The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the culmination of the argument between the Yama-Dhootas and Vishnu-Dhootas on the case of Ajaamila reaching Moksha! While the Yama-Dhootas refuse to relent from their stance that this Ajaamila, who was a criminal all through his lifetime can never reach Vaikunta by just chanting one of Bhagawan’s thousands of divine names, and that too just once! However on the contrary, the Vishnu-Dhootas substantiate and defend their stance that it is not important as to whether a person chants Bhagawan’s names knowingly or unknowingly or once or twice or a thousand times. All what is important is that, if Bhagawan’s divine names come out of a person’s mouth,, for whatsoever reason, he or she becomes eligible to attain Moksha then and there!

We might think how easy this for all of us is to attain Moksha! In fact, it is easier said than done! This is where we witnessed yesterday that if we do not have the continuous practice for anything in life, we would not be able to succeed. For instance, if I’ve to become a professional singer, I should make it a point that I do “Saadhagam” (rigorous practice) of music every day. If I’m skipping this routine for whatsoever reason, how on earth am I going to sing to the expected level, if I sit on a stage with a huge audience? Similarly, if we do not have the practice of chanting Bhagawan’s divine names right from a young age, how am I going to even remember Bhagawan during my old age? Hence, we should make it a point in all our lives that we should start our “NaamaSankeertanam” exercise now itself, rather than postponing it for some other day in the future. Also, it is extremely dangerous to postpone good activities, sheerly because our future is uncertain in this world. We do not know if at all we would be alive next minute! Given such an extremely high level of uncertainty of our life, we should never postpone activities that would take us closer to Bhagawan. So let us start now, rather than leaving it too late!

Concluding the argument thus, in the case of Ajaamila, the Yama-Dhootas were still not convinced totally. They replied to the Vishnu-Dhootas saying, “Okay fine! Even though we are totally not convinced yet, we shall take a break here. We shall meanwhile go to our master, Yama-Dharma-Raja and consult him for his opinion and then come back. Till then, do not take Ajaamila to Moksha!” The Vishnu-Dhootas accordingly agreed to the deal and thus the argument now shifts to the boss – Yama-Dharma-Raja. As Yama-Dharma-Raja is sitting on his high throne, his messengers, the Yama-Dhootas come running to him! Upon seeing them running towards him, Yama-Dharma-Raaja gets shocked. Normally the Yama-Dhootas are more confident and aggressive as compared to Yama-Dharma-Raja himself, but why is it the reverse today? 😉

Yama-Dharma-Raja becomes concerned and asks them, “Oh Dhootas! What happened to you guys? Why are you running towards me like this? Is there any problem?” Hearing thus, the Dhootas reply: “Oh boss! There’s a huge confusion. There is a guy by name Ajaamila. He has been a criminal all through his life and at the end of his lifetime, we went accordingly with the fateful rope, so as to bring him to the ‘Naraka Lokha’. However, the Vishnu-Dhootas came and interrupted our path with an argument that since Ajaamila has chanted Bhagawan Vishnu’s name once, he is supposed to go to Vaikunta and not the Naraka Lokha! How can it be possible that a person can commit all sorts of sins and still get away by just chanting one of the thousand Bhagawan’s divine names? Isn’t it unfair?”

Saying thus, the Yama-Dhootas continue further, “Oh Yama-Dharma-Raja! As this episode unfolds, there is a huge doubt and a war of words going on! Who is the real leader of this world? You or Vishnu? Who can decide the fate of a person, whether he/she can reach Vaikunta or the Naraka Lokha? You’re the person who maintains all the accounts of every individual, with regards to their sins and good deeds. You’re the person who decides which path a person should take. Given this fact, there is a group which is trying to challenge your decisions and accounts! What do we do now?”

Listening out to the Yama-Dhootas thus, Yama-Dharma-Raja is going to give an important reply. This reply is an extremely significant lesson, not only in the context of Ajaamila and his sins, but also for all of us to learn. What was Yama-Dharma-Raja’s reply? Let’s eagerly wait for it till the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had extended the discussion on the significance of “Naama-Sankeertanam” as discussed by Sage Sukhaachaarya, through the Ajaamila episode. We’ve witnessed that Ajaamila, who was an epitome of all possible sins in his life, was to be “escorted” to the “Naraka Lokha” by the “Yama-Dhootas”, for all what he had done! However, during the end of his life, as Ajaamila calls out for his son by name “Naarayana”, which melts the heart of Bhagawan Vishnu! This one chant of Bhagawan’s divine name was enough for Bhagawan to send His “Vishnu-Dhootas” running! They rushed to bring Ajaamila to Vaikunta! Eventually, a huge war of words broke out between the two camps, with one arguing that Ajaamila has to be severely punished and not let him get away for all his misdeeds, with just the chanting of one of Bhagawan’s thousands of names, only once! However, the Vishnu-Dhootas were quick enough to revert back by saying that even if a person chants Bhagawan’s name(s) knowingly or unknowingly, atleast once in lifetime, he / she becomes eligible to attain Moksha! Eventually, in yesterday’s episode, we had witnessed how Bhagawan’s divine names are more powerful than Bhagawan Himself. We had witnessed why Bhagawad Gita doesn’t invite much of an interest amongst many of us, however, the Vishnu Sahasranaama does! Why is it so? It is primarily because, when Bhagawan wants to proclaim so much about Himself, none of us take Him seriously! However, if someone by name Bhishmaachaarya explains about Bhagawan in detail, we are ready to appreciate it! 😊 This is the nature of the world, and Bhagawan Himself had to adjust to it!

Thus, the important point here is that, chanting of Bhagawan’s divine names are of paramount importance, and readers should be able to understand and appreciate this point after reading through these few episodes of Ajaamila’s story. As per Bhagawan Krishna, attaining Moksha by chanting Bhagawan’s divine and sacred names is perhaps the easiest way to attain Moksha! If there is an easy way like this, why can’t we exploit it fully and try to attain our ultimate goal? Hence from today, let us make a conscious effort in allocating some time amidst our busy personal and professional schedule for chanting Bhagawan’s names.

This might be easier said than done! I say this because of an important reason, which we are going to highlight upon in today’s episode. Now let us look at an important point here – If we call upon people today, for some “Naama-Sankeertanam” practices such as chanting of Vishnu Sahasranaama, Lalitha Sahasranaama, etc., many would reply by saying, “Oh! I’m too young for all this! I have many other professional and personal commitments for now! Let me finish all of them first! I shall come for all of these spiritual practices after my retirement age (60 years of age and above)! Till then, let me enjoy my life with all the money that I’m earning!”

Let me stress upon one thing here – To be upfront and blunt in this context, what is the guarantee that we would live till the age of 60 or 65? What if we encounter some physical illness or accident or whatever at a young age and pass away? Of course, I pray to Bhagawan wholeheartedly that none of us should have a pre-mature death, but having said thus, what if we encounter such a situation owing to our “Karma”? Our lifetime would be wasted away without even chanting one of Bhagawan’s names even once isn’t it? Hence, my point here is, rather than “postponing” our spiritual practices and “Naama-Sankeertanam” exercises, why can’t we make an effort to begin them now? Given the hard fact and truth that the future in front of us is so uncertain, why do we have to postpone good things to a later time, if we’re not even sure of being alive by then? This is the first point for all of us to ponder. Moreover, if we start postponing such constructive aspects in life, there would be no end for it. We would eventually keep postponing it further and further, simply because we do not have the mindset do it! Rather, if we can create that mindset right away and start doing it, many things would get resolved, isn’t it?

Secondly, in continuation of the previous point, assuming that we have a long life of say, 90+ years in this birth, if we don’t have the practice of chanting Bhagawan’s names from our younger age, it is going to become difficult for us to get into this habit overnight as we get older, isn’t it? Nothing in this world can happen overnight in a miraculous manner! Hence, if we do not have the practice of chanting Bhagawan’s names throughout our life, we wouldn’t be able to do so when we are at the deathbed! Our mind would never be able to think of Bhagawan at the time of death, if we get carried away with all sorts of worldly attachments! I hope readers remember the story of Jada-Bharata, which we witnessed few episodes ago, wherein Bharata passed away in his previous birth with the thoughts of how his deer would survive after his death! Eventually what happened to Bharata after that? He took the next birth in this world as a deer! This is exactly what would conspire, if we do not have the practice of “Naama-Sankeertanam” all through our life.

Therefore, the point that all readers must note here is that, we should refrain ourselves from postponing spiritual practices to the age of 60 and above. There is no point in doing so, simply because our future is so uncertain, given our exposure to innumerable challenges that we face day in and day out! If we’ve to start a spiritual practice, we should start now. There should be no “tomorrow” for this. So, now that we are totally aware of the significance of “Naama-Sankeertanam”, let us start chanting Bhagawan’s divine names now and today itself, at any cost! Let us not postpone this to some other day in future, as in many cases, this “day in future” would never come! We shall wait till the next episode to continue further with what Sage Sukhaachaarya has to say! Stay tuned! 😊

We are amidst a heavy war of words between the Vishnu-Dhootas and the Yama-Dhootas on the context of how significant the chanting of Bhagawan’s divine and sacred names is. On one hand, the Vishnu-Dhootas put forth their argument by saying that even if a person chants Bhagawan’s names unknowingly or without understanding its significance or for any other purpose apart from Spiritual practices, still gives the same effect as it is for chanting regularly with focus. They emphasize their point with an anecdote that if a child touches a burning lamp with its finger, not knowing that touching the fire is going to hurt, it is still going to burn the child’s finger. Does the lamp know whether the child is knowingly or unknowingly touching the fire? Hence, irrespective of whether we know the significance or not, even if we chant Bhagawan’s divine name “by mistake”, it is going to give us the effect of washing away all our sins.

This argument doesn’t go down well with the “Yama-Dhootas”. They pose their argument as to how can people escape from all their sins “just like that”? Isn’t this so unfair? What it means is that, people will commit all possible sins all through their lives, enjoy their life with all unwanted worldly pleasures, chant Bhagawan’s name once or twice and attain Moksha! Thus the “Yama-Dhootas” pose a serious question here – Is attaining Moksha such an easy task? As the Yama-Dhootas ask thus, the Vishnu-Dhootas establish their point that chanting Bhagawan’s divine names is of extreme significance by narrating another anecdote – If a person washes a piece of cloth with heavy dirt amidst the fast flowing Ganges, will even a single piece of dirt stick on to it after that? Will the river argue at that time that “Oh! This cloth has not been washed now for ten days and I will not wash away the 10-day-old dirt!”? Irrespective of whatever dirt is there on the cloth and for how much ever longer that dirt was sticking to the cloth, how does it matter for the water? Similarly, in our lives too, irrespective of whatever sins we would have committed all through our lives, if we chant the divine name of Bhagawan even once, all of the sins are going to be washed away, no matter when and how they were committed! This is the reason why it is advised that we chant the Vishnu Sahasranaama, which is nothing but a compilation of all the sacred names of Bhagawan Vishnu!

In fact, let us think of it in a different angle now – How many of us would be interested in chanting the Bhagawad Gita together, as compared to chanting of the Vishnu Sahasranaama? Many a times we would be interested in Vishnu Sahasranaama chanting, rather than Bhagawad Gita chanting! Why? The simple reason being, Bhagawad Gita is a tough text for us to understand and comprehend! Whereas the Vishnu Sahasranaama is comparatively easier for us to chant and enjoy! On a lighter note, if Bhagawan has to explain something about Himself to all of us, He makes it very complicated for us to understand! Whereas, if somebody else has to take up the responsibility of explaining about Bhagawan and His significance, it becomes very easy! Therefore we feel that the Bhagawad Gita, Vedas and Upanishads to be extremely tough and the Vishnu Sahasranaama to be very easy! 😊 The Bhagawad Gita, Vedas, etc. came from Bhagawan Himself and the Vishnu Sahasranaama came from Bhishmachaarya amidst the Mahabhaarata battlefield! It seems as if Bhagawan first tried explaining about Himself to all of us, so that we would get some interest to approach Him for Moksha! However, nothing worked in Bhagawan’s favor! Till today, we are finding it extremely tough to comprehend what Bhagawan Krishna has explained in the Bhagawad Gita, isn’t it? This is why, many people even today are doing extensive research on the Bhagawad Gita, but are still unable to comprehend the whole thing! The fact of the matter is that, only Bhagawan Krishna knows what He has explained in the text, and even after thousands of years, we find it virtually impossible to understand head or tail of it! 😊 Realizing that His Bhagawad Gita is going nowhere and meeting a dead-end,

Bhagawan Krishna thus thought of a different plan – Rather than Bhagawan Krishna talking all about Himself to the world, it might be better if someone else talks about Him! Even at our home today, if our immediately close people like our parents or wife or husband tell us something, we wouldn’t be very interested in listening to them! Whereas, if a third person tells us the same thing, we would immediately listen to them, isn’t it? 😊 This is the same conclusion to which Bhagawan also came to here! If He’s directly going to tell us about His significance, do’s and don’ts in our life, none of us are going to listen to Him! Thus, Bhagawan called out for Bhishmaachaarya and asked him to explain all of His significance and thus the Vishnu Sahasranaama was born! Thus, this is the origin of the great and sacred Vishnu Sahasranaama and of course, many of our readers might be knowing about this already! It is important for us to know that the Vishnu Sahasranaama is very much part of the Mahaabhaarata!

Thus the point here is that, chanting Bhagawan’s sacred names is of extreme significance! In fact, many contexts of our Sanaatana Dharma literature explains that Bhagawan’s divine names are more powerful than Bhagawan Himself! It is like 24 and 22! Now what is this 24 and 22? When we go to a jewellery shop to buy gold, do we buy 24-carat gold for making ornaments? No, isn’t it? It is because, 24-carat gold is the purest form of gold and if we try making ornaments with it, it is going to be extremely brittle in nature! However, if we reduce the purity from 24-carat to 22-carat by adding some silver to it, the strength of the ornament increases! Similarly, Bhagawan is like the 24-carat purest form of gold! Bhagawan’s divine names are like the 22-carat- ornamental gold! Now which one do we use regularly? Of course, the 24-carat-gold is pure and we can put it in a box and preserve it. But, it is the 22-carat one that we use regularly isn’t it? Similarly, it is the Bhagawan’s divine names that we can keep chanting at any time of the day at our own convenience! However, if we’ve to go to a temple to worship Bhagawan, can we do it at any time of the day? We can’t! There are specific timings at which we can worship Him! However, we don’t need to get an “appointment” from Bhagawan to chant His names! We can chant them at any time as per our convenience! This is the significance of “Naama-Sankeertanam”!

Hence, Sage Sukhaachaarya is trying to bring out the importance of “Naama-Sankeertanam” through the Ajaamila episode! So for today, let us also try and understand the significance of this important aspect of our Sanaathana Dharma and let us put it to practice! We shall wait till the next episode to continue with the next point! Stay tuned!  😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed the continuation of an interesting “War of words” between the Vishnu-Dhootas and the Yama-Dhootas, on the context of “Naama-Sankeertanam” and it’s importance. The Vishnu-Dhootas put forward their point that even if a person utters Bhagawan’s divine and sacred names by mistake, or for a different purpose other than Bhagawan, he / she would still be eligible for attaining Moksha! Even when a person uses Bhagawan’s divine names to make fun of others, or to demean others or for any other purpose too, all of theses count for the divine cause! Ultimately the point here is, irrespective of the purpose, if the name chanted is Bhagawan’s, he / she is eligible to attain Moksha!

Having said thus, the Yama-Dhootas aren’t in a position to accept the argument posed by the Vishnu-Dhootas! How can anyone and everyone attain Moksha, just like that? Wouldn’t it be unfair that everyone then carries out all possible Adharmic actions throughout his / her life time and finally chant Bhagawan’s name once and attain Moksha? If that is the case, everyone can attain Moksha very easily! How can the process of attaining Moksha become such an easy cake walk for everybody in this world? Moreover, if everyone attains Moksha, what is the purpose of having the “Naraka Lokhas”? We’ve discussed about not one or two, but twenty-five different categories of Naraka Lokha, isn’t it? If people are going to attain Moksha so easily, why at all should we have this twenty-five “Naraka Lokhas” then?

Answering the Yama-Dhootas for their valid point, the Vishnu-Dhootas claim thus, “Oh! How can you distinguish Bhagawan’s divine names as being chanted with or without focus? End of the day, what is being chanted is Bhagawan’s name, isn’t it? It’s like a child touching a flame without knowing that the flame is going to burn its finger. Just because the child is unaware of this fact, is the flame going to stop from burning the child’s finger? No, isn’t it? Similar is Bhagawan’s divine names as well – Irrespective of whether we chant them knowing their significance or not, the effect is still going to be the same!”

Although this might seem a better convincing answer from the side of the Vishnu-Dhootas, the Yama-Dhootas aren’t still satisfied! They query back thus, “Oh Vishnu-Dhootas! Your answer might be right, but not very convincing yet! This fellow, Ajaamila has committed sins after sins for the past 60-odd years! How can a chant of just one divine name of Bhagawan just once, remove off all his sins? In his case, for the 60 years of wrongful life that Ajaamila had led, he should suffer atleast for the next 2.5years! This only would do justice isn’t it?”

Here, readers should understand this question a bit more carefully – The Yama-Dhootas are posing the question that how a person can get liberated from the Naraka Lokha by just chanting one name of Bhagawan and that too just once! Is that one name of Bhagawan so powerful that if a person chants it just once in his whole lifetime and still can get away? Now the Vishnu-Dhootas counter the question thus: “Oh Yama-Dhootas! Just consider this example here – If you take a dirty piece of cloth which hasn’t been washed for some ten years or so and wash it now in the fast-flowing waters of the River Ganges, will a single piece of dirt stick on to the cloth anymore? Just because the dirt hasn’t been washed away for the past ten years or so, does it mean that it would stick on to the cloth for the next 7 or 10 washes? The moment this dirty cloth meets fast-flowing water, all dirt, irrespective of whether it is there in the cloth for the past 10 days or 10 years will get washed away isn’t it? Similarly, if you take a lighted lamp inside a tunnel full of darkness for so many years, can the darkness come and say that this light should not lit up the tunnel for the next 5 years or so, just because the darkness has been the order of the day for all these years? The moment a lamp is lit up in a dark tunnel, brightness is immediately going to dawn, and the darkness is immediately destroyed. So are our sins too! Irrespective of whether a person has committed a sin yesterday or ten years ago or 6o years ago, the moment he / she chants Bhagawan’s divine name, all the sins get washed away, irrespective of when they were committed!”

Thus we can see from all these accords for the past few episodes that Bhagawan’s divine sacred names have more significance than Bhagawan Himself! This is why we are advised to chant the Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita Sahasranaama, etc. daily without fail! The reason is primarily what we have discussed so far. Bhagawan’s divine names are extremely sacred and significant in nature and today’s message is that, if we chant Bhagawan’s divine names with ardent devotion, even once, we can be assured of liberation from all our sins that we’ve committed in our lives so far till date! Of course, we see here that this is the same effect, even when we chant Bhagawan’s names unconsciously or unknowingly! But having said thus, and having now known the significance of Bhagawan’s divine names, why shouldn’t we chant them consciously and with all our devotion? Let us try doing that from today! We shall wait till the next episode to continue further! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an interesting event which Sage Sukhaachaarya is narrating to King Parikshit to highlight the significance of “Naama-Sankeertanam”. Readers might be remembering that we had a long discussion on the various categories of “Naraka Lokha” and who reach there. We have had an extensive discussion spanning across several episodes wherein we had seen the different categories of sins and the corresponding punishments for few of them. As King Parikshit listens to all of this, he starts shaking with fear. He tries to recollect if he would fall into any of these categories that Sage Sukhaachaarya has described to him at length. As King Parikshit goes into the defensive mode, Sage Sukhaachaarya now explains to him that there is a way to get out of all of these imminent dangers that seem too promising in front of us. He starts narrating the story of a person by name Ajaamila. This Ajaamila was into too much of Adharmic activities all through his life and as he was getting old and when Yama-Dharma-Raja was about to dawn the rope around him to take him to the “Naraka Lokha”, he calls out for his son by name “Narayana”! The moment Bhagawan hears this from Ajamila, He immediately sends his “Vishnu-Dhootas” to bring Ajaamila to Vaikunta, rather than sending him to the “Naraka Lokha”. As the Visnhu Dhootas approach Ajaamila to take him away, the “Yama-Dhootas” become furious. A huge war of words break out between the Vishnu-Dhootas and the Yama-Dhootas. There is a heated argument between both the camps as to what is “Dharma” and “Adharma”. Specific to Ajaamila’s case, since he was a Brahmin by birth, he was supposed to follow all the rituals and spiritual practices that the Vedas and Upanishads has prescribed. However, he had deviated from his Dharma and gone into those activities that the Vedas and Upanishads have banned. This was the argument put forth by the Yama-Dhootas.

Hearing out the Yama-Dhootas patiently thus, Vishnu-Dhootas reply back, “Oh Yama-Dhootas! It is not like that! The moment a person chants a sacred and a divine name of Bhagawan, irrespective of whatever might be the purpose behind the chanting, it would still give the benefit associated with it!” Retaliating the stance taken by the Vishnu-Dhootas thus, the Yama-Dhootas reply back “Oh! These kinds of chanting sacred names would not be counted as Naama-Sankirtana in anyways! Just because someone is calling out their son or daughter or uttering Bhagawan’s names by mistake, doesn’t really make sense for sinsters to reach Vaikunta! We wouldn’t accept this!”

Hearing thus from the Yama-Dhootas, the Vishnu-Dhootas reply back thus, “Oh Yama-Dhootas! This is where you’re mistaken! Let us explain more on this point:

“Saanketyam paarihaasyam vaa sthobham helanamevaa!

Vaikunta naama granhanam ashesha akaram vidhuhu!!”

Now here is the important message for all of us. The Vishnu-Dhootas explain thus, “Oh Yama-Dhootas! Please understand clearly – For whatever purpose and agenda the names of Bhagawan are chanted, it would still give the same effect as a dedicated chanting does. For instance, if one has to identify one person amongst a group of ten or fifteen people as Vishnu, Maadhava, Madhusudhana, etc. (“Saanketyam”), it gives the same effect. In other words, if there are ten people in a group, and if someone asks us, “Who is that person by name ‘Vishnu’ amongst these ten people?” When we reply by saying “Vishnu is here!” Even this gives the same effect as that of meticulously chanting the divine name “Vishnu” by sitting in a corner. Whereas on the other hand, if we use Bhagawan’s name to demean someone – For instance, if we say “Oh! This guy by name Maadhava is such a fool!”, this too gives the same divine effect in us! Similarly, if we even utter Bhagawan’s name out of anger or frustration, this too gives the divine effect in us. By chanting Bhagawan’s divine names thus, it removes all sorts of sins from us!

