Daksha Yajña (Śiva Purāṇa)

The Daksha Yajña is the event in which Daksha Prajāpati held a great yajña (fire ritual) and left out his son-in-law, Bhagavān Śiva. His daughter Satī went to it uninvited and gave up her body there. Bhagavān Śiva sent Vīrabhadra, who destroyed the yajña. At the end Bhagavān Śiva forgave all and restored them. The Śiva Purāṇa, in the Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, gives the fullest Śaiva account of this event in Chapters 21 to 43.

The account runs through the insult at Prayāga, Satī’s visit and her words to Daksha, her end by inner yogic fire, the voice from the sky that names her jagadambā (mother of the worlds), the birth of Vīrabhadra from Bhagavān Śiva’s grief, the battle, and the restoring of all by Bhagavān Śiva’s grace. A parallel account in Chapters 38 and 39 gives the reason Bhagavān Vishṇu was present at the yajña: a śāpa (a curse) from Dadhīci after an earlier conflict.

The insult at Prayāga

The cause was an insult at a great assembly at Prayāga. Daksha Prajāpati came in with great show, and everyone present rose to honour him. Only Bhagavān Śiva stayed seated, and Nandī stood at his own post.

Daksha felt shamed by what he saw as deliberate disrespect from his own son-in-law. He spoke against Bhagavān Śiva in public:

• He called Śiva amaṅgala (inauspicious).
• He called Śiva kulahīna (without a family line).
• He said Śiva was yajña-bāhya, unfit for a share in the yajña.
• He called Śiva the master of ghosts and outcastes, unworthy of a seat among the devas.

Nandī was fiercely angry and at once laid a śāpa on Daksha: “You speak of my master with a mouth that does not know him. You will bear a paśu-mukha (an animal’s face) at death.” He also laid a śāpa on the ṛshis who had applauded Daksha’s words: “You will be born in Kali Yuga cut off from Vedic wisdom, serving false traditions, and hating Śiva.”

Daksha answered with his own śāpa on Nandī and the gaṇas. The assembly broke up in bitter division. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

The yajña and the exclusion of Śiva

After Prayāga, Daksha arranged a great yajña at his capital. He invited all the Prajāpatis, the devas, the ṛshis and their wives. He left out Bhagavān Śiva and Satī on purpose. Leaving Bhagavān Śiva off the list of those who receive the havis (offering) was a formal, public statement that Bhagavān Śiva would have no share of the yajña.

Satī goes to the yajña

Satī saw shining vimānas (flying cars of the devas) pass overhead, carrying devas towards the yajña. She asked Bhagavān Śiva where everyone was going. He explained. Satī then said she wished to visit her mother and sisters. Bhagavān Śiva warned her plainly:

“Your father does not honour me. An uninvited guest at a yajña receives dishonour. The dishonour falls on the one who goes, not on the host. A wise person does not go where the host is hostile.”

Satī pressed her wish. She said a daughter does not need an invitation to her own father’s house. Bhagavān Śiva gave way. He sent his gaṇas with her as an escort, with Nandī at their head, and repeated his warning as she left. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 24–25)

At the yajña site, Prasūti and Satī’s sisters welcomed her warmly. Daksha did not rise, did not greet her, and did not look at her. Satī looked around the sabhā (assembly hall) and saw that no portion of the havis was set aside for Bhagavān Śiva. The other devas saw her and lowered their eyes. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 26–27)

Satī speaks to Daksha

Standing in the sabhā, Satī spoke to Daksha at length.

On Bhagavān Śiva’s nature. She answered each insult. Śiva wears bhasma (sacred ash) because he is the fire of cosmic dissolution. He lives in the cremation grounds because he is the witness of death itself. His strange followers stand beyond all convention. His matted hair holds the Gaṅgā. To call the cause of all that is auspicious “inauspicious” is a basic error.

On Daksha as father. She said that Daksha was her father by birth, but he had no claim on her as a spiritual father, because he did not know who Śiva is.

On the devas. She rebuked everyone who had sat silent through Daksha’s insults. She called their silence a share in adharma.

On her body. “This body was born from you, Daksha. You have shown yourself unworthy of that bond, so I will not keep a body born of you.”

Daksha answered with contempt and repeated his words that Śiva was unfit. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 28–29)

Satī gives up her body

Satī turned away from Daksha without another word. She sat facing north and drew in her prāṇas (life-breaths) by yoga. The inner fire of prāṇāyāma burned her body from within, and she was gone.

Twenty thousand of Bhagavān Śiva’s gaṇas, who had come with her, died in that same moment, overcome by grief. Bhṛgu, the priest of the yajña, used a Yajurveda mantra to call up the Ṛbhu warriors, who drove the surviving gaṇas away from the site. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 30)

The voice from the sky

As soon as Satī left her body, a voice from the sky (ākāśavāṇī) spoke:

“She who has just left this body is Satīdevī, the Parā-Bhaṭṭārikā herself, the jagadambā, the mother of all worlds. She is the force that creates, sustains and dissolves the universe. This yajña stands accursed. Śiva’s wrath will fall upon it. All of you who are here, flee at once if you wish to live.”

The devas fled in panic. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 31)

Śiva’s grief and the birth of Vīrabhadra

The gaṇas went back to Kailāsa and told what had happened. Nārada came straight to Bhagavān Śiva and gave him the full account. Bhagavān Śiva was struck with grief that nothing could ease. In his pain he seized his matted locks and tore them apart with both hands.

From the first half of the torn jaṭā (matted hair) rose Vīrabhadra. He had a thousand arms. His height filled the space from earth to svarga and went ten aṅgulas (finger-breadths) beyond. He shone like the fire of pralaya (the end of the world) and roared like a thousand thunders at once. He was terrible to see.

From the second half of the torn jaṭā rose Mahākālī, the form of Bhagavān Śiva’s wrath. She was surrounded by crores of bhūtas and attended by the nine Durgās.

From Bhagavān Śiva’s sighs were born the jvaras: a hundred kinds of fever and thirteen kinds of sannipāta disease. They spread through all the worlds.

Bhagavān Śiva gave Vīrabhadra his task: “Go. Destroy Daksha’s yajña.” (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 32)

Vīrabhadra’s army

Bhagavān Śiva sent a huge force under Vīrabhadra. Its gaṇādhyakshas (commanders of gaṇa-groups) included:

There were many more, in all crores upon crores of gaṇas of every form.

Mahākālī led the nine Durgās: Kālī, Kātyāyanī, Īśānī, Cāmuṇḍā, Muṇḍamardinī, Bhadrakālī, Bhadrā and Vaishṇavī. With them came Ḍākinī, Śākinī, the Bhūtas, Pramathas, Yakshas, Kūshmāṇḍas, Bhairavas, Kshetrapālakas and Yoginī-gaṇas beyond counting. Vīrabhadra rode a chariot drawn by ten thousand lions. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 33)

Omens and Daksha’s fear

Before Vīrabhadra came, terrible omens appeared at the yajña site:

• Daksha’s left eye, left hand and left thigh shook on their own.
• Earthquakes shook the ground.
• Stars could be seen at noon.
• Blood rained from the sky, with flesh and bones.
• The people there vomited blood.

A second voice from the sky spoke to Daksha and repeated the warning. Daksha, now terrified, ran to Bhagavān Vishṇu for protection. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 34)

Vishṇu’s advice

Bhagavān Vishṇu told Daksha plainly:

“Śiva is Parabrahman. I cannot protect you from his wrath. The Sudarśana cakra I carry was itself given to me by Maheśvara. It will not harm Śiva’s bhaktas. And I am at this yajña only because of Dadhīci’s śāpa from an earlier conflict (the Kshuva–Dadhīci war). I have no real answer to Śiva. Submit, Daksha.”

Even so, Bhagavān Vishṇu agreed to try, knowing how it would end. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 35)

The battle

The first clash

Indra and the devas met the advancing gaṇa army. The fighting was fierce. Nandī fought Indra himself. Agni fought the Aśmaya-gaṇa.

Vishṇu and Vīrabhadra speak

When Bhagavān Vishṇu came forward, Vīrabhadra paused. They spoke together:

• Vīrabhadra said the whole conflict was a parīkshā (test). Bhagavān Śiva wished to show, through this clash, the greatness of his bhaktas.
• Both stated that Śiva and Vishṇu are not different. They are not two but one reality.
• Even so, both agreed to fight, as was ordained.

The fight

Vīrabhadra struck Bhagavān Vishṇu with his triśūla (trident). Bhagavān Vishṇu fell unconscious. Vīrabhadra then used stambhana (paralysis) and froze Bhagavān Vishṇu in place. He took Śārṅga, Bhagavān Vishṇu’s sacred bow, and broke it into three pieces. Bhagavān Vishṇu and Brahmā both left the field. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 36–37)

The yajña is destroyed

With its protectors gone, the yajña was destroyed:

• Yajña-purusha fled in the form of a deer. Vīrabhadra caught it and cut off its head.
• Dharma, Kaśyapa, Āṅgirasa, Kṛśāśva and Datta were kicked.
• Sarasvatī‘s nose-tip was cut off.
• Bhaga‘s eyes were torn out.
• Pūshan‘s teeth were knocked out.
• Bhṛgu‘s beard was torn out.
• The yajña-agni (the fire of the yajña) was defiled.
• Daksha was found hiding in a hole in the vedi (the altar), and Vīrabhadra cut off his head.

Vīrabhadra went back to Kailāsa. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased and made him gaṇādhyaksha, chief of all the gaṇas. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 37)

The devas go to Kailāsa

The beaten devas, led by Brahmā and Vishṇu, went to Kailāsa to ask for Bhagavān Śiva’s grace. The Satī Khaṇḍa describes Kailāsa here at length. The Gaṅgā flows around it. The city of Alakā, where Kubera lives, lies there. There is the Saugandhika forest of celestial flowers, the lakes Nandā and Alakanandā, and Bhagavān Śiva’s great banyan tree, which spreads over a hundred yojanas and where no bird nests.

They found Bhagavān Śiva seated on a darbha seat in jñānamudrā, wearing rudrāksha beads and teaching the ṛshis gathered round him. When he saw Brahmā and Vishṇu coming, Bhagavān Śiva rose to greet them. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 40)

The devas’ hymn

The devas offered a long stotra (hymn of praise) to Bhagavān Śiva. They praised him as:

• Parabrahman, the maker of the yajña itself.
• AUM-svarūpa, the sound-form of all that is.
• Ashṭamūrti, the eight-formed one.
• The one reality behind the Trimūrti.

They asked for these things:

1. That Daksha be brought back to life.
2. That Bhaga receive the eye of Mitra.
3. That Pūshan have some allowance for his food, since his teeth were gone.
4. That Bhṛgu receive a beard.
5. That all the wounded devas be healed.
6. That Bhagavān Śiva receive his full pūrṇa-bhāga (full share) in the rest of the yajña.

(Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 41)

Śiva’s grace and the restoring

Bhagavān Śiva was pleased and granted every request:

• Daksha was given the head of the yajña goat and lived again.
• Bhaga received the eye of Mitra.
• Pūshan was allowed to eat soft, ground food, using the teeth of his host, since his own were gone. This stayed as a lasting reminder of the event.
• Bhṛgu was given a goat’s beard.
• All the devas were healed.

Bhagavān Śiva himself went with the restored company to the yajña site. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 42)

The yajña is completed and Śiva teaches Daksha

The yajña was completed, and Bhagavān Śiva received his full share. Before he left, he taught Daksha.

Four kinds of devotees

Bhagavān Śiva named four kinds of Śiva-bhaktas, each higher than the one before:

1. Ārta: one who comes to Śiva in distress, wanting relief.
2. Jijñāsu: one who comes wanting knowledge.
3. Arthārthī: one who comes wanting worldly gain.
4. Jñānī: one who comes with the wisdom of non-difference, knowing Śiva as the Self.

Each is higher than the one before. The jñānī bhakta is the highest, because he comes to Bhagavān Śiva with no wish at all. He is already one with Śiva in understanding.

The unity of the Trimūrti

Bhagavān Śiva also taught the unity of the Trimūrti. Worship of Brahmā is needed for Vishṇu-bhakti, and being settled in Vishṇu-bhakti is needed for Śiva-bhakti. One who dishonours any one of the Trimūrti while claiming devotion to another is not a true bhakta of any of them.

Do not condemn another’s form

Bhagavān Śiva clearly commanded that no bhakta should condemn the form of Parameśvara that another bhakta worships. All forms express one reality. To condemn another’s chosen devatā is the gravest error.

Bhagavān Śiva then went back to Kailāsa. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 43)

Epilogue

The Satī Khaṇḍa ends by saying that Bhagavān Śiva mourned Satī for a long time on Kailāsa. When the devas prayed again, the same Parā-Bhaṭṭārikā was born as Pārvatī, daughter of Himavat and Menā. She performed tapas (austerity) and married Bhagavān Śiva again, and so the divine cycle was completed.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 21–43