Sunday 25 October 2015

Gandhari

Bhishma, lieth there, deprived of life. Behold the son of Shantanu, O Krishna, that warrior of solar effulgence, stretched on the earth, like the Sun himself fallen from the firmament at the end of the yuga. Having scorched his foes with the fire of his weapons in battle, that valiant warrior, that Sun among men, O Keshava, hath set like the real Sun at evening. Behold that hero, O Krishna, who in knowledge of duty was equal to Devapi himself,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devapi

now lying on a bed of arrows, so worthy of heroes. Having spread his excellent bed of barbed and unbarbed arrows, that hero lieth on it like the divine Skanda on a clump of heath. Indeed, the son of Ganga lieth, resting his head on that excellent pillow, consisting of three arrows,--becoming complement of his bed--given him by the wielder of gandiva. For obeying the command of his sire, this illustrious one drew up his vital seed. Unrivalled in battle, that son of Shantanu lieth there, O Madhava! Of righteous soul and acquainted with every duty, by the aid of his knowledge relating to both the worlds, that hero, though mortal, is still bearing his life like an immortal. When Shantanu’s son lieth today, struck down with arrows, it seems that no other person is alive on earth that possesseth learning and prowess that is competent to achieve great feats in battle. Truthful in speech, this righteous and virtuous hero, solicited by the Pandavas, told them the means of his own death. Alas, he who had revived the line of Kuru that had become extinct, that illustrious person possessed of great intelligence, hath left the world with all the Kurus in his company. Of whom, O Madhava, will the Kurus enquire of religion and duty after that bull among men, Devavrata, who resembles a god, shall have gone to heaven?

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m11/m11022.htm

Friday 28 August 2015

Camel

In the Satya Yuga, there lived a camel who had recollection of all the acts of his former life. The camel engaged in austere penances in the forest. Brahma, gratified by the penances, expressed His desire to grant the camel a boon.
The camel said, “Make my neck long enough that I can grab food that is even a hundred Yojanas away”. Brahma said, “So be it”. Having obtained the boon, the camel subsequently became idle and abstained from going outdoors for grazing.
One day, as he was collecting his food effortlessly a hundred Yojanas away, a great storm gathered. The camel, deciding to wait until the storm was over, placed his head and a portion of his neck into the cave of a mountain.
Meanwhile the heavy rains drove a shivering jackal and his wife towards that very cave for shelter.
The meat-eating jackal, hungry and tired as he was, set his eyes upon the camel’s neck and began devouring it. The camel, realizing that his neck was being eaten, tried to shorten it. But even as the camel tried to move his head around, the jackal and his wife, without losing their hold, continued to eat his neck away.
Soon the camel breathed his last. 
* * *
The above story was explained by Bhishma to Yudhishtira to urge the latter to avoid idleness as it results in one’s downfall. Bhishma asked his grandson to instead restrain his senses while delivering upon his duty with the proper means.
(Source: Mbh Santi Parva, Chapter 112)

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Bhishma vs Parashuram Duel - Divine Chariot Vision

At the battlegrounds, while Bhishma was on a chariot, Parasurama was on foot. Bhishma requested Parasurama to also take a chariot and armor so that Bhishma would not have an unfair advantage. Parasurama blessed Bhishma with the power of divine vision and asked him to look again. When Bhishma looked at his guru with the divine eye-sight, he saw the
  1. Earth as Parasurama’s chariot,
  2. the four Vedas as the horses,
  3. the Upanishads as the reins,
  4. Vayu (wind) as the Charioteer and the
  5. Vedic goddesses Gayatri, Savitri & Saraswati as the armor.
Bhishma got down from the chariot and sought the blessings of Parasurama to protect his dharma, along with the permission to battle against his teacher.

Parasurama was pleased and said to Bhishma that if he had not behaved in this manner, Parasurama would have cursed him, for it is the duty of warriors who fight against elders to not abandon the traditions of humility and respect for elders.

Parasurama blessed him and advised him to protect his dharma of brahmacharya as Parasurama himself must fight to fulfil his dharma of fighting to uphold his word as given to Amba.

They fought for 23 days without conclusion — Parasurama was chiranjeevi (immortal) and Bhishma had a boon that let him choose the time of his death.

Bhishma vs Parashuram Duel - How it Ended

Two versions exist about how their battle came to and end.

As per one, On the 22nd night, Bhishma prayed to his ancestors to help him end the battle. His ancestors gave him a weapon which was not known to Parasurama. They told him that it would put Parasurama to sleep in the battlefield. A person who sleeps in the battlefield is considered to be dead as per Vedas. They advised Bhishma to call back the weapon at the end of day after sunset so that Parasurama will come back to his sense and that shall bring the end to war. However the weapon was never used as Bhishma walked out of the war.

As per the other version, on the 23rd day, Bhishma summoned the infallible celestial weapon(astra) Prashvapastra, the method of using which was known to him and him alone. Neither did a counter-attack exist, nor was a defense against it known to Parasurama. As Bhishma mounted the astra on his bow, a divine voice (ākāshavānī) implored Bhishma not to fire the weapon as its use would lead to the humiliation of Bhishma’s guru(Parasurama himself). Bhishma refrained from using the weapon that would have brought him certain victory.

Upon witnessing this, Parasurama was overcome with adulation for his disciple and proclaimed Bhishma as the victor. Parasurama thus told Amba that he could not win over Bhishma and gave her the boon of “mahakal shiva”. Amba did penance to please Lord Shiva. Shiva gave her the boon that she would be instrumental in the death of Bhishma. Amba would later be reborn as the eunuch prince Shikhandi in the household of king Drupada.

Sunday 8 March 2015

Four Professions

Dharmaja! Parasara, explained the Varna Ashrama Dharmas:
  1. For a Brahmin, meditation itself is Yajna. Studying vedas is his livelihood. Tapas brings glory to Brahmin.
  2. For Kshatriya, Ruling the Kingdom is his duty. Performing Yajnas, punishing wrong doers, protecting law abiding citizens and maintaining peace and tranquility are his foremost duties.
  3. Supplying all kinds of commodities to Yajna is Vysya’s duty. His main profession is trade and commerce and entertaining guests.
  4. Serving the above three castes is the livelihood of Sudra. It is equivalent to performing Yajna by Sudra. All the above Dharmas are to be followed by one and all scrupulously.
  5. Sages and saints are to be worshipped by all castes.
Note : Not By Birth But Profession inclination

Five Gurus

Bhishma is a very strong character in Mahabharata. He was son of Ganga and Shantanu. His childhood name was Devavrata. During his childhood, Devavrata was taught political science and other subjects by
  1. Brihaspati and 
  2. Sukracharya, gurus of the Devas and Asuras respectively
  3. Vedas and religious scriptures by the sage Vasishtha
  4. Sage Markandeya was his spiritual guru. 
  5. On Ganga's persuasion, Devavrata was taught martial arts, military sciences and the use of weapons by Parashurama.

Book of the Creation

The Srishti Khanda (Book of the Creation) is in the form of a dialogue between Bhishma and the sage Pulastya.

http://www.neelkanthdhaam.org/pdpuran1.html

Jamvu khanda Nirmana Parva - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambudvipa
Bhumi Parva - Earth in Particular
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/index.htm

Pigrimage
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03081.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03085.htm

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