Satī and Daksha in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa

In the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, Daksha was a Prajāpati who held a deep grudge against Rudra, the husband of his eldest daughter Satī. The thirteenth chapter of the Pūrva Bhāga tells how Daksha did not invite her to his house, how she gave up her body by yoga, and what Rudra said in answer. It also tells how Satī was born again as Umā. The account is told within the Kāla-sādbhāva, the teaching on the nature of time.

Satī’s marriage and Daksha’s pride

In the Svāyambhuva manvantara, the Prajāpati Daksha, a son of Brahmā, had twenty-four daughters through Prasūti, who was herself the daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu. Thirteen of the daughters were given in marriage to Dharma. The other eleven went to the great ṛshis. Satī, the eldest and most honoured, was given to Rudra, who is also called Śiva, Bhava and Tryambaka.

Daksha felt a deep dislike for Rudra, which came from pride. He was ātma-tejaḥ-sthita, which means he stood firm in the glory of his own power. The matter was one of respect. Mahādeva never bowed to Daksha. Rudra was also ātma-tejaḥ-sthita, and he accepted no superior among the Prajāpatis. This lack of honour on both sides grew worse and worse.

Daksha’s slight: Satī is not invited

Daksha called all his daughters to his house and showered them with honours. Every daughter was welcomed and made much of. But Satī was not invited. She was the very eldest, and the wife of the greatest of the devas. Daksha’s slight was done on purpose and with care.

Satī heard that all her sisters had been called to their father’s house. She decided to go even though she had not been invited. She came to Daksha’s house and saw what waited for her. Her father honoured her less than all her younger sisters. The insult was plain.

Satī speaks to Daksha

Satī spoke to her father directly: “O father! You have honoured me with a smaller and lower pūjā than my younger sisters, and you have shown me disrespect. I am the eldest of them all. I am the most senior. You should have honoured me most. What you have done is not right.”

Daksha answered with eyes red with anger: “Your younger sisters are greater than you, higher than you, more worthy of honour. Their husbands are also more honourable than yours. They are brahmishṭhas (firmly set in Brahman), skilled in the Vedas, great tapasvīs, great yogīs, and full of virtue. Vasishṭha, Atri, Pulastya, Aṅgiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhṛgu and Marīci are all greater than Tryambaka. Śarva (Rudra) does not respect me. He always shames me. He is my enemy. Therefore I do not honour you.”

These words were spoken in pride and in confusion of mind (sampramūḍha-buddhi). They became the seeds of a śāpa that would echo through many manvantaras.

Satī leaves her body

Satī was burning with just anger. She said to her father: “You have insulted me, who am free of all fault in thought, word and deed. Therefore I give up this body that was born from you.”

Then she made a vow before Svayambhuva (Brahmā): “Wherever I am born again, whether in a birth without a womb (ayonija) or as the child of a righteous and pure man, I will have Tryambaka as my husband.”

After saying this, Satī sat down in meditation. She joined her ātmā with the Paramātmā and performed the āgneyī-dhāraṇā, the yogic taking in of the element of fire. The fire born from her inner yoga blazed from every limb. Fanned by Vāyu, her body was turned to bhasma (ash).

Rudra’s anger and his śāpas

The news of Satī’s death came to Śiva, together with the whole account of what Daksha had said. Īśvara, the bearer of the trident, was filled with anger at Daksha. He was also angry with the ṛshīśvaras, whom Daksha had praised as greater than Rudra.

The śāpa on Daksha

Rudra spoke to Daksha directly: “O Daksha! Because of you, the faultless Satī was insulted. Your other daughters and their husbands were all praised and honoured while she was made small. Know this: at the start of the Vaivasvata manvantara you will be born in the line of the Cākshusha manvantara. In the Cākshusha manvantara, when Brahmā’s śukra-homa (the cleansing rite) is performed, you will be born as a king in a human line. You will be the grandson of Prācīnabarhis and the son of the ten Pracetasas. You will bear the same name, Daksha, and be born as a child of Śākhinī.”

Rudra also said that in the Vaivasvata manvantara he would stop Daksha’s most important yajña, even though it would be durāsada (hard to stop).

The śāpa on the ṛshīśvaras

Rudra also laid a śāpa on the ṛshīśvaras, Vasishṭha, Atri, Pulastya, Aṅgiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhṛgu and Marīci, whom Daksha had named as greater than himself. They would be born again in the Vaivasvata manvantara, in their second creation, at the start of the Tretāyuga, through the yajña of Mahādeva. This new birth would come because they had been joined to Daksha’s adharma.

The śāpa on the devas

Rudra also said: “O Daksha! Because of me you have done adharma to the ṛshīśvaras. Therefore the brāhmaṇas will not honour you in yajñas together with the devas. After they perform the yajña rites and touch cleansing water, they will be made pure, but from you. At the end of the yuga they will leave svarga and dwell there.”

From then on Rudra was no longer worshipped together with the devas in the same yajña. He received his worship separately.

Daksha’s departure and new birth

Daksha was struck by Rudra’s words. He gave up his Svāyambhuva body and was born again among human beings. He was then born in the Cākshusha manvantara as the son of the ten Pracetasas through Mārishā. He became the great Daksha Prācetasa of that manvantara.

In the Vaivasvata manvantara, that same Daksha knew Īśvara as the master of yajñas. He performed all the great yajñas together with the devas and duly worshipped Īśvara.

Satī is born as Umā

The chapter ends by telling how Satī’s death was set right.

When the Vaivasvata manvantara came, Himavān, the king of mountains, had a daughter, Umā, by his wife Menā. This Umā is the same Satī-devī who lived before, the eternal wife of Bhava. She was now born in the line of the Agnishvāttas (the pitṛs) through Menā, who was the mānasī-kanyā (mind-born daughter) of the Agnishvātta pitṛs.

The text says that their bond lasts for ever: “She is Bhava’s eternal wife. Īśvara has never been left by her. As Aditi, the faithful wife, never leaves Kaśyapa; as Śacī follows Indra; as Arundhatī stays with Vasishṭha, so Umā follows Bhava in every kalpa.” The Purāṇa also likens Umā’s devotion to that of Lakshmī and Vishṇu, of Ushādevī and Sūrya, and of Indrāṇī and Indra.

Sources

• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga, Chapter 13