Srimadh Bagawatham - Gajendra Moksham Part 3

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-gajendra-moksham_27.html

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For a 1000 years Gajendran mistakenly belived that, he could escape from the clutches of the crocodile.  After the passing of 1000 years, Gajendran realized that there was a Supreme Force which prevented death from approaching both Gajendran and the crocodile. Neither had eaten for 1000 years and yet neither had died. For 1000 years Gajendran had attempted to rescue himself but in vain. Now, he was afraid that he would die in the pond without ever getting a chance to offer the beautiful lotus bloom to the Lord. He wasn’t afraid of death since he knew that he the atma was eternal and when released from his body would attain the Lord’s divine feet. Gajendran’s only concern was that he would die before ever getting a chance to offer the beautiful flower to the Lord.

For the first time in a thousand years, the elephant realised its inability to protect itself and cried out for help, ‘hey Bagawan who is the cause of this Universe and from whom this entire Universe came forth!’

The reason Gajendran mentioned the Lord as the cause of Universe as well as the origin was to establish the fact that the Lord is the Upadhana Karanam as well as the nimitha karanam. When we make a table from wood, the raw material wood is the Upathana Karyam whereas the carpenter who fashions the table is the Nimitha Karanam. Our Lord is the raw material as well as the fashioner of the Universe. The Lord is like our thumb and is of the size of our thumb when He is located in our heart. The other four fingers in our hand represent achit (non-living  matter), the badha atma (atmas like us in samsara), muktha atma (atmas freed from samsara) and nithya atmas (the atmas who were never bonded by samsara). All the four; achit, and the three types of atmas require the Lord’s help to function just like the way in which the fingers require the help of thumb to perform tasks. The achit and the chit (the three types of atmas) are separate entities from the Lord and yet are never separated from the Lord as they form part of the Lord’s divine form. Just like the way in which whiteness cannot be separated from a white cloth, we cannot be separated from the Lord’s divine form yet we are separate from him like the “whiteness” which is different from the cloth. The colour white is the attribute of the cloth and similarly we are the Lord’s attribute.

As soon as the elephant called Him, Perumal rushed to the pond on top of garudazhwar to save Gajendran. The reason the Lord did not help Gajendran for 1000 years was because Gajendran felt that he could save himself.

During Draupadi vasthrabaharana charitram when Dushashana tried to disrobe Draupadi by pulling her saree, Draupadi tried to fight-off Dushashasana by trying to pull the saree from his grasp while crying the Lord’s name. Lord Krishna was in Dwaraka and He knew about the incident occurring in Hastinapura. He was playing a game of dice with Rukmini Piratti when He got up looking concerned.

Piratti knew that something was wrong. She asked, ‘what is the matter? Is everything okay?’

‘Draupadi is in distress! Dushashanan is trying to humiliate her in Hastinapuram by trying to disrobe her.’

‘Why are you still here?’ asked Piratti. ‘Shouldn’t you be at Hastinapuram to help Draupadi?’

‘I do want to help Draupadi but how can I go there when she hasn’t called for me? Yes, she is crying out my name but she isn’t really crying for help as she believes that she can save herself from Dushashana. She has more faith in her efforts than in me.’

At Hastinapuram, Dushashana had almost disrobed Draupadi. With one more pull her saree would come off completely. At this instant Draupadi relesed the saree from her hand; she raised both her hands above her head, folded her palms in completely surrender. With firm faith she called the Lord by the name of “Govinda”. The moment she started to pronunce the first syllable in Govinda, the Lord incarnated as her saree and saved her. To Dushashana’s utter amazement he couldn’t disrobe Draupadi. Dushashana had the strength of 1000 elephants and yet he became very tired trying to pull the saree. The moment he thought he had pulled one saree he found a saree of another colour joined to the end of the one he had pulled. On one side of the room a pile of sarees as high as a mountain lay. Dushashana fell down from exhaustion and Draupadi was saved.

The Lord comes to our aid only when we really want Him to come and only when we realize that we are incapable of saving ourself. He also comes only when we have firm belief in Him. If even a slight doubt exists in our mind about the Lord’s capacity to appear at our side to help us, He will not come. Thus we have to perform total surrender along with complete faith if we want the Lord to come to our aid. After 1000 years, Gajendran performed saranagathi with faith and the Lord rushed to his aid.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/10/srimadh-bagawatham-gajendra-moksham.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Gajendra Moksham Part 2

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-gajendra-moksham.html

http://www.zimbio.com/Tamil+Movies/articles/LbrOZTurgSi/Sri+Varadhar+Theppam+Gajendra+Varadar+Thirukolam

Indradyumnan took birth as Gajendran in the wilderness surrounding the Trikuta mountain range. It was a beautiful region. There were three tall mountain peaks thus giving the mountain range the name “Trikutam”. Due to the blessing conferred on him by Sage Agasthyaar, he retained some memory of his past life and continued to worship the Lord. Everyday he collected one lotus flower from the ponds he visited and offered the flowers to the Lord. Even today we hear about animals like snakes and elephants visiting temples regularly for worship. Thus, it is not a big surprise that Gajendran continued with his Bakthi Yogam started by him in his past life as Indradyumnan.  He acted as the king of beasts by protecting all the timid creatures like rabbits and deer from their predators. Thus as the King of Beasts he practiced “Dhushta nigraham and sishta paripalan”.

Once, due to lack of rainfall, the forest became very dry. Gajendran relocated his herd in search of water. Soon they could smell the pleasant fragrance of lotus blooms. The herd followed the scent eagerly and came upon a beautiful pond. All the elephants except Gajendran rushed in to the water happily. They rolled about in the water and threw water with their trunks. The elephants splashed around the pond disturbing the aquatic life. Hoo-Hoo who had been turned in to a crocodile lived in this pond. He was angry at the elephants and decided to target their leader. At this instant, Gajendran noticed beautiful gold coloured lotus blooms in the pond. As per his everyday practice, he stepped into the pond and plucked a lotus bloom so that he could take it back with him for his everyday worship. The moment he stepped into the pond, the crocodile attacked Gajendran and caught hold of his leg. Hoo-Hoo was directed by the Lord who was also the antaryami of Hoo-Hoo. Hoo-Hoo had been cursed because he had pulled the leg of a Bagawatha and the relief from the curse could be obtained by holding the feet of another Bagawatha; Gajendran as the Lord’s devotee was a Bagawatha.

 Gajendran trumpeted in anger and tried to pull his leg from the crocodile’s mouth. His herd stopped bathing and rushed to his aid. All the other elephants stampeded to the shore. From the shore they tried to pull Gajendran to safety. There was a big tug of war with the elephants on one side, the crocodile on the other with Gajendran forming the rope. The elephants soon lost as they were dragged inside the water by the determined crocodile that refused to let go off Gajendran’s foot. The herd felt sorry for Gajendran but was afraid to linger there any longer lest the crocodile’s followers should attack them. Thus, the herd abandoned Gajendran. Gajendran felt severe pain but even then his mind was preoccupied about keeping the lotus bloom fresh for the Lord. He kept dipping the lotus bloom in water to prevent it from drying. Thus Gajendran spent 1000 years in the pond. He was unable to free himself from the crocodile. The crocodile did nothing but hold on to Gajendran’s foot. The crocodile did not proceed to eat Gajendran. The two animals remained as they were in the water for a thousand years. 

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-gajendra-moksham_30.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - gajendra Moksham Part 1

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-prahalada-charitram_21.html

The Curse!

During the time of Tamasa Manu, there lived a king called Indradyumnan Pandyan. He was a disciple of Sage Agasthyar. He had noticed that the Sage performed Thiruvaradanam for Perumal by using dry tulasi leaves and soaked mung beans. The Sage used coconut shells as cups to offer food to Perumal and kept Salagrama Perumal inside a box made off betel nut tree bark. The sage was not rich and hence used simple materials in his everyday worship.

The King mistakenly thought that the Lord should be worshiped with a show of wealth. He secretly mocked the sage’s mode of worship. He wanted to show the proper way to worship the Lord. He invited the sage to his palace to witness the way in which the King worshiped the Lord. The king had collected exotic flowers from far and wide; he had offerings stored in gold cups. He had obtained paste from the most fragrant sandal wood. The water was steeped with expensive spices like saffron and cardamom. He had placed the Salagrama Perumal in a beautiful gold box studded with precious gems and inlaid with soft silk. He performed the pooja with pride and waited for Sage Agasthyar to come. As soon as the Sage entered the hall, the King pretended to ignore him. This was a mistake since it is said that while performing Thiruvaradhanam, if a Bagawatha comes to our abode then we must stop our worship in order to receive the Bagawatha. If we fail to do this the Lord will be displeased with us.

The King instead of welcoming his Acharyan with due respect, ignored the Sage and proceeded to offer most expensive pooja samghri to the Lord.

The Sage noticed that everything required for worship was present except the most important ingredient called “humility”. The Sage felt sorry for the King. The King was ignorant and was attempting to buy the Lord’s grace with money. The Lord cannot be controlled by anyone or anything except by love. Sage Agasthyar realised that at this rate the King would never attain the Lord’s abode. He wished to help the King and hence cursed him. The feeling of pride is a quality exhibited by elephants especially when they are in rut. Thus the Sage cursed the King to take birth as an elephant but he added that the King would attain the Lord’s abode when the Lord Himself would come and grasp His trunk to rescue him. Thus the curse was actually a blessing conferred upon the king by Sage Agasthyar.

In the meantime there was another Rishi called Devalar who was taking a dip in a holy river. A Gandharvan called Hoo-Hoo watched the rishi step into the holy river. The Gandharvan decided to play a prank. He dived into the river and pulled the Rishi’s leg from underwater. Devalar was caught off guard and fell in to the water. Devalar became very angry and asked, ‘this is the attitude displayed by a crocodile. Do you wish to become a crocodile? So be it!’ cursed Devalar.

As soon as Hoo-Hoo turned into a crocodile, Devalar felt sorry for his plight. ‘You will be relived from this curse when the Lord hits you with His Sudarsana Chakram!’

Both Indradyumnan as well as Hoo-Hoo had been cursed by Sages and both of them could be cured only if the Lord stoped by to release them from the curse. Lord Vishnu is very compassionate and makes sure that the words of His devotees always come true. The Lord decided to club both tasks into one job and incarnate just once to save both Indradyumnan and Hoo-Hoo thus ensuring that the words uttered by Agasthyar as well as Devalar came true.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-gajendra-moksham_27.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Prahalada Charitram Part 8

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-prahalada-charitram_18.html

Srirangam Mettu Azhagiyasingar seen with Hiranyakashipu on lap & Prahaladan standing below Perumal : murpriya.blogspot.com

Esoteric Meaning Of Narasimha Avataram:

Hiranyakashipu is the jeevatma who is also the sacrificer. His control over the Devas and the Asuras is his control over his senses and desires. His son Prahaladan represents his firm faith. Prahaladan is also the soma creeper. The most supreme offering to be offered as oblation by the sacrificer is the soma juice. The soma juice is extracted from the creeper by crushing it; this is represented by Hiranyakashipu persecuting Prahalada (as the crushing of the soma creeper is seen as a violent act). The soma juice is offered as oblation to show that the sacrificer is offering himself as the oblation (atma nivedanam). All oblations in a sacrifice reach the Lord since He is the Ultimate Enjoyer of all sacrifices. Hence offering the self as oblation reaches the Lord who is also the proprietor of the self. Such a jeevatma who has realized that it depends upon the Lord and that the Lord is the only saviour locates the Lord residing as antaryami in the heart. The heart is often called as the pillar of the hall called as body. To such a jeevatma the Lord reveals Himself and releases the jeevatma from its samsaric body which is shown by the Lord tearing Hiranyakashipu’s belly. The belly is the seat of hunger and thirst and is hence the symbol of samsara. Notice that the Lord didn’t tear Hiranyakashipu’s jugular vein or snap his neck but used His nails to tear Hiranyakashipu’s belly; thus, the Lord is putting an end to Hiranyakashipu’s samsaric existence. The Lord’s form of half lion and half man is to show that He exists as antaryami in everyone be they a beast or man.

Lord Narasimha is hence sought by people seeking Moksha.

Moral Of Prahalada Charitram:

We learn about Sri Vaishnava Lakshananm (identifying marks) from Prahalada Charitram. The identifying marks are not just wearing the thiruman srichurnam and bearing the marks of chakram and conch on one’s shoulders. The person’s attitude indicates if he/she is a Sri Vaishnavan or not. They should regard everyone as equal. Prahaladan didn’t want to attend school because they tried to teach him to hate the Devas. A Sri Vaishnavan must love one and all as himself. To them their birth place is the birth place of the Azhwar saints; they belong to the family of Perumal. Irrespective of gender they know that the atmas are all female and only the Lord is the true male. They fear for the Lord’s protection because of their love for Him. They think of only atma bandhus as their relatives and do not worry about sareera bandhus. They consider the Lord as father and Piratti as mother. Their occupation is Bagawatha Kaimkaryam and the fruit they expect from this is to get more kaimkaryam. They know that the Lord is the means as well as the end and rely on His divine feet as upayam. 

Continued On: 

Srimadh Bagawatham - Prahalada Charitram Part 7

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-prahalada-charitram.html

The Glories Of Narasimhavataram (Namudaya Nam Perumal):

The Lord’s Narasimhaavataram is glorious because He appeared to uphold the words of a five year old child! He appeared with the face of a lion and not that of any other animal because Hiranyakashipu threatened to pounce on Prahladan like a lion. Lord Narasimha appears instantly to help anyone who calls Him during an emergency.

Marichan warned Ravanan not to proceed with the plans to abduct Sita Piratti by saying that she was seated on the lap of Narasimhan. Lord Hanuman consoled Piratti by saying that he will soon return with Narasimhan. Lord Rama revealed Himself as Narasimhan when He informed Sugreevan that, with just the tip of His nails He can desroy the hosts of any beings be they asuras, rakshashas, devas or gandharvas. During other incarnation the Lord has to hold His weapons in His hands while as Narasimhan the weapons never leave His hands!

Rukmini Piratti addressed Lord Krishna as Narasimhan in the seven slokams she wrote to Him asking Him to come and wed her.

Andal Nachiar informed her friends happily that she dreamt that she sat next to Narasimhan while He held her hands and performed laja homam at their wedding.

Bhishmacharya started the Vishnusahasranamam with Narasimha Avataram by mentioning “Narasimha vabhu Sriman”. He is Sriman because He is always with Sri. He is Sundara Simhan also known as Azhagiya Simhan. The Vishnu sahasranamam ends with “sarva pragadanayudha” which means capable of using anything as a weapon and according to Adi Sankaracharyar this name is also about Lord Narasimhan. Thus the entire Vishnu sahasranamam is about Lord Narasimhan.

Adi Sankaracharyar transmigrated in to a king’s body per a bet he had accepted from the king. The king’s ministers found out about this bet and ordered the body of Adi Sankaracharyar to be destroyed in fire so that he would have to remain as their king. Adi Sankaracharyar found out about their plot and returned to his body immediately but by then they had thrown his body on the funeral pyre. From amidst the burning fire, adi Sankaracharyar composed the karavalambham stothram as lord Narasimhan was the only one who appears instantly to save His devotees. Thus Adi Sankaracharyar was saved by the Lord.

Lord Narasimha is often sought by people seeking Moksha.

Lord Ranganathan is known as Peria Perumal because He was worshiped by lord Rama whereas Lord of Ahobilam is Peria Peria Perumal since He was worshiped by both Lord Rama as well as Srinivasan. Lord Srinivasan ordered food preparred for His thirukalyana utsavam to be offered to lord of Ahobilam first. Thus even today if archai murthies of the Lord’s many incarnations are present in the same place, offerings should be first given to Lord Narasimha.

Lord Ranganathan is known as Namperumal while Lord of Ahobilam is Namudaya namPerumal i.e “our own namperumal” to show the ease with which He is available to His devotees.

Sukacharyar said, ‘as soon as Naradhar completed this naration, your grand father cried and wished that he had been Prahaladan so that he too could have been blessed by Lord Narasimhan. Sage Naradar reminded your grandfather that the same Lord as Krishna was helping them with their many chores. While Lord Narasimha appeared for only 1 muhurtham, Lord Krishna stayed with the Pandavas for many years.’

Anyone who listens/chants this narration during Ekadashi, Dwadashi, fullmoon nights etc will reap the merit of having performed 100 ashwamedha Yagam.

The Lord doesn’t like to be called as “Prahalada Priyan” since it means that He exclusively favours only Prahadan. He will shower His compassionate grace upon anyone who approaches Him like Prahaladan.
Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-prahalada-charitram_21.html

Srimadh Bagawatham - Prahalada Charitram Part 6

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/08/srimadh-bagawatham-prahalada-charitram.html

 In the last post Hiranyakashipu made Prahaladan drink the venom of Karkotakan.

Time passed but nothing seemed to happen to Prahladan. At Namakkal, Lord Ranganatha is seen to be reclined on Karkotakan as Karkotakan wished the Lord to lie on his coils for a change. The cave face is charred since it was entered by Karkotakan and his toxic breath burnt the rock. Even the toxic venom which burnt rock couldn’t harm Prahaladan.

‘Take this as a sign and spare this child,’ begged Kayathu.

‘Alright I will send him back to school,’ said Hiranyakashipu. ‘I will give him one more chance to turn in to a new leaf.’

Within a week Shandan and Amarkan returned with Prahladan.

‘We give up,’ they said. ‘Earlier we only had to deal with Prahladan but now he has got all the other children perform Hari Nama Sankeerthanam!’

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‘Brat!’ yelled Hiranyakashipu in rage. ‘I will kill you with my own hands! Who is He? Where is He?’

‘Why do you have this doubt father that if he is here or not? He is everywhere! There is not a single place in which He is not present. In fact He is even present in you, in me and even in your words!’

‘Do you see this pillar?’ asked Hiranyakashipu. ‘I built this pillar with my own hands! Every inch of this pillar was built by me. Do you see Him in this pillar?’

‘I see Him in this pillar as well since He is present everywhere.’

 ‘Liar! Why do you pretend to see things which I can’t see! I will cut your head! If He is there in this pillar let Him come and put your head back on your body!’

‘He won’t do this task.’

‘If He won’t do this task why do you keep singing His praise? Come to me your father for I will protect you!’

‘You misunderstand me; He won’t do the task of putting my head back on my body because He is not going to sit by and watch while you lay your hand on my head!’

‘I will break this pillar with my mace! If He is not there, I will break open your head like a lion breaking open an elephant’s skull and will drink your blood!’

Hiranyakashipu raised his mace and hit the pillar hard. From the place where he hit the pillar and the very instant he hit the pillar appeared the Lord as Narasimha with the face of a lion and the body of the man. 

bal-mukund.blogspot.com

The Lord appeared with the head of a lion because Hiranyakashipu had threatened to crush Prahaladan’s head like a lion crushing an elephant’s head. Lord Narasimha appeared out of the very built which had been built personally by Hiranyakashipu. Since Hiranyakashipu had sculpted the pillar with his own hands he could not say that Prahaladan was playing a trick by concealing this fearsome form within the pillar!

The Lord laughed loudly. Hiranyakashipu’s attendants ran away in fear while the Lord picked the trembling Hiranyakashipu in His hands and carried Him to the front porch. There, sitting on top of the stairs which were neither part of the inside nor of the outside, the Lord placed Hiranyakashipu on His lap. Hiranyakashipu realized that he was neither lying on the ground nor was he hanging from the sky and as he looked at the setting Sun he knew that it was neither day nor night as twilight had set in. Fearfully Hiranyakashipu looked at the Lord’s nail as the Lord tore Hiranyakashipu’s belly with His nails which were neither living nor dead. A person’s nails can be cut without feeling pain and yet they grow long indicating the presence of life.

The Lord’s half human half animal form was to depict the animal nature present in Hiranyakashipu and the human nature present in Prahaladan.

The Lord laughed loudly while killing Hiranyakashipu. At Satya Lokam Lord Brahma was meditating while Goddess Saraswati was playing the veena. The vibration from the Lord’s laugh knocked Lord Brahma down but the vibration didn’t affect any of the other celestials. Only Lord Brahma fell down and it was the Lord’s way of cautioning Lord Brahma to be careful in the future while confering boons upon evil minded people like Hiranyakashipu.

The Lord incarnated not to protect Prahladan as He could have done this task without having to incarnate but to protect Prahaladan’s words. Earlier the Lord had protected Prahladan from fire, snakes, elephants and poison without incarnating. He incarnated now because with firm faith Prahladan told Hiranyakashipu that the Lord was present inside the pillar. Thus to uphold Prahladan’s faith He incarnated the instant Hiranyakashipu’s mace touched the pillar. Like Prahladan we should worship the Lord with faith in our pooja and temples and feel the presence of the Lord in the archa muthies.

The Lord also protected Brahma’s words by incarnating with a face of lion and a body of man. Such a being was never created by Lord Brahma. He used His nails to finish Hiranyakashipu as nails can neither be classified as living or non-living. The time was twilight hour and He killed Hiranyakashipu on the porch stairs which were neither inside not outside.

All the celestials gathered and marveled at the Lord’s incarnation. After killing Hiranyakashipu the Lord went inside the court and sat on Hiranyakashipu’s throne in order to bless the throne as it would now belong to Prahaladan.

All the celestials were afraid to approach the Lord and requested Sridevi Nachair to approach Him but she too refused not because she was afraid but to reveal the qualities of Prahaladan.

Prahaladan approached the Lord with his palms joined. The Lord looked at Prahaladan with love like a lion looking at its cub with love after hunting prey. The Lord placed his hand on Prahladan’s head and blessed Him.

‘Child, ask me any boon you want.’

‘Please forgive my father so that he may go to a good abode.’

‘I have already forgiven your father. Don’t worry about him. Ask me something else.’

‘All evil doers on earth must turn a new leaf and become good.’

‘Granted. Ask me something else.’

‘I don’t wish for any boons for myself from you as I have already got your Supreme Grace. What else could I want?’

‘I insist. Ask me something else.’

‘I should always stay true to you in any birth I might take and never ask you any boon as a bargain for my devotion.’

The Lord was pleased with Prahladan. ‘In addition to what you havea asked me, I promise that I will never kill anyone belonging to your lineage.’

As per His promise, the Lord did not kill Bali, Namuchi and Banasura.

Continued On:http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/09/srimadh-bagawatham-prahalada-charitram_18.html