CULTURAL QA02-2021-03 Being a compilation there may be errors Q1 What are the evil deedsof Rukmi, Sisupala, and Jarasandha against Lord Krishna? A1 Bhanu Kiran Updated May6, 2020 Jarasandha Jarasandha attacked Krishna and his army 17 times. Each time Jarasandha got defeated andand he kept on bringing army to defeat Krishna. On 18th time, he sought alliancewith Yavana king Kalyavan. Krishna went to the cave where King Mucukunda wassleeping from millions of years. When Kalyavan disturbed the sleep of Mucukunda, Mucukunda woke up andupon seeing Kalyavan, Kalyavan was burnt to ashes. This is due to the boonobtained by Mucukunda from Indra. Jarasandha set fire to the entire mountain where Krishna and Balaramaclimbed. Śrī Kṛṣṇa returned to Mathurā,which was still under siege by the barbarian army. He destroyed this army,collected all the valuables the soldiers had been carrying, and set off forDvārakā. Just then Jarāsandha arrived on the scene with a force of twenty-threeakṣauhiṇīs. Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa, acting as if fearful,left Their riches aside and ran far away. Because Jarāsandha could not appreciate Their truepower, he ran after Them. After running a long way, Rāma and Kṛṣṇa came to a mountainnamed Pravarṣaṇa and proceeded to climb it. Jarāsandha thought They had hidden inside a cave and looked all overfor Them. Unable to find Them, he built fires on all sides of themountain. As the vegetation on the mountain slopes burst into flame, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma jumpedoff the peak. After reaching the ground unseen by Jarāsandha and his followers,They returned to theDvārakā fort, which floated within the sea. Jarāsandha decided that Rāmaand Kṛṣṇa had burned to death inthe fire, and he took his army back to his kingdom. Ref: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10: The Summum Bonum During Rajasuya Yaga ofYudhistira, Bhima,Arjuna and Krishna goes to the palace of Jarasandha whereBhima kills him in wrestling. Rukmi Rukmini wanted to marry Krishna but her brother Rukmi disliked Krishna and arranged her marriagewith Sishupala. Rukmini unhappily took up her duties in preparation forthe marriage, but she also sent a trustworthy brahmin to Krishna with a letter.The brahmin went to Dwarka and gave her letter to Krishna where she indicatedthat she will be waiting in goddess Ambika temple. When Rukmini went to goddessAmbika temple, everyone present there fell unconscious seeing her extraordinarybeauty. Krishna arrivesand takes her in his chariot in front of everyone. Rukmi's attack andhis failure is described in Bhagavatam as follows: Rukmī set out with his army to attack the Lord. Ignorant of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s glories, Rukmīboldly went out to attack Kṛṣṇa in a lone chariot. He approached the Lord, struck Him with arrows anddemanded that He release Rukmiṇī. Śrī Kṛṣṇa fended off Rukmī’sweapons, breaking them to pieces. Then He raised His sword high and was aboutto kill Rukmī when Rukmiṇī interceded and fervently pleaded that her brother’s life be spared.Lord Kṛṣṇa did not kill Rukmī,but with His sword He shaved off bits of Rukmī’s hair here and there, leavinghim disfigured. Just then Lord Baladeva appeared on the scene with the Yādavaarmy. Seeing Rukmīdisfigured, He gently reproached Kṛṣṇa: “To disfigure such a closefamily member is as good as killing him; therefore he should not be killed butset free.” Rukmī, meanwhile, felt totally frustrated, deprived as he was of all hisstrength and his will to fight. Since he had vowed not to return home withoutconquering Kṛṣṇa, Rukmī constructed a city on thatvery spot and took up residence there in a mood of undiminished anger. Ref: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 10: The Summum Bonum Shishupala Krishna describes the crimes ofShishupala in Rajasuya Yaga of Yudhistira in front of all kings as follows: “O kings! This son of a lady of the Satvata lineage is a great enemy ofthe Satvata clan. Though we have never done him harm, the cruel-minded onealways seeks to injure us. O kings! Hearing that we had gone to the city ofPragjyotisha, this cruel one came and burnt down Dvaraka, though he is myfather’s sister’s son. When the royal ones from Bhoja were sporting themselveson Mount Raivataka, he killed and captured all of them and took them to his owncity. With certain evil in his heart, he wished to obstruct my father’ssacrifice and stole the horse of the ashvamedha, though it was surrounded byguards. The famous Babhru’s wife-to-be was travelling to the Souvira region tobe married. But out of delusion and desire, he abducted her. He was cruellydisposed towards his maternal uncle, the ascetic Karusha and used his powers ofmaya to abduct Bhadra of Vishala. For the sake of my father’s sister, I haveborne a great deal of unhappiness. However, it is fortunate that this ishappening before all these kings. You are now witness to the malevolence hebears towards me. Know also the deeds that he has performed secretly. I can nolonger pardon his offence today. He deserves to be killed only because of hisinsolence in front of this assembly of kings. Desiring a speedy death, thisfool once offered himself to Rukmini. But the fool did not obtain her, the waya shudra cannot hear the Vedas.” Shishupala underestimated Krishnaand again starts taunting him which made Krishna very angry and he takes out his Sudharshana chakra to killShishupala. ‘Having heard these words, the powerful Shishupala burst into laughterand uttered these scornful words. “O Krishna! Are you not ashamed to recountthis, especially before all these kings? Rukmini was mine first. O Madhusudana! No self-respectingman but you will admit before respectable ones that his wife had been someoneelse’s first. O Krishna! Pardon me. Whether you pardon me or whetheryou show me respect, whether you bear friendship or enmity towards me, what canyou possibly do to me?” When he was talking in this way, theillustrious Madhusudana, the destroyer of his enemies, angrily sliced off hishead with the chakra. Ref: Shishupala-vadha Parva Mahabharat (Bibek-Debroy) Footnotes: CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR-Mahabharata - Penguin India Q2 What does Chennai havethat most cities cannot boast of? A2 Anbazhagan January 29-2021Lives in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India To the extent I checked, Chennai is the ONLY city in the world, not justIndia, that can boast StoneAge origins. That is a region (not as a city of course) that has been a habitation forthe past 52,000 years. Not Rome, not Athens, it is only Namma Chennai. Takethat :) Paleolithic tools fromPallavaram, Chennai At least 2,000 years old as a city or urban area. So probably the OLDESTurban dwelling in India. What’s Chennai’s true age? Over 2,000 years, say records | Chennai News -Times of India Q3 What is the importance ofthe following places in the life of Lord Krishna - Gokul, Mathura, Vrindavan,Barsana, Kurukshetra, Dwarka? A3 Ananya Mishra December 92020 A lover of Sri Krishna ~ Krishnprema All these places are very muchconnected to the life of Lord Krishna💮 Mathura— the holy land where Lord Krishna took birth inDwaparyug. Gokul- the place where Vasudev(Father of Lord Krishna)left baby Krishna to maiya Yashoda and he did his leelas and killed demons. Vrindavan— Due to attacks for demons, Lord Krishna with hisfamily and people went to Vrindavan and spent his childhood with Gopas andGopis ❤️ Barsana- the place whereRadharani was born💮💕 Dwarka- the city constructed by Lord Krishna to protect hispeople. It was the holy land where Narayan (Lord Krishna) married GoddessLakshmi (Rukmini💮). Kurukshetra— the battle ground where The great war ofMAHABHARATA was fought and Gita Upadesh was given to Arjuna by Lord Krishna Q4 Accordingto Hinduism, can you give detailed information about goddess 'Lakshmi' and howwe can get blessings from her? A4 AjitaBarik October 14-2020-Former Business Consultant at Tech Mahindra (2013–2018) Well there is a very interesting story of Mata Lakshmi inOriya traditions. The Purana associated with her is called as Lakshmi Purana and readduring a particular month called Margashirsha in Hindi. Check out the calendar,you will get the dates somewhere around peak winters, this year it was in Dec-Jan. Now She is the presiding Goddess of Wealth, alsocalled Shree, hence PuriJagannath temple is also called Shree Mandira. Jagannath is Vishnu,She is his consort who rules over their house and wealth. This story of hers isvery prevalent among Odisha since it's a direct hit to the Caste system. So Goddess Lakshmi loves cleanliness, good sattvik food and hardworkingfolks. She is alsocalled Chanchala (means too changeful or fikle). Once she decided to step out of the temple to go to people's homes atmorning 4 am of her favourite day (Thursday) of her favouritemonth (Margashirsha). It was chilling cold and allpeople were sleeping. Alldoors were closed and houses dirty. She was in a bad mood looking that nobodybothered for her! All of a sudden she saw a house of a Chandal (the ones who work in samshan, burn dead bodies and hence considered as lowestcaste). The wife of the guyhad cleaned the house, taken bath, done nice Rangoli in front (In Oriya,it's called jhunti usually done with wet rice flour, it dries up in morning,something like this- see the 2 footprint made at bottom signifying Lakshmifeet) and made nice gheefood, decorated the idol of goddess with flowers and was praying in front of it.This immensely pleased Mata Lakshmi! She knocked the door and when opened, she happily ate up the prasadamoffered and gave a lot of wealth to the lady! Happily she returned back to thetemple that she found at least 1 true devotee where some other jealous fellowhad spread the story that howcome she can go and eat food in a low caste house! She was supposed tobe royalty and broke the rules of society! He forgot who he was dealing withobviously. As the allknowing Jagannath was smiling, He knew he had to set an example and teachpeople a lesson! The elder brother of LordJagannath called Balaram sided the society and told Him to disown Lakshmi!Annoyed Devi left the temple. Whatis Shree Mandira without Shree!? Thieves came at night and stoleaway all Gold! All abundance left, people left Lord Jagannath and Balaram. They duo went off intothe wild searching for food, for 12 years they struggled. Finally Devi decided it was timeand built a huge palace near the sea. She sent a servant telling the 2 that itwas a Chandalini who is ready to give them food! Now mad with hunger,the 2 brothers approached the house and after food, they realised it was noneother than Lakshmi! Afterapologies, She returned back to the temple bringing back the lost glory! The priests and other peoplelearnt that caste doesn't matter to God, so there is no barrier to any castepeople in Puri temple. And yes, youcan't survive after annoying Mata Lakshmi, if you need her blessings, keep your house clean andminds open and hearts filled with devotion and kindness! That's all she wants! Q5 WhichHindu text allows widow remarriages? A5 ShreeKeshava 3-2-2021-If you see in Hinduism, marriage is not just the mundanerelation. Marriage is seenas a way to achieve Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. Marrying once/monogamy isgiven an importance. Monogamy is one of the reasons which made Sri Ramaa model for our generations. Even though Hindu dharma givesmuch importance to the bond of marriage, it has given certain conditions underwhich divorce and remarriage is allowed. Parashara Smriti describes that widow marriage is allowed,woman can marry another time : Whenher husband is lost or dead, when he has become a religious ascetic, when he isimpotent, and when he has been expelled from caste: these are the five cases oflegal necessity, in which a woman may be justified in taking another husband. Narad Smirti too indicates thesame: 1.107.28"If the husband is untraceable, dead, or has renounced the world, isimpotent or degraded - in these cases of emergency a woman can remarry." Agni Purana also says the samething: Awoman can marry again provided that her husband has disappeared, is dead. Hasbecome a hermit or issuch a sinner that he is expelled from his own varna. Q6 Whatare some mind-blowing facts about food? A6 KylieMiller January 13 2021 . Freelancer 1. Figs have wasps in them. 2. Humans are born craving sugar. All the above QA are basedon Quora digest to me on 04-1-2021. Quora answers need not be 100% correctanswers Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnan on 04-2-2021 3. Peanuts aren't nuts, they'relegumes.4. Chocolate was once used as currency. 5. Spam is short for "SpicedHam".6. Most wasabi is just dyed horseradish.7. Every bananayou eat is a clone.. Baby carrots don't exist. 9. Pineapples grow on bushes.10.Cashew shells are poisonous.11. Strawberries aren't berries, but avocados are.12.Oysters are alive when you eat them.13. Honey will never go off.14. Carrotswere originally purple. 15. Chocolate can kill dogs. Q7 Whatdo the 12 Jyotirlingas indicate? A7 DevKumar January 23-2021 Former Teacher DO you know the 12 Jyotirlingas in India have been positioned in aprogressive spiral. If you draw a line over theJyotirlinga temples on map then the final result is the shape of a conch shell or the Fibonacci pattern.They say, this patternis nature's secret code. So what are Fibonacci numbers? Aseries of numbers in which each number is d sum of the two precedingnumber--1,1,2,3,5,8...Next number in the series will be 5+8 and so on. U cancontinue adding number in this series till infinity. This mathematical patternis represented as a spiral. In nature Fibonacci series are found everywhere. In the arrangement ofsunflower seeds, pine cones, web of spider and also in the shape of conchshell. Jyotirlingas are positioned in a progressive spiral? Law of energystates--Energy always balances itself. Energy flows from a pointwhere it is concentrated to the colder universe. This is exactly the reason whyair flows from a region of high pressure to low pressure. Now look at the spiral pattern ofJyotirlingas . Arrows show the flow of life energy. It's believed that Lord Shiva appeared at d 12Jyotirlingas as a column of fire. To a person who hs attained acertain degree of spirituality sees these lingas as columns of fire piercingthrough the earth. Now let me show you the solarirradiation map of India. Rings a bell? The little deviations could be bcozJyotirlingas hv been on earth since very very long. I cannot exactly point to the form of energy whichflows from one linga to the other but I'm convinced Jyotirlingas ae sources ofhigh energy. Be it solar,nuclear or spiritual energy! Exact form ofenergy not known. Did you knw LOTUS, holy flower in Hinduism, also followsFibonacci pattern? BurjKhalifa in UAE hs bn inspired by the shape of flowers as winds cause lesserdamage to such shapes. Ostensibly! To every Hindu, ultimate purpose oflife is moksha, which can be attained only wn u're at peace with urself. Orlet's say, when one achieves BALANCE of flow of ENERGY within oneself. Note: Fibonacci pattern is wat prevents universe frm collapsing. Most commonshape of galaxies is spiral. So its very possible that the shape also helps inEASE OF FLOW of energy. All the above QA are based onQuora digest to me on 04-1-2021. Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnan on 04-2-2021 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1066962127.2090329.1612449273481%40mail.yahoo.com.
