SAGE ATRI

                                                                SAGE   ATRI

SAGE   ATRI

SATI  ANUSUYA with Lords

BRAHMARSHI   ATRI


Atri Gotra is from the lineage of Brahmarshi Atri and Anasuya Devi. Anasuya is the daughter of Kardama Prajapati. Brahmarshi Atri is the seer of the fifth mandala (book) of the Rigveda. He is the Manasa Putra of Lord Brahma and was created to help Lord Brahma in the act of creation. He had many sons, including Soma, Datta, and Durvasa, who are the incarnations of the Divine Trinity Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra (Siva) respectively. The Trinity channeled through Brahmarshi Atri when they granted boons to his wife Devi Anasuya for helping the Sun to rise in the east every day. Let us recall that story now.

Story of Sati Sumati and Sati Anasuya

There was a great pativrata named Sumati, who served her husband with great devotion. He was afflicted by leprosy and was unable to walk. However, one day he saw a beautiful courtesan and desire arose in his mind (alas, that is the problem with all sadhakas). He asked his wife to intercede on his behalf with the courtesan and take him there to fulfill his desire. Being a pativrata, she went to the courtesan and conveyed her husband’s desire and requested the courtesan to accept his request. Knowing that Sumati is a great pativrata and refusing her request would not be in her interest (the courtesans were well read and were God fearing in those days, though compelled to lead a profession that may not be to their liking), she agreed to satisfy his desire for one night.

Since he had no legs to walk, Sumati carried him in a basket on her shoulders and set out from her house after it became dark. Since it was a nil moon night, and she was going through a route away from the city lights, it was pitch dark and she could not see or hear the great sage Mandavya who was impaled but was silent in meditation. The leg of Sumati’s husband brushed the body of the sage causing him a lot of pain and the sage cursed that the person will die at sunrise. The husband and Sumati were greatly affected by this and returned home without completing the purpose of the ill-fated journey! A deeper meaning given to me by grace of Datta is that when the sun of jnana arises in the mind, all desires will die!

Sumati, being a great pativrata willed that the sun should not rise in the eastern sky so that the curse of sage Mandavya will not come to fruition. Needless to say, all the worlds were thrown into a big turmoil and the Gods went to Lord Brahma. He asked them to approach Anasuya and they rushed to her. Being a pativrata herself, she looked at her lord sage Atri. He asked her to accede to the request of the gods and help the worlds. So, they all came to Sumati, who was sitting with the head of her husband in her lap. When Sumati saw them, she was surprised and paid her respects to Anasuya and others. Anasuya requested Sumati to lift her injunction against sunrise and help the world and assured Sumati that she will bring her husband back to life with her pativrata powers. Sumati agreed and allowed Sun to rise in the eastern sky. Anasuya also brought back life to the husband of Sumati. All gods were very pleased and praised Anasuya and Sumati for their pativratya.

Sage Atri and His great Tapas

When sage Atri did great tapas on the Para Brahma, the fire / heat of the tapas became unbearable to the whole world and Lord Brahma had to accept it and gave it a form of a man. He also gave a boon to sage Atri that at the right time a son would be born to him. As he continued the tapas, the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva (Rudra) appeared before the sage. To his question, they replied that they were all equal with different roles and pleased with his great penance they promised to be born as his children.

Soma is called Chandratreya or Chandratre, and Durvasa is Krishnatreya or Krishnatre. Somatreya (Chandra) established the Someshwara Jyotirlinga, used to overcome all kinds of passion. Soma, as the incarnation of Brahma, has the power to cause any species to continue survival.

Soma (Chandra) and Durvasa gave their powers to Datta (Amsa of Vishnu) and went for Tapas etc. Datta, or Dattatreya as He prefers to be known thus carries all the powers and attributes of the Trinity and thus the Nirguna Para Brahma Tatwa and became a Guru and continues even now.
Sage Atri is the first among the Sapta Rishi (seven luminous or eternal sages in the sky) symbolized by the great bear (Ursa Major) and the seven stars around it.

Sage Atri punishes Indra

Once when he was in need of some money, he approached Prithu Chakravarthy for help. Prithu agreed to help the rishi but in turn requested him to help with the Aswamedha Yaga that he was taking up. He asked sage Atri to help his son who was appointed as guardian for the yaga aswa. Indra wanted to cause interruption to the yaga presumably to prevent Prithu from getting more powerful. So, he came disguised and stole the yaga aswa and was carrying it away in the sky. Prithu’s son asked sage Atri whether he should kill him with his arrows.

Sage Atri saw what Indra was doing and wanted to teach him a lesson and so advised that whoever is causing obstacles to the yaga deserves punishment and killing that person or injuring him is allowed by dharma. He indicated that the person was none other than Indra but no one is above dharma. So, the son of Prithu shot an arrow at Indra and Indra was badly hurt. Indra left the horse but again stole it and became invisible. Atri made Indra visible by absorbing Indra’s powers (like a black body absorbs radiation) and Prithu’s son punished him again!

The yaga was completed successfully and the emperor praised Atri to the sky. Sage Gautama, who was present (and is a very great sage himself) felt jealous (or pretended to be so!) and when sage Atri returned the compliments to Emperor Prithu praising him as Chandra and Indra, sage Gautama objected saying that it is against dharma. Atri maharshi responded that he did not do anything wrong and asked the assembly to pass their ruling on this tricky matter. The assembly of learned sages could not decide and they in turn submitted the question to Sanatkumara, another manasa putra of Brahma. He confirmed that since a king or emperor cannot become so without an amsa of Vishnu in him, Atri did not err in equating the king to Indra. All sages including Gautama accepted this ruling.
It is quite probable that sage Gautama wanted to bring out the subtleties of dharma through this incident and of course it is possible for the greatest soul also to momentarily succumb to the internal enemies. For us, the morals of the story are important.

Sage Atri helps Surya and Chandra

Once upon a time, there was a fierce war between devas and danavas (it is a never ending war in our own mind) and Surya and Chandra lost their tejas (effulgence, energy) due to Rahu and Ketu. They approached sage Atri and prayed for his help. He restored their energies so that they can carry out their duties. He also gave them a boon that in future, they would not be adversely affected (except during the brief periods of eclipse?). It just shows the enormous powers that sage Atri had because of his tapas. Let us bow to Him and request His help in regaining our own glory and realize our true nature.

Sage Atri in Mahabharatha

Atri Maharshi had a close connection with Mahabharatha. Drona was made the head of the Kaurava army after Bhisma's fall. Dronacharya fought ferociously and the number of wounded and the dead soldiers was thousands .Their cry of pain rented the skies, blood flowed on the battle field. Dead bodies got piled up and provided a feast for the birds of prey. In this carnage which went beyond all human estimation, Drona stood like a mad hero of demonic proportion.

Sage Atri was very much worried of this because if Drona continued this ,he would cause destruction and human misery beyond hellish proportions. Atri came to the battle field along with six of his companions. It was at this time Dharmaraya had shouted at the instance of Sri Krishna saying that Ashwathama was killed and this put Drona off completely. He lost all hope in his life. He became mad with anger and this sent danger signal all around. Sage Atri felt sad for him and talked to him in a friendly manner consoling him, Dear friend, all along you have done everything against Dharma .This war you are engaged in is the best proof. It is enough and stop it. Stop this carnage. You are a good man. This act is not in tune with your status. You are a scholar of Vedanta par excellence. You have been a Brahman and you have got to practice dhrama .This cruel act does not befit you. Give up your weapons, fix your mind in our glorious Sanathana Dharma. I am sorry that you have wielded the most terrible brahmastra! That too on the innocent soldiers! Put an end to your meaningless killing. When Atri said that Dronachariya decided to give up his arms and stop killing. He drove away his anger jealousy and sense of revenge and his heart became pure. He sat in a yogic posture and started to meditate amidst the cries of pain, killing, flow of blood on the battle field. What a great change!! He concentrated on lord Vishnu and closed his eyes and never opened them again. He then left his body and started his journey towards the lord. If Atri had not come Drona would have destroyed the battle field. Hence Sage Atri's kind nature helped to save many men.

Sage Atri in Ramayana

Sri Rama, the son of Dasaratha, visited Atri Maharishi's Ashram during his fourteen years of stay in the forest. It was Atri who showed the way to Dandakaranya after showering his hospitality on him. At his suggestion, Sita requested and learnt the innermost secrets of Pativarata Dharma from Anasuya mata. It is not that Sita was not aware of them but in an avatar, the Divine behave as if they are normal people and especially in Ramayana, Sri Rama and Sri Sita showed that it is entirely possible to be divine and yet lead a normal life as per the human values. Let us bow to Sri Sita, Sri Rama, Sri Lakshmana, Sage Atri and Anasuya Mata.

Sage Atri in Vedas

Attri Maharishi is considered to be one of the great discoverers of sacred Mantras of Hinduism. In his family line there were a few other seers of mantras namely: Shaavaashva, Avishtir, and Purvaatithi. There were also other great Rishis in that line: Mudgala, Uddaalaki, Shaakalaayani, Chaandogya, etc.

Attri-samhita and Attri-smriti are two works attributed to Attri.

Till the present day, a number of Brahmin families have this sage's name at the head of their lineage, which indicates that he or his descendents tutored that whole lineage.

source : http://www.telugubhakti.com/telugupages/Sages/Atri.htm

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SAGE BHARADWAJA

                                        S A G E    B H A R A D W A J A 

SAGE   BHARADWAJA

Bharadwaja was a saint of the Vedic period. There are numerous hymns in Rigveda concerning him. Not only that he was a Mahatma who lived serving other people. He taught the way of life

to citizens. He blessed numerous virtuous kings. He earned the praise of gods. He became famous as one of the galaxy of seven saints. The biography of such an eminent person is interesting. Remembering him is salutary.
Who? Who is this great Bharadwaja?

Uncared Child
A male child lying on the shore of the divine Ganga river!
"How pretty this baby is! Golden-colored body. Looks like a just-born child. Its face has the radiance of the sun, and lustre of the moon. He is shivering possibly due to hunger and cold. Is there nobody to care for him? Who left him in this condition? Poor soul!"
The Marudgana-gods (celestial beings) spoke among themselves thus. They took the babe in their arms. They fondled and kissed him. Then there was heard a voice from heaven:
"This baby will be a great soul, a savior of the world, a sage radiating the light of wisdom."
If so, this great soul should not remain an orphan. He must be brought up properly. That is our duty. So thought the Marudgana-gods. The child, unwanted by his parents, grew up in the cradle of the gods. He was the loved one of the gods. That is Bharadwaja!

Penance
The young Bharadwaja's sacred thread ceremony was performed by the Marudgana- gods, who also became his bit gurus and taught him. Bharadwaja took keen interest in learning the Vedas. As he progressed in learning, he became eager to learn more. Even when he became of marriageable age, his attention was focused on education. He decided to remain a bachelor- till he completed the study of the Vedas.
Bharadwaja's education continued for long. However much he learnt, he was still not satisfied. The Marudgana gods taught him all they knew. Bharadwaja learnt it all. He wished to learn more. Seeing no other way, the Marut-gods said: "Bharadwaja, we have taught you all we know about the Vedas. If you want to learn still more, you should perform penance and satisfy Indra."
Bharadwaja was still a bachelor. The duty of a bachelor is to live as ordered by the teacher, wishing for nothing except to acquire knowledge with concentration. Bharadwaja desired nothing but education. He decided to perform penance to learn more about Vedas. He stayed in a peaceful place and prayed to Indra.

Radiant Being
Even gods were surprised'by the austere penance of the young Bharadwaja. He feared neither rain nor storm. He gave up food and drink. As time passed, his body began to wear out. Everybody began to fear his condition. But he did not stop his penance. Finally, one day, as he could not even sit, he collapsed.
Lord Indra then appeared.
"Arise, Bharadwaja. Here I am!"
"God of Gods, at last you have appeared!"
Bharadwaja rose slowly and folded his hands.
Indra blessed him and said:
"Bharadwaja, you have been a staunch bachelor. You had observed penance like this even in your two previous lives. For the same purpose you have worn out your body now. If I give you one more life, how will you use your body?"
"0, God, even then I will remain a bachelor and wear out my body for the sake of knowledge!"
What a statement of devotion! This is indeed the path of knowledge - said Indra in appreciation. He drew Bharadwaja's attention, "Look here."
Bharadwaja saw before him three mountain-sized masses of radiance. From each of the three heaps Indra picked up a handful and placed them in Bharadwaja's hands. Immediately the three radiant objects melted in Bharadwaja's body and he felt a new vigor. Bharadwaja could not understand what was happening and asked: "Lord, what is this?"
Said Indra laughing: "Bharadwaja, can education be measured? Vedic knowledge is boundless. The three mounds you saw are the three Vedas. Your educational attainments during the last three lives are the three handfuls you have picked up. But it is not a little. Even with this, your radiance has exceeded the brilliance of the gods."
"God, if that is so, what should I do next?"
"Bharadwaja, attaining knowledge is not the sole purpose of existence; spreading that knowledge in the world is important too. That is what you have to do. Let the world attain bliss at your hands."
So saying, Indra departed.

In the Service of Mankind
The Marudgana-gods saw Bharadwaja coming clothed sparsely, carrying the holy jug and a string of beads. His serene face exuded radiance. The Vedic scholar, the seer, the embodiment of wisdom, Bharadwaja prostrated before the Marudgana-gods. They fondly embraced Bharadwaja and said: "Great soul, although young in age, by virtue of your knowledge, you deserve our veneration. You are a teacher to us also. Knowledge is more important than age."
To bless Bharadwaja, a number of groups of gods arrived - Surya, Chandra, Agni, Varuna, Pushan, and Saraswati. To all the gods Bharadwaja made obeisance. Said they to Bharadwaja:
"Bharadwaja, give as gift to the people of the world the wisdom of the Vedas. Establish morality. Teach people how to live a righteous life. Peace in the world has been disturbed by the menace of the wicked demons. Try to overcome them. In your efforts for this, we will help you."
Bharadwaja bowed to their orders. "From this moment my life is set apart for service."

To Emperor Bharata
The names of Dushyanta and Shakuntala are famous in Bharat Emperor Bharata is their son. Equal in valor to Indra, he was a virtuous king. His wife Sunandadevi was chaste and devoted. They had no children. None of the children born to them had survived. They performed a religious sacrifice 'Maruisoma' on the banks of the Ganga in order to get children. The Marudgana-gods accompanied by Bharadwaja came to the pla6e of the religious ceremony. They pointed out Bharadwaja to emperor Bharata and said: "0 king, this person is born in the Angiras lineage. As you have no children, you may adopt him as a son. He will bring glory to your race."
Bharata became free from worry. At the proper age, Bharadwaja was married. His wife was Susheela. Befitting her name, she was a righteous woman, her character matching her beauty - a wife suited to Bharadwaja. Bharadwaja saluted Bharata for his blessings and kindness.

Continuing Bharata's Lineage
Bharata had adopted Bharadwaja. Bharata had no other children. There fore, Bharadwaja could have become the emperor. But Bharadwaja had no love for the kingdom. The words of the gods had taken root in his mind. Had they not said, you must impart what you have learnt to others? Righteousness must be established; people should be taught how to live a noble life one's example. Therefore, Bharadwaja arranged one more religious sacrifice by Bharata. He praised and invoked Agni. "O Lord Agni, please get rid of Emperor Bharata's worry and grant him what he wants," he said.
The prayer bore fruit. In due cot Bharata got a son named Bhimanyu. As Bharata died around that time, the duty of Bharadwaja increased. Staying in the palace till Bhimanyu came of age, he guided him and crowned him.Bharadwaja's action in thus saving the dynasty was a great deed. it is in Bharata's dynasty that, later, righteous men like the Pandavas were born.

Fate of the People
Taking leave of Bhimanyu, Bharadwaja went on a pilgrimage. He covered numerous countries san kingdoms. He met a number of ascetics in places of meditation. He went to Mount Kailas and met Bhrigu in the hermitage. Bhrigu was also a learned and respectable ascetic. They discussed the state of the world, religious and other matters.
By this pilgrimage on foot, Bharadwaja saw what his proper future course of action should be. There was poverty all over the world. Assuming that might is right, the well to do were plundering the poor. Every moment people were subjected to fear of evildoers.Hordes of demonsVaarashikha's and 'Shambara'- were harassing the people. They had no respect for righteous conduct, kindness or morality. Every place was full of murder, extortion, torture and immoral behavior. There was strife everywhere. There was. None to lead the people. The rulers here and there were afraid of the demons and somehow passing time.
"End Poverty, Establish Peace"
Bharadwaja felt sorry for the condition of the people. Looking at the weak and poor people suffering for want of food and clothing, his sympathy became boundless. He proclaimed this pledge:
"All people of this earth are my kith and kin. I dedicate my life to their service. I will teach my pupils and redeem Vedic morality. I will use my strength and will power in the service of others. 0 children of this sacred land of Bharat, win over the gods. Acquire knowledge and save Dharma. Warrior you should all unites to defeat the immoral demons. Get rid of the poverty of the poor and establish peace."

Seat of Education-Priest
Bharadwaja's proclamation spread in several countries. Numerous students came to Bharadwaja for education. For their convenience a hostel was built and a school was started on the banks of the Saraswati river. It was here that Bharadwaja's famous son Garga was born.
As time passed, the number of students in the school increased. The hermitage on the banks of the Saraswati river rever- berated to the chanting of the Vedas. In addition to the Vedas, the people of the warrior community were taught the use of arms and the administration of justice.
Do not the students in the hermitage need food and clothing? It is the ruling kings who provided them. On hearing of the influence and greatness of Sage Bharadwaja, a number of kings used to visit the hermitage. 'They were makind generous gifts to the school. Hundred of cows were given to the ashram to provide milk.
There was another reason for this affectionate pride of the kings. The kings were imploring Bharadwaja constantly to become their Royal Priest. In those days a priest was essential for a ruling king. It is the priest who crowns a kind. It is the priest who shows the path of righteous conduct. His advice is important in administration. In, times of distress, it is he-who protects the king by hiscleverness. Sometimes the priest was so learned that he could teach those warrior sons the art and science of war too. Bharadwaja was an adept in all these matters. Born in divinity and beloved of the gods, he was a great man. What else is needed?
Only Righteous Kings Could be Students
But Bharadwaja wanted only morally righteous warriors; warriors who could conquer demons and morally upright kings were desired. Finally he succeeded in getting such type of people.
The country on the eastern side of the Indus river was ruled by the race of Srunjaya. These kings were virtuous, famous for their religious observances and were beloved of their subjects because of their charitable disposition. One of them was Abhyavarti, son of Chayamanana. He was a famous emperor. Another was Divodasa, king of the Kashi kingdom. Divodasa was also called Prastoka. When they both requested Bharadwaja to become their priest, Bharadwaja agreed.

Ayurveda
Bharadwaja's hermitage was not only a place of education but also, occasionally, a place where pilgrims who passed that way could stay. Forest dwelling people and the hunting tribes were approaching Bharadwaja to represent their grievances. Sometimes sages residing in hermitages were visiting. Bharadwaja's wife was very patient and hospitable. In providing food and drink to visitors she was never indifferent.
More important that all was Bharadwaja's medical treatment. He knew the system of Ayurvedic medicine. He was providing accommodation for the real suffering patients and giving good treatment for them; when the patients become completed cured they will be discharged from the hospital. The circumstances under which he learnt Ayurveda are also interesting.

Boon from Indra for The People
At one time everywhere there were epidemic diseases spreading.The number of people suffering and dying of the diseases increased. The curse of the disease spread to the hermitage also. The sages also were affected. Nobody knew the symptoms or the treatment for the disease. At last, all the ascetics requested Bharadwaja for help.
"O Bharadwaja, this disease will first sap the energy of the body, Tormenting, weakening, finally it takes away life itself. There is only one way out of this. Indra must be propitiated and the science of Ayurveda should be learnt from him. No doubt, you are a great man; so, it is easy for you to learn Ayurveda. Learn Ayurveda from Indra and save us by curing this disease."
Immediately, when called by Bharadwaja, Indra appeared. He gifted Ayurveda as desired by Bharadwaja. Thereafter, Divodasa, pupil of Bharadwaja, gave it much publicity. Divodasa was considered the incarnation of the king of medical science - Dhanvantari.

Violence by the Demons
Mention has previously been made of the Vaarashikha demons. Varashikhas children were Varashikhas. Demon Parama was the eldest of them. He had a hundred younger brothers. Their capital was situated on the banks of the river Hariyoopeeya. They were all wicked, avaricious and were constantly harassing people. They possessed a large army. They had learnt to wear protective armors; which would be invisible to others. Arrows shot by the enemies in war would hit the armor and become useless; they could not petrate the body. Thus no warriors could face them. Consequently, the whole world was in fear of them.
Vaarashikhas invaded the kingdom of Abhyavarti. They interrupted religious ceremonies, destroyed dwellings, cut off the heads of people, even of children and of women, and plundered the property they could lay their hands on.
To assist Abhyavarti's army, Divodasa also arrived. Both faced the Vaarashikhas and fought. But the demon had the upper hand. The armies of the kings sustained losses, and defeat seemed certain. Seeing no way out, Abhyavarti and Divodasa escaped and reached Bharadwaja's hermitage.

Fight for Life
"O great soul, having been defeated by the Vaarashikhas, we have come here. They have occupied our kingdom our riches and treasuries have fallen into their hands. In future only the hermitage will be our place of said Abhyavarti and Divodasa.
On hearing these words, Bharadwaja felt as if the sky had fallen from the heavens. Those whom he had considered the pillars of morality had arrived in a hopeless condition! The eyes of Bharadwaja, who never knew of anger, became red. Like an angry serpent he said:
"By your diffidence you are bringing disgrace to the warder race. Like cowards, you fear a war! Get up, Abhyavarti, arm your bow, and chase away the - unrighteous demons. For once, remember your people who are suffering like orphans. For their safety, sacrifice your body!"
"0 godly man, you are our family priest. In addition, you are born to protect the good 'people. You have the power to call gods to appear before you. We are sure to win if we have your help.
Order us," said Abhyavarti and Divodasa.

Help of the Gods
The responsibility of Bharadwaja thus increased. It is not easy to fight demons. Arms and equipment are required. Food and clothing are required for the soldiers. The princes were impoverished. The common people were suffering from poverty. The demons had taken over the 'riches of the kingdom. In that condition Bharadwaja had to do his duty and win the war.
In the fireplace of the hermitage Agni was blazing. The ascetic Bharadwaja sat on a pedestal and worshipped Indra devotedly.
"O God, you helped in getting good deeds done. Only you are the Lord of the earth. You had helped my ancestors in working for the welfare of the people. Now also I have undertaken such a task, Grant me success as you did to my ancestors."

Indra's Assistance
There was a flash like lighting in the fireplace. Indra appeared.
"Bharadwaja, let your wish be fulfilled. Tell me what I can do for you."
"God Indra, you reign over this world with the help of the Maruts. The demons are harassing the people of the world proudly thinking that they are superior. Put them down. I am praying to you for these children of the earth, for the good of the cattle and for food and water for all."
"Be it so; we Gods, we will help these valiant Kshatriyas to enable them to defeat the demons and uphold righteousness. With the help of the Ashwini'gods, gather wealth to procure war material."
Indra disappeared. Bharadwaja prayed to the Ashwini gods. They showed Bharadwaja a hidden treasure. Bharadwaja brought that treasure and gave it to Divodasa.

War
Armies stood ready. Bharadwaja's disciple, ascetic Payu, clothed the warriors with impregnable armour. Both Abhyavarti and Divodasa prostrated before Bharadwaja and were blessed by him. All mounted the chariots.
Fierce fighting started. Abhyavarti and Divodasa fought valiantly. One by one the demons fell dead.
The godly clan won. All persons kept in the jail by Vaarashikhas were released. Abhyavarti transferred the immense treasure they had gathered by plundering to the capital.

source : http://blessingsonthenet.com/indianculture/section/articles/293/sage-bharadwaja-life

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SAGE VISWAMITRA

                                  SAGE   VISWAMITRA

SAGE   VISWAMITRA

SAGE   VISWAMITRA

 

The Birth of Viswamitra

Sage Rucheeka (son of sage Chyavana) married Satyavathi, daughter of Gadhi, son of Kusika and went to his ashram. When Satyavathi wanted children, sage Rucheeka told her that he would create a divine rice pudding, which would give her a child. Satyavathi requested her husband to help her mother too (Gadhi did not have a son and the life and marriage is considered incomplete without a male child). So, Rucheeka meditated on Para Brahma (The Ultimate Principle) and created two vessels with divine rice preparation. He showed her the two vessels and told her that one of them is brahmyam (full of the brahminic energies, Satva guna) and the second Kshatram (full of the fighting warrior clan’s energies, Rajo guna). He told her that after bath, she and her mother should hug a fig tree and an Aswattha tree respectively and then they should consume the respective rice puddings.

However, due to destiny, the two vessels got interchanged and Satyavathi ate the pudding bearing Kshatriya energies and her mother the Brahminic one. There is another variant to the story that the mother of Satyavathi interchanged the vessels deliberately because she felt that Sage Rucheeka would give the ‘better’ child to his own wife. Thus jealousy played the part of destiny! Rucheeka saw with his divine vision about the mix up and told his wife that she was bearing a cruel Kshatriya foetus in her womb and not a Brahminic one. Satyavathi was saddened and prayed to her husband to prevent the calamity through his yogic powers. He agreed and with his yogic powers transferred the change to his grandson (to the next generation). Satyavathi’s mother carried the Brahminic foetus and Viswamitra, also known as Gadheya and Kausika was born. Thus, though born to a Kshatriya King, the soul inhabiting that body was that of a satvik brahmarshi. Let us see how the transformation took place in the physical plane too. This story has some important lessons to all Sadhakas on the spiritual path. Sai Ram.

Viswamitra’s fight with Vasishtha

Born and brought up in a royal family, he learnt all the skills of a warrior from a Brahmin called Kusasana and earned a good name as a king after he succeeded his father Gadhi. He had four sons, who were well versed in dharma. Their names were: Havichhandra, Dridhanethra, Maharadha and Madhuchhanda. This Madhuchhanda became a rishi (his name is found in Rigveda). Another version of the story has it that he had a hundred sons just as sage Vasishtha.

In the course of his numerous forays into forest for hunting, Viswamitra reached the ashram of sage Vasishtha and was received well by the sage and was given good food, thanks to Nandini, the Kama Dhenu (wish fulfilling cow – the one in Indra’s heaven is the most well known of the divine cows and all such cows were called Kama Dhenus but each had a separate name). Viswamitra saw this and wanted to take away the cow. Vasishtha declined saying that his ashram was under the protection of Nandini and he treated her like a family member and he had no right to part with her. Viswamitra offered a lakh cows and a lot of money in return but to no avail. He tried to take it away by force but Nandini created an army from its face and the army destroyed the army of Viswamitra. Viswamitra had a hundred sons and they came again with a big army to try and take away Nandini and they too got killed in the battle. Viswamitra felt humiliated and went to the forest and did great tapas to Lord Siva. Lord Siva was pleased with his tapas and gave him a number of divine astras and also gave him the knowledge befitting a rajarshi (because he was still not free of rajo guna). Viswamitra came back to Vasishtha and used these divine astras to try and defeat Vasishtha. Vasishtha did not retaliate with any weapon but simply put his Brahma Danda in front and Viswamitra was astonished to see that all the divine astras and sastras were simply absorbed into that. Brahma Danda is representing the Nirguna Para Brahma and all Saguna things that arise have to perish (get absorbed) into the Nirguna. The three gunas, Satva, Rajo and Tamo guna are part of the Nirguna just as the colors of light are part of the whole and the whole is white. Thus Nirguna is absence of gunas as well as the presence (sum) of all gunas. It is possible to approach the source through any of the parts, just as one gets a taste of sugar from any sweet preparation. Thus Viswamitra became a Brahmarshi through the fight with a Brahmarshi. The path taken by each river is different but the destination of all rivers is the same and that is the sea. We will trace the course of this particular river as it reaches the sea, and the scenery is quite interesting as can be seen below. Sai Ram.

Sending Trishanku to Swarga

Trishanku was a king of the Ikshvaku dynasty (Rama also belongs to the same dynasty) and wanted to perform a yaga which would enable him to go to heaven in his physical body (which is not done – the sukshma sareera, the causal body goes to heaven or hell depending on the satkarma or dushkarma). He asked his Kula Guru Sage Vasishtha to help him but Vasishtha, knowing the dharma refused. Then Trishanku approached Sage Viswamitra and he agreed partly because of his running rivalry with sage Vasishtha. His ego was still rajasic at that stage and he wanted to show his superiority. Vasishtha was capable of performing such a yaga but declined because he did not want to disturb the balance of nature (dharma is all about the balance of nature in perfect harmony).

Viswamitra agreed to preside over the yaga and ordered Indra and other gods to receive the havis, but they didn’t appear because if they accepted it, they were bound to give the yaga phala. He then offered the havis to the fire god and asked Trishanku to follow the same to heaven, which he did. The gods consulted Brihaspati, their Guru and threw Trishanku down from heaven. As he was falling from there, Viswamitra stopped him in mid air and created a heaven, with stars, Indra and other dikpalakas etc., in fact an exact replica. Brahmaji appeared to sage Viswamitra and praised him and asked him not to proceed further and create a whole universe. Such was the power obtained by sage Viswamitra because of his great tapas. The heaven created by sage Viswamitra for Trishanku is called Trishanku Swarga. King Trishanku, thus became ever famous. The creator of that heaven, sage Viswamitra of course attained a great fame and let us relish his other great deeds too.

His saving of a Brahmin boy from being offered in sacrifice (The story of Sunassepha)
When King Ambareesha was performing a great yagna, the gods* felt threatened (it is interesting to see that the gods too are subject to many failings of human nature such as fear and jealousy – these stories are in a way similar to Greek literature) that the King would surpass them in glory once the yagna is completed and he may usurp the heaven. It may be mentioned that Indra is a post and is obtained by performing a specific number of yagnas, yagas etc. Whenever another person performed greater sacrifices, his punya became more and he would displace the existing Indra. Indra stands for the enjoyer of the sensual pleasures and the person occupying that position gets attached to the pleasures. So, Indra always tries to break up the tapas and yagna etc. when he feels threatened by the performer of such tapas and yagna etc. From another angle, it may be understood that these obstructions are created to test the sadhaka’s will power and the obstructions actually help to strengthen the sadhaka to rise higher in the spiritual planes beyond the sensual pleasures.

In this case too, Indra abducted the yagna pasu (the animal reserved to be sacrificed for the yagna). The king consulted the Purohits and it was decided that a human being would be sacrificed instead of an animal (strange are the ways of destiny) and a search started for a suitable Brahmin boy for the sacrifice. Since the animal proposed for the sacrifice had to be perfect in body, they had to make an extensive search and another important condition was that the family had to give up the boy willingly, not under duress from the king. Unlike an animal, a human being has will power and the ability to express his mind and so express agreement was needed. They located a family that had 3 sons. The mother was fond of the youngest and the father Rucheeka (not sage Rucheeka) was fond of the eldest and so they decided to part with the middle boy for an equivalent of one lakh cows. As the boy was being brought to be tied to the post just as an animal would be, he was anguished at being disowned by his parents and as luck would have it, he met sage Viswamitra, who assured the boy that he would protect him.

The sage thought that since he had so many sons (the version of the story has it that he had a hundred sons), he could persuade one of them to go in place of the Brahmin boy. However, each animal tries to protect itself and values its own life over the words of others. There are a few exceptions in Puranas (Sibi, Bhaktha Siriyala and Dattatreya etc.) but this is the rule. So, all of them refused their father’s wish that one of them should go in place of that Brahmin boy. So, Viswamitra gave two mantras to the boy and asked him to chant the same before the moment of sacrifice and the boy followed the instructions carefully. Along with the mantras of course he gave a lot of his power gained through tapas. The gods pleased with the mantras and the offering of the tapo phala released the boy from being sacrificed. This story of King Ambareesha is found in Rig Veda (source – Margadarsakulu Maharshulu by Brahma Sri Sivanandamurthy garu).

