Sapta Kirāta Upākhyāna: The Seven Kirātas

This account is told in the Umā Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa. Mārkaṇḍeya tells it to Bhīshma as a teaching on devotion to the pitṛs (the ancestors). Seven brāhmaṇa brothers killed the kapilā (tawny) cow of their guru because they were hungry. They were then reborn as seven Kirātas (forest hunters), then as seven cakravāka birds, and at last as human brāhmaṇa scholars in Kāmpilya. All seven reached moksha. Their ascent came from the puṇya of their śrāddha (the rite for the ancestors), from their jāti-smara (memory of earlier births), and from their steady practice of yoga through many births.

The first wrong act and the first rebirth

There were seven brāhmaṇa brothers, the sons of Bharadvāja. They were students at the gurukula of the ācārya Garga. After their father died, they set out on a pilgrimage. Their guru had trusted them to look after a kapilā cow and her calf. On the way, great hunger came upon them. Five of the seven gave in to the wish to kill the cow. Only two, named Kavi and Svasṛshu, argued against it. (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 41)

The seventh brother was Pitṛvarti. His name itself spoke of his devotion to the pitṛs, and he did śrāddha every day. He accepted that it could not be avoided, but he insisted that they should at least do the deed in the proper way. They should perform śrāddha and give the animal to the pitṛs. He said:

“If this deed must be done, do it at least as pitṛ-karma (a rite for the ancestors). Then our pāpa (sin) will not stick to us.”

The others agreed. They made the cow holy with saṃprokshaṇa (the sprinkling of water), offered her to the pitṛ-devas in the proper forms, and ate the flesh.

When they went back to the guru, they lied and said that a tiger had killed the cow. They gave him the calf. The guru was heartbroken. The five who had killed the cow took on a heavy pāpa. It was both the pāpa of breaking ahiṃsā (non-injury) and the pāpa of destroying the guru’s animal. (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 41)

In time the seven brothers died. Because of all their karma together, they were reborn as seven Kirātas in the Daśārṇa country. Their karma was the pāpa of the five, the part pāpa of Pitṛvarti, and the puṇya of all seven from their earlier tapas and śrāddha. Their names as Kirātas were:

Sumanaska, of gentle mind
Suvāk, of noble speech
Śuddha, the pure one
Paścima, the westward-facing one
Chidradarśaka, the one who sees flaws
Svatantra, the independent one
Suyajña, the one who does good yajñas

The Kirāta lives

The seven Kirātas had a rare grace, the siddhi of jāti-smara, the memory of their earlier human births as brāhmaṇas. This memory brought them sorrow and not pride. They knew why they had fallen into this birth and what they had lost. They lived on the beautiful Kālañjara mountain in the Daśārṇa country. They were full of grief inside. They kept samabhāva, an even mind in pleasure and pain, and they strictly avoided any more violence. Though Kirātas by birth, they did not hunt. (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 41)

The knowledge of Brahman (brāhma-jñāna) that they had gathered in their gurukula lives stayed alive in their minds through the new birth. They did good deeds (śubha-karma), kept their devotion to the pitṛs (pitṛ-bhakti), and grew in vairāgya (freedom from desire). Their one wish was moksha, freedom from saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death), and they made it the centre of their lives. (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 41)

The cakravāka rebirth

After they died as Kirātas, their karma was neither pure puṇya nor pure pāpa. They were reborn in Śaradvīpa as seven cakravāka birds. This middle birth came from their mixed karma. Their pāpa was not yet fully gone, but their yoga and śrāddha had gathered enough puṇya to keep them from a lower birth.

As cakravākas on Mānasarovara they again lived in strict brahmacārya. They kept apart even from their female companions, lived on wind and water, and did austerities as far as their bird bodies allowed. The cakravākas knew one another and spoke together about their journey. (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 41)

The sight of the king

One day the rich and powerful king of the Nīpa country, named Vaibhrāja, came into the forest with his whole court. He enjoyed the woodland as Indra enjoys Nandanavana. The bird named Svatantra saw the king in his splendour and was filled with a deep longing:

“May the merit I have gathered, my tapas, my niyamas and my austerities, bear fruit that gives me a life like this king’s, full of dignity and rule!”

Two of the other cakravākas at once offered:

“We two will be your ministers. We will serve your welfare faithfully.”

A third, the wise Sumanaska, spoke a prophecy:

“Your time of śāpa (a curse) is ending. You shall become yogīs again. Suyajña and Svatantra too will become yogīs. By the grace of the pitṛ-devas, whose śrāddha we performed in that life before we fled, the fruit of our puṇya will now ripen. We shall all be born as human beings, hear the truth, and gain siddhi.”

(Umā Saṃhitā, Chapters 41–42)

Rebirth in Kāmpilya and moksha

After this, the seven cakravāka birds died and were reborn as human beings in the city of Kāmpilya (modern Kampil in Uttar Pradesh, the ancient capital of Pañcāla):

Svatantra became Brahmadatta, a king of great tejas (radiance) who ruled with justice.
Chidradarśaka and Sunētra were born as sons of a śrotriya brāhmaṇa and became masters of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas.
Pañcāla became an ācārya and taught the Ṛg Veda.
Puṇḍarīka mastered both the Sāma Veda and the Yajur Veda.
The remaining two were also born as sons of the same śrotriya brāhmaṇa. They mastered yoga and became siddhas. The names Dhṛtimān, Sumahātmā, Tattvadarśī and Nirutsuka are given in this account.

The Vaibhrāja king, who had also done tapas in the forest, gave up his kingdom to his son Anūha and went to that same forest. He died there, having known that the place where the birds did their tapas was holy.

Of the seven, four kept jāti-smara and three forgot their earlier lives completely. Yet all seven in the end reached moksha. King Brahmadatta, after his reign, put his son on the throne and reached moksha. Pañcāla and Puṇḍarīka put their own sons in their āśramas, went to the forest, and reached the highest goal (gati). The remaining four spoke together and bowed at the lotus feet of Bhagavān Śambhu (Śiva). They set out for moksha and said:

“Those who seek the fearless moksha from which there is no return take shelter at the feet of Śambhu. May that highest home of Śambhu take away our pāpa today.”

All seven reached moksha, freedom from the cycle of rebirth. (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapters 41–42)

What Mārkaṇḍeya teaches

Mārkaṇḍeya uses this account to teach Bhīshma these points:

Pitṛ-bhakti is a protection. The seven brāhmaṇas did śrāddha regularly, even in the hard moment of the cow, and this stayed with them like a lifeline through many births. Their jāti-smara was itself a fruit of their śrāddha. The text says: “The gati that pitṛ-bhakti gives is not given by yoga.”
Śiva’s name cleanses all. The chapter ends with a plain statement that speaking the name of Śiva takes away all pāpa at once, as a clay pot dropped into water.

How the account is told

The outer frame is Mārkaṇḍeya teaching Bhīshma. This dialogue is itself told within the Umā Saṃhitā, which comes down through the line of Sanatkumāra, then Vyāsa, then Sūta.

Sources

Śiva Purāṇa, Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 41
Śiva Purāṇa, Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 42