Untold stories from Ramayan -Part 12

CHAPTER 8 BACKGROUND STORIES (continued)

Ravana made the biggest mistake in his life by kidnapping Sita. Ravana was a great scholar and pandit. He was known as Shastra-jna. He knew all shastras, in all the Vedas he was expert. Nobody at that time had the expert pronunciation of Ravana. Even in the demigod's assembly sometimes when they held sacrifices, they would bring Ravana for chanting verses. If someone is chanting Sanskrit verses, that does not necessarily mean he is a great devotee. Demons are also chanting Sanskrit verses. Vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah. Ravana read all the Vedas, yet due to his lust he could not even accept that another man's wife should not be taken. Ravana's lust was exemplary. Once he was performing a fire sacrifice, and Agni appeared there with his wife, in spite of Brahma telling him not to go there, this Ravana was a trouble-maker. Agni said, "Look at his chanting, so perfect. Such wonderful installation of fire, so I must go there personally."
Brahma said, "All right go, but don't take your wife." So then Agni said, "How is it Vedic that one goes without his wife? If I go without her I will only be 50%. I must go with my wife." Brahma said, "Well, if that is written in your head, what can I say? You go." So Ravana was circumambulating the fire with folded hands chanting mantras, and then Agni came. "Ravana! I am here." Ravana looked around. Not only was he there, but Agni's wife, Swaha, was also there. She looked so beautiful, as beautiful as fire. She is actually the flame of the fire. When Ravana looked at her, he immediately lifted her and flew away in the middle of his yajna, before completing it. The priests were shouting, "Ravana! At least do the purnahoti!""What purnahoti?" Ravana replied. "Woman is more important." So Agni was shouting, "Please, please Ravana, give me my wife back! I'll give you anyone, but don't take my wife." Every husband thinks like this, "If my wife goes, how will I eat?" The wife is supposed to be the saha-dharmani, one who helps the husband in his religious practices. After Ramacandra had said, "I will finish all the demons in Dandakaranya," Sitadevi was looking so worried that Ramacandra asked her, "How come you are so unhappy after your husband made such a wonderful promise, and flowers fell from the heavens?" She said, "You took the vanaprastha life to live in the forest for fourteen years, as an ascetic. Only for defending me did You say you were carrying your bow and arrows. You have come here, and now, instead of living as an ascetic, You are beating on Your shoulders, saying You will kill the demons. That is one point. Another point is that a king of noble quality should not become the enemy of someone unless that person has given him some trouble. The demons have given you no trouble. They are eating rishis, but they are not troubling you. And if rishis are being eaten then it is the responsibility of Bharata, he is the king. You are not the king, and You said that you did not want to be, so you are breaking your word." Women give very technical arguments, but sometimes they are totally useless. At least in this case they were. Sitadevi was saying this, but then another time when Gautama Rishi's wife gave her cosmetics which were in two big heavy baskets, she asked Laksmana, "Can you please carry this for me?" Laksmana said, "But mataji, we are in the forest. We are supposed to be wearing tree bark. Only because Dasaratha begged did you get some silk saris, and I am already carrying one basket full of silk saris. We have to climb mountains, cross rivers, I have to carry sword, shield, bows and arrows, an axe, and now cosmetics? What for?" Anasuya, Gautama's wife, was no ordinary woman. She had heavenly cosmetics. You only had to put this make up on once every five or six days. You can take bath, do anything. Laksmana was complaining, "These cosmetics will smell for ten kilometres distance. It is dangerous. We are moving in the forest, and ten miles around we are propagating that we are here. It is unsafe. A tiger, a lion or even some demon may come." Actually these cosmetics were so dangerous that she had so many problems. Even demigods were attracted to her. "But I won't use them," Sita argued. "Then what is the use of carrying them?" Laksmana said. This is also traditional for women to carry things that they never use. Poor Laksmana left his wife in Ayodhya, and he had to carry these cosmetics for fourteen years. Even when they crossed the ocean he had to carry it. She said, "When I am back in Ayodhya I will use it." When she was sitting in the Ashoka-vana, she was lamenting, "What did I do? I said such bad words to Laksmana who was carrying all that weight for me. He was even carrying all those useless cosmetics on his shoulder. I criticized him, `You want to enjoy me, that is why you are not going'. Why did I say that? Now I am suffering because of it." In this way Mother Sita was lamenting. So back to the original story.

Ravana knew all these mantras, but why was he a demon? Being the son of Vishravas, he is a Brahmin, not a ksatriya. He is the grandson of Brahma, and a very learned pandit. Still he is a demon. What makes him a demon? He does not accept that the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer, the Supreme Lord is the controller and the Supreme Lord is the friend. Bhoktarama yajna tapasam sarva loka mahesvaram / suhrdam sarva-bhutanam jnatva mam santim rcchati. So Ravana lost his shanti, he had no peace. Why? Because he was not accepting the Supreme Lord's sovereignty. Ravana was thinking, "Why not me? I am the lord." That is why he called himself, "Trilokeshvara Ravana." This means "the controller of the three worlds." That was his ambition, even while he couldn't control a common cold. But still he was Trilokeshvara. In any case, Ravana got so many curses. He was cursed that a monkey would burn his city down. Another curse was that monkeys will spit on his face. When a monkey spits on his face, the tenth day after that he would die. He would be killed by human beings who were surrounded by monkeys. This was all predicted, but the foolish Ravana with his ten brains couldn't accept this, because of lust. Ravana did not carry his ten heads all the time. If he lost one head, another would come. And if he lost that head, the previous one will come back again, because his life point was somewhere else, not in the neck or the chest. This was one trick of the demons. They would keep their life point somewhere else. It may be in a bird, a lizard or a lotus flower, and from here they extend their power. If you killed him, slashed him or did anything to him, he wouldn't die because his life was somewhere else. So these heads were coming whenever one was removed, and these ten heads possessed ten kinds of intelligence. This was the benediction he got from Brahma. One head was expert in politics, one in Vedic dharma, one in administration, one in how to enjoy, another in travelling plans, etc. In this way when he was going to take Sita, he consulted all the ten heads. Nine heads refused, "Don't kidnap Sita." Only his own head refused to listen to that instruction. So many powerful things he had, but by exploiting the property of the Supreme Lord, Ravana met his death.

