The Arrival of "Mohini"

The most appealing version of Mohini’s arrival narrates as follows.

Once upon a time Bhasmasura, a powerful Asura, meditated on Lord Siva and performed severe penance. The Lord was pleased and granted him a boon. The boon bestowed upon the Asura the power of turning people to ashes with not more than a mere touch. However at first the sceptical Bhasmasura didn’t believe that Lord Siva would grant him such a powerful boon. Therefore he decided to test the validity of the boon on Lord Siva himself.

The Lord fled with fear and approached Lord Vishnu and requested him to rescue him from destruction. Lord Vishnu decided to trick the Asura. He appeared before Bhasmasura in the form of an enchanting damsel named "Mohini".

Bhasmasura was passionately excited and forgot his objective. He wanted Mohini to marry him. Mohini agreed, subject to one condition that he should promise her by touching his own forehead that he would not think of another women from then on. Bhasmasura forgot the consequences of this and touched his forehead.

Momentarily he turned into ashes.

The stunningly beautiful Mohini returned to Lord Siva with the victorious news. But on setting his eyes on Mohini's intoxicating beauty, Lord Siva himself got enticed and succumbed to her charm. The result was the birth of "Sastha" or "Ayyappa". Ayyappa was born on the last day of the month of "Dhanu" on a Saturday (More precisely the myth corresponds to January 13th).

Incarnation of Lord Ayyappa and Sabari Hill Temple

The birth of Lord Ayyappa from Lord Siva (Hara) and Lord Vishnu (Hari) as stated above was a great relief to Devas.

They believed that "Hariharan" would be their savior who could put an end to Leela Mahishi whose story was described in Part I. Therefore Lord Siva asked "Sastha" to serve as an earthly king for twelve years which was one of the pre-requisites to kill Leela Mahishi. For this purpose Ayyappa was abandoned on the banks of river Pampa.

At that time, Rajashekara was the King of Pandalam. His queen had not borne him any offspring. Both the King and the Queen used to constantly pray to the Lord to be blessed with a child. One day,the King went hunting in the forest of Pampa . At night , while resting, he heard the cry of a little boy nearby. The king immediately ran to the banks of river Pampa where he found the new-born baby with a golden bell around his neck. The King believed that the child was sent by the Lord. He took the baby to his palace. The queen was jubilant and welcomed the unexpected gift from the Lord. Since the baby was wearing a golden bell around his neck they decided to call him "Manikantan".

The divine boy was brought up in a fine manner. He was provided with complete physical and mental education. In a short period of time the boy mastered all lessons. The teacher was extremely happy at the achievements of his disciple and at the same time realized the boy’s divine power. At the time of accepting "Guru Dakshina" (fees) the Guru refused to accept any material benefits. He requested Manikanta to bless his son who was both blind and deaf.

The dutiful disciple with his miraculous touch restored the boy’s sight and speech. Thereon, many more divine feats followed.

Subsequent to the arrival of Manikanta, the queen was blessed with a child of her own. Both boys grew up as loving brothers. The time came to pass on the throne from the King to the next generation. While the King decided to pass the throne to the elder son, the queen was slightly inclined to her own biological son. The General of army was also on her side. They decided to discreetly thwart King’s decision by tricking him. They approached the royal physician and enticed him with rewards so that he became an accomplice to the subterfuge. The queen pretended to have severe stomach ache. The physician approached the King and falsely convinced him of the seriousness of the queen’s condition and held that drinking of leopard's milk was the only remedy.

The King stood aghast at this incomprehensible remedy prescribed. "How could a leopard be approached for milk". He asked. "And who would undertake such a dangerous mission?" Upon hearing this Manikantan appeared in front of the King and agreed to undertake this mission to save his mother. The King did not , at first, relent to this request from his beloved son. However, after a series of talks Manikantan could convince his father and departed for the forest.

Reproduced with explicit permission Kerala.com

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