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performing a penance in the cave of Himalaya mountain. Indra becoming fearful

sent Kamadev to obstruct his penance. But Kamadeva was unsuccessful in his

attempt as the place where Narada was doing penance was the same place where

Lord Shiva did penance. After the completion of his penance, Narada became

arrogant that he had defeated Kamadeva. He went to Kailash mountain and

narrated about his feat to Lord Shiva. Narada was naïve not to realize the fact

hat is happened only because of the divine power of Shiva. Lord Shiva listened

to his arrogant statement. He advised Narada not to reveal this secret to

anybody. But Narada went to Brahmaloka and boasted about his feet to Lord

Brahma. Lord Brahma listened to his boisterous statements and advised him not

to reveal this to anybody. But Narada was not satisfied. He wanted to give the

news of his achievement to Lord Vishnu. So, he went to Lord Vishnu's abode and

boasted about his feat of defeating Kamdeva.

Lord Vishnu with a desire to subdue his inflated ego, manifested his illusionary

power with the blessings of Lord Shiva. NARADA'S EGO SUBDUED:-While Narada was

returning from Vaikuntha Loka, he saw a beautiful city. This city was ruled by

a king named SheelNidhi. The king had a daughter and her Swayamvar was being

organised. Numerous kings had arrived to take part in that Swayamvar. Narada,

curiously entered the place were Swayamvar was being held. The king requested

Narada to study the lines of the palm of the princess. Narada was infatuated by

the princess beauty. He returned back to Lord Vishnu and expressed his desire of

marrying that princess. He also requested Vishnuji to make him as handsome as

himself (Vishnu). Lord Vishnu made Narada's whole body very beautiful except

his face. Which he made like a monkey. Narada being unaware of this happily

went back to Swayamvar site. Narada sat among the kings - his face resembling

like a monkey

Lord Vishnu too was present there. The princess saw Narad, whose face was

looking like a monkey. She was amused. Ultimately she put the garland around

the neck of Lord Vishnu and went to Vaikuntha Loka alongwith him. Some of the

Shiva's gana too were present there in the guise of a brahmin. Their names were

Marud ganas. When they saw Narada to see the reflection of his face in the

water. When Narada saw his face in the water, he saw that he was looking like a

monkey. He became very furious and cursed the Marudganas to be the born as

demons, even though being brahmins by birth. Furious Narada then went to Lord

Vishnu and cursed him- "You too would suffer due to separation from your wife,

during your incarnation of Ram and the monkey would come to your help. VISHNU

PREACHES NARAD:-Lord Vishnu accepted Narada's curse without any hesitation. He

then removed the illusionary powers by which Naradas' mind was influenced Now,

Narada regretted

his actions. Lord Vishnu told Narada that everything happened because of Shiva's

divine illusions."You did not pay heed to his advice and hence Shiva by his

illusions, has taught you a lesson. Shiva is beyond the reach of the three

basic qualities-Satva, Rajo and Tamas. Therefore you must worship and

contemplate on the name of Shiva. All of your sins will be destroyed. After

preaching Narada,, Lord Vishnu vanished from his sight. Narada then descended

down to earth and while having darshan of numerous Shivalingas, he saw two of

the Marudganas, whom he had cursed. He told both of them that they would take

birth from a giantess's womb, but their father would be sages. He also told

them that they would become very famous due to their devotion, Narad went to

lord Brahma and requested him to tell about the divinity of Shiva. BRAHMAJI

PREACHES NARAD:- On Narad's request Brahmaji said-"During the period of

Mahapralaya (Final annihilation)

nothing exist, except Shiva. The power which Shiva manifested from his own self

came to be known as Ambika. This Ambika is understood to be the cause of the

whole world as well as the Nature. Lord Shiva then created a Shivaloka, which

is known as Kashi. It is the abode of Shiva and Parvati. A man who makes a

pilgrimages of Kashi attains salvation. THE ORIGIN OF VISHNU:- Lord Shiva, felt

the need of somebody, who could look after the creation in his absence, as he

wanted to retire along with Ambika at Kashi. The unified energy of Shiva and

Ambika, resulted into a radiant physical form of a child. The child asked Shiva

about his name and purpose of his being. Lord Shiva named the child as Vishnu

and advised him to do a penance which would help him to attain all kinds of

accomplishment. He then offered him the knowledge of Vedas, through his breath.

For this reason it has been said- "YASYA NISHVASITAM VEDAH " Meaning: Whose

exhaled air is

Veda. Vishnu followed the instruction of Shiva and did a tremendous penance for

twelve years, but still he was not successful in having a darshan of lord Shiva

for the second time. He became worried. He heard a heavenly voice, instructing

him to do further penance. Vishnu then recommenced his penance. It continued

for many days. By the blessings of Shiva, numerous fountain of streams errupted

from his body, which spread in all directions in the form of Brahma. Vishnuji

was very pleased to see that stream. He went to sleep in that streams due to

which he also came to be known as 'Narayan'. One who has his abode in the

water. After that, all the five elements manifested from his self. The three

qualities- Salva, Rajos and Tamas as well as the ego manifested from his body.

Similarly, five Tanmantras (Subtle form of matter), Panchabhuta (Sky water,

air, fire and earth) and ultimately five sense organs and five organs of action

also manifested from. Altogether twenty-four

types of element manifested from the body of Shri Vishnu. ORIGIN OF BRAHMAJI:-

Brahmaji told Narad- "While Vishnuji was sleeping in the water, a lotus flower

manifested from the navel of Vishnu according to the wish of Shiva. On that

lotus was seated with four heads. I did not see anything except that lotus

flower. I had a desire to know about my identity. So I entered into the hollow

tubular stalk of that lotus flower, but I was not able to find the source. I

returned back to the same place. Suddenly I heard a voice which instructed me

to do penance. I did a tremendous penance for twelve years with a desire to

know about my creator. Being pleased with me, lord Vishnu manifested before me

with in his Chaturbhuj form, but I could not identify him, being influenced by

the illusionary power of Shiva. I quarreled with him." DISPUTE BETWEEN BRAHMAJI

& VISHNUJI- "I asked him as to who he was. Vishnuji replied that he was the

fulfiller of all of

his desires. But I replied to him that I only was the creator, nurturer and the

supreme soul of this world. Vishnuji became angry and said that undoubtedly I

(Brahma) was the creator of this world, but he (Vishnu) was the one, who had

created me (Brahma) and the whole world. Vishnuji also ordered me to take his

refuge and promised to protect me. But being an ignorant I did not believe him.

A fierce battle was fought between both of us. A Shiva linga manifested between

us to end the battle. We requested that Shivalinga to show its real identity.

That Shivalinga had destroyed our pride." SHABDA-BRAHMA:- We heard a sound OM.

We became curious to know the origin of that sound. Vishnuji saw a letter 'A'

towards the south of that Shivalinga. He also saw the letters 'U' and 'M'

centre towards the north of the Shivalinga and in its centre respectively. He

also saw the mantra 'OM', which was dazzling like a Sun. There was no beginning

and end to this mantra OM. As we were

making efforts to know about its origin, suddenly Shiva appeared in the form of

a sage. He gave us the knowledge regarding OM. He also revealed to us that I

originated from the letter 'A', Vishnuji originated from letter 'U' and Shiva

himself originated from letter M. The letter A signifies creation, U Signifies

nurturement and M signifies salvation. The three letters A, V & M also

symbolizes the basic causes of creation. A or brahma also symbolizes the semen,

U or Vishnu symbolizes the Vagina and the sound of OM is Maheshwar- the combined

sound of A, U and M. All the three united from which manifested a golden egg.

This golden egg remained submerged in the water for one thousand years. The

almighty then cut that egg into two halves, from which appeared heaven and

Earth. We also saw the divine beauty of Maheshwar." SHABDA BRAHMA TANU:-Then we

saw all the vowels and consonants emanating from the physique of Mahadeva.

Vishnuji saw the forty eight

letters within OMKAR, which in fact were the two following mantras- "TATPURUSHAY

VIDDYAMAHE MAHADEVAY DHIMAHI, TANNO RUDRAH PRACHODAYAT." And "TATSAVITURVARENYAM

BHARGO DEVASYA DHIMAHI DHIYO YONAH PRACHODAYAT.After that we also received

the Mahamrityunjay mantras like 'OM JOOM SAH", "HRAUM HRIM JOOM SAH" and

"TRAYAMBAKAM YAJAMAHE". After that we received the five lettered mantra "OM

NAMAH SHIVAY", the chintamani mantra 'KSHAMYAUM', the dakshinamurti mantra -

"OM NAMO BHAGAWATE DAKSHINAMURTAYE MAHYAM MEGHAM PRAYACHCHHA SWAHA. At last we

received the great mantra TATVAMASI. Vishnuji was so enchanted by this mantra

that he started chanting this mantra. We then prayed to Shiva-the creator, the

nurturer and the destroyer. SHIVA ENLIGHTENS BRAHMA & VISHNU:- "Shiva became

very pleased with both of us. He preached us the contents of Veda. Shiva told

Vishnuji about the methods by which his (Shiva's) worship could be

done. He revealed to us that Vishnuji actually had manifested from the left

portion of his Shiva's body and myself from the right portion of his body. He

also blessed us that he would manifest his incarnation of Rudra from our body

and also that the purpose of this incarnation would be to do annihilation. Lord

Shiva revealed to us that his consort Uma, was in fact mother Nature and her

power in the incarnation of Saraswati would be my consort. Laxmi, who would

also manifest from the nature would be the consort of Vishnu." AGE OF BRAHMA

VISHNU & RUDRA BRAHMAJI TOLD NARADA:- "Lord Shiva informed us that my day

consists of four thousand eras and similarly my night too consists of four

thousand eras. Since a month consists of thirty days and a year consists of

twelve months. In this way my age was fixed to be of one hundred years. One day

of Vishnu is equivalent to one year of Brahma. Vishnu's age too was fixed to be

of one hundred years. The

day of Rudra is equivalent to one year of Vishnu and his age also was fixed to

be of one hundred years. THE METHODS OF WORSHIPPING SHIVA On the request of the

sages, Sutji retold the preaching which had been narrated by Brahmaji to Narad.

Describing the method of Shiva worship he says- "A devotee should get up early

in the morning and contemplate on Shiva, who gives benediction. After that, he

should finish his daily routing work and perform rituals like 'Sandhya' and

Vandana etc. After that, he should worship Shivalinga according to vedic rites

like Panchopachar, Sodashopachar etc. He should also perform 'Abhiseka' with

various offerings. At last, the should beg pardon for his sins." ACCQUIREMENT

OF SHIVALINGAS BY THE DEITIE Once, Brahmaji went to 'Kshirsagar' (the abode of

Vishnu) accompanied by the deities and asked lord Vishnu how a man could be

liberated from his sorrows. Lord Vishnu told them that this objective could be

met b worshipping Shiva-Linga. All the deities, then prayed to lord Shiva, who

after becoming pleased instructed 'Vishwakarma' to construct a Shivalinga for

them. Vishwakarma then made a Shivalinga for Kuber, a Shivalinga of yellow

diamond for Dharmaraj, a Shivalinga of dark coloured diamond for Varun, a

Shivalinga of Indraned diamond for Vishnu and a goldden Shivalinga for

Brahmaji. Similarly Vishwadeva was given a Shivalinga made up of silver, the

Ashwini Kumars were given Shivalinga made up of bronze, Laxmi was given a

Shivalinga made up of Crystal (Sphatik), Sun-god was given a Shivalinga made of

copper and the moon was given a Shivalinga made of pearl. METHODS OF WORSHIPPING

SHIVALINGA Brahmaji has described the following methods for the worship of

Shivalinga- "After performing the rituals like 'Aachaman' and Pranayam a

devotee should apply a tripunda on his forehead and wear a rudraksha on his

body. After the study of Shanti-path and the

performance of Devata-Namaskar, he should make a resolution if he has any wish

to be fulfilled. Then the worship of Shivalinga should be done, with the help

of Mahima-Stavan and offering flowers to the Shivalinga. The purity of the

mantras should be maintained while chanting them. THE VIRTUES OF WORSHIPPING

SHIVA METHODICALLY It has been mentioned in the Shivapuran that making

offerings in the form of lotus, Shatapatra, , Shankhapushpi, the leaves of wood

apple tree, helps a man in attaining wealth and prosperity. For becoming free

from disease, fifty lotus flowers should be offered to the Shivalinga.

Mrityunjay-Jap should be chanted for five lac times, for all types of

accomplishment. One lac dhatura-fruits should be offered for long life,

worldly-pleasure, as well as for attaining salvation. THE ORIGIN OF KAILASH &

VAIKUNTH Brahmaji revealed to Narad how the process of creation commenced-

"After Lord Shiva vanished from our

sight, I transformed myself into the appearance of a swan and Vishnuji

transformed his appearance into that of a boar with the purpose of commencing

the process of creation. First of all, I created the water. I poured a palmful

of water into it and an egg manifested which consisted of all the twenty four

elements. This egg was very enormous in size which made me confused. I did

penance for twelve years. Vishnuji appeared before me. I requested him to bring

that egg to consciousness. Vishnuji entered into that egg. As a result of this,

Kailash mountain, and all the seven worlds came into existence. After that the

static living things were created, which symbolized the dark quality (Tamogun).

After that I created four footed animals like cows and Ox etc. inspite of these

creations, I was not satisfied, so I again went into meditation. As a result

the deities were created which symbolized the virtuous quality (Satoguna). Once

again I meditated and the human species came into

existence, which symbolized the medium quality (Rajoguna). With the permission

of Lord Shiva, I then created spirits like ghosts etc. After that I created my

five Manasputras- Sanak, Sanadan etc. But they were so ascetic and detached

from the world that they showed their disinclination in contributing in the

process of creation. This made me angry, tears rolled down from my eyes. With

the permission of Vishnuji, I did a tremendous penance to have a darshan of

lord Shiva. THE EMERGENCE OF RUDRAVATAR Brahmaji said to Narad- "When I

accomplished my penance, Lord Shiva manifested in his incarnation of Rudra from

in between the eyebrows. Half of his body resembled like that of a woman

(Ardhanarishwar). I requested him help me in my creational activities. Rudra

created his hosts (Rudragana) who resembled like him. I requested him to create

the mortals, to which he laughed and said, that he liberated mortals from their

sorrow, so how could he fasten

them with bondages. Rudra requested me to create the mortals and then he

vanished. CREATION Preaching Narad on the essence of Shivatattva, Brahmaji

said- "With the permission of Shiva, I created the five basic elements from

which the matter is made and also all types of arts. I also created the time.

Despite all these creations, I was not satisfied. I created sage Marichi from

my eyes, Sage Bhrigu from my heart, Sage Angira from my head, Sage Pulaha from

my Vyan Vayu, Sage Pulatsya from my Udan Vaya, Sage Vashishth from my Saman

Vayu, Sage Kratu from my Apan Vayu, Sage Atri from my ear, Daksha Prajapati

from my vital air You (Narad ) manifested from my lap. Sage Kardam and Dharma

manifested from my Shadow. Then I divided my body into two parts, and from each

of the two parts. Manu and Shatarupa manifested respectively. Both of them got

married and in this way commenced the conjugal creation. Priyavrata and

Uttanpad were the two sons born to them.

