Nirjala Ekadashi

Every 11^th tithi of the lunar month is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.It comes twice in a month. Of the total 24, the Ekadashi that falls on Jyeshtha month Shukla Paksha is the most important one.Any one who keeps fast on this day will accrue benefit of all other Ekadashi at once. This fats is called ‘ Nirjal Ekadashi Vrat’. ‘Nirjala’ means without water and this fast is observed without water and any type of food. This  is the toughest among all fasts. Once  Sage Vyasa visited Pandavas. Amongst five Pandavas, Bhima, who had a uncontrolled hunger said   all his brothers, wife Draupadi and mother Kunti observed fast on 24 Ekadasis throughout the year and asked him to do the same. But he was unable to perform the ritual because he could not bear the hunger. Sage Vyasa suggested him to observe Nirjala Ekadasi Vrat, which will accrue him the merits of keeping yearlong Ekadasi fasts. Bhima abided by his words and performed Nirjala Ekadasi Vrat.  . This is why the occasion is also known as Pandava Ekadasi or Bhimseni ekadasi.. The duration of this fast is from one sunrise to other. Charity performed on this day has manifold positive effects. Those who have kept this fast of Nirjala ekadashi have sent their 100 gone generations and 100 upcoming generations to Vaikuntha

 .

Brihaspati Vaar Vrat

Sage Brihaspati is the Guru of gods and represented by planet Jupiter in our solar system and Thursday in weekdays.On this day wearing of yellow colour clothes is very important to harness the positive energies of the environment.As per Shiv Puraan, Sage Brihaspati is the son of Angira rishi. He performed tapasya at the Prabhaas Kshetra and Lord Shiva granted him prestigious place in the nav grah(9 plantes) as planet Jupiter.
Even in astrology, the aspect of planet Jupiter is considered too auspicious. he is the significator planet of Dharm,children and knowledge. Fasting is begins from the sunrise and ends at the next day(after sunrise).Worshipping of banana tree is observed and yellow colored offerings are made to banana tree. Eating of banana and salt is strictly prohibited on this day.


The legend associated with thursday fast is as follows-

Once there was a King who was very devotee but his wife was exactly opposite in nature. One day a sage visited his palace for alms. At that time the king was not present.  The Queen said that she had become fed up from giving charity and she wanted to get rid off the money so that she could live happily.Sage suggested that for this she had to follow certain things which included getting up late on Thursday,not cleaning the kitchen before preparing meals,washing her hairs and clothes and to tell her husband to shave on Thursday.

 The sadhu disappeared and the queen  followed his instructions. The king’s  family became poorer and poorer. They could hardly afford meals for one time. To earn the livelihood the king went to the neighbouring country. There he started earning money by selling the wood cut from the forest to the city. One day queen had nothing to eat so she send her maid to the village where her sister lived to beg for some food.As per command the maid went to her sister’s house where she was doing Brihaspati vaar pooja when she visited. Since she was busy in pooja so she did not answered the maid’s call.Maid returned to queen and complained about her sister. At the same time the queen’s sister followed and visited queen and said that it is prohibited to speak at the time of Brihaspati pooja so that was the reason she did not reply. She also said that today is Thursday and due to her vrat , Brihaspati would surly fulfill her wises. She suggested to check her house so that perhaps she might found some pot full of grains. Queen was shocked to see one pot of grain lying on one corner of the house. From that day she started keeping Thursday fast.Over the passage of time all the wealth was restored. On the other hand King in the neighbouring city forgot to keep Thursday fast one day. In a sudden development he was charged with stealing the necklace of the queen of that city.He was sentenced to jail. In his dream Brihaspati appeared and told the reason for this mishappening. Next Thursday he kept the fast in jail and the very next day he was released by the king’s order as it was confirmed he was not the culprit. The king returned to the village and amazed to see the dramatic turn around of the financial conditions of his queen. On asking she narrated the magic of Brihaspati vaar fasting.Since then they lived happily.

Hanuman and Betel leaves

When the war between Lord Rama and King Ravana was over, then it was time for them to return to Ayodhya along with Goddess Sita. But at the time of departure Hanuman was missing who played a key role in the victory of Lord Rama. Everyone searched for Hanuman. Eventually, Sita found Hanuma in a betel leaves garden .  When Hanuman saw Sita , he bowed his head down to seek the blessings.Sita was overwhelmed with his devotion. She plucked few betel leaves and showered on hanuman in order to bless him. Since then  this tradition of offering garland of betel leaves is follows

The previous birth of Draupadi

 In her previous birth,Draupadi  was born as the daughter of King Nala and Damayanti. Her name was Nalayani. She was a true devotee of Lord Shiva since childhood. Once Lord Shiva granted a wish. She said that she wanted to marry a man who possessed the desired 14 qualities. Though Lord Shiva asked to change her wish , but she was adamant. Lord Shiva blessed her that in the next birth she would married to 5 men with all the desired 14 qualities. In the next birth she was born from the fire as a daughter of King Drupad. Her father arranged swayamvar for her marriage in which Arjuna won her hand. After the marriage when Arjuna went to home along with his four brothers and Draupadi, they knocked the door and said to the  mother,kunti, that there was a  surprise for her. But mother Kunti without looking at Draupadi, thought that her sons must have brought some eatables from the forest for her, so she asked her sons to divide whatever they got among themselves. Finally, in order to obey mother’s order, all the five Pandavas accepted Draupadi as their wife. It is believe that she was a composite avatar of ‘Shakti’.

Shabri- The blessed devotee

 Shabri was born in a tribal family. Since childhood she was a great devotee of Lord Rama. When she reached marriageable age,she was surprised to see his father arranging animals to be serve in marriage feast.Se could not able to tolerate this act and she escaped and reached the ashram of Sage Matang. she served at  the ashram with great devotion. When the Sage Matang was about to leave his mortal form, he blessed Shabri that one day Lord Rama would visit this ashram to bless her.She was overwhelmed and from that day she spent every minute in the waiting of her god.Everyday she plucked the berry fruit from the forest and tasted it. If she found the fruit to be sweet then she stored them for Lord Rama and rest she discarded. Her devotion was pure. Many years passed. Shabri was now too old . One day her wait was over when Lord Rama visited her ashram. This was the ultimate moment for which she was waiting for.She was overjoyed and welcomed Lord Rama by washing his feet. She offered berry fruit to him. But before the offer again she tasted each fruit and she gave only sweet fruit to him.Even Lord Rama had tears in his eyes to see her devotion.On the other hand Lakshman was not happy as Shabri offered unworthy fruit after tasting. Lord Rama explained to Lakshman that the berries are offered with true devotion and nothing in this world could be as good as these berries. He blessed Shabri .She reached the ultimate height of spirituality which was difficult for even great sages.

The Legend of Shishupal

Shishupal was the cousin of lord Krishna. He was born with three eyes and four arms.
This was the major concern for the mother. She approached Lord Krishna for the help along with the Shishupal. When lord Krishna held the Shishupal  in his lap, all of a sudden the Shishupal become normal as his extra eye and pair of arm vanished. The mother was very happy but at the same time she remembered warning given by the sage that the person who will be responsible for the Shishupal’s normalcy will also be the cause of his death in future.Mother of Shishupal begged Lord Krishna for the mercy. Krishna promised to forgive Shishupal’s 100 sins only. The time progressed. Shishupal became young. His friend was Rukmi. He wanted to marry his sister Rukmini, who was incarnation of goddess Lakshmi. But Rukmini wanted to marry Lord Krishna. This was the major cause of Shishupal’s rivalry with Lord Krishna. Once Yagya was organized by Yudhishter in which he invited all the mighty kings. When Yudhishter was about to welcome Lord Krishna, Shishpal started insulting Lord Krishna. In a moment he became unstoppable. On the otherhand Lord Krishna was counting every sin Shishupal was making by abusing him. When the total reached 100, Lord Krishna invoked his Sudarshan Chakra and killed Shishupal.In his previous birth Shishupal was King Ravana of Lanka who was again killed by another incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Rama.

The Family of Anger

क्रोध मनुष्य के अन्दर छिपे ६ विकारों में से एक है.यह एक ऐसा अवगुण है जो क्षण भर में इंसान की कई गुणों   को  नष्ट   कर देता है. क्रोध ८ प्रकार की बुराइयों को अपने साथ ले कर प्रकट होता है  
1)अन्याय  (injustice)

2)अविवेक (rashness)

3)अत्याचार (cruelty)

4)इर्ष्या (jealousy)

5) लालसा  (greed)

6)हिंसा (violence)

7)अपशब्द (abuse)

8)उत्पीडन(prosecution)

'क्रोध' का अपना भरा पूरा परिवार है .क्रोध की पत्नी का नाम हिंसा है. यह  केवल  आवाज़ सुन कर बाहर आती है.  क्रोध  की दो पुत्रियाँ हैं - निंदा और चुगली . पहली मुह के पास तो दूसरी कान के पास रहती है. क्रोध का पुत्र -बैर है. इर्ष्या इस परिवार की बहु है . इन के पिता हैं भय और माता हैं उपेक्षा . .क्रोध के बड़े भाई हैं -अहंकार और छुटकी बहिन है जिद जो सदैव साथ ही रहती है.  इस परिवार से जितना दूर रहें उतना ही अच्छा है