Bhagavan Parshuram Read online

  BHAGAVAN PARSHURAM

  By

  K. M MUNSHI

  Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

  -Rigveda 1-89-i

  BHAVAN’S BOOK UNIVERSITY

  BHAGVAN PARSHURAM

  By

  K. M MUNSHI

  2016

  BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN

  Kulapati K. M Munshi Marg, Mumbai 400 007

  © All Rights Reserved

  Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

  Kulapati Munshi Marg

  Mumbai - 400 007

  First Print Edition : 1959

  Second Print Edition: 1965

  Third Print Edition : 1968

  Fourth Print Edition: 2014

  PUBLISHED BY

  Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,

  K.M. Munshi Marg, Mumbai - 400007.

  E-mail: [email protected]

  Website: http://www.bhavans.info

  CONTENTS

  KULAPATI'S PREFACE

  FOREWORD

  PART I

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER I - SAGE RICHIKA BEGETS A SON

  CHAPTER II - THE ASHRAM OF AGASTYA

  CHAPTER III - THE HEART-BROKEN UGRA

  CHAPTER IV - FATE OVERCOMES VISHWARATHA

  CHAPTER V - LOPAMUDRA AS PRISONER

  CHAPTER VI - RIKSHA'S PENITENCE

  CHAPTER VII - BHAIRAVA IN ACTION

  CHAPTER VIII - THE CURSE

  CHAPTER IX - LOPAMUDRA INTERVENES

  CHAPTER X - A WORLD IN RUINS

  CHAPTER XI - THE MASTER'S INJUNCTIONS

  CHAPTER XII - THE MANDATE OF THE GODS

  CHAPTER XIII - HOW THE GAYATRI WAS BORN

  CHAPTER XIV - UGRA PRAYS

  CHAPTER XV - COME WITH ME

  CHAPTER XVI - AJIGARTA, THE VAGABOND

  CHAPTER XVII- GIVEN BY THE GODS

  CHAPTER XVIII - RIKSHA ON A MISSION

  CHAPTER XIX - THE GOD OF FIRE IS ANGRY

  CHAPTER XX - VASISHTHA'S DECISION

  CHAPTER XXI - WHERE ARE THEIR SCEPTRES?

  CHAPTER XXII- RITA: THE LAW ETERNAL

  CHAPTER XXIII – VISHWAMITRA

  CHAPTER XXIV - FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER

  CHAPTER XXV - RAMA IS BORN

  CHAPTER XXVI - KAVI CHAYAMANA IN A TEMPER

  CHAPTER XXVII - IN SEARCH OF THE KAVI

  CHAPTER XXVIII - OFFERING TO UGRAKALA

  CHAPTER XXIX - IN STRANGE COMPANY

  CHAPTER XXX - SHUNAHSHEPA'S THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE

  CHAPTER XXXI - THE DEAD WOLF

  CHAPTER XXXII - SUDASA'S INVITATION

  CHAPTER XXXIII – SHASHIYASI

  CHAPTER XXXIV - THE MUNI'S PLEDGE

  CHAPTER XXXV - SHUNAHSHEPA IS HAPPY

  CHAPTER XXXVI - VISHWAMITRA PREPARES FOR THE SACRIFICE

  CHAPTER XXXVII - THE LOST CHILD

  CHAPTER XXXVIII - AT THE SACRIFICIAL POST

  CHAPTER XXXIX - VISHWAMITRA RENOUNCES OFFICE

  CHAPTER XL - RENUKA, A PRISONER

  CHAPTER XLI - LOMA KIDNAPPED

  CHAPTER XLII - VASISHTHA REBUKES ARJUNA

  CHAPTER XLIII - HOW RAMA LEAVES FOR SAURASHTRA

  CHAPTER XLIV - RAMA ARRIVES IN SAURASHTRA

  CHAPTER XLV - YADAVA GOTRA

  CHAPTER XLVI – SWIFT JUSTICE

  CHAPTER XLVII - GOMTI PUNISHED

  CHAPTER XLVIII - THE FIELD OF THE NAGAS

  CHAPTER XLIX - THE NEW ASHRAM

  CHAPTER L - KUKSHI'S WIFE

  CHAPTER LI - THE EMBASSY OF THE SHARYATAS

  CHAPTER LII - THE HUNTERS HUNTED

  CHAPTER LIII - "BONE OF MY BONE"

  CHAPTER LIV - A PARRICIDE'S PUNISHMENT

  CHAPTER LV - RAMA WAGES A WAR

  CHAPTER LVI - GOKARNA TEERTHA

  CHAPTER LVII – MRIGARANI

  CHAPTER LVIII - MRIGA'S PLANS

  CHAPTER LIX - MRIGA PLAYS THE HOSTESS

  CHAPTER LX - CLEARING THE DECK

  CHAPTER LXI - ARJUNA IS ANGRY

  CHAPTER LXII - RAMA TAKEN PRISONER

  CHAPTER LXIII - UNEXPECTED VISITORS

  CHAPTER LXIV - LOMA IN SEARCH OF RAMA

  CHAPTER LXV - DADDANATH AGHORI

  CHAPTER LXVI - MRIGA BECOMES A BHRIGU

  CHAPTER LXVII - AMBA'S LAPSE

  CHAPTER LXVIII - VISHWAMITRA WINS IN DEATH

  CHAPTER LXIX - THE DREAD LAW OF THE BHRIGUS

  CHAPTER LXX - THE END OF SAHASRARJUNA

  Dr. K. M. Munshi

  KULAPATI'S PREFACE

  The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan - that Institute of Indian Culture in Bombay - needed a Book University, a series of books which, if read, would serve the purpose of providing higher education. Particular emphasis, however, was to be put on such literature as revealed the deeper impulsions of India. As a first step, it was decided to bring out in English 100 books, 50 of which were to be taken in hand, almost at once.

  It is our intention to publish the books we select, not only in English, but also in the following Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

  This scheme, involving the publication of 900 volumes, requires ample funds and an all-India organisation. The Bhavan is exerting its utmost to supply them.

  The objectives for which the Bhavan stands are the reintegration of Indian culture in the light of modern knowledge and to suit our present-day needs and the resuscitation of its fundamental values in their pristine vigour.

  Let me make our goal more explicit:

  We seek the dignity of man, which necessarily implies the creation of social conditions which would allow him freedom to evolve along the lines of his own temperament and capacities; we seek the harmony of individual efforts and social relations, not in any makeshift way, but within the frame-work of the Moral Order; we seek the creative art of life, by the alchemy of which human limitations are progressively transmuted, so that man may become the instrument of God, and is able to see Him in all and all in Him.

  The world, we feel, is too much with us. Nothing would uplift or inspire us so much as the beauty and aspiration which such books can teach.

  In this series, therefore, the literature of India, ancient and modern, will be published in a form easily accessible to all. Books in other literatures of the world, if they illustrate the principles we stand for, will also be included.

  This common pool of literature, it is hoped, will enable the reader, eastern or western, to understand and appreciate currents of world thought, as also the movements of the mind in India, which though they flow through different linguistic channels, have a common urge and aspiration.

  Fittingly, the Book University's first venture is the Mahabharata, summarised by one of the greatest living Indians, C. Rajagopalachari; the second work is on a section of it, the Gita by H.V.Divatia, an eminent jurist and student of philosophy. Centuries ago, it was proclaimed of the Mahabharata: "What is not in it, is nowhere." After twenty-five centuries, we can use the same words about it. He who knows it not, knows not the heights and depths of the soul; he misses the trials and tragedy and the beauty and grandeur of life.

  The Mahabharata is not a mere epic: it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women and of some who were divine; it is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems that is hard to rival: but, above all, it has for its core, the Gita, which is, as the world is beginning to find out, the noblest of scriptures and the grandest of sagas in which the climax is reached in the wondrous Apocalypse in the Eleventh Canto.

  Through such books alone the harmonies underlying true culture, I am convinced, will one day reconcile the disorders of modern life.

  I thank all those who have helped to make this
new branch of the Bhavan's activity successful.

  K.M.MUNSHI

  1, Queen Victoria Road,

  New Delhi

  FOREWORD

  This is the English summary of my novel in Gujarati of the same name.

  It was published as a serial in the Bhavan's Journal. Unfortunately, on account of my having to go on a world tour, the last parts had to be compressed very much. Someday, God willing, I hope to elaborate them.

  K.M.MUNSHI

  PART I

  PROLOGUE

  King Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit, the mighty king of the Bharata race, ruled at Hastinapura. After wide conquests, he held a snake-sacrifice at Takshashila (modern Taxila). At the sacrificial session, Vaishampayana recited the Epic called Jaya, popularly known as the Mahabharata. He had learnt it from his Master, Krishna Dvaipayana, the first and greatest of the prophets and the founder of immortal Culture of India.

  After the Mahabharata had been recited, the king spoke to Vaishampayana thus: "O Venerable Sage! In the epic Jaya you have told me all about the Master and his descendants, who were my ancestors; but you have not yet told me how Lord Parashurama, the valorous son of Bhrigu who was God, saved mankind from wicked kings. Tell me all about Him, O Sage! Please also tell me, O Venerable Sir, of Jamadagni, the father of the Lord. I also want to learn of Dasharajna, the Battle of the Ten Kings, in which the army led by Vasishtha fought with allies who were led by that noblest of sages, Vishwamitra. I am anxious too, to learn all about Vishwamitra, because, as you know, O Sage! he was the founder of my race, who gave to this sacred land the name of Bharatavarsha."

  "O mighty hero of the Bharata race," replied Vaishampayana, "I will do so with delight. I will tell you the Epic of these Ancients, the Bhrigus, the Vasishthas and the Vishwamitras, as they lived in the great days of old. This Epic, which my Master Veda-Vyasa recited to me, is in every respect unique. Listen, O King!"

  CHAPTER I - SAGE RICHIKA BEGETS A SON

  At the dawn of Creation, man lived in the shuddering cold of icy caves. It was then that the primeval sage, Maharshi Bhrigu, worshipped Agni, the god of fire. Well pleased with the Maharshi, the god descended on earth, lit the first sacred fire and taught the Aryas the eternal Law of Righteousness, Rita.

  The Sage Bhrigu had a mighty son named Shukracharya, otherwise known as Kavi Ushanas. For many ages he was the high-priest of the Danavas, the Titans of the Nether World, who ceaselessly fought the Devas, the gods, who were proud of their immortality.

  With the blessings of Mahadeva, the God of Gods, the Sage Shukracharya had learnt the magic incantation, Sanjivini, and with its aid he restored the Danavas to life every time they were killed in battle.

  The sage had a daughter, the proud and fiery Devayani, who was married to Yayati, the first king of mankind.

  In the family of Bhrigus was born the sage Chyavana. He would not offer sacrifices to Indra, the King of the gods, nor would he yield to the God's commands even though a curse of premature age was laid upon him. But the Aswins, the divine physicians came to his help and made him young again, so that in the end peace was made between the sage and Indra, the King of the gods.

  The sage Chyavana had many sons by his wife Sukanya, the daughter of King Sharyat and they lived happily in their ashram, situated on the Vaidurya mountains on the banks of the sacred river Narmada.

  Into the family of Chyavana was born the Sage Richika, who became the hereditary chief of the Bhrigus, the warrior priests. He was the high-priest of Mahishmat, the king of the Haihayas. Tempestuous and headstrong, Mahishmat spread terror from his capital Mahishmati on the river Narmada. Even the denizens of the Patala, who lived across the dark seas, trembled at his very name.

  Mahishmat, proud of the power which he wielded, did not pay the Sage Richika the respect which every Arya owed to his guru. The Haihaya tribes also defied the Law of Rita, which the great God Varuna, who ruled the Universe, had laid down for the Aryas to observe.

  The mighty Sage Richika, the master of the Atharvan lore, was angry with the Haihayas and their king Mahishmat. He, therefore, laid a curse on the king and his tribe and left Anupdesh (Gujarat) in disgust. With his Bhrigus, his cows and his horses of unmatched mettle, the sage migrated to Sapta Sindhu — the land of the Seven Rivers (the Punjab) — where the cultured Aryans lived.

  For a time Richika and his Bhrigus were the guests of Gadhi, the king of the valiant tribe of Bharatas, who lived on the south bank of the sacred Saraswati, the Mother of Waters.

  While staying with king Gadhi, Richika wooed the latter's daughter Satyavati and won her hand. In course of time, a son was born to Satyavati, a fine, big boy who was named Jamadagni.

  About the same time Satyavati's mother gave birth to a son who was given the name of Vishwaratha. Handsome as a new-born god was this heir to the kingship of the Bharatas.

  Vishwaratha and Jamadagni grew up together and were inseparable from their infancy. The uncle was vivacious and lovable; the nephew, though slow of speech and heavy of build, was wise and loyal.

  When Vishwaratha and Jamadagni were seven years old, they both fell in love with the eighteen-year-old Lopamudra, the beautiful daughter of the renowned sage Bharadwaja. Flying from the wrath of her father, she had sought asylum in the hermitage of the Sage Richika. She was a will-ful young lady, who had flouted Aryan custom by refusing to marry and deciding to become a rishi. This was a strange decision; for rarely did the Gods confer on a woman the gift of holding converse with them. According to the Aryas, a woman's most noble task was to honour and obey her lord and bear him heroes and sages of renown.

  One evening, Vishwaratha and Jamadagni concealed themselves behind the hut where the elders were discussing matters of importance, and heard about the plight of Lopamudra. The little boys held hurried consultations and discovered an easy way to help her out of her difficulty. As they were inseparable the best solution they could think of was that they should both marry her.

  The next morning the boys went to Lopamudra and offered to marry her. This flaming beauty, who loved to commune with the shining gods, kissed them for their devotion but refused their chivalrous offer. She told them not to feel hurt for she had foregone the honour of being their wife not because she did not like them but because she had decided not to marry. She added that if any time she changed her mind, she would avail herself of their offer.

  Both uncle and nephew were disconsolate. They did feel deeply hurt, and wondered at the strange ways of young women.

  CHAPTER II - THE ASHRAM OF AGASTYA

  Vishwaratha and Jamadagni were sent by Richika, the chief of the Bhrigus and the master of the Atharvan lore, to the hermitage of the Sage Agastya for their education. Agastya, the most renowned of the Aryan Rishis, was the High-Priest of Divodasa, the king of the Tritsu tribe.

  On their way to the hermitage, the boys met the young Rishi Vasishtha, younger brother of the Sage Agastya, whose fame had already spread throughout the whole of Sapta Sindhu. Even now, while still so young, he was the acknowledged master of learning and austere practices.

  The boys also met Sudasa, the son of king Divodasa, who was going with the Sage Vasishtha to the hermitage of Agastya for his education. Proud and malicious, this Tritsu prince developed an instinctive hatred for the handsome, open-hearted Vishwaratha. When he heard that the Bharata prince, who could win hearts by a word or smile, was to be his co-student, he became blind with jealousy, and when the boys went to the river for their bath, Sudasa even made an unsuccessful attempt to drown Vishwaratha.

  Once in the ashram of the Sage Agastya, Vishwaratha acquired devoted friends. Among them was Rohini, the little daughter of the Sage himself. Riksha, the huge, uncouth lumbering idiot, who also aspired to become a great sage in his own right, became his loyal adherent. Jamadagni was, of course, Vishwaratha's inseparable.

  Of all his pupils, Agastya came to admire and love Vishwaratha the most. The Bharata prince had a winning presence, a sparkling intelligence and a charm the like of which he
had not yet seen in anyone.

  Vishwaratha quickly mastered the Vedic lore, as well as the art of war. Following in the footsteps of his master, he made boyish attempts to invoke the Gods and to seek their guidance in the affairs of daily life. He soon acquired faith that in whatever he did he was guided by the shining Gods, particularly the great Varuna, who watched the creation with unwinking eyes.

  In the meantime, King Gadhi died. Vishwaratha, loving and loved, succeeded to the domains of the warlike Bharatas, which were vaster than those of the Tritsus. Sudasa could not forgive Vishwaratha for the love he commanded and the vast domains he inherited. Green-eyed as jealousy itself, he made fruitless attempts to outshine Vishwaratha and ended by carrying on intrigues against the young king.

  After some years, Divodasa, the powerful king of the Tritsus, came to the hermitage to consult his High-Priest Agastya, on the affairs of state. Taking advantage of this occasion, Agastya held an exhibition of the skill of his pupils.

  Of the students whose feats were exhibited, Vishwaratha was easily the best. His graceful demeanour, modest behaviour and mastery of bowmanship, drew the admiration of all present. Sudasa alone was furious.

  King Divodasa had set his heart on the destruction of Shambara, the king of the dark-hued, snub-nosed non-Aryan Dasyus, who was the lord of ninety-nine forts.

  Agastya was unrelenting in his hostility to Shambara. The Sage believed that the very basis of Rita, the Law of Righteousness, was the purity of the Aryas. He was sure that the Gods in their wisdom, had set before the Aryas a mighty destiny, leading them to world conquest. He had a horror of the wicked ways of the Dasyus and firmly held that their ways were corrupting the morals of his people. He was, therefore, convinced that their extermination was an event ordained by the Gods.

  Inspired by his unwavering faith, Agastya was unable to tolerate the younger Aryan sages who taught that the Law of Righteousness was the law of all and not the privilege of birth. These sages, therefore, sought to bring the Dasyus into the Aryan fold by teaching them the Law as they understood it.