The Story of Tripurantaka

Tarakasura was stunned to see the little but extremely powerful child-warrior fight in the battle. He stared unmoving as the tiny arms wielded heavy weaponry with ease. The boy swung the sword left and right, blocking attacks as if he had been doing it for years. In an instant, he would switch from his sword to his vel which appeared to form a gigantic discus as he swung it around with amazing speed, defending and attacking many warriors simultaneously. 

Tarakasura just watched, unable to move a single muscle. He could see Yama, the God of Death, approach him from a distance. And yet he stood, unmoving and mesmerised at the outstanding battle antics of 6-year-old Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and Parvati.

His eyes met those of the boy which seemed to twinkle meaningfully at him. What he had thought would never happen was taking place right before his eyes. He had arrogantly assumed he would never die. He recalled the day when Brahma granted him his boon. 

After years of severe penance, Brahma appeared before Taraka and asked, “What is it that you seek?”

“I want to be immortal.”

Brahma smiled at the asura and said, “You know I cannot give that boon to anyone. Are you just trying your luck? Ask me anything else, and I will happily grant it.”

Taraka was ready for this because he knew he would never get immortality if sought directly. He would ask for the next best thing, something he had decided even before starting his penance. Taraka was a devotee of Shiva, the Lord of Mount Kailash, who along with Vishnu, the Preserver, and Brahma, the Creator formed the Trinity who kept the cosmic cycle moving unendingly. Shiva was the destroyer. 

He knew that Shiva’s wife Shakti had immolated herself in her father, Lord Daksha’s, yagna fire recently. She had done so in protest against the humiliation meted out to her husband by her arrogant father. In a livid rage, Shiva sent his large army and laid Daksha’s kingdom to ashes. But Shakti was lost forever. Shiva’s anger turned to unmitigated agony. He vowed never to marry again, and he exiled himself into the wilderness.

Taraka was aware of all this. He turned to Brahma and said, “Then, grant me the boon that I will die only at the hands of Shiva and Shakti’s son.”

Brahma acceded to the request and said, “Tathastu.” This is exactly what he and Vishnu had hoped for. It was the only way to get Shiva out of his self-exile so that the cosmos can continue its endless cycles. He allowed Taraka to believe that he had escaped death forever.

Emboldened with the boon, Tarakasura ravaged Devaloka along with his brothers Simhamukham and Surapadman. He knew no one there could kill him. He and his large army of asuras chased away the devas along with King Indra, the king of Devas who fled their heavenly abodes in terror. Tarakasura was the lord of the three worlds. He reigned for a long, long time. He had three sons Tarakaksha, Vidyunmāli and Kamalaksha who were together known as Tripurasura. 

Expectedly, Taraka’s arrogance increased with his increasing dominion, power, and strength. He forgot kindness and compassion. Evil filled his heart and mind. His children learned the same behaviour thinking this was the right way to live. 

Today, as he stood in front of Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and Parvati, the one he thought would never be born, all his arrogance and vanity vanished, exposing his gentle soul. Yama came closer, and in an instant merged into Kartikeya’s vel. Just before the weapon’s tip hit Tarakasura’s heart, the light of enlightenment filled his soul. He was ready to merge with the Trinity.  

As he lay on his deathbed, mayhem ruled the asura army. All the asuras fled in fear as they saw their mighty leader fall to his death. A few trusted generals escaped with Tarakaksha, Vidyunmāli and Kamalaksha to safety. The sons wanted to claim their father’s dead body. But the generals forbade them, telling them a day will come when their father’s death can be avenged. 

Taraka lay on the bloody battlefield, his breathing laboured, waiting for Yama to release him from the pangs of suffering. The devas danced around his body, mocking him relentlessly. By this time, Taraka had achieved enlightenment and he could see the foolhardiness that was once his, now belonged to the ridiculing devas. He bore the brunt of insults calmly and without rancour. He deserved everything they said, he thought to himself. 

Just then, Shiva and Kartikeya came there. Shiva addressed the devas angrily, “Your karmic pot is just about beginning to reduce. Give up your unruly, immoral behaviour before the pot begins to overflow again too soon for your good. Go away from here and give him the dignity he deserves in death.” 

Taraka tried to stand up and prostrate before his redeemer and his God. But he couldn't lift a finger. Seeing the struggle, Shiva went close to him and touched his chest. The pain vanished and Taraka’s eyes were filled with repentance and gratitude. 

Kartikeya also approached the slain asura and said, “Do you have any last wish?”

“Yes, my lord. Grant me a boon such that I am never separated from you.”

“Tathastu,” replied the child-god. Taraka was released from his birth, and he became a rooster and sat on the flag of Kartikeya for eternity.

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Taraka looked in fright as chaos unfolded in the universe when Tripura, his sons’ three powerful kingdoms came crashing down with just one arrow that pierced right through their centres. Taraka, as the rooster on Kartikeya’s flag, let out a deep cry of anguish as he saw his sons fall to their deaths. 

Even though he was released from his karmic cycle, the residual attachment towards his sons was waiting to be released from his soul. And the sight of his sons’ fall of death was the trigger to finally be free of these final burdens of attachment.

In that moment, however, he felt a flood of overwhelming paternal agony drown his heart. He turned towards Kartikeya and said in grief-laden fury, “You could have helped me stop this mayhem. I found enlightenment just before my death. I could have easily passed on that wisdom to my sons and prevented them from the suffering brought on by limitless greed and desire.”

Kartikeya smiled at his rooster and said, “You were ready as a teacher, Taraka. Your sons were not ready to learn. Their karmic effects had to end before they were ready to imbibe the ultimate wisdom. Now, let us go to my father, Shiva, because he is better at giving you the right counsel.”

The two of them went to Shiva who was looking at the same mayhem. Shiva saw Kartikeya and Taraka approach him. He knew Taraka was upset at the death of his sons. He smiled at him and hugged him, giving him the warmth needed to overcome the coldness of grief. 

Taraka began sobbing uncontrollably. “You knew this would happen. Still, you did nothing to stop it. I could’ve handed over at least a few of the lessons I learned on greed and arrogance so that they could’ve been saved from this horrible death,” he cried piteously. Shiva said nothing but kept the crying father bound in his loving hug. When Tarakas’s grief reduced somewhat, Shiva let him go and said, “Look at me, Taraka. Do you know I am?”

“Who doesn't know you? You are one of the Trinities!”

“What is my role in this cosmos?”

Perplexed at Shiva’s tangential questions, Taraka brought his focus back to the present and replied, “Why are you asking me all this? You already know you are the destroyer, while Brahma is the Creator, and Vishnu is the preserver.”

“What do you think I destroy?”

“All evil things!”

“Do you believe your sons are evil?”

Taraka stood stunned at this question. He was speechless for a while. Shiva smiled and asked again, “Do you believe your sons are evil?”

Taraka answered, his voice choked with emotions, “No, No! They only love their father. They did everything to exact revenge for my death. They thought I died unfairly. So, they did severe penance and obtained three tremendous life-preserving boons from Brahma as obviously, he couldn't grant them the boon of immortality.”

He continued, “Brahma gave them three kingdoms collectively known as Tripura. With the power of Brahma’s boon, my sons built three celestial cities of gold, silver, and iron that were so powerfully secure and unimaginably rich that nothing and no one in the universe could even touch them.”

“Tripura was resplendent, to say the least. Each kingdom was filled with splendid mansions whose walls and floors glittered with rubies, emeralds, and other precious gems. The subjects lived happily, wanting nothing. Prosperity and materialistic luxuries were found in abundance. Even Mother Nature endowed the three magical cities with her beauty. Majestic mountains, overflowing rivers, dense, wonderful jungles filled with exotic flora and flora, unending stretches of cultivable land that looked refreshingly green during harvest seasons; there was nothing that Tripura lacked. My sons’ subjects lived happy lives.”

“Powered by these unassailable cities, my sons battled against the devas and took over their kingdoms. As Indra, the King of the Devas, was unseated from his throne, my sons believed they had exacted revenge for my death. They lived happily for a thousand years, and with each passing year, they become stronger and more powerful than before.”

“Then, what happened, Taraka?”

Taraka closed his eyes and was lost in his imagination, recalling the wondrous days of his sons’ thousand-year lives. They felt so secure and happy thinking that their lives would never end. He thought about how much he wanted to reach out to them and tell them that everything is a cycle, and what goes up has to come down one day. 

But his sons were so caught up in their materialistic pleasures that they were deaf to everything except to lessons on how to increase their power and dominion. Soon, their desire and greed drove them to commit atrocities, and while their riches grew in leaps and bounds, their souls shrunk. 

They became drunk on their power and their passion, ego, and arrogance knew no bounds. They lived immoral, unethical lives which only enhanced the strength of their arrogance and power. And then it was time, Taraka thought sadly.

“Oh Shiva, you knew when it would be time, didn't you?”

Shiva nodded, his face filled with sadness for the repentant man. “Yes, I am always ready for that opportune, perfect moment when I can slay the three demons of passion, ego, and arrogance together. Remember your sons’ boon one more time. What did they specifically ask for?”

Taraka thought back for a while and said, “They wanted floating cities in such a way that the three of them will be aligned in a straight line only once in a 1000 years, and that too for just an instant. And only in that instantaneous moment can they meet with death! Oh, dear! They were so vain that they thought it would be impossible to kill all of them in one instant, and that they would be immortal! How foolishly they thought! They didn't realise they were up against the strength of the Trinity!”

Taraka fell to the ground, and fresh, pitiful sobs raked his body.

Shiva knelt down beside Taraka and said, “Yes, we made a chariot from the strength of Mother Earth, the wheels were the sun and the moon, Brahma was my charioteer, my bow was made with the stony strength of Mount Meru, the bowstring was Vasuki, the god of snakes filled with potent poison, and the arrow was Vishnu, the preserver.”

Shiva continued, “I was the one who wielded the bow at that perfect instant when the three illusionary cities aligned together. Only one instant is needed to break the combined strength of three powerful vices. In that one instant, Tarakaksha, Vidyunmāli and Kamalaksha were released from the entrapments of anger, pride, and delusion. They were able to see the wisdom and rise above mere existence and find enlightenment. They are now ready to join us in Mount Kailash forever as my Ganas.” 

Shiva gently lifted a comforted Taraka and helped him stand up. “By the way, do you believe you died unfairly, Taraka?”

“No, I don't think so now. I just paid the price for my wrongdoings, and I deserve the pain I got. Also, now I am very happy in this place because I know I belong here, with you and Kartikeya. I feel cleansed and pure.”

“So how do you explain your “wrongdoings” as you call them, Taraka,” asked Shiva. 

“I just got carried away with my greed. I allowed my arrogance to rule over my life.”

“So, who died when you got killed?”

A flash of spark lit Taraka’s eyes and he knew the answer. The minute he knew the answer, his eyes dried up, and he was free from attachment. 

Shiva smiled widely, “You always knew the answer. But your attachment to your world from which ignorance arises hid these answers from you. The same thing is true for your sons. They already knew their desire for exacting revenge is not correct. But their attachment to the materialistic world did not let them see this wisdom. Instead, their attachment powered their pride, anger, and delusion, driving them further away from the divine. We just waited for the right moment when the three vices aligned themselves together to strike at their roots and uproot them forever.”

Taraka fell at Shiva’s feet and said, “You do not destroy evil people. You only destroy evil ideas, thoughts, and emotions so that people are free from their shackles. You are Tripurantaka, the destroyer of three vices; pride, anger, and delusion.”