DIVINEINFORMATION 2-31 Matsya Purana part ’22
Posted by: "DILIP KUMAR RAVINDRAN" prd...@yahoo.com prdili SunSep 26, 2010 6:48 am (PDT) Taraka ’ ’¹s Tapasya Tarka was hell bentupon defeating the gods. But he realize that, prior to waging war on the gods, he would have tobecome powerful. Such powers could notbe attained but through tapasya. Taraka went to the Pariparta mountains and selected a cave there for hismeditation. For some days Taraka ate nothing, for some more days he survived only on water, andon other days he ate only leaves, everyday he sliced off some flesh from hisbody and offered it to the fire as a token of his devotion. All this hardship pleased Brahma and he appeared beforeTaraka. "Enough is enough," said Brahma. "I am pleased at yourdevotion. What boon can I grant you?" "I want tofight with the gods," replied Taraka. "The gods have been giving the demons a hard time and I intendedto reverse the tide. Please grant methe boon that I may beinvincible and immortal." "Immortality is not a boon that can begranted to any living being." Said Brahma. "All living beings must die. if you want, setfairly difficult conditions for yourdeath "In that case, please grant me the boon that I can only be killed bya seven year old child," requestedTaraka. Brahma gladly granted this boon. The War Between the Gods and the Demons Fortified with Brahma ’ ’¹s boon, Tarakastarted to rule the demons. After someyears had passed and after Taraka had raised a strong army, he decided to attack heaven. A huge army ofdemons was accordingly raised. Therewere thousands of elephants, horses and chariots in the army. Apart from Taraka, the major generalsin the army were Jambha, Kujambha,Mahisha, Kunjara, Megha, Kalanemi, Nimi, Mathana, Jambhaka and Shumbha, Diverse were the weapons thatthe demons armed themselves with. The gods alsoprepared themselves for the war, having first appointed Yama astheir general. Yama rode into battle on a bufflao. Indra had his chariot, driven by his charioteer Matali.The fire-god Agni rode on a goat andVaruna, the lord of the oceans, rode a snake. Amongst the other gods who werein the army were Chandra, Surya and Kubera, the god of prosperity and wealth. The war wasterrible to behold. The trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses and the beating of drumsmade a terrible racket Above all thisthere was the noise of weapons clanging and bows twanging. Chariots fought with Chariots, elephants withelephants, horses with horses and foot-soldiers with foot-soldiers.Thesky was thick with spears, maces,axes, swords, tridents, clubs and arrows flying around. Dead bodieslittered the battlefield and rivers of blood began to flow. Yama fought a fierce duel with a demon namedGrasana and Kubera fought with Jambha. Kujambha also fought with Kubera and putKubera to flight. Kalanemi foughtwith both Chandra and Surya. The two Ashvinis received a sound thrashing at Kalanemi ’ ’¹s hands. The news that the gods were being slaughtered reachedVishnu and Vishnu joined the fight. Thedemons immediately attacked Vishnu, but were no match for him. One of Vishnu ’’¹s maces knocked Kalanemi unconscious.Vishnu ’ ’¹s cakra sliced off Grasana ’ ’¹s head. Jambha did manage to knock Vishnu unconsciouswith a club. But Indra slew Jambha witha divine weapon. The trouble however was with Taraka. When hecame to fight, the gods had no option but to flee. Those who did notflee were captured and imprisoned. Thedemon won a resounding victory. Brahma ’ ’¹s Advice Those of the gods who had survived the battle and werestill free started to pray to Brahma. "What can I do for you?" askedBrahma. Why are all of you looking so despondent?" "You are the one who is responsible forour misfortune," replied the gods."You have granted Taraka a boon that has made him virtually invincible. Armed with this boon, he isoppressing the universe and has soundly thrashed us. Whatare we to do now?" "There is no cause for such despondency," said Brahma. "Taraka is not immortal. He will be slain by a seven year oldchild. Unfortunately that child has not yet been born. He will be theson of Shiva. The problem is that Shivais unmarried. He was earlier married to Sati, but Sati immolated herself at the time of a yajna. Shehas now been reborn as Parvati.The task at hand is to get Shiva and Parvati married. Their son will kill Taraka." It was necessary tomake Shiva fall in love with Parvati. Madana, the god of love, was sent by Indra to Shiva ’ ’¹shermitage so that this might beachieved. But because this disturbed Shiva ’ ’¹s meditation, Shiva burnt Madana up. Meanwhile, Parvatihad begun to perform tapasya so that she might have Shiva for a husband. For one hundred yearsmore, she ate only one leaf a day. Andfor the final hundred years, she meditated fasting. The seven great sages went and told Shiva about Parvati ’ ’¹s tapasya andShiva agreed to marry Parvati. The marriage took place amidst agreat deal of fanfare. All the riversand the mountains came to attend the ceremony. So did the sages, the gods, the gandharvas, the apsarasand the yakshas. Brahma himself actedas the priest for the marriage ceremony. Posted to google groups on 2-12-2021 by R,Gopalakrishnan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/422642123.4975262.1638416021943%40mail.yahoo.com.
