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'

[Book is now available for your read:

Amazon(e-book): amazon.in/7th-Incarnation-Ram-Janki-Book-ebook/dp/B01E8LJ9HG (including other amazon domains)

For Paperback: https://pothi.com/pothi/node/188538]

Visit my website:

http://www.srirom.in)

Dhanushbhung

Our ancient sagas are replete with war-stories where both sides are engaged in a gruesome battle deploying various divyastras(divine weapons), we have always been so fascinated about them. We always wonder how those weapons looked like, there efficiency and efficacy, there limitations, if any. Among those, the most popular weapon or rather weapon system was dhanush or the bow; they were used to discharge arrows and to launch the divyastras as well and that's what made them prominent as without them it was difficult or rather impossible(in some cases) to launch those divine weapons.

Talking about bow or dhanush, I remember the most famous amongst all the bows in our legends, The Pinaak. It belonged to Bhagwan Shiv and hence also termed as Shiv-Dhanush. The amazing bow was employed by Shiv ji to annihilate Tripurasur. He later gave that bow to king Devvrat, ancestor of king Janak after demolishing Daksha-Yagya.

Yes, you got it right, we are approaching towards the great event of Ramayan - dhanushbhung, that proceeded to the Ram-Janki vivaah.

When sage Vishwamitra reached Mithila accompanied by Shri Ram and Lakshmarn, king Janak was immediately intimated of the sage's arrival. The king made no delays and presented himself at the sage's service. Janak’s eyesight caught glimpse of both princes, he was bewitched by the grace of the princes.

‘hey rishivar; strong and handsome like the devas, these two princes look like adamantine lion and bull; holding sword, quivers and bow like undefeatable warriors. Like the Ashwini Kumars; their exquisiteness is mesmerizing, they seemed to have just entered to their youth, coming all the way from the heavens, these two add to the pride of which dynasty, as Sun and Moon honors the sky likewise their radiance embellishes my kingdom.’ Janak asked Vishwamitra.
(Valmiki Ramayan;Baal Kaand;Chapter-50;Verse-17-21)

Vishwamitra introduced both princes and their amazing endeavors and they were there to sight the Shiv-dhanush. Janak also came to know about the obtention of divyastras by Shri Ram from the sage and the king was pleased to cognize it. There was now something going on his mind; his daughter Sita, a divine girl whom he discovered while ploughing the field.

Janak informed the sage about his daughter and the condition he had put for her marriage; the Shiv-dhanush, whoever would succeed in picking the massive bow, would win Sita's hand. Though many kings and princes tried their chivalry but failed miserably, no one couldn't even move the bow an inch, lifting it was out of question.

Shri Ram, at such young age, was an accomplished prince now and that too at such a tender age, he had the knowledge that was rare to devas even, above all, he hailed from Suryavansh, son of king Dashrath. Janak knew destiny had brought them at his place and his dear daughter's safety would be ensured(we will for sure get into that, but later).

Janak further told Vishwamitra that he would be more than happy to show the bow to both princes and if Shri Ram could lift the bow then he will marry his daughter Sita to him.
With sage's permission, the bow was summoned. An iron box-cart moved by eight wheels, was brought by five thousand heavy-weight people.

It was out of question for a mere human to pull it as well as to strike an arrow with it, when the divine devas and the valiant asurs failed miserably. 

Vishwamitra asked Shri Ram to have a look at the legendary bow.

‘With your permission; hey rishivar, I will try to lift this divine bow and will attach its string to its other end.’
(Valmiki Ramayan;Baal Kaand;Chapter-50;Verse-14)

Shri Ram rose and circumambulated the Shiv-Dhanush joining his palms. Then he held the bow from its center and lifted it with such an ease, like a child plays with a toy and playfully attached its string to the either sides. Thousands of people gathered were looking at him startlingly at that moment.

As he pulled the string to his ears; the bow broke from its center, due to stretching and made a sound of a thunder-bolt. An earthquake occurred the moment bow got broke.

Everyone except Shri Ram, Lakshmarn, Vishwamitra and Janak lost their consciousness with that massive blow.