Once he even challenged Narada Muni. Narada was flying, and Ravana saw him. He called out, "Hey! Come here." Narada Muni thought, "Why should I be of any trouble? Let me go there." Ravana said, "You teach me the meaning of om, right now." Narada said, "No. Meaning of Om is not to be taught to people like you. I won't teach." Ravana said, "Why not? I am a disciple, and you are a guru. You must teach me." This started in Treta-yuga, the disciples telling their guru what to do. So then Narada said, "This is not for this age, Ravana. You please wait."Ravana said, "No! Do you know who I am? I am Trilokeshvara Ravana. Here is my sword!" He had a sword called Candrahasa. This sword was so wonderful, that you can just tell the sword, "You go and kill him." It will chase you through the fourteen planetary systems, kill you and then return. Such a missile he had. Candrahasa can go through steel, through brass, even through illusion. Suppose a person creates an illusion by magic, Candrahasa would go through the illusion and kill that person. This is the sword he used when fighting with Airavata, the white elephant. So Narada said, "You are showing me some sword, and you think you are going to frighten me into teaching you the Vedas? This is not the principle for learning Vedas. What kind of knowledge will you get from me? That knowledge will become useless, so I will not teach you." Ravana said, "All right Narada, get ready.""I am always ready," Narada said. "What do you mean? Get ready now!" So he took the Candrahasa sword and slashed Narada. It went right through him, but nothing happened. Narada was standing there smiling. Ravana got so angry. "I am going to finish you!" he screamed and took his trident which emits fire, which is only used by Lord Siva and which is more powerful than the Brahmastra. It went right into him, but Narada was still standing there chanting, "Hari! Hari!" Ravana took all his astras and weapons at his command and threw everything at Narada, who was catching them and giving them back, "Don't lose this, you may need it." So then Ravana put all his weapons aside, touched Narada's feet, and gave him a seat. "Please tell me," he inquired. "How come you arenot killed?" Narada said, "This is a benediction from the Supreme Lord, that I have got a spiritual body. You don't understand this. Once upon a time you also had one, but you lost it because of some mistake. Don't waste time trying to kill me, because I won't die." Ravana said, "That's what I want also! Can you teach me the trick?" Narada said, "Very simple, just accept Visnu as the Supreme Lord. Surrender to him." Ravana's face screwed up. "Oh! Aaargh! Again that Visnu! I don't want to listen to this name! Get out of my palace, you and your transcendental body. All bogus!"

So then Narada Muni said, "But Ravana, you have unnecessarily used your anger on me, so this will not go in vain. A monkey will spit on your face, and the tenth day after that you will die, although you are thinking you are so powerful." Narada Muni cursed him. Actually it was a benediction. All curses by Narada are benedictions. Because of that curse that he would get spat on by Sugriva, he got the arrow of Rama in his chest. Sometimes when a Vaisnava is agitated, that is also auspicious. But we have to be a demon to agitate a Vaisnava. If we are not a demon, and he becomes agitated, he may not curse us but the material nature will take action. In any case, Hanuman thought, "Let me go and find Sita."

Eighteen has been an important number in Mahabharata

Mahabharata

In the context of Mahabharata, eighteen is quite and important figure. It is no incidence that  Duryodhana's army had 11 Akshauhinis (2,405,700 soldiers) while Yudhishthira had 7 Akshauhinis (1,530,900 soldiers). The chapters in Mahabharata are eighteen and these are called as Parvas and last, but not the least, This battle was fought for 18 days. 

A detailed and interesting account of events of 18 days are available here.

A brief description of Mahabharata story will be interesting to read.

Untold stories from Ramayana - Part 1

INTRODUCTION

There are innumerable Vaikuntha planets, and in each planet there is a predominating deity who is an expansion of Vishnu. He has three expansions, and then there are the quadruple expansions, and then there are servants and devotees. In this way the Vaikuntha planets are full of activity. The top of Vaikuntha, before one reaches Goloka, the gateway to Goloka is Ayodhya. In Ayodhya is Lord Sri Rama, and Laxmana, Bharata, Satrughna, Sumantra, Dashratha, Kaushalya, all these characters we find in Ramayana are eternal citizens of this Ayodhya. 

Shri Rama Avatar

And from this planet Lord Rama expands into His Rama-avatar, through milk ocean Vishnu, Ksirodakasayi Vishnu. In every Treta-yuga there is Rama-avatar. One may think, "Oh that must be boring. Every time the same activity." But it is never boring. How many times have we heard these Ramayana stories, but still when someone is reading Ramayana, everyone comes. To hear is not boring, so to experience it can't be boring at all. That is the proof. Ramayana has been heard generations and generations. In all countries. In Indonesia they have their Ramayana. In Malaysia they have their Ramayana. In Thailand, even in Jamaica and Africa. Just a little bit different for every culture. Indonesian Ravana is a big crocodile, and they carry him on sticks. In Bangkok, Thailand all the roads are names Rama 1, Rama 2, Rama 5 etc. So the purpose of the avatar is described in Brahma-samhita: 

 lilayatena bhuvanani jayaty ajasram 

 govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami. 

The living entities have forgotten their relation with Krsna. And they have been conquered by maya, illusory energy. Krsna bahirmukha haya bhoga vancha kori / nikata stha maya tare japatiya dhare. The conditioned soul has been caught by maya. The Lord comes to reconquer them. That is the mission of the avatar incarnation of the Lord.

Dashratha's desire for a child

Rama appeared in the Iksvaku dynasty. He is known as Iksvaku Kuladhana. Kula means "dynasty" and dhana means "property" or "valuable jewel." So he is the jewel of the Iksvaku dynasty. Dashratha was known as such because he could fight in ten directions simultaneously. Dashratha was such a great fighter that sometimes Indra would summon for him when there was a fight with the demons. So Dashratha would go to the heavenly planets and fight with the demons. And these demons were so expert with maya, they would create darkness, expand into various forms etc. So Dashratha would fight in ten directions, and when you looked at his ratha, his chariot, it would look as though there were ten kings and ten chariots fighting simultaneously. Dasa means "ten" and ratha means "chariot". That is how he got the name Dashratha. So Dashratha was famous for fighting for demigods and righteous kings. And he married Kaushalya. From Kaushalya, only one daughter was born. She was named Shanti, or "peace." But Dashratha had no peace, because he only had one daughter, and that daughter would only get married and go to another dynasty. The Vedic system is that when a woman marries, she belongs to the husband's gotra or family line. So if Shanti married to another dynasty, she would belong to it. What about the Iksvaku dynasty? Dashratha was so worried. Then he married Sumitra. At least Kaushalya had a daughter, but Sumitra had no child. Then Dashratha was getting old. He gave up the idea of producing dynasties. As he was getting older he saw that some less powerful kings were doing small yajnas, so he did big yajnas.

They were trying to get their name known, because once Dashratha died Kosala would be broken. The kingdom of Kosala started all the way from what they now call the Dalai lama's line. From up in the north, in Tibet, all the way down to the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. So this was Kosala, practically it was the whole of India, not the democratic India but the Vedic India. So he was very worried that this kingdom will be broken to pieces and some small-timers will become emperors. Then Vasistha advised him to go to Kaikeya. This kingdom was right on the border of Afghanistan. They now call it the Sind region. Kaikeyi was the only daughter of the king of Kaikeya. The king's name was also Kaikeya. And when Dashratha came for marriage negotiation, Kaikeya told him, "You have two queens, and they both have no children. Now you will marry my daughter, but what will happen to her if the other wives have children?" Dashratha replied, "I don't think they will have children because they have had none up to now.

Dashratha's promise to father of Kaikeyi

I am also getting old. They're not going to get any child. Only Kaikeyi will get a child." So Kaikeya said, "That's all right, but you must give this in writing." There is a system in the ksatriya marriage known as kanya-sulka. Sulka means "will". When you accept a virgin in marriage, you must give in writing what properties she will enjoy as your wife if you are a ksatriya. This is kanya-sulka, the "will of dowry." So Dashratha wrote kanya-sulka. He said, "Whoever is born to Kaikeyi will enjoy my kingdom, even if my other wives produce children later." This kanya-sulka was known to three people. Of course, now we all know it, but at that time only three people knew it. Vasistha knew it,Dashratha knew it, and Kaikeya knew it. It was kept a secret, because otherwise they would blame Dashratha, "What is this? He is giving the kingdom to a younger woman." So this kanya-sulka was kept secret. But at the time of the marriage, due to great attachment, Kaikeya told his daughter this secret, that whoever is your son will rule this kingdom. Kaikeyi kept this at heart. Once Vasistha advised Dashratha to perform asvamedha-yajna. He was telling him, "If you perform asvamedha-yajna, then all the demigods will personally come to accept the oblations." There are two kinds of offering oblations to the yajna. One is that Agni will take the oblations and offer it to the different destinations. Another is that the devas will personally come in the sacrificial arena. They will stand in the sky holding their hands open, and when you offer in their name in the fire then the harvest will get up from the fire and go into their hands. And they will eat it right there in front of everyone,.

These types of sacrifices are considered first-class, because the devas have come in person. So Dashratha should perform asvamedha, and all the devas will come. And then Dashratha will tell them, "You have your kingdom only because of my fighting. So why don't you continue my dynasty and give me blessings that I can get some son?" That was the plan. There was a big arrangement for asvamedha-yajna, and wherever Dashratha's horse went, no-one objected. Asvamedha-yajna means that you have to select a horse with certain lakshanas or qualities. The ears have to be a certain way, the nose a certain way. There has to be a black part behind the tail. The hooves have to be a certain shape, 35 degrees bent. There is a whole description in karma-khanda. So you have to find out that horse, and after finding it you have to tie a golden leaf on his head. There it will be written, "This horse belongs to King Dashratha. He will perform asvamedha-yajna, so everyone should donate liberally. And whoever stops this horse will have to meet the army of King Dashratha." So this horse will go around the whole world, and if any king dares to stop the horse there will be one army which is following about 100 metres behind the horse. They will have to meet that army. This army would consist of the best fighters in the army, all the generals, and if one can defeat that then more army would be sent. In this way the challenger would have to fight and prove that he is the emperor. So asvamedha-yajna was already started, and then when the yajna was going on, Sumantra (the minister of Dashratha) came to Dashratha and said, "I remember one incident when Sanat-kumara came to our assembly, when you were a prince." At that time Dashratha was not married, and Sanat-kumara was visiting Dashratha's father, Aja.

Predictions of Sanath Kumaras

Sanath-kumara made some predictions. "Maharaja Dashratha will become very famous throughout the three worlds, and he will perform a putra-kamesti yajna, a sacrifice for getting a son. So in this sacrifice, the  yajna-purusha, the personification of fire, will come there and give him some sweet rice. And out of this sweet rice Dashratha will get the Supreme Lord as his sons." This was predicted by Sanat-kumara. At that time Dashratha was just an unmarried prince, a brahmacari. So Sumantra was a very old man and he suddenly remembered this. He came to Dashratha and said, "You are doing asvamedha for getting a son, but Sanat-kumara told you that you should do putra-kamesti." So then there was confusion over which yajna should be performed. In Treta-yuga everything was yajna. For material benefits, for spiritual realization, for anything tretayam yajato makhaih. Makha means "yajna". Now Dashratha got confused. So he went to Vasistha's house and prostrated himself before him. "Guru maharaja, we have spent 60% of the treasury, and now we come to know that this is not the proper yajna, that there is another yajna. How am I supposed to do this?" So then Vasistha said, "Oh yes, I remember too now. Sanat-kumara said this. It is not a very expensive yajna, but the purohit, the priest who performs the yajna must be a very special person. That is the difficulty. That person must have not seen a woman until the time of his marriage. He should not have even known what a woman is. Such a great personality must perform the yajna. Then only can the putra-kamesti be performed with the purnahoti and we will get a son." Then Dashratha said, "You must tell me where this person is." Vasistha was a walking encyclopedia, because he had been there three lifetimes with the same remembrance. There is no-one in this world who knows better than Vasistha. So Vasistha said, "Yes, there is a person like that." Dashratha said, "Who is this person? He has never seen a woman or known what a woman is until marriage? At least he must have known about his mother! What kind of a person is he, that he has never heard of a woman yet he has taken birth?"


Pictorial representation of Bal Kand

Untold Stories from Ramayan- part 11

CHAPTER 8 BACKGROUND STORIES

Sri Lanka was built on top of a mountain called Tri-kuta Giri. This Tri-kuta was a piece of rock that broke from Mount Meru. Long ago, there was some discussion between two Gandharvas. One Gandharva said, "Vasuki is such a powerful strong snake, that when the Lord took incarnation as Matsya, he used Vasuki as a rope to tie the horn of that fish to the boat where Maharaja Satyavrata and the sapta-rishis were travelling. In the dissolution water, this boat was kept safe due to Vasuki binding Matsya and the boat." The other Gandharva said, "Maybe he is strong, but do you think he could be as strong as Vayu, Varuna or Agni?" The other said, "He must be stronger than them, otherwise why did the Lord select Vasuki?" While they were discussing in this way, Vayu, the god of air, who is present everywhere, he couldn't tolerate this discussion. He personally came in front of them and asked them, "What is this useless discussion?""Who are you?" they enquired. "I am Vayu," he replied. "Is there anyone as strong as me? Why do you even discuss these things?

Don't you know that I am everywhere and I am listening to these things?" One Gandharva said, "Well, I have seen Vasuki. I was the last one to creep into the water at that time. I've seen how strong he is." Vayu said, "Bring that Vasuki, and we can test." Then Vasuki was brought, and he challenged Vayu. "What do you mean? I am so strong! Every time the Lord selects me, so there must be some reason." Vayu said, "Then we can test our strength." Vasuki said, "I will coil around the Meru three times, and you blow and see if you can open my coils." But they never consulted Mount Meru whether they could do it. Around Mount Meru were so many insects and creatures. All the planetary systems were going around it. Vasuki went on there, and Meru did not mind. So many snakes were on there already. But he didn't know there was going to be some sports. Vasuki coiled around Meru three times and started getting tighter and tighter. And then Vayu started blowing against Mount Meru in full force. Mount Meru started moving back and forth, because Vayu was using all his strength, and Vasuki was not going to give up. So it was not just Vasuki, but Vayu had to work on both, the strength of Mount Meru and the strength of Vasuki. And then Mount Meru started complaining and screaming. "What is this? There are three parties involved in this, but I was never consulted. Why am I being given trouble like this? I am going to turn upside down and create trouble. All the planetary systems will fall." Brahma heard all this, and he appeared on the scene, telling Vayu and Vasuki, "You have your kind of strength, and he has his kind of strength. In your kind of strength, you are the most strong. And in his strength, blowing, that you cannot do. So in that way he is strong." When Vasuki uncoiled after the sports, one rock was broken from Mount Meru, and it fell in the salt ocean.