Shatarupa also gave birth to three daughters whose names were Aakuti Devahuti

and Prasuti. Sage Ruchi was married to Aakuti, Sage Kardam was married to

Devahuti and Daksha Prajapati was married to Prasuti. Sage Yagya and Dakshina

were born to sage Ruchi and Aakuti.Numerous daughters were born to sage

Kardam and Devahuti. Similarly twenty-four daughters were born to Daksha and

Prasuti. Daksha married thirteen of his dhauthers to Dharma. The rest of his

daughters were married to sages like Pulastya etc. All the three worlds are

inhabited by the progenies of these sages. The same Daksha Prajapati had sixty

daughters in another Kalpa, who were married to sages like Kashyap. Etc. In

this Kalpa, 'Sati was one of his daughters who was married to Lord Shiva.

'Sati' being distressed by the disrespect sown by her father-Daksha, to her

husband-Shiva, had given up her life, by jumping into the sacrificial fire. In

her next birth she was born as Parvati and was again married

to Shiva. This way, I created this world with the permission of Shiva."

GUNANIDHI - THE BRAHMINS' SON Naradji asked lord Brahma, when did lord Shiva

make Kailash as his abode and what was the reason of friendship between Shivaji

and Kubera. Brahmaji narrated the following story- v There used to live a

brahmin by the name Yagyadutt in Kampilyanagar, who was proficient in the

performance of Somyagya. He had a son named Gunanidhi. Though he was a scholar

but at the same time he was irreligious and kept bad company. He used to

indulge in evil activities like gambling. His father - Yagyadutt was unaware of

his evil activities. Whenever he asked his wife about Gunanidhi habits and

conduct, his wife used to tell lies and praised the conduct of Gunamidhi. Thus

Gunamidhi's condition became worst day by days. Yagyadutt married Gunanidhi

with a girl belonging to a well to do family. But his habits had not changed.

His mother tried her best to make him

understand, but it was of no avail. One day Yagyadutt saw, a gambler wearing his

ring. He asked him about that ring. The gambler told him that his son -

Gunanidhu had lost it to him, in the gamble. He also informed him that he had

also lost numerous ornaments and other properties in the gamble. Yagyadutt

became very angry. He married with another woman after abandoning his wife and

son. GUNANIDHI'S SALVATION When Gunadhi came to know about his father's second

marriage, he moved to another place, cursing his fate. He kept on walking till

he became tired. He sat under a tree and started thinking about his further

course of action. He heart was full of remorse and he repented for his past

actions. As his mind was engrossed in such kind of thoughts. He saw somw

villages going towards temple. They were carrying prasad in their hands. "Since

Gunanidhi was hungry, he followed them and after reaching the temple he sat at

the main gate of the

temple. IN the night, after the accomplishment of the Pujan, the devotees went

to sleep. Gunanidhi entered the premise went to sleep. Gunanidhi entered the

premise of the temple. The flame of the lamp was gradually becoming dim as the

result of which he could not see properly. He tore some pieces of cloth, he was

wearing and made a thick wick and put it in the lamp. Now the light was

sufficient to enable him to see whatever had been offered to the deity.He

carried as much fruits and other eatables as possible and tried to sneak out

from the temple. Unfortunately, he dashed against a devotee woke up and chased

him shouting thief-thief.Hearing his cries all the other devotees woke up

and caught Gunanidhi. He was given such a nice thrashing that proved to be

fatal and as a result Gunanidhi died." The Yamadut's arrived to take his soul

to yamloka. But right then, the Shivaganas arrived and prevented the Yamadutas

from carrying his soul. They informed the

Yamdutas that Gunanidhi was entitled for Shivaloka as he had devoutly observed

the Shivaratri fast, had listened to the tales of Shiva and lighted up the lamp

which was about to go off. The Shivaganas also informed the Yamadutas that, in

his next birth Gunamidhi would become the king of Kalinga.In this way

Gunanidhi attained to Shivaloka. In his next birth he was born as a son of king

Arindam- the king of Kalinga. He was named as Dama.When he was still young,

his fatherArindam dies. So Dama succeeded him as the king of Kalinga. He

renovated all the Shiva-temple, which came under his jurisdiction and passed a

stricture which made the worship of lord Shiva compulsory for all the subjects.

By the blessings of lord Shiva, he became the king of Alkapuri and was known as

Kubera." SHIVA BLESSES GUNANIDHI "During the Padma kalpa, Sage Vishrawa was

born to sage Pulastya- the manasputra of lord Brahma. Vishrawa's son -

Vishrawan ruled over Alkapuri for a

long time. This city was constructed by the deity Vishwakarma. Vishrawan was a

great devotee of Lord Shiva.During the kalpa named Meghawahan, Gunanidhi did

a tremendous penance for ten lac years. As a result of this penance his body was

reduced to skelton.Lord Shiva became very pleased with him and appeared

before him, accompanied by his consort Parvati. He told Gunanidhi to ask for

any boon, which will be fulfilled.When Gunanidhi heard Shiva's Voice he

opened his eyes, but his eyes were dazzled by the sheer radiance of lord Shiva.

He requested Shiva to restore the power of sight in his eyes. Shiva blessed him,

as a result of which he was now able to see the divine sight of lord Shiva. But

he became jealous of Uma, who was present by the side of Shiva. He was

wondering as to who was this lady, dearer to Shiva than him. He glanced cruelly

towards her. As a result of this his left eye lost the power of sight.Parvati

asked lord Shiva as to why was this sage

(Gunanidhi) looking cruelly towards her. Shiva replied- "He is none other than

your son. He is looking at you in astonishment as he his bewildered at the

feats achieved your penance.Lord Shiva then blessed Gunanidhi to become the

king of the kings. He also assured him that he will always be present in the

vicinity of Alkapuri. After being blessed by Shiva, Gunanidhi also made

salutations to Parvati. Parvati said- "Since you have looked at me angrily your

hatred and enemity (Bair) towards me was clearly visible. For this reason you

will be known as Kubers." After blessings, Gunanidhi both Shiva and Parvati to

a place called Vaishveshwar. Kailash mountain was situated near AlkaNagri.

SHIVA GOES TO KAILASH When Rudra - the Ansha of the Almighty brahma, heard

about the tremendous penance, Kubera was doing he started to play his 'damaru'

(drum), the sound of which reached all the three worlds. Rudra then reached the

place where Kubera was doing penance."

"Hearing the sound of his damaru, all the deities including Brahma, Vishnu and

Sadashia appeared before him.When Kubera saw lord Rudra before himself, he

offered his seat to him and worshipped him. He also worshipped the other

deities. Rudra was so pleased with Kubera that he decided to stay near him. He

called Vishwakarma and ordered him to conduct his abode at Kailash mountain, so

that he could live in could live in the vicinity of his great devotee-Kubera.

Kubera constructed a beautiful city as per his instruction. An auspicious

moment was chosen and Shiva went to live at Kailash mountain. He was coronated

by the deities." Brahamaji in this way told Narada about Shiva's departure to

Kailash mountain SATI KHAND In the Sati Khand of Rudra-Samhita, Narada enquires

lord Brahma about the reason, why lord Shiva married Sati, inspite of being a

'yogi'. He also requested Brahmaji to tell, how Sati became the daughter of

Daksha Prajapati and in her next

birth as Uma the daughter of Himalaya. How did Uma get lord Shiva as her

husband?- asked Narada Lord Brahma narrated the following tale- "A girl by the

name of Sandhya manifested from my being. I was amazed by her heavenly beauty.

Right then a divine entity appeared before me, whose beauty could not have been

matched even by the deities. He was Kamadeva- the god of love. He influenced me

to such an extent that I forgot that Snadhya was my daughter and got infatuated

by her.When Rudra came to know about my lust for Sandhya, he admonished me

and ridiculed about my character. I felt ashamed. But I also became jealous of

Rudra. I decided to influence him with the power of infatuation, but I was

unsuccessful in my attempts. I remembered lord Vishnu and he tried to make me

understand about the futility of my attempts, as according to him (Vishnu),

Rudra was beyond the reach of any human emotions.But I instructed my son -

Daksha to help in the

procreation of a girl child from the womb of Ashwinivirini. Thus Sati was born.

Sati later on became famous of Uma and got Rudra as her husband on account of

her tremendous penance.Though Rudra was free from all kinds of attachment,

but still he became so influenced by the desire for procreation that he married

with Sati. He enjoyed a blissful married life for a very long time.Rudra

father in law, Daksha in his arrogance started condemning his son in law

-Rudra. Once, Daksha organised a grand yagya ceremony. He gave invitation to

everybody except Rudra and Uma. Despite of Rudra's disinclination to allow Sati

to go to her father's yagya, She insisted and ultimately she was successful in

convincing Rudra, to allow her to go.When Sati reached there, she was not

given respect by her father-Daksha. Not only this, Daksha made fun of Rudra.

Feeling dishonoured, Sati gave up her life by jumping into the sacrificial

fire.When Rudra got the news of

Sati's death he became extremely furious. To take revenge, he created Veerbhadra

from his locks of hair. Veerbhadra went to Daksha place and destroyed his

oblation site. He severed Daksha's head. All the deities became afraid and

prayed to Rudra, to have mercy. Rudra then brought back Daksha to life and

helped him the accomplished of the still incomplete Yagya. The site where Sati

had died later on became famous as Jwalamukhi devi.The same Sati in her next

birth was born as Parvati to Himalaya. By her tremendous penance she again got

lord Shiva as her husband. After that lord Brahma told Narada about the

manifestation of Kama - the god of love. THE MANIFESTATION OF 'KAMA' "When I

became infatuated by the divine beauty of Sandhya, my infatuation resulted into

the manifestation of my another Manas-putra named Kamadeva. His beauty and

qualities were incomparable. His manifestation not only inflicted me with lust,

but also my other Manasputras

became filled up with lust. Kamadeva made salutations to me and asked as to what

was his name and purpose of being. I gave him the name 'Pushpavan' and

instructed him to help in the process of procreation. I also blessed him that

nobody would remain unaffected by his influence including myself and Vishnuji."

BRAHMA CURSES KAMADEVA After being named by lord Brahma as 'Pushpavan', Kamadeva

was also given various names as Manmath, Kama, Madan etc by sages like Mareech,

etc. They also said to him that he would be married to 'Rati' the daughter of

Daksha. Kamadeva himself was infatuated with the beauty of Sandhya. To test the

authenticity of Brahma's boon, Kamadeva took out his five arrows and wanted to

examine their power. The names of their arrows were Harshan, Rochan, Mohan,

Shoshan and Maran. These arrows had effect on all the people present there

including lord Brahma and Sandhya. Getting affected by those arrows, fourty

nine types of thoughts

emerged in Brahma's mind. Similarly, flaws were clearly visible in Sandhya's

behaviour. Kamdeva became convinced of his powers and capabilities. But Dharma

- the manasputra of Brahma was saddened by this event. He prayed to lord Shiva.

When Lord Shiva saw the condition of Brahmaji, he became amused and made fun of

him and his Manasputras. Everybody was ashamed. Due to his shame, Brahmaji

perspired profusely. From his perspiration were created the Pitraganas.

Similarly from the perspiration of Daksha Prajapati was created the most

beautiful woman-Rati. Brahmaji was very angry with Kamadeva because of whom he

was ridiculed by Shiva. He cursed him and said- "You would be charred to death

by the arrow of Shiva." Kamadeva became very scarred and said that he was only

testing the authenticity of his boon and he had no other evil intention. He

also requested Brahmaji, not to curse him. Feeling Pity on him, Brahmaji

consoled him that, although

he would definitely get killed by the arrow of Shiva's sight, yet he would

regain his physical body as soon as Shiva get's married. Lord Brahma then went

to Brahmaloka. KAMA MARRIED RATI Daksha requested Kamadeva to get married with

his daughter - Rati. Kamadeva was very pleased at this proposal. Both Kamadeva

and Rati got married. SANDHYA DOES PENANCE Sandhya was very ashamed of herself.

For the atonement of her sin she decided to do penance. She went to Chandrabhaga

mountain and commenced her tremendous penance. Lord Brahma then instructed

Vashishtha to go to her in disguise and help in getting her initiated. He went

to Chandrabhaga mountain in the guise of a brahmin and gave the mantra - OM

NAMAH SHANKARAYA OM to her and also told her the methods of doing worship, then

he returned back. SANDHYA RECEIVES BOON FROM SHIVA After sage Vashishtha who was

disguised as brahmin went away. Sandhayd did penance as per his

instructions. After the passing of one Chaturyuga, she had a darshan of lord

Shiva. Shiva being pleased by her devotion asked her to demand anything.

Sandhya said-"Nobody should have lust towards the member of his own clan. There

should e no virtuous and chaste woman greater then me in this whole world.

Anybody other than my husband who looks at me with evil intentions become an

impotent man." Lord Shiva blessed her by saying- 'EVAMASTU!' Lord Shiva then

categorised the life-span of a man into four parts - Childhood, adolescence,

youth and old age. He than told her that it was written in her destiny to die

by burning. He also advised her to go and surrender her body in the sacrificial

fire of the yagya, performed by Medhatithi. "Before jumping into the sacrificial

fire, just remember anybody, whom you want as your husband, and your wish would

be fulfilled in your next birth, When you would take birth as a daughter of

Daksha Prajapati.

Your father-Daksha Prajapati would marry his 27 twenty daughter to Moon, but the

moon would have affection only towards Rohini and rest of his wives would be

neglected by him. For this reason he would be cursed by Daksha. All the deities

would take your refuge." After blessing Sandhya in the way lord Shiva went back

to Kailash mountain. SANDHYA IS BORN AS ARUNDHATI & HER MARRIAGE WITH SAGE

VASHISHTH When lord Shiva went away. Sandhya got up and went to the place where

Medhatithi was performing his yagya. She made a mental resolution to have that

brahmin as her husband, who in reality was vashishtha and then entered into the

sacrificial fire. The fire of the yagya burnt her body and carried it ti the

solar-system, where it was divided by the sun-god into three parts and

established in his chariot. The names of these three parts were Pratah-Sandhya,

Madhyanha-Sandhya and Sayam Sandhya. Sandhya Vital force was absorbed by lord

Shiva. When the

yagya ended, the sages were surprised to see the presence of a girl, who was

radiating like gold in the sacrificial fire. They took out that girl child from

that yagya-kunda. The sages then brought up that girl with love and affection.

She was named Arundhati. When she attained the age of five, Brahma Vishnu and

Mahesg arrived and married her with Vashishth. Arundhati enjoyed a happy life

and became famous for her chastity. APPEARANCE OF SPRING SEASON (VASANT RITU)

Brahmaji told Narada that since the day he was hermiliated by Shiva, he had

grudges against him and wanted to take revenge. "I wanted to subdue the

arrogance of Shiva by proving it to him that even he could be binded by

attachment. I asked Daksha and sages like Mareech as to how this feat could be

achieved. As a result 'Rati' and 'Kama' manifested. I instructed Kama to

influence Shiva by his powers. Kama agreed but requested me to create a

suitably divine women for Shiva. Myself and Daksha

became worried and during that time we exhaled fragrant air through our

nostrils, which resulted into the creation of spring season. The spring season

was looking divinely beautiful in her physical form. I handed over her to Kama

and thus all the three of them (spring season, Kama and Rati) went to influence

lord Shiva who was in his deep state of meditation. THE CREATION OF MARGANAS AND

KAMA'S FUTILE ATTEMPTS Kama tried his best to bring lord Shiva under his

influence. All the living creatures were spell bound by his powers except lord

Shiva and Ganesha. Kama returned back to Brahmaji ad told him about his

unsuccessful attempts. Brahmaji sighed heavily. From his sighes were created

the ferocious ganas. These ganas were shouting ''aray-Maray''(Kill-Kill). They

eve tried to attack lord Brahma, Kama then pacified the anger of these ganas.

These ganas were named as Maar. Lord Brahma then sent these ganas to Shiva

along with Kama and Rati to give

it a second try. Once again their attempts went futile. All of them returned to

lord Brahma and expressed their inability in influencing Shiva. DIALOGUE

BETWEEN BRAHMA & VISHNU Lord Brahma then remembered Vishnuji, who appeared

instantaneously. Brahmaji revealed about his intentions to him. LordVishnu told

him that it was foolishness on his part to have enemity towards Shiva. But when

lord Brahma kept on insisting, he revealed to him that this could be only

achieved by the blessings of Goddess Parvati. Lord Vishnu said- "If she becomes

pleased with you, then she could help you in achieving your goal by taking birth

in a human form and having Shiva as her husband. Instruct Daksha to do penance

so that Parvati takes birth in his house." 'GODDESS DURGA' After lord Vishnu

went away, Lord Brahma started meditating on the form of goddess Durga. She

appeared before him. Lord Brahma said- "I need your help in binding Shiva

with your maya." Goddess Durga told Brahmaji that Lord Shiva in his incarnation

of Rudra was beyond the reached of any kind of Maya. But when Brahmaji kept in

insisting then goddess Durga agreed to help him in his effort. She said- "I

will take birth as the daughter of Daksha Prajapati and try to please him by my

penance." After assuring Lord Brahma she vanished. Lord Brahma too went to his

abode. DAKSHA WORSHIPS DEVI With the permission of lord Brahma, Daksha did

penance for three thousand years. As a result goddess Jagdamba appeared before

him. She blessed him by saying that she would take birth as his daughter and by

her tremendous penance would attain Rudra as her husband. But she warned Daksha

that if he showed any kind of disrespect to her, she would end her life. DAKSHA

CURSES NARAD With the permission of lord Brahma, Daksha Prajapati created many

thing just by his mental resolution. But finding the absence

of any kind of evolution and development in them, he went to Brahmaji to take

his advice. Brahmaji instructed him to create by the help of copulation. Daksha

Prajapati then married Asikti - the daughter of Panchajan. Ten thousand sons,

including Haryasya were born to them, but all of them were directed by Narada

to follow the path of salvation. After that, Daksha married Panchajani from

whom were born thousand of son, but all of them followed the path of salvation

and were not interested in creation. Narada was instructed in changing their

mind. Daksha Prajapati became very furious with Narada and cursed him to become

an eternal wandered. He said- "You will never remain at a place for long." BIRTH

OF SATI When lord Brahma came to know about Daksha Prajapati's anger towards

Narad he went to him and cooled him down. Subsequently sixty daughters were

born to Daksha. He married his ten daughters with Dharma, thirteen daughters

with Kasyap.

Twentyseven daughters with Moon, two daughters with Bhutangiras, two daughters

with Krishashva and the remaining six daughters with Garuda. Daksha mediated on

the form of Bhagawati, and was instructed by her to do penance. Daksha did a

tremendous penance and thus was born Uma to Daksha and Virani. Uma was brought

up with great love and affection. Uma used to worship lord Shiva by singing

devotional songs in his praise. SATI DOES PENANCE When Sati attained

marriageable age, Daksha started worrying. Sati understood the reason behind

her father's worried. She went to her Mother Virani and expressed her desire of

marrying lord Shiva. Her mother made all the arrangements so that Sati could

worship Shiva without any problem. Sati commenced her austerity named

Nandavrata which continued for a year. Being impressed by her austerities, all

the deities descended down from heaven to see her. BRAHMAJI MAKES A REQUEST TO

LORD SHIVA All the

deities and the sages requested lord Shiva to get married, but Shiva did not

want to curtail his freedom by getting married. When the deities insisted he

told them to find a suitable match for him. Brahma and Vishnu told Shiva about

the tremendous penance Uma was doing to him (Shiva) as her husband. They also

requested him have to go to her (uma) and fulfill her desire. Lord Shiva

agreed. SHIVA BLESSES UMA WITH A BOON After Uma had accomplished her penance

named Nandavrat, lord Shiva appeared before her and asked her to demand

anything. Uma because of her shyness could not say anything. Lord Shiva knew

about her desire so he said- "You will have me as your husband." Uma's face

beamed with joy, but she shyly requested lord Shiva to keep this proposal

before Daksha. Shiva agreed and said- 'Tathastu'. He then went back to his

abode- Kailash. Sati narrated the whole story to her parents. Both of them

became very happy with this

news. Lord Shiva then instructed Brahmaji to put a formal proposal to Daksha

regarding his marriage with Sati. Lord Brahma went and informed Daksha about

lord Shiva's proposal. Daksha was very happy at the proposal. Brahma then came

back to lord Shiva. SHIVA MARRIED SATI Lord Shiva was anxiously waiting for his

arrival. When Lord Brahma arrived he curiously asked about Daksha's response.

When lord Brahma told him about Daksha's approval of the marriage. Shiva was

very pleased at this. Lord Shiva proceeded towards Daksha's abode on the

auspicious moment of Phalgun, Krishnapaksha and on the thirteenth day of

Phalguni Nakshatra. Sitting on the back of Nandi and accompanied by all the

deities including lord Brahma, Vishnuji he reached Daksha's residence. The

marriage-procession was received by Daksha with great respect. Shiva narrated

Sati in an auspicious lagna. Being pleased, all the deities eulogised Shiva and

danced in joy. LORD

BRAHMA FACES THE WRATH OF SHIVA Daksha presented invaluable things to his

daughter- Sati as dowry. Similarly the brahmins were presented with large

quantities of wealth. Lord Brahma was enchanted by the divine beauty of Sati.

With a desire to see her face, he put logs of wood which were wet, into the

yagni kunda and poured ghee on them. As a result the atmosphere was filled up

with smoke. Now Brahma removed the piece of cloth which covered her face. He

became infatuated by her beauty. When lord Shiva discovered about his evil

intentions he ran towards him menacingly. Lord Shiva wanted to kill him, but

the deities prayed to spare his life. Lord Vishnu eulogised and worshipped him

and only then his anger was subdued. Thus lord Brahma was forgiver by Shiva.

DEFORMED FACE OF BRAHMA Though lord Shiva had forgiven Brahmaji, yet he

instructed him to apologize by bowing down his head. Brahma did as he was

instructed Lord Shiva then

established on his head. Brahmaji became ashamed and asked as to how could he

atone for his sins. Lord Shiva instructed Brahmaji that by worshipping him he

could appropriately atone for his sins. He than instructed Brahma to go to the

earth where he would be worshipped as 'Rudra Shir'. Shiv said- "Your worship

would help the brahmin in accomplishing every kinds of work. Taking lessons

from you people would not dare to have extramarital affairs. SHIVA-SHAKT AS

HUSBAND & WIFE After reaching Kailash mountain, lord Shiva instructed all his

ganas (attendants), not to disturb them (Shiva and Shakti). When all the ganas

went away Shiva and Shakti enjoyed a blissful union for twenty five Deva-years.

SHIVA-SHAKTI DEPART FOR HIMALYA When the rainy season arrived, Shakti requested

Shiva to make a residence in such a place to that they could not be disturbed

by rain etc. Lord Shiva smiled and said- "Dear Sati! The clouds and rain

will not dare to disturb if you are present by my side, no matter whereever we

live - even if we live on the peaks of Himalayas. Sati requested him to make

Himalaya as his abode. Lord Shiva agreed and both if them shifted to their new

abode at Himalaya, where they lived for ten thousand 'Deva-years'. THE

IMPORTANCE OF DEVOTION IN KALIYUGA Sati requested lord Shiva to enlighten her

mind by giving discourses. Shiva revealed to her the importance of devotion in

the Kaliyug. He said that the value of knowledge (gyan) and asceticism

(vairagya) would diminish to the extent of extinction in the era of Kali and

only devotion would help a man in attaining liberation. Lord Shiva said- "I had

burnt the time (Kala) for the benefit of the devotees, with my third eye. For

the sake of my devotees, I even abandoned Ravana without any partiality. For

the welfare of my devotees, I even instructed Nandi to punish sages Vyas, who

was exiled out of Kashi."

Shiva preached on may topics like devotion types of devotion, yantra, mantra,

scriptures etc. SATI'S DOUBT Devarshi Narad who was listening to the divine

tales of Shiva, narrated by lord Brahma with rapt attention, requested him to

describe about other characteristics of Shiva. Brahmaji said- "Once, lord Shiva

accompanies by Sati, arrived at Dandak aranya, where Sri Ram was wandering in

search of Sita, who had been abducted by Ravana. After walking for some time

Lord Shiva saw Sri Ram and Laxman. Lord Shiva made salutations to Sri Ram. Sati

was surprised at Shiva's behaviours. She asked lord Shiva about the reason he

made salutations to Sri Ram. Shiva told Sati that he (Sri Ram) was his deity

and an incarnation of lord Vishnu. But Sati was not satisfied by this reply.

She wanted to test, whether Sri Ram was really an incarnation of lord Vishnu or

not. She disguised herself as Sita and went to Sri Ram. But Sri Ram recognised

her real identity

and addressed her as Mother. Sati was ashamed but asked Sri Ram as to why did

Shiva made salutations to her." Sri Ram narrated the following story- SHIVA

DOES NOT SEE SATI AS HIS CONSORT Once, lord Shiva requested Vishwakarma to

construct a grand palace and a magnificent throne for him. When everything was

ready, Shiva invited all the deities for the crowning ceremony of lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu was requested to be seated on the throne and was worshipped by all

the deities including Shiva himself. He assured lord Vishnu that all of his

(Vishnu's) incarnations would be shown respected by his (Shiva's) devotees (

Ram) am the incarnation of Vishnu." Sati was now completely satisfied. She was

also ashamed of herself that she had doubted Shiva's words. She went to lord

Shiva. Lord Shiva stopped looking at Sati, as her consort, because she had

personified herself as mother Sita. This fact was even corroborated by a

heavenly

voice. Now Sati's heart was filled up with sorrows. She followed disenchanted

Shiva to the Kailash mountain, where he commenced his meditation and went into

Samadhi. She sat down without saying a word. When lord Shiva came out from his

Samadhi, he saw her stire sitting their. He felt pity on her and drove away her

guilt and sorrows, by giving discourses. DAKSHA'S ANIMOSITY TOWARDS SHIVA Once,

the sages organised a yagya at Prayaga, which was attended by all the deities.

Lord Shiva too had come, accompanies by Sati. He was eulogized and worshipped

by all the deities and the sages. Daksha arrived there and after making

salutations to lord Brahma sat down without showing any kind of respect to

Shiva. After that, all the deities and the sages came and made salutations to

Daksha, but Shiva sat where he was sitting. The ignorant Daksha cursed Shiva

that from now onwards his (Shiva's) share would not be kept in the yagya. At

this

Nandi- the vehicle of Shiva became very angry and cursed Daksha that from today

onwards the brahmins would fail to understand the essence of Vedas. Lord Shiva

then pacified Nandi's anger and both of them went back to their abode. Daksha

too went back to his place and started having hatred towards Shiva. DAKSHA

PERFORMS YAGYA Daksha organised a yagya at 'Kanakhal' in which everybody except

Shiva and Sati were invited. Sage Dadhichi arrived and not finding the seat for

Shiva went back, saying that it was impossible to accomplish a yagya without

Shiva. Then Daksha commenced the yagya with the assistance of other sages who

were present there. SATI'S ARRIVAL AT THE OBLATION-SITE When Sati saw all the

deities going happily, she became curious to know where they were going. She

requested her companion to ask the moon as to where he was going in such a

cheerful mood. The moon told her companion that they were going to

attend the yagya ceremony, being organised by Daksha. Sati was very surprised at

this information. She went to lord Shiva and sought his permission to go there.

Lord Shiva then told Sati that her father did not invite them because of the

animosity he was having towards him (Shiva). Sati became very furious and

decided to go there to know about the reason why Daksha was performing the

yagya without inviting her husband-Shiva. Shiva sent Nandi and other rudraganas

as her escorts. SATI'S DISHONOUR When Sati reached, where Daksha was performing

his yagya, she met her mother and sisters. They met her with all the respect

and honour. But Daksha did not even caste a glance at her. Imitating him many

other people did the same. But Sati not bothering about the disrespect shown to

her made salutations to both her parents. When she reached near the yagya-mandap

she saw that shares of all the deities was there except that of Shiva. She

became

furious and asked her father as to why was Shiva not invited to the yagya.

Daksha then made fun of Shiva and cursed him. This made her more angry and she

declared that she would give up her life in everybody's presence. After the

declaration her mind was engrossed by the thoughts of Shiva. SATI GIVES UP HER

LIFESati then sat in padmasan and closed her yes. By her yogic powers she

united with Shiva and her lifeless body fell into the yagya-kunda. This

incident shocked everybody and the rudraganas furiously picked up their

weapons. Right then a heavenly voice was heard. "O mean Daksha! Share on you!

you are a sinner and a fool. Now you are certain to face the wrath of Shiva.

Because of your act, the deities too will have to suffer." Daksha became

scarred. He immediately eulogising lord Vishnu. MANIFESTTION OF VEERBHARDA &

MAHAKALI When Nandi informed Shiva about Sati's death, he became very furious.

He angrily

pulled out a locks of hair and dashed it against the mountain, which got divided

into two parts. From one part manifested the valiant Veerbharda and from the

other part Mahakali. Veerbhadra and Mahakali were instructed by Shiva to

destroy the yagya of Daksha and to kill all the people who were present during

the time of Sati's death, including the deities and the sages. VEERBHADRA &

KALI ASSEMBLE THEIR ARMY After getting the instructions from lord Shiva,

Veerbhardra marched with a huge army which included the mighty Shivaganas like

Dakini, Bhairav and Kapalish etc. Goddess Kali to joined him with her army

which consisted of all her nine incarnations like Katyayani etc. As the army

marched on numerous auspicious signs were visible. DAKSHA EXPERIENCES

INAUSPICIOUS SIGNS On the other hand Daksha experienced many inauspicious

signs. His left eye, left army and left thigh started throbbing. He saw the

vultures flying over his

head. He heard the sounds of jackals howling. LORD VISHNU PREACHES DAKSHA Daksha

then prayed to lord Vishnu to rescue him from the imminent wrath of lord Shiva.

