The Depth of Fearlessness.
A Tale of Devotion.
“Evil always contains the seeds of its own destruction.” - Neil Gaiman.
In my retelling of an ancient story of fearlessness, I illustrate how this came to be.
In times long ago, when Earth and Heaven were freely traversed by demigods and demons, two demon brothers, H1 and H2, became all-powerful on Earth and crushed all those who worshipped the Preserver-God.
The Preserver-God, in response to H1 kidnapping Mother Earth and hiding her in the ocean (yes, it was possible!), and in response to subsequent prayers of the gods, incarnated as a boar, killed H1, and rescued her.
When he learned of the death of his brother, H2 developed an intense hatred of the Preserver-God such that his very name would render him apoplectic.
He realized his powers were inadequate. He embarked on an austere meditation (tapas) to win the favor of the Creator-God.
Pleased, the Creator-God eventually appeared before H2 and offered to grant his prayers. H2 asked for immortality but the Creator-God refused it.
H2 then asked for several types of Yogic powers, which he gained. Cleverly, he then prayed that he not be killed:
By any living or nonliving being, human or animal, created by the Creator-God in the three worlds.
Inside or outside his home.
With any known weapon.
In the morning, evening, or at night.
Thus, he circumvented the denial of immortality by indirectly cloaking his ask of the same. Bound by his own boon, the Creator-God acquiesced.
Note: Hindu mythology speaks of three critical Gods: the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer but there is just one ultimate formless reality, Brahman.
H2 returned triumphant and insufferable. Those who worshipped the Divine were his targets, as he declared himself all-powerful, even more than the Preserver-God, and therefore, no other worship would be tolerated in any of the worlds. He became Evil personified.
Anguished, all the sages, their functionaries, and demigods rushed to the Heavens to the Preserver-God for intervention. He advised patience.
H2 established his supremacy and the devout went into hiding.
Satisfied, H2 relaxed from his warmongering, and ruled his kingdom with an iron fist, soon welcoming the news of his Queen’s pregnancy.
He devised plans for the special care of his Queen. Those sages who still sought his favor or acknowledged him as Divinity were on his payroll. They were dispatched to impart the Queen with spiritual teachings, emphasizing the demonic and warrior-oriented aspects, ensuring the heir would be born imbued with all the princely traits.
An elite sage, known as N., visited H2 and appealed to his ego. Pleased with his diplomatic speech and the praise he presumed was being given, H2 gave N. permission to visit his Queen and regale her with his exploits.
However, N. was one of the foremost devotees of the Preserver-God. He was a saint with immense power and could traverse the three worlds, as needed, to help establish Divine order.
N. is also the sage who appears as Yoda in the below story.
So, N. met with the Queen daily, regaling her and the unborn child not with stories of H2, but of the Preserver-God and his divine exploits—his omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. This went on for months.
N. had instructed the Queen to verbally acknowledge she was listening by speaking a rejoinder word at intervals.
One day, despite her best efforts to stay awake, the Queen fell asleep. Oblivious to her state, N. continued his storytelling. To his surprise, he heard a distinct acknowledgment, 'Hmm,' directly from her womb. Astonished but pleased, N. carried on.
In due time, the heir was born and christened P.
P. came of age, and his schooling was organized. The teachers appointed by H2 to instruct him were aghast to witness that, from a young age, the child spoke only of the greatness of the Preserver-God. He refuted all lessons that asserted H2 as the sole Divine King and questioned the wisdom of his teachers time and again.
The Queen and the teachers assumed that a good education would cure him. H2, too, gently attempted to correct P.'s views with a show of love. After all, P. was his heir. His Queen also advised him that P. would eventually come around.
Agreeing, H2 instructed the teachers to do a better job of erasing these perceived false beliefs in P. and instilling in him the truth about H2’s powers.
The teachers exerted all efforts to make P. change his views.
Instead, P.’s faith and belief grew stronger every day, leading him to teach other kids in the school about the greatness of the Preserver-God.
Afraid of the repercussions, the teachers rushed to H2 and informed him of this anomaly.
Incensed beyond words, H2 summoned P. into his presence and questioned him again.
Unfazed, P. fearlessly suggested that H2 should also worship Him as the only God.
Enraged, H2 disowned his young son and ordered him killed, unwilling to harbor the devotee of his enemy.
First, his minions tried to throw P. off a cliff. The Preserver-God caught P. as he fell, gently placed him on the grass, and then disappeared. P. awoke unharmed.
Next, the minions attempted to poison him, but the food turned harmless.
