Prithu the King of Earth - Brahma Purana Part-4

In Dhruva's line there was a king named Anga, Anga was religious and followed the righteous path. But unfortunately, Anga's son Vena inherited none of the good qualities of his father. Vena's mother was Sunitha and she happened to be the daughter of Mrityu. Mrityu was notorious for his evil ways and deeds. Vena spent a lot of time with his maternal grandfather and picked up these evil characteristics.

Vena gave up the religion that was laid down in the Vedas and stopped all yajnas. He instructed his subjects that he alone was to be worshiped.

The sages led by Marichi came to Vena to try and persuade him to mend his ways. But Vena was in no mood to listen. He insisted that there was no one equal to him in the whole universe.

The sages realized that Vena was a lost cause. They physically caught hold of Vena and began to knead his right thigh. From this kneading thee emerged a horrible looking creature. It was a dwarf and its complexion, was extremely dark. The sage Atri was so aghast at the dwarf's appearance that he blurted out, "nishida", which means "sit". From this, the dwarf came to be known as nishada. The race of nishadas became hunters and fishermen, and lived in the Vindhya mountains. From them were also descended uncivilized races like Tusharas and Tunduras.

The evil that was in Vena's body and mind came out with the emergence of the nishada.

When the sages began to knead Vena's right arm, Prithu emerged. He shone like a flaming fire and his energy lit up the four directions. He held a bow in his hand and he was clad in beautiful armour. As soon as Prithu was born, Vena died.

All the rivers and the oceans arrived with their waters and their jewels to anoint Prithu as the king. The gods and the sages also came for the coronation. Brahma himself crowned Prithu the king of the earth. He also took the opportunity to apportion out the lordships of other parts of the universe. Soma was appointed lord over creepers, herbs, starts (nakshatras), planets (grahas), sacrifices, meditation (tapasya) and over the first of the four classes (brahmanas). Varuna became lord of the oceans, Kubera of all the kings, Vishnu of the adityas, Agni of vasus, Daksha of all Prahlada of daityas and danavas, Yama of the pritris (ancestors), Shiva of yakshas, rakshasas and pishachas (ghosts), and Himalaya of the mountains.

The ocean (samudra) was made the lord of all rivers. Chitraratha of gandharvas, Vasuki of nagas, Takshaka of sarpas, Garuda of birds, the tiger of deer, Airavata of elephants, Ucchaihshrava of horses, the bull of cows and the ashvattha tree (a banyan) of all trees. Brahma also appointed four overlords (dikapalas) for the four directions. To the east there was Sudhanva, to the south Shankhapada, to the west Ketumana and to the north Hiranyaroma.

Prithu was a king who ruled the earth well. During his reign, the earth was laden with foodgrains. The cows were full of milk and the subjects were happy. To glorify King Prithu, the sages performed a sacrifice and from this sacrifice there emerged two races known as the sutas and the magadhas should sing praises in honor of Prithu.

"But what praise will we sing?" asked the sutas and the magadhas. "Prithu is still young. He has not done much that can be praised".

"That may be true," replied the sages. "But he will do wonderous deeds in the future. Sing praises of those wonderful deeds. We will tell you about them."

Having learnt of these future deeds from the sages, the sutas and the magadhas began to compose songs and chant praises in honor of Prithu. These stories were related throughout the earth. Some of Prithu's subjects heard these stories and came to see Prithu. "King," they said. "We have heard of your great deeds. But we find it difficult to make a living. Please indicate to us our habitations on earth. And tell us where we may be able to get the food we need for subsistence."

King Prithu picked up his bow and arrow. He decided to kill the earth, since the earth was not yielding foodgrains to his subjects. The earth adopted the form of a cow and began to flee. But wherever the earth went, Prithu followed with his bow and arrow. He followed the earth to the heaven and to the underworld.

Finally, in desperation, the earth started to pray to Prithu. "King," she said, "please control your anger. I am a woman. Killing me will only mean a sin for you. Besides, what purpose will killing me serve? Your subjects will then be without a place to live in. There must be some other way of ensuring that your subjects can make a living.

The earth then herself offered a solution and King Prithu did her bidding. With his bow, he leveled out the earth. The plains could now be used for villages and cities and for agriculture and animal husbandry. 

The plains could now be used for villages and cities and for agriculture and animal husbandry. The mountains were gathered together in select places, instead of being littered over whole earth. Earlier, Prithu's subjects had lived off fruits and roots. Now Prithu milked the earth (in her form of a cow) and obtained the seeds of foodgrains on which people could live. Because of Prithu's deeds, the earth came to be known as prithivi.

Offsprings of Daksha Prajapati - Brahma Purana Part-3

Daksha's wife was named Asikli and Asikli gave birth to five thousand sons. They were known as the Haryashvas. The Haryashvas were destined to rule over the world. But the sage Narada went to the Haryashvas and said, "How can you rule over the world if you don't even know what the world looks like? Are you familiar with its geography and its limits? First find out about these things, before you contemplate ruling over the world."

The Haryashvas went off to explore the world and never returned.

Daksha and Asikli then had another thousand sons who were named the Shavalashvas. Narada told them what he had told the Haryashvas and the Shavalashvas also went off to explore the world and never returned.

Daksha and Asikli were distressed that their children should disappear in this manner. Daksha blamed Narada for the instigation and proposed to kill him. But Brahma intervened and persuaded Daksha to control his anger. This Daksha agreed to do, provided that his conditions were met. "Brahma must marry my daughter Priya," he said. "And Narada must be born as Priya's son."

These conditions were accepted. In fact, Daksha and Asikli had sixty daughters. (Elsewhere, the Brahma Purana mentions fifty daughters.) Ten of these daughters were married to the god Dharma and thirteen to the sage Kashyapa. Twenty-seven daughters were married to Soma or Chandra. The remaining daughters were married to the sages Arishtanemi, Vahuputra, Angirasa and Krishashva.

The ten daughters who were married to the god Dharma were named Arundhati, Vasu, Yami, Lamba, Bhanu, Marutvati, Sankalpa, Muhurta. Sadhya and Vishva. Arundhati's children were the objects (vishaya) of the world. Vasu's children were the eight gods known as the Vasus. Their names were Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Salila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhasa. Anala's son was Kumara. Because Kumara was brought up by goddesses known as the Krittikas, he came to be called Kartikeya. Prabhasa's son was Vishvakarma. Vishvakarma was skilled in architecture and the making of jewelry. He became the architect of the gods.

Sadhya's children were the gods known as Sadhyadevas and Vishva's children were the gods known as Vishvadervas. The twenty-seven daughters of Daksha who were married to Soma are known as the nakshatras (stars).

As you have already been told, Kashyapa married thirteen of Daksha's daughters. Their names were Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Khasa, Surabhi, Vinata. Tamra, Krodhavasha, Ila, Kadru and Muni.

Aditi's sons were the twelve gods known as the adityas. Their names were Vishnu, Shakra. Aryama, Dhata, Vidhata, Tvashta, Pusha, Vivasvana, Savita, MitraVaruna, Amsha and Bhaga.

Diti's sons were the daityas (demons). They were named Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, and amongst their descendants were several other powerful daityas liked Bali and Banasura. Diti also had a daughter named Simhika who was married to a danava (demon) named Viprachitti. Their offspring's were terrible demons like Vatapi, Namuchi, Ilvala, Maricha and the nivatakavachas.

The hundred sons of Danu came to be known as danavas. The danavas were thus cousins to the daityas and also to the adityas. In the danava line were born demons like the poulamas and kalakeyas.

Arishta's sons were the gandharvas (singers of heaven). Surasa gave birth to the snakes (sarpa). Khasa's children were the yakshas (demi-gods who were the companions of Kubera, the god of wealth) and the rakshasas (demons). Surabhi's descendants were cows and buffaloes.

Vinata had two sons named Aruna and Garuda. Garuda became the king of the birds. Tamra has six daughters. From these daughters were born owls, eagles, vultures, crows, water-fowl, horses, camels and donkeys.

Krodhavasha had fourteen thousand children known as nagas (snakes). Ila gave birth to trees, creepers, shrubs and bushes. Kadru's sons were also known as nagas or snakes. Among the more important of Kadru's sons were Ananta, Vasuki, Takshaka and Nahusha.

Muni gave birth to the apsaras (dancers of heaven). Diti's children (daityas) and Auditi's children (adityas) continually fought amongst themselves. On one particular occasion, the gods succeed in killing many of the demons. Thirsting for revenge, Diti began to pray to her husband, Kashyapa that she might given birth to a son who would kill Indra, the king of the gods.

Kashyapa found it difficult to refuse his wife outright. "All right", he said. "You have to bear the son in your womb for a hundred years. And throughout this period, you will have indeed kill Indira. But if you do not observe these instructions to the letter, your desire will not be satisfied."

Diti resolved to do as her husband had bidden her. But Indra had got to know about Diti's resolve and was waiting for an opportunity to save himself. There was an occasion when, tired after her prayers. Diti went to sleep without first washing her feet. This was an unclean act and it gave Indra the required opportunity. He adopted a miniscule form and entered Diti's womb. With his weapon vajra, he sliced up the baby inside the womb into seven parts. The baby naturally began to cry at the pain.

Indra kept on saying, "ma ruda," that is, "don't cry." But the bay, or rather its seven parts, would not listen. Indra thereupon sliced up each of the seven parts into seven more sections, so that there were forty-nine sections in all. When these forty-nine sections were born, they came to known as the Maruts, from the words that Indra had addressed them. Since Diti had not been able to adhere to the conditions her husband had set, the Maruts did not kill Indra. They instead became Indra's followers or companions, and were treated as gods.

Brahma's Creation of Prachetas - Brahma Purana Part-2

To continue with the process of creation, Brahma gave birth to a man and a woman from his own body. The man was named Svayambhuva Manu and the woman was named Shatarupa. 

Humans are descended from Manu. That is the reason they are known as manava. Manu and Shatarupa had three sons named Vira, Priyavrata and Uttanapada.

Uttanapada's son was the great Dhruva. Dhruva performed very difficult meditation (tapasya) for three thousand divine years. Brahma was so pleased at this that he granted Dhruva an eternal place in the sky, near the constellation that is known as saptarshi or the seven sages. This is the constellation Ursa Majoris and Dhruva is the pole Star.

In Dhruva's line there was a king named Prachinavarhi. Prachinavarhi had ten sons, known as the Prachetas. These Prachetas were supposed to look after the world and rule over it, but they were not interested in such mundane matters. They went off instead to perform tapasya under the ocean. The tapasya went on for ten thousand years. The upshot was that the earth had no ruler and began to suffer. People started to die and thick forests sprouted everywhere. So thick were the forests that even the winds could not blow.

News of this catastrophe reached the Prachetas. They were furious with the trees and created wind (vayu) and fire (agni) from their mouths. The wind dried up the trees and the fire burnt them, so that, very soon, there were very few trees left on earth.

Everyone was alarmed at the effects of the Prachetas anger. The moon-god Soma (or Chandra) came to the Prachetas with a beautiful woman and said, "Prachetas, please control your anger. You need someone to rule over the world so that you can concentrate on your tapasya. This woman is named Marisha. Her son will rule over the world".

The Prachetas agreed to this proposal and Daksha was born. The word praja means subject and the word pati means master. Since Daksha ruled over the world and its subjects, Daksha came to be known as Prajapati.

The sages interrupted Romaharshana. They said, "Sage, we are completely confused. We have heard that Daksha was born from Brahma's toe. And yet you have told us that Daksha was the son of the Prachetas. How is this possible?"

Romaharshana replied, "There is no reason for bewilderment. Many Dakshas have been born to rule over the world. One was born from Brahma's toe, yet another was the son of the Prachetas."

Introduction to Narada Purana part-1

It is a Vaishnav Purana presented in a style of dialogue between Narad and Sanat kumar in 22 chapters. This Purana contains detailed description of major places of pilgrimage.

Vedas are regarded as the oldest scriptures in the entire known history of human civilization. Even the Vedas speak about Puranas. A shloka in Matsya Purana speaks-

Ano Bhadraha Kritavayo Yantu Vishwataha (Let noble thoughts come from every side) – Rg Veda

Vishva Dharma ki Jay! (Victory to Universal Dharma!)

PURAANAM SARVASHASTRAANAAM PRATHAMAM BRAHMANAA SMRITAM

ANANTARAM CHA VAKTREBHYO VEDAASTASYA VINIRGATAH

Brahma recalled about Puranas even before starting the creation of other scriptures. Vedas emerged thereafter from his mouth.

It clearly shows the antiquity of Puranas.

There are in all eighteen Puranas. Among them, Narad Purana is perhaps the most significant as it has been created by none other than the sage Narad.

NARDOKTAM PURAANAM TU NAARDIYAM PRACHACHHATE

Meaning- Narad Purana is what emerged from the lips of Maharshi Narad. Initially, it had a collection of about twenty-five thousand stanzas. But, the currently available version of Narad Purana contains not more than twenty-two thousand stanzas.

The whole content of Narad Purana has been divided into two parts. The first part contains four chapters which include dialogue between Suta and Shaunak, origin of the universe, salvation, birth of Shukadev, training of the mantras, worship rituals, provisions and the results of the various fasts observed on particular days in particular months. The second part contains beautiful tales related to various incarnations of Lord Vishnu, depiction and significance of pilgrimage centers and performing pilgrimage.

Chapters of Linga Purana

Preaching about the greatness of Lord Shiva and propagation of Ling-puja (worship of Shiva-Ling) are the main objectives of this Purana. This Purana has five parts:

1) Description of the creation. Origin of Ling and its worship. Yagya by Daksha. Immolation of Madan (Kamadev). Wedding of Lord Shiva. Tale of Varaha. Tale of Narasimha. Description of Surya and Soma vansh.

2) Greatness of Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma becomes the creator,Incarnations Of Shiva During Various Dwapar Yugas ,Dadhichi Subjugates The Sages and Shilad's Impossible Demand.

3) Manifestation Of Lord Nandishwar ,Kaliyuga ,The Seven Island ,The Meru Mountain,The

Prominent Mountains ,Lord Brahma Assigns Lordships To The Deities and The Radiance Of

Surya.

4) Dhruva - The Supreme Devotee ,The Origin Of Deities,The Lineage Of Aaditya,Yadu Dynasty, Appointment Of Andhak As The Lord Of Ganas,The Liberation Of Earth ,Killing Of Jalandhar and The Origin Of Lord Ganesh.

5) Story Of Upamanyu, Greatness Of Dwadakshar Mantra ,Greatness Of Shadakshar Mantra, The Majestic Lord Maheshwar,The Sun Manifestation Of Shiva's Power, Importance Of Guru

,Installation Of Shiva Linga ,Vajreshwari Vidya And Different Types Of Yoga .

As per the Purana, a fiery Shivaling appeared after the Pralaya. From this Shivaling, emerged all the Vedas and other scriptures, even Brahma, Vishnu and all other deities. Current prevalence of worship of Shivaling and idols seems to be an outcome of this Purana.