The Blaze in the Seas
The Mysterious Blaze
Have you ever heard a mariner telling his tales? If you have, you might have heard him describe how, at times, a blaze is noticed in the sea. It can be beautiful, or it can be fearful. While such phenomena can of course be explained by science, one of the legends of India offers a different explanation.
The Tale of King Kritavirya
Long ago, there lived a king named Kritavirya. He bestowed a huge amount of wealth upon the Brahmins of the Bhrigu dynasty. The Bhrigus prospered and continued to be wealthy for generations. However, the descendants of Kritavirya became poorer and poorer.
A Request for Assistance
“The Bhrigus are prosperous because of our forefathers. It is their duty to help us now that we have fallen into hard times,” said one prince, and others agreed with him. The princes decided to approach the Bhrigus and ask them to part with portions of their wealth for the descendants of their patrons.
The Encounter with the Bhrigus
When the Bhrigus heard about the approach of the princes, some of them took to hiding and pleaded their inability to help. Initially, the princes thought that the Brahmins were being unreasonable. But when they received the same plea from a particularly wealthy Bhrigu, the princes grew furious. They dug beneath his floor and found a heap of wealth. Rejoicing in their discovery, they mistakenly accused the Bhrigus of deceit and began to kill them indiscriminately.
The Wrath of the Princes
Whoever from the Bhrigus fell before them was killed; even the children were not spared. The women of the Bhrigus fled into the Himalayas. The cruel princes pursued them, determined to ensure that no descendant of the Bhrigu lineage would threaten their claim to the wealth they had usurped.
A Moment of Salvation
One of the Bhrigu women was about to give birth when the princes caught up with her. Yet, it was no ordinary child who was about to be born. As soon as they seized the woman, the child emerged into the world, radiant and full of wrath. When the princes beheld the luminous infant, they were struck blind.
The Restoration of Vision
It was time for the princes to repent for their arrogance and rashness. They wept and prayed to the child and his mother for the restoration of their vision. The great compassion of the child allowed the princes to regain their sight, but his anguish over the murder of his innocent father and the other Bhrigus tormented him.
The Wrath of the Child
Deep in contemplation, he sought to understand what to do with the wrath that consumed him. The spirits advised him to cast it into the ocean, and the boy obliged, throwing his wrath into the blue expanse of waters. It manifested there as a kind of fire, its flashes seen from time to time.
The Legacy of the Blaze
The Mahabharata tells us that the boy’s name was Ourva. The spirit of the dead Bhrigus appeared to him and explained that they could not ascend to heaven because suicide was a grave sin. Thus, their souls wandered the ocean in the form of the blaze, forever linked to the fate of those who wronged them.