The Story of Pippalad

Dadhichi Muni sacrificed his life to protect the gods from the menace of the demon Vritra. The god Viswakarma fashioned the vajra (lightning bolt), a formidable weapon, from Dadhichi's bones. With the weapon, Devraj Indra, the king of the gods, slained the demon.

Svarcha, Dadhichi Muni's wife, was expecting a child at the time of her husband's death. Being unable to have Dadhichi's body cremated as his remains were being used to forge the weapon, Svarcha became very distraught. Thus, after the birth of Dadhichi's son, his wife decided to immolate herself for the sake of her husband's afterlife. 

Dadhichi's ashram was situated in the Naimisharanya forest. There stood a great old pipal tree. Svarcha placed her son in front of that pipal tree and prayed to the tree to take care of him. Thus, the pipal tree opened up his trunk to create room for the infant and took the infant inside of him. The wife of the great sage pleaded with all the gods to protect her child, and she gave her life by immolation. The boy was left inside the tree and was named Pippalad (Pippalada). 

Image by guentherlig from Pixabay

Suryadev gave his warmth to protect the child, and Chandradev gave soma (the divine elixir of life) to the pipal tree, who mixed that with his own sap to feed the child. Lord Brahma encircled the tree with a divine protection spell so that no living or nonliving creature could harm the tree or the child. The child slowly grew up in the pipal tree. The animals, birds, and trees of the forest were his companions. The pipal tree not only raised him up but also became his guru. He taught the boy how to talk and gave him knowledge of nature and the forest. As the child grew up, one day he asked the pipal tree about his parents. The pipal tree replied that his parents were great sages who died because of the devas (gods). After hearing this, the young boy grew enraged, and thereafter, he harbored a deep animosity toward the devas.

One day, while traveling through the Naimisharanya, Narada muni was strolling past the abandoned Dadhichi ashram. Suddenly he noticed a remarkable young boy sitting beneath a big pipal tree and talking incessantly with the tree. The tree was also responding to the boy by shaking its branches and leaves. The boy had a divine glow on his face. After a few moments of surprise, Narada muni understood that he could be none other than Dadhichi muni's son. Pippalad also noticed him and inquired about the muni from the pipal tree. The pipal tree informed him that he was a wise man who knew his parents. Pippalad was delighted to hear that.

Narada muni answered Pippalad's queries by revealing to him the glory of his father. Pippalad was both thrilled and enraged to learn that the gods had fashioned weapons from his father's bones. In order to take revenge on the devas, he asked Narada muni how to get powerful. Narada muni advised him to perform penance in order to appease Mahadev (Lord Shiva). 

Thus, Pippalad began a rigorous penance. Ultimately, Shiva manifested in front of him and asked him to express his wishes. Pippalad told him that he wanted to destroy the devas. Shiva told Pippalad to leave his enmity towards the gods and better ask for something else. Pippalad insisted again and again, but Shiva kept refuting. Being disheartened, Pippalad begged Shiva to at least reveal some way to make himself strong enough in order to overcome the devas. Shiva calmly told Pippalad to focus on his third eye. When he would be able to perceive and endure the brilliance of the third eye of Shiva, his power would surpass that of the gods. 

Pippalad was satisfied at last. He began severe austerity and immersed himself in meditation. One day, after years of austerity, he became able to perceive the third eye of Shiva and felt the enormity of the supreme god's wrath. With this, a fearful demon emerged from his own anger. Indeed, the devil possessed great power. He had four powerful hands and two legs with hooves. He could breathe fire from his nose, was capable of hurling fireballs, and could devour the souls of his foes.

The demon asked Pippalad, "Why have you summoned me?" Pippalad replied, "Your task is to slay all the devas. You should fill your belly with one deva each day." The demon's eyes glittered with greed, and after licking his lips with his long, bifid tongue, he asked, "Tell me who is going to fill my belly today?"  Pippalad told him, "Whoever appears first in front of you." 

Hearing this, the demon grinned at Pippalad and said, "Then it is you who will fill my belly today." Pippalad was taken aback by such words. But the demon clarified that, as Pippalad tasted Soma, he would be considered as one of the devas. Thus, pippalad would serve as his food for the day. In fear, Pippalad started running and sought refuge inside the pipal tree. The demon chased him and began to scratch the pipal tree to reach Pippalad. But due to the divine protection of Brahma, he could not reach him.

Finding no other option, Pippalad started to pray to Shiva. Shiva manifested himself there with a smile on his lips. As Pippalad asked for mercy from Shiva, the supreme being told him that the demon was the manifestation of Pippalad's own wreath, and only Pippalad himself could control it. But when Pippalad asked the demon to get passified and stop hunting the devas, the demon replied that he would stop only when Pippalad's anger would wear off. However, Pippalad's anger was so deep-rooted and intense that he himself was not able to eliminate the anger from his own mind. 

Therefore, he again sought help from Shiva. Shiva then told him to shed his anger into the water of the river Saraswati, which would passify it. But Pippalad could not come out of the pipal tree, as outside the tree, his own anger was waiting to kill him in the form of a demon. So, Shiva asked Devi Saraswati to help him. Devi Saraswati told Shiva that she was not powerful enough to appease the wreath of Pippalad and only the ocean might passify the anger. But she assured that she could carry the wrath of Pippalad to the ocean. Then Shiva took out the anger from Pippalad's mind with his trident and threw it into the water of the river Saraswati. Devi carried the anger to the ocean. But because of the extreme heat of the anger, the river Saraswati dried up for ever. The ocean buried the anger below the ocean floor, which has remained there since then. But sometimes the wrath comes out on the surface, thus giving rise to a tsunami. 

As Pippalad's anger was gone, the demon he created became weak, but he was still alive. Seeing him, Pippalad asked Shiva how to kill the demon. Shiva replied that though he was going to anihilate the demon's physical form, the demon would remain alive forever inside the minds of the people. Whenever a person would become angry, the demon would reveal himself, and he would start devouring the person by destroying the clarity of mind and ability to think and reason. Shiva said that to keep the demon under control, one must know how to tame his or her anger. 

Pippalad understood his faults and begged for forgiveness from Shiva. He was free from his wrath, and his mental clarity returned. After getting blessings from the Shiva, he began asking about his birth and how misfortune befell him since he had not committed any sin. Shiva told him that he would get all of his answers, but for that, he needed to learn the Vedas first. He told him to meet Yajnavalkya Muni. On Shiva's instruction, Yajnavalkya Muni performed his Upanayan (a sacred rite of passage leading to spiritual rebirth) and initiated his formal education. 

Later, Pippalad became a great sage and philosopher, and he authored the Prashna Upanishad.