Vedanam 2023

  The great war of Kurukshetra was over. The Pandavas had won the kingdom which was rightfully theirs. Although the war was over, there was one Pandav who suffered from inner turmoil. Yudhisthira, the son of Dharma could not feel any sense of victory or peace after the war. The death of an entire clan which composed of his cousins, great kings and Gurus, left him with immense grief. The noble-hearted Yudhisthira kept blaming himself. “It is because of my greed, my Rajya-lobha , that all these people had to die. This should not have been allowed to happen.” Krishna tried to console Yudhisthira with words of wisdom. “The Kaurava clan was destroyed because of the Adharma that they were reaping in their souls. Have you forgotten the incident when they humiliated my sister Draupadi in front of the entire court? Do you not know the injustice they meted out to you? For the major sin of disrespecting Draupadi, they had to be killed. They carried within them, the germs of their own dest...

In this blog we will read about a unique temple of Lord Shiva - Kurumanakkudi Kannayiram Udayar temple which is situated in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. Lord Shiva is worshipped here as Kannayiranathar and His consort is Devi Murugu Valar Kothai Naayaki.  The word 'Kannayiram' means a thousand eyes. (Kannu - eyes, ayiram - thousand). There is a legend associated with this name. Deva Indra was attracted to Ahalya, the wife of Rishi Gautama. Once, during the Rishi's absence, he took on the disguise of the Rishi, visited his home and tricked Ahalya into believing that he was her husband. When Rishi Gautama returned home and saw Indra and Ahalya, he became furious. He cursed Ahalya to turn into a stone. He prophesied that she would be relieved of her curse when Lord Rama's feet would touch her. He also cursed Lord Indra that his body would be disfigured. A thousand spots appeared on Indra's body as a result of the curse. Lord Brahma advised Indra to worship Lor...

  The Bhagavatham gives us a brief glimpse into the days after the great war of Kurukshetra. As Duryodhana was lying on the ground, his thigh broken by Bheema, Ashwattama, the son of Dronacharya, came to meet him. On seeing his friend’s broken condition, Ashwattama’s fury knew no bounds. He took an oath before Duryodhana that he would avenge the war by destroying the Pandavas. That night, Ashwattama sneaked into the camp of the Pandavas. Although he did not find the Pandav brothers, he found their children and Draupadi’s brothers all sleeping. In a fit of anger, Ashwattama committed a terrible deed – he killed all the children of the Pandavas as well as the brothers of Draupadi. After setting fire to the camp, he walked away. It is said that even Duryodhana himself was shocked when Ashwattama told him about this heinous act and severely reprimanded him. In the morning, the news reached the Pandavas. Draupadi’s grief cannot be expressed here in words, having lost all of her ...

In this blog, we will read about a Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu which stands as a unifying factor for two major sects of Hinduism - Vaishnavism and Shaivism. The temple is called by several names - Nathan kovil, Thiru Nandipura Vinnagaram and Jagannatha Perumal Kovil. It is situated at the outskirts of Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu worshipped as Jagannatha and His consort is Devi Shenbagavalli.  Legend has it that once Nandi, the sacred bull of Lord Shiva visited Vaikuntham, the abode of Maha Vishnu to meet the Lord. In his excitement, Nandi failed to give proper respect to the Dwarpalaas (gatekeepers) of Vaikuntham. This angered the gatekeepers and they cursed Nandi that he would suffer from oppressive heat all over his body. Lord Shiva advised Nandi to go to the forest named Shenbagaranyam (the place where presently the temple is located) and to meditate on Maha Vishnu to get His help. Accordingly, Nandi sought the Lord's grace. Pleased with his devoti...

  In the previous chapter, we read about the conversation between Rishi Narada and Rishi Vyasa. We read about how Narada suggested to Vyasa that the only way the latter could attain peace is by singing the glories of Lord Narayana. As Vyasa reflected on this, a brief silence followed that was interrupted only by the gentle ripples that the river Sarawati made in her flow and by the strings of the Veena that Narada plucked every now and then. “Let me tell you how Narayana saved me from the bondage of Karma.” Narada said all of a sudden. “You may not be aware of the circumstances of my previous birth.” “Previous birth!?” Vyasa exclaimed in amazement. “But you are the son of Brahma. How could you be subject to a mortal birth??” “By the previous birth, I mean the previous Kalpa. ” Narada said and he recounted the story as stated below. A woman used to work in an Ashram. Once a group of sages visited the Ashram and planned to stay there for few months. The woman sent her five-...

  One evening, Shri Vyasa was sitting beside the river Saraswati on whose banks, lay the hermitage of the Rishi. He was lost in thought, a strange sadness gripping his heart. The twangs of the strings of a divine Veena broke the silence. Along with the sweet notes of the strings, Vyasa heard the chant of ‘Narayana! Narayana!’ To his immense delight, he saw it was Rishi Narada coming to meet him. He welcomed the Rishi and after giving him a seat of honour, sat by Narada’s feet. “I hope all is well with you.” Narada said smiling at Vyasa. “I am sure that you are happy, now that you have composed the great epic Mahabharata which is an immense store-house of knowledge. It is a great achievement and the whole world will benefit by it. Indeed you must be in a very delighted state of mind.” As if the all-knowing Narada did not know about the agitation in Vyasa’s mind! And yet he said this with the intention to get Vyasa to talk about the same. Sure enough, when Vyasa did not reply...

  The Bhagavatha Purana begins with a conversation between Ughrashravas, the son of Rishi Romaharshana who was a disciple of the great sage Vyasa, and Rishi Shaunaka, the leader of a group of Rishis who lived in the mystical forest named Naimisharanya. When Ughrashravas approached the Rishis at Naimisharanya, he was warmly welcomed by all of them. Their leader, Rishi Shaunaka spoke to him. “Our hermitage is honoured by your visit. It is well-known that your father, the great Rishi Romaharshana who was a disciple of Rishi Vyasa has learnt all the puraanas from his Guru. We are eagerly waiting to hear wonderful stories of devotion from you. Please recount the same to us.” Ughrashravas said. “The third quarter of Time, Dvapara Yuga has passed away and Kali-yuga has set in. With the advent of Kali, Adharma, injustice and many other sins have made earth their home. Naimisharanya is the only place which cannot be touched by Kali, and hence I came here. Please let me know what I can d...

In this blog, we will read about another Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu - the Saranathan temple situated at Thirucherai village at the outskirts of Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu as Saranathan and His consort is Devi Saranayaki. Speaking of consorts, this is the only temple where Maha Vishnu is present with five consorts - Saranayaki, Bhu Devi, Sri Devi, Neela Devi and Maha Lakshmi. This temple has its origins in the legend of the Pralaya. When it was time for a Yuga to end and for the Pralaya to commence, Lord Brahma thought about a safe place to preserve His knowledge of Creation and the Vedas. He approached Maha Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu suggested that the sand from a place on earth, named as Thirucherai, be gathered together and used to form a pot. This is believed to be the place where the temple has been constructed. The soil of this place is highly fertile.  Regarding the construction of this temple, there is another interesting legend associa...

The next temple in the list of Paadal Petra Sthalam is the Sapthapureeswarar temple located in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva in the form of Sapthapureeswarar and His consort is referred to as Osai Kudutha Naayaki. (Osai meaning sound, kudutha meaning 'gave' and Naayaki refers to the Goddess).  There is a very interesting legend associated with this temple. We already read about the child-saint Gyana Sambhandar receiving the milk of wisdom from the Devi Herself. It is said that after that incident, in a state of happiness, the child-saint wandered from one temple to another and often clapped in sheer happiness at seeing the divine deities. To relieve his hands from the pain of constant clapping, Lord Shiva gifted a set of cymbals to the saint. However, the cymbals did not produce any sound. It was the Devi who infused sound in the cymbals and thereby got Her name. This incident is said to have happened in this temple.  This temple is al...

Happy Narsimha Jayanti to everyone! On Thursdays, I usually write about the temples dedicated to Maha Vishnu. It is a beautiful coincidence that the temple about which we are going to read today has a legend of Narsimha swamy associated with it.  This temple is named Nachiyar Koyil, also called as Nambi temple and is located in the village Thirunarayur at the outskirts of Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu in the form of Nambi Perumal and His consort is Devi Lakshmi in the form of Vanjulavalli Thayar.  This is one of those rare temples where the Devi has more prominence over the Lord. Legend states that Maha Vishnu had a vision that women would achieve more prominence in the Kali Yuga over men and He wanted to set an example Himself by giving prominence to His consort. In the sanctum sanctorum, the Devi's image is slightly in front of the Lord's deity. Also, all offerings are first done to the Devi. In the procession, the Devi's deity goes forward, f...

In this blog, we will read about a temple where Lord Shiva is worshipped in three forms - Brahmapureeswarar with His consort Devi Sthira Sundari, also known as Tripura Sundari, Periyanaayakar with His consort Periyanaayaki, both the deities on a Thoni (meaning boat), thereby giving the name Thoniappar to the Lord and finally, Sattainathar, also known as Vadakunaathar or Bhairavar. Brahmapureeswarar is in the form of a shiva-lingam while Thoniappar and Bhairavar are in the form of deities. The temple is located in Sirkali, Tamil Nadu. It is believed that 22 water-bodies are associated with this temple. The temple is based on the legend of Sambhandar, one of the most prominent devotees of Lord Shiva. He is credited with the literary work of Thirumurai, a highly revered scripture dedicated to Lord Shiva. The first three volumes of this scripture are made up of hymns composed by Sambhandar in dedication to the Lord.  When Sambhandar was just three years old, his parents brought him to ...