Biographies-Devtaa

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Why Chandramaa Wanes and Waxes?
Prajaapati Daksh had many daughters, so he married 27 of them to Chandramaa and asked him to love his all daughters equally. But among his 27 wives, Rohinee was more lovable to him, so he loved more than others. When other daughters noticed this first they expressed it to Chandramaa, but when he did not pay much attention to it, they complained about this to their father Daksh. Daksh again warned Chandramaa to treat all his wives equally, but he didn't listen to and continued to love Rohinee more than others. When Daksh repeatedly warned him about this, and Chandramaa repeatedly ignored him, Daksh cursed him to "lose his all splendor and be ill with tuberculosis".

Hearing this Chandramaa got very sad and asked for Daksh's forgiveness. Daksh said - "My words cannot go lie." Then Chandramaa prayed Shiv Jee and pleased him. Shiv then relaxed Daksh's curse into 15 days of waxing and 15 days of waning. Since then Chandramaa has been waxing and waning for 15 days each. Pleased with this Chandramaa built a gold temple in Prabhaas Kshetra - Somnaath Temple, one of the 12 Jyotir Ling. Later Raavan built it in silver.

Cause of Lunar Eclipse
Shukraachaarya is the Guru of Daitya. Once he did severe penance for Shiv Jee, and asked a Mantra to revive the dead. Thus he obtained the Manthra called - Mrit Sanjeevanee Mantra because it could give life even to a dead. Shukraachaarya Jee used this Mantra to revive the dead Daitya in the Devaasur Sangraam. So in the battles between Devtaa and Daitya, Devtaa were dying and Daitya were getting revived outnumbering Devtaa. Brihaspati Jee, Dev Guru, did not know any such Mantra. The situation was alarming and Devtaa approached Vishnu Jee for a solution as usual. Vishnu Jee suggested them to obtain nectar by churning milky ocean. By consuming even a little nectar Devtaa could be immortal and then there was no question of dying. But the task was not so simple. Finally it was decided to get the help of Daitya also who could do hard works, and share nectar with them in exchange.

They churned the sea using Vaasuki Naag as the rope, Mandar Mountain as the churning rod, the churning started. Daitya held the head portion of Vasuki and Devtaa the tail. During churning many things appeared. After Lakshmee, God Dhanvantari appeared from the sea carrying a nectar pot in one hand and a book of Aayur Ved in his second hand. Daitya were powerful, so they snatched the nectar pot from Dhanvantari and ran away. Seeing this Vishnu appeared as Mohinee, took the nectar pot from Daitya's hands and started distributing nectar to Devtaa and liquor to Daitya.

Raahu Daitya was noticing this so he came and sat between Chandra and Soorya assuming the form of a Devtaa. Mohinee gave the nectar to him also, but as soon as he drank it, Soorya and Chandra recognized him and Chandra gave a signal to Mohinee. Immediately Mohinee took out Her Chakra and cut his neck, but by that time he had already drank nectar, so his both parts did not die, rather they both became immortal. Since then Raahu developed the enmity with Chandra and Soorya and he seeks the opportunity to eat them. He gets it on Amaavasyaa Day (New Moon Day) to eat Soorya and on Poornimaa day (Full Moon Day) to eat Chandra - commonly called Solar Eclipse and Lunar Eclipse.

Raahu moves always in a path opposing Moon. Due to fear of Raahu opposing, Moon moves quickly, mostly without coming under his eyes. Raahu moves slowly knowing "Slow and steady" is a better way to get opposing Moon. The purpose of Raahu is to keep the Moon slightly frightened. When Raahu recollects, the old incidents, he does make a careful watch on Moon and stops him and tries to keep him in his mouth, but after some time he releases him. This period is called Grahan (eclipse). When Raahu is very angry the period is more for the eclipse. Raahu is normally very angry with Moon. Since the Sun also favored Moon in telling about Raahu's disguise, but kept quiet, his enmity is less with the Sun. Hence there are only one or two Solar Eclipses for short duration.

Taraa Balam Chandra Balam Tathaiv…
After being appointed by Brahmaa Jee as the in charge of all herbs and trees, Chandramaa was in his all fames, so he decided to conduct a big Yagya and all Devtaa were invited including Dev Guru Brihaspati. Brihaspati Jee had three wives by name Shubhaa, Mamataa and Taaraa. Of the three Taaraa appeared much more handsome and impressive and Chandramaa felt to take Taaraa with him to the Yagya. Taaraa was actively and impressively participating in the Yagya keeping her appearance at her best. Seeing her Chandramaa got very much attracted towards her and finally he abducted her. Brihaspati Jee asked Chandramaa to return his wife to him, but he was not ready to give her back to Brihaspati Jee. Guru asked many times, requested through mediators and finding no reaction of Chandramaa, a war was started between them. It continued for years. No end of war was in sight from either side.

Finally Brahmaa Jee had to intervene to end this and ordered Chandramaa to return Taaraa to Brihaspati. Chandramaa had to heed to Brahma's orders, as at this stage, he smelled bad consequences if not obeyed him; so he coolly returned Taaraa and Taaraa joined Guru back and Guru was also happy to get her back. Now Taaraa had already conceived from Chandramaa by the time she came back to Guru. In due course she delivered a son. He was very shiny and intelligent so Brahmaa Jee named him Budh and on asking whose son he was, Taaraa kept mum, then the child said - "Why don't you tell him the truth." Then Taaraa told Brahmaa Jee that he was Chandramaa's son. So Budh came to be known as Chandramaa's son.

Whatever the different interpretations, the most logical interpretation is that Chandramaa had already 27 wives and Guru had already two wives, then why Chandramaa desired Taaraa specifically and why did Guru also want her specifically? Maybe because she had some sort of force or Power (Bal), that is why Chandramaa also desired her and Guru also wanted her back.

Chandramaa's Effect on Prithvi
Surprisingly Chandramaa's effect on Earth is very visible. Who doesn't know that he causes low tide on Amaavasyaa (No Moon) day and high tide on Poornimaa (Full Moon) day. The Moon attracts the sea water to itself causing tides and the Sun hinders the action of Moon in lowering the tides. Tides are caused by the gravitational pulls of the Sun and the Moon. The Sun's influence on tides is less than half that of the Moon, because the Sun is too far away.

Sharad Poornimaa (Poornimaa normally falling in October (Aashwin Poornimaa) is the day when Chandramaa rains Amrit (nectar and people keep sweets made from milk under its bright light to collect that Amrit in those sweets and eat them the next morning. There are some festivals also on which women break their fast after seeing Chandramaa, such as Karavaa Chauth.

Legend Has That the Moon and the Sun Were Equally Bright?
As mythology goes, the Sun and the Moon were originally equally bright. But the gods did not think this was a good idea, so they took a hare and threw it at the face of the Moon. The hare struck the Moon and made a dark blotch that dimmed the Moon's brightness, but it sure could not take away its mystery.

Curses on Chandramaa

Chandramaa had several curses --

(1) Curse by Ganesh Jee -
If somebody sees Chandramaa on the 4th of Krishn Paksh of Bhaadrapad Maas, he would have to face blames for nothing. Read this story Here

(2) Curse by Daksh Jee -
To wane and wade. It was because in spite of warned by Daksh Jee, Chandramaa loved his wife Rohinee more than his other 26 wives. Read this story here - Why Chandramaa Wanes and Waxes?

(3) Curse by Gautam Rishi -
Gautam Rishi cursed him to be without body because he helped Indra to enjoy Gautam's wife Ahalyaa. Read this story here - Ahalyaa and Indra

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