Kaavya Kanta Ganapathi Maha muni - Naayana

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

బొబ్బిలికి దగ్గర్లో కలవరాయి అనే ఊరిలో గణపతి శాస్త్రి అనే కవి ఉండేవారు. అతను నవద్వీపానికి కవి సభలో పాల్గొనడానికి వెళ్లారు. ఆ సభకి అధ్యక్షత వహించిన ఉత్తర భారతంలో ప్రసిద్ధి గాంచిన, అంబికాదత్తుడు అనే పండితుణ్ణి చూసి “ఎవరీ మహాశయుడు?” అని అడిగారు. అది విని సభావారంతా ఆశ్చర్య పోయారు.

“త్వరగా కవిత్వం చెప్పే సూర్యుడను, గౌడ బ్రాహ్మణుడను అంబికాదత్తుడను” అని అధ్యక్షుల వారు సగ శ్లోకాన్ని చెప్పారు.

“నీవు అంబికకు దత్తుడవు. నేను నిజ పుత్రుడను.” అని గణపతి శాస్త్రి శ్లోకాన్ని పూర్తి చేసారు.

దాని తరువాత గణపతి శాస్త్రిని పరీక్షించేదుకు సభ వేదిక మీదకి పిలిచారు అధ్యక్షులవారు. వచ్చిన తరువాత అతనికి సమస్యలు ఇచ్చారు. ఈ సమస్యలు ఎలా ఉంటాయి అంటే ఒక వాక్యాన్ని చెప్తారు. దానిని పూరించాలి.

మొదటి సమస్య

“చీర పైట తీసి మామగారిని కోరింది. కాని ఆమె ఉత్తమురాలు”

“భీముని భార్య హిడింబ ఎండా కాల వేడి తట్టుకోలేక మామగారైన గాలిని కోరింది” అని జవాబు ఇచ్చారు. హిడింబ రాక్షస స్త్రీ అందుకే ఆమెని వాడాను, ద్రౌపదిని  కాకుండా అని చెప్పారు కూడా.

రెండవ సమస్య

“సంవత్సరానికి ఒకసారి పార్వతి పతి ముఖాన్ని చూడదు”

“భాద్రపద శుద్ధ చవితి నాడు చంద్రుని చూడాల్సి వస్తుందని పార్వతి శివుని ముఖాన్ని చూడదు.” వినాయక చవితి నాడు పార్వతి శాపం

మూడవ సమస్య

“చీమ చంద్రుణ్ణి చుంబించెను.”

“దక్ష యజ్ఞంలో సతీదేవిని కోల్పోయిన శివుడు ఖిన్నుడై తలవాల్చి ఉండగా, చంద్రుడు నేలకి సమీపించడం చూసి చీమ చంద్రుడ్ని చుంబించెను.”

ఈ సమాధానాలు ఆశువుగా అప్పటికి అప్పుడు చెప్తారు. ఇంకొక విషయం. ఈ సభలు సంస్కృతంలో అవుతాయి. ఈ సభలో గణపతి శాస్త్రికి “కావ్య కంట” అనే బిరుదు వచ్చింది. శ్రీ రమణ మహర్షి ఇతనిని “నాయన” అని పిలిచేవారు. ఇతనికి ముని అని కూడా బిరుదు ఉండేది.

In a small village called Kalavarai near Bobbili in AP, a young poet was born. His name was Ganapathi Sastry. He travelled to a place called Navadweepam, where lot of poetic conventions used to be held. These used to be the places where young poets were tested on various aspects and were presented with titles.

With great difficulty, he could procure an invitation. It was headed by a great north Indian poet by the name Ambikadatta. Seeing him, Ganapathi asked, “Who is this great man?” Everyone was shell shocked.

“I am a great poet capable of impromptu and quick responses and I am ambikadatta.”

Datta in sanskrit means adopted. Ambika is goddess Paarvathi. But this was not a complete poem and the intention was to inform Ganapathi to complete.

Without any hesitation Ganapathi responded, “You are an adopted son of Ambika, where as I am the real son of Ambika.” Lord Ganesha is son of Paarvathi.

Everyone was surprised.

Ambikadatta invited him onto the stage and gave him some questions. As part of these questions, basically one phrase will be given (looks pretty much contradictory or meaningless) and a poem has to be constructed impromptu justifying the phrase provided as a question.

Question 1: Removed the top of saree (pallu) and sought her father in law. But she is a good woman.

“Not able to bear the heat, Hidimba removed the top of her saree and sought some air.”

Hidimba is the Wife of Bheema and Bheema is son of Vaayu (Lord of Winds and air).

Question 2: Once in a year, Paarvathi does not see her husbands face.

“Fearing that she might have to see the moon on Vinaayaka Chaturdhi, Paarvathi avoids looking at her husband on that day.”

Paarvathi placed a curse on Chandra (moon), that if any one sees his face on Vinaayaka chaturthi day, they will have problems.

Question 3: The ant kissed the moon.

“When Lord Siva lost his wife satee devi in Daksha Yagnam, he was depressed and lied down. The moon, which is present on his head, touched the ground and seeing this, the ants came and touched (kissed) the moon.”

All the above are in sanskrit and as mentioned earlier impromptu. Ganapati Sastry was awarded “Kaavya Kanta” title in that poetic convention.

In his latter part of life Ganapathi Sastry was called Muni. The great Sri Ramana Maharshi used to call him “Naayana” fondly.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Vairaagyam (detachment) - Short Story

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Here is a short story by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa about vairaagyam (detachment). I would write this in Telugu completely with a english translation in the end.

ఒక ఊరిలో ప్రవచానాలు చేసే ఒక మహానుభావుడు ఉండేవాడు. అతను ఆ ఊరిలో ఆ చుట్టూ పక్క ఊర్లలో వివిధ పురాణాల గురించి, కావ్యాల మీద ప్రవచనాలు చేస్తూ ఉండే వారు. అన్నిటి కన్నా మించి వైరాగ్యం మీద బోధిస్తూ ఉండే వారు. అతను గృహస్తు. ఒకనాడు అతని ఇంటికి అతని బావ మరిది వచ్చాడు. అతడు అక్క ఇంటిలో కొన్నాళ్ళు ఉంది వెళదామని వచ్చాడు. అతనికి ఇంకా పెళ్లి కాలేదు. ఇంట్లో ఖాళీగా కూర్చునే బదులు బావగారితోనే ప్రవచనాలకి వెళ్తూ ఉండే వాడు. ఇంటికి వచ్చి వాళ్ళ అక్కతో బావగారిని, అతని ప్రవచనాలని చాలా జ్ఞ్యాపకం చేసుకుంటూ పొగిడే వాడు. వాళ్ళ అక్కకి తమ్ముడి మాటలు వింటూ ఉంటె కొంచెం భయం వేసేది. కొన్నాళ్ళకి బెంగ మొదలయ్యింది. పెళ్లి కావలసిన వాడు ఇలా వైరాగ్యం గురించి మాట్లాడుతూ ఉంటె పెళ్లి చేసుకోడేమోనని. దానితో రోజు తన భర్తతో మొర పెట్టుకునేది.

“మీకేమో పెళ్లి అయిపొయింది. ఎన్ని ప్రవచానాలైన చెప్తారు. పెళ్లి కావాల్సినవాడు మా తమ్ముడు. ఇప్పటి నుంచే వైరాగ్యం గురించి మాట్లాడుతుంటే నాకు భయంగా ఉంది. కొంపతీసి పెళ్లి ఏమయినా చేసుకోడా అని. ఈ విషయం మా అమ్మానాన్నలకి తెలిస్తే వాళ్ళు ఇంకా ఎంత బాధ పడుతారో.”

ఆ మాట వినిన ప్రతీ సారి అతను, “వైరాగ్యం అనేది వరదలాగ వస్తుంది. దాని గురించి తలుచుకున్నంత మాత్రాన అది రాదు. అందుకు నువ్వు ఏమి బెంగ పడకు.”

ఒక నాడు రాత్రి భోజనం తరువాత అతను తువ్వాలు మీద వేసుకొని ఉయ్యాలలో కూర్చున్నారు. భార్య మళ్ళి వచ్చి మొర మొదలు పెట్టింది. దానికి అతను, “వైరాగ్యం వస్తే ఒంటి మీద ఉన్న తువ్వాలు ఇలా పక్కన పడేసి బయటకి నడిచి వెళ్ళిపోతాడు.” ఈ మాట చెప్పి బయటకి వెళ్లి పోయాడు. భార్య అతను తిరిగి వస్తాడు, చూపిస్తున్నాడు అని అనుకుంది. కాని అతను తిరిగి రాలేదు.

మాట్లాడే వాడు చెయ్యడు, చేసే వాడు మాట్లాడడు

Once upon a time there used be a person who used to give discourses on various puraanaas, kaavyaas and other such spiritual things. He used to emphasize on detachment in his discourses and why it is important etc.

His brother in law (BIL) (wifes younger brother) landed up at his house one day. He had come to stay with the family for few months. This BIL did not have any work anyways and so he used accompany his Sisters husband to the discourses. He used to get impressed with all the discourses so much so that he used to come back and discuss those with his sister. He used to praise his brother in law and importantly talk about the content of the discourses especially related to detachment.

His sister used to get worried. “Why at a young age, my brother is getting attracted to this stuff? Importantly, he is still not married and with this would he decide not to marry completely?” She used to go to her husband and bother him about her concern. She used to cry as well. Her husband used to console her, “Don’t worry. Detachment comes like a flood. It doesn’t come in bits and pieces. As long as he keeps talking about it, you don’t have to worry.”

One day, after having his dinner, he lied down with his towel on his body and was relaxing. His wife started off with his brothers story once more. He said, “When the detachment comes, a person would throw his towel and walk off like this.” Saying this he threw his towel on the floor and walked off. His wife thought he was demonstrating, but it so happened that the man never returned.

The one who talks doesn’t implement and the one who implements does not talk about it.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Gokarna and Pachakshetras

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Recently I had been on a small pilgrimage tour to Karnakata. Visited few holy places there like Kukke Subrahmanyam, Dharmasthala, Kolluru Mookaambika, Sringeri, Dhaareshwar, Murudeshwar, Gokarna, Sajjeshwar, Guneshwar, Udipi.

Amongst these, Gokarna, Sajjeshwar, Guneshwar (Gunwante), Murudeshwar, Dhareshwar are called Panchakshetras.

Once upon a time, mother of Raavana (ya the asura from Raamaayanam) asked him to get her Lord Shiva’s aatma lingam. There is also another version, where it is said that Raavana wanted to become extremely powerful and hence wanted to get Aatma lingam for himself.

So he did great penace and pleased Shiva. Shiva gave Raavana aatma lingam. But warned him that he should not place it on the ground till he reaches his home. Devathas, as ever, wanted to ensure that Raavana doesn’t become so powerful. Took the help of Lord Vishnu and Lord Vishnu covered the Sun with his Sudarshana Chakram. Thinking that its evening, Raavana wanted to perform his Sandhya Vandanam. This place is the current Gokarna. Since he could place the lingam on the ground, he started looking around and found a Brahmin boy. This was Lord Ganesha.

Raavana asked him to take care of the lingam and not to place on the ground at any cost. The boy agreed but mentioned that he would call Raavana thrice and in case he doesn’t turn up, he would place the lingam on the ground. It’s a no brainer that Ganesha called Raavana thrice and Raavana could not come back and the aatma lingam was placed on the ground.

Raavana came back hurriedly after finishing his Sandhya vandanam and was upset with the boys act. He hit him hard on his head. The next moment Lord Vishnu removed the Sudarshana Chakram and the sun started shining bright. Raavana realized that he was tricked and tried to move the Aatma lingam and he could not move it. He used all his might but could not move it a milli meter. That lingam had Kavacham (Covering), Lid (on top), Cloth (around it) and a Thread. He became so angry that he started throwing those things out. There are temples in all these 4 places as well.

The Kavacham fell in a place called Sajjeshwar, which is about 35-40 kms from Gokarna. This is in the direction of Goa from Gokarna.

The Lid fell in a place called Guneshwar (also known as Gunavante), which is about 40-45 kms from Gokarna. This is near a place Edugunji (not sure of the spelling) and there is a very popular Vinayaka temple there.

The cloth fell in a place called Murudeshwar, which is about 50-55 kms before Gokarna. This is a very nice place right on the shore of the sea.

The thread fell in a place called Dhareshwara, which is about 20 odd kms before Murudeshwar on the way to Gokarna.

One speciality of this Gokarna Kshetram is that God faces West. Generally in all temples, God faces east and in our homes God faces west. 

Ya, this post has been like a tourist guide to Gokarna J

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Carry Forward...

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Once upon a time there used to be a person by name Sundara Murthy. Sundara Murthy’s family was a middle class family. Sundara Murthy led a very normal life and once he reached his early twenties his parents wanted to get him married. They found a suitable bride and decided on the date of the marriage. On the day of the marriage everything was going smooth till an old man arrived at the marriage venue. He had a long hair, pretty old person, looked very poor. He had a long beard as well and both his hair and beard were unkempt. He came inside and went straight to the mandap (place within the hall where the marriage is conducted). He started talking to the groom.
“You come with me. You are my slave. You can’t get married now.”

Everybody was shell shocked. They thought that some mad guy has entered the hall and started blabbering. But his voice, authority and his conviction could not make people dismiss him without responding. The groom just dismissed his statements and said in anger.
“I don’t know who you are. How can u call me my slave? Please leave this place.”
But the old man insisted that the groom is his slave and he better go with him.

Then the elders intervened and asked him about the basis of his statement. They thought that would be an easy way to dismiss the old man.

The old man pulled out a document from his bag and mentioned that the document is the proof for his statement.

He said, “Your great grandfather has signed an agreement with our family stating that your family would be slaves for us for multiple generations. Here is the proof.”

The elders looked at that document and were surprised as it indeed stated so. The groom could not tolerate this anymore and he grabbed the document and burnt it.

The old man did not give up and said that he needed justice and wanted to go to the king. The groom was not worried about it as he had burnt the evidence. He accepted that and they all went to the king.

Surprisingly before the king the old man pulled out a very similar document. The groom was shocked. The king ordered the groom to go with the old man. Sundara Murthy did not have an option and he went with that old man. The old man was walking in the front and Sundara Murthy was walking behind. The old man went inside a Siva temple. He entered the Garbha Gudi (main part of the temple, where the deity is) and did not come out. Sundara Murthy waited for some time for the old man to come out… After that he went inside and did not find the old man there. Suddenly it dawned upon Sundara Murthy that it was Lord Siva who came in the form of an old man and directed him away from marriage and towards him. After that Sundara Murthy became a great Siva Bhaktha.

In his previous janma, Sundara Murthy was a great Siva Bhaktha. But he was drawn towards two women during that life. So God did not let him waste his efforts in the following janma.

Please don’t misinterpret that getting married is wasting one’s life.

It is very important that we do good things, however small they are however insignificant they seem to be in terms of output. There is a record keeper, who tracks everything and he will ensure that none of these go waste. All these are carried forward across janmas and results are awarded accordingly. This is true of bad deeds too. So they should be avoided and good deeds should be taken up.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు
PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Hanumas abilities and humility

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

This is one topic on which one can fill up tons of pages. How much ever is written, you would still feel that something is still pending. So it is just not possible to do full justice on this topic.

I would like to mention couple of incidents from Sri Ramaayana which are small representations of Hanuma’s ability and most importantly humility.

Incident 1:

When Hanuma crosses the ocean and reaches lanka in search of Sita maata, he finally finds her under the Sinsupa Vruksham (Ashoka tree). Looking at her situation and her trust in people, he finds a way to make her talk to him without actually talking to her. One should read Raamayana to understand that various thoughts that underwent in Hanumas brain before deciding on that specific plan of action. It is just amazing. Anyway, after that Sita trusts Hanuma and Hanuma consoles her and informs her that Sri Raama would invade Lanka with the entire army of Sugreeva, kill Ravana and all the Raakshasas and take her back with him. After all that conviction and consolation, Hanuma asks Sita for her permission so that he could return to Sri Raama.

Sita gets worried and expresses her concern, “You say that Sugreeva is king of monkeys and he has a huge army. Four groups have been sent to four corners of the earth. Out of all those lakhs of people only you could reach Lanka by crossing the ocean. I am really worried how Sri Raama can fight this huge army of Raavana, which is extremely strong and importantly in their own land.”

To this Hanuma responded, “Oh my great mother! Do not have even an iota of such doubt. Sugreeva’s army has extremely powerful people. Some with the strength of 100 elephants, some 1000 elephants’ strength, some 10000 elephants’ strength and some even more. My strength is nothing when compared to all of those. In the entire army of Sugreeva, there are people who have strength equal or more than me. There is no one who has strength less than mine. Be assured of that. Importantly, when a king sends a doota (messenger) to another kingdom, the weakest and the most powerless is chosen and sent across so that even if that person is lost, there is no damage done. That’s how I have been sent here. So don’t even worry about the strength of the army of Sugreeva nor the capabilities of Sri Raama and Lakshmana.”

Incident 2:

Once the war between Sri Raama and Raavana started, there were casualties on both sides. But once Indrajit entered the arena, there was no looking back for Raavanas army. Indrajit is an extremely powerful Raakshasa. He got his name because he was able to defeat Indra in war. Indrajit single handedly almost destroyed the army of Sugreeva and Sri Raama. To the extent that there was hardly anybody alive in the entire camp of Sri Raama. Even Sri Raama and Lakshmana also got hurt very badly because of the Naagaasthram that Indrajit used on them. Seeing the war zone in such a shape, Indrajit returned to the palace and informed Raavana about the conclusion of the war and their victory. Celebrations started in Raavanas camp.

Vibheeshana was looking around in the war field and found Jaambavanta alive, but badly wounded. He went upto him and asked him how he was doing.

Jaambavanta responded, “How is Hanuma doing? Is he alive?”

Vibheeshana was surprised and asked him, “Did you intend to ask about Sri Raama and Lakshmana’s well being?

Jaambvanta responded, “No. I am very much in my senses. I am asking about Hanumas well being only. If he is alive, then it doesn’t matter who else is there or not. We will win the war. If he is not alive, it doesn’t matter who else is there, we will not win the war.”

Hanuma was right next to Vibheeshana and he fell at Jaambavantas feet and said, “I am very much alive. Tell me what I should do.”

Based on Jaambvantas instructions, Hanuma flew to Himalayas and got the Sanjeevani parvatham, which had all medicinal herbs by which the entire army of Sri Raama sprang back to life. And as they say, the rest is history.

Is there a way to control to tears in your eyes? Not that I want to know…

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Whats in a name

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

We are all familiar with the pet names that either we have or we give to our children. Many of us are also proud of the pet names to the extent that we donot mind forgetting the original name too.

Let us look at a small story from Bhaagavatham.

Once there used to be an extremely pious brahmin by the name Ajaameeludu. He was a great son and a husband as well. He used to perform his duties extremely well including veda pathanam etc. Most importantly he had great control over his indriyas (sense organs). One day he went to the forest to fetch wood for the homam (a pooja done with offerings given to various devathas through Agni-god of fire). While he was collecting the wood, he overheard some sounds being made by a couple behind some bushes. He wanted to know what was happening and when he saw the couple in a compromising posture, he withdrew himself and returned home. Somehow for the next few days he was not able to forget that woman.

One day he left his entire family and went to that woman. This woman was a prostitute and she insisted that this brahmin quits everything if he wanted to stay with her. They got married and became parents of multiple children. Ajaameeludu quit his pious life completely and became a thief, gambler etc to feed his family. He used to love his youngest son a lot. His name was Naaraayana. His sons name used to linger on his tongue most of the time. On his death bed too, he used to call his son every now and then. His last word before his death was Naaraayana. Once he died, yama dootas came and were preparing to take him to narakam (hell). Just then Vishnu paarshvadulu (representatives of vishnu from vaikuntam) came and stopped the yama dootas and said that they are granting some more life to this person because of the utterance of the word Naarayana just before his death. Local police cannot override FBI right.

Ajaameludu got up from his bed alive and he was a spectator to this entire incident.

He realised his mistake, went to Vaaranaasi, caught hold of a guru, confided in him and became pious again and led the rest of his life happily and achieved salvation.

I have observed many people pushing aside certain concepts by citing reasons such as “mere stories”, “not bothered about salvation”, “Not logical” etc.

Assuming that there is faith in God, let us look at some of the advantages of calling someone by their original name, which is named after a God.

·         Abusing someone using a Gods name is difficult. Just imagine a statement, “Hey Siva __________” Fill up the underline with any bad word and you will it very difficult to make that statement.

·         Voluntarily or involuntarily, we will be remembering the God, once in a while atleast, when we use the name frequently for calling our children, friends, colleagues etc.

·         It becomes difficult for someone to do wrong things or be impolite or rude or inhuman when someone has Gods name dancing on the tongue most of the time. Just remember a person that you know who keeps saying “Ram Ram” or “Om Namah Sivaaya” or “Govinda Govinda” frequently. Just recollect that person’s behavior. More often than not, you will find such a person quite humble and nice to talk to.

So it’s better to call people by their names (not elders of course) than their pet names. Especially little children and once we educate them on the significance of their name and what kind of behavior is expected out of a person with that name, I am sure we are well on our way for shaping a better future for the children.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Ordeals of God

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

 

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

 

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

 

ఓం నమః శివాయ

The more I read about Sri Raama/ Sita etc and the more I hear various stories associated with different avatars of God, I feel sad for the ordeals that God had gone through and goes through, to keep us safe and happy. Raakshasaas are a crazy set of people who have the weirdest of the weirdest desires and to save normal people from such raakshasaas, God had to do undergo real ordeals.

 

There was this Raakshasa called Hiranyakasapa who did a great tapasya and sought a boon from Brahma. He should be killed neither by a man nor by an animal, neither during the day nor during the night, neither on earth nor in sky. He thought that he was smart enough to seek a boon by which he would never have death. But Lord Vishnu had to take the Narasimha avatar to kill him in the twilight zone (Sandhya samayam) on the Gadapa (the wood door separation between two rooms) of his palace. He was a disaster to the mankind to such an extent that he did not even leave his son, Prahlaada, as he was not a Vishnu dweshi. He subjected Prahlaada to great tortures to make him pray for himself than Vishnu.

 

Then there was this raakshasa called Vajrakantaka (or Vajrakanta). This guy did great tapasya and Brahma asked him what he wanted. He said that he wanted a son who would be a threat to the mankind. Difficult to imagine the pleasure he derived out of that boon. One great raakshasa called Taarakaasura was born to him. He was born with enormous strength and as per the boon from Brahma he started torturing every one. Not satisfied with his powers, taarakaasura did a great tapasya and Brahma appeared before him. His boon was, “I should be killed by the son of Siva Kesava.” He thought, since both Siva and Kesava are males, it’s not possible for a son to be born and thus he would not have death. He got his boon granted and he resumed with his lesser mortal torturing. After the Ksheera saagara madhanam, Lord Vishnu assumed a beautiful woman’s stature and the rest is history with respect to the distribution of the nectar. The news about this extremely beautiful woman at Ksheera saagara madhanam reached the ears of Siva. So, he wanted to look at this beautiful lady once. So, when Vishnu and Siva met, Siva wanted Vishnu to show the beautiful figure he wore. After refusing for some time, Kesava transformed himself to that same woman. Siva was mesmerized with that woman and went towards her. Kesava started running looking at Siva’s advances and Siva started chasing him. Paarvati was watching all this drama without a flinch. After some time Siva’s tejassu got released and ayyappa was born. Siva quietly came back to Paarvati after that and Paarvati behaved as if nothing happened. This Ayyappa then went to kill Taarakaasura.

 

The plight of Sri Raama and Sita is just unimaginable. Someone who was to become a king the next morning, had to leave for forests with his brother and wife. Had to survive on meager stuff and fruits and roots and suffer the climate in the forests. Sri Raama had to fight 14000 raakshasas single handedly. The couple underwent separation through Raavana abducting Sita. The brothers had to wander aimlessly in the forest not knowing where to look for Sita. Sita on the other hand had to undergo innumerable humiliations with Raavana looking to make her his wife. The female raakshasis surrounded Sita all the time, threatening and convincing her to marry Raavana. When we read the way Sita led her life in that Asoka Vanam, one ends up in tears for sure. Sri Raama collates all the monkeys and other animals to lead his fight against the great Raavana and crosses this ocean to reach Lanka to take the fight to Raavana. Multiple times during the war, Sri Rama gets depressed and gets out of it to win the war. Within no time after becoming the king, he had to leave Sita in the forest because of an idiot uttering meaningless words. Generally, everyone thinks that Sri Raama is a Vishnu avatar and so brush aside the greatness of him and troubles the couple underwent. But in Raamayana, one can read the umpteen number of times that Sri Raama and Sita cried.

 

Relatively speaking, Krishna avatar is better than that of Sri Raama. But he does have his share of aspersions casted on him. Even today, whenever anyone has another relationship, he is compared to Sri Krishna. Justification – Sri Krishna had 16000 wives. But no one realizes that he did not  have physical relationship even with one of them. The peacock feather, that he wears in his hair, indicates that. He is also unpopular for his act of stealing the sarees of Gopikas, when they were taking bath. The real reason for that act is this. The Gopikas were performing a vratham and everyday they used to take bath in that pond without wearing any clothes. Taking bath without any clothes on, does not yield the results of the vratham or special pooja that we do. To convey this, Krishna did this act and told them they should wear clothes while taking bath. After which, the Gopikas got the fruits of the vratham. Importantly, when Krishna did that act of stealing, he ensured that there was no other male around. He had sent all of them away. But even today, people say that he stole sarees of bathing woman, with a negative connotation. Then the diamond stealing aspersion by Sathraajit. We read this during the Vinayaka Chavithi vratha story.

 

So whenever we recollect the above, I am sure we will not get depressed, bcos our troubles, problems, humiliations are of smaller magnitude as compared to any of the above.

 

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.