{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/vp/vp044.htm","path":"hin/vp/vp044.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp044.htm","text":"The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840]\nLegend of Lakshm\u00ed. Durv\u00e1sas gives a garland to Indra: he treats it disrespectfully, and is cursed by the Muni. The power of the gods impaired: they are oppressed by the D\u00e1navas, and have recourse to Vish\u0144u. The churning of the ocean. Praises of \u015ar\u00ed.\nPAR\u00c1\u015aARA.--But with respect to the question thou hast asked me, Maitreya, relating to the history of \u015ar\u00ed, hear from me the tale as it was told to me by Mar\u00edchi.\nDurv\u00e1sas, a portion of \u015aankara (\u015aiva) 1, was wandering over the earth; when be beheld, in the hands of a nymph of air 2, a garland of flowers culled from the trees of heaven, the fragrant odour of which spread throughout the forest, and enraptured all who dwelt beneath its shade. The sage, who was then possessed by religious phrensy 3, when he beheld that garland, demanded it of the graceful and full-eyed nymph, who, bowing to him reverentially, immediately presented it to him. He, as one frantic, placed the chaplet upon his brow, and thus decorated resumed his path; when he beheld (Indra) the husband of \u015aach\u00ed, the ruler of the three worlds, approach, seated on his infuriated elephant Air\u00e1vata, and attended by the gods. The phrensied sage, taking from his head the garland of flowers, amidst which the bees collected ambrosia, threw it to the king of the gods, who caught it, and suspended it on the brow of Air\u00e1vata, where it shone like the river J\u00e1hnav\u00ed, glittering on the dark summit of the mountain Kail\u00e1sa. The elephant, whose eyes were dim with inebriety, and attracted by the smell, took hold of the garland with his trunk, and cast it on the earth. That chief of sages, Durv\u00e1sas, was\nhighly incensed at this disrespectful treatment of his gift, and thus angrily addressed the sovereign of the immortals: \"Inflated with the intoxication of power, V\u00e1sava, vile of spirit, thou art an idiot not to respect the garland I presented to thee, which was the dwelling of Fortune (\u015ar\u00ed). Thou hast not acknowledged it as a largess; thou hast not bowed thyself before me; thou hast not placed the wreath upon thy head, with thy countenance expanding with delight. Now, fool, for that thou hast not infinitely prized the garland that I gave thee, thy sovereignty over the three worlds shall be subverted. Thou confoundest me, \u015aakra, with other Brahmans, and hence I have suffered disrespect from thy arrogance: but in like manner as thou hast cast the garland I gave thee down on the ground, so shall thy dominion over the universe be whelmed in ruin. Thou hast offended one whose wrath is dreaded by all created things, king of the gods, even me, by thine excessive pride.\"\nDescending hastily from his elephant, Mahendra endeavoured to appease the sinless Durv\u00e1sas: but to the excuses and prostrations of the thousand-eyed, the Muni answered, \"I am not of a compassionate heart, nor is forgiveness congenial to my nature. Other Munis may relent; but know me, \u015aakra, to be Durv\u00e1sas. Thou hast in vain been rendered insolent by Gautama and others; for know me, Indra, to be Durv\u00e1sas, whose nature is a stranger to remorse. Thou hast been flattered by Va\u015bisht\u0301ha and other tender-hearted saints, whose loud praises (lave made thee so arrogant, that thou hast insulted me. But who is there in the universe that can behold my countenance, dark with frowns, and surrounded by my blazing hair, and not tremble? What need of words? I will not forgive, whatever semblance of humility thou mayest assume.