The sage Bhrigu tests the cosmic gods

Lord Shiva has another name — Ashutosh. It means 'one who is easily pleased'. You can please Lord Shiva sooner than the soonest, in the twinkling of an eye. Brahma, Vishnu and other cosmic gods take time to be pleased, but they have many other divine qualities.

There is a famous story about the great sage Bhrigu. Bhrigu wanted to examine the cosmic gods to see who was the greatest. He went to the abode of Brahma, the Creator, and very abruptly entered Brahma's room without any permission. Brahma became furious. He said, "How is it you did not take my permission before entering?"

Then Bhrigu went to see Shiva, the Transformer. There also he misbehaved and angered Shiva.

Finally, Bhrigu went to see Vishnu, the Preserver. Vishnu was fast asleep. Seeing him sleeping, Bhrigu said, "Why does Vishnu have to sleep now?"

Then the sage jumped up and down on Vishnu's chest. Suddenly Vishnu awoke. He grabbed Bhrigu's feet and asked, "Are you hurt? Are you hurt? I am so sorry."

Bhrigu was the one who had jumped on Vishnu's chest, and yet Vishnu said, "I am so sorry."

Then Bhrigu declared that the greatest of the cosmic gods was Vishnu, not Shiva and not Brahma. They both became angry, but Vishnu did not get angry even when Bhrigu provoked him. Vishnu had conquered anger, and he did not have any pride. So in the opinion of the sage, Vishnu was the best.

Bhrigu was a great sage. He cast horoscopes thousands of years ago, long before we were born. According to Bhrigu's system of casting horoscopes, at the age of twelve I would come to my Master, and after that my fate would depend on my Master. My ordinary horoscope would cease to operate from that moment. It would be whatever my Master wanted me to do. That prediction, based on Bhrigu's system, was absolutely right. I came to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram at the age of twelve.

My horoscope was also drawn up according to another system. That one said I would be an educated person, a scholar, a householder and so on. That one did not apply to me, but the horoscope cast according to Bhrigu's system did.

According to Bhrigu's system, my maternal uncle's horoscope says that he would not have children because in his previous incarnation he was a hunter and he had killed a deer. As it was dying, the deer pronounced a curse on him: "You will have no children in your next incarnation." In this incarnation also, that particular uncle was deeply interested in hunting. So in Bhrigu's system, the horoscope can be extremely detailed. It is unimaginable what Bhrigu said so many years ago.