Aum Bhavanyai Namaha!

6

Parashakti

Ya Devi sarvabhuteshu, chaaya rupena samsthita,

Namasthasyai, namasthasyai, namasthasyai namo namaha!

O Goddess who resides in all creatures in the form of shadow,

Hail to thee, hail to thee, all hail to thee!

Once the creator Brahma went to Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu, and found him in deep meditation. When Vishnu came out of meditation, Brahma asked him a pertinent question:

O Janardana (Krishna, supreme incarnation of Vishnu)! You are the lord of lords! The lord of the present, past, and future! Kindly tell me, who or what is the object of your meditation? I myself have sprung from the lotus that grew from your navel and have been ordered to create. It is due to your will that I have been able to do this. By your command the sun shines and the winds roam, fire heats and clouds shower rain. Then what is the need for you to meditate, and on whom are you meditating?

Hearing his words, Bhagavan Narayana (Vishnu) spoke:

O Brahma! Listen to me carefully. Though it is well known by everyone that you and I and Shiva are the cosmic triad for creation, preservation, and destruction, a little consideration will tell you that these three acts are actually performed by the shaktis or forces of creation, preservation, and destruction. Therefore this force that resides in you, Rudra (Shiva), and me is all-powerful. When these shaktis are absent, then you are powerless to create, Rudra to destroy, and I to preserve. Directly or indirectly we are always under that shakti. At the time of Maha Pralaya, I lie down on my bed—Ananta. At the time of creation I wake up, swayed by that Parashakti’s power of time. It is on her that I meditate, O Lord of Creation! All of us are subservient to her!

O Brahma! Don’t you remember that in one kalpa, the four Vedas were stolen from your mouth and you were searching for them in vain? At last you came to know that they had been stolen by the asura Hayagriva, and you begged me to restore them to you. At that time I had to take the form of a person with the head of a horse in order to kill the demon.

Brahma confessed that he had forgotten that episode and begged to be told the whole story, and Vishnu proceeded to do so.

In ancient days there was a demon called Hayagriva who practiced severe austerities on the banks of the river Saraswati. He repeated the bija mantra of the goddess in her tamasic aspect until she appeared to him, seated on her vehicle—the lion. On seeing her, the asura was greatly pleased and started to hymn her: “Obeisance to thee, O Devi! O Maha Maya! O Parashakti! You are the creator, preserver, and director of the universe. You are skilled in giving boons to your devotees. All things moving and unmoving are fashioned by you.”

Parashakti was pleased with his devotion and asked him to choose a boon. He immediately asked for immortality.

She spoke, “Birth brings death in its wake and death brings birth. This is the inevitable law of life. Therefore, O daitya (demon), ask for some other boon.”

“O Mother! If you do not want to grant me the boon of immortality, then grant me this: that I may be killed only by one who is horse-faced.”

The Devi or Parashakti granted this boon and vanished. The demon then roamed the universe, destroying everything and troubling both gods and humans. He who stole the four Vedas from the mouth of Brahma so that all wisdom disappeared from the world. In despair the gods went to Brahma to ask him to intercede on their behalf and request Lord Vishnu to take an avatara (incarnation) in order to kill this demon who was harassing the world.

Lord Vishnu had to undertake a severe sacrifice in order to fulfill this prayer of the gods. But he is the Uttama Purusha—the supreme person. He is compassion incarnate. He has infinite love for creation and is ever ready to sacrifice himself, if need be, for the sake of the world. For this particular bit of work he would have to acquire a horse’s head, but even this he was prepared to do for the sake of his devotees.

A cause must exist for everything, and therefore Vishnu created a cause. He seated himself in padmasana (the lotus posture) in a beautiful spot and rested his head on the front of his bow, which had been tautly strung. It appeared as if he was fast asleep. At this time the gods along with Brahma came to request his help. When they saw that he was resting, they feared to disturb him. They thought of a clever plan to wake him. Brahma created white ants and told them to eat the string of the bow so that it would break and disturb Vishnu’s sleep. The white ants were not too happy at this order. To disturb someone who is sleeping is said to be a heinous crime, so they wanted to know what benefit they would get out of it. Brahma promised them that at the end of every fire sacrifice they could eat the ghee that had fallen from the sacrificial pit.

Satisfied with this, the insects ate through one end of the string. Immediately the string gave way and the bow flew up with a tremendous sound. The earth trembled, the ocean rose up in huge tidal waves, violent winds began to blow, the mountains shook, and ominous portents like comets and falling meteors were seen in the sky. All the quarters assumed a terrifying aspect. The sun sank down and the entire world was enveloped in darkness. The gods were petrified and did not know what to do. While they huddled together, the darkness slowly disappeared and they were horrified to see the decapitated body of Lord Vishnu lying on the ground. Of the head there was no sign.

They started crying and wailing, “O Lord of Lords! O Eternal One! You are incapable of being cut or pierced or wounded or burnt! How is it that now your head has been cut off? O Lord of Gods! Where are we to go now? Whom shall we approach for help? You have always been our only help and succor. What are we to do now?”

Seeing their plight, Brihaspati, the guru (spiritual preceptor) of the gods, said to them, “O devas! Instead of bewailing your bad luck, start thinking of how you can recoup yourselves and regain what you have lost. Remember that destiny is not all-powerful. It can be overcome by using your intelligence. So start thinking how this can be managed.”

Brahma now said:

However auspicious or inauspicious it may be, that which is ordained by destiny has to be borne by everyone. When one takes up a body, one must experience both pain and pleasure. However, fate can be offset by the grace of Maha Devi. She is Parashakti, the great force, the mother of all, the supporter of all, and ever ready to bless anyone who approaches her. So let us begin to chant her hymns.

Parashakti (the original force) is seated above the mind and will and sublimates them into wisdom. She is the wise one who opens to us the cosmic truths of infinity and eternity. She is ever calm and immutable, for she knows everything. She comprehends everything about creation. Nothing is hidden from her. Her strength is the power of knowledge coupled with the power of action, and thus none can go against her. She is equitable, patient, and unalterable in her will. To the wise she gives luminosity, to the wicked she imposes the consequences of their own wickedness, and with the ignorant and stupid she deals according to the levels of their understanding. She handles everyone and everything at its own level. She is bound by nothing and attached to nothing. But she has the heart of the universal mother, overflowing with a compassion that is limitless and unending. Every creature including the asura is her child. Her so-called punishments are part of her grace. Her sole mission is to build and mold our nature so that it merges into the divine.

Thus Brahma told the gods to approach Maheswari, for she alone was capable of helping them.

So all the gods started to hymn Maheswari: “O Devi! Thou art the merciful mother of the whole universe. No one is able to know your true form. You are the one who has created all of us, including, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, so how can we ever know you, who are the cause of all? You are the knower of everything, so you should know the reason why Vishnu’s head has fallen off. We don’t know where his head has flown off. O thou who gives life to all creatures, kindly bring life to the headless body of Lord Vishnu.”

At this, the gods heard an ethereal voice: “O gods, do not fear. You are all immortal. None of you can be killed, least of all Vishnu, the god of all gods! There is a cause for everything. The asura Hayagriva, who has been troubling all of you, has been given a boon by me, that only one who has the head of a horse can kill him. So go to the divine architect Vishvakarma and ask him to fit the head of a horse on the headless body of Vishnu. Then all your desires will be fulfilled.”

Hearing these words, Vishvakarma cut off the head of a horse and fixed it on Lord Vishnu’s trunk. Vishnu, who had been prepared to sacrifice himself for the sake of the world, now proceeded to destroy the demon Hayagriva, who had been creating havoc in all the three worlds. In this avatara Lord Vishnu took on the name of the asura and hence became known as Hayagriva.

Vishnu as Hayagriva advised the sage Agastya to worship Maha Devi in her form as Lalitha or Kameswari, the queen of desire. The thousand and one names of Lalitha, known as the Lalitha Sahasranama, were given to the sage by Vishnu and are revealed in the Brahmanda Purana. It is one of the most famous poems to Maha Devi and is recited by all Shakti worshippers to this day.

She knew herself the beloved of the Supreme,

These gods and goddesses were He and She,

The Mother was she of beauty and delight,

The word in Brahma’s vast creating clasp,

The world puissance in almighty Shiva’s lap,

The Master and the Mother of all lives.

Watching the world their twin regard had made.

—SAVITRI BY SRI AUROBINDO

Thus ends the sixth chapter of Shakti, known as “Parashakti,” describing the defeat of the asura Hayagriva by Lord Vishnu.

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