none cares about the meek and obedient....

none cares about the meek and obedient....

अकृतोपद्रवः कश्चिन्महानपि न पूज्यते।

अर्चयति नराः नागं न तार्क्ष्यं न गजाधिकम्॥

akṛtopadravaḥ kaścinmahānapi na pūjyate|

arcayati narāḥ nāgaṁ na tārkṣyaṁ na gajādhikam||

A person who is calm and quiet and who means no harm to others is verily not respected ( compared to the persons who prove to be some threat to us..). 

We worship venomous snakes with great devotions and alacrity.. 

Such great devotion or interest is not seen in the worship of even the king of vultures Garuda or even huge animals like the elephant. 

( Garuda and others simply exist without meddling with the life of others, and therefore they are taken for granted.. but the puny reptile specializes spewing venom.. and it therefore worshiped) 

Rattle the Sabre.. and one will be noted, and even worshiped..

Finally the Victory..

Finally the Victory..

The battle was over now.  The valiant bird had won the pot of nectar through his valour without comparison.  Amrutha is a potion which would give immortality to a person who drank even a little of it.  But Garuda had never thought of partaking of it for himself to gain immortality.  His only aim  was to ensure that his mother Vinatha was released from the slavery from Kadru.  Even now it was not too late.  He could have his own share of amrutha because the entire pot was with him.  But Garutman would have nothing of it.  He was dutifully carrying the pot to where his aunt and cousins were stationed.  On the way he met Lord Narayana.  The Lord of Lords was pleased with the utter lack of selfishness on the part of the bird.  So He addressed Garuda and told him that He was granting a boon to the bird.  The  request of Garuda was that he should stay stationed above the Lord and that if the lord pleases he should be granted immortality even without consuming amrutha. The boon was granted.  The Lord gave a place to Garuda in his flagstaff.  Garuda in turn offered a boon to the Lord and the Lord asked the bird to be his mount. Garuda thus became the eternal servant of Lord Narayana.

While Garuda was heading for his own abode with the pot of amrutha, Indra hurled his weapon of thunder and lighning, Vajrayaudha at the bird.  The bird laughed it off.  He was not at all affected by the weapon.  But the bird was acutely aware of the sacrifice of Sage  Dadhiichi who gave up his life to offer his backbone to be crafted as this weapon to enable Indra to annihilate Vritrasura.  Moreover the bird did not  want to bring infamy either to the weapon on its wielder Indra.  So he offered to shed one of his feathers in response to the impact of Vajra.  The huge feather fell on the space and the living beings were not even able to measure it from one tip to the other.  The feather was very beautiful.  So the Gods and other occupants of heaven praised Garuda as Suparna, the possessor of beautiful feathers.

Indra then requested eternal friendship with Garuda and it was granted.  Indra pleaded to Garuda that if the amrutha was consumed by the thousand wily and venomous snakes, they would become very powerful and as they were already having only evil intentions towards living beings, their gaining immortality would be a catastrophe to all living creatures.  Garuda replied that  he was forced into the adventure of capturing amrutha by an action of deception on the part of his aunt Kadru in collusion with her sons and all that he had promised was to fetch the pot of nectar to their place in return to his mother's liberty.  He had no intention of allowing them to drink the nectar. So Indra was free to take away the nectar once it was placed in the presence of the snakes and Vinatha's liberty was ensured.

Accordingly, Garuda reached the place where the snakes and Kadru were residing.  There was a thick growth of Kusa grassed and Garuda placed the pot on the grass  and told the snakes to have their hearts content of amrutha and they could have their drink after purifying themselves with a ritualistic bath and other observances.  The foolish snakes went for a bath after releasing Vinatha and  as already determined, Indra  took away the pot of amrutha back to its place.

The snakes returned from their bath and ablutions to find the pot of amrutha missing.  They had no means of retaliation. Garuda was too strong an adversary, and he had kept his promise.  All they could do was to lick the Kusa grasses over which the pot of nectar was placed earlier.  Their tongues became split  due to the sharpness of the grass.

Since the pot of nectar was placed on Kusa (Darbha) grass, they became sacred from that time onwards. 

Garuda did not keep quiet.  He attacked the snakes with great vigour and killed most of them, and only about ten Nagas were left behind.  Garuda spared them only because of divine intervention.

