Indra, the king of heaven, visited MountKailash to meet Lord Shiva, instead he found a fierce-looking man at the door, seeing no one else in sight, he asked him where Lord Shiva was and whether he would see Indra. The man at the door simply looked through him and did not answer.Indra, then pleaded him, saying “Please tell me where Lord Shiva is, I have come especially to see him.”Indra got so angry that he threw his lightning at him, but lightning did not even touch the man. On the contrary, a whiff of flame burst from his brow and was about to engulf Indra, who instantly realized that the fierce looking man was none other than Lord Shiva himself, so Indra went down on his knees and begged Shiva’s pardon. Since it was a genuine mistake and Indra had no intention of insulting lord Shiva, the latter forgave Indra readily. Shiva then grasped the seething flame from his brow and threw it into the ocean.
As the flame fell into the water, it instantly turned into a little child and started crying. The ocean took him in her arms and rocked him quiet. Lord Brahma, who had also arrived at Kailash just then, saw the little boy in the arms of the ocean. “Who is he? What is he called?” Lord Brahma asked the ocean.
“Why don’t you give him a name, my lord?” said the ocean.
Brahma picked up the child in his arms. He named the child Jalandhara and blessed him with a number of boons. The most important one was that no one on earth would be able to vanquish Jalandhara except Lord Shiva himself. Brahma then made him the king of Asuras, a tribe of demons.
Jalandhara grew up to be a powerful young man. Because of his special boon from Brahma no one was able to hurt him in any way. He won every battle with ease and soon came to be known as the invincible Jalandhara. Kalnemi was another powerful Asura who had a beautiful daughter named Vrinda. Vrinda was married to Jalandhara and the two lived happily together in perfect harmony. By now Jalandhara had fought and conquered nearly everyone except the mighty Indra. With Brahma’s blessings as his armour, Jalandhara also fought the Devas and captured Indra’s kingdom. Indra, driven out by the mighty Jalandhara, sought Lord Shiva’s help.
“My Lord, I shall be totally undone if you do not save me from Jalandhara” he pleaded, “and it is not enough to save me. Jalandhara must be killed or he will strike again and yet again, and none of us will have a moment of peace.”
“Do not worry, Indra” assured Lord Shiva. “I shall vanquish Jalandhara. He will not be able to withstand me as he was born of the flame from my brow.”
Lord Shiva came out of Kailash to fight Jalandhara and a terrible battle followed. Vrinda, who was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, prayed to him earnestly, begging that he might protect Jalandhara from Shiva. Lord Vishnu could not refuse so earnest a prayer and kept saving Jalandhara from every blow. Lord Shiva soon found that he was unable to hurt Jalandhara because he had Lord Vishnu’s protection. Jalandhara used all his powers and created a powerful illusion to trap Lord Shiva, his gana and the Devas. Not expecting the attack, Lord Shiva and the others were stunned as they were struck inside the illusion.Seeing Lord Shiva and the others struck inside the illusion, Jalandhara went to Kailash, where he saw Goddess Parvathi, smiled slyly and changed his form like Lord Shiva and said, ‘Parvathi! I have come back victorious.I have defeated Jalandhara!” Goddess Parvathi looked at Lord Shiva and frowned at him. She felt something was wrong. She closed her eyes and used her powers to sense who was before her. When Parvathi opened her eyes, In anger, she picked up the sword and said, ‘Jalandhara! You dare come here in my husband’s form!’,Jalandhara knew that Goddess Parvathi was a very strong warrior, as good as her husband. He was already weak from his powers of illusion and his fight with Lord Shiva. He knew he could not fight Goddess Parvathi now, He ran from there.
Meanwhile, Goddess Parvathi was sitting furiously, when Lord Vishnu came and enquired as to what was wrong, Goddess Parvathi told Lord Vishnu everything and asked ‘How can Jalandhara be so powerful…?’
Lord Vishnu said, ‘Jalandhara was already powerful, He has now married Vrindha, my greatest devotee. Every time Jalandhara goes to war,she prays to me,it is because of her that Jalandhara is becoming invincible’. Lord Vishnu unhappily walked out of there and went back to Vaikunta. He knew he had no choice but to do what he had to do….
Lord Vishnu realized that something must be done about Jalandhara since he could not allow him to displace Indra and the devas from heaven. And yet he could do nothing as long as Vrinda continued praying to him.
Jalandhara, who has now become arrogant, started taunting Lord Shiva saying, “You don’t know who you are talking to” said Jalandhara in an arrogant voice. “I am invincible. Don’t you know that I have driven out Indra, the king of heaven? I’m not afraid of you.”
To which Lord Shiva simply, placed one foot in the ocean. He drew a chakra on the waves with his right toe, which flashed like the lightning and rotated on the water at great speed. “Pick up that chakra, Jalandhara” said Lord Shiva, “I shall fight with you only if you are able to lift it from the water.” Seeing this as no big deal, Jalandhara and bent down to pick up the chakra, being strong he was able to lift it, but unknown to him, Lord Vishnu appeared before Vrinda in the guise of Jalandhara, to deceive Vrinda, who stopped praying to Lord Vishnu and stood up to greet him.
This stopping of her prayers meant that Jalandhara was protected no longer. And due to the chakra cut his body into two.There is another version that says that when Vrinda stopped her prayers, seeing her ‘husband’ in front of her, It was at that minute at the battlefield between Lord Shiva and the real Jalandhara that Lord Shiva stabbed Jalandhara straight in the chest with his trishul. Without her wife’s prayer to protect him, the weapon pierced into his body, killing Jalandhara then and there.
Vrinda was extremely angry and hurt and cursed Lord Vishnu, saying ‘I believed you and you let me down.I loved my husband and you cheated me. You stood like a stone, while my husband was dying in the battle, for this I curse you that you will be trapped in a stone and will be separated from your wife.’
Lord Vishnu nodded his head in a melancholy manner. ‘I accept your curse, Vrinda, but remember, it was also your duty to stop your husband, when he did wrong. Your husband was behaving arrogantly and hurting others, he went to the extent of going to asking Lord Shiva to give up Goddess Parvathi! I had no other option, as I could not let down a devotee who prayed as earnestly as you did. So your husband, for whose safety you prayed, remained unharmed. At the same time, I could not let down Indra or the devas, who also prayed to me to protect them from your husband. Besides, I could not allow Jalandhara to create such havoc on heaven and earth. So I had to interrupt your prayer somehow. And this was the only way”
“You cheated me” said Vrinda again.
“No mortal can live forever” said Lord Vishnu. “Jalandhara has already lived his life. And because he was vanquished by Lord Shiva himself, Jalandhara will enjoy a special place in heaven. Do not grieve for him, Vrinda. It’s the best thing that could have happened to him.”
As Vrinda prepared to die on Jalandhara’s funeral pyre; Lord Vishnu said, “Vrinda, you are one of my best and truest devotees. I bless you that henceforth you will remain an integral part of my worship. Anyone who worships me will remember you too” After Vrinda’s body was demolished in the funeral pyre, a beautiful and aromatic plant sprang up from her ashes. It was the Tulsi plant. Tulsi leaves have been an essential ingredient for the worship of Lord Vishnu ever since.
Due to the curse, it is believed that the spirit of Lord Vishnu was captured in the stones near the river Gomti/Gandaki called as ‘Shaligram’. These stones are considered as sacred because they are representations of Lord Vishnu.
Shaligram and Tulsi are worshipped together and only then the prayers are answered.
By: Archa Dave
