Ling Purana

[sant]

DEAR VAISHNAVS PLEASE HELP,

ACCORDING TO LING PURANA SAGE DADEECHI DEFEATS LORD VISHNU AND NOT ONLY THAT DEFEATS HI SUDARSHAN LIKE ITS A JOKE AND THE MOST SHOCKING HE MAKES FUN OF HIM WHEN LORD VISHNU SHOWS HIS VISHWAROOP THE STORY Dadhicha

There was a sage named Dadhicha (alternatively Dadhichi). (The Mahabharata states that Dadhicha was the son of Shanti and the sage Atharva.)

Dadhicha had a friend named Kshupa. Kshupa was a king. Since Kshupa was a king, he belonged to the kshatriya class. Dadhicha was a brahmana.

The two friends once began to argue about the superiority of brahmanas vis-a-vis kshatriyas. Kshupa maintained that kshatriyas were superior, while Dadhicha held the opposite view.

Indra has a wonderful weapon named vajra. (This is sometimes identified with thunder, sometimes with a club.) Once upon a time, the demons (asuras) became very powerful and threatened to defeat the gods. The gods sought Kshupa’s help and Indra gave Kshupa the vajra to fight with.

When Dadhicha and Kshupa had argued for a while, they came to blows. Dadhicha struck Kshupa a blow on the head with his fist. In retaliation, Kshupa struck Dadhicha with the vajra and sliced the sage in two. Dadhicha died. But before he died, he called upon Shukracharya, the preceptor of the demons, to come to his aid. Shukracharya knew the art of mrita sanjivani, that is, the technique of bringing dead people back to life. Shukracharya arrived and resurrected Dadhicha.

Shukracharya told Dadhicha, "Why don’t you pray to Shiva? If you can please Shiva, by his grace you will become immortal. Where do you think I learnt the art of mrita sanjivani? From the great Shiva,. Pray to him."

(The story of Shukracharya’s obtaining this wonderful knowledge from Shiva is related in the Harivamsha.)

Dadhicha began very difficult tapasya so that he might please Shiva. When Shiva was pleased, Dadhicha obtained three boons from him, The first boon made Dadhicha prosperous. The second boon made his bones as hard as the vajra itslf. And the third boon was that Dadhicha could never be killed.

Thus armed, Dadhicha went to visit Kshupa and gave Kshupa a mighty kick on his head. Kshupa naturally picked up the vajra and hurled it at Dadhicha. The vajra struck Dadhicha a resounding whack on his chest. But such was the power of Shiva’s boon that the vajra did the sage no harm.

Kshupa was amazed to see this. He resolved that he would pray to Vishnu to obtain still greater powers. Finally, Vishnu appeared before Kshupa and said, "I am pleased with your prayers. What boon do you desire?"

"Please grant me the boon that I may be able to defeat Dadhicha," replied Kshupa.

"Dadhicha has been fortified by Shiva’s boons," said Vishnu. "I therefore fear that what you ask is quite impossible. Nevertheless, I will try."

Vishnu adopted the form of a brahmana and went to Dadhicha’s hermitage.

"Welcome, great Vishnu," said Dadhicha. "But why are you in the disguise of a brahmana? Did you think that I would not be able to see through your disguise? Or did you think that I would not refuse what a brahmana asked for? Anyway, please give up this pretense. Adopt your own form and tell me what you want."

Vishnu adopted his own form and said, "I am going to bring Kshupa to your hermitage. All you have to do is to tell Kshupa that you are scared."

Vishnu brought Kshupa to Dadhicha’s hermitage. But instead of saying what Vishnu had asked him to utter, Dadhicha said, "I am a devotee of Shiva’s. How can I be scared of anything in the universe?"

These words angered Vishnu. Vishnu has a divine weapon known as the sudarshana chakra. He flung this at Dadhicha. But Dadhicha’s powers were such that the chakra merely struck him on the chest and fell harmlessly to the ground.

"Oh dear, Oh dear," exclaimed Dadhicha. "Whatever has happened to the great Vishnu’s chakra? Perhaps Vishnu would be better advised to use some other divine weapon. Like the brahmastra perhaps."

Vishnu hurled a brhamastra at Dadhicha, but nothing happened to the sage. Vishnu used several other divine weapons, But all in vain. The other gods arrived to help Vishnu in his fight with Dadhicha. But the numerous weapons that the gods used on Dadhicha were all rendered harmless by the sage. Dadhicha then picked up a handful of straw and flung this at the gods. As if magically, each of the straws became a flaming trident and threatened to burn up all the gods.

The gods fled in desperation. As for Vishnu, he created several beings who were just like him in appearance. But Dadhicha burnt all of these up. Vishnu next adopted a gigatic and wonderful form. This form was known as vishvarupa. The entire universe and all the beings in it could be seen in this vishvarupa.

But Dadhicha only laughed. "Who are you trying to impress?" he asked. "Look at me. You will find the entire universe and all the beings in it inside my body as well. I too can play with illusions. Give up this tomfoolery. If you really wish to fight, let us do so by all means."

At this stage, Brahma decided to intervene. He advised Vishnu to pray to the sage instead of fighting with him. Vishnu did this and was forgiven by Dadhicha. As for Kshupa, he acknowledged the superiority of brahmanas and begged Dadhicha’s forgiveness.

 

The place where these wonderful things happened is a tirtha named Sthaneshvara.

 

 

THIS SOUNDS AMAZING AND HOW COME DADEECH WAS GRANTED THE BOON OF NOT BEING KILLED .THE SAME BOON IS DENIED BY BRAHMA IN ANOTHER STORY IN THIS PURAAN ITHUNK.I KNOW VAISHNAV ARE SUPPSED TO INTEPRET PURANAS IN THEIR OWN WAY AS THIS IS TAMASIC PURAAN BUT DADEECH LAUGHING AT VISHWAROOPP.CMON

[Kyros]

There is no interpretation needed. You already accept the fact that the Linga Purana is a tamasic, and by just using common sense, we can understand that there must be something wrong with this Purana to be classified as tamasic.

There is also this verse from the Gita that will explain things better.

Bhagavad Gita 14.17

 

 

sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaḿ

 

 

rajaso lobha eva ca

 

 

pramāda-mohau tamaso

 

 

bhavato 'jñānam eva ca

 

 

From the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, greed develops; and from the mode of ignorance develop foolishness, madness and illusion.

 

 

(Only the sattva-guna can reveal real knowledge, while tama-guna brings foolishness. The three modes of nature do not apply to how a person acts either, it applies to a lot of other things. Ayurveda uses the three modes to separate foods. However, if you're one of those people who don't accept the Gita, then here are these verses.)

Skanda Purana (2.6.4.3):

 

 

 

srimadbhagavatasyatha srimadbhagavatah sada

svarupam ekamevasti saccidanandalaksanam

 

"The nature of the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Personality of Godhead is always the same - full knowledge, bliss, and eternal existence."

(Here the Skanda Purana clearly states that the Bhagavad Purana and the Personality of Godhead are of the same nature. There is no interpreation needed, and note that this is also a tamasic purana.)

 

Skanda Purana, Prabhasa Khanda (7.1.2.39-42) and Agni Purana (272.6,7)

 

 

"That which gives accounts of the humans and demigods in the Sarasvata Kalpa, explains the supreme religion, basing itself on Gayatri, and narrates the slaying of Vrtrasura is to be known as the Srimad Bhagavatam. It has eighteen thousand verses. Whoever makes a copy of the Bhagavatam and donates it, on a golden lion throne, on the full moon day in the month of Bhadra, will attain the supreme destination".

 

(It is also interesting to note that these two Puranas declare the Srimad Bhagavatam to explain the supreme religion. It also declares that by solely donating the Bhagavatam, fulfilling a certain criteria, will attain the supreme destination.

Also take note that the Agni Purana is also a tamasic Purana.)

[sant]

thank you but vishnu being defeated like a joke ?

[gokulkr]

that sage dateechi later became indras thunderbolt.

indras thunderbolt didnt even harmed feather of Garuda when indra attacked him.

also indras thunderbolt and also indra got defeated easily by lord krishna.

and we can say many instances where indra got defeated by other asuras.

Moreover indra's thunderbolt killed viratasura just because at that time Lord vishnu (ie., Lord narasimha) entered the thunderbolt and thereby only the viratasura got killed.

 

so all these confirm indra's thunderbolt (ie., sage dateechi) has not that much power to defeat Lord Vishnu or his hordes.

 

so forget this linga purana. in this same purana, one incident explaining saraba killing narasimha is explained. that itself shows how authorative this purana is. Forget it. moreover why u read such kind of puranas prabhuji ?

 

For more clarification see how Sri Madhvacharya defeated famous Shaiva acharya Lingaraja, when he debated using lingapurana and shiv-purana. This shows tamasic puranas are not authoritative.

 

Om Namo Narayana

[jaswant]

 

There is no interpretation needed. You already accept the fact that the Linga Purana is a tamasic, and by just using common sense, we can understand that there must be something wrong with this Purana to be classified as tamasic.

There is also this verse from the Gita that will explain things better.

Bhagavad Gita 14.17

 

 

 

 

sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaḿ

 

 

rajaso lobha eva ca

 

 

pramāda-mohau tamaso

 

 

bhavato 'jñānam eva ca

 

 

 

 

 

From the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, greed develops; and from the mode of ignorance develop foolishness, madness and illusion.

 

 

 

 

 

(Only the sattva-guna can reveal real knowledge, while tama-guna brings foolishness. The three modes of nature do not apply to how a person acts either, it applies to a lot of other things. Ayurveda uses the three modes to separate foods. However, if you're one of those people who don't accept the Gita, then here are these verses.)

 

 

 

Skanda Purana (2.6.4.3):

 

 

 

 

 

srimadbhagavatasyatha srimadbhagavatah sada

 

 

 

svarupam ekamevasti saccidanandalaksanam

 

"The nature of the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Personality of Godhead is always the same - full knowledge, bliss, and eternal existence."

(Here the Skanda Purana clearly states that the Bhagavad Purana and the Personality of Godhead are of the same nature. There is no interpreation needed, and note that this is also a tamasic purana.)

 

Skanda Purana, Prabhasa Khanda (7.1.2.39-42) and Agni Purana (272.6,7)

 

 

 

 

 

"That which gives accounts of the humans and demigods in the Sarasvata Kalpa, explains the supreme religion, basing itself on Gayatri, and narrates the slaying of Vrtrasura is to be known as the Srimad Bhagavatam. It has eighteen thousand verses. Whoever makes a copy of the Bhagavatam and donates it, on a golden lion throne, on the full moon day in the month of Bhadra, will attain the supreme destination".

 

 

(It is also interesting to note that these two Puranas declare the Srimad Bhagavatam to explain the supreme religion. It also declares that by solely donating the Bhagavatam, fulfilling a certain criteria, will attain the supreme destination.

Also take note that the Agni Purana is also a tamasic Purana.)

 

 

 

HARE KRISHNA !

 

Who "classified" the various puraans as satvic, tamasi ect...i belive that the skanda puraan is also "tamasic".....i just find it difficult to belive that some puraans are "tamasic"...i think all puraans are "perfect" authored by shri vyas who is visnu

 

ys

 

jaswant

[sant]

ok you can pass this off by saying this is tamasic but then again there is another text which is simply fascinating written in the style of srimad bhagvatam the devi bhagwatam

please read this and tell me as this has shaken my head.

can you classify this as tamasic

i have posted something about my view in devi mandir forum please join and tell me about this. heres the address to devi bhagwatam-.astrojyoti.com/devibhagavatamindex.

serarch it in astrojyoti as i cannot post the link

[gokulkr]

first of all "devi bagavatham" is not among 18 puranas. also gayathri purana has been replaced by "devi bagavatham" among 18 sub-puranas. this itself makes question the authority of this purana.

 

Also Shivamaha-purana replaced "Vayu purana" in 18 puranas. So shivmahapurana is not even one of the original 18 puranas. most of contents of linga purana has been modified according to contents of shiv-mahapurana. also many contents which were not even in skanda-purana were later added to make it a saivate look. also these info acharyas know it clearly. thats why they rejected these unauthorised puranas and also classified it as "tamasic". they were right.

