The story of Tripurasur
Continuing from the previous part- Lord Ganesha- 10
When Gritsamad cursed his own mother for lying and hiding his identity, his mother too cursed him back. She said that he will beget a son who will bear sadness into the world. Soon, the time arrived for her curse to fruit forth.
Gritsamad was happy and content as he immersed himself into Ganesh puja. One day he found a baby. He was a beautiful baby with a strange brilliance but who had left the baby at the doorstep? Puranas say that the baby was born out of Gritsamad’s sneeze but can it be true? Nonetheless, Gritsamad picked up the baby and his intuition said that the baby indeed belonged to him. He closed his eyes and understood that he need to take care of the baby till it becomes capable of living by its own self.
Gritsamad knew that the curse may soon fruit forth but he had immense faith in Divine. The baby, by providence, was with him and he took care of the baby with the best of his means and capability. He loved him, cared for him and even showed the path to Ganesh bhakti, he tried to keep the baby on good track but some tendency of past karma of the child rose up and he began to think of being the king of the three worlds.
The child was magical. With time, his sadhana became intense. Lord Ganesha appeared before him and he blessed the child with three cities of iron, silver and gold. Lord Ganesha said that through these three cities the child will be able to rule the entire world and only Lord Shiva will be able to shatter them in one go! With this boon, the child came to be known as Tripur. ‘Tri’ means three and ‘pur’ means cities. He thus began to rule the world.
Under the guidance of Gritsamad, Tripur had earned a lot of spiritual merit. He was in presence of an enlightenend soul, he was guided towards satva or auspiciousness. His penance was one pointed towards Lord Ganesha. His surroundings, his own efforts and dedication brought about a great shift in his inner being which manifested even the Lord of the Universe to him!
But things changed. After he became the ruler of the three worlds, his tendencies gradually began to change. The city of iron represents tamas or negative tendencies of the mind like jealousy, noise, hatred etc. The silver city represents rajas or the passion to grow in material world and golden city represents satva or the positive and purity of the world. All three cities are under the absolute control of the Lord and when Tripur became its controller, sadly he could not keep a check on his ego nor could he remain detached from the whole process and eventually, his tamas increased. From being ‘Tripur’, he came to be known as Tripurasur.
‘Asur’ means a being with tamasic or negative qualities. Tripurasur was now riddled with jealousy, passion, unquenching desires. He had lost his own erstwhile self and his desire to have more and more never ceased to end. Furthermore, with the boon of being the controller of the three worlds had caused a lot of problems in the world. The sages couldn’t offer yajnas peacefully, the good people were discouraged, jealousy and corruption rose in the world, materialistic progress was the only parameter for goodness and people were suffocating with mental pressure and hurt. There was everything yet nothing seemed to matter and there was very little contentment.
One day, Tripurasur got to know about a beautiful murti of Lord Ganesha kept at Kailasha. He sent his messenger to fetch it to him but at Kailasha, the messenger was intimidated by Lord Shiva’s magnanimous presence. Soon, Tripurasur’s army attacked Kailasha. He was bewitched by Goddess Parvati but could never have her and Lord Shiva, he let Tripurasur be in Kailasha and went away to invoke Vighneshvara, the lord of removing obstacles, Lord Ganesha!
On his call, Lord Ganesha appeared almost instantly. Lord Ganesha came in form of Vighneshavar, the five faced Ganesha! Lord Shiva saw no difference between himself and Lord Ganesha and in a sheer sentiment of merriment, a praise sprang forth his mouth-
Dashaapi netrani mamadya dhanyaanyatho bhujaah pujanatastavaadya
Tavaanateh pancha shiramsi dhanyaah dhanyaastu te panchamukhani deva
Meaning- Hey Lord! On worshipping you, my ten arms feel blessed. On offering you my obeisance, my five heads feel blessed! Lord, through rajas-guna, you develop the world, through satva-guna, you take care of the world and through tama-guna, you destroy the world! You are eternal!
Saying so, Lord Ganesha too bowed down to Lord Shiva and told him that only he can stop Tripurasur. So, Lord Shiva aimed an arrow and the three worlds that Tripurasur was controlling and in an instant all shattered down, thus restoring peace as the sages and the beings were able to offer obeisance to the Divine again!
Jai Ganpati! Jai Shambhu!
Om tat sat!
