The Enchantress

6. Devatas' curse

She finally got home after a long day of work. Yes she did love children and she loved spending time with them, that's why she had become a pediatrician but it could get hectic at times, especially when patients would start from nine to five.

It was normal work hours but being a doctor is way different than being in other professions. It is much more tiring and she had to be very attentive of everything, from the body language of the kids, to the way they explained things in their very own language.

"Welcome back, Maya," Indrayani greeted her daughter. She was gone since 7 am and returned home this late, at 5:30 pm. Indrayani, since she was a house wife, really tried to keep the home clean, tidy and pleasant so that both the father daughter duo would feel much better at home after a hard day at work.

"Thank you Aai (mother). Did you prepare for the evening worship?"

Indrayani nodded, mumbling, "It's summer going on. Sunsets happen much later. Today it is supposed to be around 6:45 pm. We have much more time till then. Come, I will help you relax."

Mahamaya held her mother's hands as she said dramatically, "How can I let this opportunity to get good karma go to waste? Come, let me help my mother relax."

Indrayani smiled sadly. Sometimes she wondered if they were too strict on their daughter but they knew that they weren't strict, they just taught her importance of carrying out one's Dharma (duties) and discipline. She was sure if she would tell her to go to the forest for fourteen years, her daughter would. That's how crazy she was. It was good, if she felt her duty towards good people. However, it could be easy to manipulate her.

Indrayani touched the bangle, smiling fondly. She had made the jeweler design it especially for her daughter because her daughter had proved to her that she was an expert in using a discus after years of practice.

Mahamaya sighed and mumbled, "I want to listen to Mohini's story, Aai (mother)."

Indrayani's lips perked up. It was her favourite story too. Mohini's wit, her knowledge of her strengths and weaknesses would put anyone in awe.

She cleared her throat and started, "Okay but only if you'll let me help you relax."

Mahamaya pouted but nodded, so Indrayani started, "Purander, son of sage Kashyapa and his brothers were chosen to be the next celestial deities of this universe because of their karma. Do you remember who Kashyapa was?"

The daughter nodded and answered, "He was also known as sage Kanada. He had started a school of thought called Vaisheshika which found out that everything was made of common things and they named it Parmaanu (atom). They dedicated their lives in studying atoms."

Indrayani nodded and continued, "Yes, so since it was the start of a new era, Earth was newly formed. The humans at that time had the duty to populate the Earth. That's why, the sage married the thirteen daughters of King Daksha. Daksha was someone who had organized the society for the first time, forming rules, laws, civilization."

Mahamaya couldn't help but interrupt her mother, "And his wife, Prasuti had given birth to so many daughters that we call birth labour as prasuti in Marathi, right Aai (mother)?"

Indrayani smiled, gently massaging Mahamaya's scalp, "Yes Maya, that's right. They had long life spans so that's why that could be possible. Anyways, so back on the story. Out of the wives of sage Kashyapa, there were two twins, Diti and Aditi. The sons of both of them wanted power."

Mahamaya couldn't help but butt in again, "That's why they were called asuras, right?"

Indrayani nodded and continued, "Yes but Aditi's sons wanted power for good intentions. They wanted the power out of devotion to the three Gods, Brahma (creator deity), Sri Vishnu (preserver deity) and Shiva (destroyer deity). That made them different and they were given the responsibilities and titles to be celestial deities or Devatas so the Asuras tag was temporary. However, it stuck with Diti's sons."

Mohamaya mumbled, "I remember this by swapping the first letters, like Aditi's sons were the Devatas while Diti's sons were the Asuras."

The mother chuckled, "That's a nice way but why did you want to remember it in the first place?"

The daughter shyly hid her face in her mother's lap, "I-I just wanted to remember it."

Indrayani laughed at her daughter's antics. She was just like Mahamaya when younger. She used to love these stories too. Remembering these stories were her way of showing devotion to the deities.

Indrayani continued, "So, Purander ascended the throne of swarga, the Hindu heaven and took on the title of Indra, God of rain. This caused jealousy in the minds of the Asuras because they were taught since childhood that their only duty was to defeat the sons of their step mother. Their greed for power was fuelled with greed, jealousy and lust for more power and not for devotion or the feeling of serving the deities like the Devatas had. The Asuras were still strong but they could never be the Devatas."

Mahamaya then mumbled, "And then the curse happened and Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity was thrown deep in the Kshirsagar (ocean of milk), the Devatas became weak and  mortal because of the effect of the curse, right?"

Indrayani nodded, "It was because Purander had become too prideful and he disrespected a sage, leading to the curse. The Devatas were afraid that the Asuras would attack the swarga at this unfortunate time and no matter what, swarga (heaven) had to be protected. That's why, they went to Vaikuntha (Sri Vishnu's abode), to Sri Vishnu, the preserver deity, to ask for his help."

The daughter nodded, stuffing her face in her mother's lap, feeling sleepy as Indrayani chuckled. Mahamaya must be very tired indeed because this was her favourite story and she wouldn't miss it normally.

She carefully replaced her lap with a pillow and kissed her daughter's forehead as she whispered to herself, "I will go and do the evening prayer myself. I shouldn't wake her up. She accompanies me daily anyways. She deserves some breaks too, especially when her profession requires her to be alert all the time for emergencies. Her father must be on his way too. I should get to work."

*****
A/N:

Fun fact: Vaisheshika sutras by Kanada contain the three laws of motion by Newton too. Modern historians place him around 600 BC but that might not be true because his books were passed by the oral tradition so we don't know when he wrote these books or when he was alive but he must be alive long ago and more knowledge must be added to his books with each generation as they discovered more things in Vaisheshika but we never know.

This might be related to this chapter ^^