How Mahamaya Tricked Madhu and Kaitabha to Death

The Lord was asleep under the influence of Yoga Nidra, the Tamasik form of Mahamaya, Jagadamba. Not only Yoga Nidra, every kind of sleep is Tamasik. We all sleep under the influence of this Tamasik form of Devi. The daily sleep, I mean, or whenever we sleep.

Every activity in the universe is controlled by, or under the influence of, one of the three Gunas of Devi or a mix of them. At the time of the Yoga Nidra of Shri Hari, two Asuras, Madhu and Kaitabha, were born out of the earwax of Shri Hari. At that time, Brahma was also born, sitting on a lotus emanating from the Nabhi of Shri Hari. Madhu and Kaitabha tried to kill Brahma. Brahma was trying to create, and the Asuras were trying to destroy. The creative force and the destructive force, both born from the body of Shri Hari.

Brahma called out to Shri Hari, but he was not waking up. Then Brahma realized that Shri Hari was under the influence of Devi. He praised Devi. She released Shri Hari, he woke up, and started fighting the Asuras. For five thousand years, he fought.

तावप्यति बलोन्मत्तौ महामायाविमोहितौ उक्तवन्तौ वरोऽस्मत्तोव्रियतामिति केशवम्

It is not that Devi just released Shri Hari. She is also playing an active role in this fight. Wherever you see a will, a desire, knowledge, or action, she has to be there, playing as Iccha Shakti, Jnana Shakti, and Kriya Shakti.

The Asuras were arrogant because of their strength. Who are they fighting with? Shri Hari. And even after five thousand years, the Lord could not do anything to them. Why should they not be arrogant? But then Devi Mahamaya influenced their minds. She made them think, 'Let's show our superiority to this silly Deva who is fighting us.'

They told him, 'Look, you won’t be able to do anything to us. We are too big for you. But we are happy that you ventured to challenge us. As an encouragement for your courage, ask for a boon from us. We will give you a boon. Take it and go away.'

अस्मत्तः वरं व्रियताम् इति तौ केशवम् उक्तवन्तौ कथंभूतौ तौ – अति बलोन्मत्तौ महामायाविमोहितौ

Mahamaya made them say this to Shri Hari.

Why is the Lord called Keshava? के जले शेते असौ इति कॆशवः. He sleeps in water; his bed is in water. As soon as the Lord heard this offer, he grabbed it.

भगवानुवाच भवेताम् अद्य मे तुष्टौ मम वध्यौ उभवपि किमन्येन वरेण अत्र एतावत् हि वृतं मम

Bhagawan said, 'If you are so pleased with me, then give me the boon that you both will get killed by me. What else can be more pleasing for me than this boon? Other than this, I don’t need anything else. I have no use for any other boon.'

किमन्येन वरेण So you both मम वध्यौ भवेताम् –

They were caught, beautifully tricked by Mahamaya. There was no other way but to get killed by Shri Hari. It was their own offer; now they couldn’t go back. But then they put a condition.

ऋषिरुवाच वञ्चिताभ्यां इति तदा सर्वमापोमयं जगत् विलोक्य ताभ्यां गदितः भगवान् कमलेक्षणः आवं जहि न यत्र उर्वी सलिलेन परिप्लुता

They also realized that they had been tricked into their own end. They looked around and saw that it was water everywhere. They told Bhagawan, Kamalekshana, 'You can kill us somewhere, some place which is not submerged in water, where land is visible.' They thought there would be no such place.

ऋषिरुवाच तथा इत्युक्त्वा भगवता शंखचक्रगदाभृता कृत्वा चक्रेण वै छिन्ने जघने शिरसी तयोः

Bhagawan said, 'All right.' Bhagawan, who was holding Shankha, Chakra, and Gada, said 'OK,' kept their heads on his hip—Jaghanam means hip or waist; for visualizing, you can say lap—and cut their heads with Sudarshana Chakra.

एवमेषा समुत्पन्ना ब्रह्मणा संस्तुता स्वयम् प्रभावं अस्याः देव्याः तु भूयः शृणु वदामि ते

This is how she was born. She appeared when praised by Brahma, and this is what she did.

To recall the context, the Rishi here is Medhaa. He is saying all this to King Suratha and the trader Samadhi. The sage is explaining what is going on in their lives. The sage says, 'These are all Maya created by Mahamaya, who can even catch hold of the minds of the most realized, who are considered as Jeevanmuktas, who are thought to be out of all this. Even their minds, she can catch hold of again and throw them back into ignorance.'

They wanted to know who this Devi is, who this Mahamaya is, and about her origin. The Rishi said, 'She doesn’t have any origin. She is always there. But at times, she appears to carry out a certain task. This, if you want, you can consider as her origin. Even though this is not the correct way to look at it.'

One such incident is what has been described. 'I will tell you more about her Prabhava, about her power. This is the first chapter of Sapta Shati, in which the destruction of Madhu and Kaitabha has been narrated.'

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi