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Sunday, October 25, 2015

Spiritual Eye

Sanjaya Saw Entire Battlefield

"Vyasa said,--'O king, thy sons and the other monarchs have their hour arrived. 2 Mustered in battle they will kill one another. O Bharata, their hour having come, they will all perish. Bearing in mind the changes brought on by time, do not yield thy heart to grief. O king, if thou wish to see them (fighting) in battle, I will, O son, grant thee vision. Behold the battle."

"Dhritarashtra said,--'O best of regenerate Rishi, I like not to behold the slaughter of kinsmen. I shall, however, through thy potency hear of this battle minutely."

Vaisampayana continued.--"Upon his not wishing to see the battle but wishing to hear of it, Vyasa, that lord of boons, gave a boon to Sanjaya. (And addressing Dhritarashtra he said),--'This Sanjaya, O king, will describe the battle to thee. Nothing in the whole battle will be beyond this one's eyes.' Endued, O king with celestial vision, Sanjaya will narrate the battle to thee. He will have knowledge of everything. Manifest or concealed, (happening) by day or by night, even that which is thought of in the mind, Sanjaya shall know everything. Weapons will not cut him and exertion will not fatigue him. This son of Gavalgani will come out of the battle with life. As regards myself, O bull of Bharata's race, the fame of these Kurus, as also of all the Pandavas, I will spread. Do not grieve. This is destiny, O tiger among men. It behoveth thee not to give way to grief. It is not capable of being prevented. As regards victory, it is there where righteousness is.'" 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06002.htm

Gandhari Saw After Battlefield Death

 Gandhari, though staying on that spot which was distant from the field of battle, beheld, with her spiritual eye, the slaughter of the Kurus. Devoted to her lord, that highly blessed lady had always practised high vows. Undergoing the severest penances, she was always truthful in her speech. In consequence of the gift of the boon by the great rishi Vyasa of sanctified deeds, she became possessed of spiritual knowledge and power. Piteous were the lamentations in which that dame then indulged. Endued with great intelligence, the Kuru dame saw, from a distance, but as if from a near point, that field of battle, terrible to behold and full of wonderful sights, of those foremost of fighters. 


Yudhishtira Saw After Battlefield Soul Destination

The royal sage Dhritarashtra, however, restraining the grief that arises from folly, enquired of Yudhishthira the just, saying, ‘If, O son of Pandu, thou knowest it, tell me the number of those that have fallen in this battle, as also of those that have escaped with life!’

"Yudhishthira answered, ‘One billion 660 million and 20,000 men have fallen in this battle. Of the heroes that have escaped, the number is 240,165.’

"Dhritarashtra said, ‘Tell me, O mighty-armed one, for thou art conversant with everything, what ends have those foremost of men attained.’

"Yudhishthira said, ‘Those warriors of true prowess that have cheerfully cast off their bodies in fierce battle have all attained regions like those of Indra. Knowing death to be inevitable, they that have encountered it cheerlessly have attained the companionship of the gandharvas. Those warriors that have fallen at the edge of weapons, while turning away from the field or begging for quarter, have attained the world of the guhyakas.Those high-souled warriors who, observant of the duties of kshatriya-hood and regarding flight from battle to be shameful, have fallen, mangled with keen weapons, while advancing unarmed against fighting foes, have all assumed bright forms and attained the regions of Brahman. The remaining warriors, that have in anyhow met with death on the precincts of the field of battle, have attained the region of the Uttara-Kurus.’"

"Dhritarashtra said, ‘By the power of what knowledge, O son, thou seest these things like one crowned with ascetic success? Tell me this, O mighty-armed one, if thou thinkest that I can listen to it without impropriety!’

"Yudhishthira said, ‘While at thy command I wandered in the forest, I obtained this boon on the occasion of sojourning to the sacred places. I met with the celestial rishi Lomasa and obtained from him the boon of spiritual vision. Thus on a former occasion I obtained second sight through the power of knowledge!’

Luck

"Gandhari said, ‘Behold the son of Somadatta, who was slain by Yuyudhana, pecked at and torn by a large number of birds! Burning with grief at the death of his son, Somadatta, O Janardana, (as he lies there) seems to censure the great bowman Yuyudhana. There the mother of Bhurishrava, that faultless lady, overcome with grief, is addressing her lord Somadatta, saying,

"By good luck, O king, thou seest not this terrible carnage of the Bharatas, this extermination of the Kurus, this sight that resembles the scenes occurring at the end of the yuga. 

By good luck, thou seest not thy heroic son, who bore the device of the sacrificial stake on his banner and who performed numerous sacrifices with profuse presents to all, slain on the field of battle.

By good luck, thou hearest not those frightful wails of woe uttered amidst this carnage by thy daughters-in-law like the screams of a flight of cranes on the bosom of the sea. Thy daughters-in-law, bereaved of both husbands and sons, are running hither and thither, each clad in a single piece of raiment and each with her black tresses all dishevelled.

By good luck, thou seest not thy son, that tiger among men, deprived of one of his arms, overthrown by Arjuna, and even now in course of being devoured by beasts of prey.

By good luck, thou seest not today thy son slain in battle, and Bhurishrava deprived of life, and thy widowed daughters-in-law plunged into grief.

By good luck, thou seest not the golden umbrella of that illustrious warrior who had the sacrificial stake for the device on his banner, torn and broken on the terrace of his car.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m11/m11023.htm

Lament

Bodies

Beholding the bodies (of their sons, husbands, or sires), are weeping and setting up loud wails. Others are striking their heads with their own soft hands. The earth, strewn with severed heads and hands and other limbs mingled together and gathered in large heaps, looks resplendent with these signs of havoc!

Beholding many headless trunks of great beauty, and many heads without trunks, those fair ones have been lying senseless on the ground for a long while. Uniting particular heads with particular trunks, those ladies, senseless with grief, are again discovering their mistakes and saying, "This is not this one’s," and are weeping more bitterly! Others, uniting arms and thighs and feet, cut off with shafts, are giving way to grief and losing their senses repeatedly (at the sight of the restored forms). Some amongst the Bharata ladies,

Beholding the bodies of their lords,--bodies that have been mangled by animals and birds and severed of their heads,--are not succeeding in recognising them.

Beholding their brothers, sires, sons, and husbands slain by foes, are, O destroyer of Madhu, striking their heads with their own hands. Miry with flesh and blood, the Earth has become impassable with arms still holding swords in their grasp, and with heads adorned with earrings.

Beholding the field strewn with their brothers and sires, and sons, those faultless ladies, who had never before suffered the least distress, are now plunged into unutterable woe.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m11/m11015.htm

Sleep

All of them are worthy of sleeping on soft and clean beds. But, alas, plunged into distress, they are sleeping today on the bare ground. Bards reciting their praises used to delight them before at proper times. They are now listening to the fierce and inauspicious cries of jackals. Those illustrious heroes who used formerly to sleep on costly beds with their limbs smeared with sandal paste and powdered aloe, alas, now sleep on the dust! These vultures and wolves and ravens have now become their ornaments. Repeatedly uttering inauspicious and fierce cries those creatures are now dragging their bodies. Delighting in battle, those heroes, looking cheerful, have still beside them their keen shafts, well-tempered swords, and bright maces, as if life has not yet departed from them. Many foremost of heroes, possessed of beauty and fair complexions and adorned with garlands of gold, are sleeping on the ground. Behold, beasts of prey are dragging and tearing them. Others, with massive arms, are sleeping with maces in their embrace, as if those were beloved wives.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m11/m11015.htm

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Youth

Five Worthy Couples

http://trivenijournalindia.com/fiveworthycouplesinthemahabharatajan78.htm

  1. Surya with Prabhavati, 
  2. Agni with Swaha, 
  3. Vasava with Sachi, 
  4. Chandra with Rohini, 
  5. Yama with Urmila, 
  6. Varuna with Gauri, 
  7. Kuvera with Riddhi, 
  8. Narayana with Lakshmi, 
  9. Sagara with Jahnavi, 
  10. Rudra with Rudrani, 
  11. the Grandsire with Saraswati, 
  12. Vasishtha's son Saktri with Adrisyanti, 
  13. Vasishtha with Arundhati (called also Akshamala), 
  14. Chyavana with Sukanya, 
  15. Pulastya with Sandhya, 
  16. Agastya with the princess of Vidarbha Lopamudra, 
  17. Satyavan with Savitri, 
  18. Bhrigu with Puloma, 
  19. Kasyapa with Aditi, 
  20. Richika's son Jamadagni with Renuka, 
  21. Kusika's son Viswamitra with Himavati, 
  22. Vrihaspati with Tara, 
  23. Sukra with Sataprava, 
  24. Bhumipati with Bhumi, 
  25. Pururavas with Urvasi, 
  26. Richika with Satyavati, 
  27. Manu with Saraswati, 
  28. Dushyanta with Sakuntala, 
  29. the eternal Dharma with Dhriti,
  30. Nala with Damayanti, 
  31. Narada, with Satyavati, 
  32. Jaratkaru with Jaratkaru, 
  33. Pulastya with Pratichya, 
  34. Urnayus with Menaka, 
  35. Tumvuru with Rambha, 
  36. Vasuki with Satasirsha, 
  37. Dhananjaya with Kamari, 
  38. Rama with the princess of Videha Sita, or 
  39. Janardana with Rukmini.

Source
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05117.htm

Friday, October 23, 2015

18 Kings

"Bhima said, 'Speak thou, O slayer of Madhu, in such a strain that there may be peace with the Kurus. Do not threaten them with war. Resenting everything, his wrath always excited, hostile to his own good and arrogant, Duryodhana should not be roughly addressed. Do thou behave towards him with mildness. Duryodhana is by nature sinful of heart like that of a robber, intoxicated with the pride of prosperity, hostile to the Pandavas, without foresight, cruel in speech, always disposed to censure others, of wicked prowess, of wrath not easily to be appeased, not susceptible of being taught, of wicked soul, deceitful in behaviour, capable of giving up his very life rather than break or give up his own opinion. Peace with such a one, O Krishna, is, I suppose, most difficult. Regardless of the words of even his well-wishers, destitute of virtue, loving falsehood, he always acts against the words of his counsellors and wounds their hearts. Like a serpent hid within reeds, he naturally commits sinful acts, depending on his own wicked disposition, and obedient to the impulse of wrath. What army Duryodhana hath, what his conduct is, what his nature, what his might, and what his prowess, are all well-known to thee. Before this, the Kauravas with their son passed their days in cheerfulness, and we also with our friends rejoiced like the younger brother of Indra, with Indra himself. Alas, by Duryodhana's wrath, O slayer of Madhu, the Bharatas will all be consumed, even like forests by fire at the end of the dewy seasons, and, O slayer of Madhu, well-known are those eighteen kings that annihilated their kinsmen, friends, and relatives. Even as, when

  1. Dharma became extinct, Kali was born in the race of Asuras flourishing with prosperity and blazing with energy, 
  2. so was born Udavarta among the Haihayas. 
  3. Janamejaya among the Nepas, 
  4. Vahula among the Talajanghas, 
  5. proud Vasu among the Krimis, 
  6. Ajavindu among the Suviras, 
  7. Rushardhik among the Surashtras, 
  8. Arkaja among the Valihas, 
  9. Dhautamulaka among the Chinas, 
  10. Hayagriva among the Videhas, 
  11. Varayu among the Mahaujasas, 
  12. Vahu among the Sundaras, 
  13. Pururavas among the Diptakshas, 
  14. Sahaja among the Chedis and Matsyas, 
  15. Vrishaddhaja among the Praviras, 
  16. Dharana among the Chandra-batsyas, 
  17. Bigahana among the Mukutas and 
  18. Sama among the Nandivegas. 
These vile individuals, O Krishna, spring up, at the end of each Yuga, in their respective races, for the destruction of their kinsmen. So hath Duryodhana, the very embodiment of sin and the disgrace of his race, been born, at the end of the Yuga, amongst us the Kurus. Therefore, O thou of fierce prowess, thou shouldst address him slowly and mildly, not in bitter but sweet words fraught with virtue and profit, and discourse fully on the subject so as to attract his heart. All of us, O Krishna, would rather in humiliation follow Duryodhana submissively, but, oh, let not the Bharatas be annihilated. O Vasudeva, act in such a way that we may rather live as strangers to the Kurus than incurring the sin of bringing about the destruction of the whole race should touch them, O Krishna, let the aged Grandsire and the other counsellors of the Kurus be asked to bring about brotherly feelings between brothers and to pacify the son of Dhritarashtra. Even this is what I say. King Yudhishthira also approveth of this, and Arjuna too is averse to war, for there is great compassion in him.'"

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05074.htm

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