Nārada’s Marriage and Māyā
This episode is in the sixth Skanda of the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa. Vyāsa asks Nārada about the nature of moha (delusion). Nārada answers by telling his own story. Everyone saw him as the greatest jñānī (knower of the truth). Yet on a journey with Parvata Muni, he fell into deep infatuation for the beautiful princess Damayantī at the court of king Sañjaya. Parvata Muni found out and laid a śāpa (a curse) on him, giving him a monkey’s face. Nārada laid a śāpa on Parvata in return. Then Nārada married Damayantī, because her father agreed to the marriage. Right after the wedding, Devī’s māyā (the power by which the world appears) ended the whole episode. Damayantī vanished and Nārada’s monkey face was gone. Nārada was left to face the fact that knowledge alone does not guard a person from Devī’s vikshepa-śakti (the power that projects the world).
Vyāsa’s question about moha
Vyāsa speaks to Nārada. He asks about the real nature of moha, because he himself has felt its grip, though he is a learned brāhmaṇa who follows the Vedas. Nārada hears the question with a gentle smile. He says to Vyāsa: “Do not be troubled. In this world no being is free from moha, not Brahmā, not Vishṇu, not Śiva, not even Sanaka or Kapila. And I, whom the world takes for a jñānī, have been as helplessly bound by moha as the most ordinary person.” Then he tells his own story as proof. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapter 25)
Nārada and Parvata’s promise
Nārada and his friend Parvata Muni once came down from the world of the devas to tour the holy lands of Bhārata. Before they set out, the two made a solemn promise to each other. Whatever rose in the mind of either of them on the journey, whether it was attraction, desire, pleasure or any other inner movement, he must tell it fully and honestly to the other. They were not to hide anything from each other.
With this promise firmly made, the two great munis travelled across Bhārata and visited tīrthas (holy places), the āśramas (hermitages) of ṛshis, and holy rivers. When the rainy season began, they stayed for the four months of cāturmāsya at the palace of king Sañjaya. He was a wise and generous king, and he received them with great honour. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapter 26)
The attachment to Damayantī
The household of king Sañjaya included his daughter Damayantī, a young woman of rare beauty. She was given the task of serving the two munis. She brought them warm water for bathing, food, betel, garlands of flowers and comfortable seats. As the days went by, Damayantī began to treat the two guests differently. She brought Nārada the finest food and warm water. Parvata got plainer fare. She served Nārada with personal warmth and stayed near him. Her service to Parvata was correct but cold.
Nārada saw what was happening within himself. He was drawn to Damayantī with a strong attachment. He knew from their promise that he must tell Parvata. So he confessed to Parvata that his mind had been taken by the princess and that her love for him was plain. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapter 26)
Parvata’s śāpa and the monkey face
Parvata was furious. He said that Nārada had broken the highest dharma of a muni who has taken the vow of brahmacarya (self-control). He said that Nārada had broken their promise in spirit even as he kept it in word by confessing. In his anger he laid a śāpa on Nārada: “Since you have behaved like a vānara (monkey) in your mind, your face shall become a monkey’s face!”
At once Nārada’s face became an ugly monkey face. Nārada was angry too, because he thought the punishment was too harsh. He answered with a śāpa of his own: “Since you have been so harsh to me for a natural human feeling, may you lose the power to rise to the worlds of the devas! Let Mṛtyu-loka (the world of the dying) be your home for ever!”
After these two śāpas, Parvata left the palace in distress. Nārada sat alone in the palace with his vānara face, thinking over what had happened. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapters 26–27)
The marriage
Nārada’s face was now ugly, yet Damayantī’s attachment to him did not shake. She sent word through her maid to her father that she wished to marry Nārada and no one else. Her reason was striking. She said that Nārada’s mastery of the saptasvara (the seven musical notes) in sāmagāna (the singing of the Sāma Veda) made him far greater than any king who had only a handsome body. She said: “Even deer are overcome by sweet music and give their lives to it. How much more should a woman of feeling be taken by a master of divine music? A person with no inner qualities is worth nothing however handsome. Nārada’s inner greatness makes him the one I choose.”
King Sañjaya was troubled, but he felt bound by his daughter’s will and by his duty. He arranged the marriage. The wedding was done, though Nārada had the monkey face and the court was amazed and mocked. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapter 27)
Māyā dissolves the episode
As soon as the marriage was complete, Devī’s māyā, which had planned the whole episode, dissolved it. Damayantī vanished before Nārada’s eyes, together with the whole false episode of the marriage. The monkey face also vanished, and Nārada’s own divine form came back. He stood alone.
At the same moment the śāpa on Parvata Muni was also lifted. Nārada himself went to Parvata. The two saw that the whole episode had been the māyā-play of Devī, and they forgave each other and mended their friendship like brothers. Parvata’s śāpa on Nārada was seen to have been already fulfilled and spent. Nārada’s counter-śāpa on Parvata was likewise taken back. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapters 28–31)
The lesson
Nārada ends his account to Vyāsa with a plain statement of the teaching. Devī Bhagavatī herself had staged this whole episode to show that even the greatest jñānī is not beyond the reach of her vikshepa-śakti. Such a one knows Brahman, has travelled all the worlds, and is the son of Brahmā himself. Yet no amount of learning, tapas (austerity) or understanding of philosophy gives freedom from her power to project the world of appearances and fill it with desire.
This is given as one of the main teachings of the Devī Bhāgavata. The māyā of Devī works through two śaktis (powers): āvaraṇa (veiling) and vikshepa (projection). Freedom from these does not come from a person’s own effort alone. It needs the grace of Devī Bhagavatī herself. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapters 29–31)
Sources
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapters 25–31 (Chapter 25: Vyāsa’s question; Chapter 26: the promise, Damayantī, the confession; Chapters 26–27: the śāpas; Chapter 27: the marriage; Chapters 28–31: māyā dissolves the episode; Chapters 29–31: the lesson)