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Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religion and Institutions v1.c6.s9: Sect. IX.—Legend of Brahmā and his daughter, according to the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, and of Śatarūpā, according to the Matsya Purāṇa

Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religion and Institutions v1.c6.s9

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Sect. IX.—Legend of Brahmā and his daughter, according to the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, and of Śatarūpā, according to the Matsya Purāṇa

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The story which forms the subject of the present section is noticed at some length in the fourth volume of this work, pp. 38–46, where one of the oldest passages in which it is related, is quoted from the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 7, 4, 1 ff., together with one of a comparatively late age from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, iii. 12, 28 ff. As however the legend, though repulsive in its character, is not without interest as illustrating the opinions which Indian mythologists have entertained regarding their deities, I shall quote two other texts in which it is narrated.

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The first, from the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 33, has, no doubt (along with the passage of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa just referred to, and another from the same work, xiv. 4, 2, 1 ff., quoted above, in p. 24 ff.), furnished the ideas which are expanded in the later versions of the story. It is as follows:

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*Prajāpatir vai svām duhitaram abhyadhyāyat | Divam ity anye āhur Ushasam ity anye | tām ṛiśyo bhūtvā rohitām bhūtām abhyait | tam devā apaśyan | “akṛitam vai Prajāpatiḥ karoti” iti | te tam aichhan yaḥ enam ārishyati | etam anyonyasmin na avindan | teshām yā eva ghoratamās tanvaḥ āsaṁs tāḥ ekadhā samabharan | tāḥ sambhṛitāḥ esha devo ’bhavat | tad asya etad bhūtavan-nāma | bhavati vai sa yo ’sya etad evaṁ nāma veda | taṁ devā abruvann “ayaṁ vai Prajāpatir akṛitam akar imam vidhya” iti | sa “tathā” ity abravīt | “sa vai vo varaṁ vṛiṇai” iti | “vṛiṇīshva” iti | sa etam eva varam avṛiṇīta paśūnām ādhipatyam | tad asya etat paśuman-nāma | paśumān bhavati yo ’sya etad evaṁ nāma veda | tam abhyāyatya avidhyat | sa viddhaḥ ūrddhve udaprăpatad ityādi*²⁰¹ |

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²⁰¹ See the translation of this passage given by Dr. Haug in his Aitareya Brāhmaṇa vol. ii. pp. 218 ff.; and the remarks on this translation by Professor Weber, Indische Studien, ix. 217 ff.; and also Professor Roth's explanation of the word *bhūtavat* in his Lexicon.

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"Prajāpati lusted after his own daughter. Some call her the Sky, others Ushas. Becoming a buck, he approached her after she had become a doe. The gods saw him; (and said) Prajāpati does a deed which was never done (before).²⁰² They sought some one who should take vengeance on him. Such a person they did not find among themselves. They then gathered together their most dreadful bodies. These when combined formed this god (Rudra). Hence (arises) his name connected with Bhūta (*Bhūtapati*). That man flourishes²⁰³ who thus knows this name of his. The gods said to him, 'This Prajāpati has done a deed which was never done before: pierce him.' He replied, 'so be it,' (adding), 'let me ask a boon of you.' They rejoined, 'ask.' He asked for this boon, viz., lordship over cattle. Hence arises his name connected with Paśu (*Paśupati*). He who thus knows his name, becomes the owner of cattle. He then attacked (Prajāpati) and pierced him. He, when pierced, soared upwards," etc. etc.

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²⁰² This seems to be imitated in the line of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa iii. 12, 30, quoted in vol. iv. of this work, p. 40: *naitat pūrvaiḥ kṛitaṁ tvad ye na karishyanti chāpare* | "This was never done by those before thee, nor will those after thee do it."

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²⁰³ *Bhavati*. In the Brāhmaṇas this verb has frequently the sense of prospering, as opposed to *parābhavati*, "he perishes." See Böthlingk and Roth's Lexicon, s. v., and the passages there referred to.

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The second passage I proposed to cite is from the Matsya Purāṇa, chapter iii. verses 32 ff.: *Etad tattvātmakaṁ kṛitvā jagad dvedhā ajījanat* | 33. *Sāvitrīṁ loka-siddhyarthaṁ hṛidi kṛitvā samāsthitaḥ* | *tataḥ sanjapatas tasya bhitvā deham akalmasham* | 34. *strī-rūpam arddham akarod arddham purusha-rūpavat* | *S'atarūpā cha sā khyātā Sāvitrī cha nigadyate* | 35. *Sarasvaty atha Gāyatrī Brahmāṇī cha parantapa* | *tataḥ sa Brahmadevăs tām ātmajām ity akalpayat* | 36. *Dṛishṭvā tām vyathitas tāvat kāma-vānārdito vibhuḥ* | "*aho rūpam aho rūpam*" *ity uvācha tadā 'vyayaḥ* | 37. *Tato Vasishṭha-pramukhā* "*bhaginīm*" *iti chukruśuḥ* | *Brahmā na kinchid dadṛise tan-mukhālokanād ṛite* | 38. "*Aho rūpam aho rūpām*" *iti āha punaḥ punaḥ* | *tataḥ praṇāma-namrām tām punas tām abhyalokayat* | 39. *Atha pradakshiṇām chakre sā pitur varavarṇinī* | *putrebhyo lajjitasyāsya tad-rūpālokanechhayā* | 40. *Āvirbhūtaṁ tato vaktram dakshiṇam pāṇḍu-gaṇḍavat* |

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*vismaya-sphurad-oshṭhañ cha pāśchātyam udagāt tataḥ* | 41. *Chaturtham abhavat paśchād vāmañ kāma-śarāturam* | *tato 'nyad abhavat tasya kāmāturatayā tathā* | 42. *Utpatantyās tadā ''kāśe ālohena kutūhalāt* | *sṛishṭy-arthañ yat kṛitam tena tapaḥ paramadāruṇam* | 43. *Tat sarvam nāśam agamat sva-sutopagamechhayā* | *tenāśu*²⁰⁴ *vaktram abhavat pañchamañ tasya dhīmataḥ* | 44. *Āvirbhavaj jaṭābhiścha tad vaktrañchāvṛiṇot prabhuḥ* | *tatas tān abravīd Brahmā putrān ātma-samudbhavān* | 45. "*Prajāḥ sṛijadhvam abhitaḥ sa-devāsura-mānushāḥ*" | *evam uktās tataḥ sarve sasṛijur vividhāḥ prajāḥ* | 46. *Gateshu teshu sṛishṭyartham praṇāmāvanatām imām* | *upayeme sa viśvātmā S'atarūpām aninditām* | 47. *Sambabhūva tayā sārddham atikāmāturo vibhuḥ* | *salajjāñ chakame devaḥ kamalodara-mandire* | 48. *Yāvad abda-śatañ divyañ yathā 'nyaḥ prākṛito janaḥ* | *tataḥ kālena mahatā tasyāḥ putro 'bhavad Manuḥ* | 49. *Svāyambhuva iti khyātaḥ sa Virāḍ iti naḥ śrutam* | *tad-rūpa-guṇa-sāmānyād adhipūrusha uchyate* | 50. *Vairājā yatra te jātāḥ bahavaḥ saṁśitavratāḥ* | *Svāyambhuvā mahābhāgāḥ sapta sapta tathā 'pare* | 51. *Svārochishādyāḥ sarve te Brahma-tulya-svarūpiṇaḥ* | *Auttami-pramukhās tadvad yeshāñ tvañ saptamo 'dhunā* | (*Adhyāya*. 4.) *Manur uvācha* | 1. *Aho kashṭatarañ chaitad angajāgamanamaṁ vibhoḥ* | *Kathañ na dosham agamat karmaṇā tena Padmajaḥ* | 2. *Parasparañcha sambandhaḥ sagotrāṇām abhūt katham* | *vaivāhikas tat-sutānām chhindi me saṁśayaṁ vibho* | *Matsya uvācha* | 3. *Divyeyam ādi-sṛishṭis tu rajo-guṇa-samudbhavā* | *atīndriyendriyā tadvad atīndriya-śarīrikā* | 4. *Divya-tejomayī bhūpa divya-jñāna-samudbhavā* | *na chānyair abhitaḥ śakyā jñātuṁ vai māṁsa-chakshushā* | 5. *Yathā bhujangāḥ sarpāṇām ākāśe sarva-pakshiṇām* | *vidanti mārgām divyānām divyā eva na mānavāḥ* | 6. *Kāryākāryeṇa devāścha śubhāśubha-phala-pradāḥ* | *yasmāt tasmād na rājendra tad-vichāro nṛiṇām śubhaḥ* | 7. *Anyachcha sarva-devānām adhishṭhātā chaturmukhaḥ* | *gāyatrī Brahmaṇas tadvad anga-bhūtā nigadyate* | 8. *Amūrtta-mūrttimad vāpi mithunañcha prachakshate* | *Viranchir yatra bhagavāns tatra devī Sarasvatī* | 9. *Bhāratī yatra yatraiva tatra tatra Prajāpatiḥ* | *yathātapena rahitā chhāyā vai* (? *na*) *dṛiśyate kvachit* | 10. *Gāyatrī Brahmaṇaḥ pārśvaṁ tathaiva na vimunchati* | *veda-rāśiḥ smṛito Brahmā Sāvitrī tad-adhishṭhitā* | 11. *Tasmād na kaśchid doshaḥ syāt Sāvitrī-gamane vibhoḥ* | *tathāpi lajjāvanataḥ Prajāpatir abhūt purā* | 12. *Sva-sutopagamād Brāhmā śaśāpa Kusumāyudham* | *yasmād mamāpi* *bhavatā manaḥ saṁkshobhitaṁ śaraiḥ* | 13. *Tasmāt tvad-deham achirād Rudro bhasmīkarishyati* | *tataḥ prasādayāmāsa Kāmadevas Chaturmukham* | 14. "*Na mām akāraṇaṁ śaptuṁ tvam ihārhasi mām ava* | *aham evaṁ-vidhaḥ sṛishṭas tvayaiva chaturānana* | 15. *Indriya-kshobha-janakaḥ sarveshām eva dehinām* | *strī-puṁsor avichāreṇa mayā sarvatra sarvadā* | 16. *Kshobhyaṁ manaḥ prayatnena tvayaivoktam purā vibho* | *tasmād anaparādhena tvayā śaptas tathā vibho* | 17. *Kuru prasādaṁ bhagavan sva-śarīrāptaye punaḥ* | *Brahmā uvācha* | 18. *Vaivasvate 'ntare prāpte Yādavānvaya-sambhavaḥ* | *Rāmo nāma yadā martyo mat-sattva-balam āśritaḥ* | 19. *Avatīryyāsura-dhvaṁsī Dvārakām adhivatsyati* | *tad-dhātus tat-samaścha*²⁰⁵ *tvaṁ tadā putratvam eshyasi ityādi* |

