Glimpses of The Devi Bhagavatam: 28. THE SWAYING FORTUNES

 

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

Glimpses of The Devi Bhagavatam:

28. THE SWAYING FORTUNES

Sage Vasishtha, though he was the family priest of King Nimi, rejected his request to perform a yajna for him, and decided to accept Lord Indra’s invitation to conduct another yajna he had arranged.

Meanwhile, Nimi made Sage Gautam his priest and began his Yajna. Sages and holy men, who had been invited to the yajna, were given handsome gifts.

Vasishtha duly concluded Indra’s Yajna and received many gifts. He then went to meet Nimi. His Yajna was about to be over. Tired, he was resting.

When Vasishtha learnt that Nimi had not cared to wait for him, he angrily shouted, “I’m your family priest. You ignored me and began the Yajna with someone else. This is audacious. I’m told you are lying in bed. Continue lying like that till your body becomes lifeless!”

Those who heard Vasishtha’s curse ran to the king and informed him about it. King Nimi, agitated, addressed Vasishtha, “How could you be so unjust to me? Had I not invited you first? But you chose to go to Indra for the sake of rewards! Now you come and curse a sleeping man! Very well, if I am to leave my body, I throw a similar curse on you. You, too, cannot live in your body!”

Vasishtha realised that he had cursed a sleeping man and that was improper. Secondly, it was true that the king could not be blamed entirely. Indeed, he had asked Vasishtha first to preside over his Yajna!

Vasishtha hurried to Brahma and informed him of the curse that hung over his head.

Brahma saw to it that Vasishtha’s consciousness found shelter in the person of Mitravarun. It was long afterwards that a new body was made for him.

Nimi, despite the curse that lay on him, completed the Yajna. Then he left his body. But the sages who had gathered there sat around him and prayed for his consciousness getting back into his body.

The gods appeared and declared that Nimi could not re-enter the same body, but could have a new one. Nimi, however, was not willing to live in a body again. He said, “As long as the body and the consciousness are together, there is no escape from suffering.” He then prayed to the Divine Mother and wanted to remain in everybody’s eyes. The Divine Mother granted the prayer. Nimi became blinking in the eyes of all. That is why the wink is called a Nimish.

From the abandoned body of Nimi was created another body in which lived another soul. Because this new body was created under a special circumstance, the man was called Videha or the special bodied one. It was he who became famous afterwards as King Janaka.

In days gone by there was a dynasty called the Haihayas. The princes of the dynasty were powerful rulers who dominated the earth for a long time.

Kartavirya was a king who hailed from this dynasty. He was as strong as he was religious. He was the richest of all the rulers.

Kartavirya revered the priest of his dynasty, Bhrigu. He was never tired of heaping wealth on the priest. Bhrigu became very rich–next only to the king.

Time passed. The Haihayas fell into lean days after the death of King Kartavirya. Being proud of their wealth, his successors idled away their time. Taking advantage of their mood, their officers stole from the treasury while flatterers exploited them.

Soon the Haihayas were left with nothing. In the meanwhile, the descendants of Bhrigu, called the Bhrigus, had grown immensely rich. The Haihaya princes, in a group, set out to meet the Bhrigus. They wished to get a part of the fabulous wealth of the Bhrigus. As soon as the Bhrigus learnt about the mission of the Haihayas, they fled to the hills along with their wealth.

This infuriated the Haihayas. They invaded the hills. The Bhrigus were not willing to part with their wealth. The princes were determined to possess it. Their quarrel and scuffle reached a climax when the agitated Haihayas massacred the Bhrigus and took their hidden wealth away.

The hermits living in the hills, who witnessed the violence told the Haihayas, “Fie! You princes are expected to protect your subjects. But what’re you doing? You’re destroying the family of your priests!”

“Hermits, you fail to see our point of view. How did the Bhrigus become so wealthy? Isn’t it because of the gifts given by our forefathers? It is the duty of the priests to look after the welfare of their charge. When we the princes are reduced to misery, our priests are sitting over their idle wealth. They even hide their wealth in the caves like robbers. What’s wrong in taking away money from thieves? It is said that money greedily accumulated will one day fall into the hands of either bandits or the king. We’re from the royal family. There’s nothing wrong in our taking hold of this wealth.”

The hermits looked on as the Haihayas ruthlessly plundered the wealth of the Bhrigus. They even tortured the women and children of their priests.

Once again it was demonstrated what untold harm wealth can cause. It destroyed the Bhrigus on one hand and made the Haihayas sinners on the other.

The women of the Bhrigus fled to the Himalayas. They lived in a valley overlooked by huge rocks and passed their time praying to the Divine Mother.

One of them was expecting a child. They were told in their dreams that the child to be born was coming as their saviour– with powers given to it by the Divine Mother.

Soon the child was born. It was a boy who radiated an aura. Great was the joy of the Bhrigu women.

The vengeful Haihayas despatched spies to locate the Bhrigu women. After much wandering, the spies reached the valley where the women lived, but no sooner they looked at the child than they lost their visions!