Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Minor Religious Systems v2.c12.39
Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems v2.c12.39
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v2.c12.39.1
Nārada flies into the sky to see that original Prakṛti and alights on a peak of Meru. There he saw white men without senses, not eating anything, sinless, with heads like umbrellas, making a sound like that of thundering clouds and devoted to Bhagavat. Then Yudhiṣṭhira asks Bhīṣma who those people were, and how they came to be what they were. Bhīṣma tells the story of the king Vasu Uparicara, who worshipped God according to the Sātvata Vidhi (form of ritual). He was a glorious king honoured by Indra, devoted to truth and holy. The best of the learned in the Pāñcarātra system were honoured with the first seat at dinner by him. The narrator then proceeds to mention the Citraśikhaṇḍins, who appear to be the original promulgators of this religion. The mountain Meru was the place where they revealed it. They were seven, consisting of Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasiṣṭha. The eighth was Svāyambhuva. From these eight emanated this excellent Śāstra. This they promulgated in the presence of the great Bhagavat, who said to the Ṛṣis: "You have composed a hundred thousand excellent Ślokas (stanzas), which contain rules for all the affairs of men and are in harmony with Yajus, Sāman, Ṛc, and Atharvāṅgiras, and lay down precepts about the religion of action as well as that of contemplation or repose. I created Brahman from my peaceful and Rudra from my wrathful nature. This Śāstra will be handed down from person to person until it reaches Bṛhaspati.
v2.c12.39.2
From Bṛhaspati the king Vasu will obtain it. The king will follow this Śāstra and will become my devotee. After his death this Śāstra will be lost." Telling all this the great god disappeared. Then the Citraśikhaṇḍins spread the religion until it reached Bṛhaspati. Then the old Kalpa having ended and the son of Aṅgiras, the priest of the gods, being born, the gods were happy. The king Vasu Uparicara was his first pupil. He learned this Śāstra from Bṛhaspati. At one time he brought forward an extensive horse-sacrifice, but no animal was killed on the occasion. The oblations were devised in accordance with the words of the Āraṇyakas. The god of gods showed himself to Vasu and accepted his oblation, but was unseen by anybody else. Since the oblation was taken away by Hari without showing himself to Bṛhaspati, the latter got angry and dashed upwards the sacrificial ladle. At that sacrifice, Ekata, Dvita, and Trita, sons of Prajāpati, and sixteen Ṛṣis, many of whom are now known as the authors of literary works, such as Medhātithi, Tittiri, and Tāṇḍya, are represented to have been present. When Bṛhaspati was angry, they all said that the great Hari was not to be seen by any man at random, but by one who was favoured by his grace.
v2.c12.39.3
Ekata, Dvita and Trita said: "On one occasion we went to the north for the attainment of eternal bliss near the milky ocean and practised austerities for four thousand years and at the end a voice in the air declared: ‘Well, how can you see that great Lord? In the milky ocean there is a white island where there are men possessing the lustre of the moon, who are the devotees of the god, possess no senses, do not eat anything and being devoted solely to the god (Ekāntin or monotheistic) are absorbed in him, who is bright like the Sun. Go to that island; there shines my soul’. Accordingly we went to the white island, and, dazzled by the light of that being, were not able to see him. Then the truth flashed upon us that the god cannot be seen by us unless we have gone through austerities. After further austerities for a hundred years we saw the men of the lustre of the moon with their minds fully absorbed in the contemplation of God. The refulgence of each man was like that of the sun on the last day. Then we heard a sound: ‘Jitam te Puṇḍarīkākṣa’ etc. (Triumphant art thou, Lotus-eyed one). A short time after a voice in the air declared: ‘Go you away as you came. That great being is not to be seen by one who is not devoted to him’. Then we returned without being able to see him. How then will you be able to see him?” Having heard this from Ekata, Dvita and Trita, Bṛhaspati finished the sacrifice.