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This Purana
consists of the following 26 chapters:
This chapter
contains only 1 section:
Narad asks sage
Pulastya about Vaaman incarnation:
Vaaman Puraan is
one of the eighteen Puraans written by sage Vyasa. It contains tales
pertaining to Lord Vishnu in his Vaaman (dwarf) incarnation. Sage
Pulastya while giving answers to Narad's enquiry narrates the tale of
Vaaman Puraan.
All the Puraans
give glimpses of Indian civilization and culture and Vaaman Puraan is no
exception. It also teaches the virtue of righteousness and
religiousness. Vaaman Puraan not only contains the divine tales of
Nara-Narayana and Goddess Durga but it also contains tales of famous
devotees like Prahlad, the salvation of Gajendra (elephant) etc.
Sage Narad asks
Pulastya- "O revered sage! Why did Shri Hari take the incarnation of
Vaaman? Why did Prahlad fight a battle with the deities despite being a
devotee of Lord Vishnu? How did Sati, Daksha Prajapati's daughter become
Mahadev's consort in her next birth? I am eager to know the answers to
all these questions."
Pulastya replied-
"O Narad! Once, Sati requested Lord Shankar to make arrangements for a
permanent abode. At that time, Lord Shankar had his abode at Mandaar
Mountain. Summer season was approaching and Sati quite rightly had
apprehensions of living in the open. Lord Shankar told her that as he
was a recluse, he never felt a need of a permanent dwelling. Though Sati
was not satisfied by his answers yet she kept quiet. This way, both of
them continued to live there. The summer season had passed and now it
was the turn of rainy season to arrive. Sati made the same request to
Lord Shankar. This time, Lord Shankar told her that it was impossible
for him to construct a house, as he had no wealth. He also told her that
he had only a tiger skin as his clothing, the king cobra- his sacred
thread, Padma and Pingal (snakes)- his ear-rings and Keval and Dhananjay
as his armlets.
After hearing this,
Sati became worried as to how she would pass the rainy season without a
home. Lord Shankar then assured her that this problem would be easily
solved if she lived above the clouds. This way, she would remain
untouched by the showers. After this, both of them ascended towards the
sky and started living above the clouds. From that day onwards, Lord
Shankar came to be known as Jeebhootvaahan (one whose vehicle is the
cloud).
This chapter
contains 4 sections:
DAKSHA PERFORMS A
GRAND YAGYA
Pulastya says-
"This way, both Shiva and Sati lived above the clouds till the end of
rainy season. When autumn season arrived, both decided on returning to
Mandaar Mountain. Daksha had organised a grand Yagya in which he had
invited all the prominent deities and sages except his own son-in-law,
Shankar and his daughter, Sati."
Narad was surprised
as to why Maheshwar- the lord of all splendours was not invited by
Daksha. He was also curious to know why Lord Shankar had become a
Kapaali (a mendicant). Pulastya told him that during the period of final
annihilation, Lord Vishnu after waking up from his sleep found a divine
entity, who possessed three eyes, who had a trident in his hands and who
wore a Rudraksha garland around his neck. Lord Vishnu then created ego,
which had its evil effects on both Brahma and Shankar. Lord Shiva in his
arrogance asked Brahma, his identity and origin. Lord Brahma then
arrogantly asked Shankar, his identity. This way, a dispute ensued that
later on turned into a fight in which, Brahma defeated Shankar. Lord
Shiva severed two of the five heads of Lord Brahma. But the second head
fell and got stuck on Lord Shiva's left palm. Angrily, Lord Brahma
created a terrific creature, which challenged Shankar and ridiculed him
by saying that as he (Shankar) was a sinner, therefore, he would not
dirty his hands by killing him.
Lord Shankar was
ashamed of himself. He went to Badrikashrama and requested Lord Vishnu
for some alms. Lord Vishnu asked Shankar to hit on his (Vishnu's) left
arm. Shankar hit Vishnu's left arm with his trident and the impact
resulted in the creation of three streams. The first stream went up in
the sky and established itself as Akashganga. The second one was
Mandakini, which was received by sage Atri. The third stream fell on the
skull, which was stuck in Lord Shankar's left palm. This resulted in the
manifestation of a divine child who was ferocious and well armed with
bow and arrows. Shankar instructed him to kill that creature, which was
created by Brahma.
A tremendous duel
was fought between them, which was inconclusive for thousands of divine
years.
Lord Shiva had
committed a grave sin of Brahmahatya. All his efforts of separating
Brahma's skull from his left palm went in vain. In the meantime, an
entity named Brahmahatya appeared before him and entered into his body.
Lord Shankar
decided to go to Badrikashrama to atone for his sins. After reaching
there, he became worried when he did not find Lord Vishnu. He went to
take a bath in river Yamuna but as soon as he entered the river, the
water dried up. He experienced this strange phenomenon at the Saraswati
River as well. He then made pilgrimages to numerous sacred and holy
places but still did not become free from Brahmahatya. Dejected, he
ultimately went to Kurukshetra where he found Shri Narayana and
requested him to free him (Shankar) from the sins of Brahmahatya. Lord
Vishnu advised him to go on a pilgrimage to Varanasi where he would be
liberated from his sins.
Following Vishnu's
instructions, Lord Shankar went to Varanasi and visited all the sacred
sites like Dashashwamedh temple, Lolarka temple and Keshav temple. While
he was worshipping Keshav, he said- "Though I have become liberated from
my sins, yet I fail to understand the reason why this skull still sticks
in my hand." Keshav told him that his problems would be solved if he
takes a bath in the lake, which was near the temple. Lord Shankar took a
bath in that lake and ultimately the skull fell on the ground. The place
where the skull had fallen later on became famous as Kapaalmochan.
Sage Pulastya says-
"O Narad! This way, Lord Shiva became famous as Kapaali. This was the
reason why Daksha did not invite him. In the meantime, Jaya, sage
Gautam's daughter went to see Sati at Mandaar Mountain. Seeing her
alone, Sati asked about her two sisters, Jayanti and Aparajita. Jaya
revealed to her that both of them had gone to their
maternal-grandfather's (Daksha) Yagya. Jaya also told her that all the
deities had been invited to the Yagya. When Sati heard this, she was
grieved and angry with her father. In a fit of rage, she gave up her
life. Seeing her lifeless body, Jaya started wailing. Lord Shiva arrived
there and upon hearing Jaya's wails, asked her why Sati was lying on the
ground. Jaya then narrated the whole story. Lord Shankar became so
infuriated that it resulted in the creation of numerous Ganas among whom
Veerbhadra was the most prominent one.
Lord Shiva
accompanied by the Ganas went to the site where Daksha was performing
the Yagya. A tremendous battle ensued between them and the deities and
finally, the deities were overpowered and ran away from the site.
Veerbhadra, finding the time opportune, entered the oblation site. When
the deities saw him entering the oblation site, they returned and tried
to prevent him from doing so. Again, an intense battle erupted between
both the sides. The deities used all kinds of weapons but they could not
control the onslaught of Veerbhadra and fled.
Veerbhadra then
went near the sacrificial fire. The sages were terrified and ran towards
Lord Vishnu who attacked Veerbhadra with arrows but it did not hurt him
at all. Vishnu then attacked him with other divine weapons. But still,
Veerbhadra succeeded in neutralising those weapons. Vishnu was enraged
and attacked him with his Sudarshan chakra that Veerbhadra swallowed.
This angered Lord Vishnu further. He lifted Veerbhadra and dashing him
to the ground, pressed Veerbhadra's stomach as a result of which, the
Sudarshan chakra came out from his mouth. But Lord Vishnu spared
Veerbhadra's life. Veerbhadra then went to Lord Shiva and narrated his
woeful tale of defeat. Lord Shiva instructed Veerbhadra to leave for a
safer haven and himself went to the oblation site accompanied by
Bhadrakali. The sages became scared on seeing his terrifying appearance.
Fearing Lord
Shiva's wrath, Lord Vishnu went to Hrishikesh and remained aloof for
quite some time. Shiva's anger generated so much heat that it was enough
to melt the eight Vasus. As a result, a river named Sita started flowing
from there. After being attacked by Lord Shiva, the deities fled from
the scene.
Lord Shiva then
opened his third eye and furiously looked at the flame burning in the
Havan-kund. The next moment, the fire went off. Even Yagya was terrified
and he took the aerial route in the guise of a deer. Lord Shiva chased
him in the appearance of Kaal (Lord of death) with a bow and arrow named
Pashupat.
In the end, Kaal
(epithet of Shiva) was successful in killing the deer, which was Yagya
in reality. After his death, Yagya's body was established among the
stars. After narrating the tale of destruction of Daksha's Yagya, sage
Pulastya then goes on to tell Narad that the names of the zodiacs had
been given just according to their appearances for e.g. Aries (Mesh)
appeared like a ram. Similarly, Taurus (Vrishabh) appeared like an ox
and so on.
This chapter
contains 6 sections:
Sage Narad was
curious to know how the demon King Andhak behaved with the deities. He
asked Pulastya in this regard. Pulastya replied- "After ascending the
throne, Andhak did a severe penance to please Lord Shiva and received a
boon according to which he could neither be killed by the deities nor by
any mortal. He also received another boon according to which even fire
could not burn him.
Andhak appointed
Shukracharya as his chief priest. He defeated the deities and had gained
control over the whole earth. Once, Andhak had gone to see the beautiful
sight of Sumeru Mountain. Indra after making adequate arrangements for
the security of his capital Amravati came forward to fight him with a
huge army. A fierce battle was fought between both the armies. The whole
atmosphere was covered in darkness due to the dust. It became difficult
for the warriors of both the sides to distinguish between friend and an
enemy. The whole battlefield was strewn with dead bodies and blood.
Indra unleashed a
volley of arrows towards Andhak. In reply, Andhak too retaliated by
unleashing a volley of arrows towards Indra. In this duel, both of them
got injured. Infuriated, Indra attacked him with his Vajra, which
destroyed all of Andhak's weapons. Indra's Vajra then chased Andhak who
jumped down from his chariot to save his life. Andhak defended himself
by attacking it with his fist. As a result, it fell on the ground. Indra
then attacked Andhak by unleashing a volley of arrows in his direction.
Andhak dodged the assault and ran towards him menacingly. He attacked
Airavat- the elephant and mount of Indra with such force that it became
paralysed. Seeing his elephant in such a pitiable condition, Indra
picked up his Vajra and ran inside the fort to save himself. Andhak then
single-handedly destroyed Indra's whole army.
Yamaraj was
fighting from the deities' side. He attacked Prahlad who was fighting
from Andhak's side. It became impossible for Yamaraj to match Prahlad's
valour and bravery. As a result, he was forced to flee from the
battlefield. Inspite of having mighty warriors like Varun and Agni in
their ranks, the deities could not match the valour of the demon's army,
which comprised of valiant and brave fighters like Virochan, Maya and
Shambar. Ultimately, the deities were defeated in this battle. The
victorious demon King Andhak returned to Paatal loka with his army.
Sukeshi was the son
of demon King Vidyutkeshi. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Being
pleased by his devotion, Lord Shiva had blessed him with invincibility
and gifted him a city, which was situated in the sky. Sukeshi was a
virtuous and just king.
Once, he had gone
into the Magadh forest where he found numerous sages engrossed in
meditation. After introducing himself to the sages, he expressed his
desire to know about the path that led to benediction. He also wanted to
know how a man could achieve respectability and contentment in his life.
The sages told him that a man could achieve benediction only by
following the path of Dharma. "A religious man achieves both
respectability and contentment", said the sages. Sukeshi then asked them
about the characteristics of Dharma. The sages revealed to him that the
deities engage themselves in religious activities like Yagya,
self-study, study of Vedas and worship of Lord Vishnu. So, all these
activities are the Dharma of the deities. "The Dharma of the demons
consists of negative qualities like jealousy etc. But they have profound
knowledge in policy matters and have great devotion towards Shiva", said
the sages. "The Siddha's Dharma is to engage himself in activities like
practice of Yoga, study of Vedas, self-realisation and devotion to both
Lord Vishnu and Shiva", said the sages. In this way, the sages
enlightened Sukeshi on the Dharma of different sections of divine
entities.
At last, Sukeshi
requested the sages to tell something about the hell (Narak). The sages
replied that altogether there were 21 hells. The name of the first hell
is Raurav, which covers the area of 2000 Yojans. The second hell
Maharaurav is twice the area of Raurav. Similarly, the names of the
remaining hells are Taamistra, Andhataamistra, Kaalchakra, Aprathisth,
Ghatiyantra, Asipatravan, Taptakumbh, Kootshaalmali, Karpatra,
Swabhojan, Sandansh, Lohapind, Kalmasikta, Kshaarnadi, Krimibhojan,
Vaitarninadi, Shonitpayabhojan, Kshuraagradhaar, Nishitachakra and
Sanshoshan.
Sukeshi asked the
sages about the sinful deeds, which leads to hell. The sages replied-
"People who condemn Veda, deities, Brahmins etc. go to hell. Those who
don't believe in religious texts like Puraan etc. or those who cause
obstacles in the accomplishment of Yagya or those who prevent a
charitable man from giving donation also go to hell.
People who torment
others, who steal sandals etc. go to the hell named Kalmsikta.
Disobedient children who don't obey their parents and elders go to the
hell named Aprathisth. People who touch their elders with their feet go
to Raurav Narak. A selfish person who nourishes himself during drought
without caring about his relatives go to the hell named Swabhojan. A
person who does not protect people who have taken his refuge goes to the
hell named Yantrapeed. A man who misappropriates the deposited money of
other people goes to Vrishchikashan Narak. The sinners who copulate on
auspicious days or who have illicit relations with other women go to the
hell named Shaalmali.
This way, the sages
told Sukeshi about various types of sinful deeds, which led sinners to
different hells.
Sukeshi expressed
his desire to the sages to know about Jambudweep. The sages replied-
"Jambudweep is a very large island. It is sub-divided into nine parts.
Ilavritvarsh is situated in its central part while Bhadraashvavarsh is
situated towards its eastern side. Some prominent places situated around
it are- Hiranyakvarsh towards north-east, Kinnarvarsh towards
south-east, Bharatvarsh towards south, Harivarsh towards south-west,
Ketumaalvarsh towards west, Ramyakvarsh towards north-west and Kuruvarsh
towards north. All these nine Varshas are full of natural beauty. The
inhabitants of all the eight Varshas except India are never troubled by
old age or death. The inhabitants are also religious and virtuous by
nature. They attain great accomplishment without making any real effort.
Bharatvarsh has
nine sub-islands. All these islands are surrounded by oceans on all
sides and it is difficult to go from one island to another. These
sub-islands are Indradweep, Kaserumaan, Taamravarna, Gabhastimaan,
Naagdweep, Karaaha, Sinhal, Vaarun and Kumar. Kiraat live towards east
of Bharatvarsh while Yavan live towards the west. People living towards
the south of Bharatvarsh are called Andhra and those living towards the
north are called Turuyak. Bharatvarsh is mainly inhabited by people
belonging to all the major four castes i.e. Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya
and Shudra. The seven prominent mountains situated within Bharatvarsh
are Mahendra, Malay, Sahya, Shukti, Maanriksh, Vindhya and Paariyaatra
though there are many more mountains.
The following
rivers originate from Himalaya Mountain- Saraswati, Yamuna, Hiranvati,
Sutlej, Chandrika, Neela, Vitastaa, Eravati, Kuhu, Devika, Ushira,
Dhaataki, Rasaa, Gomti, Gandki, Kaushiki, Sarayu etc. Similarly, many
rivers originate from the other mountains.
The sages say-
"Dharma consists of ten properties such as non-violence, truth, charity,
not stealing the property of others, forgiveness, self-restraint,
cleanliness etc. Hence it is known as Dashaang Dharma. These properties
are obligatory for people belonging to all castes and creeds. A
Brahmin's life is categorised into four Ashrams- Brahmacharya,
Grihastha, Vanprastha and Sanyaas. A Brahmachari is supposed to acquire
knowledge by living a celibate life. After completing his studies, the
Brahmachari graduates to the life of a householder. He gets married and
performs his duties towards his family. After this, he enters into
Vanprasthashram where he is required to go to the forest after
abandoning worldly pleasures. At last, he accepts Sanyaas, which is
total renunciation. He is supposed to pass the rest of his life doing
meditation and penance."
Pulastya says-
"After being enlightened by the sages on various subjects, Sukeshi
returned to his capital. He taught the demons all that he had learnt. As
a result, all the demons became very virtuous. The newly attained
virtuosity and religiousness made the demons invincible and powerful.
Sukeshi's capital was situated in the sky. The whole city illumined
brightly due to virtuosity attained by the demons. Its illumination even
subdued the radiance of Surya (Sun). Now it became very difficult to
determine when the Sun rose.
The deity Surya
became worried at this development. He started pondering on how the
demons became so powerful and contemplated over the means to destroy the
demons. While Surya was meditating, the fact regarding the demons' power
dawned on him. Surya became furious and angrily glanced at Sukeshi. The
city started falling towards earth. Sukeshi became worried and started
praying to Lord Shiva. Seeing his devotee, Sukeshi in trouble, Lord
Shiva looked angrily at Surya as a result of which, he too started
falling towards the earth. When the sages and hermits saw Surya falling
down, they advised him to take refuge in Lord Vishnu. Surya curiously
asked as to how could he take Vishnu's refuge as he had been punished by
Lord Shiva. The sages then advised him to direct his descent to
Varanasi. Surya accepted their advice and landed at Varanasi between two
rivers- Varuna and Asi. He was feeling restless because of severe heat
and so he decided to take a bath in the Asi River. After taking his
bath, he started revolving around both the rivers. In the meantime, all
the sages, demons, Apsaras went to Brahma loka and requested Lord Brahma
to re-establish Surya in his original abode. Lord Brahma, accompanied by
all the deities went to Lord Shiva and requested him to forgive Surya.
Shiva was pleased at their humbleness and forgave Surya and
re-established him on his chariot. He also gave a new name to Surya-
Lolaark. At last, Surya was re-established in the sky.
This chapter
contains 3 sections:
Sage Pulastya says-
"Dharma, the possessor of divine body and who manifested from the heart
of Lord Brahma married Murti, the daughter of Daksha. Four sons were
born to them- Hari, Krishna, Nara and Narayan. Hari and Krishna engaged
themselves in the practice of Yoga while Nar and Narayan went to the
Himalaya Mountain and started doing penance for the welfare of humans.
Indra became
frightened by their arduous penance. He feared that he might lose his
authority and power. He sent beautiful Apsaras to disturb their penance.
He himself went to that site accompanied by Kamadev and Vasant (spring).
One Narayan saw all
three of them coming and he treated all of them with respect. As he was
aware of the reasons for their arrival, he decided to give them a
surprise. He made the figure of a beautiful woman on his thigh with a
flower. The next moment, the figure transformed into a live woman, which
surprised all of them.
For Kamadev, the
beautiful woman resembled his wife Rati. He became so infatuated by her
beauty that he forgot about the actual purpose of his visit. The same
thing happened to Vasant and all the Apsaras. Everybody who had come
with the desire of victory had actually become a victim.
Seeing all of them
surprised and amazed, Narayan told them that the beautiful woman was
created by him from his thigh. He also instructed them to take away that
beautiful woman to heaven. Kamadev and Vasant were captivated by
Narayan's power. They also became terrified. They went back to heaven
accompanied by Urvashi and narrated the whole story to Indra. Even Indra
was amazed. In a short time, the amazing deeds of Narayan spread in all
the directions and the various lokas.
Once, Prahlad- the
son of demon King Hiranyakashipu asked sage Chyavan about the most
revered and sacred place of pilgrimage in the whole world. Sage Chyavan
told him about Naimisharanya- the most sacred place of pilgrimage on the
earth. Prahlad visited Naimisharanya accompanied by many other demons.
After reaching there, all of them took bath in a river. While roaming
about in the city, Prahlad saw the trunk of a tree pierced with numerous
arrows. Not far from the tree, he saw two hermits doing penance. Two
divine bows and a pair of quiver were lying by the side.
Prahlad was amazed
as to why the hermits would require weapons. He revealed his thoughts to
the hermits. Both the hermits replied that a person who works according
to his capabilities, earns respect. Prahlad became angry at their reply.
He asked them as to what were their capabilities. Actually, the hermits
were none other than Nar and Narayan. Both of them told Prahlad that
they were invincible and nobody could defeat them in battle. Prahlad's
anger crossed all limits. A tremendous battle ensued between Prahlad and
Nar-Narayan.
A ferocious battle
was fought between Prahlad and Nar-Narayan in which all types of lethal
weapons were used. The battle continued for 1000 divine years.
