Hindu on RESEARCHUT

Lord Vishnu – Dashavatharam (Part – IV)

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 05:59:21 -0500

Lord Vishnu – Dashavatharam (Part – IV)

[![OO2o4kTgOElXZx88CZ0u8-wlTqYK9XFcSRzr4aj zjy8pJ-uh7v5zu2 9p3gzt5A](/images/Vibhor/oo2o4ktgoelxzx88cz0u8 -wltqyk9xfcsrzr4ajzjy8pj- uh7v5zu29p3gzt5a.jpg)](https://vibhormahajan.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/oo2o4ktgoelxzx88cz0u8 -wltqyk9xfcsrzr4ajzjy8pj-uh7v5zu29p3gzt5a.jpg)

“JAI SHRI RAM”
”जय श्रीराम”

Lord Brahma came out of Lord Vishnu’s navel. Lord Brahma’s son was Marichi, Marichi’s son Kashyapa, Kashyapa’s son Surya, Surya’s son Vaivasvata Manu, Manu’s son Ikshvaku, Ikskhvakku’s son Kakutstha, Kakutstha’s son Raghu, Raghu’s son Aja, Aja’s son Dasharatha, Dasharatha’s sons were Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Since Lord Rama was descended from Kakutstha and Raghu, he was also called Kakutstha and Raghava. Since his father’s name was Dasharatha, he was also called Dasharathi. Lord Rama’s story belongs to the solar line (surya vansha), since one of his ancestors was Surya. Lord Vishnu himself wished to destroy Ravana and the other rakshasas (demons). He therefore divided himself into four parts and was born as Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Rama was Koushalya’s son, Bharata was Kaikeyi’s, Lakshmana and Shartrughna were the sons of Sumitra.

Once, sage Vishvamitra came to Dasharatha and pleaded for Rama’s help in defeating the rakshasas who were disturbing his yajanas. Lord Rama killed these demons and Vishvamitra was so pleased that he taught Rama the use of all divine weapons. Rama broke a bow of Lord Shiva that had been in the possession of the king of Mithila, Janaka. This was the task that had been appointed for marrying Sita, Janaka’s daughter. Lord Rama married Sita, Lakshmana married Urmila, Bharata married Mandavi and Shatrughna married Shrutakirti.

As Lord Rama was the eldest of four sons and was to become king when his father retired from ruling. His stepmother Kaikeyi, however, wanted to see her son Bharata, become king. Remembering that the king had once promised to grant her any two wishes she desired, she demanded that Rama be banished to forest for fourteen years and Bharata be crowned as the king. The king had to keep his word to his wife and ordered Lord Rama’s banishment. Rama accepted the decree unquestioningly. “I gladly obey father’s command,” he said to his stepmother.

When Sita, heard that Lord Rama was to be banished, she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat. “As shadow to substance, so wife to husband,” she reminded Lord Rama. “Is not the wife’s dharma to be at her husband’s side? Let me walk ahead of you so that I may smooth the path for your feet,” she pleaded. Lord Rama agreed, and Rama, Sita and his brother Lakshmana all went to the forest.

When Bharata learned what his mother had done, he sought Lord Rama in the forest. “The eldest must rule,” he reminded Lord Rama. “Please come back and claim your rightful place as king.” Lord Rama refused to go against his father’s command, so Bharata took his brother’s sandals and said, “I shall place these sandals on the throne as symbols of your authority. I shall rule only as regent in your place, and each day I shall put my offerings at the feet of my Lord. When the fourteen years of banishment are over, I shall joyously return the kingdom to you.” Lord Rama was very impressed with Bharata’s selflessness. As Bharata left, Rama said to him, “I should have known that you would renounce gladly what most men work lifetimes to learn to give up.”

Lord Rama, Lakshmana and Sita lived in Dandaka forest. This forest was on the banks of the river Godavari and there was a beautiful grove inside the forest known as Panchavati. They built a hut there and resolved to live there.

One day a rakshasa princess named Shrupnakha tries to seduce Lord Rama, but Lakshmana wounded her and drived her away. She returns to her brother Ravana, the ten-headed ruler of Lanka, and tells her brother about Lord Rama and Sita. Ravana asked demon Maricha to adopt the form of a golden deer and roam in front of Lord Rama’s hut. Sita was so charmed by the deer that she asked Lord Rama to capture it for her. Lord Rama took long time in returning,so Lakshmana went to look for him. Taking advantage of Lord Rama and Lakshmana’s absence, Ravana kidnapped Sita. Jatayu (King of the birds), did try to stop Ravana, but he met his death at Ravana’s hand.

Lord Rama was broken-hearted when he returns to the empty hut and cannot find Sita. In search of Sita, soon Ram and Laxman reached the foothills of Rishyamuk mountains. Here the king Sugreev of the monkey clan was staying with his ministers and friends. One of them was the mighty Lord Hanuman (Rudra Avatar, Incarnation of Lord Shiva), the noblest devotee of Lord Rama.

On seeing the two foreigners coming to the mountain, Sugreeva asked Lord Hanuman to see with what intentions these two had come to Kishkindha.

Accordingly, Lord Hanuman came down as a Brahmin priest, and inquired, “O noble ones, who are you and what brings you here? It seems you are warriors but you have taken to life of sanyasins. Why is it so? O delicate ones of royal origin, your feet are having blisters due to this rough terrain. Please tell me about yourselves.”

Lord Rama answered, “O Noble Monkey, we are the princes from Ayodhya. My name is Rama and he is my brother Laxmana. As it happens, Ravana has kidnapped my wife Sita and we are moving in search of her. And by the way who are you, who speaks to us with such devotion and love?”

No sooner did Lord Rama speak thus, and then Lord Hanuman realized that he was face to face with his Ishtha — Lord Rama. With tears in his eyes, he prostrated at the lotus feet of Lord Rama and said, “O Lord, you have taken such a long time to come to your devotee that this Hanuman has almost become an ignorant fool not to recognize you. What a foolish question to ask – who are you!”

Lord Rama lifted Lord Hanuman and put him to his chest, patting him on his back. The tears flowed freely from the eyes of Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman.

With the help of Sugriva, the monkeys were sent off in all the four directions to look for Sita. The monkeys who had gone towards the south learnt that Sita was in Lanka, across the ocean. Only Lord Hanuman could fly as his godfather was Vayudev (God of wind), So he leapt over the ocean and arrived in Lanka. He discovered the lonesome Sita in a grove of ashoka trees, the ashokavatika. Lord Hanuman introduced himself and assured Sita that he would soon be back with Lord Rama. Lord Hanuman caused some general havoc in Lanka and was captured by Meghnaad or Indrajit (Ravana’s son). Ravana ordered that Lord Hanuman’s tail should be set on fire. But Lord Hanuman used his burning tail to set fire to all the houses of Lanka.

He then returned to Lord Rama with the news that Sita had been found. Lord Rama, Lakshmana and the army of monkeys arrived at the shores of the ocean. There they built a bridge with stones over the ocean so that they could cross over into Lanka.

Then, there was a terrible war in which Lord Rama killed the giant Kumbhakarna (Ravana’s Brother). Lakshmana killed Indrajit. In the end, Lord Rama killed Ravana with a powerful divine weapon, the brahmastra.

The fourteen years were by now over and Lord Rama, Lakshmana and Sita returned to Ayodhya. There Lord Rama was crowned king and he treated his subjects as his own sons. He punished the wicked and followed the path of dharma. During Lord Rama’s rule there was no shortage of food grains anywhere and the people were righteous. No one died an untimely death. Lord Rama and Sita had two sons named Luv and Kush. Lord Rama went on to rule for eleven thousand years before he died.

“JAI SHRI RAM”
”जय श्रीराम”

Copyright (C) VIbhor Mahajan

Lord Vishnu – Dashavatharam (Part – VI)

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 04:53:55 -0500

Lord Vishnu – Dashavatharam (Part – VI)

With the departure of Lord Krishna, the Kali yuga set in. In this age, the true devotion to Vedas was replaced by empty rituals. To enlighten the world, Lord Vishnu descended to Earth as Lord Buddha, the enlightened one.

Lord Buddha was born as the crown prince of the Kapilavastu to King Suddhodana and Queen Maya. He was named Siddhartha, meaning “All thing fulfilled”. On his birth the wise men made predictions – “O King,” they said, “the signs of the Prince’s birth are most favourable. Your son will grow up to be even greater than you are now!”

Later an old sage named Asita, who lived by himself in the distant forests visited the palace to see the new born. The King and Queen were Surprised that Asita would leave his forest home and appear at their palace. The king was very happy and excited, he brought the baby to sage Asita. For a long time the holy man gazed at the infant and then said – “Oh dear king, If your son decides to stay with you and become a king, he will be the greatest king in history. He rule a vast realm and bring his people much peace and happiness. But if he decides not to become a king, his future will be even greater! He will become a great teacher, showing all people how to live with peace and love in their hearts. Seeing the sadness in the world he will leave your palace and discover a way to end all suffering. Then he will teach this way to whoever will listen.”

Siddhartha was destined to lead a luxurious life as a prince and had three palaces, for three different seasonal occupations, especially built for him. King Suddhodana’s wish for Siddhartha was to become a great king and so he shielded him from religious teachings or any knowledge
of human suffering. When he was seven, the Prince began to receive scholarly instruction from the Institute of Vissavamitr, which was the best education a Prince could receive. But on the seventh day of his study he had graduated and become an expert in all forms of knowledge.

When the Prince reached the age of sixteen, the King arranged his marriage to Princess Yasodhara.

Although she was beautiful and he himself was continually surrounded by beautiful female servants and slaves,Prince Siddhartha was not satisfied simply with this beauty and felt that there was more to a person’s life than wealth and beauty. He looked around his palace and he found nothing to satisfy his quest to seek out the answers to his questions. One day he was traveling out of the palace walls with his charioteer, Channa. In the city, he found living beings: a new born child, a diseased man, an old and decaying corpse, and finally an ascetic.

On that day, after returning to his palace, his son, Prince Rahula, was born. Siddhartha felt that he, his wife, his new born son, and all people would be living under the same cycle of beings that he had seen that day. He considered his own predicament, thought about his talents and potential, and became determined to set himself, and all others around the world, free from this cycle of suffering. He, alone, would find the answer.

At the age of 29, Siddhartha escaped from his palace, accompanied by Channa, aboard his horse Kanthaka. He left his royal life to become a mendicant. It is stated in the scriptures that, “…the horse’s hooves were muffled by the angels in order to prevent guards from knowing that the Bodhisattva had departed.” Before his departure, however, Mara (evil) appeared to him to try and stop him from leaving, to which Siddhartha replied –“You are a wicked tempter. I will cross endless oceans to pursue my path. I will cross countless pits of fire regardless of their size. Neither great evil nor great goodness (wealth) will prohibit me from going.”

Siddhartha left Kapilavastu that night and on the banks of the Anoma River cut his hair and took on the life of an ascetic. Siddhartha then practiced a way of liberation under the institutes of two hermit teachers – Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, but, although he achieved higher levels of meditative consciousness, he was still not satisfied with his path. And, so, he moved on.

Siddhartha then went on to Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha, and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the streets. In Rajagaha, Siddhartha joined five companions headed by Kondanna who was the Brahmin who had stated that Siddhartha would become a great holy man but not a King. They tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods – including food and practicing self‐mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food he began to look like a skeleton.

One day he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned, it was at this point that he began to reconsider his path. As he lay there, a boat passed him and he overheard the conversation that two musicians were having aboard – “If you tighten the string too tight it will snap, but if you loosen it, it will not play.” And from this, he realized that he would have to take “Middle Way” to reach enlightenment. True enlightenment could not be reached by going to either extreme.

After many days, Siddhartha started to have some food as it was needed by his body. On that day after having a nice bath in the Neranjara River, his body was as bright as the full moon. Beside him stood a village woman name Sujata who was thinking of fulfilling a vow of having a son and she had a golden tray of rice porridge in her hands. After six years of asceticism and concentrating on mortification, the great ascetic, Siddhartha, had discovered the path of adequacy – a path of moderation away from the extremes of self‐indulgence and self‐mortification. He accepted the rice porridge tray from Sujata who tried to give him food all these six years. After this meal, his mind was free and fresh – nothing is this world was a worry to him. He turned to the golden tray and placed the tray into the tide of Neranjara and made a wish that if he could become enlightened, the tray would float upstream. The tray floated upstream and sunk, right to the bottom of the river where the other three trays from the three previous Buddha’s had also made their wish. Naga, the big serpent, was wakened from the sound of its splash, and said “Goodness, one more Buddha has come for enlightenment”.

Siddhartha turned to sit under a papal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree, and vowed to sit under the tree until either one of two things happened: his body would be decayed, dried or left only to tendons like a skeleton, or he would arise as an enlightened being having found the Truth.

He attained complete enlightenment on the sixth lunar month on the same day as his birth, at the age of 35. From that day on, he was known as “The Buddha”, “The Awakened One”, or “The Enlightened One”.

For the remaining years of his life, Lord Buddha is said to have travelled all of the regions in and around India – Bangladesh, Bihar, Pakistan, and Nepal – to teach his doctrine and discipline to extremely diverse groups of people; from nobles to outcast street sweepers, from mass murderers such as Angulimala to cannibal ogres such as Alavaka. He also reached out to teach many adherents of rival philosophies and religions. Lord Buddha founded the community of Buddhist monks and female monks to continue the dissemination of the Dhamma to the millions of people who lived in this area even after his Parinirvana or “Complete Nirvana”. His religion was opened to all races and classes, and it contained no caste structure.

At his death, Lord Buddha told his disciples to follow no leader, but to follow his teachings.

I do not see any harm in the whole world.
Hence, I do sleep
With compassion for all living beings”.

– Lord Buddha

Devaraja’s Tale – Shiva Puran

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 05:43:21 -0500

Long time ago, there lived a Brahmin named Devaraja in town of Kirantanagara. A very lax, unprincipled and degenerate life he lived. No bathing and no praying was the order of his day. He was lecherous by nature. It appeared that the sole object of his life was to make money and spend it on vice games to satisfy his carnal desires. He would not mind cheating others and creating misunderstandings between friends and relatives.

One day, he went to the pond to wash himself for a change and happened to see there a woman of easy virtue called Shobhavati. Devaraja could not resist the coquettish gestures of the evil woman. She took away all the money he had by and by. He completely ignored the pleadings of his parents and the wife. To be free to do whatever he liked, he went to live with the evil woman in her house. When he had blown away all his money, the woman kicked him out of her house. She had no use of him any more.

The Brahmin roamed around and reached a place called Pratishthanapura. He fell ill there. He thought he was going to die. In a nearby Lord Shiva temple he took shelter. On the floor he lay unable to move. There was nothing he could do but listen to the recitation of the Shiva Puran and religious sermons being delivered to faithful’s. The sermons and recitations concluded on the day he finally died.

The agents of the lord of death, Yama duly arrived there to take charge of the soul of Devraja to take it to hell of after world. But the servitor agents of Lord Shiva Intervened to stop them. The agents of death revealed the long list of sins the dad Brahmin Devaraja had committed during his life time. The agents of Lord Shiva reasoned that what the dead man had done or how he lived no longer mattered, since the last few days of his life were spent in hearing the recitations of holy Shiva Puran which had cleansed him of all his sins. They took the soul of Devaraja to the Kailasha domain of Lord Shiva.

To his puzzled agents, Lord Yama explained, when they expressed their surprise over incident, that great was the glory of Lord Shiva and great was his grace bestowed upon those who listened to the Kathas of Shiva Puran.

" HAR HAR MAHADEV"

Copyright (C) Vibhor Mahajan

Origin Of Creation

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 12:33:25 -0500

The basic element of manifest and the un-manifest, Power Eternal started the creation in manifested Lord Brahma form. First, water came into existence. By the will of power eternal, Lord Shiva, a divinity got vested in the water and was called “Narayana” (Water borne). Then an egg appeared in the water and out of it came Lord Brahma who split the egg in two halves horizontally. The upper half became celestial world and the lower half the base. The space in between was turned into sky and fourteen domains by Lord Brahma.

[![neutron-star-magnetar_1118_610x343](/images/neutron-star- magnetar_1118_610x343.jpg)](https://vibhormahajan.files.wordpress.com/2012/08 /neutron-star-magnetar_1118_610x343.jpg)

He created earth on water. Ten directions came into being in the sky. Then creator made elements of mind, speech, angst, beauty and love. A seven sage group made up of Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Ritu and Vashishtha materialised as willed by the mind of creator. The sages were the material and sources for the creation of Purans.

Then, Lord Brahma revealed four Vedas, the book form repositories of wisdom and knowledge of religious exercises. He worshipped Deity Supreme before producing the gods from his chest, humans from his thighs and demons from lower parts. He rested for a long time to assess his creations. But it was a static world with no scope of evolution. To correct this fault he created body and its nature. More creations followed in that format. It was also flawed being non-generative and non-re-creative.

Lord Brahma created a host of his mind born sons who came to be known as Manus. In the same way Manus created more Manus as their own lines of sages, seers and holy ones also came into existence in large numbers. Creator and Manus shaped various other creatures, four legged, two legged, water borne and winged ones. But it still made no sense. Lord Brahma and his Manus were creating like potters make pots and had no generative power of their own. The created world was stagnating. There was no variety, no evolution and no self generation. It frustrated Lord Brahma.

[![Lord Brahma](/images/lord- brahma.jpg)](https://vibhormahajan.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/lord- brahma.jpg)

He Prayed to Lord Shiva to guide him into right and lively kind of creation that did not stagnate. Deity Supreme answered the prayer after a long penance of Lord Brahma by manifesting in his Ardhanareeshwara form which was made up of “Half-man + Half-woman” vertically. In this way, he revealed that self- generating and evolutionary creation was possible only through gender based male-female pairing. Lord Brahma got the message.

[![androgyny-Ardhanarisvara](/images/androgyny- ardhanarisvara.jpg)](https://vibhormahajan.files.wordpress.com/2012/08 /androgyny-ardhanarisvara.jpg)

Then Lord Brahma’s mind projected gender based Manu and Shatroopa pair. Their mating produced sexually reproductive Manus who bred their own lines of males and females. It led to the explosion of the life forms by evolution, sons, daughters, couplings, species and dynastic. King Uttanpada was born who sired the great faithful Dhruva.

Dhruva had two sons, Pushti and Dhanya. They bred Ripu, Ripunjaya, Vipra, Nrikala, Vrisha and Teja to further the blood line in Chaksuta, Varuna, Bena, Prithu (The incarnation of Lord Vishnu), Vijitashwa, Prajapati, Haryavya and his ten thousand sons who became ascetic upon hearing the sermon of Sage Narada who said the mundane life was not worth living being full of woes and miseries. Angered Daksha (Prajapati) put a curse on Narada to be foot loose and not to stay at one place for long. Then, Daksha sired thirteen girls who were married to Sages, Kashyapa, Angira, Krishnashwa and Chandra. As sexual wave spread, Daksha sired more girls said to be 28 in total. The earlier married ones also got new wives besides the girls getting new husband. They all produced a number of deity figures like Vishwa, Sadhya, Marutwana, eight Vasus, twelve Bhanus, Mahurtaja, Ghosa, Naga, Prithvi etc. Then arrived Sankalp, Ava, Dhurva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Pratyusha and Prabhasha. Sankalpa was their mother.

Prabha produced Vishwakarma Prajapati. He was a craftsman who crafted various masterpieces for the gods like aerial craft, homes, ornaments, embellishments etc. He became deity of craftsmen and skilled workers. Sarupa produced Rudras and they all multiplied into millions of Rudras but eleven are main Rudras namely, Raivata, Aja, Bheema, Bhava, Ugra, Bhama, Vrisha, Kapi, Ankpada, Ahirbungna, Bahurupa and Mahana. They are masters of the world.

In Chakshusha’s blood line Vena was born who was an evil character. He harassed all in many ways. So much so that even sages fled to the forests. At last the seers and sages worked up the death of Vena by invoking a killer mantra. When his mother wept bitterly, the sages of Saraswata line churned the dead Vena’s right hand and out of it Prithu was born. Prithu became the first sole king of the earth. He turned earth into a cow and made it yield the milk of herbal plants, food grain crops, fruit bearing trees, vegetable plants etc. He had four sons. One of them sired ten enunciate sons called Prachatas. They made penance to propitiate Lord Shiva for thousands of years. Lord booned them power to save earth from over vegetation. Prachetas returned to normal life and married Anubhuti. the daughter of Chandra.

Kashyapa Bloodline

Aditi, Diti, Sursa, Arishta, Ila, Dhanu, Surabhi, Vinita, Tabra, Krodha, Voshi, Kadru etc. were the wives of Sage Kashyapa. Aditi gave birth to twelve deities of Tushita order. She was the mother of Lord Vishnu (manifested) and Indra also. Diti produced giants (demonic) and Dhanu bore demons. Vinita produced asura, garuda and other species of birds and animals. Sursa became mother of reptiles. That is why she is known as Nagmata also. Her sons include even the divine serpents like Adishesha, Vasuki and Takshaka. Krodha produced offspring with fangs and claws. Surabhi gave birth to rabbits, hare and buffaloes. Ila was the mother of trees, plants, creepers and other greens. One of them produced females only who became the celestial beauties known as apsaras. Kadruva gave birth to pythons, dragons and boas. Arishta gave birth to men-o-snake.

The offspring’s of Khasha made up the orders of Yakshas and Rakshasas. Tabra produced eight daughters in Keki, Syeni Bhasi, Sujrevi, Shuki, Gridharika, Ashani and valooki besides sons. Further on Keki bore crows, Syeni bore hawks and kites and Bhasi bore ducks and other game birds. Gridharika produced eagles and vultures. Ashmi begot camels, horses and all kinds of asses.

Thus the wives of Kashyapa filled up the world with greens, plants, forests, birds, animals, reptiles, insects and other living creatures. The world was came to be known as Kashyapi.

Glory of Eternal Uma–7 Manifestations (Part-I)

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 12:27:09 -0500

The eternal force Mahamaya, an eternal part of Lord Shiva. Also known as Ma- Uma or Adi-Shakti, manifested in seven different avatars as Mahamaya, Yogmaya, Mahakali, Mahalaxmi, Gauri, Durga and Yaksharoopa, since the very beginning of creation.

Mahakali and Yogmaya Manifestations

[![250px-Mahakali](/images/250px- mahakali.jpg)](https://vibhormahajan.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/250px- mahakali.jpg)

At the very beginning of the creation water came into existence by the will of force eternal Lord Shiva. In water, Lord Vishnu vested. A long penance tired him out and he went to deep sleep of yoganidra. From the ear wax of Lord Vishnu got two mighty demons created who were called Madhu and Kaitabha. For a long period they made penance and got the blessings of Power Eternal Mahamaya. Meanwhile, a lotus stalk had emerged from the navel of sleeping Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma appeared atop the flower. The demons spotted him and began to harass him. The frightened Brahma tried to seek protection of Lord Vishnu but he found the latter withdrawn into yoganidra. In desperation, Lord Brahma prayed to Mahamaya. She answered his prayer by manifesting as Mahakali on the twelfth day of the first fortnight of Phaluguna. She woke up Lord Vishnu by exiting from his eyes as Yogmaya.

To defend Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu challenged the demon duo and fought with them for five thousand years but failed to subdue them. Then, Lord Vishnu invoked Mahamaya and prayed for her help. Mahamaya befuddled the minds of demon duo and made them tell Lord Vishnu how they could be accounted for. So Lord Vishnu put their heads on his widened thighs and killed them as that was the only way possible.

Mahalaxmi (Jagdamba) Manifestation

The demon lord Rambhasura was a mighty one who had become a scourge of the gods. His son Mahishasura was even mightier than him and was a repository of more evils. He was a very ambitious demon and to realise his demonic dreams he made a hard penance to propitiate Lord Brahma. From Lord Brahma he got a boon that no man or god shall ever kill him. After gaining that boon he went berserk tormenting all the three worlds. He raided heaven and banished gods from there. The deities of the directions were under his constant threat and punishment. Then he targeted all the people who used to worship deities and celestial beings. He banned all religious rites and ceremonies. No yajna no havana and no worship was his monstrous order.

The deities and the gods went to Lord Brahma seeking deliverance from the tyranny of Mahishasura. Lord Brahma took them to Lord Vishnu as the former had himself booned the demon. Lord Vishnu advised that they must all go to Lord Shiva to seek his help. They all paid to Deity Supreme. Lord Shiva revealed that the demon could be killed only by a female character as he could not die at the hands of a male due to his boon. Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Rudra shot out light balls of their divinity which fused in one radiant body. The other gods shot into it their own respective beams. Thus amplified ball of light transformed into a goddess figure of Mahalaxmi, also called ‘Jagdamba’. She was a picture of valour. Her face radiated the divinity of Lord Shiva and the other parts of her body represented the divinity of other gods. She had lord Vishnu arms and thighs and the legs of Lord Brahma. Yama was in her hair and she rode a lion.

The divine lords lent her their powers. She got the trident of Lord Shiva, Sudarshan Chakra of Lord Vishnu, Thunderbolt of Indra, Armour from Vishwakarma, Heat from Agni, Carrying Bowl of Lord Rama, Time scale and shield from Yama, Storm from Pavana, Liquidity from Varuna, Rays from Surya and the other gods empowered her according to their own divine capacities. Thus power packed Mahalaxmi rode that reverberated through the universe. It elated the hearts of the gods.

They all prayed to deliver them from the torments of evil Mahishasura. She assured them of her protection and the independence from the demonic tyranny. She went to the ground outside the palace of the demon and let out a mighty roar which shook the entire universe.

Angry demons came out to meet the challengers. There were great demonic battlers in Chiksura, Chandra, Udagara, Kerala, Bhaksha etc. besides Mahishasura.

The two armies clashed. To help Mahalaxmi, the host of the gods had also followed her but the most of the fighting was being done by the goddess herself. She killed several renowned demon warriors in no time. Very soon all the big names of the demons except Mahishasura had become history. It angered the demon lord. The demons of the order of Mahishasura were basically wilder beasts who could transform into any animal shape.

Angry Mahishasura charged in his bull buffalo form at Mahalaxmi and herarmy.He played havoc with the gods who prayed to the goddess to deal with the demon. She tossed a lasso at the demon buffalo and seized it. To get off the noose the demon transformed into a lion and tried to clobber the lion the goddess was riding. Mahalaxmi raised her sword to slay the enemy lion but he instantly reverted to his demonic form. The goddess attacked with her sword, spear and arrows to confuse her enemy.

Mahishasura transformed into an elephant and trumpeted violently. Mahalaxmi cut it’s tongue in a swift move. The demon again changed his form and resorted to demonic poltergy creating great many illusions. The goddess took a swing from her divine flagon of wine gifted to her by Kubera. Then she blew her conch shell in fury creating shock waves and let out a thunderous laughter that made Mahishasura tremble. With a beastly roar she jumped at Mahishasura and stomped him down to earth. Her foot was on the demon neck and her trident impaled the face of her enemy and she lifted him up in the air as if raising the flag of her victory.

The Scene frightened the demon army and it fled in all directions in fright. The delighted gods rained down flowers from the heaven to celebrate the victory and kettle drums were beaten. The gods assembled around Mahalaxmi and sang her prayers requesting her to keep her protection extended to the noble forces forever.

" Jai Mata Di"

Copyright (C) Vibhor Mahajan

Glory of Eternal Uma-7 Manifestations (Part-II)

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 12:18:37 -0500

Gauri (Kaushiki) Tale

Once there existed two demon brothers called Shumbha and Nishumbha. They were mighty and very big trouble makers. All the three worlds and their populaces were living under the fear of those two demons. They had let loose a rule of tyranny. The gods and other celestial races had fled to the caves and forests to hide. That made the demon duo more arrogant and cruel.

The gods were advised by Brihaspati and Lord Brahma to seek the help of Goddess Parvati (Uma manifest). The gods went to the forest where Goddess Parvati was making penance to sort out her own problems. To help the gods she created her alter-ego out of her call. This new manifestation of her was called Gauri (The white one) since she had a spotless milk white skin. She was also known as Kaushiki for being born out of a cell (Kaushika). She astride a tiger armed with many fangled divine weapons. An incredible beauty she was and drank wine from a silver flask that dangled from her waist. Her skin was so clear that the gods could see red liquid going down her throat. Like a big cat she growled angrily. The over whelmed gods sang paeans to her as she made the universe shudder. She needed no briefing as she had heard the woes of the gods revealed wen she was a part of Goddess Parvati.

She flashed to a garden outside the palace of the evil demon pair of Shumba and Nishumbha. The demon commanders called Chanda and Munda saw her there. The beauty of Gauri stunned them. They ran to their demon pair of masters, Shumbha and Nishumbha with the news of the arrival of a unique beauty in the garden that deserved to the grace the palace of the demons. They had no words to explain her beauty correctly.

It excited Shumbha and Nishumbha. They sent some messengers to Gauri proposing her to marry one of the two and enjoy all the luxuries and splendours of the palace. Gauri revealed that she was avowed to marry only a person who would defeat her in a battle. The demon lords thought it was below there dignity to fight a tender girl of the weaker sex. It was some joke, they thought. So they sent their commander, Dhoomralochana to reason with her and if it did not work he was asked to bring her to palace by force. The demon got burnt to ashes by an angry gaze of Gauri. Then the demon duo sent their warriors Chanda and Munda with a host. A growl of Gauri blew away the demon host. She grabbed the fleeing Chanda and Munda and killed them. For killing Dhoomralochana, Devi got the epithet of ‘Dhoomravati’ and for slaying Chanda - Munda she gained the adjective name of ‘Chandika’.

Then, demon lords sent Raktabeeja demon to teach a lesson to the irrepressible Gauri. The every drop of blood of that demon fallen on ground could produce another demon like him. It created a problem for Gauri. To counter it Gauri produced many dark manifestations of her called Kaalis who drank the blood of Raktabeeja by collecting it in coconut shells to prevent its being spilled on the ground. Thus Gauri was able to slay demon Raktabeeja. Now Shumbha and Nishumbha had to come to the battle.

The demon duo again tried to entreat her to stop battling and marry them to make them her slaves for ever. Gauri challenged them to defeat her in battle if they were real men and prove that they were worth marrying. To impress their lords, warriors came forward to challenge Gauri who rained arrows at them killing most of them and making the rest fall back. Shumbha was dismayed, Nishumbha moved forward and spoke - “O beauty, why should you kill our poor soldiers with arrows when you can kill us with your one askance glance?” Gauri gave him a treat of a volley of her deadly arrows. Nishumbha had to engage in a battle with her. Devi Gauri’s arrows destroyed all his demonic weapons and then felled him to ground as Shumbha watched in shock.

The death of his brother angered Shumbha and he moved forward to challenge Gauri. Finding him in front of her made her let out great roar that sounded like a thunder clap followed by a rumble. It put scare into the demon host that trembled. Shumbha launched a fiery weapon on Gauri which the latter cut to pieces with her arrows. Then, Devi threw her glimmering trident at the demon that went through latter’s rib cage to protrude its dents from the back. The wounded Shumbha staggered towards his female foe with his sword raised. Gauri released her deadly chakra and beheaded the evil demon. The bulk of the demon collapsed the ground. Devi’s tiger devoured the dead demons.

The gods rained down flowers and sounded bugles and kettle drums to hail the victory of Goddess Gauri. The celestial rhapsodists sang her paeans.

Uma Manifests as Yaksharoopa

Once again yet another battle was fought by the gods and the demons against each other. This time the gods won and the defeated demons had to flee to the bottom world of Patala.

This victory was secured without seeking the help or blessings of The Trinity. It filled the hearts and the minds of the gods with arrogance. Big egos they grew. They got so overblown that they talked of nothing but their valour, endeavour, battle skills, courage, grit, will power, divinity, wisdom etc. The unmanifest power eternal, Uma felt the gods needed to be corrected and some sense put back into them. In the domain of the gods she mysteriously manifested in the form of a giant and radiant female figure of Yaksha. The gods saw it wondered who or what it was. No one had any idea. Yaksha herself did not bother to reveal anything deepening the enigma.

Mystified Indra sent Vayu, the wind god to find out who the intruder was. To Vayu’s query about her identity she did not reply and ask who he was. The wind god introduced himself and extolled his own divine powers of creating storms, tornadoes, typhoons etc. The Yaksharoopa put a straw on the ground and asked him to blow it away. Vayu used all his powers but the straw remained inert at its place. Yaksharoopa smiled mockingly. Embarrassed Vayu returned to Indra in defeat.

Then, Indra sent Agni, the fire god to investigate. When asked to introduce himself Agni boasted about his incendiary powers. Yaksharoopa again put straw in front of him and asked him to demonstrate his burning powers. Agni used all his powers but straw remained there unaffected. He too went back defeated. Indra sent other powerful gods to try their powers but all returned with long faces and bent heads.

It greatly surprised the celestial lord, Indra. He himself went to see the mysterious figure. But Yaksharoopa had vanished. He stood puzzled. Then, Saraswati, the goddess of knowledges whispered into his mind to use common sense to know who it could be? It was primordial Eternal Force! The truth suddenly dawned on Indra. He at once prayed to the Force Eternal. It manifested in form of Uma to speak," Look, I am the divinity of Brahma,Vishnu and Mahesh. Even they are nothing without my grace. I provide to you all the powers you have that earn you victories. If I withdraw those powers all your gods will be reduced to nothing. So, you must not become self conceited. Humility should be your asset. One who grows ego he works his own downfall."

Indra promised that he and other gods would never again fall pray to ego. He prayed for her grace.

" JAI MATA DI"

Copyright (C) Vibhor Mahajan

Glory of Eternal Uma-7 Manifestations (Part-III)

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 12:11:46 -0500

[![adi-shakti-tridevi](/images/adi-shakti- tridevi.jpg)](https://vibhormahajan.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/adi-shakti- tridevi.jpg)

Shatakshi Durga Tale

A great trouble maker demon named Durgama was once the scourge of all the faithful’s, the gods, sages, nobles and peace loving people of the three worlds. Great was his physical power and master of Vedas he had become. He had made a long penance and had asked for Vedas as a boon from propitiated Brahma. He had studied them all and had become all knowing. Durgama found out that the gods got empowered by the religious acts of yajna, havana, penance, charity, fasts and worship regimes. As he became the ruler of all the worlds he banned all those religious acts to debilitate the gods. The gods were no more getting empowered and their divinity was diminishing.

The gods got together and prayed to primordial Devi power Uma to redeem them. In the prayer the gods revealed how evil Durgama was squeezing divinity out of them and tormenting them. How woe begotten had become their existence! The demon had monopolised the knowledge of Vedas. The water was not available and without it no religious ritual was possible. No rain could fall as water god and rain god had been rendered powerless by the demon Durgama. They no more received empowering oblations as no yajna and havana was being performed. They prayed to Mahamaya Uma to deliver them from Durgama.

Mahamaya materialised in the form of one hundred eyed Shatakshi. In her many hands she held bow, arrows, lotus, tubers, vegetable, corn and weapons. Her one hundred eyes shed tears of sympathy for the parched lands and the thirsting creatures. Her tears flowed to become streams to provide water. The people were blessed with plentiful bounties of food grains, vegetables and tubers. The land again greened up. The people could harvest the crops again with water aplenty. All the tanks, lakes, pools and wells were full of water.

Then, Mahamaya Uma asked the praying deities and the gods to seek boons from her. She was beseeched and retrieve the Vedas from his possession. The human priest also made the same request as the demons were missing the knowledge of Vedas.

This manifestation of Mahamaya Uma was named ’ Shatakshi’ for having hundred eyes and ‘Shakambari’ for providing food and vegetables to the people.

Meanwhile, Durgama was getting uneasy about the situation. He was feeling the vibes that his enemy gods were again getting empowered and were gaining strength. He could not understand what was causing it. He decided to raid the celestial domain once again to destroy whatever was causing the revival of the gods. But he could not reach the capital city of gods Amravati because his way was barred by the incarnation of Mahamaya Uma. She stood there with her divine wheel and other weapons ready to face the foe. The host of gods stood behind her. Durgama was not alone. He was backed up by a huge force of demon warriors.

Seeing this Devi produced a host of her alter forms in Kali, Tara, Chinnamastaka, Shri Vidya, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Bagala, Matangi, Tripura Sundari and Rauravi. These ten alter forms further generated their own hosts. Thus, a great goddess force launched itself on the demon host. The demons were cut down like fodder. A mighty blow from her own self felled the mighty demon Durgama. For this victory over demon Durgama, the Devi incarnation also got the name of ’ Durga’ which later became an epithet or adjective noun meaning ’ Fierce and indomitable battler ‘.

For slaying demons she is known also as ’ Bhīma Devi’. The consort of Shiva manifestation of Mahamaya Uma came to be known as ’ Parvati’ because she dwelled in mountains (Parvat), Himalaya being her parental adobe and Kailasha mountain as her marital home. Devi got the name of _’ Bhramarambha’_when she sent black bees (Bhramars) to kill Aruna.

" JAI MATA DI"

Copyright (C) Vibhor Mahajan

Story Of Navratri

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 12:05:27 -0500

The story of Navratra is the symbolic message of the fact that however glorious and powerful the evil become, at the end it is the goodness that wins over all of the evil. The story is associated with Maa Durga and Mahisasura, the buffalo headed demon.

The story begins from the life of two sons of Danu called Rambha and Karambha who performed austerities to gain extreme power and authority. When their prayers became deeper and austerities became exceptional, the King of the heaven God Indra got perturbed. Out of fear, he killed Karambha. Rambha, who came to know about his brother’s death, became more stubborn to win over the Gods. He increased the intensity of his austerities and finally got several boons from gods like great brilliance, beauty, invincibility in war. He also asked a special wish of not being killed by either humans or Gods or Asuras.

He then considered himself immortal and started freely roaming in the garden of Yaksha where he saw a female-buffalo and fell in love with her. To express his love, Rambha disguised in the form of a male-buffalo and copulated with the female buffalo. However, soon after that a real male buffalo discovered Rambha mating with the she-buffalo and killed him. It was due to Rambha’s inflated ego that killed him, out of which he has not asked his death to be spared from the wrath of animals. As the pyre of Rambha was organized, the female-buffalo, who was copulated with him jumped into the funeral pyre of Rambha to prove her love. She was pregnant at that time. Thus, demon came out of the with the head of a buffalo and human body and he was named Mahishasura (the buffalo headed demon).

Mahishasura was extremely powerful. He defeated the gods and the demons and acquired power over the entire world. He even won over the heaven and threw devas outside of it. He captured the throne of Indra and declared himself to be the the lord of the gods. The gods led by Lord Brahma approached Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva and evaluated them of the situation. In order to save the Gods, the three supreme deities emerged a light of anger, which combined to the take the shape of a terrible form and this was Durga. All the gods then granted this Goddess of power with all the supreme weapons they had. This is why; Durga is called the brilliance of all the Gods.

When the goddess was seen by Mahishasura, he was mesmerized by her beauty. Her then fell in love with her and proposed to marry her. The goddess said she will marry him, if he defeated her in the battle. Then began a scary and terrible battle between both of then which continued for nine days. Finally, on the last day, Durga took the form of Chandika and stood over the chest of Mahishasura and smashed him down with her foot. She then pierced his neck with her spear and cut off his head off with her sword. It is the day when Vijayadashmi is celebrated.

“Darbaar Tera Darbaaron Mein,
Ik Khaas Ehmiyat Rakhta Hai…
Usko Vaisa Mil Jata Hai,
Jo Jaisi Niyat Rakhta Hai”

“Pyaara Saja Hai Tera Dwaar Bhawaani
Badaa Nyaara Sajaa Hai Tera Dwaar Bhawaani
Bhakhton Ki, Tere bhakton Ki Lagi Hai Kataar Bhawaani
Badaa Pyaara Sajaa Hai Tera Dwaar Bhawaani”

" JAI MATA DI"

Copyright (C) Vibhor Mahajan

Song of God – The Bhagavad Gita (Part – I)

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 11:58:54 -0500

The armies of the Pandavas, and the Kauravas stood facing each other on the battlefield. Then suddenly, a chariot drew away from the Pandava side and came between the two armies. A banner displaying the image of a monkey fluttered above it. It was Arjuna.

Arjuna looked at the army before him. Then he looked at the army behind him. Brothers, uncles and nephews, ready to fight and kill one another - for what? A piece of land? “I cannot do this”, he said. “This cannot be dharma!”

To the surprise of all assembled warriors, he lowered his bow.

“Don’t be such a weakling, Arjuna. Face the situation like a man!” shouted Lord Krishna.

“I cannot”, moaned Arjuna, his shoulders dropping.

‘It’s your duty as a Kshatriya", said Lord Krishna, trying to reason with him.

“I cannot”, said Arjuna.

“They abused your wife. They encroached upon your kingdom. Fight for justice, Arjuna”, pleaded Lord Krishna.

Arjuna replied - “I see no sense in killing brothers and uncles and friends. This is cruelty, not nobility. I would rather have peace than vengeance.”

Lord Krishna said - “Noble thoughts indeed. But where does this nobility comes from? Generosity or fear? Wisdom or ignorance? Suddenly, you are confronted by the enormity of the situation - the possibility of failure, the price of success - and you tremble. You wish it had not come to this. Rather than face the situation, you withdraw. Your decision is based on a misreading of the situation. If you knew the world as it truly is, you would be in bliss even at this moment.”

“I don’t understand.”, said Arjuna.

It was then that Lord Krishna sang his song, a song that explained to Arjuna the true nature of the world. This was The Bhagavad Gita.

“Yes, you would kill hundreds of warriors. But that would be the death only of the flesh. Within the flesh is the immortal soul that never dies. It will be reborn; it will wrap itself in a new body as fresh clothes after old ones are discarded. What is a man’s true identity; the temporary flesh or the permanent soul? What do you kill, Arjuna? What can you kill?

“The flesh exists to direct you to the soul. For the flesh enables you to experience all things temporary - your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions. The world around it is temporary. The body itself is temporary. Eventually, disappointed of all things temporary, you will seek permanence and eventually discover the soul. You grieve for flesh, right now, Arjuna, without even realizing the reason it exists.”

“Of all living creatures, the human being is the most blessed. For human flesh is blessed with intellect. Humans alone can distinguish between all that is temporary and all that is not. Humans alone can distinguish between flesh and soul. Arjuna, you and all those on this battlefield have spent their entire life losing this opportunity - focusing more on mortal things than on immortal things.”

“Your flesh receives information about the external world through your five sense organs: eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin. Your flesh engages with the external material world through your five action organs: hands, feet, face, anus and genitals. Between the stimulus and the response, a whole series of processes take place in your mind. These processes construct your understanding of the material world. What you, Arjuna, consider as the battlefield is but a perception of your mind. And like all perceptions it is not real.”

“Your intellect is not aware of your soul. It seeks meaning and validation. Why does it exist? It seeks answers in the material world and finds that everything in the material world is mortal, nothing is immortal. Awareness of death generates fear. It makes the intellect feel invalidated and worthless. From fear is born the ego. The ego contaminates the mind to comfort the intellect. It focuses on events, memories and desires that validate its existence and make it feel immortal and powerful. It shuns all that that makes it feel worthless and mortal. Right now, your ego controls your mind, Arjuna. It gives greater value to the finite experience of your flesh and distracts you from the infinite experiences of your soul. Hence, your anxiety, fear and delusion.”

“Your mind retains memory of all past simulations - those that evoke fear and those that generate comfort. Your mind also imagines situations that frighten you and comfort you. Goaded by your ego, you suppress memories that cause pain and prefer memories that bring pleasure. Goaded by your ego, you imagine situations that the ego seeks and shuns. Right now, Arjuna. on this battlefield, nothing has happened. But a lot is occurring in your mind - memories resurface as ghosts and imagination descends like a demon. That is why you suffer.”

“Your ego constructs a measuring scale to evaluate a situation. This measuring scale determines your notions of fearful or comforting, painful or pleasurable, right or wrong, appropriate or inappropriate, good or bad. It is informed by the values of the world you live in, but is always filtered by the ego before being accepted. Right now, Arjuna, what you consider right is based on your measuring scale. What Duryodhana considers right is based on his measuring scale. Which measuring scale is appropriate? Is there one free of bias?”

“The world that you perceive is actually a delusion based on your chosen measuring scale. New memories and new imaginations can change this measuring scale, hence your perception of the world. Only the truly enlightened know the world as it truly is; the rest construct a reality that comforts the ego. The enlightened are therefore always at peace while the rest are constantly restless and insecure. If you were enlightened, Arjuna, you could have been in this battlefield, bow in hand, but still in peace. If you were enlightened, Arjuna, you would have fought without anger, killed without hate.”

“Your ego clings to things that grant it maximum comfort. The purpose of life then becomes the pursuit of comfort - generating states, the shunning of fear

generating states. Attainment of desirable states brings joy, failure to do so becomes sorrow. The ego clings tenaciously to things and ideas that validate its existence. The ego does everything in its power to establish and retain a permanent territorial hold over all external states that give it joy. Do you realize, Arjuna, all you want is to reclaim or recreate situations that give you joy? You have attached your emotions to external events. Separate them.”

Copyright (C) Vibhor Mahajan

Hindu Mythology

rrs@researchut.com (Ritesh Raj Sarraf) — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 11:51:15 -0500

Hindusim is a religion that is commonly dominant in the Indian sub-continent. Though personally not very religious, I am born in a Hindu family, and was brought up following the Hindu religion. As a religion following human, I do have my favorite god, Lord Shiva - The god of death.

With my website’s this section, my desire is to document whatever I think is true and legitimate. One of the reason is, India (where Hinduism is most common) was invaded by many rulers, from different religions. That led to many of the history not being preserved. We do have some history, that still remains, in tid bits.

My attempt is to gather as much of content I can, and have it documented in digital form. Almost all the content is authored by someone else, to whom I try my best to attribute, tracing their sources.

As a country so big that India is, it is important we document things. Things come and go, emperors come and go, opinions come and go, what remains stagnant is the event. It is important that we document events so that the coming generations get a better history to read up on.