himself as a cow and made the Creator Brahma a calf. They went to these ponds and
drank the nectar. The demons were so dazed by the Lord’s Maya (delusion creating
powers) that they could not respond and react. After that, Vishnu prepared for the
great war—creating the chariot from Dharma (righteousness), the charioteer from
Gyan (knowledge), the war standard from Vairagya (renunciation), the horses from
Aishwarya (fame and might), bow from Tapa (penance), the body armour from Vidya
(skills), arrows from Kriya (deeds and dynamism), and all other paraphernalia of war
by employing other mystical powers he had.
Then, on an auspicious moment of the asterism of “Abhijit” (conquer now), Lord
Shiva rode this chariot and burnt the three cities by a single arrow.
According to the Ramayana of Valmiki, Baal Kand, Canto 75, two great bows were
made from the bones of Dadhichi. One was known as “Sarang” and the other was
known as “Pinak”. The former was held by Lord Vishnu, and the latter by Lord
Shiva. Vishnu killed the demons with his Sarang bow, while Shiva used his Pinak to
destroy the three cities.
Another version of who the demon “Tripurasur” was appears in Skanda Puran,
Aawantya Reva-Khand. It says that the son of the demon king Bali was known as
‘Baana-sur’. He had thousand arms. He worshipped Lord Shiva for a thousand years.
Pleased with him, Lord Shiva asked him to seek a boon, upon which Baanasur
requested the Lord to provide him with a city that is so invincible that none of the
gods can ever conquer it, except of course by Lord Shiva whom he had worshipped as
his deity. Shiva granted him his wish.
The cunning Baanasur then decided to please the other three gods of the Trinity,
i.e. Lords Vishnu and Brahma. So he worshipped them one by one and extracted
similar boons from them as he had done from Shiva. Once done, he now had three
invincible cities that symbolized his sway and domain covering the three dimensions
of creation—viz. the heaven, the earth and the nether world. Then he went mad with
recklessness, plundering and pillaging at will. Terrified, the gods approached Lord
Shiva as he was the one who had initially blessed Baanasur, and also because the
demon had himself exempted Shiva from the boon of immunity from destruction.
Then, Shiva stringed his bow called Pinak, mounted an arrow called Aghor, and
angrily shot it at the three cities ruled by Baanasur. This arrow instantly burnt and
reduced the three cities to ashes. Their residue fell in the holy river Narmada. Then
Baanasur fervently prayed to Lord Shiva to be pleased with him and give him abode
in his own divine Loka known as the ‘Shiva-Loka’, the divine abode of Shiva in the
heaven.
The Sharav Upanishad of Atharva Veda, verse no. 14 describes that Lord Shiva is
also known as the slayer of the demon Tirpurasur. Hence, Shiva or Rudra is also
called Tripurari. The three cities ruled by Tripurasur symbolised the three worlds, viz.
the heaven, the earth and the nether world.
(^4) Lord Shiva’s abode is on Mt. Kailash—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Uttar
Kand, Doha no. 57; Baal Kand, Doha no. 58 along with its preceding Chaupai
line no. 6.^
(^5) Shiva’s consort Sati was the daughter of Daksha Prajapati—refer: Ram Charit
Manas, Doha no. 60 along with its preceding Chaupai line nos. 5-8; Doha no. 61;
Chaupai line no. 2 that precedes Doha no. 62; and Chaupai line no. 1 that precedes
Doha no. 63.
The story of Daksha is narrated as a note to Chaupai line no. 5 that precedes
Doha no. 60 below.]