As promised earlier, I thought of penning the gist of Srimad Bhagavatam (SB) Canto 4, Chapters 1-7, popularly known as the Daksa yajna. Below is the pastime in brief: -
Daksa was the son of Lord Brahma and the father-in-law of Lord Siva. His daughter Sati (known as Parvati in her next lifetime) was given in marriage to Lord Siva. Daksa, as one of the prajapatis, was vested with the responsibility of creating progeny in the material world and was endowed with all kinds of opulences viz. fame, power, prestige, wealth, looks etc. However, these very opulences proved to be his nemesis, when under their influence he developed pride and insulted Lord Siva with harsh words during a yajna in which he had invited all the demigods. Despite these affronts, Lord Siva maintained a dignified posture and simply walked away from the yajna, without retaliation. However there is an exchange of curses and counter-curses between the sages and Lord Siva’s entourage.
Soon therefater, Daksa performed another yajna wherein he intentionally omitted Lord Siva from the list of invitees. When Sati, ignoring Lord Siva’s advice to stay away from the yajna, went ahead and attended, Daksa continued his tirade, making her feel persona non grata and drove her to the point of self-immolation. When Lord Siva heard this, through Narada Muni, he created a powerful demon from his hair, who decapitated Daksa and destroyed the entire sacrificial arena.
The latter part of the SB revolves around how Lord Siva was pacified by Lord Brahma and the demi-gods, in his abode of Mount Kailasa and how he restored the life of Daksa alongwith the sacrificial arena such that the yajna could be successfully accomplished. Lord Visnu personally appears in His 8-handed form at the arena, blesses the yajna and partakes His share of the same. A repentant and reformed Daksa glorifies Lord Siva with the same mouth that vilified him and offers the latter his due share of the sacrifice.
There are powerful lessons to be learned from this pastime and it has multifarious dimensions. In my next blog, I will share some insights. While studying this section, my top of the mind realization was “How important it is to study Srimad Bhagavatam under a senior Vaisnava?”. I am pretty sure, had I read these sections on my own, I would not have derived the same depth of understanding. In short, I encourage you to join the Bhakti Sastri or Bhakti Vaibhava course if your local temple is offering one.
