Uttara Parva
Uttara Parva, simply known as Uttara Parva, Sanskrit: उत्तर पर्व, Telugu: ఉత్తర పర్వం, Hindi: उत्तर पर्व.
The Uttara Parva is the last part of the Bhavishya Purāṇa. In it Bhagavān Kṛshṇa teaches Yudhishṭhira Mahārāja at Kurukshetra. It has more than two hundred chapters. It gives the vratas (vows) of every lunar tithi from pratipat to paurṇamāsī, the weekday vratas, the vratas of special festivals, the six supreme mahā-dānas (great gifts), the Daśaparvata (ten mountain-gifts), and a closing teaching on sadācāra (right conduct), which is the base of all dharmic action.
How the Parva was handed down
The Uttara Parva is taught directly by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa to Yudhishṭhira Mahārāja at Kurukshetra. The background upākhyāna (narrative) is the talk between Pulastya Maharshi and King Priyavrata. Priyavrata had ruled for thirty thousand years, shared his kingdom among his seven sons and gone to the forest for tapas (austerity). This talk is the main line of teaching that Kṛshṇa draws upon.
Vyāsa composed the Parva and passed it on through Sumantu to King Śatānīka. Yājñavalkya also received parts of it from Vasishṭha. (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 175)
Vratas by tithi
The Parva gives a full cycle of vratas, one or more for each tithi of the lunar month. These are the main tithi-vratas in it.
| Tithi | Month or occasion | Vrata or festival |
|---|---|---|
| Kṛshṇa Ashṭamī | Bhādrapada, Rohiṇī nakshatra | Kṛshṇa Janmāshṭamī |
| Śukla Dvādaśī | Kārtika | Govatsa Dvādaśī |
| Paurṇamāsī | Jyeshṭha | Sāvitri Vrata |
| Paurṇamāsī | Kārtika, Kṛttikā nakshatra | Mahākārtikī |
The Sāmbharāyaṇī Vrata is told by the siddha Sāmbharāyaṇī from Svarga. It covers the system of Māsa-nakshatra vratas: a year-long cycle of monthly vrata days, each tied to the nakshatra in which that month’s paurṇamāsī falls. This vrata won Sāmbharāyaṇī her own place in Svarga.
The Jātismara Bhadra Vrata is set inside the account of the gold-excreting prince. It shows how the puṇya gathered through vratas in a past life passes on across births.
Vara-vratas: weekday observances
Śanaiścara Vrata is kept every Saturday for Śani (Saturn). It includes:
- abhyaṅga (oil bath) with sesame oil;
- pūjā of an iron image;
- the Pippalāda stotra;
- the Nala-Śani mantras;
- the yearly udyāpana (concluding rite), with the dāna of a black cow and a blanket.
This is in Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 114.
Vratas for special occasions
Arghya to Agastya Maharshi. It is kept when the star Agastya (Canopus) rises in the period of Kanyā-rāśi. A golden image of Agastya is set on a kalaśa (water pot) and worshipped. Arghya (an offering of water) is given with set mantras, among them Kāśapushpa-pratīkāśa. The phala depends on the varṇa:
- for brāhmaṇas, knowledge;
- for kshatriyas, rule over the land;
- for vaiśyas, prosperity;
- for śūdras, health;
- for women, saubhāgya (good fortune in marriage).
Bhadra Śānti. These are the rites to calm Bhadra. She is the daughter of Sūrya by Chāyā and presides over the Vishṭi-karaṇa in the pañcāṅga (the almanac). The rites include her twelve auspicious names and the method of turning her inauspicious periods into good ones.
These two are in Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 117–118.
