Dwarka Means - Divine Entrance
Monday, December 25, 2023
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Bhoja
Bhoja Dynasty that ruled Goa from at least 3rd century AD to the 6th century AD are sometime identified as descendants of the Yadavas, and are also mentioned in Bhavishya Purana.[
18000
The Surasena Yadavas, consisting of the eighteen younger branches of the Yadavas with their 18000 brothers and cousins, arrived at the conclusion that even if they fight continually they still could be unable to do anything unto Jarasandha even in 300 years. They fled from Mathura, towards west. They rebuilt the old town of Kusasthali(see:Cortalim), and renamed it Dwaraka. It was a Yadava stronghold. Yet, due to the oppressions of Jarasandha, Yadavas where obliged to migrate further south, to the mountains of Gomanta, measuring three Yojanas (a unit of length) in length. Within each yojana were established, 21 posts of armed men. And at intervals of each yojana were 100 gates with arches which were defended by valiant heroes engaged in guarding them. Innumerable Kshatriyas invincible in war, belonging to the eighteen younger branches of the Yadavas, were employed in defending these works. (2,14)
Friday, December 1, 2023
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Monday, August 28, 2023
Sunday, August 6, 2023
Kali
One time Narada saw that with the coming of the age of Kali the living beings had fallen into great suffering. He began to worry about how they could be delivered and the principles of dharma restored. Thinking in this way, he decided that only Krishna's descent into this world would deliver the fallen souls and restore the principles of religion. Wanting to appeal to Krishna to descend as an avatara, he set out for Dwaraka dham. At that time, Krishna was staying in the palace of Sri Rukmini devi.
Just then, upon learning that Sri Krishna would soon appear on earth in a golden form, with the golden luster and devotional mood of Radharani, Rukminidevi became deeply troubled. Feeling separation from the Lord, she fell at the lotus feet of Krishna and began praising the qualities of Sri Radha - whose devotion was so glorious that Krishna wanted to honor her by assuming her luster and mood. At that time Narada entered the room. He explained to Krishna the reason for his trip - that he wanted Krishna to descend to the earth planet in order to deliver the fallen souls. At that time, Krishna revealed to him how in the future he would appear as the son of Sacidevi and Jagannatha Mishra in Nabadwipa dham: in a golden form with all his transcendental associates.
Having seen that golden form revealed, Narada was overwhelmed with ecstasy. Constantly thinking of this golden form and the Lord's plans to appear in Navadwipa dhama as Sri Gauranga, Narada the best of munis went to visit Naimisharanya, all the while singing the glories of the Lord. There, in answer to Uddhava's inquiries about the welfare of the living beings, he explained how in Kali-yuga - the best of all ages because of Sri Gauranga's advent - Krishna would appear in a golden form as Sri Gauranga and perform the kirtan of the holy name of Hari. Narada told Uddhava how the Lord would come to establish the Sankirtana of the holy name of Krishna as the yuga-dharma, the religious principle for the age of Kali. Narada explained the glories of kirtana.
Thereafter, Narada Muni related to Uddhava the discussion that had previously taken place when he had gone to Kailasa and visited Lord Shiva, the best of Vaishnavas. There, Narada and Parvati discussed the glories of Mahaprasada, having heard of the glories of Mahaprasada from Narada, Parvati had performed 12 years of Lakshmi-seva. By her mercy, Parvati got some of Laksmidevi's own mahaprasada and also gave shiva a small bit of that prasada. Not able to tolerate the dancing of Lord Shiva upon obtaining this Mahaprasada, the earth came before Parvati, begging her to give the Mahaprasada of the Vaishanvas to all the jivas. With this proposal, Parvati explained how the Gaura-avatara would come in kaliyuga and distribute Mahaprasada to all the fallen souls.
After this, Narada went to Brahma and discussed the Gaura-avatara with him. Brahma, the creator, at that time explained to him the essential subject of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, and showed him how the version of the Bhagavatam supported the gaura-avatara. After this, Narada began wandering here and there. As he went from place to place he became concerned about he sufferings of the jivas. As he was worrying about the living entities in this way, he came near Jagannatha Puri. There he heard a divine voice discussing the avatara of Jagannatha. On the order of the divine voice he went to Puri. From there, the Lord ordered him to go to Goloka. First he came to Vaikuntha. After this, he arrived in Goloka, where he saw many pastimes of the Lord. There he saw the Lord in his golden form as Sri Gaura, and fainted in ecstasy. After this, he went all over the universe, informing all the gods of the news.
In Shwetadwipa he saw the supernatural pastimes of Balarama, the very figure of service. After this, all the demigods began taking birth on earth. As previously mentioned by Krishna in his conversation with Rukmini, the Lord, along with Satyabhama, Rukmini, and all his eternal associates from the spiritual world came with the luster and mood of Radharani in a golden form as Sri Gauranga. He came to spread the sankirtan of the holy name of Krishna.
Balarama came as Nityananda, Shiva came as Advaita Prabhu, and other great souls descended as his other eternal associates like Murari, Mukunda, Shrivasa, Raya Ramananda, Ishvara Puri, and Madhavendra Puri. Locana Dasa Thakur concludes the chapter by praising the glories of his guru, Sri Narahari Sarakara Thakura, and his nephew Raghunandana Thakura.
Monday, July 31, 2023
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Friday, June 23, 2023
sitting
Krishna and Rukmini were once sitting together, when, turning to his wife with a smile, Krishna spoke the following words:
"Princess, thou wert coveted by great and powerful kings. Thy brother and thy own father offered thee to Sisupâla and others. How is it then thou didst accept me who am not thy equal? See how we have taken shelter in the sea being afraid of the kings. Having powerful enemies, we can hardly be said to occupy our kingly seats. O thou with beautiful eyebrows, woe to those women who follow such men as have unknown and uncommon ways of their own. Poor as we are, wealthy people hardly seek us. It is meet that they should marry or make friendship with each other, who are equals in wealth, birth, power and beauty. It is through ignorance and shortsightedness that thou hast married one who is void of all Gunas (good qualities) and who is praised only by Bhikshus (beggars). Therefore do thou seek some Kshatriya king who will be a match for thee. Sisupâla, Sâlva, Jarâsandha, Danta Vakra and other kings and even thy own brother Rukmin, blindfolded by pride, shewed hostility to me. For the repression of their pride, I the punisher of evil men brought thee here. But we are indifferent to the body and the house, void of all desires, fixed in self, all full, the light within, without actions."
(Without anticipating our general study of the Dvârakâ Lilâ, it is sufficient to mention here that Rukmini is the spiritual energy of Mula Prakriti, or rather the light of Purusha, as reflected on Prakriti. The gist of what Krishna says is that there is an essential difference between Prakriti and Purusha. Purusha is void of Gunas, while the Gunas form the essence of Prakriti. Coming from Prakriti, Rukmini must follow the Prâkritic elements. And if Krishna wrested her away from the hands of the material energies of Prakriti and even from her own Prâkritic basis (her brothers and father), it was because the material energies had asserted themselves too much. This was done in the Seventh Manvantara, when the spiritual ascent was a Kâlpic necessity. Was Rukmini to remain wedded to Krishna for the remaining period of the Kalpa, or was she to go back to her brothers and their friends?).
Rukmini replied: —
"O Lotus eyed! even so it is as thou sayest. I am quite unlike thee, the Great Bhagavat. Lord of even Brahmâ, Vishnu and Śiva, Thou art plunged in Thy own greatness. What am I to Thee, the Gunas forming my essence? It is only ignorant people who worship me. (For fear of kings, thou hast taken refuge in the sea.) But the kings are the Gunas, (Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, and Smell which compose the object world.) For fear of them, as it were, thou hast taken refuge in the inner ocean of the heart, and there thou dost manifest Thyself, as pure Chaitanya. The object-seeking Indriyas are no doubt thy constant enemies. But when thou speakest of giving up kingly seats, why even thy votaries give them up, as darkness itself. The ways of even Munis who worship Thy Lotus feet are unknown; what of thine own? When their ways are uncommon, what of thine? Thou art poor indeed, for there is nothing besides thee, (and so nothing can form Thy wealth.) But thou dost receive the offerings of others and they seek thee. It is not through ignorance, but knowing that thou art the Âtmâ of the Universe, that I have sought Thee. The flow of Time that arises from Thy eyebrow swallows up the desires of even Brahmâ and others. I did not even seek them for Thy sake. What speakest thou of others? As the lion carries away his share by force from other animals, so thou didst carry me away from amongst the kings. How can I believe that thou didst take shelter in the Sea from fear of such kings? Anga, Prithu, Bharata, Yayâti, Gaya and other jewels of kings gave up their kingdoms and sought thee in the forests. Did woe befall them that thou talkest of woe to me? The Gunas have their resting place in thee. Thou art the home of Lakshmî. Moksha is at Thy feet. What foolish woman shall follow others, neglecting Thee? I have accepted thee, the Lord and soul of the Universe, the giver of all blessings here and hereafter. Let thy Moksha-giving feet be my shelter. Let those women have the kings for their husbands, those asses, bullocks, dogs, cats, and servants who have not heard of Thee.
