The Indian Dharma

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Dushyanta finally accepting Shakuntala and Bharata and eventually Bharata was crowned as the successor of King Dushyanta. It is because Bharata ruled the country with all the “Dharma” in place, this entire country came to be known as “Bhaarata Desha” or “Bhaarata-Varsha” or “Bharata-Kanda”. Of course, we had also witnessed two other Bharatas in the past as well. We’ve witnessed that there was someone called “Jada-Bharata” during the Krita Yuga and there is a huge detailing about Jada-Bharata in the Shrimad Bhaagwatha Puraana. Subsequently in the Tretha Yuga, we’ve witnessed Bharata being Bhagawan Rama’s brother. When Bhagawan Rama was away in the forest for fourteen years, it was this Bharata who ruled Ayodhya with all the “Dharma” in place and in such a way that Bhagawan Rama wanted Bharata to continue ruling Ayodhya even after He was back from the forest. Such is our rich history of Bharatas and this is the reason why we refer to India even today as “Bhaarat” or “Bhaarata Desha”. 

Moving on further thus, as Bharata was crowned the king, King Dushyanta and Shakuntala left for their “Vaanaprastha-Ashrama” and subsequently attained the “Svarga Lokha”. After this accord, Sage Vaishampayana explains that Daksha-Prajaapati had twenty seven daughters in total, all of whom we refer to as the twenty seven different “Nakshatras” or “Stars” in astrological science. All these twenty seven “Nakshatras” were married off by Daksha-Prajapati to Chandra Bhagawan. It is to Chandra Bhagawan that Pururava took birth. Pururava in turn gave birth to Nahusha. Nahusha’s son was Yayaati. Now we’re going to witness the “Charitra” of Yayaati. Yayaati gets married after he grows up and there is an interesting accord that happened post Yayaati’s marriage, which we’re going to witness now. I shall narrate it in a brief as we move on from here. 

All of us might now be knowing about Sage Angiras. He was born along with Sage Pulastya, Sage Mareechi, etc. and we’ve witnessed this story earlier in detail. This Sage Angiras had a son by name Brihaspathi. Brihaspathi in turn had a son by name “Kacha”. All these people are part of the “Devas’ group”. As time progressed, due to some reason or the other, the Devas were losing all their strength and the Raakshasas were getting powerful. At some point, the Raakshasas started to win over Devas over many issues and with this, the Devas were thinking what can be done so that they would regain their supremacy over the Raakshasas. We might also know by now that Sage Shukraachaarya was the “Guru” for the Raakshasas. Sage Shukraachaarya was a very powerful sage and he had an important “Mantra” with him called “Sanjeevani”. If one chants this “Mantra”, he / she would become completely immortal. Even if someone dies, they could be woken up again with the help of this “Sanjeevani” Mantra. The Devas somehow came to know about this and somehow wanted to get hold of this “Sanjeevani” Mantra. Their strategy was very simple here – Obtain the “Sanjeevani” Mantra and become immortal, which would prevent them from facing defeat in the hands of the Raakshasas. 

With this in mind, the Devas approached Brihaspathi, who is their “Guru”. They wanted Brihaspathi’s intervention to somehow obtain the “Sanjeevani” Mantra from Sage Shukraachaarya. Brihaspathi too understood the intent and the seriousness of the Devas, and thought of an idea. Brihaspathi replies to the Devas thus, “Oh Devas! If we’ve to obtain the “Sanjeevani Mantra”, there is only one way to do it – Send Kacha to Sage Shukraachaarya and ask him to join his Gurukula as one of his best students ever. As Sage Shukraachaarya’s trust towards Kacha increases, he would automatically teach the “Sanjeevani” Mantra to Kacha and from him, you can learn it. This seems the only way out in this pursuit!” Even though the Devas were a bit perplexed with this idea of sending the little boy amidst the Raakshasas, they did not have another option. Hence, they trusted Brihaspathi and sent Kacha to Sage Shukraachaarya. 

As Kacha reaches Sage Shukraachaarya’s ashram, he introduces himself thus, “Oh great Sage! I’m Kacha, son of Brihaspathi and the grandson of Sage Angiras. I’m here in front of you to learn all the Shaastras and their meanings thoroughly. Will you teach me everything?” As Kacha introduces himself thus, he was very careful not to reveal to him that his main agenda was to learn the “Sanjeevani” Mantra. Impressed by Kacha’s “Guru Bhakti” and humility, Sage Shukraachaarya accepted Kacha as his student. Eventually, Kacha starts learning everything under Sage Shukraachaarya’s able guidance. Kacha is performing all whatever Sage Shukraachaarya is instructing him to do and with this, around 500 years pass by! Now what happens next? Is Kacha going to be successful in obtaining the “Sanjeevani” Mantra from Sage Shukraachaarya? Let us wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Shakuntala Devi giving back to King Dushyanta for his seemingly reckless answer. As Shakuntala Devi reminded King Dushyanta about his past relationship with her, he was not ready to accept her as well as Bharata. Even though the entire courtroom was convinced that Shakuntala Devi was talking the truth and Bharata looked exactly like him, King Dushyanta was not ready to accept. Finally as King Dushyanta was stubborn with his decision of not accepting both of them, Shakuntala Devi thunders aloud amidst the entire courtroom that she wants justice! In these lines she tries to educate King Dushyanta how he’s trying to escape from his wrongdoing just because nobody has witnessed it first hand. Just because no human being has seen what had happened, it doesn’t mean that Bhagawan hasn’t seen. He correctly makes note of all whatever we do knowingly, unknowingly, under somebody’s supervision or in private. As Shakuntala Devi explains to him clearly that he’s only going to accumulate his sins by not accepting her and Bharata, King Dushyanta stands still, without giving any sort of a response. He waits for Shakuntala to complete her accord. 

Now the question here is whether King Dushyanta is going to accept Shakuntala Devi and Bharata or not. Even after so much of description and explanation from Shakuntala Devi, if King Dushyanta is not going to change his stance, he is going to land up in a huge problem. However, with Bhagawan’s divine “Anugraha”, a divine voice from above thundered thus, “Oh Dushyanta! Please understand that you do not remember your past because of fate. However, Shakuntala Devi who is standing in front of you now is your real wife and Bharata is your real son and successor of the kingdom of Hastinapura. Hence, you should accept both of them and do the needful to facilitate Bharata to become the “Yuvaraja” of the kingdom!” 

As the divine voice thunders from above, King Dushyanta has no other option but to accept Shakuntala and Bharata. Moreover, King Dushyanta was also satisfied with the explanation and with all his heart, he accepts Shakuntala as his wife and Bharata as his own son. Subsequently, a grand “Yuvaraja-Pattabisheka” is performed and Bharata was coronated as the “Yuvaraja” or the next successor of King Dushyanta. As years passed by, Bharata was duly crowned as the king and with this, King Dushyanta and Shakuntala Devi descended to the forest for their last days of their lives.  

This is one side of the story. As Bharata was ruling the kingdom effectively and righteously, this entire country came to be known as “Bhaarata-Varsha” or “Bharata-Kanda”. Even now we call our country India as “Bhaarata-Desha” or “Bhaarat” isn’t it? This name was derived from this king called Bharata who ruled the country for a hundred years with full focus on “Dharma”. This Bharata was in the “Dvaapara Yuga”. However, we’ve seen that during the “Krita Yuga”, there was someone called “Jada-Bharata”. This person was the son of Rishabha-Deva and came in the lineage of Svaayambhuva Manu, Priyavrata and Utthaanapaada. We had discussed this in our Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana project in detail. Readers can refer to that for more details on Sage Bharata, who was also referred to as “Jada-Bharata”. This Sage Bharata thus lived during the Krita Yuga. Subsequently, during the “Tretha Yuga”, we’ve witnessed Bhagawan Rama’s brother to be Bharata isn’t it? Bharata was Kaikeyi’s son and was one amongst the four sons of King Dasharata along with Bhagawan Rama. 

Thus, we’ve seen three Bharatas in three different Yugas and this is the reason behind our country being worshipped as “Bhaarata-Desha” or “Bhaarata”. So for today, let us understand this important point and let us witness the continuation of this interesting discussion in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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We’re at an important juncture wherein Shakuntala Devi had been endlessly waiting for King Dushyanta to come and marry her, but he didn’t turn up at all. Eventually because of their union, Shakuntala had a baby boy by name “Bharata”, who was extremely powerful right from day one of his birth. As months and years passed by, Shakuntala was waiting on and on without any fruit. Knowing this, Kanva Maharishi advised her to go in search of King Dushyanta and remind him of his promise. As Shakuntala gets ready, Bharata was not ready to leave Kanva Maharishi because he was so attached to him. However, on the advice of Kanva Maharishi, Bharata agreed to accompany his mother in search of King Dushyanta and both of them thus set out on their pursuit. As they reach King Dushyanta’s kingdom, they were amazed to see how it was! As they enter inside the kingdom slowly, they finally reach King Dushyanta’s palace and eventually they reach the courtroom of King Dushyanta. Now the biggest question here is whether King Dushyanta would accept Shakuntala and Bharata or not! 

As Shakuntala introduces herself and Bharata, King Dushyanta doesn’t even remember who Shakuntala was. Even though Shakuntala tried her best to remind him of what had happened between him and her amidst the forest and how he had promised her to come and marry her as quickly as possible, all of these fell into the deaf ears of King Dushyanta. He was not ready to believe all these stories, as he did not remember even an iota of what had happened in the past. Of course, this was the game of fate (“Vidhi”) in some way or the other and it made King Dushyanta forget the entire past. However, the ministers in the courtroom were extremely convinced with Shakuntala’s claim and as they looked at little Bharata, they saw that he looked exactly the same as King Dushyanta. Even the ministers and the others in King Dushyanta’s courtroom joined the chorus along with Shakuntala Devi that he should accept her and Bharata. Eventually, the ministers’ claim was that Bharata should be coronated as the “Yuva-Raja” (Successor of King Dushyanta) as Bharata was his son. 

Even though everybody around him joined in this chorus of convincing the king to accept both of them, King Dushyanta was still not convinced. He replied back to Shakuntala thus, “Oh Devi! I seriously do not remember all of what you’re saying. I’m born in this world for “Dharma” and its establishment. My sole aim in this world is to ensure that “Dharma” is prevailing everywhere in the kingdom and in the world. With this in mind, I do not have anything else that would disturb my pursuit. Hence, even if whatever had happened were true, I’m not ready to accept anybody who would disturb me from my path of “Dharma”. I cannot go a step forward to accept Bharata also, even though he might be looking like me and even though he might be my son!” 

Upon hearing these words from King Dushyanta, Shakuntala Devi was extremely hurt. She started crying on the spot as she did not find words initially to counter King Dushyanta. His stance was extremely clear – He’s not going to accept her and Bharata! Now what does poor Shakuntala Devi do? She consoles herself after a few minutes of the shock, composes herself and replies back thus, 

“Yaha annyataasantham aathmaanam annyathaa prathipadhyathe!

Kim tena nakritham paapam chorena aatmaapahaarinaa!!”

This is a very famous sloka and our “Aachaaryas” would have referred to this atleast 200 or 300 times in their “Vyaakyaanas” in different contexts. This sloka appears as part of the Mahabharata, wherein Shakuntala replies to King Dushyanta thus, “Oh King Dushyanta! Who do you think you are? You’ve forgotten your identity and are saying something irrelevant. You’re afterall a “Jeevatma” like me and you’re talking as if you’re “Paramatma” who has incarnated in this world! You’re thinking that you can do something in private and escape off without the knowledge of anyone. There is Bhagawan who is looking at all of what you’re doing. You cannot get away so easily. You’re thinking too much about yourself – You’re thinking that you’re an embodiment of your physical body, however, on the contrary you’re an embodiment of your “Atman”. You’ve stolen another “Atman” which is Bhagawan’s property. You’re not realizing this. Moreover, you’re thinking that you’re the king and nobody is there to question your actions. However, there is Bhagawan Narayana who is the actual ruler of this entire world. He’s watching all your actions and is going to question you big time very soon. Hence, please do not go ahead further and commit a sin. Those who are performing such sins, would never escape the wrath of Yama-Dharma-Raja! You can ever escape from him!” 

As Shakuntala Devi thunders thus, the entire courtroom is stunned to bits! King Dushyanta is also speechless! He did not anticipate this kind of a response from Shakuntala Devi. Now what is King Dushyanta going to do? This is a test of his righteousness. What is going to be Dushyanta’s response? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Vaishampayana continuing with the narration of King Dushyanta’s accord, wherein he explains to King Janame-Jaya how King Dushyanta was a very righteous king and how he ensured that all the aspects of “Dharma” prevailed in his kingdom. Subsequently, while King Dushyanta was venturing for his regular hunting one day, he spotted a beautiful woman amidst the thick forest named Shakuntala. She was originally Sage Vishwamitra’s daughter, but since Sage Vishwamitra had obtained this girl through an “Apsaras” woman called Menaka, she had to be left alone to fend for herself. Both Menaka and Sage Vishwamitra parted ways and Shakuntala was brought up by Kanva Maharishi all these years. Thus, as King Dushyanta roams around Kanva Maharishi’s ashram, he spots this beautiful Shakuntala and falls in love with her. After a lot of convincing, Shakuntala accepted him and both of them got into a union. After this, King Dushyanta assured her that he would come back and marry her with all the rituals for the marriage. With this, King Dushyanta went back to his kingdom, and Shakuntala got pregnant. Shakuntala was waiting for King Dushyanta to come back and marry her. But did he come back? Let us witness today. 

As Shakuntala was waiting thus, King Dushyanta never came back! She was waiting, waiting and waiting, but King Dushyanta did not keep up his word for some reason. However, Shakuntala delivered a baby after her tenth month of pregnancy and this baby boy was named “Bharata”. Thus, Bharata was born to King Dushyanta and Shakuntala. As this Bharata was growing up and when he was a six-year-old boy, Indra comes along that path and blesses Bharata thus, “Oh Bharata! You would be one of the greatest kings in this world. You would be an embodiment of all “Dharma” in this world and at the same time, you would be blessed with all valor and power to take on any enemy that comes and attacks you!” As per Indra’s boon and words, Bharata was really a powerful boy! He was playing with the lions and tigers in the forest with ease. With just one leg, Bharata was able to kick away the lions and tigers in the forest! If such is the case with the wildest of animals in the forest, we do not even need to ask about how Bharata handled human beings. If any enemies came by, Bharata would take them down single handedly! 

As days, months and years pass by, Shakuntala was still patiently waiting for Dushyanta to come and marry her. But King Dushyanta never came back even after so many years! With this, Shakuntala was extremely depressed and was crying out to Kanva Maharishi every day. Upon seeing his daughter in such a pitiable state, Kanva Maharishi advises her thus, “Oh Shakuntala! Please go in search of King Dushyanta and introduce yourself to him. Perhaps he might have forgotten you because of other important and compelling reasons, as he is a great king. You should not stay without your husband anymore and it is not good for you and for Bharata!” Shakuntala accepts Kanva Maharishi’s advice and thus starts towards King Dushyanta’s kingdom. However, Bharata did not want to go along with his mother. He wants to stay back with Kanva Maharishi in the ashram and wants only his mother to go in search of King Dushyanta. However, after a lot of convincing from Kanva Maharishi that Bharata has to be only with his mother at all times and not leave her alone, Bharata accepted. He thus accompanies his mother all along the way to meet King Dushyanta. 

After travelling a long distance, they finally reach King Dushyanta’s palace. It was a huge palace with enormous amounts of wealth and richness. Huge buildings adorned the entire area. Upon seeing all these, Shakuntala and Bharata had their own doubts whether they would be allowed to enter inside the palace and see the king or not. They had this fear that they might be chased away by King Dushyanta or his security guards upon seeing their shabby attire and tired faces. So what is going to happen next? Is King Dushyanta going to accept them or chase them away? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Vaishampayana continuing his lengthy accord on the various “Amsas” of Devas, Raakshasas, Apsaras Women, etc. who were born as part of the enormous “Chandra-Vamsa”. Till this point, he was only going on a “briefing” mode, and subsequently after this, Sage Vaishampayana wanted to go on the “lengthy description” mode. For this, he was looking for a point to commence. He has to start describing the “Chandra Vamsa” at some point, isn’t it? He decided to commence with Dushyanta’s birth. However, King Janame-Jaya intervened in the middle as he did not understand from where did this Dushyanta come from all of a sudden! He wanted to understand who Dushyanta was and what his previous background was. If Sage Vaishampayana had to explain this, he needed to start from Puru, the Pouravas, and from there how Dushyanta was born. 

King Janame-Jaya asked Sage Vaishampayana thus, “Oh Sage! You’re commencing the detailing from Puru. But who is this Puru?” Sage Vaishampayana gives a “one-liner reply” saying that Puru was Yayati’s son, and stops there. However, King Janame-Jaya wasn’t convinced with this “one-liner”. He wanted to know who this Yayati was. Again Sage Vaishampayana gives another “one-liner” reply that Yayati was Nahusha’s son. Again, King Janame-Jaya wanted to know who this Nahusha was! Again, Sage Vaishampayana gives an immediate “one-liner” saying that Nahusha was the son of Pururava. Now who was this Pururava? He was the first person who was born as part of the “Chandra-Vamsa”! Hearing thus, King Janame-Jaya requested Sage Vaishampayana thus, “Oh Sage! You’ve to start from this point then! Start detailing to me as to who Pururava was and how did the “Chandra-Vamsa” grow from here on?” 

As King Janame-Jaya requests thus, Sage Vaishampayana begins detailing how Puru lost his moral right to be a king and how Yayati obtained it in place of Puru. Subsequently, since Sage Vaishampayana had in his mind that he would start from Dushyanta’s story, he goes ahead with that initially. After sometime, he would come back to the stories of Puru and Yayati and at that particular time, we shall witness how Puru and Yayati established themselves as part of the “Chandra-Vamsa”. Dushyanta was an excellent and a righteous king who came as part of the “Chandra-Vamsa” after Puru. In Dushyanta’s country, there was nothing except “Dharma” that was prevailing. There was 100% righteousness everywhere. Everybody in Dushyanta’s kingdom was good and kind-hearted. Each and every person in the kingdom were completely devoted to Bhagawan. All the “Dhaanas”, “Yagnyas” and other spiritual offerings were happening in Dushyanta’s kingdom without any blemish and at all the prescribed timings. 

Once upon a time King Dushyanta was going into a thick forest for hunting. At that time, King Dushyanta happened to visit Kanva Maharishi’s Ashram. As King Dushyanta visits this great sage, he spots a beautiful woman by name Shakuntala. This Shakuntala was the daughter of the great Sage Vishwamitra and Menaka. Upon seeing this Shakuntala, King Dushyanta fell in love with her immediately by getting attracted to her beauty. As we move further with this,  we need to witness who this Shakuntala is and how she came to Kanva Maharishi’s ashram. As we’ve seen earlier, Shakuntala was born to Sage Vishwamitra. Once upon a time, when Sage Vishwamitra was amidst a deep penance, Menaka, who was a beautiful “Apsaras” woman happened to pass by him. As she passed by, Sage Vishwamitra’s penance was disturbed and upon seeing her, he fell in love with Menaka. It is because of this desire on Menaka, Sage Vishwamitra got along with her and as a result of this union, Shakuntala was born. 

As the baby was born, Menaka wasn’t ready to take the child to her place as this child was a normal human being and Menaka was an “Apsaras” woman. She thus left the child amidst the forest itself and disappeared. Sage Vishwamitra too couldn’t take this baby with him because his penance would be disturbed. Hence both the parents left the baby alone in the forest and parted ways. However, months later, there were some “Shakunta” birds which took care of this baby by covering it with their wings. Since this baby was grown up by these “Shakunta” birds, she obtained the name “Shakuntala”. Years later, Kanva Maharishi spotted this beautiful baby girl roaming in the forest all by herself. Upon seeing her, Kanva Maharishi was moved and he brought her to his ashram. After this, Shakuntala was brought up as Kanva Maharishi’s daughter in his ashram. 

It is this Shakuntala that King Dushyanta spots. Initially when King Dushyanta proposed his love for her, Shakuntala did not accept him straightaway. However, King Dushyanta assured her repeatedly that he would marry her in the “Gandharva” style and with this assurance, both of them united with each other. After this union, King Dushyanta left that place by giving her the assurance that he would come back shortly to marry her. With this assurance, Shakuntala was waiting and meanwhile she became pregnant. So what is King Dushyanta going to do? Is he going to come back and marry her? Let’s wait for the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed a brief on the various “Raakshasas” who were born as part of the “Chandra-Vamsa”. This might be a bit confusing for readers here, but we’ve to follow this very closely. Only if we do so, we would be able to understand many parts of the Mahabharata story that is to follow after this. In due course of yesterday’s episode, we saw the background of Jarashantha, Sishupaala and Shalya. Subsequently we shall move on from here and witness the next important accord of Sage Viashampaayana as part of the Sambhava Parva. 

He now details how Bhagawan Krishna incarnated and how He married 16,000 “Apsaras” women after killing a Raakshasa named Narakasura. We’ve witnessed these events during our previous “Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana” project as part of the tenth “Skandha”, wherein Sage Shukaachaarya detailed bit by bit about Bhagawan Krishna’s birth, how He grew up in Gokula, how He killed Kamsa and Chaanura, how He established His kingdom at Dwaaraka, how He married Jaambhavati after getting into a fight with Jaambhavan, etc. Subsequently, Bhagawan Krishna marries Rukmini Devi who was actually supposed to get married to Sishupaala, who was Bhagawan Krishna’s cousin. All these details are given here also by Sage Vaishampayana as well. Subsequently the “Narakasura-Vadam” happens and this event is celebrated as “Deepavali” all over the country even today. After this, Bhagawan Krishna marries Satyabhaama and the story goes on. 

Now moving forward from here, Sage Vaishampayana talks about Draupati, who was the wife of the Paandava brothers. She was the “Amsa” of Sashi-Devi, who was the wife of Indra. We’ve already witnessed that Indra’s “Amsa” was Arjuna, and if that is the case, Sashi-Devi should also be born in the same way, isn’t it? Similarly, there were two women by name “Siddhi” and “Driti”. These two women were born as “Kunthi Devi” and Maadri Devi”, who were the mothers of the Paandava brothers. Thus with this, we’ve witnessed an outline that the Devas, Raakshasas, Gandharvas, etc. took birth in this world as part of the huge “Chandra-Vamsa” at different stages to different people. With this, we come to an end of this accord and this “Adhyaaya” that we were seeing till now also comes to an end. All these “Adhyayaas” that we’re witnessing one after the other are all part of the “Upa-Parva” called “Sambhava Parva” only. 

Moving on with the next “Adhyaaya” within the “Sambhava Parva” itself, Sage Vaishampayana now explains to King Janame-Jaya that there was a person by name “Dushyanta” and his birth has a very interesting accord. He wanted to commence the Mahabharata story from the birth of Dushyanta and Bharata by bypassing the stories of Yayaati and Co. who were part of the previous generation of Dushyanta. However, King Janame-Jaya caught Sage Vaishampayana as the story started drifting. He requested Sage Vaishampayana to commence from how Yayaati and Co. were born. He wanted to listen to the entire storyline, and not from somewhere in the middle! 🙂 Left without an option thus, Sage Vaishampayana had to start from how Yayaati was born, what was the connection between Yayaati and Sage Shukraachaarya, etc. However, as Sage Vaishampayana structures the storyline, we can witness here that since he had already started explaining about Dushyanta, he wants to continue with it, finish it off and then go into the previous generation stories. There is a reason behind Sage Vaishampayana adopting this strategy of explanation, and we would understand this reason at a later stage. But for now, we’re all set for witnessing how Dushyanta was born. 

As we’ve seen earlier, in the family lineage of King Puru, we witnessed the Pouravas taking birth. It is part of this Pourava Vamsa that Dushyanta is born! Readers might get extremely confused here as I say this! This is because, we still do not know who is this King Puru and from where did the Pouravas come from, and where does Dushyanta fit in! Since the story starts all of a sudden from nowhere, King Janame-Jaya again got confused, just like how we got confused! 🙂 This is where the test for the listeners and readers come – If the story narration goes on with a definitive sequence one after the other, we would all go to sleep! However, if there are breaks like this in the middle, these are the places were we can test whether the readers and listeners are awake and alert or not! This was indeed a test for King Janame-Jaya to check whether he was alert enough to follow the story!
However, King Janame-Jaya was extremely alert here! He immediately caught that break point and quipped Sage Vaishampayana thus, “Oh Sage! From where did this Dushyanta come in all of a sudden? You never explained to me who Puru is! You never explained to me who the Pouravas are! Hence, begin the story from there on, and then come to Dushyanta!” With this, Sage Vaishampayana was also happy that King Janame-Jaya was alert and awake! He is now going to explain who is Puru and who are the Pouravas and then, how Dushyanta was born. We shall also wait along with King Janame-Jaya till the next episode to witness this important “Charitra”. Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had continued our discussion on the “Chandra-Vamsa” and witnessed the key point on how the Paandavas and Bhagawan Krishna were related to each other. We’ve seen the ancestors to Bhagawan Krishna and one of them was Yadhu. Similarly, the ancestor of the Kauravas and the Paandavas, who was Kuru. Kuru was the last son and Yadhu was the eldest son to Yayaati, who had married Devayani and Sharmishta. Thus, we can see here that Yadhu and Kuru were brothers. This is why the Paandavas and Bhagawan Krishna are cousins to each other.  This is an important point that all of us should understand and perhaps this is one reason why Bhagawan Krishna had a soft corner everytime towards the Paandavas, especially Arjuna in particular. As Sage Vaishampayana briefs King Janame-Jaya thus, it triggered more questions and interest in his mind. Now he’s going to ask Sage Vaishampayana an important question. What is that question? Let us witness today. 