We might still not be convinced with this explanation – How can Bhagawan’s divine names remove our sins, even if we do not chant them with the required austerity, seriousness, etc.? Let us compare an analogy here – Imagine there is a one-year old baby. This baby goes and touches the flame of a candle or a lamp and immediately what happens? The baby’s finger gets burnt by the flame isn’t it? Immediately it starts crying! Now can the mother say thus, “Oh! How can the flame burn my baby’s finger? Does the baby know that the fire would burn its finger? Since the baby doesn’t know this fact, the flame shouldn’t have burnt its finger!” Can someone argue like this? Irrespective of whether the baby knows or not, the flame will still burn it’s hand! Similarly, irrespective of whether we know the significance of Bhagawan’s divine names or not, whenever we keep chanting them on and off during our routine life, it gives us the same effect!

This is the reason why we keep Bhagawan’s divine names for our children! For instance, when we have a newly born baby, we name it as “Keshava”, “Narayana”, “Maadhava”, Vishnu”, etc. isn’t it? Why do we do so? It is only because, we are creating the opportunities to chant Bhagawan’s name indirectly! By calling out to our child, or by pampering our child, what do we do? We keep repeating these names often, isn’t it? Thus, all of these repetitions, knowingly or unknowingly adds to our “Punya” account! Eventually this repetitive chanting of Bhagawan’s names are so powerful that they would remove off all our sins that we keep committing day after day in our lives!

After hearing this from the Vishnu-Dhootas, were the Yama-Dhootas satisfied? The answer is still a “No”! What is their argument now? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊

By March 31’st 2018, we were able to complete an elaborate discussion on one of the most important and auspicious texts of our Sanaathana Dharma Literature – The Valmiki Ramayana. We’ve taken 324 episodes to witness almost each and every detail of the Ramayana text, right from the “Baala Kaanda”till the end of the “Uttara Kaanda”. We had learnt innumerable lessons for modern day life and management from all of these details. This was in itself a mega-project in all its glory. It was with Bhagawan Rama’s and Mother Sita’s divine grace that we were able to experience each and every part of the Ramayana story – Happy, sad, emotional instances, along with some important messages for leading a life according to the “Dharma”.

We are at a very interesting stage amidst the discussion on “Naama-Sankeertanam” and its significance, as narrated by none other than Sage Sukhaachaarya himself to King Parikshit. We’ve witnessed yesterday that King Parikshit, being terrified after hearing a detailed accord on the “Naraka Lokha”, asks Sage Sukhaachaarya for a solution to this whole problem! Upon King Parikshit’s question, Sage Sukhaachaarya narrates the importance of “Naana-Sankeertanam” and explains that whoever puts in a meticulous effort of chanting Bhagawan’s divine names with focus, can easily escape the clutches of the “Naraka Lokha”. By chanting Bhagawan’s names, we’re washing away all our sins, which would in turn enable us to reach the ultimate Vaikunta – The Abode of Bhagawan Vishnu!

Sage Sukhaachaarya goes on to narrate a story of Ajaamila, wherein he commits all possible sins during his lifetime, only for the Yama-Dhootas coming in calling, with an open invitation for the “Naraka Lokha”! 😊 However, upon seeing the shadows of the Yama-Dhootas approaching him, Ajaamila starts shaking in fear and calls out for his son by name “Naaraayana”! Just because Bhagawan Vishnu hears this, he immediately sends his Vishnu-Dhootas to bring Ajaamila to Vaikunta – The reason – He has chanted Bhagawan’s divine name! Thus, as the Vishnu-Dhootas ascend from the Vaikunta to take Ajaamila with them, a huge war of words breaks out between the Yama-Dhootas and the Vishnu-Dhootas as to who would take Ajaamila where! One one hand, the Yama-Dhootas put forth their argument that this Ajaamila has commited “n” number of crimes during his birth and he truly is “entitled” for the “Naraka Lokha”! 😊 On the other hand, the Vishnu-Dhootas put forth their argument saying that since Ajaamila has chanted Bhagawan Vishnu’s name atleast once, knowingly or unknowingly, he deserves a place in the Vishnu Lokha or Vaikunta! A huge debate brews up between the two camps as to what is “Dharma” and what is “Adharma” exactly! Yama-Dhootas become furious and they ask if people can escape the clutches of Naraka Lokha by merely chanting Bhagawan’s name, even after committing the worst of the worst possible crimes! They continue to explain their stance thus, “Oh Vishnu Dhootas! Moreover, did Ajaamila chant Bhagawan’s name with the intention of really calling Him? No! He just wanted to call his son! That’s it! If that’s the case, how can you proclaim that all his sins are washed away just because he uttered the name “Naaraayana”?

Of course, their question is extremely logical here! This is what we also keep doing every day too – If someone invites us to be a part of any “Satsang” or “Saadhu-Samaagama”, etc. what do we reply? We say, “Oh! We’re not that old yet! Let us cross the age of 60 or 65, and then we shall think about all that! Now since I’m young, I want to earn, make a career, make a nice luxurious living, etc. Once I retire from my job, I won’t have anything else to do in life and hence I shall come for all of these for “time pass”! This is the mindset that we have in today’s world too! This justifies and validates the claim that the Yama-Dhootas are making here – People take the Sanaathana Dharma for granted, do all possible crimes and mistakes, accumulate all the sins possible, but at the end, chant Bhagawan’s names and escape out! What is the justification for this? Let’s move on to see!

Now the Vishnu-Dhootas ask the Yama-Dhootas thus: “Oh Yama Dhootas! Tell us first – What is Dharma and what is Adharma! You are only saying repeatedly that this Ajaamila has committed all Adharma, isn’t it? Now explain to us what the difference between Dharma and Adharma is!” Yama-Dhootas reply back thus, “Oh Vishnu-Dhootas! Now you’ve come to the fundamental aspect of Sanaathana Dharma, here’s the reply: All those actions which the Vedas, Upanishads and our sacred texts have prescribed to be performed in this world by human beings, fall under the category of “Dharma”! On the other hand, those activities that the Vedas, etc. have banned human beings from performing, fall under the category of “Adharma”! In similar lines, if a person fails to perform the activities that the Vedas has prescribed, he / she would again fall into the category of “Adharma”! If a person commits activities that the Vedas has banned him / her from doing, this person goes into the category of “Adharma” as well!”

Having said thus, the Yama-Dhootas continue further with regards to Ajaamila now: “Oh Vishnu-Dhootas! If we take the specific case of Ajaamila, he has failed to perform the activities that the Vedas has prescribed for him to do! He was born as a brahmin! He should have performed all the spiritual practices that the Vedas have prescribed to do! He failed in doing them! Moreover, he has also gone into the category wherein he has performed those tasks which the Vedas have put a ban on. He had gone behind a woman outside of his marriage, which is a big crime! Thus, according to us, Ajaamila is an epitome of “Adharma”! How can he even think of going into the Vishnu Lokha? Moreover, the Ajaamila didn’t call Bhagawan by chanting the name “Naaraayana”! Instead, he called out for his son who was playing somewhere! How can you take this as a precedence of “Naama-Sankeertanam” and excuse Ajaamila for all what he has done through his life? Isn’t this unfair?”

Hearing out the Yama-Dhootas patiently thus, Vishnu-Dhootas reply back, “Oh Yama-Dhootas! It is not like that! The moment a person chants a sacred and a divine name of Bhagawan, irrespective of whatever might be the purpose behind the chanting, it would still give the benefit associated with it!”

Now what does this mean? An interesting accord awaits us in the next episode! Don’t go away anywhere! Stay tuned for a gripping discussion ahead! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the last two categories of people who are bound to reach the “Naraka Lokha”. Sage Sukhaachaarya had clearly explained that those who insult their Heads of their countries or territories in the open public and in a bad way, are sure of a direct ticket to “Naraka Lokha”. Similarly, those people who try to insult and malign Spiritual Masters, Gurus, Aachaaryas, Heads of prominent spiritual Mutts, etc. are also definitely bound to reach the wretched “Naraka Lokha” sooner than later. Hence, we’ve to be very careful here. We should as far as possible try and refrain ourselves from insulting or bad-mouthing anybody in the public domain and if we do so, we should start packing our bags from today itself, to commence our journey to the “Naraka Lokha”! 😊

As Sage Sukhaachaarya says thus, King Parikshit starts shaking with fear! He doesn’t know which category of the “Naraka Lokha” is he going to fall into! He thus asks a counter question to Sage Sukhaachaarya thus, “Oh Sage! You’ve so far spoken so much about the Naraka Lokha and I think this itself is enough to induce my fear! Now instead of giving more descriptions about the Naraka Lokha, tell me some ways as to how to escape from this treacherous pit! You’ve narrated the dubious distinctions of the Naraka Lokha for the past hundred-odd slokas! But tell me atleast one sloka that would give us the solution to escape the wrath of the Naraka Lokha!”

As King Parikshit earnestly asks thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya now commences the sixth “Skandha” with a beautiful and an important story. So far, readers might remember that we were having a lengthy discussion of the fifth “Skandha” of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, and with the following story, we are taking our leap into the sixth “Skahdna”. Now let us go directly into what Sage Sukhaachaarya is going to say here! Sage Sukhaachaarya is going to highlight the importance of “Naama-Sankeertanam”, which means, chanting the sacred names of Bhagawan continuously at all times! The broad message from this episode for all of us is that, if we continuously keep chanting Bhagawan’s sacred names at all times, Naraka Lokha would never be a possibility for us to reach! We thus would escape the wrath of the “Naraka Lokha”, if we focus on chanting Bhagawan’s divine names whenever possible. The more we chant Bhagawan’s names, the more we’re insulating ourselves from the “Naraka Lokha”. “Naama-Sankeertanam” has the unique powers of destroying all our sins within seconds!

This story which Sage Sukhaachaarya is going to narrate to highlight this point, is about a person by name Ajaamila. This section is called “Ajaamilo-Upaakyaanam”. Just like how we had recently witnessed the “Jada-Bharata-Upaakyaanam”, here we’re going to witness the “Ajaamilo-Upaakyaanam”. Ajaamila was born as a Brahmin, made himself scholarly in all the Vedas, Upanishads, etc. Eventually he got married to a beautiful wife and had children too. However, during the course of his life, he came across another beautiful woman and eventually fell in love with her! This happened although his wife is alive. It is interesting to see here that extra-marital affairs were in practice even thousands of years ago! 😊 As Ajaamila fell in love with the second woman, he started to ignore his wife and family and started spending more and more time with his “newly-found love” of his life! He failed to feed his family adequately, failed to look after them in the proper way, and failed to conduct any sorts of auspicious spiritual activities at home, etc. In fact, he was too much carried away by his infatuation that he even failed to perform his “Nithya-Anushtaanam” (Sandhyaavandana and other daily spiritual practices). Thus, he was living a life only comprised of lust, infatuation, etc. As he progressed with age, he has to experience the punishments of sacrificing all the spiritual practices, despite being a Brahmin, isn’t it? This is the point wherein the “Yama-Dhootas” (Assistants of Yama-Dharma-Raja) come along and throw the rope towards us, so as to escalate us into the “Naraka Lokha”!

