At a glance
- Name: Pulastya (पुलस्त्य).
- Category: Maharshi; one of the Saptarshi in the Mahabharata's list (Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha) and one of the Prajapatis.
- Birth: a manasa-putra, mind-born son, of Brahma.
- Wife: Havirbhu, daughter of Kardama Prajapati, in the Bhagavata Purana's account.
- Son: Vishrava, father of Kubera and of Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha.
- Best known for: being the ancestor of the Paulastyas, teaching Bhishma about the tirthas, and his blessing to Parashara.
Birth and family background
The Puranas count Pulastya among the sons born from Brahma's mind at the beginning of creation, charged with peopling the world, and so among the Prajapatis. The Bhagavata Purana gives his wife as Havirbhu, one of the daughters of Kardama Prajapati and Devahuti, and says that Agastya and Vishrava were born to them. Through Vishrava, Pulastya became the grandfather of two very different lines: Kubera, lord of wealth and guardian of the north, and the rakshasa king Ravana with his brothers. Both are called Paulastya, "descendants of Pulastya", in the epics.
Life and key episodes
The grandfather of Kubera and Ravana
The Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana tells how Pulastya, doing tapas on Mount Meru, was disturbed by young women who came to play there, and declared that any girl who came into his sight would conceive. The daughter of the royal sage Trinabindu, who had not heard the warning, came near and conceived; Trinabindu gave her to Pulastya in marriage, and their son was Vishrava. Vishrava's son by Ilavida was Kubera; his sons by Kaikasi, a rakshasa princess, were Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana. So Ravana, for all his deeds, was of a sage's line, which is why he is called a Brahmin and a great scholar of the Vedas.
Freeing Ravana from Kartavirya Arjuna
Also in the Uttara Kanda, when the thousand-armed king Kartavirya Arjuna of Mahishmati defeated and imprisoned Ravana, it was Pulastya who went to Mahishmati and asked for his grandson's release. The king honoured the sage and set Ravana free, a story told to show both Pulastya's standing and Ravana's humbling long before he met Rama.
Teaching Bhishma the tirthas
In the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, the sage Narada tells Yudhishthira of a conversation in which Pulastya, pleased with Bhishma's devotion, described to him the sacred places of India: Pushkara, Kurukshetra, Prayaga, Gaya, the Ganga and many more, with the merit of visiting each. This Tirtha-yatra section is one of the oldest guides to pilgrimage in Hindu literature.
His blessing to Parashara
At the start of the Vishnu Purana, Parashara recalls how, grieving for his father who had been devoured by a rakshasa, he began a sacrifice to destroy all rakshasas. Vasishtha persuaded him to stop. Pulastya, whose descendants the rakshasas were, then appeared and, pleased that Parashara had given up his anger, blessed him that he would become the author of a compendium of the Puranas and know the true nature of the gods. Parashara says that this blessing is why he is able to tell the Vishnu Purana.
Achievements and contributions
- A progenitor: as a Prajapati and one of the seven seers of an early Manvantara, he stands at the head of the Paulastya lineage.
- A guide to pilgrimage: his teaching to Bhishma preserves the epic's great catalogue of tirthas.
- A link in the Puranic tradition: his blessing makes Parashara the teller of the Vishnu Purana.
- Astronomy: later tradition attributes to him one of the old siddhantas, the Paulisha or Paulastya Siddhanta, though the name is uncertain (see below).
Writings attributed to him
No surviving Vedic text is attributed to Pulastya. His teachings are preserved as narrations within the Mahabharata and the Puranas. A Paulastya or Pulastya Smriti is mentioned in later digests of dharma, but is not extant as an independent work.
Why he is revered today
Pulastya is remembered with the Saptarshi and Prajapatis in daily prayers and in rituals that invoke the seven seers. Pilgrims meet his name in the Mahabharata's praise of the tirthas, and every reader of the Ramayana meets him as the grandfather of both Kubera and Ravana, a reminder in the tradition that one family can produce the guardian of wealth and the enemy of dharma, and that birth alone decides neither.
Variant traditions and a historical note
The Puranas differ on the details of Pulastya's family. The Bhagavata names his wife Havirbhu and his sons Agastya and Vishrava; the Ramayana tells of Trinabindu's daughter as Vishrava's mother; other Puranas name other wives and children. The Saptarshi list that includes him is the Mahabharata's and some Puranas'; the Brihadaranyaka list used for the Saptarshi profiles on this site does not include him. The Paulisha Siddhanta in Varahamihira's Pancha Siddhantika is linked by some with "Pulisha", possibly a different author.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Pulastya?
A mind-born son of Brahma, a Prajapati and, in the Mahabharata's list, one of the Saptarshi; the grandfather of Kubera and Ravana.
How is Pulastya related to Ravana?
He is Ravana's grandfather. His son Vishrava married the rakshasa princess Kaikasi, and their sons were Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana.
Why is Kubera called Paulastya?
Because he is Pulastya's grandson through Vishrava, as Ravana is; both are called Paulastya, descendants of Pulastya.
Is Pulastya one of the Saptarshi?
In the Mahabharata's list, yes, with Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishtha. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad gives a different list.
What did Pulastya teach Bhishma?
The merit of pilgrimage to India's tirthas, from Pushkara and Kurukshetra to Prayaga and Gaya, in the Tirtha-yatra section of the Mahabharata's Vana Parva.
How is Pulastya connected with the Vishnu Purana?
He blessed Parashara, who had given up his anger against the rakshasas, to become the teller of the Puranas; Parashara then narrates the Vishnu Purana.