Me, My guru – Bhagavatam - On the lost city of Dwaraka!

 

Contd....

Me, My guru – Bhagavatam - On the lost city of Dwaraka!

Devaki and Vasudeva assumed Kamsa wouldn’t kill a girl child. But, Kamsa didn’t flinch. He tried to kill her too. But the child flew from his hands and warned Kamsa that the real 8^th born was safe and sound. One day he would be back to kill Kamsa. Kamsa was both terrified and devastated. Years rolled by. Stories of Krishna – the 8^th born of Devaki and Vasudeva spread far and wide. Though he was called Nanda and Yashoda’s son, Kamsa realized he was the one he had been fearing about. So, he sent for Krishna. He invited Krishna to his capital Mathura.

There, Krishna still in his teens found Kamsa, his maternal uncle, and vanquished him. Kamsa was just not an ordinary king. He was very powerful and a very skilled fighter. He was also dear to the then-emperor Jarasandha, not just because of his prowess but also for being Jarasandha’s son-in-law.

Jarasandha being an Emperor was a foe no one dared to have. As such, no king was ready to stand by Mathura and Krishna. Jarasandha’s army came to kill Krishna. The people of Mathura sought protection from Krishna. He realized he was still a kid not yet ready to face the mighty army of Jarasandha. So, he took the people of Mathura along with kids, old and cattle and marched towards the present day Gujarat. Then, Gujarat was a dense forest. No one was believed to come out of that forest alive. Jarasandha’s army felt Krishna and his aides would anyhow meet their end in that dangerous forest. So, they left them. 

Krishna with his people cleared the forest, cultivated the land, and built a big, prosperous, magnificent, glorious city of Dwaraka. Trade prospered. Slowly Dwaraka became a powerful and prosperous state. It grew powerful too!

All the kings of Aryavarta, then Bharath considered Krishna as the king-maker. He played a he role in the politics of Aryavarta.

Now, when prosperity comes, it becomes a very conducive atmosphere for persons to become complacent, avaricious, egoistic – in short become adharmic.

“Good times are proved to have broken more people than bad times”.

It is in good times that ‘the real character’ of the person exhibits itself.

Contd....

# Me My Guru series, Bhagavatam, Krishna accepts the curse, destruction of Yadavas, the lost city of Dwaraka, curse and blessings, fate and destiny, karma, as we sow so we reap, cause and effect, 

also read suggested  https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2021/12/on-reflections-on-dog.html 

and read https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2020/05/me-my-guru-on-death-and-healing_23.html how healing helps or works. When we heal but the results seems contradictory to our expectations how do we understand or accept that healing and God are with us/working for us?

I am not going to give "Pointers to understand assuming you have got the knack to understand from all the pointers I have given to date". 

Expecting you to enjoy the reading and also the understanding from all these posts...

Me, My Guru – On death and healing

Contd..........

Me, My Guru – On death and healing

Krishna said “I can’t explain but can give you an experience that shows what it is”.

Narada agreed to have that experience. Krishna showed him a worm wriggling in the mud and asked him to chant “Narayana” thrice in its ears. Narada did accordingly. The worm died immediately. Narada came back confused and asked “Is that all?” Krishna showed a butterfly and asked Narada to repeat the exercise. Nadara did so. The butterfly died. Narada was taken aback.

Now Krishna showed him a deer and asked him to do the same with the deer. Narada did so reluctantly. As he expected the deer died immediately. Now he was a bit irritated too along with being confused and frightened.

“Why are you killing everyone instead of explaining in simple language to me?” he asked Krishna.

Krishna smiled and showed him a calf now. But Narada said “I can’t kill a calf now. That would be a huge sin”.

But on Krishna’s insistence and lots of reluctance he repeated the exercise of reciting the name of Narayana thrice in its ears. The calf too died!

Narada was shaking with fear now. “You are turning me into a murderer. I was just a mischief maker till now, but now…why are you doing this to me?”

Krishna replied with a smile “for one last time go to the palace of King of Kashi. He’s blessed with a son. Go and chant my name in the ears of that young prince”. So saying, he left for Vaikuntam**.

*Kashi – also called Benaras is a very holy place in India. It is the oldest inhabited city in the India.

**Vaikuntam – place of abode of Lord Krishna or Narayana

Contd..........

# Bhagavatam, Krishna and Narada, Healing and its effects, effect of chanting Lord's name, expectations, result, conditions, death, life 

Points to be understood : 

• Our prayers are always answered - just when and how is beyond our understanding sometimes nay many times. But just because we don't understand doesn't mean God is wrong.
• Have we looked into our expectations to know their nature and their control over our sanity and behaviour?
• Do we know how our expectations are driving us crazy? And all we are doing is going around like drunken monkeys biting everyone in our way and crying that it is because our expectation is not met.
• Just sit and meditate on your expectations. You will be surprised how easy it would be do away with your pain and suffering.
• In our ignorance we think fulfillment of our expectation will put an end to our suffering and pain when it is far from Truth!
• 
  

Questions addressed :

• Why should I work on myself if and when my expectations are not met by people and life situations in my life?
• What is the relation between sense organs and our expectations?
• What is the relation between our expectations and our sufferings?
• How to put an end to our sufferings?

also read previous posts for further clarification on this topic  : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=one+sense+organ 

Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

After the Kurukshetra war (the war which was fought between cousins of Kuru Dynastry – Pandavas and Kauravas, a war between ‘the right and the wrong’ at the end of Dwapara yuga) , King Dhritrarashtra, father of 100 sons called ‘kauravas’ grieved the death of his sons. When Lord Krishna went to console him, he having seen the ‘vishwaroopa’ of Lord Krishna in an earlier instance knew him to be the one who could know the past and future, the cause and the effect of events asked  Krishna, “I had hundred  sons and all of them were killed in the war. Why? You say it is one’s karma that one experiences what one does in life – both good and bad. Then tell me, what was the cause of my grief of having lost 100 sons?”

Krishna replied, “Fifty lifetimes ago, you were a hunter. While hunting, you tried to shoot a male bird, but it flew away. In anger, you ruthlessly slaughtered the hundred baby birds that were there in the nest. The father-bird had to watch in helpless agony. Because you caused that father-bird the pain of seeing the death of his hundreds sons, you too had to bear the pain of your hundred sons dying.

Dhritarastra said, "Ok, but why did I have to wait for fifty lifetimes?" 

Krishna answered, "You were accumulating punya (pious credits) during the last fifty lifetimes to get a hundred sons because that requires a lot of punya. Then you got the reaction for the papa (sin) that you have done fifty lifetimes ago."

“But this is wrong!” cried Dhritarashtra.

“No. this is justice and Law of Karma” replied Krishna.

This is a very small anecdote from Mahabharata from Mahabharata – one of the epics of Vedic Culture. Now, what does this tell us?

contd.....

related topics : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=law+of+karma

Me, My Guru - Bhagavatam

Me, My Guru

Bhagavatam

Rahul had called to tell that he wouldn’t be able to come to class. It was so rare that he missed a class. It just can’t be anything simple that had come up – that was for sure!

Aziz smsed to give similar news. Did today have something common in store for these regulars I wondered! When I reached the class, to my amazement, I found Shruti, Geetha, Priya and even Murali absent. I called them up to get similar news. That was no coincidence, or was it?

Though there were others, I felt a bit alone today. I missed my ‘gang’ dearly today!

And to think just last class I thought I was in ‘space’ where I preferred being in ‘solitude’. I chuckled at this thought. No sooner did I ‘realize’ something about self, that I had found it to be ‘wrong’. Why was it so?

But, I actually was in ‘good space of wanting to be left alone’ just last week and here I was missing our Gang. What did it mean? Was what I felt then wrong or is this my imagination? I was confused. But before I could analyse my ‘state of confusion’, she came and took her seat and closed her eyes. Others took the clue and did like-wise. She didn’t say a word and yet..... People who were talking immediately went into silence. This was classic example of ‘lead by example’. I picked up this lesson today. But, it would be fruitful only if I can emulate this of ‘leading by example’ act in my official life. I was fed up of shouting, cajoling, bribing my juniors to streamline their acts. I had to put this to good use and get results. Otherwise, what is the purpose of coming here and learning from her if I couldn’t live by it and imbibe it in my character and way of living?

These were the thoughts that were playing in my mind when I closed my eyes with others. And as obvious I couldn’t meditate but had to open my eyes when I heard her voice “Hare Krishna hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna hare hare”.