Lord Vishnu preached Daksha and said- "Daksha! Since you have committed the

greatest sin by dishonouring Shiva and Sati. Even I can not prevent the

calamities which you are certain to face." As lord Vishnu was preaching Daksha

suddenly there was a loud commotion. The army of Veerbhadra had arrived. Daksha

was frightened and again prayed to Vishnu to save his life. Lord Vishnu again

expressed his helplessness and told him that because of him all the deities too

would have to suffer. DAKSHA GETS HIS HEAD SEVERED A terrible battle was fought

between the armies of Veerbhadra and the deities. The deities got defeated and

fled away. They went to lord Vishnu and sought his help. Lord Vishnu decided to

fight on the side of the deities. The battle

recommenced for the second time. Lord Vishnu having a dual fight with Veerbhadra

and the deities were fighting against his army. Suddenly everybody heard a

heavenly voice which said that Veerbhadra was invincible. Hearing this, Lord

Vishnu and Brahmaji went to their respective abodes. Daksha ran for his life

and hid himself behind the attar where the yagya was being performed. But

Veerbhadra pulled him out from there and severed his head. He then threw his

head in the agni-kunda. After this he returned back to Kailash accompanies by

his army. CONTENTION BETWEEN KSHUVA & DADHICHI Narad, who was listening to the

divine tales of Shiva with rapt attention, was very curious to know about the

reasons why lord Vishnu attended a yagya where Shiva was not invited and why

did he fight a battle against veerbhadra despite knowing about his

invincibility. Lord Brahma told him that all this happened due to the curse of

Sage Dadhichi- In

the ancient times, there used to live a king named Kshuva, who was a great

friend of Sage Dadhichi. Due to some reasons both of their developed animosity

towards each other. Dadhichi considered himself superior because of being a

brahmin, on the other hand Kshuva considered himself superior on account of his

wealth. The dispute took a worst turn and Dadhichi punched him on his head. As a

result Kshuva felt down unconscious. When he regained his consciousness he

attained sage Da dhichi with his weapon named Vajra, which injured Dadhichi.

Dadhichi sought the help of Shukracharya. Shukracharya healed his wounds by his

mantras. He also taught Dadhichi the mahamrityunjay mantra. Dadhichi then did a

tremendous penance to please lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before him and

blessed him with three boons, they were 1) his bones, would become as hard as

lightning (Vajra), ii) he would not be killed, iii) he would never be

humiliated. Armed with these three boons, Sage

Dadhichi again went to fight Kshuva. He kicked him, in return Kshuva too

attacked him with his weapon named Vajra, but it did not have any effect on

Dadhichi as his bones had become as hard as lighting. King Kshuva did a

tremendous penance to please lord Vishnu. Vishnu revealed to him that Dadhichi

had become immortal because of the blessings of lord Shiva, but assured him

that he would certainly help him in defeating Dadhichi. BATTLE BETWEEN VISHNU &

DADHICHI Lord Vishnu then visited the hermitage of Sage Dadhichi, disguised as a

brahmin. On being asked by Dadhichi about the purpose of his arrival, he said

that he had come with a desire of a boon on his heart. Sage Dadhichi, by his

yogic power came to know about the real identity of a 'Brahmin'. He told that

he had been caught. Lord Vishnu was ashamed. Lord Vishnu then went back to

Kshuva and instructed him to go to sage Dadhichi and act as if he had accepted

his superiority.

"Kshuva went to sage Dadhichi and did as he was instructed to do, but Dadhichi

did not believe his words. Now lord Vishnu became angry and tried to kill him

by his sudarshan chakra, but he was not successful, as the chakra, which was

given to him by lord Shiva himself, was not willing to harm a devotee of Shiva.

"Lord Vishnu then tried to kill Dadhichi by shooting volley of arrows. The

deities too attacked with their weapon. Sage Dadhichi threw a handful of Kusha

grass, initiated with mantras towards them, which destroyed all the weapons of

the deities.In the meantime lord Brahma arrived on the scene accompanies by

Kshuva. He told the deities that it was futile to fight with Dadhichi as he was

invincible, due to the boon given by lord Shiva,Ultimately King Kshuva begged

his forgiveness for his offence. Dahichi forgave him but cursed Vishnu including

all the deities that they would be burnt to ashes by the wrath of Rudra.This

was the

reason why all the deities and lord Vishnu attended the yagya, organised by

Daksha and got defeated by Veerbhadra." THE DEITIES GO TO LORD SHIVA The

deities after being defeated by Veerdbharda went to Brahmaloka and narrated

everything about the destruction of Daksha's yagya and also how his head was

severed by Veerbharda. Brahmaji became very sad. To bring Daksha back to life

and to accomplish the still unfinished yagya, he went to lord Vishnu to take

his help. All the deities accompanies him. Lord Vishnu told them that it was

wrong on the part of Daksha to have shown disrespect to Shiva. The deities were

wrong to support him. Lord Vishnu then went to Kailash mountain, accompanied by

Lord Brahma and all the other deities. All of them eulogized and worshipped

Shiva. They also requested him to bring Daksha back to life. DAKSHA BECOME

ALIVE Lord Shiva became very pleased and agreed to make Daksha alive. All of

them went to

Kanakhal-the place where Daksha had organised the yagya ceremony. Veerbhadra too

accompanied them. When they reached the site, Lord Shiva could not hold his

laughter after seeing the destruction of the site. Anyway, he joined the head

of a goat to the torso of Daksha's body and made him alive. He also compensated

for all the losses which had been caused by the destruction. All the deities

became very pleased and they eulogised Shiva. DAKSHA ORGANISES 'YAGYA' ONCE

AGAIN Becoming pleased by the invocation and eulogy of the deities, Lord Shiva

preached Daksha in the following way- "The person who has the right knowledge

(gyani) is the supreme among all human beings. An action which is performed in

one's ignorance and jealousy does not liberate a man from his world bondages. O

Daksha then accomplished his yagya singing the praise of lord Shiva. He also

give lots of donation to the brahmins. They everybody returned to their

respective houses

being fully satisfied. Sati - the daughter of Daksha was reborn as Gauri- the

daughter of Himalaya and Maina. By her tremendous penance she again had lord

Shiva as her husband. PARVAT KHAND HIMALAYA MARRIED MAINA Narada requests lord

Brahma to shed light on the birth of Maina and also too she was married with

Himalaya. Brahmaji Said- "After relinquishing her body, Sati - the daughter of

Daksha attained to the abode of Shiva. In her next birth she was born to Maina

- the wife of Himalaya and was known as Parvati. Maina had done great service

to Sati in her previous life considering as her own daughter. For this reason

she was blessed and got Parvati as her daughter. Parvati did tremendous penance

and got lord Shiva as her husband." Continuing with his story Brahmaji said-

"Once Himalaya - the king of the mountains, decided to marry with the desire of

expanding his lineage. The deities came to know about his

desires and so they went to the Pitras and requested them to give their daughter

- Maina, so that Himalaya could marry her. The Pitras agreed at this proposal.

Thus Maina got married wih Himalaya. After the marriage ceremony the deities

returned back to their respective abodes. MAINA GETS LIBERATED FROM THE CURSE

Daksha had Sixty daughters, 'Swadha' was one of them and was married to the

Pitras. In due course of time three daughters were born to them - Maina, Dhanya

and Kalawati. Once all the three of them went to Swetadweepa to have a darshan

of lord Vishnu. Right then, sages like Sanak, Sanadan etc arrived there.

Everybody present there stood up in reverence, but Maina, Dhanya and Kalawati

could not identify who they were and hence they remained sitting. Not only

that, they did not even make any salutations to them. The sages became angry

and cursed them to be born as humans in their next birth. Maina, Dhanya and

Kalawati became very afraid and

requested to be pardoned. Sages Sanak feeling pity on them told that Maina would

become the wife of Himalaya, in her next birth and give birth to Parvati,

Similarly Dhanya would be married to king Janak and Sita would be born to them,

similarly Kalawati would be married to Vrishbhan and Radha would be born to

them. Sage Sanak also told them, that in this way all three of them would

attain to the heaven. INVOCATION OF UA Brahmaji told Narad that after getting

married with Maina, Himalaya enjoyed a happy married life for a long time.

Once, lord Vishnu paid a visit to his place, accompanied by all the deities.

Himalaya was very pleased by his arrival. After making salutations, he asked

for the purpose of their visit. The deities revealed to them that very soon the

incarnation of Sati - Parvati is going to take birth. "Therefore, O Himalaya! be

prepared for that glorious occasion." Said the deities. Himalaya was very

pleased

at this news. The deities started invocating Uma. GODDESS uma consoles the

deities Being pleased by the invocation made by the deities Goddess Uma assured

the deities about her arrival in this world. She told that her incarnation would

take place in the house of Himalaya and by the virtues of her tremendous penance

she would get lord Shiva as her husband. She also told the deities that she was

satisfied by the service of Maina, done to her in the previous life. After

being assured the deities went back satisfied. MAINA AND HIMALAYA COMMENCE

PENANCE Himalaya and Maina commenced their penance with the objective of

getting Uma as their daughter. Maina did a tremendous penance which lasted for

twenty-seven years. Goddess uma became very pleased by her penance. She

appeared before her and asked her to demand anything she wished for. Maina

expressed her desire of having one hundred valiant sons and a daughter, who

would be worshipped

by the people in all the three world. Goddess Uma blessed her by saying

Tathastu. Maina narrated this incident to her husband Himalaya. He became very

pleased. In due course of time one hundred sons were born t o Maina. One of the

sons was Mainak who possessed supreme qualities. Due to some reasons, Indra had

severed the wings of Mainak's ninety-nine brothers, but by taking the refuge of

ocean Mainak was able to survive the assault of Indra's Vajra. BIRTH OF PARVATI

Himalaya and Maina engaged themselves in the worship of Shiva and Shakti, day

and night. After some days Parvati manifested herself by taking birth. After

her birth the whole mountaneous region of Himalaya became illuminated by her

radiance. DIVINE CHILDHOOD-PLAYS OF PARVATI After taking her birth, Parvati

gradually started growing up. Varioua names given to her like Girja, Uma, and

Jagdamba. Himalaya and Maina felt proud of their fate, which had made them the

parents

of an incarnation. Seeing the childhood plays of Uma, their hearts knew no

bounds. One day sage Narad arrived there Himalaya requested him to study the

palm of Parvati, as he was curious to know about her future. After studying the

lines of the palm, Narada predicted that Parvati was destined to be the wife of

an entity, who would be beyond the reach of all the three qualities. He also

revealed to them, that her husband would be devoid of any flaws and would be

self born-Rudra. Narad told Himalaya that to have Rudra as her husband, Parvati

will have to accomplish great austerities and penance. Narad then went away. THE

DREAMS OS PARVATI AND HIMALAYA When Uma had attained the marriagable age, Maina

requested her husband a suitable bridegroom for her. Himalya told her that the

words of Narada would never go in vain hence Uma should be asked to do penance,

so that she could have Rudra as her husband. But Maina was disinclined in

forcing

her tender daughter - Parvati in to such hardhsips like penance. Parvati then

told Maina about her dream, in which she had seen a brahmin instructing her to

do penance in order to have Rudra as her husband. Maina told Himalaya about

Parvati's dream. Himalaya then revealed to Maina about his own dream, in which

he had seen lord Shiva doing penance at Kailash mountain. He had tried to give

Parvati to him (Shiva) was unwillingly to have her service. But Shiva

ultimately changed his mind after being satisfied by Parvati's replies/

Himalaya said- "I saw in my dream that Parvati had pleased Shiva by her

tremendous penance and ultimately both of hem got married. Maina was satisfied

and waited eagerly for that auspicious moment. THE BIRTH OF 'BHAUM'- MARS Once,

when the ganas of Shiva praised the glory of mother Sati, lord Shiva became

overjoyed just like an ordinary human being. In his joy, he travelled all

around the three world without any clothes

on his body. He returned back to Kailash and went into meditation. While he was

engrossed in his Samadhi, three drops of perspiration originated from his

forehead fell down on the earth. From those drops manifested a very beautiful

infant, who was of reddish complexion and who had four arms. Seeing the child

lord Shiva became concerned about his upbringing. Right then, mother earth

manifested and lord Shiva entrusted the job of child's upbringing. The child

was brought up by mother earth with great love and care. The child was named

'Bhaum' as he was nurtured and brought up by 'Bhumi' (earth). When the child

grew up, he went to Kashi and did a tremendous penance to please lord Shiva

Lord Shiva became pleased with him and blessed him by granting him

'Mangalloka', which was superior even to the 'Shukraloka'. The same 'Bhauma' is

established in the solar system by the name of 'Mars.' SHIVA ARRIVES AT HIMALAYA

One day lord Shiva accompanied

by his ganas like Bhringi, Nandi, etc, arrived at Himalaya, with the purpose of

doing penance. When Parvati father Himalaya came to know about his arrival, he

went to receive him. After he had made his salutations to Shiva, he was

instructed by Shiva to see that he is not disturbed while doing his penance.

Himalaya made all the necessary arrangements so that Lord Shiva could perform

his penance without being disturbed. One day Himalaya arrived at the place

where lord Shiva was doing his penance. Parvati too came along with him.

Himalaya requested him to keep Parvati, so that she could be at his service.

Lord Shiva declined to keep her with him, fearing her presence might cause

hindrance in the path of his penance. Now, Himalaya became very concerned about

his daughter's future and wandered whether Parvati would remain unmarried.

CONVERSATON BETWEEN PARVATI & SHIVA When Parvati saw her father becoming

worried by Shiva's response she decided to

intervene. She said to lord Shiva- "I am 'Prakriti' (Nature) and you are the

'Purusha' (almighty). You exist in the 'Sagun' form (with form) because of me.

In my absence, you will find it impossible even to exist." Lord Shiva was

impressed by her knowledge. He allowed her to be present near her. Himalaya and

Parvati became very pleased. Parvati used to come daily at the place where lord

Shiva was doing his penance. Her companions too used to come along. She used to

engaged herself in the worship of lord Shiva with great devotion. Though lord

Shiva was very much impressed by her devotion, but he decided that he won't

marry her until she has proved her mettle by her tremendous penance. The

deities were tormented by a demon named. Tarakasur. They went to lord Brahma to

seek his help. Lord Brahma sends 'Kamadeva' to disturb the Samadhi of Shiva, so

that being influenced by him Shiva married Parvati and ultimately kills

Tarakasur. This

attempt of Brahma was unsuccessful. Shiva 'burnt' Kamadeva with the help of his

third eye. Parvati, then redoubled her effort to attract the attention of Shiva

by engaging herself in a tremendous penance. THE BIRTH OF VAJRANG Narada was

curious to know about Tarakasur. He asked Brahmaji to narrate his tale.

Brahmaji said- "Kashyap-the son of Marichi, had thirteen wives Diti was the

eldest among them. She was the mother of Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. Both

her sons were killed by lord Vishnu in his incarnations of Nrisimha and Varaha

respectively. Diti became very sad by the death of her sons. After somtime she

again became pregnant but the foetus was destroyed by Indra's weapon- Vajra in

the womb itself. However Indra was not able to destroy the foetus completely,

but was only successful in dividing the foetus into forty-nine parts. These

forty-nine parts, later on became famous as 'Maraudganas'. Again Diti gave

birth of

Vajrang, who was very valiant and brave. When he grew up, Diti ordered him to

defeat the deities. With his mother's permission and blessings, Vajrang

defeated the deities and held them captive. He fastened all the deities. With

strings and himself became the king of heaven. Seeing the pitable state of the

deities I (brahma) went to Vajrang accompanied by Kashyap and requested him to

free the deities. Vajrang agreed to free them but said he did not have any

aspiration of becoming the king of heaven, he only wanted to teach a lesson to

Indra. Vajrang returned the heaven to the deities. Later on the married Varanji

who had been created by me (Brahma). While Vajrang was of virtuous nature,

Varangi was met." BIRTH OF TARAKASUR AND HIS PENANCE Varangi gave birth to

Tarakasur- the valiant and brave demon. During the time of his birth , the

world was affected by inauspicious events like earthquakes, cyclones etc, His

name Tarakasur was given by

Kashyap. After he grew up, Tarakasur went to Madhuvan to do penance. His

tremendous penance scarred the deities. Becoming pleased by his penance, lord

Brahma appeared before him and asked him to demand anything. Tarakasur demanded

two boons - there should be no man as powerful as him and except Shiva's son

nobody should be able to kill him. Lord Brahma blessed him by saying

'Tathastu'. After receiving the boons, Tarakasur returned back to Ronitpur and

was crowned as the king by Shukracharya. He then defeated the deities and drove

them out from the heaven. Now it came under the rule of the demons. TARAKASUR

RELINQUISHES HEAVEN ON THE ADVICE OF LORD BRAHMA After being driven away from

the heaven, the deities went to lord Brahma to seek his help. They asked him as

to how they could get rid of this menace called Tarakasur. Brahmaji revealed to

the deities that Tarakasur could be killed only by such a person, whose parents

are Shiva

and Parvati. He also advised them to make efforts, so that Shiva agrees to marry

Parvati. Lord Brahma them went to 'Tarakasur' who had now become the king of

heaven, and tried to convince him to return it back to the deities. Tarakasur

agreed to relinquish the heaven and give it back to the deities. The deities

went back to the heaven. KAMADEVA SENT TO LORD SHIVA Lord Brahma told Narada

that the deities decided to send Kamadeva to influence lord Shiva so that the

marriage between him and Parvati is felicitated. Indra called Kamadeva and told

him that the demon king Tarakasur could be killed only by such a person who was

the son of Shiva and Parvati. Indra instructed Kamadeva to arouse passion in

lord Shiva, so that he agrees to marry Parvati. Kamadeva, accompanied by his

wife Rati went to lord Shiva to accomplish his mission. EFFORTS OF KAMADEVA

After reaching the place where lord Shiva was engrossed in his

meditation, Kamadeva made repeated attempts to arouse passion in the heart of

lord Shiva, but his actions were no avail. Right then, Kamadeva saw Parvati

arriving accompanied by her companions. She was looking divine in her beauty.

Just at that moment lord Shiva too had come out of his meditational trance.

Kamadeva thought that it was the most appropriate moment to have a go. Kamadeva

struck lord Shiva with his 'Kamabana' which did have a deep impact on him. Lord

Shiva was struck by the awesome beauty of Parvati and his heart became full of

passion for her. But at the same time he was surprised at the sudden change in

his behaviour. He realized that it was an act of Kamadeva. KAMADEVA REDUCED TO

ASHES Lord Shiva looked all around him. He saw kamadeva standing towards his

left side, with a bow and arrows in his

hands. Now he was fully convinceed that it was indeed an act of Kamadeva.

Kamadeva becameterrified, he started remembering god, but before the deities

could come at his rescue the third eye of lord Shiva got opened and Kamadeva

was reduced to ashes. Parvati got scarred after seeing Lord Shiva in such a

destruction anger. She went to her house along with her companions. Rati- the

wife of Kamadeva wept unconsolably. The deities arrived and consoled her by

saying that by the grace of lord Shiva, her husband would be alive once again.

After that the deities went near lord Shiva and did his worship. They told him

that it was not the fault of Kamadeva, as he had acted in accordance with the

aspirations of the deities. They also told him the mystery of Tarakasur's

death. The deities then requested him to make Kamadeva alive once again. Lord

Shiva told the deities that Kamadeva would take birth as the son of Krishna and

Rukmini in the era of dwapar. A demon

by the name of Shambar would throw him off in the sea. He would kill that demon

and marry Rati, who too would be living in a city near the sea. But the deities

were not satisfied. They requested lord Shiva to help Rati to unite with her

husband. Lord Shiva then told them that Kamadeva would become his gana, but he

also warned them against revealing this fact to anybody. Rati then went to the

city where the demon Shambar was expected to appear in the era of dwapar. The

deities too went back to the heaven. THE ANGER OF SHIVA SUBSIDES Lord Shiva's

anger did not subside after the death of Kamadeva and the whole world started

to feel the wrath of lord Shiva's fury. All the living creatures became

terrified. They went to lord Brahma and prayed to him, to save them from

Shiva's wrath. Lord Brahma went to lord Shiva and conveyed their request to

him. Lord Shiva agreed to relinquish his anger. Lord Brahma then carried

Shiva's 'fury' to the sea and went

to the sea. He requested the sea to posses it until the final annihilation. The

sea agreed to do this. This way Lord Shiva's fury entered into the sea and all

the living creatures felt a sign of relief. NARADA PREACHES PARVATI When

Parvati reached her home, she became very sad as she was unable to bear the

sorrow of Shiva's separation. Sage Narada arrived there. Her father Himalaya

narrated the whole story to him Sage Narada then gave the five lettered mantra

- "OM NAMAH SHIVAJ' to her and he also instructed her to do penance. Parvati

heart was filled up with new enthusiasm. PARVATI DOES PENANCE After taking the

permission of her parents and relinquishing all of her ornaments and royal

apparels, Parvati went to the same place where Lord Shiva himself had done

penance. This sacred place was situated at the Himalayas, from where the holy

Ganges originated. Parvati companions too had accompanied her. Parvati

commenced her

penance which gradually became severer day by day. She did penance for three

thousand years by chanting the five lettered mantra- OM NAMAH SHIVAY and

performing other kinds of austerities. Becoming impressed by her tremendous

penance even the deities flocked to see her. Parvati did her penance,

surrounded by fire on all her sides during summer. In rainy season she did her

penance without any shelter and during winter she used to do penance by

immersing herself in neck deep water. THE DEITIES GO TO LORD SHIVA Parvati's

power created such heat in the atmosphere that the whole world started to burn.

All the deities & sages went to lord Brahma and told him about the effects,

Parvati's penance was having on all the three worlds. Lord Brahma accompanied

by all of them went to Vishnuji. They visited the place where Parvati was doing

her penance. They realized that lord Shiva was the only remedy and hence all of

them went to lord Shiva and made salutations

to him. SALUTATIONS GIVES HIS APPROVAL Lord Shiva enquired about the purpose of

their arrival. Lord Vishnu then revealed to him that how distressed and

tormented were the deities by the activities of the demon - Tarakasur. He also

told Shiva that he could be killed by such a person, who is born out of the

parentage of Shiva and Parvati. Lord Vishnu then told Shiva about Parvati's

penance. Initially lord Shiva refused to comply with their request but when the

deities continued with their insistence, he ultimately gave his conscent. The

deities became very pleased. PARVATI'S LOVE FOR SHIVA TESTED BY THE SAPTARISHIS

After the deities went back, lord Shiva summoned the Saptarishis (Vashishth etc)

and instructed them to test Parvati's love for him. The Saptarishis went to

Parvati and tested her resolve to marry lord Shiva. They tried to deter her by

all means, but Parvati was firm in her resolve. They went back to lord Shiva

and narrated the whole story. LORD SHIVA TESTS PARVATI Lord Shiva then himself

went to Parvati in the guise of a brahmin. Parvati on seeing a brahmin welcomed

her with full honour. Shiva asked Parvati as to why was she doing penance.

Parvati told him that she wanted to have Shiva as her husband. Lord Shiva, who

was in the guise of a brahmin started cursing Shiva to see how Parvati reacted

to it. Parvati replied that inspite of her penance Shiva did not appear, so she

has decided to give up her life in burning pyre. After saying like this Parvati

requested the Brahmin to go back and she herself entered into the burning pyre

but remained unharmed Lord Shiva was very pleased to see her firm resolve and

devotion. He again asked her as to what was the purpose behind doing such a

tremendous penance. PARVATI'S REPLY Parvati told the brahmin; who in reality

was Shiva himself that, she wanted to have Shiva as her husband at any

cost. She said- "You say that lord Shiva does not possess anything - not even

wealth. He does not put on clothes on his body. You also say that he is not fit

to be a bridegroom of me. But all of your utterances prove your mean

intelligence." SHIVA REVEALS HIS TRUE IDENTITY Parvati continuing with her

statements said that Shiva was the most capable deity in all the three world.

"There is no sin greater than condemning Shiva." Said Parvati. As Shiva, who

was in the guise of Brahmin was about to say something Parvati said to one of

her companion- "This condemner should be killed, if this is not possible then

we must leave this place at once." As she was about to leave that place, lord

Shiva revealed his true identity and by holding her hand said- "You have been

my wife since time immemorial where are you going?" Parvati became very pleased

and her heart was filled up with extreme joy. She requested him to take to her

father

regarding their marriage. Lord Shiva agreed. He went back to Kailash mountain

and narrated the whole story to his Ganas - Nandi, Bhairav etc. Everyone became

very happy and awaited eagerly for the day Shiva would marry Parvati. SHIVA

DEMAND PARVATI AS HIS CONSORT Parvati, after successfully accomplishing her

penance came back to her home. Everybody was happy at her arrival. After

sometime Himalaya went out to take his bath in the river Ganges. Meanwhile lord

Shiva arrived in his appearance of Nataraj and started dancing in front of

Parvati's mother - Maina. She was so pleased by his dance that she wanted to

present jewels to him in appreciation, but Shiva refused to take them. He

expressed his desire to marry Parvati, which made Maina furious. In the

meantime, Himalaya arrived and she informed him what Shiva had said. He became

angry too and ordered his attendants to drive away Nataraj (Shiva) from that

place. Shiva then showed his divine

appearance due to which Himalaya had the vision of Lord Vishnu and Parvati

sitting by the side of lord Shiva in him. Himalaya was very surprised. Lord

Shiva again demanded Parvati to be made as his consort, but Himalaya in his

ignorance again refused it. Nataraj then returned back to his abode. After

Shiva went back, Himalaya had a feeling that perhaps it was lord Shiva himself,

who had arrived in the appearance of Nararaj. He realized what a grave blunder

had been committed. Because of their guilt consciousness, both Maina and

Himalaya felt the germination of devotion in their heart. SHIVA'S DELUSIONARY

POWER Indra and the other deities became afraid when they saw both Himalaya and

Maina having deep devotion towards lord Shiva. They apprehended that if Himalaya

happily agrees to marry Parvati with Shiva, then he would no longer live on the

earth- He would attain salvation. His departure would make the earth devoid of

jewels and other kinds of

wealth. To prevent this from happening, they went to Vrihaspati and requested

him to influence Himalayas mind by condemning Shiva. But Vrihaspati refused to

comply. The deities then went to lord Brahma and made the same request. Brahma

refused to meet their demand. Now the deities went to lord Shiva and requested

him not to marry Parvati as it would make the earth devoid of all kinds of

wealth. Lord Shiva feeling pity agreed to help them. Lord Shiva went to

Himalaya in the guise of a hermit and started cursing himself (Shiva). Maina

was deeply influenced by the hermits word and decided not to marry Parvati with

Shiva. She also threatened to give up her life along with Parvati. If Parvati

was married with Shiva against her wish. SHIVA INSTRUCTS SAPTARISHIS TO

CONVINCE MAINA & HIMALAYA Lord Shiva summoned the Saptarishis and instructed

them to convince Maina and Himalaya to marry Parvati with him, so that

Tarakasur could be

killed. He feared that his actions would have created many misconceptions in

their minds. The Saptarishis went to Himalaya and tried to make him, so that

Tarakasur could be killed. He feared that his actions would have created many

misconceptions in their minds. The Saptarishis went to Himalaya and tried to

make him understand that there was not any other way out than marrying Parvati

with Shiva. They also warned both Himalaya and Maina if they did not give their

conscent to marry Parvati with Shiva, then she would be forcibly abducted by him

(Shiva), causing death and destruction to their whole clan. The Saptarishis then

narrated the following story- ANARANYA - THE KING There was a king named

Anaranya, who belonged to the lineage of fourteenth Manu-Indrasavarni. He was a

great devotee of lord Shiva. He had five queens from whom one hundred sons and a

very beautiful daughter named Padma were born. When Padma grew up, the king

started

looking for a suitable match. One day while Padma was taking her bath in the

Bhadra river, sage Pippalada arrived there. He became enchanted by Padma's

beauty. After gathering informations about her from the people, he went to king

Anaranya and expressed his wish to marry Padma. He threatened him of dire

consequences if she was not married to her. Anaranya became frightened and gave

his daughter to him. Sage pippalada happily went away accompanied by Padma. But

both the king and the queen went to the forest because of the sorrow of giving

their young daughter to an old sage. The queen died because of her grief. The

king, because of his deep devotion towards Shiva attained to the abode of

Shiva. PADMA AND PIPPALAD On the request of Himalayas, Sage Vashishth who was

one of the Saptarishis narrated the story of Padma the princess and sage

Pippalad- "At the time of his marriage sage Pippalad was old and weak, but

still Padma devotely

performed the duties of a faithful wife. To test her faithfulness towards her

husband, Dharmaraj arrived at the bank of that river where Padma was taking her

bath. He was in the guise of a young and handsome prince. He coaxed Padma to

leave behind her 'old husband' and come along with him. Padma became furious

and cursed him. Dharmaraj became very pleased and revealed his true identity.

He also asked as to how the effects of her curse could be nullified. Padma told

her that his sins would result in having four legs during the era of Satya, but

they reduced to three during the era of treta, which would again reduced to two

legs during the era of Dwapar and ultimately he would have only one leg during

the era of Kali. Padma also told her that even his single leg would disappear

during the ending phase of Kali. "This would apropriately act as an atonement

for your sins." - said Padma. Dharmaraj blessed her by saying that she would

have ten sons and also that her

husband would possess youth and long life for eternity. After listening to this

story. Himalaya agreed to marry Parvati with Shiva. The Saptarishis then went

back to lord Shiva and gave the good news to him. HIMALAYA SEND LAGNA-PATRIKA

Himalaya then requested sage Garga to prepare a beautiful Lagna-Patrikas which

were then sent to his near and dear ones. He then requested Vishwakarma to

construct a beautiful 'mandap' for the marriage, which was constructed by him

in a very short time. LORD SHIVA INVITES THE DEITIES Lord Shiva invited all of

his Ganas to the marriage ceremony. He also instructed sage Narada to intimate

all the deities, sages and the celestial entities. After getting the invitation

from Shiva everybody started making preparations to be a part of Shiva's

marriage-procession. The seven mothers- Brahmi, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi,

Varahi, Aindri and Chamunda dressed him up beautifully Shiva then performed

all the necessary Karmas to pacify the planet. At last this wonderful

marriage-procession of Shiva proceeded towards the in-laws house. LORD SHIVA'S

MARRIAGE PROCESSION Shiva proceeded with his marriage procession which

considered of crores of his 'Ganas' and deities like Vishnu who were boarded on

their vehicles. Even Narad and Lord Brahma were present in his (Shiva's)

marriage procession. First of all, Shiva sent Narada to Himalaya's house to

inform him about their (marriage procession) arrival. Himalaya sent his

son-Mainak to receive them. SHIVA DIVINE PLAYS When Maina saw that the marriage

procession was coming she curiously told Narad about her desire to see her son

in law. Shiva understood the arrongance which her desire contained. He wanted

to teach her a lesson. He sent all the deities one by one. Maina mistook each

one of them to be Shiva, but was later informed by Narada that in fact they

were not Shiva but the

attendants of Shiva. Maina was very delighted and wondered how handsome the

master (Shiva) must be, if the attendants were so handsome. Right then Shiva

arrived with his Ganas - His body coated with ashes on it. His Ganas too were

looking ferocious. Maina could not bear this horrible sight and lost her

consciousness. MAINA'S WAIL The maid servants arrived instantaneously and

helped Maina to regain her consciousness. She started crying and cursing

everybody. She thought was responsible for her daughter's marriage with Shiva.

