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Tidbits-19

Who Thought That It Would Happen Like This?
In our Hindu Mythological literature, there are some moments when you have thought, "Who have thought that..." Both Raamaayan and Mahaabhaarat have such occasions. Some of them are here...

(1) When Raam, dearly loved by the people of Ayodhyaa, became victim of a grand palace intrigue and was exiled by his most beloved parents leaving the throne in favor of Bharat.

(2) When Seetaa, daughter of a King, daughter-in- law of a King and the consort of a future King was abducted by Raavan and held captive in Lanka.

(3) When Raam asked Seetaa to give a proof of Her faithfulness by Agni Pareekshaa (Fire Test)

(4) When Raam banished pregnant Seetaa from Ayodhyaa without telling Her.

(5) When Raam invited Her to accept Her, but still on the condition that She would have to give proof of Her chastity. This time She could not bear it and died.

The Mahabharata is a chronicle of a series of crises coming upon the kingdom of Hastinaapur, the Paandav and Kaurav......

(1) Dhritrashtra's main point of rage is that, in spite of being the first-born his blindness denied him the throne; rage which became the root cause for everything till he went to forest in the end.

(2) Duryodhans illegitimate claim to the throne of Hastinaapur.

(3) Vivisection of the kingdom between Duryodhan and Yudhishthir.

(4) Yudhishthir staking Indraprasth in the game of dice and losing the kingdom to Duryodhan.

(5) Yudhishthir staking his brothers and his wife in the game and losing everything to Shakuni's crafty roll of the dice.

(6) The Kaurav disrobing Draupadee in the court.

(7) The inaction and impotence of the elders in Hastinaapur when the kingdom was vivisected, when the game of dice was played, when Yudhishthir staked his kingdom in the game, when Draupadee was dishonored, and when Shakuni looted Paandav's kingdom by crafty roll of dice.

(8) When Duryodhan does not agree to give Paandav's kingdom back to them, and not only their kingdom but even five villages; and not only five villages but the earth equal to the tip of he needle.

(9) Killing of Abhimanyu by 6 Mahaarathee together....  the list is long

As the series of crises unfolded in Ayodhyaa, Hastinaapur and Indraprasth, the most striking feature in the narration is that in the Raamaayan, the ordinary people of Ayodhyaa are heard and seen during the crises; and all action before, during and after the crises takes place equally in the courts, on the streets and on the battlefield; in the Mahaabhaarat however, we do not see or hear the ordinary people of Hastinaapur and Indraprasth and all action takes place only in the court and in the battlefield.

In the Raamaayan, the Prajaa is heard and is seen because both Dasharath and Shree Raam are submitted to Dharm; while in the Mahaabhaarat, unrestrained greed for the throne and the fatal penchant for gambling rendered Dhritraashtra, Duryodhan and Yudhishthir impervious not only to public opinion but also to the well-being of their citizens. The people of Hastinaapur and Indraprasth are therefore invisible and voiceless. In Hindu tradition of Raaj Dharm mere numbers on the street or its absence do not influence the actions of the state; the Hindu state by definition is Dhaarmik.

Notwithstanding the fact that every citizen of Ayodhyaa, without exception, was angry when King Dasharath was forced to consent to Bharat succeeding to the throne instead of Raam, but Raam rejected the voice of the people who followed him in his exile and proceeded to the forests. The numbers were undoubtedly on Raam's side. Raam therefore did not use the voice of the people to overrule his father; instead he chided the people of Ayodhyaa for threatening revolt and urged them to remain loyal to the King and to serve Bharat with the same affection and loyalty that they were professing for Him.

Much later in the historical narrative when Raam was informed that there were muted whispers against his decision to have by his side a woman who had been held captive in another man's home, notwithstanding the fact that the numbers were on the side of Seetaa, Raam submitted to what he considered was the ideal in Raaj Dharm, and banished pregnant Seetaa to the forests.

Such was the faith of the people of Ayodhyaa in Shree Raam's adherence to Dharm that in the first instance, in absolute obedience to Shree Raam's exhortation, they did not rise up in revolt against Dasharath or Bharat and in the second instance the vast majority of the people of Ayodhyaa who were deeply pained and even angered by Seetaa's exile, did not rise up in revolt against Shree Raam nor did they pick up arms against those elements in society which had brought these crises upon Ayodhyaa.


Which Wives Asked Their Husband for Good Clothes and Jewelry?
There are some women who have asked or got good clothes and jewelry before giving children to their Rishi husbands... All these girls were the daughters of kings. When they married to Rishi they took off their all royal attire and wore Aashram clothes after marrying them.

(1) Maharshi Kardam
Kardam Muni's wife Devahooti, Manu's daughter, did not ask for these, but Kardam Rishi himself gave her all these things before having children from her. kardam Muni, pleased with her services gave the fruits of all his Tap, built a Vimaan, gave her beauty and the enjoyed with her for many years and gave her 9 daughters assuming 9 forms and the in the last gave her Bhagavaan as her son - Kapil Dev.
[Bhaagvat Puraan, 3/10]

(2) Agastya Rishi
When Agastya Rishi wanted to have children from Lopaamudraa, daughter of a King, she particularly asked him to give her good clothes and jewelry before it, even she asked him to come to her in good clothes and flower garland.. Agastya Muni said - "Where I will bring all these for you, I am only a Rishi." Lopaamudraa said - "You are a Rishi, you can do anything." Agastya Muni did not want to waste his Tap on such trivial things, so when Lopaamudraa did not agree, he went to several kings to ask for money but he found that they were not able to give him that much money. Then one king told him about Ilval Daitya. He went to him, but he wanted to kill him, so he offered him food which Agastya Muni ate and digested it. Then he gave him lots of wealth and with that wealth Agastya Muni could satisfy Lopaamudraa.
[MBH, G-4-Van/17]

(3) Chyavan Muni
Chyavan Muni was married to Raajaa Sharyaati's daughter Sukanyaa. So when Chyavan asked Sukanyaa to give him a child, she asked him to give her good clothes and jewelry before coming to her. He told her that he was a Rishi, where he would bring all that from? She replied that he had the power of Tap, he could use it to produce them from anywhere, but he also did not get ready to waste his tap on such trivial things. Later, Ashwinee Kumaar
[Bhavishya Puraan, 1/7]


Bhrigu and Tri-Dev
It seems 


Who Cursed Vishnu
It seems strange or illogical to hear that there can be somebody who can curse Vishnu, but there are such people who could curse even Vishnu. Surprisingly Vishnu accepted all curses. There are some boons also which turned out to be like curse

(1) Bhrigu
Once Devtaa and Asur had a great war. When Asur started getting killed they ran away from the battlefield and came to Bhrigu Muni's Ashram. Bhrigu Muni was not there, he had gone to bring flowers for his Poojaa. Bhrigu Muni's wife was very kind. She gave shelter to everybody who came to her humbly. Asur came there humbly and requested her to protect them. She hid them in her Aashram. Soon Vishnu followed them and asked her about the Asur. Vishnu asked her to hand over those Asur to Him, but Bhrigu's wife did not hand them over to Vishnu, because she was protecting them. So Vishnu cut the neck of Bhrigu's wife by His Chakra. In the meantime Bhrigu Jee also came there and seeing his dear wife killed filled with rage and cursed Vishnu to take birth on Prithvi 10 times. Vishnu accepted the curse and incarnated as 10 Incarnations of Vishnu.

(2) Naarad
This story comes in Tulasee's Maans when Naarad Jee cursed Vishnu to be born as human being on Prithvi, tolerate the pain of separation from His wife, but then helped by monkeys as Vishnu gave him a face of a monkey. Vishnu accepted this curse.

(3) Vrindaa or Tulasee
She was Jalandhar or Shankhchood's wife and she cursed Vishnu because He broke her Paativrat Dharm by assuming the form her husband. She cursed Him to be a black stone. Vishnu accepted her curse, still He bestowed her a boon, because His Darshan could not go waste.
--that she would turn into a river and He would live in her heart (in case of Tulasee). So Tulasee turned into Gandakee River and Shaaligraam stones are founf in that river.
--that she would turn into a plant named Tulasee and He will not accept any food without her. That is why Vishnu's Bhog (Naivedya) is always incomplete without a Tulasee leaf.

(4) Gaandhaaree
After the MBH war, Gaandhaaree said to Krishn - "You could have easily stopped the war, but you did not. If you had done so I would have had not lost my sons. I curse you that even your Kul (family) will finish completely and nobody will remain alive." Krishn accepted this curse.


Who and Who Insulted Vishnu
In Indian mythological history, several have insulted Him. Who have insulted Him and what happened to them - read it here.

(1) Garud
Read how and when Garud insulted Vishnu and what happened to him in MBH-Stories, 5-17-Maatali-2.

Second time, when Raam and Lakshman were tied by Naag Paash by Meghnaad, Hanumaan called Garud to eat those Naag. Gaud came and ate those Naag and saved their lives. When he was going back to his home, it came to his mind that what type of Bhagavaan was Raam who could not take care of Himself and he had to go to save His life. He got proud thinking that he had saved His life. So he went to Brahmaa Jee and told his doubt about Raam. Brahmaa Jee could not explain this to him so he sent him to Shiv Jee. When he met Shiv Jee, he was going to see his friend Kuber, so he directed him to Kaagbhushundi Jee. This made him to listen to Raamaayan which is in the form of Tulasee's Maanas. Read this whole incident here.

(2) Bhrigu
Once Bhrigu Jee insulted Him, of course not with any bad intention, but just to test the greatness of Devtaa. He hit His chest with his foot, but Vishnu kept the mark of his foot on His own chest. Read this story here.


Illusions Created by Vishnu
Vishnu has also created many kinds of illusions for His devotees, some of them are recorded here ---

(1) Maarkandeya Sees Pralaya

(2) Naarad
Vishnu had to create a couple of illusions for Naarad Jee, read them here
Naarad Jee Gave Shaap to Vishnu
Naarad Jee is Affected by Krishn's Maayaa

(3) Shiv Jee
Once Vishnu created an illusion for Shiv Jee also. Strange to hear, isn't it? Why Vishnu had to create illusion for Shiv Jee? But, well, it is true. He had to as Shiv Jee insisted to do that. This story is almost unknown to many people, but, however read it here --

 

 

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Created by Sushma Gupta on 5/27/04
Contact:  sushmajee@yahoo.com
Updated on 02/10/13