The Indian Dharma

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The previous episode witnessed the commencement of Sage Sukhaachaarya’s “long-haul” explanation on Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation in this world, as per the request of King Parikshit. As Sage Sukhaachaarya had already given a brief of Bhagawan Krishna’s birth to Devaki and Vasudeva, he once again rewinds the story a bit further backwards to describe the main purpose behind Bhagawan Krishna incarnating. He commences with the important segment wherein Mother Bhoomaadevi (Mother Earth), along with the Devas, Bhagawan Brahma, etc. going together to Vaikunta to meet Bhagawan Vishnu. As all of them assemble in front of Bhagawan Vishnu, Mother Bhoomadevi explains the pathetic situation of the world and how she had to tolerate extreme heights of “Adharmic” (Unrighteous) activities that are taking place. As she narrates all these accords to Bhagawan Vishnu, she bursts out into tears. She continues to explain to Bhagawan that it is not only the “Raakshasas” who are wreaking havoc in the world, but also normal human beings who “behave like Raakshasas”, which is even more dangerous. Explaining thus, Mother Bhoomadevi requests Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine intervention at the earliest to put an end to all of this, and restore the “Dharma” in the world.

As the Devas and Mother Bhoomadevi request thus, Bhagawan Vishnu also comes to a conclusion. He’s convinced with what she had said and decides that it is time for Him to incarnate yet again to restore the Dharma in the world. Bhagawan Vishnu replies to Mother Bhoomadevi thus,

It is at this time that Bhagawan Vishnu “decodes” his upcoming incarnation thus: “Oh Bhoomadevi! Oh Bhagawan Brahma! Oh Devas! I understand what all of you are trying to explain. It is now time for me to incarnate. I shall be born as the eighth son of Vasudeva and Devaki at Mathura city. Aadisesha (Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine serpent bed) would be born as my elder brother, Balaraama (Seventh son) to the same couple and would be assisting me in all my missions that are going to unfold. All the Devas would go and take birth as “Gopikas” at Brindavan. All your requests would be fulfilled by my upcoming incarnation!”

“Vasudeva gruhe saakshaath bhagawaan purushah paraha!

Janishyate tah priyaartham sambhavamtu surahsthriyaha!!

Vaasudeva kalaanantaha sahasra vadanaswaraat!

Agratho bhavitaa devo harehe Priya chikeershayaa!!”

It is the city of Mathura which was the headquarters and the capital of the “Yaadavas”. We’ve already discussed the background of the Yaadavas. We’ve witnessed the story of Yayaati, whose eldest son was Yadu and the youngest son was Puru. Yadu had the curse of his father because he disagreed to transfer his youth characteristics to his father. Because of this curse from King Yayaati, Yadu lost the right to be the successor of his father. However, Puru obtained the right to be King Yayaati’s successor because he obeyed his father’s words. It is in the “Vamsa” of Yadu, came all the Yaadavas. It is amidst this Yaadavas at Mathura wherein Bhagawan Krishna incarnates.

Thus, as this background discussion with Mother Bhoomadevi and the Devas were going on, Bhagawan Vishnu decides that this Yaadava clan and Mathura city are the right places for Him to incarnate. If we witness the past too, this Mathura city has had lot of associations with almost all of Bhagawan Vishnu’s previous incarnations. Even today if we’ve to visit Mathura in the north-Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, we would have to worship Bhagawan Krishna there amidst heavy security and police force! This is the same even at Ayodhya, few hundreds of kilometers away. Thus, this Mathura city is even today worshipped as “Krishna-Janma-Bhoomi” (Birthplace of Bhagawan Krishna), just like how we’ve seen Ayodhya being worshipped as “Ram-Janma-Bhoomi) (Birthplace of Bhagawan Rama).

We’ve already witnessed towards the end of the ninth “Skandha” itself as to why Bhagawan Krishna had to take His divine birth inside a prison. We’ve witnessed how Devaki and Vasudeva got married and while bringing the couple towards Mathura, Devaki’s brother, Kamsa hears a loud thundering voice from the skies asserting that the eighth child that is going to be born to this couple is going to be his biggest enemy for his life! As Kamsa hears thus, he fumes in anger and tries to kill both Devaki and Vasudeva. It is only because of an agreement that Vasudeva made, Kamsa let them free, but however imprisoned both of them in Mathura. The agreement was that, all babies that are to be born to this couple would be brought by Vasudeva to Kamsa and Kamsa would mercilessly kill all of them immediately. Subsequently six of the babies were killed as well. Every time a baby is killed, Vasudeva and Devaki shudder with grief and frustration with Kamsa’s heinous act. However, with Bhagawan Vishnu’s divinity, the seventh and eighth children escaped the wretched hands of Kamsa! We should remember that this was the decision taken by Bhagawan Vishnu amidst Mother Bhoomadevi and the Devas. The seventh child was none other than Balarama, who was Aadisesha Himself – Just like how Lakshmana was born as a brother to Bhagawan Rama in the Tretha Yuga! Similarly here too, Balarama is the divine incarnation of Bhagawan Aadisesha, who is going to be of great assistance to Bhagawan Vishnu who is incarnating as the eighth child of this couple.

Of course, we’ve also witnessed how the eighth child was taken away by Vasudeva to Gokula, in the previous “Skandha” itself. So now, we shall witness from the next episode, what did Vasudeva do after leaving this eighth baby at Gokula. He now has to bring a “substitute baby” as a replacement to this one, isn’t it? Else, Kamsa would come questioning for the eighth baby! He too knows that his main enemy was this eighth baby only. So what are the events that are going to conspire after this point? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important “setting up of the context” for the tenth “Skandha” of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, wherein, Sage Sukhaachaarya is going to commence narrating all possible incidents from Bhagawan Krishna’s divine incarnation in this world – Right from His birth, childhood days, youth, His marriage(s), His important messages to this world, etc. We had witnessed how King Parikshit was extremely interested in listening to Bhagawan Krishna’s “Charitra” in huge detail, as he knew that he was alive only because of Bhagawan Krishna’s divine grace. We’ve already witnessed during the starting of this project as to how Guru Dhronaachaarya’s son, Ashvatthaama wanted to take revenge on the Paandavas for killing his father in an uncharacteristic way and when he was down on the ground without any weapons. In the same way as his father was brutally killed during the Mahabharata war, Ashvatthaama entered the Paandava camp during the night time and killed all the “Upa-Paandavas” (Sons of the Paandava Brothers) while they were sleeping. Eventually, Ashvatthaama tried killing Parikshit too, when he was inside the womb of his mother. At this time, it was Bhagawan Krishna who rose up to the occasion quickly and neutralized Ashvatthaama’s “Brahmaasthra”, so as to save baby Parikshit. As King Parikshit grows up, he knows very well that it was only because of Bhagawan Krishna that he is alive today and thus, his eagerness increased when Sage Sukhaachaarya is about to narrate the “Krishna-Avatara” in detail.

Moving on thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya commences his explanation thus:

“Vaasudeva kathaah prashnaha purushaan sthreen punaatihi!

Vakthaaram prichakam shrothrun tadh paada shalilam yathaa!!

Aahkraanthaah bhoori bhaarena brahmaanam sharanam yayou!

Gour bhoodhva shurmukhi kinnaa krandanthi karunam vibhoho!!”

Here Sage Sukhaachaarya describes a short background story behind Bhagawan Krishna’s birth. As the “Adharma” in the world was increasing to intolerable levels, Bhoomadevi (Mother Earth) takes the form of a cow and goes to Bhagawan Vishnu at Vaikunta. She is all in tears! As Bhoomaadevi is approaching Bhagawan Vishnu, the Devas too joined her. She was crying profusely and the Devas tried to console her. Together, they approached Bhagawan Vishnu for a solution. Upon seeing all of these people approaching Bhagawan Vishnu, Bhagawan Brahma too joined the team. As all of them reach Vaikunta, Bhagawan Vishnu was concerned with why all of them have come together at the same time. It is at this time, Bhoomaadevi pleads to Bhagawan Vishnu with tears in her eyes thus, “Oh Bhagawan! As you can see that the world is getting into “Adharma” more and more every passing day. As I’m the person who’s tolerating all of it, I’m slowly getting to a point wherein I cannot tolerate this any longer. Hence, I plead you to incarnate in the world yet again and put an end to all of this. Only if you incarnate, will the “Dharma” in this world be restored!”

Mother Bhoomadevi continues further thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Till the previous “Yuga”, there were “Raakshasas” themselves who were creating havoc in the world. But now, things have changed! Ordinary people who are living in the world today, are possessing all characteristics of the Raakshasas and are slowly becoming the epitome of “Adharma”. Hence, this is even more dangerous! Moreover, the population of such people is steadily rising in the world, and this needs to be controlled and put to an end! Hence, for all these reasons, Oh Bhagawan! You’ve to incarnate and put this crisis to an end!”

This description of Mother Bhoomaadevi reflects upon certain important points for all of us to ponder. In the previous “Yugas” – The “Krita Yuga” and the “Tretha Yuga”, Bhagawan’s job was much easier. In other words, it was “quote unquote” Raakshasas who were epitomes of “Adharma” and Bhagawan had no problems in destroying them in a jiffy. For instance, when Hiranyaksha was unleashing his arrogance, Bhagawan Vishnu was able to kill him in no time, in the form of “Varaaha Swamy”. Similarly, Hiranya Kashibu too was neutralized by Bhagawan Narasimha within minutes and little Prahlaada was saved. Similarly in the “Tretha Yuga”, Bhagawan Rama was able to neutralize thousands of “Raakshasas” within no time, and was able to corner and take on Ravana too. All these people were hardcore Raakshasas themselves. However, in this “Dvaapara Yuga”, things started to change – Of course, there were hardcore Raakshasas in the form of Kamsa, Poothana, Kesi, Sishupaala, etc. there were others like Duryodhana, Ducchaasana, Sahuni, Karna, etc. who were normal people like us, but were epitomes of “Adharma”. This is where the problem lies. If normal people have to be neutralized for their “Adharmic” activities, Bhagawan had to take a different approach, unlike the previous “Yugas”. This is why we see Bhagawan Krishna too, incarnating like a normal human being, although with all divine powers. This is why we see at every instance, Bhagawan Krishna had to reduce His level to such an extent that He had to use all permutations and combinations to make “Dharma” succeed. We’re witnessing at many instances during the Mahabharata isn’t it? Bhagawan Krishna reduces Himself to that of a “Charioteer” for Arjuna. This is why we refer Bhagawan Krishna as Bhagawan Paartha-Saarathy.

Hence, we can see here, how things have changed from Yuga to Yuga. Taking all of these into account, Bhagawan had to plan His incarnation in such a way that He has to restore the “Dharma” in this world, but unlike the ways and means that He had adopted till now. So for today, let us understand this background of Bhagawan Krishna’s birth and let us eagerly await Bhagawan Krishna incarnating in this world, yet again in this important tenth “Skandha”. Stay tuned! 😊

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The previous episode witnessed the commencement of the all-important tenth “Skandha” of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, wherein Sage Sukhaachaarya had concluded the previous “Skandha” with just a “brief” description of Bhagawan Krishna’s birth. As King Parikshit was listening to this keenly, he wanted to know more about what are the various incidents that conspired during Bhagawan Krishna’s birth, and henceforth, what are the various divine “Leelas” that Bhagawan Krishna did throughout His lifetime of around 120 years that He lived in this world. Accordingly, upon hearing King Parikshit’s request, Sage Sukhaachaarya thus devotes the entire tenth “Skandha” in describing all the minute details of Bhagawan Shri Krishna’s incarnation. When I use the term “minute details” here, it signifies every possible incident of Bhagawan Krishna’s life – His laughter, His cries, His divine plays, His important messages to this world, His birth, His childhood days, His crawling, His walking, His running, His winking of eyes to call someone, His clapping of hands to convey something, etc.

Thus, King Parikshit prepares himself for the “main course” of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. Till this time, he has only listened to all the “starters”! 😊 Now it is time for him to enjoy the main course of Bhagawan’s divine stories, and Sage Sukhaachaarya begins thus. But before we commence the tenth “Skandha”, we should understand certain important things – This entire tenth “Skandha” is, as discussed above, an extremely huge “Skandha” with respect to the number of “Slokas” and also with regards to the number of incidents that Sage Sukhaachaarya is going to narrate. Hence, this “Skandha” can be sub-divided into two broad divisions – The “Poorva-Ardham” and the “Utthara-Ardham”, which translates into English as “First half” and “Second half” respectively. The first half deals with the entire childhood days of Bhagawan Krishna, right from His birth, His days at Gokula as a child of Yashoda and Nandagopa, His divine plays with all His friends, etc. till the stage where He goes to the “Gurukula” for His formal education. The Second half commences with the important and interesting “Charitra” of the Raakshasa called “Muchukunda” and how was he killed by Bhagawan Krishna. Subsequently, we’re going to witness how the Raakshasa called “Jaraasandha” try to invade Mathura with a huge army and subsequently how Bhagawan Krishna moved all His people to the Dwaraka city, which is a famous place today also, in the western Indian state of Gujarat. From Dwaraka, Bhagawan Krishna goes to the city of Kundinipura to marry Rukmini Devi.

If we witness on a lighter note, a gross difference exists between the way how Bhagawan Krishna’s “Charitra” is described in detail and the way in which Bhagawan Rama’s “Charitra” is described in detail. If we’ve to witness the “Krishna-Charitra”, the first ten years of Bhagawan Krishna’s life takes about 15,000 slokas to describe! If we combine the slokas of Shri Vishnu Puraana, Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, Mahabharata, etc. we would be able to witness the amount of minute detail and significance given to Bhagawan Krishna’s childhood! However, there might not be many slokas to describe what Bhagawan Krishna did after He grew up. Perhaps if we integrate all slokas from all of the texts that I had mentioned above, we might hardly get 1000-2000 slokas!

