“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong.

The amount of work is the same.”

We have all had our share of lows and blows. We have all faced times when we felt dejected and forlorn. Don’t mind my dramatization, but we have all fallen from the ferry sometime.

And that time,

‘You may feel lost and alone, but God knows exactly where you are and he has a good plan for your life’ and then his plans would seem more incredible than your own.

Sure, easy to say, hard to do.

Well, I have stories of people who did take the challenge to look on the sunny side, so I think I can continue my saying.

Okay, our mythologies had a certain interesting term for many duels between deities, called the curse and in a long run it were these curses that joined different leafs together.

Did you know that the very first shloka in Sanskrit was a curse and that, since then this technique of verse became the exclusive narrative in classical Sanskrit poetry?

This is what happened very long ago,

“Valmiki, the first Indian poet revered as Adi Kavi, was initially a petty thief named Ratnakara who once tried to threaten and rob none other than Narada. Narada manages to convince him that all the sins will take a toll on his life and that he has to live forever with the suffering he caused to others. Ratnakara, stirred by Narada’s wisdom, asks him to explain the true path of life. Ratnakara, to compensate for his sins, goes into a deep penance for years and comes to be known as Valmiki. After this great transformation, Valmiki decides that it is best to put it in writing and spread the message of values and principles that one should adhere to. Narada narrates to him the story of Rama, who is the most ideal man on the Earth and suggests that he write his story. Valmiki however was no writer. He had no idea how to write a story, but strongly felt that it was his duty to teach men to not fall into the same path that he ignorantly fell into. Immersed in this story, Valmiki walks on the banks of the river Tamasa seeking a peaceful ambience. He observes two Demoiselles (Demoiselle Crane) in love. He is engulfed in the tranquility of this moment, when a wild arrow from a hunter comes rushing through the air and strikes right at the heart of the male bird. Blood is spilled and the bird dies in agony. The female bird, filled with sorrow, dies of shock. Valmiki is taken back by this sudden turn of events. He sees a hunter coming from behind the tree, from which he shot the bird. Valmiki in a moment full of great rage, does something that he could not do with months of peaceful meditation. He utters a curse at the hunter, but to his own surprise, delivers the curse in a metered lyrical verse.

मां निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगमः शाश्वतीः समाः। यत्क्रौंचमिथुनादेकम् अवधीः काममोहितम्॥’

Translates to:

May you live restless for eternity, for you killed the unsuspecting bird in love.

The verse is a couplet and each hemistich (Hemistich) has 16 syllables.

A story of Curses - Sage Valmiki writing Ramayana
Sage Valmiki writing Ramayana

The Poet thereafter, Valmiki went ahead and wrote the Epic Ramayana, which consists of 24,000 shlokas and is one of the most influential works that would continue to influence Hinduism for thousands of years.”

It is interesting to note that this first verse was completely unexpected, yet remains to serve a purpose critical to the populace. It happens to us too, that even in the face of unexpected turns we are expected to keep calm and accept, as many times a lesson learnt through experience stays longer.

There were many instances where a curse remained the pillar of a whole story.

Let us flip through the most interesting curses and see why they stand out.

The Matsya Purana tells a story of the perpetual wars between Devas and Asuras.

Bhrigu Curse on Lord Vishnu
Bhrigu Curses Lord Vishnu

“The Devas would always end up beating the asuras. Humiliated, Shukra Acharya, guru of the asuras, decided to approach Shiva to obtain the mritasanjeevani stotra, or mantra to make asuras invincible. He, meanwhile, asked the asuras to take refuge at the ashram of his father Bhrigu. The Devas found the absence of Shukra Acharya a most opportune time to attack the asuras. However, Bhrigu himself being away, the asuras sought his wife’s help. Using her powers, she rendered Indra immobile. Indra, in turn, appealed to Lord Vishnu to get rid of her. Vishnu obliged by severing her head with his Sudarshana chakra. When Sage Bhrigu saw what had happened to his wife, he cursed that Vishnu be born on earth several times and suffer the pains of worldly life. Hence, Vishnu took birth on Earth in the form of avatars.”

Then there is the story of Nal and Neel who were the architects of Ram-sethu between Rameshwaram and srilanka. Nal and Neel were very powerful monkeys, yet mischievous since their childhood. They used to throw away objects in the water for fun. Well, fun means different things to different people. When they threw away a certain sage in the water, they were cursed that nothing every thrown by them in water, will drown. So, when Ram reached at the shore, it was Nal and Neel who constructed the floating bridge for them to cross the ocean.

Had they not been cursed it would be impossible for the army to cross the ocean and to rescue Sita or for us to read these great stories.

While we talk of curses that have been the cause to all our Puranas, there is yet another appealing curse, which surprisingly is still kept on the hold.

Uttara and Abhimanyu - A Story of Curses
Uttara and Abhimanyu

At the end of the Kurukshetra, Ashwatthama directed the Brahmaastra weapon towards the womb of Uttara (wife of Abhimanyu) who was carrying Abhimanyu’s son (Parikshit) in an attempt to end the lineage of the Pandavas. However, Krishna stopped this move and saved Parikshit and hence the lineage of the Pandavas. Angered by this attack on a woman, Krishna cursed Ashwatthama that “he will carry the burden of all people’s sins on his shoulders and will roam alone like a ghost without receiving any love till the end of Kaliyuga. He will neither have any hospitality nor any accommodation and will be in total isolation from mankind and society; His body will suffer from a host of incurable diseases that would never heal”. Ashwatthama had a gem, similar to Shamantakamani on his forehead which protects the wearer from fear of any snakes, ghosts, demigods and demons. So, Ashwatthama was asked to surrender this gem. Lord Sri Krishna further states that “the wound caused by the removal of this gem on his forehead will never heal and will suffer from leprosy, till the end of Kaliyuga”. It is believed that in Kaliyuga, his name will be “Suryakanta”. Thus, Ashwatthama will be in search of death every moment, and yet he will never die. At the end of Kali Yuga, Ashwatthama is to meet Sri Kalki, the tenth and final avatar of Lord Vishnu.

Now, if you happen to worry about a small dip in through your ride, you should remember how this person has been waiting an entire Yuga to be relieved of his curse. Back to my dramatization, I would say Life is a Ferris wheel, yeah I don’t choose the roller coaster and here’s why.

While you’re riding high on the upper half of life, the lower just gives you time to catch some breathe and then it’s a circle again, so you know for yourself that this cycle is definite and by the third circle you just know you are not scared of it anymore. So is life,

In the end, only three things matter.How much you loved, how gently you lived and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

-Buddha

“If you don’t do a lot of stupid things when you’re young, You won’t have funny things to talk about when you’re old.”

And then, when you would have learnt your lesson and reached the summary of your chapter, you know how essential it is to pass down these funny talks to the younger lot still hesitant to take the ferry. So, here’s your bit of a role, tell them your story of curses and leave it to them to learn, to let go.

Let go your fears of the future, they are not meant be a part of your script.

Temple Purohit

TemplePurohit.com is a one-stop destination for all your spiritual needs - Get in-depth information on Spiritual topics, temples across India, have in-depth discussion on topics such as Astrology, Spiritual developments & meditation.

More Interesting Articles on Hinduism For You

Leave a Reply