Stories from Srimad Bhagavatam
Chapter 13: Churning the ocean
Shukracharya was the spiritual preceptor of the asuras. He had
given them invincible weapons which were used against the devas. The devas were
not adequately equipped to manage the terrible onslaught of the asuras.
Durvasa’s curse had divested Indra of his power. The devas were gradually
getting depleted in number. The deities approached Brahma for help. He
presented the case of the suras to Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu readily offered to help with a warning about the rigid discipline
the gods were to observe. He said, “Make a careful note of my instructions. Let
there not be the slightest digression. You know that the asuras have the able
guidance of Shukracharya. He will catch you red handed if you try any mischief.
He will at once turn the asuras against you successfully, foiling all your
chances of recovery. Deal with them with utmost caution. Pretend to make peace
with your adversaries. Attitude of conflict will be detrimental to achieving
our objective. Enacting a farce friendship, get them to work with you for
obtaining nectar which bestows immortality even on mortals. Finally you will be
the sole beneficiaries. Keep this as a guarded secret. Get yourself busy soon.
Throw the herbs and plants into the milky ocean. Use the mountain Mandara as
the churning rod while Vasuki, the king of the nagas, will serve as the rope to
rotate the Mandara. Note that humility would be the stepping stone to your
victory. Politely accede to the dictates of the asuras without any friction. No
need to be alarmed when poison emerges as one of the products of churning. Do
not exhibit any resentment if you have to sacrifice your wishes for the success
of your plans. I am well aware that it’s going to be a frustrating trial on
your emotions but you have to keep cool.”
Expressing their gratitude to the Lord, they went to Bali,
the king of the asuras for a truce. Bali was
gratified with the change in the attitude of the devas. He ordered his army to
stop aggression. The army chiefs found their hands tied against the unarmed
enemies whom they could vanquish effortlessly. Complying with the plan of the
deities for a joint churning of the ocean for nectar, Bali
made sure of an equal share for the asuras.
With great enthusiasm, the asuras and the devas uprooted the
Mandara. They needed the assistance of Sri Hari to transport it on his Garuda
to the ocean as it was a task beyond the combined strength of the two parties.
Vasuki was promised his share of the nectar if he agreed to be the rope for
churning. All was set for the commencement of the great task, with Vasuki wound
round the mountain. The asuras wanted to be at the snake’s head for auspicious
reasons. Sri Hari was holding the head of the snake. He smilingly acceded to Bali’s request. The deities held the tail and vigorous
churning got started. The heavy weight of the mountain was drawing it
repeatedly into the water. Sri Hari in the form of a tortoise held the mountain
on his back to stop it from sinking. With a proper anchor provided, the
churning continued without hindrance, the energy for the strenuous act being
pumped into the two sides by Vishnu. The aquatic creatures were highly agitated
by the velocity of the churning. The fire and heat emitted by Vasuki was
draining the asuras which was evident from the slackened speed. The deities
were also exhausted but were revived by a cool downpour. As things were progressing
thus, the foaming poison called halahala emerged out. It posed a serious
problem to the lives of the creatures under water. The patriarch of the
creatures pleaded help from Shambhu [Shiva] who took it up as his duty to save
the situation. Lord Shiva held the poison in the hollow of his palm and drank
it. He arrested the poison in his throat which tainted it blue. Hence he gets
his epithet ‘neelakantha’ His consort Bhavani was delighted at the life saving
act of her husband and so were the creatures. A few drops of poison spilled
from his palm which was consumed by some aquatic creatures, scorpions, snakes
and herbal plants. This gave them the permanent intrinsic poisonous character.
Churning continued further which brought forth the sacred cow Surabhi whose
milk and milk products, like butter and curd were used for the sacrificial
oblations. Ucchaishravas, the best of horses, went to Bali
who expressed a desire to own it. Sri Hari advised Indra not to compete with Bali for the possession of the horse. Iravatha, the king
of elephants, became Indra’s vehicle. Parijata, the most beautiful flower went
to the celestial region. Like the flash of light, Goddess Lakshmi emerged from
the ocean spreading her radiance in all quarters. The devas and the danavas
were spell bound by the beauty of the divine lady. Each one was vying to win
her favour by offering her the best gift possible. They had an eye on the good
fortune she would bring along if she was pleased with any one of them. Lakshmi
strolled around like a moving golden creeper with a lotus garland in hand. She
was assessing them, but was not impressed by any of them. Each seemed to have
some glaring flaw displeasing to her. The first site of Sri Hari coveted her
heart. She recognized the lust free character of the Lord, the refuge of
everyone. What she liked most was, he was not in the rat race with others to
possess her. She saw in him a person suitable to be her husband. She bashfully
garlanded him, indicating her choice of husband. Sri Hari also accepted her
with pleasure by offering the left side of his chest as her abode close to his
heart.
So far innumerable things appeared from the churning but the
important of all, for which the entire process was started, still eluded them.
They decided to continue till they achieved the object of desire. Ultimately,
an effulgent well adorned male, surfaced with a pot of nectar. On seeing the
pot of nectar, the asuras threw to the wind their agreement of sharing it with
the devas. They snatched the pot from Dhanvantari, the person who came out from
the ocean. Dhanvantari is the propagator of medicine and the father of the
science of Ayurveda. Having proved their deceitful nature, the asuras were
excited about having the entire nectar to themselves. Depressed devas reported
to Sri Hari about losing the nectar to the cunning asuras. The Lord consoled
them and promised to make the danavas have a taste of their own bitter pill by
his illusory powers.
Infighting among the asuras began as to who should have the first taste of the
nectar. Petty bickering grew into a terrible conflict of enmity. Finding the
moment congenial, Sri Hari made his appearance as a beautiful young woman with
seductive looks. The asuras momentarily ceased to fight, being captivated by
the beauty of the lady. Fancying her to have been sent by the Almighty for
their good, the asuras agreed to solve their problem by requesting her to be
their mediator. They made the request by handing over the pot to her. She took
a verbal undertaking from the asuras that they would accept her decision,
agreeable or not, as final. Both the parties were made to wait in a room till
the lady walked in with the pot. The repulsive unfair behaviour of the asuras
forced Sri Hari to decide against awarding any nectar to the danavas, more so
because the asuras were his arch enemies. The lady allotted places in rows for
the asuras and the deities. Beguiling the asuras with loving words, she started
the distribution with the celestials. The daityas did not dare express their
dissension against the decision of giving priority to the deities. One reason
was, they did not want to be blamed for breach of contract, which they feared
might result in losing their entire share of the nectar. Secondly, impropriety to
argue with a woman deterred them from even opening their mouths. Amidst the
trickery of the Lord, Rahu, one of the asuras, acted smartly to outwit even the
Almighty. Assuming the form of a celestial, Rahu seated himself between the sun
and the moon. They could see through his disguise and instantly exposed him.
Rahu had just then poured the nectar into his mouth. The Lord severed Rahu’s
head, not allowing the nectar to go down the throat. Otherwise, Rahu would have
become immortal. However the nectar in his mouth made his head indestructible.
So, Shiva agreed to give his head a position among the planets. (Ketu, his pair planet, is
believed to represent his body. Thus they formed the navagraha along with the
seven Lords of the week namely, Surya, Soma, Mangala, Budha, Guru, Shukra and
Shani ) It is believed that Rahu has his revenge on the sun
and the moon on the two dark days in a month. The new moon day is when there is
no moon indicating that the sun loses its power by which the moon gets light.
On the full moon day though its orb is complete, it is the last day of the
waxing fortnight. It’s a sign of the moon being at the end of its glory
with its waning to begin the next day. So the full moon day is the dark day for
the moon. There is a mythical story that the solar eclipse and the lunar
eclipse are caused because Rahu eats up the sun and the moon on these occasions
to allay his wrath. When the entire nectar had been distributed among the
deities, the Lord discarded his assumed form of a lady.
This story has an advice for the intelligent planning of our lives also. Life
presents various opportunities and it is for us to properly utilize them to our
benefit. The situation was equally conducive to the asuras and the devas to
have the nectar to attain immortality. But the asuras lost the privilege
because they were opposed to the Lord by their deceit while the celestials
sought his unfailing help. Just as a diamond cuts another diamond, the Lord
punished the asuras by a similar foul game. Thus, success is assured if we
follow the righteous path while our life will be a failure if we are evil
minded.
Now what do you think about the reaction of the asuras on being cheated of the
nectar? They could not be expected to meekly take the defeat. They waited for
Sri Hari to depart from the site. They launched a terrible attack on the
deities. Each one chose a suitable rival partner. Bali
stood up against Indra but succumbed to the severe blow from his vajrayudha,
the thunder bolt. Though the asuras had a lot of casualities, they relentlessly
fought with the deities. Using the magical powers, the asuras proliferated so
much that they outnumbered the devas and drained their strength. The Great
Purusha, the Lord, revived them by instilling fresh power and the suras resumed
with renewed vigour. Indra faced a set back when his thunder bolt was
ineffective on Namuchi who took the place of Bali
after he was killed. The demoralized Indra drew Brahma’s notice who revealed to
him the secret of the impenetrable shield of Namuchi. In the past, Namuchi had
obtained a boon from Brahma that he would be beyond the power of a weapon dry
or wet. Indra had to think of a means to defeat the effect of the boon. It
occurred to him that foam would be the solution as it is a combination of water
and air [wet and dry]. It bore the desired result and Namuchi fell dead on the
ground.
Brahma saw the deities heading to annihilate the danavas. He sent the divine
sage Narada to bring about some sobriety in the deities. He told them
that their prosperity and immortality through nectar could not have happened
without the help of the asuras, an idea suggested by Lord Narayana. It is
not proper to indulge in a heinous act of destroying the danavas. He advised
them to desist from the unworthy battle. With due respects to the sage, they
ceased fighting and repaired to their region. Bali
was carried to Shukracharya by the asuras. By the power of the sanjivini
mantra, Bali and most of the dead asuras were
revived by Shukracharya. Bali back to life did
not experience any remorse over his defeat. His spiritual maturity showed him
that one endowed with the power of discrimination between transient worldly
happiness and the ever lasting bliss of the benevolence of God will never be
affected by victory or defeat, good or bad, prosperity or diversity, happiness
or sorrow. He had given a sermon to Indra about the philosophy of life in the
course of the battle. His magnanimous attitude to life seems so unlike that of
a daitya.
Interesting Anecdotes
Thunderbolt of Indra: The story goes that
rishi Vishvarupa was very fond of his mother. She was from the family of
asuras. Prompted by the affection, he used to give a portion of the sacrificial
oblations secretly to the asuras. Indra detected the treachery of the rishi and
cut off the three heads of Vishvarupa. The head that drank the soma juice
became the chataka bird [the bird that looks up to the sky for the rain water
to quench its thirst]. The second head that enjoyed wines took the form of a
sparrow. The third that ate rice retained its original form. Tashtra,
Vishvarupa’s father performed a yajna to raise an enemy against Indra. Due to
mispronounciation of the word Indrashatru, the meaning changed. Much against
Tashtra's wish, an asura came out of the sacrificial fire, who finally turned
out to be Indra's victim.The asura was called Vritrasura, due to his terribly
fierce personality. He had the capacity to swallow the deadliest of weapons of
the gods. The asura initially exhibited strength that overpowered even the
combined strength of the gods.
Thunderbolt of Indra: The story goes that
rishi Vishvarupa was very fond of his mother. She was from the family of
asuras. Prompted by the affection, he used to give a portion of the sacrificial
oblations secretly to the asuras. Indra detected the treachery of the rishi and
cut off the three heads of Vishvarupa. The head that drank the soma juice
became the chataka bird [the bird that looks up to the sky for the rain water
to quench its thirst]. The second head that enjoyed wines took the form of a
sparrow. The third that ate rice retained its original form. Tashtra,
Vishvarupa’s father performed a yajna to raise an enemy against Indra. Due to
mispronounciation of the word Indrashatru, the meaning changed. Much against
Tashtra's wish, an asura came out of the sacrificial fire, who finally turned
out to be Indra's victim.The asura was called Vritrasura, due to his terribly
fierce personality. He had the capacity to swallow the deadliest of weapons of
the gods. The asura initially exhibited strength that overpowered even the
combined strength of the gods.
Now when Indra was free to ponder over his
past actions, he was shaken by the fear of incurring sin, because Vishvarupa, a
brahmana had been killed by him. He hid himself in the manasarovar in
north-east. Agni, the tongue of gods who carries food for the celestials, had
no access into the water to supply food to Indra. He remained starving for a
thousand years to absolve his sins. In the mean time, Nahusha held the reins of
heaven as its ruler. His arrogant style of reign as well as his attempts to
misbehave with Indra's wife Sachi, brought her to curse him to become a
serpent. Indra returned with a light heart devoid of any guilt and assumed his
position as the king.
Betel leaves and
Chaurasia: Mohini completing the distribution of nectar,left the empty
vessel near Indra's elephant Iravata. Soon the gods noticed a strange creeper
growing out of the urn and became ecstatic about the unexpected appearance of
the plant. Vishnu ordered Dhanvantari to examine the new growth. The god well
informed with the science of medicine discovered the stimulating quality of the
leaves. From then, Vishnu began to offer the leaves as a gesture of love and affection.
The lords forming the trinity came to be associated with the betel trine-Brahma
was the betelnut, Vishnu the betel leaf (tamboola) and Shiva the lime applied
to it.
There is a story as to how the betel leaf came
to earth. The Pandavas, after the victory in Hastinapur, experienced the
fervent desire for tamboola. They immediately sent a messenger to the Queen of
snakes under ground with a request. The queen mightily pleased, obliged to cut
the extreme phalange of her little finger. She sent it to the Pandavas, who
planted the finger bit with great ceremony. Soon the betel creeper was cited.
Since then, the creeper is also referred to as Nagaveli-the snake plant.
[Phalange means the
three joints of bones on each of our fingers represented by the lines on the
inner side of the palm. Extreme phalange is the tip of the finger up to the
first joint.]
There is a brahmana community called the
Chaurasias, in the North of India [present day Bihar].
Its interesting to know how they got that name. Devas once went to
Naimisharanya on earth to perform an important auspicios sacrifice. On their
way back to heaven, oppressed by the heat on earth, they were thirsty. A
particular community offered betel leaves to the gods to quench their thirst.
The juice of the leaves was very soothing to their parched mouth. Impressed by
the hospitality, the gods blessed the people with the title 'Chaturasheetah',
which was later shortened to Chaurasia in Hindi. This brahmana community of
people are believed to be descendants of Kashyapa and Bharadvaja gotra [clan].
[In sanskrit
chaturasheetihi stands for the number eighty four. Vedas accept the species of
gods to be eightfour thousand.The gods therefore called the community by the
number of their species.]
Even today we can see people of the
chaurasia community well established in the betel selling business and
have a clientele that enjoys chewing betel leaves with relish. The picture
above is a betel kiosk, a pan shop.
How did Lakshmi have her birth from the ocean
when Vishnu already had her as his consort ? Once, sage Durvasa had a garland
of beautiful flowers with bees hovering over them for honey. He had received it
from an apsaras who had offered it to Goddess Lakshmi. Durvasa was roaming in
the heaven when he saw Indra on his elephant Iravata. The sage threw the
garland to Indra. In his pride of sovereignty, Indra disregarded the garland,
not knowing that it was a gift to him from Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity.
In effect, he threw away the prosperity laden with the blessings of the
Goddess, which ought to have been accepted with reverence. Instead, he
arrogantly placed it on the elephant’s head. Iravata agitated by the bees in
the flowers, pulled it down and trampled on it. There is another
version of the story. Once when Indra was going in a grand procession followed
by a host of deities, Durvasa threw the garland he had offered to Parvati. Due
to the overflowing crowd, Indra could not take the flowers and it fell on
Iravata's head. The agitated elephant shook his head and the garland fell down.
Unknowingly Iravata trampled on it. Whatever be the story, the quick tempered
sage cursed Indra for his rude behaviour. The curse was that Indra would have
to surrender in defeat, his lordship of the three worlds to the asuras.
Accordingly, Indra was stripped of his supremacy in the war with the asuras.
Indra, immensely depressed, went to Vishnu. In
order to boost his morale and the confidence of the gods, he showed his bare
chest to tell them, he too had lost his Lakshmi. In reality he had veiled the
Goddess from their view by his illusory power of maya. He said that Lakshmi
would emerge from the ocean when churned for nectar. Lakshmi garlanding Sri
Hari as soon as she emerged from the ocean was all premeditated by the Lord to
keep up his make believe story to Indra and the gods. This incident does not
appear to be a mere narration of the usual fight of the asuras and the suras.
It carries a deeper implication. When Vishnu showed his bare bosom, he wanted
to convey that the defeat of the devas was his defeat too, the asuras always
being inimical towards him. The Lord is ever on the side of righteousness.
Lakshmi coming out of the ocean was indicative of the fact that prosperity and
power would be restored to the gods and Indra when nectar is churned out. With
evil intentions to deny the ambrosia to the devas, the asuras would be defeated
in securing even their share of the sweet wine of immortality, assured the
Lord. When that happened, Vishnu too would get back his Lakshmi. This boils
down to the universal truth that joy of victory of evil is fleeting while
honesty and piety are the everlasting victors.'सत्यमॆव जयतॆ
नानृतम् SATYAMEVA JAYATE
NANRUTAM]”.
Chapter 14: Three paces of land
Shukracharya revived Bali
back to life after his death in the devasura battle. Bali
changed his life for the better. He gave away all his wealth to his preceptor
and became the descendent of the Bhrigu race. The descendents of Bhrigu were
appreciative of his sincere devotion. They inspired him to perform the
vishvajit sacrifice to fulfill his desire to be the Lord of heaven. The
oblations were poured into the sacrificial fire. Then a golden chariot having a
lion as the emblem, a quiver with inexhaustible arrows and an ethereal bow came
out. The Bhrigus infused great spiritual energy into Bali.
His grand father Prahlada gave him a garland of unfading lotus while from his
preceptor he received a conch.
With a huge battalion of eminent generals,
Bali marched confidently towards the heavenly city of Indra, striking terror in heaven and earth.
He saw the grandeur of the city where the architectural expertise of
Vishvakarma was evident. In addition to the adequate structural fortification,
the city had a natural protection. It was guarded against entry of wicked,
lustful, greedy unrighteous people. Bali
stationed his army encircling the entire city and blew his conch signaling aggression.
Indra felt his throne was shaken by the loud fierce sound. Bali
appeared to be a formidable foe with overflowing self confidence and power.
Indra was amazed at the strength and wondered how he came to possess it.
Brihaspati cleared the doubt and said, “Indra! Bali
has been loaded with the spiritual energy of the scions of the Bhrigus. Destiny
being favourable to him at the present moment, his luck is sky-rocketing. Only
Sri Hari can stand up against him. It is advisable to remain in hiding outside
heaven, till the opportune time, when Bali
himself would work towards his down fall”. The deities, the sons of Aditi,
acted on Brihaspati’s advice. Assuming unidentifiable forms, they evacuated
Amaravati, the city of the gods. With the way cleared for Bali,
he established himself as the lord of the three worlds. Bali
was renowned far and wide. He was very prosperous with the favour of the
Bhrigus. The brahmanas of the Bhrigus, overjoyed with the victory of their
disciple with the power of the vishvajit sacrifice, desired that he performed
hundred ashvamedha sacrifices. Bali started
the sacrifices in earnest to establish himself firmly as the supreme monarch in
the newly acquired dominion.
Aditi was immensely depressed over the asuras
occupying her sons’ city. Kashyapa rising from his samadhi, deep meditation,
arrived at Aditi’s hermitage after a long time. Seeing his wife very sad, he
was anxious to know if all was well with her. He enquired if she had dutifully
carried out her services to the brahmanas, guests and offered oblations to
sacrificial fires. She assured him there had been no lapse anywhere. She was
miserable about the exile of her sons from Amaravati as also the accession of
their territory by the asuras. She pleaded her all knowing husband to guide her
towards the best way of propitiation of the Lord. She had great faith in the
compassionate Lord’s readiness to help his distressed devotees with
outstretched hands. He was the only ray of hope in her gloomy life shrouded in
sorrow. He had to restore the legitimate right of her sons over their property.
Kashyapa said that Sri Hari would wipe her tears without fail. He instructed
her to observe the vow of payovrata which will grant her the desired result. He
explained that his grandfather Brahma had taught him the procedure, when he was
desirous of having progeny. If the vow was observed with strict adherence to
the rules of austerity, the Almighty would soon fulfill her desire. He
instructed her that she should begin on the first day of the bright fortnight
continued through thirteen days in the month of Phalguna. He also told her as
to what should be done and those to be avoided, laying out clearly the entire
procedure.
Aditi meticulously concentrated on the observance of the vow. At the conclusion
of the vow, she was taken unawares by a most wonderful experience of her life.
She witnessed the Great Purusha Vishnu appear before her eyes. She was so
stunned at the grandeur of the sight that except shedding tears of joy, she
could not express her gratitude otherwise. She silently bowed before him for
his extraordinary favour. The Lord said, “I am aware that you wish to see your
sons prosperous again. But the pity is, the asuras are unconquerable at present
by the energy of the brahmanas of the Bhrigu race. But your flawless observance
of the vow has to be productive. I will soon be born as your son to save your
present sons, the eldest of them being Indra. You must keep this secret to
yourself if our plan has to succeed.” Brahma went into ecstasy on knowing that
the Lord was to enter the womb of Aditi. He praised him as the rescue boat for
a drowning man.
The Lord was born to Aditi on the shravana dvadashi, the twelvth day of the
bright fortnight of the month bhadrapada. Having the mark of srivatsa and
adorned by the kaustubha gem, he was born under the influence of the shravana
star at an hour called abhijit, conducive to victory. This day goes by the name
of vijaya dvadashi. Lord Sri Hari, resplendent with his glorious form, transformed
himself into a dwarf brahmana boy to the astonishment of the couple Aditi and
Kashyapa. Investiture of the thread ceremony was performed and the sacred
Gayatri Mantra taught. Vamana, meaning dwarf, now a full fledged brahmacharin,
received the initiation into the Vedic scriptures.
Vamana, with an umbrella and a kamandalu
of water in hand, set off for the horse sacrifice of Bali.
Bali and other Bhrigu brahmanas assembled
there got up to pay obeisance to the brahmacharin. He was duly offered a seat
and Bali washed his feet, an honour shown to
revered personalities. The initial formalities over, Bali
and the brahmanas rendered the occasion auspicious. Bali
addressed Vamana thus, “O holy brahmana! You have sanctified my sacrifice by
your arrival and I am obliged to you to have given me an opportunity to wash
your feet. This consecrated water is capable of washing away the sins of
everyone including mine. Please let me know how best I can express my
gratitude. I guess you have something in mind which you seek. You have just got
to ask and it shall be granted.” Bali offered
the gift of a cow, a house, gold and many prosperous villages. In reply, Vamana
said, “Who does not know the charitable nature of your predecessors. They never
retracted from their promise. This is ample evidence of their commitment to
truth. You are in no way lacking in any of these noble qualities. I am grateful
for the enormous gifts offered by you. But land measuring just three strides by
my feet is all I need. I am sure you will grant me that.” Bali
was carried away by the praise showered by the boy that blinded him from the
trick behind the request. Bali replied, “You
seem to be an intelligent boy. I am the undisputed lord of the three worlds.
When I can afford to gift a whole continent, you have asked for only three
paces with your small feet. I will not force you to make a second request.
Therefore, I will grant you sufficient land for a decent living.” The boy
replied, “You are a generous person. Think of me too. I will prove myself
unworthy if I am not satiated with what I need. Craving for more will indicate
my greed. No one should promote ones acquisitive instinct even if he be the
lord of the three worlds. Contentment leads to liberation, dissatisfaction to
misery. Need and wealth must be maintained at equilibrium in our lives. So the
three strides of land will be adequate to serve my purpose.” Bali
mockingly smiled at the boy who was naive to reject his generous gift and
insist on having a tiny piece of land. He lifted his kamandalu, the pot of
water to solemnize his promise of granting the three paces of land.
Shrewd and vicious Shukracharya smelt a rat in the mysterious appearance of the
Brahmana boy. He could see Vishnu in that dwarf, who, he knew for sure, had
come there for the cause of the gods. He tried to stop Bali
from the commitment, pointing to the possible danger to his sovereignty. He
warned the king, “You are being deluded by the boy with his apparent
insignificant demand. Know him to be no other than Vishnu himself, come as a
dwarf to deceive you. I am sure he would measure the earth and the heaven with
his two strides and the mid region by his expansive body. May I ask how you are
going to provide for the third stride? Non fulfillment of promise to a brahmana
would destroy the asuras. The infernal region will become your residence with
no saving alternative. Let me remind you that the monetary requirements for the
completion of the sacrifices will be very large. Do not forget the
responsibility you owe to the subjects which is your primary commitment as a
king. Their welfare is solely dependent on the king’s intelligent and right
disbursement of finances. If the wealth in its entirety is lost, providing them
even bare subsistence would become impossible. So take my advice seriously and
not fall into the trickery of this brahmana boy.” Bali
tried to assimilate the wise cautioning of his preceptor. At the end of a
serious deliberation, he humbly conveyed his decision to his guru, “I am
beholden to you for your concerned advice. Without any disrespect to you, I
must confess that I beg to differ. I have given my promise to the brahmana
and do not wish to go back on it. Great personalities like Dadhichi and Shibi
gave up their lives for the good of others. Generous souls as well as worthy
recipients are very rare. When a man dies, he leaves behind all his
possessions. His merits alone accompany him. I am now at the cross roads when a
wise decision is required to lead me along the right path of merit. Why should
I not sacrifice whole heartedly a portion of my earth during my lifetime? Being
the grandson of Prahlada and a celebrated king myself, I do not want to carry
the blemish of breach of promise for the greed of material prosperity. If he is
really Vishnu, I do not think he would descend to the level of coveting my
kingdom by trickery and forfeit his reputation as Lord Supreme. This boy seems
to be least interested in grabbing the sovereignty from me. If he has any such
intentions, let him be brave to fight and win the lordship. If he is an
impostor, I wish to slay such a person.” These words of Bali
did not appeal to Shukracharya. He took it as disobedience arising from high
mindedness. May be it was the decree of Providence
that sent the guru into a fit of rage to curse his disciple to roll down from
the heights of prosperity.
The honest soul, undeterred by the curse, gifted the land to the
brahmana. Bali’s wife Vindhyavali happily
joined her husband in his noble act. Even the celestials, always with their
daggers drawn against the asuras, sent down showers of flowers applauding the
guileless man’s gesture. Lord Vishnu at once accepted the gift from Bali. He grew into a gigantic form, from the size of a
dwarf. One stride took care of the earth. With his second, he measured the
heaven up to the satyaloka while the mid region was covered by his huge body
and arms. Brahma and other gods washed the feet of the Lord when he was taking
the step across the heaven. That sanctified water runs as the sacred Ganges in the three worlds now. There was nothing left
for the third step. The asuras were enraged at the position to which their king
had been reduced. They wanted to attack the enemy but were ably resisted by the
attendants of Vishnu. Bali too advised them to
desist as the time was not favourable to the asuras. Patience was the need of
the hour till lady luck turned towards them as in the previous occasion.
Discontent with the command of their king, the generals withdrew to the Netherlands.
Garuda, Vishnu’s vehicle, tied down Bali with the noose of varuna, while the
horse sacrifice of Bali was still in progress.
Amidst loud wailing by the asuras, the Lord returning to the size of the Vamana
addressed the imprisoned king thus, “I have covered the worlds by my two strides.
There is not an inch for my third step. How are you going to fulfill your
agreement with me? Divine decree for default of promise would be the infernal
region. Excessive arrogance over your wealth induced you to make an open offer
to me. Time has come for you to swallow your pride. You have to reap the reward
for being presumptuous.” Vishnu had no grudge against Bali to punish him. He
wanted to show the world the resolute character of Bali. The employment of the
severest remonstration did not unnerve him and he stood calm till the Lord had
finished speaking. He said, “Do not doubt the honesty of my words. Lord! I will
prove my genuine intentions here and now. Place your foot on my head for your
third stride. It is the best offering I think I have made to you so far, as
compared to the other things in my possession. I am not afraid of any calamity
that the world has in store for me. I am not nervous about the punishment you
may subject me to. Now I have understood that the worldly relationships with our
kith and kin would fade away some day or the other. It is futile to nurture
these attachments. I am at present in a position to comprehend the depth of
spiritual life. My grandfather, Prahlada, was inhumanly tortured by his own
father Hiranyakashipu. The only fault on his part was his steadfast devotion to
you, Lord Vishnu. His unfathomable wisdom had no impact on me all these years
and I was infatuated by the illusive prosperity I saw around me. Now, I have
realized what his life had tried to teach me. It was that you are the only
assured resort worthy of aspiration in a man’s life. My accidental encounter
with you has been a blessing as I have surrendered myself at your lotus feet.
Belonging to the lineage of Prahlada, I cannot afford to malign the prestigious
reputation by being branded ignoble and called the black sheep of the family.”
All those assembled there, were astonished at the mature exposition of Bali to
Vamana, when it was intercepted by the arrival of the honourabe Prahlada. Bali
could not prostrate before his grandfather as he was in captivity. He bowed his
head to express his humble respects. The tears flowing from his eyes, lowered
in
shame for his previous insolent behaviour towards Vishnu, were
more expressive of his repentance than what words would have conveyed. Prahlada
was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of the Supreme Lord. He prostrated before
the Lord and expressed his gratitude for bringing back his child Bali who had
strayed away from the right path. He said, “You elevated him to the position of
Indra by the vishvajit sacrifice. But he was not ready for such honour. He lost
his direction in pride. Dethroning him was the turning point in his life that
brought Bali back to his senses. Great people get caught in the maze of
delusion and wander aimlessly drifting away from you. What to speak of this
immature Bali? O Lord! You have retrieved my child from a disastrous downfall.
I shall ever be beholden to you for your mercy.” Bali’s wife made a very
impressive speech loaded with high philosophy. She said, “You are the Lord of
this universe which is your creative sport. Its contents also belong to you.
The notion of mine and thine is illusory which pervades all living beings
without exception. In ignorance, people offer you things on which they have no
rightful claim. We ourselves are the outcome of your maya. How can we then
assert our ownership on anything in this universe? Power of creation,
preservation and destruction are exclusive to you and we are mere puppets.”
Finally, Brahma pleaded clemency for Bali. He said, “O Lord! You are the cosmic
being who liberates those who seek you in panic and fear of spiritual ruin.
Here is a man who has surrendered all that he thought belonged to him. Without
an iota of remorse he has placed at your feet all the fruits of his meritorious
actions. Even his body is not his anymore. O merciful Lord, in what way does he
deserve the sufferance of bondage? Please show your kindness to this poor soul
and release him.” To this Vamana replied, “I do not have to use my harsh ways
of reformation with devoted people who seldom fall a prey to delusion. Only
persons afflicted by vanity and pride wantonly despise the virtuous blessed
life. I divest them of their wealth that acts as the pride insinuating
intoxicant. People who are slaves to infatuation are tamed by me to come down
to reality from their attitude of disregard to everyone, even to me. But Bali
has adhered to truthfulness. His honest spirit was not sullied despite the long
chain of set backs like losing his sovereignty, forsaken by his kinsmen, and
cursed by his preceptor. My ambiguous lectures on righteousness did not detract
him. His exemplary character has earned him the distinguished place in my
realm. Before I embrace him into my domain, I want to fulfill his desire to
reign as Indra, the lord of paradise. This will happen only in the savarni
manvantara. Till then he can rule over the sutala region beautified by
Vishvakarma, the architect of heaven. I offer myself to guard his fort from
harm. With daityas in attendance, he will enjoy sovereignty. Any transgression
of his command will be properly dealt with by my discus. If by some unexpected
influence of the danavas, demoniac ideas try to raise their heads to obstruct
Bali’s righteous thinking, I will instantly nip them in the bud.” With folded
hands, Bali, in a choked voice, expressed how grateful he was for the Lord’s
benevolence. He said, "With my despicable past, I am not fit to call
myself the Lord’s devotee. You have chosen to bestow on me a favour even beyond
the reach of the gods.” Prahlada expressed his gratitude to the Lord for his
unprejudiced recognition of people who have reformed even though born in the
wretched race of asuras, predominantly given to evil ways. The admirable
quality of the Lord is that he acts as the wish yielding tree for his devotees.
The Lord directed Prahlada to accompany his grandson happily to sutala. He
instructed Shukracharya to complete the sacrifice started by Bali without a
flaw. To the happiness of Aditi and Kashyapa, Vamana crowned Indra as the king
of the three worlds. Since Vamana was the younger brother of Indra, he became
Upendra. Indra took Upendra to heaven and under his able guidance ruled for a
long time.
Chapter 15: Lord's incarnation as fish
Lord decides to come down to earth either at
the end of a kalpa marked by the occurrence of deluge to save the lives on
earth or to set righteousness back on its rails.
The end of a kalpa of the universe constitutes also the end of Brahma’s day.
Once on such an occasion, having reached the end of his day, Brahma retired to
rest and out of force of habit he recited the Vedas in his sleep. Hayagriva, a
danava with a horse head, sitting close to him, stole the Vedas by sheer power
of concentration. Perceiving the action of Hayagriva, Sri Hari retrieved the
Vedas from him and also saved the living species from deluge that followed by
assuming the form of a fish.
In the kalpa preceding the above mentioned deluge, there was a king named
Satyavrata, of the Dravida territory. He was a great devotee of Lord Narayana,
given to severe austerities and subsisting only on water. Satyavrata was born
as the grandson of Aditi and Kashyapa, through Vivasvan, the sun god.
One day, standing in the river Kritamala, Satyavrata was offering a handful of
water to the manes. He found a small fish along with the water in the hollow of
his palms. Inadvertently he dropped the fish back in to the river. The fish
pleaded the exalted soul to save it from the dangerous aquatic creatures that
survive on the weaker ones. Out of pity, Satyavrata brought it with him in his
kamandalu. Soon the fish had to be transferred to a pitcher as it had outgrown
the size of the kamandalu. With the rapid growth of the fish, it had to be
taken from one pond to another, each larger than the previous one. Finding no
suitable place to accommodate the gigantic fish, the raja rishi decided to let
it into the ocean. The fish expressed its fear of the alligators and requested
him to be very vigilant about its safety. The enormous size assumed by the fish
just in the course of the day, convinced Satyavrata beyond doubt that it was
none other than Lord Hari himself. He then enquired the fish about the purpose
of taking such a form.
The fish informed him of the approaching deluge and that it had
come as an incarnation of the Lord, the saviour of his devotees. It expected
the king to cooperate by following its instruction strictly. The fish said, “In
a week’s time, the earth, heaven and the aerial region will all be submerged in
the rising water of the ocean leading to the dissolution of the universe.
Before that happens, you will have to take certain precautionary measures.
Collect the various seeds, plants, all living species, along with seven seers
and await the arrival of the boat sent by the Lord. Load it with the material
you would have already collected. Navigate the boat unnerved in the surging
water, with the guidance of the seers. I will appear as a fish with a horn. The
serpent Vasuki should be used as rope to tie the boat to my horn. I will keep
the boat afloat till Brahma wakes from his slumber. At that time, you will have
a glorious experience of visualizing the Parabrahman [the Transcendental Reality]
residing within your heart. The knowledge of Reality imparted by the Lord
himself will clear all your doubts and satiate the curiosity about the Supreme
Being.” The fish disappeared at the conclusion of its instructions to the king.
Settling down to his meditation of the Lord in the form of the fish, with the
things diligently brought together as directed, Satyavrata eagerly looked
forward to the boat. Soon he sighted it. He boarded the boat with the seers and
all the things to be preserved for the future. The rishis asked Satyavrata to
concentrate on the Lord who would rescue them. The king meditated accordingly.
In response, the Lord instantly arrived as the huge horned fish. The king tied
the boat to the horn of the fish with Vasuki. He began singing the glories of
Vishnu, who emancipates the devotees in his domain called Paramapada, a place
from where there is no return to birth or death. Praying to the Lord cleanses
the impurities of ignorance, enlightens the mind to shed the destructive ego
and prepares one to see the indwelling Parabrahman. Pleased with the royal
sage, Lord Vishnu educated him on the Sankhya Philosophy which is available to
us as the divine purana called the Matsyapurana. In the incarnation of the Lord
as the fish, he killed the demon Hayagriva. He retrieved the Vedas just before
the deluge and handed them back to Brahma in the shvetavaraha kalpa that
followed the kalpa of Satyavrata.Vaivasvata Manu was also known by the name
Shraddhadeva.
Chapter 16: The story of Sudyumna
Aditi, Daksha’s daughter, begot Vivasvan, the
sun god, by Kashyapa. Vaivasvata Manu, also known as Shraddhadeva, was
Vivasvan’s son by his wife Sanjana. Before the birth of his ten sons, the
eldest being Ikshvaku, the childless Manu requested the great preceptor
Vasishta to perform a sacrifice in honour of Mitra and Varuna, the gods who
grant a son.
The preceptor of the solar race ordered the priest to commence the sacrifice.
While the priest was invoking the gods, Manu’s wife, Shraddha, approached him
with a request to propitiate the gods for a daughter. With this request
hovering in his mind, the priest poured the oblations into the sacrificial
fire. Though he did not make any effort to ensure the birth of a daughter, the
distraction of his mind was enough to alter the motive of the sacrifice. As a
result, a girl was born to the utter disappointment of Manu. She was named Ila.
Manu was perplexed to believe the potent Vedic mantras falsifying their power.
Manu asked Vasishta to probe into the cause of reversal of the result.
Vasishta’s sharp brain promptly found it was due to the distraction caused by
the request of Shraddha. He used his spiritual power to please Lord Hari and
secured his blessings to transform the girl into a boy to the immense
satisfaction of Manu. He was named Sudyumna.
Manu’s desire was fulfilled. But Sudyumna was destined to go through lot of
problems regarding his sex. It kept undergoing change every now and then due to
reasons not in his control. Once he went hunting in the forest at the foot of
mount Meru. At that moment, Shiva and Uma were together enjoying each other’s
company. Instantly, Sudyumna became a girl at the very entrance of the forest.
All the followers were changed into women. Even the horses took the form of
mares. [The sudden
change in sex was made possible in yonder years by magical powers but today
medical science has provided technology to cater to the whimsicalities of man].
Let us now pause at this juncture to see the reason behind the miraculous power
of the forest to convert into females, men stepping into its precincts. Once,
some sages entered the forest to pay their respects to Shiva. The sages were
not aware that Uma was resting her head on Shiva’s lap. Her dress was slightly
out of place. The sages
withdrew immediately, knowing it as intrusion into their privacy. Uma too
jumped up and made herself presentable. Yet she could not get over the shame of
having appeared before males in an indecent state. Shiva found a way to save
his dear wife from embarrassment in future. He ordained that thenceforth, that
particular land would be out of bounds for males. Any transgression by men into
the private area would change them into women instantly. Sudyumna innocently
stepped into the forbidden land and bore the brunt of Shiva’s pronouncement.
Now back to Ila’s story. She continued to roam
the forest with her female friends after her transformation from Sudyumna.
While in the vicinity of Budha’s hermitage, both Ila and Budha were attracted
to each other. [Budha as the son of Tara and Soma]. Budha, of the lunar race,
begot a son Pururava by Ila. Now Ila began to yearn for her form as Sudyumna
and her thoughts went to Vasishta. By his yogic powers, he came before Ila and
was upset about what had happened. He engaged himself in the propitiation of
Shiva. Shiva was pleased but could not revoke his previous utterance
completely. He suggested a special compromise. He agreed to allow Ila to assume
her male form of Sudyumna alternate months, which appeared to be fair enough.
Sudyumna became the king. Not willing to reveal the secret of his female form,
he went into hiding during those months. He was an efficient king but people
were dissatisfied by his frequent mysterious disappearance. He reigned
successfully till his old age. He retired to the forest after appointing
Pururava as the king.
Chapter 17: Soma juice for the Ashvinis
Sarjati, Manu’s son took his daughter,
Sukanya, to the hermitage of Chyavana muni. She unknowingly poked a thorn into
something luminous in an ant-hill. They looked like a pair of glow worms but
were actually the eyes of the muni inside. Excessive bleeding from the
ant-hill, made Sarjati tremble terribly with fear. Sukanya readily took
responsibility for the folly and Sarjati’s efforts pacified the muni as soon as
he came out of the ant-hill. He was an old man with wrinkled skin and emaciated
body. He expressed his desire to marry Sukanya. Sarjati agreed and the marriage
was performed. Sukanya served her aged husband devotedly.
Once, the muni got an opportunity to serve faithfully the twin celestial
physicians, the Ashvini Kumaras. He told them, “You two are the competent
physicians of the gods. You alone can bestow youth on me. I request you to
bless me with an attractive figure. In return, I will secure the soma juice,
offered during sacrifices, denied to you till now." The twins accepted the
offer and asked the muni to take a dip in the nearby river along with them.
When they emerged from the water, three identical youths appeared before
Sukanya, confusing her to pick her husband from among them. She sought the help
of the Ashvini Kumaras, who were happy with her fidelity to her husband and
pointed the actual muni to her.
Sometime later, Sarjati wanted muni Chyavana to officiate as the chief priest
for a big sacrifice he intended to perform. He visited the hermitage to extend
a personal invitation to the sage. He was shocked to see his daughter living
with a handsome youth. He was furious with his daughter. He shouted at her,
“You have defamed our family as well as that of the respectful sage. How could
you live with another man when you had such a distinguished sage for a husband?
You unchaste woman, I am ashamed to own you, of condemnable character, as my
daughter.” Sukanya clarified the mistaken impression of her father. She
explained in detail the way her husband had attained youth. It was nectar to
his ears and happily he invited the muni to receive the high honour at his sacrifice.
The muni accepted the invitation and successfully completed the sacrifice. In
accordance with his promise, he offered soma juice to the Ashvini Kumaras and
incorporated them among those eligible for that privilege. Indra furiously
aimed his thunder bolt at the muni for going against the convention. The muni
by his yogic powers arrested the weapon. Finally the gods agreed to include the
twins and ever since, they have been enjoying the soma juice offered during
sacrifices.
Interesting Anecdotes
Sukanya and Chyavana: The story of Sukanya and Chyavana has
another narration too. Once, Sukanya was bathing in the river, when the Ashvini
Kumaras approached her. They said, “What a monotonous life you are leading with
that old rishi Chyavana who needs your attention all day long. You have no time
for yourself to enjoy. Your beauty deserves a better life, one full of
enjoyment, free from the drudgery you have undertaken. You are young and so are
we. You can forsake that living corpse and choose one of us bubbling with
youth. We will be a perfect match for you.” The devoted wife was upset with the
Ashvini Kumaras and said she would like to consult her husband. She soon
returned with the rishi. On seeing the rishi, the two deities suggested, “the
rishi can take a dip in the river along with us. When we come out, the three of
us will be identical youths. You can then choose your husband from among us. If
there is any difficulty in selection, you can use your mental faculty to
discern.” Sukanya agreed to their suggestion because she was very confident
about herself and was courageous to take up the challenge. When the three young
men emerged from the water, Sukanya had no problem identifying her own husband.
The Ashvini Kumaras as well as Chyavana were very pleased with Sukanya for her
fidelity.
It was actually a test for Sukanya’s faithful devotion to her aged husband. It
had to be ascertained whether she was really dedicated to her husband or was
she biding time as atonement for her folly as a young girl (when she
unknowingly poked the rishi’s eyes in the ant-hill), waiting for the first
opportunity to elope with a handsome youth. When she succeeded, she proved
that she did not treat her marriage as a temporary agreement. It was
not just to appease the anger of the rishi when he came out of the
ant-hill with bleeding eyes. She had treated her marriage as a solemn oath.
Chyavana was grateful to the celestial physicians for bestowing youth on him.
For Sukanya too, it was an unexpected jack pot prize for her earnestness to her
husband all these years, even though he was emaciated with old age. In return,
the rishi secured for the divine twins the soma juice, offered in the
sacrifices, which was denied to them till then.
Chapter 18: Lord saves Ambarisha
Pious Nabhaga, son of Manu had an equally
pious son named Ambarisha. Ambarisha had relinquished his worldly attachments
and was absorbed in the worship of Lord Hari.
Once, Ambarisha and his wife decided to observe the austerity of Dvadashi vow
for one whole year. On the final dvadashi day, the king gratified the brahmanas
with cows, calves, gold and silver. With adequate care towards serving food to
the brahmanas, he was about to break his fast by partaking the remaining food.
Just then the great sage Durvasa made his appearance. Ambarisha reverently
stood attendance on the learned rishi and made sure there was nothing lacking
that might cause him displeasure. As is customary to request a guest to stay on
for lunch, Ambarisha extended the courtesy to the sage. Durvasa agreed but he
wanted to have his ablution and offer his midday prayers before he sat down for
food. To respect an honoured guest, Ambarisha waited for the sage to return so
that food could be served to him first before he broke his fast. Time was
running out and the stipulated moment to end the vow had almost approached.
With just a moment for the dvadashi to be over, Ambarisha was anxious to go
through the formalities for the successful completion of the arduous vow.
Durvasa was nowhere in sight.
The learned brahmanas advised him to have a
sip of water which would be a token break of fast and yet not be disrespect to
the sage. Just then Durvasa returned and blew his top for the gross insult to
him. His notorious short temper was well known and so were his thoughtless
curses. He shouted at Ambarisha for his impertinence and said his curse would
be a lesson to him for a lifetime. So saying, the ill-tempered sage cut off a
lock of his hair. When he was about to pronounce the curse, the lock of hair
turned into Vishnu’s sudarshana chakra and started chasing Durvasa. He ran
helter-skelter, high and low. Even Brahma and Shiva could not save him. He ran
to Vishnu for help. He also expressed his inability to save him from the
ravages of his own fiery weapon. He made known to the sage that the welfare of
his devotee was foremost to him. Whatever be the source of danger to his
devotees, high or low, he cannot tolerate injustice to them was the Lord’s
frank reply to the rishi. He said that the rishi would have to fall at his
devotee’s feet if he desired to be absolved from the grave cruelty he was about
to inflict on Ambarisha. All through the angry scene, Ambarisha stood unshaken
like a rock. Durvasa fell at his feet but the humble man said that such a
learned person like Durvasa must not subject himself to humiliation. He began
to propitiate the sudarshana chakra and pacified it by his prayers. The chakra
withdrew from attacking the sage and thus Durvasa’s life was saved.
Chapter 19: Ganges comes to earth
King Sagara was a perfect emperor and a
devotee of Sri Hari. He was so named because his mother was administered poison
by the other queens in jealousy to kill the foetus. Yet he survived surpassing
their evil motives.
Maharshi Ourva advised Sagara to perform the
Ashvamedha sacrifice to propitiate Sri Hari. Successful completion of the sacrifice,
without any challenge from anybody, would declare the king as the sovereign
ruler of the entire world. Otherwise, the challenge will have to be ably
opposed to establish the sovereignty. The sacrificial horse was stolen by
Indra. The faithful sixty thousand sons of Sagara excavated the earth in search
of the horse to save the sacrifice. As they went deeper into the earth, the dug
up area got flooded with water. Thus the ocean was formed and for this reason
the ocean acquires the name Sagara सागर after the name of the sons of Sagara The search led
them to Kapila’s hermitage where they found the horse tied in its vicinity.
Indra, to hide his guilt, used his illusory power against the Sagara sons and
robbed them of their sense of judgement. They accused Kapila to be feigning
meditation, having stolen the sacred horse. Their angry assault on the sage did
not upset him. He calmly opened his eyes without any intention of having an
altercation with the princes. But the ill treatment to the saint itself caused
them harm. The fire of their own anger reduced them to ashes. There is a belief
that they were burnt by the intensity of the radiance emanating from
Kapila’s eyes. Another most accepted story that thr hear of anger of
the sage's eyes burnt them down, does not seem tenable to my
mind, as the sage was believed to have borne a very sober composed
attitude to life, never provoked by anger.
Anshuman, the grandson of Sagara, traced the
path excavated by his forefathers. He visualized Lord Narayana in sage Kapila
at the very first sight. His desires and attachments vanished. He paid
respectful obeisance to the sage and was grateful for being freed from the
fetters of ignorance by his radiance.
Kapila asked him to take charge of the horse
that belonged to his grandfather. He also told him that the heavenly Ganges had
to be brought down to earth to wash away the heaped ashes of his forefathers.
Anshuman and his son Dilipa were not successful in their effort. The severe
austerities of Bhagiratha, Dilipa’s son could win the challenge. Ganges warned
him that the earth would not withstand the force with which she would descend.
Therefore she asked him to think of a way to overcome the problem. She alerted
him about her going past the earth down to rasatala due to her force and all
the efforts of Bhagiratha would be wasted. Another reason for her reluctance to
flow down to earth was the pollution caused to her waters by the contact with
sinful people. She would have no means to purify herself. Bhagiratha solved her
second problem by saying that the physical contact with holy saints, dedicated
to the worship of Sri Hari, by their ablution in the sacred Ganges would
cleanse her of all the acquired sins. With regard to the first hurdle, he had
confidence that his prayer to Rudra would surely ensure control of Ganges
before she reached the earth. Entertaining strong faith in Shiva, he performed
penances to please him. Shiva obliged by receiving the heavenly Ganges in his
matted locks, from where he let the river flow to earth in a controlled stream.
Thus she gets the name Bhagirathi. The sacred water of Ganges washed away the
sins of Sagara’s sons accrued from their bad behaviour towards Kapila and were
thus transported to heaven. Ganga continues to be regarded as a holy river
possessed of the sanctifying quality.
Chapter 20: Fire the son of Pururava
Soma, the moon, was Brahma’s grandson by his
son Atri. Since Soma was born from the eyes of Atri, he was full of nectar.
Brahma made him the lord of the brahmanas, the heavenly bodies and the
deciduous herbs. Winning lordship over these in the three worlds, Soma’s pride
and vanity got to his head. He maligned his own character by abducting Tara,
wife of Brihaspati. He refused to return her even after repeated requests.
This, in turn, led to the perennial fight of the gods and the asuras as
Shukracharya, the preceptor of the asuras, elected to support Soma. Indra, with
his entire retinue, joined hands with Shiva to fight for Brihaspati. The
hostility started a war. Angirasa reported the war to Brahma, who reprimanded
his grandson for fighting over the possession of a woman. Soma realised his
shameful act and returned Tara to her husband.
Brihaspati came to know that Tara was with
child. Though he was very bitter about his wife’s infidelity, he thought he
would allow her to live because of his desire to have a child. Soon Tara gave
birth to a son as lustrous as gold. Again a controversy began as both Soma and
Brihaspati claimed to be the father of the child. There seemed to be no end to
their verbal clash. Tara observed silence, ashamed to reveal the truth. The
boy, though still a child, was annoyed with his mother for her mistake. On top
of it, her reluctance to be honest to make a clean breast of the entire
incident showed her conceit. He strongly protested against the humiliating
embarrassment of not knowing his real father. In private, with Brahma as the
mediator, Tara was called upon to be truthful in her confession. Brahma
inspired courage in Tara and cajoled her to tell him honestly about the boy’s
father. Finally, Tara revealed that Soma was the father. Soma accepted the
child with great pleasure and contentment. Thus the child belonged to the lunar
race. Brahma christened him Budha, endowed with immense knowledge.
Pururava was born to Budha and Ila. He once
came across an apsaras named Urvashi, born on earth as a human being, on
account of a curse. Pururava was fascinated by the beauty of Urvashi and they
both married but soon separated. Pururava could not keep up Urvashi’s condition
agreed upon at the time of their marriage. Urvashi then left for the region of
the gandharvas. As if out of mind, Pururava, wailing aloud, went round in
search of his dear lost wife. It was a pleasant surprise for him to see
Urvashi, near the field of Kurukshetra, enjoying herself with her maids on the
banks of river Sarasvati. Pururava approached her and poured his heart out. He
sobbed, “O you cruel lady! How could you abandon me without consideration for
my feelings? I am exhausted and depleted in strength, searching for you. I
might fall on the ground any moment as prey to wild animals. It’s in your hands
to revive me on compassionate grounds.” Touched by his pathetic cry, Urvashi
consoled him with the assurance that she would oblige him with her company once
a year and bear his sons. Gratified by her words, Pururava enjoyed with her
every year. Once, she was pregnant and he was sorry to leave her in that
condition. When he returned the next year, she was the mother of a handsome
hero. At the time of parting every year, he had to tear himself from her.
Urvashi then advised him to pray to the gandharvas to return her to him.
Pururava did accordingly and received a fire
pot from them. They said he could reach Urvashi if he propitiated the pot. Love
smitten Pururava thought the pot to be Urvashi. Truth dawned on him when he
embraced the pot as if he was hugging her. He left the pot in the forest and
went to his capital, still unable to get his thought of Urvashi out of his
mind.
The three Vedas, representing the rituals,
flashed across the mind of Pururava. Earlier, there was only one Veda in the
form of pranava, the mystical Om; Lord Narayana, was the only God; one caste
called the Hamsas existed; and one fire was known. Pururava was responsible for
the three forms of fire, called Ahavaniya, the Garhapatya and the Dakshinagni.
He made the diversification of the fire possible in his attempt to reach
Urvashi. He went to the place in the forest where he had left the fire pot. In
its place he found a banyan tree grown out of a shami tree. He cut out a couple
of aranis, pieces of wood from the odd combination of the two trees. One he
visualized as Urvashi and the other as himself. He imagined a third intervening
stick which he conceptualised as their son. He rubbed the two sticks in his
hands as per the instruction in the sacred text to produce fire. The friction
caused the eruption of a flame, called the Jataveda, indicating that things are
produced by their own energy. Pururava adopted the fire in its three forms as
his son. His son, the fire, finally, united Pururava and Urvashi.
Chapter 21: Parashurama the Terror
Gadhi was born to Kushambi, of the Puru
dynasty. He had a beautiful daughter Satyavati. A brahmana by the name Richika,
conveyed to Gadhi of his wish to marry his daughter. Gadhi was not in favour of
the alliance and at the same time did not want to give a negative reply to the
brahmana. He thought out a plan, which he believed would save him from
embarrassment. He demanded a dowry which ordinarily would be impossible to
give. Gadhi wanted one thousand horses effulgent like the moon with a dark blue
ear on one side. Richika saw through the trick and straight away went to Varuna
for help. He readily supplied the required number of horses satisfying the
description. Gadhi was completely floored by the unexpected dowry from the
brahmana. Satyavati married Richika.
Satyavati and her mother desired to have sons. Therefore the Muni prepared
separately two pots of sweet charu. He consecrated one with brahmana mantra for
his wife and the other with kshatra mantra for his mother-in-law. When he had
gone away for his ablution, the mother wanted the charu pots to be
interchanged. She strongly felt that the charu meant for her daughter was superior
to the one for her. Unsuspecting Satyavati agreed to the switching of the pots
and both consumed the charu in the absence of the muni.
When the muni returned, he came to know of the swapping of charu. The muni
informed his wife the tragic consequence of the interchange. He said, “Your
action will result in your bearing a son who will be a cruel chastiser of his
foes. Your brother will be a pious man devoted to the worship of the Supreme
Lord.” Shocked by the revelation, Satyavati implored that such a thing should
not happen. The mistake could not be fully rectified, but the muni made a
marginal concession. She would have to accept her grandson to have that
terrible quality.
Soon Satyavati had Jamadagni as her son. His youngest son was Parashurama
who vanquished the wicked kshatriyas twenty one times from the face of the
earth. The elimination of these perpetrators of unethical and immoral actions
was a great relief for mother earth. The severe reaction of Parashurama towards
the kshatriyas stimulates our curiosity to investigate into the cause of such
enmity.
Kartaveeryarjuna, a kshatriya king,
served Dattatreya, the form of Lord Hari on earth. His sincere service earned
for him extraordinary prowess and wealth. He possessed one thousand arms. With
the arrogance of power, he speeded round the earth like whirlwind. He reversed
the flow of river Narmada with his innumerable arms. This flooded the banks on
which the ten-headed Ravana was camping with his army. Infuriated by the
inconvenience caused, the demon waged war against Kartaveeryarjuna who captured
and imprisoned the aggressor in his capital Maheshmatipuri. Later he released
him, finding the rival to be worthless.
Parashurama was away from the hermitage of Jamadagni, when Kartaveeryarjuna
came there during one of his expeditions. Jamadagni thought him to be a god
among men, and extended due hospitality to Kartaveeryarjuna with his entire
paraphernalia following him. The sage’s sacred cow provided all the articles to
entertain the honoured guest. The wicked king exhibited his ungrateful nature
by setting his eyes on the wish-yielding cow as he saw inexhaustible wealth in
her. He ordered his men to bind the cow and take her to his kingdom. The
pathetic cry of the cow did not arouse any pity in the king, bereft as he was
of tender feelings.
Soon Parashurama
returned and stood aghast at the king’s evil intentions. He picked up his
terrible axe, charging like a furious bull at Kartaveeryarjuna. Observing
Parashurama set for an indomitable attack, the king sent a large army to
repulse him. The soldiers were no match to the powerful Parashurama who snuffed
out their lives single handed. The valour of Parashurama made Kartaveeryarjuna
take to his heels and the chase looked like a lion after its prey.
Kartaveeryarjuna’s arms were lopped off by the axe and so was his head. His
fallen body without the head resembled the stump of a tree. Kartaveeryarjuna’s
death at the hands of Parashurama brought to an end his treachorous sovereignty
that rocked the entire world. Parashurama presented the cow to his father, with
a sense of achievement. But Jamadagni’s reaction dampened his excitement. He
said, “My glorious son! Killing a consecrated king is more heinous than that of
a brahmana. You are a brahmana whose primary and powerful quality should be
forbearance, a quality that earns us veneration. Brahma too got universal
acclaim through forbearance. As atonement for your sin, undertake a pilgrimage
to concentrate on Sri Hari”. Parashurama went on a year’s pilgrimage on his
father’s advice.
On his return, the purity and strength of his conscience was put to test. The
big challenge was to choose between his father and his mother with his
brothers. His mother had gone to the river to bring water for the performance
of her husband’s daily religious rites. She tarried a while admiring the
handsome king Chitraratha of the gandharvas, sporting with the apsaras in the
water. A moment’s lapse in the control of her mind earned her the disrepute of
infidelity when her husband outright decried her as unchaste. He tried to order
each of his sons to kill the mother as punishment. They refused to kill their
mother and also a woman to whom they owed their very existence. Parashurama, a
shrewd man, knew the veracity of his father’s spiritual power. To avert a sure
disaster if not agreed upon, he consented to carry out his father’s command.
Jamadagni was mightily pleased with his son and offered him a boon. Grabbing
the opportunity, he pleaded for the resuscitation of his mother and brothers
with the request that they should not have the slightest memory of their death
or what had happened prior to that. Caught unawares by the intelligence of his
son, he granted the boon. Parashurama proved to be a dutiful son in carrying
out his obligation to both his parents.
The aggrieved sons of Kartaveeryarjuna were
spoiling for a fight to avenge their father’s death. They entered the hermitage
of Jamadagni in the absence of his sons,charged at the pious man to cut off his
head.Despite his wife Renuka’s pleadings, they did not spare her husband and
carried away the head. She started crying loudly calling for Parashurama. The
lamenting mother’s voice hastened him back to the hermitage. Learning about his
father's killing, Parashurama proceeded to Maheshmatipuri. His axed down all
the sons of Kartaveeryarjuna, piled them in a heap and allowed their blood to
flow as a river. He indulged in this horrendous act to warn people to stay away
from enmity towards brahmanas. With a vengence he vanquished the entire
kshatriya class twenty one times to mark the number his mother had beat her
chest at the murder of her husband. Nine rivers of blood flowed out of the
sacred place Samanta-panchaka.
Parashurama brought his father’s head and
attached it to his body by which he was revived. Jamadagni became the seventh
saint in the constellation of seven saints. Parashurama was advised by his
ancestors to desist forever from such inhuman massacre when he lost to Bhishma.
He propitiated Lord Narayana by a sacrifice, followed by liberal gifts to
brahmanas and finally had a dip in the river Sarasvati to expiate his sins. In
the next creation, Parashurama promulgated the Vedas and is believed to be still
living in Mount Mahendra.
Interesting Anecdotes
Vishvamitra: Gadhi had a very powerful
son named Vishvamitra. His steadfast practice of asceticism to become a rishi,
though belonging to the royal family, elevated him to the status of a raja
rishi. He had many sons of his own but he adopted Shunashepa, the son of
Ajigarta of the Bhrigu race. He named him Devarata and considered him as his
first son. He wanted his own sons to treat him as their elder brother. Though
they entertained resentment, the fear of their father’s curse made them agree
to the suggestion. It is believed that the adoption of Devarata is the cause
for various subdivisions of the Kaushika race of Vishvamitra.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to Kasturis dot com and Hinduism dot org for the collection)
(A Tribute to the great Bharatiya Samskruti)
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