lord Vishnu's Dasavtar Stories ( 10 Avtars of Vishnu)

  

 

Dasavtar Stories ( 10 Avtars of Vishnu) 

In Hindu mythology there are four Yuga (Epochs), the Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. Each Yuga is equal to a single day for Lord Brahma, and 4,320 million years for humans.

 

The power of Lord Brahma’s creation comes from the Vedas. After the end of each yuga Lord Brahma sleeps.

 

When Lord Brahma sleeps there is no creation and the universe comes to an end.

 

Lord Vishnu is the God of Preservation. When the Earth is in danger and evil threatens to overpower good, Lord Vishnu descends from heaven to incarnate on Earth.

 

There are ten incarnations (or Dasavatar) of Lord Vishnu. (Das means "ten" and avatar means "incarnation".)

"Whenever Dharma, or the situation of law and order, is endangered on this world, I shall incarnate onto this world to re-establish Dharma, law and order, and to protect the good people and to destroy the evil elements of the society.”

Vishnu is the name given to the protector and sustainer of the universe. Lord Vishnu, has incarnated in various life forms through different yugas (ages or eons) in situations where Dharma was in danger, because of certain evil elements in the world.

The ten incarnations are termed as the 'avatars' of Lord Vishnu.

Each avatar of Lord Vishnu shall be presented below with appropriate details of the situation under which the lord was compelled to appear on the earth.

While many explanations are given for the 10 avatars of Vishnu, one can see striking similarity of these stories with the theory of evolution of life.

MATSYA (The Fish) Avatar

The 1^st Avataar

 

After a full day of creation, Lord Brahma was tired. He wanted to sleep and was soon snoring loudly. This meant the Satya Yuga was about to end in a great flood that would destroy all life on Earth, and a new Yuga would begin.

 

While Lord Brahma slept, the Asura Hayagriva emerged from Brahma’s nose. Seeing Lord Brahma sleeping, Hayagriva realized this was the perfect time to take in all the knowledge of the Vedas. Hayagriva concentrated carefully, absorbed all the knowledge, and then hid deep within the ocean where he thought no one could find him.

 

Lord Vishnu saw, and he worried that if the Vedas were stolen by the Asura, then the knowledge of the Vedas could not be passed on to the next Yuga. As a Preserver, it was his duty to ensure that this knowledge survived to be passed on to the next Yuga. This Atvar was accrued to save Sadhu and Dharmanishth people

 

In the Satya Yuga there was a King named Manu who was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu. His greatest desire was to see Lord Vishnu with his own eyes. For this he performed severe penances for thousands of years.

 

One morning, Manu went to the river to pray, just as he did every morning. He took the water in his hands and held it high above his head in an offering to Lord Vishnu. He was

about to pour the water back when he heard a tiny voice, “O great king! Please do not put me back in the river. . . ”

 

Surprised, Manu stared into his hands where he saw a tiny fish. The fish looked up at Manu, pleading, “Please do not put me back in the water. There are so many bigger fish in the water. They will eat me. Please, O great King. . ”

 

Manu looked at the tiny fish with pity. As a King, it was his duty to protect all who came to him.

 

Manu finished his penance and went home for the night. He had left the fish inside the kamandalam, thinking it would be safe. He woke up next morning hearing a strong voice, “O king. . . Help me. . . Your kamandalam is stifling me. I cannot breath in here. . . ”

 

Surprised Manu looked at his kamandalam, only to find a big fish staring back at him. The fish was pushing against the sides of the jug as it was now far too small.

 

Overcoming his surprise, Manu ran to get a bigger vessel. The fish gulped few breaths and said softly, “Thank you, kind king.”

 

Manu smiled and was about to walk out to begin morning prayers when he heard an even more powerful voice say, “King, this vessel is too small for me. Please get me another one.”

 

Manu blankly stared as the fish staring back at him from the vessel . The fish was again struggling to breath. Manu brought the biggest vessel in his house and threw the fish into it, and the fish thanked him. After checking that the vessel was indeed big enough for the fish, he was about to leave his house, when he heard a strong voice, “I am sorry, bu this vessel is also not sufficient for me, king”

 

Manu stared in disbelief as he saw the huge fish stare out of the big vessel. However, realizing that this was not the time for questions, he carried the fish to the river an threw him in.

 

The fish gulped a few breaths inside water and said, “Thank you. . . king. You have protected me. But please don’t leave me here. I am afraid the bigger fish may eat me. . . ”

 

Manu became suspicious. But he was a king. He could not simply stop protecting someone who had come to him for help. He stared at the fish for a long time, and before his eyes the fish grew larger and larger until it filled the river.

 

Manu carried the fish from one river to another river, but it kept growing larger. Finally he dropped the fish into the ocean, only to find that the fish grew to full one side of the ocean. Looking at the gigantic fish, a sudden flash came to Manu, and he bowed before it,

 

“Narayana, you are Narayana..my Lord.”

 

The fish smiled, “You wanted to see me and here I am.” As Manu stared with tears in his eyes, a huge horn grew from the head of the fish.

 

“My Lord, you have granted me my only desire. I want nothing more. What do you want me to do now?” Manu said, prostrating himself before the fish.

 

“Manu, the Yuga will end in seven days. There will be a great flood and all living things on Earth will perish. I want you to build a big ship. Take the seeds of all plants, the male and female of every animal, and the seven sages along with their families. Take them all on the ship.” Manu nodded.

 

The fish continued, “Don’t forget to bring Vasuki, the snake God.”

 

Manu nodded again as he watched the fish swim through the ocean to the other side. With half of its work complete, the fish went to the other side to complete the other reason for its incarnation.

 

On the other side of the ocean, the fish saw Hayagriva guarding the Vedas.

 

Seeing the huge fish, Hayagriva in terror thought, “What a huge fish!”

 

No sooner than he had thought this, than the fish attacked him. It was so huge that a single thrust sent the Asura reeling. The dazed Hayagriva tried defending against the fish, but it was too huge and powerful. After a brief and futile struggle, the Asura died, and the Vedas returned to Lord Brahma, who slept on.

 

On the other side of the ocean Manu was building his great ship. He had also brought the seven sages with their families. Soon torrential rains washed everything away. The water rose and became a mighty flood. The ship wobbled and many times was about to capsize, but Manu and the others were steadfast in their belief that Lord Vishnu would protect them.

 

Soon the fish came as promised and spoke. “Manu, use Vasuki as a rope to tie my horn to the ship.” As the fish guided the ship safely through the stormy seas, it taught the Vedas to Manu and the others. As the storm abated, they saw that the world had been washed away. Eventually, the fish deposited the ship on Mount Himavan, and it was there that the people began the new Yuga.

 

KURMA (The Tortoise) Avatar

The 2^nd Avataar of Lord Vishnu

Kurma Avatar is the second avatar (incarnation) of the Lord Vishnu. This succeeds the Matsya Avatar, which we had learned earlier.

This incarnation of Lord Vishnu is to protect the “Amruta,” the Heavenly Nectar, from the Demons and use for the good of the world. Amruta gives immortality to whoever drinks it.

The gods, called devatas, and the demons, called asuras, always fight with each other for one or the other reasons. One time, Indra (the king of the gods) and the gods defeated the demons in a battle. Saint Durvasa comes to Indra to show his appreciation, and offers him a garland of flowers.

Indra should have graciously accepted the garland around his neck. Instead, Indra arrogantly throws the garland on his elephant. The elephant immediately drops the garland off his tusks and began to stomp on it.

Sage Durvasa becomes very angry because Indra showed him no respect. Everyone should respect great sages like Durvasa. So he curses the Devatas, saying – “You will lose everything you are blessed with including your kingdom and immortality”. Now Indra realizes his mistake. He bows to Durvasa and begs for his forgiveness. Sage Durvasa says, “Lord Vishnu will do you good”, and left.

The Demons are waiting for such an opportunity and invaded heaven (the Kingdom of Indra and Gods). They defeated the Devatas in the war, and occupied the heaven. Indra loses his kingdom and hides away from the Demons.

The gods then approach Lord Brahma and plead with him - “Lord please find a way out to rescue us from the hands of these evil demons”. Lord Brahma went to Lord Vishnu with all Devatas, and put forth the appeal of the Gods.

Lord Vishnu said “don’t fear; I will show you a way out. To make the Gods immortal they must drink the heavenly nectar. The sea of milk must be churned to obtain that. It is very difficult job, and it may not be possible if you do it alone. You need to get the demons assistance.

Use the Mandhara Mountain as a churning rod, and Vasuki, the king of serpents, as a rope to pull the mountain back and forth, churning the ocean.”

The Gods approach Raja Bali, the king of the demons for help. The demon king readily agreed to this, and sends his army with the Devatas.

The Gods and Demons all gather together, and begin digging to uproot the Mandhara Mountain from its spot. They succeed after a great effort. Garuda (an Eagle), Vishnu’s vehicle, carries the mountain to the seashore of the milky sea. They tie Vasuki as a rope.

The Demons at one end and gods at the other end held Vasuki, and started churning the sea. The churning continues for some time without any problem, and then the mountain began sliding into the ocean bed as there was no proper base beneath the mountain.

This becomes a cause of concern for both the Gods and Demons, as they had no clue how to continue the churning of the ocean without mountain.

They plead to Lord Vishnu again for help. Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as Kurma, a really large Tortoise, and brought the mountain to the surface, and acted as a base beneath the huge mountain. Gods and Demons began the churning of ocean once again with renewed zest.

In due course, a dark cloud suddenly arose from the ocean that choked both Gods and Demons. That was “Haalahalam”, a very powerful poison. On seeing such a dangerous thing emerging from the ocean the gods and demons run helter-skelter. The Gods approach Lord Shiva, and explain to him all that happened. Lord Shiva asked them not to worry and drinks all the poison himself, and keeps it in his throat without swallowing it. The poison was so powerful that it turned Shiva’s throat blue.

That is why Lord Shiva is also called as “Neelakantha”, the blue throated one.

The devas and asuras are once again revived, and began the churning once again with enthusiasm. As the churning continues, many celestial articles emerged from the milky sea.

The churning brought Sura, goddess of wine; Chandra, the moon; Apsaras, who are proficient in the art of dance; Parijata, the wish granting coral tree; Airavatara, the four tusked elephant; Kamadhenu, the cow that grants all desires, and many others.

A surprising spectacle appeared after that. In the midst of the waves of the sea of milk, a goddess with heavenly looks came into view. She was standing on a fully blossomed lotus. She was Goddess Lakshmi Devi herself. The king of the sea appeared in his natural form, and comforted Lakshmi as his daughter. Lord Vishnu accepts Goddess Lakshmi as his wife.

The devatas and asuras continued the churning. Finally Dhanvantari emerged from the sea. Dhanvantari is the divine physician. He had a Kalash (sacred pot) contained Amruta.

The demons are the first ones to notice the Kalash and they snatch it away from Dhanvantari. They forgot their agreement, and took possession of the pot all for themselves. Immediately the devatas ran to Lord Vishnu, and requested Him to devise a plan to retrieve the Kalash for them.

Lord Vishnu changes into his “Mohini” form of a beautiful woman. As she was so graceful and beautiful, the demons could not stop looking at her.

Mohini successfully obtained the Amrutha Kalash from the demons assuring them that she would fairly distribute the Amrutha among the Gods and the Demons.

Mohini began distributing the Amrutha only to the gods and at the same time makes sure that demons do not suspect her intentions.

Two Demons named Rahu and Ketu suspect Mohini and disguise themselves as Gods and managed to drink the heavenly nectar.

The Sun and Moon realize that they are not gods and reported this to Lord Vishnu who cut their heads off with his Sudarshana Chakra.

But before this the two demons swallow the Amruta, and the head (rahu) and body (Ketu) though dismembered, become immortal.

When the demons realize that they have been cheated upon, they declared a war with the gods. The gods who had gained strength by consuming Amruta defeated the demons easily, and drove them away.

Thus in his second incarnation, Lord Vishnu as Kurma saved the devatas from mortality, and losing their authority to the wicked asuras, thus saving the mankind.

VARAHA (the Boar) AVATAAR

The 3^rd Avataar

 

Does anyone know who it is created the universe? It was Lord Brahma. But then the question arises “Who created Lord Brahma?” It is believed that Lord Brahma emerged from Lord Vishnu, connected to him by a cord from Vishnu’s navel. Lord Brahma sits on a lotus leaf, with four heads, looking in each direction.

 

Lord Brahma has four sons. Like Lord Brahma, they are also immortal. They are all called manasa born, meaning mind born. They came directly from his mind. They were named Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanat Kumara.

 

Lord Vishnu used to rest on the back of big snake in the middle of the milk ocean, like the Milky Way Galaxy where we live. He would lay there and rest, his mind in deep yoga, union with God, while his wife Lakshmi rubbed his feet.

 

Brahma’s four sons were great devotees of Lord Vishnu. All they liked to do is talk about Lord Vishnu and meditate on Him. They didn’t want anything to do with family life or what we would call fun activities.

 

This is called“darshana” – it means going and seeing a saint. It is always a great privilege to see a saint. It makes our thoughts good.

 

The four divine sons of Brahma arrived at the entrance to Vaikuntha. But the guards at the door, (called Dwarapalakas) named Jaya and Vijaya wouldn’t let them in. They were told that Vishnu was resting and should not be disturbed. Normally, this would not bother the saints – they would just wait. But on this occasion, they went wild with anger. Why? We don’t know. Perhaps it was all part of Lord Vishnu’s plan.

 

The saints cursed Jaya and Vijaya to be born as demons. This is a terrible curse, because demons are unhappy souls. It would mean Jaya and Vijaya would have to leave Vishnu’s heaven, Vaikuntha.

 

How is it that the saints could curse someone like this? In the old days, saints would never tell a lie in their whole life. Plus, they got great spiritual energy from doing so much repetition of mantras. Anything they said would come true. When they said “You will become a demon” it had to happen, because they never said anything untrue. Even they could not stop it once it was said!

 

Jaya and Vijaya fell on the feet of the sages and requested them to modify the curse. The sages said they were powerless to change the curse that was pronounced and only Lord Vishnu could do that.

 

Lord Vishnu had now woken up and was standing at the doorway. Jaya and Vijaya prayed to Lord Vishnu to modify the curse. Lord Vishnu gave them two options. They could be born in hundred births like normal human beings and come back to Vaikuntha after that. Or they could be born as enemies to the Lord, and meet their death at His hands in three births and return to Vaikuntha more quickly. Jaya and Vijaya took the option of being born as enemies of the Lord so that they could return quickly.

 

The three births of Jaya and Vijaya were

 

1. Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapu - Varaha and Narasimha Avataras

 

2. Ravana and Kumbhakarna - Rama Avatara

3. Kamsa and Sishupala - Krishna Avatara

 

Varaha Avatar is the third avatar of Lord Vishnu, where He came in the form of a Boar. Lord Brahma created the first human being called Kashyap, who is a great sage.

 

He had four wives, Diti, Aditi, Vinita, and Kudroo. Diti gave birth to the demons, and from Aditi were born the Devatas, or gods. Out of the demons born of Diti, two had terrific powers.

 

These two brothers were named Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapu. Both of them performed so many religious practices and austerities so that in the course of time they gained limitless powers.

 

Once Hiranyaksha did a lot of austerities so that Lord Brahma would give him a boon. He asked and received a boon that no god, demon, beast or human could ever kill him.

 

Hiranyaksha fueled with his limitless power attacked Heaven, the kingdom of devatas. At his very sight the gods were struck so much with fear that they hid themselves.

 

Hiranyaksha challenged Varuna, the Lord of the Ocean, to a fight. But Varuna answered, “O great hero, I live like a hermit. I do not wish to fight. Besides, who can fight with you? Only God can do it.”

 

Then Hiranyaksha went in search of Hari (Lord Vishnu). He searched the whole universe for Lord Vishnu, but couldn’t find him. In the frustration, Hiranyaksha snatched the earth, and carried it to the bottom of the ocean, what is described as the cosmic ocean.

 

The gods were alarmed and rushed to Lord Vishnu for rescue. Vishnu remembered that Brahma had forgotten to grant Hiranyaksha immortality against Varaha, the two tusked wild boar.

 

Vishnu changed himself into a Varaha and dived into the ocean. Seeing Hiranyaksha under the cosmic ocean, He challenged him to a fight.

 

The battle between Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to have lasted for a thousand years, which Vishnu finally won.

 

Varaha carried the Earth out of the ocean between his tusks and restored it to its place in the universe. Lord Vishnu married goddess Prithvi (Bhudevi) in this avatar.

 

Thus in his third incarnation, Lord Vishnu as Varaha saved the earth from demon Hiranyaksha, thus saving the mankind.

 

NARASIMHA (the Lion) AVATAAR

The 4^th Avataar

The story of Narasimha Avatar is associated with Vishnu’s incarnation as the boar or Varaha. Once there lived two demon kings, Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu were brothers. To uphold dharma and save Bhoo Devi (Mother Earth), Varaha had killed the Demon King Hiranyaksha.

Hiranyakashipu was very angry that Vishnu had come in the form of a boar and killed his brother. He wanted lots of power and wanted to destroy Vishnu and keep the other Gods in heaven subdued. He told his soldiers to crush all those who worship Vishnu first, but the Gods protected the Devotees of Vishnu.

Hiranyakashipu thought to himself “First of all, I will have to match my powers to Vishnu’s to rule over the three worlds”. He started severe austerities and penance. Whenever anyone does enough penance, Brahma Himself appears and offers them a boon.

Hiranyakashipu wanted to be made so no one could ever kill him in battle. But Brahma would not grant this boon.

Hiranyakashipu was very clever. So instead of asking for that boon, he said “Lord grant me this boon: let me not die at the hands of a god, man, demon, animal or even an inanimate thing. Let it not be by day or night, outdoors or indoors, in the sky or on the earth; let it not be by any weapon whatsoever. Grant me also all the mystic powers of the universe.” With these conditions, Hiranyakashipu could not imagine how anyone could ever kill him.

Armed with the above boon, he indulged in many schemes of destruction – all directed against the god and the godly – thus venting his anger. There is a proverb saying that “God’s mill grind slow, but sure.” Hiranyakashipu’s cruel acts could not go on unchecked for long.

He had a son named Prahlada. Being the son of a demon and a demon himself, one would think that Prahlada would also be mean and cruel. But he was not. In fact, he was very devoted to Vishnu! This made his father even angrier at Vishnu. Prahlada had immense faith in the Lord. He saw Vishnu everywhere and in everything. This is the truth about God – he is everywhere. But angry people don’t see this. One day Hiranyakashipu and Prahlada had a big argument about Vishnu, and Hiranyakashipu became furious. Intoxicated with his might, he yelled at the child, “How dare you! I am the greatest! There is no power greater than mine!” Prahlada replied quietly and gently, “No, father. The truth is that all power is from the Lord. It is He who has granted you the boon.” The king went insane with rage and ordered his soldiers to kill his very own son.

As Prahlada was arrested and put in chains, his body did not tremble nor did his mind quaver. They marched him to the edge of a cliff. Even as they threw him over, he was not gripped by the fear of death. His heart was filled with the stillness emanating from his faith that everything that happens is by Will of the Lord alone. He calmly and unceasingly repeated, “Om Namo Narayanaya!” and Lord Narayana made him fall slowly like a feather.

Prahlada did not run away. He simply sat quietly and chanted, “Om Namo Narayanaya!” The demon soldiers picked him up and dropped him into a cauldron of boiling oil. Lo and behold! The boiling oil changed into cold and refreshing rose water!

They placed him, tied to a stake, on a pyre and set it ablaze. Through the roaring flames, they heard, “Om Namo Narayanaya!” All the wood became ash, and there they saw the boy, unscathed, sitting with eyes closed and hands folded in namaskar chanting, “Om Namo Narayanaya!”

Each demonstration by the Lord that he never fails his devotee increased the turmoil in Hiranyakashipu’s mind. Prahlada did not gloat over these triumphs or get excited by the “reward” for his devotion. He told his father, “God who granted you the boon, is the One who saved me. Let us all worship the omnipotent (all-powerful) Lord together.”

At the words “omnipotent” Hiranyakashipu went violent. He shouted, “Prahlad! Where is the Narayana of yours? Let him come forth!” Prahlad answered, “He is omnipresent ... present everywhere in everything.” The king asked, “Is he present in this pillar too?” and his son replied, “Yes.”

After being told by Prahlada that Lord Narayana was present everywhere, even in the pillar that stood next to them. Hiranyakashipu said “He is everywhere, Huh!” Why don’t I smash this pillar, and then your head! Then let Lord Vishnu protect you!

Lord Narayana emerged from the pillar in the form of Nara-Simha (head of a lion and body of a man), and killed Hiranyakashipu at the doorstep, during the twilight hours of the day.

By tearing open his chest after putting him across his thighs, Lord Narayana klled him by not transgressing the boon bestowed on Hiranyakashipu by Lord Brahma. Thus Hiranyakashipu fell a victim to his own anger.

Remember the boon that Hiranyakashipu asked for?

He asked that he not be able to die at the hands of a god, man, demon, animal or even an inanimate thing. Look at the picture of Narasimha. Was he a man? A god? An animal? He was not exactly any of those. So Vishnu, taking this form, would not violate Brahma’s boon. He was killed by the claws (nails) of Narasimha, which were neither animate nor inanimate.

What else did Hiranyakashipu ask for? He didn’t want to be killed during or night. This would make it seem impossible to kill him at any time! So the time that Narasimha killed him was at twilight, when the Sun has gone down, which is neither day nor night.

Also, Hiranyakashipu could not be killed in either outdoors or indoors. So Narasimha killed Hiranyakashipu at the doorstep.

Hiranyakashipu also, according to Brahma’s boon, could not be killed in the sky or on earth. So Narasimha held him on his lap, which is neither sky nor earth, and broke his back.

Hiranyakashipu could not be killed by any weapon. So Narasimha killed with his paws. Thus Lord Vishnu, not wanting to violate Lord Brahma’s boons, satisfied all the requirements to put an end to the demon that had threatened Prahlada, his devotee.

The above story teaches us the evil consequences of anger. Anger is like a forest fire. It burns up all our good qualities. It reduces a person and degrades them to the level of an animal. Anger cannot be destroyed by anger. Anger can be subdued only by forbearance.

If you develop awareness that what you see around you is a part of you, and if your thought, word and action are laced with selfless love, anger cannot overcome you.

 

VAMANA AVATAAR

(The 5^th Avataar)

 

Bali chakravarthi was one of the greatest kings. Though he was a demon by birth, he never deviated from the path of Truth and Dharma (religious ethics). He dedicated himself to the welfare of the people in his kingdom.

 

He was also famous and known for his charitable qualities. King Bali obtained all the Vedic knowledge under the guidance and supervision of his illustrious grand father Prahlada. During his reign the country and the people were very

prosperous.

 

He was also a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, and was praised by everyone. His

power and strength kept on increasing as he had been following dharma.

 

With the help and advice of his preceptor, Sukracharya, King Bali had conquered all the three worlds, and dethroned Indra from Heaven and occupied Amaravathi, the capital of Indralok.

 

Bali Chakravarthi wanted the seat of Indra permanently. As per his Guru’s advice he started performing Ashwamedha Yaga (Yagna). He completed 99 of such Ashwamedha Yaagas.

 

If he completed 100 of those Yaagas, he will be eligible for the post of Indra. Indra got scared, and went to Brihaspati (the Guru of Devatas) and asked him for guidance to restore his kingdom.

 

Brihaspati asks Indra to wait for the right time, and approach Lord Vishnu for things to happen.

 

Aditi is the mother of all the Devatas and Sage Kashyapa is the father. Aditi was unable to see the plight of the Indra and other Devatas, and requested Kashyapa to help their children out.

 

Kashyapa tells Aditi to appease Lord Vishnu since he too was helpless. Aditi performed severe penance to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu pleased with Aditi’s penance assures her,

 

“Do not worry, the demons will not stay in the Swargalok for long. I shall soon be born as your son and will put an end to Bali.” Soon Aditi was blessed with a son. He was a dwarf and was named Vamana.

A few years later King Bali decided to perform the 100th Ashwamedha Yaaga to be crowned the supreme king of Swargalok forever. Vamana hears of this and comes to the venue of the Yagna.

 

King Bali welcomes his little guest whole-heartedly. Bali says “You have come while I am performing a Yagna, ask what you want and it shall be granted to you.”

Vamana was tight lipped, but Bali kept insisting that he ask for something. Bali asked Vamana if he wanted kingdoms, beautiful elephants, horses, jewels etc.

 

For everything Vamana said NO. Finally Vamana asked Bali just three steps of land in the steps of Vamana. Bali was surprised “You are asking only three steps, that too in your steps. What you will get.”

 

He asked Vamana to demand some better items instead of these steps, thinking that the three steps are very meager for donation. Vamana said that he will be satisfied with the three steps of land only.

 

On hearing this, Sukracharya doubts the incident to be the brainwork of Lord Vishnu.

He immediately approaches Bali and warns him,

“Oh! Great King, the little Brahmana is Lord Vishnu himself take back your words”.

Bali refused to hear his advice, and in fact he said

“Aaha! What a great opportunity that the hand of Lord Vishnu will be below and my hand will be above. I will not lose this chance of giving this donation even if I lose my entire kingdom. Also what is there to think, as if this body will be forever?”

 

When Bali fails to listen to him, Sukracharya enters Bali’s water container (Kamandala) in a microscopic form and blocks the water from flowing from the vessel’s sprout (when a king donates anything to his subjects, it was a custom to do so by pouring water onto the subject’s palms.

 

This was when the donation was considered complete). Lord Vamana who was aware of this trick, put a straw in the vessel’s sprout and this entered the eye of Sukracharya and thus blinding him.

 

Unable to bear the pain, Sukracharya moved out of the vessel’s sprout. Bali donates the three Steps of land as requested by the Vamana.

Almost immediately at once dwarf Vamana grew large in size astonishing all the demons present there. Vamana covered all of the Earth with his first step.

 

His second step covered all of the sky.

 

There was no place for the third step. When the demons realized that they

were being cheated, they prepare for a war only to be stopped by king Bali.

 

Then Vamana questions Bali where He could place his third foot?

 

King Bali realized that he is short of fulfilling his promise given to Vamana. He surrenders completely before the Lord, and bends his head where the third foot could be placed to fulfill his promise.

 

Prahlad comes and intervenes and pleads with Lord Vishnu to let go off his grandson.

 

Then Lord Vishnu says,

 

“Though he is a demon, Bali has all the qualities required to seat him with the Devatas. For the time being, he shall rule over the Patala and later ascend to the Swargalok as the future Indra.” Having said so, the Lord disappears..

 

 

PARASHURAM (The Warrior) AVATAAR

The 6^th Avataar

 

Parshuram was the son of Jamadagni and Renuka. Parshuram had received an axe from Lord Shiva after undertaking terrible reparation. Lord Shiva had also taught his methods of warfare and other skills. Born in a Brahmin family, he was unlike the other Brahmins.

Instead, Parshuram carried traits of a Kshatriya. He carried a number of Khatriya traits, which included aggression, warfare and valour.  Hence, he is called as a ‘Brahma-Kshatriya’ as he had skills from both the clan.

One story associated with Parshuram is that once King Kartavirya Sahasrarjuna and his army forcibly tried to take away Parshuram’s father’s magical cow named Kamdhenu.

Being angry and revengeful, he killed the entire army and King Kartavirya. In revenge for their father’s death, the king's son killed Jamadagni in Parshuram’s absence.

Furious and hurt by their act, he went ahead killing all the king’s sons and corrupt Haihaya Kings and warriors on the earth.He conducted the Ashvamedha sacrifice and gave away his entire holdings to the priests who conducted the ritual.

Parshuram is also known as immortal, who fought back the advancing ocean, which was going to hit the lands of Kokan and Malabar. The area between Maharashtra and Karnataka is known as Parshuram Kshetra.

Parshuram was known for his love for righteousness. He was known to be the Guru to Bhishma, Dronacharya and Karna. However, in advance, Parshuram knew that Karna would do injustice to Duryodhan in the Kruskshetra war. So as the duty of a good guru, he decides to teach him the Brahmashastra, but he also cursed Karna that the knowledge will not be any useful to him.

According to the folklore, Parshuram gave the Sudharshan chakra to Lord Krishna.  It is believed that the main motto of Vishnu’s sixth incarnation was to free the earth’s burden by assassinating the sinful and irreligious kings who neglected their duties.

According to another legend, Parshuram once went to meet Lord Shiva. As he reached the door, Lord Ganesh confronted Parshuram and stopped him from meeting with Lord Shiva. Angry and furious, Parshuram threw the axe given by Lord Shiva on Ganesha. Knowing that the axe was given by Lord Shiva, Ganesha allowed the axe to cut away one of his tusks.

Another story mentioned in the Kalki Purana believes that Parshuram still resides on the earth. It states that Parshuram will be the martial guru of Shri Kalki, who is going to be the last avatar of Lord Vishnu. He instructs Kalki to perform a long sacrament to please Lord Shiva. After being pleased Lord Shiva will bless Kalki with the celestial weaponry.

THE AXE OF PARASHURAM (The Story)

In Vedic times Rishis used to perform yagnas to harness the power of the cosmos for the benefit of the king or Raja and his kingdom. The Raja in turn ensured the livelihood of the priests by gifting them cows. The Puranas, however, refer to a period, when this symbiotic relationship soured, transforming both the kings and their priests forever.

This shift happens before the arrival of Ram and is marked by another of Vishnu’s avatar, Parashuram, which literally translates as ‘the axe-bearing Ram’. He is also called Bhargava Ram or ‘Ram of the priestly Bhrigu clan’, distinguishing him from Raghava Ram or ‘Ram of the royal Raghu clan’.

Parshuram’s grandmother, Satyavati, was a princess, daughter of Gadhi. She was given in marriage to Richika, Parashuram’s grandfather. It was common practice for Rajas to offer their daughters to Rishis, along with cows.

Parshuram’s father, the Rishi Jamadagni, had received a cow from a king of the Haihaiya clan. The king’s son Kritarjuna or Kartaviryarjuna demanded the cow back. When Jamadagni refused, the king took the cow by force, angering Parshuram, who refused to take things lying down. He raised an axe and hacked the king to death.

The king’s sons retaliated by beheading Jamadagni. An infuriated Parshuram went on to slaughter five clans of warriors, some say five generations of warriors, creating five lakes of blood. These lakes were later filled and became the dreaded battlefield of Kurukshetra.

It is said that Parashuram continued killing every Kshatriya in his path until there were no more warriors left on earth. To restore the Kshatriya clans the widows had to marry priests.

There is one story of a man called Nari-kavacha, meaning ‘one whose armor was made of women’. He survived by hiding in women’s quarters.

All women went to this one surviving warrior and from this coward were born all future warriors. Perhaps stories such as these were propaganda crated by Rishis to insult kings who did not behave as Rajas are supposed to, as custodians rather than masters of their kingdoms.

Rishis were known to oppose kings who did not do their duty. There are tales of how Rishis ousted Pururava who went mad after his wife, the nymph Urvashi, left him.

There are stories of how Rishis killed Vena who abused his power and exploited the earth. Parshuram’s massacre of kings only stopped when he met Ram, the son of Dashrath, who was so perfect a Raja that he restored Parashuram’s faith in kings and ended his slaughter.

Parshuram threw his bloodstained axe into the sea but the sea recoiled in horror and drew back revealing a new coast now known as the Konkan and the Malabar, which is why Paashuram worship is most prevalent in the western coast of India.

Many Rishis and Brahmins shunned Parshuram as they felt he was contaminated with blood and murder. Determined to pass on his knowledge of warfare to priests who could balance the power of kings, Parshuram is supposed to have gone to a crematorium and resurrected dead priests, who became his students.

One theory states that the Chitpavan Brahmans of Pune who dominated Indian political scene in the 18^th century sprang from these resurrected priests hence the name Chitpavan meaning ‘purified from the funeral pyre’.

Parshuram even passed on his martial skills today known as Kalaripayattu to families who were of mixed blood, whose mothers were from warrior clans but fathers were of priestly clans, like, some say, the Nair community in Kerala.

It is interesting to note that Parshuram’s granduncle was one of those who abused his royal power against the Rishis. His name was Kaushik and he was Satyavati’s brother. Kaushik tried to steal the cow that belonged to Rishi Vasishtha.

Unlike Jamadagni, Vasishtha was able to defend himself using his spiritual powers. Humiliated in defeat, Kaushik decided to acquire spiritual powers for himself. Just as Parshuram had abandoned his priestly ways to become a warrior, Kaushik gave his warrior ways to become the Rishi Vishwamitra.

Just as Parashuram became a warrior to create a better world, free of corrupt kings, Vishwamitra became a teacher and a priest to create a better world, where spiritual powers were used to bring material growth. Vishwamitra was a teacher of Ram.

 

LORD SHRI RAAM AVATAAR

The 7^th Avataar -  Maryada Puroshottam Avataar

 

The divine story of the Supreme Being who incarnated on this earth as a human being in the form of Lord Ram is no ordinary story of some great king or emperor. It has a divine element in it, it has the mystical power to provide the listener and the reader with ‘Mukti’ or liberation and deliverance from this entangling world of delusions and its endless cycle of birth and death along with its interminable horrors.

 

Listening, telling and reading this divine story with concentration and faith is equivalent to meditation and contemplation because the mind and the heart get totally involved and remain engrossed in the details of the fascinating story and its wonderful mysteries as they unfold in all their colour and splendour.  

 

The story of Lord Ram, the incarnate Supreme Being whose cosmic form is

universally known as Lord Vishnu, was conceived in the heart of Lord Shiva. When his divine consort goddess Parvati (pronounced as Paar-vati) requested him to narrate it to her, Shiva revealed this story for the benefit of the rest of the world.

 

But like the Lord his story is also so full of mysteries. So while we learn that it was revealed by Shiva to Parvati, it is also said that Shiva was quoting the story that was said by the crow saint Kaagbhusund for the benefit of the king of birds known as Garud, the mount of Lord Vishnu himself. Come to think of it—Garud is so close to Lord Vishnu but yet he could not know the Lord’s story and had to be told by a humble bird such as the crow Kaagbhusund. Therein lies a mystery—no one can be certain who was the first to narrate the divine story of the Supreme Being in the form of Lord Ram.

 

On this earth, the story was first told by sage Yagyawalkya, one of the greatest of ancient sages who has found renown in the Upanishads as well, and he was extremely erudite and knowledgeable on such matters, to sage Bharadwaj who lived on the banks of the holy river Ganges at its confluence with other two holy rivers, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. This place is known as Prayaag.

 

The occasion was the congregation

of holy men at this place during an annual event called Magha, when the sun is in the

zodiac sign of Capricorn. It is the eleventh month according to the Hindu calendar, and falls roughly in the months of February and March.

 

So we have three sources of this story—one is Lord Shiva, the second is

Kaagbhusund, and the third is sage Yagyawalkya.

 

The earth was tormented interminably by the tyrannical and cruel demons. The demons were like the devil and the Satan; they derived pleasure when other suffered. The sages, saints and hermits of the period took the earth, which had transformed itself as a cow, along and went to the abode of the creator known as Brahma in the heaven to ask the latter to do something to save them all. The creator told them that it is beyond his means, and it is only the Supreme Being known as Vishnu who can provide a solution.

 

But now the question arose where to exactly find Vishnu as he is formless and without any name and specific abode as he is the all-pervading Supreme Lord of creation.

 

It was decided that they should all approach Lord Shiva because he is the wisest God and will be the proper advisor.

 

When the group approached Lord Shiva and asked him the way the Supreme Lord can be found, Shiva replied that there is nowhere that the Lord is not present. What one needs are devotion, conviction, faith and love. So the sages, hermits, earth and Brahma together prayed to the Lord to help them and protect them.

 

The Supreme Lord Vishnu revealed himself and assured them that he would come down personally on the earth as a human in the form of Lord Ram, and liberate earth from the burden of the cruel demons.

 

The magnificent bonus of this incarnation would be that the many sages and hermits and ascetics who had been doing long penances and had been longing to have a first-hand communion with the Supreme Being would also get an opportunity to fulfill their cherished lifetime desire.

 

The creator Brahma meanwhile asked all the Gods to reveal themselves as

monkeys and bears to help the Lord during his sojourn on the earth to lead his earthly life.

 

Now some very pertinent question arise—

 

(a)              why did the Supreme Being, who is able to do anything by his mere wish, have to become a human when he could have simply killed the demons, the devils and the Satan by merely wishing so,

and

(b)             why did he need the help of the monkeys and bears?

 

There are many answers to these questions, but here I shall give some of the prominent ones. First, the demon king known as Ravana had done severe Tapa (penance and austerity) to please the creator and become immortal.

 

When the creator told him that all those who have taken birth must die some or the other day, giving his own example that his life span is also fixed though it is exceptionally long in the term of mortal creatures of the world, and so it is impossible to become immortal, Ravana asked him to grant immunity from death except at the hands of humans and monkeys.

 

This is because he thought that if the Gods and Goddesses who were so powerful would not be able to kill him, what will the frightened and humble man and a monkey do to him. So this was the loop-hole that had to be exploited if Ravana was to be killed.

 

Second is that the Lord wished to show by his own example that even humans and the humble monkeys can achieve stupendous objectives and do fantastic deeds if they have the will and the determination.

 

Third, the Lord also wished to show by his example what sort of righteous and morally correct life one should lead, and how to deal with myriad situations that a man faces in his life.

 

Fourth, he wished to give a message that one should not treat others with

contempt because they are low down in the evolutionary ladder, because the Lord himself loved the monkeys and the bears who had helped him in all possible ways when no human being came forward to do so.

 

Fifth reason was that he wished to convey a message that if a soul, no matter how exalted and noble, has become a human being or has entered the body of a human being, then he is bound to have some shortcomings and drawbacks and limitations, but the trick is not to let them come in one’s way of being scrupulous, righteous, noble, correct, truthful, holy and pious.

This is the reason why the Supreme Being acted like an ordinary  man and went through all the throes of sufferings, pleasures, pains and elations like any one of them—but still standing tall like a colossus in the human race and remembered for generations after generations while the rest of the race vanished into thin air.

 

Therefore, if one makes a mistake, it is better not to brood and weep over it but to take positive and constructive steps to rectify the mistake and undo the past by changing one’s future course of action.

 

And finally, the sixth reason was that the Lord wished to tell the human race, especially those who were proud of their knowledge, wisdom and expertise in certain fields, that such grand virtues and qualities were not their exclusive domain or

prerogative because there were amongst the monkeys and bears such individuals who were matchless in wisdom, knowledge and expertise in technical matters.

 

For instance we have Hanuman whose level of knowledge of the scriptures and language, wisdom, spiritual enlightenment and self-realisation was unmatched in this creation.

 

Then there were the two monkeys who had built the bridge across the ocean, named Nal and Neel, and the old bear king Jamvant who was always consulted in matters that required an old man’s experienced feedback.

 

The story of the Lord’s earthly or worldly sojourn is ripe with and full of

instances from which one can learn so many practical things.

 

So it was that the Supreme Being known as Lord Vishnu in his cosmic form

revealed himself as a human being in the form of Lord Ram. The divine consort of Vishnu became Lord Ram’s wife Sita. The close associates of Vishnu became Lord Ram’s three brothers named Bharat, Laxman and Shatrughan.

 

In some early time there was a king named Manu and Satrupaa. They had done severe Tapa (penance and austerity) to worship the Supreme Lord.

When the Lord was pleased by their sincerity and commitment, he revealed himself before them. Asked for some boon as a reward, the holy couple desired to have the Lord as their son.

 

So this was the excuse Lord Vishnu found to become their son in his incarnation of Lord Ram in order to kill the demons and free the earth and its inhabitants from the cruelty and tyranny that these devils had been perpetrating.

 

Manu became king Dasrath, and Satrupaa became his chief queen Kaushalya. The king had two other queens named Kaikeyi and Sumitra. The king had no son though he was very righteous and noble and a diligent follower of the laws of Dharma (righteousness, probity, propriety and nobility in thought and conduct) and Satya (truthfulness). So one day he approached his Guru (royal priest and moral preceptor) named sage Vashistha to find a solution to his predicament. The sage advised him to hold a fire sacrifice and make sage Atri as the chief priest for it because this sage was an expert in performing such sacrifices.

 

The fire sacrifice was successful, and the Fire God appeared from the fire pit with a bowl of sweet pudding. He asked the king to distribute it to his queens, and they will get sons as desired by him. The king was exceedingly pleased, and did as instructed.

 

So on an auspicious day the Supreme Being known as Lord Vishnu manifested as the son of Kaushalya who came to be known as Lord Ram. Lord Vishnu’s other fractions became the three brothers of Ram, and they were named Bharat, Laxman and Shatrughan by sage Vashistha.

 

On the occasion of their birth there was not only a great celebration in the city of Ayodhya, the capital of Dasrath, which lasted for a month but even in the 24 heavens and the rest of the places of the earth where sages and hermits came to hear this wonderful news.

 

The children grew amid much love and joy. They were taught by the Guru

Vashistha. They made their parents, the members of the royal household staff, the citizens of Ayodhya and the Gods in the heaven very happy by their childhood deeds and pranks. The days passed on so happily and enjoyably that no one knew when it was day and when it was night, or which day of the week or month it was.

 

By and by, the four divine brothers reached their teens. Around this time, another sage named Vishwamitra was being persistently tormented by the demons who would defile his fire sacrifice. The sage decided to bring Lord Ram to get rid of this thorn in the form of demons, because he thought that after all this was the precise reason why the Supreme Being had taken the trouble to become a human.

 

Sage Vishwamitra came to Ayodhya and requested king Dasrath to send Ram and Laxman with him. The king was initially reluctant because he was worried for the safety of his sons, but his Guru sage Vashistha explained him the reality and assured him that no harm would come to the boys. So Lord Ram and Laxman accompanied sage Vishwamitra and went to his hermitage.

 

On the way the Lord performed two miraculous deeds—one was to kill the

demoness named Tadka who attacked them, and the other was to provide liberation to Ahilya, the chaste wife of sage Gautam, who had been turned into a stone due to some curse. The Lord touched the stone and this touch of his holy feet freed Ahilya of her curse.

 

It must be noted in this context that all the demons who were killed by the Lord were provided liberation and deliverance from their sinful body. This is because the truthful identity of any individual is not his physical body but his soul known as the Atma.

 

This soul gets trapped in a body due to some reason, and when this body is shed the soul is liberated from its fetters. Usually the body of the demon forced these individual souls to go on committing more and more sins, thereby preventing its liberation and deliverance. But when the Lord killed these demons, their souls invariably found liberation and went to the heaven.

 

When the demons, led by Marich (pronounced as Maareech), attacked the fire sacrifice of sage Vishwamitra the next morning of the Lord’s arrival there, he was hit by a headless arrow by the Lord and flung far away into the middle of the ocean.

 

Then news came that king Janak is holding a marriage ceremony for his daughter named Sita, and in it the condition laid down by the king was that anyone who would lift and string a formidable bow of Lord Shiva that the king had in his possession for safekeeping would become eligible to marry his daughter. Sage Vishwamitra took the two brothers Ram and Laxman and went to attend this ceremony. There, when all the assembled kings and princes failed to move the bow even an inch, Lord Ram not only lifted and stringed the bow but also broke it. This culminated in his marriage with Sita.

The other three brothers were also married at the same venue to other sisters and cousins of Sita.

 

The story thus far is covered in the Baal Kand of the epic Ram Charit Manas or the Ramayana written by saint Tulsidas. The word ‘Baal’ means a child or an adolescent youth, and the word ‘Kand’ means an event or an episode or a section of a bigger story.

 

Then we move on to the next phase in the Lord’s earthly life, and it is narrated in the next Kand known as the Ayodhya Kand. It is related to the events in the life of Lord Ram that were centered on the developments in Ayodhya, the capital city of the kingdom.

 

The king was getting old, and he was eager to anoint Ram on the throne. He approached his Guru sage Vashistha with his wish, and got a green signal from him.

Preparation started in Ayodhya for the grand anointment ceremony. But the Lord had come down to earth not to enjoy the life of a prosperous kingdom but to eliminate the demons and free the earth of its burden, as also to give the numerous sages and hermits living in far flung parts of the realm the privilege of his divine view, known as ‘Darshan’.

 

So something must be done. The Gods became upset that if the Lord gets the crown then he would not be able to go the forest and fight the demons like an ordinary human, and the very purpose of his incarnation would be nullified. So they devised a stratagem by which the goddess of wisdom known as Saraswati corrupted the mind of Manthara, a maidservant and a close confidante of Kaikeyi, one of the queens of Dasrath and the mother of Bharat.

Manthara became jealous that Ram would become a king, and she instigated Kaikeyi saying that if this happens then she would have to live like an ordinary royal instead of like a queen, and Bharat would have to live like an ordinary courtier, obeying the orders of the king Ram. So what must be done, asked Kaikeyi. Manthara advised her that she had two pending vows or promises with king Dasrath, and she should invoke them now and redeem herself. She must ask the king to appoint Bharat on the throne as a fulfillment of the first promise, and send Ram to the forest for 14 years as the fulfillment of the second promise.

 

So it happened that the righteous king was trapped. He did not wish to renegade on his own promises as this was absolutely sinful and regarded as unethical and sacrilegious for a truthful man who had spent his lifetime upholding the principles of Dharma. So Lord Ram was exiled to the forest for the next 14 years.

Though Kaikeyi had asked only Lord Ram be sent to the forest, but when his wife Sita and his brother Laxman came to know about these developments they also decided to accompany him.

 

Lord Ram left the city on foot along with Sita and Laxman. King Dasrath was heart-broken and he wept bitterly as never before. The city was thrown into turmoil, and the condition of the citizens of Ayodhya was no better—they could not bear that their beloved Lord should leave them and so all able bodied left the city to follow the Lord from behind, leaving the city desolate.

The king sent his chief minister named Sumantra with a chariot with the intent to take him some way ahead into the forest and somehow make the Lord come back. Sumantra managed to persuade the Lord to board the chariot, but the citizens followed relentlessly. The first day’s stop was on the banks of river Tamsa.

The Lord did not wish that the citizens should be subjected to more suffering, and so he asked Sumantra to drive away in the darkness of the night in such a way that the tracks got confused and obliterated so the citizens would not be able to follow them the next morning when they woke up. So the Lord went ahead on his forest exile, and the dismayed citizens had no choice but to return home.

 

From there they went on the chariot to Sringberpur and met Nishad, the chief of the boatman community. The next morning, Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman shed whatever  remnants of royal paraphernalia they still had, matted their hairs, and summoned the boatman to cross the river Ganges. Sumantra had to turn back to Ayodhya from here.

 

From there the Lord went to Prayag, the holy confluence of the three holy rivers, i.e. Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati, and visited the hermitage of sage Bharadwaj.

 

From the sage’s hermitage the Lord moved ahead on his onward journey to the forest. All the inhabitants of the little villages and hamlets that fell on the way were awestruck at their sight and felt very privileged that they were having a divine Darshan (view) of the Lord even while staying in their native places. In this way, thousands of ordinary men, women and children had the benefit of viewing the Supreme Lord himself without having to undertake any arduous exercises and visiting any pilgrim places in search of the Lord.

By and by, Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman came to the hermitage of sage Valmiki. The sage told the Lord the places he must choose to live in from the spiritual perspective, and then the physical place known as Chitrakoot situated amongst verdant forests, rivers and streams, and green mountains rich with waterfalls, where the Lord should go and live for sometime before moving ahead. So this was the place where the three—Lord Ram, his consort Sita, and his younger brother Laxman—put up a thatched hut and spent some time of the earlier period of their forest exile.

 

Meanwhile, when Sumantra returned to Ayodhya and informed the king that Ram, Sita and Laxman did not come back but went on ahead to the forest, the old king died of contrition, grief and shock. The Guru, sage Vashistha, sent a messenger to Bharat and Shatrughan who were at the time of the unfolding of this horrifying saga in Ayodhya at the place of their maternal uncle. When Bharat got the news that he is being urgently

summoned, he and his brother immediately came back to their home city. Bharat was met with gloom and foreboding omens around him.

Everywhere he glanced, he saw a somber and grave mood. When he reached the palace he learnt what horrible deeds his mother had done—his father Dasrath was dead, and his beloved brothers Ram and Laxman had gone to the forest along with Sita, his sister-in-law.

 

Obviously, Bharat was dumb-founded and crest fallen. He severely scolded his mother like she was a witch; he caught hold of Manthara by her hairs and dragged and kicked her, and was generally inconsolable. Sage Vashistha did his best to calm his down, and in due course Bharat performed the last rites of his dead father.

 

But the throne was empty and this was not good for the kingdom. So the Guru, the ministers and the courtiers tried to persuade Bharat to accept the crown till the time Lord Ram came back. But Bharat flatly refused. He said that instead he would prefer to go to the forest and bring Ram back. Bharat—who till now was regarded as the villain and perceived as the chief conspirator for plotting for Ram’s forest exile as he wished to usurp the crown—suddenly became dear for the masses.

 

So the royal entourage, accompanied by citizens, army, courtiers, queen Kaushalya, and ministers of the kingdom, started on its journey to the place where Lord Ram lived in the jungle. Bharat and Shatrughan walked on foot, spurning requests to board the chariot. Why, Bharat argued, should he sit comfortably on a chariot when his Lord had walked on foot? Boils developed in the soles of both Bharat and Shatrughan, Sumantra showed them the path as far as Sringberpur where he had last seen Lord

Ram, and then from there the royal party was led by Nishad who took him to the hermitage of sage Bharadwaj. Thereafter, the entourage moved on rapidly, asking the  villagers and residents of the hamlets on the way about the directions that Lord Ram, Laxman and Sita had taken. Messengers were sent to reconnoiter, and Bharat was so nervous that he was uncertain if he would ever meet the Lord again.

Eventually they reached Chitrakoot.

 

The two brothers Ram and Bharat met most affectionately, and so did all of them with each other. The party pitched up camp in the pleasant environs of Chitrakoot. Lord Ram and Laxman did their last rites for their dead father, and some time was spent in rest and chalking out the next strategy.

 

The Guru sage Vashistha summoned a meeting, and Bharat went all out to plead with the Lord to forgive him and return back to Ayodhya.

Lord Ram convinced Bharat that he loved him more than he can even imagine and that there is no trace of ill-will or misunderstanding in him. But he must obey the instructions of his late father to stay in the forest for 14 years, and since the father is dead now it becomes all the more mandatory to carry out his orders, for otherwise it would be tantamount to disobeying one’s dead father which is an unpardonable sin.

 

Bharat had even gone on record to offer to substitute places and stay in the forest in place of Lord Ram, but the Lord dissuaded him from it. Guru Vashistha then took Bharat aside and explained to him the divine mandate which the Lord had himself pronounced as Lord Vishnu and for which reason the Lord had come all the way down to earth.

 

That divine work of the Gods for the wider well-being of creation and peace of its creature—which was the elimination of the demons—was far more important than suffering the absence of the Lord for such a small period of 14 years which meant nothing in the cosmic scale of time.

 

Vashistha told Bharat that he should see the things from a broader perspective, and give up his stubbornness. Bharat saw the reason, and so he relented. The Lord gave Bharat his wooden sandals as a token of his presence in Ayodhya and its throne.

 

Accepting it most reverentially, Bharat took his leave and returned to the city with a heavy heart. He put the Lord’s sandals on the throne, and himself decided to lead a life of a hermit. So he built a thatched hut on the outskirts of the capital, as a place called Nandigram, and began to live an austere life of a hermit. He carried his duties of the kingdom as a caretaker, and worshipped the sandals as a personified image of Lord Ram himself.

 

This brings us to the close of ‘Ayodhya Kand’.

 

 

The next phase of the story is called Aranya Kand because it deals with the part of Lord Ram’s life in the forest that was very dense and infested with cruel demons. The word ‘Aranya’ means a forest.

After sometime, Lord Ram decided to leave Chitrakoot and head further ahead into the denser part of the forest. He had two objectives—first was that great sages, hermits and ascetics lived there and they had all done severe Tapa (penance and austerity). The Lord had to bless them all, and to do this he had to visit their hermitages in the deep recesses of the forest.

 

The second reason was that he would find the demons there, and not in the inhabited areas where the forest was less dense and not as hostile.

So the Lord went into the next area of the forest and met a number of sages and killed a number of demons.

 

Thus, he met sage Atri, and Sita paid her obeisance to the sage’s wife known by the name of Anasuiya. The Lord proceeded further and killed the demon Viraadha.

 

Then he met sage Sharbhanga, and took the vow of killing the demons when he saw a heap of bones and upon enquiry was told that it was of the sages killed by the demons. Moving ahead, the Lord met sage Sutikshan, and then sage Agastya.

 

Further ahead came the real horrifying part of the forest, called Dandakaaranya. It was most inhospitable and dense. The Lord met Jatau, the vulture, and befriended him. The Lord decided to spend sometime in a clearing of the forest, and put up a small thatched cottage in a place called ‘Panch-vati’.

 

A demoness named Supernakha became enamoured by the Lord, and disguised as a beauty she approached the Lord with the proposal of marriage. Ram refused but she became insistent and forceful and when she turned violent, Laxman chopped off her nose. Enraged, the demoness complained to her brother, the demon Khar. He gathered an army of demons led by himself, Dushan and Tirshira, and attacked the Lord. After a fierce battle, all the demons were killed.

 

Wonderstruck, Supernakha went to complain to her eldest brother& the king of demons, i.e. Ravana who ruled the demons from his capital of Lanka which was a golden city situated in the middle of the ocean. Ravana was surprised, as Khar and Dushan were no ordinary demons and they had the strength matched only by himself.

 

So surely their killer cannot be an ordinary human. But their killing was an affront for him, and he just could not take it lying down. But at the same time he did not have the courage to face this human enemy from the front because with the killing of Khar and Dushan he had become suspicious.

 

So he decided to adopt a stratagem and lure them to his fortress at Lanka. He went to Marich (who had earlier been flung by the Lord when he had gone to defile sage Vishwamitra’s fire sacrifice) and forced him to become a golden deer so that Ravana could steal Sita in order to settle scores with Ram for deforming his sister Supernakha.

 

As this decoy golden deer frolicked near the hermitage of Lord Ram in Panchvati, Ravana hid and waited for his chance to pounce upon Sita.. When Sita saw the golden deer, she asked the Lord to go and fetch it for her. The all-knowing Lord willingly got up and went deep in the forest behind the deer. Finally when he was far enough so that Ravana could get a chance to carry out his mischief, the Lord killed the deer. At the last moment of his life, Marich called out aloud the name of Laxman first and then softly the name of the Lord, ‘Ram’, and found his emancipation and salvation.

 

As was destined, when Sita heard the name of the Laxman being called out, she thought that the Lord was in danger and needed help. And despite of Laxman assuring her that no harm can ever come to the Lord, she forced him to go in the direction from where the name was heard. Finding the hermitage unguarded, Ravana appeared as a mendicant and begged for food. Sita stepped out to oblige him, when he suddenly showed his true form and seized her. Putting her forcibly on the chariot, he went towards Lanka by the air, with a distraught, wailing and lamenting Sita held in captivity. On the way, the vulture Jatau tried to stop him and a fierce battle raged between the two. But ultimately Ravana cut off Jatau’s wings, and the poor bird fell on the ground, repeating the Lord’s holy name ‘Ram’ and holding his last breath for some more time so that he can see the Lord and convey the message of Sita’s abduction by Ravana before he dies.

 

Meanwhile, when Ram saw Laxman coming, he was alarmed, and knew that something was seriously amiss. When the two brothers returned to the hermitage, Sita was gone.

 

Like an ordinary man he wailed and wept for her.

 

Gradually after the initial shock, the Lord regained his composure, and the two brothers now set out in search of Sita. They came to the place where Jatau lay wounded.

 

The Lord washed his wounds with his own hands and lock of hairs, and Jatau told him all that he had witnessed. Then Jatau died while being caressed by the Lord himself. The Lord then performed his last rites himself.

 

Moving ahead, Lord Ram met and killed a demon named Kabandh. Then he came to the lonely hermitage of the old women named Shabari. She gave him motherly love and some fruits to eat, and then left her mortal body by the self-lit fire of Yoga to find emancipation and salvation. The Lord performed her last rites as he would have done for his own mother.

 

Shabari had advised the Lord to proceed in the direction of a mountain known as Rishyamook where lived the exiled monkey king Surgiv with his companions such as Hanuman and Jamvant.

 

So Lord Ram and Laxman proceeded in the direction of this mountain. This

brings us to the end of ‘Aranya Kand’.

 

Next is the ‘Kishkindha Kand’—so called because the area of the land fell under the jurisdiction of the kingdom of Kishkindha, which was the kingdom of the monkeys and bears, and had the city of Kishkindha as its capital.

 

At the Rishyamook mountain, the Lord met his greatest devotee known as

Hanuman. By his physical body he was a monkey like the rest of them, but we must not forget here that all of them were the Gods who came down on the earth to help and support Lord Vishnu in the form of Lord Ram when the Lord would launch his final assault on the demons. Hanuman was none but Lord Shiva himself.

 

Here, the Lord made friends with Sugriv, the exiled brother of Vaali, the king ofthe monkey race. When the Lord learnt about the injustice done to Sugriv by Vaali, he interceded on Sugriv’s behalf and killed Vaali. Then Sugriv was made the king of Kishkindha.

 

The Lord waited for the rainy season to end, and then huge groups of monkeys and bears were dispatched in all the directions of the earth to find out about Sita.

 

Since the Lord is all-knowing, he knew before hand that this task would be accomplished by Hanuman alone. So he summoned him and gave his personal finger ring as a token for Sita so that she is convinced of the identity of Hanuman when he met her.

 

The group in which Hanuman was went in the south direction, and finally they reached the shore of the ocean. Faced with the formidable ocean as an obstacle, the group became distraught and concluded that they have come to a dead-end. It so happened that the elder brother of Jatau, the vulture named Sampaati, lived in a cave in a nearby mountain. He came out upon hearing the commotion and told the group that he can see across the stretch of the ocean and see Sita seated under a tree in a garden in Lanka.

 

This city was mid-way in the ocean, and was approximately 100 Yojans (800 miles) from the shore. So obviously anyone who could make this giant leap can go there.

 

After much deliberation it was decided that the only member of the group who has the ability to go and come back alive was Hanuman. The bear king Jamvant encouraged Hanuman to show his true mettle and do this great task of the Lord for which he has taken birth as a monkey in the first place.

 

Hanuman immediately assumed a colossus form, and invoking the holy name and the divine blessing of the Supreme Lord Ram, he prepared to leap across the ocean.

 

This brings us to the end of ‘Kishkindha Kand’.

 

The next phase of the divine story of Lord Ram is known as Sundar Kand. The word ‘Sundar’ means beautiful. Why this Kand is called ‘Sundar’ is discussed at the end of its brief outline.

 

Hanuman leapt across the ocean. He met the demoness named Sursaa who could catch the shadow of anything flying overhead, and overcame her with wit. Then he landed on the shore of Lanka, the capital of the demons that was ruled by their ruthless king Ravana, the one with ten heads. At this time, Hanuman was in a very small form, like that of a mosquito. At the entrance of the city he met Lankini, the demoness gatekeeper, and punched her, leaving her bleeding profusely. She then allowed him to go

in, prophesying that the end of the cruel demons was now at hand.

 

Once inside the city, he roamed around in search of Sita and came to the dwelling of Vibhishan, the younger brother of Ravana but a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Vibhishan and Hanuman met each other, became friends, and the former told the latter the place where Sita was confined. It was a garden known as the Ashoka Vaatika or the garden of Ashoka trees.

 

Hanuman entered the garden and hid himself behind thick foliage of the tree under which Sita sat brooding and in grief. At the opportune time Hanuman dropped the signet ring of Lord Ram that he had brought along. Sita picked it up, and thus the two—Hanuman and Sita became acquainted with each other. Hanuman reassured Sita that her days of grief were soon to end as the Lord would come as soon as he goes back to him with the news of his meeting with her. Sita was extremely happy and relieved.

 

Then Hanuman took her leave and ruined the garden of its fruit bearing trees. Ravana heard of the destruction and was alarmed, sent his army under the command of his son Meghnaad to catch Hanuman and bring him to the court. Hanuman tried his best to plead with Ravana to avoid confrontation with the Lord and give Sita back to him, but Ravana flatly refused.

 

The ill-witted demons b  from their captivity and went on a rampage in the city, dragging and swaying the fiercely burning tail behind him. This

resulted in a huge fire, and the golden city of Lanka was reduced to ashes.

Hanuman jumped into the ocean to douse the flame, took his last leave from Sita and jumped across the ocean to this side of the shore where his other companions waited anxiously for his return.

 

The party went jubilantly to report the success to Lord Ram, who was overwhelmed with joy and happiness. There was cheer and rejoicing everywhere. A huge army of monkeys and bears was assembled forthwith and the Lord started on for the final phase of his forest exile to conquer Lanka and kill the fierce demons led by Ravana, thereby fulfilling the promise Lord Vishnu had made to the tormented earth, to the worried sages and seers, and to the terrified Gods that he would rid them of their fear and tyranny of the demons.

 

The army reached the shores of the ocean. The Lord first tried not to embarrass the ocean by crossing it forcefully without permission, so he tried to please the ocean god. But when the Lord found that he is adamant, the Lord drew his arrow to dry up the whole ocean. Terrified, the ocean god relented and begged forgiveness. He advised the Lord to build a bridge across the water, and so the great bridge was constructed.

 

The huge army which seemed to stretch till the horizon crossed the ocean, some walking over the bridge, some jumping over the back of the marine creatures who had come to the surface to watch the spectacle, some simply leaping to the other side, and some riding on the back of their friends and companions. It was a huge tide of monkeys and bears sweeping on the shores of Lanka. Thus, the Lord landed on Lanka.

 

This is the end of this fifth phase of the story called the ‘Sundar Kand’.

 

Now, let us see briefly what is so ‘Sundar’ or beautiful in this Kand. This phase is ‘beautiful’ because a new day has dawned beckoning of hope and redemption amid the previous environment of loss, gloom, grief, hopelessness and haplessness.

 

Now onwards, despair and dejection are replaced by hope and rejoicing. Insurmountable and formidable barriers are overcome—the ocean is crossed, the obstacles in the form of the two demonesses are removed, the impregnable fortress of Lanka representing a den of vices, negativity, sins and evil is reduced to ashes, Sita and Vibhishan are both promised redemption, liberation and deliverance, and the ‘lost hope’ was converted into ‘attainable hope’, an attainable objective.

 

Metaphorically, the creature who is firmly held captive to the entanglements of this deluding world but is yearning to break free from his fetters is assured that his redemption is at hand and the Lord is ever ready to take any trouble he has to take in order to liberate the creature and provide him deliverance from his torments should he be sincere and steadfast in his devotion, submission and love for the Lord.

 

The construction of the bridge has immense symbolic meaning. It signifies the bridging of the gap between hopelessness and hope, between despair and rejoicing, between the trapped creature and his salvation and redemption. The yawning gap of the ocean-like world of delusions and entrapments is no barrier wide enough or formidable enough which the Lord cannot overcome to provide the subjects of his creation with freedom from their torments and horrors if only they are sincerely desirous of the Lord’s intervention and help. Salvation and emancipation of the creature, liberation and deliverance of his soul are never an unreachable destination if he is steady in his spiritual pursuit and has steady faith and devotion for the Lord.

 

This ocean-like world of delusions cannot become a barrier strong enough to separate such a creature and his Atma (soul) from the Supreme Being who is the Parmatma, the Supreme Atma (Soul) of this world. The strong fort of Lanka representing the different shortcomings that the creature has that keeps him firmly shackled to this world will be broken in a moment if the creature sincerely prays to the Lord to provide him liberation and deliverance from this bondage.

 

This phase of the story is ‘beautiful’ because ‘goodness and righteousness’ are finally looking up and showing signs of triumph over ‘bad and evil’. The gloomy and depressive phase is over, and it is replaced with courage, hope and victory.

 

Then we move on to the sixth phase of the story known as the Lanka Kand. It is the story of unmatched strength, valour, gallantry and courage, leading to victory and fame. The evil has finally been crushed underfoot and buried, and goodness has shone as bright as the sun.

 

Having landed on the shore of Lanka, Lord Ram made a last ditch attempt to avoid bloodshed by sending Angad, the son of Vaali and the nephew of Sugriv, as his messenger of peace to Ravana. A verbal duel followed between Angad and Ravana, and Angad planted his feet on the ground, challenging Ravana to move it. Should he be able to do it successfully, Angad promised him, it will be deemed that Lord Ram has lost the war, and if not, than Ravana be damned. All the courtiers tried their might but could not move Angad’s feet an inch. Finally Ravana came himself, and then Angad rebuked him, saying ‘you wretched one. Why do you kneel before me? Had you done it before Lord Ram, your whole clan would have found redemption.’

 

The ferocious war finally broke out. One by one all the demons were killed.

During the course of the war, Laxman was wounded and Hanuman had to go the Himalayas to fetch the herbs which were used to bring Laxman back to life.

 

The last demon to die was Ravana himself, and as soon as he fell there was an uproarious cheer in the heavens. Vibhishan was crowned as the new king of Lanka, and Sita met her beloved husband Lord Ram. The dead monkeys who had fallen during the course of the war were all revived by the rain of Amrit (ambrosia of life) that Indra, the chief of the Gods rained from the sky, and the fallen demons too benefited as they all went to the heaven instead of to hell.

 

Lord Ram finally made his departure from Lanka for his own city of Ayodhya aboard the air plane known as ‘Pushpak’. Besides Sita and Laxman, he was accompanied by his monkey and bear companions.

 

This is the end of the ‘Lanka Kanda’ which is also known as the Uddha or the War Kand.

 

Then we come to the seventh and the last phase of the story known as the Uttar Kand. The word ‘Uttar’ refers to the final phase of life, or the second half of a long story.

 

Hence the name of this Kand as it marks the end of the Lord’s first phase of his worldly sojourn and the beginning of the second phase when he began to rule the world as its king and emperor after having killed all the demons and fulfilling his promise to the earth, the

sages and seers, and the Gods.

 

Hanuman was sent ahead to inform Bharat that the Lord is returning from his forest exile. The news spread like wild-fire in the city of Ayodhya, and the city erupted in joy. Bharat and the rest of them rushed outside the city, to its outskirts, where the Pushpak plane came down to the ground.

 

There was a great reunion between the brothers, a scene unmatched in this world. The Lord entered the city, and the withered and gloomy city became vibrant and lively once again. On an auspicious day and time, Lord Ram was crowned a king-emperor. There was celebration and festivities everywhere, on the earth and in the heaven.

 

The Lord ruled most righteously and according to the laws of Dharma (ethics, righteousness, probity, propriety, morality) and Satya (truthfulness). His rule was exemplary and there was happiness and prosperity everywhere.

 

By and by, a time came when the Lord had to wind up his worldly phase. The Lord had to obey the laws of Nature and he could not remain perpetually on earth. So some excuse had to be found. Certain developments motivated by the Supreme Lord himself were made to happen, due to which Sita was sent to exile to live in the care of the learned sage Valmiki in his hermitage. It was here that the Lord’s two sons Lav and Kush were born.

 

Tulsidas has ended his story telling here. The saint could not bear to write more and describe how the Lord who was so dear to his heart and the essence of his life left this world and went back to his divine abode in the heaven. So Tulsidas decided to stop the story here. Symbolically, Tulsidas made Lord Ram live on this earth amongst us for all times to come. All other versions of the Ramayana, such as those written by sages Valmiki and Veda Vyas, have elaborately described the final phases of the Lord’s earthly sojourn, but our Tulsidas preferred not to think of the Lord ever leaving us alone.

 

We shall continue ahead to the Ashwamedha Yajna and the defeat of Ram at the hands of Luv and Kush and final departure back for the Heavens.

 

As a form of paying obeisance to the Supreme Being in the form of Lord Ram, the rest of this book is devoted to beautiful hymns and prayers dedicated to Lord Ram. It fills the heart of the devotee with ecstasy and makes him exhilarated when he as much as even utters the lovable name of the Lord as ‘Ram’. There is indeed no other word as endearing and sweet as this single word ‘Ram’ in the entire lexicon of scriptural literature. This is the reason why Lord Shiva, known as ‘Mahaa-dev’, the Great God, the wisest and the most enlightened of the Gods, had adopted the name ‘Ram’ as the only spiritual formula for finding eternal peace and bliss.

 

SHRI KRISHNA AVATAAR

The 8th Avataar (Mahavataar)

 

It is important to note that this Avataar can be said to be the most significant one because it was the one in which the Lord revealed his Vishaal Roop, which comprised the entire universe.

 

It was also the Avataar in which he recited the Shrimad Bhagvad Gita as a guideline for men to follow in the Kali Yuga which was to follow his death in this Avataar.

 

It is also the Avataar which comprises the battle of the Kurukshetra and the story of the Mahabharata.

 

Lord Krishna was born in a tense historical period preceeding a devastating war. The warring factions built up so many weapons that the burden on the earth became unbearable.

 

Finally the goddess of Earth took the form of a cow and prayed to Lord Brahma for relief. Lord Brahma called all the demigods to the shore of the Milk Ocean to hear Mother Earth and to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vishnu. Lord Brahma fell into trance reciting the Vedic hymns known as the Purusa-sukta and heard the voice of Lord Vishnu.

 

Then he announced, "O demigods, hear from me the words of God. He is aware of the distress on Earth and wants you demigods to incarnate as sons and daughters in the Yadu dynasty.

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, will personally appear as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore you will all have the benediction of joining the eternal pastimes of Lord Krishna."

Lord Brahma consoled the cow and sent her home, then returned to his planet, Brahmaloka. The demigods then began to take birth in the Yadu dynasty, awaiting the appearance of Lord Krishna. The members of the Yadu dynasty, headed by Vasudeva and Devaki, along with their friends, relatives and well- wishers were all demigods. The residents of Vrindavana, headed by King Nanda, Queen Yasoda and Queen Rohini, were also demigods.

King Kamsa was another relative in the family, however he was not a demigod. He usurped the throne of his father, Ugrasena, and put him in prison. When Devaki, a member of Ugrasena's family, married Vasudeva, she received a large dowry of elephants, horses, chariots and servants. After the wedding, Kamsa took the reins of the wedding chariot and started to escort the couple home. Along the way, a voice from the sky addressed him: "You foolish king, the eighth son of Devaki will kill you!"

Kamsa pulled Devaki down by her hair, drew his sword and prepared to kill her on the spot, but Vausdeva begged for his bride's life and promised to let him kill the eighth child, so that the oracle would not be fulfilled. Kamsa agreed to spare her life, but locked Vasudeva and Devaki in a stone prison. Thereafter, he mercilessly killed the first six sons of Devaki. Devaki's seventh son miscarried but mystically transferred to the womb of Queen Rohini in Vrindavana. This became Krishna's older brother, Balarama. Soon thereafter, Devaki became pregnant with her eighth child.

The Appearance of Krishna

Krishna was born at the stroke of midnight in His four-armed Vishnu form, dressed in silk and jewels, carrying the four weapons: the conch, disc, club and lotus. His parents prayed for Him to turn Himself into an ordinary baby so they could hide Him from Kamsa. The Lord advised Vasudeva to take him to Vrindavana and exchange him with a girl that had just been born there. Then he turned Himself into a baby.

Magically, the guards in Kamsa's prison fell asleep, and all the iron shackles, chains and locks automatically opened. Without questioning this, Vasudeva took the child and departed for Vrindavana. Like the story of Moses, the story of Krishna also includes a parting of the waters, allowing Vasudeva to carry Krishna across the Jamuna River to Vrindavana. When Vasudeva reached the house of Nanda, all the cowherds were asleep. Thus he placed his own son on the bed of Yasoda, picked up her newborn girl and returned to the prison of Kamsa

There was a chance Kamsa would spare the child because the omen said it would be the eighth son that would kill him. Devaki pleaded with him, but Kamsa pulled the baby girl from her arms and dashed her against a stone. The girl slipped from his hands and rose above his head as the eight-armed form of Goddess Durga, dressed in fine garments and jewels. She said, "The enemy you contemplate is living somewhere else. You are a fool to hurt innocent children. Krishna will kill you."

Kamsa became remorseful and begged Devaki and Vasudeva to forgive him for his sins. He released them from their shackles and fell down on their feet, crying tears of regret. The next day, however, Kamsa's ministers advised him to give up his sentimental attitude and take action to kill all newborn children in the region. They also advised him to disturb the demigods and saintly people. There is a parallel to this story in the New Testament. When Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Herod killed all newborn children in the area, in what is known as the Massacre of the Innocents. Based on a dream, Joseph took the baby Jesus to Egypt, and returned only after Herod was dead.

Krishna's Childhood in Vrindavana

When Yasoda and Nanda found Krishna as their son, they performed all the religious ceremonies in secret, to avoid Kamsa's wrath. The family astrologer, Gargamuni, told the family, "Your son Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He will protect you from Kamsa's persecutions, and by His grace only, you will surpass all difficulties. Therefore raise Him carefully, because many demons will try to attack him."

This warning proved true because throughout His childhood, Krishna fought Kamsa's demons, along with all the other demons and jealous and misguided demigods who approached Him.

Krishna Kills the Witch Putana

Kamsa enlisted a demon named Putana to kill newborn babies. The demon dressed as a beautiful woman and flew on her broom to Krishna's nursery, hoping to kill Him with the poison she had smeared on her nipples. Krishna's mother innocently let Putana pick the baby up and put it to her breast. Krishna closed His eyes and sucked out her life air, killing her, without taking her poison. When Putana's soul departed, her body returned to its real form: a gigantic witch that smashed trees as it fell, stretching twelve miles across the landscape. Putana's soul attained liberation due to the benevolent act of offering her breast milk to Krishna and the inhabitants of Vrindavana cremated the body.

After Krishna killed Putana, the elder gopis (women of the village) picked Him up and performed auspicious rites for His protection and purification. They bathed Him and chanted religious mantras to prevent further attacks. Srila Prabhuapda explains in Krishna Book: "The elderly gopis of Vrindavana were so absorbed in affection for Krishna that they wanted to save Him, although there was no need to, for He had already protected Himself. They could not understand that Krishna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead playing as a child."

Krishna's parents treated children lovingly, celebrating their birthdays and other rites of passage. They acted in a kindly way to correct their children when they got into mischief, for example sometimes Krishna and Balarama would get into the cow shed, catch the tail of a calf and stand up. The calves would drag them around and they would be covered with mud. Rather than become angry, the mothers would call their friends to watch the fun. Mother Yasoda never hit Krishna, but once tied Him to a grinding mortar when He stole butter and fed it to the monkeys. The scriptures explain that as she tried to tie him, the rope was too short. She kept using a longer rope, but it always came up too short. Srila Prabhupada explains that "Krishna appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes."

Krishna tried to crawl and the mortar stuck between two Arjuna trees in the courtyard. The trees fell and two splendorous demigods emerged and offered prayers to Krishna. Narada Muni cursed had the souls to stand as trees for one hundred years and Krishna freed them.

 

When the boys got a little older, they spent their days playing with the calves in a nearby field. Their mothers cooked the noon meal and called them from the fields, or they would pack lunches for them. Children were considered the wealth of the family and were protected from abuse. However, rather than the parents protecting Krishna, it is the child who protects the village and all the people in it.

Krishna Kills the Snake Demon Aghasura

One day the cowherd boys were playing their games, such as imitating peacocks and running after birds' shadows on the ground, when they came upon a mountain cave. This was actually a demon-brother of Putana's, who had expanded himself into an eight-mile long snake to kill the boys. The opening to the cave was his mouth. The boys felt a hot wind blowing that smelled like fish, or the serpent's intestines.

The scriptures say that when the boys walked into the cave Krishna became momentarily aggrieved because He knew it was one of Kamsa's tricks. He considered for a moment, then decided to enter the cave Himself. Demons all over the world became joyful when Krishna went inside. The demigods, who had been hiding among the clouds to see what would happen, became distressed. For a time it seemed as if the snake-demon had killed Krishna, but when Krishna heard the demigods' pleas He grew larger and choked the demon to death. Aghasura's life air burst through a hole in his skull and waited there for Krishna to come out, then it merged into His body. Krishna showed His benevolent nature by rescuing His friends and giving liberation to Aghasura.

Lord Brahma Kidnaps the Cowherd Boys

When Aghasura died, the demigods offered prayers, threw flowers, and beat drums. Hearing the commotion, Lord Brahma arrived on the scene. At that time Brahma kidnapped the children children, an offense unbecoming of a demigod. Krishna was unhappy because due to Brahma's misdeed, because He would have to go back to the village alone. Instead, He decided to expand himself into substitute boys and calves that looked exactly like the originals, and he returned to the village with them. No one could tell the difference, but families showed increased spontaneous affection to their sons (who were actually expansions of God). Balarama, Krishna's brother, noticed the parents' behavior and asked Krishna what was going on. Krishna explained how Lord Brahma had kidnapped the real boys and calves.

Brahma made a mistake in trying to test Krishna's power. Life went on like this for a year before Brahma returned. Brahma's time passes much more quickly, so it seemed to him only a moment. However, when he returned he was shocked to see the boys and calves playing with Krishna, as though nothing had happened. Krishna knew Brahma was perplexed so He transformed all the boys and calves into four-armed Vishnu forms. Brahma heard music and saw many Brahmas, Shivas, demigods and jivas (souls) singing God's names and dancing. Brahma's mind opened at first to the vision, but then he became bewildered, so Krishna ended the dazzling scene.

When Brahma woke up, he realized that he was face to face with Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was enacting His eternal pastimes as a cowherd boy in the spiritual land of Vrindavana. Brahma immediately got down from his swan-carrier and fell prostate at Krishna's feet to beg forgiveness. After offering glorious prayers and penance for his behavior, Brahma circumambulated Krishna three times and returned to his planet.

Exactly one year before, Krishna had left his friends eating lunch on the bank of the Jamuna River. When he returned, they had just begun the meal, and thought Krishna had only been gone for a second. None of the boys realized that a whole year had gone by and that they had been kidnapped, asleep in a cave. When the children returned to their homes and told their parents about the aghasura demon, the demon's corpse had decomposed so the parents thought it was just a wild tale from the children's imagination.

Krishna Lifts Govardhana Hill

Vishnu in his many forms is an icon of protection and Krishna was (among other things) an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. It is said that the residents of Vrindavana were sometimes aware of this and at times depended on Krishna to protect them. A good example was when Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill. Every year the residents of Vrindavana worshiped Lord Indra for supplying rain. One year when Krishna was a youth, He asked Nanda to worship Govardhana Hill instead of Indra. Krishna argued, "We do not derive any special benefit from Indra. Our specific relationship is with Govardhana Hill and Vrindavana forest. Let us have nothing to do with Indra."

King Nanda finally agreed with Krishna and prepared to offer the sacrifice to Govardhana Hill. This made Lord Indra angry and jealous. Forgetting the divine position of Krishna, Indra reasoned, "These cowherd men in Vrindavana have neglected my authority on the advice of this talkative boy who is known as Krishna. He is nothing but a child, and by believing this child, they have enraged me."  Indra then sent a storm to devastate Vrindavana. All the people and animals came to Krishna for shelter, and in a miraculous show of strength, Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill with one finger to make the mountain into a huge umbrella. Everyone crowded underneath it and remained safe until the rains stopped. Later, Lord Indra realized his mistake in attacking Krishna and apologized. This is an example of one of the demigods behaving like a demon. "Indra became angry because he thought that he was all in all within this universe and that no one was as powerful as he”

The End of Kamsa

Kamsa's demons harassed children throughout the region for fifteen years. Magically, Krishna and Balarama killed them all as part of their divine play, or lila. Thus, the inhabitants of Vrindavana were thankful, remembering their guru's prediction about Krishna. After Krishna killed the arista (bull) demon, the great sage Narada Muni went to Kamsa's palace and told him that Krishna and Balarama were the seventh and eighth sons of Vasudeva. Narada described the events that took place on the night of Krishna's birth and confirmed that Kamsa would meet his death at Krishna's hands.

On hearing this news, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva again and renewed his vow to kill Krishna and Balarama. He called for the Keshi demon, and other great demons, and just in case that didn't work, he planned to draw the boys into a wrestling match with two of his strongest wrestlers. He sent his servant Akrura to bring the boys back to Mathura. This would be Krishna and Balarama's transition into adulthood, because they never again return to the lighthearted pastimes of their youth, playing in the pastures or dancing with the young gopis.

Kamsa was delirious with fear waiting for Krishna to arrive, and unable to sleep through the night because of bad dreams. He saw his headless body in a mirror, everything appeared double, and he saw the covering of the sky as pierced. He saw holes in his shadow and left no footprints when he walked.

Krishna and Balarama entered the splendorous city with their friends. By and by they came to the wrestling ring and accepted the challenge to fight Kamsa's demons. After fighting for a few moments, Krishna and Balarama easily killed their opponents. Everyone except Kamsa rejoiced at the wonderful defeat. The evil king stopped the celebration and shouted: "Drive the two wicked sons of Vasudeva out of the city! Confiscate the cowherds' property and arrest that evil man Nanda! Kill that ill-motivated Vasudeva! Also kill my father, Ugrasena, along with his followers, who have sided with our enemies."

Krishna jumped into the stands, seized Kamsa, knocked off his crown and dragged him to the wrestling mat by his hair. There He easily killed Kamsa, striking him with His fist. Kamsa's eight younger brothers attacked Krishna and Balarama, but Balarama easily killed them with his club. Krishna and Balarama met their parents, but Devaki and Vasudeva were struck with awe seeing the prophecy fulfilled, and because of a feeling of reverence they were afraid to embrace their sons. After that incident, Krishna and Balarama entered the gurukula and became princes in the court of Yadu.

 

The Court of Dhritarastra

 

In the time of Krishna, the blind King Dhritarastra headed the lunar dynasty in Hastinapur. His wife, Queen Gandhari, had one hundred sons called the Kauravas, the oldest of whom was Duryodhana. Also in the royal palace were Grandfather Bhisma, the king's uncle, and Queen Kunti and her five sons. Kunti's late husband, Pandu, was King Dhritarastra's brother, so the Kauravas were her nephews.

Krishna was also Kunti's nephew, because her brother, Vasudeva, was Krishna's father. She grew up away from her family, in the palace of Kuntibhoja, her cousin. When she was a child, Kunti had pleased the powerful sage Durvasa Muni, who gave her a mantra that would allow her to conceive five sons from the demigods. She tested the mantra and the Sun God gave her Karna, whom she secretly set afloat in a river. Karna grew up to become a great warrior for the Kauravas, and Kunti later revealed that she was his real mother.

When Kunti married Pandu she used the mantra to have three more sons: Yudhistira, Bhima and Arjuna. Pandu was cursed to die if he ever tried to have sex with his wives, so he was glad Kunti could obtain sons from the demigods. He asked her to give the last chance to his other wife Madri, who subsequently had twins, Nakula and Sahadev. These five children were the Pandava brothers.

Eventually, Pandu attempted to have sex with Madri and immediately died from the curse. Madri killed herself in the funeral pyre but Kunti lived on to care for the children. She and her sons moved into the palace of Dhritarastra, provoking scorn and jealousy among the hundred Kauravas. Her son Bhima caused problems with the other children, because he was a bully. In retaliation, the Kaurava brothers once tied him up and threw him in the ocean, but Bhima returned with added siddhis (yogic powers), annoying them all the more.

At this time Grandfather Bhisma enrolled the Pandava and Kaurava brothers in archery training under the renowned archer, Drona. At the end of their lessons, Arjuna ranked first place in Drona's tests, and this was another factor to incite jealousy in the Kauravas. As a final request to his students (guru-dakshine), Drona asked them to arrest a neighboring king, Drupada, and bring him there for justice. The Kauravas failed, but Arjuna succeeded, increasing the Pandava's status.

When their training as princes ended, Dhritarastra acknowledged Yudhistira, Kunti's oldest son, as the heir-apparent to the throne. Dhritarastra's move was an indirect insult to his oldest son, Duryodhana, whom he considered a buffoon. This angered the Kauravas and moved the family deeper into conflict that would eventually erupt in the devastating war, which was the basis of the most fundamental books of the Hindu religion: Mahabharata and Bhagavad-gita.

Vengeance and Cunning Destroy the Family

Feeling angry and jealous of the Pandavas, Duryodhana made a plan to kill them. On a family pilgrimage, he built a house of lac for them, and then his servants set it on fire. The Kauravas thought the Pandavas were dead, but they had escaped through an underground tunnel and lived anonymously in the forest for a time. Finally, they heard about and engagement contest (svayamvara) for the hand of the Princess of Panchali, Droupadi, and went there in disguise.

 

The object of the svayamvara was that the contestants had to string a heavy bow and shoot five arrows into the eye of a fish that was dangling on a target in a courtyard. Many princes had gathered, including the Kauravas, but Arjuna won the competition and brought Droupadi back to the forest retreat with him. The other princes were unhappy at losing Droupadi, but Krishna reasoned with them in Arjuna's favor. When they arrived home with Droupadi, Arjuna told his mother that he had won a great prize that day. Without knowing what it was, Kunti instructed her sons to divide it equally among themselves, and thus they all shared Droupadi as their bride.

Everyone was joyful to find the Pandavas still alive, and married into a prominent ruling family, and so King Dhritarastra invited them to come back to Hastinapura and told his sons to give Yudhistira half the kingdom. Yudhistira built his palace and lived peacefully with his brothers, Droupadi and their other wives.

Reunion at Kurukshetra

On the occasion of a solar eclipse, all the royal families traveled to Kurukshetra to observe religious rites. Kurukshetra would later become the battlefield for the Great War, but for now it was known only as a holy place of pilgrimage. In a previous millennium, Parasurama, an ancient incarnation of God, had killed thousands of evil military kings there, and their blood formed a river at that spot.

When the royal families met their relations in Kurukshetra, there were great exchanges of love. The Krishna Book describes, "Meeting after long separation, they were all jubilant; their hearts were throbbing, and their faces appeared like freshly bloomed lotus flowers. There were drops of tears falling from their eyes, the hair on their bodies stood on end, and because of their extreme ecstasy, they were temporarily speechless."

 
At this meeting, Vasudeva and Kunti, who were brother and sister, lamented their long separation. Kunti complained about all she had been through due to Duryodhana. Vasudeva reminded her that he loved her and would have been there to help, except that his life was also miserable due to Kamsa's persecutions.

Krishna and Balarama met the residents of Vrindavana and renewed their relationships with their foster parents, Nanda, Yasoda and Rohini, and the gopis, cowherd girls. The gopis were especially pleased to see Krishna again, since He had never fulfilled His promise to return to Vrindavana. While Krishna and Balarama met their childhood friends, Krishna's parents from Vrindavana met with Vasudeva and Devaki. Vasudeva finally disclosed to Nanda the events surrounding Krishna's birth, and they both felt grateful for their fate, having Krishna as their son. While Nanda and Yasoda sometimes thought of Krishna as their ordinary child, Vasudeva and Devaki had always remained conscious of Krishna's divinity.

The Great War

Duryodhana remained angry at the Pandavas and wanted to drive them from the kingdom. He challenged Yudhistira to a game of dice, in which Yudhistira lost everything including his brothers, Droupadi and himself. The Kauravas brought Droupadi to the arena to strip off her sari and humiliate her, but she prayed to Krishna and He mystically supplied an unending length of cloth.

King Dhritarastra came on the scene and gave everything back to the Pandavas and sent them home. Soon after that, despite warnings and protests from all sides, Duryodhana convinced Yudhistira to play dice again, and Yudhistira lost again. Thus to satisfy the terms of the wager, Kunti, the Pandavas and Droupadi went to the forest for twelve years, and spent a additional year incognito.

The Pandavas migrated as far north as Badrikashram in the Himalayas for some years, then back to neighboring regions. Toward the end of their exile, the fighting between the Pandavas and Kauravas heated up again. Duryodhana and his men occasionally visited the Pandavas in the forest to pick fights. Another mortal enemy, Jayadrath, kidnapped Droupadi, but the Pandavas rescued her. After satisfying the conditions of the dice game by living in exile, the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura to reclaim their kingdom, but Duryodhana refused to give them even a pinpoint of land.

 

The situation between the Kauravas and Pandavas grew extremely tense. Krishna tried to make peace between the parties, but a war was destined to take place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Krishna became Arjuna's chariot driver and spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna when the armies drew up to begin fighting. After eighteen days, the war was over.

All the great heroes of the Kaurava dynasty, along with millions of soldiers, lay dead on the battlefield. Only the Pandavas and a small handful of others remained. Asvatthama, one of the remaining warriors, killed Draupadi's children in their sleep, hoping to end the royal lineage. Even though Prince Duryodhana wanted to find some last revenge, he was appalled by this atrocity and died of grief.

 

The Pandavas arrested Asvatthama and brought him before Droupadi, but out of compassion she pleaded for his life. The shameless Asvatthama made one more attempt to kill the remaining heir, an unborn grandson in the womb of Uttara, Arjuna's wife. He hurled a brahmastra (nuclear) weapon at Uttara, and when she saw the missile coming toward her, she ran to Krishna for protection. Krishna, who was preparing to leave for His own kingdom, defeated the missile with his Sudarshan-chakra. The child Pariksit grew up to inherit the kingdom.

When Gandhari came to Kurukshetra and saw the corpses of her sons scattered on the battlefield, she blamed Krishna for everything. She cursed Him that in thirty-six years He would also lose everything and die, so that the women in His family would cry, just as she was crying. Then King Dhritarastra, Gandhari, Kunti and their gurus Vidura and Sanjaya left for the forest.

Demise of the Dynasties and Death of Krishna

The Pandavas lived in grief due to separation from their relatives. After six years, Yudhistira saw his mother in a dream and they all went to the forest to see her. They took Vyasa, a sage and grandfather in the family, with them. Gandhari and Kunti told Vyasa they wanted to see their dead relatives. Vyasa advised them to dip into the Ganges, which they did, and when they came out they saw Karna, Duryodhana and all the others standing on the bank of the river. Even the blind king Dhritarastra saw the vision. After the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura, two days later a forest fire killed Dhritarastra, Kunti and Gandhari.

Yudhistira had become king after the Great War, but reigned for only a few years before the family crowned Pariksit, Arjuna's son, as king.

 

The Ashwamedha Yajna and Arjuna’s defeat at the hands of his son’s are a key element of this story.

 

Along with the curse of Gandhari, another curse befell Krishna's dynasty that contributed to its annihilation. Once some of Krishna's sons were playing around and they dressed Samba as a pregnant woman, and brought him before some visiting sages Visvamitra, Kanva and Narada Muni. In jest they asked the sages to predict what kind of child Samba would give birth to. Insulted, the sages said he would give birth to an iron rod that would become the instrument to fulfill the prophecy of their dynasty's demise. Fearful and repentant, the boys asked Krishna what to do, but Krishna acknowledged the curse and said it was meant to be.

 

When Samba delivered an iron rod the next day, the Yadavas (Krishna's sons) filed it into powder and threw it into the sea. Krishna enforced a prohibition on liquor in Dvaraka, hoping to avoid what was destined to come. Still evil omens began: rats multiplied and attacked humans in their sleep, sheep howled like jackals, asses were born from cows, and cats from mules. Krishna's Sudarshan-chakra weapon disappeared into the sky.

Eventually the powder from the iron rod washed up on the shore and grew into arrow-like grass. The Yadavas became drunk and used the rods to kill each other. Even Krishna beat people out of anger.

 

In this fratricidal war all the descendents of Krishna killed each other. Krishna sent His messenger Daruka to Hastinapura to inform Arjuna of the demise of the Yadava race, then consoled the women in the palace.

 

He told his wives that Arjuna would take care of them and left for the forest. Krishna's brother Balarama sat down under a tree and his life air came out of his mouth like a white serpent and entered the sea. Krishna roamed the forest for some time, then sat down to meditate. When a hunter named Jara came by, he mistook Krishna for a deer and shot an arrow into His foot. Krishna died at once and his spirit rose into heaven. Arjuna cremated Krishna and several of His principle queens died in the funeral pyre after Him. Arjuna left for Hastinapura with the remaining wives, but on the way, forest dwellers attacked and the women dove into the Satasvati River and died to escape.

Philosophers and scholars of the time knew that the death of Krishna marked the beginning of Kali-yuga, the present age of degradation. Thus, to preserve this heritage and the stories of Krishna for future generations, they held a convention in the Forest of Naimasharanya. The sages discussed all these stories and Vyasa, one of the sages present, later wrote everything down in what is now the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Saddenned the Pandavas and Droupadi left their material engagements to prepare for the end of life (maha-prasthana). They departed for the Himalayas mountains where heaven is, walking in a line with Yudhistira first, then the other brothers, Droupadi, and finally Yudhistira's dog. As they climbed the mountains, first Droupadi died, then each of the brothers died, until finally Yudhistira reached the gates of heaven, followed only by the dog. Lord Indra was there to meet him.

 

When Yudhistira realized that his brothers and wife were dead, he didn't want to go into heaven alone, but Indra said the others were already there waiting for him, thus Yudhistira and the dog entered heaven with Lord Indra

 

 

BALARAMA AVATAAR

The 9^th Avataar

 

There is some confusion on the 9^th Avataar of Lord Vishnu – while Hindu’s consider Lord Buddha the 9^th Avataar, some sects of Buddhists dispute it.

 

What is strongly known is that Lord Balaram, the elder brother of Lord Krishna was also an Avataar of Lord Vishnu so we can focus on Balrama as the 9^th Avataar.

 

We will also focus on Lord Budhha during our buildup of Kaliyuga and Kalki Avataar so as to remain true to the subject and yet not offend anyone’s religious sensibilities.

 

Here’s a brief synopsis of Balarama which will be covered in the Krishna Avataar.

 

Balarama, the elder brother of Srikrishna was one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu as stated by Bhagabat and other Puranas. His father was Vasudeva of Yadu clan but he had two mothers Devaki and Rohini.

 

Maharaja Kamsa, the king of Mathura killed all the six issues of his sister Devaki as one of her sons was to kill him according to some forecast. So Goddess Yogamaya had made some miracle for her seventh issue, while Devaki was pregnant. Yogamaya extracted the foetus from the uterus of Devaki while she was eight months pregnant and placed it inside the uterus of Rohini. Rohini at that time hide herself in Nanda's house at Gopa for the fear of demon Kamsa.

 

It is said in Bhagabat that

 

'Devakya Jathare Garbham Shesakhyam Dham Mamakam, Tata Sanni Krushya Rohinya Udare Sanniveshaya' Bhagavat [10-3-(8-10)]

 

It is said in Bhagavat that the supreme power called Shesha which is the abode of Lord Krishna (Vishnu), took birth as a human in the form of foetus in the uterus of Devaki. Goddess Yogamaya had extracted the foetus of Balarama and placed it safely inside the uterus of Rohini, the second wife of Basudeva. So after birth his name was Sankarsana. The story is told in Vishnu Purana differently that Lord Vishnu being satisfied with the prayer of Devatas gave two bunch of hairsblack and white separately for the benefit of humanity, these two bunch of hairs converted to Balaram and Srikrishna. Balaram took birth after two months from Rohini on the day of Shravan Purnima (Gahma Purnima).

 

He was called Sankarshan as he was extracted from others womb. He killed Pralambasur by fisticuffs in the forest of Bhandir. He threw the Dhenukasur whose body was just like an ass from the top of stiff mountain and killed him.

 

King Raibat established the kingdom of Kususthali now called Dwaraka, which is twenty four kilometers from Pore-bandar inside the sea. King Raibat gave his daughter Rebati in marriage with Balarama. he had two sons from Rebati named Nishastha and Ulluka. He had also three brothers and one sister Subhadra from Rohini.

 

Afterwards when Jarasandha attacked Mathura again and again, King Raibat donated Dwaraka to his son-in-law Balarama and Srikrishna. Balarama once sealed the mouth of River Yamuna as she disobeyed him. He dug a channel with his plough to divert Yamuna. She begged apology to Balarama for her disobedience.

 

Hala (Plough) and Musala (Club) were his main attributes. So he was called Hali. He pardoned Yamuna for her sin.

 

In other occasion Samba, son of Srikrishna abducted Lakhyana, daughter of Duryodhana from her Svayambar Sabha but he was kept in custody by Kauravas, Balaram knowing this, gave a proposal for the marriage of Samba with Lakhyana.

 

But Kauravas dishonoured Balaram. Angry Balaram threatened Kauravas, to throw their capital in holy Ganges by his plough. When he sacked his capital Duryodhan agreed the proposal and gave his daughter Lakhyana in marriage with Samba.

 

The Saura Puran states that

 

Matsyah kurmo varaha schah Narasingho atha vamanah Ramo Ramascha Krishnascha Buddhah Kalki Cha Te Dasha 11. 15/25 (Soura Purana)

 

Matsya (fish), Kurma (Turtle), Baraha (Boar), Narasingha (man-lion), Vaman (Dwarf-man), Rama, Balaram, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki are ten incarnation of Vishnu.

 

Here Balaram is regarded as Vishnu. Now he is regarded as Debata or God.

 

So Balarama became (Bala+Deva) Baladeva. Krishna and Balarama are regarded as Hari and Hara. Here Balarama is regarded as Lord Siva. Siva is helping Vishnu in every incarnation like Rama-Laxman in Tretaya Yuga.

 

In Dwapar Yuga as Krishna-Balarama and in Kali Yuga they are Jagannath and Balabhadra. Balarama like Laxamana is a yogi, traveller, silent worker, renunsation, truthful and Sanyasi as described in different Puranas.

 

Poet Yosabanta Das said in Prema Bhakti Brahma Gita that Rudra-Siva is Balarama or Balabhadra :-

 

"Tahum Se Ambhe Tini Bhrata Yekante Bhaliu Gupata. Rahilu Se Purusottam Nitya Rahasa Arupam. Ye Rudra Balabhadra Rupa Atanti Ananta Swarupa. Ambe Shree Jagannath Dehi Brahma Subhadra Hoi Tahi. Radha Gupata Anga Heu Atma Sangate Puja Pau.

 

Poet Yosobanta Das, one of the great poet of Panchasakha group told that Balaram, Srikrishna and Subhadra took rebirth in Purusottam Dham as Balabhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra who are the Supreme Gods Rudra, Vishnu and Brahma respectively.

 

Sarala Das one of the greatest poets of medieval India in his magnum opus Sarala Mahabharat in 15th Century AD already told the same thing-

 

"Rama Krishna Subhadra Je E Tini Pratima Shree Purusottame Bije Hali Hari Brahma"

 

Here the poet told that Balaram, Krishna and Subhadra in Dwapar Yuga are the same Balabhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra in Nilachala.

 

Accordingly to Prof. Prabhat Mukherjee in about 5th Century AD Sankarsana and Vasudeva came to be known as Jagannath and Balabhadra in Orissa. Brihat Samhita of Varahmihira (6th Century AD) enjoins to place Ekanamsa (Subhadra) between Baladev and Krishna.A stone image of Balarama which is now preserved in Lucknow Provincial Museum is a sure proof that his worship was prevalent in Mathura during the Sunga period (2nd century BC). The deity holds club (Masala) in his right hand and Hala (plough) in the left.

 

The earliest representation so far available of the holy triad of Krishna-Balabhadra & Subhadra.

 

(Ekanamsa) and Sankarsana-Balarama is preserved in Karachi Musuem, Pakistan (2nd century AD). Here two armed Balarama is in standing pose and holding a colossal plough (hala) in his right hand. The association of Krishna Balaram in a few Jain reliefs from Mathura Museum and datable to the Kusan Period is also worthy take note of. Besides image of Balarama, some carvings representing some incidents of the life of Balarama and Krishna of 2nd or 3rd Century AD have been discovered from Tumain (ancient Tumbavana) in Gwalior State. It is found in an ancient building decorated with beautiful and interesting carvings.

 

Worship of Balarama are found from the archaeological exeavation at Paharpur in Rajsahi district of Bangladesh. One gray sand-stone sculpture of Balarama, one of the ten incarnation of Vishnu depicted here with plough (Hala) under snake-hood is found there. Fight of Balarama and Krushna with Chanura and Mustika the two wrestlers of Kansa is depicted clearly.

 

Another scene of dragging of Kamsa by Balarama and Krishna is found there which shows that the Balarama worship spread to Bengal. From Imadpur in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar one bronze image of Balarama having four hands with snakehood along with Ekanamsa and Krishna were recovered which now adorns the King Edward VII Gallery of the British Musuem showing the Balarama worship in Bihar.

 

In Orissa Balarama, Ekanamsa and Krishna are worshipped at Ananta-Vasudeva temple at Bhubaneswar and Balaram (Balabhadra), Subhadra and Jagannath are worshipped in Jagannath temple at Puri. Swarupa of Lord Balarama is described by Balaram Das, one of the poets of Panchasakha group in his Dandi Ramayan so magnificently as follows:-

 

"Jaya Tu Srihari He Ashesa Janadhari Rohini Nandana Tu Pralamba Hotakari Rebati Kanta Kalandi Jale Tora Khela Nilabastra Paridhan Ayudha To Hala Taladvaja Aharam Sirare Kundali Jara Pade lule Sarba Devanka Mauli Sudha Spatikaku Jini Tora Deha Varna Swarna Kundali Sobhita Tora Beni Karna Mastaket to Sapta Phani Kirita Mukuta Mukuta Kadamba To Shohai Kantha Tata"

 

Balabhadra you are Vishnu, Rohini Nandan, Pralamba Killer, Rabatikanta, playing inside the water of Kalindi, wearing blue dress your attribute is Hala (plough), riding Taladhvaja chariot having headdresses. All devatas worship you. You are as white asspatika and wearing gold ornaments in the ears with snake hood in head and jewel nakelace on your neck.

 

Puri is called Shreekhetra or Purusottama khetra. Here Lord is Uttama-Purusa having his wife Laxmi, elder brother Balarama and sister Subhadra.

 

Shree is Laxmi, when Shree left Shree khetra only Khetra (field) remains there.

 

Poet Balaram Das describes in his 'Laxmi Puran' that when Laxmi left Uttam-Purusa, the Purusha became helpless and lived without food. Once elder brother Balarama showed his admistrative power over his family members.

 

One day a untouchable lady Sriyachandaluni worshipped Mahalaxmi deeply. Laxmi went to Sriya's house. Elder brother Balaram knew the fact and directed Lord Jagannath to drive Mahalaxmi from ShreeMandir as she went to a chandal house. Mahalaxmi left Shree-Mandir, as a result of which Balaram and Jagannath could not get Mahaprasad (rice) as they were anti-Laxmi (Laxmidrohi). Nobody gave them food.

 

At last they went to Sriya Chandaluni's house where Mahalaxmi dwelt. They were satisfied with usual food and Podapitha (cake) distributed by Shreeya. Mahalaxmhi came back to Sri Mandir again.

 

Here in the Laxmipuran the greatness of Laxmi has been established. She is the cause of all happiness of Lord Balaram and Jagannath. Balarama, the elder brother of Srikrishna went on tour to different places during Mahabharat War without supporting either Kauravas or Pandavas.

 

Pravachana Yagnya was organised by Rishi Lomaharshana in the holy forest of Naimishyaranya. Rishi Lomaharshana sat on the sacred chair of Vyasa. Balarama after returing from his travel trip entered Naimishyaranya during the course of Pravachana programme.

 

All Rishis and devotees paid respect to Balaram except Rishi Lomaharshana. Balarama threw his sharpen crusha to Lomaharshana and he was killed. All Rishis denounced Balaram and ultimately he went to different holy places to have bath in holy water to wave out his sin.

 

It is said that Balaram went to Jajapur to dip in water of Baitarani river to wave out his sin. He fought with demon Kandarasur at Kendrapara and killed him on Kartika Akadasi day.

 

Balaram married his daughter Tulasi on Dwadasi day of Kartika. Every year Tulasi Bibaha festival is performed on this day at Baladev Jew temple at Kendrapara. According to Srimad Bhagabat, it is said that while Akrura was returning from Gopa to Mathura along with Balaram and Krishna, he saw the miracle inside Kalandi water during his bath.

 

He saw Srikrishna sat on the lap of Ananta (Balaram), the bright white Sheshanag having thousand snake-hoods:-

 

"Sahasra Shirasam Debam Sahasra Phana Maulinam Nilambar Bisashvetam Shrungeih Shvetamiba Sthitam Tasvota sange Ghanashyama Pitakausheya vasasam Purusham Chaturbhujam Shantam PadmaPutrarunekshyanam."

(Bhagabat-10-40-(45-46)

 

Here Balarama is called 'Ananta' or 'Shesa Naga'. Balaram while on death bed, was described as in Naga (snake)form. When Jadu clan was destroyed one Anantanaga emerged from Balaram's mouth and entered into the ocean.

 

Jagannath Dash, one of the greatest poet of Orissa describes like this:- "Jadaba Bala Nasta Dekhi ! Rama Bujhile Beni Akhi Takhyane Nija Yogabale ! Ananta Paseele Patale" Now Balarama, Subhadra and Krishna are worshipped in Shree Mandir at Purusottama Khetra Puri as Lord Balbhadra, Subhadra and Lord Jagannath. Famous Indian Poet Bidyakar Mishra Bajapayee in his "Nityachar Paddhati' prays Lord :- "Namasteastu Jagannath Namasteastu Pitamaha, Narayan Namasteastu Balabhadra Namostute"

KALKI AVATAAR

The 10^th Avataar of Lord Vishnu

 

This avatar of Lord Vishnu is the most challenging and yet the most significant…

 

It is a challenge because it hasn’t happened yet but is prophesized to happen soon.

 

It is significant and relevant because it will happen in our time, the Kali Yuga and affects all of us most closely.

 

Our story here begins with a brief history of Kali Yuga and the various times the lord has intervened in times of moral and human crisis to show the path as an apostle or a saint.

 

This phase will cover the stories of these great apostles and saints of India, one story in every episode. They are as follows:

 

Lord Mahavir Jain

Lord Budhha

Adi Shankaracharya

Ramkrishna Paramhans & Vivekananda

Sai Baba

 

Then it will build up the corruption, spread of vice and evil in Kali Yuga and the imminent destruction of mankind and the arrival of Kalki Avataar.

 

Prophecies concerning the state of the World when Kalki Avatar makes his appearance

 

'Whenever there is a falling away from the true law [ religion ] and an upsurge of unlawfulness, then I emit myself. I come into being age after age, to protect the virtuous and to destroy evil-doers, to establish a firm basis for the true law.' –

Bhagavad Gita 4:7-8

 

'Those who present themselves as saints are constantly engaged in preaching false doctrines. Those who have apparently renounced the world are rich in worldly possessions, and have become family men.' –

 

The Srimad Bhagavata ( BEF 300 CE )

'And the path of the wind will be confused and agitated and all around will be noise and uproar, and everywhere there will be conflagrations and fires will blaze on all sides. ' –

 

The Mahabharata ( circa 3000 BCE )

 

'Wealth and piety will decrease day by day, until the world will be totally depraved. then property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation; and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification.

 

Earth will be venerated but for its mineral treasures; the Brahminical thread will constitute a brahmin; external types will be the only distinction of the several orders of life; dishonesty will be the universal means of subsistence; weakness will be the cause of dependence; menace and presumption will be substitued for learning; liberality will be devotion; simple ablutions will be purification; mutual assent will be marraige; fine clothes will be dignity; and water afar off will be esteemed a holy spring.

 

Amidst all castes he who is the strongest will reign over the principality, thus vitiated by many faults. The people unable to bear the heavy burdens imposed upon them by their avaricious sovereigns, will take refuge amongst the valleys of the mountains, and will be glad to feed upon wild honey, herbs, roots, fruits, flowers, and leaves: their only covering will be the bark of trees, and they will be exposed to the cold and wind and sun and rain. NO man's life will exceed three and twenty years.

 

Thus in the Kali age shall decay constanlty proceed, until the human race approaches its annihilation.' –

 

Vishna Purana 4.24

 

'The learned pandits [Hindu theologians] for their part indulge in sexual commerce with their wives like buffaloes. They are expert in breeding children and are not at all clever in attaining Enlightenment.. the substance and depth of things has disappeared everywhere.'

Srimad Bhagavata

 

'People in that era [Kali age] turn out to be greedy, immoral and merciless; they freely enter into violence without cause and are unlucky and excessively covetous.' –

 

Srimad Bhagavata

 

'There are numerous quarrels between husband and wife.'

 

Srimad Bhagavata

 

'In the Kali age, men will be afflicted by old age, disease, and hunger, and from sorrow there will arise depression, indifference, deep thought, enlightenment, and virtuous behaviour. Then the age will change, deluding their minds like a dream, by force of fate, and when the Golden Age begins, those left over from the Kali age will be the progenitors of the Golden age ... Thus there is eternal continuity from age to age.'

 

Hinduism. Linga Purana 1.40

 

'Already vexed by famine and heavy taxation, people will perish through drought, excessive cold, storms, scorching sunshine, heavy rain, snowfall and mutual conflict. In the age of Kali men will be tormented by hunger and thirst, sickness and worry.'

 

Srimad Bhagavata

 

Prophecies concerning the attributes, role and actions of the Kalki Avatar 'Lord Vishnu [ appearing as Kalki ] adorned of the whole animate and inanimate creation, and the soul of the universe, appears in this world of matter for protecting the virtue of the righteous and wiping out the entire stock of their karma and thereby liberating them. The Lord will appear under the name of Kalki … riding a fleet horse … and capable of subdueing the wicked. The Lord of the universe wielding … divine powers and possessed of endless virtues and matchless splendor, he will traverse the globe on that swift horse and exterminate with his sword the robbers

[ those whose minds are devoted to iniquity ] by the thens of millions.'

 

 The Srimad Bhagavata ( circe 1500 BCE )

 

'When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon the earth. He will be born as Kalki in the family of an eminent brahmin of Sambhala village, endowed with the eight superhuman facilities. By his irresistable might he will destroy all the barbarians and thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then reestablish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be as the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, the Age of Purity. As it is said, "When the Sun and Moon, and the luner asterism Tishya, and the planet Jupiter, are in one mansion, the Krita age shall return."

 

Vishnu Purana 4.24

 

'Vishnu will return as Kalki, upon a white horse, as the last Avatar, amid fire and flames.' - Hindu Puranas c 900 c.e. 'Vishnu will return … as [ Kalki ] the last Avatar, amid fire and flames … he will travel across the globe …'

 

The Srimad Bhagavata ( circa 1500 BCE )

 

'When the Kali Yuga is well-nigh past, the Lord will appear in His Divine form consisting of Sattva [purity] alone for the protection of virtue. Lord Vishnu adorned of the whole animate and inanimate creation, and the Soul of the Universe, appears in this world of matter for protecting the virtue of the righteous and wiping out the entire stock of their Karma and thereby liberating them. the Lord will appear under the name of Kalki.. riding a fleet horse.. and capable of subduing the wicked. the Lord of the Universe wielding.. divine powers and possessed of endless virtues and matchless splendor, he will traverse the globe on that swift horse and exterminate with his sword the robbers[those whose minds are devoted to iniquity] by the tens of millions.'

 

Srimad Bhagavata

 

'He will then reestablish righteousness upon Earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as translucent as crystal.'

 

Vishnu Purana IV:24,26-27