Bhaga
Bhaga, “the giver of good fortune”
Bhaga is a deva who was present at the yajña of Daksha Prajāpati. The Vāmana Purāṇa tells that when Bhagavān Śiva entered the yajñaśālā and struck down the devas, and the deva Pūshā fell in a pool of blood, Bhaga looked at Śaṅkara with blazing eyes. In the next moment Śaṅkara crushed Bhaga’s eyes with a blow of his fist and brought him down to the dust, and the devas cried out “hā! hā!”. From that deed Bhagavān Śiva is praised as the one who destroyed the eyes of Bhaga: in the Jyeshṭha rite of his year-long vrata, and in the stotra that Vena sang to Sthāṇu at Kurukshetra.
At Daksha’s yajña
Pulastya Maharshi tells Nārada Maharshi how Daksha held his yajña without inviting Bhagavān Śiva and Satī Devī, how Satī Devī gave up her body, and how Vīrabhadra and the Rudragaṇas came to Kanakhala. Then Bhagavān Śiva himself, trident in hand, entered the yajñaśālā. The eight Vasus fled and the eleven Rudras left their places. With slaps, kicks and blows of his śūla Bhagavān Śiva struck many devas to the ground, and others he dissolved in the flames of the fire of his third eye.
Then Pūshā, seeing the devas struck down, leapt upon Bhagavān Śiva. Śiva caught both his hands in one hand, whirled him round as a lion whirls a fawn, and left him lying; and when Pūshā rose and called after him, “O Kapālī! Do not go, come!”, Śambhu struck him on the mouth, and all his teeth fell to the ground.
Seeing Pūshā fallen in a pool of blood, Bhaga looked at Śaṅkara with blazing eyes. The next moment Śaṅkara, with a blow of his fist, crushed Bhaga’s eyes and brought him down to the dust. At this the devas cried out “hā! hā!”. Then, trembling with fear, the twelve Ādityas, Indra, the Maruts and the Agnis fled, each in a different direction, while Prahlāda and the daityas fell before Bhagavān Śiva in sāshṭāṅga and stood with folded hands. Flames poured from Śiva’s three eyes, and in a moment the whole yajñaśālā was burned to ash.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 5
In Śiva’s year-long vrata
Pulastya Maharshi teaches Nārada Maharshi a vrata to Bhagavān Śiva that runs through the year, month by month, each month with its own abhisheka, flowers, dhūpa, naivedya, dakshiṇā and name of Śiva. In the month of Jyeshṭha one bathes the Svāmī with water of āmalaka (gooseberry), worships him with arka flowers, offers dhūpa of the bark of the sarala tree, which brings prosperity, and offers naivedya of sattu, parched-grain flour, moistened with ghee and curd. A pair of sandals and an umbrella are given as dakshiṇā. Then, to win the grace of Jagatpati, one says:
“Prabhu Śiva, who destroyed the eyes of Bhaga, salutations to you! Svāmī, who knocked out the teeth of Pūshan, praṇāma to you!”
The phalaśruti of the whole vrata: one who worships Vṛshabhaketana in this way for a year attains endless desires, as Maheśvara himself has declared; this supreme vrata, which grants imperishability (akshayatva) in every way, was explained by Rudra himself.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 17
In Vena’s stotra to Sthāṇu
In the Saro Māhātmya, Sanatkumāra tells Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi the glory of the Sthāṇu tīrtha through the account of Vena. Freed at last at the Sthāṇu tīrtha, Vena sang a long stotra to Sthāṇu, Bhagavān Śiva, naming him in all his forms. Among its names he praised Bhagavān Śiva as “the fearsome one who knocked out the eyes of Bhaga and the teeth of Pūshan”.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 5, 17; Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26