“Krishna was beautiful 7-8 years old now full of mischief leading a gang of cowherd boys of more or less same age. He would along with others wait till maids left their homes to fill water from the river. Then he would with others enter the empty homes to steal his favourite butter. Now in those days, butter was kept in pots hanging from the ceiling. It was so high hung that only grown-ups would be able to reach up and get it! All the boys were disheartened. They knew they would never be able to get butter as promised by Krishna. They looked at Krishna with ‘sorry faces’ and were surprised when they saw Krishna holding flute in one hand and was hitting the other hand with it lightly with a smile on his lips.

...contd....

Me, My Guru Bhagavatam

...contd....

“Oh Krishna! Why are you smiling? We can’t get butter. Are you no sad?” they asked.

He started laughing his musical hearty laugh and that put their fears at rest.

“Just follow my instructions and we all can still eat all the butter” he said confidently.

They snuggled to listen to his ‘plan of action’. Then they set in action. The strong, big boys stood bent at the bottom and on them thinner boys climbed and sat bent. They formed ‘mountain of human chain’ and Krishna climbed atop all and took the pot of butter effortlessly, had his fill and passed it to others. When he and others got down, everyone shared the butter among them and had their fill”.

They left that home and also left behind empty pots. No act of Krishna or no chapter of Krishna’s life is out of place or without a lesson. Sick minds can call him ‘butter thief’. That’s their choice! But a heart that is filled with love for him knows that his acts teach us ‘how to live in this world’. He is the ‘first Management Guru’. The human mountain represents the ‘Management ladder’. The triangle shape formed is the shape of hierarchy of any management or company. At the base are the ‘people with brawns’ whom we casually call as ‘labour classes’. The group /crowd there is vast and hence the base is always large. But as the management or hierarchy increases, it thins and finally at the top is ‘Krishna’ – the Master Planner – the one person who strategizes and gives his action plan to be executed by others. He is the ‘Mental man’ meaning one with brains.

One with brains is always at the top and the one with brawn forms the bottom crust of any organisation. Only when all together work in co-ordination with each other, can they get the ‘butter’ of hard work – the profits, name, fame etc for organisation which is then distributed among everyone – when this is properly done every time, only then can such an organisation – go for next successful venture. If the top management when receives butters out of greed if it takes it all, then next time the base level wouldn’t co-operate and the organisation would face labour problems, strikes and what not!”

She left us for tea-break. I had never seen Krishna in this light and it really amused me. I found others too talking on similar grounds. It was really enriching class. Aziz had something to sit-on being in management line. I thought of sharing it with him and asking him to putting it across in one of his meetings and applying too! Well, I need to think a bit for that but atleast I had the base material ready for that! Good!

Our gang really missed an important class. I so wanted to share all this with them. I for one had always loved Krishna only as God. But today to imagine him as a management Guru was a ‘cultural shock’ for me. It was amusing to imagine him in ‘jeans and T-shirt’ giving a PPT in some company meeting.

...contd....

Me, my Guru – on why God doesn’t come to my rescue

Me, my Guru – on why God doesn’t come to my rescue

Today, we flooded with oft repeated questions like “If God exists why doesn’t He save the world or come to its’ rescue?”

“How do I know He exists when I don’t receive any support from Him when I pray to Him?”

“My situation is same as ever. How do I know my prayer is answered by Him? Why doesn’t He do anything to save me from my ‘situation’ and set it right with just a flick of want?”

Each one gave his or her situation to support their anger, question and doubt. Our allegations seemed justified and she let us be. She waited till of us had poured out anger out and then when we had emptied ourselves and calmed a bit she started “In a certain village lived a Krishna Bhaktha who worked as a priest. He sang bhajans of Krishna all day long and strongly proclaimed to one and all that Krishna was his Lord and Saviour.

It so happened once that the village was in floods. It was announced over Radio that the village would be flooded within 24 hrs and all to evacuate immediately. Many people left the village and even asked Priest to accompany them but he denied saying “no need! My Krishna will come to save me”. Within few hours the water started rushing into the village and the army men came in boats to save the villagers who were still in the village. Many left and even this time Priest denied taking their help saying that he was waiting for Krishna to come and rescue him. By next day all the houses were flooded and the few people along with our dear Priest climbed the roof top to save themselves. Helicopters came to save them. All left except our believer Priest who waited for Krishna. Next day he died. In heaven he met Krishna and immediately started shouting at him “how can you kill me when I trusted you so much?”

Contd.....

suggested reads : https://kantipadam.blogspot.in/search?q=God

The Epics of India - Mahabharata

...contd...

Vidurani

Vidurani is referred as wife of Vidura in Mahabharata.  Just before the start of Mahabharata war, Krishna comes to talk peace with King Dhritarashtra, but the talks fail - thanks to Duryodhan and his uncle Shakuni.

Duryodhan makes elaborate preparations in the palace for Krishna to stay.  But, Krishan refuses to stay there.  The reasons he gives for his refusal are 1. I take food served with love only and the food served by you - Duryodhana is not served with love and 2. I eat food anywhere when I am desperate for food and am on the verge of dying and now I am neither desperate or dying for want of food.  Having given these reasons, he goes to Vidura's house which was a only small house.  He was not at home as he was not expecting Krishna.  His wife Vidurani was at home and she was overwhelmed to see Krishna.  She warmly welcomed him inside the house, gave him seat to sit and went in to get something to eat.  She found only bananas at home. She brought them to Krishna and peeled them and in the excitement threw away the bananas and gave him peels.  Krishna accepted the peel and was eating them when Vidur entered the house and seeing what was happening he shouted at Vidurani for being so careless as to serve banana peel to the Lord.  Krishna stopped him and said that those were the most delicious peels he ever had!

But, when you read especially our epics, don't read them as stories of some characters and don't try to know some story or anecdote about the various characters.  Learn to see the 'Universal Law' working.  Learn it as you can easily understand through some characters and their life situations. 

For eg: With regards to Vidura's birth, it's very clear that though all three - Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidur had greatest Sage Veda Vyasa as their father - their personalities and physical well-being depended totally on the thought on their respective mothers at the time of conception and the feeling they had for the Sage.

...contd....

For Related Topics also read posts dated:

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Guru poornima

…contd…..

Role of teachers and what we owe to them: Sandipani, which means “Sage of Gods”, was a guru of Lord Krishna and Balarama. The Sandipani Muni ashram is located 5 km from Ujjain railway station (Madhya Pradesh). The area near the ashram, known as Ankapata, is popularly believed to have been the place used by Lord Krishna for washing his writing tablets. The numerals 1 to 100 found inscribed on a stone are believed to have been engraved by Guru Sandipani. Near the ashram is the Gomti Kund, a staircased water tank where Krishna supposedly summoned all the holy waters from various centres so that his old Guru, Sandipani Muni would not have to travel other holy places.

After completion of education, once Krishna and Balarama came to meet their Guru and finding him very sad and with drawn seek to know the reason. They get to know that their Guru’s only son has been taken by a Rakshasa by name Shankasur owning a conch named ‘Panchajanya’ to a place called Prabhasa Thirtha.  Knowing this, Krishna and Balarama go in search of Shankasur and kill him after a terrible fight and bring back their Guru’s son.

Some scriptures say that their Guru asked this favour as Guru Dakshina immediately after the completion of their education. Well, these things don’t matter to us. What is important is that Krishna pays his ‘Guru Dakshina’ even at the cost of his life. Even Krishna who is considered the Lord of the world pays his due to his Guru as ‘Dakshina. 

Jesus Christ before going around giving his sermons, goes to John the Baptist for getting ‘baptized’. At that time John the Baptist recognizes Jesus as the Saviour and says ‘You have come to resurrect us. I am baptizing everyone in your name and proclaiming your arrival. How can I baptize you?’. Jesus smiles and replies ‘Don’t we both know that you were my master (meaning Guru) in my previous life and in that right you can baptize me even now’. Even when a ‘shishya’ surpasses his Guru, he remains the ‘student’ to his Guru.

Guru Dakshina is thus just not the fees that you pay to your Guru. When you know that your Guru is in pain, trouble, need, to do everything in your power to deal with it, do away with it and to get your Guru out of it is also ‘your duty’ and should be paid as ‘Guru Dakshina’ and not as a ‘help’ or ‘favour’.

When I am preparing tea or arranging for lunch, students come and ask ‘can I help you?’. You can’t ‘help a teacher. That person is teaching you. You ‘serve’ that person. Moreover, here the lunch or tea is for them so they actually are serving (i.coi taking) for themselves, so where is the question of helping me or serving me? It is a very small thing but very important as it forms the basis of our definition of ‘who we are’. Listen to your words and know their meaning and see if they make any sense. In short, ‘know thyself’! Because, all this is your karma and that decides your destiny. Looks farfetched? But it’s true. Trust me, I am not exaggerating….

…contd….