Devi Jagadamba Blesses Despite Mistakes

Devi Jagadamba Mahamaya performs miracles. There is nothing that she cannot do. When it comes to blessing someone, she assumes the form of the mother, full of love and kindness.

She doesn't mind even if one of her children makes a mistake while worshiping her. She is the mother. She wouldn't mind. Still, she blesses.

In Kosala, there was a noble person called Devadatta. He didn't have children. He performed a Putreshti Yaga to beget a progeny.

Gobhila Muni was the Udgata, the Samavedi priest in this Putreshti. As he was singing the Sama during the Yajna, he was stopping in between to catch his breath. Because of this, the Swara of the singing was getting broken. You know what happens if, during singing, the singer frequently stops in between to catch breath. The continuity will be lost. It won't be good to hear. That's why singers do breathing exercises so that they can sing for a long time in the same breath.

Devadatta became agitated. He told Gobhila Muni, 'You are spoiling my Yaga. Your Swarabhanga is going to spoil my Yaga.'

Gobhila Muni cursed, 'Your Yaga is not going to be spoilt because of me. It is natural to take breath while singing. Your Yaga will be spoilt because of your ignorance and arrogance. You will get a son as a result of this Yaga, but he will be a dumb idiot.'

See where it started and where it ended. Doing Yaga is a noble thing. But due to his own arrogance, thinking that he is paying for it, so he can control those who are performing Yaga for him, this is his arrogance. He suffered the consequence.

In Yaga, there are two kinds of Devas: Hutadaha and Ahutadaha. Hutadaha are the Devas in Swarga who consume whatever is offered in Agni, Devas such as Indra, Vayu, and Surya. Ahutadaha are the priests themselves who are performing the Yaga on behalf of the Yajamana. During Yaga, their status is that of Devas. And here, the Yajamana Devadatta was shouting at one such Ahutada Deva. That's why he got cursed.

Devadatta fell at Gobhila Muni's feet and begged for pardon. 'Rather than having an imbecile as my son, I would rather remain childless.'

The Muni said, 'Your son will be born as an idiot, but he will become a scholar later on.'

A son was born to Devadatta. He was named Utathya. At the age of eight, his Upanayana was done, and he was sent to Gurukul for learning Veda. He spent twelve years there but could not even learn the mantras required to perform Sandhya Vandana.

It became famous that Utathya was stupid. Everyone ridiculed and laughed at him. One day, his father told him, 'It is still okay to have a child who is blind or lame, but to have an idiotic child is the saddest fate any parent can have.'

Utathya felt dejected, left home, and started living in the forest. Normally, people used to go to the forest to do Tapasya, to do Sadhana. But Utathya knew nothing, not even the Gayatri Mantra. What Tapasya will he do? Even his day-to-day routine he barely managed.

But he kept one vow: 'I will never speak untruth. I will never hurt anyone.' People started calling him Satyatapa because of this.

He was sad about himself. He was just waiting for his life to get over, to die. 'Why has God made me like this?'

So, he was just spending time doing nothing productive, just sitting there like that. One day, a hunter came near his Ashrama chasing a wild pig. The hunter had already struck the pig with an arrow; it was bleeding. When Satyatapa saw the pig, he was filled with kindness. He said in a kind voice, 'Ai, Ai.'

He never knew this sound before. He had never uttered this sound before. It just came to his mind. But this happened to be Devi's Beej Mantra 'Aim' pronounced with the Anuswara. 'Ai' without Anuswara is 'Ai.'

As he said this, suddenly, all knowledge opened up to him—all kinds of knowledge. He became a full scholar as he said 'Ai, Ai.' See the kindness of Devi.

The hunter kept on pressurizing him, 'Have you seen the pig? Have you seen the pig? That is my food.'

The injured pig was hiding behind the bushes in the Ashrama. Satyatapa was in a dilemma. He can't lie to the hunter—that will be against his vow. But if he tells the truth, the hunter will kill the pig. What to do now?

Suddenly, Satyatapa, who was a total imbecile until then, said:

'या पश्यति न सा ब्रूते या ब्रूते सा न पश्यति अहो व्याध स्वकार्यार्थिन किं पृच्छसि पुनः पुनः'

'What can see, they don't speak.' He is referring to the eyes. Eyes can see, but they don't speak. 'What can speak, the mouth, the mouth cannot see.'

'You selfish hunter, why are you pestering me?'

See the wisdom and how he managed to save the pig without having to speak untruth.

Blessing of Mother Goddess. All knowledge came all of a sudden. He spoke like a seasoned scholar. Even though the Beejakshara that he uttered was incomplete, still the Mother blessed him.

Later, he started chanting the Beej Mantra in its original form, 'Aim,' and became renowned all over the world as a great scholar.

While you should always venture to take your Sadhana to perfection, understand the nature of Mother Goddess. She will never punish you even if you make a mistake.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi