Chapter 66

“Vaisampayana said, ‘It is known that the spiritual sons of Brahman werethe six great Rishis (already mentioned). There was another of the nameof Sthanu. And the sons of Sthanu, gifted with great energy, were, it isknown, eleven.

They were Mrigavayadha, Sarpa, Niriti of great fame:Ajaikapat, Ahivradhna, and Pinaki, the oppressor of foes; Dahana andIswara, and Kapali of great splendour; and Sthanu, and the illustriousBharga. These are called the eleven Rudras. It hath been already said,that Marichi, Angiras. Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, and Kratu–these six greatRishis of great energy–are the sons of Brahman. It is well-known in theworld that Angiras’s sons are three,–Vrihaspati, Utathya, and Samvarta,all of rigid vows. And, O king, it is said that the sons of Atri arenumerous. And, being great Rishis, they are all conversant with theVedas, crowned with ascetic success, and of souls in perfect peace. And,O tiger among kings, the sons of Pulastya of great wisdom are Rakshasas,Monkeys, Kinnaras (half-men and half-horses), and Yakshas. And, O king,the son of Pulaha were, it is said, the Salabhas (the winged insects),the lions, the Kimpurushas (half-lions and half-men), the tigers, bears,and wolves. And the sons of Kratu, sacred as sacrifices, are thecompanions of Surya, (the Valikhilyas), known in three worlds and devotedto truth and vows. And, O protector of the Earth, the illustrious RishiDaksha, of soul in complete peace, and of great asceticism, sprung fromthe right toe of Brahman. And from the left toe of Brahman sprang thewife of the high-souled Daksha. And the Muni begat upon her fiftydaughters; and all those daughters were of faultless features and limbsand of eyes like lotus-petals. And the lord Daksha, not having any sons,made those daughters his Putrikas (so that their sons might belong bothto himself and to their husbands). And Daksha bestowed, according to thesacred ordinance, ten of his daughters on Dharma, twenty-seven on Chandra(the Moon), and thirteen on Kasyapa. Listen as I recount the wives ofDharma according to their names. They are ten in all–Kirti, Lakshmi,Dhriti, Medha, Pushti, Sraddha, Kria, Buddhi, Lajja, and Mali. These arethe wives of Dharma as appointed by the Self-create. It is known alsothroughout the world that the wives of Soma (Moon) are twenty-seven. Andthe wives of Soma, all of sacred vows, are employed in indicating time;and they are the Nakshatras and the Yoginis and they became so forassisting the courses of the worlds.

“And Brahman had another son named Manu. And Manu had a son of the nameof Prajapati. And the sons of Prajapati were eight and were called Vasuswhom I shall name in detail. They were Dhara, Dhruva, Soma, Aha, Anila,Anala, Pratyusha, and Prabhasa. These eight are known as the Vasus. Ofthese, Dhara and the truth-knowing Dhruva were born of Dhumra; Chandramas(Soma) and Swasana (Anila) were born of the intelligent Swasa; Aha wasthe son of Rata: and Hutasana (Anala) of Sandilya; and Pratyusha andPrabhasa were the sons of Prabhata. And Dhara had two sons, Dravina andHuta-havya-vaha. And the son of Dhruva is the illustrious Kala (Time),the destroyer of the worlds. And Soma’s son is the resplendent Varchas.And Varchas begot upon his wife Manohara three sons–Sisira, and Ramana.And the son of Aha were Jyotih, Sama, Santa, and also Muni. And the sonof Agni is the handsome Kumara born in a forest of reeds. And, he is alsocalled Kartikeya because he was reared by Krittika and others. And, afterKartikeya, there were born his three brothers Sakha, Visakha, Naigameya.And the wife of Anila is Siva, and Siva’s son were Manojava andAvijnataagati. These two were the sons of Anila. The son of Pratyusha,you must know, is the Rishi named Devala; and Devala had two sons whowere both exceedingly forgiving and of great mental power. And the sisterof Vrihaspati, the first of women, uttering the sacred truth, engaged inascetic penances, roamed over the whole earth; and she became the wife ofPrabhasa, the eighth Vasu. And she brought forth the illustriousViswakarman, the founder of all arts. And he was the originator of athousand arts, the engineer of the immortals, the maker of all kinds ofornaments, and the first of artists. And he it was who constructed thecelestial cars of the gods, and mankind are enabled to live inconsequence of the inventions of that illustrious one. And he isworshipped, for that reason, by men. And he is eternal and immutable,this Viswakarman.

“And the illustrious Dharma, the dispenser of all happiness, assuming ahuman countenance, came out through the right breast of Brahman. AndAhasta (Dharma) hath three excellent sons capable of charming everycreature. And they are Sama, Kama, Harsha (Peace, Desire, and Joy). Andby their energy they are supporting the worlds. And the wife of Kama isRati, of Sama is Prapti; and the wife of Harsha is Nanda. And upon them,indeed, are the worlds made to depend.

“And the son of Marichi is Kasyapa. And Kasyapa’s offspring are the godsand the Asuras. And, therefore, is Kasyapa, the Father of the worlds. AndTvashtri, of the form of Vadava (a mare), became the wife of Savitri. Andshe gave birth, in the skies, to two greatly fortunate twins, the Aswins.And, O king, the sons of Aditi are twelve with Indra heading them all.And the youngest of them all was Vishnu upon whom the worlds depend.

