Ratni; 24 fingers = 1 Hasta, or cubit; 2 Ratnis = 1 Kishku; 4 Hastas = 1 Dhanu; 2000 Dhanus = l Gavyúti; and 8000 Dhanus = 1 Yojana. Durgas, or strong holds, are of four kinds; three of which are natural, from, their situation in mountains, amidst water, or in other inaccessible spots; the fourth is the artificial defences of a village (Gráma), a hamlet (Khet́aka), or a city (Pura or Nagara), which are severally half the size of the next in the series. The best kind of city is one which is about a mile long by half a mile broad, built in the form of a parallelogram, facing the northeast, and surrounded by a high wall and ditch. A hamlet should be a Yojana distant from a city: a village half a Yojana from a hamlet. The roads leading to the cardinal points from a city should be twenty Dhanus (above too feet) broad: a village road should be the same: a boundary road ten Dhanus: a royal or principal road or street should be ten Dhanus (above fifty feet) broad: a cross or branch road should be four Dhanus. Lanes and paths amongst the houses are two Dhanus in breadth: footpaths four cubits: the entrance of a house three cubits: the private entrances and paths about the mansion of still narrower dimensions. Such were the measurements adopted by the first builders of cities, according to the Puráńas specified.

97. These are enumerated in the text, as well as in the Váyu and Márkańd́eya P., and are, Udára, a sort of grain with long stalks (perhaps a holcus); Kodrava (Paspalum kora); Chínaka, a sort of panic (P. miliaceum); Másha, kidney bean (Phaseolus radiatus); Mudga (Phaseolus mungo); Masúra, lentil (Ervum hirsutum); Nishpáva, a sort of pulse; Kulattha (Dolithos biflorus); Arhaki (Cytisus Cajan); Chanaka, chick pea (Cicer arietinum); and Sana (Crotolaria).

98. This allusion to the sects hostile to the Vedas, Buddhists or Jains, does not occur in the parallel passages of the Váyu and Márkańd́eya Puráńas.

99. The Váyu goes farther than this, and states that the castes were now first divided according to their occupations; having, indeed, previously stated that there was no such distinction in the Krita age: 'Brahmá now appointed those who were robust and violent to be Kshetriyas, to protect the rest; those who were pure and pious he made Brahmans; those who were of less power, but industrious, and addicted to cultivate the ground, he made Vaisyas; whilst the feeble and poor of spirit were constituted Śúdras: and he assigned them their several occupations, to prevent that interference with one another which had occurred as long as they recognised no duties peculiar to castes.

100. These worlds, some of which will be more particularly described in a different section, are the seven Lokas or spheres above the earth: 1. Prájápatya or Pitri loka: 2. Indra loka or Swerga: 3. Marut loka or Diva loka, heaven: 4. Gandharba loka, the region of celestial spirits; also called Maharloka: 5. Janaloka, or the sphere of saints; some copies read eighteen thousand; others, as in the text, which is also the reading of the Padma Puráńa: 6. Tapaloka, the world of the seven sages: and 7. Brahma loka or Satya loka, the world of infinite wisdom and truth. The eighth, or high world of Vishńu, is a sectarial addition, which in the Bhágavata is called Vaikuntha, and in the Brahma Vaivartta, Goloka; both apparently, and most certainly the last, modern inventions.

101. The divisions of Naraka, or hell, here named, are again more particularly enumerated, b. II. c. 6.

102. It is not clear which of the previous narratives is here referred to, but it seems most probable that the account in p. 35, 36. is intended.

103. Considerable variety prevails in this list of Prajápatis, Brahmaputras, Bráhmanas, or Brahmarshis; but the variations are of the nature of additions made to an apparently original enumeration of but seven, whose names generally recur. Thus in the Mahábhárata, Moksha Dharma, we have in one place, Maríchi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vaśisht́ha, 'the seven highminded sons of the self-born Brahmá.' In another place of the same, however, we have Daksha substituted for Vaśisht́ha: 'Brahmá then created mind-begotten sons, of whom Daksha was the seventh, with Maríchi,' &c. These seven sons of Brahmá are also identified with the seven Rishis as in the Váyu; although, with palpable inconsistency, eight are immediately enumerated, or, Bhrigu, Maríchi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vaśisht́ha. The Uttara Khanda of the Padma P. substitutes Kardama for Vaśisht́ha. The Bhágavata includes Daksha, enumerating nine. The Matsya agrees with Manu in adding Nárada to the list of our text. The Kúrma P. adds Dharma and Sankalpa. The Linga, Brahmáńd́a, and Váyu P. also add them, and extend the list to Adharma and Ruchi. The Hari Vanśa in one place inserts Gautama, and in another Manu. Altogether therefore we have seventeen, instead of seven. But the accounts given of the origin of several of these, shew that they were not originally included amongst the Mánasa putras, or sons of Brahmá's mind; for even Daksha, who finds a place in all the lists except one of those given in the Mahábhárata, is uniformly said to have sprung from Brahmá's thumb: and the same patriarch, as well as Dharma, is included in some accounts, as in the Bhágavata and Matsya P., amongst a different series of Brahmá's progeny, or virtues and vices; or, Daksha (dexterity), Dharma (virtue), Káma (desire), Krodha (passion), Lobha (covetousness), Moha (infatuation), Mada (insanity), Pramoda (pleasure), Mrityu (death), and Angaja (lust). These are severally derived from different parts of Brahmá's body: and the Bhagávata, adding Kardama (soil or sin) to this enumeration, makes him spring from Brahmá's shadow. The simple statement, that the first Prajápatis sprang from the mind or will of Brahmá, has not contented the depraved taste of the mystics, and in some of the Puráńas, as the Bhágavata, Linga, and Váyu, they also are derived from the body of their progenitor; or, Bhrigu from his skin, Maríchi from his mind, Atri from his eyes, Angiras from his mouth, Pulastya from his ear, Pulaha from his navel, Kratu from his hand, Vaśisht́ha from his breath, Daksha from his thumb, and Nárada from his hip. They do not exactly agree, however, in the places whence these beings proceed; as for instance, according to the Linga, Maríchi springs from Brahmá's eyes, not Atri, who there proceeds, instead of Pulastya, from his ears. The Váyu has also another account of their origin, and states them to have sprung from the fires of a sacrifice offered by Brahmá; an allegorical mode of expressing their probable original, considering them to be in some degree real persons, from the Brahmanical ritual, of which they were the first institutors and observers. The Váyu P. also states, that besides the seven primitive Rishis, the Prajápatis are numerous, and specifies Kardama, Kaśyapa, Śesha, Vikránta, Susravas, Bahuputra, Kumára, Vivaswat, Suchisravas, Práchetasa (Daksha), Arisht́anemi, Bahula. These and many others were Prajápatis. In the beginning of the Mahábhárata (A. P.) we have again a different origin, and first Daksha, the son of Prachetas, it is said, had seven sons, after whom the twenty-one Prajápatis were born, or appeared. According to the commentator, the seven sons of Daksha were the allegorical persons Krodha, Tamas, Dama, Vikrita, Angiras, Kardama, and Aswa; and the twenty-one Prajápatis, the seven usually specified Maríchi and the rest, and the fourteen Manus. This looks like a blending of the earlier and later notions.

104. Besides this general notice of the origin of Rudra and his separate forms, we have in the next chapter an entirely different set of beings so denominated; and the eleven alluded to in the text are also more particularly enumerated in a subsequent chapter. The origin of Rudra, as one of the agents in creation, is described in most of the Puráńas. The Mahábhárata, indeed, refers his origin to Vishńu, representing him as the personification of his anger, whilst Brahmá is that of his kindness. The Kúrma P. makes him proceed from Brahmá's mouth, whilst engaged in meditating on creation. The Varáha P. makes this appearance of Rudra the consequence of a promise made by Śiva to Brahmá, that he would become his son. In the parallel passages in other Puráńas the progeny of the Rudra created by Brahmá is not confined to the eleven, but comprehends infinite numbers of beings in person and equipments like their parent; until Brahmá, alarmed at their fierceness, numbers, and immortality, desires his son Rudra, or, as the Matsya calls him, Vámadeva, to form creatures of a different and mortal nature. Rudra refusing to do this, desists; whence his name Sthánu, from Sthá, 'to stay.' Linga, Váyu P. &c.

105. According to the Váyu, the female became first twofold, or one half white, and the other black; and each of these, again, becomes manifold, being the various energies, or Śaktis, of Mahádeva, as stated by the Kúrma, after the words ### which are those of our text: ###. The Linga and Váyu specify many of their names. Those of the white complexion, or mild nature, include Lakshmí, Saraswatí, Gaurí, Umá, &c. Those of the dark hue, and fierce disposition, Durgá, Kálí, Chandí, Mahárátrí, and others.

106. Brahmá, after detaching from himself the property of anger, in the form of Rudra, converted himself into two persons, the first male, or the Manu Swáyambhuva, and the first woman, or Śatarúpá: so in the Vedas; 'So himself was indeed (his) son.' The commencement of production through sexual agency is here described with sufficient distinctness, but the subject has been rendered p. 52 obscure by a more complicated succession of agents, and especially by the introduction of a person of a mythic or mystical character, Viráj. The notion is thus expressed in Manu: "Having divided his own substance, the mighty power Brahmá became half male and half female; and from that female he produced Viráj. Know me to be that person whom the male Viráj produced by himself." I. 32, 33. We have therefore a series of Brahmá, Viráj, and Manu, instead of Brahmá and Manu only: also the generation of progeny by Brahmá, begotten on Satarúpá, instead of her being, as in our text, the wife of Manu. The idea seems to have originated with the Vedas, as Kullúka Bhat́t́a quotes a text; 'Then (or thence) Virát was born.' The procreation of progeny by Brahmá, however, is at variance with the whole system, which almost invariably refers his creation to the operation of his will: and the expression in Manu, 'he created Viráj in her,' does not necessarily imply sexual intercourse. Viráj also creates, not begets, Manu. And in neither instance does the name of Śatarúpá occur. The commentator on Manu, however, understands the expression asrijat to imply the procreation of Viráj; and the same interpretation is given by the Matsya Puráńa, in which the incestuous passion of Brahmá for Śatarúpa, his daughter in one sense, his sister in another, is described; and by her he begets Viráj, who there is called, not the progenitor of Manu, but Manu himself. This therefore agrees with our text, as far as it makes Manu the son of Brahmá, though not as to the nature of the connexion. The reading of the Agni and Padma P. is that of the Vishńu; and the Bhágavata agrees with it in one place, stating distinctly that the male half of Brahmá, was Manu, the other half, Śatarúpá: ### Bhágav. III. 12. 35: and although the production of Viráj is elsewhere described, it is neither as the son of Brahmá, nor the father of Manu. The original and simple idea, therefore, appears to be, the identity of Manu with the male half of Brahmá, and his being thence regarded as his son. The Kúrma P. gives the same account as Manu, and in the same words. The Linga P. and Váyu P. describe the origin of Viráj and Śatarúpá from Brahmá; and they intimate the union of Śatarúpá with Purusha or Viráj, the male portion of Brahmá, in the first instance; and in the second, with Manu, who is termed Vairája, or the son of Viráj. The Bráhma P., the words of which are repeated in the Hari Vanśa, introduces a new element of perplexity in a new name, that of Ápava. According to the commentator, this is a name of the Prajápati Vaśisht́ha. As, however, he performs the office of Brahmá, he should be regarded as that divinity: but this is not exactly the case, although it has been so rendered by the French translator. Ápava becomes twofold, and in the capacity of his male half begets offspring by the female. Again, it is said Vishńu created Viráj, and Viráj created the male, which is Vairája or Manu; who was thus the second interval (Antaram), or stage, in creation. That is, according to the commentator, the first stage was the creation of Ápava, or Vaśisht́ha, or Viráj, by Vishńu, through the agency of Hiranyagarbha or Brahmá; and the next was that of the creation of Manu by Viráj. Śatarúpá appears as first the bride of Ápava, and then as the wife of Manu. This account therefore, although obscurely expressed, appears to be essentially the same with that of Manu; and we have Brahmá, Viráj, Manu, instead of Brahmá and Manu. It seems probable that this difference, and the part assigned to Viráj, has originated in some measure from confounding Brahmá with the male half of his individuality, and considering as two beings that which was but one. If the Purusha or Viráj be distinct from Brahmá, what becomes of Brahmá? The entire whole and its two halves cannot coexist; although some of the Pauráńics and the author of Manu seem to have imagined its possibility, by making Viráj the son of Brahmá. The perplexity, however, is still more ascribable to the personification of that which was only an allegory. The division of Brahmá into two halves designates, as is very evident from the passage in the Vedas given by Mr. Colebrooke, (As. R. VIII. 425,) the distinction of corporeal substance into two sexes; Viráj being all male animals, Śatarúpá all female animals. So the commentator on the Hari Vanśa explains the former to denote the horse, the bull, &c.; and the latter, the mare, the cow, and the like. In the Bhágavata the term Viráj implies, Body, collectively, as the commentator observes; 'As the sun illuminates his own inner sphere, as well as the exterior regions, so soul, shining in body (Virája), irradiates all without and within.' All therefore that the birth of Viráj was intended to express, was the creation of living body, of creatures of both sexes: and as in consequence man was produced, he might be said to be the son of Viráj, or bodily existence. Again, Śatarúpá, the bride of Brahmá, or of Viráj, or of Manu, is nothing more than beings of varied or manifold forms, from Sata, 'a hundred,' and 'form;' explained by the annotator on the Hari Vanśa by Anantarúpá, 'of infinite,' and Vividharúpá, 'of diversified shape;' being, as he states, the same as Máyá, 'illusion,' or the power of multiform metamorphosis. The Matsya P. has a little allegory of its own, on the subject of Brahmá's intercourse with Śatarúpá; for it explains the former to mean the Vedas, and the latter the Savitrí, or holy prayer, which is their chief text; and in their cohabitation there is therefore no evil.

107. The Bráhma P. has a different order, and makes Víra the son of the first pair, who has Uttánapáda, &c. by Kámyá. The commentator on the Hari Vanśa quotes the Váyu for a confirmation of this account; but the passage there is, 'Śatarúpá bore to the male Vairája (Manu) two Víras,' i. e. heroes or heroic sons, Uttánpáda and Priyavrata. It looks as if the compiler of the Bráhma P. had made some very unaccountable blunder, and invented upon it a new couple, Víra and Kámyá: no such person as the former occurs in any other Puráńa, nor does Kámyá, as his wife.

108. The Bhágavata adds a third daughter, Devahúti; for the purpose apparently of introducing a long legend of the Rishi Kardama, to whom she is married, and of their son Kapila: a legend not met with any where else.

109. Ruchi is reckoned amongst the Prajápatis by the Linga and Váyu Puráńas.

110. These descendants of Swáyambhuva are all evidently allegorical: thus Yajna is 'sacrifice,' and Dakshińá 'donation' to Brahmans.

111. The Bhágavata (b. IV. c. 1) says the Tushitas, but they are the divinities of the second, not of the first Manwantara, as appears also in another part of the same, where the Yámas are likewise referred to the Swáyambhuva Manwantara.

112. These twenty-four daughters are of much less universal occurrence in the Puráńas than the more extensive series of fifty or sixty, which is subsequently described, and which appears to be the more ancient legend.

113. The twenty-four daughters of Daksha are similarly named and disposed of in most of the Puráńas which notice them. The Bhágavata, having introduced a third daughter. of Swáyambhuva, has a rather different enumeration, in order to assign some of them, the wives of the Prajápatis, to Kardama and Devahúti. Daksha had therefore, it is there said (b. IV. c. 1), sixteen daughters, thirteen of whom were married to Dharma, named Sraddhá, Maitrí (friendship), Dayá (clemency), Sánti Tusht́i, Pusht́i, Kriyá, Unnati (elevation), Buddhi, Medhá, Titikshá (patience), Hrí (modesty), Múrtti (form); and three, Sati, Swáhá, and Swadhá, married, as in our text. Some of the daughters of Devahúti repeat these appellations, but that is of slight consideration. They are, Kalá (a moment), married to Maríchi; Anasúyá to Atri; Sraddhá to Angiras; Havirbhu (oblation-born) to Pulastya; Gati (movement) to Pulaha; Kriyá to Kratu; Khyáti to Bhrigu; Arundhati to Vaśisht́ha; and Sánti to Atharvan. In all these instances the persons are manifestly allegorical, being personifications of intelligences and virtues and religious rites, and being therefore appropriately wedded to the probable authors of the Hindu code of religion and morals, or to the equally allegorical representation of that code, Dharma, moral and religious duty.

114. The same remark applies here. The Puráńas that give these details generally concur with our text, but the Bhágavata specifies the progeny of Dharma in a somewhat different manner; or, following the order observed in the list of Dharma's wives, their children are, Rita (truth), Prasáda (favour), Abhaya (fearlessness), Sukha, Muda (pleasure), Smaya (wonder), Yoga (devotion), Darpa, Artha (meaning), Smriti (memory), Kshema, Prasraya (affection), and the two saints Nara and Náráyańa, the sons of Dharma by Múrtti. We have occasional varieties of nomenclature in other authorities; as, instead of Śruta, Sama; Kúrma P.: instead of Dandanaya, Samaya; and instead of Bodha, Apramáda; Linga P.: and Siddha in place of Sukha; Kúrma P.

115. The text rather abruptly introduces Adharma and his family. He is said by the commentator to be the son of Brahmá, and the Linga P. enumerates him among the Prajápatis, as well as Dharma. According to the Bhágavata, he is the husband of Mrishá (falsehood), and the father of Dambha (hypocrisy) and Máyá (deceit), who were adopted by Nirritti. The series of their descendants is also somewhat varied from our text; being in each descent, however, twins which intermarry, or Lobha (covetousness) and Nikriti, who produce Krodha (wrath) and Hinsá: their children are, Kali (wickedness) and Durukti (evil speech): their progeny are, Mrityu and Bhí (fear); whose offspring are, Niraya (hell) and Yátaná (torment).

116. The three first of these are more particularly described in the last book: the last, the Nitya, or constant, is differently described by Col. Vans Kennedy (Ancient and Hindu Mythology, p. 224, note). "In the 7th chapter," he observes, "of the Vishńu Puráńa four kinds of Pralaya are described. The Naimittika takes place when Brahmá slumbers: the Prákritika when this universe returns to its original nature: Atyantika proceeds from divine knowledge: and Nitya is the extinction of life, like the extinction of a lamp, in sleep at night." For this last characteristic, however, our text furnishes no warrant; nor can it be explained to signify, that the Nitya Pralaya means no more than "a man's falling into a sound sleep at night." All the copies consulted on the present occasion concur in reading ### as rendered above. The commentator supplies the illustration, 'like the flame of a lamp;' but he also writes, 'That which is the destruction of all that are born, night and day, is the Nitya, or constant.' Again, in a verse presently following we have the Nitya Sarga, 'constant or perpetual creation,' as opposed to constant dissolution: 'That in which, oh excellent sages, beings are daily born, is termed constant creation, by those learned in the Puráńas.' The commentator explains this, 'The constant flow or succession of the creation of ourselves and other creatures is the Nitya or constant creation: this is the meaning of the text.' It is obvious, therefore, that the alternation intended is that of life and death, not of waking and sleep.

117. The creation of Rudra has been already adverted to, and that seems to be the primitive form of the legend. We have here another account, grounded apparently upon Śaiva or Yogi mysticism.

118. The appearance of Rudra as a Kumára, 'a boy,' is described as of repeated occurrence in the Linga and Váyu Puráńas, as already noticed (p. 38); and these Kumáras are of different complexions in different Kalpas. In the Vaishńava Puráńas, however, we have only one original form, to which the name of Nílalohita, the blue and red or purple complexioned is assigned. In the Kúrma this youth comes from Brahmá's mouth: in the Váyu, from his forehead.

119. This is the Pauráńic etymology: ### or rud, 'to weep,' and dru, 'to run' The grammarians derive the name from rud, 'to weep,' with ra affix.

120. The Váyu details the application of each name severally. These eight Rudras are therefore but one, under as many appellations, and in as many types. The Padma, Márkańd́eya, Kúrma, Linga, and Váyu agree with our text in the nomenclature of the Rudras, and their types, their wives, and progeny. The types are those which are enumerated in the Nándí, or opening benedictory verse, of Sakuntalá; and the passage of the Vishńu P. was found by Mons. Chezy on the envelope of his copy. He has justly corrected Sir Wm. Jones's version of the term ### 'the sacrifice is performed with solemnity;' as the word means, 'Brahmane officiant,' 'the Bráhmań who is qualified by initiation (Díkshá) to conduct the rite.' These are considered as the bodies, or visible forms, of those modifications of Rudra which are variously named, and which, being praised in them, severally abstain from harming them: ### Váyu P. The Bhágavata, III. 12, has a different scheme, as usual; but it confounds the notion of the eleven Rudras, to whom the text subsequently adverts, with that of the eight here specified. These eleven it terms Manyu, Manu, Mahínasa, Mahán, Siva, Ritadhwaja, Ugraretas, Bhava, Kála, Vámadeva, and Dhritavrata: their wives are, Dhí, Dhriti, Rasalomá, Niyut, Sarpí, Ilá, Ambiká, Irávatí, Swadhá, Díkshá, Rudrání: and their places are, the heart, senses, breath, ether, air, fire, water, earth, sun, moon, and tapas, or ascetic devotion. The same allegory or mystification characterises both accounts.

121. See the story of Daksha's sacrifice at the end of the chapter.

122. The story of Umá's birth and marriage occurs in the Śiva P. and in the Káśí Khanda of the Skanda P.: it is noticed briefly, and with some variation from the Puráńas, in the Rámáyańa, first book: it is also given in detail in the Kumára Sambhava of Kálidása.

123. The family of Bhrigu is more particularly described in the tenth chapter: it is here mentioned merely to introduce the story of the birth of the goddess of prosperity, Śrí.

124. The sacrifice of Daksha is a legend of some interest, from its historical and archeological relations. It is obviously intended to intimate a struggle between the worshippers of Śiva and of Vishńu, in which at first the latter, but finally the former, acquired the ascendancy. It is also a favourite subject of Hindu sculpture, at least with the Hindus of the Śaiva division, and makes a conspicuous figure both at Elephanta and Ellora. A representation of the dispersion and mutilation of the gods and sages by Vírabhadra, at the former, is published in the Archæologia, VII. 326, where it is described as the Judgment of Solomon! a figure of Vírabhadra is given by Niebuhr, vol. II. tab. 10: and the entire group in the Bombay Transactions, vol. I. p. 220. It is described, p. 229; but Mr. Erskine has not verified the subject, although it cannot admit of doubt. The groupe described, p. 224, probably represents the introductory details given in our text. Of the Ellora sculptures, a striking one occurs in what Sir C. Malet calls the Doomar Leyna cave, where is "Veer Budder, with eight hands. In one is suspended the slain Rajah Dutz." A. R. VI. 396. And there is also a representation of 'Ehr Budr,' in one of the colonades of Kailas; being, in fact, the same figure as that at Elephanta. Bombay Tr. III. 287. The legend of Daksha therefore was popular when those cavern temples were excavated. The story is told in much more detail in several other Puráńas, and with some variations, which will be noticed: but the above has been selected as a specimen of the style of the Váyu Puráńa, and as being a narration which, from its inartificial, obscure, tautological, and uncircumstantial construction, is probably of an ancient date. The same legend, in the same words, is given in the Bráhma P.

125. Or this may he understood to imply, that the original story is in the Vedas; the term being, as usual in such a reference, ###. Gangadwára, the place where the Ganges descends to the plains--or Haridwar, as it is more usually termed--is usually specified as the scene of action, The Linga is more precise, calling it Kanakhala, which is the village still called Kankhal, near Haridwar (Megha Dúta, p. 59). It rather inaccurately, however, describes this as upon Hansa peak, a point of the Himalaya.

126. The Kúrma P. gives also this discussion between Dadhícha and Daksha, and their dialogue contains some curious matter. Daksha, for instance, states that no portion of a sacrifice is ever allotted to Śiva, and no prayers are directed to be addressed to him, or to his bride. Dadhícha apparently evades the objection, and claims a share for Rudra, consisting of the triad of gods, as one with the sun, who is undoubtedly hymned by the several ministering priests of the Vedas. Daksha replies, that the twelve Ádityas receive special oblations; that they are all the suns; and p. 64 that he knows of no other. The Munis, who overhear the dispute, concur in his sentiments. These notions seem to have been exchanged for others in the days of the Padma P. and Bhágavata, as they place Daksha's neglect of Śiva to the latter's filthy practices, his going naked, smearing himself with ashes, carrying a skull, and behaving as if he were drunk or crazed: alluding, no doubt, to the practices of Śaiva mendicants, who seem to have abounded in the days of Śankara Áchárya, and since. There is no discussion in the Bhágavata, but Rudra is described as present at a former assembly, when his father-in-law censured him before the guests, and in consequence he departed in a rage. His follower Nandí curses the company, and Bhrigu retorts in language descriptive of the Vámácháris, or left hand worshippers of Śiva. "May all those," he says, "who adopt the worship of Bhava (Śiva), all those who follow the practices of his worshippers, become heretics, and oppugners of holy doctrines; may they neglect the observances of purification; may they be of infirm intellects, wearing clotted hair, and ornamenting themselves with ashes and bones; and may they enter the Śaiva initiation, in which spirituous liquor is the libation."

127. This simple account of Sati's share in the transaction is considerably modified in other accounts. In the Kúrma, the quarrel begins with Daksha the patriarch's being, as he thinks, treated by his son-in-law with less respect than is his due. Upon his daughter Satí's subsequently visiting him, he abuses her husband, and turns her out of his house. She in spite destroys herself. Śiva, hearing of this, comes to Daksha, and curses him to be born as a Kshetriya, the son of the Prachetasas, and to beget a son on his own daughter. It is in this subsequent birth that the sacrifice occurs. The Linga and Matsya allude to the dispute between Daksha and Sati, and to the latter's putting an end to herself by Yoga. The Padma, Bhágavata, and Skánda in the Kásí Khanda, relate the dispute between father and daughter in a like manner, and in more detail. The first refers the death of Sag, however, to a prior period; and that and the Bhágavata both ascribe it to Yoga. The Kásí Khanda, with an improvement indicative of a later age, makes Sati throw herself into the fire prepared for the solemnity.

128. The description of Vírabhadra and his followers is given in other Puráńas in the same strain, but with less detail.

129. Their exploits, and those of Vírabhadra, are more particularly specified elsewhere, especially in the Linga, Kúrma, and Bhágavata Puráńas. Indra is knocked down and trampled on; Yama has his staff broken; Saraswatí and the Mátris have their noses cut off; Mitra or Bhaga has his eyes pulled out; Pushá has his teeth knocked down his throat; Chandra is pummelled; Vahni's hands are cut off; Bhrigu loses his beard; the Brahmans are pelted with stones; the Prajápatis are beaten; and the gods and demigods are run through with swords or stuck with arrows.

130. This is also mentioned in the Linga and in the Hari Vanśa: and the latter thus accounts for the origin of the constellation Mrigasíras; Yajna, with the head of a deer, being elevated to the planetary region, by Brahmá.

131. As he prays to Śiva presently, it could not well be meant here that Daksha was decapitated, although that is the story in other places. The Linga and Bhágavata both state that Vírabhadra cut off Daksha's head, and threw it into the fire. After the fray therefore, when Śiva restored the dead to life, and the mutilated to their limbs, Daksha's head was not forthcoming: it was therefore replaced by the head of a goat, or, according to the Kásí Khanda, that of a ram. No notice is taken in our text of the conflict elsewhere described between Vírabhadra and Vishńu. In the Linga, the latter is beheaded, and his head is blown by the wind into the fire. The Kúrma, though a Śaiva Puráńa, is less irreverent towards Vishńu, and after describing a contest in which both parties occasionally prevail, makes Brahmá interpose, and separate the combatants. The Kásí Khanda of the Skánda P. describes Vishńu as defeated, and at the mercy of Vírabhadra, who is prohibited by a voice from heaven from destroying his antagonist: whilst in the Hari Vanśa, Vishńu compels Śiva to fly, after taking him by the throat and nearly strangling him. The blackness of Śiva's neck arose from this throttling, and not, as elsewhere described, from his drinking the poison produced at the churning of the ocean.

132. Durvásas was the son of Atri by Anasúyá, and was an incarnation of a portion of Śiva.

133. Vidyádharí. These beings, male and female, are spirits of an inferior order, tenanting the middle regions of the atmosphere. According to the Váyu, the garland was given to the nymph by Deví.

134. He observed the Vrata, or vow of insanity; equivalent to the ecstasies of some religious fanatics. In this state,' says the commentator, 'even saints are devils.'

135. They became Nih-satwa; and Satwa is explained throughout by Dhairyya, 'steadiness,' 'fortitude.'

136. The first effect of primary cause is nature, or Prakriti: the effect of the effect, or of Prakriti, is Mahat: effect in the third degree is Ahankára: in the fourth, or the effect of the effect (Ahankára) of the effect (Mahat) of the effect (Prakriti), is elementary substance, or Bhúta. Vishńu is each and all. So in the succeeding ascending scale, Brahmá is the cause of mortal life; the cause of Brahmá is the egg, or aggregate elementary matter: its cause is, therefore, elementary matter; the cause of which is subtile or rudimental matter, which originates from Ahankára, and so on. Vishńu is also each and all of these.

137. With thy Śakti, or the goddess Śrí or Lakshmí.

138. Or with the Súkta, or hymn of the Vedas, commencing, "Hiranya vernám," &c.

139. The churning of the ocean does not occur in several of the Puráńas, and is but cursorily alluded to in the Śiva, Linga, and Kúrma Puráńas. The Váyu and Padma have much the same narrative as that of our text; and so have the Agni and Bhágavata, except that they refer only briefly to the anger of Durvásas, without narrating the circumstances; indicating their being posterior, therefore, to the original tale. The part, however, assigned to Durvásas appears to be an embellishment added to the original, for no mention of him occurs in the Matsya P. nor even in the Hari Vanśa, neither does it occur in what may be considered the oldest extant versions of the story, those of the Rámáyana and Mahábhárata: both these ascribe the occurrence to the desire of the gods and Daityas to become immortal. The Matsya assigns a similar motive to the gods, instigated by observing that the Daityas slain by them in battle were restored to life by Śukra with the Sanjíviní, or herb of immortality, which he had discovered. The account in the Hari Vanśa is brief and obscure, and is explained by the commentator as an allegory, in which the churning of the ocean typifies ascetic penance, and the ambrosia is final liberation: but this is mere mystification. The legend of the Rámáyana is translated, vol. I. p. 410. of the Serampore edition; and that of the Mahábhárata by Sir C. Wilkins, in the notes to his translation of the Bhágavata Gítá. See also the original text, Cal. ed. p. 40. It has been presented to general readers in a more attractive form by my friend H. M. Parker, in his Draught of Immortality, printed with other poems, Lond. 1827. The Matsya P. has many of the stanzas of the Mahábhárata interspersed with others. There is some variety in the order and number of articles produced from the ocean. As I have observed elsewhere (Hindu Theatre, I. 59. Lond. ed.), the popular enumeration is fourteen; but the Rámáyana specifies but nine; the Mahábhárata, nine; the Bhágavata, ten; the Padma, nine; the Váyu, twelve; the Matsya, perhaps, gives the whole number. Those in which most agree, are, 1. the Háláhala or Kálakúta poison, swallowed by Śiva: 2. Váruní or Surá, the goddess of wine, who being taken by the gods, and rejected by the Daityas, the former were termed Suras, and the latter Asuras: 3. the horse Uchchaiśśravas, taken by Indra: 4. Kaustubha, the jewel worn by Vishńu: 5. the moon: 6. Dhanwantari, with the Amrita in his Kamańd́alu, or vase; and these two articles are in the Váyu considered as distinct products: 7. the goddess Padmá or Śrí: 8. the Apsarasas, or nymphs of heaven: 9. Surabhi, or the cow of plenty: 10. the Párijáta tree, or tree of heaven: 11. Airávata, the elephant taken by Indra. The Matsya adds, 12. the umbrella taken by Varuna: 13. the earrings taken by Indra, and given to Adití: and apparently another horse, the white horse of the sun: or the number may be completed by counting the Amrita separately from Dhanwantari. The number is made up in the popular lists by adding the bow and the conch of Vishńu; but there does not seem to be any good authority for this, and the addition is a sectarial one: so is that of the Tulaśí tree, a plant sacred to Krishńa, which is one of the twelve specified by the Váyu P. The Uttara Khanda of the Padma P. has a peculiar enumeration, or, Poison; Jyesht́há or Alakshmí, the goddess of misfortune, the elder born to fortune; the goddess of wine; Nidrá, or sloth; the Apsarasas; the elephant of Indra; Lakshmí; the moon; and the Tulaśí plant. The reference to Mohiní, the female form assumed by Vishńu, is very brief in our text; and no notice is taken of the story told in the Mahábhárata and some of the Puráńas, of the Daitya Ráhu's insinuating himself amongst the gods, and obtaining a portion of the Amrita: being beheaded for this by Vishńu, the head became immortal, in consequence of the Amrita having reached the throat, and was transferred as a constellation to the skies; and as the sun and moon detected his presence amongst the gods, Ráhu pursues them with implacable hatred, and his efforts to seize them are the causes of eclipses; Ráhu typifying the ascending and descending nodes. This seems to be the simplest and oldest form of the legend. The equal immortality of the body, under the name Ketu, and his being the cause of meteorical phenomena, seems to have been an after-thought. In the Padma and Bhágavata, Ráhu and Ketu are the sons of Sinhiká, the wife of the Dánava Viprachitti.