This rock had three peaks, so it was known as Tri-kuta. It was on the salty ocean for a long time. And then Visvakarma, for the purpose of making a nice palace for the pastimes of the demigods, he made this Sri Lanka city on top of Tri-kuta mountain. Later, Kuvera, the cousin brother of Ravana, took over this place. He also got an appointment as the treasurer of the demigods, so they didn't mind him using it. Kuvera was there for a long time. When Ravana, Vibhisana, Kumbhakarna and Surpanakha went there for performing austerities, Ravana's mother Kaikashi became very envious that Kuvera was sitting on this wonderful Sri Lanka city, so she told Ravana, "Why don't you perform some austerities so that you can get a benediction and kick him out of this place." Kaikashi was the wife of Vishravas, and Vishravas had another wife through whom Kuvera was born. These were co-wives, and they were rivals. Kaikashi was inciting Ravana, "You must perform some tapasya, some great austerities." Ravana performed austerities, Kumbhakarna performed austerities, Vibhisana performed austerities, and Surpanakha also performed austerities as well as Khara and Dusana. Each one was born with 1 hour 45 minutes difference between them. Ravana, then Kumbhakarna, then Vibhisana, then Surpanakha, then Khara and Dusana. So they were all in Himalayas performing austerities. When Brahma appeared before Ravana, he asked for all kinds of greedy benedictions, and he got them. Kumbhakarna was thinking to ask for a benediction by which he will live forever. The word in Sanskrit is "nitya-tvam." nitya means eternal and nitya-tvam means eternity. "I want eternity."

But somehow the material nature tricked Kumbhakarna. The word devata, the power of speech, came in his tongue, and tilted his tongue. Instead of nitya-tvam, he asked for "nidra-tvam." Nidra means "sleep", so he asked for sleep.Brahma said, "Tadastu, you can have it." Kumbhakarna said, "What? No! I wanted to live forever, not sleep! Please stop this benediction!" Brahma said, "No, I have given you this benediction, I cannot take itback." He begged, "This is not fair! It is a trick of the demigods! I did so much austerity, and now I am simply going to sleep. This is not proper! Why would a person ever perform austerities so that he can just sleep forever, and then die at the end?" So Brahma felt very compassionate. "All right, Kumbhakarna, you sleep for six months. And then you get up, and you eat for six months." So Kumbhakarna went to sleep. At the end of the sixth month, waking him up was very difficult. They had to bring a huge army. The army would march on his body. Elephants and camels would walk over him, and they would play bugles and put fire on his chest. Still he would be snoring and wouldn't get up. After all the army marched past shooting astras and creating a lot of noise, then slowly he will feel some pain somewhere and then he got up. When he got up he would smash half of the army. He was a huge big figure. As soon as he got up he would ask, "Where is food?" He hadn't eaten for such a long time, so he eats for six months. This is what he did before he went back to sleep again. While he ate, his education was done. Pandits would sit on both sides and read books to him. He would be simultaneously eating and listening to the shastras. In this way, he also became an expert archer. He got other benedictions also. He was a great yogi, and while sleeping he would come out of his body in his subtle body, and he would travel around and find out everything.

One body was asleep, but in his sukshma-sharira, Kumbhakarna visited Kailash, performed austerities and got astras from Lord Siva. Only his gross body couldn't be seen. Vibhisana was also praying, and when Brahma came, he said, "Give me devotion to the Supreme Lord." Ravana said, "Oh no! One more in the family. First Prahlad, and now him! What are you doing? Brahma is here, so get something worthwhile. But no, `devotion to the Supreme Lord.' What will you do with this? You have become a demon!" For the demons, a devotee is a demon. "You are not against Hari, you want to worship Him."sind him using it.  Kuvera was That was Vibhisana's benediction. And Surpanakha got a benediction for changing her form. Whatever form she wanted she could take. That was how she was trying to attract Laksmana and Ramacandra. She became a beautiful girl, and she was saying, "Ramacandra, I'm so attracted by you." Ramacandra said, "Yes, anyone will be attracted by me. The only problem is that my wife is here. If she was not here, I wouldn't mind. But look at my brother! He is also married, but his wife is not here. You check with him." Laksmana said, "How is it possible? When my elder brother is in front of me, how can I do it? You go to my elder brother, he is just jokingwith you." So she went back to Ramacandra, and said, "Your younger brother is not interested in these things. You are the older one, why aren't you interested?"

He replied, "Yes I am the elder, but the point is that my wife is very wild. If she ever finds out that I am talking to you, I don't know what will happen. He is free, an individual separate from his wife.Go to him." She went to him, but Laksmana said, "Yes his wife is wild, but she is not here now. You should be utilizing this opportunity. You go try with him, and if that doesn't work you just come back to me." So she went back to Ramacandra, saying, "See? Your wife is not here now." Ramacandra said, "Yes, my wife is not here, but this brother is very political. When she comes back, he will tell her. So you first go to him, and if he is happy then he won't tell." So she ran back to Laksmana. By that time Sita came. Surpanakha said, "All this trouble is because of you!" And she ran and picked Sita up. As soon as she did that, Laksmana came with his sword, and cut off the tips of her nose, ears and breasts, and the original Rakshasi form came out. She was crying, and then she disappeared into the sky. Then Khara and Dusana came with 14,000 able fighters from the demon dynasty. Ramacandra finished all of them with one arrow. Janasthan was a very strategical point. Janasthan was the last point in the mainland. If anyone could conquer the soldiers in Janasthan, then they could dare to cross the ocean and come to Sri Lanka. Ravana was so happy because Janasthan was there, and Khara, Dusana and Surpanakha were just exploiting the area, eating rishis every day. He was so happy. "Who can come to Sri Lanka?" But then, this so-called human being, Ramacandra, he told Laksmana, "Don't even move. I will do it." He killed 14,000 demon soldiers, and Khara and Dusana were destroyed. When the news reached Ravana, he was thinking, "No this is not true. It cannot be true. How can a human being kill 14,000 demons?" Always Ravana was thinking, "No, it's not true. It's not true." But it was true. Everything he heard seemed to him to be like it was not true. When he went to Marica and said, "Please go and become a deer,"

Marica said, "What? Become a deer and do what? What can a deer do to Rama? I still remember how he pushed me right across the mainland and threw me into the salty ocean with only a blade of grass. That is why I became a babaji, not for searching after the Absolute Truth. In fear of the blade of grass I became a babaji, an ascetic. Don't drive me in front of Ramacandra again." Ravana said, "If you don't go, I will kill you." Marica was thinking, "Ravana will kill me anyway. Ravana or Rama, but it's better to die in the hands of Rama. Why die in the hands of this demon?" So Marica said, "I will go." Ravana said, "Ahh! I always knew you had great affection for me." "No, I don't have any affection for you." "Then why do you want to go?" Ravana asked. "Well who wants to die in your hands?" Marica said. "I would rather die in the hands of Rama. And I know I will die, so I am going."... to be continued

[In the previous installation, Ravana has just dispatched Maricha to pose as a deer so that he could kidnap Sita.]

Untold Stories from Ramayan -Part 10

CHAPTER 7 THE GREAT MONKEY ARMY (continued)

They were somewhere between Rameshvara and Puri, but this land extended so many miles down in Treta-yuga. The Ceylon that we are seeing today is not the same Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is further down, because Hanuman flew one hundred yojanas. A yojana is eight miles. Eight hundred miles is not the distance from Rameshvara to Ceylon. You can reach it in forty five minutes by a boat. It's not that far. It is mentioned that they were on top of a mountain from where Hanuman flew, and in the area of Rameshvaram you don't find any mountains. So that area from where Hanuman jumped, the Gandha-madana hills, is much more down. And that is all eaten up by ocean. We shouldn't think that this was the shore where they were standing. They were miles down at that time, because the ocean comes and eats the land. Hanuman and the others saw this Mahodadhi ocean. It was very fierce. Angada said, "We have come to the end of the land. Where is Sita? We have not found her. How can we go back, now that is a month? We started on the full moon night, and now it is again full moon night." Angada felt very bad. He said, "Bring some darba grass." He placed it with the tips facing the north. He was going to do a Prayopavesha.

Prayopavesha means that when a great personality cannot accomplish a task which he promised he would do, he would sit on the kusa grass and leave his body by fasting. He was sitting there on the kusa grass. Hanuman was sitting there with his head in his hands looking at the ocean. He thought, "We have come to a blank disc. What is going on now? Should I go back or forward? What should I do?" Jambavan was taking rest, because he was tired after drinking wine and eating so many fruits. Other monkeys were wandering around and looking here and there. Hanuman saw the monkeys, and he asked them, "What are yougoing to do?" They said, "We have a good idea. We will go back to the cave. Plenty of fruits, plenty of wine. You cannot get out. If you cannot get out, you cannot get in, and no-one will come to trouble us. We will be happy there."

Hanuman said, "What a silly idea. This is maya. Ramacandra is our Lord. What do you need this security for? You want to take shelter in wine and fruit? You must be a monkey." He chastised them. Angada was sitting there chanting mantras, and preparing to leave his body. Hanuman also approached him. "Angada, you are a prince. What are you doing looking to the north, sitting on kusa grass? This is not meant for strong people. Look at your shoulders, they're so strong. They are supposed to be for fighting for Lord Ramacandra. Here you are fasting, preparing to die. What are you going to accomplish because of this? You will die. And everyone will say, `That son of Bali is a useless monkey. He died because he couldn't accomplish his mission." Angada said, "You are saying all this, but you tell me, what are we supposed to do? If I go back Sugriva will kill me and take the kingdom. Already he planned somehow to kill my father. Now he has got a reason to kill me. He will say, `Now you didn't accomplish your mission so I will kill you.' No-one will say anything, and he will have the kingdom. Let him have the kingdom anyway, let me just die. At least he won't die." Hanuman realised he would have to use politics here. Sama dhana bheda danda. There are four ways of preaching. First you speak nicely, and then you offer something, then you make a bheda, a difference of opinion between the groups. "Do you know what he said about you?" If none of those work, you use the stick, danda. Hanuman thought, now I have to use bheda, politics. He said, "Yes, Sugriva is like that. He may take the whole kingdom, but your mother is there. If you die, she will certainly suffer. He will give her no food, no cloth and no respect. She will beg in the street. Your mother!" Angada said, "No!" And he threw the kusa grass away. "I'm not fasting!" Hanuman said, "If you die, what is the benefit? You must go back now. Somehow or other we must convince him that we couldn't find Sita." Angada said, "How will I go back? I have no strength." Hanuman said, "You sit down. I will tell you the pastimes of Lord Ramacandra. Then you will gain strength." He began to describe the pastimes of Ramacandra. They discussed all these wonderful things of how Lord Ramacandra broke the bow, how he defeated Parasurama, how he caressed Jatayu and cremated him. As soon as they were talking about that, they saw some change in the atmosphere. Everything was trembling and shaking. Hanuman caught hold of Angada and said, "Some demon is coming." They were looking everywhere, and then from under the mountainside they saw two big feet coming out. They looked like bird's feet, and each nail was about two kilometres long. Angada said, "That's it. All thirty thousand monkeys will be eaten by this bird demon now. Look at his fingers, they are so big!" Slowly the bird came into sight, and then they noted that this bird did not have any speed. It was dragging itself, slowly. They saw the wings also, which were each 14 yojanas long. However, the wings were broken, and they looked completely burned. They looked like charcoal. He was dragging himself with great difficulty, and then slowly his face came into view, a huge beak. He opened his mouth and spoke, "Who is talking about my brother Jatayu?" So many monkeys were blown over just by the air coming out of his mouth. Jambavan was called, and Hanuman said, "Look after the monkeys, we must take care of this person. He may be useful to us." They both came to him, and asked him, "Who are you? We are talking of Jatayu, and I am Hanuman and this is Angada. I am the son of Vayu, and we are messengers of Rama." Slowly the bird opened his eyes and said, "Rama? Is this the son of Dasaratha?" Hanuman said, "Yes, this is the same Rama." The bird continued, "He was exiled to the forest. Has he completed his exile?" "What a wonderful bird," Angada remarked. "He is sitting under the mountain and cannot see anything, yet he knows history. Yes they are still in exile because they lost their wife. Sita has been taken by Ravana."

