The Man from the Egg Read online

Shiva held on to Kodagusu as the linga began to close. He obviously intended to take her with him.

  Kodagusu’s shocked father ran to the linga but only managed to grab a few strands of her hair before it shut completely.

  Legend has it that this is why when a person touches the shivalinga in Koluru village, they feel like they are stroking someone’s hair.

  The Story of Adi Shankara

  Kaladi is a village located to the east of River Periyar in the Ernakulum district of Kerala. In the early eighth century, a young widow named Areyamba lived there with her son, Shankara.

  Young Shankara was a keen observer of life and the events that happened around him. He was exceptionally intelligent and had taken to the idea of becoming an ascetic since he was a child. He would ask his mother every now and then, ‘Will you allow me to become a hermit?’

  Areyamba was afraid of losing her only son and vehemently disapproved of the notion.

  Shankara did not want to displease his mother, so he remained quiet. But he did not give up hope.

  One day, when he was eight years old, a crocodile grabbed his foot and bit into it savagely while he was bathing in the river. His mother screamed for help but there was no one around.

  ‘Amma!’ cried out Shankara. ‘If you give me permission to become a sage, the crocodile will let go of my foot. Don’t ask me how I know—I just do!’

  His mother sobbed, completely helpless.

  ‘Please, Amma. Say something. Will you let me follow the path my heart desires?’

  Areyamba wanted to save her son at any cost and so she nodded.

  Immediately the crocodile opened its jaws and swam away.

  Days later, as Shankara was about to depart from his mother’s home in search of truth, Areyamba extracted a promise from him. ‘No matter where you are, my son, you must come back when you hear of my death to perform my last rites,’ she said.

  Shankara soon became the disciple of Guru Govindapada. The young prodigy studied the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Brahmasutra and many more texts. He travelled all over India and spread the philosophy of Advaita,9 for which he is remembered even today. He established many mathas or monasteries, of which four are still famous. The first was Sringeri in Karnataka, where he established the Saraswati temple. The other mathas are in Kedar, Puri and Dwarka. Shankara also had many illustrious disciples, such as Sureshvara, Prithvidhara, Bodhendra and Brahmendra. He is believed to be an avatar of Shiva. Eventually, he settled down in the ancient village of Maheswati in Mithila, which is now in Bihar, where he wrote several important books that are still read today.

  Shankara was known to frequently defeat the most learned scholars in debates with his logic and the skillful expression of his extraordinary thoughts and beliefs. Once, in a debate, he was pitted against the celebrated philosopher Mandana Misra. The referee was to be Mandana Misra’s wife, Ubhaya Bharati, who was known for her impartiality. Both husband and wife were famous for their knowledge and understanding of Indian philosophy. The agreement was that if Mandana Misra lost, he would live the life of a hermit; and if Shankara lost, he would marry and live the life of a householder.

  The debate went on for days until, finally, Shankara won. The win was especially hard for Ubhaya Bharati as it affected her life as well. However, she remained objective and pronounced the verdict in Shankara’s favour.

  Following the decision, Mandana Misra took on the name of Sureshvara and became Shankara’s follower. He was supposedly one of the first acharyas of the matha in Sringeri.

  At the age of thirty-two, though, Shankara suddenly disappeared from Kedarnath, never to be heard of again. However, his legacy remains intact even today, and he is still considered to be one of the brightest minds in Indian history.

  The King of Kerala

  A long time ago, there lived a pious king in Kerala, who was a great devotee of the goddess Bhagavati. He ruled his kingdom justly, and his subjects adored him. He would frequently disguise himself as a common man and wander around to observe and talk to people about the true state of the kingdom.

  One day, while returning to the palace after one of his visits, he passed Bhagavati’s temple. It was the middle of the night and the premises were deserted. There, he saw a well-dressed lady with long hair sitting in the temple veranda, crying. Seeing how late it was, he was surprised to find her alone.

  He approached her. ‘Mother, I see that you are crying. Please tell me what is bothering you. Perhaps I can help.’

  Wiping her tears, the lady said, ‘Oh my dear child, I am truly in distress for I have to leave this place forever.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I am the Rajalakshmi of this kingdom. I bring prosperity and peace, along with wealth. But my time here is over and I must leave.’

  ‘But what has changed? Why must you leave?’ asked the king.

  ‘Life is filled with ups and downs, and this kingdom’s downfall begins tomorrow. I don’t want to leave, but I must.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do?’ the king asked, still not revealing his identity. He was rather concerned by the lady’s mysterious words.

  ‘Only the people of this land can help—they must somehow make me stay here.’

  The king was quiet for a minute. ‘All right, let me think about this. In the meantime, I want to go inside the temple and pray to the goddess to show us the way. But first, I must have a bath. Kind lady, will you please do me a favour and hold my clothes for me until I come back from the stepwell?’

  The lady nodded. ‘Come back quickly. Dawn is near and I don’t have much time left,’ she said sadly.

  ‘Will you promise to wait till I return?’

  ‘I promise, and I always keep my word. Just come back as soon as you can,’ she replied.

  The king went to the stepwell on the temple grounds. He turned back to look at the lady holding his clothes and prayed to the goddess, ‘O devi, it doesn’t matter if I lose my life, but I can’t let you leave this kingdom and watch my subjects fall into despair. My people must always be prosperous, and it is my duty to see that they never suffer.’

  Then the selfless king entered the stepwell and drowned himself in the water.

  The lady waited and waited. When it was morning, she realized that he would never come back. Since she had given her word that she would wait for him, she quietly went back inside the temple.

  And that is how the king took care of his subjects and the goddess of wealth remained in the state of Kerala.

  The Bones of Dadhichi

  Dadhichi was a pious and kind sage, and an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu. He was the author of the famous Narayana Kavacham stotra.

  Whenever the devas lost to the asuras in battle, they would leave their weapons with Dadhichi, who stood guard over them.

  Once, the devas did not come for their arms for a long, long time because there was no war. Decades went by, and Dadhichi got bored of taking care of the munitions. He knew a special mantra called Madhuvidya, by which he used to transform the weapons into liquid. He would then immerse that in water and drink the solution. That way he was free to travel around and carry the arms with him.

  Meanwhile, a mighty asura named Vritrasura had obtained a rather dangerous boon from Lord Brahma. No weapon made of either wood or metal could kill him. His immunity to weapons made him even more powerful and, as a result, Vritrasura became arrogant and malevolent.

  One day, he stole all the water in the world. Men, women and children began to die of thirst everywhere. Their desperate prayers and cries for help eventually reached Indra, the king of the devas, who immediately went to Sage Dadhichi to reclaim the divine weapons.

  Since the weapons were nowhere in sight, Indra shouted at Dadhichi, ‘What have you done with all our arms? Did you lose them? How could you be so irresponsible?’

  Dadhichi listened patiently as Indra raged about Vritrasura and the boon that had made him unbeatable.

  Finally he smiled and said, ‘I have all the weapons you need. I used my