Following that, they brought a herd of elephants to trample P., yet the herd left him untouched.
Note: The texts recount 18 different ways in which H2 tried to kill his son but to no avail, showcasing what ‘being under God’s protection,’ means.
H2 then summoned P. into his presence in the Palace. H2, an intimidating demon King whose very sight drove people into spasms of fear, confronted the fearless P.
P. stood his ground, smiling at his father.
He asked P. again, whether P. believed, that God was everywhere. P. said yes.
H2 pointed to the many bright gold-covered pillars in the Palace hall, and asked, “Does this mean that your God is in these pillars also?”
P. reaffirmed, “Yes, He is everywhere.”
H2 then commanded P. to call upon his God to appear, intending to both witness the truth and then kill Him.
The Preserver-God waited for his young devotee, P. to point to a specific pillar.
H2, enraged, rushed in to smash the pillar with his mace.
Immediately, with a thunderous roar, a magnificent half-lion, half-human incarnation of the Preserver-God emerged from the shattered pillar.
The Lion-God had the face of a regal lion, adorned with a voluminous mane of hair, while the rest of his body resembled that of a man, with fingers like the long claws of a lion.
His eyes blazed with divine wrath, and his head shook in predatory zeal.
Approaching H2, who stood terrified at this sight and unable to move, the Lion-God effortlessly hoisted the demon-king onto his broad shoulders. He then carried him to the courtyard and sat down on the stone bar that typically separated the inner Palace from the outer Palace.
Note: Homes here have a 2-4 inch thick bar of stone, wood, or cement marking the threshold between many rooms, but especially at the front door, and kitchen.
There, he cradled H2 on his thighs, positioned on the threshold—neither inside, nor outside, nor any known place.
It was the hour of twilight—neither evening, nor morning, nor night.
The Lion-God, using his bare claw fingers (an unknown weapon), tore open the body of the demon-king, thereby ending his life.
When God says, ‘Vengeance is Mine,’ eerily, it is scarier than what anyone can imagine.
Despite the death of H2, the Lion-God bound in the lion form was still consumed by tremendous rage. He went on a rampage outside, shaking the three worlds.
Terrified, the Gods and demigods rushed to calm the Lion-God down and remind him of his true nature as the Preserver-God. They failed.
It was then that P. composed a devotional hymn, praising the Preserver-God and recalling his divine qualities. Moved by the hymn, the Lion-God finally calmed down.
Thus, the evil demon-king, H2, was undone by his own son. Despite H2's cleverly asked boons, he was outwitted by God, in a deeply primal way, beyond even his cleverest imagination.
The Lion-God blessed P. to become a great King, inheriting his father’s kingdom in time.
Today, the Lion-God is worshipped for protection from evil and to destroy fear.
In the calm pose, he is also known as the Yoga-Lion-God, as seen below in a 12th-century bronze sculpture at the New York Met.
Note: P. was reborn as a great saint in in 1500’s, who is still worshipped today, and tales of his miracles abound, but we shall consider those another day.
Young P. is the epitome of fearlessness who, despite the death threats from his father, the most powerful demon-king, refuses to renounce his beliefs.
His devotion resulted in the Preserver-God’s incarnating to protect his young devotee, rid the world of Evil, and re-establish Good.
Notes:
I chose not to include a gruesome view of the killing of H2, but feel free to execute this Google search for images.
Jim’s comment below is on point -H1 is Hira
Technically, He should be referred to as the Man-Lion God, as in Sanskrit, He is named Lord (Nar (Man) + Simha (Lion)) = Lord Narsimha.
I typically initial mythological names in the stories, unless relevant to the narration, because it may be confusing. I might add an addendum with the names based on Jim’s comment.
I include curated links and sources throughout my stories for the curious to learn more unless I can’t find any authentic sources online.
I slightly update many of my stories, after they have had a day or two to breathe, or if any comments warrant it.
If I were passing along a story about two guys named Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakshipu I think I'd settle on calling them H₁ and H₂ rather than doing all the extra typing too! (grin)
Thanks for sharing, and also for hence prompting me to do a little research to find out a bit more about the guys behind the Hs.
Boy, I REALLY REALLY enjoyed the mythology story. Then I googled to gain more insight. It said that Greek and Indian mythology are 2 of the most seasoned legends known to man. They have NO settled association w/one another, yet they share some striking likenesses. It’s so interesting to me bc my bio dad was full Greek and he gave my middle name as Artemis. She is a Greek Goddess of chastity, hunting and the 🌙 moon. I look forward to more of your prose. Mahalo so much.