Luxmi, Saraswati and Ganga:
As per Brahmvaivart Puran Luxmi, Ganga and Saraswati, all three resided with the Lord in Vaikunth. Once Saraswati thought that Sri Hari loves Ganga more than her and with this feeling she said some harsh words to the lord. Then she directed all her ire against Ganga. Luxmi who was watching all this and was extremely peaceful, always ready to pardon any one stopped her. Thinking that she is taking Ganga’s side, Saraswati became angry towards her too and gave her curse that you surely become a tree and flow as a river. Luxmi heard it but did not say anything in return but just held Saraswati’s hand. Seeing all this Ganga gave curse to Saraswati that O sister! You immediately become a river and go flow on earth where sinful people live. On hearing this she in turn gave a curse to Ganga that you also turn in to a river and flow on earth where you will accept the sins of all those who bath in you. While they were giving curse to each other lord arrived. He knew everything that happened there.
He told told Luxmi to take birth by one of her kala at the house of king Dhradhwaj by the name of Tulsi. You won’t appear from any womb but will appear in the world on your own. There you appear as a tree in the form of Tulsi. Later you will become wife of Shankhchoor, who is my ansh or part. You will also flow as a river by the name of PADMAVATI on earth. Since Luxmi is the most peaceful of you three, so she should stay back here with me in her kalansh.
He advised Ganga to appear as a river on earth to take away the sins of all the mortals. There people will call you as Bhagwati Bhagirathi because king Bhagirath will be instrumental in bring you down to earth and people will always pray to you. With a part of your, you stay close to Shiva.
He directed Saraswati to flow with her kalansh as a river on earth by the same name. With half her part she would remain with Brahma. All three of the devis will remain on earth for a period of 5000 years during the time Kaliyug and then return back to Vaikunth to be with lord again.
In the ancient times there was a king called SAGAR. He had two beautiful wives by the name of Vaidarbhi and Shaivya. Shaivya gave birth to a beautiful son who was named Asmanjas while Vaidarbhi conceived by the blessings of lord Shiva. It stayed inside her womb for a period of 100 years after which it came out in the form of a piece of flesh only. The queen felt very depressed. At that time lord Shankar came in the form of a Brahmin and cut that piece of flesh in to 60000 parts. All of them converted in to beautiful sons of Vaidarbhi. Once Asmanjas released a horse along with great army to prove his muscle power supremacy. Where ever the horse roamed, all the infantry would follow it. If anyone dared to stop that horse, he would have to fight the army of soldiers or accept to be subject of king Asmanjas. After some time the horse was lost and no one could find where it is. Asmanjas sent all his brothers to locate it. They roamed around on earth and could not find it. Then they dug it here and there. Ultimately they came to place below where the horse was grazing alone and they saw a yogi sitting there in Samadhi. Thinking that he is the culprit they challenged him. The yogi happened to be Kapil muni sitting in his sadhna. On being disturbed he got angry. As he cast his gaze on them all the 60000 brothers were instantly charred. On hearing this Asmanjas approached Kapil muni and sought his pardon. Then he went to jungles to do tapasya for Ganga to come down on earth and release the souls of his brothers. He spent whole of his life in meditation but left his body without achieving anything. Later his son Anshuman who ascended the throne devoted whole of his life for the same purpose but he was also killed by the effect of time. Later his son Bhagirath continued the tapasya with the same objective as his ancestors did. He was a param Vaishnav and by the grace of lord Vishnu, Ganga descended on earth and gave gati to the souls of 60000 children of king Sagar. It is said even by the touch of the breeze coming from ganga instantly kills sins performed in millions of life spans. It is said by Mausal Snana( just dipping one body in Ganga and not move any limb but just allow the river to caress whole of the body) is ten times more powerful than the touch or the sighting of the river. Even on ordinary days bathing in it removes sins of many lives. Bathing on special days gives special result. If one bathes on lunar eclipse it is much more propitious. If one bathes on Solar eclipse it is ten times more effective. If one baths at the time of Ardhodaya then it is hundred times more powerful in removing the sins of the bather.
As per Narad Puran, from the 6th ( Shashthi) of Krishan paksh to Amavasya Ganga flows on earth; from Shukla paksh 1st (Pratipada) to 10th (Dashmi) it flows in nether world (Pataal); from Shukla paksh 11th (ekadashi) to 5th (Panchami) of Krishan paksh it flows in heavens. Hence it is also called Tripatha. During Satyug all tirthas were effective, while in Treta Pushkar tirth was best, in Dwapar Kiurukshetra had great importance but during Kaliyug Ganga is the best.
As per the the B.V. Puran, Ganga resided in Golak along with Srihari. She appeared from the ansh of Radha and Krishana, hence enjoyed their form only. She was so beautiful that no one could compare with her. She wearing two clothes was sitting with the lord and watching his face which she covered with a cloth so as to let her bhav be known to anyone. At that moment Radha ji came along with innumerable gopis. She asked the lord who is this looking so intently at your face. She wants to unite with you. You on your part are also smiling and laughing with her. She told him of many occasions when he had united with many other gopis. After talking to him she wanted to talk with Ganga. But Ganga was an adept in yog she immediately disappeared and entered in to water. Radha started drinking the water. Ganga understood the meaning of it and she disappeared in to the lotus feet of Sri Krishana. Radha searched for her in all different lokas like Golok, Vaikunth and Brahmlok but could not locate her. Every where scarcity of water occurred. Devtas came to the lord in miserable condition as there was no water to drink. Lord understood their effort and told them that she is sitting in his lotus feet. But before he may give her to them they must make her free of fear. Understanding the situation all the devtas started poojan of Sri Radha ji to appease her. On hearing the stuti of Brahma ji Radha ji smiled and accepted all the things conveyed by the devtas. Then Ganga came out of the feet of the lord and established at the edge of his big toe. Every body praised her and she appeared in her divine form. Then Shiva put her water on his forehead, Brahma kept her in water form in his kamandal and gave her Radha mantra. Later on she went to Vaikunth and then appeared on earth.
There was a manu by the name of Dakshsawarni who was an ansh of lord Vishnu. His son was Brahmsawarni who was of clean antahkaran. His son Dharmsawarni was always in control of his senses and his mind was always occupied with the devotion of Srihari. His son was Indrasawarni who was a great bhakta of lord Vishnu. He bore a son who was great bhakta of Lord Shiva and his name was Vrishdhwaj. Lord Shiva stayed with him for a long time and looked at him as his own son. But he was so devoted to Shiva that he objected to all other kinds of poojans of other devtas. Once Sun, (whose father was Kashyap muni) gave curse to him that all his Shri will be lost soon. Lord Shiva could not accept it and took up his trident to kill. Fearing him Sun went to Brahma who took him to lord Vishnu. Shiva following them came to the place of Lord Vishnu. Shiva himself was great bhakta of Lord Vishnu and performed his poojan. Brahma and Sun performed poojan of Shiva in the court of Vishnu. Then lord Vishnu talked with lord Shiva and told him to let go of his anger. Lord Shiva asked him that how will his bhakta survive as his splendor has been lost due to curse of Sun. Lord Vishnu informed him look so much time has passed in all this that your bhakta has left that body and even his son Rathdhwaj is no more. His two sons Kushdhwaj and Dharmdhwaj are now there. They are also passing life like their forefathers because of the curse of Sun. Only Luxmi upasana seems to be the goal of their life. From the wombs of their wives, luxmi will appear with her kalansh and then they will be blessed with great wealth and splendour again. Hence forget about the whole episode and return to your abode in peace.
Dharmdhwaj’s wife was Madhawi. She along with the king went to Gandhmadan mountain. They stayed for a long time their and enjoyed each other for a long time. The king developed vairagya and wanted to leave that place but his queen was not totally satisfied. She conceived and gave birth to a beautiful daughter. On seeing the child, people could not compare her beauty with any one (tulna karne mein asmarth), hence she was named Tulsi. Though being stopped by all the near and dear ones, still she proceeded to do tapasya in Badrivan. During summers, she performed panchagni sadhna, during winters she would stand in water and do her sadhna while during rainy season she would sit in the open and perform her penance. She did like this for thousands of years. Then she survived for many years on eating leafs only and later drinking only air for many thousand years. Then Brahma appeared in front of her and asked her to seek a boon. She explained to lord Brahma that in her past life she was a gopi by the name of Tulsi. But by the curse of Radha ji she took birth on earth. Then at that time lord told her to do tapasya on earth after which she would be reunited with him as his wife. Hence she wanted to leave her body and be with her lord. Brahma ji told her that another gop by the name of Sudama has taken birth on earth due to some curse in the form of Shankhchoor, born in the Danu lineage. He is very powerful and controller of all devtas, danavas and Rakshas. She should marry him. He initiated her in the Radha mantra and gave her boon that she would become a favourit of Sri Radha ji and Govind both.
After some time Shankhchoor, who was also initiated in to Krishna mantra by Jaigishavya muni, came to that forest and met her. Later, on the prompting of lord Brahma both married each other. Devtas declared war on him with the help of lord Shiva. He could not be defeated by anyone because of two things. First, he had a body armour which could not be pierced by anything, second, he had a chaste wife who always increased his life span. Lord Vishnu converted himself in to a Brahmin and took away the body armour of Shankhchoor in daan, as because of it he was impenetrable. Then the lord converted himself in to the form of Shaknhchoor and went to Tulsi. She could not distinguish and fell for him. Thus her vow of chastity also was broken by lord Vishnu. On finding out the truth, Tulsi wept and cursed lord Vishnu to become a rock where millions of insects will bite him. Lord Vishnu in turn had to become a rock on earth in the form of Shaligram and Tulsi had to become a river by the name of Gandaki beside it located in present day Nepal. Thus millions of insects cut this rock face everyday in to pieces leaving different impressions carved on them. These all are called Shaligram and considered to be nothing other than lord Vishnu. There are many different categories of Shaligram as explained in the Brahmvaivart puran which are being given here for the knowledge of all the readers.
Hence Shankhchoor was ultimately killed by lord Shankar with the trident of lord Vishnu. Tulsi also left her body. Both of them returned to Golok dham of lord Vishnu.
