THE VOICE WITHIN

Lord Indra, king of the gods, was furious. He had warned sage Dadhichi not to teach his Madhu Vidya to anyone else. But the sage had disobeyed him, and would now have to pay the price by parting with his head.

Performing severe austerities, sage Dadhichi had acquired this divine knowledge and scaled the ultimate heights in spirituality. The Ashwini Kumar twins, physicians of the gods, ardently wished to acquire this knowledge as well. Convinced of their sincerity and ability to apply it well, the sage had taught them the secrets of Madhu Vidya.

Fearful of Indra’s wrath, the Ashwini Kumars made a plan and shared it with their master. Accordingly, Sage Dadhichi’s head was replaced with that of a horse. When Indra stormed the ashram and beheaded their master, the twins brought him back to life with his own head which they had preserved.

Back in Devalok, realm of the gods, Indra thought himself invincible and grew arrogant. He even forgot once to rise from his throne and greet venerable Brihaspati, preceptor of the gods. Deeply offended, Guru Brihspati disappeared. In the absence of wise counsel, Indra failed to see a looming threat. The inevitable happened — he lost his throne to the daityas.

Humbled, Indra sought out Vishvarupa, a highly gifted Brahmin, to perform a yagna so that he could regain his kingdom. But as Vishvarupa sat down to perform the sacrifice, a daitya came to him secretly. Since Viswarupa was related to the daityas on his mother’s side, he should be supporting their cause, not that of the devas — the daitya pleaded.

Thus compromised, Vishvaroopa presided over the yagna, but caused the offerings to be made on behalf of the daityas. As a consequence, Indra lost the war. When he came to know of Vishvarupa’s treachery, Indra executed the Brahmin. The tidings reached Tvashta, Vishvaroopa’s learned father.

With his enormous mystic powers, Tvashta created an invincible demon Vritrasura, armed with the boon that no known weapon could kill him, that nothing made of wood or metal could harm him. Emerging from the homa like a dark cloud, Vritrasura was terrible to behold. His hair and eyes were of coppery hue, generating intense heat, while the trident in his hand destroyed everything in sight.

Indra and the devas fled and sought refuge in Lord Vishnu. The protector of all godly beings, Lord Vishnu directed them to sage Dadhichi. Long ago, the sage had been blessed by Lord Shiva that he could never be humiliated and his bones would be as hard as the hardest substance due to penance. “Only a weapon crafted from the bones of someone as pure, pious and supremely learned as Rishi Dadhichi can bring about the end of Vritrasura,” Lord Vishnu counseled.

So Indra hastened to sage Dadhichi to beg of him his bones. It must have weighed heavily upon him how he had once treated the sage. When he made his request, the sage asked: “But why should I? Shouldn’t I cherish my life as you do yours?” But on learning about the plight of the devas and of Lord Vishnu’s counsel, the sage made up his mind for the supreme sacrifice.

Here a problem arose. Having already committed the sin of slaying the Brahmin Viswarupa, Indra was not to compound it by taking the life of Rishi Dadhichi as well. So the sage decided to give up his life, but wished to bathe first in the waters of the holy rivers. Indra then caused all the rivers to flow to Naimisaranya. There sage Dadhichi completed his sacred bath, went into deep meditation and his spirit flew away to the Almighty. As he had advised, the divine cow Kamdhenu licked his salted body, thereby exposing his bones.

Crafted by Viswakarma, the Vajrayudh from sage Dadhichi’s bones became the ultimate weapon. Armed with it, resurgent Indra and the devas attacked Vritrasura’s forces. The demon was killed and Creation was saved. Sage Dadhichi’s name became a byword for supreme selflessness forever — that no sacrifice can be too great when it is made for the good of the world.

— the harbinger