The Puffin Book of Magical Indian Myths Read online

  Anita Nair

  THE PUFFIN BOOK OF MAGICAL INDIAN MYTHS

  Illustrated by Atanu Roy

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Contents

  About the Author

  Dedication

  1. How the Sun Became Less Fierce

  2. How the Lingam Was Born

  3. How Mankind Was Saved from Extinction

  Vishnu’s First Avatar—The Matsya

  4. The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean

  Vishnu’s Second Avatar—The Kurma

  5. How the Earth Was Dredged Back

  Vishnu’s Third Avatar—The Varaha

  6. The Killing of Hiranyakashipu

  Vishnu’s Fourth Avatar—Narasimha

  7. How King Bali Lost His Kingdom

  Vishnu’s Fifth Avatar—Vamana

  8. Why Sukanya Wed Chyavana

  9. How Sukanya Thwarted the Ashwin Twins

  10. How Dadhyanch Saved the Earth

  11. Why Gadhinandana Became a Sage

  12. How the King Became Vishwamitra

  13. Why the River Saraswati Disappeared

  14. Why a New Heaven Was Created for Trishankhu

  15. How Vishwamitra Rescued Sunashepas

  16. How Vishwamitra Became a Brahma Rishi

  17. How All Living Creatures Began to Blink

  18. How the Island of Sri Lanka Came to Be

  19. How Pushan Became Toothless

  20. How Taraka Became Indestructible

  21. How Ganesha Got His Elephant Head

  22. How Taraka Was Destroyed

  23. What Aurva Did with His Rage

  24. How the Sons of Sagara Were Born

  25. Why the Ocean Came to Be Called Sagara

  26. Why Ganga Came to Earth

  27. He Who Strikes with the Axe

  Vishnu’s Sixth Avatar—Parasurama

  28. How Indra Prevented Drought

  29. Why Indra Is Also Known as Sahasraksha

  30. How the Kingdom of Anga Was Saved

  31. Why Kala-Nemi Failed to Outwit Hanuman

  32. How Bali Was Defeated

  33. How Balarama Destroyed Two Mighty Asuras

  34. What Happened When Balarama Wielded the Plough

  35. How Krishna Taught Indra a Lesson

  36. Why the Parijata Tree Came Down to Earth

  37. How the Kauravas Were Born

  38. How Agni Got His Strength Back

  39. What Draupadi Did to Feed Ten Thousand Sages

  40. The Killing of Kichaka

  41. How the Vindhya Mountain Became a Range

  42. How Agastya Killed the Rakshasas

  43. How Sivi’s Generosity Was Tested

  44. How the World Was Drained of Water

  45. Why the Cock Crows in the Morning

  46. Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes

  47. Damayanti’s Swayamvara

  48. How Destiny Overtook Parikshit

  49. How Narmada Came Down to Earth

  50. Why Yama Couldn’t Ignore Nachiketa

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright Page

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  The Puffin Book of Magical Indian Myths

  Anita Nair is the author of the best-selling novels The Better Man, Ladies Coupé, Mistress and a short-story collection, Satyr of the Subway. Her children’s books include The Puffin Book of World Myths and Legends; Adventures of Nonu, the Skating Squirrel and Living Next Door to Alise. Her books have been translated into over twenty-six languages around the world.

  Visit her at www.anitanair.net

  Atanu Roy has illustrated over a hundred books for children and adults and has won many national and international awards for picture book design, illustrations and cartoons. The Puffin Book of Magical Indian Myths is his first major picture book assignment as well as the first time he has illustrated myths. Illustrating this book was like doing fifty separate books, he says. He has composed and rendered the artwork as paintings, incorporating classical styles of painting and architecture, and varied fauna and landscape as part of the art. He says, ‘I have avoided the stereotype as far as possible and interpreted each story as only a story without any glorification or religious connotations. To the consternation of many it took me about five years to complete the book. Maybe I could have done better if I had more time!’

  He can be reached at [email protected]

  For Maitreya,

  star of my life

  —A.N.

