Bhrigu discovers that Vishnu is the greatest

Brahma’s son was Bhrigu. Once Bhrigu wanted to know who among the trinity was the greatest: his father, Vishnu or Shiva. He decided that he would be the examiner because he did not want others to make the decision on his behalf.

Bhrigu began his examination with his father. While Brahma was reading the scriptures, Bhrigu came before him in a very haughty way, without bowing. Brahma said, “What! You are coming into my room without showing me any respect? I never thought that you would be so insolent and undivine!” He scolded his son mercilessly.

Silently Bhrigu went away, saying to himself, “This proves that my father cannot be the greatest of the three.”

Next Bhrigu went to see Shiva. When Shiva saw Bhrigu coming towards him, he did not know how to greet him. Why? Because Shiva was very unclean, even filthy. In spite of this, Shiva grabbed Bhrigu and embraced him.

“You are so dirty and filthy! Why do you have to make me dirty also?” protested Bhrigu.

Shiva became furious. “You have to call me dirty and filthy? This is what I get for embracing you! I came to you with such affection! I love you. You are Brahma’s son. Now you have to say all kinds of things against me?” Shiva was so furious that he wanted to kill Bhrigu.

Bhrigu hastily left Shiva’s presence. On the way, he concluded, “Like my father, Shiva is also not good. Both of them have not conquered their anger. Since they have not conquered their anger, what kind of spiritual greatness do they have?”

Vishnu was the last member of the trinity to be examined by Bhrigu. When Bhrigu arrived at Vishnu’s abode, Vishnu was fast asleep. Bhrigu thought to himself, “Since both my father and Shiva showed their anger, let me see if I can also make Vishnu angry. I am sure it will be quite easy.”

While Vishnu was still asleep, Bhrigu started mildly kicking him. Vishnu did not wake up. Then Bhrigu kicked Vishnu extremely hard right on his chest. Vishnu woke up and immediately grabbed Bhrigu’s feet. “Are you hurt, are you hurt, my child? Please tell me. You kicked me so hard! I am deeply concerned that you have hurt yourself. Please tell me what I can do for you.”

Bhrigu replied, “My Lord, among the trinity — Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva — you are by far the greatest.”

This was Bhrigu’s realisation. His father scolded him because he showed no respect to his father; Shiva became enraged because Bhrigu insulted him; but Vishnu, in spite of being kicked ruthlessly, forgave Bhrigu and showed him such compassion and concern.

It is said that the mark of Bhrigu’s foot is still visible on Vishnu’s chest. Because of this incident, Bhrigu became known as Pada Bhrigu. Pad means “foot”, so Pada Bhrigu means “the sage who used his feet to examine the gods”.

Shiva provides a home for Parvati

Lord Shiva and Parvati lived at the top of the Himalayas. Sometimes they stayed on Mount Kailash and sometimes they stayed on another mountain named Mandara. One day Parvati said to her consort, “My Lord, everybody has a house. Can we not also have a house? When the weather is hot here on the top of the mountain, I suffer so much. You are in your trance, but I cannot enjoy trance as you do, so I suffer unbearably. Please give me a house to live in.”

Shiva was in his own world, and he paid no attention to his wife’s request. A few years passed by and Parvati brought up the matter once more. “My Lord, please let us have a house,” she begged.

“I am so poor,” Shiva replied. “How can I give you a house? Let us go and take up our abode at the foot of a tree. There you will find shade. The tree will protect us.”

“Yes,” said Parvati, “a tree can give us shade and shelter to some extent. But when it rains heavily, what can a tree do? When there are hurricanes or cyclones or monsoons, what will happen? The rain will come and destroy everything.”

“I am very, very poor. What can I do?” answered Shiva.

“Indeed, you are poor!” responded his wife. “But you have made so many people rich. How is it that you have made others rich while you yourself have remained poor? They are lucky. They can get anything they want from you because they are your devotees. But when I want to have something for myself, you refuse me — and I am your wife!” Parvati started weeping pitifully. Then she continued, “I beg you, my Lord, please provide us with a house. Otherwise, I cannot escape from the rain. I can tolerate the heat but not the rain.”

Shiva’s heart melted. He said to his wife, “Because I am so poor, I cannot give you a proper house. But since I have prayed and meditated for so many years, I can do you this favour. Let us change our abode. Let us move away from this tree on the mountaintop. We shall no longer stay on Kailash or Mandara. We shall enter into the clouds. From now on, the clouds will be our home. We shall remain inside them and we will not be on earth at all. We will not touch the ground. Therefore the rain will not affect us; nothing will affect us.”

So Shiva and Parvati entered into the clouds to live. One name of Shiva is Jimutabahin, meaning “one who is inside the cloud”. Lord Shiva and Parvati still live inside the clouds because Shiva could not afford to have a house.

Brahma tries to illumine Vishwamitra and Vashishtha

The sage Vashishtha meditated under water for twelve years. He wanted to become the most powerful person spiritually. When he came out of the water, he saw that his dearest disciple, Harishchandra, was in serious trouble. The sage Vishwamitra had come to Harishchandra’s palace and asked him to do certain things. Because Harishchandra could not fulfil his promises, he had to leave his kingdom, sell his wife and child and take up work as an undertaker.

When Vashishtha saw that Harishchandra was undergoing so much suffering, he cursed Vishwamitra: “My dearest king is suffering at your hands,” he said. “You are so cruel. I curse you! You will become a bird!”

In reply, Vishwamitra pronounced a curse on Vashishtha: “You will immediately become a bird also!”

O God, both of them became huge birds and they started fighting in the sky! While flapping their wings, they were destroying trees, houses, everything. The whole of creation was being smashed to pieces because they were fighting so ruthlessly.

When Brahma saw the destruction that was being wrought by these two huge birds, he decided to do something. He clipped their wings so that they could no longer fly. Although they could not fly, the two birds continued to fight face to face on the ground. Their fury showed no signs of abating.

Brahma observed them once again and said, “What I have done is not enough. Without wings they are still bent on destroying each other. I can see that my entire creation will be destroyed in the process. I have to do something more.”

Brahma meditated for thousands of years to acquire power and finally he was able to transform the two birds back into human beings. When they took the form of men once more, Brahma addressed them: “Are you not ashamed of yourselves? You cursed each other to become birds and then you fought ruthlessly. You were destroying the whole world because of your personal quarrel. Now at least remain as two ordinary human beings. Even ordinary human beings do not fight the way you have fought. I am not asking you to be saints. Just become decent human beings.”

In this way, Brahma tried to illumine the sages. They embraced each other and promised to desist from fighting. Unfortunately, their truce did not last. Afterwards, these two sages once again resumed fighting. Most people say that Vashishtha had the higher wisdom, while others say that he started the whole thing. Each sage has his own supporters. Although they were both great, neither one had conquered anger.

Krishna's son mocks the sages

Three very great sages once came to Lord Krishna’s palace in Dwaraka. Krishna was resting. When he was informed of their arrival, he said, “Please tell them that I shall be there in a short while. In the meantime, let them be welcomed with proper respect and devotion.”

Unfortunately, over the years, Krishna’s relatives and others who were close to him had become very undivine. Because they were dear to Krishna, they used to get everything for the asking. As a result, they became corrupted by the pleasure-life. They used to drink and quarrel and do all kinds of unthinkable things.

A few members of Krishna’s immediate family did not have any respect for the sages and saints who came to pay homage to Krishna. These relatives felt that as long as they had Krishna, it was enough. To them, all other spiritual people were as worthless as straw.

Krishna’s son, Samba, was then twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Even though he was no longer a child, he and some other young men decided to play a practical joke on the three sages. Samba’s friends tied an earthen pot on his stomach and dressed him in a nice sari. Then they brought him before the sages.

The young men said to the sages, “This woman is with child. Please, before Krishna comes, can you tell us whether she will give birth to a boy or a girl?”

Since the sages had occult vision, they immediately saw that the young men were mocking them. They became furious. “You are Krishna’s relatives! You, Samba, are his own son! You dare to make fun of us! Yes, this ‘woman’ will give birth, but she will give birth to an iron rod. This rod will bring about the destruction of Krishna’s entire clan. You have no respect for spiritual people. We are great sages and you have mocked us.”

At that moment, Krishna entered the hall. He was so sad to hear the curse of the sages. At the same time, he knew that his relatives deserved it. The sages also felt sorry that they had uttered such a dreadful curse, but they did not have enough capacity or forgiveness-power to withdraw it. In spite of this unfortunate turn of events, Krishna stayed and had a long talk with the sages, and they received Krishna’s blessings. Krishna was beyond, beyond everything. He advised them and illumined them, and then the sages departed.

In due course, the curse came true and Krishna’s son gave birth to a heavy iron rod, like a club. Samba and his cousins realised that their destruction was imminent. They went to Krishna and begged him to save them. Krishna said, “You have done something unpardonable, unpardonable. What can I do? All right, grind the whole iron rod into a powder. It will take a very, very long time. When it becomes powder, you must throw the powder into the sea.”

With utmost enthusiasm and zeal, the young men started grinding the rod. But after a short time, they stopped and simply threw the rod into the sea. They did not grind the whole rod into powder, as Krishna had told them to do.

Many, many years later, after the battle of Kurukshetra, the iron rod came up to the surface of the sea and the prophecy of the sages came true. Krishna’s family members started drinking heavily and fighting among themselves. Krishna’s dearer-than-the-dearest friend, Satyaki, who had fought so bravely on the side of the Pandavas during the battle, was killed in a quarrel. One by one, all of the great warriors in Krishna’s family were killed in this drunken brawl.

When Krishna saw that his dearest Satyaki had been killed, he said, “There is no need to stay on earth any longer.” In the meantime, Krishna’s brother, Balarama, had been observing the brawl. He saw the level to which the great heroes had descended and he was disgusted. “Enough, enough!” he said. “Our family has become so corrupt!” He entered into the forest and in his meditation he gave up his life-breath.

When Krishna heard that Balarama had left the body, he said, “My time has also come. Let me go and join him.” Krishna went to a beautiful place. There, he sat down under a tree and he started meditating; he wanted to give up his life.

A hunter was passing by. He saw Krishna’s form and thought it was a beautiful deer. To him, Krishna’s left foot looked like the ear of the deer. The hunter aimed his arrow at the ear and released it. The arrow entered Krishna through the sole of his left foot — and that was the only weak point in Krishna’s body. All his limbs and all the other parts of his body were invincible, but his left foot was vulnerable. Whenever he fought, he used to keep that foot well-protected. But he knew that it was weak and Balarama also knew it.

When the hunter came to claim the deer, he saw Krishna lying on the ground with the arrow piercing his foot. The hunter cried pitifully for forgiveness. But Krishna answered him, “No, it is not your fault. My time has come. That is why this has happened. It is all predestined.”

“How is it predestined?” asked the hunter.

“This is the curse of Gandhari,” Krishna told him.

During the battle of Kurukshetra, Gandhari’s hundred sons were all killed by the Pandavas. She was heartbroken. After the battle, she said to Krishna, “You do not know what suffering I am going through! I am cursing you. The same thing will happen to your dear ones. They will quarrel and fight among themselves and they will all be killed.”

Krishna said to Gandhari, “Mother, I am not responsible for the deaths of your sons. I begged them not to fight. I begged them to give just five villages to the Pandavas, but they would not listen to me. From the beginning to the end, your sons were so undivine.”

Gandhari answered him, “No, no! I know you are God. You could have averted this war if you had wanted to. You could have saved my children and all my dear ones. But because of your partiality for the Pandavas, you did not do it. Therefore, I am cursing you. Exactly the same thing will happen to you. All your dear ones will kill each other.”

Gandhari’s dreadful curse came true and Krishna’s entire clan was destroyed. You may ask how Gandhari could curse someone as great as Krishna. The fact is that Krishna could have nullified the curse, but he chose to accept it. His attitude was, if you want to strike me, then strike.

Shiva fulfils all boons

Lord Shiva is usually very calm and poised. He never brags like the other cosmic gods. It is not his way. Again, at one time or another, everybody becomes subject to pride. Since the time of our ancestors, our perennial source, we have all suffered from pride. This story is about Shiva’s pride.

One day Shiva said, “People are always begging Brahma, Vishnu and me for this thing and that thing. Why do they have to beg? I have decided that they will only have to ask me once, and then I will immediately fulfil their desire. If I can give them a boon as soon as they utter their prayer, then naturally I will be the greatest, the most kind-hearted of the cosmic gods.”

In this way Shiva wanted to prove that he was the greatest and also the best of the gods. To other gods you have to pray for 60,000 years before they will grant a boon, but Shiva promised that he would grant any boon as soon as the prayer was uttered.

One day, a king came to see Shiva. This particular king was very cruel and unkind. He said to Shiva, “Please grant me a boon.”

“I shall grant any boon that you want,” announced Shiva. At once the king said, “This is the boon that I desire: whomever I touch will turn to ashes.”

“Oh, that is easy,” said Shiva. “I grant you the boon. The moment you place your hands on somebody’s head, that person will be reduced to ashes.”

The cruel king was so happy. He said to Shiva, “I am so grateful to you. Now let me put my hands on your head to see whether you are telling me the truth.”

Shiva started running away as fast as he could and the king began chasing him. Shiva was in serious trouble. He knew that if the king caught him and placed his hands on his head, he would be turned to ashes in an instant. Shiva ran and ran. Finally, he entered Vishnu’s abode.

“Vishnu, Vishnu, what have I done? Save me, save me!” he cried.

With his third eye, Vishnu saw what had happened and he said to Shiva, “Do not worry. Just go and hide in my private room. No one is allowed to enter that room without my permission. I shall deal with that fellow.”

A few moments later, the king entered Vishnu’s abode. He challenged Vishnu, “Where is Shiva? He gave me a boon and now he refuses to let me test it on him.”

Vishnu answered, “I can see you do not know Shiva’s nature. He is a liar. When did he get that kind of spiritual power? He is my dearest friend. I know him so well. He definitely told you a lie. That is why he is running away. Here is the proof! If he had told you the truth, he would not be afraid of being exposed. I tell you, Shiva is a liar and a coward of the first order. He has no morality! You are wasting your time chasing him. I can easily prove that he is a liar. Just put your hands on your own head, and you will see that nothing will happen to you, absolutely nothing — I assure you.”

The king believed Vishnu. He put his hands on his own head and was immediately burnt to ashes. This is how Vishnu saved his dearest friend Shiva.

Vishnu takes incarnation as a dwarf

This story is about Prahllada’s grandson, Bali. Bali was an extremely powerful king, but he also wanted to be popular. By becoming powerful, we cannot be appreciated, admired or adored. It is like a superpower country. We may surrender to it, but with hatred instead of love.

Bali was determined to find a way to be popular. He came to the realisation that he would be loved, admired and adored by everybody if he performed a particular kind of sacrifice called a yajna. A yajna is performed only by great kings.

When the cosmic gods learned of Bali’s intention, they became very jealous. They thought that after Bali had completed his sacrifice, people would worship him and they would no longer care for the cosmic gods. They went to Vishnu for help. “Please, please, do something,” they begged. “Bali has become so powerful on earth! Soon the whole world will appreciate, admire and adore him, and our glory will be diminished.”

Vishnu consoled them, “Do not worry,” he said. “I will deal with Bali.”

King Bali proceeded with the sacrificial ceremony under the guidance of his Guru, Shukracharya. Many people came to observe and participate in the function. As part of the sacrificial rites, Bali decided that he would grant special favours to anyone who asked him. He would immediately give whatever that person wanted.

All of a sudden, a dwarf joined the gathering and started chanting from the Vedas, the Upanishads and other holy scriptures. Bali was so happy to see such a tiny person, and he was full of admiration for the dwarf’s chanting. He asked the dwarf, “Is there anything that you want from me?”

“Yes, there is something,” said the dwarf. At that moment, Shukracharya whispered to Bali, “O my God, I can sense that this is not a dwarf! It is Vishnu, who has come here with some mischievous motive. Please, please, do not fulfil his desire! Whatever he asks you to do, you must refuse. As your Guru, I am telling you not to grant his wish.”

“No, no,” objected Bali. “I made a promise and I must keep it.”

“I am your Guru,” said Shukracharya. “You have to listen to me in this matter.”

“You may be my Guru, but I made a promise, and I place my promise above everything else,” said Bali. Look at Bali’s disobedience! Instead of surrendering to his Guru, he bound himself to his promise.

Shukracharya loved his disciple and was determined to save him. Shukracharya had a big heart, and he also had wisdom in boundless measure. He said to Bali, “Before you give something, you have to have a small ceremony. In this detail, at least, you must listen to me. Whatever you want to give him, you can give. I do not know what he will ask you for. But before granting his wish, you must sprinkle a few drops of water on the dwarf’s feet. Only then will everything be purified.”

The sages used to keep their sacred Ganges water in an earthen vessel called a kamandalu. Shukracharya occultly entered into the kamandalu that Bali’s wife had brought and sealed up the opening with his body. He felt that if he could stop the flow of the water, the purification ceremony could not be performed and Bali would not be able to fulfil the dwarf’s wish.

Bali did not know that his Guru was inside the earthen vessel. When Bali sat at the feet of the dwarf and tried to pour the water, he discovered that the mouthpiece of the vessel was sealed. “O my God!” he said. “What am I going to do?”

Bali looked around for something to pierce the opening. You may think that a knife would have best served his purpose. But instead, he merely used a straw of hay. With the straw he was digging and poking. Unfortunately, the straw pierced one of his Guru’s eyes, leaving him blind in that eye. Naturally, Bali did not know that his Guru’s eye was there. When Shukracharya emerged from the vessel holding his left eye, Bali felt utterly miserable.

He said to the dwarf, “I am responsible for making my own Guru blind in one eye, just because I wanted to keep my promise. I am filled with sadness, but I still want to grant you your desire. The water is now coming out of the vessel without any obstruction. Let me sprinkle some on your feet and then you can ask me for whatever you want.”

After Bali had observed the ceremony, he asked the dwarf to tell him his wish. “You see how tiny I am. Kindly allow me to have the ground that can be covered in three steps,” said the dwarf. Bali laughed at the dwarf’s wish. “You are so short! How much distance can you cover in just three steps? All right, I grant your request. You can take your three steps in any direction you choose.”

Upon hearing Bali’s words, the dwarf, who was Lord Vishnu himself, resumed his universal form. With one stride, he covered the whole world; with his second stride, he covered the Brahmaloka, or Heavenly world. For his third stride, there are two versions of the story.

One version says that there are three worlds: this world, the higher world and the nether world. In Sanskrit, the words are bhuloka, bhuvarloka and svarloka. After covering this world and the higher world, Lord Vishnu said to Bali, “Now please tell me, where will I place my foot? There is still one stride left.”

Bali answered, “There is no place left for your third stride, so please be kind enough to put your foot on my back.” Lord Vishnu then placed his foot on Bali’s back and Bali was immediately destroyed.

Another version of the story says that after Vishnu had covered the three worlds, he saw that poor Bali did not have any place to stay. Bali, who had been all-powerful on earth, now had nothing. Vishnu told him, “By birth, you are an asura. Your proper home is in the nether world. I would like you to return to the nether world to live so that Indra and the other gods can enjoy their proper kingdom in Heaven. You have lost all your wealth and power. There is no place for you here on earth now.”

Bali was filled with happiness. He said, “My Lord, with your infinite Grace you have blessed me by allowing me to see your celestial form. I was blinded by wealth and power. But now I am so pleased that you are sending me back to my real home underground. I will be happy in that world and the cosmic gods, especially Indra, will be happy once again in the higher world. I do not know how I can thank you for your kindness towards me.”

This is the story of Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as a dwarf, who was called Vamana. To me, the most painful part of the story is when Bali pierced the eye of his own Guru while he was trying to get water from the vessel. That is why Shukracharya is known as being blind in one eye. This tragedy happened only because Bali disobeyed his Master. When there is a conflict between the Master and his disciples, very often something happens to the body of the Master.

The end of the Kshatriya line

As you know, in India we think of society as a great family. Within that family there are four classes or castes which, ideally, work to make the family function harmoniously. The four classes are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. Brahmins protect the family from hostile forces by virtue of their prayers and meditations. Kshatriyas are warriors. They protect the family from enemies by virtue of their physical prowess. Vaishyas are businessmen and merchants. They support the family. And Shudras serve others. They do not have money or intellect, but with their strong hands they serve the rest of the family.

The spiritual Masters of India’s past have come from either the Brahmin class or the Kshatriya class. Sri Ramachandra, Sri Krishna, Sri Chaitanya, Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Aurobindo, to name a few, were all either Brahmins or Kshatriyas.

Both Brahmins and Kshatriyas have tremendous pride because of their status in society. Although Vaishyas support the family, they do not show that much pride. They feel that they do not have the prayerful capacities of the Brahmins or the strength and valour of the Kshatriyas. The Shudras, since they are the servant class, do not have any pride.

This story is about the wrath of a Brahmin’s son towards the entire Kshatriya caste. There was once a king who prayed to Brahma to make him supremely powerful. Brahma gave him thousands of weapons and the king was truly all-powerful on earth. One day the king went out hunting with his retinue. After hunting for some time, the king became tired. He discovered a small cottage nearby, and he went there to have a glass of water.

The cottage was occupied by a sage named Jamadagni. This sage said to the king, “You have asked me only for some water. But you are the king. If you and your soldiers would like to eat also, I will be able to feed you all.”

The king was simply amazed. “You are so poor! How can you provide food for all of us? Do you not see how many soldiers are accompanying me?”

The sage was adamant. “I shall definitely be able to feed you,” he said. “Please invite all your soldiers to come.”

At the king’s command, the soldiers came and sat down, and Jamadagni served them a sumptuous meal. Meanwhile, the king was curious as to how the sage had been able to feed so many people. The king saw that the sage owned nothing save one cow. The name of this particular cow was Kamadhenu. Dhenu means “cow” and kama means “desire”. This cow was able to grant any desire.

The sage had asked the cow to provide a feast for the king’s army, and she had brought forth food and drinks in abundance. The king said to the sage, “A cow such as this should belong only to a king. Please give her to me.”

“Even though you are the king, I cannot part with this cow,” proclaimed the sage.

The king was stunned by the sage’s refusal. He implored the sage to hand over the cow, but the sage would not give her up. Finally, the king, who was a Kshatriya, decided to use force and seize the cow. He and his soldiers all fought with the sage, but the sage was very, very powerful. With his divine weapons, he killed many of the king’s soldiers and defeated the king.

