Category: Srimad Bhagavatam

The Bhagavata Purana also known as the Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana (Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa) or simply Bhagavata, is one of Hinduism’s eighteen great Puranas (Mahapuranas)

Sri Suka Maharshi – Son of Sri Vyasadeva

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Sri Suka Maharshi

Sri Suka Maharshi is the divine son of Sri Vyasadeva, who is one of the incarnations of the supreme personality of Godhead. Rishi means one who controls his senses, which are called “rishika” in Sanskrit. Then the word maharshi refers to that saintly person who has reached the pinnacle of sense control activity.

Sri Suka was a life-time celibate. He is the best example of victory over lust and thus became the first person in the world to get the opportunity to narrate Srimad Bhagavatam. Because of his complete control over senses, he is often addressed as Sri Sukadeva Goswami.

Goswami

The words Goswami and maharshi give same meaning. “Go” means senses and “Swami” means master.

One who becomes a master of senses, without becoming a servant to them is named a Goswami. Out of the nine types of devotional services (navavidha bhakti), hearing and chanting are the first two processes. King Parikshit was delivered by the first process of hearing, whereas Sri Sukadeva got liberated by the second process, namely chanting.

Both assembled because of Srimad Bhagavatam on the banks of the Ganges.

In Vedic scriptures it is mentioned,

“sri vishno sravane parikshidabhavad vaiyasaki kirtane”.

Another name for Sri Sukadeva is Vaiyasaki.

Sri Suka Maharshi - Son of Sri Vyasadeva

Birth details of Sri Sukadeva were given in detail in BrahmaVaivarta Purana. Sri Vyasadeva’s wife was the daughter of Jabali Rishi. Both Vyasadeva and his chaste wife performed severe austerities for many years and got a child. The soul that entered her womb was a great mystic. He is Sri Sukadeva. Because he knew that the external world was full of three modes of material nature and illusion, he decided to stay back in his mother’s womb for complete protection. Twelve years passed without the boy coming out of the womb.

Vyasadeva tried to convince the boy with lots of philosophical teachings, but the child did not concede it. Then Vyasadeva went to Dwaraka to inform the situation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. The Lord came directly to the hermitage of Vyasadeva and gave assurance to the boy in the mother’s womb about His pastimes.

Though the external world is full of three modes of material nature that bind the living entity perpetually here, if one takes shelter in the pastimes of Lord Krishna, he will certainly be situated in a liberated stage. The boy in the mother’s womb got convinced about this wonderful truth, directly spoken by the Lord, and came out with all confidence. However, he did not remain at home but started off to travel all over the world as a liberated soul.

Sri Vyasadeva started following him hastily crying “O my son, O my son”.

Later Sri Vyasadeva gave him the Srimad Bhagavatam, which he compiled on the order of his spiritual master Sri Narada. Sri Sukadeva after studying the beautiful Bhagavatam and assimilating the whole essence became a pure devotee of Lord Krishna.

He narrated the entire Bhagavatam to King Parikshit on the banks of the Ganges, where the king was waiting for his death on account of a curse by a Brahmana boy. With the association of Sri Sukadeva and King Parikshit, the great and divine Srimad Bhagavatam appeared in this world.

Sri Sukadeva – True Symbol of Victory

We already understood that Sri Sukadeva is the true symbol of victory over lust. There is a nice incident to prove this statement. Sri Sukadeva always used to move naked without any body consciousness. Once he was moving in a forest in the mood of deep meditation and was passing by a lake, where some celestial ladies were bathing nakedly.

They did not feel ashamed even though they were naked. Sukadeva also did not notice them. However, in the next moment, Sri Vyasadeva came into the scene. All the ladies immediately came out of the lake and hastily wrapped clothes out of shy when they observed Vyasadeva’s arrival.

Vyasa was startled at the contradictory behaviour of the ladies, who did not feel ashamed in the presence of a naked young man but felt shy in the presence of an old man. Ladies intelligently replied that Sukadeva was beyond gender differentiation and a liberated soul. They all offered obeisances to Suka Maharshi within their hearts and departed from the place. This incident is the best example of Sukadeva’s victory over lust.

Srimad Bhagavatam – Maha Purana

Srimad Bhagavatam is designated as “Maha purana”, with 18,000 wonderful verses spreading over 12 cantos. Sri Sukadeva’s mention appears in the third verse itself as ‘suka-mukhad amrita-drava-samyutam”. Bhagavatam is considered the ripened fruit of the Vedic tree.

SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM

A fruit ripened on the tree itself tastes very sweet. But in the case of Srimad Bhagavatam, it got more sweetened due to the nectar of speech by Sri Sukadeva. Sometimes, Sukadeva’s portrait is done with a parrot head, but the narrations given in Vyasa Bhagavatam contradict that opinion.

Four verses are dedicated just to describe Sri Sukadeva on his arrival to banks of Ganges. Suka’s legs, hands, thighs, arms, shoulders, forehead, other parts of the body were described to be delicately formed. His eyes were beautifully wide, his nose and ears are highly raised. He had a very attractive face, and his neck was well formed and beautiful like conch shell.

Sri Suka Maharshi was so great that when he entered the area, where King Parikshit was waiting for his final departure from this world, all the people assembled there stood up in reverence to him. Narada, Vyasa, Suta, many kings, and many saintly persons simply got up from their seats and offered complete respect to the great devotee Sri Sukadeva. Unanimously all of them entrusted the responsibility of deliverance of King Parikshit to Sri Sukadeva.

Sri Sukadeva was so detached from this material world that he wouldn’t spend much time at any place. He used to spend time in any householder’s place that is just sufficient to milk a cow. He used to go to their home to collect some cow milk.

However, against his standard practice, he stayed continuously for 7 days and 7 nights on the banks of the Ganges to narrate the nectarian story of Srimad Bhagavatam. King Parikshit was a devotee of Lord Krishna from childhood. He knows very well about Krishna’s devotees.

He simply offered humble obeisances and prayed, “My dear master, you are the spiritual master to all devotees and mystics. So explain in detail the path of perfection for people in general, especially for those who are about to face death. Please also explain what to be heard, what to be chanted, what to be remembered, and also what not to be done.”

For this intelligent question by King Parikshit, Sukadeva explained the entire Srimad Bhagavatam in seven days and gave eternal liberation to him. In this case, both the listener and the speaker were pure devotees of Lord Krishna. Hence, the whole narration went very happily to the heart’s content.

With the hearing of Bhagavatam from the realized soul, King Parikshit left the fear of death and became purified. As demons cannot stand in the presence of Lord Vishnu, no sin can stand in the presence of Sri Sukadeva. After imparting the divine knowledge of Srimad Bhagavatam to Parikshit, Sri Suka Maharshi left the place to travel all over the world.

While Sri Sukadeva was narrating Bhagavatam, Suta Maharshi was present amongst the audience. He heard the whole narration with rapt attention and repeated the same thing to the sages at Naimisharanya. Srimad Bhagavatam is the essence of Vedas and Vedanta. This truth was revealed as “sarvavedanta- saram hi sri-bhagavatam ishyate” in Bhagavatam itself.

Originally Srimad Bhagavatam was imparted in the heart of Brahma by Lord Krishna; later Brahma narrated it to his son Narada Muni. Narada later instructed it to Vyasadeva, who compiled it in the form of literature and gave it for study to Sukadeva. Sukadeva narrated it to King Parikshit and awarded him immortality. Suta Maharshi heard the narration from Sukadeva and conveyed it to Saunaka and other sages at Naimisharanya.

In this way, Sri Vyasadeva’s final literary work namely Srimad Bhagavatam was spread in the world through his beloved, divine son Sri Sukadeva. It is considered as the essence of Vedanta and the natural commentary on Vedanta Sutra. Whereas, Sri Vyasadeva’s Mahabharata was spread in the world through his beloved disciple Vysampayana Rishi. It is celebrated as the fifth Veda in the world.

King Parikshit – The Grandson of Pandavas

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King Parikshit

There are two types of stories of Lord Krishna. One is told by Lord Krishna, which is Bhagavad-Gita, and the second is told about Lord Krishna, which is Srimad Bhagavatam. Both these stories are like torches in hand that show a path in the darkest material world.

They show the perfect path for a sincere seeker to reach the final goal of achieving the perfection of the human form of life, they mitigate the hoard of miseries that haunt us every minute, they make us reach the regions of blissful life, and finally, they award the association of the supreme personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna.

One story of Krishna, namely Bhagavad-Gita was spread in the world through Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, whereas another story, namely Srimad Bhagavatam was spread through King Parikshit. In this way, both stories of Lord Krishna are connected intimately with Pandavas.

This is a very important point to be noted by one and all. The reason for this distinction is the pure devotional mood of Pandavas and their next generations towards the Supreme Lord. The entire Pandava’s dynasty is dedicated to the service of the Godhead. In this story, we learn about King Parikshit and how Srimad Bhagavatam got spread in the world because of him. The hero of Srimad Bhagavatam is King Parikshit only.

Bhagavatam continues from his birth till his departure from this world. He was celebrated as “Vishnuraata”, the one protected by Lord Vishnu, and was the son of prince Abhimanyu. It means King Parikshit was the grandson of Pandavas.

King Parikshit - The Grandson of Pandavas

The Divine protected…

After the conclusion of the great fratricidal war between Kauravas and Pandavas in Kurukshetra and the establishment of the sovereignty of Yudhistir all over the world, Lord Krishna prepared to leave for Dwaraka. When he was about to ride on a chariot, the wife of Abhimanyu came running in great anxiety and fear.

She was pregnant at that time. Except for the five Pandavas, everyone else in the dynasty was killed in the ghastly war. The only hope for the next generation was in the womb of Uttara, the chaste wife of Abhimanyu. But, the son of Drona, Ashwatthama, wanted to even destroy that last hope of the dynasty using Brahmastra weapon to please his master, Duryodhan.

Looking at that formidable weapon that was rushing towards her, Uttara started praying to Lord Krishna, “O Lord of lords! O Master of Universe! O great Mystic! Please protect me. A very fearful metal arrow is fast approaching me. Let it destroy me, but please protect my child in the womb”.

She was pleading with tearful eyes and folded hands. Lord Krishna understood the situation and also the cause of such danger. Having understood that Ashwatthama, who was burning with the fire of insult, caused the fearful situation, the Lord immediately took his invincible Chakra and entered into the womb of Uttara. Though the Brahmastra was very powerful, it lost its vigour in the presence of the power of the Lord.

When the Brahmastra was released, the child in the womb felt tortured and it became almost impossible for him to bear the pain. At that very moment, the child saw a great personality with four hands come for his protection. That personality moved his club in circles around the child and protected him from the effect of Brahmastra.

The child was astonished to see that wonderful personality and was keen to see him again and again, but in the next moment, the divine personality disappeared. Since the child in the womb was protected by the four-handed form of Vishnu, he was celebrated as “Vishnuraata”.

The interesting point to note here is that when the Lord was carrying out his miraculous feats within the womb of Uttara, he was simultaneously present outside also as if not doing anything. However, he entered the womb in a subtle form and carried out his mission of protecting the devotee. This is called the inconceivable potency of the Lord. In this way, King Parikshit got the audience of the Lord even before his birth, in the womb of the mother itself, thus becoming very dear to devotees.

Named as Parikshit

After this incident, at some auspicious moment, Uttara gave birth to Parikshit. Dhaumya, Kripacharya and other saintly persons conducted all the birth-related rituals. Yudhistir, the grandfather of Parikshit, gave plenty of donations to priests and saints. All the saintly persons were very pleased by the magnanimous nature of Yudhistir and gave blessing to the newly born child.

They foretold that the boy becomes like Lord Rama in speaking truth, like Bali in confidence, like Prahlada in devotion and will be celebrated as pure devotees. They also told him that he would conduct many horse sacrifices.

These blessings by the saintly persons made King Yudhistir extremely happy. After the birth, the boy started looking around for the great person who gave audience in the mother’s womb, thus getting named as Parikshit, the one who examines everyone or everything. He started growing nicely under the protection of his grandfathers like a growing moon.

Established Dharma

After Lord Krishna returned to his abode, having established righteousness on the earth, Pandavas also decided to leave the earth planet. They enthroned Parikshit as the emperor of the whole world and left towards the northern direction. Later, King Parikshit ruled the world under the guidance of saintly priests. He married the daughter of prince Uttara Kumar and got four worthy sons like Janamejaya.

Under the guidance of Kripacharya he performed three horse sacrifices. During those sacrifices, even the common man could see the demigods from heavenly planets. Once, King Parikshit embarked on a world tour to review the law and order situation. He was welcomed by everyone and he heard the glories of Pandavas everywhere.

At one place, he came across the God of religious principles in the form of a bull and the goddess of earth in the form of a cow. The bull was limping on one leg and his other three legs were broken. Both the bull and the cow were discussing very deep subject matters and the cow was crying piteously. In the meantime, one person dressed like a royal person, but behaving very cruelly came into the picture and started beating the bull. The cow started passing urine out of fear.

King Parikshit immediately jumped into the scene with a sword and overpowered the miscreant. He gave complete assurance to both the bull and the cow. He then prepared to kill the person who attempted to hurt the animals. The cruel person was none other than Kali Purush. The personality of Kali immediately took the shelter of King Parikshit and got saved. It was the duty of any king to forgive anyone who surrendered out of fear.

However, the king ordered the Kali to leave the kingdom with immediate effect, but that was not possible as the entire world was under the rule of King Parikshit. Then, the king gave the miscreant four places, namely the place of gambling, the place of animal killing, the place of illicit works and the place of intoxication for a safe stay.

However, upon further insistence, the king gave gold as the fifth place for the stay of personified Kali. In this way, King Parikshit restricted the spread of Kali’s influence and restored the three lost legs of Dharma. Truthfulness, mercy, austerity and cleanliness are the real four legs of Dharma, which got fully established in the kingdom of King Parikshit.

Once King Parikshit went on hunting into a forest and got tired due to exertion. Fortunately, he found a hermitage nearby to quench his thirst and entered it. He found a saint in deep meditation, who did not notice the king’s arrival. The saint’s name was Samika. The king asked for some water, but Samika did not reply to the request of the king as he was totally in trance.

This behaviour of the saint disturbed the mood of the King. Out of anguish, he took a dead snake from a nearby place and placed it around the neck of the saint, and went back to his kingdom. Samika’s son was a powerful boy with all mystic powers. He came to know about the incident and out of irresistible anger, he cursed the king to death. “Let the king die with Takshaka, the bird snake’s bite within seven days!”- the boy gave this curse and reached the hermitage.

He was totally upset to see the dead snake around the neck of his father and started crying. Because of son’s crying, Samika came out of trance, removed the dead snake from his neck and enquired about the whole incident. He deeply regretted the rude behaviour of his son in cursing a saintly king like Parikshit, but the curse of a Brahmin boy was invincible. He immediately sent a message to the king for his proper preparation to meet the death.

King Parikshit was very happy to receive the message of the curse upon him and felt he deserved it for his misbehaviour with a saintly person. He immediately enthroned his elder son to rule the world and departed to the banks of the Ganges to await his death. He decided to stop eating, drinking and sleeping till death. He wanted to meet the death in full concentration on Lord Krishna’s name, form and pastimes.

Got Liberated

The news of King Parikshit’s imminent death spread all over the world like wildfire and many kings, saintly persons and ascetics started assembling there. Bhrigu, Atri, Chyavna, Vashista, Parasara, Vishwamitra, Narada, and even Vysadeva arrived at the site. They were all anxious to see the last moments of such a great king.

At that very moment, by the Lord’s arrangement, Suka Maharshi arrived at the site. He was naked but completely immersed in the love of Godhead. His body complexion was sky blue like Krishna’s. King Parikshit offered obeisances to Suka Maharshi and requested him to teach him the ultimate beneficial activity at the time of death.

He attentively heard the story of Lord Krishna in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam as narrated by the saint and got liberated. He heard it with rapt attention for seven days and seven nights without any interruption and with all focus. He did not feel the pains of hunger and thirst while relishing the nectar of Srimad Bhagavatam.

Once narration was completed, King Parikshit conveyed his gratitude saying, “O saintly personality, please permit me to concentrate my words, mind, senses and life on the Supreme personality of Godhead. By keeping my mind and all desires on the infallible Lord, I wish to leave my body. Mercifully, you have shown me the most auspicious and safest path to attain the Godhead.

Now, I have no fear of death, my ignorance is gone”. Suka Maharshi was very happy with these words and left the place for the world tour. Immediately, King Parikshit went into trance with meditation on Lord Krishna and became motionless like a tree. At the same time, Takshaka, the snake bird, came in the form of a priest closer to the king, immediately assumed his real form and bit him. King Parikshit got burnt into ashes with a snake’s bite.

Looking at that scene, everybody on the earth and sky said “Alas! Alas!” Later, there was a shower of flowers from the sky and kettle drums were played out of joy. In this way, King Parikshit’s death also became very glorious. When he was in the womb of his mother, Lord Krishna gave him an audience and at the time of death, the same supreme Lord again appeared in the form of name and pastimes.

From the time in the womb of his mother till his death, he was completely in the meditation of Lord Krishna, thus becoming a role model for all devotees. Along with devotion, he demonstrated expertise in great governance to be remembered as a divine icon of all-around performance forever.

Ksheera Sagara Madhanam (Churning of the Milky Ocean)

Ksheera Sagara Madhanam (Churning of the Milky Ocean)

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Ksheera Sagara Madhanam

Ksheera Sagara Madhanam is a fascinating story in Srimad Bhagavata by Vyasa Maharshi (Ashtama Skanda). The story has many implications from different angles (spiritual, philosophical, management etc.).

Once Indra and other Devas lost their charm, lustre, strength and freshness due to Maharshi Durvasa’s curse. In contrast, the power of the Asuras increased. They attacked the Devas and killed them in large numbers. A spell of gloom loomed over the world. Then, the Devas, along with Brahma went to the abode of Lord Vishnu and extolled Him with Vedic hymns.

The Lord said, “The present time is favourable to the Asuras. You have to wait until time turns in your favour. Hence, now you make peace with them. Even mutual enemies have to come together to achieve important objectives. Henceforth, both you and Asuras work to get Amrit (elixir), the immortal drink, by churning the Ksheera Sagar (Milky Ocean). You agree to whatever terms the Asuras propose”.

The Devas then approached Bali, the king of the Asuras, and conveyed Lord Vishnu’s instructions. Both the groups had agreed to put together all their energies to obtain Amrit (elixir). They lifted the Mandara mountain from its base and started taking it to the sea to use it as a churning rod. Because of its heavy weight, they dropped it on the way and became helpless.

Then Sri Hari appeared there, lifted the mountain, and put it on Garuda, who unloaded it on the seashore.

Lord Vishnu in Kurma Avatar

They wound Vasuki, the lord of the serpents, around the Mandara mountain as churning rope and began churning with all their might. Then the mountain began to sink in the water because of its sheer weight, as it was not supported by anything under.

The omnipotent Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a divine tortoise (Kurma Avatara) of huge proportions, entered into the water and jacked up the mountain. The churning resumed.

The Lord strengthened the resolve of all in many ways by this manifestation of Kurma – above the mountain by pressing it down, underneath, supporting it as tortoise, in the hearts of Devas and Asuras as strength, and in Vasuki as anaesthesia (to make it insensitive to pain).

Kurma Avatar - Incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu

After fierce churning, emerged the virulent poison Halahala (also called Kalakuta garala). When it started spreading everywhere with its fatal fumes, all of them ran to Kailasa to seek the protection of Lord Siva. The Lord was extremely pained to see their miserable plight.

He told His consort Sati, “O Bhavani! I have to give shelter to these harassed by garala. Affording protection for the weak and the suffering is the only object and justification of lordship. So, I am going to drink the poison to save all the beings”. Goddess agreed to his drinking.

(In the Telugu translation of Bhagavatam Potana Mahakavi gives a beautiful explanation of why She is permitted to drink the poison:

She knows that it is poison, and it is Her husband who is going to drink it. Yet, she permitted it because it would benefit the people. She must have so much confidence in Her ‘Maangalyam’. She is ‘Sarva Mangala’ and the presiding goddess of ‘Maangalyam’ worn by all married women. In Hindu marriage tradition, the bride first does puja to Gauri Devi for a long-lasting marriage).

Then, Mahadev collected the spreading poison in his palms and drank it with a heart full of love and compassion for all the beings. Because of the destructive power of the poison, His throat became blue.

