Katha-Sagaram---Stories From Our Scriptures

When you watch the shores, we see the waves come and hit the rocks, the ebb and flow. Do we cry for them, life continues like these waves! We have seen so many cultures, cities, towns, that existed and perished. This is an ongoing process, nothing physical will last forever. Nothing that has a form can be permanent. That’s why path the Ishwara is the only way. KUNTI STHUTHI Krishna decided to seek blessings of his Aunt Kunti. Kunti had been a steadfast bhakta of Bhagwan. She saw Krishna beyond his form as did Draupadi. She was overwhelmed as to how much Krishna Bhagwan had done for her and her family. Despite all the human mistakes committed by her, he stood by her at every adverse situation. She had no doubt that he is Ishwara in form. No one is perfect nor was Kunti in her life. She had committed many mistakes in her life. Tested the mantra given to her when she was too young and had baby and then cast him away (Karna). She by mistake asked sons to share a wife Draupadi  (tho...

  BHAGAVATHAM The book starts with the revenge of Aswathama, son on Dronacharya. On the 17 th day when Karna was killed, Duryodhana felt helpless, so he went to his mother. Gandhari asked him to stand in front of her stark naked, feeling a little conscious he kept his lower garment on. Gandhari who had blindfolded herself after her marriage to Dhritarashtra, she who had not even seen her children, opened her blindfold and saw his cloth clad body and said Yadho Dharma thatho Jayam . Duryodhana knew that he made a mistake when he felt some intense power enter him when his mother opened the blindfold. That covered area became the vulnerable spot, like the Achilles heel. Bheema had the pride of being known as the strongest, but after a long fight he understood that Duryodhana was proving to be invincible. Krishna Bhagwan signalled Bheema to hit him below the hip and so Bheema hit Duryodhana’s thigh, and Duryodhana fell bleeding slowly to death. When they were heading back to the...

If Bhagavat Geeta is life management Bhagavatham is mind management. Mind will play games with us; mind is more powerful than the mortal body. Whatever you feed the mind will reflect in everything around you. To understand this with a good example is a cell phone (thank you Geeta Bhagini); data on each phone is going to be different. Depending on the kind of things we click on, search, and watch the data is collected by the AI. It can change daily, depending again on these factors. These data are enough for one to understand and manipulate the information. Same is with our mind, what you feed you get. Our mind has the solution to all problems it comes up with. There is always an auto suggestion happening in our head, the voice of our own conscience, guided by the Ishwara within. “Why worry if Ishwara is with us,” this thought should come to us naturally. Mind should be constantly engaged keep it flowing, Satsang, Nama Sankeerthanam is much needed for our mind to be in Sama Budhi (equan...

BIRTH OF VEDA VYASA During her youth, Satyavati from the fishing village used to boat woman who helped people cross the river, Yamuna. Sage Parashara happened to see her and was so enchanted by her that he wanted a child through her. Initially, Satyavati did not agree because her actions would be questioned. Parashara took her to a secret place in the bushes of a nearby island and blanketed the entire area with a thick fog. She conceived and gave birth to a son. Parashara named him Krishna Dvaipayana, referring to his dark complexion and birthplace. After Dvaipayana became an adult ready to pursue his path, he promised his mother that he would come to her whenever she needed him. Parashara restored Satyavati's virginity and left with his son. Satyavati kept this incident a secret. Later King Shantanu marries her. KING SANTANU King Santanu during one of his hunting expeditions he came across goddess Ganga and wanted to marry her. She agreed to it but on one condition that he should ...

  Shreemad Bhagavatham Prathyaksha Krishnayewahi STORY OF GOKARNA By the Thungabhadra river side, there lived a Brahmin named Atmadeva, who was a pious and a naive person, a bit miserly, but his heart was in the right place and did his charity and carried out his dharma. His wife Dhunduli was beautiful, but she was very stubborn and over controlling by nature. They had no children. He was sad because of it, as it was a belief of the time that if they die and that if Udakakriya was not done by the son, the atma would not get shanti (soul be at peace). One day he went to the forest with an intend to suicide as he felt purposelessness in his woe. He went to a pond to drink some water when he had a chance encounter with a sage. He fell at the sage’s feet. The sage enquired the reason for his sadness. Atmadeva explained how cursed he was because he did not have a son; and he also explained that anyone who was at close proximity with him were equally cursed, including his cow and the...

  SIGNIFICANCE OF SAPTHAHAM AND BHAGAVATHA MAHATMYAM Don’t we all long for that permanence and the eternal silence and a stillness? Or do we long to continue in this noisy world where our monkey brains are in constant chatter? That’s the only choice we need to make. But this is an entirely personal statement. We had a solid Guru-Sishya (teacher-student) Parampara (lineage), a samskara (tradition) that encouraged even the Sishyas to start their own ashramas. To take the Bhagavatham itself as an example, it was handed down from Bhagwan ® Lord Brahma ® Sage Narada ® Vyasa Deva ® Sukha Maharshi ® King Pareekshit and Sutha Rishi ® Sanakadhi Rishis Bhagawatham/Bhagavatha dharma literally means anything that is related to Bhagwan, that includes everything that ever existed. Bhagavatham was retold by Sree Suka Maharishi to King Parikshit over a period of 7 days. The tradition of reading the Bhagavatham over a period of 7 days continues to this day and is known as the Bhagavatha Sapthaham. ...