As Sage Vaishampayana continues narrating thus, King Janame-Jaya intervenes and asks, “Oh Sage! All these stories are nice to hear. But I have a doubt – Why did Yayati marry two women? Who are Devayani and Sharmishta? Why did both of them marry Yayati? Moreover, who is Yayati?” As King Janame-Jaya asks thus, Sage Vaishampayana gives a prompt reply – “Oh Janame-Jaya! Yayati was a great king and Devayani was Sage Shukraachaarya’s daughter!” As Sage Vaishampayana says thus, King Janame-Jaya is confused even more! He quips again thus, “Oh Sage! Isn’t Sage Shukraachaarya a “Brahmana-Rishi”? He’s the “Guru” for all the Raakshasas isn’t it? So Devayani should be a Brahmin by birth, isn’t it? Yet, how did she end up marrying Yayati, who is a Kshatrya by birth? Please explain this in detail and clear off this confusion in my mind!” 

As King Janame-Jaya asks thus, Sage Vaishampayana thought within himself for a moment – “Oh wow! If I’ve to clear this confusion, I’ve to narrate the entire story to Janame-Jaya!” Thinking thus, Sage Vaishampayana commences narrating the entire set of events. There is a huge description about this in the “Sambhava Parva”, and readers can refer and understand. We shall move on further from here and witness who others were born as part of the “Chandra Vamsa”. There was a “Dhaanava” by the name “Viprachiti”. This Viprachiti was born as Jaraasantha in this world. Further, Hiranya-Kashibu who was killed by Bhagawan Narasimha took birth again during the Dvaapara Yuga amidst the “Chandra-Vamsa” as Bhagawan Krishna’s cousin! Now who is this another cousin for Bhagawan Krishna apart from the Paandava brothers? He was none other than Sishupaala! So we can see here that Sage Vaishampayana is describing not only the “Amsas” of the Devas who were born in the “Chandra Vamsa”. He is also describing the “Amsas” of the Raakshasas who also took birth as part of the same “Chandra Vamsa”. 

We might be knowing this story – As Sages Sanaka and Sanatkumara wanted to meet Bhagawan Vishnu at Vaikunta, the security guards of Jaya and Vijaya stopped both of them from entering into Bhagawan Vishnu’s abode. Irked by this, the sages cursed Jaya and Vijaya that they would be born in this world as Raakshasas thrice. This third birth of these two were none other than Sishupaala and Dantavaktra. Prior to this were Ravana and Kumbakarna during the Ramayana period. Even prior to this were Hiranyaksha and Kiranya-Kashibu. Thus, this same Hiranya-Kashibu who is none other than Vijaya, was born as Sishupaala in the Dvaapara Yuga alongside Bhagawan Krishna. 

Further to this, there was a brother who was born alongside Prahlaada by name “Samhlaada”. This Samhlaada was born as Shalya during the Mahabharata time as part of the “Chandra Vamsa”. Shalya was the king of Madra Desha, and the brother of Maadri Devi, who was King Paandu’s wife. We should remember that Maadri Devi was the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva who are the fourth and fifth Paandava brothers respectively. Thus, King Shalya was an uncle to the Paandava brothers. So for today, let us understand upto this point with regards to the “Chandra-Vamsa”, and let us continue this discussion in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had completed our discussion on the long “Amsa-Avatarana-Parva”, which is one of the most important “Upa-Parvas” under the “Aadhi Parva”. We had witnessed in this Upa-Parva as to who all took birth as part of the “Chandra-Vamsa” and as which “Amsas”. With the brief discussion of Bhagawan Krishna’s divine incarnation as part of the “Chandra Vamsa”, we had concluded the “Amsa-Avatarana-Parva”. Now we move on to the next “Upa-Parva” called “Sambhava Parva”. This is also a lengthy “Parva” just like the “Amsa-Avatarana-Parva”. This forms the entire crux of the initial Mahabharata text, wherein we’re going to witness the birth of each and every person in the “Chandra-Vamsa” one by one. This “Upa-Parva” might be a bit confusing too, and even if we miss out on a single event, we would not be able to understand subsequent events after that. Hence, readers should focus their full attention while reading through, so that the entire crux could be clearly understood. 

As Sage Vaishampaayana had outlined the “Chandra-Vamsa” thus, King Janame-Jaya wanted to listen to more details. Even our interest has been triggered with that touching description that Sage Vaishampayana gave, isn’t it? If such is the case, King Janame-Jaya had listened directly from him first-hand! This triggered his interest to understand things in detail and hence, requested Sage Vaishampaayana to put everything to perspective. Thus, Sage Vaishampaayana starts from Mareechi, in the Chandra-Vamsa. Sage Mareechi was the direct son of Bhagawan Brahma. Sage Mareechi, along with the other sages of Athri, Angiras, Pulasthya, Pulaha, Krathu were all Bhagawan Brahma’s “Manasaputras”. This means that they were born out of Bhagawan Brahma’s mere thought process in his mind. They were not biologically created. Sage Mareechi in turn gave birth to Sage Kashyapa. It is this Sage Kashyapa who had four wives namely Diti, Aditi, Kadru and Vinata. We’ve seen this earlier too. Aditi gave birth to the twelve “Aadityas” who form the core group of the Devas. Diti gave birth to Hiranyaksha and Hiranya Kashibu, through whom subsequently the Raakshasas were born. As Sage Vaishampayana explains about the birth of Hiranya-Kashibu, he adds an accord on Prahlaada and how Bhagawan Narasimha finishes off Hirayna-Kashibu! 

We might wonder here as to why Sage Vaishampaayana is talking about all this! We should be discussing the “Chandra-Vamsa”, isn’t it? In the middle, from where did Sage Mareechi come? Where did Sage Kashyapa come from? There is a connection and a definitive purpose behind which Sage Vaishampayana is explaining all this. But, if we’ve to understand the purpose, we need to wait for the right context and the right time and for that, we need patience! Only if we keep listening to the entire story and the narrative, we would be able to understand why is Sage Vaishampayana going off track every now and then. Moving on further, all we see here is the “Surya-Vamsa”. Sage Kashyapa marries Aditi. Aditi gives birth to Bhagawan Surya. It is in this “Surya-Vamsa”, King Iksvaaku and King Manu are born. After King Ikshvaaku, King Maandhaata, King Sagara, King Ambareesha, King Katvaanga, King Raghu, King Aja, King Dasharata and finally Bhagawan Rama were born! Thus, we can see here that Bhagawan Rama was born as part of the Surya-Vamsa. 

Now that we’ve witnessed the “Surya-Vamsa”, it is now time that we discuss the “Chandra-Vamsa” too. It all starts from Pururavas. Subsequently, Nagusha was born. Subsequently came Yayaati, Yadhu Maharaja and Kuru. It is in the clan of Yadhu Maharaja where Bhagawan Krishna was born. This is why this community is referred to as the “Yaadava Community”. Subsequently, the children who were born in Kuru’s lineage were none other than the “Kauravas”. Now with this, we’ve witnessed a brief about both the “Surya Vamsa” and the “Chandra Vamsa”, isn’t it? With this, we can also see what is the connection between Bhagawan Rama and Bhagawan Krishna. We’ve witnessed that the former was born in the Surya-Vamsa and the latter incarnated in the Chandra-Vamsa. We’ve witnessed earlier itself that Bhagawan Krishna and the Paandavas are relatives to each other. How? We’ve seen the ancestors to Bhagawan Krishna and one of them was Yadhu. Similarly, the ancestor of the Kauravas and the Paandavas, who was Kuru. Kuru was the last son and Yadhu was the eldest son to Yayaati, who had married Devayani and Sharmishta. Thus, we can see here that Yadhu and Kuru were brothers. This is why, the Paandavas and Bhagawan Krishna are cousins to each other. 

As King Janame-Jaya was listening to all this, he had a question in his mind! Now what was his question? Let us continue this discussion in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the “Amsa-Avatarana-Parva” wherein we had seen who all took birth as part of the “Chandra-Vamsa”. We’ve witnessed in these lines that Sage Veda-Vyaasa himself was born in this famed “Chandra-Vamsa”. Subsequently, Vichitraveerya, Chitraangata and Bhishmaachaarya took birth. The next generation to these people were Dhirdiraashtra and Paandu. Subsequently, the next generation people were the Paandavas and the Kauravas. The Kauravas were born to Dhirdiraashtra and Gaandhaari, whereas the Paandavas were born to Paandu, Kunthi Devi and Maadri Devi. Similarly, Guru Dhronaachaarya was born to Sage Bharadwaaja., who in turn had a son by name Ashwatthaama. Similarly, if we see the lineage of the Shubala Desha, we have Shahuni and Gaandhaari. Gaandhaari was married to King Dhirdiraashtra, and with her came Shahuni to Hastinapura kingdom to “be of help” to his sister. Ultimately all of us know what kind of “help” Shahuni ended up doing! 

In between all of this, there is a mention by Sage Vaishampayana that Dhirdiraashtra and Paandu were born due to the divine “Anugraha” of Sage Veda-Vyaasa! This might be a bit confusing for readers here. So far we’ve witnessed that Satyavati gave birth to Vichitraveerya and Chitrangada. Sage Vyaasa had already told Satyavati that he wouldn’t be staying with her. If that is the case, how did Sage Vyaasa come into the picture all of a sudden? Vichitraveerya and Chitrangada got married to Ambika and Ambaalika. Ideally it should be out of their marriage that Dhirdiraashtra and Paandu should have been born. Where did Sage Vyaasa come in the middle of all these? What is the connection between these two people to Sage Vyaasa? We’re going to witness the answers for all these questions as we move on further. 

Subsequently, the Paandavas had sons called as Upa-Paandavas with Draupati. As all this was happening, the population in the world was increasing, along with the “Raakshasa-characteristics” in all of them. Unable to bear all of this, Mother Bhoomadevi ran to Bhagawan Vishnu asking Him a series of questions thus, “Oh Bhagawan! What is happening in the world below? “Kali” is getting stronger every passing day. “Adharma” is increasing its presence every day. People who follow “Adharma” are also increasing day after day. Until a few years ago, people’s lifespan was very long without any disease and with a long youthful stage. However, with passage of time, things are changing and people are not having a peaceful life, which in turn reduces their lifespan! Oh Bhagawan Vishnu! You should intervene and set the record straight!” 

