Chapter 208

“Yudhishthira asked, ‘Who were the first Prajapatis, O bull of Bharata’srace? What highly-blessed Rishis are there in existence and on whichpoints of the compass do each of them dwell?’

“Bhishma said., ‘Hear me, O chief of the Bharatas, about what thou askestme. I shall tell thee who the Prajapatis were and what Rishis arementioned as dwelling on which point of the horizon. There was at firstone Eternal, Divine, and Self-born Brahman. The Self-born Brahman begatseven illustrious sons. They were Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya,Pulaha, Kratu, and the highly-blessed Vasishtha who was equal to theSelf-born himself. These seven sons have been mentioned in the Puranas asseven Brahmanas. I shall now mention all the Prajapatis who came afterthese. In Atri’s race was born the eternal and divine Varhi the ancient,who had penances for his origin. From Varhi the ancient sprang the tenPrachetasas. The ten Prachetasas had one son between them, viz., thePrajapati called by the name of Daksha. This last has two names in theworld, viz., Daksha and Kasyapa. Marichi had one son called Kasyapa. Thislast also has two names. Some call him Arishtanemi, and some Kasyapa.Atri had another son born of his lions, viz., the handsome and princelySoma of great energy. He performed penances for a thousand celestialYugas. The divine Aryaman and they who were born unto him as his sons, Omonarch, have been described as setters of commands, and creators of allcreatures. Sasavindu had ten thousand wives. Upon each of them their lordbegat a thousand sons, and so the tale reached ten hundred thousands.Those sons refused to call anybody else save themselves as Prajapatis.The ancient Brahmanas bestowed an appellation on the creatures of theworld, derived from Sasavindu. That extensive race of the PrajapatiSasavindu became in time the progenitor of the Vrishni race. These that Ihave mentioned are noted as the illustrious Prajapatis. After this, Ishall mention the deities that are the lords of the three worlds. Bhaga,Ansa, Aryyaman, Mitra, Varna, Savitri, Dhatri, Vivaswat of great might,Tvashtri, Pushan, Indra, and Vishnu known as the twelfth,–these are thetwelve Adityas, all sprung from Kasyapa. Nasatya and Dasra are mentionedas the two Aswins. These two are the sons of the illustrious Martanda,the eighth in the above tale. These were called first the gods and thetwo classes of Pitris. Tvashtri had many sons. Amongst them were thehandsome and famous Viswarupa, Ajaikapat, Ahi, Bradhna, Virupaksha, andRaivata. Then there were Hara and Vahurupa, Tryamvaka the chief of theDeities, and Savitrya, Jayanta and Pinaki the invincible. Thehighly-blessed Vasus, eight in number, have formerly been enumerated byme. These were reckoned as gods at the time of the Prajapati Manu. Thesewere at first called the gods and the Pitris. Amongst the Siddhas and theSadhyas there were two classes in consequence of conduct and youth. Thedeities were formerly considered to be of two classes, viz., the Ribhusand the Maruts. Thus have the Viswas, the gods and the Aswins, beenenumerated. Amongst them, the Adityas are Kshatriyas, and the Maruts areVaisyas. The two Aswins, engaged in severe penances, have been said to beSudras. The deities sprung from Angirasa’s line have been said to beBrahmanas. This is certain. Thus have I told thee about the fourfoldorder among the gods. The person who, after rising from his bed at morn,recites the names of these deities, becomes cleansed of all his sinswhether committed by himself intentionally or Unintentionally, or whetherborn of his intercourse with others. Yavakriti, Raivya, Arvavasu,Paravasu, Ausija, Kashivat, and Vala have been said to be the sons ofAngiras. These, and Kanwa son of Rishi Medhatithi, and Varhishada, andthe well-known seven Rishis who are the progenitors of the three worlds,all reside in the East. Unmucha, Vimucha, Svastyatreya of great energy,Pramucha, Idhmavaha, and the divine Dridhavrata, and Mitravaruna’s sonAgastya of great energy, these regenerate Rishis all reside in the south.Upangu, Karusha, Dhaumya, Parivyadha of great energy, and those greatRishis called Ekata, Dwita, and Trita, and Atri’s son, viz., theillustrious and puissant Saraswata, these high-souled ones reside in thewest. Atreya, and Vasishtha, and the great Rishi Kasyapa, and Gautama,Bharadwaja, and Viswamitra, the son of Kusika, and the illustrious son ofthe high-souled Richika, viz., Jamadagni,–these seven live in the north.Thus have I told thee about the great Rishis of fiery energy that live inthe different points of the compass. Those high-souled ones are thewitnesses of the universe, and are the creators of all the worlds. Eventhus do they dwell in their respective quarters. By reciting their namesone is cleansed of all one’s sins. A person by repairing to those pointsbecomes cleansed of all his sins and succeeds in returning home insafety'”