Brahma’s Advice
Those of the gods who had survived the battle and were still free started to pray to Brahma. “What can I do for you?” asked Brahma. Why are all of you looking so despondent?” “You are the one who is responsible for our misfortune,” replied the gods. “You have granted Taraka a boon that has made him virtally invincible. Armed with this boon, he is oppressing the universe and has soundly thrashed us. What are we to do now?”
“There is no cause for such despondency,” said Brahma. “Taraka is not immortal. He will be slain by a seven year old child. Unfortunately that child has not yet been born. He will be the son of Shiva. The problem is that Shiva is unmarried. He was earlier married to Sati, but Sati immolated herself at the time of a yajna. She has now been reborn as Parvati. The task at hand is to get Shiva and Parvati married. Their son will kill Taraka.”
It was necessary to make Shiva fall in love with Parvati. Madana, the god of love, was sent by Indra to Shiva’s hermitage so that this might be achieved. But because this disturbed Shiva’s meditation, Shiva burnt Madana up.
Meanwhile, Parvati had begun to perform tapasya so that she might have Shiva for a husband. For one hundred years more, she ate only one leaf a day. And for the final hundred years, she meditated fasting. The seven great sages went and told Shiva about Parvati’s tapasya and Shiva agreed to marry Parvati. The marriage took place amidst a great deal of fanfare. All the rivers and the mountains came to attend the ceremony. So did the sages, the gods, the gandharvas, the apsaras and the yakshas. Brahma himself acted as the priest for the marriage ceremony.
Kali Becomes Gouri On one particular occasion, Shiva addressed Parvati as “Kali.” The word kali means dark and Parvati thought that Shiva referring to her dark complexion. She did not realize that Shiva was merely trying to tease her a bit. Greatly incensed at the imagined slight, Parvarti decided that she would meditate so that she might become fair. She wore clothing made of barks of trees and performed tapasya. In the summer she prayed inside a raging fire and in the winter she prayed under the water. Sometimes, she ate only roots and fruits. At other times, she fasted. Prior to leaving for her tapasaya, Parvati had instructed Nandi that he was to stand guard at Shiva’s door and permit no other woman to enter.
There was a demon named Adi. This fellow had performed a lot of tapasya and had manage to please Brahma. When Brahma agreed to grant him a boon. Adi asked for the boon of immortality. Brahma naturally refused this boon. He however granted Adi the boon that the demon would die only when he changed his form twice, not otherwise. Adi happened to come to Shiva and Parvati’s house and discovered Nandi standing guard at the door. Wondering what there was to be guarded, he adopted the form of a snake and slithered in. Nandi did not notice the snake, but this was Adi’s first transformation. Inside the house, Adi encountered Shiva and thought that he would play a trick on Shiva. He adopted Parvati’s form. This was his second transformation. In the form of Parvati, Adi went up to Shiva and greeted him.
Initially, Shiva did not realize that this was not Parvati. He greeted the demon and said, “Darling, I am delighted tht you have returned. I can see that your rage has cooled down.” But in a little while Shiva realized that this was not Parvati. He slew the demon.
Meanwhile, Parvati was continuing with her tapsaya and pleased Brahma with her prayers. Brahma granted her the boon that she would become fair. Since the word gouri means fair, Parvati was thereafter known as Gouri. A goddess named Koushiki emerged out of Parvati’s cells, thus named because the word kosha means cell. The darkness of Parvti’s complexion entered Koushiki’s body. Brahma requested the goddess Koushiki to go and live in the Vindhya mountains. She is therefore also known as Vindhyavasini.
Kartikeya and Taraka
Kartikeya or Skanda was born after some days. The boys shone with the radiance of a thousand suns and had six (shada) faces (anana). He was therefore also known as Shadanana.
The gods armed Kartikeya with diverse weapons and appointed him their general. They requested him to kill the demon Taraka and arrangements were made for the battle.
When Taraka saw Kartikeya he said, “What is a boy like you doing in a battlefield? Go and play with a ball instead.”
A battlefield is not the place for idle talk,” replied Kartikeya. “Show me your prowess instead.” At these words, Taraka flung a club at Kartikeya. But Kartikeya easily repelled the club with a vajra. The demon next hurled an axe, but Kartikeya effortless caught the axe in his hand. He then struck the demon with a club of his own. This angered Taraka so much that the demon showered all sorts of weapons on Kartikeya. But the boy repelled all of these and started to kill demons with his own weapons. Many demons fled in dismay. As for Taraka himself, Kartikeya’s spear pierced him in the chest and killed him. Thus it was that Brahma’s boon became ture.
Hiranyakashipu
Diti had a son named Hiranyakashipu. This demon meditated for eleven thousand years under the water. Throughout this period, he did not eat or talk at all. These meditations pleased Brahma and Brahma offered to grant Hiranyakasipu a boon.
“What boon do you wish for?” he asked. “If you are pleased, grant me the following boon,” replied the demon. “I will not be killed by gods, demons, gandharvas, yakshas, rakshasas or snakes. I will not be killed by humans or ghosts. The sages will not be able to curse me. I will not killed by a weapon, a mountain or a tree. I will not be killed during the day or at night. I will not be killed by something that is dry or by something that is wet.”
This rather strange boon Brahma granted. But the sages, the gods, the gandarvas and the snakes went and complained to Brahma. “What have you done?” they asked. “This demon is now going to oppress the entire universe.”
“Don’t worry,” replied Brahma. “When the time comes, Vishnu himself will kill Hiranyakashipu.”
But true to expectations, the demon started to oppress the world. He destroyed the hermitages of the sages and drove the gods out of heaven. All yajnas were stopped. The gods and the sages started praying to Vishnu. Stirred by these prayers, Vishnu adopted the form of a strange being who was half-man and half-lion. Since nara means man and simha means lion, this being was called Narasimha.
Narasimha went on a visit to Hiranyakashipu’s court. Hiranyakashipu had a son named Prahlada and at the sight of Narasimha. Prahlada exclaimed. “I have a strong suspicion that this being is none other than Vishnu and that we demons will suffer at his hands.” Hiranyakashipu asked his soldiers to capture the creature. Or, if that proved to be impossible, to kill it. But the soldiers could do no such thing; Narasimha killed them all. Hiranyakasipu then himself hurled all sorts of weapons at Narasimha. But great was his bewilderment at finding that all these weapons could do the strange creature no harm. Any weapons could do the strange creature no harm. Any weapon that was hurled was simply swallowed up by Narasimha. The rocks that were flung at him could not even reach him. Narasimha grasped Hiranyakashipu and placed him across his thighs. He then tore apart the demon’s chest with his claws. Thus, Hiranyakashipu was not killed by a weapon, a mountain or a tree, or by something that was either wet or dry. Vishnu in his Narasimha form was not a god, a demon, a gandharva, a yaksha, a rakshasa, a snake, a human or a ghost. Since the slaying took place in the evening, it was neither night nor day. All the conditions of Brahma’s boon were met.
The entire world rejoiced at the demon-king’s death.
The Matysa Purana now describes the glories of several tirthas, including the sacred city of Varanasi or Kashi. It also lists the lineages of various famous sages like Bhrigu, Angira, Atri, Vishvamitra, Kashyapa, Vashishtha, Parashara and Agastya.Savitri There used to be a king named Ashvapati who ruled in the kingdom of Madra. Ashvapati had no sons. He therefore began to pray to the goddess Savitri so that he might have a son. He performed thousands and thousands of yajnas. Eventually the goddess appeared before the king and said, “You will not have a son. But I am going to grant you a daughter.’ The daughter was named Malati. But since she was born as a result of a boon received from the goddess Savitri, she was more popularly known as Savitri.
When Savitri grew up, she was married to Satyavana, the son of King Dyumatsena. The sage Narada once came to visit them and told them. “Satyavana is going to die within a year.” Hearing this, Savitri and Satyavana went off to the forest to prepare themselves for the impending death. When only four days of the appointed life span were left, Savitri observed a religious rite that has now become famous savitri vrata. Amongst other things, this involved fasting for a period of three days. On the fourth and final day, Satyavana went to collect fodder, roots and fruits in the dense part of the forest and Savitri also accompanied her husband. When they were tired, Savitri sat down beside a pond to rest. Satyavana continued to collect fodder and firewood near the pond. While he was thus engaged, he started to suffer from a splitting headache.
“Savitri,” he said, “I cannot bear this pain any longer. Let me rest for a while with my head in your lap.” While Satyavana was resting with his head on Savitri’s lap, Yama arrived to claim Satyavana. Yama’s complexion was dark and he was dressed entirely in yellow. His crown was golden. Armlets graced his arms and necklaces hung around his neck. In each human body there is an entity that is only the size of a finger in length. This is the part of the body that is claimed by Yama and taken to his abode. When this is done, only the dead body is left.
Yama tied up Satyavana’s minute body in a noose and prepared to take it to his abode. But when Yama left, Savitri followd him. “Where do you think you are going?” asked yama.
“I am following my husband,” replied Savitri. “There is no greater duty for a wife than serving her husband. Since my husband is leaving, I have to leave with him.”
“I am pleased at your devotion,” said Yama. “Ask for a boon and I shall grant it to you. The only thing that you cannot ask for is that Satyavana be brought back to life.”
“My father-in-law has become blind,” replied Saviti. “He can therefore no longer be the king. Please grant me the boon that his eyesight is restored so that he can become the king again.”
“I grant you that.” Said Yama. “Now please return. You will unnecessarily get tired if you follow me.”
“How I can get tired if I follow you?” asked Savitri. “You are the chief of all the gods. Is it possible to get tired if one follows you?”
“That pleases me even more,” said Yama. “Ask for another boon. But under no circumstances are you allowed to ask that Satyavana be brought back to life.”
“My father has no sons,” replied Savitri. “Please grant me the boon that he may have a hundred sons.”
“I grant you that,” said Yama. “Now return. Go and perform your husband’s funeral rites. Serve your parents and parents-in-law well. You are unnecessarily tiring yourself by following me around.”
“I thank you for your advice.” Replied Savitri. “But I have already told you that I cannot possibly get tired . You are the lord of dharma, the lord of righteousness. Can one possibly tire oneself by following such a person?”
“Your devotion is truly amazing,” “Ask for another boon. But do not ask for Satyavana’s life.”
“Please grant me the boon that Satyavana and I may have a hundred sons,” requested Savitri. Yama granted the boon without thinking and Savitri then pointed out that what Yama had agreed to would be impossible if Satyavana died.
Yama had no option but to restore Satyavana to life. Yama blessed Savitri and went away. In due course, Satyavana and Savitri had a hundred sons named that Malvas. Savitri is a model for all devoted wives to follow.
The Matsya Purana follows this up with a recital of the duties of kings and a cataloguing of various omens. There is also a section on the interpretation of dreams.Vali There was a demon named Vali who was descended from Hiranyakashipu. Extemely strong, he defeated the gods and drove them out of heaven. The mother of all the gods was Aditi and Aditi was despondent that her sons should suffer so at the hands of demons. She therefore began to pray to Vishnu so that she might have a powerful son who would provide a fitting reply tot he demons, particularily to Vali. For a thousand years, Aditi meditated.
Vishnu was pleased at these prayers and appeared before Aditi.
“What boon do you wish for?” he asked. “The demons are oppressing my children,” replied Aditi.
“Please grant me a son who will defeat the demons.”
“Do not despair,” said Vishnu. “I myself will be born as your son. I will take care of the demons.” You will remember that Aditi’s husband was the sage Kashyapa. Kashyapa and Aditi accordingly had a son. This son was a dwarf (vamana). Vali happened to organize a yajna and the dwarf came to attend the ceremony. On the occasion of the yajna, Vali had decided that he would not refuse anyone what he asked for.
Shukracharya was the preceptor of the demons and naturally, he was Vali’ guru as well. Shukracharya saw through the trickery that was involved and realized that the dwarf was none other than Vishnu. He tried to put Vali on his guard and warned Vali that he should not grant what the dwarf asked for. But Vali would not listen.
“Vishnu is the lord of everything.” He said. “I am indeed fortunate if Vishnu has come to grace my ceremony in the disguise of a dwarf. How can I refuse what he asks for?”
Vali welcomed the dwarf with offerings. “What is your desire?” he asked. “I am duty bound to give you what you ask for.”
“I desire nothing much,” replied the dwarf. “I do not want gold or riches or elephants or horses. All that I ask for is as much of land as can be covered in three of my footsteps.”
“Granted,” said Vail. No sooner were the words uttered that he dwarf assumed a gigantic form. His head rose way up into the sky. With each one of his footsteps, Vishnu covered one of the three worlds. Thus Vali ended up by donating all of the three worlds to Vishnu and there was nowhere for the demons to live in.
But Vishnu was pleased at Vali’s generosity. He therefore decreed that, henceforth, the demons would live in the underworld. As for heaven, it was returned to Indra. This was the story of Vishnu’s dwarf incarnation.
The Boar Incarnation
At the end of the last kalpa, there was a general destruction and the universe was flooded with water. Vishnu alone slept on this water in his form of Narayana. When it was time for creation to begin, Brahma appeared inside an egg. All the worlds that would be there in the universe and all the beings who would populate these worlds were inside the egg. But before creation could start, the earth had to be created so that living beings might have a place to live in.
