Other
Great Indians
Once Paandavas had the bhaagyam of the darshanam of Shri Maarkandeya maharshi. After Dharmaraaja did Yathaa-vidhi atithi-seva, Maarkandeya maharshi expressed his sorrow because Sajjanas like Paandavas had to face such difficulties. He then told then stories of Shri Raama Chandra and Nala-Damayant, who experienced still greater difficulties for the sake of following Dharmam.
One day Dharmaraaja asked Maarkandeya maharshi “Maharshi! I have a small Prashna” with little hesitation. Maarkandeya maharshi replied “one must ask and know things what he doesnt know. Please go ahead and ask your Prashna”. Dharmaraaja asked “as far as I know you are the only Chiranjeeva. Are there anybody else?” With chiru-mandahaasamMaarkandeya maharshi told the story of the great Indradyumna:
(The story of how Shrimannaaraayana saved the Gajendra and gave him Moksham is well known. Gajendra in his previous birth was a great King by name Indradyumna.)
In ancient times there used to be a king by name Indradyumna. It was well known that there was no one to match his Dharma-svabhaavam. As a consequence of his good deeds and daya, daana gunams, he ascended to swargam upon leaving the physical body. He enjoyed the sukhaas of swarga for a very long time. Once Indra called him in his sabha:
Indra said, “O King, you have done immense number of punyaas in your life and as a result you were here for a very long time. However unless one totally surrenders to Parameshwara and comes out of the cycle of Punya & Paapa, one needs to be binded to his own Karma. The time on earth past so much that now no one remembers any of your good deeds and hence it is time for you to leave swarga lookam”. Indradyumna was very surprised to hear that his huge punya-raashis have melted. Indra however said, “if you show me somebody who remembers your good deeds or is still enjoying the benefits of the good done by you, you can continue enjoying the swarga lookam. After all, no man may be cast away from here as long as traces of his good deeds are remaining”.
Indradyumna recalled that the Maarkandeya maharshi is a chiranjeevi. So he went to him and asked him, “O great maharshi, do you remember my good deeds?”. Maarkandeya, who was doing Teertha-yaatras, Punya-karmas, and Upavaasa-deeksha since a very long time and was having very little physical power, replied, “I am sorry but I don’t remember who you are. In the great Himaalaya parvataas there lives an Uluukam (owl) called Praavaarakarna. He is older than me and hence might know you. If you put little more effort you can reach him”. Both Maarkandeya maharshi and Indradyumna went to Praavaarakarna.
Indradyumna asked him, “I am told that you are the longest lived creature in the world. Do you remember any of my good deeds”? Praavaarakarna replied, “O great king, I do not remember you, you must have been before my time. There is a sarovaram at a distance of 2 Yojanas from here. Coincidentally it is named Indradyumna, where my friend Naadiijangha, a mahaa-bakam (big crane), lives and he is older than me”.
All three went to the sarovaram and sadly Naadiijangha also did not know Indradyumna. However he said “it is possible that my friend Aakuupaara, who has lived here since before my parent’s time, might know something of Indradyumna”. Naadiijangha called for Aakuupaara, a very very old kuurmam (tortoise).
On knowing that Indradyumna arrived, Aakuupaara’s eyes were filled with aananda-bhaashpaas, his heart was much moved and he trembled with deep emotion. He did many namaskaars to the King and said, “O Indradyumna, I know you very well. You did thousand Yagnyaas, built 1000 Yuupa-stambhaas and gave away hundreds of thousands of cows as daanam. This very Sarovaram was excavated just by the movements of the hooves of those cows (he gave away some many!) and that is why it bears your name. I am blessed to have obtained sight of you after so many years”.
Immediately a divya-vimaanam came for Indradyumna and took him to urdhva-lookaas. God never leaves good people. Shrimannaaraayana made Indradyumna realize that there is Kaivalyam which is beyond swargas, all urdhva-lookas etc, through his next janma as Gajendra. He blessed him with Moksham when Gajendra left all his pride, doubt and totally surrendered himself to God.
Morals in the story:
- The importance, greatness of good qualities like daya, daanam etc. are well portrayed in the story.
