Ruci Pitṛ Saṃvāda

The Ruci Pitṛ Saṃvāda is the account of how Ruci Prajāpati, an unmarried brahmarshi, was visited by his own Pitṛ-devatās (ancestors who are devas). They urged him to enter the gṛhastha āśrama (the life of a householder). Their talk shows why the householder’s life matters. It ends with Ruci’s tapas, his Pitṛ-stotra (a hymn of praise to the ancestors), and the birth of his son Raucya Manu, the thirteenth Manu. Mārkaṇḍeya Mahāmuni told this account to Krauñcika Maharshi, and the Garuḍa Purāṇa carries it.

Ruci’s life of renunciation

Ruci was a brahmarshi of great purity. He was born of Brahmā (brahmasaṃbhava). He was free from māyā and moha (illusion and delusion) and he feared nothing. He was fixed in hard tapas and japa (repeating a mantra). He slept little and did his karma without pride of doing (ahaṃkāra).

He had given up the agnihotra (the daily fire rite) and the gṛhastha āśrama. He wandered alone and ate only once a day. He thought of himself as añcanu, one who has nothing and owns nothing. To him the householder’s life, and marriage above all, seemed a source of nothing but pāpa (sin) and duḥkha (sorrow).

The Pitṛ-devatās appear

While he wandered like this, his own Pitṛ-devatās appeared to him. They spoke with love and urgency:

“Child, you have not yet married. Do you not know that the gṛhastha āśrama is the gateway to the higher āśramas, and the path to svarga (heaven) and moksha? Only the householder is useful to all. He alone can satisfy the devas, the pitṛs, the ṛshis, the guests (atithi) and the bhikshus (those who live on alms). Without a son to give piṇḍa-dāna and śrāddha (offerings to the ancestors), your debt to the ancestors (pitṛ-ṛṇa), your debt to the devas (deva-ṛṇa) and your debt to the ṛshis (ṛshi-ṛṇa) stay unpaid. After death you will fall into naraka (hell), and your next birth will be full of kleśa (suffering).”

Ruci’s objections

Ruci answered with deep conviction. He said that taking anything, and most of all a wife, is the root of every harm and every bond. He had heard from learned people that the householder’s life is a paṅkila, a swamp of attachment. He was busy making his ātmā pure by knowledge (jñāna) and by mastery of the senses (jitendriyatā), not by karma. He did not see how a wise person would choose the path of desire.

The Pitṛ-devatās reply

The Pitṛ-devatās did not wave away his argument. They made it finer:

“What you say, that karma increases avidyā (ignorance), is not false. But becoming learned is itself a karma. The knowledge that destroys avidyā is itself part of saṃsāra. Good people never cross the karmas that the śāstras lay down. It is through those very karmas that they reach moksha. You must do your karma. Do not mix up having no attachment to things with having no part in dharma and its duties.”

“By taking a wife and keeping the gṛhastha-dharma, you do not lose your wisdom (viveka). On the contrary, you use it to guard your ātmā even within saṃsāra.”

Then Ruci gave way a little. He said that he was old and poor, and asked who would give him a daughter in marriage. The Pitṛ-devatās then gave their most solemn warning:

“If you do not become a householder, we, your pitṛs, shall fall. You too shall go to a low state (adho-gati).”

Having said this, the Pitṛ-devatās vanished, like lamps put out by a strong wind.

Tapas and Brahmā’s words

Ruci was moved by their words. He went to a forest and at one place did a hundred divine years of hard tapas, aimed at Bhagavān Brahmā. Bhagavān Brahmā appeared and asked what he wished for. Ruci told him his situation and the wish of the pitṛs. Bhagavān Brahmā said:

“You are to become a Prajāpati. Through you, offspring (prajā) will be created. You will perform śrāddha and piṇḍa-dāna for your pitṛs and fulfil their wish. So taking a wife is most fitting. Offer pūjā to the pitṛs themselves. They can give anything, including a worthy wife, for nothing is beyond them.”

The Pitṛ-stotra

Ruci followed the advice of Bhagavān Brahmā. He went to a lonely place on a river bank. First he offered tarpaṇa (offerings of water) to his pitṛs. Then, with his whole mind on them, he sang the Pitṛ-stotra. This stotra has thirty-one stanzas and praises the 31 gaṇas (groups) of Pitṛ-devatās.

The shining vision and the marriage

When he finished the stotra, the Pitṛ-devatās appeared before Ruci in blazing light. Their brightness filled all ten directions. Ruci honoured each of them with gandha (sandal paste), akshata (unbroken rice grains) and mantra. They were very pleased and told him to ask for a vara (boon). Ruci asked for the power to father children (prajotpatti sāmarthya) and for a worthy, divine wife.

The pitṛs answered: “At this very moment, right here, you shall receive the wife you seek. Through her you shall have a son, very brave and very wise, the Manu of the three worlds in the coming manvantara, named Raucya. You shall become a Prajāpati and create the fourfold varṇa of people. At the end you shall gain knowledge of the truth of dharma, and siddhi.”

At that moment an apsarā named Pramlocā rose from the river. With her came a very beautiful young woman, who bowed to Ruci. Pramlocā introduced her: “I am an apsarā. This beautiful daughter, Mālinī, was born to me through Pushkara, the son of Varuṇa. The devas have chosen her to be your wife.”

Ruci accepted with joy. He invited all the munis nearby to the river bank. In front of them he married Mālinī with the rites the śāstras lay down.

The birth of Raucya Manu

The son born to Ruci and Mālinī was Raucya Manu. He is the thirteenth of the fourteen Manus and the ruler of the three worlds in his manvantara. He is described as a man of great courage, wisdom and devotion.

Sources

• Garuḍa Purāṇa (Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa), Ācāra Khaṇḍa, Chapters 88 to 90 (Adhyāyas 88–90)