Vibhūti-Vicāra and Bhūtaguṇa-Vivecana in the Aśvamedhika Parva

These two chapters (43 and 44) belong to the Guru-Śishya Saṃvāda, also called the Brāhmaṇa-Gītā, in the Anugītā section of the Mahābhārata’s Aśvamedhika Parva (the fourteenth book). In this teaching Brahmā instructs a gathering of great ṛshis. Vibhūti-vicāra means “a look at the vibhūtis”, the foremost or most glorious member of each class of beings and things. Bhūtaguṇa-vivecana means “an examination of the qualities of the elements”.

In Chapter 43 Brahmā names the vibhūti of every class of being and object in creation. He then defines the lakshaṇas (essential marks) of dharma, of the elements and of the inner faculties. He explains which devatā helps which sense grasp which quality, and describes the kshetra (the field) and the kshetrajña (the knower of the field). Chapter 44 goes on in the same way, naming the ādi (first) and the anta (end) of every category, and concludes that only jñāna (true knowledge) has no end and cannot be destroyed.

The Foremost of Every Class (Chapter 43)

At the end of Chapter 42 Brahmā described the yogī who is anyādhipati, sovereign and subject to no one else. To show that such a yogī truly reaches the state of Īśvara, Brahmā now lists the vibhūtis, the foremost member, of one class after another:

• Among men, the kshatriya king, in whom rajas is strong; among mounts, the elephant; among wild animals, the lion; among domestic animals, the ram; among cave-dwellers, the serpent; among cattle, the bull; for women, the man.
• Among trees: Meshaśṛṅga, Nerēḍu, Rāvi (Aśvattha), Juvvi (Plaksha), Śiṃśupā, Mēṭi and the hollow bamboo. These are called the kshatriya (royal) class among trees.
• Among mountains: Himavat, Pāriyātra, Sahya, Vindhya, Trikūṭa, Śveta, Nīla, Bhāsa, Koshṭhavat, Guruskandha, Mahendra and Mālyavanta. These are the royal mountains.
• Among the groups of devatās, the Maruts; among the grahas (planets), Sūrya; among the nakshatras (lunar stars), Candra; among the pitṛs (ancestors), Yama Dharmarāja; among rivers, the ocean is master; among waters, Varuṇa; among the Maruts, Indra.
• Among hot and shining things, Sūrya; among the stars, Candra; among the elements, Agni, their eternal ruler; among brāhmaṇas, Bṛhaspati; among plants, Soma; among the strong, Vishṇu; among forms, Tvashṭā; among animals, Śaṅkara (Paśupati, lord of beings).
• Among those who take dīkshā (initiation), Yajña; among devas, Indra; among the directions, the shining Soma; among jewels, Kubera; among devas (again), Purandara (Indra); among creatures, Prajāpati.

This, Brahmā says, is the creation of the rulers of beings.

Brahmā then declares: “I am the greatest Īśvara of all beings; no one is greater than me or Vishṇu; I am Brahman in form.” He at once makes clear that Śrī Mahāvishṇu, who is Brahman in form, is himself the king of kings and Īśvara of all. He is the creator who has no creator above him, and the supreme ruler of humans, kinnaras, yakshas, gandharvas, serpents and rākshasas alike.

Among women sought by those full of desire, the woman with beautiful eyes is foremost. Among the women who bring every blessing, known as Maheśvarī, Mahādevī, Pārvatī and Umādevī, she is supreme. And among those fit for love, the Apsarās adorned with gold, born from the churning of the ocean of milk, are foremost.

Rāja-Dharma: The King as Protector of Dharma

Kings should always want to protect dharma. Brāhmaṇas are the setu, the bridges and guardians, of dharma, so a king must always work to protect brāhmaṇas. Kings in whose kingdoms good people and the best of people come to harm lose every royal quality and go to a low state after death. Kings who protect the good are happy here and become fit for unending happiness hereafter.

The Marks of Dharma and of the Elements (Chapter 43, continued)

Brahmā next teaches the mark that belongs to dharma and to each element:

• Ahiṃsā (non-harming) is the highest of all dharmas.
• Hiṃsā (harming) is the mark of adharma.
• Light is the mark of the devas.
• Yajña and similar rites are the mark of human beings.

Among the great elements:

Sound, when shaped further by vowels and consonants, is also the mark of the speech of others, which we understand through the way it is spoken.

Cintana, weighing up what should and should not be done, is the mark of the mind. From what the mind has weighed up, the intellect reaches a decision, and the intellect itself is known through such decisions. Dhyāna (meditation) is also a mark of the mind. The mark of the best of people is to stay unseen, known only to himself. Activity is the mark of yoga. Sannyāsa (renunciation) is the mark of jñāna; so the wise person should take up sannyāsa only after first gaining jñāna. The sannyāsī who has jñāna overcomes death and old age, goes beyond every pair of opposites, and reaches the highest goal, which lies beyond the darkness of ignorance.

Which Sense Grasps Which Quality, and Which Devatā Helps

Having taught the marks, Brahmā describes exactly which sense grasps which quality, and which devatā helps it:

Cintana, the quality of the mind, is grasped by the intellect with the help of the conscious ātman seated in the heart. The intellect itself is grasped through adhyavasāya (firm determination), its own special work. Mahat-tattva (cosmic intelligence), however, is grasped by jñāna, which is pure sattva itself, and by nothing else in the way a sense organ grasps its object. Its existence becomes clear only through its effect, the certainty “I am” (asmi). Strictly speaking it is beyond the reach of the senses, even though it is inferred and so said to be “manifest” in its effects.

The Field and the Knower of the Field (Chapter 43, continued)

The eternal Self has no liṅga, no mark by which it can be grasped, because it is without qualities and shines by its own light. So the kshetrajña is called asaṅga, without any distinguishing feature, and pure knowledge alone is its mark.

The kshetra (field) is avyakta-prakṛti, unmanifest nature, the cause of the arising and passing away of the guṇas. The kshetrajña, though it seems to be absorbed in the field, always knows it, hears it and sees it. The one who knows the field in this way is called the kshetrajña. He fully knows the beginning, middle and end of every lifeless thing that is created, together with the guṇas, their effects and their workings. But the guṇas, always arising and passing, can never know the ātman in return.

The Mahat-tattva, far removed from the guṇas and their effects, is the kshetrajña whose nature is truth. No one can know it as an object of knowledge, even though it knows and sees all things, since its very nature is knowledge. So the person in this world whose faults are destroyed, who has gone beyond the guṇas and knows dharma, leaves behind sattva (the intellect) and the guṇas and enters the Paramātman, whose nature is the kshetrajña. The kshetrajña is free of the pair of pleasure and pain. It makes no offerings and bows to no one. It is unmoving, has no fixed home, is the greatest of all, all-powerful and all-pervading.

The First of All Things (Chapter 44)

Brahmā now names the ādi, the first or foremost, of every category, by name and by mark:

• Day comes before night; the bright fortnight is the first of the month; the Śravaṇa nakshatra is the first of the stars; śiśira (the cool season) is the first of the seasons.
• Of smells, the first cause is earth; of tastes, water; of forms, the shining Āditya (the sun); of touches, air; of sound, space. These are the qualities produced by the five elements.
• Sūrya is the first of all grahas. Jaṭharāgni, the digestive fire, is the first of all beings, since heat from Āditya causes birth from the womb and from the egg, and rain, also from Āditya, causes birth from moisture and from sprouting seeds. Sāvitrī (the Gāyatrī) is the first of all kinds of knowledge; Prajāpati is the first of all devatās; Oṃ is the first of all the Vedas; prāṇa (life-breath) is the first of speech; every properly measured utterance in this world is Gāyatrī. Gāyatrī is the first of the metres; the moment creation begins is the first of all creatures; the cow is the first of four-footed creatures; the brāhmaṇa is the first of human beings.
• Among birds, the eagle is first; among yajñas, the offering made into the fire or to a brāhmaṇa is best; among creatures that crawl on the earth, the serpent (Vāsuki) is best; the Satya Yuga is the first of all yugas (ages); among jewels, gold is best; among grains, barley is best; among foods, cooked grain is best; among drinks, water is best.
• Among all unmoving things, the Brahma-kshetra is everywhere pure; among trees, the Plaksha (Juvvi) is best and most pure; Mahāmeru was the first of all mountains to arise; of the directions, the east, being first-born, is best; of rivers, Gaṅgā, which flows through all three worlds, is best; of the lakes, the ocean was the first to arise.
• Bhagavān Śaṅkara is the master of devas, dānavas, bhūtas, piśācas, serpents, rākshasas, humans, kinnaras and yakshas. The first cause of the whole world is Śrī Mahāvishṇu, who is Brahman in form, and no one in the three worlds is greater than him. Of the āśramas (stages of life), the gṛhastha (householder) āśrama is the first. Of the whole world, avyakta-prakṛti is both the first and the last.

The End of All Things (Chapter 44, continued)

Brahmā then names the anta, the end, of every category:

• Sunset is the end of day; sunrise is the end of night.
• Sorrow is always the end of happiness, and happiness always the end of sorrow.
• Loss is the end of every gathering; fall is the end of rise; separation is the end of union; death is the end of life.

Whatever is made must be destroyed; whoever is born must die; nothing moving or unmoving in this world is eternal. Yajña, giving, tapas (austerity), study of the Veda, vows and observances all end in destruction. Only jñāna has no end and cannot be destroyed. So, through pure knowledge, by calming the mind, mastering the senses and giving up “I” and “mine”, one is freed from every pāpa.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 43–44