SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTERS OF THE BHATTAHARA-CARITA .

The first chap mainly deals with high glorifications of Shiva by His devoted attendant Nandi after giving information about the contents of the Bhumi khanda of the Padma p.

The second chap also deals with the glorification of Ekalinga by Vasuki and Narada Shiva granted boon to Vasuki as He was pleased by his austere penance.

The third chap contains some information about the Medapata tnbe and it is also concerned with their Smriti rites to some extent. The Medapatas 5 connection with the influence of Shiva has repeatedly been mentioned.

In the very beginning of the fourth chap the sage Saunaka asks Suta to tell him all about the gotras, and Suta replies accordingly The names of twentyfour gotras of the Bhatas and the Medapatas have been given. It has also been observed that attention to these glorifications of gotras makes one get the benefit of the result obtained by bath in the Ganges or such other pious acts. The Kaulinya guna is ascribed to the Medapatas Vedadhyayana, Sadacara and other such qualifications make one highly elevated. The fifth chap goes on describing the detailed cele brations of the marriage ceremony of the Medapatas.

The name of the sixth chap is Sadharana kula dharma mrupana Tins and the seventh chaps are mainly concerned with the genealogical list of the different gotras The eighth chap is concerned with Rudra mahatmya and confirms the connection of the Medapatas with the blessing of Shiva.

The ninth chap deals with many important things It ascribes an elevated place to the goddess Vindhya \asim who exists in Dhundhiksetra Some place has been given to the goddess Katyayani The names and ceremonial functions of some festivals and vratas (1 e, Naga prncami, Shivaratn etc) to be observed by the Bhatas and Medapatas have been gi\ cn The tenth chap primarily deals with the charactens dcs of the highest family', i e, Srcstha kula laksana.

The eleventh chap lays down thirteen samskaras the Hindus and remarks that one who does not perform accordance with the prescriptions of Shastras, becomes a "tty a, 1 c, out caste.

The subject-matter of the twelfth chap will be iderstood from the colophon which is as follows ‘iti £ndma-puranc patala-khande bhattahara cantre Sudramk-£ilpa-mrupanc dvadaioMhyayah, 1 e, in connection ith the determination of the craftsmanship of merchants id Sudros, here ends the twelfth chap of the Bhattaharainta belonging to the patala-khanda of the Padma p The thirteenth chap eulogises Ekalinga by mentioning lat even KaSyapa worshipped Ekalinga Even the ancestors the Bhatas and the Medapatas were devoted worshippers r Ekalinga.

Tlie fourteenth chap is more or less a Mali itmya f Bhattapura, the abode of the Medapatas who were always rotcctcd by Shiva These glorifications have been spoken r even by Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara.

The fifteenth chap gives a list of the most sacred laces and refers to a good number of deities (1 c, Vishnu, irahma, Surya, GaneSa, phundhipati, Kityayani, Vindhyaasinl besides Shiva) to be respected by the Medapatos Ve come to know from this chap that the Medapatas vcrc conversant with \ratas.

In the sixteenth chap the story of the five Pandavos las been introduced all on a sudden and the names of RAma, tlvana and DevakT nondana have frequently been mentioned.

The subject matter of the seventeenth chap may:>e broadly divided into two parts The first part deals with ihc glorification of Devaki nandana, and the second part to some extent, with the duties of kings.

The detailed description of the duties of the kings is contained m the eighteenth chap also where for the first time influence of\oga (i c f kumbhaka, rccaka f 152a) can be tneed.

The nineteenth chap contains the well-known story of the serpent sacrifice ofJanamejaya on account of his wrath created by the death of his father Panksit caused by Taksaka This story includes the narrative of the test of power between Taksaka and Dhanvantan, the healer.

The twentieth chap contains the latter part of the story It narrates how Panksit faced his end caused by Taksaka who himself had entered a fruit which was presented to the king.

The story of the battle of supremacy between Taksaka and Dhanvantan has twice been repeated in the twentyfirst chap which brings this Mbh story to an apparent end The twentysecond chap mainly deals with the identification of Medapatas, 1 e, the city of the Medapata The names of its surrounding hills have been mentioned But the so-called mam theme, i c, the Mbh story has not been forgotten Its colophon is as follows — hti £n-padma-purane patala-khande matrvakyam nama dvavimso’dhyayah’

The twentythird chap pnmanly deals with the revival ofnagakula by Astika A grand glorification of Astika has also been made.

In the twentyfourth chap Suta being asked by the sage Saunaka, narrated at length the details about jnati and jati, particularly gotras and pravaras.

The twentyfifth chap, 1 e, the last chap, also contains a list of the gotras which ha\ e been already stated elsewhere Its information is centered round the twentyfour gotras — their identification with modern gotras and their implications The last colophon may be quoted here ‘iti Shri-padma purane patala-khande bhat^ahara cantre caturvidha-purusartha-prasamgata-mrupane panca vim£atltamo’dhyayah, (f 206a).

This work consists of eight chaps and in all chap colophons it claims to belong to the Patala-khanda of the Padma-p 80 This claim, however, has no value as neither in the Devanagari recension of the Patala-klianda nor in the Bengal counterpart of it there are any such chaps as may correspond to those of the ms Thus the spunousness of its character is easily detected.

From its title it appears that the work deals with the glorification of Vaidyanatha — an emblem of Shiva It begins with a salutation to the Lord Vaidyanatha in the following way:

It then eulogises Vaidyanatha, and by way of describing how that particular phallus came to be in Vaidyanatha, a famous place in Bihar, it narrates a story which runs as follows.

Once upon a time Ravana practised penance for long Mahadeva, being pleased, appeared before him in person and advised him to proceed to Kailasa, Ins abode, and worship him there Ravana did accordingly Meanwhile Indra being afraid because of his prowess, approached Brahma with the other gods in his tram and prayed to dissuade Ravana But Brahma dismissed his prayer and said, Tf you adopt the attitude of jealousy towards others you will be turned into a village boar He then told him the story of a brahmin who had a similar fate Indra came to the earth and actually saw that boar who told him that he was a noble brahmin adept in various branches of learning but turned into a village-boar for disrespecting a brahmin who was of the opinion that without salutation to the ‘lord of gaurT, he., Shiva, learning meant nothing. After he had appeased the wrath of Shiva by so doing, he was changed again into a divine being and went in a celestial car to the abode of Mahadcva. He advised Indra not to dissuade Havana but to see the fun, as Havana would be doomed while trying to remove the Katlasa mountain. Now it so happened that Ravana used his energy to uproot the Kailasa mountain and take the same to his own kingdom But his efforts were resisted by Mahadcva who pressed the mountain with the thumb of his right foot. Ravana prayed to him and the latter agreed to go with him to Lanka on condition that Ravana carried the Linga in his own hands. Mahadcva warned Ravana saying that if the Linga were placed anywhere on the ground between Himalaya and Lanka he would settle there and would not move again. Ravana agreed. In case Ravana settled Shiva in Lanka, such a step would mean danger to the gods who apprehending such an eventuality approached Vishnu and after having propitiated him with prayer, requested him to prevent Ravana from taking the Linga to Lanka Vishnu then assumed the shape of an old brahmin and met Ravana on the way. At that time Ravana in order to respond to the call of nature requested him to hold the Linga only for two dandas. He agreed and seeing Ravana not returning within the scheduled time, placed that Linga on the ground. As soon as it touched the ground there arose a tumultuous uproar and many wonderful portents were seen. The Linga went inside the ground by twelve ahgulis and thenceforth the place was regarded as highly sacred and sanctified.

It has been stated that one Guhyalca and also his lord Kuvera worshipped this Vaidyanatha and attained meritorious results thereby'. Hearing the description of that place from Hanuman, Guhy r aka started for the place and arriving there actually found the Liflga as described by Hanfim'in There he requested the messenger of Shiva to tell him the way of worshipping the Linga The latter related accordingly and Guhyaka began to glorify the Linga Then quite accidentally Kuvera arrived and offered his worship to that Linga There among others, Shiva has been called ‘kamakhya pitha samsthaya (f 28a) Being pleased by the ‘Kuverastava’, Shiva showed His ‘ViSvarupa to him 83 Mahadeva (l e, Shiva) then ordered Kuvera to proceed to Ayodhya and meet Rama.

The worship and glorification of Shiva has been performed even by Vishnu In the fifth chap it has explicitly been mentioned that once Vishnu came and worshipped that phallus of Shiva according to the rites Shiva admitted that Ravana was dear to him as Prahlada was to Vishnu and related by the way how Gaun, afraid to hear of Ravana’s attempt to remove the Kailasa mountain, had gone to her father’s house Moreover, it has been said that once Vishnu planted the Linga of Mahadeva with his own hands and by the side of that Linga, Ravana excavated the well Candrakupa by name.

The name of Narada as a devoted Shaiva attracts our attention Narada is generally seen as the greatest devotee of Vishnu, but here it has been stated that once Narada approached Ravana and rebuked him for his devotion to Mahadeva, but at the latter’s advice Narada himself adored and saluted Lord Mahadeva who advised him in person to fetch water from the holiest place of Rame^vara far away in the south Narada did accordingly.

But it is interesting to note that although the work primarily deals with Vaidyanatha Linga, Kashi the foremost of the Shaiva sacred places has not been lost sight of, and it is seen that Mahadeva introduces a story in order to glorify that place The story may briefly be put in the following way.

11 This naturaly remnds us of the timous V ivartpa-daxfana of Snmad bhagavad g la It correspond to that of the C a very much In this state Mahadeva has been descr bed as very f erce-look ng covered with elephant-skin and garlanded with heads.

There was a pious brahmin in Ka£i whose wife after giving birth to a male child expired 84 When the child grew up he became a notorious rogue He was turned out of Kasi by the people on account of his wickedness He roamed here and there and as fate would have it, after reaching a village of the Candalas, died near the carcass of a boar. His dead body was carried away by the Candalas to the outskirts of the village There by chance a Tarakajapaka (one who was reciting the name of Shiva in religious meditation) was passing and Ins feet accidentally touched the corpse and he was taken to heaven as all his sms had been removed by the touch of the feet of a devoted person.

The name of the twelve famous Lingas appears in the last chap It remarks that there are a good deal of Lingas but the following twelve acquire a high place (1) Visvesvara (2) Kedaresvara (3) ShriSaila (4)BhimaSarpkara (5) Omkaresvara (6) Mahakalesvara (7) Somanatha (8) Vaidyanathesvara (9) Naganatha (10) Sai\ ales vara (11) Tryambakcsvara and (12) Ramesvara.

The materials necessary for Shiva’s worship have also been duly eulogised Being asked by Ravana, Mahadeva goes on glorifying the golden leaves of the Bilva tree It has been so stated that a demon named Malura was changed into the Bilva tree Mahadeva himself praises the Bilva tree.

A detailed description of the procedures of Shiva puja has been given It has been narrated by Shiva himself at the request of Ravana The followings are necessary m connection with the worship of Shiva.

Surya puja, dvara puja, padma dana, arghya, karpura, candanadi, madhuparka, paduka, dugdha, ghrta, puspa, madhu, iksurasa, vastra, uttanya, upavita (accompanied by Shiva and Gaun}, gandha originated from Malaya mountain, tila, aksata, svarna, tnsula, bilvapatra, dhusturapuspa, dhupa, dipa, Saly anna sameta naivedya, jala, chatra, vyajana, lavanga, tambula, camara, darpana, pataka and Sayya.

According to Hanuman the place which is sanctified by the presence of the famous Linga of Sn vaidyanatha should be regarded as the Puhasthana par excellence and there the golden Bilva tree is also highly sacred 85 In this connection the story of a pious Vaiiya has been narrated. He was a whole-hearted devotee of Shri-vaidyanatha, and by the merit of his attained to the region of Shiva to which he was carried by a celestial can.

The staunch upholders of Shaivism have gone so far as to bring Rama and have words of praise for Shiva put into his lips It has been said that Rama comes up to offer Ills worship to Shri-vaidyanatha with Kuvera in the aerial chariot. Rama highly glorifies Shiva who in reply admits that there exists an ‘Upasya-upasaka-bhava’ between them. 86

The influence of Devi-worship is also visible. It has been said that Ravana installed on the two sides of Mahadeva the deities of Gauri and Gayatri when Vishnu cut Sati’s body into 52 pieces. The description of some of the Devi-pithas of which Kamakhya occupies the first place, 87 also reveals the same influence.

An inconsistency of facts, and a sudden introduction of persons without any previous intimation 83 tend to suggest a multiple authorship. These and the influence of TantricShaivas point to a late date although it must be admitted that it is very difficult to ascertain correctly the date of the work as it does not suggest anything. Likewise, the materials are too insignificant to determine its provenance. 89

This work® 0 also claims to belong to the Patala-hhanda of the Padma-p.? 1 but on an analysis we find that none of its chaps, resembles any portion of the present Patala-Uianda in both the recensions. In fact there docs not exist any semblance between the two and in the whole of the Patalakhanda there is no scope for an inclusion of this work.

Tliis also is a Shaiva work and not immune from the influence of the Tantric ideal of Sakti worship here and there, Sakti advocated in tins work is to be regarded as the Sakti of Shiva, i e.,thc female aspect of Shiva and not the Vaishna\ior Brahmi Sakti.

Kahnjara is Mahadeva himself in the form of mountain (sailarupi mahadevah). Its power to remove sin is so great that a man can be purged of grievous sins resulting from the killing of a brahmin by its mere touch or even by a glimpse of it.® 2 The mountain Kalinjara is said to have been worshipped by the Rsi s, Devatas, Yaks as, Kimnaras, Gandhanas and Apsarascs. Hitherto unknown Raviksetra, a place near this mountain has also been glorified. Even waters of tins sacred place can cure the diseases of head, c>c, ringworm,' kustha etc. 03

The greatness of this mountain has further been established by a peculiar story It has been said that once upon a time the king of KashI had a beautiful queen Madalasl by name The king himself was an ardent Shaiva Once he touched the breast of Gunake£i, another maiden thinking her to be his wife and thereby incurred a transgression Now after realising his grave mistake, he became eager to make atonement for that He called for Sutihsna — a scholar well versed in Vedic lores, who advised him to go to Kalinjara He then spoke highly of the glories of that mountain Following his advice, the king went to that mountain and was expiated of all his sins.

The present analyiu of thu work is based on the fini hand ituJy of the two in 1 of the ume name, i e, K3h5jara mkhltmy both belonging to the Asiatic Society (Calcutta) numbering G 10109 and G IGG1 repectivcly We refer to ihcv ms. by A and B respectively 1 1 should be noted that we have practically followed A, the quotation being token from it and except where there is a special mention of B, A is to be talea into consideration.

Cf The different colophons of the work, e g, ibid, Iti id padtna furlm pllilakha^de iim3 njlbefvarah prajhamo'dhylyab f. 5a ill id padma pur5r>a pStlla khap^e. upaU-gm mihlimyr dvilly/dhylyb id frf padma purine pilJU Ikuxjr trtfyo'dhySyab f % (II 1 Shann wrongry notice chat the Serf chap- end/ tn f 8b) etc etr Ibid, dirhnlt sparvtnie-eaiva l>ral malutyi vyapcJ;U C 3b.

We have already observed that in this work evidences of Sakti influence are not rare Our contention can easily be proved by showing that at one place Kali, the female aspect of Mahadeva is said to have been the promoter of all learning, an attribute which is generally given to Sarasvati It has been expressly stated that there in the vicinity of the Kalinjara mountain worship should be offered to Camunda 94 The fourth chap although dealing with several names of Shiva still includes some names of the Bhairavis who are to be worshipped in different directions.

The water of some of the lakes has also been eulogised by Shiva himself The tradition goes that those hradas were sanctified by the touch of the feet of Rama Lakshmana and Sita.

It will not be very difficult to identify the mountain named Kalinjara from the information it gives Incidentally it may be mentioned that H P Shastn has tried to identify this mountain with a hill of the same name m Bundelkhand, but his suggestions may be 'wrong The ms says kalinjarottare bhage trivem nama tirthakah 95 and it is said to have been situated on the right side of the Ganges (gangayah daksine bhage) 96 Thus it is clear, that some place near Allahabad is intended.

It appears from the analysis of the second chap, that the writer is very fond of the seven sacred places, viz., Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kashi, Kanci, Avantt and Puri. These seven are producers of salvation according to him.

lb d f lb of R A docs not retain this vs The difference between the two mss VLZ A and B becomes more prominent when we observe that n the first chap ofB a short descr p on of the churning of ocean w given but no such statement is found con tamed to be n A Moreover the sudden appearance of Mirkantfeya rnBis consp cuom by ia absence nA

The work is comparatively small in size and is complete in six chaps, only, the chaps, also being not very large.

It is to be noted that like others this work also claims to belong to the Patala-khanda of the Padma-p. d7 y but on an analysis of its subject-matter we find that it deals with such ideas and stories as should not have found place in the Patala-khanda which in fact does not contain them. The following analysis of its contents will show that this claim is not based on facts.

In the first chap., the Holi festival has been highly eulogised. It says that offerings should be given to Devi, the female entity. 58 It lays down several customs for worshipping the goddess and prays so that a devotee of Her may always be kept close to Her and She may remain pleased with him always." In order to stamp the influence of Devi Hola, it records the story of a king named Kolo who ruled in the Nairrta (south-western) direction m ancient days.

The beginning of the second chap, contains Virasena’s ‘stava’ to goddess Hola who being hostile to him devastated his large army. Virasena himself while waging war against the goddess was killed m a fight which has been described in detail. Then it goes on describing the grandeur of the fight between the Devi Hola and the Great Asura. This time too she came out victorious and the whole world became grateful to Her. The Devi then narrates the different sizes of Lmga, 1 e, the male counterpart of Her.

The third chap, deals mainly with the story of a fictitious war between the goddess Hohka and the lord of the gods, 1 e, Indra Indra, ultimately defeated, seeks the help of the Devi.

The fourth and fifth chaps, deal purely with the glorifications of that goddess In the former it is stated that she has been worshipped by various names and in the latter some Shaiva Saktis, e g, Kali, Candi, MaheSvan have been invoked. 100

The name of the last chap is ‘granting of boons 101 It would not be out of place here to point out the Shaiva characteristic of this work Hoh, a present day name for the ‘vasanta utsava 5 of the ancient days, is essentially connected, so far as it is now practised, with the worship of Krishna or RadhaKrishna in particular A reference to the Holi as a Shaiva festival is seldom found Its Vaishnava charac tenstic is so famous that it has been regarded almost as the greatest festival of the Vaishnavas who observe this day as a day of joy and celebration.

But here we find the festival has been deified and the stamp of Shaiva influence has been affixed to it The goddess here has been made more or less a female entity of Shiva showing thereby the blending of the Shaivas and ShaivaShaktas.

It would be not a very hard task to say something about its provenance The author shows an unnecessary zeal for the country named Kalinga Much has been said about a country named Kalinga 102 and the king of the Kalinga country 103 The references to these are quite out of place and have no direct beanng on the subject matter proper From this it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the work may have been composed somewhere m Kalinga, i e, modem Orissa.

Unlike the other treatises which are generally associated with a particular place, this Mahatmya can claim its command over a vast territory This is proved by a number of commentaries which are available on this treatise We are not aware of any other Mahatmya claiming to belong to any part of the Padma-p which possesses commentaries In this sense it should be regarded as unique.

The very mode of the beginning of this treatise leads one to believe that this is a work of the Shaivas The ms 10 begins with £rf-gane£aya namah and om namah Shivaya We know from the beginning that once all the great sages headed by MaKhandcya arnved at Dvaraka to hear from Vyasa the glorifications of Shiva as narrated by Vishnu There, at first all the sages worshipped Shiva in. a befitting manner 105 Thus one can be sure that it deals with nothing else but the glorifications of Shiva — the primeval god in highly eulogistic terms.

The only importance of this treatise lies in the fact that it describes very vividly some iconographic features of Shiva — the Lord These iconographic characteristics are of importance so far as they introduce some hitherto unknown specimens of Shaiva images Mention may be made, e g, of the term ghanta-hastaya (cf Afatsja p) etc These iconographic features of Shiva generally arc not found m the iconographic texts and seldom such images of Shiva holding a bell (ghanta) in his hand arc seen. We quote below some of the interesting iconographic features of Mahadeva as presented b} this unique ms.

{Tramhtf<m--£va appears Iilr the Kail 1 m motmurn, Jus matin! Jocks ghucrim b> the moonbeam hts tJ fee cactfocunnl m the tbrrchonof the nose Hr hi adopted the \ Irtami posture tlir position of Jut arms being remark able His trim Inn? down to the knee hr his a pleasant face and his waist it cirruinimbuUtrt! bj the snakes Hr is surrounded b> a hmt of the sigta, To such Cod of god, the prunes il being salute is offered).

Some other peculiarities ire mentioned befow nirasupln roihldarpi fchltmc 1 \andlbhi)a lustra ghinj ihast \va tr mmab w var dn hhrtJme tub 1!) ujt kaAkita dhSnntsinmth 11 tiamo Jiirtnvngaibhlva natr> htratiya kamas-tu juhu>at tilaktena) and one desirous of having a long span of life should sacrifice with ghee and honey (ayus kamas tu juhuyad-ajyena madhuna tatha). 11

With all these characteristics it is evident that the staunch upholders of Shaivism wanted to attract the attention of the people m general and tried to persuade them to adopt Samsm by showing this picture of all-powerful Shiva and by presenting to them Shiva’s immense power of granting boon to His devotees They eulogised Shiva so far that they did not hesitate to imitate and take the help of the Vedic mantra Once, for example, Shiva is praised m the following: way:

etc etc In their eagerness to propagate the sectarian doctrines they went so far as to bring down Vishnu and lus followers who were their strongest challengers to a very uc ower sphere and compelled Vishnu to speak ig i y 1V.

The name of this treatise is sufficient enough to prove the anxiety of the champions of Samsm w o were greatly anxious to push their own sect and creed to the very higest degree of predominance There are reasons to believe that on^nally thf name of this work was Shiva sahasra-nama stotra and not Veda-sara-sahasra-nama stotra. Later on the name was changed into the latter form Perhaps by changing its name they wanted to emphasise its importance – as the essence of the Vedas – and there by tried to enforce the people to read this Mahatmya with care and attention.

This work claims to be a part of the Samkara-samhita of the Uttara-khanda of the Padma-p.

But its claim has got no value as we do not know any part of the Uttara-khanda of the Padma-p. which is named Samkara-samhita. It is purely an independent work which claims to be a part of a great and widely read Purana in order to popularise itself.

It appeirs from the name of tins work 111 tint this is nothing but a commentary of the work named \cda-s"irasahasra nama and indeed in the \cry beginning, the ms admits that it says \cda s'ira sahasrasy-a vy'ikliy't samyag uracyatc. 117

The sole importance of this treatise lies in depicting the glory of the thousand names of Shiva — boss a man can attain salvation by muttering these thousand names of Shiva It also states that for protection from thcpiHcis these thousand names should be taken m The ms ends with the speech of Vjosadesa to die sages who arc (old that they ha\c learnt c\ cry thing about the glorifications of thousand names winch arc the sure means to attain mok<a Then m the following lines Vy asides a states the object of reading this Mahatmya.

Tlus ms quotes various passages from some Upamsads and different Furanas (including the Upapur mas) A list of the names of these Puranas and others is given below:

We bw «m>n«l ihe m» Veda-tfr sahatra nima llU no G 8401 belonging to ihe As at e Soc efy (Catama)

From these exhaustive quotations we can also be surely confirmed that it is after all a Shaiva work Not to speak of the quotations from theShaiva Puranas (which, however, form the major part of the quotations) like, Sna Skanda, Linga etc which often glorify Shiva-mahatmya, the passages taken from the other Puranas of the non Shaiva type also have been carefully selected as these also proclaim a thorough glorifica tion of Shiva — the eternal deity, the depiction of His mode of worship, characteristics etc Only the most important passages dealing with Shiva worship as found m non Shaiva Puranas have been quoted.

We are concerned here chiefly with the passages said to be quoted from the Padma p All the passages (some of them arc not found in an> of the editions of the present Padma-p.) deal with the glorifications of Sis a in highly eulogistic terms. Some of them describe the characteristic features of Mahadeva 110,some bear evidence that Rama once established and worshipped a Stva-linga on thcsacrcdbank of the river Godavari 151. In some passages obeisance has been made to Shiva 111, in some others He has been regarded as the summum bontim of all Hindu Philosophy. 113 His iconographic features also ha\ c not been neglected. Some of the characteristic of His appearance have been dealt uitfi in a passage. 151 In one passage Shiva in a characteristic way lias been made superior to the other two of the Trinity (eg, Brahma and Vishnu) In fact these two arc said to have been sprung up from Shiva, an idea which docs not coincide with our conventional attitude. But here BrahmSi says clearly to Shiva ‘Both Hari and I have grown up from you.

This ms. needs scrutinising discussion as it throw's light on the hitherto unknown division and part of the Padma-p. As we have referred to this matter in our first chap (pp. 1344), here we will rest satisfied only vs ith pointing out that it is this ms. which throws out suggestion that broadly speaking there may be two divisions of the Padma-p y the Prathama-khanda and the Dvitlya-khanda. 12 Whether this proposition is acceptable or otherwise, is not the question. What we intend to say is that as this ms. is known by another name, i c., Padma-purana-samuccaja 1 7 (collection of the Padma-p.) and as we shall see later on, this embodies in itself a considerable portion of the Padma-p, the evidence of this may be taken to be the same as that of the Padma-p w; and hence its suggestion is worth considering. Moreover, it is interesting to note that it refers to the Parva divisions of the Padma-p, lts We have remarked earlier that the Parva division of the Padma-p. was an earlier one in comparison with the Khanda division. Tims we find that the evidence of this ms. is not at all negligible.

A critical analysis of the ms. will show' that the a 1 U 1 worship predominates all through the work; and this iakti is no other than the Shiva4akti. Tims it will not be unwise to conclude that it is the outcome or some o\cr-7calous propagators of the Sakti-cult who, impitc of their knowing that Puskara was predominant!) an original place for Brahma-worshippers, utilised it with n view to popularising their sect, associating themselves with a place already regarded as divine and accepted as such by the mass. Its great devotion towards Maheivari-iakti can be shown from the following narrative.

In days of yore there lived a demon named Kuku who by the strength of his arms had vanquished the host of the gods The latter being defeated practised penance in the iSila mountain They invoked samhara hanni raudn murti who being pleased at heart vehemently attacked ^ Kutu and at once devastated his army Kuku by his may a brought an untimely night, but her power was irresistible She (Shiva sakti) with little effort on her part killed the demon at once All the gods assembled together and eulogised her. 129

It reminds us of the story of shri in candi, but without establishing a fundamental connection between the two it will be unwise to infer one s influence on the other Moreover, the narrative mentioned above can m no way be said to be the same as that of Sn in candi The ms repeatedly narrates the triumphant activities of Raudn Sakti She is taken to be omnipresent and omm potent Through Her all knowledge of the world has on gmated As a direct reference only two bnes are quot

But as in the case of most of the similar treatises it a o embodies glorifications of several other gods and go esses The compromising spirit among the different sects an sectaries which dominated the thoughts of the then note Ind ans for a considerable penod is also seen m 1 11 s Mahatmya.

Although it is predominated by the Sakti worshippers as wc have seen above invocation and \ orship or c\otion to such gods as Brahma Vishnu or Aditya is not conspicuous by its absence in it The compromising spint of the wor can best be followed by the following simple rnrraUv which we will see adheres to the worship of Brahma and Adity a at the same time..

Once a king on.l,c n. of b> Ai.amcdha saenfice. cm..I. Ins charioteer for a jo) nde on? M, le came across a beautiful and heavenly lake. In the middle of the lake, there was a nice large lotus. He being pleased with the sight of the lotus, ordered his charioteer to pluck that up. The charioteer did accordingly. But no sooner had he touched that flower, a loud uproar (humkarah) was heard in consequence of which the charioteer fell and died instantly. The king also became devoid of strength and pale and fell down on the ground being turned into a leper. 151 He understood that he had himself committed a grave sin; hence, in order to get rid of such a pitiable condition he approached VasiShriia who told him that that was a place of worship of Brahma This lotus had taken its growth from Brahma Himself. Its very sight makes one attain the result of seeing other gods There was an image of Brahma in the midst of the water there. An image of the Sun-god was also found here. Vasistha also advised him to approach Lord Brahma in Puskara and propitiate Him The king did accordingly. In Puskara, he caused a jewelled image of the Sun-god to be built and worshipped Him with various rites and performances. At the end of his sacrifice, he went to heaven in the abode of the Sun-god. 132

To an intelligent interpreter the above-mentioned story has much narrative value. Among all other mss claiming to belong to the Padma-p. this is the only one which suggests the alliance of the sects of Brahma and Surya, It is a well-known fact that from time immemorial Puskara is associated with the holy worship of Brahma We have already shown how the original portion of the Padma-p not a very small portion of which was associated with the glorification of Puskara, was the outcome of the efforts of the Brahmaworshippers. In the present day it is in Puskara only that the worship of Brahma still goes on in perhaps the only temple of Brahma in India. Thus it is obvious that Puskara has been controlled and influenced by the Brahma-sect. But at the same time it would be rather unwise to deny that Puskara did never engage the attention of other rival sects or sectaries. In the Puranas a good number of references arc not wanting which will show that from time to time the Vaishnavas or the Shaivas had tried to spread their influence on this famous sacred place of the Brahmaites. This trio came into conflict at some time regarding Puskara; but it was the Brahmaites who came out successful ultimately'.

Although the Sun-worshippers (Sauras) did never rise into such prominence as the big three reached, still from the inclusion of the Sun-god in the Pancayatana puja, the conclusion becomes irresistible that a sect was formed by some people who took Surya as the supreme god.

There was a difference in attitude between this s^ct and the three major sects While these three were from time to time most friendly in their behaviour and only at times came into conflict, the Saura sects were never hostile to any other (Their attack on Madhva sect stands as an exception Cf Saura-p) It is not difficult to understand from the abovementioned narrative that this is the contribution of the Sunworshippers They like aU others tried to associate themselves with the famous sacred place But m doing so they have never for a moment even engaged themselves in denouncing Brahma or the Brahmaites Their duty was not to belittle the Brahma-sects but to associate themselves with those sects. We are told that in that very lake where there was an image of Brahma, an image of the Sun-god was also found Hence it has been mentioned that the king sinned against Brahma but was purged of all sms as he propitiated Divakara (i e., Sun-god) These are sure evidences that the Saura sects far from trying to come into a clash with the Brahmaites, tried to develop a friendly attitude towards them.

The alliance between these two sects is shown by another interesting narrative It describes the installation of an image of the Sun-god on the right side of the image of Brahma 133 by a king of Dvaravatl, named Satrajit who received the syamantaka mam from Surya It is also reported that previously, the son of Ravana (Indrajit) had established the image in Lanka.

The ms in its entire range is full of such sectarian affinities between the Surya-worshippers and Brahma-worshippers Prom this, the above conclusion can easily be averred.

A few words should here be mentioned as regards its sociological standpoint The Parvatlya brahmins have been denounced m more places than one They neither deserve to be invited in the Sraddha ceremonies nor do they have the sanctity in administering these ceremonies 134 Similarly the Northern or Southern brahmins do not enjoy a high position It has been stated that those brahmins often commit such actions as are debarred by the Smritiauthorities 135 Does it betray the work’s preference for the Western brahmins who live near Puskara?

This work 13 ® has definitely come out of the pen of one or more Vishnu-worshippers Here the sages are hearers ana the speaker is Narada who reports to the sages what Brahma had said to him 137 in ‘harer-aradhana-vidhi’ and 5n-Krishnaradha-vrata Thus it is found that ultimately Brahma eulogises Krishna and Radha Moreover, there is an episode which also praises and glorifies the gift of a lamp in a Vishnu-temple It is as follows.

Calcutta Sanskr t College ms no Parana 12 (M «1) It although the last chap has been called dvadaso dhyayah The post colophon (aecf 34b) reads samvat 1821 Ml W 14 Va Suryah Sunday m the dark fortnight (k n - P^a) cf the month of Magha1764 A D It further trad, l.kh.tamof some mg there are four more folios whichi do not bel^g ^ ^ of ^ Kirtuk4 mSha other ms (It may for instance Society (Calcutta) does not claim to belong tmya which we have examined in the»«^^efirst J wtuch cIaims to to the Paim.p There are two n»s ^u,,U In brahma purane belong to the Brahma-p h» e 1 “‘f lo P ^ othrr 1S thc m 3 no G 1058 whch ksrtuka mihStmye atfavupio ^ s sha5tn Cat. vol v pp 192 and claims to belong to the Sanat kurolra samhiU 287)

Kirttika mahatmya narada uvaca idam eva may a onto brahma loka pitamahah f lb j r 9,

In ancient days, there was a king named BhadradhI in the time of Raivata Manu He had a son named SudarSana who was well versed in all the branches of learning His capital was near the Mahendra mountain in the Narmada region 139 Once he went ahunting and met a maiden, the daughter of a king of Gauda who came there sporting with her attendants from her father’s kingdom 139 He married her and later on undertook the responsibility of kingship when is father retired Once his wile, Madanalasa by name, was offering a lamp to the Vishnu-temple when her husband asked her to come immediately But she said that she was then engaged in offering lamps and explained to her husband the g ori ca tion of dipadana narrating the story of her previous birth in which she was a mouse and chanced to turn up the wick of a mildly burning lamp placed by a sage in a Vishnu-temple in Godavari 140 It would appear that Vishnu-puja and dipadana were not known in that territory of SudarSana (i e., Narmada region). Remembering that the system of the gift of lamps in shrines was current in South India, 141 in the Godavari territory in particular, can we hold that this episode hints at the prevalence of dipadana in Bengal (Gauda) where it had been introduced from Godavari region, although the place of its origin did not encourage the wide-scale prevalence of it?

Its adherence to Vishnu-worship is further proved by its amazing silence on other Sectarian gods and goddesses. If ‘argumentum ex silentio is considered a primary factor that stands against such proposition, its abundant mention of the name of Radha and frequent rofermcc to Radha-norsiup m corroborate the stamp of Vaishnava influence on it. How even a great devotee of Shiva failed to influence or coerce his wife, a lifelong worshipper of Vishnu, to give up the Vaishnava dharma has been pointed out by the interesting episode of Jalamdhara and Vmda who became in her next birth the Tulasi plant and always resided near Vishnu (f. 4b). Moreover, ninefold devotion to Krishna tends to show its Vaishnava influence. It has been said:

Shalagrama, a medium of worship ofVishnu has not only been referred to more than once, but a nice, interesting story on origin of SlhgrSma has been told According to this, Vedailcsih (a sage), who was practising penance on the ban of the Gangs, cursed a heavenly damsel, sent by India become a riser (GandaU) which would contain Salagrama stones T he nscr is considered more or less akin to t lose sa red places of India which are famous for their associate with Knna worship Dvaraka, Mathura, \ mdAvana are a sacred places or Krishna-worship It has been said that by th taking of Vishnu’s name or even remembering it purges o of all sms The festivals, eg, Radh’istami, Gopustami etc mentioned in the >%orh arc all Vaishna\a celc rations.

