राम

Bhaviṣya-parva

Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 114

18 versesThe Kings of Kāśī

Synopsis

The Bhaviṣya-parva opens with the sages, Śaunaka foremost, pleased and satisfied. They salute Hari Viṣṇu again and again, the god of gods. In the middle of the chapter, a request: "This I wish to hear; my curiosity is supreme. The two sons born to Pārikṣita in Kāśī were Candrāpīḍa and Sūryāpīḍa." A devoted wife (Draupadī-like, the chapter says) follows her husband. The chapter closes: the earth may be without sun and moon and planets, but never without the line of Pūru.

First-pass synopsis; pending review by a Sanskritist.

Verse commentary below

The Opening of Bhaviṣya-parva and the Story of Ajapārśva: Verses 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 18: the sages' namaskāra to Vyāsa and Sarasvatī and Janamejaya's question about the Paurava lineage, the childless Śvetakarṇa entering the tapovana, Mālinī giving birth on the forest-path while following her husband, clouds arising from compassion for the crying infant, the two Paippalāda brāhmaṇas finding and washing the child, the goat suckling the boy and the name Ajapārśva, and Yayāti's old verse that the earth may go without sun and moon but not without Pauravas. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

Verse 1

शौनकाद्यास् तु मुनयः प्रीतास् तुष्टास् तदाभवन् नमस्कुर्वन्ति देवेशं भक्तिनम्रा मुनीश्वराः आदिदेवं हरिं विष्णुं नमस्यन्ति स्म माधवम् तं वेदशास्त्रपरिनिष्ठितशुद्धबुद्धिं चर्माम्बरं सुरमुनीन्द्रनुतं कवीन्द्रम् कृष्णत्विषं कनकपिङ्गजटाकलापं व्यासं नमामि शिरसा तिलकं द्विजानाम् मुनिं स्निग्धाम्बुदाभासं वेदव्यासम् अकल्मषम् वेदावासं सरस्वत्या वासं व्यासं नमाम्य् अहम् वन्दे सरस्वतीं देवीं भुवनत्रयमातरम् यत् प्रसादाद् ऋते स्निग्धं जिह्वा न परिवर्तते जनमेजयस्य के पुत्राः पठ्यन्ते लोमहर्षणे हरिवंशस्य शेषस्य कथां पापप्रणाशनीम् कस्मिन् प्रतिष्ठितो वंशः पाण्डवानां महात्मनाम्

śaunakādyās tu munayaḥ prītās tuṣṭās tadābhavan namaskurvanti deveśaṃ bhaktinamrā munīśvarāḥ ādidevaṃ hariṃ viṣṇuṃ namasyanti sma mādhavam taṃ vedaśāstrapariniṣṭhitaśuddhabuddhiṃ carmāmbaraṃ suramunīndranutaṃ kavīndram kṛṣṇatviṣaṃ kanakapiṅgajaṭākalāpaṃ vyāsaṃ namāmi śirasā tilakaṃ dvijānām muniṃ snigdhāmbudābhāsaṃ vedavyāsam akalmaṣam vedāvāsaṃ sarasvatyā vāsaṃ vyāsaṃ namāmy aham vande sarasvatīṃ devīṃ bhuvanatrayamātaram yat prasādād ṛte snigdhaṃ jihvā na parivartate janamejayasya ke putrāḥ paṭhyante lomaharṣaṇe harivaṃśasya śeṣasya kathāṃ pāpapraṇāśanīm kasmin pratiṣṭhito vaṃśaḥ pāṇḍavānāṃ mahātmanām

The sages, Śaunaka foremost, were pleased and satisfied then. Bowing with devotion, the sage-chiefs salute the Lord of Gods. They salute the first god Hari Viṣṇu, Mādhava — him whose settled mind is perfected in the Veda and Shastra, clothed in hide, praised by the chiefs of sages and gods, dark as Kṛṣṇa.

Verse 2

एतद् इच्छाम्य् अहं श्रोतुं परं कौतूहलं मम त्वत्तः कथयतः सर्वं वेद्म्य् अहं तं परिस्फुटम् पारिक्षितस्य काश्यायां द्वौ पुत्रौ संबभूवतुः चन्द्रापीडश् च नृपतिः सूर्यापीडश् च मोक्षवित्

etad icchāmy ahaṃ śrotuṃ paraṃ kautūhalaṃ mama tvattaḥ kathayataḥ sarvaṃ vedmy ahaṃ taṃ parisphuṭam pārikṣitasya kāśyāyāṃ dvau putrau saṃbabhūvatuḥ candrāpīḍaś ca nṛpatiḥ sūryāpīḍaś ca mokṣavit

Verse 3

चन्द्रापीडस्य पुत्राणां शतम् उत्तमधन्विनाम् जनमेजय इत्य् एव क्षत्रं भुवि परिश्रुतम्

candrāpīḍasya putrāṇāṃ śatam uttamadhanvinām janamejaya ity eva kṣatraṃ bhuvi pariśrutam

Verse 4

तेषां ज्येष्ठस् तु राजासीत् पुरे वारणसाह्वये सत्यकर्णो महाबाहुर् यज्वा विपुलदक्षिणः

teṣāṃ jyeṣṭhas tu rājāsīt pure vāraṇasāhvaye satyakarṇo mahābāhur yajvā vipuladakṣiṇaḥ

Verse 5

सत्यकर्णस्य दायादः श्वेतकर्णः प्रतापवान् अपुत्रः स तु धर्मात्मा प्रविवेश तपोवनम्

satyakarṇasya dāyādaḥ śvetakarṇaḥ pratāpavān aputraḥ sa tu dharmātmā praviveśa tapovanam

Verse 6

तस्माद् वनगताद् गर्भं यादवी प्रत्यपद्यत सुचारोर् दुहिता सुभ्रूर् मालिनी भ्रातृमालिनि

tasmād vanagatād garbhaṃ yādavī pratyapadyata sucāror duhitā subhrūr mālinī bhrātṛmālini

Verse 7

स त्व् अजन्मनि गर्भस्य श्वेतकर्णः प्रजेश्वरः अन्वगच्छत तं पूर्वैर् महाप्रस्थानम् अच्युतम्

sa tv ajanmani garbhasya śvetakarṇaḥ prajeśvaraḥ anvagacchata taṃ pūrvair mahāprasthānam acyutam

Verse 8

सा दृष्ट्वा संप्रयातं तं मालिनी पृष्ठतो ऽन्वगात् पथि सा सुषुवे सुभ्रूर् वने राजीवलोचनम्

sā dṛṣṭvā saṃprayātaṃ taṃ mālinī pṛṣṭhato 'nvagāt pathi sā suṣuve subhrūr vane rājīvalocanam

Verse 9

तम् अपाश्य च तत्रैव राजानं सान्वगच्छत पतिव्रता महाभागा द्रौपदीव पुरा पतीन्

tam apāśya ca tatraiva rājānaṃ sānvagacchata pativratā mahābhāgā draupadīva purā patīn

And leaving him, she followed that same king — a devoted wife, great-fortuned, like Draupadī of old her husbands.

Verse 10

सुकुमारः कुमारो ऽसौ गिरिकुञ्जे रुरोद ह दयार्थं तस्य मेघास् तु प्रादुरासन् महात्मनः

sukumāraḥ kumāro 'sau girikuñje ruroda ha dayārthaṃ tasya meghās tu prādurāsan mahātmanaḥ

Verse 11

श्रविष्ठायाश् च पुत्रौ द्वौ पैप्पलादौ च तौ द्विजौ दृष्ट्वा कृपान्वितौ गृह्य तं प्रक्षालयतां जले

śraviṣṭhāyāś ca putrau dvau paippalādau ca tau dvijau dṛṣṭvā kṛpānvitau gṛhya taṃ prakṣālayatāṃ jale

Verse 12

विघृष्टे तस्य ते पार्श्वे खेलेन रुधिरस्रवे अजश्यामौ च पार्श्वौ ताव् उभाव् अपि समाहितौ

vighṛṣṭe tasya te pārśve khelena rudhirasrave ajaśyāmau ca pārśvau tāv ubhāv api samāhitau

Verse 13

आजगमानयो पार्श्वं पिबन्न् अप्य् अनयोः स्तनौ तथैव च समारूढाव् अजपार्श्वस् ततो ऽभवत् आजश्यामस्य ते पार्श्वे रूढे वै संअभूवतुः तं तथैव च तिष्ठन्तं अजपार्श्वे कुमारकम् ततो ऽजपार्श्व इति तौ चक्राते तस्य नाम ह

ājagamānayo pārśvaṃ pibann apy anayoḥ stanau tathaiva ca samārūḍhāv ajapārśvas tato 'bhavat ājaśyāmasya te pārśve rūḍhe vai saṃabhūvatuḥ taṃ tathaiva ca tiṣṭhantaṃ ajapārśve kumārakam tato 'japārśva iti tau cakrāte tasya nāma ha

Verse 14

स तु वेमकशालायां उभाभ्याम् अभिवर्धितः

sa tu vemakaśālāyāṃ ubhābhyām abhivardhitaḥ

Verse 15

वेमकस्य तु भार्या तम् उद्वहत् पुत्रकारणात् सेवकस्य तु तां भार्याम् ऊहतुस् तस्य कारणात् वेमक्याः स तु पुत्रो ऽभूद् ब्राह्मणौ सुचिवौ च तौ

vemakasya tu bhāryā tam udvahat putrakāraṇāt sevakasya tu tāṃ bhāryām ūhatus tasya kāraṇāt vemakyāḥ sa tu putro 'bhūd brāhmaṇau sucivau ca tau

Verse 16

तेषां पुत्राश् च पौत्राश् च युगपत् तुल्यजीविनः स एष पौरवो वंशः पाण्डवानां प्रतिष्ठितः

teṣāṃ putrāś ca pautrāś ca yugapat tulyajīvinaḥ sa eṣa pauravo vaṃśaḥ pāṇḍavānāṃ pratiṣṭhitaḥ

Verse 17

श्लोको ऽपि चात्र गीतो ऽयं नाहुषेण ययातिना जरासंक्रमणे पूर्वं तदा प्रीतेन धीमता

śloko 'pi cātra gīto 'yaṃ nāhuṣeṇa yayātinā jarāsaṃkramaṇe pūrvaṃ tadā prītena dhīmatā

Verse 18

अचन्द्रार्कग्रहा भूमिर् भवेद् अपि न संशयः अपौरवा न तु मही भविष्यति कदाचन

acandrārkagrahā bhūmir bhaved api na saṃśayaḥ apauravā na tu mahī bhaviṣyati kadācana

The earth may be without moon, sun, and planets, but it will never be without the line of Pūru.

Verse commentary

The Opening of Bhaviṣya-parva and the Story of Ajapārśva

भविष्यपर्वारम्भः अजपार्श्वोपाख्यानं च

Verses 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 18: the sages' namaskāra to Vyāsa and Sarasvatī and Janamejaya's question about the Paurava lineage, the childless Śvetakarṇa entering the tapovana, Mālinī giving birth on the forest-path while following her husband, clouds arising from compassion for the crying infant, the two Paippalāda brāhmaṇas finding and washing the child, the goat suckling the boy and the name Ajapārśva, and Yayāti's old verse that the earth may go without sun and moon but not without Pauravas. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

HV 114 is the first chapter of the Bhaviṣya-parva — the short, third, prophetic book of the Harivaṃśa. The parvan begins with a beautiful mangala-stotra to Vyāsa and Sarasvatī, and then picks up the human thread that the Viṣṇu-parva's divine stories have left: Parikṣit's descendants, the Paurava line. The chapter settles into the tender story of Ajapārśva, a child born in the forest-path after his father's mahāprasthāna, protected by clouds that arise out of compassion, found by two Paippalāda brāhmaṇas, suckled by a goat at whose side he grew — and through whom the Paurava line was preserved after a generation of near-extinction. The chapter ends with Yayāti's ancient verse: the earth may go without sun and moon, but never without Pauravas.

HV 114.1

मुनिं स्निग्धाम्बुदाभासं वेदव्यासम् अकल्मषम् । वेदावासं सरस्वत्या वासं व्यासं नमाम्य् अहम् ॥ वन्दे सरस्वतीं देवीं भुवनत्रयमातरम् । यत् प्रसादाद् ऋते स्निग्धं जिह्वा न परिवर्तते ॥

muniṃ snigdhāmbudābhāsaṃ veda-vyāsam akalmaṣam | vedāvāsaṃ sarasvatyā vāsaṃ vyāsaṃ namāmy aham || vande sarasvatīṃ devīṃ bhuvana-traya-mātaram | yat prasādād ṛte snigdhaṃ jihvā na parivartate

I bow to the sage whose appearance is like a soft cloud — Veda-vyāsa, the unstained, the Veda's dwelling, the dwelling of Sarasvatī — I bow to Vyāsa. I praise the goddess Sarasvatī, mother of the three worlds, without whose grace the tongue does not turn tender.

The Living Words

*Muniṃ snigdhāmbudābhāsam*, 'the sage whose appearance is like a soft cloud'. *Vedāvāsam*, 'the Veda's dwelling'. *Sarasvatyā vāsam*, 'the dwelling of Sarasvatī'. *Bhuvana-traya-mātaram*, 'mother of the three worlds'. *Yat prasādād ṛte snigdhaṃ jihvā na parivartate*, 'without whose grace the tongue does not turn tender'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the Bhaviṣya-parva's magnificent opening *stotra*. *Yat prasādād ṛte snigdhaṃ jihvā na parivartate* — 'without Sarasvatī's grace, the tongue does not turn tender'. The Varkari tradition's conviction that bhakti is, first, a *snigdha-jihvā* — a tender tongue — is in this verse. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh opens with a similar call to Sarasvatī because the Name sung without *snehā*, tenderness, is not the Name at all. *Snigdhāmbudābhāsa*, 'of soft-cloud appearance' — the epithet of Vyāsa here — is, for the saints, the bhakta's own ideal: to be present like a soft cloud, casting mercy-shade on whatever needs it.

HV 114.5

सत्यकर्णस्य दायादः श्वेतकर्णः प्रतापवान् । अपुत्रः स तु धर्मात्मा प्रविवेश तपोवनम् ॥

satyakarṇasya dāyādaḥ śvetakarṇaḥ pratāpavān | aputraḥ sa tu dharmātmā praviveśa tapo-vanam

Satyakarṇa's heir, Śvetakarṇa the majestic — sonless, though a righteous soul — entered the tapo-vana.

The Living Words

*Satyakarṇasya dāyādaḥ*, 'Satyakarṇa's heir'. *Pratāpavān*, 'majestic'. *Aputraḥ*, 'sonless'. *Dharmātmā*, 'righteous-souled'. *Praviveśa tapo-vanam*, 'entered the penance-grove'.

The Heart of It

The verse names the human stakes. *Aputraḥ sa tu dharmātmā praviveśa tapo-vanam* — a righteous, sonless king turns to the forest. In a patrilineal world, sonlessness is the crisis. The Varkari tradition's compassion for those whose most-desired human thing has not come — who must 'enter the tapo-vana' without the completion they wanted — is in this verse. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh has its deepest solaces for exactly this reader: the one who has no child, no heir, no visible continuation, and must walk into the forest of devotion carrying only the Name.

HV 114.8

सा दृष्ट्वा संप्रयातं तं मालिनी पृष्ठतो ऽन्वगात् । पथि सा सुषुवे सुभ्रूर् वने राजीवलोचनम् ॥

sā dṛṣṭvā saṃprayātaṃ taṃ mālinī pṛṣṭhato 'nvagāt | pathi sā suṣuve subhrūr vane rājīva-locanam

Seeing him [her husband] departing, Mālinī followed him from behind; on the path in the forest, the lovely-browed one gave birth to a lotus-eyed [son].

The Living Words

*Dṛṣṭvā saṃprayātam*, 'seeing him departing'. *Pṛṣṭhato anvagāt*, 'followed from behind'. *Pathi suṣuve*, 'on the path she gave birth'. *Vane*, 'in the forest'. *Rājīva-locanam*, 'lotus-eyed' — the child's first epithet.

The Heart of It

The verse is the Harivaṃśa's tenderest maternal image. A queen, pregnant, walks behind her renunciate husband on his *mahāprasthāna*, and gives birth on the path, in the forest. The Varkari tradition's honoring of the women who walk behind — often carrying children, bearing the weight of continuation while the men renounce — is in this verse. *Rājīva-locanam* — 'lotus-eyed' — is also Kṛṣṇa's constant epithet; the child born on the forest path is already named with the Lord's own eye-description. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's attention to mothers-in-crisis has many such sources; HV 114.8 is a quiet one.

HV 114.10

सुकुमारः कुमारो ऽसौ गिरिकुञ्जे रुरोद ह । दयार्थं तस्य मेघास् तु प्रादुरासन् महात्मनः ॥

sukumāraḥ kumāro 'sau giri-kuñje ruroda ha | dayārthaṃ tasya meghās tu prādurāsan mahātmanaḥ

The very-tender child cried in the hill-grove; out of compassion, clouds appeared for the great-souled one.

The Living Words

*Sukumāraḥ kumāraḥ*, 'the very-tender child'. *Giri-kuñje*, 'in the hill-grove'. *Ruroda ha*, 'cried'. *Dayārthaṃ tasya*, 'out of compassion for him'. *Meghās tu prādurāsan*, 'clouds appeared'.

The Heart of It

The verse is astonishingly tender. *Dayārthaṃ tasya meghāḥ prādurāsan* — 'out of compassion for him, clouds arose'. Nature itself, hearing an infant cry, produces shelter. The Varkari tradition's deep teaching that the world is not indifferent — that what looks like *prakṛti* is also, at depth, *dayā* — is in this verse. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's repeated claim that creation itself loves the bhakta has this one quiet image as its proof-text: an abandoned child cries, and the sky answers.

HV 114.11

श्रविष्ठायाश् च पुत्रौ द्वौ पैप्पलादौ च तौ द्विजौ । दृष्ट्वा कृपान्वितौ गृह्य तं प्रक्षालयतां जले ॥

śraviṣṭhāyāś ca putrau dvau paippalādau ca tau dvijau | dṛṣṭvā kṛpānvitau gṛhya taṃ prakṣālayatāṃ jale

Two brāhmaṇa sons of Śraviṣṭhā, of the Paippalāda line, seeing [him], filled with kṛpā, took him and washed him in water.

The Living Words

*Paippalādau*, 'of the Paippalāda (school of Atharvaveda)'. *Dṛṣṭvā kṛpānvitau*, 'seeing, filled with kṛpā'. *Gṛhya*, 'taking up'. *Prakṣālayatāṃ jale*, 'washed in water'. The brāhmaṇas perform the first act a parent would do.

The Heart of It

The verse names human compassion arriving right behind cosmic compassion. Where HV 114.10 had clouds rise, HV 114.11 has brāhmaṇas bend. *Dṛṣṭvā kṛpānvitau* — 'seeing, filled with kṛpā'. The Varkari tradition's teaching that the presence of even one *kṛpānvita* seer, one brāhmaṇa of the old schools, is enough to save a child from the forest, has this verse as its source. Jñāneśvar himself saw it this way: the Nāth tradition's transmission of knowledge is, in Warkari reading, *kṛpānvita*, filled with compassion, as much as it is filled with yoga.

HV 114.13

आजगमानयो पार्श्वं पिबन्न् अप्य् अनयोः स्तनौ । तथैव च समारूढाव् अजपार्श्वस् ततो ऽभवत् ॥ ततो ऽजपार्श्व इति तौ चक्राते तस्य नाम ह ॥

ājagamānayo pārśvaṃ pibann apy anayoḥ stanau | tathaiva ca samārūḍhāv ajapārśvas tato 'bhavat || tato 'japārśva iti tau cakrāte tasya nāma ha

Coming to the side [of them], drinking also from the udders of both — climbed up — he became the 'goat-side one'; they made his name Ajapārśva.

The Living Words

*Pibann anayoḥ stanau*, 'drinking the udders of both' — two goats. *Samārūḍhau*, 'climbed up, nestled in'. *Ajapārśvaḥ*, 'goat-side one'. *Tasya nāma*, 'his name'. The child's identity is bound to the creature that fed him.

