Entries Tagged 'Saints' ↓

Devatas and daityas always have fights among themselves. The daitya’s Guru is Śukrācārya. He knew the vidya of mṛtasanjīvanī (bring back from dead), which he obtained through a long tapas for Parameśvara. Using this vidya, Śukrācārya used to bring back the dead daityas to life and save them. However the Devatas neither knew the vidya nor had amṛtam, because this story happened before the Kṣhīra sāgara mathanam. The Devatas asked their Guru, Bṛhaspati, for help. Bṛhaspati asked his son, Kaca, to become a śiṣhya (student) of Śukrācārya, do Guru seva with utmost care, learn all the śāstras (knowledge) etc. and the mṛtasanjīvanī vidya from Sukrācārya. Kaca immediately followed the instructions of his father and reached the āśram of Śukrācārya.

He did sāṣhṭāṅga namaskāram to Śukrācārya and said “O Gurudeva! I am from the Āṅgīrasa gotram and the son of Bṛhaspati, the Guru of the Devatas. People call me by the name Kaca. I came to you as a vidyārthi (student)”. Śukrācārya happily agreed to have the son of the great Bṛhaspati as his śiṣhya. Everday Kaca used to wake up before the Sun, and do Sandhyāvandanādi āhnikas (prayers), after his kāla-kṛtyas (practice). He used to be very obdient to his Guru and learn his vidyas with utmost concentration and respect. He never let any attractions, diviations to enter his mind and always concentrated on Guru seva and his vidyābhyāsam.

Śukrācārya had a very beautiful daughter by name Devayānī. She was very young and had a lot of prema (love) for Kaca. She tried to express herself many times to Kaca, but Kaca never had anything in his mind except his vidyābhyāsam. Also since Devayānī was the daughter of his Guru, who is equal to his father, he had sodarī-bhāvam (pure thoughts) on Devayānī. Slowly Kaca, due to his unparalleled efforts and vinayam became the favourite śiṣhya of Śukrācārya. This could not be tolerated by the daityas who were burning with īrṣha (jealousy). Also they were afraid that Kaca would soon learn Mṛtasanjīvanī vidya from Śukrācārya and later it would be difficult for them to face the Devatas.

Once Kaca went to the forest as his Guru’s gopālaka. As the Sun was setting the power of daityas increased. They attacked Kaca and killed him. Devayāni was waiting for Kaca in the āśram. She told her father, “everyday by the time for sāyam-sandhyāvandanam (evening), Kaca returns home. Somehow he did not return today. O father! please see if he is ok.” Śukrācārya with his divya-dṛṣhṭi saw what happened to Kaca and immediately brought him back to life. The daityas īrṣha increased with this and this time they planned to kill Kaca in such a way that it will be difficult for Śukrācārya to save him. They killed Kaca, burnt him and mixed his ashes in surāpānam (alcohol) and served it to their Guru. Śukrācārya drank the surāpānam. Seeing Kaca not returning home, again Devayāni asked her father. Śukrācārya was shocked to know what mistake he committed unknowingly. He thought “a man who is under the influence of surā-pānam will loose all his distinction of good and bad, does not think and can do any great pāpa-kāryam” (sins). Once the pāpa-karyam is done, for normal humans, it is impossible to undo it. Śukrācārya thought that if he was not under the influence of surāpānam, he could have easily identified, with his tapobalam, that Kaca’s ashes were mixed in his surāpānam. So he made a firm rule that surāpānam, in what ever small quantītes, is mahāpāpam and it must never be drunk.

He used his Mṛtasanjīvanī vidya and brought back Kaca to life. However Kaca remained in Śukrācārya’s stomach in a sūkṣhma rūpam. Śukrācārya then taught Kaca Mṛtasanjīvanī vidya and asked him to come out of him, by tearing his stomach. Kaca came out of Śukrācārya and then used the Mṛtasanjīvanī vidya to bring back the life of his Guru. Kaca, after the completion of his vidyābhyāsam, took the anujña of Śukrācārya and was planning to leave. Devayāni then told Kaca “Please do not leave me and go. Marry me”. Kaca said “you are like a sister to me, since a Guru is equal to one’s father”. Devayāni got angry with Kaca and said “Since you rejected my love and pained me, your vidya will not be of any use to you”. Kaca was not sad because he knew though his Vidya will not be directly useful to him, he can spread his vidya to others and thereby become useful to the society. Vidya dhanam is the only dhanam that can never be destroyed and robbed. The more and more it is given to others, the more and more it grows…

Morals in the story:

1. The importance and greatness of Vidya is well shown in the story.
2. Though Devatas and daityas were enemies, Kaca never tried to conceal his identity, since he knew by cheating a Guru vidya cannot be acquired. Also Śukrācārya, knowing who Kaca was, accepted him as śiṣhya, because a deserved one must always be taught.
3. Vinayam and kṛṣhi are were important for vidyābhyāsam. Kaca was never involved in any other activity than his Guru seva and studies.
4. One must never have jealousy. Because of jealousy that Kaca is performing better than them, the daityas did not think what is right and what is wrong.
5. Surāpānam, in what ever small quantites, must not be done. This is well shown through Śukrācārya’s words.
6. The knowledge of Kaca helped him decide whether to accept Devayāni’s love or not.

