Daksha Yajña and Satī’s Death (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa)

Daksha was made the chief of the Prajāpatis (the lords of living beings) in Brahmā’s realm, and his pride swelled. He held a great yajña (fire ritual) and invited everyone except Bhagavān Śiva and Satī. Satī longed to see her parents’ home. She went without an invitation, against Śiva’s advice. At the yajña she found no share set aside for Śiva and saw her father insult him. She gave up her body in yogāgni (the fire of yoga). Bhagavān Śiva then sent Vīrabhadra, who destroyed the yajña. This is told in the Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa.

Daksha becomes Prajāpati

One day all the great ṛshis and devas had gathered in the realm of Brahmā. Brahmā gave Daksha the place of chief among the Prajāpatis. Daksha had been judged fully able in every way, and so he was set up as the first of the lords of living beings. The moment this great office was given to him, his pride grew beyond measure.

The yajña planned without Śiva

Made bold by his new rank, Daksha announced a great yajña. He sent invitations to all the devas, the ṛshis and the beings who are entitled to a share of the offerings. The devas, richly dressed, boarded their divine vehicles and set out gladly for Daksha’s yajña. Daksha’s other daughters were among those who went, for they had all received invitations. But Satī and her husband Śiva were not invited. It was a planned insult, born of Daksha’s old anger against Śiva.

Satī wishes to go

Satī heard from the devas as they passed that her father was holding a great yajña, and she was full of excitement. The pull of her parents’ home was too strong to resist. She longed to see her mother, her sisters and her relatives. She went to Śiva and asked his leave to go.

Śiva thought about it and answered with love and firmness: “Satī, your wish is fair, and I would gladly see you visit your mother’s house. But your father has sent no invitation. He has invited all your sisters and left you out on purpose, because of the ill will he has for me. He is still angry that I once did not show him the respect he expected in Brahmā’s assembly. A daughter needs no formal invitation to visit her own home. Even so, to go uninvited to the house of one who wishes you ill is not auspicious.” This was Śiva’s honest advice.

But Satī’s heart was already set on going. Her longing for her birthplace drowned out Śiva’s words. Śiva knew that further talk would be of no use, and he knew his wife’s heart. He appointed senior gaṇas (his attendants) to go with her and sent her to her father’s house.

Satī is shamed at the yajña

Satī came to a yajña-śālā (sacrificial hall) that rang with the chanting of mantras and was sweet with the smoke of the offerings. It was full of devas and ṛshis. But her own father did not welcome her. He did not ask how she was, and he did not speak a single word to her. Wherever she looked, the guests drew back and whispered among themselves. She went farther into the hall and looked for Śiva’s share among the offerings. She found none.

The truth of Śiva’s words struck her with full force. “What my husband told me has proved true.” Her heart burned, not for her own shame, but for the insult to the lord of the universe. She turned to the ṛshis and devas who were gathered there and spoke in anguish and anger:

“O ṛshis and devas, you have seen with your own eyes how my father, blind with pride, has insulted my lord, the jagad-īśvara Viśvanātha, and has made a joke of me. You stand silent before this wickedness, and in time you will receive the fruit of your silence. The great Sadāśiva is the lord of the world. My foolish father has spoken ill of him. The body I carry was made from this father’s seed. So I give up this vile body.”

With these words, in the sight of the whole gathering, Satī burned her body in yogāgni and left this world. The yajña-śālā rang with cries of grief.

Vīrabhadra destroys the yajña

The gaṇas who had come with Satī were enraged by what they had seen, and they began to wreck Daksha’s yajña. But the ṛshi Bhṛgu used the power of his mantras to drive them away and protect the yajña-śālā.

When the news of Satī’s death reached Bhagavān Śiva, he was filled with fierce grief. He called Vīrabhadra and ordered him to destroy the yajña completely and punish everyone present. Vīrabhadra blazed like Yama, the lord of death, and fell on Daksha’s yajña in the blink of an eye. He broke and scattered everything: the sacrificial hall, the offerings, the ṛshis who presided, and the assembled devas. He drove them in every direction and punished each one as Bhagavān Śiva had ordered. Daksha’s great yajña was left wholly destroyed.

Sources

• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Daksha Yajña