Glimpses of The Devi Bhagavatam: 01. WHEN VISHNU BECAME HORSE-HEADED

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

1. Glimpses of The Devi Bhagavatam: 01. WHEN VISHNU BECAME HORSE-HEADED

  

    Thousands of years ago there was a forest called Naimisharanya. It had been prophesied that when Kaliyuga–the era of Falsehood–would dawn on the earth, a certain area of the forest would remain out of its hold. A number of Rishis had chosen their abode in that area of the forest.

Among them was Suta who had heard from Vyasadeva, the great author of the Mahabharata and several Puranas, many a legend of gods, demons, and men. On behalf of the Rishis, one day Shounaka prevailed upon Suta to narrate to them some of the significant incidents he knew.

“Well, I shall tell you episodes from the Devi Bhagavatam–a Purana that my master Vyasadeva had narrated to his son, Suka. I, too, had the privilege of hearing it. Do you know that Vishnu once lost his head?”

“How strange! We could never have dreamt of such a thing!” said the Rishis in a chorus.

“This is how it happened,” said Suta, and he then narrated the episode.

Once, when the sage Vyasa desired to have a son, he prayed to Lord Vishnu. He was advised by Vishnu to seek the Grace of the Divine Mother, for she alone could alter the destiny of a human being and give him a child even if he was not destined to have one.

Vishnu also told Vyasa that once when he himself was in a crisis–because his head got snapped–it was the Divine Mother who came to his rescue.

Vyasa was curious and wanted to know about the incident. Vishnu told him how it happened. Once he had to launch a prolonged fight against the demons. Aeons passed and there was no respite.

One day, while the demons had fled from the battlefield, Vishnu sat down under a tree. His chin resting on his bow, he fell asleep.

Just then the gods came to seek his sanction for a certain Yajna they proposed to perform. They saw Vishnu asleep. They waited for a while and had no idea how long they must wait.

“O Lord, create a tiny creature who can go near Vishnu and snap the chord of his bow. It would then straighten up. That would wake up Vishnu,” the gods told Brahma.

Brahma created a tiny worm and gave it instructions. The worm crawled close to Vishnu and cut the chord of INDIAN MYTHOLOGY 1. WHEN VISHNU BECAME HORSE-HEADED his bow. It straightened up with such force that it tossed Vishnu’s head off!

The gods stood stupefied. They never expected such a thing to happen. They cried out their shock in many words.

But their guru, Brihaspati, told them, “It is no use shedding tears on what has already happened. The question is how to undo it, or turn the situation to our advantage. Now that this has happened to the mighty Vishnu, and the great Brahma was unaware of the result of his action, we can only look up to the Divine Mother– the supreme source of all power.

The gods sat in meditation and directed their prayers to the Divine Mother. She appeared before them.

“Mother, see what has happened to Lord Vishnu. How could such a thing happen?” asked gods, who appeared baffled.

“Surely, nothing happens without a cause. Once Goddess Lakshmi, gazing at Vishnu’s charming face, thought, ‘What if this head disappeared?’ That was just a fancy. But whatever idea flashes in the mind of a god or a goddess becomes a force. Lakshmi’s fancy, too, became a force and worked itself out.”

The Divine Mother continued: “But that is not the only cause of this unusual situation. Once a horse-headed demon prayed to me for a queer boon. I had to grant it. He would not die unless someone who had a physical form similar to his faced him in a battle. The demon was sure that a second creature like him could not be possible. He was not wrong, for no mortal could assume his form. He became a terrible menace. Here was the opportunity for Vishnu himself to put an end to the menace with a horse’s head on his neck.”

The Divine Mother, after giving this message, disappeared. The gods then arranged for a horse’s head to be put on Vishnu’s body. Called Hayagriva or the horse-headed, Vishnu advanced upon the demon’s domain. A fierce battle ensued, ending in the demon’s death.

Thus had the accident that had befallen Vishnu become a blessing for those who were harassed by the demon.