Hari Aum.
I hope all readers are keeping well and that your sadhana is going smoothly. My sadhana is carrying on steadily-- I am on holiday visiting family at present and am managing to keep up my daily japa in the midst of all the social activity. I am very relieved that the situation in Asia has calmed down (it was a horrible nightmare to put it mildly—am so grateful to the Divine Mother that the situation has been brought under control. Hope it stays that way).
Anyway, now that that nightmare is behind us (for the present anyway), I thought I would write a post about Lord Shiva's Lila as Mrityunjaya (I have dreamt about this name of Shiva a couple of times including recently which has contributed to my desire to write this post).
'Mrityunjaya' means the 'defeater of Death'. Why is Lord Shiva known by this name? Well, He is of course the Supreme Being who removes the illusion of this mortal world and grants us knowledge of our true immortal, deathless spiritual nature-- and therefore, this name suits Him perfectly.
However, there is also a famous Lila or Divine play related to Shiva as Mrityunjaya. Many of you will be familiar with this famous story already. However, for those who may not be familiar, I would like to narrate this here.
This story describes the power of 'purushartha' or self-effort. It demonstrates how sheer determination and hard work can enable the spiritual seeker or devotee to overcome the effects of karma and destiny. It describes how the devotee invokes the grace of God to conquer death itself and attain immortality. This, in fact, is the meaning of the famous 'Mahamrityunjaya mantra' of Lord Shiva (will come back to this again later).
So let us begin the story-- this is originally from the Puranas. Om Mrityunjayaya Namah. Salutations to Shiva, the One who conquers death.
This story centres around the life of Markandeya, a young devotee of Shiva.
Markandeya was born of a rishi and his wife after they had prayed ardently to Lord Shiva to be blessed with a child. Shiva had appeared before the couple and said that He would grant their wish-- they could choose to have a wise and noble child who would be short-lived or an ignoble child who would live long.
The couple chose to be blessed with a spiritual child and Markandeya was born. His parents were overjoyed at his birth though this was mixed with sorrow due to the knowledge that he was destined to die at the age of sixteen.
They showered their love upon Markandeya who blossomed into a wonderful young boy. He excelled in all aspects of spiritual life, both jnana (wisdom) and bhakti (devotion). He mastered the Vedas with ease and developed strong devotion to Lord Shiva whom he worshipped daily.
The sage and his wife rejoiced as they saw their child grow and reveal his talents but secretly grieved as each year passed by. They had not told Markandeya about his destiny but, as his sixteenth birthday approached, found it difficult to conceal their sorrow.
One day, Markandeya noticed his parents seemed to be plunged in grief, and asked them what the matter was. What, he asked, was this secret sorrow that they seemed to harbour all the time and which appeared to rob them of the ability to enjoy their lives fully.
They initially declined to tell him, but upon much persuasion, gave in. They explained that he had been born as a result of a blessing from Lord Shiva and that his destiny was to die upon attaining the age of sixteen.
Markandeya heard of his destiny in silence and spent some time contemplating upon this. He then addressed his parents, resolutely assuring them that all would be well. Telling them not to grieve, he declared that he would conquer his destiny by attaining the grace of Shiva Himself. His parents blessed him and made a prayer for success in his sadhana and the boy began his worship in right earnest.
He immersed himself in worshipping Lord Shiva dedicating every moment to Him alone. He remembered Him constantly and performed various rituals to worship Him daily (such as puja, homam and so on). Thus Markandeya became a true devotee of Lord Shiva, reaching the pinnacle of bhakti, and the state of atma-nivedana (or self-surrender).
The sixteenth birthday of Markandeya now dawned. On this day, like every other, the boy arose early in the morning and commenced worship of Lord Shiva. He performed a puja of a Shiva linga (symbolic abstract representation of Lord Shiva) while reciting His names and mantras.
As he did so, Lord Yama, the demi-god of death, approached, a fearsome figure of dark hue, riding upon a large black bull with sharp horns. The appointed hour, the time for Markandeya's death, had arrived.
Seeing Markandeya, Lord Yama called out to him saying his time on Earth was up. It was time to give up his body and all worship. Whatever had been achieved had been achieved, and there was no further time available for more. Markandeya, however, did not notice Yama at all. He remained with eyes closed, absorbed in contemplation upon Lord Shiva.
