Biblical tales in the Puranas

The Hindu

a day ago

The Bhavishya Purana, or the chronicle of the future, is the earliest Sanskrit work that reveals some familiarity with West Asian myths. While presented as a prophecy of events that will happen during Kali Yuga, it seems to have been updated over time — from 1000 AD to late 18th century, and published around 1900. It ends with the arrival of British rule in Kolkata. Here, Queen Victoria is referred to as Viktavati.
The Bhavishya Purana imagines an India (Bharat-varsha) from the Himalayas to the sea, with the Indus or Sindhu-desha forming the main barrier between Arya-desha, land of civilised folk, and Mleccha-desha, land of barbarians. In Bharat-varsha, the four varnas do their duty. Sanskrit is spoken by the twice-born elites and Prakrit by the Shudras, or service-providers. Dravida-desha is to the south of the Vindhyas; there varnas tend to mix. In other local lore, Dravida-desha is the land without Kshatriyas, which Rishi Agastya and Rishi Parashurama organise and cultivate using the local Shudras.
Like all Puranas, this text speaks of creation followed by the four yugas. The first yuga, Satya, was ruled by Ikshavaku kings. The second, Dvapara, was ruled by solar kings ending with Ram of Ayodhya. Treta yuga was ruled by lunar kings ending with the infamous Mahabharata war. But there is a slight twist. Yayati's children are founders not just of the Pandavas, Kauravas and Yadavas, but also of the Mlecchas, who are essentially those who turn away from Vedic rites, and take refuge in Maru-desha (probably the Thar desert).
We are told of Satanika, the 23rd generation descendent of the Pandavas. His great grandson Kshemaka is killed by the Mlecchas. Kshemaka's son Pradyota performs a great Mleccha yagna where hundreds of barbarians are slaughtered. Kshemaka's son Vedavat died childless and that is when Kali Yuga actually begins.
An Indian Adam and Eve
Mleccha-Kali prays to Vishnu for the revival of the Mlecchas, and so from the god's clay are born Adama and Hayvavati. In Persian, Eve is called Hawa. Adama's name is linked to the restraint (dama) of his senses and devotion to Vishnu. They live 'east of Pradana' — a name that seems like a combination of Paradise and Eden.
East of Eden is a common Christian metaphor for transgressors, like Adam's son Cain who kills his brother Abel. Adam goes to the Udumbara (fig) tree in search of his wife, where the serpent of Kaliyuga offers fruit on a plate made of leaves. Here, Hayavavati, like a 'good' Indian wife, feeds the husband first, even though eating this fruit is forbidden. Since the rules are broken, the two are cast out. Their children are the Mlecchas.
Then comes the story of Nyuha (Noah), who is advised by Vishnu to build a boat (of exact Biblical specifications) in seven days to survive a flood, which will mark the onset of Kaliyuga. Besides his relatives, Nyuha rescues 80,000 munis (silent sages) and all living creatures. The sages venerate Vishnu's maya, as well as numerous Tantrik goddesses, before the rains stop and the ship lands between two Himalayan peaks, Arac and Sisira.
Unable to speak proper Sanskrit, Nyuha communicates in reverse (right-to-left, like Semitic script) and renames his sons Sima, Sama and Bhava as Sima (Shem), Hama (Ham) and Yakuta (Japhteh). Saraswati curses them that their language will be low, but their numbers will be high, and they will populate much of the Earth.
Of Jesus and Muhammad
Musa or Moses' teaching inspires the Mlecchas. But he is countered by Rishi Kashyapa who travels to Egypt and spreads the Vedic doctrine. He brings back a few Mlecchas who transform, under Rishi Kanva's guidance, into Shudras and Vaishyas. Their descendents populate parts of Haryana (Prithu-desha), Rajasthan (Rajaputra-puram) and Magadha. Significantly, in 800 AD, Multan was known as Kashyapapura, and it was here that Devala-smriti, a dharma-shastra, was written by local Brahmins to purify those said to be contaminated by contact with Arabs.
In the Dark Age, the Vedic order was re-established first by Vikramaditya, then by Shalivahana and finally by Bhoja, the king who ruled Malwa in 1000 AD. Vikramaditya encounters Jesus (Isamasiha) while Shalivahana and his poet, Kalidasa, encounter Muhammad (Mahamada).
All this reveals a jumbled public memory in the 1800s of an earlier period when India had first contact with foreigners, between 300 BC and 500 AD. Their arrival marked the end of the old Vedic Age that forced Brahmins of Yamuna-Ganga doab to reimagine Hinduism through Puranic lore, and migrate to new lands in search of new patrons.
Most fascinating is how the stories of the Bible were retold. Information about them could have come to Brahmin storytellers via Christian sailors or even Persian and Arab traders. We get a glimpse of this in the Mughal paintings depicting Biblical themes.
Devdutt Pattanaik is author of 50 books on mythology, art and culture.