According
to the Hindu Puranas, it is believed that there are four great yugas
- Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and the Kali Yuga. In the
Satya Yuga, people generally lived very happily and in harmony with
each other and with Nature and all the realms were open to all the
people. As the other yugas came, people get more and more corrupt and
the other realms other than the Earth was closed down to people,
because people focused more and more only on materialistic pleasures.
It is also believed that the present age is the Kali Yuga which is
considered to be the Dark Age of sin.
**********
The
new yuga was started by Manu who was the son of Lord Surya, the Sun
God. Nimi was the grandson of Manu.
Once
Nimi wanted to perform a particularly difficult fire sacrifice – a
yagna which could go on for many years. The yagna if successful would
benefit Nimi's people enormously.
However
as Nimi continued with the preparations for the yagna, he realized
that he had a serious problem. The yagna was not an ordinary fire
sacrifice and he needed an exceptionally powerful sage as the
presiding priest for it.
Nimi
searched everywhere and finally settled on Sage Vasishta to be the
presiding sage.
"Great
Sage. I am performing a yagna for the benefit of my people. Kindly
preside over it."
Vasishta
frowned. "When are you going to start the yagna?"
"As
soon as possible sir." Nimi said surprised.
Vasishta's
face drooped. "I am afraid I cannot come now. You see, Indra,
the king of the Devas is performing a yagna now. I have promised him
that I would preside over his yagna. I cannot break my word to him."
Nimi
was silent as he studied the sage.
The
sage could complete Indra's yagna and then come to perform his Yagna.
But
Indra's yagna could go on for a very long time.
Nimi’s
yagna was meant for the welfare of his people.
Could
he afford to wait for the sage?
Sage
Vasishta was also thinking. The
King has come to me first and he has come to me with all humility,
love and respect. I cannot turn him back empty handed. I will go to
his yagna immediately after I finish Indra's yagna.
Neither
said anything and both walked their ways.
***********
Indra's
yagna went on for a long time.
Finally,
Sage Vasishta was happy because he had completed the laborious and
tedious yagna of Lord Indra.
As
soon as Indra's yagna was over, the first thought which occurred to
Sage Vasishta was King Nimi's request.
Vasishta
immediately set out to perform the yagna there.
On
reaching Nimi's kingdom, however, Sage Vasishta was in for a shock.
King Nimi had already started the yagna with Sage Gautham as the
presiding priest.
Sage
Vasishta was fuming when he saw this. He felt that the King had
deliberately insulted him by starting the yagna without him. In anger
the sage cursed King Nimi. "You do not even have the courtesy to
wait for the sage whom you came to first. Such a man like you does
not need a body. I curse you, King Nimi – you will be without a
body."
King
Nimi was sleeping when Sage Vasishta had come to the palace and he
knew nothing of the angry sage and the curse. However that did not
prevent the curse from coming true.
King
Nimi's soul left the sleeping body.
***********
King
Nimi woke up with a start when he realized that something was
different.
He
looked down and saw his own lifeless body and he saw that his loving
subjects had surrounded the body and they were weeping.
Confused
he closed his eyes and meditated.
The
power of the king was considerable and he was able to divine what had
gone wrong. He angrily realized that sage Vasishta had been
unreasonable. Nimi was a king and was duty bound to do everything in
his power for the benefit of his people. If he had waited for the
sage, his people had to wait longer and as a king he could not allow
that.
I
had acted correctly and the sage had cursed me for it.
Unable
to control himself, the angry Nimi cursed Sage Vasishta back. "You
are unreasonable. I had to perform the yagna for the well being of my
people. You were wrong in expecting me to wait for you. Sage
Vasishta, I curse you that you would also be without a body."
The
king had been a just and firm king and he had considerable spiritual
prowess. His words also came true and Sage Vasishta's soul left the
body.
Sage
Vasishta was again reborn and regained use of his body, many years
later.
Nimi
roamed around in the form of a spirit and immersed himself in the
Brahman (the Force which runs within us all) And now that he was not
bound by his body or his responsibilities, he found the true joy of
being one with the Brahman. The king became more and more strong
spiritually, as he meditated continuously.
However
King Nimi's people were very unhappy. They could not believe that the
king who had looked after them like a father was no more. They
preserved the body of the King with oils and scents and continued the
yagna with more vigour.
Once
the yagna was completed, the Devas came in for their offering. At
that time the people presented their plea before the Devas.
"Our
King was the greatest king in the world. He performed this yagna for
our benefit. It was because of the yagna that his lifeless body lies
there. Please help us."
"What
do you want?" The Devas asked them.
"Let
the King's spirit be reunited with the body. We want our king back."
Pleased
with the love of the people, the Devas agreed to the request. Using
their powers they summoned the King's soul and were about to put it
back in the preserved body when the king yelled.
"PLEASE
NO! YOU CANNOT DO THAT!"
The
Devas were surprised when the king looked at them with a forlorn
expression. "I am now free. I do not wish to have any more
bondage. Please do not put me back in that body. I wish to continue
to be free and become part of the Brahman."
"Your
people wish that you have to be with them. That is the reason we are
doing this."
