Puranic encyclopaedia
by Vettam Mani | 1975 | 609,556 words | ISBN-10: 0842608222
This page describes the Story of Kashyapa included the Puranic encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani that was translated into English in 1975. The Puranas have for centuries profoundly influenced Indian life and Culture and are defined by their characteristic features (panca-lakshana, literally, ‘the five characteristics of a Purana�).
Story of śⲹ貹
Chief among the ʰ貹پ.
śⲹ貹—Son or Grandson of ?
It is impossible to give a definite answer to this question. In Ѳٲ, Ādi Parva, Chapter 65, we see that six spiritual sons�Ѳī, ṅg, Atri, Pulastya, Pul{??}aha and Kratu—were born to . śⲹ貹 was born as the son of Ѳī and that all living beings in the world took their origin from śⲹ貹. According to this statement, śⲹ貹 is the grandson of . But in the 14th Sarga of ṇykāṇḍa in ī쾱 峾ⲹṇa there is an account of the creation of all animate and inanimate objects in this world. According to a statement in that passage, we find that śⲹ貹 was the youngest brother of Ѳī, Atri, Pulastya and others. This means that śⲹ貹 was the son of . Therefore there is nothing wrong in regarding him either as the son or as the grandson of . In the ʳܰṇa we find references to him in both ways.
Original Gotra or Clan.
Ѳٲ, ŚԳپ Parva, Chapter 297, verse 17 says that all living beings belong to the four original Gotras—t gotra of ṅg, śⲹ貹 gotra, ṛg gotra and ղṣṭ gotra and that all the other gotras came into existence subsequently.
śⲹ貹’s wives.
śⲹ貹 had 21 wives who were:�Aditi, Diti, Danu, ṣṭ, ܰ. ś, Surabhi, վԲ, 峾, ǻś, Irā, ū, Muni, ʳܱdz, , , ٲܲ, ṃh, Pradhā, վś, and 辱. Of these, the 13 wives, Aditi, Diti, , ٲܲ, Danu, ṃh, ǻ, Pradhā, վś, վԲ, 辱, Muni and ū, were the daughters of ٲṣa.
Of these the first wife Aditi had 12 sons. These 12 sons namely վṣṇ, Ś, ⲹ, ٳ, ձṣṭ, ūṣ�, վ, , Mitra, ղṇa, ṃśa and Bhaga are called Ā徱ٲⲹ (sons of Aditi). In the sixth Manvantara these 12 Ā徱ٲⲹ belonged to the tribe known as ճṣiٲ. (The present Manvantara is the seventh one). The 33 crores of Devas came into being from the twelve Ā徱ٲⲹ.
The Daityas were born from śⲹ貹’s second wife Diti. The chief Daityas are ᾱṇy첹ś, ᾱṇyṣa and ṃh. All the other Daityas were born from them.
The Բ were the children of Danu, another wife of śⲹ貹. Dvimūrdhā, Ś, Ayomukha, Śṅkś, Kapila, Śṅk, Ekacakra, Ѳ, 첹, Ѳ, Գ, ṛṣ貹, ʳܱdz, and Vipracitti are the famous Բ. The other Բ were the children of the people mentioned above.
Another wife of śⲹ貹, Surabhi gave birth to Aja, Ekapād, Ahirbuddhnya, ձṣṭ and Rudra and also the Ekādaśa Rudras Բ:�Hara, ܰū貹, Tryambaka, 貹ᾱٲ, ṛṣ첹辱, Ś, 貹ī, Raivata, ṛg, Sarpa, and ī. վԲ gave birth to Ҳḍa and ū was the mother of the 岵. The ʳܰṇa proclaim that all living beings that we see in the world today, sprang from śⲹ貹’s offsprings by his different wives. (ī쾱 峾ⲹṇa, ṇḍ, Chapter 29; վṣṇ Purāṇa, Part I, Chapters 15-21; Ѳٲ, Ādi Parva, Chapters 16 and 65 and Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 18).
taught śⲹ貹 cure for snake poison.
The serpents (岵s) were born to ū, one of the wives of śⲹ貹. Once ū asked her children to hang down like hair from the tail of Uccaiśśravas. They refused to do so. ū became angry and cursed them that they would be burnt alive at Janamejaya’s Sarpa Sattra (snake-sacrifice). After the curse, the 岵s became dangerously venomous. At this stage, taught śⲹ貹 the art of curing snake-poison to protect other creatures that might be bitten by the 岵s. Cure of snake-bite in this world dates from that time. (Ѳٲ Ādi Parva. Chapter 20).
