Wednesday 31 December 2014

Srimadh Bagawatham - Janamejaya’s Snake Sacrifice.

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/12/srimadh-bagawatham-description-of.html



Janamejaya’s Snake Sacrifice.
Parikshit son Janamejayan came to know about the curse which killed his father.
‘The curse specifically stated that my father was to be bitten by Takshakan not die due to the bite. When this is the case, why didn’t anyone try to revive my father?’ asked King Janamejayan.
‘There was one Brahmana who tried to appear by your father’s side so that he can cure Takshakan’s bite but Takshakan met this Brahman en-route, bribed him with gold and prevented the Brahmana from coming to your father’s aide.’
‘How cruel! It was very spiteful of Takshakan. Because of Takshakan’s spite, I had to suffer without a father. Such mean minded and cruel personalities should be removed from earth. Help me perform an abhijara yagnam to kill all snakes!’
Thus the Brahmins helped Janamejaya perform the snake sacrifice in which thousands of snakes were burnt alive. Takshakan was afraid for his life. He rushed to Swarka Lokam and sought the protection of Devendra.
‘Have all the snakes including Takshakan been burnt?’ asked Janamejayan.
‘Takshakan is nowhere to be found. It looks like he is under the protection of Devendra.’
‘If Devendra will not release Takshakan to us, throw both Devendra and Takshakan in to the fire!’ said Janamejayan.
Devendran immediately pushed Takshakan to fall down into the sacrificial fire in order to save himself from being burnt by Janamejayan.
At that moment a young Brahmachari rishi called Astikar appeared.
Astika’s  father was Jaratkaru an old sage. Jaratkaru decided to spend the rest of his life as a Brahmachari without getting married. One day he saw his deceased ancestors hanging upside down over a pit.
‘Why are you hanging upside down over this pit?’ he asked them.
‘We can be freed if you got married and had a son.’
‘I promise to marry if the girl has the same name as me.’
Jaratkaru searched far and wide but did not find any girl named as Jaratkaru.
Vasuki the serpent king came to know about the sage’s vow. He had a sister named Jaratkaru. Vasuki approached the sage and offered the hand of his sister Jaratkaru in marriage.
Vasuki had heard a prophecy that his sister Jaratkaru would marry a sage and their son would prevent the impending sarpa-bali yagnam.
After a few days sage Jaratkaru decided to leave his wife.
‘You are leaving me now, is there any prospect of progeny?’ she asked him to which he replied ‘there is; asti’ in Sanskrit.
Thus, the boy was named Astika.
 Astika praised the sacrifice and sought a boon from Janamejayan. All the other rishis at Janamejayan’s sacrifice, requested the king to grant boon to Astikar. Astikar asked Janamejayan to stop the sacrifice and save Takshakan. As Janamejayan had promised to grant any boon to astikar, he stopped the sacrifice and thus Takshakan was saved.
As many rishis had gathered at the sacrificial ground, Janamejayan requested Sage Vaisampayanar to narrate the Mahabharata.
Esoteric Interpretation:
 Per Sri Narayan Aiyyangar in his book , "The Essays on Indo Aryan Mythology", snakes represent evil tendencies. Janamejaya's killing the snakes means his killing the evil tendencies. Sage Jaratkaru means old poet i.e, an enlightened soul. His wife Jaratkaru is the Brahma Vidhya or faith. They get Paramatma as their son Astika. The son is named Astika because of the belief of the Sage in the Lord’s existence. Once Janamejaya has killed evil tendencies, the son Astika appears before Janamejaya. Takshaka as we have seen in the esoteric explanation of Parikshit’s curse is Moksham or final death. Thus Takshaka saved represents liberation granted to Janamejaya.
Thus, Srimadh Bagawatha Sapthaham begins with curse of Parikshit and ends with the sarpa-bali yagam of Janamejayan!
Concluded
 

Sunday 28 December 2014

Srimadh Bagawatham - Description of Pralayam

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/11/srimadh-bagawatham-characteristic-of.html



There are four kinds of pralayams decribed in Srimadh Bagawatham. Nithya Pralayam occurs everyday when a life form dies. Maimithika Pralayam occurs during Brahma’s night when the first three worlds are destroyed even though the Sun is still there. Prakrutha Pralayam occurswhen all worlds are destroyed and all jeevatmas rest in a state of inactivity by Perumal. Perumal lies down in Yoga nidra for a very long time and starts creation again upon waking up. Akruthika Pralayam occurs when a jeevatma attains Moksham.
Markandeya Maharishi performed severe penance at Naimisharanyam in order to attain the Lord’s feet. The sage is a Brahmachari blessed with everlasting youth. The devas were worried by the sage’s penance. Devendran sent the apsaras to seduce the sage. The apsaras arrived with the lord of Love Kama and created spring season.
The sage noticed the beautiful sweet scented flowers, pleasant weather and the beautiful women. Even then he didn’t give in to their advances as he had complete control over his senses. He pitied the apsaras and promised not to curse them for trying to ruin his penance.
Lord Vishnu was pleased that the sage had defeated kamam as well as krodham. He appeared before the sage.
‘Only great personality like you can win over anger and lust’, praised the Lord.
‘It is because of your compassion for me. Your grace is the reason for the control over my senses. It is definitely not because of my efforts.’
The Lord was very pleased that the sage was not affected by pride either. ‘Ask me for a boon.’
‘I hear people speak about maya but I don’t understand it. Could you please show me you maya?’
The Lord smiled and then disappeared.
Sage Markandeyar returned to his duties. It started to rain. Very quickly rain turned into a great storm. The sage went outside when he heard a roaring noise. To his dismay he saw a huge flood; water rushed everywhere destroying all life.
Soon there was nothing but water. The sage waded through the deluge for days trying to find survivors. After many lengthy days, the sage spotted a huge banyan tree.
‘Land at last!’ cried the sage and ran towards the tree. He stopped midway when he saw a beautiful baby lying on top of a banyan leaf.

The child was dark in colour with curly locks which framed its face. Its eyes looked mischievous as we looking for butter to steal. It lay on the banyan leaf sucking its  big toe. The sage recognized the Lord. It was as if the Lord wondered why people sought his divine feet; to test if they were sweet, He was sucking on His big toe. Mesmerized by their sweetness, He lay they enjoying His toe.
The sage waded near the Lord to pick the child up. The child looked at the sage with love and opened its coral lips. As we pulled in by a vacuum, the sage entered the baby’s mouth and went into His belly. With a jerk the sage got-up and saw that he was back at his ashram and everything was back to normal!
This shows that the Lord keeps us safe in His belly even during pralayam and lets us out once creation begins.

Friday 26 December 2014

Koil Azhwar

Most people know that Kovil Azhwar is the replica of our temples at home. They are called as “home temples” in English. They are usually made of wood , with beautiful doors with bells on them so that the bells jingle merrily when the door is opened in the morning. Please refer to the following link for more information about Kovil Azhwars. http://vaadinen.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/koil-azhwar/
People who live abroad often do not know where to procure a kovil azhwar for their Perumal Sannidhi. Depending on the size of the kovil azhwar, it can be very difficult to bring the package with us from India due to baggage limitation. We also face difficulties in finding a kovil azhwar which can meet our specific requirements.  We were faced with similar problem when we found out that the manufacturer “Ajay Exim” can make kovil azhwar to our specification and can ship them world wide by courier. Like most people we were concerned about placing online orders with companies which are not through ebay or Amazon. To our amazement, the company gave us frequent updates to let us know the status of the order. They agreed to receive payments in installments and collected progressive payment at various stages of the manufacturing process. Once the shipment was ready, they shipped it via Fedex air and the package arrived in Canada within 3 days! It was door to door delivery. We were impressed by the packing! Each part had been carefully wrapped in bubble wrap, packed in layers of thick styrofoam and had been enclosed in strong carboard box. There was not even a single scratch on the unit! They had also sent us a large laminated photo of Ramar pattabhishekam with the kovil azhwar! They also emailed us the assembly instruction as a pdf file and had enclosed all required hardware and tools required to complete the assembly with the package.
The product had beautiful carvings! It was an exquisite piece!
Please see the attached link to the website of Ajay exim in Madurai. You can browse through the various products posted on their gallery. http://www.ajayexim.net/wooden-pooja-mandir.html

We highly recommend Ajay Exim to everyone who is looking to purchase a kovil azhwar. They also specialize in other products like earthen ware cookware, decorative wooden swing sets. etc. Please visit their website for more detail.

Monday 10 November 2014

Srimadh Bagawatham - Characteristic of people in kali Yuga.

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/11/srimadh-bagawatham-effects-of-keeping.html

 Characteristic of people in Kali Yuga




Wealth alone will be considered as the symbol of good birth. Law and judgement will be amended based on ones power. Men and women will decide to live together based on physical appearance. No importance will be given to good character.
Deceit will be used to succeed in business. External identification marks like wearing the sacred thread etc alone will be used to identify a person as a Brahmin even though they might have no other qualifications.
People will give importance to hairstyle as hairstyle will be considered as the symbol of beauty. Men will gain political power by using strength.
Rulers will be no better than thieves. Harassed by corrupt rulers people will suffer from drought and famine. Weather will become unbearable as people will face the extremes of cold weather, severe rains and extreme heat.  Life span will be reduced to fifty years. People will become short in stature. Atheism will take control and people will forget the path of Vedas. Cows will be small in size like goats. Spiritual retreats will be like regular homes. Trees will be very small in size. At this time, Lord Vishnu will incarnate as kalki to uplift everyone. He will incarnate as the son of Viṣṇuyaśā in the village of Śambhala.
Lord Kalki will ride on His  swift horse Devadutta with a sword in hand. He will rid this Earth of all the corrupt people. Once the corrupt rulers have been removed, a gentle breeze filled with the fragrance of sandalwood will flow through the cities purifying the minds of everyone. The Krita Yugam will once again enter when the sun, moon and Jupiter are together in the constellation of Cancer and together enter the lunar mansion of the star Pusya.
Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the nakṣatra called Maghā.
When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Maghā, the age of Kali begins. It comprises twelve hundred years of the demigods.
 When the great sages of the Saptarṣi constellation pass from Maghā to Pūrvāsāḍhā, Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty
After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
No
Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati
Malayalam
Tamil
1
Aswini or Ashvini or Ashwini
Aswathi or Ashvati
Aswathi
2
Bharani or Bharni
Bharani
Bharani
3
Krithika or Kritika or Krittika
Kaarthika or Karttika
Karthigai
4
Rohini
Rohini
Rohini
5
Mrigashiras or Mrigasira or Mrigashirsha
Makeeryam or Makayiram
Mrigasheersham
6
Aardhra / Ardra
Arudra (Telugu)
Thiruvathira or Tiruvatira
Thiruvaathirai
7
Punarvasu
Punartham or Punartam
Punarpoosam
8
Pushyami or Pushya
Pooyam or Puyam
Poosam
9
Ashlesha
Aayilyam or Ayilyam
Aayilyam
10
Magha or Makha
Makham or Makam
Makam
11
Poorva Phalguni or Purva or Purva Phalguni or Poorvaphalguni or Pubba (Telugu)
Pooram or Puram
Pooram
12
Uttara Phalguni / Uthraphalguni /
Uttara (Telugu)
Uthram or Utram
Uthiram
13
Hastha or Hast or Hasta
Atham or Attam
Hastham
14
Chitra
Chitra or Chittira
Chithirai
15
Swaathi or Swati or Svati
Chothi or Choti
Swaathi
16
Vishaka or Vishaakha
Visakam or Vishakham
Visaakam
17
Anuradha or Anuraadha
Anizham
Anusham
18
Jyeshtha or Jyeshta
Thrikketta or Ketta or Triketta
Kettai
19
Moola
Moolam or Mulam
Moolam
20
Purva Ashadha or Poorva Shada or Poorvashaada
Pooradam or Puratam
Pooraadam
21
Uttara Ashadha or Uttara Shada or Uthrashaada
Uthradam or Utradam
Uthiraadam
22
Shravana or Shravana or Sravana
Thiruvonam or Tiruvonam
Thiruvonam
23
Shravishtha or Dhanista or Dhanishta
Avittam or Avitam
Avittam
24
Shatabhisha or Shatataraka or Shathabhisha or Shatbhisha
Chatayam or Chathayam
Chathayam or Sadayam
25
Purva Bhadrapada or Poorva Bhadra or Poorvabhadra
Poorattadhi or Pururuttati or Pooruruttadi
Poorattathi
26
Uttara Bhadrapada or Uttara Bhadra or Uthrabhadra
Uthrattathi or Uttrattati
Uthirattathi
27
Revathi or Revati
Revathi
Revathi

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/12/srimadh-bagawatham-description-of.html

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