At this point, Ajaamila gets the fear of his life! He starts trembling as he sees the shadows of the Yama-Dhootas approaching him! He didn’t see them yet in person, but even when he saw their shadows, he started shaking with fear! Immediately, Ajaamila called out for his son, whose name was “Naaraayana”! He calls out loud thus, “Oh Naaraayana! Oh Naaraayana! Please come to see me! I’m about to die!” Hearing the fervent calls from his father thus, his son Naaraayana comes running to see what has happened to his father. As this Naaraayana arrives, the Vishnu-Dhootas (Assistants of Bhagawan Vishnu) arrive on the other side of Ajaamila! They’re coming down to take Ajaamila to Vaikunta, because Ajaamila has called out Bhagawan’s divine name of Naaraayana! Even if Ajaamila wasn’t really calling Bhagawan by that name, just because the name “Naaraayana” is a divine and a sacred name, Bhagawan Vishnu wants to take him to the ultimate Vaikunta!

As the Vishnu-Dhootas ascend, they have an interesting conversation with the Yama-Dhootas. Upon seeing them, the Yama-Dhootas get confused and ask thus, “Oh Vishnu-Dhootas! Why have you come here? Why are you trying to take Ajaamila to Vaikunta? He doesn’t deserve this royal treatment as he has done enormous amounts of sins all through his life, for which he deserves the Naraka Lokha! So we’re taking Ajaamila with us!” Upon hearing thus from the Yama-Dhootas, the Vishnu-Dhootas reply back thus, “Oh Yama-Dhootas! What you’re saying is correct! But then, since Ajaamila called out for Bhagawan Narayana at the end of his birth, Bhagawan has directly sent us to take him to Vaikunta!” As the Yama-Dhootas hear this reply thus, they become angry and irritated! They ask back thus, “Oh Vishnu-Dhootas! What kind of a logic is this? If a person commits all sorts of crimes during his lifetime and finally, just because he chanted Bhagawan’s name once, and that too, by mistake, how can you give the benefit of doubt to this person? If that is the case, other people in this world would take this as a precedence, commit all possible crimes in this world, chant Bhagawan’s names like Krishna, Maadhava, Madhusudhana, Pundarikaaksha, etc. and attain Vaikunta! This is perverted smartness, isn’t it? How can people get away so easily like this? We wouldn’t allow such things to happen!”

Thus commencing with this, a huge war of words broke out between the Vishnu-Dhootas and the Yama-Dhootas! There was a huge debate as to what is “Dharma” and what is “Adharma” exactly! Both the camps were literally fighting with each other to establish their points of views! Now what’s going to happen next? Who won this battle of words? What was the outcome of this war? Let’s wait till the next episode to witness further! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the extension of the discussion on the important point made by Sage Sukhaachaarya that those people who indulge themselves in activities that are against Bhagawan and against our Sanaathana Dharma would directly reach Naraka Lokha without fail! In due course of yesterday’s episode, we had also witnessed some unfortunate incidents that keep happening in the present-day wherein some fringe groups of anti-Hindu and anti-social elements constantly involve themselves in instigating people against Sanaathana Dharma, thereby making a mockery of it. These people indulge in such activities primarily because of three reasons – Firstly, they are jobless, and do not know what to do in life! Secondly, they’re pushing a hidden agenda promoted from vested groups outside of our Bhaarata Desha, whose sole aim is to malign Hinduism. Thirdly, these groups are being heavily funded behind the screens (black money) by so-called non-governmental and “charitable” organizations elsewhere in the world and their sole agenda is to get India out of Hinduism.

Given the present scenario thus, it is up to all of us as ardent followers of our Sanaathana Dharma, not to give in to any such rubbish from all these groups and in turn try as much as possible to propagate the significance of our Sanaathana Dharma principles to our people, so that we can save our society and thereby our great country from becoming slaves to these third-rated elements.

Now moving on further, Sage Sukhaachaarya explains the next point wherein he says that those people who misbehave with the Heads of their territory or with the people who are in service to the Heads of their territory will directly go to the Naraka Lokha. Similarly, those people who misbehave with our great Gurus (Spiritual Masters), Aachaaryas, Mathaadhipatis (Heads of Hindu Spiritual Mutts), etc. will also meet the similar end! Now this is a very important point and requires some pondering here.

Again, in today’s scenario, how many times are we seeing in the recent past (atleast for the past 5 years or so), some people trying to demean and malign our Head of the country? In fact, some people go to the extent of making personal remarks, derogatory statements with unparliamentary words that shouldn’t be otherwise used in the public domain! We’re sadly witnessing such incidents growing in number every passing day! What makes me sad is that, such ignorant people are not only paving their way to the Naraka Lokha but are also exposing their bad character and corrupt nature to the common public. In the recently concluded general elections in India last year, if we happen to watch the trails of campaigns made by some opposition leaders in the camp, it sometimes gets so disgusting to a point wherein it portrays how cheap these so-called “leaders” are! Ultimately what conspired during the elections is that, these opposition leaders were exposed for their ignorance and hallow campaigns and finally the present leader of Bhaarata Desha was re-elected with an even better margin than before!

Thus, the point here is that, we should make sure that we do not try to malign someone in open public, which would rather expose our hallow attitude, rather than the person whom we’re trying to malign.

While Sage Suhaachaarya says thus, he also adds on to this point by explaining that we should refrain ourselves from maligning Spiritual Masters, Heads of prominent spiritual Mutts, Aachaaryas, etc. This is because, these people are ardent devotees of Bhagawan. If we try and insult such ardent devotees, we are only provoking Bhagawan’s anger and fury, which is ultimately going to ruin us forever. We’ve already witnessed this during our Ramayana project, wherein we saw how Bhagawan Rama was extremely patient even when Ravana tried to hit Him with thousands of arrows. However, Bhagawan’s anger got triggered only when Ravana attacked Hanuman, who is an ardent devotee of Bhagawan! We should understand clearly that Bhagawan would not spare us if we try to insult or malign or attack any of His ardent devotees! Spiritual Masters, Heads of prominent Mutts, etc. fall under this category. Neither it is inappropriate to feel jealous about people who are Heads of Mutts, nor it is to malign them in any possible way. Given our levels of maturity and lowest of the low levels of spiritual progress, we can never become what they are! Those who are Spiritual Masters are “spiritually realized souls” and it is our bound duty to respect them and learn whatever we can from them.

