Once, Maharaja Yudhisthira went to see Saubhari Muni. He in¬quired, "Of all the places on the River Yamuna, which is considered to be the best?Saubhari replied, "Once, the two great sages, Narada and Parvata, came to the Khandava forest, on the banks of the River Kalindi. After resting awhile, they bathed in the river. King Shibi, the son of Ushinara, was hunting in the forest nearby, and he happened to see the two sages. Having seen thousands of golden sacrificial posts there, Shibi asked, "O sages, whose sacrifice was performed here? What is the merit of this place that made him choose it, passing by such places as Kashi?"
Narada said, "Long ago, Lord Nrsimhadeva killed Hiranyakashipu and then returned the rule of heaven to Indra. At this time, Indra approached Brihaspati and said, "I wish to worship Lord Vishnu by the performance of sacrifice. Tell me where 1 should do so.Brihaspati replied, "You should go to the charming Khandava for¬est, by the side of the River Yamuna. If you truly desire your welfare, then perform sacrifices at this place.Indra went to the Khandava forest, with Brihaspati, and taking with him all of the necessary paraphernalia. At his preceptor's prompting, Indra appointed the seven great sages, the sons of Brahma, as his priests.Being pleased, Lord Vishnu appeared at that sacrificial arena, along with Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. Indra washed their feet and sprinkled the water on his head. He then offered suitable prayers.The sages praised Indra's devotion to Lord Vishnu, advising, "Do not ask anything in return from the Lord, Then you will surely be blessed.Lord Vishnu then spoke to the king of heaven, telling him how to perform the sacrifice. He said, "At every sacrifice, you should give in charity many prasthas (a measure) of jewels. This place will thus come to be called Indraprastha.After the completion of the sacrifices, the brahmanas told Indra, "Without any desire, you have worshiped Lord Vishnu. Later on, after falling from your position, you will be born as the best of brahmanas. Then, also, you will worship Lord Vishnu. After leaving home, you will return to this very place, and leave your body here, going back home, back to Godhead.Thereafter, Indra returned to heaven, but when his religious merit became exhausted, he was born on Earth.There was a brahmana named Shivasharman. His wife was named Gunavati. Their son was formerly Indra, the king of heaven. After his religious merit had become exhausted, Indra returned to Earth, being born in this family of brahmanas, at Hastinapura.It is a fact that one reaches heaven by performing pious activities. But, when the results of those pious activities become exhausted, one must again fall down to Earth. This is nicely explained in the ninth chapter of Bhagavad-gita:
Verse 19: trai-vidya mam soma-pah puta-papa
yajnair ishtva svar-gatim prarthayante
te punyam asadya surendra-lokam
ashnanti divyan divi deva-bhogan
Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. Purified of sinful reactions, they take birth on the pious, heavenly planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.
Verse 20: te tarn bhuktva svarga-lokam vishalam
kshine punye martya-lokam vishanti
evam trayi-dharmam anuprapanna
gatagatam kama-kama labhante
When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this Mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.After the birth of his son, Shivasharman called some astrologers. They predicted, "Your boy will be very dear to Lord Vishnu. Indeed, he will liberate your entire family. He will marry at the age of thirteen. After producing a good son, he will renounce materialistic life. Wan¬dering to the holy places, he will practice the life of an ascetic. He will die by the side of a river at Khandavavana.Upon hearing this, Shivasharman named his son Vishnusharman.After dismissing the astrologers and giving them sufficient wealth, Shivasharman thought to himself, "I am very fortunate to have a son who will be a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. And, he will die in a holy place. Who could be more fortunate than me?When his son became eight, Shivasharman had the sacred thread ceremony performed. After educating him thoroughly, he got his son married at the age of thirteen. Thereafter, when Vishnusharman re¬ceived a son, he decided to give up all kinds of sense enjoyment and travel to the holy places of pilgrimage.He approached his father and said, "I want to adopt the vanaprastha order of life. In the association of sainly persons, I shall worship Lord Vishnu. After all- wife, house, children, wealth, and friends are all perishable. They exist for some time only, like bubbles on the water, and so a wise man is not attached to them. Having studied the Vedas and produced a son, I have paid off my debt to the sages and forefathers. Now, I wish to reside in a holy place and perform devo¬tional service to Lord Vishnu.The intelligent father, remembering the words of the astrologers, replied, "Now is the time for me to accept the renounced order of life, sannyasa. Having already abandoned the objects of the senses, as if they were poison, I wish to take shelter of Lord Vishnu. Now, in my old age, my mind does not take delight in my home, just as an elephant brought from the forest does not like to be tied. Your younger brother, Susharman, will maintain the family after we leave. Your mother, be¬ing a faithful wife, would follow us, so we should go without telling anyone.Thus it was that the two left home at night while everyone else was sleeping. After wandering about, when they came to Shakraprastha, Vishnusharman saw the sacrificial posts that he himself had formely placed there as Indra. Indeed, just by seeing the sacrificial stakes, he remembered his previous life and so he told his father, "Formerly, I was Indra, the king of heaven. With a desire to please Lord Vishnu, I per¬formed sacrifices here. By my devotion, I pleased the Lord.
The sages assured me that after dying at this place in my next birth, I would go to the spiritual world.Shivasharma then said, "How can I believe that formerly you were the king of the demigods? How can I know that you really performed sacrifices here? You had never before left our house, and you were taught everything you know by me. How then could you learn about your former birth?
Vishnusharman replied, "The sages had given me the benediction that I would be able to recall the events of my last life. If you bathe here, you will also recollect your former existence.Just then, as Shivasharman was ready to plunge into the water, a tribal man came running, being chased by a lion. This man was a thief who robbed merchants. He was short, his body was black and his hair was reddish. His eyes were like those of a cat. He carried a spear in his hand, and his appearance was frightening.Upon seeing the man being chased by a lion, the father and son quickly climbed a tree, saying, "O Krishna, please save us!As the jungle man tried to climb a tree, the lion knocked him to the ground and then mounted upon him. The man pierced the lion in the belly with his spear, so that its intestines came out, full of blood. The lion smashed the man's head, so that he instantly died.Thus, both the man and the lion gave up their lives. Two celestial airplanes then appeared overhead. Due to the influence of that holy place, the Vishnudutas came for both the lion and the thief.After mounting the airplances, the lion and thief inquired, "O Vishnudutas, in our lives there was not a trace of pious activity. We were meat eaters and we were cruel. We caused fear by our very sight. JJue to what religious merit are we now seeing you?The Vishnudutas replied, "You are seeing us as the result of dying at a very holy place.Saying this, they ascended to Lord Vishnu's eternal abode. The •ather and son then got down from the tree, being highly astonished. Shivasharman said, "That robber and lion easily attained the supreme destination, which is very difficult even for brahmanas who practice severe penance! Just see the greatness of this holy place!""Just consider the great difference between Lord Brahma and that thief. And yet, Brahma will one day fall from his position, whereas the man of the jungle has gone to the Lord's eternal abode, from which having gone, one never returns to this material world." This is stated in Bhagavad-gita, as follows:
mam upetya punar janma/duhkhalayam ashashvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah/samsiddhim paramam gatah
"After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.Shivasharman then bathed in the Yamuna, used the clay on the banks to mark his forehead with tilak, and offered nice prayers to the Lord. He then told his son, "Your words were not false, for I can re¬member the deeds of my former existence. In my last life, I was the son of a merchant named Sharabha, who lived in Kanyakubja."Sharabha became old, and yet had not gotten a son. He lamented, 'My wealth, even though it is great, is useless because I don't have a son.One day, as he was thinking like this, the sage Devala came to him. After worshiping the sage, Sharabha said, "I hope that your per¬formances are free from all obstacles. Your travelling over the surface of the Earth is of great benefit to us householders. Kindly inform me of the purpose of your arrival.Devala said, "Pious merchant, you have righteously collected much wealth. A man gets respect in the King's assembly when he possesses wealth. A householder becomes prosperous due to wealth, just as a bull becomes nourished when the grains are harvested. Relatives and friends do not leave wealthy persons, just as bees do not abandon a tree full of flowers. Without wealth, householders are reduced to feebleness, just like a lake without water in the summer."Dear merchant, there is ample wealth in your house. Why then do you appear morose? Please tell me, if it is not a secret.The merchant replied, "What should be concealed from one lite you, who are like our father? My only unhappiness is that I have no son. Now I am becoming old. I am afraid of being unable to repay my debt to my ancestors (by begetting a son). O sage, kindly tell me the means whereby I can have a son. For persons like you, nothing is im¬possible.Devala closed his eyes, as if in meditation. By dint of his intro¬spection, he could see the obstacle to Sharabha's having a child. He then said, "Previosuly, your wife had worshiped Parvati, for the purpose of having a nice son. She promised the goddess that if she became pregnant, she would perform very opulent worship in her honor.It so happened that your pious and faithful wife became preg¬nant that very month. She then informed you that she desired to per¬form very opulent worship of the goddess Gauri. You happily supplied all the requried paraphernalia and then she gave these things to her friends, saying, 'I cannot go personally to the temple because it is our family tradition that a pregnant woman should not leave the house.' Thus, your wife's friends went to the temple of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati and performed the puja as directed."And yet, the deity gave no reply to the worshipers, and indeed, she seemed displeased. When her friends informed her of this, your wife felt that it must be due to the fact that she had not gone person¬ally to the temple. She then promised the goddess that after giving birth to her child, she would go herself and offer worship.The merchant inquired, "Why was the goddess displeased? She knew very well the cause of my wife's not personally going to the temple." Devala said, "I shall tell you why the goddess was displeased, and thus destroyed the foetus. As your wife's friends returned home, after worhsiping in the temple, Vijaya had asked Gauri, "These ladies de¬voutly made offerings to you. Why then are you not pleased?
Parvati said, "O friend, I know the reason why the merchant's wife didn't come out of her house. However, the fact is that deities like nie do not accept offerings made by the hands of others. If her husband had come in her place, that would have been alright.If a lady makes a vow that she herself cannot fulfill, but her husband does so, that will fructify. Or, with the husband's permission, she could have a qualified brahmana fulfill her vow. She did not do eithar of these, however, and so I caused her to have a miscarriage. If again, the couple comes here and worships me, they will get a son." The sage, Devala, then suggested, "Sharabha, you should now worship the goddess Parvati, along with your wife. I am sure that she will become pleased in this way, and thus grant you a son.After saying this, Devala departed. Sharabha then collected the materials for performing puja, and along wtih his wife, went to the temple of goddess Chandika. After being worshiped for seven days, the deity of Parvati spoke as follows: "O merchant, I am pleased with your devotion and so 1 shall award you a son. Go now to the Khandava forest. There, you will find the excellent place called Indraprastha, which fulfills all desires. Desiring to have a son, you should bathe in the River Yamuna at that place. By bathing there, you will obtain your son, just as 1 had obtained Skanda after bathing there.
http://bachelorpledge.blogspot.com/search/label/PadmaPurana
Narada said, "Long ago, Lord Nrsimhadeva killed Hiranyakashipu and then returned the rule of heaven to Indra. At this time, Indra approached Brihaspati and said, "I wish to worship Lord Vishnu by the performance of sacrifice. Tell me where 1 should do so.Brihaspati replied, "You should go to the charming Khandava for¬est, by the side of the River Yamuna. If you truly desire your welfare, then perform sacrifices at this place.Indra went to the Khandava forest, with Brihaspati, and taking with him all of the necessary paraphernalia. At his preceptor's prompting, Indra appointed the seven great sages, the sons of Brahma, as his priests.Being pleased, Lord Vishnu appeared at that sacrificial arena, along with Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. Indra washed their feet and sprinkled the water on his head. He then offered suitable prayers.The sages praised Indra's devotion to Lord Vishnu, advising, "Do not ask anything in return from the Lord, Then you will surely be blessed.Lord Vishnu then spoke to the king of heaven, telling him how to perform the sacrifice. He said, "At every sacrifice, you should give in charity many prasthas (a measure) of jewels. This place will thus come to be called Indraprastha.After the completion of the sacrifices, the brahmanas told Indra, "Without any desire, you have worshiped Lord Vishnu. Later on, after falling from your position, you will be born as the best of brahmanas. Then, also, you will worship Lord Vishnu. After leaving home, you will return to this very place, and leave your body here, going back home, back to Godhead.Thereafter, Indra returned to heaven, but when his religious merit became exhausted, he was born on Earth.There was a brahmana named Shivasharman. His wife was named Gunavati. Their son was formerly Indra, the king of heaven. After his religious merit had become exhausted, Indra returned to Earth, being born in this family of brahmanas, at Hastinapura.It is a fact that one reaches heaven by performing pious activities. But, when the results of those pious activities become exhausted, one must again fall down to Earth. This is nicely explained in the ninth chapter of Bhagavad-gita:
Verse 19: trai-vidya mam soma-pah puta-papa
yajnair ishtva svar-gatim prarthayante
te punyam asadya surendra-lokam
ashnanti divyan divi deva-bhogan
Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. Purified of sinful reactions, they take birth on the pious, heavenly planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.
Verse 20: te tarn bhuktva svarga-lokam vishalam
kshine punye martya-lokam vishanti
evam trayi-dharmam anuprapanna
gatagatam kama-kama labhante
When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this Mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.After the birth of his son, Shivasharman called some astrologers. They predicted, "Your boy will be very dear to Lord Vishnu. Indeed, he will liberate your entire family. He will marry at the age of thirteen. After producing a good son, he will renounce materialistic life. Wan¬dering to the holy places, he will practice the life of an ascetic. He will die by the side of a river at Khandavavana.Upon hearing this, Shivasharman named his son Vishnusharman.After dismissing the astrologers and giving them sufficient wealth, Shivasharman thought to himself, "I am very fortunate to have a son who will be a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. And, he will die in a holy place. Who could be more fortunate than me?When his son became eight, Shivasharman had the sacred thread ceremony performed. After educating him thoroughly, he got his son married at the age of thirteen. Thereafter, when Vishnusharman re¬ceived a son, he decided to give up all kinds of sense enjoyment and travel to the holy places of pilgrimage.He approached his father and said, "I want to adopt the vanaprastha order of life. In the association of sainly persons, I shall worship Lord Vishnu. After all- wife, house, children, wealth, and friends are all perishable. They exist for some time only, like bubbles on the water, and so a wise man is not attached to them. Having studied the Vedas and produced a son, I have paid off my debt to the sages and forefathers. Now, I wish to reside in a holy place and perform devo¬tional service to Lord Vishnu.The intelligent father, remembering the words of the astrologers, replied, "Now is the time for me to accept the renounced order of life, sannyasa. Having already abandoned the objects of the senses, as if they were poison, I wish to take shelter of Lord Vishnu. Now, in my old age, my mind does not take delight in my home, just as an elephant brought from the forest does not like to be tied. Your younger brother, Susharman, will maintain the family after we leave. Your mother, be¬ing a faithful wife, would follow us, so we should go without telling anyone.Thus it was that the two left home at night while everyone else was sleeping. After wandering about, when they came to Shakraprastha, Vishnusharman saw the sacrificial posts that he himself had formely placed there as Indra. Indeed, just by seeing the sacrificial stakes, he remembered his previous life and so he told his father, "Formerly, I was Indra, the king of heaven. With a desire to please Lord Vishnu, I per¬formed sacrifices here. By my devotion, I pleased the Lord.
The sages assured me that after dying at this place in my next birth, I would go to the spiritual world.Shivasharma then said, "How can I believe that formerly you were the king of the demigods? How can I know that you really performed sacrifices here? You had never before left our house, and you were taught everything you know by me. How then could you learn about your former birth?
Vishnusharman replied, "The sages had given me the benediction that I would be able to recall the events of my last life. If you bathe here, you will also recollect your former existence.Just then, as Shivasharman was ready to plunge into the water, a tribal man came running, being chased by a lion. This man was a thief who robbed merchants. He was short, his body was black and his hair was reddish. His eyes were like those of a cat. He carried a spear in his hand, and his appearance was frightening.Upon seeing the man being chased by a lion, the father and son quickly climbed a tree, saying, "O Krishna, please save us!As the jungle man tried to climb a tree, the lion knocked him to the ground and then mounted upon him. The man pierced the lion in the belly with his spear, so that its intestines came out, full of blood. The lion smashed the man's head, so that he instantly died.Thus, both the man and the lion gave up their lives. Two celestial airplanes then appeared overhead. Due to the influence of that holy place, the Vishnudutas came for both the lion and the thief.After mounting the airplances, the lion and thief inquired, "O Vishnudutas, in our lives there was not a trace of pious activity. We were meat eaters and we were cruel. We caused fear by our very sight. JJue to what religious merit are we now seeing you?The Vishnudutas replied, "You are seeing us as the result of dying at a very holy place.Saying this, they ascended to Lord Vishnu's eternal abode. The •ather and son then got down from the tree, being highly astonished. Shivasharman said, "That robber and lion easily attained the supreme destination, which is very difficult even for brahmanas who practice severe penance! Just see the greatness of this holy place!""Just consider the great difference between Lord Brahma and that thief. And yet, Brahma will one day fall from his position, whereas the man of the jungle has gone to the Lord's eternal abode, from which having gone, one never returns to this material world." This is stated in Bhagavad-gita, as follows:
mam upetya punar janma/duhkhalayam ashashvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah/samsiddhim paramam gatah
"After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.Shivasharman then bathed in the Yamuna, used the clay on the banks to mark his forehead with tilak, and offered nice prayers to the Lord. He then told his son, "Your words were not false, for I can re¬member the deeds of my former existence. In my last life, I was the son of a merchant named Sharabha, who lived in Kanyakubja."Sharabha became old, and yet had not gotten a son. He lamented, 'My wealth, even though it is great, is useless because I don't have a son.One day, as he was thinking like this, the sage Devala came to him. After worshiping the sage, Sharabha said, "I hope that your per¬formances are free from all obstacles. Your travelling over the surface of the Earth is of great benefit to us householders. Kindly inform me of the purpose of your arrival.Devala said, "Pious merchant, you have righteously collected much wealth. A man gets respect in the King's assembly when he possesses wealth. A householder becomes prosperous due to wealth, just as a bull becomes nourished when the grains are harvested. Relatives and friends do not leave wealthy persons, just as bees do not abandon a tree full of flowers. Without wealth, householders are reduced to feebleness, just like a lake without water in the summer."Dear merchant, there is ample wealth in your house. Why then do you appear morose? Please tell me, if it is not a secret.The merchant replied, "What should be concealed from one lite you, who are like our father? My only unhappiness is that I have no son. Now I am becoming old. I am afraid of being unable to repay my debt to my ancestors (by begetting a son). O sage, kindly tell me the means whereby I can have a son. For persons like you, nothing is im¬possible.Devala closed his eyes, as if in meditation. By dint of his intro¬spection, he could see the obstacle to Sharabha's having a child. He then said, "Previosuly, your wife had worshiped Parvati, for the purpose of having a nice son. She promised the goddess that if she became pregnant, she would perform very opulent worship in her honor.It so happened that your pious and faithful wife became preg¬nant that very month. She then informed you that she desired to per¬form very opulent worship of the goddess Gauri. You happily supplied all the requried paraphernalia and then she gave these things to her friends, saying, 'I cannot go personally to the temple because it is our family tradition that a pregnant woman should not leave the house.' Thus, your wife's friends went to the temple of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati and performed the puja as directed."And yet, the deity gave no reply to the worshipers, and indeed, she seemed displeased. When her friends informed her of this, your wife felt that it must be due to the fact that she had not gone person¬ally to the temple. She then promised the goddess that after giving birth to her child, she would go herself and offer worship.The merchant inquired, "Why was the goddess displeased? She knew very well the cause of my wife's not personally going to the temple." Devala said, "I shall tell you why the goddess was displeased, and thus destroyed the foetus. As your wife's friends returned home, after worhsiping in the temple, Vijaya had asked Gauri, "These ladies de¬voutly made offerings to you. Why then are you not pleased?
Parvati said, "O friend, I know the reason why the merchant's wife didn't come out of her house. However, the fact is that deities like nie do not accept offerings made by the hands of others. If her husband had come in her place, that would have been alright.If a lady makes a vow that she herself cannot fulfill, but her husband does so, that will fructify. Or, with the husband's permission, she could have a qualified brahmana fulfill her vow. She did not do eithar of these, however, and so I caused her to have a miscarriage. If again, the couple comes here and worships me, they will get a son." The sage, Devala, then suggested, "Sharabha, you should now worship the goddess Parvati, along with your wife. I am sure that she will become pleased in this way, and thus grant you a son.After saying this, Devala departed. Sharabha then collected the materials for performing puja, and along wtih his wife, went to the temple of goddess Chandika. After being worshiped for seven days, the deity of Parvati spoke as follows: "O merchant, I am pleased with your devotion and so 1 shall award you a son. Go now to the Khandava forest. There, you will find the excellent place called Indraprastha, which fulfills all desires. Desiring to have a son, you should bathe in the River Yamuna at that place. By bathing there, you will obtain your son, just as 1 had obtained Skanda after bathing there.
http://bachelorpledge.blogspot.com/search/label/PadmaPurana
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