Brahma made Soma, the moon god, ruler over the planets and stars, over priests and plants, over rituals and pious vows. Soma was the first to perform the rite of rajasuya - initiation into the kingdom - and became king. After this, he became proud of his glory and beauty and forgot about virtue. He stole from Brihaspati, the lord of the planet Brihaspati, his wife, the beautiful Tara, the Star. In vain did Brihaspati try to return her to his home, in vain did the holy sages and Brahma himself admonish Soma - he did not want to let her go. Shukra Ushanas, the lord of the planet Shukra, the mentor of the asuras, the eternal rival of Brihaspati, took the side of Soma. The gods, led by Indra, stood up for their mentor.
And a war began between the gods and asuras, a war over the beautiful Tara, the wife of Brihaspati, kidnapped by the moon god.
The formidable Rudra, who had long been the patron of the Angiras family, became the head of the army of gods. Ushanas led hordes of asuras against the gods, and the battle between the mighty opponents flared up with such fury and such bitterness that the Earth shook to its very foundation and in confusion called out to Brahma, begging to put an end to the terrible battle.
And Brahma intervened and commanded Ushanas, the leader of the asuras, and Rudra, the leader of the gods, to make peace; Meanwhile, Indra freed Tara and returned her to Brihaspati.
When Tara returned to Brihaspati's house, he saw that she was pregnant. Soon she gave birth to a son of extraordinary beauty. Both Soma and Brihaspati were captivated by his wonderful appearance, and both wanted to call him their son. The gods turned to Tara: “Tell us who his father is?” But, overwhelmed by shame, she remained silent. They could not get an answer from her until her son himself, angry, threatened to curse her if she hid the truth. Then Brahma, having calmed the child’s anger, asked Tara: “Tell me, my daughter, whose son is this, Bri-haspati or Soma?” Burning with shame, she answered: “Soma.” And Soma rejoiced and praised his son, and named him Budha, which means Wise. Brahma made him the lord of the planet Budha.
But Tara remained with Brihaspati, and King Soma took as his wife twenty-seven beautiful daughters of Daksha - twenty-seven constellations of the lunar sky.
The most beautiful of them was Rohini, and she became Soma's beloved wife. He constantly showed preference to her, and completely abandoned his other wives, and finally, offended by their husband’s neglect, they went and complained about him to their father. “Make it so, father, that he showers all of us with his love,” they asked. Daksha called Soma to him and began to reprimand him severely. “Your behavior is sinful,” he said to Soma. “You must treat all your wives the same!” And Soma promised him this.
But he did not keep his word, and the offended wives again resorted to Daksha. “He only looks at Rohini, meets only with her,” they complained. “We can’t stand it anymore! We will not return to him, father, we will remain in your monastery! And again Daksha called Soma to him, and again he promised that he would love all his wives equally. And the wives returned to him.
Yet this time he did not fulfill his promise. The third time his wives came to their father and said: “He does not obey your commands!” Then the angry Daksha cursed the lord of the stars and sent him an illness.
And Soma began to waste away day after day. He kept getting thinner and thinner; The moonlight became paler and darker, and the nights grew darker. The grass began to dry on the ground, and then many animals began to fall off their bodies. The more Soma wasted away, the more living beings became exhausted. He grew thinner and smaller in size, and finally the gods became alarmed and went to the lord of the stars and said: “What is the matter with you, Soma? You once shone with beauty; where has she gone now? Why are you so thin? And Soma told them about Daksha's curse. The gods went to Daksha and began to ask him: “Have mercy on Soma, O Lord of creatures! Remove your curse from him! He was so thin; there was almost nothing left of him. And animals dry up with it, and plants, and us too! And if we gods wither away, what will happen to the universe?”
Daksha listened to the words of the gods and said: “Let him go and wash away his sin in the waters of the sacred Saraswati River, in the place where it flows into the ocean. I will spare him, but from now on he will lose weight every month during one half of it and gain weight again during the other.”
And Soma went to the shore of the Western Ocean, where Daksha showed him, and there on the day of the new moon he washed himself in the sacred waters of Saraswati and was cleansed of sin. His cold rays returned to him, and again he began to illuminate the universe with them. And then the gods, and people, and animals and plants rejoiced.
Daksha, pleased with Soma’s obedience, told him: “Don’t neglect your wives anymore! Obey my commands!" And he released Soma, and he returned to his abode.
Since then, the moon has always waned during the dark half of the month and waxed during the light half. They also say that the moon wanes because the gods and the souls of the departed in the kingdom of Yama drink from it the sacred soma from which it consists, and the sun then fills the moon with it again.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru