Narada
asks sage Pulastya about Vaamana incarnation:
Vaaman
Puraan is one of the eighteen Puraans written by sage Vyasa. It contains tales
pertaining to Lord Vishnu in his Vaaman (dwarf) incarnation. Sage Pulastya
while giving answers to Narada's enquiry narrates the tale of Vaamana Puraana.
All
the Puraans give glimpses of Indian civilization and culture and Vaaman Puraana
is no exception. It also teaches the virtue of righteousness and religiousness.
Vaaman Puraan not only contains the divine tales of Nara-Narayana and Goddess
Durga but it also contains tales of famous devotees like Prahlad, the salvation
of Gajendra (elephant) etc.
Sage
Narad asks Pulastya- "O revered sage! Why did Shri Hari take the
incarnation of Vaaman? Why did Prahlad fight a battle with the deities despite
being a devotee of Lord Vishnu? How did Sati, Daksha Prajapati's daughter
become Mahadev's consort in her next birth? I am eager to know the answers to
all these questions."
Pulastya
replied- "O Narad! Once, Sati requested Lord Shankar to make arrangements
for a permanent abode. At that time, Lord Shankar had his abode at Mandaar
Mountain. Summer season was approaching and Sati quite rightly had
apprehensions of living in the open. Lord Shankar told her that as he was a
recluse, he never felt a need of a permanent dwelling. Though Sati was not
satisfied by his answers yet she kept quiet. This way, both of them continued
to live there. The summer season had passed and now it was the turn of rainy
season to arrive. Sati made the same request to Lord Shankar. This time, Lord
Shankar told her that it was impossible for him to construct a house, as he had
no wealth. He also told her that he had only a tiger skin as his clothing, the
king cobra- his sacred thread, Padma and Pingal (snakes)- his ear-rings and
Keval and Dhananjay as his armlets.
After
hearing this, Sati became worried as to how she would pass the rainy season
without a home. Lord Shankar then assured her that this problem would be easily
solved if she lived above the clouds. This way, she would remain untouched by
the showers. After this, both of them ascended towards the sky and started
living above the clouds. From that day onwards, Lord Shankar came to be known
as Jeebhootvaahan (one whose vehicle is the cloud).
DAKSHA PERFORMS A GRAND YAGYA
Pulastya
says- "This way, both Shiva and Sati lived above the clouds till the end
of rainy season. When autumn season arrived, both decided on returning to
Mandaar Mountain. Daksha had organised a grand Yagya in which he had invited
all the prominent deities and sages except his own son-in-law, Shankar and his
daughter, Sati."
Narad
was surprised as to why Maheshwar- the lord of all splendours was not invited
by Daksha. He was also curious to know why Lord Shankar had become a Kapaali (a
mendicant). Pulastya told him that during the period of final annihilation,
Lord Vishnu after waking up from his sleep found a divine entity, who possessed
three eyes, who had a trident in his hands and who wore a Rudraksha garland
around his neck. Lord Vishnu then created ego, which had its evil effects on
both Brahma and Shankar. Lord Shiva in his arrogance asked Brahma, his identity
and origin. Lord Brahma then arrogantly asked Shankar, his identity. This way,
a dispute ensued that later on turned into a fight in which, Brahma defeated
Shankar. Lord Shiva severed two of the five heads of Lord Brahma. But the
second head fell and got stuck on Lord Shiva's left palm. Angrily, Lord Brahma
created a terrific creature, which challenged Shankar and ridiculed him by
saying that as he (Shankar) was a sinner, therefore, he would not dirty his
hands by killing him.
Lord
Shankar was ashamed of himself. He went to Badrikashrama and requested Lord
Vishnu for some alms. Lord Vishnu asked Shankar to hit on his (Vishnu's) left
arm. Shankar hit Vishnu's left arm with his trident and the impact resulted in
the creation of three streams. The first stream went up in the sky and
established itself as Akashganga. The second one was Mandakini, which was
received by sage Atri. The third stream fell on the skull, which was stuck in
Lord Shankar's left palm. This resulted in the manifestation of a divine child
who was ferocious and well armed with bow and arrows. Shankar instructed him to
kill that creature, which was created by Brahma.
A
tremendous duel was fought between them, which was inconclusive for thousands
of divine years.
Lord
Shiva had committed a grave sin of Brahmahatya. All his efforts of separating
Brahma's skull from his left palm went in vain. In the meantime, an entity
named Brahmahatya appeared before him and entered into his body.
Lord
Shankar decided to go to Badrikashrama to atone for his sins. After reaching
there, he became worried when he did not find Lord Vishnu. He went to take a
bath in river Yamuna but as soon as he entered the river, the water dried up.
He experienced this strange phenomenon at the Saraswati River as well. He then
made pilgrimages to numerous sacred and holy places but still did not become
free from Brahmahatya. Dejected, he ultimately went to Kurukshetra where he
found Shri Narayana and requested him to free him (Shankar) from the sins of
Brahmahatya. Lord Vishnu advised him to go on a pilgrimage to Varanasi where he
would be liberated from his sins.
Following
Vishnu's instructions, Lord Shankar went to Varanasi and visited all the sacred
sites like Dashashwamedh temple, Lolarka temple and Keshav temple. While he was
worshipping Keshav, he said- "Though I have become liberated from my sins,
yet I fail to understand the reason why this skull still sticks in my
hand." Keshav told him that his problems would be solved if he takes a
bath in the lake, which was near the temple. Lord Shankar took a bath in that
lake and ultimately the skull fell on the ground. The place where the skull had
fallen later on became famous as Kapaalmochan.
Sage
Pulastya says- "O Narad! This way, Lord Shiva became famous as Kapaali.
This was the reason why Daksha did not invite him. In the meantime, Jaya, sage
Gautam's daughter went to see Sati at Mandaar Mountain. Seeing her alone, Sati
asked about her two sisters, Jayanti and Aparajita. Jaya revealed to her that
both of them had gone to their maternal-grandfather's (Daksha) Yagya. Jaya also
told her that all the deities had been invited to the Yagya. When Sati heard
this, she was grieved and angry with her father. In a fit of rage, she gave up
her life. Seeing her lifeless body, Jaya started wailing. Lord Shiva arrived
there and upon hearing Jaya's wails, asked her why Sati was lying on the
ground. Jaya then narrated the whole story. Lord Shankar became so infuriated
that it resulted in the creation of numerous Ganas among whom Veerbhadra was
the most prominent one.
Lord
Shiva accompanied by the Ganas went to the site where Daksha was performing the
Yagya. A tremendous battle ensued between them and the deities and finally, the
deities were overpowered and ran away from the site. Veerbhadra, finding the
time opportune, entered the oblation site. When the deities saw him entering
the oblation site, they returned and tried to prevent him from doing so. Again,
an intense battle erupted between both the sides. The deities used all kinds of
weapons but they could not control the onslaught of Veerbhadra and fled.
Veerbhadra
then went near the sacrificial fire. The sages were terrified and ran towards
Lord Vishnu who attacked Veerbhadra with arrows but it did not hurt him at all.
Vishnu then attacked him with other divine weapons. But still, Veerbhadra
succeeded in neutralising those weapons. Vishnu was enraged and attacked him
with his Sudarshan chakra that Veerbhadra swallowed. This angered Lord Vishnu
further. He lifted Veerbhadra and dashing him to the ground, pressed
Veerbhadra's stomach as a result of which, the Sudarshan chakra came out from
his mouth. But Lord Vishnu spared Veerbhadra's life. Veerbhadra then went to
Lord Shiva and narrated his woeful tale of defeat. Lord Shiva instructed
Veerbhadra to leave for a safer haven and himself went to the oblation site
accompanied by Bhadrakali. The sages became scared on seeing his terrifying
appearance.
Fearing
Lord Shiva's wrath, Lord Vishnu went to Hrishikesh and remained aloof for quite
some time. Shiva's anger generated so much heat that it was enough to melt the
eight Vasus. As a result, a river named Sita started flowing from there. After
being attacked by Lord Shiva, the deities fled from the scene.
Lord
Shiva then opened his third eye and furiously looked at the flame burning in
the Havan-kund. The next moment, the fire went off. Even Yagya was terrified
and he took the aerial route in the guise of a deer. Lord Shiva chased him in
the appearance of Kaal (Lord of death) with a bow and arrow named Pashupat.
In
the end, Kaal (epithet of Shiva) was successful in killing the deer, which was
Yagya in reality. After his death, Yagya's body was established among the
stars. After narrating the tale of destruction of Daksha's Yagya, sage Pulastya
then goes on to tell Narad that the names of the zodiacs had been given just
according to their appearances for e.g. Aries (Mesh) appeared like a ram.
Similarly, Taurus (Vrishabh) appeared like an ox and so on.
No comments:
Post a Comment