Posts

Vikram and Betaal - The Three suitors - Story #5

  Vikram and Betaal – Story 5 We saw how King Vikramaditya (Vikram) went to the cremation ground at the instruction of a sage to get a dead body and found a ghost. It agreed to come on the condition that the king should not talk till he reached his destination. The ghost had been telling him stories and tricked him into talking by putting an interesting question. The ghost also threatened him saying he will die if he knew the answer and did not answer. Vikram had the problem of either knowing the answer and dying or opening his mouth and letting the ghost go. He chose to answer as obviously he had to live to do the sage’s bidding. Here goes yet another trip and yet another story. The three suitors There lived a famous priest in one of the village near Ujjain. It so happened that he was blessed with a very beautiful. If there is a beautiful girl in a home, there will be young men who will be interested. The girl, named Mandravati also had a problem of plenty. She had many suit...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vikram and Betaal - Story 4 - The Exchanged Heads

Image
  Vikram and Betaal – Story 4 We saw how King Vikramaditya (Vikram) went to the cremation ground at the instruction of a sage to get a dead body and found a ghost. It agreed to come on the condition that the king should not talk till he reached his destination. The ghost then started telling him a story. Here goes.   The Exchanged Heads In a village near Kashi there once lived a washerman named Dhavala. Once while at the pond to he spotted a beautiful woman. He realised that she was the daughter of another washerman. Dhavala fell in love with the girl and pleaded with his parents to get him married to the girl. His parents were also happy to find a girl in a nearby village and both families agreed. The girl, Madanasundari and Dhavala got married. Madanasundari came to live with Dhavala in his family home. As was the practice in those days, the families went to each other’s village to attend festivities. Once Madanasundari’s brother visited her home to invite Dhaval...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Power of Association

Image
  The Power of Association There is a saying “Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who are.” Association and friendships are that important in shaping our thoughts, deeds and speech. Sanatana Dharma believes association with the wise and the devout automatically brings benefits – not just to humans but also to the animals and birds. This nice story depicts the importance of association with the wise and devout. Sage Narada had a doubt. It is one thing to pray to the divine and get blessings but how does doing service to the rishis and the learned gets divine blessings. The sage decided to go to his favourite God in the Ksheerasagara (milky ocean), Lord Vishnu. He paid his respects and asked “Lord, what is the importance of associating with bhakts and devotees? Is it not better to serve you directly?” Vishnuji smiled and said “Go to the Naimisharanya forest. There will be a tree at the southern end where there is a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vikram and Betaal -Story 2 - The Sensitive Queens

Image
  Vikram and Betaal – Story 2 We saw how King Vikramaditya (Vikram) went to the cremation ground at the instruction of a sage to get a dead body and found a ghost. It agreed to come on the condition that the king should not talk till he reached his destination. The ghost then started telling him a story. Here goes. The Sensitive Queens In the beautiful city of Ujjain once ruled a king who was valorous and dharmic at the same time. He was a good ruler and gave good and impartial judgement. As was the habit in those days the king had multiple queens. In this case, the king had three queens. The first one was from the nearby kingdom. She was well accomplished and beautiful. As the eldest queen he was a good friend and counsellor to the king on the right path. The second queen was from the far off easter kingdoms. She was very beautiful and was good at music and dance. She was also a good swords person and helped the king in his military strategy and war preparations and plan...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Lord and his pretender – Paundraka Vasudeva

Image
  The Lord and his pretender – Paundraka Vasudeva We all hero worship many people – sportsmen or sports women, leaders, scientists, teachers and in many cases even actors / actresses. We buy clothes like theirs, try and copy their mannerisms, way of talking etc. We think this is a modern day phenomenon? Certainly not. It was happening 5000 years ago during Krishna’s times. Once in a kingdom called as Karusha there was a king by the name of Paundraka. Paundraka was a friend of King Kamsa. Naturally being a friend of Kamsa, he was against Krishna. He was also jealous of Krishna’s popularity. Knowing his weakness, all his friends told him he is equal to or better than Krishna. They foolishly even encouraged him to dress up and behave like Krishna. Paundraka was foolish and vain enough to believe them and start doing the same. He painted his body dark blue in colour, attached some arms with shanka and chakra. He carried a flute too. Unfortunately, a donkey dressing as a peacock d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Story of Nriga

Image
  Story of Nriga (Bhagavatha purana) This was the time when Krishna and Balarama were young men and enjoying their time. Although Dwaraka a small kingdom was very rich in natural resources and wealth. Naturally the princes of this kingdom, Balarama and Krishna were treated with great affection and respect. Once the princes along with their friends had gone into the forest for a day of fun. In the heart of a lush forest near Vrindavan, young Krishna and his friends are gathered under the shade of tall trees for a joyful picnic. Mats made of woven grass are spread out, holding simple clay plates filled with fruits, sweets, and butter. The boys are laughing, some playing the flute, others feeding birds or reclining on the grass. Suddenly, their play is interrupted by a strange sound. A curious boy peers into an old dry well nearby and gasps. One by one, the boys—including Krishna, easily recognized by his peacock feather crow...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vikram and Betaal - The three special brahmins

Image
  Vikram and Betaal – Story 1 We saw how King Vikramaditya (Vikram) went to the cremation ground at the instruction of a sage to get a dead body and found a ghost. It agreed to come on the condition that the king should not talk till he reached his destination. The ghost then started telling him a story. Here goes.   The three special brahmins Once upon a time there lived a brahmin called Vishnuswamin. He had three sons. In the olden days, it was very common for sons who were part of the Vedic varnas to stay with their father and help him in his duties. The main duties of the people of Vedic varna was to chant the Vedas, perform yagnas (fire sacrifices) for the sake of the world and also to teach the scriptures to students who come to the Vedic school. Let us come back to our story. Vishnuswamin was once doing a yagna. For the purpose of that particular yagna he needed a tortoise. (Funny, isn’t it?) Vishnuswamin sent his three sons to go to the seashore and get him a tor...
Post a Comment
Read more