Canto LXXV - Raivata’s Manvantara

The ṛṣi Ṛtavāc had a son who was had because born under the constellation Revatī, and the ṛṣi made the constellation fall with his curse.—A daughter was lorn therefrom whom the ṛṣi Pramuca adopted and named Revatī. — King Durgama visited Pramuca and married Revatī, and the constellation was restored to its place at the marriage. — They had a son, the Manu Raivata.— The gods, ṛṣis and kings in his period are named.

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

Moreover the fifth Manu was the famous one named Raivata. Listen! I tell thee fully about his birth.

There was an illustrious and famous ṛṣi named Ṛtavāc. To that high-souled ṛṣi who had no son a son was born at the termination of the constellation Revatī. He performed the birth ceremony and all other rites for that son according to the ordinances, and also the investiture with the sacred thread and other ceremonies. And he was of bad disposition, O muni. And even from his son’s very birth the ṛṣi, that lordly muni, became afflicted with a lingering disease; his mother suffered extreme pain, being attacked with leprosy and other diseases. And his father in his affliction pondered—“Why is this?” And that his son also, being exceedingly wicked in mind, took another muni’s son’s wife whom he met.

Then dejected in mind Ṛtavāc spoke thus—“Better is it for men to have no son than a bad son! A bad son is always causing trouble to his father’s and mother’s heart; and casts downwards his ancestors who dwell in Svarga. He benefits not his friends, he satisfies not his ancestors, he causes suffering to his parents—fie on the birth of that son who commits evil deeds! Happy are they whose sons are commended by all the world, who benefit others, who are peaceful, who are devoted to good work! Uneasy and dull, averse to the next world, tending towards hell and not towards beatitude is our life which depends on our son, A bad son brings misery on his friends and joy to his adversaries, and he assuredly brings untimely old age on his parents.”

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

With his thoughts thus burning through the conduct of his exceedingly perverse son, the muni questioned Garga^[1] as to what had happened.

Ṛtavāc spoke:

Keeping my religious vows strictly I learned the Vedas formerly according to precept; after acquiring the Vedas I married a wife according to precept. Along with my wife, the rites to be performed, those enjoined by revealed religion, those enjoined by tradition, the oblations made in fire with the exclamation vaṣaṭ, I have never failed to perform to the full unto this day, O great muni. Following the ordinances prescribed concerning conception, without gratifying^[2] my lust and in order to have a son, I begot this son, I who fear the hell named Put, O muni. Is it through his own fault or through my fault, that this son has been born, bringing suffering on us and causing grief to his kinsmen by his bad disposition, O muni?

Garga spoke:

O best of munis, this thy son was born at the termination of the constellation Revatī; therefore he causes thee suffering since he was born at an evil time. This is no transgression by thee nor yet by his mother, nor by thy family; hut the termination of Revatī befell as the cause of his bad disposition.

Ṛtavāc spoke:

Because this my only son’s bad disposition sprang from the termination of Revatī, let that Revatī therefore fall quickly!

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

When he uttered this curse, the constellation Revatī verily fell, while all the world beheld with minds pervaded with astonishment. And the constellation Revatī, falling on and around the mountain Kumuda, suddenly illuminated^[3] its woods, ravines and cascades. And the mountain Kumuda, by reason of her down-fall, became famous as Raivataka,^[4] a mountain exceedingly charming through the whole earth. But the beauty of that constellation became the lake Paṅka-jinī;^[5] therefrom a maiden was born then exceedingly brilliant in form. The muni Pramuca saw her who was born from Revatī’s beauty, and so gave her a name, the name Revatī, O Bhāguri. And illustrious Pramuca nourished her, who had been born near his hermitage, in that same land, Now seeing the maiden grown to the bloom of youth, and beautifully formed, the muni bethought—“Who may be her husband?” While he thus pondered a long time passed by, O muni; nor did the great muni light upon a bridegroom equal to her. At length the muni Pramuca entered his room where the sacred fire burned, to ask Agni about a bridegroom for her. Agni replied to the questioner,—“Great in strength, great in valour, kind of speech, fond of righteousness, the king named Durgama shall assuredly be her husband.”

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

And immediately there reached his,hermitage, O muni, in the course of hunting that wise king Durgama, who was sprung from Priyavrata’s lineage, great in strength and prowess, Vikrama-śīla.’s son, born of Kālindī’s womb. The king entered the hermitage and, not seeing the ṛṣi, hailed the slender maiden with the word “Dear!” and asked:—

The king spoke:

Whither has he gone from this hermitage, the adorable lordly muni? I wish to pay him my affection here. Tell him so, O bright maiden!

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

The brāhman, who was in the room where the sacred fire burned, heard that his speech and the hailing her as “Dear!” and came out in haste. The muni saw high-souled king Durga-ma, bearing the royal insignia, bowing respectfully before him. Now on seeing him he spoke at once to his disciple Gautama — “Gautama! bring quickly the argha offering for this king. At length he has come alone after a long time, this king and in particular my son-in-law; I deem him worthy of the argha.”

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

Thereat the king pondered on the reason for his using the term son-in-law and understood it not; therefore keeping silence the king accepted the argha. When the king had taken a seat and accepted the argha, the brāhman, the great muni, addressed him a welcome — “I trust thou farest well in thy home, in thy treasury, and army, in thy friends, in thy servants and ministers, and in thy own self whereon rests every thing, O king of mighty arm! And thy wife fares well; since she is indeed at hand, I ask not therefore about her, hut I hope thy other wives fare well!”

The king spoke:

Through thy favour 1 have no ill-fortune any where, O strict observer of vows; and my curiosity is aroused, what wife have I here, O muni?

The ṛṣi spoke:

Most noble Revatī, beautiful even through the three worlds, is thy wife of exquisite figure; dost thou not know her, O king?

The king spoke:

My lord! Subhadrā, Śānta’s daughter, Kāverī’s daughter, and Sujātā born in Surāṣṭra, and Varūtha’s daughter Kadambā, Vipāṭhā, and Nandiuī — these I know as my wives, O brāhman; they remain at my home. I know not Revatī, adorable Sir; who then is she?

The ṛṣi spoke:

She is this maiden of beautiful complexion, whom thou didst address just now as “Dear!” Hast thou forgotten, O king? Worthy of praise is this lady of thy house!

The king spoke:

In truth I said so, but no improper feeling had I, O muni. Deign not to be angry with me for this, I beseech thee, Sir!

The ṛṣi spoke:

Thou speakest truly, O king; no improper feeling hadst thou. Thou didst utter this word, being impelled by Agni, O king. I asked Agni, “Who shall be her husband?” O king; and he replied that thou thyself, Sir, shouldst verily be her bridegroom this day. Take her then; I give thee the maiden, O king, and thou didst hail her as “Dear!” How dost thou decide?

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

At his address the king then kept silence; and the ṛṣi prepared to perform her wedding ceremony. The maiden spoke a little thing to her father who was prepared for the marriage, her countenance bent downward with respect—

“If thou lovest me, dear father, deign to give me a favour; perform then my marriage in the constellation Revatī, since I have won thy favour.”

The ṛṣi spoke:

Fair maiden! the constellation Revatī is not declared to be one that unites with the moon. The constellations appropriate to thy marriage are others, O beautiful-browed!

The maiden spoke:

Dear father! without that constellation the time appears to me unprofitable. How may the marriage of such as me take place at an unprofitable time?

The ṛṣi spoke:

The famous ascetic named Ṛtavāc was enraged against Revatī; in his anger he caused the constellation to fall down. And I have promised thee as wife to this king, O maiden with intoxicating eyes; and if thou desirest not the marriage, we have fallen into a strait!

The maiden spoke:

Dear father! Why did that muni Ṛtavāc perform austerities in that fashion? Have I nought to do with thee as father? Am I the daughter of an unworthy brāhman?

The ṛṣi spoke:

Thou art not the daughter of an unworthy brāhman, nor of an ascetic, O maiden. Thou art daughter to me who am striving to make other gods.^[6]

The maiden spoke:

If my father is a practiser of austerities, why then does he not raise this constellation to the sky and perform my wedding under the constellation?

The ṛṣi spoke:

Be it so! prosperity be thine, fair maiden; be thou affectionate! I raise the constellation Revatī to the moon’s pathway for thy sake.

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

Then by the power of his austerities the great muni placed the constellation Revatī as before in conjunction with the moon, O brāhman. And full of affection he celebrated his daughter’s marriage accompanied with sacred texts according to rule, and said to his son-in-law again, “Tell me, O king, what shall I give thee as a wedding gift? I will give even that which is hard to he obtained, for irresistible are my austerities.”

The king spoke:

Of Manu Svāyambhuva’s lineage^[7] I am sprung, O muni. I choose as gift a sou who shall reign over a manvantara through thy favour.

The ṛṣi spoke:

This thy wish shall be fulfilled. As a Manu thy son shall enjoy the whole earth, and shall be wise in righteousness, O king.

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

Then taking her the king went to his own city. From him was horn of Revatī a son, the Manu Raivata, possessed of all righteousness, unconquered by mankind, who understood the meaning of every sacred book, who knew the Vedas, the sciences and the books of practical arts.

Hear most composedly, O brāhman, about the gods, the munis, the lord of the gods and the kings in his manvantara, as I mention them. The gods therein were the Sumedhases. And the kings were Vaikuṇṭha and Amitābha, fourteen and fourteen, O brāhman. And now the lord of those very four classes of gods was named Vibbu, who was the regarder of a hundred sacrifices, O king. Hiraṇya-loman, Veda-śrī, and also Ūrddhva-bāku, Vedabāhu, and Sudhāman and the great muni Parjanya, and illustrious Vaśiṣṭha who was thoroughly versed in the Vedas and Vedānta—these were the seven ṛṣis also in Manu Raivata’s period. Bala-bandhu mighty in valour, and also Suyaṣṭavya, and Satyaka and others were Manu Raivata’s sons.

Now these are the Manus down to Raivata, whom I have told thee about; they were indeed connected with Svāyam-bhuva, except^[8] Manu Svārociṣa.^[9]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See canto lxxii, verse 27.

[2]:

For anurundhyatā read anurudhyatā.

[3]:

For bhāṣayāmāsa read bhāsayāmāsa.

[4]:

See page 289 note *

[5]:

Or, “a lake of lotoses.”

[6]:

Devān ; this seems erroneous, but the Bombay edition reads the same.

[7]:

For santato read santatau ?

[8]:

For ṛter read ṛte with the Bombay edition.

[9]:

The Bombay edition adds a verse within brackets. “He who may hear or read the sublime story of these Manus continually, is delivered from all sins and attains to the world that is earnestly desired.”