Chapter 3, Are Indians' Brains Filled with Masala?
"Fugitives, why do you have no faith in the gods?"
"We have never seen any miracles. When we needed them, did Vishnu and Shiva protect us? Daksha forces us to believe in something that doesn't exist, just to maintain his rule!"
"Heh. Then who protected you from the pursuit just now?"
Faced with Shiva's question, the refugees looked at each other, pondering the question.
"It was the stone! It was the stone that saved us!"
Someone suddenly shouted, and immediately all the refugees echoed in agreement. They kowtowed several times to the ground, gazing with deep reverence at the pile of rubble.
Seeing this, Shiva almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
These Indian refugees, not only are their brains filled with Masala, but their ears are also filled with filth, they can't even understand human language.
He continued, troubled, "You did indeed use stones to drive away the pursuing soldiers. But who gave you these stones?"
The refugees fell into deep thought again at Shiva's second question.
"Nature! Nature gave birth to these stones; they are weapons given to us by nature!"
Someone shouted again, and all the refugees looked up at the sky and bowed three times to the blue sky.
To be honest, Shiva really had the urge to play the Great Compassion Mantra on the spot and sway to the music. But what these refugees said wasn't entirely wrong in a sense.
Shiva didn't want to deal with these bastards and headed north to continue his journey in the other world.
...
Daksha, who had severed ties with his sons, received news that the soldiers had been driven away by the refugees with stones, and he was both angry and frustrated.
He was, after all, a noble god second only to the Trinity; now his sons were gone, his prestige was gone, and this was all he could do. He had originally planned to raise his sons, assign them to manage various corners of the world, and then live a peaceful life as an emperor emeritus. Now, his plans were completely ruined.
Daksha secluded himself in his room for three whole days, finally coming up with a brilliant, albeit bald, idea.
His sons were gone, but he still had his daughters!
A son-in-law is like half a son; there's always a way to overcome difficulties.
"Marriage alliances! We must form powerful marriage alliances!"
Daksha found seven highly respected immortals and married his eight daughters to them. Among them, the most handsome moon god married two at once.
"Narata, it's no use trying to abduct my sons to cultivate asceticism! Even if my sons are gone, I still have my daughters. Even if my nephews are gone, my nieces will have descendants. The descendants are endless; you can't abduct them all!"
Daksha held grand weddings for his daughters and sons-in-law. Thanks to the marriage alliances with the seven immortals, his territory prospered. 1
One night, while Daksha was sleeping, his soul seemed to float away from his body, ascending to the heavens beyond the mortal realm, to the realm of Brahma, a place isolated from the human world.
Brahma had been waiting there for a long time.
Sensing his father's immense divine power, Daksha panicked: "Father, you don't blame me for not offering you tribute all these years, do you?"
"How could I, my dear son? If I truly blamed you, would you still be alive today?"
"Then why did you suddenly summon me here?"
"It's like this. When I created the world, I encountered some trouble, so I asked Shiva for help. He separated the Divine Self and the Self-Nature. The Divine Self retained its masculine form, while the Self-Nature transformed into the goddess Sakti to assist me in creation. Now that the world is stable, Shiva must reunite with Sakti to return to wholeness and maintain the balance of the world."
"Sakti...Sakti?" Daksha took a step back in fright.
Daksha thought it was bizarre enough that his father, Brahma, gave birth to a son from his finger, but Shiva's methods were even more outlandish.
"Holy crap, is this the world of the powerful Triads?"
"While not entirely accurate, you can think of it this way. I summoned you here so that you could find the goddess Sakti through rigorous asceticism."
"Yes, Father!"
Brahma nodded in satisfaction. He flicked his finger, and Daksha's soul returned to his body.
The next morning, Daksha entrusted the management of his territory to the Seven Sages and went to a tree thousands of miles away to begin his ascetic practice.
Asceticism didn't require any high-level acrobatics; it simply involved sitting quietly in the wild, enduring the wind and rain. It wasn't a test of skill, but of perseverance.
Asceticism possessed immense power, which even the Triads couldn't easily ignore. Therefore, Brahma ordered his son to attempt to summon the goddess Sakti through asceticism.
Daksha had only been meditating with his eyes closed for a few days when he heard singing and music.
"Narayana, Narayana. Narayana, Narayana. Isn't this Daksha, Narayana's master? Why are you meditating in Narayana? Didn't you sever ties with your son because of this? Why are you secretly meditating in Narayana now?"
Without opening his eyes, Daksha could recognize the voice as Narada's.
This fellow always liked to sing while others were meditating.
If distractions broke his meditative state, all his efforts would be in vain. If it weren't for his mission to Brahma, Daksha would have loved to slap Narada away.
Narada sang for three days and three nights. Seeing that Daksha ignored him, Narada grew bored and continued chanting until his voice soon disappeared.
Countless storms and sunrises and sunsets have passed, yet the goddess Sakti has yet to appear.
Vishnu and Brahma, who have been watching over the world, are growing impatient. Sakti represents Shiva's sensual and feminine side; if Shiva cannot unite with Sakti to become whole, he will remain trapped in a state of rejection.
Rejection means abandoning all bonds and seeking liberation. The three principalities (Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma) each have the responsibilities of creation, protection, and destruction, none of which can be neglected.
Perhaps no problems will arise in the short term, but when the world suffers an irreparable error, Shiva must perform the dance of destruction to restart the world.
Shiva is like the world's medical insurance; it can be omitted, but it cannot be without.
"It seems I have no choice but to intervene," Brahma resolved, and commanded his four heads to recite the Vedas.
Shiva is the lord of knowledge, the transmitter and protector of the Vedas; reciting the Vedas might gain the attention of the rejected Shiva and the goddess Sakti.
Brahma's chanting of the Vedas resounded throughout the universe, and Shiva naturally heard it as well.
"That old man, ugly as he is, sings quite well, his voice is like curry mixed into his vocal cords, almost demonic."
Although Shiva didn't understand a single word, he felt the sound flowing into his body through his ears, making him feel warm all over.
However, this warm feeling didn't last long. A sudden noise assaulted him, making Shiva restless and agitated. Like the tightening spell on Sun Wukong, it gave Shiva a terrible headache.
Because Brahma, seeing that chanting the Vedas hadn't summoned the goddess Sakti, began to curse the Vedas with his fifth head to attract Sakti's attention.
"Arminus Veda. Idgrami Shiva..."
As the protector of the Vedas, Shiva was naturally extremely agitated by this cursing.
"Dare to swear? Take this!"
Shiva raised his trident and hurled it into the sky.
The trident was imbued with divine power, guaranteeing a hit wherever it was thrown; even Brahma could not dodge it.
Brahma's fifth head, which had cursed the Vedas, exploded into a pool of blood mist in an instant.
Vishnu, sensing Shiva's divine power at the same time, traversed time and space to arrive.
"Shiva, as the god of destruction, can't you control your emotions?"
"Sorry, it was an accident..." As a triad, basic manners were still necessary.
Actually, he had already given Brahma enough face. If it weren't for the dignity and face of the triad, would he even need the trident?
He would have smashed your skull with a linga!
Hearing Shiva's inner thoughts, Vishnu's expression became awkward. Shiva is indeed not to be trifled with. Next time something like this happens, Brahma will have to play the bad cop. He has plenty of heads, he can withstand a headshot.
Just as the two gods were conversing, a woman shimmering with golden light tore through space and appeared. From the light and shadow, an incredibly graceful figure could be vaguely seen.
"The goddess Sakti?"