Rahu in Mythology

Mythology – The Story of Rahu and Ketu

As per the mythology, Rahu was born from the semen of a great Saint Viprachitti and womb of a demoness Simhika. (Om Saiṁhikeyāya Namaḥ). Simhika was the daughter of Demon King Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu was the father of Prahlad and was killed by Lord Narsimha, Avtaar of Lord Vishnu.

Simhi means a lioness and lion symbolize rulership which is to rule the society and even to control life and death. Being a born out of union of Demon and Divine, Rahu has duality in his action. Lion has the responsibility to protect his family and people. People have belief that the by worshipping Goddess Durga, who rides on a lion, negative effects of Rahu can be controlled. But I am of the opinion, no one can control Rahu. Rahu can only be pleased but cannot be controlled. Why that, will discuss as we proceed further.

 

There are several brothers to Rahu and they are Salya, Nabha, Vaataapi, Ilvala and Namuchi and one sister Maahishmati. It is also believed that Rahu is the eldest of the 100 brothers. This may be the reason that he is the lord of Nakshtara Shatbisha which means 100.  

Demon and Dev are two sides of coin and struggle will always be there. During Puranik yuga, there constant wars between them. Demons always used to win as Guru Shukracharya had the Mritha Sanjivini power. It was granted to him by Lord Shiva as a fruit of his penance and propitiating. So Guru Shukracharya with the power of Mritha Sanjivini used to resurrect the dead, back to life.  In this way, each Asura who was killed in the war by the Devas, was brought back to life by this mantra. Thus, this ensured constant defeat for the Devas and the Asuras continued to rule the heavens. Shukracharya is Shukaranu which means semons and that is the reason for birth.

Due to the powers of this Vidya, Asurguru Shukaracharya could revive the demons killed in war but Dev could not be revived and it tilted the balance in favour of Demons and Dev got outnumbered and Dev King Indira lost his kingdom. He approached Lord Vishnu for help and protection. Lord Vishnu advised them to perform Samundra Mantha, Churning of ocean to attain Nector(Amrit) consuming which would make them immortal. Churning of ocean was impossible for Dev alone so they required the help of Demons. This story is called the Samudra Manthana, literally the churning of the ocean.

Lord Indra went to heavens and proposed to Demons that Devas and Demons should never wage war against each other, for a long-lasting peace. He also requested their help in churning the ocean of milk and the power of consuming the Amrit. Demons agreed to their proposal and interestingly both Dev and Demons had the idea that once the churning is over and the Amrit is obtained, they will control the same. So, a deceitful alliance of Devas with demons was made with neither party had any intention of sharing the nectar but postponing the fight until the nectar emerged.

For Churning the ocean of Milk, Mount Meru was used as the churner and the Great Naga, Vaasuki, King of Serpents and the Lord Vishnu’s bed was used as the churning rope. Lord Vishnu took the form of Koorma (Tortoise) and held the Mount Meru on its back to support and avoid slipping.

Demons chose the head side to hold the rope, head of Vaasuki, as they felt it is more prestigious due to ego. However, as Lord Vishnu advised Devas to remain by the tail side of Vaasuki to avoid the poison emerging out of Vaasuki’s mouth.

Remember that God never wanted to destroy the Demons or evils but just want them to remain in control. Good and evil both should co-exist for Karmas and choices, to differentiate those who can control the evil in them and can perform their duties.

As the churning continued for several years, the first thing came out was poison (Halahal) which could destroy all the creations. Lord Shiva consumed that poison but Devi Parvati blocked his neck by pressing it so, the poison did not enter Lord Shiva’s stomach. Poison stayed in his throat and his neck began turning blue, thus, he came to be known as Neelakantha (the one with a blue throat).

Churning resulted in emerging of items Kamdhenu or divine cow, Apsara (angels), divine horse (Uchhaishravas), divine elephant (Airavata), Varuni (half-angel half-demoness), Kaustubha (divine necklace), Parijata (divine blossom tree with flowers), kalpaka vrikshah (another divine tree), Shankh  (Vishnu’s conch), Tulsi plant (Basil) etc. All these items were divided by both. Finally, Goddess Lakshmi emerged out of the ocean and she accepted Vishnu as her Lord.

After several years of churning, in the Ashwayuja Month, Krishna Paksha  Dwaadhashi (dark fortnight 12th day), Lord Vishnu himself incarnated as Lord Dhanvantari (the divine  physician) and emerged out of the milk ocean with a Golden Amrit pot in his front right hand.

After a fierce fight between Devas and Demons to take control of Nectar, Lord Garuda, divine and most powerful bird, flew with nectar. Lord Vishnu disguised himself as Mohini, the most entrancing female form, came in front of them and all lost their sense of wellbeing. Mohini became as mediator and offered to distribute nectar amongst them. Mohini had them line up, the Devas first and then the Demon.

One of the Demon, Svarbhanu who could break the illusion created by Mohini, realized that something is going wrong. He silently slipped sides and sat in between Surya(Sun) and Chandra(Moon) disguised as a Deva. The Devas did not realize it, nor the Mohini who went about distributing Nectar.  SvarBhanu received his dose of the Amrit and drank it quickly, Surya and Chandra suddenly looked on their side and were able to make out that it is a Demon disguised as Deva and informed Mohini.

Lord Vishnu quickly changed her form from Mohini to Lord Vishnu and threw his Sudarshana chakra that cut off SvarBhanu’s neck, but, since he had already drank the nectar, he did not die.

Lord Brahma made SvarBhanu’s head and body join with a snake, thus, the head joined a snake’s body, came to be known as Rahu and the snake’s head joined with SvarBhanu’s body, came to be known as Ketu. Lord Brahma, granted Rahu and Ketu a boon for accepting this new form, a place amidst the planets, the Navagraha. Rahu and Ketu were also given the responsibility to influence the lives of the humans on Earth. Rahu and Ketu hold a grudge against Surya and Chandra and continue endlessly to eclipse the Sun and the Moon.

Rahu Ketu are considered to be great enemies of the Sun and the Moon because they complained to Lord Vishnu against him. Rahu and Ketu symbolically swallow the two luminaries during the eclipses. Capacity of Rahu and Ketu to darken the Sun and the Moon make them the most powerful influences in the Zodiac. The Sun, King of Solar System and   the Moon which controls life on earth, are obscured by Rahu Ketu during eclipses. Rahu Ketu represent Cosmic Law which everyone including the Sun and the Moon have to obey.

This complete episode is the crux of Rahu and Ketu and the realities of life. Rahu is not disillusioned by any illusion but it can cause illusion to even God. It is immortal and can even eclipse the luminaries and so even the luminaries means those in power can make mistakes and their credibility can be in question. Rahu and Ketu can even put allegation to Kings. Rahu does not forgive the revenges or grudges. Rahu does not have Body so his greed is endless whereas Ketu does not have head so cannot think, cannot think differentiate and give the output as per Karams. Ketu give results based on the Karmik accounts. Rahu represent your ideas and egoistic tendencies whereas Ketu represents mistakes as well as surrender and spirituality.

There is always a fight between evils and good in our life. For search of eternal truth, we require to churn ourself with our physical body as Mount Meru, our efforts as Snake Vasuki, Lord Koorma as support from God. Our evils and good efforts produce the terrible poison as first product which has to be swallowed before we progress further for nectar. So don’t expect the nectar initially. Various gains will be made before the nectar comes and if we stop churning, we will never be able to get nectar. Nectar or immorality which may not be in physical body but your name, fame and reputation immorality will come only after a long struggle.

If we try to decode the deeper meaning behind this ‘myth’ which our Rishis have hidden behind various layers so that only knowledgeable can understand. The churning of the ocean represents the spiritual purification process. As the awareness of a spiritual seeker deepens, the deeper unconscious layers of the mind (the ocean) reveal themselves in the form of a million insights. These insights are shown in this myth as gifts hidden in the bottom of the ocean. As we go very deep, we come upon a place in the deepest layers of the mind where a nectar like substance is revealed. This substance is nothing but our true ‘Self’ or the ‘atman’. Anyone who drinks at this sacred hidden fount of immortality becomes Self-realized or immortal. He realizes that only the body perishes not the real ‘Self’. Such a man becomes a god because so many hidden powers of the deeper mind awaken in him.

There is reference to the demon or the serpent here. It means there is a hidden power (kundalini shakti) in man which is latent in most people. This latent energy can only be awakened with tremendous efforts (churning of the ocean). Both the gods and the demons who want power only for their personal gain, seek to awaken this power. The God has designed the plan in such a way that only the deserving souls get to drink the nectar of Self-realization and not the demons.