The story of the great Cyavana maharṣhi, the vaidyanipuṇa, is well known. Cyavana was the son of Bhṛgu maharṣhi and Pulomā devi. Once Bhṛgu maharṣhi asked Agnideva to protect Pulomā devi, who was a garbhavati (pregnant), till he comes back and went away. A rākṣhasa (demon) by name Puloma came and asked Agnideva “is she Pulomā?” (if yes then he was planning to take her away!). Agnideva did not know what to do. If he tells the truth Bhṛgu maharṣhi may get angry, else he may get anṛta-doṣham (sin). So finally after being forced by Puloma, Agnideva said “She is the wife of Bhṛgu maharṣhi.” Immediately Puloma took the form of a varāham and forcibly took Pulomā. In this, from her garbham, the baby slipped and fell down (and hence was known as “Cyavana”).

The baby had the tejas of Brahma and Puloma rākṣhasa turned into ashes on seeing Cyavana. Later Cyavana did many years of tapas and became a very great ṛṣhi (saint). He and his wife Sukanya had dadhīci, pramati and āpravān as santānam (childrens). After a long time passed, once Cyavana maharṣhi did 12 years of tapas inside water. During his tapas, some fishermen came and as usual threw their fishing net and were trying to catch fish. To their surprise, they saw Cyavana maharṣhi caught in their nets. The fishermen trembled with fear. But Cyavana maharṣhi said “it is not wrong to do your duty. Please do not be afraid that you disturbed my tapas”. But the fishermen thought they were responsible for stopping the tapas of the maharṣhi and reported their mistake to their King, Nahuṣha.

The maharṣhi told the King that it was not the mistake of the fishermen, they were just doing their duty. In addition he said “Please decide a rate for me and give that money to the fishermen, since their effort must not go waste.” King Nahuṣha did not know how to rate the maharṣhi. He offered his artha-rājyam (half kingdom). Cyavana said that wont be enough. Then the King said then take my entire rājyam! (entire kingdom) Cyavana said that is not the approriate rate for him. Meanwhile a maharṣhi named Kavijāta came and told the King “Please offer one cow. That will be equivalent to a ṛṣhi.” Knowing the greatness of the cow from Cyavana, Nahuṣha gave away a best quality cow to the fishermen and sent them off.

The fishermen was very good character. They thought “we can get money anytime. Let us utilize this chance and get godāna phalitam by giving this cow to the great maharṣhi.” Thus they gave off their cow to Cyavana. Cyavana blessed all of them with svargalokam (heaven).

Morals in the story:

1. Cyavana, though his deep tapas was disturbed by the fishermen, did not get angry on them. This is because the fishermen did their duty and were unware of the presence of Cyavana.
2. The fishermen, knowing that if not now sometime or the other the must face consequence of their acts, reported their mistake (what they thought was a mistake) to the King.
3. Importance of Gomāta (cow) and Godānam (cow charity) is well displayed in the story.
4. Nahuṣha was prepared to give away his entrire sāmrājyam (kingdom) for doing his duty as a King.

Śrī Kṛṣhṇa, the Parandhaama, as part of His divya līlas, killed many rākṣhasas and other evil people. Many of the rākṣhasas had some or the other durguṇas in their previous janma (births) and hence took birth as rākṣhasas and were destroyed by Śrī Kṛṣhṇa. Many times we read the stories of destroying these rākṣhasas but rarely we come to know the durguṇas why they were needed to be destroyed. This series of stories on Śrī Kṛṣhṇa līlas try to bring out these durguṇas, commonly found in people, and thus warn us to be away from the same.

The stories have very deep meanings which are beyond the scope of Moral Stories. One can learn — What durguṇa leads to what mistake, how it must be controlled etc., if each story (taken from Garga Bhāgavatam) is analyzed very carefully with the help of elders.

Śakaṭāsura Bhañjanam:

In the Nandavrajam, Yaśodā invited many for celebrating the janmadina (birthday) mahotsavas (celebrations) of Lord Śrī Kṛṣhṇa. After abhiṣhekam, they did beautiful alankāras to the Baby — Kastūrī tilakam, ear rings, chandra hāram, suvarṇa kankaṇas etc.

They gave the Nandanandana nīrājanas and made him sleep on a small svarna śayya, under the shade of a śakatam (cart). The puṇyastrīs were busy with their work and suddenly they stopped hearing the tiny cries of the Lord. Śakaṭāsura, sent by Kamsa, came in vāyurūpam and tried to push the śakaṭam on the Paramātma. The Baby touched the śakaṭam during His play and it flew high into the air, along with huge kṣhīra, dadhi bhāṇḍas that were kept on it. They fell on the Śakaṭāsura and his head broke into a thousand pieces! Vraja kāntas came running to see if Śrī Kṛṣhṇa was safe. The Paramātma was playing with Himself like a usual Baby. The Gopabālas told the Vraja kāntas that Śrī Kṛṣhṇa kicked the śakatam and it flew into the air. Immediately the vanitas removed dṛṣhṭi for Śrī Kṛṣhṇa, made bhūsurottamas to give mangala-āśīrvacanas and put Śrī Rāma Rakṣha to the Baby.

Śakaṭāsura’s Caritra:

Hiraṇyalocana’s son was Utkaca. He was a krūra. It was just his nature to be very harsh and not compassionate.

Once he uprooted all the Vṛkṣhas in the āśramam of Lomaśa maharṣhi (for no reason!!). The maharṣhi became angry and said “The way a snake removes its old skin, the same way you leave this body”. The rākṣhasa fell on the ṛṣhi’s feet and asked for kṣhama. The maharṣhi said “by the divya sparśa of Kṛṣhṇa Paramātma, you will be freed from your śāpam”. He further explained to Utkaca “Usually one cannot eacape from Kālam and his own Karma. The only way is through Bhagavat-kṛpa.”

Durguṇam to be unlearnt: Krūratvam

Message for present society:

This story also shows that one must not only have daya on fellow humans and animals, but also to plants. According to our śāstras, if one uproots one Vṛkṣham for human consumption, then four must be planted before doing so. Ofcourse its the responsibility of that person only to bring those up too. However man due to his Krūratvam, for his own selfish needs removed many trees and now started facing the consequences. Atleast from now on let us leave some space in our houses for plants (ones which give flowers, fruits or shade, not crotons ofcourse ).

After the kalyāṇam of Padmāvatī devi, the daughter of Akāśarāja, and Śrī Venkaṭeśvara, the Lord made the Saptagiris as His abode and accepted the pūjas of bhaktas. Akāsharāja ruled a maṇḍala by name Toṇḍa and had a brother by name Toṇḍamān. Toṇḍamān was a great bhakta of Śrī Venkaṭeśvara. On His ājña Toṇḍamān built a divya-ālayam for the Lord. Toli-pūja, nitya-seva and nitya-sambhāṣhaṇam with the Lord were the bhāgyas he had. Brahmādi devatas come to this ālayam everyday and have the darshanam of Śrīṇivāsa, the pūrna avatār of Mahāviṣhṇu. Toṇḍamān ruled his kingdom on the ājña of Śrī Venkaṭeśvara. He gave Navaratna khacita svarṇa kirīṭas, svarṇa kusumas, ratnahāras, many patakas, many golden bhūṣhaṇas, svarṇa gopuram and many other things to the Svāmi. With great śraddha he used to do all the sevas.

Once ākāśavāṇi praised Toṇḍamān “O cakravarti! There is no greater Viṣhṇu bhakta than you”. Toṇḍamān did vitarka within himself feeling that what ākāśavāṇi said is true! Aaha! How many forms does ahankār have! Finally, even in Bhakti ahankār can enter. When ‘Me’ , ‘I’ are related to this deham all anarthas happen. However once if you come under His śaraṇāgati He will only remove all your doṣhas. Since Toṇḍamān said “ananya śaraṇaH śaraṇam prapadye| Śrī Venkaṭeśa charaṇau śaraṇam prapadye||”, God decided to teach Toṇḍamān a lesson and thus save him.

Meanwhile Toṇḍamān’s ahambhāvam increased and once he asked Śrīṇivāsa directly “Svāmī! There is no greater bhakta than me in the tribhuvanas. Do you have any bhakta other than me?” Śrimannārāyaṇa maintained maunam; in this maunam only he did śrīkāram for a lesson to Toṇḍamān.

One day, as usual Toṇḍamān with great bhakti did suprabhāta seva to Svāmi and closed his eyes and concentrated on the God. He opened his eyes and saw the kali-nāśaka pādas of Śrī Venkaṭeśvara. He was about to remove the nirmālyam near the padapankajas of the Lord. He then saw a kanḍola filled with tulasīdalas. He observed that they had little paṅkam (wet mud) on them and was surprised who brought them in. He thought why will Svāmi accept pūja with such tulasīdalas. He asked this directly to the Svāmi. The smitapūrvāvibhāṣhi, Svāmi, told Toṇḍamān “O son! In this anata-viśvam there are many bhaktas who are under my āśrayam. Similar to how you built an ālayam for Me Here, others bhaktas also make their hṛdayam as my āsanam and their śarīras as My ālayam and do yathā-śakti pūjā to Me, in the way they came to know from their elders. Such one bhakti of Mine lives in a poor village near by. He does not have as much sampada as you and cannot construct suvarṇamaya prākāras for Me. His name is Bhīma. He is a kulāla (potter). He has prema for Me which has no limits. While preparing the paṅkam, while rotating the wheel, while making the ghaṭam, always he thinks about Me only. Not only he, his entire family do not know anything except Me. They do my seva through a wooden vigraham of Mine. And where my bhaktas want me to be present, I will be there. Poor bhakta, he does not know any mantras, tantras, yāgas. He never compares his bhakti with others. Actually except Me, he does not even think of anything else. What his varṇāśrama āchāram says, that only he does. He rises well before the Sun, and he takes bath the way taught by his elders, he knows only a few nāmas of Me that he learnt and always offers Me tulasīdalas. What tulasīdalas he put there, you are seeing them here. The vairāgyam, bhakti of Bhīma made Me his bandhi.”. Listening to the vāk-amṛtam of the veda vedya, Svāmi, all the māya, moham of Toṇḍamān were completely removed. With bhāṣhpa-pūrita nayanas, he cried “Prabhū!”, falling on His divya pādas. After sometime he controlled himself and in gadgada svaram said “Svāmi! Please forgive me. With ahankār I said that there is no bhakta greater tham me. How much of this universe did I see. How many few mahātmas I know”. Taking Svāmi’s anujña, he immediately ran to have the darśan of the bhakta.

Knowing that a puṇyakṣhetram must always be visited by walk, he did not take his ratham to Bhīma’s place. Since it is well known that “Nāham vasāmi vaikuṭhe, na yogi hṛdaye ravau. MadbhaktāH yatra gāyanti tatra tiṣhṭhāmi nārada!”, going to Bhīma’s place is indeed a tīrtha yātra. Asking the villagers finally he traced the house of Bhīma. He was running towards the house and was able to hear Viṣhṇu sankīrtanam from inside the Bhīma’s house. Since the King was never used to bend down his head, he in the hurry to meet Bhīma, banged his head by mistake against the dvāram (door), which was too low. On hearing the sound, Bhīma came and helped the King. Toṇḍamān said “O mahānubhāva! (great person) Śrī Venkaṭeśvara, who is praised by everyone, praised you. I came to make myself pure with your pādadhūli” (sand on the feet).

Suddenly a mahāteja-kānti punjam came and from the middle of that prabhāmaṇḍalam, Mahāviṣhṇu came along with Lakṣhmī devi on Garuḍa. Bhīma did stuti of Mahāviṣhṇu, with whatever small padas he knew, with great bhakti. He said “Svāmi! I do not even deserve to be a sevaka of great bhaktas like Vidura, Śabarī, Gajendra, Vibhīṣhaṇa, Uddhava. But you are the greatest dayāmaya. What can I offer you.” Immediately tamālinī, the wife of Bhīma, with whatever śuci, śubhrata she knew, prepared a food item with the stem of lotus and offered it to Lakṣhmi and Nārāyaṇa. Before the eyes of everyone the couple got sārupya-mukti and went to Vaikuṇṭham.

Witnessing all this divya leela, Toṇḍamān asked “Svāmi! Please save me too”. Śrīṇivāsa replied very kindly “Cakravartī! after leaving this śarīram, in your next janma you will be a ekānta-bhakta and then I will grant you mokṣham”. Svāmi continued: “In your previous janma you were a bhakta by name Rangadāsa and were the śiśya of a mahātma by name Vykhānasa. You used to do all required preparations of his pūja and help him. Once you saw a Gandharva rāja and his wifes doing jalakrīḍa in a puṣhkariṇi and you forgot your Guru seva in it. You later had great paścāttāpam. Because of your otherwise impeccable Guru seva and good deeds you did in that janma, you got My sāngatyam in this janma. I will grant you mukti in your next janma”. Thus Toṇḍamān finally attained mokṣham.

Morals in the story:

1. Ahankār is the start for one’s fall. One must be very careful when others praise so as to never get ahankār.
2. The power of śaraṇāgati to God is shown well in the story. Śrīṇivāsa seeing the buddhi doṣham in Toṇḍamān, taught him a lesson and saved him.
3. Śrī Venkaṭeśvara was so impressed by Bhīma’s sat-guṇas and bhakti that He Himself praised Bhīma.
4. The importance of Guru bhakti can be learnt from Toṇḍamān’s previous janma story.

The story of the great Raghuvamśa rāja Dilīpa is well known. As other Raghuvamśa kings, Dilīpa was a firm follower of Dharma, a Satya vādi, a mitabhāṣhi, a Vidvān and ruled his praja, loving them as their own father. However, he had only one cinta (problem). He and his wife Sudakṣhiṇā did not have santānam.

Once he, along with Sudakṣhiṇā devi, went to the āśramam of their kulguru Vasiṣhṭha mahaṛṣhi. He did yathāvidhi namaskārās (paid respects) to his Guru and told him about his cinta (problem). Vasiṣhṭha mahaṛṣhi with his divya dṛṣhṭi saw the reason for Dilīpa not having santānam. He told Dilīpa “Once you went to Devalokam. While returning from there, knowing the Dharmaśāstra that a bharta needs to be in the company of his patni who is ṛtusnāta, you were in a hurry to come to Ayodhya to follow that Dharma. And in that hurry you did not notice the presence of the great Kāmadhenu, who was sitting under the shade of the Kalpavṛkṣham. The uttamās, especially the Gomāta, are always pūjanīyam. Pūjya pūjāvyatikramam was done by you. Shreya will stop if such a mistake is committed. Hence, Kāmadhenu told you that you will get santānam only after you do yathāvidhi pūja to Her or Her santānam. However, you did not hear Her words because of the noise from the running of aśvas and ratham”. Dilīpa asked his Guru to bless him with a chance to do Goseva to Kāmadhenu and thus do prayascittam for his mistake. Vasiṣhṭha mahaṛṣhi then told Dilīpa “Do not worry. At present Kāmadhenu went to pātālalokam to help the ṛṣhis in their yajñam. Till She returns do seva to her daughter Nandini. Kāmadhenu will then surely save you from the doṣham and bless you with the great Raghu mahārāja, who will equal you in his good character.”

Dilīpa and Sudakṣhiṇā devi followed the instructions of Vasiṣhṭha mahaṛṣhi and with very great care did seva to Nandini. They followed it like a shadow wherever it goes. They continued this Dhenuvratam for 21 days. On the 22nd day, impressed by the seva of Dilīpa, Nandini wanted to test his character. It went into a cave in the Himālayas and Dilīpa as usual followed it. Seeing Nandini, the lion in the cave started to pounce on Her. Dilīpa immediately tried to take his dhanurbāṇas in order to protect Nandini. But the simhabhīkara, Dilīpa, could not raise his hand, he stood like a picture, unable to move! Seeing him, the lion said:

“O Dilīpa! You cannot stop me; I am a Śiva kinkara. I am living here with Śivājña. I am Kumbhodara, the friend of Nikumbha. Everyday Lord Śiva uses me as a pādapīṭham while mounting Nandīśvara. Do you see this Devadāru vṛkṣham — it is like a son, equal to Subrahmaṇya, for Pārvatī mātā. Once an elephant rubbed against it and a piece of its bark fell and caused pain to it. Seeing this Pārvatī devī asked Parameśvara to give her a means of always protecting it. Paramaśiva ordered me to protect it and gave the adhikār to eat any creature that enters and spoils the sanctity of this forest”. Dilīpa was worried why all his valour, dhanurvidya did not help him protect the dhenu and got pacified once he came to know that the lion was Lord Śiva’s kinkara. Because he knows before Bhagavat-śakti his śakti is ati-alpam. He said “O great Kumbhodara! Lord Śiva’s ājña must be followed by me too. But Nandini is my Guru’s property. I must return Her to Him safely. Please understand and I will suggest one thing which is ubhayaśreyodāyakam. Please kill me and lower your hunger and leave Nandini.” Kumbhodara laughed and said “O mūḍha. You are the eka chatrādhipati of this chatussamudravelāvalayita medinīchakram. You resemble Manmatha in beauty and you are very young. Why are you paying adhikamūlyam for such an alpa-prayojanam? You are offering your life for one cow. If you loose it, you can give crores of cows to Vasiṣhṭha mahaṛṣhi. If you really have bhūtadaya, what about the crores of people who live happily under your rule? Will you make them anāthas? Leave this idea. I will make sure u will not get apakīrti and Guru droham.” Dilīpa answered “One who gives rakṣha from kṣhatam is a kṣhatriya. A kṣhatriya who cannot be an āpadāt- praharta, how can he be a king? Before my eyes this Nandini dhenu is getting an āpada. How can I stand seeing it? Then what will be the use of such nindā-mālinya jīvanam? O great Kumbhodara I cannot fight a Śiva kinkara please help me.”

Finally Kumbhodara accepted and Dilīpa was able to move. He happily bent down and waited for being eaten by him. To his surprise puṣhpa-varṣham started and Nandini took Her divyākṛti. She told Dilīpa “O great Dilīpa! Not only this lion, nothing can harm me because of the tapobalam of Vasiṣhṭha mahaṛṣhi. I just wanted to test your character. I am impressed with you. Please take my divya kṣhīram. Eat it with your wife and you will get sat-santānam”. Dilīpa, who was a vidvān in all Dharmaśātras replied like this “O Gomātā! I am dhanya to have your anugraham. I will take your kṣhīram, once your hungry calf and the ṛṣhis, who need it for their pūjas and yajñas take it. After they take I will take a share of 1/6 of your kṣhīram” (Since a king can take at the maximum 1/6 of the property of his people as tax!).

Cow is the most sacred animal for Bhārateeyas. Devatas, Trimūrtis, many punya tīrthas reside in different parts of Gomāta.

Morals in the story:

1. The uttamas must always be given due respect. Especially sarva-Devatā-swarūpa like Gomāta, must always be worshipped with Bhakti. (Dilīpa, even though he did it unknowingly, had to face the consequences.)
2. The importance of a Guru is shown well in the story. It is a Guru who guides what to do and not. Without Vasiṣhṭha mahaṛṣhi’s help Dilīpa would not even know the reason for not having santānam.
3. Though Dilīpa was a great śūra, he had no ahankār. He thought before Bhagavat-śakti his śakti is ati-alpam.
4. When he offered his life to save Nandini, Dilīpa showed his Guru-bhakti and respect on Gomāta.
5. The knowledge of Śātras helped Dilīpa decide what to do and what not, when advised by Kumbhodara.
6. The mahonnata vyaktitvam of Dilīpa is shown when he said he will take kṣhīram after the calf and the ṛṣhis take.
7. The Rājaneeti of Dilīpa is displayed when he said he will take 1/6 of kṣhīram.

