QUESTION: Why Do Hindus Worship Many Gods? Human beings through history have formulated many different names and forms for the Divine or Eternal. Just as we have many names and forms for other things, whether it is foods, or types of art, so too, in religion a similar great diversity has been created. Hindus worship all qualities of the divine as gods and goddesses. Having many names for something is not necessarily a sign of ignorance of its real nature. On the contrary, it may indicate an intimate knowledge of it. For example, Eskimos have forty-eight different names for snow in their language because they know snow intimately in its different variations, not because they are ignorant of the fact that all snow is only one. The many different deities of Hinduism reflect such a close realization of the Divine on various levels.. Page 1 of 7
THE HAPPY GARDENER: POWER OF POSITIVE ATTITUDE This is a story narrated by the great guru Sri Ramakrishna. Narada was passing one day by the side of a garden, and the gardener asked the sage Narada: "Master, where are you going?". The great sage said, "I am going to Vaikuntha, the Lord's Heaven, to have His Darshan". "Oh! You are going to have Darshan of the Lord! Please ask Him when I shall attain liberation." He was a gardener planting various fruit trees. Narada said, "I shall certainly ask the Lord, and when I come back, I shall let you know what His answer is". So, Narada proceeded further and on the way, he met a farmer. The farmer put the same question: "Lord, O great sage, master, where are you going?". The sage said, "I am going to Vaikuntha, the Lord's abode". And the farmer also made a request similar to the gardener's: "Please ask the Lord when I shall attain liberation". Narada gave the same reply as before: "Yes. I shall come back to you with the Lord's answer". So, after several days or so Narada returned from Vaikuntha and he met this farmer. Immediately, the farmer asked very eagerly. "Did you meet the Lord?" "Yes, I met the Lord" replied Narada. "Did you ask Him about my liberation?" "Yes, I asked." "Did He give you the reply?" "Yes, He gave the reply." "What was the reply?" "You will take another fifty years to attain liberation." The farmer was very sorry to hear this. "I have been chanting God's Name, I have been doing prayer, I have been meditating, I have been practising Yoga, day and night I am absorbed in God's thought. Still I have to wait for fifty years! What a wretched thing!" He cursed himself. Page 2 of 7
Narada passed on and met the gardener. The gardener asked, "What is the reply from the Lord?" "You will take as many thousands of years to reach God as there are leaves in this tree." And Narada pointed to a nearby tree. The gardener's joy knew no bounds. He was so happy. He jumped in happiness. "So, after all, I am fit!" His way of thinking was quite different from that of the farmer's. The farmer cried because he had to wait for fifty years more, and this gardener was in joy, in ecstasy, was bursting with the love of God, because he got the reply from the great Master, the Supreme Being, that he was after all fit to gain salvation even if that salvation was to come after as many thousands of years as there were leaves in the nearby tree. The story goes that his ecstasy of joy was such that it burnt all his sins in an instant, and he had divine vision at that very moment, whereas that poor farmer with fifty years' sorrows had no experience of the kind. Page 3 of 7
MAHABHARATA 1: Mahabharata is a literary and spiritual treasure of India. It is the longest epic poem in the world, originally written in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. It was composed by Sage Vyasa several thousand years ago Mahabharata is a parable for the human race and carries universal messages that help us in many situations in our lives. It contains the great spiritual text, the Bhagavad Gita, that help us realize God in everything, and progress spiritually. Remember that many stories in the epic may sound strange in this era don t take these stories literally; the lessons they teach are universal. The stories help us understand our Dharma duty and right action, in a given situation many times, this is not so easy! The Gita has many paths to God through action, meditation, and study. Mahabharata means the story of the descendants of Bharata. The main thread of the epic starts with king Shantanu. Shantanu lived in Hastinapur and was known for his valor and wisdom. One day he went out hunting to a nearby forest. Reaching the bank of the river Ganges (Ganga), he was startled to see an beautiful damsel appearing out of the water and then walking on its surface. Her grace and divine beauty struck Shantanu at the very first sight and he was completely spellbound. When the king inquired who she was, the maiden curtly asked, "Why are you asking me that?" King Shantanu admitted "Having been captivated by your loveliness, I, Shantanu, king of Hastinapur, want to marry you." "I can accept your proposal provided that you are ready to abide by my two conditions" argued the maiden. "What are they?" anxiously asked the king. "Firstly, you will never ask anything about my personal life, like who I am or where do I come from? Secondly, you will never stop me from doing anything or ask the reason of anything I do." Shantanu was totally gripped by the maiden's beauty, now known as Ganga, and immediately accepted her conditions. They instantly entered into a love marriage (Gandharva vivah) and returned home. Page 4 of 7
