Swetha Sundaram's Blog, page 12

Srimadh Bagawatham - The Eight Queens Of Lord Krishna

 Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/05/srimadh-bagawatham-rukmini-kalyanam.html


Thayar takes up many incarnations for our
benefit. At Paramapadam, she also exists simultaneously as Bhumi Piratti and Neela
devi Nachiar. She does this to illustrate the Lord’s Supreme Qualities. As Sri Devi
Nachiar, she represents the Lord’s qualitiy of compassion. As Bhumi Piratti she is
the symbol of tolerance and as Neela Devi Nachiar she is the symbol of generosity.
She takes many forms to ease our anxiety when we approach the Lord. We are
afraid to approach the Lord because of the sins we have committed. She allyas our
sins when she simultaneously takes up many forms to surround Him and force Him
to forgive us. At Kanchipuram the Lord can be worshiped in the company of 6
thayars. From six sides she influences Him to forgive us and to accept us.
Rukmini Piratti is the incarnation of Goddess Mahalakshmi Thayar. She also took
many forms during Krishnavataram. As eight queens, she served the Lord as His
ashta mahishis. Mahalakshmi Thayar is the emperess of the Universe and she can
exist in all places and she has the authority to grant Mukthi to anyone who seeks
her. In spite of her Supreme status, out of her love for the Lord, she personally
serves Him. The lord equally loves her and accepts her kaimkaryams by taking up as
many forms as she had taken to be with Him.
We will see the way in which Lord Krishna married the eight queens.
Rukmini Piratti’s brother Rukmi had arranged Piratti’s wedding with Shishupalan
the prince of Chedi. Piratti came to know about this a day before the wedding was
to take place. She had given her heart to Lord Krishna after hearing about His
glories. Rukmi knew that she wished to marry Lord Krishna and yet he planned for
Shishupalan to marry her. Piratti immediately sent a letter to Lord Krishna through
a Dwija. The compassionate Lord arrived just before the wedding and carried her
away while she was returning to the palace after worshiping Goddess Ambhika. As
soon as the Divine Couple reached Dwaraka, they were married.
Jambhavathi’s father Sri Jambhavan knew the Lord as Trivikrama and as Lord
Rama. When Lord Krishna came in search of the Syamanataka gem, Jambhavan
mistook Him to be a thief and wrestled with Him. After 18 days, the Lord appeared
before Jambhavan in the form of Lord Rama. Jambhavan felt bad that He had
wrestled with the Lord. He offered Jambhavati thayar’s hand in marriage to the
Lord and returned the gem to the Lord as a wedding gift.
After Lord Krishna returned to Dwaraka with His new bride and the gem, Satrajit
felt bad about accusing Him. He offered the hand of his daughter Satthya
Bhama in marriage to the Lord.
Once, Arjunan saw a beautiful maiden along the banks of River Yamuna. She
appeared to be alone mediating in solitude.
‘Oh maiden, who are you? You appear with the effulgence of Goddess Sri!’
‘I am Kalindi the daughter of Lord Surya. I am meditating at this place to attain
Lord Krishna as my husband,’ said the Goddess.
‘I can help you. I can take you to Lord Krishna,’ offered Arjunan.
He escorted Kalindi Devi to Indraprastha and placed her in the custody of King
Yudhishtirar. King Yudhishtirar arranged for Lord Krishna to wed kalindi.
Lord Krishna’s aunt had a daughter called Mitra Vindha. She fell in love with Lord
Krishna when He used to visit her. She expressed her desire to wed the Lord but
her brothers Vindhan and Anuvindhan were against Lord Krishna.
‘Why would you want to Krishna? Have you seen him? He is dark whereas you have a
golden complexion. Even if you marry Him, you won’t be the Ruling queen as He first
married Rukmini. Forget about Krishna and marry Duryodana. He is handsome and
more cultured!’
Mitra Vindha refused to listen to them. Her parents strongly supported her as
they wanted her to be happy. They arranged for a swayamvaram and invited all the
kings including Krishna and Duryodana. Her brothers hoped that she would see the
difference between duryodana and Krishna and choose Duryodana as her husband.
The day soon dawned; Mitra Vindha entered the hall with a garland. On either side
of the hall all the eligible kings were seated. She looked at none of the kings
gathered at the hall but made a bee line to where Lord Krishna was seated and
garlanded Him. Lord Krishna immediately accepted her hand, placed her in His
chariot and drove away. Arjunan was happy that Duryodanan was humiliated and
stood up to defend Lord Krishna against Duryodanan.
The king of Madras had a daughter called Lakshmana. He arranged a contest.
There was a pond on which the reflection of a fish was seen but when a person
looked above the pond, there was no sign of the actual fish. He promised to give
the hand of his daughter in marriage to the prince who shoots the actual fish.
Many kings including Arjunan tried and failed. Lord Krishna with just one arrow
shot the fish and married Lakshmana.
The King of Kekeyas had a daughter called Badra. She desired to marry Lord
Krishna. Her brother Santardhanan was fond of Lord Krishna. He formally
approached King Vasudevar and arranged a wedding between Lord Krishna and
Badra.
After lord Krishna’s incarnation Neela Devi Nachiar incarnated as the daughter of
Yashoda’s brother Kumban near Nepal. As she incarnated after the Lord, she came
to be called as “pinnai” and as she is always good the prefix “nal” was added to her
name thus changing her name to Nappinai.
‘Krishna, we are going on a trip!’ said yashoda to Krishna one day.
‘Is Balarama comin with us as well?’
‘Of course Balarama is coming with us.’
‘Where are we going?’ asked krishna eagerly.
‘We are going to your uncle Kumban’s house to see your cousin Nappinnai.’
A few days later Yashoda along with Krishna and Balarama arrived at the house of
her brother. She was elated to see her pretty neice.
‘How nice would it be if my Krishna married Nappinnai!’ said yashoda.
‘I would like that very much but alas I have made a foolish vow!’ sighed Kumban.
‘As soon as Nappinnai was born I purchased seven identical male calves from the
market.
I wanted to raise these seven bulls with my daughter and wanted to give her hand
in marriage to the young man who would control these seven calvese!’
‘You didn’t do anything wrong,’ said yashoda, ‘you have just followed the practice of
our ancestors.’
‘But, the next day when I visited the barn, I was surprised to see that the calves
had grown into adult bulls overnight ! The bulls started to torment the people and I
am unable to find a person who could control them. My Nappinnai is only three
years old and I have to deal with these bulls till she comes off age!’
‘Uncle don’t worry,’ said Krishna, ‘I can tame those bulls this very second!’
Kumban laughed at the sweet child but was terrified when Krishna went in search
of the bulls. ‘Yashoda stop your son! I am afraid that He might get hurt!’
As Yashoda and Kumban rushed to the barn followed by Balarama, they found that
Krishna had killed all seven bulls with one blow!
‘What a marvel!’ exclaimed Kumban as he hoisted Krishna on to his shoulders with
joy. He kissed the top of Krishna’s head.
As promised he gave Nappinnai in marriage to Krishna but as they were only
children, Kumban allowed Yashoda to take Nappinnai with her so that she could
raise the two together.
Yashoda returned home with joy as she had now gained a daughter.
This story is mentioned by Swami Desikan in Yadhavabudhayam.
To the eyes of Yashoda and Nanda Gopan Nappinnai and Krishna appeared as
children while existing as Perumal and Thayar in solitude. Lord Krishna married
Nappinnai Piratti. In the Srimadh Bagawatham her name is mentioned as “Satya” the daughter of the pious King, Nagnajit.

Continued On: 

Srimadh Bagawatham - Rukmini Kalyanam Part 2

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/04/srimadh-bagawatham-rukmini-kalyanam.html  www.iskcondesiretree.netThe letter opened with,śrī-rukmiṇy uvācaśrutvā guṇān bhuvana-sundara śṛṇvatāḿ tenirviśya karṇa-vivarair harato 'ńga-tāpamrūpaḿ dṛśāḿ dṛśimatām akhilārtha-lābhaḿtvayy acyutāviśati cittam apatrapaḿ me
Rukmini Piratti wrote, ‘I heard about your divine qualities and then about your beautiful form I fell in love with you. I have fixed my shameless mind upon you!’Perumal has to be first known by listening to the upanyasams by Acharyans. Maitreyar Maharishi instructed his wife that “atma va are…” in order to know Paramatma one must first hear about Him. Piratti shows that Perumal is the only one who has the capacity to bear/protect the jeevatma. Thus He is the jeevatma’s true husband.kā tvā mukunda mahatī kula-śīla-rūpavidyā-vayo-draviṇa-dhāmabhir ātma-tulyamdhīrā patiḿ kulavatī na vṛṇīta kanyākāle nṛ-siḿha nara-loka-mano-'bhirāmam
Rukmini Piratti in her letter to Lord Krishna asked Him to marry her. Piratti states that she belongs to a good lineage and is hence best suited to marry Him.tan me bhavān khalu vṛtaḥ patir ańga jāyāmātmārpitaś ca bhavato 'tra vibho vidhehimā vīra-bhāgam abhimarśatu caidya ārādgomāyu-van mṛga-pater balim ambujākṣa
‘Please come immediately and make me your wife. The kshatriyas leave burnt offerings outside the temple of Kotavai Devi before going for war. If a lion comes to smell the offering then they take it as a good omen. If a jackal smells it then they will lose the battle. Please make sure that I am not carried away by the jackal’ pūrteṣṭa-datta-niyama-vrata-deva-vipragurv-arcanādibhir alaḿ bhagavān pareśaḥārādhito yadi gadāgraja etya pāṇiḿgṛhṇātu me na damaghoṣa-sutādayo 'nye
‘I know you will come because I have followed all the niyams like Ekadashi fasting, performed charitable work out of the allowance given to me by my father and I respectfully worship all the deities and Brahmanas. I have done all the above with the sole intention of pleasing you.’Piratti has explained Bagawad Geetha in just 7 slokas. She tells us that we must perform Karmas with the sole intention of pleasing Perumal.śvo bhāvini tvam ajitodvahane vidarbhānguptaḥ sametya pṛtanā-patibhiḥ parītaḥnirmathya caidya-magadhendra-balaḿ prasahyamāḿ rākṣasena vidhinodvaha vīrya-śulkām
‘The wedding is to take place tomorrow. Please come with an army including your commander in chief so that while they fight with the Chedi army we can get married. Don’t worry as you will be victorious! Marry me by kidnapping me.’antaḥ-purāntara-carīm anihatya bandhūntvām udvahe katham iti pravadāmy upāyampūrve-dyur asti mahatī kula-deva-yātrāyasyāḿ bahir nava-vadhūr girijām upeyāt‘I am restricted to my inner quarters except in the morning when the bride is allowed to walk to the temple of Goddess Ambhika. Wait for me in your chariot near the temple. Carry me away only after I have worshiped the Goddess and come out of the temple. This way you wouldn’t have to fight with my relatives.’yasyāńghri-pańkaja-rajaḥ-snapanaḿ mahāntovānchanty umā-patir ivātma-tamo-'pahatyaiyarhy ambujākṣa na labheya bhavat-prasādaḿjahyām asūn vrata-kṛśān śata-janmabhiḥ syāt‘The great Lord Siva bears the waters of Ganga in his locks because the river originated from your feet. Such is your glory. If you do not carry me away, I will continue to perform penance in every birth following this one till you come to accept me.’After reading the letter Perumal immediately started for Vidarbha along with Garudazhwar. His charioteer Darukan drove Perumal’s chariot. Bala Ramar heard the sound of Perumal’s chariot. After ascertaining the reason for Perumal’s trip, Balaramar immediately started after Perumal with a huge army so that he can assist Perumal.As Perumal neared the city limits of Vidarbha, Garudazhwar urged Perumal to travel faster so that they can inform the anxious Piratti.‘We can let her know from here itself,’ said Perumal as He sounded the Panchajanyam. He then shook His tulasi garland so that the sound from the conch and the fragrance of tulasi reached Rukmini Piratti and eased her anxiety.As per Piratti’s instruction, Perumal waited till piratti worshiped Goddess Ambika and as she exited the temple He caught hold of her hand, pulled her into the chariot and drove away.Meanwhile Balaramar arrived with the army and fought with the army of Sisupalan. Rukmi came to know about the incident and took a shortcut route to intercede Perumal and Piratti. With Piratti’s permission, Perumal defeated Rukmi and shaved Rukmi’s head and one half of the moustache to teach him a lesson.The Divine couple wed after reaching Dwaraka.Continued On:   

Srimadh Bagawatham - Rukmini Kalyanam Part 1

 Continued From:  http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/04/srimadh-bagawatham-krishna-and_20.htmlRukmini Kalyanam: Perumal and Piratti on Garuda Vahanam King Bhishmaka ruled over the kingdom of Vidarbha. He had five sons named as Rukmi, Rukmarathan, Rukmabahan, Rukmakesan, Rukmamali followed by a daughter Rukmini who was the incarnation of Goddess Sri Devi Nachiar.From a very young age Rukmini listened to many Brahmins sing the glory of Lord Krishna. She fell in love with the Lord even though she hadn’t seen Him as she fell in love with His divine qualities. She wished to marry the Lord and expressed this desire to her father. Her five elders brothers headed by Rukmini refused to allow her to wed Lord Krishna. Without even informing her, they fixed an alliance with Shishupalan the king of Chedi who was a cousin of Lord Krishna. Bhishmaka was under the influence of his sons and agreed to the match. The wedding arrangements took place in secret lest Krishna should hear about it. A day before the wedding, Rukmini came to know about the arrangements. She immediately approached a Brahmin and gave him a letter to take to lord Krishna in Dwaraka.tad avetyāsitāpāńgī vaidarbhī durmanā bhṛśam vicintyāptaḿ dvijaḿ kancit kṛṣṇāya prāhiṇod drutam
The name of the Brahmin is not mentioned in Srimadh Bagawatham except the rishi calls him as “dwija”. Who is this Brahmin who travelled thousands of miles within a day to bring Krishna and Rukmini together? The clue left by the rishi in Srimadh Bagawatham is the name “dwija” and the fact that the Brahmin covered thousands of miles within a day even though he didn’t have a chariot.Dwija is the name given to Brahmins because they take a second spiritual birth after the Upanayanam ceremony. Similarly tooth is called dwija because it falls and regenerates as permanent teeth. Lastly, birds are called dwija because they take birth as an egg and then hatch from the egg thus taking a second birth.The rishi did not refer to a brahmin as dwija since he could have also used other synonyms like vipra. The rishi purposely used dwija the name common to both Brahmins and birds. Thus the messenger is none other than the Divine Bird Garudazhwar!During Ramavataram, Garudazhwar noticed from Sri Vaikuntham that Perumal embraced Lord Hanuman after Lord Hanuman returned to Kishkinda with the message from Sita Piratti.
ityuktvaa priitihRishhTaaNgo raamastam parishhsvaje hanumantam kRitaatmaanam kRitavaakyamupaagatam  (6-1-14) Thus saying, Rama vibrating with joy clasped Hanuman in his arms who had returned after fulfilling the mission.” Ref:  (http://www.valmikiramayan.net/yuddha/sarga1/yuddha_1_frame.htm)
Garudazhwar wished to be embraced by the Lord as well. He seized the opportunity when Lord Rama and Lakshmana were tied by the nagastra shot by Indrajit. Garudazhwar flew from Sri Vaikuntham and upon seeing him the snakes ran away. Garudazhwar was dissappointed because Perumal did not embrace him. Garudazhwar overcame his disappointment by embracing Perumal but was further dissappointed when Lord Rama thanked Garudazhwar and asked who he wsa.‘When you hugged me I felt as if I was embraced by my father Dasaratha or my grandfather Aja!’taav utthaapya mahaa viiryau garuDo vaasava upamau |
ubhau tau sasvaje hR^iSTau raamash ca enam uvaaca ha || 6-50-41: Lifting them up both who were like Indra, the highly majestic Garuda the eagle embraced them. Rama also, being pleased, spoke to him (as follows):
yathaa taatam dasharatham yathaa ajam ca pitaamaham |
tathaa bhavantam aasaadya hR^iSayam me prasiidati  || 6-50-43"By meeting you thus, my heart is gladdened in the same manner as I am meeting Dasaratha, my father and Aja, my paternal grandfather."
ko bhavaan ruupa sampanno divya srag anulepanaH |
vasaano viraje vastre divya aabharaNa bhuuSitaH || 6-50-44: "Who are you, the one endowed with beauty, having blissful garlands and anointments, wearing clean garments and adorned with divine ornaments?"
aham sakhaa te kaakutstha priyah praaNo bahish caraH |
garutmaan iha sampraapto yuvayoh saahya kaaraNaat || 6-50-46: "O, Rama! I am your dearest friend Garuda dear as your own breath moving outside I came here for the purpose of helping you, both."”(Ref: http://www.valmikiramayan.net/yuddha/sarga50/yuddha_50_frame.htm)

After Perumal returned to Sri Vaikuntham, Garudazhwar complained to Perumal.‘The reason I embraced Hanuman was because he came from Piratti. If you come bearing a message from Piratti I will also hug you.’Garudazhwar went and complained to Piratti. She agreed to help him by giving him a message to take to Perumal during Krishnavataram.Thus Garudazhwar took Rukmini’s letter and flew all the way to Dwaraka swiftly. As soon as he entered Lord’s palace, Perumal welcomed him with love, served him food and pressed his feet while he took a nap. dṛṣṭvā brahmaṇya-devas tam avaruhya nijāsanāt upaveśyārhayāḿ cakre yathātmānaḿ divaukasaḥ The Lord worshiped Garudazhwar in the same manner in which the Devas worship Him.taḿ bhuktavantaḿ viśrāntam upagamya satāḿ gatiḥ pāṇinābhimṛśan pādāv avyagras tam apṛcchata
 After Garudazhwar woke up from his nap Perumal asked, ‘which is your country? Is everything okay in your country? If it is not a secret please tell me the reason for your visit.’Garudazhwar immediately said, ‘I have a message from you from Rukmini Devi.’Perumal took the letter and read the seven slokams written by Rukmini Piratti.
Continued On:   

Srimadh Bagawatham - Krishna and Jarasandha Part 2

 Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/04/srimadh-bagawatham-krishna-and.html

Why did it take eighteen tries? The number eighteen is very significant. There are 18 chapters in bagawad Geetha, 18 Parvas in Mahabharata and 18 Puranas. Above all there are 18 steps leading a jeevatma up towards Perumal. These eighteen steps have ben shown as eighteen tries by Jarasandhan. They are as follows.1.       We should lose interest in samsara and exist like water droplets on lotus leaves. The lotus leaves do not become wet even when water if present on them as the water rolls away. Our attitude should be similar in samsara. We should take life as it comes without feeling sad when we are disappointed or happy when we are succeed in something.2.       We should destroy our false ego. Ahamkaram , the thought that “I am the doer” and Mamakaram the thought that “this is mine” even when the object doesn’t belong to us should be destroyed.3.       We should stop associating ourselves with our body. We are the atma not the body. This is called dehatma abhimanam.4.       We should obtain atmagnanam and know that we are Perumal’s slaves and we exist to do Bagawath/Bagawatha kaimkaryams.5.       We should lose our desire for sensual pleasures which are temporary.6.       We should desire to know Bagawath Vishayam. That is know more about Perumal, His bagawathas, visit Divya Desams etc. Therefore we should develop thirst to know more about Him.7.       We should lose our desire in other things which do not form a part of Bagawath Vishayam.8.       Know that we are paratantras. Accepting that we are seshabhutam is to know that we are His slave but this alone is not enough as we continue to do things our way. Becoming a paratantra menas performing any task the Lord wills us to do and allowing Him to act in any way towards us. Sri Lakshmanar showed the quality of Seshabhutam when He went to serve Lord Rama in the forest even when the Lord wished for Lakshmanar to remain in Ayodhya. Bharatazhwan on the other hand followed the Lord’s wish and remained at Nandi Gramam even though he too wished to follow the Lord in order to perform kaimkaryam. Thus the quality of Bharatzhwar is superior to that of Lakshmanar. Perumal has also showed us how to be paratantras. When Sage vishwamitrar asked King Dasarathan to send Rama with him, the King said take him as if Lord Rama was an object without asking Lord rama’s opinion. Lord Rama followed the sage without arguing with his father accepting his father’s right to give him away. This is paratantriyam.9.       We should destroy artha, kama and dwesham. Artha is seeking fruits from Perumal like wealth, kaivalyam etc. Kama is our desire to obtain something which gives rise to krodha (anger) when we fail to obtain the object of our desire. Dwesham is hating others. These feelings should not be present in a person seeking Moksham.10.    A person who has climbed up the first nine steps becomes a Sri Vaishnava and only then is eligible to proceed further.11.    The person must be accepted by people with satvik tendencies.12.    The person must be accepted by Bagawathas. Bagawathas are given a higher standing than regular people with satvik tendencies.13.    Should obtain the grace of Perumal.14.    Seek no other fruit except the fruit of serving Perumal, Piratti and their devotees.15.    Know that we are only His slave and we do not have any other master than Perumal.16.    Realize that we are incapable of saving ourselves and that we completely depend on Him.17.    Become eligible to be accepted by an Acharyan as disciple.18.     After climbing up all the seventeen steps, a person becomes eligible to attain Perumal’s thiruvadi.Continued On:
 

Srimadh Bagawatham - Krishna and Jarasandha Part 1

 Continued From: Krishna and Jarasandha: www.harekrsna.com After Kamsa’s death, his wives Asti and Prapti rushed to their father king Jarasandha of Magadha. Jarasandhan wished to avenge Kamsa’s death and waged war against Lord Krishna. Jarasandhan was defeated by Lord Krishna or 17 times and on the eighteenth time, Lord Krishna created the city of Dwaraka in the west, transported all the subjects of Mathura to Dwaraka by His yogic powers. He remained in Mathura with Balarama. Jarasandhan’s friend Kala Yavanan came to help Jarasandhan in the war. Kala Yavana saw Lord Krishna come out of the city of Mathura. Kala Yavana followed lord krishna. He soon started to chase Lord Krishna wishing to overpower the Lord. Lord Krishna entered a cave and hid inside the cave. Kala Yavana followed the Lord in to the cave and saw a shrouded sleeping figure. Mistaking the figure to be the Lord, the Yavana kicked the figure. The figure woke up with a start and looked upon Kala Yavanan thus reducing him to ashes. The main question many people have after reading this narrative is why should the Lord run away from Jarasandha and Kala Yavana?We can answer the above question by examining the hidden purport of the story.There seem to be many hidden esoteric meanings in this story. The name Kamsa means “copper” or “bronze”. In ancient times many alchemists preyed on innocent people with their claims to convert “copper” or “bronze” to “gold”. Thus “Kamsa” seems to represent materialistic illusion wedded to Asti (existence) and Prapti (attainment). In the company of materialism existence and attainment are materialistic in nature.  True Identity of Jarasandhan:Jarasandhan represents Agni/Sun. Thus his city is Magadha in the East. Jara is a name of Agni. At birth Jarasandhan was split into two halves but was revived when a woman named Jara joined the two halves. The birth of Jarasandhan seems to signify the weakened Agni or the small spark left in the wood which is revived by bringing in contact with new fuel (Jara). Jara. or old age of the fuel makes Agniinto a young, united flame. Jarasandhan took birth from two mothers and Agni has two mothers as well. Jarasandhan is the sacrificial fire maintained by a person.
 Jarasandhan approached by his daughters wages a war against the Lord.The war is but a sacrifice. It could probably be said that the object of this sacrifice is to obtain permanent existence and attain the Supreme Being as Jarasandhan wages war to fulfil his daughters’ wish. Lord Krishna is also called as Yagna or Sacrifice and is represented by the Orion constellation. The Orion constellation is square in shape and is poetically used to represent the sacrificial altar in which the Lord of the Sacrifice, Lord Krishna is found.. The city Mathura meany “honey town” and is the earthly representation of Orion. The regent of Orion is Soma the Lord of Sacrifice. Lord Krishna incarnated in the lunar dynasty and is hence Soma. The soma juice is obtained from the soma creeper and offered in the sacrificial fire. As the altar contains the soma juice, it is said to contain the elixir or nectar of sacrifice. Thus Mathura as honey town or nectarine town represents Orion.  Jarasandha (Agni) enters the sacrificial altar (Orion Constellation) from the East. The sacrificer who performs the daily agnihothram ritual has to enter the altar from the East. The three belt stars of the  Orion represent the three fires of Agnihotra called as Garhapatya, Dakshina and Ahavaniya. The Ahavaniya fire is always used to make oblations to the God and is kept in a square altar in the East. This square altar is Orion and in our case Mathura. Thus Jarasandhan attacking Mathura from East is the Ahavaniya ritual performed in the morning. The Eastern Star is Ardra which is associated with Rudra who is also Agni. The star to the west of the constellation is Sravana whose regent is Vishnu. The shift in sacrifice from East to West shows that the object of the Sacrifice is to attain the Lord who presides over the Western star. At night, the sacrificer goes west to worship the Garhapatya fire indicated by Lord Krishna the object of sacrifice moving to the West in to the Garhapatya fire. Thus the sacrifice is shown to shift from one belt star to the other.
The Garhapatya fire is maintained in a circular container kept by a householder in the west and is worshiped in the evening. The cave entered by the Lord represents the circular container with the Garhapatya fire. A sacrificer who regularly worships the Ahavanya and the Garhapatya fires and walks between them everyday is freed from all evil. The sacrificer's sins are also destroyed. In order to show this, Kala Yavana is seen to be drawn away by the deity of Sacrifice (Krishna). Yavanas usually have fair complexion and this particular Yavana is named Kala Yavana to show that he represents evil tendencies; :”kala” means black and indicates pollution in the form of evil tendencies. Upon entering the cave, Kala Yavana is burnt by Sage Muchukunda. 
Sage Muchukunda is the jeevatma. Sage Mukunda had assisted the Devas win a war against the Asuras and in return had obtained a boon of uninterrupted sleep. The Deva Asura war is the struggle between the sense-organs against desires. After controlling desires, the jeevatma(sage Muchukunda) is able to meditate shown in our story as uninterrupted sleep.The Cave also represents our heart which is the residence of the jeevatma as well as Paramatma. The evil tendencies in the form of Kala Yavana are unable to out run/over power Paramatma. Upon entering the heart-cave, the jeevatma strengthened by the daily Agnihotra sacrifice along with the blessing of Lord Vishnu, obtains the power to destroy the evil tendencies. The jeevatma achieves samyam with the Lord. As it is elevated to the status of the Lord by the Lord’s Supreme Grace, the Kala Yavana is shown to mistake Sage Muchukunda as Mukuntha. By achieving samyam the jeevatma becomes apahatapapman, one who kills all evil. Thus the jeevatma is freed from its sins and gets a darshan of the Antaryami in its heart-cave. After this the jeevatma attains Mukthi.The narrative about the war waged by Jarasandha teaches us about the importance of performing the daily agnihothra sacrifice without fail.We have seen that Jarasandhan was defeated seventeen times and on the eighteenth time Lord Krishna drawn out of Mathura granted Moksham to Sage Muchukunda. The purpose of the war with Jarasandhan seems to be to grant Moksham to Sage Muchukunda. Why didn’t Perumal grant this the very first time? Jarasandhan was defeated seventeen times i.e he was sent back to Magadha seventeen times. The eighteenth attempt yielded fruit to Sage Muchukunda. Why did it take eighteen tries? The number eighteen is very significant. There are 18 chapters in bagawad Geetha, 18 Parvas in Mahabharata and 18 Puranas. Above all there are 18 steps leading a jeevatma up towards Perumal. These eighteen steps have ben shown as eighteen tries by Jarasandhan. 


Continued On:

Srimadh Bagawatham - Krishnavataram Part 12

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/03/srimadh-bagawatham-krishnavataram-part_21.html

avinashkrishnadasa.wordpress.com



Brahmin Wives: Karmas are prescribed by shastras in order to cleanse our accumulated karmas so that we can perform Bakthi or Gnana Yoga to attain the Lord. Karmas like Yagams  shouldn’t be performed as a mindless ritual. We must understand the reason for performing Yagams, poojas etc. If we understand the reason for performing these prescribed acts, we will not fall prey to plain ritualism. The Brahmins had become purely ritualistic. They were so obsessed by ritualism that they failed to see the object of performing these rituals, the Lord standing before them. Thus the Brahmins failed to reap the true benefit of performing the Yagam while their wives received the blessing as they had true knowledge.Nanda Gopan was kidnapped by Varuna’s servants: This shows that even other deities are after Bagawathas to get a chance to be with them.Rasa Lila: The gopis are considered to be Sati. The word Sati is used to represent a chaste married woman but Sayana in his commentary of the Taitriya Aranyaka explains that the word “sati” refers to “realized souls”. Krishna plays the flute to call the gopis. The flute is given the status of a teacher, Acharya. The music is knowledge which is Brahma-Vidhya.  The gopis are the jeevatmas. All jeevatmas are feminine in nature while the Lord alone is the true male. The music flowing from the flute awakens the thirst for spiritual knowledge in the gopis. This also shows us that we can only learn Brahma-Vidhya through an Acharya. Krishna prefers to use an Acharya as an intermediary to teach us Brahma-Vidhya. Once Brahma-Vidhya is awakened, the gopis abandon their husbands to reach Krishna. The husbands represent our selfish materialistic desires. True knowledge kills these selfish desires. The gopis want only that which is true and approach Krishna. The Raasa dance takes place in a circle. The gopis represent the jeeva atma. There is one Krishna in the middle surrounded by the gopis. Not only is there a Krishna in the middle but He also appears as a partner for each and every gopi. There are as many Krishnas as there are gopis. The Krishna in the middle represents Paramatma in His absolute form. The Krishna dancing with each and every gopi represents His Antaryami form. As antaryami He exists as our soul. He is always with us. He exists in each and every one of us. Thus the entire Raasa dance represents the Vishwaroopa Swaroopa of God; He exists as antaryami (soul of every soul) as well as the Absolute God head. The Raasa dance is performed with the gopis who are women. This represents that all jeeva atmas are feminine. The only male in this entire Universe is Paramatma Sri Krishna. He is known as the Para Purusha or the great Purusha. The Raasa dance shows us one of the nine relationships we share with Paramatma which is that of a husband & a wife. He is our husband. This relationship is a spiritual relationship and differs from the type of spousal relationships we are familiar to.The gopis encircling Krishna on either side represent students and Krishna is the object of knowledge sought by them. If we look at the two Krishnas encircling a gopi then we see the student in the middle. Knowledge gains importance only when there are students to learn. The two Krishnas encircling a gopi show us the importance of the student or the jeeva atma. The two gopis encircling a Krishna show us the supremacy of the knowledge or Paramatma.The Raasa dance has deep esoteric meaning and has nothing to do with sensual indulgent. When the esoteric meaning of the dance is illuminated, it helps us to shed our desires for materialistic sensual pleasures. It awakens the thirst to learn Brahma-Vidhya in us; with the help of this knowledge we can reach the feet of Paramatma. The dance takes place at night when the boundaries are not visible to show us that the union with Paramatma is beyond time and space. At nighttime the normal boundaries of time and space are not illuminated. Night here represents the transcendental nature of the union of a jeeva atma with Paramatma. Anyone who understands the above esoteric meaning will not question the Lord’s conduct. To the Lord all jeevatmas are equal. He doesn’t differentiate between the cattle or the gopis. He played with the cattle and He played with the gopis. He sees no difference between the cattle or the gopis. While stealing butter He showed us that He is interested in only the atma and not the body by breaking the butter pots. Thus the Rasa-Dance is Him enjoying the jeevatmas and there is nothing materialistic or sensual about the dance. A very high Vedantic concept has been explained in a poetic form to us.Azhwar sings with Nayika Bhavam that the Lord looked with love at the girl(Azhwar’s) eyes, tiny waist and breast. Here the Azhwar’s eyes denote knowledge, tiny waist reveals Azhwar’s vairagyam as he has controlled his senses and does not give in to mindless enjoyment of food which in turn has resulted in a tiny waist. A woman’s breasts are dedicated by her to feed her children. A woman as a mother lives for the sake of her children. Like that the Azhewar lives to serve other devotees of the Lord and this is appreciated by the Lord when He is shown as admiring the girl’s breasts. As all jeevatmas are female in nature, the Azhwar’s use Nayika Bhavam to show the shringara rasam in their divine poetry.Continued On:  

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Srimadh Bagawatham - Krishnavataram Part 11

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/03/srimadh-bagawatham-krishnavataram-part.html

Venugopala of Hembargala from Anudinam.org



Playing the flute: The Lord could have sung songs but He used a flute and assigned to it the Acharya sthanam. The Lord prefers to lecture us through an Acharyan. The flute is in contact with the Lord’s lips and conveys to us the Lord’s teachings. He wishes for us to approach Him only through an Acharyan. After the Mahabharata war, He asked Yudhishtirar to approach Bhishmacharyar in order to learn all the shastras and the Sri Vishnu Sahasranama sthothram. The Lord instructed Bagawath Geetha and He could have also instructed the Vishnu Sahasranama Sthothram but He desired for the Pandavas to learn the slokam from Bhishmacharyar. Flute represents Acharyan and the music Acharyan’s instructions which reach us to Lord. The Lord also shows to us that all jeevatmas are equal to each other. Like the air flowing through the flute depending upon the hole through which it comes out produces different tunes, the jeevatmas are influenced by karma to take up diefferent bodies. Govardhana Leelai: controls hunger. Always chant Govinda while eating.Vasthrabaharana Charitram: The Lord showed us that we must approach Him without feeling shy. The quality of shyness is represented by dress. We cover ourselves because we feel self-consiouss. The Lord instructed the gopis to approach Him in order to perform prapatti without feeling self-consiouss. The jeevatmas are all feminine in nature and the only true male is the Lord. Hence the jeevatmas are represented as the gopi girls. They approach the Lord without being afraid of moclery when they come out of the water without their dress and perform saranagathi. While performing Bakthi Yoga we should leave behind our inhibition and chant His name loudly. We shouldn’t feel embarassed to wear the thiruman srichurnam, bear the marks of disc & conch on our shoulders or to wear the prescribed dress.Continued On:
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Srimadh Bagawatham - Krishnavataram Part 10

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/03/srimadh-bagawatham-krishnavataram-part-9.html

www.iskconbangalore.org


Damodara Leelai: Krishna was tied to the mortar by Yashoda. In order to control senses, mind , budhi and atma we need to keep our body fit so that we can follow rituals like Ekadashi fast. Above all it is essential to control   Lord Narayana. Best way to control the Lord is by prapatti. He allowed Himself to be tied only when Yashoda surrendered.Fruit seller: Even if we give Him small things like jamun fruits sincerely, He grants us precious items like gems and Moksham itself. The fruit seller was not a great scholar and yet she recogonized Him as the Supreme Brahman. He is easily accessible even to an ordinary person like the fruit seller and any person can easily know Him.Cattle rearing: The Lord went after the cattle and reared them. The cattle didn’t object to the Lord coming after them. Like the cattle if we allow the Lord to take care of us without trying to save ourselves, He will definitely make sure that we don’t face any problems in life.Bakasuran: Asura in guise of stork represents quality of dhambham (doing something in order to receive praise) which is destroyed by Perumal.Agasuran: Came in the form of a python and was killed by Krishna. People have the tendency to take everything without moving from their place. This quality is estroyed by Perumal.Vana Bhojanam: Consuming Perumal Prasadam in His company. If we are given prasadam at temples we must eat just a little in His presence.Vatsabaharanam: Even a simple folk like the fruit seller could know the Lord while the scholarly like Lord Brahma fail to recogonize Him.Vatsasuran, Dhenukasuran, kapitasuran: Vatsasuram came as a calf and represents ignorance, Dhenukan as an ass; it is a good omen to hear an ass but bad to see it, kapitasuran as vilambhazham. The vilambhazham fruit has a seed called manmatha bheejam which is known to help retain youth. The Lord destroys ignorance and shows us not to destroy food which is not satvik in nature by Kalinga Narthanam: Bhujangan is name for snake as well as a Casanova. Perumal controlls our tendency to behave like a Casanova. This is shown by Perumal dancing on Kalingan. Our mind is like a snake. To control it we need Perumal.Forest Fire: We are influenced by our past karmas because of which we take birth and experience the “tapa trayam”.The three types of tapa trayam are1.       Adhyadhmikam: Sufferings experienced by us because of our association with people, work, society etc. These problems are created because of our interaction with others.2.       Adhiboudhikam: Sufferings which are beyond our control like troubles we face due to pest damage, pathogens etc.3.       Adhideivikam: Sufferings caused by natural calamities like storms and Earthquakes.       The Lord showed that He will relieve us from the pain caused by tapa trayam by swallowing the forest fire.
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Srimadh Bagawatham - Krishnavataram Part 9

 Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2014/03/srimadh-bagawatham-krishnavataram-part-8.html
 Chakatasuran: The Asuran came in the guise of a cart wheel and was killed by Lord  Krishna. The cart wheel is our repeated journey through samsara which is destroyed by Perumal’s grace.Unlike Putana, Chakatasuran’s body was not found. This was because Perumal killed him wth His thiruvadi. Therefore, Chakatasuran’s body became purified and was converted to Shudha Satvam. Hence, even his body reached Sri Vaikuntham. Perumal used His thiruvadi to kill only Chakatasuran.Trinavratan: He was a whirlwind and represents rajo gunam which promotes aggressive behaviur in us. This quality carries away Bagawad Bakthi. Bagawan suppress our rajo gunam so that we can enjoy Him here itself.Namasankeerthanam rids all our sins similar to 1000 years of darkness in a cave being dispelled by a single lamp. If the lamp is turned off darkness comes back similarly if we stop namasankeerthanam we are once again affected by sins. Namasankeerthanam is indicated when Gargar performed the naming ceremony for the Lord.The Lord ate dirt and opened His mouth when ordered by Yashoda. He revealed to her the entire Universe to show that He keeps us safely in His tummy during pralayam.Butter Thief:Everything is His property but by mistake we think that we the atma are our property. We will never realzie that He is our master unles  He takes us. To show this He stole butter which is equal to atma while breaking the pot to show He is not interested in the body. While performing prapatti, butter is placed before Perumal and He is asked to accept us by reminding Him about the way in which He showed us that we are His property by stealing butter. Butter takes the shape of any pot when melted like that the atma can reside in any body from a worm to a man.Continued On:
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Srimadh Bagawatham - Krishnavataram Part 8

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/

sdgonline.org


There are two phases in Krishnavataram. The first phase is in Gokulam and the second Mathura/Dwaraka phase.The important events of the Gokulam phase are the killing of Asuras, Raasa Leela and then Kamsasamharam.Perumal is called as the best taste. Azhwar sand “suvaiyan thiruvin manalan”. Leelai of Parabrahmam is called as Rasa Leelai. Rasam means taste and raasa is derived from the word Rasam. During Raasa Leelai He blessed many devotees. He not only blessed the gopis who were with Him but He took the form of those gopis and served their family members as well. There are many devotees who yearn to go to Vaikuntham but as it is not time for them to go there yet, the Lord gives them a preview on Earth. In order to get this preview, devotees have to be purified. The killing of the Asuras esoterically reveal this purification process.Putana:  She is Avidhya signifying karma vasanai. Her breasts are ego along with possessive nature. Ego and possessive nature gives rise to feelings of lust and anger. The poisonous milk offered by her is samsaric pleassure which is always tainted with poison  (pain) because it is bad for our atma. This poisoned milk is drunk by Perumal to save us. She fell down dead like a Bhima Rathi.  At the age of 77 years, 7 months and tdays at night a person faces a life threatening condition; this condition is called as Bhima Rathi and  to esacpe this most people perform a ritual called Bhima Rathi Shanti. Vaishnavas don’t prepare this Shanti since during Putanai Vatham Perumal took care of this Shanti as well. As Putana’s body came in contact with Perumal, when she was cremated the air was filled with fragrant aroma as is sandal wood was being burned. Thus contact with Perumal purifies all of our sins and flaws.Putana brought the poison only to offer to Krishna. Since she meant to offe to only Krishna, even though it was poison He granted her Moksham.Kamsan found out when he heard about Putana’s death the location of Lord Krishna yet he didn’t dare to cross Yamuna. This was another Krishna Leela.  Kamsan spent his days in agony watching his men die.
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Continued On: Cpntinued On: