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"The Deities said, 'With the aid of even your tongues bent inwards ye shall be able to eat all things, and with even those |
tongues ye shall be able to utter cries that will only be indistinct. Having blessed the elephants in this way, the denizens of |
Heaven once more resumed their search after Agni. Indeed, having issued out of the Aswattha tree, the deity of fire had entered |
the heart of Sami. This new abode of Agni was divulged by a parrot. The gods thereupon proceeded to the spot. Enraged with |
the conduct of the parrot, the deity of blazing flames cursed the whole parrot race, saying, 'Ye shall from this day be deprived |
of the power of speech.' Indeed, the eater of sacrificial libations turned up the tongues of all the parrots. Beholding Agni at the |
place pointed out by the parrot, and witnessing the curse denounced upon him, the gods, feeling a compassion for the poor |
creature, blessed him, saying, 'In consequence of thy being a parrot, thou shalt not be wholly deprived of the power of speech. |
Though thy tongue has been turned backwards, yet speech thou shalt have, confined to the letter K. Like that of a child or an |
old man, thy speech shall be sweet and indistinct and wonderful.' Having said these words unto the parrot, and beholding the |
deity of fire within the heart of the Sami, the gods made Sami wood a sacred fuel fit for producing fire in all religious rites. It |
was from that time that fire is seen to reside in the heart of the Sami. Men came to regard the Sami as proper means for |
producing fire (in sacrifice).[385] The waters that occur in the nethermost regions had come into contact with the deity of |
blazing flames. Those heated waters, O thou of Bhrigu's race, are vomited forth by the mountain springs. In consequence, |
indeed, of Agni having resided in them for some time, they became hot through his energy. Meanwhile, Agni, beholding the |
gods, became grieved. Addressing the deities, he asked them, 'What is the reason of your presence here?' Unto him the deities |
and the great Rishi said, 'We wish to set thee to a particular task. It behoveth thee to accomplish it. When accomplished, it will |
redound greatly to thy credit.' |
"Agni said, 'Tell me what your business is. I shall, ye gods, accomplish it. I am always willing to be set by you to any task you |
wish. Do not scruple, therefore, to command me.'" |
"The Deities said, 'There is an Asura of the name of Taraka who has been filled with pride in consequence of the boon he has |
obtained from Brahman. Through his energy he is able to oppose and discomfit us. Do thou ordain his destruction. O sire, do |
thou rescue these deities, these Prajapatis, and these Rishis, O highly blessed Pavaka! O puissant one, do thou beget a heroic |
son possessed of thy energy, who will dispel, O bearer of sacrificial libations, our fears from that Asura. We have been cursed |
by the great goddess Uma. There is nothing else then thy energy which can be our refuge now. Do thou, therefore, O puissant |
deity, rescue us all.' Thus addressed, the illustrious and irresistible bearer of sacrificial libations answered, saying, 'Be it so', |
and he than proceeded towards Ganga otherwise called Bhagirathi. He united himself in (spiritual) congress with her and |
caused her to conceive. Verily, in the womb of Ganga the seed of Agni began to grow even as Agni himself grows (when |
supplied with fuel and aided by the wind). With the energy of that god, Ganga became exceedingly agitated at heart. Indeed, |
she suffered great distress and became unable to bear it. When the deity of blazing flames cast his seed endued with great |
energy into the womb of Ganga, a certain Asura (bent on purposes of his own) uttered a frightful roar. In consequence of that |
frightful roar uttered by the Asura for purposes of his own (and not for terrifying her), Ganga became very much terrified and |
her eyes rolled in fear and betrayed her agitation. Deprived of consciousness, she became unable to bear her body and the seed |
within her womb. The daughter of Jahnu, inseminated with the energy of the illustrious deity, began to tremble. Overwhelmed |
with the energy of the seed she held in her womb, O learned Brahmana, she then addressed the deity of blazing fire, saying, 'I |
am no longer capable, O illustrious one, of bearing thy seed in my womb. Verily, I am overcome with weakness by this seed of |
thine. The health I had in days before is no longer mine. I have been exceedingly agitated, O illustrious one, and my heart is |
dead within me, O sinless one. O foremost of all persons endued with penances, I am in capable of bearing thy seed any longer. |
I shall cast it off, compelled by the distress that has overtaken me, and not by caprice. There has been no actual contact of my |
person with thy seed, O illustrious deity of blazing flames! Our union, having for its cause the distress that has overtaken the |
deities, has been suitable and not of the flesh, O thou of great splendour. Whatever merit or otherwise there may be in this act |
(intended to be done by me), O eater of sacrificial libations, must belong to thee. Verily, I think, the righteousness or |
unrighteousness of this deed must be thine.' Unto her the deity of fire said, 'Do thou bear the seed. Do, indeed, bear the foetus |
endued with my energy. It will lead to great results. Thou art, verily, capable of bearing the entire earth. Thou wilt gain nothing |
by not holding this energy.' That foremost of streams, though thus passed by the deity of fire as also by all the other deities, |
cast off the seed on the breast of Meru, that foremost of all mountains. Capable (somehow) of bearing that seed, yet oppressed |
by the energy of Rudra (for Agni is identical with Rudra), she failed to hold that seed longer in consequence of its burning |
energy. After she had cast it off, through sheer distress, that blazing seed having the splendour of fire, O perpetuator of |
Bhrigu's race, Agni saw her, and asked that foremost of streams, 'Is it all right with the foetus thou hast cast off? Of what |
complexion has it been, O goddess? Of what form does it look? With what energy does it seem to be endued? Do thou tell me |
all about it.' |
"Ganga said, 'The foetus is endued with the complexion of gold. In energy it is even like thee, O sinless one! Of an excellent |
complexion, perfectly stainless, and blazing with splendour, it has illuminated the entire mountain. O foremost of all persons |
endued with penances, the fragrance emitted by it resembles the cool perfume that its scattered by lakes adorned with lotuses |
and Nyphoea stellata, mixed with that of the Nauclea Cadamba. With the splendour of that foetus everything around it seemed |
to be transformed into gold even as all things on mountain and low land seem to be transformed into gold by the rays of the |
Sun. Indeed, the splendour of that foetus, spreading far, falls upon mountains and rivers and springs. Indeed, it seems that the |
three worlds, with all their mobile and immobile creatures, are being illuminated by it. Even of this kind is thy child, O |
illustrious bearer of sacrificial libations. Like unto Surya or thy blazing self, in beauty it is even like a second Soma.' Having |
said these words, the goddess disappeared there and then. Pavaka also, of great energy, having accomplished the business of |
the deities proceeded to the place he liked, O delighter of the Bhrigus. It was in consequence of the result of this act that the |
Rishis and the deities bestowed the name of Hiranyaretas upon the deity of fire.[386] And because the Earth held that seed |
(after the goddess Ganga had cast it upon her), she also came to be called by the name of Vasumati. Meanwhile; that foetus, |
which had sprung from Pavaka and been held for a time by Ganga,[387] having fallen on a forest of reeds, began to grow and |
at last assumed a wonderful form. The presiding goddess of the constellation Krittika beheld that form resembling the rising |
sun. She thenceforth began to rear that child as her son with the sustenance of her breast. For this reason, that child of pre- |
eminent splendour came to be called Kartikeya after her name. And because he grew from seed that fell out of Rudra's body, he |
came to be called Skanda. The incident also of his birth having taken place in the solitude of a forest of reeds, concealed from |
everybody's view, led to his being called by the name of Guha. It was in this way that gold came into existence as the offspring |
of the deity of blazing flames.[388] Hence it is that gold came to be looked upon as the foremost of all things and the ornament |
of the very gods. It was from this circumstance that gold came to be called by the name of Jatarupam.[389] It is the foremost of |
all costly things, and among ornaments also it is the foremost. The cleanser among all cleansing things, it is the most |
auspicious of all auspicious objects. Gold is truly the illustrious Agni. the Lord of all things, and the foremost of all Prajapatis. |
The most sacred of all sacred things is gold, O foremost of re-generate ones. Verily, gold is said to have for its essence Agni |
and Soma.' |
"Vasishtha continued, 'This history also, O Rama, called Brahmadarsana, was heard by me in days of yore, respecting the |
achievement of the Grandsire Brahman who is identifiable with the Supreme Soul. To a sacrifice performed in days of yore by |
that foremost of gods, viz., Lord Rudra, O thou of great might, who on that occasion had assumed the form of Varuna, there |
came the Munis and all the deities with Agni at their head. To that sacrifice also came all the sacrificial limbs (in their |
embodied forms), and the Mantra called Vashat in his embodied form. All the Samans also and all the Yajushes, numbering by |
thousands and in their embodied forms, came there. The Rig-Veda also came there, adorned with the rules of orthoepy. The |
Lakshanas, the Suras, the Niruktas, the Notes arranged in rows, and the syllable Om, as also Nigraha and Pragraha, all came |
there and took their residence in the eye of Mahadeva. The Vedas with the Upanishads, Vidya and Savitri, as also, the Past, the |
Present, and the Future, all came there and were held by the illustrious Siva. The puissant Lord of all then poured libations |
himself into his own self. Indeed, the wielder of Pinaka caused that Sacrifice of multifarious form to look exceedingly |
beautiful. He is Heaven, Firmament, Earth, and the Welkin. He is called the Lord of the Earth. He is the Lord whose sway is |
owned by all obstacles. He is endued with Sri and He is identical with the deity of blazing flames. That illustrious deity is |
called by various names. Even He is Brahman and Siva and Rudra and Varuna and Agni and Prajapati. He is the auspicious |
Lord of all creatures. Sacrifice (in his embodied form), and Penance, and all the union rites, and the goddess Diksha blazing |
with rigid observances, the several points of the compass with the deities that respectively preside over them, the spouses of all |
the deities, their daughters, and the celestial mothers, all came together in a body to Pasupati, O perpetuator of Bhrigu's race. |
Verily, beholding that sacrifice of the high-souled Mahadeva who had assumed the form of Varuna, all of them became highly |
pleased. Seeing the celestial damsels of great beauty, the seed of Brahman came out and fell upon the earth. In consequence of |
the seed having fallen on the dust, Pushan (Surya) took up that dust mixed with the particles of seed from the earth with his |
hands and cast it into the sacrificial fire. Meanwhile, the sacrifice with the sacred fire of blazing flames was commenced and it |
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