॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Saturday, 12 November 2022 IV.19 - King Prithu's one hundred Ashwamedha Yajnas and Indra's obstructions.
***
When I visited Europe in the 70s and 80s, one thing that struck me was how the kings in Europe built fortresses and war memorials instead of temples and holy Tirthas that Indian kings have been building for millennia. I think the words of Vishnu Puranam that define Bharata as the land where people called Bharatiyas pursue Dharma and Mukti are indeed borne out by history.
The highest achievement for a king in Sanatana Dharma was to complete a hundred Ashwamedha Yajnas. That pretty much established his prosperity, might and dedication to Dharma. Such a one would inherit the position of Indra, Lord of the gods. In other words, Indra is a position and not a person, although we often use Indra to refer to the incumbent occupying that exalted position. In fact, Indra has the title शतक्रतु - Performer of a hundred Yajnas (Ashwamedha). Hence any current Indra devata feels threatened by anyone else performing a hundred Ashwamedha Yajnas, as he would then take over the position of Indra!
When King Prithu commenced the Ashwamedha Yajna series and was about to complete a hundred of them, something of an extraordinary accomplishment for any king, Indra intervened in his own devious way and set a trend for duplicitous imposters and charlatans, all of whom are called पाखण्डीs!
***
In the sacred land of Brahmavarta that had been developed by Svayambhuva Manu as we read before, on the bank of the river Saraswati, King Prithu commenced his one hundred Ashwamedha Yajna series. Lord Vishnu Himself, accompanied by Lord Brahma, Lord Rudra, and many other gods, sages like Dattatreya, Lord Kapila, and famous devotees like Narada, celestial musicians and dancers, descended to graciously accept the Yajna offerings and bless the first famous king of the world, King Prithu.
This was too much for Indra to bear. He decided to sabotage the one hundredth Ashwamedha Yajna. Indra was alarmed at the success of the Yajna, where Earth came as Kamadhenu and provided all the materials for the Yajna, and there were rivers of milk, curd and honey. Also, as Vyasa describes, every element of geography like mountains, water bodies, fauna and flora, all came with their offerings!
तमत्रिर्भगवानैक्षत्त्वरमाणं विहायसा । आमुक्तमिव पाखण्डं योऽधर्मे धर्मविभ्रम: ॥
तं तादृशाकृतिं वीक्ष्य मेने धर्मं शरीरिणम् । जटिलं भस्मनाच्छन्नं तस्मै बाणं न मुञ्चति ॥
वधान्निवृत्तं तं भूयो हन्तवेऽत्रिरचोदयत् । जहि यज्ञहनं तात महेन्द्रं विबुधाधमम् ॥
T: Indra dressed himself as a religious mendicant, smeared ashes on his body, and sported matted locks. He entered the area and stole away the Yajna horse. Sage Atri spotted the imposter and shouted to the son of King Prithu to go and catch the miscreant. But the prince did not want to apprehend someone who looked like a holy man and returned without the horse. Again, Atri shouted to him that this was indeed Indra who was masquerading as a holy man and stealing the sacred horse. Atri ordered the prince, "Prince, kill him! He is Indra, an imposter, stealing the sacred horse!"
The prince again pursued Indra, fleeing in the sky with the Yajna horse. The poet Vyasa compares this to the way Jataayu pursued Ravana when he was abducting Devi Sita. अन्वद्रवदभिक्रुद्धो रावणं गृध्रराडिव "Pursued him in rage much like the king of eagles, Jataayu, pursued Ravana."
Indra fled for his life abandoning the Yajna horse. All the sages and gods present were highly impressed by the prince's prowess and gave him the title विजिताश्व "Winner of the Horse."
एवमिन्द्रे हरत्यश्वं वैन्ययज्ञजिघांसया । तद्गृहीतविसृष्टेषु पाखण्डेषु मतिर्नृणाम् ॥
धर्म इत्युपधर्मेषु नग्नरक्तपटादिषु । प्रायेण सज्जते भ्रान्त्या पेशलेषु च वाग्मिषु ॥
T: "In this way, King Indra, in order to steal the horse from King Prithu’s sacrifice, adopted several duplicitous disguises of sannyasa. This Pakhanda पाखण्ड approach was gleefully accepted by fake sannyasis who even today dress up in weird ways, going naked sometimes, wearing skull garlands and holding skull begging bowls, and so on. They are all sinful and fraudulent, and mislead the people who think these are truly spiritual leaders when these are charlatans pursuing Adharma as Dharma, and coming up with specious arguments in support of their practices."
***
Indra was not done yet. He now brought down a cover of total smoggy darkness over the Yajna arena, and again stole away the Yajna horse that had been tied with a golden rope. The rope made a noise as the horse was dragged away. At once King Prithu picked up his bow and arrow in great anger and was about to kill Indra. He could see through Indra's duplicity although Indra was dressed up as a pseudo-sannyasi.
The officiating priests were alarmed as they did not want the Yajna to be desecrated by Indra's murder. They cried, " Oh King! Please do not assassinate Indra. In fact we know how to invoke him with mantras and we shall then make Indra himself fall as an offering into the fire!"
They did what they promised and Indra was almost put into the fire as an offering. Just then Lord Brahma interceded with great urgency.
"My dear priests, know that Lord Indra is the leader of gods and should not be sacrificed thus. In fact, Indra is also a manifestation of Bhagavan Vishnu himself. So the goal in this Yajna of propitiating of the gods will be severely compromised if you kill Indra."
"My dear King Prithu, just as you are a manifestation of Bhagavan Vishnu, Indra is also His manifestation."
तदिदं पश्यत महद्धर्मव्यतिकरं द्विजा: । इन्द्रेणानुष्ठितं राज्ञ: कर्मैतद्विजिघांसता ॥
T:" Oh, Brahmins, see what a deceitful precedent Indra has created against Dharma just to obstruct the king's Yajna! By your opposing Indra, you are in a way showing how successful he has been in his duplicity, and thus you will make him a hero whom many future Adharmic imposters will follow in the name of religion!"
"King Prithu, do not be disheartened at the obstruction of your Yajna. This is also an act of Destiny. Do not oppose it. These Yajnas of yours have induced Indra to introduce so many irreligious tricks. You should know from this that even the gods are full of many undesirable tendencies."
"Prithu, coming after Vena who by his great misdeeds almost destroyed the kingdom by Adharma, you have done a stupendous task of restoring Dharma and prosperity in this land. You are indeed an incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu. You have already accomplished whatever glory any human king can ever aspire to in this world. You even know the path to liberation. Thus, the intent behind performing this Yajna has been achieved in full. It is therefore better that this confrontation with Indra is stopped to discourage more acts of deceit by him."
When King Prithu was thus advised by the supreme teacher, Lord Brahma, he abandoned his eagerness to complete the hundred Ashwamedha Yajnas and with great affection extended the hand of peace to Indra.
Then King Prithu undertook his ceremonial bath which is customarily taken after the completion of a Yajna. He received generous benedictions and blessings from all the gods, who were comprehensively propitiated by his Dharmic acts.
Prithu also generously rewarded all the Brahmins and made great offerings to the sages. They all blessed him wholeheartedly.
***
