Chapter 207

“Yudhishthira said, ‘O grandsire, O thou of great wisdom, I desire tohear in detail, O chief of the Bharatas, of that lotus-eyed andindestructible one, who is the Creator of everything but who has beencreated by none, who is called Vishnu (in consequence of his pervadingeverything), who is the origin of all creatures and unto whom allcreatures return, who is known by the names of Narayana and Hrishikesaand Govinda and Kesava, and who is incapable of being vanquished by anyone.’

“Bhishma said, ‘I have heard of this subject from Jamadagni’s son Rama,while he discoursed on it, from the celestial Rishi Narada, and fromKrishna-Dwaipayana. Asita-Devala, O son, Valmiki of austere penances, andMarkandeya, speak of Govinda as the Most Wonderful and the Supreme.Kesava, O chief of Bharata’s race, is the divine and puissant Lord ofall. He is called Purusha, and pervades everything, having made himselfmany. Listen now, O Yudhishthira of mighty arms, to those attributeswhich great Brahmanas say are to be met with in the high-souled wielderof Saranga. I shall also, O prince of men, recite to thee those actswhich persons conversant with old histories ascribe to Govinda. He issaid to be the Soul of all creatures, the high-souled one, and theforemost of all beings. He created (by his will) the five-fold elements,viz., Wind, Light, Water, Space, and Earth. That puissant Lord of allthings, that high-souled one, that foremost of all beings, having createdthe earth, laid himself down on the surface of the waters. While thusfloating upon the waters, that foremost of all beings, that refuge ofevery kind of energy and splendour, created Consciousness, the first-bornof beings in the universe. We have heard that He created Consciousnessalong with the Mind,–Consciousness which is the refuge of all createdthings. That Consciousness upholds all creatures and both the past andthe future. After that great Being, O mighty-armed one, viz.,Consciousness, had sprung, an exceedingly beautiful lotus, possessed ofeffulgence like the Sun’s, grew out of the navel of the Supreme Being(floating on the waters). Then, O son, the illustrious and divineBrahman, the Grandsire of all creatures, sprang into existence from thatlotus, irradiating all the points of the horizon with his effulgence.After the high-souled Grandsire had, O mighty-armed one, thus sprung fromthe primeval lotus, a great Asura of the name of Madhu, having nobeginning, started into birth, springing from the attribute or Darkness(Tamas). The foremost of all Beings, (viz., the Supreme Divinity), forbenefiting Brahman, slew that fierce Asura of fierce deeds, engaged eventhen in the fierce act (of slaying the Grand-sire). From this slaughter,O son, (of the Asura named Madhu), all the gods and the Danavas and mencame to call that foremost of all righteous persons by the name ofMadhusudana (slayer of Madhu).[704] After this, Brahman created, by aflat of his will, seven sons with Daksha completing the tale. They wereMarichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, (and the alreadymentioned Daksha). The eldest born, viz., Marichi, begat, by a fiat ofhis will, a son named Kasyapa, full of energy and the foremost of allpersons conversant with Brahma. From his toe, Brahman had, even beforethe birth of Marichi, created a son. That son, O chief of Bharata’s race,was Daksha, the progenitor of creatures.[705] Unto Daksha were first bornthree and ten daughters, O Bharata, the eldest of whom was called Diti.Marichi’s son Kasyapa, O sire, who was conversant with all duties andtheir distinctions, who was of righteous deeds and great fame, became thehusband of those thirteen daughters. The highly-blessed Daksha (besidesthe three and ten already spoken of) next begat ten other daughters. Theprogenitor of creatures, viz., the righteous Daksha, bestowed these uponDharma. Dharma became father of the Vasus, the Rudras of immeasurableenergy, the Viswedevas, the Sadhyas, and the Maruts, O Bharata. Dakshanext begat seven and twenty other younger daughters. The highly-blessedSoma became the husband of them all. The other wives of Kasyapa gavebirth to Gandharvas, horses, birds, kine, Kimpurushas, fishes, and treesand plants. Aditi gave birth to the Adityas. the foremost ones among thegods, and possessed of great strength. Amongst them Vishnu took birth inthe form of a dwarf. Otherwise called Govinda, he became the foremost ofthem all. Through his prowess, the prosperity of the gods increased. TheDanavas were vanquished. The offspring of Diti were the Asuras. Danu gavebirth to the Danavas having Viprachitti for their foremost. Diti gavebirth to all the Asuras of great strength.

“The slayer of Madhu also created the Day and the Night, and the Seasonin their order, and the Morn and the Even. After reflection, he alsocreated the clouds, and all the (other) immobile and mobile objects.Possessed of abundant energy, he also created the Viswas and the earthwith all things upon her. Then the highly blessed and puissant Krishna, OYudhishthira, once again created from his mouth a century of foremostBrahmanas. From his two arms, he created a century of Kshatriyas, andfrom his thighs a century of Vaisyas. Then, O bull of Bharata’s race,Kesava created from his two feet a century of Sudras. Possessed of greatascetic merit, the slayer of Madhu, having thus created the four ordersof men, made Dhatri (Brahman) the lord and ruler of all created beings.Of immeasurable effulgence, Brahman became also the expositor of theknowledge of the Vedas. And Kesava made him, called Virupaksha, the rulerof the spirits and ghosts and of those female beings called the Matrikas(mothers). And he made Yama the ruler of the Pitris and of all sinfulmen.[706] The Supreme Soul of all creatures also made Kuvera the lord ofall treasures. He then created Varuna the lord of waters and governor ofall aquatic animals. The puissant Vishnu made Vasava the chief of all thedeities. In those times, men lived as long as they chose to live, andwere without any fear of Yama. Sexual congress, O chief of the Bharatas,was then not necessary for perpetuating the species. In those daysoffspring were begotten by flat of the will. In the age that followed,viz., Treta, children were begotten by touch alone. The people of thatage even, O monarch, were above the necessity of sexual congress. It wasin the next age, viz., Dwapara, that the practice of sexual congressoriginated, O king, to prevail among men. In the Kali age, O monarch, menhave come to marry and live in pairs.

“I have now told thee of the supreme Lord of all creatures. He is alsocalled the Ruler of all and everything. I shall now, O son of Kunti,speak to thee about the sinful creatures of the earth. Listen to me.[707]Those men, O king, are born in the southern region and are calledAndrakas, Guhas, Pulindas, Savaras, Chuchukas, Madrakas.[708] Those thatare born in the northern region, I shall also mention. They are Yamas,Kamvojas, Gandharas, Kiratas and Barbaras. All of them, O sire, aresinful, and move on this Earth, characterised by practices similar tothose of Chandalas and ravens and vultures. In the Krita age, O sire,they were nowhere on earth. It is from the Treta that they have had theirorigin and began to multiply, O chief of Bharata’s race. When theterrible period came, joining Treta and the Dwapara, the Kshatriyas,approaching one another, engaged themselves in battle.[709]

“Thus, O chief of Kuru’s race, this universe was started into birth bythe high-souled Krishna. That observer of all the worlds, viz., thecelestial Rishi Narada, has said that Krishna is the Supreme God.[710]Even Narada, O king, admits the supremacy of Krishna and his eternity, Omighty-armed chief of Bharata’s race.[711] Thus, O mighty-armed one, isKesava of unvanquishable prowess. That lotus-eyed one, is not a mere man.He is inconceivable.'”