The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the conclusion of the event wherein Indra (Leader of the Devas) is killing Vriddhraasura with his newly-found weapon called “Vajraayudha”. We had witnessed the sequence of events that led to this grand finale. We had witnessed that Vishwa-Vasu, who had taught the “Narayana Kavacha” to Indra and to the world, being killed by none other than Indra himself for some reason. Vowing a revenge to this heinous act of Indra, Vishwa-Vasu’s father decides to conduct a grand sacrificial offering and from thus, Vriddhraasura was created with all the powers of the manthras chanted. This Vriddhraasura was an invincible person by all means and he was a huge scare for Indra and Co. Unable to find a solution to curtail and kill Vriddhraasura, Indra explores various ways and means and finally knocks on the doors of Sage Dadhyaka, who removes his own backbone, makes it into a lethal weapon, called the Vajraayudha. It was with this Vajraayudha, that Indra finally manages to kill Vriddhraasura. With this, the world became free from the atrocities of this great Raakshasa and so did Indra leave a huge sigh of relief!

With this event, we came to the end of the sixth “Skandha” of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. Moving on thus, we now enter into the seventh, wherein the highlight of this Skandha is the story of Prahalada and how Bhagawan takes the form of a lion (Bhagawan Narasimha) to put an end to Hiranya-Kashibu, who was torturing little Prahlada for no fault of his. But before we enter into the actual event, we need to look into some interesting background events, which lead to Bhagawan Narasimha’s and Prahlada’s advents. Many readers might already be knowing these events, however, it is always a pleasure if we read through Bhagawan’s stories, isn’t it? For instance, even though all of us know the Ramayana story right from our childhood days, why do we keep repeating it every day? The reason why we read the Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc. is not because we do not know the storyline. The main purpose is to experience Bhagawan’s grace, enjoy the divine plays of Bhagawan and in turn, this aids in our spiritual growth. This should be the ultimate aim. Hence, the point here is that, readers shouldn’t get complacent while going through sections that might be known to us already. Even though we might know them. It is always nice to go through things that we know, as it adds a divine flavor to our spiritual life.

With this note, let us now witness an interesting introduction to this whole story. We’ve already witnessed two important people by name “Sanaka” and “Sanatkumara” in our previous episodes. These two people were great sages with ultra-high powers of penance. One fine day, Sages Sanaka and Sanatkumara decide to pay a visit to Bhagawan Vishnu at His abode, Vaikunta! Thus accordingly, both the sages make their way to Vaikunta, only to be intercepted by Bhagawan Vishnu’s “security guards”. These two security guards were none other than “Jaya” and “Vijaya”. As the two sages come by, Jaya and Vijaya stop them and tell them thus, “Oh great sages! I’m very glad to see and worship both of you! I know you’ve come to meet Bhagawan! However, Bhagawan is resting for the moment. So please, can both of you wait for some time till Bhagawan finishes His resting period?”

As Sages Sanaka and Sanatkumara hear this accord from Jaya and Vijaya, they are adamant in their stance of meeting Bhagawan Vishnu now itself, without any delay! However, Jaya and Vijaya too stood by their stance by not allowing both of them to enter into Bhagawan’s abode! Getting irritated thus, the two sages fumed at Jaya and Vijaya thus, “Oh Jaya and Vijaya! You’ve done a great mistake here today! Without knowing our background and stature, you’re asking us to wait to meet Bhagawan Vishnu? Who are you to stop us like this at the gate? Since you’ve insulted both of us in a ‘derogatory manner’, we are issuing a curse to both of you – Very soon, both of you would be born thrice in the world as Raakshasas! Each time you would be killed by Bhagawan Himself and only at the end of the third time, you would be able to get back your position which you’re holding today!”

According to this curse from Sages Sanaka and Sanatkumara, these Jaya and Vijaya together start taking series of births in the world. During the first round, they take birth as Hiranyaksha and Hiranya-Kashibu. The next round witnesses the birth of Ravana and Kumbhakarna. The third and final round witnesses the birth of Sishupala and Dandravakta. It should be remembered that all these three births that Jaya and Vijaya took together, they were born as Raakshasas. Bhagawan Vishnu incarnated in different “Yugas” and had to finish these Raakshasas, so that they attained liberation finally! It is to be noted that this first birth by name Hiranyaksha has already taken place and Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Varaaha had already liberated Jaya once. Now it is the time for Hiranya-Kashibu to take birth in the world and the stage is set for the events to unfold from now!

We shall also prepare ourselves today and wait till tomorrow’s episode for the interesting and mind-absorbing events to start unfolding! Stay tuned! 😊

 

The previous episode witnessed the culmination of the all-important “Narayana Kavacha”, which was given by Vishwa-Vasu to Indra and the Devas, for protecting them against the Raakshasas’ wrath. As mentioned previously also, this “Narayana Kavacha” is something that all of us should know and chant every day. To get more clarity on the same, readers are requested to go through the previous two episode (Episodes # 156 & 157) multiple times, so that it would enable us to understand and appreciate the significance behind it. As Vishwa-Vasu gave this “Narayana Kavacha” thus, as per the rule, he had to lose his life. But the important point here is that, Vishwa-Vasu had to lose his life to none other than his own student to whom he had taught the “Narayana Kavacha” – Indra himself! For some reason, Indra kills Vishwa-Vasu and this angers Dvashta, who was Vishwa-Vasu’s father. He decides to seek revenge on Indra for his heinous crime of killing his only son and thus starts performing a “Yagna”. It is from this “Yagna” is Vriddhaasura taking birth. He’s born with all the essence of the mantras chanted during the “Yagna” and thus becomes an invincible force to deal with!

As this Vriddhraasura grows up, he clearly knew the agenda behind which he was born! So he directs all his forces towards capturing Indra and the Devas. He thus wages a huge battle with the Devas. Although Indra had the “Narayana Kavacha” with him, at one point, even that couldn’t defeat and kill Vriddhraasura. Hence, Indra started running for his life as Vriddhraasura gives him a huge chase! Indra is clearly on the verge of defeat as he starts panicking, not knowing how to tackle this extremely huge force called Vriddhraasura.

It is at this point, wherein Indra comes across a Sage by name Dadhyaka. As Sage Dadhyaka meets the running Indra, he asks him for the reason behind his “long run”! 😊 As Indra explains what had happened in the past and why is he running like this to save his life, Sage Dadhyaka gives him a solution thus: “Oh Indra! There is no way through which you can win over Vriddhraasura on your own. However, I shall give you a solution. I shall make a weapon by ejecting out my own back bone. You might use it and kill Vriddhraasura! Perhaps this might work!” As Sage Dadhyaka says thus, Indra feels like he has got his life back! Sage Dadhyaka too accordingly pulls out his backbone from his body and starts making the weapon!

It might be amazing for us as to how can someone pull out his own backbone from his body! Such was the spiritual power of ancient day “Yogis” and Sages! They were beyond their physical bodies and their focus was only on their Atman and its development. This is exactly what we’ve been witnessing for all these days that for real spiritual development, we need to be able to differentiate between the Atman and the physical body. Of course, I’m not saying that we should be able to pull out our backbones from our bodies! 😊 However, we should understand the level of spiritual powers, our ancestors have possessed!

Moving on thus, Sage Dadhyaka prepares a lethal weapon out of his own backbone and this weapon was named as “Vajraayudha”. We might have heard this name often in our scriptural texts. The origin of the Vajraayudha was only through this particular episode. It was made by Sage Dadhyaka and given to Indra, so that he can destroy the dangerous Vriddhraasura. As the Vajraayudha gets ready, Indra takes it from Sage Dadhyaka, who also invokes and puts in loads of spiritual powers into the weapon. As a result of the high level of spiritual powers involved in it, Bhagawan Vishnu Himself makes sure that His presence was felt in it. With this extremely lethal weapon, Indra now calls Vriddhraasura for a fight! Because of the extreme level of significance and power that this Vajraayudha possessed, Vriddhraasura couldn’t sustain long during the fight. Indra thus saw Vriddhraasura sulking during the fight and seizes the right opportunity to capture him. Indra thus captures Vriddhraasura and eventually kills him with the help of the Vajraayudha.

As Indra wins over Vriddhraasura and kills him, the world gets freed up of a great danger. Of course, more than what might sound to be Indra’s victory over Vriddhraasura, it was Bhagawan Vishnu who played a key role in this pursuit. With this event, the sixth “Skandha” of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana comes to an end. Putting a full stop to the sixth “Skandha” thus, we now take a step into the seventh “Skandha” wherein we’re going to witness one of the most interesting and an important event – Advent of Bhagawan Narasimha! Here we’re going to witness the story of how Prahlada was born, how he grew up, how he was an ardent devotee of Bhagawan Narayana right from the days when he was inside his mother’s womb, how this Prahlada underwent innumerable trials, tribulations, tortures and challenges from his father, Hiranya Kashibu, and how Prahlada was finally released from the clutches of his father by Bhagawan!

This is going to be an extremely interesting “Skandha” and I’m sure readers are going to have a feast here! 😊 We shall wait till the next episode to commence the seventh “Skandha”! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had commenced discussion on the all-important “Narayana Kavacha”, which is being given by Vishwa-Vasu to Indra and the Devas. This “Narayana Kavacha”, touted to be one of the best defense mechanism against any sort of enemy in any form, in any place, and at any situation is extremely powerful and the Devas were very fortunate to obtain it from a selfless teacher in the form of Vishwa-Vasu. The reason why we call Vishwa-Vasu as a selfless teacher is that, he went to the extent of sacrificing his life for his students. If the “Narayana Kavacha” is taught to someone, the person who teaches it, is bound to die. Even then, just because his students asked for it, Vishwa-Vasu decided to transcend beyond his personal wishes and life and teach it to them! In that way, we had witnessed a vast majority portion of the Narayana Kavacha in yesterday’s episode. We had witnessed how it traverses through various incarnations of Bhagawan Vishnu and how it appeals for protection from various kinds of catastrophic situations to the different incarnations of Bhagawan Vishnu.

We are now at a point wherein the prayer is directed towards Sage Kapilaachaarya wherein it says that if we’re entangled with any sort of bad “Karma” in our life, it is Sage Kapilaachaarya who can remove the effects of the same.

“Tatthasvayogaath yoganaathaha guneshaha kapilah dattatreyaha!”

This section explains that if we’re getting entangled with lot of unwanted desires, which might potentially lead us to any sort of problems in our lives, let Bhagawan Dattathreya protect us.

“Deva rishayaha purushaarchanaatraath koormo harirmaan nirayaanudoshaath!!”

This line explains that if we’re having problems in life repeating like a cycle everytime, let Bhagawan Koorma protect us and alleviate us from that vicious cycle of problems.

“Vitthadhaaraasi varaasayenya eeshah prayuktho mama chinvichinthi chakshunshicha chada chandrasaadayaa!!”

This last section explains thus, “Let this Narayana Kavacha protect me thus, from all sort of evil eyes looking at me with a venomous agenda. Let this Narayana Kavacha protect me from any sort of weapons like bows, arrows, swords, knives, etc. Let this Narayana Kavacha act as a self-defense and protect me from all sorts of dangers, problems, desires, enemies, weapons, situations, etc.”

Praying thus, we come to the end of this important “Narayana Kavacha”. As Vishwa-Vasu gives it to Indra, some time later, Indra himself kills Vishwa-Vasu owing to some reason. Following this, Indra gets the “Bramha-Hathi Dosha” for killing Vishwa-Vasu and eventually Indra couldn’t find a solution to get over this Dosha. Hence, he went and hid himself amidst the petals of a lotus. Upon hearing that his son Vishwa-Vasu was put to death by none other than Indra himself, Dvashta gets devastated and extremely angry! He now decides to take revenge on Indra for the heinous crime that he had committed. He decides to teach a lesson to Indra that he cannot take people for granted, just like that. Hence, Dvashta decides to conduct a huge “Yagna” (Sacrifice through Agni Bhagawan – God of Fire). As Dvashta does the Yagna in a grand fashion, there is a new person who gets created from the midst of the prayer, with all the powers of the Mantras that are being chanted. This person is none other than Vridhraasura!

Thus, we’ve witnessed how Vridhraasura took birth. We should understand that Vridhraasura was created by Dvashta, to take revenge on Indra, who had killed his son, Vishwa Vasu, for no fault of his! So for today, let us understand this part of the story. In the next episode, we shall witness the final section as to how Indra wins over this Vridhraasura and kills him. Stay tuned! 😊

 

The previous episode witnessed the commencement of one of the very important sections of discussions in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, which is the “Narayana Kavacha”. We witnessed the background behind this important aspect, wherein this is part of a bigger event of Indra killing a “rakshasa” by name Vriddhaasura. To this story, we witnessed that Indra (Leader of the Devas) once insulted his teacher, Brushaspati. Unable to control the frustration out of what Indra said to him, Bruhaspati leaves the Devas’ camp and vanishes somewhere. Thus, after the departure of Bruhaspati, the Devas are rendered “teacher-less”! Hence, amidst the pursuit for a “new teacher”, Indra appoints “Vishwa Vasu”, who is the son of one of his colleagues, Dvashta. As per Bhagawan Bramha’s advice, Indra appoints Vishwa Vasu” as a “temporary teacher” until a permanent person takes over. As days pass by, the threat from the “raakshasas” started increasing and Indra became concerned. Hence, he approaches his “newly found teacher” and asks for some solution for it. Eventually, Indra remembers that there is something called “Narayana Kavacha” and if he chants it regularly, he would get absolute protection from any kind of threat. As Indra asks Vishwa Vasu to teach him and his colleagues, the Narayana Kavacha, Vishwa Vasu explains that he doesn’t mind teaching it to them, but the only thing here is that, if someone teaches this Narayana Kavacha, the teacher’s life would be coming to an end immediately. Anyway, since his student had asked for it, Vishwa Vasu had no problems in teaching it to him. He didn’t bother that his life was at risk after he teaches it.

Thus, as Vishwa Vasu narrates the Narayana Kavacha to Indra, we should realize the significance of this section. The “Narayana Kavacha” serves as a huge protection to anybody who chants it with full devotion towards Bhagawan. Just like how a soldier fights an enemy by wearing a shield, this Narayana Kavacha acts like a shield, whenever we confront an enemy or an enemy-like situation in our life. So, let us witness this Naryana Kavacha in today’s episode. This is for all readers to note down carefully.

“Harir vidathyaan mama sarva rakshaan!

Vyasthaangripadmaha patakendra prushte!!

Dharaari charmaasiga deshu chaapa!

Paashaan dadhaano ashtagunooshta baahuhu!!”

So this sloka explains how Bhagawan Vishnu is seated over his “Vaahana” (Vehicle) of Garuda. It describes the beautiful and divine form of Bhagawan by explaining how handsome and adorable Bhagawan looks, with his eight hands and with the “Shankam” and “Chakra” in His hands!

“Jaleshu maam rakshatu matsya moorthihi!

Yaadho ganebhyo varunasya paashaad!!”

Here, it says that if we have a danger in terms of water, let “Matsya Moorthi” (Bhagawan in the fish form) protect us.

“Sthaleshu maayaa vatu vaamanobhyaath!!”

Here in this next verse, it explains that if we foresee a danger in the land, let “Vaamana Moorthi” (Bhagawan in the form of a small boy) protect us.

“Trivikramah kevathu Vishwa roopaha!”

This verse explains that if we foresee any sort of danger from the sky, (“Aakaasha”), let “Trivikrama Moorthi” (Bhagawan who took the “Vishwa Roopa” to measure the entire world with His feet) protect all of us.

“Durveshadavyaadhi mukhaaveshuh prabhuhu!!”

Here it explains that if we foresee any danger while being amidst a jungle or a deep forest, let Bhagawan Hayagriva protect all of us!

“Paayan nrisimhaha asura yuuthapaarihi!”

Here it says that if we get stuck amidst a group of enemies who are trying to corner us in between a deep jungle or amidst water, let Bhagawan Narasimha (Bhagawan with the appearance of a lion) protect us.

“Vimunchyatoyasya mahaatahaasam vishobine dhur yathapascha garbhaaha!

Raama atrhrikooteshvata viprahaase!

Rakshatvasau maadhvaneeya yagnyakalpaha swadantrayoneethadharo varaahaha!!” 

This section explains that if we encounter any form of danger while we are on travel from one place to the other, let Bhagawan Varaaha protect us.

“Rakshatu raamah athrikooteshu!”

If we’re amidst mountains and hills and if any form of danger encircles us, let Bhagawan Rama protect us with his valor and extraordinary divine powers.

“Maamugra karmaakilaath pramaadaan naaraayanah paaduh narascha haasaath!!”

If someone is trying to use some evil powers on us to disillusion us through some way, let Bhagawan Narayana directly protect us from all those evils.

“Tathvasya yogaatha yoganaathaha paayaath guneshaha kpilaah kappabandhaath!!”

If we’re entangled so much into our “Karma” that we’ve accumulated all through our previous births, let Kapilaachaarya (We’ve discussed about Bhagawan Kapila in our previous episodes) protect us.

So for today, let us take a break at this point and we shall continue this important discussion on the Narayana Kavacha in the next episode. Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Daksha-Prajapati’s story wherein we saw how he was dejected after losing his second set of sons, the “Shabalaaswaras” to Sage Naarada’s “advice”! Eventually after cursing Sage Naarada, Daksha-Prajapati is again blessed with sixty daughters, whom he gave in marriage to Chandra Bhagawan, Kashyapa-Prajapati, etc. We’ve witnessed yesterday as to which daughters were married to whom. Subsequently, the daughters give birth to a majority of the Devas (Celestial Beings), sorrows, clouds, etc. Thus, the creation of the world was continuing this way. At the offset, we had also witnessed that Chandra Bhagawan had interest only towards one of his twenty-seven wives, Rohini Devi and this angered Daksha-Prajapati yet again! Hence, he curses Chandra Bhagawan that he would be affected by something called “Kshaya-Roga”. This is the reason why we have a “no-moon day” (Amaavasya) and a “full-moon day” (Pournami). With all of these, the world continued to grow into a mammoth size and this keeps continuing on and on.

Moving on thus, we get on with the next story. Now we’re going to witness a slightly different context here, wherein Indra (Leader of the Devas) is going to destroy a “Raakshasa” (Demon) by name Vriddhraasura. Now who is this Vriddhraasura? There’s an interesting story behind it. I shall now explain it in a bit more detail here. The Devas had a teacher by name Bruhaspati. It was this Bruhaspati who taught all the necessary lessons to all the 33 Devas. One fine day, for some reason, Indra insulted their teacher Bruhaspati. Feeling humiliated thus, Bruhaspati decided that he is not going to live amidst the Devas any more and eventually moved out! One amongst these Devas was someone called “Dvashta”. This “Dvashta” had a son by name “Vishwa-Vasu”. As the Devas were lacking a quality teacher amidst them, ever since Bruhaspati’s departure, Bhagawan Bramha advised them to have this “Vishwa-Vasu” as their “Interim teacher”. This “Vishwa-Vasu” was an eminent scholar and hence, Bhagawan Brahma gave this advice.

As days progressed thus, the threat from the “Raakshasas” were becoming more and more imminent for Indra and his Deva group. Hence, Indra goes to “Vishwa-Vasu” and asks him thus, “Oh Guru! Since we’re under severe threat from the Raakshasas and it is only increasing day by day, we want some protection to safeguard ourselves! Eventually I did some research and found that you have a very important defense element called “Narayana-Kavacha”. I also found out that this is perhaps the only thing that can keep the Raakshasas at bay. Hence, please, can you teach this “Narayana-Kavasa” to all of us immediately?”

As Indra asks thus, we need to understand here that the “Narayana-Kavasa” which he is asking, is an extremely powerful form of a “Mantra”. There is no problem in teaching this Mantra to Indra and the Devas, but the only problem that would arise from this is that, the person who is teaching this Mantra would immediately lose his life! However, Vishwa-Vasu was not really worried about what is going to happen to him after he teaches this Mantra. Since his student has asked him for something, it is his bound duty to teach it, without asking any selfish questions. Hence, Vishwa-Vasu was a great teacher by heart, and even though his life would be at risk, he still teaches this “Narayana Kavacha” to Indra and Co.

“Harir vidatyaan mama sarva rakshaan vyasthaangripadmaha patakendra prushte!

Dharaachi dharmaanika deshuchaapa paashaan dadhaano ashta gunottha baahu!!”

This is an extremely important portion of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana – This “Narayana Kavacha” should be remembered by each and every one of us and we can even chant it whenever we are going through any sort of problem. It is widely explained by Sage Sukhaachaarya himself here that if we chant this “Narayana Kavacha”, all our problems would be destroyed by Bhagawan immediately! Starting from the above sloka, the “Narayana Kavacha” explains the various divine forms, incarnations, etc. of Bhagawan Vishnu and readers can go through these slokas on their own and can even byheart them for continuous recital as well. We shall also have a detailed discussion on this as we move forward.

With this, I’ve given a brief introduction to the “Narayana Kavacha” and how was it originated. So for today, let us understand and appreciate the significance of the “Narayana Kavacha”. A detailed explanation of the same awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Daksha-Prajapati’s accord as to how the creation of the world was progressing from generation to generation. We had witnessed that initially, Daksha-Prajapati took over the reins from his father and eventually passed it on to his 10,000 odd sons, also known as “Harieshwaras”. As the “Harieshwaras” were going about their job of creation, Sage Naarada thought of playing some “pranks” here and thus, “advised” them to focus on their own spiritual development, rather than creating the world further and further, which is of no use to anybody! Paying heed to Sage Naarada’s words, the Harieshwaras changed their focus from creation to spiritual growth. Thus eventually, the Harieshwaras attain Moksha and the job of creating the world came to a grinding halt! This angers Daksha-Prajapati and he immediately understands what had conspired! He rushes to Sage Naarada, fuming with anger and thus demanded an answer for what he has done to his sons. Realizing that Daksha-Prajapati wouldn’t be convinced with any answer, Sage Naarada asks him to go back and obtain another set of children and to give them the responsibility of creating the world.

Accordingly, Daksha-Prajapati goes back, obtains a thousand children this time, known as “Shabalaaswaras”. As Daksha-Prajapati hands over the responsibility to these Shabalaaswaras, after few days, Sage Naarada again comes and plays spoilsport! Just like how he advised the Harieshwaras, he did the same with the “Shabalaaswaras” as well. Eventually, moved by Sage Naarada’s “great words of wisdom”, the Shabalaaswaras too attained Moksha and thus the job of creation again comes to a grinding halt! Angered again at Sage Naarada’s action, Daksha-Prajapati realized that there’s some conspiracy going on here! He immediately goes to Sage Naarada, fuming with anger and this time he didn’t ask anything to Sage Naarada! Rather, he directly curses Sage Naarada saying that from this day onwards he would have to keep wandering all over the world, without a permanent place to live! This is why, till date, Sage Naarada keeps roaming around the world with his “Veena” and the “Tanpura”, chanting Bhagawan’s divine name of “Narayana”!

This is just one reason why Sage Naarada keeps moving from one place to the other. There’s another reason as well – If a “Mahatma” or a highly realized Spiritual Master stays in one particular place all the time, He / She risks the accumulation of lot of “Bandhus” (Bonding’s between people)! This eventually might become an enemy to their “Sanyasa-Dharma”. For instance, if a spiritual master sits under a huge banyan tree, performs some miracles and transform the life of one person, what would happen next? This one person would go and spread the news about this “New Mahatma” to another ten people. These ten people would subsequently flock their way towards the banyan tree. Subsequently, these ten people would inform another hundred people! The number would only continue to grow further and further and at one stage, the entire time of the Mahatma would only be utilized in performing miracle after miracle! What about the other aspects of the “Sanyasa-Dharma” which the Mahatma should follow? This is the reason why we would witness, great Mahatmas would never stay under one roof for a long time. They would constantly be on wheels, travelling from one place to the other! This is exactly why we see Sage Naarada too, wandering from one place to the other, without being stay put at one domicile.

Moving on with the story thus, knowing that his second set of sons have also gone to Moksha, Daksha Prajapati goes back to his place and obtains sixty daughters. As the daughters grow up, he gives 27 of them in marriage to Chandra (Moon). The next thirteen daughters by names Aditi, Diti etc. were given in marriage to Kashyapa-Prajapati. After all these marriages took place, the bunch of clouds were born to one of Daksha-Prajapati’s daughters by name Lamba. Another daughter by name Kambu gave birth to “sorrows” in the world! Another daughter by name “Vishwaa” gave birth to “Vishve-Devas”. Another daughter by name “Vasu” gave birth to the “Ashta-Vasus”.

We would have often heard that the Devas (Celestial beings) are thirty-three in number. This number “thirty-three” is a very interesting composition. If we look at this composition of the “thirty-three” – Readers should remember this point very significantly here – Eleven “Rudras” (Bhagawan Shiva), Twelve “Aadityas” (Bhagawan Soorya), Eight Vasus and two Ashvini Devas. If we add up all of these – 11 + 12 + 8 + 2 = 33. All these thirty-three people put together, comprise the Devas or the Celestial beings.

Having said thus, we have previously mentioned that Chandra Bhagawan (Moon) had married 27 of the daughters of Daksha-Prajapati. Of these 27, Chandra Bhagawan had an interest only with one of them by name Rohini. For some reason, Chandra Bhagawan never had any interest towards the other 26 of them! Upon knowing this, Daksha-Prajapati who was the “father-in-law” of Chandra Bhagawan, got angry with Chandra Bhagawan and cursed him thus, “Oh Chandra! From today onwards you would be affected with “Kshaya-Roga”! “Kshaya-Roga” is a problem wherein the moon has a cycle of disappearing and re-appearing. This is why we see that the moon’s illumination keeps increasing for fifteen days, till the “Pournami” (Full-moon day) and henceforth, the illumination starts decreasing till it becomes zero (“Amaavaasya” or the “No-moon day). This happens for the next fifteen days. Subsequently, the cycle continues.

Thus, from all of these narrations, we can witness one thing very clearly here – This Daksha-Prajapati is an “expert in giving curses” to everybody! 😊 He doesn’t spare even great people like Sage Naarada, Chandra Bhagawan, etc. too! Hence, one learning for all of us is that, we too need to be careful in dealing with Daksha-Prajapati! 😊 For today, let us understand these narratives that we’ve discussed so far. We shall wait till the next episode to continue further! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of the next important event, wherein Sage Sukhaachaarya explains the story of Daksha-Prajapati. We’ve already witnessed the family lineage of Daksha-Prajapati yesterday and how he was continuing the job of creating the world further, as his earlier ancestors did. As Daksha-Prajapati marries and obtains 10,000 children known as “Harieshwaras” he passes on the responsibility of creating the world to his sons. As these Harieshwaras were continuing with the job, Sage Naarada comes down to have a chat with these people. Upon seeing these people working hard in creating more and more of the world, Sage Naarada gives them a suggestion thus – Rather than “wasting time” in creating the world further and further, with all sorts of uncertainties that exist with it, why don’t they focus on themselves and their spiritual growth, so that they can attain Moksha? Instead of doing something which is never going to be beneficial in any way for them personally, they can focus on meditating, penance, chanting of Bhagawan’s divine names, etc. and finally attain Vaikunta! Paying heed to Sage Naarada’s “valuable” advice, the Harieshwaras undertake deep penance and finally attain Moksha too!

Upon understanding that his sons were “misguided” and “tricked” by Sage Naarada into something that is unwarranted of at this stage, Daksha-Prajapati fumes in anger! He straightaway goes to Sage Naarada and demands an answer for what has happened to his sons! Sage Naarada understands that Daksha-Prajapati is in deep anger and thus tries to console him. Sage Naarada explains to him thus, “Oh Daksha-Prajapati! Don’t worry! These 10,000 people were not destined for the job of creating the world and this is why I had to intervene and re-route them to Moksha! Now don’t worry! Go back to your place and you would again reproduce. The people who would be born to you now, would carry out the job of creating the world further!” Accordingly, Daksha-Prajapati’s anger came down and he goes back to his place. As per Sage Naarada’s words, Daksha-Prajapati had the next set of 1000 sons, who were referred to as “Shabalaaswaras”! As these “Shabalaaswaras” grow up and mature, Daksha-Prajapati hands over the responsibility of creating the world, into their hands.

According to their father’s instructions, the “Shabalaaswaras” go about their job, which was half-left by their “Harieshwara” brothers. After few years pass by, Sage Naarada again comes back. This time he meets the “Shabalaaswaras” and offers the same advice as he did to the “Harieshwaras”! Sage Naarada says thus, “Oh Shabalaaswaras! Why are you wasting your time doing this mundane job day in and day out? Instead, why don’t you strive to attain Moksha, which is not that difficult as you think! I shall advice you in such a way that all of you would be able to attain Moksha seamlessly! Hence, stop this work and focus on the higher goal in your lives!”

