Dazzling Jewels and Fighting bears
Of dazzling
jewels and fighting bears
Lord Krishna was
the king of Dwaravati (Dwaraka) in the western part of Bharata. The Yadava clan
to which Kirshna belonged resided there with him.
In Dwaravati there
lived a man called Satrajit. He was an ardent devotee of the Sun God Surya.
Everyday he used to stand in the seashore at dawn and chant his prayers.
One day Satrajit
was praying as usual at dawn. Suddenly he felt the heat of the sun close to
him. He was deep in prayers but at some point couldn’t take the scorching heat.
“Satrajit. I am Surya, the Sun God. Please open your eyes.”
Satrajit was
excited and happy beyond words. When he tried to open his eyes to look at Lord
Surya he was blinded by his light and blaze.
Satrajit folded his
hands and said, “Forgive me. I am unable to look at you in this dazzling light.”
Surya laughed and said, “Now you can look. You will see me.”
And indeed.
Satrajit found that the light was dimmed and he was able to see Lord Surya
standing in front of him. He bowed to the Lord and said, “How did you do that,
Deva?”
Surya smiled and opened
his hand. There was a red blazing stone in his hand which was giving brilliant
light. “Satrajit, I took off the Shyamantaka which magnifies my brilliance.” The
Shyamantaka looked like the Sun God was holding a miniature Sun.
Satrajit couldn’t
tear his eyes from the gem. Surya said, “Satrajit, I am pleased with your
devotion. Ask me what you want.”
Satrajit just couldn’t think beyond the Shyamantaka. His mind was captured by the jewel. He asked Surya for the gem.
Surya gave him the
jewel and said, “Shyamantaka has never been possessed by a human. It will give
you gold everyday.” So saying and blessing Satrajit, Surya left.
Satrajit took the
gem to the Yadava council and narrated what happened. Krishna said, “You have
been truly blessed. The Shyamataka is indeed a rare possession. Such a rare and
precious gem in the hands of one person can harm you and everyone. Give it to
the Yadava treasury so we can do good for everyone with the gold it gives.”
Satrajit got angry.
He told Krishna, “It was a gift from Surya to me. I shall not hand it over to
the treasury.” Since what he said was true, Krishna did not object.
One day Satrajit
entered the council agitated. He said, “My brother Prasanjit had gone hunting wearing
the Shyamtaka. He has not returned. I want to file a complaint.”
As was the
practice, the council asked him if he had any suspicion on anyone. Satrajit
said, “Krishna. He wanted the jewel for himself the day I showed it to the
council. He has a habit of stealing butter as a young child.” Noticing that
many of the council members kept quiet, Krishna realised that they also
suspected him.
Krishna rode into
the forest and did not see anything for a whole day. Towards evening he saw a
dead body with the paws of a lion nearby. He realised that a lion had killed
Prasanjit. But there was no sign of the Shyamantaka.
Galloping further,
Krishna saw a dead lion with its stomach ripped open by the claws of a bear. Krishna
realised that the lion had been killed by a bear. Still no sign of the
Shyamantaka.
Krishna followed
the bear tracks and reached a cave. He saw the glow of the Shyamantaka coming
from the cave and a bear princess playing with the jewel. The father bear came
out of the cave and pounced on Krishna thinking Krishna had come to steal his daughter.
Krishna and the bear fought for many days. At the end of the fierce battle the bear which was old fell down tired. Krishna went near the bear and said “Have you forgotten me Jambavan?” The bear was surprised to hear Krishna calling his name.
Krishna smiled and
said, “ Don’t you recognise me without the matted hair?”. The
bear got the realisation of who Krishna is and said “Rama, Rama, I am blessed.”
Krishna thanked and
blessed Jambavan and returned to Dwarakavati with the bear princess Jambavati and
the Shyamantaka gem.
Krishna handed over
the Shyamantaka gem to Satrajit in the presence of the council. But Satraji,
now ashamed at his own behaviour returned the jewel to Krishna and said, “Krishna,
please forgive me. This kind of jewel cannot be in the possession of one
individual. Please do what is right with this. Also I want you to accept my
daughter Sathyabhama as your wife.”
Krishna said, “A
powerful jewel should never be in human hands.” So saying he summoned the Sun
God and returned the Shyamantaka to it’s original owner. The Sun God also
realised his mistake and took the precious gem back. So Shyamantaka after
creating confusion in many minds and lives went back to its divine owner.
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Dosa
Meditation technique
All of us want to
meditate as meditation improves concentration and also reduces the risk of
stress related diseases.
But most of us don’t
know how or where to start. Here’s an interesting technique taught by Ramana
Maharishi (1879-1950). Ramana Maharishi was a saint who lived in the southern
state of TamilNadu.
A small boy once
asked his parents how to start meditating. They explained it in many ways they
could. The boy was still not able to understand.
They had gone to
Tiruvannamalai to meet Ramana Maharishi once. They told Lord Ramana that they
were unable to teach the boy how to meditate.
SwamiRamana called
the boy near him and made him sit. He asked one of his assistants to place a plate
of dosa in front of the boy.
Swami Ramana told
the boy. “When I say mmmm you should start eating the dosa. When I again say
mmmm you should stop eating the dosa.”
The boy was excited
to play this game. Ramana said “Mmmm”. The boy started eating the dosa in big pieces
as he was scared that it will be taken away. He had finished most of it. He had
a small piece left.
Ramana again said “Mmmm”.
The boy hurriedly picked up the small piece of dosa and put it in his mount.
Everyone laughed. Ramana
said “The same way you focused on the dosa and forgot everything else, you
should focus on any good thought and forget everything else. That is
meditation.”
Meditation is just
about focusing on any task we do completely and dedicatedly. This helps us to
do that task well.
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