  To Babu and Ma for all their support in my creative pursuits.

  Amma, Papa and Varsha for opening up our mythologies for me.

  My gang of friends: Suranjana, Rahul, Vedobroto, Anurima,

  Anirudh and Antara (nephews and nieces), Siddharth

  (grandnephew), Amrita, Siddhant, Prarthana and Prerna.

  —A.R.

  How the Sun Became Less Fierce

  One night Aruna, the goddess of dawn and the mother of Surya the sun god, woke up from her sleep sweating and agitated. A voice had whispered to her that if she didn’t take care, her son would leave her and wander away to some distant horizon. If that happened, the universe would forever be plunged in darkness.

  In the morning, Surya was feeling restless. He felt he must set out on a long journey. So he announced to his mother that he was going out for a ride through the sky. Aruna hid her fear. Instead she flashed him a broad smile and said, ‘Surya, my son, what a lovely idea! I think I will come with you. Would you like me to be your charioteer?’

  Surya was very fond of his mother. Besides, he knew she was very good with horses. So he agreed, even though he had been looking forward to riding on his own.

  Surya’s chariot was drawn by seven horses, each with gleaming coats like brownish-red silk and adorned with tassels of gold. He climbed into the chariot and Aruna hoisted herself into the charioteer’s seat.

  She flicked the whip and the horses began to trot. Soon they were galloping through the skies. As the wind rushed through his hair Surya felt a tremendous sense of exhilaration. ‘Mother, I don’t feel so restless any more,’ he screamed, and Aruna smiled back, saying, ‘I know! I know!’

  As they rode along, Aruna spotted a beautiful young girl in a garden full of flowers. She was singing and frolicking with her maids. Suddenly Aruna had an idea. She steered the chariot close to the garden and, just as she had hoped, she saw Surya and the girl look at each other.

  Surya was not very tall but he had a body that was muscular and like burnished copper. When he smiled, its radiance melted even the hardest of hearts. Now he smiled at the girl, and she, enchanted by him, blushed shyly.

  ‘Who is that?’ Surya asked aloud.

  ‘Sanjana,’ Aruna said. ‘Her father is Vishwakarma, the architect of the gods.’

  ‘What a beautiful girl,’ Surya said. ‘She will make someone a wonderful wife.’

  Aruna stopped the chariot and asked him, ‘Would you like to marry her?’

  Thus Surya and Sanjana’s marriage was arranged. When the ceremony was over, Surya led his bride to his palace, and that was when their troubles began. Until then they hadn’t been together, and now when Surya went to sit next to Sanjana, the heat of his radiance scorched her skin. It singed her flesh and burnt her insides. Sanjana couldn’t stand the heat and she fainted. When Sanjana was roused by her maids flicking water on her face, she began to weep, ‘I cannot stay with him. His radiance will burn me to ashes …’

  Her maids helped her escape and, in her place, she left Chhaya or shade. Then, taking on the form of a mare, Sanjana fled to a dark forest. There she wandered stricken with sorrow and guilt. She loved her husband but, if he came close to her, she knew she would die. When Surya discove
red that his wife had left the palace, he went in search of her. Soon he found Sanjana and, unwilling to be separated from her, he changed himself into a stallion and went towards her. Sanjana was overjoyed to meet her husband in a form that was both pleasing and splendid. ‘We shall never be separated again,’ they said to each other.

  But both Aruna and Vishwakarma were worried. The universe was in darkness. How could there be life without Surya spreading his light? ‘What can we do?’ Aruna asked. ‘Surya will not consent to take his original form if it displeases Sanjana and poor Sanjana will be burnt to ashes even if he does.’

  Vishwakarma thought for a while and said, ‘There is only one thing to be done. I will have to chisel away some of his brilliant rays so that Sanjana and he can live together as husband and wife.’

  So Vishwakarma went to the forest in which Surya and Sanjana now lived and cut away one-eighth of Surya’s rays. The fiery trimmings fell to the earth. Two of them became Vishnu’s disc and Shiva’s trident. And since Surya had lost some of his radiance, it was possible for Sanjana to be with him. So they took their real forms and went back to live in their palace.