Whereas on the contrary, if we look at the Valmiki Ramayana, Bhagawan Rama’s childhood gets over within the same “Sarga” of the “Baala Kaanda”. We’ve already witnessed this during our Ramayana project, and readers can recollect it from our Ramayana episodes. Valmiki Maharishi rushes through Bhagawan Rama’s first 12-year period of His child within hardly 17 slokas! In the same “Sarga” where Bhagawan Rama takes birth, we would see that Sage Vishwaamitra is entering King Dasharata’s palace to take Rama to Mithilapuri. Of course, after Bhagawan Rama’s marriage, there are around 22,000 slokas in the Valmiki Ramayana to describe Bhagawan Rama’s life incidents thereafter.

So what we’ve to understand here is that, for Bhagawan Rama, His significance lies when He grows up. Whereas for Bhagawan Krishna, His significance lies when He was a child. One way of looking at this difference is that, the purpose of Shri Rama-Avatara was to exhibit and illustrate all sorts of “Anushtaanas” (duties) that a human being should follow in His / Her life. During His entire lifetime, Bhagawan Rama conveyed innumerable messages to the world, by following “every line in the book of Dharma”. Whereas, the purpose of Shri-Krishna-Avatara was “Anubhava”. In other words, to attain several higher stages of Bhakti, we should be able to “experience” Bhagawan. This experience forms the fundamental requirement for all of us to even think of Bhagawan during our prayers, which would lead us to spiritual growth. If we can imagine Bhagawan in the form of a small child standing in front of us with a handsome smile, our minds get attracted much quicker towards Bhagawan isn’t it – Rather than imagining Bhagawan in the form of the Sun, Moon, “Aakasha” (Sky), etc. These are abstract objects, which our minds would find difficult to capture, and hence, Bhagawan wanted to give all of us a beautiful experience of portraying Him in the form of a beautiful child. This is why Bhagawan Krishna’s childhood days assume lot of significance.

So with this background, let us ready ourselves for listening to what Sage Sukhaacchaarya is going to narrate to all of us about little Krishna! Let us understand this significance of Bhagawan Krishna for today and we shall wait till the next episode to witness how our baby Krishna is going to attract all people in Gokula towards Him! Stay tuned! 😊

We are at an extremely important and a beautiful juncture wherein Bhagawan Vishnu has once again incarnated into this earth, as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. As per the divine will, Bhagawan was born was born as the eighth child of this couple, and this child is going to be the reason for Kamsa’s death. As Kamsa was on a rampaging mode of killing baby after baby as and when they’re born, he was waiting eagerly for the all-important eighth baby to be born. However, as fate would have it, some events conspire, which are beyond Kamsa’s or anybody’s imagination. We’ve witnessed yesterday how the little baby was transported by Vasudeva to Gokula amidst the heavy rain and also amidst Bhagawan Aadisesha serving as a divine umbrella for the little child from getting drenched in the rain.

With this, we had come to the end of the “Krishna-Jananam” and also the ninth “Skandha” of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text. Now we’re all set to commence the all-important tenth “Skandha”, which perhaps is the lengthiest one of all “Snakdhas” in this text. This tenth Skandha talks in detail about Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation and all of His accomplishments, so as to restore the “Dharma” again in this earth. To be very precise, this tenth “Skandha” is the lifeline of the entire text, right from head to toe. With this auspicious short introduction, we shall quickly commence the tenth “Skandha” and go into details of it. I shall try and explain as much as I can and readers are requested to take notes and read the details repeatedly, so as to gain a better understanding of the contents.

Moving on thus with the tenth “Skandha”, as Sage Sukhaachaarya narrates the “Krishna-Jananam”, King Parikshit was literally in tears of joy. It is to be remembered that it was Bhagawan Krishna who had given life to King Parikshit when he was a newly-born baby. We’ve witnessed this incident in the first “Skandha” itself and readers can recollect it at ease. Now as Sage Sukhaachaarya is going on narrating the birth of Bhagawan Krishna in this world, King Parikshit was very eager to listen to more and more details of the same. As Sage Sukhaachaarya was briefing the birth of Bhagawan Krishna thus, King Parikshit stops him for a minute and asks, “Oh great Sage! Right from the beginning, you were explaining many things, starting from how this world was created, what were the different calculations of time, how did Bhagawan Vishnu protect this world at every stage in the form of various incarnations such as Koorma, Varaaha, Matsya, Narasimha, Vaamana, etc. You also explained in detail about Sage Kapilaachaarya, Jada Bharata, etc. too. But now when it comes to Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation, why are you hurrying up? Why can’t you explain the “Krishna-Jananam” in more detail? It is only because of Bhagawan Krishna that I’m alive today. It is only because of the divine grace of Bhagawan Krishna did my grandfathers – the Paandavas were able to win over Hastinapura and thus restore the “Dharma”! Thus, if today my family is alive and with all prosperity, it is solely because of Bhagawan Krishna’s divine grace! Hence, please explain in great detail, the “Charithra” of Bhagawan Krishna, right from His divine birth till today!”

As King Parikshit requests thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya replies, “Oh Parikshit! You are a great king! Whereas, I’m an ordinary saint! I can keep on narrating story after story, incident after incident without a break. I do not have any commitment. However, you have your administrative tasks to accomplish as a responsible and a righteous king. You can live a luxurious life. You might not have time to sit for a long time to listen to such stories. Hence, I thought for a moment that I might be wasting your precious time and thus, I described the “Krishna-Jananam” in a brief!”

As Sage Sukhaachaarya replies thus, Parikshit found it a bit strange! He replies thus,

“Pibantham mukhaambhoja acchutham hari kathaamrutham!!”

King Parikshit replies thus, “Oh great Sage! Indeed, I’m so fortunate to first of all have you amidst me today! Moreover, whatever you’ve narrated so far in the form of nine “Skandhas” were like “Amrut” (The divine nectar) being fed to me by Bhagawan Himself! Hence, I’m now devoid of hunger, thirst, sleep, etc. too, which are basic elements of human life. It is totally devoid of all of these, have I listened to all of what you’ve explained to me in detail. I’m prepared to listen more and more of what you’re going to say!”

As King Parikshit requests thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya is moved to tears of joy! He is in tears of joy because he too loves to explain the “Krishna-Charitra” in detail. In fact, he was waiting for King Parikshit to request him to explain the full set of events pertaining to Bhagawan Krishna! This is the reason why Sage Sukhaachaarya narrates the “Krishna-Jananam” in a brief and stops there without explaining further. This triggered King Parikshit’s interests further and this automatically made him ask Sage Sukhaachaarya for more explanation! As King Parikshit requests thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya is all set to start the marathon narration of Bhagawan Krishna, how was He born, where did He spend His first ten years of His life, where did He go next, what happened to Kamsa, what happened to the Gopikas, how did Bhagawan Krishna establish the “Dwaraka-Puri”, etc. As we read through this, we might also have innumerable questions that may prop up in our minds as well, isn’t it? Just like how King Parikshit was so eager to listen to the “Krishna-Charitra”, our interests are also being triggered to listen to the “Krishna-Charitra”, isn’t it?

So for today, let us pray to Sage Sukhaachaarya and wait till tomorrow’s episode to commence the all-important and the most interesting life events of Bhagawan Krishna! An interesting and absorbing set of episodes await us from tomorrow! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

The previous episode had witnessed an important section of this entire text of “Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana”, which is nothing but the incarnation of Bhagawan Vishnu to Devaki and Vasudeva. As Kamsa was on a rampage mode in killing all the babies that Devaki and Vasudeva had been blessed with, Sage Sukhaachaarya explains how devastated were both of them, after every child was massacred. Finally, when the eighth child was born, the couple observes the baby closely and find it to be grossly different in nature and appearance as compared to the seven earlier ones. They were totally engrossed with the rapturing beauty of the little one and couldn’t take their eyes off it. The baby was smiling with all its’ might and was very handsome to look at. Afterall it is Bhagawan Vishnu Himself who has taken birth, and with a great mission in hand to accomplish! As the famous Bhagawad Gita sloka mentions the clear purpose of Bhagawan incarnating in this world thus,

“Yadaa yadaahi dharmasya glaanir bhavati bhaarata!

Abhyuktaanam adharmasya tadaathmaanam srujaamyaham!!

Parithraanaaya saadhunaam vinaashaayacha dushkrutaam!

Dharma samsthaabhanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge!!”

As these two slokas explain clearly, Bhagawan Vishnu incarnates every time in this world, whenever there is a downfall of “Dharma” and the uptrend in “Adharma”. He comes down to restore the “Dharma” and to destroy the “Adharma” that is hampering it. To accomplish this great mission, Bhagawan had incarnated multiple times in this world. This is of course not a one-time affair. Throughout the Shrimad Bhaagawata Puraana text so far, we’ve witnessed various incarnations of Bhagawan Vishnu, such as Matsya, Kurma, Varaaha, Narasimha, Vaamana, Rama, etc. Every time Bhagawan incarnated in this world, there was some sort of “Adharma” that was gaining popularity, and Bhagawan destroyed it, so as to reinstate “Dharma” in this world. Here too, we’re going to witness the same. Bhagawan Vishnu has incarnated for the ninth time and now during the “Dvaapara Yuga”, wherein He has a surmounting task of restoring “Dharma” again in this world. Throughout the next couple of “Skandas” of this text, we’re going to witness how Bhagawan succeeded in accomplishing His divine mission and what were the different techniques, ways and means that He undertook to achieve the same!

Now coming back to the auspicious event of Bhagawan Vishnu’s incarnation, as time goes by, Vasudeva remembers the infamous promise that he had given to Kamsa – To bring the new-born to him, who will in turn, put it to death! As Vasudeva was thinking thus, some miraculous events take place! But amidst all of it, Vasudeva prays to the baby thus, “Oh little one! You’re so beautiful and handsome by looks. I don’t have the heart to take you to this Kamsa and hence, I’ve to somehow shield you from his murderous hands! Hence, try and shield your beauty within yourself and don’t express it this much when he comes by. Else, he is going to finish you off too, like your seven other brothers!”

As Vasudeva prays thus, miracles start unfolding one after the other! Vasudeva gets the divine instruction that he should take the baby out of the prison, all the way to Gokula, wherein Yashoda and Nandagopa have also just had a baby girl. Vasudeva has to leave this baby at their place, take their girl baby and come back into the prison. All the logistics would be taken care off! Accordingly thus, as Vasudeva was looking with awe, the metal straps around his legs get broken! The prison doors open automatically! All the security guards fall asleep! All this is unfolding in the middle of the night, when everyone around is fast asleep! The path for Vasudeva is clear now! Thus, Vasudeva takes the little child in a small basket and starts walking his way towards Gokula!

As Vasudeva carries the baby in the basket above his head, the rain starts to pour down heavily! This is just to ensure that nobody ventures out on the streets and has a gaze at the new-born! We can witness here how Mother Nature was aiding Bhagawan Vishnu’s cause! As Vasudeva walks on and on, he reaches the bank of the Yamuna river. As the rain was heavy, the river was swollen. Unfazed by the swollen waters, Vasudeva continues his walk further down the river waters, with the baby’s basket lifted high over his head, so as to prevent it from drowning! As the baby was getting exposed to the heavy rain, Bhagawan’s divine serpent bed, Bhagawan Aadisesha couldn’t control his tears anymore! He immediately transcends down to the earth and serves as a huge umbrella, so as to prevent Bhagawan from getting drenched in the rain! Isn’t this one of the purest form of “Bhakti”? As one witnesses Bhagawan suffering, (Strictly speaking, there’s nothing called “suffering” for Bhagawan! He voluntarily takes it upon Himself to show to the world as to how to deal with sufferings!)  his / her heart should immediately melt with tears! This should result in an immediate rush towards Bhagawan to ensure that nothing untoward happens to Him! This is considered to be the highest level of “Bhakti” and Bhagawan Aadisesha illustrates this to all of us through this episode.

Now that Bhagawan is well-shielded, Vasudeva continues walking and finally reaches the house where Yashoda and Nandagopa were residing.

With this, we come to the end of the “Krishna-Jananam”, as explained in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, and with this, we also come to the end of the “nineth Skandha” too. The upcoming tenth Skandha is entirely going to be dedicated to Bhagawan Krishna and all His divine plays! A very interesting and an absorbing section of this text is awaiting us from the start of the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

We’ve witnessed in the previous episode, the continuation of the family tree of Devaki and Vasudeva and in due course, the marriage between the two of them. We also witnessed in due course, how King Kamsa was threatened by a divine and a rapturing voice from the sky about his death. The voice clearly spelt out that Kamsa’s death is going to take place very soon and it is going to be in the hands of Devaki’s eighth son! Stunned upon hearing thus, King Kamsa fumed and fretted that he had married his daughter to Vasudeva. Eventually he quickly decides to kill the couple, which perhaps might put an end to this threat that is looming large. As Kamsa tries to kill Devaki first, Vasudeva stops him from doing so. Vasudeva assures King Kamsa that he would voluntarily hand over all the new-born babies to him, so that they can be killed instantly. With this agreement, Devaki and Vasudeva were pardoned off from death, but were imprisoned at Mathura, Kamsa’s capital city. This was clearly a sad, but a decisive day for all three of them, and a clear rift emerged between the brother-sister duo of Devaki and Kamsa.

