THE EPIC THROUGH MY EYES

          The Dundubha (Sahasrapat) had a friend named Khagama. He possessed great spiritual powers. Whatever he uttered never went futile. One day when Khagama was engaged in Agni-hotra(Fire-sacrifice), Sahasrapat made an animated snake of blades of grass. He  tried to frighten Khagama with it. Khagama lost his consciousess immidiately. On recovering he cried out,’’Just as you have mocked me with a powerless  snake, you yourself will turn into one.’’ Sahasrapat was thunderstruck. He pleaded,’’I just wanted to have some fun, dear friend. I had no intention of hurting you. Please forgive me and take back your words.’’ On seeing him so disturbed,Khagama said,’’I cannot take back my words. But take solace , for you will be delivered from the curse the moment you spot Ruru,Pramati’s son.’’ That moment had arrived. Ruru was right there in front of him.  Sahasrapat left his snake body and attained his own form and original brightness. He told Ru...

I hope you all remember that in the previous blog ---Puloma- the beautiful—I told about how the Bharagavas came into being.This is a continuation of the episode. Chavana, Bhrigu’s son married Sukanya. Pramati was born to them. He  in turn fathered Ruru and the boy grew up to be a famous hermit. Rishi Sthulakesa was a contemporary sage who not only possessed great ascetic powers but also was well known for his humanitarian approach to life. Now, there was another king- the king of the Gandharvas- Viswavasu,who had an affair with Maneka, the ravishing Apsara of those times. In due time Maneka gave birth to a beautiful girl child and abandoned her near the hermitage of Rishi Sthulakesa. The rishi took pity upon the hapless being,brought her home and reared her with great love and care. The girl was named Pramadvara. She grew up to be an exceedingly beautiful and virtuous woman. A chance encounter at the hermitage of Sthulakesa brought Ruru and Pramadvara together. Ruru was jus...

        Agni groaned in misery. He said,’’I was asked and I abided by the truth. I never wanted to besmirch your wife's reputation. I never solicited on my own to venture into unpleasant territory. I can also curse you Bhrigu,but you are a Brahmin. And you know  very well that I hold Brahmanas in high esteem.  I am ubiquitous. I exist  there where the holy rites are performed. The sacrifices that are made on my fire appease the Devas and Pitris.They have an equal right to the sacrifices  made for me. I am their mouth,how can I defile my mouth with  dirt and filth?’’ Agni  reflected for a while and withdrew from all places. Things were not the same in his absence. The world ran amok without him.He was absent from the daily yajnas of the Brahmins,from all the holy and sacred places.   The rishis became worried at the turn of events.They  accompanied  the Devas as the group approached Brahma looking for a solution ...

A QUICK RECAP---Sauti,the son of Lomaharsana was narrating stories from the Mahabharata  in the august company of the learned sages of those times.  After finishing with the story of Utanka,he again asked Maharshi Saunaka  and the others,’’What now sir?What do you wish to hear now?’’To this the Maharsi replied,’’Recount the history of the clan of Bhrigu, and we will attentively listen to you.’’ {Here I would like to add that the race of Bhrigu, or the descendants of Maharshi Bhrigu  are the modern Bhargava Brahmins who reside mostly in North India} Thus Sauti began his story. When Brahma was conducting a yajna for Varuna, Bhrigu emerged from the sacred fire. He was thought to be one of the manasputras of Brahma. In due time the  son of Brahma grew up and was married to Puloma renowned for her extraordinary beauty.  Bhrigu loved his wife dearly. Puloma was also madly in love with her husband. One morning, when Puloma was heavy with child, Bhrigu ...

Utanka decided to avenge the vile act of the Takshaka. He reached Hastinapur and met King Janmejaya .The king had just returned victorious from Takshasila . Celebration was in the air. Utanka seized the opportunity. He said,’’You are the mightiest of all the monarchs  that have ever lived. How come you are spending your time in mere merry and mirth when such a grave issue is looming large on your head?’’. He acknowledged,’’Yes, I was carried away,please tell me revered Brahmana, what is the call of the day?’’Utanka replied,’’ Go and avenge the death of your benevolent father, King Parikshita who was bitten without any reason by the vile serpent –Takshaka. The wicked fellow also drove away the physician,Kasyapa,who was coming to help your father.’’ Utanka went on,’’Conduct the snake –sacrifice yajna and let the wretch burn in blazing fire. Your father’s death would be avenged this way and I would be pleased too as the Takshaka had given be enough trouble.’’ The king was overcome...

 As he was walking back, Utanka came across a nude beggar.The beggar too walked along,but to his utter dismay Utanka found that the beggar  vanished suddenly from his view.He reappeared after a moment. Utanka spotted a lake by the side of the road, and decided to have a bath. He kept those pair of ear-rings on the ground and went for the water.The beggar appeared suddenly and ran away with the pair .Utanka chased him and overpowered the thief soon. The beggar soon metamorphosed into Takshaka or the serpent  and entered into a large hole that appeared out of the blue in the earth. He  proceeded to his own abode, the region of the serpents. Utanka tried to dig in the hole to get hold of the serpent. But he was unable to make much progress. Indra took pity on him and sent Vajra-thunderbolt to his assistance. Thunderbolt struck and the hole was enlarged.Utanka entered through the hole and reached the land of the serpents or the Nagaloka underneath the surface of the ...

Veda  returned to his own abode and ashrama.He also had three disciples.He had seen hard days as a disciple,so he chose to be a lenient taskmaster .One morning as he was about to depart from his home on some business,he called upon Utanka,one of his disciples,to take charge of his household.He said,’’whatever needs to be done in this  house in my absence, you should do it without neglect.’’Then he embarked on his journey. Utanka religiously followed his master’s orders. One day the females of the guru’s hermitage  gathered around him and said,’’Our mistress is in her most fertile period of the month.The preceptor is absent,now you stand in his place to do whatever is needed.’’Utanka answered,’’I can’t act so thoughtlessly at the mere provocation of some women. My preceptor hasn’t taught me to be  immoral.’’ Veda returned from his journey after some time.He was extremely pleased when he came to know  that Utanka had passed the test of morality .He called Ut...

Ayoda-Dhaumya was a contemporary sage who had three disciples named Upamanyu,Aruni, and Veda.The disciples resided in his hermitage and performed the various tasks that were assigned to them. One fine day,the rishi came to know about a paddy field where a sudden breach of a water course was causing havoc.He  asked Aruni of Panchala to go and stop the flow. Aruni left immediately for the field and on reaching there he saw that he couldn’t stop it by any ordinary means.He was distressed as he didn't want to let down his master. So he went down  and lied down prostrate on the ground,and thus the water was confined. After quite  some time Ayoda-Dhaumya became aware of Aruni’s absence.When he enquired about Aruni,his other disciples reminded him of the errand that the boy had been send for.The guru instantly reached the field along with his disciples to see what the matter was.He cried out for Aruni.On hearing his master’s voice Aruni came out running from  the water...

Janmejaya, along with his three brothers was attending a yajna on the plains of Kurushkhetra.There arrived the offspring of the celestial bitch, Sarama. Belaboured by the brothers of Janmejaya, it went crying to its mother. The mother was infuriated. She went to the brothers and asked them,”Why did u hurt my son without any fault of his?’’ ‘’He neither  looked at your sacrifical butter nor did he touch it with his tongue.’’The brothers had no answer. Possessed by pain and anger she said,’’As you have beaten my son who hadn’t committed any fault so evil will come upon you when you least expect it.’’ Janmejaya was shocked.After the yajna was over,he returned to Hastinapura. There he began to search for a saint who could do away with the effect of the curse. One day,while he was in a hunting expedition,he came across the hermitage of rishi Srutasrava. He had a son named Somasrava who was ascetically devoted,accomplished in the study of the Vedas,and was born of a she snake who h...

                                                                                                                                                                                    Maharshi Sounak had an ashrama in the forest of Naimisha.The learned sage there conducted a yagna which went on  for twelve long years.Quite a few great and learned men of those times accompanied him in that sacred ritual.   One fine morning, as the day’ s schedule was over , there arrived Sauti, the son of Lomharshan. Sauti had travelled far and wi...

        The Mahabharata is one of the masterpieces of world literature. And from time eternal man has been fascinated by stories.This holds true still today-----I mean that’s why all the books are being written and all the movies are being made----and people still throng to book fairs. I am no scholar—yet at the same time  interested in mythology .Its my humble attempt to bring to u my dear friends  the stories from the Mahabharata chronologically in a simple manner without disturbing the main essence. I mean u can call it the layman’s angle to the epic.Your views are most welcome.                                                               ...