Prithu in the Shatapatha Brahmana
Just as the south-facing sequence of the “Path of the Southern Doctrine” begins with the sculpted panel of Prithu’s sacrifice at the southwest corner of nirriti, the rajasuya ceremony begins with an oblation to Nirriti south of the sacrificial ground. Her oblation is made with a firebrand from the southern fire at a “self-produced hollow or cleft.” The priest offers her the grains that fell to the ground during the preparation of sacrificial food for her complement named Anumati. Before Anumati can be enlisted on behalf of the rajasuya’s sponsor, Nirriti must be satisfied: “For Nirriti is this (earth); whomsoever she seizes upon with evil, him she seizes upon with destruction (nirriti): hence whatever part of this (earth) is of the Nirriti nature, that he thereby propitiates; and thus Nirriti does not seize upon him, while being consecrated. And the reason why he offers in a self-produced hollow or cleft, is that that much of this (earth) is possessed with Nirriti” (SB 5.2.3.2).
After he pours Nirriti’s oblations into the hole, the priest walks northward to the sacrificial ground without looking back. Now he offers Anumati the cake prepared for her on eight potsherds: “For Anumati is this (earth); and whosoever knows to do that work which he intends to do, for him indeed she approves (anu-man) thereof: hence it is her he thereby pleases, thinking, ‘May I be consecrated, approved by that (genius of) approval!’” He offers the cake on eight potsherds because the gayatri meter consists of eight syllables “and this earth is Gayatri” (SB 5.2.3.4–5). Anumati and Nirriti evoke Aditi and Diti, the respective mothers of devas and asuras. They share the the same father, the master of progeny named Kashyapa, the son of Marichi who was born of Brahma’s mental activity (manas).1 Nirriti’s domain beneath the surface of the earth points down to the asuras dwelling in the dark waters under the earth, and Anumati’s domain above it points up to the devas dwelling in bright heaven above.
Prithu’s oblations appear later in the rajasuya on the first day of Chaitra. The sacrificer (yajamana) is to be born an Indra of People from the midday soma sacrifice. This sacrifice is understood to be Prajapati, the Master of Progeny; the sponsor is consecrated in the middle of this ceremony and is therefore understood to be born from Prajapati’s center or navel. Prithu’s offerings are called partha oblations and enclose this central rite in the following manner.
The Partha Oblations
There are twelve of these partha oblations because there are twelve months in the year. Six are made before and six are made after the consecration (diksha) in order for the raja to be born from the year’s navel. The adhvaryu priest of the Sama Veda begins by spreading a tiger skin in front of the hearth for Mitra -Varuna; Mitra is True Being (satya) and Varuna is Master of Order or Law (dharmapati) (SB 5.3.3.8–9). After he transmits the tiger’s beauty to the sponsor, he begins the oblations that Prithu Son of Vena (prithin vainya) offered in his own rajasuya:
Now Prithu Vainya was consecrated first of men. He desired that he might appropriate to himself all food. They offered up for him those (oblations), and he appropriated to himself all the food here on earth. They would even call forest beasts to him, saying, “come hither thou (beasts) so and so, the king wants to cook thee!” Thus he appropriated all food here on earth; and verily he appropriates to himself all food for whom that knows this those (oblations) are offered [sic]. (SB 5.3.5.4)
The newly born raja is now equipped for his role. The priest consecrates a bow for him as Indra’s Vritra-killer and identifies the sponsor’s two arms that will hold it as Mitra and Varuna. He hands him the bow with the prayer “May he slay Vritra by thee” and by Vritra denotes the raja’s “spiteful enemy.” Finally he hands him three arrows to protect him in all quarters. The priest announces that the raja is now consecrated, first to Prajapati and then to the assembled Agni (the priesthood), Indra (the nobility), Mitra and Varuna (the out-breathing and in-breathing), Pushan (the cattle), heaven and earth the “all propitious,” and “Aditi, of wide shelter.” Their approval completes the consecration (SB 5.3.5.29–37).
The second set of six partha oblations now “sprinkle” this consecrated raja with vigor or might. The priest offers them sequentially to Indra, to the roar, to the noise, to Amsha, to Bhaga, and to Aryaman.
The Shatapatha Brahmana comments on the meaning of this arrangement of these two sets of six partha oblations, one before and one after the birth and diksha. Brihaspati ends the first set and Indra begins the second. Translated into visual terms, this means that Brihaspati is to the raja’s right and Indra is to his left. He is enclosed by vigor’s two modes, priestly dignity (brahma) on his right side and might (kshatra) on his left side (SB 5.3.5.7).
Goddess Earth as Cow
The Shatapatha Brahmana’s story of Prithu and his desire for food reveals itself in Maitreya’s telling as Prithu’s desire for food for the sake of his realm, because after his rajasuya Prithu’s realm does not produce. Even though Goddess Earth, who floats like a raft on the waters of the ocean (BP 4.15.43–16.6), receives her share (bhaga) of offerings in his sacrifices, she yields nothing in return, and Prithu’s subjects are starving. When Prithu threatens to shoot her, Goddess Earth flees in the form of a cow. He relentlessly pursues her through all realms beneath the pole star until finally she gives up.
Goddess Earth takes refuge in Prithu as a female who seeks dharma as protection, but Prithu’s response is stern. He tells her that she has no right to keep seeds of plants that are not perennial (oshadhi) to herself because Brahma created them as food for people. It doesn’t matter that she is female, because “a king may righteously kill anyone who is too self-regarding, perverse, and merciless to living creatures.” He threatens to cut her to bits and sustain his subjects with only water by means of his yoga powers (BP 4.17.26–27).
Goddess Earth, who knows that Prithu is the Bhagavan and as Boar rescued her from Rasatala, does not understand why he is willing to kill her (BP 4.17.29–36). She explains that she saw that unrestrained people were eating the oshadhi plants that Brahma had created to produce food for the rites of sacrifice and that thieves were taking over so she decided to keep the seeds to herself. But now that such misrule is gone she is willing to give milk in whatever form it is desired (kamananurupam). All Prithu needs to do is provide the required calf for whom she will pour out her milk, a pot to hold it, and a milker. She also suggests that he level her so that rainwater will spread everywhere and be available after the rainy season (BP 4.18.1–11).
Prithu takes Goddess Earth’s advice. He begins by using Svayambhu Manu as his calf and his own palm as a pot. He milks all oshadhi plants from Goddess Earth as Cow, which is all he wants. Everyone else follows his example. The seers take the deva acharya, Brihaspati, as their calf and milk out the Veda and other scriptures into the senses (indriya) as pot. Devas take Indra as their calf and milk soma into a golden vessel. Asuras take Prahlada as their calf and milk liquor and beer (surasava) into an iron vessel. And so it goes, until all categories of beings have the substances that nurture their natures (BP 4.18.12–27). Goddess Earth is now a wondrous desire-fulfilling cow and Prithu adopts her as his daughter. He splits the mountains with the end of his bow, levels his adopted daughter, and builds on her the villages, towns, and cities of civilization (BP 4.18.28–32).
Interpretation
This story of Goddess Earth as wish-fulfilling cow embeds two salient ideas about human society during Pallava rule. The first derives from Goddess Earth as exemplary Cow. The cow licking her calf while she is milked is an intimate image in Vedic household life, because each day the householder is to milk his cow, mix in water, and pour the mixture as an oblation into his kitchen fire to nourish devas and sustain the world.2 This story identifies his cow with Goddess Earth’s motherly affection (vatsalya) pouring out nourishment to sustain the universe by providing these daily oblations. Sculptors replicated this scene as the centerpiece of the seventh-century cave-temple at Mamallapuram where Krishna in Gokula holds the mountain Govardhana against Indra’s dark rains (Lockwood 1993: 124–129).
Given this first idea, people who kill or eat cattle outside of Vedic sacrifices may be thought of as slaying or cannibalizing the representative of Goddess Earth and her vatsalya.3 People who in this way kill and eat their own “mother” are categorically alien to civilization; the act itself reveals the defilement (kalmasha) of a naishada nature.
