Post by J.K. SIVAN on Oct 1, 2013 19:25:17 GMT 5.5
Dear Children
98 ''NEELA MADHAVA ''
You know that in our Hindu religion, there are ever so many Puranas and scriptures. There is one well known as Skandha Purana. When you refer to this Purana, there will be a canto named Ütkal Kanda. There are some interesting information in this canto . I intend introducing a small part of it in this short story.
In Indian national anthem, there is a reference to ÜTKALA Jalathitha ranga. Utkal referred to Orissa. Now again Orissa has changed its name recently to Odissha. In Odissha, Krishna is well known as Jagannath.
It was some time around a Solar eclipse that a group left of people left Dwarka. The group consisted of Krishna, Balaram, their sister Subhadra, and the many wives of Krishna, the other family members etc., They proceeded tow Kurukshetha to have a dip at a particular pond on the day of solar eclipse.
News spread everywhere that Krishna along with all his family members would be visiting Kurukshethra after the war. Those who lived in Brindhavan wanted to see Krishna after so many hyears, rushed to Kurukshethra to meet him. Yasodha, Nandhagopan, Rohini, and many other gopa and Gopis went to Kurukshethra. They had so much love for Krishna.
Of the two, Rohini was some one who would be forth right in speaking and never hesitated or felt shy to speak to strangers while by nature Yasodha was a quiet woman. At Kurukshethra there was a big tent made for the Yathris where all stayed. Krishna's wives and others from the royal family of Dwarka palace stayed there. Everyone was talking interestingly about Krishna only.
The people who arrived from Dwarka were impressed by Rohini and Yasodha. We are from Dwarka and we are so much interested to learn of Krishna and Balaram's early life at Gokulam and Brindhavan. Please do tell us everything about them., they pestered Rohini and Yasodha.
Rohini was someone who can narrate any incident with added interest and imagination of her own also. Rohini also had a very good memory of place and people even if it related to many decades in the past. So she was beginning to tell all the incidents from the childhood of Krishna as personally known to her. However, she just realised that Krishna was no longer the boy belonging to Cow herd family when living them at Brindhavan. He was now a famous king of Dwarka and she should not talk anything not befitting a king and so had to steady herself and limit her narration wherever it was felt necessary. Besides his many queens were also listening to her narration of Krishna. Can the royal family understand the life pattern of simple village cowherd family style and way of life.? Can those people living in huge palaces in towns understand and appreciate the life in a small village? So in order not to create any embarraasment to any member of the royal family, while detailingthe early life of Krishna and Balarama as cowherd boys, she posted Subhadra, the sister of Krishna at the entrance of the tent, to alert if any family member of Krishna, from Dwarka came there so that she could be guarded in narrating the past events.
Subhadra stood at the entrance partly listening to the story and partly looking at the entance to see if any one was nearing. Meantime Rohini began telling each and every incident in the life of Krishna and Balaram as they were children growing in Nandhagopan family at Brindhavan. Subadhra when she started hearing about the beautiful and enchanting past of her brothers Krishna and Balaram at Brindhavan, forgot her duty to watch the arrival of any one to the tent. Her attention was completely in what Rohini was telling and she flew in the air with delightful happiness .
Subhadra did not notice Krishna and Balaram too were standing by her on either side and listening to their past history as Rohini was narrating them. The story of their golden days at Brindhavan made both Balaram and Krishna to forget themselves and relive those happy days. The more and more they heard about it, their eyes became wet with tears of happiness and the eye balls became huge. Their heads bulged. Their ears, hands, neck and leg have all became shrunk and joined with the trunk and ther mouths widened . Seeing their happy state of existence standing on either side, Subhadra too became like them. This is how we see the Jagannath and Balaram with their sister Subhadra in the centre in all pictures and statues. It is interesting and informative to learn that the day Krishna changed his appearance as the Puri Jagannath as shown in the picture of Jagannatha, the day he heard Rohini describing their early happy life at Brindhavan, is recognised as the day of Jagannatha's birth day. It is what the Skantha Purana describes. Every year that day occurs on the first full moon day in between May and June attracting thousands of devotees to Puri, in Odissha. However, Krishna's janma dhin is celebrated every year in the month of Shravan (Avani) on the 8th day (ashtami) when Rohini star occurs.
I will tell you another sub-story in this regard as a bonus for you.
There was a king named Indhradhyumna, who was a staunch Krishna devotee. He had a dream on a particular night, in which Krishna appeared as completely blue coloured. Raja woke up and wanted to know where Krishna in complete blue colour as Neela Madhava could be found and worshipped. ''Where is he, find out quickly as I wish to worship him?'' said he to his ministers to send men everywhere to trace and report to him immediately. So the search for Neela Madhava was begun.
Somewhere in a remote village, there was a pig breeder, named Viswa vasu, who had a few number of pigs to breed and lived on his meagre earning. He was lucky to find Neela Madhava in a cave temple deep inside the forest where he regularly visited and worshipped the lord. It was found out and the king arrested Viswavasu for not revealing the existence of the Neela Madhava temple to any one.
When Viswavasu was arrested there was a voice in the air, audible to the king "Immediately release Viswavasu. Build a big temple for me in the blue hill visible before you. I will not give dharshan as Neela Madhava in it. I will appear as the neem tree wood carving for the devotees.''
Raja implicitly obeyed the Divine Voice. As if by coincidence, a big neem tree was floating in the sea, which was pushed ashore by a big wave on the sea sand. The celestial sculptor Viswa karma appeared as a human being and approached the Raja, '' Oh King, let me be allowed to sculpt a beautiful Neela Madhava out of this big neem wood.''
''Ok, you may go ahead and start sculpting immediately. Whatever assistance you may need please ask me'' ordered the King.
''Yes Maharaj, I have a condition to put. I need 21 days to be locked inside a room to work on this. No one should enter the room and disturb me. The king agreed to this simple condition and the sculptor was locked inside the room to begin working on the Neel Madhava neem wood carving. Before the expliry of the twenyone days, one day there was no sound coming out from the locked room. The king was very curious and breeched the promise by asking his men to open the door of the locked room. Because the condition was breeched by the king, the divine sculptor disappeared dropping the unfinished wood carving as it was.
There were three carvings. Krishna, Subhadra, and Balaram. All the three carvings had no neck, ears, legs or hands, and the head was part of the body.The three were large eyed, wide mouthed and are what we still see and worship at Puri Jagannath temple. The king blamed himself for breeching the promise and cursed himself for his hasty act resulting in the unfinished carvings. He prostrated before the Neel Madhava and begged to be forgiven. Krishna as Neel Madhava again appeared in his dream and told him
"The devotees can always see me in the form they wish to see and worship. I appear thus to indicate that without hands and legs also i would be able to reach and bless them. If the devotees were so particular, of course, they are free to attach and fix the hands and legs in whatever metal they wish, gold or silver and satisify themselves. I leave it to you and the devotees as their choice.
That is why there is decoration for the idols in the way the devotees wish to see the lord. But the Lord has no defect in Him. It is only in our eyes.
98 ''NEELA MADHAVA ''
You know that in our Hindu religion, there are ever so many Puranas and scriptures. There is one well known as Skandha Purana. When you refer to this Purana, there will be a canto named Ütkal Kanda. There are some interesting information in this canto . I intend introducing a small part of it in this short story.
In Indian national anthem, there is a reference to ÜTKALA Jalathitha ranga. Utkal referred to Orissa. Now again Orissa has changed its name recently to Odissha. In Odissha, Krishna is well known as Jagannath.
It was some time around a Solar eclipse that a group left of people left Dwarka. The group consisted of Krishna, Balaram, their sister Subhadra, and the many wives of Krishna, the other family members etc., They proceeded tow Kurukshetha to have a dip at a particular pond on the day of solar eclipse.
News spread everywhere that Krishna along with all his family members would be visiting Kurukshethra after the war. Those who lived in Brindhavan wanted to see Krishna after so many hyears, rushed to Kurukshethra to meet him. Yasodha, Nandhagopan, Rohini, and many other gopa and Gopis went to Kurukshethra. They had so much love for Krishna.
Of the two, Rohini was some one who would be forth right in speaking and never hesitated or felt shy to speak to strangers while by nature Yasodha was a quiet woman. At Kurukshethra there was a big tent made for the Yathris where all stayed. Krishna's wives and others from the royal family of Dwarka palace stayed there. Everyone was talking interestingly about Krishna only.
The people who arrived from Dwarka were impressed by Rohini and Yasodha. We are from Dwarka and we are so much interested to learn of Krishna and Balaram's early life at Gokulam and Brindhavan. Please do tell us everything about them., they pestered Rohini and Yasodha.
Rohini was someone who can narrate any incident with added interest and imagination of her own also. Rohini also had a very good memory of place and people even if it related to many decades in the past. So she was beginning to tell all the incidents from the childhood of Krishna as personally known to her. However, she just realised that Krishna was no longer the boy belonging to Cow herd family when living them at Brindhavan. He was now a famous king of Dwarka and she should not talk anything not befitting a king and so had to steady herself and limit her narration wherever it was felt necessary. Besides his many queens were also listening to her narration of Krishna. Can the royal family understand the life pattern of simple village cowherd family style and way of life.? Can those people living in huge palaces in towns understand and appreciate the life in a small village? So in order not to create any embarraasment to any member of the royal family, while detailingthe early life of Krishna and Balarama as cowherd boys, she posted Subhadra, the sister of Krishna at the entrance of the tent, to alert if any family member of Krishna, from Dwarka came there so that she could be guarded in narrating the past events.
Subhadra stood at the entrance partly listening to the story and partly looking at the entance to see if any one was nearing. Meantime Rohini began telling each and every incident in the life of Krishna and Balaram as they were children growing in Nandhagopan family at Brindhavan. Subadhra when she started hearing about the beautiful and enchanting past of her brothers Krishna and Balaram at Brindhavan, forgot her duty to watch the arrival of any one to the tent. Her attention was completely in what Rohini was telling and she flew in the air with delightful happiness .
Subhadra did not notice Krishna and Balaram too were standing by her on either side and listening to their past history as Rohini was narrating them. The story of their golden days at Brindhavan made both Balaram and Krishna to forget themselves and relive those happy days. The more and more they heard about it, their eyes became wet with tears of happiness and the eye balls became huge. Their heads bulged. Their ears, hands, neck and leg have all became shrunk and joined with the trunk and ther mouths widened . Seeing their happy state of existence standing on either side, Subhadra too became like them. This is how we see the Jagannath and Balaram with their sister Subhadra in the centre in all pictures and statues. It is interesting and informative to learn that the day Krishna changed his appearance as the Puri Jagannath as shown in the picture of Jagannatha, the day he heard Rohini describing their early happy life at Brindhavan, is recognised as the day of Jagannatha's birth day. It is what the Skantha Purana describes. Every year that day occurs on the first full moon day in between May and June attracting thousands of devotees to Puri, in Odissha. However, Krishna's janma dhin is celebrated every year in the month of Shravan (Avani) on the 8th day (ashtami) when Rohini star occurs.
I will tell you another sub-story in this regard as a bonus for you.
There was a king named Indhradhyumna, who was a staunch Krishna devotee. He had a dream on a particular night, in which Krishna appeared as completely blue coloured. Raja woke up and wanted to know where Krishna in complete blue colour as Neela Madhava could be found and worshipped. ''Where is he, find out quickly as I wish to worship him?'' said he to his ministers to send men everywhere to trace and report to him immediately. So the search for Neela Madhava was begun.
Somewhere in a remote village, there was a pig breeder, named Viswa vasu, who had a few number of pigs to breed and lived on his meagre earning. He was lucky to find Neela Madhava in a cave temple deep inside the forest where he regularly visited and worshipped the lord. It was found out and the king arrested Viswavasu for not revealing the existence of the Neela Madhava temple to any one.
When Viswavasu was arrested there was a voice in the air, audible to the king "Immediately release Viswavasu. Build a big temple for me in the blue hill visible before you. I will not give dharshan as Neela Madhava in it. I will appear as the neem tree wood carving for the devotees.''
Raja implicitly obeyed the Divine Voice. As if by coincidence, a big neem tree was floating in the sea, which was pushed ashore by a big wave on the sea sand. The celestial sculptor Viswa karma appeared as a human being and approached the Raja, '' Oh King, let me be allowed to sculpt a beautiful Neela Madhava out of this big neem wood.''
''Ok, you may go ahead and start sculpting immediately. Whatever assistance you may need please ask me'' ordered the King.
''Yes Maharaj, I have a condition to put. I need 21 days to be locked inside a room to work on this. No one should enter the room and disturb me. The king agreed to this simple condition and the sculptor was locked inside the room to begin working on the Neel Madhava neem wood carving. Before the expliry of the twenyone days, one day there was no sound coming out from the locked room. The king was very curious and breeched the promise by asking his men to open the door of the locked room. Because the condition was breeched by the king, the divine sculptor disappeared dropping the unfinished wood carving as it was.
There were three carvings. Krishna, Subhadra, and Balaram. All the three carvings had no neck, ears, legs or hands, and the head was part of the body.The three were large eyed, wide mouthed and are what we still see and worship at Puri Jagannath temple. The king blamed himself for breeching the promise and cursed himself for his hasty act resulting in the unfinished carvings. He prostrated before the Neel Madhava and begged to be forgiven. Krishna as Neel Madhava again appeared in his dream and told him
"The devotees can always see me in the form they wish to see and worship. I appear thus to indicate that without hands and legs also i would be able to reach and bless them. If the devotees were so particular, of course, they are free to attach and fix the hands and legs in whatever metal they wish, gold or silver and satisify themselves. I leave it to you and the devotees as their choice.
That is why there is decoration for the idols in the way the devotees wish to see the lord. But the Lord has no defect in Him. It is only in our eyes.