Thus after accomplishing his mission with great success, Garuda lived happily in the company of his beloved mother Vinatha ever after.

The episode of Garuda has many things in common with the adventures of Anjaneya as we could see in the Sundarakandam and Yuddhakandam of Ramayanam.

The total lack of selfishness on the part of Garuda  as he chose not to drink nectar but  preferred to remain the faithful servant of Lord Narayana  makes his glory even more praiseworthy.

Now it is our turn to look into the history of Hanuman.

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

the grand battle..

the grand battle..

Now the real battle for Amrutha began.   The mighty garuda after making himself fortified with a grand meal of the elephant and tortoise and sufficiently backed up by the blessings of his father Kashyapa and the sages Valakhilyas, made it straight to the heaven where the pot containing the Amrutha ( also termed as Soma in many parts of this story in Mahabharatham) was kept in great security.  The pot was guarded by one Brahmana ( a name and not the caste)  who was of immense strength and shone like the resplendent Sun.  Garuda simply made a frontal attack on him with his talons, beak and wings and within seconds  the guard fell unconscious.  Meanwhile the movement of the wings of Garuda had blown up so much of dust in the environs that it was almost a night in the daylight for heaven.  The gods who had all armed themselves with their select weapons to attack the bird, started hitting each other with those weapons in the blinding dust.  Indra the lord of gods ordered Vayu, the wind god to blow hard and drive away the dust, which the latter did effectively.  But by that time the gods had either mangled themselves by attacking one another in darkness or by being hit by the wings and talons of Garuda.  The heaven witnessed a lot of flow of blood from  the well nourshed bodies of gods.  However when the dust settled down the gods led by Indra started attacking Garuda with whatever weapons and energy they were left with.  Garuda gave out a loud roar and  arming himself with many weapons obtained by his inherent powers, hit back at the gods without any wavering. The Saadhyas were on flight towards the east, the Vasus and Gandharvas were efficiently using their feet to reach the farthest location in the south,  the Adityas were seen darting towards west  and the twin Ashwins found themselves landed up in the farthest northern terrain.  Garuda fought with the Yakshas, Ashwakraandas, Rainuka, Kritanaka, Tapana. Uluka (the lord of Owls), Swasanaka, Nimesha, Prajula and Pulina, and  managed to make them all  into a bundle of mashed meat. (The names given are of various leaders of the groups of warriors among the inhabitants of heaven.. suffice to say it was hell for them that day).   The valour of Garutman  resembled the power of Lord Shiva at the time of destruction of the Universe at the end of a kalpa.   The clouds were soaked with blood of all types of gods and looked dark red.

After rendering the opponents to complete ineffectiveness, Garuda proceeded towards the place where Amruta was kept.   

He found that the location was covered with flames very difficult to penetrate.  Immediately, by his yogic powers, Garuda assumed ninety times ninety forms of himself and sucked up all the sources of water in the universe through his beaks and poured the entire liquid on the fire.  After extinguishing the fire, the Gaurda assumed a normal size and the hue of gold and forcibly entered the place where amruta was kept.  The gods had deviced  a rotating iron weapon like a fan with blades  as sharp as razor edges on both sides and placed with little gap between one another.. the weapon was rotating at a dizzy speed.  In the normal course, anyone who went near the  wheel would have been cut into millions of pieces in a second.  Within the line of this wheel two snakes were stationed.  They shone like lighted fire and from their mouths venom was spraying in all directions.  Their eyes were glowing so fiercely  that an average living  thing would have been reduced to ashes even at the sight of them.  Their power essentially lied in their ever open eyes.  The son of Vinatha kicked up huge clouds of dust and covered the eyes of the snakes  and then with great speed and alacrity, caught hold of them and mangled them to death.  Then he assumed a very tiny form and negotiated the gap between the blades of the rotating fan and got hold of the pot of amrutha without any delay.

Thus the great Garutman ultimately became the master of  the Kalasa (pot)  full of amrutha.

Further narration will follow.

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

Even the strongest beings will have testing times..

Even the strongest beings will have testing times..

Once Kashyapa Prajapati the scion of all the gods and demons decided to conduct a yajna and directed all his sons and disciples to collect the holy materials for such oblation to fire. The gods and demons with their huge powers could bring in many ingredients in huge bulk. Indra the leader of gods was carrying a huge bundle of palasa

( the dried branches of this plant are offered to fire as oblation in yagas and yajnas) equaling the size of a mountain and was was walking towards the yajnasaala( the place where the yajna is to take place) in great arrogance and show of of achievement. Just then there were a set of sages called Valakhilyas , in a large group carrying a single twig of palasa and they were also heading towards the place of yajna. These Valakhilyas were tiny people and perhaps because they, absorbed in penance, neglected to eat or drink anything and could survive to keep and body together just by absorbing energy from the sunlight, they were as tiny as human thumbs. But they were very potent in penance. In their tiny size, they thought they could do their mite by carrying a a palasa twig for the yagna. Indra's arrogant gait unsettled these tiny sages and they were just thrown into a muddy puddle formed of little rain water, which submerged them and ruined the twig also. With great difficulty they swam out and Indra was making fun of them all the while. They cursed him that he will have to pay heavily for it and he will be defeated by a person of greater strength that himself, born as a bird.

These Valakhilyas were in the habit of doing penance dangling upside down from the branch of some tree in the northern mountains.These Valakhilyas in hundreds were in fact dangling from the branch of banyan tree in the forest.

Garuda was carrying the huge elephant and the tortoise holding them fast with his nails and while soaring up he requested his father Kashyapa to indicate to him some strong tree where he could place these two beasts and break them with his sharp beak and make a supper of them. The father advised him to fly north and perch on the branch of a huge banyan tree. Garuda in fact asked the tree whether it could bear his weight along with the huge elephant and tortoise and the tree in its arrogance answered in the affirmative. Believing the assurance of the tree he put his legs on a branch, but unable to bear the weight the branch started giving in. At that time the Valakhilyas were doing penance dangling upside down from the same branch. So if the branch fell down, the Valakhilyas would be maimed and crushed. To avoid this catastrophe Garuda carried the branch on his beak and soared up. Seeing the son's predicament, Kashyapa prayed to Valakdhilyas not to curse the young bird and requested them to indicate some place where the branch could be unloaded without causing any discomfiture to the sages. The sages were mollified and they indicated that the branch should be slowly downloaded on a snowy flank of a mountain where there was heavy growth of grass also. Accordingly Garuda placed the branch of the tree together with the dangling sages, in a comfortable place Seeing the strength of the bird the sages were pleased and honouring his capacity to carry so huge a weight, they christened him Garuda or Garutman, a person who can carry huge loads.

After making the Valakhilyas comfortable, and after getting boons from them that he will be stronger than Indra, Garuda placed the elephant and the tortoise on the rough surface of a mountains and finished them off and had his tummy full.

We see Indra's slighting of the Valakhilyas earned himself a very potent set of enemies. It is not the size but the internal power of the sages that mattered. They could burn to ashes anything they did not like because they were drawing energy right from the son. It was only fortunate that they left Indra with a minor curse.

Even the greatest hero could find himself at his wits end often. With a 

big banyan branch with dangerous sages dangling from it kept tight on his beak and an and elephant and a tortoise of mammoth size held in his two legs and not knowing where to land upon the earth was an impossible challenge to Garuda. Only his father Kashyapa's timely intervention and entreaties on his behalf to the Valakhilyas saved the day for even the invincible Garuda,,

The adventurous foray a Garuda will be discussed further later…

fuel for the mission

fuel for the mission

Now the time came for Garuda to go in search of Amrutha. He is conscious that the task he has to undertake is really tough. Even though he possesses extreme efficiency, he should also have the physical energy and the propelling force to launch Him further to where the pot of ambrosia ( in Bharatham and Puranas we see amrutham and somam used to connote the ambrosia). Garuda asks his mother what he should eat to gains sufficient energy. Her advise was that the young bird should eat away all the Nishadaas, a community of fishermen, and satiate his hunger. The Nishadas colony was situated in the middle of the ocean.

Vinatha gave a warning note also. People called Brahmanas were everywhere and it was possible that such persons would be available in the Kingdom of Nishadas also. Vinatha advises Garuda that he should not go anywhere near a brahmana with his intention to eat him. Brahmana was the power of Indra, Vayu, Yama Agrni, Ashwins, Marut etc all rolled into one. Devas can kill by action brahmana can annihilate you with mere words. Then Garuda asks his mother how he should recognize a Brahmin. She says it should very easy to recognize as the Brahmin would ooze out luster of his penance and knowledge. And if by any chance a brahmana entered his throat, he will start having a deadly buring sensation In the mouth and immediately he should spit the victim out. Anyway garudas intestinal juices were incapable of digesting a Brahman. 

In his Bada Khaana of Nishadas, Garuda ate away all the fishermen, but as feared by Vinatha, one Brahmin was also available in the town of Nishada and was taken in and Garuda's throat started giving burning sensation. The brahmana was only placed near the outer peripheralas of his his beak and so was requested to move out or jump out. But the funny Brahmin had a wife from the Nishada Community and the person would leave only if the Lady was also released. Garuda has to concede that demand, for fear of the curse of the Brahmin. We talk of a Nair tea shop even in the moon, but see how the funny Brahmins reach everywhere in the universe in search of livelihood and family? That continues till now.

Garuda was only partially satisfied with the eating of Nishadas. He soared up and on his way he met his father Kashyapa Prajapati and explained to him about his mission to capture amrutha and also about his insatiable hunger. Kashyapa had a beautiful solution. There were two Rishis, both brothers called Vibhavasu and Supratika. Vibhu was the elder and was keeping the ancestral family properties with him. The younger brother Supratika knew he was entitled to half the portion of the property and every week would visit his elder brother and demand partition. The elder brother was not willing to do this. He advised the younger one about the family property being scattered and the vedic rites and other offerings getting obstructed in the process. Behind such pious entreaties, the avarice for the whole wealth was working. When the younger brother became impossible to handle with his eternal nagging, Vibhavasu cursed him for pestering and the younger brother became an elephant. The younger brother also did not keep quiet. He cursed the elder one to be a tortoise. Even in those forms their desire for wealth did not abate. Every now and then the elephant would stand on the banks of a celestial water-spot calling the brother for a fight and the tortoise would respond immediately and the elephant would drag the elder brother tortoise to the ground and the tortoise in turn will pull back the elephant to the water. For the onlookers sometimes the fight was amusing but for most of the time it was a nuisance. The elephant and tortoise were of mammoth size and their belligerent movements caused disturbance and quakes everywhere. So it was Garuda's turn to make a quick supper of the elephant and tortoise both. He captured them, one on each leg, but he required a place where he should place them and break them with his beak.. This lead to funny results, which you can see in the next dispatch.

Garuda was asked to eat the Nishadas mainly because they were a belligerent lot causing dislocation to other tribes. The bird's hunger would be over and the nuisance from the group also. Even there the

funny Brahmin interfered and just by virtue of a marriage a nishada woman also escaped and she would continue to produce more and 

more nishadas.. especially considering the Brahmins capacity to procreate.

The haggling for wealth and its partition would never end even if the parties to the argument may pass away. The fight between these two would have been for some trees, wooden barks, or kamandalus. Still they fought, cursed one another and finally Garuda had to settle the 

issue.

Lord's chosen one

Now Vinatha had learnt her lesson for life. But what a price she had paid! When the thousand years of life inside the shell of the egg was complete, the illustrious Vainateya, the Garuda was born. The whole divinity rejoiced and exhibited signs of the coming glory by their rejoicing. The little bird looked like another fire. I meant little only in age. He was a giant in size even at birth. He was born to be another Indra, the Indra of the birds. When Aanjaneya was born as the son of the airgod, he was compared to the Sun in glory. Garuda is praised as another agni. He was but a slave the moment he was born, because the mother was the slave of his aunt Kadru. He received taunts and humiliation from his cousins right from the moment he was born. But this only redoubled his valour . He learnt from Vinatha about their slavery and the curse of his brother Aruna and the latter's prediction that the young Garuda was born to release his mother from slavery. The huge bird was always in hunger and his greatest desire was to eat up all the snake cousins. This appetite of Garuda continues for ever. He got educated and became erudite in all Vedas and Sastras. He wanted to negotiate the release of his mother and himself from the wily aunt Kadru and her venomous sons. After hard negotiation it was agreed that if Garuda could bring the pot of Amrutham which was kept under great security by Gods to the Auntie and her long sons, they would free the bird and his mother from slavery. The brave Garutman agreed at once to bring te amrutham and set out on his task immediately. 

During his flight the first person he met was Lord Mahavishnu. In his raw youth, the bird could not recognize the greatness of the master of the world. Impulsive as he was, the bird challenged the Lord for a fight. The eternal Lord of the world knew the greatness of this bird and He was sure that this great being was not destined to perish fighting Lord Narayana himself. So the lord faked admission of defeat before the valour of Garuda. Immediately Garuda had the temerity to demand of Vishnu that Garuda should be stationed always at a loftier place than Bhagavan himself. The lord in his eternal mercy, granted Garutman the status of the insignia of the Divine flagstaff. By this time the bird started to understand who the great soul was and volunteered himself to be the mount , carrier and Servant of the Master of the whole Universe. 

There is one story that Garuda demanded war with the Lord and when the Lord surrendered without fight, he ordered the lord to take a boon from Garuda. And the merciful lord begged of Garuda to become his mount and also icon in his flagstaff. 

Whatever may be the story, Garuda, became the intimate friend, servant and mount of Lord Vishnu. This added glory to himself and the Lord. 

Garuda 's term of service with Lord Narayana would begin after his mission of capturing amrita was accomplished. A lot of exploits followed in the process. The story will continue.

Here we have to understand how merciful Lord Narayana is. The little bird challenged him for a fight. Whatever may be the credentials of Garuda, can he ever stand in comparison with Lord Govinda, Damodhara, and Madhava.. But the young talent was spotted by the Lord in his eternal Grace, and somehow the youngster was tamed to become the most faithful devotee of Narayana. Yes, when the Lord wants to have someone for Himself, he will not hesitate to attract that person to his charismatic circle by any means. 

The story will continue….

UchaishravaaH

Here enters another character in the story, the celestial horse, UchaishravaaH.  or Uchaisravas.  Its colour is pure while from face to tail.  The birth of this horse is described below.  It was a secondary product of  the mega event of churning the milky ocean by devas and asuras for obtaining amritham. The graphic details are skipped for another occasion.  Suffice to say that many things good and bad came out of the ocean.  Gems came, devas took them.  Airavatha, the four tusked  shiny white elephant emerged and Indra made it his  mount.  Vaaruni the goddess of intoxicating liquours came and went to the side of Asuras.  The beautiful  damsel  Lakshmi emerged with a garland meant for the person meant  to be her husband.   The suave and beautiful Vishnu was ready with protruding neck and received her.  The moon emerged and went to the skies.  And remember, the muck of the churing process  produced the most potent  venom called Halahalam, and all the smart people including  devas and asuras  fled for their life.  The venom started burning out the universe.  Lord Shiva  saw it , and embodiment of selfless love for all creatures as He is,  was overcome by love  for His creations and without any hesitataion took the whole venom in  his hand and drank it.. The divine mother Uma was aghast.  The whole universe actually resided in his  stomach and if the venom reached the inner organs of the Lord, it would burn the whole world.  So she just held tight on the throat of her husband  to prevent the venom from going in.  
( May be all wives have learnt this art from the  Divine mother  Parasakthi).   Brahma was clever enough to cover the mouth of the Lord Shiva so that He did not vomit back.  Ultimately the venom solidified in the neck of the Lord and  therefore He is praised as Neelakanta.

Namaste astu bhagavan Visweswaraaya mahadevaya, thrayambakaaya, thripuranthakaaya, thrikaagnikaalayaa, kaalagnirudraaya, NEELAKANTAAYA,  mrutyunjayaaya, sarveswaraaya, sadaasivaaya, shankaraaya sreeman mahaadevaaya namaH..

Today is Shivaratri.  Let us praise His name.  NamaH Sivaya. 

Uchaaishravas the celestial horse was also a product of this churning.  The sisters who were apparently devoted utterly in love to one another, were actually  impossibly jealous of each other and Kadru  of the two was really scheming and not beyond stealth.  She addressed her sister and stared talking about the churning of the oceans and also the celestial horse which is immaculately white all over.  As if joking, she told Vinatha, " Look my darling sister, let us have a wager for fun.  Both of us have seen the Uchaisravas.  Can you say what colour it is.?  If your answer is correct I shall remain a servant of yours for the whole of my life.  If you are proved wrong it would be your turn to be my servant for ever."  

Vinatha was straightforward and she was happy at the idea of making her sister  her servant by giving the correct answer that the colour is white.  But Kadru had other schemes.  She commanded her sons the serpants to encircle the tail of the horse so that because of the venom of these snakes  the tail would look dark.   The sons, though cruel serpents first hesitated to do this treacherous act, but they were forced by the threat of motherly curse.  After ensuring the compliance of her sons,  when Vinatha declared that the horse was pure white, Kadru stated that  its tail was pitch dark.  The sisters haggled and decided to visit heaven and the horse, and to her utter dismay, Vinatha could see a black tail for the white horse  thanks to the presence of her nephews.  She was confined to eternal slavery of her sister and her thousand braggart  children.

Many lessons are to be  learned from this episode.  When good things are available there are many takers for them.  This was the case of gems, airavata, uchaaisravas and Lakshmi.   But when unwanted byproducts ooze out all the people turn blind eyes and if possible  slip out of the place. It takes a person of real character to take on the evil of the world  to protect it.  That great act of Sacrifice could be performed  only by the greatest Lord of Lords, Sri Parmeswara.  Namah Sivaaya.

Another  issue is jealousy and one-up-man-ship.  It is an inborn human trait.  Kadru was  fully conscious that she was doing this  cruelty to her own sister.  But her conscience did not prick her. We see lesser things happen in our day to day life.  For every  boy or girl  the aunt will appear to be very  affectionate.  But  when a person seeing something good happening to his own kin he is jealous and does all that is in his control, like word or action to decry of nullify such benefit.  Other people who are not very close would be having great achievements, but  that does not affect him much.

Third issue is that mothers often lead their children astray.  It was an unpardonable sin on the part of  Kadru  to use her sons  as false pigment  to the tail of  the divine horse, even against their wishes.  They had to pay heavy prices for this in the hands of Garuda later,  who annihilated the clan of his cousins except for  about ten of them, and even  that on the face of entreaties from the whole array of Gods.

Hope to continue..  Wishing you all the Graceful benediction of Lord Shamkara  on the day of Shivaratri, I stop for the day.

--

how many blunders people can commit?

How many blunders people can commit?

Daksha prajapati had many daughters, various puranaas and itihaasaas put the number between fifty and sixty. The birth of daughters was also at phased intervals. We know he gave the stars as wives to the Moon. Sati, the Dakshayani, became the wife of Lord Shiva. At one stage Daksha had two beautiful daughters, Vinatha and Kadru. Though uterine sisters, they were jealous of one another all the time. Both were in due course given in marriage to Kashyapa. The sage was infatuated by the beauty of both. Both were offered boons. Kadru wanted a thousand sons who were very valorous and potently poisonous and could conquer the world. Vinatha in turn wanted two sons, who were greater in strength that the sons of Kadru. That boon was also granted. After impregnating both the ladies, Kashyapa went to forest for penance. In time Kadru delivered one thousand eggs which were entrusted to her servants to be kept in safe receptacles till the eggs hatched. Vinatha also delivered two eggs, which were also kept in safe containers. The sisters waited, and at the end of five hundred years, the Kadru's eggs gave out thousand beautiful long snakes all full of verve and venom. Vinatha was watching this. Her eggs remained static.

Exasperated and moved by jealousy she ordered one of the eggs to be broken. Tragedy stuck. She found one great bird of great beauty but having grown only the upper limbs of the body, ejected out of the egg. The child was miserable, maimed and crippled for the whole of life. He was called Aruna. He could not forgive her mother for having landed him up in such a miserable condition. He cursed her that for the sin of breaking the foetus prematurely, she would suffer servitude at the hands of her wicked sister Kadru and her thousand venomous sons. He also warned her that she should not attempt the same folly with the second egg. He also gave the happy message that the second egg will hatch in another five hundred years and one of the greatest conquerors of the world, Garuda was to be born then. Garuda would be capable of releasing her servitude and will in time become the king of birds, and equal in valour to Indra and become a beloved of Vishnu.

Even in this short scenario of events we get a fair idea as to how many blunders people can commit. Kadru was an ambitious and wicked lady. She wanted thousand pro-genies as poisonous snakes. Where could have the poison come? Kashyapa was a mild recluse. No poison there. Only Kadru could have supplied so much of venom. Her venomous nature would be revealed later. The birth of the thousand snakes was the start of regime of poisoning in the earth. 

Jealousy did Vinatha in . Once she saw the snakes snuggling in the laps of her sister Vinathas jealousy reached its peak. She did not hesitate to break an egg of hers which would have killed the child altogether. It was only chance that the foetus had some life and later on he became the charioteer of the Sungod(Aruna). Think of the damage done. Had the bird grown to its full strength he would have exceeded even Garuda in Valour. In fact Garuda was only the second best to Aruna. The breaking of the egg was utter folly on the part of Vinatha, and she got a curse from the maimed son also. This is a lesson that thoughtless action can result in irreparable loss and create innocent victims. What has Vinatha say to her maimed son..? Contemporary females also sometimes attempt at taking medication to terminate a pregnancy of an unwanted or untimely child. But this crime was against a very much wanted progeny who would have been the conqueror of the world..

The funny idea of Kashyapa getting infatuated with these females and granting them whatever they wished, and then just adjourning to a forest washing off his hands from everything is another act of irresponsibility. 

The story will progress….

Tell me if it should be continued…

The  story of Garuda unveils itself in chapters 16 to 35 ( the numbers may vary according to the versions of the Epic) of Mahabharathatm aadiparvan  aastikaparvan.. where the history of the famous Snake or serpant  sacrifice by Janamejaya is described.  The story with minor variants appear in many Purnaas including Bhagavatam, Padmapuranam, briefly in Brahmapuranam, and in  many other sources.

It is known that the grandson of Arjuna and the Son of Abhimanyu, King Parikshit, once had a slip in his noble character and adorned the neck of a sage in meditation with the dead remains of a snake.  The sage did not know about it but when the son of the sage saw this indignity perpetrated on his pious father, could not control himself and made a curse that the man who caused such an insult to the sage should be bitten to death on the seventh day from thence by Takshaka, the then ruling king of Nagas.  Parikshit tried to avoid the death by all means but the curse of an innocent child smarting at the insult meted out to his father was too potent, and In spite of the fact that the kind hid in a palace built in the middle of the sea, Takshaka managed to enter the kitchen of the king in the shape of a worm inside a fruit and finally  executed  his orders.  In the meantime, when sure death was gaping at him  Parikshit, the gradson of Arjuna and Krishna, became conscious of the greatness of the  Lord Narayana and the Purana of Bhagavatham was imparted to him by Sage Sukabrahmam, the celebrated son of Vedavyasa  in seven days  and this is now taken as the practice for reciting the purana as Saptaham, or a seven days ceremony.  Thus the king was purified and was prepared to meet his death  because he knew death was not an end of anything but He was just going to the other world to keep company with his grand uncle Krishna and His bhaktas.  But the inevitability stuck him.. Bhagavatham could secure him place in Vaikuntam (the abode of Vishnu)  but the curse of a small boy,  given out as a just punishment for the blasphemy of desecrating the body of a sage in meditation could not be avoided.

The story will go on.  The snake sacrifice was the revenge perpetrated on the snakes but Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit as a retaliation to the action of Takshaka the naga in obedience to the just curse by the son of the Sage.

The whole story  till now is a series of retaliation and curses.  It is a pathetic human trait that knowingly or unknowingly  some person commits an act which is not proper according to the accepted tenets of human conduct.  And such impropriety often originates from  the most unexpected source.. We can only say it is the play of fate.  Parikshit, the scion of Kuru dynasty..and a Pandava was the epitome of virtues.  Fate landed him a forest during a hunting spree, and he was very thirsty. He saw the sage in penance and demanded for water.  When the sage who could listen to nothing as he was in deep meditation did not oblige, the minuscule evil rage in the otherwise most noble king jumped out and the sage was insulted.  That action had no justification.  It is a lesson on human conduct that any person, however noble he is may fall prey to his vanity and anger and  may commit unpardonable errors.  And  quite unlike the general perception that  even the most heinous acts can be compensated through various expiations, such compensations are not possible always.  Maintaining an impeccable character and conduct is like a walk on the razor's edge and any persons who may think that he is the most efficient and sincere seeker of dharma can falter for a split second and face doom.  This is the  law of Karma.. One insulting laught by Draupadi, one moments' mental aberration by Vishwamitra,   one false utterance by Dharmaputra regarding the dead elephant Ashwathaama… the story goes on…

God has created a perfect world with imperfect occupants..Maybe he is enjoying the dramatic situations arising on earth through the small and big blunders committed by his puffed up creations.

