Srimadh Bagawatham - Ajamila Charitram Part 5

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-ajamila-charitram_12.html

In the last post we saw that namasankeerthanam should be done for the enjoyment obtained in chanting the Lord’s divine names. While the Lord’s names could be chanted to obtain the fulfillment of our materialistic desires or to get Moksha, it is best to chant the names for the sole reason of chanting the Lord’s names. The following story illustrates this point.

Once, a fisherman found an expensive diamond inside a fish’s gut. After cleaning the diamond he took it to a jeweler.

‘How much will you give me for this gem?’ asked the fisherman.

The jeweler examined the stone. He realized the stone’s worth and knew that the fisherman had no idea about the diamond’s true worth.

‘I can give you $50 for it,’ stated the jeweler.

The fisherman took the money happily and went to purchase groceries with the money.

The jeweler polished the diamond and then took it with him to see the king.

‘Your majesty, I came across this most precious diamond during my business travels and immediately felt that such a superior stone must be in your majesty’s possession,’ said the jeweler as he displayed the stone laid out on a beautiful blue velvet box.

‘How much do you want for the stone?’ asked the king as he had the stone examined.

‘$100, 000,’ answered the jeweler.

The king purchased the gem from the jeweler. He had it made into a pendant for his queen and felt very happy whenever he saw her wearing the diamond pendant.

Chanting the Lord’s names for the fulfillment of materialistic desires is equivalent to the fisherman selling the diamond for $50. Chanting the names to get Moksham is like the jeweler selling the stone for $100,000 but chanting the names in order to enjoy their sweetness is like the king feeling happy whenever he sees his queen wearing the diamond. The king is the only one who appreciated the true value of the diamond.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-vritrasuran-part-1.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Ajamila Charitram Part4

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-ajamila-charitram_6552.html

The dhutas were surprised to see Lord Yama sit up straight with folded arms  and tears in his eyes. ‘Did you meet Haridasas?’

‘Who are Haridasas?’

‘You are aware that the Vedas are the swaroopam of Lord Narayana. The Haridasas are His assistants. They are Bagawathas. You are not to bring bagawathas to this world. Ajamilan is a Bagawatha!’

‘You were the one who instructed us to bring the great sinner Ajamilan!’

‘Yes, he was a sinner but now he is a Bagawatha.It takes only a fraction of a second to become a Bagawatha. Never bring anyone who utters the Lord’s name even if they uttered it as a joke or unintentionally. Never go near the devotees of the Lord. Of the nine kinds of devotional service, nama sankeerthanam is enough to purify a person and there is no need to chant thousand names of the Lord as just chanting one of His names gives the same benefit.’

‘Will not sinners misuse this rule? What if they chant His names to escape punishment?’

‘This Universe belongs to the Lord and we are His employees. He is concerned about the proper maintenance of the Universe hence let Him worry about this. Never go near anyone who chants the Lord’s name as the Lord is trying His best to prevent people from falling into hell. If you do go near a Sri Vaishnava, circumbulate the Vaishnava, accept the Sripada Teertham and return to your abodes.Never approach a Vaishnava with a lasso in your hand!’

Sri Thondaradipodi Azhwar stated in the above pasuram that Hari Namasankeerthanam has the capacity to turn even hell in to heaven. Once, Yama Dharmarajar was teaching about the importance of Hari Namasankeerthanam to Mudhugalan outside the gates of hell. After completing his lecture when Lord Yama entered hell he was surprised to see that hell had been converted to heaven!

Thondaradipodi Azhwar even refused Moksham as he found staying on earth and chanting the Lord’s divine names more enjoyable. The Azhwar stated in the above pasuram that he is no longer afraid of Lord Yama or his attendants as he is involved in Hari Nama sankeerthanam and that without any fear he can step on the heads of Lord Yama and his attendants.

The Lord’s names have the capacity to rid a person of every sin along with the karma vasanai. No qualification is necessary to chant the names. Anyone is allowed to bathe in River Ganaga as the holy waters cleanse all sins. Similarly anyone can chant the divine names and at all times.

Namasankeerthanam should be done for the enjoyment obtained in chanting the Lord’s divine names. While the Lord’s names could be chanted to obtain the fullfillment of our materialistic desires or to get Moksha, it is best to chant the names for the sole reason of chanting the Lord’s names. The following story illustrates this point.

Continued On:http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-ajamila-charitram_16.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Ajamila Charitram Part 3

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-ajamila-charitram_5.html

The Yama dhutas felt confused. The jeevatma they had come to take with them for punishment had called out for his son on his deathbed. As if by magic, four radiant messengers of Lord Vishnu appeared and prevented them from taking Ajamilan. The powerful Yama dhutas stood powerless in front of these radiant beings and were unable to disobey their orders. They were perplexed as to how chanting the name of Lord Vishnu unintentionally could save a soul. The Vishnu dhutas explained the powers of Hari Nama Sankeerthanam.

 ‘Take the example of a cave which has remained dark for thousands of years. As soon as you take a small lamp inside, immediately the darkness is dispelled even though the darkness had been there for thousands of years. Similarly even if a child touches fire its fingers get burned even though the child didn’t know fire would burn; this is because it is the nature of fire to burn. Like this it is the nature of the Lord’s Namas to dispel all the sins. The names also purify the person who had uttered them even if the name had uttered the name as a joke or unintentionally. The Lord has decided to protect this man and hence He has made Ajamilan to think about his youngest son and call out his name “Narayana”. When it is the Lord’s sankalpam to protect him, you won’t be able to take Ajamilan. If you have any doubts, go back to your world and ask Lord Yama.’

The next moment the Yama Dhutas and the Vishnu Dhutas vanished from Ajamilan’s view. His eyes were filled with tears and he felt greatful to the Lord for his narrow escape from hell. He realized that the Lord had made him utter the name “Narayana” because of His compassion. Thus Ajamilan left home before any of his family came back. He went to the forest and started to chant the name “Narayana” over and over again. He finally attained Moksham.

Ajamilan did not attain Moksham immediately by calling out for his son “Narayana” when he had been surrounded by the Yama dhutas. The Lord’s name purified Ajamilan and gave him satsangam. He was able to listen to Sat-Vishayam when the Yama dhutas and Vishnu dhutas discussed about Bagawatha Dharmam. This sat-sangam gave vairagyam(detachment) to Ajamilan inciting him to chant the Lord’s name with devotion thus eventually attaining Moksham.

Ajamilan was purified because of the sat-sangam he had with the Yama & Vishnu Dhutas. The Yama Dhutas were bagawathas too as they help Lord Yama with the upkeep of Dharmam.

The Yama Dhutas went back to their world to see Lord Yama.

‘We were unable to bring Ajamilan,’ said the dhutas.

‘Why what happened?’ asked Lord Yama.

‘As we were about to pull him away from his body, four divine persons arrived and stopped us. They said that he was a bagawatha and we are not to take him. They explained about some dharmam which we did not understand. Finally they asked us to learn that dharmam from you. Who were they? Who is their chief? Is He another Yama? How many Yamas are there in this Universe? How do we know which souls we can take?’

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-ajamila-charitram_12.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Ajamila Charitram Part2

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-ajamila-charitram.html

In the last post we saw that Ajamilan saw three fearsome beings standing around his bed towering over him. The beings were tall and hefty. They had dark complexion, red eyes and sharp canine teeth. They held a lasso in their arms and approached him. As the cold hands of fear grasped his heart, he called for his youngest son. Since Ajamilan had started his life as a good citizen and had done some good deed earlier on, he had been driven by his good karmas to name his youngest son as “Narayana”. He was very fond of his youngest son and knew that the boy was nearby probably shooting the breeze with his friends.

Ajamilan cried, ‘Narayana!’

The boy heard his father cry but did not budge.

‘Isn’t that your father calling for you?’ asked his friend.

‘He has nothing else to do but annoy me. Let him just lie there,’ said the boy.

 Ajamilan had cried “Narayana” just as the three men were about to lasso him, and to the utter amazement of Ajamilan four more men appeared around his bed! The four were Vishnu Dhootas sent by Lord Narayana to protect Ajamilan.

‘Who are these beings? What is happening here?’ thought Ajamilan as he watched the new arrivals converse with the fearsome beings.

In contrast to the earlier three beings, the Vishnu Dhutas looked beautiful and divine. They had beautiful dark complexion and had four arms. They held a conch, disc and a mace in their arms.

‘Stop!’ commanded the Vishnu Dhutas. Ajamilan looked at the two groups with wonder and fright.

The three men with lasso stopped. They said, ‘we are here per the orders of Lord Yama. We are his assistants. The life of this man is up and it is time for us to take him to Yama Pattinam so that he can be punished for his sins. It is necessary to punish him since the punishments will purify him. The Sun, the Moon, Agni, air, and Bhumi are witness to his crimes. He abandoned his parents, abandoned his wife whom he promised before Agni never to abandon. He committed every kind of crime in his life time. Anyone who escapes the law on Earth will be punished severely in hell.There are many different types of hells in to which he could be thrown in. Let us take this soul now. Who are you? On what authority do you stop us?’

The Vishnu Dhutas did not introduce themselves but they asked, ‘tell us the difference between dharmam and adharmam.’

‘Leading a life as mentioned in the Vedas is dharmam and anything against the Vedic teachings is adharmam since the Vedas are the swaroopam of Lord Narayana.’

‘You just mentioned that the Vedas are the swaroopam of Lord Narayana; we are His messengers. His orders supercede the orders of your chief Lord Yama. There are two ways to reform a person; by love or by punishment. If a person can be reformed by love then there is no need to punish him/her.’

‘What you say is true but what did this man do to earn the love of Lord Narayana?’

‘He uttered His name!’

‘Is the mere utterance of the name enough to nullify the multitude of sins committed by Ajamilan?’

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-ajamila-charitram_6552.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Ajamila Charitram Part1

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/06/srimadh-bagawatham-types-of-hell.html

In the city of Kanya Kumbjam lived a young Brahmin with his parents and wife. He had completed his Vedic training. He led a simple life as per the shastras. One day his father asked him to collect some samhit for a shradham. He went to the forest. On his way back, the sky darkened and it started to rain heavily. He saw a hut nearby and took shelter in the hut. The hut was home to a lady of the evening. Ajamilan was seduced by the lady and even though his mind told him to move away from the woman, he gave into his desires. He soon started to frequent the hut. His parents came to know about this and tried to caution him. Annoyed that they were standing between him and his desires, he asked them to leave his home. Once his parents left, he asked the lady to move in with him. His wife was upset with his behaviour and she tried to reason with him. Blinded by blind passion, he asked his wife to leave him. Thus abandoned by Ajamilan, his wife moved out. Ajamilan committed a grave sin by abandoning his wife. Wife is the friend bestowed upon a man by the Gods. The word “saka” is used to refer to a friend who shares in our happiness as well as sorrow equally. Hence a wife is called as a “saka” as she stays by her husband during good as well as bad times. “Saka” is masculine gender; the feminine gender “saki” is not used to refer to a wife. The word “saka” is used to represent a wife to show that she is equal in everyway to her husband as only equals could be best friends.

By chanting the Vedic wedding manthram during saptha pathi the husband requests his wife to be his best friend.

“saka saptha patha bava

Sakayam saptha patha babuva”

The husband says that by taking the seven steps around the sacred fire they have become friends. He promises never to abandon their friendship and requests his wife to abide by their friendship as well. This is why it is a grave sin to cheat one’s wife or to insult her as the sin obtined by back stabbing one’s friend is unforgivable.

Ajamilan started committing sins because of his association with the woman of bad character. He abandoned his aged parents and his legal wife in order to stay with the other woman.

Soon he had many children with the woman. He was unable to practice the vedas or teach the Vedas as no one would send their sons to him to learn. He was also never requested by anyone to perform Yagams or Shradhams. Thus he stopped receiving dakshina. Slowly he stopped performing the duties assigned to a Brahmin and thus accumulated further sins by abandoning the profession assigned for his varna.

The property he had inherited from his parents started to dwindle. He was worried that the woman would leave him if he did not keep providing more money. Thus he started to chase wealth by gambling. The result of keeing bad company soon taught him other vices like drinking. He found out that gambling does not provide steady income and turned to committing robbery and eventually started killing people for money.

The woman he was with never reproached him or tried to reform him. She was happy as long as he kept providing more money.

He soon grew old and turned 88. He fell sick and was unable to move away from his bed. The woman stopped attending on him and he soon lost her respect. His children too never cared for him for they found him to be a burden. The woman was happy to see that he was on his death bed as they would soon be relived of him. She went to take an inventory of their property and to protect their wealth lest some distant relative should come up with a claim.

He lay all alone on his death bed and it was then did he see the fearsome form of the three men standing around his bed towering over him.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/07/srimadh-bagawatham-ajamila-charitram_5.html