Thursday, October 1, 2020

The Story of Janaka Geethalu

 A wise man never gets worried even if there are a thousand troubles or a hundred fears. An unwise man on the other hand would be really worried. There are two types of pain that the human body experiences, physical and mental. A wise man stays away from both these pains and he also preaches the same. 

Getting inflicted by diseases, severe troubles, not having any good time, and undergoing bad phases in life are four main reasons the body undergoes pain. These are also the main reasons for mental pain. The mental pain transforms into Physical pain eventually. If you put a red hot iron rod into a pot of water, the water in the pot becomes hot. Similarly, the afflictions caused to the mind reflect on the body too. As we use cold water to put down the fire. we should use wisdom to keep the mind calm and composed. Once the mind attains calmness, the body will heal itself. 

" The cause of mental afflictions is affection. A man gets engrossed in various things due to affection. One who dives into the ocean of affection undergoes a lot of misery. Fear, unhappiness, tragedy, and attachment are all due to affection. Hence, we should not have affection towards relatives, friends, and wealth. The water does not stick on to a lotus leaf. A wise man does not get into the attachment of affection. Friendship breeds affection. Passion leads to desire and lust which leads to anger which in turn leads to craving which is the source of all problems. Craving is the root cause of all issues. Hence, the wise men stay away from craving. It is the root cause of all sins. A fire spark which falls into the hollow of a tree, even though it is very tiny, it burns down the entire tree. Similarly, craving causes a man to have greed for money and will cause his destruction. A greedy man will always be in fear of the king, robbers, death, relatives, family, water, and fire, just as living beings fear death. Just as the fish in water, wild animals on the land, and birds in the sky eat meat. Similarly, everyone tries to trouble the rich man." said Shounaka.

Shounaka continued saying "Money is the cause of all disasters. Money causes attachment and illusion. Money is the root cause of arrogance, malice, honor, fear, and anxiety. Hankering for money, saving it, and spending it; everything entails unhappiness. People lose their lives n an effort to gain money. Worrying about gaining money ruins a person's life. As one hankers and gains money, he also gains enemies. The craving for money never ends. The more you get it, the more you greed for it. Hence, one should not crave for money. It is better to not hanker for money in the protection of Dharma. Instead of putting your leg in slush and then later washing your legs, it is better to be careful and not step into the slush. One should not worry about money. Beauty, youth, life, family nor money, nothing is permanent. Hence the wise man does not develop craving or attachment to any of these."

"I have never hankered for money for myself," said Dharmaraja. "How can I take care of all these Brahmins in the forest? I am a householder now. Wherever I live, I have the responsibility to make sure I take care of everyone and feed them. How can I forsake the Brahmins and guests? I have to make sure I use whatever I have now. Grishastasrama is the best of all Ashramas. A Grishastha should give assurance for all who seek shelter. He should give water to the thirsty, feed the hungry, give shelter to rest, and sleep for the people who come to his door. These are the rules of Grishastasrama which have been followed for ages. The person who cannot do this, should not be called a Grihastha. Just as killing an animal for no reason is sinful, not feeding the hungry and eating alone accrues the same sin. Agnihotras, cattle, wife, kids, relatives, learned men, teachers, friends, servants, and guests; One should always make sure that these people are taken care of. Else, they will go to penury. Hence, a Grihastha should be the one who satisfies the needs of these people, the one who makes everyone happy. He should feed the birds, domestic animals, and even wild animals every day. He should perform Vaisvadevam every day. He should consume what is leftover from a Yajna and what is left over after feeding the guests. He will then become the Superior Grihastha. This is the reason I am worried about all of you" said Dharmaraja.

"Yes, but you could attain great things by penance. With Tapas Siddhi, you can feed as many people as you want. Indriyas are weak, craving can bring down even a great person. Will creates desire. The mind which is enraptured in desires arouses the Indriyas. In this case, the ears will start listening to the sounds and them the interest in things will start engaging your body. Just as the moth craves for a light and jumps into a fire, the man falls into the deep eddy of misery. He will forget himself. He will get stuck into the wheel of life. This is the same story right from a grass weed to the most learned. But, this is the case of fools." said Shounaka.

