Suta was telling Shaunaka and the rishis gathered around him the first of Bhagavati’s deeds in this manvantara, and the story began on the shore of the milk ocean, where Svayambhuva Manu had stood on one foot for a hundred years, without food, repeating her vagbhava mantra before an image of clay. She came to him and gave him what he asked: a kingdom without a thorn in it, sons to carry the line, firm devotion, and at the end the highest state. Then, while Manu watched, Mahadevi Jagadamba went from that shore to the Vindhya mountain. It was the same Vindhya, Suta said, that once rose to touch the sky in order to block the sun’s path, and that Maharshi Agastya stopped; and there she, the boon-giving Parameshvari, Vishnu’s own sister, became Vindhyavasini, whom all the world worships. The rishis stopped him there. Who was this Vindhyachala, they asked, and why did it grow to the sky, and why did it block the sun, and why did Agastya, son of Mitra and Varuna, stop so great a mountain? They had been drinking the nectar of the Devi’s deeds from his mouth and found no bottom to their thirst. So Suta told them. Vindhyachala was the best of all mountains, dense with great forests and huge trees, its slopes covered in creepers heavy with flowers. Deer moved across it, boar and buffalo, tigers and lions, monkeys, hares, bears and jackals, all of them sleek and strong, and rivers and streams kept it full of water; gods, gandharvas, kinnaras, apsaras and kimpurushas came and went along its ridges, and its trees gave whatever fruit a creature thought to want. One day Devarshi Narada, roaming the earth at his own pleasure and in high spirits, came to this Vindhya. The mountain rose at once, gave him water for his feet and the arghya of welcome, seated him on a fine seat, and when the sage was settled and at ease, asked him, “Narada, from where has this happy arrival come? By your coming my house has become supremely pure. As the Sun wanders for the good of the world, you wander to give the gods fearlessness. Tell me whatever special thing is in your mind.”
The Seed Narada Sowed
“I come from Sumeru,” Narada said. “There I saw the worlds of Indra, Agni, Yama and Varuna, and on every side the palaces of the lokapalas, each one giving a different enjoyment.” Having said this, Brahma’s son drew a long breath. The king of mountains saw the sigh and asked its reason, and Narada, whose tejas has no measure, told him. “Child, hear why I sighed. Himalaya, Parvati’s father, is Shiva’s father-in-law, and by that bond with Shankara he has become worshipful to all mountains. Kailasa, Shiva’s dwelling, is likewise the worshipful lord of all mountains and destroys heaps of sin in the world. Nishadha, Nila, Gandhamadana and all the rest stand each in its own place as mountains to be honored. And there is Sumeru, which the Sun, the soul of the whole universe, the king of svarga, the bearer of thousands of rays, circles with all the planets and the stars. Sumeru thinks itself the best and the greatest of mountains. It thinks, I alone am foremost of all mountains, and nothing in the worlds is my equal. Remembering that mountain and its pride and arrogance, I sighed. Whatever it is, we whose strength is tapas have no concern with it. I told you only in passing; now I leave for my home.” And so, having talked with Vindhya, the supremely free Devarshi Narada, who goes where he wills, went to Brahmaloka.
The Sun’s Path Is Blocked
After the muni left, Vindhya had no peace. He kept turning it over inside himself: what shall I do now, and how shall I conquer Sumeru? Calm would not come to him, and his mind would not hold still. Shame on my zeal, he thought, on my honor and fame and family; shame on my strength and my manhood. So the great ones of old had said of such a state, and so it was with him. Out of that brooding there rose in Vindhya a reasoning of the kind that rots the judgment of duty. The Sun with every planet and star circles Sumeru day after day, and that circling is the whole of Sumeru’s drunken pride. I shall block the Sun’s path with my peaks. Then how will a Sun who cannot pass go round Sumeru? With his road closed by me, the pride of that divine mountain will surely break. Resolved on it, Vindhya began to grow, his peaks touching the sky, until he had filled the whole heaven with them and stood there waiting: when will the Sun rise, and when shall I stop him? The night passed as he waited, and a clear dawn came. Clearing the darkness out of the directions with his rays, Bhagavan Surya rose on Udayachala; the sky lit up, the day-lotus opened and the night-lily closed, and every creature turned to its work. Through the forenoon and the midday the lord of light fed the gods with havya and kavya and the offerings set out for the spirits; he comforted the eastern and the southeastern quarters, which had lain like a woman burning through a long separation, and then he left the quarter of Agni and tried to set off quickly toward the south. He could not advance. His charioteer Aruna said, “Surya, the very proud Vindhya has blocked your path and stands in the sky. He rivals Sumeru and desires for himself the circling you make of Sumeru.” The Sun took in what he heard. Even the road of the sky is blocked, he thought; a great wonder. What will a mighty one going on a wrong road refuse to do? “Fate is very strong. Today my horses’ road is closed. I who did not stop even a moment when gripped in Rahu’s arms now have my path blocked for a long time. Who knows what the mighty Vidhata will do next?” With the Sun standing still, all the worlds and the lords of the worlds found no refuge anywhere and could not do their tasks. The Sun by whom Chitragupta and everyone else had known the time was stopped by Vindhya; the calls of svaha and svadha died away, and the whole world came near to ruin. In the west and the south the creatures lay under a night that would not end, their eyes shut in sleep; in the east and the north they burned in a heat that did not move. Many died, many were destroyed, many were broken, there was an outcry in the whole world, and there was no shraddha and no tarpana anywhere. The gods with Indra at their head, in distress, asked one another, “What shall we do now?”
The Gods’ Race: From Shiva to Vishnu
Indra and all the chief gods put Brahma in front and went for refuge to Bhagavan Shiva. They bowed to the god of gods, who sleeps on the mountain, the moon on his head, and standing before him they praised him. “Victory to the lord of the ganas, whose lotus feet Parvati worships, the giver of the eight siddhis to his devotees. Salutation to Mahadeva who sports in the ground of Mahamaya, who dwells on Kailasa and in the heart-lotus of Vishnu, who is yoga itself and the lord of yogis, who is ready to give to the poor, an ocean of mercy, the remover of the afflicted’s pain, bull-bannered, Kala and the Kala of Kalas.” Praised so by the gods who live on the yajna’s share, Shiva laughed and said in his deep voice, “I am pleased with the praise; I will fulfill all your wishes.” Then they told him. A mountain named Vindhya, hating Sumeru, had risen high into the sky and blocked the Sun’s path, and the whole world was in pain; let Ishana stop its growth, for with the Sun held still how would people know the time, and with svaha and svadha gone who would give the gods refuge? He alone was their refuge. Shiva answered, “I do not have the power at this time to stop Vindhya’s growth. Now we shall take this news to Bhagavan Lakshmikanta. He is the cause of all causes, the Self, Govinda, Bhagavan Shri Vishnu, our worshipful lord; we will go to him and tell him, and he will remove our pain.” So all the gods with Indra and Brahma, Shankara walking in front of them, trembling, set out quickly for Vaikuntha. There they saw Bhagavan Vishnu, lotus-eyed, Jagadguru, seated with Lakshmi, and in choked voices they praised him with devotion. They bowed to him as Mahavishnu, the Satyavrata, the cause of the world’s origin, who in the Matsya form had been the support on which the Vedas were rescued; as the Kurma who won the amrita; as the Varaha who killed Hiranyaksha and raised the earth; as Nrisimha, who tore with his nails the great daitya Hiranyakashipu, maddened by his boon; as Vamana, who deceived King Bali, deluded by lordship over three worlds; as Parashurama, born of Renuka, slayer of wicked Kshatriyas and enemy of Kartavirya Sahasrarjuna; as Rama, son of Dasharatha, who cut off the heads of the wicked Ravana of Pulastya’s line; as Shri Krishna, who rescued the earth burdened by Kamsa, Duryodhana and the other daityas who stained the kings, ended sin and established dharma; as Buddhadeva, who took the Bauddha form to destroy wicked yajnas and stop the killing of animals; and as the god who took the Kalki form when mlecchas filled the whole world and wicked kings oppressed the people. “These ten avataras of yours were for the protection of devotees and the destruction of wicked rakshasas. To remove the sorrow of your devotees you became even the enchanting woman and even the creatures of the water. Who is an ocean of compassion if you are not? Victory to you.” They prostrated before yellow-clad Shri Hari, and the mace-bearer answered in words that delighted them. “I am pleased with your praise; give up grief. I will remove this unbearable trouble of yours. Ask of me a boon most rare, for I will give it.” And he said that whoever rises at dawn and recites this stotra with firm devotion to him will never be touched by grief: poverty and misfortune will stay out of his house, no obstacle, vetala, graha or brahmarakshasa will trouble him, no disease of vata, pitta or kapha, no untimely death; his children will live long and every comfort will be in his house, and enjoyment and release will both be near him. “Now tell me your trouble without hesitation, and I will remove it.” The gods, joyful, told him: Vindhya had blocked the Sun’s path, and because of it they got no share of the yajna; what should they do, and where should they go? Vishnu said, “The worshiper of Bhagavati Amba, who made the whole world, the primal one who increases the family, is the supremely radiant best of munis, Agastya. He is now in Varanasi. That Agastya alone can quell the tejas of Vindhya. Go to that moksha-giving Kashi, please that most vigorous best of Brahmins, and ask him.” Reassured by the command, all the gods set out humbly for Kashi.
Agastya and the Bowed Head of Vindhya
They reached the holy city in a moment. They bathed in the Manikarnika tirtha with their clothes on, offered water to the gods and the pitris, gave gifts as the rule prescribes, and came to the supremely holy ashram of Agastya, where beasts of prey walked about in peace among trees of many kinds, and peacocks, cranes, swans and chakravakas kept company with boars and tigers, lions and deer, black antelopes, rhinoceroses and sharabhas. All the gods fell like staffs at the radiant muni’s feet and bowed again and again. “Salutation to the lord of dvijas, the god on earth, the destroyer of Vatapi’s strength, the one born from a pot; victory to you. Salutation to the husband of Lopamudra, born of Mitra and Varuna, the store of every vidya and the source of the shastra. At your rising the waters of the oceans become clear and pure; you make the kasha flowers bloom; disciples are always around you. Be gracious. We have come for refuge, and we are greatly afflicted by the unbearable trouble Vindhya has caused.” Praised so, Agastya, most dharmic of Brahmins, laughed, and his voice when he answered was pleased. “You are supreme, lords of the three worlds, the lokapalas, great-souled, able to restrain and able to favor. Here is Indra, lord of Amaravati, whose weapon is the vajra, at whose door the eight siddhis sit, leader of the Maruts. Here is Agni, who carries havya and kavya forever, Vaishvanara, Krishanu, the mouth of all the gods: what task is hard for him? And what task is not easy for terrible Yama, staff in hand, always at work, witness of every deed of every being, lord of the rakshasa hosts? Still, if some work of yours can be done by my power, tell it, and I will surely do it.” Reassured, the gods told him their task, humbly and in haste: Vindhya had blocked the Sun’s path and covered the three worlds, there was an outcry everywhere and stupor in every creature; let him stop the mountain’s growth by his tapas and his might, for before his tejas Vindhya would surely bow, and this alone was the work they needed of him. “I will do this task of yours,” Agastya said. When the pot-born sage accepted the gods’ work, all the gods rejoiced and went back to their places. Then Shriman Agastya spoke to his wife, the princess Lopamudra. “Vindhya, by blocking the Sun’s path, has raised a great and disastrous obstacle. I have understood what it means. I remember the old saying of the munis who see the truth about Kashi: those who desire moksha should never leave this Avimukta kshetra, and yet obstacles come even to good people who live in Kashi. Lopamudra, that same obstacle has now come before me.” The great ascetic bathed in the Manikarnika kunda, worshiped Bhagavan Vishvanatha and Dandapani as the rite requires, and went to see Kalabhairava. “Kalaraja, you are the mighty-armed lord of Kashi, the remover of your devotees’ fear. Why do you send me away from this city? You destroy the obstacles of those who live in Kashi and you protect your devotees; why then send me away? I have never spoken blame of others, never carried tales, never spoken falsehood. For what deed of mine do you send me from Kashi?” Having pleaded so with Kalabhairava, Agastya went to Sakshi-Vinayaka, who destroys every obstacle, saw him, worshiped him, praised him, and left the city toward the south. Grieving at the parting, remembering Kashi at every moment, he mounted the vimana that was his own power of tapas, and with his wife he arrived in half a blink.
Before him stood Vindhya, risen very high, covering the sky. The moment the mountain saw the muni before him he began to tremble. Every trace of pride left him; he wished to say something, and humble before the sage as the earth itself is humble, full of devotion, he fell to the ground like a staff and prostrated with all eight limbs. Agastya looked at the great mountain with its peak lowered, and his face was glad. “Child, stay just like this until I return. Son, I cannot climb your high peak.” With that, Agastya, who wished to go south, climbed Vindhya’s peaks, came down step by step on the far side, and went south. He saw Shrishaila on the way, came to Malayachala, and lived there in an ashram. And that Bhagavati whom Manu had worshiped on the shore of the milk ocean came to Vindhya too, and there, Suta told Shaunaka, she became famed in all the worlds as Vindhyavasini.
This deed of the Devi, Suta said, is supremely holy and destroys enemies. The tale of Agastya and Vindhya destroys every sin; it gives kings victory, increases the knowledge of dvijas, gives Vaishyas wealth and grain, and gives Shudras happiness. Whoever hears it once with devotion gets dharma if he wants dharma, wealth if he wants wealth, and every wish if he comes to it with wishes. So Svayambhuva Manu, worshiping the Devi with devotion, held the rule of the earth for his whole manvantara. “I have told you this first deed of Bhagavati Shri Devi, the one bound up with the manvantara,” Suta said. “What shall I tell next?”
Source: Shrimad Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana (Gita Press, Gorakhpur)