Overpopulation in Mahabharata (2)

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The myth told in Mahabharata 1.58 combines the idea of the partial incarnation or descent of the gods with the motif of the overpopulation of the earth. The myth relates how the gods are incarnated in order to destroy the incarnated Asuras and to lighten the burden of the earth. This myth is also found in the eleventh book of Mahabharata: ‘Then, goddess, your burden will be destroyed in the battle’ (11.8.26). In Mahabharata 3.142.35-61 (Bombay edition), a passage which is relegated by the Poona edition to an appendix (1.16), it is told how Viṣṇu becomes a boar (varāha) in order to raise the earth which has sunk due to over-population. It is possible that the latter myth has been influenced by the former. Apart from this central myth, the Mahabharata also tells how Death (mṛtyu) came into existence because the Earth suffered from an oppressing burden (bhārārtā) (7.52-54, 12.248-250). In this story there is no direct connection with the battle between the incarnated Asuras and the incarnated gods. There is also no reference to the varāha myth, but it is said that because of her burden the Earth sinks into the waters: bhāreṇāpsu nimajjati (12.249.4). In the first myth the Earth is oppressed by the Asuras, but in the second and third variants it is only the weight of the peoples which afflicts her.

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Mahābhārata 3.142.35-61(Bombay Edition)
Mahābhārata 7.52-54 (Bombay Edition)
Mahābhārata 11.8.26 (Bombay Edition)
Mahābhārata 12.248-250 (Bombay Edition)

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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