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.