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