The Devas' Rage Formed a Blazing Mountain

Devas lost to Mahishasura after a hundred-year-long battle. They were evicted from Swarga and were wandering about on Earth just like humans.

Led by Brahma, they went to Sri Hari and Lord Shiva, who were sitting together. Devas narrated to them what had happened and prayed to them to find a way to finish Mahishasura and restore their lost glory.

इत्थं निशम्य देवानां वचांसि मधुसूदनः चकार कोपं शंभुश्च भ्रुकुटीकुटिलाननौ

When Madhusudana and Shambhu heard this, they became very angry. Their eyebrows bent, curved up in anger.

ततोतिकोपपूर्णस्य चक्रिणः वदनात्ततः निश्चक्राम महत्तेजो ब्रह्मणश्शङ्करस्य च अन्येषां चैव देवानां शक्रादीनां शरीरतः निर्गतं सुमहत्तेजः तच्चैक्यं समगच्छत

Who is Chakree? The one with Chakra - Sudarshana Chakra - Sri Hari. He was very angry. From his face, a fiercely brilliant light came out. Similarly, from the faces of Brahma and Shankara also. Also, from the bodies of all the Devas who had assembled there, Devas such as Indra.

And all these brilliant lights - light does not mean soft, soothing light. They were like the blazing sunlight of a mid-summer noon—very intense, very hot. They all merged together. They were all fires of anger, extreme anger. The anger of all the Devas came out of them and merged together.

अतीव तेजसः कूटं ज्वलन्तं इव पर्वतम् ददृशुः ते सुराः तत्र ज्वालाव्याप्तदिगन्तरम् अतुलं तत्र तत्तेजः सर्वदेवशरीरजम्

Do you know what it looked like? Huge flames filling the entire space between all directions where they stood. This fiercely brilliant light was looking like a huge mountain of fire, blazing and extending in all directions as far as the eyes could reach.

And this blazing fire had no equal. Even Kalagni, Pralayagni was not equal to this. That is why it is said 'Atulam Tattejaha.' Nobody had seen a fierce fire as big as this because it was the power of all the Devas together. The physical power of any person is at its highest when that person is angry, when there is rage. And here, every Deva was in rage—Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, Agni, Varuna.

Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva were in rage because injustice had happened. What was the injustice here? Devas attained Swarga by hard work. It was not given to them. They performed good deeds and attained Swarga. Indra did one hundred Yajnas, and then he became Indra. Not Havans, not Homas—Yajnas. Yajnas are called sacrifice in English.

When you do a Rajasuya Yajna, the king has to give up everything first—all his possessions. He can retain with him whatever is required to perform the Yajna, but the rest he has to give away in charity. Not hand over to his son. Give up. Give away. Distribute among others. Then he becomes eligible to perform the Yajna.

Every Yajna involves such sacrifices. It is not that you call some priests, pay them some money, and get a Yajna done. Ordinary people cannot do that. Of course, Rajasuya will confer emperorship on the performer, but what is the guarantee? After you distribute and give away whatever you have, what is the guarantee that more will come? For that, you require absolute faith in the rules of divinity—the order set by divinity.

Yes, the divine rules are inviolable. The law of karma is inviolable. When you have this absolute faith, only then can you enter into such great acts. Indra did similar Yajnas one hundred times. Look at his caliber. Then he became Indra. Similarly, other Devas also.

As I have said before, these are all positions. Whoever is meritorious goes to Swarga and occupies that position. It is a post. If you are qualified, you get appointed to that post.

Asuras do not believe in this. They believe only in muscle power. They want to capture Swarga by muscle power. They do not want to earn Swarga by doing good deeds. They want to capture it.

Suppose you work for thirty years, work hard, save some money, buy a house for yourself. Then a local goon drives you out and occupies that house. Is that justifiable? This is what Mahishasura also did.

Asuras can also get Swarga—rightfully. Mahabali is an Asura. He has done great deeds. He will become the next Indra. He is just waiting for his turn to come. If you do good deeds, nobody can deprive you of the results.

When we say Sri Hari is a friend of Devas and enemy of Asuras, what does it mean? Sri Hari is with those who work hard and earn positions by merit. It is not about two Kulas or two races. Whoever is righteous, Sri Hari is with them. Asuras are those who want to get everything by brute force. Sri Hari is their enemy.

To start with, Devas and Asuras were born to the same father—Kashyapa. They were brothers. One set of brothers took the path of righteousness. One set of brothers took the path of brute force. Whatever the good ones earned through hard work, the other group kept on trying to snatch from them by brute force.

So, if there is a divine power, and there is definitely a divine power, what do you expect? Whom will the divine power stand by and support?

So, Asuras are not a permanently bad race or group. They can also transform. Mahabali understood the significance of noble deeds. He did great Yajnas. When Vamana asked for three feet of land, he did not think twice. Do not think he was not aware of the impending danger. Shukracharya warned him. Still, he had given his word to Vamana, and he would stand by it. That is Dharma—righteousness. And he is rewarded for that. He will become Indra. Indrahood was earned the right way—the noble way.

So do you not see? It is a matter of choice. Which path you want to follow is a matter of choice.

Prahlada was another example. Having been born in Asura Kula, a progeny of one of the worst Asuras, he became a Bhakta because he realized the truth. He realized what Sri Hari stood for.

Sri Hari was perceived by everyone in his Vamsha as their enemy, but Prahlada realized much more than that about Sri Hari. He realized that Sri Hari was nobody’s enemy. He realized that as Jagatpalaka, Sri Hari stood for what is right, what is righteous, that he stood for justice, that he would not tolerate injustice.

So here, the power of all the Devas who were ousted from Swarga by Mahishasura and the power of the Trimurtis—they all merged together and became a huge mountain of blazing fire.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi