Mayasura was a Hindu mythological builder who had the misfortune of building things that were destroyed.
The sabhas of Mayasura
“Wake up!! It is time to do your karma and dharma again”, the voice intoned to the being’s aatma. The being was in a state of yoganidra, the sleep of transcendental sleep which is not really sleep but the sleep of bliss. The being stirred its soul while the physical body still continued its hibernation.
“Should I? Every time I wake up, bad things happen after I do something”, the being asked the voice. The voice said gently and kindly as it had told it 3 times before in the preceding eons that it was time to build again.
“It is time to do your duty again. And the time has come. Wake up, my child”, the voice gently chided.
The being stirred its aatma and physical form and flexed a little and the memories came flooding back. The being was Mayasura, the Danava.
Krita Yuga:
He and his three cousins were being constantly bullied by their step-brothers, the Devas. Their father Kashyapa, the mind born son of Brahma, always seemed to side with the Devas. With their grandfather not paying attention to them and the great grandfather even more so, they decided to appeal to the god with the crescent moon who was impartial.
They prayed to the three eyed god who was especially pleased with him and the cousins. The cousins had asked for three cities that could never be destroyed. The three eyed god had promised them that with the exception that once in 1000 years when the star Pushya aligned with the moon, the cities would line up and be vulnerable to the arrow of Vishnu. The three cousins asked him to build the three cities and he did. He was a great builder and architect, even better than his step-brother Vishwakarma. But then he was a Danava and hence they would not acknowledge his superior architecture and building capabilities. He was fine with it and been so for a long time. The three cities on heaven, earth and patala glowed in the cosmos with the blessing off the three eyed god and the penitential mediation that had pleased the crescent mooned one.
Their step-brothers, the Devas, became jealous and sent their emissary Narada to the one who carried the Ganga on his head. He told them not to worry as long as they were not causing any problem to others. The Devas did not give up and then instigated the Neanderthals to fight the three cities. The skirmishes began and soon evolved into a large scale war with both sides inflicting cruelty on the other. The Devas then petitioned Lord Shiva to destroy the three cities after a particular incident where the Neanderthals were massacred in a skirmish. Lord Shiva became upset after this and vowed to destroy the three cities. The star Pushya was going to align with the moon.
Mayasura knew the end was nigh and he intoned his cousins to change their ways but they were determined to fight to the end even if it meant fighting the giver of their boons. He then started praying on behalf of all the Daitya and Danavas to Vishnu and Shiva while the battle was raging. As the star pushya aligned with the moon, the arrow of Vishnu was strung by Shiva and shot towards the three cities by the one who bears the Ganga on his head. As he let loose the arrow, he regretted the demise of his favorite devotee. His faithful servant, Nandi reading his mind, leaped faster than the arrow towards the three cities and pulled him out just in time as the arrow of Vishnu crushed the cities to ashes.
Shiva then blessed Mayasura and advised him to go to Mount Meru to rest over the tragedy. The Mountain Meru was beautiful as its peaks touched the heavens. Mayasura decided to start his penitential trance again and woke up during the next yuga.
Treta Yuga:
Mayasura was meditating on Mount Meru when the Apsara Hema saw him and fell in love with him. She entreated him to take him as his wife. With the blessing of Lord Shiva, they got married and had a beautiful daughter Mandodari. Mayasura and Hema raised her to be a devotee of Vishnu and Shiva.
Mandodari grew up to be a beautiful woman and fell in love with Ravana, who was the king of the Asuras and a great devotee of Shiva. Shiva asked Mayasura to build a beautiful palace in the center of Lanka for Ravana and Mandodari to live which would be the envy of all the worlds. The palace was built by Mayasura with great dedication for the love of his daughter was more than anything for him. Mayasura built a beautiful garden called “Ashoka” for his daughter so she could spend her time in the garden if she was unhappy. The garden had the magical power to cure depression. Mayasura advised Ravana not to use the garden for his personal need as it would be a sanctuary for his daughter and great harm would befall him if he did.
Ravana started his campaign of conquering the three worlds and he succeeded. The kingdom of Ayodhya alone resisted his advances because of the protection of the Brahmarishi Vasishta and its pious king Dasaratha. After Rama, Dasharatha’s son was sent to the forest due to promises made by Dasaratha, Ravana kidnapped Sita and kept her in the Ashoka garden. Mayasura was livid and entreated Ravana to return Rama to Sita and he refused. Mayasura saw the end was near for his son-in-law and daughter. He created a shrine for Shiva and Vishnu in the palace and started a penitential meditation for his daughter.
Rama came to Lanka and the battle raged. The last battle between Rama and Ravana began. Rama let loose two arrows, one that would kill Ravana and the other that would destroy the palace which was one of the secrets of Ravana’s life. As the arrow sped towards the palace, Rama regretted it would cause the end of his devotee, Mayasura. Hanuman realizing this sped faster than the arrow and rescued Mayasura just as the palace burnt to cinder. Mayasura was upset as his daughter was grieving.
Rama, the avatar of Vishnu advised Mayasura to go to the Khandava forest and perform penances for the souls of Ravana and Mandodari.
Dwapara Yuga:
The Khandava forest was the target of Agni. Agni was desperate to get his glow back as he needed to burn something down. He sought the help of Krishna and Arjuna.
The Khandava forest was where Takshaka and Mayasura were in deep meditation. Takshaka and Mayasura had become great friends. They had sought the protection of Indira to protect themselves from the forest fires. Indira had agreed to their request. Krishna and Arjuna then started to burn the forest for Agni. Indira fought with them to no avail.
The forest burned and came to the grove where Takshaka and Mayasura were performing their penitential prayers. Agni went after them and Indira entreated Krishna to save them. Krishna was helpless as the fire was spreading too fast. Garuda his mount realizing this, sped towards the forest and fanned the flames away from the grove and rescued them.
Takshaka then went to his kingdom and Mayasura wanted to do something great for Krishna and Arjuna. Krishna asked Mayasura to build a beautiful palace for the Pandavas. Mayasura was skeptical as all his creations did not stand for long. Mayasura then built the palace that rivaled the court of Indira. Krishna then blessed the palace and called it Mayasabha in honor of Mayasura and said it would be destroyed by fire if Adharma ever came to possess it. Draupadi was so proud of the palace. Mayasura was overjoyed as Yudhishtra was the embodiment of Dharma. Then the play of the dice happened and Yudhishtra lost all his possessions to Duryodhana.
As Duryodhana prepared to enter the Mayasabha, a raging fire destroyed the palace. Mayasura had to watch it from his temple which he had built nearby. He then had a word with Krishna before departing to the banks of the river Cauvery near the shrine of Ranganatha to continue his penitential meditations.
Kali Yuga:
Mayasura opened his eyes and saw a handsome young boy who was radiating the power of Yoga. He looked like the Dwarf Sage Vamana just as he had walked into the yagnashala of Bali. Mayasura asked him who he was. The young boy replied, “My name is Kalki and I am from Shambala village. I was wondering if you could help me build a stable for my horse”. The boy had all the auspicious marks of Vishnu. Mayasura finally realized that this stable would last this time and he smiled.
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