The bird said, "Ravana! Aargh! I will eat him up." Hanuman said, "Oh very good! Please do it." The bird said, "But I cannot fly. My wings are broken. I am Sampati, the elder brother of Jatayu. I am much stronger than Jatayu. I heard that Jatayu was killed by Ravana. I want to kill him, but I can't kill him as I have entered into an agreement with him." Long ago when Sampati was flying, when he was young and very strong, Ravana was flying with somebody's wife. This is what he does all the time. Once he was doing a fire sacrifice, and when Agni came to give a blessing, he took Agni's wife. Ravana is famous for taking people's wives. Sampati stopped him and said, "Where are you going? Who is this woman?" Ravana said, "This is Nalakuvera's wife, and I am taking her to Kailash." Sampati said, "You had better leave her right here, otherwise you don't know what I will do to you." Ravana said, "Ah, you are just a dirty bird." So he took one of his feet and caught hold of Ravana and crushed him. Blood came out of his body, and that is why Ravana has five holes in his body, from Sampati's claw. Ravana covers these so no-one can see him. But there is one hole which he doesn't cover on his chest. That is the tusk of Airavata. He wants to show that because it is a great fighting wound. At that time Ravana touched Sampati's feet. "Although you are a bird, I touch your feet. Please make an agreement with me. I won't come in your area and do anything, and you don't come in my area." They signed an agreement. Because of this, Sampati was bound by dharma. Hanuman asked Sampati, "And how have you become old like this?" Sampati said, "Once Jatayu and I were having a competition, and we were flying higher and higher. But we came very close to the sun, and I saw Jatayu was burning. So to protect him I put my wings over him. However, I also was very close to the sun, and my wings got burnt and came loose. After that I don't know where my brother went. You are the first I have heard say that he died in the service of Lord Ramacandra. I have stayed here so long, and a rishi once told me that when I told you where Sita was, at that time I would get my strength back." Hanuman became very excited, "What did you say?" Sampati repeated, "When I tell you where Sita is..." Hanuman cut him short, "You know where Sita is?" And all the monkeys
started jumping up and down. "We've found Sita, we've found Sita!" Sampati said, "Can you please move me out of this cave? I have to climb on top of the Vindhya mountains to look at it." Angada asked, "Look at what?""To look at Lanka," the bird replied. Angada said, "Look at Lanka? It is eight hundred miles away!"

Hanuman came close to Angada and said, "Just look at this bird. He's so huge, fourteen yojanas each wing. This bird itself is about thirty yojanas long. Can you imagine how much power he must have in his eyes? He can sit here and see Lanka!" With great difficulty all the monkeys came under Sampati and moved him. Thirty thousand monkeys were trying so hard. It was difficult for them to somehow put him on top of the rock with his wings like that. Then he lifted his beak and said, "I can see Sri Lanka. I can see the ten-story building of Ravana. I can see the roof, and Ravana standing on the top." He could see everything, he had such optical power. Sampati is the son of Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun-god, so he must be very powerful. "I cannot see Sita," he continued, "But Ravana is walking here and there. So many demons are around. I can see a forest of Ashoka trees. I can see a yellow cloth hanging there." As soon as he said that, Hanuman said, "Yes, yellow cloth. That is what Mother Sita was wearing." Previously Sita had taken some ornaments, put them in yellow cloth that she tore from her sari, and threw them down. Hanuman picked them up before Rama came to Kishkinda, and Laksmana identified them as Sita's jewellery. Hanuman became very happy. Even while they were looking, slowly Sampati's wings became straight, and new feathers were coming out of his body. Next moment they heard a loud, "Rama!" Sampati had chanted Rama. When he started "Ra" he was already up in the sky. By the time they had heard the whole world he was just a point in the distant sky. Sampati went to the heavenly planets. He didn't want to be there, because he wanted so desperately to kill Ravana, but because of the pact he couldn't do it. So he just helped them and then went. They had found out where Sita was. Hanuman was asked by Jambavan, "You must leap over this ocean, and go to SriLanka." Hanuman said, "This ocean is so big. How will I do it?" Jambavan then told Hanuman his own pastimes. How he got the sun planet inside his mouth etc. As Jambavan was narrating, Hanuman began to grow. He became bigger and bigger and bigger. He became so big that Valmiki says his shadow was fifty yojanas long. All the monkeys were like mosquitoes in front of him. Then he said to Jambavan, "Yes, I am the servant of Rama! I am the son of Vayu. No-one can stop me! I will crush Ravana with my thumb, and I will bring Sita on my shoulder! There is no need for Ramacandra to go. I am going now." He chanted "Rama!" He started with "Ra," and he ended with "m". When he said "m" he was in Sri Lanka. That was how fast he was. Being an angsha of Lord Siva, he took the path that Lord Siva travels. There are different levels that different entities travel at. Gandharvas travel very close to earth, and after Gandharvas come Kinnaras, after Kinnaras come Vanaras, and after Vanaras come Siddhas, after Siddhas come Caranas, and after Caranas come bigger demigods like Ganesh or Kartikeya, and them comes Lord Siva's tract. In that area no-one flies. It is Lord Siva's zone. That is where Hanuman went. He was flying fearlessly. In this way, by chanting Rama only once, Hanuman reached Sri Lanka. Before reaching Sri Lanka he encountered many disturbances, as well as much help on the way. There was one mountain called Mainata Parvata. which can grow simply by thinking. The ocean king told Mainata Parvata, "Hanuman, the servant of Rama, is coming, and he must take some rest. He is leaping in one breath, so you must grow upwards and give him somewhere to rest." Mainata Parvata grew upwards to the sky and stopped Hanuman. Hanuman said, "What's this? There is no mountain here. Who are you?" Hanuman can speak not only from his mouth but from any hole in his body, this was his yogic perfection. He had only one breath, so he didn't use his mouth which he was using to chant Rama. "M" had to be pronounced in Sri Lanka, and he was still on "Ra". He was talking through some other hole. Mainaka Parvata thought, "This is a wonderful phenomenon. A monkey with a long tail speaking through the holes of the body. Please put your lotus feet on my head," the mountain said, "because I have to show to the ocean king that I have served you." Hanuman said, "No rest when I am doing Krsna-seva. I am going." The demigods thought, "This is not correct that he reaches Lanka so easily. There must be some fun." So they called a great snake called Sarasa. This Sarasa was ordered to stop Hanuman. This Sarasa took the form of a demoness. She came there and opened her mouth. Hanuman was flowing and she was growing upwards, her mouth open like a big cave. Hanuman said, "Please move away from here. I am on the Lord's mission." "No no no," she said. "Brahma has given me a benediction that unless somebody goes in my mouth, he cannot pass by." Hanuman said, "Ah, but this mouth is too small for me." And he started growing more.

