Origin of Vatuka

Suta said

Brahmanas, that is how Shiva came to be worshipped as the lingam across the three worlds. What would you like to hear next?

The rishis said

Lord, tell us about the Andhakeshvara lingam, and about other Shiva lingams as well.

Suta said

In an earlier age the daitya Andhaka made his home in a pit under the ocean. From there he harassed the gods and held the three worlds in his grip. He would climb out, torment the creatures of the world, and then slip back into the pit. The gods, worn down, kept praying to Shiva and laid all their sorrows before him. The refuge of the good, who destroys the wicked, was moved and promised: "I will slay Andhaka, the killer of gods. March out with your armies, and I will follow with my ganas."

Andhaka, who loathed gods and sages, came out of the pit to terrorise them, and the gods slipped in and took the pit for themselves. A fearful war followed between gods and daityas, and by Shiva's grace the gods gained the upper hand. Hard pressed, Andhaka moved back toward his pit, and there the supreme self pierced him with the trident. Impaled, he fixed his mind on Shambhu and prayed: "Whoever sees you at the moment of death becomes like you." Shankara, pleased, said, "Ask a boon." Now the daitya's nature turned toward sattva. He bowed and said, "Lord, if you are pleased, give me devotion to you, and out of compassion remain here." Hara dropped him into the pit and, for the good of the worlds, settled there himself as a lingam. Anyone who worships the Andhakesha lingam steadily for six months gains the success he seeks. But a brahmana who worships it for six months while really wanting only a living from it is called a devalaka. In this world he loses the standing proper to brahmanas.

The rishis asked

Who is a devalaka, and what does he do? Wise one, tell us for the good of all.

Suta replied

There was once a brahmana called Dadhichi, learned in the Vedas, devoted to dharma and to Shiva, well read in the Shaiva texts. His son Sudarshana had married a woman called Dukula from a disreputable family, and he did whatever she said. They had four sons, and Sudarshana kept up his worship of Shiva. Once Dadhichi had to stay with relatives in another village, who would not let him come home. Before leaving he told his son to remain faithful to Shiva, and then he went. Sudarshana carried on, and time passed. Then Shiva Ratri arrived, and he and his wife fasted with the rest. But after the worship, Sudarshana went and slept with his wife. When the night came round again he worshipped without having bathed. For this offence Shankara grew angry.

Maheshvara said

You fool. On Shiva Ratri you lay with your wife, and then you worshipped me unbathed, knowing perfectly well what you did. Be dumb. You may not touch me; you may look at me only from afar.

Suta continued

So Sudarshana was cursed, and by Shiva's maya he lost his speech. Just then Dadhichi came back from the other village, heard everything, and was himself reproved by Shiva. Overcome with misery he cried out in grief: "Because of this wretched son, and a wife of loose habits whom he married, my fine family is ruined and the son with it." His father's rebuke made Sudarshana repent too.

The father began worshipping Girija with great care for his son's sake, and Sudarshana himself worshipped her, using fine hymns and the way of Chandi worship. Father and son used different methods, but Devi, who loves her devotees, was pleased with both. Chandika adopted Sudarshana as her son, and for his sake she soothed Shiva. His anger left him and his heart softened toward Chandi's son. Seeing Vrishadhvaja relent, she bowed to him and placed the boy on his lap. She bathed her son in ghee and gave him the sacred thread of three strands tied in one knot, and then taught him the sixteen-syllable Shiva gayatri that begins "Aum namo Shivaya". The boy repeated it sixteen times and carried out the worship with a vow, from the bath to the final prostration. Before the rishis he chanted many names and mantras. Chandika and Shiva, pleased, said:

Chandika and Shiva said

Whatever is given to me in wealth or grain, you may take, and no sin will touch you. In every rite done for me, and above all those for Devi, you will stand first. Ghee, oil and the like offered to me you may accept. In a Prajapatya ceremony only one of you must be present, otherwise it is hollow and everything is wasted. Your tilaka must be round. You must always bathe, keep the sandhya for Shiva, and recite the gayatri. Serve me first, and only then do the rites of your own line. Keep to this and all will go well and I will forgive your faults.

Suta continued

Then Shiva set Sudarshana's four sons as vatukas in the four quarters, while Chandi kept Sudarshana with her. She blessed his sons and sent them off. "Whichever of you becomes my vatuka," she said, "will always win. Do not doubt it. Whoever worships Bhava worships me. Your duty, son, is always to do my work." Out of compassion for Sudarshana and for the world, Shiva and Shivaa granted these boons, and so the order of the vatukas began. Those who fall from austerity are called Tapodhamas, and by the grace of the divine pair these too multiplied.

In any great worship, this great-souled one is to be honoured first. Until Shankara has been worshipped, no other worship may be done, or its fruit will not be good. Auspicious or not, a vatuka is not to be turned away, and a Prajapatya ceremony in which a single vatuka is fed is especially valued.

Here is something that happened in the city near Andhakesha, when a Prajapatya ceremony was under way and King Bhadra was busy with the daily feeding. Shambhu, pleased with the king, gave him a banner and said: "King, this banner will rise each morning and come down at night. It will do so for as long as the Prajapatya rite remains unfinished. If it stays up even at night, my banner is standing still." Then the compassionate lord vanished. The king followed the rules, worshipped Shiva and performed the rite daily, and the banner rose and fell by itself as promised. One day the rites were done with a vatu placed first, and the banner came down before the brahmanas had been fed. Astonished, the king asked the learned: "The brahmanas are still eating, yet the banner has fallen. Why? Tell me the truth." The learned replied: "Great king, the vatuka was fed first. He is Chandi's son, and Shiva is pleased with him. That is why the banner fell." The king and the people were amazed and praised the vatukas. Thus by Shankara's will the vatukas rose in greatness, and the knowers of the old accounts rank them highest. Shiva's worship is to be done first by these, and by none else. By Shiva's word, others have no right. They close the rite by saying, "The worship is now complete." Sages, I have told you what you asked. Whoever hears it gains the fruit of worshipping Shiva.