Chapter Two Daksa Curses Lord Siva
1. Vidura inquired: Why was Daksa, who was so affectionate towards his daughter, envious of Lord Siva, who is the best among the gentle? Why did he neglect his daughter Sati?
2. Lord Siva, the spiritual master of the entire world, is free from enmity, is a peaceful personality, and is always satisfied in himself. He is the greatest among the demigods. How is it possible that Daksa could be inimical towards such an auspicious personality?
3. My dear Maitreya, to part with one’s life is very difficult. Would you kindly explain to me how such a son-in-law and father-in-law could quarrel so bitterly that the great goddess Sati could give up her life?
4. The sage Maitreya said: In a former time, the leaders of the universal creation performed a great sacrifice in which all the great sages, philosophers, demigods and fire-gods assembled with their followers.
5. When Daksa, the leader of the Prajapatis, entered that assembly, his personal bodily luster as bright as the effulgence of the sun, the entire assembly was illuminated, and all the assembled personalities became insignificant in his presence.
6. Influenced by his personal bodily luster, all the fire-gods and other participants in that great assembly, with the exceptions of Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, gave up their own sitting places and stood in respect for Daksa.
7. Daksa was adequately welcomed by the president of the great assembly, Lord Brahma. After offering Lord Brahma respect, Daksa, by the order of Brahma, properly took his seat.
8. Before taking his seat, however, Daksa was very much offended to see Lord Siva sitting and not showing him any respect. At that time, Daksa became greatly angry, and, his eyes glowing, he began to speak very strongly against Lord Siva.
9. All sages, brahmanas and fire-gods present, please hear me with attention, for I speak about the manners of gentle persons. I do not speak out of ignorance or envy.
10. Siva has spoiled the name and fame of the governors of the universe and has polluted the path of gentle manners. Because he is shameless, he does not know how to act.
11. He has already accepted himself as my subordinate by marrying my daughter in the presence of fire and brahmanas. He has married my daughter, who is equal to Gayatri, and has pretended to be just like an honest person.
12. He has eyes like a monkey’s, yet he has married my daughter, whose eyes are just like those of a deer cub. Nevertheless he did not stand up to receive me, nor did he think it fit to welcome me with sweet words.
13. I had no desire to give my daughter to this person, who has broken all rules of civility. Because of not observing the required rules and regulations, he is impure, but I was obliged to hand over my daughter to him just as one teaches the messages of the Vedas to a sudra.
14-15. He lives in filthy places like crematoriums, and his companions are the ghosts and demons. Naked like a madman, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying, he smears crematorium ashes all over his body. He does not bathe regularly, and he ornaments his body with a garland of skulls and bones. Therefore only in name is he Siva, or auspicious; actually, he is the most mad and inauspicious creature. Thus he is very dear to crazy beings in the gross mode of ignorance, and he is their leader.
16. On the request of Lord Brahma I handed over my chaste daughter to him, although he is devoid of all cleanliness and his heart is filled with nasty things.
17. The sage Maitreya continued: Thus Daksa, seeing Lord Siva sitting as if against him, washed his hands and mouth and cursed him in the following words.
18. The demigods are eligible to share in the oblations of sacrifice, but Lord Siva, who is the lowest of all the demigods, should not have a share.
19. Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, in spite of the requests of all the members of the sacrificial assembly, Daksa, in great anger, cursed Lord Siva and then left the assembly and went back to his home.
20. Upon understanding that Lord Siva had been cursed, Nandisvara, one of Lord Siva’s principal associates, became greatly angry. His eyes became red, and he prepared to curse Daksa and all the brahmanas present there who had tolerated Daksa’s cursing Siva in harsh words.
21. Anyone who has accepted Daksa as the most important personality and neglected Lord Siva because of envy is less intelligent and, because of visualizing in duality, will be bereft of transcendental knowledge.
22. Pretentiously religious householder life, in which one is attracted to material happiness and thus also attracted to the superficial explanation of the Vedas, robs one of all intelligence and attaches one to fruitive activities as all in all.
23. Daksa has accepted the body as all in all. Therefore, since he has forgotten the visnu-pada, or visnu-gati, and is attached to sex life only, within a short time he will have the face of a goat.
24. Those who have become as dull as matter by cultivating materialistic education and intelligence are nesciently involved in fruitive activities. Such men have purposely insulted Lord Siva. May they continue in the cycle of repeated birth and death.
25. May those who are envious of Lord Siva, being attracted by the flowery language of the enchanting Vedic promises, and who have thus become dull, always remain attached to fruitive activities.
26. These brahmanas take to education, austerity and vows only for the purpose of maintaining the body. They shall be devoid of discrimination between what to eat and what not to eat. They will acquire money, begging from door to door, simply for the satisfaction of the body.
27. When all the hereditary brahmanas were thus cursed by Nandisvara, the sage Bhrgu, as a reaction, condemned the followers of Lord Siva with this very strong brahminical curse.
28. One who takes a vow to satisfy Lord Siva or who follows such principles will certainly become an atheist and be diverted from transcendental scriptural injunctions.
29. Those who vow to worship Lord Siva are so foolish that they imitate him by keeping long hair on their heads. When initiated into worship of Lord Siva, they prefer to live on wine, flesh and other such things.
30. Bhrgu Muni continued: Since you blaspheme the Vedas and the brahmanas, who are followers of the Vedic principles, it is understood that you have already taken shelter of the doctrine of atheism.
31. The Vedas give the eternal regulative principles for auspicious advancement in human civilization which have been rigidly followed in the past. The strong evidence of this principle is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is called Janardana, the well-wisher of all living entities.
32. By blaspheming the principles of the Vedas, which are the pure and supreme path of the saintly persons, certainly you followers of Bhutapati, Lord Siva, will descend to the standard of atheism without a doubt.
33. The sage Maitreya said: When such cursing and countercursing was going on between Lord Siva’s followers and the parties of Daksa and Bhrgu, Lord Siva became very morose. Not saying anything, he left the arena of the sacrifice, followed by his disciples.
34. The sage Maitreya continued: O Vidura, all the progenitors of the universal population thus executed a sacrifice for thousands of years, for sacrifice is the best way to worship the Supreme Lord, Hari, the Personality of Godhead.
35. My dear Vidura, carrier of bows and arrows, all the demigods who were performing the sacrifice took their bath at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna after completing the yajna performance. Such a bath is called avabhrtha-snana. After thus becoming purified in heart, they departed for their respective abodes.
