The Devi Bhagavata Purana

by Swami Vijñanananda | 1921 | 545,801 words | ISBN-10: 8121505917 | ISBN-13: 9788121505918

The English translation of the Devi Bhagavata Purana. This Sanskrit work describes the Devi (Divine), the Goddess, as the foundation of the world and as identical with Brahman, the Supreme Being. The Devi Bhagavata Purana is one of the most important works in Shaktism, a branch of Hinduism focusing on the veneration of the divine feminine, along w...

Chapter 3 - On the description of the family of Manu

1-23. Nārāyaṇa said :-- O Nārada! When the Bhagavān went away to Vaikuṇṭha, establishing the Earth in due position and equilibrium, Brahmā spoke thus to his son :-- “O Powerful Son of mine, O Svāyamhhuva! The best of those that are filled with Teja (energy) and Tapas! Now go on with your work of creation, as you think proper, on this earth, the Upholdress of all the Jīvas. And worship the Puruṣa, the Lord of Sacrifices, according to the division of place and time, and with all the necessary materials of various kinds, high and low, and those that will be useful in performing your sacrifices. Do Dharma according to the Śāstras, and according to the Varṇa(the different castes) and Āsrama (Brahmācarya, etc.); thus by gradually going on step by step in the path of Yoga, your progeny will be multiplied. Beget lovely sons and daughters, of good fame, culture, modesty and ornamented with various other good qualifications, like yourself; then marry your daughters when they will come to the marriageable age, to proper persons of good qualifications and then fix your mind thoroughly on the Excellent Puruṣa that is the very Best. O Child! Now go and serve the Bhagavān with devotion as I have advised you; and you will certainly attain that which is difficult to be worshipped and obtained. Advising thus his son Svāyambhuva Manu, and starting him in his work; of creation, the Lotus-born, the Lord of all the subjects, Brahmā went away to His own abode. When Brahmā went away, having ordered his son to create progeny and subjects, Manu, took that seriously in his heart and began to do that work. In due time, he had two powerful sons named Priyavrata and Uttānapāda and three lovely beautiful daughters endowed with various good qualities. Hear the names of the three daughters. The first daughter, the purifier of the world, was named Ākūti; the second was named Devahūti and the third was Prasūti. The first daughter Ākūti was married to the Maharṣi Ruci; the second was married to the Prajapati Karddama; and the third was married to the Prajapati Dakṣa. And know that all the beings in this world had their origin from this last daughter.

Now hear the progeny of these three daughters and the Maharṣis respectively :-- By Maharṣi Ruci was born one son named Yajña, in the womb of Ākūti; he is the part of the Bhagavān Ādi Purusa Viṣṇu; by Maharṣi Karddama, in the womb of Devahūti was born the Bhagavān Kapila Deva, the famous author of the Śāṅkhya Śāstra; and in the womb of Prasūti, by the Prajāpati Dakṣa were born some daughters only; know that the Devas, men, beasts and birds were all created by this Prajāpati Dakṣa. These offsprings were the first promulgators in the work of creation. In the Svāyambhuva Manvantara, the powerful Bhagavān Yajña, by the help of the Deva named Yāma, saved his mother’s Father Manu from the attacks of the Rakṣasas; and the great Lord of the Yogis, the Bhagavān Kapila, remained for a while in his Āsrama and gave spiritual instructions to his mother Devahūti, by which Avidyā could be at once destroyed, and disclosed his Śāṅkhya Śāstra, the great work on the Spiritual Philosophy and the special Dhyāna Yoga in all its details and finally went for Samādhi to the Āsrama of Pulaha where the great Deva Sāmkhyā cārya lives up to today. Oh! I bow down to the great Yogācārya, the Bhagavān Kapila Deva, the Fructifier of all desires, the more remembrance of Whose Name makes easily the Yogi realise the meaning of the Sāmkhya Jñāna. The sins are immediately destroyed of those that hear or read the holy anecdote of the progeny of the daughters of Manu. O Child! Now I describe to you the progeny of the sons of Svāyambhuva Manu. Hear attentively. The hearing of which will enable one to enter into the highest place. Now is being described the history about the progeny of those who formed those Dvipas (islands) Varṣas(countries) and oceans for the welfare and happiness of all the creation and for the use of them. Hear.

Here ends the Third Chapter of the Eighth Book on the description of the family of Manu in Śrī Mad Devī Bhāgavatam, the Mahā Purāṇam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharṣi Veda Vyāsa.

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