Note 31 — Chapter III · DISEASE DEITIES.

Shitalā Mātā is described as riding an ass in a nude state with the half of a supadun (a winnowing fan) for an umbrella and with a swing in one hand, and a broom in the other.31 But more usually the Mātā is represented by a mere trunkless head in stone, besmeared with red lead. This is said to be the head of Babhrivāhan, the son of Bhīma32 the second of the Pāndavas by a Nāg mother. At the time of the Great War, he was sent by his mother from his residence in the pātāl (the regions below this world) to assist his father, and as he did not know the Pāndavas, he was asked to join the weaker side. On coming to the earth he first met with Krishna who took a promise from him to lop his own head off. In return, Krishna promised him that he would be immortal, invisible and worshipped by all, and the head was set up on the flag of the Pāndavas. This head began to trouble the Pāndavas after their victory, and could only be quieted by the promise of Krishna to have him recognised as a deity with unlimited powers. This head afterwards came to be known as the controller of small-pox. How the head of the male Babhrivāhan came to be identified with Shitalā Mātā, it is difficult to explain.33