R defeated.

 Kartavirya Arjuna once went to bathe in the Narmada River with his wives. Meanwhile, Ravana, the king of Lanka, also came to the Narmada with his ministers. They were more upstream than Arjuna.

“My Lord, you are very powerful. But I want to test your strength,” one of Arjuna’s wives said jokingly.

“What would you like me to do,” Arjuna asked.

“Stop the flow of the river. If you can do this, you are truly the most powerful person alive,” his wife asked of him.

Arjuna sat in the middle of the river and raised his arms. He concentrated hard. Soon, the river flow completely stopped. With the flow of the river stopped, the water level rose and the water started going on to the shores. The small islands started getting submerged.

Upstream, Ravana was praying on the shore. Suddenly, strong waves of water started washing onto the shore. They ran along the shoreline to find out the cause of this. They saw Arjuna sitting in the middle of the river with his arms blocking all the water. Seeing a thousand arms on the king, the ministers were slightly scared. They went back to Ravana.

Ravana opened his eyes from his prayers and realized the water rising. He looked at his ministers and saw scared expressions on their faces. He realized that this was the work of someone powerful.

“Why are you just standing there, you fools. Tell me what happened!” Ravana barked at his ministers.

“Your majesty. A th…thousand-armed king has stopped the river,” his ministers replied, pointing down the river.

Ravana immediately knew that it was Kartavirya Arjuna. He picked up his mace and got on his Pushpaka Vimana. “Forward!” Ravana screamed, commanding the vehicle to go to Arjuna.

Ravana saw Arjuna drying himself and bellowed. “Just because you can stop a river doesn’t mean you are powerful. If you’re actually powerful, then fight me!” Ravana bellowed.

“Ravana! I will fight you. Get down from your chariot, or are you a coward?” Arjuna said, smiling.

Ravana jumped down from his Pushpaka Vimana with his mace in his hand. Arjuna instantly grabbed his mace and met Ravana’s blow. The two continued fighting for a long time. Arjuna’s queens and Ravana’s ministers watched, horrified. After a fierce fight, Arjuna managed to make Ravana unconscious. Arjuna captured Ravana and took him back to Mahishmati. Arjuna imprisoned Ravana.

A few days later, Sage Pulatsya (one of the mind-born sons of Brahma and Ravana’s grandfather) came to Mahishmati.

“Arjuna, I have heard that you defeated my grandson and you have him imprisoned here,” Pulatsya said. “I am sure that he has learned his lesson and will never pick a fight with you again. Please let him go.”

Arjuna willingly let Ravana go. Ravana went back to Lanka on his Pushpaka Vimana after receiving many gifts from Arjuna

Kingship

 Kartavirya Arjuna was a great king. He was from the Haihaya dynasty, a branch of the Yadava dynasty. He ruled from Mahishmati on the banks of the Narmada river. Kartavirya Arjuna was also known as Sahasrabahu Arjuna. He ruled the entire Earth and was a great conqueror. He was a great worshiper of Bhagvati Amba. But with all the power he became arrogant and cruel, so he was killed by Parshurama.

King Kritavirya of Haihaya had many wives but he didn’t have even one son. He performed many penances but still didn’t obtain a son. One of his wives, Padmini, unable to bear the anguish of Kritavirya, went to Anasuya, the wife of Atri rishi, for assistance.

Ansuya told her about the specific days that they should do penance to beget a son. Kritavirya and Padmini went to the forest and did penance on those days.

Once, while they were lost in meditation, a voice came from the sky saying, “Open your eyes”. They opened their eyes and were astonished to find Lord Dattatreya standing in front of him. “I will bless you with what you want,” Lord Dattatreya said, smiling.

“O Lord, all we want is a son. A son that is unconquered and will rule the entire world. A son that can’t be defeated by anybody except you,” Kritavirya requested. Dattatreya nodded and disappeared.

Soon after, Kritavirya and Padmini had a son. He was named Kartavirya Arjuna. He was born with a 1000 arms, so he was also called Sahasrabahu Arjuna. Soon, Kritavirya had other sons with his other wives and a daughter named Bhanumati.

Becoming King and Disciple to Dattatreya

Soon, Kritavirya died and there was peril in the kingdom. The candidates for the throne were Kritavirya’s 3 brothers, his son-in-law Ahamyati, and his sons including Kartavirya Arjuna.

The ministers and citizens discussed who should be the next king. Rishi Garga asserted that Kartavirya Arjuna should become the king. Soon, people realized that Rishi Garga was correct and that there was no good candidate except for Kartavirya Arjuna. It was decided that Arjuna would become the next king of Haihaya.

But Kartavirya Arjuna didn’t want to be king. He didn’t want all the power and fame or the kingdom itself.

“If I am unable to protect the subjects, I will go to hell. I cannot take this responsibility. I might fail in protecting the citizens. I might be defeated by another king or fail my duties. Pick someone else, not me,” Arjuna argued.

“No one can see the future. As long as you try your best, you are following your duties. Do not fear the future right now. Look at the present,” Rishi Garga argued back.

“As long as I know I am not powerful enough, I will not accept kingship,” Arjuna replied firmly.

“Well then go to Lord Dattatreya, the avatar of Lord Vishnu. He will make you realize your duties and make you powerful,” Rishi Garga replied.

Arjuna went to Dattatreya. He became a perfect disciple, observing all his duties with alertness and punctuality. He soon realized his duties. At the end of his training, Dattatreya told him to ask for six boons. Arjuna asked for these boons:

1. Give me the power to protect my subjects
2. Make me know the secret to anyone’s heart
3. Make me invincible
4. Make it so that my thousand arms don’t disable my body
5. Make it so that even if I give away wealth, my wealth won’t decrease

Dattatreya was impressed with the boons Arjuna asked for. He requested Arjuna to ask for 2 more boons. For the two additional boons, Arjuna asked for:

1. Make it so that I die at the hands of a great person after a glorious reign
2. Make it so that I never waver from the path of righteousness. Make it so that there are always people guiding me to the right path.

Dattatreya granted all eight boons to Arjuna. Dattatreya also gave him a flying chariot. Kartavirya Arjuna then came back to Mahishmati and accepted kingship

Kartavirya Arjuna conducted 10 great yagnas in each of the seven continents. So in total, he conducted 700 yagnas. All of the yagnas were splendorous and had plenty of grandeur. Gold altars were used in all of them. All of them were performed with sacrificial pots made of gold. The Devas, Gandharvas, and Apsaras watched these yagnas from the sky.

Anxiety

 Chapter 12 verse 15 

roast is an event, almost exclusively in the United States, in which an individual is subjected to a public presentation of comedic insults, praise, outlandish true and untrue stories, and heartwarming tributes, the implication being that the roastee is able to take the jokes in good humor and not as serious criticism or insult, and therefore, show their good nature. It is seen by some as a great honour to be roasted, as the individual is surrounded by friends, fans, and well-wishers, who can receive some of the same treatment as well during the course of the evening. The party and presentation itself are both referred to as a roast.
 
In our life, when we are dealing with other people, it is inevitable that we will experience a whole host of emotional reactions to what those people say to us. Four common reactions are excitement on hearing something pleasant, irritation on hearing something unpleasant, fear on hearing something worrisome, and agitation when meeting someone that has the upper hand in the conversation. But in a “roast”, the individual happily accepts all sorts of abuses and insults, because he knows that they are coming from his friends and well-wishers, people that he knows as his own, not separate from him. At the end of the roast, the individual in turn insults and abuses the people that insulted him earlier, and no one feels any ill-will towards him for the same reasons.
 
Similarly, the devotee who considers everyone and everything as the play of Ishvara, including himself, has no reason to take anything personally. His sense of self is not the small ego that most of us consider as our “I”. He has identified with Ishvara who runs multitudes of universes. Any sort of insult, agitation or fear dissipates instantly because he views the insult, the insulter and the recipient of the insult as Ishvara. He thinks of it as a play where his friends are the actors and directors. Shri Krishna says that such a person who is free from agitations, and who does not agitate any one else, is dear to him.

