WHY LORD YAMA WAS CURSED BY RISHI MANDVAYYA.

 

Mandavya was a Brahmin who gave away his vast wealth and went away to Himalayas to become an Ascetic and came to be known as Rishi Mandavya.

Once Rishi Mandavya was deep in penance at his Ashram and was under a vow of Silence.

A gang of robbers, running away from soldiers, found the Rishi’s hermitage to be ideal place to hide, hid their loot & themselves in his humble hermitage.

The King’s soldiers who came searching asked the Sage about the whereabouts of the robbers.
The Sage, being under a vow of silence did not answer and continued with his penance.
The soldiers repeated the question several times, but the sage did not answer.
The Soldiers went inside the hermitage and found both the loot and the thieves.
Mistakenly they arrested the Rishi too as they believed that he was helping the robbers by being silent when asked about the thieves.

THE PUNISHMENT :

The Angry King ordered SHOOLA DANDA on them, including the Rishi (as he believed the Sage to be the robbers associate)…..meaning trusting them with a Spear and thus killing them.

The rishi Mandavya, in spite of being pierced and without food, though his yogic powers and ascetic merit was alive and continued with his penance.

The great sage continued with is penance.
Many sages, in the guise of birds visited rishi and expressed their sorrow and unhappiness, Mandavya but the great sage consoled them saying “No one is responsible for my suffering. I think its all due to my past Karma” and continued with his penance.

The people in and around were surprised to see the great sage surviving the pain of the trident and still pursuing the penance. For anybody’s query he used to reply that no one was responsible for his suffering.

A few days later the king came to know through his soldiers that the sage was surviving the heavy odds. The king rushed to the spot and ensured the sage was safely grounded from the trident. The King himself tried to remove the trident but in vain. Then they cut off the trident but the upper pointed edge was struck to the Sage’s body. The king profusely apologized and begged for forgiveness.

The sage pardoned the King saying “You are not to be blamed Rajan...”  and began wandering with the trident edge and kept his penance continuously. He was famously called and eulogized by all as ‘Ani Mandavya’ (Mandavya with trident).

THE CURSE TO LORD YAMA :

The sage was not angry with the King but was definitely surprised as to why he, such a Dharmic person was punished “As far as I remember, I havent done any crime. So, why did the Lord Punish me this way”.  These questions kept bothering the Sage.
So, the great Sage Mandvya met the God of Dharma, Lord Yama and asked
“Hey DharamaRaja, Lord Yama, be kind enough to let me know the reason, I had to go through such a harsh punishment. I did not commit any heinous crime, atleast in this janma. And I would like to know from your records, if I did anything in my previous janma, and if it was my prarabda karma. “

The Lord of Death replied, ‘When you were in your childhood you had inserted the sharp darbha (kusa grass in Sanskrit) grass into the tails of insects. Just as a small gift to someone increases religious merit manifold, a small sin will also multiply manifold and served to the same person.  Hence, I have imposed this punishment upon you “

The shocked and surprised saged asked…”I never remember hurting anyone, even an insect. When was this”?  Lord Yama replied “when you were a child”.

Mandavya was furious and disagreed with the logic and reasoning of the God of Dharma.

He argued “Even the  scriptures does not consider any sinful act committed upto the age of 12 as punishable and you being, Lord of Dharma, have committed injustice and meted out punishment which is disappropriate to the act. The law, after all, should be ethical and amenable to reason. Any unrighteous act (adharma) committed during the ignorant childhood age should not attract punishment.” Saying this, the Sage cursed the God of Dharma to born on to a Slave Woman.

 And then with his power of tapas, he ordained that ‘no child below 14 shall attract sin for its done in innocence without knowing consequences'

Later on the God of Dharma was born as Vidura, brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu Maharaja.

LEARNINGS :
1. Pain is to the body and not to the soul.

2. Mistakes done unknowingly should be pardoned.

3. Never punish someone without doing proper analysis and investigation.

TEMPLES ASSOCITED WITH THE GREAT RISHI MANDAVYA:

Mandya in Karnataka owes its name to Rishi Mandavya. The Great sage did his penance here.

Once King Indravarma (1001A.D.) who did not have any children asked Mandavya Rishi for guidance, the sage advised him to build a temple for Sri Janardhana Swamy and Lakshmi devi. The King soon had a baby boy.

The Temple is very famous today as SRI LAXMI JANARDHANA TEMPLE. 


Couples who don’t have children come here and pray for a child and they do get blessed with progeny. 
Hence the Lord is also called as MAKKALA JANARDHANA.

Mandavya Rishi taught Veda to even all the Wild Animals around him. Hence, the forest in which he did his penance is called VEDARANYA (FOREST OF THE VEDAS). The area around Mandya was earlier known as Vedaranya.

VASANTA VALLABHRAYA TEMPLE in Bangalore was built by Mandavya Rishi.

The temple is more than a thousand years old. The legend (sthalapurana) associated with the temple is that it was established (pratishtha) by the sage Mandavya.

Once upon a time, the disciples of Mandavya found him missing from his ashrama. Mandavya settled down in Vasantapura, meditating. It is also believed that if someone unable to go to Tirupati visits the Vasantapura temple, they get an equivalent amount of benefit (punya) from the visit.

The Shiva Linga inside  Someshwara swamy temple in Ulsoor, Bangalore was also worshipped by Mandvaya Rishi.

The Main Deity in the RANGANATHA SWAMY TEMPLE in MAGADI as also installed by Mandavya Rishi.

Source :

MAHABHARATHA  and other scriptures

Stanza 20
mān
dṛṛ
avya-śāpād bhagavān
  ṁ prajā-sa yamano yamah ṛ
bhrātuh
ṛ
ks
etre bhujis ṛ yāyā ṛ ṁ
 jātah satyavatī-sutāt

Regards, 
Srikanth Matrubai


Srikanth Matrubai Author of the Amazon Best Seller DON'T RETIRE RICH

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The Soul stirring story of Lord Pundalik Maharaj

Sant Pundalik Maharaj was the Saint who made even the LORD VISHNU/KRISHNA/VITTALA  wait and actually got boon for this!
Yes...Its truly an amazing story.
Here it goes...

Pundalik was born around 5th Century.

Pundalik was a self-indulgent person who cared for himself more than anyone else in the World. 

He was living with his wife and parents in a dense forest called Dindirvan.
His parents were great devotees of Lord Krishna. 

After his marriage, influenced by his wife...he started to ill-treat his parents very much.
The ill-treatment was so much that his Parents decided to go on a Pilgrimage to KASHI to escape Pundalik and his wife's treachery.  

When Pundalik’s wife learnt about this, she forced Pundalik to join the old couple and both Pundalik and his wife  joined the old couple along with a  group of pilgrims on horseback.

The Old Couple instead of escaping from ill-treatment actually started receiving more punishment from Pundalik and his wife during the whole journey.
While the son and his wife rode on horseback, the old couple walked.

During the journey, when the Party of this Pilgrims camped for night, Pundalik forced his parents to groom his horse and do other jobs and took DEEP SLEEP himself. The Poor parents were left cursing the day they had decided to go on a Pilgrimage.

HOW THE TRANSFORMATION OF PUNDALIK HAPPENED : 

Soon, the Party reached the Ashram of the Great Sage, KUKKUTSWAMI.
The Team decided to spend a couple of nights in the Ashram.

All the members in the Party were very tired after the long journey and feel asleep immediately. Somehow Pundalik was not able to get sleep. As he was tossing and turning in his bed....he noticed a strange thing.

Just before Day-break, he saw a Group of 3 Beautiful Young Women, who were dressed in Dirty clothes, enter the Ashram.
They cleaned the floor of the Ashram, fetched Water and washed the Sage’s clothes. They entered the Inner Room of the Ashram and when they came out....their dirty clothes had turned into beautifully clean clothes.

And passing by Pundalik, they just vanished in thin Air.

Pundalik was shocked by the what he had seen. But he kept the matter to himself.

Next night, strangely, he saw the same sight again.
The same 3 women came in Dirty clothes, washed the Sage’s clothers, fetched the water, cleaned the Floor of the Ashram and as soon as they came out of the Inner Room of the Ashram...their clothes had turned once again into clean and beautiful clothes.

Pundalik could not resist himself and threw himself at the women’s feet and begged them to tell who they were.
One Women said “We are Ganga, Yamuna and all the Holy rivers”. “People take a dip and bath in us to wash away their sins. The impurity of their mind, body and soul makes us dirty. That’s why you see our clothers in such dirty condition”.

Pundalik was amazed with their answer..

Pundalik wondered how a saint like Kukkut who had not visited Kashi was such holy and powerful that the three holy rivers came down to purify his ashram.


The three women, reading Pundalik’s mind told him “Spirituality, Devotion, Piety does not depend on visiting Holy Places or doing Pooja/rituals but in performing one’s Karma.”

Sage Kukkutswami had served and nursed his parents with utmost devotion all his life. He thus has accumulated enough PUNYA to earn MOKSHA and bring us, the 3 rivers, down the earth to serve him”.

Turning red with anger, they continued “But, you, Pundalik, are the biggest sinner of all because of the way you treat your Parents” and looked at him scornfully.

It was a shocker and a rude awakening for Pundalik. This brought a Transformation in Pundalik’s thinking and attitude.
He decided to take care of his old parents before everything else, even God and started serving with utmost devotion and care.

The tide had turned.

Pundalik managed to convince his wife too to start caring for his parents.

Immediately, from the next day, the Parents rode the Horses while Pundalik and his wife walked by their side.

Pundalik started to massage his parents feets when they were sleeping. The Parents were thrilled and seeing the change in Pundalik and his wife, decided to return back to Dindirvan.

ANOTHER PART OF THE STORY :
One day it so happened that Lord Krishna, the King of Dwarka, while feeling lonely, was reminded of his early days in Mathura. He particularly remembered his sports with the milkmaids, the cowherd boys, and his love, Radha. Though she was dead, he longed to see her again. By his divine powers he brought her back to life and seated her by his side. Just then his queen, Rukmini, entered the room. When Radha did not rise to pay her respect, Rukmini left Dwarka in anger and hid herself in Dindirvan forest. Later, Lord Krishna set off in search of Rukmini. He first went to Mathura, then to Gokul. He met the milkmaids and cowherd boys. They too joined in the search. They went to Mount Govardhan in her search.
At last they reached the banks of the river Bhima or Chandrabhaga in the Deccan. Krishna left his companions at Goplapura, and he himself entered Dindirvan forest alone in search of her. At last he found her and managed to calm her.

LORD VISITS PUNDALIK

Since he was in Dindirvan and Sage Narada was singing praises of Pundalik’s devotion to his parents, the Lord decided to visit Pundalik’s house.

But, when he went to his house, Pundalik was busy massaging his father’s feet.
The Lord called Pundalik and said “Pundalik, I am Lord Krishna. Come outside”
Pundalik could see that it was indeed the Lord who was outside but for him now, it was his parents who were supreme even than the Lord.
He wanted to finish his duties and then attend the Lord. Pundalik had reached such a stage, it did not matter that it was the Lord himself standing. All that mattered was his service to his parents.

Pundalik observed that the floor where Lord Krishna was standing was wet. Hence, he threw a brick outside for lord Krishna to stand upon and said "Please stand on the Brick, my Lord. I will finish my duty to my father and come to you". 

Impressed by Pundalik’s devotion to his parents, Lord Krishna did not mind the delay. Standing on the brick he waited for Pundalik. When Pundalik came out and begged God’s pardon
 

Lord Krishna replied that far from being displeased, he was pleased with his love for his parents.
Moved by this devotion of Pundalik to his parents Lord Krishna blessed him and asked him to ask a boon.
Pundalik asked that the Lord should remain on earth and bless and take care of his devotees.
Lord Krishna agreed to stay there and is known as Vithoba or the Lord who stands on a brick.
The present deity of Panduranga is in this posture, that of a small boy waiting patiently on a piece of brick. The hands on the hip actually reflects the boyish nature of Lord Krishna.
This form of the Lord Vithoba is Swayambhu which means that his idol has not been carved or etched but it came into existence on its own.
Pundalika Temple:

The Pundalika Temple is about half a km from the Vitthala Temple. This temple marks the spot where Pundalika, the Lord’s devotee, spent the last years of his life and also is place of his Samadhi. It is on the riverbank of Chandrabhaga.

INNER PEACE

*The Beggar King*

A great flood threatened a city in olden times. The waters were up to the palace doors. The king and the queen in the interest of the prince's safety put the baby in a basket to prevent it from drowning. Unfortunately, in the confusion that followed, they lost sight of the baby's basket.

The crown prince was separated from his parents. The basket with the baby prince went far with the flooding waters and finally ended up near the home of a poor family. They took care of the baby the best they could; no one knew that he was the crown prince. The prince was raised in poverty and as a beggar in the street. For a livelihood, the prince would spend most of the day begging; he too, did not know that he was really the crown prince. Thus, he would become happy if someone gave him something to eat or some money, and would be sad if he did not get any food or money from begging.
Now, the prince had a birthmark that the king and queen knew of. They searched high and low through the kingdom discreetly for a person with that birthmark. Luckily, after many years they finally found the prince, raised as a beggar. Suddenly the beggar's life changed. He was well cared for, educated, and raised to be the next king. He was very happy, as now he spent his time in luxury and learning from the best. A few years later, the king died and the prince was crowned king. He ruled his subjects well.

One day, the beggar prince who turned king, was thinking about his life; he reflected where his life had taken him. Suddenly, he felt like going back to the street and begging, just for the experience of it. So disguised as beggar, he went begging for a day. Just like before, some people gave him money or food, and some people did not.
However, this time he did not feel anything if he got anything or not from begging. Whether people gave him money or not, he continued to be at peace, because inside the disguise he knew he was the king.

*Moral:* This story teaches us about who we really are. Each of us is a child of God; God’s Blissful soul is in each of us. However, we do not realize it and do not feel Bliss. When something bad happens to us, we feel bad; when something good happens to us, we feel happy. In life, something good or bad will always happen to us.
However, if we want to be Blissful all the time, we have to do spiritual practice, that is, realize that we are God’s children with His Blissful soul in us. Then, we will live like the beggar king in this story.

UNKNOWN STORY : Draupadi Donating a Piece of Her Saree and....

Once Draupadi was going to take bath in a river near her palace. She was accompanied by other girls working for her in the palace. This was their daily routine. But on that day she saw a sage (rishi) taking bath in the same river. She along with other girls decided to wait till the sage comes out. The sage spotted her and other girls standing under the shade of a tree. She waited for a while for the sage to come out but she couldn't wait more as it was a hot day. She requested the sage to come out.

The sage replied, ‘ My clothes, which I had kept near the banks of river, have been stolen and so I can not come out’.

All girls except Draupadi started giggling.

Draupadi said, 'I'll tear a part of my saree and throw it towards you so that you catch it, wrap it around yourself and come out'.

The sage agreed. Draupadi tore a part of her saree and threw it towards the sage. The sage was not able to get hold of it and that piece of cloth was washed away with the current of the river. She tore another part of her saree and again threw it towards the sage. Again the sage was not able to catch it. When she was going to tear a piece from her saree for the third time, the sage stopped her.

He said, 'If you tear another part of your saree you will hardly have anything left to cover yourself. But still you want help me. You could have asked for a piece of cloth from one of the girls accompanying you but neither did you ask them nor did any of them offer to help. Instead all were finding amusement out of my situation.’

All girls stopped giggling and started feeling sorry.

The sage continued, 'Draupadi I grant you a boon that if anyone tries to take away your pride by stripping you off, he will never be successful'.

And the rest is history.

Karma & its effects

Karma and Retribution.😊🙏🏼😊

Once there was a king who distributed food to the brahmanas.
One day, as he was giving out food to the priests, an eagle flew above holding a dead snake in his claws.
Out of the mouth of the dead snake fell a drop of poison into the food that the king was distributing.
No one knew or saw that this had happened, so the king continued distributing the food.
The Brahmin who accidentally got the poisoned food from king died, and the king was feeling very sad about it.

Chitragupta, one of the assistants of Yamaraj (the god of death) who had the job of assigning retribution for karmas to the living beings had a problem.
When this incident with the king and the poisoned food happened, he did not know who to give the karma to.After all, it was not the eagle's fault that it had carried the dead snake in its claws (since this was its food), nor was it the dead's snake fault, nor was it the king's fault because he did not know that the poison fell into the food.
So Chitragupta went to Yamaraj for a solution. Yamaraj told him to wait patiently. Soon a solution would present itself, the lord of death assured him.

One day, few other brahmanas entered the kingdom in order to meet the king.A woman was sitting next to the road, selling wares and they asked her: "Do you know where the king's palace is and how we can get there?"She said: "Yes," and pointed at the right direction. "But, be very careful," she said, "the king is known to kill brahmanas!"
The moment she said that and criticized the king unrightfully, Chitragupta got his answer.He decided to give HER the karma for the death of the brahmana!

Moral of the story:
If you criticize anyone and you are right about their deeds, you will get half of their bad karma.But, if you criticize someone and you are not right about their deeds, then you will get 100% of their karma.So be careful about what you think or say about other people.- Srimad Bhagavatam (5.10.17)