"(What is man without Âtmâ?) Those that have not smelt the honey of Thy Lotus feet seek the dead body, though it seems to be alive, consisting of flesh, blood, bone, worms, excrement, phlegm, bile and gas, covered over with skin, hair and nails." (Mula Prakriti in the Universe, or Budhi in man, is wedded to Âtmâ, represented by Sri Krishna. The kings represent here the followers of material elements in the Universe or in man.)
Soubha
When Krishna carried away Rukmini, he defeated the kings in battle and, amongst others, he defeated Sâlva, king of Soubha, the friend of Sisupâla. Sâlva vowed at the time to kill all Yâdavas. He ate only a handful of dust and worshipped Śiva. After a year Śiva became pleased with his worship and asked the king to name a boon. He prayed for an invulnerable chariot that would carry terror to the Yâdavas. At the bidding of Śiva, Mâyâ prepared an iron chariot, called Soubha, which could move at will to any place. Mounted on this chariot, Sâlva attacked Dvârakâ, with his large army. He threw weapons, stones, trees and serpents from above and demolished walls and gardens. The people of Dvârakâ became very much oppressed. Pradyumna and other Yâdavas engaged in fight with Sâlva and his army. Sâlva's chariot was sometimes visible and sometimes not. It now rose high and now came low. With difficulty, Pradyumna killed Dyumat, the general of Sâlva. But still the fight went on for seven days and seven nights. Krishna had been at Hastinâpura. He felt misgivings and hurried to Dvârakâ with Râma. The fight was then going on. Krishna placed Râma in charge of the town and himself went to fight with Sâlva. Sâlva tauntingly addressed Krishna who gave the king a heavy blow with his club. Sâlva disappeared. Instantly a man came and informed Krishna that he was a messenger from Devaki. Sâlva had carried away his father Vâsudeva.
Krishna asked: — "How could Sâlva conquer Râma so as to carry away my father?" But he had scarcely finished when Sâlva appeared with somebody like Vâsudeva, saying "O fool, here is your father. I will kill him in your presence. Save him, if you can." He then cut off the head of Vâsudeva, and entered the chariot. Krishna found this was all the Mâyâ of Sâlva and in reality his father was neither carried off nor killed. He broke the chariot Soubha with his club. Sâlva left the chariot and stood upon earth, club in hand. Krishna cut off his hands and then cut off his head with the Chakra.
Direction Tree
- On the west of that wall, within a temple, situated under a Parijâta tree, is Vâsudeva, with his eight wives, Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jâmbavati, Nâgnajiti, Sulakshanâ, Mitravindâ, Anuvindâ and Sunandâ.
- On the north, under a Harichandana tree, is Sankarshana with Revati.
- On the south, under a Santâna tree, is Pradyumna with Rati.
- On the east, under a Kalpataru, is Aniruddha.
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Pindaraka
- Visvâ-mitra,
- Asita,
- Kanva,
- Durvâsas,
- Bhrigu,
- Angiras,
- Kasyapa,
- Vâmadeva,
- Atri,
- Vasistha,
- Nârada and other Rishis went to a sacred place called Pindaraka near Dvârâka.
Saturday, June 10, 2023
Brahma Vishnu Shiva Spouses
- Brahma as Grand Son of Krishna Aniruddha
- Vishnu as Krishna
- Shiva as Samba Son of Krishna
Saturday, June 3, 2023
Monday, May 15, 2023
Akola
Akola is mentioned to be a part of Berar province and the legendary kingdom of Vidarbha in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata.[3] Berar also formed part of the Mauryan Empire during the reign of Ashoka (272 to 231 BCE), before being ruled by the Satavahana dynasty (2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE), the Vakataka dynasty (3rd to 6th centuries), the Chalukya dynasty (6th to 8th centuries), the Rashtrakuta dynasty (8th to 10th centuries), the Chalukya dynasty (10th to 12th centuries), and the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri (late 12th to early 14th centuries-old