Puranic encyclopaedia
by Vettam Mani | 1975 | 609,556 words | ISBN-10: 0842608222
This page describes the Story of Ashtavakra included the Puranic encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani that was translated into English in 1975. The Puranas have for centuries profoundly influenced Indian life and Culture and are defined by their characteristic features (panca-lakshana, literally, ‘the five characteristics of a Purana�).
Story of ṣṭ屹
Birth.
The sage 첹 had a disciple named Khagodara (Kahodara) and a daughter named Sujāṭ�. Appreciating the devotion and good conduct of his disciple, 첹 gave his daughter in marriage to him. became pregnant. When once Khagodara was reciting from the Vedas the babe in the womb of said, "I have learnt the mantra you are chanting but the way you chant it is wrong". (The vibrations of sound created by the utterance of each word is important). Khagodara was angry and he cursed his babe in the womb thus "Since your mind seems to be crooked let your body also be of that type, with curves all over". When delivered the child it had eight bends and light curves and so the boy was named ṣṭ屹, meaning one with eight bends. (Chapter 132, Vana Parva, Ѳٲ).
Father died before he was born.
When was pregnant they suffered much from poverty and at the insistence of , Khagodara went to the King Janaka, to beg for some money. Janaka was performing a yāga then and so Khagodara had to wait. When at last he went to the royal assembly he was asked to enter into a polemical contest with Vāndīna, the court scholar and having been defeated by him was asked to drown himself.
첹 got a son named Śٲٳ and delivered ṣṭ屹. Both the boys grew in the ś on great intimacy and withheld the news of the death of her husband from the boys. (Chapter 132, Vana Parva, Ѳٲ).
How Khagodara was got back.
One day the two boys went to bathe in the river and during a controversial talk Śٲٳ said that ṣṭ屹 had no father. This teased him much and ṣṭ屹 went to his mother and gathered all the facts about his father. He went, then, straight to the royal assembly of King Janaka. He was not allowed inside. The gate keeper said that he was only a boy and only learned men could go inside the sacrificial hall. ṣṭ屹 contended that neither size nor age was any indication of one’s knowledge or worth and got himself admitted into the hall. There he entered into a polemical contest with the same court scholar, Vāndīna, who had killed his father. Vāndīna was defeated and was thrown into the same river in which his father had drowned himself. The moment Vāndīna fell into the river Khagodara rose up from there and the father and son along with Śٲٳ returned to the ś. Khagodara then took his son for a bath and when it was over ṣṭ屹 became a bright boy without crooks. (Chapter 133, Vana Parva, Ѳٲ)
Marriage.
ṣṭ屹 wanted to marry ܱ, the daughter of a sage named Vadānya. When Vadānya was approached for this the Sage decided to test the love which ṣṭ屹 had towards his daughter and said: "I am going to test you. You go to the north to the ᾱⲹ. Pay homage to Ś and ī and go further north. There you will find a very beautiful damsel. You talk to her and return and when you come back I shall give you my daughter."
Accepting this challenge ṣṭ屹 went north. When he went to the ᾱⲹ Kubera entertained him. He remained there for a year enjoying the dances of celestial maidens and then, after worshipping Ś and ī went further north. There he came across seven very attractive women. At the command of ṣṭ屹 the eldest of the lot, ٳٲ, remained with him; all the rest left the place immediately she started making love with him and requested him to marry her. But ṣṭ屹 did not yield and told her about his promise to Vadānya. Pleased at this reply ٳٲ revealed that she was the queen of the north in disguise and was testing him. She then blessed ṣṭ屹 who fulfilling his mission successfully, returned and married the girl he wanted. (Chapter 19, ԳśԲ Parva, Ѳٲ).
Another version of how the body became crooked.
There is another story also about ṣṭ屹. Once there lived a sage named Asita. He did great penance to please Ś to bless him with a child. Ś blessed him and he got a son named Devala. 鲹, the queen of devaloka, fell in love with him but Devala did not yield to her wishes. Then 鲹 cursed him and made him into one with eight crooks. Thus Devala came to be called ṣṭ屹. He then did penance for six thousand years and ṛṣṇa accompanied by appeared before him. was shocked by the ugliness of the sage and did not relish his sight. But ṛṣṇa asking her to remain quiet went and embraced him. At once ṣṭ屹 lost all his crooks and became a beautiful man. At that time a chariot descended from heaven and all of them went to heaven in it. (Brahmavaivartta ʳܰṇa).
Other information.
(1) ṣṭ屹 was also present among the ṛṣis who partook in the coronation ceremony conducted after 峾’s return to ǻ from ṅk. (Uttararāmāyaṇa).
(2) ṣṭ屹 cursed those. celestial maidens who rebuked him for his ugliness and they were born on earth as the wives of Śrī ṛṣṇa. When after the death of ṛṣṇa they were being taken by Arjuna to the north they were forcibly taken by some of the shepherds. (Chapter 15, Agni ʳܰṇa).