Mahishi was pacing back and forth, again today she became restless hearing the cosmos echoing the name of Ayyappa.

She wanted to know who Ayyappa was and why his name made her restless, and what power he had that shook the entire Indrasan just by the echoes of his name.

"Narayan-Narayan !" A voice brought her out from her thoughts.

"Devarshi ?" Mahishi muttered looking at Narad Muni.

"Atyant vichlit lag rahi ho Mahishi, kya Ayyappa Swami ka naam punah sun liya ?" He asked.

Listening to that name again she closed her ears, it made her even more restless as Narad Muni laughed seeing her.

"Devarshi, kaun hai yeh ? Jiska naam mujhe vichlit kar raha hai ? Kya yeh unn devtao ki koi chaal hai !?" Mahishi asked.

"Yeh chaal nahi tumhara kaal hai Mahishi. Harihar ka putra ! Swami Ayyappa !" Narad Muni said.

Listening to that Mahishi's eyes widened, her kaal had taken birth, spread his glory in the entire cosmos and she remained unaware till now.

"Isse pehle mera kaal mujh tak pahuch ke meri hatya kare, mai uss tak pahuch ke usse mrityu ke mukh mei dhakel dungi !" Mahishi exclaimed.

She picked up her spear and stomped outside the throne room of Swarglok as Narad Muni chuckled.

"Narayan-Narayan ! Mrityu ke mukh mei kaun jayega, yeh toh sab dekh hi rahe hai." Narad Muni said and disappeared.

---

With a quiver of arrows tied on his back and a bow hanging over his shoulder, Ayyappa swami walked deep inside the forest in search of a tigress.

Suddenly he heard the sound of another set of footsteps, following behind him. He turned around and saw an old woman, slowly walking towards him.

"Shabri." Ayyappa swami smiled recognising her.

"Yadi maine aapko chinta mei daal diya toh kshama kare, mai toh keval aapke padchinhon par chal rahi thi. Mujhe aap mei mere prabhu ki chhavi dikhi." She said.

"Devi, mai aapka prabhu nahi. Keval apni Mata ka putra hu. Aur unke upchaar hetu Baaghin ka dugdh lene aya hu." Ayyappa said.

"Bhakt ke netro mei uske bhagwaan hi baste hai. Mujhe gyaath hai ki aap hi mere aradhya hai, kripa karke mujhe mere prabhu ke darshan dijiye." The old woman requested joining her hands.

"Devi, mai aapka aradhya nahi." Ayyappa said.

"Daya kijiye Prabhu.... Kripiya darshan dijiye..." Shabri requested with tears in her eyes as she started doing parikrama  around Ayyappa swami. After completing the 18th round she stood in front of him, who was completed pleased by her.

"Maine 18 baar aapki pradakshina ki hai, ab toh mujhe darshan dijiye prabhu." Shabri said as tears fell down her wrinkled face.

"Shabri, tumhari 18 pradakshina 18 pravattiyo ka pratik hai. Apni bhakti se tum mahan ban gayi ho, aise bhakt ki iccha kaise puri na karu ?" Ayyappa said.

Shabri joined her hand and looked at him with anticipation, as the smile of his face widenend and a bright light emerged from him.

It was only for a moment but it was enough for Shabri to capture the glimpse of her aradhyadev, who wore the clothes of tapasvis and carried bow over his shoulder and a quiver of arrows behind his back.

"Ram..." Shabri sobbed in delight.

The brightness then disappeared the very next moment, now Ayyappa Swami was in front of her eyes, smiling at her.

"Mera anant saubhagya hai ki aapne mujhe mere aradhya ke roop mei darshan diye..." Shabri said.

"Yeh aapki bhakti ki parakashtha ka fal hai." Ayyappa said.

"Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa." Shabri bowed joining her hands.

□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□
A/N

SWAMIYE SHARANAM AYYAPPA !
JAI SHRI RAM !

So what are 18 pravattiya ? It consists of -

5 of the Indriyas - Ears, nose, eyes, tongue and skin.

8 Raag - Jealousy, attachment, greed, desire, anger, pride, rivalry and ego.

3 Gunas - Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas.

Lastly we have Vidya and Avidya.

Controlling these 18 pravattiya, anyone can be blessed to get the darshan of Ayyappa Swami 🙏

Now we will move on to the story of the temple, which is unnecessarily a hot topic thanks to pseudo feminists.