140. The four Vidyás, or branches of knowledge, are said to be, Yajna vidyá, knowledge or performance of religious rites; Mahá vidyá, great knowledge, the worship of the female principle, or Tántrika worship; Guhya vidyá, knowledge of mantras, mystical prayers, and incantations; and Átma vidyá, knowledge of soul, true wisdom.

141. Or Várttá, explained to mean the Śilpa śástra, mechanics, sculpture, and architecture; Áyur-veda, medicine, &c.

142. The cause of this, however, is left unexplained. The Padma P. inserts a legend to account for the temporary separation of Lakshmí from Vishńu, which appears to be peculiar to that work. Bhrigu was lord of Lakshmípur, a city on the Narmadá, given him by Brahmá. His daughter Lakshmí instigated her husband to request its being conceded to her, which offending Bhrigu, he cursed Vishńu to be born upon earth ten times, to be separated from his wife, and to have no children. The legend is an insipid modern embellishment.

143. The commentator interprets the text ### to refer to Práńa: 'Vedaśiras was born the son of Práńa.' So the Bhágavata has ###. The Linga, the Váyu, and Márkańd́eya, however, confirm our reading of the text, making Vedaśiras the son of Márkańd́eya. Práńa, or, as read in the two former, Páńd́u, was married to Puńd́aríká, and had by her Dyutimat, whose sons were Srijávańa and Asruta or Asrutavrańa. Mrikańd́a (also read Mrikańd́u) married Manaswiní, and had Márkańd́eya, whose son, by Murddhanyá, was Vedaśiras: he married Pívarí, and had many children, who constituted the family, or Brahmanical tribe, of Bhárgavas, sons of Bhrigu. The most celebrated of these was Uśanas, the preceptor of the Daityas, who, according to the Bhágavata, was the son of Vedaśiras; but the Váyu makes him the son of Bhrigu by Paulomí, and born at a different period.

144. Alluding especially to Kaśyapa, the son of Maríchi, of whose posterity a full detail is subsequently given. The Bhágavata adds a daughter, Devakulyá; and the Váyu and Linga, four daughters, Tusht́i, Pusht́i, Twishá, and Apachiti. The latter inserts the grandsons of Paurnamása. Virajas, married to Gaurí, has Sudháman, a Lokapála, or ruler of the east quarter; and Parvasa (quasi Sarvaga) has, by Parvasí, Yajnaváma and Kaśyata, who were both founders of Gotras, or families. The names of all these occur in different forms in different MSS.

145. The Bhágavata adds, that in the Swárochisha Manwantara the sages Uttathya and Vrihaspati were also sons of Angiras; and the Váyu, &c. specify Agni and Kírttimat as the sons of the patriarch in the first Manwantara. Agni, married to Sadwatí, has Parjanya, married to Maríchi; and their son is Hiranyaroman, a Lokapála. Kírttimat has, by Dhenuká, two sons, Charishńu and Dhritimat.

146. The Bhágavata gives an account of Atri's penance, by which the three gods, Brahmá, Vishńu, and Śiva, were propitiated, and became, in portions of themselves, severally his sons, Soma, Datta, and Durvásas. The Váyu has a totally different series, or five sons, Satyanetra, Havya, Ápomurtti, Sani, and Soma; and one daughter, Sruti, who became the wife of Kardama.

147. The text would seem to imply that he was called Agastya in a former Manwantara, but the commentator explains it as above. The Bhágavata calls the wife of Pulastya, Havirbhú, whose sons were the Muni Agastya, called in a former birth Dahrágni or Jat́harágni, and Visravas. The latter had by Ilavilá, the deity of wealth, Kuvera; and by Kesiní, the Rákshasas Rávańa, Kumbhakarńa, and Vibhíshańa. The Váyu specifies three sons of Pulastya, Dattoli, Vedabáhu, and Viníta; and one daughter, Sadwatí, married (see note 3) to Agni.

148. The Bhágavata reads Karmaśresht́ha, Varíyas, and Sahishńu. The Váyu and Linga have Kardama and Ambarísha in place of the two first, and add Vanakapívat and a daughter, Pívarí, married to Vedaśiras (see note 1). Kardama married Śruti (note 4), and had by her Sankhapáda, one of the Lokapálas, and a daughter, Kámyá, married to Priyavrata (note 6, p. 53). Vana-kapívat, also read Dhana-k. and Ghana-k., had a son, Sahishńu, married to Yasodhará, and they were the parents of Kámadeva.

149. The different authorities agree in this place. The Váyu adds two daughters, Punyá and Sumatí, married to Yajnaváma (see note 2).

150. The Bhágavata has an entirely different set of names, or Chitraketu, Surochish, Virajas, Mitra, Ulwana, Vasubhridyána, and p. 84 Dyumat. It also specifies Saktri and others, as the issue of a different marriage. The Váyu and Linga have the same sons as in our text, reading Putra and Hasta in place of Gátra: they add a daughter, Puńd́ariká, married to Pańd́u (see note 1). The eldest son, according to the Váyu, espoused a daughter of Márkańd́eya, and had by her the Lokapála of the west, Ketumat. The seven sons of Vaśisht́ha are termed in the text the seven Rishis, appearing in that character in the third Manwantara.

151. The eldest son of Brahmá, according to the commentator, upon the authority of the Vedas. The Váyu P. enters into a very long detail of the names and places of the whole forty-nine fires. According to that, also, Pávaka is electric or Vaidynta fire; Pavamána is that produced by friction, or Nirmathya; and Śuchi is solar, Saura, fire. Pavamána was the parent of Kavyaváhana, the fire of the Pitris; Śuchi of Havyaváhana, the fire of the gods; and Pavamána of Saharaksha, the fire of the Asuras. The Bhágavata explains these different fires to be so many appellations of fire employed in the invocations with which different oblations to fire are offered in the ritual of the Vedas: ### explained by the commentator, ###.

152. According to the commentator, this distinction is derived from the Vedas. The first class, or Agnishwáttas, consists of those householders who, when alive, did not maintain their domestic fires, nor offer burnt-sacrifices: the second, of those who kept up the household flame, and presented oblations with fire. Manu calls these Agnidagdhas and the reverse, which Sir W. Jones renders, 'consumable by fire,' &c. Kullúka Bhat́t́a gives no explanation of them. The Bhágavata adds other classes of Pitris; or, the Ájyapas, drinkers of ghee;' and Somapás, drinkers of the acid juice.' The commentator, explaining the meaning of the terms Ságnayas and Anágnyas, has, ### which might be understood to signify, that the Pitris who are 'without fire' are those to whom oblations are not offered; and those 'with fire' are they to whom oblations are presented.

153. The Váyu carries this genealogy forward. Dháraní was married to Meru, and p. 85 had by him Mandara and three daughters, Niyati, Áyati, and Velá: the two first were married to Dhátri and Vidhátri (p. 81). Velá was the wife of Samudra, by whom she had Sámudrí, married to Prachínavarhish, and the mother of the ten Prachetasas, the fathers of Daksha, as subsequently narrated. Mená was married to Himávat, and was the mother of Maináka, and of Gangá, and of Párvati or Umá.

154. No notice is here taken of Sati, married to Bhava, as is intimated in c. 8 (p. 59), when describing the Rudras. Of these genealogies the fullest and apparently the oldest account is given in the Váyu P.: as far as that of our text extends, the two nearly agree, allowing for differences of appellation originating in inaccurate transcription, the names frequently varying in different copies of the same work, leaving it doubtful which reading should be preferred. The Bhágavata, as observed above (p. 54. n. 12), has created some further perplexity by substituting, as the wives of the patriarchs, the daughters of Kardama for those of Daksha. Of the general statement it may be observed, that although in some respects allegorical, as in the names of the wives of the Rishis (p. 54); and in others astronomical, as in the denominations of the daughters of Anginas (p. 82); yet it seems probable that it is not altogether fabulous, but that the persons in some instances had a real existence, the genealogies originating in imperfectly preserved traditions of the families of the first teachers of the Hindu religion, and of the descent of individuals who took an active share in its propagation.

155. The Matsya, Bráhma, and Váyu Puráńas speak of but one wife of Uttánapáda, and call her Sunritá: they say also that she had four sons, Apaspati (or Vasu), Ayushmanta, Kírttimat, and Dhruva. The Bhágavata, Padma, and Náradíya have the same account as that of the text.

156. The instructions of the Rishis amount to the performance of the Yoga. External impressions are first to be obviated by particular positions, modes of breathing, &c.: the mind must then be fixed on the object of meditation; this is Dhárana: next comes the meditation, or Dhyána; and then the Japa, or inaudible repetition of a Mantra, or short prayer; as in the text. The subject of the Yoga is more fully detailed in a subsequent book.

157. A marginal note by a Bengali Pundit asserts it to be a fact, then when a jackal carries a piece of meat in his mouth, it shews in the dark as if it was on fire.

158. The commentator understands this passage to imply merely that the supreme pervades both substance and space, being infinitely vast, and without limit. 'Having a thousand heads,' &c. denotes only infinite extension: and the 'ten inches beyond the contact of the universe' expresses merely non-restriction by its boundaries.

159. Explained severally the Brahmáńd́a, or material universe; Brahmá, the creator; Manu, the ruler of the period; and supreme or presiding spirit.

160. So the inscription upon the temple of Sais: Ἐγὼ εἶμι πᾶν τὸ γεγονὸς, καὶ ὂν, καὶ ἐσόμενον. So the Orphic verse, cited by Eusebius, beginning Ἒν δὲ δέμας βασιλεῖον ἐν ᾦ τάδε πάντα κύκλειται, κ.τ.λ.
'One regal body in which all things are comprehended (viz. Virát), fire, and water, and earth, and air, and night, and day, and Intelligence (viz. Mahat) the first generator, and divine love; for all these does Jupiter include in his expansive form.' It proceeds also, precisely in the Pauráńic strain, to describe the members of this universal form: the heaven is his head, the stars his hair, the sun and moon his eyes, &c.

161. A piece of natural history quite correct as applied to the front teeth, which in the genus ox occur in the lower jaw only.

162. This is also conformable to the doctrine, that the rudiments of plants exist in their cotyledons.

163. In life, or living beings, perception depends not, according to Hindu metaphysics, upon the external senses, but the impressions made upon them are communicated to the mental organ or sense, and by the mind to the understanding--Samvid in the text--by which they are distinguished as pleasurable, painful, or mixed. But pleasure depends upon the quality of goodness, pain on that of darkness, and their mixture on that of foulness, inherent in the understanding; properties belonging to Jíveśwara, or god, as one with life, or to embodied spirit, but not as Parameśwara, or supreme spirit.