Ultimately, Prahlad was defeated in this battle. He went to Vaikunth and
asked Lord Vishnu as to why Nar-Narayan was invincible. Lord Vishnu
revealed to them that Narayan was his own incarnation. He also told them
that Narayan could be won only by devotion and not by power.
Prahlad decided to
relinquish his throne and appointed Andhak as his successor. He went to
Badrikashrama and made salutations to Narayan in reverence. Narayan was
surprised at the sudden change in his behaviour. He asked Prahlad as to
what the matter was. Prahlad then said- "Who can defeat you? You are
none other than Lord Janardan. You are the one who has taken incarnation
of Hrishikesh, Chakrapaani and Hayagreev."
Narayan was pleased
by his devotion. He told Narayan that though he was not able to defeat
him in the battle but he was successful in doing so by his devotion.
Narayan also blessed Prahlad. Prahlad then returned to his capital.
Andhak expressed his desire to make Prahlad the king once again but it
was turned down by him. Prahlad spent the rest of his life preaching on
the virtues of religiousness and truthfulness.
Pulastya says-
"Lotus flower manifested from Vishnu's navel in the month of Ashwin.
Similarly, other vegetation also manifested from the different organs of
the deities- Kadamb tree from the palm of Kamadev, Dhatura tree from the
heart of Lord Shiva, Khair tree from the middle portion of Brahma's
body, Kataiya tree from Vishwakarma's body.
Kundalata
manifested from Parvati's palm, Sinduar tree from Ganesha's belly,
Palaash tree and Gular tree from the right and left armpits of Yamaraj.
Similarly, Sarpat
manifested from the body of Sheshnaag, black and white Durva grass from
the tail and back of Vaasuki Naag, Harichandan tree manifested from the
heart of a devotee.
This chapter
contains 4 sections:
During ancient
times, there lived two demons- Rambh and Karambh who would torment
people. As both were sonless, they decided to do severe penance by
keeping their bodies submerged in Panchmad River with a desire of having
sons. Indra becoming fearful, took the guise of a crocodile and killed
Karambh while he was doing penance in the river.
Rambh became so
dejected by his brother's death that he decided to give up his life by
severing his head and offering it in the sacrificial fire. As he was
about to turn his thoughts into reality, Agni appeared before him and
prevented him from doing so and said- "Killing oneself is a grave sin.
Don't give up your life. I am willing to fulfil any of your wish."
Rambh was pleased
and requested Agni to bless him with a mighty and powerful son. Agni
blessed him by saying- "You will beget a son from a woman of your own
choice. But destiny had something else in store for him.
Once, Rambh had
gone to see Yaksha King- Maalvat. He was impressed by Maalvat's
prosperity and unlimited wealth. King Maalvat possessed lot of animal
wealth like goats, lambs, oxen, elephant, horses, cows etc. Rambh saw a
beautiful buffalo in the cowshed. He started caressing her body just to
appreciate her beauty. The buffalo got aroused and forced Rambh to
copulate with her and this resulted in the buffalo's pregnancy.
Rambh returned to
Paatal loka accompanied by the buffalo. But the other demons came to
know about this unusual incident and as a result, Rambh was
excommunicated from the demons' tribe. Both of them decided to return to
Yaksha King Maalvat's palace. In due course of time, the buffalo gave
birth to a beautiful calf, which could change its appearance according
to its wishes.
Once, seeing the
buffalo alone, a bull tried to breach her modesty. The buffalo ran
towards Rambh for her safety. Rambh attacked the bull with a sword and
injured it. In retaliation, the bull also dashed its horns against
Rambh's chest, which proved to be fatal. Seeing the dead Rambh, the
buffalo became engulfed in sorrow. She had no other option but to take
refuge of the Yakshas who protected her life. In the meantime, the
seriously injured bull fell into a divine lake and died. Amazingly, its
body transformed into a demon.
The Yakshas decided
to cremate Rambh's body. The buffalo too decided to embrace death by
jumping into the burning pyre. But as soon as the pyre was lit, a
ferocious demon emerged from it with a sword. He drove away all the
Yakshas and killed the buffalo but spared her calf. This ferocious demon
later on became famous as Raktabeej. He had defeated all the deities
including Indra, Rudra, Surya and Marut. But the calf, which became
famous as Mahishasura was even mightier than Raktabeej. All the defeated
demons had accepted him as their leader and he was crowned as their
king. Mahishasura defeated all the deities and drove them out from
heaven.
The defeated
deities accompanied by Brahma went to Lord Vishnu and narrated their
woes to him. Lord Shiva too was present there. Both of them became
furious after hearing the atrocities committed by Mahishasura. Divine
effulgence appeared from the mouth of all the angry deities. These
effulgence got collected at a place resulting in the manifestation of
Goddess Katyayani.
All the deities
presented their weapons to her- Lord Shiva gave his trident, Lord Vishnu
gave his chakra, Agni gave his Shakti etc. After acquiring all the
weapons, Goddess Durga thundered loudly. The deities eulogised her after
which she proceeded towards Vindhya Mountain mounted on her lion.
Vindhya Mountain had been cursed by sage Agastya as a result of which,
its enormous size turned into a hill. The tale behind this curse is as
follows- In the ancient times, Vindhya Mountain was so high that it
became very difficult for the Sun to make its movement. The Sun went to
sage Agastya and requested him to minimise the size of Vindhya Mountain.
Sage Agastya went near the Vindhya Mountain and said- "I am going on a
pilgrimage but you are coming in my way. Since I am an old man, it is
impossible for me to climb your steep slopes. I request you to reduce
your size and remain in the same position till I return from my
pilgrimage otherwise you will have to face my wrath."
Vindhya Mountain
accepted his request and turned into a hill. Sage Agastya then proceeded
on his pilgrimage towards south but did not return according to his
promise. He constructed a magnificent hermitage and asked Lopamudra- the
daughter of Vidarbha King to stay there and himself returned to his
hermitage. Vindhya Mountain remained in that position waiting for sage
Agastya's arrival. This way, sage Agastya solved the problem of the Sun.
Goddess Durga chose
this very mountain to launch her assault. All the deities, Siddhas,
Nagas, Apsaras etc. were present with her.
Once, the demon
brothers, Chand and Mund were passing near the Vindhya Mountain when
they saw Goddess Chandika there. Both these demons were stunned by her
divine beauty. They had never seen such a beautiful woman in their life.
They went to Mahishasura and told him about her beauty.
Mahishasura
proceeded with a huge army, which comprised of valiant commanders like
Vidaalnetra, Vishang, Vaayakal, Agraayudh, Chikshur, Raktabeej etc. The
army assembled at the foothills of Vindhya Mountain. There, Mahishasura
instructed Dundubhi to go and bring Goddess Durga by any means.
Dundubhi went to
Goddess Durga and boasted about Mahishasura's might and power by saying-
"The mighty Mahishasura has defeated all the deities who ran out from
heaven to save their lives. He is lord of all the three worlds and is
invincible but this victorious and mighty king has been enslaved by your
beauty. You must not miss this chance of marrying him."
Goddess Durga
replied- "I am aware of Mahishasura's feats. I am most willing to marry
him. But there is one problem. There is a tradition in our clan
according to which an aspiring husband is required to give a Shulk (tax)
in lieu of getting married." Dundubhi was happy thinking that it would
not be difficult for Mahishasura to fulfil her demand. He said-
"Mahishasura can even give up his life for your sake."
Hearing this,
Goddess Durga laughed loudly and said- "O demon! According to the
tradition of our clan, only such a person can marry a woman who defeats
her in the battle." Dundubhi went back to Mahishasura and narrated the
whole story. Mahishasura instructed Chikshur to go and bring Goddess
Durga after enslaving her. Chikshur proceeded with a huge army. Seeing
him coming in the direction of Goddess Durga, Lord Brahma instructed her
to use an armour to protect herself. The Goddess refused by saying- "No
demon can stand before me in a battle."
All the deities
then chanted Vishnupanjar Stotra for her safety. Protected by the
Stotra, she was successful in killing many demons. Seeing his devastated
army, Mahishasura himself came to fight her.
Narad asked sage
Pulastya as to how Goddess Durga kill Mahishasura. Sage Pulastya
replied- "After the killing of Chikshur, Mahishasura sent Namar to fight
Goddess Durga. Namar proceeded towards the Vindhya Mountain accompanied
by a huge battalion. After reaching there, he shot a volley of arrows
towards the Vindhya Mountain. As a result, the whole mountain was
covered by innumerable arrows. This defiant act of Namar made Goddess
Durga extremely furious. She attacked her enemies menacingly. She killed
some of the demons by her sword, some with her mace and many more were
killed by her arrows. Even her mount- Simha killed many demons. The
demons were completely surprised by the ferociousness of the attack and
fled from the battlefield.
Seeing his whole
army fleeing from the battlefield, Namar came forward, mounted on an
elephant to fight Goddess Durga. He unleashed his devastating weapon-
Shakti towards her. At the same time, he also attacked her mount- Simha
(lion) by releasing many arrows towards it. But Goddess Durga destroyed
all the weapons. In the meantime, the elephant held the Simha with its
trunk but the Goddess's mount somehow released itself from the trap and
attacked Namar. Namar fell from the elephant and died.
After Namar's
death, Chikshur came to fight the Goddess but both his hands and legs
were severed by her. Ultimately, Goddess Durga severed his head as a
result of which, Chikshur died. The news of Chikshur's death spread like
a wildfire. Many more valiant commanders of Mahishasura's army came
forward to fight her but all of them were vanquished.
At last,
Mahishasura came forward to fight Goddess Durga in the guise of a
buffalo. Goddess Durga started playing her damru (small drum) and Veena,
which resulted into the emergence of numerous ghosts. He attacked the
ghosts with his horns, four legs and by violently lashing his tail. He
then attacked Durga's mount- Simha and his violent movements shook even
the earth and the mountain. Goddess Durga grabbed his neck with the help
of a noose. The next moment, Mahishasura transformed his appearance into
an elephant. Goddess Durga then severed his trunk. Mahishasura again
changed his guise into a buffalo. Goddess Durga attacked him by
unleashing various weapons but the demon escaped unhurt.
Goddess Durga
suddenly jumped down from her mount- Simha and climbed upon Mahishasura,
who was in the guise of a buffalo. Mahishasura started jumping
violently. Goddess Durga pressed Mahishasura's back with such force that
he suffocated. She then severed his head. Suddenly, Mahishasura appeared
in human form with a sword. Goddess Durga kicked him on his chest and
again severed his head. The news of his death created havoc in his army
and the demons fled from the battlefield and hid themselves in Paatal
loka.
The deities became
pleased at Mahishasura's death and eulogised Goddess Durga. She became
pleased and after assuring the deities of taking re-incarnation for
their welfare, disappeared from the scene.
Revealing the
reasons for Goddess Durga's re-incarnation, sage Pulastya says- "Goddess
Durga is also known as Kaushiki as she had manifested from the cell
(Koshika) of Uma's (Parvati's) body. After the manifestation, she went
to Vindhya Mountain with the objective of killing the demons- Shumbh and
Nishumbh. She was accompanied by numerous Bhoot ganas (spirits).
After Sati's death,
Rudra engaged himself in penance and became a celibate. He had even
relinquished his responsibility of leading the deities' army. When
Mahishasura came to know that the deities were bereft of their
commander, he attacked them as a result of which, the deities were
defeated. The deities went to Lord Vishnu who was at that time living at
Shwetdweep. When they reached there, they were surprised to find that
Lord Vishnu was aware of their defeat. Lord Vishnu then advised them by
saying- "All of you must go to Mena- Maanasputri of Agnishwat and
request her to give consent to marry Himalaya. The same Mena would give
birth to a beautiful girl who in reality would be the re-incarnation of
Sati. All of you must go to Kurukshetra and eulogise her on the night of
Amavasya."
The deities were
curious to know about the origin of Kurukshetra. Lord Vishnu told them-
"During the initial phase of Satya Yuga, there was a mighty king named
Riksh, who was the descendant of Soma. Samvaran was the son of Riksh. He
succeeded his father at a young age. Samvaran was a great devotee of
mine. Vashishth- the son of Varun was his chief priest and had taught
him all the Vedas. One day, Samvaran went to the forest for hunting
after entrusting his responsibilities to Vashishth. After reaching the
forest, he started wandering in search of his game. He saw a beautiful
lake full of numerous lotus flowers. He also saw many Apsaras and other
divine beauties enjoying themselves by singing and dancing. Samvaran was
infatuated by the divine beauty of one of those Apsaras- Tapti, who was
the most beautiful among them. Coincidentally, Tapti too saw Samvaran
staring at her. She was so infatuated by Samvaran's handsomeness that
she fell unconscious. She was carried by her companions back home.
After returning to
his capital, Vashishth was surprised to find change in Samvaran's
behaviour. It seemed as if his mind was pre-occupied by something. By
his Yogic power, Vashishth came to know about the whole incident. He
decided to take the help of Tapti's father- Surya. He went to Surya and
requested him to marry Tapti with Samvaran. Surya did not want to annoy
his esteemed guest, so he gave his consent. Vashishth then returned to
his hermitage accompanied by Tapti and ultimately Tapti and Samvaran got
married.
In course of time,
Tapti gave birth to a son, who possessed all the signs of royalty. After
growing up, he mastered all the four Vedas and other scriptures within a
very short period. At the raw age of 24, he became a scholar. When he
attained marriageable age, he was married to Saudamini- the daughter of
Sudama. Later on, he was appointed as the successor by his father,
Samvaran.
After becoming the
king, Kuru ruled his subjects in a just manner but very soon he got
bored of his monotonous life. He knew that only those kings became
immortal who accomplished amazing feats. He decided to do something for
which people would remember him. With the objective of making his name
immortal, he went to the most sacred place called Samantpanchak and
decided to cultivate the eight virtues - Tapa, Satya, Kshama, Daya,
Shauch, Daan, Yuga and Brahmacharya on its barren land. He started
ploughing a piece of land with a golden plough, which was pulled by Lord
Shankar's bull and Yamaraj's buffalo named Paundrak.
While he was busy
ploughing the field, Indra approached him and asked suspiciously as to
what he was trying to cultivate. When Kuru revealed his intentions,
Indra made fun of him and went back. But Kuru was not worried and
continued to cultivate the land. In a very short time, he had already
cultivated the land measuring 7 kosas. One day, Lord Vishnu arrived and
asked the same question, which Indra had asked. When Kuru revealed his
intentions, Lord Vishnu was surprised and wondered as to from where he
would get the seeds to grow these things. Kuru told him that all these
eight virtues were present in his own body and it would not be a
difficult task to cultivate these things. Lord Vishnu wanted to test his
commitment and sincerity and said- "Give the seeds to me. I would sow
the seeds while you should plough the field."
Kuru outstretched
his right hand but Lord Vishnu cut it into thousands of pieces with his
chakra. All the pieces were distributed among the deities but Kuru was
unfazed and again stretched his left hand towards Lord Vishnu. But his
left hand too met the same fate. In this way, the most generous and
benevolent King Kuru offered all his organs to Lord Vishnu. But all the
organs were severed by Lord Vishnu. At last, Kuru offered his head as he
had nothing else to offer. Lord Vishnu was pleased by his generosity and
asked him to demand anything. Kuru replied- "All the area cultivated by
me should become famous as a sacred pilgrimage. All the devotees who
visit or die at this sacred pilgrimage must attain salvation. This place
should be known by my name."
This is how the
most sacred place of pilgrimage- Kurukshetra came into existence.
This chapter
contains 7 sections:
Lomaharshan told
the sages- "Bali was the descendant of Virochan and the son of
Hiranyakashipu. After his father's death, he defeated the deities and
drove them out from their abodes. Very soon, all the three worlds were
under his control. He was a virtuous king and so were his subjects.
During his reign, every corner in his kingdom would be abuzz with
religious activities. As a result, the whole world became devoid of
sin."
One day, Goddess
Lakshmi arrived and said- "O brave king of the demons! I am pleased by
your valiance with which you fought and vanquished the deities. This is
the reason why I have come on my own will to bless you." After saying
this, Goddess Lakshmi merged with his body. This way, Bali acquired all
the splendours of the world.
The sages asked-
"How were the deities able to defeat Bali and why did Lord Vishnu take
the incarnation of Vaaman?" Lomaharshan replied- "After being defeated
by Bali, Indra went to Meru Mountain where his mother Aditi lived and
narrated the woeful tale of the deities' defeat. Aditi took her
husband's (Kashyap's) advice in this regard. Kashyap thought that only
Lord Brahma could solve their problem. So, he went to Brahma loka
accompanied by the deities.
When they reached
there, they found numerous Brahmins engaged in religious activities.
Lord Brahma too was sitting among them. Sage Kashyap and all the deities
made salutations to Lord Brahma and stood silently.
Lord Brahma told
the deities that he was aware of their plight. He was of the opinion
that the mighty Bali could be defeated only by the Almighty himself and
nobody else. Lord Brahma said- "You must go to a place called Amrit,
which is situated towards the north of Ksheersagar. The Almighty God is
engaged in an austere penance at that place. All of you must go there
and try to please him by doing penance and after he is pleased, just
request him to take his next incarnation as Aditi's son."
Sage Kashyap and
all the deities agreed to follow Brahma's advice. All of them proceeded
towards Shwetdweep. When they reached there, they were amazed to find
the place devoid of any creature. Its boundary seemed limitless and even
the Sun's rays could not reach it. Sage Kashyap initiated all the
deities into the austerity named Kaamad- fulfiller of all the desires.
After that, all of them commenced their severe penance.
Lord Narayan became
pleased by Kashyap's eulogies and austere penance. He appeared before
the deities and asked them to demand anything they wished for. Kashyap
requested him to give Aditi, the privilege of becoming his mother. Lord
Vishnu agreed to take birth as Aditi's son.
The deities became
pleased and all of them proceeded back towards Kashyap's hermitage. When
they reached Kurukshetra, the place where Kashyap had his hermitage,
they inspired Aditi to commence her penance to please Lord Vishnu. Aditi
did a severe penance for 10,000 years. The place where she did her
penance later on became famous as Aditivan. Lord Vishnu was extremely
pleased by her devotion.
Lomaharshan says-
Lord Vishnu appeared and told her that he was most willing to fulfil her
wish. Aditi requested him to make her son- Indra, the lord of all the
three worlds once again. Lord Vishnu assured her that he would take
birth as her son and kill all the demons.
Aditi had
apprehensions as to how she could bear the weight of Almighty God in her
womb. But Lord Vishnu assured her by saying- "Don't worry. I will give
you the strength to do that. In course of time, Aditi became pregnant.
But soon after her pregnancy, the earth shook violently because of the
unbearable weight of the foetus. Wherever she went, that particular
portion of earth tilted down because of the enormous weight. Her
pregnancy had significantly eroded the radiance of the demons.
Lomaharshan says-
"When Bali saw the demons becoming devoid of radiance and power, he
enquired about the reasons from his grandfather, Prahlad. He wondered
whether it was a bad omen. Prahlad went into a deep trance and saw the
whole earth shaking violently. He also saw high tides rising in the
ocean. He was convinced that these signs went to prove the inevitable
emergence of the deities' power. Prahlad then meditated upon Lord Vishnu
and found him manifesting in Aditi's womb as a Vaaman (dwarf). He also
saw the whole universe existing in his body. Prahlad was surprised but
the next moment he controlled himself and told Bali- "Now I know the
reason why the demons have become devoid of their radiance and power.
Lord Hari is about to take incarnation as the son of Aditi and this is
the reason why all the demons have become powerless."
Bali curiously
asked Prahlad- "Who is this Hari, the tormentor of the demons? Why
should we be scared of him as we have many valiant demons who could
defeat him easily." Prahlad became furious at Bali's utterances and
cursed him by saying- "How dare you say like this! I am ashamed that you
have taken birth as my grandson. I curse you to lose your kingdom and
fall from grace because you have criticised Lord Vishnu- the supreme
saviour."
Bali felt sorry for
hurting Prahlad's feelings. He said- "Dear grandfather! My intelligence
has been overshadowed by my arrogant attitude. You have done the right
thing by cursing me. I am not scared of losing all my prosperity and
splendour but your anger is unbearable for me."
Now even Prahlad
realised that he had committed a mistake by cursing his own son. He
said- "Unable to control my anger, I cursed you but now nothing can be
done and my words will definitely come true. But don't worry as my
blessings would help you to become a supreme devotee of Hari and you
would be protected by him."
Lomaharshan says-
"In course of time, Lord Vishnu took birth as Vaaman. This incident of
Vishnu's birth had liberated Aditi and all the deities from their
sorrow. Lord Brahma appeared and performed Vaaman's Jaatkarm. He also
eulogised Vaaman and worshipped him. Lord Vishnu was pleased by his
eulogy and revealed to him that he took the incarnation of Vaaman to
make Indra, the lord of all the three worlds."
