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The Story of Ashtavakra Geeta

The Story of Ashtavakra Geeta

It is a story of Ashtavakra Geeta

Ashtavakra Geeta is considered one of the most important texts of Advaita Vedanta. Ashtavakra was bent at eight places and that’s how he got this name.


When teenager Ashtavakra was told by his friend Svetketu that his father was drowned in a river on orders of King Janaka, he asked why?

Svetketu answered that a learned Brahmin Vandin defeated his father in an argument and, that was the reason why Ashtavakra’s father was drowned. 


Hearing this Ashtavakra went to King Janak’s court and challenged Vandin for an argument to find out who was more knowledgeable? Nobody believed that Ashtavakra could win, but Ashtavakra defeated Vandin convincingly. King Janak then ordered that according to the conditions Vandin should be drowned.


Vandin informed all present that he was the son of Varun, god of water. Vandin also told all present that Varun needed learned Brahmins for a yagya. And, now that the yagya was finished all the Brahmins would return. Ashtavakra’s father also returned. Muni Ashtavakra has written a definitive text about Vedanta called Ashtavakra Geeta.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

Story of King Jada Bharat

King Bharat was a great King. He ruled his kingdom with great justice and compassion. When he grew old he gave up his kingdom and went to a forest to perform penance and achieve Jeevanmukt state. He built a small hut and started living there to perform penance.

One day while he was sitting there, he saw she deer running. A lion was chasing her. As the deer jumped through the river, she delivered a deer and also died because of fright. Bharat jumped and picked up the small deer child. From that day onwards he started caring for the deer all day. So much so that he forgot his penance and instead of thinking o Brahman, kept thinking of the deer.


He was born a deer in his next birth because at the time of his death he was thinking of the deer. In his next birth, he was born as a Brahmin. Because of the virtue of his earlier penance he remembered everything. He had decided to not involve in anything and keep his mind free of every care and thought. Because he looked careless about everything he was called Jada Bharat, or someone who understands nothing. 


Once it so happened that the King of that place called Rahugan was traveling near the village of Jada Bharat. He was traveling to meet Sage Kapila to know about Brahman and the truth of life. One of the bearers of his Palaquin was sick so he was looking for another bearer. He caught hold of Jada Bharat and ordered him to act as the fourth bearer. 


Jada Bharat was careful while walking to save the small insects on the ground. Due to his slow and uneven motion King was troubled and he shouted at Bharat saying that perhaps he was sick and old of his body and was unfit. Bharat replied saying that O King, what you say applies to my body and not to me because I am pure Brahman who has realized his oneness with the whole. Jada Bharat also told King Rahugan more about soul and body. Realizing that the bearer was a great being King came down asked for forgiveness from Bharat.


The King said that I was going to meet Sage Kapila to learn about the truth of life and it seems that I need not go there. You will be able to enlighten me here itself. Jada Bharat told King everything about Brahman and World and enlightened the King.


In this birth when Bharat died he merged with Brahman and got free of the world forever.

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Stories

How a Lion Became a Sheep?

Lion

There was a pregnant lioness. Once she was roaming in the forest in search of prey. She saw a flock of sheep at a distance. She jumped on the sheep but while leaping the lion cub was born and unfortunately, the lioness died.
The baby lion started growing with the sheep. He spoke like the sheep and ate grass like them. Gradually this child grew up to become a young lion, but his habits remained the same as that of sheep.


Once an old lion was passing by and he saw a young lion behaving like sheep among the sheep flock. He somehow caught this young lion and asked him – why do you speak like these sheep, eat grass like them? You are a lion. the young lion That he was not a lion but a sheep.


Somehow the old lion took that young lion to a  pond and he showed him his face in the water. When the young lion saw that he looked like an old lion, he started thinking that probably he was a lion and not a sheep. 
Then the old lion asked the young lion to roar. The old lion roared at him. Seeing the old lion, the young lion also roared in the same way. After this, the young lion fully realised that he was a lion and not a sheep.


 we ourselves are brahman. But because of being in this body and being the world, we have forgotten our Brahman nature and think that we are mere human beings.
We consider that we are the body and the mind. We consider the pain of the body or mind as our own. Whereas, we are unattached to them. The sorrow or pain of body and mind is not ours. 

