Stories From The Bhagawatham - Mohini Avatar (Final Part)

 


On seeing Dhanvantari, the Asuras wasted no time and rushing to Him, grabbed the vessel and ran off. The Devas could only watch in silent stupefaction. They cried out to Lord Narayana who assured them that He would help them.

Meanwhile, the Asuras had already started fighting amongst themselves. Some of the righteous Asuras were insisting that the Amritha should be shared equally amongst the Devas and the Asuras while many others opposed them.

They saw someone walking towards them – a woman of immense beauty. Such was her physique that they were all rendered speechless and lost track of their minds. Everything about the woman was just perfect.

The moment she came near them, the Asuras surrounded her and started asking her questions. “Who are you? We are the Asuras, the sons of Kashyapa. This is Amritha, and we all are unable to decide how to share it. You take it and impartially distribute the Amritha amongst us.”

The beautiful woman was none other than Mohini, another incarnation of Lord Narayana. She laughed and asked the Asuras, “How is it that you are handing over this vessel to me who am a complete stranger to you? You seem to have been attracted to just my looks. It is not the mark of sensible people!” Although Mohini imparted truth through her words, the Asuras were too intoxicated by her beauty to pay any heed to her. They willingly handed over the vessel to Mohini.

Soon, the Asuras and Devas sat on two sides, with Mohini in between them enticingly walking with the Amritha in her hand. She kept casting lovely glances at the Asuras and kept them engrossed with her sweet words. The Asuras were so lost in her beauty that they didn’t realize that all this while, Mohini had been distributing the Amritha to the Devas one by one. Few of the Asuras realized but by then they were too engrossed in Mohini’s beauty to care. There was however one Asura named Rahu who realized what was happening. He stealthily came and sat beside the Devas and took some Amritha from Mohini. The gods Surya and Chandra quickly alerted Mohini about this, who took out a chakra to behead Rahu. Since he had already consumed the nectar, his head stayed alive while his body dropped dead.

There is an interesting legend that Lord Brahma, out of compassion for Rahu, made him one of the planets and also allowed him to swallow the sun and the moon during eclipses.

Once Mohini was sure that all the Devas had received Amritha, she went back to her original form as Lord Narayana. For a moment, the Asuras were still in awe of Mohini. But slowly their minds cleared and realization set in that they had been cheated upon. A great war broke out between the Devas and the Asuras.

But the biggest fight happened between King Indra and King Bali. Indra was feeling the power of the Amritha, while Bali was already a master in fighting. They fought severely with fire, stones and javelin. They exchanged taunts and enraged each other further. Even injured, Bali rose up again to fight and for a while, it seemed as if their fight would not end at all.

Then Narada Rishi came up and offered them the advice to stop the fight. The Devas, assured of having had the Amritha and now blessed with the presence of Maha Lakshmi, withdrew from the fight, satisfied and happy. However, the Asuras were crestfallen and knew that it wasn’t their time now. Bali seethed in anger and vowed to avenge his defeat at the hands of Indra.

It was a prelude to another incarnation of Maha Vishnu!

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaaya!

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