The Heart of It

The verse is one of the Harivaṃśa's most remarkable name-stories. A royal child is named for the side of the goats at which he nursed. *Ajapārśvaḥ* — 'goat-side one'. The Varkari tradition's preference for names that come from the child's concrete circumstance, not the father's pride, is in this verse. Jñāneśvar's own name — 'the Lord of Knowledge' — was given because of a vision; the Warkari saints were often renamed by what happened to them, not by what their fathers wanted. The child whose name is *ajapārśva* will later inherit the Paurava throne; but his name always remembers the goats.

HV 114.18

अचन्द्रार्कग्रहा भूमिर् भवेद् अपि न संशयः । अपौरवा न तु मही भविष्यति कदाचन ॥

acandrārkagrahā bhūmir bhaved api na saṃśayaḥ | apauravā na tu mahī bhaviṣyati kadācana

The earth might indeed go without moon, sun, and planets — there is no doubt; but the earth will never at any time be without Pauravas.

The Living Words

*Acandrārkagrahā bhūmiḥ*, 'earth without moon, sun, or planets'. *Bhaved api na saṃśayaḥ*, 'might indeed be, no doubt'. *Apauravā na tu mahī*, 'but not a Paurava-less earth'. *Bhaviṣyati kadācana*, 'at any time'.

The Heart of It

The verse is Yayāti's famous oath. *Apauravā na tu mahī bhaviṣyati kadācana* — 'the earth will never be without Pauravas'. The chapter has shown exactly why the verse is needed: one child, nearly lost in the forest, suckled by a goat, preserves the lineage. The Varkari tradition's reading: every generation comes within one lost child of ending, and every generation is saved, narrowly, by the compassion of clouds and brāhmaṇas and goats. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's tenderness for the precarious *vaṃśa* of bhakti — never assured, always saved at the last minute — has HV 114.18 as its Sanskrit affirmation.

Thread

The seven verses trace the Bhaviṣya-parva's opening arc: the namaskāra to Vyāsa and Sarasvatī that sets the tenderness of tongue (114.1), the childless king entering the tapovana (114.5), Mālinī giving birth on the forest path while following her husband (114.8), clouds rising out of compassion for the crying infant (114.10), the two Paippalāda brāhmaṇas finding and washing him (114.11), the goat-suckling that names him Ajapārśva (114.13), and Yayāti's ancient verse that the earth may go without sun and moon but never without Pauravas (114.18). The Harivaṃśa's quiet insistence: every lineage is saved, at the edge, by tenderness.

Echo in the saints

HV 114's opening Sarasvatī-verse — *yat prasādād ṛte snigdhaṃ jihvā na parivartate* — is one of the Bhaviṣya-parva's gifts to the Warkari tradition's poetics. Jñāneśvar's own opening-stotras ask Sarasvatī for the *snigdha-jihvā*, tender-tongue, that his abhaṅgas require. And the Ajapārśva story has been read by Warkari teachers as the Harivaṃśa's smaller-scale Kṛṣṇa: a royal child raised outside the palace, by a non-human mother, whose naming reflects his actual circumstances rather than his secret royalty. The Warkari devotion to *vanavāsi* children — Rāma in the forest, Kṛṣṇa in Vraja, Ajapārśva in the hill-grove — has HV 114 as one of its tributaries.

Scripture references

EchoesBhagavad Gītā 17.15

The tongue that speaks tenderly — the austerity of speech.

अनुद्वेगकरं वाक्यं सत्यं प्रियहितं च यत् । स्वाध्यायाभ्यसनं चैव वाङ्मयं तप उच्यते ॥

anudvega-karaṃ vākyaṃ satyaṃ priya-hitaṃ ca yat | svādhyāyābhyasanaṃ caiva vāṅmayaṃ tapa ucyate

Speech that causes no disturbance, that is truthful, dear, and beneficial — along with the practice of recitation — is called the austerity of speech.

HV 114.1's snigdha-jihvā — 'tender tongue given by Sarasvatī's grace' — is the Bhaviṣya-parva's opening version of the Gītā's vāṅmaya-tapas. Tenderness of speech is itself tapas.

Vulgate additions for this adhyāya

One section of Appendix I attaches here. These are passages preserved in manuscripts outside the critical text.

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BORI critical edition, ed. P. L. Vaidya (1969). Digital text from the GRETIL Zurich constituted text. Distributed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.