Incorporation of Mahābhārata and Purāṇas in the Dvisāhasrī

After discussing the profound scholarship of H. H. Ṭembesvāmī it would be appropriate to put here his scholarship in the Mahābhārata.

Under 11/23 he incorporates the famous Mahābhārata verse^[1] as:

“The husband replies -Keep silence no one is the giver of happiness or misery. The people weave the threads of their own action and they resort to their ego in vain.”^[2]

Under 12/60 & 16/36 he refers to the meeting of the human beings in this world like the two woods of (the ship-wreck) meeting in the ocean^[3] with the words,

“The imagination of the self embodied from the Time (deranger of the Qualities), the Action (the case of rebirth) the material and others causes is unreal in case of one’s own son etc. just as the temporary union of the pieces of wood in the river.”^[4]

The famous episode of Śrī Kṛṣṇa presenting the food-abounding plate (akṣayapātra) is incorporated in the event of Nrsimhasarasvatī covering the bowl and distributing the food to many devotees and the village people.^[5]

While comparing the Holy Master compare with Śrī Kṛṣṇa whose different types of devotion bestows rewards as per their approach in his auto-commentary on 09/66^[6] as

“The cowherdesses got their mind stable due to their love, the king Cedi (i.e. Śiśupāla) got his mind stable due to his hatred towards the Lord and ka ṃsa got his mind stable due to his fear from Him.”

Under 17/12 the famous story of the Vaiśyavarya Incarnation testing the chastity of the harlot (keeping a monkey and a cock) which is elaborately narrated in the Śivapurāṇa (Śatarudra 26). Vaiśyavarya (Lord Śiva) takes an incarnation of a merchant. The story has become so popular among the common people even the famous germen poet Goethe has written poem on this topic titled ‘Der Gott und die Bajadere ’ (the god and the harlot) from the Marathi version of the narration.

Under 23/34-64 the incident of the prince Bhadrāyuṣ and his mother blessed by sege Ṛṣabha is given from the Śivapurāṇa (Śatarudra 04), though H. H. Ṭembesvāmī does not incorporate the famous Śiva-kavaca (told to prince Bhadrāyuṣ) of the Skandamahāpurāṇa [Skandapurāṇa] (Brahmottara Section)

Under 03/34^[7] he seems to remind the readers his acquaintance with the Śrīmadbhāgavatamahāpurāṇam (12/09) about the famous incident of sage Mārkaṇdeya who was granted the vision of doomsday (pralaya).

It runs as under:

“I recollect in my mind child Mukunda (i.e. Lord Viṣṇu) who is keeping his lotus-like toe with his lotus-like hand in his lotus-like mouth and resting on the leaf of a banyan tree.”

karāravindena padāravindaṃ mukhāravindena viniveśayantam|
vaṭasyapatrasya puṭeśayānaṃ bālaṃ mukundaṃ manasā smarāmi||

While discussing the benefits of the company of the righteous, he quotes from the Garuḍapurāṇa^[8] in his auto-commentary under 01/22.^[9] The 08/36 runs thus:

“In the Kali Era the life-span of a man is hundred years. It decreases half in the sleep and the rest (i.e. 50 years) passes in the childhood, the youth and the old age with total dependence (on others).^[10]

It has similarity of the Garuḍapurāṇa.^[11]

Under 15/27 while enumerating the different types of sins and their sufferings, H. H. Ṭembesvāmī quotes Agnipurāṇa^[12] in his auto-commentary the list of 08 types of sensual dalliance (rati).

In the auto-commentary under 02/22 while discussing the greatness of the Holy Master he gives the calculation of the 04 Eras that the Kṛta Era consists of 17,28,000 years,^[13] the Tretā Era of 12,96,000 years,^[14] the Dvāpara Era of 8,64,000 years^[15] and the Kali Era of 4,32,000 years.^[16]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

sukhasya duḥkhasya na ko'pi dātā parodadātīti kubuddhireṣā|
ahaṃ karomīti vṛthā'bhimāna svakarma sūtra grathito hi lokaḥ|| Mahābhārata ||

[2]:

tāṃ bhartoce maunamehi na ko'pi sukhaduḥkhadaḥ|
lokāḥ svakarmasūtrotā vṛthāhaṅkārasaṃśritāḥ|| 11/23||

[3]:

yathā kāṣṭhaṃ ca kāṣṭhaṃ ca sameyātāṃ mahodadhau|
sametya ca vyapeyātāṃ yadvad bhūtasamāgamaḥ|| Mahābhārata. 12/28/36||

[4]:

kālakarmaguṇādyuttha-dehinaḥ svatvakalpanā|
putrādirūpā mithyaiṣā nadyāṃ kāṣṭhaughavaccalā|| 12/60||

[5]:

prākpārthasaṅkaṭe'raṇye niśīthe'dāstvamāyayā|
ṛṣibhyo'nnaṃ haririti śrutaṃ dṛṣṭaṃ tvado'tra tu|| 19/28||

[6]:

sparśekṣākīrtanādīnāṃ sadgurormahimā tviyān|
snehāddveṣādbhayādvāpi dhatte yatra mano'calam|| 9/66||

[7]:

viśvasargasthitiprānta nidānaṃ viśvasākṣiṇam|
viṣṇuṃ viśvamayaṃ vande viśvādyaṃ viśvasaṃgraham||3/34||

[8]:

satsaṅgaśca vivekaśca nirmalaṃ locanadvayam|
yasya nā'sti naraḥ so'ndhaḥ kathaṃ na syādamārgagaḥ||

[9]:

ayaṃ hi brahma bhūyāpti-satpatho nākṣigocaraḥ|
mohāndhanāmasatsaṃga-vivekānāṃ kusampadām||

[10]:

bālyayauvanavṛddhatvaiḥ parādhīnatayā ca nuḥ|| 8/36kaḍa||

[11]:

pitṛmātṛmayo bālye yauvane vanitāmayaḥ|
putrapautramayo vāddharye mūḍho nātmamayaḥ kvacit ||

[12]:

smaraṇaṃ kīrtanaṃ keliḥ prekṣaṇaṃ guhyabhāṣaṇam|
utsāho'dhyavasāyaśca kriyānivṛttireva ca|| ā0pu0372/09-10||

[13]:

kṛtasyāṣṭāviṃśatisahasrādhikasaptadaśalakṣavarṣātmakaḥ kālaḥ|

[14]:

tretāyāścatuḥsahasrabdonatrayodaśalakṣātmakaḥ (kālaḥ)|

[15]:

dvāparasya catuḥṣaṣṭisahasrādhikāṣṭalakṣābdātmakaḥ kālaḥ|

[16]:

kalerdvātriṃśatsahasrādhikacaturlakṣābdātmakaḥ (kālaḥ)|