LORD SHIVA AND BRAHMA

Among the Hindu Triad of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, Brahma is said to be the creator of the worlds while Shiva is said to be the destroyer. Brahma is the equal of the other two gods in the Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He is the god of wisdom and the belief is that the four Vedas were delivered from each of his four heads.

Once Lord Sriman Narayana was insulted by a Maharishi named Brugu but in turn the Lord was very kind to him. However Goddess Sri Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Narayana was displeased with the Lord's sympathetic attitude to his devotee Maharishi Brugu. The great goddess Sri Lakshmi took the Brugu incident as a deep insult to her. She felt that the Lord of fourteen worlds who governs both above and below should never be mistaken as an ordinary being by anyone else. She poured out her grievances to the Lord, "The headstrong Brugu should have been taught a serious lesson. He has knowingly dishonored the highest among the gods. All the rest of the world bow to you, the supreme Lord. There is no super intelligence that does not recognize this truth. Yet Brugu Maharishi has cared nothing for the ultimate Godhead. He has not only dishonoured you, my Lord. But he has assaulted me, thine heart dweller. Your duty is to punish the wrong doer. On the other hand you have comforted him and let him go free which is really not fair. Since he is a rishi, an omniscient being, I am restless and could not bear any more his dishonor.

Gleaming a smile at Sri Lakshmi the Lord spoke to her consort by pacifying her emotional imbalance, "Dear, there are no separating barriers between the Lord and his devotees. They merge into one in their devotion. Since you are not aware of this oneness between the Godhead and his true devotees you are feeling this incident as an insult to us. Hence you are also finding fault with me as well. Patience should be the foremost quality of a woman in general and you in particular." But all this was in vain for the Goddess Sri Lakshmi was not happy with these words of the Lord. Her anguish on Brugu Maharishi rose up to the worst by these arguments of the Lord. "By the Rishi's assault you may have a name as the compassionate Godhead. But I don't like it any way, you may excuse him but I cannot. Therefore I cannot stay in the Vaikuntha any moment further, I am leaving right away. Our good relations break away this moment. This very moment I am leaving thee! Since our separation is caused by a Brahmin, let the Brahmin poverty be proverbial hereafter and they shall be cursed to sell their vedic learning to survive on the earth."


By the misdeeds of the elite Brahmin, all Brahmins, in spite of their omniscient knowledge, forethought and omni competent abilities, as a clan, have been financially endowed with very weak vitality. This reflects their honesty and integrity on the other hand. Following the well known adage ‘Better to rule hell than serve in heaven', Sri Lakshmi preferred to penance in forests than have her celestial abode with shame and indignity. She left not only Sri Vaikuntha, but also her unshakable trust on her Lord Sriman Narayana as the superior savior. With great effort she cast aside all her love and adoration she held for the Lord, for she is the most beloved devotee of the Lord. None of the words of the Lord could appeal to her heart any more. She came down to the earth as speedily as she decided to quit the Vaikunta Loka. Down on earth she walked a while, crossing forests, rivers, mountains and finally reached the banks of Godavari River and it was there in a small hermitage near Kolhapur she stayed performing penance seeking peace of mind.

Strangely by the absence of Goddess Sri Lakshmi the beautiful loka of Sri Vaikunta lost all its charisma. The Lord could easily feel it was no better than a desert on earth. The Lord was also restless and was seriously in search of his divine spouse, Sri Lakshmi. The sages and seers of Sri Vaikuntha tired to pacify the Lord but could not in any way comfort the Lord from his intense feelings of his separation from Sri Lakshmi. In search of Sri Lakshmi, the Lord also finally came down to the earth plane. He roamed all around in vain to find Sri Lakshmi. The Lord wandered all around, exposing himself to all the vagaries of weather, whether it rained or shined. Continuing his journey over countless regions including forests, rivers and mountains, the Lord spent several restless days and sleepless nights. He began to inquire every one whether they could guide him to Sri Lakshmi. At a point of time the savior of the Universe Lord Narayan started inquiring even inanimate trees and flowers as well as animals. But his doubt began to echo again and again in his mind as time passed without any sign of Sri Lakshmi's return. In every object he saw the adoration of his consort Goddess Sri Lakshmi. He finally reached a famous mountain range known by the name Seshachalam.

Sri Narada saw the total emptiness regining at Sri Vaikuntha as the Lord and Goddess Sri Lakshmi have left on their own accord their celestial abodes. He felt sorry for the separation of Sriman Lord Narayana from his divine consort Sri Lakshmi Devi. Sri Vaikuntha lost all its renowned glory without its Lord and Sri Lakshmi. At once Sri Narada wanted to do something about it. He reached sooner Sathya Loka and appraised his parents, "Revered parents, I have fulfilled your requests to benefit the world at large. The Lord has descended to the earth. However the Lord has been separated from his consort. Sri Lakshmi is now doing penance aggrieved by the intense feeling dishonor. The Almighty Lord now lives in an ant hill in the Seshadari mountain peak. Devoid of comforts and even food and sleep, he dwells in the ant hillock. By some means you should at least offer something to the Lord for his food, if not any other needs of him." Sri Brahma Deva though for a while. Promising to do what he could do at his best to Sri Narada and to Lord Narayana, Brahma went to Sri Kailasa. Lord Shiva greeted Brahma with great reverence and inquired about the purpose of his visit to him. Brahma explained how Lord Narayana was separated by the bitterness that arose by the Brugu Maharishi incident and suggested to him that in disguise of a cow and a calf they could feed the Lord now at the Seshadri mountain range. Lord Shiva greeted this idea with a good cheer instantly and agreed to come down to Seshadri hill.

Before that they decided to meet Lakshmi Devi and take her guidance in their plan. They met Sri Lakshmi and appealed to her, "By your fit of anger at an instance with the Lord, you have left everything including the Great Lord. The seriousness of the problem of separation is more intense and severe to the Lord.He could not think of being a separate one from you. He lives a lunatics' life in an ant hill at Seshadri mountain tops. He is devoid of all comforts including his basic necessaties of life - food and sleep. We shall take the form of a cow and a calf. You may take us to the Chola King palace which is nearby the said hill range. You may also come in the disguise of a cow puncher to the King's court and live there. We shall be able to reach the Lord easily from there. Sri Lakshmi could not resist their requests to take them in the guise of cow and calf of the Chola King. She assumed the form of a cow puncher and drove them to the King's court. The queen of the Chola ruler at first sight itself liked the cow and the calf. Sri Lakshmi Devi could easily accomplish her mission of leaving the cow and the calf to the King's custody. The king ordered his cow herd to take special care of the rare bovine animals. He wanted the milk of the rare cow sent to his palace daily. The cow herd took all his herd to Seshadri mountain for pasturage. The divine cow used to separate out herself from the herd and go near the ant hill beneath which Lord Narayan was resting and poured her breast milk into the ant hill. Later she would join the herd unnoticed by the cow herd. In the King's cattle shed day after day, she could not produce any milk. Thus the cow herd got stunned. The King at times doubted the integrity of the cow herd. However he warned the cowherd to take special care of the rare cow and report what happens during the pasturage. Days passed by without any outcome.

The Chola queen seriously charged the cow herd of pilfering the cow's milk on his way back to the palace. He pleaded his innocence however. "O, Graceful Queen, everyday I am doing by duty deligently. But inspite of my carefulness, the cow doesn't yield any milk. I am not dishonest to the crown. I may be pardoned now and in the future if I am failing in my duties, I may be punished" the cow heard pleaded. As usual that day the cow herd drove all the cattle to Seshadri hills for pasturage. His attention was centered all the while on the gifted cow. Suddenly he noticed the cow leaving the herd and going over to the ant hill. He watched the cow from a little distance. He saw the cow pouring out all her milk on the ant hill. To his estrangement the cow herd wondered what would have attracted the cow beneath the ant hill. To explore this, he took out his axe and cut the ant hill at once. The edge of the axe severely hit the Lord on his forehead and he emerged from the ant hill with blood stains. This was never expected by the cow herd. He could not comprehend what was going on around him and fell down unconscious.

With the stains of blood on her body the cow went to the Chola King's court and appealed to the King appraising the bloody episode. The King at once sent his servants with the cow to the Seshadri hills to know what had happened there. The servants reported to him what they saw at the ant hill in the Seshadri hill range. He wondered how all these strange incidents could have happened and to ascertain the facts fully he himself hiked the hills and came up to the ant hillock. He saw his cow herd in a coma and also Sriman Narayana in human form sustaining injuries in his forehead. Meanwhile the cow herd pleaded his innocence to the Lord. The Lord caused the hasty cow herd into demonhood for he attempted to kill the cow and hit the Lord on his forehead. The King coming up to the Lord, fell on the Lord's feet and prayed that the cow herd may be pardoned of his sin. The Lord said he cannot take back his curse immediately. But when he marries again the demonhood of the cowherd would vanish. The cowherd became a demon and began to wander in the neighbourhood lamenting for his hasty action.