Pūshan
Pūshan, “the nourisher”
Pūshan, also called Pūshā, is a deva of light. In the account of Daksha‘s yajña the Vāmana Purāṇa calls him Divākara, “the maker of the day”, Aṃśumān, “the rayed one”, and Sūrya. He was among the devas at Daksha’s yajña when Bhagavān Śiva came, and he alone leapt on Bhagavān Śiva himself. Crushed and whirled in Śiva’s fist until his long arms became short, he rose again, laughing, and called Śiva back to fight; Śambhu struck him on the mouth, and all his teeth fell to the ground.
The Purāṇa shows his daring and his fall, and the deed stays in the praise of Bhagavān Śiva: in the Kālāshṭamī vrata and in Vena‘s stotra to Sthāṇu, Śiva is hailed as the one who knocked out the teeth of Pūshan. The Purāṇa also tells that Pūshan gave Skanda two strong attendants when Skanda was consecrated leader of the deva armies at Kurukshetra, and that when Bhagavān Vishṇu as Vāmana showed his virāṭ form at Bali‘s yajña, Tvashṭā and Pūshan were the eyebrows of that form.
At Daksha’s yajña
Pulastya Maharshi tells Nārada Maharshi how Daksha left Bhagavān Śiva and Satī out of his great yajña at Kanakhala. Satī gave up her body, and from the hair-pores of Bhagavān Śiva came forth the lion-faced Rudragaṇas with Vīrabhadra at their head. When Vīrabhadra entered the yajñaśālā, all the devas there rose to face him: the eight Vasus, the nine grahas, the twelve Ādityas headed by Indra, the eleven Rudras and the rest. Struck by his astras, they submitted to him, and Bhagavān Śiva himself entered, triśūla in hand.
Bhagavān Śiva, his eyes copper-red, struck many devas to the ground with slaps, some with kicks, some with blows of the śūla, and others he dissolved in the flames of the fire of his third eye. Then Pūshan, seeing the slaughter of the devas, in anger stretched out his arms and leapt on him. Śiva caught both of Pūshan’s hands in one hand and pressed them so hard that streams of blood flowed from his fingertips. He bound that Divākara, who spreads light, in his fist and whirled him round and round, as a lion whirls a fawn. “O Nārada!” says Pulastya. “Whirled with such speed, the long arms of Aṃśumān shrank and became short. His bones, joints and sinews were crushed to powder.”
Bhagavān Śiva left Pūshan lying with every limb soaked in blood and went to another side. As Śaṅkara went, Pūshan rose, baring his teeth and laughing, and shouted again and again: “O Kapālī! Do not go, come!” At this Śambhu struck the Sun hard on the mouth, and all his teeth came out and fell to the ground. With his teeth knocked out and his whole face a mass of blood, Pūshan lost consciousness and fell to the ground like a mountain broken by a blow of the vajra.
Seeing Pūshan fallen in a pool of blood, Bhaga looked at Śaṅkara with blazing eyes. The next moment Bhagavān Śiva crushed Bhaga’s eyes with a blow of his fist and brought him down to the dust. The devas cried out “hā! hā!”, and trembling with fear the twelve Ādityas, Indra, the Maruts and the Agnis fled, each in a different direction.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4–5
The teeth of Pūshan in the praise of Śiva
The deed is remembered whenever Bhagavān Śiva is praised for it. In the year-long Kālāshṭamī vrata to Bhagavān Śiva, which Pulastya Maharshi teaches Nārada, the worship of the month of Jyeshṭha is this: bathe Bhagavān Śiva with āmalaka (gooseberry) water, worship him with arka flowers, offer dhūpa of the bark of the sarala tree and naivedya of sattu moistened with ghee and curd, and give a pair of sandals and an umbrella as dakshiṇā. Then, to win the grace of Jagatpati, say: “Salutations to you, who destroyed the eyes of Bhaga! Praṇāma to you, Svāmī, who knocked out the teeth of Pūshan!” The Telugu text glosses Pūshan here as Sūrya.
In the Saro Māhātmya, King Vena, freed by the glory of the Sthāṇu tīrtha in Kurukshetra, sings a stotra to Bhagavān Śiva as Sthāṇu, and among his names hails him as “the fearsome one who knocked out the eyes of Bhaga and the teeth of Pūshan”.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 17; Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26
His gift to Skanda
When Skanda had been consecrated at Kurukshetra with the waters of the Sarasvatī as leader of all the deva armies, Bhagavān Śiva gave him four of his chief pramathas, and seeing this, Brahmā and all the devas offered their own attendants to him. Pūshan gave Skanda two strong ones, whose names the text prints together as Pāṇipatya-Jakālaka.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 31
In the virāṭ form of Vāmana
When Bali poured the water of the gift into the hand of Bhagavān Vishṇu as Vāmana, he who had been short until then grew mighty and showed his virāṭ form, made of all the devas. The Saro Māhātmya names each part of that form and what it is. His eyes were Candra and Sūrya, his throat Devamātā Aditi, and his eyebrows Tvashṭā and Pūshan.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 10
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4–5, 17, 31
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 10, 26