Another lesson to be learned is that when fate gapes at  your face as sure death, there is no escape.

The story will unfurl itself further.  It is too long for compilation in an hour or so. Tell me if it should be continued……

--

sorry for the interruption

I thought it would be an easy passage for me to travel through Ramyanam, Bharatham and Bhagavatham to take out the stories of the son of Anjana and Hanuman and the son of Vinatha the Garuda.. But the reading had landed me in a world of wonder, simply great reading and study.. The monkey and the bird are too great to be described by mere quoting from one Purana or Itihasa.. The study of the original texts, with limited timeslot for me for  this work indeed slows down  my output.  The saga of mutual acrimony between two sisters Vinatha and Kadru, both daughters of Daksa Prajapathi and married to the same man Kashyapa, and  their bid to beget the most heroic pro-genies, Vinatha  delivering two eggs, one of which she broke impatiently after five hundred years  and begat a half formed son Aruna, along with  a curse from him of eternal servitude for having maimed him for ever, and the second egg developoing after five hundred years more  into the indomitable king of birds Garuda, Kadru begetting thousand serpants, and these the sons occupying the tail the divine horse UchaaisravaaH to make it look black and enabling the victory of their mother Kadru in a wager with their aunt Vinatha and making Vinatha and Garuda their servants... the story goes on with mild variations in three of four texts,, I am not prepared to present anything half-baked. 

My study on Pranava and Sandhyavandhanam is to continue.  A lot of material is already gathered but there again I am facing constrains of time.. 

The translation of Narayaneeyam is also at a standstill.  

I hope, I pray God I will start resuming all these in a short time.. But  now after more than nine hundred posts and a reasonable number of persons visiting my blog  I am eager to be more authentic in whatever I write. I do hope I will get your support and encouragement.  The avid reading of materials in Sankrit, English, Tamil and Malayalam just gives me  profound insight into the materials  recording our cultural heritage, and I am all the more convinced that it is blasphemy to write anything without in-depth  study.  So the things are delayed and not denied for you.  Please bear with me.  I am sure I will post something worth even though not adequate  in girth from tomorrow onwards, Please do read them and bless me.

tall position

गुणैरुत्तरतां याति नोच्चैरासन संस्थिताःI

प्रासादशिखरस्थो अपि काकः किं गरुडायते ।।

gunairutharathaam yaathi na uchaair aasana samsthitah 

praasaada sikharastopi kaakah kim gurdayathey? 

chanakya neethi 

one attains greatness in life by his own character and conduct not by just occupying a tall seat. 

the crow does not become the eagle (Garuda) just because he manages to climb and sit atop the tallest building in the city

ഗുണൈരുത്തരതാം യാതി നോച്ചൈരാസന സംസ്ഥിതാഃI
പ്രാസാദശിഖരസ്ഥോ അപി കാകഃ കിം ഗരുഡായതേ ।।
ചാണക്യ നീതി 

ഒരാള്‍ പ്രശസ്തിയുടെയും ബഹുമാന്യതയുടെയും ഔന്നത്യത്തില്‍ എത്തുന്നത് അയാള്‍ക്കുള്ള, അയാള്‍ നേടിയെടുത്ത നല്ല ഗുണങ്ങളുടെ അടിസ്ഥാനത്തിലാവും അങ്ങിനെ ആവണം.
അല്ലാതെ  നാല് പേര്‍ കാണാന്‍ ഇടയാകുന്ന വിധം ഉയര്‍ന്ന ഒരു സ്ഥാനം ഒപ്പിച്ചെടുക്കാന്‍   പറ്റിയത് കൊണ്ടു മാത്രം ആവരുത്.
നഗരത്തിലെ ഏറ്റവും  ഉയര്‍ന്ന കെട്ടിടത്തിന്‍റെ മുകളില്‍ കയറിപ്പറ്റാന്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞത് കൊണ്ടു മാത്രം കാക്ക  ഗരുഡനായി മാറുമോ?

വേഷം കെട്ടിനും ചമയങ്ങള്‍ക്കും  എല്ലാം പരിധികള്‍ ഉണ്ട്. 
പലപ്പോഴും നാം അത് മറക്കുന്നു.
 കാക്ക കുളിച്ചാല്‍ കൊക്കാവില്ല