Wednesday, March 3, 2010

A thought for the day: Peter Minshall

2 comments:

Bahtman said...

wow, that's very well said.

Ronald Bhola said...

BALKANDA



Lord Brahma then said: “O almighty Lord Vishnu, You are the master of all demigods, including Lord Shiva. Please incarnate on this earth as the son of King Dasaratha and kill the demon Ravana, who is filling the three worlds with fear. This mighty Rakshasa is oppressing all the demigods and sages. Because we wish him annihilation, we have come here to seek Your protection. O chastiser of foes, You are the supreme resort and shelter of us all. Please descend to this material world and destroy our enemies.”

Hearing the demigods’ humble appeal, Lord Vishnu agreed to accept King Dasaratha as His father by taking birth in the wombs of the king’s principal wives. Then, bidding farewell to the demigods, He returned to His abode in the Vaikunthas.

The sage Rishyasringa completed the asvamedha sacrifice, and King Dasaratha gave half of Lord Vishnu’s prasadam, the holy sacrificial food, to his wife Kausalya and the other half to his wives Kaikeyi and Sumintra.

After the sacrifice, Lord Bramha spoke to the demigods: “Please beget partial manifestations of yourselves within the wombs of monkeys. This progeny should equal you in strength, be well versed in Vedic literature, and endowed with all mystic powers. They should be very intelligent, swift, and expert in warfare. They will assist Lord Vishnu in killing the chief of the Rakshasas, Ravana, as well as his followers. Indeed, their chieftain Jambavan has already been begotten by me, having taken birth from my mouth as I was yawning.”



After hearing this, all the demigods, rishis and sages begot thousands of heroic monkeys for the purpose of aiding Lord Vishnu. Lord Indra, the chief of the demigods, begot Vali, who equaled him in strength. The sun-god, Vivasan, begot Sugriva, the younger brother of Vali. The great sage Brihaspati, spiritual master of the demigods, begot the mighty monkey Tara, who was most intelligent. Kuvera, the Lord of wealth, begot the monkey Gandhamandana. Visvakarma, the architect of the demigods, begot the powerful monkey named Nala. The fire-god, Agni begot the glorious and valiant Nila. The rich and beautifu Asvini Kumaras begot the monkeys Mainda and Dvivida. Varuna, the demigod of the water, begot the monkey Sushena. Parjanya, the god of rain, begot Sarabha; and the wind-god Vayu begot Hanuman. Of all the monkeys, Hanuman was the strongest and most intelligen. He could withstand the force of a thunderbolt; and he was as swift as Lord Vishnu Himself.

The principal Apsaras, Vidyadhara women, wives of the Nagas, and Gandharva women also gave birth to children in the form of monkeys endowed with gigantic bodies and mystic powers.

Each monkey had the strength of thousands of elephants. With their arms alone, the monkeys could uproot gigantic trees and throw huge rocks with great force. They all had extremely sharp teeth and claws, capable of tearing out the heart of any Rakshasa. In fact, they could agitate the sea with their great strength and pulverize the earth simply by walking. Their legs were so powerful that they could leap great distances and jump as high as the clouds. Their hands were so strong that they could seize elephants, and their roaring was so great that it could knock birds from the sky. Moreover, these monkeys could assume any form at will.

Living in the mountains and forests, they sought the protection of their chiefs. Some monkeys followed Vali and Sugriva, whereas others followed Nala,Nila, Hanuman, and other leaders. All the monkeys, however considered Vali their king and lord. The monkey chiefs were so great that they looked like massive clouds covering the peaks of mountains. Indeeed, they were given these gigantic bodoes just to assist Lord Ramchandra.

Jai & Sero

Jai & Sero

Our family at home in Toronto 2008

Our family at home in Toronto 2008
Amit, Heather, Fuzz, Aj, Jiv, Shiva, Rampa, Sero, Jai