Nimi
looked at his people and memories of his subjects came to him as if
from another life. But he realized that these people genuinely loved
him.
He
turned to the Devas and smiled at them.
"If
these people want me to be with them, I will. But not in the way they
wish."
The
Devas were surprised.
"I
have lived like a spirit for too long and I cannot be attached to a
body. However, I wish to be a part of my people. I wish to be in a
spirit form with them always."
The
Devas granted this boon and even now Nimi is said to stay on the
eyelids of people.
(It
is said that people open and close their eyelids because Nimi stays
there. In fact the time it takes to open and close the eyelids is
called "Nimisha" in Sanskrit.)
Though
Nimi's people realized that their beloved king would always be with
them, they needed a real king. Without a king they could not fight
the thieves and the bandits who repeatedly threatened to loot the
kingdom. So they approached the sages for another remedy.
The
sages looked at the King's body and decided that the body itself
could be used for creating another king. Using the powers of the
mind, they churned the body of the dead king and from it a glowing
person emerged.
The
glowing man was named Kushadhwaja and was crowned as the king of the
kingdom.
Kushadhwaja
was just and firm and he kept his people very happy and prosperous.
However
Kushadhwaja was not known by this name.
Because
he was born from a dead body, Kushadhwaja was known as Vaideha which
in Sanskrit means son of the man without a body. And because
Kushadhwaja was born without an actual father or mother he was called
Janaka (The man without a progenitor). Kushadhwaja was also born from
the churning of the mind and hence was called Miti.
It
was in the line of Kushadhwaja that there was born another great king
with complete spiritual awareness. Though his actual name was
Siradhwaja, this king was better known by the name of his ancestor -
Vaideha Janaka from Mithila – the father of Sita – the
protagonist of the epic of Ramayana.
Awesome
ReplyDeleteAMAZING!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat!!!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant story
ReplyDeleteEagerly awaiting the next thrilling tale...
ReplyDeletethanks for posting this, you're just on time.
ReplyDeleteMadam Thanks for sharing this. These story are increasing unquenchable thirst of Vedic knowledge. Can you please also post the story of how Vasishta was reborn? I would expect that his rebirth happened soon as he was present at time of lord Rama's birth and his early education. Kind regards
ReplyDeleteNandu
Dear Sir,
DeleteThe Vedas say that Vasista was reborn from two Devas - Varuna and Mitra and from the soul of Urvashi. I will try to find the story behind it and post it as soon as possible.
Thank you for the prompt response. I really appreciate it. Also please clarify if mithra means Surya as Surya has many names like Bhanu, Ravi, Ina etc and mithra is one of those.
ReplyDeleteAm sorry if you are not comfortable me calling you as madam, you can call me by my name though
Thanks
Nandu
Dear Sir,
DeleteMItra was the God of Contracts and the God who kept law and order in the olden times and was generally paired with Varuna during worship.
Interestingly, Mitra has been worshiped both as an Asura and Deva in the Rigveda.
Mitra was worshiped during sunrise and is called as the sustainer of life.
One verse of the Rigveda as says that Mitra Deva arrives on the earth before Surya Deva and that he spreads the light when Surya Deva is not there. The Rigveda also says that Mitra is one the seven steeds of Lord Surya.
So though Surya has been mentioned as Mitra, the Mitra involved in the birth of Sage Vasishta is probably another Deva who eventually merged into Surya but as such was not the Sun Lord himself.
Hi Krishnan,
ReplyDeleteAfter a long gap am writing back to remind you of the story how Sage Vasishta was reborn from Mitra and Varuna. On an other note I have couple of things to share with you.
Uttanga : If Uttanga is same as Uttanka (if just spelled so by usage), he is seen right from the beginning of the Mahabharat epic. He is the student of Sage Paila who is in turn is student of Vyasa bhagavan. I have a great story on his sincerity as a student and will post soon in an English version of my Bhakti blog which am going to start soon.
Also Uttanka (Udanka in somestories) is a great disciple of lord Sri Mahaa Vishnu and inadvertently changes the life of a cruel Savage and gets him Moksha. Will share the stories in form of posts. Please share story of Vasishta's rebirth.
Kind Regards
Nandu
Dear sir,
ReplyDeleteI do not think Uttanka and Uttanga may be the same person.
Uttanka was a contemporary of King Janmejaya, who is the son of Parikshit, who is in turn the grandson of Arjuna.
Uttanga is however a contemporary of Krishna. I do not know the story of Udanga who changed the fate of a savage. I would definitely want to know it.
I am working on Vasishta's story and I can post it only after I finish the present one I am writing.
Thanks a lot for all the encouragement you have given.
Regards
SA Krishnan
I'm so happy.. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteAmazing story
Dear Madam, my doubt is "is the father of Mandavi and sruthakeerthi is also Kushadhwaja. the kushadhwaja you mentioned in this story, and father of mandavi and shrutakeerthi are both kushadhwajas same?"
ReplyDeleteyou are sharing a lot of unknown information and thank you for this light you show. i love reading and sharing such stories with my kids. I was now sharing this story with my mom now. thank you.
Thank you for for sharing this story as simple.
ReplyDeleteThank you madam
ReplyDelete