Mahabharata Originals! #5. The insult!

                  The Insult of Duryodhana!                #Last blog we saw how the young Pandavas were born and brought up by the sages in a jungle.                                                                                                                Ugra-shrava says" After King Pandu died, the sages themselves took Pandavas to then King Dhritarashtra and his sons. Sages said " King Dhritarashtra these are your son's, brother's, student and well wishers. These five are indeed the son's of your brother Pandu!" Saying this the sages went away. Every Kaurava, soldier, ministers and common public present over there were happy and cheering for the Pandavas. Some would say "these are not King Pandu's son's" , some would say " they are definitely Pandu's son's" and some would say " much time has passed since King Pandu died, how then can these 5 be his son's?" . But eventually everyone said "We welcome the son's of King Pandu! We are lucky to be in their presence." And everyone cheerfully welcomed them. Then suddenly a loud sound was heard ,it's direction was definitely from above, the gods and celestial beings appeared and said "These definitely are the son's of King Pandu!" As time passed ,the Pandavas were growing through learning warcraft and politics and economics of their region, everyone respected them. Everyone in the kingdom praised young Yudishtir's truth and political council , Bheem's strength , Arjuna's bravery ,and Nakul-Sahadev's obedience towards their brother's and teacher's. Then Arjun through his valiant act impressed King's Drupad's daughter Krushnaa (Draupadi) who herself selected Arjun as her consort. Under Shri Krushna's political advice and Arjun - Bheem's military leadership they became unbeatable and King's from other regions offered them gold , valuable goods and jewels ,all these gifts and valuables were kept in security under Duryodhana! And as time passed , seeing Pandavas increasing wealth and respect Duryodhana's jealousy and anger towards them increased.                                                                                   

Once a celestial being called "  Maya-daanav" gifted Pandavas a palace which was similar to a shape of a big ship and it was called the "house of illusions". Seeing this Duryodhana became more angry as it was better than his own palace. Duryodhana visited the palace , as soon as he entered , he slipped and fell down in water as it was illusion that surface was land, that time in front of Lord Krushna Bheem called Duryodhana uneducated and insulted him and laughed at him! As days passed Duryodhana due to his ill feelings for Pandavas fell sick and even medicine's were of no use, so the helpers informed King Dhritarashtra about Duryodhana's health. As he was too attached to his son , he gave Duryodhana permission to play the infamous "Dice Game" with Pandavas, upon knowing this Lord Krushna became angry on King Dhritarashtra. Dhritarashtra knew that he was wrong but due to love for his son's he ignored the voice's which came from his soul.                                                                                            When Pandavas were winning the battle and Dhritarashtra upon hearing the evil schemes of Duryodhana , Karna and  Shakuni became sad. Then he said to Sanjay " Listen to everything I have to say , for then you will not blame me for this battle and destruction which is caused. You are intelligent , learned and respected by scholars!. I did not give my consent for this battle. And I am not at all happy for destruction of my land and that of my kins. I had no ill feelings for my brother Pandu's son's and treated them as my own. But what would I do? My son in his anger did not listen to me. I am blind , sometimes because of my bad luck and sometimes because I loved my son too much to see what he was becoming. When Duryodhana became sad , I felt that sadness. Also Pandavas growing wealth and prosperity and insult by Bheem was too much for Duryodhana to bear. He definitely did not have the strength to defeat the Pandavas in battle and being a soldier he did not possess bravery. Instead with his uncle Shakuni he planned "The Dice Game" in order to obtain all their wealth and property. Hence incidences such as these which led to belief that I cannot win against Pandavas are as follows , listen to them carefully Sanjay".                                                                                                                                         #Next blog- King Dhritarashtra explains the  incidences in chronological order to Sanjay which happened throughout Mahabharata which led him to belief that his son's would not win against the Pandavas.

Mahabharata Originals! #4.

The Story!

 After explaining the importance of the Parva's of Mahabharata in a beautifully elaborative way ,      Ugra-shrava started to narrate the Great History to Maharushi Shounak and others!                                           हर्षस्थान सहस्र्ताणि भयस्थान शतानि च।.                  दिवसे दिवसे मुदम् आविष्यन्ति न पण्डितम्।।         A Ignorant person experiences hundreds of moment's of happiness and thousands that of sadness and fear everyday! But a knowledgeable one is neither affected by both thus keeping his/her mind stable and calm both in moments of joy as well as of fear!                                                                                    Ugra-shrava said "A long time ago, Maharushi Vedvyas with permission of his mother Satyavati and Gangaputra (son of river Ganges) Bhishma, granted a boon to Vichitravirya's three wife's for having son's and thus the great Kuru's ( Kauravas) Dhritarashtra , Pandu and Vidhur were born blessed with appearance that of glowing fire! After granting the boon Maharushi Vedvyas returned to his abode. And when these three grew in age and strength , Maharushi Vedvyas started to narrate this great Epic on earth. After questioning done by King Janmejaya and several other Brahmins and other people , Vedvyas gave permission to his student Vaishmapayan to narrate this great story to them." Further Ugra-shrava says "In this Mahabharata, Vedvyas has explained the family tree of Kauravas, Queen Gandhari's Dharmasheelta ( following of Dharma towards her husband) , Vidhur's incredible sense of administration of the kingdom and Kunti's patience and resilience. Lord Krushna's "कृष्ण" (yes it's actually krushna, and not Krishna ( क्रिष्ना) , as Krushna in Sanskrit means dark coloured)  knowledge of enlightenment, Dharma of Pandavas, Dhritarashtra's son's Duryodhana and other's Adharma has been clearly mentioned by Vedvyas. Originally this Grantham of 1 lakh shlokas is known as "Adya Bharat" that is Mahabharata. Vedvyas first taught his son Shukdev this great history. Originally Vedvyas wrote 24,000 shlokas and named it "Bharat" and then sectioned it and wrote more 150 shlokas. After teaching this to Shukdev, Vedvyas taught it to other intellectuals and wrote another Grantham of 60 lakh shlokas ,out of which 30 lakh shlokas are learned by God's residing in heaven, 15 lakh shlokas in Pitruloka (in which the souls with mixed good and bad deeds exist as an intermediate between good and bad), 14 lakh shlokas in Gandharva loka ( the residing place of celestial beings) and 1 lakh shlokas are recited in Manushya Loka ( abode of human beings), Dev Rushi (God sage) Narada has taught Mahabharata in heaven to God's and Asit Deval has taught it in Pitruloka. Shukdev has taught it to Gandharva's , Rakshasa's and Yaksha's but on Earth this great history was taught by Vaishmapayan student of Maharushi Vedvyas who had excellent knowledge of Scriptures and Veda's. Thus I will narrate to you this Mahabharata of 1 lakh shlokas taught by Vaishmapayan and written by Vedvyas!" said Ugra-shrava.                                             " Duryodhana is a big tree of anger and rage , Karna it's trunk , Shakuni it's branches and Dushasan it's flowers and fruits. Ignorant king Dhritarashtra is its root. King Yudishtir is a big tree of Dharma , Arjun it's trunk, Bheem it's branches, Nakul-Sahadev it's flowers and fruits. Shri Krushna , Vedas and Brahma it's root."                                                                                                                                                                            Story of King Pandu.                              King Pandu with his bravery and wits had conquered many lands and because of his hunting habit, he used to stay in jungle with sages in small huts in disguise. One day he accidentally killed a sage who was cursed to animal form in time of his mating. But before dying he cursed King Pandu that he would die if he tried to mate with his wife or any other women. Even after so , Pandavas were born in that same jungle and we're brought up by sages who taught them about good deeds and character. Even though King Pandu had been cursed , the secret of having children was that his wife Kunti and Madri had a boon given by sage Durvasa that gods - Dharma , Vayu , Indra , and both Ashiwinikumars would grant them a son each. Thus Yudishtir , Bheem , Arjun and Nakul-Sahadev were born respectively. Loving wife Kunti first learned from her husband the values of Dharma and then used the boon to call upon the gods to grant her a son , she called upon Dharma , Vayu and Indra respectively. As instructed Madri called upon the twin god Ashiwinikumars to grant her a son. Thus the five Pandavas were born. As they were growing in age and strength the Pandavas learned the Vedas and Scriptures from sages in jungle. After a brief time after birth of Pandavas , King Pandu died.                                                                                                       #next blog- entry of Pandavas in kingdom of Dhritarashtra after his brother Pandu's death. And introduction of important events in Mahabharata.

Short series #1.3

                             Shadaj Geeta.           

Short series #1.2

                                         Shadaj Geeta.                                                             

Short series #1.

                       Shadaj Geeta!                           

#Last blog we saw that the purpose of life revolves around - Dharma,Artha,Kama and Moksha. Below is a short story in Mahabharata's Shanti Parva which expands our thoughts on the same! The reason it's called Shadaj (meaning 6) is that it's a discussion between the five Pandavas and the intelligent Vidhur ( uncle of Pandavas) which focuses on comparison between the above given four purposes of life and ultimately says which is the most important of them all.                                                                                                                           
                      Sage Vaishmapayan (pupil of Maharushi Vedvyas) thus said " King Janamejaya! Thus after speaking to Bhishma , Yudishtir summoned his 4 brothers and uncle Vidhur and asked the following question!".                                                                                                Yudishtir said " People's lives revolves around Dharma,Artha and Kama. Out of these 3 which one is good , which one is better and which one is the best? Also please explain which qualities should one develop to overcome all these three factors ? Speak of words which you truly believe!                                         Thus having knowledge of Dharmashastra   (science of Dharma) Vidvaan(intelligent) Vidhur said                      बाहुश्रुत्यं तपस्या त्यागः श्रद्धा यज्ञक्रिया क्षमा ।                                  भावशुद्धिः दया सत्यं संयमश्चात्मसंदः ।।                   Studying of various scriptures (science ,politics and other subjects), penance, sacrifice, faith,yajna(ritual-sacrifice), forgiveness, purification of thoughts, donations, truth and patience respectively are the wealth of Atma(soul)".                            Further he says       "Yudishtir you try to achieve the above said qualities! Your mind should not stray away from this. Roots of Dharma and Artha are these. In my opinion these are the thoughts of highest value. Only through Dharma one can cross this world which is vast and deep with materialism like a sea , Dharma is the root on which civilizations of people stand, Dharma is the base of all religions even god has achieved through Dharma and Dharma is the root of Artha. Yudishtir in my opinion Kama is good , Artha is better but Dharma is the best and its above all others! The ultimate aim should be to control our mind and follow Dharma and to treat others as we treat ourselves!                                 

                 तस्माद् धर्म प्रधानेन भवितव्यं यतात्मना।                                          तथा च सर्व भूतेषु वर्तितव्यं यथात्मनि।।.                               Sage Vaishmapayan said " King Janamejaya , after  listening to Vidhur , Arjun who had knowledge of Dharma and Arthashastra (science of wealth and meaning) took permission of his elder brother Yudishtir and gave his true thoughts in following manner".                        Arjun said " My king (Yudishtir) , this is a land of Action (karma bhumi), here tongue's are used to praise the actions (karma), farming- trade- animal care- and other professions are the tools of gaining Artha(wealth). Through wealth one can achieve all karma's (actions) , without wealth one cannot follow Dharma and Kama as Artha helps as a tool for achieving both. A wealthy person can help others and easily follow Dharma as wealth makes it easy for that person to achieve all kind of actions required for Dharma. Dharma and Kama both are parts of Artha and with it both are achieved thus is said by various intellectuals!"   Further Arjun says " As people always praise God so do they praise a wealthy man. Every human is trying to earn wealth and for that purpose he goes from places to places and profession to profession. Even the learned have deep desire for wealth.                                                                                                                                         आस्तिका नास्तिकाश्चैव नियताः संयमे परे।                                       अप्रज्ञानं तमोभूतं प्रज्ञानं तु प्रकाशिता।।                   Even those who believe in God or those who are Atheist have desire for wealth. Rejecting the importance of wealth is ignorance , accepting it's importance is illumination. Thus I give my true thoughts and request my brother's to contribute further".                                                                                  #Next we will see what Nakul and Sahadev have to say about Dharma, Artha and Kaam and Bheem's contribution to this discussion and ultimately the essence of discussion given by King Yudishtir.

Mahabharata Originals! #3.

                         The Conversation!                             

                   .              After inviting Lord Ganesha into the cave , Vedvyas says "लेखको भारतस्यास्य भव त्वं गणनायक।" "please be the writer of this great poem created by me! I will recite the poem as I have created it in my mind."  Ganesha replied " I'll only write it if you promise that my writing won't stop even for a single second, then I'll surely become your writer!".                                                    Vedvyas requested " without understanding don't even write a single letter!" To this Ganesha said "OM" and started writing....... Maharushi Vedvyas used to say such shloka (sutra) that it's meaning would be perceived different from superficial reading and something different if properly read with deeper understanding. In this context Maharushi Vedvyas says "In this poem out of all shlokas there are 8800 shlokas which are fully understood by me, shukdev and Sanjay. Also it is created with such complex Grammer that it's true meaning is difficult to understand and thus its application is confusing."so much that even all knowing Lord Ganesha used to take a moment to understand it but in that moment itself Vedvyas used to create thousand shlokas more!                                                                         To fully understand the purpose of life the four principles of Dharma (the eternal law of the cosmos, inherent in the very nature of things/truth), Artha (meaning, sense, goal, purpose or essence, or wealth/property) , Kama (desire, wish or longing) and Moksha (the transcendent state attained as a result of being released from the cycle of rebirth.) are described by Vedvyas in this epic poem.                                 Maharushi Vedvyas says" Bharata history's seed is its Sangraha Adhyay , It's roots are Paulom and Asthik Parva , Sambhava Parva is its trunk and branches are Sabha & Aranya Parva. Arani Parva joins everything and Viraat and Udyog Parva are contents inside the trees structure, Bhishma Parva is the biggest branch of all and Drona Parva are leaves of this great tree. Karna Parva are the white flowers and its sweet smell is Shalya Parva. Stree Parva and Aeshi Parva is the great shadow and Shanti  Parva is its Fruit! Ashvamegh Parva is the essence of this fruit and Ashramvasik Parva is the support for us to sit under this great tree. Mausal Parva is skin of this tree.                                           All great scholars thus consume this great tree of knowledge ,no poem is independent of this Mahakavya and as clouds bring life to barren lands so thus Mahabharata to living beings!

Mahabharata Originals #2

Mahabharata Originals #2                                    Somewhere in the Himalayan mountains , in a cave Maharushi Vedvyas after taking bath in pure waters of Himalayan river and morning prayers , spread out a carpet made of grass and thus seated comfortably, started meditating.                                        During meditation he went into " dhyan yoga " ( a deeper concentration of the mind) and thought about the "dharma"( the eternal law of the cosmos, inherent in the very nature of things.) and through his divine concentration visualized the whole history of mahabharata from start to end and thus created this great epic!.....further more Vedvyas visualized:-                                                           Before our universe there was nothing in structure or name. To every extent there was only darkness , not even a single speck of light to be seen. It is during this period that a big egg shaped structure appeared which was Avinashi Beej ( a seed which cannot be destroyed) of all living things. This structure was the cause of all living things which were to come from it. In this big egg the pure energy "Brahma" entered.
           अद्भुतं चाप्यचिन्त्यं च सर्वत्र समतां गतम्।.       
        अव्यक्तं कारणं सुक्ष्मं यत् तत् सदसदात्मकम्।।३१।।     
   This Brahma is very minute, it's extent is everywhere, has no particular structure , it's unthinkable, and acts as a "Cause" and is the reason of everything. Everything which is available in form of truth and false both , is "Brahma."                                                                 From that seed came Brahma Dev who had structure,  Rudra , Manu ( refers to the archetypal man, or to the first man, progenitor of humanity) , Prajapathi (Lord of creatures) , Parameshthi  ("five supreme beings in Jainism are a fivefold hierarchy of religious authorities), many Pracheta's and their children, Daksh and his seven sons, after that came 21 Prajapathi's (Sapta rishi's (7) + 14 Manu's) , Vishnu , Aditya (sun),  Vasu ( They are eight elemental gods) and Ashiwinikumar (twin brothers , they are the doctors of gods and are Devas of Ayurvedic medicine). After that appeared the yaksh (broad class of nature-spirits) , sadhya , pishaach (flesh-eating demons) , gruhak , pitrr , and rishi gana ( council of intellectuals).                                                    All the above said living entities were blessed with highest form of virtues.                                               
         आपौ द्योः पृथिवी वायुः अन्तरीक्षं दिशस्तथा।।३६।।     
      From that universe itself came water, fire, earth, sky, space and disha(directions). Seasons, months , days, day and night , and whatever which is perceived by us all came from that Big Egg!                                   
"Everything which is living and nonliving seen by us, at time of PRALAY Kala -(Dissolution, judgement day) returns to its Cause.". Same way as in specific season a tree bears fruits and flowers and when the season ends, it sheds of its flowers and its fruits fall.... That way in specific Time Frame a specific thing appears and when that Time Frame ends we see the लय that is destruction of that specific thing!  And this goes on and on like a cycle (काल चक्र - time cycle), in this cycle- things are created and people are born and they die in an unending fashion!  This cycle never ends!!!!!                                                                          Seeing that this knowledge was well understood by Maharushi Vedvyas and his wish to give it to his disciples and to common people , Lord Brahma and many sages visited him in that cave. Vedvyas was surprised , he stood up and did "namaskaar" to everyone and arranged for everyone to sit. On a high rise stone Lord Brahma was sitting and Vedvyas was standing beside him with his hands folded. His joy was profound for he was standing beside the Almighty , The Cause of everything! Including his!.     
       Vedvyas said " Bhagwan I have created a Mahakavya ( a great poem) and in that I have inculcated all the secrets and essence of every known Vedas also I have described in full length all other Upavedas and Upanishads in this great poem".  It is filled with great HISTORY of mankind. As well as the past , present ,and future has been mentioned.     In this great epic- Aging, Death, Fear, Disease and all such thing's truth and false has been described! And authority wise - work and civilizations are described. Like Brahmin , Kshatriya , Vaishya and Shudra and has roots of all Purana's and other scientific and religious works , the earth, the sun, the moon , the planets, constellations of stars, Satyuga - Tretayuga -Dwaparyuga -Kaliyuga all of these in content -measure -concept and effects have been told. Rig-Veda, yajurveda , saamveda have been discussed at length in this great poem. Justice, Education , Medicinal and Surgical treatment and procedure,Donations , and also " Why a we take birth as a human being ?" or cause of birth in any other species is described.  Rivers , places of worship , countries and their land , mountains , large forests and seas are described. Peculiarities of different languages and religions and products to lead a successful life are told by me in this great poem.".  He said " I have only one worry which causes unrest in my mind . There is no human being on earth who can write this great HISTORY".                                              Lord Brahma said " Vedvyas , you are the most knowledgeable among sages , all your life you have spoken nothing but only the truth. And you said that this was a great poem so it will in future be famous as a poem. No poet in this world can ever create a poem like you have created. In order to write down this great poem you pray to Lord Ganesha." Having said this Lord Brahma went back to Brahma loka       ( abode of Brahma)."Thus hey Shounak -  the great Vedvyas remembered and prayed to Lord Ganesha and Lord visited Vedvyas in his cave" said Ugra-shrava.                                                                       
                                                                                      Note :-  please remember this is a conversation going on or rather a story is being told by Ugra-shrava to Sage Shounak and his disciples! ........nxt blog - writing of Mahabharata by Lord Ganesha and birth of Kauravas and Pandavas.

Mahabharata originals #1 As it is!

