The Prachetas
Prithu had a son named Antardhana and Antardhana’s son was Havirdhana. Havirdhana’s son was Prachivarhi.
Prachinavarhi married Savarna, the daughter of the ocean. Prachinavarhi and Savarna had ten sons known as the Prachetas.
The Prachetas were interested in meditating. They performed tapasya for thousands of years under the oceans. They were actually supposed to rule the earth. As long as the Prachetas meditated, they did not rule. The earth became dense with forests. Trees grew everywhere and so dense was the growth that the wind could not blow. For the ten thousand years that the Prachetas meditated, their subjects suffered.
The news of this mishap eventually reached the Prachetas and their anger was roused. Such was the fury of their anger that flames issued from their mouths and burnt up all the trees.
Soma was the god of the trees. (In the Vedas, Soma was a distinct god. But by the time of the Puranas, he had come to be identified with the moon-god Chandra.)
When Soma saw that all the trees were being burnt up, he tried to pacify the Prachetas.
“Please restarin your anger,” he said. “It is time for you to devote attention to getting married and having children so that the world might be populated. I have with me a woman named Marisha, a daughter of the trees. Please accept her as your wife.”
The ten Parchetas married Marisha and a son named Daksha was born. You already know the story of Daksha.
Daksha’s Descendants
Daksha’s descendants have already been mentioned in the section on creation. The Vayu Purana now gives an account which is, in certain respects, contradictory to the earlier account.
Daksha married Asikli, the daughter of Virana, Daksha and Asikli had a thousand sons named the Haryashva. But the sage Narada persuaded the Haryashvas that there was nothing to be gained by being interested in the material world. These sons therefore forsook the world and went away to meditate . Daksha and Asikli then had another thousand sons known as the Shavalshvas. But Narada persuaded these sons also to go away and meditate.
Thereafter, Daksha and Asikli had sixty daughters. Ten of these daughters were married to Dharma. (Earlier, the Vayu Purana had stated that thirteen daughters were married to Dharma.)
Twenty-seven daughters were married to the moon-god, Chandra. These were the twenty-seven nakshatras (stars). Their names were Ashvini, Bharani, Krittika, Pushya, Ashlesha, Punarvasu, Purvafalguni, Uttarafalguni, Magha, Hasta, Chitra, Svati, Jyestha, Vishakha, Anuradha, Mula, Purvashada, Uttarashada, Shravana, Uttarabhadrapada, Revati, Rohini, Mrigashira and Ardra.
Fourteen of Daksha’s daughters were married to the sage Kashyapa and all living beings in the universe are descended from Kashyapa. The daughters who were married to Kashyapa were named Aditi, Diti, Danu, Khasa, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinata, Tamra, Krosdhavasha, Ira, Kadru and Muni.
Aditi had twelve sons know as the adityas. These were the gods.
Surabhi pleased Shiva with her tapasya and obtained the eleven rudras as her children. She was also the mother of all horses, cows, buffaloes and other quadruped animals. (Surabhi as the mother of the rudras is sightly unusual and does not occur in any other Purana. The account of the birth of the eleven rudras is, in other Purana, quite different and has already been recounted.)
Diti’s Children
Diti’s sons were known as the daityas (demons). Diti originally had two sons named Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. Hiranyakashipu was the elder. (The Puranas disagree about this. In some Puranas, Hiranyaksha is referred to as the elder brother.)
Kashyapa once organized an ashvamedha yajna (horse sacrifice). All the gods and the sages came to attend this sacrifice. A golden throne had been prepared for the chief priest. Diti was also present on the occasion then. She had, at the time, been bearing a baby for ten thousand years in her womb. When all arrangements had been made for the sacrifice, the baby was born. The newly born baby ascended the throne reserved for the chief priest and immediately began to recite the Vedas. It was this baby who came to be known as Hiranyakashipu.
Hiranyakashipu hung upside down for one lakh years and prayed to Brahma. Through this period, he fasted. This act of tapasya so pleased Brahma that he granted Hiranyakashipu a boon whereby the demon became invincible. Thus fortified, Hiranyakashipu started to oppress the world. He drove the gods out of heaven. Hiranyakashipu was eventually killed by Vishnu in his narasimha (half-man half-lion) incarnation. (Hiranyakashipu’s story is given in greater detail in several other Puranas.)
Hiranyakashipu had four sons named Prabhlada, Anuhlada, Samhlada and Hlada. Hlada’s son was Sunda and Sunda’s wife was Tadaka. It was this Tadaka whom Rama (in the Ramayana) killed. Tadaka’s son was Muka. Muka was killed by Arjuna (in the Mahabharata).
Prahlada’s son was Virochana and Virochana’s son was Vali. Vali was defeated by Vishnu in his vamana (dwarf) incarnation. Vali had a son named Vana.
