Routing Shankhachood

 Routing Shankhachood

 

 One devotee of lord Srikrishna was born as a danav named Shankhachood, as cursed by the queen of Goloka Radha. His wife was a great devotee of lord Vishnu and chanted thousand names of lord Vishnu daily. She had invested her husband with subtle energy of lord Vishnu by putting a spiritual armour round his neck. As a consequence of this spiritual protection, Shankhachood became invincible to all in cluding devtas.

 

 Sage Kashyap married thirteen daughters of king daksh in whose association he begot devtas(sons of Aditi),danavas(sons of danu),daityas(sons  of Diti),serpents(sons of Kadru),garuda and Arun(sons of Vanita),etc. Danu had one son named Viprachitti who was extremely powerful. He begot a son named Dambha who was a great devotee of lord Vishnu. Wishing to have a son he took a mantra to please lord SriKrishna from guru Shukracharya and began penance at a place known as Pushkar. In due course a brilliant light appeared in front of him. This light was so dazzling that even devtas could not understand its origin and purpose. All began to feel restless. They took lord Brahma along and reached the abode of lord Vishnu to seek his wise guidance on the matter.

 “Lord! We are perturbed and deprived of rest. The very cause of this restlessness is not knowable to us all. Please enlighten us about this state and protect us all.” Supplicated the divinefolk.

 Lord Vishnu smiled meaningfully and said,-“Devtas! Calm down. The time of annihilation is not this. The bright aura that confounds you all is that of danav Dambh. He is meditating and chanting my mantra to beget a son. I shall bestow a son to him and everything will be alright.” Hearing the denouement, the divine folk got a respite and dispersed peacefully to their abode.

 Lord Vishnu then, appeared before Dambh and said,-“ Son! I am pleased with you. Seek a boon.” The devotee rolled in the feet of his lord. Words failed him to express his joy. “O lotus eyed lord of mine and all! Please bless me a son who shall be matchless in glory and valour. May he be invincible even for devtas.” Lord Vishnu smiled and blessed him and vanished.

 Sridama, the personal guard of lord Srikrishna in Goloka thus as blessed to his father by lord Vishnu at Pushkar and as cursed by Radha in Goloka took birth as son of Dambh and was named Shankhachood. Being originally a close associate of lord Srikrishna, he remained nonchalant to mundane attractions and sat down to please his lord at Pushkar. Lord Brahma appeared before him.

“Son! Seek a boon” said Brahma. “Father make me invincible for devtas,” Said the danav.

“Be it so.” said father and disappeared. Lord Brahma gave him spiritual shield of thousand names of lord Srikrishna also to protect him against enemies. Lord Brahma also asked him to move to Badrivan where one devotee of lord Krishna named Tulasi was undergoing penance to please lord Krishna. Protected and blessed by Lord Brahma, Shankhachood reached at mount Badri to explore his future.

 Tulasi was a gopi in Goloka who wished to wed Lord Srikrishna. Displeased by his such desire, Radha, the queen of Goloka and the ruling goddess of Lord Krishna had cursed her to be a human being at earth. Although cursed and forlorn, Tulasi still felt unflinching only devotion to lord Krishna.

 As Shankhachood reached at mount Badri, he soon spotted Tulasi sitting in meditation in solitude. Her brilliant spiritual aura attracted him to her. Drawn by her charm, he began to shower praise over her. She however, remained immersed in spiritual wisdom and showed no sign of temptation to the officious and modest suitor. Seeing that he was not following her silent message, she said,-“Gentleman! Women are the seed of delusion. Wise men spend life for charitable purpose and remain inwardly steeped in spiritual wisdom. Please go away.”

 He was more convinced to see her austere state of mind. As mundane methods fail to attract the young maid he had to divulge his divine wisdom,-“In my previous life I was an attendant of lord Srikrishna in Goloka. Cursed by mother Radha have I been born as a son of a danav on earth. But blessed by lord Krishna, I remember everything still.”

 As lily begins to bloom on seeing a full moon so did Tulasi smiled and said,-“O great soul! Your enlighten speech has delighted my heart. Rare is a man who is not defeated by the charming looks of a beautiful young girl. I was merely testing you. It is wise to test a suitor before choosing him as husband.”

 As the two enlightened souls indulged in spiritual discussion, Lord Brahma appeared there.” O son Shankahchood why are you lingering such argument with her? Wed her as both of you deserve each other.” Declare father Brahma the decision, already taken by the destiny. He then addressed Tulasi,-“O saintly Tulasi! Why are you out to test a virtuous suitor like him? Accept him and attain fruition in the life. After this life he shall join lord Krishna in Goloka and you are destined to be the wife of lord Vishnu in Vaikunthalok.”

Thus blessed by Lord Brahma, they got married and began to live together. All danav and daitya celebrated their wedding and ruled by their most powerful and wise king, they rejoiced under him as he took away the best of possessions even from devtas who felt humiliated in front of this mighty danav. Having been so humiliated and deprived of their status devtas prayed to lord Vishnu to restore them their lost empire and glory. As all devtas fervently prayed to Lord Vishnu to rescue them from the humiliating plight, he addressed them all,-“Devtas! This danav was an attendant of lord Krishna in Goloka but cursed by mother Radha, he has been born on earth. Lord Krishna has prescribed his end by the trident of lord Shiv. We all should therefore, approach him.” Thus divulged by lord Vishnu, all reached mount Kailash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Lord Shiv was rejoicing with mother Parvati who had become extremely fair and resplendent after shedding off her darkness. She had given a fragrant betel leaf to lord Shiv which he was chewing with a smile and added taste. Seeing them together in pleasant mood lord Vishnu bowed to them and praised the couple in various ways.

“Lord you alone can help the devtas who are up with the suffering and humiliation caused by this danav.” Said lord Vishnu in the end. Lord Shiv smiled and said in his serene voice,-“devtas! Calm down. Do not fear. I am always there for you. I know everything about him. Very soon I shall kill him in the battlefield. Do not doubt it.” Thus assuaging the anxiety and fear of his guests, lord Shiv infused hope and energy in them.

 After the guests turned away Lord Shiv called for his chief Chitrarath and said,-“Chitrarath! Go to danav Shankhachood. Try to persuade him to return empire and belongings of devtas amicably as one should avoid fight and confrontations.” “Fine my lord.” bowed gandharva Chitrarath and met the danav who received the message of Lord Shiv with utmost reverence. He however, could not prepare himself to accept the proposal of lord Shiv knowing fully well that no being can defeat the destroyer of creation. Rather the idea of seeing lord Shiv in battle field and having a face to face fight with him enthralled the attendant of lord Krishna. He politely said,-“I bow in the feet of lord Shiv. Yet I am determined not to return anything of devtas without fighting with lord Shiv.”

 On receiving the message of danav lord Shiv smiled to himself. ‘How perfect and powerful is the plan chalked by lord Krishna,’ he intoned. ‘None can dare defy the will of lord Krishna. As he has already willed the end of this danav by my trident howsoever do I try to restore peace even I can not change the divine plan,’ he thought.

 

 

The very next moment he felt furious to hear the flagrant message of a danav and commanded,-“Come on, all my chief warriors! Make preparations for a war with danav Shankhachood. Let my both the sons be the commanders of battalions. Let goddess Bhadrakali also accompany us” Thus commanded by lord Shiv the entire mount Kailash turned into a forte where armies of strangest forms and weapons began to roar as if waiting to drink the blood of enemies. In no time all stalwarts of lord Shiv namely Ganesh, Skandha, Veerbhadra, Nandi, Mahakal, Banasur, Bhairavas, etc. accompanied by thirty-three crore devtas got ready to march ahead to vanquish the blessed danav. Goddess Bhadrakali looked most jubilant and ferocious with her thirsty tongue lolling out to drink the blood of danav and daitya. Accompanying his matchless warriors, Lord Shiv reached the bank of river Chandrabhaga. His battalion camped and began to relax with lord Shiv also resting in the shade of a giant tree. However, before attacking the danav, lord Shiv thought of giving the devotee of his master Lord Krishna another opportunity to change his mind. He sent his messenger to Shankhachood to know his stand at the eleventh hour. The brave and enlightened danav welcomed the messenger of lord Shiv. He however repeated his earlier message. Sending back the messenger of lord Shiv the danav came to his wife Tulasi. He embraced her and said,-“O my enlightened wife! I am now sure to go back to my divine abode as lord Shiv has reached here. Strange indeed is the drama of this world created by lord Krishna. Who is anyone’s permanent relative here? All come and go to their predestined path and destination. You are enlightened. So do not grieve. The time to take leave has come. As destined, I am proceeding to the battleground where lord Shiv is awaiting me. Bless me to be victorious.” Tulasi was quiet and prepared to face the future. She however, performed all auspicious acts to wish her husband victory in the battlefield.

 

Ready to go through the last act of drama enacted on earth the brave danav and close associate of lord Srikrishna in Goloka, calmly reached at the bank of river Pushpabhadra and camped at Siddhashram. One of the incarnation of lord Vishnu known as sage Kapil had hallowed this place in the past. He caught a glimpse of lord Shiv sanding under a tree and mentally bowed in his feet. Then he sent his messenger to him with the message that let the battle begin. The magnanimous lord Ashutosh still said,-“Messenger! Please request your king to return the empire and possessions of devtas even now for we do not like bloodbath. Let him still consider and ponder over this.”

 The messenger of danav bowed in the feet of matchless enemy of his king and delivered the message back to his master who was equally fearless and unperturbed while daring to refuse the proposal of lord Shiv. Lord Shiv yet sent his own message,-“O Messenger! Please tell your master that I am ever impartial and actually I never act independently as I am oath bound to protect my devotees alone. History stands testimony to this. We fight to save our devotees only not otherwise. I shall not hesitate in fighting with you to help devtas who are my simple devotees.”

 While receiving this message, the danav wasted no time and proclaimed war with the blowing of trumpets and conch shells. The Chief Commander Lord Shiv commanded his army to march forward to face the enemy. The hoary sounds of trumpets and drums resonating in all directions filled the heart of warriors with enthusiasm to rout the enemy. However, despite full preparations neither of the side showed any sign of indiscipline and adoption of unfair means. They believed in righteousness behoving their clan and status. God Surya took to fight against Viprachitt;lord Vishnu to Dambh;lord Agni to Gokarna;lord Yama to Shambar;lord Chandra to Rahu and guru Brahaspati fought with guru Shukracharya. Lord Shiv still stood under a vata (banyan) tree and remained a spectator of the battlefield. The battle continued for a long time. Goddess Bhadrakali looked exceptionally joyous while drinking blood of daitya and danav. As she fed herself on their blood with all her sixty-four yoginies devouring the flesh of fresh corpses, they roared vociferously and danced with jubilation that chilled the spirit of hapless enemies and seeing which Lord Shiv appeared perfectly blasé and quiet.

The elated and bemused Bhadrakali applied astral weapon issuing fire witch could not even reach near Shankhachood and fell back to her. Although surrounded by deadly enemies applying inimitable armours and weapons the brave danav look perfectly at poise as if enjoying a sport. No fear could shroud his glowing countenance. His lips sported a perpetual smile amidst stormy and violent attack of weapons from all sides.

 Goddess Bhadrakali was annoyed and astonished both to see the insouciance of the fearless danav. As she thought of the reason behind this she heard a voice from the heavens. “Goddess Bhadrakali! Devour the folk of danavas and daitya but try not to kill Shankhachood who is not slayable for you. Take it for sure.” Hearing the celestial voice she took no time in finishing the hordes of enemies and after eating them all up she soon appeared before Lord Shiv to narrate to him her feat and the divine message. Lord Shiv smiled to her and then mounted his Nandi bull and with his main chieftains moved to the battlefield.

 Seeing the matchless warrior lord Shiv, Shankhachood got down his chariot and prostrated before him in reverence. He then mounted his chariot and unleashed sharpest of arrows on lord Shiv. The exchange of arrows and astral weapons went on for years. The warriors enjoyed testing the might of each other in various ways.

 As all astral weapons failed before the danav lord Shiv began to lift his trident. As soon as he thought so a voice echoed in his ears,-“Lord Shiv! Please listen! Do not lift the trident. Though you are capable of destroying all let alone this danav do not cross the limit set for you. Please listen, so long as this danav wears a kavach invested with power of lord Krishna and his wife is chaste neither age nor death can touch him.”

“Be it so!” responded Lord Shiv in obedience of the cosmic command. As he focussed on lord Vishnu to help him in this moment of crisis he got a glimpse of smiling lord Vishnu assuring of his help. While the duo lingered their fight in the battleground, Lord Vishnu took up his role. First he disguised as a Brahman appeared in front of Shankhachood and begged for the kavach he was wearing in alms. The noble donor aware of his fate gave away the kavach to the mendicant without a thought.

Lord Vishnu then disguised as Shankhachood and entered the palace of Tulasi as if having been victorious over lord Shiv, he was there to share the joy with his chaste wife.Tulasi did not give a second thought and ushered him in. Thus the couple rejoiced in each other’s company. As they got intimate, Tulasi all of a sudden felt that she was as if, with some impostor of her husband. She got up and got enraged to see the depravity of the impostor. A storm of suspicion and revenge engulfed her and she began to tremble in fierce wrath. Her lotus eyes which flowed spontaneous affection to her husband seeing him having been victorious over as great a warrior as lord Shiv, turned into a volcano lolling out flames to devour the impostor with her stern gaze.

 

As every cosmic act does inevitably comes to an end so when the opportune moment arrived lord Shiv lifted his trident invested it with his spiritual energy by mentally bowing in the feet of his lord Srikrishna and Radha and threw it towards the enemy. His enemy also saluted the celestial weapon, mentally bowed in the lotus feet of his cosmic parents Radha-Krishna and renounced his mortal coil blissfully. The divine parents waiting for him in Goloka welcomed their son back home. Thus ended the saga of a blessed danav that brought lord Shiv to act as a forceful warrior.

In the palace of Tulasi, as she helplessly seethed with anger for having been desecrated despite a lifelong austerity and unflinching devotion to lord Krishna what she found that to her surprise, just then the head of her husband came rolling down the sky in front of her. She was aghast. Her suspicion turned into absolute confirmation that she had been taken for a ride by an impostor. The plight of her valiant husband turned her into fire.

 

She took up water infused her spiritual energy into the water and sprinkled the water over the impostor cursing him so,-“O man! Whosoever, you may be. You have tricked me for no fault of mine. I curse you that you shall turn into stone right now”.

 In honour of the chaste wife the impostor turned into a stone. Tulasi melted into tears to see her husband’s such pathetic end. In a single moment her purity and prosperity had been soiled so ruthlessly that she could not accept and even believe. How could a blessed wife who was born enlightened see such and end of her story of life? As she sat with her head drooping down, flowing tears of heartrending anguish, all gods gathered in front of her with folded hands. This surprised her all the more. As she looked up she heard a celestial voice that said,-“Pious Tulasi! Grieve not. You are ever resplendent and ever pure. Your husband has joined lord Krishna. The impostor you have cursed is no other than your own favourite lord Vishnu. All gods bow in your feet for without this all happening, they could not restore their empire and wealth. Forgive lord Vishnu and take back the curse as you are a great soul ever steeped in divine love to lord Vishnu.” Listening to this, Tulasi felt relieved. The thought of her husband being with lord Krishna bemused her the most. The plight of Lord Vishnu whom she worshipped incessantly, lying in front of her feet as a stone also filled her heart with pity and shame. Mentally she begged pardon of him and prayed him to appear before her. To please her, lord Vishnu appear in front of him with a smiling face. Such was the moment as she neither could face him nor utter a word in his praise.” Fear not Tulasi!” assuaging her fear he said,-“This creation functions on the principle of cause and effect. In the past you had undergone penance to be my wife. For curse of Radha you were born as a princess. Shankhachood was an attendant of Sri Krishna who wished to marry you and obtained a boon from Lord Brahma to have you. By being his wife you have fulfilled boon of Lord Brahma and by meeting you this way I have fulfilled your wish now. Repent not, whatever happens has a cause and a purpose not knowable to ordinary mortals but clearly known to enlightened beings. You shall join me as my wife in Vaikunthalok. On earth bones of your husband shall produce animals whose conch shells shall be worshipped by human beings always as an auspicious instrument. From your pious hair will grow plants that will be considered auspicious and each household shall worship this plant. Your pious body shall turn into river Gandaki on the mouth of which I shall remain as a mountain. The insects shall carve shivling and sudarshan chakra in the rock and these shall be worshipped as shaligram shila by my devotees forever. Thus me as shaligram, you as Tulasi leaf and your husband as Shankha shall be honoured and worshipped by my devotees on earth.” A smile spread on the faces of all. Tulasi also renounced her mortal coil and with lord Vishnu reached Vaikunthlok where goddess Lakshmi welcomed her as a younger sister.

 Lord Shiv also bowed to Lord Vishnu and Tulasi as the wife of his lord and retreated to mount Kailash.