MantraOnNet.com: The Mercury
After the audience showed their appreciation to Mars’
champion for his forceful presentation, Mercury’s advocate took the
floor. He was a paragon of the sort of versatile intelligence and mercurial
mental dexterity that Mercury signifies, and everyone leaned forward
that they might not miss any clever word-play or diplomatic wit that
might be forthcoming.
Glancing coyly towards his master, he said: “Great King!
Mercury is even mightier than is Mars, for is not brain more effectual
than brawn? Experts everywhere count Mercury as the crest jewel of the
Nine Planets because of his extraordinary prowess. He is the most
intelligent planet of all, and he removes all the obstacles of those who
worship him. As far as possible he causes no inauspicious event, but
rather creates prosperity for everyone. By providing all living beings with
supreme discernment he illumines their paths, both mundane and
spiritual, through life.
“Mercury’s color is green, the green of the sacred durva
(Bermuda grass). He has a splendid, slender body and is eternally
energetic. He speak always with distinct, pure, sweet words, but loves to
use ambiguities, puns, and words with double meanings. He is fond of
jokes, and of fun and games; ever auspicious, always clever, he is a
Vaishya, a commercial planet. This great sage Mercury, who has a
pronounced aptitude for mathematics and business, rules the skin, me
rational mind, and speech. His metal is brass, and his gem emerald. Vata,
Pitta and Kapha are all mixed in his constitution, and he is fond of all
tastes. Lord of the north, of Wednesday, and of the constellations
Gemini and Virgo, he is reknowned as the Golden-Eyed, the
Bewitching, the Gentle, the Knower, and the Awakener.
“Mercury is the son of the Moon. We have heard, your
majesty, the story of how the Moon languished from consumption, and
now we must hear the reason for that infirmity. The Law of Karma, 0
King, is inexorable. Nature’s wheels grind slowly, but they grind
thoroughly, and no living being is exempt from karma; no, not even so
exalted a personage as Lord Moon.
“When the Moon came of age, he conquered the three worlds
and several times performed the Rajasuya, the sacrifice which gives
lordship. Nine goddesses served him: Sinivali and Kuhu (me goddesses
of the two halves of the New Moon day), Vapus (‘Beautiful Body),
Pushti (‘Nourishment’), Prabha (‘Luster’), Vasu (‘the Excellent’), Kirti
(‘Fame’), Dhriri (‘Firmness’), and Lakshmi (‘Prosperity’). Then, having
achieved rare glory, he became inordinately arrogant and overstepped the
boundaries of propriety.
“The Moon was the chief disciple of Jupiter, the guru of the
celestials, and was also the favorite of Tara (‘the Star’), Jupiter’s wife, who
was attracted to him by his character, his nature, and his beauty. Once it
happened, when Jupiter was away on an errand for the gods, that Tara
and Moon eloped. Some say they fell in love; some say Tara asked the
Moon not to let her fertile moment go to waste; some say the Moon
abducted her by force. Though we do not know the precise circumstances
of their departure, my liege, we do know what happened next: Jupiter
returned home, found his wife gone, soon discovered her whereabouts,
and several times sent messages to the Moon requesting his wife’s return.
“The Moon, however, repeatedly refused to comply with these
requests, maintaining that Tara had accompanied him other own accord
and Would leave only when she was satiated with him. These replies so
infuriated Jupiter that he communicated them to his disciple Indra, who
sent an ultimatum to the Moon. When Moon refused to yield, Indra
began a war. Venus and the asuras (demonic celestials who fight with the
devas) took the side of Moon in this war, because of the ongoing enmity
between Jupiter and Venus, while Rudra, the omnipotent Lord Shiva,
took the side of the devas out of love for His preceptor Angiras, the rishi
who was Jupiter’s father.
“The war dragged on so long that the Great Rishis began to
fear that the end of the world was nigh. Angiras therefore asked
Brahma to reprimand the Moon and order him to return Tara. This
the Moon did, but he returned her pregnant. When Jupiter learned of
this he was furious, and said to her, ‘You weak-willed woman! Expel
from your womb, which is my field to plow, this fetus which was
planted there by another. I am sorely tempted to reduce you to ashes
for this lapse of morality; the only reason I do not do so is that I am
myself eager to sow my seed in you.’
Tara then bashfully ejected the fetus, which was a boy, radiant
like gold. Seeing the child’s splendor both Jupiter and Moon hankered
after him, and both claimed paternity, demanding that Tara declare the
true father’s name. When Tara was too embarrassed to speak, her new-
born child said to her angrily, ‘Why do you seek to cover your
transgression with false shyness? Speak!’ Finally, when Brahma
questioned her in private she admitted that the Moon was the father of
that wonderful child, who was the planet Mercury.