  How the Lingam Was Born

  Once there was a great argument between Brahma and Vishnu. Brahma said, ‘I am the creator of this universe.’

  Vishnu disagreed. ‘No, you are not. I am,’ he said.

  As the intensity of the argument grew, all the gods assembled to watch who would win and the whole world came to a standstill. The wind wouldn’t blow and water wouldn’t flow. The sun and the moon shone at the same time. The people on the earth were frightened and began to pray to the supreme power to rescue them from this earth that had become hell.

  Despite the cries of the world, Vishnu and Brahma continued to debate when, suddenly, from the depths of the cosmic ocean rose a great black stone. Crowned with flames, the black stone rose higher and higher till it was even higher than Mount Sumeru, the tallest mountain in the world.

  All the gods watched in awe as the stone continued to grow. Even Brahma and Vishnu forgot their argument. Unable to contain their curiosity, they decided to investigate. Brahma became a swan and soared upwards while Vishnu became a boar and dived downwards. They prowled hither and thither, seeking the power of the stone. Suddenly the gigantic black stone split and, in a cave-like sanctuary, they saw Shiva seated. At that moment they realized that it was Shiva who was really the creator. From then on, the black stone or the lingam has always been worshipped as a symbol of Shiva’s power.

  How Mankind Was Saved from Extinction

  Vishnu’s First Avatar—The Matsya

  Once upon a time there lived a good and holy man called Manu. But Manu was not happy because everyone around him, including his wife and children, were dishonest and wicked people. They laughed at his honest ways and taunted him for being a silly fool. But Manu refused to be swayed by their words and went about life in a quiet and righteous fashion.

  Sometimes though, he would become very sad and desperate and then he would fold his hands in prayer and beseech the gods he prayed to every day, ‘When will you take me away from these evil people? Is there to be no end to my suffering?’

  Every morning, just before he sat down to eat his breakfast, Manu would fetch a small pot of water from the well to wash his hands. One morning as he poured water over his hands, he heard a tiny voice cry, ‘Help! Help!’

  Surprised, Manu looked around him and into the well. But he could see no one. Then he looked into the pot of water and in it was a tiny horned fish. As Manu watched, the fish opened its mouth and spoke to him in human voice, ‘Preserve me and I will preserve you!’

  Manu smiled and said, ‘Don’t worry, I shall not harm you. But how will you help me? You are so tiny that a frog can swallow you in one gulp.’

  The fish swam a full circle and said, ‘I cannot reveal the future to you but preserve me and I shall preserve you …’

  So Manu left the fish in the little pot and put it away in a safe place. He knew if his children saw the fish, they would kill it just for fun. Every day Manu fed the fish and it talked to him about life and the importance of being a good human being. The fish grew rapidly and soon he had to move it to a tank at the bottom of his garden. But the fish continued to grow and so he moved it to a nearby lake. But it wouldn’t stop growing and Manu turned to the fish for help, ‘You will soon be bigger than the lake … Where shall I keep you now?’

  ‘Take me to the ocean and come to see me every day. Soon it will be time for me to fulfil the purpose for which I was sent here,’ the fish said and Manu did as it asked him to.

  The ocean was a few hours away from his house. After the fish moved to the ocean, Manu would go there every evening with a bag of puffed rice. When he scattered the rice on the waves, the fish would appear before him.

  One evening, it was waiting for Manu and when he walked into the waves, the fish said, ‘Manu, the time has come for you to plan your escape. I want you to build a ship and keep in it the seed of every living being. You too must live in it. Do not stay in your house once the ship is ready.’

  Manu was bemused by the fish’s orders. But he trusted the fish greatly. By now Manu had realized that it was no ordinary creature. So he went to the forest and set about chopping some sturdy trees. As he planed the branches and built his ship, his family and neighbours mocked him.

  ‘Ho, ho, ho, going somewhere, are you?’ one man said.