 

Otherwise Adishankara would have chanted "bhaja sakthi" or "bhaja rudram" instead of "bhaja govindam". he himself certified Narayana is moksha giver. He also got protected By Lord Narasimha and he also wrote stotras praising "Narasimha deva" only (not sarabha). He didnt even took Sarabha as a matter. He was so serious in "Lord Narasimha deva" only. This itself proves adi-shankara himself didnt took contents of shiva-purana seriously. He only took contents of "bhagavatham" seriously. Story of telling Adi-shankara visiting kailasha is a myth. of course earlier he was a saktha and after he got protected by Narasimha, he became serious in Vishnu.

 

 

Om Namo Narayanaya

[sant]

how do you know about shiv maha puran and vayu puran

any evidence

please

[Kali_Upasaka]

The Puranas were written during different periods. They promoted individual Dynasties and also sects. The classification into Maha Puranas, Puranas, and Upa Puranas and again into Saattvic, Rajasaic and Thamasic is purely academic. We could argue about this for ever without reaching any conclusion.

 

Again Puranas are contradictory. The same episode is repeated with change in the central character.

 

Even while studying Puranas academically in colleges, these points are made clear.

 

I can post the academic position and the conflicting theories. But these will not convince any one as these are a matter of belief.

[sant]

All Puranas Are Not Untrue Are They?

[Kali_Upasaka]

 

All Puranas Are Not Untrue Are They?

This is a question which is often asked. A question my children asked me. The answer is not a simple YES or NO.

 

What is the Purana?

The word Purana means old and past. As a kind of literary work, the Purana may be described as 'Old narratives'. In the Atharva Veda, the Shatapatha and Gopatha Brahmanas, the Upanishads and in some Buddhist texts, the word Purana is found to be used in connection with Itihasa (History). Certainly, the Puranas have a major part dealing with the history of some kings or divine beings — gods or demigods. The Mahabharata is also called the Purana. The Mahabharata, certainly, is a history of the Kurus.

The Puranas, in a deeper sense, preach the Vedic ideals through stories. Vyasa is said to be the author or compiler of the Puranas.

Five Topics of the Parana

 

The Puranas are records of history, no doubt, but besides historical topics, the Puranas deal with some other matters of secular and religious interests, also. These are the five topics, which are found in all the known Puranas:

Sargashcha pratisargashcha vamsha manvantarastatha

Vamshanucharitanchaiva puranam pancha lakshanam.

i. Sarga — Creation of this universe,

ii. Pratisarga — The periodical destruction and renewal of the world,

iii. Vamsha — Genealogy of gods and sages,

iv. Manvantara — The change of the rule of Manu, and

v. Vamshanucharita — The history of the dynasties belonging to the races of the Sun and the Moon.

The Puranas — The Guide of Indian Life

Almost all the Puranas follow this set norm. But, with variations, some Puranas discuss any other topics of secular and religious interest. On the whole, the Puranas preach the duties and rites to be observed by men in their respective varna (caste) and ashrama (station of life) — Varnashrama dharma.

The Puranas are looked upon as the Vedas, as they preach the dharma of the Vedas to those men and women, who are not entitled to study the Vedas. Indian life is being guided mostly by the ideals preached in the Puranas. Many stories of noble deeds, performed by noble kings or sages, inspire the common people to follow the noble path and to avoid the path of evil and sin.

That is all theory. That is my class notes. But does it answer your question? Frankly it does not. Not fully.

The last paragraph actually is the most important. So rather than trying to find the historical correctness of a Puranic episode, we should try to find whether it teaches us something.

[sant]

i agree thank you

[Kali_Upasaka]

The story narrated in the first post was obviously a mythological story, given as a pep talk to boost the Brahmins over Kshatriyas. It might have been relevant at the time it was written. May be the Brahmins needed a morale booster at that time.

 

All of us would have attended the Pravachans given by Swamijis. Many a time it starts like this "One day when Lord Krishna was having breakfast, Sage Narada came there.... This is followed by a moral teaching based on the story. What is important is the moral teaching and not the story of Krishna having breakfast.

 

Take Puranas also that way.

[sant]

you accept it is untrue after all

this is a tamasic purana

[Kali_Upasaka]

The answer to my children was that see what the Puranas are trying to say? That is all. If the story has no spiritual/moral message, treat it as just a story.

