Markandeya – The one who conquered death/Endrendrum 16

Markandeya is an ancient rishi from the Hindu tradition, born in the clan of Bhrigu Rishi. He is celebrated as a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva protected Markandeya in the form of Kaalasamhaara Moorthi from the clutch of death in Thirukadaiyur in Tamilnadu. Sri Amirthagateswarar kovil in Thirukadaiyur is dedicated to Lord Shiva in his manifestation as “Destroyer of Death” and his consort Parvathi as Abirami. The story of Markandeya is as follows.

image courtesy: Google images

Mrikandu,  a great rishi and his wife Marudavathi,  were great devotees of Lord Shiva. They were very happy singing the songs of the Lord and spreading his stories everywhere. However they were sad as they did not have any children. The sage and his wife decided to perform severe penances to win the favour of Lord Shiva. Finally pleased with their penances Lord Shiva appeared before them.

'Mrikandu, Marudavati, open your eyes!' said the three-eyed God.

Mrikandu and Marudavati opened their eyes and were stunned to see the handsome Lord Shiva before them.

'You have come...Lord!' Mrikandu whispered as both of them immediately fell on the Lord's feet unable to contain themselves.

Lord Shiva rejoiced on seeing the devotion in their eyes. He looked at them smiling, 'I am very pleased with your penance! I wish to grant you a boon. What do you desire, Mrikandu and Marudavati?'

Marudavati looked at the Lord with a smile in her face. 'Lord, all I want is a child...' She looked at her husband, who looked at her encouragingly, 'Lord...' she continued, 'I wish for a child who is blessed by you...'

Lord Shiva remained silent for a few minutes considering something. He then looked at the two of them, 'What sort of a child do you want?'

Mrikandu and Marudavati looked at each other confused. What sort of a question was that? They both turned and looked at the Lord waiting for him to explain.

Lord Shiva continued, 'What I meant was that, do you wish for a gifted child or a foolish child?'

Mrikandu and Marudavati still did not speak. They were confused. What sort of a person would choose a foolish child. Realising that there was a catch somewhere, Mrikandu spoke slowly, 'I do not understand, my Lord.'

Lord Shiva said plainly. 'Do you wish for a gifted child who will live only for 16 years or a foolish child who would live a very long life?'

Mrikandu and Marudavati looked at each other with troubled eyes. They realised that this was some sort of a test for them and that they had to choose one of them. Marudavati looked at her husband and remembered how they had prayed for a child. She turned at looked at the Lord.

'Lord, I wish for a gifted child with a short life span.' She said looking straight at Lord Shiva. She then turned to her husband, who was looking at her alarmed. She nodded her head, 'It is ok. We will be happy with him for as long as he is with us...After that, we will still have his memories...'

Mrikandu realised the truth in her words and also looked at Lord Shiva and nodded his head. The two of them then fell at Lord Shiva's feet. Lord Shiva then blessed them and without another word went back to his home in Kailash.

Marudavati then gave birth to a boy. They named the child Markandeya.

Markandeya was a very gifted child. He learnt all the Vedas and the scriptures very fast. He also loved his parents very much. Looking at them from his childhood, Markandeya also became a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. He loved singing bhajans for Lord Shiva. He would lose himself singing and thinking about the Lord.

However being a very intelligent child, Markandeya sensed that his parents were unhappy about something. No matter how hard he tried, his parents remained unhappy. They seemed to put on a happy face when he was around, but deep inside he could sense their sorrow.

Finally the day before his sixteenth birthday, Markandeya talked to his parents, 'Father, why do you always look so sad? I mean...have I done something to make you so unhappy?'

Hearing these words Marudavati broke down crying, 'NO...No...How could you even think we are unhappy with you?'

Mrikandu and Marudavati looked at each other each wanting the other to tell Markandeya. Finally Marudavati broke the silence.

'...It is...just..that...we got you as a boon from Lord Shiva...' Slowly Marudavati with the help of Mrikandu told the entire story to Markandeya.

Markandeya was a patient listener and did not interrupt until both his parents had finished. He felt sorry for his parents. They had loved and nourished him with a burden knowing that they were going to lose him. He looked at them proudly. They were the bravest people he knew.

Markandeya was not however bothered about himself. His parents had changed their destiny and had got him from the Lord. Changing destiny was nothing new to their family. He smiled. He looked at his parents lovingly.

'Father, Mother...Please do not be worried. I will pray to the Lord...' Markandeya said with steely determination. 'I am sure the Lord will not let anything happen to me...'

