Daksha Yajña (Vāyu Purāṇa)

This account is told in chapter 30 of the Vāyu Purāṇa, in the part called Daksha Śāpa Varṇana. It tells how Satī was left out of her father Daksha’s great yajña and left her body by the inner fire of yoga. It tells how Śiva gave a śāpa, how Vīrabhadra and Bhadrakālī were born and broke the yajña, and how Daksha praised Śiva and was forgiven. It also tells how the Jvara, the fever born of Śiva’s anger, was shared among all beings, and how Satī was promised a new birth as Umā.

Satī is left out

Daksha, a son of Brahmā, began a great yajña (fire ritual). He invited all the devas, ṛshis and celestial beings. He left out his own daughter Satī and her husband Śiva, who is also called Mahādeva. The Vāyu Purāṇa gives his reason: Daksha was proud, and he disliked Śiva’s unusual ways, his matted hair, his gaṇas (attendants) and his dwelling in cremation grounds (śmaśānas).

Satī learned of the yajña from celestial beings passing through the sky, and she wished to go. Śiva told her not to: “Where one is not invited and not welcome, one should not go, even to the house of one’s father.” But Satī loved her family and wished to see her mother and sisters, and she insisted. Śiva allowed her to go.

Satī leaves her body by yogāgni

At Daksha’s yajña Satī heard insults spoken against Śiva. She could not bear her husband being shamed, and she could not go back to him after seeing such disrespect. She decided to die.

The Vāyu Purāṇa names how she did it: by yogāgni, the inner fire of yoga. Satī entered deep dhāraṇā (steady focus). She drew her prāṇas (life-breaths) out of the body step by step and lit the inner fire taught in the Pāśupata Yoga. Her body was burned from within by the force of yoga, with no outside flame. She left her body fully aware, with complete mastery of yoga.

Śiva’s anger and his śāpa

When the news of Satī’s death reached Śiva, his grief had no limit and his anger shook the worlds. He gave two śāpas (curses):

  1. On Daksha: “You will be beheaded at your own yajña. You left your own daughter out of her rightful place. Your pride will be your ruin.”
  2. On the ṛshis at the yajña: they had seen Satī shamed and had not objected. They were to be born again in the coming Vaivasvata Manvantara in lesser forms of themselves.

Vīrabhadra and Bhadrakālī

Two great beings rose from the storm of Śiva’s anger.

Vīrabhadra was born from Śiva’s matted hair (jaṭā), as Śiva tore it open in his grief. He carried all of Śiva’s own weapons and shone like a thousand suns. He was terrible in form, and fully devoted to the will of his master.

Bhadrakālī was the fierce Śakti born at the same moment from Śiva’s wrath. She is Satī’s power changed into great fierceness. She carried weapons given by all the devas.

Together they led the army of Śiva’s gaṇas, which is said to be countless, to the ground of Daksha’s yajña.

The destruction of the yajña

Vīrabhadra and Bhadrakālī fell on Daksha’s yajña like a storm.

  • The devas and the other guests fled in every direction.
  • The sacred fires were put out.
  • The yajña-śālā (the ritual hall) was broken apart.
  • Daksha was beheaded. His head was thrown into the southern fire-pit.
  • Several devas were struck: Indra’s elephant was wounded, Yama’s staff was broken, and the hands of Agni were cut off for a time.
  • The Saptarshis and Bhṛgu fled.

Daksha’s stuti of the 1008 names

Daksha was brought back to life through the intercession of Brahmā, but he now had a goat’s head. The Vāyu Purāṇa gives a long stuti (hymn of praise) that he offered to Śiva to ask forgiveness. The Purāṇa calls it the stuti of 754 names or of 1008 names. It lists the names and qualities of Śiva.

The stuti praises Śiva in these ways:

  • As Mahākāla, the supreme time.
  • As Paśupati, the lord of all living beings.
  • As the one who fills all eight cosmic bodies, the Ashṭa-mūrti.
  • As the father of Skanda and the grandfather of the worlds.
  • As the one who wears Satī’s love as an ornament even now.

Śiva was moved by the stuti and by Daksha’s true repentance, and he forgave him. Daksha was restored to his place, though humbled.

The distribution of Jvara

The Vāyu Purāṇa has a special episode about Jvara, fever or burning heat. During the destruction of the yajña, Śiva’s anger took shape as a cosmic Jvara, a heat that is itself almost a being on its own.

After peace returned, this Jvara could not simply be destroyed. Śiva shared it among all creatures:

  • Humans received a part of Jvara, which is ordinary fever.
  • Different animals received fitting shares.
  • The earth, the water and the other elements each received a share.

Satī is born again as Umā

The chapter ends with a promise of new life. Satī, who left her body by yogāgni, is not lost. She will be born again in the family of Himavān, the Himālaya, as Umā, and will again become the wife of Śiva. The Vāyu Purāṇa gives this as Satī’s own promise before her death: “I will come back. I will find you again. Our union is for ever.”

Other narratives tell of the tapas (austerity) of Umā-Pārvatī, of Śiva testing her in the form of a bhikshu (wandering beggar), and of the divine marriage.

Sources

  • Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 30 (Daksha Śāpa Varṇana)