Misra
Misra
Kāśyapa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kāśyapa.
Misra is a land of the mlecchas named in the Fourth Khaṇḍa of the Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa. The Pratisarga Parva tells how the people born there were brought to the Veda and to Sanskrit, first by Kāśyapa and later by Kaṇva Maharshi.
Kāśyapa and the mlecchas of Misra
The Pratisarga Parva tells that Kāśyapa came to the land of Misra, brought under his control ten thousand mlecchas born there, returned to his own place and made them his disciples. After the destruction of the Sapta-purīs they lived in Brahmāvarta, between the rivers Sarasvatī and Dṛshadvatī.
Later Bhagavān Jagannātha himself said, for the good of the worlds, that the mlecchas of the Misra country, ruled by Kāśyapa, had become refined and attained the brāhmaṇa varṇa. They wore the śikhā and the sacred thread, studied the Veda and offered yajñas to Śacīpati (Indra).
Kaṇva Maharshi in Misra
By the command of Sarasvatī Devī, Kaṇva Maharshi came to the Misra country, taught Sanskrit to ten thousand mlecchas, brought them under his influence and returned to Brahmāvarta. They pleased Sarasvatī Devī by tapas, and after five years she appeared and made those mlecchas, together with their wives, of the śūdra varṇa.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 3, 20–21