01/08/2018
“Vira” means “Hero” “Bhadra” means “Auspicious”
The Story of Virabhadra:-
The warrior Virabhadra was created by Shiva, one of the major Hindu deities, to avenge the death of his beloved wife, Sati (also known as Shakti).
Here, is a shortened version of the story. As in many mythological stories of gods and heroes, there are some variations in the details of this story.
Daksha, Sati’s father, didn’t approve of Sati’s marriage to Shiva, so when Daksha decided to hold a huge festival, he didn’t invite Shiva or Sati. Sati was hurt by this snub and by her father’s refusal to accept her marriage, and she decided to go to the festival to confront him.
Daksha asked why she was there since she wasn’t invited, and he rudely asked if she had finally come to her senses and left that “wild animal of a husband”. Sati was saddened and humiliated and decided to end her own life, not wanting to be associated with her father anymore. In one version of this story she throws herself into the sacrificial fires of the festival, and in another version, she goes into a meditative state to increase her own inner fire, and her body bursts into flame.
When Shiva heard the news of his wife’s death, he was first devastated, then enraged. In a fury, he tore out one of his dreadlocks and threw it to the ground.
Virabhadra was created, springing up from the energy released by the ferociously thrown dreadlock. He was a huge and terrible being, with a thousand arms, three eyes, and wearing a garland of skulls.
Shiva ordered Virabhadra, this “auspicious hero”, to kill all the guests at the sacrificial festival, including the other gods. Virabhadra did this, and also cut off Daksha’s head. But when Shiva saw the bloody aftermath of this battle, his anger left him and he felt remorse. The slain gods were miraculously healed, and Shiva replaced Daksha’s head with a goat’s head. Daksha and the other gods honored Shiva for this, calling him “Shankar”, the “kind and benevolent one” (!). Shiva left with his lifeless wife and became a recluse for a while.
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