Aum Rudraya Namaha!

7

Daksha’s Yajna

More fiery is He than fire,

More cool is He than water,

None fully understands His mercy.

Aloof He may be but close to His devotees,

More than a mother, tenderhearted is He.

SAINT THIRUMOOLAR

Once a great yajna, or fire sacrifice, was performed by the sages who assembled at the sacred confluence of the three rivers, Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati, which is known as Prayaga. Lord Shiva had also come there, accompanied by his wife Sati. All those assembled there rose from their seats and paid obeisance to him. They seated him with great honor and eulogized him with great devotion. Soon after, Daksha came into the hall, and everyone rose to honor him. Shiva, however, remained in his seat. Daksha, who had become arrogant due to his status in the world, was incensed by this mark of disrespect from his own son-in-law.

Angrily he spoke, “How is it that when the rest of the world gives me respect, only this man who is my son-in-law arrogantly refuses to honor me? He is totally uncultured and mannerless. But then, what can you expect of one whose attendants are goblins and ghosts? He lives in cremation grounds and wears serpents for garlands. He may be my daughter’s husband, but I’m going to curse him.”

Then turning to the others he proclaimed, “Listen, all of you. From this day onward, let this Shiva, who lacks nobility of birth and pedigree, who frequents cemeteries and burial grounds, be expelled from all sacrifices. Henceforth none of you should give him a share of any sacrifice!” Brighu was one of the sages who acquiesced to these stupid words of Daksha. Shiva said nothing, but his beloved attendant Nandi, who could take on the form of his vehicle, the bull, rose and denounced Daksha in forcible terms.

“O foolish Daksha,” he said, “how dare you curse Lord Shiva, whose very presence sanctifies all the worlds. He is Mahadeva, the great Lord by whom the universe is created, sustained, and destroyed. One glance from him is enough to reduce you and your entourage to ashes. The fact that he doesn’t do it now shows the extent of his mercy. But beware! You will soon have your pride reduced to ashes!”

Daksha was furious with Nandi for daring to rebuke him publicly, and cursed him as well as all of Shiva’s attendants. “All of you will be condemned as heretics and will be cast out of Vedic society. Matted hair, ashes, and skulls will be your ornaments. You will be expelled from all Vedic rites.”

Hearing this, Nandi was furious and cursed them all in return. “O foolish people, the great Lord Shiva has been cursed by evil-minded sages like Brighu because of their pride in being Brahmins. But I tell you, these Brahmins who are indulging in lust, anger, covetousness, and pride will become shameless beggars. They will be perpetually poor and will go even to the houses of the Shudras for the sake of money. Due to their greed for money they will fall into hell and be born as rakshasas (demons). Daksha’s handsome face will soon disappear and be replaced by the face of a goat.”

On hearing this exchange of curses, there was a hue and cry amongst those assembled. Only Shiva was unperturbed. Very sweetly he turned to Nandi and asked, “O dear one, why have you become so angry? Daksha cannot curse me for I myself am the sacrifice, the sacrificial rite, the adjunct of the sacrifice, and the very self of the sacrifice. Who is Daksha? Who are you? Who are all these people? In reality I am all. Knowing this you should not grieve, nor should you curse anyone. Daksha has done this through his ignorance, for which he will be forced to pay a heavy price. But you are my devotee and should be free from anger and other negative emotions.”

Hearing these wise words of his master, Nandi became calm and free from anger. After this unpleasant scene, Shiva returned to his abode accompanied by Sati and the ganas. Daksha and his followers also returned to their respective abodes. He was seething with anger against Shiva and waiting for an opportunity to put his curses into practice.

In order to insult Shiva, Daksha started a great yajna to which he invited all the gods, sages, and celestial beings. Needless to say, he deliberately avoided sending an invitation to Shiva. Brahma and Vishnu were invited and brought in state to the grand yajna, the likes of which had never been seen by anyone before. The place where Daksha held his sacrifice was called Kankhala, near modern Haridwar, presently known as Kankhal. Since Shiva was not invited, his daughter Sati was also left out, though formerly she had been Daksha’s favorite. To house the august assembly of gods, sages, and emperors, Visvakarma, the divine architect, created many beautiful mansions.

The sage Dadichi, a devotee of Shiva, spoke forcibly to Daksha, “O Daksha! This sacrifice will be incomplete and imperfect unless Shiva is invited. Go immediately with the sages and bring the great Lord along with Sati to this place. He is the source of all auspiciousness. Without him, everything will be inauspicious and imperfect.”

Daksha replied haughtily, “Vishnu, who is the prime cause of this cosmos, who is the source of all virtues, has graced this place by his presence. Brahma, the grandfather of all the worlds, has come, along with the Vedas and the Upanishads. Indra, the king of gods, as well as the celestial sages have come with their retinues. What is the necessity of having Shiva here? He is of ignoble birth, the Lord of goblins, ghosts, and spirits. I gave my beloved daughter to him only at the bidding of Brahma. He is totally unworthy of being invited to this noble assembly.” Dadichi cursed Daksha, told him that his destruction was imminent, and stalked out of the yajna, followed by some of Shiva’s other devotees.

In the meantime, on the mountain of Gandhamadana in the Himalayas, Sati was engrossed in sport with her friends. Suddenly she saw her sister, Rohini, traveling in an aerial vehicle accompanied by her husband, Chandra, the moon deity. She asked her friend Vijaya to find out their destination. They told her of the details of Daksha’s sacrifice to which all beings had been invited, and to which they were now proceeding. Now Sati saw that all the rest of her fifty-nine sisters and many other celestial beings were also proceeding in the same direction. “Why has my father not invited my husband and me?” she thought to herself. “It must be an omission on his part. Let me go and ask Shiva about this.”

So thinking, she ran to Shiva and told him the whole story. Shiva, who knew everything, looked pityingly at his beloved Sati, took her lovingly on his lap, and asked her what was troubling her. She said excitedly, “My Lord, my father is conducting a great sacrifice to which everybody is going. Why are we not going? Please let us go. I earnestly request you to go with me.”

“My dearest one, don’t you realize that those who go uninvited to another person’s house are sure to be shown disrespect. We have not been invited, and so we should certainly not go for the yajna.”

Sati’s normally dark color became even darker and her black eyes flashed brilliantly at hearing these words of Shiva, and she said, “If you, O Lord, by whose presence all sacrifices become auspicious, have not been invited, then my father is surely guilty of a terrible crime. I must go to this sacrifice and ask him, as well as all those present there, why they have gone to a sacrifice to which you, Lord of all the worlds, have not been invited. So please give me permission to go.”

Shiva realized that if he denied her, she would pine and die. He also knew that if she went, death awaited her. Sadly, he gave her permission to go. He told her to mount his own vehicle, the bull Nandi, and sent sixty thousand of his attendants to wait upon her and guard her if need arose. Sati bedecked herself and set out for her father’s home with all the paraphernalia of royalty. The attendants followed her, holding the white umbrella of royalty above her head, waving gaily-colored banners and yak fans, and blaring conchs and trumpets. Shiva sadly watched her departure, knowing that he would never see her in this form again.

Sati reached her father’s mansion, which was abounding with wondrous sights, and descended from Nandi and went inside alone. Her mother, Virini, and sisters greeted her with great delight, but Daksha pretended not to see her. Sati looked around and saw all the great souls of the world assembled there. She saw that seats had been allotted to all the deities except Shiva, and she became furious. Her eyes burned like red-hot coals and flashed with blue fire. Her tresses that had been tied became loose and disheveled. Her third eye, normally invisible in the middle of her forehead, opened and began to throb and quiver. Her aspect was fully that of Kaali, or the Destroyer.

In a thunderous voice she asked Daksha, “How is it that my husband, whose presence alone can make all functions complete, has not been invited? Any rite performed without him will be impure. I am ashamed to see how senseless and mean my own father has become.” Turning to Vishnu, Brahma, and the other gods, she unleashed the full power of her anger on them, “Are you all so dense that you don’t realize the greatness of Shiva? How could you come to a place that has been defiled by not having his holy feet step there?”

All kept quiet, but Daksha retorted, “Who asked you to come here when you were not invited? Knowing Shiva to be a coarse and uncultured type with indecent apparel and rude manners, I deliberately refrained from inviting him here. I rue the day that I gave you to that barbarian. However, now that you have come, you may stay. Kindly calm yourself and take your share of the sacrifice.”

Sati was filled with anger and sorrow. “I scorn to accept your offer, O Daksha!” she flashed at him with fiery eyes. “My husband told me not to go. He warned me that I would be insulted but alas! I did not heed his words for love of you, my father. But now I see that you are despicable. I cannot bear to remain in this body that has come from you. No longer can I bear to be called Dakshayani (daughter of Daksha). Therefore I shall give up my body here and now, in front of all of you. I can never return to my beloved Lord with this body that has now become defiled. All those who reproach Shiva and all those who listen to these reproaches will go to hell, unless they remove themselves instantly from this hall.”

Repentant, she thought of how she had overridden her Lord’s advice not to go to the sacrifice. Turning to her father once again she said, “Shiva has matted hair, carries a skull in his hands, and resides in cremation grounds, but even the gods and sages keep the dust of his feet on their heads. You are wicked in every respect. I will have nothing further to do with this body born of you. This body born of your seed, I shall cast off as a corpse. It is worthy of contempt.” So saying Sati retreated into silence. Turning to the north, she sat in yogic trance, covering her entire body with her upper garment. Fixing her mind on her Lord, she balanced the prana (inward breath, life force) and apana (exhalation) within her body, and lifted the udana (upward moving air) from her navel, taking it through her heart chakra and then into her throat chakra, and finally fixing it in the ajna chakra (spiritual center) in the middle of her forehead between her brows. Remembering her Lord alone, she left her body and entered the celestial regions.

There was a big commotion when Sati left her body. Everybody cried, “Fie on Daksha! Fie on this sacrifice!” and so on. Hearing the loud lamentations, the ganas of Shiva, who had been waiting at the door, now rushed in and started to shout and cry. With furious upraised weapons they charged Daksha and others and started to kill them. Some killed themselves because they feared Shiva’s wrath if they returned without Sati. On seeing this, the sage Brighu invoked many fearful spirits in order to stop the onslaught. Thousands of powerful spirits, called Rbhus, rose up, and a terrible fight ensued between the two parties, which ended in the ganas of Shiva being routed. They were forced to run for their lives back to Kailasa. At that time, a celestial voice declared that Daksha’s sacrifice was doomed to end in a terrible way.

“Since Sati, mother of the universe, and Shiva, father of the universe, were not propitiated by you, misfortune shall befall you.” Hearing this ethereal voice, everyone was stunned and stood aghast. Most of the people left the place. Others advised Daksha to propitiate Shiva immediately before further harm came to him.

Aum Namashivaya!