Bhakthadasi

When king Thaaladhvaja left for his palace, Narada muni asked Bhagavan: Lord! what happened to me? How did I get transformed to a lovely woman? Why did I experience so much sorrow as a queen and now how did I transform back to myself? Bhagavan said: "Hey Narada! All this happened because you were under the grip of Maaya. When you see a dream, you feel it is real and only when you wake up,  you realize that it was not real and it was only a dream. Exactly like that, Maaya makes you believe that it is real and only when you stand back and become only a witness, you realize that it was not real. Maaya is that which makes you feel the unreal as real." Thus saying Bhagavan disappeared. Then Narada went to Sathya loka or Brahma loka and told Brahma Devan about all that happened and Brahma devan, father of Narada Muni also gave him lot of advice about Maaya. He also revealed that Vishnu maaya or Yogamaaya is the same as Prakruuthi Devi or Bhagavathi. So  Brahma De...

As per Bhagavan's request, Narada Muni stepped down in to the river and took a dip in the water for a second and came out. What a surprise! He had transformed in to a beautiful woman. In the place of Narada Muni, stood a young, lovely maiden! All his memory up to that point was erased and then he was a woman. By the time this woman got out of water and walked towards the bank of the lake, Bhagavan had disappeared.  There was nobody around and this lovely woman stood helpless there. At that time a young handsome king by the name Thaaladhajan came there along with his army.  At the very first sight, they both fell in love with each other and in due course of time they got married at the bank of the same river. Narada muni- turned -beautiful- maiden did not even know who she was and what her name was. So king Thaaladhvaja called her "soubhaagya sundari." They went back to his palace and  lived there happily for several years. They became proud parents and grand p...

Narada narrated his encounter with Vishnu Maaya to Vedavyaasa Maharshi.  After travelling through all the fourteen worlds, once Narada Muni went back to Vaikundham. When he entered Bhagavan's quarters (he had the right to go anywhere in Vaikundham with out any body's permission), Bhagavan and Lakshmi Devi were relaxing there and were talking about something. As soon as Narada Muni entered, Lakshni Devi disappeared in to the women's quarters. Then Narada asked Lord Mahavishnu: "Prabho! I am a great devotee of yours and I have my indriyas or senses under control. And you know, I am not affected by the power of Maaya. So why did your consort Lakshmi Devi leave the room when she saw me coming? Does that mean that she considers me as an" anyan" or outsider? When Narada boasted like that about himself, Bhagavan tried hard to hide his smile. Bhagavan told Narada Muni: "Hey, Narada, Devi did not mean  to belittle you or ignore you. But she is ...

Here is an interesting story of Narda Muni, who is beyond Maya, experiencing the full effect of Maya. This story is given in Devi Bhagavatham. As we all know Narada Muni is one of the greatest devotees of Bhagavan and he can travel through all the fourteen worlds chanting Sreerama Govinda  Narayana Hare on his Veena. He is the one who persuaded Valmiki Maharshi to write Ramayanam and Veda Vyasa Maharshi to write Sreemad Bhagavatham. Once Narada Muni went to the hermitage of Vyasa Maharshi on the banks of river Saraswathi. Vyasa Maharshi welcomed Narada muni with due respect and made him comfortable. Narada Muni noticed a sad expression on Vyasa Muni's face and asked what was bothering him, in spite of his performing many many good actions in his life. Then Vyasa muni told him how his mind was still agitated and was swinging like a pendulum and he asked Narada Muni's advice.  Narada Muni said: "Vyasa Maharshe, please remain peaceful. All beings are entangled in t...

When King Sharyathi and the queen reached the hermitage, they saw a handsome young sage sitting there. They could not believe their eyes. They were even wondering whether Sukanya got rid of her old husband and chose a young sage as her husband. Sukanya came out and saw her father lost in thoughts. She told them; "Dear father and mother, did you see my husband Chyavana Maharshi? You will not even recognize him. He is now a young and handsome sage."  Sukanya explained to them the whole story and Chyavana Mharshi and Sukanya prostrated at their feet and welcomed them to their hermitage. All of them were so happy and King Sharyathi spent a few days there. Chyavana Maharshi told King Sharyathi that he wanted to show his gratitude to Aswini Devaas and as per their request,  promised them to share the "somarasam" during the Yajnaas performed by King Shyaryathi. Maharshi humbly requested King Sharyathi to perform a yajnam as soon as possible and remove the sorrow...

Aswini Devaas told Sukanya :  " We will give eyesight to your husband and also make him a young man. But there will be a riddle for you solve to get your young husband back .The new young Chyavana Maharshi with good eye sight will look exactly like us and you have to identify your husband from the three men looking exactly alike in every way. If you are ready to accept the challenge, we will bless you with that boon" Sukanya discussed this offer with Chyavana Maharshi and Maharshi agreed and gave permission  to accept the offer. Aswini Devaas told Maharshi to take a dip in the nearby lake and they also took a dip along with the sage. When they  came out of the water, all the three of them looked exactly similar. All of them looked  young and very handsome. Then they told her to choose her husband from among them. Sukanya prayed Devi to give her the wisdom to choose her husband from that trio. Devi Bhagavathi, an ocean of kindness, came for her rescue. The...

From the day Sukanya became the wife of Chyavana Maharshi, she served him with utmost care and devotion. Her attitude and service rendered by her to the sage were praised even by Devaas, Kinnaraas, Gandarvaas, Yakshaas etc.  She gave bath to Maharshi in pure warm water three times a day. After bath she made him sit on the smooth bark of mango tree. Then prepared everything he needed for his pooja and worship of Devi. After that she fed him with ripe and delicious fruits she gathered from the forest trees. After food, gave him betel leaves. Evenings she massaged her feet. After the evening prayers, she will make him sleep in a comfortable bed made from tree barks and soft leaves. Eating the left over food, she will also rest until early morning to wake him up for the next day's routine. She never complained or never appeared unhappy or tired.  After several years, one day, Aswini Devaas, twin brothers who were the physicians of Devaas visited that forest. They were ...

When Sukanya told King Sharyathi about poking through the holes on the anthill with a dry blade of grass, King Sharyathi was very worried. Along with Sukanya, he went to the forest, prostrated at Chyavana Maharshi's feet and apologized for his daughter's mistake. Chyavana Maharshi said: "King Sharyathi, I did not curse your daughter for blinding me, an innocent sage doing penance in the forest. But I am a sincere devotee of Devi and and Devi is the one who gives the results of bad karmaas to those who did it. I am old and now I lost my eye sight. So I became helpless and if you care for me, please bring some body who can take care of me. I do not need anything else." King Sharayathi told him that he was ready to give as many servants as he wanted and would do anything to make him comfortable. Then Chyavana Mharshi told him: "I  just want a companion who would take care of me during my austerities and then spend time with me until I exhaust my pra...

Kashyapa Maharshi is the son of Marichi Maharshi who is the Maanasa puthra of Brahma devan. Kashyapa Maharshi married thirteen daughters out of sixteen daughters of Daksha Prajapathi. (One daughter Sathi Devi was married to Lord Shiva followed by Daksha yaagam, another daughter Swaha to Lord Agni and Swadha to Pthrus or forefathers). Vivaswan was one of the sons of Kashyapa and Adithi. Vaiavaswatha Manu is Vivaswan's son and  King Sharyathi is the son of Vaivaswatha Manu. Our heroine Sukanya is this King Sharyathi's daughter. Sukanya has a brother called Aanartthan.  King Sharyathi was very fond of her daughter and always tried to fulfill all her reasonable wishes. In due course of time she grew in to a beautiful young woman. Even though she was the beloved of the family, she was not a spoilt child. She was a highly spiritual and balanced young woman. King Sharyathi and his family along with his army camped in a forest near River Ganga. One day Sukanya, along with her ...

This word  Hamsa:  ( ഹംസ: हंस: ) is one of the names of Lord Mahavishnu given in Vishnu Sahasranaama sthothram. I t is interesting to know more about this word and to explore how this word became a synonym of Bhagavan  We are familiar with the divine sentence or Mahadvaakyam "aham Brahmaasmi" and instead of saying this one can say " aham sa: " meaning "I am He" where He refers to Brahmam. By meditating on the thought that "I am none other than  Parabrahmam itself" for a long time, eventually sadhaka or spiritual aspirant becomes Parabrahmam or merge with the Paramaathma Chaithanyam. One entity or one power that destroys the fear of those aspiring sadhakaas is called  Hamsa:   Mahanirvana Thanthra mentions that "ham" represents Shiva  and "sa" represents Shakthi. Hmasa or soham ( I am He or He is none other than Myself) is often compared with our breathing- "ham for inhaling and "sa" for exhaling. It c...

I got the below write up from another group. This is what came to my mind. Yes, when you dissolve the salt of pain in the love of Bhagavan pervading the whole universe, it becomes the salt of life!  The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the Master asked. "Not good at all," spat the apprentice. The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake." As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the Master. "No," said the young man. The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, an...

I happen to read about the meaning of Athma. It was explained like this.  Let us break down the words to  A+ THMA Take the first letter "A" and in Sanskrit usually "A" or അ  or अ denotes a negative meaning.(gacchathi for going A-gacchathi for coming etc) Take the remaining letters of Athma except "A"and we are left with "thma" (thama). The meaning of thma is darkness. so Athma is opposite of darkness, that is, bright or illuminating or shining.  So Athma is that which knows no darkness and always shining with in all of us. Unfortunately soul does not convey this meaning at all.!!

Here is a story in connection with one of the most famous lines from Bhagavad Gita  Ananyaschinthanyantho maam ye janaa: paryupaasathe theshaam nithyaabhiyukthaanaam yogakshemam vahaamyaham "The devotees who constantly think of me, without any other thoughts in their minds, worship Me with single- minded love and devotion, without any other interest than uniting with Me, I attend to their needs and security” Once there lived  a very poor Brahmin  who was very knowledgeable. He had practically no income  to make both ends meet and was struggling to fulfill the needs and desires of his wife and two children. Whenever people called him  to talk on Bhagavatham or Bhagavad Gita, they gave him some money and so he was trying to utilize his spiritual knowledge to make a living. One day his wife told him to visit the king and do a talk on Gita. Both of them were expecting some form of remuneration from the king.  He went to the palace and king...

What is Vanamala? This word appears in many slokas about the description of Lord Mahavishnu.  Bhagavatham says that it is a garland that reaches up to the knees of Bhagavan and is made of all types of forest flowers of all the four seasons with Kadamba flower in the middle.  Vanamala signifies Bhagavan's kindness and impartiality. Vanamala is not made of only auspicious, fragrant and most beautiful flowers. It is made of all kinds of ordinary flowers found in the forest. This indicates that He is approachable and attainable by anybody who has a pure and humble mind. Everybody is special to Him irrespective of one's material status. Kuchela, Shabari, Thrivakra etc are examples for the  ordinary human flowers decorating Bhagavan, the personification of kindness.. Vanamaalee gadee shaarngee shamkhee chakree cha nandakee Sreemaan Naaraayano VishnurVaasudevobhi rakshathu

Most of the descriptions of Bhagavan mentions about the five important weapons He carries. They are conch, discus, mace, bow and sword. But these are not the only weapons Bhagavan has.He can use anything as a weapon to destroy Adharmis and protect good people.Lord Rama used a blade of grass to kill Lord Indra's son Jayantha who came in the form of a crow and he lost one of his eyes when he took refuge at His feet. He killed Hiranyakashipu with his nails and fulfilled the conditions of his boon from Brahma devan. Bhagavan killed Putana by sucking her life breath through her breasts.He effortlessly killed Shakataasura by kicking with His lotus feet! Killed Bakaasura by stretching his beaks with his hands. So He can use anything as His weapon, anywhere He wants to destroy Adharmis. So He is also known as Sarvapraharanaayudha: Sreekrishnaarppanamasthu

What is Vyashti and Samashti which is often translated as Mmicrocosm and Macrocosm? A very good and simple example given  to understand these two terms is an individual tree and a huge forest of which this individual tree is a part. So if we consider a forest, each tree that constitutes the forest is called Vyashti and the huge forest comprising all the trees is Samashti There is another example which is a little deeper. Imagine there are several water drops on a surface and sun is reflected in each one of them. Each reflection is Vyashti. Now imagine that all the water drops join to form a puddle and sun reflects in that also. This reflected sun in the puddle of water is the Samasthi which is actually an aggregate of all the reflections in the individual drops. There is no difference between these two reflections except one is aggregate. This definition helps us to understand that Sun remains the same independent of the reflecting surface.  In both Samashti or ...

We have heard that Lord Krishna had six elder brothers and all of them were killed by Kamsa. Devakidevi had a "false miscarriage" when the fetus was transferred to Rohinidevi's womb to give birth to Lord Balarama. Then Lord Krishna came as the eighth son of Devaki. Vasudevar had another wife by the name Devarakshitha and after the birth of Lord Krishna, Vasudevar got a son in her and his name was Gada and hence  Lord Krishna is also known as Gadaagraja or elder brother of Gada. Vishnu Sahasranaamam has Gadaagraja as one name used by Bhishma Pitamaha.  Rukmini Devi also addresses Bhagavan as Gadaagraja in her message to Lord Krishna sent through the Brahmin.: aaraadhitho yadi GADAAGRAJA ethya paanim gruhnaathu me na damaghoshasuthaadayOnye "May my hand be held in wedlock by none other than GADAAGRAJA or Lord Krishnai never by anyone including Shishupaala etc." May Krishna, the elder brother of Gada and the younger brother of Balara...

I always used to wonder why one of Bhagavan's name is  Vishama:  because the ordinary meaning I associated with that word was "a state of unhappiness or sorrow arising from some kind of difficulties". But when I started studying the meaning of each name of Bhagavan in Vishnu Sahasra naamam, I realized how ignorant I was of another most beautiful meaning of the same word when it is used as a noun. I thought it is worth sharing with those who are like me wondering about the meaning of this name. Those who already know the meaning of this name of Bhagavan, please ignore my jalpanaas. Na vidyathe sama: yasya sa  vishama : meaning - One who has nobody equal to him. So no question of anybody superior to him. He is unequalled The same thing is told by Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita when he saw the Viswaroopam: "None there exists who is equal to you, how can there be then another superior to You in the three worlds, Oh Being of unequalled power?" May Lord Visham...

Bhakthi is loving devotion to God. Love and reverence go together and devotees experience pleasure in God. This is called Preethi bhakthi. Just like ordinary people crave for their favorite things, devotees in this state craves for Bhagavan's presence and they go to temples, go to satsangs, extol Bhagavan with keerthanaas and try to remember him in one way or the other. As the aspirant evolves, he starts feeling Viraha or separation which is defined as intense misery due to the absence of the Ishta devatha. Actually this devotee becomes uncomfortable in the presence of anything other than their favorite God or thoughts about God.  We see this type of feeling in our mundane life also, like a newly wed bride's intense misery when husband is away.  When a devotee feels this misery of separation day and night or every moment, then it is said that the aspirant has entered in to the state of Parabhakthi -they will think of Him, think of Him alone and give up all other th...

I often ask myself: What is Bhakthi? There are several definitions and explanations. Starting from Bhagavan, then Narada Muni, sage Shaandilya and several other great sages of the past and present have talked about Bhakthi and according to our mental make up, past tendencies, and surroundings that shaped us, each one of us understand and assimilate them in one's own way. Can we say Bhakthi is a sentiment? A sentiment that helps us to think that all we see, feel and experience are created by God? We have neither the  right to condemn anything nor look at them with contempt.Once this sentiment becomes pronounced in our mind, we start seeing the small rays of light from the "Light of lights". This sentiment of love gathers strength and starts flowing uninterrupted towards not only our fellow beings, but also towards all entities, representations of the Universal soul, in the universe! The letter "bha" means "light" or prakaasham. When we are attracted t...

Love knows no rival The third angle of the spiritual triangle is "love knows no rival". Sincere devotees are never jealous of others or their love for their own highest ideal, God. Sincere devotees never worry about whose Bhakthi is more intense or less intense.  Let us take the case of Bhaagavathotthama Shri Uddhav. When he reached Vrindaavanam with Bhagavan's message to the Gopikas, he was so surprised and happy to see their intense devotion towards Bhagavan. He had never seen or heard such unalloyed love anywhere and he says: vande nanda-vraja-strinam  pada-renum abhiksnasah  yasam hari-kathodgitam  punati bhuvana-trayam  "I repeatedly offer my respects to the dust from the feet of the women of Nanda Maharaja's cowherd village. When these gopis loudly chant the glories of Sri Krishna, the vibration purifies the three worlds."  Vivekananda Swamiji says that those who show intolerance and jealousy to a devotee ,whether they are devoted to...

Love knows no fear Some religions define "God-fearing" as a good quality of a person. and some define "God-loving" as a good quality. They are very different. A God -fearing man does good actions only because he thinks he will be free from the wrath of God. But a God-loving man does everything out of love for God.What happens when you sincerely love somebody? You want to do only what pleases him/her. You do not want to hurt the loved ones. So this sentiment of love gives rise to other positive emotions like consideration and compassion. God is personification of love and how can one get closer to Him by fearing Him?  When Bhagavan is the personification of love, a real Bhaktha will have no fear of his God. All the fear and other emotions are replaced by unalloyed, pure love. He does everything out of love and he can see Bhagavan's presence in everything. So a God -fearing person is completely out of this triangular love directed towards God. When love i...

Vivekananda Swamiji talks about spiritual love triangle. We all know about the material love triangle where three people are involved in a romantic relationship which would invariably trigger jealousy and hatred. Let us look into the spiritual love triangle where the love from all angles is directed towards God and the love that triggers only positive sentiments in anybody.  A triangle has obviously three angles. This spiritual love-triangle also has three angles namely:  1. Love or loving devotion or Bhakthi knows no bargaining. 2. Love or loving devotion or Bhakthi knows no fear. 3. Love or  loving devotion or Bhakthi knows no rival.  When love knows no bargaining, that love becomes "nishkkaama bhakthi" or loving Bhagavan for love's sake and not to fulfill any of our desires. It is also called paraa-bhakthi. This means that one angle of this triangle is unconditional love. Vivekananda Swamiji illustrates a nice story about this angle of B...

This word is often used in our scriptures and in lot of stories of devotees. Mumukshu means one who has intense desire for liberation.  It is interesting to note that every animate or inanimate entity is a Mumukshu in God's eyes. How is it possible? Yes, lives after lives all entities liberate from this cycle of births and deaths. Each species evolve and get closer in each life to that ultimate goal. Nobody is doomed. Because of this ,it is said that there are four types of Mumukshus. 1. Extremely dull Mumukshus- These entities are very dull and slow in their progress and they can be seen in all  entities. This means that their desire is very raw , even though it is there, hidden or dormant. There are trees, rocks, animals and of course human beings who get liberation. Our Purananas talk about Nalakoobara and Manigreeva (as trees), Ahalya (as stone), Gajendra, and so  many devotees of Bhagavan getting moskham. They all could get liberation because their desire ...

When we dive down deep in to our scriptures, we can find auspicious pearls in the form  Mahaavakyaas. Let us try to appreciate a tiny spec of of the deep meaning and endless beauty of a few.  1. Eashavaasyamidam sarvam  ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं    ഇശാവാസ്യമിദം  സർവം  All this is God indeed or God is everything.  Then, what is "all this" or "everything"? 2. Sarvam Khalvidam Brahmam सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्मं   സർവം ഖല്വിദം ബ്രഹ്മം  "All this " is Brahmam. Then how about me? 3. Aham Brahmaasmi अहं ब्रह्मास्मि   അഹം ബ്രഹമാസ്മി  I am Brahmam. Then who are "you" 4. Thath thvam asi  तहत त्वं असि   തത് ത്വം  അസി  You are (also)"that"  or "that" is what you are. Now, what do you mean by "that"? 5. Ayamaathma brahmam   अयमात्मा ब्रह्मं  അയാമാത്മാ ബ്രഹ്മം  You are Aathma which is the same as "that" or Brahmam or Aathma and "that" Brahmam...

Once there was big fight between between three Hindus and the fight was about who was the Supreme Lord- Lord Mahavishnu or Lord Shiva or Devi Bhagavathi. They decided to get the truth from a learned saint who was living in a hermitage near their village. Sage was sitting there after his morning sadhana. All the three of them paid their respect by prostrating at his feet and sage asked why they were there. Then they told him about their fight and how each one thought their Ishtadevatha or favorite deity was the Supreme Power.  Sage told them to sit down and asked them: Do you follow Sanathanan Dharma ?  They said they all believe and follow Sanatana Dharma.  Then sage took them to a house where a joint family lived that included  grand parents,parents sons, daughters, grand children etc. Sage asked one of the daughters-in law of the old couple to help him clear a doubt of his guests. They were more than willing to help Swamiji and eldest daught...