Boons of Brahma
(AZADI KE PANKH CREATIONS )
Upon
a small mountain, the largest of the few around, surrounded by dense green
forests, were three brothers, engaged in tapasya. Or at least two of them were
upon it. The third being an abnormally huge and bulky person, had been unable
to climb up the mountain. He had seated himself at its base, in the cross
legged posture of those who meditate, while his two brothers had persevered to
climb to the top. The youngest of the three was seated in the same cross legged
posture as their middle brother but the eldest brother, the most determined of
the three, stood on one leg, his arms held above his head with his palms
together.
The three sons of sage
Vishrawas thus performed bhor tapasya to please and seek the favor of Brahma,
the Creator and father of their father's father.
Their
penance had transported each of them to a different plane. While the years
passed and their mortal bodies remained where they were, deriving the energy to
execute their bodily functions directly from their tapas (with the exception of
the second brother's body, which absorbed nourishment from all around and grew
in size till it was almost as tall in seated posture as the mountain was high),
their consciousness was transported to another realm. They were shown Creation
in its entirety: worlds arising and worlds disappearing, battles won and lost
and civilizations begun and destroyed. They saw worlds proceeding differently
according to all possible outcomes of the same event, each different outcome
giving rise to many more and, consequently, many more worlds, all in a state of
perfect harmony. These visions were not meant to distract them, though that
could indeed have been possible and would have spawned another alternate world
according to the consequences of their getting distracted. They were actually a
result of their intense meditation on the Creator. Their concentration was such
that each was able to gain a view of the full work of Brahma.
But
it was Brahma Himself they wished to view.
Several
years passed by the time standards of the mortal world but in the planes where
their consciousness journeyed, there was no concept of duration. There was just
being, for when creation and destruction happened simultaneously, what was
birth and what was death? What was time in between? There was just the journey.
The eldest of the three brothers began to experience a deep yearning. His
wonderment had reached its limit and anything beyond that would have only led
him to a parallel universe to live out the remainder of his life by its laws.
However, at all times, he had been aware of his purpose and he felt he was
being denied its realization. Out of frustration, he beheaded himself.
However,
his mortal body did not perish. In fact, it did not even lose its head. This
was because, like his two brothers, he too was in a state of existence which,
though linked to the mortal body, was also detached from it. He had beheaded
the ethereal form his consciousness existed in, but his earthly body remained
unharmed. His sacrifice did not meet its purpose. And so he beheaded himself
again, for in that ethereal state, injury or disability was meaningless.
Wounds, if inflicted, could be healed simultaneously. The outcome of his second
sacrifice was much the same. So he did it again. And again. He kept at it. And
as he was about to decapitate himself for the tenth time, a voice from
everywhere, as though from every pore of every world, but from nowhere, both at
once, spoke, "Not for nothing are you called Dasagreeva."
And
the brother called Dasagreeva- literally, the ten headed one- returned to his
mortal body and opened his eyes. The eyes of the head he had always possessed.
He saw Brahma. The Creator of the world- of the worlds, in fact- was before
him, His four heads- one belonging to each of the four ashramas: brahmacharya,
grihasta, vanaprastha and sanyasa- revolving continuously. The Creator towered
above him, above all of Creation, but Dasagreeva could see Him as though they
were of the same height. Dasagreeva knew that to be because of maya, for Brahma
did not actually possess a human form, but was perceived as such by those who
saw Him only due to maya.
"Pranaam
pitamaha". Salutations, forebear.
"Speak
your wish, child"
Immortality.
Lanka. Wealth. Moksha. Power. Knowledge. Peace. Grace. Rest.
Nine
thoughts came to him simultaneously. He was confused. Some of these desires he
never knew he had. What was the purpose of his penance? All nine seemed equally
worthy of being boons of Brahma. But when he finally spoke, it was this,
"I do not know."
Brahma
looked upon him and chuckled. Or expressed glee, that, by virtue of maya, could
be perceived as chuckling. "Your brothers fared better. But they were not
tested to the extent you were. First to be given the sight of Me was
Kumbhakarna. I believe these many years of tapasya have taken a toll on his
body. When I asked him what he wanted of Me, all he did was yawn. So I granted
him eternal sleep. He shall remain asleep unto the end of his days. His body
has a remarkable way of fetching him all the nutrition he needs just from the
air around."
Dasagreeva
stared in shock at this information. He felt pity, amusement, anger and grief
at the same time. Fighting conflicting emotions, he said at last with great
difficulty, "Brahma! What you have given my brother is no boon. It is the
most horrible curse imaginable! Of what use is life to my brother if he spends
it all sleeping?"
The
head with the face of a man in sanyasa replied, "In a year, he shall sleep
for six months, wake for a single day and then go back to sleep for six months.
The only day his body will be able to sustain the rigors of the waking world
will be the day he is scheduled to wake up on, bear that in mind."
Dasagreeva
bowed his head. His heads, since he was sure that in sacrificing nine heads in
that state of ethereal consciousness, he had actually awoken nine very
different and yet connected states of being within him, and that he'd have to
deal with conflicting opinions in his mind all the time. His name, originally a
mark of the fact that he had mastered the four Vedas and six Upanishads and was
therefore as knowledgeable as ten people, would now assume a new meaning- a
being with ten distinct heads.
"And
what was my youngest brother Vibheeshana's boon?", he asked.
Brahma
uttered a deep humming sound and Dasagreeva was sure that a new world had been
created then and there, even though he had no way to verify that for his
tapasya was over and he had been returned to his mortal form to perceive only
this world. "Vibheeshana asked of Me the lifelong ability to know dharma from adharma and the ability to serve
dharma always. I granted him immortality in addition to his wishes. And now, I
ask you. What is it you wish for, Dasagreeva, grandson of my son?"
And
Dasagreeva spoke everything that he had thought of. All nine things. Brahma
smiled and said, "Eight you shall receive but the ninth is not for you.
However, you have been tested the harshest, for you have given Me your head
nine times. For that, I shall not disappoint you. I give you strength as you
would never have imagined. Additionally, I give you complete control of maya
and-" and He held out one of His four arms.
"-this",
He said, handing Dasagreeva a small vial containing a clear fluid. "That
is amritham, the nectar of the gods. This amount is your right, which you have
earned through your penance. You may store it anywhere and until it is depleted
or the vial is destroyed, no harm can ever befall you."
And
giving him the vial, Brahma vanished.
The
three brothers made their way home (well, two of them did so of their own
accord and one was carried). Dasagreeva had the boons of Brahma Himself now.
His sights were set. Lanka.
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