UTTARA KHAND
BADRIKASHRAM
Lord Mahadeva had told Narad that altogether there were one lakh and twenty-five thousand mountains and Badrikashram was supreme among them. Lord Mahadeva said—Badrikasharam is the abode of Lord Nara-Narayan. Narayan–the origin of all creations has four arms and his complexion is dark. Narayan manifests himself in both forms–Sakar as well as Nirakar. He is the eternal Purusha and is worshipped by people during the full period of Uttarayan. Since Badrikashram is covered with snow during the period of Dakshinayan, Narayan is not worshipper during these six months. All the deities dwell at Badrikasharam. The sages live in their hermitages at Badrikasharam. River Alaknanda flows at Badrikasharam. Anybody taking a dip in the holy water of Alaknanda becomes liberated from his sins.
THE DESCENT OF RIVER GANGA
Describing about the reason why river Ganga was brought down on the earth, Lord Mahadeva told Narad— King Bhagirath was the architect of Ganga’s arrival on the earth. He wanted to liberate his dead ancestorss from the curse of Sage Kapil.King Sagar came from the lineage of the famous king–Harishchandra. Sagar had two queens. The elder queen had sixty thousand sons while the younger queen had just one–Panchajan. Panchajan’s son was Anshuman, who himself was the father of Dilip. Dilip was the father of Bhagirath.
Bhagirath did an austere penance on the Himalayas for ten thousand years. As a result, river Ganga descended on the earth. I (Shiva) held her in the locks of my hair and she remained there for ten thousand more years. Bhagirath requested me to release Ganga so that his ancestors could be liberated. I agreed to release Ganga and Bhagirath took her to the Patalloka where his ancestor’s had been charred to death due to Kapil’s curse. Bhagirath sprinkled the water of Ganga on the ashes of his ancestors and each of them attained salvation as a result.Eventually, Ganga resurfaced at Haridwar–the most sacred place of pilgrimage.
DASHARATH PACIFIES SHANI
Sage Narad curiously asked Lord Mahadeva as to what made Shani such a volatile planet.Lord Mahadeva replied— Shani is extremely violent by nature and everybody is scarred of this planet. Once, the royal astrologer of Dasharath was petrified at the prospect of Shani entering the constellation of Rohini and warned him of its dire consequences. ‘If the Shani is not prevented from entering Rohini, then famine would occur lasting for more than twelve years.’ said the royal astrologers.
Dasharath went above the sky to subdue the might of Shani well armed with divine weapons. Shani became terrified on seeing Dasharath in such a menacing mood and expressed his willingness to fulfill his desires.
QUALITIES OF A VAISHNAV
Giving a detailed description of the qualities of a Vaishnava, Lord Mahadeva told Narad
A person who has total devotion in Lord Vishnu is called a Vaishnava. He is truthful, kind and forgiving by nature.
INDRAPRASTHA
The sages enquired from Sutji about the holiest city situated on the banks of river yamuna.
Sutji narrated the tale which Sage Saubhari had once told Yudhishthir—Once, Narad and Parvat were travelling through an aerial route, while they were flying over Khandav forest, they were lured by the beautiful sight of river Yamuna. They decided to take rest for a while. Both of them descended down and entered river yamuna to take their bath.Meanwhile, King Shibi who ruled over Ushinar saw them. He eagerly waited at the bank of Yamuna. When Narad and Parvat emerged out of the yamuna, they found king Shibi eagerly waiting for them. Meanwhile king Shibi had noticed the remains of numerous ‘havan-kundas’ (oblation-altars) spread in a large area.
After the formal exchanges of pleasantaries were over, King Shibi asked Narad about those havan- kundas.
Narad replied–During ancient times Indra had performed numerous Yagyas at this place to express his gratitude to Lord Vishnu, with whose blessings he had regained the heaven from the clutches of Hiranyakashipu. In course of time, this place became famous as Indraprastha. This sacrosanct place is holier than all the holy places combined together. Indraprastha is spread in the area of one yojan from east to west and four yojans from north to south.
VAIKUNTH–THE ABODE OF LORD VISHNU
Describing about the grandeur of Vaikunth, Lord Mahadeva told Parvati–A person who has total devotion in Lord Vishnu attains to Vaikunth after his death. Vaikuntha is the abode of Vishnu and constitutes of numerous Janapadas. The magnificence of Vaikunth is beyond description and it houses many grand palaces fully decorated with jewels and diamonds.The central part of Vaikuntha is called Ayodhya and is well protected by dwarpals named Chanda, Prachanda, Bhadra, Subhadra, Jaya, Vijay, Dhata and Vidhata.Vaikunth is inhabited by countless divine people who live in well illuminated houses.
In the central part of Ayodhya is situated the ‘antahpuri’ of Lord Vishnu. It is inhabited by celestial beauties–apsaras. There is a divine Canopy situated just at the centre of antahpuri, where Lord Vishnu has his divine throne. The divine throne is surrounded by deities as well as by the embodiments of all the four Vedas— Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. The deities—Agni, Surya and Chandrama have their dwellings at the centre of Vishnu’s throne.There is a grand pedestal called yogapeeth established on the throne. A beautiful lotus flower is established on the yogapeeth on which is seated Lord Vishnu along with his consort- Laxmi.
Lord Vishnu appears divine in his complexion of a blue lotus, whose radiance is enough to subdue crores of sun. He has radiant ear-rings hangings down his earlobes. His forehead is covered with curly hair. He has the famous ‘Kaustubh mani’ in his neck. He holds a conch and a chakra in each of his two hands and the remaining two hands are in the posture of giving blessings.
THE INCARNATIONS OF MATSYA & KURMA
Once, goddess Parvati expressed her desire to know about all the incarnations of Lord Vishnu.Lord Mahadeva replied– Lord Brahma had created numerous Prajapatis like Bhrigu, Marichi, Atri, Daksha, Kardam, Pulastya, Pulaha, Angira and Kratu. Marichi was the father of Kashyap. Sage Kashyap had four wives–Aditi, Diti, Kadru and Vinta.Aditi was the mother of Deities while Diti gave birth to demons like–Makar, Hayagreeva, Mahabali, Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu Jambha, Maya etc. Makar was a mighty demon, Who after deceitfully acquiring the Vedas from Lord Brahma had hidden himself inside an ocean. Lord Brahma requested Vishnu to liberate the sacred Vedas from the possession of Makar.
Lord Vishnu then took the incarnation of Matsya and after killing Makar gave back the vedas to Lord Brahma. Durvasa was the son of Sage Atri. Once, he went to Indraloka to see Indra. At that time, Indra was planning to go out somewhere. Durvasa presented a garland of Parijat flowers to Indra. Indra, after receiving the garland from Durvasa kept it carelessly on the forehead of his elephant-Eravat. This garland was trampled under its feet by the elephant, which infuriated Sage Durvasa. He cursed Indra by saying—Immense prosperity has made you arrogant. But you will become a pauper within a very short time.
Durvasa’s words came to be true and Indra found that not only the heaven but all the three worlds had become bereft of goddess Laxmi. Prosperity vanished and poverty prevailed everywhere.The deities became worried and went to take the help of Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma took the deities to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu became pleased with their eulogy and said —
I will take incarnation as Kurma. If the ocean were churned with the help of Mandarachal mountain and Vasuki, then goddess Laxmi would manifest herself. I shall hold the Mandarachal mountain on my back.This way the churning of ocean commenced. The Mandarachal mountain was uprooted and placed inside the ‘Ksheer-Sagar’ and which rested on the back of Lord Kurma. The serpent–Vasuki, was held by deities and demons on both the ends. First of all the most venomous poison–Kalkut emerged from the ocean. Seeing both the deities and demons unwilling to accept it. (Lord Shiva) drank it.
After the emergence of Kalkut, goddess Daridra and Varuni manifested themselves. Similarly, Eravat- elephant, Uchchaishrava-horse, Dhanvantaari, Surabhi–cow and Parijat- tree emerged from the ocean.Ultimately, goddess Laxmi manifested herself. The deities requested her to dwell in the heart of Lord Vishnu and bless all the three worlds by her presence. Goddess Laxmi agreed and blessed them.
