Harivamsha 3

Janamejaya said:
Recount in full detail, O Vaiśaṃpāyana,
the origin of the gods, Dānavas, gandharvas, serpents, and rākṣasas.

Vaiśaṃpāyana said:
Having previously been commanded by the Self-born to create creatures,
hear, O lord of the earth, how Dakṣa created the beings.

The lord created beings at first by the mind alone:
the seers, the gods along with the gandharvas, the asuras, and the rākṣasas,

and the yakṣas, bhūtas, and piśācas, as well as birds, livestock, and wild beasts.

When, though he strove, his creatures did not multiply,
cursed with ill will by the wise Lord Mahādeva,
the Prajāpati, reflecting once again for the sake of offspring,

desiring to create manifold creatures through the dharma of sexual union,
married as his wife Asiknī, the daughter of the Prajāpati Vīraṇa,
endowed with great ascetic heat, noble, and the supporter of the world.

Then upon Vīraṇa's daughter, Asiknī, the mighty Prajāpati
Dakṣa begot five thousand sons.

Seeing those fortunate sons eager to multiply creatures,
Nārada, the celestial seer of pleasant speech, spoke words
that brought about their destruction, and likewise a curse upon himself.

Whom, as an excellent son, the supreme Kaśyapa begot
upon the daughter of Dakṣa, the sage [did so] out of fear of Dakṣa's curse.

For Nārada had previously been born from Parameṣṭhin;
then the best of celestial seers, like a father, begot that bull among sages
once again upon Vīraṇa's daughter Asiknī.

By him all the sons of Dakṣa, known as the Haryaśvas,
were destroyed after being completely unsettled by his design, without doubt.

Then, as Dakṣa of boundless stride rose to destroy him,
he was implored by Parameṣṭhin, who placed the brahmin seers at his head.

Then Dakṣa made an agreement with Parameṣṭhin:
"Nārada shall become your son upon my daughter."

Then Dakṣa gave his dear daughter to Parameṣṭhin;
the seer Nārada was born upon her once more out of fear of the curse.

Janamejaya said:
How were the sons of the Prajāpati destroyed by the great seer Nārada,
O best of the twice-born? I wish to hear in truth.

Vaiśaṃpāyana said:
To the sons of Dakṣa, the Haryaśvas of great valour
who had gathered together desiring to multiply creatures, Nārada spoke:

"Alas, childish are you who do not know the extent of this earth,
O sons of the Pracetas, yet desire to create creatures!
Without knowing what is interior, above, and below, how will you create creatures?"

Reaching the end of the wind where there is no food, they went to ruin.

Hearing his words, they set out in all directions,
and even today they do not return, like rivers that enter oceans.

When the Haryaśvas were lost, the lord Dakṣa, son of the Pracetases,
again produced a thousand sons upon Vīraṇa's daughter.

Those Śabalāśvas, then wishing to multiply creatures,
were incited, my dear, with the very words spoken earlier by Nārada.

They all said to one another, "The great seer speaks rightly:
the path of our brothers must be traversed, of this there is no doubt;
having learned the extent of the earth, we will easily create creatures,"

single-minded, composed in mind, properly and in due order.

They too set out along that very path in all directions,
and even today they do not return, like rivers that enter oceans.

When the Śabalāśvas were lost, Dakṣa, enraged, spoke the words:

to Nārada: "Go to ruin!" and "Dwell in a womb!"

From that time forward, O king, a brother who sets out in search of a brother
perishes, O mighty one; therefore a discerning person should not do that.

Knowing those sons to be lost, the lord Prajāpati Dakṣa,
out of fear of that, cursed Nārada and created only daughters.
Dakṣa created sixty daughters upon Vīraṇa's daughter: so we have heard.

The lord Kaśyapa then took them as wives,

as did Soma and Dharma, O Kauravya, and likewise other great seers.

He gave ten to Dharma, thirteen to Kaśyapa, / twenty-seven to Soma, and four to Ariṣṭanemi,

and two to Bahuputra, two likewise to Aṅgiras, / and two to the wise Bhṛśāśva; hear from me their names:

Arundhatī, Vasu, Jāmī, Lambā, Bhānu, Marutvatī, / Saṃkalpā, Muhūrtā, Sādhyā, and Viśvā, O descendant of Bharata. / These are the ten wives of Dharma; hear from me their offspring.

From Viśvā were born the Viśvedevas; Sādhyā gave birth to the Sādhyas; / the Marutvants were born in Marutvatī; and the Vasus are remembered as [the offspring] of Vasu.

From Bhānu came the Bhānus, dear friend; the Muhūrtas were born of Muhūrtā; / from Lambā came Ghoṣa, and the Nāgavīthī was born of Jāmī.

The whole domain of the earth was born in Arundhatī, / and from Saṃkalpā was born Saṃkalpa, the embodiment of all.

And from Jāminī, who was the Nāgavīthī, Vṛṣalambā was born.

Those wives of Soma whom Dakṣa, son of Pracetas, gave, / all bearing the names of lunar mansions, are celebrated for the heavenly luminaries.

As for the many hosts of gods who are preceded by the luminaries, / the Vasus are declared to be eight; I shall tell of them in detail.

Āpa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, / Pratyūṣa, and Prabhāsa are famed by name as the Vasus.

The son of Āpa is Vaitaṇḍya, Śrama, Śānta, and the seer Muni. / The son of Dhruva is the lord Kāla, the driver of the world.

The son of Soma is the lord Varcas, by whom one becomes endowed with luster. / The sons of Dhara are Draviṇa and Hutahavyavaha; / and from Manoharā [came] Śiśira, Prāṇa, and Ramaṇa.

The wife of Anila was Śivā, whose son was Purojava; / and Avijñātagati was also a son—these two were the sons of Anila.

The son of Agni was Kumāra, surrounded by splendour in a reed clump; / his [brothers] were Śākha, Viśākha, and Naigameṣa, born after him. / As the offspring of the Kṛttikās, he is remembered as Kārttikeya.

Skanda and Sanatkumāra were created from a quarter of his fiery brilliance.

The wise know the seer named Devala to be the son of Pratyūṣa; / and Devala had two sons, patient and wise.

The sister of Bṛhaspati, an excellent woman living in chaste studentship, / perfected in yoga, wandered unattached through the entire world.

She was the wife of Prabhāsa, the eighth of the Vasus; / in her was born the exalted Viśvakarman, the Prajāpati,

the maker of thousands of crafts and the carpenter of the thirty gods, / the creator of all ornaments, the best of artisans,

who fashioned aerial cars for all the deities, / and upon whose crafts human beings depend for their livelihood.

Surabhi brought forth the eleven Rudras from Kaśyapa.

Through the favor of Mahādeva, the virtuous [Surabhi], purified by ascetic heat,

produced Ajaikapād, Ahirbudhnya, Tvaṣṭṛ, the heroic Rudra,
and Tvaṣṭṛ's glorious son, far-famed Viśvarūpa,

as well as Hara, Bahurūpa, Tryambaka, Aparājita,
Vṛṣākapi, Śaṃbhu, Kapardin, and Raivata,

and Mṛgavyādha, Sarpa, and Kapālin, O lord of the people.

These are declared to be the eleven Rudras, the lords of the three worlds;
and a hundred Rudras of unmeasured splendor are likewise described

in the Purāṇa, O best of the Bharatas, by whom all things moving and unmoving were pervaded.

Learn from me, O tiger among the Bharatas, of the worlds of Kaśyapa

[born] from other women true to their vows, O king, by whom the three worlds are sustained:

Aditi, Diti, and Danu, Ariṣṭā and Surasā,
Surabhi, Vinatā, Tāmrā, Krodhavaśā, Irā,
Kadrū, and Muni, O lord of the world; hear from me their offspring,

and Khaṣā, the thirteen.

These were the wives of Kaśyapa…

In the former manvantara, there were twelve supreme, excellent gods
named Tuṣitas; in the Vaivasvata manvantara they spoke to one another,

when the very glorious manvantara of Manu Cākṣuṣa was drawing near,
having assembled together for the welfare of all the worlds:

‘Come swiftly, gods, and enter into Aditi;
let us be born in the [next] manvantara, and that will be our highest good.’

Having spoken thus, all of them in the manvantara of Manu Cākṣuṣa
were born from Kaśyapa the son of Marīci through Aditi, the daughter of Dakṣa.

In a previous birth they had been Sutapas and Pṛśni.

There Viṣṇu and Śakra were born once again,
and Aryaman, Dhātṛ, Tvaṣṭṛ, and Pūṣan,

Vivasvat, Savitṛ, Mitra, Varuṇa,
Aṃśa, and Bhaga of boundless splendor—these are remembered as the twelve Ādityas.

Those who were formerly the Tuṣita gods in the manvantara of Cākṣuṣa
are remembered as the twelve Ādityas in the Vaivasvata manvantara.

And the twenty-seven wives of Soma who have been proclaimed, steadfast in their vows,
their offspring of boundless splendor were luminous—

all the hosts of stars that shine in the sky.

The offspring of the wives of Ariṣṭanemi here are sixteen;
of the wise Bahuputra the four lightnings are remembered;
and the supreme verses born of the Pratyaṅgirases are honored by brahmin seers.

The sons of the divine seer Bhṛśāśva are the divine weapons;
these are born again at the end of a thousand yugas.

All the hosts of gods, my dear, the thirty-three, are born from desire;
and their dissolution and emergence are also spoken of, O king of kings.

Just as the rising and setting of the sun occur here, O Kauravya,
so do the yugas, O king of kings, the dissolutions, and the Manus;
in this way these classes of gods come into being yuga after yuga.

Two sons were born to Diti from Kaśyapa, so we have heard;
these two sons of Kaśyapa are considered the firstborn of all,
Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa, O Bhārata;
and Siṃhikā was their daughter, the wife of Vipracitti.

Her sons of great strength are celebrated as the Saiṃhikeyas.

Their host is said to number ten thousand, O king of kings.

Their sons and grandsons were in the hundreds and thousands,

innumerable, O mighty-armed one. Now hear of Hiraṇyakaśipu:

Hiraṇyakaśipu had four sons of celebrated power:
Anuhrāda, Hrāda, and heroic Prahrāda;

Saṃhrāda was the fourth; and Hrada was the son of Hrāda.
Sunda and Nisunda are both remembered as the sons of Saṃhrāda;
and Hrada's son was Āyus, Śiva, and Kāla;
the long-lived sons of Saṃhrāda were Śibi and Bāṣkala.
Among them, O blessed one, was Prahrāda, impartial everywhere and self-controlled,
who professed supreme devotion to Janārdana.
And Virocana was the son of Prahrāda; from Virocana, Bali was born.

Bali had a hundred sons, with Bāṇa as the eldest, O king:
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Sūrya, Candramas, Indratāpana,

Kumbhanābha, Gardabhākṣa, Kukṣi, and others.
Among them, Bāṇa of immense strength was the eldest, dear to Paśupati.

In a former age, indeed, having propitiated the lord, the husband of Umā,
Bāṇa asked for a boon: ‘May my sport be at your side.’

And to Bāṇa was born Indradamana upon Lohitā.

Their host, O king of kings, was reckoned at a hundred thousand.

The sons of Hiraṇyākṣa were five, wise and of immense strength:
Jharjhara, Śakuni, Bhūtasaṃtāpana,
valiant Mahānābha, and Kālanābha.

The sons of Danu were a hundred, of fierce prowess,
ascetics of great valor; understand them by their prominent ones:

Dvimūrdhan, Śakuni, the powerful Śaṅkuśiras,
Śaṅkukarṇa, Vivāda, Gaveṣṭhin, Duṃdubhi,
Ayomukha, Śambara, Kapila, Vāmana,

Marīci, Maghavat, Iḍā, Gargaśiras,
Vikṣobhaṇa, Ketu, Ketuvīrya, Śatahrada,

Indrajit, Sarvajit, Vajranābha,
valiant Mahānābha, Kālanābha,
mighty-armed Ekacakra, and Tāraka of great strength,

Vaiśvānara, Puloman, Vidrāvaṇa, Mahāśiras,
Svarbhānu, Vṛṣaparvan, and heroic Vipracitti,

Sūkṣma, Nicandra, Ūrṇanābha, Mahāgiri,

Asiloman, Sukeśin, Śaṭha, Balaka, Mada,

Gaganamūrdhan, the great asura Kumbhanābha,

Pramada, Maya, Kupatha, and heroic Hayagrīva,

Vaisṛpa, Virūpākṣa, Supatha, Hara, Ahara,

Hiraṇyakaśipu, Śatamāya, Śambara,

Śarabha, Śalabha, and heroic Vipracitti.

All these sons of Danu were born from Kaśyapa,
these Dānavas of immense strength, with Vipracitti as their foremost.

As for their offspring, it is not possible, O king,

to enumerate it, O ruler of the earth, an endless line of sons and grandsons.

Svarbhānu's daughter was Prabhā; Puloman's daughter was Śacī;
[Danu's daughters were] Upadānavī and Hayaśirā; and Śarmiṣṭhā was the daughter of Vṛṣaparvan.

Pulomā and Kālakā, both daughters of Vaiśvānara, / having many offspring and great strength, were the wives of the son of Marīci.

From the two of them, the son of Marīci, endowed with great ascetic heat, / begot sixty thousand sons, the foremost of the dānavas, / and fourteen hundred others who dwelt in Hiraṇyapura.

Those Paulomas and Kālakeyas, dānavas of great might / dwelling in Hiraṇyapura, were invulnerable to the gods; / yet by the grace of the Grandfather, they were slain by Savyasācin.

Nahuṣa was the son of Prabhā, and Jayanta the son of Śacī.

Śarmiṣṭhā gave birth to Pūru, and Upadānavī to Duḥṣanta.

Then other very fierce dānavas of great valour / were born of Siṃhikā as sons of Vipracitti.

Born from the union of Daityas and Dānavas, fierce in prowess, / thirteen of great might were renowned as the Saiṃhikeyas:

Vyaṅga and the mighty Śalya, the very strong Bala, / Vātāpi, Namuci, Ilvala, and Khasṛma,

Ājjika, Naraka, and Kālanābha; / the eldest of them was Rāhu, the crusher of the moon and sun; / and Śara, Potaraṇa, and the powerful Vajranābha; / Mūka and Tuhuṇḍa were the two sons of Hrada; / Mārīca, the son of Sunda, was born of Tāḍakā; / and Svarbhānu, a great asura of mighty valor who fought with his mouth; / and Saramāṇa, and the powerful Śarakalpa.

These indeed were the foremost dānavas who caused the lineage of Danu to flourish; / their sons and grandsons were in the hundreds and thousands.

In the family of the daitya Saṃhrāda, who had purified his soul through immense ascetic heat, / the Nivātakavacas were born.

They numbered forty million, dwelling in Maṇimatī.

Though invulnerable to the gods, they too were struck down by Arjuna.

They were skilled in manifold illusion and had mastered the science of archery.

Six daughters of great strength are celebrated as born of Tāmrā: / Kākī, Śyenī, Bhāsī, Sugrīvī, Śuci, and Gṛdhrikā.

Kākī brought forth the owls and screech-owls; / Śyenī the hawks, Bhāsī the vultures, and Gṛdhrikā the vultures.

Śuci [bore] flocks of water-birds, and Sugrīvī, O scorcher of foes, / horses, camels, and donkeys; thus the lineage of Tāmrā is proclaimed.

The two sons of Vinatā were Aruṇa and Garuḍa, / Suparṇa, the best among fliers, fierce by his own deeds.

From Surasā came a thousand serpents of immeasurable power, / having many heads, dear friend, moving in the sky, great-spirited.

The sons of Kadrū, however, were a thousand powerful nāgas of immeasurable splendor, / subject to Suparṇa, born with many heads.

The chiefs among them are always Śeṣa, Vāsuki, and Takṣaka, / Airāvata, Mahāpadma, both Kambala and Aśvatara,

Elāpatra, Śaṅkha, Karkoṭaka and Dhanaṃjaya, / Mahānīla, Mahākarṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Balāhaka,

Kuhara, Puṣpadaṃṣṭra, Durmukha, Sumukha, / Śaṅkha, Śaṅkhapāla, Kapila, Vāmana,

Nahuṣa, Śaṅkharoman, Maṇi, and others such as these. / These and many other biting snakes, fierce with venom, / whose sons and grandsons were slain by Garuḍa— / fourteen thousand of these cruel creatures [were killed] by that devourer of snakes. / Know that the group under the sway of wrath consists entirely of fanged beasts.

Land birds and aquatic birds are considered the offspring of Dharā.
And the sons of Anāyuṣā were fifty, exceedingly powerful: / Surata, Guṇavṛtta, Vikṣara, and then Nṛpa.
Surabhī gave birth to cows, and also the she-buffalo;

Irā [gave birth to] trees, climbing plants, creepers, and all kinds of grasses;
Khasā to yakṣas and rākṣasas; Muni to the apsarases;

Ariṣṭā to the great-spirited gandharvas of boundless vigor.
These are proclaimed as Kaśyapa's heirs, both immobile and mobile.

Their sons and grandsons were by the hundreds and thousands.
This, dear one, is remembered as the creation in the Svārociṣa manvantara.

Now the creation of beings by Brahmā as he sacrificed
in the great, extensive rite of Varuṇa in the Vaivasvata [manvantara] is told here,

where formerly the Grandfather himself made sons
of the seven mind-born brahmin seers who had arisen.

Then, during the conflict between the gods and the dānavas, O Bhārata,
Diti, whose sons had perished, propitiated Kaśyapa.

Kaśyapa, his heart delighted, being properly propitiated by her,
offered her a boon; and she then chose a boon:

A son capable of slaying Indra, endowed with boundless vigor.
And he of very great ascetic heat granted her the desired boon.

Having granted the boon, the composed Mārīca spoke to her:
'A son will slay Indra for you, if in the womb for a hundred autumns,

if you maintain ritual purity, dedicated to it and abiding by your vow;
this son will be yours, if you bear him in this way.'

Being told 'So be it,' the husband of great ascetic heat [agreed].
And she, purified, bore the embryo, O lord of the earth,

constantly bathing at the three daily sandhyās, devoted to difficult fasts and the cāndrāyaṇa penance.

Then, having deposited the embryo in Diti according to the agreement,
Kaśyapa, wishing for a supreme host of gods of boundless vigor,

gathering an unassailable tejas, forever invincible to the immortals,
went away to perform ascetic heat, firm in his vow.

And she properly and attentively maintained that embryo.

And Maghavan, knowing that the embryo was meant for his own destruction,

when Kāśyapa had departed, dear one, the boon-granting Pākaśāsana,

seeking a lapse in her [conduct], bowed to Diti's feet:

'O goddess, firm in your vow, I wish to serve your feet.'

Being addressed thus by Śakra of boundless tejas,

the goddess spoke words to Śakra, the crusher of enemies:

'Render service, fortunate one, self-restrained and of great splendor;

then you shall see a brother born of radiant tejas.'

Hearing that word of the goddess, intent upon serving her,

Pākaśāsana remained seeking a lapse in her [conduct];
and when the hundred years were nearly complete, the infallible one saw a lapse.

Without washing her feet, Diti lay down upon her bed
and fell asleep. Entering into her belly,
the thunderbolt-handed one then cut the embryo into seven pieces.

That embryo, being split by the thunderbolt, wept loudly.
Śakra repeatedly said to it: 'Do not weep!' (mā rodīḥ).

That embryo became divided into seven. Enraged again,
the crusher of foes cut each of them into seven with his thunderbolt.
At that sound of weeping, Diti awoke.
Distressed, she said to Śakra: 'What wretched deed is this that you have done?'
Terrified, Puraṃdara came out through the opening of the womb.
Then, going to the goddess's side, he fell at her feet:
'O goddess, you fell asleep impure, resting your head upon your feet.
Done by me who feared my own death, you should forgive it.'
Being addressed thus, the goddess said these words to Śakra:
'Well done, good son, it is not a misdeed for you.
Yet I shall say something; do it, O crusher of foes:
You are my own son, O god; protect them as well if you wish.'
'Yes,' said Indra, 'so it shall be, without doubt.'
And they became the gods called the Maruts, O bull of the Bharatas.

Just as Maghavan had spoken, so indeed the Maruts came to be.
'Since the word "Do not weep!" (mā rodīḥ) was spoken by you, O Pākaśāsana,
let these be called the Maruts, if you think fit.
In the battles between gods and asuras, they will be your servants, O lord;
they will follow behind you, obedient to your will, O Pākaśāsana.'
To the goddess who was speaking thus, Śakra addressed this word:
'The forty-nine gods shall be the companions of the thunderbolt-handed one.'

Of those beings who had thus multiplied, O Janamejaya,
Hari appointed Prajāpatis over the various hosts,
[assigning] those realms in order, prior to Pṛthu, O Bhārata.

He, Hari, the Puruṣa, the hero, Kṛṣṇa, the victorious, the Prajāpati,
Parjanya, the Sun, the manifest one—to him belongs all this world.

Be attentive, O king of kings, and listen with a one-pointed mind.
Not to the impure, nor to the unpurified, nor ever to a non-disciple
should I describe this, O king, [but] to one who is grateful and benevolent.
For one who knows properly this creation of beings, which grants heaven, renown, and long life, sacred and equal to the Veda,
and who hears or recites the auspicious birth of the Maruts, O bull of the Bharatas,
there is no fear of returning [to rebirth] here; whence fear of the other world?