Skip to main content

Demise of Bhasmasura

You can find the story of Bhasmasura in the Bhagvat Puran. But, another version of the same story exist in the Ganesh Puran as well.

Image by Tanuj Handa from Pixabay

Many many years ago, there was an asura (demon) whose name was Vrik. He was not only very strong, but also very ambitious. One day, Narada muni was going somewhere when he came across Vrikasura on his way. Praising Vrikasura for his strength, Narada muni told him to worship any of the the tridevas for boon to fulfil his dream of winning over the three lokas (swarga, martya and patal). Vrik loved the idea a lot and decided to worship Lord Shiva as it was comparatively easy to please him. 

So, he went to Kedarnath and started tapasya (worship) to please Shiva. He observed severe penance for many days without any result. Hence he decided to follow a harsh way to satisfy the great Lord. He started to cut his own body parts one by one in the name of Shiva. At last, when he was about to cut his head, Shiva appeared in front of Vrik along with his consort Devi Parvati. Shiva was very pleased and healed Vrikasura immediately. Shiva was ready to fulfil any wish of his ardent follower.

Vrikasura was waiting for the moment and he asked Shiva to grant him a boon. He wished that with the touch of his index finger on head, anyone should burn to death and turn into ashes immediately.  Without realising its significance, Shiva fulfilled the wish and Vrik henceforth came to be known as Bhasmasura (the demon who could make anyone ash). Vrik's dream came true. He looked at Devi Parvati and thought to win her after killing Lord Shiva with his power. Hence he jumped towards Shiva to touch his head. Realising his mistake, Shiva started to run and Vrikasura chased him. 

Wherever Shiva went, Vrikasura  followed him. All of the gods were scared as Mahadev (the great god) himself was fleeing for his own life. Finding no other shelter, Shiva went to Vaikuntha lok (heavenly adobe of Lord Vishnu) and prayed to Lord Vishnu to save him somehow. By that time, Bhasmasura also reached there.

Lord Vishnu then appeared in front of Vrik as a young monk (Brahmachari). He pretended that he knew nothing and asked Bhasmasura why he had come to Vaikuntha lok. As Bhasmasura told him about his power of killing anyone with a single touch, the Brahmachari began to laugh loudly. He told Bhasmasura that he was made a fool by the Shiva as Shiva had no such power to fulfil anyone's wish. Shiva was nothing but a fake and addicted to bhang (cannabis). He had given boons of invincibility to many asuras before and all of them died. He also told Bhasmasura that Shiva fled not because of his fear but to save himself from embarrassment. Brahmachari was so confident and convincing that Bhasmasura also began to doubt Shiva. Understanding his confusion, Brahmachari asked Bhasmasura to satisfy his doubts by touching his own head. As soon Bhasmasura touched his head with his own finger, he burned to death and turned into ash. Shiva and all other devas were relieved by the demise of the demon and thanked Lord Vishnu.

There is another version of the same story where in stead of being a Brahmachari, Lord Vishnu appeared as Mohini (an enchanting woman with boundless beauty and youth). Bhasmasura was smitten with the look of Mohini and expressed his wish to have her. Mohini apparently agreed on one condition. She told Bhasmasura that as she was an apsara (divine dancer), Bhasmasura had to learn dance to get her. As Bhasmasura didn't know anything about dance, Mohini started to train him. After a few days, Mohini showed him a move where one needed to touch own head with index finger. Unconsciously Bhasmasura touched his head with his finger while imitating Mohini and turned to ash instantly. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Story of Maharishi Bhrigu

Maharishi Bhrigu was a son of Prajapati Brahma (Manas-putra or mind-born child). As per the Hindu religious sources, Bhrigu brought fire (Agni) to humans from the gods. His name is mentioned in Rig-Veda with veneration, and his descendants are known as Bhargavas. Maharishi Bhrigu had three wives: Khyati, Puloma, and Kavyamata. Rishi Chavana was the son of mata Puloma, Dhata and Vidhata were two sons of mata Khyati, and Sukracharya was the son of Kavyamata (or Usanas).  Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash M any, many years ago, a Maha Yagna (religious ritual) was being held on the bank of the Saraswati river. There was a large gathering of all the great sages, and they started an argument about who was the greatest among the Tri-devas, or Trimurti (Trinity). As there was no consent, Rishi Bhrigu was imposed with the task of finding out the answer.  Another version of the same story states that Rishi Bhrigu achieved divine power through many years of austerity, meditation, and introspe
Post a Comment
Read more

The Story of King Raghu

Raghu, the son of King Dilipa, was a famous ruler of the Ikshvaku dynasty. He had a long and glorious reign.    Shree Ramachandra was his great grandson. Mahakavi Kalidasa authored a major novel, Raghuvansham, which portrayed the lives of Raghu and his successors. Image by  Pexels  from  Pixabay   Suryavanshi Raja (King) Dilipa, and his wife, Sudakshina, had no son. So, the king, accompanied by his wife, went to the ashram (hermitage) of the sage Vashistha to find a solution. Vashistha instructed King Dilipa to please a cow, Nandini, who was the daughter of the divine cow Kamdhenu. As told, Dilipa started to take good care of her.  Every day he used to go to the field with the cow. One month had passed. One day, as usual, King Dilipa was in the field with the divine cow. The weather was beautiful, and Dilipa was observing the beauty of nature. Nandini was eating grass calmly. Suddenly, he heard the terrible roaring of a lion. He saw that there was a huge lion who was just about to kill
1 comment
Read more

The Story of Dadhichi Muni

Mention of Dadhichi can be traced to different ancient religious sources, including the Rig Veda, Bhagavata Puran, Shiva Puran, etc. There is a community of Dahima or Dadhich Brahmins in Rajasthan who claim to have been descended from Dadhichi, and their deity is Devi Dadhimati, who was the sister of Dadhichi.  Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash D adhichi, or Dadhyancha, was a wise and resourceful sage of ancient times. His name is mentioned in the Rig Veda with veneration. His father was Rishi Atharvan, and his mother was Chiti (daughter of a great sage, Rishi Kardam). Pippalada, son of Dadhichi, was another great sage and the originator of the Prashna Upanishad. Dadhichi was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. His ashram (a place for meditation, worship, and theological learning) was at Misrikh in Naimisharanya (now in Uttar Pradesh, India). [According to some other sources, it was Dudheshwara, on the bank of the Sabarmati river.] Dadhichi had the ancient vedic knowledge of  Madhuvid
Post a Comment
Read more