84.HARANETRAGNISAMDAGDHAKAMASAMJIVANAUSHADHIH
She was the life giving medicine to manmatha who was burnt up by the fire from the third eye of shiva.
She was the life giving medicine to manmatha who was burnt up by the fire from the third eye of shiva.
To understand more about Lalitha devi we have to look into manmatha to understand why devi was the life giving medicines.Manmatha or kamd deva as he is popularly known is also known as the god of love and he is the most handsome and best looking of all gods.He carries a bow made of sugarcane and a string of humming bees.He shoots with his bow the five flower tipped shafts of desire.His wife is Rati also the passion and his friend vasanta(spring)who selects the shaft to be used on the current victim.His vahana is parrot.He is the son of lakshmi and vishnu and he likes to wander around especially during spring time and uses his shafts indiscriminately on mostly innocent girls,married women and ascetic sages.
It was said that once a demon named Taraka tormented the devathas, so under the leadership of Indra went to vishnu for help.vishnu told them that only the seed of shiva could produce a fighter who could kill this demon,but shiva was in deep meditation so the deva's requested Kama to break shiva's penance.kama was highly flattered by all the gods and he boasted that he could conquer the mind of shiva within no time.kama consulted his wife rati who first didn't approve but later agreed to accompany him to assist in his work.They set off to the himalayas along with vasanta and kama shoot an arrow at shiva.Shiva was disturbed and opened his eyes to see who had disturbed him in his penance and found kama deva standing there.In fury shiva opened his third eye and burned down kama to ashes.
After the slaying of Bandasura lalitha devi smiled at kameshwara and manmatha took rebirth.Rati and manmadha prostrated before the mother goddess and praised her.
The mother goddess blessed them and told Rati "He will be born as the son of Sri Krishna, and his name will be Pradyumna. A demon named Sambara will carry him off and cast him into the sea. Having entered the body of a fish, he will re-appear in the food of Sambara. Go, take up your abode in the house of Sambara, and when your husband arrives, take him and bring him up; eventually he will slay Sambara and will live happily with you." Acting on this advice, Rati became a servant in the house of the demon.
From the "Vishnu Purāna" we gather the completion of this story: When Pradyumna was but six days old, he was stolen from the lying-in chamber by Sambara, terrible as death; for the demon knew (having been told by the sage Nārada) that Pradyumna, if he lived would be his destroyer. Sambara cast him into the sea, the haunt of the huge creatures of the deep. A large fish swallowed him, and he was born again from his body: for the fish was caught by fishermen and by them delivered to the great asura, Sambara. His wife Māyādevi (the Bhāgavata says, servant), the mistress of his household, superintended the operations of the cooks, and, when the fish was cut open, saw a beautiful child.
Whilst wondering who this could be, and how it came there, Nārada appeared to satisfy her curiosity, and said to the graceful dame: "This is the son of him by whom the whole world is created and destroyed; the son of Vishnu, who was stolen by Sambara from the lying-in chamber, and tossed by him into the sea, where he was swallowed by the fish. He is now in thy power; do thou, beautiful woman, tenderly rear the jewel of mankind." Thus counselled by Nārada, Māyādevi took charge of the boy, and carefully reared him from childhood, being fascinated by the beauty of his person. The affection became still more impassioned when he was decorated with the bloom of adolescence. The gracefully-moving Māyādevi, then fixing her heart and eyes upon the high-minded Pradyumna, gave him, whom she regarded as herself, all her magic and illustrative arts.
"Observing these. marks of passionate affection, the son of Krishna said to the lotus-eyed Māyādevi: 'Why do you indulge in feelings so unbecoming the character of a mother? " To which she replied: 'Thou art not a son of mine; thou art the son of Vishnu, whom Kāla Sambara carried away and threw into the sea; thou wast swallowed by a fish, but wast rescued by me from its belly. Thy fond mother is still weeping for thee.' When the valiant Pradyumna heard this, he was filled with wrath, and defied Sambara to battle. In the conflict the son of Mādhava slew the hosts of Sambara. Seven times he foiled the delusions of the enchanter, and, making himself master of the eighth, turned it against Sambara and killed him. By the same faculty he ascended into the air, and proceeded to his father's house, where he alighted, along with Māyāvati, in the inner apartments. When the women beheld Pradyumna, they thought it was Krishna himself. Rukmini, her eyes dimmed with tears, spoke tenderly to him, and said: 'Happy is she who has a son like this, in the bloom of youth. Such would be the age of my Pradyumna, if he were alive. Who is the fortunate mother adorned by thee? And yet from thy appearance, and from the affection I feel for thee, thou art assuredly the son of Hari.'
"At this moment Krishna and Nārada arrived; and the latter said to Rukmini: 'This is thine own son, who has come hither after killing Sambara, by whom when an infant he was stolen. This is the virtuous Māyāvati,his wife, and not the wife of Sambara. Hear the reason. When Manmatha (Kāma), the deity of love, perished, the goddess of beauty, desirous to secure his revival, assumed a delusive form, and by her charms fascinated the demon Sambara, and exhibited herself to him in various illusory enjoyments. This thy son is the descended Kama; and this is the goddess Rati, his wife."
The mother goddess blessed them and told Rati "He will be born as the son of Sri Krishna, and his name will be Pradyumna. A demon named Sambara will carry him off and cast him into the sea. Having entered the body of a fish, he will re-appear in the food of Sambara. Go, take up your abode in the house of Sambara, and when your husband arrives, take him and bring him up; eventually he will slay Sambara and will live happily with you." Acting on this advice, Rati became a servant in the house of the demon.
From the "Vishnu Purāna" we gather the completion of this story: When Pradyumna was but six days old, he was stolen from the lying-in chamber by Sambara, terrible as death; for the demon knew (having been told by the sage Nārada) that Pradyumna, if he lived would be his destroyer. Sambara cast him into the sea, the haunt of the huge creatures of the deep. A large fish swallowed him, and he was born again from his body: for the fish was caught by fishermen and by them delivered to the great asura, Sambara. His wife Māyādevi (the Bhāgavata says, servant), the mistress of his household, superintended the operations of the cooks, and, when the fish was cut open, saw a beautiful child.
Whilst wondering who this could be, and how it came there, Nārada appeared to satisfy her curiosity, and said to the graceful dame: "This is the son of him by whom the whole world is created and destroyed; the son of Vishnu, who was stolen by Sambara from the lying-in chamber, and tossed by him into the sea, where he was swallowed by the fish. He is now in thy power; do thou, beautiful woman, tenderly rear the jewel of mankind." Thus counselled by Nārada, Māyādevi took charge of the boy, and carefully reared him from childhood, being fascinated by the beauty of his person. The affection became still more impassioned when he was decorated with the bloom of adolescence. The gracefully-moving Māyādevi, then fixing her heart and eyes upon the high-minded Pradyumna, gave him, whom she regarded as herself, all her magic and illustrative arts.
"Observing these. marks of passionate affection, the son of Krishna said to the lotus-eyed Māyādevi: 'Why do you indulge in feelings so unbecoming the character of a mother? " To which she replied: 'Thou art not a son of mine; thou art the son of Vishnu, whom Kāla Sambara carried away and threw into the sea; thou wast swallowed by a fish, but wast rescued by me from its belly. Thy fond mother is still weeping for thee.' When the valiant Pradyumna heard this, he was filled with wrath, and defied Sambara to battle. In the conflict the son of Mādhava slew the hosts of Sambara. Seven times he foiled the delusions of the enchanter, and, making himself master of the eighth, turned it against Sambara and killed him. By the same faculty he ascended into the air, and proceeded to his father's house, where he alighted, along with Māyāvati, in the inner apartments. When the women beheld Pradyumna, they thought it was Krishna himself. Rukmini, her eyes dimmed with tears, spoke tenderly to him, and said: 'Happy is she who has a son like this, in the bloom of youth. Such would be the age of my Pradyumna, if he were alive. Who is the fortunate mother adorned by thee? And yet from thy appearance, and from the affection I feel for thee, thou art assuredly the son of Hari.'
"At this moment Krishna and Nārada arrived; and the latter said to Rukmini: 'This is thine own son, who has come hither after killing Sambara, by whom when an infant he was stolen. This is the virtuous Māyāvati,his wife, and not the wife of Sambara. Hear the reason. When Manmatha (Kāma), the deity of love, perished, the goddess of beauty, desirous to secure his revival, assumed a delusive form, and by her charms fascinated the demon Sambara, and exhibited herself to him in various illusory enjoyments. This thy son is the descended Kama; and this is the goddess Rati, his wife."
Such is the story of manmatha and rati and all is well when devi is by our side. she knows what is best she knows everything and the reasons for it as well. Believe in her and trust her she will never let you down.
