Markandeya
Mrikandu had a son named Markandeya. Since Markandeya was born form Vishnu, he shone with radiance and was also a very holy man. He became well-versed in the knowledge of all the shastras (sacred texts).
Markandeya started to pray to Vishnu. Vishnu was so pleased withhim that Markandeya was granted the boon that he would compose a Purana. This was the Markandeya Purana.
The entire world is periodically destroyed and flooded with water. At the time of one such destruction, all living beings on eath were killed. But Markandeya was spared by Vishnu. He floated on the water like a dried leaf. This went on for a long, long time. To understand how long this was, one has to have some conception of the measurement of time.
The small unit of time is a nimesha, fifteen nimeshas constitute one kashtha, thirty kashthas make a kala and thirty kalas are one kshana. There are six kshanas in one danda, two dandas in one muhurta and thirty muhurtas in one day. There are thrity days in a month and each month is divided into two pakshas of fifteen days each. Two months constitute a season (ritu) and three ritus constitute an ayana. There are thus six seasons and two ayanas in a year.
The two ayanas are known as uttarayana and dakshinayana. One year for humans is equivalent to one day for the gods. Uttarayana corresponds to day for the gods and dashinayana to night.
Twelve thousand years of the gods are known as a mahayauga. Each mahayuga is divided into four sub-periods of satya yuga, treta yuga, dvapara yuga and kali yuga.
Two thousand mahayugas are merely one day for Brahma. There are fourteen eras (manvantara) in each of Brahma’s days. Brahma’s nights are just as long and it is during Brahma’s night that the world is destroyed and flooded with water. Each of Brahma’s days is called a kalpa.
A hundred years for Brahma are equivalent to a single day for Vishnu.
This gives you some idea of how long Markandeya floated on the water, throughout one of Brahma’s nights. The sight of the water everywhere frightened Markandeya out of his wits. But he continued to pray to Vishnu. And thanks to Vishnu’s blessing, no harm came Markandeya’s way.
Vishnu even appeared before the sage and said, “I shall save you. I always protect those who pray to me devoutly. Let me also tell you the signs of my true devotees. They love all other living beigns and are free of jealousy and hatred. They never cause pain to others through their thoughts, words or deeds. They are peace-loving. My devotees serve sages, guests, and parents well. They build temples and dig wells and ponds. They read and interpret the Puranas. In fact, you display all the traits of a true devotee of Vishnu’s.”
Blessed by Vishnu, Markandeya performed a lot of tapasya in the tirtha known as shalagrama.
Some other Puranas state that Markandeya became immortal due to a boon received from Vishnu. The Padma Purana however states that this boon was received from Brahma. The Markandeya Purana gives many more details about Markandeya.
The Ganga
In fact, the Ganga is so sacred that even if one just thinks of her, all pain is relieved and all sins are pardoned. Along the banks of the Ganga is a remarkable tirtha known as Prayaga. Brahma himself peformed a yajna there. You can bathe in the waters of all the tirthas if you so desire. But the punya (store of merit) that you will acquire from this is only a sixteenth of the punya you will acquire from touching a few drops of water from the Ganga. A person who anoints his head with mud taken from the banks of the Ganga becomes like Shiva himself. There are three objects that are sacred to Vishnu – the Ganga, the tulasi (basil) bush and dust from the feet of a devotee of Vishnu.
There are some other rivers also in which the Ganga is always present. Their names are Godavari, Sarasvati, Kalindi, Kaveri, Krishna, Reva, Vahuda, Tungabhadra, Bhimarathi, Vetravati, Tamraparni and Shatadru.
Vahu
In the solar dynasty there was a king named Vrika. Vrika’s son was Vahu and Vahu became king after his father’s death.
Vahu was a good king who followed the righteous path. He ruled the earth well. The four clases are brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras. It is desirable that each of the classes should follow the duties that are prescribed for it, otherwise there is complete chaos. What are the duties prescribed for each of the four classes? The Narada Purana will detail them subsequently.
To come back to the point, Vahu ruled so well that during his reign, none of the classes deviated from its pre-assigned duties. As you have been told earlier, the earth is divided into seven regions or dvipas. In each of these dvipas, King Vahu performed an ashvamedha yajna (horse sacrifice). The king was not only wise, he also defeated all his enemies. His subjects were happy, rains came on time and there were good harvests. The sages performed their meditations free of all fear, and sin virtually vanished from earth. For ninety thousand years the king ruled happily.
But thereafter, trouble started. All this pomp and glory turned Vahu’s head and he began to think,”I rule over everyone. I am all powerful and I have performed many yajnas. Why should anyone else but me be worshipped? Do I not rule over the ends of the earth? Am I not learned in the shastras? I do not think that here is anyone superior to me.”
This inflated ego was a calamity and brought other evil traits. The possession of four objects lead to unhappiness. These four objects are youth, wealth, power over others and lack of foresight,. Unfortunately, all four were combined in King Vahu. He started to suffer from envy and jealousy and soon made enemies. It does not take very long for an envious person to make enemies.
Among the power enemies that King Vahu had to contend with, were kings known as Haihayas and the Talajanghas. And since the king had been dislodged from the righteous path, Vishnu and Lakshmi (the goddess of weath and prosperity) also deserted him. After a fierce battle that went on for a month, the Haihayas and the Talajanghas managed to defeat the king. They annexed his kingdom and drove him off into the forest.
Vahu’s wife Yadavi was expecting then. Vahu’s enemies were not content with driving him off into the forest. They feared that Vahu’s son might try to avenge his father. They therefore fed Yadavi some poison (gara). (This does not agree with the account given in some other Puranas, such as the Padma Purana. In those accounts, Vahu had a second wife. And it was this second wife who fed Yadavi poison).
Vahu was now penitent for his past misdeeds. With his wife, he intended to seek peace and solitude in the sage Ourva’s ashrama (hermitage). But the way to the hermitage was long and the king suffered from hunger and thirst. He dIscovered a pond on the way and thought that he might drink some water from the pond. Vahu and Yadavi quenched their thirst and rested under the shade of a tree that grew by the side of the pond.
On that tree lived many birds. They began to talk amongst themselves. “Hide,” they said. “The sinner Vahu has come here. It is best not to look upon him.”
King Vahu overheard this conversation and was mortified. He discovered that people were also freely criticising him. Even his subjects were not at all unhappy that he had been robbed of his kingdom. This made the king so miserable that he had no further desire to live. His health deteriorated and old age took its toll. Vahu died as soon as he reached Ourva’s ashrama.
His wife wished to immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.
But the sage Ourva restrained her. “You are expecting and such an act would be tantamount to murder,” He said. “It is a crime that I cannot permit to happen. Please refrain from what you are about to do. I can foretell that you will give birth to a powerful king.”
Yadavi listened to the sage’s advice. She performed Vahu’s funeral rites and accompanies Ourva to his hermitage.