Things went on quite smoothly for sometime and then queen Ganga gave birth to a lovely boy. As soon as king Shantanu heard this good news, he was overjoyed and rushed to the palace to congratulate the queen. But he was astonished to see that the queen took the newborn into her arms, went to the river, and drowned him. The king was shocked and felt miserable, yet he could not ask the queen about her action. He was bound by his pledge, not to question or interfere with her actions. Hardly had Shantanu recovered from the shock of the death of his first son at the hands of the queen when she became expectant again. The king felt happy and thought that the queen would not repeat her dreadful action again. But the queen again took the newborn into her arms, and drowned him in the river. After seeing the ghastly action of the queen, the king was in immense grief again, but his pledge barred him to say anything. This continued on until queen Ganga bore the eighth child and marched to the river as before. Shantanu lost his patience and as soon as the queen was about to drown the newborn, Shantanu stopped her. "I have lost seven children like this and am left with no heir. I can no longer stand to see my flesh and blood decimated before my eyes." Queen Ganga turned around and said, "Oh King, you have violated your pledge. I will not stay with you any longer. However before leaving you, I will open the secret that led to the death of your seven children. Once it so happened that the saint Vashishtha got offended with eight gods known as Vasus. He cursed them to be born as human beings on the earth and undergo the mental torture of being a human. Hearing this, seven of the Vasus implored the saint to be excused but the eighth one, who was the most mischievous, kept standing rudely. " Vashishtha was appeased and modified his curse, "Seven of you will die and come back to heaven as soon as you are born, but the eighth one will have to live on the earth for a long period and face the tribulations as a human." Ganga continued, "Upon the request from the Vasus, I assume the human form and marry you. My job is now over and I must now go back to my heavenly abode. I am taking your eighth child with me and will bring him back to you after he is grown up." Page 5 of 7
After saying this, Ganga flew away into the sky along with the newborn. King Shantanu returned to his palace with a broken heart. Many years later, when Shantanu was taking a stroll on the bank of the river Ganges (Ganga), Goddess Ganga emerged out of the river with a young boy. Ganga spoke, "Oh King! Here is your eighth son, Devavrata. I have brought him up in order that he may be able to cope with what is to befall on him in his life on this earth." The king happily brought the prince to the palace and celebrated his arrival by declaring him the crown prince of his kingdom. Deva Vrata grew up brave and just. King Shantanu was getting old and announced his retirement. He was lonely and always missed Ganga. It was one day while he was taking a stroll on the bank of the river Ganges; he was attracted towards a charming maiden, Satyavati, the daughter of the chief of the fishermen tribe. Satyavathi had a divine son who was named Vyaasa. Immediately after birth, Vyaasa grew up quickly through his divine powers and left for the forest. Vyasa, however, promised his mother Satyavati that he will come back whenever he was called for. Vyaasa, later known as Veda Vyaasa, had mastery of the Vedas. It is said that Vyaasa dictated the entire epic at a stretch while Lord Ganesha acted as the scribe. In addition, Vyaasa played a central role in his story appearing and disappearing on the scene whenever his mother or her family members sought his help. He had rare magical qualities to resolve their problems. Shantanu, went to her father, the chief fisherman, and requested permission to marry his daughter. The chief fisherman placed the condition that the son born of Satyavati must be the successor of the throne and not Devavrata. Shantanu was shocked to hear the condition because he wanted his son, Devavrata to be his successor. When Devavrata discovered the cause of his father's unhappiness, he went to Satyavati's father to persuade him to allow Shantanu to marry Satyavati. In return he promised to give up his right to the throne for Satyavati's son. The chief fisherman thought for a while and showed his further concern by saying, "What about your children? They may not honor your promise?" Page 6 of 7
Hearing this, Devavrata took the solemn promise that he will never marry in his life and remain as a brahmachari. From then on he was known as Bheeshma, the one of the firm promise. Bheeshma brought Satyavati on his chariot to the palace and presented her to his father. Shantanu blessed Bheeshma with the power to choose his day of death. (To be Contd.) Characters introduced: Shantanu Ganga, Satyavati Devavrata = Bheeshma Vyaasa Ganesha Lessons learned: Devavrata pays for his sins not in this life but in a different life? Page 7 of 7