DIVINE INFORMATION 2-43
Dearfriends, I am starting with Cherusseri Bharatham(Bharatagatha) (English Summary) (Summary by A. Purushothaman) from today underthe title Divine information. The information was stored in my computer. CherusseriBharatham Pattu or Bharatagatha was first published by Chirakkal Kovilakath Ayilyam Thirunal Ramavarma ValiyaTampuran in Malayalam Era 1086 (A.D 1911). The book wasrepublished along with a long introduction essay by Chirakkal T. BalakrishnanNair in Malayalam Era 1113 (A.D. 1938). There are 45 Chapters. Part by part will be posted byme.Hope this will be interesting to read or refreshing information. Sincerely, Gopalakrishnan22-12-2021 Summary of Chapter 1: Context of the Story Indra andother devas went to the husband of Indira (Vishnu) and praised him: O Lord, whomanifests in the ocean of milk as the wave of auspicious kindness, like theKalpataru of heaven which grants all desires, I bow to you. Vedas are the base of Brahmins. The great sageVeda Vyasa constructed Sri Mahabharata for those who cannot access the Vedas to destroy theirsins. The Mahabharata was recited byVaisampayana to the son of Parikshit (Janamejaya). Pleasefavour me, an ignoramus who attempts to retell this text for the ignorantpeople. O lord of Chelloor who manifests along with the daughter of themountain! O the killer of Anthaka (Yama)! O Killer of Kamadeva! I bow to you. O the son ofShambu, who wrote down this good story which grants salvation by destroying allevil deeds, with his tusk! Shower your kindness on me, so that the troubleswill not afflict me. Please be present in my mind for ever. O lord ofthe lotus woman, with a smile capturing the minds of women ! Playing on thesand showing various pranks, you act in many ways when you see good milk andbutter. I bow to you. OBhairavajata who resides with wife! Please destroy all my sorrows. As orderedby the Lord of Kola of high intelligence, I am retelling the Bharatha storyfrom the beginning to the end in a condensed manner. There may be somedeficiencies. Please do not dwell upon them, please ignore them. In ancient times there was a palace city by the nameof elephant (Hastinapura). Enriched by jewels and beautifulhouses, the city resembled the abode of Vasava (Indra) and the mountain abode(Kailasa) of Siva. The city was endowed with many gardens, trees, elephants, horsesand lovely women. In this city, the lord of Sri took birth as King Parikshit, the son ofAbhimanyu and Uttara. While hunting in the forest, he was afflicted withthirst. Searching for water, the King came across a sage, who, observingsilence, did not respond to the King's requests (for water). The furious Kingpicked up the skin of a snake from the ground and put it around the silentsage's neck. The king then, returned to his fort. The sage was not aware of allthis. When the son of the sage Angiras approached his father, he found a snakeskin around his fathers neck. Considering the deed as sinful, the son cursed the person to die within7 days by biting of Takshaka. The son thenalerted his father and informed him all incidents. The sage told his son that the King is not atfault. The sage then dispatched a messenger to the King to inform himabout the curse and the relief thereof. To destroy his sins, the King heard theBhagavata recited by the yogi Sri Suka and made all arrangements to prevent Takshakaapproaching him. But the deceitful Thakshaka hid in a mango and bit the Kingwhen he smelt the fruit. Thus the King expired. To ensuredeliverance to his father, Janamejaya, the son performed many deeds. He wantedto kill the serpent who caused the death of his father. King Janamejaya invited the intelligent Kasyapa andasked him to perform a Yajna to ensure the death of the serpent. Whenthe great sage recited the mantra, the distressed Takshaka coiled himselfaround the feet of the throne of Vasava (Indra). Unable to resist, Nagas fellinto the fire. Realising that the lord of Devas is protecting Takshaka, thesage implored that both should fall into the fire. When both appeared, the sagetold the king: Takshaka bit your father because of a brahmin's curse. He is notto be burned in the fire. Thesage contained the anger of the King. He then sprinkled holy water on the fireand all the dead serpents rose from the ashes. Later the King was afflicted with a diseaseCitrapandu (leprosy) due to the curse of the serpents. The sageVaisampayana visited Hastinapura and asked the King the reason for his disease,the King informed him all about the Yagna. The King asked the sage about curinghim from leprosy. The sage asked the King to listen to the story of hisancestors and how they attained victory in the Bharata War. Then he will becured. The sage then started his narration. Once upon atime, Madhava was sleeping containing all the beings within his self, a goodlotus came up from his navel. In the lotus, the creator, Brahma was born.Brahma started exploring the tube of the lotus. A voice advised him to meditateand serve god. The four Vedas originated from the Brahma's four faces. The dirtfrom Vishnu's ears transformed as Danavas. The Danavas tried to kill Brahmaresiding in the form of a swan (Hamsa). Then Vishnu fought the Danavas in theform of a twin for thousand years but could not defeat them. Then receivingcertain boons, Vishnu killed Madhu and flung his body in the firmament. Madhu's brother Kaitabha's body,devoid of life, became the earth. Then all the worlds such as netherworld(Patalam), seas such as the milk sea, mountains such as Kailasa and divineislands were created. The sages, Marichi, Athri, Narada, Angiras, Vasishta,Pulasthya, Bhrigu, were born from Brahma. Daksha, Saraswati andSwayambhuva Manu and his wife were also born from Brahma. Manu had two sons, Priyavrata andUddikapada, and three daughters, Ahuti (given to Rati), Devahuti (to Kardama)and Prasuti (to Daksha). Summary of Chapter 2: The Origin of Devas, Asurasand Others Prajapatiobserved vows at Vindhya to beget children. Blessed by Narayana, Prajapati hadten thousand Haryaswas and Balaswas with Pancajani, daughter of Pancajana. Kasyspa married thirteen of the sixtydaughters of Daksha. Indra and other Devas were born to Kasyapa andAditi. Daiteyas including Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu were born to Kasyapaand Diti. Gandharvas, Rakhsasas, fish, tortoises, frogs, cows, horses, dogs,trees, creepers, birds, insects and snakes were born to Kasyspa and his otherwives. All these creatures filled up the earth. Brahmanas, Sun and the Moonmaintained them. The handsome Vaivaswata Manu was born to Gopati and his wifeManojna. VaivaswataManu's son Ila, along with his army went to the forest for hunting. All of thembecame women due to the curse of Gauri. Siva granted a boon so that Ila can be a man during every fourth month. Soma (Moon)performed a Yaga in which all Devas and Danavas participated. Soma embraced Tara, the wifeof the priest of Devas. The priest cursed Soma to have blemishes on his body. Brahmatook Tara to her husband. The husband asked her to abort her pregnancy. She was terrified and ahandsome boy was born. Both menquarrelled over the child and the Devas and Danavas fought over the issue. Brahma intervened and decreedthat the child belongs to Soma. The boy named Budha was bought up by Soma. Pururavas was born to Budha and Ila. Pururavas hadsix children with Urvasi. Aryan was one of them. Nahusha was born to Aryan.Nahusha became Indra. Cursed by Agasthya, Nahusha became a serpent. Release fromthe curse: When touchedby the son of Dharma, born as a King in his race, he will regain his humanform. The son of Nahusha,Yayati, married the daughter (Devayani) of Sukra. Yadu was born to them. Yayati also married the daughter (Sarmishta)of the Danava. Puru was born to them. When the daughter (Devayani) complained,the father (Sukra) cursed the King to become impotent, when he approaches hislover with desire (just like a hungry person is unable to eat food). Kavya(Sukra) granted release from the curse to the King: 'you can lend your Oldnessto your son and borrow his youth for 1000 years'. Puru agreed to do so and Yayati enjoyed his youth for1000 years. After completing 1000 years, Yayati returned the 'youth' to Puruand took back his oldness. Summary of Chapter 3: The Story ofSakuntala Among the many kings who ruled Nagapura, there was aking called Dushyanta. During a hunting trip to the forest,Dushyanta reached the hermitage of Sage Kanva and saw a beautiful maiden. Theyfell in love with each other at first sight. The king asked the girl about herparents. The maiden told the King the story of her birth: Long ago,King Viswamitra and his army visited sage Vasishta in the forest. With the helpof mother cow (Kamadhenu), Vasishta was able to serve the King and his army.Realising the power of the cow, the king asked Vasishta to hand over the cow tohim. Vasishta expressed his inability to do so since the cow belonged to theDevas. The furious King ordered his troops to take the cow away. When forced,the cow created a large number of soldiers. A terrible fight followed and theKing lost. The king installed his son as the new King and started worshippingBrahma. Worriedby the severe penance performed by Viswamitra, Indra sent Menaka to divert hisattention. The King and Menaka enjoyed together for a long time. A girl wasborn to them. Menaka abandoned the child on the banks of Malini river and left. The Kingleft to resume his penances. Since the baby was looked after by Sakuntha birds, she was calledSakunthala. She was brought up by sage Kanva. Hearing thisthe King remarked that she should marry and enjoy life. The girl said: 'Eventhough I like you, I will obey the sage's will. A girl should obey her fatherin childhood, husband in youth and son in her old age. A woman has no freedom.'Saying that Gandharvatype of marriage is best suited for Kings, the King took hold of the maiden'shand. They livedtogether for a couple of days. Then the King gave his ring to the maiden andtook her leave asking her to come to his palace with permission from the sage.After some days, Sakunthala left her hermitage to meet the King. On her way,the ring with the King's image slipped off into the Kalindi river and a fishswallowed it. Sakunthala wept at the loss of the ring. Sage Durvasas cursedher: 'Your husband will forget you. But when he sees the ring, he will rememberyou.' Shakuntala met the King and told him: 'You married me by the GandharvaSystem. Why did you leave me' Not able to recognize her, the King said: 'Areyou out of your mind Why do you call me your husband'. Rejected bythe King, Sakunthala returned to her hermitage. In due course of time, a sonwas born to her. One day the mother told her son: 'We should leave thishermitage and go to our place.' The child replied that he does not know anyoneother than the sage. Aftersix years, the King got the ring which had fallen into the river. Immediatelythe King recollected all incidents and went to the forest in search of thewoman. The King saw a boy playing with tigers. Theboy refused to allow the King to touch him. When the King asked the boy abouthis mother, she arrived. Sherecognised the King and bowed to him. Realizing that the King is not sure aboutthe boy she said: 'This is the son born to me from you. Then a voicewas heard from the sky: ' This is true. This boy is Bharatha'. Then a shower offlowers followed from heaven. The happy King took his wife and son to his fort. 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