Why Lord Shiva Destroyed Tripurasura ?

There came a time when Mahadev himself had to kill his own devotees. He did not want this but to protect the religion he had to destroy all three invincible cities with a single divine arrow. But what happened that Lord Shiva, the ocean of compassion, became the destroyer of his own devotees and how did he come to be known as Tripurantaka? This story begins from the moment when Lord Kartikeya, son of Lord Shiva, killed the mighty demon Tarakasura in a fierce battle. A chapter ended with that war. But at that very moment a story was born that changed the fate of the entire universe. Tarakakasura’s three sons Vidyun Mali, Tarakaksh and Kamalaksh lost everything in a single moment. His father’s shadow had disappeared from his head. His vast empire was destroyed and the future was shrouded in complete darkness. At that moment, there were two paths before him. Retribution or penance. But instead of burning in the fire of revenge, he chose the path of penance. In a cave on Mount Meru, the three brothers started performing severe penance to please Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. The penance was so severe that he continued to meditate amidst fire in the scorching heat. He endured heavy rains during the rainy season without getting distracted. And remained stuck in wet clothes in the harsh winter. For years he gave up food and water and survived only on air. Even heaven itself trembled due to his severe penance. Finally, pleased with his devotion, Lord Brahma appeared before him. O Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, please grant us the boon of immortality and grant us such a boon that we may never meet the same end as the gods did to our father. No god can kill us. But going against the laws of creation, Lord Brahma could not give him the boon of immortality. When Lord Brahma refused to grant the boon of immortality, the three brothers changed their strategy. He asked for the boon of three divine cities which would be located in three different worlds and would be almost invincible. Tarakaksha asked for the boon of a divine city made of pure gold. Kamalaksha wished for a wonderful city made of smooth silver and Vidyun Mali asked for a huge impenetrable city made of iron. But the biggest condition of his boon was that the destruction of these three cities would be possible only when all three of them came in a straight line and this could happen only once in 1000 years. Even in that rare moment, their end was possible only if a single arrow of Lord Shiva pierced all three cities simultaneously. All three brothers were great devotees of Lord Shiva. He had full faith that Mahadev would never take up arms against his own devotees and with this boon from Brahma, he felt that now no one in this universe could harm him. In this way he made himself almost invincible. Brahmadev accepted his prayer. Then he called the divine architect Mayasura and ordered the construction of those three divine cities. Within a short time, three wonderful cities came into existence in all the three worlds of the universe and these three cities together were called Tripura. Those three cities were so grand that even the gods themselves became jealous of them. For some time, Tripura was no less than a paradise. His three cities had become unique examples of beauty, grandeur and prosperity. The people of Tripura were religious. There were yagnas, havans and prayers everywhere. His life was full of devotion, truth and virtue. The sweet music of the Gandharvas kept resonating in the entire atmosphere. Apsaras graced every festival with their enchanting dance and every house in Tripura had a temple of Lord Shiva where he was worshipped with reverence and devotion every day. The sacred fire of the yajna was burning everywhere. Hey, Shri Muni remained engrossed in the worship of Mahadev while chanting Vedic mantras, as if the light of religion and devotion had spread throughout Tripura. The three Asura brothers ruled their kingdom with wisdom, justice and righteousness. Under his rule, Tripura reached new heights of prosperity and grandeur, but the perfection did not last long. Gradually, success gave rise to ego within him and this ego started tilting the balance of the entire universe in favour of the demons. This made the gods extremely worried. He knew very well that only Mahadev could destroy Tripura. But they also knew that all three demons were great devotees of Mahadev and Mahadev would never raise weapons against his own devotees. Seeing this, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and all the gods together made a plan. For their plan, the gods sent Devarshi Narada, the mental son of Brahmadev, to Tripura. But this time his aim was not to give the message of devotion but to change the fate of Tripura. Devarshi Narada gradually started bringing about a change in the minds of the three demon brothers. With time, his mind started moving away from devotion to Mahadev and the words of Narada started penetrating deep into his heart. Gradually this idea reached Vidyun Mali also. Narada’s words sowed seeds of doubt in his mind and the plan of the gods started showing its effect. Brothers, we have been worshipping the gods for years. Would it be right to leave them now? We are not abandoning them. We ourselves are going to become like them. Gradually, the prosperity of Tripura started turning into luxury. Devotion to Mahadev was replaced by pride, ego and pride of power. The sacred fires of yagya and havan started extinguishing. The temples of Mahadev became deserted and the Aashi sages who protected the religion started being tortured. Within no time, the darkness of unrighteousness started spreading throughout Tripura. The demons of Tripura had strayed from the devotion of Mahadev. The gods’ plan had been completely successful and now the time of their end was near. Then Lord Brahma and all the gods reached Mahadev. He prayed to put an end to the growing arrogance of the demons of Tripura. But Mahadev was in deep dilemma. Those demons had been his ardent devotees for many years. It was very difficult for him to accept that the same devotees had now strayed from the path of devotion and religion. Oh Mahadev. Too much power has now reached the wrong hands. Now the time has come for you to restore the cosmic balance by protecting Dharma. Ultimately Mahadev agreed to protect the religion. He ordered Lord Brahma to prepare a divine bow and chariot. Hearing this, all the gods were filled with joy and together they started creating such a divine weapon which the universe had never seen before. The construction of that wonderful divine chariot began. First, the earth itself was established as its vast and unshakable base. Then the Sun God himself became the right wheel of that divine chariot and the Moon God was established as its left wheel. Then the four Vedas themselves appeared in the form of divine white horses and started moving that chariot. After this, Mount Meru itself transformed into a huge divine bow for Mahadev. Then the great serpent Vasuki himself assumed the form of the string of that divine bow. In this way the creation of Mahadev’s divine bow Pinaka was completed. Lord Vishnu himself took the form of that divine arrow. While Lord Brahma became the charioteer of that divine chariot. Now everything was ready for Mahadev’s departure. Mahadev picked up Pinaka in his hands. All the gods stood still waiting. It was as if the entire universe was holding its breath waiting for that one moment, that one rare coincidence. Mahadev was calmly waiting for that rare moment. When Tripura is completely aligned and as soon as the three cities of Tripura are aligned, Mahadeva releases his divine arrow without losing a single moment. That divine arrow of Mahadev pierced all three cities in a single moment. In no time, the city of gold, silver and iron was engulfed in fierce flames. With that, Tripura was destroyed and the empire of the demons ended forever. The gods broke out into celebrations of victory. There was joy and cheering all around. Dharma and balance had been re-established in the universe. But Mahadev did not even look at that festival once. He calmly turned and walked away. Om Namah Shivay.