Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 4 Chapter 13:1-20

Book 4: Chapter 13

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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 4: Chapter 13: Verses 1-20
Dhruva's posterity and the narrative of king Anga

Suta continued : Vidura's devotion to the Lord (who is beyond sense-perception) was intensified when he heard (the story) of Dhruva's ascent to the Abode of Lord Visnu as told by the sage Maitreya (son of Kusaru); and he proceeded to ask the sage further questions (as below). Vidura said : Who were these Pracetas and whose offspring were they, O Maitreya of sacred vow? In whose line were they known (to have been born) and where did they have their sacrificial session? I account Narada as a great devotee of the Lord and as one who has directly perceived the Lord. It is he who taught (in his magnum opus, the Pancaratra Agama) the Yoga of active devotion in the form of a (detailed) procedure of worshipping Sri Hari. It is said that, full of devotion, Narada extolled the Lord, who is the Deity presiding over sacrifices, while He was being worshipped (through a sacrificial performance) by the Pracetas (who were devotees of the Lord and) addicted to their own religious duty. Be pleased, O holy sage, to reproduce in full the stories of the Lord, which were narrated on that occasion by the celestial sage (Narada), keen as I am to hear them. Maitreya said : When his father retired to the woods, Utkala, Dhruva's (eldest) son, felt no inclination to accept the imperial fortune and the imperial throne of his father. Cogenitally possessed of a tranquil mind, free from attachment and viewing everything with an equal eye, he saw his own self projected throughout the universe and the universe as existing in his own self. The impurities (still) lurking in his mind in the form (of impressions) of (evil) actions (done in the past) having been burnt by the fire of uninterrupted (practice) of Yoga (meditation), he looked upon his (individual) soul as no other than the tranquil Brahma (Infinite)---wherein all differences are set at rest forever, and which is one's real Self-and hence identical with the joy of consciousness, all-blissful and extending every-where, and no longer perceived anything apart from his own self. Possessing the exterior of a stupid, blind, deaf, dumb or mad man, but unlike any of these in mind, he was seen on the road by the ignorant like a fire that has ceased to emit flames. Thinking him to be dull and insane, the elders of the (royal) house as well as the ministers made Vatsara, his younger brother and son of Bhrami (Utkala's stepmother), the ruler of the globe. (Swarvithi (who presided over the milky way), the beloved spouse of Vatsara (a year), brought forth six sons, Pusparna, Tigmaketu, Isa, Urja, Vasu and Jaya (by name). Pusparna had two wives-Prabha (daylight) and Dosa (night). Pratah (morning), Madhyandina (midday) and Sayam (evening) were the sons born of Prabha. (Similarly) Pradosa (nightfall or the first part of night) Nisitha (midnight) and Vyusta (the close of night or dawn) were the three sons of Dosa. (Of these,) Vyusta begot through Puskarini (his wife) a son (named) Sarvateja. The latter got through his wife, Akuti, a son, Caksu (by name), who was appointed as Manu (in the sixth Manvantara, called the Caksusa Manvantara after him). The Manu's consort, Nadwala, bore (twelve) faultless sons named Puru, Kutsa, Trita, Dyumna, Satyavan, Rta, Vrata, Agnistoma, Atiratra, Pradyumna, Sibi and Ulmuka. Ulmuka begot through his wife, Puskarini, six excellent sons, Anga, Sumana, Khyati, Kratu, Angira and Gaya (by name). Sunitha, who was Anga's wife, gave birth to the evil-minded Vena, fed up with whose wickedness that royal sage (Anga) left his capital (for the woods). Angered by him, the sages, whose words were (unfailing) like a thunderbolt, pronounced a curse against him, O dear Vidura; and when (as a result of the curse) they died, they then churned his right hand (arm). For, the world having been left without a ruler then, the people were harassed by robbers. (Now, as a result of the churning), there appeared the very first[1] ruler of the earth, Prthu, who embodied a ray of Lord Narayana.

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References

  1. It was Prthu who for the first time organized the population of the entire globe and founded cities, towns and villages. Hence he has been referred to in the above verse as the first ruler of the earth.

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