BharatiyaStories

  Sage Dhaumya and his disciples Part 2 We saw how Sage Dhaumya had ( https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2025/01/sage-dhaumya-and-his-disciples-part-1.html ) tested one of his disciples Aruni by tasking him to arrest the flow of water from the broken dyke. Now it was the turn of the other two disciples – Upamanyu and Ved. Let us see what happened. One day Dhaumya called Upamanyu and said, “Upamanyu, you have grown up and your education is now almost complete. Hereafter during the day, I want you to take the cows and calves into the forest and graze them so that they can eat well.” Upamanyu bowed to the Guru and said “So be it, Guruji.” From then on Upamanyu sincerely took the cows and calves everyday into the forest and grazed them. He went after his morning classes and returned for the evening session. One day Dhaumya observed that Upamanyu had become rather plump. He called him and asked him “Upamanyu, you leave in the morning before the meals. You come back only for the...

  Sage Dhaumya and his disciples Part 1   The position of a Guru is kept at a very high level in the Sanatana philosophy. A Guru is more than just a teacher. Guru is someone who shows a path, while perhaps a teacher is more like someone who educates you or gives you a skill. Our Puranas and Ithihasas are full of Gurus who are exemplary in their knowledge, powers, thoughts and words. It is believed by many that the Guru seeks out a disciple. A Guru also knows what to give which student. So in a class of a few students, the Guru may choose to give different lessons / focus to different students. The Gurus in ancient times also tested the disciples. Here is an interesting story of one such Guru and his disciples. Once upon a time, there was a Guru called Ayoda Dhaumya. This story is mentioned in the Mahabharata and he is also associated with many significant events in the Mahabharata. Anyways, this story is about this Guru Dhaumya. Dhaumya was well known as a very kno...

  The story of Nachiket # Stories from the Upanishads Story from KatoUpanishad ( कठोपनिषद् ) Long long ago, there lived a sage called Vajashravas. He had a son called Nachiket who was five years old. In the vedic times, the rishis and kings regularly performed many yagnas or fire sacrifices. These were occasions to give many dhaan (charity) to others in the form of cattle like cows and calves, grains, precious metals, land and other wealth. One of the important rules was the charity be done wholeheartedly without any bad intentions. The giver is also supposed to do the entire yagna and give away charity without any attachment. Once Vajashravas undertook a sacrifice and took a vow to give away all his worldly possessions. Nachiket was a small boy, but was quite observant. He noticed that his father was not being sincere in his sacrifices. He was giving away things that were not needed by him and that may not be of ...

  Flight of Hanuman – Understanding and learnings We started travelling with Hanuman across the ocean and tried to glean some learnings. After hugging the Mainaka mountain, Hanuman continued his journey – in this case a flight without a plane. As he was proceeding, the Devas decided that there was a need to show his might to the world. So they went to Surasa, a Nagamatha (A motherly Naga) who was living under the ocean. They told her that she should try to stop Hanuman as a rakshasi and threaten him. Nagamatha, while reluctant initially, agreed. She came to the surface, made herself into a giant and waited for him. When she saw him in the sky, she made herself huge and stood sky high. She said “Who are you? Where are you going over the seas?” Hanuman realised who Surasa was and why she was there. He said kindly “Matha, I am Hanuman going on Lord Rama’s work.” Surasa said “I don’t care. I have a boon that I can swallow anything that comes here. So I am going to swallow you.” ...

  Flight of Hanuman – Understanding and learnings We can look at important incidents in our ithihasas as Puranas as happenstance and enjoy it as an action sequence. On the other hand, we could stop and understand it better. We are just taking a well known sequence in the Sundara Kanda of the Ramayana – Hanuman crossing the Lanka. We are just taking a few of the shlokas to understand if we can learn something from this. The beginning The vanaras reached the shores near Mahendragiri. They ran atop the hill and saw the vast expanse of water. They decided one of the them has to go across to check out the other side. After discussion it was decided that Hanuman was best suited for this task. Hanuman was initially reluctant but agreed after Jambavan pointed out the importance of the task and his strengths. The morning dawned bright and sunny. The birds were chirping. Animals were looking for their prey. The vanaras were up and about and were going about their morning ablutions. There was...

  Know Your Heros From Narendranath to Swami Vivekananda   Naren was walking past the Vivekananda Illam in Chennai (a city in India) with his dad. He saw a festive look and beautiful posters in the vicinity. He also saw a few posters that mentioned the name Narendranath. Naren turned to his dad and asked “Dad, who is this person, Narendranath? He has my name in long format.”   His father laughed and said, “Naren, he does not have your name in long format. You have his name in short format. In fact, your mom and I had named you after him.” Now Naren’s curiosity was aroused. He said “Is it? Who is this person? Was he famous? Tell me about him.” Naren’s dad took him to a shaded bench in the beach and sat down. He started to tell him about Swami Vivekananda. “Naren, you should be proud. You are named after one of the greatest thinkers of this century both in India and world over. He was a writer, philosopher and most importantly a leader who inspired thousands to ...

  An affectionate father pleading for his daughter’s life A parents’ affection for their child is unlimited. He/she will do anything to bring happiness to the child and protect the child from any bad experience. This is one such touching story from our Puranas. Once there lived a sage called Ruru. Who was this Ruru? It is always important for us to understand the family tree of our sages as this gives us a sense of the long line of our ancestors. That is why in many families we keep having the same names repeated over generations. Perhaps easy to remember your grandfather if your son is also named after him. Anyway coming back to our story of Ruru, he was a descendant of Bhrgu Maharishi who was one of the son’s of Brahma. Ruru’s father was Pramati, the grandson of Bhrugu maharishi Ruru was a learned man in his own right. At that time, there lived in that region a Gandharva chief named Vishvavasu. He once saw the celestial dancer Menaka and fell in love with her. Menaka...

 https://bharatiyastories.blogspot.com/2025/01/a-wood- cutters-devotion-part-1.html (Link for part 1 given above) We saw the worry and stress Sendhan’s wife went through when on a cold rainy day an ascetic visited their home. Sendhan, like a true man had invited the ascetic home for food when there was nothing at home. Sendan’s wife looked at the empty pots in the house and did not know what to do. She searched their small hut and found some broken rice, a handful of pulses and some jaggery. She quickly made a dish using these ingredients. The ascetic was very pleased to have a hot tasty dish in the cold weather. He ate some and requested the lady to pack some for his journey. The dish known as kali (Pronounced the same as opposed to Kaali, the Goddess) is a rustic dish eaten by the poor as it is nutritious and filling. The lady packed the left over food and the ascetic was on his way. Sendan and his wife went to bed without eatin...

  A wood cutter’s devotion We have been seeing some interesting stories of bhaktas who were not pundits or learned but normal people who just believed in the divine. It is said that in the kailyuga the simplest way to understand God is through complete and unconditional devotion. As we get ready to celebrate many festivals, let us pause to learn about an interesting occurrence in a small village in TamilNadu that showed the world the power of devotion. This story is about a wood cutter called Sendhan. Sendhan lived in a small village near Chidambaram. Chidambaram is one of the most important temples in the Shaiva philosophy. It is said that when Lord Shiva did the cosmic dance his anklets broke and fell in five places. Each of these five places is called a sabha or a hall. Chidambaram is called the Kanaka sabha or one that is veiled in gold. (The other sabais are Rathna meaning gems sabai (Thiruvalangadu), Rajatha or silver sabai (Madurai), Thamra or copper sabai (Tirunelveli) ...