As they were imprisoned, Devaki and Vasudeva were clearly devastated beyond words! They did not anticipate such a start to their “happy married life”. They were thus imprisoned on the very first day of their marriage and that too, with severe imprisonment. Their hands and legs were tied with metal straps and were strictly guarded with multi-tiers of security, so that they do not make an attempt to escape out of the prison. As days and months rolled by amidst the strict imprisonment, Devaki and Vasudeva were blessed with their first child. As Devaki delivered the child, Vasudeva took the child away from his wife with a heavy heart, and brought it to Kamsa. As Kamsa hears the crying sound of a baby, he immediately wakes up from his sleep and sees Vasudeva standing in front of him with the baby in his hands. Upon seeing this, Kamsa immediately snatches the new-born from Vasudeva’s trembling hands, throws it on a nearby sharp stone and kills it then and there!

How treacherous this can be for a father? Upon seeing his new-born baby being brutally killed in front of his eyes, Vasudeva couldn’t tolerate the heinous act of Kamsa! However, he makes up his mind, because it was he who had given this assurance to Kamsa. Filled with thoughts of sadness, Vasudeva was escorted again into the prison, wherein his wife, Devaki, was inconsolable beyond words! How can a mother forgo her child to death on the very first day of its birth? Both Devaki and Vasudeva were thus devastated and the “saga” continued.

Again, as months passed by, Devaki and Vasudeva were again blessed with the second child, and this too met the same fate as that of the first one. Vasudeva took this child too to Kamsa, who threw the child on the stone and murdered it brutally. Similar routine followed for the third, fourth, fifth and the sixth children as well.

“Keerthimantam sushenam cha bhadrasena budhaaratheehi!

Brujum sammardhanam bhadram sankarshana maheeshwaram!!

Ashtamasthu thayoraaseeth svayameva harihkila!!”

As these incidents unfold one after the other, Sage Sukhaachaarya gives the names of the six children who were killed by Kamsa – Keerthimanta, Sushena, Bhadrasena, Ruju, Sammardhana, Bhadra. The seventh child to be born to the duo was Sankarshana, who was none other than Balarama. The seventh child somehow escaped the wretched hands of Kamsa and finally the eighth child was about to take birth after few more months – In the month of “Aavani” and on the “Ashtami” day (Eighth day of the month) when the “Rohini” Nakshatra (Star) falls, the eight child was born, and this was none other than Bhagawan Himself!

As the eighth child was born, Vasudeva and Devaki have a loving parental gaze at the child, but were utterly surprised! This child was grossly different than the seven previous children. The child was having the “Shanka” in its left shoulder and the “Chakra” in its right shoulder, even when it was newly-born! The child was looking so handsome and had a beautiful smile on its face! Upon looking at this beautiful child, Devaki and Vasudeva couldn’t take their eyes off it. Afterall it was Bhagawan Himself who has chosen these two people to be His father and mother, isn’t it? By taking birth to this couple, Bhagawan too was happy within Himself! He had given the right opportunity to the right people to be His parents for this divine incarnation!

As Devaki and Vasudeva were gazing at this child endlessly for a long time, Vasudeva quickly remembered his promise to Kamsa! He is supposed to take this child, especially the eighth one to Kamsa for being killed! It is to be remembered that this was the child for which Kamsa was waiting to kill. The divine voice had clearly mentioned that Kamsa’s end is going to be because of this eighth child only, isn’t it? So, Kamsa too was eagerly awaiting this moment to kill the child and to get relief from the imminent danger to his life! Was he successful in doing so? Did Vasudeva hand over this divine eighth child into the murderous hands of Kamsa? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

We’re at an interesting and a critical juncture of Bhagawan Krishna’s birth in this world, as we’re currently witnessing the family background of the “Chandra-Vamsa”. In yesterday’s episode, we had witnessed the “family tree” comprising of two important sub-sects of the “Chandra-Vamsa” – The “Kukura-Vamsa” and the “Bhajamana-Vamsa”. We’ve witnessed that it is in this “Kukura-Vamsa”, Ugrasena and Devaka were brothers. It is to this Devaka was born Devaki, who is the mother of Bhagawan Krishna. Similarly, one of Ugrasena’s sons was Kamsa, who was Bhagawan Krishna’s uncle. Thus, we can witness that this Kamsa and Devaki were cousins. Similarly, as part of the “Bhajamana-Vamsa”, was born Vasudeva. King Bhajamana had a son by name Soorasena and this Soorasena’s son was none other than Vasudeva. As we might know, Vasudeva and Devaki got married to each other and the eighth son of theirs’ was Bhagawan Krishna! Let us witness the continuation of this interesting set of events that led to the run-up of Bhagawan Krishna’s birth.

It was because of the fact that Bhagawan is going to incarnate through Vasudeva, the Devas (Celestial Beings) were very happy when Vasudeva took birth. Vasudeva has another name called “Aanaka-Dundubhi”, because when Vasudeva was born, all the Devas showered flower petals on him, along with the playing of a musical instrument called “Dundubhi”. The Devas were very happy that the time is closing in for Bhagawan to take birth in this world, yet again! In yesterday’s episode, we’ve witnessed that this Vasudeva had five sisters, isn’t it? Sage Sukhaachaarya gives a brief about his five sisters here thus. The five sisters were Prutha, Thruta-Deva, Shruta-Keerthi, Shrutah-Sravaah and Raajaati-Devi. The eldest of the five sisters, Prutha was given as a “gift” to the king of a neighboring Kunthi Desha. It is because she went into the Kunthi Desha, she was referred to as Kunthi. We might know who this Kunthi is – She is the mother of the five Paandava brothers. Kunthi Devi marries King Paandu and gives birth to the “Kaunteyas”, or the “ first three Paandava brothers”. “Kaunteyas” include Yudishtra, Bhima and Arjuna. Maadhri Devi, who was King Paandu’s other wife gave birth to Nakula and Sahadeva. As Kunthi’s original name was Prutha, Arjuna obtained the name “Paartha”. If we look at the Mahabharata, and especially in the Bhagawad Gita, Bhagawan Krishna often refers Arjuna as “Paartha” or “Kaunteya”. All these are Arjuna’s other names and we’ve seen how these names were derived. From this accord, we can thus see the relationship between Bhagawan Krishna and the Paandavas here. To summarize, Kunthi was Bhagawan Krishna’s aunt. The Paandavas were Bhagawan Krishna’s cousins.

As Vasudeva grew up gradually, he got married to Devaki, whom as we’ve already witnessed, was part of the “Kukura-Vamsa”. On the day of their marriage, after all the rituals are completed, Devaki and Vasudeva get on to the chariot, which is being driven by Devaki’s brother, Kamsa. He was taking the married couple to Vasudeva’s house, as per the norm. It is to be remembered that this Kamsa had his own personal and wicked motives behind marrying his sister Devaki to Vasudeva. While the chariot was being driven on the way, there was a sudden sound of loud thunder and heavy lightening! Amidst this, there sounded a deafening loud voice from the sky and was rapturing in nature. Upon listening this, all of them were stunned to bits! Nobody could understand what was unfolding! As people were looking at the sky with awe, the divine voice thundered aloud and said thus, “Oh Kamsa!!! You’re one of the greatest fools on earth! You’ve got this Vasudeva married to your sister Devaki! Do you know the consequence of this marriage? The eighth child that is going to be born to this couple is going to be the one to put an end to your life! How big a fool are you to let this marriage happen, and thus ruin your life like this?”

As Kamsa listens to this loud thundering and rapturing voice scolding him thus, he realizes that a great danger is around the corner for him! This great danger is in the form of none other than his sister herself! Fuming in anger thus, Kamsa unfurls his sharp sword and goes to kill both Devaki and Vasudeva. As Kamsa comes closer thus, Vasudeva prays to Kamsa, “Oh Kamsa! Why do you want to do something like this? Killing a couple on the very day of the marriage is a blunder, isn’t it? Moreover, murdering your sister is even more a bigger crime! Out of all this, killing a woman is one of the biggest blunders you can ever commit! Hence, don’t do this and unnecessarily accumulate your sins!”

Vasudeva continues thus, “Oh Kamsa! Moreover, I don’t see any meaning in killing Devaki. It is only the eighth child that is going to kill you, isn’t it? Why should you attack Devaki for it? I shall bring all our new-born children to you, and you can kill all of them, including the eighth one. With that, your threat would be neutralized, isn’t it?” Kamsa too thought for a while and found some meaning in what Vasudeva is saying. Hence, he takes both of them to the city of Mathura, and imprisons them!

This is why we see that Bhagawan Krishna is going to take birth in the prison of Mathura city. We can visit this city and the prison where Bhagawan Krishna took birth, even today. This is one of the most important “Punya-Kshetras” of our Bhaarata Desha and all of us should make it a point to visit this holy city, amidst the banks of River Yamuna. So for today, let us understand this background to Bhagawan Krishna’s birth and let us all wait with all our eagerness for Bhagawan to take birth! We shall continue this important event in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an interesting relationship between Sage Vishwamitra and Parasurama. We witnessed how King Gaadi’s wife and daughter played spoilsport with each other with the “Payasam” given by Sage Richeeka and how Gaadhi’s wife delivers a “Kshatrya” child, but with immense Brahmin capabilities. This child was none other than Sage Vishwamitra. Although being a “Kshatrya” by birth, he had the keen interest of being a great Brahmin Sage, and thus undertook severe penance. Finally, Sage Vishwamitra succeeded to obtain the great “Brahma-Rishi” title from Sage Vashishtaachaarya himself! On the other hand, Satyavati, Gaadhi’s daughter delivers the male child by name Jamadagni, who in turn had a child by name Parasurama. Although being a Brahmin boy by birth, Parasurama had all the qualities of a “Kshatrya” prince and was an epitome of anger and immense strength! Thus we can see from this story that Sage Vishwamitra and Parasurama were relatives to each other!

As Sage Sukhaachaarya narrates this relationship to King Parikshit thus, he now moves on with the other finer details of the “Chandra-Vamsa”. Now he is going to talk about another king who was very prominent in the “Chandra-Vamsa”, called Yayaati. King Yayaati was a very righteous king and his eldest son was Yadhu. King Yayaati’s youngest son was Puru. Thus we can see here that those successive generations of people who came after Yadhu were called “Yaadavas” and it is part of this generation, Bhagawan Krishna took birth. This is why we often refer Bhagawan Krishna as “Yadu-kula tilaka”, which means, Bhagawan Krishna is the leader in the Yadu’s dynasty. On the other hand, those people who successively were born after Puru, were called “Paandavas”. Thus we can see here that as part of this great “Chandra-Vamsa”, Bhagawan Krishna incarnates, along with the Paandavas as well.

Now having understood this much, let us witness a brief run-up to Bhagawan Krishna’s divine birth. As I had already mentioned earlier, King Yayaati’s eldest son was Yadhu. This King Yayaati enjoyed an extremely long youth stage in his life and he was enjoying all possible desires associated with it. However, he was not very satisfied with it. He was so driven by the pleasures of youth, such as romance, sex, etc. and he wasn’t satisfied with how much ever pleasures he obtained during his youth time. This is where, we’ve to be careful too. If we have some desires in our life, how do we try and come out of them? In the modern-day magazines and write-ups, many people opine that if we’ve to get rid of desires, it is best to experience as much pleasures as possible that are derived out of these desires, so as to get satisfied once and for all! This view, according to me, is a wrong way of looking at it. For instance, if there is a fire burning with a huge flame, do we go and add more and more camphor into it, so as to put it out? If we do so, we would be the greatest fools on earth, isn’t it? If we’ve to put out the fire, we’ve to take to other measures, rather than igniting it further and further! Our desires too are like this wild fire. As we add more and more camphor and wooden sticks into the fire, it is only going to burn more. Similarly, if we’re going to experience more and more pleasures arising out of the desires that we have, we’re never going to come out of them! Instead, we’ve to develop a strong mind-control in such a way that we keep away from these desires. For instance, if a person is an alcohol addict, would we give him more and more alcohol to make him come out of the menace? The answer is “no”, isn’t it? Thus, it is upto us to develop self-control and this is how we can get rid of our desires.

This is exactly where this King Yayaati got entangled into! He was driven by more and more sexual pleasures that he was totally addicted to it. He wanted more and more of it. Hence, he goes to his eldest son Yadhu and tries to strike a ridiculous deal thus, “Oh son! Since I’m getting older gradually as years pass by, I would like to exchange your youth days with my older days! Would you like to accept this deal and transfer your youth days to me?” As expected, Yayaati found this deal to be totally stupid and ridiculous from his father, and thus refused to accept the deal. Disappointed thus, King Yayaati curses his eldest son that since he has refused to accept this deal, he is now termed unfit to take over the reins of the kingdom! Thus, Yadhu becomes a popper, although being the eldest son. Now, King Yayaati comes to his youngest son, Puru, with the same deal. However, Puru was compassionate towards his father and accepted the deal. He thus transfers his youth to his father and takes the old-age of his father on to himself. This pleased King Yayaati and thus, coronates Puru as his successor. This is why we see that King Puru ruled the Hastinapura kingdom for a long time, which in turn came to King Paandu and then subsequently to the Paandavas after the great Mahabharata war.

In this generation of King Yayaati, there were subsequent people who take birth. One such person was Kukura and Ugrasena. We’ve to remember two “sub-Vamsas” here – The “Kukura-Vamsa” and the “Bhajamaana-Vamsa”. In this “Kukura-Vamsa”, Devaka and Ugrasena take birth. This Devaka obtains four sons and seven daughters. Thus, one of the seven daughters of Devaka was none other than Devaki, who is Bhagawan Krishna’s mother! This should be remembered very carefully by readers here. Thus, we can see that Devaki was part of this “Kukura-Vamsa”. Now we’ve to see the other side. King Ugrasena had nine sons and five daughters. The eldest son of King Ugrasena was none other than Kamsa. Here, we should understand that, Ugrasena and Devaka were brothers. Devaka’s daughter was Devaki and Ugrasena’s son was Kamsa. Thus, we should understand from this relationship that Devaki was the cousin sister of Kamsa.Now, if we look at the “Bhajamaana-Vamsa”, King Bhajamaana had a son by name Surasena. King Surasena had ten sons and five daughters. The eldest son of Surasena was none other than Vasudeva, who was Bhagawan Krishna’s father!

With this, we’ve seen the family background and details of the generations of both Devaki and Vasudeva. So for today, let us understand this family background thoroughly. Readers might get confused with too many names being employed here. Hence, I request all of you to take down notes and draw a “family tree”, so as to correctly understand who is related to whom and who is the son / daughter to whom. So, let us do this meticulously today and we shall wait till the next episode to move on with Bhagawan Krishna’s interesting birth incidents! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Sukhaachaarya briefing King Parikshit on the all-important “Rama-Avatara” and how Bhagawan Rama destroyed the Raakshasas, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, who were none other than Jaya and Vijaya, the two bodyguards of Bhagawan Vishnu at Vaikunta. Readers must be remembering that these two people had received a curse from Sage Sanaka and Sage Sanathkumara that they would be born in the “Manushya-Lokha” thrice, only for Bhagawan Vishnu to incarnate everytime and liberate them back to Vaikunta. Accordingly, we’ve witnessed the first pair of Hiranyaksha and Hiranya-Kashibu. Hiranyaksha was liberated by Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Varaaha and Hiranya-Kashibu was liberated by Bhagawan Narasimha. Now during Bhagawan Rama’s incarnation, Ravana and Kumbhakarna was the second pair and they too got liberated by Bhagawan Rama Himself. The third pair of these two people are going to be in the form of Kamsa and Sishupala, and it is going to be Bhagawan Krishna who is about to incarnate, so as to liberate them.

Moving on thus, as Sage Sukhaachaarya quickly briefs King Parikshit with the entire Ramayana story within just one “Sarga”, King Parikshit was not very convinced. He asks Sage Sukhaachaarya as to why is he rushing up with this important event of Bhagawan Rama. Sage Sukhaachaarya thus replies to King Parikshit that the great Valmiki Maharishi has already documented this in an elaborate manner and if details are required, King Parikshit can later refer to the Valmiki Ramayana text!

With this, Sage Sukhaachaarya concludes his long accord on the “Soorya-Vamsha”. We’ve witnessed that this great clan has had thirty-five kings, and Bhagawan Rama was the thirty-fifth king. Now Sage Sukhaachaarya commences the detailed description of the “Chandra-Vamsa”. As he commences this discussion, the first description is about Bhagawan Parasurama. We shall witness few details of Parasurama and why was he a significant person in this scheme of things.

It all started with a king named “Prururava”. This King Prururava had a son by name “Kushaamba”. Kushaamba had a son by name “Gaadhi”. This Gaadhi’s son is none other than the well-known Sage Vishwamitra. It should be remembered that it was this same Sage Vishnwamitra who took Rama and Lakshmana all the way to Mithilapuri during the Ramayana time. I shall narrate the set of events associated with this context in a brief as follows. This is just to make readers understand the background of Sage Vishwamitra’s and Parasurama’s births. There is a peculiar story to it.

Gaadhi got married and obtained a daughter by name Satyavati. It should be remembered that Gaadhi was a “Kshatrya”. However, Gaadhi gave his daughter Satyavati to a Brahmana Rishi, called Richeeka. Both Satyavati and Sage Richeeka were happily married for few years, but they did not have a child. It should also be noted here that this Gaadhi also did not have a male child. Satyavati was the only child that Gaadhi had obtained. As Satyavati was interested in obtaining a child, Gaadhi’s wife (Satyavati’s mother) was also interested at the same time to have a male child. Thus, one day Gaadhi’s wife visits Satyavati’s house and proposes thus, “Oh my daughter! I know that your husband is a great Sage and a “Brahma-Gnyaani” by nature! So please request him for a ‘Payasam’, both for myself and for you. If we drink this “Payasam”, this might help both of us to bear a male child!” Accordingly, Satyavati takes this request to her husband and he accepts it. Thus, he created a cup of “Paayasam” exclusively for Satyavati and another cup exclusively for her mother. We should remember here – Gaadhi’s wife (Satyavati’s mother) was a “Kshatrya” by birth, and hence the “Payasam” was prepared accordingly for her. Satyavati is now part of a Brahmin family and the other cup of “Payasam” was prepared accordingly.

However, as fate would have it, greed took over Satyavati’s mother! She thought within herself thus, “Oh! Whatever it might be, Sage Richeeka would have prepared a better ‘Payasam’ for his wife, and an ‘inferior Payasam’ for me! He might want to have a superior son than mine. This should not happen. It should be me who should obtain the most superior son!” Thinking thus, she consumes the cup of “Payasam” that was kept for Satyavati to consume! This wasn’t known to Satyavati and she consumes the other cup of “Payasam” that was remaining! Both of them thus became pregnant.

As the child started growing in Satyavati’s womb, Sage Richeeka had a doubt. He expresses his doubt to his wife thus, “Oh Satyavati! By looking at your stomach, I feel that something has gone wrong. It looks like the child that you are bearing at the moment, is going to be an epitome of anger and with all qualities of a “Kshatrya”! It should be remembered by readers that Sage Richeeka had dedicated one cup of “Payasam” for Satyavati, with the aim of obtaining a peaceful and a calm Brahmin boy. However, there was a mix-up here. Thus, Satyavati replies to her husband, “Oh Sage! I do not know what has happened! I had just consumed whatever you had given to me!” As Sage Richeeka listens to Satyavati’s reply, he immediately figures out what has gone wrong, with his “Yoga-Drishti” (Divine Foresightedness). He explains to his wife that her mother has messed it up and has consumed the “Payasam” that was dedicated to Satyavati!

Hearing thus from her husband, Satyavati gets stunned and starts crying! She asks Sage Richeeka if this can somehow be reversed! However, Sage Richeeka replies that nothing can be done at the moment, but can “postpone” this to the next child in this family generation. That is, the child that is going to be born to Satyavati now, would somehow be a calm Brahmin boy, but the child that is going to be born to this Brahmin boy would be an epitome of anger! Thus, Satyavati delivers a calm and peaceful Brahmin boy by name “Jamadagni”. This Jamadagni grows up, gets married and he obtains a son by name “Parasurama”, who was indeed an epitome of great anger! This Parasurama had all the in-born qualities of a Kshatrya prince, although being born in a Brahmin family. It is believed that Parasurama was so angry that he killed twenty-one generations of Kshatrya princes with his sword!

Now let us come back to the story of Satyavati’s mother. We’ve now witnessed Satyavati giving birth to Jamadagni and Parasurama was in turn born to Jamadagni. Going to the other side now, Satyavati’s mother delivers a male child with all Brahmin qualities. This child was none other than Sage Vishwamitra! Although “Kshatrya” by birth, Sage Vishwamitra struggled a lot to obtain the highest status of “Brahma-Rishi”. This is because of the innate qualities of a Brahmin within him!

Thus, this is the relationship between Sage Vishnwamitra and Parasurama. So for today, let us understand this event and we shall wait till the next episode to move further with the “Chandra-Vamsa” discussion! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the important events that unfolded, that led to the origin of the holy River Ganga. It can be witnessed here that it was because of the mammoth effort of King Bhageeratha. We’ve seen that King Bhageeratha undertook a severe penance towards Mother Ganga and requested her to transcend down to the earth’ surface, so that he can sprinkle her holy waters’ and bring his 60,000 forefathers to life. Although initially Mother Ganga refused, she relented owing to the intensity of King Bhageeratha’s penance. Thus, with the divine intervention of Bhagawan Shiva in the form of Gangaadhara and Jataadhara, Mother Ganga transcends down to the earth from the place called Haridwar, in the from of the huge glacier called “Gangothri”. This is an awesome place and a paradise on earth even today, and we can see the crystal-clear water flowing with a great speed and sound! Such is the significance of River Ganga and this river is considered the holiest river in the world. It is believed widely that if one takes bath in the waters of this river, all his / her sins are washed away. This is the reason why we see thousands of people flocking to all the holy places along this river in the likes of Haridwar, Rishikesh, Varanasi, Prayagraj, etc. to take a holy bath and performing all their “Pitru-Kaarya” (Offerings to our ancestors). Readers might know that there is a famous festival by name “Kumbha-Mela” that is celebrated once every twelve years, and this draws tens of thousands of devotees from all over the country and also from various parts of the world! Such is the significance of this holy River Ganga.

Moving on thus, as Mother Ganga transcends down to the earth, the successors of King Bhageeratha come one after the other. Firstly it was King Aja. Subsequent to King Aja was the great King Dasharata. It was to King Dasharata was Bhagawan Rama born! All of us know this very well. Now as Sage Sukhaachaarya explains this to King Parikshit, he goes on to explain the entire story of the Ramayana in a brief. Of course, there is this entire text of Ramayana authored by Valmiki Maharishi, but just for the sake of continuity, Sage Sukhaachaarya explains the Ramayana story in a brief. He narrates how King Dasharata was childless for a long time and how he performed the “Putra-Kaameshti Yaaga” (A divine spiritual offering for the want of a child). He explains how the divine “Payasam” was born from the midst of the offering and how this “Payasam” was split amongst his three wives, Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. As a result of this, four sons were born, with Bhagawan Rama being the eldest one. Bhagawan Rama was born to Kaushalya Devi. Subsequenly, Bharata was born to Kaikeyi and Sumitra delivered twin babies of Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

As Rama and his brothers grow up, King Dasharata starts thinking about their marriage and this was the time, Sage Vishwamitra comes along and takes Rama and Lakshmana along with him to protect his “Yagna” that he was performing. Although King Dasharata protested initially, Sage Vishwamitra takes both the children along with him and accordingly, both Rama and Lakshmana kill all the Raakshasas including Thaataka and Shubaahu. Maareecha was left over, but was pushed into the ocean with Bhagawan Rama’s sharp arrows! Subsequently the three of them go into Mithilapuri, the kingdom of King Janaka. Bhagawan Rama breaks the “Shiva-Dhanush” and in turn, marries Sita Devi.

Subsequently, all the four brothers were married off to King Janaka’s and his brother’s daughters and the entire caravan returns to Ayodhya, wherein on the way, Bhagawan Rama defeats Parasurama. All of them were happily living for the next twelve years in the kingdom of Ayodhya, until Kaikeyi, one of King Dasharata’s wives, asks for two boons, as King Dasharata was readying plans to coronate Bhagawan Rama to the throne. All his plans were foiled within just minutes – Bhagawan Rama, Lakshmana and Mother Sita left to the forest for the next fourteen years. Upon hearing this, Bharata and Shatrugna were extremely displeased and disappointed and immediately run to Bhagawan Rama, so as to convince him and make him return back to Ayodhya. However, Bhagawan Rama was steadfast in His approach. He was determined to obey His father’s words and finish His fourteen-year-tenure in the forest.

Subsequently, Bhagawan Rama kills around fourteen thousand Raakshasas within a jiffy, with his sharp arrows, so as to save all the great Maharishis who were doing penance in the forest. Angered upon this, Ravana, who was the head of all the Raakshasas wanted to take vengeance on Bhagawan Rama, hatched a wicked plan and abducted Mother Sita through Maareecha, in the form of a golden deer. As Ravana abducts Mother Sita, Jatayu, the king of eagles tried his best to save Mother Sita, however he couldn’t succeed in his efforts. Jatayu was later conferred the highest “Moksha” by Bhagawan Rama Himself for his brave act.

As Bhagawan Rama and Lakshmana tread their way along, searching for Sita, they make friendship with the “Vaanaras” (Monkeys) headed by Sugriva and Co. Hanuman comes into the picture here and it was Hanuman who nurtures friendship between Bhagawan Rama and Sugriva. According to the agreement, Bhaagwan Rama kills Vaali, who was Sugriva’s brother, and instates Sugriva as the King of the Vaanaras. In return, Sugriva sends all his troops to search for Mother Sita and Hanuman was sent in the southern direction. Hanuman somehow succeeds in tracing Mother Sita’s whereabouts in Ravana’s Lanka, speaks with her, consoles her and takes this “happy news” to Bhagawan Rama. On the way, Hanuman burns the entire city of Lanka after being insulted by Ravana and Co.

As Hanuman comes back and conveys the good news, Bhagawan Rama and the entire Vaanara army starts their march towards Lanka. As they reach the southern shores of the ocean, Vibhishana, Ravana’s brother comes and surrenders to Bhagawan Rama and with his help, the Ram-Sethu bridge was built. Subsequently, a huge war breaks out between Bhagawan Rama’s and Ravanas’ troops, and at the end, Bhagawan Rama succeeds in defeating and killing Ravana for the mistake that he had done! Eventually, Bhagawan Rama finishes his fourteen-year-period of his “Vana-Vaasa” and returns back to Ayodhya victoriously, along with Mother Sita. He was thus coronated to the throne of Ayodhya and subsequently the “Rama-Rajya” began.

With this, Sage Sukhaachaarya briefly explains the entire Ramayana to King Parikshit and for today, let us enjoy the beauty of this divine “Charitra” of Bhagawan Rama once more! We’ve already done it before, but it’s time for us to reflect back and enjoy it again! We shall wait till the next episode to move on with the next set of events! Stay tuned! 😊