We’ve witnessed in the previous episode that Mayan takes Yudishtra and Co. around the newly built Indraprastha masterpiece and explains each and every aspect of it to them. Yudishtra was mighty impressed with what Mayan had done for them. Arjuna was wonderstruck beyond words! For just one small help that he had done by letting him escape the “Kaandava-Vanam” fire, Mayan has reciprocated with interest! This was a real masterpiece of all sorts, wherein one couldn’t find such a palace anywhere in this world! As Mayan was showing them place after place, he also adds an important accord here that he would like to gift Arjuna with the “Devadattham” (A special Shankam that is used in the battlefield to announce the commencement of war) and Bheemasena with the powerful “Gadhaa” (A heavy and a powerful weapon used in those days during warfare). To obtain these two, Mayan has to go to Vrishaparava’s palace that is at a place called “Bindusaras”.
Now we should understand where this Bindusaras is and what is its significance. We’ve witnessed during our earlier Ramayana project that this Bindusaras is the place where River Ganga makes first contact with the world! We know that Mother Ganga is lodged amidst Bhagawan Shiva’s long and intense hair (“Jataa-Mudi”) and as Bhagawan Shiva loosens one strand of his hair, Mother Ganga flows through that one hair strand into the world. This is why Bhagawan Shiva is often referred to as “Gangaadhara” or “Jataadhara”. Thus, from Bhagawan Shiva’s hair strand, Mother Ganga lands on to the world in this place called Bindusaras. Here, Mother Ganga flows in three directions – One towards the Svarga Lokha, the second towards the Aakasha and the third towards our Manushya Lokha. We can worship this place even today in the North-Indian State of Himachal Pradesh. The entire place of Bindusaras is a huge rock where around 300-400 people can stand at one point. We can see Mother Ganga flowing in her full force on the rock and splitting into three directions. It is a paradise on earth and one of the most scenic places to be in! The water of River Ganges at this place is like crests of diamond stones falling! In other words, the water is extremely pure and seems like crystals falling on earth! As the sun’s rays fall on the falling water, we can see all the seven colors of the rainbow being reflected, which we might not get to see around the world!
Thus, in this beautiful place called Bindusaras, King Vrishaparva had his exemplary palace, which Mayan had built many decades ago! Since this palace was currently unoccupied and with the demise of King Vrishaparva, Mayan thought of bringing these two items from this palace for Arjuna and Bheemasena. As Mayan proposes this idea, Arjuna and Bheemasena were more than happy and Yudishtra issued orders accordingly. With this, Mayan brought the two items from King Vrishaparva’s palace and gives it to both of them. It is with the same “Gadhaa” did Bheemasena killed many people during the Kurukshetra war and it is with the same “Devadattham”, did Arjuna announce the beginning of the war on all the eighteen days. As the days progressed in the war, the “Shankam’s” sound was starting to sound dreadful in the ears of the Kaurava camp.
As Mayan returns back from Bindusaras, he brings around 8000 people along with him. These people were well-trained in various aspects of warfare, and they were part of King Vrishaparva’s huge army. Mayan explains to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Apart from the two items that I had mentioned, here are extraordinarily trained warriors who would add to your already immensely powerful army brigade. They were part of King Vrishaparva’s army which is virtually non-existent now. These people would be of service to you at any point in time, whenever you require!” Saying thus, Yudishtra, along with Mayan and others, enter into the magnificent courtroom that was built in the center of the entire palace. The courtroom could seat any number of people and the seating capacity was almost close to infinity. Yudishtra would sit in the center of the courtroom and if he speaks from the center, he would be clearly audible from any corner of the courtroom with ease.
Readers should recollect that during the “Maya-Darshana Parva” (The final “Upa-Parva” of the Aadhi Parva”), we had witnessed that Arjuna was gifted a unique chariot with the flag of Hanuman on its top. Even though Agni Bhagawan gifted that chariot to Arjuna at that moment, this chariot was created completely by Mayan only! Thus, we can see here that Mayan has gifted so many things to the Paandava brothers, and this is the reason why Sage Vyaasa dedicated an entire “Upa-Parva” called “Maya-Darshana Parva”! Else, why should a person who would have merely escaped a fire at the Kaandava-Vanam be given so much importance? It is only because Mayan has immensely contributed to the Paandavas’ welfare and growth, he has been given this special stature! So for today, let us understand up to this point, and we shall continue this discussion in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 