tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16963462412927493482024-03-13T15:05:43.196+05:30Names, Places, Events, Things: Ruminations and Essays on Hindu MythologyWelcome to the companion site of "Names, Places, Events, Things - Ruminations and Essays on Hindu Mythological Tales", a unique collection of essays on Hindu myths.
Some of these essays, in part, appeared on this site since 2008. Several essays are now chapters in the book. Buy the book to read them.
Now a paperback collection, with several new essays and fresh writings, this is available on Amazon, Flipkart, and Notion Press.Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-27847887811329648222021-06-03T22:47:00.009+05:302021-06-04T07:42:59.404+05:30Names, Places, Events, Things - now a paperback version on Amazon<p> It is finally here. The paperback edition of "Names, Places, Events, Things - Ruminations and Essays on Hindu Mythological Tales" is out, and is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.in/Names-Places-Events-Things-Mythological/dp/163940791X/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=shreekant+vijaykar&qid=1622740085&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Tap here to buy</a>.</p><p>Or paste this:</p><p>https://www.amazon.in/Names-Places-Events-Things-Mythological/dp/163940791X/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=shreekant+vijaykar&qid=1622740085&sr=8-2</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jrHHwwxCa6SciDn7L9LkLHffZByCUPe4Woczt4GlKo7O00qjcb_cKN1v-Q8-U8ol-zZndqFv9sYX0Pzien5YBeasNVvZS7ZmYGNSGNlLZhE4uOsxBP7E7RruGQgBZVblVYlSh_DAPuEE/s1200/Frontpage.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jrHHwwxCa6SciDn7L9LkLHffZByCUPe4Woczt4GlKo7O00qjcb_cKN1v-Q8-U8ol-zZndqFv9sYX0Pzien5YBeasNVvZS7ZmYGNSGNlLZhE4uOsxBP7E7RruGQgBZVblVYlSh_DAPuEE/w213-h320/Frontpage.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><p>Written in the form of essays, musings, and thought experiments, and covering over a hundred lesser-known incidents and stories from Hindu mythology, this volume is a thinking person’s companion to the wonderful world of ancient Hindu civilization. Covering the names, places, events, and things in one of the most ancient cultures of the world, this compendium is a modern-day encyclopedia of Hindu myths and legends.</p><p>This is not just a storybook. It is a rational enquiry, often witty, sometimes irreverent, always curious, into the nature of these myths that have propelled a large body of art, literature, and social thought for millennia. Written as a series of longform essays over thirteen years, this volume explores the mythical situations in particular, and human condition in general.</p><p>Several essays from this site are moved to the book. To continue to read, click here and buy the book:</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.in/Names-Places-Events-Things-Mythological/dp/163940791X/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=shreekant+vijaykar&qid=1622740085&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Tap here to buy</a>.</p><div>This is what is said about the book:</div><p>Dr. Shreekant Vijaykar, in his lucid narrative style and a penchant for juxtaposing different concepts and events, takes us through a magical and cerebral ride across the myriad of Hindu myths and legends from Mahabharata, Ramayana, the Vedas, and the Puranas. While doing so, he adds his own commentary, gives simple explanations that are often overlooked, and draws parallels between different stories, making it a marvelous reading experience.</p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div>Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-73015168657292624852020-03-21T01:25:00.004+05:302021-06-05T08:49:17.766+05:3061 Mahashivratri<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While the
world is under siege, and peering into an abyss of uncertainty; and while I am,
like most of us, working on finishing a whole lot of backlog activities pending
for ages (now that we have some time at hand); I also decided to come back to some
of the activities that are quite dear to me but for which I usually find precious
little time. Right on top of these is the act of storytelling, and so here we
are, with one more story post on this blog after a really, really long hiatus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The day of
<b><i>Mahashivratri </i></b>for this year has just passed a couple of weeks ago, an occasion which
is celebrated in Nepal and India and some neighboring countries with a lot of
fanfare. I managed to see the crowds gathering at <i>Pashupatinath</i> temple in Kathmandu
for the festival this year, and the scale of festivities is like
on other in that little hill nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This post
is about the reasons of celebrating <b><i>Mahashivratri</i></b>, and the myths surrounding them.
We will leave the metaphysical aspects of the night to the practitioners and
ascetics and let us talk about some of the stories that are entwined with the auspicious
day and night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first
story – Shiva-Parvati and their wedding<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the
legends surrounding Mahashivratri is about the wedding of Shiva with his second
consort, Parvati. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As most
would know, Parvati was the lovely daughter of the mountain king Himavat (Himalaya
– the snow mountain); and right from childhood she had decided to marry the original
ascetic Shiva.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the most
wonderful epic of <b>Kumarsambhav </b>(“Birth of the warlord”), <b><i><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2008/08/asti-kashchit-vaag-visheshah.html" target="_blank">Kalidasa </a></i></b>recreates the
magically alluring scenes of how Parvati approaches Shiva, how he does not see
her first, how Kama, the god of love intervenes (to his own destruction), and
how in the end Shiva and Parvati decide to get married. Once this happens
though, Parvati asks Shiva to go to her father’s house and ask her hand in
marriage, as it is usual practice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, Shiva
being who he is, agrees and rapidly acts on it. He gathers his folks, his best
friends and his confidants and hustles to King Himalaya’s palace. There is only
one problem. His friends are ghouls, ghosts and wild animals, and he is himself
an ascetic – wearing a tiger skin, ash all over his body and a skull in his hand. When
the people at the palace see this strange assembly in front of the gate, they
refuse to let Shiva enter. Parvati comes to the door, chides her lover and tells
him that if he has to win her hand in marriage, he better dresses up nicely in a civilian attire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is new
for Shiva. He decides to take help from the rest of the gods. They all give him advice
and help him with getting all dressed up. Some give him their luster, some their
scent, some their beauty. And Shiva gets a complete makeover. Now he is
<b>Shankara</b>, the moderately domesticated, handsome, well-groomed suitor. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With that,
he enters Himalaya’s court, asks for Parvati’s hand, and the rest, as they say,
is mythology. All this happened during the day of Mahashivratri, and the
wedding was celebrated with aplomb on the same night. The festival of Mahashivratri
that we celebrate to this day is partly to commemorate that celestial wedlock
of Shankara and Parvati.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
second story – Shiva’s drinking of Halahal poison<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The second
story is a supplementary story within the greater narrative of the <b><u><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2017/09/55-rahu-ketu-story.html" target="_blank">Churningof Ocean (see here for more detailed post</a></u></b>). During the great enterprise,
as the gods and demons were churning the ocean, one of the things that comes
out of the ocean is a world-consuming poison called <i><b>Halahal</b></i>. As all gods and
demons scurry to take cover, Shiva goes up to it and drinks it up in order to
relieve the world from the poison. The poison is lodged in his throat and this is
the reason he turns blue (hence Shiva's name <b><i>Neel-kantha</i></b>, "the one with a blue throat"). This happens on the day of Mahashivratri.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">The third
story – Shiva’s great victory over Brahma and Vishnu<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The key story, though, concerning Mahashivratri has got to do with manifestation of Shiva
as a <i>linga</i> – a column of fire, and the origin of the name of <b><i>Kashi</i></b> – the City
of Light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As it
happened, one day (which is now the festival of Mahashivratri) <b>Lord Brahma </b>is
strolling around the world and he happens to visit <b><i>Vaikuntha</i></b>, the celestial
abode of Vishnu. Now at this time, <b>Lord Vishnu</b> is sleeping on <b><i>Shesh-nag</i></b>, the primordial
serpent. At this stage, nothing external usually wakes him up and we have other
stories about how people went back without meeting him (see<b><u> <a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2008/05/jaya-and-vijaya.html" target="_blank">Jaya Vijaya stor</a>y</u></b>
here).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">However,
when Brahma sees that Vishnu is not waking up for him or paying respect to him, he gets real angry. After a while, Vishnu
wakes up and he sees a scarlet-hued Brahma seething with anger in a
corner. The moment their eyes meet, Brahma starts pelting insults on Vishnu. He
says that he is the one who created the whole world, and is the grandfather of all, and by that right
he is elder to Vishnu. It is therefore Vishnu’s duty to get up and pay respects
to his elders. When Vishnu hears this, he gets mad and says that he is unable
to understand this. According to him, Brahma has come out of a lotus, that came
out of Vishnu’s naval. So by that right, Vishnu is Brahma’s creator and there
is no need for this drama.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Words fly
like weapons, tempers rise, and within no time both the great gods are hurtling
insults upon insults on each other. It only takes a few more heated uncertain moments
and the two gods pull their weapons out and start going at each other. It is no
longer verbal duel over their egos. They are now fighting with their weapons, a
battle that threatens the whole existence. Each say that he is the Supreme Lord,
and the other one is inferior. Brahma hurls his famous <b><i>Maheshwara</i></b> astra weapon,
while Vishnu responds with the great <b><i>Pashupati</i></b> astra (the same one that was
later learned by Arjuna). Interestingly both names are related to Shiva.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The rest of
the gods, gandharvas, apsaras, humans are petrified. They do not know what to
do. If any of these weapons detonates, it is the end of the world as we know
it. The gods rush to <b>Lord Shiva</b>, who is meditating as usual, oblivious to all this upheaval.
As the gods rise him up from his meditations, he is agitated with all the
commotion and quickly sees what is going on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Instantly,
Shiva vanishes and reappears as a huge, never-ending beam of light called “<i>analstambha</i>”,
a column, a pillar of terrible intensity and heat – with no beginning and no
end that split the earth between Brahma and Vishnu. This is the famous “<b><i>jyotirlinga</i></b>”
form of Shiva, <i>jyoti</i> meaning flame and <i>linga</i> is the column or pillar
(symbolized later as male genital) – also called “<i>lingodbhav</i>” (manifested as a
<i>linga</i>). The pillar seemed to be piercing through the entire universe, something
in the nature of <i>axis mundi</i> – the pillar balancing the world, originating deep
in the underworld, cracking the surface of the earth and splitting through the
roof of the sky. Both weapons fall into the pillar of fire and are consumed by
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVX3AJtjiQdN_ngrc1YJWfl9Beb9g-Icjbg17vYaUAUHfcpZoUoYQ_kw0EBgz32DKJcyk6LFLHgqzjyBWp1tA213zds3uaNWTHKKMLixXA_NrFfAF5BvjBCIMYSjPU_FFeg7jrIVIKO2w/s1600/shiva-light-painting-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="709" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVX3AJtjiQdN_ngrc1YJWfl9Beb9g-Icjbg17vYaUAUHfcpZoUoYQ_kw0EBgz32DKJcyk6LFLHgqzjyBWp1tA213zds3uaNWTHKKMLixXA_NrFfAF5BvjBCIMYSjPU_FFeg7jrIVIKO2w/s640/shiva-light-painting-2.jpg" width="424" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif;">Vishnu and Brahma see this new pillar in their middle with great amazement. Vishnu comes to his senses first and says that whoever finds an end of the pillar is the greater of the two. He quickly turns himself into a boar (his third form, see </span><b><u><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2011/05/mythical-timeline-of-dashavataras.html" target="_blank">my earlier post on Vishnu’s dashavatara</a></u></b><span style="font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif;">); and starts burrowing deep down to find the lower end. Brahma looks up, takes the form of a swan (or a goose), and flies up to find the top of the tower.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After many
years and eons of digging and chasing the bottom of the light beam, after going
through various levels of <b><i>patala </i></b>(netherworld), Vishnu is finally exhausted. He
realizes that this light is itself the Supreme Lord Shiva, and so conceding
defeat, he returns to the earth. Shiva comes out of the beam of light and
accepts Vishnu’s homage and nods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At that
time, Brahma is still flying up. He is now tired due to all the years and eons
of flying and is about to give up. However, as Shiva nods, a <b><i>Ketaki </i></b>(kevda in
Hindi and Screw Pine in English) flower on the actual top of the pillar – which
is millions and millions of miles further up, falls down. As Brahma is deciding
whether to accept defeat and return, or continue his upward journey, he sees the
flower dropping. He catches her (the flower takes a feminine form due to the
poetic license bestowed on the ancient bards!); and asks whether she is at the
end of the column. Ketaki says she was at the top of the columns and is now
been falling for several year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hearing
that the end is still several years away, Brahma is utterly exhausted and decides
against chasing the end of the column any further. He convinces Ketaki to give
a false testimony that Brahma actually found her on the top of the column. With
that arrangement, the two return to the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once on the
ground, Brahma presents Ketaki as a proof that he has indeed reached the top end
of the pillar. Vishnu is dejected. But Shiva examines the flower closely and finds
the marks of the fall. He interrogates Ketaki, and under the intense pressure
and the peering eyes of Shiva, she turns a hostile witness and blurts out the
truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Infuriated,
Shiva turns to Brahma and curses him that since he was so hung up on being revered,
henceforth there will be no homage and no pujas for Brahma. There will be no
temples for him too. Brahma realizes his folly and asks for forgiveness. Shiva
reels and finally allows just one temple (at <b>Pushkar</b>). Of course, this story is
different from what is said at Pushkar about the curse of Brahma, but that is for
a different post. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shiva also
curses Ketaki for lying, and so people do not use the flower of Ketaki for any
auspicious occasions. It can only be used for decoration but never given as part
of the puja to any of the gods. There is also a side story of how a flame darts from Shiva's forehead, out of which <b><i>Bhairava</i></b>, the terrible form of Shiva, comes out. Shiva commands Bhairava to punish Brahma, upon which he cuts off one of Brahma's heads (Brahma originally had 5 heads, and Bhairava cuts one of the heads off). The rest of the gods and Vishnu intervene and spare Brahma. Shiva cools down and reins Bhairava.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As you can
see, the story is of course from <i>Shaivite</i> canons, from <b><i>Skanda Purana</i></b>, and establishes
supremacy of Shiva over other gods, Brahma, and even Vishnu. This is typical of the stories one finds in Hindu Mythology. The same story can show supremacy of one god over others and is written with different perspectives in different sources.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The place where Shiva manifested
as Prakash (light) is the City of Light (or shining) – <b>Kashi</b> (now
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh) and the temple is the temple of <b>Kashi Vishwanath</b>. The column
of light later reduced in intensity and size, and the shaft of Shiva is now
worshiped in the form of Shivlinga. The day when Shiva manifested as his most
pure, celestial, light form is celebrated as Mahashivratri, the day before new
moon day of the month of <b><i>Falgun </i></b>(in Feb/March).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">The fourth
story – Shiva’s accidental devotee<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was a
tribal hunter named <b>Lubdhaka </b>(some stories give the name as Gurudruha). As is
his routine, one day he is out in a jungle looking for a game. He climbs a tree
near a watering hole, and awaits his prey, a bow and arrow at hand. Just before
midnight, a doe – female deer – comes near the water, and Lubdhaka raises his
bow. However, the deer is sharp and gets aware of the hunter. She hides quickly,
but then, strangely, speaks to the hunter in human voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">She asks
why the hunter is trying to kill her. Lubdhaka says that he is a hunter and
that is his dharma (nature). The doe says that she would like to say a final
goodbye to her family before she dies, and if the hunter can allow her to do
that. Lubdhaka feels sorry for the animal and allows her to go, with a promise
that she will return before dawn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the
animal sprints away, Lubdhaka is left alone on the branch of the tree, waiting (feeling
slightly silly, I am assuming). In order to keep himself awake he needs some
activity. So he looks around and seems the leaves of the tree. He starts
plucking leaves of the tree and dropping them on the ground. It so happens that
the tree is Bilva tree (Bel in Hindi, or wood apple, Shiva’s favourite leaves)
and there is a <i>swayambhu </i>(self-manifested) <i>linga</i> on the ground. So in effect,
Lubdhaka performs an all-night Shiva puja unknowingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the early
rays of sun are touching the horizon, the doe returns. But this time she is
with her entire family – a stag and a couple of fawns. She says that her family
was not ready to leave her, and if Lubdhaka has to perform his hunting duties,
then he can kill the entire family as they are inseparable. The hunter is
overcome with compassion and guilt, and lets the animals go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pleased
with his actions and his service, Shiva manifests himself in front of the hunter
and blesses him with fortune. This incident is supposed to have taken place on the
same day as what we now celebrate Mahashivratri on, and the story is a popular
narrative for kirtan and puja. The hunter is later reborn in the family of
kings and is one of the ancestors of Rama of Ayodhya. (Garud purana)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So there
you are, all nicely rounded up. This is the long and short of one of the popular
festivals in this part of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stay safe –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shreekant<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">15 March
2020<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-12674966573307148472015-08-23T18:18:00.000+05:302017-10-11T17:33:27.643+05:3052: Shunashepa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Several stories in the Indian Mythology appear in several places and in disjoint forms, often contradicting each other. This creates further confusion in the minds of the reader, if there are any readers in this time and age, and further alienates these wonderful narratives from even the casually curious minds. It has been my endeavor here to try and put some of these stories and parables in simple, user-friendly language. I do not think it as a 'modern re-telling' - as it has become popular these days and quite lucrative too, if I can add ... but simply going over the stories that I know from childhood to have a fresh look.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Today, the story I want to revisit is the well-known story of <b>Shunashepa (शुनःशेप)</b>, the poor boy who was sent for sacrifice by his own father in exchange of livelihood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shunashepa literally means the 'tail of a dog'. There is no explanation that I am aware of that explains the etymology of this rather peculiar name. Anyway, the story begins with a king from the Solar dynasty - the same one which Ram belonged to. There is a bit of confusion about who he was. Some versions say that his name was <b>Ambarish (अम्बरीश )</b>, while others say it was <b>Hrishchandra</b>. Most likely, the reason for this confusion is that in both cases there is a narrative about sacrificing the first born son, and in both stories the coincidence is that the name of that son happens to be Rohit. Anyway, since Harishchandra is known for that another very famous story, let us agree that the king in this story is Ambarish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, Ambarish is without a child for a long time. He consults the sage <b>Narada</b>, and as Narada is known to help humans (usually the king type), he tells the king that he should appease god <b>Varuna</b> to bestow him a boon for a child. So Ambarish learns the rituals, and does a penance. In due course, Varuna is pleased with Ambarish's devotion to him and asks what he could do for the king. The king asks for a heir to his throne. However, Varuna is looking for someone for his own duty, and so he gives the king the blessing but with a condition. The king will get a son, but he needs to sacrifice this son to Varuna when he turns 12.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Desperate in his desire for a son, Ambarish agrees to the cruel condition, and, presto, gets a son alright. Try not to think of Rumpelstiltskin,okay?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The son is called <b>Rohit</b>. He grows up a fine boy, and is a delight to watch. But as he grows towards his 12th year, king Ambarish gets more and more depressed thinking about the impending doom. As he turns 12, Varuna turns up at the night before the birthday and asks Ambarish for the sacrifice. Ambarish cries and says that his son is not yet ready. Varuna, seeing the father's tears, melts in his resolve and decides to give him one more year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The next year, Ambarish again cries and comes up with some other reason. Varuna, being the gentle god, again gives Ambarish one more year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This goes on for several years, but Ambarish is aware that the tactic is wearing thin as each year goes by, and by the time Rohit nears his 18th birthday, he is sure it will not work this time around. Varuna has threatened in the last meeting that for the next one he is going to get the lord of gods, <b>Indra</b>, and also his other Aditya brother <b>Vishnu</b> along too - just to ensure that Ambarish does not play any games. Nervous about having to finally lose his son, Ambarish falls ill with despair and takes to bed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Curious about what made his dad suddenly fall into a depression, Rohit one day confronts his father and cajoles him to tell him the truth. Unable to bear the weight of the curse anymore, Ambarish spills out the story about Varuna and the penance and the birth and the condition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rohit does not know what to do. He feels angry. He feels betrayed. He calls his father names. Why did he not tell him before? And who would do this silly trade? Didn't Ambarish want a heir to his throne? What is a point of begetting a son if he is not going to see him after his 12 years? And what kind of father would allow his son to be sacrificed anyway?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Eventually, Rohit calms down. Slowly he begins to understand why Ambarish would have made this deal. He sits beside him, and asks him whether a barter is possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ambarish sits up, as if he suddenly sees a light at the end of the tunnel, and says this can be tried. But, the 'victim' must be willing. The sacrifice cannot be forced, as Varuna might not accept it. Rohit assures his father he will go out and try to find. Well, he better hurry, his father says, as his own neck is on the block.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Out on his own, Rohit goes around the kingdom in search of a willing candidate. While on his tour in the fringes of his kingdom, he comes across an extremely poor and starving commoner Brahim called <b>Ajigarta</b>. This fellow seems rather needy. He is going around the town, trying to find some food, as was the practice with Brahims of the time. Rohit gives him some food, and asks him about his family. Ajigarta says he has three sons. Rohit asks him if he will be willing to sacrifice one of them - anyway he has three (!) - in exchange of a sustainable means of livelihood. Which, in those days, were cows. So Rohit promises Ajigarta a hundred cows in exchange of one of his sons - any one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ajigarta goes home and narrates the offer to his wife. At first his wife cannot bear the thought, but the Brahmin goes on. He explains the offer, and then dreamily adds how he cannot sacrifice his elder son, as he is already helping him in the daily work. Irked by this, his wife starts ranting how she is unable to think about the youngest child being sacrificed as he is so dear to her, and also so .. so young!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sadly, <b>Shunashepa</b>, the middle son is at home at this. He is normally at his guru's place - <b>Vishwamitra</b> (विश्वामित्र ), but for some reason he has returned to collect his belongings. He listens to the two parents and cannot believe his ears. A wave of self-loathing comes over him and he steps in. He tells his father that since none of them really cared about the second son, he might as well sacrifice himself. At least he will die in the hope that his death has given his thankless family some means to survive the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ajigarta and his wife realize their folly, but it is too late. Shunashepa takes the matters in his own hands, now determined with a purpose. You can literally see how his own sad life must have flashed across his eyes in those moments, and perhaps gave him nothing worth living any further. He walks up to the crown prince Rohit and tells him that he is willing. Rohit is excited with this, and tells Shunashepa to come with his retinue, while he himself rushes to the king to give him the news and prepare for the sacrificial rites.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shunashepa, melancholy about his life so far as well as his impending doom, slowly starts his journey towards the palace, while his parents try in vein to change his mind. While on his way, he prays to his guru sage Vishwamitra for strength. It is said that he meets the powerful sage somewhere during the journey, and upon hearing his plight, Vishwamitra teaches him two sets of hymns - one in the praise of Indra and another in the praise of Vishnu. He knows that once his brothers are pacified, Varuna will not harm Shunashepa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So the poor boy reaches the city. There is a lot of preparation done for the sacrifice, and a large pyre is built in the middle of the central chowk. Shunashepa proceeds to this, where he is received like a royal dignatory by the king, his queens and the crown prince. He is given a nice fragrant bath, silk robes and food before he ascends the pyre.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Once Shunashepa is on the pyre, and the sacrificial rituals begin, the boy looks up, calls out Indra and Vishnu and starts singing the verses taught to him by the great sage. It is said that the verses carry such melody and beauty as is not heard before on Earth. All proceedings come to a halt, and the people hear as the verses roll out from the sacrificial boy's lips.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Indra and Varuna and Vishnu listen to these, and they are immensely pleased. They also know that this poetry is other-worldly and does not belong to the boy. They ask Shunashepa where he learnt these verses, and he tells them about sage Vishwamithra. When the gods realize that the boy has the blessings from the Brahma-Rishi Vishamithra, they are pleased even further, and cancel the sacrificial plan altogether. Not just that, but they bestow long life upon the boy, and general welfare, good monsoon and agriculture to Ambarish's lands.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So what could have been a tragic human sacrifice turns out to be a happy incident for all involved. The story is interesting in many aspects, apart from the obvious human sacrifice angel. But what I like the most, are two things - the sense of duty and lack of fear in the face of adversities in Shunashepa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One can also say the same about, and you might not agree, in Rohit too - although what I find in him more is an attitude to not give up and find a solution to an impending problem just by trying out something new.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">P.S. Apparently, the hymns Shunashepa sang in the praise of Indra still exist and are found the scriptu<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">res (<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.5px;">Rig Veda Book 1 Hymns 24-30</span>), but t</span>he one for Vishnu has gone missing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Peace,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shreekant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">23 August 2015</span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Deviations from other sources:</span></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. In some stories, the ritual is Ambarish performing a rain ritual for Indra. It seems that the sacrificial animal (bull) runs away at the last moment, and Indra is infuriated with this negligence. He asks for a human sacrifice as a punishment. And Ambarish goes in search of a willing human sacrifice instead of Rohit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. In these versions, Shunashepa is the son of sage Richika and wife Satyavati, who is a sister of Vishwamithra. This is totally contradictory to other stories related to Vishwamithra though, and does not fit into the canonical narrative in which Richika is the grandfather of Vishwamithra. <b><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2012/04/show-me-how-to-live-post-about.html" target="_blank">See here for a more detailed rendering of this topic</a></b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. In some versions, Rohit's character is darker. He accuses his father of betrayal and just dashes into a forest rather than trying to find a solution. There he comes across Ajigarta, but that is just a lucky coincidence for him. Lucky for him, not so lucky for Shunashepa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. There is a whole lot of narrative about how Vishwamithra praised Shunashepa's efforts in front of his own sons, and asked them to replace him. On this, his sons laughed and said that this idea is preposterous. Come on, which father asks his sons to go willingly for a sacrifice? Hearing this, Vishwamithra cursed his own sons to be born in low castes in their next births. All this sounds too long drawn and rather irrelevant to the main story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. The gods appeased by Shunashepa - in some versions they are Indra and Varuna. In others they are Indra and 'Upendra' - which is Vishnu.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6. In some versions, Vishwamithra is the lead priest of the sacrificial yagna. When he sees the boy, he feels sorry for him and teaches him the hymns just before the rites begin.</span></div>
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Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-62437849862186358172013-10-04T00:49:00.002+05:302017-10-02T19:46:12.460+05:3047 Yama and Yami<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yama and Yami</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Yama</b> is the Hindu God of Death - <b>Mrityu</b>. But unlike other cultures, religions etc. it is interesting that he has precious little in the overall mind-scape of a religious Hindu. The apathy is intriguing. He is not worshiped, which may be understood at some level. But he is not even feared or dreaded - unlike other cultures where Death has a great deal to do with the doctrine of fear or retribution. Yama is not an object of terror. Now how is that?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are hardly any temples of Yama - except a few in South India. At least you don't find one in the famous teerthas or clusters of temples. There are no specific rituals, or pujas assigned to him. Apart from <i>Vata-Savitri</i> that is usually followed in Maharashtra and South India, Yama does not come in the top-of-mind recall in terms of deities.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And all this, in spite of his prominent role in the epic Mahabharata. Not only is the main protagonist - <b>Yudhishthira</b> Dharmaraja - Yama's son, there is also the speculation that <b>Vidura</b> was Yama's incarnation. And who can forget the dog that follows Yudhishthira when he reaches heaven? In spite of all of this, Yama is largely ignored in the normal spiritual course.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even in terms of his character, the boundaries sometimes get blurred between Yama and some other deities. Case in point is his brother <b>Shani</b>, who is also one of the <b><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/saptarshis-progenitors.html" target="_blank">Adityas</a></b>. In terms of appearance, both Shani and Yama are dark in color, wearing golden clothes, fierce and with red eyes. Both are supposed to judge people based on their deeds. Of course, Shani does the judgement in the same life, while you have to wait till you die to hear Yama's verdict and suffer the consequence in the next life.</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuuQpiJoBwijwGZJFOxXedMGN7449TK_fTtO6KiNWOHV7xvFF3e9oLVOVdQff2p3q0-K7BEn_LrkeNNLtXJl8UxyPF022rryNR61hDtBAQoDu6d9GaE-lmUpDOGBp9ODDT4Iiq9gkqg2-/s1600/Yama+and+Shani.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="503" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuuQpiJoBwijwGZJFOxXedMGN7449TK_fTtO6KiNWOHV7xvFF3e9oLVOVdQff2p3q0-K7BEn_LrkeNNLtXJl8UxyPF022rryNR61hDtBAQoDu6d9GaE-lmUpDOGBp9ODDT4Iiq9gkqg2-/s400/Yama+and+Shani.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><i>Shani and Yama</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even Yama's 'pasha' (noose) was originally attributed to an earlier Vedic god, another Aditya - <b>Varuna</b>. It was initially Varuna's job to drag the people to their deaths and take them to nether-land. It is only after Yama - being the first mortal to die - followed the path to the world of the dead, that he was granted the rule of the departed, and Varuna's job of guiding people to the land of the dead was assigned to Yama and his minions called 'yamadoots' - who are basically those souls who have passed many years in hell and have not descendants (see earlier discussion about <b><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/devavrata-becomes-bhishma.html" target="_blank">'Put'</a></b>).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In Rig Veda, sometimes the characters of <b>Agni</b> - the messenger between men and gods - and Yama overlap. In some cases, Agni is called Yama's priest. While in some cases, both are considered to be the carriers of the dead.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yama is known to general public through the story of <b>Savitri and Satyavan</b>, in which Savitri follows her dead husband Satyavan being taken away by Yama, and Yama - pleased with her devotion - grants her wishes that brings her husband back to life.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The story of Yama's birth is mentioned in the Rig Veda. He is supposed to be the twin brother of Yami and a son of <b>Vivasvat </b>(sometimes overlapped with <b>Surya</b>) and <b>Saranyu</b>, who is the daughter of <b>Tvastri </b>(the 'heavenly builder' or maker of great weapons). But this would mean that he is no longer an Aditya, as Vivasvat himself is an Aditya - son of <b>Aditi </b>from <b>Kashyapa</b>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Vivasvat is also considered to be father of <b>Manu</b>, the first mortal to be born. Unless Manu and Yama are the same - both are first to be born and are rulers of the earth when alive - this story has some major overlaps. Generally the sources consider these two as brothers.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although Yama is at least spoken of and known as the god of the departed souls, his twin sister <b>Yami</b> has probably gone completely out of radar - apart from the namesake North Indian river <b><i>Yamuna </i></b>and the fourth day of Diwali - the <b><i>Bhai dooj</i></b> or Bhau beej or also called Yama Dwitiya - where the brother-sister bond is celebrated in India.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As Yama was the first man, Yami is supposed to be the first woman. Although they are siblings, in some texts, they are depicted as married to each other. Yami seems to have a great strength of character, but unfortunately not much is known of her. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After Yama died, Yami was grief-stricken and lost all track of time. During this time, there was no night, only daytime. In order for Yami to know the passage of time, the gods are supposed to have created night. Yami understood that the time was passing due to the play of night and day, and slowly came to her senses and recovered from her sorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yama is considered the king of <i>pitras</i> (basically dead people, taking all technicalities in account - see <i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/devavrata-becomes-bhishma.html" target="_blank">here for a discussion on pitras</a></i>). He is also a Lokapala (one of the four guardians of the cardinal directions), and is the regent of the South. He is supposed to reside, along with his sister-wife Yami, in Pitra-loka - one of the nether lands, along with his agents the Yamadoots. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The exact location of Pitra-loka is a matter of debate. Some say it is the moon, but the general consensus is that it is somewhere 'down below'. However this one does not get counted in the seven Patalas - maybe it is the 3rd or 4th of them.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since his main task is to decide the fate of every dying soul, Yama needs someone to keep detailed accounts of all the good deeds (punya) and bad ones (paap) of all living beings. This mammoth task is ably managed by his personal accountant <b>Chitragupta</b>, who is Lord <b>Brahma</b>'s son born directly out of his body.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In <b><i>Katha Upanishad</i></b>, Yama has a much larger role and comes across as the transmitter of knowledge. The boy <b>Nachiketa</b> travels to nether-land and awaits Yama. When Yama returns, Nachiketa asks him what happens to people when they die. Yama, after some initial reservations, asks Nachiketa to sit beside him and launches into a detailed discourse on some of the most profound philosophical and meta-physical discussions. Hence the name <b>'Upanishad'</b> - lit. sitting beside.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the story of <b><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/chiranjeev-6-markandeya.html" target="_blank">Markandeya</a></b>, Lord <b>Shiva</b> protects his devotee Markandeya from being taken away by Yama (see <i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/chiranjeev-6-markandeya.html" target="_blank">here for the story</a></i>). And thus, while Yama is usually called Kala (Time), Shiva is considered Maha-kala, or Kalantaka (someone who ends the Time) and also Mrityunjaya (conquerer of death).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Stories like this - that of Markandeya for Shiva and another one of <b>Ajamila</b> for <b>Vishnu</b> - are meant to underline their superiority over Yama. But even otherwise, there is no reason to fear or appease Yama. And the reason for that is the dispassionate nature of Yama. All other gods love it when you worship them - like Vishnu getting happy even when the evil man Ajamila inadvertently calls out Vishnu's name (actually, as the story goes, he is only calling out to his son named <b>Narayana</b>, but since Vishnu is also called by that name, Ajamila achieves salvation or <i>'moksha'</i>). The gods get angry if you do something wrong. There are numerous examples of these.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But Yama does not get mad if you do something wrong. He does not get pleased if you try and appease him with worship. There is no punishment for you have been naughty or egoistic in front of him. In his role of the guardian of justice (loosely, 'Dharma'), he goes on imparting judgments based on your account balance - <i>paap </i>and <i>punya</i> - like a dispassionate judge. There are no emotions here, and so there is no appeasement.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, there is nothing to appeal here. If your balance is negative (more paap), you will go to Naraka (hell). Even if your balance is positive, you will go to Swarga (heaven) - which is still part of samsara, which means that you are still stuck with the cycle of rebirth. The very fact that Yama's agents brought you in front of Yama's seat of judgement means that you have no other choice. The only escape - <i>moksha</i> - is by escaping the Yamadoots, and that is through various practices - like yoga etc. - for which Yama does not get involved anyway.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And this dispassionate nature is the key difference between the two brothers Shani and Yama. Shani gets angry, and when he does, you better prepare for seven terrible years of your life. And so you see Shani temples mushrooming all across the country, with devotees queuing up to appease the angry and vengeful god. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yama, on the other hand, simply reads out your deeds and pushes you in the direction that is inevitable. This is perhaps the reason Yama is not an <i>ishta-devata</i> (god of worship), because there is no so-called benefit in worshiping him. </span>Or are there?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Regards,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Shreekant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">New Delhi</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">03 October 2013</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-12440562564036395742013-10-01T13:40:00.002+05:302021-06-04T07:29:35.532+05:3046 Samanta-panchaka<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Recently, I was studying about the Third War of Panipat (1761) for some reason, in which the Maratha forces led by Sadashiv Bhau - Balaji Bajirao 'Nanasahab' Peshwa's cousin brother - and the Rohilla Afghan forces of Ahmed Shah Abdali fought a decisive battle to the worse of Marathas. This battle is considered to be one of the largest fought in the 18th century, and also perhaps had the largest number of casualties in a single (half) day of the battle - leading to a loss of almost 100,000 human lives.<br />
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Personally, the battle has a lot of historical interest to me, as the course of Maratha history as well as the history of my country took a different turn on that fateful day. Among various reasons that historians attribute to the loss of Maratha side in this war - a much smaller force compared to the enemy and yet not following the Guerrilla tactics but meeting the enemy head-on, slow-moving camps carrying not only soldiers but also civilians, lack of a proper strategy throughout the campaign, also lack of good allies (Rajputs, Jats or Sikhs), internal politics and bickering, and Sadashivbhau's lack of prior experience of the North - the most interesting that struck me was that the Marathas at that time took the threat of Rohillas lightly, and it was almost as if the power and the wealth that the Maratha flaunted at that time was not deserved. It is almost as if they needed to be stripped of this wealth at that time.<br />
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The outcome was a complete and utter ruin of Maratha forces, with tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians massacred, all known sardars and key people killed, and the wealth of Maratha empire utterly spent - the Maraths could only regain claim on Delhi after ten long years of battle after that under Madhavrao Peshwa (in 1771). The effects of the war were so devastating that overall Maratha empire, which was at its zenith just years before this event, never recovered fully and slowly crumpled to give way to foreigners ruling the country (which continues to happen even today, albeit in a clandestine manner :)).<br />
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It is rather surprising that the battle between Marathas and Rohillas took place in exactly the same place that is known for decimating two more earlier empires, and almost exactly at the same phase of these empires - as they were at their zenith of power. The first is the utter and complete destruction of Haihaya Kshatriyas by Parashuram, and the second is the Great Mahabharata War, which led to a total destruction of Kuru clan along with most of the noble princes and warriors at that time. Most accounts suggest that the people who got decimated - Haihayas and Kauravas also did not deserve their wealth and power at that time.<br />
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The place of war is near Kurukshetra - literally 'the place of Kuru'. This is because according to the Vamana Purana, <b>King Kuru</b> offered his body parts to Vishnu as seeds in order to cultivate the land and make it fertile. In Rigveda, this place is called <b>'Saryanvat'</b>. It is also called the Northern Vedi of Brahma (<b>'Uttaravedi'</b> - the holiest part of the yadnavedi or altar), and considered holy ('Dharmakshetre Kurukshetre') since the beginning of time, even before the events of the Mahabharata War.<br />
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Today, the region lies mostly in the state of Harayana in modern India, and is still considered a holy ground, with the Brahma tank (lake) and a Shiva temple, and almost two dozen places of worship, and what is presumed to be Abhimanyu's fort near the modern twin-town of Kurukshetra and Thanesar.<br />
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It is interesting that there are so many similarities in the three wars:<br />
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1. All the three wars seem to have happened in the vicinity of the same 'sinister', 'war-mongering' place called Samant Panchak, or Kurukshetra *. Panipat is about 100km from Delhi, and Kurukshetra is another 70km. The actual battleground of Panipat is 8km further, near a place called Kaala Aam (lit 'Black Mango Tree'), where on 14th January 1761 the fateful battle was raged between Marathas and Rohillas. Kurukshetra is very close to this place. And Samanta-Panchaka is located at what is now called Brahma Sarovar (lake) at Thanesar, about 7km from Kurukshetra. It is all a matter of 80-90km that this region is located in North India.<br />
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<b>Lord Parashurama</b>, after having exhausted all Kshatriya clans twenty one times and seeing all the massacre and the blood, finally dug up five tanks in the ground with his axe to fill the blood of all his enemies. This is why the place is called a 'Panchaka'.<br />
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2. All wars have a long background and reasons to finally come to the actual battle, but I guess that is true for all battles. In case of Parashurama's revenge on Kshatriyas, there was a history of genocide and torture of the Brahmins (esp those in the Bhrigu clan to which Rama belonged) before the actual events of Kratavirya Arjuna stealing Jamadagni's cow.<br />
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For Mahabharata, there was a chain of events starting from the Lakshagriha Dahan (burning of the Lac House) - where Duryodhana and Shakuni tried to burn the Pandava brothers and Kunti alive while they were sleeping.<br />
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In case of Maratha-Rohilla war, the war preceded Abdali's earlier campaigns in Northern India, the decline of Mughal Empire and the 'Ahmadiya Pact' of 1737 by which Marathas were sworn to protect the Mughal empire in Delhi, as well as Raghunath Rao Raghoba's successful campaign in 1758 to Peshwar, which brought Marathas in direct conflict with the Afghans.<br />
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3. All wars had their main driver force as greed, there was no higher purpose to start with at least for most of the people (except maybe the main players like Sadashivbhau in the third case, Parashurama in the first case and Krishna & Pandavas in the second case). Although, I know that this point is debatable and I am open to responses on this. Most Maratha sardars joined the battle in the hope that once they win, their wealth will increase manyfold. Most princes who joined the epic war - including <b>Shalya</b> (who was the brother of Madri and thus maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva) - joined the war in the hope to get a fee paid to them. The <b>Haihayas</b> battled against <b>Parashurama</b> as they wanted to get more wealthy - by taking the Kamdhenu away.<br />
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3. All wars led to tremendous massacre - sometimes even considered disproportionate,which makes the decision of whose side was 'right'or 'just' quite difficult to answer. Parashuram's actions to avenge his father <b>Jamadagni</b>'s death were understandable if they had only been against the guilty Haihaya Kshatriya clan. But he traveled the world, killing everyone belonging to the Kshatriya clan - whether guilty or innocent.<br />
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It was almost as if he took his father's death as an excuse to kill these people. Also, if you see rationally, he killed the <b>King Kratavirya Arjuna</b> first, in order to retrieve his father's cow, which seems like a disproportionate action to begin with. Arjuna's sons, on the other had, murdered Rama's father, just as he had murdered their father. Of course, you can argue that Kratavirya Arjuna was a weapon wielding Kshatriya and Jamadagni was a brahmin. But keep in mind during vedic days, Brahmins were as powerful and dangerous as Kshatriyas, and Jamadagni was known for his temper. All in all, the killing seems very too much for the cause anyway.<br />
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In Mahabharata, millions of people died on both sides (see the discussion about <a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/akshauhini-of-fighting-force.html" target="_blank"><b>Akshauhinis</b></a> here), most of these people had nothing to do with the tussle to power between Kauravas and Pandavas. No one thought of a duel between <b>Duryodhana</b> and <b>Bhima</b> until the end, when anyway everyone was dead. Not even Krishna, who went to Hastinapura for a possible dialogue and a truce, proposed that then. It was always war and massacre on everyone's mind.<br />
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In the Maratha-Rohilla war, people from many princely states like Awadh (Oudh or Ayodhya) participated whether they were directly involved in the principle reason of the battle, and were killed. For Marathas, all their sardars went to Sahashivbhau and added to his force, and then got massacred.<br />
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4. Related to the above, it is almost like the events and the place of war drew these men to their deaths. In Mahabharata, it seems that the Earth goes to <b>Vishnu</b> and says that she cannot take the weight of all these mighty kings. And so Vishnu takes the form of Krishna and brought about the massacre. Although this claim seems too far-fetched, the way these battles got fought, it seems that there is some semblance to it.<br />
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In Parashurama's case, Kratavirya went on his own to Jamadagni's hermitage and stole the cow. In the epic, all princes and warriors chose their sides on their own and traveled great distances (like in case of Shalya) to actually come to the battleground. In case of Marathas, the Maratha warriors all ganged up together, and rode to their death in Panipat, rather than using Guerrilla warfare in which they were experts. All Shindes, Holkars, Panses, Vinchurkars - all of them rode together, with no plan or purpose of flanking the enemy in different places. All of them headed to Panipat and to their eventual doom.<br />
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Apart from this supposed 'intervention' - if that it was at all - the wars were fought among men as men, and won and lost as most other wars - no godly interventions, but mainly by might and strategy. We will keep Krishna's miracles out of this debate, and celebrate his brilliance in the warfare.<br />
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5. All three had almost inconclusive decisions, in that even the winners felt like losers. After Parashuram rid the earth of Kshatriyas 21 times, he was finally made to stop by his grandfather seer <b>Richeeka</b>. When Parashuram finally saw the destructive effect his wars had on the earth, he was so overwhelmed that he performed a sacrificial rite (Ashwamedha Yagna) and gave away all his possessions to the priest <b>Kashyapa</b>.<br />
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In the epic war, the devastation of the kuru clan and the people who participated was so complete that Duryodhana famously said that Yudhishthira will rule the widows and children. <b>Yudhishithira</b> himself is known to have said that 'this victory feels like defeat to me'. In the war between Abdali and Marathas, although Abdali won, his forces were decimated, and he hurried back to Afghanistan without enjoying any spoils of the war. He tried to put some order to the states in North India, but the moment he went away, they started to fight among each other, which eventually led Marathas to regain control on Delhi after some years.<br />
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6. The youngsters and heirs to thrones died in the war - that too mostly in front of the eyes of their earlier generation. Parashuram killed all the hundred sons and heirs of Sahastrarjuna, king of Kshatriyas after they killed his father Jamadagni. In this case, their father Kratavirya Arjuna was already killed by Parashuram, and so avoided the misfortune of seeing his next generation being killed. In the epic war, however, all sons of Draupadi, Abhimanyu, and Ghatotkatch - the next generation of Pandavas got killed while the elders lived on. Karna too lost all his sons right in front of his eyes. For the Marathas, Vishwasrao Peshwa (20 years at<br />
the time), son of Nanasaheb Peshwa and heir apparent - some say if the war was positive for Marathas he would even have been the Badshah of Delhi - was killed in canon fire right in front of the eyes of his uncle Sadashivrao Bhau. Bajirao's son Samsher Bahadar (only 27 years of age at the time) was killed in the battle. Janakoji Shinde (hardly 17 years at that time), Jayappa's son was executed on the next day of the battle.<br />
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Come to think of it, it makes you sad and wonder - do we not learn from history at all? The history seems to repeat itself, and it tends to tell you things if you are ready to hear. It seems every time people do not deserve power and wealth, they are drawn to their own deaths. But who has the time to hear among the din of daily rut and the idiot box and the twittering of silly tweets? There are no good references to the Maratha-Rohilla war, its preceding political climate, the contemporary needs, insights from strategy, tactics, its aftermath, impact on history etc. A few notes and some fictional accounts are there (popular literature includes a fictionalized novel 'Panipat' by Marathi writer Vishwas Patil). You will find that some accounts are written by the British, and some are influenced by them, which is worse as it rots the very soul of the nation.<br />
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* Of course, it is notable that although I called the Samanta-panchaka 'sinister', Hindus don't consider it a sinister place at all like I mentioned before, and Kurukshetra is considered to be one of the major teerthas - place of religion. As it is, as coincidence may have it, it is the same place where the Lord showed his Vishwaroopa to Arjuna and to him he also sung his Song - the Bhagvad gita! ... Maybe it is not a coincidence. Only when one is going through the motions of the world, which manifest at their extreme in battles, one gets to see and hear the logic of it all and the 'universalities' become clear!<br />
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Whatever it is, the places around Samanta-panchaka are intriguing for their significance and impact on the course of history.<br />
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Regards,<br />
Shreekant<br />
New Delhi<br />
01 October 2013</div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-58904664299265339822012-08-04T00:28:00.002+05:302017-10-02T20:21:36.996+05:3043 Revati<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While traveling in North India, we came across a temple at Gokul that has the idol of <b>Balarama</b> with his wife <b>Revati</b>. This seems to be the only temple to boast a joda (pair), and so I decided to write about this largely unknown wife of Balarama.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Revati was the daughter to king <b>Raivata</b>, a mighty king who ruled the kingdom of <b><i>Kushasthali and Anarta</i></b> - the ancient name of <b>Dwarka</b> in Gujarat. Some accounts suggest that Kushasthali was a powerful and prosperous kingdom under sea - something like the Atlantis, while Anarta corresponds to the present-day North Kathiawad region of Gujarat state.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Raivata, also called <b>Kakudmi</b>, was the last known ruler of the dynasty of <b><i>Sharyatas</i></b>, who claimed their descent from Sharyati, a son of Vikukshi, son of Ikshvaku (founder of the surya vamsa and ruler of Ayodhya), who in turn was the son of Vivasvan Manu, son of Surya. Sharyati had three sons: Uttanabarhi, Anarta, and Bhurisena. Raivata was the son of Revata, son of Anarta.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is said that <b>Revata</b>, Raivata's father, constructed the city of Kushasthali beneath the sea, and ruled the underwater city as well as large tracts of land, including the kingdom of Anarta. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Raivata (Kakudmi) was a good and benevolent ruler. He was also a doting father and thought the world of his daughter. On her part, Revati was exceedingly fair, beautiful and good-natured, as well as talented and wise. In short, a complete package.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once Revati came of age, Raivata decided to marry her off to a worthy suitor. But after trying a lot, and traveling the world over, he could not find anyone worthy of her. Revati was unique, and no worldly suitor appealed to her. Dejected, her father decided to travel with her to Brahma-loka (abode of Lord <b>Brahma</b>) and seek the creator's guidance in the matter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So he got his vehicle ready (some claim it was a plane or shuttle capable of inter-stellar travel!) and traveled with Revati to Brahmaloka. When they reached the place, they were told that Brahma was busy listening to a music recitation by celestial musicians Gandharvas, and were invited to attend the assembly. Both agreed and humbly entered the palace. In the assembly, they found various minor gods and goddesses, with Lord Brahma sitting in the middle, attending to a performance by the Gandharvas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The father-daughter duo also sat along with the others and listened to the wonderful music. With this, Revati also got the distinction of being one of the very few humans known to have heard the celestial musicians play and sing songs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After the performance was over, Brahma gave King Raivata and Revati an audience. When he heard the reason for his visit, he smiled and told him that he should go back to Earth and he will find a suitor for his daughter. The father and the daugher were confused. Raivata said he had already traveled around the world and found no one suitable. He gave a list of suitors, or rather a shortlist of candidates to the lord.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, Brahma laughed and explained that Raivata was speaking of a different time. He explained that the time that took Raivata to travel to him, stay with Brahma for the day, and then back - although from Brahma's point of view was just a few hours, but on Earth, more than 27 chatur-yugas had passed - which is the equivalent of 116 million man-years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Consider the extent of this time span. 116 million man-years!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One Chatur-yuga, also called Maha yuga = 4,320,000 man-years or 4.32 million years of man.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So 27 chatur-yugas = 116,640,000 man-years or 116.64 man-years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Considering that the time you and I are reading this post is the 28th Mahayuga in our Manvantara, the actual time of Raivata - when he was the ruler of Kushasthali - goes back to the very beginning of this epoch or this Manvantara (which is the 7th Manvantara). For more details on this calculation, refer to my <a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/06/time-spans-and-multiple-yugas-part-4.html" target="_blank">earlier posts on this subject here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, Brahma explained to the king that those upon whom he may have already decided were now gone, and so were their sons, grandsons and other descendants. You cannot even hear about their names now, so much is the passage of time. All the king's kin and relations had passed away, and it was a new era now on Earth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The father-daughter duo were alarmed and highly stressed to hear this. Brahma comforted the king, and said that <b>Lord Vishnu</b> and <b>Adi Shesha</b> - the eternal Serpant - had taken avatara on the Earth during this time in the form of Krishna and Balarama respectively, and he recommended Balarama as a worthy husband for Revati. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Still a little confused in mind, Raivata returned to Earth with Revati. When he landed, he found Brahma's words to be true. It was indeed a new era. The land was different, the people were different. In fact, they were somehow diminished. Small in size, shorter in life span, lower in intellect, less strong and less godlike. Among them, the two looked like giants. Everyone around was bewildered to see two giant people walking the roads. Revati almost broke in tears considering what they had lost in this time due to the travel (time travel ?? ... Maybe!) ...</span><br />
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<strike><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, since it came to pass, Raivata took Revati to Mathura, and found Balarama at the palace.</span></strike><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Thanks to a watchful reader, I have made some changes in this post in the next 2 paragraphs. Raivata and Revati did not go to Mathura. They went back to Dwaraka and waited as Brahma instructed them that Revati's suitor would come to them).</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As the time passed, Raivata and Revati ruled over Dwaraka, waiting as instructed by the Creator Lord for the arrival of the chosen One. Finally, the king heard from his men about a great retinue of men, women and folk traveling across the land towards them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When the convoy reached King Raivata's place, he found the column led by two young men - one slightly mischievous looking dark person with a twinkle in his eyes, and another fair and handsome one, built like a bull and extremely regal in appearance. The duo asked Raivata's permission to settle in his land. Raivata was happy to welcome visitors, and came to know that these were the Vrishnis, who had left Mathura due to the menace of Jarasandha.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Raivata wondered if one of these men was the chosen One. .... But, but they are also very small, just like the rest of the people of this era ... In his dilemma, Raivata explained his story to Krishna and Balarama. When he heard it, Balarama smiled mildly as he know what to do. He took his famous plough, his weapon of choice, and tapped the far taller and larger Revati on her head. Revati was astonished to see that her size suddenly shrank to one more appropriate for the times. (In some other gory renderings of the story, Balarama chopped off parts of Revati's legs so that she was cut to size. I will stick to the more family-friendly version).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amazed to see this, Raivata Kakudmi quickly realized that this is the man he was looking for his daughter. So he happily got Revati married to Balarama, and went off back to Brahma-loka. Revati and Balarama spent their married life in Mathura and then in Dwaraka - Revati's paternal region, and Revati begot two sons <b>Nishatha </b>and <b>Ulmuka.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The story of Revati's time travel is a matter of much speculation. Many believe that this is an evidence that ancient Indians knew about inter-stellar travels. At least, even if the journey did not take place, some believe that the very fact that the story exists is a testimony of the fact that ancient sages knew about the time dilation due to celestial travels at light speed as modern physics suggests.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The distance to the center of our galaxy is around 27,000 light years, so if you travel by the speed of light, it will take you 27,000 man-years to reach it. I am not sure if there is a happy coincidence between this and the mention of 27 mahayugas in Revati's travel, but all this makes fascinating fodder for rumination, and that was the purpose of putting this little known story in front of you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peace</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Shreekant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">20 July 2012</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-78244748175083446882012-08-01T02:27:00.000+05:302017-10-02T20:16:00.997+05:3042 Makhan Mishri in Gokul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It so happened that by chance (or you can say by providence, depending on your inclination) that we took a short road trip to Mathura on the day of the Choti Teej - also called Hariyali Teej in North India. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This festival is celebrated on the 3rd day of the Shukla paksh of Shravan month - and although not as grand and superflous as Badi Teej - which comes only 5 days before the largest festival in Mathura - Krishna Janmashtami, Choti Teej has its own charm. The weather at this time of the year is usually very pleasant, with the monsoons making the nortern plains look sparking green (hence the name - Hariyali Teej), and the people in the five villages of Brij - Mathura, Vrindavan, Govardhan, Barsana, and Gokul - especially Gokul - have a sparkle in their eyes in anticipation of festivities and also of good business during the times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Apparently a visit to this region is equivalent to a complete Char Dham yatra, since this is the root of the tree - a place where Lord Krishna spent his childhood. The Char Dhams (four holy places associated with different avatars of Lord Krishna) are - Jagannath Puri in the East (Odisha), Rameshwaram in the south (Tamil Nadu, near the bridge that Ram built to cross over to go to Lanka), Dwaraka on the west coast (Gujarat), and Badrinath up north (in the Himalayan ranges).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rather than spending time in Mathura - which is a conjusted city and has only the main Krishna temple - we went to the village of Gokul across river Yamuna. Our guide - a local brahmin - was taking every opportunity to tell us Krishna's bal lilas (childhood stories) - even the most famous ones - in his own way, which was charming. He told us that when Krishna did this journey - i.e. crossed Yamuna - he was only a day old. It was night. It was pouring. His father carried him in a basket and swam across the river. In Dwapar yuga, this was possible. Today, we are in Kali yuga. Dharma walks only on one leg. So we need to take the newly constructed bridge across the river.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Locals believe that the five villages in Brij cover an area of 84 kos (1 kos = 3 km, so you can do the math). This is to remind us - again, as told lucidly by our 'bard' - that man has to pass through 84 lakh yonis (cycles of rebirth in different species of animals or birds) as per the Hindu belief, before we are born again as human beings. (Unless, of course - as the belief goes - you are able to break the cycle of rebirth and attain moksha). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anyway, although the Hariyali Teej festivities at Banke Bihari Mandir at Barsana are more well-known, we chose the more secluded Gokul for the day. From Mathura to Gokul is about 10-12km. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mathura is considered by locals the land of Kamsa - the evil maternal uncle of Krishna, the usurper who overthrew the council of elders and declared himself king of Vrishnis. The locals think that the city of Mathura was defiled by him, so even after Krishna killed Kamsa and restored the city to the people of Mathura, it is not as pure as Gokul, or for that matter Vrindavan or Govardhan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is interesting to note that nowhere is there any mention of, nor do the locals talk about Jarasandha - Kamsa's father-in-law - and to me, a much more formidable enemy of Krishna. Jarasandha was the ruler of Magadha (modern day Bihar), and had two daughters Asti and Prapti, both married to Kamsa. There is no mention about other foes of Krishna too - like Sisupala and Dantavakra for example - who appear in Mahabharata.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As the accounts in Mahabharata suggest, Kamsa's claim to infamy is that he disbanded the local council of Yadava elders in Mathura - which, some say was an early form of democratic government, and declared himself the soverign ruler, thereby forcing Mathura into a dictetorial regime. But while doing so, one can imagine that he must have been emboldened by the encouragement and support of formidable allies like Jarasandha, Banasura, and Chanura (who, by the way, appears along side Kamsa in the famous line in Krishna stuti - one of the names of Krishna is 'Kamsa-Chanura mardana' - the killer of Kamsa and Chanura, which is in a way incorrect as Chanura was killed by Balarama in a wrestling match, not by Krishna).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But coming back to Jarasandha -- In fact, Jarasandha brought the vast army of Magadha to Mathura under the pretext of his daughters' weddings to Kamsa, and then aided Kamsa in overthrowing his father Ugrasena from power. Jarasandha also held some 95 kings captive for his yagna, and would have killed them all - had Bhima not killed Jarasandha first.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yes, Kamsa did kill the infants born to Devaki and Vasudeva before Balarama and Krishna, and that makes him a villain no doubt. But Krishna had a far more formidable adversary in Jarasandha - the mighty ruler of Magadha.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It was Jarasandha who attacked Mathura some 17 times, and it was his nuisance which finally forced Lord Krishna and Balarama to move the settlement westward to Gokul. During all these times of turmoil, Krisha and his brother Balarama were able to defend Mathura, but I would imagine the losses during the battle were significant. Also, even after trying many times, Krishna could not kill Jarasandha. He had to get Bhima to fight Jarasandha. In case of Kamsa, Krishna could outpower and kill him on his own, and that too at a very young age during a wrestling match in Mathura.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anyway, in the land of the Lord, Kamsa is considered the evil villain for all practical purposes. So we will leave it at that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the way, after passing Mathura cantonment - famous for its role in the 1857 freedom struggle - you will come across Aurangabad. Here is where the Mughal Emporer Aurangzeb camped while going from Delhi to his campaign in Deccan. He built a mosque too, and you will see some Muslim paras (establishments). You will also see some butcher shops - quite an interesting sight in a place considered holy by Hindus - (especially Vaishnavaits) who by and large do not associate meat with anything that is scared and holy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, once you cross over the river to go Gokul, the scene changes completely. This is now the land of Baal Krishna. No longer do you see any city or town. And no meat, no eggs. Gokul is a tiny village with small huts, almost like any other village in Northern India, and that too from older times. In fact, Time seems to have stopped still ... I am not romaticizing this enough, but the changeover is almost dramatic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At Gokul, we were taken to the house which used to belong to Nand and Yashoda. This is supposedly the place where Krishna, along with his elder brother Balarama, spent 11.5 years of his childhood before moving to Govardhan. It is here that Kansa sent a number of rakshasas (demons) to kill the little boy - Putana, Bagalasura, and a whole list of others - every one sent to their death by the prodigal son - who was in fact God walking on earth in the form of a child.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The house of Nand Baba is naturally converted into a temple. But it is maintained well, and at least on the day we visited, was found clean and in good condition. In Mathura and its surrounding places, Krishna is worshipped as Bal Krishna - as a child - and in Gokul, he is worshipped as an infant. Since He is an infant, he needs to be fed every 2 hours. So He is given makhan-mishri - sweets made of butter and ghee - every 2 hours!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We witnessed the feeding session (of course, you cannot see the Lord eating, so you have to sit on the other side of the curtain), and then, once the feeding was done (called 'bhog'), we were allowed to rock the baby in its cradle. This rocking of cradle is done for 3 months in the year - 2 months of Shravan and Bhadrapad, then 15 days in Diwali and another 15 days in Holi. To offer prayers, you get to sit on a small 2' x 3' rectangle ... which is raw - i.e. not tiled. You sit on the leveled, dried mud. It is said that this is the same dirt in which the Lord played as a child, and so it is highly revered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The poojaries - priests - are friendly and chatty. Of course, they cajole you to make the donations, but I guess that is part of such visits to holy lands. The priests told us that since this is the house where the infant played, the house should always be filled with mirth and laughter. The visitors are expected to smile and laugh while offering 'bhog', while pulling the cradle - and generally have 'ananda' - (a pleasant, good time).