The Story of Narakasura

The significance of Deepavali is different in different parts of India. In the north, Deepavali is celebrated to commemorate the reception accorded to Lord Sri Rama on his arrival with Sita Devi at Ayodhya after vanquishing the 10 headed rakshasa Ravana, who had abducted Sita Devi. In the south, especially in Tamil Nadu, Deepavali is the celebration to commemorate the reception accorded Lord Sri Krishna after he vanquished Narakasura and Deepavali is otherwise known as Naraka chaturdashi. In Karnataka the Prathama after Deepavali is also celebrated as Bali Padyami in honour of the asura Chakravarthy Mahabali who was sent to Patala by Lord Mahavishnu in his Vamana Avatara.

Narakasura was a demon king who ruled from Pragjyothishapura which is today’s Assam.There are two versions about Narakasura’s birth. In one version it is said that he was the son of the demon king Hiranyaksha and in another version he is described as the son of Lord Mahavishnu.

The demon king Hiranyaksha was terrorising the three worlds, the earth, the sky and the nether world (Patala).The devas were terrorised by him and they all prayed to Lord Mahavishnu to bring an end to his evil ways. Mahavishnu promised to rescue them from Hiranyaksha and went in search of him. Hiranayaksha taking the form of a wild boar went to hide in the Patala taking Bhudevi (earth) with him. While the boar was carrying Bhudevi on his tusks, Bhudevi became pregnant by the touch of the tusk and gave birth to Narakasura. Bhudevi was stricken with grief for having given birth to an asura and went to Lord Mahavishnu carrying the baby and asked for the salvation of the asura son. Lord Mahavishnu gave His blessings and said none other than me can kill this son of yours.

In another verison it is said that as Hiranyaksha ran carrying Bhudevi in his tusks, Lord Mahavishnu took the form of Varaha and went to Patala and rescued Bhudevi, slaying Hiranyaksha. After rescuing Bhudevi, Lord Mahavishnu in Varaha Avatar married Bhudevi and Narakasura is the son of Lord Mahavishnu and Bhudevi.

Narakasura true to his name, terrorised the Devas and Gandharvas and humans and imprisoned 16000 women from all the worlds. He harassed the Devas in heaven and stole the kundalas (ear drops) of Devi Athithi. All the Devas went to Lord Mahavishnu and prayed for the end of Narakasura. The Lord answered their prayers and promised to kill Narakasura.

Thus in Lord Mahavishnu’s incarnation as Sree Krishna, He along with his consort Satyabhama went to Pragjyothishapura to kill Narakasura. A fierce battle took place in Pragjyothishapura at the end of which Narakasura was slain. Again there is a different version in which it is said that it was Sathyabhama who killed Narakasura to avenge the insult on Devi Athithi. Sree Krishna released all the women imprisoned by Narakasura and brought them to his place.

People rejoiced at the end of the wicked Narakasura and there was celebration all over and a joyous reception was given to Lord Sree Krishna and Sathyabhama on their return. To this day, Narakachaturdashi is celebrated as Deepavali from then on.

Lord Sree Krishna’s Birth

As we celebrate Janmashtami, here is the story of Sree Krishna’s birth. Sree Krishna took birth on this earth as the 9th incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu’s 10 incarnations (Dashavathara). Among all the incarnations that Lord Mahavishnu took, Sree Krishna’s incarnation is the most liked by children as He, when he was but a child, performed many miracles and killed many demons and his childhood in Nandgaon, Gokul and Brindavan is well documented in our epics.

Sree Krishna was born as the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva. Devaki was the sister of Maharaja Kamsa, the king of Mathura. Kamsa was known as a very cruel king having imprisoned his father Ugrasena to ascend the throne of Mathura. However Kamsa was very affectionate towards his sister Devaki and performed the marriage of Devaki with Vasudeva in a grand manner. On the marriage day, as the bride and groom were taken in a procession in a decorated chariot driven by Kamsa himself along the streets of the capital city, there was a divine announcement from the heavens. The voice said, “Hey Kamsa, You will be killed by the eighth son of this couple, Devaki and Vasudeva.”

Kamsa was at once overcome by fear and ordered that the couple be killed. Vasudeva pleaded with Kamsa to spare their lives and promised to hand over all the babies born to them. Kamsa then put both Devaki and Vasudeva  under rigorous imprisonment under the constant vigil of his loyal soldiers. As each child was born to Devaki and Vasudeva, Kamsa would kill it. Devaki pleaded with her brother to allow her older  children to live as the divine voice had prophesied that only the eighth son would kill Kamsa. But Kamsa was very adamant and did not allow any of Devaki and Vasudeva’s children to live.

When Devaki was expecting her seventh baby, the growing foetus from Devaki’s womb was transferred to Rohini’s womb, who then gave birth to Balarama. Rohini was the first wife of Vasudeva.

When Devaki was pregnant with her eighth child, Kamsa became more strict in his vigil. Finally the day arrived. It was the eighth day after full moon in the month of Shravana and the star was Rohini. There was torrential rain with thunder and lightning. Lord Krishna was born  in the prison cell. When the baby was born, there were many divine signs proclaiming that the baby born was a special child. The baby was born with Shankha and Chakra mudras in his hands. The chains with which Devaki and Vasudeva were tied came loose. The prison gates opened on their own. The guards fell asleep. Vasudeva heard a divine voice telling him to transport the new born baby to Nandgaon where his friend Nandagopa’s wife had given birth to a baby girl at the same time. The voice guided Vasudeva to leave his baby at Nandagopa’s wife’s bedside and in exchange bring her girl baby back to the prison.

While Devaki was still asleep after the baby’s birth, Vasudeva placed the new born baby in a wicker basket and carried the baby across the river Yamuna to Nandgaon. The river Yamuna was in spate because of the incessant monsoon. As Vasudeva stepped into the  swirling waters of the Yamuna, the waters parted and gave way so Vasudeva could cross the river. Aadisesha, the many hooded serpent, on whose coils Lord Mahavishnu reclines in the Ocean of Milk, spread his hoods over the wicker basket to protect the baby from the rains. Vasudeva crossed Yamuna and reached Nandagopa’s abode and exchanged the babies when every one was fast asleep. Vasudeva brought the baby back and placed her by the side of Devaki.

As the baby girl started crying, the guards woke up from their sleep and informed their master Kamsa about the baby’s birth. Kamsa came to Devaki’s cell with his sword to kill the eighth child of his sister, the one he thought would be his killer. Devaki once again pleaded with her brother to allow the baby to live as it was a girl baby. Kamsa snatched the baby from Devaki’s hand and drew his sword to kill the baby, when the baby freed herself from Kamsa’s hands and took the form of Mahamaya and said, “Hey Kamsa, I am Mahamaya. The eighth child of Devaki, who would kill you is safe elsewhere. Wait for the day he kills you.” So saying, Mahamaaya disappeared.

Story of Parikshit

It is not easy to tell story of Parikshit in the “short story” version and yet we used to ask our Echiyamma to tell us this story time and again. It is much later that I realized there is a different angle to the whole story. I particularly like the way it is narrated on this website.

This is my Echiyamma’s version.

Maharaja Parikshit  was the grandson of Arjuna and the son of Abhimanyu. He was a noble king. Once he went hunting with all his soldiers. After some time the Maharaja lost his way and was wandering in the forest. The Maharaja was very thirsty and tired and was looking for a drink of water. Finally, he saw a hut in the distance. With great difficulty the Maharaja reached the hut. It was the ashram of the sage Sameeka. The Maharaja went inside the ashram and seeing the rishi, asked him for water. Sameeka who was deep in meditation did not hear the Maharaja. The Maharaja who was exhausted by thirst asked Sameeka repeatedly for water but the sage would not reply. Seething with anger at Sameeka’s silence, the Maharaja stepped out of the Ashram. As he was coming out, he saw a dead snake lying on the ground. The Maharaja wanted to teach Sameeka a lesson. He lifted the dead snake with a stick and put it around the rishi’s neck and left.

Some children playing nearby saw the Maharaja leaving the Ashram in a fit of anger. They went and looked inside the ashram and saw the rishi meditating with a dead snake around his neck. They informed the rishi’s son of what they saw. Unable to believe what his friends said, the son went inside the ashram and was overcome with anger and grief that a rishi like his father should be treated this way by a Maharaja. He ran in the direction of the Maharaja and cursed him that he would die of  snake bite within seven days.

When Sameeka came out of his meditation, his son told him of what happened and the sage was very sorry to hear of the curse. He realized however (by his yogic vision) that the Maharaja was destined to die by the bite of the poisonous snake Takshaka. He knew that there was no way to save the Maharaja at this juncture. He sent one of his disciples to the Maharaja to tell him of the curse and his destiny.

By this time, the Maharaja was also overcome by grief at his own misbehavior and when the disciple told him of his curse, he thought he had been given the right punishment for his rash behavior. He wanted to spend the last seven days of his life in prayers so that he would attain moksha. His courtiers advised him to spend the time in a tall tower built in the middle of the sea so that no snake could enter the tower. The Maharaja was however resigned to his fate but agreed to the advice of his courtiers. A tower was built and the Maharaja spent his days in the company of great sages there listening to the stories of all great people. All his subjects went to meet him there. On the seventh day, one of his subjects offered him a fruit. As the Maharaja bit into the fruit, a small worm fell from it and immediately grew into a big snake that bit the Maharaja’s toe. The Maharaja attained the feet of the Lord Mahavishnu with the name of the Lord in his lips. Thus even on a tall tower, a worm can take one’s life if that was one’s preordained fate.

Matha, Pitha, Guru, Deivam

We were all taught early in our life that our parents and teacher are the living Gods visible to naked eyes, with whom you can interact. While we were taught to pray in front of an invisible entity called god visble entities  are required for children to imitate, learn, worship love etc. When a child is born it knows only the mother, then the father steps in and later the teacher. Via this teaching, the child is told to treat them as equal to god. Prayer as a daily ritual was inculcated from a very early age and as soon as children were able to understand, they were asked to do namaskaram to Ummachi (God).  So they would join the mother/grandmother/other elderly people in their prayers.  Thus it was very easy for the child to relate to God from early childhood. The following story was narrated to teach them the importance of being respectful to their parents (read elders); that they were here because God cannot  teach them everyday discipline.
Once upon a time, Shiva and Parvati received the gift of a ripe mango. Their children Ganesha and Karthikeya, both wanted the full fruit. The parents were in a dilemma and decided to give them a test: the winner would get the fruit.  They announced, “Whoever goes round the world and reaches back first will be the winner.” Karthikeya immediately set off on his vehicle the peacock. Ganesha with his vehicle Mooshika (mouse) prostrated himself in front of his parents, went around them once and claimed the prize. To the question of how, Ganesha said, “Our parents are the whole world to us. So by going around them once, I have gone around the world.” The happy parents gifted the fruit to Ganesha. When Karthikeya came back after going round the world, he saw Ganesha with the fruit in his hand. His non-understanding of this simple truth upset him so much that he went away to live alone and meditate in the hills of Palani.