It is highly probable tint this ms has been origin conceded in Mathura The major portion of the thl ^ 1 ^ describes the glorification of Mathura " uc i i troduccd suddenly and is not related, in any "f 1 nilijcclt mentioned before V.ud doenpuem or Madras and it, suirounding temtone, rule out t te a c i m not lieen ivnuonb, a deoted admtrer or Matftura, rending in am other part of India f -m, the.

It propounds an clear and unambiguous terms the Vaidlka (llnrrm According to It 'y, ltat ins becn sancUoned b) the Vedas ts dintnvt and ins bccn denounced in them adharrnl' Dinrrm IS also substantially rmde up of good tmnuers and customs prenlcnt at diffcrcnt times and placestt' It has bccn further stated, of tv.o kinds, prae rtutnöhka and nn e, do a thing and acqutrc dlnrttil and do not perform a sanful act, and tbctcb) also (i)nrtnt acqutred Day t ins bccn suggested as the bi-qts ot dhrrrnt Some acts 'Ouch tnctlt ptCt> and merit have been stated. These are ‘annadana, ‘ckadaSIvrata-vidhp, ‘atithi-seva, ‘vapl-kupadi-lhanana’ and others. But above all of them stands the glory of the month of Karttika which is itself the step to Vishnudoka A brahmacarin lying on the floor, taking havisya (rice and clarified butter) as the only food on palala leaves and worshipping Damodara in the month of Karttika, attains Vishnu-loka. 145 Karttika has been regarded as dear to Krishna, and it inspires attachment to Krishna and is as efficacious as sacrifices, ascetic practices and gifts (yajna-tapo-diina-phalam).

The tradition goes that the number of the overliving ^ persons (cirajivin) is seven, but the list in f. 18a includes Markandeya and makes it eight, e.g.,

Among the social customs one interesting feature is that the wives leaving their beds in the morning would whirl round their heads a branch of the apamarga plant (Achyranthes aspera). 146

From the colophons of seven chaps, thereof we know that this work claims to be a part of the Uttara-khan^a of ihePadma-p But according to the eighth chap., it has been taken from the Patala-khanda This divergence is immaterial as this is found neither in the Patala nor in the Uttara-khand a Karttika-mahatmya as contained in the latter is widely different from this work.

This is the work 147 of the Sawas who In order to establish the supremacy of ther sect have openly denounced the Vaishnavas and the Brahmaltes At the very begrnmng Lomasa and other sages ask Bhrgu (who was seated comfortably on the bank of the Reva) to enlighten them who were maya mugdha, 1 e, led to a wrong track by Illusion In the matter of achievement of salvation, after considermg the rahasya of the Vedas Bhrgu In reply Introduces a story which glorifies Sva It as follows.

Once each of Brahma and Vxsnu openly declared himself supenor to the other148 Brahma challenged Vlsnu and the latter accepted It Soon they began to fight, 39then suddenly both of them were overpowered by a penetrating and powerful ray of light and Sva appeared there Both of them patd their respects to Sva and requested Him to speak to them In glorification of HIS sacred places.

Calcutta Sanskrit College ms no Purana 21 (fois 144) Nagarl acnpt It bean the date January t 825 wt tten in English on the reverse of the first fol o contams two independent works () Ki' mahatmya----dann-ung to belong to the patåla khaoda of the Padma and (a) Gaåga putra mahatmya of the Skanda-p Thas entire rns has been ment oned as Gangå putra mahåtmya an the handwritten 1st of ms cat of the col\ege s well n Sastn and Gum g Descrtptzoe Cataloge.

The sages assembled there, having been desirous to hear the glorifications of Kasi, Bhrgu told them accordingly In the Krta age there was a lang named Bala vahana He had a queen named Vibhavarx Bemg extremely effeminate, he lost hrs kingdom, which was taken charge of by his mends and enemies Feeling helpless and msecure, he entered the Vindhya forest With his Wife and after five days reache t e hermitage of Salankayana Then they travelled agam and after some time both of them became very hungry The queen referred to a 'gatha' sung by 'purana vidojanah'l e, people versed in Purana, viz.

and requested the king to Jail her and satisfy himseJf with her flesh The king did accordingly When he was eating her flesh some lions came there The king fled from there leaving the body of his wife behind He met on the way four dvijas who were carrying mvara, killed them with his sword and sat to feast upon their flesh Finding their ‘ajina’ and ‘upavita he became repentant for committing brahmahatya He returned to Salankayana’s hermitage Salankayana advised him to go to Kali and offer prayer before Mahadeva The king did accordingly and was purged of all sins.

There is another episode of Krsa, son of Bhaluka, which seeks to establish the miraculous power of muttering Shiva's name Krsa was a devil incarnate who enjoyed the pleasure of the company of his step mothers and his preceptor s wives for twelve years But at the time of his death he had acciden tally uttered the name of Shiva and Kali and hence he was taken to Shiva loka after his death Moreover, there are abundant references to Brahma and other gods worshipping Mahadeva, the greatest of all gods 119 There was a Sudra named Kramelaka in Kasi, who was devoted and was sin cere in his pious acts His wife and son followed his way He offered worship to Shiva, and was free from such pseudo reli gions as areknowm as vyalika dharma 150 Now r once,Bhagun the great sage w'as maltreated by Kramelaka when the sage seeking refuge at the latter's residence, was refused Hence Kramelaka had to pay bitter pnce for this as he was pena lised after his death Ultimately he muttered the name of Shiva and was saved The staunch followers of Shaivism tried to make even Vyasa a true follower of Shiva. 151

About its provenance some tentative suggestions may be given In more places than one, there are references to Kikata (Bihar) which has been spoken of m high eulogistic terms. In one place it has been mentioned that Kikata is superior even to Varanasi152 It may be possible that the local people (i e., belonging to Kikata) in therr zeal for the glorification Of their own land ascribe such eminence to their native land knowing fully well that the treatise In hand has really to deal With the glorification of Kashi.

The work claims to belong to the Patala-khanda of the Padma-p, but its claim is not legitimate, for the Pataiakhanda neither In Its Devanagari nor in its Bengal recension contains it.

It 153 is found in the colophons of each of the chaps of this work that it has been taken or quoted from or is only the repetition of the Padma-p. y but it omits to mention the name of any particular Khanda like the Patfila, Uttara or some other from which it may have been taken. But actually, in the present ed. of the Padma-p wc nowhere find such Vshs. as constitute the Kapilag!ta. Most probably it has been written by an upholder of Tantridsm as it deals only with the Tantric Philosophy and nothing else. In doing so, it has broken the usual tradition of the Puranas or the Mahatmyas which claim to be parts of the Puranas. Here the Suta is not the speaker as is usually the case in the Puranas and Mahatmyas, but he is the hearer. Here he asks questions and docs not answer the questions put to him.

It goes on elaborately discussing the basic principles which in every case are five in number. A large list of the principles or the things which contain the number five is given. These arc panca-brahma, panca-dcva, panca-sthana, panca-matrk^, panca-\ akya, pafica-Sunya, pancavastha, pancadcha, pafica-matra, panca-vcda, panca^gupta, paiicapadma, panca-bhuta, panca-kriya, paftca-dik, pauca-kona, panca-krtya, panca-pramana, paficanga, panca-mudra, pancakala, pafiaumarga, pancakasa, pnnca-dchabhimanin, panca\ ad>a, panca-pada gajatrl, panca-iakti, paiTca-nirnaja, paiicagnih, pancananda and panca-diksa. This mysterious number five which is essentially a \cry useful term to the itrics has ^becn dealt with in an exhaustive way. The ca-dcvatas are as follows:

The Sauras worship Sürya, the Saktas offer their obeisance to Sakti, the Ganapatyas pray to Ganesa, Visnu is worshipped by the Vaishnavas and the Shaivas pay their whole-hearted devotion to Shiva.158 The different sects feel satisfied in offering prayer to their respective deities? But even among these five deities some sort of distinction has been made. It has been remarked that Sürya-worship is better than Ganapati-worship Visnu IS considered supenor to Sürya, In the hierarchy, who himself IS lower than Shiva who a ain stands below Sakti159.

We know how the Samkhya-Yoga system of Hindu Philosophy has considerably Influenced the existing Puranas or the Mahatmyas said to bg related to them In fact there are ample evidences to show that the exzsung Puranas discuss to some extent or other the Samkhya system of creation But In this work} a list of SIX systems of Hindu Philosophy IS shown where the names of these two systems are not found. 160 The Carvaka system has been included and Nyaya, Naiyayika and Tarka arc mentioned separately. There are two other lists of sad-darsana. But nowhere Saipkhya-Yoga is included. 161

It is needless to speak at length about the description and glorification of Tantric Philosophy. It discards the elementary things required in common worship. Such procedures as anga-nyasa, cJhyana, bhuta-iuddhi, prana-praththa, kavaca-yantra-pujana, sahasra-nama-japa, homa etc. which are essential to ordinary worship ultimately fail to gi\e sal\ ation. Only by muttering paiicaksara mantra 162 one may attain moksa or final salvation from bondage The emphasis on the human body — a usual custom with the Tantric priests, has been referred to. Kapila compares different nadls of the body with different rivers which respecthely arc BhSgirathi, Yamuna, Gan^laki, Saras\ ati, Narmada, TaptI, K<1\ cri, Gomatl, Tamraparni, Sindhu and others. 163 In the process of self-realisation, Guru is accorded the highest honour and authority. 161

This is going to be the last work 1 " which we a analysing in course of our study. The name itself md'cates d dils with the expositions and illustrations of the dhousimd names of Ganapati. These names have been spota£by Ganapati himself who had learnt them from Mahadeva So, it is highly probable that this is a contribution of the oLapatya sect who had tried to have tins treatise included in the Ai,«a-p. But unfortunately their endeavour did nrrt bear fruit. This short treatise was never recognised p Of 'tcmlaSalonsy and rivalry of the different religious communities have been manifested here. Some Puranas belonging predominantly to. lhC, al 'p’ \ a i devoted blaming the Vaishnavas who m their whole-hearted energy to belittle the Shaivas. The neces sary lines may be quoted:

kernel, puranesu stvotkarsa-pratipadaten vmsnavanam purananam-asatyatvam visnor-mndaca smaryate E vunotkarsa-praupadakesuShaiva-purananam-asatyatvam Shiva-nmda ca gadham pratiyate.

It appears that throughout.hri ms an idea^a'p^yi vads Thus aldioughitproto^eo^ has repeltcdly sect, the maxim that a „ „ to ce ment the difbeen suggested here ^ n and sectaries have been made and Bhdgaiato-p. feature of the ms. is that it The second,” cn ptS) SO me of which arc Cauda, delineates eighteen Andhra, Dravida, Nagara, Parailka, Maithila, Karnataka, Kerala and KaSmira. 1 7 It 5s obvious that the list docs not primarily offer any new information but the names mentioned here are hardly found anywhere else. Gauda, eg.,is seldom used to mean the script of that name which may be proto-Bengali or Bengali. Similarly there is no script known as Karnataka or Kerala These arc the names of provinces or some territories Here these imply the scripts used in the respective countries.

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