Burning with anger, the king returned to his kingdom and assembled a more powerful army. A few months later, he returned to attack the sage and capture the cow. This time, unfortunately, the sage was killed during the ensuing fight and the cow was stolen.

It happened that Jamadagni’s son, Parashuram, had been absent from his father’s home when this fighting took place. When he returned and found that his father had been killed and the cow taken away, Parashuram was furious. He took a vow that he would kill all the Kshatriyas. “Whomever I see belonging to that caste, I will kill,” he said.

According to our Indian mythology, all the Kshatriyas were killed twenty-one times over by Parashuram because the king had killed his father. After wiping out the entire Kshatriya line, Parashuram said, “Now it is time for me to meditate.” He started meditating and he gave up his life-breath in a state of trance.

Somehow, though, our Kshatriya line was revived and it came to pass that even the highest spiritual Masters were born into Kshatriya families.

The power of the Gayatri mantra

In India, we repeat the Gayatri mantra to gain illumination:

Aum bhur bhuvah svah
tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yo nah pracodayat

Gayatri is a supreme goddess. She is worshipped by Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and all the other cosmic gods. This particular goddess resides inside each and every human heart in the form of a swan. If you meditate and dive deep within, you will see a swan, and that is the goddess Gayatri. The swan is the symbol of God-realisation.

It is said that if you can repeat the Gayatri mantra seven times most soulfully, all your sins will be washed away; all your past wrong karma will be nullified. Again, it is said that if you can repeat the mantra ten times most soulfully, you will realise the Highest; you will attain God-realisation. Finally, if you can repeat it most soulfully seventeen times, you will go beyond God-realisation.

Our philosophy is also self-transcendence. But in the case of the Gayatri mantra, the thing that comes after God-realisation, according to tradition, is quite unexpected. It is said that if you repeat the mantra seventeen times, you will be liberated from the sin of killing a cow or a Brahmin. These two sins are considered the worst possible sins, so their nullification has been placed even above God-realisation in order of importance.

Again, it comes down to the whole question of Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Because the Kshatriyas are powerful, the Brahmins are afraid of being killed by them. So they have found a secret way to ensure their protection!

Parvati is jealous of the Ganga

This is a story about Parvati’s jealousy and insecurity. As you know, the river Ganga descended from Lord Shiva’s matted hair. When it first came down from the Himalayas, it became entangled in Shiva’s hair. Then it passed through his hair and became the Ganga.

During the time when the water was entangled in Shiva’s matted hair, Shiva became very fond of the water. He gave it so much of his attention that his consort, Parvati, became terribly jealous.

“My husband spends all his time touching his hair,” she said, “He does not care for me at all.”

Parvati was consumed with jealousy, and she begged Shiva to somehow get rid of the water that was trapped in his hair. Shiva did not want to comply with her request. He enjoyed having the water in his hair.

Seeing that Parvati was utterly miserable, her son, Ganesha, felt sorry for her. “I cannot bear to see my mother so sad, depressed, morose and miserable,” he said. “I have to do something.”

Ganesha remembered a particular sage named Goutama. Once, during a famine, there was no food anywhere, either on earth or in Heaven. Only this sage had provisions, and so the cosmic gods came to his place to eat. They all loved him and adored him. Ganesha felt that this sage was the only one who could help him release the Ganga from his father’s head and let it flow down onto the land. Ganesha decided to go and see the sage.

Before leaving, he approached one of his mother’s assistants. Her name was Jaya. He said to her, “Please do me a favour.”

“Definitely,” Jaya assured him. “I will do any favour you want.”

Ganesha told her his plan: “I am going to the ashram of the sage Goutama, who kept provisions for the gods during the famine. You will kindly take the form of a cow. In the morning, when the sage takes his cows to graze, I would like you to destroy all the grain that is growing in the fields near his cottage. You must destroy all his fields of grain.”

Ganesha went to see the sage and he was received with great kindness and hospitality. The sage was deeply honoured that a cosmic god had come to stay at his place.

The next morning, when the sage took his cows out to eat the grass, a strange cow came and started destroying all the fields of grain. The sage begged the cow not to destroy the grain, which was his main provision, but this cow was bent on destroying everything. The sage was unable to stop it.

Finally the sage took a single blade of grass and with it he touched the cow’s body. The cow fell down and died then and there. Ganesha and others came running to the spot.

“You are a sage,” cried Ganesha. “How could you kill a cow? It is the worst possible sin to kill a cow, especially because you are a Brahmin! You must pay the penalty for your misdeed!”

The sage felt very sorry for his action and he said, “I want to make amends for this wrongful deed. I am willing to pay whatever penalty you suggest. Please tell me what I should do now!”

Ganesha said, “Invoke Lord Brahma. Whatever advice he gives you will be the best.” The sage invoked Lord Brahma and Brahma came.

Now, Brahma knew how much Parvati was suffering due to Shiva’s preoccupation with the Ganga in his hair. Brahma advised the sage, “If you want forgiveness for what you have done, then you must release the Ganga from Shiva’s hair. Let the waters flow down to earth, and then you must take a bath in the river Ganga. If you can do this, you will be purified and all your sins will be washed away.”

The sage listened to Brahma. He used his spiritual power to bring the water down to earth. When the Ganga was flowing properly, he bathed in it and became purified. Ganesha’s plan worked.

Once the Ganga was no longer entangled in Shiva’s hair, Parvati had Shiva all to herself again and she was filled with happiness.

Vishwamitra begs Vashishtha for forgiveness

There are so many stories about Vishwamitra and Vashishtha. One of them is deeply moving. Vishwamitra wanted Vashishtha to call him Rajarshi or Brahmarshi, meaning “one who has attained the absolute highest”. But Vashishtha refused to use that title when he was speaking to Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra said, “If you do not tell the whole world that I have realised the absolute Highest, then I shall kill all your spiritual children one by one.”

Even then Vashishtha would not address him by that title, so Vishwamitra killed Vashishtha’s one hundred disciples, whom he called his sons.

Still Vashishtha would not declare that Vishwamitra had achieved the status of Brahmarshi. His wife, Arundhati, pleaded with him: “What are you doing? If you just say that Vishwamitra has realised the Highest, what harm is there in it? He has killed all your disciples. I am afraid that if you do not fulfil his wish, he will kill you as well.”

In spite of his wife’s request, Vashishtha remained firm. “No, I cannot do that,” he said. “I am ready to be killed, if necessary.”

Strangely enough, on that particular night Vishwamitra had come to kill Vashishtha. As he stood in front of the door to Vashishtha’s cottage, he overheard Vashishtha’s wife say, “Why do you not want to tell him that he has realised the highest Truth?”

Then he heard Vashishtha’s words of reply: “Because I love him. If I tell him at this stage of his life that he has realised the Highest, then it will be a lie. He will think that he has realised the Highest and yet he will not be able to get the results of the Highest. He will not be able to drink Nectar. Because I love him, I cannot tell him a lie.”

Vashishtha’s words touched Vishwamitra’s heart, and immediately he fell at Vashishtha’s feet and begged for forgiveness. At once Vashishtha forgave him. By touching Vashishtha’s feet, Vishwamitra did reach the Highest.

In those days, that kind of spiritual or occult power the sages had. Sri Aurobindo wrote a story about this particular episode. It is called “The Ideal of Forgiveness.” He described how Vashishtha forgave Vishwamitra even though Vishwamitra had killed one hundred of his disciples. When I was a young boy, I transferred this story into rhyming verse in Bengali. Many years later, I did it in English verse also.

Lord Krishna curses his own son

This is another story about Lord Krishna’s notorious son, Samba. Samba misbehaved to such an extent that Krishna became extremely, extremely displeased with him. He told his son, “You have cast a slur upon our family. You have done countless bad things. I cannot tolerate you anymore. The very sight of you is repulsive to me!”

Krishna went on scolding Samba and insulting him in this manner. Krishna’s wife, Jambavati, was also present. Finally, Krishna’s anger reached its zenith. He said, “I am so disgusted with you that I am cursing you. You will contract leprosy.”

Lo and behold, Samba immediately started suffering from leprosy. His body became disfigured overnight and he was in great agony from the disease.

Lord Krishna’s wife could not endure seeing her son tortured in this way. With tears streaming from her eyes, she approached her husband. “What have you done?” she said. “I cannot bear to see Samba in such pain. He is, after all, our own son.”

Krishna relented and said to his son, “All right, this is what you can do to be cured. First, you have to pray to Surya, the sun god. Then you must bathe in the river Chandrabhaga. When you immerse yourself in the water, you will be cured.”

By this time, Samba could not even get up. He asked pitifully, “How can I go there in this condition, Father?”

“You have to go to the river,” answered Krishna in a stern voice.

Samba began pleading with Krishna. “I know that you have the capacity to cure me right here. Please lift your curse.”

“I am not going to cure you,” said Krishna.

Jambavati appealed to her husband. “You are the cause of his disease. Therefore, you must either take him to the river or cure him here.”

Finally, Krishna agreed to take his son to the river. Because Samba could no longer walk, Krishna carried him the entire way. When they arrived at the banks of the river, Samba prayed to the sun god and then entered into the river. Krishna bathed his son in the water and, when Samba emerged, he found that he was completely cured. Krishna’s curse had been nullified.

In those days, a curse was something to be feared! Nowadays, people curse each other at every second, but their curses do not have any power. Otherwise, so many serious calamities would have taken place. With all the mistakes that we make in our daily lives, we would have died long ago if we had really been cursed. Fortunately, there is no fire inside the words as there was in those ancient times.

Ganesha encircles the universe

The two sons of Shiva and Parvati were called Ganesha and Kartikeya. As time passed, both of them became extremely eager to get married. They begged their parents, “Please, please find us suitable wives. You choose. We are dying to get married. Unless we are happily married, we feel that our lives will be empty.”

Shiva and Parvati were more than happy to fulfil their sons’ request. “We shall find you both beautiful wives,” they promised.

Unfortunately, Ganesha and Kartikeya had a terrible argument. Each of them wanted to get married first. Ganesha wanted to marry before Kartikeya because he was the older of the two, and Kartikeya wanted to marry before Ganesha because he thought that the youngest should get the first chance.

Shiva and Parvati now had a serious problem on their hands. They could not decide whom to please and whom to deny. At last Shiva said, “Let us do one thing: whoever can travel to the ends of the earth and come back first will be married first.”

Kartikeya immediately set out on his journey. His vehicle was a peacock. Three years passed and still he had not reached the ends of the earth. Meanwhile, the pot-bellied Ganesha stayed at home enjoying himself. He knew that he could not hope to keep up with his athletic brother.

When Shiva saw that Ganesha had not even begun the race, he said to his son, “What are you doing? You have not yet even started! Any day, any moment, Kartikeya will come back. What is wrong with you?”

Ganesha remained silent and Shiva continued, “I know what you are thinking. As long as you can get married, it is enough. You no longer care who is first and who is second. That is why you are not in a rush. You have accepted your defeat.”

Ganesha simply smiled at his father and went on with his usual routines. One day, a thought crossed his mind: “I am sure that by now my brother has travelled to the farthest lengths of the earth and is on his way home. Now is the time for me to act.”

He went to bathe in the river and then circled his mother, Parvati. After completing one round, he bathed once more and again circled his mother. Seven times he bathed and seven times he circumambulated her.

“What are you doing, my son?” asked Parvati.

“Have you not read our sacred scriptures, Mother?” Ganesha answered. “The shastras tell us that you are the Divine Mother; you are the whole world, the entire universe. I went around you not once but seven times. That means I have gone around the world seven times. So am I not entitled to marry first?”

“What kind of logic is this?” objected Shiva.

Ganesha presented his argument: “If you do not consider my mother to be the Divine Mother, if you do not believe in the Vedas, then why do you tell people to honour the Vedas? You always say that the Vedas are correct and perfect. How can you justify yourself?”

Shiva realised that his son was right. Parvati was the entire universe. To show that they approved of Ganesha’s action, Shiva and Parvati found not one but two most beautiful wives for him. Their names were Buddhi and Siddhi. Each wife bore Ganesha a son. Ganesha named his sons Labha and Laksha. He was so proud of his family, and they lived the happiest life together.

The grandparents, Shiva and Parvati, were also extremely happy with their new grandchildren. But sometimes a little sadness entered into them when they thought of poor Kartikeya. He had been gone so many years, and they did not know when he would return.

As Kartikeya drew nearer to home, he saw the sage Narada. He said to Narada, “How is everything? Tell me some news.”

“How is everything?” echoed Narada. “Why are you so late?”

“What do you mean?” asked Kartikeya. “Has Ganesha already returned?”

“Yes,” said Narada. “He is married, he has two wives and each of them has given him a son. How could you allow him to claim the victory?”

Upon hearing Narada’s news, Kartikeya grew furious. He did not accept Ganesha’s interpretation of the shastras at all. He reached home and saw with his own eyes that Ganesha was extremely happy with his wives and sons.

Shiva and Parvati tried their best to console Kartikeya. They promised to find him a beautiful bride. But Kartikeya’s blood was boiling. He declared, “No! I am taking an oath. Since you all fooled me, I am not going to get married at all in this lifetime.”

Henceforth, Kartikeya was known as Kumara, which means “one who is unmarried”.

Having taken his oath, Kumara left his parents’ house to live alone. He did not want to remain with his family any longer because he felt they had all deceived him.

Kumara refused to return home, even to visit his parents. They missed him greatly, so they asked him if they could go and visit him. He agreed that when the night was darkest and there was no moon, Shiva could visit him, and when the moon was at its fullest, Parvati could visit him. He agreed to see them, but only on those two occasions each month, because he was so disgusted with his entire family.