A few days back I was introduced to the
concept of a Rishiworker. One such elevated being shared the story of his life in
service of the Rishis, where He and his fellow workers did dreamlike things
transcending various dimensions, lokas and spheres. He shared the same
knowledge as do our ancient scriptures but always seemed to throw some new
light on it which made one look at things refreshingly differently.
So… Here goes one such story…
Many readers will be familiar with the story
of Bhasmasura, from the Vishnu Purana. In case you don’t ~
Bhasmasura was a powerful demon. In his quest
to become invincible in the battle with the Demi-Gods, Bhasmasura undertook
intense penance to invoke His favorite deity, Lord Shiva.
Years passed but the intensity of his effort
only grew. Finally one day the demons inner gaze was filled with brilliant
light and he heard a loving voice asking him to open his eyes. He did and to
his delight saw the ever merciful and guileless Lord Shiva gazing lovingly at him.
“What is it you desire? Ask and it shall be
granted.”
The demon prayed “Lord! bless me that on
whosoever’s head I put my right hand, that person may reduce to ashes.”
Lord Shiva sighed realizing that the demons asuric qualities had made him lose a valuable opportunity by asking for such a destructive boon, yet He kept His word and blessed him saying –“So be it!”
Lord Shiva sighed realizing that the demons asuric qualities had made him lose a valuable opportunity by asking for such a destructive boon, yet He kept His word and blessed him saying –“So be it!”
Bhasmasuras joys knew no bounds. In his
eagerness to test the boon he looked around for some being on whom he could
test his new found power. But being in wilderness he could find no one but the
Lord. An evil thought invaded his mind – ‘What better way to gauge my power
then to test it on the Lord himself.’
Lord Shiva realized what was brewing in the
demons mind and began making an escape route. The demon pursued. Lord Shiva ran
to different lokas where He could elude the demon, but the powerful demon knew
his way around and kept up the pursuit.
Reaching the Brahmaloka, Lord Shiva asked for
Brahmas aid. Lord Brahma replied that there was nothing He could do which would
undo the powerful boon the demon had. So Lord Shiva rushed to Vaikuntha.
Lord Vishnu was aware of the predicament that
Lord Shiva was in. He assumed the Mohini (Enchantress) form.
Bhasmasura who had arrived even in Vaikuntha in hot pursuit stop dead on tracks
looking at the bewitching form of Mohini. He was instantly mesmerized, his
lower nature taking over him.
“Who are you O Divine beauty? Whoever you
maybe you must accept to be my wife! I am the powerful and now invincible
Bhasmasura! Accept my proposal and make me happy and you shall be the Queen of
all the worlds.”
Lord Vishnu, now Mohini, knew all of the
demons strengths and weaknesses. He knew the demons love and pride of the art
of dancing. After playing hard to get, Mohini fained she was willing to give in
but putting a condition first that only if the demon could match her in dancing
skills, would she consent marrying him.
The delighted demon agreed to the challenge.
Lord Vishnu knew that since they were in
Vaikuntha, if the demon died there, he would become immortal. The demon would
have to be lured to a loka (plane) where the state of death comes easy. What
better place then Earth! Prithvi loka.
And so Mohini began her dance of various
mudras, the demon successfully followed each step. As they danced Mohini made
the demon follow her crossing various dimensions towards earth. As they neared
earth Mohini quickly scanned which place on earth had the right energy of
strength for her to fulfill this task. Upon finding such a place she brought
the demon down to that place and struck a final pose where her right hand
rested on her head. Lord Shiva, the demigods and the Rishis watched on with
bated breath. In his zeal to win the challenge and possess the beautiful Mohini,
Bhasmasura duplicated her pose perfectly resting his right hand on his head.
No sooner had he done that, that Agni (fire)
enveloped that part of his body. The boon had turned into a curse. In a fraction of a second Bhasmasura realized
what he had done and in order to contain the damage he thought he would outgrow
the fire that was rapidly consuming his body, and contain it. Thus Bhasmasura assumed a
gigantic form, miles in height and breadth. Yet he could not outdo the power of
the boon and within minutes his gigantic form was consumed in flames.
Evil a being as he was, the fire consuming him instantly released black ash from his enormous form. Tons of black ash fell from miles
above hitting earth causing huge destruction and an enormous dent where the ash
fell. Massive earthquakes hit the place as waters from all sides rushed in to
fill in the gaps. So huge was the dent that the water collected within formed a
sea. The sea was inky dark due to mixing with the black ash.
With Bhasmasura gone the powerful energies within him
got released. A demigod took charge of that energy and since then came to be
known as Bhasmapurusha. The whole creation heaved a sigh of relief as the Rishis and Demigods sang praises of Lord Vishnu. Lord Shiva danced the Tandava in joy and then performed the powerful Rudra yagna for purification and benefit of all Beings. The Rishis also blessed that
place of earth which made the demons end possible. They named it Sthana (Place)
Bala (strength) or simply ‘The place of Strength.’
Ages passed since that day yet those places
still exist. The Rishiworker shared that this place today is known as Istanbul (Sthana-bala).
The inky dark sea water body is known as the Black Sea; and Bhasmapurusha the
demigod is also a known figure in Greek and the local mythical history as
Bhosphorus and also has a river named after Him.
Here's something more. The Rishiworker
Amara shared these details only as a side story to his main mission in this area near
Black sea. He and another worker who visited this place astrally went down to
some caves in inaccessible regions and revealed that if one was to go down there,
the mud and soil is still charred black. It is in one of these caves that they
were surprised to discover the mystical artifacts of fables such as the magic
lamp, the flying carpet, the staff of Ulysses, Solomon’s diamond, the flying horse
etc.
It is natural to wonder about the possibility
of such events. Having read all else that Sri Amara had to share plus some
beliefs I had been exposed to from earlier experiences made me realize that though
many are within their rights to say that they dont believe in this; yet we are
in no position or have no premise to deny the possibility of such happenings. It is in view of this very thought that I wrote: The Mystical lines between Reality and Fantasy
