The Cursed Flower

Mon June 13, 2011 by Kunal Bansal

Once upon a time, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu were having an argument. The topic on which they were quarrelling was who amongst the two was superior to the other. When they were fighting, Lord Shiva appeared in front of them in the shape of a light. The light was boundless. It stretched on all directions as far as their eyes could reach. It was like the sky, no boundaries. Brahma and Vishnu then decided, the one who finds the boundaries of the light would win and hence will be the superior of the two. Lord Vishnu changed his appearance into a boar and Lord Brahma into a swan and proceeded in finding the boundaries. Vishnu went downwards and tried his best but could not find the bottom seam of the light. Brahma on the other hand went upwards to find the upper boundary of the light. But he too proved unsuccessful. However, he saw a flower falling downwards. He caught it and went at the place where the race had started. Lord Vishnu was waiting for Brahma desperately. He feared if Brahma would have found the boundary. Looking at the desperate and sad look on Vishnu?s face, Brahma thought of lying to Vishnu. He claimed to succeed in finding the upper border of the light. He showed the flower as the proof. He told Vishnu that he had found the flower at the upper border of the light. He plucked it out to show it to him. Vishnu did not agree to the claim. He questioned the flower, whether Brahma was speaking the truth. The flower however said, Brahma was true. The lie by the flower and Brahma made Lord Shiva angry and furious. Angry Lord Shiva cursed the beautiful flower as a punishment to its lie. The flower was the most beautiful flower of all the flowers that existed. However, after it was cursed by Lord Shiva, it lost all its fragrance and beauty. Since it became an ugly flower, it no longer got the same importance as it earlier did. It was no longer used as an offering during worships.