Ekalavya – The True Spirit of Guru Bhakthi!

Ekalavya was born to Hiranyadhanus, a Tribal Chief near Hastinapura. Even as a little boy, Ekalavya was interested in learning the nuances of archery and was determined to become a great warrior.

On his search towards Education

He heard about the great Guru, Dronacharya and travelled to Hastinapura to enrol himself as Drona’s student. Drona was then the Royal Guru of the Princes of Hastinapura (The Pandavas & Kauravas). Enquiring about his whereabouts, Drona realized that Ekalavya could not be inducted in the Gurukul (Teacher’s place where the students stayed and underwent the education process) where he was supposed to tutor only royal blood. With a heavy heart in turning down a student, Drona sent him away from the Gurukul.

However, Ekalavya, as determined as he was, returned to the forest and sculpted a statue of Dronacharya. He decided that he would practise archery under the supervision of the stone sculpture of Drona and would consider the sculpture as his Guru. With rigorous practise, Ekalavya soon became an ace archeror.

Rendezvous with the Princes

Once as he was practising his skills, Ekalavya was disturbed by the barking of a dog from a distant place. To silence the continuously barking dog, he used his skills of archery using sound and shot seven consecutive arrows that filled the dog’s mouth without injuring the creature. Just around that moment, the Pandava & Kaurava princes were out on a hunting spree. They spotted the dog with the seven arrows, traced the shooter of the arrows and found Ekalavya. On enquiring how he acquired such skills of shooting without knowing where the object was, they were told that Drona was his Guru.

A baffled group of princes left to Hastinapura and immediately approached Drona. Prince Arjuna, the Guru’s favourite student questioned the Guru as to why they were not taught these rare feats but a tribal was taught the same. On hearing the events of the day, the Guru himself was confused as he had not accepted any other pupil other than the princes and asked the princes to lead him to the tribal lad.

The Guru accompanied to the forest and met Ekalavya. He questioned Ekalavya as to how he could claim himself to be his student. Ekalavya led Drona to the statue and narrated how he had learnt the various skills he possessed. The Guru was truly surprised and impressed with the lad’s sincerity and determination towards archery and his devotion towards the Guru.

The Guru Dakshina

Drona had promised to Arjuna that he would not let anyone surpass Arjuna in his skills as a warrior, but after having seen Ekalavya, Drona realized that he had not protected his vow. He quickly demanded Guru Dakshina (fee given to teachers for the learning bestowed on students) from Ekalavya. Ekalavya was only too happy that his Guru had accepted him as his student and was asking him for Guru Dakshina. He said he would be ready to give whatever his Guru demanded.

Drona demanded that Ekalavya severe his right thumb and offer it to him as Guru Dakshina. Drona had used this opportunity to make sure his promise did not go in vain, if Ekalavya was disabled, then Arjuna would regain his position as the best warrior. Without any hesitance, Ekalavya took out his knife and cut his thumb. He offered the same to his Guru who stood rooted to the spot at the devotion that Ekalavya was exhibiting. He blessed Ekalavya with longstanding fame and left the forest.

**It was not just the promise that Drona had considered before making the demand for Ekalavya’s thumb. In his opinion, the rarest weapons and skills need to stay with educated and righteous, who would never sway towards the wrong path or misuse the skills. Ekalavya, being a tribal, had high chances of negative influence and his skills could be disastrous.

Death of Ekalavya

Ekalavya continued practising his archery skills and even without his thumb, rose to become one of the greatest warriors of his times. In the later part of his life, he got acquainted with King Jarasandha and stayed in his kingdom. During the Mahabharat War, he took sides with the Kauravas and was killed by Lord Krishna.

Matsya Avatar- The First of the Ten!

Matsya Avatar was the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu – taking the form of a fish (“Matsya” in Sanskrit).

The Need Arises

Once, after a tiresome day of his Creation business, Lord Brahma, retired to sleep.

**Lord Brahma goes to sleep at the end of each Yuga, when he is done with his work. Each Yuga is a day for him, comprising of 4,320,000 years for the common man.

As soon as he fell asleep, a demon name Hayagriva, who had an eye on the Vedas, emerged and eloped with the four Vedas. He hid himself under the deep oceans, assuming that no one would be able to find him there. Lord Vishnu, the Protector of All, had noticed this and decided to protect the Vedas. He had to assume the responsibility of saving the Vedas from the treacherous demon.

Also, at the end of each Yuga, the entire world would perish and there would be a new beginning. Lord Vishnu decided that he would also preserve one species from each flora and fauna, so that they could flourish in the next Yuga.

He decided to take the form of a fish to achieve these two purposes: Save the Vedas from the demon and preserve species for the next Yuga.

The Matsya Avatar

King Manu, who was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, was chosen by the Lord to carry out his mission. The Lord appeared in the form of a fish and gave the kings the necessary instructions. He told the king that there would be torrential rains and heavy floods in exactly seven days and that he had to build a huge ship which would accommodate a male and female from each species on the earth. Also to be saved were the Saptarishis (or the Seven Sages). The Lord advised the king to carry along with him Vasuki, the Serpent king, as he would be of some help in the mission. Lord Vishnu, in the form of Matsya, also told the king that he would meet him at the required time and left the king to perform his duties.

On the other hand, the Lord had to vanquish the demon, Hayagriva and restore the Vedas to Lord Brahma. He assumed the form of a huge fish, a form that would not even fit in rivers, and swam across the great oceans in search of the demon. He found the demon, and after a fierce fight, killed him. The Lord restored the Vedas to Lord Brahma, so that He could use them for his further Creation purposes.

Having fulfilled his first mission, the Lord set out to find King Manu, who had completed the instructions given by the Lord. He had assembled all the species, the Saptarishis and Vasuki on-board and was waiting the arrival of the Lord. The devastating rains had already begun and the entourage was sincerely hoping that their Lord would save them from the destruction.

Lord Vishnu, in the form of Matsya, advised King Manu to tie the ship to his horn using the Serpent king, Vasuki. Once this was done, the fish escorted them in safety over a growling ocean and weather. He held onto them in protectively until the rains and floods receded.

  

The new Yuga welcomed the species and Saptarishis to begin and lead a new life!

Nirmagna sruthi jaala maargana dasaa dathakshanair veekshanai:

Antha thanvadhiva aravinda gahanaan oudanvatheenaam apaam
Nishprathyooha tharanga ringana mitha: prathyooda paatha: chadaa
Dola Aaroha sadohalam bhagavatha: maatsyam vapu: paathu na: 

Meaning: The Lord dived into the ocean in the form of a fish searched with His lotus eyes, rapidly viewing on all directions creating an illusion of lotus  flowers blossoming everywhere - all in search of the Vedas that had been stolen by an Asura. The ebb and flow of the waves of the Ocean seemed to be a swinging cradle that soothed and almost lulled Him into a comfortable reverie. May this Lord of “Matsya Avataara” protect us

Reference for Sloka: http://srivaishnavam.com/stotras/dasavatharam_meaning.htm

How far has Mythology been unleashed??!!!

So, "Mythology Unleashed" is actually celebrating the end of two months!!

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who have been encouraging me with your support & suggestions.

To celebrate our two month old blog space, here comes a new entrant -  "A Crossword Puzzle"! Afterall, blogs can be much more than just reading, reading and reading!

For all of you who have been continuously following the blog, this should be a cake walk:) Nevertheless, do give it a try when you find some time!

Guide:

1) Click on the below link

https://crosswordlabs.com/view/how-far-has-mythology-been-unleashed

2) Solve the Puzzle online

• Click a cell on the crossword grid, or click a clue
• Click twice on a cell to toggle between across and down
• The active cell is highlighted in blue
• Start typing in the word
• Hit enter when you are done typing in the word
• The word will turn green or red if you got it right or wrong
• You can use the tab and shift-tab keys to move around the crossword

3) Mark yourself on a score of 15 (1 mark for each right answer in green!)

4) Leave your score as a comment on this post;) (No prizes for the highest scorer :p :p)

5) Answers will be shared next week in this blog space!

All the best ;) Hope you find it interesting!!

Panchamukha - The Vayuputra!

Lord Hanuman – The Son of Anjana and Kesari, is one of the most important Gods of the Hindu religion. He is known by other names such as Vayuputra (The Son of Vayu, the God of Air), Anjaneya (Son of Anjana), Maruthi (Son of Marut) and Pavanputra (Son of Pavan). Marut and Pavan are the other names of Vayu.

Lord Hanuman played an important role in the epic, Ramayana, as one of the ardent devotees of Lord Rama. His role in locating Sita, abducted by Ravana – King of Lanka, and fighting the war against the demon king is of indisputable importance.

From the Ramayana

At a point in the Ramayana, Ravana orders his brothers, Ahiravana and Mahiravana, to kill Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana. The demon brothers – Ahiravana and Mahiravana – attempt to kidnap Lord Rama & Lakshmana but all their efforts are thwarted by Hanuman.

The demon brothers eventually resort to disguising themselves as Vibhishana – the brother of Ravana who became a supporter of Lord Rama, so that they could get through Hanuman. They kidnap Lord Rama & Lakshmana and hide them in their kingdom, Pathala Loka (the underground world), which is inhabited only by demons. The demon brothers plan to use the unconscious Lord Rama & Lakshmana as a sacrificial offering to their Goddess.

In Search of the Lord

Aghast at the thought that he had allowed the kidnapping of his Lord, Hanuman immediately sought the help of Vibhishana, who guided him to Pathala Loka. 

At the gates of Pathala Loka, stood Makardhwaja - the gatekeeper. He appeared to be partly a Vanara (monkey) and partly a reptile. Makardhwaja conveyed that he was actually Hanuman's son, born out of the sweat dropped by Hanuman in the Lankan Ocean, which had entered a Makar (reptile). Hanuman blessed him and continued on his journey towards finding his Lord.

After long searches, he finally located the unconscious brothers, Rama & Lakshmana. But Hanuman was in a fix; he could not rescue his Lord and Lakshmana, unless Ahiravana and Mahiravana were killed. And to kill the demon brothers, he had to extinguish five lamps lit in different directions; the catch here was that, he had to complete this at the same instant.

Panchamukha Anjaneya

Hanuman immediately assumed a form, where he had five faces, each facing a different direction, so that he could blow the lamps simultaneously. The five faces were:

   

     1)      Hanuman – facing the east 

     2)      Narasimha – facing the south

     3)      Garuda – facing the west

     4)      Varaha – facing the north

     5)      Hayagriva – facing the sky

** Hanuman facing east grants purity of mind and success. Narasimha facing south grants fearlessness. The west facing Garuda removes black magic and poisons. The north facing Varaha, showers prosperity, wealth. Hayagriva facing the Sky, gives Knowledge and good children.

Making use of the Panchamukha form (Five Faces), Hanuman was able to extinguish all the five flames at the same instant. This form is commonly known as Panchamukha Anjaneya or Panchamukhi Anjaneya. After defeating the demon brothers, Hanuman crowns Makardhwaja, the King of Pathala Loka.

He revives Lord Rama & Lakshmana and flies them back to the battleground – where a fierce war ensues between Lord Rama’s army & Ravana’s army.

Budhdirbalam yaso' dhairyam Nirbhayatva-maro'gata |
Ajadatyam Vakpatutvam ca Hanumatsmaranadbhavet ||

Meaning: Wisdom (budhi), physical strength (balam), fame (yashas), courage (dhairyam), fearlessness (nirbhayam), good health (marogata) , vigilance (ajadatyam), eloquence in speech (vakpatutvam) are bestowed upon us, on bowing to Lord Hanuman.

Shantha - The Lone Princess of the Solar Dynasty!

Here comes my first post on Ramayana, another of the two great epics of India. This epic is primarily based on the Seventh Avatar of Lord Vishnu – Lord Rama, where the Lord assumes the life of a human and shows us the right path to be followed.

Lord Rama (son of Queen Kausalya) is known to have three younger brothers – Bharata (son of Queen Kaikeyi) and Lakshmana & Shatrugana (sons of Queen Sumitra). Not known to many, Lord Rama also had a sister, by name Shantha – born to Dasharatha & Kausalya.

Early life of Dasharatha

Dasharatha was born to King Aja of the Solar Dynasty, who ruled the Southern parts of the Kosala Kingdom. His mother was Indumathi, an Apsara (a celestial nymph), born on earth due to a curse. After her curse was lifted, Indumathi flew back to the heavens – following which King Aja also died, grief-stricken by her absence.

Dasharatha grew up under the care of the able minister, Sumanthra and ascended the throne of Southern Kosala, when it was the right time. He insisted on marrying Kausalya, the daughter of the Northern Kosala King – even though both of them belonged to the Solar Dynasty. The King of Northern Kosala – Dakshina, agreed to give his daughter’s hand to Dasharatha and the wedding was solemnized to take place in a few days.

Abduction by Ravana

Ravana, the prince of Lanka, had called on Lord Brahma, after severe penance to seek the boon of immortality. Lord Brahma however advised him to drop such thoughts as death was inevitable and his death would lie in the hands of the offspring of Dasharatha & Kausalya.

Fearing his death, Ravana wanted to kill Kausalya, but was stopped by his wife Mandodari, who advised him against commiting the big sin of “Stree Hati” (killing of a woman). This made him arrive at the conclusion that, if Dasharatha & Kausalya were forbidden from marrying, then they could have no children.

He then abducted Kausalya, put her in a box and let the box float in a river, assuming that she would die herself. However, Dasharatha found the box at the right time and saved her life. Immediate arrangements were made for their marriage and the wedding ceremony was conducted in great pomp.

Birth of Shantha

Soon after their marriage, Kausalya gave birth to a girl child – whom they named Shantha. But to their horror, the child she had given birth to was handicapped.

**This was because Dasharatha & Kausalya were from the same “Gotra” or clan (King Aja & King Dakshina, rulers of Southern & Norther Kosala kingdoms, were different branches of the Solar Dynasty), which is being scientifically re-stated these days that marriage between immediate cousins might result in deformities.

It was advised that if Shantha was left in the custody of divine people, she would lose her handicap and regain normalcy. Thus, it was decided that Shantha would be adopted by Romapada, the King of Angadesa. The wife of Romapada, Varshini was the sister of Kausalya. Hence Shantha was acutally given in adoption to her maternal aunt & uncle. Under the able care of the religious couple, Shantha was soon cured of her deformities and grew into a beautiful girl, well-versed in the Vedas & Arts.

Shantha’s Marriage

Once, King Romapada incurred the wrath of Lord Indra, the King of the Devas, who cursed that his kingdom would not have any monsoon that season. Unable to see the plight of his citizen farmers, the king called upon Maharishi Rishya Sringa, to perform a Yagna that would bring rains to his kingdom.

After successful completion of the Yagna, the kingdom received enough rainfall. The king could not thank the Maharishi enough and proposed the marriage of his daughter with him. Maharishi Rishya Sringa agreed and the marriage between him and Shantha was held amidst festivities.

** Maharishi Rishya Sringa was the Rishi who performed the Puthra Kameshti Yagna, held by Dasharatha, to beget sons as heirs to his kingdom. Lord Rama, Bharatha, Lakshmana & Shatrughana were born after this Yagna.

Kunti - The Mother of Six!

Kunti, one of the prominent queens in the Mahabharatha, was the daughter of King Kuntibhoja, wife of King Pandu and the mother of Six - Karna & the five brothers, Pandavas.

Birth of Kunti

Kunti was born to Shurasena, a Yadava king and was named Pritha. She was given in adoption to King Kuntibhoja who renamed her as Kunti, the name by which she came to be known thereafter.

**Kunti was the sister of Vasudeva (father of Lord Krishna), which is why the Pandavas were known to be cousins of Krishna.

The rarest of rare Mantras

Kunti was brought up with a lot of love and affection by Kuntibhoja and she grew up into a beautiful girl. When she was young, Sage Durvasa visited their kingdom. Known for his wrath and powerful curses, King Kuntibhoja made sure all arrangements to make the Sage feel comfortable during his stay in the kingdom. But Sage Durvasa had come with another intention. He asked the king to send Kunti with him to help him in his daily prayers and spiritual activities. The king fell at the Sage’s feet and requested him to ask him for anything else but his daughter. At this request, the Sage flared up and said the kingdom would have to bear the consequences of his curses if the king did not oblige to his needs. The king reluctantly agreed and conveyed the same to Kunti.

From the stipulated day, Kunti spent all the time with Sage Durvasa and helped him complete his rituals with complete devotion and spirit. Sage Durvasa was extremely pleased and satisfied with her commitment and blessed her by teaching her a rare “Mantra”. The recital of the Mantra would allow Kunti to invoke any God of her choice and beget children with his blessings.

Birth of Karna

Having been taught a very powerful mantra, something which was almost unbelievable, the young Kunti, was intrigued as to whether it would really work. Not out of her childlike behaviour yet, the young princess, chanted the mantra invoking Lord Surya (the Sun God). Immediately, the God appeared before her and blessed her with a baby boy, Karna. The baby boy was born with a Kavasa (armour) and a pair of Kundalas (earrings), which had great powers associated with it.

Kunti was totally taken aback as she did not expect this to happen, the bigger problem being, she was still unmarried and she could not bring disgrace to her family. With a heavy heart, she decided to abandon the baby. She placed the baby in a casket and along with it, all her jewellery, so that anybody who found the baby would not have a difficulty in bringing up the child.

Marriage with Pandu

As years passed by, Kunti came to be known as one of the most eligible women in the country, far from others in beauty & wisdom. Her father arranged a Swayamvara (an ancient practice in India, where all eligible bridegrooms are invited and the bride gets to choose her husband, according to her likes), where almost all the princes had assembled, eager to win the heart of the beautiful princess

Of the many princes, Kunti chose the prince of Hastinapura, Pandu and married him. Pandu later married the Madri, the princess of Madra.

** Satyavati had arranged for another marriage for Pandu, to extend the progeny of their family. The throne of Hastinapura had already suffered from emptiness for many years (Shantanu – who died at an early age, Bhishma – who had taken a vow that he would not ascend the throne, Chitrangada who died even before marriage, Vichitraveerya – who died after marriage but before he was blessed with children). A prophecy had been given that Pandu would lose his life at a young age too. Faced with the urgency in need of a heir, Satyavati arranged for a second marriage for Pandu.

The Mantra put to use

After a few years of palace life, King Pandu retired to the forests with his two queens, so that his ambitious brother, Dhritarashtra, could ascend the throne of Hastinapura.

One day, Pandu went for a hunting exercise deep into the forests. He spotted a deer and shot his arrow at it. The arrow found its mark and the deer fell to the ground. A few minutes later, he found that it was not one deer that had fallen, but two – one male & the other female. Also these deer transformed into humans – obtaining the form of Sage Kindamamuni & his wife. Pandu was aghast at the sight; he realized that he had shot arrows at a couple when they were enjoying their times together and had also killed them.

Pandu ran towards the dying Sage, fell at his feet and begged his pardon. The sage, in his last moments of life, was enraged at the sight of Pandu. He looked at his loving wife, who was also on the verge of death and cursed Pandu that he would also die, the moment he entered into a physical relationship with his wives.

Pandu was crestfallen at this curse and prayed to the sage to forgive him but in vain. The sage and his wife died. Pandu returned to his queens and narrated the happenings to them. All three of them were broken, since they did not have even one child until then.

Birth of the Pandavas

As months passed by, the sight of Pandu lamenting over his fate, that he could not father any children, disturbed Kunti. After a lot of deliberations within herself, she finally confided to Pandu about the mantra Sage Durvasa taught her and the power of the mantra.

Pandu was only too overjoyed on hearing this and said they should beget children with the help of the Mantra. First, they called upon Lord Dharma (God of Justice) using the mantra and was blessed with Yudhishtira, as righteous as the God himself. Next they called upon Lord Vayu (God of Air), to bless them with a child as strong as Vayu. Thus Bhima, the strongest of all the princes, was born. For their third son, the couple invoked Lord Indra (King of Devas), who blessed them with Arjuna, second to none other than Indra himself in beauty & valour.

Pandu requested Kunti to share the mantra with Madri too, so that she could also experience the joy of being a mother. Kunti obliged to his request and taught Madri the mantra. Pandu & Madri invoked the Ashwini Brothers to bless them with children as a result of which Nakula & Sahadeva, the twin brothers, were born.

Death of Pandu

Years passed and the Pandava princes grew up to handsome young boys. They grew up as blessed by their Godfathers and stuck to their virtues of justice, strength, beauty & valour.

One day, when they were alone, Pandu was suddenly engulfed in Madri’s beauty and neared her. Madri warned her about the curse from the Sage Kindamamuni a few years back. But Pandu paid no heed to her words and lost himself to her. The effect of the curse was still alive and Pandu died instantaneously. Madri, who was taken over by guilt that her husband died because of her, did not want to live anymore and joined her husband on his journey to heaven. Kunti, on the other hand, was left to take care of their five sons.

She returned to Hastinapura with her five sons, so that they could be taken care of in an appropriate manner with the help of Bhishma, Vidura and their kith & kin.

Life in Exile

The Pandava princes did not find the favour of their cousins, Kaurava princes (sons of Dhritarashtra, the elder brother of Pandu). They were constantly being harassed by the 100 Kaurava princes, primarily Duryodhana & Dushasana, the eldest of them. Even from early childhood, the Kaurava princes were being poisoned by Shakuni, the brother-in-law of Dhritarashtra, that they should be the successors to the throne of Hastinapura.

Even as they grew up into young men, the hatred between the two sides kept brewing. To avoid conflicts between them and for the good of the country, the king, Dhritarashtra, advised the Pandavas to spend a few years in the forest and later a part of the kingdom would be shared with them. Yudhistira happily agreed to his uncle’s request and left the country with his mother & four brothers, who were thoroughly discontented with their brother’s decision. They felt their uncle was being unfair to them. Most of Kunti’s life was thus spent in exile after which ensued the terrible battle of Kurukshetra, the war between Dharma & Adharma. In the war, her first son, Karna - born of the Sun God, took sides with Duryodhana and was killed by the Pandavas, which left Kunti with pangs of guilt and sadness.

Death of Kunti

The Pandavas, who followed the path of Dharma, won the battle and Yudhishtira ascended the throne. Dhritharashtra & Gandari, the parents of the Kaurava princes, retired to the forests, renouncing worldly pleasures. Kunti, also weary of her difficult life, accompanied them to the forests. During their ascetic life, all three of died due to a forest fire.

The life of a queen, who fought with difficult situations all through her life, thus ended. Right from the days when Karna was born, when she had to abandon him with a heavy heart, she had to go through difficulties of her husband’s curse, his death, the single parentage of five sons, the well-being of her sons who were harassed by their cousins and the final battle where Karna had to be killed by her own sons.

Karthikeya, the Son of the Neelkanth!!!

Lord Karthikeya, the second son of Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi, is known as the God of War & Victory. The below post discusses his birth, his fight & victory against evil and his marriage with Devasena & Valli.

The Wait for a Saviour

Maya, a demoness, transformed herself into a beautiful woman & married Sage Kashyapa, not revealing to him, her true identity. Her intent was to give birth to children who would rule over the three worlds, since they would be born with yogic powers from the Sage. Maya & Sage Kashyapa gave birth to three sons & one daughter – Surapadma, Simhamukha, Taraka & Ajamukhi, respectively.

The Asuras (demons) – Surapadma, Simhamukha & Taraka, were ambitious to take over the throne of Indra and rule the three worlds. Having understood the power of the Devas, they devised plans of obtaining boons first before they attacked the Devas.

The brothers performed severe penance and won boons from the Creator of the World, Lord Brahma. The boons stated that they would face death at the hands of none other than the Son of Shiva. Since Sati had immolated herself at Daksha’s Yagna (refer to The Story of Shakthi & Shiva), the Asura kings decided that there would be no way they could die.  They thought that Shiva did not have a wife in the first place, leave alone having a son. (Another story goes that, they obtained a boon of immortality).

With growing arrogance, the Asuras started terrorizing the Devas and Rishis (godly men). They aimed at conquering the Devas and ruling over them by seizing Indra (King of the Devas) of his throne. With their immense power, the Asuras captured and imprisoned many of the Devas. The Devas ran to Lord Shiva for help, having realized that He was the only person who could save them from Surapadma, Simhamukha & Taraka. This was exactly the time when Shiva remarried Shakthi, in the form of Goddess Parvathi.

The Birth of Karthikeya

Realizing that he had to do something about the Asuras, Lord Shiva, opened his Third Eye, out of which six sparks arose and handed over them to Agni, the God of Fire. But the sparks were of such heat, that even the God of Fire could not withstand it and he left the sparks in the River Ganga. The flowing river carried the sparks up to the Sharavan, forest of reeds (Shara – Reeds; Van – Forest). It was here that the six sparks turned into six beautiful babies in lotuses. The Kritika women, again six in number, found these babies and each of these women took care of one child.

The babies grew into young boys and the time came closer when they had to be handed over to Shiva & Parvathi. The six boys merged to form one boy with six heads – Lord Karthikeya.

**The boy came to be known as Shravan – since he was born in Sharavan; as Karthikeya – as he was brought up by the Kritika women; as Shanmuga & Aarumuga – as he had six faces.

The End of the Asura Trio

At the appropriate time, Lord Shiva called upon Karthikeya and asked him to vanquish the Asura brothers, Surapadma, Simhamukha & Taraka. Lord Shiva appointed Veerabahu as the chief of Karthikeya’s army and Goddess Parvathi gifted him with the divine spear. With his parents’ blessings, Karthikeya left the abode with the motive of liberating the Devas. After fierce battles with the Asura brothers & their army, Karthikeya emerged victorious after getting over with the three Asura brothers, with the help of his chief & loyalist, Veerabahu. The story which says that Lord Shiva granted them boons of immortality, believes that Surapadma was severed into two, one part of which took the form of a Peacock (Karthikeya’s Vaahan/Vehicle) and the other part took the form of a Rooster (the emblem in Karthikeya’s flag), thereby ensuring he did not die.

Marriage with Devasena

Indra was pleased with Lord Karthikeya on his victory over the Asuras. As a token of gratitude for having restored the dignity of the Devas, Indra offered his daughter, Devasena’s (Deivanai/Devayani) hand to Lord Karthikeya and requested him to accept her as his wife. Lord Karthikeya willingly accepted and the marriage took place in the heavens, amidst much splendour.

The Princess of Vallimalai

Valli was born to Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi in the form of a deer. When the baby was born, it was laid in a pit dug by the tribal folks. The chief of the tribe, Nambi and his wife found the baby and decided to adopt the baby as their daughter. They named their daughter Valli (a type of yam which is grown under the earth; since Valli was found in a pit dug up, she was named so) and brought her up with love and affection.

Years passed by and Valli grew up to be a beautiful woman. Once when Valli was out on the fields to supervise the harvests, an old man approached her for food. As kind as she was, Valli offered him some fruits & water. The old man thanked her and told her that he was in love with her and would like to marry her. Valli was not inclined towards marrying an old man and refused his proposal. The old man was actually Lord Karthikeya who had come in disguise to tease Valli. He immediately invoked his elder brother, Lord Ganesha to help him out and Lord Ganesha appeared in the form of an elephant. The sight of the elephant terrified Valli and she ran to the old man requesting him to save her. But the old man flatly stated that he would help her only if she agreed to his proposal. Valli reluctantly agreed, upon which the Lord regained his true form and revealed his identity to her. Valli was only too pleased to have agreed to the proposal, as it was her long-cherished dream to wed Lord Karthikeya.

Nambi too agreed to give his daughter’s hand to the Lord and the marriage was held in pomp and show, with the Gods showering their blessings on the young couple.

** Devasena and Valli were the daughters of Lord Vishnu in their previous births, by name, Amritavalli & Sundaravalli. They were eager to wed Lord Karthikeya and hence performed severe penance to win over him. He had granted them the boon of marriage in their next births, which was why the Lord had two wives.

Om Thatpurushaya Vidhmahe Maha Senaya Dhimahi

Thannah Shanmukha Prachodhayath

Meaning: Let us know That Supreme Being and meditate upon Him, The Supreme General of the great Deva Army: Lord Shanmuga (Skanda), May He enlighten us and lead us to be One with Him.

** Six hills in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, have been lucky to be the chosen abode for Lord Karthikeya. The places are listed below in the order of his life’s events:

    1) Pazhani – the hill where Lord Karthikeya resigned himself to, as a kid, over a fight with his elder brother, Lord Ganesha, for a mango.

   2) Swamimalai – where Lord Karthikeya, as a young learned boy,  preached the meaning of the divine word “Om” to his father, Lord Shiva

    3)Thiruchendur – where he won the battle against the Asura brothers (Surapadma, Simhamukha & Taraka)

    4) Thiruparangundram – the hill where he married Goddess Devasena, the daughter of Indra

    5) Thirutthani – the hill where he married Goddess Valli, the daughter of Nambi

    6) Pazhamudhircholai – where he gives his darshan to devotees with Devasena & Valli

The Story of Shakthi & Shiva!

Lord Shiva, one of the three Supreme Lords of the world (the other two Lords being Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma) is known for his powers of destruction of evil forces, his anger, the Third Eye and the dance form attributed to him – Thaandava (Rudra Natya). Goddess Shakthi, on the other hand, is known to be a personification of strength, valor and courage.

Sati weds Shiva

Goddess Shakthi, the consort of Lord Shiva, was born on earth due to a curse. She was born to King Daksha (son of Lord Brahma), and was named Sati. Even as a child, she was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. When the appropriate time drew closer, Daksha decided to get her married. On consulting Sati, he understood that she would marry none other than Lord Shiva himself. She announced that she would perform severe penances and win the hand of Lord Shiva.

Sati engaged herself in meditation and prayed to Lord Shiva. Awestruck by her powerful penance, Lord Shiva appeared in front of her and asked her what boon she would want. She requested him to take her as her consort and Lord Shiva agreed (as he already knew Sati was an incarnation of Goddess Shakthi). He approached Daksha and sought his daughter’s hand for marriage. After gaining his acceptance, Sati & Shiva married. They happily resided in the Himalayas, the abode of Lord Shiva.

Once, Lord Shiva, accompanied by Sati, attended a Yagna (spiritual pyre) organized by Rishis. The yagna was attended by the Devas and other celestials. Daksha was also an invitee to the yagna. When he entered the place, all the assembled guests arose to greet him. But Daksha noticed that only his daughter and son-in-law remained seated. He was enraged at the sight and failed to realize that his son-in-law was a Supreme Lord, much above his stature. He decided to teach his son-in-law a lesson.

On returning back to his palace after completion of the yagna, Daksha decided he would host a grand yagna to which all the three worlds would be invited, except his ungrateful daughter and son-in-law. He made all suitable arrangements for the same and the grand day arrived. Sati came to know that her father was hosting the yagna and decided to attend it. She wondered why she was not invited along with her husband, but her love for her father nudged her towards attending the yagna. She requested Lord Shiva to accompany her but he refused. He said Daksha was doing this on purpose and it would not hold him in dignity if he visited the place without being invited. Since Sati kept insisting, he allowed her to go to the yagna protected with his attendants.

On reaching the venue, Sati found that, there was no one to welcome her. Her father, Daksha, welcomed all the other guests, but was oblivious to the fact that his daughter had also come. Sati felt humiliated that no one was taking notice of her. She felt ashamed that she was born as a daughter to such a conceited king. She announced that she would cast off this body of hers that was given to her by Daksha and shall unite with her Lord in her re-birth. She immolated herself and died immediately.

Re-Birth as Parvathi

Himavan, the king of Himalayas and his wife, Menadevi were ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. They had a son by name Mainaka. However, Menadevi had a deep desire for a girl child. She wanted the girl to be blessed with all virtues, eligible to be the consort of Lord Shiva. Upon severe penance, they were blessed with a girl child, whom they named Parvathi.

Parvathi, again, was a strong devotee of Lord Shiva and was always seen worshipping the Shiv Lingh.  When Himavan approached her to decide on her marriage prospects, she declared that she would win Lord Shiva and would marry none other.

She began her penance to invoke his blessings. But Lord Shiva never arose from his meditation. He wanted to lead the life of an ascetic after the death of Sati. The Gods of all the three worlds were dumbstruck at the severity of her penance. Lord Kama, the God of Love, thought he should try to help her. He shot arrows of love at the meditating Shiva, so that he would fall for Parvathi. Disturbed by Kama’s arrows, the furious Lord Shiva opened his “third eye” and burnt him to ashes. He continued with his meditation. But Parvathi’s penance was growing so powerful, that he had to bend to it.

He enquired with the Devas about the reason for Parvathi’s powerful penance and came to know that she was performing them to win his hand. To test her love for him, Lord Shiva disguised himself as an old man, rugged and fearsome in appearance and appeared before her. Just as she was about to start her penance for the day, He came up to her and asked her the reason behind her prayers. She replied that she was doing it to win her Master - Lord Shiva. The “old man” laughed aloud and commented that she was wasting her life for a mere ascetic, who did not equal her in charm and beauty. Parvathi grew enraged at this comment and asked him to leave her sight immediately. She warned him of bad consequences if he spoke another disgracing word against her Lord.

Lord Shiva was pleased with her devotion and love towards him and appeared before her in his true form and agreed to marry her. He realized this was his Sati indeed who had, true to her word, taken re-birth as Parvathi and come back to him.

Himavan was only too pleased to give his daughter’s hand to one of the Supreme Lords and immediately arranged for their marriage. After marriage, Lord Shiva escorted his wife, Goddess Parvathi, to the Himalayas. After a few years, the Two became Four, with Lord Ganesha and Lord Karthikeya forming a part of the four-member family!!

Maata Cha Paarvati Devi, Pitaa Devo Maheshvara
Baandhavah Shiva Bhaktaacha, Svadesho Bhuvanatrayam

Meaning: Goddess Parvati is the Mother of all and Lord Shiva is our Divine Father. Their devotees are all relatives. The world we live in is the creation of such divine beings.

** Shiva and Shakthi – the names become one – in the form of “Ardhanareeswara”; This form has two halves – one half of Shiva & the other half of Shakthi; indicative of the fact that Men & Women are equal.

The story behind this form goes like this:

Once a war of words was triggered between Goddess Shakthi & Lord Shiva on who among them was a superior. Each of them proclaimed their superiority and declared the world would not function without them. Shakthi challenged that she was capable of doing whatever he did. 

They decided on a simple dance competition, wherein each had to replicate the other’s steps. The ensuing competition was aggressive and finally as a masterstroke, Shiva raised his leg and touched his ears. Shakthi had to give up as it was not right and possible for a woman to raise her legs above knee level. She felt it was not right to determine their equality on an unfair means like this. Out of anger, she burnt herself to ashes to make Lord Shiva realize her importance. Once Shakthi disappeared, the world plunged into darkness; there was no life and everything came to a standstill. All the Gods were horrified at this development and prayed to Lord Shiva to call upon Shakthi.

Lord Shiva brought her back to life and agreed that she was an integral part of the functioning. He stated that men and women were equal and no one was superior to the other. This story and the famous Tamil line, “Shakthi illayel Shivam illai; Shivam illayel Shakthi illai!” (meaning: Shivam does not prevail without Shakthi and Shakthi does not prevail without Shivam), was given to the world to show men and women the equality principle. For those who believe that our culture is too repressive  or oppressive, here it goes, our culture traditionally did not encourage the Man vs. Woman war!!

Vidura - An incarnation of Lord Dharma!

Vidura – the third grandson of Shantanu & Satyavati (his elder brothers were Dhritharashtra & Pandu), was a wise man renowned for his knowledge, intelligence and virtues all over the world.

Sage Mandavya

Sage Mandavya was a hermit who practiced penance and meditation for a good number of years and possessed strong yogic powers. One day, when he was immersed in his daily prayers, a band of robbers were being chased by the king’s soldiers. The robbers found the hermit’s cottage nearby and thought it would be an ideal place to hide their booty and themselves. They went in and hid their booty in a corner and hid themselves elsewhere.

The soldiers, tracking the robbers by their footprints, hit upon Sage Mandavya’s Ashram. They enquired about the robbers to him, but he did not respond as he was deeply immersed in meditation. The soldiers barged into the cottage and found the booty. Assuming that the Sage was a part of the robbery (since he kept mum for every question & they could find the booty in his place), the soldiers promptly reported that they had found the robber who was in the garb of a sage. Enraged with the impudence of the robber to disguise himself as a hermit, the king ordered his soldiers to kill the "robber" at once. The soldiers promptly carried out the king’s orders and stabbed the hermit.

But Sage Mandavya, all powerful through his years of penance & yoga, did not lose his life. Instead he called upon Dharma, the Lord of Justice and put forth his query to him. He questioned Lord Dharma as to why this kind of a tragedy had befallen him. To this, Lord Dharma quietly replied that it was a result of his past actions. He explained that Sage Mandavya had tortured bees & insects when he was a child and had to bear the consequences now.

The Curse

On hearing this, Sage Mandavya grew furious; he was being punished for a crime which was committed out of ignorance at a very early age. He cursed Lord Dharma that he would be born as a human on earth for inflicting such an undeserving punishment.

Birth as Vidura

Thus Lord Dharma came to earth as a mortal and was born as Vidura. His birth was conceived under unusual circumstances - born into a royal family but not of royal blood. Neither of his parents (Sage Vyasa & Sivai - the maid of Ambalika) were of royal blood and hence he was not considered to ascend the throne of Hastinapura in spite of his wisdom & other virtues.

** An interesting fact to note is that, while Vidura was an incarnation of Lord Dharma, Yudhishtira – the eldest of the Pandavas and the son of Pandu & Kunti, was the son of Lord Dharma (as Yudhishtira was born by Kunti invoking Lord Dharma using her Mantra). 

Satyavati - The Majestic Queen of the Kuru Clan!

Satyavati, the character from Mahabharatha, epitomizes courage and confidence. Her determination to retain the Bharata Empire with the Kurus (a clan which lived during Iron Age India), drove her to extremely tough situations and she sailed through them with her decisive style of managing and her step-son, the venerable Bhishma.

Birth & Early days of Satyavati

Satyavati was born to the Chedi King, Vasu and Adrika, a cursed Apsara-turned fish. Since she was born of a fish, she was also known as Matsyagandhi (one with the odour of a fish). She was also known as Vasavi (daughter of Vasu), Yojanagandhi (one with a fragrance that extended to a yojana- 7 to 8 miles) and Kali (the dark one). Satyavati was then adopted by the chief of fishermen in the kingdom and was lovingly brought up. She assisted her father in fishing and ferrying people across the River Ganga.

A Divine Child

On one such instance, Satyavati had offered to ferry Sage Parashara across the river. The sage was lost in her beauty and longed for a relationship with Satyavati. After requesting for boons of virginity and everlasting fame for the child who would be born from their relationship, Satyavati accepted to his proposal.

On the same day, she gave birth to the divine child, named Krishna (not to be confused with Lord Krishna, the Avatar of Lord Vishnu). The child grew up to become one of the most revered sages of all times, later known as Sage Vyasa. He also drew fame as he went on to write the epic, Mahabharatha.

Marriage with Shantanu

Satyavati grew up to be an embodiment of beauty & fragrance. One day, King Shantanu, who ruled over Hastinapura, came across her and decided to marry her. When he put forth his proposal to her, Satyavati coyly accepted and requested him to speak to her father. Shantanu agreed and reached out to her father who was willing to give her hand in marriage on the fulfillment of a condition. He asked Shantanu to promise that only the children born to Satyavati would be eligible to rule the kingdom and not Devavrata, who was the elder son of Shantanu (Devavrata was the born to Shantanu and Ganga, who was his first wife).

Grief-stricken, Shantanu refused to promise and returned to his palace, as he could not bring himself to surrender his dear son’s rights for his pleasure. Over the next few days, he lost interest in other affairs and was haunted by the thoughts of Satyavati day and night. Devavrata, on observing his father’s sick state, found out the real reason behind his illness and visited the chief of fishermen seeking the hand of Satyavati for his father. On hearing the condition imposed, Devavrata took an oath that he would never in his life demand rights on the kingdom. The chief was still not satisfied and Devavrata went a step ahead to take the vow of celibacy. From then on, he was called, Bhishma.

Satyavati’s father now agreed; Bhishma returned to the palace with Satyavati and got them married. Shantanu and Satyavati begot two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitraveerya. When the princes were very young, Shantanu expired due to illness and the kingdom was left without a ruler. Bhishma had vowed not to sit on the throne and hence Satyavati had to become the Queen of Hastinapura. Bhishma assisted his step-mother in ruling the kingdom until it could be handed over to the princes.

Loss of Sons – A Forlorn Mother

But as luck would have it, just before his coronation, the elder prince, Chitrangada died in a battle with a king of an adjacent kingdom. Vichitraveerya was born with a disease, which everyone knew, would claim his life at a very early age. Satyavati was now worried that the kingdom would be rendered heirless if Vichitraveerya lost his life before he had children. She quickly arranged for his marriage with the princesses of Kasi, Ambika & Ambalika.

Vichitraveerya lost his life as soon as he was married and Satyavati’s fear came true. The kingdom now did not have any heir. Afraid that she would lose her husband’s empire to other kingdoms, Satyavati did not announce the death of Vichitraveerya and restricted the news to the palace walls. She was flabbergasted at the thought that the two young princesses might have to follow Sati (a practice in ancient India, where wives mounted the funeral pyre when their husbands died).

** There have been questions on why Satyavati would insist on her daughter-in-laws to practice Sati, whereas she herself had not followed it on the death of Shantanu. Sati was primarily followed for women who were not mothers or at least mothers-to-be. This was followed because, in the event of a king’s death, his kingdom would come under attack by other kings. If the queen was neither a mother nor carrying, she would be abducted by the attackers. To save her from this dishonor and the pains she would have to face, Sati was rigorously practiced. Since Satyavati was already a mother of two, she was spared from the distress of mounting the Sati.

In ancient times, there existed a tradition “Niyoga”, where a man could be called upon to help a woman bear children to extend the family’s progeny. This entailed following a number of rules, to avoid misuse. The man and woman had to keep in mind that they were implementing Niyoga only for Dharma and not for lust or pleasure. Niyoga was practiced only with revered men, again to avoid the element of misuse. The rules also made clear that the man who fathered the child could not claim any rights over the child.

Bearing in mind this tradition, Satyavati called upon her son, Sage Vyasa, to father the sons of Ambika and Ambalika. This way she ensured that Hastinapura would have heirs and the two young queens would also not have to mount the funeral pyre of their husband, as they would be carrying. When Ambika saw the rugged looks of the sage, she closed her eyes and hence her son, Dhritharashtra was born blind. The second queen, Ambalika, grew pale on seeing his frightful appearance and hence her son, Pandu, was born a fragile child. On the third instance, Ambika, reminded of his fearsome face, sent her maid, Sivai, to her room in her place. This woman was strong and hence the child she gave birth to, Vidura (incarnation ofLord Dharma), was blessed to be a very intelligent and strong man.

Later Life

Dhritharashtra married Princess Gandhari (the princess from Gandhara) and Pandu married Princess Kunti (adopted daughter of Kuntibhoja; also known as Pritha) and Princess Madri (the princess of Madra). Both the princes remained childless for a few years after marriage. Satyavati was again worried that the Kuru clan would come to an end without heirs and sought the advice of the revered Sage Vyasa. According to his instructions, Gandhari performed certain religious rites and gave birth to 100 sons who later came to be known as the Kaurava Princes. Kunti & Madri gave birth to 5 sons with a help of a mantra which Sage Durvasa had taught Kunti during her early day. These children grew up to be known as the Pandava Princes.

** Satyavati was tormented with the problem of lack of heirs to her kingdom. The death of Shantanu when her sons were barely a few years old, the death of her sons at very early ages, even before their were made the crown princes and her grandchildren who remained childless for years, all left the throne of Hastinapura at question many a time. Why did such situations keep arising repeatedly in Satyavati’s Life?

According to the Hindu belief, the effect of Karma leaves none unaffected. That which is done to others, would return back to the doer. In Satyavati’s life, it was her father who nullified Bhishma’s progeny. An entire descendent race was wiped off due to his oath of celibacy. This curse of Karma followed Satyavati for generations and kept the throne of Hastinapura worried.

The fight between these cousins triggered the famous Kurukshetra war in the Mahabharatha. Foreseeing these events that would cause misery to the family, Sage Vyasa advised Satyavati to retire from her worldly life to the forest. Satyavati, along with her two queens, Ambika and Ambalika retired to the forest, where after a few years of penance, she died.

Thus ended the saga of an obedient daughter, a dutiful wife, a caring mother and a decisive queen.

The Birth of the Enchanting God, Krishna!!

Ideally, this post should have come in later, when I post stories of the Ten Avatars of Lord Vishnu. But, here it comes before all, the birth of my favorite and enchanting little God!!

Lord Krishna, the Tenth Avatar of Lord Vishnu, is synonymous with beauty & love. The Hindu scriptures would be incomplete without a mention about this Avatar of Lord Vishnu, since The Bhagavad Gita, Holy Book of the Hindus, was given to us by Lord Krishna. 

The Birth of Krishna

Ugrasena, the king of Mathura, had a brother by name, Devaka. Ugrasena had a son by name Kamsa and Devaka was blessed with a daughter, Devaki. From his childhood, Kamsa had an inherent affection towards Devaki, his beloved younger sister.

When Devaki got married to Vasudeva, Kamsa was almost in tears, for his beloved sister was leaving them and moving to her in-laws' place. He volunteered to ride the chariot and drive them home, even though he was the crown prince of the state. As he drove away from Mathura, a celestial voice from above called out to Kamsa and exclaimed that the eighth child born of Devaki & Vasudeva would kill him.

The enraged Kamsa got down from his chariot and dragged Devaki onto the ground. He drew his sword out to kill her. Vasudeva fell at Kamsa’s feet and begged him to leave them alone. Kamsa did not relent on any amount of cajoling and in a bid to save his wife’s life, Vasudeva made a promise to Kamsa that he would hand over all the children that his wife gave birth to. Sensing that this would serve the purpose of saving his own life, Kamsa agreed to leave Devaki free.

A year passed and Devaki gave birth to their first child. Though a joyous occasion, Vasudeva & Devaki  were filled with grief, since they knew they had to keep up their word and hand over their child to Kamsa. With a heavy heart, Vasudeva carried his child to Kamsa. Surprised at Vasudeva’s commitment to keep his word, Kamsa thought to himself that it was only the eighth child that was going to kill him. He thought he could afford to leave the first seven children alive, since Vasudeva was also true to his word. He sent back Vasudeva with his child, saying it was enough if he brought the eighth child to him. Overjoyed by the re-birth his child had obtained, Vasudeva returned to his wife with the child. But their joy was not to last for long.

During one of his conversations with a sage, Kamsa came to know that a birth of a child was not determined by whether the child was born or not. Even an embryo that is formed within the mother’s womb but dies before birth is to be accounted as a child for the mother. He also explained that sometimes even the mother would not know that such an embryo was formed and died if it happened in very early stages.

On hearing this, Kamsa was taken aback since he would have to kill whichever child Devaki gave birth to. He immediately rode to Devaki’s place and demanded that their child be given to him. In spite of Devaki and Vasudeva resisting his demand, he snatched the child away and killed him. Kamsa also went to the extent of ordering his sister and brother-in-law to be chained in a prison cell so that he could catch hold of each child she delivered.

Years passed, and each time a child was born, Kamsa would be notified by the prison guards. He would snatch the baby from its parents and kill it immediately. Seven such children were killed by the wicked Kamsa and he began waiting for the eighth child.

The eighth child was none other than Lord Vishnu who had taken his avatar as Lord Krishna to vanquish all evil on earth. On the night of his birth, the skies thundered and there was a heavy downpour of rains. As soon as the child was born, a voice was heard from the Lord Himself, instructing Vasudeva to secretly take the baby to Gokulam and leave him in the house of Nandagopa, the chief of the Yadava clan in Gokulam. He also instructed Vasudeva to bring back the baby that was born in Nandagopa’s house around the same time.

As advised, Vasudeva escaped from the prison cell and carried the baby in a basket to Gokulam. The rains lashed and the eternal snake, Vasuki, came over to give protection to the divine baby. Soon after Vasudeva reached Gokulam, he headed towards Nandagopa’s house and laid the baby beside Yashodha, Nandagopa's wife, who had just delivered a baby girl. Vasudeva returned back to the prison carrying the baby girl and placed it near Devaki.

As soon as Kamsa was notified that Devaki had given birth to her eighth child, he hurried to the prison cell. As he drew his sword to kill the baby girl, it slipped off from his hand and in the air, the baby girl stood incarnated as Goddess Durga. She had taken birth as Yogamaya, the baby girl born to Yashodha and Nandagopa. She laughed at Kamsa and told him that his enemy was already safe in another house and it was no use trying to kill her. Saying this, she vanished into thin air.

Kamsa was infuriated at the thought that his enemy had escaped his clutches; he was determined to catch hold of the baby and kill him as soon as possible to save his own life. But far from all this commotion, little baby Krishna lay deeply asleep, safe and sound.

The Hindu tradition celebrates his birthday as "Gokulashtami" or "Janmashtami".

Vasudeva Sutam Devam, Kansa Chaanuuramardanam
Devakii Paramaanandam Krishhnam Vande Jagad Gurum

Meaning: Krishna, the Supreme Lord, the Son of Devaki and Vasudeva,  slayer of Kamsa and Chanur. May we bow to Him and be blessed with the God’s grace. 

The Birth of the Elephant-headed God!

Every ritual in our culture is begun by invoking Lord Ganesha. Vinayaka, Vigneshwara, Mooshika Vahana, Pillayar and Ganapathy, as he is fondly called by his devotees, this God is known to bestow success on his worshippers. Here is my way of invoking his blessings for the beginning of my blogspace, “Mythology Unleashed!!”

The following story narrates the birth of Lord Ganesha and why he became the Elephant-headed God!

Birth of Lord Ganesha

Lord Shiva, one of the Supreme Gods in the Hindu culture, was married to Goddess Parvathi (also known as Shakthi) and together, they spent their days in Kailash, their abode in the Himalayan mountains.

One day, Goddess Parvathi called upon Nandi, the loyal follower of Lord Shiva, to guard their gate, while she went in to bathe. Within a few minutes, Lord Shiva walked in front of the gates and Nandi was put into a dilemma. As per his Mistress’s order, he had to stop Lord Shiva at the gate, but he was a strong loyalist of the Lord and who could think of barring the Lord from entering his own house? Thus wondering, Nandi let Lord Shiva pass the gate.

On the sight of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathi was infuriated that Nandi had disregarded her commands. Over hours of thought, she realized that unless she had a loyalist of her own, there would be no soul who would respect her the way the Lord's followers respected him. She decided to create her own loyalist and sculpted an idol using a paste she had prepared for her body. She imparted life to the statue and right in front of her stood a handsome young lad, all decked in energy and valour. Goddess Parvathi was jubilant on her creation and blessed him with unique powers and strengths.

A few days down, she asked him to guard her gate as she had requested Nandi earlier. Just as on the previous day, Lord Shiva attempted to walk past the gate when he was stopped by the young lad. Lord Shiva was enraged at the thought that a random boy was opposing his entrance into his own place. The boy simply waved his staff at Lord Shiva and would not budge on any amount of cajoling that it was his own place.

Lord Shiva left the place fuming at the thoughts that he was sent out from his own abode. He sent a horde of men to fight the young lad who had insulted him. The army of soldiers led by Nandi, known for his courage and strengths, reached the place only to be defeated by the young lad in a jiffy. They hurried back to Lord Shiva and narrated the happenings. Lord Shiva felt insulted at the thought that his army had to suffer a defeat at the hands of a puny boy. He led the warpath to the place where the young lad stood guarding the gate, as cheerful as ever.

The ensuing war between Lord Shiva and the young lad was fearful. Slowly, the Lord began to realize that the lad did possess extraordinary strengths and skills. Unable to ride over his wrath, he aimed his all-conquering Trishul on the young boy. The Trishul found its mark and slew the head of the young lad and there he lay, in a pool of blood.

Hearing the commotion, Goddess Parvathi ran out, only to find her beloved creation lying on the ground, lifeless. She cried her heart out and announced to all those present that the young lad was her own son, her own creation. She declared that her son had to be brought back to life before sunset.

Lord Shiva was now filled with remorse at his actions. He agreed to bring him back to life and ordered his men to go in search of a replacement for the young lad’s head. He instructed them to slay and bring to him the head of any creature that might be sleeping with its head facing north. The men set out in all directions and finally hit upon an elephant sleeping in the same position. They slew the head of the elephant and brought it back to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva then affixed the head of the elephant to the young lad’s body and brought him back to life. 

The young lad was none other than Lord Ganesha, brought back to life with an elephant head. Lord Shiva blessed him and accepted him as his son. He announced that henceforth, Lord Ganesha would be worshipped at the beginning of all endeavors, as a remover of obstacles, as a destroyer of evils and as the God of Wisdom, Knowledge & Wealth.

Shuklam Baradharam Vishnnum Shashi Varnnam Chatur Bhujam

Prasanna Vadanam Dhyaayeet Sarva Vighnopashaantaye

Meaning: Praise be on the lord who is wearing white clothes, who is all-pervading, who is as bright as the moon and has four hands, who has a compassionate face, let us meditate on him to ward off all obstacles