Nilakanta

Lord Siva got another name ‘Nilakanta’, (click here for all names of Lord Siva) indicating His zeal for the welfare of the world. A small portion of the poison which happened to fall from Siva’s hand while drinking, was appropriated by serpents, scorpions, poisonous plants, and other poisonous creatures.

Devas and Asuras continued churning and various objects emerged from the ocean.

Kamadhenu

First came the ‘Kamadhenu‘, the heavenly cow that bestows all wishes. The Rishis appropriated that cow would be useful for Agnihotra and other Vedic Yajnas.

Ucchaisravas

Then came the horse known as ‘Ucchaisravas’ and it was taken by the Asura king Bali.

Airavata

Next came ‘Airavata’, the white four-tusked elephant and it was taken by Indra. Kaustubha, a gem of Padmaraga, became an ornament of Sri Hari’s neck.

Parijata

Next came the celestial tree Parijata, which can fulfil the wishes of those who approach it. Then came the beautiful Apsaras.

Ksheera Sagara Madhanam (Churning of the Milky Ocean)

Emergence of Goddess Lakshmi

Next happened an important event – the emergence of Rama (Lakshmi Devi) with the brilliance of lightning. She then put around the neck of Sri Hari the most attractive garland made of choice fresh lotuses. Mahavishnu, the father of the worlds, assigned His bosom, the most sublime of regions, as the residence of Sri Devi, the Mother of the universe and the source of all power, glory, and prosperity (Aiswaryam).

Casting Her benign glance from Her residence there on all Her children in the three worlds, She brought about their progress and prosperity.

Next came Varuni, in the form of a beautiful girl. The Asuras took possession of her. After further churning, there emerged Dhanvantari, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who is noted for initiating Ayurveda, and who is entitled to a share in the sacrificial offerings. A man with a unique and astounding form, he carried the pot of Amrit.

Seeing him, the Asuras, who entertained desire for all things, suddenly snatched the pot from him. The Devas, in great distress, took refuge in Sri Hari.

Meanwhile, a quarrel started among the Asuras. Each one of them wanted to have the Amrit first and not share it with others. Forgetting mutual friendship, they behaved like enemies. Then, appeared Mahavishnu in the form of a wonderful woman ‘Mohini’. Her extraordinary beauty mesmerised the asuras.

They requested Mohini to divide the Amrit among them in a just way and avoid subsequent disputes. Mohini told them that she would distribute the Amrit if they abided by her actions, irrespective of whether they considered them right or wrong. The Asuras agreed to the condition and handed over the Amrit bhanda (pot) to her.

The Lord thought that it was unwise to confer immortality on the naturally depraved Asuras. Hence, Mohini made different seating arrangements for the Devas and Asuras and assigned seats to them. Then she distributed Amrit among the Devas. The Asuras’ lustful attachment to her prevented them from making any adverse remarks.

After the Devas had finished drinking the Amrit, the Lord assumed His real form and appeared before them. Thus, ended the wonderful story of Ksheera Sagara Mathanam.

This story has many implications and interpretations.

We will examine some of them here.

As Lord Vishnu advised the Devas, when the time is not favourable, we have to wait until the time turns in our favour. To achieve important objectives, even enemies have to join hands. The Lord also suggested that Devas agree to whatever terms the Asuras propose since conciliatory methods are more successful than those of confrontation. These are great lessons in ‘strategic management’.

When we undertake any major project, we will undergo many obstacles. First, the Mandara mountain sank. Then the ferocious Kalakuta poison emerged. Those obstacles should not deter us from our efforts to achieve the ultimate goal. Like Lord Vishnu and Lord Siva, great people help us overcome those problems without expecting anything in return.

In any major project, we may get small benefits on the way, but they should not deter us from achieving the final objective. While advising Devas to start Ksheera Sagara Mathanam, Sri Hari told them, “Many objects will come out of the ocean when churned. You should not have any attraction for, or desire to possess them. Nor should you feel angry if you are prevented from possessing them”. This is another lesson.

Suvarnabhumi Airport - Bangkok
Suvarnabhumi Airport – Bangkok

Service becomes fruitful

Devas and Asuras joined hands on a common point and worked very hard with the same motive, plan, and objective. When they achieved the goal, the evil Asuras wanted to have the Amrit for themselves only and snatched the pot from Dhanvantari. Because of their greed and adharma, the Asuras were deprived of the results of their efforts. Greed is not good.

Vyasa Maharshi says that by devotion to the Lord and saranagati (seeking His refuge), the Devas achieved the result. The Asuras failed because they had no faith in Him. Whatever service or sacrifice men perform with their life, wealth, work, mind, and words for the sake of themselves and their dear ones will be in vain. But all that becomes immensely fruitful if the service is done to Him.

Goddess Lakshmi chose Lord Vishnu because He possessed everlasting virtues (Dharma). Among the four Purusharthas, Lord Vishnu represents Dharma (Ramo vigrahavan Dharmah) and Lakshmi represents Artha. Through Artha, one can fulfil his desires (Kama). Artha and Kama should always be controlled by Dharma. That is the meaning of Goddess Lakshmi always stays with Lord Vishnu.

Ravana tried to separate Lakshmi (Sita) and Vishnu (Rama). He wanted to have Kama without Dharma. Hence, he was destroyed. Similarly, if people want to earn wealth without Dharma (e.g., through corruption, crime, fraud etc.) it will bring disaster to them. Only wealth acquired by dharmic means stays and brings happiness.

In the story of Kuchela in Bhagavata, he always worshipped Krishna with utmost devotion (bhakti). When he visited Krishna, he forgot to ask Him anything. But he was blessed with enormous wealth without asking for it.

Ksheera Sagara Madhanam (Churning of the Milky Ocean) - Goddess Lakshmi

Kanakadhara Stotram

In Kanakadhara Stotram, in almost all Slokas, Sri Adi Sankaracharya prays to Goddess Lakshmi to grant wealth to the poor Brahmin lady.

From the story of Ksheera Sagara Madhanam, Lakshmi Devi got some names like

  • Ksheera Samudraraja Tanaya (daughter of King of Milky Ocean),
  • Ksheerodbhava (born out of the Milky Ocean),
  • Ksheerabhdhi Kanyaka (daughter of King of Milky Ocean),
  • Chandra Sahodari (sister of Moon).

Sri Adi Sankaracharya uses the names

  • Makaralaya Kanyaka (daughter of the ocean),
  • Sagara Sambhava,
  • Somamruta Sodari, and
  • Amrutabhdhi Putri,

in Kanakadhara Stotram. The emergence of Mahalakshmi from the ocean is a wonderful episode in Ksheera Sagara Madhanam.

May Goddess Lakshmi shower Her gracious glances on the whole world and bring happiness to all.

Queen Kunti Devi - Pure Devotee of the Lord Krishna

Queen Kunti Devi – Pure Devotee of the Lord Krishna

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Queen Kunti Devi

who was celebrated as the wonderful mother of Pandavas, was glorified as a pure devotee of the Lord Krishna in Srimad Bhagavatam. Generally, people know Kunti Devi as the mother of Pandavas, not as a devotee. However, the topmost devotion shown by Queen Kunti is not possible for anyone else except herself. For this reason, her name was specifically mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam.

Prayers by Kunti, which were recorded in Bhagavata Purana, were filled with nectar of devotion, flooded with knowledge and renunciation. “Vipadah santutaashashvattatratatra jagadguro – O Supreme master of universe, O Lord Krishna, Let all these calamities fall on us again and again” was an unparalleled prayer by Kunti Devi. Such a type of prayer was not recorded in any scripture. That was the uniqueness of her prayer.

Pandavas used to take shelter from Lord Krishna during all difficult periods and the Lord used to appear instantly to resolve their issues. Kunti Devi witnessed that phenomenon many times and thus she boldly declared that the calamities that make the Lord Krishna appear were certainly beneficial for her.

The audience of Lord Krishna means the disappearance of repeated birth and death. Thus, by requesting Lord Krishna for repeated calamities, she occupied a unique position in Srimad Bhagavatam.

Birth of Queen Kunti Devi

Queen Kunti Devi’s birth details are as follows. Her father was King Surasena. Surasena had ten sons and five daughters. Vasudeva was one of the ten sons, whereas Kunti was one of the five daughters. Vasudeva’s son was Lord Krishna, thus Queen Kunti became the aunt of Lord Krishna and Arjuna became Krishna’s cousin.

Lord gave her sister Subhadra to Arjuna in marriage and strengthened the already existing relationship. At the time of Vasudeva’s birth, demigods on the higher planets joyfully beat the kettledrums.

They were aware of the fact that Vasudeva, being situated in pure goodness, would become the father of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Daughters of Surasena

  1. Prutha,
  2. srutadeva,
  3. srutakirti,
  4. srutasrava, and
  5. Rajadhidevi

were the names of the five daughters of Surasena.

Surasena gave his daughter Prutha to one of his friends, namely KuntiBhoja who did not have offspring, for adoption. Thus, Prutha became the adopted daughter of Kuntibhoja and thus became celebrated as Kunti. Later on, she married King Pandu and became the mother of powerful Pandavas.

Raja_Pandu_and_Matakunti
Raja_Pandu_and_Matakunti

Pandavas always considered Lord Krishna as their life, soul, and eternal protector. In this way, both Vasudeva and Kunti Devi played very important roles in the pastimes of Lord Krishna.

Durvasa muni

Queen Kunti is considered to be the incarnation of victory potency of the Lord. Denizens of the upper planetary system used to visit her father’s palace regularly. Once Durvasa muni came as a guest to Kuntibhoja’s palace and the king arranged everything for his comfort. He engaged his daughter Kunti in his service with all reverence.

Durvasa muni was very much pleased with the service attitude of Kunti and gave a special benediction of inviting any demigod at command. Young princess Kunti wanted to test the efficacy of the boon and invited the Sun god. By the power of the mantra, the Sun God came down. Later a baby boy was born, to the Sun God and Kunti Devi who was celebrated as Karna.

However, out of public fear, she left the born child in a flowing river by keeping him in a golden box. That child was picked up by a person who maintains horses, thus the boy became known as the son of suta (maintainer of horses).

Kunti Devi leaving a born child in a flowing river by keeping him in a golden box
Kunti Devi leaving a born child in a flowing river by keeping him in a golden box

Later on, Kunti was married to King Pandu. Pandu was one of the sons of Vichitravirya. Dhrutarashtra and Vidura were the brothers of Pandu. Vichitravirya married two daughters of Kasiraja namely Ambika and Ambalika. But, because of an excessive sense of gratification he was affected by tuberculosis and died at a very early age.

Later, by the order of the mother, SrilaVyasadeva gave birth to Dhrutarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura from the wives of Vichitravirya and their maidservant. Bhishma was elder to Vichitravirya and thus became the elder father to Pandu and grandfather of Pandavas.

King Pandu

King Pandu married not only Kunti but also Madri. However, due to a curse, he became childless. He convinced Kunti to beget children from qualified personalities. Accordingly, Kunti invited Yama Dharmaraja and begot Yudhistir. From Vayu deva she begot Bhima and from Indra she begot Arjuna. She gave the same mantra to Madri, who invited Ashwini Kumaras and begot Nakula and Sahadeva. In this way, Pandu became the father of five sons, who were celebrated as Pandavas.

Later, Pandu died due to the previous curse leaving both wives and five sons. Madri decided to die on the pyre of her husband, but Kunti refrained from such action due to the five children. Kuntidevi along with her five sons faced so many troubles, even to the extent of death threat, due to the cunning behavior of Duryodhan and his team.

However, Lord Krishna gave all protection to her and her sons from time to time. Pandavas faced many trials from childhood till the last stage at Kurukshetra, but the series of troubles didn’t end there. Even much greater danger of possible destruction of Pandavas’ lone heir became imminent due to crazy Ashwathama.

However, Lord Krishna controlled the situation and brought complete normalcy. This incident can be considered as the climax of the trials of Pandavas and it happened under.

Battle of the Kurukshetra

At the end of the battle of the Kurukshetra war Ashwathama, the son of Dronacharya, thought of giving some notional pleasure to Duryodhan by presenting the heads of sons of Pandavas. Those boys were sleeping in the night and Ashwathama killed all of them and severed their heads to present to his master. Such a heinous act was not even appreciated by Duryodhan, but Arjuna promised to punish him with all force. He and Lord Krishna chased the miscreant on a fast-moving chariot.

Finally, they captured Ashwathama and tied him like an animal, and brought him to Draupadi. Though the killer of her sons, namely Ashwathama, was in front of her and she had all the advantage to take full revenge, she refused to punish him. She did not want to give a similar agony like her agony to the wife of Dronacharya. Then Arjuna tonsured the head of Ashwathama, took away the gem from his hair, and drove him out.

Kurukshetra war

For any Brahmana, an insult is more than death. Ashwathama was thoroughly insulted and that was sufficient for him. However, that insult made Ashwathama crazier and he released a powerful weapon to kill the lone hope of Pandavas who was just in her mother’s womb. Lord Krishna was preparing to leave for Dwaraka and everyone was in the mood of separation. Abhimanyu’s wife Uttara noticed that some dreadful weapon was coming at full speed towards her just to destroy her and her womb.

She came running to Lord Krishna. “O Krishna, O Krishna, please protect me. Some fearful weapon is speeding towards me. Let it kill me, but my child in the womb should be protected” she prayed with all pitifulness. Lord Krishna immediately understood the situation and entered the womb of Uttara and started circling his club to give complete protection to the child in the womb from the dreadful weapon.

He was seen as standing outside just like all others, but he miraculously entered the womb and carried out his mission of protecting the devotee. By the mystic power of Lord Krishna, the power of weapon became nullified. The child in the womb also understood that some great personality came to protect him. He simply watched the miraculous feats of the great personality of godhead.

When the calamity disappeared like fog in the presence of the Sun, Kunti Devi approached lord Krishna along with all her sons and offered prayers to her heart’s content. She expressed her gratitude profusely and also conveyed her loving relations as well. Her prayers to Lord Krishna occupy a very important place in Srimad Bhagavatam.

She expressed many philosophical points in her prayers that can give guidance in devotional service. She very boldly requested to bestow more and more calamities so that she could receive the audience of Lord Krishna itself remove the miseries permanently. We cannot find a single instance in any scripture where a devotee was praying for miseries. Such a unique position of asking for trouble was achieved by Kuntidevi.

Finally, she asked Lord Krishna to sever the relations with his sons and other relatives, so that her consciousness could flow like a river towards the ocean called Lord Krishna. Certainly, she had perfected her life.

Kunti Devi – Playing an Important Role

At every step, Kuntidevi played a very important role. When Pandavas were in the forest, one demonic lady Hidimba wanted to marry Bhima. Kunti persuaded Bhima to accept her as wife. Similarly, when a Brahmin family, where Pandavas were taking shelter, faced trouble with Bakasura, Kunti ordered Bhima to kill that demon. When Arjuna won Draupadi with his archery, Kunti asked all Pandavas to share her. In that way, Draupadi got five husbands.

Thus,Kunti lead a very important and responsible role in the life of Pandavas and also thoroughly enjoyed the spiritual bliss. Even her last moment of life was very glorious and divine. After Yudhistir was enthroned, Arjuna stayed for a very long time at Dwaraka. When he returned to Hastinapur, he conveyed the return of Lord Krishna to His abode. Krishna’s departure came like a biggest blow to Pandavas.