His parents could not help but feel optimistic when they heard the words of the boy. Mrikandu hugged his son and blessed him. 'Go on son! I am sure you will overcome... whatever comes in your way.'

Marudavati also blessed her son. Markandeya with the blessings of his parents immediately set out. He came at the sea and felt peace seeping into him.

If I am to meet my end, I want it to be here...He thought and went to the sea shore and with the mud there, lovingly built a shiva linga there.

image courtesy: Google images

He sat down there and started his prayers. He sang bhajans for some time and later he was deep in meditation.

In Hindu mythology, Yama is the God of Death. He along with his soldiers collected the souls of the dead people. Yama realised that Markandeya's time on earth was up. He sent his two servants to collect Markandeya's soul.

However by this time Markandeya was so deep in meditation that a strange fierce light emerged from him. The light from him was burning so bright that the servants of Yama could not go close to him. Try as they might, they could not approach him.

Facing failure for the first time, the servants returned crestfallen to their master.

'Master, we could not approach him. There was something coming from him. Something very bright....' The servants shook their head, 'It was so bright that it almost burnt us...'

Yama nodded, 'It is ok. I will take care of this..' Yama then picked up his noose and sat on his buffalo vehicle and came up near Markandeya. Yama realised that Markandeya was pure and had lived a good life. That was protecting him. That was what had driven out the servants.

But Yama was the God of Death. Good man or not, nobody escaped from him. However as Markandeya was a noble child, Yama made himself visible.

'Markandeya' Yama spoke deeply, 'Your time on earth is up...'

Markandeya opened his eyes and looked at Yama. However Markandeya did not get afraid. He looked at Yama in the eye. 'I will not go with you...My Lord will protect me...'

Yama repeated, 'Your time on earth is up. I have come to take you...'

Markandeya smiled shook his head and hugged the shiva lingam tightly. Realising that he had no choice, Yama threw his noose around Markandeya's neck to pull out his soul. Unfortunately Yama's noose fell around both Markandeya and the linga. Markandeya closed his eyes tightly Save me my Lord...

image courtesy: Google images

Markandeya was surprised when he felt the linga move with his closed eyes. He opened his eyes with astonishment.

Markandeya was thrilled to see the three-eyed Lord before him. His wish had been fulfilled. He had seen Lord Shiva now...

Markandeya suddenly felt like as if he was inside a protective shield. Nothing could hurt him now...Markandeya looked at Yama and smiled...Not even death

However there was nothing calm about Shiva at that time. Every line of Shiva's face was fierce with anger. And Shiva's trident was raised and pointing at Yama, who had dropped the noose and backed away in fright.

'YOU DARE DISTURB HIM!' Lord Shiva yelled angrily, threatening to open his third eye.

'My Lord...' Yama said afraid, 'His time on earth is up. I have come...'

'HE WILL LIVE FOREVER!...HOW DARE YOU...' Shiva picked up his trident and pierced Yama. Yama tried dodging the trident, but Yama caught the weapon straight in his chest. He fell down dead. The Lord of the Dead was dead!

                                            image courtesy: Google images

Immediately Lord Indra and the other Devas appeared before Lord Shiva, who was still looking at Yama angrily.

Lord Indra looked at peaceful face of Markandeya with astonishment. The boy had done what no one had done before.

Indra turned and bowed to Lord Shiva, 'Lord Shiva...We need to have a Lord of the Dead... Without death, there would be no balance on earth...People would continue to be born and never die. That is not the way of life. Life is not meant to be this way. Please Lord...Give Yama his life back. So that the balance of life can be restored...' Indra said pointing at the dead form of Yama.

Hearing to Indra's words, Lord Shiva was pacified. He nodded slowly, 'Yes...Yes...Yama shall have his life back...if...' Lord Shiva looked at Markandeya who was still looking at Lord Shiva as if he had found the biggest treasure on earth. Lord Shiva smiled at Markandeya, '..if Markandeya is spared...Markandeya will live forever. He will be the one who has conquered death...'

The Devas realised that this was a fair deal and accepted the condition.

Yama opened his eyes as the wound in his chest healed. Yama looked at Markandeya, smiled and disappeared from there. The other Devas also went back to the heavens.

Markandeya then fell at the feet of Lord Shiva, 'Lord I want nothing more, I have seen you...'

Lord Shiva smiled, 'Go back to your parents Markandeya, and have a peaceful life.  You have my blessings. You will remain sixteen years for all eternity. You will always have my blessings...'

image courtesy: Google images

Markandeya went back to his parents who were overjoyed on hearing his story. Markandeya was a good son and looked very well after his parents. He never aged more than sixteen.... [Endrendrum 16]

The form which Lord Shiva's assumed to kill Yama is called as 'Kalasamhara Murti' ['Kala' is Death, 'Samhara' is ender, 'Murti' is idol]

In Hindu Mythology it is believed that Markandeya is still alive and roaming the earth and continues to do good to all. He is a chiranjeevi [one who lives for ever].

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

THIRUCHITRAMBALAM

The Story of Nandanar- Thirunaalai Povaar Nayanar- Nayanar for whom Nandhi stepped aside

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

                                 image courtesy: Google images

Nandanar, also known as Thirunalaippovaar, was a Nayanar saint and is eighteenth in the list of 63 Nayanars. Like the other Nayanars, he was a great devotee of the Lord Shiva.

Nayanmars - An Introduction

Stories of all Nayanmars

List of all Nayanmars

Nandanar’s  exact date is not known, but he probably lived in the seventh or eighth century. The story of Nandanar and his devotion appears in the Periya Puranam of Sekkilar [12th century], which is the Tamil account of the sixty-three Nayanmar [Shaivite] saints. Nandanar’s story was made famous by Gopala Krishna Bharati in his Nandanar-Charitra. In the nineteenth century this was sung in every village in Tamil Nadu.  Gopalakrishna’s version, which added a few details to that of Sekkizhar, is given below.

Nandanar was born in village Adhanur in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu in a low caste (Dalit) family.  He worked as a bonded labourer for a land owner of the Vedhiyar caste. Since their caste was engaged in making drums using animal skin (called Parai in Tamil), this caste is also referred to as Parayar. Apart from  these Nandanar also made string intstruments  like Veena and Yaazh and skin covering for instruments like Berigai. From very early age, Nandanar was a great devotee of Lord Shiva, though his people worshipped village Gods like Karuppan, Chamundi etc. 

As an untouchable,  Nandanar was not permitted to enter the village temple, but yearned to visit it. He used to play the yazh (an instrument) and sing devotional songs from some distance away.  He desired to go to the temple in Tiruppungur to worship the deity Shivaloganathaswami  and one day managed to reach there. Nandanar stood outside the temple and wanted to have a glimpse of Lord Shiva. The idol of the big bull Nandi which normally is in front of Lord Shiva, in Shiva temples was not allowing him to have the glimpse of the almighty. On Shiva’s command, the Nandi moved a few feet to the right, so that Nandanar could view the lingam. Nandanar was estatic. In Thiruppungur, he heard about the great Natraja temple in Chidhambaram and about the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva.

                                 image courtesy: google images 

Returning to his village, filled with great joy,  Nandanar was determined to go to Thillai (Chidambaram). Every day he would say, ‘I will go tomorrow’, and thus he earned the name Thiru Nalai Povaar, ‘The divine one who will go tomorrow’, and is still known by that name.  Finally he approached his Vedhiyar landlord for permission, who told him to worship the gods of his own caste. Nandanar did not give up. Once again he asked the landlord, who said he would permit him if he had finished ploughing in 40 velis of land (250 acres) in one day, which was an impossible task. Nandhanar was heartbroken and started to pray in desperation to the Lord.

The next day, Nandanar went out to the fields to plough the land which was a humongous task, but to his surprise the whole field was ploughed and ready for sowing seeds. The Landlord was shocked and amazed and realised that Nandanar was not a simple devotee of Lord Shiva.

Nayanmars - An Introduction

Stories of all Nayanmars

List of all Nayanmars

By the grace of Shiva this was done, so Nandanar was extremely excited and set off for Chidambaram. But after reaching Chidambaram, he could see the smoke of the fire rituals being done in every home. On hearing these rituals and Vedas sung everywhere, Nandanar felt that he should not even go into the town as he would make the place ‘unholy’. So he went around the town numerous times, felt very sad and finally slept outside the town. He had a wonderful dream in which Lord Shiva ordered him to walk through fire. Lord Shiva wanted to show the world that Nandanar was like pure gold which comes out more shining when put through fire.

                                  image courtesy: Google images

Meanwhile Lord appeared in temple priests' (dikshitars) dream and ordered them to create a sacrificial fire at a place outside the town. The surprised priests went to the place and created a sacrificial fire and Nandanar understood that this was the fire the Lord Shiva had asked him to walk through. Nandanar walked through the fire uttering Lord Shiva’s name. Everyone was surprised to see that he came out with glowing figure with the sacred ash smeared on his body and he appeared like a divine being, with a divine aura glowing around him.

