Brahma – Java – {Ep.187} – Stories From India – Podcast

A story about how Brahma and Vishnu setup the geography of Indonesia when they carried a mountain which was the center of the Universe to a floating island!

Introduction

Welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you exciting and fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

In this episode, 

We’re doing a story about Brahma. Because a couple of you asked for it. This one is not from India. Yes, you heard that right. This story is from Indonesia, and it explains some of the geography of that country. Now I know this show isn’t “Stories from Indonesia”, but seeing as how Brahma and all the characters are central figures in this story, I think it makes sense to cover it on this show.

The Holy Trinity

A quick introduction to the holy trinity in case you somehow missed hearing about them before. They are: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma is the creator of the Universe. He’s also my dad. Yup, I am quite a famous person in Indian mythology. Just ask anyone you meet on any street in India. Chances are, they’ll tell you exactly who I am. 

Anyway, I digress. If Brahma created the Universe, you’d need someone who can destroy it. And that is Shiva. Shiva lives in Mount Kailash, a mountain in the Transhimalayan Kailash range. This is a fact that will be relevant in today’s story. The way Shiva destroys the Universe is by dancing. That’s right. So if you thought Prabhu Deva or Hrithik Roshan’s dance was Earth-shattering, it’s nothing at all compared to Shiva’s dance.

And finally if one creates, another destroys, you need a third entity to preserve. And that entity is Vishnu. I’m probably the best person to ask about Vishnu seeing as how I’m his number 1 fan! I have a whole loyalty club and everything. Look me up in any literature – you’ll see how I’m always fanboying over Vishnu. I’m always chanting his name too. Vishnu this, Vishnu that.

A conference

The three of them meet occasionally, to discuss how the Universe is to be run. Our story starts at just such a meeting. I had the privilege of watching them in action at just such a meeting,

Brahma explained to Shiva and Vishnu that it was “Bring Your Child to Work Day”. Shiva looked a little skeptical, but Brahma explained that it was a means of building self-esteem, while also exposing children to future job opportunities. Shiva was still skeptical. He asked who created this? But then realized and answered his own question. If it was created, it must have been Brahma. I wasn’t paying much attention to this back and forth between Shiva and Brahma. 

I was staring at Vishnu in awe. It was one of my earliest meetings with Vishnu. Naturally. I mean if you were in my position – I bet you’d do the same! Vishnu has that effect on people.

A unique problem

“First order of business” Brahma announced. “There are some civilizations on a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy that are getting very belligerent. They are going to war and they’re going to destroy each other”

Shiva yawned “I already took care of it. I made a nearby star go Supernova. Those civilizations were wiped out a few minutes ago”

Brahma stared in shock. “What? What about these beautiful fjords and mountains I created on that planet? You – destroyed it all?”

“Relax Brahma,” Vishnu said. “I have nightly, weekly and monthly backups. You can download those and use them as a template if you’re creating another planet somewhere else”

“That’s a relief” Brahma sighed, “I confess I was badly scared there for a moment”

He caught his breath, and continued “Alright, next item. This one’s on the Earth. There’s a floating island in the Indian Ocean. I call it Java”

“Like the Programming language?” Shiva asked.

“Or like coffee?” Vishnu questioned.

“Neither,” Brahma said. “I just named it Java. The programming language name came from coffee, and the coffee came from this island – so I really must take credit for naming all three. Anyway, back to the problem with the island. It’s floating.”

“And so? All continents are drifting. Why is this a big deal?” Vishnu asked.

Brahma went on to explain that this island was moving a little too fast. It was a hazard in what was a very busy shipping lane. And it was a pretty large island. What if it crashed into the shore? It would destroy some perfectly crafted shoreline. It had already skimmed the top off of the Rama Setu bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka. And it showed no signs of slowing down.

A resolution is passed

Finally, Shiva and Vishnu agreed that some action needed to be taken. But what?

While they were deeply thinking, I spoke up. “I know! My dad can create a giant anchor and then we just attach it to the island and drop the anchor in the ocean. That’s it!”

