Bhrigu's curse7

There was a great sage named Bhrigu, who married a most beautiful girl named Puloma. Puloma was beauty incarnate. Alas, a raksasa [demon] had also admired her beauty and had also wanted to marry her. He was very much in love with her, but Puloma’s father would not give her to a demon. He gladly gave her to Bhrigu, however, and they were happily married.

Puloma knew of the demon’s secret love for her and she hated it. She did not care for the raksasa at all.

One day, when Puloma was walking along the street, the raksasa saw how beautiful she was, but he did not recognise her as Puloma. The raksasa asked a sage standing nearby who she was. The sage, Agni, told him that it was Puloma, the wife of Bhrigu.

The demon asked him, “Where can I see her and talk to her?”

Agni replied, “You are seeing her now. If you want to talk to her, you must go to Bhrigu’s house and see if he will allow you.”

A great desire entered into the raksasa, and he made up his mind to kidnap Puloma. At the time she was pregnant, and while being snatched away a child was born to her. As soon as the child was born, boundless light and boundless power emanated from his body, and the demon was killed.

The sage Bhrigu was extremely angry with Agni. “Why did you tell the raksasa who Puloma was?” He was so furious that he cursed Agni, “Now, Agni, you must eat everything in God’s creation: the good, the bad, the divine, the undivine, everything. Let me see how your stomach can bear undivine things!”

Agni said, “Oh, I have to eat everything?”

“Yes, everything. From now on you cannot leave anything. Everything in God’s creation you have to eat. This is my curse,” said Bhrigu.

Agni was very, very disturbed. He pleaded, “No, no. I can’t do that. I can’t eat everything. Please forgive me!”

“No, you have to eat everything, since you were such a fool. You had to tell the raksasa who my dearest wife was. Yes, our son killed the raksasa, but the very fact that my wife was touched by the raksasa is most painful to me. So you deserve this curse.”

“Will I ever be able, some day, to free myself from this curse?”

“Certainly,” said Bhrigu. “When the hour arrives, you will see. But now you are compelled to suffer from my curse.”

Agni was sad and Bhrigu was happy. Happiness in one’s life, in a sense, produces sadness in somebody else’s life and vice versa.


GIM 127. 3 February 1979