Day 15 – Daksha’s ego
As Shivji did not stand up to respect Daksha, angrily Daksha announced, “Listen everyone! My son-in-law, Shankar, does not even understand that he should stand up and respect his elders when they make their entry. How would he understand if he does not even live in our society? He lives in the crematorium with ghosts and spirits with ash spread all over his body. These are certainly not the qualities of a god whereas a Yagya is only offered to god. Hence, from now onwards, I ban Shankar from the offerings of a fire sacrifice!”
People think strangely. Daksha did not see how many people stood up to respect him but only saw the one person who had not stood up. An egoistic person will be less impressed with how much respect he/she has gained compared to the sadness he will feel on how little he/she has been insulted. On the contrary, the opposite person may have had no intention of insulting him. Shankarji was lost in the meditation of His God and Daksha, who was filled with ego, perceived this as his insult. One who is used to being honoured gets upset the day one is not given this respect and takes this as dishonour.
Shankarji did not say anything on hearing what Daksha had said. Instead, Shivji’s disciple, Nandi, could not bear this and cursed Daksha in fury, “You do not understand the value of Mahadev. You have bad-mouthed and disrespected him, hence you do not deserve a human head. May you become one with a goat’s head!”
Everyone present, including the rishis and Brahmins, sat in the meeting silently and continued to listen to Shivji’s defamation. Wherever the Veda, Guru or Brahmin is being insulted, it is righteous that if you have the power you slap and quieten the person responsible; if not, then close your ears and walk away but do not hear the contempt of these three. Nandi continued to say, “One who listens quietly to defamation is also at fault. Therefore, I curse everyone in this meeting that you will only be able to fill your stomachs by begging from door to door!”
In return, the leader of the Rishis, Maharaj Bhrugu said, “Nandi, your disagreement is with Daksha but you have cursed all of us. So, I will curse you too: although you pray to Lord Shiv, no one will allow you to enter their village; your abode will be outside the village and nobody will accept your company.”
Shankarji thought that he is the reason behind this incident so decided to leave the meeting. His followers left with him as well. This occurrence left arrogant Daksha feeling insulted and he decided to take revenge. Following on, Daksha organised a Yagya at the banks of Maa Ganga at Kankhal, located near Haridwar. He invited all the gods except Lord Shankar.
When one seeks well-being through a Yagya but leaves out the Lord of well-being himself, Lord Shankar, then how can one achieve his/her welfare?