The seven Chiranjeevis are Ashvatthama, King Bali, Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Kripa and Parashurama. The list is in the Padma Purana’s verse (Srishti Khanda 49.7) ‘Ashvatthama Balir Vyaso…’, where Brahma tells one to remember them on rising in the morning. The popular recitation adds Markandeya as the eighth. Each one’s long life is spoken of separately in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or the Bhagavata Purana.
| # | Name | Who | Their long life in the texts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashvatthama | Son of Drona, a warrior on the Kaurava side in the Mahabharata war | Mahabharata (Sauptika Parva 10.16.10-12): for loosing his weapon at Uttara’s unborn child, Krishna’s curse that he will wander the earth for three thousand years, alone and diseased. The Bhagavata (8.13.15-16) counts him among the seven sages of the eighth Manvantara. |
| 2 | King BaliMahabali | Son of Virochana, king of the Daityas (Bhagavata 8.13.12) | Bhagavata (8.22.31-33): after taking three steps of land, Vamana sends him to the Sutala world and promises that he will be Indra in the Savarni Manvantara; the Bhagavata (5.24.18) says he lives in Sutala even now. |
| 3 | VyasaKrishna Dvaipayana, Badarayana | By tradition the author of the Mahabharata | Bhagavata (8.13.15-16): ‘the lord Badarayana’ among the seven sages of the eighth Manvantara, who now live each in his own hermitage. |
| 4 | Hanuman | Rama’s devotee, of the vanaras | Valmiki Ramayana (7.39.16-19, Baroda edition): Hanuman asks to live as long as he hears Rama’s story on earth, and Rama says the story will last as long as the worlds, and his life with it. At 7.98.25 Rama says the same again. |
| 5 | Vibhishana | Ravana’s brother, king of Lanka | Valmiki Ramayana (7.98.22, Baroda edition): Rama says, as long as the people endure, you will live on in Lanka and protect them with dharma. |
| 6 | Kripa | Teacher and warrior on the Kaurava side; with Ashvatthama in the night raid of the Sauptika Parva (10.8.5) | Bhagavata (8.13.15-16): among the seven sages of the eighth Manvantara, who now live in their hermitages. |
| 7 | Parashurama | Son of Jamadagni, whom the Bhagavata (9.15.14) calls a part of Vasudeva | Bhagavata (9.16.25-26): he lives even now on Mount Mahendra, at peace, and in the coming Manvantara he will spread the Veda. |
The verse of the seven Chiranjeevis
अश्वत्थामा बलिर्व्यासो हनूमांश्च विभीषणः ।कृपः परशुरामश्च सप्तैते चिरजीविनः ॥The eighth: Markandeya
In the popular recitation Markandeya is remembered after this verse as the eighth; the text of the Padma Purana we read does not have that line. Markandeya’s long life is told in the Bhagavata: Shiva grants him fame, freedom from age and death until the end of the kalpa, and knowledge of the three times (12.10.36-37), and the Bhagavata says he wanders even now (12.10.39). In the Bhagavata (12.8.2) people call him the ‘long-lived’ sage.
What ‘Chiranjeevi’ means
‘Chiranjeevi’ means ‘one who lives for a long time’. The texts give each a different span: for Ashvatthama the Mahabharata says three thousand years (10.16.10), for Hanuman the Ramayana says ‘as long as Rama’s story lasts’ (7.39.18-19), for Markandeya the Bhagavata says ‘until the end of the kalpa’ (12.10.36), and the Bhagavata gives Bali, Vyasa, Kripa, Ashvatthama and Parashurama a place in the next (eighth) Manvantara too (8.13.12-16, 9.16.25).
Where the sources differ
- Markandeya: the popular recitation adds him as the eighth, but the Padma Purana’s verse (Srishti Khanda 49.7) counts seven only.
- Small differences in the verse’s wording: ‘hanūmāṃś ca’ and ‘hanumāṃś ca’; the Wikisource Padma Purana prints ‘cīrajīvinaḥ’, the quotations in the Vachaspatyam and the Alankaramanihara ‘cirajīvinaḥ’.
- Ashvatthama: in the Mahabharata’s curse (10.16.10) the span is three thousand years; tradition holds that he lives on in the Kali Yuga too.
- The Ramayana verse numbers are those of the Baroda edition; the Gita Press edition numbers the sargas of the Uttara Kanda differently.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the seven Chiranjeevis?
Ashvatthama, King Bali, Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Kripa and Parashurama (Padma Purana, Srishti Khanda 49.7). In the popular recitation Markandeya is the eighth.
What is the Chiranjeevi shloka?
‘Ashvatthama balir vyaso hanumamsh cha vibhishanah, kripah parashuramash cha saptaite chirajivinah.’ It is in the Padma Purana (Srishti Khanda 49.7), where Brahma tells Narada what to remember in the morning.
Why is Hanuman a Chiranjeevi?
In the Valmiki Ramayana (7.39.16-19, Baroda edition) Hanuman asks Rama that his life last as long as Rama’s story is told on earth, and Rama grants it.
Is Markandeya a Chiranjeevi?
The popular recitation counts him as the eighth. In the Bhagavata (12.10.36) Shiva grants him freedom from age and death until the end of the kalpa. The Padma Purana’s verse names seven only.
Sources
- Padma Purana, Srishti Khanda, chapter 49, verses 6-9 (sa.wikisource.org)
- Vachaspatyam, entry ‘Kripa’ (sa.wikisource.org), and Alankaramanihara, part 3, Ullasalankara (sa.wikisource.org): quotations of the verse
- Mahabharata, Sauptika Parva 10.8.5 and 10.16.8-12 (BORI Critical Edition, GRETIL)
- Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda 7.39.14-19 and 7.98.21-25 (Baroda Critical Edition, GRETIL)
- Bhagavata Purana 5.24.18, 8.13.11-17, 8.22.31-33, 9.15.14, 9.16.25-26, 12.8.2, 12.10.35-39 (Sanskrit text, GRETIL)
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