The Realm of the Dead

A long time ago, two deities descended to the earth from the bright clouds of heaven. Their names were Abhiral and Niyati.They were given the responsibility of creating and decorating this world. They dipped a magical spear of heaven into the ocean, and from the drops that emerged from it, beautiful islands were formed.Abhiral and Niyati joined together to make many mountains, rivers, and minor deities. There was happiness everywhere in the world. But one day, while giving birth to the god of fire, Niyati's body was burnt and she fell ill. Crying, she said, "Abhiral, now it is time for me to depart. I am going to Yami's world (the Realm of the Dead)."After his beloved sister/friend Niyati left, Abhiral became very sad. Crying, he decided to go to the Realm of the Dead to search for his friend. He arrived at the gate of the palace of the Realm of the Dead through a dark path.There, Niyati came outside to meet him. She looked as beautiful as before. Abhiral said, "Niyati, the world is incomplete without you. Please, return home with me."Sorrowfully, Niyati said, "My dear friend, you were a bit late in coming. I have already eaten the food here, so it is difficult to leave from here now. Even so, I will talk to the deities here. But until I come out, do not try to look at me, okay."Abhiral kept waiting outside the door for a long time. But when Niyati did not return, he felt afraid. Taking out his hair comb, he lit a small torch and looked inside. But what he saw there made him tremble with fear. Niyati's body was no longer beautiful like before, instead, terrifying deities of lightning were sitting there.Terrified, Abhiral began to flee from there. Niyati felt very angry that Abhiral had seen her ruined form. She said, "You have humiliated me! Now you too will not be allowed to escape from here." She sent the terrifying witches of the Realm of the Dead to catch Abhiral.To save his life, Abhiral began to run through dark caves and rocks. Taking off his head wreath, he threw it behind. As soon as it fell to the ground, it turned into a bunch of grapes. The witches stopped to eat the grapes.But they chased after him again. Once more, Abhiral threw his comb, which became a bamboo thicket. The witches were distracted again.Finally, Niyati herself came chasing after to catch Abhiral. Abhiral had already reached the gate of the Realm of the Dead. He blocked the path of the Realm of the Dead with a giant boulder. Now, a large wall was formed between them.From the other side of the boulder, Niyati screamed and said, "Abhiral, you betrayed me! Now every day, I will drag one thousand people of your world into the Realm of the Dead." Abhiral replied, "Niyati, if you do that, then in my world, I will give birth to one thousand five hundred new babies every day."In this way, Niyati became the queen of the Realm of the Dead. Abhiral, on the other hand, escaping from that dark and terrifying place, reached the bank of a clean river. He cleansed his body and engaged himself once again in the work of making the world beautiful. From that very day, the cycle of birth and death began in the world.