Lord Brahma was
pleased and presented a black coloured deer skin to him. Similarly,
sages like Marichi, Vashishth, Brihaspati, Angira etc. presented Palaash
Danda, kamandalu, sacred thread and silken clothes respectively. Lord
Vaaman then proceeded towards the place where King Bali was performing
his oblation. Lord Vaaman was in the appearance of a hermit. Though he
was of diminutive size, yet each of his steps were enough to shake the
earth.
Lomaharshan says-
"The shaking and trembling of earth surprised Bali and he enquired about
this strange happening to Shukracharya. He was also surprised by the
fact that Agni was not accepting the offerings. Shukracharya, after
contemplating for a while on this matter, came to know about Vaaman's
incarnation. He informed Bali that Vaaman was on his way to the oblation
site and his each step was causing turbulence on the earth.
Bali was pleased
that he would get an opportunity to see the Almighty God whom the sages
contemplate upon. He was proud of his good fortune that the lord was
paying him a visit. Shukracharya aware of the reason for Vaaman's
arrival warned Bali against making any promise to him. Bali replied-
"How can I refuse if the Almighty God demands anything from me? I am
willing to face any hardship to safeguard my benevolent image. I don't
mind if the deities get benefited by my actions. Even if the lord is
coming with the intention of killing me, I am not scared as that is how
I would attain salvation. Come what may, I am not going to abandon my
charitable nature."
As the conversation
between Shukracharya and Bali continued, suddenly, Lord Vaaman arrived
at the site. Vaaman's radiance subdued the power of all demons present
there. Lord Vaaman being impressed by the grandeur of Vaaman's Yagya
complimented him for organising such a magnificent Yagya. Bali eulogised
and worshipped his esteemed guest. He requested Vaaman to reveal the
reason of his arrival and promised that his wishes would be fulfilled.
Lord Vaaman smiled and told him that he needed a small piece of land
measured by three steps for the performance of Yagya. Bali was surprised
by this demand and requested him to ask for more land but Lord Vaaman
told him that he needed only that much land.
Bali agreed and
took a vow to donate a piece of land measured by three steps. Hardly had
Bali taken his vow, when suddenly Lord Vaaman expanded his size. His
first step covered the whole earth. By his two successive steps, he
covered the two worlds. This way, Bali was forced to donate all the
three worlds according to his vow. Lord Vishnu then made Indra, the king
of all the three worlds and sent Bali to the nether world named Sutal.
He blessed Bali by saying- "You would enjoy a long life till the end of
this present Kalpa. You would hold the post of Indra till the arrival of
Saavarni Manavantar. As long as you remain supportive of the Brahmins
and the deities, you would enjoy all the pleasures of life. But if you
go against their wishes then you would be fastened by Varun's noose."
The sages requested
Lomaharshan to reveal about river Saraswati's origin, which flowed in
Kurukshetra. Lomaharshan said- "Saraswati originates from Paakad tree
(Indian fig tree). She enters Dwaitvan after passing through numerous
mountains. While describing about her majesty, sage Markandeya felt that
Saraswati was the source from, which everything originated- all the
three worlds, three Vedas, Vidya (learning), heavenly bodies like Sun,
Moon etc. Once, sage Markandeya eulogised Saraswati by saying- "O
Saraswati! You manifest in the form of cryptic mantra- "OMKAR". You are
the eternal form through which the Almighty God (Brahma) manifests
himself in different appearances."
Saraswati was
pleased by his devotion and said- "O Brahmin! I am willing to go
wherever you want to take me." According to Markandeya, river Saraswati
was initially known as Brahmasar. Later on, she became famous as
Ramhalad. Sage Markandeya requested Saraswati to flow in the territory
of Kurukshetra where sage Kuru was doing his penance. This way,
Saraswati diverted her course towards Kurukshetra.
The sages requested
Lomaharshan to describe about the geographical condition of Kurukshetra.
Lomaharshan replied- "There are 7 different forest ranges in
Kurukshetra. They are- "Kamyakvan, Aditivan, Vyasavan, Phalkivan,
Suryavan, Madhuvan and Sheetvan. Nine rivers flow across Kurukshetra-
Saraswati, Vaitarni, Aashga, Mandakini Ganga, Madhustrava, Vaasu,
Kaushiki, Kaggar and Hiranyavati. Kurukshetra is believed to be the most
sacred place of pilgrimage. A pilgrim visiting Kurukshetra should begin
his pilgrimage only after worshipping the Yaksha. He should then pay a
visit to the famous Aditivan where Aditi had accomplished a severe
penance to get a son. By doing this, he is blessed with sons possessing
all the good qualities. After that, he should pay a visit to a place
called Savan where Lord Hari dwells. A devotee who pays a visit to Lord
Vimaleshwar becomes liberated from all his sins and goes to Rudraloka
after his death. Some other places of pilgrimage situated in Kurukshetra
and which are considered to be very sacred are Paritlav, Kaushiki,
Dharani, Daksha's hermitage, Shaalukini, Sarpeedadhi, the temples at the
bank of Panchnad river, Vaaraha temple, Someshwar temple etc."
"A devotee should
also pay a visit to Ramkunda where Parashuram had constructed five ponds
and filled them up with the blood of the Kshatriyas, whom he had killed.
He had pacified the soul of his ancestors by performing Tarpan with the
blood of the dead Kshatriyas. The dead ancestors were pleased with him
and blessed him in becoming free from the sins, which he had acquired
because of killing Kshatriyas."
Sage Mankanak was
the Manasputra of Kashyap. He had seven sons, who were famously known as
Marud Ganas. They are the one who hold all the movable and immovable
objects of this world.
Once, sage Mankanak
injured his finger by the sharp edge of Kusha grass while he was trying
to pluck them for his religious rites. But he was quite surprised when
he found vegetative juice (Shaak Rasa) oozing out from the wound instead
of blood. He thought that perhaps his blood had transformed into
vegetative juice by the virtue of his penance. This abnormal event made
him arrogant and he started dancing in joy as a result of which the
whole world started to swerve. Lord Brahma became puzzled by this sudden
development. He went to Lord Shiva and requested him to stop Mankanak
from dancing so that the universe became steady.
Lord Shiva went to
sage Mankanak and said- "O supreme sage! Being a hermit, you are
supposed to have control over your emotions. May I know the reason of
your extreme joy, which makes you dance." Mankanak told him that his
penance had given him great power due to which vegetative juice was
oozing out from the wound instead of blood and this was the reason for
his extreme joy and happiness. "That is why I am dancing", said
Mankanak. But Lord Shiva was not amused and wanted to teach him a
lesson. He hit the thumb with the nail of his finger as a result of
which, ashes poured out from the wound. Mankanak was surprised by this.
Being ashamed, he said- "I know, you are none other than Lord Shiva
because nobody else can perform this amazing feat. I am your great
devotee. You are the one on whom, deities like Brahma and Vishnu are
dependent. I need your blessings so that the virtues of my penance
remain intact." Lord Shiva blessed him and promised to dwell in his
hermitage forever.
This chapter
contains 4 sections:
Describing about
the greatness of Aushanas, the most sacred place of pilgrimage,
Lomaharshan narrates the following tale- "During Treta Yug, Lord Rama
had killed many demons while he was in exile. Once, while he was living
in Dandak forest, he had severed the head of a wicked demon with his
Kshura arrow. The severed head of the demon was carried by the arrow for
quite a distance and coincidentally it got stuck on the thigh of sage
Rahodar. It became very difficult for him to perform his religious
duties. Bad smell emanating from the severed head was unbearable. Some
sages advised him to pay a visit to Aushanas to become free from his
problem.
Rahodar went to
Aushanas and as soon as he touched the holy water of the river, the
severed head got detached and fell in the river. Delighted, he went back
to his hermitage. From that day, Aushanas also came to be known as
Kapaalmochan.
The sages asked
Lomaharshan about the origin of Vashishthapava Tirtha and about the
reason why sage Vashishth was carried along by the powerful current of
Saraswati river. Lomaharshan said- "There was great rivalry between sage
Vashishth and sage Vishwamitra. In course of time, it turned into a
bitter enemity. Vashishth had his hermitage at a place called Sthanu
Tirtha and Vishwamitra's hermitage was situated just towards the west of
it. Vishwamitra was jealous of Vashishth's accomplishment."
Once, Vishwamitra
asked river Saraswati to bring Vashishth to his hermitage with the help
of powerful currents so that he could kill him. River Saraswati became
sad and refused to obey him, which made Vishwamitra angry. He again
repeated his commands. Seeing no other option, she went to Vashishth's
hermitage and narrated the whole story to him. Vashishth agreed to be
carried away by her current.
When Vishwamitra
saw Vashishth, he furiously started looking for some weapon to kill him.
Saraswati became scared and carried Vashishth to safety as she did not
want to acquire the sin of collaborating in the killing of a Brahmin.
Vishwamitra angrily cursed her- "May your water be mixed with blood and
may the demons thrive on your banks."
This way, Saraswati
flowed with her water mixed with blood for one year. All the sages,
deities, Gandharvas and Apsaras were worried at this happening. But,
this was not the case with the demons, who lived happily at the bank of
river Saraswati thriving on the blood mixed in her water. They used to
live happily- dancing and rejoicing, as if they had won the heaven from
the deities.
One day, some sages
arrived at the bank of river Saraswati and became distressed after
seeing her water mixed with blood. They asked her about the reason. She
revealed the whole story and the misdeeds of Vishwamitra. The sages then
requested river Aruna- the liberator of all sins to change her course
and start flowing towards river Saraswati. As soon as river Aruna
submerged into river Saraswati, she (Saraswati) regained her purity once
again.
The sages asked
Lomaharshan about the origin of Kamyakvan Tirtha. Lomaharshan replied-
"Once upon a time, the sages of Naimisharanya came to Kurukshetra to
take bath in river Saraswati. But, since they were large in number, the
banks of river Saraswati could not accommodate all of them. In their
helplessness, they created an imaginary place of pilgrimage named
Yagyopavitik Tirtha and took an imaginary dip in it. But many of the
remaining sages were unable to do even this."
When Saraswati saw
such a large gathering of Brahmins, desirous of having bath in her holy
waters, she created a garden (Kunj) and started flowing towards west.
This very garden later on developed into a dense forest and became
famous as Kamyakvan.
The sages then
asked Lomaharshan about the origin of Sthanu Tirtha and the importance
of Sthanu Vata. They also expressed their desire to know about the
reservoir named Saanihitya and how Indra had filled it up with mud. Sage
Lomaharshan replied- "Once, Sanat Kumar upon being asked by Baalkhilya
and other sages the same question, narrated the following tale- During
the period of final annihilation, when the whole earth was submerged in
water, Lord Brahma manifested inside an egg. He slept there for
thousands of Yugas. When he woke up from his sleep, he found the world
devoid of any inhabitants. Being under the influence of Rajo Guna, he
planned to commence his creation. At the same time, Lord Vishnu awakened
from his sleep and broke that egg after seeing that the whole world had
merged inside him. Subsequently, Lord Brahma began his creation starting
from the word- 'OMKAR'. After that, the terms- Bhur, Bhuvah and Swah
respectively came into existence. The brilliant effulgence radiating
from the egg had dried up the water as a result of which, the remaining
water had turned into the shape of an embryo. The reservoir- Saanihitya
is situated at the same place where the egg had manifested itself. Meru
Mountain is nothing but the outer shell of that egg and all the other
mountains are its membrane. The oceans and the rivers are the fluid
inside that egg. There is a great reservoir near the navel area of Lord
Brahma. A big Banyan tree is situated just in the middle of that
reservoir. This tree appears like a pillar (Sthanu). All the three major
castes (Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya) originated from that tree. Lord
Brahma then created his Manasputras- Sanat, Sanandan etc. Subsequently,
he created the Saptarishis and the Baalkhilyas. All the Baalkhilyas did
a severe penance for thousands of years without having a morsel of food.
They had become very weak but still Lord Shiva was not pleased with
them."
Once, Lord Shiva
and Uma were travelling by aerial route when suddenly Uma saw the weak
Baalkhilyas engaged in penance. She was saddened to see their frail
bodies and requested Lord Shiva to end their miseries. Lord Shiva told
her that the Baalkhilyas had not attained a bit of virtuousness inspite
of their severe penance. "They have still not become free from anger and
desires", said Lord Shiva. But Uma was reluctant to believe his words.
Lord Shiva then asked her to wait there and himself went to show their
real worth to her to prove his point.
Lord Shiva then
shed his apparels and became naked. As a mendicant, he visited the
hermitages of all the Baalkhilyas. At that time the Baalkhilyas were
engaged in penance and hence only womenfolk were present at the
hermitages. The womenfolk, infatuated by Lord Shiva, started running
after him. When the Baalkhilyas came to know about this, they uprooted
his private organ (Linga) and threw it on the ground. Hardly had the
Linga fallen on the ground, the whole world got engulfed by the process
of destruction. All the sages and learned saints became worried and went
to seek Lord Brahma's help. Lord Brahma revealed to them that this
destruction was due to Shiva's wrath. He also told them about the
futility of their penance as they were still under the influence of
anger and lust. "You cannot attain perfection until your flaws are
removed", said Lord Brahma.
Ashamed, the sages
requested Lord Brahma to tell them the way to pacify Lord Shiva. Lord
Brahma assured them that they would be forgiven if they took Lord
Shiva's refuge. Lord Brahma went to Kailash Parvat accompanied by all
the sages. After reaching there, he eulogised Lord Shiva with deep
devotion. The sages also worshipped Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva was
satisfied by their eulogy and devotion. He instructed the sages to
establish the severed Linga at Saanihitya Sarovar. "By doing this, you
would have all your desires fulfilled. The Linga would become famous by
the name of Sthanu- the whole world. A devotee who pays a visit to this
sacred place of pilgrimage would become liberated from all his sins",
said Lord Shiva.
The sages returned
to the place of Lord Shiva's fallen Linga. They tried their best to lift
it but were unsuccessful in their attempt. They became worried and went
to Lord Brahma for help. Lord Brahma told them- "Since Shiva's Linga had
fallen on his own will, hence nobody except him can lift that Linga."
All of them went back to Kailash Parvat but Lord Shiva was nowhere to be
found.
Lord Brahma went
into a state of deep meditation and sighted Lord Shiva in the guise of
an elephant. When Brahma and the deities proceeded on their way, they
found a goddess with a kamandalu in hand and offered them Amrit. After
being refreshed, the sages asked whether she knew of Lord Shiva's
whereabouts. She told them that Lord Shiva was presently living in the
middle of Saanihitya Sarovar. After reaching the reservoir, they found
Lord Shiva in the guise of an elephant. They requested him to help them,
establish his Linga at the desired place. Lord Shiva agreed. All of them
then went to the site of Lord Shiva's fallen Linga. He lifted it with
his trunk and established it towards the west of Saanihitya Sarovar. The
sages were satisfied and expressed their gratitude to Lord Shiva. Lord
Shiva, pleased by their eulogy and devotion, decided to make the Linga
as his abode.
This chapter
contains 4 sections:
Sanat Kumar says-
Describing the greatness of Saanihitya Sarovar, Lord Shiva told the
sages that a devotee cannot attain salvation unless he pays a visit to
this sacred place of pilgrimage. There is no other Tirtha like this one.
"I would be easily accessible to a devotee who worships me with total
devotion." After saying this, Lord Shiva disappeared.
In course of time,
the heaven became crowded with human beings due to virtues attained by
going on pilgrimages to Sthanu Tirtha. The deities became worried at
this development and went to seek Lord Brahma's help. Indra said- "If
things continue like this then the heaven will be dominated by mortals
and we will have no option but to move out from there. Now, its your
duty to protect us." Lord Brahma ordered Indra to fill up Saanihitya
Sarovar with mud so that the Sthanu Linga gets concealed and devotees no
longer visited that sacred place of pilgrimage.
Saanihitya Sarovar
was filled up with mud as Indra created a dust storm, which lasted for
several days. But still Indra's objective remained unfulfilled as Lord
Shiva lifted Sthanu Linga and Tirtha Vata (Banyan tree) in his hands.
There were some sages present on the bank of Saanihitya Sarovar at the
time of this incident. They smeared their bodies with that mud and due
to this, all of them went to Brahma loka.
Sanat Kumar says-
"The sacred places of pilgrimage named Shukra Tirtha and Soma Tirtha are
situated towards north and south of Sthanu Vata respectively. Daksha
Tirtha is situated towards its south and Skand Tirtha towards its west.
The sacrosanct Sthanu Tirtha is situated just in between all these four
places of pilgrimage. Near Sthanu Tirtha is a Shiva Linga and Goddess
Uma dwells there. There is a Maha Linga established by Takshak towards
the north of Sthanu Vata while the Shiva Linga constructed by
Vishwakarma is established towards the east.
By the side of that
Banyan tree (Vata Tirtha) is situated- Bateshwar Linga, which was
established by Lord Brahma. Some other prominent Lingas established in
the vicinity of Sthanu Linga are- Gokarna Maha Linga established by
Ravana, Kumareshwar, Hastipadeshwar Shiva, Siddheshwar Linga,
Hibhavateshwar Linga etc.
Sage Markandeya
then goes on to describe about the splendours of Sthanu Tirtha- Surya
was Manu's father. Ven was Manu's grandson. He was wicked and always
criticised the Vedas. Being displeased by his irreligious son, Ven's
father left for the forest to do penance where he attained salvation.
In course of time,
Ven's tyranny spread across the length and breadth of the earth. In a
very short time, he became the lord of whole earth. He had strictly
warned his subjects against worshipping any other deity except him.
Sages became furious by his irreligious stricture and tried to change
his mind but their efforts went in vain. Ultimately, Ven was killed by
the angry sages. After his death, the sages churned his left hand, which
resulted in the manifestation of a dwarf. The sages considered him to be
unfit to become a ruler and churned Ven's right hand for the second
time. This time, a divine entity manifested, who had all the auspicious
signs on his body. The deities crowned this divine entity as the king
and named him Prithu. Prithu proved to be a just king and his subjects
were satisfied by his rule.
One day, sage Narad
arrived at Prithu's court. Wanting to grab the opportunity, he asked
Narad how his father could be liberated from his sins. Narad told him
that his father was presently living among the Mlechchas and was
suffering from diseases like consumption and leprosy. "He would be cured
of his diseases if he is taken to Sthanu Tirtha and made to take a dip
in the holy Saanihitya Sarovar", said Narad.
He went to the site
and found his father living among the Mlechchas. After taking the
Mlechchas' permission, he brought his father to Sthanu Tirtha. His
effort of helping his father to take a bath was resisted by the deity-
Vaayu who said- "The waters of Saanihitya Sarovar would get polluted if
such a lowly sinner took a bath in it. First of all, you must go on a
pilgrimage and visit all the sacred places to make your father pure.
Only then he will be entitled to take bath here".
Prithu accompanied
by his father went on a pilgrimage and visited all the sacred places.
When both of them returned to Sthanu Tirtha, his father had become pure
by this time. Ven took his bath and became liberated from his sins. He
worshipped Lord Sthanu and eulogised him with total devotion.
Sanat Kumar says-
"Lord Shiva became pleased by his devotion and blessed Ven that he would
manifest from his body as Andhak in his next birth. Due to the sins
acquired by criticising the Vedas, he would be born in the family of the
notorious demon Hiranyaaksh." Lord Shiva then asked Ven to demand any
boon.
Ven requested Lord
Shiva to bless his attendant who had transformed into a dog due to his
sin acquired by eating divine food. Lord Shiva blessed the attendant as
a result of which, he regained his original form. Right then, Prithu
arrived there. After seeing him, Ven expressed his gratitude for his
tremendous effort without which, he would not have been liberated from
his sins. After blessing Prithu, Ven departed for heaven.
In his father's
absence, Prithu continued to rule justly. He performed many religious
activities and gave unlimited donations to the Brahmins. After ruling
for a long period, he went to Kurukshetra where he did a severe penance
and attained the supreme abode after his death.
After creating all
the movable and immovable living things, Lord Brahma created a beautiful
lady. He was so infatuated by her beauty that he expressed his desire to
procreate with her help. As a result of this grave sin committed by Lord
Brahma, one of his four heads got detached and fell on the ground. He
carried his severed head and went to Saanihitya Sarovar to atone for his
sins. After reaching that site, he established a four-headed Shiva Linga
and worshipped it daily. Pleased by his devotion, Lord Shiva appeared
before him. He blessed Lord Brahma and said- "You have become free from
the sin due to the virtue attained by establishing a four-headed Shiva
Linga at this sacred place." After blessing him, Lord Shiva disappeared.
After getting
liberated from his sin, Lord Brahma worshipped the idol of four-headed
Mahadev and established another Shiva Linga in the middle of a nearby
lake. He also created a reservoir, which is named after him- Brahmasar.
He established two other Shiva Lingas- one towards the east of his
hermitage and another at the bank of river Saraswati. A devotee who goes
on a pilgrimage to these sacred places created by Lord Brahma becomes
liberated from all his sins and attains salvation.
Describing the
majesty of Prithudak Tirtha, Mahadev told the deities- "All of you must
pay a visit to this sacrosanct place of pilgrimage situated near
Saanihitya reservoir. The day on which Moon, Sun and Jupiter unitedly
come under Mrigshira Nakshatra is called Akshay Tritiya. You must go to
that sacred place and perform Shraadh of your ancestors."
All the deities led
by Indra went to Kurukshetra where Prithudak was situated. Vrihaspati
was also present with them. After taking their bath, the deities
requested Vrihaspati (Jupiter) to enter into the Mrigshira Nakshatra as
directed by Mahadev. Vrihaspati agreed to do that and entered into the
Mrigshira Nakshatra along with the Sun and the Moon on Akshay Tritiya.
All the deities
then worshipped their dead ancestors by offering Pind comprising of
sesame seeds and honey. The ancestors were pleased and presented Mena to
the deities. The deities in turn presented Mena to Himalaya. Himalaya
was pleased to have Mena as his wife. In course of time, three daughters
were born to them.
This chapter
contains 10 sections:
Mena gave birth to
three daughters and a son. The eldest daughter- Raagini was red
complexioned and had red eyes. Kutila was fair complexioned and had
beautiful eyes like that of lotus petals. The youngest daughter- Kali
was dark complexioned and had beautiful eyes like the petals of blue
lotus. Mena also had a son named Sunaam.
When all three of
them were of six years, they started to do penance. The deities saw
these beautiful girls and were enchanted by their beauty. Aditya and the
Vasu Ganas took Kutila to Brahma loka and asked Lord Brahma- "O lord!
Will this girl give birth to a son capable of killing Mahishasura?"
Lord Brahma told
them that she was incapable of bearing the effulgence of Lord Shiva and
hence she should be released. Kutila was dejected by Lord Brahma's
rejection and challenged him that she would try every means so as to
attain the capability of holding the effulgence of Lord Shiva. Lord
Brahma became angry with her arrogant utterances and cursed her to
become a river. In a very short period, the furious current of Kutila
over-flooded the whole Brahma loka but Lord Brahma managed to control
her current. In this way, Kutila remained in Brahma loka in the form of
a river.
When the deities
saw Raagini doing penance, they took her to Lord Brahma. Even she was
cursed by Lord Brahma in the same manner as her sister had been cursed.
Due to Lord Brahma's curse, she became Sandhya (evening) and started for
the auspicious yoga of Kritika.
After losing her
two daughters, Mena tried to dissuade Kali from doing penance. But Kali
was not to listen. Reacting to her mother's advises, Kali pronounced 'U'
'Ma' and as a result she was named Uma by her mother. Uma commenced her
severe penance to please Lord Shiva. When Lord Brahma came to know about
this, he instructed the deities to bring her along to Brahma loka but
the deities were unsuccessful in their attempt as Uma's radiance was
unbearable for them. They returned to Brahma loka and narrated the whole
story to Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma was convinced that Uma was worthy of
being Shiva's consort. One day, Himalaya, Uma's father brought her back
home.
Once, Lord Shiva
went to Himalaya Mountain to do penance. When Himalaya came to know of
his arrival, he was extremely happy. He made all necessary arrangements
for Lord Shiva. One day, while Lord Shiva was engrossed in meditation,
Uma arrived there. Lord Shiva was pleased to know that Sati had
re-incarnated as Uma. But his joy was momentary as he went back into
deep meditation. Uma paid her obeisance by touching Shiva's feet. Lord
Shiva wanting to test Uma's devotion went into hiding.
Uma sought her
father's permission to do penance with the objective of having Shiva as
her husband. Himalaya agreed and gave his permission. She started her
penance after creating an earthen idol of Lord Shiva. She worshipped
that idol with total devotion. Lord Shiva became pleased with her
devotion and appeared before her in the guise of a mendicant. On being
enquired by Uma, Lord Shiva told her that he was on his pilgrimage to
Prithudak. "I am used to all these austerities as I have been practising
it since my childhood. But why are you torturing yourself in such a
tender age?", asked Lord Shiva.
Lomaprabha, Uma's
companion was also present there. She told the mendicant about the
objective with which Uma was doing her penance. "She wants to have Lord
Shiva as her husband", said Lomaprabha. Hearing this, the mendicant
laughed loudly and made fun of Shiva. He tried to dissuade Uma from
marrying Lord Shiva. Uma became extremely angry and asked the mendicant
to keep mum. But when the mendicant continued with his abuses, she got
up and tried to move away from the side. Lord Shiva became pleased by
her total devotion and appeared in his real form. He assured Uma to go
back home and said- "I will send the sages to your house with a marriage
proposal. The idol which you have been worshipping with such deep
devotion would become famous as Bhadreshwar.
Uma returned home
and Shiva proceeded on his way to Prithudak.
After paying a
visit to Prithudak Tirtha, Lord Shiva returned to his abode. At that
time, he was living at Mandaar Mountain. After Lord Shiva's
contemplation, the Saptarishis arrived. After the formal salutations,
Lord Shiva told the sages that his wife- Sati has re-incarnated as Uma.
"All of you must go to Himalaya and request him to marry his daughter to
me", said Lord Shiva. The Saptarishis abided by his instructions.
All of them went to
Himalaya with Shiva's proposal. When Uma came to know about this, she
was quite pleased but did not reveal her emotions. Himalaya was in a
dilemma. He did not know whether to refuse or accept the marriage
proposal. The Meru Mountain advised him to go ahead with the marriage as
it would not be proper to refuse the Saptarishis.
Mena, Himalaya's
wife said- "O lord of the mountain! The dead ancestors gave Uma to me on
the condition that I would get her married with Shiva. The son born to
her would kill the demons- Mahishasura and Tarakasura. At last Himalaya
agreed. The Saptarishis were pleased and chose an auspicious moment for
the marriage ceremony. They said- "Shiva would marry your daughter on
Maitra Muhurta- the third day from today when the Moon will enter the
Uttar Phalguni Nakshatra." After saying this, the Saptarishis returned
to Mandaar Mountain and gave the good news to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva
became pleased and worshipped the Saptarishis. The Saptarishis then went
to inform all the deities about Shiva's marriage.
Lord Vishnu,
Brahma, the deities and the Ganas were pleased to hear about Shiva's
marriage. Lord Shiva went to his abode- Kailash Mountain to make
preparations for the marriage ceremony.
Lord Shiva's
marriage procession proceeded towards Himalaya Mountain. His appearance
was quite terrifying with a tiger skin around his waist and Gorochan
Tilak on his forehead. He had a garland of skulls around his neck.
Snakes were coiling all around his body. His mount- Vrishabh (ox) was
walking in a majestic way. The marriage procession comprised of the
deities, Yakshas, demons and his Ganas. Lord Vishnu had Goddess Lakshmi
by his side and was mounted on Garud (eagle) while Lord Brahma was
mounted on Hans (swan).
When the marriage
procession reached its destination, Himalaya received his esteemed
guests with great honour and guided them to his palace. The womenfolk
envied Uma as they glanced at the handsome appearance of Lord Shiva. Uma
was looking divinely beautiful in her white coloured silken apparel. At
last, both the bride and the bridegroom entered the canopy where the
marriage ceremony was supposed to be performed.
Himalaya placing
Uma's hand in Shiva's, requested him to accept her as his wife. Lord
Shiva said- "O king of the mountains! Despite being homeless, I agree to
accept your daughter as my wife." After that, both Shiva and Uma tied
the nuptial knot and circumambulated the sacred fire for three times.
Both of them made offerings to the sacred fire. As Uma touched Shiva's
feet, Lord Brahma got a chance to have a glimpse of her beautiful face.
He was so infatuated by her divine beauty that he ejaculated. Nobody
except Lord Shiva was aware of this incident. Lord Brahma tried to
conceal his ejaculated sperms (Veerya) under the soil. But Lord Shiva
prohibited him from doing so and said- "Don't destroy this Virya. From
it would manifest 80,000 Baalkhilyas."
Lord Shiva's
prophesies came true and in a very short time, 80,000 Baalkhilyas
appeared there. Lord Shiva then returned to Mandaar Parvat accompanied
by his consort, Uma.
After reaching
Mandaar Mountain, Lord Shiva instructed Vishwakarma to construct a home.
Vishwakarma constructed a spacious home for Shiva, which was spread in
the area of 64 Yojans. The home was decorated with Swastika symbols and
its walls were made of gold.
One day, Lord Shiva
jokingly referred to Uma as Kali because of her dark complexion. But Uma
did not take his comments lightly and told Shiva that she was going to
the Himalayas to do her penance so that he did not dare to call her by
that name again. Thus, Uma went to Himalaya Mountain and commenced her
penance. Standing on one feet, she engaged herself in severe penance.
One day, a lion arrived and seeing Uma standing on one feet, waited
patiently for the moment when she would lose her balance and fall into
its clutches. Uma continued with her penance for one hundred years by
continuously chanting the sacred Brahma mantra. Pleased by her devotion,
Lord Brahma appeared before her and asked what she wished for. Uma first
of all requested him to bless the lion with immense power. She then
requested him to bless her with a golden complexion. Lord Brahma blessed
her and disappeared. She abandoned her dark complexioned skin from which
manifested Kaushiki. Now, her complexion turned golden due to Lord
Brahma's blessings. Indra appeared before her and sought her permission
to take Kaushiki along with him. Uma gave her consent without any
hesitation.
Indra took Kaushiki
to Vindhya Mountain and requested her to stay there. He said- "You would
become famous as Vindhya Vaasini and would be revered even by the
deities." He presented a lion to her and went back to his abode. On the
other hand, Uma returned to Mandaar Mountain and lived happily. Lord
Shiva became so deeply attached to her that he forgot about his duties
and as a result of which, the whole world became disturbed. The deities
became scared by this development and went to seek Lord Brahma's advice.
Lord Brahma went to
Mandaar Mountain accompanied by all the deities. They tried to enter
Shiva's abode but Nandi- Shiva's mount did not let them in. Helpless,
all of them waited eagerly for the time Shiva would come out. Agni
seeing rows of swans coming out from Shiva's abode disguised himself as
a swan and thus managed to get inside. He went near Lord Shiva and said-
"O lord! The deities are anxiously waiting for you outside. How come,
you are not aware of this?" Lord Shiva immediately got up and ran
towards the deities.
Indra and other
deities were scared at the prospect of losing heaven to Lord Shiva's
progeny. So, they requested Lord Shiva not to procreate any child from
Uma. Lord Shiva agreed but asked them as to who was capable of holding
his out-flowing sperms. Agni came forward and swallowed each drop of
Shiva's sperm. Satisfied, the deities left. Lord Shiva went inside and
told everything to Uma. She became furious and cursed the deities that
they too would remain sonless just like her.
One day before
taking her bath, Uma applied Ubtan (mixture of sandalwood, turmeric
etc.) on her body. She then peeled off the paste from her body and made
an elephant-headed image from it. Maalini, her companion assisted her in
taking bath. Maalini was smiling all the while as Uma was taking her
bath. Uma became curious and wanted to know the reason of her strange
smile. Maalini told Uma about her firm belief that one day, she (Uma)
would definitely become a mother. Uma told her that this was impossible
as the deities had prohibited her husband, Shiva from procreating a
child. But Maalini continued to smile. After taking her bath, Uma went
back home.
After sometime,
Lord Shiva arrived and took his bath at the same place. The
elephant-headed image created by Uma was lying there. Suddenly it became
alive and started making a hissing sound from his trunk. Lord Shiva
delightfully took him to Uma and said- "Look at your son." Uma was
surprised to see that elephant-headed image alive and affectionately
embraced him. Lord Shiva again said- "Your son will become famous as
Vinayak and the whole world would worship him." Lord Shiva then
entrusted the task of child's security to Ghatodar.
Thus, both Lord
Shiva and Uma lived happily. The same Uma later on took incarnation as
Goddess Katyayani and killed the demons- Shumbh and Nishumbh.
Shumbh and Nishumbh
were sons of Danu. They wanted to avenge Mahishasura's death and sent
many demons like to bring Goddess Chandika after enslaving her. First of
all, Sugreev was sent followed by Dhumralochan but both of them were
killed by the Goddess. When Shumbh and Nishumbh heard of their death,
they were infuriated. Nishumbh attacked the goddess with a huge army.
Shumbh attacked from the other side. In the fierce battle, Goddess
Chandika broke Nishumbh's sword as well as his shield. Nishumbh then
attacked Goddess Chandika with his weapon- Shakti. Goddess Chandika
broke it with her Chakra. At last, she attacked him with her arrows at
him and as a result, Nishumbh got injured and fell.
When Shumbh saw
Nishumbh, injured and unconscious, he ran towards Goddess Chandika to
kill her. Goddess Chandika blew her conch and made a thunderous noise by
pulling the bowstring. Shumbh released the dangerous weapon- Ugradipti
in the direction of Goddess Chandika. But her weapon Maholkanaamni
destroyed it. Shumbh thundered loudly and attacked Goddess Chandika with
a volley of arrows but none could cause any harm to her. Finally,
Goddess Chandika attacked Shumbh with her trident. Shumbh fell down
unconscious. After sometime, he regained his consciousness and attacked
Goddess Chandika with his arrows. But she destroyed all the arrows. In
the meantime, Nishumbh had regained his consciousness. He got up and
attacked Goddess Chandika with his trident. In the end, Goddess Chandika
killed Nishumbh by piercing her trident in his heart. As Nishumbh was
dying, an another demon manifested from his body. Even he was killed by
her. Her mount Simha devoured all the dead demons.
Shumbh became angry
at the death of his brother- Nishumbh. He furiously told the goddess- "O
wicked lady! Do not be proud of your strength borrowed from others."
Goddess Chandika replied- "O wicked demon! I am the only power of this
whole universe. I am the origin of cause and effect. Look! All the
divinities are entering into my body.
The next moment,
all the divine entities, which had earlier manifested from the bodies of
the deities united with the goddess. Now, the goddess was alone. A
tremendous battle was fought between Goddess Chandika and Shumbh. Ambika
attacked him with numerous divine weapons. But, Shumbh neutralised her
attack with his own weapons.
Shumbh covered the
whole body of Goddess Chandika with his arrows. She broke his bow. After
this, Shumbh attacked her with his weapon- Shakti, which was broken into
pieces by her chakra. Now, Shumbh took out his sword and attacked her
with it. She broke his shield and sword with her arrows. Shumbh then
attacked her with his mace. Even his mace was broken into pieces.
Shumbh had no more
weapons left with him. He hit the goddess on her breast with his
clenched fist. She slapped him so hard on the face that he fell down.
The next moment, he got up and manifested himself in the sky. Now, a
tremendous duel was fought between them in the sky.
In the end, she
dashed him to the ground and pierced the trident in his heart. Shumbh
was instantly killed. After the killing of Shumbh, Gandharvas, the
deities and Apsaras were so pleased that they danced and rejoiced. The
whole atmosphere echoed with the sound- "SHANTI SHANTI" (Let there be
peace).
After goddess
Chandika killed Shumbh, all the deities under the leadership of Indra
and Agni started eulogising her- "O Goddess! Be pleased upon us! Protect
the whole world, as you are the goddess of this whole universe. You
appear in the form of this earth- the base on which everything is
situated. Your light illuminates all the living creatures. You are the
only power through which creation, nurturing and annihilation takes
place. You are the Brahmani, Maheshwari and the Kaumari. We salute you
because you have protected us from the terror of the demons. We need
your protection from all the calamities of this world."
Goddess Chandika
was very pleased by their eulogy. She asked them for any wish. The
deities said- "O Akhileshwari! We need your protection. Clear all the
obstacles from our path. Eliminate our enemies."
Goddess Chandika
replied- "During Vaivasvat Manavantar, I will take incarnation from
Yashoda's womb- the wife of Nand, to kill the demons Shumbh and
Nishumbh. After that, I will kill the demon- Vaiprachit in my most
aggressive form. One hundred years later, I will manifest myself and
would be known as Satakshi because of my hundred eyes. My next
incarnation would be known as Shakambhari because I would nurture the
whole world during the period of drought. I will kill the demon Durgam
during that drought period. I will kill the demon Arun- the tormentor of
all the three worlds by taking the form of a bee. Due to this, I will be
known as Bhramari. I will take incarnations every time the demons
torment the world.
Goddess Chandika
says- "I will clear all the obstacles from the path of such a man who
worships me. If a devotee listens to the great tales of how I killed
Mahishasura, Shumbh and Nishumbh, on the eighth, ninth and fourteenth
days of any month then he would be liberated from poverty and all his
sins. He would become free from fear. A devotee must listen to my divine
tales during all the religious ceremonies like making sacrifice, worship
and performing Yagya. By doing this, all his enemies will be eliminated.
A man who remembers me when faced with dangerous situations remains
protected by me."
After blessing the
deities, Goddess Chandika disappeared from their sight. All the demons,
who had survived after the killings of Shumbh and Nishumbh, went to the
nether world to save their lives.
Swallowing of Lord
Shiva's sperm had subdued Agni's radiance. The deities advised him to
take Lord Brahma's help. While he was on his way to Brahma loka, he came
across a river named Kutila and requested her to hold Shiva's sperm. She
agreed and requested him to release it in her waters.
In course of time,
she became pregnant. The thought of giving birth to an illegitimate
child tormented her, so she went to Lord Brahma to take his advice. Lord
Brahma instructed her to abort her foetus at Udyachal Mountain, which
was covered by the dense forest of reed. Lord Brahma felt that it was a
very safe place for her and nobody will be aware of this incident.
Kutila followed his instructions.
Kutila aborted her
foetus just according to Lord Brahma's instructions. The foetus remained
there for 10,000 years after which a child was born, radiant like a
rising Sun and eyes like the petals of lotus flower. The child being
hungry started to cry. At that time, all the six Kritikas were passing
through that forest. They were so mesmerised by the child's beauty that
they started quarrelling among themselves as to who should first feed
breast milk to the child. Seeing their quarrel, the child appeared with
his six heads. This way, all the six Kritikas fed their breast milk to
the child at a time. This is the reason why Kartikeya has six heads.
After Agni came to
know of Kaartikeya's birth, he proceeded to bring him back home. But
Kutila saw him on the way and enquired about his journey. When Agni
revealed his intention, she started quarrelling with him for
Kaartikeya's custody. Meanwhile, Lord Vishnu arrived there and enquired
regarding their quarrelling. Lord Vishnu after being told the reason
advised them to take Lord Shiva's help as he was the best judge on such
matters.
Both Kutila and
Agni went to Lord Shiva and tried to get his consent. Uma advised Lord
Shiva by saying- "All of us must go to that place where the child is
living and try to know as to whom he would like to have as his
guardian." All of them went to that reed forest and found Kaartikeya in
the lap of one of the Kritikas.
Kaartikeya knew
about their desires. Seeing them worried, he manifested in four
different appearances of Kumar, Vishaakh, Shaakh and Mahasen. Kumar went
towards Lord Shiva while Vishaakh went towards Uma. Similarly, Shaakh
went towards Kutila while Mahasen went towards Agni. Thus, everybody was
satisfied. Lord Shiva then blessed the Kritikas by saying that
Kaartikeya would become famous deriving his name from them.
All the deities
arrived there and decided to make Kaartikeya, the chief commander of
their army.
After being
appointed as the chief commander of the deities, Kaartikeya sought his
guardians' permission to kill the demons- Taraka and Mahishasura. All
the deities including Lord Vishnu blessed Kaartikeya and wished for his
victory. Lord Vishnu eulogised Kaartikeya and praised his valiance.
Kaartikeya then
proceeded with a huge army comprising of Ganas and Kritikas. Kaartikeya
had taken an aerial route so that he could reach his enemies' territory
as soon as possible. The Ganas disguised as birds, followed him.
As they were about
to reach their enemy's place, Kaartikeya requested the Ganas to descend
to the earth. The Ganas followed his instruction and descended to the
earth making a thunderous noise. Some demons like Mahish, Taraka,
Virochan, Jambh and Kujambh heard this noise and went to Andhak to
inform him about it.