Seeing this, Lord Yama called out to the boy more loudly, declaring that it was time to leave and that death waited for nobody. Markandeya now opened his eyes and, upon seeing Yama, told him that he had not yet completed his worship. He was not ready to depart the Earth, he said.
Yama, who was familiar with souls who were not yet ready to leave, now took up his famous noose (this noose was the tool he used to remove the unwilling soul from the body and thus give death). He then threw the noose around Markandeya, intending to draw his soul away from his body.
Markandeya, however, seeing the noose coming towards him, threw his arms around the Shiva linga that he had been worshipping. The noose of Yama thus fell upon both upon the boy and the Shiva linga.
As the noose of death tightened around Markandeya, he concentrated his mind upon Shiva with intense devotion and uttered the following words:
Markandeya said:
Om Trayambakam yajamahe,
Sugandhim pushti vardhanam,
Urva rukamiva bandhanan,
Mrityor mukshiya mamritat!
This means:
Om - syllable that is the Supreme Being in sound form
Trayambam- O Three eyed One (Shiva has two eyes and the third one in the centre of His forehead which is a symbolic 'spiritual eye'. This third eye opens when He wishes to unleash His destructive power to dissolve the cosmos)
Yajamahe- I worship You
Sugandhim- the One who is fragrant (symbolic of being filled with virtues)
Pushti vardhanam- the One who nourishes all beings
Urva rukamiva bandhanan- as a ripe cucumber is released from the stalk
Mrityor mukshiya mamritat- free me from the bondage of death and grant me immortality
These words comprise the famous Maha Mrityunjaya mantra of Lord Shiva. It is said that Markandeya is the sage who first revealed this mantra to humanity.
As the boy uttered these words, it is said that a terrible sound was heard and Shiva Himself emerged from the linga. He had come in response to the ardent prayer of His devotee.
Glaring at Yama, He rebuked him for daring to cast his noose around His devotee and upon the Shiva linga. Filled with Divine wrath, He gave death to Death himself and Yama fell to the ground lifeless.
Thus, Shiva came to be known as 'Mrityunjaya', the One who is victorious over death, and as 'Kalantaka', the One who ends time or death.
Having dealt with Yama, Lord Shiva now turned to Markandeya and blessed him. Declaring that He was greatly pleased with his devotion, He stated that Markandeya would live in the form of a sixteen year old youth for as long as the cosmos existed.
Markandeya was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude at the appearance of Lord Shiva and venerated Him with many hymns.
Upon realising that Yama had been given death, the other demi-gods/devas were greatly distressed. Who, they asked, would now perform the important task of overseeing the departure of souls from their bodies in the mortal realms? Who would keep an account of the karma of souls and dispense justice in accordance with Divine will? Lord Yama simply had to be brought back to life to perform this vital task, they declared!
The devas thus approached Lord Shiva and ardently prayed to Him to bring Yama back to life. Hearing their pleas, Shiva relented and granted their wish. Yama thus opened his eyes as life returned to his body. Upon seeing Lord Shiva, he bowed to Him asking for forgiveness and then departed for Yamaloka, his own realm.
Having blessed Markandeya and Yama, Lord Shiva departed. The young sage then went to his parents who were overjoyed to discover that their son had overcome his destiny.
Markandeya went on to become a great sage in his own right and a Guru to many disciples (there is an entire Purana named after him). The Mahamrityunjaya mantra (described above) that he revealed to humanity has been recited by many Gurus and their disciples over the centuries.
In the Vedic tradition, the recitation of this mantra is said to grant both spiritual and material benefits. Aside from the spiritual benefits (it is a great 'moksha' mantra or granter of Self Realisation), it is a particularly important mantra for preservation of health/overcoming karma related to disease, and prevention of accidents/untimely death. In many spiritual traditions (including the lineage of Sivananda), this mantra is recited on people's birthdays and when they are unwell to pray to Shiva for health and a happy, prosperous life (it is also recited after death to pray for the peace of departed souls).
The legend of Markandeya thus gives encouragement to every soul to overcome unfavourable destiny through the power of devotion. He teaches us that we too can, by self-effort or 'purushartha', draw the grace of the Divine upon ourselves, and thus overcome death and attain knowledge of our true spiritual nature.
Om Mrityunjayaya Namah. Om Kalantakaya Namah. Om Namah Shivaya.
Salutations to Lord Shiva, and to His great devotees, sage Markandeya and Lord Yama, who participated in this Divine Lila.
Om Sri Durgayai Namah.
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
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