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.

 

Veda gyan

Welcome to the 20^th issue of Vedagyan!

Sri Bhagavat Gita:

Verse 3 Chapter 1

pasyaitam pandu-putranam
acarya mahatim camum
vyudham drupada-putrena
tava sisyena dhimata

Duryodana says:

Acharya! Look at the magnificently arranged army formation of Pandavas under the able leadership of Drishtadymna the son of Durpata, your able disciple! Here there is an interesting incident behind that Duryodana points out indirectly to his teacher Sri Dronacharya. Dronacharya and King Durpada were classmates and friends.

They develop a difference of opinion and opposed each other. This results in Drupada doing a penance and obtaining a son to kill Drona! But Dronacharya was a true Brahmana so he readily imparted all his military knowledge to Drushtadymna when as a child he was entrusted to Dronacharya to be educated. Duryodana points out to this mistake in a subtle manner. 

Verse 4 Chapter 1

atra sura mahesv-asa
bhimarjuna-sama yudhi
yuyudhano viratas ca
drupadas ca maha-rathah

Duryodana continues to describe the Pandava army. He says that, there are great warriors equal to Bhima and Arjuna they are Yuyudhana, Virata, Drupada all of whom are maharatas ( This is a ranking in the army those days just like Commander of the modern army).

Verse 5 Chapter 1

dhrishtaketus cekitanah
kasirajas ca viryavan
purujit kuntibhojas ca
saibyas ca nara-pungavah

Drishtaketu,Chekitana, the King of Kasi are there, who are valiant warriors, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, Saibya are also there who are noble among men of their caliber!

Verse 6 chapter 1

yudhamanyus ca vikranta
uttamaujas ca viryavan
saubhadro draupadeyas ca
sarva eva maha-rathah

Yudhamanyu ,Uttamaujas the son of Subadhra,the sons of Draupati are all great maha ratas.

Story of Sri Vishnuchitta….

In the last issue we learnt about Godha or Andal the daughter of Periazvar or Sri Vishnuchitta. Let us now learn how Sri Vishnuchitta came to be called Periazvar. One day, the then Pandiya King called Sri Vallabhadeva convened a conference to discuss the primacy of Lord Narayana among the Vedic Godheads! To this conference he invited Sri Vishnuchitta too. Sri Vishnuchitta was too reluctant to participate in this conference as he did not know much of the Vedas but only knew the Lord to be every thing as for as he is concerned! But Lord appeared in Sri Vishnuchitta’s dream and told him to accept the invitation and proceed to Madurai.

Sri Vishnuchitta accepted the adesa or command from the Lord and proceeded to Madurai. There he was given a royal welcome and was escorted to the venue! The conference began and the scholars began debating various points of views on the subject. Azvar’s turn came and he put forth his arguments forcefully! To his own surprise he was extempore and quoted extensively from the scriptures and established beyond doubt that Sri Narayana is the pratatva or the Supreme Lord! The Pandia King was immensely pleased with Sri Vishnuchitta and declared that he had won the debate and has established the supremacy of the Lord! He also presented the Alwar with a lot of wealth and gifts. He brought Azvar in a procession on his Royal Elephant and accorded the Royal honour to him. While he was being brought to the palace the Lord appeared on his bird mount Sri Garuda, along with consort Sri Lakshmi and also he sported his weapons like Sarnga the bow, Disc, Mace, Shanka the conch etc. Sri Vishnuchitta was so overwhelmed by this sight, immediately sang in praise of the Lord in which he blessed the Lord Himself to live for a thousand years! This was his spontaneous love for the Lord, and he did not want any one to cast an evil eye on the Lord!! These became the famous “Pallandu” that is sung even to today in front of the Lord. Because he went ahead and blessed the Lord Himself, he came to be known as Periazvar.

Brief notes on Sri Madhvacharya the great acharya who established a school of philosophy called Dvaita Philosophy.  

