Thursday, 3 December 2020
funeral ceremonies
- First they burned the king on the banks of the Ganges without uttering any Mantra, as his death was an accidental one due to snake bite,
- afterwards they had an effigy of the king made of kus’a grass and placed it on a funeral pyre and burned it, with sandal and scented wood.
- The priest then performed and completed his funeral obsequies, repeating duly the Vedic mantras, and distributed various things in charities to the Brâhmins, together with sufficient quantity of gold, and varieties of food and clothings so that the king may attain heaven.
insect
Wealth Name Fame Death
Kas'yapa said :-- “O chief of serpents! Knowing the king cursed, I am going to do good to him by my knowledge and to get in return abundant wealth.” Hearing this, Taksak said :-- “I will give you the amount of wealth that you desire; take that and go back to your house, and let my desire be also fulfilled.”
Kas'yapa, the knower of the highest state, heard Taksaka's words and pondered in his mind again and again. “What is to be done now? If I take this wealth and go back to my house, my name and fame will not be known in this world, simply for my greed; but if the king be made alive again, my undying fame, abundant wealth, and greater Punyam will accrue to me. Again fie to that wealth with which there is no fame; so one must try one's best to preserve one's fame.
- The king Raghu, in ancient days, gave away everything of his to the Brâhmanas for fame;
- the king Harischandra and
- Karna did not hesitate a bit to give away endless property.
Thus meditating in his mind, the highly intelligent Kas'yapa began to meditate, and plunged himself in Dhyân; he thereby came to know that the king's life period was spent up. Thus knowing the king's death imminent, the virtuous Kas'yapa took the desired wealth from Taksak and returned home.
https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk02ch10.htm
Nyagrodha
Taksak said :-- “O chief of Brâhmanas! If you have so thought that you will make the king alive after I bite him, then shew me your strength before hand. O sinless one! I will bite this Nyagrodha tree (the Indian fig-tree); just now make it alive.”
Kas'yapa said :-- “Certainly I will make this tree alive, that will be burnt away by the venom of your teeth.” Sûta said :-- “The snake Taksak then bit the tree, which was reduced to ashes; and asked Kas'yapa to bring back that tree to life.” Seeing the tree reduced to ashes by the fire of venom of the snake, he collected all the ashes and said :-- “O highly venomous serpent. See to-day the power of my mantra. Behold! While you are witnessing, I will enliven this tree. Thus the great mantra-knower Kas'yapa took water in his hand, and impregnating it with his mantra power, sprinkled the water on the ashes. Immediately, on the sprinkling of the mantra saturated water, the Nyagrodha tree got back its life as before.
Kadru
Kadru said, "Let a thousand sons of incomparable strength and valor be born to me!" Kashyapa said, "So be it!", and to Kadru were born the race of serpents, a full thousand of them, endowed with great strength.
When it was her turn to chose her boon, Vinata said, "Let two sons be born to me, who shall eclipse the sons of my sister in strength, valor and fame."
Kashyapa said, "So be it!"
In due course of time, Vinata laid two eggs. She gave them to her maid-servants for safe-keeping. They put these two eggs in warm containers and guarded them day and night. Five-hundred years passed, but the eggs had not hatched. Vinata grew impatient, for her sister already had a thousand snakes as her offspring. She broke open one of her eggs. The embryo in it had the upper part fully developed, but its lower half was still to be formed. The child grew angry at his mother and said, "How could you be so impatient? You have nearly killed me by your rash act. I curse you to slavery! Do not disturb my brother in the other egg. If you wait for another five hundred years, he shall be the means of delivering you from your servitude."
Some time after this, the two sisters Kadru and Vinata were involved in an argument. Kadru asked her sister, "Sister, what is the color of the divine horse Uchaishravas that belongs to Indra?"
Her sister replied, "It is of a flawless white color, right from its nose to its magnificent tail."
Kadru said, "You are wrong. While it is true that his face and his body are of a flawless white color, I think that his tail alone is a shiny black color. Tell you what, let us have a bet on this topic. If you are right, I shall become your slave. If I am right, you must become my slave instead."
Vinata accepted the bet. She was confident that she would win. Kadru knew that the horse was white through and through, so she hatched a plan. She called her sons and said, "I have bet with your aunt that the horse Uchaishravas possesses a black tail. You must make my words come true. Go forth and entwine yourself around his tail and give it a black appearance."
The snakes did not want to be a part of this deception. Kadru became exceedingly angry. She said, "How dare you disobey the command of your mother? There is no use in having offspring that disobeys my commands. I curse that all you will be destroyed by fire before too much time has elapsed!" (Note: This is the curse that was responsible for the so many snakes being destroyed in King Janamejaya's snake-sacrifice.)
When Lord Brahma heard this curse, he further strengthened it by saying, "So be it!". When Kashyapa heard how his sons were cursed, and that his father Brahma had also sanctioned it, he went to Brahma and pleaded with him to mitigate the curse.
Brahma said, "Your sons are wicked. Their poison is threatening to destroy all creation. If left unchecked, nothing else can live on the earth. However, not all of them shall be destroyed. Those who are virtuous, who did not swerve from the path of truth shall be saved." Thus comforting his son, he taught Kashyapa an infallible Mantra to neutralize the poison of the snake. (This is how Kashyapa worsted his son Takshaka in a challenge, by reviving a banyan tree that had been reduced to ashes by the serpent's venom).
https://www.google.com/search?q=Kadru
Parikshit to Ministers about Ruru
- drop myself down in a lake or
- enter in to a burning fire or
- drink venom or
- strangle myself by tieing rope round my neck!”
- what would be the advantage in death? “
- Rather an irretrievable sin would be incurred in committing suicide; and
- my father and mother would be sorry. Seeing me commit suicide,
- my bad luck and enemies will be gladdened; there is no manner of doubt; in this.
- What benefit will my beloved gain if I commit suicide or if I be distressed for her bereavement.
- Suppose I die, even then my beloved will not become mine in the next world; so there are many faults in my committing suicide but there is no fault if I preserve my life.