NAVARAATHRI SPECIAL SERIES #6 Kaathyaayani

While life is going all good on Mount Kailash with Shiva’s family, it’s quite a different story for the demigods in heaven. There was a demon-king called Mahishaasura with a buffalo head (and a buffalo attitude) who received indomitable powers after an intense penance of several years. Power intoxicated him and with great arrogance he started disturbing the sages in their holy rituals. His impudence led him to defeat the demigod chief, Indra and conquered heaven. When the demigods had sought Vishnu in their distress, he and at his suggestion, Shiva, Brahma and the other gods, emitted such flames from their eyes and countenances that a mountain of effulgence was formed, from which Kaathyaayani became manifest.
Kaathyaayani was then born to a sage called Kaathyaayana. This sage Kaathyaayana practiced austere penance for several years in order to get the Mother Goddess propitiated. He cherished a keen desire in his heart to have the goddess in the form of his daughter. The mother was pleased to accede to his request and so, as Kaathyaayani, she was born as his daughter.
Such a father sage Kaathyaayana is, that he allows his daughter to take up martial arts and weaponry from a very young age. He is definitely not worried that his daughter might turn out to be a ‘manly’ woman or a ‘tomboy’ due to her passion in the arts of sword-fighting and self-defence, which are typically deemed as a ‘boys’ thing’. His confidence in Kaathyaayani’s courage is remarkable; at one point of time in her childhood, he has to remind Kaathyaayani to be gentle while playing with her pet lions!
Parents should learn an important lesson here, that it is unwise to suppress and repress your child’s inherent talents, even if you feel his/her talents are out of place or not suitable. All those who have succeeded in their fields are those who had sharpened their talents, uncurbed by any circumstances.
As Kaathyaayani grows up, the support and encouragement she received from others are also noteworthy. Shiva gave her his trident, Vishnu his Sudarshana chakra (discus), Varuna his conch-shell, Agni his dart, Vayu his bow, Surya his quiver full of arrows, Indra his thunderbolt, Kubera his mace, Yama his shield and sword, Vishvakarma his battle-axe and other weapons. It is very heartening to Kaathyaayani to receive all these support, supplements and complements from all these male gods.
Rare is an incident where a growing individual, especially a girl, receives all the positive help and support from everyone around her, especially the key-individuals around her. Her parents, her friends, her relatives, her neighbours, her classmates etc. – if all of them could support her in her direction of pursuit, what we would get is a Kaathyaayani-type woman. Instead of looking down at her as ‘being too ambitious for a girl’, a positive feedback or even constructive criticism, can go a long way. Let it be any kind of sports or arts or any field of career, try to support her and if not, at least don’t discourage her or put her down.
All these support put together with her already-existing self-effort will finally bring ultimate good for the society itself. The advances they make in their respective fields or even the revolutions that they lead for social causes will end up bringing the best for everyone in the society.
Thus armed and adored by the gods, Kaathyaayani proceeded to the hills. There, the demons saw her and captivated by her beauty, they so described her to Mahishaasura, their king, that he was anxious to obtain her. On asking for her hand, she told him she must be won in fight. We will look at the climax of this story on the last day of Navaraathri. (Even Indian TV Serials end up with a suspense, you see, so don’t blame us