Which God Is Greatest

In the Bhāgavata, Bhṛgu is a son of Brahmā, not of Varuṇa as in the Upaniṣad; and Śiva too was born of Brahmā, from between his brows, when the creator's anger rose.

Once the sages were holding a long sacrifice on the bank of the Sarasvatī, and a question arose among them: which of the three lords is the greatest? Wanting to know, they sent Bhṛgu, the son of Brahmā, to find out, and he went first to Brahmā's court.

To test his goodness, Bhṛgu gave him no bow and no praise, and Brahmā grew angry with him, blazing with his own fire. But the self-born lord quenched by his own self the anger that had risen against his son, as fire is put out by water, which is itself born of fire.

Then Bhṛgu went to Kailāsa. Śiva, the great god, rose up gladly to embrace his brother. But Bhṛgu would not have it. You stray from the path, he said. And Śiva grew angry, and with fierce eyes he raised his trident to kill him. Then the goddess, his wife, fell at Śiva's feet and calmed him with her words.

Then Bhṛgu went to Vaikuṇṭha, where Viṣṇu is. Viṣṇu was lying with his head in the lap of Śrī, his wife, the goddess of fortune, who is also called Lakṣmī, and Bhṛgu kicked him on the chest. Then the Lord, the refuge of the good, rose with her, came down from his couch, and bowed his head to the sage. Welcome, brahmin, he said. Sit on this seat a moment. Forgive us, lord, that we did not know you had come. Your feet are very tender, father, great sage. And saying this he pressed the brahmin's feet with his own hands. Make me pure, he said, and the world, and the guardians of the worlds who are devoted to me, with the water from your feet, which makes the holy places holy. Today, lord, I have become the one dwelling of Lakṣmī. Fortune will live on my chest, now that your foot has struck my sin away.

As Viṣṇu spoke in his deep voice, Bhṛgu was content and fulfilled, and said nothing, his heart full of devotion and his eyes full of tears.

He went back to the sacrifice of the sages who speak of Brahman, and told them everything that had happened to him. When they heard it the sages were amazed, and their doubt was gone, and they put their faith in Viṣṇu as the greatest: from him come peace and freedom from fear, dharma itself, knowledge and the detachment that goes with it, power, and the fame that washes the self clean. They call him the highest goal of the sages who have laid down the rod, who are at peace, even-minded, owning nothing. Goodness is his beloved form, and the brahmins are the gods he holds dear, and the peaceful and the wise worship him asking for nothing. Gods, demons and rākṣasas are all his forms, made by his illusion, and goodness is the way to reach him. So the brahmins of the Sarasvatī, to end the doubt of men, served the lotus feet of the Supreme Person, and reached him.