Devas Praised Matsarasura as a Great Ruler, But Then…

Matsarasura had become the emperor of the whole universe after he received a boon from Lord Shiva. Even Lord Shiva himself, along with all the other devas, became victims of his arrogance and atrocities. They prayed to Lord Ganesha, and he took avatara as Vakratunda.

We are seeing the terrible battle that took place between Matsarasura’s army and the army of devas under Lord Vakratunda. In the battle, the sons of Matsarasura, Sundarpriya and Vishayapriya, have already been killed. Two axes came from nowhere and killed them. When this news reached Matsarasura, he just fainted. He woke up after about 45 minutes and started lamenting.

'Oh, I have lost my sons! What is the point of me living anymore? I thought I had become the most supreme power in the world, but I couldn’t protect even my own sons. They were as fierce as Kala himself, Yama himself. How could this happen? This means everything is destiny. Hard work has no value. I earned the boon through hard work, but that boon itself is not of any use now. The sons of the emperor of the universe, killed just like that! That means the boon that I got was just fake. Otherwise, how could this happen?'

The wise elders of Matsara’s court started consoling him. 'Your Majesty, it doesn’t befit the emperor of the universe to break down like this. Your sons have died in battle. They have attained veeramrityu. They have become eligible for the topmost status. You should not mourn their death. You only have to perform their last rites. Now your duty as a father is only that much. After that, you have two options: avenge the death of your sons or surrender.'

The word 'surrender' enraged Matsarasura. He ordered his entire army and set out for the battlefield himself. As the devas saw Matsarasura coming, they told Lord Vakratunda, 'Earlier, do you remember? The deva army told the Lord, "Look, Matsara is here, do what you want with him." That was wrong. They thought he had come, but it was only his commanders. Now Matsara himself has come for real.'

A very interesting description of Matsarasura was given by the devas to Vakratunda. Initially, you will wonder, then what is this whole war about?

'Oh Lord Ganesha, the famous Matsara, the great Matsara is here. In front of him, we devas are just mosquitoes. Humans are like grass before that wildfire, who is Matsarasura. All goddesses of wealth are his maids. The whole universe trembles when he comes. Not a single one of his subjects is unhappy; that is the state of his country. Generally, trees and plants bear fruits according to the season, but under his rule, the trees and plants bear fruits throughout the year. Rains are never late, even by a day. Rains stop when the land has got sufficient water. There are no extreme weathers. Even the diseases are scared of him; they don’t attack his subjects. There are no thieves in his kingdom. Why diseases, even death happens only at his command. Yama cannot come in and take anybody’s life as he wishes; he has to be called in by Matsara, then only he can come to take life.'

Such a beautiful place, isn’t it? Such a beautiful world. But then, what is wrong? If everyone is happy, then isn’t this the success of a ruler? Why should he be removed?

No, that’s not the case. Everyone is happy as long as he is a party member of Matsarasura. You have to join his party, then you are happy—like Hitler, like Mussolini. Remember how he came to power? He ousted Indra from Swarga, Yama from Yamaloka, Kubera from Kuberaloka. What for? They were all doing well, taking care of the welfare of the world. Just because he wanted to be the emperor—for his own personal power.

Rama killed Ravana because Ravana was torturing others. He made Ravana’s brother, Vibhishana, who was righteous and peace-loving, the king of Lanka. It is Rajadharma to attack an enemy king if he is causing trouble to others and his own people. Who else other than a king has got the power to do this? But here, Matsara attacked and conquered all the world for his ego satisfaction. Those who submitted to him, he kept happy. All others, he persecuted.

Out of fear, most people stopped worshiping their own gods, stopped yajnas. They were forced to worship him. After some time, they got used to it. If they accepted and worshiped him, then they were rewarded and happy. They were rewarded not because they were righteous, but only because they worshiped him and listened to him—just like what Hitler did. All systems of dharma, established over millions of years, he abolished and made his own laws, which kept his supporters happy. All others who were not ready to follow his laws were forced to spend their lives hiding in forests or wandering about, including the devas.

Munis and rishis, who were earlier guiding lamps for the whole world and who, with their infinite knowledge, could distinguish between what is right and what is wrong, were attuned to the divine order of universal welfare and would advise rulers, had no place in Matsara’s kingdom. He would decide everything by himself. The mahatmas were not even able to do their own daily routines, forget tapas. They lost their tapas shakti. This is a loss for the whole world, not just for them as individuals. Unlike the asuras, these mahatmas used their tapas shakti for the benefit of the world, not for their personal gain. They would use it to pacify a natural calamity or to get water to a place where there was none. Unlike Matsara, who would use it to satisfy his lust.

He kept thousands of females for satisfying his lust. I am using the word 'female' because that included animals, not just women and deva-strees. You can imagine the real state of the kingdom under such a ruler. Was he any different from Ravana?

So, the first part is propaganda. This is what he propagated—that all are happy and prosperous under his rule. The second part is the reality, like how every dictatorial regime operates.

Then Matsara faced Lord Vakratunda and said, 'I don’t know who you are or why you are even here. I think you have been misled by these people. I have a boon to be the emperor of the universe. I am doing nothing wrong. I have a right to do whatever I am doing. You better go back to wherever you came from. You have no right to interfere in what I am doing. You should be intelligent. Better surrender to me. You look like an elephant. Take refuge in me, and I will allow you to spend the rest of your life peacefully in my forests. Otherwise, I will kill you along with these instigators of yours.'

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi