Saptarishi – Anasuya’s Divine Dilemma {Ep.266}

Today’s episode is the story of the scholar Anasuya. In this story Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are born as her babies. See how she overcomes a dilemma that would have stumped most people

Namaskar and 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 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 Anasuya. Anasuya is a scholar with a PhD on the cosmic scale, and wife of Atri, who is one of the Saptarishi or super seven hall-of-fame rishis. And in this story we’ll see how the Tridev – the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva were born to Anasuya. You’re probably puzzled by that. If Anasuya gave birth to Brahma who gave birth to the Universe, where did Anasuya come from?

This isn’t a chicken or egg problem. Anasuya very clearly was born in the universe that Brahma the creator of the Universe had created. So whom did Anasuya give birth to? The answer was that it was to some human avatars of the trinity. Let’s continue and I hope by the end of the story it’ll be all clear.

There was a story just a couple of months ago that also featured Anasuya. That was episode 258. But it’s perfectly okay if you haven’t heard it before.

I’ll recap it for you quickly. There was a Rishi who cursed a man over some trivial reason or another. The man would be dead by the next sunrise. Obviously the man’s wife wasn’t happy and she responded by stopping the Sun in its tracks. Only Anasuya’s intervention got the world back to normal. And as a reward for her actions, she was given the boon that she would give birth to the holy trinity. That boon was about to come true.

But let’s not start the story with Anasuya. And not the Tridev either. Instead, let’s go over to the Tridevi. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva’s partners – Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. Saraswati is the Goddess of Knowledge and Learning. Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth and fortune and Parvati is the goddess of Energy. So being married to the trinity, isn’t the only thing they have in common. Each of them is a Goddess with incredible superpowers. Naturally they got together to talk about general things. This time, they had gathered in Kailash for their Kosmic Koffee Klatch – and because it was Kailash that meant Parvati was hosting.

“I had an interesting thought the other day,” Saraswati began.

“Simple or compound interest?” asked Lakshmi, ever the financial guru.

“It’s purely academic,” the goddess of learning and knowledge replied. “Who is the most virtuous of all?”

Parvati chimed in that it wasn’t much to wonder about. She was the most virtuous, given all the evil demons she had defeated in the fight for justice.

But Saraswati wasn’t convinced. “Yes, you protected the rights of innocents and that makes you a good person. And you drive the world, and that makes you indispensable. But the most virtuous? I don’t think so. On the other hand, the knowledge I provide empowers people. To think, to create, and innovate, to appreciate beauty and art. I’m the most virtuous here”

Lakshmi’s counterpoint was that both of them were beating around the bush, or the money tree, as she preferred to think of it. Wealth was the key. Knowledge was useless if a person didn’t have their basic needs attended to, you know, food, water, shelter, clothing. And all of those needed wealth, which was impossible without Lakshmi.

The three argued about this, and only stopped when Parvati said she heard the notification from her home security system and that they had a visitor.

“Yes, we can see the bull in the room,” Saraswati said pointing towards Nandi, who is a bull, and is the security system at Kailash. Anyone comes to visit, Nandi clears it with Shiva or Parvati first.

This visitor didn’t hand in a visiting card, but there was no need. Because it was me. Yes, if you’re hearing this podcast for the first time – you may not be aware, but I am a bonafide mythological character myself, and a cosmic gossip columnist. 

Brahma is my father, and I’m the no.1 fan and president for life of the Vishnu fan club. And I often visit Shiva and Parvati in Kailash, so Parvati wasn’t very surprised to see me there.

“It’s tea-time, so of course Narada is here.”

She’s not wrong. I do like the Tea at Kailash. It’s served with a slice of frosty himalayan toast. The only catch is, you have to drink the tea quickly before it freezes. 

I greeted them all. I must say, I’d have preferred to see a welcome that was less frosty than the Himalayan Frosty toast, but I don’t mind. I have this power of being able to travel anywhere at any time, and I intend to use it fully, regardless of the sort of welcome I receive.

There were a few unenthusiastic hellos that were icier than the tea. But then something happened that completely changed the mood in the room.

“I say, Narada can settle this for us,” Lakshmi remarked. She went on to explain that I had judged a beauty contest between her and Shani back in Episode 80.

“You and Shani, huh,” Saraswati remarked. “Must have been a particularly challenging decision for Narada.”

But now, Parvati seemed to agree with Lakshmi. “Narada did judge a race between my kids, and he did a fair job”

I wasn’t particularly pleased to be in this situation, and I would have liked to weasel out of it if I could. “Oh look at the time, I had better get back if I want to make it to the Vishnu fan club picnic lunch commission’s planning meeting” I tried to say. But what could I do? When three powerful goddesses ask you to be a judge, you have no choice but to be a judge.

So I heard what they were trying to determine, and my nervousness evaporated. I knew who was the most virtuous, and that meant I wouldn’t have to face the wrath of two angry goddesses for having chosen the third one over them.

“Anasuya,” I said.

“Anasuya?” puzzled Lakshmi. “Are you sure you don’t mean Ananya – which is one of my alternative names?”

“Anasuya,” I said again. That was my story and I intended to stick to it.

The Tridevi huddled like a divine board meeting, whispering in celestial confidentiality. I didn’t pry, and before I could try to eavesdrop they had come to a decision. They each got out their phones and asked Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva to appear. And the Tridev did appear right away.

“What’s the level 6 emergency here?” asked Shiva. Then observing me at the scene, he added “Did Narada mess anything up?”

You might think I resent everyone around me putting me down like this. But I don’t mind, these are gods we’re talking about. And besides, this time, there’s no way I could be blamed for this situation.

“Yes, it’s Narada’s mess, alright.” Parvati replied. “He claims Anasuya is more virtuous than us three. So we want you to go and pressure test that”

“But dear, I was just about to destroy this Universe,” Shiva protested. “What does it matter who is the most virtuous in a world that is about to end?”

But the Tridevi could not be convinced. They needed an answer. And more than just an answer, they needed their husbands to go and prove that Anasuya wasn’t so virtuous after all.

Finally, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva agreed. I stayed back at Kailash. Given the degree of interest in this, Parvati had a live stream setup on the Swarg special edition Himalayan sized holographic TV. And she agreed to the only real incentive I cared about – steaming hot mugs of tea.

So the Tridevi and I sat there sipping tea, munching popcorn, and observing the Trimurti walking towards Anasuya’s home.

Parvati had the first reaction. “Anasuya’s home is eco-friendly – zero-waste and carbon-neutral. Which is good. If this were the 21st century. It makes no difference right now, not to us, not to the planet.”

Lakshmi chimed in that she saw there was a pop-up store. Anasuya’s Authentic Ashram Accessories. That was a slight positive only because of the sign that said 100% of the proceeds would be donated to charitable causes.

We continued to watch the Tridev approaching Anasuya’s home. The trio had disguised themselves, of course. Showing up as themselves may have the opposite effect from what they intended.

So Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva took on the appearance of Rishis. Wise, old men with long gray beards and dressed in Rishi fashion. The armbands indicated 5 star Brahmarishis, which is about as senior as a rishi can get. And three 5 star Brahmarishis in one place would be given the red carpet treatment.

To be fair, any rishi would have received the red carpet treatment. But the armbands guaranteed it.

Anasuya welcomed the three rishis in, and offered them food and drink. Atri was not at home just then, which was ideal. But then, that’s maybe why Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu had chosen this exact moment to visit her.

The Rishis maintained serious, solemn expressions throughout, as befitting a Rishi who has seen it all, has learned it all and knows it all.

As Anasuya began serving them food on banana leaves the Rishi who was Shiva flared up in anger. “What is this?” he asked sternly.

“Why, it’s lunch, sir,” Anasuya answered. “A meal that is eaten in the middle of the day”

“I know what lunch is,” he cut her off. “But aren’t you supposed to ask us for dietary restrictions?”

“That is a good point, I never thought of that before. Everything is vegan, organic and gluten free. Are any of you gentlemen allergic to cosmic quinoa or divine dal?”

“Nothing spectacular so far,” Saraswati remarked to me. “She’s an ordinary person. She’s an okay host. What exactly did you see in her Narada?”

But I just asked them to wait and watch. Now was the time Shiva was going to spring a trap for her.

“Not allergies. We have taken a special vow, so we can only be fed by hand. We do not use our own hands. If you were a regular subscriber of Rishi weekly you’d have seen an article about this new vow”

Another advantage of being a member of the holy trinity is that you can make articles appear retroactively in popular magazines like the Rishi Weekly.

Shiva ended his explanation with a demand that Anasuya should feed them with her own hands. This was an unusual request, to say the least. 

It was highly improper for a married woman to be feeding a stranger in a way that would put her in such close proximity. 

Therein lay the brilliance of the strategy. It was the equivalent of checkmate. Either she refused and that would be insulting her guests, who were equivalent to gods(they were actually Gods, but she didn’t know it!). Or she does something morally reprehensible by feeding them by hand. Dishonor either way!

I could sense the Tridevi were sensing victory now. But I didn’t say anything. 

Anasuya pulled a rabbit out of her hat, not literally but she found a way to get out of this dilemma. She changed all three Rishis into babies. When you are a scholar you learn all kinds of powers. And changing grown rishis into babies seemed to be one such power for Anasuya at least.

I knew this moment was coming so I was watching everyone’s jaw carefully. But I was disappointed. No jaws dropped. They seemed to gracefully accept this.

Except Saraswati. She said wait a minute, it seemed Baby Brahma had something else to say that would put Anasuya in another bind. Maybe there was a twist left in this tale yet.

Baby Brahma opened his mouth and spoke. But it all came out as “Goo Goo Ga GA?”

The Tridevi realized they had a problem now. They needed their husbands back. And not in baby form, which would be too much work.

There was only one thing to do. For all of us to go to Anasuya’s. And the Tridevi requested her to return their husbands back to themselves. I guess Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva could easily have done so themselves. But I guess this had to be done in a certain way so that everyone could come out of this with their dignity intact. And to recognize Anasuya’s brilliance.

So Anasuya met the Tridevi and of course she was happy to change them back. And she did. They changed back. There was no ill-will anywhere to be found. Everyone was happy with Anasuya and congratulated her on being the most virtuous. No one said a word to me about how I had been right. Not that I expected that. Anasuya was the woman of the hour, if anyone needed recognition it was her. To go with that, she was given a boon as well. 

Anasuya said she wanted the Tridev to be born to her. Which was the same as her previous boon. But not to worry she wasn’t wasting an extra boon on this. She really just wanted to have the holy trinity be born to her. There wasn’t really anything else.

Everyone readily agreed. And not long after Anasuya had triplets. Normal human babies, but each child had an element of at least one of the Tridevs. Durvasa was a form of Shiva, and that makes sense given Durvasa’s temper. Or rather, the lack of it.

The other was Chandra, a version of Brahma. We may cover his story sometime in a future episode.

Dattatreya has elements of all three deities – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. And he is depicted with three heads for that reason.

In a different version of the story Anasuya had a daughter as well.

That’s all for now

Some notes on the show

If you know your Greek mythology, you may have heard about the Judgment of Paris. Basically if you haven’t the idea was that Paris was asked to decide who was the fairest amongst three goddesses. And that’s where the similarity to today’s story ends. Because Paris picked one of the three in exchange for a bribe. Helen of Troy. The face that launched a thousand ships. This was the elopement that led to the Trojan War.

It has got nothing to do with today’s story, but I thought it was interesting to point out the relation here.

There’s something in Irish mythology too. But there it was three Goddesses who asked invaders from Spain to help name their own country. 

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

In the next episode, we’ll go back to the Jataka Tales. We’ll do a story about a miser and learn an important lesson.

Feedback

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