Maruts

Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 24 Jul 2011 14:03 and updated at 24 Jul 2011 14:03

VISHNU PURANA NOUN

vp.1.8	surrounded by the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the shade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether dwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached the patriarch with outward gestures of respect. The adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with Jishnu, were present. The four classes of Pitris, Ushmapas, Somapas, ajyapas, and Dhumapas, or those who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of offerings, the Aswins and the progenitors, came along with Brahma. Creatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or vegetation, came upon their invocation; as did all the gods, with their brides, who in their resplendent vehicles blazed like so many fires. Beholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhicha was filled with indignation, and observed, The man who worships what ought not to be worshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most assuredly, of heinous sin. Then addressing Daksha, he said to him, Why do you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life Pasubhartri()? Daksha spake; I have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents, wearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms: I recognise no other Mahadeva. Dadhicha spake; The invocation that is not addressed to Isa, is, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons. Inasmuch as I behold no other divinity who is
vp.1.9	Thus 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, Pitamaha 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 Brahma; thou art the wielder of the Pinaka bow (siva); thou art Indra; thou art fire, air, the god of waters, the sun, the king of death Yama(), the Vasus, the Maruts (the winds), the Sadhyas, and Viswadevas. 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 Vishnu, 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
vp.1.15	progeny. The sons of Viswa were the Viswadevas 13; and the Sadhyas 14, those of Sadhya. The Maruts, or winds, were the children of Marutwati; the Vasus, of Vasu. The Bhanus (or suns) of Bhanu; and the deities presiding over moments, of Muhurtta. Ghosha was the son of Lamba (an arc of the heavens); Nagavithi (the milky way), the daughter of Yami (night). The divisions of the earth were born of Arundhati; and Sankalpa (pious purpose), the soul of all, was the son of Sankalpa. The deities called Vasus, because, preceded by fire, they abound in splendour and might 15, are severally named apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhava (fire), Anila (wind), Anala (fire), Pratyusha (day break), and Prabhasa (light). The four sons of apa were Vaitandya, srama (weariness), Sranta (fatigue), and Dhur (burthen). Kala (time), the cherisher of the world, was the son of Dhruva. The son of Soma was Varchas (light), who was the father of Varchaswi (radiance). Dhava had, by his wife Manohara (loveliness), Dravina, Hutahavyavaha, sisira, Prana, and Ramana. The two sons of Anila (wind), by his wife siva, were Manojava (swift as thought) and Avijnatagati (untraceable motion). The son of Agni (fire), Kumara, was born in a clump of sara reeds: his sons were Sakha, Visakha, Naigameya, and Prishthaja. The offspring of the Krittikas was named Kartikeya. The son of Pratyusha was the Rishi named Devala, who had two philosophic and intelligent sons 16. The sister of Vachaspati, lovely and virtuous, Yogasiddha, who pervades
vp.4.19	Bharata had by different wives nine sons, but they were put to death by their own mothers, because Bharata remarked that they bore no resemblance to him, and the women were afraid that he would therefore desert them. The birth of his sons being thus unavailing, Bharata sacrificed to the Maruts, and they gave him Bharadwaja, the son of Vrihaspati by Mamata the wife of Utathya, expelled by the kick of Dirghatamas, his half brother, before his time. This verse explains the purport of his appellation; Silly woman, said Vrihaspati, cherish this child of two fathers (bhara dwa jam). No, Vrihaspati, replied Mamata, do you take care of him. So saying, they both abandoned him; but from their expressions the boy was called Bharadwaja." He was also termed Vitatha, in allusion to the unprofitable (vitatha) birth of the sons of Bharata 15. The son of Vitatha was
vp.5.7	When they had thus spoken, the Naga himself, almost exanimate, repeated feebly their solicitations for mercy. "Forgive me," the murmured, "O god of gods! How shall I address thee, who art possessed, through thine own strength and essence, of the eight great faculties, in energy unequalled? Thou art the supreme, the progenitor of the supreme Brahma(): thou art the supreme spirit, and from thee the supreme proceeds: thou art beyond all finite objects; how can I speak thy praise? How can I declare his greatness, from whom cone Brahma, Rudra, Chandra, Indra, the Maruts, the Aswins, the Vasus, and adityas; of whom the whole world is an infinitely small portion, a portion destined to represent his essence; and whose nature, primitive or derived, Brahma and the immortals do not comprehend? How can I approach him, to whom the gods offer incense and flowers culled from the groves of Nandana; whose incarnate forms the king of the deities ever adores, unconscious of his real person; whom the sages, that have withdrawn
vp.5.17	AKRURA, having set off in his quick travelling car, proceeded to visit Krishna at the pastures of Nanda; and, as he went along, he congratulated himself on his superior good fortune, in having an opportunity of beholding a descended portion of the deity. "Now," thought he, "has my life borne fruit; my night is followed by the dawn of day; since I shall see the countenance of Vishnu, whose eyes are like the expanded leaf of the lotus. I shall behold that lotus eyed aspect of Vishnu, which, when seen only in imagination, takes away the sins of men. I shall to day behold that glory of glories, the mouth of Vishnu, whence proceeded the Vedas, and all their dependant sciences. I shall see the sovereign of the world, by whom the world is sustained; who is worshipped as the best of males, as the male of sacrifice in sacrificial rites. I shall see Kesava, who is without beginning or end; by worshipping whom with a hundred sacrifices, Indra obtained the sovereignty over the gods. That Hari, whose nature is unknown to Brahma, Indra, Rudra, the Aswins, the Vasus, adityas, and Maruts, will this day touch my body. The soul of all, the knower of all, he who is all, and is present in all, he who is permanent, undecaying, all pervading, will converse with me. He, the unborn, who has preserved the world in the various forms of a fish, a tortoise, a boar, a horse 1, a lion, will this day speak to me. Now the lord of the earth, who assumes shapes at will, has taken upon him the condition of
vp.5.20	world. That, for the punishment of the rebellious, thou hast descended upon earth in my house, having been propitiated by my prayers, sanctifies our race. Thou art the heart of all creatures; thou abidest in all creatures; and all that has been, or will be, emanates from thee, O universal spirit! Thou, Achyuta, who comprehendest all the gods, art eternally worshipped with sacrifices: thou art sacrifice itself, and the offerer of sacrifices. The affection that inspires my heart and the heart of Devaki towards thee, as if thou wast our child, is indeed but error, and a great delusion. How shall the tongue of a mortal such as I am call the creator of all things, who is without beginning or end, son? Is it consistent that the lord of the world, from whom the world proceeds, should be born of me, except through illusion? How should he, in whom all fixed and moveable things are contained, be conceived in the womb and born of a mortal being? Have compassion therefore indeed, O supreme lord, and in thy descended portions protect the universe. Thou art no son of mine. This whole world, from Brahma to a tree, thou art. Wherefore dost thou, who art one with the supreme, beguile us? Blinded by delusion, I thought thee my son; and for thee, who art beyond all fear, I dreaded the anger of Kansa, and therefore did I take thee in my terror to Gokula, where thou hast grown up; but I no longer claim thee as mine own. Thou, Vishnu, the sovereign lord of all, whose actions Rudra, the Maruts,
vp.5.30	ersed the Sadhyas, Viswas, Maruts, and Gandharbas, like fleeces of cotton from the pods of the Simal tree, through the sky. Garuda also diligently plied his beak and wings and nails, and bit and bruised and scratched the deities who opposed his lord.
vp.5.37	Then there came to Kesava, when he was private and alone, a messenger from the gods, who addressed him with reverence, and said, "I am sent to you, O lord, by the deities, and do thou hear what Indra, together with the Viswas, Maruts, adityas, Sadhyas, and Rudras, respectfully represents. More than a hundred years have elapsed since thou, in favour to the gods, hast descended upon earth, for the purpose of relieving it of its load. The demons have been slain, and the burden of earth has been removed: now let the immortals once again behold their monarch in heaven. A period exceeding a century has passed: now, if

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