164. The station or sphere is that of the north pole, or of the polar star. In the former case, the star is considered to be Suníti, the mother of Dhruva. The legend, although as it is related in our text it differs in its circumstances from the story told by Ovid of Callisto and her son Areas, whom Jove

Imposuit cælo vicinaque sidera fecit,

suggests some suspicion of an original identity. In neither of the authorities have we, perhaps, the primitive fable. It is evident from the quotation that presently follows in the text, of a stanza by Nanas, that the Puráńa has not the oldest version of the legend; and Ovid's representation of it is after a fashion of his own: all that has been retained of the original is the conformity of the characters and of the main incident, the translation of a mother and her son to the heavens as constellations, in which the pole-star is the most conspicuous luminary.

165. The Vaimánika devas, the deities who travel in Vimánas, 'heavenly cars,' or rather 'moving spheres.'

166. The text says merely ###; the commentator says, 'perhaps formerly so called;' ###. We have already remarked that some Puráńas so denominate her.

167. The legend of Dhruva is narrated in the Bhágavata, Padma (Swerga Khańd́a), Agni, and Náradíya, much to the same purport, and partly in the same words, as our text. The Bráhma and its double the Hari Vanśa, the Matsya, and Váyu merely allude to Dhruva's having been transferred by Brahmá to the skies, in reward of his austerities. The story of his religious penance, and adoration of Vishńu, seems to be an embellishment interpolated by the Vaishńava Puráńas, Dhruva being adopted as a saint by their sect. The allusion to Súnritá in our text concurs with the form of the story as it appears elsewhere, to indicate the priority of the more simple legend.

168. The descent of Puru from Dhruva is similarly traced in the Matsya Puráńa, but with some variety of nomenclature: thus the wife of Dhruva is named Dhanyá; and the eldest son of the Manu, Taru. The Váyu introduces another generation, making the eldest son of Slisht́i, or as there termed Pusht́i, father of Udáradhí; and the latter the father of Ripu, the father of Chakshusha, the father of the Manu. The Bhágavata has an almost entirely different set of names, having converted the family of Dhruva into personifications of divisions of time and of day and night. The account there given is, Dhruva had, by his wife Bhramí (revolving), the daughter of Śiśumára (the sphere), Kalpa and Vatsara. The latter married Suvíthi, and had six sons, Pushpárńa, Tigmaketu, Isha, Urjja, Vasu, Jaya. The first married Prabhá and Doshá, and had by the former, Prátah (dawn), Madhyadina (noon), and Sáya (evening); and by the latter, Pradosha, Niśítha, and Vyusht́a, or the beginning, middle, and end of night. The last has, by Pushkarińí, Chakshush, married to Ákúti, and the father of Chákshusha Manu. He has twelve sons, Puru, Kritsna, Rita, Dyumna, Satyavat, Dhrita, Vrata, Agnisht́oma, Atirátra, Pradyumna, Sivi, and Ulmuka. The last is the father of six sons, named as in our text, except the last, who is called Gaya. The eldest, Anga, is the father of Veńa, the father of Prithu. These additions are evidently the creatures of the author's imagination. The Bráhma Puráńa and Hari Vanśa have the same genealogy as the Vishńu, reading, as do the Matsya and Váyu, Pushkarini or Vírańí, the daughter of Vírańá, instead of Varuńa. They, as well as copies of the text, present several other varieties of nomenclature. The Padma P. (Bhúmi Khańd́a) says Anga was of the family of Atri, in allusion perhaps to the circumstance mentioned in the Bráhma P. of Uttánapáda's adoption by that Rishi.

169. With the Dírghasatra, 'long sacrifice;' a ceremony lasting a thousand years.

170. That is, the land will be fertile in proportion as the gods are propitiated, and the king will benefit accordingly, as a sixth part of the merit and of the produce will be his. So the commentator explains the word 'portion.'

171. The Matsya says there were born outcast or barbarous races, Mlechchas, as black as collyrium. The Bhágavata describes an individual of dwarfish p. 101 stature, with short arms and legs, of a complexion as black as a crow, with projecting chin, broad flat nose, red eyes, and tawny hair; whose descendants were mountaineers and foresters: The Padma (Bhu. Kh.) has a similar description, adding to the dwarfish stature and black complexion, a wide mouth, large ears, and a protuberant belly. It also particularizes his posterity as Nishádas, Kirátas, Bhillas, Bahanakas, Bhramaras, Pulindas, and other barbarians, or Mlechchas, living in woods and on mountains. These passages intend, and do not much exaggerate, the uncouth appearance of the Goands, Koles, Bhils, and other uncivilized tribes, scattered along the forests and mountains of central India, from Behar to Kandesh, and who are not improbably the predecessors of the present occupants of the cultivated portions of the country. They are always very black, ill-shapen, and dwarfish, and have countenances of a very African character.

172. A Chakra-verttí, or, according to the text, one in whom the Chakra, the discus of Vishńu, abides (varttate); such a figure being delineated by the lines of the hand. The grammatical etymology is, 'he who abides in, or rules over, an extensive territory called a Chakra.'

173. From rága, 'passion' or 'affection;' but the more obvious etymology is ráj, to shine' or 'be splendid.'

174. The birth of Prithu is to be considered as the sacrifice, of which Brahmá, the creator, was the performer; but in other places, as in the Padma, it is considered that an actual sacrificial rite was celebrated, at which the first encomiasts were produced. The Bhágavata does not account for their appearance.

175. 'Having willed or determined the Manu Swáyambhuva to be the calf:' ###. So the Padma P.: ###. The Bhágavata has, 'Having made the Manu the calf.' By the calf,' or Manu in that character, is typified, the commentator observes, the promoter of the multiplication of progeny: ###.

176. The Matsya, Bráhma, Bhágavata, and Padma enter into a greater detail of this milking, specifying typically the calf, the milker, the milk, and the vessel. Thus, according to the Matsya, the Rishis milked the earth through Vrihaspati; their calf p. 105 was Soma; the Vedas were the vessel; and the milk was devotion. When the gods milked the earth, the milker was Mitra (the sun); Indra was the calf; superhuman power was the produce. The gods had a gold, the Pitris a silver vessel: and for the latter, the milker was Antaka (death); Yama was the calf; the milk was Swadhá, or oblation. The Nága, or snake-gods, had a gourd for their pail; their calf was Takshaka; Dhritarásht́ra (the serpent) was their milker; and their milk was poison. For the Asuras, Máyá was the milk; Virochana, the son of Prahláda, was the calf; the milker was Dwimurddhá; and the vessel was of iron. The Yakshas made Vaisravańa their calf; their vessel was of unbaked earth; the milk was the power of disappearing. The Rákshasas and others employed Raupyanábha as the milker; their calf was Sumáli; and their milk was blood. Chitraratha was the calf, Vasuruchi the milker, of the Gandharbas and nymphs, who milked fragrant odours into a cup of lotus leaves. On behalf of the mountains, Meru was the milker; Himavat the calf; the pail was of crystal; and the milk was of herbs and gems. The trees extracted sap in a vessel of the Paláśa, the Sál being the milker, and the Plaksha the calf. The descriptions that occur in the Bhágavata, Padma, and Bráhma Puráńas are occasionally slightly varied, but they are for the most part in the same words as that of the Matsya. These mystifications are all probably subsequent modifications of the original simple allegory, which typified the earth as a cow, who yielded to every class of beings the milk they desired, or the object of their wishes.

177. Another reading is, 'It counteracts evil dreams.' The legend of Prithu is briefly given in the Mahábhárata, Rája Dherma, and occurs in most of the Puráńas, but in greatest detail in our text, in the Bhágavata, and especially in the Padma, Bhúmi Khańd́a, s. 29, 30. All the versions, however, are essentially the same.

178. The text of the Váyu and Bráhma (or Hari Vanśa) read, like that of the Vishńu, ###. Mons. Langlois understands the two last words as a compound epithet; "Se jouirent dupouvoir de se rendre invisibles." The construction would admit of such a sense, but it seems more probable that they are intended for names. The lineage of Prithu is immediately continued through one of them, Antarddhána, which is the same as Antarddhi; as the commentator states with regard to that appellation, ###, and as the commentator on the Hari Vanśa remarks of the succeeding name, 'one of the brothers being called Antarddhána or Antarddhi,' leaves no other sense for Pálin but that of a proper name. The Bhágavata gives Prithu five sons, Vijitáswa, Haryyaksha, Dhumrakésa, Vrika, and Dravina, and adds that the elder was also named Antarddhána, in consequence of having obtained from Indra the power of making himself invisible.

179. The Bhágavata, as usual, modifies this genealogy; Antarddhána has by Sikhańd́ińí three sons, who were the three fires, Pávaka, Pavamána, and Suchi, condemned by a curse of Vaśisht́ha to be born again: by another wife, Nabhaswatí, he has Havirddhána, whose sons are the same as those of the text, only giving another name, Varhishad as well as Práchínaverhis, to the first. According to the Mahábhárata (Moksha Dharma), which has been followed by the Padma P., Práchinavarhis was born in the family of Atri.

180. The text is, ###. Kuśa or varhis is properly 'sacrificial grass' (Poa); and Práchinágra, literally, 'having its tips towards the east;' the direction in which it should be placed upon the ground, as a seat for the gods on occasion of offerings made to them. The name therefore intimates, either that the practice originated with him, or, as the commentator explains it, that he was exceedingly devout, offering sacrifices or invoking the gods every where. The Hari Vanśa adds a verse to that of our text, reading, ###, which Mons. Langlois has rendered, 'Quand il marchoit sur la terre les pointes de cousa etoient courbées vers l’Orient;' which he supposes to mean, 'Que ce prince avait tourné ses pensées et porté sa domination vers l’Orient:' a supposition that might have been obviated by a little further consideration of the verse of Manu to which he refers. "If he have sitten on culms of grass with their points towards the east," &c. The commentary explains the passage as above, referring ### to ### not to ### as, ###. 'He was called Práchinavarhis, because his sacred grass, pointing east, was going upon the very earth, or was spread over the whole earth.' The text of the Bhágavata also explains clearly what is meant: 'By whose sacred grass, pointing to the east, as he performed sacrifice after sacrifice, the whole earth, his sacrificial ground, was overspread.'

181. Or, 'immersed in the six Úrmis'; explained hunger, thirst, sorrow, stupefaction, decay, and death.

182. There is some confusion here in regard to the person addressed, but the context shews that the insertion of Maitreya's name is an inadvertence, and that the passage is a continuation of Soma's speech to the Prachetasas.

183. The phrase is 'made up of the farther boundary of Brahma;' implying either 'comprehending the supreme, or Brahma, and transcendental wisdom, Pára;' or, consisting of the farthest limits (Pára) or truths of the Vedas or Brahma;' that is, being the essence of the Vedánta philosophy. The hymn that follows is in fact a mantra or mystical prayer, commencing with the reiteration of the word Para and Pára; as, ###. Para means 'supreme, infinite; and Pára, 'the farther bank or limit,' the point that is to be attained by crossing a river or sea, or figuratively the world or existence. Vishńu, then, is Para, that which nothing surpasses; and Pára, the end or object of existence: he is Apára pára, the farthest bound of that which is illimitable, or space and time: he is Param parebhyah, above or beyond the highest, being beyond or superior to all the elements: he is Paramártha rúpí, or identical with final truth, or knowledge of soul: he is Brahma pára, the object or essence of spiritual wisdom. Parapárabhúta is said to imply the farther limit (Pára) of rudimental matter (Para). He is Para, or chief Paránam, of those objects which are beyond the senses: and he is Párapára, or the boundary of boundaries; that is, he is the comprehensive in-vesture of, and exterior to, those limits by which soul is confined; he is free from all incumbrance or impediment. The passage may be interpreted in different ways, according to the ingenuity with which the riddle is read.

184. This part of the legend is peculiar to our text, and the whole story of Márishá's birth is nowhere else so fully detailed. The penance of the Prachetasas, and its consequences, are related in the Agni, Bhágavata, Matsya, Padma, Váyu, and Bráhma Puráńas, and allusion is briefly made to Márishá's birth. Her origin from Kańd́u and Pramlochá is narrated in a different place in the Bráhma Puráńa, where the austerities of Kańd́u, and the necessity for their interruption, are described. The story, from that authority, was translated by the late Professor Chezy, and is published in the first number of the Journal Asiatique.

185. The second birth of Daksha, and his share in the peopling of the earth, is narrated in most of the Puráńas in a similar manner. It is perhaps the original legend, for Daksha seems to be an irregular adjunct to the Prajápatis, or mind-born sons of Brahmá (see p. 49. n. 2); and the allegorical nature of his posterity in that character (p. 54) intimates a more recent origin. Nor does that series of descendants apparently occur in the Mahábhárata, although the existence of two Dakshas is especially remarked there (Moksha Dh.). In the Ádi Parva, which seems to be the freest from subsequent improvements, the Daksha noticed is the son of the Prachetasas. The incompatibility of the two accounts is reconciled by referring the two Dakshas to different Manwantaras. The Daksha who proceeded from Brahmá as a Prajápati being born in the first, or Swáyambhuva, and the son of the Prachetasas in the Chákshusha Manwantara. The latter however, as descended from Uttánapáda, should belong to the first period also. It is evident that great confusion has been made by the Puráńas in Daksha's history.

186. That is, they are the Nakshatras, or lunar asterisms.

187. 'They are removed', which the commentator explains by 'are absorbed, as if they were fast asleep;' but in every age or Yuga, according to the text--in every Manwantara, according to the comment--the Rishis reappear, the circumstances of their origin only being varied. Daksha therefore, as remarked in the preceding note, is the son of Brahmá in one period, the son of the Prachetasas in another. So Soma, in the Swáyambhuva Manwantara, was born as the son of Atri; in the Chákshusha, he was produced by churning the ocean. The words of our text occur in the Hari Vanśa, with an unimportant variation: 'Birth and obstruction are constant in all beings, but Rishis and those men who are wise are not perplexed by this;' that is, not, as rendered above, by the alternation of life and death; but, according to the commentator on the Hari Vanśa, by a very different matter, the prohibition of unlawful marriages. Utpatti, 'birth of progeny,' is the result of their will; Nirodha, 'obstruction,' is the law prohibiting the intermarriage of persons connected by the offering of the funeral cake; to which Rishis and sages are not subject, either from their matrimonial unions being merely platonic, or from the bad example set by Brahmá, who, according to the Vedas, approached his own daughter; we have already had occasion to advert to (p. 51. n. 5). The explanation of the text, however, given by the commentator appears forced, and less natural than the interpretation preferred above.

188. This is the usual account of Daksha's marriage, and is that of the Mahábhárata, Adi P. (p. 113), and of the Bráhma Puráńa, which the Hari Vanśa, in the first part, repeats. In another portion, the Pushkara Máhátmya, however, Daksha, it is said, converts half himself into a female, by whom he begets the daughters presently to be noticed: ###. This seems to be merely a new edition of an old story.

189. The commentator explains it to mean the origin, duration, and termination of subtile rudimental body; but the Padma and Linga P. distinctly express it, 'the extent of the earth.'

190. Nárada's interference, and the fruitless generation of the first progeny of Daksha, is an old legend. The Mahábhárata (Ádi P. p. 113) notices only one set of sons, who, it is said, obtained Moksha, or liberation, through Náreda's teaching them the Sánkhya philosophy. The Bráhma, Matsya, Váyu, Linga, Padma, Agni, and Bhágavata Puráńas tell the story much as in the text, and not unfrequently in the same words. In general they merely refer to the imprecation denounced upon Nárada, as above. The Bhágavata specifies the imprecation to be perpetual peripateticism. Daksha says to him, 'There shall not be a resting-place for thee in all these regions.' The Kúrma repeats the imprecation merely to the effect that Nárada shall perish, and gives no legend. In the Brahma Vaivartta, Nárada is cursed by Brahmá, on a similar occasion, to become the chief of the Gandharbas, whence his musical propensities: but the Bhágavata, VI. 7, has the reverse of this legend, and makes him first a Gandharba, then a Śúdra, then the son of Brahmá. The Bráhma P., and after it the Hari Vanśa and the Váyu P., have a different and not very intelligible story. Daksha, being about to pronounce an imprecation upon Nárada, was appeased by Brahmá and the Rishis, and it was agreed between them that Nárada should be again born, as the son of Kaśyapa, by one of Daksha's daughters. This seems to be the gist of the legend, but it is very confusedly told. The version of the Bráhma P., which is the same as that of Hari Vanśa, may be thus rendered: "The smooth-speaking Nárada addressed the sons of Daksha for their destruction and his own; for the Muni Kaśyapa begot him as a son, who was the son of Brahmá, on the daughter of Daksha, through fear of the latter's imprecation. He was formerly the son of Paramesht́hí (Brahmá), and the excellent sage Kaśyapa next begot him, as if he were his father, on Asikní, the daughter of Vírańa. Whilst he was engaged in beguiling the sons of the patriarch, Daksha, of resistless power, determined on his destruction; but he was solicited by Brahmá, in the presence of the great sages, and it was agreed between them that Nárada, the son of Brahmá, should be born of a daughter of Daksha. Consequently Daksha gave his daughter to Paramesht́hí, and by her was Nárada born." Now several difficulties occur here. Asikní is the wife, not the daughter, of Daksha; but this may be a blunder of the compiler, for in the parallel passage of the Váyu no name occurs. In the next place, who is this daughter? for, as we shall see, the progeny of all Daksha's daughters are fully detailed, and in no p. 119 authority consulted is Nárada mentioned as the son of either of them, or as the son of Kaśyapa. Daksha, too, gives his daughter, not to Kaśyapa, but to Paramesht́hí, or Brahmá. The commentator on the Hari Vanśa solves this by saying he gives her to Brahmá for Kaśyapa. The same bargain is noticed in the Váyu, but Nárada is also said there to be adopted by Kaśyapa. Again, however, it gives Daksha's imprecation in the same words as the Hari Vanśa; a passage, by the way, omitted in the Bráhma: 'Nárada, perish (in your present form), and take up your abode in the womb.' Whatever may be the original of this legend, it is evidently imperfectly given by the authorities here cited. The French translation of the passage in the Hari Vanśa can scarcely be admitted as correct: assuredly is not 'le Devarchi Dakcha, epoux d'’Asikní, fille de Virána, fut l’aïeul de cet illustri mouni ainsi régénéré.' ### is more consistently said by the commentator to mean Kaśyapa. The Váyu P. in another part, a description of the different orders of Rishis, states that the Devarshis Parvata and Náreda were sons of Kaśyapa: In the account of Kárttavírya, in the Bráhma P. and Hari Vanśa, Nárada is introduced as a Gandharba, the son of Varidása; being the same, according to the commentator on the latter, as the Gandharba elsewhere called Upavarhana.

191. The prior specification (p. 115) was fifty. The Mahábhárata, Adi P. 113, and, again, Moksha Dharma, has the same number. The Bhágavata, Kúrma, Padma, Linga, and Váyu P. state sixty. The former is perhaps the original, as the fullest and most consistent details relate to them and their posterity.

192. This is the usual list of Dharma's wives. The Bhágavata substitutes Kakud for Arundhat́í. The Padma P., Matsya P., and Hari Vanśa contain two different account of Daksha's descendants: the first agrees with our text; the second, which is supposed to occur in the Padma Kalpa, is somewhat varied, particularly as to the wives of Dharma, who are said to be five. The nomenclature varies, or,
Padma P. Hari Vanśa. Matsya.
Lakshmí Lakshmí Lakshmí
Saraswatí Kírttí Saraswatí
Gangá Sádhyá Sádhyá
Viśweśá Viśwá Viśweśá
Sávitrí Marutwatí Urjjaswatí.
There is evident inaccuracy in all the copies, and the names may in some instances be erroneous. From the succeeding enumeration of their descendants, it appears that Káma was the son of Lakshmí; the p. 120 Sádhyas, of Sádhyá; the Viśwádevas, of Viśwá; the Máruts, of Marutwatí; and the Vasus, of Deví, who may be either the Saraswatí or Sávitrí of the previous enumeration.

193. The Viśwádevas are a class of gods to whom sacrifices should be offered daily. Manu, III. 121. They are named in some of the Puráńas, as the Váyu and Matsya: the former specifying ten; the latter, twelve.

194. The Sádhyas, according to the Váyu, are the personified rites and prayers of the Vedas, born of the metres, and partakers of the sacrifices. The same work names twelve, which are all names of sacrifices and formulæ, as Darśa, Paurnamása, Vrihadaśwa, Rathantara, &c. The Matsya P., Padma P., and Hari V. have a different set of seventeen appellations, apparently of arbitrary selection, as Bhava, Prabhava, Íśa, Aruńi, &c.

195. Or, according to the Padma P., because they are always present in light, or luminous irradiation.

196. The Váyu supplies their names, Kshamávartta (patient) and Manaswin (wise).

197. The passage is, ### Whose sons they are does not appear; the object being, according to the comment, to specify only the eleven divisions or modifications of the youngest Rudra, Twasht́a.' We have, however, an unusual variety of reading here in two copies of the comment: 'The eleven Rudras, in whom the family of Twasht́ri (a synonyme, it may be observed, sometimes of Viswakarmá) is included, were born. The enumeration of the Rudras ends with Aparájita, of whom Tryambaka is the epithet.' Accordingly the three last names in all the other copies of the text are omitted in these two; their places being supplied by the three first, two of whom are always named in the lists of the Rudras. According to the Váyu and Bráhma P. the Rudras are the children of Kaśyapa by Surabhi: the Bhágavata makes them the progeny of Bhúta and Sarúpá: the Matsya, Padma, and Hari V., in the second series, the offspring of Surabhi by Brahmá. The names in three of the Pauráńic authorities run thus:
Váyu. Matsya. Bhágavata.
Ajaikapád Ajaikapád Ajaikapád
Ahirvradhna Ahirvradhna Ahirvradhna
Hara Hama Ugra
Nirrita Nirritti Bhíma
Íśwara Pingala Váma
Bhuvana Dahana Mahán
Angáraka Aparájita Bahurúpa
Arddhaketu Mrigavyádha Vrishakapi
Mrityu Senání Aja
Sarpa Sajja Bhava
Kapálí Kapálí Raivata.
The Bráhma or Hari V., the Padma, the Linga, &c. have other varieties; and the Lexicons have a different reading from all, as in that of Jat́ádhara they are Ajaikapad, Ahivradhna, Virúpaksha, Sureśwara, Jayanta, Bahurúpaka, Tryambaka, Aparájita, Vaivaśwata, Śávitra, and Hara. The variety seems to proceed from the writers applying to the Rudras, as they may legitimately do, different appellations of the common prototype, or synonymes of Rudra or Śiva, selected at will from his thousand and eight names, according to the Linga P.

