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Lalitopakhyana – II
( 2nd Day)
Long long ago, there was a thief by name Vajra in Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu, South
India). He used to steal small things and gradually amassed large quantum of
money. As the wealth accumulated considerably, he wanted to hide it safely and
went to the nearby forest to do so. In a dense part of the forest, he dug a deep pit
and secured the money therein.
However, a hunter by name Veeradanta, sitting on a tall tree observed all this, quite
unexpectedly. After the thief has left the place, the hunter dug out the pit and after
taking only one tenth of the money, he covered the pit, without causing any doubt to
anyone. The hunter’s wife saw the money and knowing how her husband got it, she
said, “It is customary that many Brahmanas visit the home of my parents.
Whenever they saw me, they used to forecast “You will get rich quite suddenly.
Their prediction came true now”.
The hunter Veeradanta planned to purchase meat and wine with the money.
However his wife said, “The Brahmana visitors of my parents’ home used to tell
something more. They cautioned that hard-earned money only will give durable
enjoyment and that the easy money was sinful. Hence let us use this unexpected
and unearned money for charities. After prolonged discussions, the wife’s opinion
won.
Then Veeradanta selected a place of water scarcity and arranged the digging a big
water tank for public use. While the work was in progress, further plans were made
and accordingly, he started the construction of temples for Vishnu and Shiva by the
side of the tank.
When the projects were half way, the money was exhausted. Hence Veeradanta
started spying like a detective to find out the several places at which the thief Vajra
was hiding the stolen wealth. Without causing any doubt to the thief, the hunter
used to take out money little by little from the pits and continued the construction
without interruptions. Along with this, he started to donate the money. However
the hunter did not use the money for himself or his family.
Thus, constantly encouraged by his wife, his charities developed. The Brahmanas of
Kanchi were glad and gave the titles “Dvijavarma” and “Shilavati” to the hunter and
his wife. These titles eventually became their names in vogue.
Some time later, the hunter planned and constructed a city. Instead of giving it his
own name, the hunter named it as “Devaratapura”, as a mark of respect to his guru
“Devarata”.
After a few years, the hunter and his wife died at the same time. The messengers of
Yama (The God of death and the Lord of Hell), and Shiva and Vishnu arrived to take
away the Jivas (the subtle form of life of the dead). Their debate as to who can take
the Jivas could not be settled.
At that time, the sage Narada arrived there. He asked the three groups of
messengers to stop the arguments and revealed another aspect of the code of
6
righteousness thus, “The hunter has performed the deeds of merit (Punya) like
charities, with the money stolen by him. Hence as per the rules of righteousness, he
must move about in the form of a ghost until the death of all the owners of the
stolen wealth. Hence none of you have the right to take away the Jiva.
“Next, his wife was great. She didn’t commit any sin. As she was a devotee of
Shiva, the messengers of the Lord can take away her Jiva.”
Listening to this ruling, Shilavati’s Jiva sat down obstinately, saying “I won’t go to
Kailasha, the abode of Shiva, leaving my husband in the form of a ghost”. She
prayed to the sage Narada, “Sir! Kindly direct me what I have to do to unburden my
husband’s sins”.
Narada was very much pleased with her chastity and fidelity and gave initiation of
Shiva mantra (chant) to her. By her penance, the husband and wife attained the
grace of Shiva and were accepted to stay in Kailasha (Shiva’s abode).
Sometime later, the thief Vajra and the persons from whom he stole the money died.
All the Jivas reached the Hell, the abode of Yama, the god of death, He asked all of
them to assemble and said, “Though you did not intend to do the acts of Punya
(merit), they were performed with your money. Hence you are eligible to stay in
Kailasha (abode of Shiva) for sometime. Hence I ask you whether you choose to
experience either the effect of Punya (merit) or Papa (sin) in the first instance. They
replied in chorus “we opt to experience the effect of merit first. By doing so, we will
have a chance of association with the pious which in turn will wipe out past sins”.
Yama felt glad by their choice and sent them all as the attendants of Dvijavarma at
Kailasha. By his good association, all their sins were washed off and they settled in
Kailasha happily.
Preaching of Bruhaspati
After narrating the story, Bruhaspati said, “Indra! Now you think of your sins”. Indra
once again prostrated to the sage and requested. “Sir! I am unable to realise my
sins. Kindly give me details”. Bruhaspati replied “In the distant past, ‘Diti’, the
second wife of Kashyapa gave birth to a son by name Danu and a daughter named
Rupavati. Danu is the predecessor of the race of Danavas (demons). Rupavati was
married to Brahma (the Creator). Her son was Vishwarupa. He did severe penance.
He had many divine aspects. However he was a nephew of the demons. He was
affectionate towards both the races – the celestials and the demons.
After a while, Indra chose Vishwarupa as his Guru (at that time, Bruhaspati was not
the Guru of the celestials). Indra expected that Vishwarupa would be partial towards
the celestials and that he would destroy the demons. However Vishwarupa was
friendly towards all.
Observing this, Indra suspected that being a friend of the demons, Vishwarupa was
harming the celestials. One day, Indra suddenly went to Vishwarupa and cut off all
his three heads. By doing so, Indra was afflicted by the sin of Brahmahatya (killing
Brahmana). Not only that. Aggrieved by the death of His son, Brahma (the Creator)
cursed Indra. Terrified by these two (Brahmahatya and curse of Brahma), Indra
accompanied by all the celestials, sought refuge at the feet of Vishnu, who
7
contemplated deeply and allocated the effect of Indra’s sins to the earth, the trees
and the women.
As compensation, Vishnu gave the power that the pits of earth could be filled up, the
power that even the trees once cut off could revive and the power of women to
beget children. Thus Indra was relieved of the effect of the sin of Brahmahatya
(killing a Brahmin). However, the curse of Brahma (the Creator) still persisted.
Vishnu called for Brahma and requested Him on behalf of Indra for relief from the
curse. Brahma thought over the same and said, “OK. For the present my curse
won’t take effect”. Vishnu said nothing.
Again Indra became prosperous. However, very soon his pride increased. This time,
Indra was affected by the anger of Shiva and so he was cursed by the sage
Durvasa”.
Listening to all this, Indra recollected the past events and sadly asked Bruhaspati
“Master! What have I to do now”? When the guru was about to reply, a demon
named Malaka invaded the Heaven with a huge army and seized the kingdom. Indra
had to escape in a great hurry.
He went straight to Brahma and prayed to Him for mercy, who also pitied Indra.
However even the Creator could not decide what to do and approached Vishnu along
with Indra and the celestials.
Vishnu thought of the problem deeply and advised them, “You churn the ocean to
get the Goddess of prosperity”. For this purpose, Indra made reconciliation with the
demons and taking their help, he and the celestials churned the ocean. During the
churning, very valuable things emanated from the ocean. At last, Dhanvantari (the
God of Healing) came out holding the pot of Amruta (nectar). Looking at him, the
demons grabbed the pot and started running away with it.
A bitter battle started between the celestials and the demons. There was utter
confusion. Even Brahma and Shiva escaped and reached their abodes.
Observing all this, Vishnu went to a secluded spot and started meditation of Sri Lalita
Devi, who dwells within Him as the aspect of power. Due to this meditation he
manifested as a form of Lalita Devi. Taking this incarnation as an embodiment of
eroticism, Vishnu approached the celestials and demons.
The celestials could realise the form as divine and auspicious. However, due to their
predominating trait of Tamas (ignorance), the demons were enchanted by the
beauty of the form and stopped fighting. She mesmerised them and took the pot of
Amruta (nectar) from them, taking their consent to her to serve the nectar to all.
She asked the celestials and the demons to sit in separate rows. She started to give
the nectar to the celestials only first. Allured by her, the demons sat still stupefied.
By the time the nectar was given to the celestials, the stock exhausted. She
disappeared suddenly.
The demons again started to fight with the celestials. However as the celestials have
already drunk the nectar by then, the demons were defeated.
8
Thus, the Divine Mother who manifested and enchanted the demons was called
MOHINI (the divine entrantress). Shiva, staying in Kailasha came to know of these
events and wanted to note the speciality of the new form of Vishnu. Along with his
consort Parvati, Shiva went to Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu and pressed Him to
show the form of Mohini. Vishnu suddenly disappeared without saying yes or no.
While Shiva was searching for Vishnu, he happened to reach a new place where he
continued to search.
There he heard the music of Veena. He saw a beautiful young lady. Unable to resist
his infatuation, Shiva embraced her. At once a son was born. He was named SASTA
(one who rules). He became a commander in Shiva’s army.
At once the lady disappeared. Shiva realised that she was none else than Mohini, a
form of Vishnu. He applauded her beauty and returned to Kailasha along with
Parvati.
Thus the Divine Mother incarnated as Mohini and granted success of the activities of
the celestials.
Source:Avadhoota Datta Peetham – Mysore
Lalitopakhyana – II
( 2nd Day)
Long long ago, there was a thief by name Vajra in Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu, South
India). He used to steal small things and gradually amassed large quantum of
money. As the wealth accumulated considerably, he wanted to hide it safely and
went to the nearby forest to do so. In a dense part of the forest, he dug a deep pit
and secured the money therein.
However, a hunter by name Veeradanta, sitting on a tall tree observed all this, quite
unexpectedly. After the thief has left the place, the hunter dug out the pit and after
taking only one tenth of the money, he covered the pit, without causing any doubt to
anyone. The hunter’s wife saw the money and knowing how her husband got it, she
said, “It is customary that many Brahmanas visit the home of my parents.
Whenever they saw me, they used to forecast “You will get rich quite suddenly.
Their prediction came true now”.
The hunter Veeradanta planned to purchase meat and wine with the money.
However his wife said, “The Brahmana visitors of my parents’ home used to tell
something more. They cautioned that hard-earned money only will give durable
enjoyment and that the easy money was sinful. Hence let us use this unexpected
and unearned money for charities. After prolonged discussions, the wife’s opinion
won.
Then Veeradanta selected a place of water scarcity and arranged the digging a big
water tank for public use. While the work was in progress, further plans were made
and accordingly, he started the construction of temples for Vishnu and Shiva by the
side of the tank.
When the projects were half way, the money was exhausted. Hence Veeradanta
started spying like a detective to find out the several places at which the thief Vajra
was hiding the stolen wealth. Without causing any doubt to the thief, the hunter
used to take out money little by little from the pits and continued the construction
without interruptions. Along with this, he started to donate the money. However
the hunter did not use the money for himself or his family.
Thus, constantly encouraged by his wife, his charities developed. The Brahmanas of
Kanchi were glad and gave the titles “Dvijavarma” and “Shilavati” to the hunter and
his wife. These titles eventually became their names in vogue.
Some time later, the hunter planned and constructed a city. Instead of giving it his
own name, the hunter named it as “Devaratapura”, as a mark of respect to his guru
“Devarata”.
After a few years, the hunter and his wife died at the same time. The messengers of
Yama (The God of death and the Lord of Hell), and Shiva and Vishnu arrived to take
away the Jivas (the subtle form of life of the dead). Their debate as to who can take
the Jivas could not be settled.
At that time, the sage Narada arrived there. He asked the three groups of
messengers to stop the arguments and revealed another aspect of the code of
6
righteousness thus, “The hunter has performed the deeds of merit (Punya) like
charities, with the money stolen by him. Hence as per the rules of righteousness, he
must move about in the form of a ghost until the death of all the owners of the
stolen wealth. Hence none of you have the right to take away the Jiva.
“Next, his wife was great. She didn’t commit any sin. As she was a devotee of
Shiva, the messengers of the Lord can take away her Jiva.”
Listening to this ruling, Shilavati’s Jiva sat down obstinately, saying “I won’t go to
Kailasha, the abode of Shiva, leaving my husband in the form of a ghost”. She
prayed to the sage Narada, “Sir! Kindly direct me what I have to do to unburden my
husband’s sins”.
Narada was very much pleased with her chastity and fidelity and gave initiation of
Shiva mantra (chant) to her. By her penance, the husband and wife attained the
grace of Shiva and were accepted to stay in Kailasha (Shiva’s abode).
Sometime later, the thief Vajra and the persons from whom he stole the money died.
All the Jivas reached the Hell, the abode of Yama, the god of death, He asked all of
them to assemble and said, “Though you did not intend to do the acts of Punya
(merit), they were performed with your money. Hence you are eligible to stay in
Kailasha (abode of Shiva) for sometime. Hence I ask you whether you choose to
experience either the effect of Punya (merit) or Papa (sin) in the first instance. They
replied in chorus “we opt to experience the effect of merit first. By doing so, we will
have a chance of association with the pious which in turn will wipe out past sins”.
Yama felt glad by their choice and sent them all as the attendants of Dvijavarma at
Kailasha. By his good association, all their sins were washed off and they settled in
Kailasha happily.
Preaching of Bruhaspati
After narrating the story, Bruhaspati said, “Indra! Now you think of your sins”. Indra
once again prostrated to the sage and requested. “Sir! I am unable to realise my
sins. Kindly give me details”. Bruhaspati replied “In the distant past, ‘Diti’, the
second wife of Kashyapa gave birth to a son by name Danu and a daughter named
Rupavati. Danu is the predecessor of the race of Danavas (demons). Rupavati was
married to Brahma (the Creator). Her son was Vishwarupa. He did severe penance.
He had many divine aspects. However he was a nephew of the demons. He was
affectionate towards both the races – the celestials and the demons.
After a while, Indra chose Vishwarupa as his Guru (at that time, Bruhaspati was not
the Guru of the celestials). Indra expected that Vishwarupa would be partial towards
the celestials and that he would destroy the demons. However Vishwarupa was
friendly towards all.
Observing this, Indra suspected that being a friend of the demons, Vishwarupa was
harming the celestials. One day, Indra suddenly went to Vishwarupa and cut off all
his three heads. By doing so, Indra was afflicted by the sin of Brahmahatya (killing
Brahmana). Not only that. Aggrieved by the death of His son, Brahma (the Creator)
cursed Indra. Terrified by these two (Brahmahatya and curse of Brahma), Indra
accompanied by all the celestials, sought refuge at the feet of Vishnu, who
7
contemplated deeply and allocated the effect of Indra’s sins to the earth, the trees
and the women.
As compensation, Vishnu gave the power that the pits of earth could be filled up, the
power that even the trees once cut off could revive and the power of women to
beget children. Thus Indra was relieved of the effect of the sin of Brahmahatya
(killing a Brahmin). However, the curse of Brahma (the Creator) still persisted.
Vishnu called for Brahma and requested Him on behalf of Indra for relief from the
curse. Brahma thought over the same and said, “OK. For the present my curse
won’t take effect”. Vishnu said nothing.
Again Indra became prosperous. However, very soon his pride increased. This time,
Indra was affected by the anger of Shiva and so he was cursed by the sage
Durvasa”.
Listening to all this, Indra recollected the past events and sadly asked Bruhaspati
“Master! What have I to do now”? When the guru was about to reply, a demon
named Malaka invaded the Heaven with a huge army and seized the kingdom. Indra
had to escape in a great hurry.
He went straight to Brahma and prayed to Him for mercy, who also pitied Indra.
However even the Creator could not decide what to do and approached Vishnu along
with Indra and the celestials.
Vishnu thought of the problem deeply and advised them, “You churn the ocean to
get the Goddess of prosperity”. For this purpose, Indra made reconciliation with the
demons and taking their help, he and the celestials churned the ocean. During the
churning, very valuable things emanated from the ocean. At last, Dhanvantari (the
God of Healing) came out holding the pot of Amruta (nectar). Looking at him, the
demons grabbed the pot and started running away with it.
A bitter battle started between the celestials and the demons. There was utter
confusion. Even Brahma and Shiva escaped and reached their abodes.
Observing all this, Vishnu went to a secluded spot and started meditation of Sri Lalita
Devi, who dwells within Him as the aspect of power. Due to this meditation he
manifested as a form of Lalita Devi. Taking this incarnation as an embodiment of
eroticism, Vishnu approached the celestials and demons.
The celestials could realise the form as divine and auspicious. However, due to their
predominating trait of Tamas (ignorance), the demons were enchanted by the
beauty of the form and stopped fighting. She mesmerised them and took the pot of
Amruta (nectar) from them, taking their consent to her to serve the nectar to all.
She asked the celestials and the demons to sit in separate rows. She started to give
the nectar to the celestials only first. Allured by her, the demons sat still stupefied.
By the time the nectar was given to the celestials, the stock exhausted. She
disappeared suddenly.
The demons again started to fight with the celestials. However as the celestials have
already drunk the nectar by then, the demons were defeated.
8
Thus, the Divine Mother who manifested and enchanted the demons was called
MOHINI (the divine entrantress). Shiva, staying in Kailasha came to know of these
events and wanted to note the speciality of the new form of Vishnu. Along with his
consort Parvati, Shiva went to Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu and pressed Him to
show the form of Mohini. Vishnu suddenly disappeared without saying yes or no.
While Shiva was searching for Vishnu, he happened to reach a new place where he
continued to search.
There he heard the music of Veena. He saw a beautiful young lady. Unable to resist
his infatuation, Shiva embraced her. At once a son was born. He was named SASTA
(one who rules). He became a commander in Shiva’s army.
At once the lady disappeared. Shiva realised that she was none else than Mohini, a
form of Vishnu. He applauded her beauty and returned to Kailasha along with
Parvati.
Thus the Divine Mother incarnated as Mohini and granted success of the activities of
the celestials.
Source:Avadhoota Datta Peetham – Mysore