Kaṇva and the Mlecchas of Misra
Kaṇva and the Mlecchas of Misra · kaṇva, mleccha, misra, “Kaṇva and the mlecchas of Misra”
Kāśyapa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kāśyapa. Āditya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Āditya.
The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa tells that Kaṇva, son of Kaśyapa Maharshi, had ten sons by the vara of Sarasvatī Devī, that their sons became the gotrakāras, and that at Sarasvatī Devī’s order he went to the Misra country and taught Sanskrit to ten thousand mlecchas. Bhagavān Jagannātha tells this to Kṛshṇacaitanya, and Sūta reports it to Śaunaka.
The account goes on to the mlecchas of Misra and their varṇa, to Ācārya Pṛthu whom Kaṇva made a king, to his son Māgadha, and to Indra‘s birth on earth by his aṃśa. It closes with the vipra Jina and his wife Jayanī, through whom the Āditya was born, who took the Veda from the śūdras at Bodhagayā and gave it to the munis at Viśālā.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 20–21
Kaṇva and his ten sons
Kṛshṇacaitanya asks Bhagavān Jagannātha to tell the account in further detail. Bhagavān Jagannātha says that in ancient times Kaṇva, son of Kaśyapa Maharshi, had as his wife a deva-kanyā named Āryāvatī. On behalf of Indra the two went to the bank of the Sarasvatī river, which flows through Kurukshetra, and Kaṇva began to praise Sarasvatī Devī with sūktas of the four Vedas. After one year Sarasvatī Devī, pleased, came there and gave a vara for the prosperity of the Āryas.
By the power of the vara Kaṇva had ten sons: Upādhyāya, Dīkshita, Pāṭhaka, Śukla, Miśra, Agnihotrī, Dvivedī, Trivedī, Pāṇḍya and Caturvedī. As their names were, so were their qualities, and with bowed heads they pleased Sarasvatī Devī.
When they were twelve years old, Śāradā Devī, who loves her bhaktas, gave them her daughters: Upādhyāyī, Dīkshitā, Pāṭhakī, Śuklikā, Miśrāṇī, Agnihotriṇī, Dvivedinī, Trivedinī, Pāṇḍyāyanī and Caturvedinī.
Each of those daughters had sixteen sons from her husband, and they all became gotrakāras. By these names the sixteen sons of each are known: Kaśyapa, Bharadvāja, Viśvāmitra, Gotama, Jamadagni, Vasishṭha, Vatsa, Gautama, Parāśara, Garga, Atri, Bhṛgu, Aṅgirā, Śṛṅgī, Kātyāyana and Yājñavalkya.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 21
The mlecchas of Misra
The Pratisarga Parva tells that by Sarasvatī Devī‘s order Kaṇva Maharshi came to the Misra country, taught Sanskrit to ten thousand mlecchas, brought them under his influence, and came back to the excellent Brahmāvarta. They pleased Sarasvatī Devī by tapas. After five years she appeared and made those mlecchas, together with their wives, of the śūdra varṇa. They took up the work of craftsmen and had many sons.
In the chapter before, Bhagavān Jagannātha says that the mlecchas born in the Misra country, ruled by Kāśyapa, became refined and attained the brāhmaṇa varṇa, wore śikhā and sūtra, studied the Veda and by yajñas worshipped Śacīpati Indra.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 20–21
Ācārya Pṛthu and Māgadha
Among those people there were two thousand vaiśyas, and among these was one Ācārya Pṛthu, a sevaka of Kaṇva. He pleased the mahāmuni by twelve years of tapas. Kaṇva Maharshi, pleased, by the vara of the devas made him a kshatriya king and gave him Rājaputrapura. His wife named Rājanyā bore a son named Māgadha, and to him Kaṇva gave the Māgadha country in the east.
Then Kaṇva went to Svargaloka. After he had gone, those mlecchas of the śūdra varṇa did arcanā of Śacīpati Indra, Devādhideva, by yajñas. Grieved at this, Indra with his brother was born again on earth by his aṃśa in brahma-yoni.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 21
Jina, Jayanī and the Āditya at Bodhagayā
The Pratisarga Parva tells that there was a vipra named Jina, and his wife was Jayanī. The two had been born to Kaśyapa from Aditi in the Kokaṭa country. Through them, for the good of the world, the Āditya was born.
On the bank of the Karmanāśā river is a city named Bodhagayā. There he, equipped with the Bauddha śāstra, held debate, and took the Veda from the śūdras. He went to the city of Viśālā, woke the munis who were in samādhi there and gave them the Veda. From that time all the devagaṇas left the earth and went to svarga. The mlecchas became Bauddhas and all the rest became devoted to the Veda.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 21
Per the accounts of Kāśyapa
The Pratisarga Parva also tells of a brāhmaṇa named Kāśyapa, whom Devarāṭ Mahendra sent to Brahmāvarta when the first thousand years of Kaliyuga had passed. The deva-śakti Āryāvatī joyfully took his hand, and she bore him ten sons, with qualities matching their names. Kāśyapa came to the land of Misra, brought ten thousand mlecchas born there under control, came back to his own place and made them his disciples. After the destruction of the Sapta-purīs they lived in excellent Brahmāvarta, between the rivers Sarasvatī and Dṛshadvatī.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 1, Chapter 6; Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 3
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 1, Chapter 6; Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 3, 20–21