We should always remember that we are Brahman and not ordinary human beings. That we are lions and not sheep. keep in mind at all times that the happiness and misery that belong to the body belong to the body and whatever belongs to the mind is of the mind and not ours. Nothing that affects mind or body affects us, because we are Brahman.


We got the inspiration for this story from the lectures of Swami Sarvapriyanand Ji.  he is currently associated with the Vedanta Society, New York.

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Stories

How Rishi Markandeya Saw Maya?

How Rishi Markandeya Saw Maya

Rishi Markandeya was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Once he prayed to see his Maya. Lord agreed to his request to show him his Maya.


After some days it so happened that he was sitting in his hut and praying. Suddenly he saw that rain started falling. It was incessant and everything was getting flooded. There was water everywhere. The rivers and seas were rising and nothing could be seen except water everywhere.


Rishi Markandeya was afraid and went around to search for safety. He came near a banyan tree and saw that on a leaf a small child of great beauty was lying. The child was radiant and divine. He was sucking the toe of his foot. As Rishi Markandeya went near the child, he was sucked in the mouth of the child.


Inside he saw the whole world and was highly surprised. When he started going around he was thrown out of the mouth of the child. When he came out he saw that there was no water and no flood and he was sitting in his hut. He was amazed at what happened and then realised that it was Lord Vishnu’s Maya. Because of Maya we are not able to realise Brahman and are always entangled in the world which is not real.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

Story of Bhakt Surdas

Bhakta Surdas

Bhakt Surdas was a great saint and devotee of Lord Krishna. He was a 16th-century poet who was blind. The exact date of birth is not known and there are different opinions between scholars.

Bhakt Surdas wrote lot many poems describing the childhood of Lord Krishna. Among his poems, a poem called Main Navin Makhan Khayo is very popular among Hindus.

Surdas was a disciple of Vaishnav Sage Shree Vallabhacharyaji. He spent a lot of time in Srinathji temples constructed by Vallabhachryaji. He died in one such temple on the banks of Yamuna. 

Surdasji wrote many books of devotional poems. Prominent among them is Sur Sagar. His poems are also found in Shri Guru Granth Sahib which is the spiritual guru of Sikhs. As Surdasji wrote in Braj basha, this language also got a lot of attention. Devout Hindus sing the poems written by Surdasji with great love.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

The Sacrifice of Maharshi Dadhichi

Maharishi Dadhichi's Sacrifice _ Gyan Katha

Maharshi Dadhichi was one of the most important sages of India. He willingly gave up his body for the good of the world.

Once an Asura called Vritasur defeated all the gods and became the king of heaven. The gods could not defeat him with any weapon. Vritasur also took all the water on the earth and caused havoc.

Indra approached Lord Vishnu for his help in defeating Vritasur. Lord Vishnu told Indra that only a weapon made of bones of Maharshi Dadhichi could kill Vritasur.

Gods, therefore, went to request Dadhichi for his bones. Dadhichi told them that everyone dies one day so why not die for a good cause? He killed his body with yoga vidya and gods made a weapon called Vajra with the bones.
Indra challenged Vritasur for war and killed him with Vajra. The gods and people on earth were saved by this great sacrifice of Maharshi Dadhichi.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

The Story of Queen Chudala

story of chudala

This story is from the scripture Yoga Vashishta. Queen Chudala was a realized being. She had attained liberalization and was always experiencing the bliss of Brahman. She was the wife of Rishidhwaj, the king of Malwa.


Once it so happened that the king also wanted to experience the nectar of Brahman. He did not know that Chudala had already achieved that state. Therefore he did not ask her for any guidance.

The king thought that by giving up the material things he would achieve the ultimate. He, therefore, stopped using all luxuries of the palace. But he did not achieve any bliss.

