The nature of helping others is a great virtue. Many gave away their wealth, flesh & energy to uphold this great virtue. But perhaps no one has done as much as Sage Dadhichi, who gave away his life for this great cause.
Once there was a pious sage named Dadhichi.
Indra, the King of the Devas, was once driven out of Devaloka by an Asura( demon) named Vritrasura. Vritrasura got a dangerous boon from Lord Brahma that no weapon made of wood or metal could kill him, and so he became arrogant and cruel. One day he stole all the water in the world. People were dying everywhere.
Lord Vishnu appeared before Brahma and said: "Because of his severe penance, the bones of sage Dadhichi have become extremely hard and potent. If a Vajra (a blunt weapon having combined features of a sword, spear, and mace) is made of Dadhichi's bones, only then Indra could kill Vitrasur with that weapon. But sage Dadhichi is a dedicated devotee of mine, hence nobody can kill him forcibly. You can go to him and beg for his bones".
Being the ultimate material scientist, Vishnu knew that Vritrasura had got the boon from Brahma against all usually used materials for those primitive weapons. He also knew that bones were outside the barred material list of Vritra's boon. And he also knew that Dadhichi's bones were harder than diamonds due to the atomic compression on bones by his tapas. So he called for that as raw material. This shows the power of “ Tapas “ or penance on our bodies and minds. Sage Dadhichi’s penance allowed him to see the best use of his mortal body and that mental clarity gave him the power to sacrifice.
There is something melancholic about reflecting on a crisis that asks of someone their bones. As if our individuality is a pile of nothing in the face of civic responsibility. As if we are more valuable posthumously than in our breathing bodies. We lionize people who are capable of this level of giving. Dadhichi’s courage is the inspiration for the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military award for gallantry. Sacrifices of this magnitude are glorified even today.
Why bones, though? And why this man’s bones? It’s bones because they are hard yet flexible. They are the structure, the framework of a body. Everything else hangs on the skeleton. The mightiest weapon, or a culture’s symbolic ability to stand up to its greatest enemies, is so because it is made of this dependability-flexibility, and allows other systems to flourish.
Killing Vritrasura allowed Indra to reclaim his place as the king of Devlok and release the water for all living beings. All the water that was stolen was returned to the world - thanks to Dadhichi’s noble sacrifice.
Dadhichi's life is symbolic of the fact that no sacrifice is too great if it will help the innocent from unending suffering.
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