Test of Tridev

Once sage Bhrigu wanted to know who among the trinity was the greatest: The Lord Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva. He decided to take test. He began with Lord Brahma. While Lord Brahma was reading the scriptures, Bhrigu came before him in a very arrogant way without bowing. Lord Brahma paid no attention towards sage Bhrigu. Later he scolded sage Bhrigu for showing disrespect. Next Bhrigu went to see Shiva. When Shiva saw sage Bhrigu coming towards him, he did not know how to greet him. In spite of this, Shiva grabbed sage Bhrigu and embraced him. Sage Bhrigu didn’t liked this way as Lord Shiva had a bhasm on his body This made Lord Shiva angry. Sage Bhrigu quickly left that place too. While on his way sage Bhrigu thought that how can Lord Brahma & Lord Shiva be greatest because they could not control their anger.Vishnu was the last member of the trinity to be examined by Bhrigu. When Bhrigu arrived at Vishnu’s abode, Vishnu was fast asleep. Sage Bhrigu thought to himself, “Since both Lord Brahma and Shiva showed their anger, let me see if I can also make Vishnu angry.” Then sage Bhrigu kicked lord Vishnu extremely hard right on his chest. Lord Vishnu woke up and immediately grabbed Bhrigu’s feet. “Are you hurt, are you hurt,? Please tell me. You kicked me so hard! I am deeply concerned that you have hurt yourself. Bhrigu replied, “My Lord, among the trinity— Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva –you are by far the greatest.”. It is said that the mark of Bhrigu’s foot is still visible on Vishnu’s chest.

Curse to Lord Vishnu

Once sage Narad was doing meditation for long period of time. He did that with such a strong will power that even Kamdeva could not able to disturb him. After that sage Narad was overwhelmed by feeling of pride. Lord Shiva listened to his arrogant statement. He advised Narad not to reveal this secret to anybody. But Narad was not satisfied. He wanted to give the news of his achievement to Lord Vishnu. So, he went to Lord Vishnu's abode and boasted about his feat of defeating Kamdeva. Vishnu decided to teach him a lesson by humbling his pride. Lord Vishnu uses his illusionary powers of “Maya”. While Narad was returning from Vaikuntha Loka, he saw a beautiful city. This city was ruled by a king named SheelNidhi. The king had a daughter and her Swayamvar was being organised. Narad, curiously entered the place were Swayamvar was being held. Narad was impress by the princess beauty. He returned back to Lord Vishnu and expressed his desire of marrying that princess. He also requested Lord Vishnu to make him as handsome as himself (Vishnu). The Lord Vishnu played a trick and gave the face of a monkey to Narad. The day of the Swayamvara came. Not knowing what had happened to his face, Narad reached the palace where the marriage ceremony was to take place. Princes stood before all the prospective match with garland in her hand. But she was taken aback when she saw Narad. She garlanded the handsome man standing beside Narad .The handsome man was none other than Lord Vishnu. Narad was astonished. He discovered his monkey-face in the reflection of a pool of water and became furious. He cursed Lord Vishnu that in one of his earthly re-incarnations would have to bear the pain of separation from his wife and only a monkey would be able to relieve him of his sufferings. Thus, when Vishnu was born as Rama, Hanuman helped him to free Sita from the bonds of Ravana.

King of Jewels- Kuber

Kubera was the son of sage Vishrava.He was the step brother of Ravana. He is depicted as a man with huge belly fullof jewels.He was the owner of pushpaka,the flying machine built by the divine architect Vishwakarma. His brother Ravana defeated him and sieze his chariot pushpak. To save himself he took shelter in North direction, a fabulous hidden city in the Himalayas called Alkapuri.He became the king of Yaksha(the half god and the half demon). God made him the guardian of wealth.Kubera not only lent money to Yudishthira to rule his kingdom but also financed the wedding of Lord Vishnu with Goddess Mahalakshmi. It is believed that all the people who visit the holy shrine of Tirupathi donate what is possible by them to the temple, which is supposed to be a repayment of the loan taken by Lord Vishnu from Kubera. He is assisted in his duties by his constant attendants, the Kinnars, male creatures, and their female counterparts, the Kinnoris.

Four heads of Lord Brahma

At the time of creation of universe Lord Brahma made a female known as Shatrupa. He was so attracted with his creation that he could not remove his sight from her. Shatrupa moves in different direction to avoid his gaze. But wherever she went, Lord Brahama developed a head. This results in formation of 4 heads. At last Shatrupa tries to move into heaven to avoid his gaze. The 5^th head formed on Brahama’s face looking at sky. But Lord Shiva felt that it was wrong as Shatrupa was like lord Brahma’s daughter. So, Lord Shiva cut off the 5^th head. From then onwards Lord Brahma left with four heads reciting the four Vedas for his regret

The Myth of Peepal tree

It is often seen that most astrologer recommend worship of peepal tree as a remedy to mitigate the ill effect of dasha of Saturn. If a girl's horoscope predicts widowhood, she is first married to a peepal tree on chaitra krishna or ashwin krishna tritiya. Peepal tree is a symbol of Lord Vishnu, the preserver god. There is a mythological story behind it. Once, all the gods decided to visit Lord Shiva. However, sage Narad informed them that it was an inappropriate time for a visit. But Indra did not heed the advice and assured the gods that there was nothing to fear when he was there to protect them. Narad reported Indra's arrogance to goddess Parvati. She cursed the gods that they, along with their wives, would turn into trees. When the gods asked for forgiveness, she promised that as trees, they would attain fame. Thus Lord Indra turned into a mango tree, Lord Brahma became a palash tree and Lord Vishnu turned into a peepal tree. Also Goddess Laxmi is believed to have reside the Peepal tree on Saturdays. Lord Krishna is believed to have died under the Peepal tree. In classics the cutting of Peepal tree is consider as sin. Peepal tree is also believed to be the abode of lord yama (god of death) and ancestors. Offerings made at its roots are believed to reach them. Another myth is regarding link between peepal and the Saturday. According to classics Ashvattha and Peepala were two demons who harassed people. Ashvattha would take the form of a peepal and Peepala the form of a Brahmin. The fake Brahmin would advise people to touch the tree, and as soon as they did, Ashvattha would kill them. Later they were both killed by Shani. Because of his influence, it is considered safe to touch the tree on Saturdays. It is believe that one who plant this tree get librated from the bond of life and death

Entry Of Kali Yuga

At the end of Dwapar Yuga when kaliyuga was about to enter, then the king Parikshit prohibited him to stay.He begged and said “ It is destined.I can not turn away.Apart from demerits I have many advantages also.During the Satya Yuga if any one inadvertently committed a wrong deed the entire kingdom had to bear the punishment. During Treta, if any one committed a wrong deed, the people of that town had to bear the punishment. During Dwapar Yuga, if anyone happened to commit a wrong deed, the entire family had to bear the punishment, but in Kali Yuga, he shall only bear the punishment who has committed the wrong deed. Unlike the other eras where one had to bear the punishment for a wrong and bad thoughts, In my era, this will not happen but one shall be bestowed with good fruits who thinks good."But the King Parikshit was not satisfied.Then Kaliyuga said:" One could fulfill all ones wishes and desires in the Satya Yuga only after practicing penance for 10,000 years. Similarly in the Treta Yuga and the Dwapar Yuga, one had to collect a lot of money and perform Yagyas and had to engage in charity, penance, vows and worship for a 100 years respectively to fulfil ones desires. Unlike the others, in this era, if one even prays to God for sometime with total faith and devotions and sings the praises of the Lord, he shall fulfill all his desires within no time.King Parikshit finally allowed Kali Yuga to stay and allowed him to stay four places
1)liquor
2)where a prostitute stays
3)where there is animal slaughter
4)at a place of gambling
Kali Yuga requested that his family was very big that is it comprises of members like lust, anger, greed, ego, jealousy, lies etc.How shall all of them fit in these allotted places? On this king Parikshit said that they should all then reside in gold. In this way, Kali Yuga resides in the 5 places allotted by king Parikshit.

The fate of King Parikshit

King Parikshit was grand son of Arjun. He was a great king in all respect.Once upon a time he went to jungle for hunting. After wandring for long distance he felt hungry and tired. He came across one ashram in which one sage Rishi Shameek,was doing meditation. But unaware of this fact, the king asked for food and water from the sage. But he didn’t get any reply. This made the king Parikshit angry. He picked the dead snake and put it on the shoulder of sage.But the sage didn’t reply. Since the king was very tired so he left the place.The sage had a son, whose name was Shringi. When he heard about the incidence that King Parikshit had insulted his father, he curse the king.He said that the poisonous snake Takshak would bite the man who insulted my innocent father within seven days.The king Parikshit able to knew about his fate through messangers of sage.On the seventh day as the serpent Takshak was coming to bite Parikshit, he met a brahmin. Takshak asked the brahmin where he was going in such a hurry. The brahmin replied that he was going to the court of Parikshit because he could save him from the poison of Takshak.Takshak asked him to prove his powers . So Takshak tried to test him. He bit a green tree and within seconds the tree was turned into ashes as the poison of Takshak was so strong. The brahmin chanted a few mantras and the tree was back to life as lush green as before. Takshak said that he would give the brahmin even more than he expected to get from Parikshit for saving life and that he should go back. The brahmin took the wealth from Takshak and went back happily from where he had come. Having got rid of the brahmin, Takshak went to the kingdom of Parikshit and found that there was no way in which he could get in. He then converted himself into a caterpillar and entered into one of the fruits in the basket which were being taken to the king as an offering. Once inside the king's chambers, Takshak came out of the fruit, assumed his original form and bit Parikshit. Parikshit immediately died and his body turned into ashes. Later Janmejaya was crowned the king. One mistake of King Parikshit costs him a life. All was destined to be happened