DIVINE INFORMATION PART 2-3 Respected friends,
I have started this new series with Varahapurana. Hope the series could beinteresting. These are information posted in US Brahmins Yahoo group in 2010 byDilip Kumar Ravindran. Sincerely, Gopalakrishnan 31-10-2021 4 Varaha Purana part 4 Posted by: "DILIP KUMARRAVINDRAN" [email protected] prdili Thu Oct 21, 2010 8:54 am (PDT) ASHVASHIRA'S UNIFICATION WITH LORD NARAYAN Prithvi asked lord Varah about the famous incident which describedAshvashira's unification with lord Narayan.Lord Varah then narrated thefollowing tale- "During ancient times,there used to live a virtuousking named Ashvashira.He hadperformed an ashwamedh yagya in which he had donated large amount of wealth. Once,sage Kapil arrived at his palace accompanied by sage Jaigishavya. King Ashvashira received both his distinguished guests with due honor. Afterthe formalities were over, heasked both his guests about the means by which lord Narayan could be pleased and also about the rituals pertainingto the worship of lord Narayan." Both the sages being enlightened souls realized thatAshvashira was asking this question outof his ignorance so, they decided to enlighten him on the omnipresent nature ofNarayan and said-'What do you mean by pleasing Narayan? Can't you see two Narayans standing in front of you?' But, Ashvashira was un amused and unconvinced so hereplied-'I don't eny that both ofyou possess supernatural powers and also that all your sins have destroyed onaccount of the virtues attained by doing penance.But, I don't believe yourclaim to be Narayan. Lord Narayan is the almighty God and the supreme deity. Heholds a conch, a chakra and a mace inhis hands .He wears pitambar and has Garuda as his mount. His glory is indescribable andincomparable. As Asvashira had raised valid points, sage Kapil transformedhis appearance with the help of hisdivine powers Similarly, sage Jaigishavya transformed his appearance and became Garuda. But, Ashvashira still remained unconvinced andsaid-'How can I accept you to beNarayan as there is no sign of lotus manifesting from your navel in which lord Brahma has his abode.' Sage Kapil then slightly transformed his appearance andcreated an illusion whereby a lotus flower emanating from his navel becamevisible to Ashvashira. Sage Jaigishavya sat on that lotus flower in the guiseof lord Brahma. Not only that, they alsocreated an illusion due to which all types of living creatures inside thepalace premise. Now, Ashvashira was really confused and requested both thesages to break the magic spell. Both the sages decided not to test the limitof Ashvashira's patience and so, theytransformed their respective guises intotheir original appearances. Both of them said- 'Narayan is one an manifest himself in countless forms.The whole universe is HIS creation and HE is present in every single creature.It is impossible fora mortal being to bear the radiance of almighty Narayan and it is only when HE appears in his more gentle form thatthe enlightened person is able to see him. Therefore, you should engageyourself in the service of mankind, considering each human being to be themedium through which lord Narayanmanifests himself. Ashvashira was satisfied by the explanation given by both thesages but there was still one questionbothering him a lot so, he asked- 'Who is most likely to attainsalvation-a knowledgeable person or a person who indulges in rightful deeds?' Sage Kapil narrated the following tale-'Once, sage Raimya andking Vasu had asked the same question to sage Brihaspati.At that time Brihaspati hadreplied that anybody who performed his duties with a sense of detachment is sure to attain salvation and to prove his point he hadnarrated the following tale-'During ancient times, there lived a brahmin named Sanyaman. He was the descendant of sage Atri.Oneday,while he was going to take his bath hemet Nishthoor-a fowler,who used to catch birds and animals for his livings. Sanyaman reprimanded Nishthoor for his evil deeds and said-Why do you trap innocent birds and animals? Nishthoor replied-'The almighty Godis present in each living creature. One who is desirous of attaining salvation must under no circumstancesallow his ego to dominate him. The 'doer' is not the man but the supreme Almighty present in him. Keeping this fact in his mind a man should performhis duties with non challenge and asense of detachment. If I earn my livelihood by catching birds and animals then it is the will of almighty.' Toprove his point ,the fowlerspread his iron-net and kept dry blocks of wood underneath it and then requested Sanyaman to ignite those blocks.Sanyaman was surprised but burnt thewooden-logs as per the fowler's instruction. In a short time all the wooden-blocks became ablaze andthe flames starts coming out from thethousands of small holes of the iron-net. The fowler then told Sanyaman that although the flames coming from each hole appeared to have distinct sources,yet the fact was that the flamesmanifested from the single source-wooden blocks that wereburning beneath theiron-net. The fowler said-"It was impossible to extinguish thefire until and unless the source of thefire was extinguished. Each hole of the iron-net can be compared with an individual and the almighty God with the source of fire. A man does what God willsand he can never experiencesorrow provided he constantly remembers the Almighty evenwhile he is performinghis daily chores." Sanyaman was very much impressed by the fowler's wisdom. Havingfinished his tale, sageBrihaspati told Ramya-"Now it must be evident to you that salvation is within the reach of any individual. Itdoes not make much difference whether the seeker of salvation is a householder or a hermit aspiring for knowledge." Continuing with thestory of Ashvashira,lord Varah told Prithvi-"King Ashvashira was so impressedby Kapil's preachings that he went to Naimisharanya and spent his rest of his life in the service of lord Narayan. Once, while he wasperforming yagya, suddenly lord Vishnu manifested himselffrom the altar in the form of a brilliant effulgence and the identity ofAshvashira merged with it. Thisway, Ashvashira got united withlord Vishnu by the virtue of his deep devotion. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1919634974.2254277.1635653511454%40mail.yahoo.com.
