The Indian Dharma

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We were at a crucial juncture in the previous episode, wherein Little Dhruva was in a savage resolution to somehow gain Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine “Darshan” and to sit over His lap. According to his mother’s advice, Little Dhruva set out to the forest and was hurrying his way, as he met a series of great Maharishis who had lined up to meet him. All of them had only one thing to say to Little Dhruva – “Please go back home!” However, Little Dhruva was as strong as a rock with his resolution and decided not to pay heed to these words of the great Maharishis. Sage Naarada too tried his best to send Little Dhruva back home. As Little Dhruva exhibited his strong intention clearly, Sage Naarada was moved to tears by the child’s ardent wish and devotion. Beyond a point, Sage Naarada decided that he shouldn’t be the one who discourages the wish of an ardent devotee and rather, he should play a constructive role in bringing the little child’s wish to reality. Thus, Sage Naarada performed the “Mantra-Upadesha” to Little Dhruva. The Mantra was a very powerful one – “Om Namo Bhagawate Vasudevaya!” 

Little Dhruva was thus overwhelmed and thankful to Sage Naarada and he understood the blessing that he has just received! If one has to receive the “Mantra-Upadesha” directly from Sage Naarada himself, we can imagine how fortunate and blessed Little Dhruva was. Thus, Little Dhruva reaches his spot and is all set to start his treacherous spiritual pursuit. Thus, the penance starts – For the first three months, Little Dhruva is standing on one leg and doing penance. He stands on his right leg and lifts his left leg up and places it on his right thigh, closes his eyes and keeps chanting the Mantra. As this happens, Goddess Bhoomaadevi tilts towards the right side. As the next three months progress, Little DDhruva is now standing on his left leg, with his right leg on his left thigh. Now, Goddess Bhoomadevi is tilting towards the left side. The entire world is looking at Little Dhruva with awe! During the first month, Little Dhruva consumed some fruits, vegetables, etc. for his meal, as he was performing the penance. During the second month, the penance became more intense and Little Dhruva didn’t have time for eating much. He just consumed some leaves that fell from the tree branches above him and continued his penance, and that too, once in three days! This was not a regular daily affair. We can see how the intensity is building up here. 

As the third month progresses, Little Dhruva is now consuming food only once in nine days, and that too, only water. His food intake comes to a complete standstill. He just survives only on water and with this, the intensity becomes even more! He has now completely forgotten what is happening around him, and is totally into the penance now. Now moving on into the fourth month in a row, Little Dhruva was just inhaling air as his food, and that too, just once in twelve days! We can see the intensity building up here! This is extreme levels of penance and spiritual practice. All that was in focus for Little Dhruva was Bhagawan Vishnu and his lips kept chanting the Mantra “Om Namo Bhagawate Vasudevaya!” Anything apart from this was totally unknown for Little Dhruva and his mind was completely one-pointed and focused! Fifth month in a row now – And Little Dhruva’s total food, water and air intake came to a zero! He was totally into a different world now, and only his physical body was in this earth surface. 

This continues on and on and as the sixth month comes by, the entire world is now reeling under Little Dhruva’s penance. The temperature of the earth’s surface starts increasing due to the energy and vibrations that emerge out of Little Dhruva. It is at this time, the Devas run to Bhagawan Vishnu seeking help! Indra, as usual, was scared that there is somebody who is competing for his throne in the “Svarga Lokha”. He has already had a bad experience with Sage Dhurvasa and the Raakshasas before, and thus, immediately runs to Bhagawan Vishnu, seeking refuge! In the meanwhile, Indra tries some tricks under his sleeve to disturb Dhruva’s penance. He thus sends Menaka, and many “Apsaras” women to dance, sing in front of Dhruva, so as to bring him out of the deep and intense penance. Even with all of these divine dances and music, Little Dhruva was totally unmoved. He stood there like a solid rock, unperturbed by all the gimmicks that Indra was trying to do. Finally, when nothing of this worked out, Indra started to really feel jittery and thus, runs to Bhagawan Vishnu, seeking His help to stop Little Dhruva somehow. 

As Indra explains thus to Bhagawan Vishnu, He becomes angry with Indra! Bhagawan Vishnu replies back to Indra thus, “Oh Indra! Don’t you have any sort of sense left in you? Why do you look at everybody who does penance for me, as your competitor? Why are you feeling so insecure? Just because few Raakshasas were after your position and wealth, do you think all of them are the same way? I know who is Little Dhruva and my devotees would never go behind wealth and positions like you do! He’s someone who doesn’t care about ruling kingdoms, obtaining name, fame, money, prosperity, etc. He’s someone whose primary focus is attaining my divine lotus feet! Hence, you don’t need to worry. Please go back to your Svarga Lokha!” 

Scolding Indra left, right and center, Bhagawan Vishnu sends Indra back to his Svarga Lokha, as little Dhruva’s penance continues into the six month in a trot! Is Little Dhruva going to be successful in his treacherous pursuit? Is Bhagawan Vishnu going to respond to Little Dhruva’s request? Is Bhagawan Vishnu going to appear in front of Little Dhruva? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had commenced our discussion on the important “Dhruva-Charitra”, wherein we’ve seen how little Dhruva was insulted in front of his father, Utthaanapaada, by his step-mother, Suruchi. No matter how Utthaanapaada confronted Suruchi for her “aggressive” and “abusive” talks to a child, she was not willing to relent. Her ego took the better of her and she stuck to her stance that her son, Utthama had the sole right to be with her husband and not Dhruva in any case. Thus, angered and frustrated by his step-mother, little Dhruva runs crying to his mother, Suneeti, seeking an answer for this inequity. However, Suneeti being a spiritually advanced and a matured person by nature, talks to Dhruva thus, “Oh Dhruva! Whatever your step-mother has said is partially right and partially wrong. Whatever she has said to you with regards to meditating towards Bhagawan Vishnu is excellent, and this is something that all of us have to do to attain Moksha. So you’ve to invariably follow her words of advice on this. On the other hand, the point that you should meditate and pray to Bhagawan, so that you would be able to sit on Utthaanapaada’s lap is wrong – If you’re ardently praying to Bhagawan Vishnu, who is the divine father for all of us, He would allow you to sit on His lap, isn’t it? If you’re getting that status, where does this Utthaanapaada stand? Hence, my advice to you is to go ahead to the forest and undertake penance!” 

We might wonder how cruel can a mother be to a child – By sending the child to the forest at such a tender age. But in fact, Suneeti was the best mother ever! She had the guts and boldness to guide her son in the right path, and little Dhruva too on his part, obeyed his mother’s words and set out to the forest! As he was walking along, this is where he sees a queue of great Maharishis coming towards him. In the meanwhile, all the great Sages come to know Dhruva’s savage resolution to take up severe penance at such a tender age and they were concerned whether little Dhruva would be able to sustain that level of intensity. All these Maharishis come along thus, and ask little Dhruva, “Oh little boy! Why do you want to undertake such a complex mission at such a young age? Do you realize what you’re up to right now? Are you in your senses? This is not the age for undertaking severe austerities like these. Just because someone scolded you, it doesn’t mean that you would take such an extreme step. So, please go back home! Please seek forgiveness to your parents and go back to your normal life!” 

As the Maharishi’s advice thus, Little Dhruva was unprepared to take a single step backwards. His resolution was very firm. He had decided to walk the path of austerity, no matter what comes by. Hence, he replies politely to the Sages that he cannot take a step back from here on, and he has to proceed with his mission, come what may! Little Dhruva also adds another point here thus, “Oh Maharishis! If you have some ideas and suggestions as to how I see Bhagawan Vishnu as soon as possible, please explain and guide me that path. If that is not part of your agenda, please do not stop me from my pursuit! I shall find out my own way to realize Bhagawan Vishnu by myself! Ultimately I want to sit on Bhagawan’s lap, and I don’t have anything else in my mind now!”

Saying thus, Little Dhruva was very adamant in his approach and the Maharishis were astonished with the level of spiritual maturity that little Dhruva had! Thus, not to discourage little Dhruva, each Sage starts pointing out different things thus – One Sage explains that he should worship Bhagawan Madhava. Another sage explains that he should worship Bhagawan Achutha, and the list continues. Finally Sage Naarada comes by! As Sage Naarada sees Little Dhruva going along firmly, he tries to bring in some confusion in his mind. As Sage Naarada always tries to do, he wanted to play his game on Little Dhruva as well. Even Sage Naarada explains to Dhruva that he should go back home and shouldn’t get angry at such a young age! Looking at Sage Naarada, Little Dhruva folds his hands and replies thus, “Oh Sage Naarada! I totally understand your kindness, love and compassion towards me. I know that you’re advising me for my own welfare only. I know that all of you are my well-wishers. However you should understand that I’m not disrespecting you in any way.  My agenda and mission here is different. If you’re able to pay heed to my mission and help me in any way, please do. Else, I request you to leave way for me, so that I shall strive in my own way to achieve my mission of seeing Bhagawan Vishnu and sitting on His lap!” 

Upon seeing the child’s firm stance, Sage Naarada was so touched and moved! He was in tears of joy and was willing to help out Little Dhruva in a unique way. Thus, Sage Naarada replies, “Oh Dhruva! I didn’t come to stop you from your pursuit. I came here to make you understand a very important methodology to attain Bhagawan. I hereby give you this “Mantra-Upadesha”. By chanting this “Mantra” regularly non-stop, you would be able to see Bhagawan Vishnu. So, chant this Mantra as you meditate – “Om Namo Bhagawate Vasudevaya!” 

We can see here, how fortunate Little Dhruva is. He has got the “Mantra-Upadesha” from none other than Sage Narada himself! What a blessing! With this, Little Dhruva hurries into the forest, and is now going to sit for penance. The Mantra is clear! The path is clear! The blessings and divine grace of Guru Sage Naarada is with him now! Thus, little Dhruva is all set to commence the treacherous path of seeing Bhagawan Vishnu! Is it going to be easy for him? Or, is it going to be a tough task from here on? Is Little Dhruva going to succeed in his pursuit? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! An absorbing session awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had finished our discussion on the “Mohini-Avatara” of Bhagawan Vishnu and now we’re making our transition into the all-important “Dhruva Charitra”. Here, we’re going to witness Sage Paraashara’s beautiful description as to how little Dhruva was able to obtain Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine “Darshan ” within just a few days of intense “Tapas” (Penance). As we move on into the “Dhriva Charitra” thus, we’ve already witnessed earlier that Bhagawan Brahma is continuing the job of creating the world, and in turn, Bhagawan Brahma entrusts the job of creation to Svaayambhva Manu. As Svaayambhuva Manu was continuing his job thus, he had two sons, namely Priyavratha and Utthaanupaada. This Utthaanapaada had two wives, namely Suneeti and Suruchi. Suneeti was the elder one and Suruchi was the younger one. Suruchi had a son by name Utthama and Suneeti had a son by name Dhruva.

One fine day, as the two children were playing alongside their father Utthaanapaada, Utthama was trying to get on to the lap of his father. Seeing this, Utthaanapaada was very happy to have little Utthama on his lap, while Dhruva was also playing alongside. However, Dhruva also had the same wish of sitting on the lap of his father. He also tried getting on to his father and at this time, Utthama’s mother, Suruchi stops little Dhruva from doing so. She authoritatively dictates thus, “Oh Dhruva! You do not have the right to sit on your father’s lap. Only my son has that right, because your father is more dear to me, than your mother. Hence from now, you are not having the rights to either play with my son or to move closer to my husband! If you really want to have that right, go to the forest, do some penance and spiritual practice towards Bhagawan Vishnu, and if at all He showers grace on you, you might be born as my child in your next birth and perhaps after that, you can sit on your father’s lap! But not before that!” 

Upon hearing this, Utthaanapaada was shocked! As he confronts Suruchi for her arrogant talk, she stood firm on her ground! Unable to bear the insult and abuse, little Dhruva started crying helplessly out of frustration and neglect. He thus ran straight to his mother, Suneeti. It should be understood here that this Suneeti is a very spiritually advanced and mature person. As little Dhruva comes crying to her thus, she understands what really happened a while ago. But here is where Suneeti is extremely mature – Rather than going ahead to fight with Suruchi, she directs her son to go to the forest and undertake a penance! We might think, how cruel can a mother be, so as to send her 7-year-old son to the forest, just like that! Just because, someone had scolded the child, does it mean that he has to go to the forest at such a tender age to undertake something that even spiritually advanced people might find it difficult to do? Suneeti explains to her son thus, “Oh Dhruva! I understand your pain and frustration. But don’t worry. Take it as an opportunity to have Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine darshan! He would definitely pay heed to your innocent prayers. If Bhagawan Vishnu is letting you sit on His lap, impressed by your penance, who is Utthaanapaada in the middle? Bhagawan Vishnu is to be your real father – The divine father! Hence, go ahead and start your penance right away!” 

Saying thus, Suneeti sends her son off to the forest, and little Dhruva too understood the meaning of his mother’s words. Obeying his mother blindly, Dhruva sets off immediately without asking a single question. As little Dhruva sets out with a savage resolution, the entire world is watching him with awe! Sage Naarada too was caught by surprise! The entire lot of Devas were looking on at little Dhruva, as he sat down to meditate! Is Dhruva going to be successful in his pursuit? What is going to happen next? Is there any sort of obstacle that is going to come by his way? Let’s wait till the next episode eagerly to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Vishnu, incarnated as Mohini, distributing the “Amrita” to both the camps, supposedly. However, there is a ploy here, wherein Mohini is trying to divert the attention of the Raakshasas with Her beauty, and thereby, giving the “Amrita” only to the Devas camp. As the process is underway, obviously the Devas were the “first” in the queue to receive the “Amrita”, and the distribution starts with Indra, who is the leader of the Devas. Thus, as Indra consumes the “Amrita”, he obtains the divine blessings and grace of Goddess Mahalakshmi and with the grace, he once again re-gains all his lost wealth, empire, name and fame. Thus, the Devas along with Indra are very happy and satisfied that finally Bhagawan has answered their fervent call in a very “smart” way. However, the Raakshasas are being fooled right royally here, isn’t it? So, two people, also referred to as “Raahu” and “Kethu” understood that there is a ploy that is being played on the Raakshasas camp, so as to cheat them and give the undue advantage to the Devas. Hence, these two Raakshasas slip out from their camp, disguise themselves as “Devas”, and join the Devas camp. 

Now, we’ve to understand that the Devas are smart too! But their smartness came into limelight only after these two Raakshasas have consumed the “Amrita”. As this fraud has happened, the Devas immediately sent signals to Bhagawan Mohini, who tosses the spoon over these two Raakshasas, and cuts them into pieces straightaway! However, as both of them had consumed the “Amrita”, they’ve become immortal and thus, they still exist as “Raahu” and “Kethu”, whom we worship even today as part of the “Navagrahas”. 

Thus, with this, the process of distribution of the “Amrita” gets over, and the Devas benefit from the entire exercise. With this, the Mohini Avatara comes to an end, and with this, the Devas also regain their lost glory, power and position. Most importantly, the Devas attained immortality with the “Amrita”, which means that they are permanent entities of the “Svarga Lokha” or the “Indra Lokha”. 

Moving on now, we would enter into the next important “Charitra” of a person by name “Dhruva”. Sage Paraashara gives a detailed accord on the “Dhruva Charitra”, and the importance of this event is that Dhruva is able to have Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine “Darshan” within just a few days of intense and deep penance. Moreover, Dhruva was a small child when he undertook such huge strides in spiritual practices. We can thus understand clearly here that age is  not an important parameter when it comes to exhibiting devotion towards Bhagawan and to adopt austere spiritual practices. 

So for today, let us enjoy the events that concluded as part of the Mohini Avatara and let us wait till the next episode to commence the all-important “Dhruva Charitra”. Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we were at a major juncture wherein the pot of treacherous poison emerged from beneath the ocean floor, as the drilling process was going on unabated. As the poison had to be neutralized before the other items from the ocean floor emerged, both the Devas and Raakshasas did not know how to proceed further. It is at this time Bhagawan Shiva comes to the rescue and He takes up the initiative to consume the poison all by himself. As Bhagawan Shiva starts consuming the poison, Goddess Parvathi Devi rushes near Him, holds His neck and stops the poison from diffusing inside His body. Since the poison stayed put in His neck, and since the neck turned blue in color due to the impact of the poison, Bhagawan Shiva is also referred famously as Bhagawan Neela-Kanta. 

As this happens, the drilling process continues further, and finally the divine “Amrita” comes out of the Ocean floor. As it comes out, both the camps are overwhelmed! Finally the mission has been achieved! Their hard and strenuous work bears fruit! Both the camps rejoice in the success. However, the problem comes here – Who will get what share of the “Amrita”? Indra was now very particular that the entire “Amrita” should go only to the Devas camp and nothing should go to the other side. He felt that if Raakshasas become immortal, the world wouldn’t be able to sustain due to the atrocities that these people would create. However, the Raakshasas were not willing to relent. They’ve of course worked hard for the drilling process and they didn’t want to go empty-handed! A big fight started between the two camps and Indra once again ran to Bhagawan Vishnu for a solution! Bhagawan Vishnu immediately gets into the act, and this is where we have the “Mohini Avatara”. 

This is going to be a very interesting event here, where Bhagawan Vishnu disguises Himself as a beautiful and an attractive woman who comes with the pot of the divine “Amrita” towards both the camps. Upon looking at a beautiful woman coming towards them, the Raakshasas were so mesmerised on the spot! They fell in love with this beautiful woman immediately and totally were unaware that this was a ploy against them! As the Raakshasas clearly fell into the trap, Bhagawan Mohini now sets the rules of the ‘distribution’. She asks both the camps to be seated opposite to each other and that, the instruction was to wait for each other’s turn and not to rush at the same time. Thus, all the Devas took their places on one side and all the Raakshasas were sitting on the other side. 

The distribution starts. Bhagawan Mohini commences Her distribution agenda with the Devas. Thus, according to the plan, each and every person in the Deva camp, including Indra gets his due share of the “Amrita” and with this, Indra regains all his lost power, position, kingdom, etc. He and the Devas thus become immortal too. The Raakshasas on the other hand, were admiring Bhagawan Mohini and Her beauty, and were totally lost in the “Moha” (Illusion) that was created! Little were they aware that they were being tricked and all the “Amrita” was going to be distributed only to the Devas and not to them! 

As this is going on thus, there were two Raakshasas who smelt a ploy happening here! They were just looking at the pot of “Amrita” and the quantity was becoming lesser and lesser as the Devas were consuming it entirely. They had a doubt that when Mohini came to the other side, nothing would be left over! Moreover, these two Raakshasas were totally spellbound by the stupidity of their peers, as they were totally lost in the illusion. Hence, they decided to come up with a plan!

Now who are these two Raakshasas and what was their plan? Let’s eagerly wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important juncture of the mammoth ocean-drilling process that was undertaken by both the Devas and the Raakshasas’ camps, with the help of the Manthara mountain and Snake Vaasuki. As the drilling commences, the Devas take up the tail portion of Snake Vaasuki and the Raakshasas take up the head portion of the snake. As per the instruction and advice given by Bhagawan Vishnu, Indra played a “defensive” game here, by letting the Raakshasas take up the head portion of the snake, while drilling. The advice of Bhagawan Vishnu made lot of sense as Snake Vaasuki started to emit plumes of poison from its mouth as the drilling process was continuing. Since the Raakshasas were very close to the snake’s mouth, they were at the receiving end of all the poison plumes, which made them feel tired and fatigued over time. This fatigue resulted in the Raakshasas lose strength over time and also made them quite unaware of what was happening at the other end. 

As this was progressing, many items started emerging from beneath the ocean floor, including the divine horse by the name “Ucchaisravas”, a divine tree by name “Paarijaatham”, etc. As the drilling continued further, Goddess Mahalakshmi emerged out with all Her beauty and divinity. As She emerges out, Indra immediately falls on Her feet, seeking Her forgiveness for the mistake that he had committed. Goddess Mahalakshmi, being a Mother to all of us, forgives Indra for his mistake and blesses him with all prosperity in the future to come. As this happens, the next important item comes out of the ocean floor – A pot full of treacherous poison, called “Haalahaala”. Now, as this pot of poison emerges out, both the camps were perplexed as to what to do with this. Only if this pot of poison is sent to the place where it has to go, or only if it is consumed by someone, can the process of drilling continue any further. As everybody was wondering what can be done in this situation, Bhagawan Shiva comes to the rescue of both the camps. He volunteered to consume the poison and neutralize it, so that the drilling process continues unabated. 

Thus, Bhagawan Shiva comes forward, takes the pot of poison in His hands, and starts consuming it! Upon seeing this, His consortium, Goddess Parvati Devi was shell-shocked! Although Goddess Parvati Devi knows the divinity of Bhagawan Shiva, She was scared to bits that nothing should happen to Her husband – Given the intensity of the poison. Thus, Goddess Parvati Devi rushes towards Bhagawan Shiva and holds His neck tight in Her hands, so as to prevent the poison from running down His throat, and into His body. As Goddess Parvati Devi catches and strangles Bhagawan Shiva’s neck, the poison stays in the neck portion itself and doesn’t transcend further down. As a result, the neck portion of Bhagawan Shiva turned blue in color, due to the impact of the poison in His neck. This is why, Bhagawan Shiva is often referred to as Bhagawan Neelakanta. Here, “Neela” means blue and “Kanta” means neck. Thus, Bhagawan Shiva made sure that the poison was neutralized completely and with the timely intervention of Goddess Parvati Devi, the poison stayed put at Bhagawan Shiva’s neck, and not entering further into His body. 

As the poison is neutralized by Bhagawan Shiva thus, the Devas are all in praise of Bhagawan Shiva and he blesses them for the success of this great mission. Now, the drilling process continues again and Indra is now praying to Goddess Mahalakshmi again. He prays and seeks forgiveness to the Divine Mother yet again. Goddess Mahalakshmi was moved by Indra’s ardent prayer and surrender and She requests Indra to ask Her for a boon. Now we shall see how “smart” Indra is here – He asks Goddess Mahalakshmi thus, “Oh Divine Mother! I don’t have anything specific to ask you, but I only have one small request – You must always be omni-present wherever my “Rajya” (Empire) is present in all the three worlds!” We can see the smartness here – Indra didn’t ask for regaining his kingdom, etc. All he asks for is, Goddess Mahalakshmi to be present wherever his kingdom in this world exists. Isn’t this enough? 🙂 As Goddess Mahalakshmi is the Goddess of Wealth, if She’s there everywhere in Indra’s kingdom, what is the problem for him with regards to wealth and power? All of it is going to come to him automatically, isn’t it? This is where Indra was very smart! Accordingly, Goddess Mahalakshmi too understands Indra’s smart boon, and since he had asked for it, She grants it to him! 

Now as Goddess Mahalakshmi has emerged from the Ocean of Milk, She’s looking for Her divine consortium, who is none other than Bhagawan Vishnu. Now that She has emerged out fresh, She has to marry Bhagawan Vishnu. Thus, She comes with the garland in Her divine hands and goes searching for Bhagawan Vishnu here and there. Finally She finds Him amidst all the Devas and Raakshasas who are continuing with the drilling process unabated. Bhagawan Vishnu is at the pivotal point between both the camps, wherein the drilling is happening. As She spots Bhagawan Vishnu, and as the Devas are looking with awe, Goddess Mahalakshmi climbs over Bhagawan Vishnu’s tall and mammoth physical body, puts the garland around His neck and sits inside His heart, forever! 🙂 Thus, we would always see that Goddess Mahalakshmi is always present in Bhagawan Vishnu’s heart and She doesn’t get separated from Him anymore! 

So for today, let us enjoy this divine experience and we should remember that the all-important “Amrita” is not yet out! We’re still in the pursuit of the “Amrita”. So let us wait till the next episode eagerly for the arrival of the “Amrita’, as the drilling process continues further, unabated! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of a great operation called “Amrita-Mathanam”, wherein, the Devas and the Raakshasas “join hands” with each other to drill the “Ocean of Milk”, using the “Manthara Mountain” as the fulcrum and the “Vaasuki” snake as the pulley. The Devas and the Raakshasas take up their respective places thus – The Raakshasas take up the head portion of the snake and the Devas take up the tail portion of the snake, as the drilling process commences. As the operation goes on, the Manthara mountain slowly dredges itself into the ocean floor and goes deeper and deeper. A strenuous effort from both the sides is on, and the drilling process gathers pace as time progresses. As the process was on, Snake Vaasuki was enjoying it, as it was like someone scratching its back and making it feel cosy! As a result, Snake Vaasuki started sleeping comfortably as both the Devas and Raakshasas were “massaging” it from both ends! 

However, the twist comes here – As the snake starts sleeping, it starts snoring as well, and as a result, poisonous fumes start emerging out from Vaasuki’s mouth! Now who is at the head position of Snake Vaasuki? It’s the Raakshasas, isn’t it? Thus, the poisonous fumes were directly inhaled by the Raakshasas, and this was the ploy created by Bhagawan Vishnu and Indra together. We’ve witnessed in yesterday’s episode, Bhagawan Vishnu telling Indra thus, “If the Raakshasas want to be at the head portion of Snake Vaasuki, let them take it, and don’t go fighting behind them for your supremacy! Please understand that you’re a popper at the moment! Thus, leave aside your ego and do what I say!” As Indra obeyed Bhagawan Vishnu’s words, he and his friends escaped the wrath of Snake Vaasuki’s poisonous fumes here! This is why we always say that we should always obey the words of Bhagawan and the “Mahatma” (Spiritual Master). There would be some in-depth meaning to what the Mahatma says, which we might not be able to understand at that particular moment. Hence, just because we’re unable to digest those words because of our lower intelligence quotient, it doesn’t mean that we would discard and disobey the words of the “Mahatma” or Bhagawan. There would definitely be a long-term benefit for us, if we meticulously obey the words of Bhagawan and the “Mahatma”. This is exactly what Indra is doing here. The moment Bhagawan Vishnu is instructing him to take the tail portion, by letting go of his ego, he obeys, and we’re witnessing here how Indra and Co. escape the wrath of Snake Vaasuki’s poisonous fumes. 

Thus, as a result of this, the Raakshasas are slowly losing steam and are gradually becoming tired, due to the constant inhalation of the poisonous fumes. Thus, slowly the Devas’ camp is gaining a lot of strength and the Raakshasas are starting to give up due to excessive tiredness and fatigue. However, as this strenuous process is progressing thick and fast, now all the items start coming out of the ocean floor one after the other. First one to emerge from the ocean floor was a horse by the name “Ucchaisravas”. This was a divine horse and had enormous significance. Next in the list was a divine tree by the name “Paarijaatham”. After the “Paarijaatham” tree, came Goddess Mahalakshmi Herself. This was a very important event, as Goddess Mahalakshmi emerges with divine music around. As Indra witnesses Goddess Mahalakshmi emerging out, he heaved a huge sigh of relief! He was thinking within himself thus, “Oh wow! Finally she’s here! Only if she comes out, will our mission be successful. Till now there were so many things that were emerging out, and now we can be rest assured that our mission would be successful!” As Goddess Mahalakshmi emerges, Indra runs to her and seeks refuge and surrenders at Her lotus feet. Goddess Mahalakshmi too blesses Indra and the Devas and thus, the entire camp was relieved. 

As the Devas camp receive the blessings of Goddess Mahalakshmi, the drilling process continues. The Raakshasas are totally unaware of what is going on, on the other side, as they’re fatigued totally due to more and more poisonous fumes that are emerging from the mouth of Snake Vaasuki. The Raakshasas are totally unaware that Indra and Co. had received Goddess Mahalakshmi’s blessings and the process goes on monotonously. As Goddess Mahalakshmi disappears from there, a few more items are going to emerge from the ocean floor, before the all-important “Amrita” is going to come out. What are they? What was the role of Bhagawan Shiva in this? Let’s wait eagerly till the next episode to unwind a series of important events that took place after this juncture! Stay tuned! 🙂 

• 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a detailed accord on the all-important “Lakshmi-Vaibhavam” wherein we’ve discussed that if we’ve to have a hassle-free experience of attaining “Moksha”, we require the divine grace of Goddess Mahalakshmi. As Bhagawan might be very strict at times with the account of our wrong deeds (Sins), He might end up punishing us for them, rather than forgiving us and accepting us. This is where Goddess Mahalakshmi intervenes in a timely manner and sorts things out between us and Bhagawan. She makes sure that we go unscathed at the end of the day, and with Her compassion in the forefront, Bhagawan also accepts us with His never-ending grace. Thus, Goddess Mahalakshmi’s role in our path towards “Moksha” is clearly understood. 

Moving on thus, we shall come back to the context of our main discussion here – Indra has lost his position as the ruler of the three “Lokhas”, and subsequently he goes to Bhagawan Vishnu for a solution to this. Bhagawan explains to Indra that he and his Devas should take the “Manara Parvatha” to the “Ocean of Milk” and should drill the ocean floor to get the divine “Amrita” (Ambrosial Nectar). If he manages to extract it and consume it, he would thus become immortal and with that, he would regain all his lost power and position. Accordingly, Indra and Co. brought the huge Manthara mountain with a lot of effort, into the “Ocean of Milk” and now they are all set to start drilling. Suddenly a thought flashed into Indra’s mind as to how do they drill it? The mountain has been brought, but there should be some instrument to drill the mountain into the ocean floor, isn’t it? The mountain cannot go by itself. Again Indra goes up to Bhagawan Vishnu and seeks advice. Bhagawan Vishnu suggests him to call the snake called “Vaasuki”, who can be tied to the mountain and drilled. Moreover, Bhagawan Vishnu asks Indra to invite the Raakshasas also in this pursuit, as the Devas cannot do this entire project alone. As Bhagawan Vishnu suggests thus, Indra was perplexed! Why do we call the Raakshasas and what if they take away the “Amrita” and become immortal? 

This is the biggest problem with Indra and the Devas. They do not think long-term and are always selfish with their immortality and the power they enjoy. Little do they have concern for others, or even for Bhagawan, at times! We’re going to witness many such instances like this in the coming episodes wherein Indra acts selfishly for his needs. However, Bhagawan Vishnu, knowing Indra’s mentality, signals him in a subtle way to obey His words, rather than asking unwanted questions. Bhagawan Vishnu explains to Indra thus, “Oh Indra! Sometimes you’ve to act smart as well! It’s not enough if you do hard work! You need to do some smart work with some smart thinking as well!” Indra gets the message from Bhagawan Vishnu and goes to invite the Raakshasas for the drilling project. As the Devas make truce with the Raakshasas, the drilling project is about to commence. 

It is at this point, Bhagwan Vishnu again calls Indra and explains that he and the Devas should catch the tail of the snake and not the head portion. Indra again gets the message and Bhagawan Vishnu explains further thus to Indra, “Oh Indra! Just propose the idea that the Raakshasas would occupy the tail portion of the snake, and see what happens! They would be very egoistic and would want to be occupying the head portion. If they wish to do that, let them do it and don’t argue or enter into a fight with them!” Indra accordingly, proposes Bhagawan Vishnu’s idea to the Raakshasas and as expected, they immediately burst out with anger thus, “Oh Indra! How dare you occupy the head position, being a popper? We’re the all-powerful people isn’t it? We would take up the head portion, and since you’re a popper, you go to the tail portion of the snake!” Indra was surprisingly more obedient than never to the Raakshasas, and agreed to their proposal! 

With this, both the Devas and Raakshasas occupy their respective positions and the drilling process commences. As both the camps put in their strenuous effort, the mountain slowly starts moving and slowly drills into the ocean floor. So for today, let us understand these important points and wait till the next episode to witness what happens further from here on! Who is going to be the successful party from here on? Who is going to get the divine “Amrita”? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂

• 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important discussion as to why Goddess Mahalakshmi plays a very important role in our process of attaining Bhagawan’s lotus feet. We’ve seen how She acts like a bridge between the “Jeevatma” and the “Paramatma” and how She ensures that we are taken safely to Bhagawan, without getting punished by Him. Goddess Mahalakshmi’s blessings and divine grace are thus pre-requisite for all of us to attain Moksha. Whenever Bhagawan is with Goddess Mahalakshmi, He never kills or punishes anyone. We can witness this in any incarnation, be it Bhagawan Rama, Bhagawan Krishna, etc. Bhagawan Narasimha killed Hirnaya Kashibu with His ferocious form, primarily because Goddess Mahalakshmi wasn’t near Him at that time, to calm Him down. Whereas, if we take Kaakaasura during the Ramayana time, Bhagawan Rama allowed him to get away unscathed, because Mother Sita was near Him. However, in the same Ramayana, Vaali, Ravana, Kabandha, etc. were killed only when Mother Sita wasn’t near Him. Similarly, the 16,000 Raakshasas were killed by Rama, when He had gone away a little from Mother Sita. 

Thus, in any and every case wherein Bhagawan is killing or punishing someone for their misdeeds, Mother Sita (Goddess Mahalakshmi) wouldn’t be by His side. Whereas, if She is by Bhagawan’s side, She never allows anybody to be killed – be it Raakshasas too. In fact, during the Ramayana itself, when Mother Sita was at Ashoka Vana, held captive by Ravana, there were many Raakshasis (Demonesses) who were threatening Mother Sita and making Her pay heed to Ravana’s wicked intentions. If She could have made a “Sankalpa” (Will), Mother Sita could have easily killed all of them within just minutes. But she did not do that. Instead, when the Raakshasis realized their mistake later on and apologized to Mother Sita, She was prepared to go to any extent to protect them from Bhagawan Rama’s sharp arrows. Even though Hanuman wanted all of them to be killed, for the mistake of torturing Her every single day, Mother Sita did not allow Hanuman to kill any of them. This is how Goddess Lakshmi protects all of us – No matter whatever mistakes we do, if one person has to be there for all of us as a divine savior, it is only Goddess Lakshmi and nobody else. 

So, why is Goddess Mahalakshmi so compassionate towards Her children? We can see this in the Shri Vishnu Sahasranaama, wherein we have the phrase to describe Bhagawan Vishnu as “Chandra-sooryouscha nethre!” This means that of Bhagawan’s two eyes, one eye is Chandra Bhagawan (Moon) and the other is Soorya Bhagawan (Sun). With the eye of Chandra Bhagawan, He blesses all His children and makes sure that they’re protected. Whereas, with the eye of Soorya Bhagawan, He burns out all those people who commit sins after sins. So, we can see both these characteristics in Bhagawan Vishnu. When we go in front of Him as and when we get the opportunity, we never know which eye of His, would fall upon us, isn’t it? If we’re lucky enough, the eye of Chandra Bhagawan might fall upon us, and in turn, we might get protected. However, if luck doesn’t favor us, what if the eye of Soorya Bhagawan falls upon us? We’re going to get burnt into ashes that very moment, isn’t it? As I was talking about this to someone, that person replied me thus, “Oh wow! With the amount of sins we’re accumulating over time, should we even have the slightest of the wish that Bhagawan’s eye of Chandra Bhagawan is going to usher upon us? For all what we’re doing here, Bhagwan Soorya’s eye is sure to burn all of us! Hence, why should we even think of such a “weird” desire?” 🙂 

Given the situation thus, how do we escape from Bhagawan’s “Soorya Bhagawan” eye? We should then think of an alternative person, whose both eyes resemble Chandra Bhagawan’s compassion and kindness, isn’t it? This alternative person is none other than Goddess Mahalakshmi, whose both eyes are so compassionate and filled with the Motherly Love towards all Her children! This is another reason why we should surrender to Goddess Mahalakshmi by seeking forgiveness for all the sins that we’re committing. It is only Goddess Mahalakshmi who can forgive us unconditionally and accept us as Her divine children. 

So for today, let us understand the significance of Goddess Mahalakshmi through the “Lakshmi Vaibhavam”, and we shall wait till the next episode to continue with what happened to Indra and how is Goddess Mahalakshmi going to bless him with the divine “Amrita”. An interesting and an absorbing accord awaits us on the other side! Stay tuned! 🙂

• 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an overview of the all-important “Lakshmi-Vaibhavam”, which is nothing but the significance of Bhagawan being in consortium with Goddess Mahalakshmi. We’ve witnessed the key role that Goddess Mahalakshmi plays, when it comes to Bhagawan protecting all His devotees. Goddess Mahalakshmi serves as a “bridge” between the “Paramatma” and the “Jeevaatma”, and this is why She has the divine name called “Kamala”. In fact, this is a very interesting Shabdha here – “Ka” stands for Jeevaatma and “Ma” stands for Paramatma. “La” stands for being a bonding between both the Jeevaatma and the Paramaatma and hence the name “Kamala”. Thus, Goddess Mahalakshmi’s grace is very important before we even go in front of Bhagawan Vishnu. The reason behind this is, Goddess Mahalakshmi is the one who forgives us of all our sins and misdeeds that we’re keeping on doing every passing day. As She is the divine mother, she is so kind-hearted and is full of compassion for all Her children, no matter how much ever we’re deviating from our spiritual path. Thus, if we surrender ourselves completely to the Divine Mother, She ensures that we’re taken care of by Bhagawan. 

It is for this reason that in our tradition, whenever we visit a temple, we directly shouldn’t go to Bhagawan’s sanctum sanctorum. We first visit Goddess Mahalakshmi and submit our forgiveness and surrender to Her. We’ve to pray to Her thus, “Oh Mother! Please forgive us for all our mistakes and please make sure that He doesn’t start punishing me for all whatever I’ve done!” Goddess Mahalakshmi would in turn reply to us thus, “Okay! No problem! I’m hereby forgiving you for all what you’ve done. But just give me only one assurance – You should  not repeat these mistakes again ever in your life! Don’t worry! You go straight to Bhagawan. Meanwhile, I shall talk with Him and make sure that He doesn’t punish you!” 

As Goddess Mahalakshmi says thus, we would reply, “I hope I wouldn’t commit the same mistakes again! Maybe I might commit different mistakes in the future, and again, I shall come back to you, seeking forgiveness! :)” Saying thus, we would circumvent Her sanctum sanctorum and we would slowly slowly reach Bhagawan Vishnu’s place. Meanwhile, Bhagawan Vishnu would be raging with anger thus, “Oh wow! Look at him! He has committed all possible mistakes and with what courage and guts is he coming towards me? I shall make sure he would get all possible punishments according to the Vedas!” As Bhagawan Vishnu is raging with anger towards us thus, here is where Goddess Mahalakshmi comes in – She asks Bhagawan thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Aren’t you known as an embodiment of compassion towards your devotees? Why’re you raging with anger towards someone who is coming with an attitude of seeking forgiveness?” Bhagawan replies thus, “Oh Lakshmi! What are you saying? I can be compassionate towards people who do not commit any mistakes! But here’s a person who has committed all possible mistakes, and how can you expect compassion from me towards him? Are you mad?” 

Hearing thus from Bhagawan Vishnu, Goddess Mahalakshmi laughs a bit and replies, “Oh Bhagawan! How do you expect people in this world who would be devoid of any mistake? If Jeevatmas become perfect like you, they would become Bhagawan, isn’t it? If you’ve to wait for someone who is going to be as perfect as your expectation, you’re not going to get any devotees at all! So it’s always good to forgive people if they come up with that attitude, isn’t it? Hence, why don’t you forgive this child of yours and accept him?” As Goddess Mahalakshmi says thus, Bhagawan Vishnu’s heart starts melting slowly. He replies thus, “Oh Lakshmi! Whatever you’re saying is right too! Now tell me what should I do! Should I accept or reject this person?” This is where Goddess Lakshmi heaves a huge sigh of relief! Only if Bhagawan gets confused like this, would Her agenda work, isn’t it? 🙂 Thus She replies, “Oh Bhagawan! Let’s come to a conclusion here – Whoever comes to you and me, with a complete surrender attitude, let us accept them as our ardent devotees. Whereas who doesn’t come near us at all, and who have ego within them to such an extent that they do not even consider us as an entity, you might feel very free to show all your punishments to them!” 

As Bhagawan Vishnu hears thus, He thinks “Oh yes! This seems a good deal! So whoever comes to me with surrender, I shall accept them without asking a question! Whereas, those who do not surrender to me, and who keep doing mistakes after mistakes, I shall make sure that they do not escape unpunished!” As Bhagawan Vishnu decides thus, Goddess Lakshmi comes back to us and says, “Wow! Now that I’ve brought Him under my fold, I shall ensure that all the people in this world would surrender to Him!” 🙂 If such a thing happens, there’s no question of giving punishments, isn’t it? This is where we’re seeing the “motherly” attitude of Goddess Mahalakshmi. This is why we describe Her as the bridge between the “Paramatma” and the “Jeevatma”, through the Shabdha called “Kamala”. Thus, the significance of Goddess Mahalakshmi here is to make sure that She protects all Her children with the motherly love and compassion, and makes sure that all Her children would ultimately walk the path to attain the highest “Moksha”. This is exactly what She’s doing here too for Indra and the Devas. 

So for today, let us understand these important points and let us wait till the next episode to witness how Goddess Mahalakshmi is going to bless Indra and the Devas, in their pursuit of the divine nectar called “Amrita”! Stay tuned! 🙂