Hari wears the pure soul of the world, undefiled and void of qualities, as the Kaustubha gem. The chief principle of things (Pradhána) is seated on the eternal, as the Śrívasta mark. Intellect abides in Mádhava, in the form of his mace. The lord (Íswara) supports egotism (Ahamkára) in its twofold division into elements and organs of sense, in the emblems of his conch-shell and his bow. In his hand Vishnu holds, in the form of his discus, the mind, whose thoughts (like the weapon), fly swifter than the winds. The necklace of the deity, Vaijayantí, composed of five precious gems,' is the aggregate of the five elemental rudiments.* Janárdana bears, in his numerous shafts, the faculties both of action and of perception. The bright sword of Achyuta is (holy) wisdom, concealed, at some seasons, in the scabbard of ignorance. In this manner, soul, nature, intellect, egotism, the elements, mind, the senses, ignorance, and wisdom are, all, assembled in the person of Hrishikeśa. Hari, in a delusive form, embodies the shapeless elements of the world, as his weapons and his ornaments, for the salvation of mankind.2 Puńdaríkáksha, the lord of all, assumes 1 + Or of pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire, and diamond. 2 We have, in the text, a representation of one mode of Dhyana or contemplation, in which the conception of a thing is attempted to be rendered more definite by thinking upon its types; * पञ्चरूपा तु या माला वैजयन्ती महाभृतः । + Asi-ratna. + अस्त्रभूषणसंस्थानस्वरूपं रूपवर्जितः । बिभर्ति मायारूपोऽसौ श्रेयसे प्राणिनां हरिः ॥ nature, with all its products, soul, and all the world. All that is wisdom, all that is ignorance, all that is, all that is not, all that is everlasting, is centred in the destroyer of Madhu, the lord of all creatures. The supreme eternal Hari is time, with its divisions of seconds, minutes, days, months, seasons, and years. He is the seven worlds, the earth, the sky, heaven, the world of patriarchs, of sages, of saints, of truth;* whose form is all worlds; first-born before all the firstborn; the supporter of all beings, himself self-sustained; who exists in manifold forms, as gods, men, and animals, and is, thence, the sovereign lord of all, eternal; whose shape is all visible things; who is without shape or form; who is celebrated, in the Vedánta, as the Rich, Yajus, Sáman, and Atharva Vedas, inspired history, and sacred science. The Vedas, and their divisions; the institutes of Manu and other lawgivers; traditional scriptures, and religious manuals;1 poems, and all that or in which, at least, the thoughts are more readily concentrated by being addressed to a sensible emblem, instead of an abstract truth. Thus, the Yogin here says to himself: "I meditate upon the jewel on Vishnu's brow, as the soul of the world; upon the gem on his breast, as the first principle of things"; and so on; and thus, through a perceptible substance, proceeds to an imperceptible idea. 1 Ákhyánáni (7) is said to denote the Puráñas, and Anuváda (1), the Kalpa Sútra, and similar works containing directions for supplementary rites. * कलाकाष्ठानिमेषादिर्दिनर्लयनहायनैः । is said or sung; are the body of the mighty Vishnu, assuming the form of sound.* All kinds of substances, with or without shape, here or elsewhere, are the body of Vishnu. I am Hari. All that I behold is Janárdana. Cause and effect are from none other than him. The man who knows these truths shall never again experience the afflictions of worldly existence. Thus, Brahman, has the first portion of this Purána been duly revealed to you; listening to which expiates all offences. The man who hears this Puráňa obtains the fruit of bathing in the Pushkara lake1 for twelve years, in the month of Kárttika.† The gods bestow upon him who hears this work the dignity of a divine sage, of a patriarch, or of a spirit of heaven.; 1 The celebrated lake Pokher, in Ajmere. * ऋचो यजूंषि सामानि तथैवाथर्वणानि वै † “ At the full of the moon in Kárttika", kárttikeyam. देवर्षिपितृगन्धर्वयक्षादीनां च संभवम् । "The gods and others bestow boons, Muni, upon the man who listens to the origin of the divine Rishis, Manes, Gandharvas, Yakshas, and the like, related in this book." VISHNU PURÁNA. BOOK II. CHAPTER I. Descendants of Priyavrata, the eldest son of Swayambhuva Manu: his ten sons: three adopt a religious life; the others become kings of the seven Dwipas or isles of the earth. Agnídhra, king of Jambu-dwípa, divides it into nine portions, which he distributes amongst his sons. Nábhi, king of the south, succeeded by Rishabha, and he, by Bharata: India named, after him, Bhárata: his descendants reign during the Swayambhuva Manwantara. MAITREYA. You have related to me, venerable preceptor, most fully, all that I was curious to hear respecting the creation of the world. But there is a part of the subject which I am desirous again to have described. You stated that Priyavrata and Uttánapáda were the sons of Swayambhuva (Manu); and you repeated the story of Dhruva, the son of Uttánapáda. You made no mention of the descendants of Priyavrata: and it is an account of his family that I beg you will kindly communicate to me. PARÁSARA.-Priyavrata married Kámyá, the daughter of the patriarch Kardama,1 and had, by her, two The text reads Kanya: कर्दमस्यात्मनां कन्यामुपयेमे प्रियव्रतः । and the commentator has: 'He married the daughter of Kardama, daughters, Samráj and Kukshí, and ten sons, wise, valiant, modest, and dutiful,* named Agnídhra, Agnibáhu, Vapushmat, Dyutimat, Medhas, Medhátithi, Bhavya, Savana,† Putra: and the tenth was Jyotishmat,1 illustrious by nature, as by name. These were i gensnfafa1 whose name was Kanya': The copies agree in the reading; and the Váyu has the same name, Kanyá. But the Márkandeya, which is the same, in other respects, as our text, has Kámyá. Kámyá also is the name elsewhere given, by the Vayu, to the daughter of Kardama (Vol. I., p. 155, note 1). Kámyá, as has been noticed, appears, in the Brahma and Hari Vamsa (Vol. I., p. 108, note 1), as the mother of Priyavrata, but erroneously and the same authorities specify a Kámyá as the wife of that sovereign. So the commentator on the Hari Vamsa states: Another Kámyá is mentioned (in the text), the daughter of Kardama, the wife of Priyavrata : ' प्रियव्रतस्य भार्याी कर्दमपुत्री The name Kanyá is, therefore, most probably, an error of the copyists. The Bhagavata § calls the wife of Priyavrata, Barhishmatí, the daughter of Viswakarman. 1 These names nearly agree in the authorities which specify the descendants of Priyavrata, except in the Bhagavata. That has an almost entirely different series of names, or: Ágnídhra, Idhmajihwa, Yajnabáhu, Mahávíra, Hiranyaretas, Ghritapŕishtha, Savana, Medhátithi, Vítihotra, and Kavi; with one daughter, Úrjaswati. It also calls the Manus, Uttama, Támasa, and Raivata, the sons of Priyavrata, by another wife. This is the reading of all the MSS. accessible to me; and it is that of the Bhagavata also. Professor Wilson had "Savala", - probably the corruption of a Bengal pandit, or of a fly. This is from the smaller commentary, the unabridged words of which are: आत्मजामौरसीं कन्याम् । कन्यासंज्ञमिति वा । The first place is, therefore, accorded to the view that kanyá is not intended as a proper name, but signifies "daughter". And herein concurs the larger commentary: आत्मजामौरसीं कन्याम् । कन्या नाम्नीति वा । § V., 1, 24. || V., 1, 24, 25, and 28. |