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Slokam 7
They then visit the Ashram of Sage Agastya.
Extract from Wikipedia
Agastya was a revered Vedic sage.[1] In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He and his wife Lopamudra are the celebrated authors of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 in the Sanskrit text Rigveda and other Vedic literature.[1][2][3]
He is the son of Pulastya and brother of Vishrava, making Ravana and his siblings his niece and nephews.
In Valmiki Ramayan, it is stated that Asuras hid inside the ocean so that the Devas couldn’t harm them. The Devas requested Rishi Agastya for help, and he drank the entire ocean using his austerity and mystic powers. The Devas killed the Asuras, and asked the sage to return the ocean’s water. The water was returned by river Ganga post penance of Bhagirath.
In some scriptures, it is stated that during Lord Shiva’s marriage, everyone in the universe went to witness the event in the Himalayas, in the North. Bhūmi Devi or the Earth Goddess was not able to bear this misbalance and prayed to Lord Shiva for help, who then told Agastya to go to the south end. Rishi Agastya went to the south and the earth’s balance was restored. On one side there was the entire universe and on the other side was Agastya, whose austerity power and aura balanced the earth!
Agastya appears in numerous itihasas and puranas including the major Ramayana and Mahabharata.[3][4] He is one of the seven or eight most revered rishis (the Saptarishi) in the Vedic texts,[5] and is revered as one of the Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition, who invented an early grammar of the Tamil language, Agattiyam, playing a pioneering role in the development of Tampraparniyan medicine and spirituality at Saiva centres in proto-era Sri Lanka and South India. He is also revered in the Puranic literature of Shaktism and Vaishnavism.[6] He is the one who was created by Siva to offer boons to Kaliyan. He is one of the Indian sages found in ancient sculpture and reliefs in Hindu temples of South Asia, and Southeast Asia such as in the early medieval era Shaiva temples on Java Indonesia. He is the principal figure and Guru in the ancient Javanese language text Agastyaparva, whose 11th century version survives.[7][8]
Agastya is traditionally attributed to be the author of many Sanskrit texts such as the Agastya Gita found in Varaha Purana, Agastya Samhita found embedded in Skanda Purana, and the Dvaidha-Nirnaya Tantra text.[3] He is also referred to as Mana, Kalasaja, Kumbhaja, Kumbhayoni and Maitravaruni after his mythical origins.[7][9][10]
Sri Rama assures the ascetics that He would clear the entire region off demons. Sage Agastys presents Sri Rama with Vishnu’s Bow and the Bhramastra to defeat the demons.
Extract from Wikipedia
In ancient Indian history, the Brahmastra (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मास्त्र, IAST: Brahmāstra) and its variants, the Brahmashirsha astra and the Brahmanda astra were supernatural weapons used in the war of Mahabharata and are collectively called Brahma weapons. The Brahmashirsha astra was a weapon that was said to be able to destroy the world, capable of destroying creation and vanquishing all beings. It is one of the most destructive, powerful and irresistible weapons mentioned in Hinduism. These weapons are all created by Lord Brahma, except for brahmanda-astra.
It is termed as a fiery weapon that creates a fierce fireball,[1] blazing up with terrible flames and countless horrendous thunder flashes. When discharged, all nature including trees, oceans, and animals tremble, and the sky surrounds with flame, glaciers melt and mountains shatter with copious noise all around.
When struck, it causes complete destruction to each and every resource of that area, further not a single blade of grass will ever grow in that area. There will be no rainfall for 12 divine years (4320 years) and climate condition will worsen. The strike of Brahmastra will eventually destroy everything.
Sri Rama bids farewell to Agastya. He meets Jatayu, who is an old friend of Dasharatha. Jatayu was to later sacrifice his life and become an important link in tracing Sita.
In the epic Ramayana, Jatayu (Sanskrit: जटायुः Jaṭāyuḥ) is a divine bird and the younger son of Aruṇa and his wife Shyeni.[1] His brother, Sampati, is a demi-god who has the form of an eagle and was an old friend of Dasharatha (Rama's father).
Sri Rama’s army in the Ramayana are all either vanaras, birds, or squirrels. Himself and Lakshmana are probably the only human beings fighting to rescue Sita. Is this not a reflection on how difficult it is to get us human beings to follow the instructions of the Paramathma? The Vanaras were completely loyal, unquestioning and absolutely unified in intent and purpose with Sri Rama. Even in our everyday lives, it is abundantly clear that without these non-human forms of life, going about their daily tasks without attachment or expectation, there will be no life on earth.
Another implication is that with little more than vanaras to support Him, Sri Rama andSri Lakshmana were able to singlehandedly decimate the demonic forces of Ravanna.
Even within our inner selves, it is the demonic forces that are multitude in numbers and weapons and destructive capability. The dharmic aspect is unsupported simply because it is pure and singular. Its strength is not temptation or desire. Its strength is singular goodness, like Sri Rama Himself. Dharma, in the form of purity of intent and purpose is indestructible and can conquer all the forces destruction singlehandedly, only because it has the eternal support of the Paramathma. Even in those avatars where the Paramathma takes the adversarial approach, it is only with the intent of strengthening dharma.
The slokam goes on to mention that Sri Rama, settles down with Sita Devi and Lakshmana, on the banks of the River Panchavati, in a completely happy state of mind. Is this not the exact same feeling of happiness and contentment that Sri Krishna experiences when in the company of the Gopas and Gopis? However, the events of this life does not allow either of the avatars of the Paramathma, the luxury of peace and happiness on this planet (even though they were in the Tretha and dwapara yugam and not in Kaliyugam).
May we always invoke the purity of the Paramathma in our consciousness to singlehandedly fight the multitude of demonic forces that churn our mind every moment, with fear, insecurity, and desire.
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