Daṇḍotpatti

This account is told in the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata, in the Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 122. It is a talk between Vasuhoma, king of Aṅga, and Māndhātā. It tells where daṇḍa comes from. Daṇḍa is the principle of law, punishment and rule.

The setting: Vasuhoma and Māndhātā

Māndhātā, the Sūryavaṃśa cakravartī (universal ruler) of the Sun line, came to the great king Vasuhoma of the Aṅga line. Vasuhoma was known both for his tapas (austerity) and for his wisdom in rule. Māndhātā wished to understand what daṇḍa really is, not only how it is used in ruling, but where it began and what it is. Vasuhoma took up the question and told how daṇḍa began, from the earliest time.

The disappearance of daṇḍa

In the earliest ages, Kshupa was the first holder of daṇḍa in the worlds. He was a being born from Brahmā’s sneeze (kshuvatā). Kshupa performed a great yajña (fire ritual). During the yajña, daṇḍa vanished from the order of the worlds, and no one knew how.

Without daṇḍa, the order that had held all beings together fell apart. Devas preyed on other devas. Animals turned on each other without limit. Humans lost the sense of “this is mine, that is not mine”. The line between the one who is guarded and the one who hunts was gone. The strong ate the weak everywhere. The whole world fell into matsya-nyāya, the law of the fish, where the big eat the small without any check.

Brahmā saw this collapse and was deeply troubled. He went to Mahādeva Rudra, who holds the order of the worlds, and appealed to him. He told him of the chaos and asked that daṇḍa be restored.

Rudra makes daṇḍa; Sarasvatī makes daṇḍanīti

Mahādeva heard Brahmā and acted. From his own divine power Rudra made daṇḍa, the principle of law, punishment and rule, the power that separates what is allowed from what is forbidden.

But daṇḍa alone is not enough. There must also be the science by which it is used rightly. Devī Sarasvatī, who is the devī of knowledge and speech, made daṇḍanīti, the science of rule. It is the knowledge of how to use daṇḍa properly: when to use it, on whom, in what measure, and for what aim.

Daṇḍa (the power of law) and daṇḍanīti (the knowledge of how to use it) are the base of all ordered life.

The appointment of the rulers of each domain

When he had restored daṇḍa, Mahādeva appointed a ruler over each domain of the worlds:

  • Indra: ruler of the devas
  • Yama: ruler of the pitṛs (the ancestors)
  • Kubera: ruler of the yakshas
  • Meru: ruler of the mountains
  • Samudra: ruler of the rivers
  • Varuṇa: ruler of the waters
  • Mṛtyu: ruler of the prāṇas (the life-breath)
  • Agni: ruler of tejas (radiance)
  • Skanda: ruler of the bhūtas
  • Vasishṭha: ruler of the brāhmaṇas

Each of these rulers holds and uses daṇḍa in his own domain.

The line of daṇḍa

Vasuhoma then traces how daṇḍa came down from its first source to the human world:

Mahādeva → Vishṇu → Aṅgiras → Indra and Marīci → Bhṛgu → the assembled ṛshis → the Lokapālas → Kshupa → Manu Vaivasvata → the sons of Manu

From the sons of Manu, daṇḍa passed to the kings of the dynasties of men that followed.

Daṇḍapurusha in Chapter 121

The chapter before this one, Chapter 121 (Daṇḍa Kathanam), brings in daṇḍa in its form as Daṇḍapurusha. He is a terrible divine figure with four fangs, eight feet, four arms and many eyes. He has twenty-two names, among them Vishṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Brahmakanyā, Lakshmī and Durgādharmapatnī. The Daṇḍotpatti of Chapter 122 then gives the beginning of this figure.

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 122
  • Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 121 (Daṇḍa Kathanam), for Daṇḍapurusha