|| Om
Nama: Shivaya ||
Chapter
– 13–Vindhyeshwara Samhitha -1
Adhyantha
Mangalamajatha Samanabhavamaryam Thameeshamajaramaram Athmadevam | Panchananam
Prabala Panchavinodhasheelam
Sambhavaye Manasi Shankaram
Ambikesham ||
I shall
offer humble salutation to Lord Ganesha.
I shall prostrate before supreme Lord Shankara along with Goddess
Ambika, he is the Lord of Goddess Paramambika, symbolizes Universe and its
living beings, and welfare of the Universe.
He is Lord of Lords who is free from worldly bondage, he has neither
birth nor death, he has five faces and has supreme brilliance, he is competent
to destroy five types of grave sins and capable to provide Mukthi.
Dharmakshethre Mahakshethre Ganga Kalindi Sangamey |
Prayage Parame Punye Bhramalokasya Varththmini ||
Maharishi
Vedavyasa speaks “ The highly auspicious
land on Earth, Prayagraj is known as Dharmakshethra as well as Mahakshethra
where the rivers Ganga, and Kalindi confluences,
is the Kshethra where the pathways to Bhramaloka begins, this is the place
where the supreme ascetics, and the illustrious Sages who has profound
knowledge in scriptures, and truthful, performs numerous fire sacrifices
relentlessly. Sutha Pauranika, who has
profound knowledge in scriptures, the foremost disciple of Maharishi Veda Vyasa
came to know about the fire sacrifices conducted by the illustrious Rishis and
Sages in Prayagaraj, thus he arrived in this sacred land was received with
delight and honor by the ascetics and Rishis assembled.”
The
Sages assembled approached Suthapauranika with folded hands and prostrated
before him and reverentially speaks “ Oh! Sarvajja, Oh! Romaharshana, we are
fortunate to receive you with great honor, you are the treasure house of all
the sacred scriptures, same as the ocean which is the treasure house of gems
and precious pearls. You are the knower
of past, present, and future. It is definite
that you will not leave this place without providing enormous goodness to us;
therefore your arrival itself is a great fortune to us. We had several opportunities to listen to the
glorious myth which describes auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, but we are
not satisfied yet, we want to listen to more and more glorious myths of
scriptures from you. Oh! Sutha, who has
profound knowledge in scripture, kindly narrates the legend which is appropriate
to listen in this Kaliyuga. The people
have become wicked and indulge in immoral activities, dishonest, killing each
other due to the influence evil effects of the Kali era. The people are treating the body as soul/I
consciousness, they have become dull, disbelievers, behaving like animals, disgracing
their own parents, completely under the influence of their wives, and remains passionate. The Brahmanas have become greedy, engaged in
selling the knowledge of Veda, devoted their time to gain wealth, and remain
swollen with the pride of a handful of knowledge.
They are not following Varnnashrama Dharma, engaged in wicked deeds, not performing Sun worship thrice a day, thereby deprived the knowledge of Bhramam. They consider themselves as learned, in spite
of being a fool, they are performing austerities or vow, occupied themselves in
the cultivation in agricultural fields. They
have become short-tempered and deceitful natured. The Kshatriyas have become devoid of
righteousness, they stand with the people who do not follow Dharma, they
perform various sinful deeds and remain extremely wicked. They have become cowards by nature; they stay
away from battlefields and flee from Warfield without shame. They earn living by stealing wealth from
others. The Shudras remains passionate
and dull without the knowledge of usage of weapons, they discard their duties
serving Bhramins and cows, and they live like animals. They refuse to serve the people, instead, they
engage in worldly pleasures. They have become
the cause for the destruction of creatures and remain extremely wicked nature. The Vaishyas are deprived of their Dharma,
they will follow unfair means in earning wealth, and they manipulate the entire
trade to accumulate wealth. They won’t be
devoted to Lord, Bhramans or the preceptor.
They would become miser, will not perform any charities or serve meals
to Brahmanas. They take immense pleasure
in several marriages, illicit relationships with women and men. The men remarry and enjoy the company of
women as husband and vice versa. They
will remain swollen with pride and illusion; they won’t perform any charitable
deeds like digging well or construction of gardens. The Shudras behaves like Bhramana, with their
charming appearance in spite of being a fool; they would discard their religion
and duties. They conduct austerities and
vows, in this way they steal the splendor of Bhramanas, they perform ablutions
of Salagrama, and Shivaling, they conduct Yajjas and fire sacrifices without
impurities of mind or ingredients, with wicked nature. They accumulate wealth and engage in evil
deeds, they become learned but engage in publicizing negative descriptions of
scriptures and Dharma, in this way they destroy the remaining Dharma in the
society. They present themselves as rich
and generous, engage in all kind of brutal deeds, become haughty and arrogant,
they treat the twice-born, and consider them as servants and expose themselves
as Masters of twice-born. They immensely
contribute to the destruction of Dharma and Varnnashrama in the society; they
remain extremely deceitful, and arrogant.
They portrait themselves as worthy and compel others to follow them,
they force others to leave righteousness, and these fools will act like
Bhramin. The women in the Kali era indulge
in various immoral deeds shamelessly. They will not follow the words of their
husbands or promises to him, always keep enmity upon their parents-in-law, they
become fearless to act and consume things which are prohibited. They engage in appalling deeds, they will be
short-tempered, take pleasure in the illicit relationship with men and speak
against their husbands. The children
will not be interested in the service of parents, they engage in evil deeds,
and practice harmful activities which destroy the righteousness in the society,
they suffer from various kinds of ailments at a young age.”
The
Rishis and Sages continued “ Oh! Sutha, what would be the fate of the people
who discard to follow their own Varna Ashrama Dharma? How did they achieve salvation? We are extremely worried about the people in
the Kali era, definitely, there is nothing could save other than
Paropakara/selfless deeds and Dharma.
Oh! Sutha, you are well-versed in all the scriptures, kindly narrate the easiest method that could wash away the sins of people in the Kali era.”
Maharishi
Vedavyasa speaks “ Sutha Pauranika after listening to the qualms of illustrious
Rishis and Sages, immersed in contemplation upon supreme Lord Shiva and began
to speak.”