As for Hiranyakashipu’s brother Hiranyaksha, he had five sons. They were named Utkara, Shakuni, Kalanabha, Mahanabha and Bhutasantapan. (The more customary account in the Puranas is that Hiranyaksha did not have any children and adopted Andhaka as a son.) Hiranyaksha was killed by Vishnu in his varaha (boar) incarnation.
Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha had a sister named Simhika.
Diti noticed that her sons and their descendants were suffering at the hands of the gods, often with the connivance of Vishnu. She therefore did her best to please her husband Kashyapa. Kashyapa was eventually satisfied and agreed to grant Diti a boon.
“Please grant me the boon that I may have a son who will kill Indra.” said Diti.
This was slightly awkward for Kashyapa. The gods were also his sons, from his other wife Aditi. He told Diti that she would have to observe cleanliness for a hundred years. If she succeeded in doing this, she would indeed give birth to a son who would slay Indra. But if she failed, the son would become Indra’s friend and companion. This condition Diti accepted.
Diti started to perform tapasya so that she might have the son she wanted. But Indra had got to know about what Diti was after. He hung around the hermitage, helping his aunt by fetching fruits, roots and wood from the forest. But this attempt at aiding his aunt was merely a pretext. Indra was the lookout for some unclean act that Diti might commit.
Ninety of the hundred appointed years passed.
It was then that Diti made her first mistake. She was so tired that she fell asleep, resting her head on her thighs. In the process, her hair touched her feet. This was an unclean act.
In a flash, Indra seized his opportunity. Now that Diti had committed an unclean act, he could freely enter her body. He entered Diti’s womb and found the baby there. Indra possessed a weapon known as the vajra. (This is sometimes identified with thunder, sometimes with a club.) With the vajra, Indra sliced up the baby into seven parts.
The parts began to cry and Indra said, “ma ruda,” which means, “don’t cry.”
But the parts continued to cry and Indra carved up each of the parts into seven more sections. There were thus forty-nine parts in all.
Meanwhile, Diti had woken up and she begged Indra not to kill her sons. Indra agreed. The sons were born. Because of the words indra had uttered, they came to be known as the maruts. Thanks to Kashyapa’s boon, they became friends and constant companions of Indra. They were elevated tothe status of gods.
Kashyapa’s Other Children
What of Kashyapa’s wife Danu? Her sons came to be known as the danavas (demons).
Muni gave birth to the gandharvas (singers of heaven) and apsaras (dancers of heaven).
Vinata had two sons named Aruna and Garuda. Their sisters were the mothers of all the birds.
Kadru gave birth to the snakes (nagas). Chief among them were Shesha, Vasuki and Takshaka.
Khasa gave birth to sons. These sons were exceedingly ugly. The yakshas (demi-gods who were companions of the god Kubera) were descended from the elder brother and the rakshasas (demons) were descended from the younger brother.
Surasa’s sons were other rakshasas. Ira was the mother of all trees and herbs. Krodhavasha gave birth to the ghosts (pishachas). Tamra’s children were wild animals. (The names of the minor wives vary from Purana to Purana.)
The Ancestors
“Who are the ancestors?” asked the sages.
Lomaharshana recounted the following story.
When Brahma first started to created, the gods were born. These gods not only did not worship Brahma, they started to create themselves. Brahma therefore cursed them that they would become ignorant.
The gods did not relish this idea, they therefore tried to pacify Brahma.
“You will have to perform penance for your sins.” said Brahma. “As for the means of penance, why don’t you ask the beings whom you have created? They will instruct you in the ways of wisdom.”
The sons accordingly instructed the fathers. A person who instructs is known as a father (pita). The sons of the gods according became like the fathers of the gods and are revered as the ancestors (pitris). It is these pitris who are given offerings at the time of shraddha (funeral) ceremonies. In general, the pitris also include dead ancestors and the ten prajapatis who rule over the universe.
The ancestors had a daughter named Mena who was married to Himavana (the Himalayas). Mena (alternatively Menaka) and Himavana had three daughters named Aparna, Ekaparna and Ekapatala.
These three daughters meditated for two thousand years. Ekapatala meditated under a snake-gourd (patala) tree. Each day, she ate only one (eka) snake-gourd. It was thus that she came to acquire the name of Ekapatala. The word parna means leaf. Ekaparna ate only one leaf every day and thus acquired her name. Aparna ate nothing at all. Since she did not eat even a leaf, she came to be known as Aparna. Aparna was also known as Uma. And even as Parvati, since she was the daughter of the mountain (parvata) Himavana.
Parvati was married to Shiva. Their son was Skanda or Kumara.
Skanda got separated from his parents and was brought up by the Krittikas (goddesses or nakshatras). He therefore obtained the name of Kartikeya.
The Vayu Purana now has several sections on funeral ceremonies. These we will skip.
