Yajña and the Fall of Vasu Rāja

In the Tretā-yuga of the Svāyaṃbhuva Manvantara, Indra began the first great Aśvamedha yajña. The mahārshis saw animals brought for killing and objected. Indra and the ṛshis could not settle the question, so they asked King Vasu to decide. Vasu gave his ruling for yajña with animals, and in that moment he fell into rasātala. This is told in the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga.

Yajña begins in the Tretā-yuga

The Kṛta-yuga’s twilight had passed and the Tretā-yuga had properly begun. Rains came, plants and healing herbs grew, and farming was set up. The householder’s āśrama was founded. Varṇa and āśrama were marked out, and the sacred mantras were put in order.

In this age of beginnings Viśvabhuk Indra led the devas and the mahārshis. They gathered all that the yajña needs and began the great Aśvamedha. The ṛtviks (priests) took their places. The Sāma singers chanted at full voice. The adhvaryus began the work of the rite. All the deva-gaṇas gathered to take their shares of the homa (fire offering). (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

The ṛshis object

As the yajña went on, the animals were brought forward. The mahārshis who were there were shocked. They saw the helpless herds of paśus (animals) led to be killed. They came together and went to Indra with a direct challenge:

“O Indra, O surabhuk, what is this yajña-vidhi of yours? This is adhika-adharma. This is pāpayukta. O surōttama, yajña with the killing of animals is not dhārmic. Hiṃsā can never be called dharma.

If you wish to perform yajña according to the āgama, then do it in ways that do not go against the rules laid down by the Vedas. O mahāprājña, keep the yajña-bījas for three years, and do not let them sprout. Then perform the yajña. In such bījas there is no loss of life, and so no hiṃsā. O Indra, this is the dharma Brahmā ordained of old.”

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

The question was whether the yajña should use paśus (animals) or bījas (seed-grain). The ṛshis held that the Veda’s procedure should keep to ahiṃsā (non-violence). Indra held that both animal and grain offerings are prescribed in the Vedas, and that the devas had always performed yajña with animals. The debate grew heated. The mahārshis were worn out with arguing, and they joined in asking Indra that King Vasu be asked to give a ruling. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

Vasu Rāja’s ruling

The ṛshis and Indra went to Vasu Rāja, son of Uttānapāda, a famous king known for his knowledge of tapas. They asked him: “O mahārāja, O mahāprājña, O son of Uttānapāda, how do you see this question of yajña-vidhi? Remove our doubt!”

Vasu heard the question. He did not weigh the strength of the two arguments with care. He did not test the evidence of śruti and smṛti with full attention. He gave his judgment from his own reading of the Vedas, the āgamas, and the words of ṛshis rich in tapas who had written on haridarśana (the teachings of Vishṇu):

“Yajña should be performed with what is fitting (yathopavīta). It may be performed with medhya animals (animals fit for yajña), or with bījas (grains), or with fruits. Yajñasya hiṃsā sahajā: hiṃsā is natural to yajña. This is my dharma-ruling. This is also what the darśana and āgama texts state. The devas perform it in this way. The mantras themselves carry the marks of hiṃsā.”

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

The fall

The moment Vasu Rāja finished giving his ruling for yajña with animals, he fell into rasātala. He had been an ūrdhvacārī, one whose path went upward. He at once became a rasātalacārī, one who goes to rasātala. He had been a righteous king. The earth swallowed him through a dharma-bila, a pit opened by the power of dharma, and sent him to rasātala. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

The Purāṇa draws clear attention to this event. Vasu’s fall shows how grave it is to decide a question of dharma. Even a person who knows much and has much experience should not rule on dharma alone. Dharma has many doors, and its fine points call for the closest care.

The five paths

After this, Sūta goes on to give the higher teaching in the narrative. There are five paths:

  1. The path of yajña leads to the devas.
  2. The path of tapas leads to vairāja, a high cosmic state.
  3. The path of karma-sannyāsa (giving up all works done for a wish) leads to brahmakarma.
  4. The path of vairāgya (detachment from prakṛti) leads to mastery over nature.
  5. The path of jñāna leads to kaivalya.

Yajña is the first and easiest of the five paths, and also the most limited. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

The ṛshis themselves held to a path higher than yajña. They did not praise yajña or dāna (giving) without question. Those rich in tapas, who lived on roots, fruits, greens and water, reached svarga-loka. The ṛshis said that the true bases of Sanātana Dharma are:

  • adroha, no hatred
  • allobha, no greed
  • tapas
  • bhūta-dayā, kindness to all beings
  • dama, self-control
  • brahmacarya
  • satya, truth
  • anukrośa, gentleness
  • kshamā, forgiveness
  • dhṛti, steadiness

These are hard to practise, and they are the eternal root of dharma. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

Yajña goes on

After Vasu Rāja’s fall the groups of munis scattered, and the devas went on with their yajña. This dispute arose in the Svāyaṃbhuva Manvantara, at the very dawn of the Tretā-yuga. The form of yajña that came afterwards came out of that decision. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

Vasu Rāja among the tapas-siddhas

In the same chapter Sūta names those who gained great puṇya (merit) through tapas: Priyavrata, Uttānapāda, Dhruva, Medhātithi, Vasu, Sudhāman, Viraja, Śaṃkha, Pāṇḍyaja, Prācīnabarhi, Parjanya and Havir-āna. All of them were rājarshis of great inner strength. So Vasu was himself one of the great tapasvis, and yet he fell because of an ill-judged word. The Purāṇa shows that even stored-up puṇya cannot guard a person who speaks rashly on the finest of all subjects. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga)

Sources

  • Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga