An Oracle Is Heard That Matsarasura Is Going To Be Killed

Matsarasura got a boon from Lord Shiva and conquered the whole universe, including Kailasa. The devas were rendered helpless.

As per the advice of Dattatreya, they all started observing tapas of Lord Ganesha. The lord appeared before them and promised to help them. The lord then called upon his ganas—his soldiers.

The lord is both vighna karta and vighna harta. He causes obstacles in the path of the evil-minded. If there is something wrong with the way you are living, in your attitude, or your character, you will meet with obstacles. If you see obstacles, you should introspect.

What is it that you are doing wrong? The lord would create obstacles in another way also. He will prevent you from committing mistakes, going wrong, or committing sins. This vighna karana he achieves through his ganas.

His ganas—soldiers such as Amodas and Pramodas—all came, all resembling him: elephant-headed, with curved trunks, four hands, holding several weapons. They all wore majestic crowns, seated on lions, mice, peacocks, serpents, and horses, adorned with beautiful ornaments.

What does this show? The lord’s soldiers, causing obstacles, can come in many forms, any form. They are under his command. But there is one thing for sure—they come to harm the evil-minded and help the noble-minded. If someone is trying to harm a devotee of the lord, they will come and obstruct such an evil person. You see this happening around us throughout.

They were all so huge, making sounds like thunder. They talked among themselves about the lord’s greatness—stories of his greatness. They got down from their respective vehicles, stood with folded hands before the lord, and said,

'Please order us what to do. Whatever you say, we will get it done.'

Lord Vakratunda told them, 'I am going to destroy Matsarasura. That’s why I remembered you all.'

The ganas became excited to be part of the lord’s strike. Then they said, 'Why should all of us go? One is enough. One among us is enough for whoever it is.'

The lord said, 'Then what is there for entertainment? I created that asura for fun. I only created him out of my maya. I know what you are capable of, but if you do that, what else is there for entertainment? So, go fight with him. I want to see.'

So, along with his own ganas and the victims of Matsarasura, the lord moved towards the place called Eershya. That was where the asura was ruling the worlds at that time.

Matsarasura was always drunk. He had kept devastris as his orderlies. Whatever he wanted happened.

You know why? Because of the power of the boon that he got from Lord Shiva as a result of his tapas. He thought, 'I am the greatest of all. There is no one equal to me now.'

At that time, an oracle was heard:

'Lord Vakratunda is here to kill Matsarasura.'

Totally unexpected. Matsarasura started shivering, his mouth and throat went dry, and he fainted.

'What has happened to the king?' the daityas started wondering. 'Where did this voice come from?'

Somebody went and looked up. There was nothing in the sky. It was normal.

They woke up Matsarasura. He said, 'What is this? This is impossible. I cannot be killed by anything that is made of ashtavaranas. The world that we see around is made up of pancha bhutas and the three gunas.

But the constituents of the universe are called ashtavaranas. They are the pancha bhutas, ahankara, mahat, and prakriti. So that means the visible world and much beyond also. Even they cannot harm me.

Then where has this new one come from? Who says he can kill me? Never heard of him. What is this Vakratunda? What does it mean? A curved head? A curved face?

I am kala even for kala. I am death even for time. How can someone kill me?

कालस्य कालरूपोऽहं मम मृत्युः कथं भवेत्'

The daityas, including Prahlada—yes, Prahlada was there—said, 'No, your majesty, this is some magic, some illusion created by the devas, who are still looking for ways to come back to power.

This is simply not possible. You simply cannot die. The sun will not rise if you die. Let’s finish those devas. We should have killed all of them. Let’s do that now. Otherwise, they will keep on creating some nuisance or the other.'

Matsarasura was thus motivated. He said, 'Let’s go and finish them all.'

And Matsarasura and the other asuras came out of the palace.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi