The Indian Dharma

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Devaki and Vasudeva having their first child and how Kamsa was in a confused state of mind whether to “go for the kill” or not! We had also witnessed in due course of yesterday’s episode as to how Sage Narada excellently played “spoilsport” in Kamsa’s case, as he unleashed a fresh confusion in his mind! He explained how the Devas along with Indra were conspiring a plan against him by teaming up with Vasudeva, in confusing Kamsa about who amongst the eight children was the eighth child. Upon hearing thus, Kamsa started shaking with fear instantaneously. He thus immediately rushed to Vasudeva, grabbed the first child and killed it on the spot. In fact, it is for this reason that Vasudeva felt neither happy nor sad after convincing Kamsa to let the first baby unscathed. He knew within himself that Kamsa was a fickle-minded person by nature. He knew very well that Kamsa would take knee-jerk decisions without analyzing anything, and Kamsa too on his part, behaved in such a way that Vasudeva’s assumptions were true! 🙂 

Thus, the first child was mercilessly dashed on to the stone and killed. This same story repeated for the next five babies too, and Kamsa “successfully” killed all the five! It is at this time, Goddess Yoga-Maya swings into action! It is now time for the seventh child to be born, and Goddess Yoga-Maya “transfers” the child from Devaki’s to Rohini’s womb overnight! This happens within a jiffy before even Devaki and Vasudeva realize it! All Devaki knew that she was carrying the seventh child in her womb, and overnight, the child mysteriously disappeared! Her womb was totally clear of any child! In the meanwhile, Vasudeva had informed Kamsa that Devaki was carrying for the seventh time, and at the time of the child’s birth, Kamsa came ready with his sword. However, as he realized that the child had a “premature death” on its own, Kamsa was relieved and thus, walked back to his place. On one had, Kamsa had a mild doubt, but that doubt was overshadowed by the fact that Vasudeva had no chance of lying to him, given the tight security cover that was placed around the prison complex. 

So now, seven children were done and dusted, and it is now the time for the eighth child to be born – The most decisive amongst the lot! Kamsa gets the news that Devaki was once again carrying, and all sorts of thoughts are running in his mind now. How should he approach the child? Should he kill it the way he did for the remaining six? Or, should he adopt a different strategy? Is this child too powerful to handle so easily as he thinks? The voice that he heard from the sky keeps repeatedly haunting him every passing day and night! Finally the decisive day arrives – Ashtami day – The day when the Rohini Star falls!

“Prakrithisthvam paraa sookshma brahma garbhaa abavatpuraa!

Tato vaani jagadh dhaatuhu veda garbhaasi shobhane!!”

As Devaki Devi started carrying the eighth child, all the Devas were singing in praise of Bhagawan Vishnu, who has entered into her womb as her eighth son. The Devas were singing thus, “Oh Devaki Devi! Do you know who you’re carrying in your womb? The person who carries the entire world in His womb! What a great moment this is going to be in your life? How many people in this world get such an opportunity to have Bhagawan as a son? Do you even know how fortunate you are?” 

Thus, as Devaki approached the tenth month of her pregnancy and when the date was approaching fast, all the “Nakshatras” (Stars) were eagerly waiting for Bhagawan to incarnate. All the Devas were standing amidst the “Aakaasha” (Sky), eagerly waiting for the divine moment to conspire. Sage Narada was eagerly waiting as well, for His Bhagawan to incarnate! Vaayu Bhagawan was slowly showing his presence, with his gentle breeze. Thus, the stage was set for the grand event to take place! So for today, let us all wait alongside the Devas, Bhagawan Vaayu, the “Nakshatras”, Sage Narada, etc. and await Bhagawan’s divine incarnation – For the ninth time in this world! We shall wait till the next episode to witness the auspicious event of Bhagawan Krishna’s divine incarnation! An absorbing episode awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the significance and roles that Goddess “Yoga-Maya” played in the incarnation of Bhagawan Krishna and Bhagawan Balarama. As we had witnessed, Goddess Yoga-Maya was going to play an instrumental role in shifting Balarama from the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohini (Vasudeva’s another wife) who resided in Gokula at that time. With this, Goddess Yoga-Maya saved Balarama from the wrath of Kamsa (Balarama was officially the seventh son of Devaki-Vasudeva) and created an illusion that Devaki’s womb had some problems and hence the child died in the womb itself before being born. At the same time, she is also going to play a role in Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation too – She herself is going to take birth as a girl child to Yashoda and Nandagopa at Gokula, and is going to play an instrumental role in deceiving Kamsa by maring the actual truth behind Bhagawan Krishna’s birth. Thus, the plans are all in place and all of them were waiting for the apt time to unleash their plans on Kamsa. 

Thus, as time progressed, Devaki and Vasudeva started having one child after the other. Six such children were born, only for Kamsa to kill all of them mercilessly. There was an instruction from Kamsa to Vasudeva – To bring each new born baby immediately after it takes birth and Kamsa would destroy the new borns then and there in front of Vasudeva’s eyes! How treacherous can this be to a father to see the killing of his own babies right in front of him? Such were the trials and tribulations that Devaki and Vasudeva had to undergo, before obtaining Bhagawan Krishna as their son. Of course, Bhagawan would make us toil hard before giving us something great in hand as a gift, isn’t it? He would ensure that we undergo so much pain in our life if we’re ardent devotees! We’ve seen this in many people – Something that keeps happening even today. We might see some of our known people around, who might be ardent devotees, but would have to undergo so much trials and tribulations in their lives. We might immediately ask – Why is Bhagawan doing this? Doesn’t He have the compassion towards His devotees? Why should Bhagawan let devotees suffer before granting them “Moksha”? There are multiple ways of looking at this and we shall witness answers for this when the apt time comes. 

For now, let us continue with the series of events that conspired at Mathura City. As the children take birth one after the other, Vasudeva takes each of them to Kamsa immediately after they’re born. All the six consecutive babies were dashed upon a stone by Kamsa and were killed on the spot. Amidst all what was happening, there was a small sub-event that conspired here. When Vasudeva was bringing the first child to Kamsa, he was having a small thought process running in his mind whether Kamsa would still spare this first child. He tries to negotiate with Kamsa thus, “Oh Kamsa! As per your instruction, I’ve brought this first child of ours to you. However, think for a moment – It is only the eighth child that is going to create problems for you, isn’t it? Then why kill the first child itself? Don’t you know that killing a newborn baby is a sin and one of the greatest crimes in this world? Hence, please leave this child and when the eighth child is born, I’ll volunteer to bring it to you for killing!” 

Saying thus, Vasudeva was in tears and he literally begged Kamsa to leave the child alone. Seeing Vasudeva’s state of mind, Kamsa thought for a moment and he had a feeling that Vasudeva was right in his argument. It was only the eighth child that is going to be problematic, and why kill the first child itself? Hence, he gave back the first child in Vasudeva’s hands with a smile of acknowledgment. Vasudeva felt relieved that Kamsa had spared their first child somehow and thus, started walking back to the prison. 

Now here is where the twist in the story lies 🙂 Sage Narada hurries into Kamsa’s palace from nowhere! He has been seeing all this from the sky as he was roaming around. Normally it is believed that Sage Narada would come and create some sort of a confusion in everyone, but that confusion would end up in some good thing. Similarly here too, Sage Narada sought to create confusion in Kamsa’s mind! As Kamsa was coming back thoughtfully, Sage Narada intercepted him in the middle. He speaks to Kamsa with a tone in which Kamsa’s fear increases manifold! Sage Narada says thus, “Oh Kamsa!! Till now I was under the impression that you’re a great and a studious king! But now I realized how big a fool you are!” Upon hearing this, Kamsa didn’t understand the head or tail of what Sage Narada is saying! He sought more explanation from Sage Narada, upon which Sage Narada replies, “I didn’t expect you to fall so cheaply into the trap that was laid by the Devas! Oh Kamsa! You had taken a vow to kill all the children born to Devaki and Vasudeva, isn’t it? Let me tell you the trap here – As all the eight children take birth one after the other, Vasudeva is planning to deceive you by pointing out the fourth or fifth child as the eighth child. For this, all the Devas including Indra are “partners in crime” and you’re falling right into their trap by not killing the first child!” 

This thought made Kamsa shiver! He found a lot of sense in what Sage Narada was saying! Thus, he immediately rushes to Vasudeva and grabs away the first child, dashes it on the stone and kills it then and there! All of this happened within the split of a second and Vasudeva couldn’t make sense of what was happening! Father as he was, Vasudeva couldn’t tolerate seeing his baby dead in front of him! Thus, both Devaki and Vasudeva were subjected to tortures like this by Kamsa! So for today, let us join Devaki and Vasudeva in sharing their profound grief, and let us wait till the next episode to move forward with what happened next! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the significance of Goddess “Yoga-Maya” and how Bhagawan Vishnu controls the world with her. We’ve seen that just like how a magnetic field controls the iron pieces within it, Goddess “Yoga-Maya” unleashes the “illusion” amongst all of us and makes sure that we keep revolving inside this magnetic field called “Samsara”. As Bhagawan Krishna Himself explains in His Bhagawad Gita, none of us have the power within ourselves to escape this “Maya” that is created in this world. In fact, it is only because of the “Maya” we have all sort of bondings with people around, as friends, relatives, parents, spouse, children, etc. Coming out of this “Maya” is nearly impossible for us. However, the catch here is that, only if we’re able to come out of this “Maya”, we’d be able to attain Moksha. How do we do that? This is where Bhagawan is explaining that, although we do not have the power to come out of the “Maya”, if we surrender to Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet, He is going to pull us out of it and in turn, we shall attain “Moksha”. This is why we have the entire concept of “Sharanagati Dharma”, which we’ve also spoken about in our previous episodes as well. 

Moving on thus, Sage Paraashara is now going to explain what is going to be the role of this Goddess “Yoga-Maya” in Bhagawan Krishna’s birth, and how is she going to shake Kamsa with the fear of death. We’ve seen already how Kamsa is fearing his upcoming death, and this is why, as a knee-jerk reaction, he has jailed both Devaki and Vasudeva in Mathura City. As all this happens, Sage Paraashara explains the role of Goddess Yoga-Maya thus, 

“Yoga nidra mahaa maayaa vaishnavi yogitam mayaa!

Avidhyayaa jagadh sarvam taamaah bhagawan harihi!!”

Now Bhagawan Vishnu calls Goddess Yoga-Maya and gives her some orders thus, “Oh Yoga-Maya! You’re going to be given a big task now – Go and take birth in Gokula village as the daughter of the couple – Yashoda and Nandagopa. You’ve to do two things here – Firstly – The seventh baby that would be born to Devaki at Mathura jail, should be shifted to the womb of Rohini, who is in Gokula. This Rohini Devi is Vasudeva’s second wife. You’ve to create an illusionary situation wherein the world should believe that Devaki’s seventh baby has died within her womb itself (“Garbha Sankarshana”). Whereas, the baby should be safe and shifted to Rohini’s womb. I shall incarnate from that womb as Balarama. Secondly – I would incarnate as the eighth son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Vasudeva would bring me from Mathura City to Gokula, wherein you would just be born as a girl child to Yashoda and Nandagopa. He would place me there at Gokula, and bring you to Mathura. Kamsa would try and kill you, as you arrive into the Mathura jail. At that time, you escape from his hands and warn him again saying that, the baby who is going to kill him has already taken birth and is residing at Gokula! Once you finish this task, you may come back to me at Vaikunta. So please do these two tasks that I want you to do!” 

Thus, the tasks for Goddess “Yoga-Maya” is cut out here! She is waiting for the right time to take birth as the daughter of Yashoda and Nandagopa at Gokula, while Bhagawan Vishnu is waiting to incarnate as the eighth son to Vasudeva and Devaki. Meanwhile, Balarama’s incarnation should also happen. Thus, all of them were just waiting for the right time to conspire, and the plans are set! 

Bhagawan Vishnu continues to tell Goddess Yoga-Maya as to how she would be praised in this world, if she does this duty correctly. Bhagawan Vishnu says thus, 

“Ye tvaam aaryeti durgeti veda garbhaa ambiketi cha!

Bhadreti bhadra kaali thi kshema daa bhaagyathe vi cha!!”

Most of these names would appear in the “Shri Lalitha Sahasranama” too – Durga, Ambika, Bhadra, Bhadra Kali, Padmanaabha Sahodari, etc. For readers who are familiar with the Lalitha Sahasranama – A collection of thousand divine names of Goddess Devi, these are important divine names given to Her. Bhagawan Vishnu explains here that if Goddess Yoga-Maya completes these two tasks properly without any blemish, she would be revered and respected by the world in terms of these above names. Hence, next time when we chant the Lalitha Sahasranama, we should lay special emphasis on these names of Goddess Devi! 

So for today, let us understand the significance of Goddess Yoga Maya and what  is going to be her role to play in the Krishna-Avatara. We shall wait till the next episode to continue with Sage Paraashara’s accord on how things conspired further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on why the “Krishna-Avatara” is given much more prominence in description amongst all the Puraanas, as compared to the “Shri-Rama-Avatara”. We had witnessed one important answer for the same in the last episode, wherein Bhagawan Krishna as a child is easy for all of us to identify and relate, as compared to Bhagawan Rama, who was a strict epitome of “Dharma”. Of course, I’m not saying that Bhagawan Krishna wasn’t standing for “Dharma”. The biggest difference between Bhagawan Rama and Bhagawan Krishna in their pursuit towards Dharma is that, Bhagawan Rama would follow the “Dharma” as per how it is written in the “Dharma text book”! He wouldn’t deviate an inch from what is written in the Vedas and Upanishads. Whereas, if we see Bhagawan Krishna, His philosophy is quite simple here – “Whatever I do is Dharma”! 🙂 This is pretty easy for us and for Him too! If we ask Him why isn’t He following the “Dharma” as written in the Vedas, Bhagawan Krishna would lovingly reply us thus, “Oh! I’ve already followed and illustrated all of that during my previous Rama Avatara. Now why should I repeat the same thing over and over again?” 

Thus, we can see here that even Bhagawan Krishna Himself says pretty much the same thing as what Sages Sukhaachaarya and Paraashara had said – “If you want to understand more on Bhagawan Rama and the Dharma that He followed, go and refer to the Valmiki Ramayana text!” Hence, the point is very clear here, isn’t it? So with this understanding, now let us move on with what Sage Paraashara is going to narrate with regards to how Bhagawan Krishna is incarnating in this world. We’ve already witnessed so far how Devaki and Vasudeva have been jailed at Mathura city by the wicked Kamsa, and in the meanwhile, Bhagawan Vishnu too decides that He has had enough with Kamsa’s atrocities in this world. Thus, Bhagawan Vishnu declares to the world that He would take birth as the eighth son to Devaki & Vasudeva, and Balarama would be the seventh son to the same couple, born out of a “broken pregnancy” or “aborted pregnancy” of Devaki. We’re going to witness this “Charitra” in the coming episodes. At the same time, there would be another girl baby born to the couple of Yashoda and Nandagopa at Gokula town, wherein she would be Goddess Devi or Goddess “Yoga-Maya” or Goddess Vaishnavi Devi. 

We might be wondering why is this “Yoga Maya” taking birth here, and who is this “Yoga Maya”. In fact, this “Yoga Maya” is nothing but the “Maya-Shakti” (Power of Illusion) with which Bhagawan Vishnu operates this entire world. In Bhagawad Gita too, Bhagawan Krishna Himself explains this concept in a beautiful way. He says thus, “Oh Arjuna! Please understand that all people in this world including you, are bonded by the three Gunas – Satva, Rajas and Taamasa Gunas, which are in turn embroiled into the “Yoga-Maya” or the Illusionary power. Thus, even if you try your best, you would not be able to come out of the power of “Maya”!” Arjuna was listening to this and posed a counter question to Bhagawan thus, “Oh Keshav! You’re saying that it’s not going to be possible for me to win over this “Maya” and come out of it. If that is the case, why at all should I fight this war? Why should I kill these thousand-odd people standing in front of me? What is the use of doing such a thing, if neither myself nor Duryodhana is going to escape this “Maya” at all? Let him live happily with the Hastinapura Kingdom and let me go to the forest to do penance”! 

Upon hearing thus from Arjuna, Bhagawan Krishna realized that He was talking too much! 🙂 We’ve to note here that during the entire Bhagawad Gita Arjuna is only trying to run away from the battlefield and everytime he’s trying to do so, Bhagawan Krishna is trying to pull him back! Thus, Bhagawan replies to Arjuna’s “escapism”, “Oh Arjuna! I think you’ve misunderstood what I’m trying to say here. I’m only saying that you do not have the power to win over the “Maya”! However, with my helping hand, you can always come out of it and win it over! Why don’t you realize this point? Hence, if you do what I say and if you follow what I’m trying to explain, I shall help you in coming out of this “Yoga-Maya” and with that, you would be able to attain Moksha. Please understand that all those who surrender to my feet with ardent devotion, I would help them to overcome this “Yoga-Maya” successfully. Hence, take up your bow and arrows and start fighting, without wasting more time!” 

Thus, we should also understand the important point here – Bhagawan Krishna has the “Yoga-Maya” under His control and it is with that, He binds the world together like a magnetic force. Since it is a huge binding force, we as normal human beings would not be able to break that force and come out of it. We need external help in the form of Bhagawan’s divine grace so that He cuts it open and takes us out of it. This is where we need the complete surrender to Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet (“Sharanagati”) and with this, we shall overcome the “Yoga-Maya” and henceforth travel towards “Moksha”! So for today, let us understand the significance of this “Yoga-Maya” and in the next episode we shall witness how this “Yoga-Maya” played an important part in Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Bhagawan Vishnu’s robust planning process for the upcoming Krishna-Avatara in this world. We had seen how Bhagawan Vishnu took out two hair strands from His forehead – One was black in color and the other one being whitish, and threw them down. The black hair strand was to incarnate as Bhagawan Krishna and the white one was to incarnate as Bhagawan Balarama. In due course of the yesterday’s episode, we had also witnessed a very interesting question as to why great sages like Sage Paraashara in this case of Shri Vishnu Puraana and Sage Sukhaachaarya in the case of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana laid so much of emphasis on this Krishna-Avatara, and not much on the previous Rama-Avatara, which was also equally important. We had witnessed in our previous Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana project that Sage Sukhaachaarya had mentioned to King Parikshit to go and read Valmiki Ramayana for more information on the Rama-Avatara. However, he could have easily said that King Parikshit should go and refer to Sage Veda Vyaasa’s Mahabharata text or some other text for Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation. Or, Sage Sukhaachaarya could have easily said to King Parikshit that he could refer to the Shri Vishnu Puraana text for a detailed accord of the Krishna-Avatara, which is written by his own father nonetheless! We’ve already seen that Sage Sukhaachaarya was the son of Sage Paraashara, isn’t it? Hence, Sage Sukhaachaarya could have easily pointed out references to his father’s text. Yet, why did he devote the entire “Dashama-Skandha” in his Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text for explaining the Krishna-Avatara in detail? Why did Sage Paraashara devote the entire fifth “Amsa” here for Bhagawan Krishna? Let us see some possible answers today. 

We’ve witnessed earlier as well that Bhagawan Krishna’s childhood days are worth an experience for any “Bhakta” (Ardent devotee). No matter whether Bhagawan is an epitome of “Dharma”, or He would punish those who walk the path of “Adharma”, etc., these are all known facts for all of us. However, if we’ve to imagine Bhagawan in such a way everyday during our prayers, we would only gain more and more fear towards Bhagawan, for all the wrongdoings that we’re doing every passing day. Whereas, if we can imagine and portray Bhagawan as a small and an innocent little child, it gives us an opportunity to develop love and affection towards Bhagawan isn’t it? In this way, it would be easier for us to relate to Bhagawan more easily isn’t it? This is perhaps the reason why lot of emphasis is given to Bhagawan Krishna, as there are innumerable episodes and narratives to describe His childhood days! 

However, if we look at Bhagawan Rama’s Ramayana text, there is very little or no mention at all about Bhagawan Rama’s childhood days. If we look at Valmiki Ramayana’s “Bala Kanda”, Valmiki Bhagawan explains that Bhagawan Rama was born to King Dasharata and Kaushalya Devi and within just 23 to 24 slokas, Sage Vishwamithra makes his way into King Dasharata’s palace. Sage Vishwamithra’s entry happens when Bhagawan Rama was 12 years old. Thus we can see here that, to explain the first 12 years of Bhagawan Rama’s life, it took just 23 slokas. The entire Ramayana story starts only after Bhagawan Rama gets older. Whereas, this is not the case with Bhagawan Krishna. To explain the first 10 years of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, it takes a minimum of around 10,000 slokas, if we combine the Alwars’, Acharyas’ works, Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana (Dashama Skandha) and Shri Vishnu Puraana (Fifth Amsa). 

We might again ask this question – Why is this partiality towards Bhagawan Rama? There is no partiality here – We should realize here that the purpose behind every incarnation of Bhagawan is different for different incarnations. Whereas, for Bhagawan Krishna, it was to give this childhood experience to devotees, Bhagawan Rama’s main agenda was to act as a role model in following all the various aspects of “Dharma”, as written in the Vedas and Upanishads. Hence, if one has to follow all the “Dharma” principles as per the book, it can be done only after getting older, isn’t it? For instance, Bhagawan Rama set the ball rolling for the “Dharma” of how to behave as a son to a father, how to behave as an elder brother to a younger brother, how to behave as a husband for a wife, etc. All these could be illustrated only at a certain age, and not during childhood. Whereas, Bhagawan Krishna’s agenda was different – He purposefully wanted to give that childhood experience to His ardent devotees and thus, we have so much of prominence to Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. 

