Garuda Purana .. part 9

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GARUDA Purana part… 9

 

Namaste

Let us Continue Reading Puranas.

Puranas are also a Treasure to Sanathana Dharma.

Agni Purana, Brahma Purana, Garuda Purana,

Markandeya Purana, Varaha Purana, Matsya Purana

Vishnu Purana, Linga Purana, Narada Purana,

Padma Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana,

Vamana Purana

Let us start read one by one .

We Finish reading AGNIPURANA & Brahma Purana

Now we will continue reading GARUDA Purana .same like

before I will post Garuda Purana as part by part.

 

 

I Know while reading Manusmriti to read

Other puranas may be difficult , but as you know

at least to taste our great values in

Sananthana Dharma One Human life is not enough,

so I try my level best to spread this values

to my respected friends.

If anyone miss to read or interest to read my

previous postings Chanakya Neetisastra,

Kautiliya Arthasastra , Vidura niti or

Tiruvallurs Tirukkural,and Uddhavagita or

any part of Manusmriti ,Agnipurana

pls mail to me , I will send again to you.

I humbly request you to forward this values to your family, friends and to your groups. Allow all people from different religion to understand the value of our Sanathana Dharma. At least let them learn and then let them criticize.

 

Here we start the translation of the text of the GARUDA PURANA in Short at the currently available form :

I am not a scholar to modify any of this laws or puranas or its languages suitable for modern life .I Humbly request you to read it and think in a modern scientific way. Like in Bhagavadgita Chapter 18 text 63 it is said by lord Krishna Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.

As my Guru told me

One need not worry too much about the source of certain knowledge. Just adopt in our life if they are good. If needed refine the knowledge by way of addition, deletion, modification and correction. Also try to understand the meaning of Different Castes , it is not by birth it is by his performance.

GARUDA Purana part… 9

 

 

SRI KRISHNA

Making a revelation to Vyas that the Almighty God manifests himself whenever the civilization is endangered by the dominance of sinners, Lord Brahma said- 'In Dwapar yuga, Lord Vishnu incarnated as Sri Krishna to protect Dharma from being subjugated by 'Adharma', which had become all pervasive at that time. He was born to Vasudev and Devaki. Both his parents had been kept under captivity by Kamsa, who was aware of the prophesy that he would be killed by Devaki's eighth son. In due course of time Devaki gave birth to seven sons all of whom were mercilessly killed by Kamsa one by one. In order to protect the life of Sri Krishna- the eighth child born to Devaki, Vasudev exchanged him with the baby girl born to Yashoda and Nand. Vasudev had no problem in moving out of the prison as Krishna by his divine power induced all the guards to sleep. Sri Krishna,

being an incarnation of Lord Vishnu performed great feats right from his childhood. Once, Kamsa sent an ogress named Putana, who tried to kill Sri Krishna by breast-feeding him. But, Krishna sucked her breasts with such ferocity that Putana met an instant death. In due course of time Sri Krishna killed many more ferocious demons like Shakatasur, Kaliya Nag, Dhenukasur and mesmerized the residents of Gokul by his divine bravery. He also performed many other divine feats like lifting Govardhan mountain and performing Raasa-Lila with the Gopis. Seeing all his plans of killing Sri Krishna go in vain, Kamsa sent him a message challenging for a 'duel- bought' with his court-wrestlers named 'Mushtik' and 'Chanur'. Sri Krishna killed both the dreaded demons without much difficulty. Ultimately, Sri Krishna climbed up the throne sitting on which Kamsa had been watching the wrestling bout and pulled him down by his hair. He then

punched Kamsa on his chest so hard that he died an instantaneous death.Having accomplished his most important mission of killing the demon king-Kamsa and liberating the earth from his tyranny, Sri Krishna went on to complete his education under the tutelage of Sage Sandipani. During ancient times it was customary for a disciple to offer Dakshina to his teacher, as a mark of respect after his education was complete. Sri Krishna following this tradition gave an invaluable Dakshina to his Guru by bringing all his dead sons alive to earth from 'Yamloka'. Sri Krishna was subsequently crowned as the king of Mathura but on account of the relentless attack by Jarasandha he had to abandon his dear city and shift his base to Dwarka. He had eight queens among whom Rukmini and Satyabhama were prominent. Later on he rescued sixteen thousand and one hundred women from the captivity

of Narakasur and give status of queen to all of them. From Rukmini he had a son named Pradyumna, who killed Shambarasur. Aniruddha was Pradyumna's son and he married Usha- daughter of Banasur. Banasur was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and was blessed with one thousand hands.Lord Shiva came to his rescue at the time when he was battling against the might of Sri Krishna. A fierce battle was fought between both the deities, which remained inconclusive even after a long time. Lord Shiva then requested Sri Krishna to spare Banasur's life to which he agreed albeit partially. Sri Krishna severed all the hands of Banasur barring two. Finally, after accomplishing his mission of liberating the earth from the darkness of sin Sri Krishna left for heavenly abode.

THE TALE OF MAHABHARAT

Giving the reasons that lead to the great battle of Mahabharat, Lord Brahma told sage Vyas that Sri Krishna had planned this great battle and executed it to perfection to relieve the earth from the burden of tyrants. While giving the names of lineal ascendants of Kauravas and Pandavas, he said-' I (Lord Brahma) manifested from the lotus which itself had its origin in the navel of Vishnu. Atri manifested from me while Chandra from Atri. Buddh was born to Chandra while he himself was the father of Pururava. Aayu was Pururava's son while he himself was the son of Yayati. The names of few famous descendants of Yayati were Bharat, Kuru and Shantanu. Shantanu had two wives- Ganga and Satyavati. The former was the mother of Bhishma, the indomitable warrior, who had vowed to remain a bachelor throughout his life. The latter i.e. Satyavati gave birth to two

sons- Chitrangad and Vichitraveerya. A Gandharva killed Chitrangad while Vichitraveerya died issue-less despite having two wives- Ambika and Ambalika(both daughters of the king of Kashi). In order to expand their clan both Ambika and Ambalika begot one son each from sage Vyas. Ambika gave birth to Dhritrashtra while Ambalika to Pandu. The same Vyas also had a son from a maid servant who became famous as Vidur and who was famous for his statesmanship and tactfulness. Dhritrashtra married Gandhari and begot one hundred sons from her among whom Duryodhan was most notorious. These one hundred sons of Dhritrashtra became famous as Kauravas. Pandu had two wives Kunti and Madri from whom he begot five sons-Yudhishthir, Bhima, Arjun, Nakul and Sahdev, who all grew up to be very powerful and mighty. All five of them became famous as Pandavas. Pandu, their father had died while they were still young and Madri, unable to bear the sorrow had given up

her life by jumping into the burning pyre of her dead husband. So, the Pandavas were brought up under the guardianship of Kunti.Kauravas and Pandavas were bitter rivals right from their childhood. Duryodhan never missed a chance to torment the Pandavas- his cousins. Both Kauravas and Pandavas were brought up under the tutelage of Kripacharya and Dronacharya, both prominent scholars of their times. Once, Duryodhan tried to kill Bhima by poisoning him but fortunately Bhima not only came out unscathed but also with renewed strength and vigour. Duryodhan tried his luck for the second time to eliminate his enemies by setting ablaze the house of wax in which Pandavas were living but once again they came out unharmed. Pandavas then went to 'Ekchakra Nagar' and took refuge in the house of a Brahmin family. A demon named 'Baka' used to torment the people of Ekchakra Nagar. Bhima killed that demon and the people were relieved at the news of their

tormentor's death. Thereafter Pandavas went to attend the Swayamvar ceremony of Draupadi. Arjun won Draupadi as his wife by piercing the eye of the fish hanged above his head by looking at its image in the water-pot kept below.At the insistence of Dronacharya and Bhishma, Yudhishthir reluctantly agreed to share half of his Kingdom with the Pandavas. Thus Pandavas started living at Indraprashth, the capital of their newly acquired Kingdom. Arjuna married Subhadra, his second wife and the sister of Sri Krishna. He pleased Agni Dev by his austere penance and received divine weapons like- a divine chariot, Gandiv (bow), imperishable arrows and an impenetrable shield. After being armed with these divine weapons he successfully defeated many powerful monarchies and gave the whole acquired wealth to Yudhishthir, his elder brother.Dhrithrashtra invited Yudhishthir for a game of 'Dyuta' (gamble) but Duryodhan defeated him by

employing unfair and deceitful tactics with the active connivance of Shakuni- his cunning maternal uncle. Yudhishthir lost everything in the gamble- his whole wealth, his kingdom and even Draupadi. Pandavas had to go into exile for twelve years with an additional year of 'Agnatwas'(they were not supposed to be recognized during this period) as per the terms and conditions laid down for the game.After completing their total period of exile, Pandavas reached Virat Nagar to spend their year of 'Agyatwas', which posed more dangers and challenges because if they were recognized during this period it would have meant another twelve years of exile for them. Having successfully completed their period of exile, Pandavas demanded back their Kingdom but Duryodhan was not even willing to part away with five villages. Thus Pandavas were left with no option but to fight for their legitimate rights. Both the rival armies boasted of mighty and

brave warriors on their sides. Duryodhan appointed Bhishma as the chief commander of his army whereas Shikhandi was leading Pandava's army. The first ten days of the battle saw a fierce fight between both the rival armies during which period many warriors from each side achieved martyrdom. Finally, while Bhishma lay down injured, his whole body pierced with Arjuna's arrows, but still alive because he had received a boon of 'Iccha Mrityu'(death by his choice) prominent warriors from both sides stood around him. It was only after the Sun came north of equinox (Uttarayan), the auspicious time Bhishma had chosen to leave his mortal body that he died after preaching the Pandavas on wide range of subjects.After Bhishma's death Dronacharya led the Kaurava's army. This was the most crucial phase of the battle. Dronacharya had become so demoralized after his son's death, that he had just no motivation left in him to fight the battle. Finding

an opportune moment, Dhrishtadyumna severed his head and Kauravas thus lost their most able and experienced commander.Duryodhan appointed Karna as the next commander of Kaurava's army. The most decisive phase of the battle began and after a fierce battle of two days Arjuna managed to kill his brave rival. Subsequently, Yudhishthir killed Shalya. After loosing all his mighty warriors, Duryodhana, in a fit of rage challenged Bhima for a duel of mace. Bhima killed him after a fierce fight. The revengeful Ashwatthama, son of Dronacharya, attacked the Pandava's camp at night, much against the norms of battle and killed all the five sons of Draupadi and thousand of other Pandava soldiers. Arjuna avenged the death of his sons by defeating Ashwatthama and extracting the diamond set in his forehead.After the battle ended, Yudhishthir performed the rituals of Shraddh in the name of all the dead warriors and ascended the throne. He

ruled in a just manner just according to the instructions given by Bhishma. After Sri Krishna left this mortal world, Yudhishthir appointed Parikshit as his successor and left for Himalaya accompanied by his brothers as well as Draupadi.

THE ETERNAL TRUTH

Lord Brahma, while shedding light on various aspects of religion told sage Vyas that a man should look at his sorrows (shoka) with a sense of aloofness and detachment, considering it as a passing phase. He also revealed to Vyas that the 'Fire of sorrow' consumed everything that came into its fold and nothing remained untouched by it. A sorrowful man becomes bereft of all his possessions-knowledge, religion, physical strength, patience, happiness and all such qualities.Lord Brahma also told him that virtuous deeds never went without being rewarded, as all good things enjoyed by a man in his life are nothing but the result of his virtuous past 'Karmas'. On the contrary sinful deeds committed by a man makes his present as well as his future births miserable. Further, glorifying the virtues of some other good deeds, Lord Brahma said-' Protecting the life of a person, whose life is endangered

and who has sought one's refuge is the greatest virtue and no other deed can be compared with it. One who sheds his life to protect his religion attains to heaven. A contented man enjoys even his adversities and remains unperturbed by them. A man should never miss a chance to get benefited by the company of enlightened souls because it gives him an opportunity to understand religion in a better way. Donating food begets incomparable virtues and no other virtuous deed stands anywhere near it.' Lord Brahma concluded by describing Sanatan Dharma in a nutshell and said-' Anybody observing the following austerities should be considered an ardent follower of 'Sanatan Dharma'- truth, penance, self-control, purity, forgiveness, compassion, knowledge and donation.

Will be Continue on part 10

with regards

dilip