Ambika Devi Temple, Nirmand –
Legends
Sakthi Peethas:
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 were 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 head of Goddess Sati fell
here. Thus,
the place came to be called as Nirmand (means without head).
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.
Annihilation of Asuras by Ambika
at this place:
As per legend, the asuras
created an atmosphere of terror for the humans and the sages in the Himalayas
during the Satya Yuga. Parasurama came to Nirmand during this turbulent period.
A Naga attacked him and Parasurama cut the Naga into pieces. Parasurama, then
in his rage, eliminated several asuras with his axe. But he could not be able
to overcome all the asuras. When Devas saw that even Parasurama was unable to
kill all the asuras, they approached Lord Vishnu for solution. Lord Vishnu
advised them to get the help of goddess Maha Kali (Ambika). As per the advice
of Lord Vishnu, the devas prayed to Mahakali for protection. Pleased with their
prayers, Devi Ambika fought the demons using her weapons like khapar (bowl),
trishul (trident) and sword and killed all of them. In gratitude, this temple
was built in honour of Ambika.
Parasurama built this temple to
get relief from the sin of killing his mother:
here for relief As per legend, Lord Parasurama
had killed his mother Renuka Devi on the orders of his father, Jamdagni. In
order to get relief from the sin of killing his mother, he built this temple.
Parshuram Kothi:
It is believed that Lord
Parasurama settled the Brahmins at Nirmand in a bid to eliminate the Kshatriyas
from the face of earth. To honour of the Parasurama, the villagers built a
temple called Parshuram Kothi here.
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