Shunya

by Sri M.

her lord would be affected by the poison, squeezed his neck with both her hands so that the poison would not descend to the rest of his body. Shiva’s throat turned blue and so he came to be known as Neelakanth, the blue-throated one. Finally, when the nectar of immortality emerged, the Asuras got hold of the bowl that contained it and started to run away with it. Vishnu, the great god, sustainer of the universe, who was watching the proceedings and who was himself a clean-shaven, beautiful but infinitely grander replica of the Devas, decided to act. Vishnu exercised his magic powers and transformed himself into Mohini, a voluptuous enchantress. Infatuated by this red-lipped, big-bosomed beauty, the foolish Asuras let go of the bowl of nectar and ran after her. The Devas, meanwhile, got hold of the nectar and partook of it, thereby becoming immortal. Mohini, by using her magical powers, escaped from the Asuras who were pursuing her and reached a beautiful isolated garden of sweet-scented flowers deep in the forest. There as she was admiring her own beauty, looking at her image on the surface of a clear pond, she realised that Shiva himself, infatuated by her beauty, had followed her to that lonely spot. As the story of Ayyappa goes, consumed by a passionate and burning desire, Shiva and Vishnu, in the form of Mohini, indulged in conjugal union. Mohini gave birth to a divine boy instantly. Since Vishnu’s popular name was Hari and Shiva’s Hara, the child came to be known as H...