Āstīka
Āstīka, simply known as Astika, Sanskrit: आस्तीक, Telugu: ఆస్తీకుడు, Hindi: आस्तीक.
Āstīka is the son of the ṛshi Jaratkāru and Jaratkāru-nāgī, who was the sister of Vāsuki, king of the serpents. He was born of both a brāhmaṇa and a nāga family. He was meant from before his birth to stop Janamejaya’s great Sarpa-yāga (serpent sacrifice) and so save the nāgas from destruction.
He came to the sacrifice as a young brāhmaṇa of great eloquence. He won Janamejaya’s favour by praising him, and he used that favour to stop the yāga. In this way he fulfilled the purpose for which the devas and Brahmā had ordained his birth.
The nāga curse and Brahmā’s remedy
The nāgas had received a śāpa (a curse) from their own mother Kadrū. They were to die in the fire of Janamejaya’s sarpa-yāga. The śāpa came from an event with the divine horse Uccaiḥśravas. Kadrū told some of her serpent sons to wind around the horse’s tail to make it look black. She wanted this so she could win a wager against Vinatā. She cursed those who refused to burn in the sacrifice. Those who obeyed were also under the śāpa, because they had acted by deceit. So the nāgas were doomed.
Their king Vāsuki and the other great serpents went to Brahmā and begged for help. Brahmā heard them and told them the remedy. He said: “A ṛshi named Jaratkāru will come to you. Give him your sister Jaratkāru-nāgī in marriage. The son born to them will be named Āstīka, and he will stop the yāga and save you.”
This plan was set before Janamejaya was born. The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 2, Chapter 12, tells this.
Jaratkāru’s vow and marriage
The ṛshi Jaratkāru was a great ascetic. He had decided never to marry and to follow only tapas (austerity). One day he saw his own pitṛs (departed ancestors) hanging head down in a pit. They were held up by a single grass root. He asked who they were and why they were in such distress. They answered: “We are your pitṛs. We hang here because you have no son to perform the śrāddha and tarpaṇa for us. If you marry and have a son, we will be freed.”
Jaratkāru felt pity for his ancestors and agreed to marry. His only condition was that the woman must have the same name as his own, and must be given to him freely without his asking. Vāsuki had been waiting for this moment. He came forward with his sister, who was named Jaratkāru-nāgī, and offered her. The conditions were met, and Jaratkāru accepted her.
They lived together in a forest hermitage. Jaratkāru set one rule for his wife: she must never wake him at the wrong time. One evening the sun set while he slept. Jaratkāru-nāgī knew that her husband would miss the sandhyā-vandana (prayer at sunset), a serious fault. She weighed the two wrongs and chose to wake him. She believed that failing in dharma was worse than risking his anger.
He rose in anger and said that she had broken his condition and that he would leave. She begged him to think about why she had woken him. He accepted that her reason was dharma, and he softened a little. He said: “There is already (asti) life (īka), something exists.” He said she was carrying a son, spoke of his departure, and left.
The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 2, Chapter 12, tells this.
Birth and destiny
In time Jaratkāru-nāgī bore a son, shining with the glory of both ṛshi and nāga. He was named Āstīka from his father’s parting words (“asti“, “he exists”). Vāsuki took the child under his own care and raised him with great love. He knew this boy was the one foretold to save the nāgas.
Stopping the Sarpa-yāga
Janamejaya’s sarpa-yāga was under way, and serpents were falling by the thousands into the sacred fire. Takshaka himself was beginning to fall from Indra’s protection, pulled by the mantras. Then Āstīka came to the sacrifice ground, a young brāhmaṇa of great brilliance.
He praised Janamejaya with a stotra of great eloquence and depth. The king was so moved that he offered Āstīka any vara (boon) he wished. Āstīka asked that the sacrifice be ended. Janamejaya was sad to give up his revenge on Takshaka, but he was bound by his word and stopped the yāga. Takshaka was saved. All the nāgas who were left were freed from the danger of the śāpa.
The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 2, Chapter 11, tells this.
The Ādi Parva account
The Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Āstīka Parva (Chapters 39–58) gives the fullest account of Āstīka’s life and of how he stopped the yāga. It adds the following points to the Devī Bhāgavata account.
His education under Cyavana. The Ādi Parva says that Cyavana Maharshi taught Āstīka all the Vedas at Vāsuki’s house.
The Rāja-stava. Āstīka came to the yāga-śāla (sacrifice hall) as an unknown young brāhmaṇa. He spontaneously offered hymns of praise (rāja-stava) to Janamejaya, to the chief priests, to the sacrificial fire and to the yāga itself. The praises were so eloquent and so sincere that Janamejaya was fully moved. The king offered him any vara. The chief ṛtvik (priest) quietly warned Janamejaya: “This is a brāhmaṇa boy, and you must honour whatever he asks for.” Janamejaya agreed, but said he was worried that Takshaka had not yet fallen.
The serpent mantras. After he stopped the yāga, Āstīka gave the gathered nāgas and the world a set of protective praises. They name Vāsuki, Takshaka, Śesha (Ananta), Elāpatra, Kauravya, Padma, Mahāpadma, Kambala, Aśvatara and many others. Āstīka promised that these mantras would protect any being from fear of serpents, from serpent venom and from serpent harm. This holds in forests, on roads, in sleep and at all times.
Takshaka’s near fall. The Ādi Parva describes in detail the moment when Takshaka was pulled toward the fire. He dragged Indra with him. Indra clung to Takshaka in svarga, and the force of the mantras pulled him too. The priests cried out that Takshaka was coming, with Indra dragged behind him. Āstīka’s arrival and his request for a vara stopped the yāga at that very moment.
Praise at Janamejaya’s darśana (Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 35)
Janamejaya took the avabhṛtha bath that closes a yajña, which here was the sarpa-yajña. Then Vyāsa gave him a darśana (sight) of his father Parīkshit. After this, Āstīka praised the occasion at length. Āstīka was the one whose action had first stopped the sarpa-yajña and saved Takshaka. He said that Janamejaya had thereby “conquered both lokas”. He said that the darśana of such great people removes the pāpa (sin) of men by their very sight. He said that Janamejaya’s heart was now fully freed of its remaining grief.
The Sarpa-yajña brought to peace (Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5)
The end of the Mahābhārata recalls Āstīka’s great service once more. Sauti finishes reciting the whole history at Janamejaya’s serpent sacrifice. The parva then records that the officiating priests brought the yajña to its close. It records that Āstīka was filled with joy, for he had protected the serpents from falling into the fire. Through him the surviving nāgas were spared, and the sacrifice ended in peace and in line with dharma. Janamejaya then honoured the brāhmaṇas with rich gifts and went back from Takshaśilā to Hastināpura.
Sources
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 2, Chapters 11–12
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Āstīka Parva, Chapters 39–58
- Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 35
- Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5