Wednesday, 15 June 2016

KING VIKRAMADITYA.





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Valiant Hindu Kings – Vikramaditya & Daughters of King Dahir

Introduction

Hindu Dharma has a glorious past of Righteous kings who personified fearlessness and valour. Hindu kings were devoted to Righteousness and were always keen on the all round progress of their people. As per the saying ‘Raja Kalasya Karanam’ meaning the king himself is responsible for the times, the kings abided by Righteousness and hence their people were also happy, prosperous and of good moral conduct. The kings would rule under the direction of their Guru. They would patronise many artists and would wholeheartedly support the arts. They would never attack others except in self defence even though they were capable of conquering the entire planet on the basis of spiritual power. Similarly in the later part of their life they would hand over the reins of their kingdom to their heir and would perform spiritual practice further by voluntary acceptance of Vanaprasthasrhram.
The remembrance of such great kings who have created the glorious history of Hindus is an incessant source of inspiration. Every incident in the life of these great heroes is a witness to their brilliant capability. Some special events in the lives of these bright kings have been given ahead to awaken the extinct pride in the minds of Hindus about their religion, nation and culture and also to create a new urge and enthusiasm in them to defend their religion, nation and culture. It is our prayer at the feet of God that Hindus should ready themselves for any type of assault against them by taking a cue from this history. 

King Vikramaditya

King Vikramaditya ruled over Ujjain. In his kingdom, all law and order arrangements were based on the Dharmashastras and were excellent. In order to ensure ideal rule, in his cabinet of ministers he had nine important ministers who were truly gems.
His kingdom extended up to Arabastan and he was a generous king who always looked after the welfare of his people. Vikramaditya’s father was Mahendradutt, mother was Soumyadarshana and brother was Barthuhari. Vikramaditya had defeated the rulers of Arabastan and had added that region into his kingdom. This victory is beautifully described in a poem by “Barham Bin Soi”. Of the sixty years that Vikramaditya ruled, he spent twenty five years in wars.  He was an ideal ruler who always ensured that everyone benefitted from his decisions. He was a generous ruler who always thought of the welfare of his people and ruled accordingly. Even though he was a follower of the Shaiva religion, he always treated all religions with equal respect. In his cabinet, his nine gems were Dhanvantri, Shapanak, Amar Singh Shanku, Vetal Bhatt, Kharpar, Kalidas, Varahmihir and Varruchi.
– Pujya Parshram Madhav Pande Maharaj, Akola

Nine Gems of his Cabinet

1. Kalidas: Author of the great epic, ‘Shakuntala’, great poet, dramatist and the most prominent scholar of Sanskrit language.
2. Amarnath:  Author of ‘Sanskrit Amarkosh’
3. Shapanak: Prominent Astrologist who had achieved mastery in Astrology.
4. Dhanvantri: A Doctor who had achieved mastery in the science of medicine; one who was an expert in diagnosis and one who could prescribe different treatments for a single disease.
5. Varruchi: Expert Linguist and an expert in Grammar
6. Varahmihir: Author of World famous epic, ‘Bruhatsahita’ and mastery in Astrology.
7. Ghatakpar: Expert in sculpture and architecture.
8. Shanku: Expert in Geography (This name is even well known today in the field of geography)
9. Vetalbhadra : Expert in black magic & tantric sciences
This is an example of how the Bharatiya rule was complete in all respects with peace and prosperity existing everywhere in the kingdom when there were no external attacks.
Muslims who were aggressive against Hindustan and Hindus fought back against this aggression.

Kings and Princess

Daughters of King Dahir: ‘For thousands of years no one even dared to look at Bharat with a view to conquer it. But in 711 AD there was an aggressive and deadly attack on Sindh province. At this time, Sindh was ruled by Dahir Raja. The king was killed. The Queen performed ‘Johar’ and ended her life. The palace was destroyed. The attackers were surely not braver than us. Maybe they had better weapons, but the terror which they created had no equal. Armed warriors entered the small towns and villages. Earlier battles were fought on the battlefield. Warriors fought against warriors. However these aggressive and cruel warriors killed innocent women, children and old people who were in their houses. They destroyed temples and the idols residing in the temples. They destroyed schools. They raped young women. The way they treated those who were their victims, was utterly cruel. That man can be so cruel was unprecedented and unknown to Bharatiya culture. This kind of demonic aggression left the entire society afraid and terrified. As a result the aggressors found literally no opposition.
In addition, since there was excessive adherence to the concept of non violence, even the army too was reluctant to fight. Sindh was defeated. Blood sucking, man-eating demons were dancing on the blood filled land and creating a ruckus.
In this way unfavourable anti-Hindu youth entered the western boundary of Bharat. In these adverse circumstances, our good qualities worked against us as they turned out to be our failings.’ – Prof. S. G. Shevde (Bharatiya Sanskruti, Page Nos. 35 & 36)
Salutation to daughters of King Dahir who avenged the insulting defeat of Sindh by killing Mohammad Bin Qasim !:
‘Finally the Hindu kingdom of Dahir was destroyed. He had two daughters, Suryadevi and Parimaladevi who were sent to Baghdad as a gift for the Khalif. Our culture is one which treats a woman as a mother and here was another culture, which sent girls to their Dharma Guru for appeasement and enjoyment, which was a disgrace to mankind ! But both daughters of Dahir were very brave. They gained the confidence of the Khalif and he began to trust them. As they were given as gifts to Khalif, they were unable to prevent physical violation of their bodies but just see what they did do!  They sent a letter to Mohammad Bin Qasim’s generals bearing the stamp and signature of the Khalif. The letter contained an order – ‘Put Mohammad in a leather bag, seal the bag and send it here’. The order was from the Khalif. The generals followed the order word to word; they put Mohammad alive in a letter bag, sealed the bag and sent it to Baghdad on a ship. When the ship reached Baghdad after 10-12 days, Mohammad Bin Qasim’s corpse had decayed to such an extent that worms had begun to devour the corpse. The decaying smell was unbearable.
The Khalif investigated as to ‘Why was he sent to him like this?’ The two girls then told the Khalif, “We sent a letter bearing your signature and stamp. We have taken revenge on the demon who inflicted untold misery in our kingdom. We have done this. We feel proud of what we have done. We have fulfilled our national duty. We are ready to face any consequences for this action.”
An enraged Khalif tied the hair of the two girls to the tails of horses and made the horses run throughout Baghdad. The girls were being kicked by the horses and their bodies were being stripped of its skin in the process. Their hair was being pulled and their heads were dashing against the knees of horses. Except for the bloodied heads, both bodies were stripped and cut into pieces and were being dropped on the road.  But the two girls, who were proud of having avenged the insult to their kingdom, did not have a single tear in their eyes as they embraced martyrdom. (When Bharat gained independence, statues of these two girls should have been erected on the Sindh border.)’ – Prof. S. G. Shevde
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Saturday, 4 June 2016

Yayati


Yayati

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yayati
Yayati
Yayati
Yayati (Sanskrit: ययाति) was a Puranic king and the son of King Nahusha and his wife Viraja. He was one of the ancestors of Pandavas. He had five brothers: Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti. He marries Devayani and takes Sharmishtha, daughter of king Vrishparva and maid of Devayani as his mistress on her request. Devayani was the daughter of Shukracharya, the priest of the Asuras (the demons). After hearing of his relationship with Sharmishtha, Devayani complains to her father Shukracharya, who in turn curses Yayati to old age in the prime of life, but later allows him to exchange it with his son, Puru. His story finds mention in the Mahabharata-Adi Parva and also Bhagavata Purana.[1]

Contents

The story


The cursed Yayati begs forgiveness of Shukracharya
The story of Yayati appears in the nineteenth chapter of book nine of the Bhagavata Purana.[2]
Yayati's father, Nahusha is transformed into a python by a curse uttered by the sages as punishment for his arrogance. Yayati's elder brother, Yati, is initially given the kingdom, but turns it down and instead becomes an ascetic. Yayati then becomes king in his place and prospers so greatly that he is able to conquer the whole world. He appoints his four younger brothers to rule the world's cardinal directions
One day Sharmishtha, daughter of the Danava king Vrishparva and Devayani, daughter of the Daitya sage Shukracharya go, with Sharmishtha's retinue, to bathe in a forest pool not far from their home. After bathing, Devayani confuses Sharmishtha's sari with hers and puts it on instead. Sharmishtha returns, scolds Devayani for her mistake and belittles her with the jibe that she is the daughter of Vrishparva's servant. This slur on herself and her father (Shukracharya being a sage and high priest and indeed the guru of all the Asuras - no mere employee) infuriates Devayani who tries to attack Sharmishtha. Sharmishtha takes back her sari, throws the, now naked, Devayani into a well and leaves the forest with her retinue. Later Yayati, son of Nahusha, comes to the well for water and helps Devayani to climb out of it. She tells him that, as he has held her hand, he should become her husband. Although Yayati finds himself attracted by Devayani's beauty, he fears Shukracharya and tells Devayani that he cannot marry her without the permission of her father.
Devayani resolves to make Sharmishtha her servant in revenge for trying to kill her by throwing her into the well. Sharmishtha's father, Vrishparva agrees to this, since he fears that the continued security of his kingdom would be in doubt without the sage counsel of Devayani's father Shukracharya. Sharmishtha also agrees to this to save the kingdom and becomes Devayani's maidservant.
Some days later Devayani goes on a picnic in the forest with her servants. There she again meets Yayati, who is out hunting. This time she brings him to her father and tells him that they would like to marry. Shukracharya gives his consent and tells Yayati that he should take care of Sharmishtha too (as she is a princess, by birth) although he shouldn't have sex with her. Yayati marries Devayani and looks after her well.
After some time Sharmishtha comes to Yayati and asks him to give her a son. He refuses and says that, if he were to do so, he could not face the wrath of Shukracharya. Nevertheless, Sharmishtha manages finally to convince him, saying that it would be against Dharma if he were to refuse her request, as she is desperate to have a child. He reluctantly agrees and they start to have sex, in the hope that she will conceive. In due course, Devayani gives birth to two sons Yadu and Turvasu while Sharmishtha gives birth to three sons Druhyu, Anu and Puru.
Eventually Devayani learns of her husband's affair with Sharmishtha and complains to her father. Enraged at his son-in-law's disobedience, Shukracharya curses Yayati with premature old age in punishment for inflicting such pain upon his daughter. However he later relents a little, telling Yayati that, if he can persuade one of his (Yayati 's) sons to swap ages with him he will be able to escape the curse and regain his lost youth for a while. Yayati asks his sons if one of them will give up his youth to rejuvenate his father, but all refuse except the youngest, Puru (one of his sons by Sharmishtha). In grateful recognition of Puru's filial devotion, Yayati makes him his legitimate heir and it is from the line of Puru - later King Puru - that the Kuru vamsha dynasty later arises.

Yayati ascends to Heaven
In the words of the story, Yayati enjoys all the pleasures of the senses 'for a thousand years' and, by experiencing passion to the full, comes to realise its utter futility, saying : "Know this for certain, ... not all the food, wealth and women of the world can appease the lust of a single man of uncontrolled senses. Craving for sense-pleasures is not removed but aggravated by indulgence even as ghee poured into fire increases it....One who aspires to peace and happiness should instantly renounce craving and seek instead that which neither grows old, nor ceases - no matter how old the body may become."[2] Having found wisdom by following the road of excess, Yayati gratefully returns the youth of his son Puru and takes back his old age in return, renouncing the world to spend his remaining days as a forest ascetic. His spiritual practices are, at long last, blessed with success and, alone in the deep woods, he is rewarded with assumption to svarga - the heavenly realm of the righteous, ruled by Indra, that is but one step below the ultimate liberation of moksha.[2]

Chariot of Yayati

The Vayu Purana, the Brahmanda Purana, the Shiva Purana and the Harivamsa Purana mention that Yayati possessed a divine chariot which could travel in any direction unimpeded. It is variously mentioned that Yayati acquired it from Shukracharya, Indra or from Shiva.
The Harivamsha Purana mentions that with the speed of this chariot, Yayati was able to conquer the earth and the heavens in merely six days. Yayati gave this chariot to his youngest son, Puru who succeeded his father as king. The chariot became a family heirloom among the descendants of Puru. The chariot however vanished due to a curse incurred by the Paurava King Janamejaya when he slew a Brahmana in his hatred. Many years later, Indra once more gave that same chariot to King Vasu Uparichara, another descendant of Puru. Uparichara's grandson, Jarasandha of Magadha, inherited that chariot. Jarasandha was eventually defeated and slain by the Pandava Bhima who gave the chariot to his cousin, Lord Krishna.

Descendants

Children of Devayani

  • Yadu gave rise to Yadu vamsha, and one of his descendants is Krishna.
  • Turvasu and his descendants formed the Yavana Kingdom
  • Madhavi married four times and had one son with each husband. She married Haryyashwa, Ikshvaku King of Ayodhya; Divodasa, King of Kashi; Ushinara, Bhoja King of Kashi and the Maharishi Vishwamitra. With the Ikshvaku King Haryyashwa, she had a son named Vasumanas who became a wealthy king and practised charity. With Divodasa, the King of Kaśi, she had the mighty warrior King Pratarddana who acquired weapons from Sage Bharadwaja and defeated the Haihayas and the Videhas in battle. With the Bhoja King Ushinara, she had Shibi, who became a Chakravartin Samrat and conquered the world, practised Dharma and charity. With Sage Vishwamitra, Madhavi had a son named Ashtaka, who became famous for performing sacrifices and charity. The four sons of Madhavi didn't like Yayati's self-righteousness, but each one used their powers to send Yayati to heaven. Madhavi herself lost interest in marriage and performed penances in the forest for the rest of her life. Madhavi's four sons, after ruling their kingdoms, joined their mother and lived with her in the forest until her death.

Sons of Sharmishtha

Another one of his descendants was King Bharat, son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala, and after whom, India's ancient name Bharatvarsha was kept. Further descendants were part of the Kuru Kingdom, including Shantanu, Dhritarashtra, Pandu, Yudhishthira, Abhimanyu and Parikshit.

Influence

In modern language and usage,trading conscientious behavior for external gain is sometimes called Yayati Syndrome.[5][6][7] Yayati, a Marathi novel by V. S. Khandekar, won him the Sahitya Akademi Award (1960), and a Jnanpith Award (1974).[8] Playwright Girish Karnad's debut play Yayati (1961) is based on the story of King Yayati found in the Mahabharat.[9]

See also

Further reading

References



  • Yayati

    1. Don Rubin (1998). The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Asia. Taylor & Francis. p. 196. ISBN 0-415-05933-X.

    External links


  • Venkatesananda. The Concise Śrīmad Bhāgavataṁ. SUNY Press. pp. 227–229.
  • A sper Rajmala, the ancient royal chronicle of the Kings of Tripura.
  • "Anu, the fourth son of Yayati, had three sons, named Sabhanara, Caksu and Paresnu. From Sabhanara came a son named Kalanara, and from Kalanara came a son named Srnjaya. From Srnjaya came a son named Janamejaya. From Janamejaya came Mahasala; from Mahasala, Mahamana; and from Mahamana two sons, named Usinara and Titiksu.The four sons of Usinara were Sibi, Vara, Krmi and Daksa, and from Sibi again came four sons, named Vrsadarbha, Sudhira, Madra and atma-tattva-vit Kekaya...." (Bhagavata Purana, 9.23.1-4).
  • Management and the Bhagavad Gita
  • BJP's Yayati Syndrome
  • The Internet Journal of Alternative Medicine
  • Jnanpith website – list of laureates
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    Friday, 3 June 2016

    Shabri in Ramayan.


    Shabari

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    For the Bollywood movie, see Shabri.
    Sabari Rama statues at Simhachalam
    Shabari Offers Berries to Rama
    Shabari (Sanskrit: शबरी) is an elderly woman ascetic in the later versions of the Hindu epic Ramayana. She is described as an ardently devoted woman who received Rama's darshan and blessing due to her Bhakti to him.

    Contents

    Story

    Shabari was a hunter's daughter[1] and belong to the Nishadha tribal community.[2] The night before her marriage, she saw that thousands of goats and sheep were brought by her father, which were going to be sacrificed for the marriage dinner. Moved by compassion, during the early hours of the morning, she renounced the world and ran away to meet a Master. After days of traveling, she met Sage Matanga at the foot of the Mountain Rishyamukha and accepted him as guru, serving him with devotion.[1] When her guru Matanga was about to die, Shabari— now an elderly lady— stated that after serving him throughout her life, she now sought to reach for herself the same "abode of peace" which Matanga reached.[1] Thereupon, the sage said that by the virtue of her seva (service), Lord Ram shall give her darshan and asks her to wait for his arrival. Saying thus, the sage sitting in lotus posture attains Mahasamadhi. As per her guru's words, Shabari waits for the arrival of Ram.[1]
    Everyday Shabari would go out of her ashram, with the help of a walking stick and pluck berry fruits for Lord Ram. She would pluck a fruit, first taste it, and if it was sweet she would put it in her basket and discard the bitter ones. She wanted to give the good and sweet fruits to Ram.[3] The thought never came to her that she should not taste it before it was offered to a deity. Traditional writers use this narrative to indicate that in bhakti, faults are not seen by the deities. Thus collecting a few fruits, Shabari went back to the ashram and eagerly anticipated Lord Ram's arrival.[3] Shabari is commonly used as a metaphor for an endless wait for God.[4]

    Arrival of Rama

    According to the scriptural account, even though hundreds of other yogis were waiting to receive Rama in their ashrams, Rama went only to Shabari's ashram because of her sincere devotion. On seeing Rama, Shabari became ecstatic and said, "There were so many exalted yogis waiting for your darshan, but you came to this unworthy devotee (...) This clearly shows that you will neither see whether a devotee lives in a palace or humble hut, whether he is erudite or ignorant (...) neither see caste nor color. You will only see the true bhakti (...) I do not have anything to offer other than my heart, but here are some berry fruits. May it please you, my Lord." Saying so, Shabari offered the fruits she had meticulously collected to Rama. When Rama was tasting them, Lakshmana raised the concern that Shabari had already tasted them and were, therefore, unworthy of being eaten. To this, Rama[5] said that of the many types of food he had tasted, "nothing could equal these berry fruits, offered with such devotion. You taste them, then alone will you know. Whomsoever offers a fruit, leaf, flower or some water with love, I partake it with great joy." Lakshman did not taste the fruits. He brought them to his mouth but threw them aside considering them as impure. Pleased with Shabari's devotion, Rama blesses her with his vision. Rama notices the donas, or bowls, of handmade leaves in which she had offered the fruits and is impressed by the hard work Shabari has gone through to make them and, hence, blesses the tree so that the leaves naturally grow in the shape of a bowl.[citation needed] Shabari also tells Rama to take help from Sugriva and where to find him. The Ramayana says that Shabari was a very bright and knowledgeable saint.[6]

    Ram's discourse

    Ram delivers his discourse on nava-vidha bhakti (ninefold devotion) to Shabari,[7]
    Such pure devotion is expressed in nine ways. First is satsang or association with love-intoxicated devotees and righteous people. The second is to develop a taste for hearing My nectar-like stories. The third is service to the guru (...) Fourth is to sing My kirtan (communal chorus) (...) Japa or repetition of My Holy name and chanting My bhajans are the fifth expression (...) To follow scriptural injunctions always, to practice control of the senses, nobility of character and selfless service, these are expressions of the sixth mode of bhakti. Seeing Me manifested everywhere in this world and worshipping My saints more than myself is the seventh mode of bhakti. To find no fault with anyone and to be contented with one's lot is the eighth mode of bhakti. Unreserved surrender with total faith in My strength is the ninth and highest stage. Shabari, anyone who practices one of these nine modes of My bhakti pleases Me most and reaches Me without fail. That which is most difficult for the greatest yogis was easily attained by you, Shabari, because of your sincere devotion.[7]
    Shabari redirects Ram and Lakshman towards Hanuman and Sugriv.[7]

    See also

    Notes


  • Keshavadas 1988, p. 121
    1. Keshavadas 1988, p. 124

    References

    External links

  • Dodiya 2001, p. 148
  • Keshavadas 1988, p. 122
  • Raj, Sundara (2007-09-28). "A novel attempt". The Hindu. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  • "Rosary of Divine Wisdom". Brig. Partap Singh Ji (Retd.). 27 August 1999.
  • Keshavadas 1988, p. 123
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