Pippalāda Maharshi

Pippalāda · pippala-ada, “the eater of pippala fruit”

Pippalāda has other meanings too: see all meanings of Pippalāda.

The life of Pippalāda Maharshi is told in both the Padma Purāṇa and the Śiva Purāṇa.

Birth and Early Life

The Fate of Dadhīci’s Bones

Dadhīci Maharshi, the son of Cyavana, once offered his body to the devas, so that they could make weapons from his bones for their war with the asuras. He gave up his flesh in the fire of yogāgni and gave his bones to Indra‘s hosts for that purpose. Later, in a battle of the devas with the asuras, the devas left their weapons at Dadhīci’s āśrama, sure that no asura would dare to come near while he lived there. But the devas were slow to take their weapons back, and in time Dadhīci’s body absorbed all the divine astras into his marrow and blood.

When the devas at last came to ask for their weapons, Dadhīci told them that the weapons had long since been absorbed. They went to Brahmā, who told them to seek that same power in Dadhīci’s bones, if he would agree to give them. The devas then asked Dadhīci himself. Without telling his wife Suvarchal, he entered yogāgni once more and offered his skeleton. From it the devas made their weapons again and destroyed the asuras.

Suvarchal’s Sacrifice and the Birth of Pippalāda

After Dadhīci’s death, his widow Suvarchal, who was carrying their son, resolved to follow him into the fire rather than live in a world without her husband. Her friends begged her to wait until the child was born. Instead she slew her unborn son with a sword and laid him aside, trusting a pippalī (Ficus religiosa) tree nearby to care for him. Then she entered the fire and left the world.

Childhood under the Pippalī Tree

The child left there was named Pippalāda, after the sacred tree. The spirits of the forest cared for him, for every tree has its own devatās. Sheltered by the branches of the pippalī and kept alive by its shade, Pippalāda grew up with no human or divine guardian. In time he learned who he was, and the wrong the devas had done to his parents.

Retribution on Devas

When Pippalāda learned how the devas had treated his parents, he resolved to punish them. He went to Candra, who told him to perform tapas on the sacred banks of the Godāvarī and promised that the grace of Śiva would fulfil his purpose.

Tapas and the Descent of Rudra

Pippalāda gave himself to the ārādhana of Śiva, with dhyāna through the night, the recitation of stotras and the chanting of Śiva’s name. When Śiva appeared, Pippalāda told him of his grief that the devas had betrayed his parents, and asked for the power to punish them. Śiva gave him a divine agent (kṛtya), which at once began to slay many of the devas.

Appeal of the Remaining Devas and Rudra’s Plea

The devas who survived fled to Brahmā and Rudra. Brahmā said that Pippalāda’s vow and Śiva’s vara could not be undone unless Pippalāda himself relented. Then Rudra spoke for the devas. He praised the merit of mercy and urged Pippalāda to spare them. Pippalāda agreed, his wrath died down, and the devas were saved.

The Devas and Their Puṇya

This account shows that the devas, though they are called immortal, depend on the puṇya (merit) they have gathered to keep their place in svarga. When that merit runs out, as it did when Dadhīci‘s bones absorbed the astras, they too fall from their high state. Like mortals, their end depends on their own virtues and failings, not on any permanence of their own.

Offering the Kṛtya to the Ocean

At Śiva‘s command, Pippalāda put the kṛtya into a golden vessel and cast it into the ocean. So that terrible power of destruction, given as Śiva’s vara, was handed over to the sea. Śiva then gave him another vara: “I rejoice in your compassion and your mercy. You grieved that you could not see your parents; that sorrow will trouble you no more. Whenever you wish, you may go to Pitṛloka and see your parents. You may even speak with them there, and once you have seen them, your grief will vanish.”

