How lord Vishnu became Shaligram and Married Tulsi
once there was a demon called Shankhachuda. he was born
to the demon king ‘Dambha’. Shankhachuda was in fact, Sudama, in his previous life. He was born in the family of demons
due to the curse of Radha.
When Shankhachuda grew
up, he went to Pushkar (Ajmer, Rajasthan) and did a tremendous penance (Tapsya)
to please Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma blessed him and said that he would remain
invincible. He also instructed Shankhachuda to go to ‘Badrikashram’ where he
would find his would be wife Tulsi- the daughter of Dharmadhwaja.
Shankhchuda’s marriage
with Tulsi:
Shankhachuda went to
Badrikasharam and married Tulsi as per the instructions of Lord Brahma. He then
returned back to his capital accompanied by his wife- Tulsi.
When Shankhachuda
reached his capital after marrying Tulsi, he was crowned as the king of the
demons by Shukracharya. After his coronation, Shankhachuda attacked Indrapuri
supported by his huge army and defeated the deities. In a very short time all
the three worlds were under his control.
After being defeated
by Shankhachuda, the deities went to Lord Brahma and sought his help in
eliminating the menace called Shankhachuda. Lord Brahma then took them to lord
Vishnu. All of them were taken to lord Shiva by Vishnu. They expressed their
request to liberate them from the troubles created by Shankhachuda.
Lord Shiva assured the
deities that he will certainly kill Shankhachuda and hence they should not
worry about him. The deities then happily returned to their respective abodes.
Lord Shiva sent his
messenger named Chitrarath, to Shankhachuda to ask him to return back the
kingdom of the deities to them. Shankhachuda refused to oblige this demand; on
the contrary he expressed his willingness and readiness to fight lord Shiva.
Chitrarath returned back and narrated the whole story to lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva was now
fully convinced about the inevitability of the battle. He first sent all his
ganas under the leadership of Kartekiye and Ganesha. Later on Bhadrakali
proceeded towards the battlefield with a huge army as per the own wish of lord
Shiva himself. At last lord Shiva proceeded towards the battlefield accompanied
by the deities. All the troops collected at the bank of river Chandrabhaga and
rested under the shade of a Banyan tree.
Shankhachuda
Proceeds with his Army:
Shankhachuda handed
over the kingdom to his son and went to his wife to take her permission before
going to the battlefield. His wife was reluctant to allow him to go, but he
somehow managed to convince her. He then proceeded towards the banks of Pushpbhadra with a huge army.
A fierce battle
started between the deities and the demons. Both of them attacked each other
with the most destructive weapons. But when the army of Shankhachuda began to
dominate the fight, the deities fled away and took the refuge of lord Shiva.
They told Shiva of the number of deities who had been killed while fighting.
The Battle between Shiva’s Family & Shankhachuda:
After the defeat of
the deities and the ganas Kartikeya and Ganesha went to fight Shankhachuda. A
spectacular battle was fought between Shankhachuda and both of them. Later on
they were joined by Bhadrakali. Bhadrakali would have devoured Shankhachuda
without any problem, but she spared his life because of the boon, given to him
by Lord Brahma. Now it was the turn of Lord Shiva to join the battle, but even
he could not cause any harm to him because of Lord Brahma’s boon.
Strategy Employed to Kill Shankhachuda:
While a tremendous
battle was being fought between lord Shiva and Shankhachuda. Lord Vishnu
appeared and demanded the armor from Shankhachuda, which he had put on, his
body in the guise of a Brahmin. Shankhachuda gave his armor to him without any
kind of suspicion. Lord Vishnu then went to Shankhachuda’s wife in the guise of
her husband i.e. Shankhachuda. He destroyed the chastity of Tulsi –
Shankhachuda’s wife. Shankhachuda derived his power from the chastity of his
wife and it vanished the moment, her chastity was destroyed.
Bhadrakali was
creating havoc in the army of Shankhachuda. Shankhachuda became very furious
and attacked Shiva. Shiva repulsed his assault and attacked him with his
Trishul. Shankhachuda who had become powerless was killed instantaneously. The
deities were very pleased at the death of Shankhachuda. After worshipping lord
Shiva they went back to their respective abodes.
Tulsi Curses Lord Vishnu:
After being instructed
by goddess Parvati, Lord Vishnu had gone to Tulsi in the guise of her husband-
Shankhachuda, so that the breach of Tulsi chastity could help lord Shiva to
kill Shankhachuda, who derived his power from Tulsi’s chastity and virtuosity.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaErfFNIarZsVCH35ghnAjPPh5iJrLmSWtmRkMcBu5SZW6rlG338EHetqc0xyNyRQ0yI6PqOyc2R2XPEVqMdtHK_jsD_MIljmY6bBZu0Rs9G3tb4gjtaV_YIpfImiP4LSFjJyArziah1g/s1600/tulsi5.png)
She became very angry
and cursed lord Vishnu to become a stone. She was crying inconsolably. Lord
Vishnu contemplated on Shiva as a result of which he appeared.Lord Shiva blessed Tulsi that she would become the beloved of Lord Vishnu. Shiva told Tulsi that all this is the result of your own penance and you have got what you wanted. Lord shiva instructed Tulsi to left her body which will taken the form of river Gandaki.
Due to Tulsi’s curse, Lord Vishnu attained the form of Shaligram
which is a stone. found on the bank of river Gandaki. because of lord Shiva’s blessings Tulsi leaves started
being offered to the Shaligram, in the process of its worship. And the shankh
family is born from the bones of shankchuda.
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