Kaśyapa

Kaśyapa

Kaśyapa Maharshi is the son of Marīci, who was born of Brahmā, and the best of the Prajāpatis. The Vāmana Purāṇa calls him the supreme treasure of tapas, the first guru of the devas, the guru of the suras and the asuras, the creator of all the worlds, and even Kaśyapa-brahmā. He is the husband of Aditi, Diti and Danu. The devas are his sons, Indra among them; Sūrya was born to him; Diti’s sons and Danu’s dānava sons, among them Mura and Dhundhu, are his sons too, and the muni Maṅkaṇa is his mind-born son. Above all, he is the father of Vāmana: at his asking, Bhagavān Vishṇu was born from Aditi’s womb through Kaśyapa, as the younger brother of Indra.

The Purāṇa shows him as a tapasvin of matchless radiance, shining like a second sun, staff in hand and clothed in the black antelope skin, ever devoted to the study of the Veda. He sits among the sadasyas of Daksha‘s yajña and recites the Śatarudriya there; he is the first named of the seven ṛshis whom Bhagavān Śiva sends to Himavān to ask for Umā; with six other maharshis he made the Brahmodumbara tīrtha at Kurukshetra. To his wife Diti he gives the rule of a long vrata of purity. To his son Indra he speaks plainly: Indra lost his kingdom to Bali because of the pāpa (sin) of killing Diti’s unborn child. When the defeated devas come to him, he hears their pitiful words, leads them to Brahmā, gives them the dīkshā of a thousand-year vrata, and sings to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa a stotra in the manner of the Veda. Pleased with that stotra, Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa grants his prayer and is born in Kaśyapa’s house as Vāmana.

His birth and his line

At the great dissolution, when the whole world of the moving and the unmoving had perished, a lotus arose from the navel of Vishṇu, and from the lotus arose Brahmā, Pitāmaha of all the worlds. From Brahmā was born Marīci, and Marīci’s son was Kaśyapa. To Kaśyapa was born Sūrya, and to Sūrya was born Manu. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26)

His wives and children, as the Purāṇa names them:

• Aditi, the mother of the devas. The devas are called the sons of Kaśyapa, and Indra is his son. Through Kaśyapa, Bhagavān Vishṇu was born from Aditi’s womb as Vāmana.
• Diti, who saw her sons slain after the death of Hiraṇyakaśipu. To her Kaśyapa gave the son who became the forty-nine Maruts.
• Danu, who bore him three sons stronger than Indra: Śumbha, the eldest, Niśumbha, and the mighty Namuci. To Kaśyapa Maharshi and Danu was also born the dānava Mura, and Dhundhu, a son of Kaśyapa Muni born of his own body from the womb of Danu.
• Maṅkaṇa, the muni, is the mānasa-putra (mind-born son) of Kaśyapa Maharshi. From Maṅkaṇa came the seven Marut-gaṇas who uphold the world.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 29, 34, 45, 50, 52; Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 3, 7 and 17

At Daksha’s yajña

When Daksha, best of the Prajāpatis, began his kratu at the start of Uttarāyaṇa, he invited the twelve Ādityas, the best of the devas headed by Indra, and Kaśyapa Maharshi, and made them the sadasyas (members of the assembly) of his yajña.

When Bhagavān Śiva, triśūla in hand, entered Daksha’s yajñaśālā after Satī gave up her body, the eight Vasus and the eleven Rudras fled. Kaśyapa and the other maharshis, who were reciting the Śatarudriya, stood with joined palms in agitation.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 2 and 5

Among the seven ṛshis

When Satī had been born again as Umā, the daughter of Himavān, Bhagavān Śiva on Mount Mandara remembered the maharshis with Arundhatī, and they came to him. He welcomed and honoured them, Nandīśvara offered them arghya and pādya, and Bhagavān Śiva spoke to the seven by name: “O Kaśyapa! Vasishṭha, Atri, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Bharadvāja, Aṅgiras, listen with attention.” He told them that his beloved Dākshāyaṇī Satī, who had given up her life on account of Daksha, was now born as Umā, and asked them to go to the king of mountains and ask for her. The seven said “Om namaḥ Śaṅkarāya”, bowed, and went to Himavān’s house with Arundhatī, and there Aṅgiras, the eldest among them, spoke for them all.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 26

At Kurukshetra, beyond the river Āpagā, lies Brahmodumbara, the chief place of Brahmā, famed in the worlds. The maharshis Bharadvāja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kaśyapa, Viśvāmitra, Vasishṭha and Atri made this tīrtha together, rare on earth, and because Caturmukha Brahmā himself served it, it became renowned as the Brahmodumbara tīrtha. In it is the Brahmarshi kuṇḍa, sacred to the seven ṛshis.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 15

Diti’s vrata and the birth of the Maruts

After the death of Hiraṇyakaśipu, Diti saw that her sons had been slain. She went to Kaśyapa Maharshi and prayed: “Nātha, you are my husband. Grant me a son who can slay Indra.” Kaśyapa answered: “Beloved, if you keep yourself pure and keep the ācāra and anushṭhāna (the rules of conduct and observance) for a hundred divine years, a son will be born to you who will be a slayer of enemies and lord of the worlds.” Diti agreed. Then the brahmarshi placed the child in her womb and went away to Udayagiri, the mountain of sunrise.

As soon as the muni had gone, Indra came to the āśrama and asked Diti’s leave to serve her. With great humility he brought her samidhs and leaves, but he watched her closely, intent on his purpose, like a great serpent searching for a hole. At the very end of the vrata, Diti, firm in her tapas, washed her head, let her hair fall loose, laid her head on her knees so that her hair touched her feet, and fell asleep for a moment. Seeing her impure, Indra entered her womb through her nostrils. There he saw a radiant infant, and on its face a piece of flesh like pure crystal. He seized it and pressed it, and it grew into a vajra with a hundred edges. With that vajra he cut the infant into seven pieces, and when the infant cried, he said “mā ruda, do not cry”, and cut each piece again into seven. So the forty-nine became the Maruts, who go before Indra as his servants.

Diti woke and understood what Indra had done. Indra came out of her womb, vajra in hand, and, fearing her śāpa, stood before her with joined hands: “Mother, this happened because you were impure.” Diti answered that it was no fault of his but the ordinance of daiva (destiny), and grieved only that she had become impure at the very end of her vrata. She comforted the boys and sent them away with Indra. Because he split his own brothers of his own family with the vajra, Indra is called Gotrabhit.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 45

His counsel to Indra

When Bali took the lordship of the three worlds, Indra went with the devas to Brahmā‘s abode. There he saw Brahmā, the assembly of ṛshis and his own father Kaśyapa Maharshi, bowed to them all, and said: “Pitāmaha, the daitya Bali has taken away my whole kingdom by force.” Brahmā answered that this was the fruit of his own fault, and Indra asked what fault he had committed.

Kaśyapa, who was there, rebuked him: “It is the pāpa of bhrūṇahatyā (killing an unborn child), the fruit of your cutting into pieces the child in Diti‘s womb.” Indra answered that the child was destroyed because Diti was impure. Kaśyapa replied that even so, Indra had struck the child with his vajra. Then Indra asked Brahmā for the prāyaścitta (the act that removes a pāpa).

Brahmā, Kaśyapa and Vasishṭha gave him counsel for his good and for the good of the world: “Sahasrāksha, take refuge in Mādhava, Purushottama, the bearer of the śaṅkha, the cakra and the gadā. He will tell you a fitting means.” The maharshis told him that such advancement could be gained in a short time only in the world of mortals, and Indra went down to the earth. There he worshipped Gadādhara for a year on the bank of the Mahānadī, was freed from his pāpa, and went to the āśrama of his mother Aditi.

When Aditi kept her vrata for Indra’s sake, Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared to her and promised to be born from her womb. To her fear that she could not bear him, he answered that though he is hard to bear even for the devas and asuras, by the power of yoga, joining together himself, the worlds, the mountains, and Aditi herself with Kaśyapa, he would be born from her womb.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 50

The devas come to Kaśyapa

With the three worlds under Bali‘s rule, Indra went to Mount Meru, his mother’s place, and told Aditi how the Ādityas had been defeated by the dānavas. Aditi said: “Son, if even with the Maruts you cannot conquer Bali, son of Virocana, then no one but Vishṇu can conquer him. Let us go to your father Kaśyapa, the knower of Brahman, and ask him the means of defeating the daitya Bali.”

So the devas went with Aditi to where Kaśyapa was, and had his darśana. He was the supreme treasure of tapas, the son of Marīci, the first guru of the devas, with the divine radiance of Brahman. He shone like a second sun and like a flame of fire. He held a daṇḍa (staff) and wore the black antelope skin, with valkala (bark cloth) and skin. He was like the homa fire, fragrant with ghee, and was ever devoted to svādhyāya (the recitation of the Veda). He was the guru of the suras and asuras, who speak of Brahman and speak the truth, and he shone with the brahma-tejas (radiance of Brahman) that has no equal: the creator of all the worlds and the best of the Prajāpatis.

The deva heroes with the Ādityas bowed to Kaśyapa as the mind-born sons of Brahmā bow to Brahmā, joined their palms, and said: “In battle the daitya Bali has become unconquerable for Indra. In this time of danger, make the effort that is fit for the welfare of the devas and the growth of their strength.” Hearing the pitiful words of his sons, Kaśyapa resolved to go to Brahmaloka to see Vidhātā. “Devarāja,” he said, “let us all go now to the wondrous abode of Brahmā and tell him this account of defeat.”

They mounted divine vehicles that go wherever one wishes and reached Brahmaloka in a moment. Brahmā’s sabhā resounded with the singing of the Sāma and the humming of bees, and the chief Ṛgveda reciters chanted the mantras there in their proper order. In the middle of the sabhā the sons of Kaśyapa saw Brahmā, Lokapitāmaha, guru of the suras and asuras, with Daksha, the Pracetases, Pulaha, Marīci, Bhṛgu, Atri, Vasishṭha, Gautama, Nārada and the other Prajāpatis worshipping him, together with the elements, the Vedas and all the powers of creation in bodily form. Kaśyapa entered that divine sabhā with all his sons. Brahmā sat on the most excellent seat, honoured by Brāhmī and Śrī. All of them bowed their heads to him and stood with composed minds, and Brahmā, seeing the devas who had come with Kaśyapa, spoke.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 3

The vrata at Amṛta

Brahmā told them: “I knew beforehand why you have come. A mahātmā will be born who will conquer Bali, the leader of the dānavas. Neither I, nor you, nor the Vedas know who that Purushottama is, but he knows us, the Vedas and the universe. North of the ocean of milk is the dwelling of that Viśvaprabhu, the master of the universe, called Amṛta. Go there, take up a vrata-dīkshā and perform tapas that is hard to do. At the end of your vrata you will hear a voice, smooth and deep as the first rain-clouds, from the mouth of the Purushottama. Nārāyaṇa will ask, ‘Who wants which vara? Ask.’ At once Aditi and Kaśyapa must ask him to be born as their son, and as soon as you ask with praṇāma, that Sarveśvara will graciously say ‘tathāstu’, so be it.”

The devas with Aditi and Kaśyapa bowed their heads to Brahmā and said, “We will do so.” They crossed the oceans, mountains, forests, rivers and lands, and entered a great darkness, without sun and without living beings, until they reached the place called Amṛta. There Kaśyapa gave all the devas the dīkshā of a vrata of a thousand years, which fulfils all desires. They began fierce tapas to Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, in silence, keeping brahmacarya (celibacy) and yoga, seated in vīrāsana (the hero’s posture). And to please Śrī Purushottama, Kaśyapa sang a stotra in the manner taught in the Veda.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 4

Kaśyapa’s stotra to Purushottama

Kaśyapa’s stotra is a garland of names. The first group ends “namaskāra to you”: O Deva, Ekaśṛṅga (the one-horned), Vṛshārci, Sindhupati (lord of the waters), Vṛshākapi, Suraśreshṭha (best of the devas), Anādisambhava (whose birth has no beginning), Rudra, Kapila, Vishvaksena, Sarvabhūtapati (lord of all beings), Dhruva (the firm), Dharmādharma, Vaikuṇṭha, Vṛshāvarta, Anādimadhyanidhana (without beginning, middle or end), Dhanañjaya, Śuciśravas (of pure fame), Pṛśnitejas, Nijajaya.

The second group ends “praṇāmas to you”: Amṛteśaya (who lies in amṛta), Sanātana, Tridhāman (of three abodes), Tushita, Mahātattva, Lokanātha, Padmanābha (lotus-navelled), Viriñci, Bahurūpa (of many forms), Akshaya (undecaying), Akshara (imperishable), Havyabhojī (eater of the offerings), Khaṇḍaparaśu (bearer of the axe), Śakra, Muñjakeśa (with hair like muñja grass), Haṃsa, Mahādakshiṇa (of great dakshiṇā), Hṛshīkeśa, Sūkshma (the subtle), Mahāniyamadhara (holder of great niyamas), Viraja (the stainless), Lokapratishṭha (foundation of the worlds), Arūpa (the formless), Agraja (the first-born), Dharmaja (born of dharma), Dharmanābha (navel of dharma).

The third group, “thus they describe you”: Gabhastinābha (navel of the rays), Śatakratunābha, Candraratha (whose chariot is the moon), Sūryatejas (radiant as the sun), Samudravasana (clothed in the ocean), Aja (the unborn), Sahasraśīrsha (thousand-headed), Sahasracaraṇa (thousand-footed), Adhomukha (facing downward), Mahāpurusha, Purushottama, Sahasrabāhu (thousand-armed), Sahasrarūpa (thousand-formed), Sahasramukha (thousand-faced), Sahasrasambhava, Sahasrasattva.

Then Kaśyapa praises him:

• “O Pushpahāsa, whose smile is a flower, Carama, the last! You are the calls vaushaṭ and vashaṭ. They call you the First, the enjoyer of yajña, Sahasradhāri, the form of the Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Suvar lokas, known through the Vedas, of great mind, dear to brāhmaṇas.”
• “You are antariksha, vāyu and dharma. You are the hotā and the purohita; you are the mantra. You are the leader and the cause of the homa.”
• “You are Agrya, the foremost, and Viśvadhāman, the abode of all. You are the directions. You are the good vessel, the one to be worshipped in yajña, the form of the good medha.”
• “You are the samidhs, understanding and the way, and the giver. You are moksha. You are yoga. You are the creator. You are Dhātā, the supreme yajña. You are the soma, the dīkshita (the consecrated yajamāna), the dakshiṇā of the yajña. You are the universe.”
• “You are Sthavira, the ancient, Hiraṇyanābha, the golden-navelled, Nārāyaṇa, Trinetra, the three-eyed, Ādityavarṇa, the sun-coloured, the Mahāpurusha radiant as the Āditya, Purushottama, Ādideva, Suvikrama, of great strides, Prabhākara, Śaṅkara, Svayambhū.”
• “You are the origin of all beings, Mahābhūta, Viśvabhūta, Viśva, Viśvarakshaka, the protector of the universe.”
• “You are Pavitra, the pure, Viśvabhava, Ūrdhvakarman, Amṛta, Divaspati, Vācaspati, Ghṛtārci, whose flame is ghee, Vaṃśa, and Prāgvaṃśa, the root of all lineages.”
• “You are the protector of the universe. Namaskāra to you, the Varada, who rains desires on those in distress.”
• “They worship you with four, again four, two, five, and again two homas. To you, Prabhu Hotrātmā, whose form is yajña, namaskāras!”

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 5

The vara

Hearing that excellent stotra of Kaśyapa, best of brāhmaṇas and knower of Brahman, Nārāyaṇa was pleased, and the voice Brahmā had foretold spoke clearly: “O devas, ask the vara you need; I will give it. May kalyāṇa (auspiciousness) be yours.”

Kaśyapa said: “O best of devas, it is certain that you are gracious to us. Be born as the younger brother of Indra, as the son of Aditi, and increase the joy of your kinsmen.” Aditi too asked him to be born in her womb, and all the devas took refuge in him as their lord and protector. Bhagavān Vishṇu answered Kaśyapa: “I shall destroy all your enemies in a moment, and cause the havyas to be given again to the devas who share in the yajña, and the kavyas to the pitṛs. Go back to your own places.” The devas, with Aditi and Kaśyapa, offered pūjā and namaskāra to the Devadeva and travelled east to the wide āśrama of Kaśyapa, the Kurukshetra forest. There they established Aditi in the dīkshā of tapas, and she performed fierce tapas for ten thousand years and sang her stotra to Mahāvishṇu.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 6

Bhagavān Vāsudeva appeared to Aditi alone and granted her wish. “With my aṃśa (portion),” he told her, “through Kaśyapa, I shall be born from your womb and destroy the whole host of your enemies.” Then Aditi conceived, and the earth shook, the mountains moved and the oceans were stirred.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 7

The father of Vāmana

After Vāmana was born, Brahmā praised him with a stotra. Vāmana smiled and said: “Viriñci, earlier, when you, Indra and the others, and Kaśyapa praised me, I promised to give the three worlds to Indra. That Sahasrāksha will be king is certain.”

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 9

When the earth shook under Vāmana’s steps as he came to Bali‘s yajña, Śukrācārya told Bali: “Śrī Hari, the cause of the world, has taken avatāra in the house of Kaśyapa.” And when Vāmana showed his viśvarūpa (universal form), in which every deva and every power of the world had its place, Kaśyapa was his puṃstva (manhood), as the Prajāpatis were his testes and Parabrahma his heart.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 10

Sources

• Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 2, 5, 26, 29, 34, 45, 50, 52; Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 3–7, 9–10, 15, 17, 26