 

The puranas were recited by bards for centuries before being written down. Who were the Bards? They were people who went from village to village reciting the Puranas and teaching morals. No different from our modern Swamijis with their Pravachans.

 

BTW a question was raised about the classification of the Puranas.

 

The Puranas were classified by academics according to three cosmic qualities of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas according to the Gunas manifested by the three Gods _ Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. respectively.

 

Sattivika Puranas _ Vishnu, Bhagavata, Naradiya, Garuda, Padma and Varaha.

 

Rajas puranas - Brahma, Brahmanda, Bhavishya, Brahmavaivarta, Markandeya, and Vamana (?).

 

Tamasa Puranas - Shiva, Linga, Skanda, Agni, Matsya (?) and Kurma (?).

 

Does it make it clear. No. To me it is only as clear as mud. See the question marks.

 

All Shiva Puranas are classified as Tamasa. But then why Matsya and Kurma. I am at my wits end to understand.

 

Eighteen Mahapuranas, and eighteen Upa Puranas are accepted by tradition.

 

But there are more than one hundred Puranas and Upa Puranas in manuscripts. Many of them are waiting for transcription and translation.

[sant]

is being good or bad both just the main things in life

doesnt one have to rise beyond that

 

by the way are you following tantra

are you a sanyas as u say u live in a cave

have you realised god

no neeed to answer if too personal.

or just give a private message

[chandu_69]

There is lot of cleaning up to do in the hindu texts.Any tom dick and harry(or it is golu,lolu and lallu) can write any nonsense and pass it of as scripture.

A good starting point could be what kyros wrote quoting from bhagavadgita.

[sant]

are you telling me?

be specific what you want to say

what cleaning up

kyros said what tell

[chandu_69]

Sant, I am not telling you in particular.

Cleaning up based on the principle

“Let noble thoughts come to us from everywhere.”

and sattvik aspects.I am sure there will be more.

 

And absolute junk like

"DADEECHI" story.

[chandu_69]

 

The story narrated in the first post was obviously a mythological story, given as a pep talk to boost the Brahmins over Kshatriyas. It might have been relevant at the time it was written. May be the Brahmins needed a morale booster at that time.

 

 

I agree with this completely.

[Kyros]

The classifications of the Puranas are from the Puranas themselves.

 

Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda, 236.18–21

 

 

 

 

 

vaisnavanam naradiyam ca tatha bhagavatam subham

garudam ca tatha padmam varaham subha-darsane

 

 

sattvikani puranani vijneyani subhani vai

brahmandam brahma-vaivarta markandeyam tathaiva ca

bhavisyam vamanam brahmam rajasani nibodha me

matsyam kaurmam tatha laingam saivam skandam tathaiva ca

agneyam ca sad etani tamasani nibodha me

 

 

" O beautiful lady, one should know that the Visnu, Naradiya, Bhagavata, Garuda, Padma and Varaha are all in the mode of goodness. The Brahmanda, Brahma-vaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavisya, Vamana and Brahma are in the mode of passion. The Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Siva, Skanda and Agni are in the mode of ignorance."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matsya Purana 190.13-14

 

 

 

 

“The glory of Hari is greater in sattvika scripture; the glory of Brahma is greater in rajasika scriptures; and that of Agni and Siva greater in tamasika scriptures. In mixed scriptures the glory of Sarasvati and the pitrs is said to be greater."

 

 

 

 

Combine these two verses to the Bhagavad Gita verses I mentioned, and you can understand which Puranas bring knowledge and which ones don't. Please don't neglect to understand the three modes, they are essential to Vedic understanding. They are especially used in Ayurveda, and sattvic products are always beneficial while tamasic products bring harm.

 

Also, just because the Puranas are named Matsya, Vamana, Skanda, etc, doesn't mean anything significant. Kind of like how the Katha Upanisad is named after the sage Katha, who promoted the particular Upanisad. The Matsya Purana glorifies Lord Siva more than Lord Visnu, but it considers those Puranas that glorify Lord Siva are tamasic. With this understanding the contradiction is reconciled.

 

As for the Puranas being written in different time periods, that's impossible, because all the Puranas have coordinates on the arrangement of the universe, and if one of them were missing, it wouldn't work.