Sri Madhvacharya was born in a Brahmin family in a village near Uduppi in Karnataka in around the year 1238 AD. When he was eight years old, he received the spiritual initiation. He was initiated into Sanyasa at the age of 12 years. His main aim was to oppose the Advaitha philosophy and establish the supremacy of Lord Narayana as paratatva. He had differences with Visishtadhvaitha philosophy of Sri Ramanuja too. He established his own philosophy called Dvaitha Philosophy. Even when he was very young he had robust health, he was good at physical exercises, wrestling, swimming and mountaineering. He had a melodious voice and would recite the verses of Veda that were soul stirring. He traveled the length and breadth of India and gave discourses on Srimad Bhagavata. He was a student of Sri Achyutaprakasa and on assuming the sanyasa he was given a new name called Purnaprajna. He was also known as Anandathirtha and later was named Madhva. He wrote commentaries on Brahma Sutra. When he visited Badrikasrama he presented the commentary on Srimad Bhagavat Gita and he is supposed to have had the darshan of Sri Vyasa at his asrama. On his return journey from the north, he visited all the southern states, and held debates with a number of scholars and won over them. Notable among them are Swami sastrin and Shobana Bhatta. They later became the disciples of Sri Madhvacharya and were known as Narahari Thirtha and Padhmanaba Thirtha. He installed a beautiful idol of Sri Krishna at the Uduppi temple and established the mutt there.

Another famous pandit called Trivikrama pandit during the King jayasimha period engaged in a prolonged debate on the philosophy and was finally won by the Acharya. He became a disciple of Sri Madvacharya.

During the period of the Parisian King Jalaludin Kilji, it was very risky for travelers like acharya, to travel and preach our religion; they would risk their life in doing so. But Sri Madvacharya braved such conditions and once he swam across the river Ganges to reach the other shore. But unfortunately, he and his disciples were caught and brought before the King!

Sri Madhvacharya spoke to the King in chaste Persian and explained his predicament. Seeing a scholar in him he immediately released all of them!

He disappeared from the midst of all and is supposed to have gone to Badrikasrama and dwell there permanently.

Life sketch of Tirumoolar, a great exponent of Yoga and Tantra sastra:

His great contribution is a work called Tirumandiram, a principal Siva Agama literature dealing with yoga and Tantra. It is believed that he belonged to the period of Patanjali as he mentions his yoga sutras in Tirumandiram. This colossal work consists of 3000 verses. They are supposed to have been sung one verse per year over a period of three thousand years! There is an interesting story behind Tirumoolar, he was a yogi who dwelt at Kailas the abode of Lord Shiva, once he wanted to visit the Great Agastiya muni in the Vindhyas of south. So he started his journey towards the southern mountains. On his way after visiting many shrines of Lord Siva he reached Kaveri river bank. There he saw a cowherd called Moolan was laying dead and all his flock were lamenting shedding tears near his mortal remains! This scene moved the Yogi and he wanted to alleviate the sufferings of these cows! As he was endowed with a number of siddhis or capabilities due to his Yogic powers, he performed what is called Para Kaya Pravesam or entering another body other than his own! He left his won body in a tree trunk and entered the mortal remains of the cowherd! Soon he sprang to life and all the cows around him jumped in joy, rejoicing at his regaining life. He took charge of these cows and escorted them to their respective houses. Afterward he returned back, while he was returning, he went in search of his body kept in a tree trunk, but to his surprise he found his body missing. Then he meditated and found that it was Lord Siva who had removed his body from there and wanted him to propagate the message of yoga in his present form itself. In the meanwhile, Moolan’s wife approached him and wanted him to return home. But he refused, she complained to the village elders about this strange behaviour. They thoughtfully analysed his behaviour and ruled that he was neither mad nor foolish and advised her that it was a yogi in the body of her husband and she had to respect his sentiments and live separately! After this he reached the abode of Lord Siva at Triuvavaduthurai near Kumbakonam. There he sat under an Arasu tree he went into yogic trance and later rendered the first verse of his Tirumandiram a great work on yoga! He came to be known as Tirumoolar. He laid emphasis on the upkeep of the body in order to achieve the lofty goals of yoga. His famous aphorisms are “ Anbe Sivam”, “ Udambai valarthen Uyir valarthene” etc. He stated that there are five cows in the house of a Paarpan (par means to see, so it is a seer) that wander freely without any control, if they are controlled by the cowherd, and then they would yield all the milk. This is an esoterically mentioned passage. Here the cows refer to one’s organs of perception and the cowherd is the Lord Supreme. The milk refers to the Eternal Knowledge!

