How could such an action belong to the grandson of the great Paandavas?
All because of the overlapping Kali-Yuga!
FOUR YUGAS
Krita or Sat Yuga; Tretaa Yuga; Dwapara Yuga; Kali Yuga!
The Yugas are termed according to the quantities of the total Vaasanaas in the world. Kali Yuga is supposed to be the worst. Sat Yuga is the best. Yugas need not come in the fixed order. All depends on the purity of the people at that time. And each Yuga overlaps the other. Each Yuga almost ends in a great battle or natural calamities to give way for the new Yuga.
After the Mahabharata war, it was time for the Kali Yuga-overlapping, and moved by the macroscopic influence even good people acted their worst at times. And, Pareekshit did the same.
Unknowingly he insulted the Sage in anger. But, he had to face the consequences of his action.
The young son of the Sage, who was out playing, heard about this insult to his father and immediately cursed the king that he should die bitten by the Snake TAKSHAKA within seven days. The king heard about this.
Death! Nobody likes Death! The king was no exception. He wanted to live. He wanted to have at least half a life-span from another person and live. He called his ministers and asked them to find some person who could give him half of his life-span. He mentioned to them the story of a lady who was bitten by the serpent and became alive after getting half the life-span of her husband.
Puloma, the devoted wife of Brighu; she had a son named Chyavana. Chyavana married Sukanya daughter of Sharyaati. She had a son named Pramati; his wife was Prataapi. She had a son named Ruru. A king named Vishvavasu once enjoyed the company of the heavenly nymph Menakaa. The heavenly lady discarded the resultant child on the river bank and went away. A great Sage named Sthula-kesha found the female baby and brought it up as his own. She was named Pramadvara -‘Best among charming Women’.
She grew up like a pretty creeper and became well known for her beauty everywhere. Once prince Ruru saw her and fell in love with her. After the elders consented, the marriage date was fixed. But before marriage the young girl got bitten by a snake in the forest path and died immediately. Ruru heard about
this tragedy and was heart-broken. He lamented for a long time and decided to give up his life. But something stuck his mind. He decided to do something before he gave up his life.
He performed meditation on the Supreme Mother for some time and proclaimed:
“If I have done any good deed in the past; if I have respected the elders in the past; if I have done my meditations in the past properly; if I have performed the Gayatri–Sadhana perfectly; if I have studied all the Vedas properly; if I have pleased the Sun with my worship; let my beloved rise up brimming with life or I give up my life also.”
A passing God heard this and came down from his heavenly chariot. He advised RURU to give half of his life-span to his beloved. Ruru agreed. Meanwhile, Vishvavasu heard about the death of his daughter. He requested Yama to give back his daughter’s life. Yama agreed and told them that Pramadvara will become alive again by half of the life-span of Ruru. Ruru got back his beloved and married her on an auspicious day. They both lived happily forever.
Pareekshit was not a person to accept fate’s cruel decision. He decided to fight till the last breath. He got a tower of seven storeys built and lived on top of it with his trustworthy ministers. No snake had a chance of crawling up the tower. Even wind could not peep in without the guards knowing. He also sent a pious Brahmin as a representative and apologized to the Sage whom he had offended. Many men versed in
snake-bite cures were stationed nearby for emergency. The king never got out of the tall tower. He attended to all his duties there itself. Meanwhile, a Brahmin named Kashyapa, who was well-versed in different kinds of ‘mantras’ heard about the condition of the king. He was in dire need of money. So he decided to help the king and earn some money. Takshaka, the serpent who was destined to kill the king had taken the form of a Brahmin and proceeding towards Hastinaapura. He saw Kashyapa and found out that the Brahmin had the intention of saving the king. In order to test him, he revealed his true form and bit the giant banyan tree nearby. The tree immediately turned into ashes. Kashyapa took some water in his hand, and reciting some ‘mantra’ sprinkled the water on the ashes of the tree. The tree immediately became alive
and stood in front of them as before. Takshaka was surprised. He tempted the Brahmin with wealth and asked him to go back. Kashyapa was in a dilemma. He knew if he went back without saving the king, he would be blamed by one and all. He meditated for some time. He found out by ‘yogic power’ that the king would not survive the snake-bite. So instead of wasting his time on a futile attempt, he took the wealth offered by Takshaka and returned home. Takshaka himself was helpless in this case because he would be
in for a curse if he disobeyed the order of the Sage’s son. He had also no sympathy for the king who had insulted a Great Sage. But, when he reached the tower, he was surprised to find that the tower was heavily guarded and he had no approach to the king’s room. He asked some of his serpent companions to disguise themselves as Sages and take some fruits in a basket, and offer it to the king personally. He turned himself into a tiny worm and entered a delicious looking fruit. But the guards refused permission to the Sages saying that nobody was allowed inside the tower by the King’s order. They took the basket of fruits and sent it to the king through their own men.
The king was very cheerful. Soon the Sun would set and seven days would be completed.
No snake had been able to approach him.
He had conquered fate. He had conquered death.
He looked at the delicious looking apples in the basket.
He took the ripest one and offered the others to his close friends.
As he cut the fruit, he saw an atom-like worm inside the fruit.
He was little senseless by his victory over death. He took the worm in his hand and laughed.
He said, “Let this tiny worm bite me so as to make the Sage’s curse true.”
He placed the worm on his neck.
Immediately the worm turned into a terrifying giant serpent. It bit him. The king sat stunned.
He did not move. He felt defeated.
His men were not able to come near him. The fire from the snake’s mouth kept them at a distance.
Another terrifying fire filled with poison arose from the mouth of Takshaka.
The king was burnt by the poison immediately.
He fell down like a dead tree.
Takshaka rose into the sky and disappeared.
No comments:
Post a Comment