One day all the disciples went to their master and said, " Master, Master, we are all going on a pilgrimage.
Master : Why you want to go on a pilgrimage trip?
Disciples: So that we can improve our devotion
Master: Then do me a favour. Please take this bitter gourd along with you and where ever you go, take to and whichever temple you visit, place it in the alter of the Diety take blessiongs and bring it back. So not only the disciples but the bitter gourd also wnet on pilgrimage. temple to temple.
And finally when they came back, the Master said, cook that bitter gourd and serve it to me. The disciples cooked it and served it to the master. After having the first bite, the master said "Surprising'"""""""""""""""""
Disciples: What's so surprising?
Master: Ever after the pilgrimage the bitter gourd is still bitter. How come???
Disciples: But that's the very nature of the bitter gourd, Master.
Master: That's what I am saying. Unless you change your nature, pilgrimage will not make any difference. So you and I, if we do not change ourselves no teacher or guru can make a difference in our lives
----------------------------------------------
A US tourist visited a Sufi.
He was astonished to see that the Sufi's home was a simple room. The only furniture was a mat and a kerosene lamp.
Tourist :"Sufi, where's your furniture?"
Sufi : "Where is yours?"
Tourist : "Mine? But I'm only a visitor here."
Sufi : "So am I."
-----------------------------------
A beautiful story about the fickleness of our Mind by Mystic Osho.
There is an ancient story.... A man who has gone out of his town comes back and finds that his house is on fire. It was one of the most beautiful houses in the town, and the man loved the house.
Many people were ready to give double price for the house, but he had never agreed for any price, and now it is just burning before his eyes. And thousands of people have gathered, but nothing can be done.
The fire has spread so far that even if you try to put it out, nothing will be saved. So he becomes very sad. His son comes running, and whispers something in his ear: ”Don’t be worried. I sold it yesterday, and at a very good price – three times.... The offer was so good I could not wait for you. Forgive me.”
But the father said, ”Good, if you have sold it for three times more than the original price of the house.” Then the father is also a watcher, with other watchers. Just a moment before he was not a watcher, he was identified. It is the same house, the same fire, everything is the same – but now he is not concerned. He is enjoying it just as everybody else is enjoying.
Then the second son comes running, and he says to the father, ”What are you doing? You are smiling – and the house is on fire?”
The father said, ”Don’t you know, your brother has sold it.”
He said, ”He had talked about selling it, but nothing has been settled yet, and the man is not going to purchase it now.” Again, everything changes. Tears which had disappeared, have come back to the father’s eyes, his smile is no more there, his heart is beating fast. But the watcher is gone. He is again identified.
And then the third son comes, and he says, ”That man is a man of his word. I have just come from him. He said, ’It doesn’t matter whether the house is burned or not, it is mine. And I am going to pay the price that I have settled for. Neither you knew, nor I knew that the house would catch on fire.’” Again the father is a watcher. The identity is no more there. Actually nothing is changing; just the idea that ”I am the owner, I am identified somehow with the house,” makes the whole difference. The next moment he feels, ”I am not identified. Somebody else has purchased it, I have nothing to do with it; let the house burn.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.
The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag.If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.
What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.
“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.
If you liked this story… please share with friends, family and children… You might spark a thought, inspire and possibly change a life forever!
Thinking "Out of Box"...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Master : Why you want to go on a pilgrimage trip?
Disciples: So that we can improve our devotion
Master: Then do me a favour. Please take this bitter gourd along with you and where ever you go, take to and whichever temple you visit, place it in the alter of the Diety take blessiongs and bring it back. So not only the disciples but the bitter gourd also wnet on pilgrimage. temple to temple.
And finally when they came back, the Master said, cook that bitter gourd and serve it to me. The disciples cooked it and served it to the master. After having the first bite, the master said "Surprising'"""""""""""""""""
Disciples: What's so surprising?
Master: Ever after the pilgrimage the bitter gourd is still bitter. How come???
Disciples: But that's the very nature of the bitter gourd, Master.
Master: That's what I am saying. Unless you change your nature, pilgrimage will not make any difference. So you and I, if we do not change ourselves no teacher or guru can make a difference in our lives
----------------------------------------------
A US tourist visited a Sufi.
He was astonished to see that the Sufi's home was a simple room. The only furniture was a mat and a kerosene lamp.
Tourist :"Sufi, where's your furniture?"
Sufi : "Where is yours?"
Tourist : "Mine? But I'm only a visitor here."
Sufi : "So am I."
-----------------------------------
A beautiful story about the fickleness of our Mind by Mystic Osho.
There is an ancient story.... A man who has gone out of his town comes back and finds that his house is on fire. It was one of the most beautiful houses in the town, and the man loved the house.
Many people were ready to give double price for the house, but he had never agreed for any price, and now it is just burning before his eyes. And thousands of people have gathered, but nothing can be done.
The fire has spread so far that even if you try to put it out, nothing will be saved. So he becomes very sad. His son comes running, and whispers something in his ear: ”Don’t be worried. I sold it yesterday, and at a very good price – three times.... The offer was so good I could not wait for you. Forgive me.”
But the father said, ”Good, if you have sold it for three times more than the original price of the house.” Then the father is also a watcher, with other watchers. Just a moment before he was not a watcher, he was identified. It is the same house, the same fire, everything is the same – but now he is not concerned. He is enjoying it just as everybody else is enjoying.
Then the second son comes running, and he says to the father, ”What are you doing? You are smiling – and the house is on fire?”
The father said, ”Don’t you know, your brother has sold it.”
He said, ”He had talked about selling it, but nothing has been settled yet, and the man is not going to purchase it now.” Again, everything changes. Tears which had disappeared, have come back to the father’s eyes, his smile is no more there, his heart is beating fast. But the watcher is gone. He is again identified.
And then the third son comes, and he says, ”That man is a man of his word. I have just come from him. He said, ’It doesn’t matter whether the house is burned or not, it is mine. And I am going to pay the price that I have settled for. Neither you knew, nor I knew that the house would catch on fire.’” Again the father is a watcher. The identity is no more there. Actually nothing is changing; just the idea that ”I am the owner, I am identified somehow with the house,” makes the whole difference. The next moment he feels, ”I am not identified. Somebody else has purchased it, I have nothing to do with it; let the house burn.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.
The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag.If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.
What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.
“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.
If you liked this story… please share with friends, family and children… You might spark a thought, inspire and possibly change a life forever!
Thinking "Out of Box"...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long ago there lived a king Prachinabarhi. He wanted to gain the pure wisdom through which he can be freed from the bonds of Karma. He approches Narada to gain the same. Narada starts reciting the following story to Prachinabarhi :
Once there lived two friends named Puranjanan and Avigyathan. Both of them were of the same age. They were brilliant, had freedom, were happy and were together always. Both of them were traveling around happily. While wandering puranjanan once saw a palace with nine gates. It was in the foothills of Himalayas. It was named Nawadwarapuri. When he saw this palace he completely forgot about his friend and fell in love with it. He then saw a lady emerging from the fort. The lady had five headed snake as an umbrella, had 11 body guards and loads of soldiers accompanying her. Puranjanan was totally impressed with her beauty and he approached her. He enquired about her. She told him that she was the queen of this palace and that she is going in search for a suitable groom for her to get married. The queen introduced herself as puranjani. Puranjanan and Puranjani decide to get married. They get married and start living together in Nawadwarapuri. Puranjanan follows whatever Puranjani says. They were living happily.
There was a female named durbagai. She was Kaalan’s daughter. Nobody liked her. She was searching for a person to get married to. One day she met Narada Muni and asked him to marry her. Narad refused to and so she cursed him saying that he would have to keep on traveling through out this life and he would not be able to stay put in one place. Narad tells her that there is a person named ChandaVegan whom she can marry. She then approches chandavegan and asks him to marry her. He tells her , "You are already 85 yrs old. Why should you marry? I will always keep you with me" . Chandavegan has a brother called Prajvaran and a most important soldier Bayan. All the four of them together with Durbagai’s father Kaalan decide to go and capture palaces. Whenever they capture a fort it becomes completely useless. While capturing different forts once they entered Nawadwarapuri. First Dubagai steps into the palace. She kills the five headed snake. Prajvaran comes and burns the place. Bayan enters Puranjanan’s private space.Kaalan also entered. Puranjanan and Puranjani cried and then puranjanan was killed. He died thinking about puranjani.
As he died thinking about a lady he takes birth as a lady. She is born as the daughter of Vidharbha Desa’s king. She gets married to a Pandiya Rajan called Malaiyathvajan . After a few years the king left his kingdom and went to the forest. She also followed her husband. In the forest Malaiyathvajan did Tapas and died one day. She ignited his body and wants to follow him. Hence she was about to fall into the same when a scholarly Brahmin came there and stopped her. He explained to her that she was actually puranjanan who got separated from his friend avigyathan. He says that you got married to puranjani and died thinking about her. So you were born as a princess. Now you will die thinking about your husband and you would again take birth as a guy. This cycle will keep on moving and you would never be able to attain salvation. She then remembers everything and asks the Brahmin where his friend Avigyathan is. The Brahmin then takes the form of avigyathan. Avigyathan tells puranjanan not to be carried away by any Nawadwarapuri now and both again start being together happily.
Hearing this story Prachinabarhi was perplexed and pleads Narad to explain the meaning. Narad then Narates the essence of the Story.
Essence of the story:
Puranjanan is Jeevan, Avigyathan is Eashwaran (Who cannot be understood). Nawadwarapuri said in this story is the human body. When puranjanan wants to live in that body he forgets Eashwaran. The Queen of the fort puranjani is actually your Buddhi. Body is attached to the Buddhi.
The five headed snake which was said to be an umbrella is actually Panjapranan => Pranan, Apanan, Vyanan, Udhanan and Samanan.. The 11 body guards where Jnanendriyangal -5 , karmendriyangal -5 manasu -1 --- 11 endriyam.Loads of Soldiers is the loads of thoughts our mind has. When Jeevan enters the body he is controlled by all this. Durbagai whom we described as a female of 85 yrs is actually Ageing. When we said that Narad said he won’t marry her, it indirectly means that he will always be young. He won over Age. Narad being ‘Trilogasanchari’ is never in one place and that was only explained as a curse.
Chandavegan is actually Ayul and Prajvaran is fever and Bayan is the frightening feeling that our life would come to an end. The four start capturing bodies. When we say that Durbagai first stepped in it means that human beings become aged. When they become aged they become useless. The body becomes the place for all illness to stay. We get afraid about our end. And at last our death (Kaalan) comes. When we die whatever we think , we are born as that in our next birth. The whole cycle repeats itself. To break this cycle and reach the lotus feet of God we need the help of a guru. When he gets a guru, he is attached to him. When the guru reaches God he also wants to follow the Guru. At that time God himself comes as the guru and takes us to his lotus feet asking us not to get attracted to Human bodies again.
This is the essence of our life
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once there lived two friends named Puranjanan and Avigyathan. Both of them were of the same age. They were brilliant, had freedom, were happy and were together always. Both of them were traveling around happily. While wandering puranjanan once saw a palace with nine gates. It was in the foothills of Himalayas. It was named Nawadwarapuri. When he saw this palace he completely forgot about his friend and fell in love with it. He then saw a lady emerging from the fort. The lady had five headed snake as an umbrella, had 11 body guards and loads of soldiers accompanying her. Puranjanan was totally impressed with her beauty and he approached her. He enquired about her. She told him that she was the queen of this palace and that she is going in search for a suitable groom for her to get married. The queen introduced herself as puranjani. Puranjanan and Puranjani decide to get married. They get married and start living together in Nawadwarapuri. Puranjanan follows whatever Puranjani says. They were living happily.
There was a female named durbagai. She was Kaalan’s daughter. Nobody liked her. She was searching for a person to get married to. One day she met Narada Muni and asked him to marry her. Narad refused to and so she cursed him saying that he would have to keep on traveling through out this life and he would not be able to stay put in one place. Narad tells her that there is a person named ChandaVegan whom she can marry. She then approches chandavegan and asks him to marry her. He tells her , "You are already 85 yrs old. Why should you marry? I will always keep you with me" . Chandavegan has a brother called Prajvaran and a most important soldier Bayan. All the four of them together with Durbagai’s father Kaalan decide to go and capture palaces. Whenever they capture a fort it becomes completely useless. While capturing different forts once they entered Nawadwarapuri. First Dubagai steps into the palace. She kills the five headed snake. Prajvaran comes and burns the place. Bayan enters Puranjanan’s private space.Kaalan also entered. Puranjanan and Puranjani cried and then puranjanan was killed. He died thinking about puranjani.
As he died thinking about a lady he takes birth as a lady. She is born as the daughter of Vidharbha Desa’s king. She gets married to a Pandiya Rajan called Malaiyathvajan . After a few years the king left his kingdom and went to the forest. She also followed her husband. In the forest Malaiyathvajan did Tapas and died one day. She ignited his body and wants to follow him. Hence she was about to fall into the same when a scholarly Brahmin came there and stopped her. He explained to her that she was actually puranjanan who got separated from his friend avigyathan. He says that you got married to puranjani and died thinking about her. So you were born as a princess. Now you will die thinking about your husband and you would again take birth as a guy. This cycle will keep on moving and you would never be able to attain salvation. She then remembers everything and asks the Brahmin where his friend Avigyathan is. The Brahmin then takes the form of avigyathan. Avigyathan tells puranjanan not to be carried away by any Nawadwarapuri now and both again start being together happily.
Hearing this story Prachinabarhi was perplexed and pleads Narad to explain the meaning. Narad then Narates the essence of the Story.
Essence of the story:
Puranjanan is Jeevan, Avigyathan is Eashwaran (Who cannot be understood). Nawadwarapuri said in this story is the human body. When puranjanan wants to live in that body he forgets Eashwaran. The Queen of the fort puranjani is actually your Buddhi. Body is attached to the Buddhi.
The five headed snake which was said to be an umbrella is actually Panjapranan => Pranan, Apanan, Vyanan, Udhanan and Samanan.. The 11 body guards where Jnanendriyangal -5 , karmendriyangal -5 manasu -1 --- 11 endriyam.Loads of Soldiers is the loads of thoughts our mind has. When Jeevan enters the body he is controlled by all this. Durbagai whom we described as a female of 85 yrs is actually Ageing. When we said that Narad said he won’t marry her, it indirectly means that he will always be young. He won over Age. Narad being ‘Trilogasanchari’ is never in one place and that was only explained as a curse.
Chandavegan is actually Ayul and Prajvaran is fever and Bayan is the frightening feeling that our life would come to an end. The four start capturing bodies. When we say that Durbagai first stepped in it means that human beings become aged. When they become aged they become useless. The body becomes the place for all illness to stay. We get afraid about our end. And at last our death (Kaalan) comes. When we die whatever we think , we are born as that in our next birth. The whole cycle repeats itself. To break this cycle and reach the lotus feet of God we need the help of a guru. When he gets a guru, he is attached to him. When the guru reaches God he also wants to follow the Guru. At that time God himself comes as the guru and takes us to his lotus feet asking us not to get attracted to Human bodies again.
This is the essence of our life
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter & the Magic thread
Peter was a very lively little boy. Everyone loved him: his family, his teachers and his friend. But he did have one weakness.
What was that? Peter could never live in the moment. He had not learned to enjoy the process of life. when he was in school, he dreamed of being outside playing. When he was outside playing he dreamed of his summer vacation. Peter constantly daydreamed, never taking the time to savor the special moments that filled his days. One morning, Peter was out walking in forest near his home. Feelin tired, he decided to rest on a patch of grass and eventually dozed off. After only a few minutes of deep sleep, he heard someone calling his name. "Peter! Peter!" came a shrill voice from above. As he slowly opened his eyes, he was startled to see a striking woman who is more than 100 year old. She was having a magical little ball with a hole in the center and out of the hole dangled a long, golden thread.
Peter, she said this is the thread of your life. If you pull the thread just a bit, an hour will pass in seconds. If you pull a little harder, whole day will pass in munutes. If you pull a little harder, whole days will pass in minutes. And if you pull with all your might, months - even years - will pass by n days. Peter was very excited.
From the next day he used it as often as he can and found that he has already spent his 90 years in just few days and found that he did not live the life and realised that he has just wasted his life doing nothing useful. He did not love his parents, wife, children. He had hurried through life, never resting to see all that was good along the way
Peter became very sad at this discovery. He dicided to go out to the forest when he used to walk as a boy.
Same old lady appeared and asked about the special gift. He said that at first it was fun but now I hate it. My whole lfie has passed before my eyes without giving me the chance to enjoy it. Sure there would have been sad times as well as great times but I haven't had the chance to experience either. I feel empty inside. I have missed the gift of living. He asked the lady to give him the life of the school boy and said he wanted to live the life as it is. He went on to live full life. He stopped sacrificing the present for the future and began to live in the moment.
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Sankara Jayanthi
Sri Sankara Jayanthi falls on Vaisakha Suddha (Sukla Paksha) Panchami day every year. (In this Virodhi year it falls on Tuesday, 21st Chitra, 3.5.1949.)
The term ‘Sankara’ means one who bestows prosperity and auspiciousness on all people and all beings. We are duty bound to celebrate the Jayanthi of and contemplate on Srimad Bhagavatpada, who has done great help to all beings, true to his name ‘Sankara’. We are giving here for readers’ use ‘Sri Sankara Avatara’ ghatta (occasion) from ‘Sankara Vijayam’ in original and translation.
Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada is verily the incarnation of Lord Siva, whose abode is Kailasa. He is Gnani, who mastered all Sastras with absolute clarity. He is omniscient. He carried his mortal frame only for 32 years. His body of fame will last for ever. He adopted Sanyasa asrama, wandered extensively from Sethu to Himalayas, debated with and conquered scholars of other religious persuasions, re-established the traditional Advaita Vedanta, established Mathas in Kanchi and many other places, organised succession of disciples to head those Mathas, set up new temples, removed deficiencies in old temples, set up untainted Pooja practices, extinguished wrong religious principles born of ignorance, set up Vaidika dharma on strong foundation, taught wholesome Gnana marga, showed the way as to how his mathas could be useful in spreading love of God, love of religion and Vedanta, wrote many books for emancipation of the multitude of disciples, showed his Advaita Vedanta in practice and helped the world by many such superhuman acts.
[07:27, 23/04/2015] +91 97691 66262: Srutismritipurananamaalayam Karunaalayam|
Namami Bhagavatpada Sankaram Lokasankaram||”
At the time Aryamba gained the grace of Sri Vrishaachaleswara through austerity, she had completely devoted her mind to Lord Siva. Sivaguru, who performed yagnas, notived that his wife Aryamba was pregnant, contemplated on Vrishaachaleswara continuously with a firm mind, praised the compassion of Iswara with no distinction between the high and the low and was ebullient like the sea on seeing the full moon.
In the tenth month of pregnancy in the spring season when five planets were at their peak positions, in Ardra star, in midday, in the best time of Abhijit muhurtha in auspicious circumstances, that chaste Aryamba delivered a resplendent male baby, like the brilliant Sun rising in the eastern mountain, like Parvati Devi having produced Subrahmanya (Shanmukha), Indrani having delivered Jayantha and Satyavati, Vyasa Muni. Aryamba was surprised at that time to notice in front of her a form that had four arms, three eyes, having crescent moon on head and radiating blinding brilliant light in all ten directions, of white rays, slightly mixed with red. She was overcome by mixed feelings of fear and tiredness after delivery and thought: ‘I wished for something; but what has appeared now is different; what a wonder!’ and tried getting up in order to pay her obeisance to that form. As she raised her head, she saw Devas showering flowers from the sky.
At that time the wind was carrying the scent of red lotus. The sky was bright in all directions. The earth was fertile everywhere. The fires in Yagas shone with flames circling in the right. The minds of virtuous men, miserable from the oppression of evil religions, became clear. That chaste Aryamba, though surprised at the unexpected form that appeared, determined that it was none other than Sri Vrishaachaleswara and paid obeisance quickly and with humility. She prayed to Sri Parameswara again and again: ‘O Swami, please bestow your grace on me and show your childhood sports’.
Lord Siva, who had appeared in His real form, now turned in no time into a small baby, who moved his limbs and lips and cried. Aryamba then completely forgot all that she had seen so far owing to the Maya of Maheswara, which deludes the entire world. The women, who were there, were not aware of the earlier appearance of Iswara in his true form and subsequent change into a small baby. They thought that a baby, resembling the growing crescent, was born. The older women did well all that was necessary to be done at that time.
Sankara’s father Sivaguru was very happy to hear of the child’s birth. The parents were extremely joyous as a poor man would be on hitting a treasure. As they were blessed with the fortune of a son, they did not care for even Kubera, endowed with all fortunes. Though Aryamba was aware that the baby was none other than Siva, she did not tell this to anyone.
Sivaguru, the crest jewel among Dikshitas, then took bath and invited brahmanas and superior women from many places. In every house in that place there was a great rush of people at that time. Sivaguru gave away heaps of foodgrains to learned Dikshitas; unlimited materials including superior clothes and fruits fit for Devas, to brahmanas versed in Vedas; many materials continuously to superior women. He also gave away innumerable cows with pot like udders, nicely decorated, along with dakshina. All these gifts were given with no trace of selfishness and only for the constant pleasure of Sri Vrishaachaleswara. The learned Sivaguru pleased brahmanas very much in this manner and lived happily with his relatives.
The beautiful Aryamba was happy beyond measure to keep looking at the baby, who had long arms, wide chest, arms hanging down to knees, wide handsome forehead, sidelong glance of slightly reddish eyes whose beauty defeated lotus, the radiance of face similar to the full moon, white brilliant light radiating in all four directions like rising sun, lines in lotus feet, of forms of conch, discus and flag and lightning-like form having all 32 signs of handsomeness, instilling joy at mere sight in those who see him. She was rapturous like Yasoda on seeing Krishna and chataka bird on seeing the moon, being unwilling to part even for a second from the baby; she enjoyed caressing him continuously.
Thus the Acharya incarnated, did many lilas in childhood, was initiated into upanayanam in fifth year and studied Vedas in Gurukulam. During his stay in Gurukulam, he asked for alms on a dvadashi day from an indigent household; the lady of the house felt miserable on not having anything to give; she then gave one aamalaka (gooseberry), which was the only thing available in the house. Sri Acharya was greatly moved and prayed to Mahalakshmi with the stotra known as ‘Kalyana vrishti sthavam’ or ‘Kanakadharasthavam’. The highly pleased Mahalakshmi showered golden aamalakas in that house.
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A nice story of Adi Shankaracharya teaching his students how to empty and free their mind:
"Adi Sankara was walking through the market place with his disciples.
They saw a man dragging a cow by a rope.
Sankara told the man to wait and asked his disciples to surround them.
“I am going to teach you something” and continued...
“Tell me who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or the man is bound to the cow?"
The disciples said without hesitation “Of course the cow is bound to the man!. The man is the master. He is holding the rope. The cow has to follow him wherever he goes. The man is the master and the cow is the slave.”
“Now watch this”, said Sankara cut the rope.
The cow ran away from the master and the man ran after his cow. “Look, what is happening”, said Sankara
“Do you see who the Master is? The cow is not at all interested in this man. The cow in fact, is trying to escape from this man.
This is the case with our MIND.
Like the cow, all the non-sense that we carry inside is not interested in us. WE ARE INTERESTED IN IT, we are keeping it together somehow or the other. We are going crazy trying to keep it all together under our control.
The moment we lose interest in all the garbage filled in our head, and the moment we understand the futility of it, it will start to disappear. Like the cow, it will escape and disappear.”
We can allow disappearing of all the unwanted things from our mind and feel relaxed...
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One day King Akbar asked Birbal, “Why is it that your God behaves so strangely?
Doesn’t your Lord Krishna have any servant?
Each time a devotee calls for help, the Lord runs himself. Surely he can employ others to do such work?”
“Oh! Yes” said Birbal having a plan to explain the fact to the King.
Birbal knew that King Akbar loved his Grandson very much. He asked a statue maker to make a dummy of the grandson and dressed with the same costumes as that of his grandson. Then he asked the Guardian of the grandson to carry the dummy doll to the lake and wait for his signal. The Guardian agreed.
After some time Birbal came to the lake with King Akbar. At Birbal’s signal the Guardian slipped the dummy doll into the lake.
As soon as King Akbar saw his grandson being throw in a lake, he jumped into the lake’s cold water to rescue his grandson. He swimmed very fast until he could catch his grandson. When He catch his grandson he realized that it was just a wax doll.
Birbal commented, “Your Majesty, why did you jump into cold lake to rescue young Prince while you have so many guards and servant at your service?”
King replied “Oh, I have hundreds of them but my grandson is precious one, so I couldn’t stop myself.”
“Now you see ,Your majesty, that’s why Lord Krishna, who loves each of his devotees , comes to their help Himself” Birbal replied.
As always King Akbar agreed with Birbal smilingly.
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In Bhagavat gita 12.6,7 Lord Krishna says,
ye tu sarvaani karmaani mayi sannyasya mat-parah
ananyenaiva yogena maam dhyaayanta upaasate
teshaam aham samuddharta mrtyu-samsaara-saagaraat
bhavaami na ciraat paartha mayy avesita-cetasaam
“But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Partha, for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.
The Supreme Lord, by His great mercy, comes at once, riding on His bird carrier Garuda, and at once delivers the devotee from material existence.
Although a man who has fallen in the ocean may struggle very hard and may be very expert in swimming, he cannot save himself. But if someone comes and picks him up from the water, then he is easily rescued.
So we have to just follow this and Raise our hands surrendering to Lord to pick us out of this Material world. Unless we raise our hands how can Lord pick us up?
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One day King Akbar asked Birbal, “Why is it that your God behaves so strangely?
Doesn’t your Lord Krishna have any servant?
Each time a devotee calls for help, the Lord runs himself. Surely he can employ others to do such work?”
“Oh! Yes” said Birbal having a plan to explain the fact to the King.
Birbal knew that King Akbar loved his Grandson very much. He asked a statue maker to make a dummy of the grandson and dressed with the same costumes as that of his grandson. Then he asked the Guardian of the grandson to carry the dummy doll to the lake and wait for his signal. The Guardian agreed.
After some time Birbal came to the lake with King Akbar. At Birbal’s signal the Guardian slipped the dummy doll into the lake.
As soon as King Akbar saw his grandson being throw in a lake, he jumped into the lake’s cold water to rescue his grandson. He swimmed very fast until he could catch his grandson. When He catch his grandson he realized that it was just a wax doll.
Birbal commented, “Your Majesty, why did you jump into cold lake to rescue young Prince while you have so many guards and servant at your service?”
King replied “Oh, I have hundreds of them but my grandson is precious one, so I couldn’t stop myself.”
“Now you see ,Your majesty, that’s why Lord Krishna, who loves each of his devotees , comes to their help Himself” Birbal replied.
As always King Akbar agreed with Birbal smilingly.
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In Bhagavat gita 12.6,7 Lord Krishna says,
ye tu sarvaani karmaani mayi sannyasya mat-parah
ananyenaiva yogena maam dhyaayanta upaasate
teshaam aham samuddharta mrtyu-samsaara-saagaraat
bhavaami na ciraat paartha mayy avesita-cetasaam
“But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Partha, for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.
The Supreme Lord, by His great mercy, comes at once, riding on His bird carrier Garuda, and at once delivers the devotee from material existence.
Although a man who has fallen in the ocean may struggle very hard and may be very expert in swimming, he cannot save himself. But if someone comes and picks him up from the water, then he is easily rescued.
So we have to just follow this and Raise our hands surrendering to Lord to pick us out of this Material world. Unless we raise our hands how can Lord pick us up?
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Bhagavad Geeta
Why do we read Geeta, even if we can't understand or remember ????m
Story:
An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson.
Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Geeta. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavat Geeta just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavat Geeta do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied,
"Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house.
The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"
"So you think it is useless ?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.
"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavat Geeta. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out.
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One day Krishna & Arjuna were taking their
usual walk, when they came across an old Brahmin begging, taking pity on his
condition, Arjuna gave him a bag of gold coins.
The man was overjoyed. On his way to home, he was robbed by a thief in the forest. He cursed his fate and the next day set off to beg again.
Arjuna & Krishna saw him again & got to know his story. Arjuna once again took pity and gave him a large diamond.
The man took it home and kept it in an old pot which had been unused for many years in order to keep it safe and went to sleep.
The next morning before he could wake up, his wife went to fetch water from the river & on her way back, she slipped and her pot broke. She immediately remembered the pot at home which lay unused and brought it to fill it with water. Just as she dipped the pot in to the river the diamond escaped the pot and went in to the river.
When she returned home the Brahmin was desperately searching the house for the pot & when he saw it in his wife's hands, he got to know what had happened. Dejected with what had happened, he once again left to go begging.
Once again Arjuna and Krishna saw him and when Arjuna heard of the unfortunate incident that had happened, he told Krishna ,
" I don't think this man is destined to be blessed at all, I don’t think I can help him anymore".
Krishna then gave the man two pennies and the man took them and walked away.
Arjuna then asked Krishna," My Lord, if gold coins and diamond could not change his condition, what good can two pennies do to him?".
Krishna smiled and replied, "let us see".
As the man walked home he was cursing his fate when he saw a fish that had just been caught by a fisherman and was struggling for its life, he took pity on it and thought to himself, " these two pennies cannot fetch me food anyway, let me at least save the life of this creature" and he purchased the fish and was about to throw it in the river when he saw that the breathlessness of the fish was caused due to some large obstruction in its mouth and when removed it , it was the very diamond he had lost in the river. He was overjoyed and started shouting "Look what I found! Look what I found".
At this very time the thief that had robbed him in the forest was passing by and heard his shouts, he recognized the man and thought that man too recognized him and was thus shouting. Fearing that the Brahmin may take him to be executed, he rushed to him and begged for his forgiveness and returned all the gold coins he had stolen from him. The Brahmin was happy and walked away joyfully with all his wealth.
He went straight to Arjuna to narrate the turn of events and thanked him for all his help and went away.
Arjuna then asked Krishna,
"My Lord, how is it that my gold and diamond could not help him but your meager two pennies did?.
Krishna replied," when he had the gold and diamonds he was only thinking of himself and his needs, but when he had the two pennies he put the needs of another creature before his and so I took care of his needs.
The truth is O Arjuna when you think of the pain and needs of others and work to help them, you are doing God's work and hence God Himself takes care of you".
The man was overjoyed. On his way to home, he was robbed by a thief in the forest. He cursed his fate and the next day set off to beg again.
Arjuna & Krishna saw him again & got to know his story. Arjuna once again took pity and gave him a large diamond.
The man took it home and kept it in an old pot which had been unused for many years in order to keep it safe and went to sleep.
The next morning before he could wake up, his wife went to fetch water from the river & on her way back, she slipped and her pot broke. She immediately remembered the pot at home which lay unused and brought it to fill it with water. Just as she dipped the pot in to the river the diamond escaped the pot and went in to the river.
When she returned home the Brahmin was desperately searching the house for the pot & when he saw it in his wife's hands, he got to know what had happened. Dejected with what had happened, he once again left to go begging.
Once again Arjuna and Krishna saw him and when Arjuna heard of the unfortunate incident that had happened, he told Krishna ,
" I don't think this man is destined to be blessed at all, I don’t think I can help him anymore".
Krishna then gave the man two pennies and the man took them and walked away.
Arjuna then asked Krishna," My Lord, if gold coins and diamond could not change his condition, what good can two pennies do to him?".
Krishna smiled and replied, "let us see".
As the man walked home he was cursing his fate when he saw a fish that had just been caught by a fisherman and was struggling for its life, he took pity on it and thought to himself, " these two pennies cannot fetch me food anyway, let me at least save the life of this creature" and he purchased the fish and was about to throw it in the river when he saw that the breathlessness of the fish was caused due to some large obstruction in its mouth and when removed it , it was the very diamond he had lost in the river. He was overjoyed and started shouting "Look what I found! Look what I found".
At this very time the thief that had robbed him in the forest was passing by and heard his shouts, he recognized the man and thought that man too recognized him and was thus shouting. Fearing that the Brahmin may take him to be executed, he rushed to him and begged for his forgiveness and returned all the gold coins he had stolen from him. The Brahmin was happy and walked away joyfully with all his wealth.
He went straight to Arjuna to narrate the turn of events and thanked him for all his help and went away.
Arjuna then asked Krishna,
"My Lord, how is it that my gold and diamond could not help him but your meager two pennies did?.
Krishna replied," when he had the gold and diamonds he was only thinking of himself and his needs, but when he had the two pennies he put the needs of another creature before his and so I took care of his needs.
The truth is O Arjuna when you think of the pain and needs of others and work to help them, you are doing God's work and hence God Himself takes care of you".
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Prarabdha Karma
Once Lord Yama visits Sriman Narayana in Vaikuntha. At the entrance to his right he finds Garuda, the vehicle of the Lord who acknowledges him and to the left he sees a small sparrow. Looking at the sparrow Yama makes a surprised gesture and walks inside. The sparrow who sees Yama making a surprised gesture thinks that its time is up and Yama is going to take him away to Yamaloka and it starts trembling in anticipation. Seeing this Garuda tells the sparrow not to worry and that he would help it. Garuday who could fly at the speed of wind, asks the saprow to sit on his back and he takes it the far-off Gandhamadana Mountain near Rameshwaram. He then tells the sparrow not to worry as he would be safe there and gets back to the entrance of Vaikuntha.
After sometime Yama comes out and finds the sparrow missing. Garuda who was proud of what he had done, asks Yama what he was searching for. Yama enquires about the sparrow. Garuda tells him that the sparrow is now far away and safe. Then Yama asks Garuda to tell where he had taken the sparrow to. Garuda tells him he has left the sparrow on the Gandhamadana Mountain. Listening to this Yama is amazed at the intricate design Sriman Narayana has made and tells Garuda, that when he came to Vaikuntha he was surprised and whondered how the small sparrow which was supposed to be killed by an eagle on Gandhamadana in few minutes would reach there!
Such are the mysterious ways of karma finding ways to make one realize the fruit of action, past or present. Others might say it ‘s sheer coincidence.
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This is a philosophical story humorously narrated by Swami Dayananda’s disciple.
On a Full moon day, a villager from a simpleton village goes to draw water from the well. When he saw the moon’s reflection he screamed and informed the villagers that the moon has fallen into the well. Village of simpletons decided to bring the moon out of well with the help of the bucket. Each time they tried pulling It up they were successful but after pouring the water they found the moon in the well again.
During such draw the bucket got struck in the middle and so lot of people helped in pulling. It was more like a tug of war between the villagers and the concrete. Rope got cut and all the villagers fell flat and found the moon back on the sky and were proud that they saved the moon.
This is the same way we search our Self every where but it is where it is
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A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.
"In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
"And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest. When we're refreshed, we can pick it up again. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, put them down for a moment. Relax; rest, before you pick them up again.
Moral : Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and be best to yourself. Life is short; take time to enjoy it
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Be a Lake !
The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does it taste?” the Master asked. “Awful,” spat the apprentice.
The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the Master asked, “How does it taste?” “Good!” remarked the apprentice. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the Master. “No,” said the young man.
The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the ‘pain’ depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things …..
Stop being a glass. Become a lake!”
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Once upon a time, a thief hadn’t had any luck for many days in a row. One night he went out with resolve that he wouldn’t return home empty-handed. He scoured the streets looking for the right home, the right opportunity, without any success. Tired and dejected, in the wee hours of the morning, he sat on a footpath and fell asleep.
A few minutes later a drunkard was passing by. He saw the thief and fell sorry for him thinking he was also some drunk who had passed out on the street. He stopped by to see if there was any bottle lying nearby because that’s what he was interested in — more liquor. But, there was none. Feeling angry, he left. Hardly had he gone when another man, who happened to be a gambler, saw the thief.
“Poor loser,” he thought. “He must have lost so much that he’s scared to go home.”
An hour passed and another thief happened to pass this way. He looked at the sleeping man and thought, “He must be an unfortunate small-time burglar like me who couldn’t get his hands on anything tonight.”
Dawn was breaking over the horizon when a yogi was going to a nearby river for ablutions. He looked at the thief and began admiring him.
“This is a real yogi,” he thought. “Unlike me, who’s still caught up in rituals, he’s just lying here carefree, without any belongings. This is the way of a yogi.”
He derives deep inspiration from the thief, bows before him and gets going.
Another hour later, the sun, now warm and bright, wakes up the thief and he leaves for his home. Empty-handed.
This is how our world operates. It doesn’t matter who, how or what you are (or aren’t), each one will see you according to their capacity. They will form their opinion based on their own perceptions and preconceived notions about you. Some will think you are a thief while others will label you a gambler. Some may mistake you for a drunk and some may see you as a yogi. Often, most of what they think about you is dependent on them, their own conditioning. It is not as much about you as it is about them. The more you realize this, the less bothered you will be by their opinions.
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Struggles of our Life
father-daughter
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.
He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer”, he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.
father-daughter
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.
He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer”, he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.
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A guru taught a king’s son for twelve years and turned him into a fine young man — civil and noble. When he handed back the prince to the king, he couldn’t stop praising him. He predicted that the meritorious prince would be a great emperor one day. A few years went by and the prince began taking greater control of the affairs of the state. The aging king decided it was best to crown his son and retire.
Naturally, his guru was specially invited at the coronation.
Naturally, his guru was specially invited at the coronation.
“O Master,” the king said at the ceremony, “please bless your pupil so he may be a just king forever committed to the welfare of his subjects.”
The guru smiled and slowly walked up to the prince. Instead of blessing though, he started beating him with his stick.
The king, prince, courtiers and everyone else were shocked and appalled, but none uttered a whisper until the guru stopped.
“It is your right to punish me, master,” the prince said, “but, please tell me my crime.”
“Yes, sage,” the king followed, “why did you whip him? For what mistake?”
“There was no mistake,” the guru said. “This was the last lesson. Tomorrow, being a king, sometimes, he’ll have to punish people. Now, having experienced pain, he would exercise the right restraint. He’ll better understand the feelings of the one being punished.”
The guru smiled and slowly walked up to the prince. Instead of blessing though, he started beating him with his stick.
The king, prince, courtiers and everyone else were shocked and appalled, but none uttered a whisper until the guru stopped.
“It is your right to punish me, master,” the prince said, “but, please tell me my crime.”
“Yes, sage,” the king followed, “why did you whip him? For what mistake?”
“There was no mistake,” the guru said. “This was the last lesson. Tomorrow, being a king, sometimes, he’ll have to punish people. Now, having experienced pain, he would exercise the right restraint. He’ll better understand the feelings of the one being punished.”
I like the message in this story. Somewhere, to truly understand the pain of the other person, to empathize, we must know what it’s like to be in pain. Paradoxically, it is why a certain degree of suffering can bring people closer to each other. It quickly breaks the superficial layers of hypocrisy, it thaws artificiality. In suffering, either you are with the other person or you aren’t. When they are in pain, either you are helping them or you aren’t.
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Mulla Nasrudin’s wife convinced him to see a therapist for his stubborn nature and repeated failures. Fearing that Mulla may not open up, she secretly called the psychologist and briefed him in advance.
“I sense you suffer from self-fantasizing,” he said to Mulla in the first session.
“What is that?”
“It means you have a very high opinion about yourself.”
“That’s a load of crap,” Mulla said. “I actually think of myself much less than I really am.”
“What is that?”
“It means you have a very high opinion about yourself.”
“That’s a load of crap,” Mulla said. “I actually think of myself much less than I really am.”
If within you and around you, you are in touch with reality, if you are true to yourself, your chances of seeing your plans materialize go up exponentially. Palaces of success are built on a truthful and sincere ground. One block at a time.
Your dreams may be unreal and that’s fine so long as your actions are real.
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Don’t limit yourself by asking petty things from God. Trust the immensity of nature. Faith does not mean all your dreams will come true, it simply means you look upon everything that’s granted to you as a blessing, a blessing from your God. Just focus on your karma, and before long, you’ll be filled beyond measure.
You know how in a birthday party, you get these gifts. You don’t like all of them. Sometimes they double up too. Some you really like, you want to keep them forever, but eventually they wear out or you grow out of them. That’s how life is. It’s a party. Some gifts you’ll like, some you won’t, some you will get repeatedly, but nothing will last. It can’t. Nothing is designed to last forever.
Accepting the transient nature of this world, and its eternal impermanence, is the definitive path to inner peace. Either live in complete surrender or exercise total control. If your boat is neither anchored nor guided, it’ll just drift then. It’ll drift in the direction of your thoughts, desires and emotions. Here today, there tomorrow.
Cosmic intelligence is infinitely more subtle, smart, organized and selfless than individual intelligence. Anchor your ship if you are tired of rowing. Have faith.
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A man died...
When he realized it, he saw God coming closer with a suitcase in his hand.
Dialog between God and Dead Man:
God: Alright son, it’s time to go
Man: So soon? I had a lot of plans...
God: I am sorry but, it’s time to go
Man: What do you have in that suitcase?
God: Your belongings
Man: My belongings? You mean my things... Clothes... money...
God: Those things were never yours, they belong to the Earth
Man: Is it my memories?
God: No. They belong to Time
Man: Is it my talent?
God: No. They belong to Circumstance
Man: Is it my friends and family?
God: No son. They belong to the Path you travelled
Man: Is it my wife and children?
God: No. they belong to your Heart
Man: Then it must be my body
God: No No... It belongs to Dust
Man: Then surely it must be my Soul!
God: You are sadly mistaken son. Your Soul belongs to me.
Man with tears in his eyes and full of fear took the suitcase from the God's hand and opened it...
Empty...
With heartbroken and tears down his cheek he asks God...
Man: I never owned anything?
God: That’s Right. You never owned anything.
Man: Then? What was mine?
God: your MOMENTS.
Every moment you lived was yours.
Life is just a Moment.
Live it...
Love it...
Enjoy it...
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Baby 1: This is ridiculous! I’ve never seen any mother so it’s obvious that she doesn’t exist.
Baby 2: I don’t agree, that’s your way of seeing things. Because sometimes when everything quiets down a little bit, we can hear her sing. We can feel her hugging our world. I’m pretty sure that our life will start after birth.
Read it a second time by changing some words.... Change the word
BIRTH to DEATH
WOMB to WORLD
MOTHER to GOD...
you will find a mystery unveiling...
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A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation.
After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own. With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation. But when he opens his eyes, he sees it’s an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.
At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.
From then on, whenever he comes across someone who irritates him or provokes him to anger, he reminds himself, “The other person is merely an empty boat.
The anger is within me.
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The Dirty Laundry
A young couple moved into a new neighborhood.
The next morning, while they are eating breakfast, the young woman watches her neighbour hang the washed laundry outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said, "she doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbour would hang her washed clothes to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:
"Look, She has learnt how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."
The husband said: "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!"
So it is with Life:
What we see when we are watching others, depends on the purity of the window through which we look. Our life is a creation of our mind !!!
So let us remember this Story of 'Dirty Laundry' and clean our windows before commenting or concluding on others. Our lives will surely get a better view!!!
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Baby 1: This is ridiculous! I’ve never seen any mother so it’s obvious that she doesn’t exist.
Baby 2: I don’t agree, that’s your way of seeing things. Because sometimes when everything quiets down a little bit, we can hear her sing. We can feel her hugging our world. I’m pretty sure that our life will start after birth.
Read it a second time by changing some words.... Change the word
BIRTH to DEATH
WOMB to WORLD
MOTHER to GOD...
you will find a mystery unveiling...
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A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation.
After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own. With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation. But when he opens his eyes, he sees it’s an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.
At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.
From then on, whenever he comes across someone who irritates him or provokes him to anger, he reminds himself, “The other person is merely an empty boat.
The anger is within me.
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The Dirty Laundry
A young couple moved into a new neighborhood.
The next morning, while they are eating breakfast, the young woman watches her neighbour hang the washed laundry outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said, "she doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbour would hang her washed clothes to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:
"Look, She has learnt how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."
The husband said: "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!"
So it is with Life:
What we see when we are watching others, depends on the purity of the window through which we look. Our life is a creation of our mind !!!
So let us remember this Story of 'Dirty Laundry' and clean our windows before commenting or concluding on others. Our lives will surely get a better view!!!
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Kadhavul nambikai
This lovely parable is from "Your Sacred Self" by Dr. Wayne Dyer.
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”
This lovely parable is from "Your Sacred Self" by Dr. Wayne Dyer.
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”
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The four principles of spirituality apply to all from the moment one is born and will remain there till the end..!!
Four principles of spirituality..
I ) "Whomsoever you encounter is the right one"..
This means that no one comes into our life by chance..
Everyone who is around us, anyone with whom we interact, represents something..
whether to teach us something or to help us improve a current situation.
Everyone who is around us, anyone with whom we interact, represents something..
whether to teach us something or to help us improve a current situation.
II ) "Whatever happened is the only thing that could have happened"..
Nothing, absolutely nothing of that which we experienced could have been any other way..
Not even in the least important detail..
Not even in the least important detail..
There is no- "If only I had done that differently, then it would have been different"..
No.. What happened is the only thing that could have taken place and must have taken place for us to learn our lesson in order to move forward..
Every single situation in life which we encounter is absolutely perfect,
even when it defies our understanding and our ego.
even when it defies our understanding and our ego.
III) "Each moment in which something begins is the right moment"..
Everything begins at exactly the right moment, neither earlier nor later..