A similar story repeated itself later. King Harischandra of Kosala worshipped Varuna and asked for a son. To a query from Varuna about why he was asking for a son, the king replied that as per the shastras, the very sight of the face of a son ensures sadgathi (good way for further progress when the soul leaves the body). Aputrasya gatirnasti is the shastra. Then Varuna made a strange request that the boy has to be offered to him as yagna pasu immediately after birth. The king agreed. Then after the child was born, Varuna came to collect the child and the king put it off for a few years under one pretext or other. We are reminded of the story of the Vaisya in Sri Satyanarayana Vrata Katha. In this case, Varuna cursed Harischandra to suffer from Ascites (accumulation of fluid in the abdomen), a difficult to cure disease. The king realized his mistake and started the yagna to offer the son in sacrifice. The prince, Lohitha (Rohitha) was about 14 years old at that time and came to know that he was to become a sacrificial animal to Varuna and he ran away to the forest. Then he felt ashamed at his fear of life (after all he was a kshatriya prince and he was a prince of the Ishvaku dynasty known for their adherence to truth). On the way back, he met the family of a poor Brahmin named Ajeegartha and requested him to offer one of his three sons and accept cows in exchange. Though the Brahmin was not greedy for the money, he agreed to protect the Ishvaku dynasty and offered his second son Sunassepha, who also agreed to become the sacrificial animal.

When the boy was brought, the Brahmins conducting the yagna refused to offer a human being and the father of that boy Ajeegartha himself tied the boy to the post and raised the sword. At that moment, Sunassepha felt sad at his fate and he found his savior in sage Viswamitra. Viswamitra froze the hand of Ajeegartha and gave a mantropadesa to Sunassepha, by the power of which, Varuna was pleased and released Sunassepha. “Imam me Varuna Srudhi…” mantra is the gift of sage Viswamitra. Thus the story had a happy ending but then a dilemma arose. Who will protect the boy? His family already disowned him and he was in no mood to go back to the parents. The king had offered him as sacrifice to Varuna, the lord of the neither world and it was difficult for him to take care of Sunassepha, who got a new name Devaraatha (because he was protected by Varuna Deva). The pandita sabha discussed the matter and decided that since Viswamitra saved the boy, the boy has now become his property and so Viswamitra should now take care of him as a father would take care of a son. Thus the principle of rights and responsibilities going together was already well established by then!

As already mentioned, Viswamitra had a hundred sons already and so probably felt one more would not be a problem. He declared the end of human sacrifice in yagnas and mentioned that the boy Sunssepha, now named Devaraatha was blessed by him and would gain more glory in the years to come. He asked his sons to accept the Brahmin boy as their elder brother. Fifty of his sons agreed and the other fifty refused. They were cursed by the sage to go to south India and live with the tribals, forgetting all their knowledge. They repented and requested forgiveness. Viswamitra gave them back their knowledge but insisted that they had to migrate to South India and mix with the tribals. Thus the curse became a boon to all of us here in South!

Sunassepha (Devaraatha) became a great sage himself and became the drashta (seer) of many Vedic Mantras. The Gothra Pravara of Viswamitra – Devaraatha has come into existence probably at that time and is live even today.

*We use the word gods to denote Indra and the other celestial gods of heaven and reserve the word God to denote one or all the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara, Who are three aspects of the Nirguna Para Brahma (that word Para is used to denote the difference between the Saguna and Nirguna Aspects of the Ultimate Creative Principle, the Brahma Tatva).


His testing of Harischandra

Sage Viswamitra made Harischandra immortal by testing his adherence to truth. Thus Harischandra came to be known as Satya Harischandra. The sage knew that the king was wedded to truth, he wanted that to be publicized in all the worlds and thus subjected the king and his family to many hardships, but the kind did not budge from the path of truth. Thus even at the risk of being seen as a villain, Viswamitra made Harischandra immortal.

Birth of Sakunthala

During one of the many episodes of his tapas, the gods sent Menaka, one of the celebrated celestial apsaras to test and if possible disturb his tapas. This is a normal practice adopted by the gods and only if the sage (tapasvi) resists the temptations and thus passes the tests, further progress takes place and the Ishta Devata will manifest before the tapasvi and offers the boons as per the merit of the tapas. Sage Viswamitra got disturbed (or got attracted to her) and as a result of their union, a girl child was born. Another version of the story is that He was favorably disposed to her because of her sincere service and blessed her with a child. Since neither of them was willing to take care of the child, some birds (Sakunthas) took care of her and later Sage Kanva took her and brought her up as his daughter. Because she was taken care by Sakuntha birds, the girl was named as Sakunthala and she married King Dushyantha and gave birth to Bharatha, after whom this country is named. Due to a curse from sage Durvasa, King Dushyantha failed to recognize Sakunthala when she went to his court with Bharatha, and Akashavani came to her rescue (the king failed to recognize her because of the curse by the sage which also made her to lose the signet ring given to her by the king at the time of their Gandharva Marriage at sage Kanva’s ashram). During the course of her pleading with the king, Sakuntala touched upon the power of truth (which we briefly mentioned upon in one of the earlier stories).

His cursing of Rambha

After the birth of Sakunthala, sage Viswamitra went back to continue his tapas. Indra sent Rambha and many other Apsaras to disturb Viswamitra’s tapas. Viswamitra did not yield that time to the sensory attractions and cursed Rambha to become a stone. She pleaded with the sage that she was simply following the orders of her boss Indra and was performing her duty. She pleaded with him to lift the curse but Viswamitra gave that honor to his arch rival sage Vasishtha!

His becoming Brahmarshi

After repeatedly giving up his powers obtained through great tapas, Viswamitra realized the futility of his ego and went to tapas again with the intention of overcoming the rajasic qualities of his ego. He performed a long and arduous tapas.
Indra came disguised as a Brahmin and tried to provoke Viswamitra through some improper behavior (he was trying to see whether the sage had some anger left in him if not desire). Viswamitra remained calm.

Lord Brahma was pleased with the tapas and manifested Himself before Viswamitra and accepted him as Brahmarshi and gave long life, The Brahminic luster (Satvik qualities) and the ability to bless the whole world. The place where Viswamitra got the siddhi is called Brahmapushkar, Brahmakund and Uttarkund. There is a temple to Lord Brahma (the only one in the country) and there are two important places there, Harischandra and Ambareesh.

However, Viswamitra was not satisfied and wanted to be accepted as a Brahmarshi by his arch rival sage Vasishtha. When he went to the ashram of sage Vasishtha, he welcomed him by addressing as a Maharshi. Viswamitra was not satisfied and went back for doing more tapas. When he went again, Vasishtha addressed him as a dhoortha (scoundrel). Instead of getting angry and annoyed like the earlier times, Viswamitra smiled and kept quiet and turned to leave. Then Vasishtha called him back as Brahmarshi. He praised Viswamitra for conquering the tiniest traces of the six internal enemies (Kama, Krodha etc.) and thus achieving an almost impossible task. Sage Vasishtha indicated that he was born as a Brahmarshi where as Viswamitra achieved that stage by burning off the ego. Another version of the story has it that Vasishtha advised Viswamitra to burn off the physical body (which was born in a kshatriya family and thus was carrying the rajo guna) and create a new body with his tapasshakti.

In any case, this story is inspiring to all of us who are struggling with our rajo and tamo gunas. Sai Ram.

Viswamitra blesses Rama with Dhanurvidya

When his yagnas and yaagas were being disturbed by demons Maricha and Subahu (sons of Thataka, a demoness), Viswamitra decided to approach King Dasaratha and was received with honor by the king. When Dasaratha requested the sage to reveal the purpose of his visit, sage Viswamitra mentioned about the yagna being disturbed by the demons and asked the king to send Rama and Lakshmana along with him so that the yagna can be completed without interruption from the demons (it is the duty of king and his representatives to help the sages do their duties without interference from any one). King Dasaratha was fully deluded by Maya and could not think of parting with his dear sons for such a dangerous mission (he could not realize that the sage was fully capable of protecting the princes and was making this request because he did not want to spend the tapas shakti to directly punish the demons). The king also did not realize the true nature of Rama, who was an incarnation of Vishnu! However, sage Vasishtha intervened and assured the king that the princes were perfectly safe with sage Viswamitra and that the mission would be beneficial to the two, words that were prophetic indeed (all the sages were fully aware of the past, present and the future)! So, the king agreed and sent the two princes Rama and Lakshmana with Viswamitra. The princes follow the sage on foot with a lot of reverence and the sage was pleased with the two princes and gave them two powerful mantras Bala and Atibala by which they were forever freed from thirst, hunger and tiredness etc. He also gave them many Astras and Sastras. He addressed Rama thus: “Rama, these are very powerful Astras and you would need only a fraction of the energies invoked by them to take care of the demons.” To a query from Rama as to why He did not finish off the demons directly, the sage replied that as a rishi, he should not waste his energies in such activities and he was empowering the prince in his future life mission!
Rama killed Thataka at the behest of sage Viswamitra (Rama was known for obeying the commands of his father and other fatherly figures and Gurus, since He knew that the dharma is very intricate and the nuances are better known by these elders and in any case, the ultimate dharma is to obey the Guru – Father, Mother and Guru are the Three Gurus, representing the Ultimate Guru). Subahu was killed and Maricha was thrown many miles away and ran for his life (later he met his end at the hands of Sri Rama when he was forced to help Ravana in his plan to abduct Sri Sita).

After the completion of the Yaga, Viswamitra decided to go to Mithila and took the two princes with him. On the way, he saw the deserted ashram of sage Gautama and Ahalya in a Samadhi (some people say she was cursed to become a stone) and asked Rama to touch the stone with His foot (Rama is the incarnation of Sri Vishnu and the sage knew that). Ahalya was restored to life and sage Gautama also came there and both bowed to Rama and sage Viswamitra and took leave.

In Mithila, they were received by King Janaka with full honors and Rama was asked by Viswamitra to string the bow of Lord Siva. In that process, the bow broke and King Janaka gave Sita in marriage to Sri Rama. The other brothers of Rama also were married to Sita’s sisters. Thus Viswamitra was instrumental in blessing Sri Rama in many ways.
Viswamitra and the Gayatri Mantra

We will be indebted to sage Viswamitra for the gift of Gayatri Mantra. Gayatri Chandah, Viswamitra rushih….goes the mantra.

source : http://www.telugubhakti.com/telugupages/Sages/Viswamitra.htm

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SAGE SANDIPANI

                                                       SAGE   SANDIPANI

Sage   Sandipani

Sandipani was an acharya whose life is closely associated with that of Lord Krishna. In fact, sage Sandipani was the tutor of Krishna and Balarama. The brothers, along with their friend Sudama, went to study at Guru Sandipani’s ashram (near Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh). The two picked up their studies so fast that the sage thought he was educating the sun and the moon, legend has it.


After the completion of their studies, they asked the sage to name a guru dakshina of his choice. Since Krishna was an avatar of God, the sage asked him to restore his son, lost in the ocean at Prabhaas.


Krishna and Balarama went in search of the sage's son. When they reached Prabhaas, they found that Sandipani's son had been taken hostage by the demon Shankhasur (who lived in a shankh, or conch) beneath the ocean. Krishna and Balarama took the conch to Yama, who blew into the conch and Sandipani's son was extracted.


Krishna handed over to sage Sandipani his son, and kept the conch obtained from Shankasur, which is known as the panchjanya in the scriptures.


Sandipani Muni lived in the vicinity of today's Ujjain, then known as Avantabad. It was at a place known as Ankapata near the the Sandipani Muni ashram that Krishna washed his writing tablets. The numerals 1 to 100 found inscribed on a stone here to this day are believed to have been engraved by Guru Sandipani himself. Near the ashram is located the Gomti Kund, a staircased water tank where Krishna supposedly summoned all the holy waters from various centres so that his old Guru, Sandipani Muni, need not travel to far off holy places.

source : http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers

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Lord Krishna's Foot Prints-Sandipani ashram

Gomti Kund at Sandipani ashram

Sarveswa Mahadev Temple

SHRI SARVESWAR TEMPLE at Sandipani Ashram

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SAGE JAMADAGNI

SAGE   JAMADAGNI

Introduction to the story of Sage Jamadagni: 

Sai Ram. Let us take up the story of Sage Jamadagni this month. Readers of this series of Stories of Sages will remember this sage from the first two, Sage Chyavana and Sage Bhrigu. For the sake of completion, we will present the relevant portion here.

The lineage of Bhrigu:

The lineage of sage Bhrigu is indeed illustrious: Chyavana, Jamadagni, Parasurama etc.
The sage Bhrigu got Chyavana through Puloma and Chyavana begot a son Rucheeka, who married Satyavathi, daughter of Gadhi, son of King Kusika. We have an interesting story about this marriage. When sage Rucheeka approached King Gadhi for the hand of Satyavathi, the king put a condition to the sage, that he would give his daughter in marriage if the sage gives him a thousand horses white in body color but with dark ears. The concept of Kanya Sulkam (a tax for giving one’s daughter) probably started that time! It may be that the king wanted to test the powers of the sage and wanted to see whether the sage can take care of his daughter after the marriage. In any case, sage Rucheeka accepted the challenge and prayed to Varuna, who obliged the sage readily. Thus the condition was met and the marriage took place.

It may be noted that the concepts of Kanya Dan and Kanya Sulka got degraded in the later ages due to the Yuga Dharma. The original concepts were with a lot of insight.

Birth of Jamadagni:

Sage Rucheeka took his wife Satyavathi and went to his ashram. When Satyavathi wanted children, sage Rucheeka told her that he would create a divine rice pudding, which would give her a child. Satyavathi requested her husband to help her mother too (Gadhi did not have a son and the life and marriage is considered incomplete without a male child). So, Rucheeka meditated on Para Brahma (The Ultimate Principle) and created two vessels with divine rice preparation. He showed her the two vessels and told her that one of them is brahmyam (full of the brahminic energies, Satva guna) and the second Kshatram (full of the fighting warrior clan’s energies, rajo guna). He tells her that after bath, she and her mother should hug a fig tree and an Aswattha tree respectively and then they should consume the respective rice puddings.
However, due to destiny, the two vessels got interchanged and Satyavathi ate the pudding bearing kshatriya energies and her mother the brahminic one. There is another variant to the story that the mother of Satyavathi interchanged the vessels deliberately because she felt that Sage Rucheeka would give the ‘better’ child to his own wife. Thus jealousy played the part of destiny! Rucheeka saw with his divine vision about the mix up and told his wife that she was bearing a cruel kshatriya foetus in her womb and not a brahminic one. Satyavathi was saddened and prayed to her husband to prevent the calamity through his yogic powers. He agreed and with his yogic powers transferred the change to his grandson (to the next generation).

Sai Ram. On one hand, we are told that destiny is inviolable and on the other hand, we are given such instances where the destiny is changed. We come across a wonderful story in Sri Guru Charitra of a Brahmin boy being restored to life after dying from tuberculosis. When questioned about it, Sri Guru shows the questioner the wonderful incident where a part of the life span in the next birth is transferred to the present birth. The story of Markandeya is another example. How to reconcile these two points of view?
It may be that destiny is indeed inviolable but since destiny is the Will of God and no individual knows the same fully, one should do one’s duty and leave the result to God. The sages get some divine perceptions and do what is needed as per that. Sai Baba also showed many such miracles where He could modify the destiny of several devotees including Bhimaji Patil. Sai Ram. Let us now revert back to the story.

Thus a brahminic sage Jamadagni was born to Rucheeka and the kshatriya energies took shape when Jamadagni got a son Rama in due course of time (Who becomes famous as Bhargava Rama and as Parashu Rama since He was carrying a divine Axe as His weapon). Satyavathi’s mother gave birth to a wonderful child who was full of brahma teja (satvik qualities). Thus, though born as a king, Kusika’s grandson, variously known as Gadheya, Kausika and Viswamitra became world famous for his qualities as a Brahmarshi. We will learn more about him when we take up his story in detail.

The curse of Sun God:

Jamadagni married Renuka and was leading a happy married life. He was as well read as his illustrious father and forefathers in all Vedas and Shastras and he acquired enormous powers because of his penance. Once he went to the bank of river Narmada along with his wife Renuka and as fate would have it, felt the desire to have sexual relationship with her in the day time. Since the area was uninhabited, the sage felt that there is no problem for his privacy. When the couple was thus sporting, the Sun God (who is also called as Karma Sakshi, the witness to all our actions) came in human form as a Brahmin and told the sage that what he was doing is not dharma (and especially a learned sage like him should set an example to others). Renuka felt shy at the sight of a brahmin as she was naked and thus the whole mood was spoilt. (A similar story is there about Siva and Parvathi and in that case, resulted in a curse that whoever enters that area will become a woman!) The sage was angry at the interruption (that act is also not dharma, one should not interrupt a person in sleep, in the act of eating, sex, and other natural functions) and cursed Sun God to be afflicted by Rahu (the Surya Grahana has its origin in this curse). The Sun God in turn cursed the sage to meet humiliation and death at the hands of a king. In those times, the sages were beyond death because of their great tapas and were free from disease. They were honored and respected by all others, esp. the kshatriyas. This curse planted the seeds for the death of Jamadagni at the hands of Kartaviryarjuna and then later again at the hands of that king’s sons. It also led to Parasu Rama slaughtering all the kshatriya kings on the earth. We will learn more of that later. Sage Jamadagni gave a further curse to Sun God that He will be considered as a Paapi (malefic) and Lord Brahma came and intervened and pacified both of them. He modified the curses of sage Jamadagni so that the splendor of Sun God is unaffected (except temporarily like when covered by clouds and at a few other times). This story has a lot of esoteric significance and also has significance from the angle of astrology. It is explained nicely by Sadguru Sivanandamurthy in his excellent book, Margadarsakulu Maharshulu (sages as seers and as guides).

The beheading of Renuka and her coming back to life:

In course of time, Jamadagni and Renuka got five sons, Rushunvantha, Sushena, Vasu, Viswavasu and Rama (Parasurama). They were growing up nicely. It was the habit of Renuka (a temple and a pond in her honor – Renuka ji is on the way from Ambala to Simla in Himachal Pradesh and is a picturesque spot) to go daily to river and bring water in an earthen pot. Once when the pot slipped from her hands, she just scooped some river sand and shaped it into a pot by her hands, and that held water because of her spiritual powers. (A similar story is told about Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi in Shri Sai Satcharitra that He was watering the plants using raw earthen pots supplied by a disciple named Vaman Tatya and at the end of each day the pots were breaking up and fresh pots were being supplied every day). One day, as fate would have it, she saw a Gandharva king named Chitraradha sporting with his many wives in the river. She stood watching the sport and though at the conscious level she was unaffected, at the subconscious level her mental equilibrium was disturbed (the purer once aura is, the easier it is for it to get affected. The wearing of white robes is to remind oneself of utmost care in all the planes of consciousness). That day the moist sand was not getting shaped as pot and she had to return empty handed to the ashram. She realized her error and though she wanted to end her life then and there, as a pativrata, she felt that she had no individual rights over her body, mind and soul and returned to the ashram to allow her husband, her Swami, her Master to deal with the situation as he pleased. That is true egolessness, true surrender, true paativratya. (A similar story of a washerman who was serving Sri Guru (Sri Pada Vallabha) at Kurupuram watching a muslim nawab sporting with his queens in the river and thus getting the seeds of desire to enjoy similar pleasures, being blessed by Sri Guru to be born as a muslim ruler in next birth comes to mind. There Sri Guru tells us that seeds of desire should either be burnt off or allowed to grow and fructify. Karma is done with mind, speech and actions and karmic fruits have to be enjoyed till one reaches that stage of true detachment.). Renuka had to ‘enjoy’ the bitter fruits of her aura contamination because of the seeds of latent desire as we shall see below.

Jamadagni saw with his divine sight what happened and asked his sons to behead her as punishment. By accepting the punishment, one gets purified. The higher the status, the greater the punishment was the rule. The rishis had to set examples for others to follow and hence did not allow themselves the slightest benefit of doubt or lenience. The first four sons refused because they could not see through the egoistic filters the true intentions and the powers of their father. The youngest one, Rama obeyed the father’s command and killed his mother and again at the father’s command his brothers too for the sin of disobeying their father’s command. Thus we see that both Ramas (Parasurama and Dasaradha Rama) were great in obeying the commands of father, mother and preceptor. Obeying Guru is the best yagna, best tapas and best sadhana. Obeying Guru (father is the Guru in this case) is the supreme dharma as brought out in Sri Guru Charitra, Sri Sai Satcharitra, Sri Gita and Sri Ramayana etc. Jamadagni was pleased with the obedience of Rama and offered him a boon. Rama asked his father to bring back his mother and brothers to life and the sage obliged. That was the power of the sages in those ages! Their tapas gave them that power! The beheaded body of Renuka is worshipped as a Goddess by name Chinna Masta (without head), who is shown holding her own head with her left hand and three streams of blood shooting up representing the three nadis, ida, pingala and sushumna.

The death of Jamadagni:

The mighty king Kartaviryarjuna of Haihaya clan was born with two short and weak hands. The cause of that deformity is another interesting story. Sudarsana Chakra became rather proud of his own powers once and Sri Maha Vishnu cursed Sudarsana to take birth as a human with weak hands. When Sudarsana realized his error (that is the benefit of a curse, to show the ego its error, thus the curses were meant as boons indirectly), Vishnu assured him that he will rejoin Him soon and will become famous. Thus Kartaviryarjuna was born as a cripple but became a great devotee of Sri Dattatreya (the wonderful form of the Trinity in One) and got many boons from Him. He became one of the mightiest kings on earth and punished the mighty Ravana once and Ravana’s grandfather Pulastya had to visit Kartavirya and intercede on Ravana’s behalf. One of the boons that Kartavirya got was that when the end comes (anything which has a beginning has to have an end), it should be in the hands of a worthy opponent. To fulfill that boon and as promised to Sudarsana, Sri Maha Vishnu took birth as Parasurama to Jamadagni. Let us now enjoy that story.

Jamadagni had a Kamadhenu named Surabhi (there were similar cows in many other ashrams and of course Indra had it in heaven. The cow was capable of fulfilling all the desires and was being treated with love and respect. Once King Kartaviryarjuna visited the ashram of sage Jamadagni along with his retinue (it was the custom of the kings to go hunting and visit the ashrams of various sages who were living in the forest). The sages used to play host as per their capacity. When the king visited sage Jamadagni, the whole retinue was treated lavishly with sumptuous food by the grace of Surabhi. The king was impressed and requested the sage to give the holy cow Surabhi to him. The sage refused.

The king was angry and ordered his army to capture the cow by force. At a glance from the sage Jamadagni, Surabhi created a counter army and in the fight that ensued, the king’s army was defeated. This game went on for twenty times and each time, the divine army created by Surabhi was victorious. The king lost his patience and killed the sage Jamadagni (so that the divine power of Surabhi is reduced) and started searching for Surabhi, but She was to be seen nowhere. She vanished and went back to heaven.

Renuka wanted to accompany Sage Jamadagni on the funeral pyre. Sage Bhrigu (grandfather of Jamadagni) stopped her and brought her back to life along with the Sage Jamadagni. Parasurama was very angry at the turn of events and killed the king Kartaviryarjuna in battle (as per the boon given by Lord Dattatreya). When Parasurama returned from the battle and told his illustrious father about it, the sage told him that it was wrong to kill the king of the land (the king is considered to be an amsa of Vishnu and killing the king and exposing the kingdom to anarchy is a sin) and asked his son to go for tirthayatra (a visit to sacred places) for an year to achieve purification. Obeying the order of his father, Parasurama set off on a pilgrimage. Seizing this opportunity, the sons of Kartaviryarjuna killed Jamadagni. Renuka called out to her divine son twenty one times to protect his father. As per the destiny and as per Sun God’s curse, the mother’s calls to her son went unanswered and the sage Jamadagni met his end.

Jamadagni being cursed by Pitru Devatas:

There is yet another interesting story about sage Jamadagni. After death, he took birth as a mongoose and this was caused by a curse from his Pitru Devatas. Let us now enjoy that story since these stories are not only entertaining but are highly educative too.

As ordained in the scriptures, sage Jamadagni was performing the annual ceremonies for his ancestors and in those ages, they were manifesting before the person in divine forms and were accepting the offerings. As a part of preparation for the ceremony, Jamadagni collected a pot of pure cow milk and kept it aside. The Krodha Devatha (Goddess in charge of Anger), heard that the sages in the lineage of Bhrigu were rather short tempered (though their anger was always directed at world welfare similar to that of sage Durvasa, another great sage, the son of sage Atri), wanted to test sage Jamadagni and took a human form and under the pretext of doing some service in the ashram, caused the pot of milk to overturn. The sage did not get angry and remained calm. Jamadagni was personification of true satvik energies. (It is interesting to relate this to what Lord Sri Krishna tells Sri Arjuna in His Gita: Krodha is born from Kama. Anger is born out of desire, i.e. if desires are not fulfilled, anger arises. Sage Jamadagni was known for his tranquility and that shows that he was unaffected by Kama). The annual ceremony went off albeit with the minor lapse of non-availability of cow milk. The manes (the ancestors) of Jamadagni appeared to him and admonished him that what he did was wrong (not getting angry at a lapse of others that affected his performance of duties). They thus imparted a very important lesson that anger also is a useful tool if used properly and that the six internal enemies are enemies only for a weak mind and are good slaves in the case of a true Master. The Pitru Devatas advised sage Bhrigu that he should atone that lapse by taking birth as a Nakula (a mongoose and a person who has no Kula, no clan, no ancestry in another sense). When requested for forgiveness, they relented and gave the lifting of the curse to coincide with the mongoose contradicting the dharmic sayings of many Brahmins (the dharma like modern day law is complicated and the nuances are brought out through such stories). As per their curse and blessing, sage Jamadagni takes birth as a mongoose and gets release from that at the end of the Aswamedha Yaga performed by Yudhishtira in Maha Bharatha.

The stories of sages are entertaining, educative and enlightening. . Sai Ram.

 source : http://www.telugubhakti.com/telugupages/Sages/Jamadagni.htm

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SAGE CHYAVANA

SAGE   CHYAVANA

Sage Chyavana

Sage Chyavana

 
Chyavana’s birth:

Bhrigu Maharshi married Khyathi, daughter of Kardama Prajapati (we hear his name in Sri Suktam – Kardamena praja bhuta mayi sambhava Kardama …(and will try to know more about him at the appropriate time), another lady named as Usana and Puloma (we hear this name in Sri Lalitha Sahasra Nama Stotra – Pulomajarchita, Pulomaja referring to Sachi, consort of Indra - again let us hope we can learn about that more later). Puloma became pregnant in due course. Asking her to prepare Agni for Homa, the Maharshi went to the near by river, for bath. Puloma, who was advanced in pregnancy, was in the fire house (there were separate rooms for keeping the fire going all the time in those times). A demon also named as Pulom came there and was bedazzled by the beauty of Puloma and was interested to know more about her, but was scared. So, he asked the fire god Agni, who she was and demanded that Agni be truthful. Agni was in a dilemma. If he told him the truth, he might face the curse of the Sage and if he did not tell the truth, he would incur the sin of telling him an untruth. He felt that it was better to face the wrath of the sage and the consequences of his curse than to incur the sin of untruth.

So Agni told the demon Pulom that the lady was Puloma, chaste wife of Sage Bhrigu. Hearing that, the demon claimed that he had been in love with that lady earlier it self and her parents did not give her hand to him and instead gave her to Bhrigu. He felt that luck smiled at him and he decided to take her as his wife (by force obviously). So saying, the demon took the shape of a boar and carried away the frightened and crying Puloma. Rakshasa vivaha was accepted as one of the several ways of vivaha in those times. The tears from her eyes became a river, named Vadhusara by Lord Brahma.

The baby inside her womb got angry and came out of the womb (or slipped out), and looked at the demon with sharp and angry eyes. And looks could burn and looks could kill in those days! The demon was reduced to ashes. (The story is also an allegory to the burning of our desires to ashes when confronted with the Brahma Jnana – jnanagni daghda says Gita). Puloma carried the baby and returned to the ashram. He became famous as Chyavana because he slipped out from the womb (the Sanskrit word chyut and chyavan have some common meaning it appears).

Sage Bhrigu returned to his ashram and found his wife with the newborn and bright child. On enquiry, he came to know that it was Agni who let out her identity to the demon Pulom. Sage Bhrigu cursed Agni to become a Sarvabhakshaka (Omnivorous). Agni pleaded with the Sage that he could not do any thing except tell the truth and though Agni could curse the sage back did not do so out of respect to the sage and withdrew. Agni felt that he could not be the channel for carrying the havis to the celestial gods because his purity was affected. (A mind devoid of the discriminating intellect becomes the omnivorous Agni and contaminates the surroundings and the intellect). Because of Agni withdrawing from his duties, all the yagnas and yagas stopped and there was chaos. Lord Brahma was approached by the celestial gods for a solution. Brahma called Agni and assured him that even though the curse of Sage Bhrigu could not be reversed, there would be no sin and no impurity attached to Agni because of his eating every thing. Thus Agni was pacified and his purity restored. (Again it is a symbolic way of saying that a true jnani is like Agni and jnanagni will consume every thing and still remain pure. Once the sense of doership is got rid of and the ego becomes a true instrument, it is freed from all attachments and contaminations).

The child Chyavana grew up and after upanayana samskara (the thread ceremony) mastered all Vedas and Vedangas, took permission from parents, went to Vaidurya mountain area and settled near a lake called Payoshni (body temperatured, luke warm) for tapas (intense meditation). He entered Samadhi (a state of super-consciousness) and an ant hill grew around him. Creepers also covered that ant hill and thus his presence was not known to any one. Thousands of years passed this way.

The visit of King Saryati:

King Saryati came to that area accompanied by his 4000 wives and a big army. They set up camp there and the king and his family enjoyed a dip in the lake. Saryati’s daughter Sukanya was a young and beautiful damsel and she was attracted to a glow from the anthill (the eyes of the Sage were glowing or his aura was glowing). She thought that there were some fire flies and in order to see them better got the anthill dug up. Imagine the surprise and shock when they found the sage there with half closed eyes in taposamadhi. His body was old and was almost looking like a skeleton. She and the other people ran away from that spot out of fear, but the fruits of karma cannot be escaped from by running away.

Sage Chyavana’s tapas got disturbed and due to his power, the whole army was affected (their toilet functions were stopped). The king realized that there was some mistake on their part and asked every one but none of them had any answer. The king and his army were sad and did not know what to do. At that time, Sukanya approached her father and told him about the sage emerging out of the ant hill and her running away from that area out of fear. She asked the king whether that could be the fault and the reason for the problem. King Saryati went immediately to that place and saw the old sage glowing with the aura of long tapas. He prostrated before the sage and confessed what his daughter has done and asked the sage to forgive his daughter and pleaded for mercy.

Marriage of Sukanya with Chyavana:

Sage Chyavana asked King Saryati to offer his daughter in marriage as a penance for the sin committed. The king felt that it was a good fortune that his daughter was becoming the wife of such a great sage and so offered her hand in marriage to the sage immediately and leaving her there, returned to his kingdom.

There is another version of this story that I either read somewhere or saw in a movie long ago. That story has it that Sukanya saw two bright lights through the openings of the ant-hill and out of curiosity, poked the two lights with some sharp blade of grass. The sage became blind and because of that the king also became blind. Sukanya repented and offered to take care of the blind sage by marrying him and the sage restored the king’s eyesight.

Sukanya felt that she was indeed fortunate to serve such a great sage as his sahadharmacharini and was serving her husband faithfully. She did not, even for a moment think of herself as being affected by bad luck in that she was married to a man who was old and thus was incapable of fulfilling the marital dharma. This steadfastness of her mind attracted the attention of the celestials. This is important because the truly brave face the consequences of their karma and take that as a blessing, as a true Prasad from God. With such an attitude, a curse becomes a boon and in the absence of that, a boon becomes a curse. Let us see what happened next.

Aswini Devatas visit Sukanya:

The celestial physicians (Vaidyas) named as Aswininkumaras (also called Ashwini Devatas) got attracted by Sukanya’s beauty and her Pativrata dharma. They came to the ashram of the Sage to see Sukanya and test her steadfast dharma. Sage Chyavana was not present at that time, but Sukanya worshipped the Celestial Vaidyas as befitting Atithis (honored guests). They identified themselves and asked her (as if they did not know) who she was. Sukanya gave out her story in all humility. The divine doctors started laughing in a teasing way and exclaimed: “Oh, what a fate? You, so young and so beautiful forced to live with an old man and thus are wasting your youth. Even now, it is not too late! Select one of us who is young and who is fit to be your husband and we will ensure that you are happy with that person.”

Sukanya closed her ears with her palms and told them that she was a Hindu Pativrata and that she married Sage Chyavana of her own accord and she had accepted him in toto, with all his physical defects of age. She also reminded them that once she has accepted him as her husband, her mind cannot go to any one else, and their words were not befitting their own divine stature and were not to be uttered in front of a Pativrata.

On his arrival from his bath etc., Sukanya informed her husband Sage Chyavana of the visit of Ashwini Devatas and the conversation. Sage Chyavana was highly pleased with the steadfast devotion of Sukanya and wanted to bless her. So, he asked her to contact the Celestial Physicians and ask them to get her a good husband. They came and went to the Payoshni Lake for a dip. (The whole event was pre-ordained and Sage Chyavana knew and influenced the whole event with his yogic powers). When they submerged themselves in the lake waters, he too entered the lake and then the three of them emerged as identical looking young men and stood in front of her. They asked her to choose one of them as per her will. Sukanya could see Sage Chyavana among the three due to her divine powers and she obviously chose him.

Chyavana Maharshi was very happy and wanted to bless the Ashwini Devatas for the gift of the youth. He promised them that he would make them drink the divine nectar offered in yagna (to which they were not eligible - that is another story, and we will share that at another time!), not withstanding the Celestial King Indra’s objections. Ashwinikumaras were very happy and took leave of the sage and returned to their divine abode.

It is clear that the sage wanted to do a good turn to the two divine physicians and hence arranged for the whole drama. Otherwise, he was perfectly capable of restoring his physical body with his own yogic powers acquired through thousands of years of tapas. Also, we learn the lesson that a gift or favor should be returned by another suitable gift as per our capacity. See how the drama unfolds.

King Saryati’s yagna and the fulfillment of Chyavana’s promise to Ashwinikumaras:

King Saryati came to know of the miraculous transformation in his son-in-law Sage Chyavana and visited the couple to see for himself. The sage welcomed the king and asked him to take up a yagna which wold be good for the king’s welfare. He asked the king to arrange all necessary things.

The king accepted the advice of the sage and started the yagna. When Sage Chyavana got ready to offer Soma, the divine drink to Ashwini Devatas, the celestial god Indra manifested himself there and objected and reminded the Maharshi of their ineligibility. (Aswini Devatas were treated as second-class citizens in those days.)

Indra’s pride pricked:

The sage did not heed to the objections of Indra and went ahead and gave the drink to the twins. Indra got angry and lifted his right arm to strike the sage with his Vajra weapon (I feel that it was not the Vajrayudha of the fame since the latter was formed from the spine of Dadhichi, who was not yet born by then, so it could have been some other weapon – it does not really matter since the impropriety of a king raising his hand against an unarmed Brahmin is brought out in the story). The sage made Indra’s raised hand freeze in that raised position and immediately performed a homa to finish off the celestial king! It is noteworthy to understand that Bhrigu and all the sages in his lineage were very powerful and also rather short tempered! But the qualities were in the end beneficial to the society. Out of the homa, a demon named Mada (lust, indolence) was born, a demon with tremendous strength. The demon was advancing towards Indra and he could not do any thing because his hand was frozen. He realized the greatness of the sage and fell at his feet and requested forgiveness for his mistake. He also assured that from that time, the Ashwini Twins would be treated on par with all other gods and will get their due share in the Soma etc.

The sage accepted the apology of Indra and lifted his mental hold on the frozen shoulder and allowed him to depart to Heaven. The demon asked the sage to show a suitable place for him to stay and to feed. The sage gave the demon the following: Hunting (violence), Women (sexual pleasure), Gambling (trying to get more than what one deserves) and Drink (intoxication, trying to forget oneself and trying to attain bliss through the wrong means) as his place of residence, indicating that these pleasures without discrimination will become the inner demons of a man and will become the master instead of being a servant. The story has good morals. One can indulge in any thing as long as one has control over the activity and is not addicted to that. Mind should be our slave and not the other way round. Indra represents our individual ego that enjoys the sense pleasures. Indra gets stuck in the lower astral planes of senseless sensual pleasures and is freed only by the grace of saints (satsang). If the grace is missing, the ego gets controlled by forgetfulness, indulgence etc. and is a slave to the demonic forces. That is the moral of the story.

Well, the story ended happily and the Ashwini Twins had their parity restored and went happily to heaven. The Vaidurya mountain area came to be known as Archeeka mountain from that time.

Chyavana blesses Sukanya with progeny:

Sage Chyavana was highly pleased with his wife Sukanya and one day told her that he was pleased with her devotion and he would bless her with three sons. They would be named as Dadheechi (from whose body, spine the Vajrayudha was made to help the gods in their battle with the asuras, the demonic forces), Pramathi and Apravan. After a few years, Sage Chyavana left the house for Teertha Yatra (pilgrimage to sacred rivers, in fact, he went there to purify the rivers, teerthi kurvanti teerthani is the saying – the river becomes sacred when a holy man comes near and touches it or takes bath in it).

His Jala Samadhi at Prayag:

In the course of his pilgrimage, Sage Chyavana reached Prayag where Ganga and Yamuna merge. He entered the river and stayed under water in a state of super-consciousness. A big group of fish surrounded the sage and was in total peace with him. The sage also was at ease with the fish around him and stayed thus for twelve years. One day, a group of fishermen came to that place and threw big nets into the river. Along with the fish, the sage also was caught in the nets and the fishermen were surprised to see the sage along with the fish. The fishermen were frightened and fell at the feet of Sage Chyavana and requested for his forgiveness. They also asked him to give them further directions.

The sage reassured them that they did do not anything wrong and since he was part of the catch, they should sell him for a suitable price. The fishermen did not know what to do and went to their king Nahusha and reported the whole matter and requested the king to come and take care of them.

King Nahusha comes to meet Sage Chyavana:

King Nahusha came to see the sage along with his ministers and other staff. He prostrated himself at the feet of the sage and expressed remorse at the actions of the fishermen and requested the sage to guide them further. The Sage Chyavana replied: “Oh King! What is there to feel bad? The fishermen did nothing wrong and were simply doing their duty. There is no mistake from their side. Now listen to my advice. Since I am their catch, they should be compensated and I suggest that you compensate them suitably.”

The king was happy that the Sage was not angry with him or the fishermen and ordered his ministers to pay the fishermen a thousand madas (some gold coins of that era). The sage heard that and told the king and the ministers to pay a fair and just price to the fishermen. The king went on increasing and finally offered the whole kingdom, but the sage simply asked the king to sit and confer with the ministers and decide the fair compensation.

The king and the ministers were wondering what to do when would great wise man named Kavi Jatha came that way and he assured the king that he will fix the suitable price for the sage and asked them not to worry. The king and the ministers were very happy and were a relieved a lot. Then Kavi Jatha said, “The value of a cow and a Brahmin is equal. Lord Brahma made cow as the cause of all havis in yaga and the Brahmin as the head of all mantras. No one can fix the price of a Brahmin or a cow. So, offer a cow instead of the sage to the fishermen.” The king was pleased and went to the sage and told the sage that he was incapable of fixing the rate for him and instead would offer a cow to the fishermen. The sage was very happy to hear this and said: “Oh king!

I am glad that the proper value has been fixed. The cow is holy and contains Agni and Amrit (the heavenly nectar). It is fit to be worshipped even by the gods. I am pleased with your decision. So, give a cow to the fishermen.”

So, the king gave a good cow to the fishermen. They accepted the cow and then went to the sage and bowed to him and pleaded with him that he had been very kind to them and so he should kindly accept the cow from them. The sage was pleased with their devotion and agreed. He also sent them along with the caught fish to heaven. The king and the ministers were wonderstruck at the powers of the sage.

Sage Chyavana was highly pleased with king Nahusha and blessed him with two boons: a stead fast devotion to the path of dharma and an honor equal to Indra, the king of gods. In course of time, King Nahusha did become king of the celestial gods (Indra is the king of celestial gods).

Sage Chyavana and the Kusika Clan: 

Once when he was in the Court of Lord Brahma, the sage heard that his clan would get contaminated by the kshatriya clan of King Kusika and he wanted to prevent that. So, he went to the kingdom of Kusika. The king received the sage with great devotion and worshipped him. The king asked the sage to rule them and offered to serve the sage along with his wife (It appears that the king had some supernatural inkling of the intentions of the sage and hence was exceptionally polite and humble to disarm the sage’s anger). Chyavana Maharshi told the king that he had taken up one special vrata (a vow taken for a specific period, with specific features) for the welfare of the world and in that connection, he had come to them. The king and his wife were very happy and the king pledged total support. They installed the sage in a nice spot. It was becoming dark and after finishing his ablutions etc., the sage had a good dinner. He then told the king that he was going to sleep and that the king and his wife should each keep pressing his feet while he was asleep. So saying, the sage laid himself down to one side in the king’s bed and went to sleep. The king and his wife went on pressing each the sage’s feet and this process went on for 21 days (the king and his wife were yogic adepts to be able to stay awake and not move from the place for food or other bodily functions).

At the end of twenty one days, the sage woke up and started walking briskly out of the city. The king and the queen tried to keep pace with the sage but because of their lack of food and lack of sleep, could not. The sage disappeared and the royal couple was totally distraught. They returned to their place and found Sage Chyavana sleeping on the other side of the bed. They were very happy and again got down to their duty of pressing the sage’s feet. The sage slept again for twenty one days and again the royal couple stayed awake for the total time, without food etc.

On the twenty second day, sage Chyavana woke up and wanted that he should be given a head bath in the traditional way (oil massage and then hot water with soapnut shampoo etc.) and asked them to make every thing ready in the space of a ghatika (twenty four minutes) and vanished. He came back in that time and found them ready without the slightest trace of anger or resentment in their minds. The sage was pleased and had the traditional oil head bath. After that, King Kusika arranged a sumptuous meal for the sage and invited the sage for partaking of the food. The sage looked at the king and the food and without a word disappeared from the spot. The king could not say anything or do anything. And he could not eat without the sage. That day went off like that.

The next morning Chyavana manifested himself in front of the king and made a strange request. “Oh King, get the chariot ready. You and your wife should take the position of the horses and while you both are pulling the chariot, I should go around the city. While I am going around thus, see that gold, diamonds and other precious stones, horses and cows are be freely distributed to those who ask. Take care!”

The king made all the arrangements and took position along with his consort at the head of the chariot and the sage became the charioteer. While the chariot was being thus pulled, he was goading them and prodding them with a thorn tipped prod thus causing them to bleed. They did not protest and continued with the journey through the streets of that city. The onlookers were surprised at the luster of the sage and at the guru bhakti of the king and the queen. The sage also was surprised and satisfied greatly at the calm attitude of the royal couple. After some time, the sage got down from the chariot and removed the ropes etc. that tied the king and the queen to the chariot and gently rubbed their bodies all over with his hand. Lo and behold! All the injuries, all the tiresomeness left the bodies and the king and the queen felt totally fresh and energetic. The king was happy beyond description and bowed to the sage’s feet and praised his yogic powers. The sage asked the king to return next day to the riverbank where he was going to reside. The king bowed and left.

Next morning, the king and the queen reached the riverbank and found a huge palace with so much of beauty and grandeur. They entered and found the sage seated in a nice luxurious bed. Suddenly the place disappeared and they found the sage seated in a forest clearance. The king praised the powers of the sage to his queen. In the meantime, the sage called the couple closer to him and said to the king. “Oh king, I am satisfied at the control you have over your senses and the mind. I am pleased with you. Ask for any boon and I will give you!” The king bowed and said, “Oh God, you are like the Agni. If you are pleased with us that is the best boon and what more can I ask you? However, since you are pleased with me, please clarify this doubt of mine. The first twenty one days, you slept on one side of the bed and the next twenty one days, you slept on the other side of the bed. I am unable to understand why you did that. Please tell us the reason with kindness and benevolence.”

Sage Chyavana blesses King Kusika: 

Sage Chyavana said: “Oh King! Once I attended the court of Lord Brahma and He mentioned that the Bhrigu and Kusika clans will get intermixed and I did not want that. (Bhrigu was a Brahmin and Kusika was Kshatriya, the ruler clan). So, I came to your place with the pretext of a special vrata and wanted to destroy your clan. I was looking for the slightest opportunity for a slip from your side so that I can curse your clan! However, I found that you are free from the slightest trace of lack of courage, anger and other negative qualities. I also showed you the grandeur of a big palace. You did not waver and were firmly established in the respect for a Brahmin (the qualities of Brahma Nishtha are fully established in you). Oh King, your grandson will become fully established as a Brahmarshi and will become famous all over the universe!” (He will be known as Kausika and Viswamitra).

The king was very happy and bowed to the sage and asked him to tell a few more details of the future. The sage continued. “Oh King! Listen. My son Ruchika will marry Satyavathi, daughter of Gadhi, who is going to be born to you. When Satyavathi wants children, he tells her that he will create a divine rice pudding, which will give her a child. Satyavathi will request her husband Ruchika to help her mother too (Gadhi did not have a son and the life and marriage is considered incomplete without a male child). So, sage Ruchika meditated on the Para Brahma (The Ultimate Principle) and created two vessels with the divine rice preparation. He showed her the two vessels and told her that one of them is brahmyam (full of the brahminic energies. Satva guna) and the second Kshatram (full of the fighting warrior clan’s energies, rajo guna). He tells her that after bath, she and her mother should hug a fig tree and a Ragi tree respectively and then they should consume the respective rice puddings.

However, due to destiny, the two vessels get interchanged and Satyavathi eats the kshatriya energy bearing pudding and her mother the brahminic one. There is another story that the mother of Satyavathi interchanges the vessesls deliberately because she feels that Sage Ruchika will give the ‘better’ child to his own wife. Thus jealousy played the part of destiny! Ruchika sees with his divine vision about the mix up and tells his wife that she is bearing a cruel kshatriya foetus in her womb and not a brahminic one. Satyavathi is saddened and prays to her husband to prevent the calamity through his yogic powers. He agrees and with his yogic powers transfers the change to his grandson (to the next generation).

Thus a brahminic sage Jamadagni will be born to Ruchika and the kshatriya energies take shape when Jamadagni gets son Rama in due course of time (Who becomes famous as Parashu Ram). Satyavathi’s mother gives birth to a wonderful child who is full of brahma teja (satvik qualities). Thus, though born as a king, Kusika’s grandson variously known as Gadheya, Kausika and Viswamitra becomes world famous for his qualities as a Brahmarshi.” (We will learn more about him when we take up his story in detail.)

After sharing the future like that, Sage Chyavana takes leave of king Kusika and continues with his pilgrimage.

Chyavana's visit Sri Rama and encourages him to kill Lavanasura:

When Sri Rama was ruling Ayodhya, Sage Chyavana, accompanied by Marichi, Kasyapa and other sages, reached there and stood waiting at the outer gates. Sumantra, the able Minister of Sri Rama, went to the king and informed him of the arrival of these great sages from the Yamuna region. Sri Rama went to the sages with respect and humility and bowed to their feet, escorted them inside and worshipped them with due formalities. The sages too offered the sacred waters of river Yamuna and good fruits to the king and blessed him. Sri Rama addressed the sages thus: “Oh great sages! I am indeed blessed by your darshan and I offer myself with every thing that is mine (my brothers, servants, ministers, wealth etc., in short every thing that is mine) to you. Please order this servant of yours!”

The sages were immensely pleased and Sage Chyavana addressed Sri Rama as follows: “Oh King Ram! In Krita Yug, one Daitya called Madhu, who was full of good qualities though born in the Dithi clan (most of them were full of demonic and asuric qualities) did a great tapas to Lord Siva for thousands of years. Lord Siva was pleased with the tapas of Madhu and manifested Himself in front of Madhu and (at his request), gave a replica of His Trishul (The Trident) and addressed him thus: “Oh my good devotee!, in any battle, The Trident will destroy your enemies and will come back to you. The moment you stray from the path of dharma, the Trident will leave you and will return to Me.” Madhu accepted the Trident and after bowing to Lord Siva requested Him for another boon. “Oh Lord! Please allow this great Trident to protect me and my clan also in future.” To that plea, Lord Siva agreed with one condition that Madhu’s son also would have the Trishul with him and would be undefeated in any battle as long as he is with the Trishul and the day he went into a battle without the Trident, he would get killed and the Trident would return to Siva in Kailas.

After finishing his tapas, Madhu married the beloved sister of Ravana called Kumbinasa and begot a son Lavana (salt, shining), who, as destiny would have it was full of the demonic, asuric qualities. Madhu was disgusted with the demonic behavior of his son and tried to teach him to tread on the path of dharma. Finally when he was leaving, he gave the Trident to his son with these words: “Son, this great and powerful Trident is given by Lord Siva Himself. As long as it is with you, in your hands and by your side, no one can do any harm to you. So, don’t forget this Trident and don’t leave the path of dharma.” After making Lavana as king and giving him the sacred Trident, Madhu entered the ocean (this voluntary giving up of one’s body was in vogue in those days and Sri Ram also follows the same tradition when the time to give up His body comes – it is not suicide in that the soul is perfectly satisfied with the life span and has no desire, fear, anger etc. at the time of leaving the body – it is like vacating the house willingly, where as suicide is running away out of fear and is considered a great sin).

Once he was crowned as the king, Lavana became even more demonic and started troubling the sages like us much more. He started torturing the gods and the men alike. Oh Rama, you are the protector of the meek and the helpless and so we have come to inform you of Lavana’s misdeeds and to request you to destroy Lavana and protect us. To you, who killed Ravana, this is not a big task at all.”

Rama assured the sages that he would destroy the demonic Lavana and sent them on their way. He then called his brother Satrughna (literally means destroyer of enemies) and told him that he was sending him to destroy the demon Lavana and since the kingdom could not be left without a king after Lavana’s death, he also declared Satrughna as the king of Madhupuri, the kingdom of Lavana then and there. (Rama did the same with Sugriva and with Vibhishana also. He did the Abhsishek in advance signifying that the victory was definite).

Satrughna left with an army and camped on the way at the Ashram of sage Valmiki. He introduced himself as the brother of Sri Rama (whose life story Ramayana was written by Sage Valmiki) and that he was on his way to Madhupuri to kill the demon Lavana. He requested the sage to allow him and the army to stay the night there and requested for permission to leave the next morning to continue the journey. Valmiki was happy to see Satrughna and treated the honored guest with fruits etc. That same night, Janaki (Sita), who was staying there incognito (only Sage Valmiki knew her real identity, to others she was known as Vanadevi, Goddess of the forest), gave birth to twins, Lava and Kusa. The sage informed Strughna of the good news (it is not clear whether he told him about their real identity, and if he had, he would have done in private and would have sworn him to secrecy since Satrughna did not inform Sri Rama of this event.)

Satrughna took leave of Sage Valmiki and after a few more days reached the river Yamuna and went to the ashram of Sage Chyavana. Again he stayed that night there and while informing the sage of his mission, asked him thus: “Oh Mahatma! You were mentioning when you visited Sri Rama that Lavana was a great warrior and has destroyed several kings. Pl. tell me more about him and whom he killed with his Trident.”

Sage Chyavana addressed Satrughna thus. “Oh great one, listen. The list of kings killed by the Trident of Lavana is so long. The famous and courageous emperor Mandhata was killed by this weapon only. Mandhata was so courageous that he won over many kings of this earth and then went to attack the King of Heaven Indra. Indra knew that it was impossible to defeat Mandhata and said to him, “Oh emperor, you should come here only after defeating all kings on earth. As of now, you are yet to defeat Lavana, the son of Madhu, so how can you claim that you have conquered all the kings? Come here after defeating Lavana.” Shamed thus, Mandhata returned to earth and reached Madhupuri with his army and sent a courtier inviting Lavana for war. Lavana got furious and killed the messenger. Mandhata entered the court of Lavana and challenged Lavana to wage war with him. (He was probably unaware of the Trident of Lavana or was over confident of his own prowess in battle forgetting the divine qualities of the Trident). Lavana threw the Trident towards Mandhata and he was reduced to ashes along with his army. Satrughna, when Lavana is with the Trident, he is unconquerable. So, don’t meet him now. Tomorrow you will kill Lavana. Tonight, take rest here.” The sage obviously knew the future (as shown earlier also when he told Kusika about the birth of the grandson). Satrughna took heed of the advice of the sage and spent the night there, and next morning crossed the river and reached Madhupuri.

Satrughna kills Lavana in battle:

Satrughna camped outside Madhupuri and awaited Lavana. Lavana left early morning for hunt and returned by noon with his bounty and was about to enter the city. Satrughna stopped him there and told him that he was Satrughna, brother of Sri Rama and challenged him to war with a shower of arrows. Lavana was furious and tried his best to avoid the arrows of Satrughna and enter the city to retrieve his Trident. Satrughna did not allow those efforts to succeed and killed Lavana with the special Astra given to him by Sri Rama. Once Lavana fell in the battle, the gods showered flowers on Satrughna in appreciation.

Thus Sage Chyavana occupies a stellar spot in the world of sages. Reading or listening to this story is very good for one’s spiritual benefit.

The Ayurvedic preparation Chyavanaprash made his name famous all over the country and even the world. It is full of antioxidants and arrests aging and degenerative diseases. Remember Sage Chyavana and offer your prayers before taking it for even more benefit.

Om Shanti Shanti Shantih…

Footnotes: The importance of truth:

* This shows the importance attached to truth in those days. There was no written document, no court, no lawyer and Akash Vani was the witness if ever witness was needed. The importance of truth is brought out by Sakunthala in Maha Bharat through this beautiful telugu poem: Nuta jala pooritambulagu noothulu nooritikante soonruta vrata oka bavi melu… tatkaratu satakambu kante oka soonruta vakyam melu choodagan.

* The importance of truth is beautifully brought out in the story of Sri Satya Harischandra (Sage Viswamitra, whose name is mentioned in the story of Sage Chyavana is the main player in that drama which upholds the importance of truth and we will be exploring the life of that great Rishi too).

* The story of Satyakama Jabali is another great example of the power of truth.

* In modern times, we hear the power of truth in “Autobiography of a Yogi”
by Paramahamsa Yogananda and Sri Sai Satcharitra by Shri Hemadpant.

source : http://www.telugubhakti.com/telugupages/Sages/Chyavana.htm

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