Do you know?  That “Vyasa” is an official name given to a great exponent of Vedas and who is entrusted with the job of codifying the Vedas in every Dvapara yuga! Till now 28 such saints have appeared and the one who will don the mantle in the coming Dvapara yuga will be “Asvathama” the son of “Dronacharya” who will be named Vyasa!   

We shall see more of our tradition and ethos in our next issue!

Veda gyan

Welcome to the 19^th issue of Vedagyan!

Srimat Bhagavat Gita

Verse2 Chapter1

sanjaya uvaca
drishtva tu pandavanikam
vyudham duryodhanas tada
acaryam upasangamya
raja vacanam abravit

Sanjaya says, that seeing the formation of Pandavas, Duryodana approaches his teacher Dronacharya and speaks to him.

 It also implies that whenever mind is compelled to submit to a discipline like yoga, first thing that would happen is, the mind will seek the support of the intellect, to ascertain that, its out bound consciousness or earthly consciousness is firmly entrenched and will not be disturbed! As we have seen earlier that Kurukshetra can also mean this body!  

The Story of Sri Andal

Andal was a venerated female Alwar and a Vishnu baktha and an avathara of Bhoomadevi, who married Lord Ranganatha.

She was found as a child by another Alwar Sri Vishnuchitta (one who always thinks of Lord Vishnu) in his garden. He named her Godha. Recall the sloka of Vishnu sahasranama where the Lord Vishnu says that “Who so ever thinks of me always and worships me without break then I take up his welfare as my duty”. Such was the character of Sri Vishnuchitta. As he was a naishtika brahmachari a strict follower of celibacy, he did not get married. So requested the women folk of his neighborhood to take care of the baby.

Years passed and the girl grew to be a handsome maiden! Sri Vishnuchitta used to pluck flowers and stitch them into garland and carry it to the presiding deity Sri Rangamannar. She used to help her father in his routine and in his rituals. She also was an ardent devotee of Lord Ranganatha. When she was young child she used to hear a lot of stories about the exploits of Sri Vishnu and his Avatharas or incarnations and his enchanting personality. Now she had resolved that she would marry only Lord Ranganatha and none else! One day when Sri Vishnuchitta returned from his daily routine he happened to peep into Sri Godha’s quarters. Usually she used to keep the garland ready for Sri Vishnuchitta to carry it to the Lord. That day since Sri Vishnuchitta returned little early he went near her living quarters to fetch the garland from her. What he saw shocked him and he became very nervous and burst into her room and reprimanded her for her conduct. She had actually adorned herself with the garland and stood before the mirror to watch her own bewitching beauty! But she had done this to make sure that the length of the garland is suitable to the deity, as she used to imagine herself as the bride and the Lord as the groom!

Sri Vishnuchitta told her that her act was a grave mistake and should seek pardon from the lord. Saying so, he went out to get a new garland from the flower vendors nearby. He took the new garland and rushed to the temple. He adorned the deity with it; no sooner he looked up the garland broke and fell down. He rushed again and got a new one and that also broke. This went on for several times, Alwar presumed that because his daughter wore it before she had displeased Lord very much. At that time to his utter surprise he heard the voice of the Lord, asking Sri Vishnuchitta to bring him only the garland that was first worn by his daughter! This was not fully comprehensible to the Alwar even then he did what he was told to do.

He went back and told his daughter to make a garland and wear it herself and then give. Then he took it to the deity, this time the garland stood without breaking! Every day passed as it is. Alwar would only carry the garland after his daughter tries it on her. Alwar, as any other parent get his daughter married to a suitable groom and was anxious to search for one. But when he broke the news to his daughter he was in for yet another shock of his life. She told him emphatically that she would only marry the Lord Ranganatha and none else! Startled Alwar explained to her that would be impossible, and the Lord in the present times would not assume physical form to accept her hand. But she countered him saying that Bakthi or devotion to the Lord would make him appear in person. To this argument Sri Vishnuchitta had no counter and accepted it. He added that stead fast contemplation on Lord alone could achieve this objective. He was also afraid that due the tough goal she has set for herself she might even remain a spinster. He wept alone and confessed that he was without any attachment to worldly desires, after Sri Godha came into his life he started showering upon her, the parental affection and now he is confronted with a situation where he can not see her suffer in her life! That very night the Lord Ranganatha appeared in his dream and told him that He would marry Vishnuchitta’s daughter as desired by her and he should go ahead and make all arrangements for the wedding and on the appointed day bring the bride to the temple sanctum sanctorum. There He would personally appear and claim her!

Did He personally appear and claimed her hand? To know, wait for the next issue! 

The man with two wives, the story continues…..

The second wife with two strands of hair heard about the transformation the first wife had gone through and the rags to riches story of her husband. She was infuriated and shook in rage! She at once decided to undertake the journey to the forest herself and get the elusive bewitching beauty and the riches! Lo! She encountered the very same bush that spoke to her in a soft voice!

It told her to fetch a pail of water and quench its thirst! Though she did not pay any attention in the beginning she later listened to the bush! Instead of showing sympathy she grew wild and kicked the bush forcefully and hurled abuses. She shouted that she had been victimized by her husband and would not tolerate any one disturbing her hunt for wealth. Telling this she strode further. She met the snake which requested her to lift it and leave it under the shade of a tree; instead she greeted it with a thud of a stone, causing an injury! Then she came across the horse that requested her to get the horse gram from the nearby field and feed it. She wouldn’t oblige and gave it a thrashing. She finally arrived at the river bank. The river was placid; it spoke to her in a soft voice and beckoned her to move across without whipping the mud underneath. This request fell into deaf ears! She did not heed to the river’s request and just did the opposite of what she was told to do.

She any how reached the other side and there appeared an angel and she told her to stay in the temple and wait for the priest to finish his pooja and partake the food offering left by him after taking bath in the temple tank! The lady looked much disinterested and had determined what to do next. First of all she was hungry. She waited till the priest appeared the moment he stepped into the temple she gave a loud shriek and this frightened him and he ran away without completing his daily routine. Immediately she took away the food that was let behind and gobbled it up! Since she was very tired she immediately fell asleep and slept like a log! Next morning when she got up she had lost those two strands of hair she used to have!! She grew very upset and set out to go back to her village, as nothing had happened.

The river was in spate and she could not cross it, when she attempted she was swept away and was battered and bruised and reached the other bank with torn clothing! She limped back, and was greeted by the wild horse that charged on her and she fell down on the boulders and got injured. No sooner she managed to stand up she was bitten the snake and though she did not die, she experienced excruciating pain; finally she managed to reach the edge of her village where she saw the entire path was strewn with menacing thorns! That pricked her foot and left it profusely bleeding! After all this she reached her village totally worn out and the villagers abused her and did not allow her to come into the town. She had spend her night in the cold and realized that her behavior was responsible for this state of affairs. She repented and sought pardon from her husband and his other wife. They were so nice that they not only gave her food and shelter but also nursed her wounds!

We shall meet in the next issue and discuss more about our great tradition and ethos!

         

 

Veda gyan

Welcome to the 18^th issue of Vedagyan!

Srimat Bagavat Gita:

We shall see the purport of this great work of Philosophy. This is a collection of poems that deals with many subjects related to holistic living and leads one to self realization. This is in the form of a dialog between Arjuna the great pandava and Lord Krishna. This opens with a dramatic stanza where in Sanjaya, the personal secretary to the blind Kaurava King Drtharashtra, the father of Duryodhana and others. An important point to be noted here is that both the king and his assistant are far away from the battle field. But due to the blessings of Vyasa the sage, Sanjaya gets to see the entire war in close quarters and also hear all the conversations that takes place between the warring kings and their men! This enables him to give a running account to his King! This might remind all of us of the modern “Live commentary!”

The opening verse is a question posed by the King to his assistant. The King asked “What do my people and the Pandavas assembled in Kurukshetra, the land of Dharma do?”

We shall see many more verses from the next issue and try to understand their deep purport.

A brief sketch about a great Vaishnva Bhaktha and a celebrated Alwar known as Namalwar.

Sri Namalwar was born to Sri Kariyar at Tirukuruhur on the banks of river Tambrabarani river in the present day Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India. From the very beginning he stayed inside a hallow of a tamarind tree in the temple precincts! And he did not speak or take any food for nearly sixteen years! When Sri Madhurakavi Alwar went there first time and looked at Namalwar and asked him “What if little is born to the dead and What will it eat and where will it lie?” When this question was posed to Sri Namalwar he opened his mouth to speak for the first time. He answered that “It will eat that and lie there”

Namalwar was also known as Maran, Sadagopan, Parankusan. This Alwar never left his abode at Tirukuruhur and remained there and sang in praise of all the Lords residing in the famous Vishnu shrines. It is believed that all these deities appeared before him and blessed him!

The biographical sketch is available to us from the works of Garudavahana Pandithar who was a contemporary of Sri Ramanuja. Another work, by Pinpazagia Perumal Jeeyar called Guru Parampara Prabhavam also throws some light into the life of this Alwar.

The story of Appudhiadigal.

Appudhiadigal a great devotee of Lord Siva was born in Tingalur near Tanjavur in Tamilnadu, India. This town is one of the nine temples dedicated to the nine planets. It is the place where Lord of the moon is the presiding deity! Out 63 Nayanmars, the devotees of Lord Shiva Appudhiadigal did not worship Lord Shiva but worshiped his great devotee Tirunavukkarasar! One day during hot summer Appudhiadigal had arranged for cool water to be distributed to the wary travelers in front of his house. He had named it “Tirunavukkarasar” Taneer Pandhal (Water shed). When Tirunavukkarasar saw this he was surprised and wanted to meet the man behind this. He met Appudhiadigal and asked him the reason for naming it on some one else excepting him self. This infuriated Appudhiadigal and he reprimanded the traveler for having brought discredit to Tirunavukkarasar! Looking at the devotion to the Lord Shiva and the love towards him, he disclosed his real identity as Tirunavukkarasar. Hearing this Appudhiadigal was shocked and apologized for having spoken so rudely to him and fell at his feet seeking pardon.

 He also invited Tirunavukkarasar to his house to partake lunch along with his family. Tirunavukkarasar felt happy and agreed to his request. Appudhiadigal’s wife had prepared an elaborate lunch for Tirunavukkarasar and as soon as he arrived at their house they accorded a ceremonial welcome to him and took him in.

As the lunch was ready to be served Appudhiadigal asked his son to go to the garden at his back yard and bring banana leaves to serve the lunch to their guest. He promptly went into the garden to get the leaves from the tree. Just then he was bitten by a cobra and died on the spot! Appudhiadigal’s wife was waiting anxiously for the boy to return, but in vain.

After a while she herself went into to the garden. She was shocked to find her son lying dead near the tree and his body had turned blue and that suggested that the boy had been bitten by a snake! She hurried back home and informed her husband what she saw. Both despite their extreme sorrow, decided that the guest should never leave without food and went back into the garden and rolled up the body of their son in a mat and kept it aside, and without showing their predicament on their faces, readied the food for their guest! As Tirunavukkarasar was about to begin partaking his lunch, and he asked Appudhiadigal to call his son also to join them! He did not know what to reply. But Tirunavukkarasar insisted that without him he would not take the food. Tears started rolling down the cheeks of the couple and sobbing profusely they narrated their predicament!

Tirunavukkarasar was moved by their devotion and adherence to Dharma and immediately went along with the body of their son to the temple at Tingalur and prayed to Lord Shiva to give their son back and sang Padhigams in praise of the Lord. To every ones surprise the boy got up as though from deep slumber and paid his respects to Tirunavukkarasar and his parents and to the Lord. Every one was happy and Appudhiadigal was immensely pleased that Lord and Tirunavukkarasar have both blessed them. He wanted Tirunavukkarasar to come back home and take food as agreed. All of them returned and Tirunavukkarasar took food and stayed for few more days with the family and then proceeded on his pilgrimage.

Story Time!

The Story of the man with two wives!

Once upon a time there lived a poor man with two of his wives in a small hut at the outskirts of a village. He used to go to the nearby forest to gather firewood and bring them back to the village and sell them to the needy and make a living! Obviously he could not meet his needs fully. Some days they had to go hungry as well!

Despite his utter poverty he was an honest person and had a kind heart. On the contrary one of his wives was very foul tempered and ruthless person. Another interesting aspect about his wives is that they just had one and two strands of hair respectively on their scalp!!! The women with a single strand of hair was a noble women, and kind hearted too. Each of them had different quarters and the husband used to live in either of them for some time.

One day, the women with a single strand of hair told her husband to go into to the deep forest and look for some rare wood that would fetch a better price in the market. The husband readily agreed and the very next day he set out on his journey into the deep woods. She had packed his lunch and dinner and saw him off.

It was quite hot and humid and he continued to tread his way up the forest. While he was going he encountered a vast bush of Jasmine herb! Due to the hot climate and lack of water it was withering. He looked at the bush with passion! Suddenly to his utter surprise he heard a voice from above, that said that he will have to send his wives instead! And he would strike it rich in his life! Though he couldn’t believe his ears, he made up his mind to return back home and send his wives to the forest and try his luck!

Before sun set he hurriedly returned to his village. Once he was home he told both his wives about what he had heard and urged them to try it out as early as possible. The one with a single strand of hair received it with all humility but the one with two strands was full of rage! She shouted at the top of her voice and hurled abuses on both and drove both of them out of their dwelling place! She vowed that she could not tolerate them any more and ordered them to eek out a living on their own. They quietly left the house and spent the chilly night in a near by abandoned inn! Next morning they both toiled in the hot sun and built a hut and settled! The very next day the wife told her husband that she would like to try her luck by going into the forest. The husband felt sorry for her, as she has to tread all alone into the thick forest. But her resolve was indomitable! As resolved she set out to explore the forest land all alone! Her husband accompanied her up to the fringe of the forest and bid her good bye with tears rolling down his cheeks!

She swiftly strode into the forest and vanished from his sight. She walked for a long time and it was noon. She felt tired and thirsty, and sat near a thorny bush to eat what she had carried with her. It was just then; it happened she heard a faint voice coming from the bush! She looked around for any inhabitant but there was none! She listened intently. It was the bush that was calling her attention! It told her that it had not been getting water for many months due to failing monsoon and had managed to survive till that day, but could not hold on any more. Yet another day it would die. The bush requested her to fetch water from a nearby stream and water it. Though she wanted to go on her own way in search of wealth, the pathetic situation of the bush moved her. She readily agreed to help the plant! The plant felt relieved and thanked her. She went to the stream that was quite far off from the bush in the hot sun and returned with water in bamboo shafts and poured them on the bush! Just before her eyes the bush bounced back to life! Now she could hear the bush talking to her clearly. The plant told her to tread on into the forest and told her that she would encounter many surprises. It also told her not to miss her meeting with it on her return.

 She moved on and on her way she came across a huge snake! The snake could not move as it was sick. It spoke to the women and requested her to lift her up leave near the shade of the tree nearby. Without any hesitation she helped the snake. The snake told her that there won’t be any danger to her due to any of the reptiles on her way and added that she should not forget to visit her on her way back.

Further on her way she came across a wild horse the horse beckoned her and asked her to fetch some horse gram growing in the wild near by as she could not move all by her self, due to her run down health! The women thought that she had helped the needy all along and felt that she should continue to do so. She went in search of horse gram and found it in the far away slopes of the mountain and brought it to feed the horse. The horse was immensely happy. She thanked the lady and requested her to come back meet her on the way back. 

The women came to the river that was in its torrents! She thought that she could not cross, and then she stumbled upon a long pole and decided to cross the river with the help of that pole. It was then she heard the river speaking to her! The river said that she need not use the pole to cross and she would not harm her if she crossed it gently. The lady was much pleased and thanked the river and crossed it without causing much ripples!

When she reached the other bank of the river, there was a surprise in store for her. An angel appeared in front of her and asked her why she was treading alone in the forest. The women replied that she is very poor and also not lucky to have a good appearance. But despite her looks her husband was kind to her and narrated the story of how she was driven out of her house by the other wife of her husband. Even now she did not anchor any hard feelings towards the other women! This humility and sincerity pleased the angel. She told the women that she would help her to overcome the problems and lead a peaceful life.

She advised the lady to go the temple near by and sleep there overnight and wait for the priest who would visit and offer prayers to the deity there and leave food offerings.  She told the lady to eat those food offerings after taking a bath in the tank adjoining the temple, and offer prayers to the deity. Saying this, the angel vanished suddenly. The lady took these instructions seriously and followed everything meticulously, next day on dawn to her utter surprise she had regained her beauty and her long black curly hair too! Her joy knew no bounds. Tears rolled down her cheek, and she thought of her husband, who would be immensely pleased to see her like this. So she immediately wanted to return to her house.

While she was coming back she reached the river bank. Now the river was placid! The river spoke to her in a soft hushed voice and told her that a bag full of fine pearls is her gift to the women. No sooner the river told her this, a bag came sailing near her and the lady took it out and opened it. It contained dazzling pearls. She thanked the river and took the bag and walked.

 Just then she heard the neighing of a horse. She saw the same horse that was fed by her. By its side there was a new white steed. The horse told her to take the steed home and ride on it when ever she wanted to travel long distances. The horse added that the steed was capable of running as fast as lightening!

The lady thanked the horse and mounted the steed and sped her way back home.

Then she saw the snake waiting for her return. Smilingly she dismounted from the horse and bent down to ask the snake how she feels. The snake told her that she would show her a treasure that she could carry home and be happy for the rest of her life! The lady followed the snake and reached a huge banyan tree. The snake told her to dig up under the tree. She did as she was told, Lo! Behold! She saw a gleaming gold pot full of jewels, the snake also presented her with a brilliant ruby as a gift and bid her good bye!

She now reached the bush which was in full bloom of flowers wafting its fragrance all around! The bush called her and told her to pluck those flowers and also added that they would never wither, and stay fresh and fragrant always! It also directed the lady to move little further into the bush and find a bundle of choicest clothes laced with gold and silver. She was overjoyed at all these happenings and thanked the bush and told the bush about the other gifts she was given. The bush told her to come over when ever she felt depressed and promised her to be her good friend. Finally she took leave of it with a heavy heart!

It was already night when she reached her hut and she knocked the door. Her husband opened the door and he could not recognize his wife after all she has transformed into a maiden! The whole night both of them sat under the moon light and he heard the story of rags to riches from her. Next day at dawn she went to the village to exchange some gold and bought clothes, food, and also arranged to get a house built for them. The villagers knew her to be humble and readily came forward to help her and built a house for her. She moved into to her new house along with her husband.

What happened to the other wife? Does she know about her husband and his first wife has become rich? More over does she know that the lady got back her beauty?

For the answers, wait till the next issue of Vedagyan.