Ruminations on Hindu Mythology

40 "Be The Elder One"

2011-12-06T00:06:00.001+05:30

We Indians are argumentative. Or so says Amartya Sen. Indeed, we love to debate about
issues that may or may not have any worldly bearing on us. And the great epics of
Mahabharata and Ramayana put together is not just a mine, but a zig-zag, cross-referenced labyrinth of tunnels - an unending abyss that provides as an eternal source for such debates.

Are the epics history or myths? Are they both?

Did the story of Rama and Sita from Mahabharata get retold as a separate epic in its own
right at later times?

Was Duryodhana right in asking for the throne? Were Pandavas the rightful heirs, considering that Pandu was not their biological father?

Was it right on the part of Rama to destroy the entire Rakshasa race just to win back his wife? And then having won her back, how did he ask her to leave him and go alone in the forest?

The enquiries are never-ending, and the characters - Ah! ... They provide such fodder for
rumination!

Out of the many characters in the epic of Mahabharata, two stand out distinctly - chiefly for the poignant personal sagas attached to them and the perenial ethos woven in them - these are the two great characters of Draupadi and Karna.

Out of these, Karna seems to be getting special attention these days as the champion of the supressed - I am not sure I subscribe to that, and that is a subject for a later day post.

But consider the other one - Draupadi. Panchali. Yagyaseni! ... The fire-born daughter of King Drupada has always been considered the maha nayika - great heroine - of the epic. She is such a wonderful enigma! ... Consider the following -

How did Draupadi remain faithful to her husbands, all five together? Did she really love Arjuna more, because of which she fell down before reaching heaven?

What was her reaction when Kunti asked her husband - who had recently won her bravely with an amazing archery feat - to share her with his brothers?

What was her relation with Krishna? Did Krishna actually come to her rescue during the events at the Hastinapur court when she was being disrobed in public? Or was it Dhritarashtra who could not stand it anymore and put an end to the proceedings?

When Draupadi asked whether Yudhisthir has the right to lose her in the game when he had lost himself first, did it not strike anyone - and one means absolutely anyone among those present - that these are mere formalities, procedural inquiries - and the real issue at hand is that a royal woman is being disrobed in public?

What was her reaction when Bhima killed Dussasana and drank his blood so that he can
satisfy the promise he had given her?

What made her laugh and taunt at Duryodhana as 'the blind's son' when he accidentally
slipped and fell in the Maya sabha at Indraprastha?

There are so many questions about Draupadi that it makes her one of the most fascinating
and multi-layered personas in the epic.

One such raging debate (now largely abandoned since people have generally found debating related to epics and myths a little bourguise) is what Draupadi meant when she uttered these famous last words to Bhima *:

"Bhima, be the elder [brother] in the next life"

She certainly did not mean 'her' brother. I think she had a perfectly satisfactory brother-sister relationship in her life with her actual elder brother Dhrishtadyunma - the man who was borne out of fire by King Drupada of Panchal, with the sole purpose of taking revenge - which he actually did effectively for his father King Drupada on Day 15 of the Great War by cutting off Drona's head.

By the by, Dhrishtadyunma also handled the Pandava side as its commander-in-chief for all
days of the war and did a splendid job at that, with the help of Bhima, Satyaki and Ghatotkach. So he was a great brother any sister would be proud to have.

And I do not think she had any brotherly feelings for Bhima anyway. Bhima was her savior, and although she may have loved Arjuna more than the others, Bhima had always been her protector, her true companion who ensured that she does not get hurt or pain.

So when Draupadi told Bhima to be the elder brother, it most likely meant to be the eldest of the Pandavas. And one wonders --- wouldn't Arjuna be a better choice? After all, Arjuna was Krishna's choice for a friend. Yudhishthir also says that Draupadi loved Arjuna more than other brothers. So why Bhima then?

For this, you need to look closely from Draupadi's point of view. Bhima was her protector.
Bhima was the one who avenged her disrobing by killing all one hundred of Kaurava brothers, including Dussasana, and Duryodhana the eldest too. He also protected her from Keechaka in the house of the Viratas during their agyatvaas (last year of exile when the Pandavas had to hide their true identity).

So it is natural that Draupadi would feel that if the decision making was in the hands of Bhima, it would have been better for her and for everyone. Bhima always went by what his elder brother said - as the custom demands. But had he been the elder, he would not have played dice and thrown away his kingdom twice.

Also, nowadays it is fashionable to portray Bhima as a rustic fool and a hot-headed alpha male, always hungry for food and fight. But in reality, Bhima was self-sustained, smart, powerful and independant. In most cases, he followed his heart, apart from following his mother Kunti and elder brother Yudhishthir.

Maybe Draupadi was right. But who knows, if Bhima was the elder, fate would have found yet another way of getting rid of all the pompous kings and princes! ... And maybe we would be reading a completely different Mahabharata, in a completely different world!

Peace
- Shreekant
06 December 2011

* - As given in 'Yuganta' - an excellent compilation of essays by Iravati Karve

39 Origin of Ganesha as Vighna-harta

2011-05-07T23:55:00.004+05:30

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.

Lord Ganesha

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!).

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.

Anyway, I recite this tale here more for its ingenuity rather than its originality.

The tale is set during the 'Sandhi' (twilight) time between Dwapar Yuga and Kali Yuga. So this must be around the last few decades after the Mahabharata war was over and events at Dwaraka were unfolding *.

It seems that one of the Adityas -- Soma -- 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).

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.

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 Manu became irrelevant. You could commit as many sins as you want, and yet ascend to Swarga. Just book yourself a ticket to Somnath!

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. Yama and his accountant Chitragupta lost their wits first, and then almost their jobs too - since tracking Paap and Punya (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.

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 Indra's sabha (court) and kept interrupting the proceedings.

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.

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.

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 **.

Nevertheless, since the gods were in a hurry, the Devi breathed life into the boy and called him her son Ganesha. 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. So he is actually intended to be a 'vighna-karta' (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 'vighna-harta' - remover of obstacles).

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.

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 netherland. 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.

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 vedic deities, but more contemporary and maybe thus more relevant in today's times), and the one who is worshipped aggressively across the world during these times - the Kali yuga - when Dharma is on its last legs - I hope this is one quality that Ganesha bestowes to his devotees, since this is the most important skill one can have to make one's life free of worldly obstacles!

Best
- Shreekant
7th May 2011

* 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 (see this). 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!
** 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 this version is from Shiva Purana, while the story I have narrated here is from Skanda purana. 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.

38: Mythical Timeline of Dashavataras

2011-05-01T23:22:00.004+05:30

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 this subject).

Agreed that this gives an excellent opportunity for poets and other creative beings to twist and turn the storyline, and to have characters from different eons pop suddenly out of nowhere and spice up the narratives. And that is how you suddenly have Bhima from Dwapar Yuga picking up Hanuman's Treta Yuga-old tail in Mahabharata. You also have Vishnu and Indra sharing the spoils of a sport once in the vedas as two brothers (as sons of Aditi, daughter of Daksha, who is himself the son of Brahma), and then afterwards a later-dated purana declaring vehemantly that Vishnu is the creator of all, including Brahma, Daksha, and Indra. Beat that!

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 occurance, 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!

There are very few areas where some semblense of chronology is available. For instance, take the Vishnu Maha-Dashavataras or great incarnations. You know for sure that Matsya came first, and then Kurma, and then Varaha, followed by Narasimha, and so on. 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.

So it appears that this is the flow of the mythical time as compared to the ten maha-avataras of Vishnu:

1. Matysa (fish)

This has Vivasvan Manu as the protagonist of the story. Manu is the son of Vivasvan, son of Kashyapa 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.

2. Kurma (tortoise)

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, Vishnu 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.

3. Varaha (wild boar)

The antagonist of this story is Hiranyaksha - 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.

4. Narasimha (man lion)

Hiranyaksha's twin brother Hiranyakashipu 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.

5. Vamana (young student)

Vishnu's first full human avatara - albeit that of a young boy - is that of Vamana. Now this avatara was to get rid of the Daitya King Bali, under whose able leadership the Daityas and Danavas had forged a very formidable war front and army against the Devas. 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 Treta yuga. So the gap may be much wider - by a couple of hundred thousand years.

6. Parashurama (brahmin king)

Bhargava rama or Parashurama - the first sovereign king of the new world - 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 Kshatriyas 21 times over and over again. The events of this story must have happened somewhere halfway through Treta yuga.

7. Ramachandra (purushottama - 'great man')

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 writeup, it suffices to consider that Ramachandra's avatara and his war with the Lankan overlord Ravana is considered to have happened during the final eons of Treta yuga.

8. Krishna / Balarama (the poorna-purusha - the 'complete man')

Krishna and Balarama are the avatara that happened in the end of Dwapar yuga. 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. 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, these two were brothers and walked the Earth together before the beginning of the Kali Yuga.

9. Buddha (the wise)

This is the first avatara in Kali yuga, and also seems to be the only one where some actual historical personage 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. 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 arond 486and 483 BCE i.e. about 2,500 years ago from your and my time.

10. Kalki (time / destroyer)

Kalki is supposed to be the final avatara, and this is one avatara that is yet to come. Kalki Bhagwan is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga 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.

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.

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!

More later,
- Shreekant
01 May 2011

37: Navadurga - The nine forms of Goddess Durga

2010-10-25T12:31:00.010+05:30

Well, it is that time of the year – beginning Autumn – when festivities begin and the world seems alright. So the navaratri began, with Durga Puja, followed by Dussera. While I was visiting some of the Durga Pujas in Delhi and Gurgaon, I saw in one puja pandal, the nine manifestations of the Goddess.

Now for most of you who follow Navaratri or Durga Puja, this may be common knowledge, but since I don’t follow anything at all except my own free will, this was informative. And since I believe there are more such people out there, I thought of writing about it. I also found the imagery around the nine forms very interesting.

The nine names are:

Śhailaputrī, Brahmachāriṇī, Chandrakaṇṭā, Kuṣhmāṇḍā, Skandamātā, Kātyāyanī, Kālarātrī, Mahāgaurī and Siddhidātrī

These nine forms are actually based on the three major forms that mother Goddess Durga manifests herself into: Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali (Parvati). These three are consorts of the Hindu trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra (Maheshwara).

In some traditions, Parvati is considered the Sagun form of Shakti or Adi Shakti to be precise – the original goddess – and Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali are considered partial expansions. In Bengali tradition, there are three separate Pujas meant to venerate these three major forms at different times of the year, but during Navratri all forms appear as it is the puja of Goddess Durga on the whole.

There is also a theory that Durga manifests into different Gunas (loosely, colors). Each form is associated with a color and a specific representation as below:

More about each of the forms in Goddess Durga Devi’s Life stage:

1. Śhailaputrī:
After the self immolation of Sati, the Goddess appeared as the daughter of Lord Himalaya – Devi – to ensure that Shiva becomes Shankara, and bears a child – Skanda – who will lead the devas’ armies into war against danavas. She is also called Parvati (daughter of Parvat or mountain). Her two hands display a trident and a lotus. Her mount is a bull.

2. Brahmachāriṇī:
This is during the Goddesses’ life as Sati, daughter of Daksha Prajapati – in the earlier life than Devi / Parvati. She was a great Sati and her unmarried form is worshipped here. This was the form that Lord Shiva fell in love in the beginning. Her one hand holds a "Kumbha" or water pot, and the other holds a rosary (garland).

3. Chandrakaṇṭā
After Devi, the daughter of Himalaya, got married to Lord Shiva, she also liked to wear half chandra on her forehead like her husband Shiva. She is Golden in color, possesses ten hands and 3 eyes. Eight of her hands display weapons while the remaining two are respectively in the mudras of gestures of boon giving and stopping harm. She rides a tiger and is worshipped mainly in the South India (Tamil Nadu).

4. Kuṣhmāṇḍā
This is one of the primordial forms of Durga, where she started living inside the center of the Sun , so that the Sun started liberating energy due to her, and because of which life creation was possible. So she is considered the creator of the universe. It is said that the universe was no more than a void full of darkness, until her light spreads in all directions like rays from the sun. She possessed of eight arms, holding a weapons and a mala (rosary), her mount is the tiger

5. Skandamātā
Devi became the mother of Lord Skanda or Lord Kartikeya Kumara, by marrying Lord Shankara. This is the form that is part of Kalidasa’s famous Kumara-sambhava. Riding a lion, she holds her son Skanda, with 6 heads, on her lap. She displays three eyes and four hands - two hands holds lotuses while the other two hand display defending and granting mudras, respectively.

6. Kātyāyanī
Devi took the form of Goddess Katyani to destroy Demon Mahishasura. By doing this, she also fulfilled the wish of sage Kata, who wished to have a daughter in the form of a goddess. This is the form that is also called ‘Mahishasura-mardini’ (destroyer of demon Mahisha). She has three eyes and eight hands. These are eight types of weapons missiles in her seven hands. Her vehicle is the Lion.

7. Kālarātrī
In Skanda-purana, Parvati removed Devi's outer golden skin to fight against demons Shumbha-Nishumbha, so Devi became very dark. Depicted usually with a black (or blue ) skin with bountiful hair and four hands - 2 clutching a cleaver and a torch, while the remaining two in the mudras of giving and protecting, she is considered to be the destroyer of darkness (and ignorance). Her vehicle is a faithful donkey. She is also called “Shubhamkari”

8. Mahāgaurī
Due to her long austerities in the deep forests of the Himalayas in her life as Parvati or Devi, she developed a dark complexion even at the age of 16. When Lord Shiva cleaned her with the water of the Ganges, her body regained its beauty. This is one of the most important days out of Durga puja. Her clothes and ornaments are white and clean. She has three eyes. She rides on a bull and has four hands. Her right hand is in the pose of allaying fear and her right lower hand holds a trident. The left upper hand holds a ‘damaru’ (a small rattle drum) and the lower one is in the pose of granting boons to her devotees.

9. Siddhidātrī
This is another primordial form of the Goddess. In ‘Devi Bhagvata Purana’ it is mentioned that Lord Shiva worshipped her and was blessed with all Siddhis (supernatural powers). By her blessings his half body became female and other half body male in the avatar of Ardhnarishvara. She has four arms and she is always in a blissful happy enchanting pose. She rides on the lion as her vehicle. It is believed that Siddhidatri has supernatural healing powers.

Note about timeline:

Interestingly, if you see, two primordial forms appear exactly halfway through – one at number 4 and the other at number 9. The forms in between usually have 2 forms from Durga’s life as Parvati / Devi – daughter of Himalaya and one form from her previous life as Sati – daughter of Daksha prajapati. What do you see about the timelines?

The timeline is not linear, but circular – and goes on to show the basic difference between how the Hindus perceive time as circular as against the currently accepted Western notion of time being linear.

Other forms of the Goddess:

The problem – or one of the problems, for there are several – one of the problems in dealing with subjects of Hindu mythology is that different sources sometimes give different information. For example, in some cases, the following forms are considered forms of Shakti: Parvati, Sati, Durga, Kali, Uma, Kamakshi, Lakshmi. Now these were slightly different manifestations than are considered during Navratri. Anyway, I am going by what is popular and practiced during Navratris.

I have also come across the 12 main forms of Goddess Kali in my travels – one to be noted is the Shakti temple in Shimla, and would like to just list them here:

(1) Baglamukhi, (2) Bhuvaneshwari, (3) Chinnmasta, (4) Dhoomavati, (5) Kali, (6) Kamakhya, (7) Kamala, (8) Maatangi, (9) Shodashi (also called Tripur-sundari), (10) Tara, (11) Tripura-Bhairavi and (12) Durga Shakti

There are some very nice paintings of each of these forms in the temple at Shimla. Hopefully someday I will have time to write about these too.

- Best
Shreekant
17th October 2010

36: Upamanyu

2009-08-03T21:48:00.009+05:30

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.

- Shreekant
03 August 2009

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why I am curious about Upamanyu? Coz our 'Gotra' is Upamanyu.

Who was Upamanyu? What was his significance?

We have to reach Tamil Nadu - Chidambaram.

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).

This is the very place (and the nearby area) where Lord Nataraja arrived and gave two extra-ordinary gifts to the mankind - Music & Dance.

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.

Sr M taught all four vedas & six sastras to the Jr. But the Jr wanted something more - the supreme knowledge - the self-realization.

With the permission of the Sr, the Jr went to Thillai forest to worship the Linga, called Tirumalanada.

His worship consisted of offering 'abhisheka', flowers & fruits & ofcourse chanting 'Om Namah: Shivay.'

He had some problem in collecting the flowers. He wanted to offer fresh flowers. Fresh means not even touched by bees.

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.]

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.

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.

The Lord after showering this grace, named him Vyghrapada. (The place where he settled afterwards with his family & parents was named Vhyghrapuri.)

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.

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.

And there is the arrival of Upamanyu. The son born to Vyaghrapada & his wife was Upamanyu.

Thus Vasishta was 'Mama' of Upamanyu.

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.

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.

The child started crying due to hunger - and The Lord came down. Lord Shiva created entire sea of milk for Upamanyu.

Well. There is a spiritual meaning to all this. But about that, later.

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.

The Lord is listening to them.

Later on, even Lord Krishna took 'Shivdiksha' from Upamanyu. [May be the descendant of the original Upamnyu.]

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.

So one can imagine the significance of Upamanyu.

Btw, this story points to Chidambaram as our origin (after Gotrasanskar - i. e. when sage Upamanyu got rights to form his own Gotra.)

- Arun Vijaykar

35: Narada: Part 6 - The Circle of Life

2009-05-07T21:37:00.002+05:30

After they had finished eating the rice kheer, Narada continued with the story of how he learnt about Maya.

"You know we have very little time now" Brahma reminded Narada.

"Yes, I do. I am almost ready. Would you like to hear about how Vishnu explained Maya to me?"

"Yes, go on" Brahma said.

So Narada began -

"This happened in the time of Dwapara. Vishnu had taken the avatar of Krishna and slain the arrogant Kamsa. I was visiting him to get an update about the kingdoms in Bharatvarsha, and also to share with him observations from my wanderings. We got talking and the Lord asked me to take a stroll with him."

"While we were crossing the desert near Dwaraka, I turned to the Lord and asked "O Greatest Lord, what is the secret of this life and the appearances of this world? You claim everything to be maya, illusion. It sounds virtually impossible. I can touch a tree. I can grab your arm. A mosquito stings me. I feel these things. How can all this be an illusion?"

The Lord smiled and made no reply. We continued for a while, and then Vishnu finally said "Narada, the sun is scroching here, I am thirsty. I can't walk any further. Ahead you will find a village. Can you go there and fetch me a cup of water?"

I set off. Arriving at the village I approached the first house. To my greatest disbelief I saw the most beautiful maiden in the yard. The moment I looked into her eyes, I was mesmerized. I forgot all about the Lord's wish and the reason of my being there in the village".

The woman ushered me into the house, where I was warmly welcomed by her family. They requested me to eat supper with them, and then stay for the night. Smitten by the maiden's beauty, I stayed on enjoying the family's warm hospitality, and secretly marveling at the young woman's loveliness.

A week went by, then two. I stayed on, and on, and soon became part of their household. I even began to share in the household chores.

After the appropriate amount of time passed, I asked for the girl's hand in marriage. The family has been expecting nothing less, and so everyone was overjoyed.

We married and settled down in her family's house, where she soon bears me three children, two sons and a daughter. Years passed with bliss. I had completely forgotten about my original chore.

Eventually my wife's parents passed away. I took over as head of the household. I opened a small shop in the village and due to my glib storytelling and warmth, it prospered. Before long I was an honoured citizen of the community and a prominent member of the town council. Giving myself up to the age-old joys and sorrows of village life, I lived contentedly for many years.

Then one evening during the monsoon season a violent storm breaks over head, and the river rises
so high from the sudden rains that the village begins to flood. I gather my family and lead them through the dark night toward higher ground. But the winds blow so violently and the rain pelts down with such force that one of my sons is washed away."

"I reach for the boy, but ... in so doing, I let go of my second son!"

Here Narada's voice becomes heavy with emotion. He is almost living the experience again. After a while he continues.

"A moment later a gales wind tore my daughter from my arms. Then my beloved wife is washed away into the roaring darkness. I wail helplessly and claws at the sky. But my cries are drowned by a towering wave that rises from the depths of the terrible night and washes me headlong into the river. All goes black."

" Many hours pass; perhaps days. Slowly, painfully, I come to my senses, only to discover that I have been washed onto a sandbank far down the river. It is daytime now, and the storm has passed."

"But there is no sign of my family anywhere, nor, for that matter, of any living creature."

"For a long time I remain lying on the sand, almost mad with sorrow and abandonment. Bits of wreckage float past me in the river. The smell of death is on the wind."

"Everything has been taken from me now; All things life-giving and precious have disappeared into the swirling waters. There is little to do, it seems, but weep."

"Then, suddenly, I hear a deep voice behind me that makes the blood stop in my veins."

"Child," the voice asks, "where is my glass of water?"

I suddenly realize that all these years was nothing but illusion. It made me forget my real purpose.
I turn and see Krishna standing at his side, smiling mischivously. The river vanishes, and once again I and the Lord are alone in the empty desert.

"Where is my water?" Krishna asks again. "I have been waiting for you to bring it now for alomost half an hour now."

I threw myself at the Lord's feet, tears in my eyes, and yet with a smile on my face.
"O Master, I forgot! ... Forgive me. I forgot what you asked for!"

The Lord smiled and said,
"Now do you understand the secret behind your life, and the appearances of this world?"

Narada smiled as he finished his story, and turned to Brahma.
"... And that is how the Lord explained Maya to me. I have been teaching this to the mankind since then. I told this story to Dharmaraja Yudhishthir when he was in exile."

Brahma cleared his throat. "Yes, indeed. But that is not why you should renounce married life. Why did you need to wander from place to place and not have a house and a family?"

"O Father, that is not going to happen, you know."

"But why? I do not understand. What was the need to live like a mendicant? You could have stayed with us, you know."

" Oh Father! But you know the answer to this question. I seek my destiny. I seek to understand Life and the welfare of the people, and I wish to spread my knowledge to all. I wish to give counsel to those in need. Even at this time of the Kalpa, when the Kali is at its strongest, there are individuals on the Earth who are pious and worthy of our counsel."

"I know, I know" ... Brahma said, getting up, " but you know why I have come now, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. I know the time is up, and my work here is done. It is time for me to come with you. The end of the Kaalchakra is fast approaching, and we are to merge with the Eternal Vishnu along with everything else. It is the time of Pralaya, and from which a new beginning will be sought. I am indeed looking forward to this, Father."

He gets up.
"Father, just let me get my Taanpura, and let us haste towards Vaikuntha."

- Regards,
Shreekant
07 May 2009

34: Narada: Part 5 - Teaching Dhruva

2009-04-12T01:47:00.003+05:30

"Father, as you know, Dhruva was born a son of the King Uttaanpaada - the son of Svayambhuva Manu - and his first wife Suniti. But the king also had another son Uttama, born to his second queen Suruchi. Now the king loved Suruchi more, and so naturally Uttama commanded more respect even as a child, and even when he was younger to Dhruva."

"Once, when Dhruva was about five years of age, the two princes playfully raced towards their father's lap. Uttama secured a place on the king's lap, but when Dhruva reached he asked a place too. Uttama's mother Suruchi saw this and insulted Dhruva. The little child got very upset and went weeping to his mother. He asked her if he can ever get a place where no-one will be able to him from. Suniti was as such much distraught, but being helpless, she asked her son to leave that in Shri Vishnu's hands."

"Dhruva took this seriously. He decided that he will observe penance in meditation of the Lord and thus seek for himself his rightful place. The poor little child left for the forest - which is now called Madhuvan (modern day Mathura) - and went and sat on a rock. However, his resolve alone would not have helped as the child he was, he did not know how to observe penance. He just fasted and waited for something to happen - for Vishnu to appear and grant him his wish."

"When I learnt of this, I was so impressed with the little child's resolve, that I decided to intervene and help. I appeared before him and tried to desist him from assuming a severe austerity upon himself at such a tender age. But, Dhruva's fierce determination knew no bounds. I was so astonished, I did not know what to tell the poor little child. Finally, I decided to teach him whatever I knew. He asked me what to concentrate on, and I described Hari's glory to him, in such great detail that Dhruva could almost picture the lord in his mind. Then I taught him some rituals and mantras, and I spoke with him for a long time, and finally asked him to chant "OM NAMO BHAGAVTE VAASUDEVAYA".

"The child took everything to heart, and started chanting. He was the most obedient pupil I have ever had. His pure heart made the mantra one of the most powerful ones. I left the Dhruva to his penance. The boy went without food and water for six months, his mind fixed on the Lord. "

"The austerity of his penance shook the heavens, so powerful and effective was his penance, that Lord Vishnu finally appeared before him. Hari tells me the experience, and I still get goosebumps when I hear it. It seems the child would not open his eyes because he was still merged in his inner vision of Vishnu's form as I had described to him."

"Now what to do? Vishnu was in a fix. He finally had to over-ride Dhruva's inner vision so that Dhruva could open his eyes and see the actual Vishnu. Immediately Dhruva opened his eyes, and, seeing outside what he had been seeing all along in his mental vision, prostrated himself before the Lord.

But he could not utter a single word. The Lord touched his right cheek by his divine conch and that sparked off his speech. Out poured forth a beautiful poem of praise of the Lord in 12 powerful verses, which are now called Dhruva-stuti. What a beautiful poem that is! ... I have spent my entire life chanting Hari naam, but even I cannot think of something so pure and beautiful."

"You know the rest. Dhruva returned to his kingdom, to be warmly received by his family, and attained the crown at the tender age of six. After decades of ruling the country in a fair and just manner, Dhruva left his mortal coils and became the "North Star" (or "Pole Star"), as sanctified by the Lord. Even today the people of Earth call the North Star Dhruva in memory of the child."

Narada stopped. He looked at his father, who seemed deep in thought.

"Yes, yes" Brahma looked back, coming out of a trance. No matter how much life there was on the Earth, a child's innocent heart always fascinated him with the possibilities it held. He smiled.

"What a lovely story!" he said after a while, a little hesitant - trying to broach a topic he was not sure whether he should, " did you not feel like having a child of your own sometime? You seem to do so well with the young lads."

"Oh father", Narada laughed, "one time is enough. You know how Hari, in his birth as Krishna, made me go through the whole experience. The sense of attachment is just too much for me".

"I have heard from Vishnu about this incident. Tell me in detail what exactly happened"

"I will tell you, but first, I will get you something to eat"

Best
- Shreekant
11 March 2009

33: Narada: Part 4 - Prahlada and Hiranyakashyapu

2009-04-07T21:32:00.003+05:30

So saying, Narada narrated this story about Prahalad:

"I will tell you about my experience of teaching an unborn child. It was perhaps the most interesting and stimulating discourse I have ever given to anyone, because I had to be extremely sure of what I was saying to the womb."

"Lord, you know of the Daitya Hiranyakashyapu - son of Diti and Kashyapa, my brother Marichi's son.

From childhood, he had always fought with his cousins the Adityas - mainly Indra. But he was strong and also a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Once he grew up, he left his family and went away to Mount Mandara for offering penance to Lord Shiva. Indra found this a great opportunity and kidnapped his wife Kayadu, who was carrying child, and tried to kill the child in the womb. I came to know of this, so I rushed to Indra and prevented the misdeed by preaching him good sense. I also told him that I will teach the child good virtues so that he will be different from his father."

"Indra let go of the two. I brought Kayadu to my ashram and looked after her for a while. I started speaking softly to the child in the womb and sung songs of Vishnu's praise. When I saw that the child within was responding, I launched a full discourse on Dharmashartra and virtue and the glory of the Lord. It was great learning experience for me.

By this time Hiranyakashyapu was back from his penance and took his wife back from me. However, my teachings bore fruit and when the son was born - he was called Prahalad - he was already one of the greatest devotees of Vishnu."

"The rest of the story is well-known. Hiranyakashyapu had come back from Mandara Mountains with a great and powerful boon from Lord Shiva -- that no god, no man, no asura (demon), nor animal will be able to put him to death - not on earth nor in the air, nor water. He could not be killed during day or night, nor in his house neither outside, and not with any weapon. He was almost invincible, and with such a powerful boon, he thought of himself as the most powerful being in the world. He tormented his people, killed many of them, imprisoned a lot others, caused great grief to the sages and wise people, and generally created havoc on the Earth. He wanted that his son follows his example. But young Prahalad remained true to my teachings."

"Prahalad's constant chanting of Vishnu's name enraged Hiranyakashyapu so much that he ordered his men to punish Prahalad - his own son - the little defenseless child! They tried a lot - flogged him, threw him in the river, put him through fire, caved him inside a house, ... oh, I shudder as I recall ... but Lord's miracle - Prahalad was not hurt at all. He went through every trial chanting Hari's name, and came out unscathed."

"Tired of this, O Lord, Hiranyakashyapu's men brought Prahalad to his father's court. The daitya king asked his son if he would like them to stop. But Prahalad said they need not worry, Vishnu will take care of him. Enraged by this bold reply, the king stood up fuming and asked "Where is this Vishnu that you talk of?" "He is everywhere" ... "What do you mean everywhere? Is he in this pillar?", so saying the insolant king mockingly kicked one of the pillars in his court.

Oh wonder! With a great thunder, the pillar cracked open and out came Ugra Narasimha - half-man half-beast - Vishnu's fourth maha Avatar. This man-beast (not a man, nor deva, nor asura, nor animal) dragged the arrogant and unjust king to his doorsteps while it was the time of sunset (neither day nor night), (neither inside nor outside of his house), put the daitya on his lap (not on earth nor in the air, nor water), and tore him open with his bare nails (no weapon used). And thus did Hiranyakashyapu meet his end. Vishnu then made Prahalad the king of daityas, and I saw that my student ruled his kingdom justly and with love."

.... Brahma reflected on Vishnu's glory for a moment. "I have heard this so many times, but I always love the last bit. No matter what a man thinks he has tricked his fate, Yama (the God of Death) finds a way to write the end of his story".

"You also taught Druva when he was alone in the forest, did you not?", he asked.

"Yes, that is what I am going to tell you all about next", Narada said.

Best
- Shreekant
06 March 2009

32: Narada: Part 3 - Kapivakrta, The Monkey-Face

2009-04-07T21:29:00.004+05:30

"This is a very well-known story, Father, so I will tell you in short", Narada said - also ensuring that he need not spend too much time on the episode he was rather uncomfortable and shameful to talk about, even in jest. Brahma smiled as he knew Narada's discomfort, and asked him to go on ...

Once Narada’s meditation could not be disturbed even by Kamadeva (the God of Lust) who was instructed by the king of gods Indra to break Narada's penance. At this victory, Narada got overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pride, unbecoming to a seer. He went to Lord Shiva and told him that he was not the only conqueror of this invincible god Kama. The all-knowing Shiva said that he was glad he had company, but also warned Narada not to brag about this, especially to Vishnu.

Narada left Mount Kailash and thought, "Shiva must surely be jealous of me. Why should I not tell Vishnu, he who loves me so dearly? Surely he will be proud of me". So the seer went straight to Vaikunth and talked about how he conquered Kamadeva.

Vishnu smiled, and said he was pleased with Narada, but also decided in his mind to teach him a lesson by humbling his pride. He asked his consort Lakshmi to re-incarnate herself as the beautiful daughter of Ambarisha * (the then ruler of Ayodhya), by the name of Srimati - a most beautiful and desirable woman, and an embodiment of all good qualities.

Narada had left Vaikunth and was back on the Earth. While traveling, he reached the kingdom of Ayodhya, and on seeing the beautiful princess Srimati, fell in love with her, being attracted by her beauty and wanted to marry her. He secretly disclosed to King Ambarisha his heart's desire.

Ambarisha was in a fix. How could he disobey the great sage Narada-Muni? So he said to him:

"O revered sage, you desire the hand of my daughter. How am I to decide? Well, I shall arrange a Swayamvara (selection of bridegroom). Whomsoever Srimati selects, shall be her husband."

So Narada went to Vaikunth to consult Vishnu. He narrated to him all that had happened and implored to him: "O Lord, let my face resemble Hari's at the time of the Swayamvara". The Lord smilingly assented, but gave the face of a monkey to Narada - since the word 'Hari' also means a monkey in Sanskrit.

Not knowing what had happened to his face, Narada reached the Palace where the marriage ceremony was to take place. King Ambarisha led his beautiful daughter Srimati to the dais of the Swayamvara.

Srimati blushingly stood before all the prospective suitors with garland in her hand. But she was taken aback when she saw in Narada's place a monkey. Her hand trembled, and she passed by.

Narada could not resist. He stood up and said with great pride, "You must be looking for me, beautiful one". The crowd brust into laughter and said -- "For you? ... monkey face, a very handsome one, indeed, but a monkey nevertheless!"

Srimati said to king Ambarish: "Father, you said a rishi wants to marry me. I can see no Rishi here. Instead I find a man, with a monkey's face ... But, who is that? ... Just beside him, I find an attractive, handsome man with a lovely smile. He has stretched his right hand as if to beckon me."

She garlanded the handsome man standing beside Narada and all at once, they both - Vishnu and Lakshmi - vanished. The handsome man was none other than Lord Vishnu.

Narada was astonished and dismayed. He discovered his monkey-face in the reflection of a pool of water and became enraged. In a fit of rage, he cursed Vishnu then and there, proclaiming that Vishnu, in one of his earthly re-incarnations would have to bear the pangs of his wife’s imposed separation from him and only a monkey would be able to relieve him of his sufferings. Thus, when Vishnu was born as Rama, Hanuman helped him to free Sita from the clutches of Ravana.

But wisdom also dawned on Narada and he realized that Lord Vishnu had taught him a lesson for his conceit and pride. He felt ashamed that he should have even thought of marriage.

--- Brahma smiled and gave a deep sigh, after Narada narreted this incident to him. He knew about the incident, and secretly enjoyed every bit of Narada's discomfort in narrating the story.

"Is your monkey face - is that why you are so popular with the children?" He asked after a pause.

"No really, but I do love to teach them more than elders. I have even taught an unborn child. I will now tell you about some of my best students", Narada said.

(to be continued ...)

* - In some books, instead of Ambarish, it is said that the name of the king was Sheelanidhi.

Best
- Shreekant
05 March 2009

31: Narada: Part 2 - Durvasa sees his folly

2009-04-07T21:26:00.002+05:30

"So you were telling me about your meeting with Durvasa", Brahma said after the two had settled down.

"Not exactly meeting, Father. This is what happened ..."

Once Lord Shiva had called all the gods and demigods in his court on Mount Kailasa. Great sages, brahmarshis (celestial sages) and gods attended it. Even Narada was present. While the court was in session, the great Rishi Durvasa entered and interrupted the august assembly with a great hustle, and ignoring proceedings and also the elders and very illustrious sages, went straight up to Lord Shiva. He proudly displayed his huge bundle of books and said, "Look, Lord Shiva, I have thoroughly studied and mastered all these books and I know them now by heart!"

He was expecting great praise for it was impossible for any human being to learn all the books by heart in one life. Instead, he heard Narada's loud voice from behind, "Hey you donkey, who is carrying this huge burden of whatever it is, why don't you go to a dhobighat instead (place near the river where clothes are washed)?"

Durvasa whirled around, and was so shocked at this uttrance that for a moment he could not fathom what had happened. The entire assembly was frozen with fear. Next moment, Durvasa thundered in wrath. "You pest, you wandering nomad, you who has no mother, you who has started more wars in this epoch than anyone else ... you dare call me names! That too in an assembly full of sages!" ... He was about to lift his staff and curse Narada for eternity, when Narada started laughing.

Puzzled, the people turned to Narada. Narada retorted, still laughing, "So now you remember that there is an assembly in progress, do you? ... And you say that you have mastered the books! ... You haven't even mastered your own passions. You ignored the whole assembly and went and sat by Lord Shiva. What good is your scholarship without patience and forgiveness? These books are nothing but the burden of a donkey".

The entire assembly approved of Narada's words and joined in the laughter. Shiva was very pleased with the words too. Durvasa realized his folly. He threw the books away and went back into penance.

" ... and so we continued at Shiva's court. I am just happy that Durvasa learnt something from the episode", Narada completed his story with a twinkle in his eyes.

"But that was a dangerous game you played, son", Brahma said, now that the tension between them seemed to have lightened. "You never know about Durvasa".

"But Father, that is my life's purpose - to enlighten people. To show them the truth. And to bring them down to reality if they think highly of themselves".

"Oh, like Vishnu did to you and made you into a monkey, is it?" Brahma said lightly, half smiling.

"Hah! Do not get me started with that one now ...", Narada retorted.

(to be continued ...)

Best
- Shreekant
04 March 2009

30: Narada: Part 1 - Daksha brahma prajapati's curse

2009-04-07T21:20:00.002+05:30

Note: I have tried to attempt a narrative in dialogue format rather than a post for a change. Only, the dialogues in this case are rather tricky, since they are between the all-knowing Narada and the all-pervasive Brahma unlike someone who knows and someone who is being told. One would think there is not much there is to ask and tell between them, since both know almost everything in the universe.

They do share a relationship of a father and son, but Narada chose a path of renunciation much against Brahma's wish and he is more closer to Vishnu than he is to Brahma ... and that has brought a slight tension to this entire endeavor. In any case, I fell in love with the format once I began, and had to go on ... I have tried to walk on this slippery path for a few posts, and hope that the narrative has not slipped and fallen any time. If you find any flaws in the construction, know that they are entirely mine. - S
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So this is the life you have chosen for yourself", Brahma came out of the quaint little hut on top of the mountain near Nimbagrama and stood next to Narada, who was gazing at the sunrise and the vast expanse of the valley in Vraja that seemed as if it spread right up to the horizon.

It was among the early epochs of the new world created by Brahma. Nine of the ten Prajapatis, the younger brothers of the Sanata Kumaras, were helping Brahma in his mission to populate the new world - the seven rishis Saptarshis, Dakhsa and Bhrigu - except of course the last one - Narada.

"Yes father, it is", Narada said with a slight tremor in his voice. He turned and faced the gentle old man who was not only his father, but the father of the entire known universe. Many eons had passed from the time Narada took birth, fully grown, from Brahma's mind. But as soon as he came into existence, he found his life's calling in not helping his father and brothers in creation, but to follow his elder brothers, the fours seers Sanata Kumaras, and learn the secrets of Life from them.

Even when the teaching was over, and after the great sages had departed, he decided to impart the knowledge he had gained to the people, and wandered the worlds to learn and to share the learnings in a true nomadic manner.

Brahma had come to visit his odd child after a very long time. He kept telling himself that this was because he had been busy with the act of creation - all the different animals and birds and people, but he knew and Narada knew that it was largely because he disapproved Narada's choice. Also, Brahma could never come to terms with the fact that his one son Daksha would curse his other son Narada.

This is what had happened: Daksha prajapati was true to his father's cause and was one of the most prolific prajapatis. He wanted his children also to continue with the cause of creation, and thus asked them to observe a strict penance that would grant them spiritual, as well as physical, strength. After attaining these, his children would be ready to get married and enjoy their lives living with their spouses.

But while Daksha's children were undergoing the penance, Narada went to the place and convinced them otherwise - that the married life will be a bondage and miserable, and that they should rather do the penance for Mukti (salvation) and escape from the sorrows of family life. This caused great confusion in their minds, and they became inclined towards Narada's reasoning - such was Narada's ability to convince them.

When Daksha heard about what had happened, he got wild with rage. He summoned Narada and gave him a severe tongue lashing, telling Narada that he had interfered with Dakshabrahma's rights and responsibilities as a parent and his desire for seeing his children grow up to lead happily married lives. Dakshabrahma cursed Narada that he would never marry, and would eternally remain a transient, a vagabond.

It is a different matter that Narada said that he was pleased with this. He taunted Daksha that he was happy with the life laid out for him. He claimed that being a vagabond would enable him to continue meeting new people and imparting his knowledge.

Brahma sighed. The world reeled under a peculiar burden - one that cannot even be shared, let alone reduced. Far somewhere in the valley a cheetah was nearing his pray, a full-grown gazelle.

"I hear you have been traveling a lot", he said after a while - "you seem to go from one loka to another in a day's time."

"Yes, Vishnu has bestowed the power of instant travel to me," said Narada with a smile - without mentioning anything about Daksha and his curse. "I can go to any place I desire at any time. I spend a lot of time here on the Earth, but I enjoy visiting the Swarga loka (the heaven) as well as the Mrityu-loka (the land of the Dead). Only a few years ago I was at Shiva's court in Mount Kailas".

"I heard something like that. It seems you offended Durvasa in the court? ... How did that happen? And more important than that, how did you manage to get away with it? Durvasa is particularly infamous for his foul temper and is quick to anger."

A mischivous, innocent and almost child-like smile spread across Narada's face. "I'll tell you all about it. But let us rest here, on these seats I have placed in front of my hut", he pointed back to the hut, and the two turned around.

(to be continued ...)

Best
- Shreekant
3 March 2009

The origin of the Alphabet

2009-03-31T23:42:00.009+05:30

The origin of the alphabet - The Maheshwara Sootram
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Out of all the Sanskrit text that I learnt in the school, this one verse has stuck to me more than others. I do not know why or how. It was not even part of the syllabus, but one day our Sanskrit teacher told us about the beginning of the language, and I guess that story took my fancy. The lines of the verse I am talking about go like this:

नृत्यावसाने नटराज राजो ननाद ढक्काम् नवपन्चवारम् |
उद्धर्तुकामः सनकादी सिद्धाः नेतद्विमर्शे शिवसूत्र जालम् ||

Nrittya avasaane Nataraja Rajo, Nanaada Dhakkaam Nava Pancha vaaram |

Uddhartu kaamah Sanakaadi Siddhaa Netadwimarse Shiva Sootra Jaalam ||

Translation: At the end of his (celestial) dance, the king of natyashastra (i.e. the Supreme god Shiva), sounded the Dhakka (Damaru - his famous two-sided drum) 9 and 5 times (i.e. 14 times). ... This (he did), in order to to grant salvation / enlightenment * to Sanaka and other siddhas (basically the four Kumaras - sons of Brahma born out of his mind) ... and thus weaved the net of shiva-sootras (the Varnamala).

This is a famous Sootram - also called the Maheshwara Sootra - and is attributed to Paanini - the ancient sage who is credited for building the grammar of the Sanskrit language.

The story goes like this: When Brahma decided to commence the sequence of creation, he first of all created four Kumaras (see Jaya and Vijaya) by just having a wish in his mind. These were Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara. They were all embodiments of pure qualities. Brahma created them so that they could help in the process of creation. But they were so pure - almost child-like - that they had no idea how to go about the business of creation. They also refused to take part in creation, thinking that the lowly mode of reproduction was not for them.

When Brahma found that the four Kumaras are not interested in the purpose they were supposed to be interested in, but are rather happy in learning knowledge and siddhis (yogic powers), he got angry and asked Shiva to help them understand life and its purpose better. Shiva, who is erotic in the nine worlds below and an ascetic in the five worlds above, played on his drum 9 + 5=14 times, representing the paths to be found in all the fourteen worlds and thus provided enlightenment to the yogi Kumaras.

These drum beats are none other than the seed mantras (sounds) of Sanskrit alphabets **:

1. A I Un.
2. Ar Al Uk
3. E Ong
4. Ai Ouch
5. Ha Ya Va Rat
6. Lan.
7. Nga Ma Jna Nna Nam
8. Jha Bhany
9. Gha Dha Dhash.
10. Ja Ba Ga Da Dash
11. Kha Pha Chcha Ththa Ththa Ca Ta Tav
12. Ka Pay
13. Sha Shsha Sar
14. Hal

And that is how the alphabet came into existence!

Since these 14 varnas i.e. alphabets came out of Shiva himself, who has no death, these varnas are known as Aksharas (deathless). The jaal (net) that the Supreme God knitted is called Aksharamala. They are also called Chaturdasa Vidyasthanams (14 places of knowledge).

Best
- Shreekant
31 March 2009

Notes:

* - Uddhartu kaamah: The Hindi word 'Uddhar' means granting a salvation. The exact meaning of this is much debated. However most translations use another Sanskrit word "Sayujyam" - meaning 'an irreversible & complete merging (into the Supreme Godhead)'.

** - Ref: Dr. Prahalada Sastry aka Amritananda Saraswati

How Chitpavan Brahims got their name

2009-03-29T21:51:00.005+05:30

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.

This post is about how the famous warrior saint Parashurama - 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.

Prelude - Jamadagni and Kartavirya Arjuna
----------------------------------------------------------------------

It all started when long time ago a Haihaya Kshatriya king Kartavirya Arjuna - nothing to do with the Arjuna of Mahabharata - (also called Sahasrarjuna - purportedly with a thousand arms) visited the sage Jamadagni of the Bhrigu clan and his ashram. Jamadagni fed the guets and his whole army with the help of the milk provided by his magical divine cow - Kamadhenu (one of the jewels that had surfaced during the Samudra - manthan of devas and danavas - and was gifted to the Bhrigus).

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.

When Jamadagni's son Parashurama 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.

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 Renuka 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.

Parashurama thus attacked the murderers and killed all the sons and their aides. His thirst for revenge unquenched, he went on killing every adult Kshatriya on earth, not once but 21 times, filling five ponds with blood. Finally, his grandfather - Richeek rishi, the son of Bhrigu rishi - one of the Saptarshis - appeared and stopped him.

Parashurama's Ashwamedha Yagna
---------------------------------------------------------

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 tarpana (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.

However, it seemed he was so defiled by the slaughter that other brahmins refused to perform any ceremonies for him. Finally Kashyapa rishi 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.

Bhargava rama (Parashurama) thus left for south and reached the Western Ghats. At that time, the land ended there, and the realm of god Varuna - the lord of the oceans - began. 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. Varuna got scared and agreed to a truce. He agreed to recede as far west as Parashurama's arrow would hit the waters from the place he was standing.

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. 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.

Who will live on the new land? - Pyre Purified Brahmins
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

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 Chitpavan ('those who have become pure - pavan - by going through the pyre') and the place where this happened was called Chit-polan (modern-day Chiplun).

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).

This is the long and short of why Konkan is called Parashurama Bhumi and how Chitpavan Brahims got their name.

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). The sage Kashyap rishi 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.

Best
- Shreekant
29 March 2009

Ref: Skanda Purana, Sahyadri Khand, Marathi Edition

The Story of Banasur

2009-02-07T22:47:00.008+05:30

Vanasur (Banasur) - The Eldest Son of Bali
----------------------------------------------------------

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.

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.

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.

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.
Legand has it that these are the remains of the fort of Banasur (Vanasur), who was the eldest son of Bali, the king of Daityas. During the mythical times, this place was called Shonitpur. Banasur had a son by the name of Skanda and a daughter called Usha, whose beauty knew no bounds.

As the story in Puranas goes, Banasur is a powerful king and a great devotee of Shiva, 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 Parashu rama.

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.

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 flagpost is broken on its own accord, Banasur will find his match.

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.

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 Chitralekha, 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 Aniruddha, prince of Dwarka, son of ~~Parikshit~~ Pradyumn (as suggested by a reader), grand-son of Lord Krishna. Chitralekha, through supernatural powers abducts the sleeping Aniruddha from the palace of Krishna in Dwaraka and brings him to Usha.

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.

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.

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.

There in Dwaraka, everyone including Krishna, Balarama and other Yadavas are going in a tizzy searching for their boy, when Narada muni comes to them during his trips around the world and tells Lord Krishna about Aniruddha being made captive of Banasur.

The Yadavas gather an army under Balarama and march to Shonitpur, with Lord Krishna heading the column on his Garuda. 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.

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.

Legand or no legand, the fort and its surrounding give a great setting and provide some astonishing views.

Regards,
Shreekant
07 Febraury 2009

Apology

2008-12-22T20:51:00.004+05:30

So I have not been able to keep my promise and write a post every week. The weeks have become months and months quarters, ... so very soon it would have become years. Before that happens, I thought I will put a tick on the wall.

I have been caught in the vortex of life. Also, what has been happening around the world, the Mumbai carnage, the war which no-one is calling a war, and so on ... has left me angry and hurt, like everyone else. The anger is more about my own impotence and inability to respond to the stimuli in any way whatsoever.

For all those who have been following this space, sorry for the delay and thank you for your comments, writings and reverts. They have given me strength and courage (more important!) to continue with the endeavour. I promise I will return shortly.

Before that, I want to put something on the table, and that is the purpose of today's post.

I have a dream - that this blog does not remain one person's work but becomes a contributory effort. Now I am technically challenged and quite illiterate in the ways of Web 2.0 and do not know much about co-creating. I seek inputs of the minds out there, who have been kind enough to follow the posts here and have been warm to the contents and context of the blog of this nature to provide inputs / suggestions / ideas.

I know this might sound childish, since most of you must be well informed on the ways of the web. But I am not. So I thought of a few ways. One way is to go to Orkut and start a group, but that is something I have never quite been comfortable with. The other could be like a bulletin board - I have no clue how that is launched. What else can be done. The expectations are simple:

- Someone keeps writing on the blog, so we do not have the situation like Aug 08 till Dec 08 when there were no additions on this site.

- The coverage is more than Ramayana and Mahabharata only, but also covers some of the other sources of folklore and mythology. Although, I know that these two epics will keep me busy for the rest of my life if I want to. But it is nice to get more perspectives.

- People have been writing to me. Most of you who write are more knowledgeable than I am in most of the topics of discussion. I just write what I have overheard while I do my daily commute to work and so on. But some of you have an in-depth interest in mythology. It will be nice if we can get your writings in your own posts, rather than appendicising comments to my posts.

- Two minds are better than one, and two hundred are ... well, I guess chaos. But we are okay with that as long as it is constructive and pregnant with possibilities.

What do you think?

See you soon on the other side of the moon ...

Best
- Shreekant

Asti Kashchit Vaag-visheshah

2008-08-30T01:34:00.005+05:30

Asti Kashchit Vaag-visheshah
--------------------------------------------

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 Mahakavi Kalidasa.

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:

Plays:

1. Abhijnana shakuntalam - or simply Shaakuntalam ("The Recognition of Shakuntala")
2. Malavika Agnimitra, and
3. Vikramorvashiya

Poems:

1. Raghuvamsa ("Dynasty of Raghu") - Epic poem
2. Kumarasambhava ("Birth of the War Lord") - Epic poem
3. Meghduta ("The Cloud Messanger") - Lyric poem
4. Ritusamhara ("The Exposition on the Seasons") - Lyric poem

These seven are considered usually to be his original works.

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 Vikramaditya of Ujjain around 600 AD. Most historians believe that he resided at the court of the Gupta king Chandra Gupta II in Pataliputra (Patna).

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.

The Mostly Inaccurate Account of why he is called Kalidasa
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 !!!

The story goes that the Princess of the kingdom he lived in at that time --- her name was most probably Vidyottama (lit. One with great knowledge) --- was a vidooshi (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.

A couple of ministers, who found themselves at the butt of this cruel joke once, decided to teach the lady a lesson for life.

So they went in search for some complete idiot. They found a man sitting on the branch of a tree, and cutting the same 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 taught the fool (who later became Kalidasa) to only communicate in sign language, and brought him along with them to the city palace.

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.

The princess showed him one finger [ her meaning was 'shakti 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 (shiv-shakti, nar-nari, etc.).

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 ].

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.

The poor man wandered around, found a temple of Kali and made it his home. He worshipped Goddess Kali and - in some versions of the story - cut his tongue off and offered it as a sacrific to Kali. Kali was appeased with him and granted him profound wisdom -- Thus he took the name Kalidasa ("Devotee of Kali").

When he returned to his house, his wife asked the following famous question, "Asti Kashchit Vaag-visheshaH?''

[ Asti = is, Kashchit = any, Vaag = language / knowledge, Visheshah = speciality ]

Her meaning was -- "Have you got / learnt anything special now?"

In response to her question, Kalidasa wrote three works of exceptional literary beauty, all three peoms -- starting with the three words of her question:

With Asti = asti-uttarasyaam dishi = Kumara-sambhavam (epic poem)
With Kashchit = kashchit-kaantaa = Meghdoot (lyric poem)
With Vaag = vaagarthaaviva = Raghuvansha (epic poem)

Now that is a suitable answer to the question !!!

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.

Kalidasa and Hanumad Ramayana
---------------------------------------------------

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. But let's talk about Kalidasa's reference here.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In any case, this version, called the Hanumad Ramayana, has been unavailable since then.

But one tablet is said to have floated ashorecame ashore, during the period of Mahakavi 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.

Kalidasa is supposed to have translated the foot of the stanza from the ancient script, which said:

"Oh! Ravana, those your ten heads, on which you lifted of Mt. Kailah, 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 pride, at the hands of virtue..."

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!

Best
- Shreekant

(Ref: Shashikant Joshi, http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/kalidas.html)

Shatrughna

2008-07-15T11:44:00.005+05:30

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.

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.

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 film an item number? What exactly is this term - Item Number?

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?

I wish someone would conduct lessons in filmy goobledygook, so that these definitions are clear to mere mortals like us.

Speaking of Guest Appearances, one cannot but think of the characters in the Great Epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata - Bharata, Shatrughna, Nakula and Sahadeva - the younger brothers of the key protagonists in the Epics.

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.

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.

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.

Shatrughna and the battle with Lavanasura
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

So overall in Aryavarth (India), there is happiness everywhere - except in the jungles of Madhuvana (later called Madhupura --- which is present-day Mathura) ... Madhu means “honey". It is said that one will satisfy all desires in this forest. Madhuvana forest is 5km west of the current location of Mathura city.

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 Shatrughna and killed the demon Lavanasura. He came as Lord Krishna in Dwapara-yuga (most popular) and as Lord Caitanya in Kali-yuga. But that is later. As of now, this post is about Shatrughna.

Now Madhuvana was earlier ruled by the demon-king Madhu, who in all likelihood built the palace and city of Mathura.

Madhu was married to Kumbhini, sister of Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and just like Ravana, Madhu also was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. 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.

Then one day Madhu passes away and his rule is now inherited by Lavanasura *, 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!

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.

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 Chavana (adescendents of sage Bhrigu) travel from Madhuvan to Lord Rama in Ayodhya with a plea to protect them. Shatrughna, 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 an a Deity of Varahadeva 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.

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.

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. Shatrughna waits for that chance.

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 supper! ... 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.

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 alright

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 own name i.e. Shatrughna, which literally means 'destroyer of the enemies'.

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.

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. By the way, he is earlier married to Shrutakirti (lit. 'one whose fame is heard'), daughter of Kushadvaja, who is a brother of King Janaka of Mithila. By this relation, Shrutakirti is a cousin of Sita. Shatrughna and Shrutakirti got married at the same time Rama and Sita got married. They had two sons.

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.

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.

- Best
S

* 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's 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'.

Ghatotkach and Abhimanyu

2008-06-29T18:07:00.006+05:30

When one reads Mahabharata in its current form, it is always made amply clear that the Mahanayak - the supreme hero - of this epic is Lord Krishna. Although Krishna appears on the scene much later after the feud has happened, he is almost always at the center of the story - and as Krishna is the supreme hero, so is his greatest devotee and friend Partha Arjuna. So much so that Arjuna is considered to be the incarnation of Nara, the supreme Man, and Krisha is considered Narayana - the Supreme God (Vishnu).

Arjuna kills all the Maharathis (generals if you please) in the war --- Bhishma, Drona, Karna --- except the Kaurava brothers. The Kauravas --- all 100 of them, including Dussasana and the eldest Duryodhana --- are all killed single-handedly by - and this is where we come to the second greatest character - Bhima.

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 Kunti from certain death in Lakshagriha. He kills Hidimb Rakshasa, and Bakasura 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.

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 'Swayabhu' ("The Self-made").

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.

What I wish to discuss, in fact, is their respective prodigal sons - Ghatotkach and Abhimanyu - and the great similarity they share in life as well as death.

I mean, look at the two. Both are born to great fathers - 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 Diti and Kashyap, son of Marichi, one of the Saptarshis).

Although, both are sons born to Pandavas - Bhima and Arjuna - they are from their wives other than Draupadi. 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.

Both are born when their fathers were in exile / hiding.

The marriage of their respective parents is preceeded by some unpleasant event - 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. Both these events have a potential of turning really ugly for the Pandavas - like sister Hidimba 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 Subhadra. However, both the events turn out to be good for the Pandavas - and end up in matrimony.

Both the children grow up away from their fathers, but near their mothers - Ghatotkach in Hidimbavana and Abhimanyu in Dwaraka. Both are taught warfare, but that must be true for all Kshatriya kids.

Both know Shastra (hand-weapons) as well as Astya (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.

Both are known for their prowess 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.

Both fight the Great War 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.

Both kill thousands and thousands of enemies, and overpower great warriors.

Both die tragic deaths in the Great War.

Both die on the battlefield within a span of a day - Abhimanyu first and then Ghatotkach. This is during the 13th and 14th day of the war.

Indeed, these two death are crucial, landmark, and cornerstones in the war, and ensure the victory of Pandavas.

Both are killed by means beyond their regular fighting abilities - Ghatotkach by a divine missile and Abhimanyu by the overpowering attack of six people together against one.

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 Jayadratha (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 Karna breaks Abhimanyu's bow from behind, how he charges towards Drona 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.

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 "the victory is ours for sure now".

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.

Both these deaths happen during the Drona Parva - 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.

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.

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 Shashirekha, Balarama's daughter too.

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 Uttara, daughter of king Virata and fathered Parikshit. So there are a lot of loose ends to this story, and I would like to leave it at that.

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.

Best
- S

Multiple Yugas – Part 5 Final

2008-06-24T21:41:00.005+05:30

In this last post on the topic of Time, I will try to sum up the entire discussion so far. Here is a schematic I have attempted on the subject:

So, there you go. That concludes our discussion on the nature of time and our relative position in it – which started from the post on “How many Hanumans?”

How are we doing? Makes one feel really small, is it not? Like a grain of sand in a desert!
Do we still think we can nuke this planet and that it will make a difference in the ‘Overall scheme of things’? Is this not what Vishwaroopa is all about?

Now do you know why Arjuna feels perplexed when Krishna shows him the Vishwaroopa – complete with all the cycles of time, and all the different universes?

Well, you know, there are only two ways of reacting to this – either be an Arjuna and marvel at this beautiful concept of Time & its cycles, or get completely lost. The problem with the latter is that once you get lost, you cease to see the meaning – and then you ask yourself ‘what does this mean to me’? … And you move on. I just hope you are of the former type, and that you have managed to enjoy the beauty of this concept of Time as given by Hinduism – which is perhaps more developed than any of the other comparable philosophies.

Here’s a large one for the road to eternity!

Peace,
- S

Multiple Yugas – Part 4

2008-06-23T14:27:00.004+05:30

1. A ‘Manavantara’ – Bringing It All Back

------------------------------------------------------

Again, let’s bring this back to Human understanding.

A day of Brahma has 14 Manvantaras (like 12 hours). Similarly one night has 14 Manavantaras.

Each Manavantara is made of 71 Mahayugas, plus the sandhis. Each sandhi is equal in time as one krita yuga – note, this is not one Manayuga, neither one yuga, but one krita yuga, i.e. 4 Charanas of a Mahayuga.

So let us back-calculate and check where we get to:

1 Mahayuga = 4,320,000 years

1 Manvantara = 71 Mahayuga

1 day of Brahma = 14 Manavantaras + 15 sandhis

= 14 x 71 Mahayugas + 15 x 4 Charanas

= 994 Mahayugas + 60 Charanas

Now, 60 Charanas mean 6 Mahayugas (each Charana is 1/10^th of a Mahayuga). So:

1 day of Brahma = 994 Mahayugas + 6 Mahayugas = 1,000 Mahayugas.

Which is the same calculation we did earlier for 1 Kalpa (Day of Brahma).

2. So, where are we?

-----------------------------

Now, to see where we are in this whole scheme of things:

We don’t know which Brahma it is. There were thousands before, and there will be thousands later. This is Multi-verse.

Let’s talk about the Uni-verse i.e. this current Brahma of ours. This is what the scriptures say:

“We are currently in the 28th kaliyuga of the first day of the 1st year of the shvetavaraha kalpa of the second parardha of Brahma in the reign of the 7th Manu, Manu Vaivasvata”

What do we make of it? Read it backwards.

Firstly, we are in the first day of the 51st year of our current Brahma (out of 100).

Then, We are in the 7th Manvantara of Brahma’s this day (out of 14).

And in this Manavantara, 28 Mahayugas have already passed (out of 71).

Let us consider the starting point as this day of Brahma. Why? That is because when Brahma sleeps there is no creation, no life. So any time before this Brahma was awake today is of no meaning to us.

So let us calculate how many years have passed since today started for Brahma. Remember one day of Brahma is 4.32 billion human years.

We will use Mahayugas as the unit. Remember

1 Mahayuga = 12000 divine years = 432,000 human years.

Here goes:

Step 1: For 6 Manvantaras (i.e. for the 7^th Manu) we have 71x 6 = 426 Mahayugas

Step 2: Then we have the sandhis - gaps between each Manvantara which is 7 x 4 Charanas = 28 Charanas = 2.8 MahaYugas

Step 3: Then we have the current Mahayuga in our Manvantara, which is 28^th in number. So there are 27 Mahayugas completed.