Kaśy pa and Ҳḍa.
Ҳḍa is a mighty son of śⲹ貹 by his wife վԲ. վԲ made a bet with her sister ū. ū won the bet. վԲ became ū’s maid-servant as a result of the bet. To be relieved of this bondage վԲ’s son Ҳḍa had to bring ṛt from Devaloka and give it to ū and her 岵-sons. Ҳḍa agreed and flew up to Heaven to fetch ṛt.
On the way, he visited his father śⲹ貹 who was performing penance on the ҲԻ岹Բ mountain. He asked his father to give him some food, as he was very hungry. śⲹ貹 told him the following story:�"Long ago a sage named վ屹 lived near this place. He and his younger brother named ܱī첹 began to quarrel over the sharing of their father’s wealth. The elder brother transformed the younger brother into an elephant by a curse and the younger brother turned the elder into a tortoise by his curse. They are still living in yonder lake as elephant and tortoise and continue like enemies. If you eat both of them, you will be strong enough to fight against the Devas and get possession of ṛt for yourself."
On hearing this, Ҳḍa went to the lake and caught the elephant and tortoise in his claws and flew up into the sky. The mountains began to tremble and a whirlwind swept the Heavens when Ҳḍa beat with his wings. He flew about here and there unable to find a convenient place to sit and enjoy his meal. On the way, his eye caught sight of a huge banyan tree spreading its branches far and wide, to a distance of 100 yojanas around it. When he perched on one of its branches with the elephant and tortoise, the branch broke and fell down. From that branch certain sages known as khilyas were hanging with their heads downwards. So, to prevent them from falling to the ground, Ҳḍa lifted it in his beak and began to fly up again. Unable to find a suitable spot where he could deposit the branch with the sages, Ҳḍa returned to his father again. At the request of śⲹ貹, the khilyas went to the ᾱⲹ. He showed Ҳḍa a vast, snowclad mountain on which he could deposit the broken branch he was carrying. Ҳḍa flew to that mountain and ate up the elephant and tortoise and thus gained strength to fight with the Devas for ṛt. After that he proceeded to Heaven. (Ѳٲ Ādi Parva, Chapters 29-31).
Other Birth of śⲹ貹.
In ṣuṣa Manvantara, the sage Sutapas performed a penance along with his wife ṛśn for 12,000 years. Lord վṣṇ appeared to them and asked what boon they wished to ask. They prayed that the Lord should take birth as their son. վṣṇ granted their prayer and was born as their son.
In the next Manvantara (the period of Vaivasvata Manu) Sutapas and ṛśn were re-born as śⲹ貹 and Aditi respectively. At that time also Ѳ屹ṣṇ was born to Aditi as 峾Բ. (See under 峾Բ). In this birth, śⲹ貹 had many other wives besides Aditi. ܰ was one of those wives. (岵ٲ, 10th Skandha).
It was this śⲹ貹 himself who was reborn as Vasudeva and Aditi became ٱ𱹲ī. ܰ was born as dzṇ�, another wife. There is another reason for śⲹ貹 and Aditi to take birth for the third time. Once śⲹ貹 had prepared to perform a Yāga. All arrangements were complete. But the sacrificial cow alone was not available. śⲹ貹 solved the problem by stealing a cow from ղṇa’s cattle-shed. Aditi and ܰ concealed it in the Āś. Enraged at the theft of his cow, ղṇa complained to . A curse was pronounced by and ղṇa that as a punishment for stealing and hiding the cow, śⲹ貹 should be reborn as a cowherd and Aditi and ܰ should be reborn as the cowherd’s wives. It was by this curse that śⲹ貹, Aditi and ܰ were reborn as Vasudeva ٱ𱹲ī and dzṇ� respectively. (Devī 岵ٲ, 4th Skandha).
ʲśܰ峾’s gift of land to śⲹ貹.
ʲśܰ峾 performed a Yāga after exterminating all ṣaٰⲹ Kings. At that Yāga he gifted all the lands he had conquered till then to śⲹ貹. In Ѳٲ, ṇy Parva, Chapter 117, there is a reference to this gift.
śⲹ貹 and Kerala.
After ʲśܰ峾 went round the world eighteen times and exterminated the ṣaٰⲹ Kings he performed a Yāga. At that Yāga he gave the whole earth as 岹ṣiṇ� to śⲹ貹. After that, śⲹ貹 drove away ʲśܰ峾 from the earth to the south. Taking pity on ʲśܰ峾, the ocean gave him the region known as "Śū첹". śⲹ貹 seized Śū첹 also from ʲśܰ峾 and gave it to ṇa. ʲśܰ峾 went to the forests after it. Later on, intermixture of castes took place in this region and anarchy prevailed there. At one time, Śū첹 sank down into (lower world). śⲹ貹 who saw this held the earth up, brought ṣaٰⲹs from the north and made them rulers of the country. (Ѳٲ ŚԳپ Parva, Chapter 49). This "Śū첹" is believed to be Kerala.
Other Details about śⲹ貹.
(i) śⲹ貹 arrived at the place of Arjuna’s birth accompanied by other sages. (Ѳٲ, Ādi Parva, Chapter 122).
(ii) śⲹ貹 flourished in ’s assembly. (Ѳٲ Parva, Chapter 11).
(iii) Once there was a dispute between Virocana, the son of ʰ岹 and Sudhanvā, the son of ṅg. It was śⲹ貹 who settled this dispute. (See the 5th Para under the word ṅg).
(iv) Once śⲹ貹 went on a pilgrimage in the company of ۳ܻṣṭ. (Ѳٲ Vana Parva, Chapter 85).
(v) Once gifted the entire earth to śⲹ貹 at a ۲ñ. Bhūmidevī (Goddess of the earth) who was distressed at it, went to and began to lament. At that time śⲹ貹 propitiated the goddess by his austere penance. (Ѳٲ Vana Parva, Chapter 114).
(vi) After ʲśܰ峾 had given the entire earth to śⲹ貹, śⲹ貹 drove away ʲśܰ峾 from the earth. ʲśܰ峾 then shot an arrow into the sea and converted that portion of the sea into land. (Ѳٲ ٰṇa Parva, Chapter 70, Verses 18 and 19).
(vii) When the war between Kauravas and ṇḍ was in progress, śⲹ貹 approached ٰṇa and wanted him to bring the battle to a close. (Ѳٲ ٰṇa Parva, Chapter 190).
(viii) śⲹ貹 was also present with other sages at the time of Skanda’s birth. (Ѳٲ Śⲹ Parva, Chapter 45).
(ix) śⲹ貹 once gave some pieces of advice to ʳܰū. (Ѳٲ ŚԳپ Parva, Chapter 73).
(x) In the 8th verse of Chapter 208 of ŚԳپ Parva, in Ѳٲ, we find that śⲹ貹 had another name ṣṭԱ.
(xi) śⲹ貹 once related to īṣm, the story of Ѳ屹ṣṇ’s Varāhāvatāra. (Incarnation as Boar). (Ѳٲ ŚԳپ Parva, Chapter 209, Verse 6).
(xii) ṣ� ٲ says that gingelly seeds were first introduced into this world from sage śⲹ貹’s body. (Ѳٲ ԳśԲ Parva, Chapter 66, Verse 10).
(xiii) śⲹ貹 explained to Vṛṣādarbhi, the evil of receiving pratigraha (presents). (Ѳٲ ԳśԲ Parva, Chapter 93).
(xiv) śⲹ貹 once spoke to ܲԻī about the weakness of his body. (Ѳٲ ԳśԲ Parva, Chapter 93, Verse 65).
(xv) At another time, Agastya suspected that śⲹ貹 had stolen his lotus. But śⲹ貹 swore that he was innocent. (Ѳٲ ԳśԲ Parva, Chapter 94).
(xvi) In ṣ� ٲ it is said that śⲹ貹 was one of the Sapta Gurus (seven Preceptors) of Kubera. The other six Gurus were—ղṣṭ�, Atri, Gautama, 屹Ჹ, վśmitra and Jamadagni. Ѳٲ ԳśԲ Parva, Chapter 150).
(xvii) In 岵ٲ we see that śⲹ貹 and other sages were instrumental in bringing about the destruction of Yadu Vaṃśa. (For further details see under Āѵ).