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Dadhichi and my son's questions !

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by hrastro, Feb 27, 2013.

  1. hrastro

    hrastro Platinum IL'ite

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    After a long time, my 8 year old DS wanted to listen to a story when being put to bed (today he got hurt on the knee in the playground and wanted some mollycoddling more than the story !!)

    I said you know all the stories nowadays!! You know all akbar/birbal/tenalirama/mulla nastruddin, all jataka and panchatantra, even our puranic and mytholgical stories.... aha brainwave :thumbsup ... ok do you know who is Dadhichi ?

    DS: Oh, the one who gave up his bones for the vajrayudha (the thunderbolt weapon of Indra) ?? yes I know !!

    ME: :hide: Yeah, you know that story too !!!

    DS : Amma it is ok, you tell me the story ! I'll listen !

    ME : OK ! Once the Guru Brihaspati came to the sabha where Indra and other Gods were enjoying dances by the apsarasas! And Indra did not stand up when the Guru entered! Do you know what happens when Guru is insulted - you go down the drain so badly that no one can save you! Guru didnt say a word and just disappeared.
    Immediately the asuras took advantage and declared a war.
    How can you win a war without a GURU??? So the Devas approached Visvarupa, who took up the Guru post reluctantly!

    DS: Why reluctantly amma, anyone should be honored to take up the post!

    ME: Visvarupa was happier doing tapas, he wanted to realize GOD, and not waste time in mundane royal matters and wars ! Yet, he recited the Narayana Kavacha for Indra and Indra won the war!
    But can a person who insulted his Guru be happy even in victory?

    DS: No, because Indra killed Visvarupa !!

    ME: Yes kanna, Visvarupa's father was Twasta, son of Brahma, but his mother was from the Asura family and Visvarupa used to collect the offerings in all the yagas and homas that men used to perform, and he used to give a share to his mother !!
    - see even a realized soul sometimes does wrong things for the sake of mother's love !

    DS: Why is it wrong, he was just giving food to his mother?

    ME: The food was the Devas, men pray to devas for various worldly things and offer food, Visvarupa was the caretaker, not the owner, you cant share others stuff, only your own stuff ! It can be equated to stealing!

    DS: So Indra killed Visvarupa, then what happened?

    ME: Indra had committed a very henious sin! A combination of Guru hatya AND brahma hatya !!! He suffered and suffered and suffered for it ! And when he could NO LONGER suffer and repent for it and felt very unclean, he distributed the sins to earth, water, trees and women!


    contd in next post :
     
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  2. hrastro

    hrastro Platinum IL'ite

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    Contd from first post :

    DS: How did he distribute the sins to them?

    ME: There are unclean places on the earth (barren lands), the foam in the water is considered unclean, many trees have sap that is considered unclean and the women when they have children, they are not supposed to be touched till they have the cleaning bath (Actually, it is women's periods but I didnt want to explain THAT to DS :))

    DS: But Amma !!! The HENIOUS sin was committed by Indra, why did the others have to suffer for his sins forever and ever!!!

    ME: Yes kanna, it is unfair, but the sins of rulers pass on to the citizens too !

    DS: Didnt they get many boons too in exchange?

    ME: yes, earth fills up when it is dug up, water dissolves in everything and makes it more voluminous, trees can re-grow their branches and women are more beautiful than men (Actually it is - women enjoy sexual pleasure more than men, but can I say THAT to DS, hahaha!)

    DS: Ok, so now, is Indra free from the sins?

    ME: Yes, but anyone who passes of his punishments to others, can he go unpunished?
    Twastha created a demon called Vritra to avenge the death of his son Visvarupa!

    DS: Amma, To fight with Vritrasura, Indra needed a very powerful weapon ! And he had to request Dadhichi to give him his bones ! Why Dadhichi Amma??

    ME: You already know many parts of the story ?

    DS: Yes amma, but I can ask you questions, I dont get full details from the book

    ME: Yes, kanna! :), So Why Dadhichi, well he was so spiritually advanced, and he was the one who taught Twastha the mantra "Narayana Kavacha" which Twastha taught to Visvarupa and Visvarupa had used that mantra to help Indra to win the war against the asuras!
    So, Dadhichi's mind and body were super strong !
    But, this whole thing started with brahma hatya! So, asking for Dadhichi's body is again a sin ??

    DS: No Amma, No sin will attach to Indra for asking Dadhichi's body!

    ME: Why do you think, kanna?

    DS: Because Dadhichi happily gave up his body for the greater good ! Because, Dadhichi wanted his body to be useful instead of just rotting in the earth! So it is ok for Indra, no brahma hatya paapam this time ! And they took the body only after Dadhichi took samadhi and the soul had left the body !

    ME: (thinking wow, he actually understood the difference !) Yes kanna, you're right! So a vajrayudha was prepared and Indra and Vritrasura had a very long battle and Vritrasura was killed by Indra!

