The Crown Conspiracy

Last week, we celebrated Dusshera followed by Bharat Milap and the festivity will continue to cheer us till Deepawali. While we celebrated the former to recollect the victory of good over evil, the very next day we celebrated the brotherly love between Shri Ram and Bharat that became immortal, it is said, that the occasion of Bharat Milap marks the comeback of Shri Ram where he reunited with his dear brother Bharat in Nandigram. Shri Ram's care and affection; Bharat's unquestioned devotion, such was the bond they shared that stands at the pinnacle of kinship. We are aware about Lakshmarn; his devotion towards Shri Ram, the sacrifices he made, his gallantry in the great war of Lanka in order to serve Shri Ram's purpose. But very less is known or said about Bharat and Shatrughan and their accomplishments. When Dashrath decided to crown Shri Ram as the prospective king of Ayodhya, Bharat and Shatrughan were in Kaikeya. This was seen as a conspiracy plotted by Dashrath to sideline Bharat as the latter was also considered eligible by some. Was it so, today we will try to unravel the actual reasons, if there were any. But first, let's get to know Bharat:

• According to Valmiki Ramayan, Bharat was born to Dashrath and Kaikeyi. Unlike Shri Ram, he wasn't the complete incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu, but carried an ansh/portion of his radiance.
• An epitome of righteousness, when came to know about his mother's felony, Bharat condemned Kaikeyi for her selfishness and renounced the throne.
• After he came back from Chitrakoot with Shri Ram's sandals(an episode to be discussed in one of my future posts), he placed those sandals in the king's seat and left for Nandigram(adjacent to Ayodhya) and administered the kingdom for the coming fourteen years, the same amount of time Shri Ram was on exile.
• Not everyone knows that Bharat also decided to quit the royal clothing and lifestyle even before he met Shri Ram and that was the reason he stayed outside the kingdom, as these were the terms of exile being imposed on Shri Ram and so he decided to undergo similar conditions.
• He was an acclaimed warrior and coversant in deploying divine weapons like his elder brother. In Uttar Kaand, Bharat attacked the kingdom of Gandharws, Gaandhaar(Kandahar of current day Afghanistan) where he annihilated the enormous army of Gandharws with the assault of a single weapon, The Samvart(a divine weapon that belonged to kaal, the lord of death). This very much elaborates his vigor.

Going through the above stated points, it is clear that Bharat never aspired the throne nor there would have been any animosity with regards to it. But then, there are people who have nurtured intense rage as to why such partiality with poor Bharat(really?), declaring it as the crown conspiracy.

'Don’t you think if Dashrath would have been patient and intimated Bharat about the coronation, then he would have lived, Ram with no hassles might be coronated. Why was he in such a hurry, did he sent Bharat on purpose?’ a friend of mine asked me once.

Dashrath only wished to promote Ram to yuvraj/crown prince not to coronate him as the king and that is why no one was intimated, not even Bharat. The coronation was planned after a particular time till Ram is accustomed for the kingship and there not only Bharat, but also Janak, other kings of Aryavart and non-aryan kings would have been intimated, it wasn’t a regular occasion you see.

However, Dashrath was also witnessing some very bad omens which were only visible to him or rather noticed by him only; those omens signified his sudden possible demise that would occur anytime. He sensed it and so rearranged the event and decided to coronate Ram instead of promoting him to yuvraj position. It was impossible to inform Bharat and Shatrughan in such a short span of time now. Even king Janak and other relatives were not informed as it wasn't viable.

Though Dashrath knew Bharat would understand as he was devoted to Ram, still, those omens scared him as they also indicated conflict of interest. The king read those omens right but sadly, doubted on the wrong person as he never imagined it would be Kaikeyi and why would he, as she was brainwashed by Manthara.

At the end, destiny made its move and circumstances took place as per those omens and Shri Ram was banished to the woods.

So this was it, we are through now. It is good to doubt to raise questions, contradictions are fine as only then we discover the causes, the answers; provided, they should come with a right spirit and will.

"Focus on your deeds and character, as your conduct will never go unnoticed no matter how hidden/low profile you are"

'सियाराम'

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The transcendence of Shri Ram

"The dread of Raavarn was over, serenity has risen and the sky was now clear. Darkness was over and light was everywhere; Earth was now stabilized after quivering of the Great War. The world could now breath without any fear. The wind started flowing with divine odor as justice was delivered and truth had finally prevailed. The devtas showered flowers at Shri Ram, they praised him and blew trumpets and conch shells"

[Valimiki Ramayan; Yuddha Kaand; Chapter- 108; Verse- 32]

जय श्री राम

My greetings on today's joyous occasion of victory of dharm over adharm, Vijaydashmi. This noble day is marked as Shri Ram's conquest over Lanka, the unassailable rakshas king Raavarn was eliminated on this very day and the world saw a new dawn. Dawn of truth, righteousness and virtue; those being installed by Shri Ram to guide the being towards the path of dignity.

But then there exist a distinct genre of "intellects" who don't shy away portraying the heroics(really?) of Raavarn which I seriously don't know when happened, they question the caliber of Shri Ram doubting his muscle as well as his intelligence. In one of my initial blogs, I gave some fact those were loaded with enough info to prove the divinity of Shri Ram. Today, on this glorious occasion I take this opportunity to acquaint you as why he was the dearest prince of Ayodhya, how was he revered among the kings of the native states and why they approved as their future king:

• Shri Ram displayed tremendous possibilities in a very young age, the people of Ayodhya's expectations roused every time they saw their dear prince. His calm and soft spoken nature had already won a million hearts. In any situation, whether favorable or adverse, he remained tranquil. Even the associates of Ayodhya admired his kind heart that had compassion and love for not just the people of Ayodhya but for every good soul.
• Being satyapratigya, he was never indulged nor promoted corruption or bad-practices as he was a jitendriya, the one who has won all his senses, an aficionado of equity among the people as no one returned empty handed who went to Ram for fairness. His love and humbleness towards the beings were commendable, they all were bewitched by his charm and qualities.
• His enthusiastic participation in practicing arms showed his strategics and availability to lead the kingdom in any situation. His finest warrior skills and his implementation of strategies were so effective that no one, not even devas and asurs were at par with him. His potential was enough to defeat all of them at once, such was his strength.
• At the same time he was prudent enough to have company of the sages and the ministers conversing knowledge and dharm, as well as kingdom’s well being. Being a good learner he always welcomed opinions whether spiritual or practical in good for his kingdom and the world, his gurus and contemporaries praised his political skills.
• He was an amazing harmonist, his melodious voice could struck chords of billions. He motivated others to participate in gaandharwa-vidya, to help them fighting stress and creating a cheerful environment, as it helped them in opening themselves to others with their expressions.
• He showed special interest in commerce and economy. He regularly kept check over the officials, law system, over the traders so as to maintain the balance and prevent exploitation if any.

Shri Ram's divinity is unquestionable and above any criterion for those are man-made. As I once quoted, divinity cannot be questioned, you can either accept it or disown it, I would be fine with that. What annoys is hypocrisy; questioning his existence, yet criticizing self made accusations. Quite stupid, how can you criticize one whose very existence you deny.

Shri Ram's qualities stated above are pervaded throughout the epic, you pick any chapter and will find them, one got to have an eye for that:

• His friendship with Guh, Sugreeve and accepting the hospitality from Shabri clears the air that the varn-system was for balance and his compassion didn't differ between individuals.
• The episode where he didn't killed but transported Mareech to south proves his foresightedness and war strategics. The whole war of Lanka was programmed by him, where he  planted different phalanx/chakravyuh on time to time and in need himself entered the war-field to eliminate the rakshasas.
• His fairness even embarrassed Raavarn as when the demon king was unarmed by him, he let him go and asked him to prepare better next time.
• The war with Khar where he annihilated his grand army alone and the episode where he kicked the giant skeleton of a rakshas by his foot thumb (read: http://srirom.blogspot.in/2015/06/ram-supremacy-on-dock.html and http://srirom.blogspot.in/2015/06/the-divine-of-ramchandra.html) ensures us about his unparalleled strength.
• When Bharat arrives at Chitrakoot to take Shri Ram back with him, the latter educates Bharat about various aspects of rajneeti/politics.  Shri Ram was himself a logist of the vedas, an omniscient. This is a big time misconception that when he eliminated Raavarn, he send Lakshmarn to acquire knowledge from the latter, I don't see any sense in that, do you?

In my future posts I will keep posting the logical facts that will clear the misconceptions spread over the years to defame RAM. 

One last thing, there is a "inspirational" short story very prevalent where an expectant mother asks her daughter as whether she aspires for a brother and if yes, he should be like which great persona. The daughter answers - Raavarn(seriously?), the mother is astounded, then the daughter educates her about the "nobility" of the demon. The salient feature she elaborated is that even after keeping Devi Sita in his capture, the demon didn't touched her at once. Wow! kudos to our unawareness; I must share this - Raavarn was one womanizer who lusted any/every pretty woman he confronted, he was guilty of abduction of countless women after killing their husbands or family. He was also guilty of coercion to not one but two women namely Rambha and Punjiksthala. And that is the reason for not daring to enforce himself on Devi Sita, the curse of Nalkubar. Still an admirer? Also if he was so mighty then why abducted Sita by cheat, because he feared Shri Ram after what he did to Khar and his army.

There is no disagreement over his vigor, knowledge and other qualifications, but, he deviated himself towards unrighteousness and that is where his every positive side vanishes. 

"Ram and Raavarn, they both are inside us representing the good and the bad, and the festival of Dusshehra inspires us to suppress the evil within and taking the right call by choosing our conscience"

Satyamev Jayte

'सियाराम'

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Aadikavi Valmiki

Behind every epic creation, there is a creator. No great epic's mention is complete without its composer. Ramayan is one such composition that whenever remembered; Sage Valmiki's reference comes to our mind. He is revered as the aadi-kavi, i.e. maiden poet and  that means Ramayan was the first poetic creation by any being. I feel blessed being born in the holy land of Kanpur where he created the legendary epic and gave resort to Devi Sita; mother of all the cosmos, in Bithoor, Kanpur.

Distressed by the poignant incident; where a mating bird-couple is hunted by a tribal hunter, killing the male bird ultimately, following words came out of his mouth contingently:

Maa nishad pratisthamatv, magamah shashwatih samah.

Yat kroranch mithunat ek, mawadhih kaammohitam.

‘Oh hunter with such cruel intentions you killed the passionate male bird who wanted to mate with his wife with love, therefore, you will never be at ease, you shall never find peace in your whole life.’

Little the sage knew those cursed words would actually form the base of an historical epic creation, the curse he gave was actually a verse and delivered from his mouth through a divine inspiration. Brahmm dev himself arrived at his hermitage and enlightened the sage about it, he directed Valmiki to script the legend of Bhagwan Ram in order to direct the world towards dharm and the rest we know is history.

Sage Valmiki's biography revolves around the creation of Ramayan. When talking about his own life, there's not much to throw light upon or to talk about. People today don't know much about his life as there's a lot that is yet to be known or understood and what we know is.... may be not a complete version.

To know about him, let's first look at the general view; it is said, initially he wasn't the same sage Valmiki as the world recognizes him today. In his earlier life, he was a dacoit named Ratnakar, who used to rob people of their belongings. Once sage Narad was roaming that place and the dacoit confronted him. Narad actualized him of his bad deeds and oriented him towards righteousness. Ratnakar then penanced for years and with the almighty's blessings received divine blessings. Later he was famed to the world as Valmiki.

That is what we all know, but when I went through the Valmiki Ramayan, I found the following facts:

• There is no such mention of his dacoit life.
• In the Ayodhya-Kaand, when Shri Ram reaches Chitrakoot Mountain, he met sage Valmiki and introduces himself along with Devi Sita and Lakshmarn. The sage welcomed them warmly helping them in choosing an ideal location to reside.
• In the Uttar-Kaand, when he   for Devi Sita's chastity, he manifested his identity as the tenth son of Varurn Dev. 

Now there arises contradiction, above given points disown the dacoit theory of sage Valmiki as well as authenticates the fact that Valmiki was the contemporary and he is the actual composer of Ramayan, certified!

But again! yes, quite hilarious ain't so?
These two words('but' and 'again') occur repetitively keeping the plausibility of probabilities alive, as we must keep our reasoning open and explore the unexplored.

The reason I am implying so is due to the presence and prominence of sage Narad in both stories. Before the tribal hunter incident occurred, Narad ji visited Valmiki's hermitage and seeded the legend of Shri Ram in Valmiki's mind responding his inquisitive about a virtuous persona. It clearly depicts that sage Narad had a chief role in Valimiki's life and he enlightened his mind at various stages of his life like a true mentor.

We must also peruse that, how come son of a dev became a sage? Valmiki could have treasured a frolic life being Varurn's son, then under what circumstances he chose a life of a ascetic? As nothing much is given clear in our scriptures, here, it is also possible that may be, Valmiki wasn't a complete dev(mothered by a human for instance). May be! out of situations, an adrift Ratnakar became a dacoit who eventually was brought on the right track by Narad. He was destined for a higher purpose and Narad was his cicerone. The world will always beholden to sage Valmiki for composing Ramayan, portraying the actual character of Shri Ram which the world is not aware of completely.

Before signing off, let's bow to the divine feet of Devi Saraswati in this auspicious occasion of Navratra, who blessed sage Valmiki with true intelligence and foresightedness so he could deliver the saga of Ram-Janki.

The festival of Navratra is not just about visiting the temples and paying devotions to the nav-durgas, it is cognizing of SHAKTI within. Aadishakti, who is the prime source to the Gods and the creation, reveals herself in different forms to exhibit the various aspects of feminine, she is Bhagwati MahaLakshmi consort of Bhagwan MahaVishnu, preserving the balance.
Adishakti's element is present in every woman/girl, those who recognize it are virtuous and those who disregard it are damned for perpetuity. 

नमोस्तुते माँ 

"It does not matter where you are today, destiny will deliver you to your destination"

'सियाराम'

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Avatar: conceptualisation

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य, ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।
  अभयुत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्।।

परित्राणाय साधुनां  विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम।
धर्म संस्थापनाथार्य सम्भवामि युगे युगे।।

"Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O Bharat (Arjun), and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I myself come forth; for the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age" - Shri Krishn.

[Bhagvad Geeta; Chapter 4; Verse 7-8]

Shri Ram's incarnation installed dharm i.e. righteousness

Even a deprived soul is delivered to fruition with hope and faith listening to Shri Krishn's quote. Even after 5000+ years, it's relevance has never been subsided, rather it has enhanced. The above stated verse is his pledge and commitment, where he promises to redeem the beings off their sorrows and in every yug/eon he incarnates to live up to his words.

In Tretayug, when Raavarn's dread was on its extreme, Bhagwan Vishnu incarnated as Shri Ram and re-installed dharm, disseminating truth and serenity. Talking about Ramayan and other ancient legends, there have been confusions with regards to the concept of avatar. Whenever we converse about Ramavtar, people get in perplexity about Bhagwan Vishnu's incarnating and the devas fathering sons. Unlike Shri Ram; Bali, Sugreeve and others were not avatars but sons of the devtas. So, what's the difference? We will try to analyze it today, but first we must know the meaning of Avatar.

Theoretically, Avatar means a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth. The very word is a association of two words: ava i.e. down and tar i.e. to cross. Coming along, the two form avatar, i.e. descent.

It can be so inferred that only a God or Bhagwan can incarnate, as he is eternal. There are actually two gods; Vishnu and Shiv, these two are the supreme deities, whereas third one i.e., Brahmma is a post , so the person in position of Brahmm Dev is also considered a God being the creator, but even he is mortal. According to our scriptures Brahmm Dev has a lifespan of 100 years and currently it’s his 52^nd year going on, his days and nights are usually a lot and lot larger than ours so there are plenty of eons to come before he departs and the next deity takes over the position. 

Another thing, talking about avatar; being the preserver, Vishnu ji incarnates in actual, as it comes under his domain. Shiv ji is the destroyer completing the trinity, but he doesn’t take any avatar as it is preserver’s incumbency.

But, there had been several instances like Kartikeya, Veerbhadra or KaalBhairav and others, they all shouldn’t be mistaken as avatar, rather, they emerged from his body or radiance, they were not avatars but his fraction, they can never be placed at par with Bhagwan Shiv.

In case of Bhagwan Visnhu's incarnations the case is different, they didn't emerged from his radiance, instead he reveals his radiance in avatar's form and when the purpose is accomplished, they merged in him and that is it. Bhagwati/Goddess Lakshmi is Bhagwan Vishnu's consort, in actual they are one and hence she also incarnates, here, in Ramavtar, she arrived in Sita's form and made it possible for Shri Ram to accomplish the motive.

But again, there is an constant insistence towards the subject of Bhagwan Shiv's incarnations. The most solid specimen being exhibited: Sharabh avatar of Bhagwan Shiv.

An illustrated view of Sharabh Avatar

A legend goes like this- when Bhagwan Vishnu incarnated in Narsingh's form to eliminate Hiranyakashyapu, he lost his composure and the whole world trembled with his wrath. Bhagwan Shiv then incarnated as Sharabh and suppressed Narsingh until he was stabilized. Various legends have further additions to it.

Okay, for once let's try to believe the legend. But then, there's one more legend that concludes the above mentioned story:

While the Sharabh felt confident that he was successful in suppressing the Narsingh, the latter took a more ferocious form, Gandaberunda and combat the Sharabh destroying him at the end.

Gandaberunda subduing the Sharabh

So, what to believe and what not to believe, if Sharabh avatar is true, then so is the Gandaberunda avatar. If you remember what I mentioned in my last blog; both Bhagwan Vishnu and Shiv are actually one. You worship Vishnu, Shiv's graciousness will fall upon you and vice-versa. The humans parted themselves into two groups and formed their versions.

So what actually happened - Narsingh was calmed by Prahlaad(Hiranyakashapu's son, devotee of Bhagwan Vishnu) and that's it, happy ending.

Why the devtas cannot incarnate? Very simple, they are the part of the creation like us humans and Bhagwan, well he is the alpha and the omega, every being exists on his will. Hence the devtas fathered divine children with the heavenly courtesans, monkey females.

I also come across to people who ask, if really God is there and such is his pledge then where is he. The world is suffering and the standards of morality are falling, hypocrisy has replaced precision and ethics, what is taking him so long, what exactly is he waiting for? It is so easy to raise your finger and question, rather trying from our very own end.

Bhagwan Ram's incarnation took place when everybody else failed. No human or dev or any other being had potentiality to face Raavarn's force. King Anaranya, forefather of Shri Ram fought bravely but at the end was killed. Bali and Kaartivirya Arjun who defeated Raavarn, befriended with him. It was then the Ramavtar occurred to guide the beings towards the right path, the path of righteousness.

What we can learn is that we have to fight our own battle, whatever state the world is at today, is been delivered by our ignorance and the tendency of following blindly, ultimately, we are responsible for our fate, whether good or bad. Reasoning and rationalization are becoming obsolete and that's the actual threat.

But things are not lost yet, from time to time, even today, there have been 'humans' who have lead humanity towards the right path. He will arrive for sure; when mankind will give up to adharm, he will descend and re-install righteousness. Until then, never stop trying!

We will end for today by commemorating the DASHAVATAR:

श्रीमन्नारायण

"He is always there for you, the only condition is - believe, never back down"

'सियाराम'

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Degradation of 'Parshu'Ram

On this significant day, that is marked by birth anniversary of two great sons Bharat Mata would always be proud of; Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri ji, I take this opportunity to share my blog with you underlining the principles that install righteousness; truth, tolerance and humbleness:

The peerless Pinaak was broken and Janak finally had a sigh of relief. Grand arrangements were made and the Ram-Janaki 'vivah'(marriage) was solemnized. The moment was auspicious and with Vishwamitra's suggestion, Dashrath and Janak decided to marry Lakshmarn with Urmilla, another daughter of Janak and Bharat and Shatrughan were married to Mandvi and Shrutkirti, daughters of Kushdhwaj(Janak's younger brother).

The ceremonials were complete and Dashrath returned with his sons and daughter-in-laws towards Ayodhya.

While they were on their way, the king witnessed some bad omens along with a few good ones. He was perplexed as what and how to react, he consulted sage Vashishth. As they both were discussing this sudden dilemma, suddenly a dark dust storm occurred which seemed to have blown away whole Earth.

King Dashrath saw from a good distance. Son of great sage Jamdagni, Parshuram; incontrovertible like Mount Kailash was coming towards them. His aura was irradiant, the commons were unable to even look at him. A giant axe was on his one shoulder and in another hand had an unmatched bow that in appearance was similar to the bow of Bhagwan Shiv.

He straightaway went to Ram, ‘O son of Dashrath; I have heard your valour is exceptional, the Shiv-dhanush was broken by you, I have also got news of that. That divine bow was extraordinary and inaccessible but as now it’s got broken, I have another divine bow for you.

This belongs to the son of Jamdagni, Parshuram, i.e. me; it is as mighty and exceptional as the Shiv-Dhanush, here, take it and try to flex its string with an arrow and prove your potency, then I will decide to challenge you for combat.’

[Valmiki Ramayan; Baal Kaand; chapter-75; verse-1-4]

Dashrath's face sulked as he listened to Parshuram, he begged Parshuram to retain his generosity as he had sworn earlier in front of Indra to quit arms.

‘You donated this earth to sage Kashyap and went to the Mahendra Mountain and if your rage is towards Ram, then if he’s gone everybody else here will die without him.’

[Valmiki Ramayan; Baal Kaand; chapter-75; verse-8-9]

But Parshuram ignored him in his arrogance, instead, he narrated a tale to Shri Ram, tale of Shraang -

The two bows were created by Vishwakarma and were the mightiest and divine among all the bows, among these two one was given to Bhagwan Shiv to fight Tripurasur and the other was given to Bhagwan Vishnu as only they were the ones who could sustain these bows. The divine bow with Parshuram was the same Vaishnav bow.

Once the devas asked Brahmm dev to see who’s more authoritative, Vishnu or Shiv. Therefore, Brahmm dev dramatically created differences between both and the world witnessed a fierce fight between the two. While the combat was on and going fierce, Bhagwan Vishnu made a ‘humm’ roaring sound that froze the Shiv-Dhanush and even Bhagwan Shiv was stunned. The Saptrishis and the devas prayed both to end the war, and so the war was called off. The devas now knew who is the paramount among the two.

Parshuram ended the narration and dared Shri Ram to lift the Vaishnav bow as he now qualified to try it as it was superior over the Shiv-Dhanush.  

Until now, Shri Ram was quiet due to his father’s presence, but he disliked the arrogance in Parshuram, they both were Vishnu's incarnation, the only difference being; Parshuram was anshavtar and Shri Ram was poornavatar(a subject we will draw towards in forthcoming posts). Also, though there weren't any disturbances hitherto, but with the rise of Shri Ram there was a fear of imbalance in the creation, there being two incarnations at one time. Shri Ram knew what was needed to be done, he being more authoritative.

The arrogance was an opportunity, Shri Ram furiously took the divine bow and arrow from Parshuram and with that he took his Vaishnav element from him. He put the arrow in the string and lifted it to his ears, ‘Hey Parshuram, being a brahmmarn you are venerable to me, then you are also related to sage Vishwamitra. Hence, I can’t aim this life-taking arrow on you, so either I should destroy your power to roam anywhere instantly or should I destroy the heavenly realms that you earned through rigorous ascesis, as this divine Vaishnav-arrow cannot be withdrawn now.’
[Valmiki Ramayan; Baal Kaand; chapter-75; verse-6-7]

As the Vaishnav-element was taken by Shri Ram, Parshuram’s aura faded, he looked vulnerable, he requested Shri Ram to destroy the heavenly realms and spare his ability to roam anywhere. He had also actualized that Shri Ram was the one, Shri Hari, eliminator of the asur Madhu. Shri Ram struck the arrow which destroyed all the realms earned by Parshuram and henceforth he left for Mahendra-Mountain.