The six mahā-dānas
The heart of the last section of the Uttara Parva is the teaching on the six mahā-dānas. They are gifts of such cosmic size that they give puṇya at the level of moksha.
| Mahā-dāna | Chapter | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Tulāpurusha | 175 | Gold equal to the weight of the giver’s body, given to a brāhmaṇa |
| Hiraṇyagarbha | 176 | A golden vessel in the form of the cosmic womb, filled with sesame and gems |
| Brahmāṇḍa | 177 | A gold model of the cosmos, with all fourteen worlds shown inside |
| Kalpavṛksha | 178–179 | A golden wish-fulfilling tree, with devatās on five branches |
| Kālapurusha | 181–190 | A golden image of cosmic Time, with the Daśadānas as its companions |
| Mahāparvata | 195–204 | Ten gifts shaped like mountains, each made of a different sacred substance |
The Kalpabatā dāna is the gift of ten golden creepers to ten brāhmaṇas. It is a form of the Kalpavṛksha kind of dāna, told in Chapter 179.
These are in Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 175–204.
The Daśadānas: ten gifts that go with the great gift
The ten Daśadānas are told in the Kālapurusha section (Chapters 181–190). They are:
- Dhenu-dāna (a cow, in various forms)
- Bhūmi-dāna (land)
- Svarṇa-dāna (gold)
- Tilaśaila (a mountain of sesame)
- Ghṛtaparvata (a mountain of ghee)
- Lavaṇācala (a mountain of salt)
- Dhānyaśaila (a mountain of grain)
- Guḍaparvata (a mountain of jaggery)
- Kapāsaśaila (a mountain of cotton)
- Rajatācala (a mountain of silver)
Bhuvana-pratishṭhā dāna
The Bhuvana-pratishṭhā dāna is a golden model of the inhabited world, given to brāhmaṇas at a sacred tīrtha. It is told in the narrative of King Rājī (Chapters 191–193). Rājī was a cakravartī (emperor) who had fought the daityas on behalf of Indra. Pulastya tells of his past life to show how past karma gives sovereignty.
This is in Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 191–193.
Sadācāra: the closing teaching (Chapter 205)
The Uttara Parva ends with Kṛshṇa’s teaching on sadācāra, the code of right daily conduct. Yudhishṭhira asks about the one truth that lies under all the different devatās and vratas told in the Parva, and Kṛshṇa answers with this teaching. Kṛshṇa declares that all vratas and dānas bear fruit only for those who keep sadācāra. For those without right conduct, even the study of the Veda with all six aṅgas cannot purify.
This is in Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 205.
Narratives inside the Parva
These upākhyānas are told in the Uttara Parva to show the power of vratas, of dānas and of the māyā of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
| Narrative | Chapter | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| Nārada and the woman Sundarī | 3 | Nārada becomes the woman Sundarī and lives through māyā |
| The gold-excreting prince | 23 | The prince who passed gold; the rivalry of Nārada and Parvata; the Jātismara Bhadra vrata |
| Sāvitri and Yama | 102 | Sāvitri wins five varas from Yama; the origin of the Sāvitri vrata |
| Kaliṅga Bhadra | 103 | Kaliṅga Bhadra dies in the middle of the vrata; three births; moksha |
| Pippalāda and Śani | 114 | Pippalāda casts Śani down from the sky; the decision of Brahmā |
People in the Uttara Parva
- Sāvitri. The queen who followed Yama and won back her husband’s life. The Sāvitri vrata comes from her.
- Dhruva. He was protected by the Govatsa Dvādaśī vrata of his mother Sunītī, and was set in his place as the pole star.
- Pippalāda. The ṛshi Pippalāda, born from a kumbha (pot) under a pīpala tree, who cast Śani down from the sky.
- Sāmbharāyaṇī. A woman siddha in Svarga who tells the histories of the Manvantaras. She earned svarga through the Māsa-nakshatra vrata.
- Rājī. The cakravartī who fought the daityas for Indra. His narrative is the setting of the Bhuvana-pratishṭhā dāna.
- Bhadra. The daughter of Sūrya by Chāyā, fierce at her birth, linked with the Vishṭi-karaṇa.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 3, 23, 102, 103 and 114 (the narratives)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 114 (Śanaiścara Vrata)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 117–118 (Arghya to Agastya, Bhadra Śānti)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 175–204 (the six mahā-dānas)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 181–190 (the Daśadānas)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 191–193 (Bhuvana-pratishṭhā dāna)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 205 (Sadācāra)