Daksha Yajña (Bhāgavata Purāṇa)

Daksha was a Prajāpati (a lord of creatures) and the father of Satī. This narrative is told in the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapters 1 to 7. It tells of the hatred between Daksha and Bhagavān Śiva, and of Satī, who gave up her body through yoga because her father insulted her husband.

It goes on to tell how Vīrabhadra destroyed Daksha’s yajña (fire ritual), how the devas calmed Bhagavān Śiva at Kailāsa, and how Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared at the restored yajña. Daksha was revived with a goat’s head. Satī was later born as Pārvatī, the daughter of Himavān.

Background

Daksha had twenty-four daughters by his wife Prasūti, the daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu. Thirteen were given in marriage to Dharma, one to Agni, one to the Pitṛdevatās, and one, Satī, to Bhagavān Śiva. Satī was deeply devoted to Bhagavān Śiva, but she bore him no children. The cause of the disaster was Daksha’s proud nature and his deep dislike of Bhagavān Śiva.

Atri’s three sons

Chapter 1 also records the three sons of Atri Maharshi and his wife Anasūyā. They were Dattātreya (an aṃśa, a part, of Bhagavān Vishṇu), Durvāsa (an aṃśa of Bhagavān Śiva) and Candra (an aṃśa of Bhagavān Brahmā).

These three came because the trimūrtis (the three great forms) appeared to Atri while he was practising hard tapas (austerity) on Ṛksha mountain. They told him: “We three are the same. You will have us as your three sons.”

Daksha insults Śiva

Marīci and the other Prajāpatis held a great satra yāga, a long yajña. When Daksha entered, all the assembled ṛshis and devas stood up to honour him. Only Bhagavān Brahmā and Bhagavān Śiva did not.

Daksha bowed to Bhagavān Brahmā and sat down. Then he turned on Bhagavān Śiva with poisonous hatred and spoke against him before the whole assembly. His words sounded like praise but carried sharp insults at every turn. He mocked Bhagavān Śiva’s home in the cremation ground, his ghosts and skulls, his ash-smeared body and wild looks. He called each one a breach of Vedic good manners.

The assembly tried to stop Daksha. In his anger he gave a formal śāpa (a curse): Bhagavān Śiva would get no share of the havis (the offering) in any yajña.

Nandiśvara, the chief of Bhagavān Śiva’s gaṇas (attendants), gave a śāpa in return, on Daksha and on the brahmins who approved of him. Those who honour the body as the self would be lost in delusion. Daksha would lose his higher knowledge and grow a goat’s face.

Then Bhṛgu Maharshi gave a śāpa on the followers of Bhagavān Śiva: they would turn against the Vedas and smear themselves with ash.

Bhagavān Śiva left calmly, as if he were only slightly disturbed. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapter 2)

Satī decides to go

Bhagavān Brahmā made Daksha the ruler of all the Prajāpatis. This made Daksha prouder still. He performed a great Vājapeya yajña, followed by a Bṛhaspati-sava. He invited all the brahmarshis, the devarshis and the couples of the Pitṛdevatās. He invited everyone except Bhagavān Śiva.

Satī saw the women of the celestial world flying toward the yajña. She felt a deep wish to see her sisters, her mother and the ceremony. She spoke warmly to Bhagavān Śiva: “Even without an invitation one may visit one’s guru, friend, husband or parents. I only want to see the place where I was born and grew up.”

Bhagavān Śiva answered with loving care. Daksha’s mind was poisoned by hatred of him, and she would receive no honour there. Unkind words from one’s own family hurt more deeply than arrows from enemies. He said: “If you go against my word, this journey will bring you no good. The insult from your own people may cause your death.” (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapter 3)

Satī gives up her body through yoga

Satī could not hold herself back. She left for the yajña without the permission of Bhagavān Śiva, with his attendants beside her. At the yajña Daksha did not receive her. Her mother and sisters embraced her in tears, but her father pointedly gave Bhagavān Śiva no share of the offerings. A seat was given to Satī, but she refused it.

She burned with anger at the insult to Bhagavān Śiva and spoke to Daksha before the assembly: “Who else but you would oppose Śiva, the Ātman (the Self) of all beings? A devotee should leave when Śiva is insulted, or cut out the tongue that speaks such words, or die. I will not carry this body born of you, who have offended Śiva.”

She answered each of the apparent insults. Bhagavān Śiva’s ash, his garlands of skulls and his home in the śmaśāna (cremation ground) are truths about the whole creation, not signs of low standing. She said: “The name ‘Śiva’ alone, spoken even carelessly, destroys all pāpa (sin). Yet you hate him. You are the truly inauspicious one.”

After this speech Satī faced north and sat on the ground. She took her āsana (seat) and practised prāṇāyāma (breath control). She raised her prāṇa (life breath) from the Maṇipūra cakra up through Anāhata, Viśuddhi and Ājñā, and entered deep samādhi. The fire of yoga burned her body. The assembly cried out in grief.

The gaṇas of Bhagavān Śiva tried to kill Daksha. But Bhṛgu Maharshi spoke a mantra of the yajña, and the Ṛbhus, born of the sacrificial fire, rose up and drove the gaṇas away. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapter 4)

Vīrabhadra destroys the yajña

Nārada came to Kailāsa and told Bhagavān Śiva that Satī was dead. His grief blazed up into a fury that shook the worlds. He tore a blazing lock of matted hair (jaṭā) from his head and threw it on the ground.

