Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati – Legends
Sakthi
Peeth:
In Hindu
mythology, Daksha Yajna or Daksha-Yaga is an important
event, which is narrated in various Hindu scriptures. It refers to a yajna (sacrifice)
organized by Daksha,
where his daughter Sati immolated herself. The wrath of
god Shiva,
Sati's husband, thereafter destroyed the sacrifice. The tale is also called Daksha-Yajna-Nasha (destruction
of Daksha's sacrifice). The story forms the basis of the establishment of
the Shakti Peethas, temples of the Hindu
Divine Mother. It is also becoming a prelude to the story of Parvati,
Sati's reincarnation who later marries Shiva. The mythology is mainly told in
the Vayu
Purana. It is also mentioned in the Kasi Kanda of
the Skanda Purana, the Kurma
Purana, Harivamsa Purana and Padma
Purana. Linga Purana, Shiva
Purana, and Matsya
Purana also detail the incident.
Sati-Shiva marriage:
Daksha was one of the Prajapati,
son of Brahma,
and among his foremost creations. The name Daksha means "skilled
one". Daksha had two wives: Prasoothi and Panchajani (Virini). Sati (also
known as ‘‘Uma’’) was his youngest daughter; born from Prasoothi (the daughter
of the Prajapati Manu), she was the pet child of Daksha and
he always carried her with him. Sati (meaning truth) is also called Dakshayani
as she followed Daksha’s path; this is derived from the Sanskrit
words Daksha and Ayana (walk or path).
Sati, the youngest daughter of Daksha, was
deeply in love with the god Shiva and wished to become his wife. Her
worship and devotion of Shiva strengthened her immense desire to become his
wife. However, Daksha did not like his daughter’s yearning for Shiva, mainly
because he was a Prajapati and the son of the god Brahma;
his daughter Sati was a royal princess. They were wealthy nobility and their
imperial royal lifestyle was entirely different from that of Shiva.
As an emperor, Daksha wanted to increase his influence
and power by making marriage alliances with powerful empires and influential
sages and gods. Shiva on the other hand led a very modest life. He lived among
the downtrodden, wore a tiger skin, smeared ashes on his body, had thick locks
of matted hair, and begged with a skull as bowl. His abode was Mount Kailash in
the Himalayas.
He embraced all kinds of living beings and did not make any distinction between
good souls and bad souls.
The Bhutaganas, his followers, consisted of all
kinds of ghosts, demons, ghouls and goblins. He wandered through garden and
graveyard alike. As a consequence, Daksha had aversion towards Shiva being his
daughter’s companion. However, unlike Daksha, Sati loved Shiva as she had the
revelation that Shiva was the Supreme God. Sati won Shiva as her husband by
undergoing severe austerities (tapas).
Despite Daksha's disappointment, Sati married Shiva.
Brahma's Yajna:
Once Brahma conducted a huge yajna (sacrifice),
where all the Prajapatis, gods and kings of the world were invited. Shiva and
Sati were also called on to participate in the yajna. All of them came for the
yajna and sat in the ceremonial place. Daksha came last. When he arrived,
everyone in the yajna, with the exception of Brahma, Shiva and Sati, stood up
showing reverence for him. Brahma being Daksha's father and Shiva being
Daksha's son-in-law were considered superior in stature to Daksha. Daksha
misunderstood Shiva’s gesture and considered Shiva's gesture as an insult.
Daksha vowed to take revenge on the insult in the same manner.
Daksha Yaga:
Daksha’s grudge towards Shiva grew after Brahma's yajna.
With the prime motive of insulting Shiva, Daksha initiated a great yajna,
similar to that of Brahma. The yajna was to be presided over by the sage Bhrigu.
He invited all the gods, Prajapatis and kings to attend the yajna and
intentionally avoided inviting Shiva and Sati.
Dadhichi – Daksha argument:
The Kurma Purana discusses the dialogues between the
sage Dadhichi and
Daksha. After the sacrifice and hymns where offered to the twelve Aditya
gods; Dadhichi noticed that there was no sacrificial portion (Havvis) allotted
to Shiva and his wife, and no Vedic hymns were used in the yajna addressing
Shiva which were part of Vedic hymns. He warned Daksha that he should not alter
the Holy Vedas for personal reasons; the priests and sages supported this.
Daksha replied to Dadhichi that he would not do so and insulted Shiva. Dadhichi
left the yajna because of this argument.
Sati's Death:
Sati came to know about the grand yajna organized by her
father and asked Shiva to attend the yajna. Shiva refused her request, saying
that it was inappropriate to attend a function without being invited. He
reminded her that she was now his wife more than Daksha’s daughter and, after
marriage, is a member of Shiva’s family rather than Daksha’s. The feeling of
her bond to her parents overpowered the social etiquette she had to follow. She
even had a notion that there was no need to have received an invitation in
order to attend as she was Daksha’s favourite daughter and no formality existed
between them.
She constantly pleaded and urged Shiva to let her attend
the ceremony and became adamant in her demands without listening to the reasons
Shiva provided for not attending the function. He allowed Sati to go to her
parents' home, along with his followers including Nandi,
and attend the ceremony, but refused to accompany with her. Upon arriving, Sati
tried to meet her parents and sisters; Daksha was arrogant and avoided
interacting with Sati. He repeatedly snubbed her in front of all the
dignitaries, but Sati maintained her composure.
Because of Sati’s persistence in trying to meet him,
Daksha reacted vehemently, insulting her in front of all the other guests at
the ceremony to which she had not been invited. He called Shiva an atheist and
cremation ground dweller. As planned, he took advantage of the situation and
continued shouting repugnant words against Shiva. Sati felt deep remorse for
not listening to her beloved husband. Daksha’s disdain towards her, and
especially her husband Shiva, in front of all the guests was growing each
moment she stood there. The shameless insult and humiliation of her and her
beloved, eventually became too much to bear.
She cursed Daksha for acting so atrociously toward her
and Shiva and reminded him that his haughty behaviour had blinded his
intellect. She cursed him and warned that the wrath of Shiva would destroy him
and his empire. Unable to bear further humiliation, Sati committed suicide by
jumping into the sacrificial fire. The onlookers tried to save her, but it was
too late. They were only able to retrieve the half-burnt body of Sati.
Daksha's pride in being a Prajapati and his prejudice
against his son-in-law created a mass hatred within himself, which resulted in
the death of his daughter. The Nandi and the accompanying Bhootaganas left the
yajna place after the incident. Nandi cursed the participants and Bhrigu
reacted by cursing the Bhootaganas back.
Destruction of the Yajna by Lord Shiva:
Lord Shiva was deeply pained upon hearing of his wife's
death. His grief grew into a terrible anger when he realized how Daksha had
viciously plotted a treachery against him; but it was his innocent wife who fell
into the trap instead of him. Shiva learned of Daksha’s callous behaviour
towards Sati. Shiva's rage became so intense that he plucked a lock of hair
from his head and smashed it on the ground, breaking it into two with his leg.
Armed and frightening, two fearsome beings Virabhadra and
Bhadrakali
(Rudrakali) emerged. Lord Shiva ordered them to kill Daksha and destroy the
yajna.
The ferocious Virabhadra and Bhadrakali, along with the
Bhutaganas, reached the yajna spot. The invitees renounced the yajna and
started running away from the turmoil. Sage Bhrigu created an army with his
divine penance powers to resist Shiva’s attack and protect the yajna. Bhrigu’s
army was demolished and the entire premises were ravaged. All those who
participated, even the other Prajapatis and the gods, were mercilessly beaten,
wounded or even slaughtered.
The Vayu Purana mentions the attack of
Bhutaganas: the nose of some goddesses were cut, Yama's
staff bone was broken, Mitra's
eyes were pulled out, Indra was trampled by Virabhadra and
Bhutaganas, Pushan's
teeth were knocked out, Chandra was beaten heavily, all of the
Prajapatis' were beaten, the hands of Vahini were cut off, and Bhrigu's beard
was cut off. Daksha was caught and decapitated, the attack culminated when the
Bhutaganas started plucking out Bhrigu’s white beard as a victory
souvenir.
The Vayu Purana do not mention the
decapitation of Daksha, instead it says Yagna,
the personification of yajna took the form of an antelope and jumped towards
the sky. Virabhadra captured it and decapitated Yagna. Daksha begs mercy from
the Parabrahmam (the
Supreme Almighty who is formless), who rose from the yajna fire and forgives
Daksha. The Parabrahmam informs Daksha that Shiva is in fact a manifestation of
Parabrahmam. Daksha then becomes a great devotee of Shiva. The Linga
Purana and Bhagavatha Purana mention the
decapitation of Daksha.
Certain other puranas like Harivamsa, Kurma,
and Skanda narrate the story from the perspective of the
Vaishnava-Shaiva community feud prevalent in ancient times. In these puranas,
there are fights between Vishnu and Shiva or Virabhadra, with various victors
throughout. The story of Daksha Yaga in Vaishnava and Shaiva puranas
end with the surrendering of Daksha to the Parabrahmam or with the destruction
of yajna and decapitation of Daksha.
Aftermath:
As the obstruction of the yajna will create havoc and
severe ill effects on the nature, Brahma and the god Vishnu went
to the grief-stricken Lord Shiva. They comforted and showed their sympathy
towards Shiva. They requested him to come to the yajna location and pacify the
Bhutaganas and allow the Yaga to be completed; Shiva agreed. Shiva found the
burnt body of Sati. Shiva gave permission to continue yajna. Daksha was
absolved by Shiva and the head of a ram (Male goat) meant for yajna was fixed
on the decapitated body of Daksha and gave his life back. The yajna was
completed successfully.
The later story is an epilogue to the story of Daksha
yajna mentioned in Shakta Puranas like Devi Bhagavata Purana, Kalika
Purana and the folklores of various regions. Shiva was so distressed and
could not part from his beloved wife. He took the corpse of Sati and wandered
around the universe. To reduce Shiva's grief, Vishnu cuts Sati's corpse as per
Vaishnava Puranas; whose parts fell on the places Shiva wandered. The Shaiva
version says that her body disintegrated on its own and the parts fell while
Shiva was carrying Sati's corpse in various places. The Yoni (Genitals) of
Goddess Sati fell here.
These places commemorating each body part came to be
known as the Shakti Peethas. There are 51 Shakti
Peethas, representing the 51 letters of Sanskrit.
Some of the puranas which came in later ages gave more importance to their
supreme deity (depending on Vaishnava, Shaiva, and Shakta sects) in their
literature. Shiva went to isolation and solitude for ages and wandered all
around until Sati reincarnated as Parvati,
the daughter of the King Himavan. Like Sati, Parvati took severe austerities
and gave away all her royal privileges and went to forest. Shiva tested her
affection and devotion in disguise. He eventually realized Parvati is Sati
herself. Shiva later married Parvati.
Adi
Sakthi Peethas:
Religious texts like the Shiva
Purana, the Devi Bhagavata, the Kalika
Purana and the Ashta Shakti recognize four major Shakti Peethas
(centres), like Bimala (Pada Khanda) (inside the
Jagannath Temple of Puri, Odisha),
Tara Tarini (Sthana Khanda, Purnagiri, Breasts) (Near Berhampur,
Odisha),
Kamakhya
Temple (Yoni Khanda) (Near Guwahati, Assam) and Dakshina Kalika
(Mukha Khanda) (Kolkata, West
Bengal) originated from the parts of the corpse of Mata Sati in the
Satya Yuga.
This is not corroborated in the Devi Bhagavata,
which lists 108 places associated with Sati's body, though Kamakhya finds a
mention in a supplementary list. The Yogini Tantra, a latter work, ignores
the origin of Kamakhya given in Kalika Purana and associates Kamakhya
with the goddess Kali and
emphasizes the creative symbolism of the yoni.
Kalika
Purana:
According to the Kalika
Purana, Kamakhya Temple denotes the spot where Sati used
to retire in secret to satisfy her amour with Shiva.
The Kalika Purana, an ancient work in Sanskrit describes Kamakhya as
the yielder of all desires, the young bride of Shiva, and the giver of
salvation.
Tantric
Worship:
Vatsyayana, a Vedic Sage in Varanasi during the later
first Century was approached by the King in the Himalayan region (now Nepal) to
find a solution to convert the tribals and their rituals of human sacrifice to
a more socially accepted worship. The Sage suggested the worship of a tantric
goddess Tara that spread towards the eastern Himalayan belt till the Garo Hills
where the tribals worshipped a fertility 'yoni' goddess
'Kameke'. It was much later in the later Brahmanical period Kalika
Purana that most tantric goddess were related to the legend of
'Shakti' and began to be erroneously worshiped as a 'Devi' by the Hindus.
Avathar
of Kamakhya:
Legend also has it that all the 10 goddesses (Kali,
Tara, Sodashi, Bhuvaneswari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi,
Matangi and Kamalatmika) in the temple town of Kamakhya are the avatars / incarnations
of the goddess Kamakhya.
Maha
Sakthi as source of all creations:
According to hallowed tradition, Lord Brahma after
having created the Universe, prided himself on his great accomplishment as a
shining symbol of the supreme force of primordial creation. The Supreme Goddess
was put off by the overweening arrogance of Lord Brahma. In order to suppress
the pride of Lord Brahma, she created a demon out of herself and named him
Kesi. Kesi chased Lord Brahma around the four corners of the universe, with his
mouth wide open and ready to swallow Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma fled and absconded
from the universe. Kesi then built a city named Kesi Puri from which the
ever-reverberant sounds of “Brahma Kunjah” (Kill Brahma) came out.
