The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed how King Parikshit attained the curse of being bitten by a snake within the next seven days. It is to be recollected by readers that King Parikshit fell into the same trap that he himself had laid down – He had once given ten places for Kali Purusha to dwell in this world, which included anger too! However, it was this same anger that pulled King Parikshit into the trap of Kali Purusha. Here we can witness how smart is Kali Purusha in this world! If King Parikshit himself was not an exception for Kali Purusha to punish, where are we then? Hence, the important message from this point is that, we should be extremely careful not to fall into any of the traps that Kali Purusha has laid for us! Although these traps might be extremely tempting for us to go into, we should use the power of discrimination given to us by Bhagawan, to stay away from all of these!

Moving forward thus, we saw yesterday that the sage upon whom King Parikshit showed his anger wakes up from his penance and learns what had just happened! The sage realizes that the king had come to see him but due to his non-responsive state, the king had got angry and threw a dead snake over his neck. The sage also realizes that not withstanding this “great insult” done by the king to his father, his son had cursed him severely too! The sage pulls up his son and scolds him for this act! However, all is too late now and King Parikshit’s date of death has been fixed!

Meanwhile as King Parikshit reaches back his palace, he realizes that he had committed a huge mistake! He shouldn’t have fumed in anger like that to a sage who was in deep penance. As a King, he should have had the balanced frame of mind to think and then act. But here, King Parikshit realizes that he had acted without that thought process. Of course, it was due to extreme hunger and thirst, and that moment was beyond his control! Yet, the story remains that he had committed a mistake, which he shouldn’t have! He was sure that this mistake is going to cost him huge!

Hence, he decides to end his life by sitting towards the northern direction and by undertaking a “fast until death”.

“Ahovayam dhanyatamaam dhrupaanaam nirveda moolo dvijashaapa roopaha!
Ithih shamraajastyavasaayepthaha praacheena mooleshu kushechu jeeraha!!”

Dejected with himself thus, King Parikshit realizes that the world is moving slowly into the intense hold of the Kali Yuga and he decides that it is worthless to live any further! Although he tried his best not to fall into the traps of Kali Purusha, he still fell into it owing to his fate! Hence King Parikshit decides that he has had enough! He thus sits facing the northern direction with a staunch decision of fasting unto death.

As fate would have it, it was at this crucial juncture that Sage Shukaachaarya along with his disciples pass through that very place where King Parikshit was sitting with his savage resolution. Realizing that Sage Sukhaachaarya is walking towards him, King Parikshit gets up from where he sits, bows down and pays respect to him. King Parikshit also realizes that it is a great thing that Sage Sukhaachaarya has come to him for something!

“Aho adhyavayam brahman saksebhyaaha kshatra bandhavaha!

Kripayaa atithi roopena bhavadbhih teerthakaah gruthaaha!!”

Upon the arrival of Sage Sukhaachaarya, King Parikshit bursts out into tears! King Parikshit is trying to seek some solace under the expert guidance and expertise of Sage Sukhaachaarya! As King Parikshit is all in tears, Sage Sukhaachaarya tries to console him and asks the reason behind his outburst. Upon which, King Parikshit narrates the entire set of events to Sage Sukhaachaarya and that, his death is scripted to happen by the end of the seventh day from today!

Now what does Sage Sukhaachaarya reply? How is he going to take this forward? What is that solution he’s going to give King Parikshit so as to alleviate him from this curse? Let’s wait to witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had been at an important juncture wherein King Parikshit falls into the trap laid by himself! It was the same King Parikshit who had allocated “Rajo Guna” (Anger) wherein Kali Purusha can reside. Despite Kali Purusha’s warning, not to enter into his territories, King Parikshit allegedly enters into the territory of anger and gets a terrible curse.

We witnessed the series of incidents that pulled King Parikshit into the trap – As he was going for hunting, he suddenly starts feeling thirsty and hungry. To satisfy his hunger and to quench his thirst, he goes to a sage who was in deep penance. Owing to the non-responsiveness of the sage to King Parikshit, he becomes angry at one point and throws a dead snake around his neck and leaves that place! Upon seeing the dead snake around his father’s neck, the sage’s son gets angry and curses King Parikshit that he would meet his end within the next one week and his end would be through a snake-bite!

This is how King Parikshit was cursed and this is an important lesson for all of us – If we’re falling into any of the ten traps that King Parikshit had declared, we’re bound to get into trouble like this, as Kali Purusha is not an easy person to handle! 😊 If we mess up our lives by falling into these traps, Kali Purusha is surely going to mess our lives up! Hence, we need to be extremely careful and watchful here. It should be seen here that nobody is an exception in this case – Even King Parikshit himself, who was the person to allocate the ten dwelling places of Kali Purusha, was not exempted! He too met his end by falling into one of the ten traps! If such is the case for King Parikshit himself, where are we in this world? Hence, the only option for us is to be very careful and make sure that we do not fall into any of the ten traps laid down by Kali Purusha!

Thus, the sage’s son curses King Parikshit. The sage’s son was equally powerful in terms of penance and high level of spiritual development! Within a fraction of a second, he realized what had happened. He realizes that it was none other than the king who had come to this place and the king had tried to insult his father by performing such a heinous act! He decides to teach the king a fitting lesson thus:

“Ithi lankithamaryaadham takshakahstaptame hani!

Dakshateesma kulangaaram choditho me tadathvadaam!!

Tathobhyetatyaashramam baalaha gale sarpa kalevaram!

Pitharam veekshya duhkhaarthaa bhokthakanto ruroodhaha!!”

Thus, the son couldn’t tolerate the insult done by the king to his father and curses the king that he would meet his end very soon. He curses thus, “King Parikshit would be bitten by a snake by name “Dakshaka” on the seventh day from today and would be meeting his end with that!”

Upon hearing his son’s loud proclamation thus, the sage gets disturbed from his penance and opens his eyes thus. He sees his son with anger written all over his face and enquires what had happened and why is he so angry all of a sudden. The son replies thus, “Oh father! Look at what is there around your neck. It is only upon seeing this, I became terribly angry. Putting a dead snake around a sage who is in extreme penance is a huge insult! I wanted to punish the person who had insulted you this way! Thus, I cursed him and this is the reason why I’m standing in front of you with anger!”

Upon hearing this from his son, the sage got very angry on his son and scolds him thus, “Oh son! You’re supposed to be part of a great dynasty of sages! Sages who are spiritually elevated people, should not give room for anger like this. If the king had done such a thing, he is a “Kshatrya” and he is bound to get angry like that. Whereas, as a “Brahmana”, you are supposed to have control on your anger, and here, you’re not even able to tolerate such a small thing! Hence, rather than cursing him, you should have enquired the matter and then decided the next course of action! Just because he had put a snake on me, it hasn’t affected me in any way! Moreover, the snake is dead! So it hasn’t affected me in any way. If such is the case, the king hasn’t done any fault and you’ve still cursed him for no fault of his!”

Scolding thus, the sage continues further, “Oh son! Do you know one thing? Parikshit has only put a dead snake around me! However, the object (my body) on which he had put the dead snake is none other than another snake which is alive!” Upon hearing this, the son was stunned and asks his dad for more explanation! The sage replies thus, “Oh son! Please realize that the snake is nothing but our body! (Shareeram). You are more concerned with my human body than my Aatman and thus you have cursed the king! You’ve been carried away by the insult done to this physical body and thus, you shouldn’t have done such a big mistake!”

From this part of the discussion, we should realize that “patience” is very important for any human being in this world. If we’ve to hurry up in whatever we are doing, and if we’ve to take even small things as big insults, there is no end to the suffering that we are voluntarily accumulating within ourselves. If we start developing the characteristic called “Patience”, we can have a balanced frame of mind while thinking and taking important decisions, both personally and professionally. Here we’re witnessing the sage’s son cursing King Parikshit owing to lack of patience. Had he been a bit slow and steady in enquiring what had happened and why did the king do such a thing, this curse wouldn’t have come by and King Parikshit would have been saved! This is what happens amongst all of us in today’s world as well! We commit something wrong, owing to a sudden rush of emotions, and later keep repenting for what we did for our entire lifetime! This is what we need to be careful about!

So for today, let us realize this important point and wait till the next episode to witness what happened to King Parikshit after this! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the extension of the conversation between King Parikshit and Kali Purusha, wherein both of them strike a “deal”! According to the deal, King Parikshit lists down places wherein Kali Purusha can dwell in this world at his free will and wish. King Parikshit initially lists down four important places where Kali Purusha can dwell – Places wherein “Dyuutham” (Gambling) happens, “Paanam” (Drinking excessive alcohol and wreaking havoc), “Striyaha” (Wherein crimes against women are on the rise) and “Soonaha” (Wherein animals are being slaughtered and tortured). Having said thus, Kali Purusha is not very satisfied with the number of “places” that King Parikshit has given him. He wants for more. King Parikshit now comes up with the fifth place – “Gold”. People who are crazy behind gold, clearly would invite Kali Purusha to their places! In today’s world we’re witnessing a huge surge in gold imports to India and we’re witnessing many crimes and issues that arise due to the craze behind gold!

Even after giving the fifth place to Kali Purusha thus, he was still not satisfied! It is here when King Parikshit comes up with five more places thus – “Anrutham” means “talking lies”. “Madam” means having lot of “head-weight” that I’m everything in this world! “Kaamam” means having excessive desire. “Rajaha” means extreme anger. “Vairam” means “enmity” over someone, or taking vengeance against someone for some reason. Thus, these are the next five places wherein Kali Purusha dwells in this particular Yuga.

After giving these ten places, King Parikshit asks Kali Purusha if this is enough! Within his mind, Kali Purusha was still feeling that these ten were insufficient, however, due to the fear for King Parikshit and his prowess, Kali Purusha calls it a “deal”, with lot of reluctance from within him! As Kali Purusha turns his back and leaves the place, King Parikshit asks him one last question – “Oh Kali Purusha! Please tell me one thing! I’ve given you ten places to reside. If I’ve to ensure that I wouldn’t come into your area, what should I do?” Kali Purusha replies thus, “Oh King Parikshit! It’s very simple! Please ensure that neither you nor your people enter into this territory and everything would be fine! Unless and until people do not enter these ten areas, I would never harm anyone in this world. If however, by mistake or hook or crook, people try to enter into the territories where I reside, I’ll surely take all of them to task!”

Thus from this important episode, we understand that we should make sure not to give an “entry” into any of these ten designated places where Kali Purusha dwells in today’s world! The point is that, we’ve to use our discrimination capability given by Bhagawan and make sure that we do not get tempted by any of those ten items! The biggest problem here is that, all these ten places are like “magnets” and they would try to attract us towards them with all the possible temptations. For instance, we set our goal as to lead a luxurious lifestyle. There are of course many ways to get to that goal. One is of course with due hard work and prayers. The other is always by taking a “short-cut”, by bullying others, cheating people, involving in gambles, etc. All of these “short-cut” methods to attain success would automatically “attract” us into those ten places where Kali Purusha resides. This is why we say in today’s world that there is no short-cut for success. We need to struggle and slog the hard way, so as to attain sustainable success!

Moving on thus, Kali Purusha departs to dwell in all of his ten places and that conversation comes to an end. Days, months and years roll by, and King Parikshit ensures that neither he nor his people fall into the traps wherein Kali Purusha actively resides. One fine day, King Parikshit sets out for some hunting. He takes his sword, artillery, etc. and enters into a deep forest area. As he was going deep and deep inside the forest, he suddenly started to feel hungry and thirsty at the same time. However, since he was so far away from his place and since he was inside a dense forest, King Parikshit did not get anything to eat or drink. As he passes through the forest, he sees a saint (“Rishi”) who was doing deep penance. He was the only person around in that entire area and hence, King Parikshit goes to him to check if he can get something to eat or drink. He tries to see if he can somehow wake up the saint from his tapas and enquire with him for some sources of food.

However, King Parikshit realizes in due course of time that the saint cannot be woken up as he was in extremely deep stage of penance. As King Parikshit waits and waits, his hunger and thirst increases! At one point he becomes so desperate for food and water, that his anger takes over! This is what happens to us also – For instance, if we’re going on some tour (“Yatra”) and if we do not get proper food and water to consume, what do we do, and how do we react? We start getting giddy, sleepy, dull, tired, etc. and ultimately at one point, we would start fuming at other people because of our hunger, isn’t it? 😊 Same thing happens to King Parikshit too here! It is to be remembered that Kali Purusha very much resides in “Rajaha” (Anger), and King Parikshit has now clearly fallen into the trap! He thus becomes so angry on the saint that he has not responded to his repeated calls.

Accordingly, King Parikshit wanted to “punish” this sage very badly. He thus sees a dead snake in one corner. He takes that dead snake with the tip of his arrow and throws it on the sage. The snake falls around the sage’s neck! Even then, the sage doesn’t get disturbed from his penance! Such was the depth of meditation in which the sage was!

Not getting a response thus, King Parikshit drives away from that place with all his hunger, thirst and the resultant frustration. After some time, the sage’s son comes to see his father and he gets stunned upon seeing a snake around the neck of his father! He immediately pulls off the snake from there and he fumes in anger! He wants to punish that person who has committed this crime of putting a snake around his father’s neck, however he did not know who that person was! So, the sage’s son lets out a curse as he fumes! He declares thus: “Whomsoever might be that person who had thrown this snake around my father’s neck when he is in deep penance, will be bitten by a snake within the next fifteen days and would meet his death with the snake bite!”

This person who has been cursed, as we know, is none other than King Parikshit himself! It is thus, King Parikshit received this curse of being bitten by the snake within the next fifteen days. What happens next? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important discussion as to why India can only be a “Hindu-Raashtra” or a “Hinduism-dominated country” and nothing else. There is no place in India for the word “Secularism”, although, other religions can still find a small place for themselves. India will and always remain the land of “Sanaathana Dharma” and no external forces can ever succeed in changing this. Here is where we find apt relevance to what King Parikshit and Kali Purusha say. As King Parikshit says that Kali Purusha will dwell in four places wherein gambling, insulting women, drinking of excessive alcohol and animal killing happen! These kinds of heinous crimes would never take place where “Sanaathana Dharma” dwells. This is the reason why we re-iterate the point that if we’re focused followers of our Sanaathana Dharma, no external evil forces that try to encourage gambling of various sorts, conduct beef parties and do other nonsensical activities would be able to thrive. We’ve to remember this point as we move forward.

As King Parikshit declares these four places for him to stay thus, Kali Purusha is not satisfied! He replies back to King Parikshit, “Oh King! I’m not just a small person in stature as you think, and just four places are not sufficient for me to make a living in this world! Give me more!” Hearing this from Kali Purusha, King Parikshit thinks for a while and says thus, “Okay! Now let me give you a fifth place – In places wherever people are craving and crazy for gold, you can go and dwell over there!”

Now here is the biggest paradox! I wonder at what time King Parikshit came up with such an announcement – The moment he declared thus, India started importing gold in huge volumes! Even today, India is the biggest importer of gold in the world! 😊 The paradox is that, we are the people who propagate this Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text to the world and say that Kali Purusha resides in gold! However, on the contrary, we are the biggest importers of gold! How hypocritic is this? Hence, we should realize from this point that we should keep ourselves distant from gold as much as possible. Of course, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t buy gold. All what I’m saying is that, we shouldn’t run crazy behind gold!

Although King Parikshit gives the fifth place thus in the form of gold, Kali Purusha is still not satisfied! He asks for more! Now King Parikshit realizes that these five aren’t enough and he has to give five more places! What are those five more places?

“Tataha anrutham madam kaamam rajo vairancha panchamam!”

Now here are the next five places that King Parikshit is giving into the hands of Kali Purusha to take over! “Anrutham” means “talking lies”. “Madam” means having lot of “head-weight” that I’m everything in this world! “Kaamam” means having excessive desire. “Rajaha” means extreme anger. “Vairam” means “enmity” over someone, or taking vengeance against someone for some reason. Thus, these are the next five places wherein Kali Purusha dwells in this particular Yuga. Hence, we should be extremely careful not to fall into these categories.

Now we can see that the trap is getting bigger and bigger! Initially till yesterday we thought that there were only four traps, and we were rejoicing that we’re not into any of them! However, next came the fifth trap in the form of gold! I cannot ascertain as to how many of us would be falling into this one as this looks big! 😊 Notwithstanding, King Parikshit now has listed down five more traps, thus taking the tally to ten! Many of us, or almost all of us might fall into atleast one of these “huge traps”! For instance, do we refrain ourselves from speaking lies to people around us? Or, do we refrain ourselves from going into excessive desire towards something in this world? Even if we might be able to control these two to a certain extent atleast, are we able to control our anger? As a small example, when we’re driving our vehicle on the road and if someone comes in between our path, don’t we fume at that person immediately? How raging is our anger at this point? This is just a simple example as to how we vent out our anger! Moreover, in today’s world everything is about “competition” and “survival”. In this “race for survival”, we end up in lot of enmity between people (from within our family and outside as well). How much of professional rivalry, power struggles and politics do we see in the modern-day organizations? Although we talk a lot on personal and professional ethics on paper and text books, do we really follow all that in practice? There are many breaches in ethics and value systems in today’s world, which result in enormous amounts of problems and sufferings, not only for us, but also for the society and the nation at large! For instance, politicians involve themselves in corruption – This is a widely known fact across the country and also in many parts of the world! Why is this corruption happening? It is only because of desire (Kaamam) for more and more money and wealth! As a resultant of widespread corruption, who are the sufferers? It is the common public, isn’t it? But sadly enough, does anybody gives a thought to this in today’s world? The answer is “No”!

This is how we’re entertaining Kali Purusha to dwell in this world more and more! When King Parikshit gave away 10 places to him, it didn’t seem so huge! But if we look at the magnitude of these places in today’s world, it is so mammoth in size that we feel that Kali Purusha is “omni-present” everywhere! Now who is responsible for all this mess? Bhagawan has given the capability of “discrimination” to all of us, to differentiate between the good and the bad. Moreover, he has given us the awareness that Kali Purusha resides in certain places, where we shouldn’t venture out into! Knowing all these, are we able to resist our temptation, not to go into those places? This is where we falter!

Hence for today, let us spare a thought on these ten important “traps” laid by Bhagawan, and let us think of ways how not to fall into these traps and get caught in the hands of Kali Purusha! We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an extremely important narrative in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, with regards to how the world would be in this present Kali Yuga. In each episode, we’re witnessing glimpses of how the world is today, which is so aptly explained as early as 5000 years ago! In this narrative, King Parikshit, at the request of Kali Purusha, lists down four important places wherein Kali Purusha can dwell in this world – “Dyuutham”, “Paanam”, “Sthriaya’, and “Soonam”. In other words, King Parikshit declares to the world that Kali Purusha would be very active in those places where gambling happens, where people consume excessive alcoholic drinks, where women are being ill-treated and insulted and where animals are tortured and killed for no reason. The moment Kali Purusha enters these places, it should be remembered that he is not going to keep quiet! He’s going to kindle up all our problems and make sure that those people who are involved in such activities are duly punished, sooner or later.

Hence, this is a “red-alert” warning for all of us. As ardent followers of our Sanaathana Dharma, we should make sure that we keep away from these four places and these four heinous crimes. There might be forces around us that might be tempting us to enter into such things. But here is where our “discrimination” power comes to the play! The real test given to us by Bhagawan is that, inspite of all these forces, temptations, etc. are we able to resist them and move forward in the direction of Dharma or not! If we’re going to get stuck into any or all of these four “traps”, nobody can save us! Thus, it is primarily important for all of us to realize this important point and protect ourselves accordingly.

As an extended discussion to this point, we’ve stated yesterday, how today’s world, especially in the context of our “Bhaarata Desha” (India) is reeling under the influence of these four criminal activities. In today’s context for instance, we’re witnessing rape crimes, molestations and other allied insults and assaults on our women, which is extremely unfortunate to hear and read. Moreover, in the name of “Secularism”, our dear cows and their protectors are being thrashed and killed. Again, in the name of “Secularism”, Hindus are being unfairly targeted in all possible ways. Again, in the name of “Secularism”, crimes committed by those goons of other religions go unnoticed! Again, in the name of “Secularism”, successive governments in the country have failed to understand the crux of this term, owing to electoral opportunities!

Now what is the real meaning of “Secularism” and is the term “Secularism” applicable to a country like India? The definition of this term “Secularism” is that, all people across all religions and communities have the right to live in peace and harmony. Having said that, nobody has the right to impose his / her religion and ideas on another person and nobody has the right to convert people from one religion to another by force or by any illegal means. But if we look at how “Secularism” is practiced in 2019, it paints a completely different picture altogether! Now the situation has become in such a way that this so-called “Secularism” is being implemented for every religion, except Hinduism. In other words, there are “forces” that are predominant in today’s context, which propagates the fact that Hinduism is just a bunch of lies and that, other religions are the ways to reach Bhagawan! This started off with a small-scale propaganda, and with the “incentives” given by successive governments headed by few “Italian mafias”, Hinduism is being undermined in a huge way in many places across the country! Moreover, on the pretext of “religion”, many crimes like murders, assaulting of women, etc. go unnoticed and heinous criminals get away! Is this real “Secularism”? With this method of “preaching” secularism, the entire fabric of Bhaarata Desha (India), which is a staunch “Hindu-Raashtra”, deeply rooted in our Sanaathana Dharma, is slowly being eroded by these anti-national goons. Sadly, our citizens are falling into the trap laid by some western forces for their own vested interests!

This is exactly what Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana has predicted too – In this Kali Yuga, all such things are meant to be happening, and there might be situations wherein our Sanaathana Dharma might come under threats of existence. However, if we’re strong enough with our basic fundamental principles of life, and if we’re deeply rooted to our “Dharma” that our scriptures explain to us, we can stand tall and together to defeat such Adharmic forces that are trying to take over us. If we’re steadfast in our practices and approach, no opposition forces can even come near us! It is hence up to us to take this resolve and step up to the occasion.

Coming now to the second question – Can India really be secular? Or, is “Secularism” being “forced” and “pushed” on us for political interests? The answer from my side is that, India is and will always remain a “Hindu Country” or “Hindu Raashtra” or “Bhaarata Desha”, having its fundamentals built on our great and non-destroyable Sanaathana Dharma! Perhaps of course, India can give few small places for other religions to live, just like how King Parikshit gives four places for Kali Purusha to live upon, but not more than that! I’m not projecting myself as a person who is against other religions and their practices. But all I’m saying here is that, every religion has its own place and limits. For instance, can we freely practice our Hindu rituals in countries like Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf countries? It is not possible, isn’t it? Just like how those countries project themselves as hardcore Islamic countries, and just like how western countries project themselves as Christian-majority countries, India will always be a Hindu country! However, just like in western countries, people still have the freedom to practice other religions, in India too, people can have their freedom to choose their religion. But never can people be forced to convert from one religion to another, in the pretext of money, better standard of life, etc. This is where “Gambling” comes into play and this is where Kali Purusha resides!

Hence for today, let us re-visit the four places where Kali Purusha resides in today’s world, and let us make it a point, not to fall into the “trap” laid by these anti-Hindu forces that aim to ruin us, just like how they are ruined! We shall wait till the next episode to move on with King Parikshit’s resolve. Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the story wherein King Parikshit is seeking to take revenge on “Kali Purusha” for all the atrocities that are happening in this world, ever since Bhagawan Krishna left at the end of the previous Dvaapara Yuga. As King Parikshit witnesses Adharma after Adharma, he feels that he has had enough! Thus, with his sound skills on artillery and other forms of warfare, King Parikshit takes a savage resolution to take on Kali Purusha and kill him then and there and to restore Dharma in this world. Accordingly, he gives Kali Purusha a big chase. Initially Kali Purusha runs and runs to save himself from King Parikshit, as he knows that King Parikshit is a very powerful person. At one stage, Kali Purusha realizes that there is going to be no end to his running and King Parikshit is almost at the verge of catching him red-handed!

Hence, Kali Purusha decides to change his strategy a little bit. Now he turns back at King Parikshit and initiates a conversation. He tells King Parikshit that he is only wasting his time by chasing him and there is nothing that is going to change in this world, even if King Parikshit caches and kills him. Instead, Kali Purusha requests King Parikshit for a “deal”. According to the deal, Kali Purusha requests King Parikshit for a small place to live and he assures King Parikshit that he would never interfere with his pursuit of “Dharma”. In other words, Kali Purusha gives another assurance that he would never trouble people who follow the path of Dharma meticulously and that, his business would only be with those people who are into Adharma. Thus, Kali Purusha asks King Parikshit whether this deal is fair or not!

Listening thus from Kali Purusha, King Parikshit thinks for a while and makes sense out of it. He realizes that there is no point in capturing this fellow and killing him. Rather, it would be better for him to let him live wherever he wants to, unless and until he doesn’t create any trouble for aspirants of “Dharma”. Thinking thus, King Parikshit strikes the deal with Kali Purusha! Now what is the deal? King Parikshit lists down places wherein Kali Purusha can dwell in this world and gets the assurance from him once again that he wouldn’t come out of the places that he allots him. King Parikshit lists down the places thus:

“Dyuutham paanam striyah soonaa yathra adharmah chathurvitaha!

Punahscha yaahca maanaaya jaatha roopamadhaah prabhuhu!!”

This is an extremely important sloka for all of us to note here. King Parikshit says to Kali Purusha thus: “Oh Kali Purusha! You can go and live amidst those places wherever there are people who play illegal games like gambling (“Dyuutham”), wherever there are people who drink excessive alcoholic drinks (“Paanam”), wherever women are being insulted and ill-treated (“Striyaha”) and wherever there are people who are unnecessarily hurting animals and torturing them (“Soonaa”)!”

With this important message, the crux of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana is out for all of us to witness! To explain this point further, “Kali Purusha” would dwell in those places wherever people try to gamble and cheat one another in terms of money and property, wherever people involve themselves in excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages and misbehaving with people around, wherever people involve themselves in insulting women by raping or molesting or any sorts of misbehavior with them and wherever animals are being tortured and killed! I’m repeating this point once again because, it is sad to see today that all these four items are growing into mammoth intensities! Especially in India, all these four “crimes” are on the rise every passing day and we’re witnessing the same in the newspapers! This is where the practical applicability of our Sanaathana Dharma scriptures come into play. We might simply discard these texts by saying that they’re not meant for the modern-day world, but if we witness point after point from our Sanaathana Dharma scriptures, we would witness how much of applicability they have for today’s world!

For instance, when we talk of the first point, “Dyuutham”, in today’s world, gambling has become even a full-fledged profession in many parts of the world. There are places called “CASINOs” in many cities, which attract huge scores of people and openly encourage them to involve in gambling. Similarly, when we talk of “Paanam”, today we have the culture of going to “Pubs” and “Parties”, wherein people are openly encouraged to smoke weeds, tobacco, etc., drink alcohol and behave in an uncultured fashion. If we go into the next point, “Striyaha”, people again are openly involved in various crimes against women and yet go unpunished! As such, our Indian judiciary system is totally incapable and inefficient to bring those criminals to justice, this adds the fuel to criminals that they can easily get away without getting punished, even if they commit heinous crimes against women! So what, if there are people who talk about it for just a day or two in the media? So what, if there are debates in news channels? So what if there are candle-light marches in cities against such crimes? Crimes against women keep happening despite all these, isn’t it? Finally, if we’ve to talk of “Soona”, it is a no-wonder today that we’re becoming experts in torturing and killing animals, for no fault of theirs! On the pretext of “religion”, “community”, etc. and to insult our Sanaathana Dharma, people openly conduct “beef parties” today, kill our sacred cows in the public, yet these criminals get away because of the blanket called “Secularism”! Nowadays it has become a “new fashion” that “Secularism” is nothing but giving importance to other religions to thrive in India, at the cost of Hinduism!

This out rightly defeats the entire fabric of India, which is a “Hindu-Raashtra” or “Land of Sanaathana Dharma”.

Hence, as citizens of this great “Punya-Bhumi” called Bhaarata Desha, we should strive together to defeat these “so-called Secular forces”, by reminding ourselves that “Kali Purusha” is dwelling upon all those places wherein our today’s secular forces are encouraging us into! As ardent followers of Sanaathana Dharma, we should never ever fall into the trap of the modern-day secularism, that only aims at insulting our Sanaathana Dharma and nothing else! For today, let us realize this important point and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important message that Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana commences with. As King Parikshit started ruling the kingdom, one fine day he sees a tragic scene wherein a man is thrashing a cow and a bull mercilessly. Both the animals are crying profusely as they’ve lost three of their legs and just about managing to stand in one leg! As King Parikshit sees this, he sinks into tears of sorrow for these two poor animals, and at the same time he was raging in anger against the man who was mercilessly thrashing the animals. He immediately rushes to that spot and pulls up the man who was committing the heinous crime. At the same time he asked the cow and the bull to tell him the reason why they’re getting thrashed like this. For this, the animals reply to King Parikshit that they are none other than “Dharma” and “Bhoomi” (Mother Earth)! Their four legs are nothing but the four pillars of Dharma in this world, namely “Tapam” (Persistence), “Shoucham” (Purity), “Dayaa” (Mercy) and “Satyam” (Truth). The animals go on to explain that as “Yugas” transcended by, they had started losing one leg in each of the three Yugas that had preceded – Krita Yuga, Trethaa Yuga and Dvaapara Yuga. Now we’re in the Kali Yuga and their fourth leg is also getting hurt and are also about to lose it because of the thrashing that they’re receiving from that man!

This answer from the animals’ stuns King Parikshit! He couldn’t believe his ears! He doesn’t know how to react to the cow and bull’s tragic episode! But one thing was very clear – King Parikshit had realized that this Kali Yuga is the most treacherous Yuga ever! He was very sure that this Kali Yuga is going to be a “dark age” for Dharma! He wanted to change this. Hence, he decided to take on “Kali Purusha”, who was responsible for all “Adharma” that is happening in this Kali Yuga! He thus calls “Kali Purusha” for a war with him, so as to fight him down, and restore the “Dharma” back in this world!

Thus accordingly, King Parikshit finds out the whereabouts of the Kali Purusha, and started to chase him with his powerful artillery skills! After running for a while, Kali Purusha turns back and says to King Parikshit thus, “Oh Parikshit! Now why are you chasing me and why are you trying to destroy me? The person who had created the Krita Yuga, Trethaa Yuga and Dvaapara Yuga had only created me too! Hence, instead of going to Bhagawan Vishnu and asking him, why are you chasing me? By doing so, you’re only wasting your time! Rather, correct yourself and your path and make yourself sure that you don’t fall into the trap that I’m laying! Ensure to yourself that you do not fall into the bad lineage of people. Please remember that it is only those people who are bad and wicked who will suffer in this Kali Yuga because of me. Good people will never suffer!”

This is another important message for all of us! We should realize that there is no point in blaming the “Yuga” or Bhagawan for what we are going through! We ourselves are to blame for what sufferings we experience. Moreover, we are not here to correct others or to criticize them for what wrong they’re doing. It is their lookout! Rather, if we decide that we would lead a steadfast life according to the principles of Dharma, who can stop us from doing so? We are individuals and we are free to take our decisions for our own life, isn’t it? Hence, we should stop looking into what wrong are others doing and rather, focus on our spiritual growth. Of course if we’re steadfast in our Dharma, definitely Bhagawan would never let us down at any point in time! We should ponder over this important point for today!

Moving on thus, Kali Purusha continues to address King Parikshit – “Oh Parikshit! All I’m asking you is to give me a small place to reside. It might be in one corner of the world, wherein I can deal with those people who are into Adharma. You might of course ensure that neither you nor your people come near my place. By doing so, both you and me can live happily in this world in our own areas without any interference. I assure you that I wouldn’t come into your territory, provided you’re steadfast with your Dharma!”

Hearing thus, King Parikshit ponders over for a while and comes to a conclusion that whatever Kali Purusha is requesting is feasible! He realizes his folly that he can destroy Kali Purusha so that the world would be devoid of any Adharma! Thus, King Parikshit replies to him – “Oh Kali Purusha! This sounds a fair deal. I shall allocate few places where you can reside and be contented with! But you should assure me once more that you would never show your ugly face in those places apart from what I allocate for you! If you can give me this assurance, I shall straightaway allocate the places for you to reside!”

Listening to King Parikshit’s answer, Kali Purusha also accepts the deal and thus the place allocation starts. King Parikshit starts telling Kali Purusha that these are the places where you can reside freely at his will and wish! What are those places? An interesting and an important accord awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the birth story of King Parikshit. We had seen that Ashvatthaama’s “Brahmaasthra” enters into Utthara’s womb and starts to destroy Parikshit in the womb itself! However, on the deep and ardent prayers from all the ladies who were at the spot, Bhagawan Krishna makes His divine intervention and neutralizes the Brahmaasthra with His “Chakra”. Eventually when Utthara delivers the baby, it comes out like a burnt piece of wood and ashes, seemingly without any life. The baby had got damaged so much by the Brahmaastra and eventually the “Chakra” of Bhagawan Krishna protected it from dying. As the baby comes out “virtually dead”, Bhagawan Krishna tries to revoke the life in the baby by slowly caressing it with His fingers. In the midst of doing thus, Bhagawan Krishna openly proclaims that this child would wake automatically if the person currently touching it is a “Brahmachaari” and who never talks any lie in his life! As Bhagawan Krishna claims thus, people who were standing around Him were surprised! How can Bhagawan Krishna proclaim something like this, when the whole world has seen him do otherwise? 😊 However, to the utter amazement of everyone, the baby responded to Bhagawan Krishna’s claim and started to move its legs and hands vigorously and started to cry! Bhagawan Krishna had thus brought a dead baby to life, with his “claims”! This vindicates Bhagawan Krishna’s claim that he is really a Brahmachaari and is a Satya-Vratha! 😊

As the baby comes to life, it was given the name “Parikshit”. Thus we can witness here that Parikshit was born out of Bhagawan Krishna’s divine grace and was a blessed child by birth! As Parikshit grows up, he eventually becomes the king of Hastinaapura, after his grandfathers (Paandavas). Thus, King Parikshit goes to various places and does various activities for the welfare and benefit of his people. It is at this time, one fine day there is a conversation between King Parikshit and “Dharma”. This is an important story in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha text, with which we make further inroads into the text.

“Vrisham nrishaala dhavalam mehanthamiva bibhyutham!

Vepamaanam padaikena seedantham thaaditham!!

Ghaancha dharma dukaantheenaam brisham apahathaam!

Vivatsaam shaashruvadanaam kshaamaam yava vashakshudeem!!”

As we move into this interesting story, one day King Parikshit finds two animals – A bull and a cow. As King Parikshit passes through these two animals, he finds that both of them were crying profusely as they were being beaten and thrashed by someone behind them. As King Parikshit sees this scene of a man hitting the two poor animals, he gets angry and enquires with him as to why is he doing so. He also enquires with both the bull and the cow as to who were they and why were they being meted out with such harsh treatment.

Now the animals reply thus:

“Tapaha shoucham dayaa satyam ithi paadaaha krithe krithaaha!

Adharmaam chaistrayobhagnaaha smayam sangamadaistava!!

Idhaaneem dharma paadaaste satyam nirvarthayethyataha!

Ithi dharmam maheem chaiva saanthayithvaa mahaarathaha!!”

The above slokas explain the reply given by both the animals. They say thus: “Oh King Parikshit! Till today, we were standing on four legs and in a normal condition! Now you see our status – We are not standing on four legs! During the Kritha Yuga, we had our four full legs. But at the end of the Kritha Yuga, we lost one of our leg. At the end of the Trethaa Yuga, we lost our second leg. At the end of the Dvaapara Yuga we lost our third leg! Now we’re in this condition in the advent of this Kali Yuga, wherein, even this one leg is about to get destroyed!”

Now what are these four legs that the animals are talking about? They are nothing but “Thapam” (Persistence), “Shoucham” (Purity), “Dayaa” (Mercy) and “Satyam” (Truth). These are nothing but the four legs or “pillars” of “Dharma! The bull was nothing but Dharma” itself in this form, and the cow was nothing but “Mother Earth” herself! Only if Dharma persists on the earth, will the world function properly, isn’t it? It is only because of the “Adharma” happening, the world is in this shape today. This is what is depicted by the scene of someone who is beating and thrashing both these poor animals and making them cry thus.

Thus, this story signifies a deep message – If Dharma should sustain in this world properly, it should have four legs. However, as Yugas pass by, each of these four legs are being destroyed, which means that all of these important “pillars of Dharma” are slowly being eroded off. Now finally as we’re in this Kali Yuga, only one out of the four pillars is remaining, and this is why the cow and bull are crying.

Hearing thus from the animals, King Parikshit realizes what is going on! He creates a framework within his mind that the world is in this sad shape today only because of “Kali” (Misfortune). He decides to take this Kali-Purusha to dust! King Parikshit wants to chase him down and strangle him to death, so that the four pillars of Dharma are once again restored in this world. But, was King Parikshit successful in doing it? What happened next? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had officially commenced to witness the contents of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text, wherein we started with the episode about King Parikshit and is background story. It should be remembered that it was only upon the request of King Parikshit that this entire text of Bhaagawatha Puraana was recited for the first time by Sage Sukhaachaarya. As mentioned in yesterday’s episode, King Parikshit comes as part of the family generation of Arjuna – One of the five Paandava brothers. Arjuna’s son was Abhimanyu and Abhimanyu’s wife was Utthara. It was for Abhimanyu and Utthara, Parikshit was born. Of course, we know that Abhimanyu was killed during the Kurukshetra war, as part of the “Chakraavyug” plan by Duryodhana and Co. It was during this time of Abhimanyu’s demise, Utthara was pregnant. Soon after the war came to an end and after Duryodhana was killed, Ashvatthaama (son of Guru Dhronaachaarya) wanted to take revenge on the Paandavas for “illegally” killing his father. Thus, he targets the Paandavas, the Upa-Paandavas (sons of the Paandava brothers) at a time when all of them were asleep in the middle of the night. Ashvatthaama employs the powerful “Brahmaasthra” to kill each and every person in the Paandava camp. As all the Upa-Paandavas were getting killed one after the other, the Brahmaasthra comes in search of Parikshit, who was still in the womb of Utthara at that time. The Brahmaasthra, as per the instruction of Ashvatthaama enters inside Utthara’s womb too, and starts to destroy the baby from within.

It is at this time, all the ladies present there, including Kunthi (Mother of Paandavas), Draupathi, Utthara, etc. run to Bhagawan Krishna to seek refuge. They plead and beg Bhagawan Krishna to intervene somehow and stop this disaster from happening further. It was a point wherein all the Upa-Paandavas were killed, except Utthara’s child. The ladies pray to Bhagawan Krishna that if this Utthara’s child is also killed, the entire generation of the Paandava brothers is going to be destroyed completely! Hence they request Bhagawan Krishna to somehow intervene and stop this disaster from happening. All of them pray to Bhagawan Krishna thus:

“Krishnaaya vaasudevaaya Devaki nandanaaya cha!

Nandagopa kumaaraaya govindaaya namo namaha!!”

This is one of the most important slokas that is part of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. All of us should byheart this sloka and recite it every day. It is believed that if we chant this particular sloka, Bhagawan Krishna immediately runs and comes to us, so as to solve all our difficulties. Thus as the ladies chant this sloka and pray wholeheartedly, Bhagawan Krishna decided that he has had enough with this Ashvatthaama. He immediately employs his “Chakra” and directs it into Utthara’s womb. The “Chakra” is now going round and round into the womb, thus serving as a protection to the baby from the wrath of the Brahmaastra and also neutralizes it completely. However as Utthara delivers the baby after a while, the child was like a stationary piece of burnt wood! It seemed that this baby did not have any life in it! It is at this point, Bhagawan Krishna goes near the child, touches its hands and feet with His fingers. He thus caresses the baby with His hands.

As Bhagawan Krishna caresses the child, he makes a huge statement thus, “If it is true that I’m a ‘Brahmachaari’ and I’ve always spoken the truth at all times, let this child come back to life!”

As Bhagawan Krishna proclaims thus, people around Him were all surprised to bits! Here’s a person who has married around 16,000 girls in His life and here’s a person who has seemingly told ONLY lies all his life till date and here’s a person who has played all possible tricks in this world according to His will and wish! How on earth can He proclaim that he is a Brahmachaari and has never uttered even a single lie? 😊

However, there is an important message for all of us here – Bhagawan Krishna “appeared” to be amidst all the worldly pleasures, but He was smart enough, not to involve Himself with any worldly pleasure at any point in time! He was a “Paramaatma” and was a class apart from all others who were around him! He clearly knew that He was a “Paramaatma” (Bhagawan) and rest all of them were “Jeevatmas” (Normal people like us) and also knew how to differentiate between the two categories! Thus, although he “appeared” to be married to 16,000 wives, the relationship between them and Bhagawan was so pure and not of any worldly category like us! All 16,000 people who were with Bhagawan Krishna, were none other than His ardent devotees and they were of the highest category of spiritual progression! Moreover, whatever Bhagawan Krishna spoke about, might “seemingly” be lies and playful in nature, but every word that He spoke and every action that He performed, had an enormous amount of reasoning behind them! Thus, it is not right to call Bhagawan Krishna as a “liar” or “womanizer” as many of us tend to brand him today!

Moreover, if we look at the spiritual context of it, all “Jeevatmas” of this world are wives of one “Paramaatma”, which is none other than Bhagawan Krishna Himself! Thus in a way, all of us, irrespective of whether we’ve taken the physical form of a male or female, are all wives of Bhagawan! This is what the “Aalwars” and various “Aachaaryas” have preached through their writings and commentaries too! In fact, there is a separate term to explain such a concept in Tamil poetry called “Naayikaa Bhaava”. Here, the poet imagines himself as a woman and composes hymns on Bhagawan in such a way that she is in love with Bhagawan and is trying to attract His attention towards her! This can be commonly witnessed in many places all along the “Divya-Prabhandham” text – A master-compilation of hymns in praise of Bhagawan Vishnu, sung by all the Aalwars together. Thus, “Naayika-Bhaava” is one method of showing ardent devotion towards Bhagawan, and is considered to be one of the highest levels of spiritual growth!

Thus moving on, as Bhagawan Krishna touches the child and makes the proclamation, the child immediately comes to life and later on, was named as “Parikshit”. So for today, let us ponder over this important point in spirituality and let us try to understand that Bhagawan Krishna was really a ‘Brahmachaari” and a “Satya-Vratha” (A person who always talks the truth). We shall wait till the next episode to witness what happened subsequently from this point! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the importance of two parameters – “Shravanam” and “Mananam” while we’re getting into the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text. As we might know by now, “Shravanam” means “hearing” and “Mananam” means “pondering over what we’ve heard, and trying to implement the principles into actions”. If we look at the extension of the Gokarna story a little bit more, as mentioned yesterday, Surya Bhagawan asserts that it is not enough if we just involve ourselves in “Shravanam” of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. We should also employ the quality called “Mananam” while listening to / reading it. Only then the crux of the text can be understood and thus with this crux we attain “Moksha”. Thus, we cannot directly attain “Moksha” just by listening to it and getting away. The real fruit of “Moksha” can be attained only when we have 100% involvement while listening, grasping it with full concentration and implementing the principles that are explained, in our day-to-day life.

Thus with this, we’ve witnessed both the stories that we were supposed to go through from the “Paadma Puraana”, with regards to explaining the significance of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text. One was the story of Bhakti, Mukti, Gnyaana and Vairaagya. The second one was the story of Aatma-Deva, Dundhukaari and Gokarna. Now as we begin with the Shrimad Bhaagawatha text, we shall pray to Bhagawan Krishna together for His divine blessings thus:

“Samsaara saagare magnam dheenam maam karunaanidhe!

Karma moha griheethaangam maamuddhara bhavaarnavaath!!”

Here we pray to Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Please lift all of us from this dark episode of the “Samsaara” that is full of worldly pleasures! Please lift us in such a way that we grow beyond our worldly commitments and can attain your feet!”

“Shrimad bhaagawathasyaapi tatah poojaah prayathnataha!

Karthavyaa vithinaah preethyaa dhoopa deepa samanvitaa!

Shrimad Bhaagawathaahkyooyam pratyaksha krishnayevahi!!”

Thus this sloka signifies the fact that this Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana is not just a normal text. It is the manifestation or incarnation of Bhagawan Krishna Himself in this Kali Yuga! Hence, we should have the full faith and devotion in the text as we move further into it.

“Shukharoopah prabhodagnya sarva shaastra vishaarada!!”

This Bhaagawatha Puraana text, that was given to the world by Sage Sukhaachaarya would fulfill all requirements of Bhakti, Gnyaana and Vairaagya to whoever reads it with full faith, and ultimately would pave the way for attaining “Moksha”.

Thus with this, we come to the end of the “Significance” of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. I know that we’ve taken almost 35 episodes to witness only the significance of this great text. We’ve still not entered into the main contents yet! 😊 Hence, from today we shall make the start. Now we shall return to the place called Naimishaaranya where Sage Pauraanika is interacting with his disciples. We move into the context wherein Sage Naarada is having a conversation with Sage Veda-Vyaasa. Amidst all this, as we begin, we should understand as to why is Sage Sukhaachaarya narrating this Bhaagawatha Puraana to King Parikshit? It should be remembered by our readers that the entire purpose of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana was to enhance King Parikshit’s understanding of the Dharma and Shaastras, so that he can attain Moksha at the end of the seven-day period, as per his curse.

Now we shall go deeper into this story and witness who is this King Parikshit and what is his background! As the Dvaapara Yuga comes to an end, it is time for Bhagawan Krishna, the Paandavas and the other important people associated with the Mahaabhaarata to leave the world. Amidst these many people, all of us know about the Paandavas – Five brothers, comprising of Yudishtra, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahaadeva. All of these five brothers were married to Draupathi. Amongst these five brothers, Arjuna had another wife by name Subhadra. Arjuna had a son by name Abhimanyu. This Abhimanyu was married to a girl by named “Utthara”. Thus, Abhimanyu and Utthara had a son and he was none other than Parikshit. Of course, Abhimanyu was killed during the war by Duryodhana and Co.

As Utthara is carrying Parikshit in her uterus as she was pregnant, the Mahabharata war comes to an end, wherein Duryodhana had been killed. As the war got over, the Paandavas emerged victorious and are sleeping after a tiring day at war. The sons of the Paandavas (Next generation) were called “Upa-Paandavas” and they are also rejoicing the victory of their fathers and sleeping along with them.

It is at this time, Ashvatthaama, (Guru Dhronaachaarya’s son) wants to take revenge on the Paandavas for killing his father! It should be remembered that Bhagawan Krishna played a trick by making Yudishtra proclaim in front of Guru Dhronaachaarya that his son is “dead”! But he was not actually dead! It was an elephant by name Ashwatthaama that had died! Not realizing this, Guru Dhronaachaarya was grief-stricken and he fell on the ground dead! When Ashwatthaama comes to know that his father was “tricked” by the Paandavas and Bhagawan Krishna, he gets furious and waits for an opportunity to take revenge for what they’ve done. Thus Ashvatthaama comes to the place where these people were sleeping at night, employs the “Brahmaastra” and starts killing everyone in the tents! Of all the people who got destroyed by Ashwatthaama, there is just one child who had escaped from this brutal and cowardly killing. He was none other than Parikshit, who was in the womb of his mother Utthara. This Brahmaastra also entered into the womb of Utthara and starts to destroy Parikshit too! It is at this point when all the ladies including Utthara, Draupati, Kunthi, etc. rush to Bhagawan Krishna and fall in His feet! They pray to Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Krishna! Please protect this child atleast, if not for others! If this child is also killed, there would be nobody in this whole generation left over! The entire generation is being destroyed!” Thus Bhagawan Krishna assures them of solace and thus protects the womb of Utthara. Later on, Utthara delivers the baby safe and secure and this baby is named as “Parikshit”!

So for today, let us stop at this point. We shall continue to witness what happened subsequently after Parikshit’s birth and how did the future happenings conspire! Stay tuned for the interesting part! 😊