“Anchor, no. Just dropping an enormous anchor like that is going to cause a massive tsunami. And they have enough tsunamis in that region already.” Vishnu said after some thought. “But I agree we should pin down the island at one place, so it stops moving”

They thought a little bit more and finally Shiva suggested a solution that convinced everyone. They’d use something heavy to put so much weight on the island that it would effectively stop moving. And the moment he suggested, all three minds thought of exactly what to use to weigh down this island. “Meru!” they all said in unison.

Meru

Meru, or Sumeru, or Mahameru is a mountain. It’s a sentient mountain which we’ve encountered before. Meru was character of the week in Episode 12. Meru is a Gigantic mountain. The Himalayas were merely it’s foothills back then. I had read that Meru is the center of the Universe. It was on this last point that I raised a weak objection. “Are we okay to just shift the center of the Universe? Won’t that create some complications?”

They all burst out laughing. Apparently, I hadn’t learned enough back then. Vishnu patiently corrected me – the Universe had no true center. Everything was at once the center of the Universe, because the Universe had no edge. This was something I couldn’t quite wrap my head around back at that time, so I just stayed silent, promising myself that I was going to make a mad rush to the library after this to read up on the Universe’s structure.

Let’s do it now, Vishnu suggested. I have to be home in time for lunch with Lakshmi, he said.

“But is Meru okay with it? Meru is sentient. So we should ask him at least”

“I already did,” Vishnu said. I was going to ask when Vishnu checked with Meru. The idea had just come up now. And I immediately realized. Vishnu was all over the place. While he was here in this meeting, he was also down on Earth as Parshuram, as Ram, as Krishna. He already asked Meru because he had already communicated with Meru while he was also sitting in the room with us.

Now you might have expected me to ask what his hurry was to get back home for lunch with Lakshmi. Couldn’t he also eat with Lakshmi while sitting here with us? I didn’t ask because I thought I had asked enough questions already. If I became a nuisance, I wouldn’t get to accompany Brahma on the next Bring-your-child-to-work-day. So I kept silent and observed.

The Meru relocation program

The Meru relocation program began by Brahma and Vishnu transforming into giant animals. Shiva said he would sit this one out. He’d just destroyed a planet, maybe a bit hastily. So he didn’t want the risk of breaking something else on Java too. Instead he’d find something to decorate this island with. While he was busy doing research, Vishnu and Brahma could Meru and pin down Java with it. It seemed to Shiva to be a fair division of labor. Especially seeing as he had single handedly solved the problem with that belligerent civilization in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Vishnu and Brahma said nothing. But then, my dad transformed into a giant snake. Huge. He slithered off and coiled around Mount Meru. We saw it on the live feed. All journalists were having a field day with this news. Literally, they were out in the field watching a giant snake coiled around the massive mountain. Rumors were floating around of a second Sagar Manthan, like in Episode 51. And those rumors took on momentum when Vishnu appeared as a gigantic Turtle. And when the Snake placed Mount Meru on the Turtle’s back everyone was convinced that another Sagar Manthan was coming up. 

People rushed home, got all kinds of baskets to collect the goodies that might emerge from the Ocean. They also brought along a gas mask, just in case the poison would emerge again. Shiva didn’t seem to be around to drink it this time.

A Turtle and a Snake move a mountain

But they were all disappointed because Vishnu the Turtle and Brahma the snake swiftly carried Meru out of sight. People waited a few days by the beach, until they finally realized that there was no Sagar Manthan happening. And that Meru was not coming back. They’d have to get used to not having such a massive mountain to look up to. They’d have to settle for just the Himalayas instead

Meanwhile, Vishnu was driving Mount Meru at breakneck speed towards Java. Brahma was navigating while he also tracked the location of Java. It was a bit hard to do when he had no hands, and while his body was completely coiled around the Mountain. But he had to stay coiled around the mountain to keep it stable. If it fell off of Vishnu’s back, it would certainly cause a massive Tsunami.

Upon nearing the island Vishnu slowed down. Thankfully the island was largely inhabited, so it was easy to decide where to place the mountain. Except. It wasn’t.

Pin the Mountain to the Island

When had reached and then slowed down, Vishnu asked Brahma to gently place the island down. Meru seemed a lot heavier now, and Brahma wondered why. Maybe Brahma was exhausted. But placing the mountain back on land was a lot more difficult than it had been in putting the island on Vishnu’s back. Vishnu had to collaborate with a shove of his own. “Jor laga ke” they both screamed and then in one final shove moved the island to the western tip of Java. But that was a problem. Because the island soon started to tip over. Before the island could sink however, the quick thinking Vishnu and Brahma gave it a hard shove and then continued pushing it till it was on the eastern side. There it stands today. The locals call it Semeru. And if you visit Indonesia, you can even hike there. Is it the tallest peak in the world, that makes the Himalayas look like anthills? No, not really. But that’s because of what happened when Vishnu and Brahma moved Meru from one side to another. 

In their haste to quickly stabilize the island, they also caused parts of it to break and fall down here and there creating several more mountains. So many mountains, that if you were to add up their individual heights, you’ll see what I meant about Meru towering over the Himalayas. These mountains include the Lawu, Kelud, Wilis, Kawi, Arjuno and Welirang and Penanggungan.

Decorating the Island

The last thing that was left of course was how Shiva had planned to decorate the island. Brahma and Vishnu stood on the beach, back in human shaped form and were talking about celebrating their hard work with a well-earned lassi. Shiva appeared before them and congratulated them on a job well done. He said he had done his job very well as well. He had decided the perfect use for this mountain. And given the almost infinite possibilities he had to eliminate, his work was definitely a lot more challenging than Vishnu’s and Brahma’s had been. All they had to do was move a mountain. No big deal. They all had moved heavy stuff before. But Shiva was proud to announce that the Semeru mountain was now going to be his Summer home. Over Vishnu and Brahma’s objections, Shiva told them to think about it for a minute. Did they really expect that he would stay in the frigid temperatures in Mount Kailash forever? It was cold there. It’s true that he didn’t need to buy a refrigerator at his home, and he always had an endless supply of ice cream. But the reality was that he needed someplace warm to camp out occasionally. 

Vishnu wasn’t buying it. But he was also running out of time. He looked at his watch and said he could not see eye to eye with Shiva on this but he had to run. His lunch with Lakshmi, in case everyone forgot. But he was not giving in. Brahma would stay here and continue the argument on Vishnu’s behalf. 

Brahma reaches the conclusion

Vishnu left, and then Brahma and Shiva stared at each other. Brahma was going to open his mouth to speak. And then he hesitated. He tried again and stopped again. You see, Brahma had made Shiva cross a couple of times. He recalled the Character of the Week segment from Episode 23 when Brahma had 5 heads and Shiva had removed one of them as a punishment. Or Episode 46 when Shiva caught Brahma in a lie and banned all Brahma worship. Brahma hesitated a third time.

Shiva asked, “Something you want to say, Brahma?”

Brahma sighed and decided to hold his tongue. “No, nothing at all. Carry on. I think I need to go and rest for a bit”

If Shiva wanted a summer home on a mountain, fine. In the future, the people of Indonesia were going to think that a deity lived on the mountain. So why not prove them right preemptively?

Besides, many would welcome the change. Visiting Shiva was going to be more pleasant in his warmer abode, than in the very cold Mount Kailash.

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

For the next episode, a couple of you listeners asked for a story from the Singhasan Battisi. If you haven’t heard earlier Singhasan Battisi stories that is fine, you can listen to next week’s episode even without any context. Because the 32 stories in the Singhasan Battisi all stand alone. It’s a story within a story, we’ll see whether or not Raja Bhoja is yet worthy of sitting on Vikramaditya’s throne.

Feedback

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A big thank you to each of you for your continued support and your feedback.

The music is from Purple Planet.

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!