"Great People who forgo hatred, affection, rivalry can cross the ocean of life with their Tapomahatyam. As mentioned in Vedas, Pure will, control over Indriyas, practicing celibacy, serving the Guru, controlled food intake, reading Vedas, giving up the fruits of good Karma, conscientious objection- following these eight objectives, they become spiritual achievers. Vedas ask us to do Karma, it also says not to do Karma. So, the one who does Karma should do it as an order from Vedas. The one who does not do Karma should also stay put as an order from Vedas. The first route is instinctive, the second route is Salvation. Yajna, studying spiritual texts, charity, Tapas, truth, forgiveness, control over Indriyas, being non-greedy are the eight routes of Dharma. The first four belong to Karma , the last four belong to the heart. One should leave the ego of 'I', "I am the one doing all this" and then perform Karma. " said Shounaka. 

"You are the learned one who knows Philosophy. Doing service, following rituals, differentiating between imagination and myth, and science is something you are well versed in. Everything you start will become successful. VasusAdityas, and Rudras have gained wealth by penance. Go ahead and perform penance, your wishes will be fulfilled. There is nothing that a Tapasvi cannot accomplish. Hence, please perform penance with patience. Feed the Brahmins with the wealth you gain from Yogasiddhi. Your desire will be fulfilled." said Shounaka. 

After listening to the doctrine of Shounaka, Dharmaraja along with his brothers and Dhaumya started to think about what needs to be done. "The Brahmins have stayed back even after telling them to go back to the kingdom. They want to come along with us to the forest. I cannot leave them now. What can we do about their meal now? What is the solution now?" said Dharmaraja.

Dhaumya thought this through and said " There is no other solution than penance. Perform penance in the name of Lord Surya. All devas, NagasManus, and demigods used to perform severe penance to please the Lord. Lord Surya is the revered as Veda Shareera. He is equivalent to the Trimurtis. He is an ocean of mercy, pray to him ardently. In times immemorial, during the creation of the universe, when the living beings were experiencing extreme hunger, it is Lord Surya who came to their rescue and creation food. He would dry up the water resources during Uttarayana and shower his merciful blessings as rain in Dakshinayana. Lord Chandra showered his merciful blessings during the night by his divine rays. Living beings are able to get food only because of the kind rays of Surya and Chandra.  Hence, in food lies life and food is primordial. Knowing this, earlier Bhaumasura, Prithu ChakravarthiKartavirya Arjuna and many others performed penance and secured food from Lord Surya. They took care of their people when in need. Hence, please seek shelter in Lord Surya. Your desires will be fulfilled." He also taught how Sun worship can be done with 108 names of Lord Surya

Dhaumya gave the doctrine based on the situation. He taught Dharmaraja how each name is uttered and it's meaning. " Earlier, Lord Indra taught this to Sage Narada who in turn taught Vasus who in turn told me. Chanting these 108 names, your desires will be fulfilled." said Dhaumya.


References

Vaisvadevam: A Hindu household ritual, offering homage to the gods, especially Agni who bear offerings to the heavens. Fire is fed with consecrated fuel, and offerings are thrown into it, accompanied by mantras https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/vaisvadeva


Sunday, September 13, 2020

Pandavas Dwelling in the forests ( Pandava Vanavasam)

 Pandavas started their journey towards the forest. They only had their weapons with them. Along with Draupadi, they started moving towards North direction. Indrasena and other servants followed Pandavas in fourteen thousand chariots. SubhadraAbhimanyu, and the five sons of Draupadi also accompanied them in the chariots.

As Pandavas started their journey leaving their kingdom, the people in Hastinapur cried their hearts out. " What is this injustice? Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana treacherously deceived the sons of Pandu Raju and made them play a Game of Dice full of Adharma. They drove them away towards the forest. They are heartless! Duryodhana is the one who conspired this act of  sin. BhishmaDrona, and Kripacharya did not even stop this Adharma from happening. They just kept quiet. The virtuous Vidura also did not utter a word to stop this injustice. Not sure what they had in their minds to let this act happen."

Duryodhana is very greedy. He is the King! KarnaJayadratha, and Shakuni are his close ministers. What else can we say? How can we live in this kind of Kingdom? Pandavas are very righteous and Dharma abiding. Without them, how can the Dharma survive? Who will save the people of the Kingdom? Let us go to wherever Pandavas are going to settle down. Let us stay with them.

Saying this, the citizens of the Kingdom left their houses and farms. Men, Women, and everyone in the kingdom started marching along with Pandavas.

" Oh Meritorious and Virtuos Ones! Please do not leave us and go. Is this fair on your part? Who is going to look out for us? Duryodhana and his subjects are wicked. Sadhus will suffer when wicked people rule. Even if they do not do the wrong things, a man will become wicked if he is ruled and in the company of wicked people. Even if one touch, speaks, or in joins the company of wicked men, they go on to perdition."

"You are wise ones by birth. Your education and wisdom are superior. Your nature is very pure. Hence, we will stay with you. Only if we stay in the company of good people will we learn to be good ourselves. We will learn Dharma. We will become successful. If earth, Sesame seeds, water, clothes are placed with flowers, they will also smell like flowers. Duryodhana is a wicked person. We will not stay in his kingdom, we will come with you. Please accept our plea!" Saying this, the citizens of the kingdom started pleading Pandavas with folded hands.

Dharmaraja looked at the citizens kindly. " If you all want to come with us, then we will be most humbled. Your affection is on us, hence, you are praising us for the qualities we don't have. But, dwelling in the forests is very difficult. You will not be able to bear it. No, please listen to me, please stop, please go back to your homes." Saying this, Dharmaraja coaxed them in to turning back and going to their homes. The citizens were very saddened and held themselves up and returned to Hastinapur.

The next day morning, many brahmins came and met the Pandavas. They came along with their relatives, disciples, and Agnihotras. They are all equal to Lord Brahma. They have gotten rid of their sins by chanting the Vedas. They are in a stage to receive prayers from mankind. They all came to dwell in the forests with Pandavas. Dharmaraja offered obeisance to all the brahmins with great reverence. They all blessed him immensely. But, he did not like that they came to the forest for him. 

"Because of the deceit of my cousins (who have behaved as enemies), we have lost everything. We now have to dwell in the forests. We will have to eat fruits, roots, and shoots and will have to be very austere. Why do you need to undergo this trouble with us? No, I pray you to please return to your homes. There are wild beasts, elephants, and tigers living in this forest. It is going to be very difficult for you to dwell here. You will not be able to bear this." Dharmaraja said.

The Brahmins were pained by the words of Dharmaraja. " We do not have anyone except you. Please do not forsake us." said the Brahmins not swerving an inch. " We do not have anywhere to go. Please do not leave us like this. This is not Dharma. No one leaves the side of refuges and devotees. You are Kings, you are the guardians of Dharma. We are Brahmins, it is not fair for you to ask us to leave. You must be thinking about how you can feed us. Do not worry about that. We will cater to our needs for food. We will do Japas, Homas, and continuous religious and spiritual activities and make you happy. Dhritarashtra's sons have sought to very wrong deeds, they have done a great deal of harm to you. Whatever happens, we will not live in their kingdom." said the Brahmins.

Dharmaraja was in a fix. How could he say no to so many people? He had to agree to what they said. But, he was worried about one thing. The brahmins eat sumptuous food three times a day. How can he bear the pain of letting them eat roots and shoots? He was very unhappy thinking about this and fell on the ground.

Shounaka (one of the brahmins) came and pacified Dharmaraja and asked him not to worry. He started to recite the slokas from Janaka Geetas about Aatma-Vyavasaya (Soul Agriculture) and started illustrating their meaning.


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Adi Parvamu- The Oath of Bhishma

 Devavrata had understood the intention of King Dasa, he immediately decided what he was going to do. "Oh! King Dasa, I hereby take an oath in front of all these people, I am giving up my rights of becoming a king at this very moment. The royal heir of the kingdom would be the one born to King Shantanu and your daughter Satyavati, he would be the king and the sole Lord of our dynasty." Everyone around were very unhappy by this decision and felt sorrowful.

King Dasa said "What you say is true, you are a strong follower of Dharma, you will abide by your words....but..." and he paused again and then said "What is the guarantee that your kids would abide by your decision?"

Devavrata said " Do not hesitate, I will not be marrying anyone. I take an oath to remain celibate, I do not care if I do not have kids or reach the Punya Loka." and took an oath. Gods started to shower flowers in praise of his mighty oath and called him Bhishma , people started singing praises in his glory. He was referred as  Bhishma by one and all.

King Dasa succeeded in achieving what he wanted, he sent YojanaGandha along with Bhishma. He took her to Hasthinapur in a golden chariot. Shantanu hugged his son in extreme happiness and said "You have done something that is not done by humans, you are my beloved" and kissed him on his forehead. "You will not have death until you wish for it" blessed the father to his son Bhishma who had sacrificed his happiness for the sake of the dynasty.

