Vedanam 2023

  Krishna will be in the earth for a very short period of time. Your time on earth will be only till the Lord remains. These words of Narada filled Yudhisthira’s heart with dread and he worried constantly. He saw many ill omens that signified doom. Further, Arjuna who had accompanied Krishna to Dwaraka had not returned for a long time. Yudhisthira shared his worries with Bhima. “Ever since Narada told me that the Lord will lay down His human form soon, I am greatly despairing. Is this possible? Can Krishna, who has been everything for us, really leave us and go away?? I am so afraid that this will come to pass, for I see many ill omens. Look at the state of the world, Bhima. Things have taken a sudden change for the worse, as if Kali has already descended on earth realizing that Krishna’s feet will no more roam on it. People are inclining more and more towards Adharma. Anger, greed and many other vices have taken control of people and Mother Earth is slowly losing her original g...

The next temple in the list of Divya Desham is the Sowriraja Perumal temple, also called as Neelamegha Perumal temple which is located in Thirukannapuram village in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu in the form of Neela Megha Perumal (referred to as Sowriraja Perumal) and His consort is Maha Lakshmi in the form of Thirukannapura Naayagi.  There are several legends associated with this temple. There was a priest named Rangabhatta who was an ardent devotee of Maha Vishnu. Every day, a dancer would give him a garland to be put over the deity. The dancer always used to put the garland on herself before offering it to the Lord. One day the king visited the temple and on inspecting the deity closely, he found a hair in the garland. He enquired about it with Rangabhatta who said that the hair belonged to the deity. The king asked the priest to prove it else he would be punished. To his amazement, the king found hair on the deity's head when he looked ...

  In the previous chapter, we read about Vidura’s departure from Hastinapura. The Bhagavatham explains in brief about Vidura’s life after he left the kingdom. Vidura left on a pilgrimage, wanting to see all the holy places of Bharatavarsha. He had immense desire to visit the teerthas (holy rivers / ponds) that had been purified by the Divine in all forms – as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. First he went to Vrindavan and spent some time in the presence of the majestic Govardhana hill. He bathed in the holy waters of Narmada and Pushkara. With his mind devoted to Lord Narayana, he wandered all over the earth like a hermit – dressed in tree-barks and not carrying any possession. When Vidura reached Prabhasa, which, the Bhagavatham describes as Krishna’s favourite place, he came to know about the outcome of the Mahabharata war and the annihilation of the Kaurava clan.   Although he had attained a high level of detachment, he still felt immense grief for his brother Dhritarashtra. H...

In this article, we will read about Mahalakshmeeswarar temple which is located in a town called Thirinindrayur in Mayiladuthrai district of Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva, referred to as Mahalakshmeeswarar. His consort is Devi Ulaganaayaki. This temple is believed to be the place where Lord Shiva appeared before Parashurama in His divine form and granted him absolution from the sin of having used his axe on his own mother.  Maha Lakshmi is also said to have worshipped Lord Shiva here, thereby, giving the temple the said name.  Legend has it that there was a king who used to travel to Chidambaram everyday to see the Lord. Every time his entourage passed one particular place, the flame of the torches carried by his men would get extinguished and would lit up again once they had crossed that place. The king enquired for the reason for the same from a cowherd who told him that there was a Shiva-lingam buried on the ground in that place. The king arranged a search an...

  The Bhagavatham gives us a brief glimpse of what happened to the stalwarts of Hastinapur during and after the war of Kurukshetra. This chapter is about Vidura. The Pandavas had spent thirteen years in exile and had returned to Hastinapur asking for their share of the kingdom. Even though they had met all the conditions of the exile, Duryodhana still refused to give them their rightful place. He was advised by Bhishma and Drona but he heeded to none and started preparing for the war. Dhritarashtra was worried for his sons and the father in him outweighed the king. He sent his charioteer Sanjaya to Yudhisthira with a message that the later should give up his desire for the kingdom and should go back to the forest, preventing the war. This action of Dhritarashtra was met with disapproval from many, including Sanjaya himself. The king lost his peace and found it difficult to sleep. He called out to Vidura for assistance. Although Vidura was not pleased with the king’s inaction ...

In this blog, we will read about a Divya Desham of Maha Vishnu - Bhakta Vatsala Perumal temple which is located at Thirukannamangai village in Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu. As the name suggests, the presiding deity Maha Vishnu is worshipped as Bhakta Vatsala Perumal and His consort Maha Lakshmi is Kannamangai Naayaki.  This temple finds mention in Padma Puraana, one of our revered spiritual texts. Many prominent sages and devotees have song praises in favour of Bhakta Vatsala Perumal.  During the Samudra - manthan, many objects emerged from the ocean. At the end, Maha Lakshmi Herself came out of the ocean. Looking at Maha Vishnu, She knew that He was the one She wanted to marry. The Devi came to the village Thirukannamangai where She undertook a lot of penance until finally Maha Vishnu came there to marry Her. The place where Devi meditated upon the Lord is named Lakshmi Vanam. All the Devas in the cosmos came there to witness the wedding. It is said that the gods did not ...

  After the birth of Parikshit, things went back to normalcy in the royal palace and in the city of Hastinapur. It was time for Krishna to leave for Dwaraka. He personally visited everyone in the palace to bid farewell – his sister Subhadra, Draupadi, King Dhritarashtra and his wife Gandhari and finally, the Pandavas who were unwilling to let go of him. Krishna went to Kunti’s room and touching her feet, asked for leave. Kunti’s conversation with Krishna forms a very beautiful prayer which is recited even today by devotees. I am producing a very brief version of the same below. Kunti said to Krishna. “Even now you are playing the role of my brother’s son, Krishna!? I may be ignorant; I have not studied the Vedas, nor do I have any knowledge of Brahma – Vidya. But this I know that you are Ishvara, the lord of everyone, the creator of the Universe and the only truth that exists. The entire universe is made up of you. Maya hides your real nature from us and we are unable to pe...

The next temple in the list of Paadal Pethra Sthalam is the Kadaimudinathar temple in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu. Lord Shiva is worshipped here as Kadaimudinathar and His consort is Devi Abhirami.  There are 16 types of wealth mentioned in our holy texts, namely - health, education, monetary wealth, food, pride, beauty, fame, youthfulness, intelligence, children, strength, courage, longevity, favourable fate, victory in all efforts and good relationships. The shiva-lingam in the temple is said to have 16 stripes denoting the above types of wealth. It is believed that worshipping the deity here will lead to achievement of the above wealth.  There is a legend about how the name Kadaimudinathar came to be. It is believed that Lord Shiva protects His devotees even on the verge of Pralaya  (the great deluge that signifies the end of the world). As He is the protector till the end, He was named Kadaimudinathar, the one who protects till everything has ended.  As p...

  Once Yudhishthira was crowned as the king of Hastinapur, Krishna told him. “Now that my mission is fulfilled, I feel the need to return to Dwarka. It has been a long while since I left my home and saw my parents. I have almost forgotten what the city looks like! Please bid me to leave now.” Uttara, the wife of Abhimanyu, Arjun’s son, came running to Krishna asking for help. पाहि पाहि महायोगिन्देवदेव जगत्पते नान्यं त्वदभयं पश्ये यत्र मृत्युः परस्परम् “Krishna, you are the Lord of the Universe, and the only one who can help me. I feel a powerful presence which is constantly burning me. I bear Abhimanyu’s child in my womb. This child is the gift to the throne of the Pandavas. I am afraid that the fire will burn my child. Please save my child from death!” Krishna pondered upon this fire and realized that this was from the Brahmasheersha Astra that Ashwatthama had unleashed with the incantation – ‘Let the world be devoid of Pandavas.’ This Astra had been aimed at all ...

The next temple in the list of Divya Desham is the Kola Valvill Ramar temple situated on the Kumbakonam - Chennai highway in Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is Maha Vishnu as Shree Rama in Bhujanga-shayanam (reclining posture) and His consort is named Devi Maragathavalli.  The legend of this temple is associated with the Vaamana Avatar of Maha Vishnu. As we all know, Shukracharya was the Guru of the Asuras. The Asura Bali, the grandson of Prahlad was a devotee of Maha Vishnu. Once he was performing a yagnya that would give him limitless power over the whole world. Fearing him, the gods requested Maha Vishnu to disrupt the yagnya and to stop Bali from becoming the most powerful being in the world.  Maha Vishnu took the avatar of a dwarf - Vaaman  and approaching Bali, he requested for land worth 3 feet space. Bali agreed however Shukracharya, his Guru, realized that it was Maha Vishnu who had come to trick Bali. The Guru warned Bali but the later was only too delighted to ...