Vision of His Parents in Pitṛloka

By Śiva‘s grace, Pippalāda went at once to Pitṛloka in his body of tapas. He found his parents alive and well, in divine forms. Seeing them healed his heart and gave him great peace. He then came back to Bhūloka and took up his tapas again, and by its power he attained Brahmajñāna.

Freedom from Worldly Attachment

From his birth Pippalāda felt no tie of kinship or attachment, for when he was born no one claimed him. Left under the pippalī tree, he grew up with no one to guide him, fed only by the tree itself and by amṛta drawn from the rays of the moon.

Marriage to Padmā and Rejuvenation

One day, while bathing in the Pushpabhadrā river, Pippalāda saw a maiden of great beauty. She was the daughter of King Anavadya, a self-born ruler and a devoted Vishṇubhakta, who had turned down the throne of Indra and chose instead to perform yajñas under the guidance of Bhṛgu Maharshi. This king had twice defeated Indra and once overcome Bali Cakravartī, and he cared for no desire. He had a hundred sons and this one daughter, Padmā, famed for her beauty.

King Anavadya came to Pippalāda and said: “O Maharshi, I hear that you have seen my daughter. I wish to give her to you in marriage, if she agrees.” Pippalāda replied: “You do not hesitate to offer your daughter, and I understand your heart. I speak from my sight of the past, the present and the future: this marriage will bring great good to the world.” With no more doubt, the king performed their marriage. At once, by the power of his tapas, Pippalāda gave up his aged form and became young and strong again. The two lived in bliss.

Dharma-devatā’s Test and Śāpa

Once Dharma-devatā resolved to test Padmā’s faithfulness. As she bathed on the river bank, Dharma-devatā took the form of a handsome man, came up to her chariot and said: “Why stay with that ascetic with matted hair? Choose me, for I am a deva.” Padmā, angered by this unseemly approach, pronounced a śāpa on him for his wrong. Though he revealed that he was Dharma-devatā, she would not relent: “Your brilliance, your beauty, your youth: all shall fade!” When he told her who he was, she softened the śāpa:

“O Dharma-devatā, you have no right to test a devoted wife. Yet my śāpa cannot be changed. Even the devas of the five elements may perish, but the śāpa of a pativratā cannot be undone. You will live long, but your strength will slowly wane. In the Kṛta yuga you will stand on four legs, in the Tretā on three, in the Dvāpara on two and in the Kali on one. So you will go on in weakness until the next Kṛta yuga restores you.”

Then she added a protection: “Yet you will stay whole for all the bhaktas of Hari, the yogīs, the brahmacārīs, the vānaprasthas, the bhikshus, the wise, the pativratās, the kings who keep dharma, the generous vaiśyas and the śūdras who serve.”

Vara of Long Life and Prosperity for Padmā

Padmā then said to Dharma-devatā: “O exalted one, you dwell in sandalwood, bilva, tulasī and garlands of candana, in temples, at the sacred tīrthas, in vratas, tapas and yajñas, and on consecrated ground. You fill the whole world and all these places.”

Dharma-devatā blessed her: “Your husband will live longer even than Mārkaṇḍeya, be richer than Kubera, more prosperous than Indra, and greater in siddhis than Kapila. He will seem equal to Śiva and stay ever young. You will have lasting youth, the blessing of devoted service and noble children. Your fame will last for ever.”

Dharma-devatā

Dharma-devatā is the power that holds up and governs all the lokas of creation. In every kind of being, devas, yakshas, kinnaras, kimpurushas and the rest, a principle of dharma lives on. Wherever dharma flourishes, the world prospers. Beings gather puṇya for the good of the world (jagat-kalyāṇa), but faithfulness to dharma must come before puṇya. Only one who is firm in dharma can do puṇya-karma, tapas and dāna, for all such acts of merit rest on dharma.

The other devas were created directly by Īśvara, but no one made Dharma-devatā as a separate being. Yama, who judges the puṇya and pāpa of beings in the lower lokas and decides where they go, is called Dharma-devatā. Yet dharma fills the whole of creation: it is in Brahmaloka, in Indra and in the very fabric of saṃsāra, and adharma too appears everywhere.

So in every round of birth and rebirth, dharma and adharma live side by side. From this meeting the divine form of dharma arose as the power that sustains, granting sukha and well-being and guiding beings to a good future.

Family and Disciples of Pippalāda

In time Padmā bore five sons. Pippalāda Maharshi and his wife entered the vānaprastha āśrama and kept its duties. By hard tapas and study of the Veda, Pippalāda mastered Brahmajñāna and set up an āśrama where many śishyas came to learn.

Great ṛshis and learned men also came to him for Brahmajñāna. Among them were Kabandha of the Kātyāyana line, Vaidarbhi of the Bhṛgu clan, Kauśalya of the Aśvalāyana family, Sauryāyaṇī of the Garga line, Śaibhyu, son of Satyakāma, and Sukeśa of the Bharadvāja line. Carrying samidhs (sacred firewood), they came to Pippalāda and bowed:

“O Deva, we have performed saguṇa-upāsanā, made our minds pure and overcome the three guṇas. We long for Brahmajñāna and have come in search of the true guru. So we pray for your grace.”

Pippalāda replied: “Serve me for one year in my āśrama. After a year of tapas and service, I will try to clear your doubts.” They accepted, and lived in his āśrama for that time, keeping the vows of brahmacarya and doing tapas.

Teaching on Creation and the Order of the Worlds

When the year was over, Kabandha asked: “Deva, how does the saṃsāra of living beings arise?” Pippalāda taught:

“Beings who are to be created follow the course set by their past karmas, and so rebirth must happen according to those karmas. This is the divine law of creation. But it needs one who carries it out: Brahmā, who does not act at will but gives birth and rebirth exactly according to each jīva’s karma.

“In the beginning Brahma brought forth a pair (mithuna) named Rayi and Prāṇa: rayi stands for Candra and the mind, prāṇa for Sūrya and the life-force. From their union the world unfolds. The Sun, as Vaiśvānara, kindles all the fires of prāṇa throughout creation.”

The Inner Ruler and the Witness

Pippalāda went on:

“Within each being the Antaryāmī shows himself as the Īśvara of Time. As the unseen witness and inner ruler, he orders the growth and decay of every body. So the supreme Brahman, beyond all, fills every state of creation and sustains every yajña.

“He governs the round of karma: in the Dakshiṇāyana the jīva goes to Candraloka and is reborn according to its karma, while in the Uttarāyaṇa the jīva made fit by tapas and virtue reaches Brahmaloka and is not reborn. Those who pass away at a time of mild karma may still be reborn, but those rich in merit who depart in the Uttarāyaṇa attain moksha.”

This teaching matches the Upanishad mantra “dvā suparṇā…”, in which two birds, the jīvātmā and the Paramātmā, sit on the same tree of the body, one as the witness and one as the one who tastes the fruit.

On Prāṇa, the Mind and the Elements

When Vaidarbhi asked, “Deva, what holds up the body?”, Pippalāda replied:

“Prāṇa lights up the body and gives it life. The breath of life that moves the senses of knowing and of action is the very power of prāṇa.”

Asked how prāṇa arises, he taught:

“Prāṇa comes from the ātmā. Since the ātmā shines by its own light, its contact with the five elements gives rise to prāṇa. Prāṇa does not come from anywhere else; it flows out from the ātmā.”

When Sauryāyaṇī asked, “What are sleep and waking, and what is joy?”, he answered:

“When the indriyas merge into the mind and stop their outward work, that is sleep; when they come out of the mind, that is waking. The subtle powers and the fourfold inner instrument belong to the Paramātmā, and only his presence everywhere lets them act.”

The Sixteen Kalās of the Purusha and the Working of Life

To the question “Who are the shoḍaśa-kalā-purushas?”, Pippalāda explained:

“They are the sixteen workings that keep up the body: the five prāṇas, the strength of tapas, the five indriyas and the five elements. Their play together keeps life going. When all of them sink down in deep sleep, that going-down is called death; when they rise again, that is rebirth. If they do not return, one attains immortality.”

Paths of Vedic Study and Moksha

Asked about the upāsanā of the sound Oṃkāra, he taught:

“Those who revere it for a short time become Ṛgvedic devas and return to human birth; those who dwell in it longer rise to Somaloka; those who perfect it reach Brahmaloka by the path of Sūrya. So the Ṛk, Yajus and Sāma Vedas stand for higher and higher degrees of moksha.”

The Summing-Up: Dharma, Yoga and the Bhāgavata Path

Pippalāda stressed that human beings have both good and harmful tendencies. Whether one rises in sattva or falls into tamas, one reaps the fruit of the qualities one has chosen. The body and the mind are instruments for action; without surrender to the Paramātmā, one stays bound to the round of births.

In the end, Pippalāda taught that every school, Advaita, Viśishṭādvaita, Dvaita, Yoga and Sāṅkhya, finds its fulfilment in the Bhāgavata path, in loving bhakti to the Paramātmā. From there there is no return; all the rivers of teaching flow into this ocean of grace.

Final Vara and Humbling of Pippalāda

After three thousand years of hard tapas, Pippalāda Maharshi had the darśana of Brahmā, who granted him the vara of sarvakāma-siddhi, the fulfilment of every desire. Puffed up with pride, Pippalāda grew arrogant. Then Brahmā, again taking the form of a haṃsa, appeared before him and reminded him of the young ṛshi Sukarmaṇa, who without any great tapas had served his parents faithfully and so gained supreme jñāna and power even as a child. Humbled by this teaching, Pippalāda went to Sukarmaṇa and gave up his pride, and his humility came back.

Source: Padma Purāṇa

Instruction to Śaunaka and the Brahmopanishad

Pippalāda then taught the whole of Brahmavidyā and the yoga of reaching Brahman to Śaunaka Maharshi of the Aṅgirasa line: its methods, inner and outer śauca, and the nature of nirviśesha Brahman. He showed the duties of the mumukshus (those who seek moksha) and the way to know the Supreme without attributes. These teachings make up the Brahmopanishad, known in the Yajurveda as the “Brahmopanishad” of twenty-five mantras, which ends with the famous verse “yato vāco nivartante…”. It begins with the yajñopavīta, leads to the definition of the supreme reality, and sets out the highest knowledge and the means to it.

So Pippalāda stands first among the masters of Brahmajñāna, highest among yogīs and without equal among the great ṛshis.

In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

At Parīkshit‘s prāyopaveśa. Sūta Maharshi tells that when King Parīkshit resolved to fast to the end on the bank of the Gaṅgā, giving up all attachments and meditating on the feet of Parameśvara, the great maharshis who purify the earth came there with their disciples. In the text’s order they were Atri, Vasishṭha, Cyavana, Śaradvān, Arishṭanemi, Bhṛgu, Aṅgiras, Parāśara, Viśvāmitra, Paraśurāma, Utathya, Indrapramada, Idhmavāha, Medhātithi, Devala, Ārshisheṇa, Bhāradvāja, Gautama, Pippalāda, Maitreya, Aurva, Kavasha, Agastya, Vyāsa and Nārada Maharshi. The king honoured them all and bowed his head to them (Skandha 1, Chapter 19).

Among the knowers of Śrī Hari’s māyā. Brahmā tells Nārada Maharshi the names of those who have known the māyā of Śrī Hari, the Supreme Person, and Pippalāda is among them, named after Devala Maharshi (Skandha 2, Chapter 7).

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 19; Skandha 2, Chapter 7

Sources

• Padma Purāṇa
• Śiva Purāṇa
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 19; Skandha 2, Chapter 7