Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 4 Chapter 2:17-35

Book 4: Chapter 2

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 4: Chapter 2: Verses 17-35 Ill feeling between Lord Siva and Daksa Maitreya continued : Having thus reviled Lord Siva (who has His abode on Mount Kailasa and) who remained unmoved without the least show of resistance, Daksa now sipped a little water and indignantly proceeded to curse Him:-- "Yonder Bhava, the vilest among the gods, shall no longer get a share in the sacrificial offerings along with the other gods such as Indra (the lord of paradise), Upendra (Lord Visnu) manifested in the form of a dwarf, so-called because of His being a younger brother of Indra) and so on."Having pronounced this imprecation upon Lord Siva, though warned against such a course by the leading members of the assembly, Daka left the place, highly enraged, and returned to his own abode, O scion of Kuru. Having come to know of this execration, Nandiswara, the foremost of Lord Siva's attendants, grew wild with rage and uttered a terrible curse on Daksa as well as on those (other) Brahmanas who had countenanced his blasphemy. "This fool, who makes much of his mortal frame and bears enmity to the divine Siva-who has no vindictive spirit in Him-and looks upon the body etc., (which is other than the self) as his own self, shall have his face turned away from the Truth. Attached to his home, the duties pertaining to which involve the practice of many a self-deception, in the search for carnal pleasures, and deprived of his judgment by attractive promises contained in the Vedas (such as the text-promising eternal happiness to those who perform the sacrifice called Caturmasya" ), he remains engaged in elaborate rituals. With his mind ever contemplating on the son-self as the self, Daksa has forgotten the true nature of his self and is (no better than) a brute. He shall, therefore, be excessively fond of women and shall have his head forthwith changed into that of a goat. This stupid fellow-who regards ignorance in the form of addiction to rituals as wisdom and has slighted Lord Siva (the Destroyer of the universe)-and those who follow him shall be born in this world again and again. With their mind bewilderedm by the alluring, sweet and profuse odour (in the shape of the promises of happiness) emitted by the flowery texts of the Vedas, these enemies of Nara (Lord Siva) shall remain infatuated (for ever). Eating anything and everything (making no distinction between what is worth eating and what is not) and devoted to learning, austerity and sacred vows only for the sake of their livelihood, the Brahmanas shall wander in this world as beggars, finding delight only in wealth, physical comforts and the gratification of their senses." Hearing him thus pronounce a curse upon the Brahmana race, the sage Bhrgu uttered a counter-curse, which was difficult to revoke, being the punishment inflicted by a Brahmana:- "They who observe vows sacred to Bhava and (likewise) those who follow there latter shall become heretics and act contrary to (the injunctions of) the true scriptures. Only those who have cast all purity to the winds, are silly-minded and wear matted locks, ashes and bones shall get themselves initiated in the cult of Siva-worship, where wine and other spirituous liquor will be held in high esteem. Because you denounce the Vedas, which lay down the bounds of propriety for men (following the conduct prescribed for the different grades of society and stages in life) and thereby preserve the society (from disruption), as well as the Brahmanas (the custodians of the Vedas), therefore (it seems) you have embraced the creed of heretics. The path chalked out by the Vedas is the eternal and the only blessed path for the people-a path which has been trodden by the ancients and has the authority of Janardana (Lord Visnu). Condemning as you do the Vedas, which constitute the supremely faultless and eternal path of the virtuous. do you take to the path of heretics, where that lord of the ghosts is the Deity." Maitreya went on : While Bhrgu was thus uttering his imprecation, Lord Bhava along with his retinue left the assembly hall, a bit disconsolate at heart as it were. The lords of created beings, O Vidura (a great archer), duly carried on the sacrifice for a thousand years-the sacrifice in which Sri Hari, the Supreme Being, was the Deity worshipped. At the conclusion of the sacrifice they took their bath in the Ganga where it is joined by the Yamuna and, with their mind and body cleansed of all impurities, they all returned therefrom each to his own abode. Thus ends the second discourse entitled "Daksa's imprecation" in Book Four of the great and glorious Bhagavata-Purana, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhita.