Puranic encyclopaedia
by Vettam Mani | 1975 | 609,556 words | ISBN-10: 0842608222
This page describes the Story of Bhrigu included the Puranic encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani that was translated into English in 1975. The Puranas have for centuries profoundly influenced Indian life and Culture and are defined by their characteristic features (panca-lakshana, literally, ‘the five characteristics of a Purana�).
Story of ṛg
General.
A sage, the son of . He was the founder of ṛg ṃśa. Members of the ṛg ṃśa are called '.' ṛgܱṃśa has been reputed for many of its members who were Ṛṣis of great sanctity and grandeur.
Birth.
"utsaṃgād nārado jajñe dakṣo 'ṃguṣṭhāt svayaṃbhuva� / prāṇādvasiṣṭha� saṃjāto bhṛgustvaca� karātkratu�"*
From these lines we see that ṛg was born from ’s skin (tvak). But in Ѳٲ Ā徱 Parva, 5th Chapter, we find another version regarding his birth. In that passage we read that ṛg was born from "Vahni" (fire). In the light of these two statements, we may examine ṛg’s birth.
ṛg had two incarnations. The first time he was born from ’s skin. In course of time, the sage ṛg became famous. In the ٲṣayāga, this sage was present as one of the Ṛt (officiating priests). On that occasion, Satīdevī who was in rage and grief because her husband (Ś) was not invited to the yāga, committed suicide by jumping into the sacrificial fire. Hearing about this, Ś was enraged and the monster spirits who emerged from his matted locks caught hold of the Ṛt. 岵ٲ caturtha skandha says that the ūٲ named Իīś, who emerged from Ś’s locks, caught hold of ṛg and killed him.
Therefore the ṛg who was born from ’s skin must be considered as having died at ٲṣayāga. ṛg was born again in Vaivasvata Manvantara. This second birth was at the famous ⲹñ of ղṇa. He was reborn from fire, as ’s son. This child who was born from ’s semen which fell in the sacrificial fire, was brought up by ղṇa and his wife 䲹ṣaṇ�. Consequently ṛg is referred to as "ղṇaputra" and "䲹ṣaṇīputra" in some ʳܰṇa. Since he was born at ղṇa’s yāga he is sometimes called "ṇ� ṛg".
ṛg Vaṃśa. (ṛg family).
Each birth of ṛg gave rise to a separate family. They are given below separately:—First birth: ṛg and his wife پ had a daughter ṣmī and three sons, ٳ, վ and Kavi. Ѳ峾’s daughters, Āⲹپ and Niyati became the wives of ٳ and վ, respectively. Two sons, ʰṇa and Mṛkaṇḍu were born to those two couples. 첹ṇḍⲹ was born to Mṛkaṇḍu and from 첹ṇḍⲹ was born ձ岹ś. ʰṇa had a son, ٲܳپ who had a son Ჹ. From that Ჹ, ṛg Vaṃśa multiplied. The family tree of this first ṛg Vaṃśa is given below:�(See վṣṇ purāṇa, Part I, Chapter 10).
鴡Ā
ṛg پ
ٳ = Āⲹپ վ = Niyati Kavi ṣmī = վṣṇ
ʰṇa Mṛkaṇḍu
ٲܳپ 첹ṇḍⲹ
Ჹ ձ岹ś
Second Birth: The second ṛg Vaṃśa is the family which took its origin from the second birth of ṛg as the son of ղṇa. ղṇa’s son, ṛg married the woman, ʳܱdz. They had six children who were, ūٲ, Cyavana, Vajraśīrṣa, Śܳ, Śܰ, and Savana. By his first wife ū, he had his sons, "岹ś Rudras" (eleven Rudras) and "Rudra ṣa岹" (Attendants of Rudra) and by his second wife ū he had a crore of Rudras. Cyavana had two wives, ܰ첹Բ and Āruṣi. Aurva, a son was born to Āruṣi. From Aurva was born Ṛcī첹, from Ṛcī첹 Jamadagni and from Jamadagni, ʲśܰ峾. Cyavana had a son, Pravati, by his wife ܰ첹Բ. Ruru or ŚܲԲ첹 was the son of Pravati by the ҳṛt峦ī. Ruru and his wife ʰ屹 had a son, ŚܲԲ첹. Śܰ첹, the son of ṛg had two sons, 䲹ṇḍ and Alarka and a daughter, ٱ𱹲ī. This is the second ṛg Vaṃśa.** The family tree is given below.