She started growing also, making her mouth bigger, so he also grew. She grew more. They were growing and growing, and her mouth became half the size of the universe. At that time Hanuman suddenly became small, and he entered the mouth and came out. Then he said, "See, I have defeated you. I entered your mouth and came out again. Now you please bless me." So she gave blessings, and then he went. Another great demoness came and said, "She didn't swallow you, but I must swallow you." She also did the same thing. Hanuman also asked the same thing. "You please open your mouth a little wider so you can eat me comfortably." She opened her mouth wider, and Hanuman became small. Though he became small, the strength is same. He went inside the mouth, and hit the back of her mouth. By that hitting, blood came out and she died. Then Hanuman got her blessings too, while she was dying. She was some Gandharvika that had been cursed to become a demoness. She said, "Now I am killed by Hanuman, I will get liberation." So she blessed Hanuman. She said, "There is one more person that you have to kill, at the entrance gate." Hanuman landed in Sri Lanka. He looked at Lanka, a beautiful city. He felt very bad. "Why should a demon have such a beautiful city?" He made up his mind, "Before I go from here, I will destroy this city, somehow or other."He came and Lankani was sitting there, a great demoness with a trident. So Hanuman became a small monkey, very small, and he was running inside the gate. She was sitting there and she said, "Wait! You are not going." "She is very intelligent," Hanuman said. "I am so small and she saw me." He climbed on her hand and up to her shoulder. He looked at her and said, "I am a small monkey, please let me in. I want to eat some fruits." "Fruits?" she asked. "What fruits are you going to eat?" Hanuman said, "I heard that there are beautiful mangoes, and Ravana is keeping them only for himself." She said, "I will get you any mango outside this gate. There are so many gardens here. Why are you going inside for food?" Hanuman said, "Don't waste my time. You'd better let me in." She was shocked. "What? You are just sitting on my shoulder. Don't you know who I am? I am Lankani." Hanuman said, "You are Lankani? I will slap you." She was amused. "You will slap me? You can't even reach my cheek." "Please take me to your cheek," Hanuman said. She took Hanuman and placed him next to her cheek. He slapped her and she fell down and blood came from her mouth. He was so small, but his strength was the same as when his size was normal. Then he went inside the city.

Transcribed from lectures given by His Grace Atma-tattva dasa during Gaura-purnima in Sridham Mayapura

Bol Bam - its Shravan

Har har Mahadev. Like every year, this year is also celebrating Lord Shiva's month with zeal and vigour.

In Deoghar, there is special importance of worshipping Shiva. Below are few articles which are essential for Shiva bhakta to know. Happy Reading.

How Lord embraced Deoghar - The story Baidyanath Jyotirlinga.

The importance of Shiva Linga.

Also there are stories of other Jyotirlinga's

- Mallikarjuna
- Kedarnath

Hope you will enjoy these articles. HAR HAR MAHADEV!!!

Why did Draupadi have five husbands?

Because of her ambition. Draupadi in her earlier life, was daughter of Nala and Damyanti and he wished that a number of qualities to be available in her husband. She did great penance to achieve the same and earned a boon from Lord Shiva. This was the reason why she had five husbands. read the full story here.

Draupadi in the court of Kauravas, where Yudhishthira lost her and his brothers

Were Shri Krishna and Achilles the same?

Please do not get surprised. Why this is being asked is the way they were rendered vulnerable. Shri Krishna had to leave this world after an archer accidentally shot him in the heel.

Similarly, Achilles had his weakness in his heel.

You can read the whole story here