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BY THATHA
PREFACE
It will be generally agreed that some of the happiest moments of our life were
those spent listening to bedtime stories told by our doting old grand parents. Very
often they may be repeating the same old story; but that did not matter at all.
“Hullo Children, come here. Once upon a time there was a king” and the story
would go on and children would be in fairyland. Now on reflection, we realize
that these bed time stories served a great purpose. Children were led to
appreciate bravery, truthfulness, honesty, goodness etc and detest sins. And
all this was accomplished in the least expensive and psychologically most
effective way. Unfortunately all these have changed.
Thousands of miles separate modern grand parents from their grand children to
the detriment of both. This defect can be overcome to some extent through good
storybooks and only through books. Advice from parents, however good, can be
awfully boring; it may even have negative effects. Stories from Greek classics
served a good purpose. Heroes by Kingsly and Tanglewood tales by
A clear understanding of our own numerous deities is necessary. They are just
concepts leading to the grand philosophy of the Gita.
Hoping that the book will find favour with children and the
kind indulgence of the elders.
Your Servant
P.S.Krishna Iyer.
After the great holocaust of Mahabharata when most of the friends and all the
enemies of Pandavas were slain, Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna was installed
as the king at Hastinapura (Modern Delhi). He was as valorous as his father
Abhimanyu and invincible like his grandfather Arjuna and it seemed that Krita
Yuga had once again returned. But it was not to be. All things must change.
The king went out a hunting .. It was essential to keep
the wild animals at bay. After a daylong hunt, the king got separated from his
attendants. He was very thirsty and looking about, saw an ashram (hermitage) at
a distance. Taking off his shoes and with folded arms the king gently entered
the ashram and there saw
an old sage, Maharishi Angeras sunk in deep meditation. Parikshit
tried to rouse him but the sage would
not open his eyes. In a weak moment the
king was overcome with anger. A serpent had cast off its coils near by. With
the end of his bow the king took it up and placed it round the neck of the
meditating saint and departed.
The bad news soon reached the ears of Sringi, the son of Angeras. At once,
surrounded by his playmates
he returned to the ashram and saw the dead snake round his
father’s neck. He burst into tears. Hearing that, it was done by the king
himself, he flew into a rage and taking a handful of water in his palms
pronounced a terrible curse. He said.” On the seventh day from now the king
shall die of snake bite, bitten by Takshaka”
Angeras Maharishi hearing the hubbub woke from his samadhi. On hearing all that
had happened, he was displeased with his son. He said, “What have you done my
son! The king is a great ruler. Who will protect us, ensuring peace all around,
enabling us to pursue tapas? You must go at once and beg for pardon.” Sringi
was abashed to hear this.
Meanwhile the king too
had heard of the curse. Too late he repented
for his conduct. A Brahmin’s curse was irrevocable and death was certain. But
he now wanted to know how to meet it remembering Hari always and of course at
the last moment. .
The ministers - most of them being sages and rishis - advised him to call on a
great conference. News spread fast, couriers were sent to distant parts of the
kingdom and even outside. A vast concourse assembled on the banks of the
Parikshit said, “It is certainly our great good fortune that Bhagavan has
chosen to come amongst us. Kindly tell us what a mortal facing death should do to realize Hari”
Sri Suka replied “Oh! King! Your
question is most opportune. We all face death any moment. At least you have the
certainty of living for seven days. Consider this whole universe as the
manifestation of Sri Hari. His feet are in the nether world; His waist and
abdomen constitute the earth. His head is the heavenly region. His eyes are the
sun and moon. His heart is Truth itself. Contemplate on this divine form and
before long you will be merged in Him enjoying great peace and ecstasy.”
Sri Suka continued. “Sri Hari takes various forms. The most pleasant is Adi
Narayana with four arms carrying the conch, the disc, the mace and the lotus,
lounging on the serpent body of Adisesha with the ever-constant Sri Devi
attending with all the other Parshadas. It is Vaikunta, glistening with golden
domes and marble palaces. All the blessed inhabitants look alike and are in the prime of youth. The
women resemble their mistress Sri Devi. The fragrance of heavenly flowers exude from
them, and they sing hymns praising the
glory of the Lord. Even the parrots chant Vedas. It is all so pleasant. But,
Sri Narayana wanted a change. It came about as follows.”
Thus Bhagavan Sri Suka started to tell the sacred story of the lord The Bhagavatham.
CHAPTER 1
Sk 3 . Ch 15 .Slokam 30
The
Sanat Kumaras, the great Rishis were closest in attendance on the Lord. They
were four in
number and all looked like five-year-old children. They could travel anywhere
in the universe with the speed of thought on missions of peace and goodwill. It
happened that they were just on such a mission and the same thought occurred to
all of them . They said to each other, “Brothers, we
have been absent from our Lord too long; let us return.”
The next moment they were at the gates of Vaikunta and holding each
other by the hand they confidently
entered the first of the seven golden gates, when they were brusquely stopped
by two gigantic guards with crossed lances. The guards said. “Stop!
Sri Narayana and Sri Devi have retired to rest. Wait till they wake up.” The
Kumaras were stunned. There was no time restriction for entry to heaven. But
the guards were adamant. The Kumaras became angry, which was something quite
unusual. They said, “You two do not deserve to be here! Go down to the lower
regions and after expiating your sins you can come here again”.
The Lord of course, knew that something was amiss
and with Sri Devi came down to set things right. The Lord appeared before them
along with Sree Devi. Everyone prostrated, feeling rather guilty. The Supreme
Lord said, “You Kumaras and you Dwara palakas, do not
feel guilty. It was all my wish. Now the curse
pronounced by the Kumaras cannot be revoked. But I give you a choice. You can
return to me after three birth - death cycles as my enemies or after seven
birth - death cycles as my devotees”.
The giant guards replied, “We cannot wait for seven
births and deaths. We would rather choose the shorter course of three cycles”.
Their request was granted. Immediately the gigantic guards were thrown head
downwards to earth.
We have now to revert to the events happening with
Kasyapa Prajapati. It is needless to say that Brahma’s son Kasyapa Prajapati
was a very great Maharishi. He had two wives, Diti and Aditi. The devas (gods) were the sons of Aditi, Indra being the
eldest and most powerful. Diti also underwent rigorous tapas for children.
Kasyapa was pleased and resolved to bless her also with sons; but she would not
wait for the right time. The sun was setting and it was time for prayer; but Diti did not
mind all that. Overcome with sudden passion, she enticed the protesting Kashyapa.
He said, “Oh! My dear, this is time for worship of my brother Sri Rudra who is
presently going round the universe accompanied by his followers and his ire will be roused if people
misbehave.” But Diti would not hear. It was fate. Just then the two guards were
hurtling towards the world and they entered her womb
Diti knew that they were asuric (demoniac) and
suppressed them for a hundred years within her womb. There were ominous signs.
The atmosphere became intolerably hot , jackals
howled, owls hooted and showers of red-hot stones fell from the sky. The twins
named Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksha were born and they grew apace
. Their golden crowns touched the clouds. As they walked around , the earth trembled. The seas swept over the land.
As Hiranyaksha the younger brother stepped into the sea, it was only knee deep.
It was water all around. The sages and gods, as usual appealed to Sri Hari who
immediately took the form of a huge boar and plunged into the sea. And then ensued a fierce battle, which lasted many days with many ups
and downs and many an anxious moment for the sages. At last Sri Hari gave a fierce blow
and the demon fell dead .
Hiranyakasipu heard about the terrible death of his
brother and resolved to avenge it. He thought, “I must be well prepared. By
intense tapas I will acquire such boons as will make me invincible.” With this
unholy resolve he left his queen and kingdom and repaired to the forest and
undertook unheard of austerities, - such as standing on one leg only and
fasting all the time. Birds settled on his matted locks, wild bees stung his
face and carnivorous ants slowly devoured his body. Fumes and tongues of flame began
to shoot from his body because of the intensity of his tapas. Thus he continued
his tapas for long
long years.
Meanwhile important events were happening in the
regions ruled by the Manus. Here the land was broad and the forests were green.
The broad rivers and the numerous sparkling rivulets made the land almost like
another heaven on earth. The workers toiled happily. There was peace and plenty
everywhere and the elderly sages stayed in the forests engaged in tapas. Over
this blessed land ruled, the king Swayambhuva Manu with queen Satarupa.
Kardama was a renowned sage, young and handsome. He
wished there were more people. When a great rishi has a particular wish, God at
once fulfills
it. And so it happened. The next day, emperor
Swayambhuva Manu came riding in a golden chariot accompanied by his queen
Satarupa and their beautiful daughter Devahuti. They saluted the young sage and said “Sir, I have
been told that you intend to marry and we humbly entreat you to accept our
beautiful daughter as your partner. She is qualified in every respect, by her
age, character and upbringing. We will be blessed if you accept her. O! Great Sage!” The sage was pleased for this was what he
himself had desired and accepted the bride. Leaving their daughter in the
ashram the king and the queen returned to their capital. They gave their
daughter many costly and useful gifts and with a tearful farewell left her in
the hermitage.
The princess was the ideal Hindu wife. She would
sleep only after her husband had slept. She would get up early before him and
sprinkle holy water in front of the ashram. She kept the ashram clean; gathered
flowers for the pooja and attended on him like his shadow. Thus years rolled by
and Devahuti became thinner. Her veins showed under the skin. The Maharishi noticed
it and he was overcome with pity. He asked her what she wanted and she replied,
“My lord! I want what every woman wants. Children from you my
wedded husband.” The sage relented and said, “My dear, You are emaciated and weak. Take a dip in that
The princess obeyed and entered the lake. And then a
wonderful thing happened. She was
surrounded by hundreds of damsels who bathed her and dressed her with beautiful
garments. They adorned her with divine ornaments and flowers
. The princess became very beautiful and radiant . Such was the Rishi’s tapas. He
himself became gloriously handsome like a god. The hermitage too was changed
into a marvellous mansion with hundreds of rooms and terrace above terrace. The
golden domes on top gleamed in the morning sun.
The servants were clad in golden dresses. They were eager and anxious to
carry out any order. Devahuti knew that all this was due to the power of the
Rishi’s tapas .But the most wonderful thing about this palace was that it was a
flying mansion. They had only to wish and it would fly swiftly over the clouds
to wherever they wanted. In this way they spent a happy time in the gardens of
the gandharvas ,
demi-gods , and in the gardens
around
But alas! Everything must end. The Maharishi woke up
as from a sleep and realized that he had strayed from the path of Brahman far
too long. Meanwhile nine daughters were born all of the same age, as fair as
the dawn.
Devahuti was sad.
She could read his mind. Kardama sadly said “My dear wife, now I must
go. I have given you most beautiful children as I had promised.” With a wistful
look, Devahuti sadly said, “My lord! I have been a foolish woman hankering
after fleeting, foolish pleasures. With such a great husband as you, I should
have earned the way to everlasting bliss. Besides, how can I - a lone woman -
find suitable matches for these our beautiful daughters? And my lord, I would
like to have a son who would be a support and
guide me to salvation.”
The great sage relented. He remembered that God had
promised to be born as his son. He agreed to stay for some time more.
Coming Of Kapila.
In due time Devahuti gave birth to a beautiful son. There
were auspicious sounds all around . A gentle breeze wafted heavenly fragrance.
Wild animals became tame and gentle. Devas and angels with Brahma at their head
appeared overhead with garlands in token of worship. For, it was their own
lord, - the lord of the universe - who had come down to this sphere, to dispel
the doubts of rishis and establish Sankhya dharma for the salvation of mankind!
Kardama and Devahuti prostrated before their child
who had assumed his true form with four hands bearing the conch, the disc, the
mace and the lotus.
Now Kardama, his mission over, arranged the marriage
of his daughters with nine renowned sages; Anasuya with Athri, Arundhathi with
Vasishta and so on. Kardama took a last look at his divine son and bidding a
tender farewell to the princess left for the
Mother
and Son
Devahuti
was now left alone with her son. She realized that her son was Vishnu (God)
incarnate. With folded hands she said, “I am deeply distressed my Lord.
Deceived by the senses, I have wasted my time in sensual enjoyments. Save me
from these and teach me how to reach that eternal bliss from which there is no
return.”
And the son, remembering that his body was derived
from her, addressed her with great tenderness, “O Mother! This mind is the seat
of everything good or bad. In association with the evil, it takes on that color
but the same mind in association with the good and the saintly, becomes like
them. These saintly people will always do good actions or talk about godly
things and enchanting stories about my actions and me. When people hear about
my glory, I enter through their ears and their hearts melt and they see the
whole world as their kin. They see myself present
everywhere. Thus of all methods of reaching me, none is so
pleasant or safe as the path of devotion. And therefore O Mother! You too leave
off all thoughts of relatives or home and I assure you, you will come to me.”
Kapila then set off to the
Devahuti now lived in a cottage by the side of river
Saraswathi. She forgot her physical existence. Her mind fixed on Vasudeva , she
finally merged in Him . Her body became a sparkling river known as Sidhitha . You may see it even today rolling over saligrama murmuring “Sivoham! Sivoham! “
CHAPTER 2
Sk 4. Ch 6 .Slokam 32
The
Great Daksha Yagam
Devahuti
had a sister Prasuti by name and she was married to Daksha Prajapati, a son of
Brahma himself. This Daksha was the doyen of all the priests, performing
elaborate rituals and sacrifices. On one occasion all the priests and sages
assembled together and performed a famous sacrifice. Daksha ,
shining like the sun , entered there. Every one stood up in respect and awe
except Brahma and Rudra.
Daksha noticed it. He went up to Brahma (his father)
and saluted him formally and took his seat, ignoring Sri Rudra – who was one of
the trinity. Daksha stood up and casting a baleful look at Sri Rudra declaimed,
“Look at this presumptuous upstart. Obeying my father Brahma, I gave my doe
eyed daughter to this monkey-eyed beggar whose abode is the burning ghat. He
smears himself with ashes from the funeral pyre. The serpent is his necklace
and ghosts and goblins are his attendants.”
But Sri Rudra, the great God that he was, calmly
stood up and departed with his attendants. However Nandiswara, foremost among
Sri Rudra’s followers could not contain himself and cursed Daksha and his
progeny to be idolatrous, slaves of women, traders in mantras with no real
Brahmin hood. Bhrigu of Daksha’s camp flung curse for curse prophesying that
saivites would follow unclean methods and unholy tantric practices. Thus
heartily cursing each other they departed.
Years passed without any diminution in the enmity
between father in law and son-in-law.
One day Dakshayani (Sati) observed the sky thick
with bright chariots of the celestials drawn by snow-white swans. The gods and
demi gods with their highly bedecked consorts were moving in the direction of
her father’s palace. From their talk Sati understood that they were going to
attend a grand Yagna called Brihaspati Seva and it was to be conducted by her
father. They talked of the grand festivities and the rich presents they would
get.
Sati’s heart yearned to go and to her lord she said, “My lord!
Your father-in-law is conducting a great yagna. All the celestials with their
brides are going. My dear sisters with their husbands will be there and I too
long to be with them, along with you. You are generous. You have given to me
half of your body even. We have not been invited, what then? One can go to a
friend’s house or to one’s father’s house or one’s guru’s ashram without
invitation.”
Sri Rudra replied, “Your observations are correct.
We can go uninvited to the house of a good friend but not to that of one who is
envious and looks with an evil eye. The evil words of a proud man rankle in the
heart much more than the sharp arrow of an enemy. If you go, it will not be
good for you and may
even end in death”.
With this the Jagat-Guru retired and remained
silent. Sati was not convinced. She became restless looking up; she saw the
sky, teeming with the celestials. She retired into the hermitage , and again
came out into the open. She trembled with anger at her Lord and finally decided
to go without his permission.. But Nandiswara and others would not let her go
alone. Nandi the bull carried her on his back, Maniman sounded the conch,
others sounded the cymbals and the godly procession soon reached the yagna
sala. Her sisters and mother received her with great affection but Daksha
frowned and even said, “Who asked you to come?” Sati ignored the taunt but
noted that her Lord was ignored. No seat was set apart for the Lord of the
Yagna. Her anger blazed.
“You hate the great Lord Siva by uttering whose name
a dying man is absolved of all sins and is released from further birth and
death. Such an all-merciful all
forgiving God you hate. I am ashamed of this body, which is derived from you.”
Then sitting in the lotus posture and concentrating
on the feet of her Lord her body was
consumed in a trice by holy fire.. The ganas of Rudhra tried to avenge her
death in vain. Bhrigu reciting a mantra poured an oblation in the holy fire and
hordes of demi gods armed to the teeth arose from the fire and put to flight
the followers of Sri Rudra.
Sri Narada Maharishi who could travel anywhere broke
the sad news to Sri Rudra. But the great God being omnipresent had known
everything. Sri Rudra became furious. He sprang up and from his matted locks,
plucked a strand and hit the earth with it. A huge gigantic form, Veerabhadra
with a golden crown and wielding a trident flashing flames danced round
Siva. Prostrating before the great God he
addressed him thus, “Your servant my lord, what shall I do?” The Lord said,
“Go! And destroy Daksha and his yagna. You are the foremost of my commanders.”
Veerabhadra roared with delight and accompanied by
all the myrmidons of Siva, sped towards the yagna sala. The earth trembled
under their feet, the sky darkened. A whirlwind destroyed everything before
them heralding their coming. The sages conducting the yagna were frightened.
Ladies of the royal household , Sati’s mother and sisters , trembled with fear.
And all at once the avengers were upon them. With flaming torches they set fire
to the yagnasala. Nandiswara caught hold of Bhrigu and said, “You proudly
stroked your beard when the great Lord Siva was insulted. .” Saying so he
plucked off his beard. Pushana the sun god, - who had derisively laughed earlier – had his teeth knocked out. Daksha
put up a brave fight but Veerabhadra caught hold of him, wrenched his head off
and threw it into the sacrificial fire.
Thus ended the great Daksha yagna. The devas were
not too pleased. Was not Daksha their great leader, master of Vedic hymns, who
sustained them with frequent yagnas.? And now who will conduct great yagnas?
How can they derive their strength from the yagnas now?
They approached Brahma and requested him to pacify
Sri Rudra and revive Daksha. Brahma replied, “All of you and Daksha in
particular have deeply offended Sri Rudra, the embodiment of calmness. Still I
shall come with you and try to console Sri Rudra who is in deep grief over the
demise of his dear wife”. So they formed a great procession and with Brahma at
their head, slowly wended their way to Sri Kailas, the abode of Sri Rudra. On
the way they had to cross many valleys and rivers and wooded forests with
magnificent trees like cedar, devadaru, and sandal wood. Their giant branches
were raised to heaven as if in prayer, entwined with tendrils of jasmine and
many sweet smelling flowers. They passed by many lakes of crystal clear water
crowded with blue lotuses and the thousand petalled lotuses called souganthika.
Heavenly damsels, the apsaras sported with their spouses in these lakes. On and
on they passed. Parrots, cranes and peacocks were flying in swarms overhead all
singing the praises of the Creator .Still
they pushed on and passed by the hermitages of sages, who had reached various
stages of realization. They passed through the land of the yakshas guarded by
holy rivers, the Nanda and Alakananda. Finally, they approached Sri Kailas, the
abode of Sri Rudra. There they saw a great banyan tree and under it’s spreading
branches was Sri Rudra himself. The
crescent moon shone like a jewel in his matted locks. The embodiment of
calmness, He was sitting cross-legged . His body so dear to the sages was
smeared with ashes. Holding the japamala in one hand and indicating the chin mudra with the other, he was instructing
the sages Sri Narada Sanaka
Sananda and many others. The
sages were sitting around in deep attention
On seeing Brahma Sri Rudra arose and prostrated
before him as a son should and so did all the others. Then Brahma said, “O!
Rudra! You are the all merciful, all-powerful, the all seeing one. It behoves
you to forgive this Daksha and his followers for their ignorance. Be pleased to
give Daksha his life, Brigu his beard, Pushana his teeth and wisdom to all.”
Sri Rudra smilingly replied “Indeed! I do not want
to punish these foolish people who are subject to Maya.”
Daksha’s followers repented for their mistakes and
humbly requested Sri Rudra to accompany them and see that the yagna was
completed. Sri Rudra graciously agreed and followed them to the yagna sala.
Daksha’s head had been burnt up. So they substituted it with the head of the
sacrificial goat. Its beard was grafted on Brigu’s chin. It was decreed that
Pushana would get only puddings as sacrificial offerings, as he had no teeth.
Now Vishnu (Hari) also appeared and in the presence of the Trinity the great
yagna was concluded. All the gods and sages returned to their respective abodes chanting the Rudram and Chamakam,
Daksha leading them all.
These verses are recited with great gusto even to
day by learned pundits all over the land.
Sk 4
.Ch 8 . Slokam 54
The Story
of Dhruva
Devahuti,
daughter of Swayambhuva Manu and Satarupa had two brothers, Priyavrata and
Uttanapada. The latter became king and he had two wives Suniti and Suruchi.
Suniti’s son was called Dhruva and Suruchi’s son was Uthama.
Suruchi the younger was the favourite wife. One day,
the king was sitting on his throne with the younger wife Suruchi. Her son
Uthama was sitting on the lap of the king. The king fondled the younger prince
Uthama. The elder prince Dhruva was playing nearby and he also wanted to be
fondled by his father. Dhruva toddled up to the throne and climbed up the steps
to sit on his father’s lap. The haughty queen pushed him aside and said, “ If
you want to sit on your father’s lap you should be born as my son. Go away to
the forest and pray to Hari to be born as my son.”
