The Mahabhagavata Purana 003: The Birth of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
Table of Contents
Recap: Sauti continued telling the rishis about the Mahabhagavata Purana. He told them about the time when Rishi Jaimini had visited Rishi Vyasa and Vyasa had then told Jaimini about the conversation between Narada and Shiva.
Note: In the Mahabhagavata Purana, Shiva is playing two roles. As a teacher, he is telling Narada about the Devi. In the tale of the Devi, both Shiva and Narada have roles to play. Instead of referring to himself and Narada in first person, Shiva is referring to himself and Narada in third person. This is referred to as illeism. The Illeism starts when Shiva starts telling Narada, what later became known as the Mahabhagavata Purana.
The Birth of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
Shiva, having agreed to answer Narada’s query, said, “The foundation of the Universe is Devi Jagadamba. She is the One whom I worship. Brahma, Vishnu and I have roles to play in the functioning of this universe and those roles were assigned to us by Her. There are many such worlds and universes, and She is one who controls the creation, functioning and dissolution of all of those worlds. When She wants to, She takes on a form and using that form She ensures that everything in the universe is working as it should.
“She is the one who took birth as Daksha’s daughter, Sati, and as Himavat’s daughter, Parvati. She also took the form of Devi Lakshmi and became Vishnu’s consort. Taking the forms of Devi Sarasvati and Devi Savitri, She became the consorts of Brahma. I have told you what you wanted to know.” Saying this, Shiva paused. There was a smile on his face. He knew Narada would speak up.
Narada was not satisfied with what Shiva had just told him. He was like a child who had tasted honey and wanted more. He said to Shiva, “O Mahadeva, if you are pleased with me, then please tell me in detail. I want to know more, and what you have just said does not satisfy me. Tell me how She took birth as Daksha’s daughter and how Hara got Her as his consort. If She had taken birth in Daksha’s house, why did She take birth in the Himalayas and how did Trilochan get Her as his wife in that form? How did She have two great sons, the elephant-headed Gajanana and the six-headed Kartikeya? Please share all details with me.”
Shiva said, “What you have asked is something I have never shared with anyone. I shall now tell you about Her in detail, and for that I will start from the very beginning, when the universe as we know it, did not exist. There was nothing then. There was no land, no water, no air, no sun, moon, stars, day, night, or fire. Even the cardinal directions did not exist. Only She existed. Then a desire rose in Her. She wanted to create. First, She took on a form. This was that of an extremely beautiful dark woman. Her hair was open behind Her and Her eyes were bloodshot. She had four hands, and She appeared sitting on a lion. Such was Her size that She covered everything. She created a male being who had no consciousness, using Her three gunas: Tamas, Rajas and Satva. Using him as a canvas, She implanted the desire to create inside him. She then planted the three gunas inside him. As soon as this happened, this person split up and took on three male forms. These male forms got the names Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. She watched and saw this was not helping the process of creation. She then took on three female forms. These were Maya, Parama and Vidya. Deluded by Maya, the three males felt a desire for creation arise from within. To assist in that process, the Devi then took on five female forms. These were Ganga, Durga, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Gayatri. She then appeared before Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and said, ‘You have been created by Me. I want you to create and take care of this universe. I will tell you what you are supposed to do. Brahma, through the power of Rajas guna, will be in charge of creation and he will create the beings of this universe. All kinds of beings and things, those that are mobile or immobile, will all be created by Brahma. With creation, preservation will be needed. This is where Vishnu will play his role. He, with his Satva guna, will help in preserving by killing off the evil forces that will attempt to destroy the universe. When this universe has served its purpose, Shiva, obeying my wish and full of Tamas, will destroy it. I want you three to work together and ensure that the universe functions the way it should. As the five Devis, I will work along with you and help in the process of creation. Brahma, now start creating life and do not delay the process.’ Saying this, the Devi vanished. Brahma then began planning the process of creation.
“There was something in the Devi that had enamoured Shiva. He wanted Her as his wife. He then left and, finding a spot near the banks of the ocean of milk, began meditating on Her. When Vishnu saw this, he too wanted Her as his consort. Vishnu too went where Shiva was, and finding a place close by, he too began meditating. Brahma saw both Shiva and Vishnu go away to meditate on Her. Why should he be left behind? He too followed and chose a place where he could meditate on Her. Creation would happen later.
“The Devi wanted to see how true the devotion of the three was and decided to test them. She assumed a terrible and revolting form and came and stood in front of Brahma. Such was the form that Brahma could not bear to look at it, and he turned his face away. As he turned his face, She went and stood in that direction. Brahma then turned his head again and She followed him again. This happened four times and in every direction that Brahma looked, a new head emerged and thus Brahma got a four-faced form. Brahma did not want to stay there any longer and left the place.
“Maintaining that revolting form, the Devi went and stood in front of Vishnu. Seeing this form, Vishnu closed his eyes and went and hid in the waters of the ocean. With Brahma and Vishnu having departed, the Devi then went and stood in front of Mahesh. She tried all she could, but She was unable to disturb Mahesha or interrupt his meditation. Knowing that this terrible being was none other than the Devi Herself, Shiva went into samadhi. Pleased with this, the Devi then decided that as Devi Poorna, She would become Shiva’s consort. As Her partial manifestations She decided She would go with Vishnu as Lakshmi, and with Brahma as Devi Savitri and also as Devi Sarasvati.
“After Brahma got busy with creation, he created land, water, air, light and the sky. He then created ten mind-born sons. These sons were the Rishis Marichi, Atri, Pulaha, Kratu, Angiras, Prachetas, Vashishtha, Narada, Bhrigu and Pulastya. Brahma then created the rulers who were the Prajapatis and they were headed by Prajapati Daksha. He then created a mind-born daughter, Sandhya. To ensure the living beings were attracted towards each other, Brahma created Kama, whose role was to make all fall in love. No one was immune to Kama, and to ensure that he could perform his job properly, he was given a bow made of flowers and five arrows tipped with five different flowers. These arrows were: Aravind tipped with red lotus that produced excitement; Ashoka tipped with the Ashoka flower that caused yearning; Amramanjari tipped with mango blossom that brought about burning desire; Navamallika tipped with jasmine flowers that enchanted and the fifth one was Nilotpal tipped with blue lotus flowers that brought about devotion and stability.
“Brahma then divided his body into two parts. From the left part emerged a woman called Shatarupa and from the right, a man called Svayambhuva. Svayambhuva was a Manu, and his role was to give birth to the humans. Smitten by the arrows of Kama, Svayambhuva accepted Shatarupa as his wife. Svayambhuva and Shatarupa went on to have three daughters and two sons. The three daughters were Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti and the two sons were Priyavrata and Uttanapada. Svayambhuva gave Akuti in marriage to Prajapati Ruchi and Devahuti to Rishi Kardama, while the third daughter, Prasuti, married Prajapati Daksha. Rishi Kardama and Devahuti’s daughter Arundhati went on to marry Rishi Vashistha. Daksha and Prasuti had fourteen daughters. One of them, Swaha, married Agni, and the other thirteen daughters were married to Rishi Kashyapa. Through Rishi Kashyapa, all creatures of the earth were born, and this was how Brahma created the inhabitants of the universe.
“When Brahma was done, the Devi presented Devi Savitri to Brahma and said, ‘The rishis and brahmins pray to Her whenever they can. She is Devi Savitri and She is my partial incarnation She will be your consort.’ She then presented Devi Sarasvati to Brahma and said, ‘She too is my partial incarnation and She will help you in your work.’ The Devi told Vishnu that that he would later marry Devi Lakshmi on the banks of that ocean.
“While the creation was in full swing, Shambhu was still in samadhi. Pleased with his devotion, Devi Jagadambika appeared before him in her dark four-handed form, riding a lion, and said, ‘Shambhu! What do you desire? Ask me for that boon, and I grant that. I am very pleased with your devotion towards Me, which is why I have come to you in this form.’
“Shiva said, ‘You are Prakriti Herself from whom the five Devis had emerged in the beginning. Of those, Brahma and Vishnu were promised Devi Sarasvati, Savitri and Devi Lakshmi. I want to have you in totality as my wife. I want Prakriti Herself in totality. For that, I want you to take birth on Earth somewhere and then become my wife.’ The Devi said, ‘I shall fulfil your wish. I shall take birth in the house of Prajapati Daksha as his beautiful daughter. In that form, I shall marry you. When Daksha, filled with pride, insults both you and me, I shall take on an incarnation and shall leave you and go to my realm. That will be a period of separation for us and we will have to stay apart, and the world will see your love for me.’ Saying this, the Devi vanished. The Devi’s words had pleased Shiva. He bowed to Her and continued meditating.”
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