Lord Shiva’s Daughters

Lord Shiva had three sons and three daughters. Shiva’s three daughters are worshipped even today in different parts around the world in different forms. His three sons were Kartikeya, Ganesha and Ayyappa. Lord Shiva’s three daughters were Ashok Sundari, Manasa, Jyothi and Ekaveera devi.

Asoka Sundarī / Ashoka Sundari is mentioned as daughter of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati in Padma Purana. Ashoka Sundari was born even before Lord Ganesh and she was the second child of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Ashoka Sundari’s story is described in the Bhumi Kanda of the Padma Purana where she is also referred to as the Tripurasundari.

The Padma Purana is one of the 18 Mahapuranas, and it includes many important things, including a retelling of the Ramayana, a religious dialogue between Shiva and Parvati known the Shiva Gita, and several Sahasranamams (lists of 1000 names of a god), including a Vishnu Sahasranam (different from the more famous one that Bhishma told in the Mahabharata), a Rama Sahasranamam, and a Venkatesha Sahasranam (in praise of Venkateshwara).

AshokaSundari

Lord Shiva being of Yogic disposition, goes off to Kailasa often. Parvati was feeling loneliness and immense grief. Once she requested Shiva to take her to the most beautiful garden in the world. Shiva took her to Nandanavana, where Parvati saw a tree known as Kalpavriksha which could fulfill any wish. As she wanted a daughter now, her wish was granted and a beautiful girl was born.

She was named Asoka Sundari by Shiva, because she removed Shoka (grief) of Parvati. The word Ashoka means without sorrow and because she got rid of Parvati’s sorrow, she was named Ashoka Sundari. Sundari means beautiful. Parvati also gave her a wish that King Nahusha (the son of Ayu) would be her husband. Nahusha was yet to be born. King Nahusha of the lunar dynasty, who would be equal to Indra, the king of heaven. Nahusha once replaced Indra but was cursed by Sages for his arrogance. He fell on to earth as a python snake, He waited for Yudhishtira to come and relieve him from the curse during Mahabharat Era.

Ashoka Sundari was present at the time Ganesha was beheaded by lord Shiva. Ashoka Sundari got scared by her father’s act of chopping Ganesha’s head and hid behind a sack of salt. When Parvati got to know about her son’s fate, she becomes extremely angry. Out of anger, she also cursed Ashoka Sundari to become a part of the salt. Later when Ganesha’s head was restored by Shiva, they restored life in their daughter and pacified her. From then Ashokasundari Devi has been associated with salt which symbolises the eternal taste of life and without which the life is unsavoury.

Near Nandanavana lived a Asura named Nighunda. He used to claim that Nandanavana was the capital of his land. One day after entering the mangrove, Nighunda caught sight of this most beautiful girl and immediately fell in love with her. However, Asokasundari rejected the advances of the asura and informed him about her destiny to marry King Nahusha.

Nighunda disguised himself as a widow, whose husband was killed by him, and asked Asoka Sundari to accompany her to her Ashrama. Ashokasundari followed this woman and they left the grove. When they came to the widow’s cottage, the widow immediately changed herself back into a Asura and grabbed Ashokasundari. Ashokasundari was so furious that she cursed the demon: “My husband, Nahusha, will kill you!” Then she managed to break free from the demon’s hold and Left to Kailasa.

Meanwhile, Pururavas was the ancestor of all Chandravamshi dynasties and he ruled over the kingdom of Prayaga, with Pratishthana as his capital. After his death, his eldest son Ayu became the king. Ayu was married to Prabha, the daughter of the Asura Rahu. However, he remained childless.

Ayu approached the seer Dattatreya and after propitiating him, he requested the Rishi to grant him a son who would be invincible and possess many virtuous qualities fit for a king. The Rishi obliged and a son was born to Ayu.

Nighunda decides to kill Nahusha before he grows up and becomes eligible to marry Asoka Sundari. He kidnaps the infant Nahusha from his palace, Hunda was just waiting for the birth of Ayu’s son because he was scared that Ashokasundari’s curse would come true. So, the infant was kidnapped by the Asura Hunda and he ordered his minions to slay the child.

However however the child is rescued by a maid of Nighunda and kept under the Rishi Vashistha’s care. Rishi Vashistha took the child and named him Nahusha “the fearless one”. Nahusha grew into a youth, a disciple of Vashistha. Eventually Vashistha revealed Nahusha’s true parentage. Nahusha did tapasya acquired weapons from the gods.

After few years Nahusha grows up and understands about his destiny to kill the Asura Hunda. Lord Ganesha goes to King Ayu and Indumathi to talk about the marriage of Ashok Sundari and Nahusha. Meanwhile Nighunda abducts Asoka Sundari and tells her that he had killed Nahusha. She was consoled by a Kinnara couple who informed her of Nahusha’s well being and prophesied that she would be mother a powerful son called Yayati and a hundred beautiful daughters.

Nahusha fought Nighunda in a fierce battle at Rishi Vasishta’s Ashrama, Asura Hunda tried to kill Nahusha. When Ashoka Sundari and Nahusha urged for help, Ganesha and Kartikeya came to protect them from Hunda. With their help, Nahusha killed Hunda. Nahusha and Ashoka Sundari get married and she gives birth to a son called Yayati and 100 beautiful daughters.

The story does not end with the death of Hunda. Unfortunately, he had a son by the name of Bihunda. When Hunda was killed, his son felt miserable. He decided to kill Nahusha to avenge his father’s death. So he started practising very strict tapasya, or spiritual disciplines. He was praying and praying to the cosmic gods to grant him the power to kill Nahusha once and for all.

When the cosmic gods saw what kind of tapasya Bihunda was doing, they became afraid that his desire would be fulfilled and that he would kill Nahusha. They appealed to Lord Vishnu to help them.

Lord Vishnu took the form of a most beautiful woman and appeared before Bihunda. Bihunda fell in love with her at first sight and asked her to become his wife. The beautiful woman responded, “I shall marry you on one condition. I wish you to bring me a particular flower. The name of this flower is kamoda. You must gather ten million of these flowers and worship Lord Shiva with them. After worshipping Lord Shiva, if you can make a garland of these flowers and place it at my feet, then I shall marry you and you will have the capacity to kill Nahusha. I am making this request to you as your future wife.”

Bihunda ran to look for the special tree which bore the flower kamoda. He went here and there asking people, “Do you know what the kamoda flower looks like? Do you know where I can find the tree?”

But nobody knew where to find the tree or what the flower looked like. In desperation, Bihunda went to Shukracharya, the Guru of the demons. Brihaspati is the Guru of the cosmic gods and Shukracharya is his counterpart for the demons. Bihunda told Shukracharya what had happened and asked him where he could find the kamoda flower.

Shukracharya explained, “This woman has not made it clear to you at all. The kamoda flower does not grow on a tree. This particular flower comes out of the mouth of a woman. She is so enchanting! When she laughs, these flowers come out of her mouth. The colour of the flowers is yellow and they are full of fragrance. If you worship Lord Shiva with these fragrant yellow flowers, he will definitely grant you the boon of being able to kill Nahusha. But, if the woman is crying instead of laughing, you will see that the flowers which she brings out of her mouth are red in colour and without any fragrance. Be careful! Those flowers you must not touch, or there will be some serious calamity or misfortune in your life. You must gather only the yellow flowers that drop from her mouth when she laughs.”

“Where can I find her?” asked Bihunda eagerly.

Shukracharya said, “She lives on the banks of the river Ganga. In the evening you will see her walking along by the side of the river.”

The cosmic gods were watching from Heaven. They saw what was happening and once again they became very worried. They asked Narada, the celestial musician, to come to their rescue. Narada always took the side of the gods. They informed Narada, “If Bihunda obtains these ten million flowers, then he will definitely be able to kill King Nahusha. You must help us!”

Narada agreed to help them. He went to Bihunda and said to the Asura, “You are so great! How is it that you have to go personally to this woman to get the flowers; I will ask her to send the flowers to you. You do not have to go and get them yourself. I will ask her to put the flowers in the Ganga and the water will bring them right to your palace. It is beneath your dignity to go and beg for them. This much I can do for you. Since it is I who am asking, she will definitely do it.”

Bihunda’s pride came forward and he said to Narada, “You are right. Why should I have to go myself? I will wait for the water to bring the flowers to me.”

Narada went to the banks of the river Ganga and found the woman who was the source of the kamoda flowers. After she had greeted him with great respect, he said to her, “Now I would like you to cry and bring out of your mouth the flowers that are red in colour and without fragrance. I wish you to place them in the river and let the water carry them away.”

She gladly obeyed Narada and began to cry. From her mouth there came thousands and thousands of red flowers, and she placed them all in the water.

The river flowed past Bihunda’s palace, where he had been waiting and waiting for the flowers to appear. When he saw them coming, he became so excited that he did not observe their colour and he did not notice that they had no fragrance. Seeing thousands and thousands of flowers floating down the river, he was filled with joy. “Narada was right!” he shouted. “The flowers have come to me, just as he said.”

Bihunda was so thrilled and excited that he forgot his Guru’s warning. He did not pay any attention to the colour and he did not try to see if the flowers had any fragrance. In his imagination, the flowers were all yellow and fragrant. His joy had transported him to another world.

He gathered all the flowers and started worshiping Lord Shiva. Now, Parvati saw that on earth somebody was worshiping Lord Shiva with flowers that had no fragrance. And the flowers themselves were not charming at all. She said, “This is not the flower that Lord Shiva likes. Who can be so disrespectful to my husband?”

Parvati descended to earth and, with her third eye, she killed the demon Bihunda. She did not need any weapon at that time.

We began our story with Parvati. It was she who asked the Kalpataru tree to give her a young girl. Then this girl’s curse brought about the deaths of the demon Hunda and his son Bihunda, who were mercilessly torturing innocent human beings.

Ashoka Sundari or Tripurasundari is said to be one of the Goddess responsible for the spread of Dharma through her acts and conduct. She represents the divine love of mother and daughter and the one who ends the sorrows of parents. The Goddess is revered and worshiped in Gujarat and others of the country.

Jyothi

She was born from the aura of light of Lord Shiva and hence is named Jyothi. She is the complete representation of the grace Lord Shiva possessed.

She is also closely associated with her brother, Lord Murugan, the God of War who emerged as six sparks from his Father’s Third Eye. Jyothi Devi is in a formless state called arupa in all Murugan Temples, as His Vel, and also in the Nataraja form of Shiva, as the flame He holds.

She is known to the people as Hindu Goddess of light. She is also termed as Goddess Rayaki who is associated with the Vedic Raka, and also as Goddess Jwalamukhi in the North India.

She is majorly worshiped in quite a lot of temples in Tamil Nadu.

Manasa

Manasa is known among people to be the Goddess who cures snakebites. She is said to be born when Lord Shiva’s semen touched a statue carved by the mother of snakes ‘Kadru’. This incident gave birth to her as Shiva’s daughter but not Parvati’s. She was the one who saved Lord Shiva when he drank poison during the “Samundra Manthana”.

She is majorly worshiped in Bengal. There’s no particular idol representing her, instead she is worshiped in the form of a branch of a tree, an earthen pot or snake. She is worshiped mostly during the rainy season when snakes are seen abundantly. She is believed to cure snake bites, and infectious diseases like chickenpox.

Ekaveera

Ekveera Devi is an incarnation of Goddess Renuka. She is also known as the mother of Parshurama. She is the Goddess of Water. The Goddess is highly revered by the Koli fishermen community and the local tribes.

Puranas are vast and possess many hidden stories associated with it. The way we happened to discover the existence of the ultimate God’s daughters, there may be many more lying under the abode of this universe.

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About Author:
Subhasini BA, is a Screenplay writer, Director, creative director, costume designer and producer, whose work has featured in some of the most prestigious film festivals in the country and internationally. She has collaborated on several film projects juggling different roles. 

In beginning of her career, she worked as Associate director and Costume Designer with the acclaimed director Girish Kasaravalli. She’s written and directed a documentary film on the famed Krishna Temple in Udupi, and also written plays, screenplays for films and short form content for some of the leading technology companies in India, including Microsoft, Akamai Technologies, LAM Research, and SAP. 

With Knowledge in Sanskrit, Subhasini is a seeker of the Eternal Truth / Santana Dharma, writes on dharma. She is passionate about History, Mythology, Philosophy and Spirituality. She believes Dharma is the manifestation of the natural strength of every living soul.
She lives in Cincinnati.

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