The story ends and delivers us towards following explorations:-

• Parshuram never arrived at Janak's court as per to common beliefs, they all met in the way towards Ayodhya.
• When Shri Ram lifted the Shiv-Dhanush, there wasn't any swayamvar going on.
• Lakshmarn never spoke in between or quarreled with Parshuram. As it is considered inappropriate to speak between the elders; even Ram broke his silence and intervened when Dashrath was helpless and Parshuram ignored him.
• Though Parshuram’s Vaishnav period was over, yet he remained as strong and divine, it was just that the avtaar part was gone.

It is hard for a lot of people to digest the Vishnu-Shiv duel. But this is what happened as told by Parshuram who is known as an ardent devotee of Bhagwan Shiv, hence it shouldn't be taken otherwise. Both, Vishnu ji and Shiv ji are actually one; to me as Narayarn’s abode is in other dimension, i.e. Vaikunth lok, therefore, he is present in Earth in Shiv’s form, that’s what I believe in. Therefore, no grudges to keep.

The story is over, yet I would like to draw your attention towards the character of Parshuram:

• He was born to a renowned sage Jamdagni and devi Renuka,a kshatriya; that means Parshuram was both, a brahmmarn and a kshatriya.
• His actual name was Ram. The 'Parshu'(name of the axe) that was presented to him by Bhagwan Shiv was affixed with his name and the world renowned him as Parshuram.
• It is said he was a blind devotee to his father as he killed his mother at his father's instructions without asking any question; wrong, he was a wise son who was aware of Jamdagni's powers and hence after beheading his mother he asked the latter to resurrect Renuka, which was granted by Jamdagni.
• According to a popular belief, Parshuram wiped off the kshatriyas 21 times of this land; half baked fact, he only killed those kings who were unruly, unethical and brutal. This might have included the kings of other races too i.e. asurs, gandharws and others. He was believed to be extremely angry person, but now we can infer that he was never blindfolded by his anger, he used his senses well.
• Though he killed the kings who were the sinners, the exploiters, yet he had to remorse his actions and so he donated whole Earth to sage Kashyap, father of all races.

I ended my last blog mentioning of a bow that was considered mightier than the Pinaak, here we have learned about that incredible bow, the Shraang dhanush. According to Dhanurvaid, it was created by Vishwakarma and presented to Bhagwan Vishnu. A legend comes to my mind that is quite synonymus to Pinaak's Tripurasur(the trinity of three asur brothers) incident. Bhagwan Vishnu employed the Shraang to fight the three rakshas brothers; Mali, Sumali and Malyavan and their enormous army. Bhagwan Vishnu wrecked havoc in the rakshas army with his marvelous bow and defeated the rakshasas again and again till they accepted their defeat and left Lanka for underworld. These rakshas brothers were maternal grandparents of Raavarn and a lot mightier than him.

Illustration:The Great Shraang

Contrary to Pinaak, the Shraang was three and a half hands long; this may be due to the purpose for close and accurate aiming. The other Vaishnav-bow that was presented by sage Agastya to Bhagwan Ram was believed to be similar heighted as Pinaak(for details refer to my last blog-post).

What Shri Ram did with the Shraang, well he gave the divine Vaishnav-bow to Varurn dev.

Parshuram's degradation is an important lesson to us - a being tends to become the person he dislikes most. Parshuram was a serene person, until his father and whole family was ruthlessly killed by a king. Enraged and poised to avenge his dear ones, he slayed the king and his army. He didn't stopped there. He saw the unethical practices of the kings and their barbarity, hence, decided to clean the mess and in order to do that, he himself became merciless. The ethos stayed in him nurturing the arrogance. 

Finally, the rondeau with Shri Ram made him realize of his negativity and he regained humbleness. Anger and arrogance never pays, no matter who you are, how influential you are, but there is always a chance for remorse.

"Arrogance; beware of it, as even the Gods get decoyed Humility; have it, as it will win a billion heart for you "

'सियाराम'

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