He, therefore, decided to go to the forest. In the forest, he used to live with minimum things but the bliss was away from him. He, therefore, decided that the only thing left for him to give up was his body. He, therefore, prepared to cremate himself. Chudala being a brahmagyani knew about what was happening. She appeared in front of the king as a sage and advised the king that by giving up his body he would not attain realization. 

The Brahmin told the King that his ego was the main hindrance. He had to leave the feelings of me and mine. He need not leave his material comfort to attain liberation. By removing all ego he would achieve Brahman. The king thus attained Brahman and went back to his queen and kingdom.

A shining example of such a person is King Janak who was called Videh, meaning one who had no ego of body and mind but was living in great luxury.

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Lord Krishna Stories

Story of Saint Mirabai

story of saint mirabai

Mirabai was a great saint who spent her life singing about Lord Krishna. She was brought up in the kingdom of Merta in Rajasthan. It is said that when Mirabai was a child she saw a marriage procession. She asked her mother about her husband. Her mother gave her an idol of Lord Krishna and said that he was her husband. In her innocence, Mirabai believed that as a fact and started worshiping Lord Krishna as her husband.


She was married to Prince Bhojraj of Mewar, but the prince died soon after the marriage. After the death of her father-in-law, Vikram Singh the ruler of Mewar began the persecution of Mirabai. He sent her a cup of poison calling it nectar. Mirabai drank it but nothing happened to her. Again a snake was sent to her in a basket. The snake changed to flowers. Such attempts were made to kill her but all failed.


After that Mirabai left the palace without any consideration of the norms of the society. She became a wandering monk singing the praise of Lord Krishna as devotional songs. Most of the songs written by her are still very popular. It is said that she merged in the idol of Lord Krishna at Dwarka in Gujarat. 

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

Story of The Birth of Urvashi

Story of The Birth of Urvashi

Story of the Birth of Urvashi

Urvashi was the most beautiful apsara in Indra’s palace. Once the incarnations of Lord Vishnu Nar and Narayan were doing intense meditation. The meditation was so so intense that as usual Indra the head of gods got afraid that Nar and Narayan wanted to replace him as the king of gods.


Indra thought of an idea to break their meditation. He send his most beautiful apsaras such as Rambha and others to the place where Nar and Narayan were meditating. He also sent the lord of love Kamdev with the apsaras. They all tried in many ways to break up their meditation. 


Nar and Narayan were incarnations of Lord Vishnu and they knew everything about what was happening. To break Indra’s pride Narayan slapped his thigh. That slap produced Urvashi who was more beautiful than all the apsaras sent by Indra.


The celestial beings sent by Indra were highly ashamed looking at the unparalleled beauty of Urvashi. Even Indra was very ashamed looking at the power of Narayan. In his great mercy, Narayan sent Urvashi to Indra in heaven. There are many stories connected with Urvashi that we will watch in other.

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Stories Stories from Hindu Religion

The Story of King Bharathari

The Story of King Bharathari

King Bharathari was the ruler of Ujjain. He was the elder brother of Samrat Vikramaditya. Pingla was the favorite queen of Bharatahari. He was in deep love with her.


Once a poor Brahmin couple received the fruit of youth from a sage. They thought that as their King was a very good King they should give the fruit to him so that he could govern for a long time as a young man. They went to the palace and gifted the fruit of youth to the King.


King as we have said was in great love with his queen Pingala and therefore gave the fruit to her thinking that if she remained young for a long time he could enjoy life with her. Pingala was in love with the army chief and gifted the fruit to him. In turn, the army chief who was in love with a prostitute gave the fruit to her.


The prostitute thought that the King was more worthy of eating the fruit and therefore gave the fruit to King. King was surprised to see the fruit and found out the trail of how the fruit had traveled through different hands.


His love for Pingala disappeared and looking at the behavior of everyone he got disgusted with everything. He handed over the kingdom to his younger brother Vikramaditya and went to the forest to search for the only truth that is god.


This story teaches us that the world is unreal and unreliable. The only worthwhile object in life is to achieve our true self that is god.

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