Nandishwar Mahadev Temple
Lord Shiva meets Balagopala!
Tag Archives: Truth
Sri Hanuman and the music competition
Sage Narada
Hanuman playing Veena
Tumburu
Narada and Tumburu are the well known celestial musicians who constantly sing the glories of Lord Vishnu. Once when Sri Hari praised Tumburu’s music, Narada became very unhappy. The Lord then sent Narada to learn music from the music teacher of the celestial musicians Ganabandhu. Still not up to the mark, he then went and learnt music from Rukmini, the consort of Lord Krishna. Thus, after sufficient training, Narada wanted the Lord to judge both, Tumburu and himself and declare who was the best musician amongst the two. Narada and Tumburu sang with all devotion unto the Lord. Both of them were very good and the Lord did not want to displease anyone by taking any one particular name. He thought of calling an expert and accomplished musician for this task. He summoned HANUMAN – who is Kavya – Nataka – Sangeeta – Natya – Paripoorna!!
Hanumanji came and the contest started. Tumburu sang along accompanied by his veena – Kalavathi. His music was so enchanting that the whole universe of things and beings came to a standstill, almost froze and became silent! Hanumanji nodded in appreciation. Next was Narada’s turn. He rendered his music accompanied by his veena – Mahathi. The celestial music melted all that which was previously frozen!! Both of them were exceptionally good. Everyone was eagerly awaiting Hanumanji’s judgement.
Hanumanji asked for both their veenas and removed the frets of the veenas (the vertical strips on which the horizontal strings run), gave it back to them and asked them to go ahead and play the veena. Rather annoyed, they asked him how the veena can be played without the frets. Hanumanji silently took the fretless veena and played on it using a small piece of bamboo stick. He was an expert in playing the veena with or without frets. He sang and played on….. All the devatas were lost in the divine ecstatic devotional outpouring of Hanumanji. After some time when they looked around, they found Lord Sri Hari Himself present amongst them listening in rapt attention to Hanumanji’s Sangeeta.
Narada and Tumburu bowed down and acknowledged that indeed Hanumanji was not only the greatest devotee of the Lord, but also the most accomplished musician !!
[PS: I request all to please forward and share these value based stories rich in our culture and tradition to elders, youth and children]
Palace becomes a Temple for Lord Rama
1. Ram Raja Temple 2. Chaturbhuj Temple
Chaturbhuj temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu situated at Orchha (16 kms from Jhansi), in Madhya Pradesh. It was built in the 16th century and is noted for having one of the tallest vimana standing at 344 feet! Lord Krishna and Radha are worshipped there.
The temple was constructed by Bundela Rajputs in 16th century who ruled over the kingdom of Orchha. The then ruler Madhukar Shah’s wife Ganeshkuwari had a dream of Lord Rama instructing her to build a temple for the Lord. The Queen went on foot to Ayodhya to bring Lord Rama. On reaching Ayodhya, near the banks of the Sarayu river, she undertook a vow of fasting and prayed to Lord Rama. But unable to have darshan of the Lord, she jumped into the river to give up her life.
Something miraculous happened! Lord Rama appeared in the form of a child in the Queen’s lap. Lord Ram told the queen that he was happy with her prayers and she could ask for a boon. The queen asked Rama to come with her as a child to Orchha. The Lord agreed but put 3 conditions: 1) He would travel only on the day of Pushya nakshatra, when the nakshatra ends, he would stop and resume again when Pushya sets in. 2) The Lord would be the King of Orchha and not her husband. 3) Since the Lord would travel in child’s form on Queen’s lap, the first place where she seats the Lord would be the final place of His stay and the Lord would be known as Ram Raja.
The Queen agreed and started with baby Rama in her lap. Since she could only travel during Pushya nakshatra, it took 8 months and 27 days for the queen to reach Orchha from Ayodhya on foot (between 1574 and 1575). On returning to Orchha, the queen went back to her palace with baby Rama and retired in her room for the night. She planned to take Lord Rama to the Chaturbhuj temple the next day forgetting the 3rd condition put-forth by the Lord. The place where child Rama was placed first by the queen in the palace became his permanent abode. Hence, Lord Rama transformed into an idol and got transfixed in the queen’s palace itself. To this day the Ram Raja Temple is in the queen’s palace.
Lord Rama’s idol continued to be worshiped in the palace and the palace was converted to “Ram Raja Temple“. Raja Ram is accompanied by Sita (on the left), Lakshmana, Sugreeva and Lord Narasimha (on the right). Durga Maa is also present in the darbaar on the right side. Hanumaan ji and Jambavant ji are praying just below Sita. The specialty of this temple is that Lord Ram has a sword in his right hand and a shield in the other. Shri Rama is sitting in Padmasana, with the left leg crossed over the right thigh. In India, this is the only temple where Lord Rama is worshiped as a King and that too in a palace. A Guard of Honour is held everyday, police personnel have been designated as Guards at the temple, much in the manner of a king. The food and other amenities provided to the deity at the palace-temple is similar to that offered to a king. Armed salutation is provided to Lord Rama every day.
Lord Krishna is instead worshipped in the Chaturbhuj temple which was built for Lord Rama, and Lord Rama made the palace His place of worship!
[PS: I request all to please forward and share these value based stories rich in our culture and tradition to elders, youth and children]
Greatness of Truth – King Aparajitha
Aparajitha was a great king who loved his subjects. All were happy in his kingdom. One day when he was walking in the morning on the outskirts of his kingdom, he saw a young lady going out of his kingdom all alone.
The King stopped her and asked where she was going all alone. The lady replied that she was the Goddess of wealth and she would not stay at a single place for long and had to leave. The king bowed down to her and she left. After sometime another lady was passing along. On being questioned, the lady told the king that she was the Goddess of Virtue (Morals and Values). She said she always follows the Goddess of wealth. The King again bowed down to her and she left.
After sometime, the King met another woman who was leaving the kingdom. She was the Goddess of Justice. She said that she stays where Goddess of Virtue is and left.
Finally, the King met Goddess of Truth. She said that all her sisters had left and she would indeed stay where they all are. The King was immensely pained and fell at her feet. He said that he was not so much worried when the other three Goddess left, but if Goddess of Truth leaves, then the Kingdom would surely perish. Moved by the King’s words the Goddess of Truth decided to stay.
Since Truth stayed back, Goddess of Justice and Goddess of Virtue returned back. Goddess of Wealth also finally returned back and told the King that without Justice, Virtue and Truth, Wealth had no value and will only bring disaster. The King was immensely happy and prostrated in front of them all. Indeed, it was the Greatness of Truth which made all of them return back!!
Moral: Satyameva Jayate – Victory lies where there is Truth