Why Narada remained a bachelor

As is true of any mythological happening, there are many interesting stories behind the bachelorhood of Sage Narada. Let me narrate one such interesting story that perhaps not only explains Narada’s bachelorhood, but also many of the events that followed.

King Ambarish was a renowned Vishnu Bhakta. It is even said that a very pleased Vishnu had given the Sudharshana Chakra as a protection to King Ambarish. Many sages and wise men often visited the King. On one such occasion, Sage Narada and sage Parvata visited the King. As they were discussing the various happenings of the universe and each man sharing his wisdom with the other, King Ambarish’s daughter Srimati came in to wash the feet of the sages and offer them something to eat. The two sages were mesmerised by the beauty and grace of Srimati and both of them wanted to marry her.

They expressed their desire to the king who was now in a dilemma. But being the diplomatic and wise person that he was, he called both the sages for a Swayamvar the next day. Both the sages agreed and as they were leaving, Sage Parvata told Narada that victory was his as he looked better than Narada.

Narada’s knee-jerk reaction to this situation reiterates the fact that when it comes to choosing a bride even the wisest of sages is pretty unsure of what a girl looks for in her prospective groom!

Narada ran to Vishnu and told him about the situation...

Narada ran to Vishnu and told him about the situation that he was in. Vishnu smilingly assured Narada that things would go well and that he shouldn't be too worried. With these assuring words from Lord Vishnu on his side, Narada, somewhat calmly, went away.

Exited Narada, entered Parvata! Parvata narrated the episode once again and told Lord Vishnu that even the surest of men cannot be very sure when it comes to marriage! Vishnu eased Parvata’s nerves and told him to relax. He assured Parvata too that things would go well.

The next day both the sages went confidently to the Swayamvar, because they thought Lord Vishnu would know what Srimati was looking for in her husband. The Swayamvar began and the two sages were eagerly waiting for Srimati to garland them. Srimati hesitated and called her father. She told her father that she could not see the two holy men, and instead saw a monkey faced man and a bear faced man sitting there, and in between them stood a very handsome man, smiling gently. She told her father that she wished to garland him and threw the garland, which immediately fell around the neck of the handsome man. The next minute, both Srimati and the stranger disappeared.

The sages then saw their reflection in a mirror and saw the monkey and bear faces. They were angered and in their fury, went straight to meet Lord Vishnu. There, by the side of Lord Vishnu, stood Srimati as his wife. Seeing the two sages, Lord Vishnu could not control his laughter. He then told them that he too did not know what a woman would look for in her future husband, but he knew his wife well! Even as Lord Vishnu said this, Srimati turned into goddess Lakshmi. Lord Vishnu then told the sages that it was a shame on them that they could not identify the Goddess. Both the sages were ashamed of themselves and only Narada could overcome his guilt and face Lord Vishnu. He apologised for his mistake and took an oath never to marry!

They saw their monkey and bear face and were angered!

 “But”, he continued, “Since you have insulted a monkey and a bear by laughing at them, in your next avatar as human being, it is the monkey and the bear that will help you reach your goal” said Narada to Lord Vishnu.

A true sage’s words also come true. In his Rama avatar, Lord Vishnu is ably helped by Hanuman and Jambhavan.

What a wealth of morals this story has for all of us to learn from!

Even Gods are spared when they stray away from the path of humility!

King Ambarish and Sage Dhuruvasa

In the era of Sathya Yuga, there lived a king by the name Ambarish who was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu, was greatly pleased with the King's sincere devotion and granted him  the Sudharshana Chakra, along with other powers.

Lord Indra, the lord of rain was always jealous of King Ambarish. Once King Ambarish undertook a fast which was to begin on the 11^th of every month in the morning and end the next day. He decided to undertake the fast for one year. As this fast was towards Lord Vishnu, seeking His blessings, completion of the fast would make Ambarish a very powerful King. 

Lord Indra’s insecurity knew no bounds.

As the year was nearing completion Indra decided to break Ambarish’s fast somehow or the other. He visited the ashram of Sage Dhuruvasa, who was one among the Saptarishis. On seeing Indra, sage Dhuruvasa was wonder struck. Normally nobody visited him as word about the sage’s anger was known far and wide!

Indra went to the sage with folded hands and bowing in front of the sage and pleasing the sage in every manner possible. The sage was pleased with Indra and asked him the purpose of his visit. Lord Indra told the sage about Ambarish’s fast and how dedicated the King was. The sage was pleased and praised Ambarish. Indra also told the sage that the next day was the last day of his fasting and that it would be a joyous occasion to be in his midst during the occasion. The sage agreed and visited the fasting King the next day.

King Ambarish was pleasantly surprised and invited the sage to break the fast along with him. The sage told Ambarish that he would join him after a bath. The chosen hour to break the fast was fast approaching, but the sage had not returned. The King’s men urged him to break his fast by drinking water as keeping time was most important. The King was thrown into a situation which all of us face in our day-today- life. Such situations are known as ‘Dharmasangadam’. When the values that you uphold are at logger heads with each other, you do not know which one to uphold and which one to let go. 

He did not know whether to please Lord Vishnu by keeping up his time or to uphold the word given to his ‘athithi’ or guest. He decided that he would take the mid path by drinking water which should be enough to please Lord Vishnu, yet not offend his guest as he had only promised to eat with him.

The sage appeared just as the king was drinking water...

Though the King thought that he had cleverly circumvented the problem on hand, the sage who appeared as the King was drinking water was overcome by anger and in no time his anger turned into rage and the sage plucked a hair from his head which took the form of a demon. 

King Ambarish knew that since he had done no wrong, his devotion would save him from any danger. Faith in God and trust in oneself are the two weapons required to face any situation.  King Ambarish’s trust in himself and his steadfast faith in Lord Vishnu brought forth the Sudharshana Chakra which promptly beheaded the demon. It then turned towards the sage who started running for his dear life. The sage went to Lord Brahma, the creator, who could not help him. Then the sage ran to Lord Shiva, who also expressed his inability to help the sage. Finally the sage went to Lord Vishnu. Vishnu, unfortunately could do little in the situation, as the Chakra was at the service of King Ambarish. The sage went to King Ambarish who prayed to Lord Vishnu and the Chakra immediately fell to the ground as did the anger of the sage!

The King and the sage broke the fast as agreed and the sage was extremely happy to be with the King at an auspicious occasion. While the sage blessed the King he also realised that the place for him was his ashram. He was duty bound to bless the people who came to his ashram seeking his advice and blessings.

Kannagi – the spirit behind modern democracy

 

 The story of Kannagi is one of great inspiration even in modern times. Though democracy is considered to be a recent phenomenon, in spirit it has been in existence for a long time. 

Silapadhikaram is the story of a husband and wife, Kovalan and Kannagi. Kovalan was a rich merchant and led an honorable life, until he met Madhavi, a dancer.

He left Kannagi and started living with Madhavi. The couple had a chld Manimegalai, who later became the protagonist of another literary epic, Manimegalai. After a spat with Madhavi, Kovalan returned to his wife Kannagi.

He returned to her, only because he knew his wife will accept him. She,indeed, accepted him but not without telling him why she did so. 

This, to me, is the defining moment in the entire Silapadhikaram. She said, and when translated in English it goes thus: “You may have committed a wrong deed, but I still remain the same and have not changed in my path of virtue, therefore I shall continue to serve you”.

She has her differences with her husband, yet she guided him in the path of righteousness by giving one of her anklets. She told him to sell them and start a business. While taking the anklet to the market in the kingdom of Pandiya King Nedunchezhiyan, unfortunately, he was arrested by the king’s men, mistaking him for the thief who stole the queen's anklets.

Without a proper trial being conducted he was executed for stealing one of the Queen’s anklets. On hearing the news of her husband’s death, Kannagi went to the court of the Pandiya King and there unfolded the famous court room scene (which probably was the motivation for many Tamil movie makers later on), where Kannagi was allowed to present her cause. Being an outsider in the state (she belonged to Kaveripattinam, in Poompuhar which was a part of the Chola dynasty), having lost her husband and all other wealth she had, she stood in front of a King who has just slayed her husband. She demanded justice from the King and asked him what the anklet worn by his Queen were filled with. Hailing from a rich business family, her anklets were filled with the most precious gems. 

The Pandiya King replied to all her queries and said that his Queen’s anklets were filled with pearls. The King broke the Queen’s anklet and finds it filled with pearls. Kannagi then broke open the anklet that she had with her. Precious gems rolled on the floor of King Pandiya’s court. 

He then broke the one that was taken from Kovalan and as precious gems rolled out, the Pandiya King fell from his throne to his death. Following her husband the Queen too fell to her death. Kannagi then cursed the city of Madurai to be consumed by fire. Barring animals, children, women and good people, she cursed everything else to be burnt. 

Having taken her revenge, she traveled to Chera kingdom where she lived until her death. Many debates over Kannagi’s action of burning innocent people have raged time and time again. But when we take a closer look at the people she spared, it is evident that the war between her and the Pandiya Kingdom saw the death of bad men and warriors. This is what happens in any war waged. So in that sense, her actions are justified. 

In spirit she followed true democracy. The King did not uphold justice and Kannagi did not fight injustice with injustice. She fought bravely and within the framework of social justice punished injustice.

An interesting fact that I read somewhere, “Husband and Wife are like a pair of scissors. They work in opposite directions, yet do not hesitate to cut anything that comes in between them.”

Kannagi had her problems with Kovalan, yet did not spare the King who caused a separation between them!

The Pandiya King was the epitome of high moral values. His Queen’s anklets are filled with pearls. Being the King of a wealthy nation, he could have afforded to fill his Queen’s anklets with the rarest of gems. But he chose to fill it with pearls as his kingdom was rich in pearls. He chose to own only what was made in his country, thereby upholding patriotism in the truest sense. This also proved that he was a man of high self-respect.  His folly seemed to have been the haste while delivering justice. For this he was punished in the end.

The Ramayana – a different perspective – Part I

  As kids we have heard tales about Ramayana and Mahabharata.  We have heard about the gory deeds of the demons and how they, in the end, are overpowered by God. Usually these Gods descend on earth to nullify the evil power possessed by these demons and to give them Moksha.
 

Very rarely are the good deeds of these demons talked about. May be we have relegated them to a mere saying “Give the demon his due”. In action, we never give the demons their due!

Let me give the devil his due, by introducing Ravana as a great Shiva Bhakta. He was an able administrator and a man of high values and integrity. Under his leadership Lanka came to be known as the land of Gold. Lanka was a very prosperous kingdom. We know this for a fact from the dialogue between Vibhishanan and Kumbakarnan. Kumbakarnan tells Vibhishanan that he will not fight the battle on Rama’s side for the sake of the becoming the king of the Golden city, Lanka. Ravana had courageous soldiers and loyal ministers. Though Rama had a bigger army, the Ravana sena or the army of Ravana, fought bravely for their king till their very end, which goes on to prove that barring the abduction of Sita, they were happy with their king in very many respects. 

Lanka was filled with learned men like Vibhishana, pious men like Ravana himself and brave and loyal men like Kumbakarna. The women were chaste like Mandodari, Ravana’s wife. What then could have triggered a man as righteous as Ravana to abduct Sita?

Lust, it is said was the reason behind this act of his. But if that was true, then Sita was all alone when Ravana abducted her. Logically there was no need for him to abduct her and taking her to Lanka in the most honourable and dignified manner. Ravana does not even touch Sita ,even while kidnapping her. The land mass around them breaks and they get airlifted. So lust clearly is not the motive behind the kidnapping. If revenge was the reason, then what act of Rama’s camp did he avenge? It is believed that when Lakshmana chopped off Surpanaka’s nose, she went to her brother with a bleeding face. This prompted Ravana to kidnap Sita. 

Then is it not right to say that Ramayana, the epic war was sparked off due to Lakshmana’s anger? As much as it was the duty of Rama to save his wife’s honour, it was the duty of Ravana to save his sister’s honour. 

But at this point I am going to place an argument which is debatable. “Nothing succeeds like success”, they say. But behind Rama’s success there was a sense of justice. While Ravana also fought for his sister’s honour, which was a noble cause, he should have fought the man who dishonoured his sister, rather than abducting an innocent lady, thereby putting her to shame. Rama, on the other hand, fought directly with the man who had brought dishonour to his wife. Had Ravana fought Lakshmana directly, he probably would have been the hero of Ramayana.

With this perspective to the Ramayana, there are quite a number of lessons to be learnt. Firstly, Lakshmana’s anger turned into rage when he cut off the nose of Surpanaka. 

A gruesome act under whatever provocation will only lead to grave consequences. The first lesson that we have to learn is to channelize our anger.

In the saga as described above, Lakshmana acted in anger and haste. This anger made Ravana counter-act in the same haste and anger. The one man who was angered, but did not act in haste, was Rama. He channelized his anger in finding a solution. He sent Hanuman as a messenger of peace. If at this stage, Ravana had let go of his ego, maybe, he could have made Rama understand Lakshmana’s folly. Having failed in bringing peace, his next step was to ensure Sita was safe. This too he did with Hanuman’s help. 

And in end, to save his wife, Rama waged war against Ravana, as he should have done. Anger, haste and ego can bring great losses, while patience and kindness towards others make us a hero.

A new twist to an old tale

 

 Change is the only constant thing in the world. The world is moving towards the four R’s which are re-cycle, reuse, refuse and reduce.We may add the fifth R to this by including re-tell.

Here is the story of the four men who travelled by a boat, retold.

Once upon a time, four men, a Brahmin, a farmer, a carpenter and a labourer travelled by a boat from one shore of a river to another. On the way, the Brahmin started conversing with his other boat mates. 

Slowly he realised that the other three did not know as much as he knew and he was more knowledgeable than the others. His ego ballooned and he started asking questions form the Vedas and the Puranas. He recited flawlessly from the Upanishads and the Gita. The other three men were left speechless. They felt belittled by the Brahmin who was at the brim of bloated ego.

 While they were traveling thus by the boat, suddenly the river started to swell and the boat was struggling to keep afloat. The hitherto confident Brahmin started trembling and his knee went liquid. He turned towards his co-passengers and asked them if they knew how to escape the rough weather. The three of them mocked him in unison and said that the knowledge that he possessed was of no use, if he did not know how to swim. Saying thus, they jumped into the river and swam to safety. The Brahmin meanwhile closed his eyes and uttered all the prayers he had learnt and jumped into the river. When he opened his eyes, he found himself being washed ashore. He wondered how he had made it to safety, when the other three joined him. They helped him to his feet and told him that he had managed to grasp a log that was floating past him. It was the log that helped him reach the shore safely. The Brahmin somehow felt that it was divine intervention that saved him.

He then thanked the three men who had opened his eyes to his folly. From the next day the Brahmin was seen at the river banks taking swimming lessons from his three friends!

By his action, the Brahmin finally practiced ‘Amaanitvam’or renunciation of vidya garvam, kula garvam, dhana garvam, etc. which took him closer to divinity!