Chapter 153

“The god of wind said, ‘Hear, O deluded man, what the attributes are thatbelong to Brahmanas all of whom are endued with high souls. The Brahmanais superior to all those which, O king, thou hast named! In days of yore,the earth, indulging in a spirit of rivalry with the kind of the Angas,forsook her character as Earth. The regenerate Kasyapa caused destructionto overtake her by actually paralysing her. The Brahmanas are alwaysunconquerable, O king, in heaven as also on earth. In days of yore, thegreat Rishi Angiras, through his energy, drank off all the waters. Thehigh-souled Rishi, having drank off all the waters as if they were milk,did not feel yet his thirst to be slaked. He, therefore, once more causedthe earth to be filled with water by raising a mighty wave. On anotheroccasion, when Angiras became enraged with me, I fled away, leaving theworld, and dwelt for a long time concealed in the Agnihotra of theBrahmanas through fear of that Rishi. The illustrious Purandara, inconsequence of his having coveted the body of Ahalya, was cursed byGautama, yet, for the sake of Righteousness and wealth, the Rishi did notdestroy outright the chief of the deities. The Ocean, O king, that wasfull in former days of crystal water, cursed by the Brahmanas, becamesaline in taste.[608] Even Agni who is of the complexion of gold, and whoblazes with effulgence when destitute of smoke, and whose flames unitingtogether burn upwards, when cursed by the angry Angiras, became divestedof all these attributes.[609] Behold, the sixty thousand sons of Sagara,who came here to adore the Ocean, have all been pulverised by theBrahmana. Kapila of golden complexion. Thou art not equal to theBrahmanas. Do thou, O king, seek thy own good. The Kshatriya of evengreat puissance bows to Brahmana children that are still in theirmothers’ wombs. The large kingdom of the Dandakas was destroyed by aBrahmana. The mighty Kshatriya Talajangala was destroyed by a singleBrahmana. viz., Aurva. Thou too hast acquired a large kingdom, greatmight, religious merit, and learning, which are all difficult ofattainment, through the grace of Dattatreya. Why dost thou, O Arjuna,worship Agni everyday who is a Brahmana? He is the bearer of sacrificiallibations from every part of the universe. Art thou ignorant of thisfact? Why, indeed, dost thou suffer thyself to be stupefied by folly whenthou art not ignorant of the fact that a superior Brahmana is theprotector of all creatures in the world and is, indeed, the creator ofthe living world? The Lord of all creatures, Brahman, unmanifest, enduedwith puissance, and of unfading glory, who created this boundlessuniverse with its mobile and immobile creatures (is a Brahman). Somepersons there are, destitute of wisdom, who say that Brahman was born ofan Egg. From the original Egg, when it burst forth, mountains and thepoints of the compass and the waters and the earth and the heavens allsprang forth into existence. This birth of the creation was not seen byany one. How then can Brahman be said to have taken his birth from theoriginal Egg, when especially he is declared as Unborn? It is said thatvast uncreate Space is the original Egg. It was from this uncreate Space(or Supreme Brahman) that the Grandsire was born. If thou askest,’Whereon would the Grandsire, after his birth from uncreate Space, rest,for there was then nothing else?’ The answer may be given in thefollowing words, ‘There is an existent Being of the name ofConsciousness. That mighty Being is endued with great energy. There is noEgg. Brahman, however, is existent. He is the creator of the universe andis its king! Thus addressed by the god of wind, king Arjuna remainedsilent.'”[610]