On witnessing this miraculous act, the priest took Nandanar inside the temple. Nandanar with great devotion uttering Lord Shiva’s name, entered the garba griha and just vanished into thin air. Shri Nandanar, the great devotee of Lord Shiva, amalgamated with almighty.

                                                        Nandanar image courtesy: Google images

He has been praised by Ramalinga Swami, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Sivananda, and several others, and is perhaps the most well-known of the Nayanars. In 1910 Swami Sahajananda established the Nandanar School and Nandanar Matha  at Chidambaram in his memory.

Nayanmars - An Introduction

Stories of all Nayanmars

List of all Nayanmars

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

THIRUCHITRAMBALAM

Birbal Visits Iran

Emperor Akbar had an important courtier called Birbal. Birbal was very popular for his matchless wisdom and high sense of humour. It interested the king of Iran. “I want to meet this guy Birbal and test his intelligence. Invite him.” He ordered.

Akbar, handing over the royal invitation to Birbal, said, “My friend, the king of Iran has invited you to test your intelligence. Let your voyage fetch yet another claim to your name and fame.” Back at home, with his mind busy, Birbal packed for the voyage.

Meanwhile, the king of Iran decided to play a prank. HE made five of his minister’s dress like him in royal costumes.

The moment Birbal reached Iran, he was ushered to the court where six kings were seated. ‘This is it, A test for me to find the right king.” Birbal thought.

Birbal looked at them carefully, then stepping in front of one of them, he bowed, saying, “Salutations my King…”

“Wow, great, “beamed the real king. “But how did you find out!” he asked,

“From your body language” chuckled Birbal. “Though wearing royal costumes, the others sat still with their hands on the armrest, but only you sat tapping your chin.”

“Excellent, praised the king, No wonder you are known as the most intelligent of all.”

Pleased with Birbal, the king rewarded him as he said, “Birbal, I wish I had a genius like you in my kingdom. I want you to stay with us for a few days…” Birbal thanked the king, feeling happy that he added pride to his motherland.

The End.

Tenali Raman and the Brinjal Curry

The great king, Shri KrishnaDevaraya was ruling Vijayanagaram. He had eight intelligent advisors in his court, one among them was Tenali Raman  who was very clever and witty. The king was fond of brinjals, so he had  some special kind of brinjal plants in his garden.  The brinjal was very rare kind and curry made out of it was very tasty which was loved by the emperor.  As it was a rare kind, the garden was guarded and no one was allowed to go to the garden without the emperor’s permission.

Once the emperor had arranged dinner for his advisors and the brinjal curry was served.  Tenali Rama had enjoyed the brinjal curry very much and went home.  But he was unable to forget the taste.  He told his wife about the taste of curry.  Tenali Rama’s wife also liked brinjal curry, she asked Tenali Rama to bring few brinjals so that she can prepare a curry. But Tenali Rama knew that the emperor was taking extreme care about the brinjal plants and it was not easy to get them from his garden. And, the emperor will punish such thief if caught stealing a brinjal.

But Tenali’s wife pleaded him to bring a brinjal from the garden without telling anybody.  Tenali Rama had no choice other than stealing a brinjal from the emperor’s garden. One night he went to the garden, jumped the wall and plucked few brinjals from the garden.  By the god’s grace, no one had seen him.  His wife cooked the brinjals and the curry was very tasty. Like all the mothers, she too loved her son very much and wanted to serve a brinjal curry him. But Tenali Rama asked her not to do such thing because if their son reveals to anybody that he had a rare brinjal curry, then they may get caught and get punished for stealing a brinjal from the garden.

But his wife did not agree.  She wanted to serve the curry to her son.  She was unable to eat the curry alone without serving her little kid who was sleeping after doing his homework on the roof of their house.  She asked Tenali Rama to find a way so that their son can also taste the brinjal curry.  Tenali Rama also loved his son, so he thought of an idea and with a lot of hesitation went on to the roof to wake up his child with a bucket of water and poured the water on the child. When the child woke up he said “It is raining.  Let’s go inside the house and have a dinner”.  After going inside the room he changed the clothes of his son and gave him the rice and brinjal curry for the dinner. Tenali Rama told his wife loudly that “it was raining outside, and let the boy sleep in the room”.

And the next day, the emperor came to know that few brinjals were missing in his garden.  The Gardener who kept the count of each vegetable and flower found that the three brinjals were missing. It became a challenging issue for the emperor and took it very seriously.  He declared a reward for the person who can catch the thief.  Chief advisor suspected that only Tenali Rama was capable of doing such things. And they told the emperor about it.  The emperor sent his courtiers and asked Tenali Rama to come immediately. Once Tenali Rama came he asked him about the missing brinjals. Then Tenali Rama told, “I was not aware of the missing brinjals”.  Then the chief advisor told “Tenali Rama was lying. Let’s enquire his son”.

The king sent his courtiers to bring Tenali Rama’s son. Once his son came, He was asked what vegetable he had in the dinner last night. The child replied, “The brinjal curry and it was very tasty”.  Then the advisor told Tenali Rama that he needs to accept his crime.  But Tenali Rama said his son had slept very early and he might be saying something which he got in his dream.

So the emperor asked the little kid that “can you please explain clearly what you had done yesterday after coming from the school?”

Tenali Rama’s son replied that “yesterday after coming from the school, I played for some time and after that, I went on to the roof, did my homework, and slept on the roof.  But when the rain started, my father came and woke me up.  By that time my dress was fully wet, and then we went inside, had the dinner and slept again”.

The chief advisor was shocked because there was no rain at all yesterday. And the atmosphere was fully dry. So they thought the kid had a dream and freed Tenali Rama without any punishment.  However, later Tenali Raman told the truth to the emperor and was pardoned by the emperor for his clever witty idea.

The End

The Four Wives

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4^th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best. HE also loved the 3^rd wife very much. He’s very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He also, loved his 2^nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant’s confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2^nd wife and she would always help him out through difficult times.

The merchant’s first wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, “Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I’ll be alone. How lonely I’ll be!”

Thus, he asked the 4^th  wife, “I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?”

“No way!” replied the 4^th wife and she walked away without another word. The merchant felt very sad. He then asked 3^rd wife, “I have loved you so much of all my life. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No” replied the 3^rd wife. The merchant’s heart sand and turned cold.

He then asked the 2^nd wife, “I have always turned to you for help and you have always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?”

“I am sorry, I can’t help you out this time” replied the 2^nd wife. “At the very most, I can only send you to your grave.” The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out, “I’ll leave with you. I’ll follow you no matter where you go.” The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition.  Greatly grieved, the merchant said, “I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!” The merchant realized  that true love has nothing to do with the looks and beauty.

The End

The Singing Hippo

Once upon a time, a hippopotamus lived in a river next to a big and solitary tree. One day, a bird came and nested in a tree. The songs and the flight of the bird caused such envy in the hippo that he couldn’t think of anything else.

Every day he would lament the fact that he had been born a hippo. This despite the many times the bird told the hippo he was so lucky to be so big and such a good swimmer. Finally, the hippo made his mind up that he would come out of the river, climb the tree, go out to perch on a branch and start singing.

However, when he tried to climb the tree it was all too clear that the hippo didn’t have wings, or claws to climb with and neither could he hop. Realizing that he would never manage it, he angrily rammed his whole weight against the tree until it came crashing to the ground. Then, triumphantly he stepped onto the leaves of the fallen tree, and began singing.

Unfortunately, hippos can’t sing either. All that came from his mouth were horrible noises, and when the other animals heard this they all gathered round to make fun of the hippo standing on the branch of a fallen tree, trying to sing like a bird.

He was so embarrassed by this that he decided to never again regret being a hippo. He also felt bad about having knocked the tree over. He used all his strength to raise the tree back up again, replant it and look after it until it had completely recovered.

The End

Akbar Misses Birbal

One morning Akbar came to court looking very dull. “O King, you look tired with puffy eyes. What’s wrong?” asked Birbal casually.

“How dare you say that I don’t look good this morning?” yelled Akbar. “You lack basic manners and I don’t want you here anymore. Get out!”

image source: google images

There was total silence as Birbal walked out never to return. A week later, Akbar felt sad for his outburst and sent his guards to fetch Birbal. Alas, he was nowhere to be found. “How do I find Birbal?” mused Akbar. Finally he came up with a smart plan.

The next day Akbar announced. “The man who can answer this riddle will be rewarded handsomely. He must walk to the palace tomorrow morning half in shade and half under the sun.” Many tried, but could not succeed.

At last an old farmer came carrying a cot, “Your highness,” he went on. “The rope in this cot provides me half shade and the gap in between allows the sun light. So I have fulfilled your conditions.”

Akbar understood that he was sent by Birbal. “I ‘ll give you the reward. But, before that show me who gave you this idea?” he asked. The farmer took Akbar to Birbal.

Akbar embraced Birbal and took him back to the palace.

The End