It is grīṣhmam. Sūrya deva, the emporer of the sky, is shining brightly and showing his pratāpam. In the sky are going two infant cātaka pakṣhis, along with their mother. The mother is desparately searching for a shade. Who else, than the mother, will know the needs of the babies? Bhūmāta is showing her mātṛtvam to the cātaka birds, by allowing a huge aśvattha (vaṭa) vṛkṣham to tear her śarīram and grow. The aśvattha vṛkṣham is providing āśrayam to thousands of life forms. The holes of its root, are the homes of pipīlikas and mūṣhikas. The dry trunks, holed by age, are being used by many sarpas. The wide branches are having immense variety of pakṣhis. If a normal vṛkṣham can be an ādhāram for such a large number of jīvas, to how many more can an uttama, in whose buddhi are deeply rooted good character, lakṣhyam, sādhana and dīkṣha, be an ādhāram for!!

May be knowing the value of sāmājika saha jīvanam or may be out of pure daya towards the tired cātaka birds, two small pakṣhi brothers are telling to their mother “Ho! Ayyo! It looks like those cātaka birds do not have a house. How sad.” The mother thought “āha! Now is when my janma became worthwhile. My mātṛtvam now has a meaning. All my years of efforts and pain are not waste. My kids are able to realize the difficulties of others and are trying to be compassionate.” They happily invited the cātaka birds on to the shade of the aśvattha vṛkṣham.

It is like a new chance for life for the cātaka birds. But a sādhaka never deviates from his lakṣhyam and his niyamam. They asked the birds, who invited them, “Was this aśvattha vṛkṣham born with the first drops of svāti rain?”. Kālagati, vidhi are never in one’s control. The birds sadly replied “no”. A dhīra never loses hope. Never blames adṛṣhṭam. He believes in God and his manobalam. The cātaka birds slowly carried on their fight for life and slowly disappeared in the bright sun light. Putting the finger on her nose, the mother pakṣhi, with her eye signal, told the brother birds to learn the character of dīkṣha from the cātaka birds.

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hamsaH padmavanaM samicchati yathā nīlāMbudaM cātakaH, kokaH kokanadapriyaM pratidinaM candraM cakorastathā |

ceto vāñchati māmakaM paśupate cinmārgamṛgyaM vibho, gaurīnātha bhavatpadābjayugalaM kaivalyasaukhyapradaM ||

Jagadguru, Ādi Śankarācārya describes the yearning of a devotee’s heart for the lotus feet of Śiva, by means of beautiful similes. The Hamsa eats the stalk of the lotus flower. So it is always longing for a lake filled with lotuses. The cātaka bird drinks rain drops as they fall down from the clouds. It does not drink water in any other form. The cakravāka pairs of birds are supposed to be separated from each other during the night and they are supposed to unite during the day. The cakravāka birds, therefore, long for the appearance of the sun. The cakora bird lives eating candra jyotsna. The devotee’s heart longs for the lotus feet of Śiva which can be reached by the path of knowledge. Those lotus feet of Śiva bestow the bliss that is mokṣham.

Morals in the story:

1. The importance of pariśrama, dīkṣha, sādhana for achieving a particular lakṣhya are well displayed in the story. A person who has dīkṣha, if not now, sometime will achieve his lakṣhyam.
2. Parents will be happy with their santānam only when they do good deeds.
3. Nothing comes in the way of dhīras. They never loose their hope and progress towards their lakṣhyam.

Once upon a time, in Kosala, there lived a brāhmaṇa by name Devadatta. Since he was not having santānam (child), he decided to perform the putrakāmeṣṭhi yāgam on the banks of Tamasā Nadi (river). Several great ṛṣhis were invited for the yāgam, such as Suhotra, Yājñavalkya, Bṛhaspati, Paila and Gobhila to preside over various aspects of the yāgam . Gobhila, whose expertise was in reciting the Sāmaveda, however, repeatedly committed errors in the mantrās, due to his failure to control his breathing. Angered by this, Devadatta accused Gobhila of spoiling the performance of the yāgam and called him a mūrkha (fool).

Angered by Devadatta’s allegation, Gobhila retorted that he had been called a mūrkha without any justification and that the errors were caused only because he could not control his breaths. He further went on to curse Devadatta that he would beget a mūrkha as his son. Devadatta, realising his folly, apologised to the ṛṣhi for his haste and lamenting that it would be better to not have a son rather than have a mūrkha son! Gobhila ṛṣhi, moved by Devadatta’s pleas, said “Though the son would be a mūrkha, he will go on to become a māhakavi due to the grace of Mother Śakti.”

Following the completion of the yāgam, Devadatta’s wife Rohiṇī delivered a baby in due course of time. The boy, who was named Vuthadhya, was stupid, by virtue of the curse and could learn nothing; soon everyone began to humiliate him calling him a mūrkha. Unable to put up with this, Vuthadhya left his father’s āśrama and repaired to the banks of the Ganga, where he practised a life of brahmacharyam and satyavratam. The only good thing that Vuthadhya knew was the importance of speaking the truth on all occassions. Even though he did not know to perform Veda-adhyayanam, Gāyatrī, japa, tapa, dhyānam, prāṇāyāma etc. he never left the practice of speaking the truth, leading to people giving him the appellation Satyavrata. He never did any good or harm to anyone; he remained docile and innocent, though dejected about his stupidity. He consoled himself that this must be due to the sins committed by him in his previous janmās. He spent fourteen years thus.

One day, while a vyādha was chasing a kanṭakaśreṇī mṛgam, it ran from the vyādha’s arrow to save its life, shouting ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’ , coming towards a bush near Satyavrata’s kuṭīr. Satyavrata was overcome by sympathy. Also, Satyavrata, on hearing the mṛgam’ s cries, had begun mentally repeating, ‘I… I… I…’ in his mind. This, being the bījākṣara, whose recital brings the grace of Mother Śakti, Satyavrata immediately became enlightened. With the blessings of Goddess Sarasvatī, he became a mahākavi. When the vyādha asked as to the whereabouts of the mṛgam he was hunting, knowing fully well that Satyavrata would only say the truth, the enlightened Satyavrata spontaneously uttered the following śloka:

यः पश्यति न स ब्रूते यः ब्रूते स न पश्यति।
अहो व्याध! स्वकार्यार्थिन्! किं पृच्छसि पुनः पुनः॥

yaḥ paśyati na sa brūte yaḥ brūte sa na paśyati| aho vyādha! svakāryārthin! kiṁ pṛcchasi punaḥ punaḥ||

“That which sees does not speak. That which speaks does not see! Oh vyādha! Why do you keep questioning me?” (In other words, he said “I did not see the mṛgam with my mouth, please do not ask me repeatedly.” )

Thus Satyavrata neither told the whereabouts of the mṛgam — thereby he did not become the reason for the killing of the mṛgam, nor he stopped the vyādha from having his meal, nor he spoke false.

Morals in the story:

1. One must never deviate from path of truth. By practising satya-vāk-paripālanam firmly and with the Jñānam gained by the blessing of Sarasvatī devi, one can avoid speaking false even in difficult situations, like Satyavrata.
2. Krodham even for a short while must be avoided, this is shown through Devadatta and Gobhila ṛṣhi’s conversation.

The story of Yayaati, the son of the great Nahusha and Priyamvada, is well known. He after ruling his kingdom for many years, without deviating from the path of Dharma, made Puuru the chakravarti. Then he took Vaanaprasthaashramam and went to tapoovanaas. There he did many ghora tapaas, yagnyaa, yaagaadi kratus. He satisfied the agnideva with Havis and his Pitrudevataas with his punya karmaas. He did great tapas for a thousand years. He did tapas remaining as niraahaara for around 30 yrs. Then he did tapas for 1 year being in between Panchaagnis having Vaayubhakshana. For 1 year he did tapas staying under water, standing on 1 leg. After many such years of tapas, he went to deva looka in a divya vimaana.

He took the poojaas of many great devarshis there. After a long stay there, he went to Brahmalookam and took the poojas of brahmarshis. Then finally he reached Indra loka. Indra, who is well-known for his divya vaibhavam, Himself received Yayaati and gave arghya paadyaas. Indra after doing athaavidhi atithi satkaaram (guest welcome) to Yayaati, told him “O great punyaatma! What immense tapas did you do to have recieved poojaas by Brahmarshis and Devarshis! Your punyaas are immense and it is not possible for me sing all your great deeds”. Listening to this Yayaati got little Ahankaar. He said “O Indra deva! True. Sura, Daitya, Yaksha, Raakshasa, Nara, Khechera, Sidda, Munis tapas are not equal to mine.” Indra got unimpressed by the vaakyaas of Yayaati. He said “In your tapoobhimaanam, you insulted the tapas of the great maharshis. You are not fit to be here. Go back to Bhulokam and remove your darpam and come back”. Yayaati immediately realized his mistake and pleaded Indra “O great Indra! The very moment I insulted great rishis, all by tapas-shakti was lost. In addition to this, please do not make me got to Bhulokam again. Please grant me permission to stay in the sassaangatyam of good people in Sat-Bhuvanam”. Indra seeing the pashchaattapam of Yayaati sent him to Sat-Bhuvanam.

Yayaati, repenting for his mistake, stayed in Sat-Bhuvanam and slowly regained his tapas-shakti. Once the dauhitraas of Yayaati — Ashtaka, Pratardana, Vasumanta, Ausinara and Shibi, in course of time, reached Sat-Bhuvanam. They saw a man with divya tejas and was brightly glowing with tapas-shakti (they saw Yayaati). They approached him and asked his details. Yayaati told his entire story. He told them about Indra’s shaapam and continued “One must never speak low of an uttama. Dambham, darpam, abhimaanam, krodham and paarushyam, in what ever small quantities, are more dangerous than ghora Vishaagni. It destroys hard-earned punyaas due to many years of tapas”. Realizing that the person was their grandfather, the five dauhitraas did namaskaars to Yayaati. Yayaati then taught them Dharmopadeshaas — about Paralokam, sarva gnyaana sampatti, sakala raaja dharmaas, satgati-durgati swaroopas, varnaashrama dharmaas and jeeva garbhoptatti.