- It is not rich people or powerful people that the world will remember. It is the people who help others that the world will remember. It is the only wealth that can be carried beyond life.
- If one never leaves the path of Dharma, at some or the other time, God will save him, remove any small buddhi-doshaas that are remaining, and give moksham. This is what that happens to Indradyumna in his next janma as Gajendra.
Satyavrata
Once upon a time, in Kosala, there
lived a brāhmaṇa
by name Devadatta. Since he was not having santānam, he decided to perform the
putrakāmeṣṭhi yāgam on the banks of Tamasā Nadi. Several great ṛṣhis were invited for the yāgam, such as
Suhotra, Yājñavalkya, Bṛhaspati, Paila and Gobhila to preside over various aspects
of the yāgam . Gobhila, whose expertise was in reciting the Sāmaveda, however,
repeatedly committed errors in the mantrās, due to his failure to control his
breathing. Angered by this, Devadatta accused Gobhila of spoiling the
performance of the yāgam and called him a mūrkha.
Angered by Devadatta’s allegation,
Gobhila retorted that he had been called a mūrkha without any justification and
that the errors were caused only because he could not control his breaths. He
further went on to curse Devadatta that he would beget a mūrkha as his son.
Devadatta, realising his folly, apologised to the ṛṣhi for his haste and lamenting that it
would be better to not have a son rather than have a mūrkha son! Gobhila ṛṣhi, moved by Devadatta’s pleas, said
“Though the son would be a mūrkha, he will go on to become a māhakavi due to
the grace of Mother Śakti.”
Following the completion of the yāgam,
Devadatta’s wife Rohiṇī
delivered a baby in due course of time. The boy, who was named Vuthadhya, was
stupid, by virtue of the curse and could learn nothing; soon everyone began to
humiliate him calling him a mūrkha. Unable to put up with this, Vuthadhya left
his father’s āśrama and repaired to the banks of the Ganga,
where he practised a life of brahmacharyam and satyavratam. The only good thing
that Vuthadhya knew was the importance of speaking the truth on all occassions.
Even though he did not know to perform Veda-adhyayanam, Gāyatrī, japa, tapa,
dhyānam, prāṇāyāma
etc. he never left the practice of speaking the truth, leading to people giving
him the appellation Satyavrata. He never did any good or harm to anyone; he
remained docile and innocent, though dejected about his stupidity. He consoled
himself that this must be due to the sins committed by him in his previous
janmās. He spent fourteen years thus.
One day, while a vyādha was chasing a
kanṭakaśreṇī mṛgam, it ran from the vyādha’s arrow to
save its life, shouting ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’ , coming towards a bush near Satyavrata’s
kuṭīr.
Satyavrata was overcome by sympathy. Also, Satyavrata, on hearing the mṛgam' s cries, had begun mentally
repeating, ‘I… I… I…’ in his mind. This, being the bījākṣara, whose recital brings the grace of
Mother Śakti, Satyavrata immediately became enlightened. With the blessings of
Goddess Sarasvatī, he became a mahākavi. When the vyādha asked as to the
whereabouts of the mṛgam
he was hunting, knowing fully well that Satyavrata would only say the truth,
the enlightened Satyavrata spontaneously uttered the following śloka:
यः पश्यति न स ब्रूते यः ब्रूते स न पश्यति।
अहो व्याध! स्वकार्यार्थिन्! किं पृच्छसि पुनः पुनः॥
अहो व्याध! स्वकार्यार्थिन्! किं पृच्छसि पुनः पुनः॥
yaḥ paśyati na sa brūte yaḥ brūte sa na paśyati| aho vyādha!
svakāryārthin! kiṁ
pṛcchasi
punaḥ punaḥ||
“That which sees does not speak. That
which speaks does not see! Oh vyādha! Why do you keep questioning me?” (In
other words, he said "I did not see the mṛgam with my mouth, please do not ask me
repeatedly." )
Thus Satyavrata neither told the
whereabouts of the mṛgam
— thereby he did not become the reason for the killing of the mṛgam, nor he stopped the vyādha from
having his meal, nor he spoke false.
