Indra the celestial King ruled over all the devas from his capital known as Amaravati in the heavens. It was also called Indraloka. Indra had the demigods such as Agni, Vayu, Varuna, Mitra, Dharma devata, Soma, Pitru devatas, the sun God, the Adithyas, the Vasus, Maruth Ganas, the Rudras, Ribhus,Sadhyas, Aswins, Siddhas, Caranas, Ghandarvas, Munis, Rishis, Brahmavadins, Vidhyadaras, Apsaras, Kinnaras, Kimpurushas, Patagas(birds),and Uragas (snakes) as his administrators. It was highly prosperous and wealthy kingdom without the element of suffering that we find in the lower worlds! Everything was pleasant and was of extraordinary beauty. While Lord Indra was presiding over his subjects, his Guru Brhaspathi came to see him. Immersed in the opulence and due to ignorance he forgot to pay his respects to him. Brhaspathi got offended and immediately left the court of Indra and retired to a unknown place. Soon the Indra loka lost its lustre and the ruler himself became very weak and indefensible. Yagnas and other offerings that were constant source of the strength of these Devas also dwindled. Indra fearing that he would soon be overpowered by Asuras, approached Brahma and explained him what had happened and also sought pardon from him and told him that his search for Brhaspati has turned out to be futile. Brahma thought about the situation and suggested that he could install Twashta’s son Viswarupa as his preceptor and begin his tasks. Accordingly Indra requested Viswarupa to preside over as the preceptor and conduct the spiritual affairs of his kingdom. Viswarupa agreed and began the routine and restored the lost glory of Amaravathi. Since Viswarupa’s maternal grandfather was Sukracharya the Guru of Asuras he had maintained cordial relations with them too. Time passed and many yagnas were being performed under the guidance of Viswarupa, and Indra found that the strength of Asuras never diminished and in fact kept pace with his forces! This made him suspicious and he began to pry upon Viswarupa and found out that he was parting a portion of the yagna offerings to Asuras too. This angered Indra and without forethought he cut off the head of Viswarupa! Who fell dead immediately. Indra also incurred the Brahmahaththi dosha for having killed a Brahmin. Hearing the news of his son having been murdered by Indra, Twashta got furious and resolved to beget another son who would slay Indra. Accordingly , he conducted a complicated yagna and there appeared a fearful dark and massive being with all the weapons, from the Agni kund. Twasta adopted him as his son and named him Vrthrasura! He was very powerful and was invincible and tormented the devas! Unable to bear the atrocities of Vrtrasura and also the ill effects of killing the Brahmin that turned into a Brahma rakshas and was chasing Indra where ever he went and tormented him, Indra became impoverished and lost his strength and valor fled away from his kingdom and took refuge in huge lotus pond to escape the Brahmarakshas. He approached Brahma again through contemplation for a solution who said that he is helpless and asked him to approach Sriman Narayana who alone can give solace to him at this juncture. Promptly he contemplated upon Vaikuntanatha and prayed to Lord Sriman Narayana and Lord answered his prayers by appearing before him. He said he had to face these hardships due to his negligence and ego, and since he had undergone considerable hardship till now, He has decided to bail him out. He further suggested that he can approach the son of Atharva Rishi, Dadhichi and plead him to forsake his body for the cause of Devatas, and as soon as he gives up his body get the rib bones and spinal bones and approach Viswakarma to fashion a weapon form them and with that alone he can conquer the dreaded Asura. Atharva rishi, the mantra drshta (Seer) of Atharva Veda married Kardhama rishi’s daughter called Chitti. They had a son a great ascetic and they named him Dadhichi. Later they got him married to Swarcha and they had a son called Pipladha a great ascetic! This rishi had acquired the mantra called Sanjivini mantra from his maternal grand father side, Sukracharya! This was one of the reasons for the Lord to suggest this idea to Indra. This mantra was passed on to the Aswini devatas by the Maharishi without the permission of Indra, so he had cut off his head as a punishment. He was restored to life by Aswini devatas who had used the mantra they had learnt from Dadhichi, and they had put a head of the horse instead of the original head so that Indra would never succeed in killing him again for the same reason! Dadhichi was so powerful that no Danava (Asura) or even Deva dared to enter his hermitage un announced! Once there was a terrible feud between the Devas and Asuras and in the end the Devas won the battle using their Divya mantra astras. As soon as the war ended they felt that those weapons need to be preserved in a proper place where they will not deteriorate in their potency. They chose the asrama of Dadhichi and formally approached him and reverentially put forth their demand, the sage agreed to their request and allowed them to keep all of them in a deep wedge of a huge tree in the asram. Dadhichi’s wife took exception to this and questioned him, she said saints should remain neutral and should not become emotional and moreover the weapons are like material possessions and are used in a war and have nothing to do with a seer! Dadhichi saw reason in her argument and said what she expressed is perfectly correct but having given the word to Devas, adhering to the truth is more important than his asrama dharma. Years passed and Devas never returned to claim their weapons, Dadhichi wanted to see whether these were intact, when he went and inspected he found them to be lacking in luster and soon he brought his pitcher containing holy water and poured it over these vessels, their power immediately got mixed in the water and the sage drank that water, now the powers of the weapons were intermixed in his body had been lodged into his bones ! Then one day the Devas returned, they told the seer that once again the Asuras have gained upper hand and are a nuisance to them. Dadhichi told them that since the power of the weapons were depleting he had absorbed them into himself, and he is ready to give them a solution, when asked by Devas about that solution, he said that he would give up his body, and then they can take his bones and fashion a weapon that would kill them, the Devas told the maharishi that it was the same solution suggested by Sriman Narayana too, but they were reluctant to press their demand that would mean death to the sage. Sage smiled and said that he has no attachment to his body, he has attained eternal knowledge and saying so he sat for contemplation and a brilliant light left his body, and there appeared the celestial cow that licked his body, and soon only his skeleton was visible! Then Devas requested their architect Viswakarma to fashion a weapon out of these bones, he made the powerful thunder bolt that is held by Indra on the lead to confront the Asuras! In the meanwhile Suwarcha who had gone away returned to the asram and learnt about what had happened, and cried about her misfortune and lamented, then she decided to end her life, and arranged the holy fire. But the celestials appeared before her and requested her not to resort this and tld her that she is carrying the baby of the seer in her womb! She relented and waited till the child was born, and as soon as the child was born, she handed over the infant to a Pippala tree (Fig tree) and told the tree to take care of the infant! Which the tree did. She gave her body in meditation and reached the abode of her husband! That is why he came to be known as Pipladha The boy grew up and was surprised to find his parents missing and inquired the tree about his origin, and the tree told him the whole story. He grew angry and decided to teach a lesson to Devas who were responsible for his father’s death and subsequently his mother too. He embarked on a severe penance towards lord Siva, and pleased with his effort he appeared before him and the boy requested that he needs powers to quell all the Devas! Smiling at his verve Lord said the day he is able to see His third eye clearly, his powers would fructify. Granting this He disappeared. The young Pipladha started his contemplation again, and after many years he achieved his goal and he saw the third eye of Lord Siva, but the moment he achieved this there appeared a terrible looking being huge and fierce! That being paid its respects to the seer and asked him what his orders are and said it is the power of his contemplation that has brought it to being. The seer said that the Gods are his enemies and he wants them to be killed as they have been responsible for his father’s death! Hearing this the demon laughed and started chasing him with the intension to kill him! Startled Pipladha questioned the demon why he is chasing him instead of Devas, the demon replied that the seer has the body created by very Devas and they too reside in him! Frightened seer ran for cover and reached the abode of Lord Siva and took refuge, Lord said that he would create a earmarked area in the mountain where no one will harm him. Then Sage Pipladha wanted to see his parents, Lord Siva granted his wish and both of them appeared before him in a chariot and they blessed him and asked him to be a householder for some time and then do tapas and the reach the abode of Gods. Pipladha too obeyed their advice. The demon reached the river and merged with its flowing current!
