The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Maarkandeya’s next accord on the Madhu-Kaidavas and how they started torturing Bhagawan Brahma. These Madhu-Kaidavas are Raakshasas who were born from the fat tissue of Bhagawan Vishnu during the Pralaya-Kaalam. As time progressed, the Madhu-Kaidavas started to violently stir the umbilical cord that connects Bhagawan Vishnu to Bhagawan Brahma, which made Bhagawan Brahma to shake with fear. Initially, Bhagawan Brahma too offered a chance to the Madhu-Kaidavas of giving some boons to them, but they were in no mood to listen to him. Instead, the Madhu-Kaidavas were only interested in bringing Bhagawan Brahma under their control and replied harshly to him! Bhagawan Vishnu was watching all this patiently. At one time, even Bhagawan Vishnu became concerned. He comes to the rescue of Bhagawan Brahma and joins hands to request the Madhu-Kaidavas to stop this violent stir. Bhagawan Vishnu too offers to grant some boons to the Madhu-Kaidavas, but they were in no position to listen. 

Moving on thus, as this deadlock continues, the Madhu-Kaidavas tantalizingly reply to both Bhagawan Vishnu and Bhagawan Brahma thus, “Oh Bhagawan Brahma and Bhagawan Vishnu! Who are you to grant us boons? We’re nobody to beg in front of you for boons. If you want, you may ask us for boons. We shall grant them to you! Instead, don’t ever think that you can come to terms with us with your boon fiasco! Such things might work with other people, but not with us!” As the Madhu-Kaidavas reply arrogantly thus, Bhagawan Vishnu gets surprised! He laughs within Himself and replies back calmly thus, “Oh Madhu-Kaidavas! You wanted me to request you for a boon didn’t you? Now let me go by your request only – Please grant me a boon! The boon is very simple – You should be killed by none other than this Bhagawan Vishnu Himself!” As the Madhu-Kaidavas listen to this, they replied back thus, “Oh wow! There you go! Now you’ve come to the point and I know you would ask this to us! We shall grant you the boon, but it comes with a rider – You would be able to kill me, but only if the place is a complete barren land without any habitat, vegetation, weapons, etc. There would be nobody to come to your support or rescue. If there is such a place in this world, probably the boon would work! Else it will not!” 

As the Madhu-Kaidavas say thus, Bhagawan Vishnu had no other option but to accept! Initially, Bhagawan Vishnu thinks that it is quite easy to find a place where there are no objects, vegetation, people, animals, etc., but when He actually starts searching, he wasn’t able to find such a place in any of the worlds! Wherever Bhagawan goes, there is something or the other. If He goes to the “Aakaasha” (Sky), there are clouds, water vapour, ice drops, dew, etc. Hence, this is not the right place! He now comes to our “Manushya Lokha” and searches. Even here, something or the other is there – Water, plants, shrubs, animals, human beings, etc. As He goes to the Indra Lokha, Varuna Lokha, etc. even there He finds so many objects, people, etc. Thus, He wasn’t able to find any place in all the three worlds, wherein not even a single object is present! 

So what does Bhagawan Vishnu do now? Can He still find a place wherein no object is there, and which will satisfy the conditions set up by the Madhu-Kaidavas? We shall wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Maarkandeya advising Yudishtra to stick on to the path of “Dharma” as much as possible without any blemish. He renders this point of advice to Yudishtra by narrating the treacherous advent of the Kali Yuga and how “Dharma” will deteriorate to unprecedented levels. However, since Yudishtra has Bhagawan Krishna in his vicinity at all times, he should not worry too much about the blatant “Adharma” that is happening around him. Sage Maarkandeya motivates Yudishtra by explaining to him how fortunate he is to have Bhagawan Krishna near him at all times. Even though He might not be available everytime physically, He comes to visit the Paandavas very frequently. In fact, if we look at various instances in the Mahabharata as a combined thread, we would be able to witness that whenever Yudishtra and Co. need some help and guidance, Bhagawan Krishna will appear from nowehere. He will always be physically present with Yudishtra and Co. whenever there is an ardent need, and in fact, Bhagawan Krishna Himself says in many occasions that His thoughts suddenly went towards Yudishtra and Co. and with that, He gets an urge to visit them, and hence, He just comes even without a prior intimation or invitation from Yudishtra! Such is the love and affection that Bhagawan Krishna has towards the Paandavas, because of the only reason that they are trying to walk the path of “Dharma”. If the “Bhakta” tries to walk the path of “Dharma”, it becomes Bhagawan’s duty to aid their path in whatever way possible. This is what we’ve to understand from Sage Maarkandeya’s words here. 

As Sage Maarkandeya says thus, he also adds one more important point here – “Oh Yudishtra! If you’ve to be a “Dharma-Atma” in this world, please do not blame the Yuga in which you’re living. Of course, I explained how Dharma will deteriorate during the Dvaapara Yuga and the Kali Yuga, but this is not an excuse for deviating from the path of “Dharma”. Please understand that “Dharma” is the same for all the four “Yugas”. Just because it was “Krita Yuga” earlier, do you think all the people who lived in those times were good? Do you think there were no Raakshasas during those times? What about Hiranyaksha and Hiranya-Kashibu? They also lived during the Krita Yuga only, isn’t it? If such people can exist in those times itself, they can exist during all the Yugas. Hence, let us not blame the “Yuga” for whatever is happening around us. Bhagawan has created the four Yugas for a definitive purpose. There can be no wrong in Bhagawan’s creation. Hence, instead of feeling bad that we’re at a time when “Dharma” is deteriorating, we should only focus on how to establish “Dharma” even during these tough times. Oh Yudishtra! Please understand – If you were in the “Krita Yuga” and if you follow the path of “Dharma”, perhaps it might have been easier. Of course, it is difficult in the “Dvaapara Yuga”. But this is where you’re going to attain success and fame – Following “Dharma” at a time when it is extremely difficult to do so, is going to be your greatest achievement! Hence, please stick on to your path meticulously without any blemish!” 

Saying thus, Sage Maarkandeya is now going to narrate an interesting “Charitra ” (Story) about two Raakshasas – Famously known as “Madhu-Kaidavas”. These two Raakshasas were born out of the fat tissues of Bhagawan Vishnu. So Sage Maarkandeya is going to explain now as to how these two Raakshasas wreaked havoc. Sage Maarkandeya explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! When the Pralaya Kaalam was taking place, Bhagawan Vishnu was in His reclining position (Shayana Thirukkolam) in the ocean. The world was going through the rough transition and it was during this time, these two Raakshasas called Madhu-Kaidavas appeared from Bhagawan Vishnu’s fat tissue. As we know, Bhagawan Brahma branches out of Bhagawan Vishnu’s “Naabhi-Kamalam” and there is an umblical chord from Bhagawan Vishnu’s stomach, which holds Bhagawan Brahma. These Madhu-Kaidavas are now slowly starting to shake this umblical chord violently in a bid to cut it off. Upon seeing this, Bhagawan Brahma gets terrified! 

Upon seeing this, Bhagawan Brahma requests the two Raakshasas to stop this violent act and assures of granting boons to them. However, the Raakshasas weren’t in a mood to stop. They instead make fun of Bhagawan Brahma’s helplessness and revert back by saying that they are not in the low level of obtaining boons from him. Instead, if Bhagawan Brahma wishes, he can ask for boons from them!” So for today, let us understand upto this point, and in the next episode we shall witness how Bhagawan Brahma responded to the mockery made by Madhu-Kaidavas! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had been witnessing Sage Maarkandeya’s accord on the treacherous Kali Yuga and how it will span out. Sage Maarkandeya explains this in the context of driving home the point that Yudishtra and Co. are extremely fortunate to be amdist the vicinity of Bhagawan Krishna, which might not be possible in the coming years. The Kali Yuga, as per Sage Maarkandeya is going to be completely devoid of “Dharma”, as the holy cow of Dharma is only going to stand on one leg. In this Kali Yuga, Brahmins are going to forget their fundamental duty and are going to commercialize the Vedas. The concept of “Veda-Adhyayanam” will slowly disappear and even if it is done, it will only be for making money. Moreover, Brahmins will completely forgo their “Nitya-Anushtaanam” and consider performing this as a shame. Also, with regards to marriages, the wife’s family will dominate the husband’s and will try to gain prominence. The husband’s parents will not be able to live with their son together under one roof, thanks to the wife’s undue domination. Thus, quarrels and fights will become a regular affair within families and people will start attacking each other physically as well. Moreover, the entire world will start experiencing scarcity of essential resources like water and food because of greed and concentration of power in the hands of a few “dominant” people. 

Finally, as things worsen to a particular point, Bhagawan Vishnu will incarnate as Kalki Bhagawan in the village called “Shambalam” in South India, as the son of a person by name Vishnu Yashas. This incarnation of Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Kalki Bhagawan is going to be the most ferocious incarnation ever! He is going to ride on a white horse with a long and a sharp sword in His hands. As the horse makes its way through, whoever is coming in the middle of the horse’s path are going to face the wrath of the sword. Thus, all the wicked people who stand by “Adharma” will be mercilessly destroyed by Kalki Bhagawan. With this, Kalki Bhagawan will protect those people who still have the urge to follow and protect “Dharma”. With the help of these handful of people, Bhagawan will re-establish the “Krita Yuga”, wherein “Dharma” will reign supreme. 

In this accord, we’ve to understand one thing very clearly – At the end of the Kali Yuga and at the beginning of the “Krita Yuga”, we will not have a “Pralaya Kaalam”. We’ve already seen this earlier – Only when the thousand “Chatur-Yuga” period gets over, will there be a “Pralaya Kaalam”. Thus, only when Bhagawan Brahma completes one full day of his life, will we have a “Pralaya Kaalam”. Thus, we are nowhere close to attaining that as yet. Hence, the talk about the world getting destroyed in a few years from now is all baseless and simple rumours. 

Explaining this, Sage Maarkandeya tells Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Even though we’re still in the “Dvaapara Yuga”, the influence of Kali Yuga has already begun. This is why we’re seeing enormous “Adharma” happening all around. Bhagawan Krishna is patiently waiting for the time and place to destroy the “Adharma”. However, this is just the beginning. Even though Bhagawan Krishna destroys the “Adharma” completely at the end of this Yuga, it will again restart in a ferocious form when the Kali Yuga actually begins. However, don’t worry! You keep following the path of “Dharma” that you are already following all these years. Unless and until Bhagawan is by your side, you will always be protected. Do not get scared of the “Adharma” that happens around you. You are always safe and secure in Bhagawan’s divine hands! Please remember this as you proceed further in executing your duties as a righteous king! Oh Yudishtra! You might be devoid of your kingdom today, but this is not going to be a permanent phase of your life. You are definitely going to be a great king in the future, and sages like me are only trying to give you various inputs pertaining to “Dharma” so that you will be able to implement “Dharma” in whatever decisions you make in the future!” 

Saying thus, Sage Maarkandeya advises Yudishtra and for today, we shall understand these points very clearly. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further. Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Maarkandeya’s accord on how he obtained the divine vision of Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda. In similar lines, Yudishra and Co. also wanted to have such a divine vision, but Bhagawan Krishna who was amidst all of them made sure that they do not get such a divine vision at this point in time, as He felt it was not the appropriate time for this to come through. We’ve witnessed multiple reasons for the same and we shall move on further with Sage Maarkandeya’s discussion and see what he is going to talk about next. 

Moving on thus, as Yudishtra gets this realization that Sage Maarkandeya was so far talking only about Bhagawan Krishna all this while, he along with Arjuna fall on Bhagawan Krishna’s divine lotus feet and plead thus, “Oh Keshava! Till now we did not realize your significance, but today, thanks to Sage Maarkandeya, we’re getting to know who you really are. I have only one request for you – Please stay with us forever. Please do not leave us at any point in time. If you want some living facility to be created for you, we shall create it immediately. But please do not leave us and go anywhere. We want your divine presence with us at all times!” As Yudishtra and Arjuna plead thus, Bhagawan Krishna replies back to them: “Oh Yudishtra! Oh Arjuna! I’m always with all of you! Don’t you realize my presence? Even before you could call me, I’m there with you. I never wait for your calls. I never wait for your pleading. I never wait for you to get into any problem. Even before all this, I make sure that my presence is always there with you – Both visible and invisible. So please do not worry! Oh Yudishtra! You are an epitome of “Dharma”, and I shall always be by the side of “Dharma” and ensure that it will be protected at any cost! Everytime when I think of all of you, I immediately come down to see you wherever you are. If you undergo any suffering, even before your heart starts paining, my heart starts reaching out to you! Such is the love and affection I’ve got for all of you!” 

As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, we should realize one thing very clearly here – Bhagawan Krishna is someone who is extremely reachable for all of us! We can witness the simplicity of Bhagawan Krishna towards all His “Bhaktas” and those who follow the path of “Dharma”. Hence, it is upon us now to reach out to Bhagawan, isn’t it? If we’re reaching out to Him with our ardent “Bhakti”, He is going to respond immediatley to all of us. Bhagawan is not going to wait at all! It is only we who make Him keep waiting because we’re not ready to surrender everything to Him and go near Him! Hence, we’ve to work on this aspect as we move on from here. 

Moving on, now Sage Maarkandeya talks about the Kali Yuga and how it is going to pan out. He is also going to talk about the advent of Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Kalki. As Sage Maarkandeya begins his accord, Yudishtra poses a question to him thus, “Oh Sage Maarkandeya! Explain to me what would happen in the Kali Yuga. How will it span out?” As Yudishtra asks thus, Sage Maarkandeya immediately retorts thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Please rephrase your question a bit – You should ask what will not happen in the Kali Yuga? I shall now explain how the Kali Yuga will span out. Listen carefully – As the Krita Yuga began, “Dharma” was comfortably standing on all its four legs (Equating Dharma to a holy cow). As the Tretha Yuga ascended, one leg of the “Dharma cow” had to be amputated! This means that the Dharma had lost one leg permanently! Come the Dvaapara Yuga, the second leg also had to be amputated! This means that “Dharma” had lost two legs permanently! Now, as we enter into the Kali Yuga a few years from today, the third leg is also going to be amputated! This means, “Dharma” is only going to stand on one leg! We can imagine from this analogy as to how “Dharma” is going to be extremely difficult to follow during the Kali Yuga. Oh Yudishtra! Brahmins in the Kali Yuga will not chant the Vedas properly. They will never fast on auspicious days. They will refrain from performing the “Nitya-Anushtaanam”. “Veda Adhyayanam” will come to a grinding halt. More than this, Brahmins will start talking against the Vedas. Even if a few Brahmins are still continuing to perform the “Veda-Adhyayanam”, they will start commercializing it and make money out of it. Thus, all this will start happening in the “Kali Yuga”!” 

Saying thus, Sage Maarkandeya continues further: “Oh Yudishtra! As we advance into the Kali Yuga further, the son will not respect and protect his aged parents during their last days. As we advance into the Kali Yuga, the wife’s family will get more prominence in the house, rather than the husband’s family. For instance, the father-in-law and the mother-in-law of the husband (Wife’s parents) will start dominating over the husband and they will constantly keep interfering in the married life of the couple. The wife’s siblings will start dominating the husband. With all this happening, the husband’s parents will slowly start taking a backseat and eventually they would be ignored completely. This will lead to a situation wherein, when the husband’s parents are becoming aged, they would be sent to an old-age home and will no longer be able to live with their son. Thus, the problems will complicate families, which will lead to a situation wherein physical fights will endure and will end up in a situation wherein people start drinking each other’s blood as water! As years progress, there will be an extreme shortage of water in homes, and people will start begging even for basic resources for survival! As the situation worsens further, and at a point when Bhagawan thinks that the world has had enough of this Kali Yuga, He would incarnate!” 

So for today, let us understand Sage Maarkandeya’s words about the treacherous Kali Yuga, and we shall have an introspection of whether his words are coming true or not in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Maarkandeya’s accord on Bhagawan Krishna’s significance and advises Yudishtra to make use of this golden opportunity to take His guidance on everything that is going to happen in the future. In the meanwhile, Sage Maarkandeya has explained his divine vision of Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda (Child form of Bhagawan Krishna) and asserts that it is this same Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda who is sitting amidst all of them in the form of Bhagawan Krishna. As Sage Maarkandeya reveals thus, Yudishtra also has a slight desire to witness Bhagawan Krishna’s real form, however, Bhagawan Krishna unleashes His divine “Yoga Maya” upon all of them to drown them in the world of illusion. This makes Yudishtra and Co. come back to the ground level once again that Bhagawan Krishna is just another ordinary human being in this world. 

We might wonder why Bhagawan Krishna did this – Why can’t Bhagawan Krishna reveal His original form of Bhagawan Vishnu in front of Yudishtra and Co. and give them His divine “Anugraha”? We’ve witnessed this answer yesterday also, and we shall continue witnessing this answer today also. We’ve seen one angle of this answer yesterday wherein if Bhagawan Krishna would have revealed His true identity then and there, the Kurukshetra war would not have taken place at all! Yudishtra and Co., for the enormous amount of “Dharma” that they’ve done, might have attained “Moksha” then and there! If Yudishtra and Arjuna attain “Moksha”, then who would fight the war against Duryodhana and the others? How will “Dharma” be established in this world? Hence, at that point in time, granting “Moksha” to Yudishtra is not Bhagawan Krishna’s priority. Establishing “Dharma” in this world with the help of Yudishtra is of paramount importance for Him! Hence, Bhagawan Krishna was very clear with His priorities of incarnation and He stuck to them meticulously. 

Another way in which we can analyze this context is that, if Sage Maarkandeya had the divine vision of Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda, the state of affairs in which Sage Maarkandeya was, is grossly different from the state of affairs in which Yudishtra and Co. are. Sage Maarkandeya is a seasoned Brahmana Rishi and is an embodiment of immense “Tapas”. If Bhagawan reveals His true identity, Sage Maarkandeya with his enormous power of penance, can take it. He will be able to absorb the enormous radiance that generates from Bhagawan’s real identity into him without any problem. However, in the case of Yudishtra and the others, they are normal human beings and Bhagawan’s intense radiance might make them collapse and fall on the ground. We’ve to understand one simple thing here – Normal living beings cannot stand in front of Bhagawan’s true form. We do not have the strength and capability to witness it. This is the same reason why Bhagawan Krishna gifted Arjuna with a pair of divine eyes to see His true form during the Bhagawad Gita narration. This is the same reason why only Vidura and Bhishmachaarya were the only two people who were able to see Bhagawan Krishna’s true form when He had come to Hastinapura as the “Paandava-Thoodha” (Messenger to broker peace between the two camps) and when Duryodhana insulted Him. 

Thus, the point here is very simple – If Bhagawan has to reveal His true identity and form to us, we should be prepared to be able to see it, which most of us do not have. Only Mahatmas and Brahmarishis like Sage Maarkandeya and the others can have such divine visions while being in a human form. Hence, we’ve to understand here that even though Sage Maarkandeya reveals his divine vision and the true identity of Bhagawan Krishna to the Paandavas, Bhagawan Krishna smartly refrains from showing His true identity to them. However, that does not mean that Bhagawan is faking Himself. His divine “Anugraha” is always there with the Paandava brothers and we’re witnessing it in every action that Yudishtra performs. So for today, let us understand this point once again clearly and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further. Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Maarkandeya explaining to Yudishtra and Co. about the divine experience that he had obtained many years back, wherein he had the opportunity to worship Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda. As Sage Maarkandeya narrates this heart-touching accord, Yudishtra is getting lost in thoughts. He was also thinking on the same lines of Sage Maarkandeya’s divine vision as to how he too can get one. As he puts forth his question to Sage Maarkandeya, he is going to get a fascinating reply, which he himself might not have expected! We shall witness Sage Maarkandeya’s reply in today’s episode as we move on further. 

