Bahula
Shakti Peeth, Ketugram – Legends
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 left foot of Sati fell here. According to other
sources, the left arm of Sati fell here.
These places commemorating
each body part came to be known as the Shakti Peethas. Shakti Peethas are holy abode of
the Mother Goddess. Each temple have shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava. 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 on
married Parvati.
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