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When Pandavas were banished for 12 years from their kingdom, and were in the jungle, Lord Krishna visits them. Dharma raja welcomes him and asks for an easy way to solve their difficulties. Lord Krishna suggests performing the Anantha vrata on the day prior to pournami (shukla chaturdashi) in the month of Bhadrapada. Earlier, the vrata was performed in Kritayuga by a rishi called Kaundinya.
Introduction:
When Pandavas were banished for 12 years from their kingdom, and were in the jungle, Lord Krishna visits them. Dharma raja welcomes him and asks for an easy way to solve their difficulties. Lord Krishna suggests performing the Anantha vrata on the day prior to pournami (shukla chaturdashi) in the month of Bhadrapada. Earlier, the vrata was performed in Kritayuga by a rishi called Kaundinya.
Dharma raja enquires about ‘Ananta’. Do ‘Anantha’ represent
Adi shesha, Takshaka, or Brahma? Lord Krishna clarifies his doubt and replies
that Ananta is none other than Himself. Lord displays his vishwarupa and says
Ananta means endless. One can call him as Hari, Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, Adi
shesha, Brahma or Krishna. The 14 lokas, 14 indras, 12 adityas, 11 rudras, 8
vasus, 7 rishis, the earth, sky, rivers and mountains reside in him.
Anantha
Chaturdashi katha
Susheela is the daughter of a Brahmin couple called Sumanta and
Dheeksha. When Susheela was a young girl, she lost her mother. Her father
married a hard hearted woman called Karkashe. She made the life of Susheela
miserable.
Susheela got married to a rishi called Kaundinya. Due to
uncooperative wife, Sumanta could not give precious gifts in marriage. Finally
he gave a little of fried wheat flour to Kaundinya as a marriage gift.
Kaundinya with his wife left the place and reached the bank of a river near his
house. That day being Bhadrapada shukla Chaturdashi, a couple in red dresses
were worshiping Ananta Padma nabha. Curious Susheela approaches the lady and
asks them for details of the vrata. They say it is Anantha vrata and tell her the
details as follows:
The vrata is to be performed
on Bhadrapada shukla Chaturdashi. Keep a ‘kalasha’ in the south direction and invite the Lord.
Keep seven darbhas tied to each other to represent Sesha. Tie a red thread with
14 knots and consider it as ‘Thoram’. Worship the Lord with varieties of
flowers and sweets. The prasadam for this vrata is ‘Appas’ a sweet made of
wheat flour and jaggery. Make 28 ‘Appas’ and serve them to Brahmin. Do this
vrata for 14 years. Each year replace the earlier red thread with a new one. On
the 15th year conclude the vratham by donating special gifts to
Brahmins known as ‘Udyapana’.
Having listened to the narration, Susheela performed the pooja
with faith and devotion and gives the fried wheat flour to Brahmins as gift.
Also wears the red thread and reaches her husband for blessings. Because of the
power of Anantha vrata, Kaundinya’s ashram acquired beauty and wealth.
Kaundinya unknown of the vratham she performed, amazes of the
wealth in the house. He suspects his wife. In a fit of anger and jealousy, he
forcibly removes the red thread tighed to her hand and throws it in the fire.
Susheela picks up the half burnt thread and immerses it in the milk. This
behaviour hurts the Lord Vishnu that results in the loss of his wealth, cattle.
Then Kaundinya realises the importance of vratham and leaves the place in
search of the Lord.
In his search for Anantha Padma nabha, he enters a
jungle and finds a mango tree. The tree has fruits that are too far to pluck. He
enquires about the Lord with the tree and gets no answer. He further moves into
forest and finds a cow that could not feed its calf with milk. When he asks about
the Lord, it has no answer. In forest, he meets a bullock, a donkey and an
elephant who could not answer his question. His travel brings him near to two
lakes. Got tired physically, he falls down at the place.
Finally, the Lord forgives Kaundinya and appears in the form of an
old Brahmin. Kaundinya recognises the Lord and prays to forgive for his actions.
Lord pleased with his prayer, removes poverty and blesses with ability to
follow dharma to reach ‘Vykunta’. When Kaundinya asks about the strange sights he saw in
the forest, the Lord explains as follows:
There lived a man who was full of knowledge. He did
not teach his disciples effectively. It was useless of knowledge and became the
mango tree.
Wealthy person who never donated has become as cow.
The cow has calf but could not feed with its milk.
King who gave non productive lands as gifts is born
as a bullock that finds difficult to have food.
One who neglected his ancestors' dharma has become
an elephant.
The donkey represents a person who lived through an
unrighteous method.
The lakes stand for dharma and adharma. Lake with full
of lotus family spread across in the water represents Dharma. The adjacent lake
with crocodile residing inside the water that kills when a person enters
unknowingly represents Adharma.
Kaundinya realises the truth in their life, returns home and performs
the pooja with great shraddha and bhakti. He performs it for 14 years,
completes Udyapana and leads a wealthy and happy life. In the end, the couple
reaches Vykunta. Sages like Agastya and kings like Janaka, Sagara, Dilipa,
Haris Chandra have performed this vrata and got the blessings of Lord. After listening to the story, Dharma raja also performs the
vrata.
One who hears the story or narrates it will be free
of all difficulties and acquires wealth and prosperity.
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nice..,
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