Thus, as Yudishtra puts forth his heart-felt doubt, Sage Maarkandeya replies thus, “Oh Yudishtra! You’ve asked a very pertinent question. That Bhagawan Vishnu whom I was referring to all this time, is sitting amidst all of us here in the form of none other than Bhagawan Krishna! It is this same Bhagawan Krishna whom I had worshipped in the form of a little child. Even before He incarnated in this world as Bhagawan Krishna, I came to know through this divine experience that He is going to descend down to this world and commence His incarnation as Bhagawan Krishna. This was an indication to me. Thus, all of you are extremely fortunate to have Bhagawan Vishnu amidst all of you to guide you at every instance in your life. Oh Yudishtra and Arjuna! You should feel proud of yourself for getting this close association with the supreme Bhagawan of this entire world! If there’s someone in this world who can give solace for all the living beings living here and elsewhere, it is this Bhagawan Krishna alone! He, who is being revered and respected by the entire three worlds around, is sitting right beside you, listening to all our conversations! He is the “Puraana-Purusha”, that is, the person who is revered in all the scriptural texts! He is the same Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda whom I worshipped the other day! Oh Yudishtra and Arjuna! Please catch hold of this Bhagawan Krishna’s divine lotus feet strongly and seek His divine “Anugraha”. I’m sure that His “Anugraha” is already with all of you, else why is He going to come all the way and sit amidst all of us today? Hence, please do not let go of this golden opportunity and obey whatever He says! Success will definitely be yours!” 

As Sage Maarkandeya explains thus, the Paandava brothers including Draupati are extremely happy! With this reply, Yudishtra and Co. immediately turn towards Bhagawan Krishna with enormous joy and gratitude. With folded hands, the Paandavas pay their respects (“Namaskaaram”) towards Bhagawan Krishna. As Sage Maarkandeya reveals this truth, Yudishtra and Arjuna are in tears! They did not know how to react indeed. Bhagawan Krishna too understands that if this continues, all of them would go into an elevated spiritual level, from which it is going to be very difficult to bring all of them back to this reality of the Manushya Lokha. Hence, Bhagawan Krishna immediately unleashes His “Yoga-Maya” (Illusion) to make sure that none of them are able to witness His complete divine form. By doing so, Bhagawan Krishna is ensuring that all of them stay grounded to their actions and duties. 

We might ask a question here – If Yudishtra and Co. have the opportunity to have the ultimate realization as to who Bhagawan Krishna really is, why is Bhagawan Krishna stopping them from realizing Him fully? The reason is very simple here – As mentioned above, this is not the right time for having that realization for the Paandava brothers, as they have a lot of fundamental duties to fulfil as a “Kshatrya”. If Yudishtra would have had that divine vision as how Sage Maarkandeya have had, maybe Yudishtra would have completely refrained from being a king, and the Kurukshetra war would not have happened at all! Thus, Yudishtra would have failed from his duties as a righteous king. Of course, Sage Maarkandeya had that divine vision because he was a Brahmana Rishi, and he was a Sanyasin without any family or worldly attachment upon him. His entire duty was to keep performing penance, and this would accelerate further only if Bhagawan shows His true form! However, in the case of Yudishtra, this is not the case – Only if Bhagawan morphs His real identity, will He be able to establish the “Dharma” in this world along with Yudishtra. Hence, Bhagawan Krishna is forced to make sure that Yudishtra and Co. do not get that divine vision which Sage Maarkandeya has had earlier. Of course, there would definitely be a time when Yudishtra and Co. could have it, but this is not the time for the same. Readers should understand this point very clearly here as we move on. 

So for today, let us join hands along with Yudishtra and Co. to worship Bhagawan Krishna by exhibiting the “Sharanaagathi” at His divine lotus feet. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Maarkandeya’s heart-melting and a wonderful accord on how he obtained the divine “Anugraha” of Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Baala-Gopala. He explains how the little child was floating on top of a banyan leaf amidst the rising flood waters during the intense “Pralayam” that was taking place. As he went closer to the little child, Sage Maarkandeya was pulled into the child’s nostrils by just one inhalation! As Sage Maarkandeya entered the child’s body, he was able to see the entire world inside, including the mountains, rivers, plains, oceans, etc., along with his ashram and himself too! Upon having this vision, Sage Maarkandeya became confused for a moment as to how can he see his ashram both inside and outside of the child’s body! As this confusion was looming large like this, he was pushed out of the child’s body with the child’s exhalation! The entire vision was just for a few minutes and Sage Maarkandeya realized the enormity of what he had just seen! As he requests the child to reveal its identity, Sage Markandeya comes to know that this child is none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself, who later advised him to continue his deep penance and all the spiritual practices that he was performing. 

Moving on further, Bhagawan Vishnu continues His talk with Sage Maarkandeya thus, “Oh Maarkandeya! Today you’ve witnessed something that not many people in this world haven’t! This is a divine “Anugraha” for you. I decided to give this opportunity to you because you’re a “Sathvik” person and you know how to use this “Anugraha” for the betterment of the world. Hence, please do not disclose this to anybody. However, you can talk about this to people who are as spiritually advanced as you. I’m not stopping you from doing that. But please mind who you’re sharing these incidents with!” This is a very important lesson for all of us as well – If we’ve had some divine experiences, however small or big it might be, we should not keep sharing it with anyone and everyone whom we meet! If we’ve obtained some experiences like that, it is better to keep it within ourselves, as Bhagawan has given it confidentially to us. Instead, if we go and talk about these things to others, first of all we never know how the other people might take it. Some people might feel jealous and would cause unwanted stomach-burns! They would start pitting against us in some way or the other. Not all people will take these things in the right sense. Thus, we need to understand clearly as to whom we should talk about what. This is very important, especially on the spiritual front. Of course, in our professional setup also this is something that all of us should understand as well. Just because someone might be closer to us, it is not an imperative to immediately open up all our grievances and problems to that person. We might not really know how that person would see our problems, isn’t it? Chances are high that some people might use our problem to make merry and in some cases, make money as well through various blackmailing techniques! Hence, we should never go and fall into such traps, and the best way to protect ourselves from these traps is to remain silent over such issues. 

Emphasizing thus, Sage Maarkandeya tells Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! As per Bhagawan Vishnu’s direct advice to me, I shouldn’t be sharing this experience of mine with anybody, however, as He Himself had given the exception, I’ve shared my divine experience with you and your brothers, because you are all embodiments of “Dharma”, and you would take this in the right sense and learn from it. I disclosed this secret to motivate and induce you more into “Bhakti”. Of course, Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda (Bhagawan Krishna) is right beside you here. Hence, what more do you want? Use this golden opportunity to learn as much as possible from Bhagawan Krishna who is roaming around closely with you wherever you go! Oh Yudishtra! Please do not worry about your future – If Bhagawan is there with you all the time, what more do you want? He will protect you from all problems that you’ve to encounter. Moreover, I’m saying all this because Arjuna is here too – I know that Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna are closely bonded to each other. In the future, Arjuna is going to obtain something from Bhagawan Krishna directly, just like how I obtained this divine “Anugraha” from Bhagawan Vishnu directly. That time is going to arrive. Hence, all of you should cheer up and enjoy Bhagawan’s divine presence along with you!”

As Sage Maarkandeya keeps explaining thus, he looks at Yudishtra who is completely lost in his thoughts! Sage Maarkandeya quickly understood the reason why Yudishtra is feeling lost! He quickly pats Yudishtra on his shoulders and asks him thus, “Oh Yudishtra! It seems you’re in a deep thought. What are you thinking about? Are you thinking that just like how Sage Maarkandeya had obtained a divine experience from Bhagawan Vishnu, I should also obtain one like this?” As Sage Maarkandeya asks thus, Yudishtra replies back, “Oh great Sage! Indeed yes! I’m lost in that thought only! Where would I obtain such a vision? Where is Bhagawan Vishnu? How can I even see Him with my two eyes?” We should note here that Yudishtra is still asking this question even after Sage Maarkandeya talked about Bhagawan Krishna sitting besides all of them just now. This shows how the “Yoga-Maaya” around Bhagawan Krishna is so powerful that it eludes everybody! In other words, even though Bhagawan Krishna is Bhagawan Vishnu Himself, He doesn’t disclose it so easily with anyone, including Yudishtra and Co. Of course, Arjuna is going to get glimpses of it later on, but again, he too is not going to retain the fact in his mind that Bhagawan Krishna is supreme and all-pervasive! Now that Yudishtra has asked this question, Sage Maarkandeya’s reply to this question is going to be very significant! Let us wait till the next episode to find out what Sage Maarkandeya is going to reply! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Maarkandeya explaining the divine vision that he had earlier obtained of Bhagawan Vishnu in a very unique form. As there was a huge “Pralayam” (Mass destruction) going on around him, Bhagawan Vishnu provides His divine “Anugraha” to Sage Maarkandeya in the form of Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda, who was in the form of a little baby floating over a banyan leaf amidst water all around. As Sage Maarkandeya witnessed this handsome and charming child, he was also able to worship Goddess Mahalakshmi in the heart of the baby. Thus, he realized that this baby was none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself, paying heed to his prayers! Explaining this to Yudishtra, Sage Maarkandeya drives home the point that if we’re praying to Bhagawan with all our devotion, He will definitely answer our prayer in some form or the other. Bhagawan will never set aside a Bhakta’s request and He would go all out to execute what the Bhakta wants Him to do. This is very clear here. We’ve also witnessed similar instances earlier as well as to how Bhagawan immediately responded to His Bhakta’s request. We’ve seen how little Dhruva wanted to worship Bhagawan Vishnu, and within just a few days of intense penance, Bhagawan Vishnu came in front of him and provided His divine “Anugraha”. Similarly, when the elephant shouted out for Bhagawan Vishnu as it got caught with a crocodile, Bhagawan rushed all the way to save it. In similar lines, when Jataayu was waiting for help, Bhagawan Rama came running towards him and immediately granted him the highest “Moksha” then and there! We can keep quoting innumerable examples like this to illustrate how Bhagawan is extremely punctual when it comes to attending to His devotees. 

Moving on thus, Sage Maarkandeya continues his accord further. He now says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Oh Arjuna! When I went near that baby to ensure that it should be safe and shouldn’t fall into the rising water level, the baby took a deep breath. As this happened, I was dragged inside its nostrils completely! I did not expect this to happen. On one hand, I went near to save the baby from falling into the water, but on the other hand, the baby saved me from the rising waters! Thus, my physical form became so narrow that I was able to enter into the child’s nostrils, but wow! What happened inside was a huge miracle, which sends goosebumps in my body even today after so many years! When I entered the baby’s body, I was able to see the entire world inside! I was able to see all the mountains, oceans, land masses, rivers, etc. that adorn the entire world! It was like a “campus tour” across the world within no time! This is also not very significant. But what I saw next, I couldn’t believe myself! I was able to see myself! I was able to see my own Atman and Deham clearly, along with my Ashram. As I was enjoying this divine vision from inside the child’s body, I was suddenly starting to have a few doubts! I was getting confused – Whether I’m still inside the child’s body or outside! Because, I was able to see my own ashram very clearly, and the entire world around it! However, I was still inside the child’s body. Does this mean that this child has eaten all of the entire world including me and my ashram? If I’m able to see everything in the child’s little stomach, it should mean that the child has eaten everything, isn’t it? Bhagawan Vishnu has the entire world inside Him, and this is the reality that I was able to witness on that day!”