Saying thus, Sage Sukhaachaarya lists out twenty-five different categories of people who would reach the Naraka Lokha, of which, of course we’ve witnessed only the important ones. Sage Sukhaachaarya concludes this discussion by saying thus, “Oh Parikshit! Whatever I’ve discussed so far as part of the Naraka Lokha episode, is just a tip of the huge iceberg! There are many more categories pertaining to the Naraka Lokha and I shall continue discussing them if we had the time!” Hearing all of this, King Parikshit starts shaking with fear! He doesn’t know in which category of Naraka Lokha is he going to fall into! He asks Sage Sukhaachaarya thus, “Oh Sage! You’ve so far spoken so much about the Naraka Lokha and I think this itself is enough to induce my fear! Now instead of giving more descriptions about the Naraka Lokha, tell me some ways as to how to escape from this treacherous pit!”

Hearing thus from King Parikshit, Sage Sukhaachaarya is going to give an important answer to him, so as to calm him down. What is that answer? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of an important point that Sage Sukhaachaarya emphasizes, as part of his discussion on who reaches the wretched “Naraka Lokha”. Here he says that those people who try to defame Bhagawan in open public, who create false propaganda about Bhagawan and the Sanaathana Dharma, and those who openly force people to act against Bhagawan’s words and move away from Sanaathana Dharma, would get the “privilege” of reaching the “Naraka Lokha” with a “Rockstar welcome”! 😊 It is indeed interesting to note here that Sage Sukhaachaarya has perhaps knew what would conspire thousands of years into the future! All of us must be aware of what is happening in the present-day scenario in this regard! We are sadly at a stage wherein our Sanaathana Dharma is being challenged in perhaps the most unethical way the world has seen till date! There are innumerable instances through which, certain groups of people are trying to drive their agenda to move people away from Hinduism. This happens openly and deliberately in some places in the form of “religious conversions” and “religious prosecutions”, and some other places it happens in a covert and a secret manner. Moreover, there are certain other groups of people who try to create a mockery of various sacred practices that our Sanaathana Dharma has prescribed.

Recently for instance, we had a fringe group trying to cook beef (cow’s meat) in the open public, just on the pretext of mocking Hindu traditions wherein we treat the cow as a sacred animal. Some other fringe groups had organized a “feast” on the road, to “create awareness” amongst people that we can consume food during a solar eclipse! My only response to such so-called “intellectuals”, “secularists” and “lobbyists” is very simple – Try doing whatever cheap things you can! The more mockery you do, the more you’re exposing yourself and your ignorance! End of the day, Sanaathana Dharma is thousands of times greater than what you are! Those who get involved in such heinous crimes, might seem like escaping the law of the land today! But none can escape the law that Bhagawan has laid down! The entire world is bound by it and those criminals who commit such “mockery shows” would be dealt with by Yama-Dharma-Raja in the appropriate manner in the “Naraka Lokha”!

Having said thus, one might ask a question here – Given that we’re living in this scenario wherein our Sanaathana Dharma is getting challenged meaninglessly and baselessly, what should be our role as ardent Sanaathana Dharma followers to either stop such hate campaigns or to sustain such attempts? My answer to this question is very simple – Whatever might be the situation, as ardent followers of Bhagawan, we should never give into any of these hate mongers! Let them do whatever it takes to malign Sanaathana Dharma. We should always remember that our Sanaathana Dharma is way stronger than all of these fringe elements put together and can never be destroyed. Even till date, if we look at our ancient Indian history, how many invasions has our Bhaarata Desha faced so far? How many people have tried to play their dirty religious tricks and agendas? This has been happening for the past thousand years now! Yet, has any damage occurred to any of our Sanaathana Dharma texts or principles? We’re still having access to key texts like Valmiki Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhaagawatha Puraana, Vishnu Puraana, Shiva Puraana, etc. isn’t it? We still have many people who are ardent followers of our Sanaathana Dharma, who are scholars in our spiritual literature in today’s world, isn’t it?

Thus, we should always remember what Valmiki Maharishi has said when he commenced writing the Ramayana text. Of course, we had discussed it during our early days of this blog, and it is worth to recollect at this crucial point. As Bhagawan Bramha blesses Valmiki Maharishi to commence writing the Ramayana text, he says thus, “Oh Sage Valmiki! Please note this important point – Until the River Ganges keeps flowing, Until the Himalayas exists in this world and Until the seas and forests exists in this world, your Ramayana text will also co-exist in this world with the same amount of reputation and name!” We should always remember this as we get along with our spiritual life.

In fact, Valmiki Maharishi continues further thus, “Oh Sage Valmiki! Having said that your Ramayana text would always never fall short of reputation, there might be some threats arising from few anti-social elements that try to spread venom! You don’t need to worry about all of it! Bhagawan Rama knows how to deal with those elements, and just like how He dealt a blow to Ravana and Co., He would make sure that these anti-societal elements would be taken care of!” Saying thus, Bhagawan Brahma blesses Valmiki Maharishi as he begins his assignment! Thus, the point that all of us should understand here is that, we shouldn’t be too much worried about whatever crap that these anti-Hindu elements keep doing. Our focus should only be on the Sanaathana Dharma and how best we can follow it, to attain spiritual progress. We should never pay heed to any of those fringe elements. Moreover, if the situation becomes threatening, we should at the same time, be ready to challenge and throw them out of our Bhaarata Desha! At testing times, we should of course not sit as mute spectators! Hindus should unite and rise to the occasion to challenge the fringe elements and to throw them out of the country!

So for today, let us ponder over this important point and we shall wait till the next episode to continue it further! Stay tuned! 😊