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"Vasishtha continued, 'Hear once more, O regenerate Rishi, as I discourse upon it, the pre-eminence of gold, O foremost of all |
wielders of weapons. I heard this formerly in the Purana, O son of Bhrigu's race. I represent the speech of Prajapati himself. |
After the wedding was over of the illustrious and high-souled Rudra armed with the trident, O son of Bhrigu's race, with the |
goddess who became his spouse, on the breast of that foremost of mountains, viz., Himavat, the illustrious and high-souled |
deity wished to unite himself with the goddess. Thereupon all the deities, penetrated with anxiety, approached Rudra. Bending |
their heads with reverence and gratifying Mahadeva and his boon giving spouse Uma, both of whom were seated together, they |
addressed Rudra, O perpetuator of Bhrigu's race, saying, 'This union, O illustrious and sinless one, of thine with the goddess, is |
a union of one endued with penances with another of penances as severe! Verily, it is the union, O lord, of one possessed of |
very great energy with another whose energy is scarcely less! Thou, O illustrious one, art of energy that is irresistible. The |
goddess Uma, also is possessed of energy that is equally irresistible. The offspring that will result from a union like this, will, |
without doubt, O illustrious deity, be endued with very great might. Verily, O puissant lord, that offspring will consume all |
things in the three worlds without leaving a remnant. Do thou then, O lord of all the universe, O thou of large eyes, grant unto |
these deities prostrated before thee, a boon from desire of benefiting the three worlds! Do thou, O puissant one, restrain this |
high energy of thine which may become the seed of offspring. Verily, that energy is the essence of all forces in the three |
worlds. Ye two, by an act of congress, are sure to scorch the universe! The offspring that will be born of you two will certainly |
be able to afflict the deities! Neither the goddess Earth, nor the Firmament, nor Heaven, O puissant one, nor all of them |
together, will be able to bear thy energy, we firmly believe. The entire universe is certain to be burnt through the force of thy |
energy. It behoveth thee, O puissant one, to show us favour, O illustrious deity. That favour consists in thy not begetting a son, |
O foremost of the deities, upon the goddess Uma. Do thou, with patience, restrain thy fiery and puissant energy!' Unto the |
deities that said so the holy Mahadeva having the bull for his sign, O regenerate Rishi, answered, saying, 'So be it!' Having said |
so, the deity that has the bull for his vehicle, drew up his vital seed. From that time he came to be called by the name, of |
Urdhvaretas (one that has drawn up the vital seed). The spouse of Rudra, however, at this endeavour of the deities to stop |
procreation, became highly incensed. In consequence of her being of the opposite sex (and, therefore, endued with little control |
upon her temper) she used harsh words, thus, 'Since ye have opposed my lord in the matter of procreating a child when he was |
desirous of procreating one upon me, as the consequence of this act, ye deities, ye all shall become sonless. Verily, since ye |
have opposed the birth of issue from me, therefore, ye shall have no offspring of your own.' At the time this curse was |
denounced, O perpetuator of Bhrigu's race, the deity of fire was not there. It is in consequence of this curse of the goddess that |
the deities have become childless. Rudra, solicited by them, held in himself his energy of incomparable puissance. A small |
quantity, however, that came out of his body fell down on the earth. That seed, falling on the earth, leaped into a blazing fire |
and there began to grow (in size and power) most wonderfully. The energy of Rudra, coming in contact with another energy of |
great puissance, became identified with it in respect of essence. Meanwhile, all the deities having Sakra at their head, were |
scorched a good deal by the Asura named Taraka. The Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the Maruts, the Aswins, and the |
Sadhyas all became exceedingly afflicted in consequence of the prowess of that son of Diti. All the regions of the deities, their |
beautiful cars, and their palatial mansions, and the retreats of the Rishis, were snatched away by the Asuras. Then the deities |
and the Rishis, with cheerless hearts, sought the protection of the illustrious and puissant Brahman of unfading glory.'" |
SECTION LXXXV |
'The Deities said, 'The Asura named Taraka who has received boons from thee, O puissant one, is afflicting the deities and the |
Rishis. Let his death be ordained by thee. O Grandsire, great has been our fear from him. O illustrious one, do thou rescue us. |
We have no other refuge than thee.' |
"Brahman said, 'I am equal in my behaviour towards all creatures. I cannot, however, approve of unrighteousness. Let Taraka, |
that opponent of the deities and Rishis, be quickly destroyed. The Vedas and the eternal duties shall not be exterminated, ye |
foremost of celestials! I have ordained what is proper in this matter. Let the fever of your hearts be dispelled.' |
"The Deities said, 'In consequence of thy having granted him boons, that son of Diti has been proud of his might. He is |
incapable of being slain, by the deities. How then will his death be brought about? The boon which, O Grandsire, he has |
obtained from thee is that he should not be slayable by deities or Asuras or Rakshasas. The deities have also been cursed by the |
spouse of Rudra in consequence of their endeavour in former days to stop propagation. The curse denounced by her has been, |
O lord of the universe, even this, viz., that they are not to have any offspring.' |
"Brahman said, 'Ye foremost of deities, Agni was not there at the time the curse was denounced by the goddess. Even he will |
beget a son for the destruction of the enemies of the gods. Transcending all the deities and Danavas and Rakshasas and human |
beings and Gandharvas and Nagas and feathery creatures, the offspring of Agni with his dart, which in his hands will be a |
weapon incapable of being baffled if once hurled at the foe, will destroy Taraka from whom your fear hath arisen. Verily, all |
other enemies of yours will also be slain by him. Will is eternal. That Will is known by the name of Kama and is identical with |
Rudra's seed a portion of which fell into the blazing form of Agni. That energy, which is a mighty substance, and which |
resembles a second Agni, will be cast by Agni into Ganga for producing a child upon her in order to effect the destruction of |
the enemies of the gods. Agni did not come within the range of Uma's curse. The eater of sacrificial libations was not present |
there when the curse was denounced. Let the deity of fire, therefore, be searched out. Let him now be set to this task. Ye sinless |
ones, I have told you what the means are for the destruction of Taraka. The curses of those that are endued with energy fail to |
produce any effect upon those that are endued with energy. Forces, when they come into contact with something that is endued |
with stronger force, become weakened. They that are endued with penances are competent to destroy even the boon-giving |
deities who are indestructible. Will, or Like, or Desire (which is identifiable with Agni) sprang in former times and is the most |
eternal of all creatures. Agni is the Lord of the universe. He is incapable of being apprehended or described. Capable of going |
everywhere and existing in all things, he is the Creator of all beings. He lives in the hearts of all creatures. Endued with great |
puissance, He is older than Rudra himself. Let that eater of sacrificial libations, who is a mass of energy, be searched out. That |
illustrious deity will accomplish this desire of your hearts.' Hearing these words of the Grandsire, the high-souled gods then |
proceeded to search out the god of fire with hearts cheerful in consequence of their purpose having been achieved. The gods |
and the Rishis then searched every part of the three worlds, their hearts filled with the thought of Agni and eagerly desiring to |
obtain a sight of him. Endued with penances, possessed of prosperity, celebrated over all the worlds, those high-souled ones, all |
crowned with ascetic success, sojourned over every part of the universe, O foremost one of Bhrigu's race. They failed, |
however, to find out the eater of sacrificial libations who had concealed himself by merging his self into self.[384] About this |
time, a frog, living in water, appeared on the surface thereof from the nethermost regions, with cheerless heart in consequence |
of having been scorched by the energy of Agni. The little creature addressed the deities who had become penetrated with fear |
and who were all very eager to obtain a sight of the deity of fire, saying, 'Ye gods, Agni is now residing in the nethermost |
regions. Scorched by the energy of that deity, and unable to bear it longer, I have come hither. The illustrious bearer of |
sacrificial libations, ye gods, is now under the waters. He has created a mass of waters within which he is staying. All of us |
have been scorched by his energy. If, ye gods, ye desire to obtain a sight of him,--verily, if ye have any business with him,--do |
ye go to him thither. Do, indeed, repair thither. As regards ourselves, we shall fly from this place, ye deities, from fear of Agni.' |
Having said this much, the frog dived into the water'. The eater of sacrificial libations learnt of the treachery of the frog. |
Coming to that animal, he cursed the whole batrachian race, saying, 'Ye shall henceforth be deprived of the organ of taste. |
Having denounced this curse on the frog, he left the spot speedily for taking up his abode elsewhere. Verily, the puissant deity |
did not show himself. Seeing the plight to which the frogs were reduced for having done them a service, the deities, O best of |
the Bhrigus, showed favour unto those creatures. I shall tell thee everything regarding it. Do thou listen to me, O mighty-armed |
hero.' |
"The Deities said, 'Though deprived of tongues through the curse of Agni and, therefore, reft of the sensation of taste, ye shall |
yet be able to utter diverse kinds of speech. Living within holes, deprived of food, reft of consciousness, wasted and dried up, |
and more dead than alive, all of you will be held by the Earth nevertheless. Ye shall also be able to wander about at night-time |
when everything is enveloped in thick darkness.' Having said this unto the frogs, the deities once more went over every part of |
the earth for finding out the deity of blazing flames. In spite of all their efforts, however, they failed to get at him. Then, O |
perpetuator of Bhrigu's race, an elephant, as large and mighty as the elephant of Sakra, addressed the gods, saying, 'Agni is |
now residing within this Aswattha tree!' Incensed with wrath, Agni cursed all the elephants, O descendant of Bhrigu saying, |
'Your tongues will be bent back.' Having been pointed out by the elephants, the deity of fire cursed all elephants even thus and |
then went away and entered the heart of the Sami tree from the desire of residing within it for some time. Listen now, O |
puissant hero, what favour was shown unto the elephants, O foremost one of Bhrigu's race, by the deities of unbaffled prowess |
who were all gratified with the service a representative of their had done them.' |
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