DIVINE INFORMATION 2-44 Dearfriends,
I started with Cherusseri Bharatham(Bharatagatha) (English Summary) (Summary by A. Purushothaman) from yesterdayunder the title Divine information. The information was stored in my computer. CherusseriBharatham Pattu or Bharatagatha was first published by Chirakkal Kovilakath Ayilyam Thirunal Ramavarma ValiyaTampuran in Malayalam Era 1086 (A.D 1911). The book wasrepublished along with a long introduction essay by Chirakkal T. BalakrishnanNair in Malayalam Era 1113 (A.D. 1938). There are 45 Chapters. Part by part will be posted byme.Hope this will be interesting to read or refreshing information. I am startingwith chapter 4 in this posting. These introductory lines will be discontinued from next posting. Sincerely, Gopalakrishnan23-12-2021 Summary of Chapter 4: The Marriage of Ganga KingBharatha performed many yagyas. He had a son Bhumanyu. There were many Kings inthis line. One of them, Bhima, had a son Pradipa. For a long time, Pradipa didnot have children. Onthe banks of river Ganga, he worshipped god along with his wife Sunanda. Cursedby Brahma, the royal sage Mahabhishak was born as the son of Pradipa. The boywas called Santhanu since he was son of a calm person (Santhan). Santhanu washandsome. One day, King Shanthanu went to the forest for hunting. He went tothe river Ganga to drink water. There he saw a beautiful maiden. The Kingasked: 'who are youWhere do you come from Where are you going'. The girl said: I am looking for ahusband who will agree with all my actions. The King agreed immediately andtook her to Hastinapura. Summary of Chapter 5: The Origin of Bhishma The Kingenjoyed life with his wife Ganga. He had seven sons with Ganga. Immediately onbirth, the children were thrown into the river by Ganga. Due to his pledge, theKing remained silent. The eighth child was most beautiful. When Ganga tried to throw thenew born baby into the river, the King stopped and asked her: 'Who are you? You are not an ordinary woman'. Ganga said: "Youare the famous royal sage Mahabhishak and I am Jahnavi, the daughter ofheavenly Jahnu. Both of us were cursed by Brahma. Longtime ago, while dancing in heaven, my dress slipped off. While others lookedaway, O King! You stared at me with desire. Brahma cursed both of us to be bornas human beings. As I was leaving for earth, the Devas told me: 'Theeight Vasus cursed by a sage will be born as your children. The eighth Vasu will be born asBhishma. The King will create a way for you to return to heaven.' Now, bring up this child. I am leaving." The Kinglooked after the boy. When the King and the boy went to the banks of the riverGanga, the mother Ganga came up and fed milk from her breast to the boy. The King lived in the Naga citythinking about his wife. Summary of Chapter 6: The Origin of Vyasa Longago there was a King named Chedipa on earth. He wanted to become a Deva. Indramet the King and gave him a flying vehicle and said: "Ruling the land isthe duty of Kshatriya. Therein lies his salvation. Using this vehicle, you may travelin the sky like a bird". One day the King went to the forest. He saw a beautiful apsaras flyingin the sky. Captivated by sexual desire, the King's sperm fell off. TheKing asked a kite to convey the sperm to his wife. While the kite was flyingover Kalindi, the sperm fell into the river. The sperm was swallowed by a fish,which was caught by fishermen and presented to the King. Two children were discovered inthe belly of the fish. The boy was named Matsya. The girl was given to thefishermen. The girl Matsyagandha was engaged in ferrying passengers acrossKalindi. Oneday, sage Parasara came to cross the river. Seeing the girl, the sage wascaptivated by desire. He expressed his desire to the girl. The girl resistedsaying that she smells of fish. The sage sprinkled holy water and made the girl Yojanagandha. Asdesired by the girl, the sage created an island and shrouded it with clouds.The sage embraced the girl and Ved Vyasa was born. The sage told the girl:"You be here. You will become the King's wife. You will be devoid of anysin. Do not accept anything from the King till he gives you the land". Then the sage left. The sonfollowed his father. Before leaving he told his mother: "Whenever you wishto meet me, I will come without fail". The girl resumed her work offerrying people across the river. Summary of Chapter 7: The Acceptance ofMatsyagandha Hearing thestory of Yojanagandhafrom the sage (Vaisampayana), King Janamejaya said :" Alas! Ourrace originated from fish. This is abominable and terrible". The sagesaid: " Yojanagandha,Dhritarashtra and Pandu originated from Bhoodevas (Brahmins), whoare the essence of Vedas. Soma Race does not have any defect. Sinnersreciting the story of Soma Race will be absolved of all sins. They will attainliberation. Hence, O king! Discard all your sorrows and hear the stories ofSanthanu". The sage continued : "The King Santhanu waslivingin his palace thinking about his separated wife and watching his son play. TheKing was afflicted with a type of cancer (Pundarika Arbuda) and a smell emanated from his bodywhich attracted snakes. Physicians declared that Kasturi is requiredfor the treatment which turned out to be effective. Blessed by the sage (Parasara), the maiden's bodywas producing Kasturi (which was used for treating the King). Themaiden refused to accept any payment for the Kasturi. The King was completelycured of the disease. In this manner, Santhanu came to know about the maiden.The King met the maiden on the banks of Kalindi and told her: It is not fit foryou to live here. You are best suited to a King." The maidensaid: "All relations are decided by God. A King has many wives. What isthe point in being one of them Moreover, the Kingdom will go to the son of thefirst wife. Only on thecondition that the land will be ruled by my sons, a King can marry me."Hearing these words, the King became desparate. The King'sson realized the cause of his father's sorrow. He straightway went, met themaiden and told her: "Mother, come with me. Your sons will become Kings. Ipronounce this witnessed by Fire, Air, Moon, Sun, Earth, Cows, Sky, Brahmins,Dusks, Water and Devas. I willnot marry either". Hearing this, the Devas said that he will be known asBhishma. Thus Yojanagandha went to the city of elephant with the son ofSanthanu. The King was extremely happy. He said: " My son, You will die only if you wishso". The King lived happily with his wife. From Chapter 8: Ambaapproaches Vyasa to advise Bhisma to marry her. Bhisma refuses citing his vow.Vyasa becomes angry and suggests that perhaps Bhisma doesn't understand themeaning of truth, vow and such. He recitesthe story of Bali (who didn't listen to his teacher) and that of the Kausika atthe river bank (the story told by Krishna to Arjuna). Bhisma explains the fault ofBali and Kausika. Vyasa is pleased and tells Amba to marry another king. Aftergetting boon from Siva, unable to find a suitor, Amba hangs the garland at thegate of the city of Pancala and ends her life. I will continue in next posting. -- 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 thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/268452114.592886.1640231413375%40mail.yahoo.com.
