Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (48 page)

‘Markandeya said, “At these words, he
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entered and saw an extremely beautiful house. It was lovely and whitewashed and was divided into four parts. It was like a house of the gods and was worshipped by the gods. It had excellent seats and beds and was fragrant with perfumes. After having eaten, his adored parents were comfortably seated on excellent seats. They were dressed in white.
On seeing them, the hunter who knew about dharma prostrated himself, with his head at their feet. The old ones said, ‘O one who is learned about dharma! Arise. Arise. May dharma always protect you. We are extremely pleased with your purity. May you have a long life. O son! You have always been a good son. You have worshipped us for a long time. You have not acknowledged a god even among the gods themselves. Through self-control, you have attained the self-control of the brahmanas. O son! Your fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers have always been satisfied with you, because of your self-control and your worshipping of us. In thought, deed and words, you have never deviated from servitude. It seems to us that you have no other thought in your mind. O son! Like Jamadagni’s son Rama,
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you have done everything to serve your aged parents. Indeed, you have done more.’ Then the hunter who knew about dharma introduced the brahmana to them and they welcomed the brahmana with honours.

‘“The brahmana accepted the honours and asked them, ‘Is everything well in your household, with your sons and your servants? Are you physically well, without any disease?’ The old couple replied, ‘O brahmana! Everything is well at home and the servants are fine too. O illustrious one! Did you confront any impediments in coming here?’ The brahmana happily said that he hadn’t faced any problems. The hunter who knew about dharma then spoke these words of great import to the brahmana. ‘O illustrious one! These two, my father and my mother, are the supreme gods for me and I do for them what is undertaken for the gods. There are thirty-three gods, with Shakra at the forefront. Just as they are worshipped by all the worlds, so do I tend to my aged parents. Just as brahmanas collect offerings for the gods, so do I unceasingly act for these two. O brahmana! My father and my mother are my supreme gods. O brahmana! I continuously satisfy them with flowers, fruits and gems. They are like the fires the learned ones speak about. O brahmana! They are everything to me, like sacrifices and the four Vedas. My life, my wife, my sons and my well-wishers are for them. With my sons and my
wife, I always serve them. I bathe them myself and wash their feet. O supreme among brahmanas! I give them food myself. I only speak pleasant things to them, avoiding the unpleasant. So as to bring pleasure to them, I even do that which is adharma. O supreme among brahmanas! O brahmana! Knowing dharma to be my preceptor, I tirelessly serve them. O brahmana! It has been said that a man prospers through five gurus—the father, the mother, the fire, he himself and the preceptor. O supreme among brahmanas! If they are served properly, they always remain for him, like well-tended fires. That is the eternal dharma for those who are in the householder stage.’”’

‘Markandeya said, “Having introduced his parents to the brahmana as his greatest gurus, the hunter with dharma in his soul again spoke to the brahmana. ‘Behold. I have obtained insight through the power of my austerities. It is for this reason that the devoted, self-controlled and truthful wife told you to go to Mithila, where a hunter who lives there would tell you about dharma.’ The brahmana replied, ‘O one who is learned about dharma! O one who is good in his vows! I remember the words of that devoted, truthful and virtuous wife. I know that you have good qualities.’ The hunter said, ‘O foremost among brahmanas! O illustrious one! There is no doubt that what you have said about me was completely foreseen by that faithful wife. O brahmana! It is to exhibit favours towards you that I showed you these things. O son!
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O brahmana! Now listen to the words that I am going to speak to you. O supreme among brahmanas! You have slighted your mother and father. O unblemished one! You left the house without their permission, for the sake of studying the meaning and the chanting of the Vedas. Your deeds caused great grief to your aged, ascetic and blind parents. Go and seek their
favours, else great dharma will forsake you. You are an ascetic. You are great-souled. You are always devoted to dharma. But all of this has been futile. O brahmana! Therefore, listen to my words and do not act contrary to them. Return swiftly and show them your devotion. O brahmana rishi! I am telling you this for your own welfare.’

‘“The brahmana answered, ‘O fortunate one! O one who has the qualities and conduct of dharma. There is no doubt that everything that you have said is true. I am pleased with you.’ The hunter said, ‘You are the equal of the gods and you are always devoted to dharma that is ancient, eternal and divine, difficult of access to those who have not perfected their souls. Go swiftly to your mother and your father and worship them unceasingly. Beyond that, there is no other supreme dharma that I can see for you.’ The brahmana replied, ‘It is through good fortune that I came here. It is through good fortune that I met you. Men like you, exponents of dharma, are difficult to find in this world. Among one thousand men, one may find someone who is learned in dharma, or one may not. O fortunate one! O supreme among men! I am pleased with your truthfulness. I was descending into hell and you have saved me. O unblemished one! It had been destined and that is the reason I met you. O tiger among men! King Yayati fell and was rescued by his daughter’s virtuous sons.
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Like that, I have now been saved by you. As you have said, I will serve my mother and my father. One who has not perfected his soul does not know how to differentiate between dharma and adharma. The eternal dharma is incomprehensible to one who has been born in the womb of a shudra. I do not regard you as a shudra. There must be some reason. Perhaps you obtained the status of a shudra because of your specific deeds. O immensely intelligent one! I wish to know the details about this. O one who has controlled his soul! If you so desire, please tell me everything accurately.’

‘“The hunter replied, ‘O supreme among brahmanas! No brahmana should be crossed. O unblemished one! Therefore, hear everything that had happened to me in an earlier body. O son of foremost among
brahmanas! I was a brahmana earlier. I studied the Vedas well and was skilled in the Vedangas. But it is because of my own sins that I have been reduced to my present state. There was a king who was my friend and he was skilled in the use of arms. O brahmana! Because of my association with him, I also became supreme in wielding the bow. Once upon a time, the king went out hunting. He was surrounded by his advisers and was with his foremost warriors. Near a hermitage, he killed many deer. O supreme among brahmanas! I also shot a swift and terrible arrow, with a plume that was bent downwards. It hurt a rishi. The brahmana fell down on the ground and shouted, “I am innocent. Who has performed this evil deed?” Still thinking him to be a deer, I rushed towards him and suddenly saw the sage. I saw that the rishi had been pierced by my arrow, with a plume that was bent downwards. My mind was troubled to see that I had performed an act that should not be performed. I then told the extremely ascetic brahmana, who was dying on the ground. “I performed this act out of ignorance. Please pardon me. O brahmana! I should be forgiven.” Thus did I speak to the sage. But the rishi was overcome with anger and replied in these words. “O cruel one! O brahmana! You will be born as a hunter and will be born from a shudra womb.”’”’

‘“The hunter said, ‘O supreme among foremost of brahmanas! When I had thus been cursed by the rishi, I spoke to the one who was eloquent with words. “O rishi! Please show me your favours. O sage! I performed this act out of ignorance today. O illustrious one! Please pardon me. Please show me your favours.” The rishi replied, “There is no doubt that the curse that I have pronounced cannot be negated. But because of my mildness, I will now show you a favour. Even when you are born in the womb of a shudra, you will be learned about dharma. There is no doubt that
you will serve your mother and your father. Through serving them, you will achieve great success. You will remember your earlier birth and you will go to heaven. When the curse has run its course, you will again become a brahmana.” In this way, I was cursed by that terribly ascetic rishi in earlier times. O supreme among men! But he showed me his favours too. O supreme among brahmanas! I took the arrow out of his body. I carried him to the hermitage and he did not lose his life. These are the details of everything that befell me earlier. O supreme among brahmanas! I will go to heaven in the hereafter.’

‘“The brahmana replied, ‘O greatly intelligent one! All men are subject to unhappiness and happiness in this way. You should therefore not grieve over this. O son!
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You have performed a difficult task, you have learnt about your earlier life. O learned one! The taint of your evil deeds is because of the lineage you have been born into. After some time has passed, you will become a brahmana again. There is no doubt that I think you to be a brahmana even now. A brahmana who performs evil deeds is certain to meet with downfall. One who is vain and the performer of evil deeds is almost equal to a shudra. A shudra who is controlled, truthful and devoted to dharma, always rises. I think him to be a brahmana who becomes a brahmana because of his conduct. Through the taints of evil karma, one attains a terrible end. O supreme among men! I think that all of your sins have been destroyed. You should not be anxious on this account. You should not sorrow and you should not hesitate. You know about the ways of conduct in the world. You are always devoted to dharma.’

