kahata sunata raghupati guna gāthā. kachu dina tahām̐ rahē girināthā. 5.
muni sana bidā māgi tripurārī. calē bhavana sam̐ga dacchakumārī. 6.
The Lord of the mountains (i.e. Lord Shiva)^1 stayed there (at the hermitage of sage
Agastya) for some days^2 , hearing and narrating (as well as discussing) the divine
glories of Lord Ram. (5)
Then after some time, Lord Tripurari^3 asked the sage to give him permission
to leave, and then went to his own abode (at Mt. Kailash)^4 along with the daughter of
Daksha^5 (i.e. Sati, his consort). (6)
[Note—^1 Shiva is known as the “Lord of the mountains” as he has his permanent
abode in Mt. Kailash, one of the holiest peaks of the mighty mountain range of the
Himalayas.
(^2) When Lord Shiva had once gone to the hermitage of saintly crow Kaagbhusund
disguised as a swan in order to hear the narration of Lord Ram’s divine story, the
Lord had stayed there also for many days—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Uttar Kand,
Doha no. 57.
Once when the crow saint Kaagbhusund had gone to the hermitage of his own
guru he had stayed at the latter’s place, hearing the divine story of Lord Ram—refer:
Ram Charit Manas, Uttar Kand, Chaupai line no. 9 that precedes Doha no. 113.^
(^3) Demon Tripurasur/Tarakasur—Tarakasur was the son of Vajraanga and his
consort Varaangi. He had done severe Tapa (austerity and penance) as a result of
which the creator Brahma had granted him several boons which had made him
invincible. He was killed by Lord Subramanya, the son of Shiva and Parvati. He had
three sons—Taaraaksha, Kamlaaksha and Vindyumaali. They had also pleased
Brahma and by his blessings built three great cities, collectively called ‘Tripura’.
These cities were made of gold, silver and iron. These three demon brothers were
collectively called Tripurasur—the demons of the three cities. When they became a
nuisance for the Gods, Shiva destroyed these three cities and the demons with one
arrow. Therefore he got the name of Tripurari—one who destroyed the three enemy
cities.
The story of Tripurasur with a slight variation is narrated in Bhagwat Maha-
puran, 7/10/53-58. According to it, once when the demons were defeated by the gods,
they went to take refuge with the greatest demon of them all, the mighty demon
named ‘Maya Daanav’. He was the one who had created the golden city of Lanka for
Ravana.
Maya Danav created three huge planes made of gold, silver and iron. These
planes were so huge that they resembled entire cities and were well provided for with
all the things necessary for comfortable living. Maya Daanav handed them to the
three chief demons named Taaraaksha, Kamlaaksha and Vindyumaali who were said
to be the son of Tarkasur. The special quality of these planes was that they were
hidden from view and flew stealthily. Emboldened by being invisible, the demons
went on the rampage, plundering and laying to waste the three worlds, viz. the
heaven, the earth and the sky. The gods could not fight them as these demons were
invisible. Besides this, these three city-like planes had a pond of nectar each, the
contents of which made the demons invincible and beyond the reach of death.
Frustrated and flabbergasted, the gods approached Lord Shiva to get rid of the
demons. Lord Shiva invoked his specially empowered arrow known as the
‘Pashupataastra’. When shot, it produced countless arrows spewing fierce tongues of
flame. Though these arrows burnt the three cities or planes (“Tripurs”), the demons
however managed to survive by taking a dip in the pond of nectar that was present in
each of the three places.
Confused, Lord Shiva invoked Lord Vishnu, the maverick Lord who knows every
trick in creation as he is the Supreme Being, to find some solution. Vishnu disguised