Stories From The Bhagawatham - The Door-keepers Who Were Fated To Be Villains!

 

Vaikuntha is said to be the abode of Lord Mahavishnu. There are seven gates to cross if one wants to reach Vaikuntha.

Once, it so happened that the sons of Brahma – Rishi Sanaka, Rishi Sananda, Rishi Sanatana and Rishi Sanatkumara felt an intense desire to see Lord Vishnu. They crossed the six gates that led to the holy abode and were at the seventh and final gate when they found themselves stopped by none other than Jaya and Vijaya, the door-keepers of Vaikunta.

“No one can enter now.” The door-keepers said threateningly stepping in front of the Rishis.

Overcome with the desire to see Mahavishnu, the Rishis ignored their command and tried to walk past the doorkeepers. This time, they both placed their staffs in front of the Rishis, and again said. “No one can enter, like we said before.”

Nothing angers the mind like unfulfilled desire. The Rishis felt insulted by the door-keepers. Their action angered them. The Rishis said – “Perhaps your close presence beside the Lord has made you proud and arrogant. We curse you – may you leave the presence of Narayana whom you love so much and be born in the world of humans, a world ruled by many evils!”

The doorkeepers who were staunchly devoted to Mahavishnu felt as if the greatest punishment in the world had been meted out to them. They fell on their knees before the Rishis with folded hands and tears in their eyes and asked for forgiveness.

The Rishis were somewhat mollified by this reaction. They said. “We cannot do anything about the curse now. But we can modify it. In all your births, you will constantly remember Mahavishnu because of your hatred for Him.”

“Hatred for the Lord? How can we hate Him?” The doorkeepers were beside themselves with grief now.

Lord Mahavishnu appeared in front of the Rishis who respectfully worshipped Him. The doorkeepers fell at His feet, shedding tears and refusing to get up.

The Lord pacified the Rishis. “These two door-keepers of mine have insulted you by forbidding you to enter my abode. On their behalf I ask for your forgiveness. As per your curse, they will take birth in the earth and join Me after sometime.”

The Rishis worshipped the Lord and left.

To Jaya and Vijaya, the Lord said. “The curse of Rishis needs to be respected, and hence I will not change anything here. However, I assure you, you will unite with Me after three births. In the first birth, you will be under the influence of Krodha – anger. In the second birth, Kaama (desire) will dominate your mind and actions and in the third birth, your influence under Mada (intoxication) will bring your downfall. Know this, that in every of these three births, you will constantly be connected to Me by Sambhrama Yoga (being obsessed with someone due to hatred for that person). I alone will provide you Moksha in all these three births and ultimately you will unite with Me only.”

And so it happened that Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Mahavishnu took three births in the lower world – First birth as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, the second birth as Raavana and Kumbhakarna and the final birth as Shishupala and Dhantavaktra, thereby urging the Lord to take the avatar of Narsimha, Rama and Krishna respectively, and give them their much-awaited Moksha so they could unite with their beloved Lord again and forever.

The Bhagavatham gives a brief glimpse into the first birth of Jaya and Vijaya.

Diti, the daughter of Daksha (Brahma’s son) was married to Rishi Kashyapa. At a most inappropriate time of the evening, Diti conceived. She was worried about her children. She shared her concerns with Kashyapa. The sage said. “The evening is that time of the day when Mahadeva sets off on His sacred bull Nandi to watch over the world. All his three eyes are open at this time. The evening hour is very sacred to Mahadeva and conceiving at this time of the evening is like insulting Him. I have to warn you that you will be giving birth to two sons who will harass the three worlds and who would cause untold harm to the Devas. They will try to eliminate righteousness from the earth. They will harass holy men and will continue to terrorise the whole world until Lord Narayana Himself will get rid of them.”

Deeply grieved by this, Diti said. “I just have one boon to ask of you. May our sons be killed by Lord Narayana Himself and not by the curse of any learned sage. If they die by Narayana’s hands, they will attain liberation but if they die because of some Rishi’s curse, they will always revolve in the cycle of life and death and will never attain Mukti.”

Kashyapa comforted her. “Not only will our sons attain liberation at the feet of Narayana, our grandson will be a staunch devotee of the Lord. He will be the ideal bhakta, not having any attachments and always engaged in devotion to Narayana. When he would leave his mortal life, he will attain oneness with the Lord. The world will remember him as one of the greatest devotees of Narayana and will praise his devotion in all the times to come. For his sake, the Lord will come to the earth again and our grandson will be one of the rare blessed souls to have a vision of Narayana.”

Thus, the Bhagawatham gives a prelude to the birth of Prahlada, one of the greatest devotees of Narayana.

As the pregnancy proceeded, it is said that Diti’s womb glowed with the lustre of the unborn children, who were after all, Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vaikuntha. Their lustre eclipsed the grandeur of the Devas. Thus were born Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, promising to unleash mayhem in the world and leaving no choice to Narayana but to appear on earth and liberate them.

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaaya!