Māli and Sumāli

This account tells how two asuras, Māli and Sumāli, tried to take the place of Sūrya and stop the night. Sūrya struck them down. Bhagavān Śiva was angry that his devotees had been hurt, and he chased Sūrya through the three worlds. Sūrya found shelter with Brahmā, and Brahmā’s stotra (hymn of praise) calmed Bhagavān Śiva.

Who tells it

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa tells this account to Rādhādevī. It follows the narratives about the breaking of pride (garvabhaṅga). It is part of the longer talk of Nārāyaṇa Maharshi to Nārada Muni, as the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa records it. Just after the account of how Indra’s pride was broken, Kṛshṇa turned to this episode. It shows Śiva’s fierce love for his bhaktas (devotees). It also shows that Brahmā can calm even the angriest Mahādeva with a sincere stotra.

The asuras Māli and Sumāli

Māli and Sumāli were two great daitya chiefs. They were full of pride because of the vara (a boon) from Śaṅkara himself, and because of the great wealth their own strength had gathered.

One evening Sūrya rose, as he always does at dawn, crossed the sky through the day, and went down at dusk, as the divine order requires. Night began to spread over the three worlds. But Māli and Sumāli were drunk with their own tejas (radiance) and with the pride of Śaṅkara’s vara. They would not let the night fall. With the blazing light of their own bodies they tried to fill the sky with an artificial day. They kept the three worlds lit by their own strange radiance, so that darkness would have no rule.

Sūrya strikes the asuras

Sūrya saw them take over his own work, the sacred rhythm of day and night that holds all creation. He was filled with righteous anger. The lord of light took up his śūla (spear) and struck both Māli and Sumāli with it, without effort. Hit by Sūrya’s weapon, both daitya chiefs fell crashing to the earth, and their light went out.

Śiva’s anger and the chase

Śaṅkara always watches over his devotees with a father’s fierce care. He knew at once that harm had come to his bhaktas Māli and Sumāli. Blazing with anger, he hurried to the place. By the power of his great jñāna (knowledge), which is the very substance of his being, Śiva brought both asuras back to life. They bowed to Śaṅkara in devotion and went home. Their revival only made Śiva angrier with Sūrya.

Śiva is Kāla (Time) itself, the one who ends all beings. Now he ran to destroy Sūrya. Sūrya knew that when Hara chases, only destruction follows, and he fled in fear. There was no place in the three worlds that Śiva’s anger could not reach. Sūrya ran all the way to Brahmaloka and took shelter at the feet of Brahmā, the four-faced creator and father of the devas.

Mahādeva’s anger knows no limit. He followed Sūrya even to Brahmaloka, with his śūla raised and ready to strike, and he would have entered that world in his rage. Brahmā saw Bhagavān Śiva, the lord of destruction, coming, blazing with wrath.

Brahmā’s stotra to Śiva

Brahmā is the master of all the worlds, and he had created Sūrya himself. He did not run or wait. He knew that only loving praise could calm the three-eyed Śiva. So Brahmā began to sing a stotra to Śiva with all four of his faces at once, in the words of the Vedas themselves.

Brahmā praised Śiva in these and similar words:

“O destroyer of Daksha’s yajña (fire ritual)! O Guru of the worlds! This Sūrya, who has taken shelter in me, was made by you at the very beginning of creation. Look on him with mercy. O Mahānubhāva, you who are pleased even by small prayers and small pūjā. O Bhakta-vātsala (lover of your devotees). O ocean of compassion. Protect Time as it shows itself in day and night. You are the all-pervading form that fills everything. O Bhagavān Śiva! O Maker, Keeper and Destroyer! You yourself made Sūrya, and now you yourself wish to destroy him. You are Brahmā. You are Śesha, who carries the worlds. You are Dharma. You are Indra and Candra and all the devas, and they all fear you. The ṛshis and munis, whose only wealth is tapas (austerity), serve you alone. You are the fruit of tapas. You are tapas itself. You are also the fruit of tapas.”

When Brahmā had finished this full praise with deep devotion, he brought Sūrya before Śiva as an offering of devotion. He placed Sūrya before the kind feet of Śaṅkara, the friend of the helpless (dīna-vatsala), as a devotee places flowers at the feet of a mūrti.

Śiva forgives and returns to Kailāsa

Śambhu is full of karuṇā (compassion) in his heart, though his form is fearful. He heard Brahmā’s praise from all four faces, and his anger melted away. His face became calm and bright. Śiva remembered that he himself had created Sūrya, and that Brahmā had offered Sūrya to him as one who seeks shelter (śaraṇāgati). So Śiva blessed Sūrya with his compassion. Brahmā and Śiva honoured each other with respect, because Sūrya had given himself over to Śiva. Full of joy that the matter had ended well, Śaṅkara turned and went back to Kailāsa.

The fruit of Brahmā’s Śiva stotra

Kṛshṇa told Rādhā that anyone who recites the stotra Brahmā sang in that moment of danger will be freed at once. A person who is gripped by fear is freed from that fear. A person who is held in bonds is freed from them. The stotra frees a person from danger, without any doubt, when he recites it while:

• standing at a king’s gate to face judgment
• in a śmaśāna (cremation ground)
• on a great ship that is sinking in the ocean
• caught in fire or flood
• facing battle
• in prison
• facing wild beasts in the forest

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 48