नमोस्तुते श्री राघवम् 

Janak wished so, yet he was in an astonishment. Already mesmerized by Shri Ram's aura he lauded the unimaginable and marvelous incident. And thus the auspicious wedding of Shri Ram and Devi Sita took place to benefit the world.

We just saw how Shri Ram broke Shiv-Dhanush with such a grace.
But one thing has been keeping the masses in a perplex, or rather, entangled. What was Shri Ram and Devi Sita's age when this great event took place. There is nothing sensitive about it, cause as I have always said truth is emotion-less, it is we who see it with different outlooks. So before we discuss it, we need to have a better understanding, to know the characters more. Today let's get to know about the amazing bows discussed in our legends.

Theoretically, A bow is a flexible arc which shoots aerodynamic projectiles called arrows. A string joins the two ends of the bow and when the string is drawn back, the ends of the bow are flexed. When the string is released, the potential energy of the flexed stick is transformed into the velocity of the arrow. That was theory, let have a illustrated view:

 Here we can see as well as understand the definition of a bow given above.

According to Dhanurvaid; the bows can be made to different sizes referring to different purposes. Bhagwan Shiv's bow was believed to be around five and a half hands in length, so were the bows of Bhagwan Ram and Bharat, ParshuRam followed by sage Dronacharya, Arjun and Satyaki. Other bows used to be around four hands in length(an average human is approximately two and a half arms, yeah I tried to measure).

         Dhanurvaid is a sub-text of Ayurvaid, it is a compilation of complete warfare to enlighten any inquisitive of all kinds of weapons and launchers. Dr. Devvrat Acharya has done a commendable job penning the essence of dhanurvaid in today's perspective(I enlightened myself from there) .

Now, when we look above given illustration and the description of the Shiv-Dhanush that was carried in "an iron box-cart moved by eight wheels, was brought by five thousand heavy-weight people" things look superficial. How come a simple looking bow can be so heavy that it required the heavy weight cluster to move it.

There is a difference when we talk about a simple bow/dhanush and a divine bow. Pinaak was not any ordinary bow but a divine creation that too carried by Bhagwan Shiv, how can be things usual here. It was created by divine-architect Vishwakarma, with the length specified according to dhanurvaid. The reason it being so heavy was due to its capability of launching single or multiple divastras at once; no one, no one had strength to lift it apart from Bhagwan Shiv followed by Bhagwan Ram and that is why the question of misuse ceases.

There had been other divine bows like Pinaak; Vijay another exceptional bow that belonged to Bhagwan Shiv(though not greater than Pinaak) was rare and could not be lifted easily, it was passed to Karna of Mahabharat in order to counter Gandeev; the most famous bow that was presented by Agni dev to Arjun. In Ramayan, sage Agastya presented a infrequent Vaishnav-dhanush to Shri Ram accompanied by two quivers that never went short of arrows. Apart from these, there have been other bows with there limited powers that belonged to different devtas.

Now when we have come so far understanding bows; there have been theories with regards to these divine bows. According to some, these bows were actually not the typical bows as we know but a range of launchers of divine weapons. These launchers were motile hence easy to commute and target. Every launcher was employed with regards to the divyastra needed for discharge.

something like this, may be

Well this may sound logical, but then what about the description of Shri Ram lifting the Shiv-Dhanush and tying it's knot; also the descriptions in dhanurvaid do not give any indication of that sort. Some times we must stop implying science or logic and accept the divinity completely in stead of partially(accepting the divine weapons but doubting the concept of a bow). What I observed in Ramayan is that when Vishwamitra bestowed divyastras to Shri Ram, they were not with him all the time, but he manifested them reciting the mantra as per the need.

Shri Ram summons the divyastra and launches it through Indra's divine bow ending Raavarn's terror

Talking about launchers, according to dhanurvaid, there were weapons present known as shataghni, like the cannons we have in the present world. Yet, this possibility of motile weapon launching systems cannot be scrapped of, may be they co-existed, an assumption yet to be confirmed.

There had been a bow that was mightier than the Pinaak, we will know about it in the following post. Till then, be proud(we have so much to be after all)

"divinity cannot be doubted or questioned, it is holy. One can either believe it or disown it as there is no mid-way"

'सियाराम'

[Book is now available for your read:

Amazon(e-book): amazon.in/7th-Incarnation-Ram-Janki-Book-ebook/dp/B01E8LJ9HG (including other amazon domains)

For Paperback: https://pothi.com/pothi/node/188538]

Visit my website:

http://www.srirom.in)

Announcement

Hello Folks,
My blog-post this week would be unavailable for your view. I will see you next Thursday with my latest post. My apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Till then be proud, forever.

'सियाराम'

Bala-Atibala; the divine mantras

With the conclusion of Vishwamitra's legend in my last post, we now know his prominence in Shri Ram's legend. We also know as why he was chosen to educate and enlighten him. He was a connoisseur in war arts and archery, but he learned a lot during his journey towards 'brahmmanatv' and afterwards, I hinted this in my post on Tadka and now everything can be linked.

When Brahmm Dev appeared and blessed him as 'brahmmrishi', Vishwamitra asked-

'If I have attained Brahmmanatv, then kindly bless me with Omkar, Vashatkar and the Vaidas, they all should patronize me.' Brahmm Dev granted him so.

Hence, with the thorough knowledge of the Vaidas and other sciences, he discovered many divyastras and mantra-vidyas; Gayatri Mantra being the prime and the source to others. He entrusted Shri Ram with divine weapons those were rare to others. We will definitely learn about those weapons and their source later.

But, before he endowed those divine weapons or divyastras to Shri Ram, Vishwamitra prepared the latter to be capable of carrying those.  

When Shri Ram and Lakshmarn left Ayodhya with Vishwamitra to help him in saving his yagya, they halted at the banks of River Saryu. The sun was setting and so Vishwamitra instructed Shri Ram to take the divine water of Saryu without making any further delays as it was an appropriate time for receiving BALA and ATIBALA, two great group of hymns that would make him invincible. With the divine effects of those hymns a person never feels exertion or stress, neither would he get caught by fever, no enemies or demons could attack him while sleeping. His strength will be second to none.

Shri Ram followed Vishwamitra’s instructions and went in accordance with that due to which he mastered those two great mahavidyas. It was the divine effect of these hymns that helped Shri Ram in his future endeavors whether it was war with Khar or the historical warfare in Lanka. And that ladies and Gentlemen, is the beauty of Ramavtar; he, who is omniscient, who is the invincible, acted like a innocent human and we get tangled in his ‘maya’ every now and then, debating whether he was God or a 'mere' human.

Now we know about Bala and Atibala, two amazing mantras and their functionality, but do we know what mantra actually means. Let's have a look at the fact those are related to mantras -

• The word mantra has two parts: man, which is the root of the Sanskrit word for mind; and tra, which is the root of the word instrument. A mantra is therefore an instrument of the mind, a powerful sound or vibration that you can use to enter a deep state of meditation.
• Every mantra has a different configuration and individuality of its own.
• Mantras are not only attached with wars and violence; people in their daily life recite mantras as per their convenience or purposes. For example; Om, the basic yet a principal mantra, people recite it to calm their minds. 
• While reciting or invoking a mantra, timing is important. For different mantras, different time slot is appropriate, above stated episode of Bala and Atibala proves that.
• With a efficient application of mantra partnered with yantra(machine) and tantra(sorcery), unprecedented accomplishments can be achieved. Pushpak is the best example I can give you here(yes, we will have a session over that).

Yes, there might be inadmissibility to whatever I  just discussed. May look superstitious or too much fictitious. But we must understand that in the 80's no one would have thought of anything like mobile phones, touchscreens possible or even viable. But today, life is totally incomplete without it. This all is vigyaan or science, till today's scientific world manages to rediscover it what is known here from ages.

I will end here, but before that, I bow to the most sacred form of mantra, let there be knowledge everywhere. ॐ 

                                  

"the only limitation that you have is ignorance, lose it and nothing would be unattainable"

'सियाराम '

[Book is now available for your read:

Amazon(e-book): amazon.in/7th-Incarnation-Ram-Janki-Book-ebook/dp/B01E8LJ9HG (including other amazon domains)

For Paperback: https://pothi.com/pothi/node/188538]

Visit my website:

http://www.srirom.in)

Legend of Vishwamitra : Brahmmrishi Vishwamitra

Learning his lessons well this time, Vishwamitra prepared himself for a tougher journey.

The ascetic left everything(literally) and continued his penance until Brahmm Dev is pleased. Another thousand years passed; he was annoyed in all ways but this time he was unshakable and one day, after completing thousand years of ascesis he prepared food to break his fast. At that moment, a brahmmarn arrived there and requested for food. Vishwamitra gave all his food and stayed pleasant and calm; he rightly identified Indra and his ploy( to the typicality of it). You may now start condemning Indra, that's the reputation he has built afterall.

But Vishwamitra, refined and composed, started his ascesis again. 

For another thousand years his penance continued 'without breathing', it resulted in fumes that started coming from his head, beings all over the world became worried as it started creating imbalance in all the three worlds. They all pleaded Brahmm dev that Vishwamitra was out of any impurity, he had won over his senses and his ascesis had reached such stage that could lead to destruction. They requested him to bless him whatever he desired, even if he wished the throne of the heavens, let him had it too in order to save the world.

Brahmm dev went to Vishwamitra and the latter finally got his labor paid, ‘Rise Brahmmrishi Vishwamitra, I am pleased with your ascesis, you have achieved brahmmanatv now.’

Vishwamitra was in an ecstasy, he humbly joined his palms and requested Brahmm Dev that may sage Vashishth also address him as brahmmrishi.

Vashishth at that very moment arrived and pronounced Vishwamitra as Brahmrishi-Vishwamitra and therefore both befriended.

This was the legend of a Kshatriya king who became a Brahmmrishi. 

Vishwamitra's journey has a lot to offer us; it educates us that we are never absolute, no matter how accomplished we feel about ourselves. There's another dimension to it, may be we are perfect, we have got everything as per the roles, the designation we play, but there's always an option to strive for better. His legend showcases both dimensions.

He proved that how impossible the target may look, firmness will lead you to it.

The transition of a kshatriya to a brahmmarn is the prime lesson to learn, installing karm over varn.

Here, Indra's role is very crucial and critical as he is always looked with a disdainful look. Personally, I am a hater too, but  again hating is an emotion and truth/satya has got nothing to do with it. To your surprise, Indra wasn’t totally negative this time, we must understand his profile; he is the caretaker of the all three worlds, his major work is to maintain balance in those. It’s not so easy to achieve any position, you have to be completely pure and firm as well as focused about your goals. Now, if he hadn’t sent Menka followed by Rambha and then himself in guise of a Brahmmarn begging food then how could have Vishwamitra came out so strong every time a challenge posed over him. If you guys will give it a thought, being Indra, he actually helped Vishwamitra to become Brahmmrishi, coz. anyone or everyone can’t reach this position so he has to see whether a particular individual deserves to be what he aims to be or not. You see if he hadn't done so, Vishwamitra would have never attained brahmmanatv being unaware of his drawbacks being stuck in the illusion forever.

To understand what I explained above, we must know what is Indra. You read it right, what, not who.

Indra is actually not a person but a designation or a post; like president, prime minister etc. The person appointed for the position is also named with the same, i.e. Indra and yes they change periodically. Currently, the person who had been appointed Indra is the son of sage Kashyap and devi Aditi, SHAKRA. Yes, that's the actual name of Indra and according to the popular beliefs, next Indra would be Asur king Bali, another myth-breaker that Indra is a dev. Like I said in one of my earlier posts; KARMA rules. Even Shakra had to went through tests and long austerity before he was crowned as the king of devas. Thus, we have now understand why he tested Vishwamitra.

"a dark side doesn't mean a bad soul, and if it is, who's good then"

'सियाराम'

[Book is now available for your read:

Amazon(e-book): amazon.in/7th-Incarnation-Ram-Janki-Book-ebook/dp/B01E8LJ9HG (including other amazon domains)

For Paperback: https://pothi.com/pothi/node/188538]

Visit my website:

http://www.srirom.in)

Legend of Vishwamitra : 'Kaam' and 'Krodh'

Vishwamitra was thoroughly absorbed in the divine atmosphere of Pushkar, he continued his penance living only on fruits and tubers. His efforts continued and another thousand years passed.

Brahmm Dev appeared and entitled him as 'Rishi', certainly Vishwamitra felt dejected. He was clueless  as whether his efforts were not enough to qualify him towards the position of 'Brammrishi'. Yet, he continued his ascesis as he was poised for it.

But, his determination was giving a hard time to a divine persona.

One day a beautiful apsara or nymph named Menka arrived there, she found herself near a beautiful lake and hence started preparing for the bath. Vishwamitra observed her contour, the ascetic helplessly felt spellbound by her charm. Magnetized with her exquisiteness, he approached her welcoming and requested her to grace him with her companionship.

Menka delightfully accepted his proposal; after all it was the sole-purpose of her presence there. For the next ten years, the sage was drowned in Menka so deep that he forgot his objective, a big stoppage over his ascesis. He realized lately and was left embarrassed. He rightly interpreted, it was Indra’s work; he said nothing and peacefully let Menka go, they had the connection after all.

Now he knew where he had not arrived yet. He tried to bring the pieces together; only a jitendriya can be a Brahmmrishi, was his conclusion. I must enlighten you that a jitendriya is one person who has won all over his senses; as these senses control being's mind and body. A being is deviated towards various desires and cravings, those being:  काम(lust), क्रोध(anger), लोभ(temptation), मोह(fascination), राग(infatuation), द्वेष(malice) and ईर्ष्या(jealousy). One can only master these vaasnaas or desires through mastering his senses only and the one who succeeds will always be composed though whatever the situation may be. The reason why being a jitendriya is important as only then a being could be able to judge the situations unbiased.

The moment he saw a beautiful nymph, he failed to control his cravings that were suppressed from long and hence, fell in the trap. He decided that he has to win over his lust and therefore he left for the Himalayas and penance like never before for another thousand years. The devas were concerned, they requested Brahmm dev to bless him with 'Maharishi'.

Brahmm dev went to Vishwamitra, ‘Maharishi, you are welcome; I am very pleased with your ascesis and give you supremacy among the great sages.’

‘Hey Brahmm Dev! If you are pleased with me, then kindly grace me with the position of Brahmrishi, only then I will take myself as jitendriya, the one who has overcome his all senses.’

‘O best of the sages, you haven’t won your senses yet, strive for it and that might be your destiny one day.’ Brahmm dev smiled.

Vishwamitra was now determined for more so he raised both of his arms and started ascesis living only on air.

In summers he lived on panchagni, in the rains he stayed under open-sky and in winters also he stayed in his position for another thousand years. Indra got worried for whatever was happening so he asked another apsara Rambha to break Vishwamitra’s ascesis as Menka did with his beauty and voluptuous body. As directed, Rambha went there and started singing like a songbird. Indra knew it would be hard to crack Vishwamitra this time, therefore, he created a set-up in accordance to that. Disturbed, Vishwamitra opened his eyes, he looked all over; suddenly the rough site of the Himalayas felt pleasant with the greenery around, the wind had a musky breeze flowing, various fragrant flowers were showering from the sky and a stunning beauty singing with her melodious voice. He recognized Indra’s move, though lust couldn't move him, yet, he was irate; he cursed Rambha and turned her into a stone while Indra ran away watching this.

But this all saddened Vishwamitra as he lost all his ascetic powers and his every single effort for Brahmmanatva went in vain. Brahmm Dev's word were echoing in his ears, in spite of decoding the secret he failed to control his anger. The actualization had eventuated, he knew how to proceed ahead.

Before I sign off, one thing; obviously everyone would be loathing Indra as he again and again created hurdles in Vishwamitra's penance. I would like to play as the devil's advocate, why, let's meet in the next post.

"A jitendriya or stoic remains composed and converts his weakness and threats into his strength and opportunities" 

' सियाराम'

[Book is now available for your read:

Amazon(e-book): amazon.in/7th-Incarnation-Ram-Janki-Book-ebook/dp/B01E8LJ9HG (including other amazon domains)

For Paperback: https://pothi.com/pothi/node/188538]

Visit my website:

http://www.srirom.in)

Legend of Vishwamitra : Trishanku

Defeated and humiliated twice, Vishwamitra had now realized the force of brahmmanatv and a 'Brahmmrishi'; whole world capitulates in his feet including the devas, such is his efficacy.

An accomplished king, a connoisseur in war science, yet he failed against 'Brahmmrishi' Vashishth. He knew what he wanted and only Brahmm Dev would grant that.

Vishwamitra started penancing  rigorously, after thousand years Brahmm Dev revealed himself and honored him with 'Rajrishi', the one who had won over the world of kingly-sages. Brahmm Dev vanished but Vishwamitra was disappointed, he expected more,  'Brahmmrishi' was the term his heart expected. This was just the beginning, Vishwamitra determined himself for a rigorous journey.

I know it might be hard to digest; a thousand year austerity. But that's the way it is, as far as I have understood; the lifestyle we adhere, the conduct, the environment around, these all factors combine and make it possible. A significant factor contributing to it is YOG(yes, not yoga) re-energizing and purifying the body and soul. And so, Vishwamitra continued his penance.

Between all this was happening; destiny played one more card, an incident that enhanced Vishwamitra's efficacy universally.

There was a noble suryavanshee king Trishanku who aspired for heavens, but with his physical form. He decided to consult sage Vashishtha, the wise sage softly rejected his plea.

Disappointed, the king then went to the sage’s sons who like their father denied his wish.

The denials raised his desperation, he tried to greed them by offering treasure. Such a conduct enraged the sons of Vashishth as the king's conduct was amoral. They cursed him to become a chandaal, profane. The impact of the curse was so powerful that Trishanku’s personality faded instantly and his face became dull, he had black torn clothes over his body, he became scared.

Restless and outcast; he thought to approach someone who is more or equally influential like Vashishth. Vishwamitra’s enmity to Vashishth was now known to the world and so he went to the former’s refuge.

Vishwamitra felt bad for him, he promised Trishanku to grant his wish. He thus arranged few sages and asked them to perform a yagya in order to fulfill Trishanku's wish.

As the rituals started, Trishanku’s body started elevating towards heavens. Looking at such unethical act infuriated Indra, he had to stop it right now otherwise a wrong message would had been sent to the world and so he instantly reversed Trishanku’s body and he started falling back to Earth.

Falling down, Trishanku shouted for help; Vishwamitra haulted his body in the middle of the sky, he was now hung upside down. Looking at the pity condition of Trishanku and his failing efforts, Vishwamitra decided to create a whole new set of constellation which had a new set of sapt-rishis. He angrily announced to create a new swarglok which will have a new Indra, or may be without any Indra, but it would be there for sure.

Indra went to Vishwamitra and explained him that sending Trishanku to Indralok along with his body is against the ethics and the policies laid by the almighty and so was creating a new constellation.

Vishwamitra realized his mistake, he then calmed Indra and insisted him to let his efforts not go in vain as he had promised Trishanku for that.

Indra said, ‘whatever you have created will be there in existence and Trishanku will be lying there bowing down in respectable position similar to devas.

As the legend goes on; Trishanku is still placed in the artificial Indralok, alone. The boon that became a curse, in a way.

Trishanku's story has a lot to teach, even in today's life. No doubt he was a noble king, who lived up to his every responsibility of a king, but, that didn't gave him a right to aspire for an impractical wish, even if he was a suryavanshee. In spite of his status, he was delivered to justice. Now that was something so right about those times.

Today, when I look around, I see Trishankus everywhere. Politicians, bureaucrats, corporates, babas of different sects; a slight power in their hand and they are ready to manipulate the system, the society in their accordance. They don't even shy away in compromising the ethics, the foundation; undaunted about the consequences keeping the system in their pockets.

The only difference; Trishanku, the king was brought to justice and today the culprits have all cards in their kitty viz. politricks, communal, human-rights and so on.

Still people say we have progressed a lot, but on stake of what? You reason, that's all.

Coming back to Vishwamitra, after the Trishanku episode, he went to Pushkar and continued with his ascesis. We will continue the legend to the next post.

"Aspirations; be careful with those, if noble they will emancipate you, if corrupt you will be condemned."

'सियाराम'

[Book is now available for your read:

Amazon(e-book): amazon.in/7th-Incarnation-Ram-Janki-Book-ebook/dp/B01E8LJ9HG (including other amazon domains)

For Paperback: https://pothi.com/pothi/node/188538]

Visit my website:

http://www.srirom.in)