‘“The hunter said, ‘Like physical pain is destroyed with medicines, mental pain is destroyed with wisdom. This capacity for knowledge does not come equally to those who are fools. Men of limited intelligence are overcome by mental distress when they are confronted with calamities and are separated from that which is pleasant. All beings have some good qualities and some bad ones. Everyone is subject to this and there is no reason for grief. When one sees something unpleasant, one should swiftly withdraw. One should take countermeasures if one sees it coming. Nothing happens to the one who
sorrows. He can only lament. Men who give up both happiness and unhappiness are learned ones who are satisfied with knowledge. They are really happy. The ignorant are always dissatisfied. The learned are always satisfied. There is no end to dissatisfaction. Satisfaction is supreme happiness. Those who do not sorrow have gone along that path. They can see the supreme objective. One should not immerse one’s mind in grief. Grief is a terrible poison. Like an angry serpent, it kills those who are foolish and have not attained wisdom. One who is overcome by sorrow when difficulties surface, his energy is destroyed and he has no manliness. There is no doubt that the fruits of our deeds can be seen. One who falls prey to despair does not obtain that which is good. Instead, one should look for means to free oneself from misery. One should not sorrow, but be united with the good. If one thinks about the nature of all beings, one obtains supreme intelligence. One should not sorrow. One should obtain wisdom. One should look towards the supreme objective. O learned one! I do not sorrow. I am waiting for the time to pass. O brahmana! O excellent one! It is for this reason that I am not constrained.’

‘“The brahmana replied, ‘You have attained wisdom. You are learned. You have great intelligence. You are content in knowledge. You are devoted to dharma. You have nothing that I can sorrow about. I wish to take my leave. May you be in peace. May dharma protect you. O supreme among those who uphold dharma! May you not deviate in your duty towards dharma.’”

‘Markandeya said, “Joining his hands in salutation, the hunter granted leave. The supreme among brahmanas circumambulated him and departed. When he returned, the brahmana began to always assiduously serve his mother, his father and the elders, in accordance with the prescribed rules. O Yudhishthira! O son!
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O foremost among those who uphold dharma! I have thus told you everything that you asked me about—the greatness of a faithful wife, the excellence of brahmanas and servitude towards the mother and the father by the hunter, recounted as dharma.”

‘Yudhishthira replied, “O brahmana! This supreme account of dharma is extraordinary. O supreme among those who know all forms of dharma! O supreme sage! Your account is the best. O learned one! Listening to you, to these pleasant accounts, it seemed to be but an instant. O illustrious one! But I am still not satisfied about listening to supreme dharma.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘When Dharmaraja had heard these holy accounts, full of dharma, he again asked rishi Markandeya. “In ancient times, why did Agni leave for the forest? In Agni’s absence, how did the great rishi Angiras become fire and carry the oblations? Agni is one. But his acts are seen to be many. O illustrious one! I wish to know everything about this. How was Kumara
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born? How did he come to be known as Agni’s son? How did Rudra beget him on Ganga and the Krittikas?
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O descendant of the Bhargava lineage! I wish to hear about all this exactly. O great sage! I am full of curiosity.”

‘Markandeya said, “Ancient history is recounted about this. The bearer of oblations
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was angered and went to the forest to perform austerities. The illustrious Angiras then transformed himself into Agni. Through his powers, he destroyed distress and darkness. In his hermitage, the immensely fortunate one surpassed Agni. Having become that, he then illuminated the world. Agni was then performing austerities and was tormented by this energy. The energetic one was extremely distressed, but did not know what to do. The illustrious Agni then thought, ‘This other Agni has been unleashed in the world by Brahma. While I was engaged in austerities, my services as Agni have been dispensed with. How can I become Agni again?’ While he
was thus reflecting, Agni saw the great sage, providing heat to the world. He approached slowly and fearfully and Angiras told him, ‘Swiftly become Agni and bring prosperity to the worlds again. You are known to the three worlds and all objects, mobile and immobile. O Agni! You were the first to be created by Brahma, so that darkness could be dispelled. O destroyer of darkness! Swiftly regain your own position.’ Agni replied, ‘My deeds have been destroyed in this world and you have become Agni. You have become Agni. You are known as Agni and people do not know me. I have thrown away my role as Agni. You remain as the primary Agni. I will be the second, known as Prajapatyaka.’
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Angiras said, ‘Perform the auspicious deeds that take beings to heaven. Be Agni, the dispeller of darkness. O god! O Agni! Perform the act of obtaining your first son through me.’ O king! On hearing these words of Angiras, Jataveda
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did as he had been asked to. Angiras had a son by the name of Brihaspati. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On knowing that Angiras’s son was Agni’s first son, the gods arrived and asked about the reason for this. Having been thus asked by the gods, Angiras told them the reason for this and the gods accepted the explanation. I will now tell you about the different immensely radiant fires used for rites. They are known to the brahmanas by their many tasks and names.”’