When we are ready for it,
for that something new in our life, it is there, ready to begin.
When we are ready for it,
for that something new in our life, it is there, ready to begin.
IV) "What is over, is over"
It is that simple. When something in our life ends, it helps our evolution..
That is why, enriched by the recent experience, it is better to let go and move on..
That is why, enriched by the recent experience, it is better to let go and move on..
Think it is no coincidence that you're here reading this.
If these words strike a chord, it's because u meet the requirements and understand that not one single snowflake falls accidentally in the wrong place!
Be good to yourself..
Love with your whole being..
Always be happy..
Love with your whole being..
Always be happy..
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The ...E... life !!!!!
In this world of E-mails, E-ticket, E-paper, E-recharge, E-transfer...
Never Forget "E-shwar ( God )"
who makes e-verything e-asy for e-veryone e-veryday.
"E" is the most Eminent letter of the English alphabet.
Men or Women don't exist without "E".
House or Home can't be made without "E".
Bread or Butter can't be found without "E".
"E" is the beginning of "existence" and the end of "trouble."
It's not at all in 'war'
but twice in 'peace'.
It's once in 'hell' but twice in 'heaven'.
"E" represented in 'Emotions'
Hence, all emotional relations like Father, Mother, Brother, Sister,wife & friends have 'e' in them.
"E" also represents 'Effort' & 'Energy'
Hence to be 'Better' from good both "e" 's are added.
Without "e", we would have no love, life, wife, friends or hope
& 'see', 'hear', 'smell', or 'taste' as 'eye' 'ear', 'nose' & 'tongue' are incomplete without "e".
Hence GO with "E" but without E-GO.
In this world of E-mails, E-ticket, E-paper, E-recharge, E-transfer...
Never Forget "E-shwar ( God )"
who makes e-verything e-asy for e-veryone e-veryday.
"E" is the most Eminent letter of the English alphabet.
Men or Women don't exist without "E".
House or Home can't be made without "E".
Bread or Butter can't be found without "E".
"E" is the beginning of "existence" and the end of "trouble."
It's not at all in 'war'
but twice in 'peace'.
It's once in 'hell' but twice in 'heaven'.
"E" represented in 'Emotions'
Hence, all emotional relations like Father, Mother, Brother, Sister,wife & friends have 'e' in them.
"E" also represents 'Effort' & 'Energy'
Hence to be 'Better' from good both "e" 's are added.
Without "e", we would have no love, life, wife, friends or hope
& 'see', 'hear', 'smell', or 'taste' as 'eye' 'ear', 'nose' & 'tongue' are incomplete without "e".
Hence GO with "E" but without E-GO.
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An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her and said, "Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."
An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her and said, "Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."
The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"
"Oh, I don't know," said the atheist. "How about why there is no GOD, or no Heaven or Hell , or no life after death?" as he smiled smugly.
"OK," she said. "Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty , but a horse produces clumps . Why do you suppose that is?"
The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."
To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss why there is no GOD, or no Heaven or Hell , or no life after death, when you don't know shit ?"
And then she went back to reading her book.
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There was a beggar who lived in terrible poverty. He just sat under a tree and begged all life aspiring for more money. People threw a few coins, and he just lived on. One day he died and his body was just lying there. He had no friends or relatives, and nobody wanted to carry him somewhere and bury him. So they decided to just bury him right there under the tree. As people began digging, they hit upon a huge treasure. Just a few feet beneath him there had been a huge treasure, a huge pot full of gold, and the fool was sitting right there all his life, begging. If only he had dug down, he would have been a very rich man. But he sat there all the time being a beggar.
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Once upon a time a farmer lost his watch while working in the barn. His late father had given it to him decades ago. He searched for it frantically and he turned the hay upside down but it was nowhere to be found.
He was upset that he is not able to locate it. He heard children playing outside. He asked them for help and promised a reward to the one who would find it. Excited to get reward children searched through the whole area, practically combing every haystack, yet they couldn’t find it either. They gave up and went back to playing. The farmer thought he would never see his watch again.
After a while a small boy came and said he would try and find it out.
Farmer was surprised to see a little contender. But the farmer had nothing to lose so he let him in and carried on with his chores in the field.
A mere twenty minutes later, the young boy went running up to him.
“I found it!” he said, and, opened his hands revealing the watch.
The farmer picked him up in his arms, and said joyously, “How on earth did you find it?”
“I just sat on the ground and listened to silence,” the boy replied. “After a few minutes, I heard the watch ticking. The rest was easy.”
We are desperately searching for our lost possessions, emotions and love, turning the world upside down only to feel tired a bit later. And then we sit down, we wonder, we worry, we muse, we reflect, we accept, we relax. In that state of mind, life appears like the young boy and hands it back to us.
Sometimes, the greatest way to search is to not search at all. When you don’t search and just let it be, then you hear the watch ticking, you hear how life’s bubbling over and you see the beauty in everything.
Stilling the mind is one of the greatest skills for only a quiet mind can hear the song of silence.
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சென்னை மீனம்பாக்கம் பகுதிக்கு வரும்போதெல்லாம், பழவந்தாங் கலில்தான் முகாமிடுவார் காஞ்சி மகாபெரியவா. அப்படித் தங்குகிறபோது, அந்த ஊரின் மையத்தில் உள்ள குளத்தில் நீராடுவதை வழக்கமாகக் கொண்டிருந்தார்.
ஒருநாள்… அதிகாலைப் பொழுதில், குளத்தில் ஸ்நானம் செய்வதற்கு மகாபெரியவா வந்தபோது, அங்கே சிலர் துணி துவைத்துக் கொண் டிருந்தனர். அவர்களில் ஒருவர், அங்கேயிருந்த கல்லில் துணிகளை அடித்துத் துவைத்துக் கொண்டிருக்க, அதைக் கண்ட காஞ்சி மகான் நெக்குருகியவராய், ‘இது துவைக்கற கல் இல்லே; லிங்கம்… சிவ லிங்கம். இதுல துவைக்காதீங்கோ’ என்று சொன்னார்.
அவ்வளவுதான்… குளத்தைச் சுற்றியிருந்தவர்கள் தபதபவெனக் கூடினர்; சிவலிங்கத் திருமேனியைச் சுற்றி நின்றனர். இதையறிந்த ஊர் மக்கள் பலரும் விழுந்தடித்துக்கொண்டு, குளக்கரைக்கு வந்தனர். அடுத்து காஞ்சி மகான் என்ன சொல்லப்போகிறார் என்று அவரையே மிகுந்த பவ்யத்துடன் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருந்தனர்.
மெள்ளக் கண்மூடியபடி இருந்த மகாபெரியவா, விறுவிறுவெனக் குளத்தில் இறங்கிக் குளித்தார். அங்கேயே ஜபத்தில் ஈடுபட்டார். பிறகு கரைக்கு வந்தவர், சிவலிங்கத்துக்கு அருகில் வந்தார். ”இது அர்த்த நாரீஸ்வர சொரூபம். சின்னதா கோயில் கட்டி, அபிஷேகம் பண்ணி, புஷ்பத்தால அர்ச்சனை பண்ணுங்கோ! இந்த ஊர் இன்னும் செழிக்கப் போறது” என்று கைதூக்கி ஆசீர்வதித்துச் சென்றார். பெரியவாளின் திருவுளப்படி, குளத்துக்கு அருகில் சின்னதாகக் குடிசை அமைத்து, சிவலிங்க பூஜை செய்யப்பட்டது. பிறகு கோயில் வளர வளர… ஊரும் வளர்ந்தது. பழவந்தாங்கலின் ஒரு பகுதி, இன்னொரு ஊராயிற்று. அந்த ஊர் நங்கைநல்லூர் எனப்பட்டு, தற்போது நங்கநல்லூர் என அழைக்கப்படுகிறது.
சென்னை, பழவந்தாங்கல் ரயில்வே ஸ்டேஷனில் இருந்து சுமார் 1 கி.மீ. தொலைவில் உள்ளது ஸ்ரீஅர்த்தநாரீஸ்வரர் திருக்கோயில். காஞ்சி மகாபெரியவாள் சுட்டிக்காட்டிய இடத்தில் அற்புதமாக அமைந் திருக்கிறது ஆலயம். சுமார் 50 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்பு, பெரியவா அருளியதால் உருவான இந்தக் கோயில், இன்றைக்கு ஸ்ரீநடராஜர் சந்நிதி, பட்டீஸ்வரத்தைப் போலவே அமைந்துள்ள ஸ்ரீதுர்கை, அர்த்த நாரீஸ்வர மூர்த்தத்துக்கு இணையாக, ஸ்ரீஅர்த்தநாரீஸ்வரி திருவிக்கிரகம் எனச் சிறப்புற அமைந்துள்ளது.
பிரதோஷம், சிவராத்திரியில் நவக்கிரக ஹோமம், புஷ்ப ஊஞ்சல், சுமங்கலிகளுக்கு மஞ்சள் சரடு, வசந்த நவராத்திரி விழா, சிறப்பு ஹோமங்கள், விஜயதசமியில் சண்டி ஹோமம் என ஆலயத்தில் கொண்டாட்டங்களுக்கும் வைபவங்களுக்கும் குறைவில்லை! இன்னொரு சிறப்பு… மகாபெரியவாளின் திருநட்சத்திரமான அனுஷ நட்சத்திர நாளில் (மாதந்தோறும்) சிறப்பு பஜனைகள், ஜயந்தியின் போது பிரமாண்ட பூஜை மற்றும் பஜனைகள் ஆகியன விமரிசையாக நடைபெறுகின்றன. நங்கநல்லூருக்கு வந்து ஸ்ரீஅர்த்தநாரீஸ்வரரை வணங்குங்கள்; குருவருளும் திருவருளும் கிடைக்கப் பெறுவீர்கள்!
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Experiences of Paramaacharya😇🙏
Nanganallur Arulmigu Aadhi Vyadhi Hara Bhakta Anjaneyar Temple: Sri Maha Periyava’s blessings!
The Anjaneyar Temple at Nanganallur, Chennai is famous for the Hanuman which is 32 feet tall and sculpted from a single piece of stone.
Sri Ramani Anna of Nanganallur, Chennai planned to build a temple with a big Anjaneyar of 32 feet high, in Nanganallur. He went to Sri Kanchi Mutt, met Sri Maha Periyava and sought his permission and blessings. With great difficulty, they hunted for a single big stone and finally the sculptor 👳selected a suitable one and began his work. One fine morning, he finished the work and the statue of the great Anjaneyar was brought to Nanganallur and kept at the place where the temple was to be built. The Palalayam (before prathishta, the statue had to be kept for a certain period separately in the water, milk, paddy, grains etc) was established properly.
In the meantime,
Ramani Anna👨 went to Sri Kanchi Mutt to inform about the arrival of the Anjaneyar at Nanganallur and get further instructions from Maha Periyava. Like Lord Ganesha, Anjaneya is also Maha Periyava’s favourite God!
Periyava inquired enthusiastically about the full shape of Anjaneya part by part. Ramani Anna too explained and answered all the questions to the satisfaction of Periyava. Finally, Periyava asked about the position of Anjaneyar’s tail part. Ramani Anna replied, “The tail is curvaceously and beautifully raised above his head Periyava!” expecting an appreciation from the Periyava. But, Periyava was silent for a few minutes. Ramani Anna felt a bit uneasy. Finally Periyava said, “You say you are also going to keep Sri Rama there opposite to Anjaneyar! Maruthi never stands with his tail raised above in front of Sri Rama! Ramani Anna’s 👨worry😔 increased considerably. He asked, “Oh! Periyava! What can I do now? The statue is completed and ready! The Palalayam too is ready. The muhurtham date and time has also been fixed. If we remove the tail now, we should again reorganise the Palalayam and the Kumbhabhishekam again. The Prathishta of Anjaneyar cannot be done in the already fixed auspicious best muhurtham. Periyava only has to show me a way and a solution for this!
Periyava said calmly, “You just proceed further with your fixed schedule. Everything will be alright. Anjaneyar will co-operate!
Periyava😇 then blessed 🙌them with prasadam. Ramani Anna came back to Nanganallur and he was thinking 💭about Anjaneyar’s tail all the time. After the Palalayam was complete, they did all the proper Homams 🔥and other rituals and brought a big crane to lift and keep Anjaneyar on the Peetam at the auspicious time. When all the other things were over, they went to lift Anjaneyar. To their great astonishment, they found that the tail had already been cut off so expertly at the right place as though it had been done by a sculptor and that too without any flaw!!!
Can there be words to describe the state of mind of Ramani Anna 👨and other members of the committee? They simply raised their folded hands🙏 in the direction of Sri Kanchi with tears rolling down their cheeks!!!
Jaya Jaya Sankara!!! Hara Hara Sankara!!!😊🙏
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சண்டிகேஸ்வரர் முன்பு கை தட்டலாமா?
சிவன் கோவில்களில் சண்டிகேஸ்வரர் சன்னதியை நீங்கள் பார்த்திருப்பீர்கள். சிலர், அந்த சன்னதியை அடைந்ததும் பவ்வியமாக கை தட்டுவார்கள். இன்னும் சிலர் பலமாக கை தட்டுவார்கள். மேலும் சிலர் அமைதியாக கன்னத்தில் போட்டுக் கொள்வார்கள். உண்மையிலேயே இப்படிச் செய்யலாமா? அதற்கு முன், யார் இந்த சண்டிகேஸ்வரர் என்று பார்த்து விடுவோம்... சோழநாட்டில் சேய்ஞ்ஞலூர் என்ற திருத்தலம் உள்ளது. இங்கு எச்சதத்தன்-பவித்திரை தம்பதியினர் வசித்தனர். இவர்களது மகன் விசாரசருமன். இவன் சிறு வயதிலேயே சிவபக்தி கொண்டவனாக வளர்ந்தான். பசுக்களை மேய்க்கும் தொழிலை மேற்கொண்டதால் பசுக்கள் இவனை தாங்கள் உயிராக கருதின. மாடு மேய்க்க செல்லும் இடத்தில் மணலில் சிவலிங்கம் வடிப்பது இவனது வழக்கம். மேய செல்லும் பசுக்கள் அதன்மேல் பாலை சுரந்து அபிஷேகம் செய்யும். இவ்வாறு சிவ சேவை செய்த பசுக்கள் வீட்டுக்கு வந்த பிறகும் தங்கள் எஜமானர்களுக்கும் தேவையான பாலை சுரந்து கொடுத்து வந்தன. ஒருமுறை அந்த ஊர் இளைஞன் ஒருவன் சிவலிங்கம் மீது பசுக்கள் பால் சுரந்ததை பார்த்து விட்டான். அத்துடன், விசாரசருமன் அதை கண்டு கொள்ளாமல் இருப்பதைக் கண்டு அதிர்ச்சி ஆனான். ஊருக்குள் சென்று நடந்த விவரத்தை தெரிவித்தான். மாடுகளின் உரிமையாளர்கள் இதுகுறித்து எச்சதத்தனிடம் சொல்லி, மகனை கண்டிக்கும்படி கூறினர். அவர் உண்மையை அறிய ஒருநாள் மாடு மேய்க்கும் இடத்துக்கு வந்து மறைந்து நின்று கவனித்தார். மாடுகளின் உரிமையாளர்கள் கூறியபடியே மண் லிங்கத்தின் மீது பசுக்கள் பாலை சொரிந்தன. விசாரசருமன், அந்த மணல் லிங்கத்தின் முன் ஆழ்ந்த தியானத்தில் இருந்தான். அதைப் பார்த்த எச்சதத்தனுக்கு கோபம் வந்து விட்டது. மகனை உதைத்து கண்டித்தார். மேலும், மணல் லிங்கத்தை காலால் மிதித்து உடைத்தும் விட்டார். இதனால் கோபம் அடைந்த அவரது மகன் விசாரசருமன், அவரது கால் மீது தன் கையில் இருந்த குச்சியை எறிந்தான். அது சிவன் அருளால் கோடரியாக மாறி அவரது காலை காயப்படுத்தியது. அளவு கடந்த பக்தி காரணமாக தந்தையையே தாக்க துணிந்த அந்த அதி தீவிர பக்தன் முன்பு பார்வதி தேவியுடன் தோன்றினார் சிவன். எச்சதத்தனின் காயத்தை மறையும்படி செய்தவர், விசாரசருமனுக்கு சிவ கணங்களை நிர்வாகம் செய்ய சண்டிகேச பதவியை வழங்கினார். அதோடு, தனக்கு சூட்டப்படும் மாலை, நைவேத்யம் ஆகியவை அவருக்கே தினமும் வழங்கப்படும் எனவும் அருள்பாலித்தார். இதன்படி சிவனுக்கு அணிவித்த மாலையையே சண்டிகேஸ்வரருக்கும் அணிவிக்கும் பழக்கம் இருக்கிறது. சிவன் கோவிலுக்கு வருபவர்கள் சண்டிகேஸ்வரை வணங்காமல் சென்றால் அவர்கள் ஆலயத்துக்கு வந்த பலன் கிடைக்காது என்பது நம்பிக்கை. சண்டிகேஸ்வரர் சிவ தியான நிலையில் இருப்பவர். இவர் முன் பலர் கை தட்டி வணங்கி சுற்றி வருகின்றனர். இவ்வாறு செய்தால் இவரது தியானம் கலைந்து விடும் என்பது ஐதீகம். அதனால் அவர் முன்பு கை தட்டி வணங்காமல் அமைதியாக வணங்குவதே சரியானது. சண்டிகேஸ்வரரை வணங்கினால் மன உறுதியும், ஆன்மிக பலமும் கிடைக்கும் என்பது நம்பிக்கை
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ஒரு சமயம் ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணர், அவரது சகோதரர் பலராமர், அர்ஜுனன் இம்மூவரும் ஒரு அடர்ந்த வனத்தின் வழியாகச் சென்றனர். இரவாகி விட்டது. மூவரும் ஒரிடத்தில் தங்கிவிட்டு விடிந்ததும் செல்லலாம் என்று எண்ணினர். வனத்தில் துஷ்ட மிருகங்கள் இருக்கும் என்பதால் மூவரும் ஒரு சேரத் தூங்கக்கூடாது என்றும், ஜாமத்திற்கு ஒருவராகத் காவல் இருக்க வேண்டும் என்றும் முடிவு செய்தனர்.
அதன்படி ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணரும், பலராமரும் தூங்கச்செல்ல, அர்ஜுனன் காவல் இருந்தான். அப்போது திடீரென புகை மண்டலம் சூழ்ந்தது. அதிலிருந்து ஒரு பயங்கர உருவம் வெளிப்பட்டது. அகன்ற நாசியும், தூக்கிய பற்களும், முட்டைக் கண்களுமாக இருந்தது அவ்வுருவம். மரத்தடியில் இருவர் தூங்குவதையும், ஒருவன் காவல் இருப்பதையும் கண்ட அவ்வுருவம் தூங்கும் இருவரின் அருகில் சென்றது. அதைக்கண்ட அர்ஜுனன் கோபத்துடன் அதைத் தடுத்தான். அப்போது அவ்வுருவம் அவ்விருவரையும் தான் கொல்லப்போவதாகவும் அதற்கு அர்ஜுனன் துணை செய்ய வேண்டும் என்றும் கேட்டது. அதைக்கேட்டு கோபம் மிகக்கொண்டு அவ்வுருவத்தைத் தாக்கினான். அர்ஜுனனின் கோபம் அதிகமாக அதிகமாக அவ்வுருவத்தில் பலமும் அதன் வடிவமும் பெருகியது.அர்ஜுனன் ஆக்ரோஷத்தோடு அதனுடன் போரிட அது பூதாகாரமாய் விளங்கியது. அர்ஜுனனை பலமாகத் தாக்கிவிட்டு மறைந்தது.
இரண்டாம் ஜாமம் தொடங்கவும் பலராமரை எழுப்பிவிட்டு அர்ஜூனன் தூங்கச் சென்றான். பலராமர் காவல் இருந்தார். அப்போது மீண்டும் அவ்வுருவம் அங்கு தோன்றி அர்ஜுனனிடம் கூறியதுபோல பலராமரிடமும் கூறியது. அதைக்கேட்டு கோபம் கொண்ட பலராமர் அதனுடன் சண்டையிட்டார். அவ்வுருவம் அடிபணிவதாய் இல்லை. பலராமரின் கோபம் அதிகமாக அதிகமாக அவ்வுருவத்தின் பலமும் அதன் வடிவமும் பெரிதானது. பின் பலராமரையும் பலமாகத் தாக்கிவிட்டு அவ்வுருவம் மறைந்துவிட்டது.
மூன்றாம் ஜாமம் தொடங்கவும் பலராமர் கிருஷ்ணரை காவலுக்கு எழுப்பிவிட்டு படுக்கச் சென்றார். அப்போதும் அப்பொல்லாத உருவம் தோன்றியது. அதைப்பார்த்த கிருஷ்ணர் கடகடவெனச் சிரித்தார். ஏன் சிரிக்கிறாய்? என்றது அவ்வுருவம். உனது தூக்கிய பற்களும், அழகான முட்டைக் கண்களையும் கண்டுதான், என்றார் சிரிப்பை அடக்க முடியாமல். அவர் தன்னைக் கேலி செய்வதைக் கண்டு ஆக்ரோஷத்துடன் அது சண்டை போட்டது.
கிருஷ்ணரோ புன்னகையை மாற்றாமலே, சண்டை போட்டார். கிருஷ்ணர் சிரிக்கச் சிரிக்க அவ்வுருவத்தின் பலமும் அதன் வடிவமும் குறைந்துகொண்டே வந்தது. கடைசியில் அவ்வுருவம் சின்னஞ்சிறு புழுவாக மாறி தரையில் நெளிந்தது. ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணர் அப்புழுவை எடுத்து ஒரு துணியில் முடிந்து வைத்தார்.
பொழுது விடிந்தது. பலராமரும், அர்ஜுனனும் எழுந்தனர். இருவரும் இரவில் ஒரு பயங்கர உருவம் வந்ததும், அவர்களைத் தாக்கியதும் அவ்வுருவம் வளர்ந்து வளர்ந்து பெரிதாகியது பற்றியும் பேசினர். அப்போது கிருஷ்ணர் துணியில் முடிந்திருந்த புழுவைக் காட்டி, நீங்கள் இருவரும் சண்டை போட்ட உருவம் இதுதான். நீங்கள் அதனுடன் சண்டை போடும் போது கடுமையாகக் கோபப்பட்டீர்கள். உங்கள் கோபம் அதிகரிக்க அதிகரிக்க அதன் பலமும் வடிவமும் அதிகரித்தது. நான் சிரித்துக்கொண்டே சண்டை போட்டதால் இதன் பலமும் வடிவமும் குறைந்து கொண்டே வந்து புழுவாக மாறிவிட்டது. வம்பு சண்டைக்கு வருபவனை விட்டு புன்னகையோடு வெளியேறி விட்டால், அவன் புழுவுக்கு சமமாகி விடுவான். கோபத்தைக் குறைப்பவனே ஞானி, என்றா
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அது ஒரு சின்ன கிராமம்.
