Chapter 37 - Grant of boons to Brahmā

Sanatkumāra said:

1. How did you attain Mahādeva the lord of Umā? O holy lord, it behoves you to narrate everything. I wish to hear.

Śailādi said:

2. O great sage, my blind father Śilāda was desirous of a progeny. For a long time he performed a penance very difficult to be performed by others.

3. The thunderbolt-wielding lord Indra was pleased with his penance. He said to Śilāda—“I am pleased. Choose your boons”.

4. O leading sage, he bowed down to the thousand-eyed lord of Devas along with Devas. With palms joined in reverence he spoke to him.

Śilāda said:

5. O lord of good holy rites, O destroyer of the enemies of Devas, O bestower of boons, I wish for a son devoid of death and not born of a womb.

Indra said:

6. O brahmin sage, I shall give you a son born of womb and liable to die. I will not give you anyone otherwise. There are no persons without death.

7. O great sage, even lord Brahmā will not grant you a son without death or not born of a womb. Then what about others?

8. Even that lord Brahmā is not devoid of death himself. The lord himself is born of a womb. The lotus-born deity of great splendour is born of an egg.

9. The lord is born of Maheśvara. He is the son of Umā. His span of life is limited to two Parārdhas.

10. Thousands and crores of kalpas that constitute his day have passed by. So many yet remain.

11. Hence O leading brahmin, eschew your ardent desire for a son devoid of death or not born of a womb. Accept a son like yourself.

Śailādi said:

12. On hearing his words my meritorious father well-known in the world as Śilāda again spoke to the husband of Śacī (i.e. Indra).

Śilāda said:

13. O lord, I have already heard that Brahmā was born of an Egg, was born of a lotus and also was born of Maheśvara.

14-15. Formerly O Mahendra, of great arms, Narada my elder brother, had been saying this and I have heard it from him. But tell me, how this can. be? Dākṣāyaṇī was the grand-daughter of Brahmā since Dakṣa was the son of the lotus-born deity? How then can Brahmā be her son?

Indra said:

16-18. O brahmin, your doubt is reasonable. I shall tell you the cause of the same that happened to Brahmā in the Tatpuruṣa kalpa. After pondering over all things the supreme lord created Brahmā. In the Meghavāhana kalpa, Viṣṇu, the lord of the universe, became a cloud and bore the supreme lord Śiva for a thousand years with ease and comfort.

19. On seeing the devotional feeling of Viṣṇu towards himself the great lord entrusted to him everything along with Brahmā with instructions to create further.

20-21. Then they call that kalpa by the name Meghavāhana. On seeing him born of His body Brahmā approached Śiva and said: “O lord, Viṣṇu was born of your left and I am born of your right side.”

22-26. “Still Viṣṇu created the entire universe along with me. Taking the form of a cloud identical with the world he bore you the lord of Devas, preceptor of the universe, day and night. O lord, I am a better devotee of yours than him. Be pleased with me, O lord, grant me omniscience.”

Then Brahmā attained omniscience in a trice. He then hurried out and met Viṣṇu in the vast ocean^[1] enveloped by darkness. He saw Viṣṇu in an illustrious spot studded with gold and jewels which was mentally created by Viṣṇu himself. It was inaccessible to wicked persons, invisible even to the pious like Indra and others.

27-32. Brahmā saw the Puruṣa in whose heart the entire universe rested. He was lying down on the couch constituted by the body of the serpent Śeṣa.^[2] He had lotus-like eyes and four arms holding the conch, discus, iron club, and the lotus. He was wearing ornaments and in that form he resembled the orb of the moon. He bore the mark Śrivatsa over his breast. Brahmā beheld him with pleasure evident in his face. His lotus-like feet had turned red due to the contact with the lotus-like soft hands of Lakṣmī. He was Īśāna the greatest Ātman. By tamas he was in the form of Kala. By rajas he was the initiator of creation of the world. By sattva he was the sustainer of all. He was Parameśvara, the soul of all, the noble Ātman, the supreme soul. Brahmā saw him lying down in his yogic slumber in the milky ocean full of nectar. On seeing him he spoke to him thus:

33-35. “Just as you had swallowed me before, so also I shall swallow you now by the grace of Śiva. The lord with great arms woke up a little surprised and looking at him smiled slightly. Swallowed by that noble soul, he entered the body of that deity born of the Egg. Then Brahmā created Viṣṇu through the middle of the eye-brows. Created by him Viṣṇu stood near him observing.

36-40. In the meantime Rudra, the source of origin of all Devas, who had granted boons to both, assumed an uncivil form and came to the place where Viṣṇu stood. Lord Parameśvara, the soul of the universe, wanted to bless both with great favour. Both of them simultaneously saw the lord resembling the fire of Death. They eulogised the terrible lord with matted hair. They bowed to the lord, the bestower of boons, standing far away out of respect. The great lord, the protector of the universe blessed Brahmā and Viṣṇu and vanished there itself.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See p. 15 note 22.

[2]:

See p. 15 note 23.