Step 4: Now coming to this epoch, we are in a Kali yuga – which is the last 1/10^th of the Mahayuga. (Remember the earlier post, which divides a Mahayuga in 10 Charanas? The last Charana is a Kali yuga). So 90% of this Mahayuga is completed.

All the above put together we have:

426 + 2.8 + 27 + 0.9 = 456.7 Mahayugas

So, 456.7 have been already spent in current day of Brahma. There 543.3 more to go before we all are absorbed back into the Brahma (since total Mahayugas are 1,000 in one day of Brahma).

456.7 Mahayugas = 456.7 x 432,000 human years

= 197,294,400 human years (about 2 billion years)

So now you see, about 2 billion years have passed out of 4.32 billion years. There are 2.32 billion human years more before Brahma sleeps.

Of course, for us here and now, what is more important is when the current Epoch – this kali yuga will end. Since then all will be immersed in water.

It is explained that Kali-yuga began with the disappearance of Lord Krishna from the planet. This has been calculated to be 3102 B.C. Since Kali-yuga is described as being 432,000 earth years in length, with 5,000 years and more already passed, then the age of Kali-yuga has approximately 426,000 more years to go.

So even with this calculation -- all those doomsday soothsayers, it looks like you need to wait a while !!!

Shalom

- S

Multiple Yugas – Part 3

2008-06-23T14:26:00.008+05:30

1. Total Life Span of the Universe

-----------------------------------------------------

Now let us calculate the total time span of the universe.

It is said that before the creation of the universe Lord Vishnu is sleeping in the form of Narayana in the ocean of all causes on the back of Sheshanaag.

While He is sleeping, a lotus sprouts of his navel. Inside this lotus, Brahma resides. Brahma represents the universe, which we all live in, and it is this Brahma who creates life forms. This universe represented by Brahma is not a permanent universe, it is temporary, Brahma lives for 100 years say the vedas and then dies and then a new universe (Brahma) is born.

So as per vedas our universe lives for 100 Brahma years. Now we shall see how long each year of Brahma is. But for that, we need to get to the day of Brahma.

2. A Day of Brahma

-------------------------

1,000 such Mahayugas = 1 Kalpa

1 Kalpa = 1 day of Brahma

= 4,320,000,000 years of man (4.32 billion years)

Which is – hold your breath – the actual scientifically estimated age of the Sun!

So that is one day of Brahma.

3. A Lifetime of Brahma

-----------------------------------

Now one day and one night of Brahma makes 2 Kalpas or 8.64 billion human years.

30 days of Brahma = 1 month of Brahma = 259,200,000,000 years of man (259 billion years)

12 such months of Brahma = 1 year of Brahma = 3,110,400,000,000 years of man (3.11 trillion years)

100 such years of Brahma = 1 Lifespan of Brahma

Also called 1 para or 1 Mahakalpa

This is a mind-numbing 311,040,000,000,000 years of man (311 trillion years).

That is, presumably, the total time span of this universe for this Brahma!

Go, get yourself a glass of liquid (your choice). This needs some meditation.

Best

- S

Multiple Yugas – Part 2

2008-06-23T14:20:00.012+05:30

Now let us go a little deeper in our understanding of time.

1. Significance of Years of Gods

A divine year (i.e. 360 years of man) is a very useful unit of time measurement at this level.

One cycle of the four yugas together is 12,000 divine years. Each of these years is composed of 360 days, and each of their days is equal to one human year.

So Krita-yuga is 4000 divine years in length, Treta-yuga is 3000 divine years in length, Dvapara-yuga is 2000 divine years in length, and Kali-yuga is 1000 divine years long, with the addition of the conjoining portions of the Sandhya and Sandhyansa.

(Each yuga is preceded by a period called a Sandhya and followed by a period of time known as a Sandhyansa – which is 10% of the yuga’s time span each).

	Sandhya	Actual Yuga	Sandhyansa	Total div. Years
Krita yuga	400	4,000	400	4,800
Treta yuga	300	3,000	300	3,600
Dwapar yuga	200	2,000	200	2,400
Kali Yuga	100	1,000	100	1,200
	1,000	10,000	1,000	12,000

All the above numbers are divine years (i.e. 360 years of man).

This equals 4,320,000 human years in one cycle of the four yugas together

2. Number of Generations

Now this is where things start getting even more interesting. Vedas also say that the average human life span goes down 1/10^th in every yuga. So if we consider the current life span to be 100 years, this is what you get:

Average age of humans in different yugas:

Krita yuga = 100,000 years

Treta yuga = 10,000 years

Dwapar yuga = 1,000 years

Kali Yuga = 100 years

The one reference we have is Dwapar Yuga, where it is said that the warriors were around 400-500 years of age when they fought the Great Mahabharata War. There is also a mention that Karna was 240 years of age when he bore his first child. This kind of matches the timeline of 1,000 years of human age (In our yuga, people have children when they are around 25 – 1/10^th of the age mentioned above)

Now, if we consider that an average generation lasts about half of human age (by around 50 years, you have the next generation taking over, is it not?), we get the following:

	Total div. Years	Human Years	Average Age	Approx. Generations
Krita yuga	4,800	1,728,000	100,000	34.56
Treta yuga	3,600	1,296,000	10,000	259.2
Dwapar yuga	2,400	864,000	1,000	1728
Kali Yuga	1,200	432,000	100	8640
	12,000	4,320,000		10661.76

So here are some observations:

- In all, there are around 10,000 human generations in one Mahayuga.

- The number of generations keep going up from Krita Yuga, increasing more and more – 7.5 times more the first time, then 6.6 times more and then 5 times more.

3. Reckoning of Time among other entities

Reckoning of time amongst the pitr (ancestors):

1 human fortnight = 1 day of the pitrs

30 days of the pitrs = 1 month of the pitrs

12 months of the pitrs = 1 year of the pitrs

The lifespan of the pitrs is 100 years of the pitrs (= 36,000 pitr years = 1,500 human years)

Reckoning of time amongst the Devas:

1 human year = 1 day of the Devas.

30 days of the Devas = 1 month of the Devas.

12 months of the Devas = 1 year of the Devas = 1 divine year.

The lifespan of the Devas is 100 years of the Devas (= 36,000 human years).

Best

- S

Multiple Yugas – Part 1

2008-06-23T13:30:00.010+05:30

I would like to spend some of my posts on the excellent topic of "metrics of time measurement" according to Hinduism. Of all the intriguing heritage that we have received from thinkers of ancient India, this is perhaps the most fascinating work.

What is most interesting is that all the possible sources where this topic is discussed - the mythical Puranas like Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana, the Bhagavatam, along with Bhagavad-gita, literary epics such as Mahabharata and the scholarly works like Surya Siddhanta -- all of them -- agree on the measurements of the duration of yugas, kalpas and so on, with some very minor deviations.

I remember when I had to visit New Delhi once somewhere in the year 1998, Prof. Mohan Apte asked me to go to the Indian National Science Academy on Bahadurshah Zafar Marg and buy a copy of Surya Siddhanta for him if they have one. I was lucky to get one there, and while returning managed to read parts of it, although I could barely grasp any of it.

The Surya Siddhanta is a well-known ancient treatise on Astronomy (composer unknown), which is often cited by later Indian mathematicians and astronomers such as Aryabhatta and Varahamihira. The treatise describes the Hindu time cycles in the first chapter itself, based on which the following calculations are done.

1. The Basis of Time – Human Respiration

Surya Siddhanta begins with what is most close to us - our own life. And what make life possible? - respiration.

One respiration is called a 'prana' (also, Life literally in Sanskrit).

60 respirations = 1 nadi.

60 nadis = 1 sidereal day and night = 3600 respirations

So that is the definition of 1 day of man.

30 such days of man = 1 month of man.

12 such months = 1 year of man = 360 days of man.

This is one solar year (a year of man).

This is also called a day of gods.

Why do we need this? Because this is the unit of calculation of time span when it comes to large time spans like the Yugas. If we calculate in Human terms, the numbers become mind-boggling (as what you will see below).

2. Duration of a Caturyuga / Mahayuga (Four Yugas)

Now let us get into calculating the time span of the four yugas.

360 such days of gods = 1 year of gods = 129,600 days of man or 360 years of man.

(1 divine year)

12,000 such years of gods = 1 Caturyuga (also called Mahayuga)

Which is also equal to 4,320,000 years of man.

This Mahayuga is then divided into 4 yugas – Krita (4 parts), Treta (3 parts), Dwapar (2 parts), and Kali (1 part).

What does this ‘part’ mean? It means that in all there are 10 parts (4+3+2+1) and they are occupied by these four yugas. It also means that the Yuga Dharma reduces by a quarter every time a yuga changes – but that is a separate topic in itself – maybe for the next post.

So this one-tenth (1/10^th) part of the Mahayuga – which is equal to 432,000 human years – is called a Charana. Thus, there are 10 such Charanas in a Mahayuga and they are divided as below:

	years of man	years of gods	Charanas
Krita yuga (4 parts)	1,728,000	4,800	4
Treta yuga (3 parts)	1,296,000	3,600	3
Dwapar yuga (2 parts)	864,000	2,400	2
Kali Yuga (1 part)	432,000	1,200	1
	4,320,000	12,000	10

This is one Mahayuga (Caturyuga), and is thus made of 4.32 million years of man. That’s one hell of a time span!

Each yuga is an age with specific characteristics, but more about that later, after we finish with our discussion about ‘Time’.

Best

- S

How Many Hanumans?

2008-06-10T22:44:00.008+05:30

How Many Hanumans?
---------------------------------

Just as the story of Panchmukhi Hanuman where he goes to Patala (see my earlier post), there is also another story about Hanuman going to the netherland, and this one is rather controversial *. I am going to narrate it anyway since I love the insight / world view it gives and also because this leads to the topic of my next posts.

So after Rama conquered Ravana, returned to Ayodhya, and after all the episodes of Uttar-Ramayana (Luv-Kush etc.), it was time to go. Rama and Laxmana's work on the earth was over. However Hanuman, who had returned to Ayodhya to be with Rama was of the opinion that they were still needed. Rama thinks of a way of letting Hanuman know the real nature of time and a man's position in the wheel of time (Yugas).

Thus while speaking, Rama lets his ring slip into a hole in the ground. Ever ready to serve Lord Rama, Hanuman jumps into the hole and follows the ring. The ring keeps rolling ahead into the wormhole, which is now become a tunnel.

The rings keeps rolling, with the great Hanuman in tow, and finally comes to a stop on a ground. When Hanuman reaches to pick it up, he sees that there are rings all over the ground - thousands of them. Confused and dazed, he looks around to see some of the dwellers of Patala. They are all looking at him. He asks them what this means.

The dwellers smile and tell him - Every time a Vanara (Monkey God) comes in search of a ring, they know that a Rama has come to the end of his life. There have been thousands of Hanumans before this one - with thousands of Ramas, with their Ramayanas - and all the world. And, there will be thousands of more to come.

This just goes on to explain the concept of cyclic time that is perhaps the most fundamental difference between Western and Eastern thought. The Westerners think time as linear, while the oriental philosophies consider time to be cyclic.

There is one more interesting story - a similar one - of the cyclic nature of time and multiple worlds - this one is about multiple Indras and is taken from the Puranas.

Indra (Sakra), the king of Devas (gods), is known for his arrogance. One day, he decides that he wants a grand palace to be built for him to befit his stature. So he orders Vishwakarma, the architect of gods and son of Brahma, to build a great palace for him. Vishwakarma builds a wonderful palace with all possible amnities for Indra. But Indra is not happy. He wants the grandest palace for himself. Poor Vishwakarma breaks down the first one and builds an even grander palace, one of his best creations.

Indra, however, is still not satisfied. He wants a palace like no other - like the one never built before and like the one that will never be built later. He is, after all, the ruler of the three worlds! There is no one like him. How can he have an ordinary palace? ...

He orders Vishwakarma to rebuild the palace - the third time. An exhasparated Vishwakarma goes to his father Brahma and asks for help. Brahma asks him to take Vishnu's refuge. Vishnu hears the whole story and laughts out. He tells Vishwakarma not to worry and that he will take care of it.

He goes to Indra in the form of a boy. Indra welcomes his guest and asks his purpose of visit. The boy says "to see if your palace is better than OTHER Indras"!

Indra is dumbfolded. What does the boy mean by 'Other Indras'? The boy tells him "yes, other Indras. Those who existed before you. Those who will come after you. And also those who are currently existing in parallel worlds" ...

... Can you imagine Indra's situation when he hears this? ... Countless Indras in the past, countless now, and countless in the future. Each Indra is a ruler of the sky of his world and a king of Devas. Each one wants his Vishwakarma to build a grand palace. The boy goes on to tell him how he has met with them all and seen their palaces.

Indra is humbled by this insight, knows that the boy is really Narayana (Vishnu) and stops making his place grander.

Multiple Hanumans, multiple Indras, multiple me writing this post and multiple you reading it ...

Aha! ...

But this is just setting stage for discussing the concept of TIME according to Hinduism. I will dwell some posts on this very important topic soon.

Best
- Shreekant

Note: * - Of course, I turly believe that the controversy about this stoy is about how the story is written (what is the need to call Hanuman Rama's henchman, I don't know). For those who would like to see what the controversy is all about, I suggest:

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=220&page=2

For those who are interested in the actual essay of A K Ramanujan, I suggest:

http://www.sabrang.com/cc/archive/2008/may08/cover.html

It is titled "Three Hundred Ramayans" - and is a pretty negatively written article. Anyway, to each his own.

Shalom
-S.

Panchmukhi Hanuman

2008-06-02T23:01:00.004+05:30

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 "Panchmukhi" (five-faced) Hanuman. पंचमुखी हनुमान ।

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.

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: Kumbakonam and Thiruvallur, both in Tamil Nadu.

Unlike Dattatreya who was born with three heads, or Ravana with ten heads, Hanuman was indeed born with one head. So where does this concept of a 5-headed Hanuman come from?

It happened during the war between Rama and Ravana's armies in Lanka. As it so happens, two powerful rakshasa brothers Mahiravana and Ahiravana 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.

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 Rama and Laxmana by his magic. Mahiravana disguises himself as King Dasharartha, and gets past Hanuman's fortress who is guarding them. He captures Rama and Laxmana while they are sleeping, drags them down and holds them captive in his palace in Patala.

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 Makardhwaja. Hanuman subdues him and ties him up before entering Patalpuri to rescue Rama and Lakshmana.

Upon entering Patala, Hanuman discovers the two brothers held captive meant as sacrifice to Goddess Kali, and also that in order to kill Mahiravana, Hanuman must simutaneously extinguish five lamps burning in five different directions. Thus, Lord Hanuman assumes the Panchamukha or five-faced form of:

1. Sri Varaha facing the North
2. Sri Narasimha facing the South
3. Sri Garuda facing the West
4. Sri Hayagriva (a much earlier Avatar of Vishnu) facing the sky and
5. His own (Hanuman) facing the East

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.

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.

I really liked the photo attached to the wikipedia article about Panchmukhi Hanuman, so I am shamelessly pasting it here.

The five faced Hanuman icon is reckoned to be the most powerful form of this god. It was once the most popular and again came to light since it was the main deity of Sri Raghavendra Swami, a 16th century Hindu saint who advocated Vaishnavism and the Dvaita philosophy advocated by Madhvacharya (as against the Advaita philosophy by Sri Sankaracharya).