Mahabharata originals #1. Mahabharata starts with salutations to Lord Krishna and Vedvyas , so that there are no obstacles in learning from puranas and history and let our views be clear from judgements and prejudices!
ओम नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय। ओम नमो कृष्ण्द्वैपायनाय।. (vasudev =krishna , krushnadwepayan = vedvyas) Thus the great epic starts........ A Long time ago Maharushi(great sage) Shaounak was sitting with his colleagues and disciples as was a tradition at that time to sit together and discuss about spiritual knowledge and history of sages and kings. Suddenly had a visitor in their ashram whose name was Ugra-shrava who was a great storyteller and had knowledge of ancient puranas. As he came,everyone in the ashram gathered around him. Ugra-shrava folded his hands with respect and asked "how's everyone doing? , Are all your spiritual rituals and meditation going well? " All the sages welcomed him wholeheartedly. They all sat down under a tree and when everyone was comfortably seated , one of the sages asked ugra-shrava " Where are you coming from? Till now where did you spend your time happily?" (At that time it was a tradition to ask questions in a positive manner rather than in a form of inquiry! So the person would answer enthusiastically!). He answered " Great sages , great king Parikshit 's son Janamejaya conducted a yajna ( a devotion/sacrifice performed in front of fire, and not a animal sacrifice!) , In that yajna a sage named Vashmapayan orated the great Mahabharata created by Maharushi Vedvyas , it was in that yajna that i was present and had the opportunity to learn about Mahabharata's story which are full of mysterious and exciting lessons and stories! After that i went to the land of Kurukshetra where battle between pandavas and kauravas was fought and before them also various battles took place in that holy land of warriors.". Further he said " travelling from Kurukshetra I reached your holy ashram. Please tell me should I reveal the great morales from history of great kings or the puranas which is filled with nector of everlasting knowledge? The sages answered! " भारतस्य ईतिहासस्य पुण्यम ग्रन्थ अर्थ संयुताम। " please tell us about the grear history Mahabharata told by sage Krushnadwepayan which is filled with minute realities of life , that which is not perceived by human eyes like air, not perceived by human ears like sounds made by bat but are still there in present! So that we may understand which most people have been trying to understand but are far away from it. Even gods have regarded it as the greastest grantha, poem , which destroys doubt and fear! " It has been narrated since old ages, many still orate it and in future also it will be passed on as a source of knowledge and is favourite of intellectuals and scholars! ........." So be it" said Ugra-shrava!
This post is to get readers aquainted with the beginning of Mahabharata. Nxt blog - How Mahabharata was written by Lord Ganesh and Dictated by Vedvyas and conversation between the two and concept + content of this great epic!...thank you.

Mahabharata originals!

An initiative to decode the original masterpiece of our nation and its importance in our daily life!

Hey guys! I recently started reading Mahabharata Grantham and it made me realize that the Mahabharata portraiture painted in our minds through television soaps and web series etc, is far from logic as well as information which is written in the original Grantham.
So I have decided to share with you the original Grantham through this blog and discussions so that we may not be misled as we have been till now! All your comments are welcome.....I look forward to a great scientific and logical decoding of the world's longest poem and through it learning and understanding a great way of leading a beautiful and stress free life! Along with Mahabharata I would also share various short scriptures and short stories which would help grow children and adults, a better way of managing day to day stressful events and also build a healthy relationship with people around and understanding human nature! I am a BAMS Doctor , astronomy enthusiast , an avid reader of ancient texts.........but nothing excites me more than Mahabharata as it has been given the utmost importance ......it says when all the gods , sages, scientists of that age gathered to decide which scripture is of ultimate greatness, they weighed the knowledge of all the four Vedas against Mahabharata and found it to be heavier than the Vedas in all aspects, also it is written that there is not a single poem or a story which is independent of Mahabharata......this intrigued me to start reading this great "HISTORY" of our Bharat. Yes it's history!!! Not a mythology! I hope I will deliver to my best effort to share the original masterpiece as it is my 1st sincere attempt to do so.