The Man from the Egg Read online

  SUDHA MURTY

  THE MAN FROM THE EGG

  Unusual Tales about the TRINITY

  Illustrations by Priyankar Gupta

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Contents

  Introduction

  OMKARA SWARUPA

  1. Brahma’s Folly

  2. A Celestial Solution

  SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM

  3. The Story of Sati

  4. The Birth of Parvati

  5. The Indian Cupid

  6. A Match Made in Heaven

  7. The Moon and the Leaf

  8. The Legends of the Elephant God

  9. The Slaying of the Asuras

  10. The Half-Man, Half-Woman

  11. Folk Tales

  SAMBHAVAMI YUGE YUGE

  12. The Bones of Dadhichi

  13. The Churning of the Ocean

  14. The Ten Avatars

  15. Three Mortal Lifetimes

  16. A Friend in Need

  17. The Man from the Egg

  18. The Forked Tongues

  19. The Honest Cheater

  20. The Choice of Death

  21. To Marry a Monkey or a Bear

  22. The Web of Illusion

  23. The Debt for a Wedding

  24. The Asura and the Super-God

  Footnotes

  4. The Birth of Parvati

  5. The Indian Cupid

  7. The Moon and the Leaf

  8. The Legends of the Elephant God

  9. The Slaying of the Asuras

  11. Folk Tales

  17. The Man from the Egg

  23. The Debt for a Wedding

  Notes

  Follow Penguin

  Copyright

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  THE MAN FROM THE EGG

  Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon, north Karnataka. She did her MTech in computer science, and is now the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation. A prolific writer in English and Kannada, she has written novels, technical books, travelogues, collections of short stories and non-fictional pieces, and six bestselling books for children. Her books have been translated into all the major Indian languages. Sudha Murty is the recipient of the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature (2006), the Padma Shri (2006) and the Attimabbe Award from the Government of Karnataka for excellence in Kannada literature (2011).

  Also in Puffin by Sudha Murty

  How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories

  The Magic Drum and Other Favourite Stories

  The Bird with Golden Wings

  Grandma’s Bag of Stories

  The Magic of the Lost Temple

  The Serpent’s Revenge: Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata

  To Kris Gopalakrishnan and Sudha,

  for the precious memories made during the making of Infosys

  Introduction

  In India, the term Trimurti is used in reference to the three faces of god. They are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and collectively called the Trinity.

  Together, they represent the oneness of the universe while retaining their distinctive nature and are known for their ability to grant people boons. Hymns are chanted every day all over India, in temples and homes, and countless stories abound in their praise.

  And yet many questions remain.

  Several temples are dedicated to Shiva, as well as Vishnu and his various avatars. But there are hardly any that are dedicated to Brahma, an equally important part of the Trinity. Why?

  How do the demons or asuras attempt to cheat the Trinity in their endless quest for immortality? How do their efforts fail?

  Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati are the respective consorts of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. But it is Parvati who displays many avatars and is popular as Shakti, the divine female power, and Durga, the warrior goddess. How did Parvati, a beautiful and gentle being, come to be known as a feared warrior?

  This is the second volume of my series on Indian mythology, written for my dear readers and for future generations.

  As always, I would like to thank my wonderful editor Shrutkeerti Khurana and Anju Kulkarni for their roles in bringing out this book. I am also grateful to Sohini Mitra and Hemali Sodhi from Penguin for their support and belief in me.

  Brahma’s Folly

  Lord Brahma is the creator of the universe and everything both living and non-living. He is said to have risen from a lotus that emerged from Vishnu’s belly button. Just as an artisan moulds statues, Brahma is the eternal sculptor responsible for the intricacies of all life forms. We are all his children.

  Ages ago, the god of love, Manmatha (better known today as Kamadeva), and his wife, Rati, prayed fervently to Brahma for a boon. They wanted a special bow and arrow. So they fasted and meditated for days and days, and finally Brahma appeared.

  Manmatha said, ‘Dear lord, give me a bow and arrow that will make anyone I shoot it with fall instantly in love with the nearest person.’

  Brahma considered the request. ‘This boon is perfect!’ he thought. ‘It will encourage more humans to fall in love and over time, the number of children on this planet will increase and the human race will flourish. But I don’t think strong-willed people or those who follow a spiritual path will fall prey to Manmatha’s arrow. However, that shouldn’t stop me from granting the boon.’

  Brahma raised his right hand. ‘So be it.’

  A bow of sugar cane and an arrow of flowers appeared in front of the delighted Manmatha. He took possession of it and thanked the god with all his heart before going on his way.

  Soon, Manmatha wanted to test the bow and arrow. Without thinking too much, he shot the first arrow at Brahma himself!

  At that time, Brahma was in the process of creating a beautiful maiden. She was named Shatarupa, a woman with a hundred beautiful forms. Her beauty was nothing like the world had ever seen.

  As soon as Brahma finished breathing life into her, the magic of Manmatha’s arrow started to take effect.

  The lord began gazing at Shatarupa so intensely that it scared her. She hadn’t expected her creator to behave in such a manner. So she stepped away from him, turning to his right. Brahma couldn’t look away—his eyes followed her. To his surprise, a second head sprang up on his right. Alarmed, Shatarupa ran the other way, to his left, but a third head appeared in that direction as well. Finally, Shatarupa was right behind Brahma, and lo and behold, another head was formed. Now Brahma had four heads facing all four directions—east, west, north and south. This way he was able to see Shatarupa no matter where she went.

  The maiden now had no choice but to turn upward. Unfortunately for her, that didn’t stop Brahma. Another head facing the sky sprang up on his first head. And thus Brahma’s gaze stayed on Shatarupa.

  Shiva, who had been watching the entire incident, was furious. ‘It is time for me to step in and help the poor girl,’ he thought. ‘Brahma is Shatarupa’s creator—it is not right for him to fall in love with her like this.’

  Shiva cut off Lord Brahma’s sky-facing head in one swoop with his trishul and cast a curse on him. ‘Henceforth, you will eternally be a four-headed god, and furthermore, you will be worshipped in just one place.’

  Only after he had removed Brahma’s fifth head did Shiva realize that Brahma hadn’t been completely responsible for his behaviour. It was Manmatha’s arrow of love that had started it all.

  So, to soften the curse, Shiva declared, ‘Brahma, even though you may not be worshipped the way Vishnu and I are, you will always be revered as a part of the divine Trinity.’

  There was no denying that Shiva had sinned by punishing Brahma. As a consequence, he became a wandering ascetic and made his way to Brahma Kapala (better known today as Badrinath in Uttarakhand). Shiva carried Brahma’s severed head in his hands and used it as a b