“It was, your majesty, after this abduction adventure that Lord
Moon annoyed 26 of his 27 wives. This karma led him to be stricken
with consumption, as the fruit of his father-in-law’s curse, and it denied
him any children from those twenty-seven wives. The workings of karma
are profound, sire.”
The king mused a little space, and then said, “Amazing! All the
planets that we call benefics, namely the Moon, Mercury, Jupiter, and
Venus, displayed their own personal frailties during this sordid episode.
The Moon fornicated with his gurus wife ? a sin which you can atone
for, according to the mandate of religious law, only by lopping off your
private parts and then walking with your severed genitals in your hands
toward the north until you die. The Moon chose rather to brazen it out,
with the help of Venus and the asuras, the mortal enemies of the Moons
own tribe of devas. Venus, the Great Statesman, then elected to reward
the Moon’s misconduct not with a reprimand but with military support,
simply to spite his enemy Jupiter. Jupiter, the guru of the celestials, first
assumed his wife to have become pregnant by the Moon and so ordered
her to expel the fetus from her womb, but when he saw Mercury’s beauty
and intelligence he changed his tune. He lied, saying that he was the
father, because of his desire to possess such a handsome and talented son.
Even Mercury was blameworthy; he was wrong to speak to his mother
angrily, for without her dalliance he would never have been born.”
The entire audience, pundits and courtiers alike, here erupted into
shouts of appreciation for King Vikramaditya’s astute insights.
Pleased, Mercury’s pundit bowed low to his king and
continued, “Yes, your majesty, you have understood the situation
precisely. While we can by no means approve of the Moon’s actions,
Jupiter should have measured his response more carefully, for later, as a
result of the karma of demanding his wife back, he also had to suffer,
when he impregnated his own brother’s wife.
“Listen now, 0 King, to the story of the illustrious progeny of
Mercury. The first child of Vivasvan, the Sun, was Vaivasvata, and the
first child of Vaivasvata was a girl, Ila. Vaivasvata had wanted to first have
a son and had organized a sacrifice for that purpose. When he inquired
of the priests how things had gone awry he discovered that his wife,
Shraddha (‘Faith’), had wanted a girl first, and she had therefore induced
the chief officiant at the sacrifice to make a slight change in one mantra.
The result was Ila.
“Vaivasvata would have none of this, however, so he overruled
his wife and requested the Rishi Vasistha to propitiate Narayana, the
Lord of All, to turn Ila into a boy. This Vasistha did, and Has name was
changed to Sudyumna after the sex change.
“But, your majesty, it is easier to change your name than it is
to alter your destiny! This Sudyumna grew to be a handsome and
talented prince, and he remained a prince until the day he was out
hunting and entered a certain forest where he and all his attendants were
without any warning transformed into women. Too late he learned that
the great Rudra, the bull-bannered Lord Shiva, had once been surprised
by celestials in the act of lovemaldng with His wife Parvati in that very
forest. He assuaged Parvati’s embarassment by proclaiming that any male
who entered there would become female ? except, of course, for Lord
Shiva Himself.
“After this transmutation, Sudyumna-turned-Ila continued to
wander about with her female followers in that forest until, when they
came to Mercury’s hermitage, she and Mercury fell in love at first sight.
Their son was Pururavas, who was thus both the great-grandson of the
Sun and the grandson of the Moon.
“Sudyumna afterwards wanted to become a man again, so he
sought the help ofVasistha, the rishi who had made him a man in the
first place. Vasistha then propitiated Lord Shiva, Who in order to both
make His own words regarding the forest true and also please the rishi,
judiciously ruled that Sudyumna would be a man one month and a
woman the next. Sudyumna then ruled the earth, though as our
scriptures state, ‘His subjects never reconciled themselves to the idea of a
king who changed sex periodically.’ After a long rule he abdicated,
entrusted his kingdom to his eldest son, Pururavas, and went to dwell in
the forest as an ascetic.
“Once it happened that when the gods Mitra and Varuna saw
the gorgeous Apsaras Urvashi, they spontaneously discharged their seed.
Agastya originated from the portion of that semen which they deposited
in a water pot, while Vasistha was born at the same time from the semen
that fell to the ground. Incensed with Urvashi, the two great lords cursed
her to fall to earth and wander among men.
“It then came to pass that the Divine Narada (the celestial
busybody) informed Urvashi of the form, virtues, wealth, and courage of
Pururavas, who had become a great king. Impressed by his good
qualities, which were many, and dazzled by his beauty, which made him
est. He assuaged Parvari’s embarassment by proclaiming that any male
entered there would become female ? except, of course, for Lord
was Himself.
“After this transmutation, Sudyumna-turned-Ila continued to
ider about with her female followers in that forest until, when they
ie to Mercury’s hermitage, she and Mercury fell in love at first sight.
ar son was Pururavas, who was thus both the great-grandson of the
I and the grandson of the Moon.
“Sudyumna afterwards wanted to become a man again, so he
ght the help ofVasistha, the rishi who had made him a man in the
: place. Vasistha then propitiated Lord Shiva, Who in order to both
His own words regarding the forest true and also please the rishi,
iciously ruled that Sudyumna would be a man one month and a
man the next. Sudyumna then ruled the earth, though as our
ptures state, ‘His subjects never reconciled themselves to the idea of a
g who changed sex periodically.’ After a long rule he abdicated,
listed his kingdom to his eldest son, Pururavas, and went to dwell in
forest as an ascetic.
“Once it happened that when the gods Mitra and Varuna saw
gorgeous Apsaras Urvashi, they spontaneously discharged their seed.
stya originated from the portion of that semen which they deposited
water pot, while Vasistha was bom at the same time from the semen
: fell to the ground. Incensed with Urvashi, the two great lords cursed
to fall to earth and wander among men.
“It then came to pass that the Divine Narada (the celestial
^body) informed Urvashi of the form, virtues, wealth, and courage of
uravas, who had become a great king. Impressed by his good
lities, which were many, and dazzled by his beauty, which made him
seem an incarnation of the god of love, Urvashi fell in love with him, and
appeared before him. The king was delighted to see her and, wide eyed
and goose-fleshed, he spoke to her softly and smoothly: ‘Welcome, 0
beauty! Please be seated. What can I do for you? Let us enjoy loveplay
together for eternity!’
“Urvashi replied, ‘0 handsome one! No woman exists whose
eyes and mind would not cleave to you as mine do. My eyes so desire the
delight of your embrace that they refuse to relinquish their hold on your
limbs. I shall certainly enjoy life together with you with three stipulations,
if you break even one of these, you will lose me. First, you must protect
like a treasure these two rams that I entrust to you; they are like my
children. Second, my diet consists of ghee (clarified butter) alone, which I
consume once a day. Finally, I must never see you naked, except at the
time of love-making.’
“Pururavas replied, ‘I shall observe these restrictions without fail!
What a world-beguiling form! What comportment of love! What man
would not accommodate such a woman who herself approaches him?’
“Pururavas now sported as he pleased with Urvashi, who was an
expert in purveying pleasure. Inebriated by the sweet flavor of her
mouth,and by the lotus fragrance which exuded from all parts of her
body, he dallied with her for long years.
‘When the celestials began to feel that heaven was not worth
living in without Urvashi, Indra dispatched gandharvas to bring her back.
In the black of night these gandharvas stole away the pair of rams that
Urvashi, who loved them like her own children, kept always at her
bedside. Awakened by the bleating of these rams as they were being led
away, Urvashi cried out in alarm, ‘0,1 am lost! I am undone! I put my
faith in this eunuch of a husband, this worthless fellow who merely
pretends to be a hero, and he has failed me! Thieves are stealing my
darling rams while he lies feigning sleep like a frightened woman. Only
during daylight does he act like a man!’
“Now Pururavas had not moved because he was unclothed. But
diese verbal arrows pricked him like a goad pricks an elephant, and so in a
mood of extreme anger he rushed out naked into the night, sword in
hand. At this the gandharvas let go the rams and speedily lit the place
with lightning. Urvashi then saw her naked husband coming toward her
leading her rams, and so disappeared. When Pururavas returned to find
no wife in his bed he was drowned in the despondency of sorrow. Crazed
with heartache, lost in thoughts of her, this madman searched the wide
world over for Urvashi.
“He discovered her at last at Kurukshetra, seated beside the
Saraswari river with five of her friends, all in a gay mood. Seeing him,
they rose to leave.
“He began to wheedle: ‘Dearest darling! Wait! Return with me
and live with me again.’
“She said to him, ‘Great hero, I am as difficult to capture as
the wind.’
“He replied, ‘Yes, I know. But remember the bliss we enjoyed
together; remember that, whenever you desired it, you could come to my
chamber day or night and I would ram you with my manhood.’
“Urvashi reminisced: ‘Yes, thrice a day you would ram me with
your manhood, and so you impregnated me, 0 Pururavas. You have
ruled my body; I always yielded to your desire.’
“‘I saw,’ said Pururavas, ‘that when I, a mortal, tried to embrace
these superhuman companions of yours by throwing off their garments
they fled from me like timid does or mares.”
“Urvashi replied, ‘Mortals who lust after immortals can connect
with them only when the immortals allow them to connect. Thus I
allowed you to unite with me, in the past.’
“‘Yes,’ said Pururavas, ‘you showered your love on me, and from
these showers we conceived an exceptional child. Now please grant me
my’life.'”
The pundit paused long enough to permit the king to notice
the pun, for the name of the son of Pururavas and Urvashi was Ayus, and
that word in Sanskrit means ‘life.’
After seeing the king’s face smile the pundit continued:
“Urvashi replied, ‘I will send you whatever is yours that we have produced
together. Return home now, 0 muddle-head, for you cannot obtain me.’
“Seeing that Urvashi remained unmoved, Pururavas began to
plead threateningly: ‘Stop!’ he said. ‘You cannot depart hence without
satisfying me; otherwise, I will today lie down in the lap of destruction,
and this excellent body of mine, which has sported well with you, will fall
down dead, exposed before all, and the rapacious wolves and vultures will
devour it.’
“Pitying him, Urvashi tried to dissuade him: ‘Do not die, 0
Pururavas! Do not fall down, or let the baneful wolves devour you.
Lasting friendships cannot be made with women, for their hearts are the
hearts of hyenas.’
“Unmoved and now more desperate, Pururavas called to hen
‘Turn back! or my heart will break with grieving.’
“Urvashi relented sufficiently to say, ‘I am now expecting your
child. At the end of each year, my lord, you-can spend a night with me,
and you will have another issue.’ Then she vanished from his sight.
“Pururavas returned to his city, where every pleasure seemed
empty to him. Somehow, as he impatiently bided his time, a year passed
with excruciating slowness. When at the end of the year he returned to
Kurukshetra, he was delighted to see Urvashi there, holding a splendid
child. They united togedier that night, and Urvashi, finding her husband
profoundly grief-stricken at the prospect of further separation from her,
told mat padietic king, ‘It is because you are srill mortal that we cannot
remain together. Now that you have progeny, children who can continue
to propitiate the devas with oblations, you can propitiate the gandharvas
and they will give me to you. Then we will rejoice together in the heavens.’
“The king promptly extolled the gandharvas, who were so
pleased that they gave him a fire-pot in which he could keep the fire that
he would need to perform the ritual through which he could obtain
Urvashi. In his dazed state he carried that fire-pot away with him,
believing it to be Urvashi herself, but he soon realized that it was merely a
fire-pot. Placing it in the forest, he returned home and spent each of his
nights meditating on her.
“It was at the start of the Silver Age (Treta Yuga) that the three
Vedas, which deal with rituals, dawned in his meditating mind. When he
returned to the place where he had left the fire pot he saw an Asvanha
tree growing from the bottom of a Shami tree. Anxious to regaip Urvashi
he made two fire sticks with the wood of that Asvattha tree. Meditating
on the lower fire stick as Urvashi, on the upper one as himself, and on the
one between as their expected son, he churned those sticks to the
accompaniment of the proper mantras. Jatavedas, the sacrificial fire, so
called because he helps one gain heavenly enjoyments, manifested from
the churning of these fire-sticks, and became the three-fold sacrificial fire
ofAhavaniya, Garhapatya, and Dakshina. The king adopted this fire as
his son, and into it he made sacrificial offerings, desiring the realm of
Urvashi. With the help of this fire who was his son, he attained the world
of the gandharvas, and his Urvashi.
“In the Golden Age (Satya Yuga), your majesty, there was only
one Veda and that was the sacred syllable Om, That Which Is Always
New (pranava), which includes in it all possible sounds. The deity also
was one only: Narayana, the Lord of All. There was but a single sacred
fire, and all humans were part of one community. It was only at the
beginning of the Silver Age that the one Veda became three, and the one
fire became three, by the action of Pururavas, that noble scion of both the
lunar and solar races.
“One of Pururavas’ descendants was the forceful Rishi
Vishvamitra, a doer of great deeds. When King Trishanku craved to be
elevated to heaven while still in his physical body, his guru, the Rishi
Vasisrha, cursed him to become a chandala (the lowest of the low).
Trishanku then approached Vishvamitra, who catapulted him bodily
towards heaven. When he reached heavens gates, the celestials, disgusted
by his human stench, hurled him down from there headlong, but
Vishvamitra halted him midway in his descent, and there he hangs to this
day, upside down, shining like a star in the sky.
“Another descendant of Pururavas was Jahnu, who married the
River Kaveri. Jahnu once swallowed the entire River Ganga; the Rishis
then extracted that blessed river from him as his daughter. Others who
count King Pururavas as their ancestor Include the river Kaushiki; the
great Dhanvantari, who promulgated Ayurveda; the Rishi Jamadagni; and
Parashurama, Jamadagni’s son, who was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu
Himself. What further proof of Mercury’s predominance among the
planets is needed than this striking family tree? I offer my respects to that
marvellous planet Mercury who is exceptionally handsome and mild.”