srimadbhagavatham -skandha4-chapters 4 to 7

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Chapter3 and 4 The story of Dhaksha continued

 

After Dhaksha was chosen as the head of the prajapthis, he became

more arrogant and he performed vajapeyi yajna and then

brhamasava, another great sacrifice to which all the sages and devas

were invited except Siva. Sathi wanted to go to the yajna and tried to

influence Siva that to go to the house of a close relation one does not

need an invitation. But Siva said that this principle did not apply here

as Dhaksha had hatred towards Siva.

 

Then Siva told her the reason why he did not get up to show respect to

dhaksha,. He said that those who are beyond body and soul do not

show respect to anyone who identifies himself with the body and filled

with ego.

 

Siva forbade sathi to go to the sacrifice warning her that her father

Would ignore her and insulted by one's own relations is worse than

death.

But Sathi convinced that she could make her father see reason, and filled with the desire of seeing her relatives decided to go against the wish of her husband, who gave her his half of the body out of love because she was momentarily overwhelmed by the weakness of women for her parents.

 

Sathi went to the yagasala accompanied by the attendants of Siva and Nandi. Except her mother and sisters no one else welcomed her and ignored her due to fear of Dhaksha. She saw that no havirbhaga, offering in the sacrifice, was given to Siva and also because she was insulted Sathi became angry. She told Daksha that there is no one higher than Siva and there is no friend or foe to him. She said that the very word Siva means pure and Dhaksha saw him as asiva, impure, abusing him that he lived in cremation ground, had his hair loose and unkempt and wore ash all over his body etc. But Brahma and other deities worship him and did it mean that they do not know that he was inauspicious, she asked her father.

 

She further said that if one hears Siva being insulted he should go away closing his ears if he could not punish the wrong doer. As her body was produced by Dhaksha she did not want to keep it and saying thus she destroyed her body which was consumed in flames of yogic fire.

 

When sathi gave up her body in flames her attendants rushed to kill Dhaksha and his followers but Brgu forced them to fly away by his brahmathejas.

 

Chapters- 5,6and7-Destruction of Dhaksha and the sacrifice and revival of Dhaksha

 

Hearing what happened Siva got angry and created Virabhadhra from his jata, a strand of his matted hair, and Veerabhadhra with the bhoothaganas of Siva surrounded the yagasala and beheaded Dhaksha throwing his head in the sacrificial fire. The rthviks and the devas who attended he sacrifice were injured and maimed badly and they all went to Brahma, who with Vishnu, did not go to the yaga foreseeing all this.

 

Brahma told them that they were guilty of joining with Dhaksha in not giving havirbhaga to Siva and they could be saved only by praying to him with pure hearts. Then Brahma went with them to kailasa. Siva seeing Brahma and others, got up and showed respect to them. Brahma entreated Siva to show mercy on the devas and rthviks who were wounded and maimed. Then Brahma said to Siva that what all left over after offering the oblations to the other deities will be the havir bhaga of Siva. Then Siva said that he punished them only to teach them a lesson. He gave Dhaksha the head of a goat and gave the others their lost limbs back. Dhaksha came to life as if woken up from sleep and praised Siva and asked forgiveness and then completed the yaga. He meditated with pure heart and Lord Hari manifested. Siva said to the Lord that if the ignorant of the world think that he was mad because of the absorption of his mind in the supreme Lord he did not care for their censure. The Lord Narayana then said that those who differentiate between Siva , Brahma and Himself are ignorant because all are His manifestations only and not different, like the parts of the same body.

 

Maithreya then told Vidura that Dhakshayani was born as Parvati, the daughter of Himavan and married Siva.