Brahma-Bhagīratha Saṃvāda: The Secret of Anaśana

Bhīshma tells Yudhishṭhira about the meeting of Brahmā and King Bhagīratha. Yudhishṭhira has asked which tapas (austerity) is the highest. Bhagīratha reaches Brahmaloka after passing the worlds of the devas, the cows and the ṛshis. When Brahmā asks how he came to so hard a place, Bhagīratha lists the gifts and yajñas (fire rituals) of his whole life. After each one he says that this was not what brought him there. The true cause, he says, was anaśana (fasting), the secret virtue that Indra hid in a cave and that Śukra (Uśanas Bhārgava) gained through tapas. A thousand ṛshis and brāhmaṇas, pleased with his anaśana, told him to go on to Brahmaloka.

The question

Yudhishṭhira says that Bhīshma has already explained dāna (giving), śānti (peace), satya (truth), ahiṃsā (non-harm) and contentment with one’s own wife, and the fruits of dāna. He asks which of all kinds of tapas is the highest. Bhīshma answers that tapas lasts only as long as the loka (world) itself lasts. In his own view no tapas is greater than the vrata of upavāsa (the vow of fasting). To show this he tells the ancient itihāsa (history) of the dialogue between the Mahātmā Brahmā and Bhagīratha. (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 103)

Bhagīratha reaches Brahmaloka

Bhagīratha had passed beyond the lokas of the devas, the lokas of the cows and the lokas of the ṛshis. Brahmā saw him and asked: “O Bhagīratha! This loka of mine is not easy to reach. How did you come here? Neither devas, nor gandharvas, nor men come here without the very highest tapas. How did you arrive?” (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 103)

The deeds that did not bring him here

Bhagīratha answers with a long list of his dāna and yajñas. After each one he says it was not the cause of his coming.

Lasting gifts of a hundred thousand nishkas (gold coins) to brāhmaṇas, under a brahma-vrata.
Ten ekarātra yajñas, ten pañcarātra yajñas, eleven ekādaśaka yajñas and a hundred jyotishṭoma yajñas.
A hundred years of tapas on the bank of the Gaṅgā, in which he gave away a thousand mules and groups of maidens.
A hundred thousand horses and two thousand cows, given to brāhmaṇas at Pushkara, in hundreds and thousands.
A thousand maidens richly dressed in gold, and sixty thousand more with fine gold ornaments.
In gosava yajñas, ten arbuda (ten times ten crore) of cows given to each brāhmaṇa, with calves of the same age, plenty of milk, and vessels of gold and bronze.
In soma yajñas, cows with plenty of milk, given in tens, hundreds, and up to ten lakhs.
A million horses of the Bāhlika breed, and white horses with garlands of gold.
Ten crore gold pieces given in each yajña. Horses of a greenish colour, with dark ears and garlands of gold, seventeen crore in number.
Seventeen thousand elephants with tusks like plough-poles, huge bodies, gold ornaments and the mark of the lotus.
Ten thousand chariots plated with gold and decked with divine ornaments.
Eight rājasūya yajñas, done with wealth won by conquering all kings.
Ten vājapeya yajñas. In each of them he gave, as dakshiṇā (the priest’s fee), chariots yoked with seven horses, praised in the Vedas.
Princes with nishkas of victory round their necks, with power equal to Indra’s own, given as dakshiṇā.
Dāna covering as much land as the Gaṅgā’s own course.
Two thousand horses decked with hundreds of gold ornaments. Fine villages, given a hundred at a time, three times over, to each receiver.
Thirty years spent in tapas with measured food, held senses and held speech. In that time he bore on his own head the unbearable stream of the Gaṅgā, which even Mahādeva bore, on Himavat.
Śamyāprāsa yajñas with countless sādyas, and pauṇḍarīka yajñas of twelve and thirteen days.
Eight thousand white bulls with great humps and horns tipped with gold, given to brāhmaṇas together with cows with gold at their necks.
Heaps of gold, mounds of jewels, villages rich in grain and wealth given by the hundred, and hundreds of cows that had calved once, given tirelessly through many yajñas.
Ekādaśāha yajñas with great dakshiṇās, dvādaśāha yajñas twice over, aśvamedhas, and sixteen ārkāyaṇa yajñas.
A wonderful made forest, one yojana wide, with golden trees set with jewels and gold coins for leaves, given away whole.
The turāyaṇa vrata, hard for anyone else to keep. He kept it for thirty years without anger, giving eight hundred and eighty cows to brāhmaṇas each day, and Rohiṇī cows with plenty of milk every day.
Thirty agnicayanas performed daily, eight sarvamedhas and seven naramedhas.
A hundred and eighty tens of viśvajit yajñas.
Tens of thousands of cows given at the tīrthas of Sarayū, Bāhudā, Gaṅgā and Naimisha.

After each item Bhagīratha says: “It was not through the fruit of this that I came here.” (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 103)

The secret of anaśana

Bhagīratha then names the true cause. It is anaśana, keeping from food. He explains it as giving up all bhoga (enjoyment) and feeding brāhmaṇas with those very enjoyments. This, he says, is the guhya (secret) that Indra hid in a cave. The Bhārgava Uśanas (Śukra) gained it through his tapas, and by his tejas (radiance) it blazes forth. “This I have done,” says Bhagīratha.

A thousand ṛshis and brāhmaṇas were gathered there. They were pleased with this deed and told him: “Go on to Brahmaloka.” It was by the word of these thousand pleased brāhmaṇas that he reached the loka of Brahmā himself. Bhagīratha tells Brahmā plainly: “I have told you exactly what happened when you asked me. In my view there is no tapas greater than anaśana.” (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 103)

Brahmā’s honour and Bhīshma’s advice

Bhīshma says that Brahmā heard this and honoured Bhagīratha, a king worthy of honour, with the rites the śāstra lays down. Bhīshma then speaks to Yudhishṭhira himself: “So, O Dharmarāja, keep upavāsa every day with steady nishṭhā (devotion). Honour brāhmaṇas. Through the word of brāhmaṇas everything in this world and the next is gained. Brāhmaṇas are always worthy of honour with clothes, fine cows, good homes and good bands of servants. This is the highest secret. Give up lobha (greed) and practise it well.” (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 103)

Sources

Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 103