The second idea derives from Prithu’s first and only act of milking Goddess Earth: he wants oshadhi, annual plants that die after ripening. The cultivation of such annuals, especially of rice, wheat, and barley, provides food or annam, and annam is the basis of Vedic rule and its civilization. This story attributes the source of annam to the properly engendered raja, because this is all that Prithu milked out. This means that cultivators are the raja’s means of feeding his realm and share with him characteristics that distinguish them from naishadas. Both cultivator and king are intimately related to Goddess Earth and to the deva, asura, and rakshasa powers involved in fertility; both provide annam as the foundation of civilization; and both dwell in properly bounded settlements (grama, ur). If either ever eats cows (for example during the rajasuya), he does so because a Vedic sacrifice requires it. Who does or does not kill cattle or eat beef outside of a Vedic sacrifice is a matter charged with great significance in a society that accepts these Vedic ideas, because it reveals who is civilized and who is alien.
Prithu’s Rule as the Indra of People
Prithu is now fully established on earth as the Indra of People; the difference between him and the Indra of devas in heaven is merely one horse sacrifice out of a hundred. He resides between the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers, but exercises his rod of discipline (danda) over everyone on earth’s seven concentric continents. Except for the clan (kula) of Brahmins and those who belong to the lineage of the Unfallen (acyutagotratah) (BP 4.21.12), he is authorized to punish everyone, including pakhandas.
One day in the midst of a sacrificial ceremony (sattra), Prithu addresses the assembled devas and seers on the nature of righteous rule and the Vedic life (BP 4.21.8–44). The Master of Sacrifice (yajnapati), he says, manifests himself as the sacrifice and everything belonging to it. He holds the mace and dispenses karmic fruits (BP 4.22.27–29, 34–35). This Master of Sacrifice receives oblations through the mouth of Fire, but is more satisfied with oblations poured into the mouths of Brahmins established in forbearance (titiksha), austerity (tapas), and knowledge (vidya), who preserve Veda in their memories (BP 4.21.40–42). Serving the Yajnapati’s feet means supporting and associating with such Brahmins; it purifies consciousness and leads to release from death and birth (BP 4.21.31–44).
Now the four Kumara sons of Brahma arrive. Sanatkumara delivers a lecture on Bhagavata Dharma and its ideal of the “man of true being” (sant) relevant to Prithu as a householder king. “To overcome thick darkness (tamastivra),” Sanatkumara concludes, “take refuge in Bhagavat Hari,” and he and his brothers leave (BP 4.22.17–40, esp. 34). This lecture enables Prithu to perceive the brahman beyond the threads of matter, and from then on, even while remaining a householder, he is a sant absorbed in the knowledge of the atman (BP 4.22.49–63). He formally relinquishes the fruits of all his intentional acts (karma) as ruler, reigns perfectly with no possessive sense of “This is mine” (mamaka), and resides in the midst of a wealth he does not consider his. Prithu and Archi beget five sons. Nonattached action does not exclude sexual activity and its pleasures, but uses them instrumentally as their sovereign.
When Prithu eventually completes his work of establishing civilization, he renounces the householder life and goes with Archi to the forest to practice tapas. They end their lives there in a way highly approved by forest dwelling ascetics (vaikhanasa).4 Prithu worships Krishna, performs severe tapas, retains his semen within himself (urdhvareta), masters breath control (pranayama), and meditates on the Bhagavan just as Sanatkumara had taught him. At last, when he is prepared to abandon his body, he presses his heel to close his anus. He then raises the wind (vayu) embodying his mind through the wheels (chakra) of his subtle body. He moves it from the muladhara chakra near his anus to the chakras at his navel, his heart, his throat, and his brow. Finally he drives it to the brahmarandhra chakra at the top of his head (following Tagare 1976–1979 2: 565 interpreting 4.23.14–16).
Prithu no longer possesses longing (nihsprihah). This allows his material subtle body to merge into the body of spacetime and his mental activity (manas) to pass beyond the limits of embodiment altogether (BP 4.23.14–15). All that remains is his gross physical body as corpse. When Atri cremates it she performs the rites of the sati, enters the pyre, and through its burning fire joins her husband (BP 4.24.19–39). From beginning to end, these portions of Sri Vishnu provide the paradigm for all Bhagavata rulers.
Interpretation: Limits to the People’s Indra
Indra’s name Yajna and Vishnu’s identity as Master of Yajna suggest that the story has to do with the proper understanding of the fire sacrifice (yajna). It assumes the idea taught in the Dwarf and Bali story, that Hari is the recipient of all offerings, and it assumes the idea found in the horse sacrifice, that the horse substitutes for its sponsor (yajamana). The story explores the idea that a human king is an Indra by making Indra the victim to replace the missing horse, which itself is a substitute for the human sponsor. No one disagrees with the idea of offering the deva king as the victim; only when Brahma reveals that this particular Indra is an amsha of Vishnu do they give up the idea. But Prithu too, is an amsha of Vishnu. The patron, the horse, and Indra thus are the same nature in different shapes and these shapes are in principle interchangeable. But, in this case at least, the story argues against acting on this interchangeability.
This story captures a problem Veda faces. Vedic fire sacrifices require victims, but killing animals, especially in large numbers, generates sympathy for pakhanda anti-Veda teachings; the shramana religions denounce injury to life (himsa), whether during sacrifice or not. Nevertheless, Indra plays a role in shramana lore and ritual as patron of their dharmas, and the story takes this into account.5 It calls Indra Fire Sacrifice and locates the origin of anti-Veda pakhandas in his opposition to a horse sacrifice during the rule of the paradigmatic raja. Brahma emphasizes this origin when he argues that this particular Indra is an amsha of Vishnu and cannot be used as a victim, and then argues that if anyone tries, he will only generate more pakhanda guises.
This story explains three things about the pakhandas, known also as pasandas. First, they originate in Vishnu through his portion in the form of the Indra named Yajna. Second, they originate in acts of delusion designed to protect the disrupter of a Vedic sacrifice. Third, they identify the motivation for this disruption not as compassion for living beings but rather as a jealous protection of royal status from a rival. Indra in heaven does not want Prithu on earth to become his equal and generates pakhanda guises to confuse the man chasing him.
One solution to disagreement over killing animals is to keep the sacrificial rites, but to replace their animal victims with vegetables and grains. This story of Prithu does not offer this solution and implies that animal victims are normative. But the Pancharatra Agama normally avoids animal victims. No explanation for this change appears in the Bhagavata Purana as far as I can tell, but there is a Pancharatra explanation in the Mahabharata.
King Vasu Uparichara
This explanation appears in an ancient legend (itihasa puratana) told by Bhishma as part of the Pancharatra Narayaniya portion of the Shanti Parvan in the Mahabharata.6 It is about Vasu Uparichara, a king whose name encapsulates a story that plays with the words of his name. Vasu has three meanings: “beneficence or wealth”; a set of beneficent devas called Vasu;7 and a “dwelling” or a “dweller.” Uparichara means “he walks above.”
Vasu Uparichara is an emperor (adhipati) ruling during the Krita Yuga and devoted to Narayana Hari. The Angirasa Brihaspati is his purohita and teaches him the Satvata Shastra, which is “the eternal womb of dharma” (Mbh 12.322.50; 323.3). Seven Seers known as the Chitrasikhandins had composed it under the inspiration of Goddess Sarasvati, and Narayana authorized it.8 Vasu worships exclusively through a Satvata rite (satvata vidhi) taught by Surya the Sun, and he injures no living being (Mbh 12.322.19). He is a bhakta completely devoted to Janardana the God of devas, and regards everything that is his as given by Narayana and offers it all to him in return. The Satvata Shastra guides his rule and he patronizes great men adept in Pancharatra rituals.
One day Vasu Uparichara sponsors a horse sacrifice and orders that no animals shall be slain and offered; forest products shall replace them. Devas appear to receive their shares, and all but Hari are visible to the participants; but Hari is so pleased with Vasu that He allows him alone to see Him. This angers Brihaspati, but Vasu and others remind him that no one has to power (shakti) to see God, the sight of Him is his grace (prasada) (Mbh 12.323.17–18). Vasu Uparichara rules so perfectly after this that his mind and body are never defiled. When he dies he goes to heaven, and this is why he walks above (uparichara).
One day in heaven devas discuss with seers of the Veda the meaning of the word aja in the mantras prescribing sacrificial offerings (Mbh 12.324). Devas receive these offerings, and they argue that aja means a goat. The seers of Veda disagree and say aja means the seeds of vegetables. How can it be dharma to slaughter animals, especially in this Krita Yuga? At this point, King Vasu Uparichara and his retinue come into view, and they decide to let this great and wise ruler render an opinion. “Should one sacrifice with a goat or with herbs and plants?” they ask. The king wants to know what the seers think, and they say grain should be used as the offering, but the devas think it should be a goat. Despite the fact that while ruling on earth Vasu practiced ahimsa and prohibited animals in his own horse sacrifice, he sides with the devas and says he thinks animals should be used. This enrages the seers, and they curse him: He shall lose his ability to fly through space and shall fall deep into the earth.
Immediately Vasu falls from space, gains an earthly body, and plunges into a deep pit. He is no longer uparichara, walking above, but a vasu dweller on earth with a pit as his vasu dwelling. The devas know, of course, that the king is suffering because of them and decide to free him from the curse. In order to sustain him in the vasu pit, they order that the sacrificial libation of ghee called “stream of vasu” (vasodhara) fall into the pit to nourish him, which now adds beneficence and wealth to the meanings of vasu.
The Shatapatha Brahmana explains this as the nourishment of the sponsor of a sacrifice. The uninterrupted sequence of 401 vasodhara libations is offered to Agni after he has been established in the Agnichayana liturgy as vasu or beneficent. When devas perform this liturgy, they offer vasu Agni this shower (dhara) to please him, and the patron of the sacrifice (yajamana) does the same through the priests. These vasu streams are Vasu Agni’s unction (abhisheka); they pour over him to satisfy all his wishes and the wishes of the sponsor (SB 9.3.2.1).
This information applied to the legend reveals that the devas order King Vasu Uparichara dwelling in the vasu pit to be treated as the sponsor of an agnichayana; he is to receive all he wants from the streams of wealth poured out as ghee for the Vasu Agni. These streams therefore enable Vasu, even while dwelling in the pit, faithfully to perform the five sacrifices (panchayajna) prescribed by the Pancharatra Agama for the five portions of the day (panchakala). All of his self-disciplined worship of no one else pleases the Bhagavan Vishnu, and he sends Garuda to fetch him. Garuda flies into the pit and brings Vasu out. After Vasu abandons his earthly body, Garuda carries him into space and into the world of brahman (brahmaloka).9
Brahmins as “Fires” for Oblations
In his lecture to his people, Prithu says that the Master of Sacrifice receives oblations through the mouth of Fire, but is more satisfied with oblations poured into the mouths of Brahmins who are established in forbearance (titiksha), austerity (tapas), and knowledge (vidya), and preserve Veda in their memories (BP 4.21.40–42). Serving the Yajnapati’s feet, he explains, means supporting and associating with such Brahmins; it purifies consciousness and leads to release from death and birth (BP 4.21.31–44).
This explanation of what it means for a Bhagavata householder to give alms to a proper Bhagavata Brahmin resembles the views held by householder patrons of the pakhanda shramanas. Brahmins and shramanas are analogous modes of sacred fire. Krishna teaches the same doctrine to Arjuna from the Bhagavata perspective (BG 17.20–22; 23–28). To feed a proper Brahmin is to make a sacrificial oblation, because, as Prithu observes, the proper Brahmin contains Veda in his memory; feeding him is therefore the same as feeding Veda. Nothing results from the “untrue” feeding of deluded shramana monks and nuns by other householders, but giving alms to Bhagavata Brahmins is “true” feeding and purifies the one who gives.
There are, of course, pakhanda counters to this Bhagavata interpretation. Aryasura tells the jataka of the Bodhisattva when he was king of Kosala. He tells his queen that in his previous life he was a very poor workman living in Kosala. One day he was about to set off for a job and he saw four obviously pure bhikshus begging for alms. He devoutly offered them a simple dumpling in his house, and from that little seed he planted then grew this royal rule he now enjoys in the palace. His queen has a similar memory of a previous life. She was a servant and one day respectfully offered a portion of food to a bhikshu free of passion. Because of that offering she gained this life with him as her husband. As the bhikshu told her, “No service rendered to holy men is neglibile” (Aryasura in Khoroche 1989: 18–21).
The Pakhanda Imposters
Maitreya explains to Vidura that the word pakhanda (or pasanda) is from papakhanda, and means that the guises Indra generated are fragments of sin (papasya khandani); each fragment is a body (linga khanda) (BP 4.19.22 and 24–25). The sin they embody is Yajna Indra’s asura-like sin of disrupting the Vedic sacrifice, and the story tells us that they have existed from the beginning of civilization. Maitreya specifies the naked and the red-robed shramanas “and others.” They fool people of poor understanding, he explains, because they attractively teach their doctrines as dharma, which is why imposter bodies of sinful adharma flourish at dharma’s expense.
Krishna teaches Arjuna about these imposters in the Bhagavad-gita. They are foolish people who, unlike the wise, do not acknowledge his identity as the Bhagavan:
Fools scorn me, who has assumed a human body,
Not knowing my transcendent being as supreme ruler of living beings.
They desire in vain, they act in vain, they perceive wisdom in vain,
And they cling to Mohini of rakshasa and asura matter,
While those of great self, son of Pritha, cling to matter of devas
And worship with minds nowhere else, knowing the imperishable beginning of all living beings. (BG 9.11–13)
“Mohini of rakshasa and asura matter” refers in the narrative to the courtesan (veshyastri) guise Vishnu assumes to retrieve amrita from asuras; she appears in the corner Panel S6 on the bottom floor.10 Interpreted more abstractly as “rakshasa and asura matter that deludes,” she may be understood to refer to Vishnu’s pakhanda guises generated at civilization’s beginning. The people who cling to these delusive material shapes are shramanas and their householder patrons. Bhagavatas are not deluded, of course, and cling instead to the pure matter of Krishna’s human body.
Krishna tells Arjuna more about these pakhandas and their patrons when he instructs him about people who have faith and perform sacrifices, but have rejected the ordinances of the Bhagavata system (BG 17.1). He categorizes these people of rival religions according to whether their faith and behavior is pure (sattva), passionate (rajas), or dark (tamas). In each case, pakhandas and their patrons fall in the category of darkness (BG 17.4–6).
Krishna first explains that their deluded faith leads them to sacrifice “to the dead and to assemblies of the living.” Through unauthorized severe tapas, these people “of asura conviction” (asura-nishchayan) torment the clusters of living beings that dwell in their gross bodies; and they torment “Me too,” he says, “I who stand inside the body.” Krishna apparently has shramana religions in mind. “Sacrifice to the dead” describes householder worship at the funeral mounds for shramana heroes called stupas; sacrifice to “assemblies of the living” describes the alms householders give to shramanas when they assemble twice monthly, or during the monsoon season, or daily for alms. Some shramanas, of course, take vows of extreme tapas (as Shakyamuni will do for six years), and injure the embodied souls (jivas) dwelling in their bodies, including Krishna, who is their own atman.
Krishna goes on to teach Arjuna about these other religions’ food, sacrifice, ascetic practice, and gifts (BG 17.7–22). People of deluded faith live on food unfit for Vedic sacrifice, he explains. It is stale, without taste, rotten, and decayed (BG 17.10). This describes a shramana discipline of subsisting on alms (bhiksha).
Because they do not esteem faith (sraddha) in Veda, Krishna says, they perform sacrifices outside the proper ordinances, do not distribute food to Brahmins, do not use proper mantras, and do not give dakshina to priests to conclude sacrifices and receive their merit (BG 17.13). This describes householder offerings of alms to bhikshus as if they are fires to receive oblations, and the puja they perform at stupas and shrines.
Their tapas, he continues, is based on foolish theories, so they torture themselves and destroy others (BG 17.19). This describes disciplines followed in varying degrees of severity by shramanas and by their more pious householder followers.
Krishna concludes with their rites of giving (dana). They are performed untruly (asatkrita) and are not worthy of respect, he says, because they give dana at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and to unworthy recipients (BG 17.22). Any dana given by householders or shramanas who act without faith in Veda is fruitless.
One example of the shramana discipline Krishna may have had in mind appeared around 200 CE in the Buddhist Sanskrit community of Mathura. The “Legend of Ashoka” (ashokavadana) depicts King Ashoka’s attempt to dissuade his brother, Vitashoka, from his decision to become a sramana (in John Strong’s translation): “Vitashoka, forego this resolution! The ascetic life results in a worsening of one’s appearance; your garments will be rags from the dust-heap, and your cloak something that was thrown out by a servant; your food will consist of alms collected from strangers; your bed and your seat will be a layer of grass and a pile of leaves at the foot of a tree. When you are sick, food will not be easy to obtain, and urine will be your medicine” (Strong 1983: 227).
In Bhagavata terms, the Buddhists in second-century Mathura testify to the Bhagavan’s skillful use of “rakshasa and asura matter that deludes” to protect the Vedic basis of royal rule. Krishna teaches Arjuna near the end of the Dvapara Yuga of our seventh Manu Term, but he describes the pakhanda religions descending from the imposters Vishnu produced during Prithu’s rule in the Krita Yuga of the first Manu Term. The Shakyamuni Buddha has not yet appeared, for as we recall from Akrura’s prayer in the pool of Yamuna River water, Narayana as “the pure Buddha who deludes the Daityas and Danavas” will appear only after the Kali Yuga has begun (BP 10.40.22). Mathura’s Buddhists will result from his appearance; they will be householders and shramanas deluded by Vishnu through his pakhanda guise as the Shakyamuni Buddha.
These pakhandas present the Bhagavata ruler with a subtle problem of policy. Prithu’s royal dharma does not include injury (himsa) of other people and requires that he regard all the people in his realm as equivalent (sama samana), whether they are superior, mediocre, or common (BP 4.20.3,13). Equivalent or equal regard, however, does not mean eliminating social distinctions between them—for some are superior, some are mediocre, and some are common—but means treating them equally while preserving their differences. Equal punishment for the same crime does not mean that each criminal receives the same punishment, but that each receives a punishment matching his or her superior, mediocre, or common status.
In the case of these pakhandas, who do not recognize Veda as the basis of his rule, the Bhagavata king must be careful to distinguish between the Buddhas and the red-robed bhikshus who follow them, between the tirthankaras and their naked or white-clad shramanas, and between Shiva and his shramanas wearing bones and carrying the khatvanga. In each case, the former is Vishnu as deluder, and the latter are the asura-like people he deludes. He worships the former and protects his realm from the latter, because, as the Laws of Manu say, people who persist in pakhanda doctrine will undermine his rule, just as those who gamble with dice and bet with animals do. He should banish all three together with traveling bards, playboys, men who persist in wrongdoing, and bootleggers; they are all thieves in disguise who cheat his good subjects (Manu 9.221–226). Like the cat and the heron, the pakhanda cannot be trusted; and like an alien Naishada entering town, a pakhanda brings disorder into civilized society.
Interpretation: Craving as Society’s Base
Craving (trishna) and desire (kama) underlie Prithu’s story as the first and exemplary People’s Indra. The corpse of Excessive Desire is the source of civilization and of the disorder it rejects. The uncivilized forest peoples churned from his genital region share the lustful nature of asuras, who similarly emerge from the eager desire (lolupa) of Brahma’s lap (BP 3.20.23–27). In contrast, Prithu and Archi churned from his arms to be the powerful Kshatriya founders of civilization share in Vishnu’s deva nature as protector of dharma. Human society is made up of civilized and uncivilized people churned from the same corpse of inordinate desire born from death through a faulty fire sacrifice. Only the rod (danda) of dharma wielded by the raja—properly engendered an Indra of People by Veda—can control the self-centered and power-hungry craving from which all people emerge.
Yet Prithu’s efforts as a people’s Indra to become equal to a devas’ Indra reveals craving’s subtle power even within this most ideal of rulers. The pakhandas depict it openly. The Buddhist, Jaina, and other sramanas wandering throughout the land embody the sin of rulers who misuse Veda for their own aggrandizement. Although they are civilized subjects, these men and women have asura natures, which is why they respond eagerly to the Bhagavan’s pakhanda guises and abandon Veda. But this foolishness weakens the potency of their dark nature, for by abandoning Veda they give up the very means by which they can discipline their inordinate desire. They teach a dharma they believe will abolish trishna, but by destroying Vedic society it will only unleash it.
Prithu provides the ideal strategy for the Bhagavata ruler. He rules as a slave of Krishna and sees the atman in all things. He has no sense of “This is mine,” does not think the realm belongs to him, and treats everyone “equally.” He venerates Vishnu’s pakhanda guises as a buddha or a tirthankara, but keeps an eye on their shramana followers. He takes care to sustain the Vedic basis of his rule by keeping firm the boundaries between pakhanda ideas and systems and the ideas and systems of Veda and its Agamas.