From that jaṭā rose Vīrabhadra. He was as tall as the sky and had a thousand arms. His three eyes blazed like suns. He had fearsome fangs, flaming hair and garlands of skulls, and he carried many weapons. He bowed low before Bhagavān Śiva and asked: “What shall I do?”

Bhagavān Śiva ordered him: “Kill Daksha, destroy his yajña, and become the supreme leader of my gaṇas.”

Vīrabhadra led the whole army of gaṇas south. Their march shook the earth, and his lion’s roar filled the sky. At the yajña, the people saw a huge cloud of dust in the north. The women wept and said it was the fruit of Daksha’s offence.

The gaṇas broke down the whole yajña hall: the yajña shed, the hall of the wife, the cook room, the maṇḍapa, the vessels and the fire pits. Maṇimanta seized Bhṛgu. Caṇḍīśa seized Pūshan. Nandiśvara seized Bhagadeva.

Bhṛgu’s beard was torn off, because he had smirked in approval. Bhaga’s eyes were gouged out, because he had winked. Pūshan’s teeth were knocked out, because he had grinned.

Vīrabhadra tried to cut off Daksha’s head with a sword, but the blade failed. He then understood that in a yajña the yajamāna (the one who performs it) is formally the paśu (the animal offered). So he cut off Daksha’s head by the method used for a paśu and threw it into the dakshiṇāgni (the southern fire). (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapter 5)

The devas calm Śiva

The devas and the ṛtviks (priests), their limbs broken, fled to Bhagavān Brahmā. Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Brahmā had not gone to the yajña, because they knew what would happen there.

Bhagavān Brahmā told the devas: “Daksha wronged the faultless Śiva. Go and hold his lotus feet with pure hearts. He is quickly pleased.”

Bhagavān Brahmā led the whole company to Kailāsa. The account describes it at length. Mango trees stand a hundred yojanas tall. There are forests of sandalwood, mandāra, pārijāta and raktakāñcana trees. Peacocks call, bees hum and koels sing. The river Nandā flows there. Beyond it lies Kubera’s city Alakāpurī, and the Saugandhika forest with its wish-fulfilling trees.

Under a great banyan tree Bhagavān Śiva sat in deep meditation in vīrāsana, teaching Nārada about Brahman. He wore bhasma (ash), carried a daṇḍa (staff), and had matted hair, a deerskin and a crescent moon.

Bhagavān Brahmā praised Bhagavān Śiva as Parabrahma itself, the father of Śiva and Śakti, who sends out the world as a spider spins its web. He prayed: “Daksha’s fault came from Vishṇu’s māyā. Forgive him. Bring Daksha back to life. Give back Bhaga’s eyes, Bhṛgu’s beard and Pūshan’s teeth. Heal the devas. Let what is left of the yajña be your share.” (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapter 6)

Hari appears and the yajña is completed

Bhagavān Śiva smiled and agreed. Daksha would receive a goat’s head. Bhaga would see through the eyes of Mitra. Pūshan would eat only ground food. Bhṛgu would have a goat’s beard. The broken limbs of the devas would be made whole. Pūshan would receive the arms of the Aśvinī-devatas.

The devas went back to the yajña site and joined the head of the yajña goat to Daksha’s body. The kind glance of Bhagavān Śiva brought him back to life. Daksha saw Bhagavān Śiva before him. His heart became clear like a pond in autumn. He was full of shame and love, and he remembered Satī. He wept and praised Bhagavān Śiva: “You punished me and then restored me. This is a double grace. Your punishment is itself protection.”

With the permission of Bhagavān Brahmā the yajña began again. The devas performed a tri-kāpāla ishṭi for Bhagavān Vishṇu. Daksha meditated on Bhagavān Vishṇu with a cleansed mind.

Then Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared, riding on Garuḍa, whose wings are the Bṛhat and Rathaṃtara sāmans. His brightness dimmed all others. He was dark in colour and wore golden garments. His crown blazed like the sun, and curls like bees circled his face. He had eight arms and held the śaṅkha (conch), padma (lotus), cakra (discus), arrows, bow, gadā (mace), sword and shield.

All who were present praised Śrī Hari, each in a separate stuti (hymn of praise). Daksha spoke of Ātmacaitanya. The ṛtviks spoke of the yajña as the very form of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Rudra spoke of his devotion. Bhṛgu spoke of the māyā of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bhagavān Brahmā said that Bhagavān Vishṇu cannot be known through the senses. The wives of the yajña priests praised him as yajñeśvara, the master of the yajña. The maharshis spoke of his action that is not bound by action.

Bhagavān Vishṇu said to Daksha: “I am the Paramakāraṇa, the first cause. I am the Ātman of all. Brahmā and Śiva are none other than me.”

Daksha finished the remaining offerings and took the avabhṛtha snāna, the closing bath of the yajña. The devas went up to svarga (heaven). Satī was afterwards born as Pārvatī, the daughter of Himavān and Menā. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapter 7)

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapters 1–7