How Gods become birds

Is there any Sanatan connection between all these things? Does Hinduism have answers to these questions? Today, The Karma Channel is going to answer all these questions from our Sanatan Dharma Granth, Valmiki Ramayan.

Friends, today we have brought such a story from Valmiki Ramayan to you that will change your thinking. So, first of all, subscribe to our channel, The Karma, and if you like this video, press the ‘like’ button immediately.

You must have heard the name, Ravan. He was a very dangerous and evil demon. Even the gods used to tremble with the name of Ravan. According to a story in Uttarkaand of Valmiki Ramayan, it so happened that Ravan made a plan to conquer all three worlds. When Ravan set out to defeat Indra and Yamraj, he first had to face 49 deities called Maruts on the way. Ravan promptly defeated the Marud Ganas.

Seeing this, there was an outcry among the gods and the gods started running hither and thither in fear that Ravan might come and do the same to them. When Ravan moved ahead after defeating the Marudganas, the gods took the form of birds to hide from him so that Ravan would not recognize them and challenge them for a fight.

See what happened in the 18th Sarg of Uttarkaand of Ramayan

दृष्ट्वा देवास्तु तद् रक्षो वरदानेन दुर्जयम्।
तिर्यग्योनिं समाविष्टास्तस्य धर्षणभीरव:।।4।।
इन्द्रो मयूर: संवृत्तो धर्मराजस्तु वायस:।
कृकलासो धनाध्यक्षो हंसश्च वरुणोभवत्।।5।।
(Valmiki Ramayana, Uttarkaand, Sarg-18)

The meaning of this verse is that seeing the demon Ravan, who had become difficult to conquer due to the boon of Brahma Ji, the gods transformed into birds fearing his attack. Indra turned into a peacock, and Yamraj, the god of religion, hid in the guise of a crow. Kubera, the god of wealth who was a half-brother of Ravan, became a chameleon. Varun, the god of the sea, started swimming in the form of a swan so that Ravan could not recognize him.

And that’s what happened. Ravan did not know where these deities ran away and hid. Ravan moved forward seeped in his pride. After the departure of Ravan, the gods, who had become birds, heaved a sigh of relief and secretly returned to their form.

After this, the deities felt that today they were saved from Ravan because of taking the form of these birds, so they felt that these birds should be given some boon.

रावणे तु गते देवा: सेन्द्राश्चैव दिवौकस:
तत: स्वां योनिमासाद्य तानि सत्वानि चाब्रुवन्।।21।।
(Valmiki Ramayan, Uttarkaand, Sarg-18)

This verse also says that after the departure of Ravan, all the gods including Indra again returned to their original form and started giving boons to those birds.

First of all, Indra Dev, who had become a peacock only a short while ago, gave a boon to all the peacocks that from that day onwards, peacocks will not be afraid of snakes. Indra also gave another boon to the peacocks as there are a thousand eyes on the body of Indra, in the same way, marks like eyes would appear on the wings of peacocks so that everyone would remember that Indra had once protected himself by becoming a peacock.

You know that God Indra is the one who causes rain. The third and most wonderful boon that Indra gave to the peacocks was that whenever he rains, the peacocks would be very happy and they would automatically spread their wings and start dancing.

Now it was the turn of the god of religion i.e. Yamraj and Yamraj is the god of death and disease. So Yamraj gave a boon to the crows that they will never fall ill and what’s more, Yamraj also told the crows that they will never have a fear of death. Crows will die only when a human or animal kills them. Which means no crow will die on its own or due to illness.

Yamraj was so pleased with the crows that he gave them another boon and said that from then on whoever came to Yamlok after death; if his children feed the crows on the earth then and only then the stomachs of the ancestors living in Yamlok will be filled.

Now let’s talk about God Varun who was swimming in the sea in the form of a swan due to the fear of Ravan. He said that the swans will always be white or bright like the moon. Before this, the colour of half of the swan’s wings was blue and they could not walk on the ground with their feet. Now, with the boon of Varun Dev, the colour of the swans became white and they became able to walk on the earth as well.

It was the turn of Kuber, the god of wealth, to give the last boon. The enmity between Ravan and Kuber is well-known in this world. It was Ravan who had snatched the Pushpak Viman of his stepbrother, Kuber. So Kuber was most afraid of Ravan. That’s why Kuber took the form of a chameleon. Now, Kuber gave a boon to all the chameleons in the world that from that day, the colour of their head will become golden and the black colour of their bodies will disappear forever. That is, chameleons must have been black earlier, but after Kuber’s boon, those colours also started changing.

So, friends, this was the story of deities changing their form due to the fear of Ravan. And it is said that every story should have a good ending, and that’s what happened. The lives of peacocks, swans, crows and chameleons changed forever. They received so many blessings.

That’s it for today friends. Please keep watching our The Karma channel and keep getting acquainted with the amazing stories of Sanatan Dharma. Namaskar.