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²⁰⁴ Instead of *tenāśu* the Gaikowar MS. reads *tenordhva*.

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²⁰⁵ Such appears to be the reading of the Gaikowar MS. The original reading of the Taylor MS. has been erased, and another substituted, *tatas tat-samaye tvam cha*.

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"32. Having thus formed the universe, consisting of the principles, he generated a twofold creation, (33) having, with a view to the completion of the world, placed and kept Sāvitrī in his heart. Then as he was muttering prayers, he divided his spotless body (34) and gave to the half the form of a woman, and to the half that of a male. (This female) is called Satarūpā, Sāvitrī, (35) Sarasvatī, Gāyatrī, and Brahmāṇī. Brahmā then took her for his daughter. 36. Beholding her, the imperishable deity, distressed, tortured with the arrows of love, exclaimed, 'o what beauty! o what beauty!' 37. Then (his sons) headed by Vashishṭha, cried aloud, '(our) sister.' Brahmā saw nothing else, looking only at her face; (38) and exclaimed again and again, 'o what beauty! o what beauty!' He then again gazed upon her, as she bend forward in obeisance. 39. The fair woman then made a circuit round her father. As on account of his sons he felt ashamed; from his desire of gazing on her beauty (40) there appeared (on his head) a southern face with pale cheeks; and there was afterwards manifested a western face with lips quivering with astonishment. 41. A fourth was subsequently formed, beautiful, disquieted by the arrows of love. Then another was produced from the disturbing influence of the same passion, (42) and from eagerness in gazing after her as she rose upwards in the sky.

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That austere fervour, extremely dreadful, which Brahmā had practised with a view to creation, (43) was entirely lost through his desire to approach his daughter (carnally). Through this was produced speedily the fifth face (or, according to one MS., the upper, the fifth face) of the wise deity, (44) which appeared with matted hair, and which he covered up. Brahmā then said to the sons who had sprung from him, (45) 'create living beings everywhere, gods, asuras, and men.' They, being thus addressed, created beings of various kinds. 46. When they had gone away for the purpose of creating, he, who is the universe, took for his wife the unblamed S'atarūpā. 47. Sickened with love, he cohabited with her: like any ordinary being, he loved her,—though she was full of shame—embowered in the hollow of a lotus, (48) for a hundred years of the gods. A long time after, a son was born to her, Manu (49) called Svāyambhuva, who, as we have heard, is Virāj. From their community of form and qualities he is called Adhipūrusha.²⁰⁶ 50. From him were sprung those numerous Vairājas, steadfast in religious observances, those seven glorious sons of Svayambhū, and those other seven Manus, (51) beginning with Svārochisha and Auttami, in form equal to Brahmā, of whom thou²⁰⁷ art now the seventh. (4th chapter) 1. Manu says: 'Ah! this is most afflicting, this entrance of love into the god. How was it that the lotus-born did not incur guilt by that act? 2.

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And how did a matrimonial connection take place between persons of the same family who were sprung from him? Solve this doubt of mine, o Lord. The Fish replied: 3. This primeval creation was celestial, produced from the quality of passion (*rajas*); it had senses removed beyond the cognizance of sense, and bodies of the same description, (4) was possessed of celestial energy, derived from celestial knowledge, and cannot be perfectly perceived by others with the eye of flesh. 5. Just as serpents know the path of serpents, and (beings living) in the sky know the path of all sorts of birds, so too the celestials alone, and not men, know the way of celestials. 6. And since it is the gods who award the recompence, favourable or unfavourable, according as good or bad deeds have been done,—it is not good for men to examine this (question). 7. Furthermore, the four-faced (Brahmā) is the ruler of all the gods, and in like manner the Gāyatrī is delared to be a member of Brahmā. 8. And, as they say, there is a pair consisting of the formless, and of that which has form. Wherever the divine Viranchi (Brahmā) is, there is also the goddess Sarasvatī. 9. Wherever Bhāratī (a name of Sarasvatī) is, there is also Prajāpati. Just as shadow is nowhere seen without sunshine, (10) so Gāyatrī never forsakes the side of Brahmā. He is called the collected Veda, and Sāvitrī rests upon him; (11) there can therefore be no fault in his approaching her.

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Nevertheless, Brahmā, the lord of creatures, was bowed down with shame, (12) because he had approached his own daugther, and cursed Kusumāyudha ²⁰⁸ (Kāma), (in these words) ‘As even my mind has been agitated by thy arrows, Rudra shall speedily reduce thy body to ashes.’ Kāmadeva then propitiated the four-faced deity, saying, (14) ‘Thou oughtest not to curse me without cause: preserve me. It is by thee thyself that I have been created with such a character, (15) an agitator of the organs of sense of all embodied creatures. The minds both of men and women must always and everywhere (16) be energetically stirred up by me without hesitation: this thou thyself hast formerly declared. It is therefore without any fault of mine that I have been thus cursed by thee. 17. Be gracious, lord, that I may recover my body.’ Brahmā answered: 18. ‘When the Vaivasvata Manvantara shall have arrived, a mortal, named Rāma, sprung from the Yādava race, deriving force from my essence, (19) and, becoming incarnate as a destroyer of Asuras, shall inhabit Dvārakā. Thou shalt then become a son of his substance and like to him,’” etc.

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²⁰⁶ Compare the Purusha Sukta, above p. 8, in the fifth verse of which the words *Virājo adhi pūrushah* occur. If the last two words are combined they give the name in the text.

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²⁰⁷ This account is given by the deity represented as incarnate in a Fish, to Manu Vaivasvata.

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²⁰⁸ The word means “He whose weapons are flowers.”

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The narrator of this legend does not hesitate to depict in the strongest colours (though without the least approach to grossness) the helpless subjection of Brahmā to the influence of sexual desire. This illicit indulgence was regarded by the authors of the S'atapatha and Aitareya Brāhmaṇas as in the highest degree scandalous, and they do not attempt to palliate its enormity by any mystical explanation, such as that which we find in the Matsya Purāṇa. Whether this apology proceeded from the original narrator, or from a later writer of a more sensitive disposition, who perceived its inconsistency with any elevated idea of the superior powers, is difficult to say. It is quite possible that the same writer who gave his fancy scope in describing the unbecoming scene, of which the substance had been handed down in works regarded as authoritative, may also have thought it necessary to discover some device for counteracting the scandal. On the other hand, the original writer seems to cut himself off from the privilege of resorting to any mystical refinements to explain away the offence, by having in the first instance represented Brahmā's indulgence as on a level with that of ordinary beings. And even after the apology has been concluded, we are still told that Brahmā could not help feeling ashamed of what he had done. The writer of the explanation ought to have perceived that if his defence was of any value, the deity for whom he was apologizing had no ground for humiliation. But he did not venture to expunge the popular features of the story. The grounds on which the apology proceeds are partly of the same character as those which the writer of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa assumes in the passage (x. 33, 27 ff.) which is given in the fourth volume of this work, pp. 42 f., viz., that the gods are not to be judged on the same principles as men,—that "the celestials have laws of their own" (*sunt superis sua jura*). The Bhāgavata Purāṇa has, however, different measures for Brahmā and for Krishṇa; for whilst the adultery of the latter is defended in the verses just referred to, no desire is shown to vindicate the former in the other passage, iii. 12, 28 ff., adduced in the same volume, page 40.

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As regards the details of the story according to the different Purāṇas, I may observe that while the Vishṇu, the Vāyu (see above, pp. 65, and 106), and the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇas, xl. 13 f., represent S'atarūpā as the wife of Manu Svāyambhuva, the Matsya Purāṇa, as we have just seen, declares her to have been the spouse of Brahmā himself, and the mother of Manu Svāyambhuva.²⁰⁹ This is repeated in the twenty-sixth verse of the fourth chapter:

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²⁰⁹ Compare the account given in Manu's Institutes (above, p. 36), which does not coincide in all particulars with any of the Purāṇas here quoted.

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*Yā sā dehārddha-sambhūtā Gāyatrī brahma-vādinī* | *jananī yā Manor devī S'atarūpā S'atendriyā* | 27. *Ratir Manas Tapo Buddhir mahad-ādi-samudbhavā*²¹⁰ | *tataḥ sa S'atarūpāyāṁ saptāpatyāny ajījanat* | 28. *Ye Marīchyādayaḥ putrāḥ mānasās tasya dhīmataḥ* | *teshāṁ ayam abhūl lokaḥ sarva-jnānātmakaḥ purā* | 29. *Tato 'srijad Vāmadevaṁ triśūla-vara-dhārinam* | *Sanatkumārañcha vibhum pūrveshām api pūrvajam* | 30.

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²¹⁰ In this line the original readings are in several places erased in the Taylor MS. I have endeavoured to restore it with the help of the Gaikowar MS.

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*Vāmadevaś tu bhagavān asṛijad mukhato dvijān | rājanyān asṛijad bāhvor Viṭ-śūdrāv ūru-pādayoḥ* | . . . . 35. *Svāyambhuvo Manur dhīmāṁs tapas taptvā suduścharam | patnīm avāpa rūpāḍhyām Anantām nāma nāmataḥ | Priyavratottānapādau Manus tasyām ajījanat* |

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"She who was produced from the half of his body, Gāyatrī the declarer of sacred science, she who was the mother of Manu, the goddess S'atarūpā (*i.e.* having a hundred forms), S'atendriyā (*i.e.* having a hundred senses), (27) (was also) Rati, Mind, Austere Fervour, Intellect, sprung from Mahat and the other principles. He then begot upon S'atarūpā seven sons. 28. This world, composed of all knowledge, sprang from Marīchi, and the others who were the mind-born sons of that wise Being. He next created Vāmadeva (Mahādeva), the wielder of the excellent trident, and the lord Sanatkumāra, born before the earliest. 30. Then the divine Vāmadeva created Brāhmans from his mouth, Rājanyas from his breast, the Viś and the S'ūdra from his thighs and feet." [After describing in the following verses some other creations of Vāmadeva, the writer proceeds in verse 35:] "The wise Manu Svāyambhuva, having practised austere fervour of the most arduous kind, obtained a beautiful wife named Anantā. On her he begot Priyavrata and Uttānapāda."

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Having made Manu the son of S'atarūpā, the writer was obliged to give him another female for a wife, as we see he has here done.

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It will be observed that in this passage Vāmadeva—and not Brahmā, as in the other Purāṇas—is described as the creator of the four castes.

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