9

Practice.

 Laksmicaranarajivalaksitavakshase.

Prasvinnapayodharasphuranmurttim.

Pratarambujavidamilocanam.

Sitaramyakarunavalokanaih

Ksirambhodhisutapayodharapayah

Grnantyavalambyayam.

Ahinagunssobhitairamrtasadhanotkanthibhih.

Kudrstisarpagarudastrsyyantavidyaguruh.

To be continued.

eye of the needle.

 A story of Narada Muni, who was once asked by a brahmana: “Oh, you are going to meet the Lord? Will you please ask Him when I’m going to get my salvation?”

“All right,” Narada agreed. “I shall ask Him.”
As Narada proceeded, he met a cobbler who was sitting under a tree mending shoes, and the cobbler similarly asked Narada, “Oh, you are going to see God? Will you please inquire of Him when my salvation will come?”
When Narada Muni went to the Vaikuntha planets, he fulfilled their request and asked Narayana (God) about the salvation of the brahmana and the cobbler, and Narayana replied, “After leaving this body, the cobbler shall come here to me.”
“What about the brahmana?” Narada asked.
“He will have to remain there for a number of births. I do not know when he is coming.”
Narada Muni was astonished, and he finally said, “I can’t understand the mystery of this.”
“That you will see,” Narayana said. “When they ask you what I am doing in My abode, tell them that I am threading the eye of a needle with an elephant.”
When Narada returned to earth and approached the brahmana, the brahmana said, “Oh, you have seen the Lord? What was He doing?”
“He was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle,” Narada answered.
“I don’t believe such nonsense,” the brahmana replied. Narada could immediately understand that the man had no faith and that he was simply a reader of books.
Narada then left and went on to the cobbler, who asked him, “Oh, you have seen the Lord? Tell me, what was He doing?”
“He was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle,” Narada replied.
The cobbler began to weep, “Oh, my Lord is so wonderful, He can do anything.”
“Do you really believe that the Lord can push an elephant through the hole of a needle?” Narada asked.
“Why not?” the cobbler said, “Of course I believe it.”
“How is that?”
“You can see that I am sitting under this banyan tree,” the cobbler answered, “and you can see that so many fruits are falling daily, and in each seed there is a banyan tree like this one. If, within a small seed there can be a big tree like this, is it difficult to accept that the Lord is pushing an elephant through the eye of a needle?”

spiders web.

A young soldier found himself in a terrible and hopeless battle.

The enemy was soundly defeating this young man’s army.

He and his comrades found themselves hastily retreating from the battle field in defeat, running away in fear for their very lives. The enemy gave chase.

This young man ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation, but soon found himself cut off from his comrades in arms.

He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave.

Knowing the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, he chose to hide there.

After he crawled into the cave, he fell to his face in the darkness, desperately crying to God to save him and protect him from his enemies.

He also made a bargain with God, one which I (and perhaps you too?) have made before. He promised that if God saved him, he would serve Him for the remainder of his days.

When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance of the cave.

As he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony.

He thought, “I asked God for protection and deliverance, and he sent me a spider instead. How can a spider save me?”

Soon he did hear the sound of his enemies. One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave’s entrance.

As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came upon the spider’s web, which by now was completely strung across the opening.

He backed away and called out to a comrade, “There can’t be anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider’s web to enter the cave. Let’s move on.”

Years later, this young man, who made good his promise by becoming a preacher and evangelist, wrote about that ordeal.

What he observed has stood by me in times of trouble, especially during those times when everything seemed impossible.

He wrote: “Where God is, a spider’s web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider’s web.”

Moral of the story:

May we remember this at all times and always take shelter of Supreme Lord and serve Him sincerely.

In Srimad Bhagavatam Kunti Maharani prays to Lord Krishna by describing how He saved the Pandavas on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra.

vishaan mahaagneh purushaada-darshanaad
asat-sabhaayaa vana-vaasa-krcchratah
mrdhe mrdhe ‘neka-mahaarathaastrato
drauny-astratas chaasma hare ‘bhirakshitaah

“My dear Krishna, Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest and from the battle where great generals fought. And now You have saved us from the weapon of Ashvatthama.”

In his book “Teachings of Queen Kunti”, “All the commanders on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra were maha-rathas. Many of them are mentioned in Bhagavad-Gita.

Bhisma, Karna, and Dronacharya were especially great commanders. They were such powerful fighters that although Arjuna was also a maha-ratha, before them he was nothing.

But by the grace of Krishna he was able to kill Karna, Bhishma, Dronacharya, and the others and come out victorious.

While speaking with Sukadeva Gosvami, Maharaja Parikshit also referred to this. “The Battlefield of Kurukshetra,” he said, “was just like an ocean, and the warriors were like many ferocious aquatic animals.

But by the grace of Krishna, my grandfather Arjuna crossed over this ocean very easily.” This is very significant.

We may have many enemies who may be very powerful fighters, but if we remain under the protection of Krishna, no one can do us any harm.

Rakhe Krishna maare ke maare Krishna rakhe ke. He whom Krishna protects, no one can kill, but if Krishna wants to kill someone, no one can give him protection.”

 

R Sd/-

In the year Vikram 1631 (1575 CE), Tulsidas started composing the Ramcharitmanas in Ayodhya on Tuesday, Ramnavami day (ninth day of the bright half of the Chaitra month, which is the birthday of Rama). Tulsidas himself attests this date in the Ramcharitmanas. He composed the epic over two years, seven months and twenty-six days, and completed the work in Vikram 1633 (1577 CE) on the Vivaha Panchami day (fifth day of the bright half of the Margashirsha month, which commenrates the wedding of Rama and his wife Sita).

Tulsidas came to Varanasi and recited the Ramcharitmanas to Shiva (Vishwanath) and Parvati (Annapurna) at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. A popular legend goes that the Brahmins of Varanasi, who were critical of Tulsidas for having rendered the Sanskrit Ramayana in the vernacular, decided to test the worth of the work. A manuscript of the Ramcharitmanas was kept at the bottom of pile of Sanskrit scriptures in the sanctum sanctorum of the Vishvanath temple in the night, and the doors of the sanctum sanctorum were locked. In the morning when the doors were opened, the Ramcharitmanas was found at the top of the pile. The words Satyam Shivam Sundaram  literally truth, auspiciousness, beauty were inscribed on the manuscript with the signature of Shiva. The words were also heard by the people present.

Per traditional accounts, some Brahmins of Varanasi were still not satisfied, and sent two thieves to steal the manuscript. The thieves tried to break into the Ashram of Tulsidas, but were confronted by two guards with bows and arrows, of dark and fair complexion. The thieves had a change of heart and came to Tulsidas in the morning to ask who the two guards were. Believing that the two guards could be none other than Rama and Lakshmana, Tulsidas was aggrieved to know that they were guarding his home at night. He sent the manuscript of Ramcahritmanas to his friend Rai Todar Mal, the finance minister of Akbar, and donated all his money. The thieves were reformed and became devotees of Rama.

Around Vikram 1664 (1607 CE), Tulsidas was afflicted by acute pain all over his body, especially in his arms. He then composed the Hanuman Bahuk, where he describes his bodily pain and suffering in several stanzas. He was relieved of his pain after this composition.

The Vinaypatrika is considered as the last compositions of Tulsidas, believed to be written when Kali Yuga started troubling him. In this work of 279 stanzas, he beseeches Rama to give him Bhakti (devotion), and to accept his petition. Tulsidas attests in the last stanza of Vinaypatrika that Rama himself signed the manuscript of the work. The 45th stanza of the Vinaypatrika is sung as the evening Aarti by many Hindus.

Tulsidas claims to have received the story through his guru, Narharidas.Tulsidas was a naive (Acheta) child and the story was stored in his mind (Mānasa) for long before he wrote it down as Ramcharitmanas. Some understand this passage of the Ramcharitmanas to mean that Tulsidas at first could not grasp the story fully as he was a naïve young boy. His guru graciously repeated it again and again so that he could understand and remember it. Then he narrated the story and named it Ramcharitmanas as Shiva himself called it.

Ramcharitmanas consists of seven Kand (literally “books” or “episodes”, cognate with cantos). Tulsidas compared the seven Kāndas of the epic to seven steps leading into the holy waters of Lake Manasarovar “which purifies the body and the soul at once”.

1. Bal Kand – Childhood Episode

Shlokas: 7
Dohas: 341
Sortas: 25
Chhand: 39
Chaupai: 358

2. Ayodhya Kand – Ayodhya Episode

Shlokas: 1
Dohas: 314
Sortas: 13
Chhand: 13
Chaupai: 326

3. Aranya Kand – Forest Episode

Shlokas: 1
Dohas: 41
Sortas: 6
Chhand: 9
Chaupai: 44

4. Kiskindha Kand – Kishkindha Episode

Shlokas: 1
Dohas: 30
Sortas: 1
Chhand: 2
Chaupai: 30

5. Sundar Kand – Pleasant Episode

Shlokas: 1
Dohas: 59
Sortas: 1
Chhand: 3
Chaupai: 60

6. Lanka Kand – Lanka Episode

Shlokas: 1
Dohas: 118
Sortas: 4
Chhand: 38
Chaupai: 117

7. Uttar Kand – Later Episode

Shlokas: 4
Dohas: 126
Sortas: 5
Chhand: 14
Chaupai: 125

Every chapter of the Ramcharitmanas begins with an invocation or Mangalcharan. It is customary of the Indian tradition of writing that the author begins a new book with invocation to the Gods to ensure that the sankalpa is finished unhindered.

Chopai and Prasang in Shri Ramcharitmanas

Ramcharitmanas is structured around three separate conversations. The conversations happen between Shiva and Parvati, Sages Bharadwaj and Yajnavalkya and finally Kakbhushundi and the king of birds, Garuda. Although Lord Shiva then told it to Mata Parvati, but it was Kakbhushundi ji who received it through the proper Guru-Shishya (teacher-disciple) parampara. Kakbhushundi ji then passed it on to sage Yagyavalkya ji, who in turn sang it to sage Bhardwaj ji. Sage Sanakadi ji, after recieving it from Bhardwaj ji, incarnated as Swami Narharidas ji in this Kaliyuga and taught it to Goswami Tulsidas ji. Thus, the parampara (tradition) of Manas is as follows:

There are a total of 10,902 verses in Manas. The number of metres (वृत्त) used is 18, namely- Chaupai (चौपाई), Anushtoop Shloka (अनुष्टुप्), Shaardoolvikreedita Shloka (शार्दूलविक्रीडित), Vasantatilikaa Shloka (वसन्ततिलका), Vanshastha Shloka (वंशस्थ), Upajaati Shloka (उपजाति), Pramaanikaa Shloka (प्रमाणिका), Maalini Shloka (मालिनी), Srgdharaa Shloka (स्रग्धरा), Rathoddhataa Shloka (रथोद्धता), Bhujangaprayaata Shloka (भुजङ्गप्रयात), Totaka Shloka (तोटक), Harigeetika Chhand (हरिगीतिका) , Chaupaiyya Chhand (चौपैया), Tribhangi Chhand (त्रिभङ्गी), Tomar Chhand (तोमर) , Soratha (सोरठा), Doha (दोहा).

There are total of 84 “Prasang” in Ramcharitmanas. The narrative of Manas involves 84 “Prasang” (प्रसंग) or Topics. The following table shows the topics covered in each Kand or Chapter: Balkanda (बालकाण्ड) – 8, Ayodhyakand (अयोध्याकाण्ड) – 18, Aranyakanda (अरण्यकाण्ड) – 20, Kishkindhakand (किष्किन्धाकाण्ड) – 12, Sundarkand (सुन्दरकाण्ड) – 11, Yuddhakand (युद्धकाण्ड) – 12, Uttarkand (उत्तरकाण्ड) – 3.