198. The posterity of Daksha's daughters by Dharma are clearly allegorical personifications chiefly of two classes, one consisting of astronomical phenomena, and the other of portions or subjects of the ritual of the Vedas.

199. There is some, though not much, variation in these names in different Puráńas. The Bhágavata has Saramá, Kasht́ha, and Timi, the parents severally of canine animals, beasts with uncloven hoofs, and fishes, in place of Vinatá, Khasá, and Kadru; disposing of the first and last differently. The Váyu has Pravá in place of Arisht́á, and Anáyush or Danáyush for Surasá. The Padma P., second series, substitutes Kálá, Anáyush, Sinhiká, Piśáchá, Vách for Arisht́a, Surasá, Surabhi, Támrá, and Muni; and omits Id́á and Khasá. In the Uttara Khańd́a of the same, Kaśyapa's wives are said to be but four, Aditi, Diti, Kadru, and Vinatá.

200. In the sixth reign, or that of Chákshusha Manu, according to the text; but in book III. ch. 1. the Tushitas are the gods of the second or Swárochisha Manwantara. The Váyu has a much more complete legend than any other Pura on this subject. In the beginning of the Kalpa twelve gods, named Jayas, were created by Brahmá, as his deputies and assistants in the creation. They, lost in meditation, neglected his commands; on which he cursed them to be repeatedly born in each Manwantara till the seventh. They were accordingly, in the several successive Manwantaras, Ajitas, Tushitas, Satyas, Haris, Vaikunthas, Sádhyas, and Ádityas. Our authority and some others, as the Bráhma, have apparently intended to refer to this account, but have confused the order of the series.

201. The Puráńas that contain this genealogy agree tolerably well in these names. The Bhágavata adds many details regarding some of the Ádityas and their descendants.

202. The Nakshatra Yoginis, or chief stars of the lunar mansions, or asterisms in the moon's path.

203. None of the authorities are more specific on the subject of Arisht́anemis' progeny. In the Mahábhárata this is said to be another name of Kaśyapa. The Bhágavata substitutes Tárksha for this personage, said by the commentator to be likewise another name of Kaśyapa. His wives are, Kadru, Vinatá, Patangi, and Yáminí, mothers of snakes, birds, grasshoppers, and locusts.

204. Enumerated in astrological works as brown, red, yellow, and white; portending severally wind, heat, rain, famine.

205. The Richas, or verses, thirty-five in number, addressed to presiding divinities, denominated Pratyangirasas. The Bhágavata calls the wives of Anginas, Swadhá and Satí, and makes them the mothers of the Pitris and the Atharvan Veda severally.

206. The Śastra devatas, 'gods of the divine weapons;' a hundred are enumerated in the Rámáyańa, and they are there termed the sons of Kriśáśwa by Jayá and Vijayá, daughters of the Prajápati; that is, of Daksha. The Bhágavata terms the two wives of Kriśáśwa, Archish (flame) and Dhishańá; the former is the mother of Dhúmaketu (comet); the latter, of four sages, Devala, Vedaśiras, Vayuńa, and Manu. The allegorical origin of the weapons is undoubtedly the more ancient.

207. This number is founded upon a text of the Vedas, which to the eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, and twelve Ádityas, adds Prajápati, either Brahmá or Daksha, and Vashatkára, 'deified oblation.' They have the epithet Chhandajá, as born in different Manwantaras, of their own will.

208. The Puráńas generally concur in this genealogy, reading sometimes Anuhráda, Hráda, &c. for Anuhláda and the rest. Although placed second in the order of Kaśyapa's descendants, the Daityas are in fact the elder branch. Thus the Mahábhárata, Moksha Dherma, calls Diti the senior wife of Kaśyapa: and the Váyu terms Hirańyakaśipu and Hirańyáksha the eldest of all the sons of that patriarch. "Titan and his enormous brood" were "heaven's first born."

209. The boon, according to the Váyu Puráńa, was, that he should not be slain by any created being: the Kúrma adds, except by Vishńu. The Bhágavata has a similar boon as the Váyu, and therefore, says the commentator, Vishńu assumed the form of the Nrisinha, as being that of neither a man nor an animal.

210. The Puráńas teach constantly incompatible doctrines. According to this passage, the Supreme Being is not the inert cause of creation only, but exercises the functions of an active Providence. The commentator quotes a text of the Veda in support of this view: 'Universal soul entering into men, governs their conduct.' Incongruities, however, are as frequent in the Vedas as in the Puráńas; but apparently the most ancient parts of the Hindu ritual recognised an active ruler in the Creator of the universe; the notion of abstract deity originating with the schools of philosophy.

211. This is the purport of the sentence apparently, and is that which the comment in part confirms. Literally it is, 'A blow is the pleasure of those whose eyes are darkened by ignorance, whose limbs, exceedingly benumbed, desire pleasure by exercise: The commentator divides the sentence, however, and reads it, 'As fatigue would be like pleasure to paralyzed limbs; and a blow is enjoyment to those who are blinded by delusion; that is, by love; for to them a slap, or even a kick, from a mistress would be a favour.' It is not improbably an allusion to some such venerable pastime as blindman's buff. This interpretation, however, leaves the construction of the first half of the sentence imperfect, unless the nominative and verb apply to both portions.

212. They are so far from being sources of pleasure in themselves, that, under different p. 131 contrasts, they become sources of pain. Heat is agreeable in cold weather: cold is agreeable in hot weather; heat would then be disagreeable. Drink is pleasant to a thirsty man: thirst is agreeable to one who has drunk too much; and more drink would be painful. So of food, and of other contrasts.

213. 'Divine knowledge is the province only of those who can separate soul from body; that is, who live independent of bodily infirmities and passions. We have not overcome corporeal vicissitudes, and have therefore no concern with such abstruse inquiries.' This is the commentator's explanation of the passage.

214. Alluding, says the commentator, to the fable of a washerman, who, whilst washing his clothes in the Ganges, proposed daily to drink of its waters, but forgot his purpose in his occupation: or of a boy, who proposed the same as he pursued fish after fish, and never accomplished his intention, being engrossed by his sport: both died without drinking.

215. The three kinds of affliction of the Sánkhya philosophy: internal, as bodily or mental distress; external, as injuries from men, animals, &c.; and superhuman, or inflictions by gods or demons. See S. Káriká, ver. 1.

216. The construction of the text is elliptical and brief, but the sense is sufficiently clear. The order of the last páda is thus transposed by the commentator: 'Whence (from feeling pleasure) the abandonment of enmity is verily the consequence.'

217. The original rather unpoetically specifies some of these, or fever, ophthalmia, dysentery, spleen, liver, &c. The whole of these defects are the individuals of the three species of pain alluded to before.

218. This is not the doctrine of the impassibility of soul, taught in the Vedas: 'We do not recognise either the doctrine that supposes the slayer to slay, or the slain to be killed; this (spiritual existence) neither kills nor is killed.' The same is inculcated at great length, and with great beauty, in the Bhagavat Gítá: 'Weapons wound it not; fire doth not consume it; water cannot drown it; nor doth it wither before the winds:' or, as rendered by Schlegel, 'Non ilium penetrant tela; non ilium comburit flamma; neque illum perfundunt aquæ; nec ventus exsiccat.' P. 17. new edition. But in the passage of our text, all that the Hindus understand of Fate, is referred to. Death or immunity, prosperity or adversity, are in this life the inevitable consequences of conduct in a prior existence: no man can suffer a penalty which his vices in a preceding state of being have not incurred, nor can he avoid it if they have.

219. These are the four Upáyas, 'means of success,' specified in the Amera-kosha.

220. Celebrated Daityas. Viprachitti is one of the chief Dánavas, or sons of Danu, and appointed king over them by Brahmá. Ráhu was the son of Sinhiká, more known as the dragon's head, or ascending node, being a chief agent in eclipses. Bali was sovereign of the three worlds in the time of the dwarf incarnation, and afterwards monarch of Pátála.

221. With Nága páśas, 'snake-nooses;' tortuous and twining round the limbs like serpents.

222. Acts of devotion--sacrifices, oblations, observance of rules of purification, almsgiving, and the like--opposed to ascetic and contemplative worship, which dispenses with the ritual.

223. Havya and Kavya, oblations of ghee or oiled butter; the former presented to the gods, the latter to the Pitris.

224. Mahat, the first product of nature, intellect.

225. The preceding passage was addressed to the Purusha, or spiritual nature, of the supreme being: this is addressed to his material essence, his other energy, that is, to Pradhána,

226. Or rather, woven as the warp and woof; ###--### meaning 'woven by the long threads,' and ### 'by the cross threads.'

227. Literally, 'having smelt his forehead.' I have elsewhere had occasion to observe this practice: Hindu Theatre, II. 45.

228. Here is another instance of that brief reference to popular and prior legends, which is frequent in this Puráńa. The man-lion Avatára is referred to in several of the Puráńas, but I have met with the story in detail only in the Bhágavata. It is there said that Hirańyakaśipu asks his son, why, if Vishńu is every where, he is not visible in a pillar in the hall, where they are assembled. He then rises, and strikes the column with his fist; on which Vishńu, in a form which is neither wholly a lion nor a man, issues from it, and a conflict ensues, which ends in Hirańyakaśipu's being torn to pieces. Even this account, therefore, is not in all particulars the same as the popular version of the story.

229. The days of full and new moon are sacred with all sects of Hindus: the eighth and twelfth days of the lunar half month were considered holy by the Vaishńavas, as appears from the text. The eighth maintains its character in a great degree from the eighth of Bhádra being the birthday of Krishńa; but the eleventh, in more recent Vaishńava works, as the Brahma Vaivartta P., has taken the place of the twelfth, and is even more sacred than the eighth.

230. Or any solemn gift; that of a cow is held particularly sacred; but it implies accompaniments of a more costly character, ornaments and gold.

231. The legend of Prahláda is inserted in detail in the Bhágavata and Náradíya Puráńas, and in the Uttara Khańd́a of the Padma: it is adverted to more briefly in the Váyu, Linga, Kúrma, &c., in the Moksha Dharma of the Mahábhárata, and in the Hari Vanśa.

232. The Padma P. makes these the sons of Prahláda. The Bhágavata says there were five sons, but does not give the names. It also inserts the sons of Hláda, making them the celebrated demons Ilwala and Vátápi. The Váyu refers to Hláda, other Daityas, famous in Pauráńic legend, making his son, Nisunda; and his sons, Sunda and Upasunda; the former the father of Marícha and Táraká; the latter, of Múka.

233. The Padma P. and Váyu name several of these, but they are not of any note: the latter gives the names of two daughters, who are more celebrated, Pútaná and Śakuni.

234. The descendants of Hirańyáksha are said, in the Padma P., to have extended to seventy-seven crores, or seven hundred and seventy millions. Some copies, for Táraka, read Kálanábha.

235. The Padma and Váyu P. furnish a much longer list of names, but those of most note are the same as in the text, with which also the Bhágavata for the most part agrees.

236. The Bhágavata makes Prabhá the wife of Namuchi: according to the Váyu, she is the mother of Nahusha.

237. Married to Yayáti, as will be related.

238. The text might be understood to imply that the latter two were the daughters of Vaiswánara; and the Bhágavata has, "The four lovely daughters of Vaiswánara were Upadánaví, Hayaśiras, Pulomá, and Kálaká." The Padma substitutes Vajrá and Sundarí for the two former names. The Váyu specifies only Pulomá and Káliká as the daughters of Vaiswánara, as does our text. Upadánaví, according to the Bhágavata, is the wife of Hirańyáksha; and Hayaśiras, of Kratu.

239. Though not specified by the text as one of the Dánavas, he is included in the catalogue of the Váyu, and the commentator on the Bhágavata calls him a son of Danu.

240. The word is also read Kúlakas and Kálakeyas: the Mahábhárata, I. 643, has Kálakanjas.

241. The text omits the two most celebrated of the Sainhikeyas, or sons of Sinhiká, Ráhu (see p. 78. note 8) and Ketu, who are specified both in the Bhágavata and the Váyu; the former as the eldest son. Of the other sons it is said by the Váyu that they were all killed by Paraśuráma.

242. Two names of note, found in the Váyu, are omitted by the Vishńu; that of Puloman, the father of Śachí, the wife of Indra, and mother of Jayanta; and Maya, the father of Vajrakámá and Mahodarí.

243. The Bhágavata says the Paulomas were killed by Arjuna, who therefore, the commentator observes, were the same as the Niváta Kavachas: but the Mahábhárata describes the destruction of the Niváta Kavachas and of the Paulomas and Kálakeyas as the successive exploits of Arjuna. Vana P. 8. I. 633. The story is narrated in detail only in the Mahábhárata, which is consequently prior to all the Puráńas in which the allusion occurs. According to that work, the Niváta Kavachas were Dánavas, to the number of thirty millions, residing in the depths of the sea; and the Paulomas and Kálakanjas were the children of two Daitya dames, Pulomá and Kálaká, inhabiting Hiranyapura, the golden city, floating in the air.

244. All the copies read ### which should be, 'Śúkí bore parrots; and Ulúkí, the several sorts of owls? but Ulúkí is nowhere named as one of the daughters of Támrá; and the reading may be, 'Owls and birds opposed to owls, i. e. crows. The authorities generally concur with our text; but the Váyu has a somewhat different account; or, Śukí, married to Garud́a, the mother of parrots: Śyení, married to Aruńa, mother of Sampáti and Jat́áyu: Bhásí, the mother of jays, owls, crows, peacocks, pigeons, and fowls: Kraunchi, the parent of curlews, herons, cranes: and Dhritaráshtrí, the mother of geese, ducks, teal, and other water-fowl. The three last are also called the wives of Garud́a.

245. Most of the Puráńas agree in this account; but the Bhágavata makes Vinatá the wife of Tárksha, and in this place substitutes Saramá, the mother of wild animals. The Váyu adds the metres of the Vedas as the daughters of Vinatá; and the Padma gives her one daughter Saudáminí.

246. The dragons of modern fable. Anáyush or Danáyush is substituted for Surasá in the Váyu, and in one of the accounts of the Padma. The Bhágavata says Rákshasas were her offspring. The Matsya has both Surasá and Anáyush, making the former the parent of all quadrupeds, except cows; the latter, the mother of diseases.

247. The Váyu names forty: the most noted amongst whom, in addition to those of the text, are Airávata, Dhritarásht́ra, Mahánila, Baláhaka, Anjana, Pushpadansht́ra, Durmukha, Kálíya, Puńd́aríka, Kapila, Náhusha, and Mańi.

248. By Dansht́rińa some understand, serpents, some Rákshasas; but by the context carnivorous animals, birds, and fishes seem intended. The Váyu makes Krodhavaśá the mother of twelve daughters, Mrigí and others, from whom all wild animals, deer, elephants, monkeys, tigers, lions, dogs, also fishes, reptiles, and Bhútas and Piśáchas, or goblins, sprang.

249. One copy only inserts a half stanza here; "Krodhá was the mother of the Piśáchas;" which is an interpolation apparently from the Matsya or Hari Vanśa. The Padma P., second legend, makes Krodhá the mother of the Bhútas; and Piśáchá, of the Piśáchás.

250. The Bhágavata says, of animals with cloven hoofs. The Váyu has, of the eleven Rudras, of the bull of Śiva, and of two daughters, Rohińí and Gandharbí; from the former of whom descended horned cattle; and from the latter, horses.

251. According to the Váyu, Khasá had two sons, Yaksha and Rákshas, severally the progenitors of those beings.

252. The Padma, second series, makes Vách the mother of both Apsarasas and Gandharbas: the Váyu has long lists of the names of both classes, as well as of Vidyádharas and Kinnaras. The Apsarasas are distinguished as of two kinds, Laukika, 'worldly,' of whom thirty-four are specified; and Daivika, or 'divine,' ten in number: the latter furnish the individuals most frequently engaged in the interruption of the penances of holy sages, such as Menaká, Sahajanyá, Ghritáchí, Pramlochá, Viswáchi, and Púrvachitti. Urvaśí is of a different order to both, being the daughter of Náráyańa. Rambhá, Tilotamá Misrakeśí, are included amongst the Laukika nymphs. There are also fourteen Gańas, or troops, of Apsarasas, bearing peculiar designations, as Áhútas, Sobhayantís, Vegavatís, &c.

253. The Kúrma, Matsya, Bráhma, Linga, Agni, Padma, and Váyu Puráńas agree generally with our text in the description of Kaśyapa's wives and progeny. The Váyu enters most into details, and contains very long catalogues of the names of the different characters descended from the sage. The Padma and Matsya and the Hari Vanśa repeat the story, but admit several variations, some of which have been adverted to in the preceding notes.

254. We have a considerable variation here in the commentary, and it may be doubted if the allusion in the text is accurately explained by either of the versions. In one it is said that 'Brahmá, the grandsire of the Gandharbas, &c., appointed the seven Rishis, who were born in a former Manwantara, to be his sons, or to be the intermediate agents in creation: he created no other beings himself, being engrossed by the sacrificial ceremony.' Instead of "putratwe," 'in the state of sons,' the reading is sometimes "pitratwe," 'in the character of fathers;' that is, to all other beings. Thus the gods and the rest, who in a former Manwantara originated from Kaśyapa, were created in the present period as the offspring of the seven Rishis. The other explanation agrees with the preceding in ascribing the birth of all creatures to the intermediate agency of the seven Rishis, but calls them the actual sons of Brahmá, begotten at the sacrifice of Vanilla, in the sacrificial fire. The authority for the story is not given, beyond its being in other Puráńas, it has the air of a modern mystification. The latter member of the passage is separated altogether from the foregoing, and carried on to what follows: thus; "In the war of the Gandharbas, serpents, gods, and demons, Diti having lost her children," &c.; the word 'virodha' being understood, it is said, This is defended by the authority of the Hari Vanśa, where the passage occurs word for word, except in the last half stanza, which, instead of ### occurs ###. The parallel passages are thus rendered by M. Langlois: 'Le Mouni Swarotchicha avoit cessé de régner quand cette création eut lieu: c’était sous l’empire du Menou Vevaswata le sacrifice de Varouna avait commencé. La première création fut celle de Brahmá, quand il jugea qu’il était temps de procéder à son sacrifice, et que, souverain aïeul du monde, il forma lui-même dans sa pensée et enfanta les sept Brahmarchis.'

255. This legend occurs in all those Puráńas in which the account of Kaśyapa's family is related.

256. These are similarly enumerated in the Váyu, Bráhma, Padma, Bhágavata, &c., with some additions; as, Agni, king of the Pitris; Váyu, of the Gandharbas; Súlapáni (Śiva), of the Bhútas; Kuvera, of riches, and of the Yakshas; Vásuki, of the Nágas; Takshaka, of serpents; Chitraratha, of the Gandharbas; Kámadeva, of the Apsarasas; Viprachitti, of the Dánavas; Ráhu, of meteors; Parjanya, of clouds; Samvatsara, of times and seasons; Samudra, of rivers; Himavat, of mountains, &c.

257. We have already had occasion to notice the descent of these Lokapálas, as specified in the Váyu P.; and it is evident, although the Vishńu does not supply a connected series of generations, yet that both accounts are derived from a common source.

258. Vibhúti, superhuman or divine power or dignity.

259. The question, according to the commentator, implies a doubt how the supreme being, who is without qualities, can be subject to specific variety, or to existence in divided and different conditions.

260. Of Brahmabhúta; of him who, or that which, becomes identified with the supreme spirit, which is the same respectively with absolute wisdom, Jnána, and discriminative wisdom, Vijnána; leading to felicity, or the condition of Brahma, expressed by the words, Sat chit ánandam, 'entire tranquillity of mind,' or 'internal enjoyment:' the same also with the combination of wisdom and tranquillity, which the devotee believes to exist in Adwaita, 'non- duality,' or unity of god and himself: and finally, the same with the aggregate of these three processes, or the conviction that spirit is one, universal, and the same.

261. The epithets of Jnyána, 'wisdom,' here employed, are taken from the Yoga philosophy. 'Requires no exercise,' Nirvyápára, is explained, 'without the practice of abstract contemplation,' &c. . 'Not to be taught,' Anákhyeyam; 'not capable of being enjoined.' 'Internally diffused,' Vyáptimátram, means 'mental identification of individual with universal spirit' . The phrase translated 'the object of which is self-illumination,' is explained ###. 'Simply existent' is said to mean, 'being unmodified by the accidents of happiness,' &c.; consequently it is not to be defined . So the Yoga Pradípa explains Samádhi, or contemplation, to be the entire occupation of the thoughts by the idea of Brahma, without any effort of the mind. It is the entire abandonment of the faculties to one all-engrossing notion. 'Tranquil,' Praśántam, is, 'being void of passion,' &c. 'Fearless; not dreading agitation or perplexity by ideas of duality. 'Pure;' undisturbed by external objects. 'Not the theme of reasoning'; that is, 'not to be ascertained by logical deduction.' 'Stands in no need of support'; not resting or depending upon perceptible objects.

262. The great Yoga is produced. This great Yoga, or union, is to have its relation or dependance, which is Vishńu; and its seed, or mystical ejaculations; and to be accompanied with Mantras and silent repetitions, or Japa.

263. Or of pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire, and diamond.

264. We have in the text a representation of one mode of Dhyána, or contemplation, in which the conception of a thing is attempted to be rendered more definite by thinking upon its types; or in which, at least, the thoughts are more readily concentrated by being addressed to a sensible emblem, instead of an abstract truth. Thus the Yogi here says to himself, "I meditate upon the jewel on Vishńu's brow, as the soul of the world; upon the gem on his breast, as the first principle of things;" and so on: and thus through a perceptible substance proceeds to an imperceptible idea.

265. Ákhyánáni is said to denote the Puráńas, and Anuváda the Kalpa, Sara, and similar works, containing directions for supplementary rites.

266. The celebrated lake Pokher in Ajmer.

APRIL 10, 2020