Kunti overheard the news of Lord Krishna’s return to his abode when Yudhistir and Arjuna were discussing the matter. She could not bear the news of separation from Krishna and immediately left her body to reach the spiritual world. Such was the pinnacle of her devotion and love for Krishna. She prayed for unbroken love for the lord and she was blessed with the same love.

She could not think of living on the earth which was left by Lord Krishna, and thus, immediately left her body to demonstrate her love for Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna is eternal; His devotees are eternal and the glory of devotees of Lord Krishna is eternal. This is eternal truth.

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Story of KING CHITRAKETU

Story of KING CHITRAKETU

Story of KING CHITRAKETU

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King Chitraketu – Surasena

King Chitraketu’s story is narrated in the sixth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. He was ruling a kingdom known as Surasena. Though he had many wives, he did not have any offspring.

By misfortune, all his wives became childless. Chitraketu was filled with agony due to childlessness. One day, AngiraRishi came to his palace while wandering freely on the earth. Chitraketu gave him a royal welcome and served him nicely.

Rishi was satisfied with his humbleness and said, “O king! You appear to be morose and suffering from mental agony. Are you responsible for this worry or someone else? Please let me know the details”. The Rishi knows all the information, but he wishes to know it from the king.

Plea for Son

Then King Chitraketu said with a heavy heart “My lord, please save me and my ancestors who are about to fall into hell for want of descendants in my family. Please give me the boon of having one nice son”.

AngiraRishi accepted the request of the king and performed a sacrifice. Afterward, he gave sweet rice as the remnants of sacrifice to the wife of Chitraketu. Her name was Kritadyuti. Rishi assured the king that he would be blessed with a son by the power of sweet rice.

But he also warned that the son would cause both pleasure and pain. In due course of time, Kritadyuti gave birth to a beautiful boy by the power of sweet rice. This wonderful news gave immense pleasure to Chitraketu. He arranged for all purificatory processes to the newly born son and gave all gifts to one and all. He also developed a special love for Kritadyuti, who gave birth to his son.

This caused jealousy among the other wives of the king. The King also started behaving indifferently with them, thereby fuelling their fire of jealousy. In that fire, their discriminating power was burnt to ashes and they killed the newly born boy by administering poison.

Kritadyuti was overwhelmed with grief when the child didn’t wake up from bed even after a long time. Meanwhile, a maid noticed that the royal child was dead and started weeping loudly. Kritadyuti rushed to the spot and noticed her dead son. She collapsed like a knocked-down tree and started sobbing piteously.

The entire palace was filled with the cries of ladies. Somehow the news reached Chitraketu, who rushed to the spot with much difficulty and pain. He couldn’t speak a single word and his throat got choked with pain. The pitiful condition of the royal couple gave immense pain to all the residents of the palace.

Story of King Chitraketu

Narada Muni bringing dead son back to life

AngiraRishi came to know about the great loss that Chitraketu experienced and immediately came to see him along with Narada Muni. They came to give a piece of useful wisdom at that time of despair. They revealed many secrets of life to him and made him relaxed. By their words, King Chitraketu felt slightly relieved, but due to great agony didn’t recognize the saintly persons.

He ignorantly asked about their whereabouts and expressed his gratitude for their message at the time of calamity. Then AngiraRishi conveyed him saying, “Dear Chitraketu, I came to your palace when you were desiring a son. I gave the boon of a beautiful son at that time. Here is Narada Muni. We came to deliver you from your false lamentation.

Special Mantra

Try to understand your soul and its power. You will be relieved from misery as soon as you are situated on the soul platform”. Then Narada Muni gave a special mantra, which can award the audience of Lord Sankarshana within seven days.

After awarding the boon of a special mantra, Narada Muni brought the dead son back to life with his mystic power. Then, the boy immediately got up and started speaking to all. The boy spoke a great truth of wisdom to parents and relatives that left them in great wonder.

They all understood the truth of life and death. After speaking the eternal truth, the boy returned. Then, both the king and the queen could sever the knots with their son and become peaceful. They carried out the purificatory process after cremating the child.

Later Narada Muni and AngiraRishi gave further instructions to Chitraketu and left the palace after blessing him. King Chitraketu continuously chanted the mantra for seven days and obtained residence in Vidyadhara planet. Further chanting of mantra gave him the audience of the Lord. At that time, the Lord Sankarshana was surrounded by great saintly persons. Chitraketu offered obeisances to the Lord and prayed with eloquent words.

Parvati Cursing

Chitraketu then started enjoying the Vidyadhara planet. Once he was travelling on an airplane over a place where Lord Shiva was sitting with his consort on the lap. Many followers were sitting around Lord Shiva. The Lord was speaking to all while embracing his consort. Chitraketu ridiculed Lord Shiva for his indecent behavior.

Lord Shiva didn’t get agitated by his words, but Parvati cursed him to become a demon. Due to her powerful curse, Chitraketu became Vrutrasura and appeared from the sacrifice by Twashta. Vrutrasura invited his death from the hands of Indra and left his body to reach his spiritual abode. Whoever hears this narration with all faith will become freed from all material attachments. One who recites this narration early in the morning while meditating Lord Hari can also reach the eternal abode with all ease.