ղṇa=䲹ṣaṇ�
ṇi ṛg—ʳܱdz�
ūٲ=ū=ū Vajraśīrṣa Śܳ Śܰ Savana.
ܰ첹Բ—Cyavana—Āruṣi
岹ś
Rudras ṭi Aurva 䲹ṇḍ Alarka ٱ𱹲ī
Rudra Rudras ҳṛt峦ī—Pravati
Pāṛṣadas Ṛcī첹
ʰ屹 = Ruru Jamadagni (ŚܲԲ첹)
ʲśܰ峾
ŚܲԲ첹
ṛg cursed Ѳ屹ṣṇ.
Once a terrible war broke out between Devas and Asuras. In that war, not only were the Asuras defeated but many of them were also killed. Diti, the mother of the Asuras, with tears in her eyes, complained to ṛgpati. ʳܱdz, Mother of Śܰ, promised to find a remedy for this somehow. She at once went to the forest and started a tapas for the annihilation of the Devas. As the tapas gained force, the Devas were alarmed and they sought the protection of Ѳ屹ṣṇ. Ѳ屹ṣṇ used his ղܻ (Vajra weapon) against ṛg’s wife, ʳܱdz. Under the stroke of Vajra she fell down, a headless corpse. The enraged Ѳṣi ṛg cursed Ѳ屹ṣṇ to be born as a mortal in this world and to suffer the pangs of separation from his wife. When the curse was pronounced against Ѳ屹ṣṇ, he directed his weapon Cakra against the Ѳṣi. ṛg fied in panic and at last begged pardon and prayed for shelter to Ѳ屹ṣṇ himself in the ocean of milk. վṣṇ withdrew his Cakra. ṛg himself restored ʳܱdz to life. To fulfil the condition of ṛg’s curse, վṣṇ agreed to incarnate in the world as Śrī Rāma, the son of ٲśٳ and to experience the pain of separation from his wife. (Uttara 峾ⲹṇa).
ṛg kicked վṣṇ.
Long ago all the Ѳṣis joined together to perform a yāga on the bank of the river ī. A dispute arose among them as to who was the most mighty among the հūپ. Some of them voted for , others declared that վṣṇ was more mighty than the other two, while a third group stood for Ś’s superiority. They unanimously elected ṛg to ascertain and find out the truth of the matter.
ṛg set out to Devaloka. First he went to ’s assembly. There, in the presence of who was seated in the midst of many Munis, ṛg took his seat on a stool. was provoked by this act of disrespect. ṛg left the place without a word and went to Ś’s place. Ś rose from his seat and approached him to embrace and welcome him. ṛg, shrank back saying, "Do not touch me?" Ś became angry and was about to hit him with his trident when ī stopped him.
ṛg then turned his steps to ղṇṭ, the abode of Ѳ屹ṣṇ. There he saw Ѳ屹ṣṇ in a deep slumber. Seeing Ѳ屹ṣṇ whose task is the preservation of the world, sleeping like an irresponsible person, ṛg gave him a kick on his breast. վṣṇ who sprang up suddenly, saw ṛg standing before him. He begged pardon of the sage. He declared that he would carry ṛg’s footprint permanently on his chest as a sign of his repentance for having shown disrespect to the Ѳṣi. This foot-print still remains on վṣṇ’s chest and is known by the name "Śīٲ". In this way, the Munis came to the conclusion that Ѳ屹ṣṇ is the noblest of the հūپ. (岵ٲ, Daśama Skandha).
The origin of ṛg īٳ.
There is a sacred spot called, "ṛg īٳ" on the western side of ٲśś. It is here that ṛg once offered tapas to Ś. Owing to the austerity of his tapas, his hair became matted and discoloured. His body was completely covered with earth heaped up by termites. When Ś was still not propitiated, ī interceded with him on behalf of ṛg, Ś agreed to bless ṛg.
Ś sent his bull to the place where ṛg was sitting. The bull in the course of its gambols broke up and destroyed the earthen covering on his body which was made by the termites. ṛg became angry and chased the bull. But he was stunned by the sight of the bull rising up to heaven through the air. A divine light spread there. Ś appeared before him and asked him what boon he wanted. ṛg prayed that the place where he was doing tapas should become a holy spot. Ś granted his prayer and from that day, the place became famous under the name "ṛg īٳ". and other Devas and the Kinnaras still worship this ṛg īٳ. All sin is removed by a mere sight of this sacred īٳ. Those who bathe in the holy water of this place attain Heaven and they will not be born again. Even by hearing about the greatness and glory of this ṛg īٳ, one will be cleared of all sins and find an easy way to Śloka. (Padma ʳܰṇa, Chapter 20).
Other details.
(1) It was ṛg who gave the boon for having progeny to Sagara, King of the solar dynasty. Sagara, with his two wives, śī and Sumati, performed tapas at ṛg ṇa in the ᾱⲹ. After a hundred years, ṛg, who was pleased, blessed the king that he would have numerous children by one wife and one son who would be progenitor of a ṃśa, by the other wife. (ī쾱 峾ⲹṇa, Bālakāṇḍa, 38th Sarga).
(2) Once when some Munis went to ٱ, 峾 and other 岹 mocked them and the Munis cursed them. ṛg was one of those Munis. (See the word 峾).
(3) ʲśܰ峾, after exterminating the ṣaٰⲹ kings, went to the Āś of ṛg, the founder of the family and received his blessings. (ṇḍa ʳܰṇa, Chapter 62).
(4) ṛg Ѳṣi was a prominent member in ۳ܻṣṭ’s assembly. (Ѳٲ Chapter 4, Verse 16).
(5) He was also a member of Indra’s assembly. It was by ṛg’s brilliance that Indra’s glory was heightened. (Ѳٲ Parva, Chapter 7, Verse 29).
(6) ṛg was a member of ’s assembly also. (Ѳٲ Parva, Chapter 11, Verse 19).
(7) Once ṛg blessed his son Ṛcī첹 and his daughterin-law ٲⲹī that they would have children. (Ѳٲ Vana Parva, Chapter 116, Verse 35).
(8) Śrī ṛṣṇa who went as the messenger of peace to Ჹپܰ, travelled in Dakṣiṇāvarta, along with the sage ṛg. (Ѳٲ Udyoga Parva, Chapter 83, Verse 27).
(9) ṛg entered the scene of battle between the Kurus and ṇḍ and tried to persuade ٰṇācⲹ to withdraw from the fight. (Ѳٲ ٰṇa Parva, Chapter 190, Verse 34).
(10) Once ṛg lectured on the origin of the earth, Philosophy of life, etc. (Ѳٲ ŚԳپ Parva, Chapter 128).
(11) ṛg explained to 屹Ჹ how the ʲñūٲ except the sky originated (ŚԳپ Parva, Chapter 183).
(12) ṛg discussed in a logical manner, the principle of life and the transmigration of the soul. (ŚԳپparva, Chapter 187).
(13) He made a critical examination of the merits and defects of racial discrimination. (ŚԳپ Parva, Chapter 187).
(14) Once ṛg bestowed Brahminhood on a King named īٲⲹ. (Ѳٲ ԳśԲ. Parva, Chapter 30, Verse 57).
(15) He got the name "ṛg" because he was born out of fire. (Ѳٲ ԳśԲ Parva, Chapter 85, Verse 105).
(16) It was ṛg who gave the necessary advice to Agastya to depose ṣa from Indra’s post.
(17) There is a story that ṣa kicked Agastya on the head while the latter was carrying ṣa’s palanquin and that ṛg, who was hiding in Agasty’s locks of hair, cursed ṣa and changed him into a python. (Ѳٲ ԳśԲ Parva, Chapter 100).
*) 岹 was born from ’s lap, ٲṣa from his Aṃguṣṭha, ղṣṭ from his ʰṇa, ṛg from his skin and Kṛatu from his arm.
**) Devī 岵ٲ, Saptama Skandha says that ṛg had married two daughters of ٲṣa. Ѳٲ ԳśԲ Parva Chapter 85, Verse 127 says that Bhrgu had seven sons, namely Cyavana Vajraśīla, Śܳ, Aurva, Śܰ, ղṇy, and Savana.