Puranic references in Panniru Thirumurai -
The destruction of Daksha Yagna
--By Shivashankar N
Puranic events related to Lord Brahma, Daksha and Sati Devi
One of the most significant Puranic events to be described and referenced in multiple poems across the Twelve Tirumurais is the destruction of Daksha Prajapati’s yagna. The Shivapurana contains a detailed exposition of the events leading up to the destruction of Daksha Prajapati and the yagna presided by him, followed by his redemption.
All events in the Shivapurana are narrated by Lord Brahma to sage Narada as his own personal history, beginning with His own manifestation from the Supreme Being, Sadashiva. Lord Brahma, after creating the Devas, manifested his son Marici, Atri, Kratu, Pulastya, Angiras, Narada and Daksha, and begat a daughter named Sandhya. On creating these children, Lord Brahma then manifested a majestic being, who was named Kama. Lord Brahma assigned duties to each of his children, and commanded Kama to employ his flowery arrows to enchant all living beings, so that the task of creation may continue. Kama immediately commenced employing his skills, as commanded by his Father, on all beings in his vicinity, including Lord Brahma and Kama’s brothers. Impelled by Kama’s flowery arrows, and under the influence of Lord Sadashiva’s maya leela, there arose a strong desire within Lord Brahma towards his own daughter. Upon a fervent prayer by one of Lord Brahma’s sons Dharmadeva, Lord Sadasiva appeared in front of Brahma and chastised him for his sinful behavior. The ashamed Lord Brahma turned his wrath towards Kamadeva and cursed him to be punished by Lord Shiva himself. Lord Brahma later calmed down, and blessed Kamadeva’s union with Daksha prajapati’s daughter Ratidevi. But Lord Brahma did not forget the Supreme Being’s rebuke, and despite Sri Vishnu’s advice, looked for an opportunity to cause Lord Shiva to deviate from his path of a Supreme Yogin. Despite Kama, Rati and all of their attendants’ numerous attempts, it was impossible to shake Lord Shiva from his samadhi.
Lord Brahma, further impelled by his desire to disturb the yogic state of Lord Shiva (but in reality, enchanted by the Supreme Being’s maya, in order to further the process of creation) sat down in penance and fixed his awareness on the Divine Mother Parashakti, and obtained a boon that She would be born as Daksha’s daughter. Duly, Daksha begat Sati. Wise and vivacious, Sati fixed her mind on Lord Shiva, and after a long period of austerities was blessed by Lord Shiva to be His consort. With Lord Brahma presiding over the ceremonies, in the presence of Lord Vishnu, all assembled devas, rishis and their consorts, Daksha married his daughter Sati unto Lord Shiva.
Daksha prajapati’s long festering animus towards Lord Shiva got inflamed when during one yagna, all assembled Gods bowed before Daksha prajapati, but Lord Shiva sat unbowed. Daksha’s prejudice towards Lord Shiva’s nonconformity, and the apparent heretic tendencies of His followers began to irk Daksha prajapati to no end. Daksha hence planned his most elaborate sacrifice yet. He invited all devas, all rishis, all guardians of all points with all of their consorts and attendants. Sage Bhrighu was appointed as the chief priest for the sacrifice; all devas were offered libations in the sacrifice, and all rishis and attendants were showered with copious gifts. Lord Shiva, His consort Sati and all of Lord Shiva’s attendants were deliberately kept away. Under the spell of maya, all of Daksha’s sacrificial participants partook the offerings oblivious and uncaring of this insult to Lord Shiva (except the sage Dadhichi, who departed the sacrifice after warning Daksha of his imminent destruction). Sati devi, irked by Her father’s conduct, departed to confront Daksha against Lord Shiva’s advice. Sati devi was received coldly by Daksha, and in not being accorded the sacrificial merit that is due to Her Lord, fiercely rebuked Daksha and taunted the assembled Gods, devas and rishis for participating in such disrespect. Daksha, in all of his ignorance, further insulted Lord Shiva and asked Sati devi to abandon her consort. Sati devi, grief stricken, uttered fie upon Daksha and all those assembled. Deciding to cast off the name and the body that came out of Daksha’s lineage, Sati devi invoked Her inner yogic fire and immolated her body, to the bewilderment of all.
Lord Shiva’s ganas, on seeing this insult and the ensuing horror, tried to confront Daksha but were thwarted by terrifying demons invoked by the chief ritwik sage Bhrighu. When the ganas returned to Kailasa and entreated Lord Siva to protect them and rectify the sins of Daksha, the Lord became furious in a trice, and plucked out a cluster of his divine matted locks and split it open in the ground into two pieces. Out of those two pieces arose the heroic Lord Virabhadra and terrifying Goddess Mahakali, along with crores of goblins. Virabhadra and Mahakali were themselves manifestations of the Supreme Being and the inseparable Divine Shakti. Lord Siva instructed Virabhadra to punish the transgressors and destroy anyone, be it deity, deva, rishi or mortal, who dares to oppose out of ignorance.
The destruction of Daksha Yagna and its Tirumurai references
The Twelve Tirumurais, while at their core being expressions of deep devotion towards Lord Shiva, manifest many other beautiful attributes, including being a fountain of Dharmic wisdom. Our civilization has often used the Puranic histories to deliver timeless truths, and the Twelve Tirumurais express these truths through their references to particular Puranic events, in their hymns in praise of Lord Shiva.
When Lord Virabhadra and Goddess Mahakali approached Daksha’s sacrificial pavilion, Daksha fell at Sri Vishnu’s feet and beseeched his protection. Sri Vishnu, himself being among the foremost of Lord Shiva’s devotees, said to Daksha that since Sri Vishnu has taken part on the sacrifice, it is his Dharma to try and protect Daksha, but ultimately all of His efforts would fail due to the sin of participating in the sacrifice itself, and remarking that since His Sudarshana Chakra is of Lord Shiva, it is powerless against any manifestation of Lord Shiva. TirunAvukkarasar’s pathigam in Tiruchaykkadu (4.65.9) beautifully describes this event:
நக்குலா மலர்பன் னூறு கொண்டுநன் ஞானத் தோடு
மிக்கபூ சனைகள் செய்வான் மென்மல ரொன்று காணா
தொக்குமென் மலர்க்க ணென்றங் கொருகணை யிடந்து மப்பச்
சக்கரங் கொடுப்பர் போலுஞ் சாய்க்காடு மேவி னாரே.
When worshipping Lord Shiva with a thousand lotuses every day, on missing one lotus, Lord Vishnu completed his ritual by offering one of His own eyes instead of a lotus, and was blessed by Lord Shiva with the Sudarshana Chakra. It was this event that Sri Vishnu referred to when asking Daksha to be prepared for destruction at the hands of Lord Virabhadra and Goddess Mahakali, despite their best efforts.
And what destruction that was! Lord Virabhadra and Goddess Mahakali consumed all in front of them; their destructive fury aptly compared by Sundaramoorthy Nayanar, to the crashing tidal waves of the Arisil river, in his pathigam on the Lord of Tiruputhur (7.9.7) .
பழிக்கும்பெருந் தக்கன்எச் சம்மழியப்
பகலோன்முத லாப்பல தேவரையும்
தெழித்திட்டவர் அங்கஞ் சிதைத்தருளுஞ்
செய்கையென்னைகொ லோமைகொள் செம்மிடற்றீர்
விழிக்குந்தழைப் பீலியொ டேலமுந்தி
விளங்கும்மணி முத்தொடு பொன்வரன்றி
அழிக்கும்புனல் சேர்அரி சிற்றென்கரை
அழகார்திருப் புத்தூர் அழகனீரே
Each deity and rishi who participated in the sacrifice was punished in accordance with their vanities and their specific actions in scorning the insult to Lord Siva.
சாட வெடுத்தது தக்கன்றன் வேள்வியிற் சந்திரனை
வீட வெடுத்தது காலனை நாரணன் நான்முகனுந்
தேட வெடுத்தது தில்லையுட் சிற்றம் பலத்துநட்டம்
ஆட வெடுத்திட்ட பாதமன் றோநம்மை யாட்கொண்டதே
TirunAvukkarasar, in his koil pathigam (4.81.10) describes how Soma/Chandra was kicked down by Lord Virabhadra, pressed asunder and rubbed in the ground to reduce his lustre and his ego arising out of it.
Indra, who raised aloft the thunderbolt in his arms in defiance, had his shoulder broken, as Manikkavachakar perumAn describes in his Tiruammanai (8.8.15). He also describes how Arka (Surya) who had laughed at the insults to Lord Shiva had his teeth knocked off (hence Surya/Pusan came to be known as the toothless one).
சந்திரனைத் தேய்த்தருளித் தக்கன்றன் வேள்வியினில்
இந்திரனைத் தோள்நெரித்திட் டெச்சன் தலையரிந்
தந்தரமே செல்லும் அலர்கதிரோன் பல்தகர்த்துச்
சிந்தித் திசைதிசையே தேவர்களை ஓட்டுகந்த
செந்தார்ப் பொழில்புடைசூழ் தென்னன் பெருந்துறையான்
மந்தார மாலையே பாடுதுங்காண் அம்மானாய்
The final act of Lord Virabhadra was to go after the main perpetrators. Tirumaligaithevar, in his Tiruvisappa refers (9.1.9) to the punishments meted out to the presiding ritwik sage Bhrigu (எச்சன்) and Daksha. Sage Bhrigu’s face was struck and smashed. Daksha’s head was separated clean and used for the final and complete desecration of the sinful sacrifice he had initiated.
தக்கன்நற் றலையும் எச்சன்வன் றலையும்
தாமரை நான்முகன் தலையும்
ஒக்கவிண் டுருள ஒண்டிருப் புருவம்
நெறித்தரு ளியஉருத் திரனே
அக்கணி புலித்தோ லாடைமேல் ஆட
ஆடப்பொன் னம்பலத் தாடும்
சொக்கனே எவர்க்கும் தொடர்வரி யாயைத்
தொண்டனேன் தொடருமா தொடரே
The complete and deliberate obliteration of Daksha’s sacrifice and the punishment meted out to all of its participants, as described in the Puranic history serves as yet another example of how the Supreme Being restores order and balance, when His creations stray from righteousness. The history of Daksha prajapati, as well as dose of the rishis of Darukavana, is those of learned, capable and blessed souls who become enamored with their knowledge and lose sight of the ultimate goal of all sentient life, and led by their egos, get pulled down the path of wrongful conduct. Even acts of destruction by Ishvara are out of benign kindness, as the punishment itself is to expiate sins and renew each creation, and direct it towards liberation. After the destruction of Daksha’s yagna, on being propitiated by Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and other devas, Lord Shiva out of supreme kindness, restored Daksha’s life after placing a head of the sacrificial goat on his shoulders, restored him as prajapati and allowed the completion of the sacrifice and even presided over it. Manikkavachakar describes the same in his Tiruchchazhal (8.12.5).
தக்கனையும் எச்சனையுந்
தலையறுத்துத் தேவர்கணம்
தொக்கனவந் தவர்தம்மைத்
தொலைத்ததுதான் என்னேடீ
தொக்கனவந் தவர்தம்மைத்
தொலைத்தருளி அருள்கொடுத்தங்
கெச்சனுக்கு மிகைத்தலைமற்
றருளினன்காண் சாழலோ
The history of Daksha yagna serves as a reminder that deluded men, engrossed in rituals, semantic arguments, sacrifices and gifts alone cannot attain salvation. Without rootedness in virtue and devotion, such empty knowledge not only becomes an obstacle in the path towards liberation, but also pushes individuals towards evil and their ultimate downfall.