Khaḍgotpatti Kathanam: Origin of the Sword Asi

Khaḍgotpatti Kathanam is the account of the origin of the divine sword Asi. Bhīshma tells it to Nakula in the Āpaddharma Parva of the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata. Nakula asks why the sword is the best of weapons. Bhīshma answers with an account that begins at the start of creation. At the beginning, Brahmā performed a great yajña on the Himālaya. A terrible great being rose from the fire. Brahmā named it Asi, the sword, made to destroy adharma and protect the world. The sword went first to Rudra, and then passed down a long line, through Vishṇu, Marīci, the Maharshis, Indra, Manu and many kings and ṛshis, until it came to the Pāṇḍavas through Droṇa and Kṛpa. The account also gives the eight secret names of the sword.

Nakula’s question

Nakula, the fourth Pāṇḍava, is a master of sword fighting who trained under Droṇa. He spoke to Bhīshma, who lay on his bed of arrows.

“Grandfather, the bow is the best of weapons. This much is known. But my heart is drawn to the sword above all. When the bow is broken, when the horses are slain, when everything else has failed, only the sword is left. One man who is skilled with the sword can face archers, mace-fighters and spear-bearers all at once and drive them all back. Tell me: what is the origin of the sword? Who made it? Who was its first teacher? What is its full nature?”

The question stirred Bhīshma like a sharp goad. He answered with one of the grandest accounts of creation in the Āpaddharma Parva.

The first state and Brahmā’s yajña

Bhīshma begins at the very beginning. Before creation everything was one single mass without distinction, a single dark ocean, still, with no separate beings or forms. From this state Brahmā rose first. Brahmā made the universe in order: wind, fire, the sun, the earth and the sky. Then he made the bodies of the sky, the moon, stars, nakshatras and planets. Then he made a body for the world.

Brahmā then made his famous mind-born sons: Marīci, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishṭha, Aṅgirasa and Rudra.

Daksha Prācetasa was born and had sixty daughters. The brahmarshis took these daughters as wives. From them came all the kinds of beings: devas, groups of pitṛs, gandharvas, apsarases, rākshasas, birds, animals, fish and plants. The universe was filled with beings.

Brahmā set up eternal dharma, with the Veda as its base.

But the great dānavas, who had been made together with the devas, would not accept sāma, dāna and bheda, the first three means of ruling (conciliation, gifts and division). They ruled by brute force and would not live alongside others. The devas, the brahmarshis and the Ādityas could not overcome them by ordinary means.

The yajña on Himavat and the rise of Asi

A thousand years passed. On the peak of Himavat, a mountain bright with a thousand star-like crystals, a hundred yojanas wide and covered with flowering trees, Brahmā gathered the brahmarshis and the devas for a great mahāyajña. It was done exactly by the rules of the Kalpa-śāstra. The ground of the yajña blazed with fires. All the members of the sadas (the assembly of the yajña) were brahmarshis. The rite was faultless.

At the high point of the yajña something wonderful rose from the fire. A great bhūta (being) came up. It was terrible to see. It was dark as a blue lotus, with sharp fangs and a thin waist, huge in height and of a force that could not be held back. As it rose, the earth shook, the oceans surged, trees fell, the directions were confused, and omens showed in the sky.

Brahmā saw it and said: “I have made this. Its name is Asi. I made it to protect the world and to destroy the rākshasas.”

As Brahmā spoke, the great being changed. It took the form of the sword, pure, shining with a terrible light, rising like the fire at the end of the world.

Rudra receives the sword

Brahmā gave the sword to Rudra. He is Śiva, Śitikaṇṭha (the blue-throated one) and Vṛshabha-dhvaja (the one whose banner is a bull). When he took the sword, Rudra showed his full form. He had four arms. He stood on the earth and touched the sun with his head. His gaze was lifted up in full awareness. He had the form of the liṅga of cosmic power, with flames pouring from his mouth. His body showed black, white and red at once, the three guṇas made visible. He wore a black deerskin woven with gold thread, and he had an eye like a sun disc on his forehead.

Rudra waved the sword in the sky and laughed with a sound like thunder. The dānavas saw him come on and charged, raining down rocks, burning brands and iron weapons. Rudra stood alone with the sword and cut through them as a forest fire goes through dry grass. He sliced, cleaved, split and crushed. The field was covered with the bodies of dānavas.

When the battle was over, Rudra calmed his great form and returned to his gentle form. He gave the sword to Vishṇu, naming it the instrument for protecting dharma.

The line of transmission

From Vishṇu the sword passed down a long chain.

Vishṇu gave it to Marīci, the brahmarshi and mind-born son of Brahmā.
Marīci gave it to the Maharshis together.
The Maharshis gave it to Mahendra (Indra).
Indra gave it to the Lokapālas, the guardians of the eight directions.
The Lokapālas gave it to Manu, son of Sūrya.
Manu gave it to his son Kshupa, the first human king to receive the sword.
Kshupa gave it to Ikshvāku.
Ikshvāku gave it to Purūravas, the first great king of the Candra-vaṃśa.
Purūravas gave it to Āyu.
Āyu gave it to Nahusha.
Nahusha gave it to Yayāti.
Yayāti gave it to Pūru, the founder of the Paurava line.
Pūru gave it to Amūrtayasa.
Amūrtayasa gave it to Bhūmiśaya, a king.
Bhūmiśaya gave it to Bharata, son of Dushyanta, the great emperor from whom Bhārata-varsha is named.
Bharata gave it to Ailabila.
Ailabila gave it to Dundhumāra.
Dundhumāra gave it to Kāmboja, a king.
Kāmboja gave it to Mucukunda.
Mucukunda gave it to Marutta.
Marutta gave it to Raivata.
Raivata gave it to Yuvanāśva.
Yuvanāśva gave it to Raghu, the great king of the Ikshvāku line.
Raghu gave it to Hariṇāśva.
Hariṇāśva gave it to Śunaka.
Śunaka gave it to Uśīnara.
Uśīnara gave it to Bhoja of the Yadu line.
Bhoja gave it to Śibi, the son of Uśīnara, known for giving up everything of himself.
Śibi gave it to Pratardana.
Pratardana gave it to Ashṭaka, son of Viśvāmitra.
Ashṭaka gave it to Kshapadaśva (Pṛshadaśva).
Kshapadaśva gave it to Bharadvāja or Droṇa, as the sword passed through the Bharadvāja line.
Droṇa gave it to Kṛpa.
Kṛpa gave it to the Pāṇḍavas.

The eight secret names of the sword

Bhīshma gives Nakula the eight secret names of the sword Asi. He says that whoever recites these names at the time of battle wins victory.

Asi, the sword and its first name.
Viśasana, that which cuts apart.
Khaḍga, the common word for the sword as a kind of weapon.
Tīkshṇadhāra, the one with the sharp edge.
Durāsada, the one hard to approach, the terrible.
Śrīgarbha, that which holds prosperity within it.
Vijaya, victory, the sword as the means of all triumph.
Dharmapāla, the protector of dharma, the highest work of the sword.

The nakshatra, gotra and guru of the sword

Bhīshma tells the place of the sword among the stars and powers of the sword.

Nakshatra: Kṛttikā
Devatā (presiding deva): Agni
Gotra: Rohiṇī (by gotra-alignment)
Paramāguru (highest teacher): Rudra Mahādeva

One who knows these links and performs khaḍga-pūjā (the pūjā of the sword) with this knowledge gains both success in the world and the holy merit that goes with the sword’s line of transmission.

Sources

Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapter 166