We don’t usually meet mid-week. But this time it’s a special occasion. Today we’ve completed 2 years on this podcast! It’s a big milestone for me and I deeply appreciate all your support and feedback in getting us here.
To show my appreciation, here’s a mini-episode. This one features me! At least in the beginning.
It’s a showdown between 2 of the 3 entities in the Holy Trinity. The Trinity is composed of Brahma the creator of the Universe, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. Today’s episode is about a battle – it’s Shiva vs Vishnu!
And shameless plug here, but Brahma is also my dad. Yup, those are the kind of circles I move in!
Today’s story begins with a conversation that I had with Indra. Indra is basically the King of the Devs. We have met Indra before in many stories. He can be a bit… arbitrary at times.
So anyway, I was chatting with Indra when the topic of conversation changed to rankings. Specifically, who was number 1 and who was 2?
“Obviously, it’s Shiva. He’s way more powerful” said Indra
That stung. I am a massive Vishnu fan as you listeners already know. It’s not that I don’t think Shiva has awesome powers or that Brahma can create anything he puts one of his 4 minds to. I am also the lifelong president of the Vishnu fan club.
Indra continued, completely ignoring my expression of shock. “We saw in Episode 46, Vishnu couldn’t even see most of Shiva. How could he be more powerful?”
“You’re forgetting something important,” I told him. “Shiva is the destroyer of the Universe. And Vishnu is the preserver. Shiva is helped along by entropy. But Vishnu has to work against it, and work against both Shiva and Brahma. Maintaining a fine balance is a lot harder than upsetting it”.
“If working against entropy is so hard, then Brahma is the most powerful,” Indra said. We stared at each other and burst out laughing.
“Joking aside, I really want to prove that Shiva is the most powerful,” Indra said, sobering up now.
“Maybe we get them to play a game. Some kind of sport” suggested Indra.
“That’s far too much like a Bollywood movie” I countered. “We’ll end up with a controversial tiebreaker and neither side will accept a loss”
“Then we just have to have them fight”
I politely agreed but I really should have foreseen that when Indra meant something, he meant putting it into action right then and there. I guess it’s just the kind of thing you might expect from someone who’s held on to a lot of power for far too long.
I was designated driver of course while Indra kept talking at great length about how this would finally answer so many other questions.
We reached Kailas – where Shiva lives. Luckily for us, he was home.
Parvati and Shiva greeted us warmly but Nandi, their home security system glared at us suspiciously. “You’re here to have Shiva fight someone, aren’t you?”
“I don’t think it’s just anyone they want me to fight,” Shiva said. “It’s Vishnu”
Nandi gasped and covered his mouth with a hoof in surprise.
Parvati’s response was a bit on the enthusiastic side. “Great, I’ll get the popcorn!” she said.
Shiva did not want to fight. It took a lot of persuading, but he agreed to give it a go.
They all approached Vishnu at his home, floating on a snake in the Ocean of Milk.
Vishnu was reluctant in the beginning, just as Shiva had been. Lakshmi’s reaction was just as Parvati’s had been – she started making a large batch of popcorn as well.
But they assembled at the fighting ground which was chosen to be a region of intergalactic space free of matter and dark matter to minimize any interference.
Indra was personally refereeing this. “Let me explain the rules” he started. “First, no sidekicks. So Nandi, Sheshnaag – you both stay out of this. Second, no courtside coaching. So Laxmi, Parvati that’s for you. Third – you can’t use your supernatural powers. That means Shiva – you’re not allowed to open your third eye. And Vishnu – you’re not allowed to transform into a unicorn fish or a flying rhinoceros boar or a lion man. Just be yourself”
“And what if my normal state involves transforming into something or the other. What if my current form is just a transition before I become the next anthropomorphic creature?” Vishnu asked calmly.
“Well control it, don’t feel it. Don’t let them out. Just continue to be what you look like now. Anyway carrying on, fourth and final rule – you can only use Vishwakarma brand weapons. Anything else is disqualified.”
“So I can use my Sudarshan Chakra then?” asked Vishnu.
At which both Indra and Shiva began to pale a bit. “No!” replied Indra thinking quickly. “It has to be an original Vishwakarma product, OEM stamped and everything. You have customized the Sudarshan Chakra so that doesn’t count”
“Pity” said Vishnu, “well it doesn’t matter. I don’t think it’ll change the outcome”
They each took out bows. Incredibly large and powerful bows. The kind that require hundreds of people just to transport them.
“Wait a minute. Didn’t Vishnu as Raam break these in Episode 16?” Parvati asked
“You don’t think he broke our only bows, did you Parvati? Besides, anyone can break a bow” Shiva said, glaring at Vishnu. “It takes real skill to use one”
Before they began the fight, they prayed. To each other. “Vishnu, why are you praying to your opponent?” I asked, appalled.
“I derive some of my strength from him. It’s only natural that I should do this. Besides in every major fictional story that people are used to, the hero starts off praying to a God before a climactic fight scene. I have to stick to the stereotype to give the public what they want.”
Shiva had a similar reason for praying to Vishnu.
The fight began and they fired all kinds of arrows at each other. If Vishnu shot an arrow that burst into fire, Shiva fired one with an attached sprinkler system. If Shiva fired an arrow with lots of sharp scissors, Vishnu responded with lots of rocks to break the blades.
This very physical rock-paper-scissors game continued with neither side gaining an advantage.
When Indra blew the whistle for half-time the scoreboard still said it was a goalless draw.
I wasn’t allowed to talk to Vishnu but I really wanted to give him some advice. I wanted to tell Vishnu to fire mice at Shiva. Then, the Snake, Vasuki, which was around Shiva’s neck would probably reach out to grab a flying mouse. That would constrict Shiva’s neck more, and distract him enough for Vishnu to gain a tactical advantage.
“I can’t do that Narada, that would not be cool” Vishnu’s voice said directly in my head. I’m not sure if he actually read my thoughts and responded or if it was just my own thoughts telling me what they thought Vishnu would say.
They continued fighting for an eternity. They both looked tired but continued fighting. I noticed something strange about them. The more they kept fighting the more feeble their blows seemed to become. The last few arrows failed to even cross the half-way point between them.
“This is getting boring” Laxmi muttered. “Oh look at the time. I’m late for a pooja. A couple of my devotees are praying to me. I can’t ignore them.”
Parvati made an excuse about bedtime for Ganesh and Kartikeya and left as well.
Nandi said he thought he heard the Kailas intruder alarm ring. It was probably nothing, but he should definitely go check it out.
Brahma had dozed off and his snores were embarrassingly loud.
Even Indra nudged me with his elbow and said “I’m getting a little bored of this. Think of all the parties I’m missing in Swarg”
“How about we just declare it a tie then?” I suggested. Truth be told, as much as I love watching fights, this one was devoid of excitement. I’d rather be traveling, telling stories and singing praises of Vishnu. Though, in my narration, I’ll probably leave out this fight
Indra was relieved – this was the outcome he wanted but he was glad the records would not show him suggesting it. I’d provided him a graceful out.
He blew his whistle three times and declared the match a tie. Vishnu and Shiva were cool with it. After Indra and I left the scene, Vishnu and Shiva talked to each other.
“That was a great performance. I bet I’ll win a Filmfare award” Shiva remarked
“You did well!” complimented Vishnu. “And my illusion which created all those special effects. They worked… like a charm.”
“Indeed. I’m glad we had that conversation before Indra and Narada came over with this idea,” Shiva said. “It gave us some time to coordinate between ourselves. All for the best, they go away. Maybe not satisfied, but they’re unlikely to ask us to fight anyway. And we got to save your face”
At that last bit Vishnu turned to face Shiva and frowned. “What do you mean by saving my face? I was doing all this acting to save your face. If we were to actually fight, I’m sure you wouldn’t last a minute”
“Oho, Mr. Preserver thinks he’s more powerful than me, does he? Who was it who couldn’t even reach my feet.” Shiva taunted.
“I was late to an appointment and you know it,” Vishnu replied. “I can beat you here and now”
“A challenge? You dare to challenge me? Very well…” Shiva answered.
But let’s leave that little epilogue for later. As I said, this happened after I had exited the scene. I only found out about this afterwards.
I don’t think anyone has told Indra yet. Now if you do run into Indra at any point, let’s not mention this story to him, shall we? All that play-acting might make Indra think that Shiva and Vishnu have been laughing at him behind his back.
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
We have seen a friendly contest between Vishnu and Brahma before. That was back in Episode 46 – Brahma. We’ve also seen Shiva decapitate Brahma. Well kind of. He only eliminated one of his 5 heads.
The point is – my dad has never been seen as a serious competitor of Vishnu and Shiva. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t tried to make himself seem important. Maybe that’s why he keeps granting outrageous wishes to undeserving villains.
Vishwakarma who created Shiva’s and Vishnu’s weapons is a God who’s also an architect and a weapons expert. He’s very similar to the God Hephaestus from Greek mythology.
The story of how Vishnu got the Sudarshan Chakra is an interesting one. I’ll get to that in a future episode.
Check out these links to other Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu stories:
Brahma: Episode 46 – Brahma
Shiva: Episode 43 – Dancing With The Gods and Episode 6.5 – All in the Family
Vishnu: Episode 1 – Unicorn Fish, Episode 20 – The Aunt from Hell, Episode 21 – Final Destiny, Episode 51 – Oceans Rising, Episode 52 – Oceans Rising Higher, Episode 53 – Open the Quantum Gate!, Episode 86 – Vishnu – Parshuram and Episode 100 – Vishnu – Tirupati
Some stories about me: Episode 0: Rock Star, Episode 49 – I, Me, Mine and Episode 80 – Narada – A Beauty Contest
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll do an interesting story about the King of Heaven. I am NOT referring to Indra, who has been the more famous occupant of that post. The story also features a character who you probably didn’t know existed. And that is Ganesha and Kartikeya’s sister.