Veda gyan

Welcome to the 22^nd Issue of Vedagyan . In the last issues we saw thirteen verses from Baghavat Gita and in this issue too we shall continue the first chapter.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita.

Verse 14 Chapter 1

tatah svetair hayair yukte
mahati syandane sthitau
madhavah pandavas caiva
divyau sankhau pradadhmatuh

There, mounted on the chariot, drawn by white horses Arjuna and Lord Krishna blew their holy conches along with the Pandavas.

Verse 15 Chapter 1

pancajanyam hrsikeso
devadattam dhananjayah
paundram dadhmau maha-sankham
bhima-karma vrkodarah

Hrshikesa (Lord) blew his Panchajanya, Arjuna blew his Devattam, Bhima capable of Herculean tasks, and who has appetite for more blew his conch called Poundram.

Verse 16 Chapter 1

anantavijayam raja
kunti-putro yudhisthirah
nakulah sahadevas ca
sughosa-manipuspakau

Raja Yudhishtira the son of Kunti blew his conch called Ananthavijaya, Nakula and Sahadeva blew their conches called Sugosha and Manipushpaka respectively.

Verse 17 Chapter 1

kasyas ca paramesv-asah
sikhandi ca maha-rathah
dhrishtadyumno viratas ca
satyakis caparajitah

The King of Kasi the valiant archer, Sikhandi, Dhrshtadyumna, and Virata all of whom are great charioteers and can not be conquered.

Verse 18 Chapter 1

drupado draupadeyas ca
sarvasah prithivi-pate
saubhadras ca maha-bahuh
sankhan dadhmuh prithak prithak

Oh! King, Drupada the sons of Draupadi, and the others as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, blew their conches.

Verse 19 Chapter 1

sa ghoso dhartarastranam
hridayani vyadarayat
nabhas ca prithivim caiva
tumulo ’bhyanunadayan

The sound of these conches, being blown together vibrated in the sky and upon earth. It rattled the hearts of the sons of Dritarashtra. 

To be continued.... 

Story of Sri Kulasekara Alwar

Sri Kulasekara was born to a Chera king called Didavrthan and Nandhanayaki during 8^th century (subject of speculation) in Malai Nadu what is known as Kerala today. Both the parents of Kulasekara were great Vishnu Bakthas, so naturally the child too was one. During his formative years, the King made arrangements for Kulasekara to learn all Sastras, the language of Sanskrit, the Vedic scriptures apart from poetry, literature etc.

 He also learnt the art of fighting the wars, the knowledge of weaponry, horse riding, elephant riding, archery, and other skills. In the due course the King installed his son Kulasekara as the successor to his throne. He also ruled the kingdom in an exemplary manner. He valiantly fought many wars and won over the kings of Chola and Pandia dynasties. Looking at his prowess the Pandia King gave his daughter in marriage to the King.

 A son and a daughter were born to him whom he named Didavrathan and Ila.  Kulasekara apart from being a benevolent King was an un paralleled Vishnu baktha. His attachment to Sri Rama, an avatara of Sri Narayana was unique. Once there was a Ramayana discourse at his palace and the king was listening to it with rapt attention. When the person telling the story told about Ram’s hermitage at the forest was surrounded by the demo ness Surpanaka and telling Lakshmana to remain inside the hut to guard Sita, Rama came out where he was confronted by many sword wielding Asuras of the demoness Sri Kulasekara lost himself and totally identified himself with the scene and ordered his army to go on alert to protect Rama against these asuras.

 Realising the situation the ministers asked the sage who was narrating the story to hasten and tell about Rama winning the war with Ravana. So as soon as he narrated the story ahead the King became calm! The King’s Vishnu bakthi annoyed his ministers and once they stole the Navaratna mala adorning the Rama idol at the pooja mantap.

 This startled the King and he called his ministers to inquire into this incident. Some of them suggested that it must be the handiwork of Vishnu bakthas who thronged the palace! King was shocked to hear this from his own ministers and decided to crack it himself. He ordered a pot full of poisonous snakes to be brought to him and declared that if it was the work of a Vishnu Baktha then he would insert his hand into to the pot, and would be bitten by the snakes and die, if it was not true nothing would happen to him. He did slip his hand into the pot and nothing happened.

 At this juncture the ministers came out clean and accepted their mistake to have implicated the name of Visnu bakthas and sought King’s pardon. The King was kind to them too, and pardoned them.

His songs were in praise of Sri Rama and he sang a number of songs on deities of temples he visited and they are known as Perumal Tirumozi.

Because of his un paralleled bakthi to Lord Narayana he came to be known as Kulasekara Alwar.

Story of Meiporul Nayanar

Chetinadu was an ancient kingdom and Tirukovalur was a famous capital of that kingdom. It was being ruled by a famous king called Meiporul. A great Siva baktha. He ruled his kingdom with impeccable law and justice and was a peace loving king who ushered prosperity to his country men. His devotion to Lord Siva was total, that he would honour his devotees and would not tolerate any harm to them. His valor made all his neighbouring kings friendly towards him. But one of the nearby kingdoms that was ruled by Muthanatan was not able to accept this, and waged a number of wars against Meiporul, but only to loose every time!

 So he decided to adopt a wicked method and defeat the King, he dressed up himself as a Siva baktha smearing the sacred ash all over his body and holding the holy book of songs of Siva in hand and concealing a dagger in it, went to the King Meiporul with an intention of killing him. It was already dark when he reached the palace. Thathan one of the close assistants to the king stopped him and told him that the king has retired for the day in his private chambers. But the camouflaged devotee did not bother to listen and barged into King’s quarters.

 Confronted with a Lord’s devotee at this odd hour, the King hurriedly got up and received the guest with reverence. The devotee told the king that he had brought a holy book that praises Lord Siva and should be taught to a person in privacy. So the King asked his wife to retire to another chamber immediately and offered a seat to the Devotee and sat under his feet. Immediately the wicked man took out the dagger and stabbed the King. Right from the beginning Thathan suspected the stranger in the guise of a devotee and was watching the happenings immediately rushed to help the sagging King and took out his sword to kill the stranger.

 But to his surprise, the King forbade him and told him that no harm should come upon the stranger as he was donning the holy marks of the Lord and should be treated as a great devotee. He asked the body guard to escort the stranger who by now had been identified as the King of the neighboring country till the edges of his kingdom.

Thus he established that his devotion to Lord Siva was dear to him than his life.

 

    

 

Veda gyan

Welcome to the 21^st issue of Vedagyan. We have been discussing the Baghavat Gita in the previous issue and shall continue that in this issue too.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita.

Verse 7 Chapter 1

asmakam tu visista ye
tan nibodha dvijottama
nayaka mama sainyasya
samjnartham tan bravimi te

For your information, Oh! The best of Brahmanas! Let me tell you about the Generals who are specially qualified to lead my armed forces!

By saying so Duryodhana in fact takes a dig at all those who are assembled to lead his army! Especially Dronacharya and Bhismacharya. Because both of them openly laud the talent and appreciate the right behavior and adherence to Dharma!

Duryodhana was always against their attitude.

 Verse 8 Chapter 1

bhavan bhismas ca karnas ca
kripas ca samitim-jayah
ashvatthama vikarnas ca
saumadattis tathaiva ca

There are great men like you, Bishmacharya, Karna, Kripa, Aswattama, Vikarna and Somadatta.

Duryodhana mentions these names to Bishmacharya and others, indirectly urging them to be loyal to him only.

Verse 9 Chapter 1

anye ca bahavah sura
mad-arthe tyakta-jivitah
nana-shastra-praharanah
sarve yuddha-visaradah

There are many valiant men who are prepared to lay down their lives; they are all well trained in warfare as well as in handling, many weapons.

Verse 10 Chapter 1

aparyaptam tad asmakam
balam bhismabhiraksitam
paryaptam tv idam etesam
balam bhimabhiraksitam

Our strength is abundant and are protected by Bishmacharya, whereas the Pandavas are protected by the limited strength of Bhima.

Verse 11 Chapter 1

ayanesu ca sarveshu
yatha-bhagam avasthitah
bhismam evabhirakshantu
bhavantah sarva eva hi

All of you must hold your respective positions in the formation, and extend support to Bishmacharya.

Verse 12 Chapter 1

tasya sanjanayan harsam
kuru-vrddhah pitamahah
simha-nadam vinadyoccaih
sankham dadhmau pratapavan

The Bishmapitamaha (Bishma the great grand father) took up his conch and blew his conch that was like a roar of a lion!