However, we should understand that Bhagawan Krishna lived for the next 120 years. There aren’t many narratives about Him after His childhood days are over. Even in the Bhaagawatha Puraana, the childhood narratives occupied a prime stage in the Dashama Skandha. However, once Bhagawan Krishna left Mathura to Dwaraka, there aren’t many incidents to narrate, except for few like the “Rukmini-Kalyana”, Bhagawad Gita, the role that He played for the victory of the Paandavas, etc. Thus, we can clearly see here that the purpose of the Krishna-Avatara is grossly different than that of the Rama-Avatara, and it is for this reason, both Sage Paraashara and Sage Sukhaachaarya laid more emphasis on the Krishna-Avatara. The main purpose of the Puraanas, as we’ve witnessed in our earlier episodes, is to serve as an aid for devotees to attain the highest “Moksha” in the easiest possible way. The easiest possible way is to portray Bhagawan as a loving innocent child, and this is the reason why Bhagawan Krishna is of prime focus in both these Puraana texts. 

So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and let us wait till the next episode to continue with Sage Paraashara’s beautiful description of how Bhagawan Krishna incarnated in this world! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important and a pertinent discussion as to who controls whom? Is Bhagawan controlling us or are we controlling Him? The answer is very simple here – If we’re ardent devotees of Bhagawan, we can control Him very easily and He would dance to all our tunes. Whereas, if we’re Raakshasas and are following the path of “Adharma”, then obviously Bhagawan has no other option but to control us. This is exactly what we see in all of Bhagawan’s incarnations. The Yaadavas, Gopikas and many others during the Krishna-Avatara were ardent devotees, and hence, Bhagawan Krishna made it a point to spend ample time with all of them in whatever way they wanted to. Mahatma Vidura was yet another epitome of this point as well. When Bhagawan Krishna came as a messenger for the Paandavas to talk with King Dhirdiraashtra, it was at Vidura’s place did Bhagawan Krishna reside for that evening. Bhagawan Krishna enjoyed the time that He spent with His ardent devotee. Thus, we can see at every instance as to how Bhagawan enjoys His time and moments with His ardent devotees. So the point that we’ve to learn from here is that, we should also make ourselves into that list of ardent devotees, so that Bhagawan would voluntarily come towards us and be with us forever. 

Moving on thus, we shall witness some other important points as to how Bhagawan Vishnu planned the Krishna-Avatara. Sage Paraashara explains this beautifully here thus: 

“Yevam samsthooyamaanasthu bhagawan parameshwaraha!

Ujjahaara aatmanah keshav sithakrishnau mahaa mune!!”

This is a very important point that Sage Paraashara is trying to explain here. He says “Ujjahaara aatmanah keshav” – This means, Bhagawan pulls out two hair strands from His head and takes them in His hands. Sage Paraashara explains further, “sithakrishnau mahaa mune” – This means, out of the two strands of hair, one was black and the other was white in color. Bhagawan Vishnu drops both these hair strands on the floor and declares thus, “These two hair strands would take birth as two different human beings, who would be my incarnations. The incarnation emerging out of the white hair strand would be very fair in color and would be named “Balarama”, and the incarnation emerging out of the black hair strand would be black in color and would be named “Krishna”. All the Devas would take birth alongside both of us as the “Gopikas”. All the “Apsara” women would be taking birth at Gokula village as ordinary villagers. Thus, all of us are going to descend together to the “Bhoolokha”, and together we would finish Kamsa’s atrocities!” 

Thus, we can see here that the Krishna-Avatara’s primary purpose was to finish off Kamsa. However, this was just a two-minute work for Bhagawan Krishna. But the ten years of His childhood days (Bala-Krishna) was the prime significance of all the “Alwars” and “Aachaaryas” as they’ve experienced Little Krishna in various beautiful ways, which if we start experiencing, would bring tears of joy and devotion to all of us as well! Sage Paraashara too on his part, is trying to bring out the significance of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and we’re going to witness it in the upcoming episodes as well.

We might have yet another interesting question here. If we consider both these Puraana texts here – Shri Vishnu Puraana of Sage Paraashara and Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana of Sage Sukhaachaarya – Both of them do not talk about the Rama-Avatara in minute detail. In other words, we’ve already seen during our Bhaagawatha Puraana project previously that when it came to the Rama-Avatara, Sage Sukhaachaarya explains to King Parikshit that if he wants more details about the Rama-Avatara, he should go and refer to the Valmiki Ramayana text, wherein there are 24,000 slokas dedicated for this. This is the same narrative that Sage Paraashara is also telling Sage Maithreya. We might think here that atleast one out of these two sages should taken up Shri Rama-Avatara in detail, isn’t it? Whereas, when it comes to the Krishna-Avarara, both the sages have dedicated one full part of their Puraanas to describe it in detail. We’ve seen that Sage Sukhaachaarya had dedicated the entire “Dashama-Skandha” (Tenth Skandha) of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana for Bhagawan Krishna, and here too we’re witnessing that Sage Paraashara has dedicated the entire Fifth Amsa for Bhagawan Krishna. We might think here – Why is this partiality towards Bhagawan Rama? Why is everyone focusing on the Krishna-Avatara, more than the Rama-Avatara? Is there any significance that is lesser in the Rama-Avatara as compared to that of the Krishna-Avatara? Let’s wait for an interesting answer to these questions in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of how Bhagawan Vishnu plans His incarnation in this world. On one hand, He assures Indra & CoBhagawan Brahma, Goddess Bhoomadevi, etc. who had come to Vaikunta to voice out their grievances, and on the other hand, Bhagawan started planning His future set of actions. We had witnessed that Bhagawan Vishnu chooses and handpicks Devaki and Vasudeva to be His parents when He incarnates. We’ve also witnessed in due course of yesterday’s episode as to why Bhagawan chose these two people and why not someone else. We’ve seen how Devaki and Vasudeva were once ardent Vishnu devotees in the past, which is why Bhagawan is trying to honor their highest level of devotion by being born as their own son. Bhagawan always wishes to be controlled by His ardent devotees, and this is one example. 

We might wonder here – Is Bhagawan controlling all of us, or are we controlling Bhagawan? What is the difference between the two? If we’re Bhaktas of the highest order, Bhagawan automatically comes into our fold and starts dancing to our tunes. However, if we’re starting to walk the path of “Adharma”, Bhagawan has no other option but to start controlling us. We can see this in all incarnations of Bhagawan. In our previous Ramayana project also we’ve seen this – Bhagawan Rama was an obedient son of King Dasharata and His three mothers – Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra Devi. Bhagawan Rama descended to the forest for fourteen long years with just that one instruction from His father. Here, King Dasharata was just an ordinary “Jeevatma” like all of us. Even then, if Bhagawan (“Paramatma”) has to listen to the words of a “Jeevatma”, we can see how much of a Bhakta, King Dasharata was. In fact, just like how we’re currently talking about Devaki and Vasudeva being great Bhaktas of Bhagawan Vishnu in their previous births, King Dasharata and Kausalya Devi had a similar past as well. This is why Bhagawan chose them as His parents during the “Rama-Avatara”. Hence, if we’re Bhaktas of the highest level, Bhagawan would automatically be under our control, and Bhagawan likes to be controlled and instructed by Bhaktas. 

There is a similar instance too that happened with Bhagawan Panduranga at the famous “Pandarpur Kshetra” in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Many of us might be knowing this place and Bhagawan Panduranga is none other than Bhagawan Krishna Himself. Once upon a time at Pandarpur, when all the Bhaktas were dancing with ecstasy with all the bhajans and devotional songs being sung, Bhagawan Pandurangra was slowly losing patience and finally at one stage, He too joined the Bhaktas and started dancing along with them! In fact, for a few minutes nobody realized that Bhagawan too was dancing along with them, unless and until somebody in the group realized what was happening! As people realized that Bhagawan was also amidst them, all of them stopped whatever they were doing, looked up to Bhagawan and asked thus, “Oh Panduranga! All of us are your ardent devotees! We wanted to dance and sing in praise of you. If that is the case, why are you joining us and dancing? You should be the one who is witnessing all of it, isn’t it? You should be the one who should be blessing us with your divine grace by witnessing all our singing and dancing!” 

To this, Bhagawan Panduranga replied thus, “Oh devotees! I’m seeing your ardent devotion every passing day, and I’m getting overwhelmed by your deep affection and love towards me. At some point, I couldn’t resist myself and badly wanted to be amidst all of you and dance amongst you! I got that opportunity today and here am I, dancing along with you! I’m really enjoying your presence all around me! Why do you want to spoil this experience?” Bhagawan Panduranga continues further thus, “Oh Bhaktas! Let me request you one more thing – Please do not “isolate” me at one place. By doing so, I’m starting to feel very lonely, standing at one place without doing anything! When I see all of you dancing and singing happily, I always have that urge to be amidst all of you to do the same! Hence, please include me also in your group, and please let me dance and sing along with you!” 

Upon hearing thus from Bhagawan Panduranga, all the devotees were in tears of joy! If Bhagawan had to express that He’s feeling lonely without being amidst His Bhaktas, we can clearly see here as to how Bhagawan loves to be controlled by His Bhaktas, isn’t it? So for today, let us understand this point very clearly that Bhagawan would automatically come under our control if we pray ardently at His divine lotus feet with our blind, pure and innocent devotion. Thus, in the next episode, we shall continue further with how Bhagawan Vishnu planned the various other aspects of His upcoming incarnation in this world! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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We’re at an important juncture wherein we’ve witnessed how Devaki and Vasudeva were subjected to strict imprisonment by Kamsa at Mathura city on one hand, and on the other, the discussion between the Devas and Bhagawan Vishnu is taking place, wherein Bhagawan Vishnu decides to incarnate in this world yet another time. He decides that the time has come to re-establish “Dharma” in this world, and thus in the process, “chooses” to be born as the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva. We had witnessed this in the previous episode, and had concluded with an intriguing question – Why did Bhagawan Vishnu “handpick” Devaki and Vasudeva to be His parents for this upcoming incarnation? Why not somebody else? But before this, we shall witness the small continuation of this discussion between the Devas and Bhagawan Vishnu, and how Bhagawan gives assurance to the Devas and Goddess Bhoomadevi. 

As the Devas and Goddess Bhoomadevi express their concerns, Bhagawan Vishnu assures them thus, “Oh Indra & Co.! Oh Bhoomadevi! Oh Bhagawan Brahma! Please do not worry. I shall incarnate shortly in the world and put an end to all of your problems. I shall be born as a human being with a black physical body and with a handsome look (Krishna). Similarly, Bhagawan Aadisesha would also incarnate alongside me as my brother, with a dazzling white appearance and with a great strength (Balarama). Before all this, I would instruct “Yoga-Maya” (Goddess Devi) to incarnate alongside me, so that Kamsa can be fooled and taken aback. Yoga-Maya would incarnate in such a way that she would assume a fearful form to send shockwaves to Kamsa. In the meanwhile, I would like all the Devas here, including you, Indra, to take birth in this world as “Gopikas”, and when the time is ripe, I myself shall come to all of you and grace you with my divine blessings! At the same time, all the “Apsara” women (Divine women in the “Deva-Lokha”) would be born in Gokula as normal village women, and would be around me all the time! With this setup, I shall finish Kamsa’s atrocities in this world, and you don’t need to worry henceforth. Now please do what I’ve said – This is the roadmap for all of us ahead!” 

Such was the reply from Bhagawan Vishnu and all of them around Him were extremely happy to hear Bhagawan’s words. They celebrate Bhagawan’s words and are extremely happy and eagerly awaiting Bhagawan’s divine incarnation in the world, yet again. Indra and Co. immediately prepare themselves to take birth in the world – The message is loud and clear here! Bhagawan has decided that He’s going to spend quality time with all of them, and the time is about to come for that divine moment. Moreover, Kamsa’s atrocities are also nearing the end, and Goddess Bhoomadevi is also feeling happy for that. With this, the conversation comes to an end, and now we shall move on with the next question – Why did Bhagawan Vishnu choose this couple in particular (Devaki and Vasudeva)? Why not somebody else? Bhagwan could have killed Kamsa from wherever He would have taken birth, isn’t it? The reason is very simple – Devaki and Vasudeva were once upon a time ardent Vishnu devotees. Few births before this, both of them had dedicated their entire lives to be in service to Bhagawan and had been extremely ardent and austere in their devotion towards Him. It is to honour their ardent devotion, did Bhagawan wait and wait till this time to give them this divine opportunity. 

Thus, the message is loud and clear from Bhagawan here – If we’re devoted to Bhagawan with our full effort, Bhagawan would surely respond in the way He should. Of course, it requires patience from our end too. We cannot say that today we did a  lot of prayers, and tomorrow Bhagawan isn’t responding. It’s not something that happens over night! Bhagawan’s main testing point to all of us is whether we have the consistency in our devotion towards Him. The main testing parameter here is whether we are getting distracted by all the worldly affairs here, or whether we’re trying to overcome all of this and focus on Bhagawan. Devaki and Vasudeva are perfect examples of sustained devotion and for this, Bhagawan is reciprocating with perhaps the greatest gift of being His parents during this upcoming Krishna-Avatara. 

So for today, let us understand this important point and let us take a firm resolution that we wouldn’t deviate from the “Bhakti-Maarga” till our last breath. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the continuation of the “Charitra” forward. Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the events that preluded Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation in this world. We had witnessed how Kamsa was rattled by the voice from above the sky and how he tried killing his own sister, Devaki, for no fault of hers. As Vasudeva did a timely intervention with some words of wisdom, Kamsa spared her life, but instead, imprisoned both of them in the Mathura City jail. We’ve also witnessed in due course of yesterday’s episode that Kamsa came down from his stance of killing Devaki on the assurance that he would handover all the babies that are born to Devaki, so that they could be killed or tortured to death by Kamsa. Accordingly, Kamsa quickly brings them back to Mathura and imprisons them. 

As this happens, Kamsa does yet another tactical mistake here – He imprisons Devaki and Vasudeva in the same cell and not in different cells. Had they been lodged into different jails, they wouldn’t have been able to obtain a child, isn’t it? This is where Kamsa lost his power of thinking as his anger and frustration took over. However, of course we can say that it was all divine will that took place, but still, had Kamsa thought a little bit, he wouldn’t have made such grave mistakes ever. As the imprisonment was happening in Mathura city, this was the same time when the Devas and Goddess Bhoomadevi went to Bhagawan Vishnu and represented their concerns to Him. Indra explains to Bhagawan Vishnu how Kamsa’s atrocities are slowly taking over the entire world and how he has to be shown his place. Indra explains that Kamsa is trying to harm the Brahmins and is trying all tricks in his trade to destroy the Vedas and Upanishads in this world. Indra explains too that Kamsa is not allowing any sort of “Dhaanam” or “Dharma” to happen in this world. 