As we read through this, we might think thus, “Oh wow! Attaining Moksha is much easier than going here and there, doing lot of work, etc. Just let us sit in one corner of the room and meditate and we shall reach Moksha!” But it’s still early days! Let’s wait for the story to continue further and then let’s witness whether it’s easy or tough to attain Moksha! 😊

Thus, the Shabalaaswaras also get brainwashed by Sage Naarada’s “seemingly pleasing” words of advice and they too enter the severe penance mode! As the Shabalaaswaras get into the spiritual direction, eventually they too attain Moksha with the divine grace of Bhagawan! As these 1000 people too make their way to Moksha, the creation of the world comes to a grinding halt, yet again! This angers Daksha-Prajapati even more as he rushes out of his place, this time with a savage resolution! He’s going to take Sage Naarada head-on! He goes to Sage Naarada and again fumes thus, “Oh Sage Naarada! What did you tell me last time when we met? You advised me to go and have thousand more children, so as to continue with the job of creating the world and now again you’ve played spoilsport by sending all of them to Moksha! Now I’ve had enough and more with you! You’ve cheated me in a big way and not only that – You’ve become a disgrace to the whole world!”

Hearing thus from Daksha-Prajapati, Sage Naarada didn’t know what to reply! He was clearly caught red-handed for what he had done! As he tried explaining his stance to Daksha-Prajapati, he is in no position to listen again! Daksha-Prajapati continues with his accord thus – And this time with more intensity – “Oh Sage Naarada! For what you’ve done, not once but twice, I’m issuing a curse on you! From now onwards, you would not have one place to stay in this world! Instead, you would be roaming around the world here and there! From that day onwards, till today, we see Sage Naarada roaming around all the time from one place to the other with his “Veena” and the “Tanpura”, chanting Bhagawan’s name of “Narayana”!

There is also another deeper meaning as to why Sage Naarada keeps on roaming around the world every time. We shall wait till the next episode to find out! Similarly, we also need to find out what did Daksha-Prajapati do after cursing Sage Naarada! What is going to be Daksha-Prajapati’s next step? Let us wait to find out in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The previous episode witnessed the culmination of Ajamila’s episode with an extremely important point in regard to the significance of “Nama-Sankeertanam” and how does it pave the way for attaining Moksha. The primary point that we tried understanding yesterday was that, Nama-Sankeertanam” doesn’t directly guarantee us a place in the Moksha but gives us the right direction through which we can attain Moksha. From the story, we witnessed how by chanting Bhagawan’s divine name of “Narayana”, Ajamila was blessed with an opportunity to be part of a great “Satsanga” wherein there was an important discussion on what is “Dharma” and “Adharma” in this world. This was a great learning, not only for Ajamila himself, but also for the entire world. Eventually after the discussion culminated between the Yama-Dhootas and the Vishnu-Dhootas, Ajamila realized his mistakes and repented that had he spent his entire lifetime chanting Bhagawan’s divine names, more and more good things would have happened in his life! If by chanting Bhagawan’s name just once was so powerful enough to bring about a huge “Satsanga” and a discussion, imagine what would have been Ajamila’s fortune had he devoted his entire life in chanting Bhagawan’s divine names!

Thus, from this Ajamila’s episode, readers should understand that chanting Bhagawan’s divine and sacred names in the form of Vishnu Sahasranaama is of paramount importance, and of course this is not going to directly take us to Vaikunta. By doing so, Bhagawan’s heart is going to melt in happiness and this happiness and heart-filled contentment of Bhagawan is what is going to ultimately take us to our goal. Thus, we should not confuse ourselves by “blindly” believing just the outward part of the story. We should become mature enough to undertake in-depth analysis like this, to understand the deeper meaning behind every instance that the Bhaagawatham text is offering to us!

Moving on further thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya continues his narration on how the whole world came into existence. Readers might be able to remember that the entire story started with how Svaayambhuva Manu commenced the entire agenda of creating the world. Subsequently his next generations including Utthaanapaada, Dhruva, Anga, Vena, Pruthu, Priyavratha, Aagneedhra, Naabhi, Rishabha Deva, Jada-Bharata and finally now we’ve witnessed the event of Ajaamila’s life. Readers might be familiar with these above-mentioned names, however, if some readers have newly joined us, I request all of you to go back few episodes and read them to get continuity. All these stories aren’t rocket sciences. They are easily understandable and comprehendible by all of us. Hence, readers need not worry whether we would understand all of this at one shot or not. All episodes are available in our blog and readers are hereby requested to read and re-read all of them, so as to get a solid understanding of whatever we are discussing here. It is to be understood that it is not enough if we read these things just once and get away. We should repeatedly keep reading them, take notes and ponder over all the important points that I’m stressing at the end of each and every instance that are discussed. Only then we would be able to understand and retain whatever we’ve read and learnt. Most importantly, it is not enough if we just understand and keep quiet. We should also make it a point that we follow all of them in our day-to-day life. Implementation is the key here. Listening, reading, understanding, etc. would take us only up to a certain point. But the real effect comes only when we start implementing all what we read, listen, understand, etc.

As Sage Sukhaachaarya moves on thus, we go into the next story – The story of “Daksha-Prajaapati”. So far we’ve witnessed the stories of the Dasha-Prachetasas. These people eventually got married and the son who was born out their marriage was none other than this Daksha-Prajaapati. Daksha-Prajaapati grows up and gets married. His next generation comprises of many women who were born out of his marriage. These women in-turn got married and gave birth to around 10,000 people, who are referred to as “Harieshwaras”. After the birth of these “Harieshwaras”, Daksha-Prajaapati passes on the job of further creating the world, to the hands of these 10,000 people. Accordingly, the “Harieshwaras” continue with the job.

