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10 Reasons to celebrate Diwali

2011-10-26T21:47:00.001+05:30

Go over ten mythical and historical reasons why Diwali (Deepavali) is celebrated annually.

1) Goddess Lakshmi's Birthday : On this very Diwali day, the Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi is said to have been incarnated from the depth of the bottomless ocean. The Hindu scriptures tell us that both Devas(gods) and Asuras (demons) were mortal (Mrita) at one point of time. Seeking a deathless condition (Amarattva), they churned the ocean to seek Amrita, the nectar of immortality (an event mentioned in the Hindu scriptures as "Samudra-manthan"), during which a host of divine celestial objects came up. Prime among these was Goddess Lakshmi, the daughter of the king of the milky ocean, who arose on the new moon day (amaavasyaa) of the Kartik month. She was subsequently married to Lord Vishnu on the same darkest night of the year and brilliant lamps were illuminated and placed in rows to mark this holy occassion.

Hence the association of Diwali with Goddess Lakshmi and the tradition of lighting of lamps and candles during the festival. To this day, Hindus celebrate the birth of the goddess Lakshmi and her marriage to Lord Vishnu on Diwali and seek her blessings for the coming year.

2) The Legend of King Mahabali : The Bhagavata Purana (also known as Srimad Bhagavatam), the most sacred Hindu text, reveals how on a Diwali day Lord Vishnu, in his fifth incarnation as Vaman-avtaara, rescued Lakshmi from the prison of King Bali during the Treta Yug. Bali, or rather King Mahabali, was a powerful demon king who ruled the earth. Powered by a boon granted to him by Lord Brahma, Bali was invincible and even gods failed to defeat him in battles. Although a wise and perfect king otherwise, Mahabali was violent in his ways with the Devas (gods). On their insistence, Lord Vishnu disguised himself as a short Brahmin and approached Bali for some charity. The righteous and benevolent King couldn't refuse the Brahmin's offer and was tricked into giving up his kingship and wealth (of which Lakshmi is said to be the Goddess). Diwali marks this overcoming of Mahabali by Lord Vishnu and this is another reason why Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped on Diwali.

In Kerala, the festival of 'Onam' is celebrated around the month of August to mark this legend.

3) The Killing of Narakasura: The Bhagavata Purana tells us about Narakasura, an evil demon king who had managed to acquire awesome powers. Unrivalled in prowess, he conquered both the heavens and earth and was tyrannical in his reign. Addicted to power, he even stole the earrings of Aditi, the heavenly mother goddess, and usurped some of her territory. When Lord Vishnu was incarnated as Krishna in the Dwapara Yuga, he killed Narakasura on the day preceding Diwali and rescued 16,000 women whom the demon had imprisoned in his palace. The deliverance from the terrible Narakasura was celebrated with much grandeur, a tradition that continues to this day.

However, another version of the story credits Lord Krishna's wife Sathyabhama as the one who eliminated Narakasura. It is said that Narakasura could only be killed by his mother Bhudevi and as Satyabhama was an incarnation of the same Bhudevi, she only could kill him. Before death, however, Narakasura realized his mistake and requested a boon from Satyabhama that everyone should celebrate his death with colorful light. To commemorate his death, the event is celebrated in some parts of India as Naraka Chaturdasi, two days before Diwali day.

4) The Return of the Pandavas: The great Hindu epic `Mahabharata' reveals that it was `Kartik Amavashya' (the new moon day of the Kartik month) when the Pandavas appeared from their 12 years of banishment as a result of their defeat in the hands of the Kauravas at the game of dice (gambling). The five Pandava brothers, their mother and their wife Draupadi were honest, kind, gentle and caring in their ways and were loved by all their subjects. To celebrate the joyous occassion of their return to Hastinapura and to welcome back the Pandavas, the common people illuminated their state by lighting bright earthen lamps everywhere. And the tradition is maintained to this day.

5) The Victory of Rama: The great Hindu epic `Ramayana' describes how Lord Ram (the incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the Treta Yug) conquered Lanka after vanquishing the evil King Ravana and after passing a period of of fourteen years in exile returned to his capital Ayodhya on a new moon day of Kartik with wife Sita and brother Lakshman. To celebrate the homecoming of their beloved king, the people of Ayodhya burst crackers, lit up their houses with earthen lamps (diyas), and decorated the entire city in the grandest manner. Year after year this homecoming of Lord Rama is commemorated on Diwali with lights, fireworks, bursting of crackers and merriment. The festival gets its name Deepawali, or Diwali, from the rows (avali) of lamps (deepa) that the people of Ayodhya lit to welcome their King.

6) Coronation of Vikramaditya: It is also said that Vikramaditya, the legendary Indian king famed for his wisdom, valour and magnanimity was coroneted on the Diwali day following his victory over the Sakas in 56 BC. This was marked by a grand celebration which is still maintained annually. One of the greatest Hindu monarchs, Vikramaditya ruled the greatest empire in the world from modern-day Thailand in the east to the borders of modern-day Saudi Arabia in the west. Diwali, thus, apart from being a religious festival also has a historical association.

7) The Enlightenment of Swami Dayananda Saraswati: Diwali also marks the auspicious occasion when on a new moon day of Kartik (Diwali day) Swami Dayananda Saraswati, one of the greatest reformers of Hinduism attained his nirvana (enlightenment) and became Maharshi Dayananda, meaning the great sage Dayananda. In 1875, Maharshi Dayananda founded the Arya Samaj, "Society of Nobles", a Hindu reform movement to purify Hinduism of the many evils it became associated with at that era. Every Diwali, this great reformer is remembered by Hindus all over India.

8) The Enlightenment of Vardhamana Mahavira: For Jains, Diwali commemorates the enlightenment of Vardhamana Mahavira(the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankaras of the Jains and the founder of modern Jainism) which is said to have occurred on Oct. 15, 527 B.C. This is one more reason to engage in Diwali celebrations for pious Jains and other than the purpose of commemoration, the festival stands for the celebration of the emanicipation of human spirit from earthly desires.

9) Special Day for the Sikhs: For Sikhs, Diwali holds a special significance for it was on a Diwali day that the third Sikh Guru Amar Das institutionalized the festival of lights as an occasion when all Sikhs would gather to receive the Gurus blessings. It was also on a Diwali day in 1619 that their sixth religious leader, Guru Hargobind Ji, who was held by the Mughal Emperor Jahengir in the Gwalior fort, was freed from imprisonment along with 52 Hindu Kings (political prisoners) whom he had arranged to be released as well. And it was also on the same auspicious occasion of Diwali when the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was laid in 1577.

10. Goddess Kali: Kali, also called Shyama Kali, is the first of the 10 avatars (incarnations) of Goddess Durga, Lord Shiva's consort. According to legend, long ago after the gods lost in a battle with the demons, Goddess Kali was born as Kal Bhoi Nashini from the forehead of Goddess Durga. Said to be a personification of Nari Shakti (female power), Kali was born to save heaven and earth from the growing cruelty of the demons. After killing all the devils, Kali lost her control and started killing anyone who came her way which stopped only when Lord Shiva intervened. The well-known picture of Ma Kali, with her tongue hanging out, actually depicts the moment when she steps on the Lord and repents.

That momentous day has been commemorated ever since and the main purpose of celebrating Kali Puja is to seek the help of the goddess in destroying evil both external and internal to us as also to get her blessings for general happiness, health, wealth, and peace. To conclude, there are several reasons behind Diwali celebrations and almost every region of India has its own reason to observe the occasion. All of these however, matters little to the festival itself. Whatever the cause behind its celebration, Diwali is undoubtedly a national festival of India, and the aesthetic aspect of the festival is enjoyed by most Indians regardless of faith.

Contributed by: bruntno1 @ yahoo.com

Agasthya - Hindu Sage

2009-03-22T21:50:00.000+05:30

Contributed by: Natarajan Gurumuthy (gnatarajan53 @ gmail.com)

In Hinduism, Agastya is a legendary Vedic sage or rishi. Agastya and his clan are also credited to have "authored" many mantras of the Rig Veda, the earliest and most revered Hindu scripture, in the sense of first having the mantras revealed in his mind by the Supreme Brahman. In some reckonings, Agastya is the greatest of the Seven Sages or Saptarshis. The word is also written as Agasti. A-ga means a mountain, Asti, thrower. Also a name of Lord Shiva. Agastya the Rishi, was born of both Gods, Mitra and Varuna. Agastya is also the Indian astronomical name of the star of Canopus, is said to be the 'cleanser of waters', since its rising coincides with the calming of the waters of the Indian Ocean. Another reference is in the Mahabharata in Sauptikaparva as the teacher of Guru Drona, who gave Drona, the greatest of weapons, Brahmastra (used by both Arjuna and Ashwatthama at the end of the war).

Agasthya - Myths and Legends

Humbling the Vindhya mountains

Legend says that the Vindhya mountains that separate north and south India from each other once showed a tendency to grow so high as to obstruct the usual trajectory of the sun. The need arose to subdue, by guile, the Vindhyas, and Agastya was chosen to do that.

Agastya journeyed from northern solstice to southern solstice, and on the way encountered the now impassable Vindhya mountains. He asked the mountain range to facilitate his passage across to the south. In reverence for so eminent a sage as Agastya, the Vindhya mountains bent low enough to enable the sage and his family to cross over and enter south India. The Vindhya range also promised not to increase in height until Agastya and his family returned to the northern solstice. Agastya settled permanently in the south, and the Vindhya range, true to its word, never grew further. Thus, Agastya accomplished by guile something that would have been impossible to accomplish by force. Ramayana covers this astronomical correction made by Rishi Agastya. It is from here that the science of Vastu Shastra originated.

Agastya is said to have "dedicated" all the forest animals to the deity Rudra hence making them fit for eating if killed while hunting. Agastya is famous for being the first siddhar in the siddhars tradition. He created many medicines, and jadhakam, mandhrikam and he said all of them.

In his book, he gives description of, and instructions for the creation of medicines for fever(it may be of any type), cancer, treatments for impotence, abdominal problems, brain and eye problems, bone problems, etc. Reputedly, his medicines give quick results without any side effects.

Vathapi Legend about Agastya

Another story has it that two demon brothers, Ilvala and Vathapi, used to kill people who were passing by the forest in a special manner. Vathapi was good at changing to other life forms and the other, Ilvala knew the supernatural slogan Sanjivani mantra which, when invoked can bring back a dead person to life. They hatched a plan against Agastya that Vathapi would turn into a goat and be killed and fed to Agastya. After Agastya had eaten the meat, Ilvala would invoke the Sanjivani mantra to bring back his brother Vathapi to life, who in turn would rend Agastya's stomach and come out thereby killing him. By the plan, one changed into a goat and the other disguised himself as a Brahmachari who invited Agastya to a meal. Agastya knew beforehand about the plan due to his immense Vedic powers, but he resolved to teach both a lesson. After the meal, Agastya simply rubbed his stomach saying Vathapi JeerNo bhava; literally may Vathapi be digested, while the other demon tried to bring his brother to life in vain. Agastya plainly informed the demon that his brother has been digested and could no longer be brought back to life.

Other facets of Agastya

He is considered as the first and foremost Siddha. He is considered the guru of many other Siddhas. He is also called Kurumuni, meaning short (kuru) saint (muni). He made contributions to the field of Medicine and Astrology - especially Nadi astrology. He is said to have lived for over 5000 years, and that one of his medicinal preparations, Boopathi Kuligai, is so powerful that it can even bring the dead back to life. Two of his students and disciples were Therayar and Tholkappiar.

Unity of Vishnu and Shiva

At a Saivite temple named Kutralam, formerly a Vishnu temple, in Tamil Nadu, Agastya, in one legend, was refused entry. He then appeared as a Vaishnavite devotee and is said to have miraculously converted the image to a Shiva linga A symbolic meaning of this conversion is to show that Vishnu and Shiva are different aspects of the one and same God.

Agastya In Akilam

According to Akilattirattu Ammanai, the religious book of Ayyavazhi, Agastya was created from the mind of lord Siva inorder to offer boons to Kaliyan (See:Boons offered to Kaliyan). As per the order of Siva, Agastya offered many boons including all worldly knowledge to him.

So as per Ayyavazhi, in Kali Yukam all the knowledge, including the basic formulae and forms of modern scientific technologies came from Agastya.

Certain important Stotrams

* The Lalitha sahasranama, which describes the 1000 names of the mother Goddess Lalita(Known commonly as Gowri, Parvati or Durga), was first revealed to the world when Hayagriva, a manifestation of Vishnu, taught the same to Agastya.

* Agastya is Progenitor of ADITYA hRUDAY (Refer Valmiki Ramayan Yudha Kanda) a hymn to Surya, ( SUN) and taught the same to Rama just before the war between Rama and Ravana.

* Agastya also composed Saraswati Stotram.

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The Story of Vishwamitra

2008-10-29T18:36:00.001+05:30

In lunar dynasty,was a king kausik also known as Visvamitra.Kng posesed extra ordinary qalities and ruled the kingdom well once the king went on a tour of his kindom with a large army . As he was passing a forest he came across the hermitage of Sage Vaisistha .The sage offered him a grand reception and requsted him to be his guest.The king declined offer as the sage would not have been able to feed the large army.Sage told the king not to worry and informed him that the Sage had wishfulfilling cow (kamadehnu)sabala .The Sage called out the divine cow . kamadehnu was Born during churnuing of the ocean and was presented to Sage Vaisitha .Vasistha told the cow to make an elborte feast for the king's army and an elobrate feast appeared . The king and his army engoyed the feast .

The king was imperessed by the cow's poweress and was convinced that the cow would be more useful to a king than a sage . he further added anything precious belonged to the king and put his stake on sabala Visvamitra politely declined to give sabala to the king . The king became angry and ordered his soldiers to capture sabala . Captured by the kings men sabala broke down on the thought of being taken away from her father like sage . She ran back to the sage wnting to know the reason as to why he had abondened her . Vasistha told her that he not abondened her and told her to make army of her own . Sabala made her own army and defeated the king .

Visvamitra the went into forest and performed 12 years of penance . Lord siva was pleased with the penance and gave him all the astras . Visvamitra went to Vaisistha and sent all Astras towards him Vasistha absorbed all the astras using his Brmhadanda . Visvamitra then went south .he did a lot of tapas to get the title of rajya rsi . During this time Trisanku (a king ) came to Visvamitra asked him to send Trisanku to heaven in his body form .the devas denied trisanku entry in to the heavens .Annoyed at this act Visvamitra used all his powers to create a hevean for Trisanku.

Visvamitra then did a lot of penance to become a maharsi and then a Brmharsi . Visvamitra ,While he was performing penance ,was attracted to aphsara sent by Indra to distract him. Visvamitra spent 10 years with her and gave birth to sankuntala After he became a Maharsi Indra sent another apsara Rambha ,but Vissvamitra cursed her to became a stone for 1000 years . then after a lot of tapas he became a brmharsi a person with total control over anger .He then became elgible for keeping Sabala but he no more wished to keep her .

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The Story of Valmiki

2008-10-29T18:35:00.001+05:30

In ancient India there lived a robber whose name we do not know, because, as you will see, he got a new one. It is by this new name that he got famous. Young and strong, he could easily attack and overcome travelers going by lonely roads. Then he would take their money and all the valuables they had with them. Many were his victims. This man knew better, but he thought it was the only way he could make his livelihood. Moreover, his father, mother and wife were there at home, depending on him.

One day the robber caught hold of a traveler who had nothing. Angry, he asked him how he could wander around like that. "I am the sage Narada," said he. "I travel freely even between heaven and earth. I am one of the 'immortals'." As we said, the robber had a sense of right and wrong, and he felt some respect for the sage.

"Don't you know it is a great sin to rob and kill human beings?" asked Narada; "Why do you do all this?"

"I want to support my family," the robber replied.

"All right," said Narada, "you tie me up here securely and then go ask your family if they will share in your sin, the way they share your money."

The robber agreed, tied Narada to a tree, and went to find his father.

"Do you know how I support you?" he asked.

"No, I have always wondered," the father replied.

"I am a highwayman -- I rob -- and sometimes I have to kill."

"What! Horrible!" the father exclaimed, "Get away from me."

"So will you not share in my guilt, in the eyes of God?"

"No! Why should I?" answered his father.

In the same way he told his mother and his wife, asking if they would share in his sin, help to bear his karma. The mother said, "Why should I? I never stole anything in my life!" And his wife said, "Of course not! It is your duty to support me."

The robber's eyes were opened. Going back to the tree where Narada was tied, he told the sage what had happened. "Now I see that each of us travels a lonely road, a single track in life. Even my nearest and dearest, who live by my plunder, do not agree to share in my guilt! Tell me, O sage, what can I do?"

"Give up your life-style, foolish one. The 'love' of your loved ones is fair-weather love: it lasts while riches last, and leaves when riches leave. Learn to love and worship Him who is the only one who stands by us, in our good and in our evil."

Narada taught the young man to worship and told him to go into the forest. He went into solitude and began to practice meditation and prayer. He kept this up for many years, living at first on fruits and roots. Eventually he became totally absorbed in meditation and forgot himself, losing awareness of his body. As a result, ants even came and made ant-hills around him, heaped up high, so that he looked like a mountain of ants.

After many years a divine voice came to him. "Arise, O Sage." it said. "Sage?" he exclaimed; "I am a robber."

"No more robber," the voice went on, "you are a purified soul. Your guilt has been erased; you have had a new birth, and you now have a new name: Valmiki -- meaning, he that was born in an ant-hill."

One day when he went to the river Ganges to take his bath, Valmiki saw a pair of doves whirling around and around and kissing each other. They were about to make a nest. Valmiki felt happy at the sight. The next moment an arrow whizzed past his ear and brought down the male dove. Hunters were near. The female dove went on whirling around her dying companion with cries of shock and anguish. Valmiki, now enlightened, filled with compassion, could at once feel her distress. He turned around and saw the hunter.

"You are a wretch" he cried, "without an ounce of mercy! Your slaying hand would not stop even for love!"

Valmiki was surprised. The words that had come from his mouth were strange. "I have never spoken in this way before," he thought to himself. Then he heard the divine voice again: "Do not be alarmed. What is coming out of your mouth is poetry; your true nature is that of a poet. Write now the life of Lord Rama in poetry for the benefit of the world." When the former robber discovered what was hidden within him, he began to write the book called Ramayana.

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Dashavtar: Kalki

2008-07-27T16:36:00.000+05:30

In KALKI Avatar, Lord Vishnu will incarnate himself as KALKI, the machine-man, who will come riding his white horse and with his blazing sword in his hands. This is supposed to be a future avatar of Lord Vishnu. At the end of Kali Yuga (present eon) He will punish all evil doers in this world, destroy this world supposedly and recreate a golden age again.

KALKI is the last of the avatars of Lord Vishnu.

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Dashavtar: Buddha

2008-07-27T16:31:00.000+05:30

In BUDDHA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as BUDDHA, the ascetic prince who renounced the throne to lead the world on the path of peace. He is the founder of the BUDDHIST religion prominent across the world. In certain sects of Hinduism, he is considered to be a divine incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He was born the crown prince of the Kapilavastu to Suddhodana and Maya. He was named Siddhartha, meaning "All thing fulfilled" by the king. But his mother died soon after his birth but Prajapati, the sister of Maya, brought Siddhartha up.

Buddha was saddened by death of living creatures, since his childhood days and used to question: "Alas! Do all living creatures kill each other?". He wasn't happy with any answers that were provided to him and he decided to find out the meaning and the absolute truth and he left his wife and child to a hermit's life in the forest and one day, became the enlightened one. His preachings spawned off the religion of Buddhism now popular across the whole world.

Dashavtar: Krishna

2008-07-27T16:29:00.000+05:30

In KRISHNA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as KRISHNA , the central character in the epic MAHABHARATA. In this biggest epic of Indian mythology a myriad of topics are covered, including war, love, brotherhood, politics etc. It is essentially the story of two warring groups of cousin brothers, the PANDAVAs and the KAURAVAs. As a part of the Mahabahrata, during the war KRISHNA, gives a long discourse to his disciple ARJUNA, collectively termed as Bhagvad-Gita. Krishna, during his child-hood was responsible for the killing of Kansa. Krishna is also considered to be an ultimate playboy who was resonsible for charming all gopikaas(cowherdesses) around him.

Unlike Ramayana, Mahabharata deals with more down to earth issues like politics, human nature, human weaknesses, and does not attempt to idealise the characters as in RAMAYANA.

Dashavtar: Rama

2008-07-22T20:18:00.001+05:30

In RAMA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as RAMA , the central character in the epic RAMAYANA. In this biggest epic of Indian mythology a myriad of topics are covered, including war, love, brotherhood,ideal man , son etc. It is essentially the story of an ideal king, son, father and man, RAMA. As an ideal son, he agrees to abide by wishes of his father King Dasaratha to spend 14 years in forest, along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman. During the course of his stay in forest, the demon Ravana abducts his wife Sita. Ram then sets out in search of his wife. During this he makes friends with king of monkeys Sugreeva, and his devotee Hanuman. In the end he wages a war with Ravana and rescues Sita to return to Ayodhya and rule it as an ideal king for 1000 s of years.

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Dashavtar: Parashurama

2008-07-20T20:36:00.000+05:30

In PARASURAMA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a brahmana(priest) in this world. He was brought in this world to avenge all kshatriyas who had become arrogant and were suppressing the brahmans in the world. He was born to Jamadagni and Renuka, and belonged to the Brighu clan. Parashurama was always carrying an axe presented to him by Lord Shiva of whom he was an ardent devotee. Kartavirya a powerful king, once went to Jamadagni's home when he was out, and after a meal, stole the Kamadhenu cow, which was supposed to give endless quantity of milk. Jamadgni was enraged and he went and killed the king and brought Kamadhenu back. On hearing this the son of the king came back and killed Jamdagni.

Parasurama was enraged at this and went and avenged the death of his father by killing all kshatriyas in 21 battles. His story is story of the supremacy of brahmans over the kshatriyas.

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BDV-28386-BDV

2008-07-19T11:29:00.001+05:30

BDV-28386-BDV

Dashavtar: VARAHA

2008-07-16T20:49:00.001+05:30

In VARAHA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a boar in this world. A demon Hiranyaksha, had prayed for Lord Brahma and got awarded a boon that no beast nor man nor god could kill him. But somehow from the list of beasts the name of boar was missing. This proved to be his lacunae. He then started a campaign of plunder across the worlds. He pushed the world to the Pataal loka, or the under of the sea. He stole the Vedas, the holy scriptures from the Lord Brahma, while he was asleep and performed huge atrocities.

To retrieve the Vedas and to save the world the Lord Vishnu assumed the role of a boar and brought out the earth from the under of the ocean, using its two tusks. It then killed Hiranyaksha and retrieved the Vedas from the asura and brought it back to the safe custody of the Lord Brahma.

There are some alternative versions of the story of Varaha too.

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Dashavtar: NARSIMHA

2008-07-13T21:23:00.001+05:30

In NARASIMHA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a semi-man,semi-lion in this world. The king of demons(asuras), Hiranyakasyapa, wanted to become immortal and wanted to remain young forever. To this end, he meditated for Lord Brahma and because of his severe penance, the gods were frightened and asked Brahma to pacify the king. Brahma was impressed by his austerity and granted him a wish. HiranyaKasyapa wished that he be neither killed by a man or beast, nor in daylight or at night and neither inside or outside a building. Having obtained the wish he considered himself the supreme God and frobade all worship of gods by anyone. But his son Prahlada, was an ardent devotee of Vishnu. This enraged Hiranyakasyapa very much. He ordered numerous ways to kill Prahlada including asking his sister Holika to sit with Prahlada in the fire. But everytime Prahlada escaped unhurt. Enraged, once he asked Prahlad to show him the Lord Vishnu. Prahlad said, "He is everywhere". Further enraged, Hiranyakasyapa knocked down a pillar, and asked if Lord was present there. Lord Vishnu then emerged as a half lion, half man from the pillar which was neither inside the house nor outside, and the time was evening, neither night nor day. He then killed Hiranyakasyapa thus saving the life of his devotee Prahlada.

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Dashavtar: KURMA

2008-07-09T19:49:00.000+05:30

In KURMA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a tortoise. It is an interesting story involving both the gods (Devtas) and asuras (demons). In the ongoing saga of battle between the gods and asuras, on one occasion the gods suddenly lost all their strength due to a curse by the short-tempered sage Durvasa. The sage had once presented a garland of flowers to Indra,king of gods, who carelessly gave it away to his elephant which trampled it.

The Devtas approached Vishnu for help. Vishnu then asked them to churn the ocean of milk after adding medicines into the ocean. Mt Mandara could be used a the churning stick he said. He requested them to ask them help of Asuras in lifting the mountain in exchange for offer of the share of nectar of immortality that would ensue from the churning. Both the devatas and the asuras churned the ocean using the serpent Vasuki as the rope. At the start, playing a Machiavellian trick, Indra, king of the gods asked the asuras for the head end of vasuki. But asuras suspecting foul play, took the head end, only to be deceived as the poison from Vasuki was slowly weakening them. But as churning was proceeding the mountain was sinking and then Lord Vishnu took the form of the tortoise KURMA and kept the mountain afloat. As soon as the bowl of amrita, the nectar of immortality was out, the asuras grabbed it. Then Lord Vishnu took the form of an apsara, a beautiful maiden, and seduced the asuras into letting her distribute the nectar and also to abide by her order of distribution. As soon as the devatas were served the maiden disappeared thus totally deceiving the asuras and making them totally weak.

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Dashavtar: MATSYA

2008-07-07T18:34:00.000+05:30

In MASTYA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a fish in this world. In the earliest yuga (era) of Sata-yuga, a king named Manu was performing severe penance for thousands of years. One day as he was performing ablutions with river water, a small fish came into his hands and just as he was about to throw the fish back into the river, the fish requested the king to save its life. Heeding its request, the king put the fish into a jar of water but the fish started growing and the jar was not big enough for it. Then the king threw it into the river, but it soon it outgrew the river and the king then threw it into Ganges and then into the ocean. The king realised that it was Lord Vishnu himself and then the lord made an appearance and made a special request to the king. It predicted that the world would come to an end by a huge flood in seven days and requested the king to build a huge boat and take the seven sages(hermits), seeds of all plants, one animal of each type and told him that he would appear as a fish to propel the boat to Mt Himavan for surviving the flood to the next yuga(eon). True to his word, after seven days the Lord appeared and the king tied the boat to the fish by using the royal serpent Vasuki and the fish took all of them to Mt Himavan and kept them there till the flood was over and in the new era, the king started procreation a for the new era.

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Love and Madness (contributed by Hamza Balol)

2008-06-30T19:31:00.001+05:30

Virtues and vices were living on earth, then they started to feel depression due to the bad routine of life. After long time of thinking, Innovation had suggested for them a game of 'hide yourself somewhere' to play. They all loved the idea, madness said "I want from all of you to hide yourselves somewhere, I will close my eyes and count till hundred. When I open my eyes, I will try to find out everyone, ok?"

Then, he closed his eyes and started to count "1, 2, 3 " At this moment, virtues and vices started to hide themselves. Kindness found herself a place on the moon, disloyalty jumped inside the nearest rubbish can, passion entered between clouds, and eagerness immediately disappeared under the ground.

Lying shouted loudly "Hey, I am going to hide myself under the stone" then he immediately headed to the bottom of the lake. Madness continued "79, 80, 81" During this time, everyone had taken a place for him except love. As usual, love was not a decision maker and he did not even decide to hide himself because he knows that he can never be hidden easily. When madness completed counting "98, 99 & 100", love jumped and disappeared between the roses trees.

"I am coming to find all of you" said Madness, opening his eyes, and started to search for everyone. Laziness was the first one who had been discovered by madness because he did not even move to hide himself, and soon lying came out of the deep lake breathless. Then madness pointed to the kindness to come back from the moon, called for the disloyalty to come out of the rubbish can, shouted at the passion to return from clouds, and pull the eagerness out of the ground.

Madness felt disappointment, he was frustrated that he did not find love; jealousy approached him and whispered softly in his ears "Love is between the roses trees" Madness got angry, grabbed a wooden arrow, and start to pierce the roses trees heedlessly. All of a sudden, love appeared with his red hands covering his eyes.

"Oh my God" said madness "What did I do? Love has become sightless, what can I do now?"

"You cannot return my sight" love responded bitterly "But there is still something you can do for me, just lead me"

Since then, blind love is led by madness.

The Butcher

2008-06-29T19:05:00.000+05:30

This story from Mahabharata brings to light that our spiritual achievement is useless if we neglect our duties or Dharma.

Kaushika was his parents' only son.

"Mother," he said one day, " I want to go off into the jungle and devote myself to spiritual studies. "

His mother said with concern, "But son, your father and I are very old. Your father is so sick he can hardly move. If you go away, what will happen to us? Who will attend to our needs?"

Kaushika did not listen. He was determined to study the Vedas. His mother cried in vain as she watched her son turn his back on her and leave for the jungle.

Eventually Kaushika acquired great mystical powers.

One afternoon, as he was meditating under a tree, a crane flew up, and perched herself on a branch above Kaushika. Some bird droppings fell on Kaushika's head. Kaushika furiously threw a fiery gaze at the crane.

The crane immediately fell dead.

The sage felt sorry for what he had done. "How could I have allowed my anger to take over me that way?" He mourned.

Later in the day, he went to a village to beg for alms. The lady of the house asked him to wait and went to get some food. Right then her husband arrived. She immediately set aside the pot of food she was taking to the sage and went to attend her husband.

After washing his feet, giving him food, and attending to his needs, she came back out to give the alms to the sage. The sage was very insulted. "You put your husband before a pious sage? Do you know the power of a Brahmin?"

She calmly replied, "Yes, a true Brahmin is he who has mastered his anger. Please do not threaten me, I am not a crane that will die by your fiery gaze."

The sage was amazed. "How does she know about the crane?" he wondered.

The lady continued, "Oh holy one! You are a learned Brahmin but you have not understood the truth about virtue. If you want to be enlightened, go to Dharmavyadha who lives in Mathura. Any one will tell you where he lives."

The sage thanked the lady and hurried to Mathura. "He must be a great and learned sage indeed," Kaushika thought to himself.

But when he finally reached Dharmavyadaha's place, he found it to be a butcher shop!

A very ordinary looking man came out and said, "Welcome holy one. I am Dharmavyadaha, the man you seek."

"How can a butcher be spiritually enlightened?" Kaushika asked in amazement.

Dharmavyadaha smiled and said with compassion, "I know the story of the crane and of the woman who sent you here. Come, let us go to my house. "

The sage could not contain himself and blurted out, "But butchering animals is such a sinful profession! Are you not ashamed?"

"I am not," the butcher calmly said. "I am engaged in a family trade. I work hard and honestly at it. There is no reason for me to be ashamed of my work!"

"Holy one," continued the butcher. "If I do injury to other creatures, so do you as you did to the crane. "

"As we walk on the soil, we are trampling on numerous creatures. Nor is the air devoid of creatures."

"You see that farmer tilling the land? He is killing so many animals that thrive under the soil."

They reached the butcher's house. The butcher's wife was doing her house hold chores and his two boys were playing.

The butcher introduced the sage to his wife and boys.

Then the butcher entered the house and touched his parents' feet.

"Here is a learned Brahmin who has come from a far-off place." the butcher told his old father.

"Welcome, holy one," the father said.

Before leaving the room, the butcher remarked, "My parents are my Gods. My wife and my children attend to them with devotion and love. We consider caring for them to be our greatest duty."

"In doing one's duty cheerfully, lies true virtue. This is what the dutiful wife sent you to learn."

"Oh learned one!" the butcher continued, "You have run away from your responsibilities and deserted your aged father and mother. Spiritual achievement is useless if one has neglected one's Dharma, or duties."

The sage remembered his mother crying, "Who will look after us when you are gone my son?"

The sage apologized, "You have shown me the path of true virtue, the true meaning of Dharma, Oh pious one. I am deeply indebted to you."

Kaushika immediately returned to his parents and served them lovingly till the end of their days.

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How Tortoise Lost His Tail and Teeth (An Australian Aborginal Legend)

2008-05-28T19:13:00.000+05:30

When someone dies, people thought their spirit went from our world into the land of souls where they found eternal life. They thought there was a bridge over the river of death, stretching between the two worlds. But no one really knew what happened.

A long time ago, a man who had died, woke up and was glad to be alive again. He had quite a story to tell.

"I walked a long way," he said, "until I came to a wide, rushing river. I knew I had to cross it, but the banks were steep and the water was very deep. Then further down I saw a narrow bridge and a large mound on the other side."

"I stepped onto the bridge and it moved. It was alive. The mound was a gigantic tortoise, and the bridge was its long tail. I ran forward, trying to cross as fast as I could, but the tortoise lifted its head and looked at me. It had red gleaming eyes and rows of sharp teeth. It moved its shell and lifted its tail, and I fell into the water."

"The water sucked me under. It was like a dark tunnel, with sharp rocks that cut and bruised me. But then I came to the surface again and saw people on the banks of the river on our side, hunting and gathering wood. I thought I knew some of them friends who'd died earlier. Maybe they were resting on their way to the land of souls. Or they couldn't get across either."

"The river swept me on again, out to sea. The waves were huge but the salt water healed my wounds and the tide carried me to land. I woke up on a beach, sheltered by cliffs. I found drinking water and food and I rested. When I was stronger I climbed up and used the sun to guide me home."

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The people listening to his story were amazed and worried. "What can we do?" one of them asked. "How can we reach the land of souls when its time for us to die, if that monster tortoise stops us?"

Someone suggested they should ask the medicine man, who lived near their village. He thought about the problem. "A brave man, who has strength and power from our great spirits, must cut off the tortoise's tail."

Everyone looked at him, relieved that he was the talked to the great spirits and not them. "All right," he said. "I will send my spirit to the river and find the tortoise. When I fall asleep, to let my spirit wander, put my axe in my hand so I'm ready to fight."

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