LORD GANAPATI
King Prajapal then asked sage Mahatapa about the manifestation of lord Ganapati and about the significance of chaturthi in terms of Ganapati’s worship. Mahatapa narrated the following tale- “Once,all the deities went to seek Shiva’s help in sorting out a peculiar problem they were faced with- while they experienced all sorts of hurdles and problems in their work resulting into repeated failures in their work, the demons on the contrary accomplished all their work successfully without any problem. When lord Shiva learnt about their problem, he burst into laughter. Hardly had he stopped laughing than a radiant adolescent manifested himself from his opened mouth. The child was so divinely charming that Parvati,who was sitting beside Shiva looked at him without dropping her eyelids.When Shiva found her staring at the child he became jealous. Jealousy transformed into anger and Shiva cursed the child-‘From now onwards your face will resemble an elephant and your belly will become large as a pot. In the name of yagyopavit you would have nothing but a snake hanging across your shoulder.’
The child was none other than Ganesh.Lord Shiva’s anger did not subside even after having cursed Ganesh. He was still trembling in anger and was sweating profusely.Numerous Ganeshas manifested themselves from those sweat-drops and each of them had a head of an elephant as well as a large belly.Suddenly, lord Brahma appeared and requested lord Shiva by saying-‘You should make this divine child,who has manifested from your mouth,the lord of all these Vinayakas.Thus,lord Shiva made Ganesh the lord of all the Vinayakas and blessed him-‘You will be the first deity to get worshipped in any ritual.’
Chaturthi has deep association with the worship of lord Ganesh, as it was on this very day that he had manifested himself.Having prasad,prepared from sesame seeds and worshipping lord Ganesh on this day is believed to bring great auspiciousness. A devotee who worships lord Ganesh on chaturthi never experiences any kind of obstacle in his work.
NAG DEVTA
King Prajapal then requested Mahatapa to shed light on the origin of the serpents and the significance of ‘panchami’. Sage Mahatapa replied-The serpents came from the lineage of Kadru-Kashyap’s wife. Sage Kashyap had numerous progeny from Kadru-Vasuki, Anant, Kambal, Karkotak, Padma, Mahapadma, Shankh, Kulik, etc. When all these serpents started tormenting human-beings, lord Brahma cursed them that they would be annihilated during swayambhuva manvantar due to the curse of their own mother.
The serpents became terrified and promised to mend their ways. They then requested lord Brahma to give them a place to live in. Lord Brahma instructed them to go to three different netherworlds-Sutal, Vital and Patal. He also warned them that during Vaivaswat manvantar Janmejay would perform a grand yagya with the objective of destroying the wicked serpents but the virtuous among them would manage to survive. This particular incident had occured on panchami and hence it became the destroyer of all sins.A devotee who worships ‘Nag'(serpent) on this day and offers milk will never be troubled by them.
KARTIKEYA
Describing Kartikeya’s manifestation and how his worship got associated with the auspicious day of shashthi, sage Mahatapa told king Prajapal-Once, a fierce battle was between the deities and demons in which the deities got defeated.The reason behind their defeat was the absence was the absence of an able commander who could lead them.The deities went to seek the help of lord Brahma. Being unable to solve their problem,lord Brahma took the deities to lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva invoked ‘Shakti’ present within his body and thus manifested lord Kartikeya. He was named after the six ‘Kritikas’ who had nurtured him by feeding their breast milk. Lord shiva then made Kartikeya the commander of the deities on the auspicious day of shashthi. Under his able leadership, the deities finally managed to defeat the demons.
A devotee who worships lord Kartikeya on shashthi enjoys prosperity and gets all his desire fulfilled. A childless couple must worship on this auspicious day to get blessed with a son.
LORD ADITYA
King Prajapal asked Mahatapa-“The thought of divine radiance taking the form of human radiance bewilders me. Please clear my doubts.”
Sage Mahatapa replied -“When the almighty God willed to manifest himself in other tangible forms, an effulgence emanated from his being resulting into the creation of ‘Surya'(The Sun). The whole world became illumined with Surya’s radiance and all the deities dwelling within the body of Almighty God expressed their gratitude. Initially,unbearable heat emanated from ‘Surya’, causing great uncomfort to the deities but later on Almighty God reduced it to bearable limit at the request of the deities.Surya had manifested himself on the auspicious day of ‘saptami’ hence this particular day became deeply associated with the worship of Surya.
ASHTA MATRIKAS
Continuing with his narration, sage Mahatapa said -“During ancient times,there lived a mighty demon named ‘Andhakasur’. Andhakasur had become arrogant because of a boon of immortality received from lord Brahma. Being tormented by Andhakasur,all the deities went to seek lord Brahma’s help. Lord Brahma took the deities to lord Shiva who agreed to kill the wicked demon-Andhakasur.
The battle commenced and a fierce dual fight broke out between Lord Shiva and Andhakasur. Shiva attacked Andhakasur with his trident. Stream of blood oozed out from the wound, but to Shiva’s utter amazement each drop of blood falling on the ground resulted in into the creation of numerous Andhakasuras. In a short time the battle field was overcrowded with countless Andhakasuras. Now, Shiva’s anger crossed all limits and he thundered loudly. Flames emanated from the mouth of enraged Shiva resulting into the manifestation of goddess ‘Yogishwari’. Similarly, seven more goddesses manifested themselves from different deities- Vaishnavi from lord Vishnu, Brahmi from lord Brahma, Kaumari from Kartikeya, Mahendri from Indra, Yami from Yama, Varahi from lord Varah and Maheshwari from lord Narayan. All these eight goddesses came to be known as ‘Matrikas’ and lord assigned them the auspicious day for their worship. A devotee who worships these eight matrikas on ashtami are blessed. The use of ‘bael’ (wood-apple) fruit on this day has great significance.
GODDESS DURGA
King Prajapal requested sage Mahatapa to narrate about the manifestation of goddess Durga and the significance of her worship on navami.Sage Mahatapa replied-The mighty demon-Vetrasur had driven out deities from the heaven.All the deities went to lord Brahma and sought his help.As lord Brahma was wondering about his further course of action,suddenly goddess Durga appeared from nowhere.She held various weapons in each of her eight arms and was mounted on a ferocious lion.Lord Brahma was relieved as he was confident that Goddess Durga would certainly kill Vretasur.Finally,goddess Durga indeed killed the dreaded demon without much difficulty.Later on,all the deities requested her to make himalaya mountain as her abode to which she agreed.This particular place,in course of time became famous as Nandadevi.One who worships goddess Durga on the auspicious day of navami gets her blessings.
DASH DISHAS
Having finished the tale of goddess Durga, sage Mahatapa revealed how all the six directions came into existence-“Six divine women manifested themselves from both the ears of lord Brahma during the initial phase of creation. The name of these six divine women were Purva(east), Dakshina(south), Paschima(west), Uttara(north), Urdhva(upwards) and Adhara(downwards). In course of time all of them got married to six different Lokpals. Lord Brahma assigned the auspicious day of dashami for their worship.One who worships all these six goddesses on the auspicious day of dashami is blessed and one who observes fast on this day gets absolved of all his sins.
KUBER
Continuing with the tales of the manifestation of various deities,sage Mahatapa said-“In the process of doing his creation,lord Brahma bellowed as a result of which Kubera manifested himself.Lord Brahma assigned kubera the lordship of all the wealth and prosperity.It was ‘ekadashi’ when Kubera had manifested himself,so this particular day has deep association with his worship.One who observes a fast on the auspicious day of ekadashi never lives in poverty.”
LORD VISHNU
Describing how lord Vishnu manifested,sage Mahatapa told Prajapal -“Narayan -the almighty God incarnated as lord Vishnu to nurture all the living creatures inhabiting the world. Eventually, lord Vishnu entrusted the job of world’s welfare to goddess Yoganidra and himself went into his meditative sleep. While he was still in his meditative sleep, a lotus flower emanated from his navel. Lord Brahma was seated on that lotus flower.
The almighty God was delighted to see himself in the incarnation of Vishnu.He blessed Vishnu by saying- ‘May you destroy all kind of ignorance with the help of your sword. Hold this chakra I am giving you,to sever the evil influences of ‘kaal-chakra’ (wheel of time). May all the sins be destroyed by your mace. May the deity- Vayu adorn your hand in the form of a conch and vaijyanti mala in your neck. May the Sun and Moon adorn your person in the form of shrivatsa and kaustubh diamonds. May Garuda be your mount and goddess Laxmi your consort. May people desirous of salvation worship you on the auspicious day of dwadashi. One who worship you on this day will definitely attain to the heaven.’
DHARMA
Sage Mahatapa then told king Mahapal about the manifestation of Dharma and the significance of trayodashi-‘Dharma manifested himself from the right part of almighty God and appeared like a bullock. The almighty God instructed him to protect the mankind from all evils and sins.All the four feet of Dharma signified four various virtues- truth, purity, penance and charity. In satyayuga, Dharma was four footed- all the four virtues were prevalent during that era. In treta yuga, the feet reduced to three. The subsequent eras of dwapar and kaliyuga saw the further decline in virtuosity in which Dharma had two feet and one foot respectively.’
‘Once,a fierce battle was fought between the deities and demons.The bone of contention was a woman for whom both the side made claims.Dharma intervened and solved the contentious issue to the satisfaction of both the warring sides. Lord Brahma was very impressed by the deftness with which Dharma had handled such a tough situation and blessed him by saying-I am assigning the auspicious day of tryodashi to you. One who observes a fast and worship you on this day will be liberated from all his sins.’