Morals in the story:
- One must never deviate from path of truth. By practising satya-vāk-paripālanam firmly and with the Jñānam gained by the blessing of Sarasvatī devi, one can avoid speaking false even in difficult situations, like Satyavrata.
- Krodham even for a short while must be avoided, this is shown through Devadatta and Gobhila ṛṣhi's conversation.
Story of the famous Pravara
Pravara gave atithyam to him, did satkāram and asked him how he was able to travel so many Divya-kṣhetras at such a young age. The Siddha told him that he had a Divya Pāda-lepanam with him which can take him to whatever place he wants to go in no time. The Siddha gave Pravara the Pāda-lepanam and went away. Pravara did all his nityānuṣhṭhānas, did all the work needed to be done for his Māta-Pita, others, gave the responsibility of atithi satkāram etc. to his wife Sahanaśīli, took the anujña of his parents and with the saṅkalpam of returning back by the time of Sāyam-sandhya, he started to see the Divya Siddha-pradeśas, Kṣhetras in the great Himālayas using the Pāda-lepanam.
From the Ākāśa-mārgam itself he saw the great Himālayas, the puṇya ṇadīs, Tīrthas. The sounds of the flows of water were like mṛdaṅga-dhvani and the peacocks (mayūra) responded to the dhvani by dancing, with their feathers open. He saw, with surprise, the female elephants shaking the huge trees with their trunks, in the forests. Āha! The beauty of the Himālayas can it be explained by Brahmadeva Himself? Due to the Sūrya ātapam snow used to melt and fall on the heated Sūryakānta maṇis and immediately evaporate with “chisss” sounds. Knowing that it became Madhyāhnam, he thought that it was enough for that day and he can return the next day to continue his Yātra.
But Pravara was not able to move. He realized that the Pāda-lepanam got melted in the ice-water. He became a niśceṣhṭa. He thought “O Bhagavān! What strong Karma-pāśam? With the help of Siddha I came such a great distance from my house. Where is Aruṇāspadam and where is this place. Why did I act in haste, without thinking much?” He became sad thinking about his parents, who would search his entire village if they dont see him for a minute. “What will be the situation of my Bhārya, who follows me like a shadow? How sad will my Śiṣhyas be not seeing me? Who will do the necessary arrangements for Atithi-abhyāgata satkāras? What about the nityāgnihotras? Even my nitya-anuṣhṭHānas will be stopped is it? O Bhagavān! No one else must face a situation like this” thought Pravara. Seeing Pravara, a Gandharva kanya by name Varūdhinī came and tried to do attract Pravara. Not knowing what to do Pravara maintained maunam. One side was Varūdhinī who was doing Śruṅgāra-ceṣhṭas and on the otherside it was getting time for his nityānuṣhṭhānas.
As the Sūrya-bhagavān started to set, Pravara thought his jīvitam is becoming vyartham. He got bhrānti and thought “is all these days of my Anuṣhṭhānas be waste?” Believing in Agnideva — manasā, vācā, karmaṇā; Pravara, the nityāgnihotra, controlled Varūdhinī, with dṛḍha saṅkalpam of doing his Anuṣhṭhānas, said “if I really do all my duties, follow the path of Dharma and am I nityānuṣhṭhāna-tatpara then may the Agnideva show me the way”.
The next moment Pravara was in his house at Aruṇāspadam. He did kṛtajñatas to Karmasākṣhi, Agnideva and brought back happiness to all his family members.
Morals in the story:
- Dharmo Rakṣhati RakṣhitaH. Since Pravara firmly followed his Dharmam, he was saved from the difficult situation.
- The importance of Atithi seva is well shown by Pravara.
- Samyayam and self-control of Pravara is well displayed when he did not, even a little bit, get attracted to Varūdhinī.
Vidura Neeti
Vidura, the avataar of Yamadharmaraaja, the Nirahankaari, Nishchalamanaska, then came. Vidura did namaskaaram to the King and sat after being asked to do so by Dhrutaraashtra. Vidura told like this, after being asked by Dhrutaraashtra to tell some hita vaakyas:
“Maharaja! You are not getting sleep. This surprises me because only: Durbalas who have Virodham with Balavanta, people who do para-sampada-haranam, people who are Kaamaandhas, Chorakas do not get sleep according to our Shaastras. As far as I know, you dont have any of these lakshanas. I am not able to understand why you are not getting sleep”. Listening to this prati-prashna, Dhrutaraashtra said “I want to hear Dharma-Pravachanam from you”. Vidura continued:
“Maharaja! Yudhishthira who has Uttamagunas, Unnata-aashayas, Udaatta-Dharmas deserves to be a Trilokaadhipati. Even though he had the shakti to become one, he never went beyond your word, considering you as his father. Even then you sent them to Aranyas. Now you are in a position were you cant give them back their Raajyam as promised. You gave this Saamraajya-bhaaram to Duryodhana, Dushshaasana, Shakuni, Karna aadi ayogyas. Now is it fair to ask for Shaanti? A person who has Saatvika Svabhaavam, Udyogayatnam, Klesha-sahanam, follows Dharmam , will never loose. Such Sujjanas live away from Durjanas. Maharaja! A Vidvaan is one who:
- follows path of Dharma-arthas
- knows loka-vyavahaaram
- has no Bhoga-chinta, but does purushaarthas
- does no Aprastuta-prasangam
- does not desire unnecessary profits
- does not experience duhkham for things he lost
- has Dhairyam and stands all difficulties
- does any work to its completion, without leaving in between
- who is not lazy
- has Indriya Nigraham
- who leave Sva-dharmam
- who take Para-dharmam
- who doesnt behave well with friends
- who keeps enemity with Balavanta
- who has no friends
- who do adhika-prasangam
- who believes a Krutaghna
- who always points mistakes of others
- who has aavesham for no reason
- who give upadeshams to anarhas
Raja! People say in people who have sahanam, there will be asamarthata; however if a person is an asamartha, he cannot have sahanam. Infact, there is nothing stronger than Kshama. It is the best alankar for purushas.
People who have alpa-buddhi, people who keep on analyzing things (without acting), people who frequently change their decisions, people who keep on praising others — these must be kept way when taking decisions, through Rahasya-samaalochanas.
Every Gruhastha must do poshana of Vruddhas in the family, Daaridryas, snehitas (friends) who are in difficulties, and a sodari who lost her Bharta and doesnt have children.
A bad King is one who for each and everything gets krodham and frustration, without caring about the sukha-duhkhas of the sevakas, but makes them to do his seva, one who doesnt give salaries, gifts recognizing the hard-work of the sevakas.
The tax-collectors must be extremely good. They must be like a garland-maker, who without harming the plant, collectes the flowers; he must not be like a coal-maker who removes the plant completely and burns it.
A person who shows his shauryam on Gomaata, Naarii, Vipras, Svajanas will have great downfall.
A big Vruksham gets easily uprooted with a storm when it is alone. Whereas when its together with other Vrukshams it will not be easily uprooted. That is why Panditas say Sajjana sangham is important and everyone must live together with mutual co-operation.
A King will loose his simhaasanam if he doesnt recognize the jeevana-bhaaram of sevakas and accordingly pay them or if his mantris have Bhoga-chinta.
A King must immediately remove the sevaka from his padavi if he forgets his duty and becomes interested in other things, or with ahankaaram he works against the good of Raajyam and Raja. Baahabalam is very important balam of a King but not the most important — an Uttama Mantri is a great balam. Sahaja-balam got by Pitru, Pitaamaha praaptam is next. The balam greater than all these is Buddhi-balam.
Stri is a Saubhaagyashaalini, hence is a Gruhaalankaaram and it is the vidhi of a purusha to give rakshana to her.
Maharaja! Virodham with Paandavas, who are Sarva-guna-sampannas and Dharmagnyas is not good. So please give off their Raajyam to them and be happy.
A dhanavanta must never be a bhoga-laalasa and search only of sukhams. He must do poshana of others and do daana-dharmas to the poor. While doing a daanam one must not do with scorn, but instead with santosham. This will also make the daana-grahiita happy. This is the only phalam for dhanam.
People who know Veda-Vedaagas must always do satkarmas and work for Loka-kalyaanam. People who read Shaastras must firmly follow the Sadaachaaras in them and tech others these aachaarams.
One who has aatmabalam can withstand any diverse conditions; whereas one who doesnt have it will loose hope for even a small difficulty.
Dvesham cannot to conquered by dvesham; Krodham can be conquered by Shaantam. Dushtas can be changed through careful hita-vaakyas. Daana-gunam converts a lobhi too and Satyam always defeats asatyam.
Story of Saktuprastha
Yudhishthira, who was a parama Dayaalu, was very sad that he lost all his relatives and aatmiiyas in the yuddham. Vidvaans suggested him to do Ashvamedha-yaagam and lighten his heart. According to the Pandita’s aadesham, Dharmaraaja immediately started Ashvamedha-yaagam. Chakravartis from Desha-Videshas, many Panditas from different Nagaras, lakhs of praja from various janapadas came to see the Divya yaagam.
For everyone Vastra, Anna daanams were done continously. Yudhishthira did Suvarna, Mani, Ratna daanas to Yogyas. There was not even one who was not satisfied. Seeing this Ashvamedham in which everyone was satisfied Devatas started Pushpa-varsham and did abhinandana of Dharmaraaja.
A mongoose then came to the Yaaga-shaala. Everyone was surprised to see how it came there. Smiling, it said “This is a Yaagam which even the Devatas praised”. Everyone became vismayas. Half of the mungiisa’s body was gold. It continued “compared to Saktuprastha’s Dharma-buddhi, where is this Daanam?”. Everyone asked who is that Mahaatma Saktuprastha and what is his story? The mongoose replied
“Very long time back in this Divya Kurukshetram, there used to live a Gruhastha by name Saktuprastha. He had only one putra, for whom he did Kalyaanam. All of them had Daya on sarva-bhuuta-koti. They left Kaama-Krodha-aadi arishadvargas and were doing Tapas. The putra and snusha always were involved in the seva of Saktuprastha-dampatis. They used to never harm anyone and live with samtrupti eating whatever they used to get by Vidhi, Praaptam. They used to take aahaaram only for living to do Parambrahma-dhyaanam.
Once they didnt get any aahaaam to eat for a long time. One day they collected some Dhaanya-beejas that fell in their surroundings, powdered them, cooked and shared it equally. Just when they were about to eat, a Vruddha came. He was very weak, thin. He had little energy to say that he was hungry. Saktuprastha brought the Vruddha in, with great aadaram, made him sit beside him and said
“Aarya! Please accept our aatithyam and bless us. We got this aahaaram by doing as less harm as possible to other creatures and without doing any Paapa-kaaryas. Also we cooked it as told in our Shaastras. Please lessen your hunger by accepting my share”. After eating it, the Vruddha said that he was still hungry. Immediately Saktuprastha’s arthaangi gave her share. After knowing that the Vruddha was still hungry, the putra and snusha also did the same. With great aanandam, the Vruddha said
“My son! Your atithi-satkaaram, annadaanam gave me Santrupti. Even though you all were hungry, you gave of all your aahaaram to me. You have also gained immense Punyam. You will be praised by many lokas from now on. A person who is suffering from Kshut-baadha, will dare do any Paapa-kaaryas. For aahaaram he may do any Daaruna-krutyas. In such a state, the aahaaram given to such a person will do immense hitam to the lokam too. Anna-daanam is one of the greatest daanams. It will give ananta-punyam too…” As the Vruddha was saying like this, a Divya-vimaanam came and before everyone, Saktuprastha and his family went to Uurdhva-lokas.
Seeing all this, after the Saktuprastha family went, I drank the water with which Saktuprastha washed the feet of the Vruddha and the parts of my body that touched the water became gold. After that I went to many many Daanams, but no where my other half of this body became gold. Here too it was the same case”.
Morals in the story:
- Saktuprastha and his family showed us what an Uttama daanam is. Saktuprastha had no ahankaar that he was giving and gave something he also wanted and something which is very useful to the daana-grahiita.
- Atithi-seva, Bhuutadaya, Samtrupti and other gunas of Saktuprastha must be learnt from the story.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble greatfulness to Moral Stories dot com, Hindu dot com and Devotees for the collection)
( A tribute to the great Bharatiya Samskruti)
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