Lord Brahma, realising his original mistake, retraced
his steps and after giving up his vain pride, offered his fervent prayers to
Mahashakti. Shakthi took pity on Lord Brahma and destroyed Demon Kesi with a
simple blow from her mouth ending in ‘hum’ (the syllable of destruction). In
order to atone for his sins Lord Brahma had to create a mountain out of Kesi’s
ashes and cover it with grass for the cattle. Accordingly, Lord Brahma created
a mountain. The Gods and Goddesses offered their salutations to Mahashakti from
atop the Govardana Mountain created by Lord Brahma. Maha Sakthi pleased with
their prayers burst forth as a spring from an opening atop the hill, and
commanded Lord Brahma to know and understand that this place indeed would be
the very centre of Creation and the Eternal Source of his Creative Power.
Devi had placed the yoni in Kamarupa essentially for the
good of the world. After he was absolved of all his sins, Lord Brahma brought
down a luminous ray of light from the heavens and placed it on the yoni circle.
The yoni is the quintessence of feminity and is a yantra for many Shaktha-based
Tantric Cults in India. Represented as a downward pointing triangle, it stands
for the sacred feminine womb, from which all life springs. The worship of the
Goddess at Kamakhya is in this form of her creative power. She is venerated as
a life giver. Kamakhya Temple happens to be one of the very few Hindu temples
where Goddess Maha Sakthi is worshipped in her reproductive aspect as the
source of all life on Earth.
Narakasura:
Naraka is a prominent figure in the pre-historic period
of Assam. In the Ramayana, he is the lord of Pragjyotispura, (as Assam was then
known) and a friend of the demon king Ravana. In the Mahabharata, he is called
a Danava, the son of Danu. His son Bhagadatta's daughter Banumathi marries the
Kaurava prince Duryodhana and fights on the Kaurava side in the Kurukshetra
War. Bhagadatta is a Sailalaya trya (mountain dweller), Parvatapatih (lord of
the mountains), and his hordes consist of the Kirata (Mongoloid people) China
(Tibetans) and Sagaranupavasin (dwellers of the sea coast). His soldiers are described
as 'golden skinned'. But by the time of the composition of the Purana
literature, they had been assimilated into the Vedic-Brahmanical fold and
assigned a divine origin.
The Puranas depict Naraka as the son of Varaha Vishnu
(the Boar incarnation of the Vedic God Vishnu) and Bhumidevi (Mother Earth).
The Kalika Purana and Upa-Purana, believed to be composed in Assam itself,
further develops this story. Naraka was conceived by Mother Earth during the Varaha
(Boar) Incarnation of the Great God Vishnu but was born aeons later during
Vishnu’s incarnation as Krishna. He grows up in the court of King Janaka of
Mithila (modern Indian state of Bihar) and when he is sixteen years old, his
mother in the form of the Goddess Kathyayini, brings him to the notice of his
father Krishna, the lord of Dwarka.
Krishna brings Naraka to Pragjyotispura (Assam) where
the latter kills Ghataka, the Kirata Chieftain, and drives his followers beyond
the Dikkaravasini. Thereupon, Krishna placed Naraka upon the throne of
Pragjyotispura and enjoins him to worship the Goddess Kamakhya who dwells on
the Nilachal. Blessed by the Goddess Kamakhya, Naraka becomes very powerful.
Gradually, he comes under the influence of his friend King Bana of Sonitpur
(present Tezpur), a staunch Saivite, and develops Asura (demonic) qualities.
Meanwhile, the sage Vasishtha comes to Kamarupa to worship at the shrine of
Kamakhya. But an arrogant Naraka denies the sage access to the Goddess.
This arrogant behaviour of Naraka angers sage Vasishtha
who curses him and says that the Goddess Kamakhya would henceforth be
worshipped according to the Vamachara (left-handed) mode of worship. She would
disappear from his kingdom and without her protection he would soon meet his
end. He even vows to remain in Kamarupa itself till Naraka meets his end and
establishes an Ashram at Sandhyachala. Naraka then attacks Indra, King of the
Devas (divine beings), robs the ear-rings of Aditi, the mother of the Devas,
robs the umbrella of the God Varuna, and kidnaps 16,100 heavenly women whom he
imprisons in his capital city at Guwahati. Driven with arrogance derived from
power, Naraka asks the Goddess Kamakhya to marry him.
Kamakhya promises to be his wife but sets a condition.
She wants Naraka to construct, within a single night, a temple for her on the
Nilachal and build a stairway leading up to it. Naraka was almost about to complete
the task within the stipulated time. This scared Goddess Kamakhya and before
the final steps of the temple were completed, a cock was sent to announce the
arrival of dawn by crowing, very much before the due time for the birth of
dawn. Angered by the crowing of the cock, Narakasura killed the cock (kukura)
on that spot and the place is today known as Kukurakota.
To punish Naraka for his evil deeds, Krishna comes to
Assam and kills him. Sage Vasistha's curse also comes into effect. The earth
opens up and the temple disappears underground. The river Brahmaputra changes
its course and floods all the sacred, Tirthas (holy places) such as Urvasi.
This event, graphically recorded in the Yogini Tantra, a sixteenth century
text; appears to be the description of an actual earthquake, the intensity of
which shifted the bed of the Brahmaputra and caused the temple to tumble down.
Kamadeva, Builder of Kamakhya Temple:
Another tradition has it that the Kamakhya Temple was
built by Kamadeva, the God of Love. According to this tradition, when Lord
Shiva went into deep meditation upon Sati’s death at the yagna performed by her
father Daksha, the Gods grew very worried and anxious about the uncertain
future of the world. They concluded that further creation would only be
possible if the divine union between the Holy Mother and the Divine Father is
made possible once again. In order to bring about this Union, they sent Kama to
shake Lord Shiva out of his Yogic State of trance and thus make him fall for
Parvathi, the daughter of Himavan who the very reincarnation of Sati was.
Kama let his arrows fly from his bow. They struck Shiva
and woke him up from his trance. Furious with the disturbance, Shiva burnt
Kamadeva alive with a single glance. Later at the instance of all the Gods,
Lord Shiva brought Kama back to life. Unfortunately, Kama lost all his charm
and good looks. Lord Shiva however comforted him with these words: “Don’t worry
Manmadha. It was all a part of my divine act. You will regain your good looks
once you build a temple for my beloved Sati at the spot where her vagina fell.
Nilachal:
This hill where the temple was situated, was said to
represent the body of Lord Siva himself, and when Sati's genitals fell on it,
the mountain turned blue and came to be known as the Nilachal or the Blue hill
(Nila meaning blue; Achal meaning mountain).
Kamakhya,
an animist Goddess:
Puranic literature on the other hand refers to the
Goddess on the Nilachal as a primordial Goddess, associated with the fertility
cult. The region of the Nilachal was originally inhabited by the Austric people
who were animists, worshipping nature and natural objects like mountains and
stone as the divine. With the gradual inroads of Vedic Brahmanical religion,
local Goddesses like Kamakhya, were assimilated into the Brahmanical fold and a
Puranic origin was assigned to them. According to the oral tradition, as well
as the Vishnu Purana and Kalika Purana, it was Naraka who initiated the worship
of the Goddess Kamakhya who dwelt on the Nilachal hill in Assam and built the
original Kamakhya Temple.
Koch Bihar Royals was banned
from visiting the Temple:
Within the temple premises, we can also find two full
size representational statues of Malladeva and Sukladhvaj. According to a folk
legend, the Goddess Kamakhya, assuming the form of a beautiful woman, used to
dance within the closed doors of the Temple at the time of the evening prayers.
The Koch king Malladeva and his brother Sukladhvaj desired to see the dancing
Goddess and as suggested by the chief priest Kendu Kalai, they peeped through a
hole in the wall.
She, however, got offended by the intrusion and tore off
the head of the priest and turned the King and his brother to stone. According
to another version, the King and his future descendants were henceforth,
forbidden to cast a look even at her very hill, the Nilachal or they would die.
Even today, descendants of the Koch royal family pass by the hill under the
cover of umbrellas.
Vatsyayana:
Vatsyayana, Vedic Sage in Varanasi was approached by the
King in the Himalayan region (now Nepal) to find a solution to convert the
tribals and their rituals of human sacrifice to a more socially accepted
worship. The Sage suggested the worship of a tantric goddess Tara that spread
towards the eastern Himalayan belt till the Garo Hills where the tribals
worshipped a fertility yoni goddess Kameke. It was much later in the later Brahmanical
period Kalika Purana that most tantric goddess were related to the
legend of ‘Shakti’ and began to be erroneously worshipped as devi by the
Hindus.
No comments:
Post a Comment