Navratri is a nine day long Hindu festival celebrated in almost every part of India. During this festival, devotees worship the nine forms or avatars of Goddess Durga, which then culminates on the tenth day with Dussehra.

Each day of Navratri is dedicated to a particular goddess and is signified by a special color. The first day of Navratri is known as Pratipada. The most important ritual on Pratipada is Ghatasthapana or the Kalash Sthapana. This can be described as the seat where Goddess Durga is welcomed. The Kalash or pitcher stays for nine days and on Vijaya Dashami, it is immersed in the water body nearby.

I love the stories behind our festivals and I love to make my daughter familiar with these. Hindu Mythology however is a vast subject and there are cross references that sometimes feel bewildering.

I thought maybe you too would like to share these with your children hence, I read various versions and am trying to present a simpler tale to you which can be narrated to children. Hope you too will enjoy these with us.

Day 1 – Maa Shailaputri

Goddess Shailaputri is depicted with two hands and has a crescent moon on her forehead. She holds a trident in her right hand and a lotus flower in the left. She rides on mount Nandi (bull).

The story.

Lord Brahma wanted the ascetic Shiva to get married. Vishnu advised him to serve the goddess Uma and plead with her to take birth on earth to become Shiva’s consort. Brahma did as advised and Goddess Uma was born to his son, King Daksha Prajapati. She was called Sati.

As per the prophecy, Sati was devoted to Shiva even as a child. She performed penances to win Shiva as a consort. Such great was her penance that all the gods who had visited her to offer their blessings, instead bowed to her divine presence. All the gods went to Shiva and told him about Sati. Shiva asked Brahma, “I am willing to marry but, I am an ascetic. Is there a woman who will be a yogini when I practice yoga and a loving housewife when I am a family man?” Brahma confirmed that Sati his granddaughter would be perfectly suitable. So, Devi Sati was married to Lord Shiva.

One day the sages at Prayag were performing a Grand Yagna. Shiva and Sati also reached the site. All the Devas and Sages bowed to them. As soon as they took their allotted seats, King Daksha came there. As chief Prajapati, all present bowed to him too, except Shiva. Lord Shiva knew that, as a superior god, if he bowed to him, harm would befall Daksha. However, Daksha felt insulted and to avenge this insult, he held a grand religious congregation (Maha Yagna) and invited all the gods except Shiva & Sati. When Devi Sati got to know about this Maha Yagna, she decided to attend it. Lord Shiva tried explaining that King Daksha did not want them to be present for the Yagna, but Devi Sati insisted on attending the ceremony.

Lord Shiva understood that she longed to go home and allowed her to go for the Yagna but, as soon as Devi Sati reached there, she noticed that none of the relatives were happy to see her. Apart from her mother, all of Devi Sati’s sisters and relatives ridiculed her. King Daksha made some derogatory comments about Lord Shiva and also insulted him in front of all the Gods. Devi Sati could not bear this insult and jumped into the sacrificial fire meant for the Maha Yagna and immolated herself.

As soon as this news reached Lord Shiva, he grew angry and immediately invoked his fearful form, Veerbhadra. Lord Shiva proceeded towards the Maha Yagna and a terrible war ensued. Lord Shiva decapitated King Daksha and offered his head to the sacrificial fire. Lord Shiva was grief-stricken and carried Devi Sati’s half-burned corpse on his shoulders. He was unable to part with her and wandered endlessly about the world. Parts of her body fell at different places. These places came to be known as Shakti-Peethas. Lord Shiva became a recluse and lived a life of severe austerity.

Later, Lord Vishnu intervened and King Daksha was brought back to life by Shiva but, with a goat’s head attached to his body. Daksha was then able to complete the Yagna.

Meanwhile, Tārakāsura (Sanskrit: तारकासुर) was a powerful asura. He had performed severe penance to get a boon from Brahma that he could only be killed by the son of Shiva. At the time, Shiva was a complete yogi, given to severe austerities, far from any thoughts of marriage. Tarakasura repeatedly defeated the gods until heaven was on the verge of collapse.When Tarakasura’s atrocities reached intolerable levels all the gods prayed to Devi Sati to be reborn and help them.

In her next birth, Devi Sati was born as the daughter to the King of Mountains – Himavan. She was named Shailputri and was also known as Parvati in this incarnation. In this birth again she wins over Lord Shiva as a consort.  Eventually their son Kartikeya was born. Kartikeya was very brave and the Devas requested him to be their commander in the war against Tarakasura. Kartikeya then challenged Tarakasura. An intense battle erupted between them. They fought for hours, but eventually Kartikeya threw the Shakti weapon at his enemy and Taraka fell down dead.