As the demons were
trying to find out the cause of the noise, a demon- Paatalketu arrived
there in an injured condition. The demons were surprised and asked how
he got injured. Paatalketu, narrating the incident said- "I had entered
sage Gaalav's hermitage in the guise of a boar with the intention of
killing him. Suddenly, an arrow pierced my body. I ran towards the sea
coast to save my life where I found large number of people who were
planning to kill Mahishasura and Taraka. I have come here to inform you
about their plan. I am very scared and worried." Andhak assured them
that there was nothing to worry about as both Mahishasura and Taraka
were mighty and it was not an easy task for anybody to kill them.
When Mahishasura
and Taraka came to know about this, they immediately set out with a huge
army towards the sea coast. An intense battle commenced in which both
the sides fought valiantly. The Ganas and the Matrikas launched a severe
attack on the enemy with all the weapons they had at their disposal. But
the demons remained unaffected and their assault was too much for the
Ganas to bear.
After defeating the
Ganas, Mahishasura menacingly ran towards Kaartikeya. Suchakraksh who
was fighting from Kaartikeya's side unleashed his chakra to stop
Mahishasura. Mahishasura retaliated by attacking the chakra with his
mace but his mace was cut into pieces by the chakra. After destroying
the mace, Suchakraksh's chakra chased Mahishasura. When Banasura saw
Mahishasura's life in danger, he came forward to help him. He attacked
the chakra with his 500 hands and grabbed Suchakraksh with the remaining
500. Seeing Suchakraksh in danger, Makaraksh hit Banasura on his head
with his mace. Seething in pain, Banasura immediately released
Suchakraksh.
Seeing his army
defeated, Taraka came forward to fight with a sword. He fought valiantly
and defeated the Ganas and the Matrikas in a very short time. The
defeated Ganas took the refuge of Kaartikeya. When Kaartikeya saw Taraka
chasing the Ganas, he killed him with his weapon- Shakti. Taraka's death
scared Mahishasura and Banasura. To save his life, Mahishasura ran away
towards Himalaya Mountain while Banasura hid himself in the ocean.
Kaartikeya chased Mahishasura as a result of which, he was forced to
abandon Himalaya. Mahishasura now took refuge in a cave of the Kraunch
Mountain. Seeing the demon being protected by his maternal cousin- Guh
(cave), Kaartikeya was in a dilemma. He knew that if he attacked
Mahishasura inside the cave then his cousin- Guh might get hurt. He
waited for Mahishasura to come out. Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord
Mahesh appeared and advised Kaartikeya to kill the demon. Indra too
advised him the same. But Kaartikeya did not pay heed and told them that
he would kill Mahishasura only after he came out from the cave.
Furious, Indra told
Kaartikeya that a man did not become a sinner if he killed one person to
safeguard his community's interest. Giving his own instance, he narrated
as to how he had killed his own brother- Namuchi. But Kaartikeya was not
convinced and refused to act according to Indra's instruction. Very
soon, their arguments turned into a major dispute when Indra boasted of
his strength. Kaartikeya challenged him for a duel. Indra proposed a
plan according to which, whoever circumambulated the Kraunch Mountain
first would be considered as the winner.
When Kaartikeya
returned after circumambulating Kraunch Mountain, he found Indra sitting
there. Furiously, he asked Indra why he was seated. Indra replied that
he was the winner as he had already finished circumambulating the
Kraunch. Both of them quarrelled but were not able to decide the winner.
So, both of them went to Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Brahma to take
their help. Lord Vishnu advised them that only Kraunch Mountain could
decide the winner. Both of them went to Kraunch Mountain and requested
him to tell as to who the winner was. Kraunch Mountain said- "Indra is
the winner since he was the first to circumambulate me. Kaartikeya
became furious and attacked Kraunch Mountain with his Shakti as a result
of which, the great mountain was fragmented into pieces. Mahishasura who
was hiding in the cave of Kraunch Mountain was also crushed to death.
Later on,
Kaartikeya felt very sorry for having killed his maternal cousin- Guh
and after being advised by Lord Vishnu, he went to Prithudak Tirtha to
atone for his sin.
King Ripujeet- a
descendant of Raghu lived with his valiant and brave son named
Ritudhwaj. Ritudhwaj being a virtuous prince thought it as his duty to
protect all the sages and hermits. Under his protection, the sages
performed their religious duties without any problem.
During Ripujeet's
reign, a great sage- Gaalav lived in his hermitage doing penance. A
demon named Paatalketu used to torment him. Although Gaalav was capable
of burning Paatalketu to death yet he hesitated to do so for the fear of
losing his virtuosity. One day, sage Gaalav was contemplating on the
means to get rid of Paatalketu's terror tactics but was unable to find
any solution and let out a deep sigh in frustration. He was amazed to
see a horse falling from the sky. As he was looking towards the sky, he
heard a heavenly voice- "This horse can travel thousands of Yojans in a
single day. Give this horse to Ritudhwaj who will solve your problems."
As per the
instructions of that heavenly voice, Gaalav presented that horse to
Ritudhwaj and engaged himself in penance. This horse was sent by a
Gandharva king named Vishwavasu with a special purpose. Vishwavasu had a
beautiful daughter named Madalasa. Infatuated by her beauty, the demon-
Paatalketu had abducted her to Paatal loka. He wanted to marry her but
Madalasa rejected his advances. Vishwavasu knew that only Ritudhwaj was
capable of killing Paatalketu, so he presented that horse to sage Gaalav
with the instruction that it should be given to Ritudhwaj.
Ritudhwaj went to
Paatal loka on that horse and fought a fierce battle in which Paatalketu
was seriously injured. Ritudhwaj released Madalasa from Paatalketu's
captivity and married her.
Lord Shiva was so
deeply attached to Uma that for 1000 years, he was possessed by only her
thoughts. He forgot about his duties and as a result, there was anarchy
all over the world. His obsession with Uma had also decreased his
radiance. He decided to do penance with the objective of regaining his
radiance.
When Uma came to
know about his decision, she was unhappy but Lord Shiva consoled her by
relating the significance of his decision. Before leaving, he entrusted
the responsibility of her security to Nandi. He started wandering in
search of a suitable place for doing penance. Sometimes, he did penance
under the tree, sometimes on the mountain peaks and sometimes on the
banks of a river. Initially, he used to eat only kand and Moola but
later on he stopped eating even that and lived only on air. This way,
900 years passed during which he travelled to all the three lokas.
Ultimately, he even
stopped breathing. He inserted a small wooden block in his mouth to stop
the air from entering his body. This act of Shiva resulted in the
tremendous generation of energy inside his body as a result of which
that wooden block blasted off through his skull and fell on the Himalaya
Mountain with such force that the wooden block levelled numerous peaks
of Himalaya Mountain to the ground. The famous place of pilgrimage-
Kedarnath is situated at this very place.
After that, Lord
Shiva did a severe penance by immersing his whole body in the waters of
Saraswati river. He remained immersed in the water for one complete year
and did not come out. All the seven worlds including the oceans and the
mountains started shaking violently. The stars and the Nakshatras
started falling down on the earth. Curious to know why this happened,
the worried deities went to Lord Brahma. Even Lord Brahma could not
satisfy their curiosity as he had no answer. All of them then went to
Lord Vishnu but he too was not aware of the reason.
All the deities
including Lord Vishnu then went to Mandaar Parvat to see Lord Shiva. But
they were surprised to find out that neither Lord Shiva nor Uma were
present there. Lord Vishnu was aware of Lord Shiva's penance in the
Saraswati river. Due to the sin of causing Mridani's foetus to abort,
the deities could not know the fact behind this strange event.
The deities then
performed the most austere Taptakrichcha Vrata to atone for their sin.
Lord Vishnu then gave them a glimpse of Shiva Linga, which manifested in
his heart. All the deities again worshipped that Shiva Linga and made
offerings. Lord Vishnu then took them to Kurukshetra where Lord Shiva
was doing his penance in the waters of Saraswati. The deities eulogised
Lord Shiva by saying "STHANAVE NAMAH" and Indra requested him to stop
doing his penance as the whole world was in turbulence. Lord Shiva
accepted their request with a smile and discontinued with his penance.
Even after Lord
Shiva had stopped doing his penance, the earth continued to shake
violently. Surprised, he started wandering here and there to know the
truth behind this turbulence. He found sage Shukracharya doing penance
on the bank of river Oghavati with the objective of learning the most
secret Mritsanjeevani Vidya. Lord Shiva blessed him and his desire was
fulfilled but the earth still continued to shake violently. Lord Shiva
then proceeded towards Saptasaraswat where he found sage Mankanak was
dancing in joy and his steps were causing the earth to shake. Sage
Mankanak had acquired tremendous virtues due to his severe penance and
as a result instead of blood, vegetative juice secreted from his wound.
He had become arrogant and thought that it happened only because of his
penance. Lord Shiva then subdued his arrogance by causing wound on his
finger from which ashes poured out. Sage Mankanak was ashamed of himself
and stopped dancing, and the earth became calm once again.
Mura was the
Aurasputra of sage Kashyap and Danu. When he saw the demons being
vanquished by the deities, he went to do penance with the objective of
getting boons from Lord Brahma. When Lord Brahma appeared before him, he
said- "O lord! Bless me with a boon, which enables me to kill anybody
merely by the touch of my hand." Lord Brahma blessed him and said- "So
be it."
Getting this boon
made Mura very arrogant. He challenged the deities, Yakshas and Kinnars
to fight him but nobody accepted his challenge as they were scared of
his power. He then entered Amravati- Indra's capital and challenged
Indra for a duel. Indra became terrified and abandoned his abode-
heaven. Now, Mura became the lord of heaven and very soon, he invited
the other demons to join him in heaven.
Once, Mura
challenged a king named Raghu who was proficient in rituals for a duel.
At that time, Raghu was busy performing his Yagya. He admonished Mura by
saying- "What is the great deal in fighting with the mortals? If you are
really that brave then you should defeat Yamaraj." The arrogant Mura
then went to Yama loka and challenged Yama. Yama was aware of Lord
Brahma's boon given to Mura. So, he went to take Lord Vishnu's help.
Lord Vishnu advised him to send Mura to Vishnu loka by any means.
Lord Brahma, on
being enquired by Sanat Kumar on the different hells said- "Those who
have illicit relationship or are in the company of sinners go to the
first hell. Felling of trees and stealing the fruits of others' tree
lead to the second hell. People who kill creatures unworthy of killing
and those who quarrel over property dispute go to third hell.
Terrorising the living creatures and deviating from one's own religion
lead to the fourth hell. Behaving deceitfully with friends and taking
false oath lead to the fifth hell. Keeping somebody in captivity and
causing hurdles in the path of others would lead to the sixth hell.
Stealing of royal property or copulating with the queen leads to the
seventh hell. Greed and misuse of hard earned money lead to the eighth
hell. Stealing of Brahmin's property and condemning others lead to the
ninth hell. People who lack courtesy or who steal sacred texts go to the
tenth hell." Altogether, Lord Brahma described about 16 hells.
This chapter
contains 4 sections:
Narad asks sage
Pulastya- "What did the demon Andhak do after entering Paatal loka and
how was Lord Shiva's life at Mandaar Mountain?" Pulastya says- "Andhak
was infatuated by Girija's divine beauty and his lust only became
stronger as the days passed by. Although Prahlad tried very hard to
convince him and narrated the tale of his birth, which happened only
because of Lord Shiva's blessing. Once Lord Shiva was engrossed in
meditation when Uma playfully shut all his three eyes and the whole
atmosphere was covered in darkness. An entity manifested from that
darkness who was presented to Hiranyaaksh and who later on became famous
as Andhak. Prahlad also told him that his lust for his own mother
(Parvati) was licentious and most immoral."
In order to
dissuade Andhak from going ahead with his immoral intention, Prahlad
narrated a story, which described the destruction of an immoral king
named Danda. "Sage Shukracharya was the royal priest of King Danda, who
performed all the religious rites. He had a daughter named Araja. Once
Shukracharya had gone to meet the demon Vrishparva and stayed there for
some days. King Danda went to Shukracharya's hermitage to find out the
reasons for his absence. He saw Araja and became enchanted by her
beauty. He expressed his desires to Araja that he wanted her at any
cost. Araja tried to dissuade him by saying that his immoral action
would amount to committing treachery towards his Guru- Shukracharya. She
also tried to scare him by citing about her father's rage, which even
the deities feared. King Danda then narrated this tale to force her to
accept his proposal-
"Vishwakarma had a
beautiful daughter- Chitrangada. Once, she had gone to take bath in the
river with her companions. Suddenly, King Surath arrived there and being
infatuated by her beauty became lovesick. Seeing his pitiable condition,
Chitrangada offered herself to him despite her companions' objection."
After narrating
this story, King Danda asked Araja to follow the example of Chitrangada.
But she said- "You have narrated only half the story. I will tell you
what happened after that." She then told this story- "The immoral act of
Chitrangada had angered her father and he cursed her that her married
life would be unsuccessful. One day, King Surath was drowned by the
powerful current of the Saraswati. Chitrangada fainted as she could not
bear the sorrow of her husband's separation. After regaining her
consciousness, she looked all around but could not find her husband.
Once again, she became unconscious and fell in the Saraswati river. The
powerful currents of Saraswati drowned her and she was ultimately thrown
in Gomti river. Gomti's current abandoned her near a forest inhabited by
ferocious lions."
After narrating her
story, Araja told King Danda that she would certainly not accept his
proposal as she did not want to meet the same fate as that of
Chitrangada. The king told her that the story was still incomplete and
narrated the following tale-
"When Chitrangada
regained her consciousness, she found herself in a dense forest. Seeing
her in a sorrowful mood, Anjan- a Guhyak consoled her by saying that
very soon, she would re-unite with her husband. He also advised her to
go on a pilgrimage to Shrikanth. Chitrangada went to Shrikanth situated
towards the south of river Kalindi. After taking a bath in Kalindi
river, she visited the Shrikanth temple and worshipped Lord Maheshwar.
Meanwhile, a sage
arrived there and seeing Chitrangada queried about her staying in a
deserted place. Chitrangada narrated the whole story as to how she was
cursed by her own father. The sage became extremely furious after
hearing her woeful tale and cursed Vishwakarma to become a monkey. He
also advised her to go to Saptagodaavar and engage in the worship of
Lord Haatkeshwar where one day she would meet Devavati- the daughter of
demon Kandarmaali. Chitrangada went to Saptagodaavar and engaged herself
in the worship of Lord Haatkeshwar. The sage wrote the following lines
on the walls of Shrikanth temple- "Is there anybody who could liberate
this beautiful girl from her sorrow?"
After that, the
sage proceeded on his pilgrimage to Pushkarnath.
Continuing with his
story, King Danda says- "Chitrangada stayed for a long period at
Saptagodaavar. She used to spend time by engaging in the worship of Lord
Haatkeshwar waiting for the day she would meet her husband. Vishwakarma
had become a monkey due to the curse of that sage and started living at
Shaalveya Mountain.
One day, a demon
named Kandarmaali arrived at the foothills of Shaalveya Mountain
accompanied by his daughter- Vedavati. The monkey (Vishwakarma) held
Vedavati by her hand. Kandarmaali became furious and took out his sword
to kill the monkey. Sensing danger, the monkey ran away towards Himalaya
Mountain carrying Vedavati in his lap. Kandarmaali chased him. On the
way, the monkey abandoned Vedavati at the door of a secluded hermitage
and hid himself in the waters of river Kalindi but was drowned.
Kandarmaali had seen the monkey drowning and conjured that his daughter
too might have drowned along with him. He returned to his abode in a
remorseful mood.
The ferocious
current of Kalindi river carried that monkey to a famous place called
Shivi. After regaining his consciousness, he returned to the place where
he had left Vedavati. After reaching that spot, he found Anjan
accompanied by his daughter- Nandayanti treading along. He mistook
Nandayanti for Vedavati and ran towards her. Sensing danger, Nandayanti
jumped into the Hiranvati River and was carried by its ferocious current
to Kaushal. When she regained her consciousness, Nandayanti found
herself near a large Banyan tree. Sitting on the rock in a thoughtful
mood, she heard a heavenly voice- 'Is there anybody who could inform
sage Ritdhwaj about his son's captivity and who has been tied to this
Banyan tree?' Nandayanti was surprised to find a 5 year old child being
tied to the topmost branch of the Banyan tree. On being enquired, the
child told her- "My name is Jabaali. Sage Ritdhwaj is my father who has
blessed me with 5000 years of childhood birth, 10,000 years of
adolescence and 20 years of adulthood respectively. But he had also
warned me of being held captive for the period of 500 years during my
childhood. One day, I had gone to take bath in the Hiranvati River when
suddenly, I came across a huge monkey who enslaved me. I am living here
in captivity since then."
After narrating his
story, Jabaali enquired about Nandayanti's identity. Nandayanti told
everything, which had happened to her. Jabaali advised her to go to
Shrikanth temple situated on the bank of river Yamuna and said- "There,
you would meet my father Ritdhwaj who comes to the temple daily in the
afternoon to worship Lord Shiva. You can seek his help." Nandayanti went
to Ritdhwaj's hermitage as per the instruction of Jabaali. One day while
she was worshipping in the Shrikanth temple, she saw those lines
inscribed by the sage, who had once cursed her father- Vishwakarma. She
added one more line to that inscription- "Sage Mudgal had prophesised
that I would become a queen. Instead of becoming a queen, I am going
through my most turbulent period. Is there anyone who could help me
out?"
After that, she
went to the bank of river Yamuna where she found a beautiful hermitage.
She entered inside the hermitage and found Vedavati sitting there. Very
soon, both of them became fast friends. In the meantime, sage Ritdhwaj
had gone to offer prayers in the Shrikanth temple and saw those lines
inscribed on its walls. He went into deep contemplation and understood
what those lines meant. After worshipping, he left for Ayodhya where he
met King Ikshvaaku. He requested Ikshvaaku to instruct his son- Shakuni
to release Jabaali from the monkey's captivity. Ikshvaaku instructed his
son to fulfil sage Ritdhwaj's desire. All three of them including
Ikshvaaku went to the site of Jabaali's captivity. Shakuni being a
master archer, cut all the creepers that had grown around Jabaali. Sage
Ritdhwaj climbed up the tree and found that Jabaali was tied to the
branch. He tried to open the knot but was unsuccessful and called
Shakuni for help. Shakuni tried hard to open the knot but even he was
unsuccessful. He then cut that branch into three pieces by unleashing a
volley of arrows. Thus Jabaali became free albeit partially as he was
burdened with the three pieces of that branch.
In the meantime,
both daughters of Yaksha and the demon arrived at Shrikanth Mahadev
temple and engaged themselves in the worship of lord Mahadev. One day,
sage Gaalav arrived at the temple and was astonished to find two young
ladies at such a deserted place. While taking bath, he heard the
melodious songs of the two ladies. He became convinced of their divinity
as it was impossible for mortals to sing with such expertise.
After the worship,
sage Gaalav asked them their identity who then narrated the whole story.
The next morning, as Gaalav was about to leave, both of them requested
him to take them along. All three of them then left for Pushkar Tirtha.
After reaching their destination, sage Gaalav decided to take a dip in
the holy river. While taking bath, he saw many female fish trying to
coax their male counterparts into making love by saying-"If sage Gaalav
is not afraid of being in the company of young women then what makes you
so scared in copulating with us?" The male fish replied that he was
afraid of getting ridiculed by the public. Sage Gaalav was so ashamed of
his conduct that he did not come out of the river.
Both ladies waited
anxiously for sage Gaalav. Suddenly, Chitrangada arrived and was
surprised to see strangers standing there. All three of them were
looking at each other with surprised expressions on their face when
Vedavati arrived there suddenly. She went near Chitrangada and enquired
about her identity. Chitrangada narrated the whole story and revealed
how circumstances had forced her to reach this place. In a very short
time, all four of them became well acquainted with one another. They
went to Haatkeshwar temple situated on the banks of Saptagodaavar River
and worshipped Lord Haatkeshwar. They started living in the temple
premises and spent their time in the daily worship of Lord Haatkeshwar.
On the other side,
Shakuni, Jabaali and Ritdhwaj were anxiously searching them. During the
search, Jabaali went to Shaakal Janpad accompanied by his father-
Ritdhwaj. At that time, Shaakal Janpad was ruled by Indradyumna- the son
of Manu. After meeting him, Ritdhwaj sought his help in finding his lost
daughter- Nandayanti. Indradyumna told him- "O Brahmin! Even I have lost
my daughter and don't know where she is at present. So, all three of us
must go in search of our respective daughters." After saying this, all
three of them decided to proceed ahead in search of their daughter.
When they reached
Badrikashrama, they were amazed to find a young man engaged in austere
penance. After formal introduction, it dawned on Indradyumna that the
young sage was his own nephew- Surath. Indradyumna requested his nephew
to join him in searching his daughter. Ritdhwaj told Surath- "The girl
for whom you are doing such austere penance had been taken by me to
Saptagodaavar. Come with me and I will help you to re-unite with her."
All of them then left for Saptagodaavar.
In the meantime, as
Ghritaachi- Devavati's mother arrived at Udaygiri Mountain to where she
came across a monkey and enquired if he had seen her daughter. The
monkey told the frail looking Ghritaachi that he had taken a young woman
named Devavati to a hermitage near Shrikanth temple. Ghritaachi revealed
to the monkey that the girl whom he was referring as Devavati was
actually her daughter Vedavati. She requested the monkey to help her in
locating her lost daughter. Ghritaachi proceeded towards river Kaushiki
in search of Vedavati followed by the monkey. After reaching there,
Ghritaachi took a holy dip in the waters of Kaushiki.
In the meantime,
Jabaali and Ritdhwaj too had reached the banks of river Kaushiki. When
Jabaali saw that monkey, he told his father Ritdhwaj by pointing his
finger towards that monkey- "This is the same monkey who had enslaved me
and tied me up with creepers." Shakuni, the master archer became furious
and sought Ritdhwaj's permission to kill that monkey. Ritdhwaj pacified
him by saying- "Bondage is because of your past Karmas, so it is useless
to kill this poor monkey."
He then requested
the monkey to free his son- Jabaali from the weight of the three
branches, which were still tied to his body. The monkey opened the knots
and Jabaali was now absolutely free. Ritdhwaj was pleased and wanting to
bless the monkey, said- "You can demand anything from me. I am willing
to fulfil any of your wishes." The monkey replied by saying- "O great
sage! Didn't you recognise this unfortunate monkey? I am Chitranagada's
father whom you had cursed to become a monkey. Bless me that I become
liberated from all my sins." Ritdhwaj blessed the monkey and said- "You
would be liberated from all your sins, the day you procreate a child
from Ghritaachi. You would also regain your human body on that day." The
monkey became pleased after receiving the blessings.
In course of time,
Ghritaachi became aware of the monkey's real identity and developed
physical intimacy with it. At first, both of them stayed at Kolaahal
Mountain but later on, they shifted to Vindhya Mountain.
Meanwhile the group
of five people- Ritdhwaj, Jabaali, Shakuni, Indradyumna and Surath
reached Saptagodaavar Tirtha. All of them got down from the chariot and
took bath in the holy river. The thirsty horses quenched their thirst
and satisfied their hunger by grazing on the green grass. After
satisfying their hunger, the horses galloped towards Haatkeshwar temple.
When Chitrangada, and her companions heard the galloping sound, they
climbed on top of the temple and looked all around. Chitrangada saw
Ritdhwaj and his companions taking bath and immediately recognised him.
Her companion- Nandayanti too recognised Jabaali. They were extremely
pleased and climbed down from the rooftop of the temple. They worshipped
and eulogised Lord Haatkeshwar to express their gratitude.
After sometime,
Ritdhwaj and his friends arrived at the temple to worship Lord
Haatkeshwar. He recognised Chitrangada and was pleased to meet her. In
the meantime, Ghritaachi and the monkey also arrived there. Ghritaachi
was pleased to meet her daughter- Vedavati and embraced her. Ritdhwaj
instructed the monkey to summon Guhyak from the Anjan Mountain,
Kandarmaali from the Paatal loka and the Gandharva King Parjanya from
heaven respectively.
Guhyak, Kandarmaali
and Parjanya arrived at the Haatkeshwar temple and all three of them
were pleased to meet their respective daughters. Chitrangada accusing
herself for her father's turning into a monkey, tried to give up her
life. But Ritdhwaj consoled her by saying that her father would regain
his human body very soon. Ghritaachi too approved his statement and
said- "After ten months, I would give birth to a son and on that same
day, your father would be liberated from sage Gaalav's curse and regain
his human body."
After ten months,
Ghritaachi gave birth to a son who later on became famous as Nala.
Vishwakarma became liberated from the curse and regained his human body.
Chitrangada was delighted to meet her father. A grand marriage ceremony
was organised at Saptagodaavar, which was witnessed by the deities, the
Gandharvas and the demons. In this marriage ceremony, sage Gaalav
performed the rituals after which, Jabaali was married to Kandamaali's
daughter, Indradyumna to Vedavati, Shakuni to the Yaksha's daughter and
Surath was married to Chitrangada. After the marriage ceremony,
everybody returned to their respective places.
After completing
this story, King Danda once again requested Araja to accept his
proposal. But she was not convinced and said- "Say whatever you like but
I will never surrender to your evil intentions."
Prahlad says-
"Blinded by lust, Danda forcibly breached the modesty of unrelenting
Araja and returned to his palace. Araja was saddened by the inability to
protect her chastity and started wailing.
When Shukracharya
returned to his hermitage, he found Araja lying down at the entrance. He
asked her about what transpired with her. Araja narrated the whole
story, which made Shukracharya extremely furious and his eyes were
reddened due to his anger. He thundered- "The wicked Danda would become
a pauper after losing his wealth and kingdom within a week." After
cursing Danda, he instructed his daughter Araja to do penance so that
she could become liberated from her sin and himself went to Paatal loka
accompanied by his disciples. Shukracharya's curse came true and as a
result, Danda lost his whole kingdom within a week.
After narrating
this story, Prahlad told Andhak- "On account of the immoral deeds of
King Danda, the deities abandoned Dandakaarnya and it was now inhabited
by the demons. Now it must be clear to you that a person who breaches a
chaste woman's modesty against her will is doomed to destruction.
Andhak, you must not go ahead with your evil intention of marrying
Parvati because she is Lord Shiva's consort whose might is unmatched."
Andhak replied
angrily- "I have driven out the deities from heaven. Why should I get
scared of Shiva who is fascinated by his wife's beauty?" Prahlad tried
his best to convince Andhak against going ahead with his evil plan but
it had no effect on him. Andhak ordered his lieutenant Shambar to go to
Mandaar Mountain and inform Lord Shiva that Parvati should be given to
him (Andhak) if he (Lord Shiva) wanted to remain alive. Shambar went to
Mandaar Mountain with narrated Andhak's desire to Lord Shiva. Hearing
this, Goddess Parvati who was sitting besides Lord Shiva told Shambar
that she would agree to marry Andhak on the condition that he defeats
Lord Shiva in a battle. Shambar returned and narrated everything to
Andhak. Now, Andhak's anger crossed all limits and he ordered Duryodhan
to prepare for the war. Andhak's huge army was instructed to assemble.
The whole atmosphere reverberated with the sound of bugles and war
cries. Andhak proceeded towards Mandaar Mountain with a huge army, which
consisted of mighty warriors like Jambh, Kujambh, Shambar, Virochan,
Duryodhan and Vrishparva. Destiny led Andhak towards his own death trap.
This chapter
contains 7 sections:
Pulastya says-
"When Lord Shiva became aware of Andhak's imminent attack, he requested
Nandi to summon all the Ganas who were more than 700 crores in number.
Some of the prominent Ganas like Pashupat, Kaalmukh, Mahavrati,
Digambar, Maini, Mahapashupat and Vrishabhdhwaj arrived at Mandaar
Mountain to help Lord Shiva at the request of Nandi.
On seeing the
valiant Gana- Pashupat, Lord Shiva embraced him, which surprised all the
other Ganas. They were amazed at the special honour given to him. Lord
Shiva realised their astonishment and said- "Although all of you have
great devotion towards me but in your ignorance, you have shown
disrespect towards Lord Vishnu. All of you except Pashupat don't realise
that both of us (Lord Shiva and Vishnu) are inseparable and there is no
difference between us. Pashupat is aware of this and hence he has been
accorded the highest honour." Having said this, Lord Shiva revealed his
majestic form of Sadashiva to the Ganas. The Ganas were bewildered on
seeing the whole universe existing within Sadashiva. Lord Sadashiva then
transformed his appearance into that of Lord Vishnu. The Ganas also
viewed the forms of deities like Indra, Surya and Lord Brahma etc. in
him. They were now convinced that both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu were
the same. The dawning of this realisation liberated them from their
ignorance. Lord Shiva blessed the Ganas and embraced them. All the Ganas
then took their position all around Mandaar Mountain and readied
themselves for the forthcoming attack.
Pulastya says-
"When the Ganas saw Andhak's army approaching the Mandaar Mountain, they
made a loud roar, which reverberated through the land and sky. Hearing
this roar, Lord Ganesha became apprehensive and went to Mandaar Mountain
to ask Lord Shiva about the origin of that tremendous roar. Lord Shiva
told him- "I am going to fight a battle with Andhak." Lord Ganesha also
expressed his willingness to accompany him. Lord Shiva then entrusted
the job of Parvati's security to prominent Matrikas like Maalini, Jaya,
Vijaya, Aparajita and Jayanti. He then went to fight Andhak holding his
weapon- trident in his hand and mounted on a bull. The Ganas made a
protective ring and surrounded him from all sides.
In a very short
time, both armies confronted each other and a tremendous battle began in
which the Ganas crushed many demons to death. The demons retaliated by
attacking them with mace and swords. All the deities assembled in the
sky to witness this battle. Mahapashupat attacked the demons with such
force that it caused great losses to the enemy. On seeing death and
destruction caused in the demon's camp, Tuhunda- the mighty demon
attacked the Ganas with his most destructive weapon- Paridhi, which
scared the Ganas and they fled. Then Lord Ganesha came forward to fight
Tuhunda. Tuhunda assaulted him with his weapon- Paridhi but it
fragmented into hundreds of pieces after dashing against Ganesha's
belly. On seeing the destruction of his maternal uncle's most
destructive weapon, Rahu came running towards Lord Ganesha and held him
tightly. Lord Ganesha, Ghatodar and Sukeshi assaulted him simultaneously
with their respective weapons. Writhing in pain, Rahu immediately
released Ganesha. Seeing the time opportune, Lord Ganesha severed
Tuhunda's head with his axe. After killing Tuhunda, Lord Ganesha
attacked the demons but the attack was repulsed by the mighty Bali. In
this battle, the Ganas were finally able to annihilate the demons.
Shambar protected himself by taking Shukracharya's refuge and all the
surviving demons including Andhak followed suit.
Andhak went to
Shukracharya and narrated the woeful tale of demons' defeat. He also
requested Shukracharya to help the demons win the battle. Shukracharya
was dejected but he assured the demons that he would make alive, all the
dead demons with the help of Sanjeevani Vidya and really all the mighty
demons like Jambh, Kujambh etc. became alive once again.
When Nandi came to
know about this unbelievable incident, he went to Lord Shiva and
informed him. Lord Shiva instructed him to bring Shukracharya by any
means. "I shall control him by my Yogic power", said Lord Shiva. Nandi
infiltrated into the demon's army but Hayakandhar spotted him and tried
to resist his forward march. Nandi attacked Hayakandhar with his Vajra
as a result of which, he fell down unconscious. After this, Kujambh,
Jambh and some other demons ran menacingly towards Nandi. They
surrounded him from all sides and started assaulting him ruthlessly. On
seeing Nandi in danger, Lord Brahma became very worried and instructed
the deities to help him.
Indra and all the
other deities joined Lord Shiva's army and fought bravely against the
demons. The sudden entry of the deities in the battlefield had
distracted the attention of the demons and as a result, Nandi got an
opportunity to penetrate through the rank and files of demons army.
Ultimately, he successfully accomplished his mission and brought
Shukracharya to Lord Shiva after abducting him. Lord Shiva wasted no
time and swallowed Shukracharya immediately. The next moment,
Shukracharya found himself in Lord Shiva's stomach. Shukracharya made
frantic efforts to come out of the stomach but was unsuccessful. Being
helpless, he started eulogising Lord Shiva. After becoming pleased by
Shukracharya's extreme devotion, Lord Shiva expressed his desire to
bless him with a boon. Shukracharya requested Lord Shiva to give him a
way so that he can come out from his stomach. Lord Shiva agreed and
asked him to come out immediately. Shukracharya started searching for an
exit point but was amazed by the vastness of Shiva's stomach in which he
saw the existence of the whole universe. He made ceaseless effort for
one divine year but was unsuccessful in his attempts to come out from
Shiva's stomach. At last, he surrendered to the will of Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva told
Shukracharya- "By entering into my stomach, you have become my son. Now,
if you want to become free then you should come out through the pore of
my Linga." After saying this, Lord Shiva liberated Shukracharya through
his Linga who after being released made salutations to him and joined
the demons' army once again. The demons were extremely pleased at his
arrival. Once again, a fierce battle took place, which continued for
eight divine years. When the demons realised about the deities'
supremacy in the battle, they started employing illusionary tactics and
swallowed all the Ganas and the deities. The scene of the battlefield,
Mandaar Mountain became devoid of Ganas and the deities, which made Lord
Shiva extremely furious. His extreme anger resulted into the
manifestation of Jrimbhayika- a ferocious entity. The mere touch of
Jrimbhayika made the demons to yawn. All the deities and the Ganas came
out from the opened mouths of the demons. Once again, the battle
commenced, which continued for 700 years.
When Andhak
realised that Lord Shiva was invincible then he decided to acquire
Parvati by deceitful means. He sought the help of one of his most
trusted commander- Sunda by saying- "O brave Sunda! You are like my
brother. I need your help. The battle has continued for such a long
period but has still remained indecisive. I have decided to approach
Parvati in the guise of her husband- Shiva and I want you to disguise
yourself as Nandi." Sunda agreed to disguise himself in the form of
Nandi to help his master.
Andhak went to
Mandaar Mountain in the guise of Lord Shiva mounted on Sunda's back who
had disguised himself as Nandi. When Parvati saw the injury marks on
Shiva's (Andhak's) body, she told her companions- "Look, how grievously
the demons have injured my husband! Please bring the medicinal herbs
quickly so that I can dress his wounds." Her companions rushed to bring
the medicinal herbs and in the meantime, Parvati started observing the
wounds of Shiva (Andhak) minutely. She was surprised to see the absence
of both the shoulders on his body. She immediately realised that
somebody else had come in the guise of her husband- Shiva. Sensing
danger, she ran away to protect herself. Her companions ran behind her
and Andhak chased all of them. Parvati and her companions hid behind
bushes. Being unable to locate Parvati, Andhak returned to the
battlefield and the battle continued.
The deities were
fighting valiantly. Lord Vishnu created havoc among the enemy ranks and
Lord Brahma sprinkled holy water from his kamandalu, which had increased
the strength and power of the deities. Indra attacked the demon- Bala on
his head with his Vajra but it was broken into pieces. On seeing the
destruction of his weapon, Indra became scared and wanted to flee from
the battlefield. Jambh, the demon made fun of him and challenged him for
a duel. Indra then requested Lord Vishnu to provide him with a weapon so
that he could fight Jambh but Lord Vishnu sent him to Agni. Agni made a
replica of his weapon- Shakti and gave it to Indra. Holding his new
weapon, Indra then proceeded on his way to fight Jambh mounted on his
elephant- Airavat. Jambh assaulted Airavat with such force that Indra
started falling down towards the ground.
When the Siddhas
and Charanas saw Indra falling down, they provided a magnificent chariot
to him so that he could fight with the demons. Meanwhile Indra dashed
against the ground with a great thud as a result of which, the earth
shook violently.
Sage Shamik's wife
thought that the earth was shaking violently due to the impact of
earthquake. She requested her husband to carry their son outside the
hermitage so that he remains unharmed and said- "The astrologers say
that whatever is kept outside home during an earthquake becomes stable."
Sage Shamik was very surprised but still followed her instructions.
After the shaking of the earth had subsided, Shamik's wife requested him
to bring back the child. Sage Shamik went outside and was surprised to
find two children instead of one. He came back carrying both the
children in his lap and asked his wife as to what made the second child
to manifest. She told him that the second child will become the
charioteer of Indra and assist him in the battle. This second child was
none other than Maatali who acted as the charioteer of Indra during the
battle.
Now, Indra had both
the chariot and the charioteer in his possession. He went to the
battlefield mounted on his new chariot. On the way, he saw a
multicoloured bow and arrows lying on the ground. He picked up the
weapons and fought valiantly with the demons. He killed many mighty
demon warriors. Jambh and Kujambh ran menacingly towards him but Lord
Vishnu severed the head of Kujambh with his Sudarshan chakra. Jambh
assaulted Indra with his mace but Indra retaliated by attacking with his
Shakti as a result of which Jambh was killed. The rest of the demons
fled from the battlefield.
Inspite of death
and destruction caused to his army, Andhak still wanted to continue
fighting against Lord Shiva's army. He even dismissed the advises of
Shukracharya who wanted a momentary retreat and rebuffed him by saying-
"All the deities including Maheshwar and Indra cannot save themselves
from my wrath. Very soon, I am going to vanquish them." He then
instructed his charioteer to move the chariot towards enemy's position.
He shot a volley of arrows, which entirely covered the deities. Lord
Vishnu advised the deities to kill Andhak along with his charioteer and
destroy the chariot so that Lord Shiva could kill Andhak without any
difficulty.
All the deities
then attacked the demons with renewed vigour. Lord Vishnu killed
thousands of enemy's horses with his mace. Skand killed the charioteer
and Vinayak accompanied by the Ganas destroyed Andhak's chariot. After
being bereft of his chariot, Andhak attacked the deities with his mace.
Seeing the deities in danger, Lord Shiva concealed them within his body
and challenged Andhak for a duel. Andhak tried to attack Lord Shiva who
was mounted on Nandi. Lord Shiva immediately jumped down from Nandi's
back and attacked Andhak with his trident, which pierced his chest. Even
after being seriously injured, Andhak did not die instead he pulled Lord
Shiva for one mile holding him tightly in his clutch. Lord Shiva tried
to resist by attacking for the second time. But Andhak retaliated by
hitting Shiva with his mace causing serious injury on his head. A stream
of blood oozed out from the wound, which poured down towards all the
four directions. The blood stream which poured down towards east
resulted into the manifestation of Bhairav named Kaalraj. Similarly,
Kamaraj, Chakramala, Somaraj, Swachcharaj, Lalitraj and Vighnaraj
manifested from the other three directions.
Lord Shiva then
lifted Andhak above his head with the help of his trident, which was
still pierced in Andhak's chest. His body had become red due to the
blood oozing out from Andhak's wound. Lord Shiva had toiled hard to kill
Andhak and as a result, he was perspiring profusely. The sweat drops
originating from Shiva's forehead resulted into the manifestation of a
divine girl while the sweat drops that fell on the ground from Shiva's
face resulted into the manifestation of a divine boy. Both the children
started gulping down the blood emanating from Andhak's wound. Lord Shiva
named the girl child as Charchika while the boy child was named Mangal
and blessed both of them. Lord Shiva held Andhak above his head for 1000
divine years, which reduced his body to a skeleton.
At last, Andhak
realised his mistake and begged for forgiveness. He eulogised Lord Shiva
and hailed his greatness. Lord Shiva told him that he would forgive him
only when he accepts Parvati as his mother. Andhak agreed not only to
accept Parvati as his mother but also Shiva as his father. Shiva became
pleased and lowered down his trident. He healed Andhak's wound by his
divine touch. The deities became pleased at Andhak's change of heart and
blessed him. Lord Shiva then took Andhak to Mandaar Mountain.
Parvati was still
hiding behind the bushes. When she saw Lord Shiva approaching, she
recognised him and called her companions to come out from their hiding.
Lord Shiva gleefully told Parvati that Andhak had now become her slave.
"Look at him. He is making salutations to you. Accept him as your son.
Andhak then eulogised Parvati with complete devotion. Parvati became
pleased and expressed her desire to bless him with a boon. Andhak said-
"I don't want anything. I just want to become liberated from all my sins
and remain in the proximity of Lord Shiva." Parvati blessed him and made
him the Gana of Shiva who became famous as Bhringi.
Narad asked
Pulastya about the battle which Indra fought with the demon at Malay
Mountain. Pulastya replied- "Andhak's followers- Maya and Taar tried to
enter Pataal loka after being defeated by the deities. While they were
passing close to the Malay Mountain, they decided to live there being
enchanted by its natural beauty. The caves of Malay Mountain were
inhabited by sages who were Lord Shiva's devotees. The demons started
causing obstacles in the rituals performed by the sages. When Lord Shiva
came to know about this, he instructed Indra to go to Malay Mountain and
help the sages. Indra went to Malay Mountain and successfully drove out
the demons from there.
Narad again asked
Pulastya as to why Indra was also known as Gotrabhit. Pulastya narrated
the following tale- "After her son's death, Diti requested her husband,
Kashyap to bless her with another son so that Indra could be killed.
Sage Kashyap advised her that she would get her desire fulfilled after
the successful accomplishment of her penance lasting for 100 divine
years. In course of time, Diti became pregnant. One day, sage Kashyap
left for Udaygiri Mountain to do his penance and Diti was left all
alone.
