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Lord Ayyappa incarnated Himself as the son
of Lords Šiva and Vishnu, principally in order to annihilate the
demoness Mahishamukhi who was oppressing the devas (gods) after obtaining
a boon from Lord Brahma to the effect that she will not only have
authority over the devas, but will not be killed by any one other
than the son born to Lords Šiva and Vishnu, who also must have served
a human for 12 years. Obviously , she was thinking that such an event
was very unlikely to happen.The time for Mahishamukhi’s end was fast approaching and once when the king of Pandala was hunting in the forest, he found Lord Ayyappa as a young baby adorned with a dazzling pearl necklace; hence, the king named the child Manikanta. Suddenly, Lord Šiva appeared before the king in the form of an aged brãhmin and announced that, in answer to the king’s sincere prayers for a progeny, the Lord has blessed him with this child, whose prowess will become known after this infant reaches 12 years. The king brought Manikanta to his palace and brought him up with love and affection. When Manikanta became of age, the king wanted to hand over reign to him and engage in spiritual austerities. However, in accordance with Divine Plan and apparently as the result of a palace intrigue, Manikanta was sent to the forest to bring tiger's milk to cure the “illness” the queen was pretending to suffer from. When Manikanta was on the banks of Pampa river in the forest, all the devas appeared before Him and appealed to Him to end the oppression they were suffering at the hands of the demoness Mahishamukhi. Immediately, Manikanta went to swarga loka with the gods and challenged Mahishamukhi and her forces. In the ensuing battle, Manikanta killed all the asuras and hurled Mahishamukhi down to earth near the river Alasa. Manikanta jumped back to earth and stomped on the demoness and killed her without giving her a chance to rise up again. Before she died, however, she realized that Manikanta was none other than Lord Ayyappa and surrendered to Him completely seeking release from the spell of a curse she was under. Šri Ayyappa took pity on her and immediately released her from her curse. All the gods were very pleased and showered Šri Ayyappa with flowers. May Lord Ayyappa bless us all and remove our delusions. Swãmiye Šaranam Ayyappa |
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