  ‘What a fool he is! He’s building a ship so far away from the sea. How do you plan to get it into the water? Will you wait for the rains to sweep it away? Ha, ha, ha …’ his family laughed.

  But Manu went about his task. Soon the ship was built and he began to live in it.

  ‘He’s gone mad!’ his wife shrieked. ‘Why has he stopped living in his house and started living in a ship that’s not even on the sea?’

  But Manu refused to get angry and continued to live in the ship. Every evening he went to meet the fish, which had grown as big as a hill now. ‘Tonight’s the night,’ the fish said. ‘There will be a great storm and the flood waters will destroy all living creatures. Stay in your ship and I shall come for you.’

  Manu rushed home to warn his family and the whole town. ‘Come into my ship. You will be safe there. The flood waters will kill all of you,’ he cried. But no one would listen to him.

  That night, a great storm blew. It was a storm so powerful that no one had seen anything like it before. Rain poured down in torrents, lightning flashed continuously, and the waters of the ocean rose higher and higher. Soon the whole world was submerged. No man, woman or child survived, except Manu, who stayed dry and warm in his ship that floated on the surface of the rising water.

  The fish arrived when the storm was at its peak. ‘Manu,’ it said, ‘fasten a cable from the ship to my horn.’

  Manu did as the fish asked and it towed his ship through the waters. They sailed high above the Himalayan peaks and the tall mountains of the world. The journey took many days and years and Manu began to feel lonely. He missed human company. ‘Is the world to end with me?’ he worried. ‘Am I to be the last man on earth? Please, gods, help me. I would like to have some children, to love and protect and to leave the legacy of life.’

  So Manu was granted a wife, and when the flood receded, they went back to live on the earth. Their children became the ancestors of mankind. As for the fish—Matsya—it was none other than Vishnu, the preserver of the universe.

  The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean

  Vishnu’s Second Avatar—The Kurma

  In the deluge, some of the rarest things in the world were swept under the waters. Much of that which was precious and irreplaceable was washed away. The gods decided to try and retrieve them. But they knew it would be an impossible feat unless they had help. So a delegation of gods went to the asuras to ask for their assistance. The asuras agreed to help, for they too desired some of the rare treasures, especially amrita, the nectar of life, which would make them immortal.

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nbsp; It was time to begin the search. But how would they reach into the vast depths of the ocean where the precious things now lay? ‘We should churn the ocean, for only then will the rare objects float to the surface,’ Brahma said.

  So the gods asked the great serpent Vasuki to let them use its strong coils as the rope. The mountain Mandara would be the churn. Varuna, the lord of night and the oceans, was asked to hold the mountain steady so that the churning could begin.

  But he found the mountain much too heavy for him and had to give up. He fell on the ground, sweat running down his brow and chest. ‘I can’t do this,’ he gasped, too tired to even speak.

  The gods now needed to find someone else to hold it.

  Vishnu’s anxiety for the churning to start was greater than anyone else’s for he knew that his consort Lakshmi was hidden somewhere in the cosmic ocean. Since a base was required to fix the mountain to the ocean bed, Vishnu offered to help. He took the form of Kurma—a giant tortoise—and his back, the tortoise shell, became the pivot for the mountain.

  The serpent Vasuki was twisted around the mountain. The gods took hold of the serpent’s head, and the asuras grabbed the tail end. Together they set about churning the ocean. And with it both good and bad began to emerge from the deep waters.

  The great tugging and pulling of the serpent against the mountain caused Vasuki to exhale heavily and his breath emerged as a thick mist. That was how the clouds were born. The clouds burst into rain and fell on the gods, who welcomed the cooling showers. However, when the snake started spouting poison, many died.

  The movement of the mountain killed many animals in the sea. But the rubbing of the serpent against the mountain squeezed the juices from the medicinal plants growing on its slopes. These juices ran down the slopes into the sea, which revived the sea creatures. The rubbing also set off many fires, and Indra, the lord of lightning, had to make the rains come again to put out the fires.