Those Days Soldiers Fought to Attain Heaven

Before Lord Ganesha set out to destroy Matsarasura, the asura had heard an akashavani, an oracle, that Vakratunda was coming to destroy him.

He also prepared himself. First, his commanders went out with a huge army to see what was happening outside. But when they saw the lord seated on a lion as intense as pralayagni, surrounded by his own ganas and the devas, they realized one thing:

'If we start fighting, all of us are going to be dead, that is for sure. But even one of us is going to remain to go back and report that all of us died.'

So they went back inside and told Matsarasura what was in store outside. Matsarasura became worried. There was anxiety reflecting upon his face. But the other asuras told him, 'Don’t worry, lord. We will crush them.'

Matsarasura came out along with his huge army. The two armies faced each other in the battlefield. Hereafter, Mudgala Purana gives a detailed description of the battle between them.

The battleground was outside Matsara’s capital city, five yojanas away from the capital. You can say roughly forty miles away from the city. Both sides were battle-ready, eager to fight. When the deva side saw that Matsarasura himself was leading the asura army, the devas told Lord Vakratunda:

'Oh lord, Matsarasura himself is here. Do what you want to do with him, what you had told. Why delay? Do it right now.'

The two armies started fighting. They rained arrows, spears, and other weapons at each other. The soldiers were not worried about death because death on the battlefield assured them a place in Swarga. Even the asura side must have thought, 'We won’t be able to do yajnas. We don’t have patience to do yajnas or other noble acts. Fighting suits our nature, and we can get a place in Swarga by dying on the battlefield.'

Today, our brave soldiers fight out of patriotism, out of love for the motherland, out of a sense of sacrifice for the motherland. Those days, soldiers fought to attain heaven.

They fought in such a way:

• Soldiers wielding gada fought each other.
• Soldiers wielding swords fought each other.
• If the weapons fell or got damaged, they engaged in fistfights.
• Not only fists, but they also fought with their legs, hands—in every possible way they fought.

Of course, you can imagine streams of blood flowing all over and severed heads, hands, and limbs strewn all around. They fought each other for five days, day and night, without rest.

A few points to be noted here:

Both devas and asuras are shareeris. They both have bodies—physical bodies—like how we have. The gods are not like, 'Oh, I can feel some divine presence here. I can feel the divine energy here.' They are not just energies. They have hands, legs, and bodies. They may have more hands—that is the difference. This is not imagination. That is how they are.

But then why are they not visible?

Have you seen Mahatma Gandhi? He was visible then for those who were with him, those who interacted with him. In the same way, gods are visible to those who interact with them—the sages, the saints, the devotees. Not to everyone. They can be visible to everyone—that is their choice. But if you go to them, if you approach them, you also have a chance of seeing them in physical form—a possibility. A lot of people have seen gods.

Another point:

The deva-asura yuddha is a constant fight. This fight never ends because it is a fight between good and evil. As long as evil exists—and evil would always exist, because good and evil are two sides of the same coin—this fight would never end. Until pralaya, this fight would go on.

This fight can be internal also. Your own sense of righteousness, your own goodness, fighting the bad inside yourself. This goes on and on and on, every day. This fight happens inside you whenever there is a choice you have to make. You may not notice it.

Something as simple as when the wake-up alarm rings. You are supposed to get up. But there is lethargy in the body—'Another five minutes, another ten minutes, another half an hour.' This is the tamas inside you. But then you say, 'No, I should maintain discipline.' That is the sattva guna inside you. This is the fight. The balance keeps changing. One day, tamas wins. The next day, sattva wins.

This is there in every action, every choice. And we keep on making choices throughout the day, throughout life.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi