DUSHYANTA SHAKUNTALA VRUTAANTA

The legend of the exquisitely beautiful Shakuntala and the mighty king Dushyanta is a thrilling love story from the epic Mahabharata, which the great ancient poet Kalidasa retold in his immortal play Abhijnanashakuntalam.

Shakuntala was born of the sage Vishwamitra and the Apsara Menaka. Menaka had come at the behest of the King of the Heaven, Indra, to distract the sage Vishwamitra from his deep meditations. She succeeded, and bore a child by him. Vishwamitra, angered by the loss of the virtue gained through his many hard years of strict ascetic habit, distanced himself from the child and mother to return to his work. Realizing that she could not leave the child with him, and having to return to the heavenly realms, Menaka left the newborn Shakuntala in the forest. It was here that the new born child was found by Kanva Rishi surrounded by Shakunta birds. He thus named her Shakuntala. Kanva Rishi took the child to his ashram, on the banks of the Mālini River which rises in the Shivālik hills of Himālayas and lies about 10 km from the town of Kotdwāra in the state of Uttarākhand, India. Dushyanta is the son of Ilina and Rathantara and is a descendant of the Puru dynasty, a great warrior and a just ruler.

Once, while out on a hunt with his army, Dushyanta passed through a forest full of bilv, ark, khadir, kapith, and dahv etc. trees. The forest undulated with interspersed rocky hillocks and extended over several yojanas and there was no trace of any man. It was full of wildlife. Dushyanta, along with his powerful army, happened to pass through extensive desert after which he reached a good forest. This forest was full of ashrams (hermitages) and there were fruit-bearing trees but no xerophytes. Here Dushyanta came across the ashrama of Rishi Kanva, the son of Kashyapa Rishi. It was surrounded by the Malini River. All the animals were at peace in this garden and there was an atmosphere of great tranquility. The air was full of an intoxicating fragrance. Upon seeing this garden, the king was struck with wonder, and became curious as to who owned this garden. He gained that this was Sage Kanva's garden and decided to pay him a visit and get the great Saints blessings. As he wandered about this heavenly garden, he came across a maiden. This maiden, whose beauty rivalled of that of the Apsaras(divine nymphs), was the adopted daughter of the sage Kanva, Shakuntala.

She had inherited the intelligence of her father and the beauty of her divine mother. It was no wonder that Dushyanta fell in love with her instantly upon beholding her. Once Dushyanta came to know who she was, he began addressing her thus, "O Maiden. Your beauty shines like that of the mood.. If it is even possible, you are even more beautiful than your mother. Your radiance is something that does not dim others around you but radiant enough to beautify everything you see, I have fallen desperately in love with you. Please consent to be my wife."

Shakuntala was filled with admiration for this King, for it is to be remembered that Dushyanta was a handsome warrior. However, she would not consent to be his wife immediately. She told the king that at this moment her father Kanva is away from this hermitage and that he will not return for many months. Before proposing marriage to a girl, the consent of her guardian is essential. Therefore, she begged him not to pester her to return an answer to his proposal right then but instead come back later, and ask her father's consent to marry her.

Dushyanta could not bear the thought of waiting for so long before marrying her. He had never been accustomed to wait for anything in his life. He attempted to persuade her to an instant marriage. He told her that it is true that the common practice is to seek the consent of guardians before marriage, however, under extraordinary circumstances the scriptures allow a Gandharva Vivaha (marriage incognito), wherein two people in love marry with only each other as witnesses. Such a practice has been often resorted to in cases where the guardians cannot be reached immediately to ascertain their opinion. He pleaded her not to torment him any longer, and just let us marry him immediately, for he cannot think of a life without her.

So Shakuntala allowed herself to be persuaded to marry the king immediately, very much against her better judgment. Ardent love must be her only excuse, as nothing much would have been lost by waiting for a few months for her father to return and the marriage to take place according to the common mode. They married each other, with only the woodland creatures as witnesses. The King and Shakuntala spent a very pleasant month there in the hermitage. It was high time Dushyanta returned to his kingdom, as he had not left any word as to where he could be found. He wanted to take his wife along with him to the Kingdom.

However, Shakuntala could not consent to this. She told the king that her father would be returning very soon. If she isn’t at the hermitage to welcome him, he will be very worried. Since their marriage was very simply performed, it is but proper that the king arrive in form, accompanied by his retinue, to take his bride to his kingdom. Therefore Shakuntala asked the king to return to his kingdom now, but come back soon, and take me to her home.

Dushyanta agreed that this was a good plan and he went back to his country. Before going, Dushyanta gave Shakuntala a royal ring as a sign of their love, promising her that he would return for her.

Shakuntala spent much time dreaming of her new husband and was often distracted by her daydreams. One day, a powerful rishi, Durvasa, came to the ashram but, lost in her thoughts about Dushyanta, Shakuntala failed to greet him properly. Incensed by this slight, the rishi cursed Shakuntala, saying that the person she was dreaming of would forget about her altogether. His booming voice as he uttered the curse that shook Shakuntala out of her abstraction. She humbly begged his pardon, and requested him to rescind the curse. She pleaded tearfully that she had not noticed his arrival as she had been thinking about her husband. At last the sage relented. He could not completely annul the curse, and amended it so that Dushyanta would not permanently forget her, but only temporarily. After this, the sage took his leave. Sometime after this, sage Kanva returned to his hermitage. Shakuntala related to him the all the incidents that had happened during his absence, including her marriage to Dushyanta and Durvasa’s curse. Kanva was concerned about the curse, but consoled himself with the reflection that it was only temporary.

A few months passed, and Shakuntala discovered that she was pregnant. Kanva decided that it was time for her to go to her husband's kingdom, as the heir to the throne should be born in his father's country. He found a group of Brahmanas who were planning to visit Dushyanta’ s kingdom. He asked them to escort his adopted daughter to her husband. The whole party set forth on their journey. Shakuntala always wore the signet ring given to her by Dushyanta on her ring finger. On the way, they had to cross a river by a canoe ferry and, seduced by the deep blue waters of the river, Shakuntala ran her fingers through the water. Her ring slipped off her finger without her realizing it.

The Brahmanas escorted her to the court of Dushyanta. Of course, the curse of Durvasa had taken effect by then and he did not recognize her at all. He said to her "O Fair maiden, who are you? What is that you seek from me? Have you suffered any injustice in my realm? If so, I shall see to it that justice shall be served."

Shakuntala was very much surprised. "O King, Do you not recognize me? I have not changed all that much in these six months that we have been apart. Seven months ago, you met me in the forest, near the hermitage of Sage Kanva. You spoke words of endearment to me and asked me to be your wife. In spite of me asking you to wait till my father returned, you persuaded me to marry you immediately. We were married according to the rights of the Gandharva Vivaha. You went back to your kingdom, promising to return soon and take me to my rightful place as your queen. Now you don't even recognize me? Is this the practice of Kings? Accept me as your wife, your queen."

Of course, Dushyanta did not remember any of this. He thought she was an imposter, and he became very angry. "O Maiden. Your fair form does not match the cunning of your mind. I have never even met you before today. Your audacity in claiming that I married you is unparalleled. Your ploy will not succeed. I can see that you are with child. You are trying to impose on me, after having lost your virtue to someone else. Be gone from my presence, before I change my mind to execute you for your unfounded allegations!"

Hearing the harsh words spoken by the King, Shakuntala fainted. When she awoke from her swoon, burning with righteous anger, she said. "O King, You thought that when you made your promise, there were no witnesses other than our two selves. You forget that Mitra and Varuna and other Gods are always witnesses to a promise. For some reason best known to them the Devas are not coming to my rescue. You ought to have been struck down with their wrath, when you spoke those harsh words and broke your promise. The Gods shall always punish the breaker of oaths. I will not stay one instant in this place where I have been insulted thus."

Hearing her words of wrath, Dushyanta was filled with wonder, however, he did not remember her at all, and was steadfast in his refusal. Humiliated, Shakuntala returned to the forests and, collecting her son, settled in a wild part of the forest by herself.

In due course of time, a male child was born to Shakuntala. He had inherited the beauty of his mother and his valor from his father. He was named Bharata. Ten years went by, during which time the child grew into a boy. The boy was taught the scriptures and Dharma (the path of truth). In addition to this, as befitting a prince, he was taught the use of weapons, and he particularly excelled with the bow.

Meanwhile, a fisherman was surprised to find a royal ring in the belly of a fish he had caught. Recognizing the royal seal, he took the ring to the palace and, upon seeing his ring; Dushyanta's memories of his lovely bride came rushing back to him. He was very much grieved, for she had come to meet him, only to be insulted in his court. He resolved to seek her out and apologize for his conduct, and ask her to be his queen but in vain.

One day when the king was passing by in the forest he saw a fat wild boar in the forest. He gave it a chase and finally managed to shoot it down with his arrows. At the same time, another hunter had also fired his arrows at the same boar. Both of them reached the boar at the same time. The King was very much surprised that the other hunter was a mere ten year old boy. Of course, this was none other than his son, but naturally the king did not recognize him. They both started arguing, claiming the boar as their kill. The argument became violent and the boy challenged the king to combat. The king hesitated, as it was not proper for such a renowned warrior to fight a mere child. However, when Bharata accused him of cowardice, he became very angry and accepted the challenge. Very quickly, once the battle commenced, Dushyanta became aware that although only ten years old, his opponent was a very accomplished warrior. The king was very hard pressed to counter the assault of the boy. The battle raged for hours, but in the end, the King was defeated and made prisoner. As per the rules of single combat of those times, he became a slave of the victor. The boy took him to his home. There, the King met Shakuntala and was made aware that his conqueror was none other than his son. There was a very happy reunion, with the King begging the sage's and his wife's pardon for the events that had taken place in his court. They both forgave him immediately, as he was blameless in this matter, Durvasa'scurse being the cause of his behavior.

Dushyanta returned to his kingdom, accompanied by his wife and heir. In due course of time, he abdicated the throne in favor of his son. Bharata ruled for a long time. He conquered all the kings in the world and brought them all under his control. Unfortunately, although he had many sons, he did not find any of them worthy of ruling the kingdom after him. He performed a magnificent Yagna (sacrifice), and as a result of it an illustrious son named Bhumanyu was born to him. Once Bhumanyu came of age, Bharata crowned him king and retired to the forest to spend the rest of his days in performing penances and even till today India still carries this great warrior’s name, Bharata.

THE KURU PARIVAAR- I

Though the Pandavas and Kauravas rein the entire storyline of Mahabharata, the epic is incomplete without the knowledge of their ancestors. So as we go forth, in the interest of time I have given short descriptions about everybody but we will go in depth into the relatively important stories.

It started long long ago, so long ago with the ultimate creator himself- Brahma.  Brahma’s descendant was Atri:

Atri-He is also the Manasa Putra and was born from the mind of Lord Brahma (from his eyes) to assist Lord Brahma in the act of creation. When the sons of Brahma were destroyed by a curse of Shiva, Atri was born again from the flames of a sacrifice performed by Brahma. His wife in both manifesations was Anasuya.

Chandra-In Hinduism, Chandra is also identified with theVedic lunar deity Soma .  Chandra is described as young, beautiful, fair; two-armed and having in his hands a club and a lotus He rides his  across the sky every night, pulled by ten white horses or an antelope.

Once Chandra organized a Rajsuya Yagya and received great powers. Afterwards blinded by his powers, Chandra kidnapped Tara, the wife of Brihaspati. Even his grandfather Brahma tried to dissuade him from committing such a grave crime but Chandra was not to listen to anybody. Because of his hostility with Brihaspati, the teacher of the demons Shukra was also assisting Chandra. At that moment of need, only Rudra came forward to help Brihaspati. A fierce battle followed between Chandra and Rudra. The gods were helping Brihaspati while because of Shukra, the demons fought from the side of Chandra. Soon the battle assumed the proportion of a war that perplexed the entire world. At last, Lord Vishnu mediated to end the battle and helped Brihaspati to get his wife back. By that time Tara had conceived a child. Seeing her condition Brihaspati instigated Tara to abort the baby. Tara aborted the baby amidst some shrubs but it did not die. Instead, his brilliance dulled even the radiance of the gods.

The baby was so beautiful that both Brihaspati and Chandra were eager to accept him. To settle the matter, Brahma asked Tara about the paternity of the child. Feeling shy, Tara revealed that Chandra was the father of the child. Then Brahma himself adopted the child and named him as Buddha.

Budha-In the Hindu mythology, Budha is the name for the planet Mercury, a son of Chandra with Tara or Rohini. He is also the god of merchandise and protector of merchants.

He is represented as being mild, eloquent, and having a greenish complexion. He is represented holding a scimitar, a club and a shield, riding a winged. In other illustrations, he holds a scepter and lotus and rides a carpet or an eagle or a chariot drawn by lions.
Budha married Ila, the daughter of Vaivasvata Manu, and fathered a son, Pururava .

Pururava- In the Hindu religion there are many Gods and Goddesses. In order to teach Hindu followers about these deities, stories are used; similar to the parables familiar to Christians and many other faiths. Often in Hindu parables, Gods interact with humans and the stories contain themes, conflicts and ultimately resolutions to which Hindu practitioners may empathize and relate to everyday life in the form of life lessons. This is one such parable.

Pururava was very magnanimous and handsome. Once when the apsara Urvashi was returning to heaven just before dawn with the other apsaras, she was abducted by a demon. Pururava saw this and chased the demon on his chariot and freed Urvashi from his clutches. The brief period their bodies touched changed their lives forever. For the first time Urvasi experienced the warm flesh of a mortal, for the first time she heard blood pounding in veins and for the first time she heard the inhalation and exhalation of breath. Pururavas had seen Urvashi in Indra’s court before and to actually be close to the most beautiful woman in heaven exhilarated him. Pururava left Urvashi with her friends but when they parted each was madly in love with the other but unsure whether the love was being reciprocated.

Urvashi was a female deity in a human man’s world and in keeping with the tradition of the times expected the man to make the first move. Pururavas on the other hand, feared rejection because he did not expect the pride of heaven to come and live with a mortal, and hence did not approach Urvashi. Urvashi was giving a dance performance in which she was portraying Vishnu’s consort, Lakshmi. Her concentration was with Pururavas and she called out her lover’s name instead of saying “Vishnu”. Her teacher, the sage Bharat, got offended and cursed Urvashi. “You will get to live with the person you are thinking about,” he said, “And you will also give birth to his son. But you will have to choose between the father and son, because the day they see each other you will have to leave them both and return to heaven.”

Since then Pururava began to live with Urvashi. Together they enjoyed their physical intimacy for sixty thousand years. Their love grew so much that even Urvashi forgot those heavenly comforts that she used to enjoy once. Because of her absence, even the heaven appeared more dreaded than hell.

He decided to live with Urvashi in the forest of Gandhmadan. He arranged for all princely comforts there as also for running the affairs of state. They spent the time in love, in discourse; Urvashi sang and danced for Pururavas; the king was content to have her with him. For Urvashi this was a unique opportunity to live with mortals and to experience their joys and sufferings, while Pururavas reveled in the fact that the pride of heaven and Indra's favourite was his and his alone.

By now everyone, including Aushiniri had accepted Urvashi as the king's consort. There was no need for them to stay at Gandhmadan. The two went to the capital city of their kingdom and continued to enjoy each other's company as before. In all Urvashi and Pururava spent sixteen years together. It had so happened that Urvashi had desired to bear a child, so without Pururavas' knowledge she had conceived and given birth to his son. The reason for the secrecy lay in the curse sage Bharat had given Urvashi many years earlier. The lover in Urvashi had yet not been satisfied so she had left the newborn child in sage Chyavan's hermitage in the care of his wife Satyavati.

Sage Chyavan explained everything to the astounded king. The time had come for Ayu to meet Pururavas, but unfortunately the same time necessitated the departure of Urvashi. Pururava crowned Ayu as King and left for Gandhmadan, where he had spent memorable seasons with the apsara. But the story does not end here. The Demons attacked Heaven and with Pururava's help the Gods succeeded in driving them away. In return Indra allowed Urvashi to go back to Gandhmadan where she spent many more years with Pururava and bore him many more sons.

Ayu- He was a  Chandravanshi king. He was eldest son of Puraravaand father of Nahusha.King Ayu's wife's name was Indumathi. Both were very happy to have a son. But the same night a maid lifted the sleeping child and took him in the sky. In fact she was not a maid, she was the Asura Hund. Hund brought him to his palace and handed over to his wife to cook a delicious dish for him. The cook could not kill the child and she gave him to a man who took him away and left him on the doorstep of Sage Vasishta. It was morning and Sage Vasishta was going for his morning chores that he saw a newborn child on his doorstep; he picked him in his arms and named him Nahusha.

Nahusha- He was a well-known king who was the son of Ayu, the eldest son of Pururavas. . He married Viraja, the daughter of the Pitras. They had six or seven sons, according to different Puranas. His eldest son Yati became a muni (ascetic). He was succeeded by his second son Yayati.

Yayati- Yayati was a Puranic king and the son of King Nahusha and his wife Viraja. He was one of the ancestors of Pandavas.

Devayani was the daughter of Sage Shukracharya, the guru of all Asuras, she had been cursed by sage Kacha that she would not marry another Brahmana. Sage Shukra was living in his palace. At that time the Asura king was Vrushaparva, whose daughter Sharmishta was close friend of Devayani.

One day, as Devayani and Sharmishtha along with the hoard of servants were amusing themselves in a park, King Yayati happened to pass by. Devayani had been secretly in love with Yayati, as he had once rescued her from a dry well. Devayani and Sharmishtha introduced themselves to him, and Devayani confessed to being in love with him and asked him to marry her.

Yayati said, "Unless your father gives you to me in marriage I will not accept you as my wife." Shukracharya gave in to his daughter's request, and agreed to give her away in marriage to King Yayati. As dowry, he gave away Sharmishtha. He however warned Yayati that he should never let Sharmishtha share his bed.

Sharmishtha was given a place to live in a shaded glade called Ashok Vatika. One day Yayati happened to pass by Ashok Vatika where Sharmishtha lived. Seeing him, Sharmishtha confessed that she too was in love with the king, and wanted him to marry her. She told him that she belonged to a royal family, and Yayati could marry her. Yayati agreed and they wed in secret. They continued to meet and hid the fact from Devayani that they were married. Yayati had two sons from Devayani, Yadu and Turvasu. Yayati also had three sons from Sharmishtha, Druhyu, Anu and Puru.

When Devayani came to know about the relationship of Yayati and Sharmishtha and their three sons, she felt shocked and betrayed. Devayani went away to her father Shukracharya, who displeased with the king, cursed that he would lose his youth, and become an old man immediately.

As soon as Shukracharya uttered his curse, Yayati became an old man. Shukracharya also said that his curse once uttered, could not be taken back, and added that the only concession he could give was that if Yayati wanted, he could give his old age to someone, and take his youth from him. Yayati was relieved at the reprieve he was given, and was confident that his sons would willingly exchange their youth with him. Yayati requested all his five sons one by one to give their youth to him to enjoy the worldly happiness. All the sons, except Puru accepted his demand. So Yayati took the youth of Puru. Later on, Puru became the successor of King Yayati.

According to the story, Yayati enjoyed the sensual pleasures for a "thousand years" and later realized the futility and said, "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 for peace and happiness should instantly renounce craving and seek that which neither grows old, nor ceases even when the body ages."Yayati then gave back the youth to Puru, receiving his old age in return. He renounced the world, and retired into a forest and according to the story, attained the lord through his spiritual practices.

Yadu gave rise to Yadu vansha, and one of his descendants as Krishna.

Puru, the youngest son succeeded the Yayati and inherited his kingdom in the Gangatic plain. He in turn gave rise to Puru Vansha .

Next Up: Dushyanta-Shakuntala Vruthanta

JANAMEJAYA YAGYA

Janamejaya was saddened with grief after hearing the tale of how his father passed away. Meanwhile a Sage Uttanka approached Janamejaya and provoked him to take revenge on his father’s killer Takshakan and perform Sarpa Yagya (Sacrifice of Serpents) and command Takshakan into the Fire Pit (Homa Kunda) and sacrifice all the Serpents in the process as they bite people and harm everybody and must indeed be deemed as evil. Sage Uttanka told the King that his father could not go to heaven because of snake bite. When Janamejaya heard these words, he was rendered speechless for a while due to anger.Once he regained control over himself he thanked Utanka, for bringing the consequences of harm caused by snakes in the world and decided to perform the Sarpa Yagya. Convinced thus, the King ordered that the Yagya be arranged.

King Janamejaya then made arrangements for this sacrifice. He invited the greatest sages and priests to conduct this sacrifice. This was a truly great undertaking, for the rituals for this sacrifice were arduous, and had to be exactly followed, if the sacrifice was to bear fruit. A suitable spot was chosen and the great sacrificial hall was constructed. A platform was raised in its midst and was decked with valuable articles. This was where the Brahmanas would sit. The officiating priest sat in its middle. The king also underwent the rituals that will purify him to participate in the sacrifice. The great sacrifice began. As the rishis chanted the appropriate Mantras and poured the clarified butter into the fire, snakes, impelled by the power of these incantations, started converging from all over the world. There were snakes of all shapes and sizes, some of them were as large as buildings, some as small as insects. As the priests called each snake by name and uttered the fatal words, "fall into fire", that snake would meet its fiery end into the sacrificial fire. 

Seeing this massacre of his fellow snakes, Takshakan was worried and immediately went to Indra to ask for his shelter. Indra gave him shelter and asked him to cling on to the legs of his throne and promised that he would be safe there.

After a while when immense number of snakes fell in the sacrificial fire and Takshakan did not appear, Janamejaya asked - "Where is Takshakan? I want him to fall here. I am not interested in these ones". The chief sage told Janamejaya that Takshakan has surrendered to Lord Indra and is under the protection of Indra by clinging onto the legs of his throne. Janamejaya was furious and ordered Lord Indra to be invoked and put into the fire along with the rogue Takshakan as he has given shelter to evil. So the sage though hesitant because he is chanting a mantra that will end the life of one of the most powerful Gods, started chanting mantras to call Indra "May  Takshakan fall into this fire, accompanied by Indra". Such was the potency of the invocation and the power of the Rishis, that Indra’s throne started shaking and falling towards Janamejaya’ s Yagya Kund. Seeing this Indra got worried. Both Indra and Takshakan started falling into the sacrificial fire, bound to each other. When Indra saw that his friend's fate was inevitable, he let go of Takshakan and decided to save himself. Takshakan then started falling alone into the fire. That was when Astika came running to the sacrificial ceremony ground and ordered the Yagya to be stopped.

In the olden days, there was a Sage Jaratkaru who was practicing high devotion to Devi Bhagavati in a forest. He had a vision of his dead father and forefathers in a cave who were suffering in their afterlife as the karmas that had to be performed after one's death had not been done as their only descendant had eloped from home when he was a small boy. That boy was none other than Jaratkaru. He immediately realized his mistake and vowed to bring an end to his ancestors suffering. To perform the rituals and attain its highest effect the one performing it must be married if he has attained his marriageable age. Thus he decided to marry a girl named Jaratkaru (yes, her name also is Jaratkaru) who was the sister of the serpent Vasuki. They had a son called Astika. Since the serpents were all uncles to Astika he decided to stop Janamejaya’s Yagya upon the orders from his mother.

But how do you stop a powerful king who is in a fury to avenge his father's death??! By the politeness in Astika's voice he meekly spoke to Janamejaya and praised him about the Yagya that he has never seen a Yagya as powerful and righteous as this. Janamejaya flattered wished to bestow him a boon. And Astika's only wish was to stop the snake sacrifice. Bound by his word, Janamejaya spared Takshakan and the other snakes but asked Astika to grant a solution whereby innocent people won’t be killed by these evil snakes. Thus Astika told the gathering that since he was the nephew of the snakes, his mere name "ASTIKA" would ward off any snake along with which they can recite the following lines:

The below narration is corroborated by the sarpa raksha mantra that is recited every day during Sandhyavandhanam. Ignoring minor variations, the mantra goes as follows:

“नर्मदायै नमः प्रातः नर्मदायै नमो निशि
नमोऽस्तु नर्मदे तुभ्यं त्राहि मां विषसर्पदः

सर्पापसर्प भद्रं त गच्छ सर्प महाविष।
जनमेजयस्य यज्ञान्ते आस्तीकवचं स्मर।।

जरत्कार्वोर्जरत्कर्वां समुत्पन्न महायशाः
अस्तीक सत्यसन्धो मां पन्नगेभ्यो अभिरक्षतु”

MEANING

“O Narmada, I offer you salutations in the morning & night (during sandhya vandana); Protect me from poisonous snakes

O virulent snake, recollecting the words of Astika at the end of King Janamejaya’s sacrifice, may you go away.

Astika, born of muni Jaratkaru and his wife of the same name, was a great soul. He, the protector of the truth, will protect me from the serpents.”

Janamejaya was convinced with Astika's words to stop the sacrifice but he pondered over the arrangements made for the sacrifice and how everything would go to waste. That’s when Vyasar stepped in and advised Janamejaya that for the rest of the 7 days his disciple Vysampayanar would deliver a discourse on the ancestors of Janamejaya and thus the entire MAHABHARATA was told to Janamejaya and to us.

Next Up: The Kuru Parivar

THE CURSE OF PARIKSHIT

Janamejaya was a pious and dharmic prince of Hastinapura who ascended to the throne upon the death of his father Parikshit. He was the grandson of Abhimanyu and the great-grandson of Arjuna, the valiant warrior hero of the Mahabharata. Though he was successful as a young king and the people of his kingdom loved him, he felt a void in his life every time he thought about his father and why his father had been taken away from at such a young age. He decided to investigate further into this and called upon the Raja Guru to tell him tales about King Parikshit to soothe his mind and attain peace. Little did he know he was unravelling the mystic stories of his ancestors.

King Parikshit was the lone descendant of the Pandavas after the Kurukshetra war and was still a fetus in the womb of Uttarakumari-wife of the deceased warrior Abhimanyu when the cruel hearted Ashwathama (son of Dronacharya) used the Brahma-Astra weapon on Uttarakumari to destroy the entire lineage of the Pandavas to finish what his father and the Kauravas started before the 18 day Kurukshetra war. Sensing this deadly weapon coming her way Uttarakumari was startled and frantically started thinking who is the only one who could save her from the impending disaster. The next moment Lord Krishna was at her doorstep. She fell to the Lord's feet begging him to protect the baby inside her even if he couldn’t save her. But we all know all Lord, who saved both the mother and the child from harm’s way. Ever wondered why Krishna himself came willingly to save Uttarakumari and the baby boy without even being called upon?? Well, Krishna explains, that the day Draupadi called upon him when Dushasana was rogue with her as “Govinda” even though her 5 husbands, father in law, mother in law and Pitamah Bheesma were all in the same room, he was indebted not only to her but to protect her entire family was his duty. 

While Parikshit was suffering from the scorching heat of Ashwathama’s brahmastra within his mother’s womb, he could see the Supreme Lord coming to his rescue. The Lord appeared in a four-armed form that was the size of a thumb. His beautiful body was very blackish and His dress was a dazzling yellow. Adorned with a golden helmet and earrings, the Lord was continually wielding His club in a circular motion, to dispel the radiation of Ashwathama’s brahmastra, just as the sun dissipates the morning dew. Actually, the embryo within Uttara’s womb had been burnt by the brahmastra, but being the supreme magician, the Lord instantly provided Parikshit with a second body. Then, as the wonder-struck child looked on, the Lord suddenly disappeared. Since the child had been protected by Vishnu in his form as Krishna, the brahmanas proposed that he should be named Vishnurata, protected by Vishnu. Whenever the child met someone, he tested to see if the person he had just met was indeed the person whom he had seen inside the womb. The word for test is pariksha, thus Vishnurata came to be popularly known as Parikshit. 

Parikshit was a great and just king who looked after his subjects well. He was considered to be the personification of goodness and nobody could match him in valor. He had no enemies and neither did he feel enmity towards anyone for he was a pure unalloyed devotee of the supreme personality. But they say Kali (the form of Kali Yug) ruins the mind of even the best of our men .Once he was on a hunting trip when he aimed at a deer but the deer, although hit managed to escape. Parikshit followed it deep into the forest but was unable to locate it. He was sixty years old and the deer chase had made him hungry and tired. As he was wandering in the woods alone looking for food he came across a Rishi in deep meditation and who had taken the vow of silence. Parikshit, who did not know this, asked him where he could find food and shelter. The ascetic did not answer the king. The king was tired and very hungry and ascetic was being rude. To insult the ascetic he picked up a dead snake by the tip of his bow and laid the dead snake on the shoulders of the silent Rishi. The ascetic did not speak even after that and the king, who was by now very tired left for his kingdom. The ascetic was called Rishi Shameek and he had a son named Shringi. Shringi was a great ascetic and had great powers. When he heard that King Parikshit had insulted his father while he was under a vow of silence, he was very angry. He took some holy water in his hand and cursed King Parikshit. He said that the poisonous snake Takshakanan would bite the man who insulted my innocent father and put a dead snake on his shoulders, within seven days. Thus cursing, Shringi went to his father and narrated the whole incident to him. Rishi Shameek was not pleased to hear what his son had done. He knew the deep meaning of what Parikshit had done. So he sent his most intelligent pupil, Gaurmukh to Parikshit to warn him of the impending danger and to protect himself in any way that he can. King Parikshit listened and accepted his fate without an argument. The King the next seven days on the banks of river Ganga, surrounded by Brahmanas learned in the Vedas. Six days passed in this manner, with the King listening to the recitations of the Vedas and Puranas and prayed to attain moksha (salvation).

On the seventh day as the serpent Takshakan was coming to bite Parikshit, he met a Brahman called Kashyap on his way. Takshakan asked the Brahman where he was going in such a hurry. The Brahman replied that he was going to the court of Parikshit because he could save him from the poison of Takshakan. Takshakan was surprised at the confidence of this Brahman and told him that he was Takshakan and there was no one in the world who could save the man whom he had bitten. The Brahman smiled and said that he could prove that he had an antidote for the poison of Takshakan. So Takshakan tried to test him. He bit a green tree and within seconds the tree was turned into ashes as the poison of Takshakan was so strong. The Brahman chanted a few mantras and the tree was back to life as lush green as before! Takshakan was amazed to see the power of the Brahman. He asked the Brahman whether he was going to Parikshit's court hoping for rewards. The Brahman said that he hoped to get a lot of wealth from Parikshit if he could bring him back to life. Takshakan said that he would give the Brahman even more than he expected to get from Parikshit and that he should go back. The Brahman took the wealth from Takshakan and went back happily from where he had come. Now the coast was clear for Takshakan. Takshakan assumed his form as a great serpent. He then entwined himself around the hapless king, and sunk his great fangs in Parikshit's neck. As was to be expected, the King fell down dead; charred by the potency of the snake's venom. Later Janmejaya was crowned the king.

The ministers having told the story to Janmejaya asked him to do whatever he deemed fit. Janmejaya asked the ministers how they were so sure of the story of the Brahman Kashyap and of how he revived the tree. The ministers told him that unknown to both Takshakan and the Brahman, there was a man sitting in the branches of the tree that Takshakan had killed with his poison. The man had also died when the tree was burnt to ashes due to the poison and revived when the Brahman read his mantras. He had heard the whole conversation of Takshakan and the Brahman and he had later related the whole story to the ministers. Janmejaya was incensed and filled with a desire to avenge his father's death. He decided to do something to punish the snakes for having killed his father by performing the “Sarpa Yagya”.

Next Up: Janamejaya Yagya

The SAGE and the SCRIBE

MAHABHARATA is a tale of Dharma! This epic story has been written over 18 Parvas or books the beginning of which is the ADI PARVA. Before we dive straight into the Adi Parva let us talk about the storyteller and his writer. 

According to the text itself, the Mahabharata was written in three years by Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasar and the poet modestly tells us that hearing the Mahabharata is better than attaining heaven. The sacred Sanskrit texts often promise spiritual and celestial rewards simply by the act of listening to them. The Mahabharata is no exception to this charming pitch and states that those who hear it read, or read it to others will go to the world of Brahma and become equal to the celestials. The text also promises that the Mahabharata makes the heart desire to attain salvation.

The Birth of the Poet Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasar

Uparichara Vasu was a king devoted to virtue and hunting, but one day this king lay down his weapons and became an ascetic. He practiced such severe and power producing austerities that Indra, the ruler of the celestials, became frightened. Did Uparichara Vasu seek to replace him was Indra's constant reason to worry.

Feeling afraid, Indra appeared to Uparichara Vasu and extolled the beauties and great qualities of an earthly kingdom and his life. Thus he made Uparichara Vasu feel exceedingly proud and fortunate to be a king on earth. Declaring his friendship, Indra gave him gifts, perhaps a bribe of sorts to keep his sights off Indra’s domain.

 The gift most interesting was a large celestial crystalline chariot that was capable of carrying the king through the sky.  Even though Uparichara Vasu has a physical body, he alone among mortals will be able, by the power of Indra’s maya, to fly across the sky like a celestial

King Uparachara Vasu had a beautiful wife Girika. On the day of the ‘Sraddha’ ( annual ceremony) of his deceased father and ancestors, his wife had a desire to bear a child from him but in view of the Ceremony, he left  for a forest to hunt a deer for the Sacrifice as also fetch other material for the Ceremony. But when he was reminded of his wife’s request, he was overcome with passion and spilt his virility which he did not wish to waste and thus retained it on a banana leaf and commanded a falcon to carry the packet to his queen with a message to her. Another falcon mistook the leafy packet as a piece of meat and snatched it. In the clash of the falcons, the packet fell in a river. 

Deep in the waters of the river lived an Apsara, named Adrika who had been cursed by a Brahmana to live as a fish for mistakenly dragging the feet of a Brahmana performing his prayers on the banks of the river. He cursed the Apsara to become a fish as his meditation was interrupted. Seeing the seed of Uparichara Vasu in the water; the Apsara-fish swallowed them. Ten months later she was caught by fishermen, who cut her open and found two children of human form - a boy and a girl. As soon as the children were born, the Apsara was released from her fish form, which apparently was the condition of her curse, to return to her sky-dancing with the other celestials.

The fishermen then gave the children to the king, Uparichara Vasu, who made the male his heir. The girl was both beautiful and virtuous, but because of her birth from the womb of a fish, albeit a cursed Apsara, she smelled of fish and so the king gave her back to the fishermen and gifted him with riches enough to bring up the girl-child. 

This was the genesis of ‘Matsyodari’ who grew up as an extraordinary beauty. The girl’s name was Satyavati and she spent her days running a boat across the river Yamuna. One day a wise Rishi (Seer) named Parasara saw her and overcome by her beauty, desired to have her. Desire/Kama is always a driving force in the human drama and that truth is also to be found in the Sanskrit tales. Satyavati resisted the advances of her Rishi, observing that there were many more Rishis standing on the banks of the river who might see them. Inflamed by his desire for her, the determined Rishi created a fog and covered the entire place with darkness. Being a virtuous girl, Satyavati still protested, saying that if she lost her virginity she would not be able to bear life.

Being a man, the Rishi was naturally pleased by her efforts to resist him and promised her that she would remain a virgin even after they bore a child together as he foresaw (yes, Rishis did have the power to look into the future by their intense meditation) that this child of theirs is God's wish to be born in this world. He also offered her any boon she might desire. Boons play an important part in the Sanskrit texts and many a plot is thickened by boons given by deities and Seers.

Satyavati asked for the boon of becoming sweet scented. Not only did she lose her foul fish odor, but the Rishi gave her such an intensely sweet fragrance that it permeated great distances. Parasara renamed the woman as Satyavati and also blessed her to become a Queen. The memorable son of Parasara and Satyavati was Krishna Dvipayana Veda Vyasar, as he had the purity of Lord Vishnu Himself and Dvipayana since he was born in a river island (Dvipa).

Having conceived the Mahabharata he thought of the means of giving the sacred story to the world. He meditated on Brahma, the Creator, who manifested himself before him. Vyasar saluted him with bowed head and folded hands and prayed that he had conceived the Mahabharata but wanted to leave a lasting relic in the world for which he needed the help of Lord Ganapati as the Scribe to take down his dictation. Brahma in turn asked him to pray to Ganapati himself who appeared before him. Vyasar received him with due respect and sought his aid. Ganapati agreed to help Vyasar but on one condition that his pen must not stop while he is writing that is Vyasar must dictate without pause or hesitation. Vyasar agreed, guarding himself, however, with a counter stipulation that Ganapati must indeed grasp the meaning of the Dharmic shlokas told by Vyasar. Ganapati smiled and agreed to the condition. Then the sage began to sing the story of the Mahabharata. He would occasionally compose some complex stanzas which would make Ganapati pause a while to get at the meaning and meanwhile Vyasar would avail himself this time to take a breath and to compose many stanzas in his mind.

Thus the Mahabharata came to be written by Ganapati to the dictation of Vyasar.

Next Up: The Curse of Parikshit

So after a really long time we are back... This break was necessary to listen to the entire Mahabharata as told by Sri Sri Anna or also known as Krishna Premi whose soul purpose is the purpose of Lord Vyasar himself, to propagate to this world the deeds of the Almighty and the importance of Dharma in this Kali Yug.

After meeting Sri Sri Anna at another preaching held in Bangalore recently, I realized the importance of propagating this great Epic MAHABHARATA though in most Indian homes, children formerly learnt these immortal stories as they learnt their mother tongue at the mother's knee or the grandmother's lap but the number has been drastically decreasing as growing complexity of life has changed the simple pattern of early home life. Still, there are few in our land who do not know the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Though the stories come to them so embroidered with the garish fancies of the  cinema as to retain but little of the dignity and approach to truth of Vyasa or Valmiki. Vyasa's Mahabharata which is is one of our noblest heritages. The Mahabharata belongs to the world and not only to India. To the people of India, indeed, this epic has been an unfailing and perennial source of spiritual strength. Learnt  with reverence and love, it has inspired great men to heroic deeds as well as enabled the humble to face their trials with fortitude and faith.

The Mahabharata was composed many thousand years ago. But generations of gifted reciters have added to Vyasa's original a great mass of material. All the floating literature that was thought to be worth preserving, historical, geographical, legendary political, theological and philosophical, of nearly thirty centuries, found a place in it.

And it is my cherished belief that to hear it faithfully, to love it and come under its elevating influence. It strengthens the soul, as nothing else does, reinstates the purpose of ambition, warns us against the danger posed by evil and futility of anger and hatred. The sweetness and sorrows of Sita and Draupadi, the heroic fortitude of Rama and Arjuna and the loving fidelity of Lakshmana and Hanuman brings together all the emotions known to mankind in a song like harmony and liberates us from all the worldly worries.

To begin with we ponder why the great Almighty Krishna himself had to descend down to the Bholoka(Earth) to destroy evil which he could have easily done so with a twitch of his hand where the mighty Sudarshana Chakra awaits his orders eager to do his bidding. The reason is said so by Krishna himself in the Bhagvad Gita later that he descended upon mankind for the one and only reason

 "Dharma-Samsthapanarthaya Sambhavami YugeYuge"**

** To establish Dharma in this violent world and show mankind a path of righteousness and the manner in which one should lead his life.

Next up is "The Sage and the Scribe"!! Keep watching this space for more :)