The Prachetas
Prithu’s great-grandson Prachinabarhis marries Varuna’s daughter Shrutadrati. Their ten sons, the Prachetas, look exactly alike and are well versed in the shastras. Prachinabarhis orders them to sire sons. So they plunge into Varuna’s realm to perform a tapasya and fulfil their father’s orders.
They worship Narayana, the lord of yagnas for thousands of years. Vishnu appears before them when they are still submerged under the sea and says, “You will live a happy life for millions of years in the company of bhaktas and rule over the earth well. After your time on earth is over, you will return to me when you think of me. And you shall all have a Prajapati for your son.” He then disappears.
The Prachetas are Kshatriyas. And they have remained submerged in the ocean for thousands of years. Since there is no king to look after the kingdom, Prithvi is fully covered with dense forests. Vayu and Surya too cannot penetrate through such dense forests. The people of their kingdom could not survive without air. So they perish.
When the Prachetas emerge from the waters and see the condition of the earth, they are furious. They immediately blow powerful gusts of wind and fire from their mouths. Vayu and Agni uproot, burn and destroy most of the trees in the forests.
The Prachetas and Soma Deva
When only a few trees remain, Soma Deva appears before them and says, “Please calm down and forge a bond of love with the trees. You are destined to marry Marisha, the beautiful daughter of these trees. And she will sire your son Daksha who will grow up and become the greatest Prajapati of his time.
Vayu, these trees and I, Soma Deva have nurtured Marisha with our divine powers. Your son Daksha will inherit our combined divine powers. With these powers and his inherent passion Daksha will bring great progress to your kingdom. But please listen to Marisha’s story before you make her your wife.”
Rishi Kandu and Pramlocha
Soma Deva narrates the tale of Pramlocha, “A muni called Kandu was performing a tapasya near the Gomti river. Indra sent Pramlocha, an apsara to disturb the sage’s penance. Rishi Kandu falls in love with her immediately. He abandons his tapasya and spends many love-filled years with her. A hundred years later Pramlocha says, “O rishi, please allow me to go back to Swarga.”
But Kandu rishi is so besotted with her that he asks her to stay on for a few more days. So Pramlocha stays with him for another hundred years. Nine times Pramlocha repeats her request saying she wishes to return to Swarga. And every time rishi Kandu asks her to stay back for a few more days.
Pramlocha enjoys her time with rishi Kandu. She loves him but fears him too. She knows that rishi Kandu may curse her if she disobeys him. So she agrees to stay on every time he begs her to do so.
One day, rishi Kandu suddenly disentangles himself from Pramlocha’s loving arms and says, “The sun is setting now, my dear. I must leave you to perform my Sandhya.” Pramlocha laughs loudly when she hears rishi Kandu’s words and says, “O rishi Kandu, did you see the sun setting only today – after 907 years, six months and 3 days? Is the love you have for me so deep that you did not even realize how many years have passed?”
For a few moments, rishi Kandu feels Pramlocha is only teasing her. But when he realizes that she is telling the truth, he feels ashamed of his own behaviour. He berates himself first, then curses Indra who ruined his tapasya and then vents out the rest of his fury on Pramlocha and says, “You are the root of my desire. O vile woman I am not reducing you to ashes because you have lived with me for a long time. I don’t blame you because I too am at fault. Now go away from here and don’t dare to return.”
Pramlocha’s worst fears come true that day. When she sees rishi Kandu’s wrath she starts trembling and perspiring with fear and flees from there.
Pramlocha returns to Swarga
She flies from one tree to another wiping her tears, fears and sweat with the tender leaves of the trees and then makes her way to Swarga. Vayu collected her divine sweat droplets and I, Soma nurtured the baby that was born out of Pramlocha’s sweat with the Amrita that oozes out of my fingertips. And these trees nurtured this child as their daughter and named her Marisha. So, Marisha is the daughter of rishi Kandu, Pramlocha, Vayu, the trees and I Soma too.”
Marisha the queen
And without breaking for a pause Soma Deva says, “Please listen to the story of Marisha’s previous life too. You will be proud to know about this part of her life. In her previous birth, Marisha was a queen. Her husband died before she could bear him a son. So she worshipped lord Vishnu with great fervour. When Vishnu appeared before her she said, “I wish to be an ayonija (a child who is not born from a woman’s womb) marry men of repute and sire a son who will gain fame in all the three worlds.”Vishnu agrees to fulfil her wishes and disappears from there.
The Prachetas marry Marisha
After listening to Soma Deva’s stories, the Prachetas agree to marry Marisha. And in time, she bears them a magnificent son called Daksha who becomes the Prajapati of all the other Prajapatis. It is said that when Daksha was born his brilliance eclipsed the radiance of the sun and the moon too.
Like Vishnu had foretold, the Prachetas rule the earth wisely for millions of years. They rejoice in all the pleasures that Swarga, Bhoomi and Patala offer them. They then remember Narayana’s promise to them. So they ask their son Daksha to take care of their queen, palace and kingdom and set out in search of salvation. They listen to all the stories that Narada narrates about the blue god who lies on Ananta on the Kshirasagara. These stories are like Amrita to their weary souls. They resume the tapasya that they had performed a million years ago and find Moksha at the end of their lives.
*According to the Vishnu Puran, in every yuga a Daksha is born and dies – just like all other creatures. Daksha, Brahma’s mind-born son (some say he was born from Brahma’s right thumb), the father of Sati and whom Shiva had punished belonged to a different yuga.
The essence of this story
Why do we struggle so very much to accept our mistakes and weaknesses? Instead of accepting total responsibility for our actions, why do we oh so coolly blame our loved ones for misguiding them? Can any relationship sustain itself when the element of fear is always lurking in the background? For all the knowledge and wisdom that we seem to possess, why do allow our ego to ruin our lives and the lives of our loved ones?
Yet, all is not lost. For only when our lives spiral completely out of control, do we learn – the hard way – to have immense faith in ourselves, in our inherent goodness and divinity and in a higher power. And then slowly, as we evolve spiritually, we DO find the much-needed balance in our lives. And then we do our very best to ensure that nothing disturbs our equanimity. Yes. Nothing.
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