widow burnt herself in the cremation fire lit to cremate her husband’s body. In this
case, the widow rode atop the funeral pile consisting of firewood, and then fire was
lit.(^3) Sati’s burning of herself during the process of the sacrifice was tantamount to it
getting disrupted. A disrupted fire sacrifice portends great evil for the patron who
hosts it. As we shall read below, Lord Shiva sent his chief disciple named Birbhadra
who came angrily and not only completely defiled and upturned the fire sacrifice
ritual but also severly punished all the gods and sages who were present there.]
ŒÊ0. ‚ÃË ◊⁄UŸÈ ‚ÈÁŸ ‚¢÷È ªŸ ‹ª ∑§⁄UŸ ◊π πË‚–
¡Çÿ Á’œ¢‚ Á’‹ÙÁ∑§ ÷ÎªÈ ⁄Uë¿UÊ ∑§ËÁã„U ◊ÈŸË‚H 64H
dōhā.
satī maranu suni sambhu gana lagē karana makha khīsa.
jagya bidhnsa bilōki bhṛgu racchā kīnhi munīsa. 64.
As soon as the attendants of Lord Shiva, who had accompanied Sati on the
instructions of Shiva (see line no. 2 of Doha no. 62 herein above), heard of her death^1 ,
they immediately began to spoil the fire sacrifice.
When sage Bhrigu* saw that the fire sacrifice was being ruined, he intervened
and saved it from complete destruction^2. (Doha no. 64)
[Note—^1 This shows that the attendants of Shiva who had accompanied Sati were not
allowed to enter the venue, but stood guard outside the gates. When Daksha had
decided to completely neglect Shiva it is natural that the latter’s attendants would also
be boycotted. So, when Sati burnt herself inside the pavilion and a huge tumult was
raised, these Shiva’s attendants rushed inside to find out what had happened. And as
soon as they saw that Sati had died, they became furious and drew their weapons,
creating mayhem inside the pavilion to avenge Sati’s death and Shiva’s insult.
(^2) When Shiva’s attendants started ruining the fire sacrifice, sage Bhrigu invoked
some mystical Mantras (secret formulas) of the Yajur Veda which help to overcome
those forces that disrupt a fire sacrifice. Bhrigu invoked those specialised Mantras
and offered oblations to the fire once again. This resulted in creation of thousands of
semi-gods named “Ribhu”, who immediately chased away Shiva’s attendants. This
saved the fire sacrifice from immediate ruin.
This statement that the ‘fire sacrifice was saved by sage Bhrigu’ shows that he
was the presiding priest of the sacrifice. But it was a temporary relief because soon
Lord Shiva sent Birbhadra who came angrily to completely ruin the sacrifice and
punish all those present, including Daksha. Refer verse nos. 1-3 herein below.
*Sage Bhrigu is a well known sage and seer who appears in a number of Vedic
and Purnaic works. His name ‘Bhrigu’ is derived from the root word ‘Bhrij’ or
‘Bhraaj’ which literally means to roast or burn, and therefore it could mean the sage,
who was a fire sacrifice priest, had some mystical powers which allowed him to
kindle the altar fire automatically by use of Mantras. According to mythological
history, the patron God of lightening, Lord Maatarishwan, brought the celestial
lightening down to earth and taught three priests the art of kindling the sacred altar
fire using the Aranis (‘the fire sticks’ used to kindle fire by vigorous rubbing
together). These three priests were the Bhrigu, the Angiras, and the Atharvan.
Sage Bhrigu has is regarded as being one of the nine ‘Manas Putras’ of Brahma,
the creator. [That is, Bhrigu was born as the son of Brahma because the latter wished
in his mind and heart, the ‘Mana’, to have a son, a ‘Putra’, rather than the usual
process by which a son is born, i.e. the physical process of procreation by
intercourse.]