Storytelling is an innate human quality! We often do it to teach , influence and inspire...
Indian Mythology is one of the richest elements of Indian Culture. Through time, different stories in Indian mythology have been passed from generation to generation either by word of mouth or through carefully stored scriptures. It is a very fascinating world , it sparks human thinking , fuels creativity , and has high entertainment values.
One of the stories of Lord Shiva and Bhasmasura ( Asura / Daemon ) goes like this:
PC: various vedic sites from internet. Not distorted , used just for depiction.
Bhasmasura :
Bhasmasura was a very strong daemon but he used to act before thinking. He wanted to become the most powerful Asura in their community. He knew Lord Shiva was very generous and could be easily pleased and was capable of giving any boon of his choice , so he decided to perform severe penance to win the heart of Lord Shiva.. Every day, during his prayers, he used to cut a part of his body and offer it to Lord Shiva to please him. He repeated this for many days.
Lord Shiva :
Out of 10 qualities of Lord Shiva - one of the qualities which made him very different from everyone else, was that he was a 'benevolent deity'. He was a kind hearted lord , "The Bholenath" , and has an ocean-like forgiveness quality.
And hence , Lord Shiva was pleased with Bhasmasura's prayers and came forward to grant him whatever boon he wished for.
The wish of Bhasmasura :
Bhasmasura wanted to be immortal , so he said, "Lord, please grant me the wish that whichever person, place or thing I place my right hand on, is reduced to ashes". Lord Shiva granted him the boon and Bhasmasura was very happy.
Wicked Bhasmasura :
Bhasmasura, being the wicked demon ..as he was .. wanted to try his boon on Lord Shiva himself and tried to touch his head. A panicked Lord Shiva had to run away from Bhasmasura and approached Lord Vishnu to help him.
Lord Shiva himself was immortal , hence, it was a now a severe contradiction which he landed into by granting this boon.
The saviour - Lord Vishnu takes the ‘Mohini Avatar’:
Lord Vishnu changed himself into a beautiful young girl Mohini. Bhasmasura stopped as he had not seen such a beautiful girl earlier.. She was so beautiful and so graceful that for a minute Bhasmasura even forgot who he was. She talked in a way that she caught him in her beauty. He fell in love with Mohini and asked her to marry him.
Mohini continued, 'I am a dancer Bhasmasura. When I was younger I made a promise that I would only marry a man who can dance as good as mine’ . Bhasmasura readily agreed to learn to dance for his new found ꒒০⌵୧ ♡ !!
Bhasmasura Vadh:
( How Bhasmasura was killed )
Mohini started teaching two different dance moves to Bhasmasura. Bhasmasura was fully concentrating and was getting better and better in his moves.
Mohini soon won in her trick and kept her hand on her own head. Without thinking Bhasmasura did the same!
Lord Shiva's boon worked 😇 and he was burned into a pile of bhasma (ashes). Mohini was looking at Bhasmasura's ashes as Lord Shiva appeared before Mohini. Lord Shiva went back to Kailash, thanking Lord Vishnu.
What can we learn from this story :
Beware of friends & followers , not everyone might be a real friend or a follower.
Be generous , but not too much. Understand and anticipate potential implications of any act. Think before you act!
Everyone makes mistakes , even the most powerful and brilliant people.
You must cultivate friends , if Lord Vishnu did not come for Shiva's rescue…
I leave this great indian mythological story for your further interpretation , as that's what indian mythologies do - i.e. spark our imaginations and derive a learning out of it !! :)