அந்த கிராமத்திலே ஒரு கிருஷ்ணன் கோவில்.
அந்த கோவிலில் திருவிழா.
அந்த கிராமத்து மக்கள் எல்லாம் அங்கே கூடி இருந்தாங்க. ஒரு கதை சொல்லற பாகவதர் கிருஷ்ணனின் அருமை பெருமையெல்லாம் கதையா சொல்லி கிட்டு இருந்தார்.
இந்த சமயம் பார்த்து ஒரு திருடன் ஊருக்குள்ள திருட வந்தான். இந்த ஊர்ல உள்ள அத்தனை பேரும், கோவில்ல இருக்காங்க. நமக்கு நல்ல வேட்டைதான். வீட்டுக்கு வீடு புகுந்து கண்ணுல அகப்பட்டதை சுருட்ட வேண்டியதுதான் அப்படின்னு திட்டம் போட்டு வீடு வீடா புகுந்தான்.
அவன் கெட்ட நேரம் ஒரு வீட்டுல கூட, உருப்படியா ஒன்னும் இல்லை. என்னடா இது.......... இந்த ஊர்ல எல்லா பயலும் பிச்சைகாரனா இருப்பான் போலிருக்கே. அப்படின்னு யோசிச்சு கிட்டே கோவில் பக்கம் வந்தான்.
அங்கே யாராவது ஒரு ஏமாளி பய சிக்காமலா போய்டுவான் என்பது அவன் எண்ணம்.
பாகவதர் சுவாரஸ்யமா கிருஷ்ணன் கதையை சொல்லி கிட்டு இருந்தார்.
குழல் ஊதும் கிருஷ்ணன் இருக்கானே.... கொள்ளை அழகு. அவன் கழுத்துல தங்க மாலை போட்டு இருப்பான். இடுப்புல பட்டையா ஒட்டியாணம் மாதிரி வைரம் பதிச்ச பெல்ட் போட்டு இருப்பான்.
காதுல வைர கடுக்கன். கையில தங்க காப்பு. கால்ல முத்து பதிச்ச தண்டை. அட அட அட .... அப்படியே கண்ணனை பார்க்க கண் கோடி வேண்டும்.
இப்படி... கண்ணன் அழகை வர்ணிச்சார் பாகவதர். இதை கேட்டான் திருடன். அவனுக்கு கண்ணன் யாருன்னு எல்லாம் தெரியாது. அவனுக்கு தெரிஞ்சது எல்லாம் திருட்டு வேலை மட்டும்தான்.
அடடா... அந்த பாகவதர் யாரோ ஒரு பணக்கார வீட்டு பையனை பற்றி சொல்றார். அவன் யார் வீட்டு பையன்னு கேட்டு, நம் கை வரிசையை கட்ட வேண்டியதுதான். அப்படின்னு கதை முடியுற வரை காத்திருந்தான்.
கதை முடிஞ்சுது.. ஊர் மக்கள் எல்லாம் போன பிறகு, மெல்ல பாகவதர் பக்கம் வந்தான் திருடன்.
ரொம்ப நேரமா ... ஒரு பையனை பற்றி சொன்னிங்களே அவன் யார். எங்கே இருப்பான். உடனே சொல்லு. இல்லை உன்னை இந்த கத்தியாலேயே குத்தி கொன்னுடுவேன் அப்படின்னு மிரட்டினான்.
பாகவதருக்கு கை கால் எல்லாம் வெட வெடன்னு ஆரம்பிசுடிச்சு. கடவுளே இது என்ன சோதனை. நான் அந்த மாய கண்ணனை பற்றி அல்லவா கதை சொன்னேன். இந்த முட்டாள் திருடன் அதை உண்மைன்னு நம்பி வந்து கேட்கிறானே.
அப்படின்னு யோசித்தவர்... அவனிடம் தப்பிக்க.... அதோ தெரியுதே சோலை, அந்த சோலை பக்கம் தான் அந்த கண்ணன் விளையாட வருவான். போய் பிடிச்சுகோன்னு சொல்லி அப்போதைக்கு தப்பிச்சுட்டார்.
திருடனை பொறுத்தவரை பாகவதர் சொன்னது உண்மைன்னு நம்பினான். கண்ணன் வருவான் அப்படின்னு சோலைல போய் ஒளிஞ்சு இருந்தான்.
அவன் நினைவு எல்லாம்... கண்ணன் எப்போ வருவான்... கண்ணன் எப்போ வருவான் என்பதாகவே இருந்தது.
உண்மையா பாகவதர் சொன்ன மாதிரி கண்ணன் வந்தான். பாகவதர் சொன்ன மாதிரி நகை எல்லாம் போட்டு இருக்கானான்னு திருடன் பார்த்தான்.
உண்மைதான்... அவர் சொன்ன அத்தனை நகையும் கண்ணன் போட்டு இருந்தான்.
மெல்ல சின்ன கண்ணன் பக்கம் போய்... அடேய் தம்பி... உன் நகை எல்லாம் அழகா இருக்கு. அதை எனக்கு தருவியான்னு கேட்டான். கண்ணன் உடனே எல்லாத்தையும் கழட்டி கொடுத்துட்டான்.
நல்ல பையன்னு சொல்லிட்டு திருடன் நகையை எல்லாம் ஒரு மூட்டையா கட்டி எடுத்து கிட்டு பாகவதரை தேடி வந்தான்.
தன் வீட்டு வாசலில் இருந்த பாகவதர் தூரத்தில் வரும் திருடனை பார்த்துட்டார்.
அவருக்கு மறுபடியும் கை கால் எல்லாம் ஆட அரம்பிசுடிச்சு. திருடன் போய் சோலைல பார்த்திருப்பான். கண்ணன் வந்திருக்க மாட்டான். அந்த கோபத்தோட வருவான். இவன் கிட்டே இருந்து எப்படி தப்பிக்கிறது... அவனும் நம்மளை பார்த்துட்டான் .. அப்படின்னு யோசிக்கும் போது, திருடன் பக்கத்துல வந்து ரொம்ப நன்றி... ரொம்ப நாளைக்கு பிறகு நல்ல வேட்டைன்னு சொன்னான்.
பாகவதருக்கு பயம் போயிடிச்சு. என்னப்பா சொல்றேன்னார்.
உண்மைதான்... நீங்க சொன்ன மாதிரி சின்ன கண்ணன் வந்தான். என்ன அழகு. என்ன சிரிப்பு, அவனை அப்படியே பார்த்துகிட்டே இருக்கலாம் போல இருக்கு.
நான் கேட்டதும் எந்த மறுப்பும் சொல்லாம அப்படியே கழட்டி கொடுத்துட்டான். இதோ அந்த நகை எல்லாம் இருக்கு. உனக்கு கொஞ்சம் பங்கு தரவான்னு கேட்டான்.
பாகவதரால நம்பவே முடியலை. என்ன சொல்றேன்னார். அவனை பார்த்தியான்னு கேட்டார்.
ஆமாம் சாமி. உங்களுக்கு சந்தேகம் இருந்தா என் கூட வாங்க ... அந்த சோலைலதான் இன்னும் விளையாடி கிட்டு இருக்கான். வாங்க கட்டுறேன்னு சொன்னான்.
நம்பவே முடியாம பாகவதர் அவன் கூட போனார். சோலை கிட்டே வந்ததும் அதோ.... பாருங்க... சின்ன கண்ணன்... நீல வண்ணன் விளையாடிகிட்டு இருக்கான் பாருங்கன்னு சொன்னான்.
பாகவதர் கண்ணுக்கு எதுவுமே தெரியலை. சிரிப்பு சத்தம் மட்டும் கேட்டது.
இது என்ன சோதனை... என் கண்ணுக்கு தெரியலை... கேவலம் இந்த திருடன் கண்ணுக்கு தெரியுறியா கண்ணானு பாகவதர் அழவே ஆரம்பிச்சுட்டார்.
அப்போ .. அந்த திருடன் கையை பிடிங்கோனு ஒரு குரல் கேட்டது. உடனே அவன் கையை பிடிச்சார். நீல வண்ண கண்ணன் அவர் கண்ணுக்கு தெரிஞ்சார்.
கண்ணா... இது தர்மமா... என் நினைவு தெரிந்த நாள் முதல் உன் கதையை சொல்றேன். அதை தவிர வேற எதுவுமே எனக்கு தெரியாது. இது வரை எனக்கு தரிசனம் தராத நீ.... இந்த திருடன் கண்ணுக்கு தெரிகிறாய். அவன் கையை பிடித்த பிறகுதான் நீயே எனக்கு தெரிந்தாய்.
பாகவதரே.... உங்கள் வருத்தம் புரிகிறது. ஆனால்... இத்தனை ஆண்டு காலம் என் கதையை சொன்னாலும், நான் வருவேன் என்ற எண்ணம் உங்களுக்கு வந்ததே இல்லை. நான் இருக்கேனா இல்லையா என்பதே உங்களுக்கு சந்தேகம்தான்.
ஆனால் இந்த திருடன் அப்படி இல்லை. நான் இருக்கேன் என்று நம்பினான். நான் வருவேன் என்று நம்பினான். அதனால் வந்தேன். கடவுள் பத்தி என்பதே நம்பிக்கைதான் என்று சொல்லி விட்டு கண்ணன் மறைந்து விட்டான்
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Once a dog ran into a museum- where all the walls, the ceilng, the door and even the floor were made of mirror, seeing this the dog froze in surprise in the middle of the hall, a whole pack of dogs surrounded it from all sides, from above and below. Just in case, the dog bared his teeth -and all the reflections responded to it in the same way. Frightened, the dog frantically barked - the reflections imitated the bark and increased it many times. The dog barked even harder and the echo was keeping up. The dog tossed from one side to another, biting the air - his reflections also tossed around snapping their teeth.
Next day in the morning the museum security guards found the miserable dog, lifeless and surrounded by a million reflections of lifeless dogs. There was nobody, who would make any harm to the dog. The dog died by fighting with his own reflections.
The world doesn't bring good or evil on its own. Everything that is happening around us is the reflection of our own thoughts, feelings, wishes and actions.
The World is a big mirror. Strike a good pose!
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சிவன் கோவில்களில் சண்டிகேஸ்வரர் சன்னதியை நீங்கள் பார்த்திருப்பீர்கள். சிலர், அந்த சன்னதியை அடைந்ததும் பவ்வியமாக கை தட்டுவார்கள். இன்னும் சிலர் பலமாக கை தட்டுவார்கள். மேலும் சிலர் அமைதியாக கன்னத்தில் போட்டுக் கொள்வார்கள். உண்மையிலேயே இப்படிச் செய்யலாமா? அதற்கு முன், யார் இந்த சண்டிகேஸ்வரர் என்று பார்த்து விடுவோம்... சோழநாட்டில் சேய்ஞ்ஞலூர் என்ற திருத்தலம் உள்ளது. இங்கு எச்சதத்தன்-பவித்திரை தம்பதியினர் வசித்தனர். இவர்களது மகன் விசாரசருமன். இவன் சிறு வயதிலேயே சிவபக்தி கொண்டவனாக வளர்ந்தான். பசுக்களை மேய்க்கும் தொழிலை மேற்கொண்டதால் பசுக்கள் இவனை தாங்கள் உயிராக கருதின. மாடு மேய்க்க செல்லும் இடத்தில் மணலில் சிவலிங்கம் வடிப்பது இவனது வழக்கம். மேய செல்லும் பசுக்கள் அதன்மேல் பாலை சுரந்து அபிஷேகம் செய்யும். இவ்வாறு சிவ சேவை செய்த பசுக்கள் வீட்டுக்கு வந்த பிறகும் தங்கள் எஜமானர்களுக்கும் தேவையான பாலை சுரந்து கொடுத்து வந்தன. ஒருமுறை அந்த ஊர் இளைஞன் ஒருவன் சிவலிங்கம் மீது பசுக்கள் பால் சுரந்ததை பார்த்து விட்டான். அத்துடன், விசாரசருமன் அதை கண்டு கொள்ளாமல் இருப்பதைக் கண்டு அதிர்ச்சி ஆனான். ஊருக்குள் சென்று நடந்த விவரத்தை தெரிவித்தான். மாடுகளின் உரிமையாளர்கள் இதுகுறித்து எச்சதத்தனிடம் சொல்லி, மகனை கண்டிக்கும்படி கூறினர். அவர் உண்மையை அறிய ஒருநாள் மாடு மேய்க்கும் இடத்துக்கு வந்து மறைந்து நின்று கவனித்தார். மாடுகளின் உரிமையாளர்கள் கூறியபடியே மண் லிங்கத்தின் மீது பசுக்கள் பாலை சொரிந்தன. விசாரசருமன், அந்த மணல் லிங்கத்தின் முன் ஆழ்ந்த தியானத்தில் இருந்தான். அதைப் பார்த்த எச்சதத்தனுக்கு கோபம் வந்து விட்டது. மகனை உதைத்து கண்டித்தார். மேலும், மணல் லிங்கத்தை காலால் மிதித்து உடைத்தும் விட்டார். இதனால் கோபம் அடைந்த அவரது மகன் விசாரசருமன், அவரது கால் மீது தன் கையில் இருந்த குச்சியை எறிந்தான். அது சிவன் அருளால் கோடரியாக மாறி அவரது காலை காயப்படுத்தியது. அளவு கடந்த பக்தி காரணமாக தந்தையையே தாக்க துணிந்த அந்த அதி தீவிர பக்தன் முன்பு பார்வதி தேவியுடன் தோன்றினார் சிவன். எச்சதத்தனின் காயத்தை மறையும்படி செய்தவர், விசாரசருமனுக்கு சிவ கணங்களை நிர்வாகம் செய்ய சண்டிகேச பதவியை வழங்கினார். அதோடு, தனக்கு சூட்டப்படும் மாலை, நைவேத்யம் ஆகியவை அவருக்கே தினமும் வழங்கப்படும் எனவும் அருள்பாலித்தார். இதன்படி சிவனுக்கு அணிவித்த மாலையையே சண்டிகேஸ்வரருக்கும் அணிவிக்கும் பழக்கம் இருக்கிறது. சிவன் கோவிலுக்கு வருபவர்கள் சண்டிகேஸ்வரை வணங்காமல் சென்றால் அவர்கள் ஆலயத்துக்கு வந்த பலன் கிடைக்காது என்பது நம்பிக்கை. சண்டிகேஸ்வரர் சிவ தியான நிலையில் இருப்பவர். இவர் முன் பலர் கை தட்டி வணங்கி சுற்றி வருகின்றனர். இவ்வாறு செய்தால் இவரது தியானம் கலைந்து விடும் என்பது ஐதீகம். அதனால் அவர் முன்பு கை தட்டி வணங்காமல் அமைதியாக வணங்குவதே சரியானது. சண்டிகேஸ்வரரை வணங்கினால் மன உறுதியும், ஆன்மிக பலமும் கிடைக்கும் என்பது நம்பிக்கை
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ஒரு சமயம் ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணர், அவரது சகோதரர் பலராமர், அர்ஜுனன் இம்மூவரும் ஒரு அடர்ந்த வனத்தின் வழியாகச் சென்றனர். இரவாகி விட்டது. மூவரும் ஒரிடத்தில் தங்கிவிட்டு விடிந்ததும் செல்லலாம் என்று எண்ணினர். வனத்தில் துஷ்ட மிருகங்கள் இருக்கும் என்பதால் மூவரும் ஒரு சேரத் தூங்கக்கூடாது என்றும், ஜாமத்திற்கு ஒருவராகத் காவல் இருக்க வேண்டும் என்றும் முடிவு செய்தனர்.
அதன்படி ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணரும், பலராமரும் தூங்கச்செல்ல, அர்ஜுனன் காவல் இருந்தான். அப்போது திடீரென புகை மண்டலம் சூழ்ந்தது. அதிலிருந்து ஒரு பயங்கர உருவம் வெளிப்பட்டது. அகன்ற நாசியும், தூக்கிய பற்களும், முட்டைக் கண்களுமாக இருந்தது அவ்வுருவம். மரத்தடியில் இருவர் தூங்குவதையும், ஒருவன் காவல் இருப்பதையும் கண்ட அவ்வுருவம் தூங்கும் இருவரின் அருகில் சென்றது. அதைக்கண்ட அர்ஜுனன் கோபத்துடன் அதைத் தடுத்தான். அப்போது அவ்வுருவம் அவ்விருவரையும் தான் கொல்லப்போவதாகவும் அதற்கு அர்ஜுனன் துணை செய்ய வேண்டும் என்றும் கேட்டது. அதைக்கேட்டு கோபம் மிகக்கொண்டு அவ்வுருவத்தைத் தாக்கினான். அர்ஜுனனின் கோபம் அதிகமாக அதிகமாக அவ்வுருவத்தில் பலமும் அதன் வடிவமும் பெருகியது.அர்ஜுனன் ஆக்ரோஷத்தோடு அதனுடன் போரிட அது பூதாகாரமாய் விளங்கியது. அர்ஜுனனை பலமாகத் தாக்கிவிட்டு மறைந்தது.
இரண்டாம் ஜாமம் தொடங்கவும் பலராமரை எழுப்பிவிட்டு அர்ஜூனன் தூங்கச் சென்றான். பலராமர் காவல் இருந்தார். அப்போது மீண்டும் அவ்வுருவம் அங்கு தோன்றி அர்ஜுனனிடம் கூறியதுபோல பலராமரிடமும் கூறியது. அதைக்கேட்டு கோபம் கொண்ட பலராமர் அதனுடன் சண்டையிட்டார். அவ்வுருவம் அடிபணிவதாய் இல்லை. பலராமரின் கோபம் அதிகமாக அதிகமாக அவ்வுருவத்தின் பலமும் அதன் வடிவமும் பெரிதானது. பின் பலராமரையும் பலமாகத் தாக்கிவிட்டு அவ்வுருவம் மறைந்துவிட்டது.
மூன்றாம் ஜாமம் தொடங்கவும் பலராமர் கிருஷ்ணரை காவலுக்கு எழுப்பிவிட்டு படுக்கச் சென்றார். அப்போதும் அப்பொல்லாத உருவம் தோன்றியது. அதைப்பார்த்த கிருஷ்ணர் கடகடவெனச் சிரித்தார். ஏன் சிரிக்கிறாய்? என்றது அவ்வுருவம். உனது தூக்கிய பற்களும், அழகான முட்டைக் கண்களையும் கண்டுதான், என்றார் சிரிப்பை அடக்க முடியாமல். அவர் தன்னைக் கேலி செய்வதைக் கண்டு ஆக்ரோஷத்துடன் அது சண்டை போட்டது.
கிருஷ்ணரோ புன்னகையை மாற்றாமலே, சண்டை போட்டார். கிருஷ்ணர் சிரிக்கச் சிரிக்க அவ்வுருவத்தின் பலமும் அதன் வடிவமும் குறைந்துகொண்டே வந்தது. கடைசியில் அவ்வுருவம் சின்னஞ்சிறு புழுவாக மாறி தரையில் நெளிந்தது. ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணர் அப்புழுவை எடுத்து ஒரு துணியில் முடிந்து வைத்தார்.
பொழுது விடிந்தது. பலராமரும், அர்ஜுனனும் எழுந்தனர். இருவரும் இரவில் ஒரு பயங்கர உருவம் வந்ததும், அவர்களைத் தாக்கியதும் அவ்வுருவம் வளர்ந்து வளர்ந்து பெரிதாகியது பற்றியும் பேசினர். அப்போது கிருஷ்ணர் துணியில் முடிந்திருந்த புழுவைக் காட்டி, நீங்கள் இருவரும் சண்டை போட்ட உருவம் இதுதான். நீங்கள் அதனுடன் சண்டை போடும் போது கடுமையாகக் கோபப்பட்டீர்கள். உங்கள் கோபம் அதிகரிக்க அதிகரிக்க அதன் பலமும் வடிவமும் அதிகரித்தது. நான் சிரித்துக்கொண்டே சண்டை போட்டதால் இதன் பலமும் வடிவமும் குறைந்து கொண்டே வந்து புழுவாக மாறிவிட்டது. வம்பு சண்டைக்கு வருபவனை விட்டு புன்னகையோடு வெளியேறி விட்டால், அவன் புழுவுக்கு சமமாகி விடுவான். கோபத்தைக் குறைப்பவனே ஞானி, என்றா
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அது ஒரு சின்ன கிராமம்.
அந்த கிராமத்திலே ஒரு கிருஷ்ணன் கோவில்.
அந்த கோவிலில் திருவிழா.
அந்த கிராமத்து மக்கள் எல்லாம் அங்கே கூடி இருந்தாங்க. ஒரு கதை சொல்லற பாகவதர் கிருஷ்ணனின் அருமை பெருமையெல்லாம் கதையா சொல்லி கிட்டு இருந்தார்.
இந்த சமயம் பார்த்து ஒரு திருடன் ஊருக்குள்ள திருட வந்தான். இந்த ஊர்ல உள்ள அத்தனை பேரும், கோவில்ல இருக்காங்க. நமக்கு நல்ல வேட்டைதான். வீட்டுக்கு வீடு புகுந்து கண்ணுல அகப்பட்டதை சுருட்ட வேண்டியதுதான் அப்படின்னு திட்டம் போட்டு வீடு வீடா புகுந்தான்.
அவன் கெட்ட நேரம் ஒரு வீட்டுல கூட, உருப்படியா ஒன்னும் இல்லை. என்னடா இது.......... இந்த ஊர்ல எல்லா பயலும் பிச்சைகாரனா இருப்பான் போலிருக்கே. அப்படின்னு யோசிச்சு கிட்டே கோவில் பக்கம் வந்தான்.
அங்கே யாராவது ஒரு ஏமாளி பய சிக்காமலா போய்டுவான் என்பது அவன் எண்ணம்.
பாகவதர் சுவாரஸ்யமா கிருஷ்ணன் கதையை சொல்லி கிட்டு இருந்தார்.
குழல் ஊதும் கிருஷ்ணன் இருக்கானே.... கொள்ளை அழகு. அவன் கழுத்துல தங்க மாலை போட்டு இருப்பான். இடுப்புல பட்டையா ஒட்டியாணம் மாதிரி வைரம் பதிச்ச பெல்ட் போட்டு இருப்பான்.
காதுல வைர கடுக்கன். கையில தங்க காப்பு. கால்ல முத்து பதிச்ச தண்டை. அட அட அட .... அப்படியே கண்ணனை பார்க்க கண் கோடி வேண்டும்.
இப்படி... கண்ணன் அழகை வர்ணிச்சார் பாகவதர். இதை கேட்டான் திருடன். அவனுக்கு கண்ணன் யாருன்னு எல்லாம் தெரியாது. அவனுக்கு தெரிஞ்சது எல்லாம் திருட்டு வேலை மட்டும்தான்.
அடடா... அந்த பாகவதர் யாரோ ஒரு பணக்கார வீட்டு பையனை பற்றி சொல்றார். அவன் யார் வீட்டு பையன்னு கேட்டு, நம் கை வரிசையை கட்ட வேண்டியதுதான். அப்படின்னு கதை முடியுற வரை காத்திருந்தான்.
கதை முடிஞ்சுது.. ஊர் மக்கள் எல்லாம் போன பிறகு, மெல்ல பாகவதர் பக்கம் வந்தான் திருடன்.
ரொம்ப நேரமா ... ஒரு பையனை பற்றி சொன்னிங்களே அவன் யார். எங்கே இருப்பான். உடனே சொல்லு. இல்லை உன்னை இந்த கத்தியாலேயே குத்தி கொன்னுடுவேன் அப்படின்னு மிரட்டினான்.
பாகவதருக்கு கை கால் எல்லாம் வெட வெடன்னு ஆரம்பிசுடிச்சு. கடவுளே இது என்ன சோதனை. நான் அந்த மாய கண்ணனை பற்றி அல்லவா கதை சொன்னேன். இந்த முட்டாள் திருடன் அதை உண்மைன்னு நம்பி வந்து கேட்கிறானே.
அப்படின்னு யோசித்தவர்... அவனிடம் தப்பிக்க.... அதோ தெரியுதே சோலை, அந்த சோலை பக்கம் தான் அந்த கண்ணன் விளையாட வருவான். போய் பிடிச்சுகோன்னு சொல்லி அப்போதைக்கு தப்பிச்சுட்டார்.
திருடனை பொறுத்தவரை பாகவதர் சொன்னது உண்மைன்னு நம்பினான். கண்ணன் வருவான் அப்படின்னு சோலைல போய் ஒளிஞ்சு இருந்தான்.
அவன் நினைவு எல்லாம்... கண்ணன் எப்போ வருவான்... கண்ணன் எப்போ வருவான் என்பதாகவே இருந்தது.
உண்மையா பாகவதர் சொன்ன மாதிரி கண்ணன் வந்தான். பாகவதர் சொன்ன மாதிரி நகை எல்லாம் போட்டு இருக்கானான்னு திருடன் பார்த்தான்.
உண்மைதான்... அவர் சொன்ன அத்தனை நகையும் கண்ணன் போட்டு இருந்தான்.
மெல்ல சின்ன கண்ணன் பக்கம் போய்... அடேய் தம்பி... உன் நகை எல்லாம் அழகா இருக்கு. அதை எனக்கு தருவியான்னு கேட்டான். கண்ணன் உடனே எல்லாத்தையும் கழட்டி கொடுத்துட்டான்.
நல்ல பையன்னு சொல்லிட்டு திருடன் நகையை எல்லாம் ஒரு மூட்டையா கட்டி எடுத்து கிட்டு பாகவதரை தேடி வந்தான்.
தன் வீட்டு வாசலில் இருந்த பாகவதர் தூரத்தில் வரும் திருடனை பார்த்துட்டார்.
அவருக்கு மறுபடியும் கை கால் எல்லாம் ஆட அரம்பிசுடிச்சு. திருடன் போய் சோலைல பார்த்திருப்பான். கண்ணன் வந்திருக்க மாட்டான். அந்த கோபத்தோட வருவான். இவன் கிட்டே இருந்து எப்படி தப்பிக்கிறது... அவனும் நம்மளை பார்த்துட்டான் .. அப்படின்னு யோசிக்கும் போது, திருடன் பக்கத்துல வந்து ரொம்ப நன்றி... ரொம்ப நாளைக்கு பிறகு நல்ல வேட்டைன்னு சொன்னான்.
பாகவதருக்கு பயம் போயிடிச்சு. என்னப்பா சொல்றேன்னார்.
உண்மைதான்... நீங்க சொன்ன மாதிரி சின்ன கண்ணன் வந்தான். என்ன அழகு. என்ன சிரிப்பு, அவனை அப்படியே பார்த்துகிட்டே இருக்கலாம் போல இருக்கு.
நான் கேட்டதும் எந்த மறுப்பும் சொல்லாம அப்படியே கழட்டி கொடுத்துட்டான். இதோ அந்த நகை எல்லாம் இருக்கு. உனக்கு கொஞ்சம் பங்கு தரவான்னு கேட்டான்.
பாகவதரால நம்பவே முடியலை. என்ன சொல்றேன்னார். அவனை பார்த்தியான்னு கேட்டார்.
ஆமாம் சாமி. உங்களுக்கு சந்தேகம் இருந்தா என் கூட வாங்க ... அந்த சோலைலதான் இன்னும் விளையாடி கிட்டு இருக்கான். வாங்க கட்டுறேன்னு சொன்னான்.
நம்பவே முடியாம பாகவதர் அவன் கூட போனார். சோலை கிட்டே வந்ததும் அதோ.... பாருங்க... சின்ன கண்ணன்... நீல வண்ணன் விளையாடிகிட்டு இருக்கான் பாருங்கன்னு சொன்னான்.
பாகவதர் கண்ணுக்கு எதுவுமே தெரியலை. சிரிப்பு சத்தம் மட்டும் கேட்டது.
இது என்ன சோதனை... என் கண்ணுக்கு தெரியலை... கேவலம் இந்த திருடன் கண்ணுக்கு தெரியுறியா கண்ணானு பாகவதர் அழவே ஆரம்பிச்சுட்டார்.
அப்போ .. அந்த திருடன் கையை பிடிங்கோனு ஒரு குரல் கேட்டது. உடனே அவன் கையை பிடிச்சார். நீல வண்ண கண்ணன் அவர் கண்ணுக்கு தெரிஞ்சார்.
கண்ணா... இது தர்மமா... என் நினைவு தெரிந்த நாள் முதல் உன் கதையை சொல்றேன். அதை தவிர வேற எதுவுமே எனக்கு தெரியாது. இது வரை எனக்கு தரிசனம் தராத நீ.... இந்த திருடன் கண்ணுக்கு தெரிகிறாய். அவன் கையை பிடித்த பிறகுதான் நீயே எனக்கு தெரிந்தாய்.
பாகவதரே.... உங்கள் வருத்தம் புரிகிறது. ஆனால்... இத்தனை ஆண்டு காலம் என் கதையை சொன்னாலும், நான் வருவேன் என்ற எண்ணம் உங்களுக்கு வந்ததே இல்லை. நான் இருக்கேனா இல்லையா என்பதே உங்களுக்கு சந்தேகம்தான்.
ஆனால் இந்த திருடன் அப்படி இல்லை. நான் இருக்கேன் என்று நம்பினான். நான் வருவேன் என்று நம்பினான். அதனால் வந்தேன். கடவுள் பத்தி என்பதே நம்பிக்கைதான் என்று சொல்லி விட்டு கண்ணன் மறைந்து விட்டான்
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Once a dog ran into a museum- where all the walls, the ceilng, the door and even the floor were made of mirror, seeing this the dog froze in surprise in the middle of the hall, a whole pack of dogs surrounded it from all sides, from above and below. Just in case, the dog bared his teeth -and all the reflections responded to it in the same way. Frightened, the dog frantically barked - the reflections imitated the bark and increased it many times. The dog barked even harder and the echo was keeping up. The dog tossed from one side to another, biting the air - his reflections also tossed around snapping their teeth.
Next day in the morning the museum security guards found the miserable dog, lifeless and surrounded by a million reflections of lifeless dogs. There was nobody, who would make any harm to the dog. The dog died by fighting with his own reflections.
The world doesn't bring good or evil on its own. Everything that is happening around us is the reflection of our own thoughts, feelings, wishes and actions.
The World is a big mirror. Strike a good pose!
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Linga Purana
Suta and Other Sages:
We first pray to Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer.
We also pray to the sages Nara and Narayana and Sarasvati, the goddess of learning. Our prayers are due to the sage Vedavyasa. It is only after these prayers that we can begin to read the sacred texts. A tirtha is a place of pilgrimage. The sage Narada visited several such tirthas and eventually arrived at the forest known as naimisharanya. At that time, many other sages had assembled in naimisharanya. They greeted Narada warmly and offered him their respects. While all this was going on, who should arrive there but the suta Lomaharshana? They were cross-breeds who were the offspring of kshatriya fathers and brahmana mothers. The sages greeted Lomaharshana and said, "You had studied the Puranas under Vedavyasa himself. Please recite for us the Purana that describes the glory of Shiva’s linga (image). It is our great good fortune that the sage Narada is also here. What better occasion can there be?"Lomaharshana agreed. He began with the account of the creation.
Creation - The divine essence is known as the brahman. In the beginning, the only object in the universe was the divine essence. There was nothing else. It was this brahman which divided itself into three different parts, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma became the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. There was only water in the universe then. In the water, a gigantic egg(anda) appeared. Brahma emerged from this egg. Inside the egg were also all the worlds that would be created. During Brahma’s day , creation flourishes. But during Brahma’s night, there is destruction (pralaya). When Brahma merged out of the primordial egg, that constituted the original process of creation (sarga).But the following the process of destruction that takes place during Brahma’s night, there is also a periodical process of re-creation(pratisarga).
Time is divided into four different eras - satya yuga, treta yuga, dvaparayuga and kali yuga. Satya yuga lasts for four thousand years of thegods, treta yuga for three thousand, dvapara yuga for two thousand and kali yuga for one thousand. A mahayuga is the period from thebeginning of satya yuga to the end of kali yuga. It thus lasts for ten thousand years of the gods. But in addition, there are intervening periods (sandhyamsha) between satya yuga and treta yuga is seven hundred years, that between treta yuga and dvapara yuga five hundred years, that between dvapara yuga and kali yuga three hundred years and that between kali yuga and the new satya yuga five hundred years.This adds another two thousand years. Thus a mahayuga really lasts for twelve thousands years of the gods. How long is one year of the gods? To understand that, one needs to know a little bit about the measurement of time.
The smallest unit of time is a nimesha. That is the length of time it takes to blink one’s eyes. Fifteen nimeshas constitute a kashtha, thirty kashthas are called a kala and thirty kalas make up one muhurta. There are fifteen muhurtas during the day and fifteen muhurtas during the night. Thirty muhurtas make up night and day, known as ahoratra. One year for humans is equivalent to one ahoratra for the gods. The six months during which the gods have their day is called uttarayana and the six months during which the gods have their night is called dakshinayana. Three hundred and sixty human years are equivalent to one divine year. Thus, twelve thousand divine years are equivalent to 4,320,000 human years and this is the length of a mahayuga. Satya yuga lasts for 1,440,000 human years; treta yuga or 1,080,000;dvapara yuga for 720,000; and kali yuga for 360,000. This adds up to a total of 3,600,000 human years. Once one adds 720,000 years for the sandhyamshas, one obtains the figure of 4,320,000 human years in a mahayuga. There are a little over seventy-one mahayugas in a manvantara. Seventy-one mahayugas would add up to 306,720,000 human years in a manvantara.One thousand mahayugas make up one kalpa. There are thus 4,320,000,000 human years in a kalpa. Equivalently, fourteen manvantaras constitute one kalpa. A kalpa corresponds to Brahma’s adhoratra.One thousand kalpas are one year for Brahma and eight thousand such years are one yuga for Brahma. One thousand of Brahma’s yugas are equivalent to one of Vishnu’s days. Nine thousand of Vishnu’s days are equivalent to merely one day for Shiva.
1 nimisha to blink one's eyes
15 nimisha 1 kashtha
30 kashtha 1 kala
30 kala 1 muhurtha
15 muhurtha during day Ahorata
15 muhurtha during night
1 year of human one ahorata for gods
Six months during which it is day for god Uttaryana
Six months during which it is night for god Dakshinayana
360 human years one divine year
12000 divine years 4320000 human years Maya Yuga
Satya Yuga 14,40,000 human years 4000 God Years
Treta Yuga 10,80,000 human years 3000 God Years
Dwapara Yuga 7,20,000 human years 2000 God Years
Kali Yuga 3,60,000 human years 1000 God Years
36,00,000 human years 10000 God Years
Sandhyamshas 7,20,000 human years 2000 God Years
Mahayuga 43,20,000 human years 12000 God Years
71 Mahayuga 30,67,20,000 human years 1 manvantara
1000 Maha Yuga 1 Kalpa 432,00,00,000 human years 14 manvantara
1 kalpa Brahma's sadothara
1000 kalpa 1 year for brahma
8000 brahma 1 yuga for brahma
1 thousand of Brahma's yuga 1 day of Vishnu
9000 of Vishnua's day 1 day for shiva
In a Purana that glorifies Vishnu more, the relative rankings of Shiva and Vishnu would be reversed.)At the end of one of Brahma’s days, the entire universe and all the beings in it are destroyed Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are not however destroyed. There is darkness and water everywhere and Vishnu sleeps on this water. Since nara means water and ayana means resting -place,Vishnu is also known as Narayana.When the day dawns, Brahma begins creation afresh.Brahma first created three sons through his mental powers. Their names were Sananda, Sanaka and Sanatan. (In other Puranas, a fourth son named Sanatakumara is mentioned.) These sons became sages and performed intense meditation. Brahma also created another nine sons through his mental powers. Their names were Marichi, Bhrigu, Angira,Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Daksha, Atri and Vashishtha. To ensure that creation progressed further, Brahma next divided his body into two halves. The male half was known as Svayambhuva Manu and the female half was known as Shatarupa. These two married and had two sons and two daughters. The sons were Uttanapada and Priyavrata and the daughters were Akuti and Prasuti. Daksha married Prasuti and they had twenty-four daughters. (The number of Daksha’s daughters is sometimes given as twenty-four,sometimes as fifty and sometimes as sixty.) One of Daksha’s daughters was named Sati and she was married to Shiva. When Sati died, she was reborn as Parvati, the daughter of the Himalayas, She was married again to Shiva as Parvati.In fact, before starting to create, Brahma told Shiva, "Please help me out by creating some beings, I cannot cope on my own."Shiva gladly agreed and started to create beings who were just like him in appearance. These came to be known as the rudras."What are you doing?" exclaimed Brahma. "Don’t create immortal beings who are like yourself. Create beings who are mortal.""That I flatly refused to do," replied Shiva."Then please desist from creating," requested Brahma. "I shall take care of creation myself."Shiva complied, but the rudras whom he had already created, remained. YogaThe sages told Lomaharshana, "Please tell us about yoga."Lomaharshana complied.(Yoga literally means union. It is a technique of meditation that enables one to realize the union between the divine soul (paramatman) and the individual human soul (atman or jivatman), Shiva is also known as Pashupati. The technique of yoga that Shiva taught is known as pashupata yoga. To teach this yoga, Shiva has an incarnation (avatara) in every kali yuga. In the present kalpa, there have been twenty-eight kali yugas and there have accordingly been twenty-eight incarnations of Shiva, all known as Yogeshvaras. Their names areas follows.(1) Shveta.(2) Sutara.(3) Madana.(4) Suhotra.(5) Kanchana.(6) Lokakshi.(7) Jaigishavya.(8) Dadhivahana.(9) Rishabha.(10) Muni.(11) Ugra.(12) Atri.(13) Vali.(14) Goutama.(15) Vedashirsha. (16) Gokarna.(17) Guhavasi.(18) Shikhandabhrit.(19) Jatamali.(20) Attahasa.(21) Daruka.(22) Langali.(23) Mahakaya.(24) Shuli.(25) Mundishvara.(26) Sahishnu.(27) Somasharma.(28) Jagadguru.Every one of these Yogeshvarasas had four disciples each.In fact, it is also Shiva whose incarnation is born as Vedavyasa in every dvapara yuga. Since there have been twenty-eight dvapra yugas, therehave also been twenty-eight Vedavyasas upto now.Their names are as follows.(1) Kratu.(2) Satya.(3) Bhargava.(4) Angira.(5) Mrityu.(6) Shatakratu.(7) Vashishtha.(8) Sarasvata.(9) Tridhama. (10) Trivrita.(11) Narayana.(12) Tarakshu.(13) Aruni.(14) Deva.(15) Kritanjaya.(16) Ritanjaya.(17) Bharadvaja.(18) Goutama.(19) Vachashrava.(20) Shushmayani.(21) Trinavindu.(22) Raksha.(23) Shaktri.(24) Dhimana.(25) Shatateja.(26) Parashara(27) Jatukarna.(28) Krishna Dvaipayana.(The names given in these lists do not always agree with the names given in similar lists in the other Puranas.) Yoga has eight components. These are known as yama, niyama, asana,pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Yama is preparatory to meditation, it has to be backed up by the practice of non -violence. Niyama means certain rules that have to be followed. These include truthfulness, celibacy and lack of jealousy. The rules also encompass cleanliness, the donation of alms and fasting at appointed times. Pranayama signifies the control of the breath of life. This must always be attempted in a proper asana (posture). Pratyahara implies the withdrawal of the mind from addiction to sensual and material pursuits. An image has to be decided on for purposes of meditation. When this image is fixed in one’s mind, that is known as dharana, and the actual process of meditation is called dhyana. Samadhi is the final stage of meditation, when the union between the paramatman and the atman is realized. Yoga must always be practiced in an appropriate place. One must not be close to a fire, nor must the place chosen be a cremation-ground or allocation frequented by wild beasts. There must not be any noise or insects that are likely to distract one’s attention. For example, a cave is a very good place to practise yoga in. Do not imagine for a moment that yoga is easy. There are numerous distractions and disturbances that make one deviate from the right path. One has to fight laziness and sloth. As one progresses, there are illusions that one hallucinates from. Demons are seen . There are powers that one attains and these also cause distractions. But if somehow one manages to conquer these, true bliss can be attained. The Linga,the sages said, "We know that a linga is Shiva’s image. But why is Shiva worshipped in the form of a linga?"Lomaharshana recounted the following story. Many years ago, at the end of a destruction, there was water everywhere in the universe and the universe was shrouded in darkness. Vishnu slept on the water in his form of Narayana. Brahma discovered Vishnu sleeping thus and woke him up. Failing to recognize Vishnu, he asked, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"Vishnu woke up and noticed Brahma standing there. He smiled and said,"How are you, Brahma? Is everything well with my son?’"How dare you call me your son?’ demanded Brahma. "I am Brahma, thelord of everything. I am the creator of the universe. How dare anyone call me his son?""You seem to have forgotten everything," said Vishnu. "I am Vishnu and you were born from me. That is the reason why I addressed you as my son."Brahma did not accept this and started to fight with Vishnu. While the two were thus grappling, a shining linga suddenly appeared. It was almost as if the linga had emerged to settle Brahma and Vishnu’s dispute. The linga rose way up into the sky and it seemed to have no beginning or end."What on earth is this pillar of fire doing here?" Vishnu asked Brahma.
"Let us investigate it. Why don’t you go up and see where it ends? As forms, I shall proceed downwards. Let us meet after a while and compare notes."Brahma agreed to do this. He adopted the form of a swan and flew up.Vishnu adopted the form of a boar and went down. No matter how further down Vishnu went, he could find no end to the linga. Nor could Brahma discover its upper extremity.They returned and were amazed to find that neither had been able to find the end of the linga. They realized that they must be in the presence of a power that was greater than their own. They therefore began to pray to the linga and the sound of the mantra (incantation) “om” echoed all around the linga. Shiva appeared from within the linga in the form of a sage named Vedanama. He told them that it was the linga which was the origin of the universe. It was from the linga that the primordial egg (anda), the origin of the universe, had been created.Shiva also taught Brahma and Vishnu the sacred gayatri mantra. He told Brahma and Vishnu, "We are all three part of the same supreme brahman. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver and I am the destroyer. Don’t fight amongst yourselves."Ever since that day, Shiva has been worshipped in the form of a linga..Brahma and Vishnu"But why did Vishnu address Brahma as his son?" asked the sages."Please explain that."Lomaharshana told them the following story from the kalpa known aspadma kalpa. At the time of the destruction that came at the end of the earlier kalpa,there was water everywhere in the universe and Vishnu slept on this water. Vishnu felt slightly bored. So he made a gigantic lotus sprout out of his navel and started to play with it. The stalk of the lotus was made of diamonds and it shone with radiance like the sun. While Vishnu was thus playing with the lotus , Brahma appeared."Who are you?" asked Brahma. "What are you doing here?""I am Vishnu," replied Vishnu. "I am the lord of everything. But who are you and where have you come from?""I am Brahma," responded Brahma. "I am the lord of everything in the universe. Every object that will be created in the universe is already present in embryonic form, inside my body. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you enter my stomach and see for yourself?"
Vishnu entered Brahma’s body through the mouth. He marvelled to discover the fourteen regions (lokas) of the univerise and the beings who would populate them all, inside Brahma’s stomach. Vishnu wandered around for a thousand years, but could find no end to the vast expanse of Brahma’s stomach. Finally, he emerged through the mouth and told Brahma, "I am completely bowled over by what I have seen. But I can also show you wonders. There are many worlds inside my body as well. Enter for yourself and see."Brahma agreed to this and entered Vishnu’s body through the mouth.Inside Vishnu’ stomach, he saw many worlds. He wandered around for a thousand years, but could not find the extremities of the stomach.Meanwhile, Vishnu had closed all the points of exit and Brahma could find no way of coming out. He eventually came out through the lotus that sprouted out of Vishnu’s navel and seated himself on the lotus. Since padma means lotus and yoni means place of birth, Brahma thence forth came to be known as Padmayoni. And since Brahma emerged out of Vishnu’s body, he came to be regarded as Visnu’s son. While Brahma was thus seated on the lotus, Shiva arrived. Such was the speed of Shiva’s arrival that tidal waves were created in the water. The lotus started to tremble and Brahma was showered with drops of water."Stop shaking the lotus so," said Brahma. "You are scaring me.""Who speaks from my navel?’ asked Vishnu. "And why do you sound so angry?""I am Brahma," replied Brahma. "I have every right to be angry. Don’tyou remember? You had entered my body and had marvelled at the worlds I had shown you there. You had then asked me to enter your body. But once I had done that, you had closed all the points of entry so that I had not been able to get out. I had to emerge through the lotus and now seated on it. Apart from your earlier transgression, you have now started to shake the lotus. Why should I not be angry?""Please pardon me," replied Vishnu. "I had no desire to offend you by closing all the points of exit. I merely wished to play with you for awhile. Please forgive me. And as a token of your friendship, please grant me the boon that you will henceforth be known as my son. But as for the lotus, I have no part in shaking it. Can’t you see that Shiva is approaching? These tidal waves must have been caused by his arrival. Let us pray to him and pacify him.""Who is Shiva?" asked Brahma. "I am Brahma the lord of everything. I refuse to pray to any upstart who approaches."Vishnu quietened Brahma down and persuaded him that the two of them ought to pray to Shiva. Shiva was pleased at these prayers and offered to grant Brahma and Vishnu boons. Vishnu wished the boon that he might always be devoted to Shiva. Brahma desired the boon that Shiva might be born as his son. Subsequently, when Brahma began his task of creation, he was not happy with the beings he initially created. From this sorrow were born the eleven rudras, manifestations of Shiva. They cried as soon as they were born. Since the word rudra means to cry, they acquired the name of rudras. It was thus that Shiva was born as Brahma’s son.(This seemingly contradicts the earlier account of the Linga Purana that Shiva had created the eleven rudras himself. The story of the rudras being born from Brahma’s sorrow is given in many Puranas in much greater detail. The Vishnu Purana and the Padma Purana are examples.)The Linga Purana next describes the rituals that have to be followed in worshipping Shiva’s linga. The Devadaru Forest Deva means god and daru means tree (or wood). A devadaru is a special sort of tree (a sort of pine tree) that is loved by the gods. Many years ago, there used to be a forest that was full of devadaru trees. In this devadaru forest there lived many sages and their wives.The sages were devoted to Shiva and performed very difficult tapasya(meditation) so as to please him. Shiva was pleased at these prayers. But he decided to test the sages. He therefore adopted a very ugly appearance and came to the devadaru forest. He wore no clothes, his complexion was completely dark and his eyes were terrifying. The wives of the sages began to follow Siva around. But the sages were disgusted that their wives should follow such an ugly and deformed creature. They used many harsh words to insult Shiva and Shiva promptly disappeared.The sages then went and reported what had happened to Brahma."You stupid idiots," exclaimed Brahma. "Don’t you realize what you have done? That ugly creature was Shiva himself. He was merely trying to test you and you have failed in the test. He was your guest and you have treated him badly. A guest is a guest regardless of whether he is handsome or ugly. He must be treated with the utmost respect and consideration. You have failed in this miserably. Don’t you know the story of the sage Sudarshana?"There used to be a sage named Sudarshana. He took great pains to instruct his wife that a guest must always be treated well and must never be refused. In fact, a guest is like Shiva himself. To refuse a guest is tantamount to refusing and insulting Shiva. On one particular occasion, the god of righteousness, Dharma, desired to test Sudarshana and his wife. He adopted the disguise of a brahmana and came to visit Sudarshana. Sudarshana was away at the time, but his wife treated the guest really well. Dharma then blessed Sudarshana and his wife that they would surely go to heaven.The sages regretted what they had done and looked for a way so that they might please Shiva. They sought Brahma’s advice and Brahma told them the story of Shveta. There was a sage named Shveta who was devoted to Shiva. He prayed to Shiva throughout his life. Eventually it was time for Shveta to die and Yama, the god of death, came to claim Shveta. Shveta was not at all disturbed at the sight of Yama. He thought that death would not be able to do him any harm if he prayed to Shiva. He went about making preparations for these prayers."Come, come," said Yama. "Is this the time to pray to Shiva? Your time on earth is over and you are under my powers now. What is the point of praying to Shiva now?" Yama then tied up Shveta and prepared to take the sage to his abode. But Shiva, accompanied by Nandi, Parvati and several of his companions, arrived. At the mere sight of Shiva, Yama fell unconscious and died. The gods marvelled at this and showered down flowers from the sky. Shveta was saved in this fashion. Brahma told the sages, "Now you know what can be gained by praying to Shiva. That is what you should do."That is what the sages did. After they had prayed faithfully for an entire year, Shiva appeared before them. He was smeared with ashes and his visage was terrible. He wandered around the devadaru forest. But the sages had learnt their lesson. They were not repelled at Shiva’s ugly appearance. They and their wives welcomed Shiva with flowers and incense. Shiva was pleased. He gave the sages plenty of good advice. Amongst other things, he taught the sages the wonderful properties of bhasma(ashes).Dadhicha There was a sage named Dadhicha (alternatively Dadhichi). (The Mahabharata states that Dadhicha was the son of Shanti and the sage Atharva.) Dadhicha had a friend named Kshupa. Kshupa was a king. Since Kshupawas a king, he belonged to the kshatriya class. Dadhicha was abrahmana.The two friends once began to argue about the superiority of brahmanas vis-a-vis kshatriyas. Kshupa maintained that kshatriyas were superior, while Dadhicha held the opposite view. Indra has a wonderful weapon named vajra. (This is sometimes identified with thunder, sometimes with a club.) Once upon a time, the demons(asuras) became very powerful and threatened to defeat the gods. The gods sought Kshupa’s help and Indra gave Kshupa the vajra to fight with. When Dadhicha and Kshupa had argued for a while, they came to blows. Dadhicha struck Kshupa a blow on the head with his fist. In retaliation,Kshupa struck Dadhicha with the vajra and sliced the sage in two. Dadhicha died. But before he died, he called upon Shukracharya, the preceptor of the demons, to come to his aid. Shukracharya knew the art of mrita sanjivani, that is, the technique of bringing dead people back to life. Shukracharya arrived and resurrected Dadhicha. Shukracharya told Dadhicha, "Why don’t you pray to Shiva? If you can please Shiva, by his grace you will become immortal. Where do you think I learnt the art of mrita sanjivani? From the great Shiva,. Pray to him."(The story of Shukracharya’s obtaining this wonderful knowledge from Shiva is related in the Harivamsha.) Dadhicha began very difficult tapasya so that he might please Shiva. When Shiva was pleased, Dadhicha obtained three boons from him, The first boon made Dadhicha prosperous. The second boon made his bones as hard as the vajra itself. And the third boon was that Dadhicha could never be killed. Thus armed, Dadhicha went to visit Kshupa and gave Kshupa a mighty kick on his head. Kshupa naturally picked up the vajra and hurled it at Dadhicha. The vajra struck Dadhicha a resounding whack on his chest. But such was the power of Shiva’s boon that the vajra did the sage no harm. Kshupa was amazed to see this. He resolved that he would pray to Vishnu to obtain still greater powers. Finally, Vishnu appeared before Kshupa and said, "I am pleased with your prayers. What boon do you desire?" "Please grant me the boon that I may be able to defeat Dadhicha,"replied Kshupa."Dadhicha has been fortified by Shiva’s boons," said Vishnu. "I therefore fear that what you ask is quite impossible. Nevertheless, I will try."Vishnu adopted the form of a brahmana and went to Dadhicha’s hermitage."Welcome, great Vishnu," said Dadhicha. "But why are you in the disguise of a brahmana? Did you think that I would not be able to see through your disguise? Or did you think that I would not refuse what abrahmana asked for? Anyway, please give up this pretense. Adopt your own form and tell me what you want."Vishnu adopted his own form and said, "I am going to bring Kshupa to your hermitage. All you have to do is to tell Kshupa that you are scared."Vishnu brought Kshupa to Dadhicha’s hermitage. But instead of saying what Vishnu had asked him to utter, Dadhicha said, "I am a devotee of Shiva’s. How can I be scared of anything in the universe?"These words angered Vishnu. Vishnu has a divine weapon known as the sudarshana chakra. He flung this at Dadhicha. But Dadhicha’s powers were such that the chakra merely struck him on the chest and fell harmlessly to the ground."Oh dear, Oh dear," exclaimed Dadhicha. "Whatever has happened to the great Vishnu’s chakra? Perhaps Vishnu would be better advised to use some other divine weapon. Like the brahmastra perhaps."Vishnu hurled a brhamastra at Dadhicha, but nothing happened to the sage. Vishnu used several other divine weapons, But all in vain. The other gods arrived to help Vishnu in his fight with Dadhicha. But the numerous weapons that the gods used on Dadhicha were all rendered harmless by the sage. Dadhicha then picked up a handful of straw and flung this at the gods. As if magically, each of the straws became aflaming trident and threatened to burn up all the gods.The gods fled in desperation. As for Vishnu, he created several beings who were just like him in appearance. But Dadhicha burnt all of these up. Vishnu next adopted a gigatic and wonderful form. This form was known as vishvarupa. The entire universe and all the beings in it could be seen in this vishvarupa. But Dadhicha only laughed. "Who are you trying to impress?" he asked."Look at me. You will find the entire universe and all the beings in it inside my body as well. I too can play with illusions. Give up this. If you really wish to fight, let us do so by all means." At this stage, Brahma decided to intervene. He advised Vishnu to pray to the sage instead of fighting with him. Vishnu did this and was forgiven by Dadhicha. As for Kshupa, he acknowledged the superiority of brahmanas and begged Dadhicha’s forgiveness. The place where these wonderful things happened is a tirtha named Sthaneshvara.
There was a sage named Shilada. He performed very difficult tapasya so that he might have a son. After many years had passed, Indra appeared before Shilada and told him, "I am pleased with your meditation. Ask for the boon that you desire."Please grant me the boon that I may have a son who is not normally born and who will be immortal," answered Shilada."That is impossible," said Indra. "It is beyond my powers to grant you such a boon. I can at best give you a mortal son. An immortal son? I fear that not even Brahma can grant you such a boon. The only person who may be able to grant you such a boon is Shiva. Why don’t you try to please him?"Shilada started to pray to Shiva. For a thousand year of the gods he prayed ceaselessly. He was completely immobile, so that the termites built a nest on his body. His body could no longer be seen. The termites ate up all Shilada’s flesh and drunk up all his blood. But Shilada continued to pray. When only bones were left in Shilada’s body, Shiva appeared before him."Enough of this meditation," said Shiva. "I know what you desire and I will grant you the son you want. I myself will be born as your son and be known as Nandi."Having said this, Shiva vanished. But not before he had revived Shilada with his touch. Shilada now started a yajna (sacrifice) so that the son might be born. And Nandi emerged from the fire that had been lit on the occasion of the sacrifice. Nandi had three eyes and four arms. He held a trident and a mace in two of his hands. And his body was clad in armour made out of diamonds. The gandharvas (singers of heaven) sang songs to celebrate the occasion, the apsaras (dancers of heaven) danced. The gods showered down flowers from above. The word ananda means joy. Since the boy’s birth brought everyone joy, he was named Nandi.
But as soon as Nandi was taken home by Shilada. Nandi’s divine appearance vanished and he assumed the form of an ordinary human child. Moreover, he forgot all about his divine origin. Shilada was greatly disappointed at this happening, but there was nothing that could be done. He devoted himself to his son’s education. By the time Nandi was seven years old, he had become well-versed in the Vedas and other shastras (sacred texts).One day, the two gods Mitra and Varuna came to visit Shilada. They took one look at Nandi and said, "Strange indeed are the ways of the world. Nandi bears all the auspicious signs on his body. And yet, he is not going to live for long. He is going to die before he is eight years old. Shilada was mortified to hear this and started to weep. Nandi could not bear to see his father weep thus and started to pray to Shiva. Shiva appeared and said, "What is all this talk of your dying? Stuff and nonsense. You are going to be immortal and you will always be by my side."Shiva took off the necklace that he was wearing and hung it around Nandi’s neck. Immediately, Nandi assumed a divine form with ten arms and three eyes. Nandi was adopted as a son by Parvati. Shiva’s companions are known as the ganas. And their leaders are known as ganeshvaras or gananpatis. It was resolved that Nandi should be made a ganapati. This was formally done at an august ceremony. The gods and the sages all came to attend this ceremony.
The Yugas –
In satya yuga, people were always happy. There were no inferiors or superiors. All individuals were equal. The climate was neither hot nor cold. Hatred and jealousy were unknown. Hunger and thirst were not felt. The earth yielded an abundant supply of juices and mankind lived happily on this. There was no need to build houses. People lived on the shores of the oceans and in the mountains. There was no concept of sin(papa) and store of merit (punya), no need of heaven or hell. People were naturally righteous.
In treta yuga, things changed somewhat. Clouds formed in the sky and it started to rain heavily. The earth no longer yield a plentiful supply of juices. But because it rained so much, trees began to grow and people lived on the sap of these trees. But individuals slowly turned evil and started to fight over the possession of these trees. The trees no longer provided sap. But they did provide fruits that humans could live on. They used the barks of the trees for clothing. But when people continued to fight over the possession of the trees, the trees started to wither away and disappear. Heat and cold became manifest. Houses now had to be built so that one might protect oneself from the heat and the cold. Earlier, there had been no need to build houses. When all the trees completely disappeared, people learnt to practice agriculture so that they might live. The first practice of agriculture and animal husbandry goes back to treta yuga. But irrigation was not needed. The land irrigated itself.
In dvapara Yuga- Artificial irrigation became required much later, when people grew even more evil. Mankind really started to suffer from the time of dvapara yuga. Most evil traits like hatred, jealousy, quarrels and fraudulence can be traced back to that time. Famine and drought were first felt on earth in dvapara yuga.
Kali yuga is the worst period of all. This is a time when holy men are not revered. No one pays any attention to the shastras and it is evil that prevails. People are habitually liars. But in kali yuga, the liars lord over everything. Even the kings are liars and oppress the good. Kings are thieves and thieves become kings. Kali yuga is such an evil period that people will start to lend money so as to earn interest. The evil has its effects in terms of reducing the productivity of the land. Life expectancy is reduced to only sixteen years. The only redeeming feature of kali yuga is the fact that a minor righteous deed in kali yuga brings undying punya. But kali yuga will not last forever. When its duration is over, Pramiti(more usually referred to as Kali) will be born so to re-establish righteousness one earth. For twenty years he will travel around the world, killing the evil and protecting the good. He will destroy the liar kings and bring back the religion prescribed by the Vedas.
Geography - The universe is divided into fourteen regions (lokas). Seven of these form the upper regions and seven others constitute the nether regions.The seven lokas of the upper regions are named bhuloka (the earth), buvarloka, svarloka or svarga (heaven), maharloka, janaloka, tapoloka and satyaloka. The seven regions of the underworld are mahatala,hematala, rasatala, talatala, sutala, atala and patala, (The names of the seven regions of the underworld differ somewhat from Purana to Purana.) In the underworld live the demons and the nagas (snakes). That apart, there are many hells (naraka) in the universe. The sinners are punished in these hells. The earth has many oceans and mountains. The land mass is divided into seven regions (dvipas) named Jambudvipa, Plakshadvipa, Shalmalidvipa,
Kushadvipa, Krounchadvipa, Shakadvipa and Pushkaradvipa. The seven major oceans (samudra) that surround these land masses are Lavana,Ikshu, Sura, Ghrita, Dadhi and Jala. (The name of seven oceans differ from Purana to Purana. The missing name is that of the ocean known as Sarpi. You will remember that Svayambhuva Manu had two sons – Priyavrata and Uttanapada, Priyavrata had ten sons. Their names were Agnidhra,Agnivahu, Meda, Medhatithi, Vapushmana, Jyotishmana, Dyutimana,Havya, Savana and Putra. After Priyavrata died, the earth was divided up into seven regions and seven sons inherited a region each. Agnidhra received Jambudvipa, Medhatithi Plakshadvipa, Vapushmana Shalmalid-vipa, Jyotishmana Kushadvipa, Dyutimana Krounchadvipa, Havya Shakadvipa and Savana Pushkaradvipa. (The Linga Purana does nots pecify why Agnivahu, Medha and Putra did not obtain any shares to their father’s kingdom. According to the Vishnu Prana, three of Priyavarata’s sons were not interested in material pursuits and became hermits.)
The Linga Purana describes subsequent subdivisions of these dvipas. But since we are primarily interested in Jambudvipa, let us consider what happened to Jambudvipa alone. Agnidhra, the ruler of Jambudvipa, was devoted to Shiva. He had nine sons and each of these sons was also devoted to Shiva. These sons were named Nabhi, Kimpurusha, Hari, Ilavrita, Ramya, Hiranmana, Kuru,Bhadrashva and Ketumala. After Agnidhra, Jambudvipa was divided into nine regions (varshas) and ruled over by one of these sons. Nabhi ruled over Hemavarsha, Kimpurusha over Hemakutavarsha, Hari over Naishadhavarsha, Ilavrita over Meruvarsha, Ramya over Nilachalavarsha,Hiranmana over Shvetavarsha, Kuru over Shringavarsha, Bhadrashvaover Malyavanvarsha and Ketumala over Gandhamadanavarsha.(This is not the usual nomenclature of the Puranas. More usually, Nabhi ruled over the region that subsequently came to be known as Bharatavarsha after one of Nabhi’s descendants. As for the other eight regions, they were named after the first kings who ruled after them. Thus, Hari ruled over Harivarsha, Kimpurusha over Kimpurushavarsha and so on and so forth. Each of these varshas had several mountains.The nomenclature of the Linga Purana names the varshas after the mountain ranges that were in them.)To return to the account of the Linga Purana, Nabhi’s wife was called Meru. Nabhi and Meru had a son named Ridhabha and Rishabha’s son was Bharata. It was after Bharata that the region that Nabhi ruled overcame to be known as Bharatavarsha. Bharatavarsha is bounded by the Himalaya mountains to the north and by the ocean to the south. Right in the centre of Jambudvipa is Mount Sumeru or Meru and on all sides of Sumeru are many other peaks. Mount Sumeru is so high that it touches the solar circle. It is encrusted with snow and is full of gold and jewels. Many are the gods who live on Mount Sumeru. Amaravati,the place where Indra lives, is on the eastern slopes of Sumeru. This city is full of beautiful places, bejewelled gates and golden pillars. There are crystal steps that lead down to limpid pools of clear water. The pools abound with lotuses of every hue that can be imagined
At another corner of Sumeru is the fire-god Agni’s abode. This city is known as Tejasvini. Yama’s residence is named Vaivasvati and lies towards the south. There are many other cities designed to be the residences of other gods. There are special landing strips for the vimanas (space vehicles) of the gods. Most remarkable of all is Brahma’s residence, located right in the centre of Sumeru. A river named Jambu flows past the region. It is from this river that Jambudvipa acquires its name. As mentioned before, there are mountain ranges on all sides of Sumeru. The Nilachala mountains are to the north, the Shveta mountains further north and the Shringi mountains still beyond. To the east of Sumeru lie the mountains Jathara and Devakuta. The Nishadha mountains are to the south, the Hemakuta mountains further south and the Himalaya mountains still further away towards the south. The mountains Malyavana and Gandhamadana are to the west of Sumeru.There are four beautiful lakes (sarovara) around Sumeru. Arunodaya isto the east, Manasa to the south, Sitoda to the west and Mahabhadra to the north.To the east of Bharatavarsha live the kiratas and to the west live the yavanas. Bharatavarsha proper is populated by brahmanas, kshatriyas,vaishyas and shudras. The hells are located below the underworld. There are twenty-eight of these. There the sinners are made to suffer for their evil deeds.
Astronomy - The sun’s chariot was built by Brahma himself. It is made completely out of gold. There are twelve months in a year. Their names are Madhu, Madhava,Shukra, Shuchi, Nabha, Nabhasya, Isha, Urjja, Saha, Sahasya, Tapa and Tapasya. (These names of the months are slightly unusual. More common is Vaishakha, Jyaishtha, etc.) Two months constitute a season (ritu) and there are therefore six seasons in every year. These are
grishma (summer), varsha (monsoon), sharat (early autumn), hemanta(late autumn), shita (winter) and vasanta (spring). Madhu and Madhavaare the months of grishma, Shukra and Shuchi are those of varsha,Nabha and Nabhasya those of sharat, Isha and Urjja those of hemanta,Saha and Sahasya those of shita and Tapa and Tapasya those of vasanta.In every season, two adityas (gods), two sages, two gandharvas, two apsaras, two rakshasas (demons) and two nagas (snakes) ride on the sun’s chariot to keep the sun company. Their names are as follows.(i) Grishma - the adityas Dhata and Aryama; the sages Pulastya and Pulaha; the gandharvas Tumburu and Narada; the apsaras Kritasthala and Punjikasthala; the rakshasas Rakshoheti and Praheti; and the nagas Uraga and Vasuki.(ii) Varsha - the adityas Mitra and Varuna; the sages Atri and Vashishtha; the gandharvas Haha and Huhu; the apsaras Menaka and Sahajanya; the rakshasas Pourusheya and Vadha; and the naga Takshaka. (The name of the second naga is not given.)(iii) Sharat - the adityas Indra and Vivasvana; the sages Angira and Bhrigu; the gandharvas Vishvavasu and Ugrasena; the apsarasPramlocha and Anumlocha; the rakshasas Sarpa and Vyaghra; and thenagas Elapatra and Shankhapala.(iv) Hemanta - the adityas Parjanya and Pusha; the sages Bharadvajaand Goutama; the gandharvas Suruchi and Paravasu; the apsarasGhritachi and Vishvachi; the rakshasas Apa and Vata; and the nagasDhananjaya and Iravana.(v) Shita - the adityas Amshu and Bhaga; the sages Kashyapa and Kratu;the gandharvas Chitrasena and Urnayu; the apsaras Urvashi andPurvachitti; the rakshasas Vidyut and Diva; and the nagas Mahapadmaand Karkataka.(vi) Vasanta - the adityas Tvashta and Vishnu; the sages Jamadagni andVishvamitra; the gandharvas Dhritarashtra and Suryavarcha; theapsaras Tilottama and Rambha; the rakshasas Brahmopeta and Yakshopeta; and the nagas Kambana and Ashvatara.The moon (Chandra) has a chariot that has three wheels and is drawn by three horses. The horses are completely white in colour. The sun drinks up the energy of the moon for a period of fifteen days. This period is known as krishnapaksha (the fortnight during which the moon wanes).The sun then replenishes the moon’s energy over the next fifteen days.This period is known as shuklapaksha (the fortnight during which the moon waves).
Budha (Mercy) is Chandra’s son and rides a chariot that is drawn by eight horses. The horses are yellow and the chariot is made of gold. Brihaspati (Jupiter) also has a chariot that is made of gold and is drawn by eight horses. But Shani’s (Saturn) chariot is made of iron. Just as Indra rules over the gods, the sun rules over the planets and the moon rules over the nakshatras (stars) and the herbs. But all of these revolve around Dhruva (the Pole Star).Dhruva Svayambhuva Manu had a son named Uttanapada. Uttanapada had two wives, Suniti and Suruchi. Dhruva was Suniti’s son, King Uttanapada was once seated on his throne. Dhruva happened to come there and clambered up onto his father’s lap. He was a mere child then, being only seven years old.But Dhruva’s stepmother, Suruchi, objected to this."How dare you sit on the king’s lap?" she demanded. "That is a place that is reserved for my son. Get down at once."Although Uttanpada did love Dhruva, he dared not object. He loved Suruchi much more than he loved Suniti and he did not have the courage to go against Suruchi’s wishes.Dhruva began to cry and went running to his mother. Suniti did her best to console her son. "Don’t cry, my son," she said. "The king loves Suruchi more than me and so loves her son more than you. There is nothing that can be done. We are unlucky. We must have committed many sins in our earlier lives and this is the punishment that is being meted out to us. There is nothing to be gained by crying. One must try to perform good deeds in this life so that, in the next life, we are more fortunate. Forget about the king’s lap. Why don’t you instead try to attain a place that would be impossible for Suruchi’s son to achieve?’Dhruva resovled that he would do this. He went away to the forest tom editate.In the forest, he happened to come upon the sage Vishvamitra’s hermitage. He told the sage the story of his misfortunes and about his mission. "Please tell me how I can attain the highest place of all," he said."The solution is to pray to Vishnu," replied Vishvamitra. The sage alsot aught Dhruva a powerful mantra (incantation) that he could use for praying to Vishnu. Dhruva started to pray to Vishnu. He faced the east and began to chant the mantra. For an entire year he continued to do only this. He lived only on fruits and roots. Demons and wild animals roamed all around him, but he paid no attention to them. One particular ogress adopted the disguise of Dhruva’s mother and came to Dhruva from his meditation. But Dhruva saw through this disguise and would not be distracted. Finally, Vishnu appeared before Dhruva. "I am pleased with your prayers," said Vishnu. "What boon do you desire?""Please grant me the boon that I may attain the highest place of all,"replied Dhruva. Vishnu earmarked a place for Dhruva in the sky. Dhruva became the PoleStar. All the other stars revolve around Dhruva. Daksha’s Descendants You probably remember Brahma’s son, Daksha. Daksha married Prasuti.(In some Puranas, she is referred to as Asikli.)Daksha and Prasuti had five thousand sons known as the Haryashvas.But the sage Narada came and told the Haryashvas that there was nothing to be gained by being addicted to material pursuits. They would be better off if they went away to meditate. Persuaded by Narada, the Haryashvas went off to meditate and have never been heard since. Daksha and Prasuti next had a thousand sons named the Shavalashvas. But Narada persuaded the Shavalashvas also to go away and meditate. Daksha and Prasuti next had sixty daughters. Ten of these daughters were married to the god Dharma, thirteen to the sage Kashyapa and twenty-seven to Chandra.The thirteen daughters who were married to Kashyapa were named Aditi, Diti, Arishta, Surasa, Muni, Surabhi, Vinata, Tamra, Krodhavasha,Ila, Kadru, Tvisha and Danu. (The names of the minor wives often vary from Purana to Purana.) Aditi’s sons were known as the adityas (gods). There were twelve of them, named Indra, Dhata, Bhaga, Tvashta, Mitra, Varuna, Aryama,Vivasvana, Savita, Pusha, Amshumana and Vishnu.Diti had two sons, Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu. These two and their descendants were known as the daityas (demons). Danu had a hundredsons, chief amongst whom was Viprachitti. They and their descendantswere known as the danavas (demons).Tamra was the mother of all the birds. Vinata had two sons, Aruna and Garuda. Garuda became the king of the birds. Surasa was the mother of snakes (sarpa). (Most other Puranas state that Surasa was the mother of
the rakshasas (demons). Kadru gave birth to snakes (nagas). Chief amongst them were Ananta, Vasuki and Takshaka. Krodhavasha was themother of rakshasas and Surabhi gave birth of all cattle. Muni was themother of the apsaras and Arishta was the mother of the gandharvas.From Ila were born the trees and the herbs. And from Tvisha were bornthe yakshas (demi-gods).ParasharaThere used to be a rakshasa named Rudhira and there used to be a kingnamed Kalmashapada. The rakshasa entered the king’s body, so thatKalmashapada became a demon.The sage Vashishtha had a son named Shaktri. As a demon,Kalmashapada ate up Shaktri and his brothers.(The story of how this happened is not given in the Linga Purana. But it is a story that is recounted in the Mahabharata and is as follows. King Kalmashapada belonged to the Ikshvaku line of kings. He had once gone to the forest and had become very thirsty. While looking for some water,the king met Shaktri. There was a very narrow path along which even two people could not walk abreast. Since he was very thirsty,Kalmashapada asked Shaktri to give him the right of way. But Shaktri insisted that, as a brahmana, he possessed the right of way.Kalmashapada thereupon struck Shaktri with his whip and Shaktri in turn cursed the king that he would become a rakshasa. Kalmashapda’s first act as a rakshasa was to eat up Shaktri and his hundred brothers.To return to the Linga Purana, the sage Vashishtha could not bear the shock of his sons being killed. Vashishtha’s wife was Arundhati. With Arundhati, the sage climbed a mountain and the couple flung themselves down from the peak so that they might die. But the earth had no desire to permit the death of such great sage. She adopted the form of a woman and broke the couple’s fall. "Please do not kill yourself," she told Vashishtha. "You are needed by the world."Shaktri’s wife was Adrishyanti and she too tried to dissuade her father-in-law from committing suicide. "I am expecting," she informed Vashishtha. "If the two of you kill yourselves, who will look after the son when he is born? He is, after all, Shaktri’s son. Please stay alive for his sake."While this conversation was going on, the baby who was in Adrishyanti’s womb began to recite the Vedas. This was a miracle indeed and Vashishtha did not at first realize where the sound of the recitation was coming from. But Vishnu appeared and told the sage, "You will have a grandson who will bring glory to your line. He will be a great devotee of
Shiva’s. It is he who is reciting the Vedas. Please stay alive for his sake."Vashishtha was dissuaded. In due course, Adrishyanti gave birth to Parashara. When Parashara grew up, he asked his mother, "Where is my father? Why do I not have a father like other children do?""Your father Shaktri was eaten up by a rakshasa," replied Adrishyanti."Eaten up by a rakshasa," exclaimed Parashara. "I will pray to the god Shiva. Through my tapasya. I will attain great powers. And with my powers I am going to burn up the entire universe. There is no point in retaining such an evil universe where one’s father is eaten up by a rakshasa."Vashishtha persuaded his grandson that such a general destruction of the universe would not be in anyone’s interest. The universe had doneno particular harm. If anyone had committed a crime, it was the rakshasa who had performed the dastardly deed. Parashara resolved that he would use his powers to destroy the rakshasas.With this end in mind, Parashara started to pray to Shiva. Shiva was pleased at these prayers and granted Parashara some amazing powers. With these powers, Parashara got to see and talk to his dead father. And he used the powers to burn up all rakshasas."Please stop this destruction," Vashishtha told his grandson. "There has been enough of killing. If Shaktri died, that was written in his stars. The rakshasa was merely the instrument of what fate had decreed for my son. Do not kill any more rakshasas. Anger serves no purpose."Parashara followed his grandfather’s advice and was blessed by the sage that he would become well-versed in all the shastras. Vashishtha also blessed Parashara that he would compose the Purana samhita and the Vishnu Purana.(Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa was the sage Parashara’s son.)
Tripura- There was a demon named Tarakasura who oppressed the gods. He was eventually killed by Skanda or Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and Parvati.
Tarakasura’s story is not given in the Linga Purana. It can be found in the Shiva Purana and in the Devi Bhagavata.)
Tarakasura had three sons named Vidyunmali, Tarakaksha and Kamalaksha. These three resolved to avenge their father’s death and started to perform very difficult tapasya so that they might obtain boons that would make them invincible. After a long period of mediation, they managed to please Brahma."You have pleased me," said Brahma. "What boon do you desire?""Please grant us the boon that no being in the universe may be able to kill us," requested the demons."That is a boon that cannot be granted to anybody," said Brahma. "If you so desire, set fairly difficult conditions for your death. But immortality is a boon that I cannot possibly grant you."The three brothers consulted and arrived at the following condition which seemed to be fairly impossible to satisfy. Each of them would build a city (pura) and the three cities would normally be distinct. But once every thousand years, the cities would come together. (The cities were in the sky.) When the cities came together, if anyone could manage to shoot down the cities with a single arrow, that would be the appointed method of death for the three demons. This seemingly impossible condition Brahma agreed to. A danava named Maya was the architect for all the demons and he builtthree cities for Tarakasura’s sons. Tarakaksha’s city was made of gold.Kamalaksha’s of silver and Vidyunmali’s of iron. Inside each of the cities,Maya built several wonderful palaces. The three brothers lived in these cities happily, with their companions, the other demons. Incidentally,the demons were great devotees of Shiva.But the gods were not at all happy. They were oppressed by the demons of Tripua. (The word tri means three and since there were three cities or puras, they were collectively referred to as Tripura.) The gods sought Vishnu’s help so that Tripura might be destroyed."I understand your problem and you have my sympathies," said Vishnu."But unfortunately, I can do nothing. The only person who can destroy Tripura is Shiva. But there is a problem. The demons are devoted to Shiva; they are not evil. Under the circumstances, Shiva will not take up arms against them. We will have to resort to some trickery. Why don’t all of you go and start praying to Shiva? I will think of a way whereby the demons can be dislodged from the righteous path."The gods went away to meditate. And Vishnu used his powers of illusion(maya) to lead the demons astray. He sent Shakyamuni (the Buddha) to preach to the demons. Shakyamuni was so glib of tongue that he made ready converts among the demons. They all became his disciples and gave up worshipping Shiva. This was the moment that the gods had been waiting for. They prayed to Shiva that the evil demons might be destroyed and Shiva agreed. Vishvakarma, the architect of the gods, built a chariot for Shiva to ride in. Brahma himself offered to be the charioteer. Shiva ascended the chariot and rode into battle. Nandi joined him with the ganas and the gods accompanied the army to aid in the fight. Numerous were the weapons that the gods took with them. They rode on elephants, horses,lions and buffaloes. Shiva graced this army of gods the way the moon graces a collection of stars.The army advanced and came to where Tripura was. Shiva raised his bow and applied the divine pashupata weapon to his bow, waiting for the three cities to come together. As soon as this happened, Shiva let fly the arrow and the flaming arrow burnt up the three cities of the demons. All the gods, including Brahma and Vishnu, worshipped Shiva.The words art means enemy. Because Shiva destroyed Tripura, he is known as Tripurari.The Linga Purana next describes the rites that must be followed in worshipping Shiva. In particular, a special rite named pashupata vrata is described in great detail.
Omens- There are some omens which are sure signs of impending death. There is a nakshatra (star) named Arundhati. (This is in the constellation Ursa Majoris.) A person who cannot see Arundhati, the Pole Star or the Milky way (Chhayapatha) is sure to die within a year. A person to whom the radiance of the sun seems to be diminished, will die within eleven months. One who dreams of vomiting gold or silver has but ten months to live. A dreamer who dreams of golden trees, cities of the gandharvas or ghosts or demons will die after nine months. If you suddenly lose or put on weight, you have but eight months to live. A person who leaves an incomplete footprint on dust or mud will not live for more than seven months. A maximum lifespan of six months is indicated if a crow, vulture or dove alights on one’s head. A person who is surrounded by crows when he walks or a person who is surrounded by dust does not live for more than four or five months. This is also the case if one’s reflection happens to be distorted. A person who hears thunder when there are no clouds in the sky or a person who sees a rainbow in the water has but three months to live. If the reflection is incomplete, or if the reflection has a severed head, the person will die within a month. An individual who reeks of the smell of dead bodies will die within fifteen days. Ten days of life is all that is left for someone who has smoke billowing out of his head. Death is nigh if one dreams of travelling southwards in a chariot drawn by bears or monkeys. This is all the more the case if one happens to be singing or dancing while thus travelling.The implications are the same if the dreamer dreams of being submerged in a cesspool of mud. One will die soon if one dreams of being set upon by warriors dressed in black. Death is also indicated if jackals greet one at the stroke of dawn. When a lamp is extinguished, a smell of burning lingers in the air. If you cannot smell this, you will die soon. There are several more omens. The only salvation, if such omens are seen, lies in praying to Shiva.
The City of Varanasi - The city of Varanasi is very sacred. Shiva himself lived here with Parvati and Ganesha. Varanasi is one of the six greatest tirthas on earth. The other five are Kurukshetra, Shriparvata, Mahalaya, Tungeshvara and Kedara.The sins of someone who worships Shiva in Varanasi are immediately forgiven. Any living being who dies in the city goes immediately to heaven. Several are the lingas and sacred ponds in Varanasi; some of them were set up by Vishnu and Brahma themselves. The river Varuna winds through the city and unites with the holy river Ganga. At the confluence of the Varuna and the Ganga, Brahma established a linga known as Sangameshvara. Amongst other famous lingas in Varanasi are Shailesha, Svarnilesha, Madhyameshvara,Hiranyagarbheshvara, Goprekshaka, Vrishadhvaja, Upashantashiva,Shukreshvara, Vyaghreshvara and Jambukeshvara.Andhaka.There was a demon named Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha was killed by Vishnu. But Hiranyaksha had a son named Andhaka. Andhaka started to perform very difficult tapasya. He pleased Brahma through his prayers and obtained the boon that he could never be killed. Armed with this boon, Andhaka went about conquering the three worlds. He drove the gods out of heaven.Indra and the other gods fled in desperation to Mount Mandara. They were joined in their flight by Visnu. But Andhaka pursued them there as well.Shiva lived on Mount Mandara. The gods went to Shiva and said, "The king of the demons, Andhaka, is oppressing us. We do not known what to do, He has followed us here as well. Please save us from Andhaka’s depredations."Shiva ventured out to tackle Andhaka. Andhaka was not alone, he had millions of demon-soldiers with him. But Shiva burnt up all these soldiers. He then pierced Andhaka with a trident (trishula) and raised the trident up into the sky. The demon hung there, transfixed with the central prong of the trident.The gods were delighted at this. They showered down flowers on Shiva and began to pray to him. All beings in the three worlds heaved sighs of relief.As for Andhaka, the moment he was transfixed by Shiva’s trident, all of evil vanished from his mind. He started to pray to Shiva. Shiva was pleased at these prayers and said," Son of Hiranyaksha, I am pleased with you. What boon do you desire?""If you are indeed pleased with me," replied Andhaka, "please grant me the boon that I may be always faithful to you. And please make me your constant companion."Shiva agreed to this. He lowered Andhaka from his trident and made Andhaka a lord of the ganas. Andhaka is Shiva’s constant companion.(According to some other Puranas, he was renamed Bhringi.)(The Andhaka story, like most stories, is rather cursorily treated in the Linga Purana. Far greater details are given in other Puranas. According to some of these accounts, Hiranyaksha had no sons. Andhaka was theson of Shiva and Parvati and was adopted as a son by the childlessHiranyaksha. According to the Harivamsha, Andhaka was the son of Ditiand the sage Kashyapa. Since all of Diti’s sons were killed by the gods,Diti prayed to Kashyapa that she might have an immortal son. This son was Andhaka.)Hiranyaksha and the Boar The sages said, "You have mentioned Hiranyaksha and you also said that Hiranyaksha was killed by Vishnu. But we do not know the story. Please tell us about Hiranyaksha."Lomaharshana recounted the following story.Diti had two sons named Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyaksha was very powerful. He defeated all the gods and drove them out of heaven. As for the earth, he captured her and imprisoned her in the underworld. He then started to oppress anyone who still happened to be around."Let us go and visit Vishnu," said Brahma. "He should be able to deliver us from this evil demon.Vishnu heard the story of the woes of the gods and agreed to help. Head opted the form of the gigantic boar (varaha) and went down into the underworld. He discovered the demon Hiranyaksha there and slew him with his tusks. Vishnu then raised up the earth on the tusks of the boar and placed her in her rightful place on the top of the waters. But when Vishnu gave up his form of the boar. The earth, which wastransfixed to the tusks, started to float around. Shiva released the earthfrom the tusks so that she might stay in one place. What do you think happened to the tusks of the boar? Shiva wears them always around hisneck.)Hiranyakashipu and Narasimha"What happened to Hiranyakshipu, Hiranyaksha’s brother?" asked the sages. Lomaharshana told them the following. Hiranyakashipu had a son named Prahlada. From his birth, Prahlada was devoted to Vishnu. He prayed to Vishnu all the time. But Hiranyakashipu could not stand this. He hated Vishnu. It was, afterall, Vishnu who had killed his brother Hiranyaksha.Hiranyakashipu told Prahlada, "I am ashamed of you. Does your behaviour become a son of the king of the demons? Who is this Vishnu?Is he superior to me? How dare you worship Vishnu? Stop this nonsense at once."But Prahalada would not listen. He continued to pray to Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu could not bear to stand this any longer. He instructed his demon soldiers to kill Prahlada. The demons set upon Prahlada with all sorts of weapons. But by Vishnu’s grace, nothing happened to Prahlada.While this was doing on, Vishnu appeared. He adopted his narasimha incarnation, a being who was half-man and half-lion. (Nara means man and simha means lion.) Narasimha grabbed hold of Hiranyakashipu and slew the demon with his claws.(So far the account is fairly usual, although it misses out on the
interesting details given in texts like the Vishnu Purana. The Linga Purana now introduces a further twist, in an obvious attempt to glorify Shiva.)After killing Hiranyakashipu, Vishnu did not give up his form of a lion. The lion raged everywhere in the universe, threatening to destroy everything. The gods, led by Brahma, fled to Shiva on Mount Mandara. "Please save from the scourge of this lion," they pleaded Shiva assured the gods that he would take care of narasimha. Shiva created a being known as Virabhadra from his own body. Virabhadra was another manifestation of Shiva himself. Virabhadra had three eyes and he held several weapons in his hands. His teeth were as sharp as the crescent moon, his eyebrows were like rainbows and his beard was as dark as the clouds."What would you like me to do?" asked Virabhadra."A being named narasimha is causing havoc," replied Shiva. "It is Vishnu who has adopted this form. The universe must be rid of narasimha. First,try to persuade him to give up this form. If that fails, kill him."Virabhadra went to Vishnu and told him, "Vishnu, you are the preserver of the universe. There are several occasions when you have adopted incarnations so as to save the world. Why have you adopted this narasimha form? Please give it up at once. It is threateneing the existence of the universe."These words merely served to anger Vishnu. "I don’t need any advice from you," he said. "Return to whence you came. I will destroy the universe; who are you to decree otherwise? I am the lord of everything. Brahma, the creator, was born from my body. Therefore, go away and leave me in peace.""Haven’t you forgotten Shiva?" asked Virabhadra. "It is Shiva who is supreme. He is the destroyer. And if you do not come to your senses, he is going to destroy you as well. Be forewarned. I am Virabhadra. Have you forgotten that I severed your head at the time of Daksha’s yajna? Have you forgotten from where you obtained your sudarshana chakra(Vishnu’s weapons, a bladed-discus)?"These words angered Vishnu even more and he attacked Virabhadra. Virabhadra adopted a strange form that was half-deer and half-bird. It had a thousand arms and the crescent moon shone on its head. The wings were huge, sparks issued out of the eyes, and the claws were exceedingly sharp. Virabhadra grasped Vishnu and rose up into the sky.
He flung Vishnu down repeatedly on the ground and picked him up again.Vishnu came to his senses and started to pray to Shiva. He called upon Shiva by his one hundred and eight names. But Virabhadra killed Vishnu. He sliced off narasimha’s head and skinned the pelt. This did not mean that Vishnu died. It was narasimha who died. Vishnu merged into Shiva. Narasimha’s pelt is worn by Shiva as clothing. And you will find narasimha’s skull among the garland of skulls that Shiva wears around his neck.
Jalandhara- There was a demon named Jalandhara. He obtained tremendous powers through tapasya. Such were these powers that he managed to defeat the gods.(The story of Jalandhara’s orgin is not given in the Linga Purana, but can be found in the Padma Purana. Indra once went on a visit to Mount Kailasa and met Shiva there. Failing to recognize Shiva, Indra hit him on the head with his vajra. A fire issued out of Shiva’s head and threatened to burn Indra up. Indra pacified Shiva and contrived to avoid destruction.But Shiva flung the fire into the ocean and from his fire a boy was born. Since jala means water and since he emerged from the water, the boy came to be called Jalandhara. Alternatively Brahma discovered and adopted the boy. But the boy tugged so hard at Brahma’s eyes. Brahma therefore named the boy Jalandhara and also granted him the boon that he could be killed only by Shiva.)To return to the Linga Purana, after having defeated all the other gods, Jalandhara challenged Vishnu to a duel. This duel lasted for some time, but eventually, Vishnu too, met his match. Jalandhara then told his companions, the other demons. "I seem to have defeated everyone that there is to fight with. The only one who is left is Shiva. Let us go and thrash Shiva, Nandi and the others."The demon army trooped to Shiva’s residence."What do you want?" asked Shiva. "Why have all of you come here?""We have come to fight with you," replied Jalandhara. Shiva inserted his big toe into the ocean and started to churn the water. From this churning, the terrible weapon known as the sudarshanachakra was created."I shall certainly fight with you," said Shiva. "But first you must raisethis chakra with your big toe. I will fight with you only if you succeed."
Jalandhara tried to do this. With a great deal of difficulty, he managed to raise the chakra and place it on his shoulders. But as soon as he did this,the weapon sliced off his head. Jalandhara’s flesh and blood cluttered up the universe. Shiva had all of this sent to Yama, the god of death. Yama constructed a hell (naraka) named maharourava with this flesh and blood.Thus it was that Jalandhara met his end. As for the demon’s companions,they were burnt to ashes by Shiva’s rage.
Shiva’s Thousand Names - Many years ago, a fierce war raged between the gods and the demons.The gods received a sound thrashing and fled. While they were running away, they encountered Vishnu."Why are you running away?" asked Vishnu. "What on earth has happened?""The demons have defeated us," replied the gods. "They have acquired all sorts of divine weapons, largely thanks to the boons that you have granted them. These weapons have made them close to invincible. You are our only hope now. Do you remember the wonderful weapon that was known as the sudarshana chakra? It was created by Shiva to kill Jalandhara. That is what is required now. Nothing else will work.""I will help you," promised Vishnu. "But we must first obtain the weapon, and to get it, we have to pray to Shiva."Vishnu and the other gods started to pray to Shiva. They called upon Shiva by his thousand names.
For convenience, we preproduce thenames in groups of ten names each.
(1) Bhava, Shiva, Hara, Rudra, Purusha, Padmalochana, Arthitavya,Sadachara, Sarva, Shambhu.
(2) Maheshvara, Ishvara, Sthanu, Ishana, Sahasraksha, Sahasrapada,Variyana, Varada, Vandya, Shankara.
(3) Parameshvara, Gangadhara, Shuladhara, Pararthaikaprayojana,Sarvajna, Saradevadi, Giridhanva, Jatadhara, Chandrapida, Chandramouli
(4) Vidvana, Vishvamareshvara, Vedantasarasarvasva, Kapali, Nilalohita, Jnanadhara, Aparichedya, Gouribharta, Ganeshvara, Ashtamurti.
(5) Vishvamurti, Trivarga, Svargasadhana, Jnanagamya, Dridaprajna,Devadeva, Trilochana, Vamadeva, Mahadeva, Pandu.
(6) Paridrida, Vishvarupa, Virupaksha, Vagisha, Shuchi, Antara,Sarvapranayasvadi, Vrishanka, Vrishavahana, Isha.
(7) Pinaki, Khattangi, Chitravesha, Chirantana, Tomohara, Mahayogi.Brhamangahrita, Jati Kalakala, Krittivasa.
(8) Subhaga, Pranavatmaka, Unmattavesha, Chakshushya, Durvasa,Smarashasana, Dridayudha, Parameshthiparayana,Anadimadhyanidhana, Girisha.
(9) Girivandhava, Kuberavandhu, Shrikantha, Lokavarnottamottama,Samanya, Deva, Kodandi, Nilakantha, Parashvadhi, Vishalaksha.
(10) Mrigavyadha. Suresha, Suryatapana, Dharmakarmakshama,Ksehtra, Bhagavana, Bhaganetravida, Urgra, Pashupati, Tarkshya.
(11) Priyabhakta, Priyasvada, Dantodayakara, Daksha, Karpadi,Kamashasana, Shmashananilaya, Suksha, Shmashanastha, Maheshvara.
(12) Lokakarta, Bhutapati, Mahakarta, Mahoushadhi, Uttara, Gopati,Gopta, Jnanagamya, Puratana, Nita.
(13) Sunita, Shuddhatma, Soma, Somavrita, Sukhi, Somapa, Amritapa,Mahaniti, Mahamati, Ajatashatru.
(14) Aloka, Sambhavya, Havyavahana, Lokakara, Vedakara, Sutrakara,Sanatana, Maharshi, Kapilacharya, Vishvadipti.
(15) Trilochana, Pinakapani, Bhurdeva, Svastida, Sadasvastikrita,Tridhama, Soubhaga, Sarvasar-vajna, Sarvagochara, Brahmadhrika.
(16) Vishvasrika, Svarga, Karnikara, Priya, Kavi, Sahakhavishakha,Goshakha, Shiva, Naikya, Kratu.
(17) Gangaplavodaka, Bhava, Sakala, Supatisthira, Vijitatma,Vidheyatma, Bhutavahana, Sarathi, Sagana, Ganakarya.
(18) Sukirti, Chhinnasamshaya, Kamadeva, Kamapala,Bhasmodvulitavigraha, Bhasmapriya, Bhasmashayi, Kami, Kanta,Kritagama,
(19) Samayukta, Nivrittatma, Dharmayukta, Sadshiva, Chaturmukha,Chaturvahu, Duravasa, Durasada, Durgama, Durlabha.
(20) Durga, Sarga, Sarvayudhavisharda, Sutantu, Adhyatmayoganilaya,Tantuvarddhana, Shubhanga, Lokasagara, Amritashana,Bhasmashuddhikara.
(21) Meru, Ojasvi, Shuddhavigraha, Hiranyareta, Bharani, Marichi,Mahimalaya, Mahahrada, Mahagarbha, Siddharvrindaravandita.
(22) Vyaghracharmadhara, Vyali, Mahabhuta, Mahanidhi, Amritanga,Amritavapu, Panchayajna, Prabhanjana, Panchavimshatitattvajna, Parijataparavara.
(23) Sulabha, Suvrata, Shura, Vangmayanidhi, Nidhi, Varnashramaguru,Varni, Shatrujita, Shatrutapana, Ashrama, Kshapana.
(24) Kshama, Jnanavana, Achalachala, Pramanabhuta, Durjneya,Suparna, Vayuvahana, Dhanurddhara, Dhanurveda, Gunarashi.
(25) Gunakara, Anantadrishti, Ananda, Danda, Damayita, Dama,Abhivadya, Mahacharya, Vishvakarma, Visharada.
(26) Vitaraga, Vinitatma, Tapasvi, Bhutabhavan, Unmattavesha,Pracchanna, Jitakama, Ajitapriya, Kalyana, Prakriti.
(27) Kalpa, Sarvaloka, Prajapati, Tapasvitaraka, Dhimana, Pradhana,Prabhu, Avyayaya, Lokapa, Antarhitatma.
(28) Kalpadi, Kamalekshana, Vedashastrarthatattvajna, Nityama,Niyamashraya, Chandra, Surya, Shani, Ketu, Virama.
(29) Vidruchhavi , Bhaktigamya, Parabrahma, Mrigavanarpana, Anagha,Adrirajalya, Kanta, Paramatma, Jagadguru, Sarvakarmachala.
(30) Tvashta, Mangalya, Mangalarata, Mahatapa, Dirghatapa,Sthavishtha, Sthavira, Dhruva, Ahaha, Samvatsara.
(31) Vyapti, Pramana, Tapah, Samvatsarakra, Mantra, Pratyaya,Sarvadarshana, Aja, Sarveshvara, Snigddha.
(32) Sarvadi, Agnida, Vasu, Vasumana, Satya, Sarvapapahara, Hara,Amritashashvata, Shanta, Vanahasta.
(33) Pratapavana, Kamandaludhara, Dhanvi, Vedanga, Vedavit, Muni,Bhrajishnu, Bhojana, Bhokta, Lokaneta.
(34) Duradhara, Atindriya, Mahashaya, Sarvavasa, Chatushpatha,Kalayogi, Mahanada, Mahotsaha, Mahavala,, Mahabuddhi, Mahavirya.
(35) Bhutachari, Purandara, Nishachara, Pretachari, Mahashakti,Mahadyuti, Anirdeshyavapu, Shrimana, Sarvaharyamitagati, Vahushruta.
(36) Vahumaya, Niyatatma, Bhavodhava, Narataka, Ojastejodyutikara,Sarvakamaka, Nrityapriya, Nrityanritya, Prakashatmapratapa,Buddhaspashtakshara.
(37) Mantra, Sammana, Sarasamplava, Yugadikrita, Yugavarta,Gambhira, Vrishavahana, Ishta, Vishishta, Shishteshta.
(38) Sharabha, Sharabhadhanusha, Apangnidhi, Adhishtanavijaya, Jayakalavit, Pratishthita, Pramanajna, Hiranyakavacha, Hari, Virochana.
(39) Suragana, Vidyesha, Vibudhashraya, Valarupa, Balonmathi, Vivarta,Gahanagruru , Karana, Karta, Sarvavandhavimochana.
(40) Vidvattama, Vitabhaya, Vishvahbarta, Nishakara, Vyavasaya,Vyavasthana, Sthananda, Jagadadija, Dundubha, Lalita.
(41) Vishva, Bhavatmatmasthita, Vireshvara, Virabhadra, Viraha,Virabhrida, Virata, Virachudamani, Vetta,Tivrananda.
(42) Nadidhara, Ajnadhara, Trishuti, Shipivishita, Shivalaya, Valakhilya,Mahachapa, Tigmamashu, Nidhi, Avyaya.
(43) Abhirama, Susharanya, Subrahmanya, Sudhapati, Maghavana,Koushika, Gomana, Vishrama, Sarvashasana, Lalataksha.
(44) Vishvadeha, Sara, Samsarachakrabhita, Amoghadandi, Madhyastha,Hiranya, Brahmavarchasi, Paramartha, Paramaya, Shambara.
(45) Vyaghraka, Anala, Ruchi, Vararuchi, Vandya, Ahaspati, Aharpati,Ravivirocha, Skandha, Shasta.
(46) Vaivasvata, Ajana, Yukti, Unnatakirti, Shantaraga, Parajaya,Kailasapati, Kamari, Savita, Ravilochana.
(47) Vidvattama, Vitabhaya, Vishvaharta, Nitya, Anivarita,Niyatakalyana, Punyashravanadkirtana, Durashrava, Vishvasaha,Dhyeya.
(48) Duhsvapnanashana, Uttaraka, Dushkritiha, Durddharsha, Duhsaha,Abhaya, Anadi, Bhu, Bhulakshmi, Kiriti,
(49) Tridashadhipa, Vishvagopta, Vishvabharta, Sudhira, Ruchirangada, Janana, Janajanmadi, Pritimana, Nitimana, Naya.
(50) Vishishta, Kashyapa, Bhanu, Bhima, Bhimaparakrama, Pranava,Saptadhachara, Mahakaya, Mahamadhanu, Janmadhipa.
(51) Mahadeva, Sakaalagamaparaga, Tattvatativavivekatma, Vibhushnu,Bhutibhushana, Rishi, Brahmanavida, Jishnu, Janmamrityujaratiga, Yajna.
(52) Yajnapati, Yajva, Yajnanta, Amogha, Vikrama, Mahendra, Durbhara,Seni, Yajnanga, Yajnavahana.
(53) Panchabrahmasamutpatti, Vishvesha, Vimalodaya, Atmayoni,Anadyanta, Shadavimsha, Saptalodhaka, Gayatrivallabha, pramshu,Vishvavasa.
(54) Prabhakara,Shishu, Girirata, Samrata, Sushena, Surashatruha,Aristamathana, Mukunda, Vigatajvara, Svayamjoti.
(55) Anujyoti, Atmajayoti, Achanchala, Kapila, Kapilashmashru,Shastranetra, Trayitanu, Jnanaskandha, Mahajnani, Nirutapatti.
(56) Upaplava, Bhaga, Vivasvana, Aditya, Yogacharya, Brihaspati,Udarakirti, Udyogi, Sadyogi, Sadasanmaya.
(57) Nakshatramali, Narakesha, Sadhishtana, Shadashraya, Pavitrapani,Papari, Manipura, Manogati, Hritpundarikasina, Shukla.
(58) Shantavrishakapi, Vishnu, Grahapati, Krishna, Samartha,Arthanashana, Adharmashatru, Akshashya, Puruhuta, Purushtuta.
(59) Brahmagarbha, Vrihadagarbha, Dharmadhenu, Dhanagama, Jagatahitaishi, Supata, Kumara, Kushalagama, Hiranyavarna, Jyotishmana.
(60) Nanbhutadhara, Dhvani, Aroga, Niyamadhyaksha, Vishvamitra,Dvijottama, Vrihajyoti, Sudhama, Mahajyoti, Anuttama.
(61) Matamaha, Matarishva, Nabhasvana, Nagaharadhrika, Pulastya,Pulaha, Agastya, Jatukarna, Parashara, Niravarana.
(62) Dharmajna, Virincha, Vishtarashrava, Atmabhu, Aniruddha,Atrijnanamurti, Mahayasha, Lokachudamni, Vira, Chandasatya.
(63) Parakrama, Vyalakalpa, Mahavriksha, Kanadhara, Alankarishnu,Achala, Rochishnu, Vikramottama, Vegi, Ashushabdapati.
(64) Plavana, Shikhisarathi, Asamsrishta, Atithi, Shatrupramthi,Papanashana, Vasushrava, Kavyavaha, Pratapta, Vishvabhojana.
(65) Jarya, Jaradhishamana, Lohita, Tananapata, Prishadashva,Nabhahyoni, Supratika, Tamisraha, Nidaghatapana, Megphapaksha.
(66) Parapuranjaya, Mukhanila, Sunispanna, Surabhi, Shishiratmaka,Vasanta, Madhava, Grishma, Nabhasya, Vijavahana.
(67) Angira, Muni, Atreya, Vimala, Vishvavahana, Pavana, Purujita,Shatru, Trividya, Naravahana.
(68) Manovriddhi, Ahamkara, Kshetrajna, Kshetrapalaka, Tejonidhi, Jnananidhi, Vipaka, Vighnakaraka, Adhara, Anuttara.
(69) Jneya, Jyestha, Nihshreyasalaya, Shaila, Naga, Tanu, Deha,Danavari, Arindama, Charudhi.
(70) Janaka, Charuvishalya, Lokashalyakrita, Chaturveda, Chaturbhava,Chatura, Chaturapriya, Amnaya, Samamaya, Tirthadevashivalaya.
(71) Vahurupa, Maharupa, Sarvarupa, Charachara, Nyayanirvahaka, Nyaya, Nyayagamya, Niranjana, Sahasramurddha, Devendra.
(72) Sarvashastraprabhanjana, Munda, Virupa, Vikrita, Dandi,Gunottama, Pingalaksha, Haryaksha, Nilagriva, Niramaya.
(73) Sahasravahu, Sarvesha, Sharanya, Sarvalokbhrita, Padmasana,Paramjyoti, Paravara, Paramfala, Padmagarbha, Vishvagarbha.
(74) Vichakshana, Paravarajna, Vijesha, Sumukhasumahasana,Devasuragurudeva, Devasurananmaskrita, Devasuramahatra,Devadideva, Devarshidevasuravaraprada, Devasureshvara.
(75) Divya, Devasuramaheshvara, Sarvadevamaya, Achintya, Devatatma,Atmasambhava, Idya, Anisha, Devasimha, Divakara.
(76) Vibudhagravarashreshta, Sarvadevottamottama, Shivajnanarata,Shrimana, Shikhishriparvatapriya, Jayastambha, Vishishtambha,Narasimhanipatana, Brahmachari, Lokachari.
(77) Dharmachari, Dhanadhipa, Nandi, Nandishvara, Nagna,Nagnavratadhara, Shuchi, Lingadhyaksha, Suradhyaksha, Yugadhyaksha.
(78) Yugavaha, Svavasha, Savamsha, Svargasvara, Svaramayasvana,Vijadhyaksha, Vijakarta, Dhanakrita, Dharmavardhana, Dambha.
(79) Adambha, Mahadambha, Sarvabhutamaheshvara, Shmashananilaya,Tishya, Setu, Apratimakriti, Lokottara, Sfutaloka, Tryamabaka.
(80) Andhakari, Makhadveshi, Vishnukandharapatana, Vitadosha,Akshayaguna, Dakshari, Pushadantahrita, Dhurjati, Khandaparashu,Safala.
(81) Nishfala, Anagha, Adhara, Sakaladhara, Mrida, Pandurabha, Nata,Purna, Purayita, Punya.
(82) Sukumara, Sulochana, Samageya, Priyakara, Punyakirti, Anamaya,Manojava, Tirthavara, Jatila, Jiviteshvara.
(83) Jivitantakara, Nitya, Vasureta, Vasukiya, Sadgati, Satkriti, Sakta,Kalakantha, Kaladhara, Mani.
(84) Manya, Mahakala, Sadbhuti, Satyaparayana, Chandrasanjivana,Shasta, Lokaguda, Amaradhipa, Lokavandhu, Lokanatha.
(85) Kritajnakritibhushana, Anapayakshara, Kanta,Sarvashastrabhutasvara, Tejomayadyutidhara, Lokamaya, Agrani, Anu,Shuchismita, Prasannatma.
(86) Durjaya, Duratikrama, Jyotirmaya, Nirakara, Jagannatha, Jaleshvara, Tumbavini, Mahakaya, Vishoka, Shokanashana.
(87) Trilokatma, Trilokesha, Shuddha, Shuddhi, Rathakshaja,Avyaktalakshana, Avyakta, Vishampati, Varashila, Varatula.
(88) Mana, Manadhanamaya, Brahma, Vishnu, Prajapalaka, Hamsa,Hamsagati, Yama, Vedha, Dhata.
(89) Vidhata, Atta, Harta, Chaturmukha, Kailashashikharavasi,Sarvavasi, Satamgati, Hiranyagarbha, Harnia, Purusha.
(90) Purvajapita, Bhutalaya, Bhutapati, Bhutida, Bhuvaneshvara,Samyogi, Yogavida, Brahmanya, Brahmanapriya, Devapriya.
(91) Devanatha, Devajna, Devachintaka, Vishamaksha, Kaladhyaksha,Vrishanka, Vrishavardhana, Nirmada, Nirahamkara.
(92) Nirmoha, Nirupadrava, Darpaha, Darpita, Dripta,Sarvartuparivartaka, Saptajihva, Sahasrachi, Snigddha, Prakritidakshina.
(93) Bhutabhavyabhavanatha, Prabhava, Bhrantinashana, Artha,Anartha, Mahakosha, Parakavyaikapandita, Nishkantaka, Kritananda,Nirvyaja.
(94) Vyajamardana, Sattvavana, Sattvika, Satyakirti, Stambhakritagama,Akampita, Gunagrahi, Suprita, Sumukha, Naikatmanaikakarmakrita.
(95) Sukshma, Shukara, Dakshina, Skandhadhara, Dhurya, Prakata,Pritivarddhana, Aparajita, Sarvasaha, Vidagddha.
(96) Sarvavahana, Adhrita, Svadhrita, Sadhya, Purtamurti, Yashodhara,Varahashringavrika, Vayu, Valavana, Ekanayaka.
(97) Shrutiprakasha, Shrutimana, Ekavandhu, Anekadhrika, Shrivallabha,Shivarambha, Shantabhadra, Samanjasa, Bhushaya, Bhutikrita,
(98) Bhuti, Bhushana, Bhutavahana, Akaya, Bhaktakayastha, Kalajnanai,Kalavapu, Satyavrata, Mahatyagi, Nishthashantiparayana.
(99) Pararthavritti, Varada, Vivittana, Shrutisagara, Anirvinna,Kalankanka, Kalankaha, Svabhavarudra.
100) Madhyastha, Shatrughna, Madhyanashaka, Shikhandi, Kavachi,Shuli, Chandi, Mundi, Kundali, Khadgi.(A few of the names are repeated more than once.)
Vishnu and the other gods prayed to Shiva by calling upon him by these thousand names and offering him lotus flowers. Shiva wished to test Vishnu. So he quietly removed a lotus from the ones that had been offered.Vishnu realized the deception. He plucked out one of his own eyes and rendered it to Shiva as an offering in place of the flower. This pleasedShiva and he appeared. Such was his radiance that the gods, other thanVishnu, could not bear to look at him.Shiva presented Vishnu with the divine sudarshana chakra. He also restored Vishnu’s eye.
Daksha’s Yajna - Daksha’s daughter was Sati and Sati was married to Shiva. Daksha was thus Shiva’s father-in-law.Daksha once organized a yajna (sacrifice). To this, he invited all the other gods and the sages. But he did not invite Shiva. Sati went to the sacrifice and was insulted by her father. Thereupon, she immolated herself in the fire of the yajna.Shiva was stricken with grief. He sent Virbhadra to destroy the yajna.The sacrifice was being held in the foothills of Himalayas, in a place named Kankha. Virabhadra completely destroyed the sacrifice. His companions killed many of gods and the sages, and flung their bodies into the water of the Ganga which flowed nearby. Virabhadra pluckedout the eyes of the god Bhaga, smashed the teeth of the god Pusha and gave the moon-god a resounding kick. He sliced off Indra’s head and the arms of the fire-god Agni. As for Vishnu, a mighty battle raged betweenVirabhadra and Vishnu. But Vishnu more than met his match and had his head cut for his pains. Daksha’s head was also severed by Virabhadra. Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, lost her nose.Brahma was thunderstruck at all this destruction and started to pray to Virabhadra and Shiva. Shiva was pacified and forgave the gods and the sages. Everything was restored to what it had been prior to Virabhadra beginning his process of destruction.(The story of Daksha’s yajna is one of the more interesting stories in the Puranans. But like most stories, the Linga Purana treats it cursorily. If you are interested in this story, you should read the Mahabharata or the Bhagavata Purana.)
Parvati - Sati was reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Mena (or Menaka) and the Himalayas. She had two sisters named Ekaparna and Ekapatala,although she was the eldest. Parvati was also known as Aparna.When Parvati was twelve years old, she began to perform very difficult tapasya so that she might attain Shiva as a husband.At that time, there was a terrible demon named Tarakasura. He was the son of the demon Tara. Tara himself was so powerful that he managed to defeat all the gods. For a thousand years Vishnu fought with Tara, but to no avail. Tara simply picked Vishnu up and flung him far away. Finally,Vishnu prayed to Brahma and obtained all sorts of wonderful powers.With these powers, he managed to kill Tara.But Tarakasura was still around. He defeated the gods and drove them out of heaven. Vishnu fought with Tarakasura for twenty thousand years, but could do nothing to the demon. The gods fled in desperation to Brahma."Don’t be so disconsolate," Brahma assured the gods. "Sati has been reborn as Parvati. She will marry Shiva, and she and Shiva will have a son named kartikeya. He will be your general and will defeatTarakasura."(According to the Shiva Purana, Tarakasura had obtained a boon from Brahma that only Shiva’s son could kill him.)Meanwhile, Parvati had been meditating so that she might marry Shiva,and Shiva was pleased at these prayers.The marriage took place amidst a lot of fanfare. The first son to be born was Ganapati, the second was Skanda or Kartikeya.(More commonly, Skanda is regarded as the elder. The story of how Skanda killed Tarakasura is recounted in the Shiva Purana.)Upamanyu There was a boy named Upamanyu who was once taken on a visit to his maternal uncle’s house. Compared to his cousins, Upamanyu got inferior and diluted milk to drink.He therefore told his mother, "Why can’t I have better milk to drink?’His mother started to weep. "My son," she said, "we are poor. We do not have the money to buy you good milk."But so insistent was her son, that the mother ground some rice with water and gave it to her son to drink, pretending that it was milk. As soon as he tasted what his mother gave him. Upamanyu realized that itwas not milk and began to cry even more profusely.Finally the mother told the son, "Please do not cry. Unfortunately, we are poor. The only option left for those who suffer from misfortune is to pray to Shiva. Perhaps we are amiss in that we did not pray to Shiva in our earlier lives. Why don’t you pray to Shiva now?"Upamanyu started to meditate. He built a hermitage in the Himalyas.Shiva decided to test Upamanyu. He appeared before the boy in the guise of Indra and said, "I am pleased with your tapasya and will grantyou a boon. What boon do you wish for?""I am indeed fortunate that the king of the gods has come to visit me,"replied Upamanyu. "Please grant me the boon that I may be devoted toShiva.""Who is this Shiva?" asked the fake Indra. "I am the king of the gods, I am much superior to that upstart. Worship me instead."Upamanyu was not prepared to hear such insults hurled at Shiva. He thought that he had committed a great sin in allowing such insults to be uttered in his presence. He therefore prepared to kill himself. Shiva now appeared before Upamanyu in his own form and blessed the boy.Through Shiva’s grace, Upamanyu never suffered from a lack of milk to drink.Subsequently, Upamanyu taught the pashupata vrata to Krishna.The Linga Purana now has some section on the virtues of being devoted to Vishnu. It also describes various rites that must be observed inpraying to Shiva. Epilogue - Lomaharshana completed his recital of the Linga Purana and the assembled sages were thrilled with what they had heard. They boweddown in obeisance before Shiva.The Linga Purana is most sacred. Brahma himself has said that a personwho reads it is forgiven all his sins. Reading this text is far superior to meditating, performing sacrifices, or donating alms. Brahma cannot possibly be wrong.The sages thanked Lomaharshana for his pains and went their several ways.
Note : This is only a scribbling note. These are purely my understanding. These may or may not be the correct one. This is not to hurt anybody's feeling.