In all nineteen different Shaligrams have been explained as given below.
1.Symbols of a door, four chakras, Vanmala, black in colour-Luxmi-Narayan. 2. Symbol of one gateway, four chakras- Luxmi-Janardan.3. Sumbol of two gates, four chakras, one cow’s hoof- Raghwendara.4.Two small chakras and black in colour-Dadhivaman.5.Very small with two chakras and Vanmala-Shridhar.6.fully solid, round in shapetwo very clear chakras on it-Damodar.7. Nearly round, two chakras and symbols of bow and tarkas-Ranram.8. Seven chakras, Chakra, tarkas-Rajrajeshwar.9. Black in color and fourteen chakras- Anent (provides dharma, art, Kaam and mocha).10. Which itself is like a chakra, with two chakras, Shri and cow’s hoof engraved on it –Madhusudan. 11. Having only one chakra-Sudarshan.12. Gupt chakra symbol on it-Gadadhar.13. Form as face of a horse-Hayagriva.14. Two chakras and big mouth and appear very fearful, it provides immediate Vairagya to one – Narsimha.15. Two chakras, big mouth and Vanmala, always beneficial for the couples-Luxmi-Narayan.16. With two chakras in the area of gate, symbol of Shri on it-Vasudev.17. Black in colour, very small symbol of chakra on it and having pores in it-Pradyuman.18.With two closely touching chakras, whose back side is big, good for married couples – Sankarshan.19.Beautiful, round, yellow coloured, beneficial to married couples-Anirudh.
It is said where ever this stone resides, lord resides there along with luxmi and all the tirthas. Sin of Brahmhatya is also removed by poojan of Shaligram. One sprinkles water from the Shaligram on to himself bathes in the waters of all the tirthas. At the time of death who so ever drinks water of Shaligram is relieved of all the sins and goes to the realm of Vishnu, there is no doubt about it. One who separates Tulsi from Shaligram will not get the company of wife in the next life. One who keeps Tulsi, Conch and Shaligram together, Srihari is always pleased with him.
Kushdhwaj’s wife was Malawati. She bore a daughter to him who was an ansh of Luxmi. She was named Vedwati. The moment she touched earth she was enlightened. One could hear the slokas of Vedas being chanted in the room where she was born. She took a bath and left for jungles to do her sadhana. For a period of one manwantar she did her tapasya in Pushkar area. Still her body kept its beauty and she looked ever young. She heard an akashwani that she would achieve lord as your husband in the next life. On hearing this she became angry and proceeded to Gandhmadan mountain to perform still harder penance. One day Ravan came in front of her there. She saw him but to discharge her dharma of looking after a guest she treated him well. But Ravan was swept away by her beauty and forcefully held her hand to do her sringaar. By the dint of power of her tapasya she immobilized him. Then understanding her powers he prayed to her. To keep the result of devi poojan kripa in her mind she controlled her anger and released Ravan of the immobilization. But she told him that he would die because of her only and then left her that body as it has been touched by him and thus made impure. In her next birth she was born to king Janak and was called Sita. In this birth only she had the fortune of having lord as her husband in the form of lord Ram.
When lord Ram along with Sita accepted 14 year stay in jungles agni dev in the form of a Brahmin accosted lord Ram. He explained to him that some difficult times are going to befall in near future. So he should give his Sita to him for safe keeping and he in turn will generate a similar Chaya Sita with his yogbal which would accompany him. He would return the original Sita to him at the time of Agni pariksha. Lord agreed to him and accepted chaya Sita who followed him and went through all the events. In the end at the time of his return to Ayodhaya on questioning of people as to the chastity of Sita after living for a long time in the captivity of Ravan she was subjected to a burning pyre. At that time Agni dev returned the original Sita to lord Ram.
Chaya Sita after reuniting of Ram with Sita could not endure her separation from the lord. On the advice of lord and Agni dev, she left for penance for lord Shiva. She again and again requested him for a husband. She repeated her request for five times. Shiva became happy and granted her five husbands which she experienced when she was born as Draupadi, wife of five pandavas. She took birth as daughter of king Drupad after appearing from the yajna vedi and was known by the name of Draupadi.
As per Brahmvaivart Puran, Swami Kartikeya explained that one has 16 mothers as per Vedas. 1. One who gives birth (Janani). 2. One who gives her milk (Dhaay). 3. One who gives food (Pachika). 4.Guru’s wife. 5.Wife of the Isht devta. 6. Daughter. 7.Sister. 8. Wife. 9. Mother in law. 10.Grand mother. 11. Father’s mother. 12. Brothers wife. 13.Mother’s sister. 14.Father’s sister. 15.Wife of mother’s brother. 16. Father’s other wife.
Rishi Bhrigu explained to Jamdagni’s wife Renuka that One who gives Bhakti is called Son, One who follows is called wife, One who gives daan is called Bandhu, One who does archana of the guru is called Shishya, One who guards is called Devta, one who looks after the subjects is called a King, One who guides the wife in to Dharma is called Swami, One who provides Hari Bhakti is called Guru.
......................................................................Om!
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