Posts

Showing posts from May 9, 2013

"End of Fifth Section of Vishnu Puranam"

Image
    Balarama and The River Yamuna :      Now that there was peace, Balarama went on a trip to Gokula. There he met all his old friends and throughly enjoyed himself.      One day he found that there was wine issuing out of a kadamba tree. Balarama drank a lot of the wine and became drunk. Since he was drunk he had lost control of his senses. He, therefore, told the river Yamuna, "River Yamuna, I feel like having a bath. Change your course and come here so that I may fulfil my desire."      Yamuna ignored this instruction. At this, Balarama was enraged and took up his plough. With his plough he grasped the river and pulled her towards himself, "You won’t come , will you?", he said. "Let me see how you can flow where you wish."  The course of the river was changed.      Yamuna appeared before Balarama and begged for forgiveness.  This was granted.      When Balarama’s bath was over, Lakshmi appeared before him and ga

"Kalayavana"

Image
    Kalayavana :      There was a brahmana named Gargya who had been insulted and ridiculed by the Yadavas. This brahmana went to the shores of the southern ocean and began to perform tapasya. His desire was a son who would be the scourge of the Yadavas. As part of the tapasya, he ate only iron dust for food. The tapasya went on for twelve years and at the end of it, Mahadeva was pleased. The brahmana obtained the desired boon.      The son who was born was black of hue. The king of the Yavanas had no son and the brahmana’s son was adopted by the Yavana king. Eventually, this son became the king of the Yavanas and came to be known as Kalayavana.      Kalayavana wanted to know the names of all the powerful on the earth from Narada. He was told the names of the Yadava kings. So he decided to attack the Yadavas. He collected thousands and thousands of chariots, horses, elephants and infantry. Then he came to Mathura to wage war.      Krishna was worried. H