दृढ़ विश्वास

एक समय शिव जी महाराज पार्वती के साथ हरिद्वार में घूम रहे थे । पार्वती जी ने देखा कि सहस्त्रों मनुष्य गंगा में नहा कर ‘हर-हर गंगे’ कहते चले जा रहे हैं परंतु प्राय: सभी दुखी और पाप परायण हैं । तब पार्वती जी ने बड़े आश्चर्य से शिव जी से पूछा कि " हे देव ! गंगा में इतनी बार स्नान करने पर भी इनके पाप और दुखों का नाश क्यों नहीं हुआ ? क्या गंगा में सामर्थ्य नहीं रही ?’  शिवजी ने कहा, ‘‘ प्रिये ! गंगा में तो वही सामर्थ्य है, परंतु इन लोगों ने पापनाशिनी गंगा में स्नान ही नहीं किया है तब इन्हें लाभ कैसे हो ?’’  पार्वती जी ने आश्चर्य से कहा कि - ‘‘ स्नान कैसे नहीं किया ? सभी तो नहा-नहा कर आ रहे हैं ? अभी तक इनके शरीर भी नहीं सूखे हैं ।’’ शिवजी ने कहा, ‘‘ये केवल जल में डुबकी लगाकर आ रहे हैं । तुम्हें कल इसका रहस्य समझाऊंगा । ’’ दूसरे दिन बड़े जोर की बरसात होने लगी । गलियां कीचड़ से भर गईं । एक चौड़े रास्ते में एक गहरा गड्ढा था, चारों ओर लपटीला कीचड़ भर रहा था । शिवजी ने लीला से ही वृद्ध रूप धारण कर लिया और दीन-विवश की तरह गड्ढे में जाकर ऐसे पड़ गए, जैसे कोई मनुष्य चलता-चलता गड्ढे में गिर पड़ा हो और निकलने की चेष्टा करने पर भी न निकल पा रहा हो । पार्वती जी को उन्होंने यह समझाकर गड्ढे के पास बैठा दिया कि -- " देखो, तुम लोगों को सुना-सुनाकर यूं पुकारती रहो कि मेरे वृद्ध पति अकस्मात गड्ढे में गिर पड़े हैं कोई पुण्यात्मा इन्हें निकालकर इनके प्राण बचाए और मुझ असहाय की सहायता करे । शिवजी ने यह और समझा दिया कि जब कोई गड्ढे में से मुझे निकालने को तैयार हो तब इतना और कह देना कि ' भाई ! मेरे पति सर्वथा निष्पाप हैं इन्हें वही छुए जो स्वयं निष्पाप हो यदि आप निष्पाप हैं तो इनके हाथ लगाइए नहीं तो हाथ लगाते ही आप भस्म हो जाएंगे ।’’ पार्वती जी ‘तथास्तु’ कह कर गड्ढे के किनारे बैठ गईं और आने-जाने वालों को सुना-सुनाकर शिवजी की सिखाई हुई बात कहने लगीं । गंगा में नहाकर लोगों के दल के दल आ रहे हैं । सुंदर युवती को यूं बैठी देख कर कइयों के मन में पाप आया, कई लोक लज्जा से डरे तो कइयों को कुछ धर्म का भय हुआ, कई कानून से डरे । कुछ लोगों ने तो पार्वती जी को यह भी सुना दिया कि ' मरने दे बुड्ढे को क्यों उसके लिए रोती है ?' आगे और कुछ दयालु सच्चरित्र पुरुष थे, उन्होंने करुणावश हो युवती के पति को निकालना चाहा परंतु पार्वती के वचन सुनकर वे भी रुक गए । उन्होंने सोचा कि ' हम गंगा में नहाकर आए हैं तो क्या हुआ, पापी तो हैं ही, कहीं होम करते हाथ न जल जाएं । बूढ़े को निकालने जाकर इस स्त्री के कथनानुसार हम स्वयं भस्म न हो जाएं ।' किसी का साहस नहीं हुआ । सैंकड़ों आए, सैंकड़ों ने पूछा और चले गए । संध्या हो चली । शिवजी ने कहा, ‘‘ पार्वती ! देखा, आया कोई सच्चे ह्रदय से गंगा में नहाने वाला है ?’’ थोड़ी देर बाद एक जवान हाथ में लोटा लिए हर-हर गंगे करता हुआ निकला, पार्वती ने उसे भी वही बात कही । युवक का हृदय करूणा से भर आया । उसने शिवजी को निकालने की तैयारी की । पार्वती ने रोक कर कहा कि ‘‘ भाई यदि तुम सर्वथा निष्पाप नहीं होगे तो मेरे पति को छूते ही जल जाओगे ।’’ उसने उसी समय बिना किसी संकोच के दृढ़ निश्चय के साथ पार्वती से कहा कि " माता ! मेरे निष्पाप होने में तुझे संदेह क्यों होता है ? देखती नहीं मैं अभी गंगा नहाकर आया हूं । भला, गंगा में गोता लगाने के बाद भी कभी पाप रहते हैं ? तेरे पति को निकालता हूं । युवक ने लपककर बूढ़े को ऊपर उठा लिया "। शिव-पार्वती ने उसे अधिकारी समझकर अपना असली स्वरूप प्रकट कर उसे दर्शन देकर कृतार्थ किया । शिवजी ने पार्वती से कहा कि ‘‘इतने लोगों में से इस एक ने ही गंगा स्नान किया है ।’’ इसी दृष्टांत के अनुसार जो लोग बिना श्रद्धा और विश्वास के केवल दंभ के लिए गंगा स्नान करते हैं उन्हें वास्तविक फल नहीं मिलता परंतु इसका यह मतलब नहीं कि गंगा स्नान व्यर्थ जाता है । गंगा स्नान का बहुत पुण्य भी है ।

सच्चा संत

एक संत थे बड़े निस्पृह, सदाचारी एवं लोकसेवी। जीवन भर निस्वार्थ भाव से दूसरों की भलाई में लगे रहते।एक बार विचरण करते हुए देवताओं की टोली उनकी कुटिया के समीप से निकली। संत साधनारत थे, साधना से उठे, देखा देवगण खड़े हैं, आदरसम्मान किया, आसन दिया।देवतागण बोले- “आपके लोकहितार्थ किए गए कार्यों को देखकर हमें प्रसन्नता हुई, आप जो चाहें वरदान माँग लें।“ संत विस्मय से बोले- “सब तो है मेरे पास कोई इच्छा भी नहीं है, जो माँगा जाए।“ देवगण एकस्वर में बोले- “आप को माँगना ही पड़ेगा अन्यथा हमारा बड़ा अपमान होगा।“ संत बड़े असमंजस में पड़े कि कोई तो इच्छा शेष नहीं है माँगे तो क्या माँगे, बड़े विनीत भाव से बोले- “आप सर्वज्ञ हैं, स्वयं समर्थ हैं, आप ही अपनी इच्छा से दे दें मुझे स्वीकार होगा।“देवता बोले- “तुम दूसरों का कल्याण करो!”संत बोले- “क्षमा करें देव! यह दुष्कर कार्य मुझ से न बन पड़ेगा।“देवता बोले- “इसमें दुष्कर क्या है?”
संत बोले- “मैंने आजतक किसी को दूसरा समझा ही नहीं सभी तो मेरे अपने हैं, फिर दूसरों का कल्याण कैसे बन पड़ेगा?”देवतागण एक दूसरे को देखने लगे कि संतों के बारे में बहुत सुना था आज वास्तविक संत के दर्शन हो गये।देवताओं ने संत की कठिनाई समझ कर अपने वरदान में संशोधन किया।
“अच्छा आप जहाँ से भी निकलेंगे और जिस पर भी आपकी परछाई पड़ेगी उस उसका कल्याण होता चला जाएगा।“संत ने बड़े विनम्र भाव से प्रार्थना की- “हे देवगण! यदि एक कृपा और करदें, तो बड़ा उपकार होगा। मेरी छाया से किसका कल्याण हुआ कितनों का उद्धार हुआ, इसका भान मुझे न होने पाए, अन्यथा मेरा अहंकार मुझे ले डूबेगा।“देवतागण संत के विनम्र भाव सुनकर नतमस्तक हो गए।कल्याण सदा ऐसे ही संतों के द्वारा संभव है।...

Compiled and edited by
Sh Deep ji

The effect of Maya (illusion)

Once a bear drowned into the river and started floating in it A saint who was standing near the bank of the river thought that a blanket was floating in the river.He swam to catch the blanket and tried to dragged it to the bank of the river . He was shocked to know that it was not the blanket but the bear who was  alive . The bear caught hold of  the saint    so that he could cross the river with his help. They both were trying to catch hold of one another . Sometime the saint was in dominating position and sometime the bear . Another saint who observeing it while standing on the bank of the river. He called him if you could'not grip the blanket then he should leave it. The saint in the river replied that he wanted to get rid of that blanket but he could not find any solution to get rid of it. As it had griped him very tightly.People get addicted to the luxurious things (illusion created by the power, Maya) & they become their slave to this extent that they cannot get rid of them even if they wish too..

Value of Gold

The couple Ranka and Banka were staunch devotees of god. They used to go to the forest to fetch wood everyday. One day while Ranka was moving a few steps ahead of Banka, he saw a gold coin lying on the ground. He thought his wife Banka might not become greedy on seeing it, therefore he started covering it with soil. By that time Banka too had reached there when she saw Ranka putting soil on the gold coin, she said to him," you are wasting your time by putting soil on the soil". Now Ranka felt that his wife is more detatched from worldy things than he is. In his viewpoint there was a difference between the soil and  the gold coin which was costlier than soil. But for his wife   both the soil and gold had the same value .

The food power

Everyday, one holy person used to visit the king to teach him the vedic texts .Despite the anxious pressurizing work of the state, he used to enjoy at par. But one day when the sage came to meet the king he saw that the king was worried. On asking he answered that last night he saw a nightmare of killing his own mother. This was the reason for his disturbance as loved his mother very much. After giving a wholesome thought, the sage inquired that by whom the food was prepared for the king,the previous day.The king called upon the chef and asked the same. The chef nervously answered that as he was unwell,therefore,the food was prepared by a new cook, the day before. After due inquires it was found that the new cook was appointed recently, whom had served as a prisoner for the killing of his mother.The sage able to crack the mystery of the nightmare  experienced by the king. Immediately, he exclaimed the king that  the thoughts of that cook who was a criminal had altered the inherited power of food. He directed the king that polluted valued food always leads to bad thoughts. This was the reason that our sages directed that one should keep on reciting holy mantras at the time of cooking.The quality of food is reflection of thoughts of cook

Good Morning Gods!

It takes one year for sun to travel through 12 zodiac signs. In the month of January sun enters the zodiac sign Capricorn (makar). This entry of sun in makar raashi is known as “Makar Sakranti”. This marks the beginning of northward journey of sun. From this day till next 6 months, when sun covers the 6 zodiac signs from Capricorn to Gemini, this period is known as “Uttarayan” which is considered as auspicious as the upcoming 6 months are considered as “Day” of gods where as period from suns entry to cancer sign till Capricorn sign is considered as “Night” for gods. Even Bhisham Pitamah , who had a boon , waited for sun to enter Capricorn before he leave for heaven. As per legend , the sun who is the father of Saturn had promised him to visit his house(Capricorn sign) once in a year despite having enemity between them. As per another belief Sage Bhagirath who brought river Ganga to earth for salvation of his ancestors manage to liberate them from the curse of Sage Kapil. It is a day of worship of sun god. Tarpan done on this day brings all the blessings from the ancestors. Charity done on this day has its own importance. This is the only hindu festival which is based upon the solar movement where as other festivals are based upon moon. That is why this festival coincides with English calendar.

Naaryan Naarayan!

There was a Brahmin whose name was Ajaamil. He was learned man. But due to bad company he get surrounded by bad people all the time. He lost all his divine powers as well as knowledge acquired by him. Now he became an evil person who always engaged in stealing money and spending it on drinking wine. He married to a maid. Later he had a son whose name was “ Naraayan”. The childhood of a boy had a deep impact on Ajaamil. Most of his time was spent on his son. As the time passes Ajaamil fell seriously ill. It was even difficult for him to move an inch from his bed. He could easily felt the approaching death. But the impact of his son on his memory was so deep that kept calling his name all the day. This repeated calls to son started working as a magic because the word “Naarayan” means “Lord Vishnu”. He regain all his lost knowledge. He was remorseful for his sin committed during young age. When “Yam Dut”, the messengers of “God of Death” came to took him to Yamlok, Lord Vishnu himself came to rescue to Ajaamil in divine form. In this way Ajaamil finally reaches the “Baikunth Dhaam”, the abode of Lord Vishnu after the death.

Shani ki drishti

When King Ravana succeeded in getting the control over all the nine planets, he installed them face downward on the nine steps that led to his throne. Each morning, he would step on their back to ascend his throne, causing insult and anguish to them. One day the sage Narada came to Ravana, and upon seeing the state of the nine planets asked Shani, how as the mightiest and the most terrible of the planets, he can bear this insult? Shani replied that because he is laying face downward he is helpless, if only he can cast his gaze on Ravana, matters would change. After Narada was shown around the magnificent palace of Ravana the proud king wanted his opinion. The wise sage replied that everything was excellent at the palace of Ravana, except for one. That was, how can Ravana get the pleasure of subduing the nine planets when they are lying face downward? It is better if they were to lay face upward so that when Ravana stepped over their chests, he could get the pleasure of seeing their discomfort on their faces. This suggestion appealed to the mighty king and he quickly ordered his staff to turn the nine planets around on their backs. As soon as that was done, Shani's gaze fell on Ravana and his reason abandoned him. Within a few months he kidnapped Sita, the wife of Lord Rama that led to Lord Rama's invasion of his kingdom. Ravana and his entire family was killed, all this during the seven and half year cycle of Shani.