Sage Maarkandeya continues further thus, “Oh Yudishtra! As I was thinking on these lines, the baby made a powerful exhalation and with this, I was thrown out of its body completely! As I was thrown out, I was again able to see my ashram and myself clearly, because all these incidents had taken place at the doorstep of my ashram only! I was utterly confused on one hand, and on the other hand, I was still enjoying this divine vision and wasn’t able to come out of it! At the end of all this, I approached the child once again and requested him to reveal His identity to me! As I asked him for the second time, He replied to me thus, “Oh Maarkandeya! I’m none other than Bhagawan Vishnu, who had created, protected and destroyed the entire world! You had prayed to me several times to witness me, didn’t you? Hence, I decided that today is the opportunity to reveal myself to you in this way! Oh Maarkandeya! I know you’re a great sage, and you would be blessed with my divine “Anugraha” forever to continue with your spiritual practices without any disturbance. Please understand that I’m encompassing the entire world inside me and I’m a witness to all the great “Tapas” that you’re performing! Continue this further as well!” 

Saying thus, Bhagawan Vishnu provides His divine “Anugraha” to Sage Maarkandeya and with this, let us also experience this beautiful anecdote that Sage Maarkandeya is explaining here. We shall wait till the next episode to witness Sage Maarkandeya’s narration further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the accord on “Yuga” time calculation as narrated by Sage Maarkandeya to Yudishtra and Co. We had also witnessed the difference between the “Leela Vibhuti” and the “Nitya Vibhuti” and how the “Nitya Vibhuti” is a permanent entity that never undergoes any changes over time. However, the “Leela Vibhuti” undergoes innumerable amounts of changes from time to time with the “Pralaya Kaalam” acting like the “Reset” button for the entire world. This is exactly what we’ve seen towards the end of the “Matsya Avatara” and this is something that all of us need to keep in mind as we move further. Thus, in other words, all the births and deaths keep on happening in the “Leela Vibhuti” and there is no question of neither birth nor death in the “Nitya Vibhuti”. 

Moving on thus, Sage Maarkandeya continues his accord – “Oh Yudishtra! Just like how a “Pralaya-Kaalam” happened as I described, I was also part of one such “Pralaya Kaalam”. Once when that was happening, I was standing in front of my Ashram and was performing my “Tarpanam” in the evening. At that time I had a wish – To worship Bhagawan Vishnu in a form that nobody else would have worshipped before! Of course, I can always worship Bhagawan in His beautiful and charming form with all His compassion, however, my wish was different – To worship in some other form which is quite unique! As I was performing my regular “Tarpanam”, I was thinking about this, and suddenly the winds started swirling at high speeds. There was a huge sound of something dangerous coming by my way! Rain started pouring down torrentially! Nobody knew what was going on all of a sudden! The rains were extremely strong enough that within no time the entire area started getting flooded. My ashram wasn’t to be seen anymore! It was completely submerged in the rain water. The rain did not show any signs of abating any time soon! Very quickly, the entire locality got flooded and scores and scores of people started drowning in the rising water level and losing their lives. However, I was able to withstand a huge struggle. Slowly and steadily I made my way towards my ashram location and I was surprised to find a unique situation – There was a banyan leaf floating on the water and above the banyan leaf was a small child – Maybe a newborn baby. The baby was about to trip and fall into the water at any moment due to the strong winds and the heavy rain!

As I went close to the child with an intention to save the child from falling and drawing into the water, this child was so carefree and smiling at me! Moreover, when I went closer to it, the child took its toe and brought it to its mouth. This was conveying some message to me – Perhaps this baby was none other than Bhagawan Vishnu, in the form of Bhagwan “Baala-Mukunda”? It seemed so for me. The divinity that was radiating from the baby was tremendous and I’ve never seen such radiance ever in my life! Yes! This baby was none other than Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda, and Bhagawan Vishnu had heard my prayers! He wanted to provide His divine “Anugraha” to me in a unique form as per my wish! Thus, when Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda tried to take His toe all the way to His mouth, it was seeming as the same divine lotus feet which measured all the three “Lokhas” during Bhagawan’s “Trivikrama Avatara”! It is this same divine lotus feet that I was able to worship right now! I was extremely fascinated! 

Worshipping Bhagawan Baala-Munkunda thus, I went closer to Him and asked Him once more – “Oh! I could not believe what I’m seeing in front of me! Who are you? Please reveal your original form for me!” As I asked the child thus, it did not talk back! Instead, it was smiling at me deeply and pointed its little finger towards its heart! As I looked at the child’s heart, I was able to see Goddess Mahalakshmi with all her divinity! Wow! What a sight! It is at this point I confirmed that this baby is none other than Bhagawan Shriman Narayana Himself! Bhagawan had heard my prayers! I was in tears of joy when I worshipped Him in this unique incarnation of Baala-Mukunda”! Thus, this is a divine experience that I would never forget in my entire life!” 

So for today, let us also experience this divinity of Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda along with Sage Maarkandeya, and we shall wait till the next episode to witness the continuation of this beautiful accord! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Maarkandeya taking Yudishtra and Co. through the time period calculation of the four Yugas that the world goes through – The “Krita Yuga”, “Tretha Yuga”, “Dvaapara Yuga” and the “Kali Yuga”. These four Yugas, as we may note, occur and re-occur as cycles. Even within this cycle, the Krita Yuga is supposed to be the longest one, and the Kali Yuga is supposed to be the shortest one. All the four Yugas’ span is a multiple of 1200. Thus, the “Krita Yuga’s span is around 4800 Deva Lokha years. Similarly, the Tretha Yuga’s span is around 3600 Deva Lokha years. The Dvaapara Yuga’s span is around 2400 years, and finally the Kali Yuga’s span is around 1200 Deva Lokha years! Thus, if we add up all these numbers, we would get 12000. Thus, this is the calculation of the four Yugas’ timespan and we should understand this first. Hence, we may note here that the entire time span for all the four “Yugas” put together is 12,000 “Deva-Lokha years”. We’ve also seen that one year as per our “Manushya Lokha” is equivalent of one day of the “Deva-Lokha” year calculation. Hence, we can witness the enormity of time that we’re talking about here. 

Now, as we understand this calculation clearly, we go into something that is very important. There is something called as “Yuga-Sandhi”, which occurs in between the two Yugas. The time period that immediately comes after the end of the previous Yuga and during the commencement of the next Yuga is referred to as “Utthara-Sandhi”. The time period that signifies the last few years of the previous Yuga is referred to as the “Poorva Sandhi”. Thus, during these junctures between two Yugas, for example, between the “Tretha Yuga” and the “Dvaapara Yuga” or the “Dvaapara Yuga and the Kali Yuga”, these two “Poorva Sandhi” and “Utthara Sandhi” will join together. Now, if we’ve to put this in the perspective of numbers, the actual full time period of the “Krita Yuga” is 4000 “Deva Lokha” years. Similarly, the “Tretha Yuga” actually spans for 3000 years, the “Dvaapara Yuga” for 2000 years and the “Kali Yuga” for 1000 years. Now to calculate the “Sandhi” here, we had earlier witnessed that the “Krita Yuga” is of 4800 Deva Lokha years. Now this 800 year-period is the “Sandhi” period. Now let us split this 800 into two halves – 400 and 400. Let us put one 400 before the start of the “Krita Yuga”, and the next 400 towards the end of the “Krita Yuga”. Similarly, for the “Tretha Yuga”, we have 600 extra years, isn’t it? Hence, we shall put 300 on either side. Similarly, for the “Dvaapara Yuga”, we have 400 extra years, isn’t it? Hence, let us put 200 on either side. Similar is the calculation for the Kali Yuga as well wherein we will have 100 on either side. These “extra years” on either side that we’re talking about here are nothing but the “Poorva Sandhi” and the “Utthara Sandhi”. 

Now, all these calculations that we’ve witnessed till now, are all of the “Deva Lokha” years and not the “Manushya Lokha” years! If we’ve to convert this 12,000 Deva Lokha Years to an equivalent number of “Manushya Lokha” years, it would come to around 43, 21,000 years! Thus, as per our calculation in this Manushya Lokha, one “Chatur Yuga” is equal to forty-three lakh twenty-one thousand years, or approximately 4.3 million years. We’re now talking about one “Chatur Yuga” only. Like this, if 1000 “Chatur Yugas” pass by, it is equivalent of one “daytime” of Bhagawan Brahma. Thus, we can see here that for Bhagawan Brahma in the Satya Lokha, for one day of his, we’ve to cross around 8.6 million years as per the “Manushya Lokha” calculation. Similarly, Bhagawan Brahma’s life span is approximately a hundred such years, which means, it would be around 900 million years as per our calculation! Thus, at the end of the hundredth year of Bhagawan Brahma, the world goes into a “Pralaya Kaalam”. This is also referred to as the “Praakrita Pralayam”. 

Thus, when Sage Maarkandeya spoke about the “Pralaya Kaalam” that the world underwent during the “Matsya-Avatara” time, we shall assume that Bhagawan Brahma had by then, completed a hundred-year life cycle at the Satya Lokha. Thus, if one gets caught into this world that goes through such “Pralaya Kaalam” time and again, it means that he / she has got caught into the “Leela-Vibhuti”. However, if this person surrenders to Bhagawan and with this, when he / she attains the highest “Moksha”, this person transcends into the permanent world called “Nitya-Vibhuti”, which is never subjected to any form of creation or destruction with time. This “Nitya Vibhuti” is nothing but Bhagawan Vishnu’s Vakiunta! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and we shall wait till the next episode to witness Sage Markandeya’s continued accord! Stay tuned! 🙂