In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Agasthya’s significance as narrated by Sage Naarada to Yudishtra and Co. We’ve already seen that Sage Agasthya was the one who developed and propagated the Tamil Language, which is one of the oldest languages in the entire world. Moreover, he was also instrumental in bringing down the jealousy and anger of the Vindhya mountains, as he came and settled in the south of India. Now, as we’re witnessing an interesting “Charitra” as to how Sage Agasthya got married, we’ve seen the originating of River Cauvery from Sage Agasthya’s “Kamandalam”, and along with River Cauvery, came a beautiful woman by name “Lopamudra”. In yesterday’s episode, we witnessed how River Cauvery was born and how it is one of India’s most sacred rivers after Rivers Ganga and Yamuna. The River Cauvery originates amidst the “Kodagu” mountains in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka and subsequently passes through enormous numbers of “Punya-Kshetras” on the way, before it empties itself at Poompuhar in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. One of the most important “Punya-Kshetra” through which the River Cauvery passes through is the famed “Srirangam”, in the city of Trichy in Tamil Nadu, which houses the world’s largest functioning temple – The “Sri Ranganatha Swamy” temple. Apart from this, the river passes through various other important places such as Kumbakonam, Mayavaram, etc. which are dotted with several “Divya-Desams” of Bhagawan Vishnu and many of the 276 “Shiva-Sthalas” of Bhagawan Shiva.
Moving on further thus, we shall now witness Sage Agasthya getting married. As we’ve seen earlier, Sage Agasthya’s ancestors requested him to get married, so that the family lineage is not coming to a halt with him. Obeying their words, Sage Agasthya “created” a woman with his power of penance, and this woman is none other than Lopamudra. As her name suggests, she was an embodiment of “Dharma”, and would not tolerate even an inch of a deviation from the path of “Dharma”. Thus, Sage Agasthya created Lopamudra and entered into a marriage with her. Both of them had a baby boy by name “Idhma-Vaahana”. This “Idhma-Vaahana” was an extraordinary “Pandit” (Learned Scholar) and both Sage Agasthya and Idhma-Vaahana together propagated the Tamil Language across the entire “Draavida Desha”. In today’s context, the term “Draavida Desha” is conveniently being mistaken by a few opportunist politicians, who do not even have an iota of knowledge about our rich Tamil history and culture. The “Draavida-Desha” is a subsection of our great “Bhaarata Desha” and it is the entire area that is to the south of the Vindhya Mountains. The northern portion to the Vindhya Mountains is called “Aarya Desha”. Thus, the Vindhya Mountains serve like a partition between the “Aarya Desha” and the “Draavida Desha”. However, in today’s terms, the “Draavida Desha” is mistaken to be only Tamil Nadu for various political reasons, but it is not. It encompasses other South Indian states such as Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and parts of southern Maharashtra. We’ve to understand this point very clearly as we move on.
Moving on further from this point, Sage Naarada now talks about the River Ganga and its significance. We’ve so far witnessed the significance of River Cauvery, and now let us witness the origin of River Ganga. Yudishtra asks Sage Naarada to explain the whole context in detail, as all of them pass through the banks of River Ganga. Upon Yudishtra’s request, Sage Naarada begins to give a detailed accord on how River Ganga came down to the earth. He explains that River Ganga is perennial in existence and doesn’t have a definite origin or a start point. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness a detailed accord on how River Ganga came down to the earth! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 