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The house has different rooms in which you can see scenes from Harivamsha - especially about Krishna's childhood - depicted. One of these statues is that of Putana - a Rakshasi (demoness) sent by Kamsa to feed poisonous milk to the infant Krishna. But Krishna sucked the life out of the Rakshasi, and put her to death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Interestingly, locals believe that once the lady was killed, she attained moksha / nirvana, as she met her death at the hands of the Lord Himself. So now, she is revered as a goddess. In fact she is considered a foster-mother to Krishna as she tried to feed him. The locals call her Shitala devi, and what is most interesting is that she is considered a guardian of infants (!) ... Imagine - a rakshasi sent to kill an infant is now converted into a goddess who cares for the well-being of children! ... I always find it fascinating how legends and myths develop over time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(By the way, I am not sure if this Shitala devi has any relationship with the famous Shitala Mata though - who is considered an incarnation of Goddess Shakti and whose temples appear across the country. This one appears more like a local lore. The similarities in characteristics are striking though. Both are called Shitala, both are known as protectors of children and also both are considered relievers for those who suffer from small pox).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nand Baba's house also has a large idol of Balaram, and then a shoter version of him - with his wife Revati. I came across Revati for the first time. The locals claim that this is a unique thing - you do not get to see Balaram with Revati (they call it 'joda' - couple) anywhere else. Even at Puri Jagannath, you see Balaram only. I will write about the marriage of <strong><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2012/08/revati.html" target="_blank">Revati with Balaram</a></strong> later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back to Gokul, we went around the house, had a nice prasad of sweet makhan mishri, and paid respect to all the gods and goddesses. By the time we were done, the rain had stopped. The weather was pleasant, and we decided to head back home after a quick thali lunch at the famous Brijwasi in Mathura.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Best</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- Shreekant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">15 July 2012</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-71087971420291578342012-04-04T15:14:00.000+05:302017-10-02T20:14:12.078+05:3041 Show me how to Live - A post about Parashurama<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Show me how to Live!</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">भार्गवेन हता माता एका जायाश्च पाण्डवाः |</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">परदाररतः कृष्णो न देवं चरितं चरेत् ||</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Translation: "Bhargava (Parashuram) killed his own mother; (All five) paandavas had but one </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">wife (Draupadi); Krishna indulged with others' wives; do not perform the deeds of the gods"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If one of the purposes of mythology is so that people take lessons from the lives of others and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">learn how to live their own lives, some of the oldest civilizations surely do not provide a direct </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ready reckoner for such modeling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Take the Greeks and the Romans, for example. Zeus / Jupiter is always wooing ladies from different species - women, nymphs, goddesses. His wife Hera is always fuming mad with jealousy. Hades is always conspiring to overthrow his brother's throne. The Olympians appear to be a petty, squabbling, self-centred lot. The demigods and the so-called heros are no exceptions either. Heracles is a cold, cunning and calculating figure. More so is Odysseus. Achilles is known for his wrath, and Ajax for his simple-mindedness. Oedipus kills his own father, and marries his mother. So by and large, there is no 'model life' that we come across in here. Similar is the case with the Egyptians and the Chinese. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Don't get me wrong. This does not mean I am complaining. There is nothing wrong that I find in this. In fact, this is what makes most of these lives so interesting and endearing. You feel for the gods too, not just the humans. Homer and Sophocles are more readable because you can relate to the characters. And so is the case with the Vedic stories, and the great Epics of Hinduism.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hindu mythology and characters of gods</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since this is a blog about the Hindu mythology though, let's restrict ourselves to the lives we come across in the Indian pantheon. <strong>Indra</strong> is known for his vices, just like Zeus. He is cunning, insecure, and takes a special interest in the fairer sex. He is responsible for killing of a brahmin, and also that of foeticide. <strong>Varuna</strong> is known for his temper. Rudra is wild and untamed. The gods are known to discriminate against the <strong>Ashiwini-kumara</strong> twins for being close to and doing favors to humans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not just the vedic gods, but also the rishis suffer from their own. <strong>Narada</strong>, unlike Hermes, is known not only as a messanger but also a prankster and a harbinger of mischife. <strong>Agastya</strong> is known for his abilities to digest vast amounts of food (even a demon called Vatapi, and the entire ocean! But dare you call him a glutton). <strong>Durvasa</strong>, as the name suggests, had a terrible body odor. He, along with <strong>Vishwamitra</strong> and <strong>Jamadagni</strong>, are known for their quick temper. The <strong>Sanata Kumaras</strong> were so simple and child-like that Vishnu did not allow them to be admitted to his company.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The later gods - the supreme trinity of godhead - also suffers from some of these. <strong>Shiva</strong> is a mendicant and a simpleton, and does not bother about the worldly affairs even when they affect him or his loved ones. <strong>Brahma</strong> is not worshipped anywhere apart from a couple of temples (the most prominent being in Pushkar, Rajasthan), and is known to famously chase his own daughter <strong>Shatarupa</strong> for copulating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><strong>Vishnu</strong>, on the other hand, has his wife Laxmi press his feet while sleeping, and in his ten different avatars done many things that in the first instance look 'strange'. He took the form of <strong>Mohini</strong> during the Amrit manthan episode and tricked the demons from getting their share of Amrita - the elixir of life. In his form of the little Brahmin <strong>Vaman</strong>, he tricked the mightly demon king Bali - who is righteous and kind and generous - into giving up his kingdom and his life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As <strong>Rama of Ayodhya</strong>, he sent his pregnant wife Sita into exile just because one civilian doubted her chastity. He also tricked and killed the Vanara king <strong>Vali</strong> of Kishkindha to get support from his brother <strong>Sugriva</strong>. As <strong>Krishna</strong>, he guided Pandavas to victory, but in doing so he did all he could - right or wrong on the face of it - like killing an unarmed man in battle (<strong>Karna</strong>), having a woman (Shikhandi) in front of Arjuna so that an old man be killed (<strong>Bhishma</strong>), spreading false rumors on the battlefield so that the enemy loses focus and gets killed (<strong>Drona</strong>), telling <strong>Bhima</strong> to let go of the dharma of battle with maces and hit <strong>Duryodhana</strong> below the belt etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But let's look at the sixth avatar of Vishnu - known as <strong>Bhargava ram</strong> or Parashu ram - as a case in point and his killing of his own mother.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prelude to Birth of Parashuram</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jamadagni was a descendant of Sage <strong>Bhrigu</strong>, one of the original Prajapatis and sometimes included in the list of Saptarshis - the Great Celestial poet priests - of this eon. So by lineage he also comes from the line of <strong>Shukracharya</strong> (the priest of Daityas) and <strong>Chyavana</strong>, the preceptor of Ayurveda.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The story of Parashuram's birth is an interesting one. <strong>Richeek muni</strong>, son of Bhrigu rishi was wandering in Kanyaakubj - the land of King <strong>Gaadhi</strong>, when the muni saw <strong>Satyavati</strong>, princess of the state and fell in love. He went to the king and asked his permission to marry her. King Gaadhi did not have a son, and since Satyavati was his only daughter he did not want to marry her off to a mendicant, however learned and famous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, the king told the rishi that, as per tradition, the groom was expected to present a thousand 'bay' horses (horses with reddish brown body color with a black mane) to the father of the bride. You would imagine that this was a difficult task at that time (no cloning yet!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So Richeek searched for this bounty all over the Earth but could not find these horses. Finally he went to a place called Ashwateertha and prayed to Lord <strong>Varuna</strong>, the god of horses. Varuna, pleased with Richeek's penance, gave him 1,000 bay horses, with which the muni returned to King Gaadhi. Happy to know that the son-in-law is not only learned but also worldly wise and can provide for his daughter if required, the king duly married his daughter Satyavati to Richeek muni.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After the wedding, Satyavati and Richeek muni went and lived in a forest, where Richeek continued with his penance. Satyavati was a loving wife and took care of her husband. Once, pleased with her devotion and efforrts, Richeek asked her what she wanted. Satyavati asked for two things - she asked for a son as well as a brother, as her motherland now did not have a prince. Pleased with her, Richeek gave her two bowls of porridge - marking one for her and the other for her mother, so that she too can bear a son.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(In some versions, Richeek's father Bhrigu visits the couple, and pleased with Satyavati's hospitality, he is the one who gives the two bowls to her, but I prefer this one better).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Happy, Satyavati returned to her mother with the special gift, and narrated the whole story to her. Since she had just returned home, her mother asked her to take a bath and then they would eat the porridge. While she was gone, Satyavati's mother started doubting the story. She thought that Richeek muni must have naturally given a better serving to his own wife than to his mother-in-law, and so she switched the bowls. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Only after they ate their portions, Satyavati's mother could not keep her guilt hidden and shared what she had done with Satyavati. Grief- and terror-striken Satyavati rushed back to her husband. Richeek was naturally agitated. He said that she has done great harm to herself and to her house. His porridge was made in such a way that Satyavati was supposed to have a son with brahmin qualities and the son born to Gaadhi would have become a great ruler and warrior (a Kshatriya). But now her brother - although he will be born a kshatriya into a kingdom, but he will have all the brahmin qualities. Whereas her own son, born to a brahmin muni, will be warrior like. Not only that, he will take revenge on the doubting kshatriyas across the world and be responsible for their massacre.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Devastated, Satyavati had no words to lament. What was supposed to be a happy incident turned out to be the beginning of a chain of disasters. All she could think of was to postpone this doom as much as possible. So she pleaded to Richeek muni if there was a way to push this curse ahead in time. Richeek said that although he cannot change the nature of her son, he can try to change his son's fate. But her grandson will bear the cross of fate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And so, Richeek muni and Satyavati gave birth to a son, who was known for his quick and wild temper from childhood, just like a kshatriya king and ruler. He was called <strong>Jamadagni</strong>. His temper became so legandary that even today someone who gets angry quickly is called a 'Jamdagni'. Thankfully, due to Richeek's efforts or due to fate, Jamadagni continued as a brahmin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Meanwhile, King Gaadhi and his wife gave birth to a son Kaushika. Kaushika became the ruler of Kaanyakubja after Gaadhi, but his tryst with Rishi Vashishtha made him leave the kshatriya ways of his life and become a rishi. His penance was so powerful that although born a kshatriya, he became a brahmin rishi - and that too, a brahmarshi, the top level in that. Yes, you have heard about it ... He is famous by the name <strong>'Vishwamitra'</strong>.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Birth of Parashuram</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But let's come back to Jamagadni. The son of Richeek muni and Satyavati, Jamadagni continued with his penance and became known for his wisdom and work. Apparently, the great sage <strong>Agastya</strong> muni advised king <strong>Prasenjeet</strong> of Mahur (in present-day Maharashtra) to marry his daughter <strong>Renuka</strong> off to Jamadagni. Renuka was born out of a yajna that Prasenjeet had done earlier (maybe with Agastya as the head priest) and he was blessed with a daughter who was supposed to be the mother of the universe (in some parts of southern India she is worshipped as Yallamma and in the north as Renuka Mata) and who was expected to give birth to an avatar of Vishnu. Agastya's involvement is likely, since he was the most renouned rishi in the South anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Agastya also convinced Jamadagni to take Renuka as his wife, and the two got married. Renuka and Jamadagni lived in the mountains (supposedly near the modern day Belgaum on Karnataka-Maharashtra border, South India). Renuka was a devoted wife and helped the rishi in his daily rituals. One of her daily activity was to bathe in the Malaprabha river early in the morning, and then carry a pot of water to her husband for his rituals of oblation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The interesting part was that she would <u>'create'</u> a pot to hold water, made only of raw sand, not baked --- one fresh pot every day. She was able to do this feat due to her devotion towards her husband and her chastity. (Incidentally, the word 'Renuka' is derived from the Sanskrit for "a fine grain of sand"). Renuka gave birth to five sons: Vasu, Viswavasu, Brihudyanu, Brutwakanwa and <strong>Ramabhadra</strong>. (In some cases instead of the middle two, the names of Sushen and Rumanvaan appear). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anyway, the most illustrious among these was the last one - Rama. He was also the most beloved. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">From childhood, he gained favours from gods, and also received a pick-axe from Shiva. The weapon became his signature and he became famous as Parashu - Rama ('Parashu' is Sanskrit for axe).</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Killing of Renuka Mata</span></strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyumw0l8jTr-rs_uFZ4LonTWMfaUWVn5f6aYt_eDp3_igXD7PAEHJ7YE9ts9LHCMQsOrrtfhLbjxCEUb08fR-pfw9fjnAluHzlMe68G2wbkdOFyGu5IPn9w7YR0YCb97SymXfznwSgPGE5/s1600/renuka+parashurama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="180" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyumw0l8jTr-rs_uFZ4LonTWMfaUWVn5f6aYt_eDp3_igXD7PAEHJ7YE9ts9LHCMQsOrrtfhLbjxCEUb08fR-pfw9fjnAluHzlMe68G2wbkdOFyGu5IPn9w7YR0YCb97SymXfznwSgPGE5/s640/renuka+parashurama.jpg" width="411" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">However, the happy family was about to face tough challenges next. One day when Renuka went to the river, she saw some gandharva (celestial beings known for their beauty) couples frolicking in water For a moment, she lost her concentration and devotion and fantasized about playing in the river with her husband. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Instantly, Renuka checked herself and also cursed herself for her indiscretion. She hurriedly bathed, and tried to create the pot from the sand, but alas! Today she was unable to as she had lost her concentration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Seeing Renuka returning empty-handed, Jamadagni became furious, and in his infamous anger, asked her the reason. When Renuka narrated the truth, Jamadagni went wild with anger. He forgot all the years of marital bliss, and called out to his sons and asked them one by one to behead her. The first four of them refused flatly. This further angered the sage and he burned his own sons to ashes in a fit of rage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Parashurama, who was not there when this happened, found his mother weeping by four piles of ashes when he arrived and his father still raging mad. Jamadagni told him what happened and ordered him to behead Renuka for her infidelity. Without a moment's hesitation, Parashurama took his axe and beheaded his own mother.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With the deed done, Jamadagni became calm. He praised his last and only remaining son for his devotion and asked what he wants in return. Quick in thinking, Rama asked his family back - mother and brothers too. Jamadagni, pleased with his son's wit as well as devotion to the family, smiled sadly and brought all five of them back to life with his yogic powers. The five family members woke up as if from sleep, and did not remember what had happened earlier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is the incident that has inspired the famous quote, with which I started this post:</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">भार्गवेन हता माता एका जायाश्च पाण्डवाः |</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">परदाररतः कृष्णो न देवं चरितं चरेत् ||</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Bhargava (Parashuram) killed his own mother; (All five) paandavas had but one wife (Draupadi); Krishna indulged with others' wives; do not perform the deeds of the gods"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is after the incidents of this story that Parashuram's family, although alive and together, did not really continued the same way. They decided to move to north in order to get away from these unpleasant incidents, and most likely settled in the present-day Himachal Pradesh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, luck did not change much for the poor family and they were tormented by the Haihaya king of Mahishmati, <strong>Sahasrarjuna.</strong> <a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2009/03/how-chitpavan-brahims-got-their-name.html" target="_blank">See here for the details of these.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After the incidents of the Haihaya episode, Parashuram got rid of the Kshatriya clans 21 times over, until finally his grandfather Richeek muni had to step in and stop him. After this, Parashuram seems to given away the bounty of the Earth to <strong>Kashyap</strong> rishi and moved back closer to his birthplace, towards the south and was instrumental in creating the land of Malabar and Konkan, and settling new establishments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Regards, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shreekant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">04 April 2012 </span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-50288956902993660562011-05-07T23:55:00.004+05:302017-10-02T20:00:27.683+05:3039 Origin of Ganesha as Vighna-harta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of timeline, this is a tale I found, for a change, that has a specific time period associated with it. It is about the origin of one of most well-known and rather contemporary gods of the Hindu pantheon - Lord Ganesha.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsXA0QjHQHGG7i9MSh7fwnXWonYzgdQXjAzXvZZLK8GDndCkNeL5DnNr4HH4Tn04kMorfhcWOenZu233Nk8l_KaEAofFns4P7QRNygrU5WNZifBwoSNQ-Iw4MdRia8yIpUKLFlqLvVU3k/s1600/ganesha_origin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsXA0QjHQHGG7i9MSh7fwnXWonYzgdQXjAzXvZZLK8GDndCkNeL5DnNr4HH4Tn04kMorfhcWOenZu233Nk8l_KaEAofFns4P7QRNygrU5WNZifBwoSNQ-Iw4MdRia8yIpUKLFlqLvVU3k/s1600/ganesha_origin.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lord Ganesha</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I found it in a book that was written about 150 years ago (first printed in 1882) by a Britisher -- W. J. Wilkins -- while India was just one colony for them, and as such, one can disregard most of the comments made by the author, since he made them with the clouded eyes of a colonizer p*** about his 'subjects' (in his own words!).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Moreover, Prof. Wilkins seems to rely heavily on a few other Western writers (Kennedy, Muir, Wilson etc.) rather than going through the actual Hindu texts, and so if there is any glow of light in his book at all, it is more the 'reflective glory' type rather than one with any original burning flame.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, I recite this tale here more for its ingenuity rather than its originality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The tale is set during the <i>'Sandhi'</i> (twilight) time between <i>Dwapar Yuga</i> and <i>Kali Yuga</i>. So this must be around the last few decades after the Mahabharata war was over and events at Dwaraka were unfolding *.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It seems that one of the Adityas -- <b><i>Soma</i></b> -- did a long penance to Lord Shiva. Shiva was so pleased with it that he allowed Soma deva to build a shrine for himself -- which is now Somnath or Someswara in Gujarat -- and also decreed that whosoever visits this temple in his / her lifetime gains a direct VIP access to Swarga (heaven).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As expected, when this information became public, there was pandemonium on Earth. People from all stations and stages of society - learned and dumb, brahmins and shudras, men and women, pious and irreverent, good and bad - all thronged the temple with the hope to gain direct access to the heaven, and to their surprise, actually got it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And so, the difference between good and bad ceased to exist. Barbarians, thieves and decoits could get the same posthumous benefits as brahmins and those skilled in vedas. Society ceased to function as the code of <b>Manu</b> became irrelevant. You could commit as many sins as you want, and yet ascend to Swarga. Just book yourself a ticket to Somnath!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As one would imagine, the gods in heaven got very upset with this. Everywhere they went, they found these mortals wandering about, very happy with themselves. <b>Yama</b> and his accountant <b>Chitragupta</b> lost their wits first, and then almost their jobs too - since <i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2013/10/47-yama-and-yami.html" target="_blank">tracking of Paap and Punya</a></i> (bad and good deeds of humans) was not relevant any more. All the seven Narakas (hells) were running empty and the heaven was bursting with the mortal crowd.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The rishis could not meditate in peace. The Gandharwas could not flirt with the Apsaras in private. Everywhere these mortals would appear and cause trouble. Finally it became too much when people started flocking <b>Indra's </b>sabha (court) and kept interrupting the proceedings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Adityas - Indra, Varuna, Soma included - went to Shiva at Mount Kailasa and complained about their loss of privacy. Till this time, Shiva had no idea about the havoc his 'boon' to Soma was causing. By the way, this is not new for Mahadeva - who is also known as a simpleton and the 'gullible' one among the gods.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Shiva empathized with the gods, but said his words cannot be reversed. He looked for Parvati to get some ideas. However at this time, Parvati had gone down to the river for her bath. So the congregation sent an urgent message to the Devi.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On hearing about the plight of devas, Parvati came up with an idea. She scrubbed her limbs and took out some dirt, some bathing paste, and created a small effigy in the shape of a boy. She tried shaping the boy's face -- and here I take creative liberties since Prof. Wilkins does not explain anything about Ganesha's special shape-- but it came out to look like an elephant's head **.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nevertheless, since the gods were in a hurry, the Devi breathed life into the boy and called him her son <b>Ganesha</b>. Upon gaining speech, the newly born asked his mother what she expected him to do. Devi told him that he would go on the Earth and 'create' obstacles in the Somnath yatra (travel) for those who are unworthy of the heaven. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So he is actually intended to be a <i>'vighna-karta'</i> (creator of obstacles). However, for those who are righteous and worthy of the heaven, he will make their path obstacle-free (and hence his current name <i>'vighna-harta'</i> - remover of obstacles).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His special shape came in handy for this purpose. With his large ears he could hear beyond the spoken words and could 'read' between the lines when someone prays to him. With his long trunk he reaches out and gets all the facts right. He has infinite memory and never forgets what you have been up to. So he can put all the facts together and have the 'inter-linkages'. At the same time, he has a large belly, in which he stores all the world's secrets. So you can confide all your concerns with him, and be assured that they will not go out anywhere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And so it came to be that Ganesha brought sense back to the chaos that was Earth. Those who followed the path of righteousness and prayed to Ganesha now had their lives made free of obstacles. Those who didn't, they went to nether-land. And thus, people once again started believing in doing right, started following the path of Dharma, and order was restored in all the three worlds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thus, as you will see, Ganesha is known as the god of wisdom - since wisdom finally boils down to making a difference between good and bad, right and wrong, people you should trust and people you shouldn't. Being one of the later Hindu deities (not as old as <i>vedic </i>deities, but more contemporary and maybe thus more relevant in today's times), and the one who is worshiped aggressively across the world during these times - the <i><b>Kali yuga</b></i> - when Dharma is on its last legs - I hope this is one quality that Ganesha bestows to his devotees, since this is the most important skill one can have to make one's life free of worldly obstacles!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Best</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Shreekant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">7th May 2011</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">* Of course, although the timeline for this tale is clear, if we go by it, it would mean that the story about Ganesha writing Jaya (Mahabharata) for Vyasa does not fit in the timeline (<a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2008/05/invoking-lord-ganesh.html">see this</a>). Either that story has a different timeline, or Vyasa wrote Jaya much late, after Ganesha was born. So when Vyasa wrote Jaya, Ganesha must have been a toddler!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">** This story is rather different from the more well-known story where Shiva beheads Parvati's son and then fits the head of Indra's white elephant (Airavat) and then breathes life into him. I am told that the more popular version is from <b><i>Shiva Purana</i></b>, while the story I have narrated here is from <b><i>Skanda Purana</i></b>. I do not have direct access to these texts as of now. But when I do get that, I will clear some air around this. If anyone else already knows about these matters in more detail, you are welcome to post your comments as always.</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-18484277153772922582011-05-01T23:22:00.004+05:302021-06-04T07:29:28.820+05:3038: Mythical Timeline of Dashavataras<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Vishnu Dashavataras</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The problem - rather, one of the problems, for there are several many as I have mentioned earlier too - one of the problems with reading and contemplating about the Hindu mythology is the circular nature of time (see my earlier posts on <a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2008/06/time-spans-and-multiple-yugas-part-1.html"><strong>this subject</strong></a>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Agreed that this gives an excellent opportunity for poets and other creative beings to twist and turn the story line, and to have characters from different eons pop suddenly out of nowhere and spice up the narratives. And that is how you suddenly have <b>Bhima</b> from <b><i>Dwapar Yuga</i></b> picking up <b>Hanuman's</b> Treta Yuga-old tail in Mahabharata. You also have <b>Vishnu</b> and <b>Indra</b> sharing the spoils of a sport once in the <i>vedas</i> as two brothers (as sons of <b>Aditi</b>, daughter of <b>Daksha</b>, who is himself the son of <b>Brahma</b>), and then afterwards a later-dated puranas declaring vehemently that Vishnu is the creator of all, including Brahma, Daksha, and Indra. Beat that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yet, with all these creative freedoms, you will agree with me that when mythology itself means that the boundaries of time are sketchy and blurred at best, and that you have to second guess the timing of every occurrence, this adds more confusion to the already shaky world view. The whole era of myths seems to be suspended in a space-time continuum, bobbing up and down without any direction - no arrow of time!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are very few areas where some semblense of chronology is available. For instance, take the <b>Vishnu Maha-Dashavataras</b> or great incarnations. You know for sure that <b>Matsya</b> came first, and then <b>Kurma</b>, and then <b>Varaha</b>, followed by <b>Narasimha</b>, and so on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However it is not clear when exactly each one happened and how much time went by between two consecutive ones. You can only infer based on side supports. Like, it appears that Varaha and Narasimha must have happened close to each other, as the antagonists in these two - Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapu - were twin brothers and so must be close.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So it appears that this is the flow of the mythical time as compared to the ten maha-avataras of Vishnu:</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Matysa (fish)</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This has <b>Vivasvan Manu</b> as the protagonist of the story. Manu is the son of Vivasvan, son of <b>Kashyapa</b> and Aditi, daughter of Daksha Prajapati - who is the son of Brahma. So I am guessing that this must pretty early on - close to when the world was formed by Brahma at the beginning. Manu is saved by the fish during the deluge / flood and then the world is re-populated.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. Kurma (tortoise)</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When the Devas (Adityas - or sons of Aditi like Indra, Savitr, Varuna, etc.) were at war with Daityas and Danavas (sons of Diti and Danu) and were facing a hard time at that, <b>Vishnu </b>suggested to Devas to churn the ocean of milk. This is the famous story of Samudra manthan. He also agreed to take the form of a giant tortoise to support the stirring staff (mount Mandara). Since Vivasvan and Adityas are supposedly brothers, the timing of this avatara must be immediately after the events of the earlier avatara.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Varaha (wild boar)</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The antagonist of this story is <b>Hiranyaksha </b>- one of the Daityas - son of Diti (sister of Aditi). The story talks about a deluge that Hiranyaksha created by pushing the Earth under water. I am not sure if this flood is the same as what Manu encountered and survived, but maybe it is a different one. In any case, the mythical time for this story is close to the earlier stories in Krita yuga.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. Narasimha (man lion)</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hiranyaksha's twin brother <b>Hiranyakashipu </b>sought revenge of his brother's death, but in the end met his own end at the hands (nails) of Vishnu's Narasimha (half-man half-lion) avatara. So again, this must be close at heels to the story of Varaha. This is said to be the last avatara of Satya / Krita yuga.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. Vamana (young student)</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vishnu's first full human avatara - albeit that of a young boy - is that of <b>Vamana</b>. Now this avatara was to get rid of the Daitya <b>King Bali</b>, under whose able leadership the Daityas and Danavas had forged a very formidable war front and army against the Devas. <i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/chirajeev-5-maha-bali.html" target="_blank">See here for more about Bali</a>.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bali was the grandson of Hiranyakashipu of the earlier story (Hiranyakashipu -- Prahlada -- Veerochana -- Bali). So there must be a gap of at least two generations (100-150 years?) between the fourth and the fifth avatara as against the earlier stories, which seem to have happened one after the other. In some puranas, this is also given as the first avatara of Vishnu in <b><i>Treta yuga</i></b>. So the gap may be much wider - by a couple of hundred thousand years.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6. Parashurama (brahmin king)</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Bhargava rama</b> or Parashurama - the first <i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/chiranjeevi-3-parashu-rama.html" target="_blank">sovereign king of the new world</a></i> - is the only avatara in which Vishnu is still supposed to be lingering around due to his unfinished business with Kalki that is yet to come. In any case, Parashurama is famous for killing Haihaya <b>Kshatriyas</b> 21 times over and over again. The events of this story must have happened somewhere halfway through Treta yuga.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">7. Ramachandra (purushottama - 'great man')</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The historical accuracy of the two epics of Hindu Mythology is a topic that requires more studied opinion than mine, but for the purpose of this write-up, it suffices to consider that <b>Ramachandra</b>'s avatara and his war with the Lankan overlord <b>Ravana</b> is considered to have happened during the final eons of Treta yuga.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">8. Krishna / Balarama (the poorna-purusha - the 'complete man')</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Krishna and Balarama are the avatara that happened in the end of <b><i>Dwapar yuga</i></b>. So it seems there was a gap of two into 432,000 years (i.e 864,000 years - mythical years that is - don't get me into a discussion on the historical perspectives of these) between the seventh and the eighth avatara. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some say Krishna was Vishnu's avatara, and Balarama was Adi Sesha's avatara. Some say Balarama was born out of a white hair of Vishnu's body while Krishna was born out of a dark hair. In any case, it seems these two were brothers and walked the Earth together before the beginning of the Kali Yuga.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">9. Buddha (the wise)</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is the first avatara in <b><i>Kali yuga</i></b>, and also seems to be the only one where some <i>actual historical personage</i> can be traced to the incarnation. However the inclusion of Buddha in the list itself is quite controversial. In some lists Balarama is considered the 8th one, and Krishna the 9th one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In Maharashtra where I come from, Vithoba is considered the 9th avatar. In any case, if we include Buddha, then most scholars peg Buddha's historical time around 486 and 483 BCE i.e. about 2,500 years ago from your and my time.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">10. Kalki (time / destroyer)</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kalki is supposed to be the final avatara, and this is one avatara that is yet to come. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Kalki Bhagwan</b> is expected to appear at the end of <b><i>Kali Yuga</i></b> i.e. about 430,000 years from now. So Kalki will come in the age of darkness, destroy the barbarians and thieves, and will re-establish righteousness on the Earth - which will eventually mark the beginning of Satya yuga again and the next cycle of Maha Yugas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So there. We have a complete listing with the mythical timeline - first four avatars in Krita Yuga, the next three in Treta Yuga, then Krishna Balarama in Dwapara Yuga and then the last two in Kali Yuga, with one yet to happen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now this list is according to Vishnu Purana and other Puranas where the main deity is Vishnu (like Garuda Purana) and in most cases the mythical timeline - for once - matches with one another. If you look at some other sources, I am not sure if the timeline will match with this one. Good luck with that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">More later,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- Shreekant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">01 May 2011</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-25022793938325514332009-08-03T21:48:00.009+05:302017-10-02T16:37:05.622+05:3036 Upamanyu<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsBsCon2mAH1NlCRK5n-jEygWvuTPMDtrxly6ayug3qivcxh6MX0SD0YRG_DOvAIBSvPOFCMltTnUl2bnGATdYvK92_irNPQCtYq4F-WMFCbdf09todr5yTLeuVqcyAKlq-VSffPiwVrG/s1600/Upamanyu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="373" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsBsCon2mAH1NlCRK5n-jEygWvuTPMDtrxly6ayug3qivcxh6MX0SD0YRG_DOvAIBSvPOFCMltTnUl2bnGATdYvK92_irNPQCtYq4F-WMFCbdf09todr5yTLeuVqcyAKlq-VSffPiwVrG/s320/Upamanyu.jpg" width="281" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Note: This is not written by me, but my father. He wrote this wonderful story in a mail to me. So here's to you, Baba.<br />
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- Shreekant<br />
03 August 2009<br />
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Why I am curious about Upamanyu? Coz our 'Gotra' is Upamanyu.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who was Upamanyu? What was his significance?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We have to reach Tamil Nadu - Chidambaram. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The story begins in the lush green thick jungle of Thillaivanam, the place where there is 'Swayambhu' Linga. Whoever has a 'darshan' of this Linga, gets everything he desires. (Rightful & more on the spiritual side).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is the very place (and the nearby area) where Lord Nataraja arrived and gave two extra-ordinary gifts to the mankind - Music & Dance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A great sage named Madyanthinar, related to sage Vashishta, had a brilliant son, named Madyanthinar Jr. These sages were living in a small town (probably a part of Chidambaram) and away from Thillai forest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sr M taught all four vedas & six sastras to the Jr. But the Jr wanted something more - the supreme knowledge - the self-realization.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With the permission of the Sr, the Jr went to Thillai forest to worship the Linga, called Tirumalanada. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">His worship consisted of offering 'abhisheka', flowers & fruits & ofcourse chanting 'Om Namah: Shivay.'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He had some problem in collecting the flowers. He wanted to offer fresh flowers. Fresh means not even touched by bees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For that he had to collect the flowers before day-break. It was too dark. He was not able to see and another difficulty was that he had to climb the trees. [Those must be the forest flower plantations. In the forest, one can't expect roses, jasmine etc.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stricken with grief, he prays to Lord Shiva. The Lord obliges and endows him with limbs of a tiger to climb the trees without slipping and sight to perceive in darkness too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The spiritual meaning is very clear. He received the ultimate knowledge - no darkness and his spiritual progress would always be upwards - never falling down - say due to ego or whatever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Lord after showering this grace, named him Vyghrapada. (The place where he settled afterwards with his family & parents was named Vhyghrapuri.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After some time, when Vyghrapada became 16 years old, his father came to Thillai forest to take him back and more importantly, to put him in a wed-lock.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Father was overjoyed to find his son having attained the highest spiritual level, due to the grace of Lord Shiva. He told his son about his wish. Vyghrapada agreed and the bride was none other than sister of sage Vasishta.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there is the arrival of Upamanyu. The son born to Vyaghrapada & his wife was Upamanyu.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thus Vasishta was 'Mama' of Upamanyu. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After the delivery, Vasishta requested Vyghrapada to take the mother & the new born to his ashram, to which Vyaghrapada agreed. In Vasishta's ashram, Upamanyu had highly nutritious milk - Kamdhenu's milk. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After a few months, Vyghrapada brought back his wife & the child to his own Vyghrapuri. But now a practical difficulty came. Upamanyu was used to Kamdhenu's milk. He could not accept milk of any other cow and thus started suffering from starvation. Vyghrapada was worried and felt helpless. He took the child to the Linga. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The child started crying due to hunger - and The Lord came down. Lord Shiva created entire sea of milk for Upamanyu. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well. There is a spiritual meaning to all this. But about that, later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, we belong to that Gotra, whose Gotrapurush was so much loved by the Lord himself that he came down to create the sea of milk for him. So, those belonging to Upamanyu Gotra should remember that they can achieve anything (rightful) they wish.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Lord is listening to them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Later on, even Lord Krishna took 'Shivdiksha' from Upamanyu. [May be the descendant of the original Upamnyu.] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is also mentioned that during the time of that famous dance of Lord Nataraja (Anand Tandav), Upamnyu was present to witness it, alongwith his father Vyaghrapada, Patanjali, Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, Shesha etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So one can imagine the significance of Upamanyu.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Btw, this story points to Chidambaram as our origin (after Gotrasanskar - i. e. when sage Upamanyu got rights to form his own Gotra.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- Arun Vijaykar</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-88955539673726550372009-03-29T21:51:00.005+05:302017-10-02T15:55:01.160+05:3028 How Chitpavan Brahims got their name<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil43za-5-ZURbJ_kxsFJJUG6iIVVKElwIuWQFStDwCLL0PuZTutxFG08wAwZsy9ItJxrAH2o0L4saxeIdOdiOCN086Zs4NIfG5MhH4Uhz1oodDuoef6k6t-cxBGAzohCv2gExv3q93Yt1n/s1600-h/Parshuram.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320537507124527730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil43za-5-ZURbJ_kxsFJJUG6iIVVKElwIuWQFStDwCLL0PuZTutxFG08wAwZsy9ItJxrAH2o0L4saxeIdOdiOCN086Zs4NIfG5MhH4Uhz1oodDuoef6k6t-cxBGAzohCv2gExv3q93Yt1n/s200/Parshuram.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 208px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 138px;" /></a>Now this is one of the most famous legands that I have been hearing since childhood, due to my close association with the land of Konkan in general and the town of Chiplun in particular -- and also with the Kokanastha Brahmins - the Kulkarnis, Deshpandes, Patils, Inamdars, Gokhales, Phadkes, Rastes, Patwardhans, Aptes and so on ... the list is endless. The Peshwas (prime ministers) of the late Maratha empire are the most famous group of Chitpavan Brahmins in the history.</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This post is about how the famous warrior saint <a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2008/05/chiranjeevi-3-parashu-rama.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Parashurama</a> - Rama with an axe - Vishnu's 6th Avatar, ordered the Ocean to recede and thus created the entire stretch of what is known as Konkan and Malabar.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Prelude - Jamadagni and Kartavirya Arjuna</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">----------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It all started when long time ago a Haihaya Kshatriya king <b>Kartavirya Arjuna</b> - nothing to do with the Arjuna of Mahabharata - (also called <b>Sahasrarjuna</b> - purportedly with a thousand arms) visited the sage <b>Jamadagni</b> of the <b><i>Bhrigu</i></b> clan and his ashram. See this post for more about the <i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/saptarshis-progenitors.html" target="_blank">different clans of rishis</a></i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rishi Jamadagni fed the guests and his whole army with the help of the milk provided by his magical divine cow - <b>Kamadhenu</b> (one of the jewels that had surfaced during the Samudra - manthan of devas and danavas - and was gifted to the Bhrigus). </span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The king Kartavirya Arjuna got extremely interested in this cow and demanded to have it. When Jamadagni refused, because he needed the cow for his religious ceremonies, the king forcibly took the cow away and his army devastated the ashram while going away, leaving the poor old man behind.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When Jamadagni's son <b>Parashurama</b> returned from his studies - he was a disciple of Lord Shiva who had taught him the highest of the warfare, he saw the devastated ashram. He chased and fought the king Kartavirya Arjuna, and after cutting each one of his thousand arms one by one, finally killed the king with his axe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320537676858175346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyO5EpGod0MK-fyL-N7lz5bWYuNDoAdjyFNAvz9iFBo0hOwlKuQb9SztGRI7ypyzE7nT_TiNtrXZ0NkaLiqNDaQEVQhsyuBxNjlhHmSooOe77q6TKLquid-xZw5SKOVCGyadY-aGNeBW8/s320/Avatarsparshuram.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px;" width="262" /></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When Kartavirya Arjuna's sons heard about this, they attacked Jamdagni's ashram as revenge in Parashurama's absence and killed the old sage. When Parashurama returned, he saw his mother <b>Renuka</b> beating her chest 21 times and learnt of his father's murder. Furious with rage, he vowed to exterminate the world's Haihaya-Kshatriyas 21 times. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Parashurama thus attacked the murderers and killed all the sons and their aides. His thirst for revenge un-quenched, he went on killing every adult Kshatriya on earth, not once but 21 times, filling five ponds with blood (see this post about <i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2013/10/46-samanta-panchaka.html" target="_blank">Samanta Panchak</a></i>). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, his grandfather - <b>Richeek</b> rishi, the son of Bhrigu rishi and a patriarch in the clan - appeared and stopped him.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Parashurama's Ashwamedha Yagna</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">--------------------------------------------------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By this time Parashurama had anyway won all the known earth from the Kshatriyas and had exterminated them. He then offered his dead father's soul the <i>tarpana </i>(last rites) with the blood of the Kshatriya kings he slew. He decided to conduct the Ashwamedha Yagna, done by sovereign kings - thus becoming the first sovereign king of mankind. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, it seemed he was so defiled by the slaughter that other brahmins refused to perform any ceremonies for him. Finally <b>Kashyapa</b> rishi, son of sage <b>Marichi</b>, agreed to perform at the yagna. Parashurama gave the entire land he owned to the head priest who performed at the yagna - i.e. Kashyapa rishi, and decided to give up violence, become an ascetic and practice penances. The legend goes that he is still out there it seems, and will return to teach warfare to the tenth Avatara of Visnu - <b>Kalki</b>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Coming back, Bhargava rama (Parashurama) thus left for south and reached the Western Ghats. At that time, the land ended there, and the realm of god <b>Varuna</b> - the lord of the oceans - began. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Parashurama called upon the god and asked his help. Initially the sea god did not agree to recede. Infuriated, Parashurama decided to throw a Bramhastra (missile) on the sea to render it completely dry. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Varuna got scared and </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">agreed to a truce. He agreed to recede as far west as Parashurama's arrow would hit the waters from </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">the place he was standing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320538472482308082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQX8dpEkvafA5JWc7Zw4kmSzAfplgao6UfDOlaPU9mIV-ERYRlXuq7ZSNwarq7UiibpeMpuu_wgVodlGIvi4aFEDiic29iNrY3FCRajQN1hVVbVTl34qp8uCK_Di0Y4e1u6BiISk07JIr/s1600/275px-Parshuramsaraswats.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px;" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Parashuram shot an arrow from the top of the current day's Sahyadris - the Western Ghats (probably from Chiplun) into the sea. The place where he stood has his temple at Lote Parashurama near Chiplun. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The place where the arrow landed is called Bannali - the modern-day Benaulim in Goa. This reclaimed belt of land of about 30 miles broad became available for mankind.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Who will live on the new land? - Pyre Purified Brahmins</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, there was still the problem of settlers. Who will leave their own homes and go settle in a newly created marshland - who knows how it will be like? So Parashurama found it difficult to get companions to follow him to build the land.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At that time the bodies of fourteen persons happened to be cast ashore by the sea which then washed the foot of the Sahyadri hills. These corpses Parashurama purified, by burning them on a funeral pyre (or chita in Sanskrit), and restored them to life. He taught them the Brahmin rituals, and made them perform ceremonies to free them from guilt. The brahmins thus got a second life and were called <b><i>Chitpavan </i></b>('those who have become pure - pavan - by going through the pyre') and the place where this happened was called Chit-polan (modern-day Chiplun).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was these Chitpavan brahmins who followed Parashurama and settled in Konkan. These are called Kokanastha Brahims (or Kobra's for short) nowadays. Parashurama set apart the banks of the river Vashishthi for these new Brahmins. After establishing this settlement, Parashurama retired to Gokarna in North Canara (Karnataka).</span></span><br />
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</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is the long and short of why Konkan is called Parashurama Bhumi and how Chitpavan Brahims got their name.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>P.S. There are also mentions about the origins of Saraswat Brahmins found in the Kokan region. This was because by the time Parashurama left for the south, the ancient river Saraswati of Vedic times, which was the lifeline of the people of northern India - had vanished (dried).</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> </i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The sage Kashyapa requested Parashurama's help to migrate the people who lived on the banks of the river and settle elsewhere. These people who earlier lived on the banks of river Saraswati - hence called Saraswat Brahims - accompanied Parashurama in his journey south and settled in Konkan.</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Best</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- Shreekant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">29 March 2009</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ref: Skanda Purana, Sahyadri Khand, Marathi Edition</span></span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-53343946684761620792009-02-07T22:47:00.008+05:302021-06-04T07:25:22.735+05:3027 The Story of Banasur<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiynMylUMwd_QuHkftnXtyXm8cbcSO2Qn6HNAoWEskexiwkOt2tpr_fq-8Jpbqe0tas8NjohcZZznFk8eJR-ap0idgEesjlznE3NVmf3yaC9atjX7iw2nNHMzyDoaO81jJh7EX27o3XzCoE/s1600/Banasur+Krishna+Yudh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1600" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiynMylUMwd_QuHkftnXtyXm8cbcSO2Qn6HNAoWEskexiwkOt2tpr_fq-8Jpbqe0tas8NjohcZZznFk8eJR-ap0idgEesjlznE3NVmf3yaC9atjX7iw2nNHMzyDoaO81jJh7EX27o3XzCoE/s640/Banasur+Krishna+Yudh.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Vanasur (Banasur) - The Eldest Son of Bali<br />
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In the last December, we were on a road trip in Kumaon, Uttarakhand. After spending 2 days in the regions around Saat taal, Mukteshwar etc., we decided to move further up towards Champawat region and go to a less-known hill station called Abbot Mount, near Lohaghat.<br />
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This ancient region has historical and mythological importance. Champawat, once the capital of the rulers of the Chand dynasty, is famous for its natural beauty and well known temples. It is also believed that it was in Champawat that Lord Vishnu appeared as 'Kurma avtar', His incarnation as a tortoise. The River Lohawati originates near this place. Lohagarh and the nearby Tanakpur are huge marketplaces, especially of woolen clothes today.<br />
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While we were traveling from Bhowali, having crossed many mountain trails and having seen the Himalayan mountain ranges filled to our heart's desire, we came to a place called Karnakarayat, about 6km before Lohaghat, and saw a few boards for Banasur-ka-Kila (2km climb by foot). The ruins can be spotted from the moutainous road itself.<br />
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Situated along the Bhowali Road, it is 7 km from Lohaghat and 20 km from Champawat. One has to walk 2 km to reach the fort. The place has immense beauty and romantic old-world charm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
Legand has it that these are the remains of the fort of <strong>Banasur</strong> (Vanasur), who was the eldest son of <a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2008/05/chirajeev-5-maha-bali.html"><strong>Bali, the king of Daityas</strong></a>. During the mythical times, this place was called <strong><i>Shonitpur</i></strong>. Banasur had a son by the name of <strong>Skanda</strong> (not the same Skanda as in Kartikeya, son of Shiva and Parvati) and a daughter called <strong>Usha</strong>, whose beauty knew no bounds (again, not to be confused with the vedic goddess of dawn).<br />
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As the story in Puranas goes, Banasur is a powerful king and a great devotee of <b>Shiva</b>, and pleased with his devotion and singing and playing of drums (!), Lord Shiva grants him immense power and also bestows him with a thousand arms --- like the Sahasrarjun that was killed by the famous <strong><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2008/05/chiranjeevi-3-parashu-rama.html">Parashu rama</a></strong>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Once Banasur is granted the boon of invincibility, he starts using his unlimited power on all and sundry. As usual, all men and devas are beaten by him, and are worried. Even inanimate objects like trees and moutains are not spared, which he uproots and crushes with his thousand arms in spare time.<br />
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Soon he gets bored of this constant winning of battles and goes back to Shiva to ask him if there is anyone left worthy enough to fight with him - even hinting that maybe Lord Shiva (!) himself wants to fight. But Shiva gives him a flag (no, literally!), and asks him to hoist it near his fort. He tells Banasur that when this flag post is broken on its own accord, Banasur will find his match.<br />
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Time passes by. Banasur awaits the fall of the flagpost, and keeps his urge to fight under check. Of course, he continues to be the Asura he is, and this causes a lot of grief to his people. Enter his beautiful, beautiful daughter Usha in the story. Now the lady has grown to a marriagable age and dreams of a handsome young man as husband. <br />
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One day, she dreams of a handsome young man and wakes up with a burning desire to be with this handsome young man. She confesses her heart's desire to <b>Chitralekha</b>, her friend and also the daughter of minister of Banasura. Chitralekha is a talented lady and recognizes this handsome young man from Usha's dream to be <b>Aniruddha</b>, prince of Dwarka, son of <strike>Parikshit</strike> <b>Pradyumn</b> (typo, corrected as suggested by a reader, thank you!), grand-son of Lord <b>Krishna</b>. Chitralekha, through supernatural powers abducts the sleeping Aniruddha from the palace of Krishna in Dwaraka and brings him to Usha.<br />
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When Aniruddha comes to his senses, he sees Usha, and both fall in love with each other instantly. They spend the next 4 months with each other, in great bliss, in Usha's palace - all the while trying to hide their secret from the other people. Their love story is given in great detail in the puranas, but of course that is meant for a different audience.<br />
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After a while, when Banasur is taking his rounds around the city, he sees the flagpost given by Shiva to be broken. He immediately summons the people around him to find if any new unknown person has recently come to town. This is when a couple of sentries tell him about hearing a man's laughter from Usha's palace.<br />
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Banasur immediately gathers his army and storms Usha's palace. Aniruddha rushes outside with a stone pillar in hand, and fights bravely with the entire army. However, his might is no match to Banasur, who finally overpowers him, ties him with a noose and throws him in a prison.<br />
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There in Dwaraka, everyone including Krishna, <b>Balarama </b>and other Yadavas are going in a tizzy searching for their boy, when <b>Narada </b>muni comes to them during his trips around the world and tells Lord Krishna about Aniruddha being made captive of Banasur.<br />
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The Yadavas gather an army under Balarama and march to Shonitpur, with Lord Krishna heading the column on his <b>Garuda</b>. In the battle that follows at the fort of Shonitpur (most likely in the plains surrounding the fort - and around the village of Karnakarayat of today), Banasur is finally overpowered by Krishna and attains nirvana. And that is where the matter lies. In some Vaishnava versions of the story, <b>Shiva</b> comes down along with his sons (<b>Ganesha</b> and <b>Kartikeya</b>) and his army of his <i>bhoot ganas</i> to help his devotee Banasur. But Vishnu in the form of Krishna, with Shesha naga in the form of Balarama defeat them as well.<br />
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Of course, the fort seems to be a construction belonging to the middle ages, but the story of Vanasur was probably associated with the spot even before the construction of the fort.<br />
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Legend or no legend, the fort and its surrounding give a great setting and provide some astonishing views.<br />
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Regards,<br />
Shreekant<br />
07 Febraury 2009</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-13293339476091284442008-08-30T01:34:00.005+05:302017-10-01T15:24:46.520+05:3025 Asti Kashchit Vaag-visheshah<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Asti Kashchit Vaag-visheshah<br />-----------------------------------------</b><br /><br />This post is not directly about Hindu mythology, but rather about a man who made parts of the mythology immortal by molding small skeletal reference stories into classical literary masterpieces - a man who himself is subject to more colorful myths than anyone else - this post is about <b>Mahakavi Kalidasa</b>.<br /><br />Kalidasa wrote poems of epic proportions for music and dance and he is regarded as the most outstanding writer of classical Sanskrit. The typical works that are attributed to him are:<br /><br />Plays:<br /><br />1. Abhijnana shakuntalam - or simply Shaakuntalam ("The Recognition of Shakuntala")<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. Malavika Agnimitra, and<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Vikramorvashiya<br /><br />Poems:<br /><br />1. Raghuvamsa ("Dynasty of Raghu") - Epic poem<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. Kumarasambhava ("Birth of the War Lord") - Epic poem<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Meghduta ("The Cloud Messanger") - Lyric poem<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. Ritusamhara ("The Exposition on the Seasons") - Lyric poem<br /><br />These seven are considered usually to be his original works.<br /><br />Nothing is known with certainty about Kalidasa apart from his works. Some say he lived in Ujjain (most likely), some say Vidharbha, some say Kashmir, some even say that he spent his later years in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). In all likelihood, he was a part of the Navratnas (nine gems) at the court of king <b>Vikramaditya</b> of Ujjain around 600 AD. Most historians believe that he resided at the court of the Gupta king <b>Chandra Gupta II</b> in Pataliputra (Patna).<br /><br />Anyway, the pieces that are interesting of his life are legendary and almost surely made up, but hey, they make for a great story. My 8th Standard school text book for Sanskrit had a chapter with the same name as the title of this post, and most of what I am sharing with you is from that. So I do not claim any originality or historical accuracy here.<br /><br /><b>The Mostly Inaccurate Account of why he is called Kalidasa</b>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />The first interesting part of the story / myth / whatever you may want to call -- is that Kalidasa was exceptionally dull to begin with, even as much as to suggest mental handicap!!!<br /><br />The story goes that the Princess of the kingdom he lived in at that time --- her name was most probably <b><i>Vidyottama</i></b> (lit. One with great knowledge) --- was a <i>vidooshi</i> (learned lady) and would defeat all pundits in the debates on scriptures. As she became invincible, her arrogance grew no bounds. When it was time for her marriage, she would insist on having a public debate with the prospective groom, and in the debate when the poor chap would lose, she would humiliate him and laugh at his plight.<br /><br />A couple of ministers, who found themselves at the butt of this cruel joke once, decided to teach the lady a lesson for life.<br /><br />So they went in search for some complete idiot. They found a man sitting on the branch of a tree, and cutting the <i>same</i> branch with an axe. Naturally, when he finished cutting the branch, he fell down with it. The ministers were happy that they had found the pawn for their scheme. They instructed the fool to only communicate in sign language, and brought him along with them to the city palace.<br /><br />They told the princess that the fellow accompanying them was a renowned pundit from North, but he has taken Maun Vrat (vow of silence), so he will only respond to her in sign language. The lady believed in their story and agreed to debate with the fool.<br /><br />The princess showed him one finger [ her meaning was '<i>shakti </i>is one' ]. He thought she will poke his one eye, so he showed her two fingers [ meaning he will poke both her eyes ]. She accepted it as a wonderful response, since 'shakti' is manifest in Duality (<i>shiv-shakti</i>, nar-nari, etc.).<br /><br />Then she showed her palm with fingers extended [ meaning 'the world is made of five elements' ]. He thought she is about to slap him and in return showed her the fist. She accepted it as a response to her question. [meaning the same five elements - earth, water, fire, air, and void - make the body ].<br /><br />After more such extremely hilarious exchanges - which are most probably later additions - The lady accepted her defeat and married the dimwit. The ministers were successful in their scheme. Of course, after marriage, the secret could not remain hidden for long and when the princess discovered that her husband is not a pundit but a fool, she got outraged and drew him out of the palace - most likely on the first night itself.<br /><br />The poor man wandered around, found a temple of <b><i>Kali</i></b> and made it his home. He worshiped Goddess Kali and - in some versions of the story - cut his tongue off and offered it as a sacrifice to Kali. Kali was appeased with him and granted him, along with his tongue, profound wisdom -- Thus he took the name Kalidasa ("Devotee of Kali").<br /><br />When he returned to his house, his wife asked the following famous question, "Asti Kashchit Vaag-visheshaH?''<br /><br />[ Asti = is, Kashchit = any, Vaag = language / knowledge, Visheshah = speciality ]<br /><br />Her meaning was -- "Have you got / learnt anything special now?"<br /><br />In response to her question, Kalidasa wrote three works of exceptional literary beauty, all three peoms -- starting with the three words of her question:<br /><br /> With Asti = asti-uttarasyaam dishi = Kumara-sambhavam (epic poem)<br /> With Kashchit = kashchit-kaantaa = Meghdoot (lyric poem)<br /> With Vaag = vaagarthaaviva = Raghuvansha (epic poem)<br /><br />Now that is a suitable answer to the question !!!<br /><br />Kumara-sambhavam is one of my personal favorites. Especially the first few stanzas of the poem, which describe the Himalayas are so beautiful that every time I travel in the Himalayas, I am bound to think of and ruminate on them.<br /><br /><b>Kalidasa and Hanumad Ramayana</b>---------------------------------------------------<br /><br />The other interesting reference of Kalidasa is related to Hanumad Ramayana. I will discuss the case of Multiple Ramayanas in a post to follow separately (<i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/06/many-hanumans.html" target="_blank">see here</a></i>). But let's talk about Kalidasa's reference here.<br /><br />It is considered that Lord Hanuman originally scripted a version of the Ramayana on clay tablets - even before Valmiki did - in fact Hanuman was the first person to write the story of Rama - recording every detail of Rama's deeds, and brought them to Rama for his blessings of that narrative.<br /><br />But Rama, out of modesty, declined to do anything with it, saying that he was only doing his duty and so there was nothing spectacular to be noted and told to others. Dejected by this, Hanuman is said to have brought these clay tablets to the seashore, recited each verse, broken each tablet on his knee and thrown it into the sea.<br /><br />The other version of the story is that after the victory of Rama over Ravana, Hanuman went to the Himalayas to continue his worship of the Lord. There he scripted a version of the Ramayana on the Himalayan mountains using his nails, recording every detail of Rama's deeds on clay tables. When Maharishi Valmiki visited him to show him his own version of the Ramayana, he also saw Lord Hanuman's version and became very disappointed.<br /><br />When Hanuman asked him the cause of his sorrow, he said that his version, which he had created very laboriously was no match for the splendour of Hanuman's, and would therefore, go ignored. At this, Hanuman took those rocks / clay tables on one shoulder and Valmiki on the other, and went to the sea. There he threw his own version into the sea, as an offering to Rama.<br /><br />In any case, this version, called the <b><i>Hanumad Ramayana</i></b>, has been unavailable since then.<br /><br />But one tablet is said to have floated ashore, during the period of Maha kavi Kalidasa, and hung at a public place to be deciphered by scholars. Kalidasa is said to have deciphered it and recognized that it was from the Hanumad Ramayana recorded by Hanuman in an extinct script, and considered himself fortunate enough to see at least one foot of the stanza.<br /><br />Kalidasa is supposed to have translated the foot of the stanza from the ancient script, which said:<br /><br />"Oh! Ravana, those your ten heads, on which you lifted Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva, are now bumped on battlefield by the claws of crows and eagles, know what has happened to your high-headed decahedral <i>(ten-headed)</i> pride, at the hands of virtue..."<br /><br />Of course, like the other parts of story, this one too seems to be completely a figment of imagination, but just goes on to prove how strong the legend of Kalidasa has remained in this land!<br /><br />Best<br />- Shreekant<br /><br />(Ref: Shashikant Joshi, http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/kalidas.html)</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-91392624338566673152008-07-15T11:44:00.005+05:302017-10-01T15:17:02.461+05:3024 Shatrughna<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">When it comes to Hindi movies aka Bollywood, there are two terms that puzzle me the most. Actually there is a lot that puzzles me, but these two are almost like enigma, because I can't understand what in Dadasaheb Phalke's name do they mean.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The first one is 'Item Number'. I mean, what exactly is the definition of this term -- an "item number"? When does a song cease to exist being just another song, and suddenly become an Item Number? Earlier it was easy. There would be one jhatka-matka song in the film - especially filmed on some good-looking woman with great body and almost negligible clothing. The song's mood would be different from the overall movie, and most importantly, this femme fatale from the item number had very little (actually absolutely nothing) to do with the rest of the film. So that was easy.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But now I am not so sure --- you know, with Shahrukh Khan - not a gorgeous babe but a 45-year old skinny dude - dancing in his own movie where he has not one, but two, roles - and both are title roles. This is no guest appearance for one song, unless he has used body doubles for the rest of the movie ... Then I hear that in some trash-can movie they have 4 ITEM SONGS - I mean come on, so is every song an Item Number in this movie? Is every peppy number an item number? Is every number filmed on people who have nothing to do with the rest of the team an item number? What exactly is this term - Item Number?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The other word that stumps me is 'Guest Appearance'. I used to think that a cameo appearance is a 'guest appearance'. And so the definition for this is 'a very short appearance'. But apparently that is not so ... In 'Bhootnath', SRK - whose name is given as guest appearance / special appearance in the title credits --- has more role, more work to do, more lines, more footage and more screen presence than Salman Khan had in the titanic disaster called 'Saawariyaa' of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. But in the latter, Salman Khan's name appears in the main credits and not as Guest Appearance. So does Guest Appearance mean pro bono work? </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I wish someone would conduct lessons in filmy goobledygook, so that these definitions are clear to mere mortals like us.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Speaking of Guest Appearances, one cannot but think of the characters in the Great Epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata - </span>Bharat<span style="font-weight: normal;">, </span>Shatrughna<span style="font-weight: normal;">, </span>Nakula<span style="font-weight: normal;"> and </span>Sahadeva<span style="font-weight: normal;"> - the younger brothers of the key protagonists in the Epics. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Of these, Bharata perhaps has more airtime in Ramayana than Shatrughna, just as Sahadeva has in Mahabharata than Nakula. Of course, this is only true about the versions prevelant in Northern India. In South India, as well as other parts of the world - especially Southeast Asia, these heros have their due mention. They even have their own stories - especially Sahadeva - sometimes fleshy enough for an independent Wayang plays.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So what of Shatrughna -- the son of Dashratha with his third wife Sumitra, and the twin brother of Lakshmana? Most people don't realize that he - and not Bharata - was responsible for the kingdom of Ayodhya all by himself while Rama was away ... Rama went to forest, ... Lakshmana followed Rama, ... Bharata loved Rama too much and so was in too much grief to function normally when the eldest brother is away. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So who has to get ready and go to work every day for those 14 years? Shatrughna. For fourteen years he ruled, like an alert soldier and administrator. And yet, he plays a relatively minor role in the Epic. His most famous deed and chief exploit is the killing of Lavanasura at Madhuvan - the present day Mathura. Here is the story of his great moment of glory.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shatrughna and the battle with Lavanasura</span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So this story begins much after the events detailed in the great epic Ramayana, when Rama has come back to Ayodhya and has become the king, and when Bharata has become the prince. The people of Ayodhya are now being happily ruled. All the rakshasas in Lanka - along with their king Ravana - are destroyed and Lanka is now ruled by the wise Bibhishana.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So overall in Aryavarth (India), there is happiness everywhere - except in the jungles of </span>Madhuvana<span style="font-weight: normal;"> (later called Madhupura --- which is present-day Mathura). It is said that one will satisfy all desires in this forest. Madhu means “honey". Madhuvana forest is 5km west of the current location of Mathura city.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It is believed that Lord Vishnu appeared in Madhuvana in all four yugas. In Satya-yuga He appeared before Dhruva. In Treta-yuga He came as </span>Satrughna<span style="font-weight: normal;"> and killed the demon Lavanasura. He came as Lord </span>Krishna<span style="font-weight: normal;"> in Dwapara-yuga and as Lord </span>Chaitanya<span style="font-weight: normal;"> Mahaprabhu in Kali-yuga. But that is later.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now Madhuvana was earlier ruled (in Krita yuga) by the demon-king </span>Madhu<span style="font-weight: normal;">, who in all likelihood built the palace and city of Mathura. Madhu was married to </span>Kumbhini<span style="font-weight: normal;">, sister of </span>Ravana<span style="font-weight: normal;"> and </span>Kumbhakarna<span style="font-weight: normal;">, (this seems an overlap as Ravana's sister was </span><i>Soorpanakha</i><span style="font-weight: normal;">, but let's go with this version for now). And, just like Ravana, Madhu also was a great devotee of Lord </span>Shiva<span style="font-weight: normal;">. He was also kind to his people and to the brahmin sages in Madhuvan. Pleased with his devotion, Shiva had offered Madhu his famous divine Trishula (Trident), which made Madhu practically invincible. But Madhu was a righteous and pious person. He ruled his kingdom with compassion and so his people were happy as long as he ruled them.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Cut to Dwapara Yuga. Madhu has passed away and his rule is now inherited by </span>Lavanasura<span style="font-weight: normal;"> *, his son - and with the rule, the Trishula too. Now Lavanasura is the anti-thesis of his father. His deeds are more suitable to what he is - a rakshasa / demon. Since childhood he is known to be a brat, who bullies brahmin children while at school and also an arrogant despot. And now, he gets the Trishula as inheritance, wielding which makes him invincible ... No one can stop him now!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Relying upon the power of his Trisula, Lavansura starts terrorizing the rishis (sages) and other good people. Lavanasura continues to torment the innocent and destroy many sacrifices of sages and terrify them in many ways. Many kings are defeated by him and they are all afraid. Lavana's rakshasas would not allow any sages or rishis to come and mediate in the area nor would they allow anyone to come and take bath in the Yamuna or to drink water from the Yamuna. They would harass the yogis and sages at every opportunity.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The havoc that is created by Lavanasura knows no bound, and very soon the tales of his crimes and sins fall on Rama's ears. One day the sages headed by sage </span>Chyavana<span style="font-weight: normal;"> (descendents of sage Bhrigu) travel from Madhuvan to Lord Rama in Ayodhya with a plea to protect them. </span>Shatrughna<span style="font-weight: normal;">, who is also present when they narrate this, begs his elder brothers to let him set out on a mission to kill Lavanasura. Rama gives him a Deity of </span><i>Varahadeva</i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> that he had gotten after defeating Ravana in Lanka, and a divine arrow imbibed with the power of Lord Vishnu, and sends him on the task with a portion of Ayodhya's army.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">On his way, Shatrughna spends the night at Valmiki's Ashram - where he sees Sita and the two newborn children of Rama - Luv and Kush. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">After reaching Madhuvan, Shatrughna spies on Lavanasura and finds that the demon is invincible as long as he is wielding the Trishula -- which the demon keeps in his house / cave , close to him. So he cannot enter the house and kill the demon. The only way to kill him is to find a chance when the demon is away from the invincible Trishula. So Shatrughna waits for the chance.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lavanasura's daily routine includes game - going into the forest, hunting animals and then bringing them back for making a meal. One day he goes out hunting without taking his Trishula along. Shatrughna seizes the opportunity, and positions himself right in front of the cave in the forest. After a while, Lavana returns with several tigers, a water buffalo, an elephant, a big fat snake and a crocodile - this is supposed to be his dinner! ... As soon as the demon is in sight, Shatrughna gives out a loud war-cry and jumps on to the demon. Lavanasura is taken by surprise at first, but fights back with vigor.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lavana asks Shatrughna to let him fetch his weapons from inside his house, so that both are suitably armed. Shatrughna says that Lavana already has a spear which he has used for hunting, and so he is armed already.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The fight goes on for hours, and both fight valiantly, while the demon tries hard to get inside the house and fetch the Trishula and Shatrughna tries every trick possible to block his way. Lavana uproots many trees and throws them at Shatrughna. Finally Shatrughna sends a death blow with his divine arrow right in the heart taking out his life-breath and slays Lavanasura - and thus validates his name, which literally means 'destroyer of the enemies'.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">He returns to Ayodhya, tells stories of his exploits and expresses his desire to spend the rest of his life with the brothers. Rama however rules that he should become the king of the area that Lavanasura was ruling earlier. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Thus, Shatrughna returns to Madhuvan and rules over the kingdom of Lavanasura in manner that gives great happiness to the people, the rishis and other inhabitants for 12 years. He rebuilds the city of Madhupuri, and claims the land in Aryan fold. He is married to </span><i>Shrutakirti</i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> (lit. 'one whose fame is heard'), daughter of </span><i>Kushadvaja</i><span style="font-weight: normal;">, who is a brother of King Janaka of Mithila. By this relation, Shrutakirti is a cousin of Sita.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">After 12 years, Shatrughna returns to Ayodhya to join Rama. Rama completes his pious rule upon earth and then walks into the river Sharayu to return to his true and eternal Mahavishnu form. Bharata and Shatrughna follow him into the river, and merge into Mahavishnu.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Today, there is a Deity of Shatrughna, said to date back to Treta-yuga, in a temple next to Krishna Kunda. There is a cave near the Dhruva-Narayana Temple in which the demon Lavanasura is believed to have lived.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">- Best</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">S</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">* Lavanasura -- There is another mention of Lavanasura in the Puranas. This seems to be a different Lavanasura than the one in Shatrughna's story. This one story is related to the formation of Lonar lake - the salt-water lake situated near Buldhana, ahead of Aurangabad, in Maharashtra. Lavana in Sanskrit means 'salt'.</span></span></h4>
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Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-89239053974855467642008-06-29T18:07:00.006+05:302017-10-01T14:53:35.987+05:3023 Ghatotkach and Abhimanyu<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When one reads Mahabharata in its current form, it is always made amply clear that the Mahanayak - the supreme hero - of </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">this epic is Lord <b>Krishna</b>. Although Krishna appears on the scene much later after the feud has happened, he is almost </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">always at the center of the story - and as Krishna is the supreme hero, so is his greatest devotee and friend Partha <b>Arjuna</b>. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So much so that Arjuna is considered to be the incarnation of Nara, the supreme Man, and Krisha is considered Narayana - </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the Supreme God (Vishnu).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Arjuna kills all the Maharathis (generals if you please) in the war --- </span><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Bhishma, Drona, Karna</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> --- except the Kaurava brothers. The </span><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Kauravas</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> --- all 100 of them, including </span><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Dussasana</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and the eldest </span><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Duryodhana</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> --- are all killed single-handedly by - and this is where we come to the second greatest character - </span><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Bhima</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Bhima is known for his prowess with his favorite weapon the mace (gada, in Sanskrit), just as Arjun is known for his archery. Bhima is as much responsible and central to all the events of the great epic as is Krishna. He saves his four brothers and mother </span><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Kunti</b><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> from certain death in Lakshagriha. He kills </span><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><i>Hidimb</i></b><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> Rakshasa, and </span><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><i>Bakasura</i></b><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> at Ekchakra. The advice that Krishna gives Arjuna in the form of Gita is given to all Pandavas much earlier by Bhima - albeit in a shorter form.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Indeed, there is a school of thought that Bhima was the real Mahanayak of the epic earlier --- this theory is expanded in much greater detail by Dr. P. V. Vartak in his Marathi book </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">'Swayabhu'</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> ("The Self-made").</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anyway, I do not wish to discuss who is greater - Bhima or Arjuna. Both are superb characters - Bhima with his weakness for food, and Arjuna with his weakness for women (and worldly desires). Both are great warriors, and both are a great source of inspiration - and of course, rumination. To us, that is what matters.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What I wish to discuss, in fact, is their respective prodigal sons - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ghatotkach </span>and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Abhimanyu </span>- and the great similarity they share in life as well as death. </span></span></div>
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I mean, look at the two. Both are <span style="font-weight: bold;">born to great fathers</span> - Ghatotkach to Bhima, son of Vayu, and Abhimanyu to Arjuna, son of Indra. With that lineage, both are grandsons of Adityas (i.e. sons of <strike>Diti</strike> <b>Aditi</b> and <b>Kashyap</b>, son of <b>Marichi</b>, one of the <b>Saptarshis</b>) -- <em>Typo on Aditi - identified by a reader. Thank you!</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although, both are sons born to Pandavas - Bhima and Arjuna - they are from their <span style="font-weight: bold;">wives other than Draupadi</span>. Ghatotkacha is born to Hidimba, the princess of Hidimbavana, while Abhimanyu is born to Subhadra, sister of Krishna and therefore princess of Dwaraka. Ghatotkach is the only son of Hidimba, so is Abhimanyu of Subhadra.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both are born when their fathers were in <span style="font-weight: bold;">exile / hiding</span>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">The marriage of their respective parents is preceeded by some </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: bold;">unpleasant event</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> - like killing of Hidimb Rakshasa in case of Ghatotkach and Subhadra-harana (abduction - carrying away if you please - of Subhadra by Arjuna from Dwaraka) in case of Abhimanyu. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both these events have a potential of turning really ugly for the Pandavas - like sister <b>Hidimba</b> could have got furious and killed all the brothers as a revenge, and the Yadavas could have waged a war against Pandavas at Indraprastha, where Arjuna took <b>Subhadra</b>. However, both the events turn out to be good for the Pandavas - and end up in matrimony.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both the children grow up <span style="font-weight: bold;">away from their fathers</span>, but near their mothers - Ghatotkach in Hidimbavana and Abhimanyu in Dwaraka. Both are taught warfare, but that must be true for all Kshatriya kids.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both know Shastra (hand-weapons) as well as Astra (missiles and special weaponary) vidya. Moreover, Ghatotkach is known for his Maya vidya (illusions) - being a half-Rakshasa by birth. In fact, in Tamilnadu, there is a folklore about how Abhimanyu is also an incarnate demon from Ramayana age. That makes both of them half-Rakshasas.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both are known for their <span style="font-weight: bold;">prowess</span> in their father's weapon more than their famous fathers - Ghatotkach was superior wielder of mace than Bhima and Abhimanyu was greater than Arjuna in archery.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span>Both <span style="font-weight: bold;">fight the Great War</span> on the side of their fathers - the Pandavas - and are legendary for their bravery and the havoc they created for the enemy side the Kauravas. Ghatotkach fights shoulder to shoulder with Dhrishtadyunma, Pandava's commander in chief, and is known to be one of the fiercest warriors on this side. Abhimanyu is so proficient in warfare than Kauravas think that there are not one, but two Arjunas - the first being the real Arjuna and the second being his great son who resembles his father in prowess and valor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both kill thousands and thousands of enemies, and overpower great warriors.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Both die tragic deaths in the Great War.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both die on the battlefield within a span of a <span style="font-weight: bold;">day</span> - Abhimanyu first and then Ghatotkach. This is during the 13th and 14th day of the war.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Indeed, these two death are crucial, landmark, and cornerstones in the war, and ensure the victory of Pandavas.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both are killed by means <span style="font-weight: bold;">beyond</span> their regular fighting abilities - Ghatotkach by a divine missile and Abhimanyu by the overpowering attack of six people together against one.<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The death of Abhimanyu is much known and celebrated --- the way he takes charge of breaking on his own the Chakravyuha created by Drona when Arjuna is gone away to fight with the Samsaptaka army, how he breaks into the Vyuha, how the other Pandavas are stopped by the barely-known <b>Jayadratha</b> (or Saindhava) by a quirk boon given to him by Lord Shiva that he will be able to fight the four Pandavas (except Arjuna) for one day, how the Kaurava warriors crowd around him, how <b>Karna</b> breaks Abhimanyu's bow from behind, how he charges towards <b>Drona</b> with a chariot wheel --- the images of this battle form a poignant tale in itself, and Abhimanyu's name is considered synonymous with fearless bravery and valor.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ghatotkach takes on him the great Shakti - a weapon given to Karna by Indra himself - and is killed. Radheya Karna has been saving this Shakti for Arjuna, but Ghatotkach is causing a havoc in the Kaurava army. Something is necessary to stop him and so Duryodhana asks Karna to use Shakti on Ghatotkach. When Karna, albeit reluctantly, uses his Shakti on Ghatotkach and he is killed, Krishna is known to utter under bated breath "the victory is ours for sure now".</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ghatotkach's death follows with father Bhima showering his wrath on the Kaurava army and especially the Kaurava brothers, while Abhimanyu's death forces father Arjuna to take the terrible oath of killing Jayadratha in a day or committing suicide.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both these deaths happen during the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Drona Parva</span> - the five days where Drona becomes the commander of Duryodhana's army. This is also the turning point in the ways of the world - as the laws of Dharmayudha (like fighting with the opponent of same caliber, fighting with the same weapon, fighting only during the daytime, not using Astras against common population or those who have no countermeasures for them etc.) are all abandoned - and marks the beginning of Kali Yuga although nowadays people consider Kali Yuga to actually start from Krishna's death much later after the war was over.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In any case, coming back to Bhima and Arjuna, the current versions of Mahabharata give a far more elaborate emphasis on Abhimanyu's death as compared to Ghatotkach's death, which I think is an injustice. In fact, there is an overall tendency to show Ghatotkach as lesser than Abhimanyu, just as Bhima is usually depicted as a hero lesser than Arjuna.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is also a story about how, much before the events in the Great War, Abhimanyu fights Ghatotkach once in Hidimbavan, and overpowers the Rakshasa although Ghatotkach is much elder to Abhimanyu. Only when Hidimba anxiously calls out Ghatotkach in despair as "Bhimsena's son", does Abhimanyu come to know who he is fighting against and stops. Later, when they recognize each other and are happy to find their relationship, Ghatotkach takes care of Abhimany and helps him marry <b><i>Shashirekha</i></b>, Balarama's daughter too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, the story looks like a major fabricated addition of later times - an effort to show how Abhimanyu was a greater warrior than Ghatotkach. The timelines don't match, the character of Ghatotkach is almost a caricature of what he is in the actual Mahabharata (also driven by the fact that he is a half-Rakshasa) and there is no further mention of Shashirekha in Mahabharat later. Abhimanyu is said to have married <b>Uttara</b>, daughter of king <b>Virata</b> and fathered <b>Parikshit</b>. So there are a lot of loose ends to this story, and I would like to leave it at that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Whatever your viewpoint is, one thing is certain -- Ghatotkach and Abhimanyu - these two boys stand as pillars of invincible strength and great inspiration, and their glory seems unfaded, rather their names shine brighter as time goes by.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Best</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- S</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-6971525350883751102008-06-02T23:01:00.004+05:302017-10-01T12:51:12.540+05:3016 Panchmukhi Hanuman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you are driving down from Mumbai to Goa, or to Pune on the old highway, you need to cross Panvel. While you negotiate your way through the traffic mainly caused by the state transport (S.T.) buses, you pass a small shrine under a banyan tree. It declares the lord of the property to by <span style="font-weight: bold;">"Panchmukhi" (five-faced) Hanuman</span>. पंचमुखी हनुमान ।<br /><br />Although shrines of Hanuman are in abundance across the Indian subcontinent, especially in hilly terrains like Maharashtra, shrines of "Panchmukhi" Hanuman are a rarity. Of course, there is more likelihood to find one in the Southern parts of the country. The images of the Great Vanara (not Monkey) God in Northern India usually depict him as pulling his chest apart to show Lord Rama and Sita, or flying through the air carrying an entire mountain in one hand. But none of these have Hanuman depicted as having more than one heads.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />The form of Hanuman as "Sri Panchamukha Anjaneya Swami" (Anjaneya = "son of Anjani") is more famous in the South and some other parts of the world. Some of the famous places where this form is seen are: <i>Kumbakonam </i>and <i>Thiruvallur</i>, both in Tamil Nadu.<br /><br />Unlike <b>Dattatreya </b>who was born with three heads, or <b>Ravana</b> with ten heads, Hanuman was indeed born with one head. So where does this concept of a 5-headed Hanuman come from?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />It happened during the war between <b>Rama</b> and Ravana's armies in Lanka, in fact almost at the end of that war. As it so happens, two powerful rakshasa brothers <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mahiravana</span> and <b>Ahiravana</b> are fighting on the side of Ravana. In some scriptures they are said to be Ravana's sons and are summoned by their father to help him after many of Ravana's warriors and generals are killed. <br /><br />Mahiravana is the ruler of the Patalpuri (Patala i.e. Hell). Now Mahiravana, being a powerful practitioner of dark arts and magic (known to be a great devotee of Goddess Kali) locates <b>Rama</b> and <b>Laxmana</b> by his magic. Mahiravana disguises himself as King <b>Dasharartha</b>, and gets past Hanuman's fortress who is guarding them - who although surprised to see Dasharatha at the battlefield, allows the old man to pass reverentially. Mahiravana gets access to the inside of the tent, captures Rama and Laxmana while they are sleeping, drags them down and holds them captive in his palace in Patala. <br /><br />But Mahiravana leaves a trail behind, which goes deep into the bowels of the earth. Searching for them, Hanuman reaches Patala whose gates are guarded by a creature called <b>Makardhwaja</b>. Hanuman subdues him and ties him up before entering Patalpuri to rescue Rama and Lakshmana.<br /><br />Upon entering Patala, Hanuman discovers the two brothers held captive meant as sacrifice to Goddess <b><i>Kali</i></b>, and also that in order to kill Mahiravana, he must simultaneously extinguish five lamps burning in five different directions. Thus, Lord Hanuman assumes the Panchamukha or five-faced form of:<br /><br />1. Sri Varaha facing the North<br /> 2. Sri Narasimha facing the South<br /> 3. Sri Garuda facing the West <br />4. Sri Hayagriva (a much earlier Avatar of Vishnu) facing the sky and <br />5. His own (Hanuman) facing the East <br /><br />Thus equipped with the five faces, Hanuman blows out the lamps, kills Mahiravana (in some versions, he sacrifices the demon himself to Goddess Kali, thus earning her favor by virtue of which she made Hanuman her doorkeeper - Indeed many temples of the goddess are seen to have a monkey guarding their doorways) and thus rescues Rama and Laxmana.<br /><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">to this day, Hanuman is invoked in any fight against sorcery, and amulets and charms depicting him are therefore extremely popular among devotees. Some popular folklore has a different version in which Mahiravana is killed, but that does not explain Hanuman's five faces. So I prefer this one that I have narrated here. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I really liked the photo attached to the wikipedia article about Panchmukhi Hanuman, so I am shamelessly pasting it here.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfv3cgQrv30B9Tju5vHV1JkiQJr2ti9S4A5at-3ZBEfLjsXRiTCnH4mUrhhlMT1qWXK1MU9IZKKqdtDLj1wXS6-RHY08-eW0qLcpR5gRi-GqBLXH_MtUry7Bv8rfKRheuPngyC6kkxLRi/s1600-h/Hanuman+5face.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207339245417095170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfv3cgQrv30B9Tju5vHV1JkiQJr2ti9S4A5at-3ZBEfLjsXRiTCnH4mUrhhlMT1qWXK1MU9IZKKqdtDLj1wXS6-RHY08-eW0qLcpR5gRi-GqBLXH_MtUry7Bv8rfKRheuPngyC6kkxLRi/s640/Hanuman+5face.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="496" /></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />The five faced Hanuman icon is reckoned to be the most powerful form of this god. It was once the most popular form and again came to light since it was the main deity of Sri <i>Raghavendra Swami</i>, a 16th century Hindu saint who advocated <i>Vaishnavism</i> and the Dvaita philosophy advocated by <i>Madhvacharya</i> (as against the Advaita philosophy by Sri <i>Sankaracharya</i>).<br /><br />More later,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- S</span> </div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-86070532915495671382008-05-23T02:53:00.001+05:302017-09-30T17:07:14.639+05:3013 Chiranjeevi 8 - Kripa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0n_RVsUxzDLK0voaZBfJAl2R9q_Iz3RGQSc8R1kQQF4_30gPXFrlQ4yIgoOvPZhdefPqNLtGJ7QNotoLpaVvERWKczaNWtt2bZ1QZABSq3DzbGwSf3970urUEET5MSaXUbAFxqMEfdRXZ/s1600/kripacharya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0n_RVsUxzDLK0voaZBfJAl2R9q_Iz3RGQSc8R1kQQF4_30gPXFrlQ4yIgoOvPZhdefPqNLtGJ7QNotoLpaVvERWKczaNWtt2bZ1QZABSq3DzbGwSf3970urUEET5MSaXUbAFxqMEfdRXZ/s1600/kripacharya.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0n_RVsUxzDLK0voaZBfJAl2R9q_Iz3RGQSc8R1kQQF4_30gPXFrlQ4yIgoOvPZhdefPqNLtGJ7QNotoLpaVvERWKczaNWtt2bZ1QZABSq3DzbGwSf3970urUEET5MSaXUbAFxqMEfdRXZ/s1600/kripacharya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Kripacharya</span> - Also often called <b><i>Kripa</i></b>, was the chief priest at the court of Hastinapura, in the Mahabharata. He comes from the lineage of Rishi <b><i>Gautam</i></b>.<br /><br /><b>Gautam</b> had a son called <b>Sharadvan</b> – who was supposedly born with arrows. He was great archer and attained the art of all types of warfare. He bore twins – a boy and a girl – from an Apsara called <b>Janapadi</b>. The twins were found by King <b>Shantanu</b>, of Hastinapura, who brought them to the city and called them <b><i>Kripa</i></b> and <i><b>Kripi</b></i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kripa went on to become the high priest of Hastinapura, and also the early teacher of the 100 Kauravas and 5 Pandavas. Kripi married <b>Drona</b>, and gave birth to <b>Ashwatthama</b>. So Kripa was also guru and maternal uncle of Ashwatthama.<br /><br />Kripacharya was an extraordinary teacher. To him, all pupils were equal. A guru like Drona favoured <b>Arjuna</b> and sacrificed an equally if not more promising student - he asked <b>Ekalavya</b> for his right thumb. Kripa, on the other hand, upheld the highest standards expected of a teacher: He was completely impartial.<br /><br />He fought on the side of <b>Duryodhana</b> in the War, also was part of the murder of <b>Abhimanyu</b> and the manslaughter at night that was orchestrated by Ashwatthama. However in all these cases, his part is always that of a bystander and the one who goes with the flow. He was one of the 3 people who survived the massacre of Kauravas during the Epic War.<br /><br />Very little is known about why he became a Chiranjeevi and what is his status in the later ages. I intend to find more and post about this soon.<br /><br />Best<br />- Shreekant</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-47030434813721316172008-05-23T02:51:00.004+05:302017-09-30T17:00:31.429+05:3012 Chiranjeevi 7 - Ved Vyasa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: bold;">7. Vyasa (Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> – Vyasa is a central and much revered figure in Hinduism. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa – the one who compiled the Vedas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209954335900342818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xmVKCGe-Ms-fntBNCMbeXi-cS2g9L5RddMha71OIu41L-l4cJYuDAtPoRrG7VyZU1c1fDmwAEH-e5mBdwuoPLTsz9VN1VQ8jARen5iiDYtr4p0O8WVjfpDDKqy3fB6DfSqkwKHPoy8E_/s1600/vedavyasa.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px;" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">According to the Mahabharata, he was the son of <b>Satyavati</b>, a ferryman's daughter, and the wandering sage <b>Parashara</b>. This was before Satyavati’s marriage to <b><i>Shantanu</i></b> and before <b><i>Devavrata</i></b> became <b><i>Bhishma</i></b>. (See <i><b><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/devavrata-becomes-bhishma.html" target="_blank">here</a></b></i>)<br /><br />Vyasa was born on an island in the river Yamuna. This is said to be near Kalpi in Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh. He was dark in colour and hence may be called by the name Krishna कृष्णा (black), and also the name Dwaipayana द्वैपायाना , meaning 'island-born' (Dweep = island)<br /><br />Hindus traditionally hold that Vyasa categorised the primordial single Veda into four. Hence he was called <b><i>Veda Vyasa</i></b>, or "Splitter of the Vedas," the splitting being a feat that allowed people to understand the divine knowledge of the Veda. The word <i>‘vyasa’</i> means <i>‘analyze’</i>.<br /><br />Vyasa is traditionally known as author of Mahabharata (see <i><b><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/05/invoking-lord-ganesh.html" target="_blank">here</a></b></i>). Vyasa was closely related to the Kauravas and Pandavas, so much as that he perpetuated their race in the line of the Kuru king <b>Vichitravirya</b> (although there are doubts whether it was the same Vyasa). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is said that both <b>Dhritarashtra</b> and <b>Pandu</b>, adopted as the sons of Vichitravirya by the royal family, were born from him. Thus he was the grandfather of the Pandavas and Kauravas. This kinship enabled him to know much about the happenings in the royal family, ultimately enabling him to author their history in the form of <i>Jaya</i> (the original name of Mahabharata). He also makes occasional appearances in the story as a spiritual guide to the young princes.<br /><br />It is said that he lived in <i><b>Kurukshetra </b>(see <a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2013/10/46-samanta-panchaka.html" target="_blank">here</a>)</i>, in a forest, very near to the battle field, enabling him to know considerable details about the Kurukshetra War, as it took place in front of his eyes. It is said that he continues to live thus.<br /><br />The Vishnu-Purana suggests that Vyasa is an incarnation of <b>Vishnu</b> and in every third world age (that is, Dvapara yuga - see <i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2008/06/time-spans-and-multiple-yugas-part-1.html" target="_blank">here for a discussion about yugas</a></i>), he divides the Veda, which is properly but one, into many portions - fourfold to be exact. This he does in order to promote the good of mankind.<br /><br />- Best<br />Shreekant</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-43244033947866794692008-05-23T02:50:00.005+05:302017-09-30T16:53:48.648+05:3011 Chiranjeevi 6 - Markandeya<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Markandeya</span> – Markandeya is an ancient rishi (sage) from the Hindu tradition, born in the clan of <b>Brigu Rishi</b>. He is celebrated as a devotee of both Shiva and Vishnu and is mentioned in a number of stories from the Puranas. He is known to be of great mental prowess and an exemplary narrator of stories (Markandeya Purana).<br /><br /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209956830592019634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZZVhyphenhyphenCoLaAiE-stEedG3KZf7Bipf57sCdnPPv3cZFMFpvKZL0T_vaNrUuTukXbmZF4sda_4F8GB-TzoN1x0iD7gOnsgznKQbs96cifeZ0ciztuRRgWmfo8Cb9HcdTfqXUgezh6oPTD9Qx/s1600/markandeya.gif" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px;" />His mention also appears in Mahabharata, where he meets the exiled Pandavas in forest and reduces their burden by telling them stories of earlier kings and gods and demons.<br /><br />One legend relates the story of how <b>Shiva</b> protected Markandeya from the clutches of death (Yama) and how he became a Chiranjeevi:<br /><br />It is said that Sage <b>Mrikandu</b> and his wife <b>Marudmati</b> worshipped Shiva and sought from him the boon of begetting a son. As a result they were given the choice of either a gifted son, but with a short life on earth or a child of low intelligence but with a long life. Mrikandu chose the former, and was blessed with <b>Markandeya</b>, an exemplary son, destined to die at the age of 16.<br /><br />Markandeya grew up to be a great devotee of Shiva and on the day of his destined death he continued his worship of Shiva in his form of Shivalingam. When Yamadoots - messengers of Yama – came to take him, he asked them to wait. The yamadoots were unable to take away his life because of his great devotion and continual worship of Shiva.<br /><br /><b>Yama</b> then came himself in person to take Markandeya's life away, saying death does not wait for anyone and sprung his noose around the young sage's neck. By accident of fate the noose mistakenly landed around the Shivalingam, and out of it, Shiva emerged in all his fury attacking Yama for his act of aggression. After defeating Yama in battle to the point of death, Shiva then revived him, under the condition that the devout youth would live forever. <br /><br />For the above act, Shiva was thereafter known also as <b>Kaalakalaya</b>, meaning 'one who brought death, to death himself'. Thus Maha Mrityunjaya Stotra is also attributed to Markandeya, which is related to this legend of Shiva conquering death.<br /><br />As a result of the above, Markandeya continues to live forever and is always the age of 16 – the age he was supposed to die.<br /><br />- Best<br />Shreekant</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-43578341039552777592008-05-23T02:48:00.003+05:302017-09-30T16:48:40.572+05:3010 Chiranjeevi 5 - Maha bali<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Mahabali (King Bali)</span> – The realm of Patala (specifically the <b><i>Sutala</i></b> -- see my earlier post "<a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2008/05/devavrata-becomes-bhishma.html">Devavrata becomes Bhishma</a>") is supposed to be the realm of King Bali. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Each year Bali surfaces on Earth on the day of Bali Pratipada (first day after Lakshmi Puja – Deepavali) and grants favors to people. Also known as <b><i>Sahastrabahu</i></b> (one with thousand arms), Bali is a righteous king and is therefore deified. Although he was Asura, he was very religious and pious. He took great care of his subjects and his rule is considered a golden era.<br /><br />King Bali is immortalized because even Vishnu had to humble himself as Vamana to conquer him. He stands out for his valour and charity - two great eternal qualities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mahabali is believed to have ruled in South India before the Ramayana events and his empire is believed to have extended from the Vindhyas in the north to the far out in the south. His capital was Kerala. In the state of Kerala, the Onam festival is a celebration of the visit of Mahabali to their land. Bali is supposed to return every year to the land of his people, to ensure that they are prosperous.<br /><br />Bali’s lineage is as under:<br /><br /><i>Marichi – Kashyapa (with Diti) – Hiranyakashipu – Prahlada – Veerochana – <b>Bali</b></i><br /><br />As the story goes, loking at the growing popularity and fame of King Bali the Devas become extremely concerned that the Daitya way might conquer the people. <b>Vishnu</b> decides to intervene and takes the fifth Maha Avatar known as the <b>Vamana</b> – a poor Brahmin boy (See my later post on the <b><i><a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2011/05/mythical-timeline-of-dashavataras.html" target="_blank">Mythical Timeline of Dashavataras</a></i></b> to know more about the 10 Maha Avataras). </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjidV1nbykbeXyokhv5p1pLy-L1ZiJ6BL1MgPkFxfDwisVv1wh14EXq8IqMgRZ2MmACn08zO5IeXSn18Idu-kvsrmqwGAWhi_dtjTvPmDJzpOOgqo_6wBXD2rG_Cu8NGNtFm9H_TzJP1oDz/s1600/mahabali+and+vamana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "times new roman"; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="220" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjidV1nbykbeXyokhv5p1pLy-L1ZiJ6BL1MgPkFxfDwisVv1wh14EXq8IqMgRZ2MmACn08zO5IeXSn18Idu-kvsrmqwGAWhi_dtjTvPmDJzpOOgqo_6wBXD2rG_Cu8NGNtFm9H_TzJP1oDz/s400/mahabali+and+vamana.jpg" width="296" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now, while Bali is performing an Aswamedha Yagna at <b><i>Kurukshetra</i></b> (see <a href="https://hindumyths.blogspot.in/2013/10/46-samanta-panchaka.html" target="_blank"><b><i>this</i></b></a> for more on Kurukshetra) in order to ascend Indra’s throne, Vamana comes to him and asks for 3 strides of land.<br /><br />Just as King Mahabali agrees to grant the land much against warnings given by his guru <b>Shukracharya</b>, Vamana begins to expand. With his first step the Brahmin boy covers the whole of earth and with the other step he covers the whole of the skies. He then asked King Mahabali where is the space for him to keep his third foot.<br /><br />The King realizes that he is no ordinary Brahmin. Mahabali bows before Vamana and asks him to place his last step on his head so that he could keep the promise to Vishnu.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Brahmin is pleased, and he places his foot on the head and pushes him towards Patala, the nether world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is where Bali stays now. Vishnu also gives him immortality for his benevolence.<br /><br />It is said that by another boon of Vishnu, Bali will be the next Indra (<b><i>Purandara</i></b> is the current Indra), that is, the eighth <b>Indra </b>(King of Devas) during the time of the <i><b>eighth </b></i><b><i>Manu, Savarni Manu.</i></b><br /><br />As a footnote, this is all fine about Bali, but what about Vamana? Did he go back to his Sheshashayi Vishnu form? Some say he did, while others maintain that Vamana was so pleased with Bali that he decided to become the guard of the gate of Bali's realm Patala and remains so forever (this ending is seen most notably in <b><i>Tulsidas' Ramayana</i></b>).<br /><br />- Best<br />Shreekant</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-16706929518470641242008-05-23T02:46:00.004+05:302017-09-30T16:35:00.997+05:3009 Chiranjeevi 4 - Vibhishana<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Vibhishana</span> – Also known as Bibhishana, he is the younger brother of Ravana. His lineage is thus:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0);">Out of the seven great sages (Saptarshi), who are supposed to be sons of Brahma, one of the rishis was <b>Pulatsya</b>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0);">His son was Rishi <b>Vishrava</b>. Vishrava married Idavida, daughter of Rishi Bharadwaja. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0);">ldavida bore Vishrava a son, <b>Kubera</b>, the Lord of Wealth and the original ruler of Lanka. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0);">However, by this time, the accounts of Vishrava's far-reaching Yogic powers reached the ears of the Asura, <b>Sumali</b>, and his wife, Thataka. They got their daughter <b><i>Kaikesi</i></b> married to Vishrava.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0);">Vishrava fathered four children with her – <span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 204);"><b>Ravana</b>, <b>Kumbakarna</b>, <b>Vibhishana</b></span>, and a daughter, <span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 204);"><b>Soorpanaka</b></span>. Ravana would eventually oust his half-brother, Kubera, as King of Lanka and usurp his throne.</span><br /><br />Vibhishana was the third and youngest brother of Ravana. He had differences with Ravana for a long time. When <b>Rama</b> came searching for his wife Sita, Vibhishana’s mother <b>Kaikesi</b> advised Vibhishana to join Rama. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the Lanka War, Vibhishana's knowledge of the secrets of Lanka were invaluable to Rama. After the War, Rama made Vibhishana the ruler of Lanka.<br /><br />When Rama was about to leave Ayodhya at the end of his reign, he told Vibhishana to stay on Earth and serve the people and guide them to the path of truth and Dharma. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Hence, Vibhishana is considered one of the eight immortals, or Chiranjeevins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />In Mahabharata, there is a passing reference of Vibhishana. During the Rajasuya Yagna of <b>Yudhishthir</b>, when the remaining four brothers conducted campaigns in four directions for their oldest brother, <b>Sahadev</b> went southwards. He wanted to win friendship of the rakshasa king Vibhishana of Lanka – for which he sent <b>Ghatotkacha</b> (Bhima’s son from rakshasi Hidimba) as his envoy. Vibhishana honored Ghatotkacha and sent him back with a lot of gifts, gold etc.<br /><br />There is not much that is heard of Vibhishana after that. It seems he is still supposed to rule Sri Lanka.<br /><br />- Best<br />Shreekant</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-74894629926614460542008-05-23T02:45:00.007+05:302017-09-30T13:49:20.615+05:3008 Chiranjeevi 3 - Parashu rama<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Parashurama (Axe-wielding Rama)</span> – Parashurama (Bhargavarama – also called Rama – not to be confused with Rama of Ayodhya and the hero of Epic Ramayana) is considered to be the Sixth Maha-avatar of Vishnu. The ten Avatars being (given Garuda Purana):<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 204);"> Matysa, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki</span>.<br /><br />Parashurama is the only Chiranjeevi Avatar of the above. He still lives on earth, even today unlike the other Avatars who, once done with their work on Earth, go back to Vaikunth (Vishnu’s Heaven). He is also the first Sovereign Emperor known to man. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of warfare and other skills.<br /><br />Parashurama appears many times in Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas. He is famous for killing Haihaya-Kshatriyas on the earth 21 times for their arrogance. The most famous Kshatriya he slew was Kartavirya Arjuna – also called Sahasrarjuna (possessor of a thousand arms) – the king of Mahishmati. He moved the sea back so that he can build a place to live for the growing population -- which is how Konkan / Deccan came into existence. He was also the guru of Bhishma, Drona and later Karna.<br /><br />By birth, Parashurama is the son of Rishi Jamadagni and Renuka. By one legend, His birthplace was in Mahur, which is at the border of Marathwada and Vidharbha of Maharastra. At the left side of Renuka Mata temple there is a temple, which is believed to be Parashurama's birthplace. On the other hand, some claim that the place near Renuka temple and lake in Himachal Pradesh is where his origins lie.<br /><br /><a href="http://hindumyths.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-chitpavan-brahims-got-their-name.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Parshurama, the creator of the Konkan coast</span></a>, is also worshipped in a temple at Lote Parashurama near Chiplun in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district. The people of the Konkan call their land 'Parshurama Bhoomi' or the land of Parshurama in accordance with the legend that the sage reclaimed the land from the sea.<br /><br />As far as his current status goes, the Kalki Purana states Parashurama will be the martial guru of Kalki, the 10th and final avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is he who instructs Kalki to perform a long penance to Shiva to receive celestial weaponry.<br /><br />- Best<br />Shreekant</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-38719992827165287942008-05-23T02:40:00.004+05:302017-09-30T13:48:40.257+05:3007 Chiranjeevi 2 - Hanuman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: bold;">2. Hanuman</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> – The son of Vayu (by this relationship, he is a brother of Bhima) and Anjani (thus also called Anjaneya). Supposedly born near Trimbakeshwara, near Nashik, Maharashtra. He is one of the most important personalities in the Indian epic, the Ramayana. He is devotion personified – he aids Lord Rama in rescuing Sita from Ravana of Lanka.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />In some cases, Hanuman is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva – and is called the “11th Rudra”.<br /><br />After the war with Ravana and return to Ayodhya, and after reigning for several years, the time arrived for Rama to depart to his heavenly abode. Many of Rama's entourage, including vanaras like Sugriva decided to depart with him. Shunning the heavens, Hanuman however, requested to remain on earth as long as Rama's name was venerated by people. Sita accorded Hanuman that desire, and granted a boon that his image would be installed at various public places, so he could listen to people chanting Rama's name. From then on, he has become a Chiranjeevi and dwells everywhere Ramayana is heard / sung (in Sanskrit).<br /><br />Hanuman appears in Mahabharata in the famous story where he subdues his brother Bhima’s arrogance and teaches him the value of humility. He also agrees to be on the flag of Arjuna’s chariot and is one of the three people who have heard the Bhagvad Gita directly from Lord Krishna himself, the other two being Arjuna and Sanjaya.<br /><br />- B<br />Shreekant</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1696346241292749348.post-42138271882499574592008-05-23T02:38:00.007+05:302017-09-30T13:45:49.601+05:3006 Chiranjeevi 1 - Ashwatthama<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Ashwatthama </span>- Ashwatthama is the son of Drona, the teacher of Kauravas and Pandavas. He was named Ashwatthwama because as soon as he was born he started neighing like a horse, and "Ashwa" means horse.<br /><br />Ashwatthama fights along side his father for Duryodhana in the Great War. He has committed 3 sins in the course of time:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 204);">Murder of a child by unfair means: </span>Ashwatthama is one of the six maharathis (great warriors) who killed Abhimanyu, a single child in an unfair and heinous fight. Six great warriors surround one boy, attack from all sides, and keep hammering him even after he loses his weapons and becomes defenseless. (Karna attacks him from behind and breaks his bow – apparently Karna’s most shameful crime in the epic). Participating in this murderous act is Ashwatthama’s first sin.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 204);">Genocide -- Killing of innocent people in their sleep:</span> On the 18th day of the Great War, after Duryodhana is defeated by Bhima in a single combat and when he is laying in his own blood, the three remaining survivors of his side – Ashwatthama, Kripa and Kritavarma – come to meet him. Duryodhana announces Ashwatthama to be the commander of his remaining (?) army. Ashwatthama, blind with fury for his father’s death (Drona is tricked and killed earlier) plots along with Kritavarma and Kripa, attacks the Pandava camp at night and slaughters all the people on Panadava side - including Dhrishtadynma (Pandava's commander general), The sons of Draupadi and all other people in their sleep.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 204);">Foeticide -- Killing of an unborn child:</span> The Pandavas, incensed by the above act, chase Aswatthama resulting in his fight with Arjuna during which both invoke the extremely powerful Brahmashirsha astra. Fearing the destruction of the world, the sages (Vyasa in particular) advise both to take back their weapons. While Arjuna can do so, Ashwatthama cannot and is given the option of choosing any single target to destroy. Out of spite, Ashwatthama directs the weapon to the wombs of Pandava women – specifically Uttara, Arjuna's daughter-in-law (Abhimanyu’s wife and King Virata’s daughter). Since at this time Uttara is carrying the unborn Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu, who upon birth would be the future heir to all the Pandava brothers, Ashwatthama’s weapon is successful in fatally burning the foetus. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Vasudeva Krishna revives the stillborn child (hence he is called “Parikshit” – born out of an experiment) and curses Ashwatthama with leprosy and to roam the world as an unloved castaway. <br /><br />In another version of the story, Bhima removes the Mani (stone) from Ashwatthama’s forehead and Draupadi curses Ashwatthama of immortality and eternal suffering without love from anybody. In any case, this is the only Chiranjeev who has a prolonged life as a ‘curse’ – a life of suffering, solitude and pain.<br /><br />In some versions, it is believed that Ashwatthama migrated to the Arabian Peninsula. An old fort near Burhanpur, India called Asirgarh has a Lord Shiva temple on top where it is believed that Ashwatthama offers a red rose everyday to Lord Shiva early in the morning. Another story says that Ashwatthama is still roaming in the forest of Gir, Junagadh in the Gujarat state of India. The story of people sighting Ashwatthama near Rishikesh has already been mentioned. All in all, here is one lonely, sad and dejected Being who supposedly has no choice but to suffer till the end of Kali Yuga.<br /><br />Promise, this is the only sad story out of the eight. The rest are all quite beautiful.<br /><br />- Best<br />Shreekant</span></div>
Wandering Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02035235619230514931noreply@blogger.com7