Birth of the Maruts (Padma Purāṇa)

The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells, in Chapter 26, how the forty-nine Maruts were born. The Maruts are the gaṇa (company) of storm-devas who go with Indra. Their birth begins with the grief of Diti, whose son Bala was killed by Indra.

Diti’s grief: the death of Bala

Earlier in the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa (Chapter 23), Diti gave birth to a son named Bala, after years of tapas (austerity) and brahmacarya. Bala was a devout brahmacārī. He kept his sandhyāvandana (the daily prayer at the junctions of the day) with full regularity and śraddhā (faith). He was not a maker of war. His life was given to tapas and worship.

Indra always guarded his rule against any danger. He saw Bala as a possible threat and struck him dead during his sandhyāvandana. Bala had no weapon and was lost in prayer at that moment. The Purāṇa itself condemns this act. Killing a brahmacārī during sandhyāvandana brings a heavy fruit of karma. Indra knew this, and he did it out of fear and self-interest. Diti was broken with grief.

Diti’s hundred-year tapas

After Bala’s death, Diti decided to bring forth a son who could destroy Indra. She began a tapas of one hundred years for this one purpose. It was a hard tapas: fasting, heat, silence and full focus on her aim.

As the tapas came near its end, Indra learned that Diti was about to bear the son she wanted. He made a plan.

Indra comes as a brāhmaṇa servant

Indra took the form of a humble brāhmaṇa and came to Diti’s āśrama (hermitage), asking to serve her. Diti was absorbed in her tapas. She accepted his service and did not know who he was. For a long time Indra served her faithfully. He gathered wood, carried water and did all the work of an āśrama servant. He waited for his chance.

The chance came from a small lapse in the rules. One day Diti was worn out by her tapas and fell asleep in a position that is not allowed. Her head lay where her feet should be, with her head toward the south, the wrong direction. This mistake broke the protection that the śāstra gives to a woman doing tapas.

Indra cuts the child

Through this opening Indra entered Diti’s womb. He found the child who was to destroy him. The child was already formed and shone with the power of a hundred years of tapas.

With his vajra (thunderbolt), Indra cut the child into seven pieces. Each piece cried out:

Mā ruda

This means “Do not weep!” As each piece cried out, Indra cut it again into seven. Seven pieces, each cut into seven, made forty-nine pieces. Each piece became a living divine being, a Marut.

The forty-nine Maruts

The forty-nine Maruts are the one great son of Diti, divided. Indra did not leave one strong enemy. He spread that power into forty-nine storm-devas. They then became his closest companions and helpers.

The Maruts are a gaṇa of storm-devas who go with Indra and carry lightning. They are counted in seven groups of seven. Their fighting power was first meant to destroy Indra, and it became the power that serves and goes with him.

When Diti woke, she understood what had happened. She had lost Bala, her hundred years of tapas had been turned aside, and Indra had entered her womb.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 23 (the birth and death of Bala)
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 26 (Diti’s tapas, Indra’s disguise, the cutting of the child, the forty-nine Maruts)