Morals in the story:

1. Even a small sentence or act done due to ahankaar is enough to destroy huge punya raashis. Even for a person as great as Yayaati, one small paarushya vaakyam melted his punya raashis.
2. The importance and power of tapas is well portrayed in the story.
3. One must be very very careful while talking about great people. Indra was angry on Yayaati since he spoke low about rishis.
4. A sajjana never does a mistake. Even if he does, he immediately repents and never repeats it. He does not feel shy to openly tell others his mistake and help them not repeat it. This sat-guna is clearly showed by Yayaati.
5. Sat-saangatyam is the first step to reach God. Hence Yayaati asked Indra to grant him that.

Sajjanas instead of worrying that they have difficulties, instead utilize the situation and do good to themselves and society. Paandavas did many apoorva kaarys during their Aranyavaasam. One of them was learning different things from many great rushis, munis, other Mahapurushas.

Once Paandavas had the bhaagyam of the darshanam of Shri Maarkandeya maharshi. After Dharmaraaja did Yathaa-vidhi atithi-seva, Maarkandeya maharshi expressed his sorrow because Sajjanas like Paandavas had to face such difficulties. He then told then stories of Shri Raama Chandra and Nala-Damayant, who experienced still greater difficulties for the sake of following Dharmam.

One day Dharmaraaja asked Maarkandeya maharshi “Maharshi! I have a small Prashna” with little hesitation. Maarkandeya maharshi replied “one must ask and know things what he doesnt know. Please go ahead and ask your Prashna”. Dharmaraaja asked “as far as I know you are the only Chiranjeeva. Are there anybody else?” With chiru-mandahaasamMaarkandeya maharshi told the story of the great Indradyumna:

(The story of how Shrimannaaraayana saved the Gajendra and gave him Moksham is well known. Gajendra in his previous birth was a great King by name Indradyumna.)

In ancient times there used to be a king by name Indradyumna. It was well known that there was no one to match his Dharma-svabhaavam. As a consequence of his good deeds and daya, daana gunams, he ascended to swargam upon leaving the physical body. He enjoyed the sukhaas of swarga for a very long time. Once Indra called him in his sabha:

Indra said, “O King, you have done immense number of punyaas in your life and as a result you were here for a very long time. However unless one totally surrenders to Parameshwara and comes out of the cycle of Punya & Paapa, one needs to be binded to his own Karma. The time on earth past so much that now no one remembers any of your good deeds and hence it is time for you to leave swarga lookam”. Indradyumna was very surprised to hear that his huge punya-raashis have melted. Indra however said, “if you show me somebody who remembers your good deeds or is still enjoying the benefits of the good done by you, you can continue enjoying the swarga lookam. After all, no man may be cast away from here as long as traces of his good deeds are remaining”.

Indradyumna recalled that the Maarkandeya maharshi is a chiranjeevi. So he went to him and asked him, “O great maharshi, do you remember my good deeds?”. Maarkandeya, who was doing Teertha-yaatras, Punya-karmas, and Upavaasa-deeksha since a very long time and was having very little physical power, replied, “I am sorry but I don’t remember who you are. In the great Himaalaya parvataas there lives an Uluukam (owl) called Praavaarakarna. He is older than me and hence might know you. If you put little more effort you can reach him”. Both Maarkandeya maharshi and Indradyumna went to Praavaarakarna.

Indradyumna asked him, “I am told that you are the longest lived creature in the world. Do you remember any of my good deeds”? Praavaarakarna replied, “O great king, I do not remember you, you must have been before my time. There is a sarovaram at a distance of 2 Yojanas from here. Coincidentally it is named Indradyumna, where my friend Naadijangha, a mahaa-bakam (big crane), lives and he is older than me”.

All three went to the sarovaram and sadly Naadiijangha also did not know Indradyumna. However he said “it is possible that my friend Aakuupaara, who has lived here since before my parent’s time, might know something of Indradyumna”. Naadiijangha called for Aakuupaara, a very very old kuurmam (tortoise).

On knowing that Indradyumna arrived, Aakuupaara’s eyes were filled with aananda-bhaashpaas, his heart was much moved and he trembled with deep emotion. He did many namaskaars to the King and said, “O Indradyumna, I know you very well. You did thousand Yagnyaas, built 1000 Yuupa-stambhaas and gave away hundreds of thousands of cows as daanam. This very Sarovaram was excavated just by the movements of the hooves of those cows (he gave away some many!) and that is why it bears your name. I am blessed to have obtained sight of you after so many years”.

Immediately a divya-vimaanam came for Indradyumna and took him to urdhva-lookaas. God never leaves good people. Shrimannaaraayana made Indradyumna realize that there is Kaivalyam which is beyond swargas, all urdhva-lookas etc, through his next janma as Gajendra. He blessed him with Moksham when Gajendra left all his pride, doubt and totally surrendered himself to God.

Morals in the story:

1. The importance, greatness of good qualities like daya, daanam etc. are well portrayed in the story.
2. It is not rich people or powerful people that the world will remember. It is the people who help others that the world will remember. It is the only wealth that can be carried beyond life.
3. If one never leaves the path of Dharma, at some or the other time, God will save him, remove any small buddhi-doshaas that are remaining, and give moksham. This is what that happens to Indradyumna in his next janma as Gajendra.