Another version narrates the following story:

This was the time when Devi Parvati was still in her teens. Once she was playing with her friends in the grasslands near the Himalayan Mountains, which was her home. Grasslands were for grazing cattle and near to them the Varuna River flowed with lotus flowers on its edge. Mata Parvati was playing a game like hide seek in the woods nearby. It was her turn to seek her friends in the wood. While she was seeking her friends she came across the shore of the river full of lotus flowers. It was so mesmerizing for her; she wanted a flower from the river. She was about to pick one from it, when suddenly a cow came mooing to her from the grasslands as if she was in great pain and wanted help from Devi Parvati.

The cow took Devi Parvati to the nearby grasslands. She saw the skeletons of many cows as if the flesh was freshly eaten by someone. Soon, she came to know about the demoness Tarika (Sister of terrible demon Tarkasur).

Tarakasur had a boon from Lord Brahma that only Shiva’s son could kill him. As Shiva was a Yogi and not interested in marital life, Taraka had been spared till now. However, as per prophecy Parvati was the re-incarnation of Goddess Sati who had been Shiva’s consort earlier. Hence, Tarika was sent to the earth by Tarkasur to kill Devi Parvati.

Tarika after reaching the grasslands had found cows grazing there as a delicious treat. She had helped herself to killing & eating them day after day. One of the cows had run away for help and found Devi Parvati.

Devi Parvati decided to fight against the demoness Tarika. She had a plan. She installed a Shail (a small mountain like stone of approximately 10-15 feet). It was like a smaller version of her father Lord Himavan, King of the mountains.

The cow hid behind the structure and started mooing. The cow’s mooing attracted the evil demoness Tarika towards her. Tarika arrived there and saw the Shail and the cow behind it. Tarika tried to reach the cow but it wasn’t possible as the Shail would move from one side to another. Tarika tried hard but was unable to. It was almost evening and about to get dark, King Himavan and the villagers arrived at the Grassland in search of Parvati. Himavan was drastically shocked to see killed cows and the demoness in his territory.

Meanwhile Tarika, fed up by the conflict with the Shaila, decided to break the Shaila. She raised her sword on the Shaila when suddenly the Shaila burst open. Golden rays emerged out of the Shail and Devi Parvati came out in her true form with a golden crown on her head and Trishul in the hand. Everyone who saw this scene was mesmerized. The cow was now behind Devi Paravati.

Before Tarika could attack again, Devi Parvati lifted the Trishul and threw on Tarika. Tarika was killed instantly. Himavan and the villagers started praising Devi Parvati. Meanwhile the cow ran towards the shore of the river, picked one lotus, brought it and gave it to Devi Parvati. Devi Shailputri gave boon to the cow who had stood behind her during conflict and helped her in wiping away the demoness. Shailputri’s boon was, without Gaupujan none of the auspicious works will get its fulfillment

After this incidence Himavan named Devi Parvati as Shailputri – Daughter of Shail or one reborn from the Shail (Shail has a dual meaning of a small mountain or stone). The village where all this happened is now said to be located in Jalalipura in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. There is a Mata Shailputri Temple also in the village.

I liked this story too as in this second version, the story is about how the Goddess fought the Demoness Tarika. So the Goddess is the protector in this story.

Thanks for reading in.

Do let us know which version of the story you liked better.

Hope to bring you another story soon. 🙂

Love,

Poornima

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Referred:

https://bhagavanbhakthi.blogspot.com/2014/01/tarakasura.html

http://www.gloriousindia.com/scriptures/puranas/shiva_purana/killing_of_tarakasur.php

https://www.seniority.in/blog/navratri-2020-day-1-the-story-of-maa-shailaputri

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shailaputri#:~:text=The%20name%20%E2%80%9CShailaputri%E2%80%9D%20literally%20means,lotus%20in%20her%20two%20hands.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C4%81rak%C4%81sura

http://treehut.in/article/444/The-Art-of-Living-Navratri-Celebrations,-Nine-forms-of-Mother-Divine

Amar Chitra Katha books.

Pic Credit:

Art of living site & Wikipedia. Both links given above.

http://shivashankarstory.blogspot.com/2017/03/part-5.html