Story of Gokarna

 

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 plants in his house.

Sage foresaw Atmadeva fate and told him that he is cursed to be childless for 7 births because his accumulated malicious karma. He asked to him to reconcile with his destiny, explaining with the story of Chitraketu*, and asked him give up this desire for a child.

*The story will follow as the Bhagavatham unfolds

Atmadeva refused to surrender to his fate. He wanted a son so badly that he threatened to kill himself right there in front of the sage. The sage decided to help him out. After a meditation and prayer, he gifted him a fruit that was to be consumed by his wife following a year of fasting, with eating food only once a day, no unwarranted talking, and keeping positive godly thoughts.

He was overjoyed and ran home and shared the good news with his wife Dunduli, who did not share his enthusiasm. Dunduli was whining to her sister defensive as to why she couldn’t eat the fruit, like, how she wouldn’t  survive eating just one meal a day, then about who would take care of the house when she has a big stomach, then about how she had heard of the 12-year garbham (pregnancy). She said that those women were lucky if they were barren or are widows. Her sister consoled her and gave her an idea. She told Dunduli that she was two months pregnant said that she was more than willing to give away her child as she already had many kids. Except that Dunduli would have to fish out some money for her husband. Dunduli was more than willing and happy. She later asked her sister as to what to do about the fruit, her sister told her to give to the cow.

It was her destiny; she did not eat the fruit. She manipulated the situation and pretended to be pregnant and pretended to deliver the baby. Atmadeva was so happy, and he did dana dharma for the brahmins and named him, Dhudukari, as per his wife’s suggestion.

Meanwhile, the cow also gave birth to a human child with ears like a cow, so Atmadeva named him Gokarna (cow’s ears). So Dundukari and Gokarna grew up together. Unfortunately, Dunduli was doing everything that caused distress and trouble to others, with his sadistic behaviour, thievery, and so on. Once when Atmadeva stood up to him so Dundukari hit him, and he understood that the situation was much worse than he ever imagined.

Gokarna had grown to be very noble and wise. He saw his father’s plight and advised him to go into Vanaprastha and spend time reading the Bhagavatham. He advices him to let go physical body consciousness that destined to merge with the pancha bhoothas, read the Bhagavatham, and focus on keeping the mind engaged. Our mind and thoughts that are our problem.

One day after his father left on his Vanaprastha, Dundukari brought home 5 prostitutes to live with. His mother was very upset, and when she confronted him, he was very rude to her. Gokarna knew it was time to move on and he left his home. Following that one of the days he lost patience with his mother and hit her and threatened to kill her when she refused him money. That was the last straw for her, she couldn’t handle it and she committed suicide.

Dundukari was living happily, meeting all the prostitutes’ demands, by stealing and cheating. Prostitutes realised that he will be caught soon with the kind of life he was living, and they might lose all their belongings, so they decided to kill him, and they did so when he was asleep. They tried strangling but he did not die, so they got the burning coal from the kitchen and put it inside his mouth and face. Literally baked his body, dumped in a dry well, and covered it with mud and ran away.

He got a Pretha-roopam

What is Pretha-roopam: We know that the physical body is tied to time and Prakrithi is cyclical, and that the mind neither born nor it can be destroyed. So, when that mind gets attached to the physical form, and when at time the body is suddenly dies, the mind cannot cut off the connection. Sometimes mind not prepared to let go, for example, accidents.

Gokarna got an intuition of his brother’s death. Being the noble soul, he was he did all the Pinda Karma for at Gaya. Its said that Gaya Shradham highest form of Shradham.

But when he returned home and way in his bad he saw a fierce form that was shape changing. He Took the water from the Kamandalu and threw said that it and saw it was none other than his brother Dundukari, who begs to relieve him off this situation. Gokarna was surprised to see him in this state even after the Gaya Shradham. Pretham replies that he wont be freed even his brother did a 100 Gaya Sgradham because of his malicious actions. Gokarna meditated on Surya Bhagwan (sun god) and asked bhagwan how his brother could be relived off his curse. And Surya Bhagwan told him to hold a Bhagavatha sapthaham. Gokarna made arrangements for the sapthaham, and wondering where to seat his Pretha brother. There was a bamboo branch that had a hole at its base he istructed him to inside that

He bought a bamboo shoot with seven nodes and Dundukari’s pretha roopa went inside it. Not many noticed but at the conclusion of the day’s Parayana one node fall off. On the seventh day the bamboo slit to reveal a Vishnu Tejas, the pretha had attained Saroopy—a version of Moksha. He humbly bowed to his brother and thanked him, as he left for his abode.