When the earth was first created, it was full of mountain ranges and these mountains were exceedingly heavy. The upshot of this was that the earth could not bear the weight of these mountains and started to get immersed in the water. She went all the way down to the underworld. The earth started to pray to Vishnu so that she might be saved.
Vishnu adopted the form of a gigantic boar (varaha). He entered the water and raised the earth up on his tusks. He laid her to rest on the water, having first leveled out the mountains. This was the story of Vishnu’s boar incarnation.
The Churning of the Ocean
The gods and the demons always fought with one another. In the process, many demons and gods were killed. This was no problem for the demons. Their teacher, Shukracharya, knew the art of mritasanjivani and immediately brought the dead demons back to life. But the gods who were killed stayed dead. The gods went to Brahma for his advice.
“Having a temporaty truce with the demons,” said Brahma. “Unite with them and churn the ocean. This churning will make you immortal and you will have no reason to fear the demons.”
The gods went to meet Vali, the king of the demons, with the proposal and Vali agreed to the temporary truce. Preparations were made for the churning of the ocean. Mount Mandara was used as the rod for churning and the great snake Vasuki agreed to be the churning-rope . The problem however was the Mount Mandara had no base to rest on. And without a base, the peak would move and the churning could not proceed. The great Vishnu adopted the form of a huge turtle (kurma). The back of the turtle provided the base on which Mount Mandara could rest.
The churning started. The gods held Vasuki’s tail and the demons the head. The churning went on for a thousand years of the gods. The first object to emerge as a result of the churning was the moon. Chandra. Shiva accepted Chandra as an adornment for his forehead.
Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, merged next and was united with Vishnu, Sura, the goddess of wine and drinking, came out next. She was followed by the divine horse Uchchaishrava. This was appropriated by Indra. A beautiful jewel named koustubha came out next and was accepted by Vishnu as his adornment.
After these wondrous objects had come out, smoke started to billow out and clouded the atmosphere. The cloud was followed by tongues of fire which threatened to burn up the gods and the demons. From the fire there came out all sorts of poisonous snakes and venomous insects. This was followed by a terrible poison known as kalakuta. No one knew what to do with the poison, it would have killed them all.
The gods and the demons began to pray to Shiva for deliverance. Shiva appeared and swallowed up the poison. It suck in his throat and made his throat blue in colour. Since nila means blue and kantha means throat, Shiva came to be known as Nilakantha.
With the danger removed, the churning continued and Dhanvantari came out of the ocean. He was the physician of the gods and the originator of medicine (ayurveda). Dhanvantari held the pot of amrita in his hands.
The demons immediately started to fight over the possession of the amrita. But Vishnu adopted the form of a beautiful woman (known as mohini). This woman was so pretty that all the demons fell in love with her and gladly handed over the pot of amrita to her. But they continued to fight with the gods. While the fighting went on, Vishnu secretly fed the gods the amrita. The gods became immortal. The demons received no share of the amrita.
There was a demon named Rahu. He adopted the form of a god and managed to get a little bit of the amrita. But Surya and Chandra spotted the deception and pointed it out to Vishnu. Vishnu promptly severed Rahu’s head with his chakra. The amrita never percolated down beyond Rahu’s throat. But the demon’s head had had its share of the amrita and became immortal.
Rahu never forgave Surya and Chandra for telling on him. Rahu’s head tries to swallow up the sun and the moon, given a chance. You can see this happening at the time of the solar and lunar eclipses. This was the story of Vishnu’s turtle incarnation.
Architecture
The science of architecture owes its origin to eighteen great sages. Their names are Bhrigu, Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvakarma, Maya, Narada, Nagnajita, Vishalaksha, Puranadara, Brahma, Kartikeya, Nandishvara, Shounaka, Garga, Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Shukra and Brihaspati
The building of a house should never be begun in the month of Chaitra. A person who does this is sure to contract a disease.
The month of Vaishakha is a good time to begin. One who does this is bound to own many cows. The months of Agrahayana, Magha and Falguna are also auspicious. An individual who begins the task in Agrahayana has full granaires, one who begins it in Magha attains all sorts of riches and one who begins it in Falguna obtains gold and sons. Ashada is also a good month to start. Servants and animals are owed by a person who starts the building in Ashada.
But the months of Jyaishtha, Shravana, Bhadra, Ashvina and Pousha are inauspicious. If you start in Jyaishta, you will die soon; you will also die if you begin in Shravana; begin in Bhadra and you will suffer from all manner of lesses; your wife will die if you start the task in the month of Ashvina; and all your goods will be stolen if you start in the month of Pousha.