Verse 13 Chapter 1

tatah sankhas ca bheryas ca
panavanaka-gomukhah
sahasaivabhyahanyanta
sa shabdas tumulo ’bhavat

Immediately therafter all conch shells, bugles, trumpets, horns called as Gomukha were sounded. All these together were a big roar and reached crescendo.

Story of Kalidwamsa or Nila who later came to be known as Tirumangai Alwar.

Nila was an ordinary folk, from a tribal race! He lived a nomadic life. His physical strength that he believed came in handy to

Him, to intimidate people and exhort money and wealth. He was a dreaded person among his countrymen and people were always weary of his attacks. The King of that region hit upon a novel idea to contain this unruly person. He made Nila and his men the tax collectors! And they were convinced by the king to lead a respectable life with a decent remuneration from the kingdom. This assignment was acceptable to them and started going about their new found job! Near his dwelling place in the outskirts of the kingdom there was a beautiful lotus pond. That pond used to be frequented by damsels from heaven! One day the local physician was walking around that pond and he found a beautiful maiden alone near that pond looking lost! He went near her and asked her who she was and she was unable to reply. She had forgotten all about her past! The physician had no issues so he decided to adopt her as his daughter and told her that she could come to his house and live there. She agreed and followed him. He named her Kumudavalli. In those days there was no system of marriage, eligible youth could approach and propose to marry directly. In the meanwhile Nila happened to see this girl and immediately approached the physician to get his daughter married to him. The physician politely told him that she was not his daughter by birth and it would be proper for him to approach the girl directly and get her views! Nila was so captivated by her beauty; he decided to ask the girl for her hand. So he went to her and proposed to marry her. She thought about for a while and answered that there is a condition to be fulfilled. She surprisingly did not ask for wealth or any of the worldly pleasures, but asked Nila to turn into a Vaishnava and feed one thousand Brahmins every day and in the due course of time would marry him. Nila did not know, who Lord Narayana was and what it means to be a Vaishnavite. He asked her all the details. She told him that he will have to sport the twelve insignias of Lord Narayana and go to the temple located in their precincts and pray to the presiding deity. He readily agreed and went away. He told his men about what transpired between him the girl. Though hey were all amused and felt skeptical about the whole affair, they did not oppose him openly because he was a mighty one! He went about his job more thoroughly. He adorned the insignia of Sri Narayana all over his body and ordered his men to find one thousand Brahmins and bring them to his house for accepting the food offerings. They obeyed him and went into the town and rounded all the Brahmin folks they could muster and to make up the deficient numbers, they even went to nearby villages and brought Brahmins.

They were all lined up in front of Nila and were fed to their satisfaction. Nila even drank the water that was used to wash their feet. Such was his reverence! Gradually this became a daily routine and there was a perceptible change in Nila’s attitude and he had become highly mellowed person and could not spend even a day without worshipping Sri Narayana and feeding the Brahmin folks! The girl, as promised, married him and started a life as great devotee of Lord Narayana.   Days passedby, gradually his wealth too began to wane and posed difficulty in continuing his activities. He was determined to continue his activities some how or other. In the meanwhile because he did not pay the tax collected from the citizens, the King got annoyed and sent his emissaries to enquire about the activities. He was informed that the money was spent on the temple renovation. He came personally and ordered arrest to Nila and produced before him. Nila confessed to his transgression and told him the money had been spent on the temple renovation and feeding of Brahmin folks. The King was annoyed and ordered Nila be put in jail! So he was promptly arrested. Only then the King heard a voice from the heavens and that declared that Nila was innocent and was doing a great service to God and to the Brahmin folks! Hearing this King was convinced and ordered release of Nila. As usual he started conducting his anna dhana and worship. Even his new found wealth, became meager to continue his activities. He had a great faith in his own physical prowess and decided to take to his old time occupation of intimidating people who have ill gotten wealth but refused to part with it when asked by him for a noble cause! He once again went about it methodically. He and his men would accost wayfarers and relieve them of their wealth. One day a newly married couple came through the forest. And they were bedecked with innumerable jewels and as soon as the news reached Nila about their journey, he decided to attack them and take away all their wealth. He immediately rushed with his mighty men and surrounded them and ordered them to put down all their jewels and the wealth! The couple smilingly obliged him and also requested all their men to do so. Soon there was a pile of ornaments of gold, silver, diamonds, rubies and pearls and vessels of gold, silver etc. For a moment even Nila was taken aback at the enormity of his catch. Suddenly he noticed a ring in one of the fingers of the foot of the bridegroom. He immediately asked him to remove it and give it to him. The bridegroom pretended to try hard and told him that the ring would not come off, and suggested that if Nila could remove it by himself he may take it away. Nila wondered how gullible the bridegroom was and immediately attempted to remove it. Even though he used all his strength it would not budge! He immediately put the ring between his teeth and wrenches it out. Lo! He felt something strange happening to him, an unusual feeling of happiness was overwhelming him. He was feeling ecstatic! He immediately got up and started to control his feelings and told the bridegroom that he should not be foolish in trying to cast a spell on him and the wealth he is now taking is for a good cause. Looking amused the bridegroom asked him what the cause was. Nila told him that he is constructing a huge wall for the Lord Narayana’s temple and also to feed the Brahmins in the village. Immediately both the bride and the groom assumed their original form of Lord Sri Narayana and his consort Sri Lakshmi!

Nila felt a shiver of guilt passing through his body fell at the feet of Lord like a log and sought his pardon. Lord told him that he would absolve him of his sins and also told him to abstain from harming people in order to serve Him. Nila was instantly transformed into a poet and started to sing in praise of the Lord! These were called Peria Tiru Mozi a compendium of 1084 songs. Later he proceeded on a pilgrimage and composed songs of various presiding deities of temples he visited.

They are Tiru Kurundaandagam, Tiru Nedundaandagam, Tiru ezukoorurikkai, Peria Tiru madal, Siriya Tirumadal . He came to be known as Tirumangai Alwar because the King had assigned the area that Nila was operating to himself, and called him Tirumangai mannan.

Story of  Ilayankudi Maranar a great Saivite Saint

Ilayankudi Maranar was a famous land lord with huge land holdings and was engaged in farming activities. He was also a great Siva baktha and would serve all His devotees with reverence! He usually fed the pilgrims who are great devotees of Siva and took care of their needs on their pilgrimage.Eventhough he had immense wealth, he could not sustain his activities for a long time, because of vagaries of nature the produce from his farms dwindled. He did not give up his holy activities because he did not get enough from his lands, instead he started selling off his personal wealth and the jewels his wife had and conducted his activities. Gradually famine gripped him and he became very poor. He would sow some grains and greens next to his thatched hut and that fed him and his wife who managed to get two morsels a day. Even during these times he would invite some devote pilgrims to his hut and fed them with the food that they have managed to prepare. Lord Siva decided that it is time that people should know his greatness. So He decided to enact an episode. One day it was dark and was raining heavily. Both Ilayankudimaranar and his wife had nothing to eat as they had run out of any food grains. So they just had couple of glasses of water and went to sleep in their leaky shed. Suddenly he heard a knock at his door. When he opened he saw an old devotee of Siva with wet clothes shivering! Ilayankudimaranar immediately ushered him in and gave him his clothes to wear and to rest a while. He understood that his guest was hungry and needs food. He woke up his wife and told her about what happened!

She did not even hesitate for a moment and thought of ways to feed the guest. She told Maranar to go out into the field and fetch the just sowed seeds of grain; she also suggested that as it was raining the seeds would have got collected in a corner of the field.

Maranar immediately ventured out into the pouring rain unmindful of thunder and lightening and collected the grains that were sowed.

He handed them over to his wife who washed them well and removed their husk and went about preparing for cooking it. Suddenly she realized that there is no fire wood, and she hesitatingly told her husband about it. He did not wait for a second, but went out and got his sickle, cut the logs used for holding his roof steady! And gave them to his wife. She started cooking, then she asked him to get the greens that had sprouted behind his house and got them cooked too. Hot meal was now ready and both went to wake up the old guest who had fallen asleep. When he opened his eyes he had transformed into his real form Behold! Lord Siva with his consort Sri Parvathi on their celestial bull gave blessings to the couple! The couple knew no bounds for their joy! They fell at the feet of their Lord asked for pardon for having made him wait for his food, though He was feeding the entire universe. Lord felt happy at their disposition and blessed them with a long life and many more years of devoted service.