More later,
- S

Jaya and Vijaya

2008-05-26T22:24:00.008+05:30

How Sanat Kumaras were responsible for Jaya and Vijaya's births on the Earth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now this one is one of my personal favorites - there are two reasons for this, which I will tell you in a while. The story is related to Sanat Kumaras, the first lot of manas-putras (sons born out of thought and not action) of Lord Brahma. By birth, therefore they arrive on the scene before the 10 Prajapatis -- the celestial beings (including the seven Saptarshis) who were responsible for creating most of the family lines on the Earth -- and that includes devas, asuras and humans too.

The four Sanat Kumaras are: Sanat, Sananda, Sanaka, and Sanatana.

These four Sanat Kumaras are wandering across the worlds, and one day decide to pay a visit to Narayana - the form of Vishnu that rests on Shesh naga. When they arrive at the gates of Vaikuntha, they see that the door is guarded by two keepers Jaya and Vijaya, the famous twins, and that Vishnu is taking a nap. Sanat Kumaras approach Jaya and Vijaya and ask to let them in.

Now as you know, Sanat Kumaras are 'Kumaras' - they look like young boys - mere children. So Jaya-Vijaya refuse to let them in.

Dr. Devdutt Pattnaik has a better explanation here. He says that since Sanat Kumaras came into existence before the Prajapatis - lords of the 5 sense organs and 5 action organs, they are oblivious to the worldly desires. This has had them 'pure' - but their purity is not a sign of wisdom, it is the sign of ignorance. They are chaste by default, and not by design.

They have never engaged with the world. And so, even though they are pure, Vishnu does not meet them.

This is a very powerful statement. There is an old saying in Zen, which goes like this:

"In the beginning (i.e. when one is not learning Zen), mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers; later on (when one starts learning Zen), mountains are no longer mountains and rivers are no longer rivers. But now, (when one attains Zen) mountains are once again (really) mountains and rivers are once again rivers".

In the middle there is complexity, doubt, crumpling of soul. In the beginning and in the end, there is only simplicity. The simplicity of the beginning arises from not going through the experience and hence not knowing, while the simplicity of the end state arises from going though the experience and therefore being completely aware. The problem is - since both states are so similar, it is difficult to tell who is where. It is undoubtably the greatness of Vishnu that differentiates between the two. He allows the Saptarshis (who bore children, populated the Earth and also wrote most of the Vedas) to meet him at different times, but does not meet Sanat Kumaras.

So anyway, coming back to our story of Jaya and Vijaya - Sanat Kumaras try to persuade Jaya and Vijaya, but the twins are true to their duty. The twins also tell the Kumaras that Sri Vishnu is resting and that they cannot see Him now. The Kumaras grow angry at the gate keepers. They tell Jaya and Vijaya that Vishnu is available for his devotees any time. Sanat Kumaras get very angry and leave. Before leaving, though, they curse the two doorkeepers that they will have to give up their divinity, leave Vaikuntha, will be born on the Earth and go through the cycle of Life and Death like normal beings.

When Vishnu wakes up, he learns what has happened and is sorry for his two dwarpals (doorkeepers), who are cursed by the great Sanat Kumaras just for doing their duty. He apologizes to the Sanat Kumaras and promises to his doorkeepers that he will do his best to help them go through the cycle of Life and Death. He cannot lift the curse of the Sanat Kumaras directly, but he puts in front of them - and this is the second wonderful part about this story - two options:

The first option is that they could either be born seven times on Earth as devotees of Vishnu, while the second options is that they could be born three times as His enemy. After serving either of these sentences, they can re-attain their stature at Vaikuntha and be with Him permanently.

Jaya-Vijaya cannot bear the thought of staying away from Vishnu for seven lives, even as his devotees. As a result, they choose to be born three times on Earth even though it would have to be as enemies of Vishnu. Vishnu them takes Avatars and releases them from their lives.

Life 1:
Hiranyakashipu - Born as Daitya in Krita Yuga - released by Narasimha Avatar
Hiranyaksha - Born as Daitya in Krita Yuga - released by Varaha Avatar

Life 2:
Ravana - Born as Rakshasa in Treta Yuga - released by Rama Avatar (Ramayana)
Kumbhakarna - Born as Rakshasa in Treta Yuga - released by Rama Avatar (Ramayana)

Life 3:
Sishupal - Born as Kshatriyas (humans) in Dwapar Yuga - released by Krishna Avatar
Kansa - (Some interpretations say Dantavakra, in which case he was defeated by Sahadeva)

So as they move from one life to another, they move more and more closer to God ... (Asuras being the worst, then rakshasa, then humans and then devas) finally going back to Vaikuntha.

Now, these deaths at the hands of Vishnu released Jaya and Vijaya from their Asura, Rakshasa and Manava forms and ensured their return to Vaikuntha, where they resumed their roles as God's doorkeepers. The images of Jaya and Vijaya look very similar to Vishnu's. They hold in their four hands the conch-shell, the discus, the lotus and the mace. But they possess fangs (have you seen the scary images on the doors of Vishnu temples?), a reminder of their demonic deeds.

What is interesting is that it takes 7 lives as devotees, but only 3 as enemies of God! ... Like Mahabharata says ... "But from the circumstance of his thoughts being constantly engrossed by the supreme being, Sisupala was united with him after death, for the lord bestows a heavenly and exalted station even upon those whom he slays in his displeasure" ...

Such is the fierce power of being bad as compared to good ... Okay, wrong lesson, but I guess you get the point.

Cheers
- S

Saptarshis - The Progenitors

2008-05-25T15:20:00.012+05:30

Saptarshis - the very first progenitors

You must be wondering by now why I always keep refering to Saptarshis सप्तर्षि when it comes to giving someone's lineage. In fact I usually start with one of the Saptarshis as the root of the line and then go on. The reason for this lies in the Hindu myth about creation.

In Manu's account of Creation we meet for the first time with the Maha-rishis or Deva-rishis, the Celestial priest poets. These are the mind-born sons of Brahma, who came into existence before the gods and the demons. Indeed, they are credited with most of the acts of creation.

Where did it all start?

So in the beginning there was nothing। Vishnu was sleeping happily on Sheshanaag. Vishnu in this state is called Narayana and this state of dreamless sleep is the time of Pralaya. Narayana stirred out of his sleep and from his navel rose a primordial lotus in which sat Brahma. Brahma opened his eyes and saw. He wondered who he was. He said "What?" -- This is why Brahma is also called Ka " क " (What in Sanskrit).

From his curiosity, arose four boys first, now called Sanat Kumaras सनत कुमार (सनत = old / always, कुमार = youth). Their names are Sanat, Sananda, Sanaka, and Sanatana. They are the first lot of Brahma's manas-putras (children born from mind, not body). Brahma asked them to produce children, but they did not know how or why. The Sanat Kumaras took the path of Nivritti (renouncement) rather than Pravritti (engagement). They are sometimes called Siddheshwaras - masters of all mystic powers (siddhis). More about Sanat Kumaras later.

The birth of Prajapatis from Brahma's thoughts

Brahma then produced 10 more manas-putras -- called the 10 Prajapatis (lit: Lords of the Praja i.e. the created beings) - these were grown men and know how to produce children. They asked their father to give them a wife. so Brahma split himself in two, and out of his left half arose a woman (one of the reasons why even today in India, during religious work the husband sits at the right and the wife at the left, and also why a wife is called "Ardhangini" - half-body).

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik in his excellent book "Myth = mithya" relates the 10 Prajapatis to 10 organs - 5 sense organs also called dnyanendriyas (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin) and 5 action organs also called karmendriyas (hands, feet, mouth, anus and genitals). Following the birth of these Prajapatis, Brahma becomes aware of and has fruitful interaction with the world around him, that is the Goddess.

These 10 Prajapatis - or lords of the created beings are given as the following in Manu Smriti:

Kratu, Pulaha, Pulastya, Atri, Angiras, Vashishtha, Marichi, Daksha, Bhrigu and Narada.
क्रतु, पुलः, पुलस्त्य, अत्री, अंगिरस, वशिष्ठ, मरीचि, दक्ष, भृगु, नारद

The first seven of the above are the Saptarshis ("seven rishis") - also called deva-rishis. Not only did they arrive on the scene before everyone else - and that includes even devas like Indra, Varuna etc., the daityas and danavas and the humans. These seven, along with Daksha created almost all of the known species (humans, devas, asuras etc). Note that for animals and plants, Brahma himself took different forms and created them with the Goddess (identified as Saraswati in some cases).

So you see, before these, there was nothing that births / lineages of people and characters can be attributed to, except Brahma the supreme creator. These Prajapatis were the first beings that 'pro-created' others. And therefore all the family trees go back to these.

Saptarshis and their descendants

The lineages of the seven rishis (briefly) are:

Kratu -- Not known
Pulaha -- Not known
Pulastya --> fathered Visravas --> father of Kubera (lineage of Yakshas) and Ravana (lineage of Rakshasa)
Atri -- married Anasuya and is father of Dattatreya (an incarnation of the Divine Trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Siva)
Angiras --> His wife is Surupa and sons are Utatya, Samvartana and Brihaspati, the priest of gods. His line also had the famous Bharadwaj and Gautam rishis.
Vashishtha --> His wife is the famous Arundhati. Vashishtha is Lord Rama's guru. Some legends describe the sage Parashara as a son of Vashishtha. Parashara fathered Vyasa from Satyavati, and Vyasa helped produce children for Ambika and Ambalika - who were Dhritarashtra and Pandu. So in a way, Vashishtha is a forefather of Kauravas and Pandavas.
Marichi --> married to Kala, daughter of Daksha, and fathered Kashyapa.

About the remaining 3 Prajapatis

Daksha - He is another prolific progenitors. With his wife Prasuti (lit: child-birth) he had 13 daughters, namely: Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kala, Danayu, Sinhika, Krodha, Pradha, Viswa, Vinata, Kapila, Muni, and Kadru. His 14th daughter was Sati, or Dakshayani (daughter of Daksya) who married Shiva against his father's wishes.

Note: In some scriptures, Daksha is also said to have fathered the 27 nakshatras (Ashwini, Rohini etc.) who went on to marry Soma or Chandra (Moon). But we are digressing.

A special mention of Kashyapa will not be out of place here. Kala married Marichi to give birth to Kashyapa. Kashyapa married 12 out of Daksha's 14 daughters (his mother's sisters). Some of the famous children he bore with them are:

1. Aditi --> Sons are called Adityas. There are usually 12 or 13 Adityas as under:

(a) The devas, or the 11 gods - including Amsa (being / existence), Aryaman (Sun), Bhaga (wealth), Dhuti, Vidhata, Mitra, Pusan, Sakra (Indra), Savitr, Tvastri, and Varuna.
(b) Vishnu, the 12th Aditya - As Vamana, who pushed Mahabali in Patala and secured Indra's win
(c) Vivasvan - father of Manu, the progenitor of mankind, and first king to rule this earth.

2. Diti --> Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, from where the Daitya line started
3. Danu --> Danavas. Daityas and Danavas (under the leadership of Mahabali) fought against Devas who were led by Indra.
4. Vinata --> Garuda (eagle) and Aruna (daylight)
5. Kadru --> Nagas (serpents)
6. Muni --> Apsaras

That is quite an effort from Kashyapa. No wonder Parashurama gave away the earth as a gift to Kashyapa, after Parashurama vanquished Kartavirya Arjuna. In any case, it was populated by Kashyana's progeny.

About Bhrigu - He was married to Khyati, the daughter of Daksha. He had two sons by her, named Dhata and Vidhata. -- However some say that these were children of Kashyap. Anyway, Bhrigu's daughter Shri (i.e. Lakshmi) married Lord Vishnu - Narayana. He is said to have two more sons - the great Shukracharya (the teacher of Daityas), and Chyavana, the preceptor of Ayurveda. One of the famous descendants of Bhrigu is Jamadagni, father of Parashurama.

About Narada - He is also a celestial rishi although not counted in the Saptarshis. The reason for this is that he renounced Pravritti and like Sanat Kumaras, decided to spend his life (which is for eternity) singing praises of Narayana - Vishnu resting on Shesha naga. He also has the siddhis (mystical powers) like the Sanat Kumaras and travels across the worlds (hence called "tribhuvan sanchari" - wanderer of the three worlds - Svarga, Earth and Naraka).

Best
- S

Chiranjeevi 8 - Kripa

2008-05-23T02:53:00.001+05:30

8. Kripacharya - Also often called Kripa, was the chief priest at the court of Hastinapura, in the Mahabharata. He comes from the lineage of Rishi Gautam.

Gautam had a son called Sharadvan – 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 Janapadi. The twins were found by King Shantanu, who brought them to Hastinapura and called them Kripa and Kripi. Kripa went on to become the high priest of Hastinapura, and also the early teacher of the 100 Kauravas and 5 Pandavas.

Kripi married Drona, and gave birth to Ashwatthama. So Kripa was also maternal uncle of Ashwatthama and guru.

Kripacharya was an extraordinary teacher. To him, all pupils were equal. A guru like Drona favoured Arjuna and sacrificed an equally if not more promising student - he asked Ekalavya for his right thumb. Kripa, on the other hand, upheld the highest standards expected of a teacher: He was completely impartial.

He fought on the side of Duryodhana in the War, also was part of the murder of Abhimanyu 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.

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.

Best
- Shreekant

Chiranjeevi 7 - Ved Vyasa

2008-05-23T02:51:00.004+05:30

7. Vyasa (Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa) – Vyasa is a central and much revered figure in Hinduism. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa – the one who compiled the Vedas.

According to the Mahabharata, he was the son of Satyavati, a ferryman's daughter, and the wandering sage Parashara. This was before Satyavati’s marriage to Shantanu and before Devavrata became Bhishma.

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)

Hindus traditionally hold that Vyasa categorised the primordial single Veda into four. Hence he was called Veda Vyasa, or "Splitter of the Vedas," the splitting being a feat that allowed people to understand the divine knowledge of the Veda. The word ‘vyasa’ means ‘analyze’.

Vyasa is traditionally known as author of Mahabharata. Vyasa was closely related to the Kauravas and Pandavas, so much as that he perpetuated their race in the line of the Kuru king Vichitravirya. (Although there are doubts whether it was the same Vyasa). It is said that both Dhritarashtra and Pandu, 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 Jaya. He also makes occasional appearances in the story as a spiritual guide to the young princes.

It is said that he lived in Kurukshetra, 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.

The Vishnu-Purana suggests that Vyasa is an incarnation of Vishnu and in every third world age (that is, Dvapara yuga), 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.

- Best
Shreekant

Chiranjeevi 6 - Markandeya

2008-05-23T02:50:00.005+05:30

6. Markandeya – Markandeya is an ancient rishi (sage) from the Hindu tradition, born in the clan of Brigu Rishi. 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).

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.

One legend relates the story of how Shiva protected Markandeya from the clutches of death. (Yama) and how he became a Chiranjeevi:

It is said that Sage Mrikandu and his wife Marudmati 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 Markandeya, an exemplary son, destined to die at the age of 16.

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.

Yama 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.

For the above act, Shiva was thereafter known also as Kaalakalaya, 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

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.

- Best
Shreekant

Chiranjeevi 5 - Maha bali

2008-05-23T02:48:00.003+05:30

5. Mahabali (King Bali) – The realm of Patala (specifically the Sutala -- see my earlier post "Devavrata becomes Bhishma") is supposed to be the realm of Bali. Every 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 Sahastrabahu (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.

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.

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.

Bali’s lineage is as under:

Marichi – Kashyapa (with Diti) – Hiranyakashipu – Prahlada – Veerochana – Bali

Looking at the growing popularity and fame of King Bali the Devas became extremely concerned that the Daitya way might conquer the people. Vishnu decided to intervene and took the Avatar known as the Vamana – a poor Brahmin boy. While Bali is performing an Aswamedha Yagna at Kurukshetra in order to ascend Indra’s throne, Vamana comes to him and asks for 3 strides of land.

Just as King Mahabali agrees to grant the land much against warnings given by his guru Shukracharya, 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.

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. The Brahmin places his foot on the head and pushes him towards Patala, the nether world. This is where Bali stays now. Vishnu also gives him immortality for his benevolence.

It is said that by another boon of Vishnu, Bali will be the next (Purandara is the current Indra), that is, the eighth Indra (King of Devas) during the time of the eighth Manu, Savarni Manu.

As a footnote, this is all fine about Bali, but what about Vamana? -- It is said that Vamana becasme the guard of the gate of Bali's realm Patala and will remain so forever. (Tulsidas' Ramayana).

- Best
Shreekant

Chiranjeevi 4 - Vibhishana

2008-05-23T02:46:00.004+05:30

4. Vibhishana – Also known as Bibhishana, he is the younger brother of Ravana. His lineage is thus:

Out of the seven great sages (Saptarshi), who are supposed to be sons of Brahma, one of the rishis was Pulatsya. His son was Rishi Vishrava. Vishrava married Idavida, daughter of Rishi Bharadwaja. ldavida bore Vishrava a son, Kubera, the Lord of Wealth and the original ruler of Lanka. The accounts of Vishrava's far-reaching Yogic powers reached the ears of the Asura, Sumali, and his wife, Thataka. They got their daughter Kaikesi married to Vishrava. Vishrava fathered four children with her – Ravana, Kumbakarna, Vibhishana, and a daughter, Soorpanaka. Ravana would eventually oust his half-brother, Kubera, as King of Lanka and usurp his throne.

Vibhishana was the youngest brother of Ravana. He had differences with Ravana for a long time. When Rama came searching for his wife Sita, Vibhishana’s mother Kaikesi advised Vibhishana to join Rama. In the Lanka War, Vibhishana's knowledge of the secrets of Lanka were invaluable to Shri Rama. After the War, Rama made Vibhishana the ruler of Lanka.

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. Hence, Vibhishana is considered one of the eight immortals, or Chiranjeevins.

In Mahabharata, there is a passing reference of Vibhishana. During the Rajasuya Yagna of Yudhishthira, when the remaining four brothers conducted campaigns in four directions for their oldest brother, Sahadev went southwards. He wanted to win friendship of the rakshasa king Vibhishana of Lanka – for which he sends Ghatotkacha (Bhima’s son from rakshasi Hidimba) as his envoy. Vibhishana honors Ghatotkacha and sends him back with a lot of gifts, gold etc.

There is not much that is heard of Vibhishana after that. It seems he is still supposed to rule Lanka.

- Best
Shreekant

Chiranjeevi 3 - Parashu rama

2008-05-23T02:45:00.007+05:30

3. Parashurama (Axe-wielding Rama) – 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):

Matysa, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki.

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.

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.

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.

Parshurama, the creator of the Konkan coast, 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.

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.

- Best
Shreekant

Chiranjeevi 2 - Hanuman

2008-05-23T02:40:00.004+05:30

2. Hanuman – 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.

In some cases, Hanuman is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva – and is called the “11th Rudra”.

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).

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.

- B
Shreekant

Chiranjeevi 1 - Ashwatthama

2008-05-23T02:38:00.007+05:30

1. Ashwatthama - 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.

Ashwatthama fights along side his father for Duryodhana in the Great War. He has committed 3 sins in the course of time:

Murder of a child by unfair means: 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.
Genocide -- Killing of innocent people in their sleep: 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.
Foeticide -- Killing of an unborn child: 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.

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.

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.

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.

Promise, this is the only sad story out of the eight. The rest are all quite beautiful.

- Best
Shreekant

The Eight Chiranjeevis - Part 0

2008-05-23T02:21:00.006+05:30

The Chiranjeevis ( चिरंजीवी )
-----------------------------

Among all the minor characters in the Douglas Adam's 'Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy' series, Wowbagger the infinitely prolonged is perhaps the wittiest. Wowbagger, the story goes, is one of the universe's small population of 'immortal beings', although he was not born this way. He is an alien who becomes 'immortal' and keeps living on and on, due to an accident with an irrational particle accelerator, a pair of rubber bands and a liquid lunch.

But unfortunately for Wowbagger, the exact conditions of the experiment mentioned above could never be understood. So anyone who tried to replicate it ended up either looking stupid or being dead or both.

The story goes on about his predicament -- Since he is not born this way, unlike other immortals, he does not know how to handle being immortal. He eventually comes up - and this is the best part - with a plan to keep himself busy: he will insult every living being in the universe - in alphabetical order. But that is later.

The Hindu Mythology has its own share - and I know that purists will not like this immediate comparison, but for the sake of poetic license, do bear with me for this one - of beings that live on and on. They are called Chiranjeevis - quite literally "the infinitely prolonged" --- or "those who live for ever".

The subtle difference between Immortals and 'Infinitely Prolonged'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although the words Immortal (Amar) - अमर and Chiranjeev चिरंजीव are used almost like synonyms, there is in fact a slight difference। The word Chiranjeev is a combination of "chiram" (long) and jeevi (lived)। This word is often confused with immortality ("amaratva")। The following classification of beings will make this clear:

1. Mortals -- Beings who die. Includes all beings on the Earth - Humans, Rakshasas, Nagas etc. This is you and I.

2. Chiranjeevis -- Beings that will live a very long life, so long that normal humans feel that they live for eternity. They started off as humans, but have received the boon / curse of eternal life. Mortals can become Chiranjeevi by good deeds etc., but cannot become Amar easily unless they drink Amrita of Devas. Hence when a younger bows to an elder in Hindu society, the elder would bless "Chiranjeevi Bhava" (live long) and not "Amar Bhava" (live forever).

3. Immortals (Amar) -- Beings who do not die. This includes Devas, Apsaras, Gandharvas. These beings do not die at all. Even in war when they are wounded, they recover and continue to live. Devas drank Amrita, which made them Immortal. Before that, they too were mortals - sons of Aditi and Kashyapa. Note that Asuras / Daityas (i.e. the step-brothers of Devas and sons of Diti & Kashyapa) die in the wars and are then resurrected / revived by way of Sanjeevani Vidya possessed by their Guru Shukra.

4. Eternal -- Beings that will live forever. All the three categories above, even Immortal beings, get dissolved / die at the time of Pralaya (end of the universe), including its secondary creator Brahma. The only real Eternals are Vishnu, Shiva, Sheshanaga (the Eternal Serpent), and the four Vedas ... yes, although they are not really Beings, Vedas are considered Eternal in that they do NOT get destroyed at the end of time.

This series of posts is about the second category i.e. The Chiranjeevis.

The most well-knowns Chiranjeevis are three - Ashwatthama, Hanuman and Parashurama (Bhargava). Out of these, Ashwatthama was supposedly seen recently near Rishikesh. People said that they recognized him by the scar on his forehead. Now how can this be matter of identity where there are millions of people with scars on their foreheads is a matter of debate, and I will leave it at that.

A complete list of the most commonly agreed upon Eight Chiranjeevis (as per Bhagavata Purana) is --- in a possible order of their start of life:

Markandeya मार्कंडेय - An ancient sage from the Hindu tradition, born in the clan of Brigu Rishi.
Mahabali महा बलि – a righteous demon king who conquered heaven, earth, and the underworld, but was forced to give it back by Vamana वामन
Parashurama परशु राम – Also called Bhargava, son of Jamadagni, and the sixth Avatar of Vishnu
Vibhishana विभीषण – Brother of Ravana, who helped Rama in his war against Ravana and as a result became king of Lanka later
Hanuman हनुमान – Son of Vayu and devotee of Rama
Vyasa व्यास - Also known as Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, composer of Mahabharata, and also the rishi who arranged the Vedas in four parts
Kripa कृपाचार्य – The first teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas, before Drona
Ashwatthama अश्वत्थामा – Son of Drona, a great warrior and one of the 3 survivors of the Great War from Kaurava side

A brief story of each of these eight and especially how they became Chiranjeevis follows in the next posts.

- Best
Shreekant

Devavrata becomes Bhishma

2008-05-18T15:55:00.009+05:30

Devavrata becomes Bhishma
-------------------------------------

We all know this story - Devavrata, the son of Shantanu and Ganga was slated to be the king of Hastinapur after his father. But fate had something else in store. Shantanu goes game hunting one day, gets attracted to the aroma from a fishergirl - hence called Matsyagandha (although I cannot personally imagine how someone can get attracted to the smell of fish! ... I mean you can eat it, but smell it? ... tsk, tsk!) - also called Satyavati. He follows her and asks her father for her hand.

Satyavati's father is worried that the king is doing this all in the spur of the moment, and very soon his daughter will be reduced to nothing but a part of the king's harem - maybe just a handmaiden - and will never be the queen anyway. So he does what a father would do - ensure that his girl's future is secure. He tells Shantanu that he can marry his daughter only if he promises that Satyavati's sons will be heirs of the throne.

Shantanu, however self-centered (?), cannot possibly depost his first child Devavrata. So he comes back dejected, and tries to forget this girl of his dreams. But he is madly in love (tell me something new!), and spends all his time in her memory. He loses interest in his kingdom, his court, his family. Devavrata finds that something is amiss. So he does some background research and comes to know of the incidence.

In order to make his father happy (taking cue from the earlier story of Yayati and his son Puru, where Puru agreed to forego his youth so that his father can enjoy youth and life again) ... Devavrata goes to Satyavati's father. He persuades the old man to let Shantanu marry Satyavati. He says he will release his claim on the throne.

The old man says, all that is fine and that he trusts Devavrata about his word, but what if Devavrata bears a son before Satyavati does? Then that child will have a claim before Satyavati's children.

Seeing that the old man is adament about this point, Devavrata takes 'terrible' oath: That he will never marry. Never adopt anyone. And never have a heir, son, descendent. Devavrata's line will end with Devavrata.

The old man is more than satisfied. He blesses Devavrata, sends Satyavati along with him to the king's palace. When Shantanu hears about this, he is dumb-struck. How did Devavrata come up with this 'terrible' oath? ... Overcome with love and gratitude, Shantanu gives a great boon to Devavrata -- that he can choose when he can die -- called the boon of 'Iccha-mrityu' (death when desired).

What is so great about this oath?

Now one always wonders, what is so great and 'terrible' about Devavrata's oath? I mean, agreed that the dude decided not to marry, not to have children (with or without marriage!), not to adopt anyone ... but what is so very special? Don't we have people who do not marry - bachelors etc.? And why would Shantanu give him such a great boon that he can decide when he can die? i.e. almost make him invincible? ....

The answer is not simple. It lies in the way Hinduism looks at the cycle of birth and death.

Firstly, it needs to be noted that although there are brahmacharis (bachelors) in Hinduism, there are no life-long brahmacharis. Brahmacharya is a stage (one of the four dharma-ashramas along with Grihastha, Vaanprastha and Sanyaas) --- it is the stage of study and gathering wisdom. All brahmacharis are supposed to get married, and have children. The life-long celibacy concept is only there in Buddhism, Jainism and other derivatives. And this getting married is true for all - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras alike. All great rishis - Vashishtha, Vishvamitra etc. married / had children.

The only few ajanm (life-long) brahmacharis known - like Hanuman and Ashwatthama - are immortals. So are others like Narada etc. Everyone else is expected to marry and have children. Now question is --- Why?

Cycle of Life and Death

Let's come to the understanding of what Hinduism considers the world to comprise of and the cycle of Life and Death . According to Puranas, there are 7 lokas (upper worlds / realms) and 7 talas (lower worlds). Out of these the middle three lokas - i.e. Bhuloka, Svarga loka and Narak loka are considerd to make what is called Samsara ('triloka'). You are born on Bhu loka, you do your duties, you earn Paap and Punya, and depending on the tally you either go to Swarga or Naraka based on what Yama the god of Death decides. (p.s. Yama's darbaar - court - is called pitra loka).

Note on the 14 realms:

The 7 lokas (upper realms) from top to bottom are:

Satyaloka (Brahma, Vishnu -- called Vaikunth, and Shiva -- called Kailash) -- top most loka
Tapoloka (even more advanced sages -- saptarshis)
Janaloka (more advanced sages)
Maharloka (sages)
Svar(ga)loka (devas, apsaras, gandharvas) --- Part of Samsara
Bhuvarloka (lesser devas, ghosts, yakshas)
Bhu(r)loka (humans, rakshasa, animals, plants) --- Part of Samsara

Svarga loka is Indra's heaven. Gods, Apsaras and Gandharvas live here. Once you die, if your account of good vs bad deeds shows positive on good (called punya), then you get to stay here till you are re-born. This is as much part of Samsara as Bhu loka. All rules of above are applicable, except that Devas do not die due to Amrita. But when Devas were born, they were mortals too. When you die and go to this heaven, you are still part of Samsara, and bound to the cycle of birth and death.

The seven lower worlds are collectively known as Naraka or Patala. Their names are:

Kakola / Patala (snakes) - "black poison" --- fallen and sinful, region of malice
Rijisha / Rasa tala (Daityas / Demons) - "expelled" -- subterranean region, region of selfishness --- Part of Samsara
Kudmala / Mahatala (Serpents) -- "leprous" -- The 'intensity of hell' begins here
Tamisra / Tala tala (Maya Danava and other demons) -- "darkness" -- lower region, realm of confused thinking
Sutala / Samhata (Lord Vamana, Lord Bali raja and demons) -- "abandoned" -- region of great depth / jealousy
Avichi / Vitala (Lord Shiva and Bhavani and their associates) -- "joyless" --- negative region
Put - Atala (called "childless") --- bottomless region, realm of fear and lust

Below these seven realms of Patala is the Garbha ocean (Garbhodaka) filling half of the universe on which Garbhodakasayi Vishnu lies on Ananta Shesha and from His navel grows a lotus (in which Brahma sits). In the stem of this lotus are situated all the planetary systems.

The seven-fold hellish region in its entirety is also called patala, "fallen region." Scriptures offer other lists of hells, numbering 7 or 21. They are described as places of torment, pain, darkness, confusion and disease, but none are places where souls reside forever. Hinduism has no eternal hell.

The only exception to this is Put. And this is why:

You can move from one realm to another based on your account of Paap and Punya that you accumulate in your life. In case your account of Paap is more, you go to Naraka (usually 3rd or 4th layer of Talas). If Punya is more, you go to Svarga (layer 5 of lokas). You remain there accepting the fruits of your deeds -- good if you have Punya (you will be enjoying songs and dance with apsaras and all the splendor of Indra's Swarga), bad if you have sinned (you will be punished and will be burning in hell). In Swarga or Naraka, you cannot change your state. You only suffer the consequences of your life on Bhu loka.

There is only one way of changing the state -- this is being reborn on Earth. So if you are tired of Naraka, get reborn and then do some good, earn Punya and so you will go to Swarga.

But a rebirth is only possible through your direct descendants. If your lineage is finished, you cannot be reborn. You get stuck in hell -- and go from one level to another, till you reach Put (Atala) and remain there --- till the time of Pralaya i.e. end of the Kali Yuga. So therefore a child is called a Put-ra (son) or Put-ri (daughter) -- reliever from Put. If you do not have children, you cannot be re-born and you are stuck to the nether worlds - forever!

What has this got to do with Devavrata?

So you see where this is going --- when Devavrata took the vow that he will not have any descendant, he almost certainly committed himself to the realm of Put till the end of time. He had no chance to be re-born, no chance of earning punya, no chance of relieving himself from the Samsara.

And that is why his oath became known as Bhishma-pratigya (the 'terrible' oath), and Devavrata was known as 'Bhisma' the terrible.

Shantanu was overcome by this. The fact that when Bhishma dies, he is sure to go to Put and remain there for eternity makes Bhishma's death a very important incidence. For him, there is no going back. No coming back to life in re-birth, no chance to undo any mistakes / paap / sins he does in this life. This is in fact end of road for him - the ultimate dead-end : cul-de-sac!

The only way Shantanu can save Bhishma from this cul-de-sac is to ensure that Bhishma dies like a warrior on the battle-field and that too in Uttarayana (when Sun is moving North), because all those kshatriyas who die a warrior's death in that time are released from their cycle of life and death.

The only way Shantanu could ensure the above is by giving Bhishma himself this choice of his time of death .... which, as we know, he indeed exercised much later in the Great War of Mahabharata. When he died, therefore, it was his choice. He was then relieved from the cycle of life and death, and was collected with the remaining of his brothers in heaven - the other Vasus.

And that is the story of why Devavrata became famous as Bhisma the terrible.

Best
- Shreekant
18 May 2008

An Akshauhini of a Fighting Force

2008-05-15T00:40:00.012+05:30

What is an Akshauhini?
------------------------------------

The word 'Akshauhini' - as a unit of size of an army - is used generously in Mahabharata. The Great War was fought between Pandavas and Kauravas -- with Pandavas commanding 7 Akshauhinis, and Kauravas managing to garner 11 Akshauhinis in their command -- a total of 18 Akshauhinis.

Pandava Army and their Allies:

Satyaki of the Vrishni clan - 1 Akshauhini
Yuyudhana - 1 Akshauhini
Dhrishtaketu, king of Chedis - 1 Akshauhini
Jayatsena, son of Jarasandha - 1 Akshauhini (from Magadha) -- Same Jarasandha, who was slain by Arjuna and Bhima earlier, but the boy sided with his father's killers!
Drupada with his sons - 1 Akshauhini
Virata the king of Matsya - 1 Akshauhini
Assorted allies - 1 Akshauhini (Pandya etc.)

Total 7 Akshauhinis. This army of Allies was more or less for all of 18 days of war commanded by Dhrishtadyunma, son of Drupada the king of Panchal, and brother of Draupadi. He was aided by Bhima and Satyaki (commander of Krishna's army of Vrishnis).

Kaurava Army and Duryodhana's side:

Bhagdatta the veteran - 1 Akshauhini
Salya, king of Madra - 1 Akshauhini
Bhoorisravas - 1 Akshauhini
Kritavarma (Krishna's army) - 1 Akshauhini
Jayadratha (Saindhava) - 1 Akshauhini
Sudakshina, king of Kambhoja - 1 Akshauhini (has Yavanas & Sakas in his troops)
Vinda and Anuvinda (from Avanti) - 1 Akshauhini
Nila, of Mahishmati - 1 Akshauhini (from south)
Five Kekaya brothers - 1 Akshauhini
Kuru's own army and others - 2 Akshauhinis all put together (some say 3 divisions)

A grand total of 11 Akshuhinis. It is well-known that this army was commanded by Devavrata Bhishma the great Kuru veteran for the first 10 days, then Drona the brahmin teacher of Kauravas and Pandavas too for 5 days, then for 2 days by Radheya Karna, king of Anga and then by Shalya the valiant king of Madra (and brother of Madri, second wife of Pandu and mother of the twins Nakula and Sehdeva) for only half a day. The rest half of the 18th day basically had hardly any fight left, and saw Duryodhana's one-on-one combat with Bhima in which Bhima famously broke the Kuru king's thigh.

So the above days total to 10 + 5 + 2 + 1/2 + 1/2 = 18 days.

18 days, 18 Akshauhinis --- just one of the many coincidences so beautifully weaved in that great narrative.

Which brings us back to the title of this post - what does one mean exactly by an Akshauhini?

The sage Sauthi who narrates Mahabharata to a gathering of rishis makes our life simple by very clearly giving a complete breakup of how this Akshauhini is composed in the very first Book: Adi Parva, Section II: Paushya Parva.It starts with the smallest unit of the army called a Patti:

1 Patti = 1 chariot, 1 elephant, 5 foot-soldiers, 3 horses

Here goes the complete calculation for an Akshauhini as per that:

Sr.	Unit	Composition:		Foot soldiers	Horses	Chariots	Elephants
1	Patti	--	--	5	3	1	1
2	Sena-mukha	3	Patti	15	9	3	3
3	Gulma	3	Sena-mukha	45	27	9	9
4	Gana	3	Gulma	135	81	27	27
5	Vahini	3	Gana	405	243	81	81
6	Pritana	3	Vahini	1,215	729	243	243
7	Chamu	3	Pritana	3,645	2,187	729	729
8	Anikini	3	Chamu	10,935	6,561	2,187	2,187
9	Akshauhini	10	Anikini	109,350	65,610	21,870	21,870

	Total of: 18 Akshauhinis			1,968,300	1,180,980	393,660	393,660

So there you are: One Akshauhini equals 109,350 foot soldiers, 65,610 horses, 21,870 chariots and the same number of elephants.

So when you multiply this with 18 (last line above), and you get the following: About 20 Lakh soldiers, 15 Lakh animals and 4 Lakh vehicles! ... This was what was seen on the first day of the war in the place called Samanta-panchaka - also known as Kurukshetra. (Makes you sympathize with Arjuna when he went weak in the knees seeing the vast expanse of the armies huh?)

And what was the outcome of the war? They were all slain! Only 10 people survived - 7 from Pandava side (the five Pandava brothers, Krishna and Satyaki) and 3 from Kaurava side (Ashwatthama, Kripa and Kritavarma) -- that was all the residue that was left of all these Akshauhinis we just calculated.

Note that Bhishma had promised Duryodhana that he will personally kill 10,000 soldiers every day, but will not hurt the heros (Pandavas). So in his 10 days on the field, this man alone killed 100,000 soldiers. Some score huh?

More later, on Bhishma and what was so special about his vow ...

Best
- Shreekant

Endings of the Four Yugas

2008-05-11T00:04:00.008+05:30

Endings of the Four Yugas
------------------------------------------

You know, there are a lot of theories floating around. I have a few theories of my own too -- one of them is that when we used to drink a lot of 2-rupee 'chai' - when we were in our own respective degree colleges, when money was scarce but friends were many -- we used to have a lot of bright ideas to change the world. We would in fact solve half the world's problem in a 'cutting' - that's half a cup of brew you get on Mumbai's roadsides ...

But today, when we pay 60 rupees for a cup of cappuchino and what not, we get nothing .. Null, void, nada! ... Case in point: Last week I was in Noida at a client site, more of friends than clients really. We would go out for chai almost every evening after work. And what would you expect? --- This time my mind is brimming with new ideas.!

While I was in this state, for some reason I started pondering on the concept of Four Yugas in Indian mythology. As you know, the four yugas are:

1. Satya Yug - Also called Krita Yug
2. Treta Yug
3. Dwapar Yug
4. Kali Yug

Every yuga came to an end with a war. The more I was thinking about it, the more I became certain that if you follow this notion, then the idea of Armageddon that accompanies this is inevitable. Also, the nature of these yuga-ending battles started becoming clearer in my mind. Here is how:

a. Between Who? -- The fights in Krita Yug were between Devas and Asuras. The fight in Treta Yug was between a Man and a Rakshasa - Rama and Ravana. The fight that ended Dwapar Yug is well-known - in which Men of the same family fought with each other - Pandavas and Kauravas. In Kali Yug therefore, the battle will be internal - Man against himself. Of course Kalki's story in Kalki Purana (the 10th and the last of the maha-dashavatars of Vishnu) has a complete narrative of how the war will be fought etc., it still seems like the war is by now turned inwards.

b. Good or Bad? -- This is related to above. Earlier, there was a clear de-markation between the good and the bad -- which slowly starts getting murky as the yugas pass. It gets increasingly difficult to identify whose side is really the side of the good over time.

Devas were good, Asuras were bad. That was that in the first yuga. Some Daityas (Tripurasura, Mahishasura, Bhasmasura, Hiranyaksha and the company) used to be great followers of Shiva or Vishnu, but that was mainly to get a boon. Once they got the boon, they would not hesitate to even turn it around on the same God. There is hardly any evidence that they helped others or did any other acts of good deed.

In the second yuga, Rama was divine, Ravana was a Rakshasa. So you would think Ravana is a villain. But that is hardly true. Yes, he forcefully took another man's wife to his house, but he did not take her inside the house. He kept her outside in a nice garden. He is known to be a great follower of Shiva, and not only that but is a 'prakand pandit' - a great scholar. His land Lanka is said to have bricks of gold - which obviously mean that not only the king but also his subjects were well off. Ever the poorest of the poor had silver and gold utensils. So the bad side has shades of good. Rama asked Sita to do Agni-pariksha twice. You wonder what was going on his mind - the good has shades of grey (?). Having said that, we can still distinguish the good side and the bad side.

In Mahabharata (end of Dwapar Yug), things get really complicated. All the known great heros at that time - Bheeshma, Drona, Kripa, Ashwatthama - they all fight on Duryodhana's side. Then there is Karna - who was supposedly so rightous that he never said no to anyone. Even the great Shalya fights for Duryodhana - maybe he was tricked, but the fact remains that it is very difficult to say that Pandavas was the good side and Kauravas was the bad side. The only reason to say so is because the human forms of Nara and Narayana - Arjun and Krishna - were on Pandava's side and they won. But Pandavas tricked and killed all the great warriors, in fact they spent some time in Naraka (Hell) while the Kauravas went straight to Swarga (Heaven). So whose is the good side?

Thus, when it comes to Kali yug, it gets almost impossible to distinguish the good from the bad. Which can be confirmed by what you see around you - who do you think is on the side of good? And more important, whose side are you on?

c. Outcome? -- This is most interesting. In fact, this is my main theory here.

In Krita Yug, wars would be fought, there would be killings and there would be resurrections. Devas had Amruta - the elixir of life which made them immortal. Asuras knew Sanjivani Vidya (at least their head priest Sukracharya knew). So in effect there are no casualties - good or bad. At max the bad boys like Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashayapu, etc. got killed by Vishnu - and even then it was not a killing, but an act of 'liberation' from their body form ... Remind me to tell you the story of Jay and Vijay - Vishnu's door keepers (who were Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapu in their first birth) - in the later posts.

In Treta Yug, Rama fought with Ravana. All the key people from Ravana's side died - Kumbhkarna, Indrajeet, all of them. But the rest of the Rakshasa clan seem to have survived. That was the 'praja' (subjects) that was handed over to Vibhishana after the war to rule. So what you see here is that only the real baddies died -- and maybe part of their armies. Everyone else survived.

The Great War of Mahabharata was bloody for both sides. Not only did the people on Duryodhana's side died, but all the people who were on Pandava's side - Satyaki, Drishtadyumna, Drupada ... even their children died. Arjun's unborn grandson (Abhimanyu and Uttara's son Parikshit) also died in the womb due to Ashwatthama's error, but Krishna brought him back to life. The only people who survived were the Pandava heros and a handful others. All 11+ 7 Akshauhini army were wiped out, except a few hundreds common soldiers. The only people who survived on the side of Kauravas were - Kripa, Kritvarma and Ashwatthama. So total 10 survivors.

What does this trend lead you to? Yes, my dear, this is what I am bringing you to --- a complete annihilation. It does not matter whose side you are (if you did answer my earlier question), it does not matter how you fight, it does not matter whether you are a hero or a commoner, there is only one way to go - down! That is Pralaya ... the time when Vishnu takes a long nap ... Pretty bleak, huh? But then the good news is that He does wake eventually and the cycle of the four yugas repeats itself.

d. Why the End? -- The four yugas match the four Dharmas - In every yuga there is one Dharma less. Dharma is sometimes represented by a bull. In Krita Yug, the bull walks on all four legs. in Treta Yug, only three, in Dwapar only two and in Kali Yug only one. So it is inevitable that by the end of Kali yug, Dharma will be immobile, and there will be a need to start all over again. I will write about the four dharmas in detail in another post.

So you see, the end of Kali Yug will come with a war within yourself, without you knowing whose side who is, resulting in a complete annihilation, and so that a new cycle starts all over again.

Now the question is, when will that happen? ... The yugas reduce in length of time from Krita yuga down to Kali yuga. So we will address this key questions in a later post.

Best
- Shreekant
11 May 2008

Invoking Lord Ganesh

2008-05-10T23:46:00.010+05:30

Invoking Lord Ganesh
-----------------------------------

It is said that Janamejaya जनमेजय - the son of Parikshit (Arjun's grandson and son of Abhimanyu - Uttara) asked Vaishampayan, the disciple of the great sage Vyasa to narrate to him the story of Pandava's win over Duryodhana - which Vyasa had simply called 'Jay' but which later became more popular by the name 'Mahabharata' । Now, originally, when he decided to compose it, the sage Vyasa was faced with a practical difficulty. The thoughts came to his mind so fast that he could not put them on paper (papyrus, for purists) in time and in a structure. He needed someone to help him in this task. So he prayed to Lord Ganesh गणेश, the god of wisdom.

As he was invoked, Ganesh appeared before Vyasa. When he told Ganesh his predicament and asked for help, Ganesh said that he will be Vyasa's scribe and take down the story. (As Neeraj - a colleague mentions - this is indeed where 'Outsourcing' as a concept took off! :))
Ganesh however put a condition - that Vyasa should not pause. If he pauses, Ganesh will stop writing at that point and leave. Delighted that Ganesh had agreed to do the job any way, Vyasa agreed to this condition. He however put a counter-condition that Ganesh can only write down a verse if he understood its meaning. If he did not, he will need to ask the sage to explain and Vyasa will have to explain the verse. Only once this is done, will Ganesh write it down. Now, it is not that there is anything Ganesh does not 'understand'. But this arrangement only gave Ganesh the required time to write down the verses when Vyasa was going faster than he could manage. And, on the other hand, it helped Vyasa ponder on what he is narrating and compose further.

And so, the great task of writing down the world's longest poem took place. Or so it is said.

This story talks of the transition of a stream of random thoughts into a structured work of art, and how a boundary of sense needs to be put before / around creativity to make it 'worldly'. Whether these things really happened, or whether these are figments of a collective imagination and symbolism of the world's oldest culture ... I don't know. Either way, it is fine with me. This beautiful imagery and symbolism in Indian myths has always fascinated me since childhood.

Today, as I begin writing posts on this blog, I hope to invoke Lord Ganesh and seek blessings in this endeavor of penning down some of the ruminations about the Indian mythology, philosophy and its logic system.

p.s. It must be clarified that I believe these myths as much as I believe in concepts like nation states. You are free to make your own belief system. For the deeply religious minded, I cannot guarantee a conformance to their belief systems.

Shalom
- Shreekant
10 May 2008