Dhruva began to cry when he heard her taunting
words. But he was a king’s son. He hissed like a serpent that was beaten by a
rod and ran to his mother. The poor queen took him up in her arms and kissed
him. From Dhruva’s playmates the queen heard about it all and began to shed
tears. In her distress, she called upon Lord Hari. She took the child in her
lap and said tearfully,” Beloved son, Lord Hari is your unfailing refuge. You
were born to an unfortunate one. The king is ashamed even to look at me. You
are suckled and brought up by me who am most unfortunate.. We are all suffering
for our past mistakes. Worship the lotus feet of Sree Hari, your desire shall
be fulfilled.”
The poor queen wilted like a tendril in a forest fire. Dhruva was now resolved
with unbelievable firmness. He resolved to follow his mother’s advice and
started for the forest.
Sri Narada hearing of this met Dhruva on the way and warned the child
about the dangers ahead. But Dhruva was so firm that in the end the sage ended by helping him. Sri Narada
pointed the way to Madhuvana on the bank of the Yamuna as a place dear to the Lord. Then he gave a
glorious description of the Lord’s form and imparted the holy mantra,
“
“
These mantras consisted of twelve
syllables.
Then the divine Sage said to Dhruva.“Dhruva, You
should bathe three times a day and perform puja with thulasi and other flowers.
Constantly remember the fascinating stories of the Lord’s Avatars and do your
tapas.”
Dhruva heard all this with rapt attention and
prostrated before the sage and went
towards Madhuvana. He began his great tapas, the like of which has never been
heard of, either before or after.
Bathing in the river before dawn, he began meditating
on Sri Hari as directed by Sri Narada. His food consisted of only a few fruits
in the first month. In the second month, he ate only a little grass; in the
third only a few fallen leaves. In the fourth month, he established control
over the breath. In the fifth he would stand on only one leg and when he
changed his stance to the other leg, the earth began to shake. In the sixth
month restraining all outlets , he became one with the universe. Fumes and
flames began to rise around him.. The devas in heaven became breathless and
were toppled from their seats. Gasping and breathless and in great fear, they
approached Sri Hari the ultimate refuge of all. Sri Hari consoled them.
“Have no fear you gods. The son of Uttanapada is
doing intense tapas. I will go and pacify him.”
Dhruva was absorbed in the form of Sri Hari and the
whole universe in his heart. He suddenly missed the Lord in his heart. He
opened his eyes and saw the same Hari standing before him.
He was dumb for a moment not knowing how to praise the
Lord. The lord touched his forehead
with his conch and then hymns of praise gushed forth from his lips.
“O! Lord! Having created this universe, you have
entered the hearts of everything alive or inert. You make them act with your
Maya , keeping them under the illusion
that they are independent. Only by your grace can we come out of this illusion.
May you be pleased to grant us this grace and the final resting place which is
yourself.” Sri Hari granted him sovereignty
of the earth and advised him to go back to his father.
After leaving Dhruva in the forest Sri Narada
straightaway met king Uttanapada who was by this time bitterly repenting his
conduct. The Devarishi Narada assured him that Dhruva would return after the
tapas and that he would bring great honour and fame to the royal line.
The months passed soon and messengers announced that
Dhruva was returning. The king went in his royal palanquin with the queens to
welcome Dhruva. The courtiers, priests and all the royal retinue went with the
king to receive Dhruva . The king
conducted him to his palace with great love. Dhruva prostrated before Suruchi
first and then before his mother and father and they all embraced him with
tearful eyes.
There was great rejoicing throughout the kingdom for
many days. But a sad event befell before long. It was the practice for princes
to go out hunting in those days. Prince Uttama
had gone to the forest when as fate would have it a gandharva
killed him. Dhruva was infuriated and he entered the forest with a vast army,
determined to avenge the death of his brother. Dhruva had acquired divine
weapons by his tapas. A fierce battle ensued and the gandharvas were almost
exterminated. Kubera, the lord of wealth and one of the guardians of the world
was in sore straits. Now Brahma appeared and appealed to Dhruva to show mercy
to a beaten enemy. Dhruva obeyed and in return Brahma granted him numerous
boons. Poor queen Suruchi in her grief entered the forest and a forest fire
killed her.
King Uttanapada became very old. He had conducted
many yagnas and had ruled long and well .
And like his forefathers he
decided to retire to the forest for tapas. So Dhruva was crowned as king. Long
were the festivities and it is said that even the gods graced the occasion.
Dhruva was the ideal king; the darling of his
subjects. He too conducted many yagnas. There was peace and plenty everywhere.
But he too, was subject to time and handing over his kingdom to his son,
entered the forest for tapas. In due time a divine chariot appeared. Sri Hari’s
parshadas gloriously attired and waving lotus flowers beckoned to him to enter
the chariot.. Dhruva raised one foot and then hesitated for, he remembered his
poor mother. The divine messenger read his thoughts and pointed to another
chariot that was already speeding toward heaven.. Suniti was reclining there
happily, surrounded and attended by heavenly damsels. Dhruva’s attendant showed him his final
abode. He became the pole star high above the world and remained there forever.
All other stars and galaxies revolved below.
You may see the Dhruva Star even to day as the Pole
Star looking down and blessing all mortals.
CHAPTER 4
Sk 4.
Ch 16 . Slokam 16
The Story
of Venan
Srimad
Bhagavatham is a replica of the world’s virtue and vice. It is like day and
night, that appear and disappear. After the passing of such a heroic soul like
Dhruva, there appeared on the scene, Venan the personification of
senseless wickedness. Born in the same line of illustrious kings Venan
was the son of king Anga and queen Sumitha. Even as a child, his evil nature
showed up. Being quite strong, he would toss his playmates into the swollen
river and watch the drowning children with great delight. As he grew up his
wickedness also grew. The people became desperate and appealed to the king who
in desperation banished him to the forest. King Anga was disconsolate. His heir
and only son banished, he too retired to the forest. He did tapas like his
forefathers and attained the feet of Lord Hari.
The land was without a ruler and soon the effects
were seen. Robbers had a field day, roaming everywhere looting and killing. The
rishis who were performing a holy sathra (yagna) on the banks of river
Saraswathy were startled to see clouds of dust and smoke raised by the robbers.
Now Venan, though he was a ruffian, was a strong ruler and the rishis requested
him to resume his kingship. He put down the robbers with a strong hand and
there was peace again. But now he was more arrogant. He proclaimed with
placards and drum-beat that he alone was to be worshipped and yagnas should be
conducted for him only. When the sages remonstrated he fretted and fumed.” I am
protecting you, so you must worship me. Instead , like an unchaste wife
who worships her paramour, you worship Hari. Out with you!” The Rishis were
roused and chanted “Hum!” The Kundalini fire was roused. It rose up their
spines and blazed through their eyes and Venan was burned up. The charred body
remained. This did not solve their problem. The robbers were again on the
rampage.
Venan’s mother, queen Sumitha had somehow kept his
body intact. The Rishis approached and
took the dead body. Chanting
powerful hymns they churned Venan’s thigh. A black dwarf with low forehead, a
flat nose and curly hair came out. “Give me a place to live,” he cried and the
rishis assigned him the forest. From that day onwards, the dark forests have
been the dwelling place of his race. The right arm of the corpse was churned
next and a divine form with all the marks of divinity emerged. The conch, the
disc and lotus marks were all clear. With further churning a goddess of the
same figure emerged. The celestials showered heavenly flowers and garlands and
danced overhead to the music of flutes and cymbals. A cool breeze blew wafting
divine scent and there was an unutterable peace everywhere. Evidently here was
an avatar of Hari . The rishis named them as Prithu and Archis.
Prithu and Archis
They
grew up in a moment proving their divine origin and the Rishis crowned them as
King and Queen. They were the greatest of all kings and queens. Peace was
restored almost immediately, as punishment was quick and stern. The earth which
was untilled and barren was tilled by the king himself setting an example. In
his golden chariot he went round the earth seven times leveling down the hill
tops, leveling up the valleys and throwing bridges across wide rivers. He
constructed broad road ways throughout the land. There was prosperity and
happiness everywhere .The great poet Sage Veda Vyasa compares the earth to a
great cow and the king to a master milkman, who could milk out anything and
every thing needed for man.
The cow, goddess earth, was very generous and
various people milked whatever they wanted. The devas milked off nectar. The
apsaras, heavenly damsels, got divine perfumes and flowers and gandharvas,
got the art of music and dance . The rishis got kusa grass and materials for
conducting yagnas The asuras milked off wine that inebriates. The earth was
covered with green fields. There was plenty of rain in season and no deluge.
And even the sun’s heat did not scorch. Robbers did not dare show their faces.
Justice was quick and stern and impartial. Heaven had almost come to earth. It
was evident that an avatar of Sri Hari was the ruler.
The king, like his forefathers, decided to conduct a grand yagna. It
was a grand offering to the gods for the benefits they showered on the people.
The gods subsist on their yagna offerings . Grand arrangements were made on the
banks of the river Saraswathy.
Invitations were sent to all the kings, sages and people in all ranks of life.
The priests seated around the holy fire recited Vedic hymns. They poured ghee
and oblations in the holy fire and all the devas were personally present to
receive the offerings. In this way King Prithu conducted ninety nine grand
yagnas and the hundredth was in progress. Now, Indra, the king of gods became
jealous, instead of receiving his share with gratitude. He was the only person who had completed
hundred yagnas and received the title of Sata Kratu - performer of hundred
yagnas - and now here was a rival. He could not brook this and so ,
disguised as a barbarian he stole the sacrificial horse. As he was speeding
across the sky with the stolen horse, the leader of the priests ,
sage Athri, spotted him and ordered the king’s son to pursue him and recover
the horse. The prince went in hot pursuit and recovered the horse. This was
repeated two or three times. Finally king Prithu himself took up the pursuit
with his divine weapons He would have killed Indra when
Brahma appeared and pleaded with king Prithu as Indra was one of the immortals and deserved
to be spared. The magnanimous king obeyed out of respect and in return they
showered many gifts on the king, though really he did not need any. Lord Brahma
added that Prithu would get all the benefits and credit of completing hundred
yagnas.
After a long and glorious reign king Prithu’s time was
running out . Before final retirement and exit he once more decided
to give a final farewell address . He summoned them all in a
vast assembly and addressed them thus.” My dear people, Hear me!
“So, take refuge at his merciful feet; surrender your burdens there and
enjoy serene happiness So while on this earth, serve holy men. An offering made
to a sage is an offering made direct to Him. He Himself derives His power by
following these sages. Finally, he who has a virtuous character and he who is
grateful and kind to old people, is sought after and blessed by prosperity. And
may God bless us all “ The vast concourse raised their voice in appreciation. “
We are indeed blessed to have such a great king as our ruler. Not only our
present position is blessed but our future is also assured. May you live long.”
Singing the glory of God they dispersed.
Then by chance there arrived the Kumaras. They are the first four ascetics who never grow old. They appeared as
five year old children and attended on Lord Hari reciting holy Vedas.
They could travel anywhere in all the worlds and wishing to convey their
blessings, they appeared before the king. Bowing low the king said, “Great
Maharishis, I should not ask if you are well because you are self realized
souls always in the presence of Hari. And if you roam about the world, it is
only to shower blessings. Still kindly advise how mortals should conduct
themselves. ” Kumaras replied “ The easiest way to reach the Lord is
through unstinted love and devotion. Recite his stories and love fellow
creatures great and small. This removes from the mind even the last vestiges of
passion and illusion. By constant association with the realized saints and
carefully avoiding the company of the worldly, the mind is slowly brought under
control and it almost vanishes. With the disappearance of this intervening
reflecting medium – the mind - you are face to face with the Lord and there is
nothing more to be gained.” Their work done, the Kumaras vanished. The king
continued to rule, his divine tendencies further strengthened by the Kumaras,.
Every action of the king, strengthened the hands of God. Handing over the
kingdom to his son, the king retired to the forest for the final penance and
exit. The queen Archis also followed him. Reducing his body by severe penance
to a shadow of his former royal presence he roused up the Kundalini fire and
the body vanished. The queen too entered that fire and as in life, so too in
death they rose to the higher world.
Thus ends the immortal story of King Prithu and Queen Archis setting a
glorious example to all succeeding kings and fellow mortals.
CHAPTER 5
Sk
4 . Ch 25 . Slokam 58
Prachinabarhis
and His Sons the Prachetases
Prominent in the long line of descendants of Prithu was Prachinabarhis
who was famous for performing yagnas. He performed them so continuously that if
the kusa grass used for it was laid end to end, it would girdle the earth. He
had twelve sons all alike and virtuous . The king asked them to travel and
meditate until they found Hari. They travelled due west and reached a lake near
the sea coast. They could hear a heavenly music. A gentle breeze wafted
heavenly scents. And there emerged from the lake the glorious form of
Lord Siva , like a burnished statue of gold with
shining face, a bluish neck and a coiled serpent as necklace. With arms
outstretched and one leg raised he was dancing the cosmic dance.
The princes overcome with awe and wonder prostrated before the Lord and
prayed for guidance.
Lord Siva, addressed them thus, “You are blessed princes! The lovers of
Sri Hari are dear to me. Brahma, Vishnu and myself are the same. We are only
three aspects of the one, universal, Omnipotent power. As Brahma it creates, as
Vishnu it sustains and as Siva it destroys and this cycle rotates .So
worship without any difference and escape from this cycle of birth and
death.” Saying this Sri Siva vanished.
Sri Siva’s address to the princes is known as the famous Rudra
Geetham.The princes repeated this hymn and immersed in the lake. They did
penance for many years until after a very long time Sri Hari
himself appeared in a blaze of glory, mounted on Garuda and with goddess
Lakshmy by his side. He was flanked by the heavenly retinue. Sri Hari said, “I
am pleased with your tapas and your innate purity and devotion to Sri Rudra.
Ask me any boon”.
The princes, thrilled with the vision, with one voice requested, “Grant
us O Lord! That wherever we may be , we will have the company of holy
sages . Nothing is dearer to us than hearing your glory.” The lord
granted their request and added, “He who is kind to all creatures is always
blessed. Now depart and do as your father desires.”
Accordingly, they returned to their kingdom and ruled over their vast
kingdom as advised by the sages. They married and after a glorious reign,
crowned their eldest son Daksha ,who was a re-incarnation of the earlier
Daksha, as king. They returned to the forest to do penance and attained
freedom.
Meanwhile Sree Narada approached Prachinabarhis. who had become old. and
was still performing yajnas.. Sree Narada said, “O King! Enough of these
desire motivated sacrifices. Just touch me and look there!” As the king
looked he observed all the cattle he had slaughtered in the sacrifices.
They were waiting to tear him to pieces when he too would go to the other world.
The king was terrified and then Sree
Narada told the following story.
The Allegory
of King Puranjana
King Puranjana accompanied by his close friend Avijnata wandered in
search of an ideal place to build a city. At last he found an ideal place in the
southern side of the
The king congratulated himself thinking that he had reached the end of
his search. Meanwhile his companion had slipped away. Then the king heard
a pleasant sound as of
anklets near by. A beautiful damsel approached him. She was accompanied
by soldiers and a serpent. The king was spell bound to see her beauty. He
said.” Are you the goddess Parvathy, Lakshmy or Saraswathy? Or an apsara? It
cannot be, because your feet are touching the ground. These grim soldiers
following you, are they your guardians? And this coiled serpent with five
hoods, is he also your guardian?” The
damsel replied, “I am the queen of this city. I am unmarried and I am looking
for a protector and husband. Who would not be attracted by such a handsome,
noble warrior like you? Let us together enjoy all these gifts of God”.
Puranjana who had a natural liking for sensual pleasures, needed no
further persuasion and embarked on a life of stark enjoyment. He was so
engrossed in sensual pleasures that he forgot everything else. He would talk
when she talked, he would sing when she sang and he would dance when she danced
. He wept when she would weep, and laughed when she would laugh. He did not
trouble himself with the affairs of government and left it entirely to his
councillors. He would go out hunting all-day
carousing and sleeping all night.
Thus passed months and months lengthened into years, many years. The
king, like any one else, was getting old and time brought changes that were not
too pleasant. The gandharvas three hundred and sixty in number accompanied by
their ladies fair and dark, mounted an attack on Puranjana’s city. They were
assisted by the yavanas. A fearful lady called kala kanya(time) who could suck
the strength out of one’s limbs and Prajivara (disease), her ally , visited Puranjana.. Weakened by a long
life of reckless indulgence, deserted by sons and friends he put up a brave
resistance. His guards were beaten back; even the guardian serpent could do
nothing. The enemy swarmed in like a flood and the king sank back, still
thinking of his wife. He could never think about god even in his last moments.
As he could think only about his queen always after death he was born as
a woman, the daughter of the king of Vidarbha. The child soon grew up as a
beautiful princess and in due time was married to Malayadhwaja, the Pandyan
king. The sacred river Tambraparni flows through his kingdom. They had five
sons and a daughter. Being a saintly king, he entrusted the rule to his sons
and retired to the forest accompanied by the queen. Very soon he attained
Brahmam and the queen was now left with a corpse. She (king Puranjana)
wailed her loss and gathered a funeral pyre. She took a dip in the river
and was about to jump into the lighted pyre when a sage suddenly appeared
and stopped her.
The sage was Avijnata (the unknown) his former boon companion .The two
had together roamed over the world He said,“Dear friend, we are two
birds . Together we were roaming over
the world .. We were sitting on a tree enjoying the calm. Then you the ‘Jeeva’
wanted to taste the pleasures of the world. You plunged into it leaving me
alone. Now you have tasted the pleasures. You are not this widowed queen; not
even Puranjana. You are my image. Remove
the reflecting medium ,mind, and we are
one. Come! We shall fly over land and sea and over hill and dale; basking in
God’s sunshine; enjoyng eternal bliss.” And the two, now one, flew away.
As Narada concluded, king Prachina Barhis asked. “Great Sage! I have not
fully understood the meaning of the allegory. Kindly explain more fully .” Then
Sri Narada continued, “The city with the nine gates is your body with the nine
holes,. two eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth and so on. The queen is none other than
“Budhi” i.e. intellect whom every one obeys. The serpent with five hoods is the
prana (breath) with five aspects as prana, apana, vyana , udana,
and samana. The attacking gandharvas are days and nights. Kala kanya is the
terrible maid of time, and Prajivara is disease to which all must succumb and
Avijnata is our immortal conscience which we must never neglect. And if you
want to end this seemingly endless sequence of birth and death take refuge in
Sri Hari. Resort to the company of the saints and enjoy everlasting peace and
bliss.”
The king listened to the advice. He gave up all sacrifices and retired
to the forest. He went to Kapilasram and doing intense penance, attained
Brahmam.
CHAPTER
6
Sk 5 .Ch 5 . Slokam 1
Prachetas
Prachetasa Daksha created devas, asuras, men and other creatures merely
by his tapas. When this was found to be insufficient he began tapas by the side
of
Prachetasa Daksha had many sons. All of them were well versed in the
sastras and before settling down, Daksha told them to travel towards the west,
so that they could gather more experience and knowledge. They reached the
estuary of the
Daksha became very angry and said, “You have misled my poor sons from
doing their duty to their forefathers, the rishis and gods. So, I curse you to
wander perpetually unable to reside in any place for more than a few hours”.
Sri Narada had already known that the princes were all free souls. As
for Daksha’s curse, he accepted that too as a blessing!
Dakshas’
Daughters
To avoid this apparent perversion by Sri Narada Daksha prayed for
daughters and he was blessed with sixty daughters all fair and beautiful. He
gave ten daughters to Dharma, thirteen to Kashyapa, twenty seven to Tharkshya .
The progeny of these peopled the earth. Some were god like, others were
demoniac some were vultures , some reptiles and the rest became the various
forms of life
Priyavrata
Swayambhuva Manu had two sons. Uttanapada was the elder, whose story has
already been told and now we turn to the story of Priyavrata. He had no
interest in state affairs and being of an ascetic turn of mind, he was
interested in tapas for self realization. Now he was commanded by his father
and Brahma (one of the Trinity) himself to return to the kingdom and assume the
reins of kingship. Brahma had to plead rather sternly.
“Dear son, none of us is really free to do whatever we like. Neither
myself nor Lord Siva nor your father nor any one else is really free. We are
all led by the nose as it were by our own karma, directed by Sri Hari. Even a
realized saint has to suffer the consequences of his past actions. But he knows
that it is all transitory and therefore he is not much affected. A house holder
is like a king in a fort. Temperate living helps him to overcome the senses
gradually. As a fort helps the king to ward off the enemy, a family life helps
the house holder to ward off the attacks of the senses. Therefore return to
your kingdom and assume the reins of government and in the end you can resume
the saintly life and come to me.”
Priyavrata obeyed. He was an ideal ruler strong and just. The seven
seas, the mountain ridges and the continents were evolved as the king drove
around the world in his mighty chariot. People gladly obeyed the law as
otherwise punishment would be quick and stern. At the end of his glorious
reign, the king woke up as it were, from a dream and resuming his original
natural bent of mind, entrusted the vast kingdom to his sons. He gave up
everything and after intense penance, attained the feet of Hari.
Agnidhra and
Purvajithi
Agnidhra, Priyavrata’s son was now ruler of the entire Jambudvipa. He
was young, energetic and well skilled in the arts of war and peace. After some
years, desiring an heir, he retired to the forest and prayed to Sri Hari.
The Lord grants whatever a devotee desires. Worldly desires are very readily
granted. Soon there was a change in the atmosphere .. A pleasant wind wafted
the scents from opening lotus flowers,champak and jasmine. Voluptuous music
trilled from the anklets of a dancing apsara coming towards him. The prince was
dumbfounded by her celestial beauty and began to talk incoherently.“O beautiful
lady! Are you a mortal or a goddess? I will be your slave, I cannot live
without you.” The damsel complied smilingly. She was an apsara named Purvajiti
sent by Indra for this very purpose. They returned to the capital and to year
long celebrations by the people. Aghnidhra had nine sons, Nabhi, Kimpurusha,
Harivarsha, Ilavita, Ramyaka, Hiranmaya, Kuru, Bhadrasura, and Ketumala. They
all had great beauty of form and divine qualities like their mother
, Purvajithi. ; her mission done she decided to return to her apsara
world. But the king was loath to leave her and so both went to the apsara world
where they live to this day.
The Story
Of Nabhi
King Nabhi and his queen Merudevi desirous of ensuring prosperity of his
subjects and the glory of his line decided to perform a great yagna.
Preparations were made on a very large scale. Only purest of ingredients were
used and the priests were self realized sages. They poured offerings into
the sacrificial fire reciting vedic mantras in praise of Vishnu (Hari). So
great was their sincerity and purity that Sri Hari himself appeared and asked
what they wanted. They said. “Great
lord! This noble king wants an heir to the throne, who will be the equal of
Lord Hari himself .”Sri Hari was amused. Still he said, “How is that possible?
O Sages! There is none quite equal to me. Still because of your sincerity and
the purity of this king and queen I shall be born as their son, a partial
avatar.” The king, queen and the assembled rishis were greatly delighted and
all departed awaiting the happy event.
In due time the queen gave birth to a beautiful son with all the divine
marks of conch, the chakra –wheel – and mace engraved in his palms and feet.
The child Rishabha, grew up very rapidly into a tall, powerful and handsome
person, the very picture of Sri Hari. The parents, knew that their time was
over. They handed over the great kingdom to their divine son and retired to the
forest for the final penance. Rishabha married Jayanthi, daughter of Indra and
had a hundred sons. Bharata was the eldest who ruled this land , known
thereafter as Bharat. Nine of his brothers were known as Navayogis whom we
shall see later. The remaining sons had brahmanic qualities and became brahmins.
King Rishabha ,also known as Rishabha Deva, in the course of his travels
came to Brahmavarta where the Brahma Rishis were holding a great conference.
Finding such a fine responsive audience Rishabha Deva wanted to address them.
His sons were also there among the audience.
Rishaba
addressed the assembled sages.
“O Rishis and
you my sons, hear me patiently,.
This human
body is not for miserable pleasures,.
These
pleasures are given even to filth eating worms,
The human body
is for divine tapas by which you can be purified
And
attain permanent happiness
Service of the
great is the gate to freedom eternal,
Company of the
lechers is the open door to darkness and hell!
They who love
Me are only moderately attached to wife, family and relatives,
Not taking
from them anything but the minimum. They come back to Me easily
But they who
indulge in pleasures without restraint
And they who
commit prohibited acts ,I do not approve of them
As long as
they do not want to know the reality
So long their
ignorance will continue, and attachment will persist
And the mind
carries it over to the next birth.
And even then,
because of their forgetfulness they again indulge
In sex and
sense pleasures, the home and possessions seem real
The bonds are
further strengthened.
The sense of
duality is the strongest bond that binds the heart.
When the mind
forcibly breaks asunder this bond (the result of previous actions) then the
soul now free from the bond of duality goes back to its source.
From where do
we get this required force? From teachers who are realized saints
by implicit
obedience to them ,rejecting duality with great fortitude, knowing the sorrow
of all,
by a
great desire to know the cause of all these and by desireless
action,
devoting them
to me, delighting in my stories and in the companionship of my devotees,
with enmity
towards none ,with equality to all, by engaging in spiritual studies,
getting
control over the mind through proper pranayama
by good
attention and practice of brahmacharya, (celibacy) by controlled speech without
any exaggeration,
and seeing my
presence everywhere and by wisdom embellished with knowledge
by practicing
yoga with satvic determination . Give up once for all the idea of I
and mine.
This
idea is the seat and origin of all actions. It is due to ignorance
After reaching
this stage there is nothing more to get, so retire from everything
even yoga.
As there are
no bonds any more, you have reached Brahmanandam.
Those who
aspire to come to My world and receive My blessings, whether they are parents,
teachers or
kings should without anger guide the aspirants to avoid the pitfalls.
Otherwise they
fail in their allotted duty.
People blind to their real progress, intensely desirous of amassing
riches earn only misery and with it intense enmity and the
chimera of happiness.
Which wise man, full of kindness will fail to guide a fool wandering
from one foolishness to another? Should not one, who is blessed by sight, guide
a blind man who has lost his way?
He is not a teacher, he is not a relative,
He is not a father and she is not a mother,
And that god is no god nor that husband a true one,
Who does not release one from approaching death.
This body is difficult to understand
But my heart is full of sathvic virtues and dharma,
And I have put adharma far behind,
Hence the wise ones call me Rishabha.
You are all born, out of my heart
Therefore all of you deserve to follow,
And obey implicitly your eldest brother Bharata,
That way, you will be serving me and the people.
Among creation you have immovable things like stones,
Then come tanks and rivers, then trees and reptiles,
Then human beings, and then gandharvas,
And then yakshas and beyond them gods.
And there is Indra, chief of gods, above
him Daksha, the
sons of Brahma,
And Lord Siva, part of me, I follow the
realized sages and
Brahmins,
These Brahmins are above every one else and the offerings
made to them,
Is superior even to offerings in the fire made to me.
The Vedas are my body, the Brahmins preserve it by study,
by restraint of mind and body, by
following the truth,
by penance and by fortitude
Even from me, the dispenser of all
blessings and final
salvation,
These wandering sages desire
nothing but continuous
devotion.
My sons! Worship not only Brahmins, worship
all living
creatures
And even inanimate nature, because I abide everywhere.
That is real worship, let all your
actions, and words be
dedicated to Me,
and only this dedication will help you
to escape from the
meshes of death.
Thus advising his sons , who were by nature already saintly, King
Rishabha handed over the reins of government to Bharata and taking nothing with
him, left for the forest, completely alone.
He travelled over hill and dale, not caring for the big mosquitoes or
even wild animals. He subsisted on wild fruits and roots, making no attempt to
get food, slaking his thirst from the mountain streams, sometimes lying down,
and not even taking a bath. But, strange to say a sweet fragrance like that of
musk spread all over the place. Various sidhis such as distant vision, entering
another body, transporting oneself to any place, reading another’s thoughts and
the like now presented themselves before Rishabha willing to obey him but
Rishabha declined. Instead he continued to wander in the southern regions of
coorg.
Rishabha had already become free. The body alone was moving about and it
was consumed in a moment by a forest fire. O King! This omnipresent Lord was
the guide, friend, charioteer, and even the servant of your ancestors the Pandavas.
A man can wish for nothing more
CHAPTER 7
Sk 5 . Ch 8 . Slokam 1
The Story
of Bharata
King Rishabha had made Bharata king of this land that was known as
Ajanabha. Bharata married Panchajani and had five sons through her. He ruled
over his subjects like a father. He performed numerous sacrifices – yagnas and
kratus . During his rule all his subjects performed their duties as enjoined by
their nature so that no one was dissatisfied. All were contented and happy. As
a result of these yagnas and benign rule he became filled with boundless
devotion towards Sree Hari. Dividing Bharata Varsha among his sons he repaired
to the forest for doing tapas. He reached Pulahasrama by the side of which
flows the river Gandaki also known as Chakranadi.
Bharata would wake up much before sunrise and have a dip in the river .
With water dripping from his locks, dress, he would face the rising sun as the
manifestation of God and offer prayers. His food consisted of ripe fruits
lying on the ground and the tender leaves. The rest of the time was spent in
contemplation so deep, that his eyes became wet with tears while an intense
bliss filled his heart. One morning as usual, he had just finished his bath,
when he saw a full grown female deer on the other shore. She was big with
child. Suddenly there was the terrific roar of a lion. The deer made a
tremendous leap to cross the river and as she was half way over the river the
fawn dropped from her womb and the swift current was bearing it away. The deer
itself reached the opposite bank but was so much exhausted that it fell
down dead. The swift current carried the fawn to the very spot, where Bharata
was standing. As he had a merciful heart , Bharata took it up as a gift of god,
wrapped it up in his own cloak with great tenderness and took it to his ashram.
Bharata, who had given up even an empire, was now attracted by the fawn.
He began to gather tender leaves and flowers for the little deer. He
daily watched it growing up with growing affection within his heart. He took it
out daily for a morning walk and never left it alone for fear of wolves and
other wild animals. Whenever he had to leave it alone in the ashram for taking
his bath and gathering fruits he would think, “O! What will happen to my
darling! O Lord! Thou who seeth everything, everywhere, kindly protect my
darling.” When Bharatha returned, the fawn would jump about him gently rubbing
its sprouting horns against Bharata’s body. Thus Bharatha was engrossed night
and day in looking after the fawn.. He even forgot the routine daily worship
and contemplation. It was “The fawn O! my pretty fawn!“, all the time.
Thus days passed in complete oblivion of all his duties, even his daily
worship. But time and tide wait for no one and Bharata was facing death. Even
in this extremity his thoughts were for the deer.” What will happen to my
darling deer?” Thinking thus he breathed his last.
Now whatever a man thinks of at the last moment, that, he becomes! And
Bharata was born as a deer some distance away. Because of its meritorious
actions in its previous life, the deer remembered his previous life and
determined not to commit the same folly. So, the little deer repaired to
Pulahasramam, heard the discourses of the rishis, and lived on tender leaves and the prasadams –
food offered to gods – given by the rishis who treated it as an inmate. The
deer grew old and when its time arrived thinking of God all the
while expired, casting off its body in the river.
Bharata The Brahmin
There was at that time a pious brahmin of the Angiras gothra, known for
his learning and austerity. He had a large family of sons and one daughter.
Bharata the deer was born to the second wife of this Angiras brahmin. Bharata
knew all about his previous births because of the great tapas and austerities
he had undergone and was now determined to avoid all contacts. To achieve this,
he pretended to be a hopeless dunce. When addressed by others he would reply
irrelevant answers, or pretended not to hear at all. In spite of this, his
father invested him with the sacred thread and tried his best to teach him the
holy manthra Gayathri without success. In due course the father expired and
Bharata’s mother accompanied him performing sathi.
To do them justice, the brothers tried to bring him up but without
success. Bharata was left to look after the fields and work in them, as an
ordinary labourer. Even this he would do indifferently. He would go on digging
deeper and deeper or leveling up endlessly. As wages he would be given stale
bread, which he ate with great glee. He would sleep in the open watching the
corn and the wonder of it was that though he would not drive away the birds or
rodents and other pests, there was always a bumper harvest.
Now, about this time, there was a fierce brigand, spreading terror and
devastation. He had no children and to please the demons he determined to
perform a human sacrifice. His followers captured some poor fellow for this
purpose. This poor man had escaped from custody and the brigand’s followers
were now searching for a proxy. And as fate would have it they came upon poor
Bharata in the fields. The ruffians pounced upon him, bound his hands and feet
and led him to their chief. The chief and the sacrificing priest were more than
pleased to see the young, robust victim. Surely Bhadrakali would be immensely
pleased. The robbers and their chief gathered round the image of the goddess
and began to recite the final verses.
All this time Bharata was quite indifferent completely absorbed in the
infinite, enjoying infinite bliss. The priest took up the sword and danced
around and was about to bring it down on Bharata’s neck. With a great roar
Badrakali sprang out of the image snatched the sword from the priest’s hand and
cut off his head. Not satisfied, the goddess with her minions cut off the heads
of all the ruffians and began to play football with their heads. Bharata
watched this gory game with the same serenity . When the game was over the goddess
and her attendants vanished, thereby teaching the world that such would be the
fate of those who would harm Lord’s devotees.
Bharata and
Rahugana
Rahugana was the king of the Soaviras (
Rahugana looked at the new recruit; with some anger and sarcasm he
observed “Ho! Ho! Bearer! You are old and weak! Or I could teach you a lesson”.
The bearer replied, “Sir, who is master and who is servant? Both the
terms are myths. If you refer to this body it is not true. It is perishable and
will return to the elements from which it is made. If you refer to the soul, it
is immortal, part of the universal soul.”
Rahugana looked more carefully and observed the sacred thread clinging
on the body of the bearer. He sprang down and bowing low said, “Pardon! Pardon!
Holy Brahmin! You may be the sage I am searching for. Tell me further.”
Bharata continued. “In between
the body and the soul there is the powerful mind, - a combination of the three
gunas – a product of Maya. The mind works through the senses and it is at the
root of all the differences that you see. No amount of learning or austerity
will help. Get hold of the feet of a great guru and he will show the way. By
the lord’s maya the jiva is thrown into a forest where six dacoits live-
desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride and jealousy are their names. They devour
the soul as wolves tear down a sheep. Tormented with thirst the tired traveller
approaches grass covered wells without water. In life don’t we approach
pitiless people for help? The hungry traveller gets only poisonous fruits. At
last the traveller thinks he has reached shelter but that proves to be a dream
city. The traveller and his partner sit like two monkeys on the branch of a
tree grinning at each other and think that this is felicity. Panting for water,
he sees it at a distance. But when he goes near it vanishes. It was a
mirage. Sometimes for the sake of little money he quarrels bitterly with fellow
travellers and they become mortal enemies. When in need of a little help he
gets contempt and disgrace. His friends prove to be jackals and vultures. This
is the Bhava adavi or the worldly forest. Only His grace can help you to cross
this.”
“O! Master! How kind you are! You are like all followers of Hari. They
save not only themselves but also others. I bow to you, I bow to every one!”
Thus worshipped by Rahugana, the great sage Bharata calm and full like the
great ocean, went on his way.
CHAPTER 8
Sk 6. Ch 2 . Slokam 15
Ajamila
The successors of Bharata were all worthy of their forefather. Sri Suka
now digresses for some time to give a detailed description of this earth and
the universe. Bharatavarsha is ringed by mountain ranges in concentric rings
and in between there are oceans of lime, milk and nectar . The rings of
mountains rise higher and higher and from there originate great rivers.
Different people of various hues and stature, gods and demigods; some golden
and others dark or fair came to exist there . They enjoyed heavenly pleasures
without disease or old age and yet longed to be born in Bharatavarsha
( our country), because this is the
karma bhumi where you can earn merit through actions and attain the region from
which you need not return. Then Suka Brahmam gives fascinating description of the
abode of Ananta, the serpent, of Indra, lord of the gods. Finally he gives a
gruesome picture of hell where sinners are sent to be punished for their sins.
Now there are as many types of hells as there are sins. Burning coals are
forced down the throats of those who habitually lie. Those who have evicted
their poor relatives through false documents are made to run through sharp
blades of leaves – that look like pointed lances – that cut their skin. A
little further off, there is a cauldron of boiling oil and some screaming
wretches are thrown into it. They had done the same thing while alive – frying
live things like chicken. Tortured sinners’ groans came from some other
quarters.
Parikshit was a bold man; still he was thoroughly frightened. However
Sri Suka comforted him “O King! The punishments you have seen are terrible but
they can be averted. If a sinner is really repentant and cries ‘“Om Namo
Narayanaya’, gods and angels will appear, and putting to flight the
devils , will escort the repentant
man to Gods’ presence. So take heart, and listen to the famous story of
Ajamila”.
The Story
of Ajamila
In the city of
The angels, were curious and asked what he had done. Yama’s minions
replied.“Ajamila has grievously strayed from Dharma. He was born to a pious
father, well versed in all the shastras and married to a virtuous wife. He lead
an ideal life. One day he went to the forest as usual and saw a hunter and his
mistress singing lewd songs and engaged in shameless amorous play. Their
different postures entwined together affected his mind badly. All the training
and asceticism of the young rasad were vain, his heart was shaken by cupid. He
left his aged parents and virtuous wife, squandered all his wealth for a
shameless woman and took to brigandage and hunting for a livelihood. We are
taking him to hell by our master’s orders.”
The angels replied.” You say, you are the guardians of Dharma! It is a
pity you have not fully understood the law of Dharma which is as follows.
However much a man has sinned, if at the last moment of death he utters the
four syllabled words NA-RA-YA-NA he is completely purified. No matter if
he says it in fun, in mockery or accidentally , he is completely
absolved. You may say that he was only calling his son. That does not matter.”
Yama’s followers were in doubt and they returned to their master. The
angels too vanished . Ajamila woke up as from a dream. But it was no dream. He
could distinctly recall every word. “Alas ! What a fool I have been! Leaving my
destitute old parents and my chaste virtuous wife I committed all kinds of ugly
acts with a drunken bawd. Please Lord, have mercy on me!”
Thoroughly repentant, he spent the few remaining days of his life on the banks
of the
Yama Raja’s messengers returned to Samyamani, and said, “O! Master! How
many judges are there? By your order, we went to earth to fetch the sinner
Ajamila and had tied even his hands and feet. Then we were thrown back by
the superior energy of a group of glittering angels. They said that by uttering
the word “Narayana” Ajamila was purified. Pray, is that the law?”
The stern lawgiver closed his eyes in contemplation and bowing to Sri
Hari in his heart, said, “Lord Hari is above us all. He permeates everything
moving and unmoving like the warp and woof of a cloth. Myself, Indra, all the
chief gods and even the sages freed from the three gunas are led like oxen by
the nose strings held by the driver. We twelve – myself ,Brahma, Sri Narada,
Siva, Kumara, Kapila, Manu, Prahlada, Janaka, Bhishma, Bali and Sri Suka – know
the law, the great Dharma and therefore we have become immortal. Uttering the
name of the Lord “Narayana” at the last moment absolves one of all sins and
even the tendency to commit sin is destroyed. All other forms of worship and
remedies remove only past sins but not the tendency to commit them. The word
“Narayana” though uttered chokingly, in a faltering voice purifies one forever
and ushers him into the
And Yama Raja humbly added, “May the great Lord Hari forgive me for this
one error.” And turning to his
followers he added, “My dear followers, do not even approach hereafter any
dying person who is uttering the holy name Hari or Narayana. Give them a wide
berth. Do not be aghast. There is plenty of work for you. If any one moves
about a place of worship without bowing his head or who has never uttered the
name of God, bring that rascal here binding his hands and feet and then do your
assigned work.
Indra’s
Disrespect of Guru
Indra, Lord of the gods was holding court. He was seated on a glittering
throne, with full regal paraphernalia, surrounded by the lesser gods singing
his glory. The king of the gods was elated by his own greatness, when
there entered his old Guru, the venerable Brihaspati, tottering with age .
Indra did not rise from his seat. Though he saw the sage enter, he pretended
not to see and the sage quietly retreated. Indra immediately realized his
mistake and starting up in alarm, hastened after the Guru, but could not find
him. By his yogic powers the sage had made himself invisible.
The absence of the guru soon began to be felt. The enemies of the gods,
the asuras were now emboldened and with the help of their guru, the great
Sukracharya, made inroads even into heaven. They put to flight the gods and
usurped their places. Indra now bitterly repented and putting himself at the
head of the gods approached Lord Brahma. The Lord roundly reprimanded the
deputation.
“Proud of your position and prosperity, you have insulted a most learned
Brahmin, the master of all secrets. See the consequence. You had to flee from
your palaces and your enemies who deeply respect and honour their acharya have
driven you out. Your times are bad now, wait for better days. But you
must have a guru, a worthy substitute. Viswarupa, the son of Thwashta , is a
very great sage and he may accept your request and guide you back to your
former glory. However, there is a slight flaw in this arrangement. This sage
Viswarupa is related through his mother to the asuras. But you need have no
qualms. A learned scholar will not refuse to instruct an eager student.” The
devas were clever in arguing. Humbly approaching Viswarupa they said. “Great
sage! We request you to become our acharya. As a sister is the personification
of kindness, the mother the symbol of earth’s patience and father the symbol of
lord Brahma himself. , the acharya is our protector and guide. Kindly lead us
the right way, so we can regain our lost glory”.
Viswarupa was young and deeply learned but reluctant. Still, out
of deep respect for the elders he agreed and became the acharya of the devas.
Viswarupa then brought out a famous incantation known as Narayana Kavacham.
Reciting this mantram with great faith Indra and the devas became invincible
and regained all their glory.
Narayana Kavacham
Viswarupa taught.” After washing hands and feet and performing achamanam
pray as follows.
May lord Hari with all his weapons protect me from all evils. May the lord in
the form of the fish protect me in water and may the lord as Vamana protect me
from all dangers on land. May The lord as Narasimha guard me from all fierce
enemies. May lord Kapila save me from bondage of action. May the lord in
the forms of his various avatars protect me from every conceivable evil. May
the divine rasad burn up every obstruction.”
The above is only the gist of the full mantra. Reciting the full mantra Indra
and the devas became irresistible and occupied their own former abodes.
Viswarupa had three heads. With one he drank soma ,
with the second he drank sura or wine , and with the third he consumed rice. He
performed yagnas for Indra with great devotion and proffered offerings into the
sacrificial fire liberally for the benefit of the gods. But moved by affection
for his relatives through his mother he unobtrusively offered offerings for
asuras also. Indra was incensed and cut off the heads of Viswarupa. One of the
heads became the black cock, another became the sparrow and the third became
a partridge. As a result of killing a rasad saint Indra incurred the sin
of Brahmahathya. He divided it among earth water, trees and women. When old
Thwashta heard of the sad end of his young son, he decided to take revenge. He
performed a powerful hellish homa and reciting the powerful spell, poured the
oblation into the Dakshinagni. A huge form Vritra came out.
Dark like the winter cloud with eyes shooting fire and tongue lolling out, he
looked like death .. Wielding a huge trident from which lightning flashed, he
fell upon the devas and began to gobble them up. The gods were no cowards but
what could they do against such, an enemy? They made a fervent appeal to Sree
Hari. They prayed recalling with gratitude how as a giant fish he had saved
them from the flood and all the previous occasions when he had come to their
help. Sri Hari revealed Himself.
“I am pleased with your repentance. Approach Dadichi Maharishi. He is an
old Brahmajnani (knower of Brahmam) whose bones have hardened through tapas and
request him to give you his back bone out of which a weapon can be fashioned to
kill this asura.”
The Strange Request
of Devas to
Dadichi
The devas approached Dadichi Maharshi with their strange request .“Great
Sire,” the devas said, “Be pleased to give us your bones to overcome our enemy.
There is nothing that great sages like you will not give to relieve the
miseries of helpless people,”
Dadichi the knower of Brahmam was amused. He said.” If I give my backbone I
shall surely die, And which man is not afraid of death?” The devas were abashed. Still they continued,
“We know your great power and attainments. No one else can help us.”
The great rishi agreed and relaxed into eternal Samadhi. The devas reverently
took his bones and fashioned a terrible weapon the Vajrayudham out of it. Indra
took it up with confidence and faced the enemy.
The
All the asuras now rallied under Vritra. The battle raged for days but
at last the asuras were overpowered and began to flee. Vritra stopped them, and
commanded.” Do not fly like cowards. Be heroes, follow me.”
With his flaming trident in one hand and a maze in the other
Vritra strode forward. He smashed the enemy in dozens and impaled scores in his
trident. The devas were beaten back. The opponents were now face to face. Indra
was seated on his white elephant. As usual verbal recriminations preceded.
Vritra said.” By god’s grace you are in my power now. You killed your
preceptor, insulted your guru, you are the slave of your senses and have
committed many shameful acts.” Saying so he struck a terrible blow. The white
elephant was beaten down and Vritra swallowed Indra. The celestials and sages
who were watching the fight from above groaned with fear.” Only Lord Hari can
save Indra now!”
Indra with his divine weapon slashed his way out. Vritra now went
berserk. His form was immense, his mouth bigger than a cavern and he gobbled up
all the devas he could lay hands upon. But Indra rallied and cut off his right
arm. Then Vritra roared with pain but continued the havoc with his left arm and
addressed Indra thus.
“ I will go back happy like an eaglet waiting for its mother eagle; like
a calf running to its mother cow. Like a
maiden waiting for her absent lover I am waiting to be united to my
lord. Now strike my friend and gain what you want. I go back gladly to my
lord.”
And those watching outside saw a dazzling light, rising up and moving
across the sky until it merged with the infinite.
How Indra
Was Saved From The Sin
Of Brahmahatya
The celestials and sages now relieved from Vritra’s oppression, returned
to their respective abodes. But Indra was unwell and the sages now performed a
great yagna, “The Rajasuya”. Brahmahatya or the sin of killing a rasad now took
the form of an old hag with rasadled hair, fierce eyes and exuding a nasty
odour pursued Indra. He fled over the three worlds and at last took refuge in
the fiber of lotus flower in the Manasa – saras.
The devas wanted a substitute ruler to rule over them and lead them in
battle against the asuras. There was a powerful king named Nahusha. He agreed
to rule over them and was installed as the temporary Indra. He ruled
well, winning victories against the asuras. But this Nahusha had an evil streak
in his character. He insisted that the chaste Indrani (queen of Indra) should
be his partner. The poor queen was in a fix. But she was clever and thought of
a stratagem. She told Nahusha to come in a palanquin borne by the great seven
sages. The foolish Nahusha agreed and came riding in a palanquin borne by the
seven sages. Agastya one of the bearers, was of short stature and the progress
of the palanquin was rather slow. The substitute Indra was impatient. He cried
“Sarpa, Sarpa” – meaning “Quick Quick” and prodded the great sage Agastya with
his feet. The all powerful sage became angry and said. “You fool! Since you
have said ‘Sarpa, Sarpa’ you will become a serpent.” At once Nahusha fell off
the palanquin becoming a huge serpent in the process. After aeons of existence
as serpent Nahusha got his release in Dwapara Yuga as will be told later
In the land of the Surasenas, there was once a great emperor Chitraketu
by name. He was the overlord, getting tribute from subordinate kings , enjoying all the pleasures of life. He was in
full vigour of life and had more than a thousand wives, all as fair as the dawn
and yet Chitraketu was unhappy. He had no son. Just then, by chance, the great
sage Angiras came to visit him. The emperor immediately rose and received the
sage with the greatest respect. The all knowing sage smilingly addressed the
king. “O! King! You are ruling over your subjects with great justice and your
subjects are happy and contented and yet some discontent is clouding your face”
“What shall I say to thee who knowest all! Yet I shall obey your command” The
king continued “I have no son to continue the line. Who will protect my poor
subjects and who will repay our debt to our forefathers and gods by performing
the annual Sradhas and daily poojas I will be punished and banished to
the nether world like a felon for failure in my duties” The poor king could
proceed no further.
The kind hearted sage gently said “Take heart, great
king. I shall perform a great yagna for the Sun god and you will have a son.”
Angiras immediately performed a sacrifice to the Sun god and gave the remnants
as rasad to the king who in turn gave it to his eldest queen Kritadyuti
who partook of it with great devotion. Soon she became pregnant and in due time
gave birth to a fine son. There were great rejoicings, throughout the land. The
baby grew up a fine boy bringing joy to whoever looked on him. He was the
darling of the step mothers and nurses and the courtiers. The king spent most
of his time fondling his son and attending its mother and unfortunately he
began to neglect his other wives. They wailed “Alas how unfortunate are we
childless and neglected. Our lot is worse than
that of the female servants” As their misery grew they lost their reason
and poisoned the child. The poor queen Kritadyuti thought the child was
sleeping and engaged herself in some household work. Time passed, the child did
not wake up and the queen told an old nurse to wake it up. The old nurse gently
approached the child. Its eyes were fixed; there was no breath; she fell down
with a cry. The queen now came near and finding the child was dead, she uttered
a wild cry and fell down in a swoon. The servants ran here and there and the
king beat his breast wailing “Alas! What
sin have I committed that I am suffering thus. Great God! Take us also.
We cannot bear this loss.”
Just then old Angiras Maharishi arrived along
with Sri Narada. “Grieve not O! King! Nothing of this world is real It is all
dream-land Your palace, kingdom, your armies will all disappear into the womb
of nature and your own body will become a handful of dust or ashes. I would
have told you all this when we first met but your desire for a son was so great
that you could not receive any message” Sri Narada now thought of a more
effective method than just advice. Facing the dead body of the child he said
“Rise again O! Jiva and gladden the hearts of all these people. Enjoy your
throne . Your father and mother are grieving. Gladden their hearts again.” To
the intense astonishment of all, the Jiva said “Pray which father and mother am
I to choose? I have so many fathers and mothers and relatives through my
various births in different wombs, human, divine quadrupeds and even reptiles.
According to one’s actions, a person is born. Escape from this coil by selfless
service to all fellow beings” Saying this the soul again left the child
Chitraketu and others now convinced of the unreality of the body and the
reality of the soul were more or less calmed took their bath in the river and
performed the funeral rites. Even the cruel step mothers repented for their
cruel action. Realized that they were just pawns in the game of fate, and
becoming really sorry, had a peaceful end. Sri Narada went one step more. It is
the nature of saints to shower blessings wherever they go. He decided to teach
Chitraketu how to overcome maya , illusion , by worshiping Bhagavan Sankarshana
(Adisesha) But before that he had to be
taught something important. Sri Narada taught him how to recognize the
Lord in various aspects such as budhi (Intellect) mind ,
feelings , and in twelve divine
mantras. As the mind became free, he
could travel anywhere and reached Adisesha’s abode. He was very fair, clad in
blue silk, adorned with rare gold ornaments and jewels such as warriors wear
and his eyes were long and rather reddish. He was surrounded by
groups of immortals. At this grand sight out of sheer devotion tears welled up
in Chitraketu’s eyes. He did not know what to ask for, as he wanted nothing.
Still the Lord blessed him as the supreme master of the Bhajan form of worship
(musical recital of gods’ actions).
Chitraketu roamed over the spheres with
his band of musicians blessing bhajan
parties with their presence. In the course of his wanderings the party
happened to pass by
Chitraketu laughed loudly. “The great exemplar
who should set an example is embracing Sri Parvathy in public. Even ignorant
persons do so only in privacy” Lord Siva only smiled and did not react. But Sri
Parvathy was enraged “Who is this person who has dared to insult Lord Siva,
when venerable sages and even Hari and Brahma see nothing wrong” The Devi
continued “You do not deserve to be the minstrel of God. You have too much of Rajasic guna. I curse you to
be born as an asura” Though Chitraketu
could curse in return, he did not do so. He meekly accepted the curse and was
born as Vritra in the Homam that was being performed by Thwasta.
Shri Siva observed , “You see my dear
Parvathy the greatness of the devotees of Hari. They are free from anger and
all such maladies” Such was Vritras origin. No wonder he regained his former
status after a comparative short relapse.
Sk 7. Ch 6 . Slokam 1
Hiranyakasipu’s
tapas lasted for a long time. It was an asuric form of tapas , cutting of pieces
of flesh from the body and casting it in the sacrificial fire. When there was nothing
more to cut off he was about to cast himself in the fire when Lord Brahma appeared “My son
I am pleased with your tapas. What do you wish?”. “I wish immunity from death”
Brahma replied “Nay, that is not possible. It is not in my power to give that”.
“Then” said Hiranyakasipu “grant me invulnerability from all weapons, from
beasts and men. I should not be killed either in day time or night” Lord Brahma
said “Be it so” and touched his wasted body and Hiranyakasipu arose, his body
shining like molten gold and hard as diamond. When Hiranyakasipu had left his
palace years ago, he had left his pregnant wife Kayatu, unprotected. Indra, his
arch enemy, pounced upon the poor lady, took her captive and was leading her to
prison when Sri Narada stopped him enroute. Indra protested “Great Sire, this
lady will have a son and he will be as powerful as his father. So I am going to
destroy it before it is born”. “You fool!” the sage retorted. “You should not
harm a pregnant lady and moreover the child in the womb will be the foremost
devotee of Hari”. Indra at once agreed to release the queen. He
circum-ambulated her thrice and bowed
and returned to his abode. Sri Narada took the lady under his charge,
gave her shelter and all comfort in his ashram. The queen herself kept the
ashram clean, gathered flowers and fruits for the sages daily rituals. And
during leisure Sri Narada told the fascinating stories of Lord Hari, of how he
is the friend of the poor and oppressed and punishes the evil doers. Even in
the womb, the child was listening avidly and after he was born, the maharishi
took him under his special tutelage and needless to say he became a peerless
devotee.
Hiranyakasipu ruled over the whole universe. In his
palace of many spacious halls the walls were smooth as a mirror; the pillars
shone with precious stones, the devas were in humble attendance. Agni cooked his food and the wind god Vayu swept
the courtyard clean and goddess earth
gave always bumper crops without ploughing. The gandharvas (demy gods) were
constantly singing his praise. The apsaras (nymphs) were dancing without pause and the monarchs of the
world regularly brought their tributes. Even the offerings poured into the
sacrificial fires by the sages were forcibly diverted to him. It was continuous
enjoyment all the time and yet the asura was not satisfied. It was adharma
(unrighteous conduct) all along the line. Nobody should worship Hari. Instead
they could worship him “
Prahlada’s
Childhood
Hiranyakasipu
had four sons of whom Prahlada was the greatest, the master of all the greatest
qualities that waited upon him as if he was their master. A lover of
saintly people, and of gentle conduct he was like a father to people in distress
and a brother to all living creatures. He looked on his teachers as gods and
was entirely devoid of egoism. He saw the world as unreal and phantom like. In
short his virtues were countless like God’s and saints do not tire of
recounting them in the assemblies of good people even as they do not tire of
recounting the attributes of Hari himself.
Sometime, tears welled up in his eyes; sometimes he laughed. The reason
for all this extra ordinary behaviour was his inborn devotion to Hari. In
short, he was possessed by Hari! And Hiranyakasipu hated this son! It happened
thus.
One day, the Asura took his little son on his lap
and asked “Dear Fellow! What is the best thing a person can do?” The child
immediately replied “In this troubled world where people are torn with thoughts
of mine and thine, they should leave their houses which are like hidden wells
and run to the forests where they may take refuge in Hari”
The Asura’s brows darkened “My enemy or his agents have corrupted my
poor son’s mind. I must entrust him to proper teachers for his education”. He
summoned Chandamarkas the two sons of Sukracharya and commanded them to
undertake his education in the proper way. They took the child to their
hermitage and taught him all the usual sastras which he mastered with great
ease. But he was firm in his devotion to
Sri Hari. He is the cause of everything;
He is everything. The child affirmed. The teachers were in a fix “How
did you get this idea? was it imparted to you or is it your own?”
Prahlada replied “The wrong notion that this is
mine, that is yours is created by Sri Hari’s maya. I bow to Sri Hari. When Sri
Hari favours you, this beastly idea “I am one, he is another” gets cracked.
Even gods are not free from this
duality. Even sages who are on the trail
miss their way some time. I am aware of this danger and therefore I am firm in
my devotion to Hari”. The tutors were disheartened “This boy is like a thorny
bush among the mighty sandalwood trees, the asuras”. They then took him to his
mother; she bathed and adorned him in a fitting manner and led him to his father. Embracing him warmly
the Asura spoke tenderly “Prahlada, my darling, tell me the essence of what you
have learned from your tutors” and Prahlada gently began “Hearing stories about
Sri Hari, singing bhajans about him, remembering and serving him, offering
flowers and worshipping, serving him
implicitly by friendship and offering yourself completely – these are the nine
forms of devotion and if a man follows these he has learned his lessons
properly”. Blind with anger
Hiranyakasipu turned on the trembling tutors “How is this? You traitors have
misinformed my son”
Those poor fellows shaking with fear moaned “It was
not done by us or by any other. This he has
learned by himself. Please wait till your guru, our father returns. He
will surely find some way”.
Turning to his son the Asura thundered “How did you
get this pernicious idea in your mind?”.
Gently Prahlada replied “Devotion to Lord Krishna will not come to those
who are devoted to their own families with uncontrolled senses like unbridled
beasts .They do not understand their own real interest . People who are led by outward appearances follow others equally blind , like beasts following other beasts led by the
nose string. Their mind will not turn to the worship of Sri Hari
until they follow the footsteps of the sages and are hallowed by the dust of
their feet. As a magnet attracts iron Sri Hari attracts me.”
The Asura threw down the boy and roared “He is an
enemy. He has forgotten how my brother was treacherously killed and does not
want to avenge it. If a limb of ones own body is diseased it should be
amputated. Take him away, poison him, and
throw him down the cliff” The demoniac attendants needed no further
persuasion. They tried all these tricks
and many more. As the child was merged in Hari, all their efforts were vain.
And the emperor of the three worlds became really anxious. He was afraid.
Chandamarkas, the tutors consoled the Asura “Bind
the child with Varunapasa, so he will not run away and let us await the return
of our father who will certainly find out some way.” And they continued with
their own interpretation of Dharma, Artha and
Prahlada told the eager students how he had learned
from Sree Narada Maharishi. How the body
is ephemeral, changing every moment, unreal while the soul is eternal, a part
of Sri Narayana himself. How the
differences are unreal and vanish like smoke when the truth is realized. And there are, a thousand ways of reaching
this truth. The easiest and most
pleasant way is through devotion, through bhajans (Psalms) and kind hearted
service. He is in all. So you are serving God when you are serving
the poor. So, cultivate sat sangh
(company of the godly). Finally, dear
friends , it is not birth as a high born brahmin or god or sage that
matters. Poems or songs or vast learning
do not matter, giving alms or austerity
and penance are not as dear to Sri Hari as disinterested devotion. The rest is only pretense. And all are eligible, asuras, yakshas, women,
birds, beasts, reptiles, All, All are eligible.
In fact, they have attained salvation.
This is the truth”
His co-disciples all asura boys listened attentively
and began to sing hymns and danced round Prahlada to the great consternation of
the tutors. On hearing about the strange
turn of events , Hiranyakasipu
became blind with fury and grasping a sword rushed towards his son
“You idiot! Where is the source of your
strength? I will finish both of you at once!” and Prahlada replied “Oh! King!
Not only mine but yours and of every creature, Sri Hari is the source” “Is he in this iron pillar also ?” asked the
furious asura. “Yes. He is there
also. I see him clearly”. The Asura looked at the iron pillar and smote
it with his bare hands. It split in two with a deafening sound and there
emerged a huge form, half lion, half man with many arms, armed with divine
weapons. His head was covered with
golden manes, with ears erect and a cavernous mouth and cruel teeth and red
tongue lolling out.
The Narasimham had not calmed down. He was still shivering with anger. Nobody dared approach him. The gods, demi-gods, gandharvas, nagas and
sages all tried to come near singing psalms of praise but the Man-Lion showed
no signs of calming down.
He was still growling, drenched in blood lashing his
tail and ready to spring on any one daring to come near. The devas had a plan. They prevailed on Sri Lakshmy Devi, Vishnu’s
consort to go near. The Devi took one or
two steps and stopped short. She too was
terrified and could not recognize her Lord in this guise. As a last resort the gods prevailed on
Prahlada to go near the awful Man-Lion.
Prahlada had no fear and approached Narasimham , Man-Lion , with folded
hands. The Lion’s eyes became moist
thinking of the great sufferings his devotee had been subjected to. Narasimham gently placed his hands on
Prahlada as if blessing him and at once songs of praise gushed forth from the
Child.
“When
Brahma and the gods are unable to please thee,
How can I, a
child born of asura hope to please you.
Methinks, neither high birth nor wealth
nor beauty and strength, nor intellect
can please you great God
as the devotion of that elephant in distress
“A chandala of low birth who has
devoted his mind, words and actions to you
Is superior to a brahmin of high birth
Who has turned his face away from you
All things are yours. By giving you offerings
A devotee is increasing his own worth
As a man adorning his face is not doing it
For the image in the mirror but for himself.”
Prahlada does not stake any claim. “A Father cannot
save his son . Medicines do not always save.
Even any number of births and
deaths do not take one nearer to you. I
do not want even blessings as they are chimeras in the desert. The senses are like the several wives of the
householder, pulling him in different directions. Bound by one’s own past actions we are
inexorably led to repeat our mistakes unless you take pity and lead us to
you. Save me, Save all”.
The Lord said “Prahlada, dear child! Wait a little
more as an example to all devotees. You
are the emperor of the three worlds and the master of untold wealth. I know you have no desire for them. You must
exhaust your merit by judicious enjoyment and demerit by patient suffering and
when the account is clear both ways, come to your final abode with me.” With these words the Narasimham vanished.
“He prayeth best; who loveth best;
Coleridge – “ The Ancient
mariner”
The story was first told by Sri Narada to Yudhishtira. Sri Narada continued “How lucky you are in
having this same Vishnu, Sri Krishna, as
your uncle, protector and guide all through your life. I shall now narrate another story
illustrating his unique greatness.
The Story of Mayan,
the Master Builder of The Asuras.
After
the lapse of a long time, the devas recovered their former glory and oppressed
their rivals, the asuras. They
approached their guru, Mayan the master builder who was also a great engineer
and knew many secrets. He built three great
cities of iron, silver and gold.
Residing in these cities the asuras could fly over any place occupied by
their rivals the devas and settle down crushing all those below. The devas were in great distress and
approached Lord Siva, one of the Trinity.
Lord Siva, the kindest of the Trinity at once obliged took out his
mighty bow and showered arrows. The
asuras were laid low but Mayan again came to the rescue. He dug a great well; filled with elixir and
threw the asuras into it. They were
restored and came out like lightning from the clouds. The elixir had to be
destroyed. Sri Hari became a cow and
Brahma became a calf and they jumped into the well and drank off all the life
giving elixir. Lord Siva resumed the
fight with special arrows symbolizing wisdom, forgiveness, fortitude, truth, etc. The asuras could not withstand these and were
vanquished. The devas were once more
restored to their abode. The magic
cities of metal were reduced to ashes and Lord Siva was henceforth known as the
Destroyer of Three Cities
King
Yudishtira ,Parikshits ancestor, was now desirous of knowing more about
The caste
system was not a water tight division.
Some opted to become brahmins; others preferred soldiering still others
preferred trade or agriculture and change from one system to another was
natural. Now all that has changed and we have become the laughing stock of the
world
CHAPTER 10
Sk 8 . Ch 2 . Slokam 1
Gajendra Moksham
In the
southern regions there was a great mountain called Trikuta with three peaks of
iron, silver and gold and the foot hills were strewn with precious gems like
diamond, emerald and pearls and it was
girt all around by an ocean of milk. As the shores were drenched by the
ocean, all kinds of trees like the
banyan, teak, sandalwood, deodar grew in profusion and parrots of various hues,
swans and kites, flitted in the sunshine filling the air with their notes.
There were waterfalls, which with a subdued roar were filling a vast lake. In
that lake there grew lilies and lotuses, which imparted a fragrance to the cool
water. The lake was fringed with leafy trees that sheltered various animals.
The deer and hare were harmless denizens but you could hear also the distant
roar of a lion and growl of the tiger. But even these dared not approach a herd
of wild elephants lead by their king, a huge tusker. He was undoubtedly the
king of the forest.
On a particularly torrid day, the elephant herd
decided to have a plunge and with trunks raised and rolling eyes and ears
fanning and shrilly trumpeting, crashed through the bush woods and bamboo
groves and plunged into the cool lake. The king tusker was foremost. He waded
carefully; filled his trunk with the scented water, drank his fill and splashed
the water over himself and then over the baby elephants even as a householder
bathes his children. They were thus happily sporting in the cool waters little
suspecting the impending danger. As fate would have it, a huge crocodile dug
its teeth in the feet of the elephant king and
began to draw it towards greater depths and there ensued a great tug of
war. The mighty tusker pulled with all
his enormous strength but the crocodile was in his element. The fight went on
for days, weeks and months. The elephant was weakening. The other elephants
tried their best to save their leader but without success. The female elephants
too tried to save their lord. When they too failed, they just stood and wept.
The story says, the struggle went on for years, a thousand years. Thus when the
Gajendra (elephant king) was completely helpless and sinking, the associations
of his previous birth revived in his memory and he sang a great hymn calling on
Hari for help.
Neither
my cousins nor my wives can help me
I am dragged by fate in the shape of this alligator,
I surrender to Hari the refuge of all in distress.
By your order death comes to creatures
I come to you for help
I bow to you Lord! From whom
All this world has sprung
This world is in you and
To you this world returns
And when there is total darkness
You alone remain and
By your power you;
Bring them back again.
The seers, self-controlled, with no attachment
Walk this world, without scratches
with your help, May you be my friend too-
I bow to you, who illumines the mind
The eternal witness, beyond words
Beyond mind and even intellect
You can be reached only by satvic conduct
By desireless action. You grant saintly happiness
And you are the disposer of final release
My salutations
to Thee who art mild
To thee who art terrible, upholder of equality
To thee, the essence of wisdom
Because of your great kindness
You save those bound by beastly qualities
You have entered the body of every creature
And are present everywhere;
I worship that eternal one
Not very clear to ordinary men
But realizable by the spiritual minded
The lovers of solitude desire nothing
They just want thy presence
Getting immersed in the ocean of bliss
Singing the stories of thy deeds
Brahma, Siva and other gods
Are yourself with different names
And different forms and attributes;
Like sparks from fire and rays from the Sun
You emit the worlds and the stream of gunas
With intellect and mind streams of beings
Thou art not god or asura
Not man, not
woman not beast
Not the gunas, yet encompasseth all
I do not want to lead this life
With its coverings inside and out
I want realization that is beyond time
To thee of irresistible power
Beyond the gunas and protector
of all supplicants, I bow again and again.”
Praised
by the Gajendra in this way the lesser gods held back and Hari appeared borne
on Garuda wafting the Vedas with his wings. Plucking a lotus with his trunk the
elephant king offered it to Sri Hari in
adoration crying “O! Narayana, Master of all , my salutations!” Sri Hari threw
his harka; the alligator was split into two; its jaws relaxed and the elephant
was free! Sri Hari caressed his trunk and he was transformed as a Deva having
the same form as Sri Hari.
Previous History of The Elephant and Alligator
Sk 8 . Ch 7 . Slokam 1
Briefly describing the succeeding
manuantaras (regions of various manus) and minor avatars (incarnations) of Sri Vishnu
Sri Suka mentioned the churning of the ocean of milk and Sri Hari’s part
in it. Sri Parikshith was curious and
prayed the sage for a more detailed account.
Sri Suka continued “Once, Indra
incurred the curse of Durvasa and had to go into hiding and the asuras with
“Great
Lord! Thou art without beginning or end
Beyond thought, eternal witness, ever present
Thou art the Truth, the axle supporting
The wheel whose spokes are the senses and pranas
Thy mind is soma, face is fire that gives wealth
Thy eye is the sun and thy prana the cosmic energy
We all follow as the retinue follows the King
Indra is your strength and devas your grace
Your anger is rudra (Siva) and Brahma is your
intellect
Your chest is the seat of Dharma and back of Adharma
Yama resides in your brow and eyelids are time
Your yoga maya created the all powerful gunas
Desire prompted work may do some good but more trouble
Even insignificant work done for you brings great
good
With our limited powers we cannot understand you
Salutations to you again and again”
Thus extolled Sri Hari appeared in full splendour. He was azure blue in colour; face and eyes beaming
with kindness and his long powerful arms carrying divine weapons. He spoke with
a voice like rolling thunder.
“O! Brahman, O! Sambho (Siva) and you gods! I know
why you have come. Bide a little more .
Your rivals ,unlike you, have great respect for their preceptor the
highly learned Sukracharya, the master of many secret mantras and their leader
Bali is a righteous ruler and invincible. But
you come to me for succour. You must get divine amrita by churning the
ocean of milk with the help and cooperation of the powerful asuras. The
Manthara mountain shall be your churning rod, serpent Vasuki will be the
churning rope. Let Indra with a few attendants go to
The devas next approached the great serpent Vasuki
and requested him to be the churning rope. Vasuki at first demurred but agreed when
the devas offered him also a share of the elixir. The devas and asuras now
approached mountain Manthara from either side and began digging furiously.
Thrusting their mighty hands under the
mountain and shouting in unison they heaved and raising it shoulder high
staggered slowly towards the ocean. But the weight proved too heavy and the
mountain slowly settled down crushing the bearers. The surviving devas prayed
to Hari. And Hari now assumed a colossal form sitting on a colossal garuda ,
easily lifted the mountain and placing it on the back of garuda flew towards
the ocean and dropped it in the ocean. Vasuki the great serpent wound himself
round the mountain. Sri Hari, as a participant took his position at the mouth
end and all the devas followed suit. The asuras had to catch the tail end. But
now a problem arose. The asuras refused to take the tail end. “We are high born
warriors and conquerors. Well versed in all the sastras and Vedas. We refuse to
take the ignoble position at the tail end.” Sri Hari smiled. He had anticipated
this “All right! No problem. We shall exchange positions”. Accordingly the
asuras were positioned at the mouth end and devas at the tail end. And the
great churning began. It ended also at once. The mountain slipped down easily from
the slimy coils of Vasuki. The participants were in a fix and the devas again
prayed to Hari. Sri Hari of course responded. Taking the form of an immense
tortoise he crawled under the mountain and heaved it up. And now the churning
began. Soon, the participants tired and stopped. And then a wonderful sight was
seen Sri Hari was seen at the top of the mountain. With one hand he was holding the tail end and with
the other hand the mouth end of Vasuki. The mountain turned one semicircle and
then back again and the churning went on briskly.
A precious stone of great beauty and brilliance
turned up. It was the Kaustubha and by common consent it was given to Sri Hari.
A white horse the Uchaisravas next surfaced.
The churning proceeded and the blue black poison
emerged. No cup could hold it. So Lord Siva cupped his palms and received it.
Seeing no other safe receptacle the great Lord just swallowed the deadly
poison, retaining it in his throat. The fair throat turned 7blue and Lord Siva
gained one more name Neelakanda or the god with the blue throat.The celestials
who were witnessing all this from above, showered flowers and garlands
worshipped Sri Siva’s feet and returned singing hymns of praise about this
unheard of sacrifice.
Soon, the atmosphere cleared; the churning became
brisker, sweet airs were blowing, the water became luminous and a magnificient
form was emerging; Bhagavan Dhanvantari, the foremost of all physicians, their
patron and ideal , carrying the vessel of nectar in one hand and the book
Ashtanga Hridayam (The great treatise on medicine and healing) in the other.
The asuras became restless and suddenly snatching the vessel of elixir
scampered with it to their camp and placed it in their leader’s hands The poor
gods were again in a fix. It was sad to miss the prize by a hairbreadth. Their
infallible refuge benefactor and patron
was also not to be seen.
Just then, they could hear a sweet sound as of
ringing silver bells at a distance.
The Coming Of
Mohini
Looking
in that direction they saw a damsel of extraordinary beauty approaching . All eyes ,of devas and asuras , were now riveted on the dancer. She was draped in gossamer silk
held in position by a golden girdle. The pearl pendants were of the purest and her bewitching smile proclaimed that she
was no puritan. The sensual asuras fell
all in a heap. Even the devas who ought to have known better, were bewitched.
On hearing the problem of the asuras about the distribution of the elixir,
Mohini offered to help provided they raised no objection in the process. The
asuras were so fargone in their infatuation that they solemnly promised to keep
quiet and Mohini took up the vessel and ordered them all to take a bath as it
was going to be a sacred function.
When they had bathed, dressed and ornamented
themselves she arranged them to sit in a long row with their plates before
them. Facing them the devas sat in another row with their plates. The lady with
the vessel now approached with mincing steps and turning right and left began
to serve. She was so overwhelmingly beautiful the asuras could see nothing
else. The serving began with the devas. The asuras remembering their promise
kept quiet. One asura was impatient. He changed rows and nudged himself between
the sun and moon gods. He too was served the nectar and he promptly put it in
his mouth. But before he could gulp it down the mistake was pointed out by sun
and moon and the lady (Sri Hari) cut off his head. The body immediately fell
dead but the head became immortal. Ever since it is floating in the sky as
Rahu, eclipsing the sun and moon during the eclipses. The elixir pot was empty.
All the devas were rejuvenated and strong. They had become immortals. The
asuras were weary and disillusioned but had lost none of their ferocity. Taking
up their arms, they rushed to their leader
The Great Deva
Asura War
King
Bali was a great warrior and devotee of Hari and grandson of Prahlada. He
rallied all the asuric forces and seated in Vaihayasa a magic vehicle and
surrounded by warriors like Namuchi, Jhamba advanced into battle. To them were
opposed Indra mounted on Airavata, Matali, Vayu and Agni. The heroic warriors
on both sides had curious mounts. Lions, tigers, hyenas, leopards, even cats
and dogs were opposed to elephants, camels, bulls and rhinoceros. Birds were
also engaged. Eagles, peacocks, larks and parrots were opposed by vultures,
kites and crows. Even aquatic creatures entered the fray, whales against sharks
and so on. In short half the creation was ranged against the other half. Indra
wielded his thunder bolt
Sri Siva’s
Illusion
In his
retreat at Sri Kailasa Lord Siva heard of the happenings at the end of the
great churning; how the asuras were deprived of amrita (elixir) by Sri Hari
taking the form of a female. Accompanied by Uma Devi and the cohorts (goblins)
they set out to Vaikunta, Sri Hari’s abode. The Lord received them with great
respect and after the usual greetings Sri Siva said “Great Lord! Thou art
strength and existence. We have heard how you gave the elixir to the devas and
not to the asuras by assuming the form of a lady. We too are desirous of seeing
that form” Sri Hari smiled and warned them of the danger. Presently there was a
great calm and then as suddenly a breeze sprang up and the party found themselves in a garden thick with
flowering trees. The same divine damsel (who had duped the asuras earlier)
appeared. This time she was playing with a ball striking it with either hand as
it rebounded (as girls often do). A naughty breeze partly blew aside her silk
dress revealing her charms. The great ascetic that Siva was, could restrain
himself no longer and darted after the dancer forgetting all decorum and even
the presence of his own consort Umadevi. The dancer was quicker; she slipped
fast leading him a pretty dance over hill and dale through briar and thorn;
with bruised feet and perspiring brow.
The great doyen of ascetics realized his error. He had once burned to ashes
cupid in his ire and the same cupid, since revived, had his revenge now.
Wherever the earth was drenched with blood or perspiration, a mine of diamonds
or gold materialized. And Sri Hari appeared, fresh and glorious and smilingly
said “O! Sambho! You have gallantly passed the test. Still, you see the danger
of the proximity of the other sex. May this be a warning to all sanyasis”
Saying this Sri Hari vanished and Lord Siva, sadder and wiser now, returned
with Sri Umadevi and his cohorts back to the icy solitudes of his abode
Sri Suka said “I have described to you the great
power of Sri Hari. He who reads this with devotion will be freed from all
desires especially the sex.
The Manwantaras
And Revival Of
Sri
Suka then proceeded to describe the different manuvantaras. He spoke about the manus (rulers) and sages and Indras over
a period of time that staggers the imagination. He also spoke about the minor avatars (incarnations) of Sri Hari as
Yagna, Prajeswara, sustaining the Vedas and Dharma and how they were retrieved
when lost. Parikshit wanted to hear the story of Bali which was left
incomplete. Sri Suka continued. Bali was in oblivion for a long time. He never
lost faith in his preceptor and guide, the great Sukracharya . Sukracharya, by
his potent medicines and mantras (spells)
revived all the asuras. The sage and his disciples, next conducted a
great yagna (sacrifice) called Viswajit .
Sri Hari himself emerged guiding a splendid chariot and splendid horses
and a divine coat of mail and weapons. From the flag staff floated a flag with
the emblem of a roaring lion. Thus equipped and at the head of his mighty
warriors, Bali approached the gates of heaven (Indra’s abode) and blew his
conch. The devas, immersed in pleasure all the time, now trembled. Their
guru the wise Brihaspathy advised them to
lie low, hiding wherever they could and wait for better times. In great haste
they forsook the pleasure gardens, temples and palaces of marble, and ran for
their lives and hid wherever they could. Bali
and his cohorts now occupied Indra’s place and ruled the world.
Aditi, Indra’s mother, retired to a hermitage in the
midst of a forest, spending her days in worship . One day, her lord and husband
the great rishi Kashyapa came to the
hermitage. Hiding her sorrow as best as she could Aditi washed his feet,
offered him a seat and fruits and flowers. The rishi performed his usual
ablutions; took his seat and now noted that his dear wife was sad and anxious.
He kindly enquired “Are not the affairs of the ashram going on well? Are you
not performing the daily pujas without fail? Did you send any sanyasi coming
for alms, empty handed?” Aditi replied “Lord! By your grace and power, the
ashram is running well. No seeker of food is turned away and the pujas
(worship) are performed punctually. You are the progenitor of all creatures,
devas, asuras, gandharvas and every living being and therefore equally
concerned with the well being of all. My children, the devas, have been driven
from their abode and are wandering homeless and unhappy. Deign to have pity on
them, so they may again come back to their abode.” The rishi smiled and
observed “Wonderful is the power of maya (illusion). Who is the son? who is the
father, who is a relative and who is not a relative? Still, if you desire a
restoration, worship Hari with all your heart. He is kind and generous and the
giver of all things. And the best way of worshipping Him is by observing the
Payovrita (milky discipline) as I have heard from Lord Brahma, my father. It is
as follows.
The Payovrita
“In the bright fortnight of the month of
Phalgun the devotee should make an image of Sri Hari.After taking bath before
sunrise, adorn it with fresh flowers and garlands, light lamps with ghee; burn incense; recite stotras (hymns) invoking
the almighty even in that earthen image
and prostrate in all humility casting out all egoism . Perform arati and offer nivedyam (food for
god). This holy food should be made of rice well cooked in milk adding sugar
and honey. This should be made in generous quantities and offered to holy
brahmins, guests and strangers. And again prostrating before God’s image should
say “Great Lord! Absolve me of all sin and tendency to commit it” This should
continue for twelve days and on the thirteenth day there should be general feasting. Even the blind and beggars should be fed. It must
be clearly understood that food given to the poor, the sick and the disabled,
reaches God direct. This alone is real charity, real worship and real wisdom .”
Worshipped and addressed in this way, the lord
immediately appeared, dressed in yellow silk ,
with lustrous eyes and beaming face, four armed, bearing the conch, the
discus, the mace and the lotus . “I know
what you desire. I was born as your son in the past and I shall be born again
as your son and Kashyapa’s and regain
your lost splendours”. Saying this the lord vanished. Aditi felt a great
exultation and returned to the hermitage to inform Kashyapa about the great
vision and its promise. But the sage
knew all this through his foresight. Moreover he felt a great power within him
and in due course at a particularly auspicious time when all the planets
had positioned themselves favourably on
sravana dwadasi, the divine child was born to Aditi. The devas who had prior
knowledge of this, had assembled overhead. Singing and dancing, they showered
flowers and garlands. As the delighted parents were still looking on, the baby
suddenly changed his form to that of a young boy ripe for initiation into
Brahmachariyam. As the ashramvasis (other sanyasis) were preparing for the ceremony of investiture with the sacred thread the celestials took a hand. The sun himself
instructed him the Gayatri manthra . Brihaspathy was ready with the sacred
thread. Kashyapa gave the grass girdle.
Prithvi , earth goddess gave the deer skin to sit on and Soma lord of the
forests, presented the Brahmachari’s staff. His mother Aditi gave him a loin
cloth. An umbrella was presented by the sun and Brahma gave a kamandalu
(Vessel) . A japa mala of precious
pearls was presented by goddess Parvathy herself. Kubera (the lord of wealth)
gave the begging bowl. The young brahmachari, thus equipped had a divine halo
of light and he immediately began to perform a homam (worship of fire).
The assembled sanyasins heard a rumour that King
Bali, now master of the three worlds was performing a great yagna called
Aswamedha or horse sacrifice. Great gifts were distributed and they too wanted
to go. Aditi’s son, Vamana also decided to go with them. The yagna campus was
on the northern bank of the river Narmada at a place called Bhrigukacha. As he
walked, the earth trembled. With his staff and kamandalu and umbrella Vamana
looked brilliant like the rising sun. The Bhrigus and all the officiating
priests arose with one accord, dazzled by the brilliance. King Bali accompanied
by Sukrachariya and the bhargava priests
hastened to receive the approaching Vamana “O! Noble Brahmacharin! We are
surely blessed by your coming” Bali then washed his feet sprinkling the holy
water on himself and his queen and son and continued “What will you have? A
house, farmland or a whole village? Or a damsel with attendants so you can
become a householder, grahastasrami? Command me and all this will be
yours”.
To this, Vamana replied “I expected no less from the
descendant of Prahlada. Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksha were great heroes, Vishnu
overcame them only by stratagem. They
were generous and freely gave to holy men whatever they wanted. I want three
feet of land measured with my feet”. Bali smiled and said “O! ho! I see you
have only a child’s intellect. Ask for something more. A village, a country, a
continent?” Vamana gently replied “Great King! A person who is not satisfied with three feet of land will
not be satisfied even with three villages or even with a continent. A brahmin
should be content with what he gets accidentally. Otherwise he loses his lustre
. I want three feet of land and nothing more”. Seeing the boy so firm in his
demand, the great emperor smiled and asked his queen Vindhyavali to bring holy
water to make the gift.
Just then, the astute Sukracharya intervened. “Hold!
Hold! This is not a common boy. He is Sri Hari himself who has come in this
guise to help the devas. He will assume a colossal form and with two steps he
will measure earth and heaven. What will you do after that. There is a limit to
alms giving. One’s wealth should be divided into five parts one each for the
king, for family for guests, for ancestral worship and only one part for alms
giving. Giving everything to this Hari, how will you maintain yourself, you
fool! You are reluctant to say no after
saying yes. There are five occasions when a lie is permissible! to please a
woman, in jest, to finalise a marriage,
for preserving one’s livelihood , to save a life.
Bali, the emperor of the three world, pondered for a
while and then said meekly but firmly “Great Master! All that you are saying is
true; but how can I, born in the family of Prahlada refuse to give a boon after
promising it? Besides; if this boy is Sri Hari himself, what greater happiness
can I have?” So saying he asked Vindhyavali his queen to bring the vessel
containing holy water. She was ready at hand .
Together they solemnly poured the holy water into the boy’s palms giving
the land and then a great wonder was seen.
The boy grew taller and taller; his head was beyond
the clouds and touched the sky. With one colossal step he measured earth; with
another he measured heaven; for the third step there was no place. Bali quickly
pointed to his own head. “Place it on my head my lord, so I can fulfill my
promise” Bali and the attending onlookers looked up and wonder of wonders! They
saw the whole of prakriti, the earth, sky , heaven and all the fourteen
worlds, ranged in perfect order. Oceans
formed the stomach region. Rishis and
forests were in his matted locks . The netherworlds formed the undersurface of
his feet. His chest was the region of the stars. Dharma was the heart . Vedas
and sounds were in the region of the neck.
There was sun in eyes, fire in face and vedic commandments in his brows
. Day and night were in his eyelids. Anger was in his forehead and adharma in
his back . Death was in his shadow and maya in his laughter.
Nanda, Sunanda ,
Sri Chakra (the deity of the discus) and the great eagle Garuda were in attendance. As a final test of
Bali’s attachment to truth, Sri Hari ordered Garuda to bind him hand and foot.
Even in this extreme predicament Bali did not flinch. He kept his vow. The
celestials who were hovering above, all the time, could contain themselves no
longer. Singing songs and hymns, they showered flowers and garlands shouting
“Hail! Hail! To Maha Bali!” and Sri Hari said “Maha Bali, you have stood every
test. Loss of power, wealth and fame. Let Indra remain in heaven for some time
more. Meanwhile I shall send you to Sutala which is no less magnificent and
there you shall rule with your queen and son and the foremost of devotees your
grand father Prahlada will also be there and I will be the watchman at the
gate, guarding your city from all enemies. And in due time you will even return
to Heaven.”
Sk 9 . Ch 4 . Slokam 15
Matsyavataram The
Lord’s Avatar As
Fish
At the
end of every long epoch of time, there occurs a great flood submerging everything
except Sri Hari and Adisesha the great serpent. We shall now narrate some
events leading to the impending great flood. In the southern part of Bharat
(India) there is a broad land through which flows the sparkling river Kritamala
(modern Tambraparni). On either bank at intervals are grand temples whose
gopurams glisten in the morning sun. Satyavrata the devout king of a devout
people was one fine morning performing the morning ablutions in the river. He
filled his palms with the river water and was about to pour it down as an
offering to the sun god, when he noticed a tiny fish within his palms. The fish
began to speak “O!King! do not throw me into the river which is teeming with my
enemies sharks and alligators” Moved with pity the king put it gently in his
own kamandalu (brass vessel) filled with water, intending to deposit it in a
lake or big pond. Soon the fish increased in size and the king hastily
deposited it in a pond. Here too, it became too big for the pond and then it
was arranged that it should be deposited in the sea. Now wisdom dawned on the
king “You are no ordinary fish. You must be Lord Hari, Sri Narayana himself who
has taken this form for some definite purpose” and the fish replied “True! O!
King! I have assumed this form to warn you and all good people. On the seventh
day from now, there will be a great deluge. The seas will over run the land
submerging everything. You must build a big boat . Fill it with provisions for
a long time. Take specimens of plants and herbs and their seeds. Take the seven
rishis too. As the billows toss your boat in the high seas against a strong
wind I shall come as a huge fish with a horn protruding from the head. With
Vasuki (serpent) as a rope, attach your boat to my horn. I will guide you
safely over the turbulent waters to a safe haven.”
Everything happened as foretold. During this dreary
time the great fish told Satyavrata some home truths “Every living creature is
born according to his previous actions. He has to be purified in the fire of
suffering and intense devotion. No other means will suffice. As gold and silver
cannot be purified by any amount of washing but only by fire. Service to god
(fellow creatures) is that fire” The king and the seven rishis listened with
bowed head. The great flood was over. The sun shone again. All heaved a sigh of
relief Satyavrata was made the Manu (Ruler) of the next Manvantara called
Vaivaswata Manvantara. The puranam (story) adds that the lord killed two demons
named Madhu and Kaitabha who had stolen the Vedas and restored them back to the
rishis
Ambarisha
Nabagha
the son of Manu had four sons, the youngest of whom was also named Nabagha. He
was sent to an ashram (hermitage) for gurukula education. After a long period
, he became a learned scholar and with
his guru’s blessings returned to his father’s house. Thinking that he would not
return and might become a naishtika brahmachari (celibate for life) the elder
brothers had partitioned their father’s scant property among themselves and
when Nabagha asked for his share they simply said “You can take our old father
as your share” Nabagha was content but the old father was angry “I am not a
property to be partitioned”. Nevertheless he told his son “Not far from here
the rishis are performing the Angiras sathram with a view to ascend to heaven.
The mantras are difficult requiring expert practice. You are well versed. Go
and help them to recite correctly. When they ascend to heaven, they will give
you the golden vessels and the remnants of the sacrifice.” The son did as he
was advised. The sages were delighted with his services and presented him with
all the remnants. Just as he was taking possession a stranger appeared and
claimed the remnants as his share. It was Sri Rudra (Lord Siva) himself and he
added “If you have any doubt, go and ask your father”. Nabagha returned to his
father and said rather sadly “Father, I got the presents alright
but a stranger with an imposing figure came from the north and claimed them.”
The father thought for a while and replied “My son, the stranger is right. He
is no other than great Rudra. According to a previous agreement arrived at the
end of the Daksha yagna, he is entitled to the remains.” The son immediately
returned and prostrating before Sri Rudra begged his forgiveness. Sri Rudra was
pleased “I am pleased with the truthfulness of your father and your own modest
behaviour. I give you freely all these”. So saying Lord Siva disappeared.
Nabagha took possession of these remnants and spent the remainder of his life worshipping
Sri Hari and taking care of his old father to the very end. Ambarisha was the
son of this Nabagha.
Ambarisha, the darling of the gods became a
kshatriya. Because of his devotion to Sri Hari and truthfulness he became
invincible. He soon became the overlord of the seven continents girt by the
oceans. Tributes came pouring in and he became the master of immense wealth
unequalled since or before. The subjects were so happy and prosperous that they
did not want anything better , not even
heaven. All this prosperity, only strengthened the king’s piety and love of
truth, if at all, it could be strengthened. The festivals of the Lord were
conducted with pomp and splendour. And yet the great emperor was the humblest
of the humble. He was perfectly aware all the time that all these material
blessings were unreal insubstantial as a dream. He observed religious fasts,
especially the fast on ekadasi day as it was particularly dear to Lord Hari. He
was always engaged in service to Hari. He personally cleaned the temple
precincts; his eyes feasted on Hari’s idol; his ears were constantly hearing
stories or hymns and he was enveloped by the fragrance of the tulasi garlands
adorning the idol. As he was always thus engrossed Lord Hari sent his own
weapon sudarsan to guard and help him in every way.
Once as usual he had fasted on ekadasi day, kept
vigil all night and bathing in the yamuna early morning was preparing slowly to
break his fast. The brahmanas and every one present were sumptuously fed. It
was dwadasi; only a few hours were left and the fast should be broken before it
was over. Just then, came the sage Durvasa with a large retinue of sages. The
king received them with great courtesy. They were quite hungry but they said
“We shall take our bath in the holy Yamuna first and after the morning
ablutions shall certainly come for lunch” So saying, they departed and the king
waited. Hours passed. No sign of the guests. The king was becoming anxious. If
he did not break his fast before dwadasi was over, the vow would be broken; if
he took food, he would be guilty of insulting his guests. He was in a serious
dilemma.
He consulted his ministers, wise men and sages. They
pondered for a while and then they said “O! King! It is written in the sastras
that by taking a little holy water you can keep your vow and you would not be
showing any disrespect to your guest also” The king was relieved. He took just
a few drops of holy water. His vow was kept and he had not offended his guest
and so he calmly awaited the return of great Durvasa maharishi.
Soon after, Durvasa and his followers appeared. His
lips were quivering with anger. With his spiritual insight he had already known
of what had happened. With flashing eyes and quivering white beard he shouted
“How dare you to invite a sanyasin for a feast and break your fast in his
absence? Your riches and power have made you arrogant. I will teach you a
lesson”. So saying, the angry sage took
a strand from his mattered locks and threw it on the ground. A fierce genii
sprang up and rushed towards Ambarisha. But the king neither moved nor even
winked his eyes .He stood firm knowing well that he had done no wrong. But
sudarsana chakra the flaming disc which had been deputed by Sri Hari to protect
the king came into action. It burned up
the genii as fire consumes a serpent .
Darting fierce tongues of scorching fire it approached Durvasa who
immediately turned and fled.
Over hill and dale he fled. Over rivers and oceans,
over mountains and valleys over continents he fled with the flaming sudarsan in
hot pursuit. At last he reached Brahmaloka and falling at Brahma’s feet cried
“Save me, Save me O! Father of gods and men. Save me from Sudharsana” . But
lord Brahma said “Sorry my son. Try some one else. This is beyond my power”
Durvasa fled and sought refuge with Sri Rudra at Mount Kailas. But Sri Rudra
also pleaded his inability “Dear son, none of us can save you. There are
countless universes like this revolving around. Who can understand Sri Hari’s
maya? Approach Sri Hari alone. He alone can give you peace”. Dispirited and
humbled and scorched by the pursuing sudarsana, Durvasa at last went to
Sri Vaikunta Sri Hari’s abode and falling at his feet
cried “Pardon, Pardon! O! Lord for
wronging thy devotee. Deign to tell me how I may atone for my sin” Sri
Hari replied “Noble Brahmin! It is as if I am not free, being bound to my
devotees. How can I be free from those who have left their wealth and homes;
wives and sons and even their lives, seeking shelter with me? Those , whose hearts are bound to me, good people who
view all things equally, they attract me by their devotion even as good women
attract good husbands. My devotees want only to serve me , not caring even for the four forms of mukti
(freedom). These good people are my heart. I am their heart. I do not even care
so much for Sri Devi (consort) as I care for them. And let me tell you a
secret. tapas (austerity) and knowledge if properly used are ornaments to a
brahmin but if misused they look otherwise. Therefore O! Learned Brahmin go
back to Ambarisha himself and beg his pardon and all will be well”.
Thus instructed Durvasa went back to Ambarisha and
was about to fall at his feet. Greatly embarrassed the king raised him up and
turning to Sudarsana praised him as follows:
“I bow to thee O! Sudarsana dear to the lord;
Thou art Agni the god of fire
You have a thousand spokes
And can swallow all other weapons
You are Dharma, you are Truth
Protector of all and source of all
energy
Destroyer of those that follow Adharma
Irresistible, you destroy asuras in
battle
Be thou gentle to this sage, calm down
For our sake and for the welfare of our
clans
And if there be any merit in my action’
Calm down and be cool to this sage.”
Praised thus, Sudarsana immediately
cooled down. Durvasa was fully relieved and began to praise the king “ Today
have I experienced the greatness of Sri Hari’s devotees. They return only good
for evil. What is there impossible for them? What is there, they cannot give
up? And what is there, they cannot attain whose very touch makes men holy. O!
King! I have been blessed by your astounding mercy. You have pardoned my crime
and saved my life” and blessing every one around Baghavan Durvasa returned to his tapas (penance).
Ever since Durvasa had fled for life,
the king was praying and fasting for one full year. He had feasted Durvasa
before he left and now began to break his year long fast. All these trials only
deepened his devotion. At the end of a long and prosperous reign, entrusting
the kingdom to his son he too departed to the forest for tapas and attained the
feet of Lord Hari.
It is said that he who reads this story
of Ambarisha, with faith, will also attain the feet of Lord Hari.
Thrisanku And
Viswamitra
As we look at the galaxy of illustrious kings of the solar line some are
outstanding for particular qualities. King Thrisanku was famous for the steadiness with which he
pursued his objectives. He wanted to go to heaven with his present human body.
He implored his guru sage Vasishta, to
conduct sacrifices for this purpose. The sage became angry and left. The king
then importuned the sons of the sage. They got angrier and cursed the king
saying “You are telling us to do something that our venerable father has
refused to do. We curse you therefore to have a dwarfish body and black
complexion”. The poor king immediately found himself transformed into an ugly
looking dwarf. But the king did not despair and was in search for other
powerful sages. At this juncture, as fate would have it, Viswamithra the arch
rival of Vasishta, appeared and agreed to conduct the yagna. It was conducted
in grand style attended by sages and gods and at the end they invoked the
presence of Indra with his golden chariot. When Indra did not appear the
Maharishi became furious and raising both hands towards heaven he cried “Rise
O! King! To heaven” A tremendous miracle then happened. Thrisanku slowly began
to rise. Higher and higher he rose till he almost reached the sky. Indra too
became angry at this intrusion and hurled his thunderbolt at the king who began
to fall down head long towards earth.
“Save me! Save me!” wailed the king. At this Viswamithra roared “Stop!
Stop” The descent was stopped. And as the onlookers were gazing, speechless
with surprise Viswamithra raising the stuva (a vessel) thundered “Let there be
other stars, other planets another sky” and all these did appear. The gods and
even Brahma were agitated. They implored Viswamithra not to proceed further. So
Thrisanku had his heaven and there they stand to this day, the seven rishis and
the duplicate stars proclaiming to the world the mighty power of these ancient
rishis.
Sagara And
His Aswamedha
Prominent among the descendants of Harischandra was Sagara. He was the
overlord of many rulers and decided to perform the horse sacrifice or
Aswamedha. Indra (Chief of gods) was
alarmed at the growing power of Sagara and stole the horse before the end of
the function. The king ordered his sons by his first wife Sumati to go in pursuit and recover the
horse. They were a hundred in number, powerful warriors proud of their
strength, and started in hot pursuit. They searched everywhere but found no
trace of the horse anywhere. And then they began to dig underground and reached
a cave where a hoary Maharishi was sitting immersed in deep tapas, sunk in
contemplation , and the missing horse was grazing peacefully by his side. The
foolish soldiers thought that the thief had assumed this disguise as a hermit
to escape justice and rushed towards him. The hermit who was none other than
the great Kapila Maharishi opened his eyes and they were reduced to heaps of
ashes. It is said that this was the result of their own sin for, a great sage,
an avatar of Vishnu himself could not be so ignorant. When the princes did not
return, search parties were sent under his grandson Amsuman. Following the same
trail he too reached the same place, saw the heap of ashes, the horse grazing by and the sage Kapila. He
praised Kapila and begged forgiveness for his uncles’ mistakes. The sage was
pleased with the young man’s wisdom and modesty and further consoled him saying
“My dear child, fate is irresistible. I shall tell you however how to raise
your uncles to heaven. Bring the holy river Ganges down to earth. As the waters
touch the ashes your uncles will rise again and go straight to heaven”. With this message and leading the horse the
prince returned. King Sagara completed the yagnam (sacrifice) but neither the king nor his sons and grandsons could
bring holy ganga down from heaven. This great feat was accomplished by Amsumans
son, great Bhagiratha.
Bhagiratha Brings
Ganga
When Bhagiratha became king the land was peaceful. People were contented
and happy. The king had only one consuming desire. “How shall I bring the holy
ganga down to earth” He worshipped and prayed so intensely that Ganga devi
appeared before him and said “I am pleased with you for your devotion to purify
your ancestors and shall come down. But who will bear the force of my
descent?” The king thereupon performed intense penance to please Sri Siva
who graciously agreed to bear the force of the descent. And so, Ganga devi from
her place at the feet of Lord Vishnu, gushed forth; a small rivulet at first
but she soon gathered volume and became a mighty river and vainly thought “ I
am so powerful I will bear Lord Siva in my waves and rush with him down to
patala (the nether world)” The all knowing Lord Siva immediately grew to
enormous size and absorbed the rushing waters completely in his matted locks.
But the real sufferer was Bhagiratha. He began to do penance, a tapas of utmost
severity to please Sri Siva. At the end of one full year the Lord relented and
let out the river. Ganga again became a
mighty river, sometimes gurgling, sometimes roaring, jumping over precipices,
always sparkling, teeming with fishes and presently she was a broad river. In
her pride she swarmed through the hermitage of a poor old hermit, Jahnu by
name, washing it down completely. Maharishi Jahnu was enraged and using his
mystic powers drank up the whole river. The king now prayed to the Maharishi to
set her free. The sage relented and let Ganga out through his ears so that
Ganges is known by another name also Jahnavi or daughter of Jahnu. The king now
led the way, Ganga meekly following him wherever he went. At last he entered
Patala. Ganga followed washing the heaps of ashes. At once his ancestors arose
with glowing bodies and slowly rose up to heaven and were received with joyous
welcome by the devas.
Holy ganga flowing past Kasi washes away the sins of all who take a
bath with faith, irrespective of caste or creed. In honour of Bhagiratha who
brought ganga to earth she is also known
as Bhagirathi.
Khatvanga
Khatvanga was one of the greatest of kings of the solar line. He was
invincible and his help was sought by
devas in their frequent wars with the demons. During his last visit the war
dragged on for a very long time and on its successful conclusion, Indra gave
him many valuable presents but also told the king that he had only one hour
more to live.
The king was shocked but not distressed.
“I have not done any wrong or unjust action and I have done my duty to gods and
men. Surely, Hari will stand by me in this hour of greatest need.” Thinking thus he detached his mind from all
earthly possessions, relatives and friends, concentrated on the ultimate
divinity that is peace unutterable and
happiness everlasting and merged with
it. Moral “Time is not too
important. Even in the short space of one hour Khatwanga was able to attain
Brahmam. Why not we? With much more time?”
Khatwanga’s Descendants
Khatwanga’s son was Dirghabahu.; his son was Raghu of great fame; Raghu’s son was Aja and Aja’s son was Dasaratha and
Dasaratha’s son was Sri Rama. We can only briefly recount the story of Sri Rama.
CHAPTER 13
Sk 9 . Ch 10 . Slokam 4
Ramayana
Ramayana is one of the World’s greatest epics composed by Maharishi
Valmiki consisting of twenty four thousand beautiful resonant slokas, the
delight and hope of millions of Indians.
We can give only a brief outline.
Dasaratha was the king of Ayodhya many
thousands of years ago. A great warrior,
his aid was sought even by the gods in their wars with the asuras. The king had three wives but had no
children. He thought “I am getting old
and still have no sons. I must conduct the Puthra-kameshti yagnam”. So he said to the family priest, sage
Vasishta, “Revered Sir, I desire a son to succeed me, shall I not perform the
Putra kameshti Yagam” And Sage Vasishta replied “Since the thought has occurred
to you, you will have sons, famous in all the worlds. I shall gladly conduct the yagnam”. So, preparations
were made. Invitations were sent to all maharishis; the king and queens entered
on a fast and worship of Hari. There was
sumptuous feeding for all. At the
conclusion of the yagnam a deity emerged from the sacrificial fire carrying a
golden vessel full of delicious divine payasam (pudding) Dasaratha
respectfully received the amrit and gave
it to his queens.
In due time Kausalya gave birth to Rama,
Lakshmana and Satrugna were born to Sumithra and Bharatha to Kaikeyi. No one can describe the joy of the king and
his queens. The princes were the delight
of the servants and courtiers and as they grew up they became the darlings of
all the people, so brave, so handsome
and so respectful to elders and very proficient and skilful in all arts of war
and peace. Years passed . They were all
nearing the marriageable age and now the king became anxious. He was thinking of their marriage. Just then,
the guards came running and announced that the great sage Viswamithra was approaching. Dasaratha hastily approached “Welcome,
Welcome Great sage, you are as welcome as the first born is to a childless
woman; as copious rain to parched earth. To what happy event do we owe
this visit. Only mention it and
it will be carried out” The sage was pleased and replied “Rajan! I expected
nothing less from a descendant of Ikshwaku and Raghu. We , the sages living in
the forest , have been conducting yagnams for the welfare of the world. Of late, our yagnams have been defiled by
evil rakshasas, emissaries of powerful
Ravana. Send your son Rama with me to
protect us from these devils, so we can conduct the yagnams in peace” The king was thunder struck. ”This merciless
sanyasi is asking for my darling son scarcely in his teens to fight against the
blood thirsty monsters” His brows were
clouded . For a moment he hesitated and then gathering courage he firmly
replied “ My son is too young to fight with these devils. I shall myself come
with my army.” But Viswamithra was firm
“I know Rama and Vasishta also knows. If
after promising to give any thing , you renege, well , May you prosper’. Fire darted from his eyes and Visvamithra
prepared to return. Vasishta the family
preceptor realized the danger and advised, “Rajan, send Rama It is for his own
good”. The king immediately apologized and with the permission of the queens
sent not one but two sons Rama and Lakshmana with the irate Viswamithra who was
now all smiles . . The princes bade
farewell to all their elders and with their weapons followed the great
Maharishi who was already a few steps ahead.
After walking in perfect silence for an hour or so they reached the
river Sarayu. Then suddenly the Maharishi turned and looking with the utmost
tenderness at the princes said, “ Rama, you must be fatigued. Let us bathe in
Sarayu.” After their dip in sacred Sarayu, the Maharishi imparted two manthras
(sacred verses) the “Bala and Atibala”
“Now hunger and thirst and weariness will not affect you” Further the
Maharishi instructed them the manthras
of various divine weapons. As the
princes recited them, the deities of those weapons presented themselves, and
said “ We are at your service. Command us”: The princes recited another manthra
at which they retired. The trio now
crossed Sarayu and advanced further. It
was a dense forest, very dreary and
lonely and no bird twittered. All at
once there was a booming sound and a dark cloud appeared overhead “ O! Sir,
what may this be? said the princes “Rama
and Lakshmana be ready with your bows.
This is the rakshasi, Thataka, the bane of poor sanyasis Spare her not” By this time, she had come
overhead raining rocks and huge stones.
Rama sent a quivering arrow through her heart. She fell thrashing the ground with her hands
and feet and died. Her two sons Maricha
and Subahu, now loomed overhead determined to avenge their mother’s death. One arrow brought Subahu down; another arrow
pursued Maricha who fled and disappeared
into the sea. Viswamithra and the sages were now free to conduct their
yagnams in peace. They showered their
heart-felt blessings on the princes and small presents such as barks of trees,
sacred threads and kusa grass. These
were all the things they had and they gave their all. Just then tidings arrived
of a great yagna, that would be shortly conducted at Mithila and they all
decided to attend that .
Ahalya
Moksham
The very next day, the party started.
After trudging some weary miles, their way led through a desolate
looking hermitage “Pray Sire, whose is this desolate hermitage” Viswamithra
looked grave and then added “ O! Rama! Here once lived the great Gautama
Maharishi with his chelas and Ahalya, his dharmapathni (wife) Unfortunately,
she was deceived by Indra..Gautama cursed Indra quite fittingly but he also
imposed a heavy penalty on poor Ahalya. –“ Since you have behaved senselessly
like a stone, Become a stone” Relenting the sage added “However, when Sri Rama
comes this way, and steps on you, you will regain your real form and glory” As the Maharishi was saying this, Sri Rama
stepped on a stone, and it at once changed into a woman who fell on her knees
and with tears burst into praises. Just
then Gautama too appeared and the pair departed for further penance
Mithila : Janaka’s
Court
All roads led to Mithila where king Janaka ruled. The roads were crowded with sages, commoners
traders, peddlers, gamblers and dancers.
A great gala festival in honor of the Siva Dhanus was going on. News
reached king Janaka that the great Viswamithra with two bright disciples was
approaching. With suitable presents and garlands and flowers king Janaka
approached “Great Maharishi! Welcome to Mithila . Kindly bless us with your
presence and pray, who are these god like disciples who are fit to rule the
world’ Viswamithra was pleased and said
“The elder one is Rama and the younger is Lakshmana; sons of King Dasaratha of
Ayodhya They would like to see the great
Siva Dhanush”
King Janaka was overjoyed. He had two peerless daughters of marriageable
age Sita and Urmila. He had made a hasty
vow that he would give Sita only to one who could bend the great Siva Dhanush. Many suitors had tried and failed If perchance Rama could bend the bow his
prayer would be realized. The princes
and Viswamithra were lodged and entertained in a magnificent palace.
The Siva Dhanush (Siva’s bow) kept some
distance away on a platform like contrivance on wheels , was slowly being dragged by a team of oxen
towards a great hall adorned with flags and flowers for worship. Soldiers with drawn swords escorted it while
musicians played on various instruments and priests intoned hymns and Sri
Rudram. The bow was placed reverently
before a statue of Nataraja Siva in his famous pose of Cosmic Dance. The walls were adorned with paintings of
famous kings of old. Into this hall
Viswamithra and the princes
entered. They circumambulated the
bow, worshipped Lord Siva with bowed heads and folded hands and at a word from
Viswamithra, Rama bent down gently caressed the bow and lifted the great bow as
if he was raising a garland. Then he
stringed the bow and as the onlookers were looking with bated breath, pulled
the string to his ears. The mighty bow
broke in two with a thundering roar that reached the ends of earth. Sita who was watching from the balcony took
up the marriage garland and put it round Rama’s neck. A mighty shout arose from the people, around
and the devas above “Jai Ram! Jai Sita!
Jai Sitaram”! Words cannot describe the joy of king Janaka and his
queen. With the consent of the
astrologer and rishis Lakshmana’s marriage was arranged with Urmila. Similarly, the marriages of Bharatha and
Shatrugana with two daughters of
Janaka’s brother were also arranged. The
happy news was immediately sent to king Dasaratha by a speedy courier for his
gracious approval and consent.
Speeding like the wind the courier found
king Dasaratha in the midst of his venerable councillors and announced the
happy news. Dasaratha immediately took a
priceless pearl necklace off from his neck
and presented it to the messenger.
On the advice of Vasishta orders were immediately passed for the whole
court to proceed to Mithila with the treasury, the three queens and their
attendants travelled in palanquins. Some were riding on chariots, some on
horses and some on elephants. After a
few days the party reached the outskirts of Mithila and were joyfully received by
king Janaka with purna kumbam (vessels filled with ganges water) , pipes playing and drums beating “Pray, what
are the details of the dowry” asked Janaka with grave misgiving. Dasaratha replied, “It is for the donors to
give what they like. The receivers
cannot demand” The whole city was
adorned with flags and arches .There was feasting and singing and dancing
without end. Vedic mantras and songs
were issuing from a splendid hall; the brides and bridegrooms were seated face
to face and king Janaka said “O! Rama! Take my daughter Sita by the hand. She will be your partner and companion in
following the path of duty and will follow you like your shadow in thick and
thin” This manthra (sacred word) by the
way is repeated even today in every Hindu marriage. The festivities continued unabated for a week
when prince Yudhajit arrived. He was
Bharata’s uncle whom Dasaratha in his haste, had forgotten to invite. But the noble prince did not take it amiss as
Dasaratha sorely repented and more than made amends.
King Dasaratha now bade farewell to the
generous hosts and with pleasant memories and great thankfulness was returning
to Ayodhya when a dark cloud appeared ahead and ominous signs overhead boded
danger.
Parasurama
An imposing figure was approaching.
He was a Brahmin as evidenced by the sacred thread but he carried a
great bow and a fearful axe It was
Parasurama, a partial Avatar of Vishnu himself. His father, the sage Jamadagni,
had been brutally beheaded by an insolent kshatriya prince and in revenge,
Parasurama was roaming round the earth exterminating the kshatriyas and now he
had come upon the luckless wedding party.
Poor Dasaratha, fell down in a swoon crying “Pity, Pity, great Brahmin.
It behoves you a Brahmin, to show pity.
My son is so young and only just married”. Moaning like this the poor
king completely swooned away. Without
even looking at Dasaratha, Parasurama turned sternly to Rama and said “Oh! Ho!
So you are Rama, who has broken the Siva Danush. Look! Here is my Vishnu
Dhanush. If you can bend it I shall know
that you are a worthy opponent and I shall grant you battle”. Prince Rama
looked stern and said “Give me your bow”. The prince raised the proffered bow, stringed
it and fitting an arrow, drew it easily and sternly said to Parasurama “ O!
Brahmin, now show me the target I never draw an arrow in vain” Parasurama now
realized that this was Lord Vishnu himself and said gently “You are Vishnu
himself. I am not humbled by bowing to
you Release your arrow and let it consume all the merit I have acquired” So,
saying Parasurama retreated with folded hands.
A great shadow had lifted and king Dasaratha recovering asked “Has
Parasurama left?” On being assured that the redoubtable Brahmin had left, the
king heaved a sigh of relief and resumed the journey to Ayodhya. The citizens
hearing the glad news had bedecked the city, like a bride and eagerly awaited
their princes’ arrival. There were weeks of rejoicing. The three queen mothers doted on their
daughters in law and Dasaratha in his durbar with his heroic sons around carrying out his orders seemed like Indra
in heaven holding court with the great
gods Agni, Varuna etc at his behest It
was a time of great felicity for all but alas! It was destined to be short.
It occurred to the king that he too was
getting old and that he must relinquish everything and enter the forest for
Tapas (penance) like his ancestors. He
decided to crown his eldest son Rama as King.
His councillors,Vasishta and other sages approving, preparations were
afoot for the grand coronation. Only
prince Bharata was absent, He had, gone on honey moon to his maternal
grandfather’s court at Kekeya (modern Peshawar)
By chance Manthara,(Kaikeyi s old maid servant,) ascended to the top
most terrace and was astounded at what she saw
The whole city was getting adorned with pandals (shelters) and
arches. A passerby said “Why? Haven’t
you heard that Prince Rama is to be crowned tomorrow? “ Trembling with anger as well as old age,
Manthara ran down shrieking at Kaikeyi “You are ruined! Rama is going to be
crowned tomorrow.” Instead of getting
agitated, Kaikeyi was pleased and presented a pearl necklace to Manthara. But she threw it down in anger. Familiarity and long service made her bold
“You fool! Don’t you realize you will be only a servant or worse of Kausalya’s
hereafter? Your poor son Bharata will be
deprived of his right” Manthara raved on like this till at last poor Kaikeyi
gave in and decided to make use of the two boons Dasaratha had formerly given
to her for saving his life in a battle field.
Throwing away her ornaments she flung herself down in a dark room. Quite unsuspecting Dasaratha entered her
chambers to announce the glad tidings .
He was shocked to see the chamber in disarray and Kaikeyi was sprawling
on the floor, her hair dishevelled and fire darting from her eyes. The King tried to pat her but she hissed like
a snake “ Fie upon you! I want the two boons you once promised. Give me those boons now” Dasaratha replied
“By my dear son Rama whom I love more than my life, I swear I will grant you
any boon” Kaikeyi now assumed a serious tone, “Ye Gods! Bear witness to these
boons. By the first boon I demand that
my son Bharata shall be crowned King and by the second I require that Rama be exiled to the Dandaka
forest for fourteen years”.The King fell on the floor thunderstruck. News soon passed around that the coronation
was cancelled and Rama was exiled . Prince Rama did not flinch. Seeing his father in pitiable condition, he
gently raised him up and announced his determination to leave for the forest at
once. Princess Sita had already packed
her small kit and was resolved to follow her husband, saying that this was her
marriage vow. And Lakshmana got ready
his weapons determined to stand guard over his brother and serve them night and
day. Meanwhile, a chariot was got ready.
They bowed to the aged grieving parents promising to return. Sumanthra the faithful charioteer now took up
the reins and coaxed the unwilling horses forward. The rebellious populace blocked the way but
Rama assured them that he would return and told them to be loyal to
Bharatha. All the women were weeping,
even birds stopped singing and amid cries of “ O! Rama! O! Sita!, O peerless
Lakshmana!.” the chariot slowly moved
out of Ayodhya. The renowned emperor
Dasaratha hero of a hundred battles now lay on the ground moaning “ O
Rama, Sita, O Lakshmana” and expired in
the early hours next day.
The trio reached Sarayu, crossing it
while the followers were still asleep and pushed on into the forest, soon they
came to a clearing and decided to take some rest. A sound as if a host was approaching was
heard and their leader cried “Jai SriRamachandra” bowing low. It was Guha the forest chieftain. He added.“ I have heard Sri Ramchandra, that
you have been exiled, Please accept our hospitality for the full term. There is no lack of good things in the
forest” Rama was pleased and said with
great kindness “Thank you Guha,
till now we were four brothers.
Hereafter it will be five. However,
I can’t stay here as it is too near Ayodhya.
I will not be fulfilling the vow.
I must move out” After resting for the night they moved out escorted by
Guha and his followers and reached the bank of the Ganges. Guha ferried them over in his boat and prayed
“Oh Rama, I m ferrying you over in this boat.
Do you also, kindly help me cross the ocean of samsara” Pushing on they
met many sanyasins and finally, the great Sage Agasthia who directed them to
Panchavati. At Panchavati (Nasik)
Lakshmana constructed a Parnasala (Asramam) where they led a delightful
life. Five great banyan trees spread a
green canopy overhead. The sacred river
Godavari, has its source here. Peacocks
are seen dancing gaily and white-throated kites circle overhead. In this idyllic background Sita’s delight
knew no bounds and they were almost grateful to Kaikeyi for this picnic.
We shall now return to Ayodhya. Speedy messengers were sent to Kekaya to
bring Bharata and Satrugna urgently. The
journey was full of bad omens. Rushing
into the palace, he enquired “Where is my father? Kaikeyi coolly replied, “Your father has gone to the
place where all people have to go”. When
all the details were told he burst into uncontrollable anger. The funeral obsequies were hastily performed
and he announced his resolve to fetch his brother and crown him. A great army accompanied him and their din
reached Rama’s ears. “Lakshmana, climb
that tree and see who is approaching” said Rama. Lakshamana obeyed and explained that the
Ayodhya army was approaching. He was furious, “ To arms, To arms, dear brother!
Not content with usurping the throne, Bharata is advancing with the army to
destroy us. You please guard Sita. I
want to crush the enemy single handed.”
“Patience, Patience” cried Rama.
“Bharata is coming to take us back to Ayodhya.” By this time, Bharata
was a bow shot from Rama and shouting “O! brother, brother! rushed towards
Rama, crying and blind with tears. He faltered and fell down clutching Rama’s
feet. On hearing about Dasaratha’s demise, it was now Rama’s turn to fall. The funeral rites were hastily performed and
now Bharata came to business. “Brother,
I will not return without you” To this Rama replied “The heavens may fall, the
ganges may roll back, I cannot return!” When things had come to such a pass
Bharata had a flash “Rama step on these sandals” Rama did so and prince Bharata
reverently bearing them on his head took leave saying to Rama “O! Rama, These
sandals will rule for fourteen
years and if at the end of it I
do not see you, I will immolate myself.
Rama too agreed and thus bearing the sandals on his head and shouting
“Jai Ram, Jai Sita, Victory to Ram!” the party returned to Ayodhya . Bharata
stopped at Nandigram, a village on the outskirts of Ayodhya, installed the
sandals on a royal throne and ruled in Rama’s name.
Rama, Lakshmana and Sita were now in comparative peace at
Panchavati enjoying the idyllic beauty of the Godavari against the backdrop of
the blue mountains and thinking of the greatness of Bharata when
Surpanakha a rakshasi came there by pure chance. She had spied them
from a distance and attracted by the magnificient beauty of Rama had come near.
She introduced herself as the sister of the powerful demon king Ravana. Her
cousins, Khara and Dushana were the governors of Dandakaranya. If he would
marry her, he would win the friendship of Ravana and they could roam over
Dandakaranya enjoying sensual bliss. Rama demurred and seeing that Sita was the
cause, the rakshasi assumed her gigantic form and made a swoop upon Sita. But
Lakshmana ever on the alert flashed his sword and sliced off her nose and
breasts. She ran bleeding and roaring and set her cousins Khara and Dushana
against Rama. An army of fourteen thousand ferocious bloodthirsty rakshasas set
upon Rama. And then ensued a terrible battle. Rama took his stand on a projecting
promontory and sent volleys of arrows.
They were like rays of the mid day sun. Rama seemed to be everywhere. In an
hour’s space the din of battle died. The ground was strewn with dead bodies and
vultures circled overhead. Surpanakha saw the havoc she had done. She
immediately fled to Lanka and fell like a bolt from the blue before Ravana
holding court, shrieking “Revenge! I
want Rama’s blood. Two brothers Rama and Lakshmana oh! how gloriously handsome,
have intruded into our Dandakaranya. Rama’s wife Sita is so beautiful. I tried
to kidnap her for you and this is the result.”
She pointed to her bleeding nose. Ravana’s cupidity was roused. He
threatened and coaxed Maricha to assume the form of a golden dear and draw Rama
and Lakshamana out of the ashram so that he could kidnap Sita and bring her to
Lanka. Much against his will Maricha as a golden deer gambolled before the
ashram. Rama pursued the fleeing deer and losing patience let fly an unerring
arrow. The deer fell assuming its true form of a rakshasa and crying “O!
Lakshmana, O! Sita! Help me!”
Sita heard the cry and panic stricken
cried “O! Lakshmana, go at once and save your brother” Lakshmana protested in
vain. Sita was raving. So taking up his bow and arrows he left . Half way up,
he met Rama returning after killing Maricha. “O! Lakshmana! Why did you leave
Sita alone” cried Rama.
The moment Lakshmana left Sita, Ravana
came disguised as a sanyasin begging for alms and when Sita came out he
forcibly placed her in Pushpaka Vimanam (flying chariot) and sped towards
Lanka. Jatayu the king of Vultures trying to intercept, was cut down.
Bereft of his Kingdom , bereft of his
dear wife, Rama bewailed his lot like any ordinary man. Lakshmana tried his
best to console him and the two together began to search. Soon they came upon
the dying Jatayu who gasped “It is Ravana who has flown southward with Janaki.
Alas! I could not save her” Blood gushed out of his beak and he fell back dead.
Embracing him Rama grieved “Alas! How unfortunate are even loyal friends who
befriend me!”. He performed the funeral
rites praying “Faithful friend of my father! Go to the land of the faithful and
enjoy the good fruits”.
The brothers trudged through the thick forest ever watchful with
bent bows when all of a sudden they found themselves in the clutches of a huge
one eyed giant whose head was in the middle of his body and with arms a mile
long. He carried a huge spear on which were stuck an elephant, a lion and a
boar. The brothers cut off his hands and legs but the giant would not die. He
roared “O! Rama! O! Lakshmana! I know you. I cannot be killed by weapons. This
is a boon I have won from Brahma. Bury me in a deep pit.” The brothers did as
they were told. From the grave arose the shining form of a gandharva. He said
“Once I had been to Indra’s court and cast covetous eyes on apsaras Rambha. Indra divined my thoughts and
struck me down promising release and redemption when I meet you , avatar of Vishnu. Janaky is taken to Lanka by
the demon Ravana. You must make friends
with Sugriva who is hiding in the forests of Kishkinda driven away by his
brother Bali. With Sugriva’s help you will recover Janaki”. So saying the
gandharva vanished.
Trekking further south, they
reached the ashramam of Matanga
Maharishi. It was swept clean for years by old Sabari, a low caste woman in the
hope of meeting Rama. He granted her moksha (the final release) As they were
pushing forward along the banks of the Pampa river, they were observed by
Sugriva and his five followers atop a distant cliff. Sugriva was suspicious and
asked his follower Sri Hanuman to go and reconnoitre. He cautiously approached
but soon threw away all caution and told the whole story of Sugriva’s exile.
Rama killed Bali and crowned Sugriva king of all the Vanaras. In return Sugriva
promised to find Sita. A great army of monkeys marched south until they reached
the sea. Now a messenger had to be sent to Lanka and the choice fell on
Hanuman. Assuming a colossal form and muttering “Ram ! Ram!” he made a
tremendous leap, overcame all obstacles and dropped on Lanka. Again assuming a
small monkey’s form explored Lanka thoroughly; its fortifications and defense
systems and reaching Asoka vanam found Sita in the last extremity of distress .
He gently introduced himself.. He humbly
presented her Rama’s signet ring; received a token jewel from herself and set
Lanka ablaze . He made a return leap
dropping before Rama and Lakshmana with the glad news “I have seen Sita!” Rama embraced him with tears
in his eyes.
The bridge twenty miles long was ready and the
monkey army crossed over. The attack began. Many heroic acts were done by both
sides. In the end the rakshasas were annihilated. Ravana and his son and
brothers were killed, all except Vibhishana who was pious. Lakshmana crowned
him king and the monkey army retreated with Rama and Sita to Ayodhya. It was
the last day of the exile and Hanuman was just in time to save Bharata from
immolation. Great was the jubilation in
Ayodhya. The brothers embracing each other shed tears of joy and the citizens
were delirious with joy crying “Where can we find such brotherly love or such
devotion to husband as Sita? Victory to Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Satrugna,
Jai Ram, Jai Ram” The happiness of the
three queen mothers can be easily imagined.
Rama with his brothers reigned for many
years. It was Rama Rajyam. No sorrow, no
disease, no untimely death. Rains were
seasonal and earth was bounteous. Peace and prosperity reigned everywhere. It
is said that in the end Rama with all those who would follow him entered the
Sarayu, returning to Vaikunta, his eternal abode.
A word of apology is due here, we have
described all too briefly the great story of Rama. To all believers it is not a
story; it is a way of life. Rama is the great exemplar of how a man should
behave as a son, as a husband, as a ruler in prosperity and dire
adversity, fully upholding the truth or
dharmam (duty) even in the most trying situations. He never said that he was an
avatar. “I consider
myself only as Dasaratha’s son” But this was only to confirm his identity with
the common man. He did not want to distance himself from others. He wanted to
teach people that all can become divine. Jai Ram! Jai Ram! Jai Sita Ram!!.
CHAPTER 14
Sk 9 .Ch 21 . Slolam 2
Yayati
Much
later in the line of the solar dynasty occurs the name of Yayati. He was not
the eldest son of his father, the mighty king Nahusha. Still he was selected
for his kingly qualities and as the other sons preferred ascetic lives and had
become brahmanas.
About this
time Vrishaparva the descendant of
Prahlada and Bali was the king of the asuras. He had a beautiful daughter named
Sarmishta. This spirited princess along with her girl companions was roaming in
the woodlands in quest of pleasure and
adventure when they came across a broad crystal clear lake. They decided to
take a plunge in the cool waters. So
divesting their upper garments, they plunged into the water and were having a
merry time, splashing the water at one another when Lord Siva with Parvathy
was seen passing overhead. Hastily the girls swam to the shore and put
on their garments when it was seen that Sarmishta and Devayani daughter of
Sukracharya had put on each other’s
garments by mistake. The princess lost
her temper and shouted “Daughter of a beggarly brahmin! How dare you to put on
my dress” Devayani retorted “I am the daughter of the great sage Sukracharya.
Kings and devas bow down before him. It is my father’s spiritual power that
sustains your father upon his throne” From words they came to blows and began
to scratch and pull as girls do. In her anger Sarmishta pushed over Devayani
into a deep well. And they all fled leaving Devayani in the well. Her clothes
were torn and some thorny bushes prevented her from drowning. She shouted;
getting weaker she began to moan.
By chance Yayati was out hunting and hearing a low moan
from the bottom of the well, peeped in and was surprised to see a girl moaning.
Immediately he took off his cloak and threw it down and the kind king bent down
and stretching his hand caught hold of her uplifted hands and pulled her out.
He was a gallant prince very kind and very handsome. Devayani looked down and
said “O! King! You have saved my life. You have given your hand to me and also
a dress to wear. Deign to accept me” Yayati was in a fix. How could a kshatriya
marry a brahmin girl? But she assured him that her father the great Sukracharya
would not object.
Meanwhile
Sukracharya had returned and when he heard all that had happened he became
angry and retired from the court. Very soon things began to go awry. Bad omens
multiplied. The reason was clear. The great sage’s spiritual aura was not
there. Vrishaparva immediately ran up
and prostrated before Sukracharya. Relenting, the sage said “I shall return on
one condition. Your daughter and a hundred other maids must be sent as servants
to my daughter” In the interest of his subjects the king agreed and so it was
done. The servants and Sarmishta waited upon Devayani. Here there was an
unexpected development. Yayati and Sarmishta also fell in love with each other.
Of course there was nothing wrong in this as kings had more than one wife in
those days. But Devayani was furious with jealousy and fled to her father. The
rishi too became unnecessarily angry and cursed Yayati “ Since you have been a
slave to passion, may old age and weakness descend upon you at once” Suddenly
Yayati found himself old and haggard. He appealed to the old sage “By reducing
me to this condition you are depriving your daughter also of all enjoyment”
Sukracharya now relented and said “If you can persuade one of your sons to take
on this old age and give you his own youth, you will become young again”.
Yayati requested each of his sons for
this unreasonable exchange. But the youngest Puru agreed. Yayati becoming young
again lived a full sensuous life with Devayani. However, in the end he realised
the futility and phantom like nature of all pleasures which have their origin
in the mind. And resolving with his
queens’ approval, exercised an iron
control over his mind and uniting it with Brahmam once for all attained
realization. Puru who had regained his youth was made emperor of the entire
world; his brothers being governors of distant provinces.
Sakuntalam
Dushyanta
was one of the most famous successors of Puru. Unmarried and very handsome he
was out hunting. It was too late to return and so he had to seek shelter in a
hermitage. He was received by the young
disciples of Kanva Maharishi who had gone out. There Dushyanta saw a
maiden of surpassing beauty and lost his heart entirely “Are you an apsaras or
goddess. O! beautiful one?” The maiden replied “I am Sakuntala, the daughter of
Maharishi Viswamithra and apsaras Menaka. Abandoned by both, I was brought up
by Maharishi Kanva as his daughter and who may you be charming prince?”
Dushyantha introduced himself. It was love at first sight and they married by
the Gandharva form of marriage. Next morning Maharishi Kanva returned. His
spiritual insight told him what had happened. He entirely approved of the
marriage and blessed the pair. Dushyantha
returned to his palace promising to send for her in a befitting manner,
but by a quirk of fate entirely forgot Sakuntala. A year passed and she had given birth to a beautiful son. Kanva
Maharishi sent her with an escort of his disciples to the king. But he had
entirely forgotten his association due to the curse of Durvasa. In this
extremity the poor lady called on her mother Menaka who suddenly appeared and carried off her daughter. At the same time a heavenly voice was heard
“O! King! She is your lawful wife and the child is your own heir!” The curse also lifted and Dushyanta now
remembered with anguish all that had happened. But it was too late. He accepted his son making him his heir. The child grew up strong and handsome with
all princely qualities. This was Bharata
the famous emperor of the entire earth and this land is known as Bharath since
that time.
This story is the theme of the famous poetic drama
“Sakuntalam” acclaimed by even western
critics as the greatest romantic drama.
In the
Bhagavatham we always find the great kings towards the end of their reigns,
giving up all pomp and power and becoming strict sanyasins to attain moksha
(final release) But Ranti Deva gave up all power very early, embracing the life
of a sanyasin. His family also was with him and they lived on whatever they
could get. On one occasion they got a little sweetened rice and were about to
share it when a hungry brahmin appeared and begged for food. Ranti Deva at once
gave him half. The brahmin went away
satisfied and when they sat down to share the remnant a hunter appeared
and after the hunter a trader and then only some water was left. Just then an
outcaste with his famished dogs
appeared “Water! Water! “ they craved.
Ranti Deva was about to give that water when the gods (Trinity) revealed
themselves and took him and his
family to higher worlds. Ranti deva is a
byword for extreme generosity. He could see god in every one.
Sk
10 . Ch 3 . Slokam 9 , 10
The old
order changes yielding place to new. The mighty Ganga when it nears the estuary
breaks into a number of channels. Even
so, the great line of solar dynasty split into many lines of minor kings and
chieftains. Some claiming descent from the moon called themselves kings of the
lunar dynasty. Many had degenerated and had become oppressors of the people.
Pujas and rituals and yagnas were stopped; the devas were starved and appealed
to Vishnu (Hari) the lord of gods and
men and of all living things and Vishnu replied “Have patience you gods. When
the time is ripe I shall descend on earth at Mathura. Meanwhile do you all
precede me and take birth as gopis and gopalas at Brindavan in Mathura” And the devas obeyed as directed.
Ugrasena Maharaja was ruling at Mathura. A good king
but not stern enough. His son Kamsa was a great warrior but too ambitious. He
could not wait till his father retired to become king With the help of some
asuric associates he usurped the throne; threw his father into prison and began
a reign of terror and oppression.
Kamsa had a cousin sister named Devaki of whom he
was very fond. Her marriage had been arranged with Vasudeva, a prince of a
powerful clan. At the conclusion of the grand wedding, Devaki and Vasudeva
seated in a splendid chariot were being driven to their palace by Kamsa himself
when an unseen voice from above boomed “Kamsa, you fool! You are driving a
couple whose eighth son will slay you!”
Kamsa at once. let go the bridle, jumped down from the chariot and
catching hold of the long tresses of the bride, drew his sword. Even in this
extremity Vasudeva kept his cool and calmly assured Kamsa that he would present
every son as soon as it was born, to Kamsa, to be disposed of as he pleased.
Kamsa reflected. Vasudeva was known to
be a man of his word. He let go his hold
and allowed them to proceed.
By the end of the year a son, bright as the morning
star was born. True to his word, Vasudeva carried the child in his arms and
laid it before Kamsa. Even Kamsa’s heart relented “ Vasudeva I am glad you have
kept your word. But I have fear only from the eighth child, so take this child
back and cherish it” Vasudeva gladly took it back but was not too glad. The
devas got alarmed. Kamsa was softening; their plans would go awry. So they
requested Sri Narada to set matters right. The Devarishi smiled.
Approaching Kamsa he said “O! King! You may have made a mistake because any of
the eight children can be made the eighth by changing the origin of
counting.” Kamsa thanked Narada for
pointing out the error and immediately went after Vasudeva, snatched the child
from him and dashed it on a stone that was conveniently near by.
This went on six times. Six babies were brutally
killed. Devaki conceived for the seventh time hoping against hope that this one
at least would be saved somehow.
The scene now shifts to Brindavan, a pastoral
village not far from Mathura. Dairy farming was the only means of livelihood of
these sturdy people. The lush meadows, thick with green grass were ideal
grazing grounds for cattle. The village literally overflowed with milk and
curds and honey which form the basis of wealth. Nandagopa was their prince and Yasoda
and Rohini were his consorts.
Kamsa’s reign was becoming
unbearable to good people. Lord Vishnu decided that the time was ripe for his
avatar (descending to earth) and requested his inseparable companion and other
self Adisesha to precede him and enter
the womb of Devaki. Then, turning to Mahadevi Loka maya who shrouds him from
the gaze of the irreverent and impious
he said ” Ho! Devi Mahamaya! You have also a role to play in this drama.
Remove my brother from Devaki’s womb and transplant him in Rohini at Brindavan and yourself enter Yasodas body.
Do this and as a reward for this great service, humanity will worship you as
Durga, Kali, Maya with offerings of flowers and rice sweetened with jaggery,
and honey” Bowing low Mahamaya departed.
Next day, news spread that Devaki had aborted.
Kamsa, now knew for certain that the next would be his killer. He redoubled the
guard and put Devaki and Vasudeva in chains. Now Vishnu himself entered
Vasudeva’s body. He shone like the sun and felt an inexplicable elation. The
elation spread to Devaki also and both felt that their misery would soon end.
Kamsa was now getting nervous and gave strict instructions to the guards to
inform him as soon as the child was born. He was having disturbing dreams
portending death. The devas with Brahma and Siva were hovering above with
garlands and flowers singing songs of praise and welcome.
Brahma’s Hymn
of Praise
Hail!
Lord of the universe, Truth incarnate
Thou art the Truth three fold
True now, in the past and in the future
Like a great tree Thou art, with roots in Prakriti
The four Purusharthas thy saps; the vital airs thy
extension
Hunger, thirst, sorrow, infatuation
Old age and death thy constitution
The mind, intellect, ego its branches
And Jiva and Easwara the two birds that rest
Thy feet the boat to cross Maya
Hearing your stories, listening to songs about you
and serving others is the way to your presence and release from every
affliction. Singing like this they departed.
The planets assumed favourable positions. A pleasant
breeze wafted heavenly odours. A gentle rain revived all living creatures,
moving and unmoving. Rivers rolled limpid and clear and even thunder was
muffled keeping time with the waves of the ocean. Holy rishis chanted manthras
as Devaki gave birth to her divine son. Vasudeva saw the divine child with four arms bearing
the conch, lotus, mace and chakram, adorned already with priceless necklaces
and kaustubham, wearing a jewelled
crown, lotus eyed and smiling at the
bewildered parents. He told them that this was not the first time he was born
as their son. Even in previous births he had been their son because of their
great purity and tapas. He asked Vasudeva to carry him to Gokulam, deposit him
at Yasoda’s side, take the baby girl he would find there and bring it to
Mathura. So saying the child resumed a
baby’s form. Vasudeva implicitly followed the directions. Placing the baby in a
basket he reverently carried him on his head and stepped out.
Then wonder after wonder followed. The iron chains binding him and Devaki had
fallen apart and now the great gates flew open. A deep sleep overpowered the
guards who lay snoring. There was mild thunder and a slight drizzle, but he was
not getting wet. Looking up he saw a great hooded serpent protecting him from the rain. Gokulam was
some seven or eight miles away and he had to cross the great river Jamuna which
was already in spate. Not knowing what to do Vasudeva with his precious burden,
just pushed on until he reached the brink of the roaring flood. Then O! Wonder
of wonders; the roar subsided; the waters became calm and Vasudeva was
emboldened to cross. It was at first ankles deep, then knee deep, then waist
deep and there it stopped. Vasudeva waded on and on but the river continued to
be only waist deep and the hooded serpent was
covering him like a huge umbrella
over head. Reaching the other bank he continued his journey. The glowworms
lighted the path and he reached Gokulam. Not a dog barked. He entered a well
lighted house. Men were sleeping in the open verandahs. Inside a matron was
sleeping with a newly born baby by her side. Gently removing the baby girl
Vasudeva put his own child there and regretfully traced his way back and nobody
was any wiser about this baby transfer.
Returning to Mathura in the dead of night he found the prison gates
opening automatically as before and deposited gently the baby girl by the side
of Devaki. Sorely she missed her baby son but realized that this was all his
play and fondled the baby girl as if it was her own. The baby however began to
cry so loud that the sleeping guards awoke with a start and some of them dashed
off to inform Kamsa. Trembling with rage and fear the villain snatched the baby
by its legs and was swinging it around when slipping from his hands she sprang
into the air and assuming her own beautiful but awe inspiring form with eight
arms, carrying weapons, said in a ringing voice “Fool, you have killed many
innocents in vain. Sri Hari, your enemy is growing up elsewhere”. So saying the
Devi vanished. Kamsa fell back abashed “Alas! What a fool I have been! Even
gods tell falsehood. Alas! My poor sister! How I have wronged you! It is all
due to fate. Kindly forgive me for my cruelty”. Kamsa’s repentance was short
lived. Back at his court, he was surrounded by his asuric courtiers Chanura and
others “The devas are cowards who have fled from the shower of your deadly
arrows. Vishnu sometimes overcomes our leaders by mere stratagem. He derives
his strength from the oblations offered to him by some traitorous brahmins and
rishis. If we have your permission we will exterminate these vermins”. Kamsa
agreed and ordered them to destroy Brahmins and temples. The villains obeyed
with glee and torched the places of worship and cottages even in far off
Gokulam. And one bright devil suggested “Why not we kill all new born children
I have a sister Poothana by name who will do it with pleasure” “Agreed” roared
Kamsa and Poothana started on her deadly mission.
At Gokulam the month long rejoicings at the birth of
an heir to their chief had not yet subsided. It was as if a brilliant star had
risen. The baby was so beautiful with its lotus like eyes and ruby lips and its
complexion of a fresh rose, one could
not take one’s eyes off it. There was an endless stream of gopis (cowherd
maidens) coming to pay their respects. The lowing cows yielded milk in greater
profusion. It seemed as if Sri Lakshmi, the goddess of plenty had descended
upon the village and the simple villagers believed that all this was due to the
child. Yasoda really believed that this was her son for she was unconscious at
the time of her delivery and knew not its sex. Nandagopa her husband had gone
to Mathura to pay the annual taxes of butter and curds. He used this
opportunity to renew his friendship with his old friend Vasudeva. The two were
great friends. The talk naturally turned to the arrival of the new baby. “Even
though you are past the prime god has given you a fine son. Cherish him with care for the times are bad.
Return home straight before anything happens.”
Nandagopa too had an uneasy feeling of some impending danger, so taking a hasty
leave he departed.
Poothana was approaching Gokulam. Using her magic
arts she had converted herself into a handsome gopi and bearing a golden tray
with flowers entered the village with mincing steps and humming a tune. No one
dreamt of stopping her. Entering boldly Yasoda’s open house she gazed at the
enchanting baby, hesitated for a moment,
a shade passing over her face. But it was only for a moment “I must be loyal to
Kamsa or he will destroy me”. So, steeling herself she took the sleeping child
and clasped it to her poisoned breasts. With eyes still half closed the baby
began to suck. After a few seconds she tried to free herself from the still
fiercely sucking baby but could not free herself. The rakshasi resumed her true
form, thrashing the ground with her hands and feet fell prone on the earth like
a tree uprooted , the baby still sucking at her breast. She fell with a
terrible cry whose reverberations reached Kamsa’s frightened ears.
All the village now collected round the dead body of
the rakshasi trying to extricate the baby that was playing on the top quite
unconcerned. Very soon Nanda also arrived and together they extricated the
baby. Then they made a bonfire of the rakshasi’s body and strangely enough, a
sweet perfume spread over the entire place. The baby had sucked out all the
poison from her system and it now burned like camphor and sandalwood. Just
because she had given milk, albeit
poisoned, to the divine child she was granted Moksha (final release) How much
more must be the reward of those who
worship and offer sweet payasam to him!
Prior to the birth of a baby to Yasoda, Rohini had
given birth to a fine son, fair as the moon, brightening the entire village
with his brilliance. He was the avatar of Adisesha, Vishnu’s support and other
self. The two babies seemed to be the foci around which the entire village
revolved. Nanda began to prepare for the naming ceremony and just then the
great astrologer saint Garga arrived. He was the family purohit (priest) of the
Vrishnis and Nanda now requested him to conduct the ceremony. Garga agreed but
cautioned that it must be done with the utmost secrecy. Otherwise, Kamsa would
get wind of this and he would send his minions to kill the babies. So, the
naming was done with the utmost secrecy. The elder, Rohini’s son was named
“Rama” because he pleased everyone and the younger, Yasoda’s son was named
Krishna as he attracted every one. The elder was also called Balarama, as the
baby was extraordinarily sturdy.
The gopas and gopis were simple hard working people.
When there was sunshine, they had to dry their grains or grind them into flour,
churn the curds and collect the butter, split the logs for firewood and so on.
Yasoda, Nanda’s wife, was also engaged in these activities laying down the sleeping baby in the shade
cast by a cart that was fortuitously standing by. As Yasoda was absent too long, the baby became restless
throwing up its tiny legs. The feet coming in contact with the cart, shattered
it into a thousand fragments. The gopis rushing to the place, took the baby in
their arms and finding it unhurt and smiling, thanked the gods for its
miraculous escape. The fragments were found to be pieces of a dead asura’s body. The cowherd boys who were
watching from a distance assured them that Krishna had kicked the asura
shattering him to pieces. But the elders did not believe it; they thought it
was just children’s prattle.
Once
Yasoda was fondling her son as usual when she felt an unusual weight. Reeling
under the weight she placed the child on the floor. Suddenly with a screaming
noise a fierce whirlwind struck the place. Columns of sand were whirling round
and round pelting everyone with sharp edged stones. Trees were pulled up by the
root and even animals were lifted and whirled around. People ran hither and
thither for shelter. It was Trinavartha, Kamsa’s emissary, who assuming the
form of a whirlwind was sweeping the village to lift Krishna. He lifted the
child and was speeding with him to Mathura but quickly felt it was too heavy
and tried to shake him off. In vain, the asura struggled to throw him off. The
child had clasped him by the throat and he fell dead like a mountain cleft by
lightning and thunder. The storm suddenly subsided and the gopas found Krishna
playing in the debris. The gopis could only thank the unseen gods for this
miraculous escape.
The babies now began to crawl on their knees and did
enough mischief to keep all the gopies on their toes. They could not and did
not want to take their eyes off the children. Even when they danced and played
they carried him on their hips by turns and there was great competition for
this pleasure. From crawling on their knees the children rapidly reached the
next stage of toddling and walking erect with unsteady steps. There was no end
to the fun and frolic. The gopis would make him dance offering a piece of cake
or a little butter as prize. He who was making the world or even the universe
dance, was now dancing like a puppet to the tunes of the simple milk maids!
Sometimes he would pull the calves by their tails and enjoy a tug of war.
Growing bigger Krishna organized the boys into gangs making forays into the
dairies kept by grown up ladies. The complaint became general “Yasoda, your boy
is stealing our butter. They break the pot and drink the curds as it pours out.
Not content with this, they take the butter and feed. the monkeys and kittens
that follow them always!” Yasoda protested “Why should my son steal butter when
we have plenty of it in our house. If you can
catch him red handed I will punish him”. The gopis murmured but they
could not get angry with Krishna. One enterprising gopi laid a ruse. She kept
the doors partly open, placed the butter pans deliberately within reach of
little Krishna and lay in wait. Sure enough, Krishna and his gang (which
included the son of the owner herself) appeared, filled their hands and mouth
with butter They were about to beat a
retreat when the owner lady pounced on little Krishna, caught him by the hand
and thus catching him reached his house
shouting “Now, Yasoda! What do you say to this?” Yasoda coming out said “Why
this is not Krishna” The gopi who was dragging Krishna, now looked down and saw
that it was her own son! Quite abashed, she let go her son, while Krishna
laughed loud from inside his house and Yasoda frowned.
As days
passed, Krishna’s mischief waxed. He would release the calves before milking
time and when questioned, would make faces. He was the beloved leader of all
the boys and girls who blithely followed him in all his pranks. On one occasion they complained to his mother
“Yasoda Ma! This Krishna has eaten mud!” Immediately catching hold of Krishna
Yasoda asked “Krishna! Did you eat mud? All these boys and even your brother
says so” Krishna stoutly protested. “All right open your mouth” said Yasoda
holding him firmly. The child opened its little mouth and wonder of wonders
Yasoda gazed and saw the heavens and stars; mountains and rivers; living
creatures big and small and finally her own village and herself looking into
the open mouth of another little Krishna.
Yasoda fainted. Krishna relented and cast his yoga maya over her. Slowly
opening her eyes Yasoda was once more her normal self back in this world of
maya; in her own village and she entirely forgot her experience
Out in the compound stood two giant Arjuna Trees like twins. The child crawling on all fours and dragging
the wooden mortar behind slowly worked his way through the cleft. The mortar turned crosswise and got stuck
between the trees. Krishna tugged, the
trees began to shiver and with a mighty prolonged roar, fell prone flat and two
shining celestials materialized with folded hands and bent heads. They began to sing
“O! Krishna, Maha yogin Vasudeva
You have created all this manifest and
unmanifest
They are thy body; Thou art time eternal
Thou alone art Prakriti and its gunas
Budhi, ego, mind, senses thy modifications
None by itself can comprehend the whole
Even as clouds caused by the sun, hide
him
Thou art the supreme Lord, now manifest
For the prosperity of all the
world. Salutations!
Singing thus they departed to their
world.
Their
Previous History
These gandharvas were the sons of Kubera, guardian of all the
wealth. Intoxicated by wealth, they had
become blind to decency and all the ills that this body is heir to . Wild with
drink and accompanied by their women folk they had plunged into holy ganges Casting
off their clothes they were disporting themselves like elephants when Devarishi
Sri Narada passed that way. Seeing the sage from a distance, the ladies
immediately snatched their garments and clothed themselves; but not so the two
gandharvas. The great sage did not
become angry. He was rather sad to see
the effect of wealth
Alas! Whose is this body?
Is it the Father’s or Mother’s?
Does it belong to, the worms or to fire
Wealth makes him vain and
Cruel to fellow creatures and
Thoughtless to their sufferings,
for such,
Poverty is the all powerful panacea.
So, I shall deprive them of all their wealth
Let them be trees and when
They come in contact with Lord Krishna
Will regain their form and wisdom.
To fulfill the Rishi’s words the Lord had
To play this part.
Trek
To Brindavan
Hearing the sound of the falling trees the gopas rushed to the place and
were relieved to find the child unhurt.
Some stray cowherd boys who had witnessed all this told them that the
trees fell because Krishna had tugged at the rope and further two resplendent
celestials appeared and worshipped Krishna.
But the elders dismissed all this and thought it was only children’s
prattle. Days passed. Rama and Krishna played with boys of their
own age. The gopi girls were mischievous. They would tauntingly say “Krishna, you
cannot dance”. Krishna would protest and
begin to dance, throwing his arms about like a marionette. “Krishna! You cannot lift this stone”. Krishna would again protest and lift the
stone with great apparent effort and even walk a few steps, to the great merriment of the girls— demonstrating
that the Lord will do anything for a devotee, even dancing to their tune.
Krishna
And The Old
Fruit Vendor
An old woman, a fruit seller, was
one day trying to sell fruits without much success. It was evening and she was tired. “Apples, Apples, Mangoes, Grapes!” she cried
but no one wanted any. The child Krishna
observed it and called “Hey! Mother! Give me some fruits!” The tired old woman immediately put down her
basket and filled the child’s palm with fruits.
In return she had to be paid some grain.
Asking her to wait the child went in filled his palms with grain and
returned but the grains had spilled and only a few grains were left. But the child innocently placed it in her
basket. The old woman smiled at the
child’s innocence and its good nature and filled its palms with the choicest
fruits. There was no more hawking. When, after returning to her cottage she
opened the basket. O! Wonder of wonders!
It was filled with the costliest pearls and diamonds!
In spite of these miracles the elders
were getting anxious. “Our village is
becoming the target of evil spirits.
First it was Poothana; then the whirlwind and fire; and now the arjuna
trees. All along the Lord has saved us.
We must not ignore these warnings or tempt fortune further . Let us move
to a safer place. Brindavan is a safer
place and the location too is good. The
river Yamuna is nearby. There are broad
meadows and hill slopes lush with grass to feed our herds”. All the gopas agreed and the trek began.
The stalwarts with bows and arrows
marched in front; with trumpets and bugles and flutes others followed, and they were followed by the aged and the
infirm and the womenfolk and Yasoda and Rohini in chariots came last. Reaching an open space they pitched their
tents in a half moon. The cowherds were
delighted at the delightful prospects all around and settled down to their
usual occupation of grazing the cows and milking while the happy children
ranged farther with their slings and pipes.
They played with the calves, wrestled with the older ones; bellowed like
bulls or imitated the larks. They
grimaced at the monkeys and raced with the birds. Days passed in this delightful manner. Rama and Krishna were growing firmer and
stronger every day when one day an asura disguised as a bull calf entered the
fold. Krishna, at once, detected him and
catching hold of the pseudo calf’s hind
legs and tail, whirled him round and round until he died gasping and then threw
him up so high that when he fell, he hit a kapitha tree shedding all its
fruits.
Bakasura
The Crane
Bakasura, another ally of Kamsa assuming the shape of a huge crane was
sitting atop a cliff as if he was
another cliff. The cowherd boys threw
stones at him out of curiosity but disregarding all of them, he came straight
to Krishna and gobbled him up. The
children were stunned and gazed in speechless surprise. The Asura felt as if he had swallowed a chunk
of burning coal and coughed it out.
Springing up quite unhurt Krishna caught the bird by its beak and tore
it asunder as if it was a blade of grass and that was the end of Bakasura.
As the boys narrated the events of the
day to the elders in the evening, they wondered. Said Nanda, “What the great sage Garga said
is coming true. So many evil spirits
have come and they have all been destroyed.
Surely, this child is divine!”
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