As the “Harieshwaras” were performing their stipulated tasks, Sage Naarada arrives into the scene once more – This time again, to create some confusion amongst the Harieshwaras! “ 😊 Sage Naarada comes and talks to these 10,000 people thus, “Oh Harieshwaras! I’m happy that you’re taking over the job of creating the world further, from your father Daksha-Prajapati. However, let me tell you something important. Just think for a while – What is the purpose that you’re going to achieve by creating the world further and further? Don’t we have enough and more people already? What is that you’re going to gain by doing this mundane job? You’re not going to know what is going to happen to the people whom you’re creating further. Nether, are you going to know the tenure of the world that you’re creating people into! Neither are you going to know how long these people are going to live in this world! Given so much of uncertainties around, why do you want to waste time in creating things that are totally out of your control? Instead of doing this useless task, why don’t you focus on attaining Moksha by meditating and chanting the divine names of Bhagawan and thereby securing your life? If you really understand what I’m saying, just follow my words of advice!”

Saying thus, Sage Narada literally brainwashes these 10,000 people! Eventually, all of them start quitting their jobs and go into meditation and spiritual practices! As days, months, years roll by, these 10,000 people attain Moksha with the grace of Bhagawan! Now the entire creation agenda comes to a grinding halt! Upon understanding this, Daksha-Prajaapati learns that his sons have attained Moksha, rather than doing the job of creation which was allocated to them! Hence, he starts raging with anger! His anger knew no bounds because Sage Naarada has (as usual) spoilt his agenda!

What happens next? What is going to be Daksha-Prajaapati’s next reaction? Let’s eagerly wait to understand in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the happenings that took place at the “office” of Yama-Dharma-Raja. His “Dhootas” (Messengers) had rushed to his office and explained the case of Ajaamila and how they were not able to bring him to the Naraka Lokha, despite committing all possible sins in this world. They also explained how the Vishnu-Dhootas are trying to protect Ajaamila, just for the simple reason that Ajaamila chanted Bhagawan’s divine name just once! Hearing out the Yama-Dhootas’ narrative, Yama-Dharma-Raja himself started shaking with fear! He knew what was conspiring and understood that there’s going to be a serious threat to his position, if this “war of words” between his Dhootas and the Vishnu-Dhootas are going to continue any further than this point. Hence, Yama-Dharma-Raja decided to play the “defensive game” rather than going on a rampage! Thus, he calls his Dhootas near him and explains to them that for certain reasons, they should try and keep away from devotees of Bhagawan Vishnu, no matter what kinds of sins they had committed. If at all they happen to bump into any Vishnu devotee, all what should be done is to bow down to them, worship them, pay their respects to them and come back! Yama-Dharma-Raja clearly instructs his Dhootas that there should be no “dealings” with them apart from this! As the message was loud and clear from their boss, the Yama-Dhootas return back to Ajaamila’s place, where the Vishnu-Dhootas were waiting. The message was conveyed to them that Yama-Dharma-Raja has no objection in taking Ajaamila to Vaikunta and the green signal was given to the Vishnu-Dhootas for executing the same.

Now what do we understand from this whole Ajaamila story? In fact, we had concluded yesterday’s episode with a set of questions thus: “Oh! Whatever has been said till now for the past few episodes sound meaningless and funny! How can someone chant “Narayana” just once and still get away after committing all possible sins in this world? Doesn’t it become so easy then, to attain Moksha? Do Bhagawan’s divine names have so much of power that they themselves can single-handedly take us to Moksha?” Now let us see few important answers for these above questions:

For the question that these kinds of stories are sounding meaningless and funny, let me tell something here. If great people like Sage Sukhaachaarya or Sage Veda Vyaasa or Valmiki Maharishi explain something, there are lot of in-depth meanings in whatever narratives or stories they put forward. We should first convince ourselves that such great Maharishis are not fools afterall! This is why I always keep saying over and over again that we should not blindly get carried away only by the outward story line of any Sanaathana Dharma text. We should explore deeply into the story line and if we do so, we would be able to find a huge meaning behind each of them! This Ajaamila story is also not an exception. If we look at the outward sense of the story, it might seem to communicate a message that just by chanting “Narayana”, one can “easily” attain Moksha! But if we do an internal study on this story line, it is not the case! By just chanting one sacred name or syllable, a person cannot directly attain anything! Rather, chanting Bhagawan’s divine names “paves the way” for attaining Moksha.

Readers should be extremely careful in understanding the point here – Chanting Bhagawan’s divine names does not directly guarantee us “Moksha”, but it rather “paves the way” for us to attain Moksha. In other words, if we keep chanting Bhagawan’s names, it sets the right direction for us to reach Bhagawan. Here in Ajaamila’s case, if we look closely, we would find that by chanting Bhagawan’s name of “Narayana”, Ajaamila was gifted with the opportunity of being amidst a “Satasanga”, isn’t it? How? Ajaamila was listening to the “war of words” between the Yama-Dhotoas and the “Vishnu-Dhootas” on what is “Dharma” and what is “Adharma”! This is nothing but the finest example of a Satsanga. Both Yama-Dhootas and Vishnu-Dhootas are good and kind-hearted people and are closely associated to Bhagawan. Just because the Yama-Dhootas are taking people to the Naraka Lokha, it doesn’t mean that they are bad in nature. Taking people to the Naraka Lokha is a job that is assigned by Bhagawan to them. Just like Indra, Vaayu, Agni, and other celestial beings have their own “job profiles” assigned by Bhagawan, Yama-Dharma-Raja and his Dhootas are also “directly recruited” by Bhagawan to undertake a specific “job profile” of meting out punishments for people who do wrong actions. 😊 Hence, we should understand that the Yama-Dhootas are also part of the “Satsanga” along with the Vishnu-Dhootas. We should note here that because Ajaamila had chanted Bhagawan’s name, he had got the opportunity to be part of the “Satsanga” between the two camps.

Now because of this association with a great Satsanga, Ajaamila eventually realized his mistakes too – At the end of the “war of words” between the two camps, Ajaamila was moved to tears! He quickly realized that he had been given a great opportunity by Bhagawan, for just chanting one divine name of His! He repents to both the camps thus: “Oh Vishnu-Dhootas and Yama-Dhootas! Thank you for giving me a wonderful opportunity to be a part of your great discussion! In fact, I feel extremely blessed because this whole discussion arose out of my case! Just for the sake of me chanting one name of Bhagawan, He was extremely kind enough to send His Dhootas to bring me to Vaikunta! What a blessing! Had I been this way all through my life, chanting Bhagawan’s divine names regularly, what all good things might have come to me? I feel that I’ve missed out on a great opportunity, but at the same time I’m thankful to Bhagawan that He had been so compassionate on me!”

We can see here that there were two purposes that got served for Ajaamila –

Purpose 1: He got an opportunity to be part of a great Satsanga.

Purpose 2: Because of the association with the Satsanga, Ajaamila was able to realize his past mistakes.

Thus we can see here that Ajaamila attained Moksha only because these two purposes were fulfilled. That is, he was part of a Satsanga and with that, he realized his mistakes. It was only because of these two, he was able to attain Moksha. It was not merely after he chanted the divine name of “Narayana”.

Thus readers should understand the important answer here – By merely chanting Bhagawan’s names, one cannot attain Moksha. It is definitely not that easy as we thought it would be. However, chanting Bhagawan’s names pave the way for us to be part of a “Satsanga” or “Saadhu-Samaagama” (Association with good and spiritually-oriented people) and through this, we are able to realize our mistakes. It is only with these two aspects that we attain Moksha! So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and let us wait till the next episode to move on further! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important shift in the Ajaamila’s case, wherein the Yama-Dhootas weren’t ready to get convinced with the Vishnu-Dhootas’ narratives. The Yama-Dhootas come to a conclusion that “war of words” with the Vishnu-Dhootas is not going to help their cause. They thus decide to escalate the matter to their boss, who is none other than Yama-Dharma-Raaja himself! 😊 Thinking thus, the Yama-Dhootas rush their way to their boss and explain the entire story of how Ajaamila had committed all possible crimes during his lifetime and how the Vishnu-Dhootas are preventing him to enter the “Naraka Lokha”, just because Ajaamila had chanted the sacred name of “Narayana” of Bhagawan Vishnu, just once! They complain to Yama-Dharma-Raja in such a way that there is a confusion as to who is the leader of this world. They pose a question thus to their boss in this accord and ask him to intervene immediately in this case to clarify the confusion that currently prevails in the world. Their narrative is that, how can someone attain Moksha just by uttering one or two sacred names of Bhagawan Vishnu, even after committing heinous crimes during their lifetime!

As Yama-Dharma-Raja listens carefully to his Dhootas thus, he goes into a thought-process. He calls them closer to him and says thus, “Oh Dhootas! Whatever might be your problem with Bhagawan Vishnu and His devotees – Please do not shout and talk like this! Reduce your volume of your talking, so that nobody can hear what we are conversing!” Upon hearing thus, the Dhootas were confused more! They started thinking thus, “Oh! Why is our boss asking us to curtail their volume? What is wrong with him today? Normally, all what we’ve seen till today is how confident and loud he talks to everyone! Why are we seeing a different Yama-Dharma-Raja today?”

As the Dhootas think thus within themselves, Yama-Dharma-Raja continues further, “Oh Dhootas! Do one thing! From today onwards, if you find someone to be Bhagawan Vishnu’s devotees, please do not go near them for anything! In case, if at all you happen to go there, better circumvent them thrice, bow down in front of them, worship them and come back! Don’t use your “tactics” of throwing your rope on them and don’t ever dream of taking them to our Naraka Lokha! This is what I feel at the moment, because by the way things are going, I’m feeling afraid within me that I might lose my position and might be chased out!”

Hearing thus from their boss, the Dhootas didn’t understand anything! They didn’t know whether to laugh or cry upon hearing Yama-Dharma-Raja’s accord! How can a person like him be scared to this extent? What’s going on?

As Yama-Dharma-Raja sees his Dhootas starting to get a bit jittery, he explains to them further thus, “Oh Dhootas! Listen carefully here! The reason why I tell you guys to talk with less volume is that, if Bhagawan Vishnu is able to listen to our conversation that you have gone near a devotee of Him, the very next moment He would strip off my position and the entire Naraka Lokha would be destroyed within seconds! Hence, please remember my point very clearly and I’m re-iterating it once more. Never ever go near Bhagawan Vishnu’s devotees. If you do so, it would invite great danger to us, and our very existence would be under threat. Hence, don’t ever do this mistake again. Now please go and seek an apology to the Vishnu-Dhootas for coming in their way of taking Ajaamila to Vaikunta. Let them take Ajaamila to Vaikunta and whatever argument they pose, makes sense to me. So please do not interfere in this Ajaamila’s or any other cases of Bhagawan Vishnu’s devotees! We have other important things to do in life!”

Hearing thus from their boss, the Yama-Dhootas understand the reality and make their way back to Ajaamila’s place, where the Vishnu-Dhootas are waiting. Seeing both these camps of Dhootas argue intensely all this while, we might have an important question here: We might immediately tend to ask thus, “Oh! Whatever has been said till now for the past few episodes sound meaningless and funny! How can someone chant “Narayana” just once and still get away after committing all possible sins in this world? Doesn’t it become so easy then, to attain Moksha? Do Bhagawan’s divine names have so much of power that they themselves can singlehandedly take us to Moksha? An important answer awaits us in the next episode, which all of us should understand! This answer is going to be the crux of the entire Ajaamila episode! Stay tuned! 😊