Śaunaka asks Suta about his ancestor Bhṛgu
The great Sage Śaunaka, seated in the sacred forest of Naimisha, before the sages, said to Suta Goswami:
“O child, O dear son of Lomaharṣaṇa, thy father formerly read all of the Puranas, as well as the Great Bharata, with Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa. Hast thou also made them the subject of thy study O Suta?
In those ancient records are chronicled the interesting stories, and history of the first generations of wise men, all of which we have heard in days of yore, rehearsed by thy sire.
In the first place, I am desirous of hearing the history of the race of the Sage Bhṛgu. Recount thou that history O Suta, and we in this sacred forest, shall attentively listen.”
Suta Goswami then answered:
“By me hath been acquired all that was formerly studied by the high-souled Brahmanas including Sage Vaisampayana a royal preceptor of King Janamejaya and repeated by them; by me hath been acquired all that had been studied by my father the great Lomaharṣaṇa.”
“O Śaunaka Rishi, descendant of Bhṛgu, attend then to so much as relateth to the exalted race of his, who was revered by Indra and all the gods, by the tribes of Rishis and Maruts. O great Muni, I shall first properly recount the story of this family, as told in the Puranas.”
Who were the Sages?
Let’s take a pause here before going further in this exchange.
This passage and dialogue is in i) the pursuit of knowledge and of accounts of history, ii) their transmission, and iii) the process of validation and trust between two parties in relation to the same.
The role of knowledge from bonafide sources is an essential part of the Mahabharata; counsels, influence, and consequently action; this is a frequent and timeless cycle.
So who are those in whom we put trust? On what basis? And in pursuit of what? Who are the custodians of knowledge, of intelligence? These questions are by no means confined to a period some time in history.
We have so far heard of two classes of men; the administrative class, the warriors, or Kshatriyas, and the learned; the wise sages, the Brahmanas. In fact, the previous story of King Janamejaya and the Sage Uttanka was a perfect depiction of such. And now we hear more on the Brahmana lineage, the sages. The Mahabharata features the teachings of really the foremost of all sages cited in the entire body of Vedic scripture.
Who then were these sages? What were their defining characteristics? Were they all great?
Where did they come from; how did the line begin?
The Sages, are generally Brahmanas, what is a Brahmana?
What follows are some excerpts from the Mahabharata, to give an idea of what are the characteristics by which one is called a Brahmana:
King Yayati said to the Sage Aṣṭakā, in the Sambhava Parva of the Adi Parva: “He may never exhibit the pride of family, birth or learning. Clad in the scantiest robes, he may yet regard himself as attired in the richest vestments.”
Sage Vasishta said to the wish-fulfilling cow Nandini, in the Caitraratha Parva of the Adi Parva when sage Vishwamitra had come to take his favourite cow: “The Kshatriya’s might lies in physical strength, whilst the Brahmana’s in forgiveness. Because I cannot give up forgiveness, O Nandini, if you choosest, go you.”
Snake Dundubha said to Sage Ruru, in the Pauloma Parva of the Adi Parva: “O thou first of created beings, verily the highest virtue of man is sparing the life of others. Therefore a Brahmana should never take the life of any creature. A Brahmana should be mild. This is the most sacred injunction of the Vedas. A Brahmana should be versed in the Vedas and Vedangas, and should inspire all creatures with belief in God. He should be benevolent to all creatures, truthful, and forgiving, even as it is his paramount duty to retain the Vedas in his memory.
The celestial Gandharva Angara-parna said to Arjuna in the Caitraratha Parva of the Adi Parva: “Know, therefore, O perpetuator of Kuru’s race, that the kingdom lasts for ever in which Brahmanas have power. A Kshatriya of good lineage, desirous of extending his dominions by conquering the earth, should, O Partha, first appoint a priest. He who is desirous of conquering the earth should have a Brahmana before him.”
Who are the Saptarṣi, or Seven Great Sages?
The Saptarṣi, or Seven Great Sages, are a good starting point to help understand this. Formally, they are the Brahmana’s who are most extolled in the Vedas, to the point they have a formal designation of being the “Saptarṣi”, or Seven Sages.
The next interesting point to note is that the Saptarṣi, is a post, or a position, not a person as such. Similar to how Prime Minister is a post, whilst the person occupying the post will change. In the world, the position changes by appointment, death, or being over-thrown, whereas the Saptarṣi position changes as the age or era changes.
According to the Teachings of Lord Caitanya, across 14 cycles of Manu, there are 99 individual different sages filling the positions. Atri Muni, Satya Muni, and Havishman Muni are the only sages to feature in two cycles each. Interestingly sages of the names Ashwatthama, Vyasa, Kripa, Aruni, Rishishringa also appear as in other cycles of Manu amongst the Seven Sages.
It is not clear whether they are personalities with the same names of the characters we know, or indeed the same characters themselves. In any case, the principle of rotation and diversification clearly plays a role here.
The Srimad Bhagavatam (4.1.8) says “During the time of Svāyambhuva Manu, these sons all became the demigods collectively named the Tuṣitas. Marīci became the head of the seven ṛṣis, and Yajña became the king of the demigods, Indra.”
And in Srimad Bhagavatam (8.1.24), it is also said “During the reign of the third Manu, Pramada and other sons of Vasiṣṭha became the seven sages. The Satyas, Vedaśrutas and Bhadras became demigods, and Satyajit was selected to be Indra, the King of heaven.”
The stories here within the opening chapters of the Mahabharata contain both the Sage Bhṛgu & Sage Kaśyapa or those in their lines, playing seed roles. So who are the seven great sages, in this current iteration of Manu, Vaivasvata?
The Brihadaranyaka Upanisad (2.2.6) cites the sages: Kaśyapa, Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadvāja are known as the seven sages.” And Srila Prabhupada in his translation of the Srimad Bhagavatam (8.13.5), has the same list as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
The Sanskrit word “Upanishad,” can be broken down into components “Upa” means “near,” “ni” means “most,” and “shad” means “to exist.” Therefore a literal translation means “that which exists most near.” That said, there are multiple interpretations or understandings of the word Upanishad, including in the Vedanta school meaning “sitting near devotionally.” The Upanishad’s are also said to be the “end of the Vedas,” and are concerned with allegorical significances, or mystical meanings of the essence of existence, the origins of life, the world, the soul, and God.
The seven sages are also cited in the books of spiritual axioms, the Vedas, specifically in the Sama Veda, which is the Veda of Hymns and Praises. It specifies the Seven Sages in the same order, except Agatsya instead of Gautama. The Gopatha Brahmana (1.2.8), the genre of prose texts describing the Vedic rituals, associated with the Atharvaveda, also has the same, except with Sage Gungu & Agatsya instead of the Sages Atri & Kashyapa. The Brahmin Gotras that are still very much cited today in India and outside, also have another variation, whereby there are ten seed sages from whom all lines come. The three additions feature indeed the Sage Bhṛgu, as well as Angiras and Agstsya Muni.
The most read version of the Bhagavad Gita in the world, is that by Srila Prabhupada, and in this (Chapter 10.6), Krishna says:
“And from Brahmā all the seven great sages, and before them four other great sages, named Sanaka, Sananda, Sanātana and Sanat-kumāra, and the fourteen Manus, are manifested. In this way all of the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas are born out of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
The seven sages, therefore form part of the backbone of the Vedic apparatus, and therefore as we shall see, the Mahabharata pays great heed to them, and it is their wisdom that is shared with the central characters in the epic.
Who was Bhṛgu Muni?
Srila Prabhupada, on multiple occasions has cited the seven great sages. But interestingly, there is some variation to the Sages being cited as the Great Seven; and specifically with Bhṛgu Muni.
The Srimad Bhagavatam (8.13.5) cites that “Kaśyapa, Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadvāja are known as the seven sages.” Interestingly, this list does not contain Sage Bhṛgu.
Srila Prabhupada in a lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam (06.03.12-15) in Gorakhpur, shares “There are seven ṛṣis, headed by Bhṛgu: Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha, Ātreya, like that. There are seven great ṛṣis. The seven planets you see on the northern side, they are supposed to be their abodes, bhṛgv-ādayaḥ, centering Dhruvaloka, the polestar.”
Srimad Bhagavatam (11.14.4) also says “Lord Brahmā spoke this Vedic knowledge to his eldest son, Manu, and the seven great sages headed by Bhṛgu Muni then accepted the same knowledge from Manu.”
So from all of this, it is clear that designations amongst the Sages seem to be dynamic, as we also see in the reality of this world.
Bhṛgu Muni is especially known for his central involvement in one pastime. The Krishna Book (link), a composition of excerpts from the Srimad Bhagavatam by Srila Prabhupada, tells the story.
“Long ago, there was an assembly of great sages on the bank of the river Sarasvatī, and they performed a great sacrifice of the name Satrayajña. And in this Yagna, the following question was raised: The three predominating deities of this material world, namely, Lord Brahmā, Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva, are directing all the affairs of the cosmos, but who among them is the Supreme? After much discussion on this question, the great sage named Bhṛgu, who is the son of Lord Brahmā, was deputed to test all three predominating deities and report to the assembly as to who is the greatest.
Being thus deputed, the great sage Bhṛgu Muni first went to his father, the creator, Brahma’s residence, Brahmāloka. The three deities are the controllers of the three material qualities, namely the qualities of goodness, passion, and ignorance. The plan decided upon by the sages was for Bhṛgu to test which of the predominating deities possesses the quality of goodness in full. Therefore, when Bhṛgu Muni reached his father, Lord Brahmā, because he wanted to test whether he had the quality of goodness, he purposely did not offer his respects to his father either by offering obeisances or by offering any prayers despite his being the Creator and his Father. Bhṛgu Muni purposely failed to offer respects, just to see Lord Brahmā's reaction to this negligence. Lord Brahmā was very angry at his son's impudence, and he showed signs which proved this to be so. He was even prepared to condemn Bhṛgu by cursing him, but because Bhṛgu was his son, Lord Brahmā controlled his anger with his great intelligence. This means that although the quality of passion was prominent in Lord Brahmā, he had the power to control it. Lord Brahmā's anger and his controlling his anger are likened to fire and water. Water is produced from fire, but fire can be extinguished with water.
After testing Lord Brahmā, Bhṛgu Muni went directly to the planet Kailāsa, where Lord Śiva resides. Bhṛgu Muni happened to be Lord Śiva's brother, both having Lord Brahma as their Father. Therefore, as soon as Bhṛgu Muni approached, Lord Śiva was very glad and personally rose to embrace him. But when Lord Śiva approached, Bhṛgu Muni refused to embrace him. "My dear brother," he said, "you are always very impure. Because you smear your body with ashes, you are not very clean. Please do not touch me." When Bhṛgu Muni refused to embrace his brother, saying that Lord Śiva was very impure, the latter became very angry with him. It is said that an offense can be committed either with the body, with the mind or by speech. Bhṛgu Muni’s first offense, committed towards Lord Brahmā, was an offense with the mind. His second offense, committed towards Lord Śiva by insulting him, criticizing him for unclean habits, was an offense by speech. Because the quality of ignorance is prominent in Lord Śiva, when he heard Bhṛgu's insult, his eyes immediately became red with anger. With uncontrollable rage, he took up his trident and prepared to kill Bhṛgu Muni. At that time, Lord Śiva's wife, Pārvatī, was present. Her personality is a mixture of the three qualities, and therefore she is called Triguṇamayī. In this case, she saved the situation by evoking Lord Śiva's quality of goodness. She fell down at the feet of her husband Shiva, and with her sweet words she talked him out of killing Bhṛgu Muni.
After being saved from the anger of Lord Śiva, Bhṛgu Muni went directly to the planet Śvetadvīpa, where Lord Viṣṇu was lying on a bed of flowers, accompanied by His wife, the goddess of fortune, who was engaged in massaging His lotus feet. There Bhṛgu Muni purposely committed the greatest sin by offending Lord Viṣṇu, physically.
Lord Viṣṇu is all-merciful. He did not become angry at the activities of Bhṛgu Muni, because He knew that Bhṛgu Muni was a great brāhmaṇa. Yet it is said that from the time of this incident, the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, has not been very favorably disposed towards the brāhmaṇas, and therefore, because the goddess of fortune withholds her benedictions from them, the brāhmaṇas are generally poor in terms of material wealth.
Bhṛgu Muni’s touching the chest of Lord Viṣṇu with his foot was certainly a great offense, but Lord Viṣṇu is so great that He did not care. In fact, instead of being angry or cursing Bhṛgu Muni, Lord Viṣṇu immediately got up from His bed along with His wife, the goddess of fortune, and offered respectful obeisances to the brāhmaṇa. He addressed Bhṛgu Munias follows: "My dear brāhmaṇa, it is a great blessing for Me that you have come here. Please, therefore, sit down on this cushion for a few minutes. My dear brāhmaṇa, I am very sorry that when you first entered, I could not receive you properly. It was a great offense on My part, and I beg you to pardon Me. You are so pure and great that the water which washes your feet can purify even the places of pilgrimage. Therefore, I request you to purify the Vaikuṇṭha planet where I live with My associates. My dear father, O great sage, I know that your feet are very soft, like a lotus flower, and that My chest is as hard as a thunderbolt. I am therefore afraid that you may have felt some pain by touching My chest with your feet. Let Me therefore touch your feet to relieve the pain you have suffered." Lord Viṣṇu then began to massage the feet of Bhṛgu Muni.
Bhṛgu Muni could understand his position and that of the Lord, and he was struck with wonder at the behaviour of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because of his gratitude, his voice choked up, and he was unable to reply to the words of the Lord. Tears glided from his eyes, and he could not say anything. He simply stood silently before the Lord.
After testing Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu, Bhṛgu Muni returned to the assembly of great sages on the bank of the river Sarasvatī and described his experience. After hearing him with great attention, the sages concluded that of all the predominating deities, certainly Viṣṇu is situated in the mode of goodness in the highest degree.
The example is given that small lamps may become agitated by a little breeze, but the greatest lamp or the greatest illuminating source, the sun, is never moved, even by the greatest hurricane. One’s greatness has to be estimated by one’s ability to tolerate provoking situations. The sages gathered on the bank of the River Sarasvatī concluded that if anyone wants actual peace and freedom from all fearfulness, he should take shelter of the lotus feet of Viṣṇu.
Bhṛgu Muni, being chosen to conduct this test, is clearly a most esteemed sage. In fact, Krishna himself says in the Bhagavad Gita (10.25), “Of the great sages I am Bhṛgu; of vibrations I am “Om,” of sacrifices I am the chanting of the Holy Names, and of immovable things I am the Himalayas.” So Sage Bhṛgu here, is also Krishna’s choicest amongst the hundreds of great sages.
Srila Prabhupada further elaborates, “Brahma, the first living being in the universe, created several sons for the propagation of various kinds of species. The most powerful among his sons is Bhṛgu, who is the greatest sage.”
The Suta hence began his explanation of the line of Bhṛgu, in which Śaunaka comes also. “The great and blessed saint Bhṛgu, we are informed, was produced by the self-existing Brahma from the fire at the sacrifice of Varuna. And Bhṛgu had a son, named Chyavana, whom he dearly loved. And to Chyavana was born a virtuous son called Pramati. And Pramati had a son named Ruru by Ghritachi (the celestial dancer). And to Ruru also by his wife Pramadvara, was born a son, whose name was Shaunaka. He was, O Śaunaka, thy great ancestor exceedingly virtuous in his ways. He was devoted to asceticism, of great reputation, proficient in law, and eminent among those having a knowledge of the Vedas. He was virtuous, truthful, and of well-regulated fare.'
And with this we close this episode, with an introduction of Bhṛgu Muni, in the context of the landscape of great sages, we will hear more about as the Mahabharata continues to unfold.
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