{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/db/bk01ch05.htm","path":"hin/db/bk01ch05.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk01ch05.htm","text":"THE FIRST BOOK\nChapter V\nOn the narrative of Hayagr\u00eeva\n1-4. The Risis said :-- \u201cO S\u00fbta! Our minds are merged in the sea of doubt, hearing your this most wonderful saying, surprising to the whole world. The head of Jan\u00e2rdan M\u00e2dhava, the Lord of all, was severed out of His body! And He was afterwards known as Hayagr\u00eeva, the horse-faced! Oh! what more wonder can there be than this? Whom the Vedas even praise, all the Devas rest on Whom, Who is the Cause of all causes,\nthe \u00c2di Deva Jagannath (the Lord of the universe), Oh! how is it that His head came to be severed! O highly intelligent one! Describe all this to me in detail\u201d.\n5-9. S\u00fbta said :-- O Munis! Hear all attentively the glorious deeds of the supremely energetic Visnu, the Deva of the Devas. Once on a time the eternal Deva Jan\u00e2rdana became tired after the terrible continuous battle for ten thousand years. After this the Lord N\u00e2r\u00e2yana seated Himself on Padm\u00e2san (a kind of posture) in some lovely place on a level plot of ground and placing his head on the front of his bow with the bow strung and placed erect on the ground fell fast asleep. Visnu, the Lord of Ram\u00e2, was exceedingly tired and thus he fell soon into deep sleep. At this time Indra and the other Devas, with Brahm\u00e2 and Mahes\u00e2 began a sacrifice.\n10-13. Then they, for the sake of success in Deva's well, went to the region of Vaikuntha to meet with the Deva Jan\u00e2rdana, the Lord of sacrifices. There the Devas, not finding Visnu, came to know by their Dhy\u00e2n (meditation) where Bhagav\u00e2n Visnu was staying and thither they went. They saw that the Lord Visnu, the Deva of the Devas was lying unconscious, being under the arms of Yoganidr\u00e2 (the yogic sleep). Therefore they took their seats there. Seeing the Lord of the universe asleep, Brahm\u00e2, Rudra and the other Devas became anxious.\n14-18. Indra then addressed the Devas :--\u201cO best of the Suras! Now what is to be done! How shall we rouse Bhagav\u00e2n from His sleep? Now think of the means by which this can be effected\u201d. Hearing Indra's words S\u2019ambhu said :-- \u201cO good Devas! Now we must finish our sacrificial work. But if the sleep of Bhagav\u00e2n be disturbed, He would get angry.\u201d Hearing S\u2019ankara's words, Paramesth\u00ee Brahm\u00e2 created Vamr\u00ee insects (a sort of white ants) so that they might eat up the forepart of the bow that was lying on the ground causing the other end rise up and thus break His sleep. Thus the Deva's purpose will, no doubt, be fulfilled. Thus settling his mind, the eternal Deva Brahm\u00e2 ordered the white ants Vamr\u00ees to cut the bow string.\n19-22. Hearing this order of Brahm\u00e2, Vamr\u00ee spoke to Brahm\u00e2, thus :-- \u201cO Brahm\u00e2n! How can I disturb the sleep of the Devadeva, Lord of Laksm\u00ee, the World Guru? To rouse one from one's deep sleep, to interrupt one in one's speech, to sever the love between a couple husband and wife, to separate a child from one's mother, all these are equivalent to Brahm\u00e2haty\u00e2 (murdering a Brahm\u00e2n). Therefore, O Deva! how can I interrupt the happiuess of sleep of the Devadeva? And what benefit shall I derive by eating the bowstring, so that I may incur this vicious act? But a man can commit a sin if there be any interest of his; I am ready to eat this, if I get a personal interest\u201d.\n23-24. Brahm\u00e2 said :-- We will give you, too, share in this our Yaj\u00f1a (sacrifice); so hear me; do our work and rouse Visnu from His sleep. During the time of performing Homa whatever ghee will fall outside the Homa-Kund (the sacrificial pit) will fall to your share; so be quick and do this.\n25-30. S\u00fbta said :-- Thus ordered by Brahm\u00e2, the Vamr\u00ee insect soon ate away the fore end of the bow that rested on the ground. Immediately the string gave way and the bow went up; the other end became free and a terrible sound took place. The Devas bcame afraid; the whole universe got agitated; the earth trembled. The sea became swollen; the aquatic animals became startled; violent wind blew; the mountains shook; ominous meteors fell. The quarters assumed a terrific aspect; the Sun went down the horizon. In that time of distress the Devas became anxious what evil might come down. O ascetics! while the Devas were thus cogitating, the head with crown on it of the Devadeva Visnu vanished away ; no body knew where it fell.\n31-36. When the awful darkness disappeared, Brahm\u00e2 and Mah\u00e2deva saw the disfigured body of Visnu with its head off. Seeing that headless figure of Visnu they were greatly surprised; they were drowned in the ocean of cares and, overwhelmed with grief, began to weep aloud. O Lord! O Master! O Devadeva! O Eternal one! what unforeseen extraordinary mishap occurred to us to-day! O Deva! Thou canst not be pierced nor cut asunder, nor capable of being burnt; how is it then that Thy head has been taken away! Is this the M\u00e2y\u00e2 (majic) of some. Deva? O all pervading one! The Devas cannot live when Thy condition is thus; we do not know what affection dost Thou have towards us. We are crying because of our selfish ends; perhaps this therefore has occurred. The Daityas, Yaksas, or R\u00e2khsasas have not done this; O Lord of Laksm\u00ee! Whose fault will we ascribe this to? The Devas themselves have committed this loss to themselves?\n37-41. O Lord of the Devas! The Devas are. now dependent! They are under Thee. Now where are we to go? What are we to do? There is none to save the dull stupid Devas!\nAt this juncture, seeing S\u2019iva and the other Devas crying, Brihaspati, supremely versed in the Vedas, consoled them thus :-- \u201cO highly fortunate one! what use there will be in thus crying and repenting? it ought you now to consider the means that you should adopt to redress your calamities. O Lord of the Devas! Fate and one's own exertion and intelligence are equal; if the success comes not through Fate (Luck or chance) one is certainly to show one's prowess and merit\u201d.\n42-46. Indra said :-- Fie to your exertion when, before our eyes, the head of Bhagav\u00e2n Visnu Himself has been carried off! Fie, Fie to your prowess and intelligence! Fate is in my opinion, the supreme.\nBrahm\u00e2 said :-- Whatever, auspicious or inauspicious, is ordained Daiva (Fate), every one must bear that; no one can go beyond the Daiva. When one has taken up a body, one must experience pleasure and pain; there is no manner of doubt in this. See, in long-past days, by the irony of Fate, S\u2019ambhu severed my head; His generative organ, too, dropped down through curse. Similarly Hari's head has, to-day, fallen into the salt ocean. By the influence of time, Indra, the Lord of Sachi, had thousand genital marks over his body, was expelled from Heaven and had to live in the M\u00e2nas sarovar in the lotuses and had to suffer many other miseries.\n47-50. O Glorious ones! When such personages have suffered pains, then who else is there in the world, that dues not suffer! so you all cease sorrows and meditate on the Eternal Mah\u00e2m\u00e2y\u00e2; who is the Mother of all, who is supporter of all, who is of the nature of Brahm\u00e2vidy\u00e2 (the Supreme Knowledge) and who is beyond the Gunas, who is the Prime Pr\u00e2kriti, and who pervades the three Lokas, the whole universe, moving and unmoving; She will dispense our welfare. S\u00fbta said :-- Thus saying to the Devas, Brahm\u00e2 ordered all the Vedas, that were incarnate there in their forms, for the successful issue of the Deva's work.\n51-54. Brahm\u00e2 said :-- \u201cOVedas! Now go on and chant hymns to the Sacred Highest Dev\u00ee Mah\u00e2m\u00e2y\u00e2, who is Brahm\u00e2vidy\u00e2, who brings all issues to their successful issues, who is hidden in all forms.\u201d Hearing His words, the all-beautiful Vedas began to chant hymns to Mah\u00e2m\u00e2y\u00e2 who can be comprehended by J\u00f1\u00e2n, and who pervades the world.\nThe Vedas said :-- Obeisance to the Dev\u00ee! to the Mah\u00e2m\u00e2y\u00e2! to the Auspicious One! to the Creatrix of the Universe! We bow down to Thee, who is beyond the Gunas, the Ruler of all the Beings! O Mother! Thou givest to S\u2019ankara even His desires. Thou art the receptacle of all the things; Thou art the Pr\u00e2na of all the living beings; Thou art Buddhi, Laksm\u00ee (wealth), S\u2019obh\u00e2, Ks'ham\u00e2 (forgiveness), S\u2019\u00e2nti (peace), Sraddh\u00e2 (faith), Medh\u00e2 (intellect), Dhriti (fortitude), and Smriti (recollection).\n55. Thou art the vindu (m) over the Pr\u00e2nava (om) and thou art of the nature of semi-moon; Thou art G\u00e2yattri, Thou art Vy\u00e2rhiti; Thou art Jay\u00e2, Vijay\u00e2, Dh\u00e2tri (the supportress), Lajj\u00e2 (modesty), K\u00eerti (fame), Ichch\u00e2 (will) and Day\u00e2 (mercy) in all beings.\n56-57. O Mother! Thou art the merciful Mother of the three worlds; Thou art\nthe adorable auspicious Vidy\u00e2 (knowledge) benefitting all the Lokas; Thou destroyest the Universe and Thou skilfully residest (hidden) in the V\u00eeja mantras. Therefore we are praising Thee. O Mother! Brahm\u00e2, Visnu, Mahes\u2019vara, Indra, S\u00fbrya, Fire, Sarasvat\u00ee and other Regents of the Universe are all Thy creation; so none of them is superior to Thee. Thou art the Mother of all the things, moving and non-moving.\n58-61. O Mother ! When Thou dost will to create this visible Universe, Thou createst first Brahm\u00e2, Visnu and Mahes'vara and makest them create, preserve and destroy this universe; but Thou remainest quite unattached to the world. Ever Thou remainest constant in Thy one form. No one in this Universe is able to know Thy nature; nor there is any body who can enumerate Thy names. How can he promise to jump across the illimitable ocean, who cannot jump across an ordinary well.\nO Bhagavat\u00ee! No one amongst the Devas even knows particularly Thy endless power and glory. Thou art alone the Lady of the Universe and the Mother of the world.\n62-68. The Vedas all bear testimony how thou alone hast created all this unreal and fleeting universe. O Dev\u00ee! Thou without any effort and having no desires hast become the cause of this visible world, thyself remaining unchanged. This is a great wonder. We cannot conceive this combination of contrary varieties in one. O Mother! How can we understand thy power, unknown to all the Vedas even, when thou thyself dost not know thy nature! We are bewildered at this. O Mother! It is that thou dost know nothing about the falling off of the Visnu's head! Or knowingly thou wanted to examine Visnu's prowess. Is it that Hari incurred any heinous sin. How can that be! Where is sin to thy followers who serve Thee! O Mother! Why art Thou so much indifferent to the Devas! It is a great wonder that the head of Visnu is severed! Really, we are merged in great misfortunes. Thou art clever in removing the sorrows of Thy devotees. Why art Thou delaying in fixing again the head on Visnu's body.\nO Dev\u00ee! Is it that Thou taking offence on the gods hast cast that on Visnu! or was it that Visnu became proud and to curb that, Thou hast played thus! or is it that the Daityas, having suffered defeat from Visnu went and practised severe tapasya in some beautiful holy place, and have got some boons; and so Visnu's head has thus fallen off!\nOr is it, O Bhagavat\u00ee! that Thou wert very eagerly interested to see Visnu's headless body and therefore Thou hast seen thus! O Prime Force! Is it that Thou art angry on the daughter of the Sindhu (ocean); Laksm\u00ee Dev\u00ee! Else, why hast Thou deprived Her of Her husband? Laksm\u00ee is born as a part of Thine; So Thou oughtest to forgive Her offence.\nTherefore dost Thou gladden Her by giving back Her husband's life.\nThe principal Devas, engaged in Thy service, always make their Pr\u00e2nams (bow down) to Thee; O Dev\u00ee! Beest Thou kind enough and make alive the Deva Visnu, the Lord of all and crossest us across this ocean of sorrows. O Mother! We cannot make out anything whatsoever where Hari's head has gone. We have no other protectress than Thee who canst give back His life? O Dev\u00ee! Dost Thou give life to the whole world as the nectar gives life to all the Devas.\n69-73. S\u00fbta said :-- Thus praised by the Vedas with their Angas, with S\u00e2mag\u00e2nas (the songs from the S\u00e2ma Veda), the Nirgun\u00e2 Mahes'vari Dev\u00ee Mah\u00e2m\u00e2y\u00e2 became pleased. Then the auspicious voice came to them from the Heavens, gladdening all, and pleasing to the ears though no form was seen: \u201cO Suras! Do not care anything about it; you are immortal (what fear can you have?) Come to your senses. I am very much pleased by the praise sung by the Vedas. There is no doubt in this. Amongst men, whoever will read this My stotra with devotion, will get all what he desires. Whoever will hear this devotedly, during the three Sandhyas, will lie freed from troubles and become happy. When this stotra has been sung by the Vedas, it is equivalent to the Vedas.\n74-75. Does anything take place in this world without any cause? Now hear why Hari's head was cut off. Once on a time, seeing the beautiful face of His dear wife Laksm\u00ee Dev\u00ee, Hari laughed in presence of Her.\n76-82. At this Laksm\u00ee Dev\u00ee came to understand that \u201cHe has seen surely something ugly in my face and therefore He laughed; otherwise why my Husband would laugh at seeing me. But what reason can there be as to see ugliness in my face after so long a time. And why shall He laugh without seeing something ugly, without any cause. Or it may be, He has made some other beautiful woman as my co-wife\u201d. Thus arguing variously in her mind, Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee gradually got angry and Tamo guna slowly possessed Her. Then, by turn of Fate, in order that god\u2019s work might be completed, very fierce Tamas Sakti entered into Her body. She got very angry and slowly said :-- \u201cLet Thy head fall off\u201d. Thus, owing to feminine nature and the destiny of Bhagvan, Laksm\u00ee cursed without any thought of good or bad, causing Her own suffering. By the T\u00e2mas\u00ee S\u2019akti possessing Her, she thought that a co-wife would be more painful than Her widowhood and thus She cursed Him.\n83-86. Falsehood, vain boldness, craftiness, stupidity, impatience, over-greediness, impurity, and harshness are the natural qualities of women. Owing to that curse, the head of Vasudeva has fallen into the salt ocean. Now I will\nfix the head on His body as before. O Sura Sattamas! There is another cause, also, regarding this affair. That will bring you great success. In ancient days a famous Daitya, named Hayagr\u00eeva practised severe tapasya on the bank of the Sarasvat\u00ee river.\n87-92. Abandoning all sorts of enjoyments, with control over his senses and without any food, the Daitya did Japam of the (repeated) one syllabled M\u00e2y\u00e2-Vija-mantra and, meditating the form of the Utmost Sakti of Mine, adorned with all ornaments, practised very terrible austerities for one thousand years. I, too, went to the place of austerities in My T\u00e2mas\u00ee form, meditated by the Daitya and appeared before him. There, seated on the lion's back, feeling compassion for his tapasya I spoke to him :-- \u201cO glorious One! O one of good vows! I have come to grant boon to Thee!\u201d Hearing the words of the Dev\u00ee, the Daitya instantly got up and falling down with devotion at Her feet, circumambulated Her. Looking at My form, his large eyes became cheerful with feelings of love and filled with tears; shedding tears, then, he began to chant hymns to Me.\n93-95. Hayagr\u00eeva said :-- \u201cObeisance to the Dev\u00ee Mah\u00e2maye! I bow down to Thee, the Creatrix, the Preserver, and the Destructrix of the universe! Skilled in shewing favour to Thy devotees! Giver of the devotee's desires! Obeisance to Thee! O Thou, the giver of liberation! O Thou! The auspicious one! I bow down to Thee. Thou art the cause of the five elements -- earth, water, fire, air, and Akasa! Thou art the cause of form, taste, smell, sound and touch. O Mahes\u2019vari! the five j\u00f1\u00e2nendriyas (organs of perception) eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin and the five organs of action Karmendriyas :-- hands, feet, speech, arms, and the organ of generation are all created by Thee.\n96-100. The Dev\u00ee said :-- \u201cO child! I am very much satisfied with your wonderful tapasya and devotion. Now say what boon do you want. I will give you the boon that you desire\u201d. Hayagr\u00eeva said ;-- \u201cO Mother! grant me that boon by which death will not come to me, and I be invincible by the Suras and Asuras, I may be a Yogi and immortal\u201d.\nThe Dev\u00ee said :-- \u201c Death brings in birth and birth brings in death; this is inevitable.\u201d This order of things is extant in this world; never its violation takes place. O best of the R\u00e2ksasas! Thus knowing death sure, think in your mind and ask another boon.\nHayagr\u00eeva said: -- \u201cO Mother of the universe! If it be that Thou art not willing at all to grant me immortality, then grant me this boon that my death may not occur from any other than from one who is horse-faced. Be merciful and grant me this boon that I desire.\u201d\n101-105. O highly fortunate one! \u201cGo home and govern your kingdom at your ease; death won't occur to you from any other beings then from one who is horse-faced.\u201d Thus granting the boon, the Dev\u00ee vanished. Becoming very glad on getting this boon, Hayagr\u00eeva went to his residence. Since then the wicked Daitya is troubling very much all the Devas and Munis. There is none in the three worlds to kill him. So let Visvakarm\u00e2 take a horse's head and fix it on the headless body of Visnu. Then Bhagav\u00e2n Hayagr\u00eeva will slay the vicious wicked Asura, for the good of the Devas\u201d.\n106-112. S\u00fbta said :-- Thus speaking to the Devas, Bhagavat\u00ee S\u2019arv\u00e2n\u00ee remained silent. The Devas became very glad and spoke this to Visvakarm\u00e2 :-- \u201cKindly do this Deva work and fix Visnu's head. He will become Hayagr\u00eeva and kill the indomitable D\u00e2nava.\u201d S\u00fbta said :-- Hearing these words, Visvakarm\u00e2 quickly cut off with his axe, the head of a horse, brought it before the Devas and fixed it on the headless body of Visnu. By the grace of Mah\u00e2m\u00e2y\u00e2, Bhagav\u00e2n became horse-faced or Hayagr\u00eeva. Then, a few days after, Bhagav\u00e2n. Hayagr\u00eeva killed that proud D\u00e2nava, the Deva's enemy, by sheer force. Any man, hearing this excellent anecdote, becomes freed, certainly of all sorts of difficulties. Hearing or reading Mah\u00e2m\u00e2y\u00e2's glorious deeds, pure and sin destroying, gives all sorts of wealth.\nThus ends the fifth chapter of the first Skandha on the description of the narrative of Hayagr\u00eeva in the Mah\u00e2 Pur\u00e2na S\u2019rimad Dev\u00ee Bh\u00e2gavatam of 18,000 verses.","title":"The Devi Bhagavatam: The First Book: Chapter 5","type":"page"}