“These are the thirty-three gods (the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, thetwelve Adityas, Prajapati, and Vashatkara). I shall now recount theirprogeny according to their Pakshas, Kulas, and Ganas. The Rudras, theSaddhyas, the Maruts, the Vasus, the Bhargavas, and the Viswedevas areeach reckoned as a Paksha. Garuda the son of Vinata and the mighty Arunaalso, and the illustrious Vrihaspati are reckoned among the Adityas. Thetwin Aswins, all annual plants, and all inferior animals, are reckonedamong the Guhyakas.

“These are the Ganas of the gods recited to thee, O king! This recitationwashes men of all sins.

“The illustrious Bhrigu came out, ripping open the breast of Brahman. Thelearned Sukra is Bhrigu’s son. And the learned Sukra becoming a planetand engaged according to the command of the Self-existent in pouring andwithholding rain, and in dispensing and remitting calamities, traverses,for sustaining the lives of all the creatures in the three worlds,through the skies. And the learned Sukra, of great intelligence andwisdom, of rigid vows, leading the life of a Brahmacharin, dividedhimself in twain by power of asceticism, and became the spiritual guideof both the Daityas and the gods. And after Sukra was thus employed byBrahman in seeking the welfare (of the gods and the Asuras), Bhrigu begotanother excellent son. This was Chyavana who was like the blazing sun, ofvirtuous soul, and of great fame. And he came out of his mother’s womb inanger and became the cause of his mother’s release, O king (from thehands of the Rakshasas). And Arushi, the daughter of Manu, became thewife of the wise Chyavana. And, on her was begotten Aurva of greatreputation. And he came out, ripping open the thigh of Arushi. And Aurvabegot Richika. And Richika even in his boyhood became possessed of greatpower and energy, and of every virtue. And Richika begot Jamadagni. Andthe high-souled Jamadagni had four sons. And the youngest of them all wasRama (Parasurama). And Rama was superior to all his brothers in thepossession of good qualities. And he was skilful in all weapons, andbecame the slayer of the Kshatriyas. And he had his passions undercomplete control. And Aurva had a hundred sons with Jamadagni the eldest.And these hundred sons had offspring by thousands spread over this earth.

“And Brahman had two other sons, viz., Dhatri and Vidhatri who stayedwith Manu. Their sister is the auspicious Lakshmi having her abode amidlotuses. And the spiritual sons of Lakshmi are the sky-ranging horses.And the daughter born of Sukra, named Divi, became the eldest wife ofVaruna. Of her were born a son named Vala and a daughter named Sura(wine), to the joy of the gods. And Adharma (Sin) was born when creatures(from want of food) began to devour one another. And Adharma alwaysdestroys every creature. And Adharma hath Niriti for his wife, whence theRakshasas who are called Nairitas (offspring of Niriti). And she hathalso three other cruel sons always engaged in sinful deeds. They areBhaya (fear), Mahabhaya (terror), and Mrityu (Death) who is alwaysengaged in slaying every created thing. And, as he is all-destroying, hehath no wife, and no son. And Tamra brought forth five daughters knownthroughout the worlds. They are Kaki (crow), Syeni (hawk), Phasi (hen),Dhritarashtri (goose), and Suki (parrot). And Kaki brought forth thecrows; Syeni, the hawks, the cocks and vultures, Dhritarashtri, all ducksand swans; and she also brought forth all Chakravakas; and the fair Suki,of amiable qualities, and possessing all auspicious signs brought forthall the parrots. And Krodha gave birth to nine daughters, all of wrathfuldisposition. And their names were Mrigi, Mrigamanda, Hari, Bhadramana,Matangi, Sarduli, Sweta, Surabhi, and the agreeable Surasa blessed withevery virtue. And, O foremost of men, the offspring of Mrigi are allanimals of the deer species. And the offspring of Mrigamanda are allanimals of the bear species and those called Srimara (sweet-footed). AndBhadramana begot the celestial elephants, Airavata. And the offspring ofHari are all animals of the simian species endued with great activity, soalso all the horses. And those animals also, that are called Go-langula(the cow-tailed), are said to be the offspring of Hari. And Sarduli begotlions and tigers in numbers, and also leopards and all other stronganimals. And, O king, the offspring of Matangi are all the elephants. AndSweta begat the large elephant known by the name of Sweta, endued withgreat speed. And, O king, Surabhi gave birth to two daughters, theamiable Rohini and the far-famed Gandharvi. And, O Bharata, she had alsotwo other daughters named Vimala and Anala. From Rohini have sprung allkine, and from Gandharvi all animals of the horse species. And Analabegat the seven kinds of trees yielding pulpy fruits. (They are the date,the palm, the hintala, the tali, the little date, the nut, and thecocoanut.) And she had also another daughter called Suki (the mother ofthe parrot species). And Surasa bore a son called Kanka (a species oflong-feathered birds). And Syeni, the wife of Aruna, gave birth to twosons of great energy and strength, named Sampati and the mighty Jatayu.Surasa also bore the Nagas, and Kadru, the Punnagas (snakes). And Vinatahad two sons Garuda and Aruna, known far and wide. And, O king of men, Oforemost of intelligent persons, thus hath the genealogy of all theprincipal creatures been fully described by me. By listening to this, aman is fully cleansed of all his sins, and acquireth great knowledge, andfinally attaineth to the first of states in after-life!'”