Andhaka Śiva Yuddha (Vāmana Purāṇa)
The Vāmana Purāṇa gives four chapters (41 to 44) to the war between the asura Andhaka and Bhagavān Śiva. This account holds several episodes of its own. Śukrācārya is swallowed by Bhagavān Śiva and comes out through his thumb. The Seven Bhairavas appear. The devī Carcikā is born. The planet Kuja (Maṅgala, Mars) is born from drops of Bhagavān Śiva’s sweat. Bhṛṅgī is told of, and Mātali, the charioteer of Indra, is born from the ṛshi Śamīka.
Background
Prahlāda had made Andhaka king of the asuras after the battle of Prahlāda and Nara in Chapters 7 and 8 of the same Purāṇa. Andhaka had seen Gaurī on Mount Mandara (Chapter 33), and he was full of desire for her. In time he gathered his armies and marched against Bhagavān Śiva. The war that followed was one of the longest and most tangled in the Purāṇas.
The battle
Andhaka led his huge army of asuras against Bhagavān Śiva and the devas on a wide battlefield. The fighting was fierce, and both sides brought great forces. The gaṇas (attendants) of Bhagavān Śiva met the commanders of Andhaka. The devas fought beside the hosts of Bhagavān Śiva. The battle went on through many stages, and the asura generals fell one by one to the divine forces.
Śukrācārya swallowed and reborn
One of the most remarkable events of the war was the fate of Śukrācārya, the teacher of the asuras. Śukrācārya had been bringing fallen asura warriors back to life with mṛtasañjīvanī vidyā, the knowledge that revives the dead. Because he kept bringing back the slain, the war seemed it would never end. Bhagavān Śiva saw that this was the source of the asuras’ endless strength, and he swallowed Śukrācārya whole.
Śukrācārya stayed inside the body of Bhagavān Śiva for a long time. In the end Bhagavān Śiva sent him out through his thumb (aṅgushṭha). This strange rebirth gave Śukrācārya a new outlook. He came out with his powers whole, but his bond with the cause of the asuras was changed after his time inside the body of Maheśvara.
The Seven Bhairavas
During the war, seven terrible forms came forth from the power of Bhagavān Śiva. They are the Seven Bhairavas. These fierce forms of his power of destruction led the forces of the devas and cut through the armies of the asuras. Their coming marks a step in the war. Bhagavān Śiva was no longer only commanding. He now took a direct part with overwhelming force.
The birth of Carcikā
The devī Carcikā was born in this war. She rose from the joint energy of the battle itself, a fierce devī who joined the fight against the asuras. She is one of the forms of the divine Śakti that appear in times of great conflict. She came to be established at a holy place linked to this battle. The Vāmana Purāṇa also records her later declarations of avatāra (descent).
The birth of Kuja (Maṅgala, Mars)
One of the special teachings of this account is the origin of the planet Mars. In the heat of the fight, drops of Bhagavān Śiva’s sweat fell on the earth. From those drops, which held his divine energy, a being was born. He is Kuja, also called Maṅgala, and he became the presiding deva of the planet Mars (Maṅgala graha). This birth explains the fierce, warlike quality given to Mars in Vedic astrology and its close tie to the energy of Bhagavān Śiva.
Bhṛṅgī
Bhṛṅgī is brought in here as one of the devoted gaṇas of Bhagavān Śiva. He walked around Bhagavān Śiva alone and would not include Pārvatī in his respect. His devotion to Bhagavān Śiva alone, leaving out the Śakti side, led to this event. Pārvatī was offended and took back the flesh (māṃsa) and blood (rakta) she had given him. He was left without flesh, and Bhagavān Śiva gave him a third leg so that he could stand. His thin, three-legged body became his well-known form.
The birth of Mātali
Mātali is the famous charioteer of Indra. He later drives the divine chariot in many Purāṇic battles. The Vāmana Purāṇa says he was born from the ṛshi Śamīka. His birth is linked to the great events around the war with Andhaka. As the charioteer of Indra, Mātali became one of the most skilled drivers in the three worlds, and his name stands for perfect driving of a chariot.
The death of Andhaka
In the end Bhagavān Śiva pierced Andhaka with his triśūla (trident). Even on the triśūla, drops of Andhaka’s blood went on making new copies of him, until all the blood was used up. At last Andhaka’s life-force was spent. In his last moments, standing face to face with Bhagavān Śiva, his hungry desire for Gaurī was changed. The nearness of the śakti of Maheśvara made him pure. He gave himself up completely, and Bhagavān Śiva accepted him as a gaṇa. In this way the asura who had fought Bhagavān Śiva for the longest time became one of his own.
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa (Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa), Chapters 41–44
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 41–42 (the battle)
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 42 (Śukrācārya swallowed; the Seven Bhairavas)
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 42–43 (Carcikā)
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 43 (Bhṛṅgī; Mātali)
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 43–44 (the death of Andhaka)
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 44 (Kuja)
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 7–8 and Chapter 33 (named as the earlier events)