5-Tithi
9. Navamee - Goddess Durgaa
King Prajaapaal requested sage Mahaatap to narrate about the manifestation of
goddess Durgaa and the significance of her worship on Navamee. Sage Mahaatap
replied - "The mighty demon Vetraasur had driven out deities from the heaven.
All the deities went to Brahmaa and sought his help. As Brahmaa was thinking
about his further course of action, suddenly Durgaa appeared from nowhere. She
held various weapons in each of her eight arms and was mounted on a ferocious
lion. Brahmaa was relieved as he was confident that Goddess Durgaa would certainly
kill Vretaasur. Finally, Durgaa indeed killed the dreaded demon without much
difficulty. Later on, all the deities requested her to make Himaalaya Mountain
as her abode to which she agreed. This particular place, in course of time became
famous as Nandaa Devee. One who worships Durgaa on the auspicious day of Navamee
gets her blessings.
10. Dashamee - Six Dishaa
Having finished the tale of goddess Durgaa, sage Mahaatap revealed how all the
six directions came into existence - "Six divine women manifested themselves
from both the ears of Brahma during the initial phase of creation. The name of
these six divine women were Poorv (East), Dakshin (South), Pashcim (West), Uttar
(North), Oordhwa (Upwards) and Aadhaar (Downwards). [We recollect them during
Sandhyaa Vandan - Oordhaya Nama, Aadhaaraya Nama, Antarikshaaya Nama...] In due
course of time all of them got married to six different Lokpaal. Brahmaa assigned
the auspicious day of Dashamee for their worship. One who worships all these six
goddesses on the auspicious day of Dashamee is blessed and one who observes fast
on this day gets absolved of all his sins.
11. Ekaadadashee - Kuber
Continuing with the tales of the manifestation of various deities, sage Mahaatap
said - "In the process of doing his creation, Brahmaa bellowed as a result of
which Kuber manifested himself. Brahmaa assigned Kuber the Lordship of all the
wealth and prosperity. It was Ekaadashee when Kuber had manifested himself, so
this particular day has deep association with his worship. One who observes a
fast on the auspicious day of Ekaadashee never lives in poverty."
12. Dwaadashee - Vishnu
Describing how Vishnu manifested, sage Mahaatap told king Prajaapaal - "Naaraayan
- the almighty God incarnated as Vishnu to nurture all the living creatures inhabiting
the world. Eventually, Vishnu entrusted the job of world's welfare to Yognidraa and
himself went into His meditative sleep. While he was still in his meditative sleep, a
lotus flower emanated from his navel. Brahma was seated on that lotus flower. The almighty
God was delighted to see himself in the incarnation of Vishnu. He blessed Vishnu by saying -
"May you destroy all kind of ignorance with the help of your sword. Hold this Chakra
I am giving you, to sever the evil influences of Kaal Chakra' (wheel of Time). May all the
sins be destroyed by your mace. May the deity Vaayu adorn your hand in the form of a conch
and Vaijayantee Maalaa in your neck. May the Sun and Moon adorn your person in the form of
Shreevats and Kaustubh Mani (diamonds)? May Garud be your mount and goddess Lakshmee your
consort. May people desirous of salvation worship you on the auspicious day of Dwaadashee.
One who worships you on this day will definitely attain to the heaven."
13. Trayodashee - Dharm
Sage Mahaatap then told king Mahaapaal about the manifestation of Dharm and the significance
of Trayodashee - "Dharm manifested himself from the right part of almighty God and
appeared like a bullock. The almighty God instructed him to protect the mankind from all
evils and sins. All the four feet of Dharm signified four various virtues-truth, purity,
penance and charity. In Sat Yug, Dharm was four footed - all the four virtues were prevalent
during that era. In Tretaa Yug, the feet reduced to three. The subsequent eras of Dwaapar
and Kali Yug saw the further decline in virtuosity in which Dharm had two feet and one
foot respectively.
Once, a fierce battle was fought between the deities and demons. The bone of contention
was a woman for whom both the side made claims. Dharm intervened and solved the contentious
issue to the satisfaction of both the warring sides. Brahmaa was very impressed by the
deftness with which Dharm had handled such a tough situation and blessed him by saying -
"I am assigning the auspicious day of Trayodashee to you. One who observes a fast
and worship you on this day will be liberated from all his sins."
14. Chaturdashee - Rudra
Sage Mahaatap then went on to describe the incident that led to the manifestation of Rudra
and the significance of Chaturdashee - "In the beginning of creation, when Brahmaa
failed in his repeated attempts to create, he became frustrated. Frustration turned into
fury and from his fury manifested a divine entity who cried incessantly. Brahmaa tried to
stop him from crying and said - "twam ma rud" (don't cry). This is how Rudra
got his name. Brahmaa then requested Rudra to commence creation but since Rudra lacked
the power needed for doing creation he refused to create and went to do penance.
Later on, Brahmaa created his Maanas Putra and other living creatures. Daksh Prajaapati
was one of these Maanas Putra. Once, he had organized a grand Yagya in which all the
deities and even the demons were invited. Meanwhile, Rudra's penance was disturbed by
the constant chanting of the Mantra at the Yagya performed by Daksh Prajaapati. Rudra
was infuriated resulting into the emanation of flames from his mouth. Eventually these
fire-balls got transformed into ferocious spirits and ghosts. Rudra then reached the
place where the Yagya was being performed and with the help of all the spirits and
ghosts started destroying the oblation site. It was only after Brahmaa's intervention
that Rudra calmed down. All the deities then eulogized Rudra and sought his blessings.
One who worships lord Rudra on the auspicious day of Chaturdashee becomes absolved of
all his sins."
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