One day, Indra
arrived at the hermitage and expressed his desire to be at Diti's
service if she permitted. Diti gave permission and Indra engaged himself
in serving her. He used to keep the oblation site clean and bring dry
wood necessary for the performance of Yagya. This continued for 1000
divine years. One day, Diti was taking rest after her bath. She had
postponed her penance for sometime because of her impurity. As she was
tired, very soon, she fell asleep. Seeing the moment opportune, Indra
entered into her womb through her nostrils and cut the foetus into seven
parts. After waking up, Diti realised about her foetus' destruction.
Indra was very scared on the prospect of being cursed by Diti and said-
"I am not the cause of your foetus' destruction. It has been destroyed
due to your own impurity. So please don't curse me." Diti replied- "You
are certainly not responsible for my foetus' destruction. It was all in
my destiny. From the pieces of the foetus manifested the Marut Ganas and
since Indra had tried to harm his own uterine brothers therefore he
became famous as Gotrabhit.
Sage Pulastya says-
"O Narad! Now, I am going to describe about the origin of Marut Ganas of
various Manvantaras. Savan was Swayambhu Manu's son. He had no sons and
when he died, the sorrowful queen- Sudeva heard a heavenly voice, which
instructed her to give up her life by jumping into the burning pyre."
"You would become a proud mother of seven sons", said the heavenly
voice. The queen acted accordingly and died after jumping into the
burning pyre."
"The souls of the
dead king and queen ascended towards the sky. The prophesies made by the
heavenly voice came true and Sudeva found herself in her periods. The
king enjoyed a physical relationship with the queen for five days.
Incidentally, few drops of sperms fell towards earth. After this both
the souls departed towards Brahma loka. These falling drops of sperms
were gathered by the wives of some sages and stored in a lotus flower.
Those women were Samana, Nalini, Vayushmati, Chitra, Vishakha, Harita
and Alini. They mistook the sperms for ambrosia and drank it after
getting permission from their husbands. But after drinking it, they
became devoid of their effulgence and were abandoned by their respective
husbands. In course of time, they gave birth to seven sons who became
famous as Aadya Maruts during Swayambhu Manvantara."
After having
described about the Marut Ganas, sage Pulastya went on to describe about
Swarochish Manvantara- "Kratudhwaj was the son of Swarochish Manu. He
had seven sons. All of them went to Meru Mountain to do penance as they
were desirous of Indra's kingdom. Indra being scared instructed Putna to
create hurdles in their penance so that Kratudhwaj's sons wishes
remained unfulfilled."
"Putna went to the
place where Kratudhwaj's sons were doing penance. There was a river
nearby where Kratudhwaj's sons arrived one day to bathe. Acting
according to her plan, Putna too entered into the river to take bath.
Kratudhwaj's sons were infatuated by her divine beauty. They could not
control themselves and as a result, they had an ejaculation. Putna was
successful in accomplishing her mission of corrupting the thoughts of
Kratudhwaj's sons, who after realising that their penance had gone in
vain returned to their father's kingdom. The released sperms of
Kratudhwaj's sons was swallowed by a fish named Shankhini. One day, she
was caught by a fisherman and presented to Kratudhwaj's sons, who again
released her into a nearby pond. In course of time, Shankhini died after
giving birth to seven young fish. The seven young fish started crying at
their mother's death. Lord Brahma appeared and advised them not to cry
and for this reason, they were called Marut. Lord Brahma blessed them by
saying- "All of you would attain the status of deities and would be
capable of flying in the air." After finishing his story, sage Pulastya
told Narad that this was how Marut Ganas originated during Swarochish
Manvantara.
Sage Pulastya says-
"Now, I am going to describe about the Marut Ganas of Uttam Manvantara.
Jyotishmaan was the son of Vayushmaan and his wife was the daughter of
sage Vrihaspati. As they were sonless, both of them decided to do
penance to beget a son. The Saptarishis arrived there and enquired as to
why they were doing such a severe penance. Jyotishmaan's wife told the
Saptarishis that they were desirous of a son. The Saptarishis blessed
her by saying that she would become a mother of seven sons. In course of
time, Jyotishmaan's wife became pregnant. One fateful day, Jyotishmaan
passed away. His sorrowful wife wanted to commit Sati. While he was
sitting on the burning pyre, suddenly, a piece of burning flesh fell
into the nearby river and got fragmented into seven pieces. Seven Marut
Ganas manifested from these seven pieces of flesh."
Sage Pulastya says-
"During Taamas Manvantara, Ritdhwaj, the son of Taamas Manu did a severe
penance with the desire of getting a son. He made offerings of his own
flesh, blood and sperms to the oblation fire. Suddenly, he heard a
heavenly voice instructing him not to make offerings of his sperms. But
the king continued with his offering and as a result, he died. After
sometime, seven infants manifested from the oblation fire who later on
became famous as the Marut Ganas of Taamas Manvantara."
King Ripujeet was
the descendant of Raivat. He was sonless and after being pleased by his
extreme devotion, the deity- Sun had blessed him with a daughter named
Surati. In course of time, she grew into a beautiful woman. One day,
Ripujeet passed away and a grieved Surati decided to give up her life.
The Saptarishis arrived there and they were so infatuated by her beauty
that they tried to prevent her from doing so. But unrelenting Surati did
not listen and gave up her life by jumping into the burning pyre. The
sorrowful Saptarishis went away after casting lusty glances on her.
Seven infants manifested from the burning pyre, who became famous as
Marut Ganas of Raivat Manvantara.
During Chaakshush
Manvantara, a sage named Manki did a tremendous penance at the banks of
Saptasaraswat. But he fell down from grace after being infatuated by the
beauty of an Apsara named Vapu. His sperms ejaculated and fell into the
Saptasaraswat river from which manifested the seven Marut Ganas.
After hearing the
news of Bali's coronation, Maya and some other demons went and advised
Bali to avenge the killings of his father- Virochan and other relatives
by Indra. Bali became furious and marched with a huge army to fight the
deities.
When Indra heard
this news, he started making preparations for the battle and very soon,
the deities' army assembled at the foothills of Udyachal Mountain. A
fierce battle was fought between both the armies. The movement of the
troops covered the whole sky with dust which subsided only after the
tremendous bloodbath wetted the earth with blood. Kartikeya fought
valiantly in this battle and killed many demons. The demons too
retaliated by vigorously attacking the deities. Lord Vishnu created
havoc in the demons' army by killing many demons in a very short time.
When Kaalnemi- the
demon saw that his comrades were scared of fighting Lord Vishnu, he
attacked the deities with renewed vigour and swallowed many of the
Yakshas, Kinnars and the deities. The deities became scared and started
running away from the battlefield. The demons became delighted
considering it as their victory and the defeat of Lord Vishnu. Lord
Vishnu became furious and covered the Udyachal Mountain with a volley of
arrows named Naarach. Bali and Maya became terrified and instigated
Kaalnemi to fight against Lord Vishnu.
Kaalnemi confronted
Lord Vishnu with a mace but it was destroyed by Vishnu's chakra. After
destroying Kaalnemi's weapon, Lord Vishnu first severed both his hands
and then his head. The news of Kaalnemi's death spread like a wildfire
in the demons army and they fled from the battlefield.
This chapter
contains 2 sections:
The mighty Banasura
saw the demons running away from the battlefield and came to their
rescue. The arrival of Banasura boosted the morale of the defeated
demons and they returned to fight the deities. Lord Vishnu advised the
deities to fight gallantly and disappeared from the battlefield.
Shukracharya assured the demons of their victory because he thought that
the deities would be no match for the demons might in the absence of
Lord Vishnu.
Once again, a
fierce battle commenced. Bali attacked the deities ferociously with his
mace. Banasura devastated the deities' army with his thousand hands.
Ultimately, the deities were defeated in this battle and the heaven came
under the control of demons. The defeated deities took refuge in Brahma
loka after abandoning the heaven. Bali ruled the heaven with the help of
his relatives.
One day, Bali
called his father- Prahlad to heaven and requested him to become the
ruler of heaven but Prahlad refused by saying- "As I have chosen the
path of Yoga after relinquishing everything, it would not be proper for
me to get attached to worldly matters once again. Since you have
snatched heaven from the deities on account of your valiance, hence the
heaven belongs to you." Bali requested Prahlad to enlighten him on the
duties of a king and on the virtuous deeds which would enable him in
attaining Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha.
Prahlad advised
Bali to rule in a just manner and for the benediction of the world. He
also advised Bali to engage himself in the service of all the three
castes so that they remain loyal to him. Prahlad said- "Virtuosity
increases when people unwaveringly follow their Dharma. Increase in
virtuosity helps a king to rule without any problem."
Bali agreed to rule
in a just manner as per the advice of Prahlad.
Pulastya says- "The
just rule of Bali had transformed the Kaliyuga into Satayuga. Even his
subjects engaged themselves in virtuous activities like penance and
Yagyas. They practised non-violence and always spoke the truth. One day,
Goddess Trailokya Lakshmi went to Bali and said- "I have come to bless
you because you are a victorious king. You have even defeated Indra and
have control over all the three worlds." After saying this, Goddess
Lakshmi entered into the body of Bali.
During the reign of
Bali, his subjects were happy and prosperous. Nobody experienced the
pangs of hunger and everybody's desire was fulfilled. The prominence of
virtuosity and religiousness during Bali's rule was incomparable and
prosperity prevailed throughout his kingdom.
This chapter
contains 7 sections:
Pulastya says-
"During his pilgrimage, Prahlad visited many sacred places like Manas
Tirtha, Kaushiki, Devahnad and Hastinapur etc. At last he reached the
bank of river Yamuna where he worshipped Lord Trivikram (Vaaman)." Narad
was surprised at the mention of Vaaman's name and asked Pulastya- "Lord
Vishnu is still to take Vaaman incarnation then how come Prahlad visited
his temple? Pulastya says-"Sage Kashyap had an Aurasputra named Dhundhu.
Lord Brahma had blessed Dhundhu of immortality. In course of time,
Dhundhu defeated the deities and drove them out from heaven as a result
of which, they had to take refuge in Brahma loka.
When Dhundhu came
to know that the deities were living in Brahma loka, he decided to
attack Brahma loka. He consulted the demons but they told him that it
was impossible for them to reach Brahma loka. Sage Shukracharya said-
"Indra had accomplished 100 Ashwamedha Yagyas by the virtue of which, he
could go to Brahma loka. If you are desirous of reaching Brahma loka
then you too will have to perform Ashwamedha Yagya." Dhundhu expressed
his willingness to perform Ashwamedha Yagya.
Shukracharya
started making preparations for Ashwamedha Yagya at the bank of river
Devika. He appointed his disciples and some other sages belonging to
Bhargava's clan to supervise the Yagya ceremony. The Ashwamedha Yagya
commenced and a horse was let loose according to the tradition.
When the deities
came to know about this Ashwamedha Yagya being performed by Dhundhu,
they were scared and requested Lord Vishnu to disrupt the Yagya so that
Dhundhu could not reach Brahma loka. Lord Vishnu assured the deities and
went to the site where Dhundhu was performing Ashwamedha Yagya in a
dwarf appearance. He entered into the Devika River and started drowning
according to his plan.
When the demons saw
the dwarf (Lord Vishnu) drowning, they rushed to save him. After taking
him out from the river, they asked him about his identity. The dwarf
said- "I am the youngest son of Prabhas. My name is Gatibhaas and my
elder brother is Netrabhaas. After our father's death, my elder brother
did not give me my due share in the property. When I insisted, he flung
me into this river."
The Brahmins who
were performing the Yagya requested Dhundhu to donate wealth to
Gatibhaas. Dhundhu agreed and said- "I am willing to fulfil all your
wishes. Demand anything you like. Gatibhaas demanded a small piece of
land measured by three steps. Lord Vishnu then revealed his giant
appearance and covered the whole earth with his first step. His second
step covered the heaven and there was no place left for his third step.
Lord Vishnu became furious and put his third step on the back of Dhundhu
as a result of which he was crushed to death. A large pit measuring 1000
Yojans was created due to the impact of his weight and Lord Vishnu threw
Dhundhu's dead body in that pit."
After completing
his story, Pulastya told Narad- "This is how Lord Vishnu became
Trivikram for the first time to defeat the evil designs of Dhundhu.
Prahlad paid a visit to the temple of Vaaman situated at the place where
Dhundhu was killed.
Pulastya says-
"After worshipping Lord Trivikram, Prahlad went to Lingabhedak Mountain
and worshipped Lord Shankar. He also visited many more sacred places
like Kedar Tirtha, Badrikashrama, Bhadrakarna and Vipaasha. At last, he
reached Irawati and worshipped that Almighty Lord with whose blessings,
Pururava was able to regain his good looks." Narad was curious to know
this story.
Pulastya says-
"Once upon a time, there lived a rich trader named Sudharma. Once, while
passing through the Surashtra desert, he was attacked by bandits and
robbed of all his possessions. Dejected, he started wandering in the
desert like a lunatic. He saw a Shami tree and decided to take rest
under its shade. On this tree lived numerous ghosts. On seeing Sudharma,
the leader of the ghosts asked him as to where he was going. Sudharma
narrated his woeful tale which made the ghosts very sad. The leader of
the ghosts said- You must not lose heart. If you are destined to possess
wealth then you would become wealthy once again but worrying about your
lost wealth will only have ill effects on your health and you would
become weak. On being instructed by their leader, the ghosts offered
food to the hungry Sudharma. After satiating his hunger, Sudharma asked
the leader of the ghosts- Who are you? How could you provide me such a
delicious dish in this deserted forest? The leader of the ghosts said-
"In my previous birth, I was a Brahmin and my name was Somasharma. I was
very poor but my neighbour Somashrava was a rich and prosperous trader.
Being a poor Brahmin, I was not able to perform my religious duties.
Once, people of all castes thronged Irawati and Nadvala to take a holy
dip on the auspicious occasion of Shravan Dwadashi. I followed them and
after taking my bath, performed all the necessary rituals. As I was
poor, I could donate things of little importance like umbrella, shoes,
sweets, curds etc. This was the first and the last time, I had donated
anything in my life. After my death, I became a ghost. My companions
also never donated anything in their previous life. The delicious food
which you had relished just now was due to the virtue of food items
donated in my previous life. This Shami tree is due to the virtue of
donating umbrella."
Somasharma was
surprised and asked the leader of the ghosts whether he could be of any
help to him to which the leader requested him to offer Pind Daan at Gaya
so that he became liberated from Preta Yoni. Somasharma went to Gaya and
performed the necessary rituals of Pind Daan as a result of which, the
ghosts went to Brahma loka after being liberated.
Somasharma
continued to observe the fast of Shravan Dwadashi every year. One
fateful day, he passed away and was reborn in a royal family. After
reaching youth age, he became the king of Shaakal Puri and indulged in
enjoyments and sensual pleasures. After his death, he was born in a
Brahmin family. Though ugly, he was well versed in all the scriptures.
After a few years, he got married. His wife would make fun of his ugly
looks which annoyed him. He went to Irawati and worshipped Lord
Jagannath with full devotion. Lord Jagannath blessed him and his ugly
looks turned into a handsome appearance. He enjoyed a very satisfied
married life and after his death was reborn as King Pururava.
Sage Narad asks
Pulastya about the austerity named Nakshatra Purusha which King Pururava
had accomplished to please Lord Vishnu. Pulastya says- "All the
constellations dwell in different parts of Lord Vishnu's body. The Mula
Nakshatra dwells in his feet, Rohini Nakshatra in his thighs, Ashwini in
his knees, Purvashadha and Uttarashadha in his chest etc. A devotee who
worships Lord Vishnu- the possessor of all the constellations
methodically and according to the rituals attains liberation.
Worshipping Lord Vishnu's different organs helps in attaining good
health and a disease free life. Being pleased by this austerity, Lord
Vishnu bestows radiance and sweet voice to the devotee. Arundhati had
achieved great acclamation due to the successful accomplishment of this
austerity. Aditya with a desire of a son had his wish fulfilled in the
form of Revant, his famous son. The Apsaras- Rambha and Menaka had
acquired unparalleled beauty and sweet voice respectively after
successful accomplishment of this austerity. Similarly, Chandra had
attained supreme radiance and Pururava regained his kingdom. This way,
whoever performed this austerity, his desire was fulfilled.
Pulastya says-
"Prahlad went to the sacred place called Rishikanya and took a holy dip
in the Irawati River. After that, he worshipped Lord Janardan in the
temple situated nearby and then proceeded on his journey towards
Kurukshetra. After reaching there, he worshipped Lord Kurudhwaj and paid
a visit Lord Narsimha temple. After taking a holy dip in the river
Devika, he proceeded on towards Gokarna Tirtha where he took bath in
river Prachi and worshipped Lord Vishwakarma. Ultimately after visiting
numerous sacred places, he reached Madhunandini where he worshipped Lord
Shiva who had a chakra in his hands and Lord Vishnu possessing a
trident."
Narad was surprised
and asked Pulastya why Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu had held Sudarshan
chakra and trident respectively. Pulastya explained- "During ancient
times, there was a mighty demon king named Jalodbhav. He had pleased
Lord Brahma by his severe penance and was blessed by him to become
immortal. After receiving the boon, Jalodbhav became arrogant and
started tormenting the deities and the sages. The deities sought the
refuge of Lord Vishnu. They accompanied Lord Vishnu to Himalaya Mountain
to meet Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva exchanged their weapons.
Both of them went to kill the demon who on seeing them got scared and
hid in a nearby river. Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva waited eagerly for him
on the opposite banks of the river."
"After sometime,
Jalodbhav came out of the river thinking that both of them must have
departed by now. He climbed up the Himalaya Mountain and both the
deities chased him. Lord Shiva attacked him with his chakra while Lord
Vishnu pierced his trident in his chest. Jalodbhav died and fell down
from the Himalaya Mountain." After finishing his story, Pulastya says-
"This was the reason why both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shankar had exchanged
their weapons. The spot where Lord Shankar had kept his foot resulted
into the manifestation of river Vitastaa. Prahlad after worshipping Lord
Vishnu and Lord Shiva at Madhunandini went to Bhrigutung Tirtha situated
on the Himalaya Mountain."
Sage Narad was
still not satisfied by Pulastya's explanation and asked Pulastya as to
what compelled Lord Vishnu to give his chakra to Lord Shiva. Pulastya
says- "There used to live a learned Brahmin named Veetmanyu. He was well
versed in all the Vedas and other scriptures. His wife's name was Atreyi
and Upamanyu was his son. Inspite of his knowledge, Veetmanyu lived in
absolute poverty and found it difficult to make arrangements for daily
necessities. One day, young Upamanyu on being hungry started crying. His
helpless mother consoled him by saying that if he worshipped Lord Shiva
then he would even get nectar and would get liberated from the pangs of
hunger for ever. Veetmanyu was surprised and asked as to who this Lord
Virupaaksh was. Atreyi narrated the following story- During ancient
times, there was a demon king named Shridama. He ruled over the whole
earth. Once, he decided to snatch the Srivatsa- Lord Vishnu's dearest
ornament from him. When Lord Vishnu came to know about his intention, he
became furious but since he had no weapon at his disposal he went to
take Lord Shiva's help in this regard. Lord Shiva gave Sudarshan chakra
to him and said that with the help of that infallible weapon, he could
kill anybody. But Lord Vishnu was not convinced about the weapon's
destructive power and expressed his desire to test it on Lord Shiva
himself. Lord Shiva agreed and Vishnu released the Sudarshan chakra
towards him. As a result, Lord Shiva's body was severed into three
parts- Vishvesh, Yagyesh and Yagyayajak. Now, Lord Vishnu became
satisfied and made salutations to Lord Shiva to express his gratitude."
"Lord Vishnu went
to the mountain where the demon Shridama lived and severed his head with
the Sudarshan chakra. After killing the demon, Lord Vishnu returned to
his abode- Ksheersagar." After finishing her story, Atreyi told Upamanyu
that such was the greatness of Lord Virupaaksh. Upamanyu did a severe
penance to please Lord Virupaaksh and was blessed by him as a result of
which, he never felt hungry in his life.
Sage Narad requests
Pulastya to describe how Gajendra managed to release itself from the
jaws of the crocodile. Pulastya says- "There lived a crocodile in a
reservoir near Trikut Mountain. One day, a thirsty elephant arrived
there to quench its thirst. The wicked crocodile caught hold of the
elephant's leg and dragged it towards the middle of the reservoir. The
elephant tried its best to release itself from the crocodile's jaws but
was unsuccessful. Being helpless, it started remembering Lord Shri Hari
as it was his great devotee. It picked up a lotus flower and chanted the
following stotra- 'Salutations to that Lord Vishnu who is the originator
of this universe. Salutations to the omnipresent Lord Vishnu who is
revered by the sages. I take the refuge of Lord Vishnu who is also known
by the names of Vishveshvar, Shri Hari and Sanatan Purush.' This way,
the elephant eulogised Lord Vishnu with great devotion.
Pleased by his
devotion, Lord Vishnu killed the wicked crocodile with his Sudarshan
chakra and liberated the elephant. Actually, this crocodile was none
other than Gandharva Huhu who had attained the form of a crocodile after
being cursed by sage Deval. He was liberated from the curse and went to
heaven. Lord Vishnu touched the elephant and it got transformed into a
divine human being. This way, with the blessings of Lord Vishnu, both of
them were liberated.
Sage Pulastya says-
"There lived a Kshatriya who kept enemity towards Brahmins. After his
death, he was reborn as a demon and spent his life indulging in
nefarious activities. Once he saw a hermit doing penance. He wanted to
devour him but was unsuccessful in his attempt as the hermit had
protected himself by chanting Vishnupanjar stotra. So, he waited for the
hermit for four months to come out from his meditative trance. After the
completion of his meditation, the hermit was surprised to see a weak and
frail demon waiting for him. He asked the demon about his identity and
the purpose for which he was waiting there. The demon told him that
although he had come with the intention of devouring him, he was
unsuccessful in his attempt as he (hermit) was well protected by
Vishnupanjar stotra. "I am very impressed by your spiritual feats and I
am desirous of learning the same from you. I have committed many sins in
my life, so tell me how to become liberated from them", asked the demon.
But the hermit was not convinced and told the demon that he would never
preach a demon. He advised the demon to take help of some other Brahmin.
The demon went in search of another Brahmin. One day, he saw a Brahmin
doing penance and caught hold of him. The Brahmin was frightened and
requested the demon- "Wait until I return after giving this fruit to my
teacher." But the demon thought that the Brahmin was trying to escape
hence he did not allow the Brahmin to leave. The worried Brahmin went
near a burning fire and pleaded for help. Suddenly, Goddess Saraswati
manifested herself and told the Brahmins- "Don't be afraid. With my
blessings, you would be able to narrate the means for the demon's
benediction." After blessing the Brahmin, Goddess Saraswati disappeared.
The Brahmin
narrated the Saraswat stotra to the demon- You must chant the following
stotra thrice in a day- 'I make salutations to Lord Hari who is also
known as Krishna, Hrishikesh, Vasudev, Janardan and Jagannath. May he
liberate me from my sins. I make salutations to Lord Vishnu who rests on
Sheshnaag and who hails Shankchakra Gada and chakra in his hands, may he
liberate me from my sins. Lord Vishnu who manifests himself in each
individual soul just like the element of fire manifests itself in a
piece of wood. May he liberate me from my sins.'
The Brahmin told
the demon that the daily chanting of Saraswat Vishnu stotra would enable
him to get liberated from his sins. The demon was pleased and after
releasing the Brahmin went to a place called Shaalgraam. He engaged
himself in severe penance and started chanting the stotra taught by the
Brahmin. Ultimately, he was successful in becoming liberated from his
sins and went to Vishnu loka.
This chapter
contains 6 sections:
Pulastya says-
"After the departure of Prahlad on his pilgrimage, Bali desirous of
performing a Yagya went to Kurukshetra. Shukracharya had invited the
descendants of sage Bhargava to supervise the proceedings of Ashwamedha
Yagya but his decision was not approved by the descendants of some other
sages like Atri, Gautam, Kaushik and Angira. As a result, all of them
left Kurukshetra.
After their
departure, Shukracharya started making preparations for the Yagya and
initiated both Bali and his wife- Vindhyavali into the rituals. After
that, a horse was let loose according to the tradition. The demon
Tarkaaksh followed that horse. The Ashwamedha Yagya continued for three
months after which, Aditi gave birth to a child who was dwarfish in size
at a time when the Sun had juts entered the zodiac of Gemini. All the
deities and sages including Lord Brahma were extremely pleased by Lord
Vaaman's birth. They went to Aditi's hermitage and eulogised Lord
Vaaman. Lord Vaaman became pleased by their eulogy and requested Lord
Brahma to help perform his consecrations. On being instructed by Lord
Brahma, sage Bharadwaj performed Vaaman's Jaat karma and Yagyopavit.
After that, sage Bharadwaj taught him Vedas and other scriptures which
was mastered by Vaaman in less than one month. After finishing his
studies, Lord Vaaman sought his Guru's permission to go to Kurukshetra.
Sage Bharadwaj expressed his inability by saying- "How can a mortal like
me give permission to the supreme lord? If you want to go to Kurukshetra
then how can I stop you from going there? I have some queries regarding
your various abodes and would you be gracious enough to enlighten me on
that?"
Lord Vaaman said-
"The whole universe including the sky, earth, ocean, mountains, clouds
are pervaded by my existence. All the deities, sages, living and
non-living things have manifested from me. When I took my first
incarnation of Matsya I had my abode in the holy waters of Manas
Sarovar. As my second incarnation of tortoise, I had my abode in the
holy waters of Kaushiki River. I had my abode at Hastinapur when I took
my incarnation as Govind. As Narayan, I had my abode at Badrikashrama,
as Jayesh, I had my abode at Bhadrakarna." This way, Lord Vaaman
described about his different abodes in great detail.
Pulastya says-
"After satisfying Bharadwaj's curiosity about his different abodes, Lord
Vaaman left for Kurukshetra where Bali was busy performing his Yagya. As
soon as Lord Vaaman reached Kurukshetra, the whole earth started shaking
violently and high tides rose in the ocean. Being frightened of Lord
Vishnu, Agni did not accept the offerings made by Bali. Bali was very
surprised by all these sudden developments. He asked Shukracharya about
the reason for all these strange happenings."
Shukracharya
replied- "O king of the demons! Definitely, all these strange happenings
signifies the arrival of Lord Vasudev." Bali then asked Shukracharya as
to what was the most appropriate way of honouring his eminent guest.
"What donations should I make to him so that he is pleased and
satisfied?", asked Bali. Shukracharya warned him by saying- "Forget
about donating anything otherwise you will get into serious trouble."
Bali told him that he would not disgrace himself by refusing to meet the
demands made by Vasudev. "The way a man behaves in his speech, action
and thoughts is the result of his past karmas. Are you not aware of the
incident related with Koshkar which happened at Malay Mountain? Koshkar
was the son of sage Mudgal. He was famous for his austerities and his
wife too was very virtuous. In course of time, a son was born to them
but alas he was blind and deaf. Koshkar's wife abandoned that child in
front of her house. Incidentally, an ogress named Surpaakshi happened to
arrive there and after seeing the abandoned child, exchanged him with
her own child. She carried Koshkar's child to Shaalodar Mountain with
the intention of devouring him. When her husband came to know about the
incident, he reprimanded Surpaakshi for her misdeed. The demon warned
the ogress that both of them would be cursed by the Brahmin and advised
her to keep the child at the same place from where she had brought him."
In the meantime,
Koshkar came out from his hermitage after hearing the cries of
Surpaakshi's child. He was surprised to find some other child instead of
his own and told his wife- "It seems that this child is under the
influence of a ghost." After saying this, he protected the child by
demarcating a round circle initiated with mantra around him. Right then,
the ogress arrived and after keeping the Brahmin's child on the ground
wanted to take back her own child. But she could not enter inside that
circle. Koshkar took his child in his lap and went inside the hermitage.
This way, the ogress returned to the mountain without her child.
Koshkar brought up
both the children with great care. He named the ogress's child as
Diwakar while his own son was named Nisachar. As destiny would have
liked it, Diwakar turned out to be a very studious child and became well
versed in Vedas within a very short time whereas Nisachar was not
interested in studies and had a bad habit of criticising everybody.
Koshkar became furious and threw Nisachar in a well. There was a Amla
tree inside that well and the child survived living on its fruits. This
way, ten years passed and one day, Koshkar's wife arrived at the well to
fetch water. On seeing his mother, Nisachar tried to convince her that
he was her son but she was not convinced. He then accompanied his mother
back home and narrated the reason why he had taken birth as a deaf and
blind child. "In my previous birth, I was the son of Vrishakapi and was
very famous for my scholarly traits. In due course of time, I became
very arrogant and started indulging in all sorts of evil deeds. After my
death, I went to Raurav Narak and suffered all the tortures over there.
I was reborn as a tiger and after being enslaved by a king, I was kept
inside a cage. Once, the king had gone out and the beautiful queen
arrived near the cage. I was infatuated by her beauty and expressed my
lusty desires to her. She was taken aback by my proposal and said- "How
can physical relationship be possible between us?" But I requested her
to release me by opening the cage door. The queen opened the door and I
became free. I caught hold of her and tried to satiate my lust but right
then the guards arrived there and killed me. Once again I went to the
hell and after suffering the pains I was reborn as an ass. My master was
Agniveshya, a Brahmin. Once, his wife- Sumati wanted to go to her
father's house. Agniveshya advised her to go riding on my back and
instructed his servant to escort us. While on our journey, we reached a
river and Sumati expressed her desire to take bath. She went to take
bath and I waited for her to return. While she was taking her bath, I
became infatuated by her beauty and caught hold of her. The servant who
was escorting us saw this and became angry. He killed me by hitting with
his stick. Once again, I went to hell and was reborn as a parrot. A
wicked fowler trapped and sold me to a trader's son. Although I lived a
luxurious life, yet I was not happy because of my slavery. Once, his
daughter arrived near my cage and playfully kept me on her breasts. I
became infatuated and tried to have physical relations with her. But I
was suffocated to death after getting entangled in her necklace. Once
again, I went to hell and after suffering the tortures, was reborn as a
bull. My master was a Chandaal and I used to pull his cart. Once, his
wife was sitting in the cart I was pulling. Unmindful of her
surroundings, she was singing songs in a beautiful voice. After
listening to her melodious voice, I became infatuated and tried to have
physical relations with her. I turned back but the noose around my neck
became tight and I was suffocated to death. Once again I went to hell
and after suffering the pains, was reborn as a blind and deaf son to
you. I remember all my previous lives and I am aware that my physical
disabilities are only because of my past sins. I have decided to atone
for all my sins by doing penance and indulging in virtuous deeds. After
saying this, he went to Badrikashrama to do penance.
After finishing his
story, Bali told Shukracharya that a man inherits his qualities from his
past life and it is impossible for him to change them. "It is applicable
to both good and bad qualities. My penance, virtuosity, benevolence and
generosity have been inherited from my past life and come what may, I
have decided not to shun them."
Pulastya says-
"This way, Bali remained firm in his resolve to meet any demand made by
his esteemed guest and started waiting eagerly for his arrival."
Bali was pleased
that he would get an opportunity to see the Almighty God whom the sages
contemplate upon. He was proud of his good fortune that the lord was
paying him a visit. Shukracharya aware of the reason for Vaaman's
arrival warned Bali against making any promise to him. Bali replied-
"How can I refuse if the Almighty God demands anything from me? I am
willing to face any hardship to safeguard my benevolent image. I don't
mind if the deities get benefited by my actions. Even if the lord is
coming with the intention of killing me, I am not scared as that is how
I would attain salvation. Come what may, I am not going to abandon my
charitable nature."
As the conversation
between Shukracharya and Bali continued, suddenly, Lord Vaaman arrived
at the site. Vaaman's radiance subdued the power of all demons present
there. Lord Vaaman being impressed by the grandeur of Vaaman's Yagya
complimented him for organising such a magnificent Yagya. Bali eulogised
and worshipped his esteemed guest. He requested Vaaman to reveal the
reason of his arrival and promised that his wishes would be fulfilled.
Lord Vaaman smiled and told him that he needed a small piece of land
measured by three steps for the performance of Yagya. Bali was surprised
by this demand and requested him to ask for more land but Lord Vaaman
told him that he needed only that much land.
Bali agreed and
took a vow to donate a piece of land measured by three steps. Hardly had
Bali taken his vow, when suddenly Lord Vaaman expanded his size. His
first step covered the whole earth. By his two successive steps, he
covered the two worlds. This way, Bali was forced to donate all the
three worlds according to his vow. Lord Vishnu then made Indra, the king
of all the three worlds and sent Bali to the nether world named Sutal.
He blessed Bali by saying- "You would enjoy a long life till the end of
this present Kalpa. You would hold the post of Indra till the arrival of
Saavarni Manavantar. As long as you remain supportive of the Brahmins
and the deities, you would enjoy all the pleasures of life. But if you
go against their wishes then you would be fastened by Varun's noose."
After saying this, Lord Vishnu disappeared.
Narad asked sage
Pulastya as to where did Lord Vaaman go after disappearing from the
oblation site. Pulastya replied- "Lord Vaaman went to Brahma loka
mounted on his Garud. On seeing him, Lord Brahma gave a warm reception
and after worshipping him asked about the reason for his sudden arrival.
Lord Vaaman told him that he had sent Bali to Sutal loka for the welfare
of the deities and so that they could get their share of the Yagya. Lord
Brahma expressed his desire to see the giant form of Vishnu which he had
taken while measuring all the three worlds. Lord Vishnu obliged him and
showed his giant appearance. Lord Brahma was impressed and eulogised
him. He requested Lord Vishnu to remain in Brahma loka in his appearance
of Vaaman. Lord Vishnu had agreed to do this and remained there.
Pulastya says-
After reaching the nether world, Bali got constructed a beautiful city
made of diamonds and other precious stones. Vishwakarma had constructed
an enormous sized altar in the central part of the city. The windows of
Bali's palace were well decorated with pearls. Bali lived there in
luxury and by enjoying all the pleasures of life.
One day, while the
demons were engaged in their sensual pleasures, suddenly the fearsome
Sudarshan chakra entered Bali's palace and after making the demons
bereft of their radiance went back to Lord Vishnu. Bali was very worried
and thought that only his grandfather Prahlad could help him out from
this situation. On being remembered by Bali, Prahlad appeared before
him. Bali requested him to describe the means which would be benedictory
to him. Prahlad was pleasantly surprised by his change of heart and
said- "At last, you have realised your mistake. Listen Bali! A man who
takes refuge in Lord Vishnu and surrenders himself to his will becomes
liberated from all the miseries and sorrows of life. A man who has
accepted Lord Vishnu as his master need not fear from anything not even
death. All the things which are visible in this universe are the various
manifestations of Lord Vishnu himself. A devotee of Lord Vishnu does not
have to go to hell and he becomes liberated from the cycles of birth and
death." This way, Prahlad described about the greatness of Lord Vishnu
and his worship in great detail.
Bali enquired about
the virtues which a man attains by the worship of Lord Vishnu. He also
asked Prahlad about the worship and its rituals by which Lord Vishnu is
pleased. Prahlad says- "Sages believe that the donations which are made
with total devotion and in the name of Lord Vishnu exist forever. Lord
Vishnu is extremely pleased if Malati, Shataavari, Champa, Juhi and
Naagar flowers are offered to him. He is also pleased when the offerings
of Bilva patra, Shami patra, Tamaal and Amaali patra are made to him. He
is pleased when sesame seeds are donated during the Hindu month of
Maagh. A person who gets a Vishnu temple constructed liberates his
ancestors from their sins. Bali, you must get the Vishnu temple
constructed and worship with complete devotion. You must try to please
Lord Vishnu by making donations of cow, jewels, gold and land. If you
engage yourself in such virtuous activities then you will certainly
attain benediction." After saying this, Prahlad disappeared.
After Prahlad's
departure, Bali followed his instructions faithfully and engaged himself
in the worship of Lord Vishnu. He instructed Vishwakarma to construct a
magnificent temple of Lord Vishnu and started worshipping Lord Vishnu
accompanied by his wife. He used to clean the temple premises and offer
the articles which were dear to Lord Vishnu. This way, Bali and his wife
Vindhyavali engaged themselves in the worship of Lord Vishnu with
complete devotion.
Study of Vaaman
Puraan helps a man to enhance his knowledge and makes him free from all
kinds of worldly attachments. It also increases his love and devotion
towards the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu. There are ten characteristics
evident in all the Puraans- 1) Sarg. 2) Visarg. 3) Sthaan. 4) Poshan. 5)
Uti. 6) Vritti. 7) Raksha. 8) Manvantara. 9) Vansh. 10) Upaashraya.
Sarg deals with the
descriptions of the origin of this universe. Visarg enlightens us as to
how a living thing transforms itself from one species to another.
Sthaan, Poshan, Uti and Vritti deal with the descriptions of various
means which are employed by a man for his survival. Raksha describes
about the various incarnations of Lord Vishnu which he takes for the
protection of the humankind. Manvantara deals with the complete
description of the history of the whole Manvantara period. Vansh
describe about the lineage of all the kings including Lord Brahma.
Upaashraya enlightens us on the real meaning of Brahma.
Pulastya says- "A
man who listens to the divine tales of Vaaman Puraan attains to Vishnu
loka after becoming free from all his sins. He attains the same virtues
which a performer of Ashwamedha Yagya does. Even listening to one part
of Vaaman Puraan bestows great virtues and equivalent to making
pilgrimage of numerous sacred places. Narad, Vaaman Puraan is the 14th
among all the 18 Puraans which describes about the majesty of Lord
Vishnu."
Five names of Lord
Vishnu has been mentioned in Vaaman Puraan- Kaaran Vaaman, Narayan,
Amitvikram, Shaargang chakra and Purushottam. A devotee who chants any
of these sacred names of Lord Vishnu and makes salutation either by
speech, thought or deed attains to Vishnu loka.
This chapter
contains 2 sections:
Pulastya says after
being defeated by the demons Indra went to Brahma loka and narrated his
woeful tale to him. Sage Kashyap- his father was also present there.
Lord Brahma told Indra that he was reaping the fruits of his evil deeds.
Sage Kashyap told him that his miseries were due to the sin acquired by
the destruction of Diti's foetus. Indra asked both of them, how his sins
could be atoned. Lord Brahma advised him to take Shri Hari's help.
Indra then went to
the north of Kalinjar Mountain and started living in a hermitage
situated on the bank of river Mahanadi. He did penance for one year.
Pleased by his devotion, Lord Vishnu appeared and blessed him saying-
"Your austere penance has liberated you from the sin of destroying
Diti's foetus and very soon, you will regain your kingdom." After
receiving the blessing, Indra went to Aditi's hermitage and narrated the
tale of his defeat at the hands of demons. Aditi knew that Indra would
not have been defeated had Lord Vishnu been on his side during the
battle. So, she went to Lord Vishnu and worshipped him with devotion.
Lord Vishnu assured her that very soon, he would incarnate as her son
and destroy the demons. Having said this, a part of Lord Vishnu's
effulgence entered into Aditi's womb.
After Lord Vishnu
had established himself inside Aditi's womb, the demons became devoid of
their radiance. Bali was surprised by this sudden development and asked
Prahlad about it. Prahlad went into deep meditation and saw Lord Vishnu
manifesting in Aditi's womb. After coming out from his meditative
trance, he told Bali that the demons had lost their radiance due to Shri
Hari who is about to take incarnation at the request of the deities.
The arrogant Bali
made fun of Shri Hari by saying- "Who is this Shri Hari? We have many
mighty warriors in our ranks who are more powerful than Vasudev."
Prahlad was a devotee of Shri Hari and he did not like the arrogant
utterances of Bali. He cursed him by saying that very soon he would meet
his downfall and lose his kingdom. After being cursed, Bali realised his
mistake and begged for forgiveness. Prahlad too had calmed down by that
time and said- "Even though Lord Vishnu is omnipresent, I cursed you
being under the influence of my ignorance. My words will certainly
become true but don't lose heart. Go and take refuge in Shri Hari- the
supreme protector. He will liberate you from all your sorrows." After
saying this, Prahlad went on his pilgrimage.
Lord Vishnu takes
rest on Sheshnaag during the whole period of Uttaraayan, which begins
just after the last day of the bright lunar phase in the Hindu month of
Ashaadh is over. After he goes to sleep, all the deities, Gandharva,
Devamaata etc. follow suit.
Narad
requested Sage Pulastya to shed light on the days when the deities take
rest. Sage Pulastya replied- "A devotee should consider the eleventh day
of the Hindu month of Ashaadh Shukla Paksha, when the Sun enters the
zodiac of Gemini as the day when Lord Vishnu goes to rest. A devotee
should make a replica of Sheshnaag and after worshipping the idol of
Lord Vishnu, lay him down to rest on the twelfth day. Kamadev is said to
take rest on the thirteenth day on his bed made of Kadamb flowers. The
Yakshaganas take rest on the fourteenth day of the Hindu month of
Ashaadh Shukla Paksha. Their beds are made of yellow lotus. Lord Shiva
is believed to take rest on Purnima. His bed is made of tiger skin.
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