Mukunda Brāhmaṇa and His Twenty Disciples
Mukunda Viṃśati Śishya · mukunda viṃśati-śishya, “Mukunda and his twenty disciples”
Śrīdhara has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śrīdhara. Mādhava has other meanings too: see all meanings of Mādhava. Madhu has other meanings too: see all meanings of Madhu. Māndhātā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Māndhātā. Śambhu has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śambhu. Vimala has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vimala.
Mukunda was an excellent brāhmaṇa of the gotra (family line) of Śaṅkarācārya, who was performing tapas at Prayāga with his twenty disciples in the days of the mleccha king Bābara. The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, in its account of the Kali Yuga, tells this narrative through Sūta to Śaunaka. Hearing that Bābara had broken and ruined the images of the devas, Mukunda in grief offered his life as an āhuti (offering) into the fire, and his twenty disciples followed the path of their guru.
Long before, Mukunda had once drunk a hair of a cow along with the cow’s milk. By this one small fault he was born in his next birth in a mleccha family, as Akbara, son of Homāyu. An ākāśavāṇī (voice from the sky) gave the child his name and revealed who he had been, and said he would not follow the path of the mlecchas or piśācas. He ruled for fifty years without a rival and at the end went to svarga.
His twenty disciples were born again in his time. Seven came to his court: Gānasena, Vaijavāk, Haridāsa Gāyaka, Bīrabala, Mānasiṃha, Bilvamaṅgala and Candala. The other thirteen were established in other places as poets, sants and bhaktas, among them Tulasīśarmā, Sūradāsa, Agrabhuk, Keśava and Mīrā.
Mukunda at Prayāga
Sūta told Śaunaka of the days when Bābara, son of Roshaṇa, had ruled, and his son Homāyu was on the throne. In those same days an excellent brāhmaṇa named Mukunda, born in the gotra of Śaṅkarācārya, was performing tapas at Prayāga with his twenty disciples.
Mukunda learned that the mleccha king Bābara had broken and ruined the images of the devas. In grief he offered his life as an āhuti into the fire. His twenty disciples followed the path of their guru.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 22–23
The one small fault
Once, the brāhmaṇa Mukunda had drunk a hair of a cow along with the cow’s milk. Because of this one fault he was born in his next birth in the mleccha yoni (womb, birth).
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 22–23
The ākāśavāṇī and the name Akbara
The Pratisarga Parva tells that when Humāyūm was staying in Kaśmīra, with his brother Makarāna at the border of Kābula and Kaśmīra, a son was born to him. At that moment an ākāśavāṇī spoke: “Your son will be very mighty and fortunate. He is born of a vara received unexpectedly, akasmāt, so his name will be Akbara, and he will not follow the path of the mlecchas or piśācas.” So the text gives the name as aka, from akasmāt, and vara.
The ākāśavāṇī went on. He was the one whose disciples were Śrīdhara, Śrīpati, Śambhu, Vareṇya, Madhuvratī, Vimala, Devavān, Soma, Vardhana, Vartaka, Ruci, Māndhātā, Mānakāra, Keśava, Mādhava, Madhu, Devāpi, Somapā, Śūra and Madana. “That brāhmaṇa Mukunda of the former birth has by fortune come into your house in this form.”
Hearing this, Humāyūm was glad at heart. He gave dāna (gifts) to those suffering from hunger and raised his son with love. When the son was ten years old, Humāyūm came to Dehalī, defeated Sheshaśāka and became king there. He ruled for one year, and after him his son Akbara became king.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 22–23
The seven disciples at Akbara’s court
After Akbara gained the kingdom, his seven beloved disciples of the former birth were born again and came to his court. The text gives their former and new names:
| Former name | New birth | What the text says |
|---|---|---|
| Keśava | Gānasena | Came to Akbara’s court |
| Mādhava | Vaijavāk | Became famous by this name |
| Madhu | Haridāsa Gāyaka | Knower of all the rāgas; a famous Vaishṇava, a follower of the mata (teaching) of Madhvācārya |
| Devāpi | Bīrabala | A western brāhmaṇa, who had “the abhimāna of Sarasvatī Devī, the presiding devī of speech” |
| Somapā | Mānasiṃha | Born in the Gautama vaṃśa (line); became the senāpati (commander) of Akbara |
| Śūra | Bilvamaṅgala | Born in a brāhmaṇa family in the south; a paṇḍita, who became Akbara’s friend |
| Madana | Candala | A brāhmaṇa of the eastern land; a dancer, skilled in rahaḥ-krīḍā (the private arts of love) |
These seven, the text says, stood in Akbara’s court as seven rājās. The thirteen beginning with Śrīdhara were established in other places.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 22–23
The thirteen disciples elsewhere
| Former name | New birth | What the text says |
|---|---|---|
| Śrīdhara | Tulasīśarmā | The son of Anapa, skilled in the Purāṇas. Taking his teaching from a woman, he became a greatly detached Vaishṇava poet at Kāśī, in the line of Śrī Rāmānanda, the disciple of Rāghavānanda |
| Śrīpati | Sūradāsa | The great blind bhakta poet; stood in the mata of Madhvācārya and described the Kṛshṇa-līlā |
| Śambhu | Haripriya | Born in the family of Candrabhaṭṭa; a bhakta of Bhagavān Vishṇu, in the mata of Rāmānanda |
| Vareṇya | Agrabhuk | The famous sant, in the mata of Rāmānanda |
| Madhuvratī | Kīlaka | A poet devoted to jñāna and dhyāna, a composer of verse in the bhāshā (spoken tongue); composed the Rāmalīlā and followed the mata of Rāmānanda |
| Vimala | Divākara | Sang the holy carita of Bhagavatī Sītā; stood in the mata of Rāmānanda |
| Devavān | Keśava | A follower of Vishṇusvāmī; his account is told below |
| Soma | Vyāsadāsa | A follower of the mata of Nimbāditya; composed a work on rahaḥ-krīḍā and attained svarga |
| Vardhana | Caraṇadāsa | Composed the work called Jñānamālā; a follower of the path of Raidāsa |
| Vartaka | Rajabhānu | Author of the Jaimini-bhāshā; a follower of the Ropaṇa-mata |
| Ruci | Rocana | A follower of the mata of Madhvācārya; by performing many sung līlās he attained svarga |
| Māndhātā | Bhūpati | A kāyastha; according to the mata of Madhvācārya he made a beautiful translation of the Bhāgavata in the Hindī language |
| Mānakāra | Mīrā | A king’s daughter; her account is told below |
Keśava the poet: from pretatva to svarga
Devavān descended as Keśava and became a follower of Vishṇusvāmī. By composing Kavipriyā and other works he came to pretatva, the state of a preta (a departed being not yet at rest). By composing the work called Rāma-jyotsnā he attained svarga. This Keśava is not the disciple Keśava of the seven, who became Gānasena.
Mānakāra becomes Mīrā
Mānakāra, through nārī-bhāva (the inner attitude of a woman), obtained a woman’s body and became the king’s daughter famed as Mīrā. Holding to the mata of Madhvācārya, Mīrā became very famous. The text says: “Her prabandha (composition) will be auspicious for the terrible Kali-kāla.”
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 22–23
The end of Akbara
The Pratisarga Parva tells that Akbara ruled without a rival for fifty years, and at the end died and went to svarga. His son was Salomā-Salīma, who ruled as his father did.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 22–23
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 22–23