Mythology of eclipse

In Hindu mythology there is a wonderful story that describes how the gods and the demons once formed an alliance to produce a nectar that could give them immortality. This is the story of the churning of the milk-ocean and the descent of Lord Visnu as the Kurma avatara, the divine tortoise. When the nectar that was churned from this ocean was being served to the gods, a demon, disguised as a god, sat between the Sun and the Moon in an attempt to procure the nectar. When he was detected by the Sun and the Moon, Lord Visnu immediately severed his head from his body. Unfortunately, it was not fast enough, for the demon had already tasted a small quantity of the nectar and had become immortal. Ever since, this demon is said to wreak vengeance on the Sun and Moon whenever they come near. The head of this great demon is known as Rahu and his tail is known as Ketu.Since then Rahu and ketu promised that they will going to trouble sun and moon from time to time to take the revenge.In Hindu astrology Rahu and Ketu are known as two invisible planets. They are enemies of the Sun and the Moon, who at certain times of the year (during conjunction or opposition) swallow the Sun or the Moon causing either a solar or a lunar eclipse.

The birth of Logic

The planet moon(Chandra) is considered very important in Indian system of astrology. This planet single handedly can create or destroy many Rajyogas in horoscope. Once he kidnapped the wife of devguru “Brihaspati(Jupiter)” called Tara. Despite intervention of Gods , Chandra was adamant and he did not release Tara. Eventually Lord Brahma came to rescue. With his request Chandra released Tara. But due to union between Chandra and Tara , a child named “Budha(mercury)” was produced. Since then Budh considerd Chandra as his enemy. This story is very important in understanding the relationship between Mind and logic because Chandra is representative of all the emotions i.e mind where mercury is representative of Logic. People having combinations of moon and mercury in their horoscope often found having flickering mind. The same concept can be applied in the world of spirituality. In other words, the Jupiter is the self of a person who is innocent, Moon is mind who is notorious where as Tara is material world. Every child is a innocent because he lives in self level. When he grows, his mind develops. His connection with self get disconnected. A new relation is established between his mind and the outer world(Like Tara and Moon in story). The depth of this relation produces awareness . With the birth of awareness(mercury), mind detatched from the world(sepration of Tara and Chandra). The reunion of Tara and Jupiter indicate the emergence of truth

Naag Devta

The “Panchmi tithi” of lunar calendar in the month of shravana shukla paksha is celebrated as “Naag-panchmai” in India. On this day people pray to snake god. As per legend the snakes also consumed the “Amrit”, the divine nector and attained immortality. They are the children of Sage Kashyapa and Kadru. The kingdom of snakes is “Paatal Lokam”.According to hindu mythology there are 9 snake which are worshipped. They are as follows
1) Vasuki(The snake who participated in the great churning of ocean)
2) Takshak(The powerful snake who killed King Parikshit)
3) Sesha (On which Lord Vishnu resides in vaikunth)
4) Ananta (the great devotee of Lord Vishnu)
5) Kailya (who was killed by lord Krishna and attain the moksham)
6) Padmanabha (the guardian snake)
7) Kambala (the powerful descend of snake kingdom)
8) Dhartarashtra(the powerful descend of snake kingdom)
9) Shankhapala(the powerful descend of snake kingdom)

The pooja is done to avoid snakes bites and get rid of their curse from previous birth. In a horoscope if there is a presence of Kaal-Sarpa Yoga, then this day is very important for that native because this dosha is caused by the Rahu and Ketu which are considered as head and tail of snake respectively. In certain cases these planets single handedly creates havoc in the horoscope by forming “sarpa dosham”. There are many methods to perform the pooja on this day. People keep fast.on this day. Generally a pot of milk is kept near the ant hill as an offering. On this day digging of ground is strictly prohibited.

Legend of Amarnath Cave

Once Goddess Parvati urged Lord Shiva to tell the secret of immortality. But he kept postponing the reply. But goddess was adamant to know. Finally , Lord Shiva selected the 'Amarnath cave' where the secret of immortality could not be head by anyone.Reaching cave was not easy. To maintain the secrecy He did not want any one to be part of the conversation , so He decided to leave all His belongings before entering the cave.During his journey , at the first point HE asked Nandi(His vehicle, the bull) to wait for him and he proceeded towards cave. That place is known as 'Pahalgaon' which derive its name from the word 'Bailgaon' which means 'the place where bull dwell'. At the second halt , He removed chandrama(the moon) from His head. This place got its name 'Chandanwari'. At the third halt He left His snakes and the place got its name 'Sheshnaag'. Even today the lake of Sheshnaag is unusual green in colour which is the abode of snakes and at night one could see the reflection of precious gem called 'Naagmani' on the surface of lake. At the next stop , He left his son,Ganesha, so the place got its name 'Mahagunus Parvat'. At the fifth halt,Panchtarni, He left the 'panchtatav' (the 5 elements of creation). Finally, they reached the cave. Lord Shiva started narrating the legend of immortality ,'Amar'Katha' to goddess Parvati. But before the completion of story she felt asleep. Incidently, the two birds were listening the story at that time. as a result they become immortal. Even today the two birds can be spotted around the holy cave. Here Lord Shiva is present in the form of shivling in the form of ice. This shivling form itself during the waxing moon and reduce during the waning moon

The Mystic Sheshnaag Lake  

 The Holy Cave where the secret of immortality was revealed by Lord Shiva

The Shivling at Amarnath Cave

Boon to Saraswati

It was the most awaited moment for the universe when the marriage between Lord Shiva and Goddess Sati was performed. It was the ritual that after the marriage couple had to perform   ‘Nadi Pooja’ in which pooja of river was to be done.  Lord Shiva and Goddess Sati went to the bank of river Saraswati  As per ritual the couple had to look into the river and the outcome of the marriage could be seen from the image form on the river water. The moment both looked into the river, violent waves started to come to the bank. Mother of Goddess Sati was very worried to see this supernatural phenomenon as it was ill omen as no image could be seen due to turbulent water. Lord Shiva guessed the anxiety of Goddess Sati too. HE put his foot in the river water. The moment the river water touched the foot of Lord Shiva, all the waves disappeared. River Goddess Saraswati   appeared and greeted Lord Shiva. Pleased with the devotion of river Saraswati, Lord Shiva blessed her that one day she would meet river Ganaga and that place would be called as “TeerthRaj”(the king of all Pilgrimage) and bathing at that place would free a persons from sins and it would be the gateway to heaven

Curse of Sage Bhrigu

During the fight between gods and demons, at one stage gods overpowered demons. Sensing the massive defeat ,the demons reached the ashram of Sage Bhrigu who was not present at that time. His wife greeted the demons as they were came for the help and she promised to provide shelter to demons. On the other hand, Indra who was chief of gods came to know about the hideout of demons. Indra reached the ashram and threatened demons to surrender before him. But wife of Sage Bhrigu stood in between them and drove Indra away. Indra rushed to Lord Vishnu for the help. To assist Indra he went to ashram where the demons were hidden. Again, the wife of Sage Bhrigu came to rescue demons. Finally, Lord Vishnu killed her with his Sudarshan Chakra in order to ensure win for gods. At this point Sage Bhrigu returned to ashram and shocked to see the dead body of his wife. When he came to know that it was Lord Vishnu who was responsible for the death of his wife, he cursed Lord Vishnu that he too would have to suffer the pain of separation from his wife on earth like him . Lord Vishnu accepted the curse with dignity. Due to curse he was born as Lord Rama(an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and had to suffer the grief of separation from his wife Sita.

Sri Sunder Narayan Temple

This is one of the oldest temple in the Nashik. It is situated at the edge of the Ahilya Bai Holkar bridge. It is the only temple in the world where Lord Vishnu is present along with goddess Tulsi and goddess Lakshmi. Goddess Tulsi was Vrinda, the queen of demon Jallandhar in the previous birth. The demon had a boon that he will remain immortal till his wife remain chaste(Pavitra). It was necessary to kill the demon to save the earth from his havoc. So, Lord Vishnu appeared in front of Vrinda in disguise form of her husband Jallandhar. By mistake she could not able to reveal the identity of Lord Vishnu. Thinking him as her husband , she touched him. So her promise to remain pure was broken. When she realized her mistake she cursed Lord Vishnu to turned into a black stone called Shaligram. After this curse the complexion of Lord Vishnu turned into black. Lord Vishnu rushed to the bank of Godavri river and took a holy bath. Instantaneously, he regain his divine complexion.

My guide told me the unique feature of this east facing temple. On 21st March when day and night are equal, the first ray of the rising sun fall on the feet of deity

The Kapileshwar temple

This is the only temple in the world where Nandi ji is not present in the sanctum sanctorum. It is located at the bank of river Godavri at Ram kund in Nashik(Maharashtra).My guide told me an intresting legend behind it. Once Lord Shiva punished Brahma for his mistake and cut his 5th head. But at the same time , a sin incurred to Lord Shiva for killing the 5th head of Brahma(Brahm hatya dosh). This perplexed Lord Shiva . He tried every method to get rid of this sin. Despite wandering every place on bhu-lok(the earth), there was no respite. Then nandi ji suggested one escape route. He took Lord Shiva to the bank of Godavri. He guided him to a secret spot. This was the point where the 3 rivers, Godavri,Aruna and Varuna met. Here Lord Shiva took a holy dip. He was librated from the sin after this bath. Since Nandi ji guided him so Lord Shiva treated him as a Guru (not as a follower)at this place. This is the reason that there is no idol of Nandi ji here.

Exactly at this point Lord Shiva took bath at the confluence of Godavri river,Aruna river and Varuna River

At the backdrop, its Kapileshwar temple where Lord Shiva treated Nandiji as his Guru

The super eight

In Kailyuga,(the 4^th stage of time concept as per Hinduism), the maximum life span of a human is believe to be 120 years. But there are some souls who because of boon or curse roam on the earth having abnormal life span. The term used for the long life is “Chiranjeev” means a person who lives eternal life. The 8 persons who attain this title are

1) Sage Markandeya

2) King Bali

3) Vibhishan

4) Parshuram

5) Hanuman

6) Sage Vyas

7) Kripacharya

8) Ashwathama

Still it is believe that the above 8 are present on earth whose current age varies from thousands to millions of years! So while exploring India , if you come across the region dedicated to any one of above all, make sure they are there itself to listen your prayers!!!

The legend of Paarijaat tree

One day Sage Narad visited Lord Krishna’s palace and presented divine flower from “Paarijaat” tree to him which he got from heaven. Lord Krishna gifted it to his wife Rukmani.When this news reached Satyabhama,the second wife of lord Krishna, she felt disappointed and demanded the Paarijaat tree for herself. This tree had a great divine powers which was planted in the garden of Indra at Amravati in heaven.Since this divine tree was in custody of Indra, so it was not easy for Lord Krishna to bring it to earth from the heaven. Indra knew the divine powers of Paarijat tree, so he refused to gave the tree to Lord Krishna.As a result fierce battle took place between Indra and Lord Krishna. On intervention of gods, Indra decided to gave the tree to Lord Krishna. But he cursed the tree that it will never bear any fruit.He brought it back to his kingdom. In order to please his both wives he planted the tree in such a manner that its flowers fell on Rukmani’s garden and the tree planted in Satyabhama’s garden. In this way Lord Krishna manage to overcome the great dilemma.Even today this tree bears no fruits and it is used during the pooja of Lord Krishna. There is another legend associated with this tree that once there was a princes called Paarijat, who wanted to marry Surya dev, the sun god.But he refused to marry her.This broke her heart and she committed suicide. From her ashes a tree emerge called “Paarijaat”. The unique feature about this tree that flowers blossoms only during the night time in the season. At the time of sunrise when the first ray of sun falls on the tree, it sheds its flower as a replica of her shedding her tears of sepration from the sun god.

रामेश्वरम- एक दुर्लभ संगम

जब श्री राम लंका मैं विजय प्राप्त कर अयोध्या लौट रहे थे , तब उन्होंने गंध्मान पर्वत पर कुछ समय बिताया था ।परन्तु उन का मन काफी विचलित था । कारण स्पष्ट था । उन्हें ब्रह्म हत्या का दोष था क्यों कि रावन एक ब्रह्मिण थाजिस का वध उन्हों ने किया था। अपने गुरुजनों से आज्ञा प्राप्त कर के श्री राम ने भगवान् शिव कि आराधना करनेका निर्णय किया । पूजा का एक विशेष मुहूर्त निकाला गया। श्री राम ने हनुमान जी को शिवलिंग लाने को कहा ।हनुमानजी बिना समय गवाए काशी की और चल पड़े । काफी समय बीत जाने के बाद जब हनुमान जी नही लौटेतब श्री राम चिंतित हो गए क्योंकि मुहूर्त का समय निकट था। तभी सीताजी ने अपने हाथ से एक शिवलिंग कानिर्माण किया गया और उस मैं प्राण प्रतिष्ठा की। इस शिवलिंग को रामलिंगम कहते हैं . इस प्रकार उस शुभ मुहूर्तमैं पूजा संपन्न हुई। कुछ देर बाद जब हनुमान जी शिवलिंग ले कर लौटे तो वोह बहुत निराश हुए की उन् का प्रयासविफल हुआ क्योंकि पूजा संपन्न हो चुकी थी । श्री राम जी हनुमान जी कि निराशा तुंरत भांप गए। उन् कि आज्ञा सेदूसरा शिवलिंग भी वहीँ स्थापित किया गया जिस का नाम विश्वलिंगम रखा गया और कहा कि आज के बाद सबसेपहले विश्वलिंगम , lकि पूजा होगी और उस के बाद रामलिंगम की । आज तक यह प्रथा जारी है । इस मन्दिर कीएक विशेषता और है कि यहाँ पर २२ तीर्थो का अनोखा संगम है। मन्दिर मैं प्रवेश से पहले समुद्र मैं स्नान करनाआवश्यक है जिसे "अग्नि तीरथ" कहते हैं । इस के पश्चात् मन्दिर मैं २२ कुएं हैं जिन मैं अलग अलग तीर्थो कापवित्र जल विद्यमान है। सभी कुओं मैं स्नान करने के पश्चात् ही इश्वर के दर्शन होते हैं। ऐसी अनोखी और पवित्रप्रथा संसार मैं किसी भी मन्दिर में नहीं है। निम्नलिखित २२ पवित्र तीर्थ मन्दिर मैं स्थित हैं--
1)लक्ष्मी तीर्थ

2)चक्र तीर्थ

3)शिव तीर्थ

4)शंख तीर्थ

5)यमुना तीर्थ

6)गंगा तीर्थ

7)गया तीर्थ

8)कोटि तीर्थ

9)सध्यम्रित तीर्थ

10 सर्व तीर्थ

11 चंद्र तीरथ

12) सूर्य तीर्थ

१३ब्रह्महत्यविमोचन

१४माधव तीर्थ

१५नल तीर्थ

१६ नील तीरथ

१७ गव्य

१८ गवाक्षा तीरथ

१९गंध्मान तीर्थ

२०सवित्रि तीर्थ

21 सरस्वती तीरथ

२२ गायत्री तीरथ

"अग्नि-तीर्थ"- जहाँ पर मैंने अपने पूर्वजो के लिए तर्पण किया

२२ तीर्थो का संपूर्ण स्नान-एक अद्वित्य अनुभव

The Curse of Sita

After the death of King Dashrath, Lord Rama decided to perform the shraadh ceremony because it was necessary to gave solace to the departed soul. Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman went to Gaya(a place in Bihar). On reaching there Lord Rama and Lakshman went in search for material required to perform the ceremony. Sita was waiting at the bank of Phalgu river. After waiting for long time she noticed that the soul of King Dashrath appeared and asked for the pinda(offering given to souls).As the time was running out , Sita herself decided to perform the ceremony with all the possible means. After the ceremony the soul of King Dashrath blessed her and departed. There were 5 witnesses to this ceremony- the Phalgu river,the Akshay vatam(a sacred tree), a cow ,the Brahmin and the fire. Later when the Lord Rama returned, Sita told the whole incident. But Lord Rama didn’t believe. Then Sita asked the 5 witnesses. Among the 5 only Akshay vatam told the truth. This upset Sita and she cursed the other 4. She cursed Phalgu river that it would be dried on the top. She cursed cow that it would no longer be worshipped from the front and only its backside would be considered as auspicious. She cursed fire that whatever came in contact with it would be destroyed. Then she cursed Brahmins that they would never be satisfied. Lastly She blessed Akshay vatam that it would remain evergreen. Even today the Phalgu river looses its water when it enters Gaya, though the water is still present below the river bed

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.

The Great sacrifice

Sage Dadhichi was the son of Atharvana Rishi.He had a very secret knowledge called “Madhu Vidya” which could help him to achieve the ultimate height in spirituality. When Indra came to know about this, he was terrified and cursed him that if he tried to taught any one else then he would behead him. At the same time the twin Gods Ashwini kumars expressed their desire to learn this vidya.They were aware of the curse of Indra. They shared the plan with Sage Dadhichi. As per plan, the ashwini kumars cut the head of Sage Dadhichi,and preserve it for future and replace it with the head of horse. They manage to learn that divine science. When Indra came to know about it, he chopped the head of sage Dadhichi. Immediately, the ashwini kumars replaces the head of sage. Indra thought himself to be invincible after this event. He was unaware that another threat to his kingdom was growing. A demon,Vritrasur attacked the indralok,the abode of Indra .So,Indra was dethroned. Vritrasur had a boon that he could not be killed from the ordinary weapon. Only a weapon made from the bones of a sage could have killed the Vritrasur. But the question was, who will sacrifice his life. As a last resort Indra visited the ashram of sage Dadhichi again but with different motive. He narrated his demand to Sage. After listening sage Dadhichi happily agreed to sacrifice his life. With his yogic power he left his body for the gods to collect the bones. Indra made the special weapon called vajra from them. With this the gods battled with Vritrasur. In the end the gods won. It was the sacrifice of sage Dadhichi which helps gods to regain their kingdom.

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Narad-The Wanderer

It was the duty of Lord Brahma to create the world. In the initial round he created the many creatures with the help of his mental resolution. That is why they were known as “ Manas Putra”. The word manas means “mind”. King Daksha was one amongst them. Lord Brahma ordered Daksha to create universe by the help of copulation. Daksha Prajapati then married Asikti - the daughter of Veerni. Five thousand sons, were born to them, they were known as “Haryashrav”. But Narad played the trick. He brainwashed the minds of all the sons and directed them to follow the path of salvation rather than path of creating universe. As a result they didn’t took participation in increasing the number of population. After that, Daksha married Panchajani from whom were born thousand of son called as “Shabalashrav”. Again Narad played the same trick. All of them went in search of their brothers and followed the path of salvation and never returned back. Narada had changed their mind. They became wanderers. When Daksha Prajapati came to know he became very furious with Narada and cursed him to become an eternal wanderer. He said- "You will never remain at a place for long because you have misguided my sons to became wanderers" . Also from that day it is believe that it is inauspicious to go in search of a lost person by his brothers

Shani -The lame planet

At the time when Ravana's son was about to born all the planets were in favourable position except Saturn who was about to change the position.Ravana , a person of immense occult power, commanded Saturn to come and stay in the 11th House of his son, Indrajith, the 11th House being the best house for Saturn to be in. Saturn, with his innate laziness, came and stayed at the 11th house but put his foot in the 12th ( the worst house for Saturn to be in ). An enraged Ravana cut off his leg and the entire mass of blood and bones went and stayed at the Ascendant ( Lagna ) as Gulika !!!
It is believe that person having saturn in 12House of horoscope is more prone to feet injury

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.