Shiva And Parvati
The sage Narada once went to the sage Pulastya and wanted to know about the Vamana Purana. Whatever Pulastya told Narada is what you are about to hear.
Shiva and Parvati lived on Mount Mandara. When the heat of the summer came upon them. Parvati told Shiva, “We do not have a house. How will we bear the heat of the blazing winds? Why can we not have a house like others do?”
“That is not for us,” replied Shiva. “I have no home. I spend my time in the wilds of the forest.”
Shiva took Parvati to the shade of a tree and they spent the summer under the tree.
Summer passed and monsoon came. The skies were covered with dark clouds. The rumbling of thunder could be heard.
Parvati told Shiva, “Lord, the monsoon is upon us. The winds are blowing strongly; there is thunder and lightning. Can you not hear the peacocks singing in delight? Rain has started to pour and placid streams have become mountain torrents. Please build a house on Mount Mandara so that we can have shelter and live in peace.”
“Darling,” replied Shiva, “I have no wealth which I can use to build a house. I wear the skin of a tiger and snakes are my adornments. How can I build a house?”
Parvati was not at all happy to hear this, “Are we to spend the monsoon also under this tree?” she asked.
“No,” said Shiva. “Let us live inside the clouds as long as the monsoon continues. Then the rain will not smart your body.”
Shiva and Parvati accordingly started to live in the clouds. The word jimuta means cloud and it is because of this incident that Shiva is known as Jimutaketu.
Brahma’s Triumph
The monsoon was soon over and the weather became pleasant. The clouds disappeared. Flowers bloomed on trees; lotuses could be seen on the ponds. Shiva and Parvati left the clouds and returned to Mount Mandara to live there.
Vishnu had been sleeping while the monsoon had raged and he now woke up. To celebrate this, Daksha organised a yajna (sacrifice) to which he invited everyone except Shiva. (Daksha was Brahma’s son).
“Why didn’t Daksha invite Shiva?” asked Narada.
“Because Shiva had a skull stuck to his hand.” Replied Pulastya.
“I don’t understand,” said Narada. “How came the skull to be there?”
Pulastya told Narada the story of what happened a long long time ago.
The universe was then flooded with water. There was no land, moon, sun, stars or fire. Everything was immersed in water and the universe was shrouded in darkness. For a thousand years Vishnu slept on the waters and all this while night prevailed in the universe. When the night was over, Vishnu woke up and created Brahma. Brahma had five heads and he was learned in the Vedas. Simultaneous with Brahma’s creation, Shiva emerged from the darkness. He had a trident in his hands.
Brahma and Shiva began to quarrel.
“Who are you? Who has brought you here? Who has created you?” demanded Shiva of Brahma.
“Who are you and who are your parents?” was Brahma’s rejoinder. “In fact, I know who you are. You are made out of darkness. You have three eyes, you wear no clothes and you are riding a bull. You must be Shiva the destroyer.”
An ogress (pishachi) discovered the baby there. She abducted the boy and left her own son in his place. She then brought home the abducted boy and proudly displayed him to her husband.
“You have been very stupid,” said the husband, “The brahmana Koshakara is learned and powerful. He will see through your deception and will impose a curse on us. You had better return his son.”
The son of the ogress felt cold, lying there no the courtyard. He began to wail and Dharmishtha marvelled that her dumb son could now speak. She called her husband to come and witness this miracle. Koshakara immediately realised that this was not their son. But he told his wife, “Do not get so excited. A spirit has entered our son’s body and is wailing. He will soon revert to normal again.”
But Koshakara used some powerful mantras (incantations) to bind down the strange son.
The ogress returned the abducted son to Koshakara’s house. But since the brahmana had bound down her son with the use of powerful incantations, she could not retrieve her own baby.
Both sons began to grow, Koshakara named his own son Nishakara and the ogress’ son Divakara. The boys became seven years of age and Koshakara began to teach them the Vedas. Nishakara was however not at all clever and Koshakara got tired of teaching such a stupid son. The neighbours also remarked on Nishakara’s stupidity. Koshkara found a disused well and flung Nishakara into it. Then he covered up the mouth of the well with a huge stone, Naturally, he did not tell Dharmishtha what he had done. His wife assumed that the boy had got lost.
Nishakara spent many years inside the well. There was fruit tree which grew inside the well. So that he did not starve. Ten years passed.
“Who has covered up the mouth of the well with a stone?” she remarked to herself.
‘Mother, it is father who did it.” answered Nishakara from inside the well.
Dharmishtha was very surprised at hearing these words. She removed the stone and rescued her son. She brought him back to Koshakara. And Nishakara told his parents his amazing story.
In an earlier life, he used to be brahmana named Virndaraka. But he committed many sins. After spending some time in hell, he was born as a tiger. But the tiger was also a sinner. So Nishakara spent some more time in hell before being born as a donkey. The donkey committed many sins. Nishakaka again spent time in hell and was reborn as a bird. The bird was also a sinner and Nishakara went back to hell again. He was next born as a bull. The sins of the bull took it to hell. Therafter, Nishakara was born as the son of Koshakara, but he was born as jatismara, that is, he remembered the incidents of his earlier births. The ten years inside the well had made him penitent and with penitence had come speech and bearing. He would now perform penance for his sons and devote himself to the pursuance of the righteous path.
Such was the wonderful story of Nishakara.
Epilogue
There is nothing so sacred as devotion to Vishnu, Vishnu is like a raft that keeps one afloat in the ocean of miseries that is the world. Yama himself avoids devotees of Vishnu. All religious rites are pointless unless there if faith in Vishnu.
The Vamana Purana is sacred because it describes the glories of Vishnu. Reading one shloka of this Purana is better than donating a lot of alms, or visiting several tirthas and performing yajnas.
“Narada, I have recited the Vamana Purana for you,” said Pulastya. “Treasure what you have heard. There is one injunction. Never divulge what you have heard to those who do not worship Vishnu.”
One of the subjects we have glossed over is a detailed description of the various tirthas that Prahlada visited. Wouldn’t you like to read the entire text of the Vamana Purana and find out for yourselves about these numerous tirthas?
These words angered Shiva and his appearance became terrifying. With his nails. Shiva tore off one of Brahma’s heads and the head got stuck to Shiva’s left hand. No matter now hard Shiva tried to dislodge it, the severed head would not come unstuck.
Brahma, meanwhile, created a warrior to destroy Shiva. This warrior was armoured and held a bow and some arrows. He had four arms. The warrior told Shiva. “I shall not kill you, because you are a sinner. No one kills a sinner. But I shall certainly teach you a lesson.”
Hearing these words, Shiva and Parvati fled to the Himalayas. The river Sarasvati flowed there and on the banks of the Sarasvati there was a famous hermitage named vadrikashrama.
Shiva came across Vishnu there and requested him, “Please save me. Grant me a boon.”
“Strike my left hand with your trident (trishula),” replied Vishnu.
As soon as Shiva did this, blood started to flow from Vishnu’s hand in three streams. The first stream mingled with the nakshatras (stars) in the sky. The next flowed down to earth and the sages Atri and Durvasa were created out of this. The third and final stream fell on Shiva’s forehead and a warrior emerged from there. He was dark in complexion and he held a bow and some arrows in his hands.
(Most other Puranas give a different account of Atri’s birth. For example, the Bhagavata Purana, the Vishnu Purana and the Matsya Purana state that the sage Atri was born out of Brahma’s eyes. He did not have any sons and so he began to perform tapasya (meditation). Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were pleased with Atri’s prayers and agreed to grant him boons so that he would have sons. From Shiva’s boon was born the sage Durvasa, from Vishnu’s boon the sage Dattatreya and from Brahma’s boon the god Soma.)
To return to the account of the Vamana Purana, the warrior who was born out of Shiva’s forehead asked. “Who is to be destroyed? What are your orders?”
“Kill the warrior whom Brahma created,” was Shiva’s reply.
The two warriors started to fight, and for a thousand years of the gods, the battle raged. Finally, Brahma’s warrior defeated Shiva’s warrior and Brahma triumphed. Brahma’s warrior mingled with the solar system and Shiva’s warrior merged into an image of Vishnu.
Shiva And Vishnu
But Brahma’s severed head would not be dislodged from Shiva’s hand and soon became a skull. A brahmana is the first of the four classes (Varna) and by cutting off Brahma’s head, Shiva had committed the sin (brahmahatya) of killing a Brahmana.
The sin adopted the form of a living being and refused to let Shiva go. It followed Shiva wherever he went. In fact, it entered Shiva’s body. Shiva went to the hermitage known as vadrikashrama, but the sin clung onto him. Shiva tried to bathe in the river Yamuna so as to cleanse his sin. But so severe was the sin that the river dried up. This was also what happened when Shiva tried to bathe in the river Sarasvati. There were several tirthas (places of pilgrimage) that Shiva visited, but to no avail, Numerous were the vratas (religious rites) that Shiva observed, but nothing happened.
Eventually, Shiva met Vishnu and began to pray to him. Vishnu told Shiva. “There is a tirtha named Varanasi, at the confluence of the two sacred rivers Varana and Asi. In the city of Varanasi there is a place named dashashvamedha. Go there and pray and you will be freed.”
This is what Shiva did and the sin left him. What of the skull that had got stuck to Shiva’s hand? This was also dislodged. Since the word for skull is kapala, Shiva came to be known as Kapali. And the place where the skull was dislodged is a famous tirtha named kapalamochana.
Daksha’s Yajna
“To go back to what I was saying,” continued Pulastya, “Daksha did not invite Shiva to his yajna because Shiva had a skull stuck to his hand.”
Shiva was at the time married to Sati, Daksha’s daughter and Daksha was his father-in-law. It was Sati who was born as Parvati in a subsequent birth.
The gods were bewildered at these catastrophic events. Those who could not run away, either died or begged for mercy.
The yajna came to an end. But the yajna adopted the form of a divine deer and started to flee. Shiva pursued it with a pashupata arrow attached to his bow. In fact, Shiva’s body split into two. One part had matted hair (jata) and was left at the place where the ceremony was being held. This is the reason why Shiva is referred to as Jatadhara. The remaining half pursued the deer into the sky and became the constellation of kalapurusha (Orion) the hunter.
The head of the constellation is near the sign of mesha (Aries), the face near the sign of Vrisha (Taurus), the arms near the sign of mithuna (Gemini), the heart near the sign of simha (Leo), the sides near the sign of karkata (Cancer), the stomach near the sign of kanya (Virgo), the navel near the sign of tula (Libra), the waist near the sign of vrishchika (Scorpio), the thighs near the sign of dhanu (Sagittarius), the legs near the sign of makara (Capricorn), the ankles near the sign of kumbha (Aquarius), and the feet near the sign of mina (Pisces). This is the origin of the twelve signs (rashi) of the Zodiac.
The Burning Of The God Of Love
Many years ago, there used to be a brahmana named Vahvricha who was very righteous. His wife was called Ahimsa (non-violence). Vahvricha and Ahimsa had four sons named Hari, Krishna, Nara and Narayana. Hari and Krishna devoted themselves to the practice of Yoga a technique of meditation that seeks to bring about union between the human soul (atman) and the divine soul (parmatman).
Nara and Narayana became sages and concentrated on tapasya (meditation). They went to the Himalayas and there set up a hermitage named vadrikashrama.
(In some Puranas it is state that these two twin sages were the incarnations of Vishnu.)
Indra was worried on account of Nara and Narayana’s meditation. He was not at all sure what the sages wanted. They might obtain a boon as a result of this meditation and try to dislodge him from heaven. Indra therefore sent the apsara (dancer of heaven) Rambha to try and distract the sages. Madana, the god of love, also accompanied Rambha.
As soon as these two reached the hermitage, the weather there changed. A perpetual spring descended. Leaves sprouted and flowers bloomed. Creepers grew along the banks of the rivers.
Narayana was surprised at all this and looked up from his meditation. His eyes fell upon Ananga.
“Who is Ananga?” asked Narada. “You have not mentioned him before.”
“Ananga is the god of love,” replied Pulastya. “He is the son of Harsha and his other names are Madana, Kandarpa and Kama. He is known as Ananga because Shiva burnt him to ashes.”
“Why did Shiva burn him to ashes?” asked Narada.
Pulastya related the story.
After Sati died, Shiva was very unhappy. He roamed around the world, but nowhere could he find peace. There was a river named Kalindi and Shiva went and bathed there. But this did not cool him down. All that happened was that the waters of the river Kalindi became dark in colour. Ever since that day, Kalindi has been a famous tirtha.
Shiva visited many places of pilgrimage, but peace continued to elude him. Sometimes he sang and danced, at other times he cried. He was coming pretty close to losing his sanity. He dreamt of Sati and thought the image of his dreams to be real.
Shiva used to suffer a lot from bouts of belching. In one of these fits, he ran into Kubera’s son, Panchalika. Shiva told Panchalika, “Please take away this fit of belching from me. I will bless you.”
This Panchalika agreed to do. Shiva blessed Panchalika that he would henceforth be worshipped as the god Panchaleshvara. People would pray to him particularly in the month of Chaitra. Panchalika was worshipped everywhere, but he finally set up residence on Mount Kalanjara, slightly south of the Himalayas.
Daksha had a daughter named Ahalya who was married to the sage Goutama. (In other Puranas, Ahalya is stated to be Brahma’s daughter.) Goutama and Ahalya had four daughters named Jaya, Vijaya, Jayanti and Aparajita. Sati was thus their aunt and they were her constant companions.
Daksha did not invite Shiva and Sati to his yajna.
Jaya, however, came to visit Sati on Mount Mandara.
“How are you, Jaya?” asked Sati. “Where are Vijaya, Jayanti and Aparajita?”
“They have gone to attend to yajna,” replied Jaya. “Why are you not going? Everyone is going there, all the gods and all the sages. Why have you and Shiva not been invited?”
Sati had not known about the ceremony and had not known that they had not been invited. She was so mortified on hearing Jaya’s words that she died on the spot.
(In other Puranas, the account is slightly different. There is no mention of Jaya at all. Hearing about the yajna, Sati went to attend it, although she had not been invited. But her father Daksha insulted Shiva and unable to bear the criticism of her husband, Sati died.)
Jaya started to wail at Sati’s death and the sound of the wailing brought Shiva there. He was thunderstruck on finding Sati dead and his anger knew no bounds when he discovered the reason for her death. His entire frame shone with the flames of fury. And from Shiva’s body-hair there emerged a terrible demon known as Virabhadra. He had four arms and the face of a lion.
Shiva, Virabhadra and Jaya invaded the place where the ceremony was being held. Virabhadra guarded the northern gate with a trident, Jaya the south-eastern with a mace, and Shiva himself stood in the center. (In other Puranas, Virabhadra was responsible for the destruction. Shiva took no direct part in it an there is no mention of Jaya.)
The gods and the sages were frightened at the arrival of these three. Yama, the god of death, attacked Virabhadra and the two began to fight. Virabhadra soon put paid to Yama’s martial ambitions. He also easily defeated all the other gods who came to fight, the eight vasus, the twelve adityas, the eleven rudras, Indra, the vishvadevas, the sadhyas, and the many demons who came to help the gods. The gods fled in disarray.
Virabhadra now turned his attention to the sages who were busy chanting mantras (incantations). They too fled and sought refuge with Vishnu.
Vishnu himself arrived to take care of Virabhadra. The two shot arrows at one another. Vishnu struck Virabhadra with a mace and Virabhadra retaliated with a trident. Vishnu has an invincible weapon known as sudarshana chakra (a bladed discus). He hurled this at Virabhadra. But so great was Virabhadra’s fighting prowess that he managed to repel this as well. This angered Vishnu and he began to wrestle with Virabhadra. Virabhadra lost the wrestling bout and went and reported the news of his defeat to Shiva.
Shiva now decided to join the fight himself. Vishnu run away. The vasus were so scared that they hid in the form of a river named Sita. The rudras decided that the best course of action was to merge into Shiva’s body. The adityas, the vishvadevas, the sandhyas and the other gods fled. The moon-god Chandra sought refuge in the sky with the stars.
Several gods were killed by Shiva. There was a sage named Pusha. Shiva caught hold of him and whirled him around in the air. He then smashed all of Pusha’s teeth with his fists.
(There is some variance with the accounts in the other Puranas. The Kurma Purana states that it was Virabhadra who smashed Pusha’s teeth. The Mahabharata states that it was Shiva who caused the damage, but with a kick, rather than with a blow of the fists. Pusha is also identified with the sun-god Surya. The account in the Vamana Purana suggests that it was the sun-god, and not a sage, who was the object of Shiva’s attentions.)
There was another sage named Bhaga (also identified with Surya). Shiva plucked out Bhaga’s eyes. (Again, some other Puranas hold Virabhadra responsible for this mishap. But the Mahabharata states that it was Shiva who inflicted the damage).
Shiva kept on wandering and eventually arrived in the Vindhyas. In a forest that was there, Shiva established an image (linga) of his. When this linga was set up, the entire earth shook from the tremor.The mountains, the trees and the rivers quaked.
Brahma went to Vishnu and asked, “What is causing this great quaking? Do you know anything about it?”
“This is because of Shiva’s linga being established. Why don’t we go and see what is happening?” replied Vishnu.
Brahma and Vishnu went to the place where the linga was embedded in the earth. It was a huge linga. The upper part disappeared into the sky and the lower extremity reached all the way down into the underworld. Brahma and Vishnu decided that they would try and find the two extremities of the linga. Vishnu climbed onto the great bird Garuda and went down into the underworld. Brahma rode his swan and went up into the sky. But no matter how high or how low they went, they could not find the extremities of the linga.
Their wonder knew no bounds. They returned and started to pray to Shiva.
Shiva appeared before them and said, “Why are you praying to me ? I am distressed at having lost my beloved Sati. Please leave me in peace.”
“We were praying because we were impressed with the linga,” replied Brahma and Vishnu. “From now on, your image of the linga is going to be worshipped by everyone.”
All this while, Madana had been pestering Shiva. Shiva’s eyes now fell upon Madana and he gazed at the god of love with blazing fury. The fire burnt up Madana’s body, from the feet to the chest. When Madana saw that his body was being burnt, he dropped the bow from his hand. The bow broke into five parts and gave birth to the fragrant champaka flower, the bakula tree and other shrubs and creepers. Since Madana no longer had a body, he came to be known as Ananga. The word ananga connotes someone who has no body.
Shiva came to his senses after burning down Madana. He retired to the Himalayas to perform tapasya.
(The sequence of events is slightly mixed up in the vamana Purana, as compared to the accounts in the other Puranas. Many Puranas, like the Matsya Purana, state that Brahma had cursed Madana that he would be burnt down by Shiva. Subsequently, Sati died and was reborn as Parvati, daughter of Himalaya, Parvati wished to marry Shiva, but Shiva was too busy with tapasya, Madana was sent to distract Shiva from his tapasya and, in the process, was burnt up by Shiva. This is the account in the Bhagavata Purana and the Brahmavaivarta Purana. The Vamana Purana however suggests that Madana was burnt down prior to Shiva’s tapasya, although after Sati’s death.)
Nara And Narayana
You will remember the point form which we had digressed. Madana and Rambha had arrived to disturb the meditations of the sages Nara and Narayana.
Narayana realised why Rambha had been brought along. Rambha was very beautiful and Indra’s expectation was that the sages would fall in love with her and forget all about their prayers.
Narayana saw through this game and told Madana, “Welcome, great god of love. Sit here and talk to me.”
While the conversation was going on, Narayana picked up a sprig of flowers and began to knead it on his thighs (uru). From this kneading there emerged a beautiful woman named Urvashi, so named from the word uru. She was far more beautiful than Rambha and at the sight of her Madana forgot all about his mission.
Narayana smiled and told Madana, “Take this woman Urvashi as a present to Indra. Let him make an apsara out of her.”
Terrified at the sage’s powers, Madana fled to heaven and reported what had happened to Indra. Thereafter, Indra left the two sages alone and stories of their powers spread far and wide
“But I have resolved that I shall defeat Narayana,” pleaded Prahlada. “If he is truly invincible, my resolution will stand falsified. I will have no option but to kill myself.”
“Not necessarily,” replied Vishnu. “Your approach is wrong. You have tried to defeat Narayana through warfare and that is no the way. Narayana can be defeated through faith and devotion. Let me tell you that Narayana is one of my incarnations. Pray to him and you will succeed.”
There was a demon named Andhaka. Prahlada asked him to look after the kingdom and went off to the hermitage named vadrikashrama. He pleased Nara and Narayana with his meditations. When they offered to grant him a boon, Prahlada desired that the sin he had committed by fighting with them might be forgiven. He also wished that he might forever remain devoted to Vishnu, Nara and Narayana. The sages granted these boons and also blessed Prahlada that he would be invincible and immortal.
When Prahlada returned to the land of the demons, Andhaka tried to return the kingdom to him. But Prahlada would have none of it. He refused to rule as a king. He prayed to Vishnu and continued to give good advice to the demons.
Andhaka
“But,” interrupted Narada, “I have heard that Andhaka was blind. How came he then to be a king? Isn’t it true that a blind man cannot be a king?”
“Andhaka was Hiranyaksha’s son,” replied Pulastya. Hirnaysksha was Hirnayakashipu’s brother. So that Prahlada and Andhaka were cousins. You are quite right in saying that Andhaka was blind. But his sight was restored, so that the he could become king.”
(According to some other Puranas, Andhaka was the offspring of Shiva and Parvati and was adopted as a son by Hirnyaksha. Vishnu killed Hiranyaksha in his boar (araha) incarnation and Hiranyakshipu in his half-man and half0lion (narasimha) incarnation.)
As soon as Andhaka became king, he made it his first task to please Shiva through tapasya. He obtained the boons that gods and demons would not be able to kill, that the fire would not be able to burn him and that the water would not be able to make him wet. Thus fortified, Andhaka decided that he would conquer heaven and earth. He made Shukracharya, the preceptor of the demons, his priest and adviser.
It took no time at all to defeat all the kings on earth. Andhaka and his cohorts now invaded Mount Sumeru, indra raised an army of the gods so that heaven might be protected. Indra himself came to fight, perched atop his elephant Airavata. In the army of the gods there were the twelve aditya, the eight vasus, the vishvadevas, the two Ahvinis and the martus.
Narada interrupted Pulastya. “Please tell me what the various gods rode on.”he said. “I would like to know that.”
Pulastya obliged.
Indra rode a white elephant named Airavata Yama rode a black buffalo named Pundraka. Varuna was astride a dark porpoise named Jalashi. The gandharvas (Singers of heaven) rode on snakes and the eleven rudras on a chariot drawn by five hundred swans. The adityas rode horses and camels, while the vasus were on elephants. The tow Ashvinis rode horse and the maruts rode on deer.
As for the demons, they also rode on diverse creatures. Andhaka’s chariot was drawn by a thousand black horses. The demon Virochana was on an elephant, Kujambha rode a horse and Ayohshanku was astride a lion. Other demon soldiers were on chariots or on foot.
The fierce battle started. Thick dust billowed around and nothing could be seen. Chariots crushed chariots, elephants fought with elephant, and horsed hot tangled with other horses. River of blood started to flow and dead soldiers littered the battlefield. Vultures feasted on the dead bodies. Jackals were delighted. Parts of the battlefield came to resemble a cremation ground.
Andhaka and Indra came face to face and d duel began. Indra had a terrible weapon named vajra. He hurled this at Andhaka. Although this flaming weapon killed Andhaka’s horses and charioteer, it could do Andhaka himself no harm. Andhaka floored the vajra with a blow of his fists. Airavata fell unconscious from the force of Andhaka’s blows. Indra had had enough and he fled Andhaka cheerfully continued with his destruction of the gods.
Several other duels raged between individual gods and demons. Andhaka gave Yama a thrashing. Virochana managed to capture the god Varuana. The god Agni received a blow of Andhaka’s club and ran away. Vayu, Chandra, Surya, the sadhyaas, the vasus or the Ashvinis – not a single god could match Andhaka’s prowess.
In this fashion, Andhaka conquered the three worlds. He made all the kings pay taxes to him. Andhaka’s capital was a city named Ashmaka. Located in the underworld.
Prahlada
The demons had a king named Hiranyakashipu who was very evil. Vishnu killed this evil king and instated Prahlada, Hiranyakashipu’s son, as the king of the demons.
Prahlada was a good king. He was respectful towards the gods and the brahmanas. Religious ceremonies were faithfully observed in his kingdom. The brahmanas could go about their business in peace, performing tapasya and visiting tirthas. Dharma (righteousness) prevailed.
There was a powerful sage named Chyavana. One day, he went to a tirtha named Nakuleshvara, located on the banks of the river Narmada. When Chyavana entered the river to bathe, a black snake came and bit him. But the sage started to pray to Vishnu and the snake’s poison was rendered harmless. The snake however managed to drag Chyavana down into the underworld. All the demons (danavas and daityas) who lived in the underworld worshipped the great sage and he was taken before their king, Prahlada.
Prahlada asked Chyavana, “Please tell me about the great tirthas that are there in the sky, the earth and the underworld.”
“There are a large number of tirthas,” replied the sage. “But the best tirtha in the sky is Pushkara, the best one on earth is Naimishatirtha and the best one in the underworld is Chakratirtha.”
Hearing this, Prahlada thought that it would be a good idea to visit Pushkara. But as a preliminary, the demons went and bathed in Naimishatirtha. After the bathing was over, Prahlada went out on a hunt with his companions and soon came to the banks of the river Sarasvati. There was a shala tree standing there and all along the tree the branches were pierced with arrows. Not a single part of the trunk was unscathed.
A little beyond the tree, Prahlada came upon two sages. They had matted hair and wore deerskins. They were busy meditating. But by their side, there were two divine bows. And quivers full of arrows. Prahlada concluded that these two sages were not real sages. They must be fake sages, otherwise, why should they carry weapons?
“Why are you so bothered?” retorted the sages. “We are only doing what is in our power to do.”
“How can you talk of power?” asked Prahlada. “I am the king of the demons. I am the source of your strength. How can you have any independent power?”
“Not at all,” replied the sages. “We are Nara and Narayana. We have plenty of strength. There is no one who is our equal in prowess.”
These words angered Prahlada and he arranged his soldiers in proper formation and attacked the sages. Nara and Prahlada first fought with one another, letting loose volleys and volleys of arrows. They sliced up each other’s arrows. The sky was covered with arrows flying in all directions. When his arrows served no purpose, Prahlada took up a divine weapon named brahmastra. Nara repelled this with another divine weapon named narayanastra. Prahlada now took up agneyastra and Nara repelled this with maheshvarastra. Prahlada now took up a mace to fight.
Narayana had taken no part in the battle so far. He relieved Nara and entered the fray. Prahlada’s mace struck Narayana and Prahlada started to shoot arrows at each other. So wonderful was the battle that the gods came and lined up in the sky to see what was happening. Narayana sliced up all of Prahlada’s bows with his arrows. The king of the demons then began to fight with clubs, nooses and spears. Finally, one of Narayana’s arrows pierced Prahlada in the chest and he fell down on his chariot, unconscious. His charioteer removed Prahlada to safety.
When Prahlada regained consciousness, he came back to fight again. But Narayana told him.
“It is now time for the evening prayers. Come back tomorrow and we will resume our duel.”
Next morning Prahlada returned and the two warriors continued to fight. Thus it went on for a thousand years and Prahlada found it impossible to vanquish Narayana. In desperation, he started to pray to Vishnu.
Vishnu appeared before Prahlada and said, “Forget about trying to defeat Narayana. He is invincible. The gods and the demons cannot vanquish him, even if they gang up together.”
The sun-god, Surya, was extremely unhappy as his glory was diminished. He therefore gazed at the city of the rakshasas in rage. So fierce was his gaze that the city fell down from the sky. (You will recall that Shiva granted Sukeshi a fortified city fell, the demons wailed and Sukeshi prayed to Shiva.
Shiva wished to help his devotees and realised that it was Surya who was responsible for the mischief. He gazed at the sun in anger and the sun started to fall from the sky.
Surya asked the sages, ”what am I going to do? I am falling down from the sky.”
“If you want your own good, fall on the holy city of Varanasi,” replied the sages.
The sun accordingly fell on Varanasi and bathed in the rivers Varana and Asi. But how could the earth and its inhabitants function without a sun? they all went to Brahma in search of a solution. Brahma and the other gods went to Mount Mandara to pacify Shiva. Shiva’s anger was cooled and he re-established the sun in the sky. As for Sukeshi’s city, that too was re-established in the sky by Brahma.
Mahishasura
Many years ago, there were two powerful asuras named Rabha and Karambha. They were so evil that the entire universe suffered from their oppression. These two asura brothers had no son and they decided to pray so that they might have sons. Karambha planed to perform tapasya under the water. While he was doing this, he was killed by Indra.
(The Devi Bhagavata states that Rambha and Karambha were the sons of Danu. The sons of Danu were called danavas (demons). Indra adopted the form of a crocodile and swallowed Karambha. The Kalika Purana states that Rambha was born three times and each of these births, he prayed to Shiva. He then obtained a son as the result of a boon received from Shiva).
When the news of his brother’s death reached Rambha, he was greatly angered. He began to perform very difficult tapasya so that he might have his revenge. When nothing happened as a result of all this meditation. Rambha resolved slice off his head with a sword and offer it to the fire-god, Agni.
As he was about to do that, Agni appeared and said. ”Don’t commit suicide. It is a sin to kill others, but it is a grater sin to kill oneself. Tel me what you want and I will grant you the desired boon.”
“Please let me have a son who will conquer the three worlds, “ replied Rambha. “ Let him be very strong so that even the gods will find him invincible. Let him also be well-versed in the use of all sorts of weapons and as the wind.”
Agni granted Rambha the boon.
The yakshas were demi-gods who were companions of Kubera, the god of wealth. Rambha went on a trip to the land of the yakshas and fell in love with a she-buffalo whom he met there. He married her and brought her home. But his danava friends shunned him because he had returned to the land of the yakshas. There the she-buffalo gave birth to a handsome boy who was named Mahishasura as his mother was a she-buffalo (mahishi).
Mahishasura’s mother was once attacked by another buffalo. While trying to protect his wife, Rambha met his death at the hands of the buffalo. The yakshas pursued the buffalo and killed it. The she-buffalo immolated herself on her husband Rambh’s funeral pyre. Out of the flames of funeral pyre there emerged a terrible demon named Raktavija. He killed everyone who was present, with the solitary exception of Mahishaura, whom he accepted as lord and master.
(The account in the Devi Bhagavata differs. There, Mahashasura was not born prior to Rambha’s death. When Rambha’s wife immolated herself. Mahishasura emerged from the side of her body. On seeing that his son had been thus born. Rambha recreated himself in the form of Raktavija.)
Mahishasura became a fierce warrior. He defeated all the other demons and became their king. He also defeated the gods and drove them out of heaven. The crestfallen gods went and complained to Brahma about Mahishasura. Brahma said that he would not be able to do anything about the demon himself, but he would take the gods to Vishnu and plead to Vishnu on their behalf, when brahma and the other gods went to visit Vishnu, they found Shiva there as well.
“Please save us from the depredations of Mahishasura, ”the gods told Shiva and Vishnu.” He has thrown us out of heaven and if you do not find a solution we will be forced to go and live in the underworld.”
Sukeshi
Many years ago, there was a king of the rakshasas (demons) named Vidyutkeshi. Vidutkeshi’s son was Sukeshi. Sukeshi had many good qualities and Shiva was so please with him that he granted Sukeshi a wonderful fortified city that could fly in the sky. As a result of possessing this city, no one could defeat Sukeshi and he became invincible.
Once Sukeshi went to a forest in the land of Magadha. The forest was full of hermitages populated by holy sages. Sukeshi paid his respects to the sages. He wanted some good advise from the sages.
The sages told him that one should always followed the path of dharma (righteousness). This meant performing yajnas, studying the Vedas and worshipping Vishnu. Of course, only so far as the gods were concerned. Dharma for the demons meant fighting and worshipping Shiva. The sages were supposed to be truthful and were to spend their time in meditation. As for humans, dharma meant that they should donate alms, perform religious ceremonies, avoid miserliness, express pity towards other living beings, be forgiving, practise non-violence, control the senses, and be respectful towards the gods.
The earth is divided into seven regions dvipas). Their names are Jambudvipa, Plakshadvipa, Shakadvipa and Pushkaradvipa. There are also seven oceans on earth and their names are Lavana, ikshu, Sura, Sarpi, Dadhi, Dugdha and Svaduda. (other Puranas mention Jala instead of Svauda.) The dictates of dharma differ from one dvipa to another.
There are several hells (naraka) in which sinners are made to fuffer. There are in fact, twenty-one such hell and their names are Rourava, Maharourava, Tamisra, Andhatamisra, Kalasutra, Taptakumbha, Kutashalmali, Karapatra, Shvabhojana, Sandamsha, Louhapinda, Karambhasikata, Kita-bhojana, Shonitapuyabhojana, Kshuragradhara, Nisita, Chakraka and Samshoshana.
Sukeshi asked the sages, “What are sins and when do sinners go the hell?”
The most important sins are criticising the gods, Vedas or brahmanas, being disrespectful towards the Puranas, hating one’s teacher (guru), and causing disturbance at yajnas. Other sinners are those who cause strife amongst friends, brothers and relatives. It is also a sin to cause unhappiness to other or to commit theft. Those who insult their parents or those who defraud others are also sinners, It is a sin to eat before the gods, guests and parents have been served. A sinner is one who touches one’s friend, wife, mother, elder brother, Father, sister or teacher with one’s feet. Those who destroy temples, wells or ponds are destined to suffer in hell. It is a sin to forsake one’s wife, sons, and servants in times of famine. You will surely go to hell if you kill a cow, or if you steal land.
Sukeshi asked, ”can you tell me a little more about Jambudvipa?”
Jambudvipa is divided in to nine regions (varsha). Llavaritavarsha is in the centre, Bhadrashvavarsha in the east, Hiranmayavarsha in the south-east, Bharatavarsha in the south Harivasha in the south-west Ketumalavarsha in the west, Champakavarsha in the north-west, Kuruvarsha in the north-east. Bharatvarsha itself is divided into nine regions whose names are Indradvipa, Kasheruna, Tamraparna, Gabhastimana, To the east of Bharatavarsha live the kiratas, to the west the yavanas, to the south the andhras, and to the north the turaskas.
The major mountain ranges of Bharatavarsha are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Shuktimana, Riksha, Vindhya and Paripatra. The land is full of rivers
The dictates of dharma are laid down in the principles of varnashrama. There are four varnas (classes) and four ashramas (stages of life). The first ashrama is that of brahmacharya (celibate studenthood). One studies then in the house of one’s guru and serves the teacher well. Food of then to be obtained through begging. When the period of studying is over, the teacher has to be paid a fee (dakshina). It is the time to enter the second ashrama, that of garhasthya (householder stage). A householder has to make his living through occupations that ate prescribed for his class. His primary duties are to serve the gods and guests well. When sons and grandsons have been born and when the body shows signs of decay, it is time to enter the third ashrama of vanaprastha (forest-dwelling stage). Such a person spends his time in meditation, sleeps on the ground, keeps clothes. The final ashrama is that of sannyasa (hermithood).
The four varnas are brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras. All four ashramas are not recommended for all four classes, Brahmanas should practice all four. Kshatriyas should avoid sannyasa and vaishyas should avoid both brahmacharya and sannyasa. Shudras should practice only garhasthya.
When Sukeshi returned to his kingdom, he instructed the rakshasas to practice dharma along the lines indicated by the sages. The demons were so energised through the practice of these righteous ways that their glory put the sun, the moon and the stars to shame, During the day, the city of the rekshasas shone like the sun and at night it shone like the moon. This was indeed a wonderous sight. People got confused between the city of the demons and the sun, or between the city and the moon. Night and day had no meaning, as the city blazed forth with light. Religious ceremonies started to be performed at night. Owls sauntered out during the day. There was a great deal of confusion.
News of the demon’s oppressions angered Shiva and Vishnu and luminous energy came out of this anger, Brahma and the other gods also contributed their own energies. All this energy was taken to the sage Katyayana’s hermitage and the sage added his own energy to the accumulated store. From this store of energy was fashioned a beautiful goddess named Katyayani, so named because she was born in Katyayana’s hermitage. Shiva’s energy formed her face, Agni’s her eyes, Yama’s her hair, Vishnu’s her eighteen arms. Indra’s fer waist, Varuna’s her legs, Brahma’s her feet and Surya’s her toes. The yakshas contributed the nose, the sadhyas the eyebrows, and the maruts the ears.
(The reason why a goddess had to be created does not come out clearly in the Vamana Purana . other Puranas like the Varaha Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Kalika Purana and the Devi Bhagavata state that Mahishasura had obtained a boon from Brahma whereby he could not be killed by any male. The kalika Purana also adds that Mahishasura had disturbed Katyayana’s meditations in the form of a woman. The sage had thereupon cursed him that he would be killed by a woman.)
The gods armed the goddess with the sorts of weapons. Shiva gave her his trident (trishula). Vishnu his bladed discus (chakra). Varuna his conch-shell (shankha). Agni his spear (shakti). Vayu his bow (chapa). Surya his quiver (tuna) and arrows (shara). Indra his club (vajra), Yama his rod (danda), Kuthara). Other gods adorned her with jewellery. The Himalaya mountains gave her a lion to ride on. The gods then prayed to Katyayani for deliverance.
Thus armed by the gods. The goddess ascended her lion and left for the Vindhya mountains.
A Digression On Agastya And The Vindhya Mountains
The Vindhya mountains constituted a very long range. Many years ago, the peaks of these mountains used to tower up into the sky. But the sage Agastya made the Vindhya lower its peaks.
“How did that happen and why did Agastya lower the peaks of the Vindhya?” Narada asked of Pulastya.
Many years ago, the Vindhya raised its peaks up into the sky and obstructed the path of the sun. (Other Puranas give the reasons for this. The sage Narada went to the Vindhya and told the Vindhya that Mount Sumeru was a superior mountain. To establish its supremacy, the Vindhya raised its peaks up into the sky and obstructed the path of the sun).
How would the earth survive if the sun was not permitted to traverse the sky? The sun went to the sage Agastya and asked him to find a solution to the problem.
Agastya pretended to be an old man and appeared before Vindhya. “I am an old man,” he said. “There is a tirtha to the south that I wish to visit. It is beyond my powers to cross your peaks and travel southwards. Please lower your peaks and aid an old man”.
After Vindhya had lowered its peak, Agastya crossed over the other side and said, “ I am going to bathe in the tirtha and will return to may heritage along this very route. Please do not raise your peaks until I return. If you do not listen to me, I am going to curse you.’
Scared of the curse, Vindhya kept its peaks lowered. Agastya never returned. That is how the peaks of the Vindhya came to be so low.
Mahishasura Again
Katyaynai started to live on the Vindhya mountains.
Mahishasura had two messengers named Chanda and Munda and these two demons happened to catch sight of the goddess, they though that this beautiful woman would be the right wife for their king Mahishasura. They accordingly went and described Katyayani’s beauty to the demon-king.
These descriptions excited Mahishasura’s curiosity. He sent an army of demons to the Vindhya mountains. In this army were asura (demon) stalwarts like Chanda, Munda, Vidalasha, Kapila, Vashkala, Ugrayudha, Chikshura and Raktavija.
“Why have all of you come to see me?” asked Vishnu “I can guess that Nishumbha must have defeated you. Do as I say. Pray to the ancestors (pitri). They have a daughter named Mena. Mean must be married to Himalaya. Sati will be reborn as Uma the daughter of Mena. Shiva and Uma’s son will be the general who lead you to victory. For the moment, go to the place named Kuruakshetra. There is a tirtha named Prithudaka there. That is where you must pray to the ancestors for Meana .”
“Where is Kurukshetra?” asked the gods. “Tell us about Kurukshetra and Prithudaka tirtha.”
Vishnu recounted the story for the benefit of the gods.
Samvarana and Tapati
Towards the beginning of satya yuga, there was a king named Riksha who belonged to the lunar dynasty.
(Satya yuga is the first of the four eras. In this context, this simply means that the incident in question happened many yeas ago.)
Riksha had a son named Samvarana whom he appointed king at a very early age. Right from his childhood, Samvarana was righteous and devoted to Vishnu. His priest was the sage Vashishtha. The sage also taught Samvarana all the shastras (sacred texts).
Once Samvarana went on a hunt to the forest, after having left Vashishtha in charge of the kingdom. One particular part of the forest was called Vaibhraja. This was truly wonderous. It was full of diverse flowers. Samvarana wandered around the place and came upon a group of apsaras. One particular apsara was named Tapati and Samvarana fell in love with her. He was so smitten with love for her that he fell down from his horse, unconscious. He was discovered there by the gandharvas. They revived him and Samvarana returned to his capital.
But he could not forget Tapati. Tapati was actually the daughter of the sun-god Surya and, she too, had fallen in love with Samvarana. Vashishtha got to know about the matter and saw no reason why the two should not get married. He therefore requested Surya to accept Samvarana as son-in-law. The sun promptly agreed and Samvarana and Tapati were married.
They had a son named Kuru and Vashishtha took charge of Kuru’s education. The result was that the prince became will-versed in the shastras and knew all the duties of a king by the time he was ten years of age.
When his son was sixteen years old, Samvarana decided it was time to get him married. King Sudama had a beautiful daughter named Soudamni and it was to her that Kuru was married. They lived happily, and in due course, Kuru became king after his father. But after some time had passed, Kuru decided that he ought to do something so that posterity might remember him forever.
The king roamed everywhere on earth in search of a task that might bring him permanent fame. He eventually came to a forest named dvaitavana, through which flowed the river Sarasvati. Also in the forest was a pond and by the side of the pond was one of Brahma’s seats. Brahma has five seats (vedi) on earth. This particular one was named Samantapanchaka and was situated towards the north. The seat towards the east was in Gaya, that towards the south in Viraja, that towards the west in Pushkara and the central seat was in Prayaga.
Kuru decided that he would plough the land near Samantapanchaka. For this purpose he constructed a golden plough and yoked a buffalo and a bull to it. While he was ploughing, Indra arrived and asked, “King, what are you trying to do?”
“I am ploughing the land to cultivate the fruits of meditation, truthfulness, pity, forgiveness, cleanliness, charity and the like,” replied Kuru.
“But where is the seed?” asked Indra.
Kuru did not reply. He went on ploughing. After Indra had left, Vishnu arrived and asked Kuru the same question.
This time Kuru replied. “The seed is inside my body,” he said.
There was another demon named Dundubhi. The word dundubhi means because his voice was like the noise of a drum. Dundubhi also happened to be the son of Maya, the architect of the demons.
Mahishasura sent Dundubhi as a messenger to Katyayni. Dundubhi told her. Mahishasura has conquered the three worlds. He has even succeeded in defeating the gods and all the kings on earth owe allegiance to him. There is no one in the three worlds who is his equal in battle. You are the most beautiful of women. It is only fitting that you should marry Mahishasura.”
“I agree with what you have said,” replied Katyayani. “However, there is a ritual that is followed in my family. I can only marry someone who defeats me in battle . please tell Mahishasura to fight with me and conquer me. I shall then be his wife.”
When Dundubhi carried this message back to Mahishasura, the demon-king got ready for battle. Chikshura was appointed the chief general and the demon namara led the attack. Arrows showered like rain from Katyayani’s bow. Her clubs killed several demons. The lion also killed many demons. The asuras started to flee, but Namara restrained them and himself came to fight. He flung spears and tridents at the goddess and also attacked her lion. But Katyayani grasped the demon and battlefield shook with her laughter. From her laughter there emerged several ghosts (bhuta) and these too killed the demons.
Chhikshura entered the fray now. But his arrows were easily repelled by Katyayani. She sliced off his bow, sword and shield. She then off his head, arms and feet. Many other demons then attacked the goddess, Vashkala, Durdhara, Durmukha and Vidalaksha. But Katyayani killed them all.
Mahishasura adopted the form of a buffalo and attacked the lion. He pounded on the ground with his hooves and roared in anger. Katyayani picked up the buffalo and flung him far away. But the buffalo got up again and rushed towards the goddess. Katyayani now tied him of an elephant. The goddess sliced off the elephant’s trunk, but the demon became a buffalo again.
All the weapons that the goddess used on the buffalo proved to be of no avail. Katyayani therefore climbed up onto the back of the buffalo. Mahishasura ran hither and thither to shake her off, but the goddess would not be dislodged. She proceeded to to methodically and slowly crush the buffalo death with her feet. When Mahishasura became weak from this burned, Katyayani speared his throat with a trident. From the severed throat of the buffalo a warrior armed with a sword and shield emerged. But the goddess speared his chest, grasped his hair with her hand and cut off his head with her sword.
Thus it was that Mahishasura died and great was the despair among the demons. They fled in disarray.
The gods prayed to Katyayani. She blessed them and said, “I will appear again when you need me.”
Saying this, she disappeared.
Uma
Narada asked Pulastya, ‘When did the goddess appear again?”
“She appeared to kill the asura Nishumbha,” replied Pulastya. “ She was born was as Uma, the daughter of Himalaya, and married Shiva. All this was to ensure the destruction of Shumbha and Nishumbha.”
“Tell me about Uma,” requested Narada.
“Before telling you about Shumbha and Nishumbh, let me tell you about Skanda,” said Pulastya.
When Sati died, Shiva was miserable and went away to perform tapasya. Meanwhile, the general of the gods left and went away to meditate. The gods had no general who could lead them into battle. The upshot was that the demon Nishumbha attacked them and gave them a thrashing. The defeated gods went to visit Vishnu in Shvetadvipa.
“The great Vishnu,” exclaimed Vali. “Who is this great Vishnu? Is he superior to my valiant generals?”
Prahlada was devoted to Vishnu and he was therefore insulted at these insolent words of his grandson. “Cursed am I that my grandson should speak thus,” he said. “Because of your insolent words I curse you that you will lose your kingdom.”
Vali begged forgiveness and Prahlada pardoned him. But a curse once imposed, has to run its course. As compensation, Prahlada agreed to teach vali the principles of dharma.
Meanwhile, Kashyapa and Aditi had a son. He was born as a dwarf (vamana) and this was accordingly, the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu.
Vali had arranged for a yajna and the dwarf decided to pay a visit to the ceremony.
Vali saw ill omens everywhere. He therefore asked his guru Shukracharya for an explanation.
“Vishnu has been born as the dwarf son of Kashyapa and Aditi,” replied Shukracharya. “He is coming to attend your yajna. Be careful of what you promise to grant him. I fear that he will try to deprive you of your kingdom, so as to make the gods happy.”
“I will indeed be fortunate if the great Vishnu condescends to grace my ceremony,” said Vali. “How can I possible refuse him? I will give him whatever he wants.”
When the dwarf arrived, Vali offered to grant him whatever he wanted. The dwarf desired as much of land as could be covered in three of his footsteps. This boon Vali readily granted. But as soon as the boon was granted, the dwarf assumed a gigantic from. The form was so huge that the entire universe was covered in one of the giant’s footsteps. Vishnu returned heaven to Indra. There was nowhere left for Vali to live in and Vishnu instructed the demons that they should live in the underworld. But so struck was Vishnu by Vali’s generosity that he promised Vali that he would assume the title of Indra in future manvantara.
Tirthas
A tirtha is a sacred place of pilgrimage and there are several such tirthas. The Vamana Purana now describes several such tirthas.
For example, Kurukshetra is such a tirtha. Also sacred is the land of Brahmavarta, which lies between the two rivers Sarasvati and Drishadvati. In fact, there are seven rivers that flow through the land of Kurukshetra. Their names are Sarasvati, Vaitarani, Ganga, Mandakini, Madhusrava, Koushiki and Drishadvati. There are also seven forests in Kurukshetra. Their names are kamyaka, Aditi, Vyasa, Falaka, Surya, Madhu and Shita.
Vena
Manu had a son named Kshut. Kshut was a very good king. But his wife Bhaya had a father named Kala who was evil. Kshut and Bhaya’s son was Vena and Vena picked up evil ways from his maternal grandfather Kala.
(There is some inconsistency with the accounts elsewhere. For example, the Mahabharata, the Vishnu Purana and the Harivamsha, state that Vena was the son of the king of Anga and his wife Sunitha. The rest of the account is more or less the same.)
Vena was so evil that he criticised the Vedas. His father was so upset at Vena’s evil ways that he retired to the forest to perform tapasya as penance for having given birth to such an evil son. This merely provided Vena with the opportunity to become king and rule over the entire world. He promptly announced that all religious ceremonies should be stopped. There was no need to worship the gods. The person who was deserving of worship was Vena himself.
The sages were aghast at these proceedings. They came and tried to persuade the king to mend his evil ways. They tried to tell him that yajnas were necessary for the sake of dharma. But Vena would not listen. The sages therefore had no option but to chant incantations over some blades of grass and slay Vena with this sanctified grass.
“Produce it,” responded Vishnu. “Give me the seed so that I can sow it. You continue with your ploughing.”
Kuru stretched out his right arm and Vishnu sliced the arm into a thousand pieces with his bladed discus. Kuru next stretched out his left arm and this also met with the same end. The king Offered his thighs and again Vishnu cut them up. Finally, Kuru offered his head. This pleased Vishnu no end and he wished to grant Kuru a boon.
“I have already ploughed part of the land,” replied Kuru. “If you desire to grant me a boon, let it be that the ploughed part of the land shall henceforth be a holy place. Religious rites and ceremonies will be observed here and from now on, the place will be known as Kurukshetra.”
Vishnu granted the boon. He also informed Kuru that the king himself would perform thousands and thousands of yajnas in Kurukshetra. This is how Kurukshetra became a sacred place and sinners are not permitted entry there. In Kurukshetra there flows the holy river Prithudaka, after which the tirtha to which Vishnu referred is named.
It was in Kuruksheta that the sage Lomaharshana recited the story of the vamana (dwarf) incarnation to the other assembled sages. The story is as follows.
Vali
Hiranyakashipu was the ancestor of all demons(daityas). Hiranyakashipu’s son was Prahlada, Prahlada’s son Virochana and Virochana’s son Vali.
After Hiranyakashipu’s death, the power of the demons was not diminished. They continued to rule the three worlds and drove the gods out of heaven. Two demons named Maya and Shambara kept on conquering new kingdoms for the daityas. The demons performed yajnas and prospered. This was because Prahlada. Maya and Shambara were good demons, not sinners.
Eventually Vali became the king of the daityas. The goddess Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity, blessed Vali and began to live in his house. Thus Vali prospered and everyone was happy.
The only person who was unhappy was Indra. The gods, after all, no longer had a place to live in. Indra therefore went to Mount Sumeru. There lived Aditi, the mother of all the gods. Indra and the other gods went and complained about Vali to their mother.
“The gods can do nothing about Vali,” replied Aditi. “The only one who can destroy Vali is Vishnu. Why don’t you go and see what your father Kashyapa has to say on this?”
The gods went and recited their woes to Kashyapa.
“I can’t really do anything,” said Kashyapa. “What you should really do is go to Brahma and ask for his opinion”.
The gods went to Brahma.
“The solution lies with Vishnu,” said Brahma.
“Go to the shores of the northern ocean and pray to Vishnu. Ask Kashyapa and Aditi to pray as well.
When Vishnu is pleased, he will grant Kashyapa and Aditi the boon that he will be born as their son. It is this son who will destroy Vali”.
The gods went to the shores of the northern ocean and started to pray. Kashyapa and Aditi joined them in their meditations. Vishnu was pleased and agreed to be born as the son of Kashyapa and Aditi.
As soon as Vishnu agreed to do this, the power of the demons began to decrease. They saw ill omens everywhere.
“Why is all this happening?” Vali asked his grandfather Prahlada.
“This is because the great Vishnu has agreed to be born as the son of Kashyapa and Aditi,” replied Prahlada.
The problem however was that Vena had no son. In the absence of a king, chaos reigned in the kingdom. Theft and robbery became rife and the subjects began to suffer.
Obviously a king had to be found. The sages stated to knead the left arm of the dead body. As a result of this kneading, a dwarf emerged. “Nishida,” the sages told the dwarf, the word nishida meaning “Sit”. From this word, the dwarf came to be known as nishda and gave birth to a race of hunters.
The sages now began to knead the dead body’s right arm and a divine-looking person emerged. This was Prithu and he held a bow and several arrows in his hands when he emerged. Prithu was appointed king by the gods and the sages. He ruled well and soon made his subjects forget the evil ways of his father.
But Prithu kept on thinking, “My father was evil and a sinner. He must have come to great grief after his death. I wonder how I may free him from his sins.”
While Prithu was thus wondering, the sage Narada arrived and Prithu asked him the whereabouts of his dead father Vena. Narada informed Prithu that Vena had now been born in the land of the disbelievers (that is, those who disbelieved in the Vedas) and was suffering from tuberculosis. Narada also told Prithu that the only way to free Vena was to take him to several sacred places of pilgrimage.
Prithu accordingly went to the land of the disbelievers and hunted out his father Vena. He hired a palanquin for Vena and brought the diseased man to the sacred land of Kurukshetra. In Kurukshetra there was a tirtha named sthanutirtha. Prithu decided that he would bathe his father in the sacred waters that were there.
But just as he was about to do this, divine words were heard from the sky. The voice said, “Don’t dare to do what you are contemplating. This is a sacred tirtha and your father is a great sinner. He is not allowed to bathe here for fear of polluting the holy waters.”
“What am I to do then?” asked Prithu. “I wish to free my father. What is the prescribed form of penance?”
“Bathe in the holy waters of the tirthas yourself,” replied the heavenly voice. “After you have had your bath, sprinkle some droplets of water from your body on Vena. That will suffice.”
That is what Prithu began to do.
Years ago, there was a man who was given the job of looking after the belongings of temples. These rich possessions tempted the guard and he stole some of these objects. As a result of this sin, the guard was born as a dog in his next life. The dog bathed in the waters of the river Sarasvati and came to sthanutirtha. Vena was also there and since the dog seemed to be frightened, Vena stroked it.
As soon as he did this, the water from the Sarasvati touched Vena’s body and he was freed of all his sins. His mind turned to religious pursuits and he started to pray to Shiva.
Shiva was pleased at this intense meditation, and appeared before Vena and said, “I am pleased with your prayers and you may live for some time with me. But you had earlier committed the severe sin of criticising the Vedas and you must suffer for that. You will therefore be born as an asura and your name will be Andhaka. You will be the son of the demon Hiranyaksha. When I kill you with my spear, you will be pardoned all your sins.”
Shiva and Uma’s Marriage
As a result of all this digression, you have probably forgotten by now that Vishnu asked the gods to go and pray to the ancestors in Kurukshetra. This the gods did and the ancestors gladly parted with their daughter Mena. The gods brought Mena to Himalaya and arranged their marriage. Three daughters were born of this union.
These three daughters were named. Ragini, Kutila and Kali. A son named Sunabha was also born. As soon as the daughters were six years old, they went off to the forest to meditate and were discovered there by the gods.
The gods first brought Kutila to Brahma and asked, “Is this the daughter who is going to get married to Shiva?”
“Not she,” replied Brahma. “She will not be able to stand Shiva’s energy.”
This angered Kutila, “Rubbish,” she exclaimed. “I will perform tapasya and prove you to be wrong you will have to eat your words.”
“For this insolence, I curse you that you may become a river,” retorted Brahma.
Ever since that day, Kutila has flowed as a river in Brahma'’ residence, Brahmaloka.
The gods next brought Ragini to Brahma and asked, “Is this the daughter who is going to get married to Shiva?”
“Not she,” replied Brahma. “She will not be able to stand Shiva’s energy.”
This angered Ragini. “Rubbish,” she exclaimed “I will perform tapasya and prove you to be wrong. You will have to eat your words.”
“For this insolence, I curse you that you may become the evening,” retorted Brahma.
Ever since that day, Ragini has been the evening.
Meanwhile, Mena was alarmed at the disappearance of two of her daughters and she did her best to persuade her third daughter Kali, also known as Uma, to refrain from performing tapasya. But Uma would not listen and continued to pray to Shiva.
Brahma told the gods, “Go and bring Mena’s third daughter to me.”
The gods went to do Brahma’s bidding, but such was the force of the energy that flowed out of Uma’s body that the gods could not even approach her. They went and reported their failure to Brahma.
“She is the one,” said Brahma. “Let her be. And rest in peace, for you are about to be delivered.”
Meanwhile, Himalaya and Mena managed to persuade Uma to stop her meditation and brought her home.
All this while, Shiva had been wandering around the world, and in the course of his travels he arrived at Himalaya's residence. Himalaya worshipped Shiva and said, “Why do you want to travel all over the place? Permit me to build a hermitage for you here, so that you can reside here undisturbed.”
Shiva agreed to this arrangement. But while he was there, he happened to meet Uma and took her to be his wife Sati. He therefore addressed her with words of love, but soon realised that this was not Sati at all. This shamed Shiva and he left the hermitage.
Uma was despondent that Shiva had thus left and she began to perform tapasya yet again so that she might have Shiva for a husband. During this period of meditation, her name became Lalita. She meditated only on Shiva and her companions kept her supplied with fruits, roots and other offerings. For purposes of meditation, Uma built an image of Shiva out of clay.
Shiva was pleased at Uma’s meditation, but he thought that he would test her first. He therefore disguised himself as an aged pilgrim and appeared before Uma.
Uma welcomed him and asked, “Who are you and where is your hermitage?”
“My hermitage is in the city of Varanasi,” replied the pilgrim. “I have been visiting many tirthas. But tell me about yourself. Why are you tormenting yourself through tapasya? Wouldn’t it have been better if you had got married? In any case, why are you meditating?”
Uma did not answer. But one of her companions told the pilgrim that Uma was meditating so as to obtain Shiva as a husband.
At this, the pilgrim burst out laughing. “Shiva,” he exclaimed. “You must be joking, you must be mad. That good for nothing fellow who wanders around in deerskin and ashes. Don’t even think of such an alliance. Surely a beautiful woman like you deserves better.”
Shiva now gave up his disguise and appeared before Uma in his true form. He told her that he would send the sages to Himalaya to crave for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
The place where Uma prayed to Shiva is now a tirtha named Bhadreshvara.
As promised, Shiva sent the sages to Himalaya. The sage Vashishtha’s wife Arundhati also accompanied the sages on their mission. Himalaya was delighted with the proposal. There was nothing more he could ask for. An auspicious day was chosen for the marriage.
All the gods came to attend the marriage of Shiva and Uma. Shiva was dressed up for the occasion by Aditi, the mother of the gods. The gandharvas sang and the apsaras danced. The sages joined the procession. Even the rakshasas joined in.
The marriage was over. But Shiva and Uma had no house to live in. Shiva therefore asked Vishvakarma, the architect of the gods, to build him a house on Mount Mandara. The house was made of gold and pearls, the doors were of ivory and the stairs were made out of crystal. There were seven rooms in the house.
Vinayaka’s Birth
Shiva and Uma lived in that house happily.
One day, Shiva happened to address Uma as Kali. Kali was of course her name, but the word kali also signified someone who was dark. And Uma was upset because she thought that Shiva was commenting on her dark complexion.
Uma therefore resolved that she would perform tapasya so as to obtain a fair complexion. She went to the mountains and started praying to Brahma. For a hundred years she prayed.
Brahma finally appeared and asked, “I am pleased. What boon do you desire?”
“Please make me fair,” said Uma.
Brahma granted the boon. The darkness left Uma’s cells (kosha) and from these dark cells the goddess Katyayani appeared. Since she had emerged out of cells, she came to be known as Koushiki. Indra begged that he might have the goddess Koushiki for a sister and this request was agreed to. Indra himself adopted the name of Koushika. He took Koushiki to the region of the Vindhyas and instated her then. Indra also gave her a lion to ride on.
“Please stay here and protect the gods,” he requested. “Kill our enemies. The gods will worship you. And since you have been instated in the region of the Vindhyas, you will be worshipped as Vindhyavasini.”
Uma had now become fair. The word gouri signifies fair and so she came to be known as Gouri.
For a thousand years Shiva and Uma lived happily. But Indra began to get worried. He was worried about the son that Shiva and Uma might have. He was scared that the son might appropriate the title of Indra. He therefore tried to do his level best to persuade Shiva not to have a son.
This interference angered Uma. Since Indra had tried persuasion with Shiva, Uma decided that she would have a son without Shiva. She therefore fashioned a son out of her own body and this son had four arms. She then presented the son to Shiva. Shiva was delighted with his son.
“As your husband, I am your nayaka (hero),” he said. “But since you have been able to produce this son without my help, he will be known as Vinayaka.”
The companions of Shiva are known as the ganas. Shiva appointed Vinayaka the lord of these ganas. He thus came to acquire the names of Ganapati and Ganesha.
Shumbha and Nishumbha
The sage Kashyapa had a wife name Danu and Danu gave birth to three sons named Shumbha, Nishumbha and Namuchi. These sons and their descendants were known as the danavas. Each of these three sons was stronger than Indra.
Indra wished to kill Namuchi. But seeing that Indra was advancing towards him, Namuchi went and hid in the chariot of the sun so that Indra could not get at him. Eventually Indra promised Namuchi that he would never kill him with a weapon and Namuchi came out of the chariot of the sun. He went and began to live in the underworld, secure in the knowledge that Indra would not kill him with a weapon. But Indra went back on his word. He killed Namuchi with a vajra (club) that was made out of the foam of the ocean. This going back on one’s word was a great sin and Indra, in the process of killing Namuchi, committed a sin that was as serious as the killing of a brahmana. As penance for this sin, Indra had to bathe in the waters of several tirthas.
(The Namuchi account in the Vamana Purana is not very clearly stated. A much more complete account is given in the Mahabharata, although there are some differences in the two accounts. In the Mahabharata, Namuchi was the son of the danava Viprachitti and was also a friend of Indra’s. It was because he killed a friend that Indra had to perform penance. The Namuchi story in the Vamana Purana is of course only a preamble to the main Shumbha and Nishumbha story.)
Namuchi’s brothers, Shumbha and Nishumbha, were very angry when they learned that Indra had killed Namuchi. They gathered a huge army and attacked the gods. The gods, led by Indra, fought bravely. But they were no match for the demons. The danavas defeated the gods convincingly and Shumbha and Nishumbha became the rulers of the three worlds.
You will remember that Raktavija, Chanda and Munda had been the companions of Mahishasura. They had not been killed by Katyayani and had been biding their time. They joined Shumbha and Nishumbha.
Chanda and Munda also described to Shumbha a beautiful woman who was living in the Vindhyas. They felt that this woman would be the right wife for Shumbha. This woman was none other than the goddess Koushiki, who had been asked by Indra to live in the Vindhya mountains. Shumbha sent a demon named Sugriva as a messenger to Koushiki.
Sugriva told the goddess, “My lord and master Shumbha is the king of the three worlds. He has acquired the most valuable objects in the three worlds for himself. You are like a jewel yourself. Therefore, it is only fitting that you should marry Shumbha or his brother Nushumbha.”
“You are quite right,” replied Koushiki. “However, there is a minor problem. I have resolved that I will only marry a person who has defeated me in battle. Why don’t you ask Shumbha to come and fight with me? If he succeeds in defeating me, I shall certainly marry him.”
Sugriva came and reported these words of the goddess to Shumbha. The demon’s anger was roused. He sent a strong demon warrior named Dhumraksha to go and capture Koushiki. Dhumraksha and a huge army of demons invaded the Vindhyas. But as soon as Dhumraksha started to threaten Koushiki, she burnt up the entire danava army with a stern glance of her eyes. Nothing but ashes were left. Shumbha next sent Chanda and Munda, together with another powerful demon named Ruru. Koushiki and her lion started to fight with the demons and killed several of them. From Koushiki’s forehead there emerged another goddess named Kali. Her body was bathed in blood and she wore a garland of skulls around her neck. She too began to fight with the demons.
When Ruru attacked Kali, the goddess killed him with one stroke of her sword. She then tore the hair off his head by the handfuls. This she knotted into a braid that she could wear around her own hair. In the process, a strand of hair fell on the ground and from this there emerged another goddess named Chandamari. Half of her body was fair in complexion and the remaining half completely dark.
Witnessing the terrible destruction, Chanda and Munda decided that discretion was the better part of valour. But the goddess Chandamari would not let them go. She pursued them through the sky and captured them. When she brought them back to Koushiki, the goddess sliced off their heads with a sword. She wore these severed heads like a headdress and because these were Chanda and Munda’s heads, she came to be known as Chamunda.
Chamunda had however had enough of the fighting. She left the destruction of the danavas for Kali to complete and Kali was only too happy to do this. She killed many demons with her weapons. Others, she simply swallowed up.
Chamunda rejoined the fighting when Raktavija came to do battle. She created many other goddesses from her body and all of them began to fight with the demons. There was however a problem with Raktavija. Whenever a drop of his blood was spilt onto the ground, a demon who was just like Raktavija emerged from the drop of blood. As Raktavija got wounded in the course of the battle, the battlefield became full of hundreds and thousands of Raktavijas.
On witnessing this remarkable development, Chamunda told Kali, “We will have to kill this asura through a joint effort. I will strike him with weapons and you follow me around. Whenever a drop of his blood comes out, you proceed to lick it up. That way, none of his blood will be spilt on the ground.”
This is what Kali did and this is how Raktavija met his death.
Nishumbha then attacked Chamunda with a sword. But the goddess sliced off his arms with her arrows. As soon as Nishumbha died, Shumbha came to fight. But Chamunda killed him also with her arrows.
The remaining demon soldiers ran away. The universe was free once again and the gods began to pray to Koushiki. Promising the gods that she would return whenever the gods required her services, Koushiki vanished.
Mura placed his hand on his breast to check if Vishnu’s words were indeed true. And thanks to Brahma’s boon, he fell down and died immediately. Vishnu chopped up the dead body with his chakra.
The word ari means enemy and because Vishnu was Mura’s enemy, he came to be known as Murari.
Andhaka Again
No doubt you remember the asura named Andhaka.
Once this demon happened to come to Mount Mandhara and his eyes fell upon the goddess Parvati. He immediately fell in love with her and decided that he would marry her.
Prahlada was also with Andhaka and Prahlada did his best to restrain the evil demon.
“You must be mad,” said Prahlada, “That is Parvati, the wife of Shiva and the mother of the entire world. How can you even contemplate such a terrible thing? Mend your ways or you will surely perish.”
But Andhaka did not listen to this good advice. He decided to attack Parvati. One of Shiva’s companions was Nandi and Nandi did his best to try and protect Parvati, But Andhaka Knocked Nandi unconscious with a club.
Parvati now adopted a hundred different forms which looked exactly alike. Andhaka had no way of knowing which was the real Parvati and he pursued one or the other without ever managing to catch the real Parvati. When the demon was tried out through all these exertions, the goddess knocked him down a weapon.
The word shata means hundred and rupa means form, since she had adopted a hundred different forms, Parvati came to be known as Shatarupa.
Andhaka had not died. He had merely become unconscious. When he recovered consciousness, he found that the goddess had disappeared. He therefore returned to the underworld.
But he could not forget Parvati and thought of her all the time,. He called all his demon subjects and told them that there was a huge reward waiting for whoever could bring Parvati to him.
“You have gone utterly mad,” Prahlada told Andhaka. “Parvati is your mother and Shiva is your father. Let me tell me tell you the story.”
The demon Hiranyalsha had no son and he began to pay to Shiva so that he might have a son. Shiva was pleased as a result of these prayers, and appeared before Hiranyaksha.
“I was once meditating,” Shiva told Hiranyaksha. “While I was thus engaged, my daughter came up from behind and covered up my eyes with her hands. Since my eyes were thus covered, a lot of darkness was created and from this darkness was born a son. This son is called Andhaka. Take him and adopt him for your own. I will kill him myself if he ever wishes to marry Parvati or if he insults the brahamanas.”
It was thus that Hiranyaksha obtained andhaka for a son. His father was really Shiva and his mother, by relation, was Parvati.
“Quite apart from that, it is a crime to try to marry someone else’s wife,” continued Prahlaha. “Don’t you know the story of Danda? Let me recount it for you.”
(In other Puranas it is stated that it was Parvati herself who covered up Shiva’s. The son was initially blind, as he had been born when Shiva’s eyes were covered. The word andha means blind and it was because of this that he came to be known as Andhaka. But his sight was thereafter restored.)
Kartikeya
Kartikeya was the son of Shiva and Uma. But he got lost when he was a bady and was found by six goddesses named the Krittikas. (The Krittikas are also nakshatras or stars identified with the Pleiades.) The six Krittikas fell in love with this beautiful child. But they started to fight amongst themselves.
“He is mine, I shall feed him,” said each one of them.
Kartikeya did not wish that a fight should break out amongst those who were to be his foster mothers. He therefore developed six heads with six mouths, so that each goddess could feed one mouths. Since that word shada means six and the word anana means face, another name for Kartikeya is Shadanana. And it was because he was brought up by the Krittikas that the boy came to have the name of Kartikeya. Amongst his other names were Kumara, Skanda, Guha and Mahasena.
When Kartikeya grew up, he was restored to Shiva and Uma. The gods appointed him the general of their army. Garuda was the king of the birds and he also carried Vishnu around. Garuda had a son who was a peacock. This peacock carried Kartikeya around.
Mura
“One of Vishnu’s names is Murari,” Pulastya told Narada.
“Why is Vishnu known as Murari?” asked Narada.
Many years ago, the sage Kashyapa had a son named Mura. This asura discovered that the demons generally tended to be beaten by the gods. He therefore decided to perform difficult tapasya so that he might become strong. For several years he prayed to Brahma. Brahma was finally pleased and agreed to grant Mura a boon.
“I wish the boon that if I touch a person in the battlefield, that person should immediately die, regardless of whether he is immortal or not. My hands should have this wonderful power,” said Mura.
Brahma granted him the boon.
Thanks to this amazing boon, Mura became invincible. No one could match him in battle. The demon attacked heaven and challenged Indra to a duel. Indra had no desire to fight with a person who possessed such amazing powers. But Mura told him, “You either have to fight with me or run away from heaven. There is no other option.”
Indra accordingly left heaven. He surrendered his elephant Airavata and his weapon vajra to Mura. With his wife and children, the king of the gods began to live in a city that he built for himself on the banks of the river Kalindi. The demons enjoyed the pleasures of heaven.
Mura once came to visit the earth and discovered king Raghu engaged in performing a yajna.
“Fight with me,” he ordered Raghu. “And if you cannot fight with me, stop performing the yajna. There is no need to worship the gods anymore. Don’t you know that they have been defeated ?”
The sage Vashishtha happened to be passing and he intervened. “Why are you trying to fight with mere humans?” he asked Mura. “They have already been defeated by you. You ought to fight with someone who is your equal. Otherwise where is the challenge? Why don’t you go and fight with Yama?”
Mura invaded Yama’s city, but Yama knew that the demon was invincible. Yama had no desire to get killed. He therefore climbed onto a buffalo and fled to Vishnu.
Vishnu heard about Yama’s woes and told him, “Go and send that demon to me. I will take care of him.”
Yama returned and met Mura. He told Mura that if he desired to be all-powerful, he ought really to fight with Vishnu. Vishnu was waiting for him on the shores of the ocean known as Kshiroda. It was there that Mura went.
“What do you want?” asked Vishnu. “Why have you come here?”
“I wish to fight with you,” replied Mura.
“But if you want to fight with me, why is your heart trembling so much?” Vishnu asked the demon. “Are you frightened? I cannot fight with a person whose heart trembles thus.”
Danda
There used to be a king named Dandha. He was very prosperous and had Shukracharya for a priest, Shukracharya had a daughter named Araja.
Shukracharya once went to visit the danava king Virshgaparva and was away for many days. While the sage was away, Danda happened to visit Shulracharya’s hermitage and, met Araja. He fell in love with her and decided to marry her.
“That is against the dictates of dharma,” replied Araja, “Shukracharya is your guru and he is therefore like a father unto you. I am his daughter and I am thus like your sister. How can I marry you?”
That is warped logic,” replied Danda. “I can certainly marry you.”
“In that case, please wait for may father return, and ask him for my hand in marriage, “ said Araja. “I cannot marry without my father’s permission,”
“Nonsense, “ retorted the king. “you don’t know the story fof Chitrangada. Let me relate it to you.”
Vishvakarma, the architect of the gods, had a daughter named Chitrangada. She was more beautiful than the goddess Lakshmi herself. Once Chitrangada and her companions went to bathe in the forest and there they met the prince Suratha. Suratha and Chitrangada fell in love with one another and decided to marry. Chitrangada’s companions tried to tell her father’s permission, but Chitrangada would not listen.
“It is by no means true that a woman has to marry only after her father has given her the permission.” said Danda. “I have told you the story of Chitrangada to illustrate the point.”
“On the contrary,” replied Araja, “You know only pat of the story. Let me complete Chitrangada’s account for you,”
When Vishvakarma returned, he was furious to find that his daughter had got married without waiting for his permission. He cursed her that she would be separated from her husband and that she would never bear any children. The river Sarasvati carried the prince Suratha far away. Separated from her husband, Chitragada had to undergo a lot of hardship and came to death’s door.
I shall therefore not marry without my father’s permission. “said Araja,
“You have not really completed the story,” replied Danda. “I will now complete it for you.”
Chitrangada eventually landed up at a temple. There she met the sage Ritadhvaja and told him her story. Ritadhvaja thought that Vishvakarma had cursed Chitragada unfairly. He therefore cursed Vishvakarma that he would be born as a monkey. As for Chitrangada, she prayed to Shiva and was reunited with her husband.
“Chitrangada did not really come to any grief in in the end.” Concluded Danda. “Marry me and let us live happily.”
Araja would still not agree. Thereupon. Danda married her forcibly. When Shukracharya returned and discovered what had happened, he burnt Danda and his entire kingdom into ashes. The place where the Dandakaranya. Danda’s crime was so serious that the gods never go to Dandakaranya. It is a place frequented only by rekshsas (demons).
Andhaka’s Defeat
Prahlada used Danda’s story to try and persuade Andhaka that it was a crime to marry a woman against her wishes, especially if that woman happened to be someone else’s wife.
But Andhaka would not be dissuaded. He would marry Parvati. As for Shiva, what could Shiva do to him? Andhaka was not even frightened of Indra. Shiva was nerely a minor god who rode a bull and wandered around smeared with ashes. Or so the demon thought.
Andhaka sent a messenger named Shambara to Shiva.
Shambara went and told Shiva, “Andhaka has sent you this message. He is the ruler of the three worlds and the three worlds include Mount Mandara. If you wish to live here, you must abide by Andhaka’s wishes. He desires that you hand over your wife Parvati to him. Andhaka will marry her herself.”
“Indra has asked me to live on Mount Mandara, “replied Shiva. “I cannot go away without his permission. As for Parvati, why don’t you go and ask her what she wants? She is free to do as she chooses.”
Shambara then went to find out what Parvati’s opinion was. Parvati suggested that Andhaka and Shiva should fight a duel over her. She would marry the winner, whoever that might happen to be.
Shambaa reported these conversations to Andhara and the demon-king got an army ready, An asura named Duryodhana was made the general of the army. These were many elephants, horses and chariots in the army and demon stalwarts marched with diverse weapons.
In preparation for war, Shiva asked Nandi to get ready. Shiva’s companions, the ganas, were armed. There were eleven crores of them and some of them were named the rudras. Vishnu’s companions also came to fight on Shiva’s side.
Andhaka’s army arrived at Mount Mandara and the two armies clashed with a thunderous roar. Shiva rode into battle on his bull. The ganas started to kill the demons and all the gods assembled to witness this wonderous fight. The demon Danda fought a prolonged diel with Ganesha. Other demons fought individual duels with the leaders of the ganas. Nandi killed Duryaodhana, the general of the demons. Kartikeya despatched a demon named Hasti with his spear.
Andhaka despaired to see so many of his soldier being killed. He bagged his guru Shukracharya to find a solution. Shukracharya knew the art of sanjwani, the technique of bringing dead people back to live. He used this knowledge to revive all the demons who were being killed by Shiva’s army.
Nandi told Shiva, “We must do something about Shukracharya. Otherwise, there is no chance of winning the battle.”
“Bring Shukracharya to me,” replied Shiva.
Nandi fought his way through the asura army and managed to capture Shukracharya. Shukracharya was brought to Shiva and shiva promptly swallowed him up. With Shukracharya out of the way, the gods began to triumph. But the war went on for two thousand and eight hundred years.
The climax of the war came when Andhaka and Shiva came face to face. Andhaka charged at Shiva with a club. But Shiva picked up a trident and pierced Andhaka’s heart with it. Andhaka also struck Shiva with a club, although the club did Shiva no harm. The blow merely angered Shiva and he drove a trident through Andhaka’s body. He then raised the trident up into the sky, Abdhaka’s body stuck to one end of the trident. The fire that blazed from Shiva’s eyes dried up Andhaka’s blood. Thus the asura was held aloft for a thousand years, until only his skin and bones were left. Because Andhaka was killed by Shiva, all his sins were forgiven. And as he lay there dying, poised on the point of the trident, the evil left him.
He started to pray to Shiva. He bagged for the boon that he might become devoted to Shiva and Parvati. This boon Shiva granted. He removed Andhaka from the point of the trident and cleaned his wounds. Andhaka no longer remained an asura, he was named Bhringi and became one of Shiva’s constant companions. Because he also the became one of the leaders of the ganas, he too was referred to as Ganapati.
Indra and the Maruts
There was a region of the world named Malayachala. It was a lovely place, full of sandalwood trees and fragrant flowers. The asuras began to live there and became very prosperous. But since the demons were evil, the practice of religion disappeared from Malayachala.
Shiva then sent Indra to that land, with an instruction to do something about the demons and killed many of them. For example, he killed an asura named Paka and acquired the name of Pakashasana. He killed another asura named Pura and acquired the name of Purandara. Defeated by Indra, the demons fled to the underworld.
Diti was the mother of all the demos. That is the reason why demons are known as daityas. Diti was married to the sage kashyapa and was desolate at the treatment that Indra was meting out to her children, She thirsted for revenge.
Diti told Kashyapa, “Please grant me a son who will kill Indra.”
This put Kashyapa in a dilemma. He was married to not only Diti, but Aditi as well, and you probably remember that Aditi was the mother of the gods.
However, Kashyapa told Diti, “You will have to observe religious rites in a clean state of the body for a period of one thousand years. If you can do this successfully, you will give birth to a son who will kill Indra, But if you are unsuccessful, the son will become a friend and companion of Indra’s.”
Diti agreed to the condition and started to observed the religious rite.
But Indra had got to know about Kashyapa’s boon and was desperate to ensure that the religious rite was not successfully completed. When Kashyapa was away, he came to the hermitage and requested that he might be allowed to serve Diti during her hardship. Diti failed to see through Indra’s deception and agreed. Indra brought her firewood and performed various other chores, biding his time for an appropriate opportunity. Ten years passed.
One particular day, Diti was tired. She had just had her bath and her hair was still wet. Nevertheless, she fell asleep, with her wet hair touching her feet. This was an act of uncleanliness and Indra grabbed the chance. He entered Diti’s body through her nostrils. Inside Diti’s stomach he discovered a baby, which he then proceeded to hack up into seven parts with his vajra. These seven parts started to cry and Indra said, “Ma ruda,” which means, “don’t cry”. He also subdivided each of the parts into seven more parts so that there were forty-nine parts in all.
These parts become the Maruts, so called because of the words Indra had used in addressing them, Since Diti had not been able to complete the rite successfully, the Maruts became friends and companions of Indra.
The word gotra means lineage and bhid is to divide. Since Indra had divided someone who was of his own lineage, he came to be known as Gotrabhit.
Dhundhu
One of Vishnu’s names is Trivikrama.
“Why is Vishnu call Trivikrama?” asked Narada.
“I will have to tell you Dhundhu’s story,” replied Pulastya.
Many years ago, during Hiranyakashipu’s days, there used to be a demon named Dhundhu. He performed very difficult tapasya and pleased Brahma, Brahma thereupon granted him the boon that the gods, including Indra, would not be able to kill him.
Thus fortified, Dhundhu became invincible. He conquered heaven and appropriated the title of Indra. He ganged up with Hirnyakashipu and conquered the three worlds. The demons roamed everywhere freely and the gods had no place to live Brahmaloka.
Dhundhu got to know about this and decided that the would invade Brahmaloka. It was however pointed out to him it was impossible for the demons to travel to Brahmaloka.
The only way to do this was to acquire the punya (store of merit) that came from performing one hundred ashvamedha yajnas at the same time. The moment he got to know this. Dhundhu decided that he would perform one hundred such horse sacrifices. The arrangements were made on the banks of the holy river Devika.
The gods got to know what was happening were worried about their future. They went to Vishnu for a solution and Vishnu promised the gods that he would find a way out. Vishnu however knew that Dhandhu could not be killed. The only solution therefore was to tie Dhundhu up.
Vishnu adopted the form of a dwarf and began to float in the waters of the river Devika. This attracted the attention of the demons and they rescued the dwarf from the water.
“How came you to be in the water?” they asked the dwarf, “ Did someone place you there?”
Vishnu cooked up a story. He told them that there was a learned brahmana named Prabhasa who had two sons named Netrabhasa and Gatibhasa. When their father died. Gatibhasa proposed that the inherited house be divided into two parts. But Netrabhasa would have none of it. He maintained that a dwarf was an incomplete human being and therefore had no right to any property. When Gatibhasa argued, his brother picked him up be the hair and flung him into the river Devika. Vishnu thus pretended that he was the dwarf Gatibhasa.
The demons were stirred to pity at this sad story and told Dhundhu, “Please donate some wealth, land and a house to Gatibhasa.”
“What would you like to have?” Dhundhu asked Gatibhasa. “Shall I give you wealth, property, land or servants?”
“None of these,” replied the dwarf, “If I acquire these, my brother will simply take them away. Please grant me as much of land as can be encompassed in three of my footsteps.”
Dhundhu agreed to grant this and the dwarf immediately assumed a gigantic form. With one step Vishnu covered the world and with a second step, all the regions including heaven. There was no place left for the third step and Vishnu had to rest it on Dhundu’s back. Such was the force of this third step that Dhundhu was driven down into a huge pit that was created in the bowels of the earth. Vishnu tied up Dhundhu and flung him into this pit. Heaven was restored to the gods.
Tri means three and vikrama means valour. Since Vishnu had shown such valour with three of his steps, he came to be known as Trivikrama.
The Early History of Pururava
Purarava was the first king of the lunar dynasty. The Vamana Purana now relates his early history.
In the kingdom of Madra, there was a city named Shakala. In that city there lived Dharma, a trader by profession. Dharma was rich, learned in the shastras and righteous. His profession of trading led him to undertake a journey to the land of sourashtra. The journey was through a desert and while he was traversing the desert at night, thieves fell upon him and looted all his property. Dharma wandered around in the desert and finally came to a shami tree (mimosa sumsa) that stood in the middle of the desert. There were no birds was sitting on its branches and the place was strangely deserted. But Dharma was so tired, hungry and thirsty that he did not have the energy to wonder about this. He fell asleep under the tree.
When he woke up, it was to discover a ghost (preta) advancing towards the tree. This ghost was obviously some sort of a leader to other ghosts; since it was surrounded by hundreds and thousands of other ghosts. The leader came upon Dharma lying under the tree and asked him. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Dharma told him his story and the leader of ghosts was greatly saddened at Dharma’s plight. He consoled him and asked the other ghosts to prepare a feast. As soon as he uttered these words, two vessels full of food and water appeared as if by magic. Dharma ate his fill. So did the other ghosts.
Then Dharma asked the leader of the ghosts, “where did this food and water come from? Who are you? How came you to be in the desert? And how is it that you have so many servants? Please tell me your story.”
The story that the ghost related was as follows.
The ghost used to be a trader named Somasharma who lived in the city of Shakala. As a neighbour, he had a rich trader named Somashrava, Somashrava was devoted to Vishnu, but Somasharma was evil. He was a miser and never donated alms.