Wednesday 21 November 2012

Bhishma: Not so much talked about hero

Mahabharata is full of characters, some positive, some negative, some divine, some evil. People find heroes and villains in these characters and rightly so, Mahabharata was composed to educate less intelligent people about profound religious injections. In these heroes, there is a great hero who is like the sun in the galaxy of characters in Mahabharata. This hero is Bhishma who witnessed Mahabharata right from the beginning till the end and yet, he is not given as much value as he really should be.
             The character Bhishma, born as Devavrata to Gangadevi and Shantanu, is unprecedented. He has all the qualities that a kshatriya and a saint should have. Firmness to stand by the word, infinite patience, having deep knowledge of religion and war skills, infinite love with the supreme personality of Godhead, not desiring anything although deserving more than almost everybody present are just some virtues of this great son of Shantanu. Bhishma is a great ambassador of religion and he has spotless character, as white as perhaps his white beard and super bright clothes which he wears!
Krishna braking own vow of not picking arms in Mahabharata (from BBT)
             Bhishma was the best warrior present in the battlefield of Mahabharata, second only to Krishna. Bhishma was so great in his skills that he had defeated even his guru Lord Parashuram, who had made the earth devoid of kshatriyas for twenty one times. But Bhishma was no ordinary Kshatriya. Arjuna was not as good as his grandsire, but he was on the side of dharma in that war. Due to following strict celibacy throughout life, Bhishma's body was like vraja (very hard) and he possessed great bodily strength. Bhishma was highly qualified in political science (it is he who taught politics to Vidura who was highly praised for his knowledge). Bhishma is one of the very few who knew the Bhagwata-Dharma (he is one of twelve mahabhagwatas who understand the devotion to the supreme personality of the Godhead perfectly). He was the great devotee of Krishna and just out of love, Krishna had broken his own vow of not picking the arms to fulfill the vow of Bhishma (Bhishma had vowed to force Krishna to pick up weapons although he knew Krishna is one who could not be forced to do anything). This spotless warrior had never broken his promise, had always walked on the path of righteousness. Some of this unbroken promises are to be celibate throughout the life, to be alive till he sees Hastinapura safe, to always serve whoever would be the king of Hastinapura, to get Krishna pick arms, etc.
           Bhishma is a highly spiritual character, he does not live the life of bodily conception. Its he who wrote Vishnusahastranam. His religious indoctrination in Mahabharata (narration to Yudhisthira on deathbed) is perfect in that it describes the dharma for each member of the society. I bow down to this great inspirational character who is personified dharma.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Love Stories: Shrimad Bhagavatam

Recently, I have been hearing Shrimad Bhagavatam  quite frequently and also reading it sometimes. Although I am no authority to comment on the glorious position of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, I will write something for those who do not know about it. In short, Shrimad Bhagavatam is the collection of love stories, love of souls with Supreme Personality of Godhead. It's subject matter is love of god, its for the lover devotees of the God, Shri Krishna.
             Shrimad Bhagavatam is also called to be the Lord Krishna in the Literature form (Shrimad Bhagvato-ayam sakshat krishna eva hi). Before departing from this material world, Lord Krishna had assured Uddhava that he is going nowhere but residing in the form of Shrimad Bhagavatam so that common people can reach to him in this age of quarrel, madness and hypocrisy. To me, there has never been or will never be any literature greater than SB. SB satisfies the humans completely as it gives the ultimate thing in the world, Love of God. One who has read many books but did not hear about SB, is really unfortunate.
Shukdev Goswami narrating Shrimad Bhagwatam to King Parikshit (from: BBT)
              Legend has it that after compiling four Vedas, Upanishads and all other vedic literature, Shri Vyasdeva was not feeling happiness, he was still very morose and kind of dissatisfaction was occupying his heart. When Narada muni arrives to meet Vyasdev, he converys Narada muni about his state of mind and seeks for the remedy of it. To this, magnificent devotee of the lord, Narada muni replies, "O Vyasdev, although you have compiled all the  vedic literature, you have not complied anything which teaches pure love of Godhead, you have somewhat deceived and deluded  people by narrating different rituals which are only for fruitive activities for personal gain. You should compile a literature which will teach the pure love of god and by hearing which the people will be immediately satisfied." After these instructions, Shri Vyasdev created this magnificent and most ripen fruit of all vedic literature, Shrimad Bhagavatam. SB itself declares that literature which does not describe love of god and his pastimes is like the pilgrimage place for the crows and the intelligent do not go there.
            Shimad BhagavatGita contains the theory or the knowledge of the Bhaktiyoga while Shrimad Bhagavatam gives the nice illustrations for the Bhaktiyoga. For e.g., Gita discusses the  four types of people who approach the God and these four types are those who are the distressed (aarta), inquisitive (jigyasu), those who desire the wealth (artharthi) and the knowledgeable (gyani) while Shrimad Bhagavatam has the narrations about each type of devotee of the god. In SB, the distressed seeker of the god is Gajendra, inquisitive devotee is king Parikshita, Dhruva is the desiring devotee of God (he wanted to please the God to be able to sit on the lap of his father) and the knowledgeable devotee of the God is Uddhava.
            So, if you feel motivated, please read or hear Shrimad Bhagavatam and get the unlimited mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.


Friday 9 November 2012

Damodarastakam Translation in Hindi (Devnagari)


वह  भगवान जिनका रूप सत, चित और आनंद से परिपूर्ण है, जिनके मकरो के आकार के कुंडल इधर उधर हिल रहे है, जो गोकुल नामक अपने धाम में नित्य शोभायमान है, जो (दूध और दही से भरी मटकी फोड़ देने के बाद) मैय्या यशोदा की डर से ओखल से कूदकर अत्यंत तेजीसे दौड़ रहे है और जिन्हें यशोदा मैय्या ने उनसे भी तेज दौड़कर पीछे से पकड़ लिया है ऐसे श्री भगवान को मै नमन करता हू  ।।1।।


(अपने माता के हाथ में छड़ी देखकर) वो रो रहे है और अपने कमल जैसे कोमल हाथो से दोनों नेत्रों को मसल रहे है, उनकी आँखे भय से भरी हुयी है और उनके गले का मोतियो का हार, जो शंख के भाति त्रिरेखा से युक्त है, रोते हुए जल्दी जल्दी श्वास लेने के कारण इधर उधर हिल-डुल रहा है , ऐसे उन श्री भगवान् को जो रस्सी से नहीं बल्कि अपने माता के प्रेम से बंधे हुए है मै  नमन करता हु ।।


ऐसी बाल्यकाल की लीलाओ के कारण वे गोकुल के रहिवासीओ को आध्यात्मिक प्रेम के आनंद कुंड में डुबो रहे है, और जो अपने ऐश्वर्य सम्पूर्ण और ज्ञानी भक्तो को ये बतला रहे है की "मै अपने ऐश्वर्य हिन और प्रेमी भक्तो द्वारा जीत लिया गया हु", ऐसे उन दामोदर भगवान को मै शत शत नमन करता हु ।। 


हे भगवन, आप सभी प्रकार के वर देने में सक्षम होने पर भी मै आप से ना ही मोक्ष की कामना करता हु, ना ही मोक्षका सर्वोत्तम स्वरुप श्री वैकुंठ की इच्छा रखता हु, और ना ही नौ प्रकार की भक्ति से प्राप्त किये जाने वाले कोई भी वरदान की कामना करता हु । मै तो आपसे बस यही प्रार्थना करता हु की आपका ये बालस्वरूप मेरे हृदय में सर्वदा स्थित रहे, इससे अन्य और कोई वस्तु का मुझे क्या लाभ ?


हे प्रभु, आपका श्याम रंग का मुखकमल जो कुछ घुंघराले लाल बालो से आच्छादित है, मैय्या यशोदा द्वारा बार बार चुम्बन किया जा रहा है, और आपके ओठ बिम्बफल जैसे लाल है, आपका ये अत्यंत सुन्दर कमलरुपी मुख मेरे हृदय में विराजीत रहे । (इससे अन्य) सहस्त्रो वरदानो का मुझे कोई उपयोग नहीं है ।


हे प्रभु, मेरा आपको नमन है । हे दामोदर, हे अनंत, हे विष्णु, आप मुझपर प्रसन्न होवे (क्यूंकि) मै संसाररूपी दुःख के समुन्दर में डूबा जा रहा हु । मुझ दिन हिन पर आप अपनी अमृतमय कृपा की वृष्टि कीजिये और कृपया मुझे दर्शन दीजिये ।।



हे दामोदर (जिनके पेट से रस्सी बंधी हुयी है वो), आपने माता यशोदा द्वारा ओखल में बंधे होने के बाद भी  कुबेर के पुत्रो (मणिग्रिव तथा नलकुबेर) जो नारदजी के श्राप के कारण वृक्ष के रूप में मूर्ति की तरह स्थित थे, उनका उद्धार किया और उनको भक्ति का वरदान दिया, आप उसी प्रकार से मुझे भी प्रेमभक्ति प्रदान कीजिये, यही मेरा एकमात्र आग्रह है, किसी और प्रकार की कोई भी मोक्ष के लिए मेरी कोई कामना नहीं है । 


हे दामोदर, आपके उदर से बंधी हुयी महान रज्जू (रस्सी) को प्रणाम है, और आपके उदर, जो निखिल ब्रह्म तेज का आश्रय है, और जो सम्पूर्ण ब्रह्माण्ड का धाम है, को भी प्रणाम है । श्रीमती राधिका जो आपको अत्यंत प्रिय है उन्हें भी प्रणाम है, और हे अनंत लीलाऐ करने वाले भगवन, आपको प्रणाम है । 

|| जय श्री राधा दामोदर ||