\"\nHaving thus spoken, the Brahman went his way; and the king of the gods, remounting his elephant, returned to his capital Amar\u00e1vati. Thenceforward, Maitreya, the three worlds and \u015aakra lost their vigour, and all vegetable products, plants, and herbs were withered and died; sacrifices were no longer offered; devout exercises no longer practised; men were no more addicted to charity, or any moral or religious obligation;\nall beings became devoid of steadiness 4; all the faculties of sense were obstructed by cupidity; and men's desires were excited by frivolous objects. Where there is energy, there is prosperity; and upon prosperity energy depends. How can those abandoned by prosperity be possessed of energy; and without energy, where is excellence? Without excellence there can be no vigour nor heroism amongst men: he who has neither courage nor strength, will be spurned by all: and he who is universally treated with disgrace, must suffer abasement of his intellectual faculties.\nThe three regions being thus wholly divested of prosperity, and deprived of energy, the D\u00e1navas and sons of Diti, the enemies of the gods, who were incapable of steadiness, and agitated by ambition, put forth their strength against the gods. They engaged in war with the feeble and unfortunate divinities; and Indra and the rest, being overcome in fight, fled for refuge to Brahm\u00e1, preceded by the god of flame (Hut\u00e1\u015bana). When the great father of the universe had heard all that had come to pass, he said to the deities, \"Repair for protection to the god of high and low; the tamer of the demons; the causeless cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; the progenitor of the progenitors; the immortal, unconquerable Vish\u0144u; the cause of matter and spirit, of his unengendered products; the remover of the grief of all who humble themselves before him: he will give you aid.\" Having thus spoken to the deities, Brahm\u00e1 proceeded along with them to the northern shore of the sea of milk; and with reverential words thus prayed to the supreme Hari:--\n\"We glorify him who is all things; the lord supreme over all; unborn, imperishable; the protector of the mighty ones of creation; the unperceived, indivisible N\u00e1r\u00e1ya\u0144a; the smallest of the smallest, the largest of the largest, of the elements; in whom are all things, from whom are all things; who was before existence; the god who is all beings; who is the end of ultimate objects; who is beyond final spirit, and is one with supreme soul; who is contemplated as the cause of final liberation by\nsages anxious to be free; in whom are not the qualities of goodness, foulness, or darkness, that belong to undeveloped nature. May that purest of all pure spirits this day be propitious to us. May that Hari be propitious to us, whose inherent might is not an object of the progressive chain of moments or of days, that make up time. May he who is called the supreme god, who is not in need of assistance, Hari, the soul of all embodied substance, be favourable unto us. May that Hari, who is both cause and effect; who is the cause of cause, the effect of effect; he who is the effect of successive effect; who is the effect of the effect of the effect himself; the product of the effect of the effect of the effect, or elemental substance; to him I bow 5. The cause of the cause; the cause of the cause of the cause; the cause of them all; to him I bow. To him who is the enjoyer and thing to be enjoyed; the creator and thing to be created; who is the agent and the effect; to that supreme being I bow. The infinite nature of Vish\u0144u is pure, intelligent, perpetual, unborn, undecayable, inexhaustible, inscrutable, immutable; it is neither gross nor subtile, nor capable of being defined: to that ever holy nature of Vish\u0144u I bow. To him whose faculty to create the universe abides in but a part of but the ten-millionth part of him; to him who is one with the inexhaustible supreme spirit, I bow: and to the glorious nature of the supreme Vish\u0144u, which nor gods, nor sages, nor I, nor \u015aankara apprehend; that nature which the Yogis, after incessant effort, effacing both moral merit and demerit, behold to be contemplated in the mystical monosyllable Om: the supreme glory of Vish\u0144u, who is the first of all; of whom, one only god, the triple energy is the same with Brahm\u00e1, Vish\u0144u, and \u015aiva: oh lord of all, great soul of all, asylum of all, undecayable, have pity upon thy servants; oh Vish\u0144u, be manifest unto us.\"\nPar\u00e1\u015bara continued.--The gods, having heard this prayer uttered by Brahm\u00e1, bowed down, and cried, \"Be favourable to us; be present to our sight: we bow down to that glorious nature which the mighty Brahm\u00e1 does not know; that which is thy nature, oh imperishable, in whom the universe abides.\" Then the gods having ended, Vrihaspati and the divine Rishis thus prayed: \"We bow down to the being entitled to adoration; who is the first object of sacrifice; who was before the first of things; the creator of the creator of the world; the undefinable: oh lord of all that has been or is to be; imperishable type of sacrifice; have pity upon thy worshippers; appear to them, prostrate before thee. Here is Brahm\u00e1; here is Trilochana (the three-eyed \u015aiva), with the Rudras; Push\u00e1, (the sun), with the \u00c1dityas; and Fire, with all the mighty luminaries: here are the sons of Aswin\u00ed (the two Aswin\u00ed Kum\u00e1ras), the Vasus and all the winds, the S\u00e1dhyas, the Vi\u015bwadevas, and Indra the king of the gods: all of whom bow lowly before thee: all the tribes of the immortals, vanquished by the demon host, have fled to thee for succour.\"\nThus prayed to, the supreme deity, the mighty holder of the conch and discus, shewed himself to them: and beholding the lord of gods, bearing a shell, a discus, and a mace, the assemblage of primeval form, and radiant with embodied light, Pit\u00e1mah\u00e1 and the other deities, their eyes moistened with rapture, first paid him homage, and then thus addressed him: \"Repeated salutation to thee, who art indefinable: thou art Brahm\u00e1; thou art the wielder of the Pin\u00e1ka bow (\u015aiva); thou art Indra; thou art fire, air, the god of waters, the sun, the king of death (Yama), the Vasus, the M\u00e1ruts (the winds), the S\u00e1dhyas, and Vi\u015bwadevas. This assembly of divinities, that now has come before thee, thou art; for, the creator of the world, thou art every where. Thou art the sacrifice, the prayer of oblation, the mystic syllable Om, the sovereign of all creatures: thou art all that is to be known, or to be unknown: oh universal soul, the whole world consists of thee. We, discomfited by the Daityas, have fled to thee, oh Vish\u0144u, for refuge. Spirit of all, have compassion upon us; defend us with thy mighty power. There will be affliction, desire, trouble, and grief, until thy protection is obtained: but thou art the remover of all sins. Do thou then, oh pure of spirit, shew favour unto\nus, who have fled to thee: oh lord of all, protect us with thy great power, in union with the goddess who is thy strength 6.\" Hari, the creator of the universe, being thus prayed to by the prostrate divinities, smiled, and thus spake: \"With renovated energy, oh gods, I will restore your strength. Do you act as I enjoin. Let all the gods, associated with the Asuras, cast all sorts of medicinal herbs into the sea of milk; and then taking the mountain Mandara for the churning-stick, the serpent V\u00e1suki for the rope, churn the ocean together for ambrosia; depending upon my aid. To secure the assistance of the Daityas, you must be at peace with them, and engage to give them an equal portion of the fruit of your associated toil; promising them, that by drinking the Amrita that shall be produced from the agitated ocean, they shall become mighty and immortal. I will take care that the enemies of the gods shall not partake of the precious draught; that they shall share in the labour alone.\"\nBeing thus instructed by the god of gods, the divinities entered into alliance with the demons, and they jointly undertook the acquirement of the beverage of immortality. They collected various kinds of medicinal herbs, and cast them into the sea of milk, the waters of which were radiant as the thin and shining clouds of autumn. They then took the mountain Mandara for the staff; the serpent V\u00e1suki for the cord; and commenced to churn the ocean for the Amrita. The assembled gods were stationed by Krish\u0144a at the tail of the serpent; the Daityas and D\u00e1navas at its head and neck. Scorched by the flames emitted from his inflated hood, the demons were shorn of their glory; whilst the clouds driven towards his tail by the breath of his mouth, refreshed the gods with revivifying showers. In the midst of the milky sea, Hari himself, in the form of a tortoise, served as a pivot for the mountain, as it was whirled around. The holder of the mace and discus was present in other forms amongst the gods and demons, and assisted to drag the monarch of the serpent race: and in another vast body he sat upon the summit of the mountain. With one portion of his energy, unseen by gods or demons, he sustained the serpent king; and with another, infused vigour into the gods.\nFrom the ocean, thus churned by the gods and D\u00e1navas, first uprose the cow Surabhi, the fountain of milk and curds, worshipped by the divinities, and beheld by them and their associates with minds disturbed, and eyes glistening with delight. Then, as the holy Siddhas in the sky wondered what this could be, appeared the goddess V\u00e1run\u00ed (the deity of wine), her eyes rolling with intoxication. Next, from the whirlpool of the deep, sprang the celestial P\u00e1rij\u00e1ta tree, the delight of the nymphs of heaven, perfuming the world with its blossoms. The troop of \u00c1psarasas, the nymphs of heaven, were then produced, of surprising loveliness, endowed with beauty and with taste. The cool-rayed moon next rose, and was seized by Mah\u00e1deva: and then poison was engendered from the sea, of which the snake gods (N\u00e1gas) took possession. Dhanwantari, robed in white, and bearing in his hand the cup of Amrita, next came forth: beholding which, the sons of Diti and of Danu, as well as the Munis, were filled with satisfaction and delight. Then, seated on a full-blown lotus, and holding a water-lily in her hand, the goddess \u015ar\u00ed, radiant with beauty, rose from the waves. The great sages, enraptured, hymned her with the song dedicated to her praise 7. Vi\u015bwavasu and other heavenly quiristers sang, and Ghrit\u00e1ch\u00ed and other celestial nymphs danced before her. Gang\u00e1 and other holy streams attended for her ablutions; and the elephants of the skies, taking up their pure waters in vases of gold, poured them over the goddess, the queen of the universal world. The sea of milk in person presented her with a wreath of never-fading flowers; and the artist of the gods (Viswakerm\u00e1) decorated her person with heavenly ornaments. Thus bathed, attired, and adorned, the goddess, in the view of the celestials, cast herself upon the breast of Hari; and there reclining, turned her eyes upon the deities, who were inspired with rapture by her gaze. Not so the Daityas, who, with Viprachitti at their head, were filled with indignation, as Vish\u0144u turned away from them, and they were abandoned by the goddess of prosperity (Lakshm\u00ed.)\nThe powerful and indignant Daityas then forcibly seized the Amrita-cup, that was in the hand of Dhanwantari: but Vish\u0144u, assuming a female form, fascinated and deluded them; and recovering the Amrita\nfrom them, delivered it to the gods. \u015aakra and the other deities quaffed the ambrosia. The incensed demons, grasping their weapons, fell upon them; but the gods, into whom the ambrosial draught had infused new vigour, defeated and put their host to flight, and they fled through the regions of space, and plunged into the subterraneous realms of P\u00e1t\u00e1la. The gods thereat greatly rejoiced, did homage to the holder of the discus and mace, and resumed their reign in heaven. The sun shone with renovated splendour, and again discharged his appointed task; and the celestial luminaries again circled, oh best of Munis, in their respective orbits. Fire once more blazed aloft, beautiful in splendour; and the minds of all beings were animated by devotion. The three worlds again were rendered happy by prosperity; and Indra, the chief of the gods, was restored to power 8. Seated upon his throne, and once more in\nheaven, exercising sovereignty over the gods, \u015aakra thus eulogized the goddess who bears a lotus in her hand:--\n\"I bow down to \u015ar\u00ed, the mother of all beings, seated on her lotus throne, with eyes like full-blown lotuses, reclining on the breast of Vish\u0144u. Thou art Siddhi (superhuman power): thou art Swadh\u00e1 and Sw\u00e1h\u00e1: thou art ambrosia (Sudh\u00e1), the purifier of the universe: thou art evening, night, and dawn: thou art power, faith, intellect: thou art the goddess of letters (Saraswat\u00ed). Thou, beautiful goddess, art knowledge of devotion,\ngreat knowledge, mystic knowledge, and spiritual knowledge 9; which confers eternal liberation. Thou art the science of reasoning, the three Vedas, the arts and sciences 10: thou art moral and political science. The world is peopled by thee with pleasing or displeasing forms. Who else than thou, oh goddess, is seated on that person of the god of gods, the wielder of the mace, which is made up of sacrifice, and contemplated by holy ascetics? Abandoned by thee, the three worlds were on the brink of ruin; but they have been reanimated by thee. From thy propitious gaze, oh mighty goddess, men obtain wives, children, dwellings, friends, harvests, wealth. Health and strength, power, victory, happiness, are easy of attainment to those upon whom thou smilest. Thou art the mother of all beings, as the god of gods, Hari, is their father; and this world, whether animate or inanimate, is pervaded by thee and Vish\u0144u. Oh thou who purifiest all things, forsake not our treasures, our granaries, our dwellings, our dependants, our persons, our wives: abandon not our children, our friends, our lineage, our jewels, oh thou who abidest on the bosom of the god of gods. They whom thou desertest are forsaken by truth, by purity, and goodness, by every amiable and excellent quality; whilst the base and worthless upon whom thou lookest favourably become immediately endowed with all excellent qualifications, with families, and with power. He on whom thy countenance is turned is honourable, amiable, prosperous, wise, and of exalted birth; a hero of irresistible prowess: but all his merits and his advantages are converted into worthlessness from whom, beloved of Vish\u0144u, mother of the world, thou avertest thy face. The tongues of Brahm\u00e1, are unequal to celebrate thy excellence. Be propitious to me, oh goddess, lotus-eyed, and never forsake me more.\"\nBeing thus praised, the gratified \u015ar\u00ed, abiding in all creatures, and\nheard by all beings, replied to the god of a hundred rites (\u015aatakratu); \"I am pleased, monarch of the gods, by thine adoration. Demand from me what thou desirest: I have come to fulfil thy wishes.\" \"If, goddess,\" replied Indra, \"thou wilt grant my prayers; if I am worthy of thy bounty; be this my first request, that the three worlds may never again be deprived of thy presence. My second supplication, daughter of ocean, is, that thou wilt not forsake him who shall celebrate thy praises in the words I have addressed to thee.\" \"I will not abandon,\" the goddess answered, \"the three worlds again: this thy first boon is granted; for I am gratified by thy praises: and further, I will never turn my face away from that mortal who morning and evening shall repeat the hymn with which thou hast addressed me.\"\nPar\u00e1\u015bara proceeded.--Thus, Maitreya, in former times the goddess \u015ar\u00ed conferred these boons upon the king of the gods, being pleased by his adorations; but her first birth was as the daughter of Bhrigu by Khy\u00e1ti: it was at a subsequent period that she was produced from the sea, at the churning of the ocean by the demons and the gods, to obtain ambrosia 11. For in like manner as the lord of the world, the god of gods, Jan\u00e1rddana, descends amongst mankind (in various shapes), so does his coadjutrix \u015ar\u00ed. Thus when Hari was born as a dwarf, the son of Adit\u00ed, Lakshm\u00ed appeared from a lotus (as Padm\u00e1, or Kamal\u00e1); when he was born as R\u00e1ma, of the race of Bhrigu (or Para\u015bur\u00e1ma), she was Dhara\u0144\u00ed; when he was R\u00e1ghava (R\u00e1machandra), she was S\u00edt\u00e1; and when he was Krish\u0144a, she became Rukmin\u00ed. In the other descents of Vish\u0144u, she is his associate. If he takes a celestial form, she appears as divine; if a mortal, she becomes a mortal too, transforming her own person agreeably to whatever character it pleases Vish\u0144u to put on. Whosoever hears this\naccount of the birth of Lakshm\u00ed, whosoever reads it, shall never lose the goddess Fortune from his dwelling for three generations; and misfortune, the fountain of strife, shall never enter into those houses in which the hymns to \u015ar\u00ed are repeated.\nThus, Brahman, have I narrated to thee, in answer to thy question, how Lakshm\u00ed, formerly the daughter of Bhrigu, sprang from the sea of milk; and misfortune shall never visit those amongst mankind who daily recite the praises of Lakshm\u00ed uttered by Indra, which are the origin and cause of all prosperity.\n70:1 Durv\u00e1sas was the son of Atri by Anas\u00fay\u00e1, and was an incarnation of a portion of \u015aiva.\n70:2 Vidy\u00e1dhar\u00ed. These beings, male and female, are spirits of an inferior order, tenanting the middle regions of the atmosphere. According to the V\u00e1yu, the garland was given to the nymph by Dev\u00ed.\n70:3 He observed the Vrata, or vow of insanity; equivalent to the ecstasies of some religious fanatics. In this state,' says the commentator, 'even saints are devils.'\n72:4 They became Nih-satwa; and Satwa is explained throughout by Dhairyya, 'steadiness,' 'fortitude.'\n73:5 The first effect of primary cause is nature, or Prakriti: the effect of the effect, or of Prakriti, is Mahat: effect in the third degree is Ahank\u00e1ra: in the fourth, or the effect of the effect (Ahank\u00e1ra) of the effect (Mahat) of the effect (Prakriti), is elementary substance, or Bh\u00fata. Vish\u0144u is each and all. So in the succeeding ascending scale, Brahm\u00e1 is the cause of mortal life; the cause of Brahm\u00e1 is the egg, or aggregate elementary matter: its cause is, therefore, elementary matter; the cause of which is subtile or rudimental matter, which originates from Ahank\u00e1ra, and so on. Vish\u0144u is also each and all of these.\n75:6 With thy \u015aakti, or the goddess \u015ar\u00ed or Lakshm\u00ed.\n76:7 Or with the S\u00fakta, or hymn of the Vedas, commencing, \"Hiranya vern\u00e1m,\" &c.\n77:8 The churning of the ocean does not occur in several of the Pur\u00e1\u0144as, and is but cursorily alluded to in the \u015aiva, Linga, and K\u00farma Pur\u00e1\u0144as. The V\u00e1yu and Padma have much the same narrative as that of our text; and so have the Agni and Bh\u00e1gavata, except that they refer only briefly to the anger of Durv\u00e1sas, without narrating the circumstances; indicating their being posterior, therefore, to the original tale. The part, however, assigned to Durv\u00e1sas appears to be an embellishment added to the original, for no mention of him occurs in the Matsya P. nor even in the Hari Van\u015ba, neither does it occur in what may be considered the oldest extant versions of the story, those of the R\u00e1m\u00e1yana and Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata: both these ascribe the occurrence to the desire of the gods and Daityas to become immortal. The Matsya assigns a similar motive to the gods, instigated by observing that the Daityas slain by them in battle were restored to life by \u015aukra with the Sanj\u00edvin\u00ed, or herb of immortality, which he had discovered. The account in the Hari Van\u015ba is brief and obscure, and is explained by the commentator as an allegory, in which the churning of the ocean typifies ascetic penance, and the ambrosia is final liberation: but this is mere mystification. The legend of the R\u00e1m\u00e1yana is translated, vol. I. p. 410. of the Serampore edition; and that of the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata by Sir C. Wilkins, in the notes to his translation of the Bh\u00e1gavata G\u00edt\u00e1. See also the original text, Cal. ed. p. 40. It has been presented to general readers in a more attractive form by my friend H. M. Parker, in his Draught of Immortality, printed with other poems, Lond. 1827. The Matsya P. has many of the stanzas of the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata interspersed with others. There is some variety in the order and number of articles produced from the ocean. As I have observed elsewhere (Hindu Theatre, I. 59. Lond. ed.), the popular enumeration is fourteen; but the R\u00e1m\u00e1yana specifies but nine; the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata, nine; the Bh\u00e1gavata, ten; the Padma, nine; the V\u00e1yu, twelve; the p. 78 Matsya, perhaps, gives the whole number. Those in which most agree, are, 1. the H\u00e1l\u00e1hala or K\u00e1lak\u00fata poison, swallowed by \u015aiva: 2. V\u00e1run\u00ed or Sur\u00e1, the goddess of wine, who being taken by the gods, and rejected by the Daityas, the former were termed Suras, and the latter Asuras: 3. the horse Uchchai\u015b\u015bravas, taken by Indra: 4. Kaustubha, the jewel worn by Vish\u0144u: 5. the moon: 6. Dhanwantari, with the Amrita in his Kama\u0144d\u0301alu, or vase; and these two articles are in the V\u00e1yu considered as distinct products: 7. the goddess Padm\u00e1 or \u015ar\u00ed: 8. the Apsarasas, or nymphs of heaven: 9. Surabhi, or the cow of plenty: 10. the P\u00e1rij\u00e1ta tree, or tree of heaven: 11. Air\u00e1vata, the elephant taken by Indra. The Matsya adds, 12. the umbrella taken by Varuna: 13. the earrings taken by Indra, and given to Adit\u00ed: and apparently another horse, the white horse of the sun: or the number may be completed by counting the Amrita separately from Dhanwantari. The number is made up in the popular lists by adding the bow and the conch of Vish\u0144u; but there does not seem to be any good authority for this, and the addition is a sectarial one: so is that of the Tula\u015b\u00ed tree, a plant sacred to Krish\u0144a, which is one of the twelve specified by the V\u00e1yu P. The Uttara Khanda of the Padma P. has a peculiar enumeration, or, Poison; Jyesht\u0301h\u00e1 or Alakshm\u00ed, the goddess of misfortune, the elder born to fortune; the goddess of wine; Nidr\u00e1, or sloth; the Apsarasas; the elephant of Indra; Lakshm\u00ed; the moon; and the Tula\u015b\u00ed plant. The reference to Mohin\u00ed, the female form assumed by Vish\u0144u, is very brief in our text; and no notice is taken of the story told in the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata and some of the Pur\u00e1\u0144as, of the Daitya R\u00e1hu's insinuating himself amongst the gods, and obtaining a portion of the Amrita: being beheaded for this by Vish\u0144u, the head became immortal, in consequence of the Amrita having reached the throat, and was transferred as a constellation to the skies; and as the sun and moon detected his presence amongst the gods, R\u00e1hu pursues them with implacable hatred, and his efforts to seize them are the causes of eclipses; R\u00e1hu typifying the ascending and descending nodes. This seems to be the simplest and oldest form of the legend. The equal immortality of the body, under the name Ketu, and his being the cause of meteorical phenomena, seems to have been an after-thought. In the Padma and Bh\u00e1gavata, R\u00e1hu and Ketu are the sons of Sinhik\u00e1, the wife of the D\u00e1nava Viprachitti.\n79:9 The four Vidy\u00e1s, or branches of knowledge, are said to be, Yajna vidy\u00e1, knowledge or performance of religious rites; Mah\u00e1 vidy\u00e1, great knowledge, the worship of the female principle, or T\u00e1ntrika worship; Guhya vidy\u00e1, knowledge of mantras, mystical prayers, and incantations; and \u00c1tma vidy\u00e1, knowledge of soul, true wisdom.\n79:10 Or V\u00e1rtt\u00e1, explained to mean the \u015ailpa \u015b\u00e1stra, mechanics, sculpture, and architecture; \u00c1yur-veda, medicine, &c.\n80:11 The cause of this, however, is left unexplained. The Padma P. inserts a legend to account for the temporary separation of Lakshm\u00ed from Vish\u0144u, which appears to be peculiar to that work. Bhrigu was lord of Lakshm\u00edpur, a city on the Narmad\u00e1, given him by Brahm\u00e1. His daughter Lakshm\u00ed instigated her husband to request its being conceded to her, which offending Bhrigu, he cursed Vish\u0144u to be born upon earth ten times, to be separated from his wife, and to have no children. The legend is an insipid modern embellishment.","title":"The Vishnu Purana: Book I: Chapter IX","type":"page"}