Goswami Tulsidas

I would like to start this post with a wonderful rendition of  one of Swami Tulsidas’ popular bhajans – “Shri Ramchandra Kripalu Bhajaman”

Saint Tulsidas was among the several others who reinforced the Bhakti Movement (devotion to God) in medieval India when the people’s faith in the divine was being intensely tested by the plundering foreign invaders. Tulsidas was born to a Brahmin family in Rajpur, in Uttar Pradesh in 1532 CE. When he was a child the first word he ever uttered was “Ram” and hence he was called RamBola (literally translated to “he said Ram”) by all the villagers.

Tulsidas had a non-descript childhood and after growing up, he married a devout and pious woman called Ratnavali. Tulsidas was extremely attached to his wife. One day his wife went to her parents’ home to a neighboring town across the river Yamuna. That night, Tulsidas felt very lonely, and even though he tried to sleep, he could not. It was a stormy night and Tulsidas, experiencing an unexplainable longing for his wife, decided that he had to see her right away in order to get rid of his restlessness.

He ran outside his house. He was in a great hurry so he decided to take a short-cut through the cemetry. It was raining heavily but he did not care. The rain had caused some dead bodies to be left half burnt. But Tulsidas was so unaware of all this that he just stepped on the skulls, flesh and the half burnt pyres and finally reached the shores of the Yamuna. The river was on high tide and he could not at all swim against the currents to the other bank. He needed a wooden plank or a boat to cross the river. He thought he picked up a wooden plank from the cemetry and sat on it and rowed himself to the other bank of the river. He mind was so fixed on thoughts of his wife, that he did not know what he used as boat and oars were actually a trunk of a half burnt dead body and a few bones. And having crossed the river he rushed to the house of his parents-in-law. He knew that his wife’s room was on the first floor. He saw a rope and used it to climb to his house’s window. He did not even realize that the thing he thought was a rope was actually a python. When he was able to reach his wife, his intense longing subsided. But his wife was actually stunned at Tulsidas’ stupidity. She repimanded him -  “O Tulsi, you have so much love and lust for my flesh and bones, which will decay as we grow older. If you have even half this love for Lord Ram, you probably would have seen him by now.”

This statement struck Tulsidas very hard. Thanking his wife, he renounced his family ties, took Sanyas (renunciation) and became a wandering ascetic. It was as if an entire blanket of darkness was removed from his mind and suddenly, all his love was directed towards the great Lord Ram himself. He went on long pilgrimages across India longing for a sight of his beloved Ram. He lived for many years at Ayodhya (where Lord Ram had lived). He sung hymns to his Lord and constantly meditated on his lotus feet longing to see him at least once before he died.

Everyday after his morning wash at the river, he would bring some water in his kamandalu (pitcher) and then pour it at the roots of a pepul tree before going back to his hermitage to start his daily lectures and discourses. One day, as he did his daily routine pouring the water in the roots of the tree, a spirit appeared before him and said – “O Tulsi, I am very satisfied with you. You have been sincerely feeding me water every day for many years now, and I want to give you something in return. What would you like to ask me?” Tulsidas was surprised and said – “O Spirit! I did not know at all that you lived here. I absent mindedly brought water in my kamandalu and poured it here. I am glad you are satisfied with me. For many years I have been longing to see my Lord Ram. Is there any way you could show him to me or make him appear before me?” The spirit replied that she might not be able to show Tulsidas Lord Ram himself, but she told him “I am afraid I do not have that much power, but haven’t you noticed Lord Anjaneya, Lord Ram’s servant visiting your hermitage everyday to listen to your discourses about Ram’s lives and sing the bhajans with you?” And so, the spirit gave Tulsidas a description of how Lord Anjaneya looks like when he comes to listen to the stories about Lord Ram that Tulsidas recited to the public everyday.

Tulsidas knew that if he recognized Anjaneya and begged him, then Anjaneya would definitely be able to show Tulsidas his beloved Lord Ram. So that day, after his encounter with the spirit, Tulsidas happily started his daily lectures. And slowly people started flocking to listen to him. After a while Tulsidas noticed that there was a leper sitting at the back of the rest of the audience, enjoying the lectures with a smiling face and closed eyes, drowned in happiness. Tulsidas immediately recognized this leper to be Anjaneya. After his lectures, he rushed to the leper and washed his feet with water. For a few minutes the leper protested and acted like he disliked being touched, but when he realized that Tulsidas has identified his true identity, he smiled and blessed Tulsidas. With the blessings of Anjaneya, Tulsidas was able to meet his Lord Ram and his goal for the entire lifetime was fulfilled.

Tulsidas is believed to be an incarnation of Sage Valmiki, who wrote the Ramayana in Sanksrit. Tulsidas, however wrote the story of Ramayana in the local vernacular of Hindi/Awadhi. Tulsidas’ Ramayana is known by the name of Ramcharitamanas. The Ramcharitamanas was his biggest work as a poet. But he also composed many bhajans and songs in praise of Ram, and he spent many years living blissfully as a wandering saint, still immersed in thoughts of Lord Ram, till he died at a very old age. He spent the last years of his life in Benares.

It is the servant who shows any visitor to the master. Even in the case of trying to approach the magnificent Lord Ramachandra himself, Tulsidas was assured success when he went through his sevak – Lord Hanuman. Tulsidas also composed the Hanuman Chalisa (40 couplets in praise of Lord Hanuman). Hanuman Chalisa is still widely sung in almost every household in India. Some excellent renditions of the Hanuman Chalisa in various western styles can be found here – http://www.krishnadas.com/media/photos-featured-cd.cfm

The army general who fought a battle even when he was ill – Lachit Borphukan

Assam, at the plains of the Brahmaptura river, with its plentiful bounty and beautiful mountains  was a coveted territorry for the Mughals during their invasion in the 17th century. The Mughals made repeated attempts to capture Assam. During a period of internal dissension, the Mughals had taken advantage of these conflicts and captured Guwahati and never stopped trying to go annex more territory in Assam. However, they were badly defeated in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671, and following that, Assam remained under the Ahom rulers until the end of their rule. The battle of Saraighat was fought on the banks of the Brahmaputra in the Guwahati region.

Once, when Lachit was young, the Ahom king Chakradhwaj Singha questioned him about his opinion on the repeated Mughal invasion. Lachit displayed exceptional levels of courage  and strategic thinking while answering the question, following which he was appointed the commander in chief of the Ahom army. The Ahom soldiers, under the genius of their brave commander in chief Lachit Borphukan used very smart military strategies like guerilla warfare, diplomatic negotiations and clever choice of terrain and ultimately won a battle that they had little chance of winning.

While Aurangazeb, the Mughal ruler, sent out his army to further invade into Assam and annex more territory, the Ahom army, under Lachit Borphukan prepared to recapture Guwahati,  and claim that which rightfully belonged to them. Lachit Borphukan won the option to pick the battlefield, and he picked Saraighat due to the favorable terrain that would help the defending Ahom army to engage in guerilla warfare. The incoming Mughal army would have to expend a lot of energy trying to cross the mountains that flanked the Saraighat plains. Also Saraighat was at a strategic position on the Brahmaputra river, and this allowed the Ahom army to attack the Mughal navy. Lachit Borphukan knew that the navy was the weakest part of the Mughal army, and hence he chose to take advantage of the opponent’s weaknesses and decided to attack the opponent from the waters. Lachit was an intense patriot and he strived to fulfil his duties towards his people by using the smartest military strategies also paying attention to causing the least damage to his own army.

When the battle started, Lachit had fallen very ill and was incapable of going out to the battlefield to fight. The advance of the strong Mughal army was scary and it was discouraging the morale of the Ahom army. When Lachit discovered how discouraged and scared his army was, he could not rest himself. He reasoned that his duty to protect his people was far more important than taking care of his health. He immediately ordered that seven boats be brought to him, fully loaded. He dressed for war and got ready to attack from the water. Seeing their ill commander chief gear up for action and listening to his effective pep talks about why the war must be won and why the people of Assam need to be protected, the rest of the army also got inspired and together they set to action. The Mughal army had not expected this sudden attack from the waters. Also, the charged Ahom army had wreaked a lot of havoc and caused a lot of damage to the Mughal side. At this stage, the Mughal army retreated and Guwahati was returned to its rightful rulers.

Shortly after the war, Lachit Borphukan died.  His immense courage and dedication to his people is remembered with great respect by the Assamese people. They celebrate the 24th of November as Lachit Divas (Lachit Day), in honor of their brave leader who died on this day.

It is impossible for many people to strain their body to fulfil a higher cause. Even small problems like a headache or stomach ache can bring people’s morale down. These small pains can draw so much of attention that a man forgets about everything else but his pain.When most people’s minds are so weak, only someone driven by exceptional sense of patriotism and love for his people, would forget his intense pain and be ready to sacrifice his life to fulfill the duty of protecting his people. Such was the patriotism of this great Lachit Borphukan. It is recorded that he said – “When my countrymen are suffering from invasion, and when my army is fighting and sacrificing its life, how can I think about resting my body due to a mere illness? How can I think about going home to my wife and children when my entire country is in trouble?” Saying thus, he got out of bed and prepared to fight, despite his illness.

We do not have any pictures/portraits of Lachit Borphukan anymore. But it is recorded by poets that he had a very handsome face that shined with the brightness of the full moon. A man’s face would no doubt radiate beauty when his heart is filled with pure love. The heart of Lachit Borphukan was filled with love indeed – pure, sincere, fierce and untainted love for his country and countrymen. Such are the kind of patriots India produces.

Neem Karoli Baba – Manifesting Oranges out of Thin Air

Our sacred India time and again produces great mystics who travel, teach and deeply touch the lives of all the people they meet. There is never a dearth of these great souls, who out of immense compassion for mankind incarnate again and again in order to uplift mankind from the meaningless drudgery of life into a life with clarity of purpose filled with bliss. One such great saint was Neem Karoli Baba, who lived until 1973 in Uttar Pradesh, and touched the lives of countless men through his life and preaching.

The early life of Neem Karoli Baba was not clearly documented. He was known to have been born in a rich and influential Brahmin family in Akbarpur, Uttar Pradesh and was named as Lakshmi Narayan Sharma. It is believed that even as a teenager, he was deeply spiritual and liberated. He lived as a householder for a few years but he left home one day and disappeared. After several years, word was sent to his family in Akbarpur that a look alike of Lakshmi Narayan Sharma was seen wandering in a saint’s attire in the village of Neem Karoli. After his family found him and begged him to go back home, he came back home and continued to live the life of a householder, as well as be a saint and continue his meditation and yoga practice.

He set up ashrams in Kainchi in Nainital, as well as in Vrindavan, Mathura where he attained mahA samAdhi. This post will narrate an event where Neem Karoli Baba performed unbelievable miracles out of immense love for his disciples and arising out of his yogic powers resulting from years of austere penance and practice.

In 1973, Swami Chidananda (the former president of  Swami Sivananda’s Divine Life Society) was driving through Kainchi while on a tour in his party. One person from the party took a detour to find out if Baba was available at his Ashram for a quick darshan. Neem Karoli Baba sent them a cordial invite and asked them to stop by at the Ashram for some rest and water. Upon seeing the Baba, every one in the party fell at his feet to seek his blessings. One among Swami Chidananda’s party had about 8 oranges wrapped in a small piece of cloth. He went forward, and placed those oranges as an offering to the Baba in an empty basket that was lying nearby. Baba smiled and blessed them all. He briefly spoke to all of them and then started distributing those oranges as prasAd to everyone there. One by one everyone in the party bowed to the Baba and received an orange from the basket. Soon eight people had already received the 8 oranges that were initially placed in the basket.

But as the next person bowed and extended his hand for the prasAd, Baba put his hand into the basket and took out another orange. Swami Chidananda seemed to notice this miracle and was stunned. Hearing that Baba was distrbuted oranges to all the disciples, many people from the ashram came running to receive prasAd from Baba. About 10 more people had arrived by that time, and each person went forward, bowed, extended his palms and received an orange from Baba out of that basket.

In this manner, aroung 8 oranges were distributed to 18 people. Only the merciful and kind Neem Karoli Baba knew where all the other oranges came from. He seemed to be producing oranges out of thin air out of the empty basket. When the last person in the room had received an orange, Baba finally put down the empty basket and went on and took his seat.

After this meeting, Baba retired and the party took leave of Baba. Swami Chidananda was filled with utter surprise and immense respect for this great yogi who possessed magical powers through the austere practice of yoga. Swami Chidananda writes about Neem Karoli Baba that he was a great yogi who had conquered the dimensions of space and time. He was a trikAla jnAni – knower of the 3: past, present and future and a siddha purusha – perfected man. [1]

Many of his devotees have claimed to have seen him at different places at the same time. For example, when two devotees invite him for lunch on any particular auspicious day, he would never turn down an offer. He would be present at both devotees’ house to eat and then bless them when he left. His devotees would claim that they saw him walk down the end of the street and then take a turn. As soon as he turned on to another road, he would just disappear from there. So it would always appear as if he walked down the road, and then turned. But the minute he turned, he would have disappeared.

Great souls like Neem Karoli Baba are incarnations of the compassionate divine. They wander from village to village, bless the local people who come to them asking for blessings and help in solving their wordly problems. They may visit temples, infuse their idols with their yogic powers and then move on to the next village to bless more people and so on. They are infinitely compassionate beings who only care about helping the innocent people and they expect nothing in return.

His devotees maintain a website [2] where they recount the miracles Baba performed and how he touched their lives. The photographs that are present in this post were taken from [3].

References:

[1] Swami Chidananda, Baba Neem Karoli – A wonder mystic of Northern India. Available here.

[2] Neeb Karori Baba. Website

[3] Sri Neem Karoli Baba Maharaj-ji. Website

Phototgraphs of Neem Karoli Baba’s Ashram in Taos, New Mexico, USA:

The photographs below were taken by a friend of mine – Mr. Sudhir Sawarkar and his group, when they visited Neem Karoli Baba’s ashram in NM in July 2009.  According to them, the ashram was beautiful and well maintained and very peaceful and conducive to meditation.

Meditation Hall

Ashram

Ashram 2

Peacock in Ashram

Ganapathy in Ashram

Close up of Ganapathy in Ashram

A Wonder Mystic of Northern India

References:

The Trinity of Karnataka Sangeetam

Music is an integral part of an Indian’s life. Classical music indeed brings peace and harmony to the soul. Musical renditions have the power to lift man from depression into ecstasy, especially when sung with a devotional note. In an earlier post on Hindustani music, we had seen the contribution of the legendary Pandit Bhatkhande in helping to sustain the survival of Hindustani classical music. Hindustani music is to northern India what Karnataka Sangeetam (Carnatic Music) is to South India. Like the former, Carnatic music is also highly systematized. In fact, classical Carnatic music is one of the world’s oldest and richest musical traditions. In the modern era, three musicians had seminal influence on the evolution and popularization of Carnatic music – Saint Tyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri. They were the Trinity of Carnatic music. They were each prolific composers with unique styles and were contemporaries who lived during the period between 1760 and 1850 in the Kaveri delta of Tamil Nadu. Even today songs written by them constitute an integral part of Carnatic music concerts. This post will narrate short anecdotes from each of this trinity’s life.

Saint Tyagaraja is the most well known among the trinity and one of the most celebrated Carnatic musicians. Even as a young boy, he was a staunch devotee of Lord Rama. He spent most of his life composing devotional kritis (songs) about Rama and sometimes neglecting his householder responsibilities. One day, the king of Tanjore sent an invitation to Tyagaraja to come to the court and accept his patronage, but Tyagaraja remained detached from this golden opportunity. He was so happy leading a life of poverty with his Rama idol that he did not care about riches or fame. He chose to remain at home worshipping his Lord Rama and not go to the court and get involved with money and politics. Even his own family members were not able to understand the pure and devoted heart of this sincere devotee. His elder brother was very disappointed at this seemingly irresponsible behavior and in a fit of anger, threw the Rama idol into the Kaveri river. Tyagaraja was heartbroken at this loss and composed several devotional songs in his grief also. It is believed that Lord Rama appeared in his dream, and told him the spot in the river where the idol could be retrieved. Following the idol’s retrieval, Tyagaraja composed happier songs celebrating his reunion with his divine Rama. Because of his intense bhakti (devotion) he was respected like a Saint. He attained Samadhi (realization) in 1847 in Thiruvaiyar, a small town in the Tanjore district, on the banks of the Kaveri. Every year on the Bahula Panchami day of the Pushya month, the Tyagaraja Aradhana festival – in commemoration of Tyagaraja’s Samadhi day – is celebrated in Thiruvaiyar and Carnatic musicians from all over the world congregate to pay their respects to this genius composer and to sing his kritis – especially the pancharatna (five gems) kritis.

Muthuswamy Dikshitar was also born in Thiruvarur, in the Tanjore district. His father was himself a well-trained Carnatic musician and composer. Muthuswamy Dikshitar composed kritis in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. He travelled extensively throughout peninsular India and composed songs on all the deities he visited. He has sung songs in every one of the 72 melakarta rAgams (rAgams that have all the 7 notes). His extensive knowledge of the Advaita philosophy and the SAstras is deeply reflected in his work. He was solely responsible for reviving some dyine rAgams like Narayanagaula, Purvagaula, and Chayagaula. Among his famous compositions was the Navagraha Kritis (songs in praise of the nine planets). Muthuswamy Dikshitar was a practicing tantric and his songs has tremendous impact on people. Once Dikshitar was travelling through Etayapuram district in Tamil Nadu. His heart went out to the thousands of people who were living in the drought-stricken area. In his compassion, he composed a brilliant song in the Amrutavarshini (meaning a rain of nectar) rAgam called Ananda amrutakarshini. In the song he begins by pleading to the skies to rain some showers and it ends with the words “varshaya varshaya varshaya (meaning rain down, rain down, rain down). The minute he sang “varshaya!” tender rain drops wetted the parched soils of Etayapuram –which had not seen rain for several consecutive years. The amrutavarshini rAgam is compared to the Megh Malhar rag in Hindustani –when sung correctly these rAgams have the power to cause rainfall. We can still hear several kritis of Muthuswamy Dikshitar beign sung in present day concerts.

The legendary Shyama Shastri deserves no lesser praise than his two other contemporaries. Shyama Shastri’s compositions were also mainly in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit and his mastery over tAlam (beats) is clearly depicted in his work. He has composed songs in some of the most difficult tAlams. His swarajathis in tODi, bhairavi and yadukula kAmbOji rAgams are very popular among musicians to this day. Like the other two, he also lived in the Tanjore district. It has been recorded historically that there was some amount of interaction between the three musicians and that they interacted with one another occasionally and respected one another very deeply. Once, a certain talented but arrogant musician called Poppili Keshavayya came to the court of the Tanjore king and challenged any Tanjore musician to defeat him in a concert competition. Shyama Shastri agreed to take up the challenge and he prayed to the Goddess KamAkshi to be kind on him and give him the skills to defeat the arrogant musician. Even though Poppili Keshavayya rendered a fine performance, Shyama Shastri left the audience astounded and speechless by an impromptu improvisation of a tAlam called Sharabhanandana (having 49 beats in a cycle). This tAlam is the rarest of all tAlams and even the most skillful musician today is afraid to take up singing with this tAlam.

Just because this blog post covered only 3 musicians doesn’t mean the list of famous contributors to Carnatic music ends there. There were numerous famous and influential musicians following the Trinity and many preceding them. However, the devotional nature of the Trinity’s work really endears the soul of the listener and helps him see glimpses of divinity through the medium of their songs, and hence we fondly remember the Trinity and greatly respect them.

References:

1. Tamil Nadu’s Contribution to Carnatic Music – A Bird’s Eye View (by B.M. Sundaram)
2. Saint Tyagaraja
3. Shyama Shastri
4. Incredible feat in Carnatic rhythm

Chanakya

Man has the tendency to interpret and understand history by looking at events through a narrow snapshot in time. At every snapshot, there always invariably is a point where India seems to be riddled with societal, cultural and religious dissensions that cause the nation to crumble from within. And always in these most difficult times, one man is born who has the capacity to transform the society and reinvigorate societal and cultural ethos and re-instate dharma to its rightful place. During the period of Alexander’s invasion in India, not only were the small kingdoms divided, but also the social fabric had disintegrated, meaningless and misinterpreted rituals were rampant and selfishness was dominant. At this critical juncture, one man, single-handedly, vowed to unite the vast country and establish a new dharmic social order and revive India to her rightful position as beacon of knowledge to the entire world. This extraordinarily talented man was none other than Chanakya.

Chanakya was a famous professor at the (then) world-famous Takshasila University after his graduation from the same university in his early youth. He was aware of the corrupt practices of the Nanda king who was ruling over Pataliputra (present-day Patna, Bihar) in the Magadha kingdom. The Nanda king was imposing unreasonable taxes from his citizens and was hoarding his treasury, while the population was dying from famine and impoverishment. Similar to the Magadha kingdom, all other kingdoms around the country were divided and they attacked one another without ever developing a feeling of belonging to the same larger nation. In this divided state, it was becoming easier for foreign invaders like Alexander to politically play one kingdom against another and annex territories. Chanakya identified that this lack of unity was detrimental to national security. When Chanakya picked up some leads about Seleucus’ plan to invade India, he realized that the only way to save the nation and its people from the impending invasion would be to give up teaching and set out to unite the countrymen first. He began his first mission with the first task of addressing the issue of the corrupt Nanda king of Magadha. He handsomely marched into the capital city of Pataliputra after several weeks of journey. Chanakya’s reputation gained him an entry into the presidential office of the Magadha kingdom, and thereby he began his massive social reform. He restructured the taxation system, magnanimously redistributed the wealth among the needy and strived to eradicate corruption within the system. However, like in any corrupt system evil elements plotted against Chanakya and had him removed from the post. Dhanananda did not defend Chanakya but took the side of the evil plotters and hence Chanakya was thrown out of the presidential post without reason. Angered by this adharmic action Chanakya vowed to defeat Dhanananda and his entire dynasty.

This was the critical point in history where the deep friendship between the legendary Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya began. After leaving the palace in great anger, Chanakya sat down at the boundaries of Pataliputra in deep thought, when he noticed a queer little boy intelligently playing strategic games with his other friends. On further inquiry this young boy was known to be the son of a street worker and he was Chandragupta. Chanakya knew that this smart young boy was the tool that he was going to use to unite the country. Through intense training Chanakya transformed the young boy into a brilliant strategic warrior and together, they slowly went from one small kingdom to another to build a strong army of supporters to overthrow Dhanananda. And finally, the war happened and Dhanananda was overthrown. Dhanananda here represented the bigger evils of society like corruption, greed, avarice, neglect of citizens, etc. So even though it appears that he used his army to merely defeat the Magadha ruler, Chanakya had ultimately succeeded in uniting hundreds of other kingdoms in the spirit of dharma. Chandragupta – Chanakya’s disciple was declared the king of Magadha and also the supreme emperor of all its allies. And a strong united nation was now able to defend itself from foreign invaders.

It is documented in several books in history that Chanakya’s constant military and political training enabled Chandragupta to achieve great heights. Together they made an invincible team and their most impressive strategy was completely based on dharma. It is known that Chanakya fed Chandragupta small amounts of poison with his food every meal without his knowledge, so that he would become immune to poison and hence an enemy’s effort to poison Chandragupta would be rendered futile. However, the unassuming Chandragupta on a particular occasion fed some of the food from his plate to his pregnant wife. The queen was not accustomed to the daily dose of poison and it was clear that she was going to die before childbirth. But Chanakya acted fast. He skillfully removed the foetus from the womb of the dying mother, so that the kingdom is not left heirless. But a small drop of  the fast spreading poison had somehow entered the head of the foetus, but his life was saved. This prince was named Bindusara (Bindu – Drop, Sara – head; meaning a drop of poison in the head). Bindusara followed the footsteps of his father as an unparalleled dharmic emperor of the country under the tutelage of the genius Chanakya. However, there was another scheming evil minister in the court of Bindusara who was plotting against the removal of Chanakya as the chief advisor of the emperor. This bad man Subandhu was jealous of Chanakya’s closeness with Bindusara. No one in the country had told Bindusara the story of his birth. Subandhu decided to distort the story and told Bindusara about how the man he trusted most had in fact actually killed his mother. This immensely angered Bindusara and without further questioning, he banished Chanakya from the kingdom. The elderly Chanakya by now realized that he had succeeded in his goal of uniting the country, and he was confident about the abilities of his student Bindusara to take on the task of maintaining unity and peace going forward. Time had come for Chanakya to retire to the forest in meditation.

After he left for the forest, the others in the court narrated the real story of his birth to the emperor, and he felt deeply ashamed about himself. Subandhu, still being a trusted courtier of the emperor was sent on the mission to convey the emperor’s apology and bring back Chanakya to the kingdom. The story now becomes very clear. Subandhu hunted down Chanakya’s hermitage in the forest and pretended to convey an apology, underestimating Chanakya’s ability to see through the trick. However, the older Chanakya had given up on life and did not defend himself. On the way out, Subandhu secretly set fire to Chanakya’s hermitage while he was asleep. This was the unfortunate way in which the great Chanakya died.

Chanakya has been recorded in history as the legendary character that shaped a nation through his focused vision, impeccable judgment and exemplary actions. Chanakya was the author of books about far-sighted ideas on nationhood, foreign policy and warfare, the principles of which were later adopted by other regional authors like Machiavelli from the 15^th century Italy and Clausewitz from the 18^th Germany. During his political partnership with Chandragupta, Chanakya produced his masterpieces – the Niti-Shastra: a treatise on political science, and Artha Shastra: a treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. Chanakya also wrote under the names of Kautilya and Vishnugupta. Chanakya was not only a shrewd statesman and a ruthless (yet dharmic) administrator but also probably the smartest diplomat in the history of the human race.

मीराबाई (Mirabai) – the princess who married Krishna!

Mirabai’s devotional songs about Krishna are very popular across all parts of India. Mira is to the Hindi speaking world, what Andal and Lalleshwari are to the Tamil and Kashmiri worlds respectively. This post traces Mira’s journey from being born as a Rajput princess in Rajasthan to being transformed into a  mystical poetess saint, and a gopi (female devotee) of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh.

Mirabai - front page of the Amar Chitra Katha book

Mira was born to the Rajput Raja Ratan Singh of Rajasthan. When Mira was about 3 years old, Sant Ravidas gifted Ratan Singh with a beautiful statue of Lord Krishna, with his flute. Ever since Mira set eyes on the statue, she was extremely attracted to Lord Krishna, and she played with the statue all the time. Slowly, with her mother’s teachings, Mira learnt about the greatness of Lord Krishna and became devoted to him.

One day, Mira saw a marriage procession on the streets and asked her mother who her groom would be. Her mother playfully told Mira that the person in the statue, Lord Krishna was in fact Mira’s chosen groom. Mira took this very seriously and her devotion to Krishna increased multifold. Throughout her life, Mira maintained the same youthful  devotion and loyalty to Krishna, who was her eternal lover and husband. Soon after her mother’s death, her father arranged Mira’s marriage to Prince Bhoj Raj, the son of Rana (king) Sangha of Chittor.

Mirabai loyally served her husband Bhoj Raj, but she was never very involved in the day-to-day activities of the palace. She used to be constantly immersed in thoughts of Krishna and seemed very distant from normal marital life. She worshipped her Krishna idol for several hours everyday, and occasionally neglected  the worship of the family goddess Durga, because she was already committed to the worship of Lord Krishna. This made her other family members very jealous and her sister-in-law  in particular was always waiting for an opportunity to plot some evil for Mirabai.

Everyday Mirabai would sing and dance  for Krishna, in bliss in her room in the palace. Sometimes she would go to the temple and dance to her Krishna there. News about her devotion to Krishna had spread far and wide already, and many sadhus and saints would visit her at the temple to seek blessings and inspiration and to listen to her wonderful songs.

One day, her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law gave her a bag and told her that there was a garland for Lord Krishna at the temple. Mirabai happily took the bag to the temple, not knowing that there was actually a very poisonous snake inside the bag, that would bite her, the minute she put her hand inside to take out the garland. But at the temple, singing a beautiful song to Krishna, she put her hand in the bag, and lo! the poisonous snake had turned into a beautiful garland. The plotters were shocked to see this miracle. However, it did not deter them trying more and more pranks on her, but they always failed. Lord Krishna always protected Mira.

One day, when Mira was talking to the Krishna idol in her room, her sister-in-law was spreading word that Mira had invited other men to her room and was talking with them. This greatly angered her husband, and he rushed into her room, with a sword in his hand, ready to kill her. But all he found was Mira immersed in trance, talking to her beloved Krishna. So he did not kill her.

Meanwhile, the Mughal king Akbar, had heard a lot about Mirabai and wanted to get her blessings, but did not want to go to Chittor because Rana Sangha of Chittor was his arch rival. So Akbar and his court singer, Tansen disguised themselves as sadhus and secretly visited Mirabai when she was singing at the temple. Akbar was so taken in by her beautiful songs, that when he touched her feet, he left a priceless necklace at her feet as an offering. Unfortunately, the necklace revealed Akbar’s visit to get Mirabai’s darshan, and this extremely angered Bhoj Raj. He ordered Mirabai to go and drown in the river and commit suicide. Even this did not affect Mirabai. Still blissfully hugging her Krishna statue, Mirabai left for the river.

Just when she was about to jump into the river, the statue transformed into the real and handsome Lord Krishna himself, and he told Mira that she should not jump into the river but instead go to Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, where she can happily be a gopi and worship Lord Krishna with all other devotees and live blissfully. Lord Krishna assumed the form that Mirabai always wanted to see Lord Krishna in – the form of her beloved lover. When her beloved ordered her to go to Vrindavan, she decided to go there. She wrote to the great saint, Goswami Tulsidas who resided at Vrindavan, asking for advice and clarification from the incident that happened at the river, when she was about to jump in. Tulsidas wrote back saying “The only relationship worth respecting, is one’s relationship with God. It is alright to disregard orders from any other relative, if God himself has said so.” This reply cleared Mira’s conscience and she traveled to Vrindavan.

In Vrindavan, Mira not only worshipped Lord Krishna to her heart’s content, she also came across several saints and sadhus who accepted her as a disciple and imparted many spiritual teachings. One particular saint Rupa Goswami refused to accept her as a disciple and speak to her, because she was a woman. But Mira merely said, “In this universe, there is but one man – Lord Krishna. Every other living being is only a gopi that dances around Krishna”. Hearing this elevated spiritual thought, Rupa Goswami accepted Mirabai as his devotee.

Mirabai’s spent the rest of her life in Vrindavan. Her husband Bhoj Raj and her other evil relatives felt bad about abandoning Mira, and even tracked her down and Vrindavan and came to seek her forgiveness and take her home to Chittor. She forgave them happily, but refused to go home. She insisted in staying back at Vrindavan, were her lover Lord Krishna lived. She wanted to stay close to her beloved, so that she may continue to worship him day and night. During her stay at Vrindavan, Mira composed many beautiful bhajans (devotional songs) and sung them to Lord Krishna. Many of her songs were mystical and deeply spiritual. She died of old age at the feet of her beloved Lord Krishna in Vrindavan.

Even today, Mirabai’s bhajans are very popular among Krishna devotees. Across the country, several singers have used Mira’s bhajans and rendered them in different styles and tunes. Another touching redition of Mira’s bhajan by  can be found in the link below:

Approximate Lyrics:

पग घूँघरू बाँध मीरा नाची रे।

मैं तो मेरे नारायण की आपहि हो गई दासी रे।

लोग कहै मीरा भई बावरी न्यात कहै कुलनासी रे॥

विष का प्याला राणाजी भेज्या पीवत मीरा हाँसी रे।

‘मीरा’ के प्रभु गिरिधर नागर सहज मिले अविनासी रे॥

Hindustani music makes a comeback!

Between 1200 – 1900, various aspects of socio-cutural life in India were on a progressive decline. One manifestation of this decline was the fall in standards of music in northern India. From being the vehicle for realizing divinity, hindustani classical music (hindustani being the classical music of northern India with the carnatic music being its southern counterpart) had deteriorated to being associated with prostitutes (the term naachne gaane vali in the Hindi language!). The survival of classical music was at the highest levels of threat. By the 1900s, people had completely forgotten that music can be used as a tool to realize the divine nature of the universe. Instead, they not only looked down upon musicians, but also prevented their community from listening to it. Additionally, scholars who learned music despite the prevalent societal apathy towards music, exhibited a deep sense of rivalry towards other contemporary schools of music. They tended to protect their songs and compositions within the four walls of their respective schools (gharanas). The lack of interaction between scholars further degenerated the standards of the art, because every gharana followed a different way of rendering the same raga (tune). These various classification schemes often tended to contradict one another, futher encouraging musicians of a gharana to keep their compositions secret, in order to avoid argument or challenge from a competing gharana. It was a vicious cycle that could potentially extinguish music completely from the society, destroying all the audience it had in the past.

From this nadir point of near-extinction, only a very great man with exceptional levels of genius, could have revived the lost art and facilitated its acceptance by the society. The man who single-handedly brought about the revival of hindustani classical music in the early 1900s, and enabled people to look at music again as a path to spirituality, was Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, who lived between 1860 and 1936. Bhatkhande was born in a Brahmin family in Maharasthra. He was very interested in music since a very early age, but because of societal pressures, he became a lawyer at the High court in Karachi. Simultaneously, he started reading the ancient Sanskrit texts – Natya shastra (the treatise on performing arts, theatre and dance) and Sangeeta Ratnakara (the most definitive reference text for both Carnatic and Hindustani music). These texts were complicated and hardly readable by a lay man and hence a lay man could never appreciate the inherent structure in music unless he mastered the books. After the death of his wife and daughter, Bhatkhande realized that the purpose of his life was not to be a lawyer. He devoted the rest of his life to systematizing the different prevailing forms of hindustani classical music by building a solid theoretical framework from which ragas can be designed and sung.

He started this monumental project by first identifying all the famous gharanas in the country and making a comprehensive list of all musicians in these gharanas. He approached them one by one and explained the objective of his project – to systematize hindustani music by developing a theoretical framework so that the lay public can understand and appreciate music that is now only hidden within the walls of the various gharanas. The ustads (masters) in the gharanas were highly suspicious of Bhatkhande’s objectives. But Bhatkhande was persistent. He promised that in exchange for his learning at a gharana, he would share all the songs and compositions he had learned from the other gharanas also. He insisted that his aim was not to make money out of the ustads’ compositions by selling them, but to bring together all known compositions in hindustani music on a common systematic platform and to publish them in a unified manner, so that the common people are also capable of understanding music and appreciating its coherent structure. Some ustads bluntly refused to teach Bhatkhande, but other ustads were magnanimous. Bhatkhande spent several months in places like Baroda, Rampur and Gwalior where he was able to collect several lost compositions of the legendary Tansen. During his stay at the Manarang Gharana at Jaipur, the Ustads Mohammad Ali Khan, Asgar Ali Khan and Ahmed Ali Khan taught him more than 300 precious compositions. This added to his collections. By his infinite patience, persuasive ways, and utter sincerity of purpose, Bhatkhande was gradually able to break down the opposition and suspicion of some of the great ustads of the day. Those who disregarded him and scorned him for “looting the treasures of the ustads” were taken in by Bhatkhande’s moral integrity and became his close associates, teachers and friends. Throughout his travels, Bhatkhande took extensive notes -running to more than 8000 pages – in his diary.

After nearly fifteen years of conducting study-cum-research tours, Bhatkhande finally collected all his notes and began publishing them one by one. He collected the various renditions of different ragas, and systematized them so that incorrect renditions were not adopted. Bhatkhande formulated a classification scheme for various ragas called the thaat system which was based on the melakarta scheme used in Carnatic music. He published his first book Swara Mallika, standardizing all the ragas in hindustani music. In 1909 he published the Shri Mallakshaya Sangeetam and then he published Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati in four volumes. Even today, these volumes are the sole standard treatises on Hindustani music. He published under the pseudonyms Vishnu Sharma or Chaturapandita. He also published several books on ancient manuscripts he discovered from libraries in different parts of the country during his extended study tours.

Although Bhatkhande shunned fame, fame sought him from all across the country. The rulers of aroda, Gwalior, Rampur, Dharampur, Akbarpur etc were his staunch supporters and admirers and they sent students from their states to learn music from Bhatkhande. Thus slowly, hindustani classical music had begun its path to revival. Bhatkhande inspired and guided many students to open music colleges across the country in places like Baroda, Gwalior, Lucknow, Bombay, Nagpur and so on. All these schools started following Bhatkhande’s system of teaching music and hence a uniform platform was established. Bhatkhande went one step further. He realized that the warring musicians would accept his solutions more openly if they were couched in the ancient Sanksrit language and if the verses bore a close resemblance to ancient treatises on the same topic. So he published all his principal works in Sanskrit . Bhatkhande was a staunchly nationalistic man, and maintained deep affinity with various Indian languages as we can see that all his publications were in Sanskrit, Marathi as well as Hindi.

Pandit Bhatkhande single-handedly designed the scientific laws of music, and hindustani music in India today owes a great debt of gratitude towards him. As long as hindustani music survives and thrives in this world, the yeoman service rendered by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande at its altar shall be remembered with gratitude and respect by music connoisseurs.

The principal architect of the Jana Sangh – Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya

Even a very tiny spark is capable of growing into a ferocious forest fire, if that tiny spark has the strength. That small spark could potentially destroy all impurities by burning them all to ashes. In the same way, a ferociously strong personality, with deeply imbibed virtues, has the capability to cleanse society of evils and moral depredations, by setting a righteous dharmic example to human kind. This post is about one such person, who sacrificed his life to nation building, renouncing all wealth, name and fame. He was a true karma yogi, he did not care for glory, but he made a deep impact on the foundations of society and politics. He spent all his life traveling to every nook and corner of the Indian country, serving the people and motivating them to stick to the path of dharma. It is unfortunate that many youngsters of today do not even know the name of the person who was the philosophical backbone of one of the political parties of India – The Jana Sangh, which now has grown into the Bharatiya Janatha Party.

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was born in 1916, in a modest family in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Orphaned at a very tender age, DeenDayal was raised by his uncle. Even though he was very poor and the family faced many hardships, Deen Dayal studied hard and obtained a BA and an MA degree by the time he was 21. At the end of his studies, when his uncle urged him to take up a job and lead a more settled life, Deen Dayal realized his life’s calling. All around him, he was seeing the suffering India was being put through by the British rule. He was seeing the once prosperous land, now barren and poor. He wanted to revive the life of the country. He decided to join the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to become a pracharak (volunteer) and serve the country and its men, through the path of karma yoga. Deen Dayal worked unceasingly towards the RSS’ ideals.

In order to protect the people from the Congress’ political games in 1950s, a few among the best pracharaks from RSS formed a political party that was called the Jana Sangh. When the chief founder of the party – Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee died shortly afterwards, Deen Dayal took charge to keep the party organized and moving towards a common goal. In the hour of gloom and despair, Deen Dayal assumed the reins of leadership and fifteen years of his untiring effort brought the party to a level where political pundits began to consider the Jana Sangh as a close competitor to the Congress. Deen Dayal was the philosopher, the motivator and the guide to the party. Deendayal’s personality was a rare combination of commitment, clarity and pragmatism. He was a prolific scholar and an excellent orator with forward-looking ideals and objectives – exactly those qualities that a leader in India needed in the 1960s. In one of his speeches, he said – “We are energized by the glory of India’s past, but we do not regard it as the pinnacle of our national life. We have a realistic understanding of the present, but we are not tied to the present. Our eyes are entranced by the golden dreams about India’s future, but we are not given to sleep and sloth; we are karmayogis who are determined to translate those dreams into reality. We are worshippers of India’s timeless past, dynamic present and eternal future. Confident of victory, let us pledge to endeavor in this direction.” (at the Jana Sangh’s historic Calicut address)

The well-known Nanaji Deshmukh was Deen Dayal’s roommate in his MA school years, and he recounts an incident that portrayed the inherent simplicity of Deen Dayal’s character. One day, Deen Dayal and Nanaji were going to the vegetable vendor to buy some vegetables. They bought vegetables worth 2 paisa and almost returned to their hostel, when Deen Dayal stopped suddenly. He put his hands into his pocket and pulled out 2 paisa and said, “I had 4 paisa when we left the hostel. And one of those coins was a bad coin. I accidentally gave the bad coin to the vegetable vendor. Let us go back and exchange the coins.” Saying thus, Deen Dayal made Nanaji go back all the way to get the bad coin back. The vegetable vendor was touched by this act of genuine goodness, and with tears in her eyes, she blessed Deen Dayal. Only after giving her the good coin, did he feel relieved and the agitation left his face. Such was the high standards of moral conduct that Deen Dayal adhered to.

Even though his contribution to the Jana Sangh was enormous, Deen Dayal always chose to stay away from the lime light and never came too close to the mainstream media. He preferred to remain in the background and monitor the work that was being done. He did not care for the name and fame that was easily attainable by any political activist, if chosen.

In all his extensive travels across the country, Deen Dayal always chose to travel by second class train compartments instead of first class, because he was very simple and he always insisted on living like a common man, not like a political party leader. He carried one extra pair of clothes, bedding and some books. Since he was always on the move, these were pretty much his life’s belongings. During one such trip in 1968, while Deen Dayal unassumingly stood by the door of a train compartment watching the beautiful Delhi sunset, an unidentified assailant mysteriously murdered him on the rail tracks. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya will not only be remembered for being the principal architect of the Jana Sangh, but also for being the author of his well known philosophical political treatise on a profound and original concept called “Integral Humanism”.

The second Buddha – Nagarjuna

Before the Buddha left his mortal body on the earth, he made a prediction that another soul would be born to uphold the teachings of Buddha in the land of Bharath. True to that prediction, 400 years after Buddha, the second Buddha had arrived.

In the Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh, a married couple were really upset because the town oracle had predicted that their newly born baby boy was going to live only for seven years. The couple was devastated to hear this. When the boy turned five, they were very sad and were not ready to see him die, so they sent him away on a pilgrimage with several other Buddhist monks who were visiting the town. This little boy sincerely followed the monks around and learnt all the mantras and yogic practices. The monks taught the boy a special mantra called the Amitabha mantra. Amitabha means eternal light and health. The boy sincerely repeated this mantra day and night, and lo! He turned seven, and was still alive! The Amitabha mantra had given him an extended life. This is the first of the many miracles that happened in this boy’s life.

As this little boy began to slowly get initiated in the order of the monks, he attained deep spiritual realization and became a profound spiritual master himself! He went to Nalanda, the world famous university and taught there. Enabled by his keen intellect and composed mind, not only did he achieved great levels of mastery in all the tantras (practices) and sutras (books and teachings), while at Nalanda, he also helped his fellow monks attain similar levels of spiritual growth.

After the time of the Buddha, some of the most important sutras had disappeared from the earth. It was believed that the naga kings had taken the sutras to their land for safekeeping. The nagas are serpent people and they are believed to live in the nether world, not on earth. Additionally, they were known to be not so friendly either. This little boy who had conquered death, bravely undertook the journey to the naga land and brought back the lost sutras belonging to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Because of this brave deed, he was given the title Nagarjuna. (The arjuna part of his name came into being because just like the shower of arrows that spread far and wide out of Arjuna’s bow, Nagarjuna spread the message of the sutras far and wide)

Nagarjuna was the author of hundreds of philosophical texts in the Mahayana Budhhist tradition. His works were predominantly in Sanskrit. Nagarjuna devised the concept of SuNyatA, or emptiness. Additionally, Nagarjuna was also the founder of the Madhyamika path (the middle path) of philosophy. The Madhyamika philosophy essentially signifies a median path equidistant from extreme ended paths. Nagarjuna’s teachings spread to Tibet, China, Japan and to the islands of south east Asia. Nagarjuna’s teachings and philosophy is the principle cause behind the popularity of Buddhism in East Asia today.

In the latter parts of his life, Nagarjuna returned to Andhra Pradesh, where he was born, to continue preaching. The only wordly possessions Nagarjuna ever had was a golden begging bowl that the king has given to him with great devotion. Just as he was retreating to bed one night, he heard a thief outside his hut, and not wanting to get killed, he told the thief that he could take the golden begging bowl, as there was nothing else to give to him. The thief made off with the begging bowl, but returned the next day with the begging bowl and a request. When Nagarjuna asked him what he wanted, he replied “Oh monk! When you gave me the begging bowl, it made me realize how empty I am and how empty my life is. You displayed such a great sense of detachment from these wordly things that I was drawn to come back and learn from you.” The thief also joined Nagarjuna’s order and became a monk himself, after giving up his lowly way of life. This anecdote describes the effect that Nagarjuna had on people; even if they only interacted with him briefly, they felt cleansed of their sins.

Nagarjuna lived for nearly 600 years, and little is known about how he gave up his body. In honor of this great monk, the Andhra Pradesh government named the magnificent dam on River Krishna – the Nagarjuna Sagar.

Ashtavakra – the sage with eight deformities

In this post, we will learn about a famous rishi (sage) called Ashtavakra who was the spiritual advisor to King Janaka who ruled over the Videha empire, in the present day Bihar region. Ashtavakra was a child prodigy, well versed in the Vedas and the scriptures even as a child. He was the son of the famous sage Kahoda, who lived and preached in Bihar. When Kahoda’s wife was pregnant, she would sit in on all lectured given by Kahoda, so that her baby was charged with positive vibrations from the lectures. The young foetus in his mother’s womb would sincerely listen to all the lectures and absorb all the teachings. One day Kahoda made a mistake when pronouncing some verses from the Vedas, and the foetus kicked from within his mother’s womb as a sign of noticing the mistake. When Kahoda’s wife mentioned this to her husband, Kahoda, instead of feeling proud about his son’s learning, took offense at the foetus’ impudence and cursed that the boy be born with eight deformities in his body. This is why the child was named Ashtavakra (meaning, eight deformities).

There was a rumor that another profound scholar called Bandi was finding other philosophers and defeating them in philosophical debates. Scholars wanted to stay away from Bandi because, Bandi would force his losers to drown in the Ganges and give up their bodies. One day, Bandi travelled to Bihar and met Kahoda and challenged him. Kahoda was a proud man, and he accepted the challenge. As one would guess, Kahoda was defeated and had to give up his body. Ashtavakra’s mother had to raise the young boy.

Even at a very young age, the scholars and sages who lived in the hermitage began to notice how sharp Ashtavakra was in learning Sanskrit, and understanding the philosophy in the scriptures. Everyone began to regard Ashtavakra to be a child prodigy. Ashtavakra was curious to find out what had happened to his father. When the sages told him the fatal encounter with Bandi, Ashtavakra vowed to defeat Bandi and ask him to give his father back. After a decade of intensive learning and rigorous training from various masters, Ashtavakra felt confident that he would be able to defeat Bandi at this stage. And, as one would again guess, he did. It was a shame that the old and wise Bandi was defeated by a mere child! Now, being the winner, Ashtavakra could ask for a boon that Bandi cannot refuse. Instead of asking for the revival of his father alone, he asked that all the sages and philosophers that were defeated by Bandi be revived. Such was his kind heart!

Now Bandi explained to Ashtavakra, that he was not really the philosopher Bandi, but infact, the son of Varuna (the water God). Varuna was performing a yagna (sacrifice) and needed the smartest scholars from across the country to help him perform the task. Therefore Bandi was sent on the mission to collect the smartest people from earth and bring them to Varuna’s abode – the water. The yagna had lasted several years and had come to an end by the time Ashtavakra defeated Bandi. So Bandi immediately brought back all the sages from the water back to earth, to go back and continue their respective preaching. Kahoda was also revived now, and he felt ashamed at seeing how his cursed son had grown up to a deformed boy. He repented, and prayed to Bandi to lift the curse on his son, Ashtavakra. Bandi obliged and transformed the deformed Ashtavakra into a handsome young lad.

Ashtavakra stayed in his father’s hermitage until he completed his formal education as a Brahmin, and then embarked on a journey to the Himalayas where he meditated and attained the Brahman (realization). Following that, Ashtavakra realized that his duty was to spread his teachings to the world, and he came back to Bihar and instructed King Janaka on the Brahman and the Atman. The dialogue between Ashtavakra and King Janaka has been recorded in our scriptures as the Ashtavakra Samhita, commonly refered to as the Ashtavakra gita. The Ashtavakra Samhita contains deep philosophical teachings on Sanatana Dharma philosophy.

There is yet another wonderful anecdote about King Janaka’s devotion to his guru, Ashtavakra. King Janaka would go to Ashtavakra’s hermitage everyday to listen to his teachings. On certain days, due to kingly duties, King Janaka would be a few minutes late. The other disciples who always showed up on time and followed a rigorously ascetic life were discontent about the rich King Janaka also being a disciple to the great Ashtavakra. The others also felt that Ashtavakra was being partial to King Janaka. One day, Ashtavakra decided to show the others how Janaka’s devotion to learning, was far superior than theirs. As Janaka walked in late one day, Ashtavakra started the lecture saying that he was seeing a vision of Mithila (the capital city where Janaka was ruling) going down in flames that very moment, due to a random fire. After hearing this, all the other disciples panicked and rushed back home to protect their possessions and their families. On the other hand, Janaka, calmly came and sat down for the lecture. When Ashtavakra questioned him as to why he did not run to protect his belongings from his palace, he said “The only thing that is worth protecting and preserving is learning. Everything else is just material illusion.” Ashtavakra was pleased to hear this answer. After an hour, the other disciples returned to the hermitage, when they found no fire. Janaka had been sitting there all along. When they learnt of Janaka’s devotion, they were ashamed of their lowly thoughts and jealousy feelings towards Janaka.

These two stories are the most commonly known stories from Ashtavakra’s life. The Ashtavakra Gita, can be found in http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/ashtgita.pdf. Even though the text covers only 8 pages, the subject is so profound that it would take one several years to understand the depth of its teachings.

Who taught our yoga gurus yoga?

Yoga is the traditional Indian set of disciplines that keep the mind, body and the soul healthy. The various principles of yoga are being practiced by millions of people around the world because of the efforts of some very influential teachers like B.K.S. Iyengar, Indra Devi (Eugenie Peterson), T.K.V. Desikachar and Pattabhi Jois. Has one ever wondered who these influential and popular masters of yoga would have learnt from? Each of the above famous yoga gurus had the same guru and he was the great Tirumalai Krishnamacharya.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya was born to poor Brahmin parents in Muchukundapuram, in the Chitradurga district of Karnataka on Nov 18, 1888. Under the tutelage of his learned father, he learnt the Vedas besides attaining profound scholarship in Sanskrit, as early as when he was just five years old. After losing his father a few years later, the family was further drowned in poverty and they moved to Mysore.

Krishnamacharya had a strange dream one night, where the legendary Vaishnava saint Nathamuni – the author of Yoga Rahasya (the secrets of yoga) – appeared in his dream and directed him to go to Alvar Tirunagari and meditate at the temple of Lord Vishnu. Upon reaching the place, Krishnamacharya went into deep trance and he saw 3 yogis meditating in front of him. He requested them to teach him the Yoga Rahasya – as this yogic treatise was long lost. And, surprisingly, one of the yogis who identified himself as Nathamuni himself, recited the verses. All this happened in the dream. And, upon awakening however, Krishnamacharya rememebered every single verse from this long lost treatise.

Krishnamacharya spent his early youth studying the 6 darsanas of philosophy – vaisesika, nyaya, sankhya, yoga, mimamsa and vedanta. He continued his formal education at the Benares University, on the banks of the holy Ganga. He had an intense desire to unearth the purpose of his life and he was unsure about his next steps. He was a sincere practitioner of yoga asanas that his father had taught him as a child. Many people brought their children to him so that he could teach them some yoga asanas to stay healthy. At the suggestion of a colleague, the young and youthful Krishnamacharya decided to find legendary guru called Yogeshwara Ramamohan Brahmachari who was believed to live in a cave in the Himalayan mountains in Tibet and learn Patanjali’s yoga sutras from him. After months of searching the Himalayan caves in Tibet, Krishnamacharya finally found this great yogi meditating with his disciples, in one of the caves. Krishnamacharya soon joined the other disciples and studied the Yoga sutras under Yogeshwara Ramamohan for seven and a half years. During this period, Krishnamacharya’s body and mind was cleansed completely.

Yogeshwara Ramamohan also taught him 3000 different asanas and directed him to go back to his hometown in the Mysore area, start a family and become a yoga teacher. In 1925, according to his guru’s wishes, he married Namagiriammal and settled down in Mysore. Krishnamacharya worked at a coffee plantation as a laborer to support his family, but he also ran evening yoga schools at his house for people to come and learn. Among his coffee plantation laborer friends, he had gained deep respect as a scholar and a magic yogi. Among his other prowess was that he could control and stop his heart beat for several minutes at a time.

Soon, the Raja of Mysore heard about this coffee plantation laborer who performed excellent yogic postures and who could heal people’s diseases. The Raja then found out about the skills of Krishnamacharya and he agreed to fund him to start a yoga school in Mysore. The yoga school flourished and millions of people came from all parts of the world to learn yoga from this great master. Krishnamacharya taught yoga until 1955: after India received independence, the kings were dethroned and the union of the states took place, so Krishnamacharya lost the king’s patronage. His yoga school was also shut down by the central Indian government. Krishnamacharya relocated his family to Bangalore and then to Chennai, where he continued teaching yoga until he slipped into coma and died in 1989. He died when he was 101, and until the time of his death, his cognitive faculties remained sharp, not to mention his health was perfect due to yogic practice.

One among his disciples was Indra Devi (born as Eugenie Peterson, who later adopted the name Indra Devi), who was instrumental in spreading the teachings of her master throughout South America. She conducted yoga schools in Argentina, Uruguay, and other Latin American countries. Yoga spread to Latin America because of her. She died in 2002, in Buenos Aires.

The other legendary Yoga teacher – B.K.S Iyengar was another disciple of the great Krishnamacharya. Iyengar was Krishnamacharya’s nephew and was brought to Krishnamacharya because he suffered from extreme ill health since the time of his birth until he was five years old. His parents had lost hope that they boy would live and they brought him to Krishnamacharya and left him there to see if Krishnamacharya could help him live at all. Krishnamacharya was a very strict teacher and a staunch disciplinarian. He trained Iyengar so well, that Iyengar became one of the most famous yoga teachers of the 20^th and the 21^st centuries. The accomplishments of Iyengar is beyond the scope of this post and will be pursued in a subsequent post at a later date.

Sri Pattabhi Jois and Krishnamacharya’s son T.K.V. Desikachar are the other principal disciples of Krishnamacharya. T.K.V. Desikachar was Krishnamacharya’s son. Sri Pattabhi Jois runs the Ashtanga Yoga Institute that specializes in teaching the ashtanga form of yoga.

The Pundit who was mistaken for a Coolie

From time to time, in the sacred land of Bharath, are born the kind of people who make such a large impact on society within a very short period of time in their lives. One perfect example of such a great man was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar who was the pillar of the Bengal Renaissance and a very active social reformer who strived to remove the crippling ills that were prevalent in the Hindu society during his time.

He was born in 1820 to orthodox Brahmin parents. He was an avid reader on a wide range of topics and even as a teenage boy, he gained the respect of the entire village as a boy with a vast ocean of knowledge, and hence he was conferred the title of Vidyasagar (Vidya –meaning learning, Sagar – meaning Ocean). He graduated with Sanskrit as his major and went on to become a very learned Sanskrit Pundit. He worked as a Sanskrit professor in Sanskrit College, Calcutta until his retirement. Simultaneously, he also was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, social activist, reformer, writer, publisher and also a renowned Bengali and Sanskrit linguist. Despite being highly successful and recognized in all these various fields, Vidyasagar remained an extremely modest man. There are several anecdotes from his life that prove this point about his character. Because of his humility, he was widely respected across the country.

There lived another certain pundit from across the country who had also studied Sanskrit grammar in great detail. However, despite all his struggles, he was unable to decipher certain portions of the Panini Sutras (Panini’s grammar rules). Immediately, he thought of the great Sanskrit pundit, Ishwar Chandra and wrote to him to see if he was available for a brief discussion. Ishwar Chandra invited this other pundit to come to Calcutta so that they could talk in leisure and discuss the grammatical doubt in greater detail. Ishwar Chandra also volunteered to receive the pundit at the railway station and take him to his house. This pundit was overjoyed after getting Ishwar Chandra’s reply and made preparations to go to Calcutta. But, the pundit was a very haughty man, and he was proud of himself for being a scholar. Even thought he had struggled to understand a few rules from the Panini sutras, now that he had got Ishwar Chandra’s reply, he became overconfident about his scholarship and became even more proud. He dressed exquisitely during the train journey, so that he was well dressed when meeting Ishwar Chandra.

As promised, Ishwar Chandra was waiting at the railway station to receive this pundit. Ishwar Chandra always dressed very modestly, and this proud pundit mistook him to be a coolie and disregarded him when he waved. The pundit looked around searching for a well-dressed Ishwar Chandra. He assumed that a person as respected and as famous as Ishwar Chandra would wear shiny clothes and costly shoes. He could not find anyone dressed as exquisitely as he himself was, and so beckoned the coolie and ordered to carry his luggage and asked him “Do you know where the famous Ishwar Chandra lives?” and he nodded in the affirmative. Ishwar Chandra quietly obeyed the pundit and carried his luggage to his own house. On the way, this pundit would not stop blowing his own trumpet. He said “I am a Sanskrit scholar. Do you know how difficult it is for people to study the Sanskrit grammar rules? It was written by a genius man called Panini. I am one of the very few people in this country who understands that. Another person who understands them is Ishwar Chandra and I am here to see him so that I can have these intellectual conversations with someone who is equal to me in intelligence.” Ishwar listened to the pundit’s continuous self-praise but did not become angry or agitated. He still did not reveal his true identity, but quietly carried the luggage to his house.

Upon reaching his house, he opened the door and invited the pundit inside courteously. It was then that the pundit realized – the person he had been singing his own praises to was none other than the great Ishwar Chandra himself. He felt very ashamed of himself when he saw how such a genius like Ishwar Chandra could dress so simply, conduct himself so modestly and respect everyone else so humbly, even when we was being treated like a coolie. He was astounded also by the simplicity of his residence and the simplicity of his habits. After staying with Ishwar Chandra for a couple of days, and after clarifying his grammar doubts, the pundit returned home, a more humble man himself.

This incident is one of the many incidents in the life of Ishwar Chandra where his simplicity and modesty are portrayed. He truly lived up to the ideal – “knowledge liberates”. He was indeed a liberated man. He worked very hard through the rest of his life to do away with social ills sati and child marriage. He strived for widow remarriage and supported the education of women, so that the society could liberate itself of other related social ills. Besides this, Ishwar Chandra was instrumental in the construction and opening of several schools for young girls. He also published several books in Sanskrit and Bengali. He revised the Bengali alphabets and published a book that is used even today. He also published a fundamental book on Sanskrit grammar that many students of Sanskrit grammar currently use.

The unfinished Jagannath idol at Puri

Among the most exalted of all Vishnu temples is the one at Puri, in Orissa, where the deity is called Jagannath – the Lord of the Universe. Jagannath is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself and he is worshipped throughout India. Since time immemorial, millions and millions of people have offered worship to Lord Vishnu in Puri. Even the Brahma Purana (one of the 18 major Puranas, the ancient sacred texts that were composed prior to 1500 BCE) mentions Puri as a pilgrimage center for Vishnu devotees. The temple itself is built with typical Orissa style architecture and it has been rebuilt quite a few times in the past, and historians date the current temple back to about 1100 CE. Here, Jagannath is the principal deity; his brother Balarama and sister Subhadra are the ancillary ones. And, the most interesting thing about these deities is that they are made of wood, instead of the traditional stone and they have been unfinished for centuries. There is a story behind why they are always left unfinished even though they are re-carved from time to time.

Around 1100 CE, the Orissa region was ruled by Indradyumna, who was a great devotee of Lord Krishna (same as Lord Vishnu). At the pinnacle of his reign’s prosperity, it occurred to him one day that he should build a grand temple in honor of the great Lord, who is the protector of the entire universe. He wanted to name the deity of the temple, Jagannath (Jagannath comes from two Sanksrit words – Jagat and Naath meaning the Lord of the Universe). He also desired that the idol should be the most resplendent one in the entire country. He prayed to Jagannath to help him find an idol somewhere. One night, buried deep in thought about Jagannath, Indradyumna fell asleep. Krishna appeared in his dream in the most beautiful form he had ever seen. When the king got up, he was ecstatic that the form of the idol was revealed to him. Even though he was not sure where he would find the idol, he decided to send his soldiers all over the country to go and look for that particular idol and bring it home so that it can be installed as the chief deity of the temple.

Fig 1: A painting of the Jagannath idol

The soldiers spread out in various directions to look for the Jagannath idol. After several weeks of intensive searching, a group of soldiers found an old devotee worshipping a small Krishna idol inside a cave. After the devotee retired for the night, the soldiers sneaked up closer to the idol, and lo! They found that this idol was the same one that Indradyumna had ordered them to bring back. The soldiers stole the statue and began their march back. In the morning, when the devotee found that his beloved Krishna had disappeared, his sorrow knew no bounds. He weeped and wailed and frantically looked everywhere for his Krishna but the idol was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, amid the soldiers’ returning party, a strange phenomenon happened. The statue flew from the soldiers’ hands back into that cave. The soldiers retraced their path back to the cave and here they saw that the old devotee was rejoicing the return of his Krishna. The soldiers’ realized that their action of stealing the idol was very disgraceful and they sought his pardon. The old man blessed the soldiers and told them to convey his blessings to the King.

The soldiers went back to the king and explained the strange phenomenon to him. The king was trying to find someone who could make an idol from the description that he had in his mind. But there was no one who was capable of such a thing. The king was worried that his desire to build the temple was not being fulfilled due to the lack of an idol. On another night, Jagannath in the same form he had assumed earlier, appeared again in Indradyumna’s dream and said “Son, if you go to the banks of the Vaitarani river, you will find a log of wood (of the fig tree variety) floating on the waters. Bring that log of wood home. A carpenter will come to you. Let him carve the idol.” Thus abruptly, the dream ended and Indradyumna sat up completely awake. The next day, a party set out to find that log of wood on the banks of Vaitarani. It was found just like Jagannath had promised. Meanwhile in the king’s court, an old man came to Indradyumna and claimed that he was a carpenter and he was sent to carve Jagannath out of a log of wood, but he had a few conditions. The king was to give him 21 days to complete the task and within that period, no one was allowed to come into the room where the carpenter worked and no one was allowed to ask him any questions. If the carpenter’ work was undisturbed, he vowed that he would carve him the exact same resplendent image that Jagannath assumed in Indradyumna’s dream. The king agreed to give him a room to work in and ordered the entire city to stay away from the carpenter for 21 days.

Even though the king was able to keep most people out of the carpenter’s way, he could no nothing to thwart the queen’s curiosity. Every day the queen pestered the king to let her peep into the room and see what progress was made on the idol. After 14 days of resisting the queen’s persuasion, the king finally gave in. Both of them tiptoed towards the room where the carpenter was working. They could hear the noises made from the carpenter’s tools. Not wanting to disturb him, but still take a quick peek through the window, the king told the queen to stand by and guard the place to make sure no one was watching them. The king put his head through a small crack in the window. The king looked at the idol and was very satisfied. The eyes and the face were carved out and the idol looked very beautiful overall. Even the unfinished idol seemed to be glowing, as if the hands that were carving it were actually a divine pair of hands, and not those of any ordinary mortal man. The arms and legs were not finished yet.

Fig 2: Krishna (the black idol) with his brother Balarama (far left) and sister Subhadra

At that very moment, the carpenter turned back and found out that overcome by impatience, Indradyumna had broken his promise. He immediately packed up his tools and got ready to leave. The carpenter did not just get up and walk out, but instead he transformed into a ray of light that merged with the unfinished idol and the idol remained unfinished forever. The king was stunned by this vision. Everything became clear to him now. Oh Alas! How much he repented for being impatient. The carpenter was no ordinary mortal. He was in fact the architect of the Devaloka (the kingdom of the devas or gods) – Vishwakarma himself! Krishna decided to help Indradyumna build the most effulgent idol in the country, because his heart was pure and devoted, and his desire was dedicated to a dharmic cause. Krishna was going to fulfill Indradyumna’s dream of having the most magnificent idol on earth, if he had not let his impatience take the better of him. [In some other versions of the story, it is believed that the carpenter was Krishna himself. Neither of that affects the essence of the story.]

The temple that was built by Indradyumna is standing even today and millions of people visit it every year, especially during the annual ratha yatra (temple car festival) celebrations when the temple ancillary idols are taken out on rounds throughout the city. The ratha yatra is undertaken in many temples across India every year, with a view to spreading positive vibrations from these powerful idols throughout the city. Also, this festival maybe viewed as god himself going out in search of his devotees, when the devotees have no means of going to the temple to see him (especially the old devotees, and/or the crippled devotees that can only stay home and listen to their family members describe the beauty of the temple idols). If God is taken for a walk every now and then, everyone in the city is able to appreciate his beauty and get his darshan. The idols are carved out of fresh fig tree barks periodically. The carpenters who are allowed to carve the idol are handpicked by the Sankaracharya of Puri. The idol that is in the temple today, was carved in 1977.

The author would like to close this post with the note every person should remember. The Lord of the universe, Jagannath , certainly helps his devotees attain the fruition of their desires if the desires are directed towards a dharmic result, and if the devotee sincerely asks for help.

Wat Phu on Laos’ Lingaparvata

Little do Indians know how glorious the emperors and sages of India were before the Mughal era. It appears today that India’s history seems to start only from the Mughal era forward, but to believe that would be grossly incomplete. If Buddha was born in India, how come there are Buddhists as far as Japan? How come there is an Angkor Wat in Cambodia many thousands of miles away? How did Balinese people learn about Ramayana and why do they still have annual Ramayana performances, to this day? How come Indonesia’s Navy slogan is “Jalasyeva Jayamahe” (Sanskrit)? How come there is a mountain called Lingaparvata in Laos, on which there is a Shiva temple called Wat Phu? India’s glory and Sanatana Dharma is spread far and wide by many great souls that are born time and again for the mere reason of spreading dharma to the world.

Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and a predominance of unrighteousness in this world, I manifest myself, O descendent of Bharata!

In this post we will learn about how King Devanika of the Champa dynasty built a city called New Kurukshetra in the Champassak province in Southern Laos. Kurukshetra was the name of the holy battlefield where the Mahabharata war happened in 3102 BCE. Kurukshetra is now in present day Haryana. The Khmer people had imbibed the lessons of the Mahabharata war and they respected India so much that they even named their cities after Indian cities.

In the early start of the 1^st millennium, the region now forming Cambodia and Laos was ruled by the Champa dynasty of kings. They were called the Cham rulers. In 400 AD, the Cham King Devanika faced constant attacks from invaders coming from near the South China Sea. One day, very fearful and dejected about losing his land, people and former glory, King Devanika wandered into the forests buried in deep thought and worry. Tired and worn out from his long walk and depressing thoughts, Devanika took refuge in a mountain cave. An old wise sage, who was meditating in that cave, saw the dejected Devanika sitting down in a slump, and in his booming voice addressed the emperor – “Glory be to the divine powers. O King! What brings you here in such great distress?” King Devanika was surprised to find this monk, and immediately fell at his feet and poured out his heavy heart to the wise man “Oh wise sage, attackers are annexing my territory. My people are being killed and their families are being broken. I am at fault, because I have been incapable of protecting my people! It is a shame O great sage, such a shame!”

The omniscient wise man just smiled and said “O almighty king, the time has come for you to regain your glory in a new land. Did you know that Lord Shiva himself has descended from the heavens and taken abode atop a mountain? The lingam stands resplendent in the rising sun. Go and find the Lord, O King! Build a stately temple that is as majestic as Lord Shiva himself. Worship that lingam, and all your former glory will be restored. You shall build a new empire, your progeny shall flourish and dharma shall be established. Go! Do not waste precious time in lamenting thus! With the grace of the Lord, anything can be achieved” King Devanika’s courage was restored by these auspicious words of the omniscient sage. He bowed to him in deep respect and set out for his search.

In this context, one remembers the verse:

O eternally blissful Madhava, to you I bow, by whose grace alone does even a dumb man expound and a lame man surmounts a mountain.

King Devanika assembled his troubled people, and they all began their pilgrimage in search of Lord Shiva. After several weeks of tiring journey, they arrived at the base of a tall mountain and decided to camp for the night. At dawn, the golden rays of the sun began to escape the horizon and lit up the sky in a beautiful tint of red. Devanika was awakened by the chirping birds, and he stood up, rubbing his eyes and lo! On the top of that very same mountain stood the lingam glowing in the golden rays of the rising sun. He was stunned by this breath-taking view. When everyone awoke, they celebrated for having found the abode of Lord Shiva.

As foretold by the sage, Devanika had found the new land where he had to establish his dharmic rule. Inspired by the principles set forth in the Mahabharata war, he named this land “New Kurukshetra”. The mountain was named “lingaparvata” (the mountain of the linga). Devanika established his new empire with Kurukshetra as his capital. The people that lived in the region along with the people who came with Devanika, became the forerunners of the prosperous Khmer people. As foretold by that great sage, Devanika had once again established peace and dharma. A huge temple called Wat Phu was built on this temple. Wat Phu exists even today and is one of the most beautiful Hindu temples in Laos. But it is in ruins. If the ruins themselves are so majestic and astounding in their architecture, the human mind can only perceive how magnificent the original temple would have been.

Mahabharata had happened in 3102 BCE. King Devanika had found the lingaparvata in 456 CE. It is heartening to note that even 4800 years after the great war, these great kings still remembered the dharmic lessons from the war and were inspired by it. India’s cultural influence had spread to very distant lands. The Sanskrit insciptions found in excavations from this lingaparvata site indicate that the city that lay under the rubbles was in fact a meticulously well-planned city. The Khmer kings that followed Devanika were also very prosperous, until their decline in 14^th century was caused by western aggression.

People and civilizations may come and go. Buildings and cities may be destroyed by time. These are all transient. But the divine vibrations are always present to help those who seek the truth – one just has to tune in.

Kannappa Naayanar – he donated his eyes to the Lord!

Just like how the most special among the worshippers of Lord Vishnu are called alvars, the saints who worshipped Lord Shiva are called the nayanmars. There were 63 nayanmars in total and one of them was the hunter called Kannappan. Kannappan and his hunter friends and family lived around the area that is now called Kalahasti, on the banks of the Swarnamukhi river in Andhra Pradesh.

During his hunting rituals in the forest, one day he was drawn in a particularly distant direction by an animal he was determined to shoot. There, he found a beautiful Shiva lingam that he instantly felt attracted to. A small temple was constructed by his hunter friends for the Shiva lingam that Kannappan had found. Kannappan had not learnt any rituals of worship, but he was imbued with a deep sense of devotion to this deity. He loved the Shiva lingam so much, that he wanted to worship it everyday.

Every day after hunting, he would carry whatever meat he had hunted, to the Shiva lingam as an offering. Since he was concerned that Shiva would feel thirsty after eating the meat, he also wanted to carry water. A hunter does not carry any drinking bowls while hunting. So Kannappan had only one other choice – to carry water from the river in his mouth and then spit it out on the Shiva idol signifying an offering of water. These actions would normally be construed as disrespect to the deity, but Kannappan’s heart was so pure that the Shiva lingam accepted all his offerings.

At this juncture one should recall the verse from Bhagavad Gita

“Whoever offers Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little water — that, so offered devotedly by the pure-minded, I accept.” (Swami Sivananda’s translation)

Pure devotion surpasses the need for ritual. If one’s heart is pure, any form of worship is accepted by a deity. Thus Kannappan continued to worship this Shiva lingam everyday in the same manner. One day, in order to test his devotion, Lord Shiva created a minor earthquake in the temple premises, when there were many people worshipping in the temple. When the ground started shaking and when stones started falling out of the temple ceiling, people panicked and ran out of the temple. But Kannappan did not run out, instead he ran into the temple and covered the Shiva lingam with his arms and body to protect the Shiva lingam from the debris falling from the ceiling. Such was his love for Shiva!

There was yet another test that Shiva had in mind for this simple devotee Kannappan. One day when Kannappan arrived at the temple, with his usual offerings of water in the mouth and flesh of an animal he had killed, he was shocked to see that one of the Shiva lingam’s eyes was bleeding. He tried to clean the blood with the water he had in his mouth, but the bleeding would not stop. He was deeply hurt and without second thought, he used one of his hunting arrows and plucked out one of his own eyes and placed it on the spot where the Shiva lingam was bleeding. And lo! The bleeding stopped. But then the Shiva lingam’s other eye now started bleeding. Kannappan proceeded to pluck out his other eye also, but he stopped suddenly. He realized that if he plucked his other eye out, then he would not know where Shiva’s eyes were, because he would have become blind. So, in order to know the exact spot, Kannappan first placed his toe on the bleeding spot and proceeded to pluck out his other eye also. Kannappan heard a voice booming from the heavens above. It said Stop Kannappa! Stop! Moved by his extreme devotion, Lord Shiva himself appeared before him in his magnificent form, draped in tiger skin, with the crescent moon shining from this thick locks of hair, with ashes smeared all over his body and with the trishul (trident) in his hand. Kannappan prostrated before Lord Shiva, and when he got up, the divine Lord embraced him instantly giving him mukti (realization). His eyesight was restored and he was instantly transformed into a wise saint. He prostrated again before his Lord Shiva, and from then on, he was called Kannappanayanar. Kannappanayanar spread the glories of Shiva far and wide across the southern peninsular India. For the rest of his time on the earth, Kannappanayanar remained immersed in complete bliss and in constant meditation upon the magnificent Lord Shiva.

Another beautiful verse that eulogizes devotion (bhakti) can be found in Verse 7 of the Sivanandalahari, written by Sri Adi Sankara, where he says:

Oh Paramasiva, may my mind focus on your lotus feet, may my words praise you, may my two hands perform archana, may my ears only hear your holy stories, and may my mind constantly remain immersed in meditating on your infinitely maginificent form and may my eyes always behold your beautiful form. In such a blissful state, what is the need for my learning scriptures at all?

Our dharma gives a lot of importance to simple, unadulterated and deep devotion. Bhakti Yoga is equivalent and complete in its own sense, and practicing Bhakti Yoga can lead to realization, even if a bhakti yogi does not know the rituals or does not understand the scriptures. Upon the culmination of bhakti yoga, knowledge and realization are always attained. Just like how this simple Kannappan attained mukti through sincere devotion to his god, every bhakti yogi has the chance for attaining mukti by remaining devoted.

Coming back to the story of the Shiva Lingam that Kannappan worshipped, many thousands of years later, the famous Rajendra Chola of the Chola dynasty constructed a majestic temple for this Shiva lingam. This Shiva lingam in Kalahasti is called the Vayu lingam. It is believed that all the five elements that the universe is made up of reincarnated as Shiva lingams, in five panchabhoota (five basic elements) sthalams (place) across India. Kalahasti is the vayu lingam shtalam. The other Panchabhoota Sthalams are located at Chidambaram (sky/ space), Thiruvanaikaval (water), Tiruvannamalai (fire) and Kanchipuram (earth). The Kalahasti temple is also regarded as Rahu and Ketu shtalams (2 of the 9 heavenly planets). This shiva lingam has continued to attract millions of devotees to it every year especially during the beautiful annual celebrations of Siva Ratri.

Milarepa – The student who forged his teacher’s signature

In this blog, until now we have seen stories of valiant kshatriyas, learned brahmanas, devoted bhaktas and ardent patriots, from various parts of India. This post is about a Buddhist monk from Tibet which also a part of the Akhanda Bharath. Sanatana dharma instills righteousness in all facets of life, irrespective of whether a person’s predilections are towards karma yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga or any other path. Every person is allowed to follow a path most suited to him and he can still reach the ultimate destination. Some people know their propensity right from a very young age. For example, Khudiram Bose knew he had to fight for the freedom of India since he was 3 years old and that was the way he fulfilled his karma. Meerabai knew that Krishna was her beloved husband since the tender age of 5 and she spent the rest of her life serving him and singing his glories. Some other people try out several things before they ultimately discover their true propensities. Sometimes people need to fulfil the actions of their past karma, before the destination begins to reveal itself. For one such person called Milarepa, he had to switch through 3 different gurus, before he could attain his Nirvana. Despite the fact that he made mistakes in his life and got carried away by Maya, one cannot deny the fact that he was a great yogi and tantric in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.

Milarepa was born is a rich and aristocratic family in Tibet in 2^nd century C.E. The family was prosperous until Milarepa’s father died. Following the father’s death, the family fortune was swindled away by Milarepa’s uncle and aunt, who left Milarepa, his sister and his mother homeless, without any possessions and begging. Milarepa was a very young child, and instigated by his mother to learn sorcery, he left home to learn sorcery under the greatest sorcerer in Tibet. After mastering the art, Milarepa returned to his hometown, filled with intentions of revenge towards his aunt and uncle. During one of the festivities in their home, Milarepa appeared. With his powers he turned the sunny day into a dark and cloudy day and summoned a huge scorpion that jumped out of the sky, created a lot of havoc and killed many people who were participating in the celebration. Except the aunt and the uncle, everyone else in their family was killed and their beautiful house was also destroyed. When the villagers came to know about Milarepa’s sorcery tricks, they set out to find him and kill him. Milarepa again used his magical powers and created a huge hailstorm that destroyed the entire village’s crops. Now after Milarepa had got his revenge, he still felt empty. He felt that he has wasted many years in his life acquiring futile powers that took him no closer to understanding the Brahman. Milarepa repented deeply. He decided to leave his mother and sister behind, and set out to begin a new life. He knew that his evil actions had incurred him much negative karma and he also knew he would have to take millions of re-births to repay that karma. He decided that the only way for him to escape that cycle of birth and death would be to attain nirvana in the present birth. With his mind made up, he set out to find a spiritual guru who could lead him to nirvana.

Milarepa had heard about the famous guru Marpa, and in his mind, he was determined to be Marpa’s student. However Marpa was a very hard taskmaster. Despite Milarepa’s constant imploring, Marpa would not give him the secret mantras that could liberate Milarepa’s soul. Marpa made Milarepa work as a menial laborer for several years, yet gave him no spiritual learning. Marpa’s wife took pity on Milarepa when she found Milarepa dejected and crying about his cruel fate. Now, Milarepa had another brilliant idea. He had heard of another guru called Lama Ngogpa in a faraway place near the Himalayas. He had also heard that Lama Ngogpa was not as hard a taskmaster as Marpa. But as per practices, Lama Ngogpa never took disciples without a recommendation letter. After much coaxing, Milarepa convinced Marpa’s wife to write him a recommendation letter that he could take to Lama Ngogpa. This would end his suffering and he would finally be able to receive some spiritual training at last. Since the current state of Milarepa was rather sad, Marpa’s wife took pity on him and forged the recommendation letter.

With a recommendation letter from one of Tibet’s greatest gurus, Milarepa easily got admission into Lama Ngogpa’s school. He was getting a lot of spiritual instruction, but despite meditating, Milarepa was not getting any results. When in deep contemplation, Milarepa realized that the reason for this may be because of his forged recommendation letter. Again he had spent several years of his life trying to start over afresh, and he had failed. He confessed this mistake with Lama Ngogpa, who asked him to return to Marpa to seek his forgiveness. Milarepa once again packed his belongings and left for Marpa’s hermitage. On seeing the dejected and repentant Milarepa return, Marpa just gave a kind smile. Marpa accepted Milarepa’s apologies and told him that he was ready to be given spiritual instruction now, because he had finally gotten rid of the consequences of his bad karma. Marpa gave Milarepa a small piece of parchment with a mantra written on it, blessed him and sent him to meditate. Milarepa was to go to the Himalayas to meditate sincerely, and Marpa promised that Milarepa would attain realization. If Milarepa found himself in the most excruciating circumstance in his life, he was to only then, open the parchment.

Milarepa paid his obeisance to his ultimate guru, Marpa and set out to the Himalayas. Here, he meditated sincerely despite extreme weather conditions. He neither ate nor slept. He meditated for many many years. Finally, his body began to decay and his bones began to protrude from his skin. Just when Milarepa thought that he was about to die without attaining nirvana, he opened the parchment and read the mantra out aloud. At that instant, immediate peace engulfed his disturbed soul and he became one with the Brahman. His decayed body regained its full vigor and Milarepa became a realized Buddha.

Milarepa was alive for several years later and he spread Mahayana Buddhism far and wide into Tibet. He initiated many men and women into his order and helped them all achieve nirvana through rigorous spiritual instruction. Here ends the story of a great Buddhist saint who started off being a wicked sorcerer, spent several futile years trying to attain nirvana, and finally attaining nirvana, after having exhausted the fruits of his bad karma. It is the belief of Sanatana Dharma, that every soul finds a propensity and through that propensity, lives out its karma, until it is fit to become one with the Brahman. These great saints and sages have left behind a rich legacy of dharmic practices that can lead us to our ultimate goal. These great saints and sages have also left behind powerful vibrations that we can tune in to, to achieve our spiritual instruction. Therefore, there is hope for us all.

Aandaal

Millenia ago, a succession of devotee-poets took birth in the Tamizh country. They celebrated the glories of the Lord through mellifluous poetry. The Vaishnava poets amongst them are called alvaars, literally meaning those who are immersed in God. There were twelve Aalvaars in total, and today we recount the story of Aadaal – the only female mystic finding place in this list.

Vishnuchitta was a pious and sincere devotee of Lord Krishna. He was the chief priest at the Sriviliputtur Ranganathan temple. He was childless for a very long time and yearned to have a daughter. One day the Lord granted his wish. On the way back from the temple, he found a crying baby girl under a wayside tulasi plant. He was very happy and took the baby home. She was named Kodhai (Gift from the Earth).Vishnuchitta, being devoted to Krishna, instilled a lot of the same nature into Kodhai also.

Growing up by listening to romantic stories from Krishna Leela from her father, Kodhai fell in deep love with Lord Krishna. She developed sincere devotion and intense longing towards Krishna. Every morning, she collected flowers and made a garland for the Lord Ranganathan at the temple. Everyday, she would test the garland on herself to make sure that it was comfortable, before sending it to the temple, because her beloved Krishna was going to wear it the whole day. One day, her father found a long piece of hair in the garland and reprimanded Kodhai for being disrespectful. That night, Lord Krishna appeared in his dream and explained that he loved the touch of his devotees. Vishnuchitta got the message, and allowed Kodhai to continue her practice. The people of Sriviliputtur considered her as a saint because she was always singing the glory of her beloved Krishna and was always lost in her love for him. When they came to know about Vishnuchitta’s dream, they revered Kodhai even more and named her Aandaal (One who controls the Lord).

As Kodhai grew up, she began composing beautiful love poems beckoning Krishna to come and accept her as his beloved. Her poetry were collected into two major works called the Tiruppaavai and Naacchiar Thirumozhi. By the age of fifteen she was very staunch in her faith and she refused to get married to anybody except Lord Ranganathan himself. This worried her father very much as there would be no one to take care of Kodhai if he died. Once again, Krishna appeared in his dream, and told him that he would marry Kodhai on the full moon day of the Margazhi month at Srirangam. Kodhai was ecstatic when she heard this, and the marriage procession to Srirangam started from Sriviliputtur. When they reached Srirangam, Kodhai was overjoyed and she could not wait till Krishna showed up to marry her. She ran towards the idol and the people who were standing around, saw her merge with Ranganathan himself. Thus, she is believed to have married him.

To this day the it is tradition to garland Aandal’s idol first, and then use the same garland for Krishna later. Aandaal was the only female saint among the Aalvars. Vishnuchitta, her father, was also an Aalvar – PeriyaAalvar. Aandal’s Thiruppaavai and Thirumozhi verses are appreciated widely across Tamil Nadu. Several classical musicians have put these verses to music in different raagas and render their compositions to the public in the month of Margazhi. Aandaal Thirukalyanam (Aandaal’s marriage) is a celebration on the full moon day of the Margazhi month, at Krishna temples across Tamil Nadu.

PostScipt:

The month of Margazhi is a very special month in the Tamizh calendar. It is not only the most beautiful month, in terms of the weather, but it is also the month of harvest for most crops that grow in the Tamizh region. Also, the rays of the rising sun are believed to be very beneficial to the health of women in this month. Therefore we also see many women decorating the entrance of their house with huge designs called kolams during this month. Music and dance performances happen everywhere in Tamil Nadu during Margazhi – it is called the music festival in Chennai and lasts for the whole month. Most importantly, Margazhi (Margasirsha in Sanskrit) is Lord Krishna’s favorite month (Bhagavad Gita Capter 10 verse 35)

bṛhat-sāma tathā sāmnāḿ

gāyatrī chandasām aham

māsānāḿ mārga-śīrṣo ‘ham

ṛtūnāḿ kusumākaraḥ

Guru Gobind Singh – the lion of medieval India

“Vedahun vidit dharma pracharyun, Gohat kalamka vishva nivaryun.

Sakal jagat mein Khalsa Panth gaajey, Jagey dharm Hindu sakal bhand Bhajey”

Guru Gobind Singh

(May I preach the Vedas to the whole mankind / May I remove the blot of cow-slaughter from the whole world / May the Khalsa Panth reign supreme / Long live Hinduism and falsehood perish)

The 17th century was not a pleasant time for India, plagued as it was by foreign aggression and internal dissensions. The aggressors neither spoke the same tongue, nor had the same notions of religion and dharma. Not only were they different from the natives, but also they were extremely intolerant to the native faith. The aggressors had already embarked on the mission of wiping out native culture from India. Furthermore, Indians themselves remained divided. While a section of society believed in the escapist philosophies of illusion, another section completely adhered to extreme forms of ritualism, without a clear grasp of the underlying concepts of dharma. People remained divided not only on the lines of caste, but they also disputed doctrinal differences. This was the time not of philosophical discussion, but of action, because the bigger enemy was the foreign aggressor. At this crucial stage, was it possible for dharma to be re-interpreted, for the Hindus had to rise to a heightened level of consciousness to give up the internal differences for the sake of the honor of their motherland? Guru Gobind Singh was the person who made this possible with a truly secular point of view. His philosophy was very simple – a dharmic Indian shunned differences on basis of religion and protected the honor of his nation.

The birth of Guru Gobind Singh was prophesized by Pir Bhikan Shah, a fakir from Thaksa village (now in the Karnal District of Haryana). This fakir had a question in his mind. If this young boy turned out be a defender of a single faith, would he impute the wrong-doings of the oppressor onto the common men who followed the foreign faith – i.e. will Guru Gobind Singh hate/kill the Muslim common men who lived in India? To resolve his doubt, the fakir visited the young baby boy with two packets of sweets in his hand – one bought from a Muslim shop and another from a Hindu shop. When the two packets of sweets were presented to the baby in a symbolic way of asking a question, the boy touched both the packets at the same time, symbolically answering the question – there is no distinction between men on the basis of faith, as long as they maintain loyalty to their motherland. The fakir’s doubts were cleared by this incident and he blessed the child and moved on. He understood that the larger concept of dharma is paramount. The way one worship the higher force does not matter. Dharma is the Rta – the natural order of life. It is swalakshana – arising out of itself.

So how did Guru Gobind Singh re-establish the tenets of dharma? He initiated people into the Khalsa path. A Khalsa was the defender of Bharat Mata. He protected her sanctity, her divinity and he defended her people against foreign aggression. The Khalsa’s dharma was “aaradhana by blood” and “aaradhana by sacrifice.” Even though it appears to be merely a poetical description, in reality it definitely was not.

The firm belief was that the only way to get moksha was to die on the battleground for the sake of Bharat Mata. Bereft of context, this idea appears to completely contradict the prescription of self-contemplation by Sanakara or the injunction towards non-violence by Buddha. But in the times of need, such a radical interpretation was needed to protect India. Guru Gobind Singh’s Sikhism, preached that caste distinctions were artificial dividers, as everyone is a Sudra when he is born, irrespective of whether he was actually born in a Sudra family or a Brahmin family. Guru Gobind Singh does not patronize either the native forms of worship versus any other foreign form like Islam. His mission was to ameliorate the social ills that plagued India and broke her spirit. The artificial differences on the basis of caste, and ritualism, and doctrines is condemned severely. He re-interpreted dharma in terms of karma yoga in the battlefield. This was the philosophy of the Khalsa that he founded.

At a congregation of his followers, he demanded to know how many people were ready to step up to die immediately for the sake of dharma. He repeated his question 3 times and one timid man came forward saying that he would give up his live driven by  the love for his guru. Guru Gobind took out a huge sword, led the man behind a dark screen into a secret room and returned with the sword dripping with blood. The audience was stunned. Guru Gobind repeated his earlier question and slowly four more men stepped up. Each time Guru Gobind returned with the sword dripping with blood. After doing this five times, he stepped in front of the screen along with the 5 men – who he renamed as “Singh” (meaning lion(s)). The five brave Singhs were revived because of their true intentions behind their sacrifice. These were the first five commanders of the Khalsa. The Khalsa, led by Guru Gobind Singh fought twenty battles against the Mughals and their allies, in an attempt to protect India. The men of the Khalsa attained their Moksha dying to protect their fellow country-men. We indeed owe so much to the Sikhs – the defenders of Bharat Mata. For an interesting and a more detailed account of Guru Gobind Singh’s life, please visit – http://www.baisakhi1999.org/main.htm

Singhaasan Battisi

In a village in the kingdom of Bhoja Raja, lived a rather dumb shepherd who took care of his family cows. His shepherd friends always teased him for being very stupid and hardly paid any attention to his words. One day, while passing through a green meadow following his herd of cows, he was tired and sat on a mould of grass. Immediately, he seemed to have gained knowledge and could even extemporaneously comment on the political matters of the kingdom. His friends were surprised at how this stupid boy suddenly began talking sense. They sat down and listened to him sincerely. When the sun was going down, they decided to gather their cows and go home. When he descended the mould, the shepherd was back to his dumb nature. The same thing happened several times in the next few weeks. Every time this dumb shepherd sat on that mould, his friends noticed that he was giving lectures on profound topics like poetry, military campaigns, the scriptures etc. As soon as he climbed down, he became dumb again. The news of these weird incidents reached the king – Bhoja Raja.

Bhoja had the shepherd summoned at court for questioning. When the dumb boy could explain nothing, Bhoja decided to have him demonstrate his knowledge when he was sitting on the mould. And lo, the idiot boy was advising Bhoja wisely. Bhoja understood that there was something under the mould that was causing such a great effect on anyone who sat over it. He ordered the mould to be dug out. After digging several feet down, they saw a lustrous, spectacular golden throne hidden inside. The throne was dug out carefully and taken to the king’s court. Bhoja was fascinated by the beauty and luster of the golden throne and being a powerful king himself, he decided that he was going to use it as his throne. He believed that if the throne could give wisdom to someone as stupid as that shepherd boy, it would help Bhoja become a wiser king too. The throne had 32 steps and there were beautiful women figurines carved out in every step.

When Bhoja was about to put his feet on the first step, the figurine on the first step came to life. The figurine explained that the throne in fact belonged to the legendary emperor Vikramaditya. The only person who had the right to ascend the throne was someone who would answer correctly every question the figurines asked on the way up. Every figurine would narrate a new story expounding the greatness of Vikramaditya, and if Bhoja could match or exceed Vikramaditya’s magnanimity on every step, he would be permitted to ascend the throne. As the rules of the challenge were being explained, Bhoja listened carefully and figured out that if he passed the test, he could ascend the throne and become the supreme ruler, or he would still remain Bhoja and continue to rule over his kingdom. He had nothing to lose. As one could guess, Bhoja Raja was never able to prove himself to be more magnanimous than the great Vikramaditya. Nevertheless the 32 figurines were pleased with Bhoja Raja’s humility, blessed him and allowed him to keep the throne and transformed themselves back to non-living figurines. The story of Bhoja Raja’s ascension to Vikramaditya’s throne is captured in the delightful Hindi story of “Singhaasan Battisi”.

It is historically recorded that Bhoja Raja went on to become a very powerful ruler. His kingdom extended from Bhopal (named after him) on the eastern end to Gujarat, Rajasthan and beyond. He even had allies from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu. When Mahmud Ghazni invaded India from Central Asia, Bhoja Raja successfully led an army of Hindu rulers and protected India, forming a fortress at Lahore on the western side. However, due to disputes among Bhoja’s allies, this mission turned unsuccessful after a few years when Ghazni came back to attack again. Bhoja Raja also rebuilt the temple at Somnath in 1024, after Ghazni’s destruction. (This temple has been destroyed by the Muslims nearly 30-35 times and the Hindus have been successful in rebuilding it again and again. The story of Somnath deserves special mention and hence will be narrated in a future dedicated post.)

Bhoja Raja paid a lot of attention to education of his subjects. It is believed that even a weaver in his kingdom could recite rhyming poetry in Sanskrit. Bhoja Raja himself was a profound scholar and produced 84 astounding works written in Sanskrit – some of which are still available. He is dated at 1010-1060 C.E. His scholarship and wisdom are clearly visible from the wide range of topics he wrote in – sarasvati kaNThabharaNa: a treatise on Sanskrit grammar for poetic and rhetorical compositions, rAjamArtANda – an authoritative commentary on Patanjali’s yogasUtras, jotiSha-rAjamRigAnka – an treatise on astronomy and construction of instruments used in astronomical observations, yuktikalpataru – technological manual explaining the construction of war ships (also contains the formula to make glass), shRiNgAra prakAsha – a treatise on Hindu erotics, dharmashAstra vRitti – commentary on the Hindu law, samarangaNa-sUtradhara – a work on civil engineering describing the construction of temples, dams, forts, idols of deities (also has a design of the glider/flying machine – we think Leonardo da Vinci had the first design of the flying machine and that Wright brothers first made the flying machine, because these profound works in Sanskrit were unknown to the west).

Quote: Perusing Bhoja’s surviving works one sees that the Hindu world just prior to its eclipse by the violent Islamic whirlwind from Central Asia was not one on its decline. On the contrary, due geniuses like bhoja, it was in the peak in of achievements in terms of arts, technology and science. Yet, this India and its illustrious rulers were almost opaque to impending doom that loomed large. Some authors have attributed to this to regionalism or the lack of a national Hindu spirit. This was not entirely lacking as evidenced by the confederation that overthrew the Ghaznavis. Yet, the fact that these illustrious rulers were pulling down each other even as their common enemy Mahmud was savaging North India is rather striking. Another paradoxical point to note is that a rAja Bhoja became a pan-Indian epitome of a great ruler from the Tamil country to Kashmir. This suggests that the cultural unity of greater India remained intact even in this period–there were indeed figures who capable of being pan-Indian heroes even if they were only regional in the military achievements. Thus, there was a collective Indian mind, that appreciated the scholarly king, but failed to collectively respond to the problem posed by Islam. Likewise, the kings of Bhoja’s era did not lack in courage or military skills, but remained in their childish cocoons of romantic military adventures even as a greater danger threatened to extinguish them. The lesson of the twilight of classical Hindu India is a chilling one for modern India. The modern Indians in the same way as their ancestors pride themselves of their intellectual and technological achievements. Despite the depredations of centuries they have the vestiges of cultural unity and continue to have pan-India icons, howsoever crass they may be in comparison to the legendary rAja bhoja. But sadly they remain as naive as their predecessors in the twilight era to the impending threats from Islam and Christianity. Unquote. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhoja)

Sri Adi Sankara caught by the crocodile

Sri Adi Sankara

Sri Adi Sankara Bhagavadpada was a legendary Acharya, unrivalled in the India of the past and present, in terms of the impact he exercised on this theory and practice of Sanatana Dharma. He was born in Veliyanad, near Kaladi, Kerala, but traveled across India several times preaching his philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, and was immensely influential within the short span of 32 years that he spent on earth.

Sri Adi Sankara was born to Aryambal and Sivaguru Nambudiri, after they prayed to Siva in the Vadakkunathan Temple. Sankara lost his father while he was very young and continued to take care of his mother. Sincerely, Sankara learnt the Vedas and recited them thoroughly by the age of eight. He was also extremely inclined towards Sanyasa from such a young age. But his mother would never allow him to speak about it. One day, while taking a bath in the river, a crocodile got hold of Sankara, and he cried out to his mother for help. She came running to him, but was unable to free him from the clutches of the crocodile. Sankara then begged his mother to give him the permission to adopt Sanyasa, so that he atleast died as a Sanyasi, because it was obvious that he was going to die in the clutches of that crocodile. Very reluctantly, Aryambal agreed and Sankara recited the mantras and adopted Sanyasa. Suddenly, by the impact of the mantras, the crocodile let go of Sankara without hurting him. Alas, Aryambal’s sorrows knew no bound. Even though she was happy that her son escaped death, she was grieving because he was no longer her son, as he had adopted Sanyasa. Sankara consoled her by saying that he will come back when she breathes her last to perform her last rites. The place where the crocodile caught Sankara is still present at Kaladi and is called the Crocodile Ghat.

Sankara, traveling northward found his guru, Sri Govinda Bhagavadpada. When he was asked to identify himself, he extemporaneously composed the beautiful and profound Atma Shatakam, sometimes also referred to as the Nirvana Shatakam.

Later, he performed deep penance and realized the truth of Vedanta. He traveled across the ancient Indian subcontinent preaching the truth, and produced highly profound works in Sanskrit. A few of his famous works were Viveka Chudamani – the independent philosophical treatise, Bhaja Govindam, Kanaka Dhaara Stotram, Soundaryalahari, Sivanandalahari, Atma Shatakam and Bhavani Ashtakam, besides his Sanskrit commentaries on the ten major Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. He also established the great Sankara Mathas across India.

When his mother was dying, he knew it telepathically, and he returned to Kaladi to perform her last rites and support her when she died. But he was ostracized and condemned for coming back to his mother, by the Brahmins who were required to light the pyre for burning the body of Aryambal. Sankara explained that the idea of a Sanyasi renouncing his relations is to reinforce his strength in the path of Sanyasa and should not be blindly misinterpreted as abandonment of one’s relatives, in times of their need. When the Brahmins refused to light the pyre, he used his powers to light the pyre and cremated his mother’s body in the correct manner.

There are so many incidents worth mentioning from the life of Adi Sankara, and they will be covered in future posts. But, for those interested in getting glimpses of other stories in the life of Adi Sankara, please visit: http://www.kamakoti.org/miscl/adi.html

Baahubali – Man with the strong arms

Many of us have heard of the Gomateshwara statue at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka. The person in the statue is the Jain saint – Baahubali. The story of Baahubali illustrates the highest order of virtues like love, brotherhood and compassion.

Baahubali was the youngest of the hundred sons of the first Jain tirthankara of the Kali Yuga – King Rishabha. Rishabha adopted Sanyasa after he divided his kingdoms into portions and gave it to his sons to rule. Bharat was one of Rishabha’s sons who got his share of the kigdom. After a few years of peaceful ruling, Bharat decided to become Chakravarti (supreme emperor of the world). He was a great tantric and he had designed and invented several astras (weapons of warfare). He also had a magic wheel. He instructed the wheel to go to king after king in Bharatavarsha and demand them accept the supremacy of Bharat. If the demand was not met, then it was decided that war would be declared. Ninety eight of Bharat’s brothers accepted defeat and adopted sanyasa after giving away their kingdoms to Bharat. Baahubali was a righteous ruler who thought that this demand was unfair. He tried to reason with his brother “Our father gave us each a portion of his kingdom. Why don’t we just rule our portion righteously instead of annexing more territory in an unfair manner?” Bharat was unhappy and declared war. The commanders-in-chief of both the armies got ready for war, but they were worried that both the armies were equally strong and so were their rulers. They negotiated that to prevent destruction of the armies pointlessly, the rulers should fight a duel instead, and whoever wins would be the Chakravarti.

Several rounds of the duel were designed carefully to measure the strength of the winner appropriately. In every round, Baahubali turned out to be the winner. However, there was the final wrestling round. Baahubali had exceptionally strong arms. It was believed that whoever he struck with his arms would meet with instant death. To give Bharat a fair advantage, Bharat was allowed the first strike. Bharat summoned all his strength and struck Baahubali, but there was no effect. Baahubali was extremely angered and raised his arms with a wild roar. At that instant however, there was an inner transformation within Baahubali. He suddenly turned compassionate and said “O Bharat, you are my brother. How fallen am I to kill you over something as small as a kingdom. I will renounce my kingdom and you can be Chakravarti. I am becoming a Sanyasi now”. But when a true Kshatriya raises his hand to hit something, by dharma, he has to finish that action. But Baahubali decided to not hurt his brother, so the only option was to hurt himself. Hence, with the arms that were raised to hit Bharat, Baahubali instead plucked out all his hair from his scalp. It was at this juncture that Bharat realized how truly noble his brother Baahubali was. He repented for his actions and henceforth ruled the earth with non-aggression and righteousness.

Baahubali spent so many years in deep meditation and penance that anthills were formed around his legs and creepers began to grow on his thighs. But somehow, he was not achieving true realization. He identified and felt that he was standing on his brother’s land and meditating, so he still owed his brother that piece of land. This feeling was giving him no peace. When Bharat came to realize this, he rushed to see his brother, fell at his feet and said “O Baahubali, you have taught me such a huge lesson. Please remove the ill-feelings of owing from your heart. The universe belongs to you, and you belong to the entire universe. You are that Brahman!” When Baahubali heard this, his mind was at peace, and he was subsequently able to attain Nirvana – the ultimate realization.

Around the year 981 C.E, King Rachamalla II of the Ganga dynasty ruled over Karnataka. His Prime Minister Chamunda Raya, a sincere devotee of Baahubali and a talented sculptor decided to carve out a statue of Bhagavan Baahubali. This colossal statue stands at a height of 60 feet, carved out a single boulder that is the hill top of the Vindhyagiri hill at Shravanabelagola. The statue has coiled snakes, creepers and anthills as part of it. Besides, the statue is also unclad. Chamunda Raya wanted to portray an important characteristic of Baahubali here. Baahubali was a realized soul and one with the entire universe. He held no recognition with his body. Therefore, not only did he renounce clothes, but he also did not care about the creepers that grew around his body, and the anthills that covered his legs or worry about the snakes that crawled around his feet. Bhagavan Baahubali had truly risen beyond bodily consciousness. He is revered for being a true yogi, and this message is conveyed by the statue. Every 12 years, millions of Jain bhaktas gather at Shravanabelagola for the Mahamastakabhisheka festival where the statue is bathed with milk, curd and saffron all dispensed from a helicopter hovering above the statue in the sky.

Postscript:

In Sanskrit “Go” also means senses, hence Lord Krishna is called Govinda “the controller of the senses”. If we extend a similar analogy to Bhagavan Baahubali, the Gomateshwara could mean “lord of the senses” or “someone who has mastered his senses”. (Disclaimer – author’s personal analysis.)

Rishabha Deva belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty – the same dynasty as Rama avatara of Vishnu.

Who are the Gurkhas named after?

There a single common great man connecting the following – the Uttar Pradesh district that hosts the famous Gita Press’s headquarters; the only mountain in Sindh, Pakistan that receives snowfall every winter; the people of the Gurkha clan in Nepal and he also appears in the tragic Punjabi love story of Heer and Ranjha. Any guesses? – He is the famous Guru Gorakhnath (Gorakshanath in Sanskrit).

Guru Gorakhnath

Gorakhnath was a great guru in the Nath Sampradaya. He was the disciple of another well-known guru – Matsyendranath (Macchindranath). Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath were disciplined yogis and excellent Shivite tantrics. They were believed to have travelled extensively across north India from Sindh to Nepal. Infact, Macchindranath is the patron deity of Nepal.

Gorakhnath was a keen and fast student, but following the end of his tutelage, his guru began to notice a tinge of arrogance in his disciple, which was causing Gorakh to believe that he was infact greater than his teacher. Matsyendranath decided to teach Gorakh a lesson on humility.

As Gorakh was walking through the forest to go to his hermitage, after giving a lecture to people in a village, he saw that there were lights and songs heard from a small hut. As he walked closer, he was shocked to see that his guru Matsyendranath was dancing, surrounded by a group of dancing women. To Gorakh, this was a disgusting sight. Led by his arrogance, he began to wonder how his guru could fall so down in morality to be dancing with women! Now he was determined to save his guru, and tried to get past the dancing women to get to his guru. But, the dancing women were trying to distract Gorakh and hence preventing him from approaching Matsyendranath. Gorakh tried to scream past the loud singing, but his guru appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself and couldn’t hear Gorakh’s screams.

Gorakh had a brilliant idea! He transformed himself into a dancing woman and danced with the ladies and tried to go closer to Matsyendranath. Once he was able to get past the other ladies and stood in front of his guru, he immediately grabbed him and flew into the air. (Remember he was a tantric, and hence had exceptional powers). Halfway up the air, he revealed his true form to his guru and explained the evils of getting distracted from the spiritual world. The guru accepted his mistake and apologized profusely. Now, with an even more pumped up ego, Gorakh announced that he was going to take the guru back to the hermitage, so that he can continue preaching to the world.

When Gorakh brought Matsyendranath to the hermitage, he saw that there was another Matsyendranath sitting there and majestically preaching to a crowd of more than ten thousand people. Gorakh was confused. He just rescued Matsyendranath from the dancing women and brought him back with himself to the hermitage, but he is already sitting there and preaching! Now he looked beside him, and the Matsyendranath he rescued had disappeared. He asked many people who were listening to the lecture about how long his guru had been at the ashram teaching. They were surprised that Gorakh did not know that this preaching session had been going on for more than ten days. The people had been flocking here to listen to Matsyendranath from all neighboring villages.

Gorakh realized that he had been wrongly led by arrogance in believing that he was actually greater than his guru. He realized that he had been caught by the play of maya in believing that he had actually saved his guru from the clutches of those women. He at once saw that his guru had parallely manifested himself not only as the other dancing Matsyendranath, but also as the dancing women. All of them were infact Matsyendranath himself. Gorakh was immediately humbled and served his guru all his life, while also preaching the message of the Nath Sampradaya far and wide across India.

The district of Gorakhpur, in Uttar Pradesh is named after Gorakhnath. The hill station in Sindh, Gorakh Hill is the only place in the region that receives snowfall in winter. Gorakhnath travelled to Nepal also, and his followers are now the current-day Gurkhas. Moreover, since we believe that Gorakhnath and his guru are eternal and live forever, they appear in many stories and incidents across history, just like Gorakhnath appeared in the Heer-Ranjha story, in Punjab.

Are there horses braver than Rajputs?

The protagonist of this post is not a human being, but an animal, which epitomized loyalty and attained immortality through the songs of several poets – Chetak. When the word Chetak is heard, the only objects that come to many minds are the Bajaj Chetak scooter, or for more well read people, the Chetak Helicopter built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. But the name Chetak was given to the above because it stood for the epitome of loyalty: the unforgettable horse Chetak.

Chetak was Maharana Pratap Singh’s horse which lost its life protecting the Rana in the gruesome Battle of Haldighati that was fought on June 21, 1576, between the Mughal ruler Jalal-ud-din Mohammed Akbar and Maharana Pratap Singh. Rana Pratap was mounted on Chetak in this battle.

Chetak carrying Maharana Pratap Singh

Akbar was repeatedly trying to annex territory and expand the Mughal Empire into Rajasthan. But Rana Pratap, who succeeded his father Maharana Udai Singh as king of Mewar, would not accept a foreign ruler’s supremacy. Despite several attempts by Akbar to win Rana Pratap’s submission using diplomacy, he never entirely succeeded in gaining control of Mewar. Unfortunately, other neighboring kings were not brave enough to defend themselves. Not only did they slowly start bowing down before Akbar in servitude, but also disgracefully gave their sisters and daughters away in marriage to Akbar (Akbar had more than 5000 women in his harem, including the Rajputani Jodha Bai). But Rana Pratap, being a true and brave Rajput, vowed to protect the honor of his people for as long as he lived. Hence war was declared.

The strength of Rana Pratap’s army was miniscule compared to the large number of other Rajput kings (and their armies) that Akbar had bought over to his side. Akbar’s army was led by Raja Man Singh, who was Akbar’s nephew by marriage, while Rana Pratap himself led his army, mounted on Chetak. During the fierce battle that lasted several hours, it was clear that Rana’s army was being overpowered due to mere numerical superiority.

At this crucial juncture, Rana Pratap hoped to create chaos in the opponent army by killing Man Singh. He led Chetak closer to Man Singh’s elephant. Chetak bravely jumped on to the elephant’s trunk, facilitating Rana Pratap to throw his lance aiming at Man Singh’s face. Unfortunately Man Singh ducked and the lance only killed the mahout of the elephant and Chetak’s left thigh was fatally wounded in this endeavor. Now, as Rana Pratap was quickly being surrounded by enemy warriors, some of his loyal supporters urged him to escape, so that he can come back and fight again some other day. One of his lieutenants even donned Rana’s garments to distract the army, allowing Rana to escape. As we would expect, the lieutenant was killed.

Chetak’s valorous act

When Rana Pratap decided to let go of the fighting and escape, Chetak faithfully cooperated. Despite his bleeding wounds, Chetak ran for 2 miles non-stop and collapsed while trying to jump over a creek. Rana Pratap was deeply touched by the loyalty of the brave war horse. Not only are the Rajputs brave, but even their horses are valorous! He escaped, and later constructed a small monument out of respect for Chetak’s loyalty. Rana Pratap, owed his life to Chetak on the battle ground on that bloody day.

Chetak’s Tomb

Rana Pratap retreated into the Aravalli hills and continued to attack Mughal army camps in guerilla fashion and prevented them from capturing Mewar entirely. At the age of 56, when he died, he handed over his responsibilities to his son Amar Singh. But it was never the same. Despite Amar Singh fighting 17 wars defending his territory from the Mughals, they eventually overpowered him. Soon after Rana Pratap’s death, other Rajputs became disillusioned, lost interest and migrated to parts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and present-day Pakistan. The Rajput-Mughal conflict also subsided in the later years, as Akbar – a fanatic in his earlier years – significantly reformed in the latter period of his reign and grew into someone who respected all religious faiths.

The brave war horse Chetak was of Marwari breed, and had a blue tinge to his coat. That is why sometimes Rana Pratap is also referred to as the rider of the blue horse (Neele Ghode re Aswar). The monument erected in memory and worship of Chetak can still be seen near the village of Jharol in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan. Chetak still lives in the hearts of all poets, epitomizing loyalty, and it seems, also in the hearts of our automakers.

What do they speak in Manipur anyway? – Bishnupriya

(as distinct from the name of my cousin – Vishnupriya )

During the period of the Pandavas’ exile in Manipur, Arjuna married Chitrangada, and begot the son Babhruvana through her. Babhruvahana ruled over Manipur after he was adopted as the heir of his maternal grandfather, who was the king.

After the Mahabharata war, Yudhishtira performed the Ashwamedha Yagna to re-establish dharma all over the world. In this Yagna, a horse was released to wander for a year. The kings of all the territories the horse wandered to were required to submit to Yudisthira’s rule or face war. Arjuna wandered along with the horse to Manipur. Here, Babhruvahana, who was ruling Manipur at that time, killed Arjuna after a petty skirmish. When he realized that Arjuna was his father, he repented deeply and wished to kill himself for the sin. However, Uloopi, his step-mother and a Naga princess gave Babhruvahana a jewel with which he restored Arjuna back to life. (Arjuna’s death here was due to the Vasus’ curse on Arjuna upon the killing of Bhishma in the Mahabharata war). Arjuna then proceeded with the horse through the rest of the journey.

Image Information: India, Maharashtra, Paithan. Babhruvahana Leaving the Netherworld with the Elixir. Scene From the Story of Babhruvahana, Folio from a Mahabharata ([War of the] Great Bharatas). Date circa 1850. Museum Number M.85.284.7

Nearly 450000 people in the current Manipur region, speak a language called Bishnupriya that has a significant influence of Sanskrit, Maharashtri and Suraseni Prakrit. – a colloquial language of the solders and the people of Kuru, Panchal, Matsyadesa, including Hastinapura and Indraprastha. After studying the linguistic details of this language, we can logically derive that the Mahabharatha war must definitely have some relation to the current day Bishnupriya language, especially because we can relate to the Kurus, Panchali, Hastinapura, their capital, etc. This connection is infact accurate. The immigrants from Dvaraka and Hastinapura, led by Babhruvahana are believed to have settled in and around Manipur, in his kingdom. Historical studies have proved that this civilization continued to flourish under a structured feudal system of organization as early as 33 AD. And invasions from the Burmese Meiteis in the later centuries also influenced the language and brought in many thousands of new words. Despite this, the language still retains its Indo-Aryan grammatical structure, with the script resembling Devanagari and Bengali. To escape the Meitei invasion, tens of thousands of Bishnupriyas migrated to Assam, Tripura, and Bengal (also includes current Bangladesh). They have continued to live here and speak this language.

The end of the Mahabharata war and the beginning of Parikshit’s reign (grandson of Arjuna, son of Abhimanyu), marked the beginning of the Kali Yuga. According to modern western calendar, the Kali Yuga began at midnight on 18 February, 3102 BCE. The incidents described above took place earlier than 3102 BCE. India has a diverse and rich cultural heritage dating back to tens of thousands of years, substantiated by our scriptures. We should cultivate the habit of learning about various parts of our country, not just by studying history at a snapshot in time, but by trying to comprehend the civilization in the continuum of history.

Lalleshwari – The Kashmiri mystic saint (1320 – 1392)

Foremost among Kashmiri saints was the poetess mystic and Shaivite yogi saint called Lalleshwari. Even centuries after her existence, Kashmiris still revere her and remember her teachings and use her quotes on appropriate occasions.

Lal Vakh in Kashmiri

yi yi karu’m suy artsun
yi rasini vichoarum thi mantar
yihay lagamo dhahas partsun
suy Parasivun tanthar -138

Translation in English

Whatever work I did became worship of the Lord;
Whatever word I uttered became a mantra;
Whatever this body of mine experienced became
the sadhana-s of Saiva Tantra
illumining my path to Parmasiva. -138

A woman once gave birth to a son, and asked the priest, Siddha Srikantha who was there to name him – “What is the relation between this baby and me?” The priest was surprised at this question, and then replied “Of course, this is your son, mother.” The woman smiled. Soon after childbirth, the woman died. The husband remarried. After several other births, the same soul was born again as several other animals, and finally incarnated as a girl named Lalleshwari. Lalleshwari was born in Pandrethan (ancient Puranadhisthana) some four and a half miles to the southeast of Srinagar. Lalleshwari grew up and married the son. The woman knew she was to be reborn and marry her own son in one of her future births – thus her smile is explained. Lalleshwari’s mother-in-law was very evil and tortured Lalleshwari very much.

Lalleshwari ultimately renounced her family and took Diksha from Siddha Srikantha. She became a wandering ascetic monk. Like Mira who sang of Krishna, Lalleshwari sang of Siva as her great beloved. She wandered around without wearing clothes. When questioned about if she was not feeling shy when passing men, she replied “I do not see any men, therefore I am not ashamed. These are not real men. The real man is only Siva.” This thought reflects a philosophical disposition, which differentiates between Purusha and Prakriti (creation). Purusha (the lord) alone is masculine. His entire creation, the Prakriti is feminine.

Lalleshwari was an embodiment of the great Kashmiri mystic tradition. She invokes enchanting imagery of deep devotion to Siva alongside profound philosophical precepts, representing the heights of Advaita. Her final acts of dematerializing her body into a ball of fire, reflects the essential unity of the living being with the cosmic Purusha, besides illustrating the ephemeral nature of the human body.

Sant Jnaneshwar’s buffalo recites the Vedas

Jnaneshwar was a great saint born in Alandi, near Pune, in Maharashtra in 1271. He was actually a realized soul even while he was a boy. The story of his life is described here briefly.

Jnaneshwar’s father Vithalpant was a grihasta Brahmin who was inclined towards adopting Sanyasa. One day, driven by the passionate urge to discover the Brahman, he went to his guru and took Sanyasa. However, the guru was unaware of the fact that Vithalpant had not taken permission from his wife before adopting Sanyasa – it is considered unacceptable for a man to take Sanyasa without first obtaining permission from his wife. A grihasta is expected to produce children and later on, if he were inclined to Sanyasa, he must leave his wife in the care of his son. It is a great sin for a man to leave his wife uncared for and take on the Sanyasa path. When the guru discovered that Jnaneshwar’s father had not obtained permission, he was reprimanded badly and sent back to his home to live with his wife. They lived together happily and produced four children, one of them being Jnaneshwar. All the four children went on to become great spiritual leaders, being born out of a realized father. But his community ostracized him for the grave sin of adopting family life after adopting Sanyasa. After a lot of struggle in raising the children, both the husband and the wife were so disgusted with being insulted that they left their mortal bodies.

Jnaneshwar was all but eight when the tragedy of his parents’ death struck him. He tried to learn the Vedas and be a true Brahmin and take care of his siblings at the same time. But, he was not accepted as a disciple by any Brahmin because of his father’s sins. He begged and pleaded several famous teachers in the Pune area, but nobody wanted to teach him. The scholars challenged Jnaneshwar to many debates. This young boy was born as a realized soul and it was easy for him to debate well. When he was chided for losing his Brahmin Jaati because of his father’s sins, he replied that he was a Brahmin by varna and not by jaati and there would be no way for him to lose this Brahmin status. In another debate with a scholar, when he claimed he understood the Vedas, he was chided “You understanding the Vedas is as improbable as a buffalo reciting them”. Hearing this, Jnaneshwar just smiled at the buffalo standing before him and touched its forehead. Immediately the buffalo started reciting the Vedas. The scholars were then convinced that Jnaneshwar was a saint indeed, despite being only a little boy.

Jnaneshwar went on to be a great yogi and a mystic saint. He widely preached the importance of varna, as opposed to jaati, and spread a spirit of bhakthi in the hearts of the people of Maharashtra. He preached in the local vernacular of Marathi even though he was well versed in Sanksrit, in order to be reachable by all local people. He produced an astounding and thorough commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, in Marathi – the Jnaneshwari Gita. He is respected and worshipped by all Indians even to this day. We consider him one of the greatest yogi saints of all times. He attained maha samadhi when he was only 22 years old.

There is a more detailed account of Jnaneshwar here also: http://www.hvk.org/articles/0702/75.html

Old lady teaches Shivaji how to eat khichdi

We all have heard the valiant conquests of the great ruler of the Maratha Kingdom – Chatrapathi Shivaji. Sivaji’s father Shahaji was a very weak ruler who lost most of his forts to Mughal invaders who proceeded South from the Delhi Sultanate. At a very young age, he began ruling a small kingdom in Pune. Being a very intelligent boy and a prodigious strategic thinker, he quickly learnt from all the mistakes his father made. His mother taught him values and contributed greatly to his highly respectable character. Shivaji had exceptional military capabilities, combined with a deep knowledge of Sanskrit. He was a patron of arts, culture and music. He respected women. Most importantly, he was a truly secular leader, because he tolerated and respected all other religions, including Islam.

Shivaji began to slowly conquer forts and started expanded his territory very fast. He fought bravely in several battles, and grew his empire. Shivaji was the founder of the great Maratha kingdom. There was a period amidst these conquests when he was failing in almost every endeavor he undertook. As he started annexing territories from more and more powerful kingdoms, he did not realize that he must change his strategies. For example, he did not understand that powerful kingdoms have be annexed slowly and cautiously and not aggressively. But he was still an exceptionally brilliant man.

Soon after one such failed conquests, he stopped by at an old lady’s hut in a village near the battle field asking for food. While she cooked a hearty meal, she did not recognize that this was her king. Lovingly, she served a plate full of steaming hot khichdi to her fatigued soldier. Hungrily, Shivaji put his finger in the middle of the plate to get a mouthful. Oh! And he burnt his finger! The old lady carefully watched this action and advised “Oh brave soldier, You are just like your king. You start from the inside first. Just like he attacks kingdoms starting from the forts instead of the periphery, you are eating this hot khichdi inside-first. Why don’t you try to eat the corners first and then attack the center, instead of starting at the hot center?” Shivaji, at once realized why he was failing. In all his future battles, he always annexed peripheral territory before attacking a fort. This old lady taught him a very important strategy lesson and he remembered it for all his life.

Shivaji was a very righteous ruler, much unlike the aggressors he was fighting against. His staunch principles of dharma never failed him. He is remembered and celebrated as a national hero, even 400 years after he died.

Some of these important events in the life of great men occur repeatedly and manifest themselves again and again, mainly for us to understand and learn from them. A similar anecdote has also been believed to have happened in the life of the great Chandragupta Maurya.

Narsinh Mehta – The Adi Kavi of Gujarat

(In Gujarati Script)

વૈષ્ણવ જન તો તેને કિહયે, જે પીડ પરાયી જાણે રે
પર દુખ્ખે ઉપકાર કરે તોયે, મન અિભમાન ના આણે રે

(In Devanagari Script)

वैष्णव जन तो तेने किहये, जे पीड परायी जाणे रे
पर दुख्खे उपकार करे तोये, मन अिभमान ना आणे रे

(meaning in English)

He is a vaishnava, who feels and senses the pain of another.

Who is ready to serve the unfortunate, without vanity.

Every Indian has heard this Gujarati song, that was largely popularized by Mahatma Gandhi. Some of us even think Mahatma Gandhi composed it. This famous song was actually composed by a great Krishna Bhakth called Narsinh Mehta, 600 years ago. Narsinh Mehta is called the Adi Kavi (first among poets) of Gujarat. He lived in the early 15th century India.

When Dharma was waning and foreign invaders were slaughtering our people and slandering our places of worship, the only way our people held their faith was by developing intense love and devotion to their Gods, despite the blasphemy that was brought on their religious beliefs. Developing love and devotion was the basis of the Bhakthi movement. Narsinh Mehta was an integral wave in this movement that soon spread throughout India.

Narsinh Mehta and his wife lived with his brother’s family. The sister-in-law was an evil lady who insulted Narsinh very much one day, and he left for the forest to meditate and fast. Lord Siva came to him after seven days of worship and offered him a boon. Narsinh wanted to see Krishna Leela, and he was taken to Vrindavan to participate in the raas leela. He was so deeply engrossed in his love for Krishna, that he burned his hand with the torch he was holding. Lord Krishna blessed him and sent him back to Earth to sing songs and spread the love. Narsinh followed the Lord’s orders and began writing hymns in praise of Krishna.

He continued to live in poverty with his wife and children. In one incident, when his daughter was having a baby, it is a custom for the father of the girl to present the new born with money. Narsinh was very poor to afford any presents, so it is believed that Lord Krishna himself came down to earth, disguised as Narsinh Mehta to present gifts to his daughter.

(A similar story is believed to have happened in a village near Trichy in Tamil Nadu. Lord Siva disguises as a girl’s mother to attend to her child birth, when her mother, a staunch devotee of Siva, is stuck at another village due to inclement weather conditions and floods. Even today, Lord Siva is worshipped in the name of Thayumaanavar – the one who also became a mother, by the people of this village.)

On another occassion when Narsinh Mehta and his wife were performing the yearly rites for his father’s death, his wife gave him some money and told him to buy some Ghee to help the priests continue their prayer offerings. It is a great sin to neglect the yearly rites for one’s parents. Narsinh left the house, but before he finished his chore, he got distracted by some singers on the street and began singing songs in praise of Krishna. He was completely engrossed in his love for Krishna that he was forgetting the ghee, and the priests were getting restless as the auspicous time was running out. Lord Krishna decided to take charge of the situation. Once again, he went to Narsinh’s house with the ghee, and left after handing it over to the priests. After several hours, the original Narsinh returned, and his wife thanked him for doing the chore well, and that is when he realized what had happened. The Lord himself had come down to prevent his devotee from being cursed for neglect of Dharma.

There is yet another episode where Narsinh Mehta and his brother are fed a sumptuous meal by an unknown stranger when they were passing through a forest, singing hymns. After having a hearty meal and thanking their benevolent host, they started to continue on their pilgrimage. After a few minutes, when they turned back to see the house, it was gone. Lord Krishna himself helped his devotees again.

(There is a similar story in the Sai Sat Charita, where Akkalkot Swami Samartha’s devotees meet a lady called Annapoorni who feeds the tired devotees in the middle of the forest. After a few minutes, the house and Annapoorni have vanished into thin air)

These incidents strengthen the faith and love for God in the minds of the simple devotees and help them to continue believing in God, when adharmic forces like tyrannic foreign rulers are trying the best they can to break our faith.

Until the time of his death, Narsinh Mehta had composed nearly 22000 hymns in praise of Krishna. All these hymns had the central theme of devotion, faith, brotherhood and unity – indeed, these were the need of the day to withstand the foreign invaders.

The Rani of Jhansi

Almost all Indians, without exception, have studied Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s famous poem titled Jhansi Ki Rani in their Hindi classes. The first stanza goes:

सिंहासन हिल उठे राजवंशों ने भृकुटी तानी थी,
बूढ़े भारत में आई फिर से नयी जवानी थी,
गुमी हुई आज़ादी की कीमत सबने पहचानी थी,
दूर फिरंगी को करने की सबने मन में ठानी थी।
चमक उठी सन सत्तावन में, वह तलवार पुरानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

Rough English Translation:

The thrones shook and royalties scowled
Ageing India was re-invigorated with fresh youth
People cherished the value of lost freedom
Determined to throw the foreigners out
he old sword glistened in ‘57
This story we heard from the mouths of Bundel bards
She was a man at war, the Queen of Jhansi

By 1857, the oppression by the British East India Company had reached new heights. The protest against the Britishers, at this phase of the freedom struggle had been termed the First War of Indian Independence. One of the most recognizable faces in this movement was the valor of the young Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. Even as a child, she was unattracted to dolls and girly games. She was more interested in becoming a warrior. She played with swords, shields, guns and soldiers. She mastered the art of combat. She probably already saw glimpses of her destiny.

Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, was married to the Raja of Jhansi at a very young age of about 13. Widowed and pregnant at 23, she took on the responsibilities of ruling over her kingdom, until the child was born. According to Lord Dalhousie’s Doctrine of Lapse, a kingdom without a heir can be taken over by the British Crown. Unfortunately, the baby was stillborn. Though, the Rani adopted a male child,the British Queen would not accept this exception to their rigid Doctrine. Jhansi was just about to be annexed. In return for the kingdom, the Rani was offered large sums of money as pension, but she refused. She despised the idea that her nation was being ruled by a bunch of foreigners. She courageously vowed to fight back and protect her people.

Her childhood friends, Nana Saheb and Tatya Tope supported her and fought with her in the battle against the British. In this battle, the Rani’s horse was wounded and it fled away, but the Rani continued to fight. She was disarmed, yet she defended herself with her shield. Ultimately, a sword was passed through her, and she had to be carried away farther from the battlefield by her soldiers, because they saw her dying. Jhansi was taken over by the British following her death, but she is still remembered and worshipped by us as the fearless tigress who died protecting her people.

She was 23 when she died. At such a young age, she had achieved and contributed far more than what we modern Indians do in a lifetime. How can we ever forget her sacrifice?

Karna’s Dharma

This will be the story of Karna – one of the most respected characters of the Mahabharata,

Karna was an epitome of giving. His dharma was to give anything that anyone asked. He was abandoned by his mother Kunti after birth, and was brought up by Dhritarashtra’s charioteer. Karna symbolized dharma very effectively in many incidents in the Mahabharata. Karna remained a true son to his foster parents, and remained a true and loyal friend to Duryodhana, by siding him in the war. As a true friend, he repeatedly pressed Duryodhana to defeat the Pandavas through the Dharmic ways of battle, but when Duryodhana chose the deceitful way, Karna still remained loyal to him. Karna promised Kunti that she will continue to have 5 sons after the battle was over, and he kept his promise. Since Karna and Arjuna had sworn to live only after killing the other, one of them must die. Despite defeating each of the other 4 Pandava brothers in battle, he never killed anyone because of his promise to Kunti.

Karna was a great giver. Karna was born with Surya’s Kavacha. As long as Karna retained him Kavacha, he was invincible in battle. Surya warned Karna to not head to Indra’s request for his kavacha. But since it was against Karna’s dharma to say no to someone’s request, he willingly gave it away to Indra. Indra’s taking away of Karna’s kavacha was part of a larger scale of establishing dharma for the Pandavas.

Despite Karna’s white character, there were a few black dots that were very prominent. When a thirsty old woman once asked Karna for some water, he belittled her by saying that Karna gives bigger things than water, and that she should ask someone smaller than Karna for something small like water. The result of that pain that the old woman felt was to come back to Karna when he was thirsty in the battlefield and there was no one to give him water. Krishna reminds him of this incident and Karna realizes his mistake. In another incident, when Abhimnayu was being attacked by all the chieftains of the Kaurava army, Karna realized that it was adharmic to attack a single person, so he stepped back. His loyalty to the Kaurava army prevented him from siding Abhimanyu and protecting him. At the same time, his elevated notions of dharma stopped him from shooting the fatal arrow at Abhimanyu.

Karna could not receive his warrior training from Dronacharya because it was in Drona’s personal interests to make Arjuna the supreme warrior and he was dissatisfied with Karna’s lowly birth (the truth about his birth was not revealed then). He then approaches the great Parashurama, and disguises himself as a Brahmin, when he finds out that Parashurama does not accept Kshatriyas as disciples. One afternoon, while Parashurama naps with his head rested on his disciple Karna’s lap, a bee begins to sting Karna’s lap. Karna was afraid that he would wake up his guru, and hence he bore that pain quitely. After the nap, Parashuram sees the big bite on Karna’s body, and immediately knows that no one but a kshatriya can bear this bodily pain. Thus, Parashurama curses Karna – that he would forget all his learning in the one most crucial moment of his life. This happens when Arjuna and Karna remain stalemate in duel, leading Arjuna to release the fatal arrow.

When Arjuna and Karna are engaged in a bloody duel, Karna’s chariot gets stuck in the ground, and he is disarmed by Arjuna. While Arjuna hesitates to continue fighting with a disarmed soldier, Krishna reminds Arjuna about the death of his son, Abhimanyu, and Arjuna continues fighting. Karna meanwhile, uses the chariot wheel as a shield to protect himself. Arjuna manages to further disarm Karna, and the fatal arrow has left Arjuna’s bow, but falls on Karna’s feet instead of killing him. While Arjuna stands bewildered at what just happened, Krishna explains that Karna – the embodiment of Dharma – has protected Dharma all his life, and now Dharma itself is protecting him. The only way Arjuna can defeat Karna is if Karna has given away his Dharma also in charity. There is a beautiful verse in Sanskrit that runs:

Dharmeva Hato Hanthi, Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha.

(Means: One who forsakes Dharma, is forsaken by Dharma, and Dharma protects the one who protects it.)

In the final scene, Krishna goes to Karna to ask for his Dharma. Karna knows that the only thing that is keeping him alive is his Dharma, that he has stood against all his life, and he knows that the minute he gives it away, he dies. But Karna, being an epotime of Dharma itself, gladly gives it away to Krishna. At this juncture, Krishna shows gives his Vishwarupa Darshanam to Karna, putting Karna’s agitated mind at peace. Ordinary people are incapable of seeing Krishna’s true form, but Karna’s good deeds enabled him to. At Krishna’s behest, Arjuna releases a final arrow that decaptitates Karna.

While saints like Buddha eptiomized Dharma in extreme non-violent form, and while Mahavira did so through non-aggression, Karna truly symbolized Dharma in a Kshatriya’s manner.

Empty your cup

This is a small anecdote from the life of Sri Aurobindo. At a younger age, when Aurobindo was still on the path to realization, he was a little frustrated about not getting results despite intense meditation and practice. He was sitting on the rocks overlooking the sea on the Pondicherry shore and sharing his anxiety with colleagues and friends. They were drinking tea, and Aurobindo’s filled teacup was placed on a rock in front of him.

A sadhu called Kumaraswamy passed by, and happened to overhear Aurobindo’s conversation. Kumaraswamy was considered to be a mad man by the people living around the beach, because he aimlessly roamed around, deep in thought, and said things to people that they never understood. (He was probably a highly advanced and realized soul and people never realized that). Kumaraswamy hurriedly walked towards Aurobindo, and poured the tea out and placed the empty tea cup in front on Aurobindo and walked away. While his friends were about to scold Kumaraswamy, Aurobindo prevented them from doing so because he said that Kumaraswamy had actually given him the answer to his question and quelled his anxiety.

Symbolically Kumaraswamy’s action meant that trying to obtain results through meditation will be futile when the mind is full of useless preconceived notions. Emptying the mind before practicing meditation and meditating without any expectation for particular results, would lead to actual progress.

Aurobindo went on to become one of the greatest saints of modern India. He is well known for his fierce nationalism, as we can decipher from his translation of Vande mAtaram in the previous post. When he was questioned by someone whether “Mother India was real”, he replied “Mother India is more real than you and me.” His devotion to BhAratmAta is pure, yet fierce.

Vande MAtaram

Vande MAtaram, the national song of India, was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, in a mixture of Bengali and Sanskrit. It was first sung in the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. Most of us are familiar with the first paragraph of the song, but there is more. Those of us who neither know the whole song nor its meaning, it is shameful.

वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्यशामलां मातरम् ।
शुभ्रज्योत्स्नापुलकितयामिनीं
फुल्लकुसुमितद्रुमदलशोभिनीं
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीं
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् ।। १ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
कोटि-कोटि-कण्ठ-कल-कल-निनाद-कराले
कोटि-कोटि-भुजैर्धृत-खरकरवाले,
अबला केन मा एत बले ।
बहुबलधारिणीं नमामि तारिणीं
रिपुदलवारिणीं मातरम् ।। २ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
तुमि विद्या, तुमि धर्म
तुमि हृदि, तुमि मर्म
त्वं हि प्राणा: शरीरे
बाहुते तुमि मा शक्ति,
हृदये तुमि मा भक्ति,
तोमारई प्रतिमा गडि
मन्दिरे-मन्दिरे मातरम् ।। ३ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
त्वं हि दुर्गा दशप्रहरणधारिणी
कमला कमलदलविहारिणी
वाणी विद्यादायिनी, नमामि त्वाम्
नमामि कमलां अमलां अतुलां
सुजलां सुफलां मातरम् ।। ४ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
श्यामलां सरलां सुस्मितां भूषितां
धरणीं भरणीं मातरम् ।। ५ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।।

Translation by Shree Aurobindo
Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.

Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,
To thee I call Mother and Lord!
Though who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove
Back from plain and Sea
And shook herself free.

Thou art wisdom, thou art law,
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath
Though art love divine, the awe
In our hearts that conquers death.
Thine the strength that nervs the arm,
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.
Every image made divine
In our temples is but thine.

Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,
With her hands that strike and her
swords of sheen,
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,
And the Muse a hundred-toned,
Pure and perfect without peer,
Mother lend thine ear,
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
Bright with thy orchard gleems,
Dark of hue O candid-fair

In thy soul, with jewelled hair
And thy glorious smile divine,
Lovilest of all earthly lands,
Showering wealth from well-stored hands!
Mother, mother mine!
Mother sweet, I bow to thee,
Mother great and free!

KaLidAsa

This is an anectode about the most important incident in KALidAsa’s life that gave him his name. Wikipedia says KAlidAsa’s place in SAnskrit literature is tantamount to that of Shakespeare in modern English.

KAlidAsa was born as a stammering and brainless Brahmin boy. One of the most commonly quoted stories about KAlidAsa is an incident where he sits on the branch of the tree that is trying to cut. While many people laugh at him, one passerby takes pity on him and warns him that he is going to fall down if he continues cutting that branch. And true, KAlidAsa fell. After falling, he quickly ran to that passerby and praised him for being such a great astrologer. Was that sheer intelligence?

The princess of the kingdom where KAlidAsa lived was known to be a very learned women, who haughtily rejected many suitors after she defeated them in philosophical debates. Some of her suitors were very learner scholars themselves and wanted to teach the princess a lesson for being so haughty. When they heard about the stupid KAlidAsa, they decided to masquerade him as a learned pundit and impress the princess. But KALidAsa was to keep his mouth shut all the time.

The princess was told that a great guru was seeking to debate with her. But since he was on a silence vow, his disciples would interpret his sign language. The princess also decided to use sign language. She showed one finger up – indicating the principle of Advaita and one Brahman. KAlidAsa was stupid. He thought she meant “I will poke your eye”. He raised two fingers thinking “I will poke both your eyes”. The so-called disciples interpreted thus “Though there is only one God, the jIvAtma and the paramAtma are different. They are realized by people in different stages of spiritual development.” The princess was impressed. In a similar fashion, when the princess lifts her palm up indicating that this sriSti is made of the five elements – air, water, fire, earth and ether, KAlidAsa thinks “She is going to slap me. Let me punch her”, and he shows a fist. The thrilled interpreters translate this into “Even though the universe is made up of the five elements, during praLayAm, everything that is manifested, merges into the Brahman”. The princess was impressed with KAlidAsa’s scholarship and immediately fell at his feet. KAlidAsa continued to remain silent and he found himself married to this beautiful princess very soon. Not until after the marriage did the princess realize how she had been fooled. She insulted KAlidAsa and cried in pity for herself. KAlidAsa was deeply hurt when his wife insulted him thus, and sadly he left the palace to kill himself. But when he went to the river to drown, he saw how the stones were eroded by the river. He realized that if the river could erode something as hard as stone, then Mother KALi could easily erode his ignorance.

When he went to the temple, he found that the idol was barren and lifeless – KALi was on rounds in the city. KAlidAsa was very sad and he hid inside the temple and locked the doors. When KALi returned, she could not get into the temple. KAlidAsa asked her to first give him some wisdom before he would let her in.  Even though she tried coaxing him to let her in first, he was not going to do that yet, because he knew if he let her in first, KALi would run and hide in her idol and not come out ever until KALidAsa stops asking for wisdom. (KAlidAsa’s innocence is portrayed here). Instead, he asked her to write something on his tongue (the tongue is where Sarasvati – the Goddess of Knowledge- resides), so that he becomes wise. KALi decided to write “OM” on his tongue.  He was instantly transformed to the wise KAlidAsa and he wished to spread this wisdom and eternally remain the servant of KALi, and hence adopted the name.

KAlidAsa went on to produce legendary works of literature. Among some of his very popular plays – which still remain the most popularly staged plays in SAnskrit- were Meghadūta, Abhijñānashākuntala, Mālavikāgnimitra, Vikramōrvaśīya and Kumārasambhava.

It is unfortunate that many educated Indians, ridden with the Macaulay-inspired inferiority complex, compare the legendary KAlidAsa, with lesser counterparts in another languages (example, Shakespeare in English),  in order to extol him.

Jhulelal

Today’s story is about one of the principal deities of Sindh – Jhulelal, who was born to liberate the Sindhi people from the tyrannical rule of an Islamic fanatic ruler called Mirkshah.

The abundance of water from these perenial rivers often brought foreign invaders to Sindh. One such ruler was Mirkshah. Mirkshah gave the people of Sindh forty days to embrace Islam or die. The people prayed to Lord Varuna – the god of the river – to deliver them from their miseries. On the fortieth day, their prayers were answered and Lord Varuna spoke through a voice from heaven, “Fear not, I shall save you from the wicked Mirkshah. I shall come down as a mortal and take birth in the womb of Mata Devki in the house of Ratanchand Lohano of Nasarpur”. The oppressed Hindus now eagerly awaited the birth of their deliverer.

On Cheti Chand, two tithis from the new moon of Chaitra, Mata Devki gave birth to a boy, from whose mouth the Sindhu gushed out when the boy opened his mouth to cry. On that water sat an old man on the pala fish – which always swims against the current.

The child was named Udaichand – meaning moon beams – he was their light in the dark days of oppression. The baby was also named Uderolal – in Sanskrit this means “one who has sprung from water”. When the baby was put in the cradle, the cradle rocked by itself. Following this miracle, this baby boy was also called Jhulelal – Jhula means cradle/swing. (Mata Devki had died at childbirth.)

When Mirkshah heard of this mysterious child, he summoned his soldiers and repeated his threat. The people pleaded for more time and begged Mirkshah to let their saviour grow up. Mirkshah arrogantly said “I will wait till I make your leader embrace Islam and then all you will follow him.” Mirkshah ordered one of his ministers, Ahirio to go and find out more about this child. Ahirio took a poisoned rose to the child. The child blew that rose away and immediately transformed into an old man with a long beard, and then into a very handsome lad of sixteen, and then the lad was on a hroseback and behind him were rows and rows of warriors. Ahirio was convinced that this child was a very powerful child. He went back and relayed his findings to Mirkshah, but Mirkshah was disbelieving of this incident.

Finally, as Jhulelal grew up, Mirkshah gave orders to his men to arrest him. When he was brought to the court in shackles, a very strange incident happened. The lower part of the king’s castle was flooding while the upper story caught fire at the same time. Then Mirkshah heard a voice “Your God and my God are the same, Why did you persecute my people? Think about it!” Mirkshah agreed to not bother the people of Sindh anymore, and both the flood and the fire disappeared at once. This way, Jhulelal saved all the people’s lives and their beliefs.

When Jhulelal gave up his body, there was a dispute about whether a shrine or a mosque must be built in his memory. When the people remained divided on this issue, another voice was heard “Let one side of the structure resemble a temple, and let the other resemble a mosque”. Thus Jhulelal was a unifying force among the people of Sindh. Even today all Sindhis – irrespective of whether they are Hindu/Muslim – worship Jhulelal and greet each other “Jhulelal Bera-Hee-Paar” meaning “May Jhulelal help you cross the ocean of SamsAra”.

The people who lived along the banks of the Sindhu river were called Sindhis. When the Persian invaders attacked India from Sindh, they called us the Hindus. So the word Hindu is coined from the river Sindhu. That is how we get our current identity. Sindh is now a part of Pakistan (sadly).

SillapadhigAram

Most of us who have learnt Tamil/speak Tamil have heard of SilappadhigAram. If that does not ring a bell, then surely seeing Kannagi’s statue on the Marina Beach would. The story of Kannagi continues our grand narrative of dharma as it is interpreted across centuries of different lands of BhArat varSha. Its outward manifestations might change – The PanTHa(s) (path, sect) might be different, the language employed may be varied – but the inner core symbolizing eternal dharma remains constant.

SilappadhigAram – the poetic rendition of Kannagi’s story – was written by Ilango Adigal approximately in 1st century CE. It was a principal contribution to Tamil literature in the Sangam period. This epic is one among the five classical Tamil literary works.

Kannagi and Kovalan were married and lived in a town called PoombugAr in Tamil Nadu. Kannagi was a devout wife. Kovalan met a court dancer woman called MAdhavi and was very taken into her. Infatuated by her beauty, he squandered away all his money on her, completely neglecting his wife, Kannagi. It was not until after Kovalan lost all his wealth, that he realized the magnitude of his sins. He beseeched Kannagi to forgive him and accept him back. She agreed on the condition that they leave the town of PoombukAr – which made Kovalan sin – and move to the city of Madurai – that was the epitome of Dharma under the rule of the famous pandya king Nedunchezhiyen.

They left for Madurai with the only valuable possession they now owned – a pair of cilambu (anklets) – hence the name of the epic. They wanted to sell one of the anklets for some money to start a fresh life. At the same time, Nedunchezhiyan’s queen had lost one of her anklets – that looked very similar to Kannagi’s anklets except that they were filled with pearls while Kannagi’s were filled with rubies. Kovalan was suspected of stealing the queen’s anklets, when he went to the pawn broker to sell kannagi’s anklet. He was taken to the court and sentenced to immediate death, by the furious king.

When the news of Kovalan’s death reached Kannagi, she was shattered, and so were all her dreams of the new life she was going to lead. Angry, she walked to Nedunchezhiyen’s court, with the other ruby filled anklet and proved her husband’s innocence. She grieved about how the King had failed in his duty to preserve Dharma by killing an innocent man, without conducting proper enquiries. The King was shocked when he realized his mistake and he gave up his life on the throne itself. But Kannagi’s anger did not subside, because, in her eye, the entire city of Madurai had sinned. In all her fury, she invoked Mother Nature to burn this sinful city to ashes and cleanse it. And that happened.

It was believed that Kannagi went to Kodungalloor, in Kerala and stopped at Attukal, in Thiruvananthapuram. The Bhagavathi temple in Attukal was built in honor of this chaste woman. In this temple, only women are allowed inside!!!!  Every year millions of women gather here during the Attukal Pongal festival to offer Pongal – sweet rice and dal – to Bhagavathi. This temple is sometimes also referred to as the women’s Sabarimala.  This is an entry in the Guiness Book of Records, for the largest exclusive gathering of women every year. Neither should we interpreted  this as a female chauvinistic movement, nor should Sabarimalai be considered its male counterpart. This leads us to understand that while Dharma might asign different functions to men and women to perform in the society, it always accords equal importance to both genders.

Moreover, it is interesting to note that as early as 1st century CE, Indian writers and poets were producing works in which the protagonist was a woman – more importantly, a common woman. This helps us understand how free-thinking and liberal, Indians of that era truly were. In other contemporaneous empires of the world, the only subjects of literary interest to people was that of stories about kings, queens and wars. There was no scope provided to foster revolutionary thinking, as much as the great sages of BhArata varSha did.

When we were so advanced then, what we should really be thinking about is, why we are lagging behind today?

Khudiram Bose (3 December 1889 – 19 August 1908)

This story is about a very fierce and patriotic freedom fighter called Khudiram Bose, who died at the gallows, for throwing the first bomb at an Englishman, at the tender age of 19. He died with the Bhagavad Gita in his hands, love for his country in his heart, and a beautiful smile on his face. His life has been immortalized by the great Bengali poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam. Khudiram Bose epitomized the revolutionary patriotic spirit that was to sweep Bengal in the first half of the 20th century.

As the Indian independence movement gathered strength, and when the slogan “Vande MAtaram” was spreading fast on every Indian’s lips, the British were worried about being thrown out. They began to torture any Indian they suspected to be a freedom-fighter. One such British was the Magistrate of Calcutta Presidency – Kingsford, who was later transferred to Bihar.

Khudiram Bose was raised by his elder sister and brother-in-law after the death of his parents at the age of six. Khudiram remained unfocussed on school work because in his mind were running a million thoughts of freeing India from foreign rulers. Even at the tender age of 6, these noble thoughts were the only thoughts running in his head. His sister and brother-in-law never really understood what troubled the little boy so much that he remained agitated all the time.

Khudiram was initiated into the fight for freedom because of his intense devotion to the mantra “Vande MAtaram” He made friends with people who were working to organize patriots across the country. Khudiram was initiated into serving his Mother India after having his worth tested by wiser patriots.

One among his many contributions to the Indian freedom movement was his attempt to kill Kingsford. Prafullakumar Chaki and Khudiram Bose were selected for the task of killing Kingsford who had been transferred to Bihar.  They were each given a revolver and a bomb before they set out for the journey in order to accomplish this grim task.

However, due to circumstances, Khudiram had to use the bomb to attempt to kill Kingsford from a distance. Immeditely after they threw the bomb and caused chaos, both of them escaped in opposite directions.  Prafulla was caught in two days. He tried to escape, but failed. So, he used the revolver and shot himself, when he knew that his escape was foiled. The police cut off his head and took it to Muzzafarpur. Khudiram ran for 25 miles to a neighboring village and went to a local store to buy some food. The shopkeeper (sadly he was an Indian) guessed that this must be the boy that attempted to kill Kingsford, because Khudiram looked fatigued and dirty. Being lured by the monetary reward that was announced to the person who helped catch Khudiram, he tipped off the local British police. The police caught Khudiram when he was just starting to eat, not giving him time to kill himself first. They seized his revolver.  Khudiram was sentenced to death by hanging on Aug 6, 1908. His death sentence could only be postponed to Aug 19, 1908 even after his defending lawyer appealed to a higher court.

Khudiram was convinced that the sooner he died, the sooner he would be reborn and continue in his fight for freeing Mother India. So he remain unperturbed in jail. He died on the gallows smiling.

He was all but 19 years of age.

If this story inspires you to read more about Khudiram Bose please visit this wonderful website: http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/freedomfighters/khudirambose/

“Sapo Aham”

I start this blog with a very sweet story from the life of the great sage Patanjali.

There was a sage who went to the banks of a river everyday to perform his daily prayers. One day, as usual this sage was praying in the river, and he took some water in his cupped hands and then closed his eyes. After the prayer, when he opened his eyes, the sage was terrified by the sight of a snake in the water in his palms. He trembled and fearfully asked “Kor BhavAn ?” (He would have said “Ko Bhavaan” – meaning Who are you?)

The small snake replied “Sapo Aham”. Part of the sage’s fears were allayed by the speaking snake and he continued “You mean to say Sarpo Aham, don’t you?”. The snake said “Yes, but in order to maintain balance in the universe, I had to cut out the “r” as you already added an extra one for me.” Saying thus, the snake turned into a baby boy. The sage was convinced that this baby boy will turn out to be a great scholar himself. So he adopted this boy and named him Patanjali (Pata + anjali -> Fall + hands -> Someone who fell into the hands).

More about Patanjali:

There were 12 different schools of Sanskrit grammar being taught before the times of PAnini. After PAnini, everyone followed his school of thought.  PAnini dsiscovered Sanskrit grammar from the 14 sounds made by SivA’s damaru. Additionally, PAnini’s grammar rules are very concise, in the form of aphorisms. KAtyAyana turned these aphorisms to sentences in his commentary called Varttika. Patanjali further simplified the Varttika by expanding the sentences into paragraphs, to be more comprehensive. This work is known by the name of MahAbhAsyam.

Patanjali wrote about Ayurveda – to clean the body and cure all diseases. He then wrote about PrANAyAma – to clean the breath, followed by MaHAbhasyam to clean the tongue, leading to the very well known yOgaSUtras.

There is a lot more information available on Google if we look for Patanjali.