Chapter 21 - Kaśyapa’s descendants and the origin of the Maruts

Parāśara

The sons of Prahlāda’s brother Saṃhlāda were Āyuṣmant, Śibi and Bāṣkala. Prahlāda’s son was Virocana, and Virocana’s son was Bali.^[1] 1

Bali had one hundred sons, great sage, of whom Bāṇa was the eldest. The sons of Hiraṇyakaśipu’s brother Hiraṇyākṣa were all mighty beings: 2

Jharjhara, Śakuni, Bhūtasaṃtāpana, strong-armed Mahānābha and also Kālanābha. 3

The sons of Kaśyapa’s third wife, Danu, were Dvimūrdhan, Śaṃkara, Ayomukha, Śaṅkuśiras, Kapila, Śambara, 4

Strong-armed Ekacakra, mighty Tāraka, Svarbhānu, Vṛṣaparvan and powerful Puloma. 5

These, along with heroic Vipracitti, were the famous sons of Danu. 6

Prabhā was the daughter of Svarbhānu. Śarmiṣṭhā was the daughter of Vṛṣaparvan, as were Upadānavī and Hayaśiras—all renowned and brilliant women. 7

Danu’s son Vaiśvānara had two daughters, Pulomā and Kālakā, both of whom were highly fortunate and married Mārīci. 8

These two had sixty thousand sons with Mārīci, the excellent Dānavas known as the Paulomas and Kālakeyas. 9

Other mighty, fearsome and pitiless sons were born to Vipracitti and Siṃhikā: 10

Tryaṃśa, powerful Śalya, Nabha the strong, Vātāpi, Namuci, Ilvala, Khasṛma, 11

Andhaka, Naraka, Kālanābha, heroic Svarbhānu and the great demon Vaktrayodhin. 12

These were the best of the Dānavas who swelled the lineage of Danu and whose sons and grandsons numbered in the hundreds and thousands. 13

The Nivātakavacas, purified through austere penances, also arose in the family of the Daitya Prahlāda. 14

The six daughters of Kaśyapa’s fourth wife, Tāmrā, renowned as mighty beings, were Śukī, Śyenī, Bhāsī, Sugrīvī, Śuci and Gṛdhrikā. 15

Śukī gave rise to parrots, Ulūkī to crows, the natural enemies of owls, while Śyeni gave rise to hawks, Bhāsī to kites and Gṛdhrī to vultures. 16

Śuci brought forth waterbirds, and Sugrīvī gave rise to horses, camels and donkeys. All these are known as the lineage of Tāmrā. 17

Kaśyapa’s fifth wife, Vinatā, bore two sons, famed Garuḍa and Aruṇa. Fair-winged Garuḍa, foremost of flying creatures, was the merciless devourer of serpents. 18

His sixth wife, Surasā, gave rise to a thousand great many-headed snakes of boundless energy, brahmin, which coursed the sky. 19

His seventh wife, Kadru, gave rise to the Kādravas, another thousand mighty serpents subject to fair-winged Garuḍa, brahmin, similarly many-headed. 20

Chief among these were Śeṣa, Vāsuki, Takṣaka, Śaṅkaśveta, Mahāpadma and both Kambala and Aśvatara, 21

Elāputra, Nāga, Karkoṭaka and Dhanaṃjaya—these and many other serpents full of venom. 22

You also need to know about the host descended from Kaśyapa’s eighth wife, Krodhavaśā: whether born on land, flying on the wing or living in water, all were pitiless carnivores with sharp teeth. 23

His ninth wife, Surabhi, gave rise to cattle and buffalo, and Irā to varieties of trees and vines, grass and creepers everywhere. 24

His tenth wife brought forth yakṣas and rākṣasas; his eleventh, Muni, bore apsarases; and his twelfth, Ariṣṭā, gave birth to the great gandharvas. 25

These, then, are the renowned descendants of Kaśyapa, both moving and unmoving, whose sons and grandsons number in the hundreds of thousands. 26

This creation took place in the second Manvantara, known as Svārociṣa, brahmin. In the present Manvantara, the Vaivasvata, while Brahmā was engaged in the great sacrifice initiated by Varuṇa, 27

The so-called Prajāsarga or ‘progeny creation’ took place. In the age before this, Brahmā brought forth the Seven Sages from his mind. 28

Now he brought them to the world as his own sons, and he himself became the grandsire of the gandharvas, serpents, deities and Dānavas, best of sages. 29

Diti, who later lost her sons,^[2] pleased Kaśyapa, and that foremost of ascetics, being fully gratified, then granted her a wish. 30

She asked him for a son of boundless power, one capable of slaying Indra. 31

That foremost sage allowed his wife her wish, and, having done so, Kaśyapa calmly said to her, 32

‘Your son will conquer Indra if you’re pure and steadfast and bear the infant in your womb for a hundred years with perfect love.’ 33

Having addressed that heavenly woman, sagacious Kaśyapa departed, and Diti, filled with faultless purity, then conceived a child. 34

Mighty Indra, king of gods, knowing that the child was destined to destroy him, respectfully approached the woman to wait upon her. 35

Indra, chastiser of the demon Pāka, remained in Diti’s presence while waiting for a chance to thwart her, and, in the ninety-ninth year, the self-possessed deity saw an opportunity. 36

Diti lay down to sleep one day, but forgot to wash her feet, and Indra entered her womb. 37

With his vajra in his hand, he cut the mighty foetus into seven pieces. Sliced by Indra’s weapon, the infant wailed most piteously. 38

‘Don’t cry! Mā rodīḥ!’ Indra said repeatedly, and, even though the foetus was already cut in seven, the deity’s anger grew. 39

Indra, scourge of enemies, then used his vajra to cut each piece into seven more. These became in time the speeding deities of the wind. 40

Because mighty Indra said mā rodīḥ, they were called the Maruts, forty-nine in all, deity-companions to the bearer of the vajra. 41

So ends Chapter Twenty-One in Book One of the glorious Viṣṇu Purāṇa.

Footnotes and references:

[back to top]

[1]:

This chapter returns to the account of the sage Kaśyapa’s descendants. The Daityas Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa were Kaśyapa’s sons with his second wife, Diti. The offspring of Kaśyapa’s other wives are given below. I have added some names to improve clarity.

[2]:

Diti’s sons were the demons known as Daityas, who were annihilated by the deities. Diti now sought revenge.