Nobody was spared- Narad, the Saptarishis and even her own sons. She even

admonished Parvati by saying. "Did you do severe penance to get such a horrible

husband like this (Shiva)?"Lord Brahma and Narad tried to console and convince

her, but it was of no avail. When Himalaya tried to intervene, he was soundly

rebuked. Maina threatened him that if this marriage took place then it would be

the last day of her life.

At last lord Vishnu arrived and tried to pacify her anger by saying that her

anger was baseless as she had not seen the real appearance of Shiva, which

bestows benediction. Lord Vishnu and Narad then eulogised Shiva who on being

pleased showed his most enchanting beauty. Maina now became fully satisfied.

Himalaya too felt proud of her daughter's good fortune. At last Shiva entered

the Mandap (canopy) where marriage ceremony was going to be organised. He saw

Parvati sitting there. Both of them were very delighted to see each other.

HIMALAYA BESTOWS PARVATI TO SHIVA After the marriage ceremony was over, Sage

Garg helped Himalaya in performing the rite of Kanyadan, amidst the chantings

of vedic mantras. The women's were singing auspicious songs. Himalaya presented

large quantities of dowry to Shiva. Parvati's companions were engaged with Shiva

in jocular and humorous conversation. SHIVA BRINGS BACK KAMADEVA ALIVE Rati- the

wife of Kamadeva, seeing the moment opportune, arrived and requested Shiva to

bring back her dead husband back to life. Her wailings made the other goddesses

very sympathetic towards her. They too requested Shiva to make her dead husband

back to life. Feeling pity on her condition. Shiva brought back Kamadeva back

to life from the ashes which Rati had given to him. On seeing her husband

alive, Rati's heart was filled up with extreme joy. Both of them eulogised lord

Shiva and expressed their gratitude. After the marriage ceremony was over the

marriage-processionist sought the permission of Himalaya to make a move, but he

requested them to remain there for some more days. SHIVA'S DEPARTURE Shiva

remained at his in-laws house for many days. One day he sought the permission

of Himalaya to go back. Everybody became sad at the prospect of Shiva's

departure. Especially Maina who was very saddened by this news. At last it was

time for Shiva to depart

for Kailash, accompanied by Parvati. Lord Shiva and Parvati were blissfully

enjoying their martial status, unaware of the eagerness with which the deities

were awaiting the arrival of their progeny. Tarakasur - the demon continued

tormenting the deities. When their miseries became unbearable they went to lord

Brahma to seek their help. All of them then went to lord Vishnu. They told him

that even after passing of such a long duration of time, Parvati and Shiva had

not yet become parents. They requested lord Vishnu to remind Shiva about the

purpose behind his marriage. Initially lord Vishnu showed his disinclination to

disturb Shiva's martial bliss, but when the deities insisted he went to Shiva

accompanied by all of them. All of them eulogised Shiva and Parvati. The

deities then requested Shiva to make his contribution in the destruction of

Tarakasur. Shiva understood everything. Some drops of his semen fell down on

the ground.

One being insisted by the deities. Agni transformed his appeared in the form of

a pigeon and pecked up those drops of semen. Right then Parvati arrived there

and became extremely furious on seeing the semen going waste. She cursed the

deities that their respective wives would remain issue less as the consequences

of their mindless acts. Agni was having inflammation in his stomach because of

the Shiva's semen. Lord Shiva advised him to transfer it into the womb of any

noble woman. Agni followed the instruction and injected the semen into the body

of six women through the pores of the hair on their body. Those women could not

bear the extreme luster of the Shiva's semen. They went to Himachal and

evacuated it. Even Himachal could not bear its extreme effulgence and immersed

it into the flowing Ganga. River Ganga carried it with her current and

established it amidst bushes of reed (Sarkanda). Instantaneously a beautiful

child manifested from it. His birth made

all the deities extremely joyous including Shiva and Parvati. It was the sixth

day (bright half of the lunar month) of the hindu month of Margashirsha. He was

Kartikeya. KARTIKEYA Sage Vishwamitra arrived at the spot where the child had

manifested. On the repeated insistence of the child, Vishwamitra performed his

purification rites and named him 'Guha'. The divine child blessed Vishwamitra

and bestowed divine knowledge to him. He also blessed him to become famous as

'Brahmarshi'. Agnideva arrived there and gave a divine weapon named 'Shakti' to

that child. Guha went to the Kroncha mountain and banged his weapon on it. The

mountain could not bear the effect of the blow and started crumbling down.

Innumerable demons living on that mountain came to kill him. But the child

killed all of them by his weapon. When Indra heard about his bravery, he came

along with other deities to fight him Indra assaulted Guha with his Vajra on

the right side of his

body, which resulted into the manifestation of a very powerful entity named

'Shakh'. Indra again assaulted him on the left side of his body, from which

manifested an extremely powerful entity named 'Vishakh'. Indra assaulted Guha

for the third time- this time his chest was the target. From this third blow of

Indra manifested 'Naigam'. Guha accompanied by all the three powerful entities-

Shakh, Vishakh and Naigam attacked Indra and his army, but they fled away. Six

goddesses arrived on the scene. All of them tried to feed that small child out

of affection. They started quarelling among themselves. Right then they were

surprised to see the child appearing with six head. Now their problems were

solved. Each of the goddesses fed their breast milk to the child. They took

Guha with them and brought him up with great love and care. Guha later on

became famous as Kartikeya. SEARCH OF KARTIKEYA One day, Parvati curiously

asked Shiva about his semen

which had fallen on the ground. Lord Shiva summoned the deities and asked them

about it. The deities narrated the whole story. Both Shiva and Parvati were

very pleased to know about Kartikeya. Lord Shiva then ordered his Ganas to

bring Kartikeya from the possession of Kritika. The Ganas reached Badrikasharam

where Kritika lived. When Kritika saw the Ganas she became very frightened but

Kartikeya gave him solace. The Ganas requested Kartikeya to come along with

him. Kartikeya happily took permission from his mothers and proceeded to meet

Shiva and Parvati. KARTIKEYA'S CORONATION At the time or Kartikeya's departure,

the mothers had become very emotional. Kartikeya consoled them. He then boarded

the beautiful chariot which had been sent by Parvati and proceeded towards

Kailash mountain. All the deities including Shiva were eagerly awaiting his

arrival. When Kartikeya reached Kailash mountain, he was given a royal

reception. The whole

atmosphere was filled up with joy. Everybody was celebrating. Each of the

deities presented him their respective weapons to him. Lord Shiva coronated him

as the king with the help of the brahmin. This way he had now become the lord of

Kailashpuri. KARTIKEYA'S AMAZING CHARACTER Kartikeya narrated a story connected

with himself:- "One day a brahmin, whose name was Narad came to me and

requested me to help him find his he-goat which had got lost. He told me that

the goat was supposed to be offered as the sacrifice. "If the goat was not

found, my vow would remain unfulfilled." Said Narad I went in search of that

goat. I found it in the Vishnuloka where it was creating nuisance . When the

goat saw me, it tried to attack me with its sharp horns. I climbed on its back.

After travelling through all the three worlds, the goat returned back to his

original place. I climbed down from its back. Narada arrived and demanded his

goat.

I told him that his Yagya had been accomplished by my blessings and there was no

need to sacrifice the poor goat. Narada - the brahmin went back satisfied. THE

BATTLE The deities were very encouraged by the presence of Kartikeya amidst

themselves. They were beaming with confidence and enthusiasm. The deities

assembled at the seashore. Tarakasur arrived their with his huge army. The

battle began. Tarakasur appeared to be invincible. His blow was so severe that

Indra fell down unconscious. All the 'Lokpalas' met the same fate. After that

Tarakasur fought with Veerbharda and made him unconscious. Even Lord Vishnu

could not sustain for long and was ultimately defeated. Lord Brahma requested

Kartikeya to fight with Tarakasur as nobody except him would be able to kill

him. KILLING OF TARAKASUR On being instructed by lord Brahma Kartikeya came

forward to fight with Tarakasur. Tarakasur ridiculed the deities for taking the

shield

of a small child. "If he gets killed by me, the responsibility should lie on

you." Thundered Tarakasur. A fierce battle started between both of them in

which both of them got injured. At last seeing an opportune moment, Kartikeya

hit Tarakasur on his chest with his weapon- Shakti. The blow proved to be fatal

and as a result Tarakasur died. Kartikeya feat was hailed by all the deities.

After killing Tarakasur, Kartikeya went to mother Parvati, who affectionately

took him into her lap. He was eulogized by all the deities. KILLINGS OF PRALAMB

& BANASUR The mountain - Kraunch, who was tormented by the activities of the

demon named Banasur, went to Kartikeya and narrated his woeful tales. Kartikeya

threw his weapon - Shakti in the direction which Banasur lived. The weapon

banged right on target and returned back to him. Bamnasur was burnt to ashes.

Kraunch went back being very pleased. The mountain - Kraunch established three

Shivalingas to please lord Shiva. The names of these three Shivalingas were -

Kumareshwar, Pratigyeshwar and Kapaleshwar. Once upon a time, the deities were

trying to reach the abode of Lord Shiva- Kailash mountain. Their preceptor

Vrihaspati was walking ahead of all of them. Meanwhile a demon by the name of

Pralamb started creating turbulence. After being tormented by his activities,

Kumud - son of Sheshnag took Kartikeya's refuge. Kartikeya killed the demon

with his divine weapon - Shakti. GANESH Once Narada had a desire to listen to

the tales of Ganesha. Brahmaji replied- "There were various Ganeshas in

different Kalpas. During the period of 'Shweta-Kalp', Ganesha was born to Shiva

and Parvati, when they went to Kailash mountain shortly after their marriage.

"Once while going to take her bath, Parvati instructed Nandi, to stand guard at

the entrance and not to allow anybody to enter the premise without her

permission. Lord Shiva

arrived there by chance. Despite of Nandi's refusal to allow him, in he went

inside. Parvati did not like this. One day it happened so that Once again,

Parvati wanted to take her bath. She made an idol from the dirt of her body.

She made the idol alive and instructed him not to allow anybody without her

permission. She also gave him a stick for his protection. Incidentally lord

Shiva arrived once again. He tried to enter inside but Ganesha refused to let

him go inside. But when Shiva tried to go inside forcibly, Ganesha hit him with

his stick. Lord Shiva became furious and ordered his ganas to kill him. GANESHA

DEFEATS THE SHIVAGANAS & THE DEITIES The ganas of Shiva attacked Ganesha but

all of them were no match for him. After being defeated by Ganesha, the

Shivaganas went to Shiva and narrated everything. While the Shivaganas were

narrating their stories, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and some other deities

arrived there. Lord Brahma

then went to Ganesha to convince him, but as soon as Ganesha saw him he tried to

attack lord Brahma. Brahmaji came back without achieving anything. After this

lord Shiva himself came to fight Ganesha. SHIVA SEVERES GANESHA'S HEAD A fierce

battle was fought between Shiva and Ganesha. When Lord Shiva realized that

Ganesha was dominating the fight, he severed his head with his trishul. GANESHA

BECOMES ALIVE Parvati became extremely furious at the death of Ganesha. Her

anger resulted into the manifestation of innumerable goddesses, who started

creating havoc on the deities. The deities became frightened and they were

forced to take the refuge of Parvati. They eulogized her and requested to be

pardoned. Parvati told them that they could be saved only when Ganesha becomes

alive and becomes worshippable just like thee (Deities). The deities went to

lord Shiva and requested him to make Ganesha alive once again. Lord Shiva

instructed them to go in the northern direction and bring the head of any

creature they might find and join it with the trunk of Ganesha. The deities

followed the instruction and went in the northern direction. They found an

elephant which had only one tusk. They severed the elephant's head and joined

it with the trunk of Ganesha. By the blessings of Shiva, Ganesha became alive

once again. The deities worshipped Ganesha and returned back to their

respective abodes. GANESHA'S MARRIAGE Both Kartikeya and Ganesha grew up to

become handsome youths in due course of time. Shiva and Parvati started to

think about their marriage. When Ganesha and Kartikeya came to know about the

plan of their marriage both of them started quarreling among themselves as to

who should get married first. Lord Shiva and Parvati devised a plan to sort out

this problem. They told them that whoever between them return after

circumambulating the earth, will get married

first of all. Kartikeya and Ganesha agreed. Kartikeya proceeded on his journey

to circumambulate the earth. Ganesha was very intelligent. He requested his

parents - Lord Shiva and Parvati; to sit at a place together and

circumambulated them for seven times and said- "According to Veda,

Circumambulating one's parents give virtues equivalent to that of

circumambulating the whole earth. So now you must get me married first." Lord

Shiva and Parvati were very impressed by his intelligence. They decided to get

him married with Siddhi and Riddhi-the daughter of Vishwaroop Prajapati. In due

course of time two sons were born to them Kshem and Labh. While Kartikeya was

returning after circumambulating the whole earth, he met sage Narad on the way.

He told Kartikeya about Ganesha's marriage. Kartikeya became very sad and felt

like having been cheated by their parents. When Kartikeya reached Kailash

mountain he made salutations to lord Shiva and Parvati

and without saying anything, went to Kraunch mountain to do his penance. Parvati

was very sad. She went to Kraunch mountain to meet Kartikeya accompanied by

Shiva. When Kartikeya saw them coming he moved to another place. Lord Shiva and

Parvati followed him and ultimately met him. Both these places have religious

significance. Having a darshan of Kartikeya on the full moon day of Kritika

nakashatra is considered to bestows immense auspicious and destroyes all the

sins of a man.YUDH KHANDTRIPURASUR - THE THREE DEMON Narada requested lord

Brahma to narrate how lord Shiva annihilated the demons. Lord Brahma narrated

the tale of Tripurasur. "After the killing of Tarakasur, three of his sons

started doing their penance. The eldest among them was Tarkasha, younger to him

was Viddyunmali and Kamalaksha was the

youngest. I (Brahma) became very pleased by their tremendous penance.They

requested me to create three invincible forts for them, which should be full of

all kinds of wealth and splendour and which nobody could be able to break.A

golden fort was constructed for Taraksha; for Kamlaksha a fort of silver was

constructed and for Viddyunmali iron-fort was constructed. I had ordered the

demon named Maya to construct these forts. One of these forts was constructed

in the sky, the other was constructed on the earth and the third was

constructed in the nether world.After constructing the forts for them Maya

took the responsibility of protecting them. I (Brahma) warned the three demons

that they would be killed by lord Shiva. After this I came back." THE DEITIES

EULOGIZE SHIVA & VISHNU The three demon-brothers started tormenting the

deities. The deities went to lord Brahma and narrated about their miseries.

Lord Brahma instructed

them to seek the help of Shiva. They went to lord Shiva and explained about

their woes. They also requested Shiva to eliminate those three demons. Lord

Shiva instructed them to go to lord Vishnu and said- "The Tripurasurs are very

virtuous so they could not be killed. You all must go to lord Vishnu and try to

seek his help." The deities then went to lord Vishnu and made the same request.

Lord Vishnu performed an oblation. Thousands of armed spirit appeared from the

yagya-kunda. Lord Vishnu sent these spirits to kill the three demon-brothers.

But these spirits were no match for the Tripurasurs might and they had to run

for their lives. They came to lord Vishnu and narrated the whole story. Lord

Vishnu became very worried. He sent back all the deities and started thinking

about the means, Tripurasurs could be killed. EMERGENCE OF ATHEISM Lord Vishnu

came to the conclusion that the Tripurasurs could not be killed till they

remain Virtuous

and religious. He then created an illusionary entity from his body who had no

hairs on his head. He had worn dirty clothes and a bag was hanging down his

shoulder. He also had a broom in his head. The entity asked lord Vishnu about

the purpose of his existence and his name. Lord Vishnu told him that his name

was Arihan. He also instructed him to create a scripture which stresses upon

the importance of action (Karmavad0 and which is different from the rituals

explained in the Vedas. Lord Vishnu specifically instructed him to keep the

language of that scripture as simple and degenerated as possible. Lord Vishnu

then preached Arihan on the science of illusion which stressed that the heaven

or the hell does not exist anywhere else, but on this earth itself. Lord Vishnu

instructed Arihan to get Tripurasurs initiated into with this philosophy so that

the demon-brothers become irreligious. Vishnu ordered Arihan to make his

residence in a desert with his disciples.

"You should propagate your philosophy when Kaliyuga arrives" - said Lord Vishnu.

After giving his instruction lord Vishnu disappeared. Arihan then created four

illusionary entities from his bein who were supposed to act as his followers.

Their names were Rishi, Yati, Keerya and Upadhyay. Now the time had arrived to

enter the forts of Tripurasurs. All of them entered the forts and in a gradual

manner started increasing their influence. As a result the Tripurasurs became

irreligious. Not only that their subjects too became irreligious in a very

short time. THE DEITIES EULOGIZE LORD SHIVA When the deities saw that the

Tripurasurs had become irreligious completely, they went to lord Shiva and

requested him to kill Tripurasurs. Right then mother Parvati arrived there

accompanied by Kartik and Ganesha. She requested Shiva to come along with her

into the palace. All the deities followed them and kept on requesting. The

deities were angry that

Parvati had caused obstacles in the fulfillment of their objective. They could

not conceal their anger and expressed it. One of the ganas of Shiva, whose name

was Kumbhodar angrily attacked the deities. All of them got injured and went to

lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu advised them to chant the five lettered mantra - OM

NAMAH SHIVAY for one crore times. The deities followed the instruction. Lord

Shiva became pleased and appeared before them. He assured the deities that

their wishes would be fulfilled. KILLINGS OF TRIPURASURS When Shiva agreed to

kill the demon - brothers Tripurasur the deities became extremely joyous. They

gave their respective weapons to Shiva, so that he did not have any difficulty

in killing the demons. Vishwakarma gave his beautiful chariot to him. Lord

Shiva proceeded towards the forts of Tripurasur followed by a huge army of the

deities. His army entered the forts of his bow but he was not able to release

it. He remained in

this position for one thousand years but still he was not successful in

releasing his arrow. Lord Shiva then worshipped Ganesha and heard a heavenly

voice instructing him to use his weapon - Pashupat. Lord Shiva released it in

the direction of the forts of Tripurasur. All the three forts were destroyed by

the assault of Pashupat and it created havoc among the demons. Seeing death and

destruction all around them - Tripurasurs prayed to lord Shiva to have mercy on

them. Lord Shiva assured them that after their death they would be born as his

ganas. At last Tripurasurs were burnt to death. Maya was the only demon who

survived. After their death the Tripurasurs were privileged to be reborn as the

ganas of Shiva. THE DEITIES RECEIVE BOON FROM SHIVA After the killings of three

demons- Tripurasur, lord Shiva's anger had still not subdivided. The anger was

pacified only after the deities and the sages prayed to him. He blessed the

deities by saying

that he would always be present on their side to protect them. Maya - Who had

survived the Shiva's attack, arrived there and he too was blessed by lord

Shiva. After that Arihan arrived with his followers and worshipped Shiva. Lord

Shiva blessed him and his followers. After taking permission from lord Vishnu,

Arihan proceeded towards a desert region accompanied by his followers. After

receiving the boon the deities too received to their respective abode. LORD

SHIVA SPARES THE LIFE OF INDRA Sutji narrates the following story to the sages-

"Once upon a time, Indra was going towards Kailash mountain to have a 'darshan'

of lord Shiva. Sage Vrihaspati was accompanying him. Lord Shiva came to know

about his arrival. He wanted to test his devotion towards him. While both Indra

and Vrihaspati were still on their way. Lord Shiva met them on their in the

guise of a hermit. Indra did not recognize Shiva, who was sitting on the way

disguised

as a hermit. Indra inquired as to who he was and where he live. Lord Shiva sat

quietly without saying a word. Indra repeatedly asked the same question, but

each time Shiva remained quiet. Indra became furious and tried to attack lord

Shiva with his Vajra. Lord Shiva paralyzed the raised hands of Indra by his

divine power. Shiva's eyes had reddened due to anger which made Indra very

frightened sage Vrihaspati was able to recognize the real identity of the

hermit as to who he was. He made salutations to lord Shiva and requested him to

pardon Indra. Lord Shiva became pleased and diverted the power of his radiant

eyes to the ocean. This way Indra's life was spared by Shiva. Lord Shiva then

returned to Kailash mountain. Indra and Sage Vrihaspati to Kailash mountain.

Indra and sage Vrihaspati too returned to their respective abodes.

MANIFESTATION OF JALANDHAR

The effulgence, which had been divided by lord Shiva into the Ocean resulted

into the manifestation of a small child. This incident happened at the place

where river Ganges submerged into the ocean and which is also known as

Gangasagar now a days. The child was crying so ferociously that an environment

of fear was created everywhere. The deities and the sages went to lord Brahma

to satisfy their curiously. Lord Brahma assured then to find out the reason. He

went to the seashore. The sea put the child in his lap and enquired about the

name of that child and also about his future. Meanwhile the child pressed lord

Brahma's neck with such power that tears rolled down from his eyes. For this

reason he named the child as Jalandhar. Lord Brahma told the sea that the child

will become the mighty ruler of the demons. No deity would be able to kill him

except Shiva. The sea was very pleased by lord Brahma's predictions. After Lord

Brahma returned to his abode,

the sea brought that child to his home and brought up that child with great love

and care. When Jalandhar grew up he married Vrinda, who was the daughter of

Kalnemi. Later on he became the ruler of the demons. BATTLE BETWEEN JALANDHAR &

THE DEITIES One day Sage Bhrigu came to meet Jalandhar. After receiving him with

due respect Jalandhar asked him as to who severed the head of Rahu. Sage Bhrigu

then told him about Hiranyakashipu who was the maternal uncle of Rahu. Sage

Bhrigu also told him about Virochana - the son of the extremely charitable king

Bali. Then sage Bhrigu narrated the tale connected with the churning of ocean

and how ambrosia emerged from the churning of the ocean. Sage Bhrigu told

Jalandhar how Rahu's head was severed by lord Vishnu, while he was sitting

among the deities and at the time when ambrosia was being distributed to all

the deities. Jalandhar became very furious after hearing this story. He

summoned

one of his messengers whose name was Ghasmar and instructed him to go and ask

Indra, as to why had he misappropriated all the wealth of his father (Sea)

which emerged during the churning of Sea. He also instructed Ghasmar to warn

Indra about the dire consequences unless he takes his (Indra's) refuge. But

Indra sent back Ghasmar without any specific assurance. This action of Indra

made Jalandhar more angry than before. He collected his army and attacked

Indra. A fierce battle was fought between his army and the army of the deities.

Many warriors got killed from both the sides. Shukracharya the guru of the

deities brought back the dead warriors from the demon side back to life by his

mritasanjivani vidya. Similarly Sage Vrihaspati brought back the dead warriors

from the deities side back to life with the help of medicinal herbs. When

Shukracharya saw that, sage Vrihaspati too was successfully making the dead

deities alive, he instructed Jalandhar to submerge

the Drongiri mountain into the sea, so that it becomes impossible for Vrihaspati

to get the medicinal herbs by the help of which he made the dead deities alive.

Jalandhar obeyed the command of Shukracharya and by lifting the Drongiri

mountain submerged it into the sea. The deities became demoralized and fled

from the battle field Jalandhar captured Indrapuri. BATTLE BETWEEN LORD VISHNU

AND JALANDHAR The terrified deities took the refuge of lord Vishnu and sought

his help. Lord Vishnu gave a patient hearing and agreed to help them, but there

was a hitch. His consort goddess Laxmi considered Jalandhar as her brother

because both of them originated from the sea. She instructed Lord Vishnu

against killing Jalandhar. Lord Vishnu promised to her that he won't kill

Jalandhar. After giving his word to goddess Laxmi, he went to fight a battle

with Jalandhar. A fierce battle was fought between both of them which remained

indecisive till the end.

Lord Vishnu became very much impressed by the valiance of Jalandhar and asked

him to demand any boon he liked. Jalandhar requested him to make his dwelling

in the Ksheersagar-the abode of Jalandhar, alongwith his sister (Laxmi). Lord

Vishnu agreed to fulfill his wish and started living in the Ksheersagar along

with his consort Laxmi. Being undefeated by Lord Vishnu himself, Jalandhar

became the ruler of all the three world. All his subjects were satisfied by his

just and virtuous rule, except the deities. The deities now eulogized lord Shiva

to seek his help in defeating Jalandhar. NARAD'S STRATAGEM' According to the

wish of lord Shiva, Sage Narad came to meet the deities. The deities narrated

their woeful tales to him. Feeling pity on their condition, he went accorded a

grand reception by Jalandhar which pleased him very much. Narad praised the

splendours and prosperity of Jalandhar but added that it was nothing in

comparison to

Shiva's splendours Narad told him that inspite of all his authority and

splendours, his prosperity was still incomplete, as he did not have a consort.

Jalandhar asked curiously as to where could he find his consort. According to

his strategy, Narada advised Jalandhar to make Parvati as his consort Jalandhar

fell into Narad's trap. He sent 'Rahu' to lord Shiva with a proposal to part

with Parvati. Rahu went to lord Shiva and demanded Parvati, which made lord

Shiva extremely furious. His anger resulted into the manifestation of a

ferocious creature, which ran towards 'Rahu' to devour him. Rahu had no option

but to take the refuge of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva protected the life of 'Rahu'.

The hungry creature, asked Shiva as to what should he eat to satisfy his

hunger. Lord Shiva instructed him to devour his own limbs. The creative

followed his instructions and devoured his limbs. Lord Shiva was very pleased

by his sense of obedience. He named that creature of his palace.

He also blessed him saying that he too would be worshipped along with him

(Shiva). BATTLE BETWEEN LORD SHIVA AND JALANDHAR Rahu went back to Jalandhar

and narrated the whole story to him. Jalandhar then attacked Kailash mountain

with his huge army. A fierce battle was fought between the Shiva-ganas and the

demons. When Jalandhar realized that lord Shiva had begun to dominate the

battle he created beautiful 'Apsaras' and 'Gandharvas' by his illusionary

powers to divert the attention of lord Shiva and his ganas. He was successful

in his attempt. Lord Shiva and his ganas became enchanted by the heavenly

beauty of the apsaras. They stopped fighting and started watching their dance

and music. Meanwhile Jalandhar went to Parvati in the guise of lord Shiva but

was recognized by her. Being enchanted by the beauty of goddess Parvati, he

looked at her with his evil intentions, but was immobilized by her wrath.

Mother Parvati then went to lord

Vishnu and narrated the whole story. She wanted to teach Jalandhar a lesson. She

requested lord Vishnu to go to Jalandhar's wife in the guise of Jalandhar and

act in the same way. Jalandhar had dared to do. VRINDA GETA DISHONOURED With

the help of his divine powers, Lord Vishnu created many inauspicious dreams

while Vrinda was asleep. Vrinda became very restless and when the anxieties

become unbearable she proceeded towards the forest. Vrinda saw a hermit in the

forest who was preaching his disciples. The hermit was none other than lord

Vishnu. She went to that hermit and prayed to save her husband's life. Lord

Vishnu disappeared from the scene and reappeared - this time in the guise of

Jalandhar. But Vrinda was unable to recognize the real identity of her husband.

She was very pleased after finding her husband. Both of them stayed in that very

forest as husband and wife for a very long time. One day, came to know about the

real

identity of the person, who was impersonating as her husband. Realizing that her

chastity has been breached, she cursed lord Vishnu by saying that just as he had

played a deceitful trick with her in the same way somebody would deceitfully

abduct his wife and he too would wander in her search. After cursing lord

Vishnu, Vrinda embraced death by entering into the fire. KILLING OF JALANDHAR

On the other side, after the departure of Parvati from Kailash Mountain and

after the illusionary powers created by Jalandhar had ended all the apsaras and

gandharvas vanished. Shiva realized that whatever he was watching, was nothing

more than illusion. Lord Shiva recommenced his battle. The demons-Shumbh and

Nishumbh, came forward to fight with him, but ultimately they had to flee from

the battlefield. Lord Shiva warned both of them that though they had escaped

death at that moment, but they would be killed by Parvati. Now Jalandhar again

arrived to

fight with lord Shiva. A fierce battle commenced between them. Finding an

opportune time, Shiva severed the head of Jalandhar by his 'Chakra' which had

been created from his toe. After his death, Jalandhar's soul united with Shiva.

THE DEITIES EXPRESS GRATITUDE When the deities came to know about the killing of

Jalandhar, they became overjoyed. They came to Lord Shiva and eulogized him. Thy

also hailed his great achievement. After expressing their gratitude they

returned to their respective abodes. MANIFESTATION OF 'AMLA' (MYROBALAN), TULSI

(BASIL) AND 'MALTI' Lord Vishnu was very much saddened by the death of Vrinda.

He took the ashes from the pyre and after applying them on his body started

wondering here and there. The deities became very worried to see the condition

of lord Vishnu. They went to lord Shiva and requested him to eliminate the

false attachment with which Sri Vishnu was suffering. Lord Shiva sent the

deities to goddess Parvati, saying that she would ceratainly help in this

regard. The deities went to goddess Parvati and prayed to her. She became very

pleased and with the assistance of Laxmi and Saraswati, gave some seeds to

then. The deities sprayed those seeds on the pyre, on which Vrinda had given up

her life. Three holy plants manifested from that pyre-Amla, Tulsi and Malti.

Later on Tulsi and Malti attained to the Vishnuloka, by the virtue of their

respective penance. BIRTH OF SHANKHACHUDA Sutji narrated the tale of the birth

of Shankhachuda and how Shiva killed him with his Trishula. He told the sages

that Shankhachuda was born to the demon king 'Dambha'. Shankhachuda was in

fact, Sudama, in his previous life. He was born in the family of demons due to

the curse of Radha. SHANKHACHUDA'S MARRIAGE When Shankhachuda gre up, he went

to Pushkar (Ajmer, Rajasthan) and did a tremendous penance to please lord

Brahma. Lord Brahma

blessed him and said that he would remain invincible. He also instructed

Shankhachuda to go to 'Badrikashram' where he would find his would be wife

Tulsi- the daughter of Dharmadhwaja. Shankhachuda went to Badrikasharam and

married Tulsi as per the instructions of lord Brahma. He then returned back to

his capital accompanied by his wife- Tulsi. SHANKHACHUDA BECOMES THE RULER OF

ALL THE THREE WORLDS When Shankhachuda reached his capital after marrying

Tulsi, he was crowned as the king of the demons by Shukracharya. After his

coronation, Shankhachuda attacked Indrapuri supported by his huge army and

defeated the deities. In a very short time all the three worlds were under his

control. After being defeated by Shankhachuda, the deities went to lord Brahma

and sought his help in eliminating the menance called Shankhachuda. Lord Brahma

then took them to lord Vishnu. All of them were taken to lord Shiva by Vishnuji.

They expressed their request to

liberate them from the troubles created by Shankhachuda. SHIVA'S ASSURED THE

DEITIES Lord Shiva assured the deities that he will certainly kill Shankhachuda

and hence they should not worry about him. The deities then happily returned to

their respective abodes. CONVERSATION BETWEEN PUSHPADANT & SHANKHACHUDA Lord

Shiva sent his messenger named Pushpadant, to Shankhachuda to ask him to return

back the kingdom of the deities to them. Shankhachuda refused to oblige this

demand, on the contrary he expressed his willingness and readiness to fight

lord Shiva. Pushpadant returned back and narrated the whole story to lord

Shiva. SHIVA PROCEEDS WITH HIS ARMY Lord Shiva was now fully convinced about

the inevitability of the battle. He first sent all his ganas under the

leadership of Kartekiye and Ganesha. Later on Bhadrakali proceeded towards the

battlefield with a huge army as per the own wish of lord Shiva himself. At

last lord Shiva proceeded towards the battlefield accompanied by the deities.

All the troops collected at the bank of river Chandrabhaga and rested under the

shade of a Banyan tree. SHANKHACHUDA PROCEEDS WITH HIS ARMY Shankhachuda handed

over the kingdom to his son and went to his wife to take her permission before

going to the battlefield. His wife was reluctant to allow him to go, but he

somehow managed to convince her. He then proceeded towards the banks of

Chandrabhaga with a huge army. BATTLE BETWEEN THE DEITIES AND THE DEMONS A

fierce battle started between the deities and the demons. Both of them attacked

each other with the most destructive weapons. But when the army of Chandrachuda

began to dominate the fight, the deities fled away and took the refuge of lord

Shiva. They told Shiva of the number of deities who had been killed while

fighting. THE BATTLE BETWEEN SHIVA FAMILY & SHANKHACHUDA After the

defeat of the deities and the ganas Kartikeya and Ganesha went to fight

Shankhachuda. A spectacular battle was fought between Shankhachuda and both of

them. Later on they were joined by Bhadrakali. Bhadrakali would have devoured

Shankhachuda without any problem, but she spared his life because of the boon,

given to him by Lord Brahma. Now it was the turn of Lord Shiva to join the

battle, but even he could not cause any harm to him because of lord Brahma's

boon. STRATEGY EMPLOYED TO KILL SHANKHACHUDA While a tremendous battle was

being fought between lord Shiva and Shankhachuda. Lord Vishnu appeared and

demanded the armour from Shankhachuda, which he had put on, his body in the

guise of a brahmin. Shankhachuda gave his armour to him without any kind of

suspicion. Lord Vishnu then went to Shankhachuda's wife in the guise of her

husband i.e. Shankhachuda. He destroyed the chastity of Tulsi - Shankhachuda's

wife. Shankhachuda derived his power from the chastity of

his wife and it vanished the moment, her chastity was destroyed. LORD SHIVA

KILLS SHANKHACHUDA Bhadrakali was creating havoc in the army of Shankhachuda.

Shankhachuda became very furious and attacked Shiva. Shiva repulsed his assault

and attacked him with his Trishul. Shankhachuda who had became powerless was

killed instantaneously. The deities were very pleased at the death of

Shankhachuda. After worshipping lord Shiva they went back to their respective

abodes. TULSI CURSES LORD VISHNU After being instructed by goddess Parvati,

Lord Vishnu had gone to Tulsi in the guise of her husband- Shankhachuda, so

that the breach of Tulsi chastity could help lord Shiva to kill Shankhachuda,

who derived his power from Tulsi's chastity and virtuosity. Initially Tulsi

could not recognize lord Vishnu. She was extremely joyous at his arrival. But

very soon she was able to realize the real identity of lord Vishnu, who had

disguised himself as her

husband. She became very angry and cursed lord Vishnu to become a stone. She was

crying unconsolably. Lord Vishnu contemplated on Shiva as a result of which he

appeared. Lord Shiva blessed Tulsi that she would become the beloved of Lord

Vishnu. Due to Tulsi's curse, Lord Vishnu attained the form of Shaligram which

is a stone and because of lord Shiva's blessings. Tulsi leaves started being

offered to the Shaligram, in the process of its worship. KILLING OF HIRANYAKSHA

While narrating the tale of Hiranyaksha's killing, Sutli said- "Once, Shiva and

Parvati were living at the Mandarachal mountain. Parvati, playfully covered

both the eyes of Shiva with her palms. This made lord Shiva to perspire from

his forehead. From this perspiration manifested a ferocious creature. Parvati

asked Lord Shiva as to who this creature was. Lord Shiva told her that he was

his son- Andhak. Parvati brought up Andhak with great love and care.

Hiranyaksha

- the demon did a tremendous penance to please lord Shiva, with a desire to

acquires a son. Lord Shiva became pleased with his penance and appeared before

him. He asked Hiranyaksha to demand any boon, which he promised to fulfill.

Hiranyaksha expressed his desire to have a very powerful and mighty son. Shiva

decided to give Andhak to him, who at that time was being brought up by

Parvati. Hiranyaksha brought young Andhak along with him. With the help of

Andhak, he conquered all the three worlds. He lifted up the earth and proceeded

towards the Netherworld. The deities became very terrified. They prayed to Lord

Vishnu and when he appeared they requested him to kill Hiranyaksha. Lord Vishnu

killed Hiranyaksha in his incarnation of boar. After killing Hiranyaksha, Lord

Vishnu made Andhak the king of Netherworld and place the earth at its original

place. KILLING OF HIRANYAKSHIPU Hiranyakashipu was filled with grief when he

heard the news of

his brothers' death. To avenge Hiranyaksha's death, he started to torment the

deities. Becoming homeless, the deities started wandering here and there.

Hiranyakashipu was still unsatisfied. He wanted to acquire more power and

authority. He went to the Mandarachal mountain and started doing a tremendous

penance to please Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma appeared before him and asked him

demand anything he wished to be fulfilled. Hiranyakashipu said- "O Lord! Bless

me so that I do neither die during the day nor during the night; neither on the

earth nor in the sky; neither by the deities nor by the demons; neither by a

human being nor by an animal. Bless me O Lord! O that I do not get killed by

any type of weapon." Lord Brahma blessed Hiranyakshipu and said 'so be it'.

Now, Hiranyakashipu became more ruthless and arrogant. He declared himself the

almighty God and ordered his subjects to worship him and his idol. His

son-Prahlad was a very great devotee of lord Vishnu.

He did not pay heed to his father's command and continued to worship Lord

Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu tried to kill Prahalada many times, but each time he

survived by the blessings of lord Vishnu. When Hiranyakashipu's atrocities

crosses all its limits, the deities went to lord Vishnu and requested him to

kill Hiranyakashipu. Lord Vishnu appeared in his incarnation of Nrisimha (half

lion and half man) and killed Hiranyakashipu with his sharp nails, during the

dusk. After giving his kingdom to his son - Prahalad Lord Vishnu went back to

his abode. LORD SHIVA TEACHES THE SECRETS OF 'MRITASANJIVANI VIDDYA' TO

SHUKRACHARYA Shukracharya did a severe penance for five thousand years to

please Shiva and acquire the secrets of Mritasanjivani Viddya (bringing back

dead person alive) from him. When Lord Shiva did not appear even after such a

tremendous penance, then he indulges himself in severest form of penance, by

quitting having food and water. He now

started living only on air. This continued for thousands of year. Lord Shiva

became very pleased with his penance. He manifested from the very Shivalinga,

Shukracharya had been worshipping till now. He taught the secrets of

'Mritasanjivani' viddya to him and told him that by the help of this viddya he

would become capable of making alive the dead persons. Lord Shiva also blessed

Shukracharya to become a star and attain respectability among all the planets.

After blessing Shukracharya like this, Lord Shiva disappeared into the same

Shivalinga from which he had appeared. ANDHAK'S SPLENDOURS Once, Andhak

brothers jokingly told him that, since his real parents were somebody else

(Shiva and Parvati) therefore he was not fit to rule them. Though they had told

this in good humour, yet Andhak was very much saddened by their remark. He

relinquished his throne and went to a deserted place in the forest and started

to do a severe penance. Lord Brahma

became very pleased by his penance and appeared before him. He asked him to

demand anything he wished to be fulfilled. Andhak said- "I only long for the

love and affection of my brothers. O Lord! Bless me so that nobody should be

able to kill one except lord Shiva." Lord Brahma blessed him and said- 'so be

it'. Andhak returned to his kingdom and with the co-operation of his brothers

like Prahalad etc he brought even the deities under his control. But drunk with

power he became very arrogant and started tormenting all the creatures. He did

not show any respect to the Vedas, brahmin and the deities. BATTLE BETWEEN LORD

SHIVA AND ANDHAK Andhak had become so arrogant that once, he even dared to

dishonour his own mother-Parvati, who at that time was living at the

Mandarachal mountain. Shiva became very furious with him. Andhak attacked Shiva

with his huge army. Lord Shiva sent his numerous ganas to fight him, but all of

them were

killed by Andhak. When lord Shiva got the news of the arrival of Andhak with his

army, he sent Lord Vishnu and his remaining ganas to fight him. He himself went

to perform his austerity named 'Pashupat'. The deities fought with Andhak for

one thousand years. Meanwhile Lord Shiva returned after completing his

'Pashupat Vrata' and joined them. Seeing Lord Shiva in front of him, Andhak

became furious and attacked him ferociously. His companion, whose name was

'Vidhas', devoured all the deities. The demons who had been killed in the

battle, were brought back to life by Shukracharya. Lord Shiva became very angry

and swallowed Shukracharya. He also extracted the deities from the stomach of

Vidhas who had been swallowed by him earlier. After that, lord Shiva attacked

Andhak with his trident, which injured him. But from each drop of his blood

which fell on the ground, manifested thousands of demons who resembled Andhak.

Lord Shiva then instructed goddess

'Chandika' to drink the blood, while he killed all the demons. Goddess Chandika

followed the instructions of Shiva and drank each drop of blood, which oozed

out from the wounds of the demons and did not let single drop of blood to fall

on the ground. After killing all the demons, lord Shiva lifted Andhak with his

trident and hanged him between the earth and sky. Andhak remained there for a

very long period of time, bearing the heat of the sun and the showers of rain.

But he remained alive. Ultimately he had to take the refuge of Lord Shiva, to

save his life. Lord Shiva became pleased by his eulogy and made him his

'Ganadhees' (leader of all the Ganas). REEMERGENCE OF SHUKRACHARYA When lord

Shiva swallowed up Shukracharya, he became very restless and started to find

out a way through which he could come out from Shiva's stomach. But all of his

efforts went in vain. Finding no other option, he started to chant the name of

lord Shiva. His chantings

continued for one hundred years. By the blessings of Shiva, he came out from

Shiva's stomach through the ejaculated semen. After coming out, Shukraharya

eulogized Lord Shiva. Shiva became pleased with him and showered him with

affection just like his own son. After being blessed Shukracharya went and

rejoined the army of the demons. KILLING OF GAJASUR Goddess Durga had killed

the demon - Mahishasur, who used to torment the deities. Gajasur was the son of

Mahishasur. To avenge his father's death, Gajasur did a tremendous penance to

please lord Brahma. Lord Brahma appeared before him and asked him to demand any

boon. Gajasur said- "O Lord! Even a 'Jeetendriya' (one who has full control over

his senses) should not be able to kill me," Lord Brahma blessed him by saying -

'So be it'. Gradually, Gajasur atrocities crossed all limits. He became the

lord of all the three worlds. He forced even the deities to worship him. He

used to torment the

brahmins and the other religious people. One day Gajasur arrived at Kashi and

started tormenting the people living over there. The deities came to lord Shiva

and requested him to rescue Kashi by killing Gajasur. Lord Shiva came to Kashi

and fought a battle with Gajasur. He killed Gajasur with this trident. At the

time of his death, Gajasur eulogized Lord Shiva and requested him to put his

(Gajasur's) skin on his (Shiva's) body. Lord Shiva agreed to fulfill his wish.

At the spot where, Gajasur was killed a famous Shivalinga by the name of

Krittivaseshwar was constructed as per the own wish of lord Shiva. KILLING OF

NIRHADDAITYA Diti was filled with grief when she came to known about her son's

(Hiranyaksha) death, who was killed by lord Vishnu. Nirhad daitya, who was the

maternal uncle of Prahlad consoled her an promised to avenge the death of

Hiranyaksha. He thought to destroy the vedic religion. According to him the

deities

derived their strength and power from this very vedic religion. He planned to

eliminate the priestly class-brahmins, so that the chances of 'Yagyas' being

performed becomes extinct and the deities were starved to such an extent that

they became weak and powerless. Thinking that then it would not be very

difficult to kill the 'weak' deities. Nirhaddaitya arrived at Kashi to execute

his plan, which during those time was the chief centre of the brahmins. He

attained the form of a tiger and stationed himself in a nearby forest. He used

to kill any brahmin who used to come over there to collect 'Kusha' grass and

fuel. With the help of his illusionary powers he used to attain the form of a

hermit during the day time and lived among them. But during the night, he used

to enter into the houses of the brahmins in the form of a tiger and used to

devour them. On one night of Shivaratri, when a brahmin was busy worshipping

Lord Shiva, Niraddaitya who was in the form of a tiger

entered the temple. But, since the brahmin was engaged in the worship of Lord

Shiva, he could not harm the brahmin. Lord Shiva emerged from the very

Shivalinga, which the brahmin was worshipping and punched the demon with his

clenched fist, so hard that he died. KILLING OF 'VIDAL' & 'UTPAL' Long long ago

there used to live two demons by the names of Vidul and Utpal. Both of them did

a tremendous penance to please lord Brahma. After being blessed by lord Brahma,

they became very arrogant and started tormenting the deities and the brahmins.

The deities went to lord Brahma and sought his help. Lord Brahma told them that

both the demons would be killed by goddess Parvati very soon. He also instructed

the deities to eulogize Shiva and Parvati to seek their blessings. The deities

went back and started eulogizing Shiva and Parvati. One fateful day, Vidal and

Utpal arrived

at the place where goddess Paarvati was having amusements with her companions.

Vidal and Utpal had disguised themselves as the ganas of Shiva. Lord Shiva

recognized the real identity of the demons. He signaled towards Parvati

pointing towards the demons. Parvati who was playing with a ball with her

companions, understood what lord Shiva meant to say. She hit both of them with

the ball, with such force that both the demons died on the spot. The ball then

fell down on the ground and transformed into a Shivalinga which became as

'Kandukeshwar'. The deities became very pleased at the death of Vidal and

Utpal.

"Why should you fear anything when you have such a Lord of the universe to take

care of you. I do everything for your good." - Baba

sairamdoris (AT) (DOT) es