Hindu Ramayana Mahabharata Gita Veda Upanishada - Bombay Jewel

The Mahabhaarata

is considered a Great Epic of India and was compiled by the Sage  Ved Vyaasa.

It tells us the history of Indian ancestors. It also describes to us their moral values.

The Mahabhaarata tells us the story that transpired in and around Hastinapura.

The story spans around 6 generations.

Though the Mahabharata has the story of many lives woven into one another, the predominant narration is of 2 brothers and their families.

Dhritrashtra and Pandu were brothers. Dhritrashtra married Gandhaari and Pandu married Kunti and Madri.

Pandu had 5 sons who are popularly known as Pandavas.

Dhriraashtra had 100 sons.They were called the Kauravas.

Pandu died and the Pandavas and Kauravas were brought up together.

The Kaurava’s maternal uncle Shakuni played a crucial role in the story of the Mahabhaarata.

The Pandavas performed a great sacrifice (Yajna)  which made Duryodhana, the chief of the Kauravas jealous and greedy.

Shakuni invited the Pandavas for a game of dice and cheated in the game.

The Pandavas lost all their possessions including Draupadi, their wife.

The Kauravas wanted to humiliate the Pandavas and hence dragged Draupadi to the main hall and tried to disrobe her in public.

She implored to Krishna who she affectionately called ‘Sakha’. Krishna came to her aid and miraculously kept Draupadi draped, despite the fact that the Kauravas kept pulling at her saree.

Finally, the Pandavas and Kauravas reached a settlement. The Pandavas were made to go to the forest for 12 years. They had to live for one more year in the forest incognito. The condition was that the Pandavas should not be traced by the Kauravas. While the Pandavas were away, the kingdom was to be ruled by the wicked Duryodhana.

The 13 years of exile were completed successfully. The Pandavas approached the Kauravas for their share of the kingdom.

However Duryodhana refused to part with as much land as would be covered by a needle.

Krishna tried very hard that the Pandavas and Kauravas reach an amicable agreement, but the Kauravas refused to relent.

War became inevitable. Both the Pandavas and the Kauravas wanted Krishna to help them. The Pandava Arjuna was a devotee and friend of Lord Krishna. Arjuna chose to have Krishna alone on his side, despite the fact that Krishna had warned that the latter would not pick up arms in the battle.

Duryodhana was overjoyed at Arjuna’s decision and chose to have Krishna’s powerful army to fight with him.

Just before the great war, Arjuna became despondent. He did not know which course to adopt. Would it be better for him to fight and have so many people killed, or should he renounce the Kingdom and take to a life in the forest.

This question also appears many times in a man’s life when faced with difficulties.

When one is restless and life seems difficult, we would like to give up.

Krishna explains to Arjuna that to fight (to face difficulties) with courage, is the right path. Arjuna asked Krishna many more questions which the latter answered, in a simple forthright manner.

Krishna explained to Arjuna that he should only be concerned with performing his duty to the best of his capacity, the fruits or results of the action, lie with God.

Krishna said:

Karmanye Vaadhikaa rastey, maa phaleshu kadaachana
Maa karmaphal hetur bhoor
Maa te sangostwa karmani.

The above dialogue is recorded in the Mahabharata and is known as the the Bhagvad Geeta.

It is said that if the Mahabharata can be compared to a priceless necklace, the Geeta is the pendant.

The terrible war of Mahabharata was fought. The Pandavas emerged victorious.

Bhagwad Gita - The Holy Book of Hindus

 The Bhagwad Gita (the blessed Lord's song) is a 700-verse section of the Mahabharata and occurs just before the great battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas.
It is written as a conversation between Arjuna, the third of the Pandava brothers, after Yudhishtra and Bhima, and Lord Krishna, the statesman-god. The path, as laid down by the Bhagwad Gita, is still considered ideal way of life by Indians.

Bhagwat Gita's Teaching

In the beginning there was turmoil…
Arjuna, the brave Pandava warrior and skilled archer, as he faced his cousins in the great final battle of the Mahabharata said:

…we ought not to kill these sons of Dhritrashtra, who are our relations; for how can we, O Madhava (Krishna), obtain happiness by destroying our own kinsmen?… O destroyer of enemies and slayer of Madhu (Krishna), how can I fight with arrows in battle against (those) who are worthy to be worshipped by me.

Then there was the word…
Much moved by Arjuna's distress, the Lord Krishna spoke:
…you have been mourning those who should not be mourned for and yet you speak words of wisdom; but the truly wise do not mourn either for the living or the dead…These bodies are perishable; but the dwellers in these bodies are eternal, indestructible and impenetrable…No one is ever able to destroy that Immutable.

and then there was light…
Explaining himself, Lord Krishna went on:
He who considers this (self) as a slayer or he who thinks that this (self) is slain, neither of these know the truth. For It does not slay, nor is It slain… This Self is never born, nor does It die nor after having been, does It go into non-being... This (self) is unborn, eternal, changeless, ancient. It is never destroyed even when the body is destroyed… Sword cannot pierce It (self) nor fire burn, water cannot wet It nor air dry.

Which illuminates a path…
Then the Lord spoke on the path to self-realization – that detachment from deeds which leads to Nirvana:
Listen now, O son of Pritha (Arjuna) regarding Yoga, by knowing which you shall be freed from the bonds of karma (cause and effect). In this (yoga) there is neither waste of effort nor possibility of evil results… To work you have the right. But never to the fruits thereof. Be you neither actuated by the fruits of action, nor be you attached to inaction.

Oh Dhananjyaya (Arjuna), abandoning attachment and regarding success and failure alike, be steadfast in Yoga and perform your duties. Even-mindedness is called Yoga.
Oh Dhananjyaya, work (with desire of results) is far inferior to work with understanding. Therefore seek refuge in the Yoga of understanding. Wretched indeed are those who work for results. The wise, possessed with knowledge, abandoning the fruits of their actions, become freed from the fetters of birth and death, reach that state which is beyond all evil.

Finally there was the promise…
Having revealed the Ultimate Truth about birth and death, Krishna promised to always watch out for people:
Whenever there is decline of virtue and predominance of vice, I am born again… For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil-doers and for the re-establishment of Dharma I am born again and again…

The Legendary Tale Ramayana Ramayan:

The central plot of the Ramayana is quite simple. The king of Ayodhya, Dhashratha's heir apparent is Rama, the righteous man, respectful son, brave warrior, loving brother and doting husband. His brothers, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughana, were from the various other queens of the king. The king's favorite consort is Keikeyi, Bharat's mother.
Things begin to swiftly fall from ideal when Keikeyi is instigated by her lady-in-waiting to ask Dhashratha to make her son Bharata the heir-apparent instead. She convinces the king to send Rama to vanvaas (exile) for 14 years. The king tries to reason with her – to no avail and in the end has to give in.

Rama, being the model son, obeys his father's wish without question. However, Sita being the ideal wife and Lakshmana, being the ideal younger brother, insist on following Rama to exile. When they are gone, Bharata returns home to find his brother gone and when he comes to know of what has gone on behind his back, he chastises his mother and refuses to accept the kingdom. He insists on following his brother to exile too and living in ascetic conditions. Then Lord Rama himself has to step in and talk him out of this – for someone has to rule the kingdom. Bharata then agrees to rule on his brother behalf.

In the forests, Rama and his entourage go through several interesting experiences and insights. Disaster strikes as late as their last year in exile. In the shape of Ravana. Actually Ravana pretty much leaves them to their devices, until Shurpanakha his sister gets enamored by Rama. She tries to seduce him; however Rama rejects her and indeed gets so impatient doing this that he cuts off her nose.
Stung by this, Ravana decides to take revenge and abducts Sita. Now starts the trouble.

Rama, of course, decides to get his wife back. He organizes a force and attacks the capital of Ravana, called the golden Lanka. Ravana is talked about as a brave, powerful and very wise king whose only flaw was vanity, which of course does him in, in the end. In the fierce war which ensues, Ravana is defeated and killed, along with his brothers and son. Sita returns to the fold. and then they all come back happily to Ayodhya, where Rama takes over as king again.

Good Always Wins Over Evil
By the way, the festival of Diwali celebrates the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya.

The Upanishads

 Only when men shall roll up the sky like a hide, will there be an end to misery; unless God has first been known…
The Svetasvatara Upanishad

Upanishad Unfolds Fascinating Tale of Creation

The search for Self and the Ultimate Truth has been the Holy Grail that man has sought after ceaselessly down the ages. Why? What? Whence? Whither? The answers to these questions have persistently eluded man, and perhaps that is how things were meant to be. The composition of the Upanishads marks a significant and stride forward in the direction of knowing and one comes tantalizingly close to the answers. Through episodes, commentaries, stories, traditions and dialogue, the Upanishads unfold the fascinating tale of creation, life, the essence of life and of that beyond to the seeker of truth.

The Term Upanishad Deals With The Occult Knowledge

The term Upanishad means ('upa' near; 'ni' down; 'shad' to sit) sitting down near; this implies the students sitting down near their Guru to learn the big secret. In the splendid isolation of their forest abodes, the philosophers who composed the Upanishads contemplated upon the various mysteries – whether common, or metaphysical. The answers were however not open to all, but only for select students. A parallel to this might be found in the secret societies of the priests of various Egyptian Gods; the mysteries of Isis or Osiris and so on were meant only for the ears of a very select group. The reason for this was simple: not everyone can handle knowledge.

There is no exact date for the composition of the Upanishads. They continued to be composed over a long period, the core being over 7th -5th centuries BC. The Upanishads were originally called Vedanta, which literally means the conclusion to the Vedas.

There are 18 principal Upanishads:

Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad

The Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad is widely accepted to be the most important of all Upanishads. It has three khandas or parts. The madhu khanda contemplates on the relationship between the individual and the Universal self. The muni khanda or yajnavalkya is a debate which goes on to give the philosophical backing to the earlier teaching. The khila khanda tackles various rituals of worship and meditation.

Chandogya Upanishad

This Upanishad is a part of the Sama-Veda (see The Vedas). The name comes from the singer of the songs (samans) who is called Chandoga. The initial chapters of the Upanishad, taking a cue from the Sama-Veda, discuss the ritual of sacrifice. The others debate the origin and profundity of the concept of Om, among other things.

Aitareya Upanishad

This one forms part of the Rig-Veda (see The Vedas). The purpose of this Upanishad is to make the reader understand the deeper meaning of sacrifice and to take him away from the outer trappings of the actual act.

Taittriya Upanishad

A part of the Yajur-Veda, this Upanishad is divided into three sections or vallis. The siksa valli deals with the phonetics of the chants, while the others, brahmananda valli and bhrgu valli deal with self-realization.

Isa Upanishad

Also called the Isavasya Upanishad, this book deals with the union of God, the world, being and becoming. The stress is on the Absolute in relation with the world (paramesvara). The gist of the teachings is that a person's worldly and otherworldly goals need not necessarily be opposed to each other.

Kena Upanishad
The name of this Upanishad comes from the first word kena, or by whom. It has four sections; two are prose and the others poetry. The verses deal with the supreme spirit or the absolute principle (brahmaana) and the prose talks of ishvara (god). The moral of the story is that the knowledge of ishvara reveals the way to self-realization.

Katha Upanisdha

Also called the Kathakopanishad, this Upanishad uses a story (katha) involving a young Brahmin boy called Nachiketa to reveal the truths of this world and the other beyond the veil.

Prashna Upanishad

Prashna literally means question, and this book is part of the Atharva-Veda (see The Vedas). It addresses questions pertaining to the ultimate cause, the power of Om, relation of the supreme to the constituents of the world.

Mundaka Upanishad

This book also belongs to the Atharva-Veda. It has three chapters which are further divided into two sections. The name is derived from 'mund' or to shave, meaning that anyone who understands the Upanishads is s(h)aved from ignorance. This book inscribes the importance of knowing the supreme brahmana, only by which knowledge can one attain self-realization.

Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya is an exquisite treatise which expounds on the principle of Om and its metaphysical significance in various states of being, waking, dream and the dreamless sleep. The subtlest and most profound of the Upanishads, it is said that this alone will lead one to the path of enlightenment.

Svetasvatara Upanishad

The name of this Upanishad is after its teacher. It comments on the unity of the souls and the world in one all-encompassing reality. The concept of there being one god is also talked about here. It is dedicated to Rudra, the storm god, known as the 'howler'.

Kausitaki Brahmana Upanishad:- The Upanishad has come down to us in bits here and pieces there. The core of the text is dedicated to illustrating the fact that the path to release is through knowledge.

Maitri Upanishad

This is a comparatively later Upanishad and there are two main reasons to believe this: first of all, it has references to the Trinity of Hindu Gods (Shiva the destroyer, Vishnu the preserver and Brahma the creator) which is a later development, and plus references to the world being illusory in character reflects Buddhist influence.

Subala Upanishad

Belonging to the Yajur-Veda, this Upanishad puts down a dialogue between the sage Subala and Brahma the creator of the Hindu Trinity of Gods. It discusses the universe and the absolute.

Jabala Upanishad Belonging to the Atharva-Veda this Upanishad addresses some questions pertaining to renunciation.

Paingala Upanishad

The Paingala is again a dialog, this between Yajnavalkya, the sage mentioned the Brhad-aranyaka's muni khanda and Paingala, a student of his. It discusses meditation and its effects.

Kaivalya Upanishad

This Upanishad delves into the state of kaivalya or being alone.

Vajrasucika Upanishad

Belonging to the Sama-Veda the Vajrasucika reflects on the nature of the supreme being.

The core of the teachings of the Upanishads is summed up in three words: tat tvam as… you are that.

The Vedas

The Essence of Vedas

'Whence this creation has come into existence,
whether He established it or did not;
He who is its overseer in the higher firmament,
He verily knows or knows not…'
– The Rig-Veda (hymns to Prajapati, the creator)

 Typical mind game from the subtlest and most profound of all ancient Indian, and indeed world, scriptures. This spirit of questioning is, in many ways, the essence of the Vedas, as also the age when the Aryans were finding their feet in India.

The story goes back a long time. It starts in 1200BC, when the first Aryan immigrants in India started composing the various hymns that are part of the books. They were meant to be mantras (incantations) in praise of various Aryan gods. What they also reflect is a startlingly vivid picture of life, as was being led by the Aryans who came to India. Things move along as they trace the settling down of the Aryans in their new habitat and the various changes that invariably happened in their society.

There are four Vedas:

The Rig-Veda:- The date for the Rig-Veda was in controversy for a long time. The traditional date goes back to 3000BC, something which the German scholar Max Mueller accepted. However, modern historians have now reached a consensus that its oldest parts were written around a more cautious 1200BC.

As a body of writing, the Rig-Veda (the wisdom of verses) is nothing short of remarkable. It contains 1028 hymns dedicated to thirty-three different gods; these gods were, quite expectedly, nature gods. The most often addressed gods are Indra (rain god; king of heavens), Agni (fire god) and Rudra (storm god; the 'howler'). A sizeable chunk of the verses are also dedicated to Soma (the draught of immortality), which was a cool alcoholic brew made from the leaves of the soma plant and was drunk during sacrifices. The identity of the plant itself is subject of furious debate. In nature, however, it was somewhat similar to the brews that the American Indians used to consume before conducting sacrifices – to numb both the sacrificer and the sacrificee although human sacrifice was never a part of Aryan worship.

This oldest religious text in the world has10,589 verses which are divided into ten mandalas or book-sections. The oldest portions of the Rig-Veda are from books two to seven; the others were added later. The book-sections are arranged according to the number of hymns they possess.

The Sama-Veda:- The Sama-Veda or the wisdom of chants is basically a collection of samans or chants, derived from the eighth and ninth books of the 'original Veda', the Rig-Veda. These were meant for the priests who officiated at the rituals of the soma ceremonies – in full sway there could have as many as seventeen full rituals. As time went along rituals and ceremonies of worship became increasingly intricate and the simplicity of the original Rig-Vedic age was slowly forgotten. Thus a need arose to compile all the rituals and their chants in a book, as a sort of reference point for the priests whose functions this Veda clearly puts down.

It is not surprising that the Sama-Veda is better known for the precise meter of its poetry than for its literary content. There are also painstaking instructions in Sama-Veda about how particular hymns must be sung; this is perhaps because great emphasis was put upon sounds of the words of the mantras and the effect they could have on the environment and the person who pronounced them.

The Yajur-Veda:- The Yajur-Veda or the wisdom of sacrifices lays down various sacred invocations (yajurs) which were chanted by a particular sect of priests called adhvaryu. They performed the sacrificial rites. This is very much a ritual based Veda for although there are a few hymns to various Gods the main stress is on the theory of the ritual. The Veda also outlines various chants which should be sung to pray and pay respects to the various instruments which are involved in the sacrifice.

The Atharva-Veda:- The Atharva-Veda (the wisdom of the Atharvans) is called so because the families of the atharvan sect of the Brahmins have traditionally been credited with the composition of the Vedas. It is a compilation of hymns but lacks the awesome grandeur which makes the Rig-Veda such a breathtaking spiritual experience. It is roughly equivalent to the western magic spells and has incantations for everything – from success in love to the realization of otherworldly ambitions.

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