Similarly, Goddess Bhoomadevi explains to Bhagawan how the population of bad people in this world is constantly on the rise and it somehow has to be brought under a check. Normally when the population of bad people increases, Goddess Bhoomadevi feels it as a great stress upon her. If on the other hand, we have good people, even though it might be a pain to withstand all of us, Goddess Bhoomadevi never takes it as a stress. She happily nurtures all of us under her divine love and care. However, the question here is that, the population of bad people is on the rise. This is resulting in enormous stress to Goddess Bhoomadevi and she cries to Bhagawan Vishnu, seeking an urgent intervention. In fact, Sage Paraashara even goes ahead and lists down the key Raakshasas who were causing nuisance in this world. I shall list out a few of them here – Arishta, Kesi, Dhenuka, Pralambaha, Naraka, Sundha, Athyugra, Baanaasura, etc.  – All of these constitute the “Raakshasa – Sahasranaama”! 🙂 All these days, we’ve been reading the Vishnu Sahasranama and are getting bored with it! Hence for a change, today we’re witnessing the Raakshasa-Sahasranama! 🙂 I hope these many names that I’ve mentioned above are more than enough for us to know. Sage Paraashara has come up with a huge list of them, but I’m not going into all that now! 🙂 

Thus, all the Devas and Goddess Bhoomadevi represent their concerns to Bhagawan Vishnu, and it is at this point in time that Bhagawan decides to incarnate. This is precisely at the same time when the rapturous voice sounds from above, which threatens Kamsa. As this happens thus, Bhagawan Vishnu decides to incarnate as the son of this particular couple, Devaki and Vasudeva. We might have this question – Why don’t we have that authority to choose our own parents? Why only Bhagawan has that authority to do so? The answer is very simple – We take birth in this world out of our past “Karma”. It is the “Karma” that would decide who our parents would be in this birth. Whereas, Bhagawan incarnates in this world out of His own passion and love for His devotees. Karma cannot come close to Bhagawan in any way. In fact, Bhagawan Krishna Himself explains this in His Bhagawad Gita, isn’t it? He says to Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! Please understand that I’m an entity which is beyond “Karma”. You take birth in this world because of Karma and I take birth in this world because I want to do it! There is a difference here! I do not take birth because of any sorts of Karma and in fact, Karma can never touch me!”

If such was Bhagawan’s words, can’t He have the authority to choose His parents? Thus, Bhagawan Vishnu handpicked Devaki and Vasudeva to give them the golden opportunity in this birth to be their son. However, there is another reason too, as to why Bhagawan Krishna chose this couple to be His parents. What was the reason? Let’s witness this important fact in the next episode as we move further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed a critical incident that happened in Kamsa’s life, wherein he had been warned by a thunderous and a rapturous voice from above the sky, regarding his impending death. This death, according to the voice, was going to take place through the son who’s going to be born out of Devaki and Vasudeva, who had just got married in front of Kamsa. Listening to this, Kamsa couldn’t think anything properly out of fear and shock. He immediately came to a conclusion that the only solution for this is to kill his own sister, Devaki on the spot. If she’s no more, there wouldn’t be any possibility for that son to be born, isn’t it? Hence, Kamsa raises his sword and rushes forward to kill Devaki. At this point, Vasudeva falls on Kamsa’s feet and is begging him to leave his wife alone. He reminds Kamsa of the three treacherous sins that he would end up committing, if he kills Devaki. In the meanwhile, Kamsa gives some pieces of advice which even their son, Bhagawan Krishna might not have given! In today’s episode, let us continue with those pieces of advice before we move further into what happened next. 

Vasudeva explains to Kamsa thus, “Oh Kamsa! What is happening to you is something that is written as your fate already. Nobody can ever change it. If destiny is written in a particular way, things would conspire only according to that. Moreover, we are all the “Atmans” and the “Atman” never has an end. It is only the “Shareera” or the physical body that has a beginning and an end. Moreover, irrespective of whatever and however you try to avoid it, death is something that comes to everybody at some point in time. If not today, all of us are going to die some day into the future. Nobody can be devoid of death in this world. Hence, why trying to meddle with what is inevitable, rather than accepting it and moving on with it?” 

As Vasudeva tells all these “Updaesha” stuff, Kamsa never seems to understand “A” or “Z” of it! 🙂 Afterall he’s a Raakshasa, and how would we expect Raakshasas to understand the “Atma-Tatva”? If we preach all these things to ardent devotees of Bhagawan, obviously they would understand and act accordingly. For instance, you are all ardent devotees of Bhagawan Vishnu and when I say all this to you, it would make sense and all of us would follow Bhagawan’s words. Whereas, if I say all this to people who have no interest in this, and to those people who constantly look to malign our Sanaatana Dharma, what is the use? Thus, all the “Upadesha” that Vasudeva did, fell deaf ears to Kamsa, and he proceeded to kill Devaki. However, the one point of committing a treacherous sin towards his own sister, somewhat pulled him back. 

Moving forward, the moment Kamsa started to pull back from his effort of killing Devaki, Vasudeva captured that moment and made a promise to him thus, “Oh Kamsa! Please take this as an undertaking from me – I shall personally handover to your hands, all the children that are being born to both of us. After that, it is upto you to do whatever you want to do with them. You can kill them or you can take them to task, or do whatever – it is totally your dealing after that! Hence, take these words as a token of assurance from my side, and please leave Devaki alone!” 

Vasudeva continues thus, “Oh Kamsa! Think in this way too – What is the fault of Devaki here? Is Devaki conspiring to kill you? No, isn’t it? For someone who is going to be born in the future to kill you, why are you holding her to ransom? Hence, please leave her alone and do what is practical and apt for the situation!” As Kamsa hears this from Vasudeva, he thinks for a while and puts down the sword. He immediately changes his plan and takes them back to Mathura city and puts them into jail! Thus, Kamsa imprisons both Devaki and Vasudeva, chains them and tortures them. 

As Kamsa did this, here too he makes a tactical mistake. Initially he made a mistake of rushing forward to kill Devaki. But somehow, Vasudeva pulled him out of it. However now, for this tactical mistake, there’s nobody to guide Kamsa here. So what was the tactical mistake that Kamsa made? Let’s wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