Shantanu and Satyavati got married in a very lavish and royal manner. They had two sons  Chitrangada and Vichitravirya, before their sons could reach adolescence Shantanu passed away. Bhishma performed the last rights to his father and crowned Chitrangada as the next king. Chitrangada was always a very fickle minded person, very arrogant and would not care for anyone or heed to anyones words. He would pick up fights with everyone and would disrespect gods and gandharvas. A gandharva named Chitrangada could not handle this behaviour of Kaurava Chitrangada  and waged a war against him. The grounds of Kurukshetra were turning in to extreme battle grounds, the Kauravas and gandharvas went in to a very fierce battle. Kaurava Chitrangada and gandharva Chitrangada fought like bulls. Gandharvas are known for their tricky magical spells, they fought the battle with deciet, Kaurava Chitrangada was assasinated.

Bhishma throned Vichitravirya as the king, he also started looking for alliances for Vichitravirya. At the same time , the King of Kashi was also looking for alliances for his three daughters Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. He had declared a Swayamvara for his daughters. Bhishma immediately started to Kashi and was armed with weapons.

Many kings from various lands had come to the Swayamvara, Bhishma made his way ahead of all of them. Everyone was surprised at the way Bhishma was progressing, he asked the princesses to be seated in his chariot and said " I am taking the princesses for my brother Vichitravirya, if you are capable, take them away from me" and challenged all the kings who had assembled there. " Showing demonic behaviour in weddings is a trait of gandharva kings, winning princesses in a Swayamvara is even more great. Hence, I will win over all the kings aeembled here and leave" said Bhishma to the King of Kashi. All the kings were offended, they waged a war against Bhishma, the place had turned in to a battle field. There was a shower of arrows all over.

 Bhishma became Pralaya Rudra (Lord of destruction), he held his bow and arrows and started to wage war fiercely. He defeated all the kings, everyone ran to save their lives. Bhishma was stopped by King Salva while he tries to head home. Salva challenges Bhishma to wage a war, everyone around starts praising Salva for his brave attempt. King Salva shot thousands of arrows and fought a very fierce battle against Bhishma. This did not stop Bhishma, he started to retaliate back, with one of his arrows he killed the charioteer of King Salva, then his two horses, then broke the chariot. King Salva begged for his life and left the battle.

Bhishma was the unstoppable, he took the princesses and came back to Hasthinapur, he brought them to his mother Satyavati. She wanted to get the princesses married to Vichitravirya, but the older princess Amba was in love with King Salva, she refused to marry Vichitravirya. She requested Bhishma to follow Dharma and return her back to King Salva. Bhishma and Satyavati thought about her request and consulted many saints and sages, they then sent her to King Salva's kingdom along with some elderly people, they got Ambika and Ambalika married to Vichitravirya. The wedding was a grand ceremony, but Vichitravirya had changed completely after that. He was a very responsible king but after the wedding, he was in the comfort of his wives enjoying marrital bliss and had shunned all the responsibilities as a King. Ambika and Ambalika were very beautiful and he was spending his whole time admiring their beauty, he was a lustful person always engaged in his own world of lust. Having engaged in bodily happiness and lust all the time, he passed away very soon due to tuberculosis. He did not have any heir, Bhishma has to perform his last rights. All her dreams were shattered, Satyavati was mourning the loss of both her sons. Ambika and Ambalika were mourning the death of their husband, the kingdom has no king now. Bhishma was the only heir of the dynasty, he consoled his mother and his sisters in law., he had to take up the responsibility of the kingdom once again.

One day Satyavati called Bhishma and said " The glory of King Shantanu lies in your hands, you are the sole heir performing his last rights and death ceremony each year. I want his glory to shine and go for generations, for that I would need your help. You have studied all Dharmas and you know everything, please do not say no to my request. You will have to rule the Kuru Kingdom and also marry and have kids. Our dynasty started from Lord Brahma and has flourished well with kith and kin, I do not want our dynasty to stop with you."

" Please do not order me to do this Mother, I have taken an oath to be celibate. The Moon may give up his cold and the Sun may give up the heat, but I will not give up on the oath taken for my father. But, I will make sure your wish is fulfilled. I will make sure that my father's dynasty survives and prospers. I do not have to give up my oath for this, there are many alternatives in Dharma, there has always been a Kshatriya Dharma which has been coming down from ages. " Bhishma said.

He immediately summoned the ministers, sages, learned people of the community and started conversations with them regarding the problem mentioned by his mother. " Parashurama's father was killed by Karthaveerya Arjuna. Parashurama not only killed Karthaveera but also made sure that he even killed the babies of these kshatriyas in their wombs. The women were left with no husbands and
 had to resort to brahmins to keep their dynasty intact(they had bourne the kids of brahmins).