It is very clear and evident from what Mother Bhoomadevi mentions here – If we’re following “Dharma”, our lifespan would be longer, without any physical and mental illness. If we’re on the contrary, all sorts of illnesses are going to reign in us. This happens a lot as the “Kali” gets stronger and stronger. With the situation becoming grave thus, Bhagawan Vishnu decides that He would go and incarnate in the “Manushya Lokha” as Bhagawan Krishna and restore the “Dharma” that has been lost with time. Subsequently Bhagawan Brahma issues orders for all the Devas and the other “Devatas” to go and incarnate themselves in the world along with Bhagawan Vishnu. Thus with this, we come to an end of the “Amsa-Avatarana-Parva”. Thus, we’ve witnessed a lot of details in this Upa-Parva as to who were all born as whom in this world, including the likes of Bhagawan Krishna. The next Upa-Parva that we’re going to witness is called “Sambhava Parva”, which is an ultra-long one. Here, we’re going to commence witnessing in detail as to how the “Chandra-Vamsa” unfolded and how different generations of the Chandra-Vamsa took birth. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the commencement of the “Sambhava Parva”. Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Vaishampayana’s accord on how Sage Veda-Vyaasa was born. Subsequently, Sage Vyaasa’s mother, Satyavati gets married to King Shantanu of the “Chandra Vamsa” lineage. This is where the actual set of events commence. We’ve witnessed a brief about the “Chandra Vamsa”, how it all started from Sage Shukraachaarya and how it went all the way to the Kauravas and the Paandavas. Subsequently, the Upa-Paandavas, King Parikshit and King Janame-Jaya too belonged to the “Chandra-Vamsa” only. As an offshoot here, Bhagawan Krishna is also part of the “Chandra Vamsa”. We’ve to understand here that Bhagawan Krishna’s father, Vasudeva’s sister is none other than Kunthi Devi, who is the mother of the Paandava brothers. Thus, we can see here that the Paandavas were none other than Bhagawan Krishna’s cousins. This is perhaps one of the main reasons why Bhagawan Krishna had a special affection towards the Paandavas, especially on Arjuna. There are many other reasons for this too, and we’ll witness them one after the other when the context comes. 

Now moving on further, we’ve witnessed that King Shantanu had two sons with Satyavati, namely, Vichitraveerya and Chitraangata. Moreover, King Shantanu married another woman apart from Satyavati, who is none other than Mother Ganga Devi. It was out of this marriage, Bhishmaachaarya was born. Thus, along with Vichitraveerya and Chitraangata, Bhismaachaarya too was born to King Shantanu only. Meanwhile, we’ve also witnessed how Vidura was born. Sage Aani-Maandavya once cursed Yama-Dharma-Raja that he would be born in this world as a normal human being for a full lifetime, enduring a lot of suffering and pain. This incarnation of Yama-Dharma-Raja in this world was none other than Vidura. Since Vidura had such a high-profile background behind him, he was a complete epitome and an embodiment of “Dharma”. 

Subsequently as part of this “Amsa-Avatarana-Parva”, we’re going to witness who are the other “Amsas”. Kunthi Devi’s first son was none other than Karna, who was Bhagawan Soorya’s “Amsa”. All of us might know this story – Kunthi Devi obtained a boon that she could obtain a son by offering prayers to any of the Devas at any time. In order to test whether the boon was working or not, Kunthi Devi accidentally offered a prayer to Bhagawan Soorya. During this time, she was unmarried. However, due to the boon’s power, Bhagawan Soorya appeared in front of her immediately and gave her a baby in hand. With this, she was shocked! How can she have a baby without getting married? Thus, she secretly puts away the baby into the river by wrapping it in a leaf. Subsequently the baby was picked up by a charioteer family and was brought up. This is why, Karna is often referred to as “Raadheya” by many people in the Mahabharata text. We’re going to witness this story in detail later on. Moving on further, after Kunthi Devi gets married to King Paandu, she once again obtains a son through her boon – This time through Indra. This “Amsa” of Indra is none other than Arjuna. Subsequently, Vaayu Bhagawan’s “Amsa” was Bheemasena. “Dharma Devata’s “Amsa” was Yudishtra or “Dharma-Putra”. Ashwini Devatas’ “Amsas” were the twin brothers of Nakula and Sahadeva. Thus, the Paandava brothers are none other than the “Amsas” of the Devas themselves. 

To add feather to this cap, Vasudeva and Devaki had their eighth son by name “Krishna”, who was none other than the divine incarnation of Bhagawan Vishnu from Vaikunta! Thus, Bhagawan Krishna had incarnated in this world to restore and re-establish “Dharma”, and all the Devas were born in this world too in various “Amsas” to be of help to Bhagawan to achieve His divine mission. Subsequently, Sage Bharadwaaja had a son, who was none other than Guru Dhronaachaarya. As we all know, Dhroaachaarya was the Guru for all the Paandavas and the Kauravas and he played a very important role in shaping all of them as competent warriors. Subsequently, Sharadhvaan had two children – A daughter by name Kripi and a son by name Kripa. This son was a great sage, and he was revered and respected as Sage Kripachaarya. This daughter Kripi was married to Guru Dhronaachaarya, and they obtained a son by name Ashwathaama. 

In these lines, there was a great disciple of Prahlaada by name Nagnajith. All of us know who Prahlaada is, isn’t it? He was the son of Hiranya-Kashibu. Prahlaada’s disciple was Nagnajith. Nagnajith’s king was King Dharmahantri. This King Dharmahantri’s “Amsa” was none other than Sahuni, who was the king of Shubala-Desha (Present day Afghanistan). Subsequently, With the divine “Anugraha” of Sage Veda-Vyaasa, King Dhirdiraashtra and King Paandu were born. So far, we’ve witnessed who are the “Amsas” of who in the Mahabharata text. We are subsequently going to witness an enormous detail about all these in the coming “Parvas”. But as part of the “Amsa-Avatarana-Parva”, we’ve just witnessed an overview of who was whom in this text. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and let us wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further. Stay tuned! 🙂