    DS: Then All is Well?

    ME: ha ha ha!! no, not yet! We started with Guru Brihaspati leaving, so he has to come back, but that is another day's story ! But I'll end with -
    Although the Gods told Indra that an Ashwamedha sacrifice will take care of his sin of killing YET another brahmana (Vritra was also a son of Twastha), Indra was not happy at all, his mind drove him crazy with guilt! He couldnt find peace anywhere in his Heaven, so he came down to the earth to the manasarovar lake and hid in the stalk of a lotus!

    DS: And who took care of his kingdom - the heaven - now no guru, no indra too?

    ME: A man! A king called Nahusha was invited by the Gods to take his place.
    But if you give a man the heaven, he wants more!!!
    Thats another day's story, you have school tomorrow, go to sleep now !

    DS: Ok amma ! Goodnight !
     
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  3. hrastro

    hrastro Platinum IL'ite

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    Thanx for the likes !

    I continued the story last night!

    ME: So, Guru Brihaspati is angry with Indra and he became invisible. Indra is ashamed of all the brahma hatyas and he is hiding in Manasarovar inside the stalk of a lotus. So heaven is in chaos. And the Gods needed a good king. They approached Brahma who referred a king (MAN) called Nahusha!

    At first Nahusha was a very competent ruler, he was successful in ruling the heavens just and fair for about a thousand years, meanwhile Indra was doing his penance and prayaschita in the lotus stalk. Soon he became conceited and arrogant and without a Guru to guide, his actions became disastrous.

    Things came to a head when Nahusha saw Sachidevi, the wife of the erstwhile Indra ! And wanted her! Sachidevi prayed and prayed to Guru Brihaspati, and could see him because of her pativrata! She cried to him and told him to help her, Guru was Guru to Indra, but Sachidevi was like a daughter to him!

    Guru said - Tell Nahusha to come in a palanquin borne by the seven rishis !

    DS: Amma, are the seven rishis the ones I recite in my Sandhya? Atri, brighu, kutsa, vashista, gautama, kashyapa and angirasa!!

    ME: I dont think so, because this time was different, I think there was a different set of sapta rishis! As, this set had Agastya in the list!! I'm not sure, we'll google that later!

    DS: OK, what happened then !

    ME: Then what! Again - insult of the Guru - a person with knowledge - do you know Guru means HEAVY ?

    DS: Heavy? why heavy?

    ME: Guru comes from Gr = heavy - a person so knowledgeable that he is heavy in spirituality and wisdom and knowledge!

    DS: Oh, and Gravity ?

    ME: wow, you are right ! Gravity also comes from the root Guru !

    DS: Amma what happened with Nahusha then?

    ME: He was carried by the seven rishis, they were spiritual people not used to carrying heavy things. So, they were very slow and Agastya being the shortest, was the slowest and also the palanquin was leaning to one side due to Agastya's height!

    Nahusha got impatient, as he was imagining Sachidevi waiting for him !! And he kicked at Agastya saying "Sarpa sarpa" meaning "faster faster"!

    Agastya cursed him "Become a sarpa (Snake)" and Nahusha became a python and fell and fell and fell and fell ALL the way down to the earth!

    And stayed in a well for a million years till Yudhistira set him free!!

    That is another day's story !
     
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  4. hrastro

    hrastro Platinum IL'ite

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    Does anyone know the answer to this question ?

     
  5. justanothergirl

    justanothergirl IL Hall of Fame

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    HR..
    The saptarishis that ur son recites during sandhya is most probably different from the sapta rishis during that period.
    Each Manvantara or division of time according to BrahmaKala has a diff set of sapta rishi. They are not constant. Does the book state the specific manvantara when this took place ?
    Hope this saves u some time
    SAPTARISHIS
    We are in the seventh Manvantharam..so these are the saptharishis.
    Atri, brighu, kutsa, vashista, gautama, kashyapa and angirasa!


    And all I can say is wow to u and ur DS!
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2013
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  6. hrastro

    hrastro Platinum IL'ite

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    Wow JAG !! Thanx for the link!!!

    I dont read the stories from any book to my son, they are from my memories of all the readings that I do!!! And the conversation between me and my DS is exactly as I wrote above! This is the way I tell him stories for the night, more of questions and answers :)

    Food time stories used to be when he was younger, during food times, there used be more action and noise and laughter during the stories :)

    I did think about the "time/kala/manvantara" part, but was not sure! Your link confirmed my guesses - there were different saptarishis for different manvantaras! But Agastya is not in any list, so maybe as your link says some of the astral links were lost !!!

    Maybe I'll have to dig out my Srimad Bhagavatam for more details!

    The list he recites is the Krishna Yajurveda shaka!

    Edited : Sorry JAG, I just realised you meant the book that my son read! He must've read in tinkle/chandamama/magic pot/dimdima/balvihar or RK Mutt books, they dont have the names of the saptarishis!!
     
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