Agora Veerabhadra Swamy Temple, Hanumanthapuram –
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 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 Yagnja, the personification of
yajna took the form of an antelope and jumped towards the sky. Virabhadra
captured it and decapitated Yagnja. 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. This epochal event is said to have unfolded at this
place.
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.
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 on married Parvati.
Shakti
Peethas:
The mythology of Daksha Yaga is considered to be the
story of origin of Shakti Peethas. Shakti Peethas are sacred abodes
of Devi. These shrines are located all over South Asia. Most of the
temples are located in India and Bangladesh; there are a few shrines
in Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. There are 51 Shakti
Peethas as per the puranas denoting the 51 Sanskrit alphabets. However, 52
and 108 are also believed to exist. Shakti Peethas are the revered temples of
the Shakta (Shaktism) sect of Hinduism. It is said that the body part of
the corpse of Sati Devi fell in these places and the shrines are mostly now
associated with the name of the body part.
Out of the 51 Shakti Peethas, 18 are said to be Maha
Shakti Peethas. They are: Sharada Peetham (Saraswathi Devi), Varanasi
Peetham (Visalakshi Devi), Gaya Peetham (Sarva Mangala
Devi), Jwala Mukhi Peetham (Vaishnavi Devi), Prayaga
Peetham (Madhaveswari Devi), Kamarupa Peetham (Kamakhya Devi), Draksharama
Peetham (Manikyamba Devi), Oddiyana Peetha (Girija Viraja
Devi), Pushkarini Peetham (Puruhutika Devi), Ujjain Peetham (Mahakali
Devi), Ekaveera Peetham (Renuka Devi), Shri Peetham (Maha Lakshmi
Devi), Srisaila Peetham (Brahmaramba Devi), Yogini Peetham (Yogaamba (Jogulamba)
Devi), Krounja Peetham (Chamundeshwari Devi), Pradyumna Peetham (Shrinkala
Devi), Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham (Kamakshi Devi), and Lanka
Peetham (Shankari Devi).
