Association!
Lomasa Rsi
encouraged Yudhisthira as they went along forest path. He concluded by
saying-Just like demons, sons of Dhritrāshtra have
become slaves of evil & ignorance. Hence, you can be rest assured that in
near future, they’ll meet with destruction
Pāndavās
visited many places of pilgrimage. At each holy place, they bathed
ceremoniously & gave profuse charity to Brāhmanās. After visiting Naimisa, Prayāga
& many others, they arrived at Brahmasāra, where they resided for 4 months
following regulations of caturmāsya
At
Brahmasāra, sage Samantha described about great sacrifice King Gaya performed.
It was distinguished by mountains of food distributed. There were hills of
cooked rice by 1000’s, lakes of ghee & rivers of yogurt. All kinds of
delicacies were prepared every day & distributed. Even up to this day there
are 25 mountains of food remaining & all who witnessed great sacrifice have
not felt desire to eat ever since
They then travelled
to Duryaja, abode of sage Agastya, situated on the shore of Gangā. Rsi related how Agastya had formerly killed demon
Vatāpi. Next, they arrived at Bhrgu-tirtha on river Vadhusāra, where Parasurāma
had bathed after being defeated by Lord Rām. Rsi Lomasa then narrated several
ancient histories such as how Agastya Rsi dried up ocean to kill the demons
When
Pāndavās came to Rsabha hill, they witnessed many unusual occurrences. As soon
as someone spoke, volleys of stones rained from hill. Everywhere recitation of Vedas
could be heard, although no one was present. Just by being there, everyone
became depressed & physically ill. To explain this Rsi Lomasa said-There is
a sage named Rsabha living here dedicated to meditation. He used to become very
angry when someone would disturb him. At last, he ordered the hill to shower
stones & direct a fierce wind at anyone who made noise. Let us restrain our
speech as long as we are here
They
then arrived at river Kausiki, where everyone bathed. Rsi pointed out the
ashrama of Rsyashringā and told the story of his birth. He narrated how Sage
Kasyap’s son Vibhāndaka got a son who had a deer horn on his head. How the
child was raised in complete isolation & never saw a third person. Anga King
Rompāda, good friend of Maharāj Dasharatha was advised if he could bring
Rsyasrnga from forest then rains would fall on his drought ridden kingdom
By
sending beautiful girls who lured Rsyasringa to Anga, Rompāda brought
prosperity to his kingdom & gave his daughter Santā as
Rsi’s
wife. Vibhāndaka was very angry knowing this but when he saw his son happy, he
was pacified
Pāndavās
then travelled to Mahendra hill & met sage Akrtavrana, great devotee of
Lord Parasurāma. Yudhisthira humbly asked if they can have audience of Jamdāgni’s
son at this holy place
When
we visit any holy place, our intent should be to associate with pure souls who inhabit
the place and listen to the pastimes of the Supreme Lord & his pure
devotees. Places of pilgrimage are not only for sight seeing but to assimilate
the positive energy of the place. We should utilize its potency to raise our
human consciousness and elevate ourselves by its transformatory process
This
also applies to all our associations. A man is known by the company he keeps!
Thoughts?
#gameoflife
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